The Devil In White: An AA Online Novel

They sat awkwardly together around the table. Raven had her hand in her l.a.p. Aidan was making small talk with Amelia's mother. Forsythe set plates and utensils and started placing food. Amelia was telling her dad about her experiences in the game when he surprised her.

"I was admiring that young woman's wood carvings." He admitted when she finally got to the most recent part where they were in the Tomb of The Royal Apothecary.

"Wait. What?" Amelia stopped, her voice rising somewhat. It was a little shrill, and the conversation ceased. Raven had her hand hovering with a knife over her steak, it trembled as if she didn't know if she could eat and listen at the same time or if that would be rude. Margaret had already chastised her about cutting more than one bite from the steak at a time.

"Schulia. It was a lovely fox." Francis didn't seem discomfited. Instead, he took another bite of steak and chewed thoughtfully.

"You saw that?" Amelia demanded.

"Yes. It was explained to me that you were streaming video from your game so your mother and I watched it all." Her father motioned to his left and Aidan passed him the asparagus plate. "You know we were born after the internet was invented right?"

"Why didn't you say something?" Amelia stammered.

"You didn't ask." Francis doled out a portion of asparagus and returned the plate.

"So you just let me talk about all these things I was doing and you already saw them?" Amelia asked incredulously.

"It was rude to interrupt." He answered, then another bombshell. "Your mother and I decided we're going to join the game."

The only sound was a knife hitting a plate as Raven began to systematically cut steak. It was somewhat interesting to watch considering she had only the one hand to hold it in place and cut it. In fact, it briefly captivated everyone at the table. She put a bite in her mouth and then the sound of her chewing as she waited. Her eyes were wide as she watched them, in turn, waiting for the drama before her to continue to unfold with expectation. Forsythe had sat down but he kept his gaze on his plate, shrinking slightly to make himself smaller. Aidan though was smirking as usual as if he had just heard something hilarious. His eyes were pointedly looking away.

"It's… uhh… look…" Amelia stuttered. "It takes a long time to level up. You're going to miss the good parts of the new content. Anyway, it's kind of scary."

"Oh dear, your father and I don't want to do that fighting thing you kids do." Margaret shook her head, pausing to take a casual drink of water that had a slice of lemon in it before replacing it on a table cozy. Amelia frowned for a moment because she didn't remember owning any tea cozy sets. She briefly glanced at Forsythe who stared back at her, as if anticipating her notice. He smiled confirming that he was responsible for the beautifully knit coaster that her mother was using. Amelia blinked and tried to turn her full attention back to her mother.

"We're going to start in the Brack Kingdom with that nice King of yours and sit out by the lake. It looked lovely, and a little investigation revealed that the climate is very nice this time of year."

"You're… retiring… to the game?" Amelia was more confused than ever. More confused than when she had noticed the tea cozy.

"Yes, well your father was so enamored of those little carvings that he told me he's going to learn stone sculpting." Margaret rolled her eyes. "I'm terribly frightened. You know he started painting a few years ago and now we have a shed full of his paintings."

"You don't like them?" Francis looked up, somewhat shocked.

"No I love them dear, but I don't know what to do with 300 paintings I love." Margaret stroked the top of his hand affectionately on the table. "I keep thinking that we must give them away but then I can't bear the thought. I think I spend more time thinking about them than you do." She admitted. "Which ones to put in the kitchen, which one's to return to the shed. It's exhausting."

"Oh." Her father returned to his meal and then didn't comment further, obviously content to let his wife continue as she pleased.

Amelia wasn't ready to give up this bone yet. "You're going to retire to the game… and sculpt rock?"

"Stone." Francis made a face at her as if he was a little disappointed. "Rocks make gravel. I read online that if you get good enough you can cut gemstone as well. That would be interesting."

Raven and Forsythe were now watching the exchange, their heads turning from Amelia and back to her father like two dogs watching a treat move back and forth. Aidan's shoulders were shaking slightly as he tried to contain his laughter.

These people were no help, Amelia decided.

"But… you always told me that games were fine but I needed to focus on real-life?" Amelia tried out his own words on him, but it was her mother who answered.

"Your father and I couldn't make more than $10,000 dollars a month lounging in a game like you can," Margaret said shortly. "Honestly Amelia, we're not going to hunt you down in the game and make you hang around with us. We're a.d.u.l.ts, and we don't need your supervision or your permission." Margaret turned to Forsythe and started telling him how splendidly her well-done steak was. She was the only one who had told him very little to no pink and he had looked crestfallen. That had been a very short war of wills though because she had simply asked him if there was something wrong. Very stoically he had replied, as if in great pain, that no, that would be fine.

"Aidan," Aidan straightened as she turned to him as if realizing he was in sudden danger. "Please tell my parents why they'd just be wasting money on something that they're going to hate." Amelia narrowed her eyes at him. She made sure her look contained an 'or else' clause.

"Ah. I don't think they'll hate it. I'll give them a little money so they can get a blanket," he motioned to Margaret, "to lie out in the sun on and some starter sculpting tools. They can pay me back if they feel like it but I don't even really see that they need to go out into danger if they're just staying in town." Aidan ducked his head, trying to avoid her look of betrayal. He didn't even have the sense to look ashamed, grinning as he was.

"Wow, your parents are kind of amazing," Raven said, chewing as she spoke.

"Chew then speak," Francis said casually.

Raven startled and froze in her chair. She chewed as fast as she could and then swallowed, and she then tried again. "Your parents are kind of amazing. They defeated you, Forsythe, Aidan, and me in the same hour." Her eyes shone with admiration. "I want to be Amelia's parents."

"No way." Amelia scowled.

"Rejected." Forsythe.

"That's nice." Her dad gave Raven a rare smile. "So tell me about this… street gang, you lead?" He nodded his head toward Forsythe but kept his eyes on Raven.

"Oh, the kids? Yeah, I'm forming a pirate crew. It's nothing too big. You gotta start small you know?" When he encouraged her by nodding in agreement she started to get a bit more excited and continued, "You know they wanted to start shaking people down this week but they're way too inexperienced." She started to wave her knife to make a point but his gaze shifted slightly and she put it down as she began telling them about the kids and how they all played pirate together during the mornings.

Raven and Forsythe left, and before long her parents had gotten up and decided that it was the time they hit the road as well. As they hugged her and left, Amelia stood staring dumbly at the door. "This is terrible." She finally decided.

"What? It'll be fine." Aidan assured her.

"No, you don't understand. My dad is like Forsythe. We'll go to the continent and come back and it'll be King Dad and his beautiful consort Queen Mom." Amelia began pacing. "Mom can't sit still. She'll be meddling. She's a meddler."

"It's nice to know you got something from your mother too. I was thinking you and your dad are a lot alike but I can see your mom now." Aidan grinned. "Hysterical energy and wild imagination. Willful too."

"This is serious Aidan." Amelia hissed at him, eyes narrowing. Then her eyes narrowed for a different reason. "Wait, did you just call me my mother?"

Aidan laughed even while she punched him.