She was falling and yet, she felt like she was flying at the same time. Colorful lights whizzed across her. She raised her eyebrows and lifted her hands in the middle of the fall.
They moved!
She shook her legs and flailed in the air like a mad man. She was so, so happy. But it didn't last long when she saw that she was headed to nowhere.
A little sound started playing inside her head, almost robotic. As she fell, it started to get louder and louder until she could hear it like crystal inside her head.
"Tiara Keeser. We are happy to welcome you into the deluxe version of The Dream System. You will be experiencing a lot of things but don't worry, all this is in your head and it is in the end, just a game."
"A game?" she looked at the flashing lights around her. She could move, something she was currently depraved of. So the robotic voice was right. That injection Mitchell gave her led to this?!
"We have hopes in you, New Player."
"Who has hopes?" Tiara screamed against the wind in her face.
"The Creator, of course. As a play-" the voice cut off and glitched down into something incomprehensible. Suddenly the colors around her inverted and a darker voice spoke.
"Initiating Landing in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1."
"Ow," Tiara whimpered as she finally hit the soft ground, reducing the pain of the fall. Amazingly, she got up and stood straight. She loved feeling her hands and legs again and they felt more powerful than they had been ever before.
Her legs slipped a little, though. Her brain was only getting used to the commands required for the body to move after 8 years of coma.
Overall, she felt, lighter, stronger and like she could flex at any angle. "So cool…" she muttered to herself and looked up suddenly when a huge blue screen opened up in the black space around her.
8 D audio started blasting from all around her as a 360 degree video started playing. "Oh...this is like the intro to a new game." She smiled and watched it like a movie with huge sound effects. Arrows were thrown and stars fell and broke upon the Mortal kingodom, Zirlock. Flying soldiers, mages and magical beasts all teamed up and defended the kingdom from the evil Dramon Sect led by what they called The Obsidian Lord.
He was the first and only child of the South Enchanted Dragon and the 13th Hell Demon. He couldn't live by eating normal food, instead he needed blood to live. Not just any blood, but the blood of the Skybird Sect children, who were born with flying abilities and could heal anything they touched.
Tiara sat down on the floor and watched The Obsidian Lord get defeated by the Elder of the Euphoria Flame Sect in the great battle between the Mortal Realm and the Earth Realm.
"Ahh, wish I had some popcorn. This is the best animation I've seen in ages!"
The Obsidian Lord of the Dramon Sect retreated and disciples of Euphoria Flame declared that the Skybirds be slaves under them for three years as gratitude for defeating the Dramons.
That extended to five years, seven years…a century. And when The Lord returned again with more powerful and bigger Dramon children, the Skybird Sect was weak and the Euphoria Flame Sect had lost the support of the other main clans and sub clans.
Zirlock lost and were the slaves of The Obsidian Lord now.
"Your mission, Player, is to tap into your inner God and become one in order to save Zirlock from the hands of the evil sect. This may be hard for your poor, impoverished soul," the robotic voice said, "but remember, the treasures you get in return are many."
May the power of the Nine Realms guide your path!"
Tiara bit her nails and shook her head, "What is this game…it sounds like one of those light novels I read as a kid. What was it, now? Wu-wu…wusha?" She scratched her head and got up and decided to ask her brother when they meet in this new world. A set of options opened up in front of her and she slipped a little before she regained balance on her two inexperienced feet.
"Choose your Race. If you are in Trial Mode, you can choose the Ghost Race which allows you to simply observe the game. If you are in Player Mode, the Race you choose cannot be changed unless you start over. So choose wisely."
"Hmm," Tiara stroked her nose thinking that it was her chin. She frowned and stroked her chin instead. Her brain was really messing up after 8 years of coma. She saw that her screen showed Player Mode.
"Worker, too lame. Demon, cool but hated. Insect, too small to have fun," she stood there for a while, pondering. There were options like Administrator, Creator and Dramon Lord but they were all grey. No player could choose that option.
"Naked Banshee?!" she laughed at the Race name, "Now that's cool. I want to protect my innocence though, even if it's avatar style."
At the end, she decided on Royalty, something that was close to her heart. She had been living like one all her life. At least, half of her life. The other half, she had spent as a hospital patient. Also, as royalty she might have access to more teachers and schools were she could become a God and win the game.
As her hands reached forward to select, her brain refused. She moved her legs instead of hands for a while. When she figured it all out, her hands slipped down to the option below that.
"What, no!" Tiara yelled, "That's not Royalty!" Before she could do anything, the tiles under her started falling one by one and with that she too, fell.
Her eyes opened and she was in a vast field of tall flowers, swaying with the wind. She looked around, the wind flying in her face and saw no inhabitants or any tall buildings.
"Well, this isn't a town or a city for sure." She looked up at the blue sky and the sparrows tittering here and there. The sight was one of the most beautiful she had ever seen.
Ding!
A red mail box formed in front of her and she picked it up. Writings formed in the air as she read the message.
"Welcome to the Mortal Kingdom of Zirlock. You are now on Level 0. Check your profile for other information and quests. May the Twine Powers guide your path!"
She saw an avatar logo on the transparent screen and clicked that. She narrowed her eyes to check which Race she was in.
"What?!?!" She looked up at the sky and screamed, shaking her hands. They worked perfectly now.
"I'm a Beggar," she sulked and sat on the flower field, picking the filaments of the daisies.
That's when Mitchell's last words floated into her brain like bubbles. "He said I had 15 minutes…and Hush Fountain! I had to meet him at Hush Fountain in Valoria province," she told herself and got up and pulled up the Location.
She typed in 'Mitchell' in the search player bar, and a few players showed up on the map but all of them were in other provinces. "Is he in this game by a nickname?"
Smiling on the inside, Tiara typed in another word and exactly one player popped up on the map, right next to Hush Fountain.
"Mom might have disowned me," she smirked, "But I'm still your sister."
She took flight and ran across the fields towards Hush Fountain. After a while she fell on the ground.
"Nghh…" A notification popped again.
"Excessive running has depleted HP of Beggar. Find Food to regain HP."
Tiara buried her face in the soil in annoyance, "Who the hell made this game?"