Sometime in early July, I saw the achievement notice that Arya had just finished Act 2. Of our circle, she was the only one there. Again I stepped up my efforts to catch up. As it was, my monk was almost at a point where he could solo Act 2 all by himself. Still not quite, but I was at least pushing through. Every now and then Arya did have time and helped me through some of the more punishing areas like enclosed sewers and the like.

During these times I really did make one big understanding: Arya really wasn't so far ahead of me as I had made her out to be. She was still doling out disgusting amounts of damage, but she was also exploding at every little pinprick. For all the knowledge she had learned about building her character, she was still working her way up just as much as I was. I still did what I could to guard and tank for her, and sometimes it actually worked out.

The dynamic had definitely changed, though. Before, when the monsters threw pits of lava under our feet or dropped those accursed spinning purple lasers, we were always able to at least laugh and wallow in our mutual misery. Now, I was feeling much more spite and shame playing into the game; I felt a touch of unjust righteousness every time I watched the "powerhouse demon hunter" die, and remembered the pangs of feeling useless every time I died. Playing Inferno difficulty was about proving a point: that you could play in Inferno. For me, it was becoming less and less about sharing an experience with someone special.

When I made my way to Belial, the boss of Act 2, I messaged Arya asking if she was free to help me out. She jumped into my game and off we went to fight what some people consider to be the most difficult boss fight in the game. It may have been true, but I never found the fight nearly as hard as some people did - then again, I play a tanking class so who cares what I have to say, right?

It took us about six or seven tries (and a lot of my reviving my oft-downed friend), but we took him down, collected our loot, and I triggered the last of the cutscenes. Arya then told me she had to go back to helping her other friend power-level through Hell. So I said my thanks and my goodbyes, and that I would talk to her sooner than later. From the other game instance, she threw back a simple "np".