As the weeks began to fly by in the town of Hawkins, rejoicing in the surprise return of Will Byers, the weather began to change as winter took its hold over the midwest, blanketing the town in a layer of snow. As the Byers family and their friends began to settle back into their new normal of a routine, Anna found herself slowly looking over her shoulder less and less, finally able to once again focus on her sophomore year rather than any monsters she feared might still be lurking in the shadows.
Once the schools had reopened following the events in the halls of Hawkins Middle School, days were spent studying with Becca and Landon for their upcoming final exams for the semester, however, countless nights were spent with Michelle at Lucy Lu's Cafe downtown, with empty cups of coffee piling up as the two girls scribbled down notes, trying to piece together every bit of a puzzle that was slowly coming together.
"How do we feel about the Thessalhydra?" Michelle asked one night as they sat in front of their second cup of coffee for the evening, a half-eaten blueberry muffin sitting in front of Anna's workspace, her history essay long forgotten in the pile of Dungeons and Dragons notes strewn over the tabletop. "Too predictable?"
"Nah," Anna said, shaking her head before finishing her drink and scribbling it onto the bottom of the page directly in front of her. "They'll never see it coming. I think it's a good way to end it."
Throwing herself into planning the campaign for the boys was just what Anna needed to finally get her mind off of everything concerning Hawkins Lab, as she traded the monsters lurking in the dark for the ones trapped within the page where they belonged. By the time she'd dropped Michelle off at home that night, they'd felt confident and excited about the campaign ahead of them, and could only hope the boys felt the same.
"Why won't you just tell me where we're going?" Dustin huffed as Anna grabbed him by the hand, pulling him along after her as the blindfold obscured his view, but he stopped short as he began to skid on a patch of ice, throwing his arms out to catch his balance before he fell. "Seriously, Anna, I'm going to die out here if you keep this up."
"Don't be so dramatic," she chided, pulling him to a stop as she knocked on the door, and finally pulled off the blindfold to reveal the Wheelers' house in front of them.
"We're at... Mike's house." Dustin deadpanned. "Anna, what the hell?"
The front door opened wide to reveal Mrs. Wheeler standing in front of them, a bright smile on her face as she gestured for them to come in. "Hi Anna, Dustin," she greeted. "Come on in. Everybody's waiting."
"Thanks, Mrs. Wheeler," the two of them chorused as Dustin followed Anna to where Will, Mike, and Lucas waited by the closed doorway to the basement, blocked by Michelle.
"There they are," Mike sighed. "Can we know what the surprise is now?"
"I think they're ready," Michelle said to Anna, who nodded in agreement. "Alright boys, head on down and take your seats."
Michelle moved aside from the door, opening it to allow the boys to see the table set up at the bottom of the stairs. As Mike followed them to the basement, his look of excitement changed to confusion as he saw four seats surrounding the DM screen, rather than the three that usually sat across from him.
"Four spots?" Mike asked. "I-I didn't prepare anything for today."
"Surprise!" Anna exclaimed, pulling out an extra chair to add behind the DM screen. "We decided to surprise you guys with a campaign. Mike, you'll get to be a player today."
"Really?" Mike asked, his eyes widening as he began to smile.
"This is awesome!" Dustin exclaimed, quickly taking his seat. "What are you guys waiting for? Let's go!"
Anna smiled as the boys all took their seats, and she and Michelle took their own behind the screen, exchanging a look before beginning. "Our story begins with four heroes: Mike the Mighty, Will the Wise, Dustin of Dwarfholme, and Lucas Larkspear." she looked around at each of the boys, who watched both of the older girls intently. "The four of you have been summoned to the city of Northvale by none other than King Tristan, who has heard of your brave deeds and is in need of help."
Although it had been years since Anna had last played a game of D&D, her last full campaign being in middle school before she'd moved to Hawkins, she let the air of the game wash over her as she continued to speak. The boys watched with bated breath as she detailed King Tristan's mission, having summoned the four heroes to Northvale after a slew of monsters north of the city began to terrorize its people. The famed knight, Sir Monaghan, had gone to ward off the beasts nearly five days ago, but still had yet to return.
"It is up to you, adventurers." Anna said, mimicking the voice of the king. "Will you stand up to the task? Or will you flee back home?"
"Not a chance," Dustin scoffed. "We're up to the task."
Michelle smiled proudly. "The king bids you goodbye and you leave the castle to a crowd of townspeople outside the palace gates. Many of them are cheering you on, thanking you for your bravery, while others watch with a saddened expression, knowing you are about to embark on a journey from which you may never return."
"You reach the edge of town, from which there's a mysterious cave leading you to the north." Anna continued as the boys began to frantically scribble notes down onto the pages in front of them. "As you reach the mouth of the cave, you note that it's pitch black as far in as you can see." Anna paused, turning to where Will sat at the edge of the table. "Will the Wise, what are you going to do next?"
"Can I cast Fireball to light a torch?" he asked. "Is there any wood nearby?"
Anna nodded. "You see two unlit sconces, one on each side of the mouth of the cave."
"Cool," Will said. "I cast Fireball to light the sconces, pick one up to keep and pass the other to Mike."
"Now that you have a light source, you continue on into the cave." Michelle narrated.
"I'd like to roll a perception check," Dustin spoke up. "Can I see what's in the cave?"
"Sure," Anna said, and Dustin picked up his dice, rolling it near his notepad.
"Twelve," Dustin said.
"From the torch light, you can see a weird species of flower clinging to the sides of the wall." Anna explained. "You've never seen this sort before from your travels."
"Are they poisonous?" Lucas asked.
Michelle shrugged. "Anyone care to find out?" she asked with a smirk.
"I think we should take them with us." Will suggested. "Put them in a vial or something and keep it until we need them."
"I have a vial in my inventory." Mike said. "We can put it in there and keep it in Dustin's bag of holding."
"Very well," Michelle said. "You take a few of the smaller flowers and put them into a vial, which goes into Dustin's bag of holding. As you keep walking, you see a faint light that gets brighter as you realize you are reaching the end of the tunnel. Once you reach the end, you come to a forked path. To the left is a path leading into a forest, to the right you see a swamp. Which would you like to go to?"
"The forest, right?" Mike asked, looking around at the rest of the group, and Will nodded in agreement.
"Definitely the forest," Dustin agreed.
"The forest it is," Lucas said proudly.
Anna and Michelle exchanged a grin as she turned the page in her notebook, leading the adventurers down the forested path. As the hours went by, including a knock on the basement door from Mrs. Wheeler to let them know the pizza had arrived for lunch, the boys had been so enraptured in the story that they opted to skip their lunch break, instead scarfing down slices of pizza while Anna and Michelle took turns detailing their unfortunate encounter with an Aarakocra.
"As you continue down the path, leaving the creature's carcass behind, you spot a fair maiden with a sword strapped to her belt, the fabric of her pink dress slashed off at the knees." Anna narrated. "As you get closer, you recognize her as Princess Aryn, the daughter of King Tristan."
"Your Highness!" Lucas exclaimed. "You should get back to the palace. It's not safe out here."
"But Sir Monaghan has been missing for five days." Anna said in the princess's voice.
"Yes, Your Highness." Mike agreed. "That's why your father, His Majesty the King, sent us to deal with these creatures."
"He must be found." Anna insisted. "I will not rest until he's been brought back to the kingdom safe and sound. Deal with the monsters if you must, but I must find him."
"And with that, Princess Aryn moves past all of you, heading in the opposite direction in search of the lost knight." Michelle continued. "You see her disappear from view, following the other path back to the cave and the swamp, where no doubt, further danger awaits. When you turn back around, you see the mountain pass King Tristan told you about back at the palace, the source of the monsters."
"Let's go kill those sons of bitches," Dustin said proudly, the other boys cheering in agreement.
"I think they're ready, Michelle." Anna smirked.
The adventurers continued up the mountain path, fighting the hordes of Troglodytes emerging at each turn. Lucas had a close call with a rogue dwarf, but was saved at the last minute by Dustin, distracting the dwarf long enough for Will to defeat him. From the basement of the Wheeler household, the party had hardly noticed the sun slipping beneath the horizon, until Anna glanced over at the clock behind the couch, noticing that it was getting close to dinnertime.
"As you get further up the mountain pass you feel that something is coming." Anna warned. "Something angry. Hungry for your blood. It's almost here."
"What is it?" Will asked, eyes widening nervously.
"I bet it's the Thessalhydra," Dustin guessed, causing Anna to attempt to keep the surprised look from her face as she played it cool.
"It's not the Thessalhydra," Lucas protested.
"I'm telling you, it's the Thessalhydra," Dustin insisted.
Michelle laughed, reaching for the game piece behind the screen and slamming it down onto the board in the center of the table. "It's the Thessalhydra!"
"No!" Mike exclaimed.
"Damn it," Dustin sighed.
"The Thessalhydra roars in anger!" Michelle exclaimed. "Will, what's your action?"
"What should I do?" Will asked, looking back at the other boys.
"Fireball him!" Lucas yelled.
The boys fell quiet for a moment as Dustin leaned back in his chair for a moment, surveying the others before leaning forward again and smirking softly. "Fireball the son of a bitch," he said.
Will smiled nervously as he picked up the dice, giving it a shake before rolling it onto the table. "Fourteen!" he shouted, an excited smile crossing his face.
"Boom!" Lucas exclaimed as the boys shot up from their seats, beginning to cheer as Anna and Michelle joined in with them.
"Direct hit!" Anna said. "Will the Wise's Fireball hits the Thessalhydra. It makes a painful screech before crumpling to the ground. Its clawed hand reaches for you one last time before it falls, dead." At her words, the boys began to dance around the room, cheering loudly at their victory. "Lucas cuts off its seven heads, and Dustin places them into his bag of holding. You carry the heads back, victorious, and you present them to King Tristan. He thanks you for your bravery and service."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," Dustin said. "That's not it, is it?"
"No, there's a medal ceremony," Michelle assured him.
"Oh, a medal ceremony!" Dustin echoed. "What are you talking about? What about the lost knight?"
"And the proud princess?" Lucas added.
"And those weird flowers in the cave?" Will asked.
"All in due time, my friends." Anna smiled deviously, rising from her chair. "Alas, it is dinnertime and we need to get going. C'mon, Dusty,"
"Alright," Dustin sighed, grabbing his bag as they bid their friends goodbye, heading back up the stairs and into the kitchen, where Karen Wheeler finished up icing a cake.
"Heading home?" Karen asked, and Anna nodded.
"Yeah, we need to get going." Anna explained. "Our grandparents are in town for the holidays so our mom's making dinner."
"Well, wish them a Merry Christmas for me." Karen said. "And Anna, thank you to you and Michelle so much for doing that for the boys today. It sounded like they had a lot of fun."
"Thanks, Mrs. Wheeler," Anna said. "We had a lot of fun too. Merry Christmas,"
"Merry Christmas!" she called back to them as they headed for the front door.
Anna pulled open the door, only to stop short at the sight of Steve on the other side, hand raised as if ready to ring the doorbell before he jumped back at the sight of the door opening. His black coat was unbuttoned to reveal the blue knit sweater he wore underneath, adorned by a pattern of white reindeer, and a smattering of white snowflakes was caught in his hair as he reached up to brush them away.
"Anna," he said, catching himself before stepping back to let them through. "Hey,"
"Hey," she said, leading Dustin outside. "Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas," Steve said. "Have a good night, guys."
"You too," they chorused as Steve went inside the house, shutting the door behind him, and as soon as they were alone, Anna and Dustin exchanged a look before Dustin began to snicker.
"Did you see his reindeer sweater?" Dustin asked, and Anna nodded as they both began to laugh.
"Sure did," she agreed as he began to prance down the snowy driveway.
"Look at me!" Dustin exclaimed. "I'm Steve Harrington and I love reindeer! When did King Steve become such a dork? Did Becca seriously let him out of the house like that?"
"Oh, I'm sure she encouraged it," she said, smiling as she unlocked the car.
Anna opened the car door, waiting to catch her breath before turning the key in the ignition as the two of them continued to laugh. As they finally buckled into their seats, Anna took one last look at the house before putting the car in reverse and backing out of the driveway.