Page 11 of 3013: Wonderland
She had trusted him before, and he believed she would again.
His smile widened when she rushed toward him, and he let out a triumphant laugh when she flung herself into his arms. When she started to sob against his chest, his own eyes stung with unshed tears. He met his brother’s gaze over her shoulder, and he saw a fierce determination in his dark gaze that matched his own.
They would never let anyone hurt her ever again. That was a promise they would kill to keep. It would take time for her to heal, but they were willing to do whatever they could to help her.
But for now, at least she was back with them, right where she belonged.
Chapter Four
“Welcome to Evo.”
Juliet smiled in response to Fenris’ belated greeting even though she felt totally embarrassed about her meltdown. After she had sobbed all over Raek, she had flung herself at Fenris and had cried all over him as well.
She’d been shocked to find them waiting for her on the landing platform. Before she’d left Earth, Jade had warned her that Raek, Charm, and Fenris had heard about what had happened to her. Since they had heard the rumors and knew she was coming to visit them, some of the pressure had been lifted off of her.
On the way to Evo, she had considered contacting them but had ultimately decided against it since she had wanted to surprise them.
The moment she saw them, a rush of emotions had completely overwhelmed her. Falling to pieces in public wasn’t exactly her idea of fun, but she couldn’t help it. They had been patient with her, letting her sob all over them without uttering a single word of protest.
By the time she had regained enough control to step back, she’d noticed that the other people on the platform had already disappeared. The only person who remained close by was Melody. She had dragged their luggage over to the side and had taken a seat on the floor. She’d looked like she was taking a nap, but Juliet knew that had been her way of giving them some privacy.
Now that the emotional storm was over, Melody got to her feet and strolled over to join them. She was wearing a black skinsuit that molded to her voluptuous body with a long red duster over it. She was the type of female that usually attracteda lot of attention, but Raek and Fenris just nodded politely when Juliet introduced them.
“Nice to meet you,” Melody said. “I’ve heard a lot about you two on the way here. Can we get off this platform before another shuttle decides to land on top of us?”
Fenris’ lips twitched in amusement. “Come on, let’s head home. Charm is waiting for us. We can take a transporter directly to the sanctuary.”
Melody pouted. “I thought we were going to get a tour of this crazy place.”
“I can take you both on a tour tomorrow,” Fenris promised.
Juliet started to agree, then changed her mind. “Do you think we could walk there, or is it too far away? I’d like to stretch my legs a little on solid ground after being stuck on that ship for so long.”
“It’s not too far,” Raek replied. “Fen, why don’t you lead them out, and I’ll catch up.”
Juliet watched as he lifted their huge bags and carried them away as if they weighed nothing. “Where is he going?”
“The transporters can take us directly to the sanctuary so he’s going to drop your bags off before joining us again. The transporters are new tech that has been merged with Dragon Warrior magic. It’s the fastest way to island hop to the different locations.”
“That sounds kind of awesome.” Melody sighed. “Now I kind of wish we went with him.”
“We can take the transporters to a few of the different islands tomorrow. Come on,” Fenris said, gesturing toward the exit. “We can start our tour now.”
They followed him off the platform and through the building. She felt bad that Raek had to make an extra trip to the sanctuary to drop off their bags, but she hadn’t been joking about needing to stretch her legs. She’d never done any space travel before, soshe hadn’t been aware that she’d suffer from space sickness until it had hit her.
Although she had ended up sleeping for half the trip, it still felt far too long for her. While the vessel was large enough to comfortably fit dozens of people in private rooms, it had felt too small and confining to her. She didn’t understand how people could spend months flying around without ever touching solid land. She didn’t think she would enjoy spending much time on the various space stations either.
As they made their way out of the transport center and down a pathway that led into a park with a small lake, Juliet smiled as she took in the strange new setting. Although everything looked like something that could have been found on Earth, the blue sunlight made it all seem sort of surreal.
Even though she’d just arrived on Evo, she immediately liked it. She liked the atmosphere and how happy everyone seemed to be. Perhaps that was the way it was at a vacation destination, or maybe everyone was enjoying themselves because Evo was essentially a giant amusement park.
She knew the planetoid was comprised mostly of vibrant blue water, but that there were dozens of islands that had been altered to represent various settings and stages from the Evolution game. The entire planetoid was run by a mix of technology and magic, and she couldn’t wait to explore some of the other locations.
“This is the main, largest island on the planetoid. The transport center is located close to the middle of the island. Most of the administrative buildings are back that way,” Fenris explained, using his thumb to point over his shoulder. “Those buildings on the other side of the lake are open to the public. Like that big structure over there. That is a holo-center where people can go play holo version of the games.”
“What is the point of coming here and playing holo?” Melody asked. “Couldn’t they just do that at home?”
He shook his head. “The holo rooms here are upgraded with the latest tech. There are private rooms, group rooms, and entire floors where a bunch of random players can play together. I haven’t tried them out myself, but I’ve heard it’s better than anything back on Earth.”