Line of Succession

Anna studied the chart she drew out; her lips pursed slightly while she focused. "QJ did something that disrupted the events that transpired on the other servers. The main characters in these events are (Circa, the Ant King), (Sajana, the Wasp Emperess), and (Jiala, Circa's daughter). The Ant King's mate suffers from a debilitating disease on all servers and is never relevant."

[Legends Server] (Circa) defeats (Sajana) and bequeaths both the land and Crown to his daughter, (Jiala).

Anna turned on her hud and started dictating. "Both Circa and Sajana were raided numerous times on the Legends server. No reports of a crown dropping were recorded. Jiala currently holds the Crown. The battle between Circa and Sajana takes place in year three."

[Orion Server] (Sajana) defeats (Circa) but loses the Crown when (Jiala) slays her.

"Two years after the start of the Orion Server, Circa is killed in an ambush by Sajana. In year three, Jiala defeats Sajana and assumes control of the Crown and territory."

[Vesuvius Server] (Sajana) controls the disputed territory and wears the Crown. (Circa) attempts to invade but is repulsed. He retreats to the Northern Coastal mountains, taking over a small region.

"On Vesuvius, all three leading characters are alive and well. Sajana holds the Crown and the domain." Anna nodded to herself. "Seeing them side-by-side tells the story."

"Talking to yourself, Nan?" QJ smiled from the railing next to his doorway.

Anna favored him with a smile. "I have a working theory on what's going on with the Line of Succession."

QJ descended the stairs, three at a time, pausing at the island long enough to ruffle Anna's hair with both hands. "Nan's the best!"

"Hey!" Nan wrinkled her nose at the younger man while attempting to pat down her protesting hair. "Never mess up a woman's hair, QJ. Didn't your mom teach you that?"

QJ shook his head while opening the cupboard. "Mom taught me advanced Physics and how to shoot."

Anna sighed heavily. "Of course she did."

QJ grabbed a grapefruit and a squeezable container of honey. "Wanna split this?"

Anna nodded. "Yes, please."

QJ grabbed two plates and sliced the fruit into halves. "Hit me with it. How bad did I muck things up?"

"First, let me give you the background information." Anna paused while he rummaged in the silverware drawer.

"Honey on yours, Nan?"

"Yep." Anna waited until he sat down before zooming in on the charts she had created. "Okay... Until recently, Sajana wore the Crown and controlled the territory in question."

"Why is Circa there?"

"On all servers, the territory starts out under dispute. Then, sometime in the first few weeks, Circa shifts his focus away from Laredo. The two leaders have no relevant contact this early."

QJ used his spoon to slice out a large piece of grapefruit. "No one attempted to raid them before the split?"

"There are a few attempts, but this is where the deviance starts." Anna brought up a map of the caverns. "A number of guilds make attempts at Sajana after a few months. But, unfortunately, Circa is gone before the guilds are strong enough to raid him."

"Right. They are both Nemesis-rated; none of the guilds on our server can handle them."

Anna nodded in agreement. "Circa will leave in a few weeks, but the damage is already done."

"Crap..." QJ frowned at the map. "Circa defeated Sajana."

Anna smiled; she'd been expecting QJ to put the pieces together. "You brought them together. That should have happened in year three. The deed and the Crown never drop when they're raided."

"Only when they fight each other," QJ finished. "I have the deed, but I gave the crown to Anya."

Anna brought up her personal hud, a moment later, Angel's face popped up. "Need to talk with you. Can you come by the house?"

Angel nodded. "On my way," she closed comm without saying anything else.

"Going to have her keep a low profile?" QJ asked.

"For a bit," Anna closed her hud and leaned back. "We must ensure Angel has enough time to build her forces."

QJ stretched his arms overhead before taking Anna's plate. "Who is going to respawn in the cavern?"

Anna tapped her nose. "That is the million-dollar question. There are so many factors that could be relevant. But, first, killing both placeholders may have caused both monarchs to spawn."

QJ grimaced. "Or, the monarchs spawned because the placeholders were killed by each other."

Anna nodded. "You see it. There are quite a few variables. For example, Circa killing Sajana may result in her placeholder being permanent. In other words, she may be removed from the game."

QJ swore under his breath. "Does that mean the timeline for the Line of Succession has been pushed forward?"

Anna shrugged. "Maybe. For now, we can only watch. Are you planning on raiding the cavern again?"

"Yes," QJ replied.

Anna sipped her coffee while she considered the possibilities. "That should tell us something. Let's wait to see what happens."

Breeze was sitting at QJ's desk when he entered the classroom a few minutes later. She was chatting with Lotte, they both looked up when he came in.

"Speak of the devil." Breeze bounced up and stepped to one side.

"Talking bad about me?" QJ plopped down and opened his hud; he zoomed in on the tower's top floor they had just left. "There are three 15-level sub-bosses at the top of this tower. Take those out, and the Tower boss spawns. Check out this loot table."

"What's with all the slinger drops?" Breeze frowned at the lack of tanking gear.

A knock on the classroom door drew their attention. Two students wearing the green jacket of third years stood respectfully in the doorway. "I beg your pardon. Are you QJ?"

Breeze smiled, "Twins... handsome too. Hey guys, yes, I'm QJ. What can I do for you?"

Both QJ and Lotte laughed at her serious expression.

"Ignore her, guys. What do you need?" QJ had never seen either one of them before. "Oh... IM badges, you're from Iron Mount?"

Breeze smiled pleasantly as they walked in. "Sword users? That sounds fun."

"I'm Lox, and this is my brother Colt." The one name Lox wore a black armband signifying that he was the class leader.

"Nice to meet you. I'm QJ. This is Breeze and Lotte." QJ couldn't help but smile at the brothers; they were exceedingly polite for two such large guys. They were nearly as tall as his dad and thick as oak trees. Their black hair was trimmed short, and oversized muscles bulged out of their uniforms.

"Let's get right to it. We'll both give you a hundred points if you'd look something over for us." Coltrane brought up his hud for QJ to look at.

QJ glanced at the hud, "This some sort of War Game?"

Lox nodded. "We aren't the best at developing strategies, but we can follow them seamlessly."

"150 points each, bring me a few VRPs of real matches. As well as a briefing on the standard tactics." QJ smiled up at the two behemoths.

Lox nodded. "Done. When and where?"

"Half an hour, Songbird Tavern."

Breeze watched them walk out and then whistled, "300 points to watch a few matches? Let's split it!"

"Denied."

Slowly the Freshmen GnG class started to filter in; everyone was talking about their morning. Ringo was the last to arrive.

"Great job this morning." She brought up a 3-D map of the Exodus Academy and highlighted a sparsely wooded area. "For those who haven't been to our Equestrian center, it's located here. We'll meet there after lunch; bring your mounts if you have one."

Lox, Coltrane, and a girl QJ didn't know were waiting near the back of the line at the Songbird.

QJ waved when he saw them. "Sorry, the class ran a bit late today."

Lox waved it off. "Are we eating here?"

QJ nodded. "Yep, follow me."

Robin was on door duty again; her face lit up when she spotted QJ. "Hey, QJ!" She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek before glancing at his group. "Four for lunch?"

"Yep, thanks, Robs." QJ led them inside and sat down at the reserved table near the bar.

Coltrane was staring at the stage where Ren was playing something soft on her flute. She still used the one Q gave her years ago, a simple silver flute made by Bo Jangles.

"What can I get for you guys?" Lark had arrived suddenly at the table, QJ suspected that she had been stealthed. The quiet Songbird changed her hair color every month; this month's color was a pale green.

QJ looked up from the brief Lox had sent him. "Just bring a pitcher of Beer and a bunch of cheeseburgers, please."

Lark stared at him, arms crossed in front of her impressive chest. "Should you say something to me?"

"Sorry, heya Lark." Ever since she had started dating Ren, Lark made it her mission to get to know QJ better. She had taken him several places in Exodus over the past few years.

Lark nodded. "That's a bit better. Your order will be right up; enjoy your lunch."

QJ studied the layout of the War game. "This is called Captured?"

The girl who hadn't spoken nodded, "I'm Fora. This is a team game with two groups of 10 players."

"Wait." QJ interrupted her. "Did you say your name is Fora?"

The blond-haired girl nodded. She wore two pigtails that made her look very young. "My mom used to play TAP quite a bit; apparently, I was named after a place there."

Lark had come up with a pitcher of beer and was pouring it while the girl was talking. "I love that. Fora, you are welcome in the Songbird anytime. Putting you on the bypass list."

Fora smiled brightly. "Thank you."

"Okay, so two teams of 10, what else?" QJ grabbed his beer and took a long drink.

"The field is diamond-shaped. On the north and south ends are the team HQs. In the center, east and west, are the contested bunkers. During matches, they are regularly called middle, east, and west."

QJ was looking at the rules while she spoke. "Oh... this is a pvp match?"

"Fora nodded. "You respawn immediately at your team's HQ if you are killed. It's normal to die half a dozen times during a match."

"If I understand it, hold your HQ. Losing that is an immediate loss. The center bunker is worth 20 points, and the side bunkers are 15." QJ opened a match on his hud, fast-forwarding it so he could watch the different strategies. "This is one of your matches?"

"Yes, that was against the GnG class." Fora frowned. "We never beat them."

Lox put a hand on her shoulder. "We've come close a few times. Just bad luck, that damn Nina loves to rub our faces in it when she wins."

QJ grinned at the mention of her name. "Nina runs the game for the GnG class?"

Fora frowned; the purple-haired menace wasn't too popular with the other classes. "Yes. A match lasts 15 minutes. The points are tallied at the end."

QJ scratched his head as he considered it, "why not wait until the end to make your move?"

Lox zoomed in on the hud they were watching. "The middle, east, and west bunkers have automated defenses. These engage once you assume control. The longer you have control, the more effective the defenses become."

"I see," QJ replied. "How does the academy mitigate the differences between the game classes?"

Fora brought up the weapon loadout for the game. "DPS can be range or melee. Range dps use a rifle or bow. Melee dps uses a Bataan. They have the exact same specs. Tanks equip shields and use a club weapon. Two players from each team can use stealth generators, and two players from each team can deploy drones capable of crowd control (cc)."

"What about the healing classes?"

Fora switched back to the match they had paused. "Healing classes assume either dps, stealth, or cc."

"Is there a requirement for team structure?"

Fora nodded. "One dps, one tank, and one cc. The rest is up to your preference."

QJ watched the matches while they ate their lunch and talked. "All of these matches are with the third years from GnG?"

Lox nodded. "The purple-haired fiend is our nemesis."

QJ laughed at the term. "She uses one of three strategies every time, depending on what you are doing."

Fora closed her hud. "Any ideas?"

"Well... I can tell you how to beat her one time. The strategy won't work after she knows what you are doing."

The three students from Iron Mount all smiled at him.

His three hundred points earned during lunch made QJ smile while performing his extra duties."You have a real talent for making horse biscuits, Scorch." QJ wacked him on the hindquarters with his open hand. He could hear Lotte laughing from the next stall.

She peeked the top of her head over the stall. "You have been feeding him too many carrots."

"Huh? I never give him carrots. He likes snowcones, red ones. He hates the blue ones."

Lotte flung a handful of hay over the wall. "You don't feed him snowcones."

"Don't I?" QJ closed the stable gate and waited for Lotte to catch up. "Want to come over for some barbeque tonight?"

Lotte pursed her lips, "okay, but not too long. How many academy points do you have now?"

"Well... The thousand I spent on the Doubler Canyon raid was refunded. I got the 1500-point bonus we all received, and if you count today's lunch meeting... 2800 points."

Lotte made a face at him. "I spent all mine on Viento."

"Points well spent," QJ replied. "I'll check out the Academy store; there has to be something I can buy."

They crossed the courtyard and made their way to the front entrance. Lotte pointed toward the clock tower, "Maya's getting ready."

"Hmm?" QJ turned to see Maya mounted on a sleek brown filly. "This is her last chance."

Ringo and Dessi were chatting beside the open windows when they entered the class; their teacher waved them over. "Hang with us; we'll head to the Equestrian center afterward."

Dessi was watching her student. "I hope she makes it this time."

QJ crossed his fingers. "Me too."

The courtyard was filled with shouts of encouragement. Many of these students had seen at least one of her prior attempts.

Unlike QJ's run, no catcalls or names were shouted out. Maya was a student that most people liked and looked up to.

QJ heard the start and watched as the brown horse took off. "She has great acceleration."

All the students were hanging out their class windows, cheering as Maya approached the first turn. She leaned in nicely and seamlessly recovered her pace. Coming off the turns is where Scorch dominated; his raw power enabled him to attack. It was this power, more than anything, that helped him to finish with more than a bell to spare.

QJ pounded on the window ledge when they flew by. "Two turns left; she still has juice. Let her run, Maya."

The brown horse accelerated in a long curve coming off the tight turn, Maya kept the reins loose, and the filly straightened out before racing down the straightaway toward the last turn.

Dessi gripped the window sill with both hands. Maya had been her student for three years. "Come on, Maya... "

Ringo watched calmly, listening for the bells. At this time, during QJ's run, it was already apparent that he would make it. "It's going to be close."

Maya leaned into the last turn, keeping low; she let her horse drift slightly as the filly gave one final burst of speed, closing fast on the finish in a blur of brown.

The 12th bell sounded right when they flashed past the tower. Silence followed the end of the race.

Dessi's eyes were wet with tears, "did she make it?"

Maya froze instantly and then raised both hands over her head in victory after receiving notification that she had won the 12-bell challenge.

The courtyard erupted in cheers. The students clapped and cheered wildly for the third-year GnG student.

"YES!" Dessi raised her hands in victory, she hugged Ringo while jumping up and down.

QJ and Lotte were still clapping when Maya rode up. Her skin was flushed with excitement, a wide grin plastered on her pretty face. She stopped to high-five Dessi, who had climbed half out of the window.

She nodded slightly at QJ, "thank you, Quinn."

QJ felt his eye twitch again, the dreaded first name. "It was all you, Maya. Very nice job."

QJ waited patiently for the rest to catch up. Breeze suggested they race to the Equestrian Center; Scorch pummeled the other horses badly.

Unexpectedly the race for second was tightly contested. Ringo finished second, with Lotte and Breeze half a length behind.

QJ smiled at the riders. "See that? More snowcones."

Ringo cocked her head to one side. "Snowcones?"

Lotte shook her head. "Ignore him. He tried telling me that he feeds Scorch snowcones."

"Red snowcones." QJ corrected.

"Woah, is that why I always see you heading towards the stable with snow cones in each hand?" Breeze realized he was pranking them, so she effortlessly jumped in without missing a beat.

"Huh?" Lotte looked stunned.

Ringo still looked unconvinced, "for real?"

QJ kept a straight face and nodded, "it's an old training gimmick from the early days of horse racing."

Twenty minutes later, QJ was barrel racing against a Shammy named Three-Tail. QJ had lost the first round but then won the second and lost the third. Her smaller horse was built for tight turns. It was apparent that she had a lot of experience riding.

When they had finished, they walked their horses next to each other. She rode a small paint with traditional mustang markings.

For once, QJ didn't know what to call someone. "Nice job. You totally outrode us."

The Shammy was a petite girl with blazing red hair; she blushed prettily at the compliment. "I'm Shoni; that's a beautiful horse."

QJ reached over the saddle and covered Scorch's ears. "Shhh.. he gets big-headed."

Shoni laughed at the comment, "I thought you'd be more serious."

"Where did you get the paint? I love the pattern on her." QJ had been considering getting a smaller horse to keep Scorch company.

****Author's Note********

In this instance, the term paint describes the unusual markings on Shonie's horse. It literally looks like someone splashed paint on them.

*******************

"Won it at Bizarros, during the barrel riding contest," Shoni admitted.

"Oh, so you're a ringer!" QJ pulled up when he noticed Ringo approaching. His hud blinked at him nearly at the same time.

Ringo noticed the hud blinking, "that wouldn't be Dessi, would it?"

QJ checked his hud and then nodded. "Yep, should I not answer?"

Ring leaned back in her saddle and smiled. "Go ahead. This should be interesting."

Dessi's face popped up on QJs hud, a metallic hair clip kept her pale blonde hair out of her face. "Hey, QJ."

QJ smiled pleasantly. "Hi, Dessi. What can I do for you?"

"Well... we just lost Captured to the Bruise Brothers. Know any about that?"

QJ scratched his head, "Captured? That a board game?"

Ringo covered her mouth to keep from laughing. The kid didn't even bat an eye. Lox and Colt had been seen entering and leaving the 1st year GnG classroom.

"Hmm... this was the beginning of the tournament to see who represents the Academy at the Good Will games." Dessi frowned, "sorry to bother you, QJ." She waved and cut comm.

Ringo walked her horse closer and glanced at Shoni. "Give us a few minutes, please. They were just eliminated, so the 3rd year GnG class is out."

QJ waited until Shoni rode off, then turned to Ringo. "Did I mess up?"

Ringo shook her head. "Not a bit. If they can't handle losing, they should stay at home."

QJ nodded in agreement.

"Put a team together. I want our class to enter." Ringo smiled at him. "Generally, only third years compete, but nothing says 1st years can't compete for the school slot."

"Seems like a bit much on our plate." QJ didn't want another time sink when he could be playing GnG.

"It's school-sanctioned, so I'll allocate class time." Ringo was using her hud while she talked. "I was going to have you and our three sharpshooters compete in the shooting competition anyway."

QJ nodded in reply, "Sounds fun. Where's it held at?"

Ringo smiled casually, "TAP Academy."