Ace of Capes [Superhero LitRPG] [Isekai] [Card Crafting]

Lexie wanted to fight someone.

Anger spiked as the images in her head vanished into nothing but darkness.

She jerked up in bed and glared at Xena, who was standing beside it. "What did you do that for?"

Xena frowned. "Don't cop that attitude with me. It's time for the welcome dinner, which is mandatory, and there are going to be announcements. I didn't want you to miss it and get punished again because I'm a good friend."

Lexie blew out a breath and placed her hands over her face. Logically, she could see the sense in what Xena was saying, but she wasn't in the right headspace to accept it. She'd been so close to seeing where Theo was. So close.

And now it was gone. She could scream.

That was only if the dream was real. Was it? Maybe it was just a dream, but inwardly Lexie knew it wasn't. Everything had seemed so lifelike, so detailed. There was no way she could make all of that stuff up.

"Hello, Lexie? Anyone home?"

"Give me a second." Lexie got out of bed and rushed across the common area toward the bathroom. She closed the door behind her and locked it just in case. Instantly, she was on her SI, calling Stella Firebringer. Her foot tapped as it rang, and anxiety riffled through her.

She collated her thoughts, deciding what exactly she was going to tell Stella.

I saw your son in a dream…no, that wouldn't work.

The dream may have been real because I'm the soul-spawn of an Eldritch Dream Weaver, and that means I may develop dream magic too at some point… that wouldn't work either.

"Come on, Lexie." Or maybe she should just tell Stella that Theo was missing and Lexie might know where he is, but she couldn't explain until she saw Stella in person. That might be enough to get her attention. However, Stella didn't pick up the phone. She didn't pick up the next two times Lexie called either. She was probably busy.

Damn.

Lexie called Mane.

But as the system screen rang, Vacek's words returned to her. Don't tell anyone what you just told me. No one needs to know that we're on to them because I need to find the rat before he goes into hiding.

But Lexie was sure Mane could keep the secret, especially if he thought that his son was at risk.

Or could he?

Mane had been the one to tell Lexie that he'd seen Theo leave that morning, and he'd also been the one who told her that Theo had received an urgent mission. What if he'd been compromised too? What if he hadn't seen Theo at all, but they'd done something to him to make him think that he had?

Lexie didn't know if Mane had powers. She knew he was a retired soldier, but beyond that, she had no idea if he had magic.

"Hello?" Mane suddenly picked up the call at that moment. "Lexie, is everything okay?"

Lexie was frozen on the hill of indecision. She didn't know which way to lean, and she bit her lips as she was pulled in both directions.

"Lexie? Can you hear me?"

"Yeah," she finally exhaled. "Yeah, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have called. I just...I had a fight with my dad and I…"

"I understand." Mane's voice was instantly gentle, even over the clamor of plates in the background. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Um, no, I'm good. Besides, you sound like you're busy."

"I'm not too busy to listen."

"Thank you," Lexie said. "I'll call later."

"Lexie, I–"

She hung up in the middle of his sentence.

What to do now?

She had an idea, opening up her inventory. She realized that Isaac had texted her back, responding to her question about whether the system could be hacked with: In what way?

Lexie knew there was one way to check if her dream was real.

Lexie: What's an SLO?

It took Isaac a few seconds to respond

Isaac: System Language Override. Why do you ask?

Lexie: Can that be used to hack into someone's system to send texts on their behalf?

Isaac: Ehh…maybe, but it's new underground technology, and currently it doesn't work all that well. The system is pretty good at detecting when an SLO is being used and fighting back. For the SLO to get access, the person would have to be unconscious or heavily injured in a way that would trigger a system reboot. And even if they manage, it will only work for a couple of seconds, until the system realizes what's going on and corrects the error.

Unless the victim is somewhere that the system can't reach…Lexie realized in horror. Like in a dungeon.

But you couldn't contact someone from a dungeon. Could you?

The man holding Theo had told Vulcan to stick him somewhere he'll have nightmares for months. That fits the theory of Theo being stuck in a dungeon.

Waves of horror hit her. Theo was in some kind of dungeon right now, and so was Lucy Frank. Maybe Silas Creevy, too. That was why no one could find them. Vulcan and whoever he was working with had managed to control the dungeons enough that they could make it hold people hostage without outright killing them.

Why he wasn't killing them was a mystery, but if he hadn't killed Theo or Lucy yet, then it meant that there was a chance Max was also being kept somewhere in a dungeon, and he was still alive waiting for her to save him.

Lexie had to do it now.

She took a breath, leaned down to wash her face, and got out of the bathroom only to nearly run into Xena, who was standing right at the entrance.

"Hey," Lexie breathed, her mind a million miles away but still retaining enough awareness to know she was out of line for how she'd spoken to her friend. "Uh...sorry for what I said when I woke up. I didn't mean to yell at you, it's just–"

"You were having a bad dream?" Xena's voice was quiet, her expression strange. Not antagonistic necessarily, but there was a coolness Lexie had never seen there before. "You've been having a lot of those lately."

"Yeah, but you know why."

"When was the last time you were purified by Dee?"

"Uh…I don't know. We met up last week, but she was super busy and really exhausted, so I told her she didn't have to do it right then. She said she would probably meet me sometime after school started."

"You told her she didn't have to?" Xena's eyebrows cocked, and now Lexie noted distinct suspicion in her tone.

She immediately went on the defensive. "Yeah, because she was practically keeling over from exhaustion. She'd just attended to an army of people. I was the least of her worries at that point, since I'm healthy for the most part."

"I won't call anything about what's going on with you healthy, Lexie."

Lexie closed her eyes. She didn't want to be dealing with this questioning right now. She would rather be somewhere planning a dungeon rescue, but here she was, trying to convince her best friend that she wasn't crazy. "I don't know what to tell you, Zee. What do you want to hear?"

"I wanna hear someone that sounds like the Lexie I used to know," she said. "You've changed. Have you realized it?"

"Well, my Uncle did die at the beginning of the year. And before that, I had to fight a troll and a ghoul that came out of a dungeon. And before that, I almost crippled a girl. What do you want from me, Xena?"

There was a knock, coming from Dewie's bedroom door across the common area. Maybe if she were in a different mood, Lexie would have been amused by the fact that Dewie was knocking on his own door to gain permission to enter the common area, but she wasn't in that mood.

The door tentatively opened as the air crackled with tension, and Dewie's meek voice called out, "Um, guys?"

"What is it, Dewie?" Xena said without her eyes leaving Lexie's.

"Dinner is starting soon," he said. "We have to leave now."

"I'll get ready in about two minutes," Lexie said to Dewie, but she was still staring at Xena.

"Alright," Dewie said, and he closed the door. Lexie tore her gaze away and went back to her room, where her suitcase was on the floor. She noticed that Ava wasn't in the room with her anymore, probably because she'd already headed out to dinner. Xena wasn't leaving, standing behind her like a bodyguard. Lexie ignored her. She grabbed her dress and went into the bathroom to change.

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Dinner was an awkward affair. Xena was still openly staring at Lexie, and Lexie had resolved not to say anything to her anymore. She'd already tried apologizing and explaining, but Xena didn't want to hear it. All she'd said was, "Talk to me when you're ready to tell me the truth."

So Lexie had stayed silent.

It left Dewie, Jace, and Jett to carry most of the conversation, which they tried their best to do to cover the awkwardness between Lexie and Xena, but it didn't quite work. They talked about their vacations and the fact that Jace had eaten a toad and gotten some kind of weird food poisoning, and Jett had had to unleash Albion when he and his father went caving and ran into a scary underground creature.

"Dad says Albion isn't so bad," Jett said. "He's been on Earth forever, so he knows a ton about ancient digs and cultures, and he likes to talk about it too. If Albion wasn't a demon possessing his son's body, they might have actually been friends."

"Eldritch," Lexie corrected automatically.

"Oh yeah, sorry, Lexie. I didn't mean it like that."

Lexie nodded, but she sensed that Xena's gaze had grown sharper. She didn't look at it, instead glancing around the cafeteria.

Lexie scented Anais before she saw her. She smelled like expensive perfume, and she'd gotten a trim for her wavy blonde hair. She beamed as she walked over to their table and slid into a space beside Lexie on the bench.

"I'm so glad to see you, you have no idea," she said. "I really thought you were a goner when I saw you walking off with the head of the frigging hero's association."

"Yeah." Lexie managed a weak smile. "It was no big deal. He just wanted to ask me a few questions."

"About the Eldritch stuff?"

Lexie nodded because it was easier than explaining what Vacek had actually wanted her for.

"Ugh, I knew it." Anais made a face. "This is all Rufina's fault. I swear, she's so annoying, and more annoying than usual toward you. I don't know why she has it out for you so badly."

"Her friend died," Lexie said mildly. "She thinks it's my fault."

"Yeah, but it's absolutely ridiculous of her to think that. Why on earth would you summon a dungeon? And even if you wanted to, people don't just summon dungeons. That's impossible. Right?"

"Right." Lexie dropped her gaze to her garden salad, which she'd essentially just pushed around her plate without eating.

"What's he like?" Anais said. "Vacek, that is. My dad says all the heroes are scared of him. They hate him, but they can't get rid of him because of how terrifying he is."

Lexie shrugged. "He's okay. A little scary, but not a monster or anything." Although he was very devious, especially when he tricked Lexie into using her cards in that dungeon.

"Dad's hoping they get him out of the association soon," Anais continued. "He wants Stella Firebringer to take over. Or even Skysoarer. He thinks the association should be led by one of the original hero families, not an outsider like Vacek."

"That's not fair," Jace said. "Vacek has made a lot of good changes for the association. Before him, Heroes could wipe out entire cities without repercussion."

"Nuh uh. That kind of stuff was rare and was sensationalized by the media. Heroes have always been told to maintain a heroic code. It's even in the law. "

"And how often was that law enforced?" Xena said.

"As often as they could," Anais said.

As the argument continued in the background, Lexie tuned them out and was instead thinking of Theo, who was in the dungeon.

Who could she call for help right now? Her father? No. He wouldn't do anything with this news. Even if he believed her, he had already made it clear that he was willing to let other people die just to keep her safe.

If she told him, he might get her pulled out of school and would lock her up somewhere that she couldn't escape from, much less dream of helping anyone else.

No, her father wasn't an option.

Vacek was an option. She could tell him about her dream. At the same time, she didn't entirely trust him. He had a lot on his plate, and she didn't know how much he actually cared about the heroes beyond what he could use them for.

Not to mention that he'd seemed pretty serious when he'd told Aiden that he wouldn't take Lexie to any more dungeons. He might not want to risk her father's wrath by helping her. Instead, he might even report back to Aiden and help him lock her up.

So that put him on the back burner.

Stella was busy, and Mane might be compromised.

Damn it. If only Lexie could figure out the exact dungeon that Theo was being held in. If she could somehow convince the dungeon to communicate with her some more, and they figure out exactly where Theo's dungeon was, Vacek could then track it with the Red Tails.

"Alright," Professor Melisandre finally began the announcements toward the end of the dinner. "I'm glad you're all back here safe and sound. I'm sure you're eager to get back to your food and your conversations with your friends, but I just want to relay a few quick announcements. One, this is a firm reminder that we have mental health staff members on board, one of whom is a fantastic mind healer. We appreciate that some of the younger heroes are having trouble coping with our simulations, and so we are making it mandatory to see the mental health professional at least once a week. We will also be ramping up the simulations, so take the help for what it is. Secondly, the second year class will be split into crime-fighting groups and will fill in on patrol shortages. We lost three of our students last week to a mob shoot-out, and we will be having a vigil for them tomorrow. We've also had a student from the third year drop out, three students from the second year, and twelve from the first year. We've accepted ten transfer students to take their place."

"I heard Ian P. dropped out," Anais said. "Shame."

Lexie couldn't remember who Ian was but nodded limply. As her eyes scanned over the second-year table to see how they were taking the news, her gaze rested on Torin, seated beside Kai.

Lexie had another idea.

After the announcements, dinner continued for another few minutes, and then it was over.

Lexie instantly got up and headed towards Torin, who was joining Skysoarer and a few others streaming out of the hallways into the courtyard.

"Torin," she yelled loudly to get his attention, and also got the attention of the students behind and surrounding him. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"It's almost curfew," he replied.

"I'll be quick."

He thought about it and nodded, but as he walked to her, she could sense the dirty looks and comments they were getting.

"Who does she think she is? She's just a first year."

"Why is she taking to him like that?"

"It's because she gets special treatment."

Torin took her aside, near the forest, where they could have some privacy.

"What's wrong?"

"You can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you," Lexie said. "Promise or I'm going to be in big trouble."

"I can't promise anything."

"Please, Torin. It has to do with Theo's life."

Torin's expression was instantly alarmed, but he nodded.

Lexie released a breath. "I think Theo is in trouble. When I went with Vacek today, he told me that he never gave Theo any special assignment. Theo has been kidnapped."

Torin's eyes widened. Shock took over his features, but he remained silent, listening to the rest of the story.

"I think I know where he is," she said. "Don't ask me how I know, but I do, the same way I knew about the dungeon in Hartville. But I need to confirm exactly where."

He frowned. "Why not tell the authorities and let them handle it?"

"The hero association has been infiltrated by moles feeding information to the villains. That's why they keep getting away, and it's how they were able to capture Theo under the guise of giving him a job. He was looking into the disappearance of Lucy Frank, and I think he found something, and it was my fault because I helped him..." The guilt made her voice high, so Lexie paused, shook her head, and took a deep breath before she could continue. "If I tell my dad, he won't let me go. He'll want to protect me even if Theo dies as a result. Vacek may not help me, your mom is too busy, and well....I don't know anyone else in the association and can't trust whether or not they're a mole. If the mole figures out what I know, Theo may die." She stepped closer, imploring him with her gaze. "I can't tell your dad either because they might be tapping him. I just need to go check out one thing somewhere away from here, and then I'll know for sure where he is."

"Where?"

"I'm not sure. But with a teleportation orb, I can get there." Orbs could work with images or memories and get you to the nearest place. "Can you lend me one?"

Torin thought about it and shook his head. "No. How are you even going ot get off campus in the first place?"

"I can take an exeat."

"Without a guardian's permission? It's not happening."

Lexie was thinking about it, about how her cards could possibly help her get out of here, but Torin said, "And don't even think of sneaking off with card magic. This island is a fortress. There are security measures you can't even see, and you won't believe. You're not going anywhere."

Lexie heaved a breath of frustration. "Torin, I don't think you get how urgent this is. If we don't find Theo within the next day or so, we may never find him again."

Torin paused and chewed the inside of his lips, his expression cloudy with his thoughts.

"Let me think about it. I'll figure something out."

Lexie pressed her lips together. It wasn't exactly the response she was hoping for, but at least he didn't shoot her down entirely. At least he listened to her.

"Thanks," she said.

"Now get back to your room. It's curfew."

Of course. Now they were in school again, it was back to drill sergeant Torin.

On the way back to her dorm, Lexie ran across Xena in an empty hallway.

"What did you and Torin talk about?" she asked.

"Xena–"

"I think you should talk to Lionel, Lexie," she said. "You're showing signs of... possession." She mouthed the last part.

"I'm not possessed, Xena. I'm tired." Lexie breathed. "Look, I'm in a very irritable mood, and if we talk right now, we're going to fight and probably say a lot of nasty things we don't mean. Let's just table it till tomorrow. I'm sure I'll be a lot better after I sleep."

Xena's lips formed a thin line, but ultimately her shoulders sagged, and she nodded.

When Lexie finally returned to her suite, it seemed Xena wasn't the only one worried. Dewie was sitting at the common area table, and when Lexie walked in, he got to his feet, closing his hands into fists, nerves scrawled across his face.

It reminded Lexie of years ago, when he'd first asked her if she wanted to be his friend.

"Hey, Dewster," she said in a softer tone as she walked to him.

"Hey, Lexie," he said. "Are you okay? I'm really worried. Do you need me to do something for you?"

Lexie shook her head, and on impulse, she hugged him when she reached him.

After the classic Dewie-pause, he hugged her back.

"Are you okay?" he whispered.

She gave him honesty. "No. But I will be."

Torin's text came later that night as Lexie was trying to sleep. It was simple, to the point.

Torin: I got us exeats for tomorrow. Convinced Journeyman it was a training exercise, so he didn't have to tell your dad. We'll go in the morning.