I was home. At least, that was what it felt like. The gym had been something of a second home to me for a long time, and I always felt comfortable there. In fact, it was the one place where I always felt the most like my old self. Since the old me was fading away a little bit more every day, I was clinging to this last piece of my old life as tightly as I could.

At the moment, I was on the elliptical machine, which was where I’d been for the last half hour. Today, I was doing a bit of work on my core, but was mostly focusing on cardio. Back in my old body, I’d focused more on strength training than cardio, but with my new body came some new workout needs.

When I finally climbed off the elliptical, I was breathing hard and drenched with sweat. I was tired, yet buzzed from all the exercise and activity. I could already tell that today was going to be a good day in the gym. A second later, almost as if reading my mind, a new popup appeared in front of me.

YOUR STAMINA HAS INCREASED +1

I grinned at that, feeling a moment of triumphant glee. I’d actually done it. I’d actually improved my stats using nothing more than hard work and exercise. It wasn’t nearly as fast or easy as finding some prize in a contest, but I’d just proven that it could be done. That gave me hope for some of my other stats, especially strength. Over the last couple weeks, I’d been working hard to get stronger, so I now felt confident that I’d be leveling up there too before long, and all from my own efforts.

“What are you so happy about?” Matt asked from the machine beside me. He was sweating and breathing hard too, even though he’d been on that machine for half the time that I’d been on mine.

“My stamina just went up,” I told him with a grin. “Proof that time in the gym pays off.”

“I’d rather find some of those crystal balls,” Matt grumbled, before admitting, “Not that they’d do much for me.”

“So, this is your best way of improving,” I pointed out, not mentioning that he’d probably get another skill point after our next contest. I wanted to motivate him to workout, not dangle the ‘easy’ way in front of him.

Matt nodded at that, even as he grumbled under his breath. “Maybe we should get Teri over here too. You know, miserly loving company and all that…”

“Yeah,” I agreed, looking across the gym to where Teri was doing some curls.

Teri was so impressed by her strength and muscles, that she’d been focusing almost entirely on them, and had been neglecting her cardio. Of course, her stamina was currently pretty good, higher than mine or Matt’s, so she probably thought she didn’t need to work on her cardio so much. I was a little worried that if she didn’t use it, she could lose it. But since she’d gained all these improvements by magic, rather than by hard work, I wasn’t sure if they would fade away or not. Personally, I didn’t want to find out the hard way.

I took a few drinks from the bottle of water that I’d brought with, but was already considering my next exercises. If anything, earning a point in my stamina had inspired me to work even harder. If I could get one point that way, maybe I could earn some more. Of course, that same line of thinking made me wonder if I could earn more intelligence points by studying. That might be worth checking out.

“You know, I was thinking,” Matt said, his expression going serious.

“Oh?” I asked, not making any of the obvious jokes.

“Those people who are after us,” Matt continued, glancing warily around the gym. “Nadine, that robed freak, and the others…”

“Yeah,” I said with a scowl. I hadn’t seen any of them in the last four days, not since that race. And while I was relieved at that, I was also a bit worried. “I keep expecting them to show up again…”

“And THAT is my point,” Matt said. “We just sit around, waiting for them to come after us. I think we need to take the offense and go after them for a change.”

“Not a bad idea,” I admitted, a little surprised to hear Matt talk about ‘going on the offensive’. That had always been more my line of thinking. Or at least, it used to be. Now, I wasn’t really built for going on the offensive anymore.

“The old Jerry would have gone after them by now,” Matt said, echoing some of my own thoughts. “I think you’re getting into this whole defensive thing a little too much. I can understand why, considering how all your powers work, but we can’t beat them if we’re always reacting instead of acting.”

“You’re right,” I said.

“But,” Matt started to protest, only to pause and stare at me for a moment in confusion. He’d expected me to argue with him, and the fact that I wasn’t, had derailed his entire line of thought.

“But do you know how to find them?” I asked Matt. “Do you know where Nadine or Robe live? I don’t. I’ve tried looking online, and I couldn’t find anything useful. If you can, I’d be happy to mess with them.”

“Not yet,” Matt grudgingly admitted. “But you can bet I’m going to find out.”

“And I’ll ask Cassandra,” I told him. “Maybe she knows something we don’t.”

Matt gave me a curious look. “What about Maelyne? Can’t you ask her?”

I snorted at that. “It’s not like I have her phone number and can just call her,” I pointed out wryly. “And even if I could, that kind of help is probably against the rules.”

By this point, I was done with my break, so I took one more sip of water, then got up and went to work on my core for a bit. Matt followed behind, not ready to let go of the conversation quite yet, even though there was no point in continuing until we had more information.

After we were all finished working out, Teri and I went to the women’s locker room to shower and change. It was still strange for me to be in there, and even stranger, to have everyone else act as though I belonged. I still felt like someone was going to point at me and either laugh of scream.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to this,” I said.

“I can definitely get used to this,” Teri said, flexing her muscles.

She had a pretty good pump on after her workout, and she was more than happy to show off. Then again, she liked showing off her new physique, and I didn’t know how much longer she was going to keep hiding it from her parents. Somehow, I couldn’t see her doing that for much longer.

I was still a bit jealous of Teri, especially when she was showing off like she was now. However, the envy wasn’t quite as sharp as it had been, nor did it come as often. Who knows, maybe one day, it would be gone entirely.

“I can’t wait until the next time I get some points,” Teri said with an eager grin. “And a weapon…”

Of course, I’d told Teri and Matt about what Maelyne had said, and now they were both looking forward to our next contest. After surviving three of them, I had mixed feelings. Sure, you could get some great benefits from those contests, even if you didn’t win them. And admittedly, my pride and competitive spirit were demanding that I win this next one, or least try as hard as I could to do so. But on the other hand, those competitions were dangerous, and I didn’t want myself or any of my friends to die.

“So,” Teri said, giving me a grin. “Are you and Cassandra dating?”

“What?” I asked, both surprised by the question and self-conscious about the answer.

“Come on,” Teri said with a smirk. “I saw the way you two kept looking at each other yesterday…”

“I wouldn’t really call it dating,” I responded after a couple seconds. “At least not yet. We’ve made out a few times, but we haven’t gone out on a real date yet…”

Teri nodded at that, then abruptly asked, “What about Lauren? Is she seeing anyone?”

I gave Teri a look of surprise. “I didn’t know you were into girls…”

She snorted at that. “I’m not, but Matt is, and I think he likes her…”

“Really?” I asked.

But as I thought about it, I realized that Teri was probably right. Matt had been paying a lot more attention to Lauren than I would have expected, though knowing my friend, he was too shy to make the first move. I suddenly had the feeling that Teri was planning to play matchmaker. The gleam in her eyes just confirmed that for me.

Once Teri and I had showered and changed, we met up with Matt and prepared to leave. This was a different gym than the one where Nadine had jumped us before, but we weren’t taking any chances. Matt activated his stealth and went into the parking lot first, making sure that there were no ambushes waiting before he came back and told us it was safe.

“I’ll see you guys later,” I told them, giving Matt a nod of acknowledgement. We already had plans to meet up with Lucas, Tyler, and Mac tomorrow for another paintball match. I was ‘filling in’ for Jerry. “And be careful.”

Once Matt and Teri were gone, I climbed into my little yellow car and began the drive home. I’d told Teri that I wasn’t really dating Cassandra yet, but that was going to change tonight when we went out on our first pseudo-date to test the waters. I could hardly wait.

--------------------

I stared across the small table to Cassandra. She was dressed a little nicer than usual, though definitely still in a goth style. Her makeup was also a bit more subdued.

Admittedly, I was underdressed in comparison, because I hadn’t done anything special for our date. I’d come with the expectation that things would be casual, but apparently, Cassandra had a slightly different idea of what that meant than I did.

So far, our conversation had been a little on the normal side, and not all that romantic. In fact, we’d been taking a bit about the game, and she’d been telling me a little about some of her previous competitions.

“I really liked that one,” Cassandra told me. She took a bite of her salmon before adding. “They held that one at night…”

“Why does that make a difference?” I asked.

Cassandra smirked. “One of my gifts gives me some really nice buffs whenever I’m exposed to moonlight.”

“Ah,” I responded with a nod of understanding. “I don’t imagine you can use that buff in many contests.”

“Nope,” she agreed with a sigh. “A real fucking waste if you ask me.”

This was the first time that Cassandra had mentioned that particular gift to me, but then again, she’d never told me about all of her abilities, and I knew she was keeping a few of them to herself. She liked to play things close to the vest, even with her friends, but I suppose that was appropriate for someone whose patron was a goddess of secrets.

“I can’t wait until the next time we have a contest at night,” she said with a sigh.

“Well,” I told her with a chuckle, “I just hope that when we do, we’re teaming up again.”

“Me too,” Cassandra said with a smile. “I like having someone to watch my ass…”

“It’s a very nice one,” I assured her, “and well worth watching.”

Cassandra beamed at that, definitely looking pleased. “You’ve got a pretty nice ass yourself.” She paused for a moment before admitting, “I always thought that Heather looked hot, but she was straight as a fucking arrow, and her personality… Well, I liked her as a friend, but could never see us as anything else, even if she had been a bit more flexible…”

“I was curious about that,” I admitted a little self-consciously.

“No offense,” Cassandra told me, “but I never thought I’d be into a jock…or a former one. But you’re not the meathead I thought you were back in school…”

“New body and new stats,” I pointed out wryly. “Trust me, it messes with your perspective like crazy.”

“I’d imagine,” she responded, giving me a sympathetic look. “I can’t imagine what that’s like… Shit, I’d go fucking insane if that kind of thing happened to me… How the hell are you still sane?”

“Who said I’m sane?” I asked with a faint smile.

I took a sip of my drink, a cup of tea. I’d never been into tea before, but after Maelyne had introduced me to the stuff in those dreams, I thought that I’d give it a chance, and I was glad that I had.

“Part of it is that I don’t have much choice,” I explained. “I died, and this is my second chance. It’s weird as hell, but a lot better than the alternative.”

Cassandra nodded. “I can see that.”

“Part of it,” I continued, “is that I have Heather’s body. I mean, this body has always been female. I have her DNA, her brain, and all the other junk. Maybe that all helps, you know, like with muscle memory or something…”

“I hadn’t thought about that,” Cassandra admitted.

Then I gave her a wry smile. “And part of it is that I’m just good at hiding it. Trust me, I’ve screamed in frustration, I’ve cried in my pillow, and sometimes, when I look in the mirror, or look down and see these,” I gestured to my breasts, “I have a moment of panic.”

Cassandra gave me another sympathetic look. “If this is going too fast for you…”

I appreciated her consideration, though it wasn’t necessary. “Actually, it’s nice to have some good things coming out of all this…” I gestured to myself and gave her a wry smile. “And it’s good to have more motivation to move on with my new life…”

Of course, that was all easier said than done, but I was trying to adapt to my new body and life. There was no going back, and whether I wanted to admit it or not, I wasn’t the same person that I was before, and not just physically.

Cassandra smiled at that, then looked around to make sure that nobody was watching. A couple seconds later, she held something up for me to see. It took me a few more seconds to realize that it was a pair of glasses. Ugly glasses with thick frames, and one of the nerdiest pairs that I’d ever seen.

“I was thinking,” Cassandra told me. “If you’re up for it, tonight we might play a little jock and nerd?”

“And which of us would be which?” I asked with a smirk.

Over the last few days, I’d learned that Cassandra had a thing for dress up and role playing. I probably should have figured that out considering the first two times we’d kissed. And though I’d never been into that kind of thing before, it was actually kind fun to go along with it.

“I’m flexible,” Cassandra told me with a smirk of her own. “But I’ve always been curious what it would be like being a meathead…”

“How about the gymnast and her coach?” I suggested, remembering the skill that Cassandra had found in the dungeon. From the gleam in her eyes, I could tell that she liked the idea.

After we finished our dinner, we got up to leave. Cassandra leaned over and whispered to me, “You know, if we’re going to be together, you should know that I have a deep dark secret.”

“Oh?” I asked curiously.

Cassandra made a show of looking around to make sure that nobody could overhear us, then whispered, “I’m really a romantic at heart…”

My heart raced a little at having her pressed so closely to me, and at having her lips so close to my ears. “I think I can live with that…”

I made a mental note to get Cassandra some chocolate and flowers. But what kind of flowers would a goth like?

We walked down the sidewalk together, heading to the movie theater, though we hadn’t decided what to watch yet. I had a feeling that this was going to be an interesting conversation.

Suddenly, Cassandra said, “We’re being followed…

I quickly looked around, preparing to activate my armor and weapon, but I didn’t see the threat. Then Cassandra gestured upward and I saw what she was referring to. There was a quick burst of movement as someone leapt from one rooftop to another, almost quicker than I could follow.

“Harker,” I said with a scowl.

I didn’t have any personal problems with Harker, and I was pretty sure that Heather hadn’t either. However, she was allies with Nadine and Robe, so I wasn’t about to trust her any further than I could throw her with my current strength level.

“Let’s lose her,” I said, immediately changing direction and walking down a side street.

“She’s changed course,” Cassandra pointed out. “She’s still following, so we can try losing her in one of these shops or stand and fight.”

“Matt and Teri are too far for me to summon,” I pointed out, “so I don’t know how much use I’ll be in a fight.”

“Harker is fast, but not much of a fighter,” Cassandra pointed out. “And with both of us, we shouldn’t have much problem.”

Harker may have somehow heard what we were saying, or maybe she just realized that we were going to turn and fight. Either way, she decided to hit us before we were ready. She dropped out of the air and landed right in front of us, hitting Cassandra and I with a powerful blast of wind that sent us tumbling backwards.

“FUCK!” Cassandra exclaimed, changing into her armor before she’d even finished rolling.

I didn’t react quite as fast as Cassandra, and it wasn’t until I stopped and got back to my feet that I was able to activate my own armor and weapon.

“Great,” I grumbled. Now, I not only had to worry about being ambushed by Nadine and Robe, but by their friends too. This was REALLY starting to piss me off. “Just frickin great.”

Cassandra fired an arrow at Harker, but the other girl moved too quickly. And when Cassandra fired again, a powerful wind blew, knocking the arrow off course. Harker just looked annoyed.

“Nothing personal,” Harker said.

“I’m gonna put an arrow in your fucking ass,” Cassandra snarled.

“Hate the game, not the player,” Harker responded, turning and firing another blast of air at Cassandra before coming after me.

“Don’t worry,” I told her as I formed a shield wall to block the blast of air. “I have enough hate for both.”

Harker shot up into the air, going above me, and then coming down behind me, where I didn’t have my shield to protect me. Fortunately, I was able to throw up a new shield wall in time.

Cassandra ran up the side of a wall and fired several arrows at Harker in rapid succession, but Harker leapt out of the way while sending out a blast of wind, knocking the arrows off course and making it easier for her to avoid them.

“She’s not really trying to beat us,” I blurted out in realization. This whole situation reminded me of the night this all began for me, when I’d run into Nadine at the gas station. “She’s just keeping us busy…”

“Shit,” Cassandra exclaimed. “She’s keeping us busy until her reinforcements arrive…”

“Too bad you figured it out,” Harker said as she hovered in the air a short distance away. “But at least I don’t have to keep this up anymore…”

“What do you…?” I started, only to see something coming from the corner of my eye.

Snapping around, I threw up a shield wall, just in time to keep from being hit by a ball of fire. It only took me a second more before I saw Nadine, who was coming at me with both of her hands on fire.

Harker immediately fired another powerful blast at Cassandra, which surprised me because I was actually closer, and she could have hit me from my side if the shield wall. Cassandra was thrown away from me by the wind, and Harker chased after her.

“Keep her occupied,” another voice ordered.

I looked over and saw March coming at me with his greatsword. With a deep grimace, I muttered, “How did a great day turn so crappy?”

My attention darted between Nadine and March while my heart raced with fear. I was outnumbered and overpowered. I had some damn good defenses, but they could force me to burn through my mana and wear me down. Still, I wasn’t about to go down without a fight.

“LOOK OUT!” Cassandra yelled from down the street where Harker had blown her.

March charged straight at me, so I threw up a shield wall between us. Suddenly, I felt a burst of pain through my back while my spear was knocked out of my hands. I screamed as I dropped to the ground, only to realize Robe was now standing above me with blood dripping from his scythe.

“Now I’ll make sure your soul is gone for good,” Robe announced.

My enemies were surrounding me, so I couldn’t activate Maelyne’s shield without trapping them inside, and it would have been pointless to create a shield wall. They had me. They bad me completely trapped.

“Don’t waste your time,” Nadine snapped. “Obviously, her patron gave her some kind of protection against your soul killer.”

“Then I’ll just kill her again and be done with it,” Robe said, swinging his scythe at me. To my surprise, March used his sword to block the scythe.

“Not yet,” March said. “Remember, if her patron brings her back, we’ll have to hunt her down all over again… We need to remove her from the game before the next contest…”

My back hurt like hell, but that was still mild compared to what Nadine had done to me before. I used ‘lesser healing’ on myself, which helped with the pain, but not my situation. I desperately tried to think of a way out of this, and the only chance I had was my spear.

“Three against one,” I said with a grimace, exaggerating the amount of pain I currently felt so they’d underestimate me. I willed my spear back into storage. “A bunch of freaking chickens…”

With that, I called up my spear again. However, even as my spear appeared in my hand, March’s armored fist came down and hit me in the side of the head. Everything went dark.