"What are you writing?" Eddie asked, craning his neck in an attempt to see Lily's notebook, which she kept hidden behind a book wrapped in a makeshift brown paper book cover as she leaned away from him, keeping it shielded from his view.

"Just working on my final essay for Click's class." she lied swiftly, pointing to where she'd written 'Honors History' on the book cover for show, to avert Eddie's prying eyes.

"Oh, cool," he said, leaning his head back on his pillow, focusing on the worn copy of The Fellowship of the Ring that rested in his lap as the two fell back into a comfortable silence, disrupted only by the scratch of Lily's pencil against the paper, or Eddie turning a page in his book.

The scratching of pencil against paper continued on the page as the hours went on, and eventually the next couple of days, longer than any essay would feasibly take to be written, though every time Eddie asked, her answer remained the same: she was simply writing her essay about the history of the United States Constitution. Each time, she was met with a glance that grew more and more disbelieving, but he simply shrugged, turning back to his book. Eddie wasn't aware of the world going on on the other side of the book's binding, or the way she glanced up every so often to make sure he didn't see the words on the notebook pages.

When she finally walked into the hospital room that morning, the chairs and tables still placed on the other side of the room to mimic the Hellfire Club's lunch table, she donned a brand new club shirt, the stark white replacing the grime and blood stains of her tattered old one. When Eddie glanced up at her, he studied the new shirt with an approving smile before his gaze moved to the backpack slung around her shoulders, causing him to sigh.

"Let me guess," he said, "More work on your essay for Click's class?"

"Not quite," she said, trying to hide her smile, though failing greatly. "Now that you've been officially cleared by the town, I wanted to do something to celebrate. So I called in a few friends..." she trailed off as the others began to file into the room one by one.

In came the members of the Hellfire Club, all wearing their club shirts as they filed into the room, including Erica, who sported a brand new one, as well as Steve, who followed Nick inside, with Will not far behind. Everybody carried a notebook and pen with them, as well as their own bags of dice, along with cans of Mountain Dew tucked under their arms.

"Gareth the Great here to call this meeting of the Hellfire Club to order," Gareth announced proudly, beaming in Eddie's direction.

"What's all this?" Eddie asked, smiling as he set the book on the table next to his bed, reaching for his crutches to pull himself into a standing position.

"We're celebrating," Lily said as Eddie made his way over to their table, but stopped him short just before his usual spot at the head of the table. "Sorry babe, that's the dungeon master's chair. You know the rules."

"Yeah," he said, furrowing his eyebrows together. "That's me, remember?"

"Not today it's not," she insisted, giving him a smug smile as she began to unpack her backpack, including the notebook she'd been writing in and the book still covered with the brown paper bag.

"Yes it is," he said. "I don't even have a character sheet to play with, I'm always DM."

"You know, I thought you might say that." she said, reaching for the notebook and taking out a piece of paper tucked neatly inside before passing him a sheet for a Fighter class, the character already filled out and ready to go. "Meet Eddie the Hero." she said, a proud smile on her face as she handed it to him.

Eddie grinned as he looked the sheet over, his eyes beginning to glass up at the term hero before quickly blinking them away and looking back at Lily. "Shit, Lily Mayfield the DM. Let's see what you've got," he said proudly, sitting down in the chair next to hers as she took his usual seat at the end of the table, putting up her screen and finally uncovering the book, the title now reading Dungeons and Dragons: White Plume Mountain.

"Alright, is everybody ready?" she asked, looking at the party all sitting around her, nerves beginning to flutter in the pit of her stomach but she took a deep breath, steadying herself as they all began to nod.

"I still have no idea what I'm doing," Steve said, scanning over his Barbarian sheet, but he nodded. "But let's do this."

"Okay," she said, flipping the book open and looking back at the party, all gathered around the table. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to channel her inner Eddie as she began to smile, a newfound sense of confidence overtaking her. "Our tale starts with our famed adventuring party, known around the realm for your past feats. Eddie the Hero," she began, before moving down around the circle, "Gareth the Great, Jeff the Just, Todd of the Wildlands, Nick Duskshine, Steve the Terrible, Lady Applejack, Sir Mike, Will the Wise, Dustin of Neverwinter, and Lucas Larkspear." At the mention of his name, Steve began to grin, though it was still apparent he had no idea what he was doing.

"In the town of Soubar, a small village on the Trade Way, our story begins in the Winding Way Tavern." Lily continued, reading from her notes. "You've all been summoned to this village by a local Cleric in need of assistance, for three very important possessions have been stolen by the work of a wizard named Karaptis. Inside the tavern, you see the Cleric sitting near the bar, an elf by the name of Lillian Wildfire."

"Oh shit," Eddie said, the mention of their party's former Cleric bringing a smirk to his face. "Can I flirt with her?"

"I'll allow it," Lily said as Dustin began to fake a gagging sound. "Though remember, you and your party were summoned to complete a job."

"Oh, I'm going to get the job done, that's for sure." Eddie insisted. "We'll save the town and I'll get the girl in the process."

"In that case, I think I should probably do the talking." Nick spoke up. "Miss Wildfire, my name is Nick Duskshine. How can we be of assistance?"

"You came just in time." Lily responded. "There's been a terrible tragedy in town. Three of our sentient weapons have gone missing, at the hands of a dark wizard. They've been stolen and taken to White Plume Mountain, a place where only the bravest of adventurers dare go."

"What are these items?" Will asked, already scribbling away at his notes.

"A trident, by the name of Wave," Lily began, "a war hammer called Whelm, and a sword named Blackrazor. Together, these three items are vital to the protection of the Forgotten Realms, and must be returned as soon as possible."

"We will retrieve them for you, my lady." Eddie said. "You need not fear."

"You must retrieve the three items from deep inside the White Plume Mountain, but beware, many dangers lurk inside its walls. Wave and Blackrazor have been sought out by other parties, in search of a hefty sum from those who wish to relocate the lost artifacts, but you must reach all three before them. The fate of the realms is in your hands, adventurers." Lily instructed.

"Can I wink at her?" Eddie asked.

"Roll your D-twenty." Lily said simply, the others watching the interaction as Eddie picked up his dice, rolling it onto the table in front of him.

"That's a six," Eddie said as the others began to laugh.

"You wink at Lillian, and attempt to lean back against the bartop, but you're slightly further away than you thought." Lily said. "You stumble slightly, but do manage to steady yourself before you fall."

"Smooth," Steve spoke up as Erica began to laugh next to him, Eddie's cheeks flushing slightly pink.

"Lillian sees the wink, and though she says nothing in response, you do see her smile as she begins to turn away from the group." Lily explained.

"So you're saying there's a chance," Eddie mumbled as he wrote a note down on his paper. "Got it,"

"Your items will be safe with us, Miss Wildfire." Will spoke up.

"Wonderful," Lily said. "With that, you leave the tavern and head back onto the road. The tavern lies at the end of the village, with White Plume Mountain high in the distance. What is your next move, adventurers?"

"To the mountain," Todd spoke up, looking around at the others for confirmation. "Any objections?"

"Let's go get 'em," Dustin said with a proud smile.

The group made their way down the path up to the mountains, able to avoid danger before reaching the mountain, where the entrance lie in the form of a cave at its base. Inside, their surroundings were dark, only lit by a torch carried by Lady Applejack, after Erica received a high roll to catch a glimpse of the dangers that awaited them.

"As you walk further down this path, you see a light begin to glow from the distance," Lily narrated to the group. "The light grows brighter and brighter until you see a room ahead, lit by several sconces on the wall. Inside this room, a chest lies on the other side, wrapped in a heavy chain and padlocked shut. In front of the chest stands a Monstrous Crab, nearly ten feet in size, and when it notices your arrival it lets off a piercing screech, which echoes off the walls of the cavern." From the table in front of her she picked up the small figurine of the crab, placing it at the end of the setup before them. She looked up at the party, her eyes narrowing on one of the members looking back at her. "Steve the Terrible, what is your action?"

"Oh, shit," Steve muttered, looking down at his sheet before glancing over at Nick, who quickly whispered something in his ear. He nodded at her words before looking back over at Lily. "Can I hit the son of a bitch with my club?"

"Roll your D-twenty," she said. "We'll see if it beats his armor class."

"That's this one, right?" he asked, holding up a die from his bag, and Lily nodded before he let it roll. "Sixteen,"

"That's a hit," she said, an impressed smile crossing her face. "Now you'll roll the D-four dice to determine the damage."

"Cool, cool," he said, his eyes scanning over the dice before Nick handed him the correct one. "Thanks, babe," he muttered, letting it roll next to the D-20. "Two,"

"Your club swings through the air, hitting the crab on one of its legs." Lily explained. "While a small crack is now visible, the crab otherwise seems unharmed." she looked up at the other end of the table. "Lucas Larkspear, what's your action?"

"I'm going to try to hit him with my axe," Lucas said, reaching for his dice. "That's a fourteen,"

"Ooh, miss," Lily said, "You swing, but the crab manages to jump out of the way just in time."

The group continued to fight the Monstrous Crab, sending a barrage of spells and other hits from their non-magic users. In the end, the crab was no match for the famed adventure party, falling dead at their feet after a particularly strong cast of Fireball from Will the Wise.

"As the crab ceases to move, you now have access to the locked chest." Lily narrated. "However, there is no key to be found. What do you do?"

"I've got this," Erica spoke up. "I use my thief's tools to try and pick the lock on the chest."

"Roll for me," Lily said.

Erica rolled her dice, only to smile satisfactorily as she looked back up at their new dungeon master. "That's a twenty," she said proudly.

"Incredible," Lily said with a smile. "You pick the lock, and it comes right off of the chest. Inside, you find Whelm the war hammer, unharmed and ready for battle. Your original job for Lillian is complete, and you may return to Soubar if you wish, knowing the other adventuring parties are on the hunt for Wave and Blackrazor. However, her words echo in your minds that saving all three of them will be what saves the Forgotten Realms, despite the fact that finding the other artifacts before the other teams do will not leave them as your biggest fans. Do you turn back to the safety of town and consider it a job well done? Or do you continue on to find the other items?"

"Are you kidding me?" Eddie asked with a scoff. "No running away from this party, I'm not letting the hot Cleric down. We're finding the other items, right guys?"

"Find the other items," Nick agreed, the others echoing words of encouragement around them.

"Very well," Lily said.

The adventurers continued down the path to find the next item, where Wave was wrestled out of the hands of an old dwarf, boasting that the party sent to retrieve the item had fled after the death of one of their own. The dwarf had still been laughing about his prior victory when he was inevitably poisoned by the weapon of Lady Applejack, weakening him enough to be taken down by a blast from Gareth the Great. As each weapon was found and reunited with the others, the team grew more and more confident, their pages filling with notes as the hours passed by. By the time Mike and Todd had brought down the final monster, an Ogre Mage by the name of Qesnef and retrieved Blackrazor, the sun was beginning to set behind the trees outside the window of Eddie's hospital room, but they were still holding strong.

"That's it?" Dustin asked, looking at Lily with a suspicious look. "We took down all of them? No catch?"

"I'm not sure what you mean," she said simply, feigning innocence. "Now that you've retrieved all three weapons, you make your way back out of the mouth of the cliff and onto the path leading back to Soubar."

"This is awesome," Eddie said. "We're going to return those weapons, and Eddie the Hero's going to get his girl."

"If Lillian's that impressed with a guy who tripped just trying to wink at her, I'd be concerned for her standards," Nick said with a smirk, causing Todd and Jeff to chuckle from their seats at her other side.

"The houses on the edge of the village grow closer as you make your way back to Soubar, the path in front of you still lit by Lady Applejack's torch." Lily narrated. "However, before you can pass within the town limits, you hear a shout from behind you. Down the path you've just come from, you now see a group of people with torches, swords drawn in their other hands as they advance towards you angrily."

"Who are these assholes?" Mike asked.

"As they reach you, the two in front of the group remove their hoods." Lily said. "You recognize the woman on the left as Elise, Cleric of Waukeen, the leader of the party sent to rescue Wave from the dwarf. On the right, Taron Rastin, Cleric of Lathander sneers at you, his eyes glued on the treasure entrusted to his own party, that of Blackrazor."

"Oh, shit," Gareth muttered. "How many of them are there?"

"From the number of lit torches, you can see there are eleven of them in total." Lily informed them, placing down eleven different figurines onto the table in front of them. "Do you flee and leave the weapons for the rival parties, or do you stand your ground and fight?"

"No way," Steve spoke up. "We rescued these things fair and square. I'm not leaving them for some losers who couldn't even defeat a dwarf."

"Big words, big guy." Dustin replied, shaking his head at Steve with an amused grin. "But I agree."

"To the death?" Erica suggested, causing the rest of them to smirk in response.

"To the death!"

Lily chuckled as the battle began, looking over at Mike. "Sir Mike, what's your action?"

"I want this guy," he said, moving his figurine to where a member of a rival party stood on the edge of the group. "I'm going to use my sword, and that's a..." he paused, rolling the dice. "Fifteen,"

"Hit," Lily said, "What's your damage?"

"Seven," he said, studying the die lying before him.

"Dustin of Neverwinter, your action." she said.

"I'm going to also attempt to use a sword," Dustin said, rolling his dice. "Shit, that's an eight."

"Miss," Lily said, before moving onto Jeff.

The battle raged on before them, as their party fought that of the two rivals, with everyone teaming up against one of their enemy groups. Some of them fought bravely, Will taking out his enemy with a particularly powerful blast of Fireball as well as Todd managing Call Lightning, whereas some needed a bit more help, with Gareth finally able to roll high enough to hit thanks to Dustin's Bardic Inspiration.

Although, the remaining enemies fought back, with Mike, Gareth, and Nick meeting their ends at the hands of Elise before she was taken out by Lucas, though their Ranger met an end of his own along with Erica, Jeff, and Todd at Taron Rastin's blade. While Taron was the last standing, Eddie, Steve, and Dustin all looked at one another, the three final members of the party, though their health was beginning to dwindle.

"Six hit points left." Dustin reminded the boys, his eyes narrowing at the small figure of Taron Rastin on the table.

"Correct," Lily agreed. "Eddie the Hero, what's your action?"

Eddie reached for his dice, a devilish grin crossing his face. "Let's kill this son of a bitch."

The group watched intently as Eddie rolled his dice to use his sword, coming to rest as the number 19 became visible. Everybody cheered as he picked up his smaller dice, ready to deal his damage.

"Just remember," Lily said. "If you roll a six or higher, the battle is over and you win. If not, it's his turn to hit you back."

Eddie nodded, twirling the die around in his hand before throwing it towards the table. Everybody stood up as it began to roll, including Lily, who peered over the dungeon master's shield protecting her from the rest of the group as it came to rest in the middle of the table, complete with a number 7.

"Hell yeah!" Eddie exclaimed as a chorus of cheers rose up from around the group, everyone reaching forward to high five Eddie as Dustin began to chant his name, followed by Nick and the rest of the boys, one by one.

"Eddie! Eddie! Eddie!" they chanted as he broke out in a proud smile.

"With one final battle cry, Taron goes down as the light slowly fades from his eyes," Lily narrated excitedly, the rest of the party beginning to settle back into their seats. "You all turn to see that a crowd has begun to gather from the Winding Way Tavern, its patrons beginning to grow concerned from the racket. Among them is Lillian Wildfire, eyeing the three items with a grateful expression on her face as she notes your victory."

"Damn, she saw us win, too?" Eddie asked. "This just gets better and better."

"What do you three do now?" she asked, looking back at Dustin, Steve, and Eddie expectantly.

"For you, my lady," Eddie spoke up quickly. "I hand Lillian Whelm, and I take her hand, kissing her knuckles."

"Gross," Dustin mumbled. "But I hand Wave over, too."

"Same with Blackrazor." Steve agreed.

"Lillian is overjoyed," Lily said. "You have restored harmony to the Forgotten Realms, and as for Eddie the Hero, he may have even scored himself a date back to the tavern that Friday night." a chorus of snickers sounded around the party as Eddie beamed proudly. "You have reached the end of your journey... for now."

"For now," Steve muttered, watching Lily skeptically as everybody began to clap. "That was it?"

"Babe, we've been playing for eight hours," Nick reminded him, and Steve looked out the window to see the sun long gone beyond the horizon.

"Eight hou- shit." he mumbled, his eyes wide. "That was kind of cool, actually." he admitted.

"I told you," Dustin sighed exasperatedly.

"Alright guys, I'm out of here," Gareth announced. "I have to work early in the morning, but that was really cool. Well done, Lily."

"Thanks," she smiled as they began to file out of the room, leaving Eddie and Lily alone as she began to pack up her things back into her backpack, Eddie eyeing her intently.

"You know, if you take a picture, it lasts longer," Lily teased, zipping her backpack shut once the table was completely cleared off.

"Why didn't I know you could DM like that?" Eddie asked, a look of awe written on his face, but she shrugged.

"Never came up, I guess," she said. "I played DM back in California a couple of times, but it's been a while. Did I do okay?"

"Okay?" he asked. "That was great. I've just never seen that side of you before. That was hot."

Lily blushed, hiding her face as she took her seat again next to him. "I'm no Eddie Munson, but I'm glad everyone had fun."

"I can't believe you did that for me." Eddie said. "That's the first time since all of this shit happened that things felt somewhat normal. Like things really are looking up for us."

Lily smiled, reaching forward and squeezing his hand. "Like I said," she reminded him. "We're going to be alright."

Author's Note

Aaaaand we're back to our regularly scheduled updating! So sorry for leaving this one for so long, but the school I work at is officially out for summer which means more free time to get some writing done! Fair warning, I know nothing about actually being a dungeon master, but I do play D&D so if I got anything wrong, so sorry.

Thank you for reading and it's so great to be back with Eddie and Lily :)