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Published at 22nd of January 2019 08:20:42 PM


Chapter 55

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*Flashback: Zohai*

"It's fine if you don't want to do it Leah. I will find another way." Q had been going over the possible match-ups in his head. He had seen Cyrus defeated a few times in the arena, but he had never seen Eraphia taken out. In single combat, she was an absolute juggernaut. Civil Unrest possessed the only weapon capable of taking out Eraphia, Trident.

"How would we set it up? And where would I go?" It was crazy, faking her own death and hiding from her friends and family.

"Crow followed us here, she will escort you back to Concert Hall. You'll assume her identity until Exodus opens up." Q knew that Leah's ability might seem less than impressive, but it was a game changer.

Leah leaned against him, "won't people notice two Crimson Rose's walking around?"

Q shook his head, "Crow will be busy with a special mission in Exodus, she'll barely spend any time in TAP. In the mean time, you'll never leave Concert Hall. I'll tell Jangles that Crow needs someplace safe to lay low for a few weeks."

Leah's green eyes shone with tears, "when then?"

"I'll have someone trustworth challenge you." Q had a few Zephyr players that were relatively unknown, he could set something up. "I will figure out how to make it work."

Leah pulled Q's head down for a kiss. "I want a wedding... a nice one in the apple orchard, with all of Talon and our friends watching."

Q smiled, "you can say no Leah, and still have those things."

***Forward to Zohai Arena**

Q moved toward the direction he has seen Mojo heading, Leah used the ring he had given her to follow him in stealth mode.

Q spoke under his breathe, without turning around. "Leah, this is the perfect time to implement our plan. If the opportunity arises, you must not hesitate."

A few moments later, after Mojo had slain Taiga Sai, Leah had switched places with her, only to be seriously wounded by Kimo Sai.

*Blink*

Q appeared behind Leah, picking the barely conscious girl off the arena floor. He knew Kimo was closing in on him, he shielded Leah with his body. "Do it now Leah, I'll cover for you."

*Shield*

Q instincts told him Kimo was approaching, but he deliberately exposed his back and loosened his grip on Leah.

*Backstab* Kimo Sai has critically hit Q for 17840 damage, bonus damage 14340.

"Shit," he grimaced in pain, feeling the arena start to darken around him, he let go of Leah.

*Return*

Q appeared back beside Mojo, staggering to his feet, he watched as Leah's body faded. 'Shit, there's no slain message. I didn't think of that.' Q's screamed to draw their attention, his sharp eyes saw the sand shiftIng as Leah made her escape. "You killed her!"

******

Leah kept stealth activated as she exited the arena. She stumbled down the main road before ducking into an alley. Stealth dropped as she collapsed against the wall, her wounds were bleeding profusely. A movement caught her eye, Crow approached from the back of the alley.

"Leah, move back here." Crow half carried, half dragged her further into the alley. She took a moment to dress her wounds, "stay here and rest for a moment, I will see if it's clear." She had been told by Q to follow them closely and keep an eye out for trouble. This was certainly trouble.

Crow stealthed and stood in the entrance of the alley, she watched as Q and Mojo walked away from the arena. Mojo collapsed in grief only a few feet away from where she was standing. She waited a moment, until they were out of sight, and then quickly went through the next steps in her head. Contact Jangles and help Leah get to Concert Hall. She silently moved back to Leah's side and helped her up. "Okay Leah, time for you to be me."

**** Present Time****

Crow sat comfortably next to Tal in the Songbird Tavern. Together they watched as TAP defeated Civil Unrest. She had known her brothers plan, but she still shook her head in amazement. "I really would have liked to fight in the last round."

Tal poured them both beers from the tap. "You fought hard during the preliminary rounds Em, time for some down time." She raised her mug and took a long drink.

An hour later, a private party at the Songbird Tavern was in full swing. The moment Leah had finally stopped clinging to Q, she was ambushed by Remmy and Mojo. They were both crying as they hugged her tightly between them.

When they had arrived at the Tavern, Q had activated the privacy settings and explained his plan and how it had unfolded. He thanked everyone several times, then he apologized for keeping it a secret and causing his friends grief.

He moved behind the bar to help Tal and Pops serve drinks. Leah finally escaped her friends and joined them, unexpectedly she grabbed Tal by the hand and dragged her into the kitchen.

Q glanced at Pops, "what do you think that's about?"

Pop's grinned knowingly at him, "it's woman stuff Quinn, no need to concern yourself." He laughed madly like he had said something funny.

A long while later they returned arm in arm, they hugged each other and then Leah headed back toward Mojo without saying another word. Tal rejoined them behind the bar.

"Everything okay Tal?" Q naturally was dying to know what they had talked about.

Tal finished up what she had been doing, "yep, going to log now and get some things done. I still need to figure out what to do with those Propulsion devices."

"Okay Tal, I won't be too long." He took a sip of his beer, surprisingly it tasted exactly like the real thing. He looked up, Tal was giving him a very stern look.

"Quinn Riley!" She crossed her arms in front of her, "don't you dare log off and leave Leah by herself. Don't you know what that girls been through for you?"

Q looked at Leah who was chatting with Mojo, Remmy had latched onto her waist again. "I know Tal."

Tal nodded at him, "we'll have everyone over at the house tomorrow night, so bring some food that virtual guests can eat. I'll take care of the real world supplies."

"Okay Tal, love you." Q waved with his free hand as he took another drink of his beer.

"Love you too Quinn." Tal's image faded as she logged off.

*******

Q had never been in the Master Suite of the Songbird Tavern, despite its rustic decor it was quite spacious. He walked into the bathroom, "hey this bathroom has a fireplace!"

"Yes I know Q, I stayed here last night." Leah casually locked the door, leaning against it as she waited for him to come out.

"That tub is huge too," Q walked out of the bathroom, stopping when he saw Leah by the door.

"Yep, it will do nicely." She approached him slowly, hips swaying, her green eyes shining. Her freckled nose wrinkled slightly as she smiled at him. "Give me a minute, and then join me." Leah grabbed a bottle of wine off the corner table, "lose the clothes Q."

A few hours later the young lovers lay entwined on the bed. Leah's red hair was draped over Q's chest. She kissed his skin softly, tasting it. "Do you remember your promise to me?"

"Yes," Q kissed the top of her head.

She propped her head on one hand. "I'm going to have to visit my parent's right away."

"Was Concert Hall very boring?" Q had been tempted to contact her many times, but he realized any interaction would put the plan at risk.

Leah leaned over one side of the bed and sat up. She was holding the sketch pad that Q recognized from the Survey Camps. "I've been doing a lot of drawing."

Q scooted himself up beside her, there bare shoulders touching as she paged through her pad. "Wait.. stop there." He frowned at her, "really?"

Leah giggled behind her hand, "it's just a nude Q, I won't show anyone."

"Yeah... I don't want myself on display."

"Fine, I won't show anyone. Except maybe Mojo and Tal." Leah laughed at the face he made.

"Very funny." Q pulled her a bit closer, he had missed the way she smelled.

"Oh and perhaps Lara." Leah raised an eyebrow at him.

"...." Q.

"Don't be like that Q, this is art after all." Leah pursed her lips as she examined her work.

"I don't think that is anatomically correct," Q frowned at her.

"Mmmm, let's find out then!" Leah's laughter filled the room as she tossed her sketch pad on the corner table and jumped on him.

**********

Somehow Q drifted off to sleep, when he woke there was a note on the pillow next to him, where Leah should have been.

Q,

Have some things to get done. See you soon.

Leah.

Q got dressed, and took a few minutes to order food for his TAP guests. The Exodus interface made it easy. He chose the number of guests and the type of cuisine he wanted. It would all be accessible from his Virtual Account. "Let's broaden their horizons and introduce them to the cheeseburger."

"That should do it, Log-Off Exodus."

Quinn removed the ceramic discs from his temple and stretched on his bed. His feet contacted a warm body causing him to sit up. Tal was laying next to him, "she's logged in, I thought she'd be here."

He was on his way to the bathroom, when he heard Tal's voice from downstairs, it was followed by a bunch of people laughing. "What the heck is going on?"

Quinn moved stealthily to his doorway and peaked over the railing. Leah and Tal were standing in the living room, smiling and spinning for the women watching. They were both wearing wedding dresses. "The hell is this?"

"Try this one Talia." Louise Obreen operated her hud and made a selection, the dress Tal had been wearing turned into a sleeveless dress with a longer train.

A brown haired woman with freckles leaned closer, "how do I do that Louise?"

"Like this dear." Quinn watched speechlessly as his grandma showed the woman how to change selections. Of course he recognized her, it was Leah's mom, Mari Fintree. Leah's dress changed to the one Tal was wearing.

"I love this one." Both Tal and Leah spoke at the same time, then looked at each other smiling.

"We get it, you have the same tastes." Em's dry humor interrupted the scene, before everyone started laughing.

"Oh god... my happy life fades." Quinn snuck back into his room. He was sure they were drinking. He had seen Anna, Ro-Ro, Jinn, Mojo, Daze, Remmy, all the Songbirds and Yayia crowded into his living room also. A dress party? Is there such a thing?

********

Tal looked up when she heard the shower running. "Looks like Quinn's back." She used her hud to change back into normal clothes, "it's bad luck for the groom to see."

"It is?" Leah quickly changed into normal clothes also.

Quinn took a long shower, giving his guests ample time to do whatever they were going to do. Tal was sitting up on the bed, removing the ceramic discs, when he walked out in his towel. "Hey Tal." He bent down for a quick kiss, only to be grabbed and pulled onto the bed. He didn't bother to resist when she rolled over on him and straddled his hips.

Tal didn't say anything, just stared down at him with her pretty blue eyes.

Quinn could feel the huge white elephant in the room. "Want to get married Talia?"

Tal's face reddened slightly as she nodded. "Yep."

Quinn slid from under her and walked over to his dresser, he grabbed a pair of jeans and tshirt, quickly slipping them on. "I better go ask Pops then."

Tal stared speechlessly as Quinn left the room. "Ask Pops?" She snuck down the hall to Anna's room. Crouching down in her doorway to listen in.

"What ya doing?" Anna was at her desk, her curiously piqued when Tal turned and shushed her silently. Naturally she snuck over and joined her friend.

*********

Quinn trotted down the steps casually, both Ren and Pops were sitting at the kitchen Island eating. "Is this breakfast or lunch?"

"Lunch probably," Ren answered with a smile, pushing a piece of cold pizza toward him.

Quinn accepted the slice gratefully and took a bite. "Hey Pops, I'd like your permission to marry Talia."

Ren's eyes were like saucers as she stared at Quinn, then looked at her Pops. She had never seen the old man look so happy.

Pops nodded, he was smiling from ear to ear. "Quinn I'd be happy to have her marry you."

Ren could no longer contain her excitement, she jumped up from her chair and hugged Quinn tight.

Talia stood in the hallway, tears running down her face. "I'm going to get married."

Anna had been holding her hand the entire time. She kissed her friends cheeks. "Wow.. Quinn's really old fashioned." She stood at the railing as Tal walked down the stairs, her dad met her at the landing and they shared a hug. Suddenly Anna started missing her Dad.

Quinn stood up at the island, taking another bite of his slice, he noticed three wine bottles on the carpet. "Um.. we not cleaning up after ourselves now?" He bent to pick them up, his hand passed right through them. "Oh I see."

Ren laughed at him. "I thought I would log out and then clean everything up. It's kinda funny right?"

Quinn felt a warm body press against his back as Tal wrapped her arms around him. "It's virtual wine Little Q, I can't drink the real stuff."

"Hmm? Since when?" Quinn knew for a fact that Tal loved wine.

"Since I'm late." She whispered next to his cheek, her lips brushing his ear.

"Late? Late for what?" Quinn turned around and stepped away, pulling her toward the island as he took another bite of his pizza. He froze in place and then turned toward Tal, "late as in late?"

Tal nodded, "yep."




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