FEBRUARY 27th, 2022
I slept for about an hour before I felt Aria shifting in the bed. I opened my eyes and saw she was sitting up, her eyes were calculating something in her head.
"You okay?" I asked.
Her eyes glanced over toward me. "Yeah, just thinking. About a lot of things mainly, but just how chaotic things have been."
"I know what you mean. Anything you want to talk about?"
She turned to me, "I don't know. I feel like most of it's already out there—just a matter of finding out how they all fit into everything."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
She shrugged, "It's hard to explain. "I'm just wondering about what he I know a guy who worked with weapons in beta. I could try to get in touch with him to see if we can outfit ourselves for the coming times."
"Yeah, send him a message...although I'm not too sure if I can really afford anything."
She shrugged her shoulders. "Can't hurt to check."
"You're right."
She finished typing and turned around to me. "Okay, that's done. What say we check out this town—see what it has to offer while we wait?"
"Yeah," I nodded. "Maybe there'll be a sparring hall we can use for some more practice," I said.
"Now you're speaking my language."
The wind outside started to howl—brushing past us in bright gales. I had almost forgotten what the feeling had been like—weather had been almost non-existent in this world up until now. Maybe it was an afterthought after all.
I looked toward the giant clock tower that stood as the most identifiable feature of the city. The hands moved slowly, but each tick was labored. "You think the way to the next floor is around there?"
"I could believe it," Aria said, holding her arms close to herself. "Important enough to be a point of interest."
A blood curdling scream pierced the air and was accented by the ticking clock. Aria and I looked at one another and immediately ran toward the source of the voice. We darted down the street past a couple of other players who were frozen in place by the scream. We continued until we saw the gargantuan figure responsible for causing the sound. Standing in front of what looked to be a water fountain.
"Is that Gregor?" I asked.
Standing in front of the fountain in black armor was the lovable oaf who had given me my shroud of darkness. He was holding a huge two-sided hammer in both of his hands—the likes of which had just finished squishing the head of another player. His brains were smashed to bits, and the survivor of his party—another guy roughly around my age—tried to run away.
Gregor wasn't going to let him go that easy. A second Gregor split from the first like he were some sort of amoeba. The second one leapt the distance in a matter of seconds, catching up to the other player. Gregor swept the handle of his hammer around on its hilt and caught the player in the side. His arm bent at an odd angle and he crumpled to the ground. The second Gregor looked down at the fallen player and stamped on their head.
The original Gregor looked up and saw the both of us staring at the scene. Around his neck I saw the Heart of Ares alongside a second keystone. It shimmered red along Ares's gold. It was the Heart of Apollo.
"Gregor, are you kidding me?" I said, holding my hand over the hilt of my blade. "We just got through this nonsense with Klein." Gregor said nothing as he pressed his fingers around the Heart of Ares. He hefted his hammer up over his shoulder and a second copy broke free from his body, charging at us.
"Shit," I said. "Cover me!" I called.
"You got it," Aria said.
I ran up to meet the third Gregor. He lifted the gargantuan hammer over his head and I swung my sword out to his legs. He offered a roar and pushed against me with the heft of his weapon. Aria fired two shots over me and one in the sky.
The second swung his hammer in an arc and blocked the first two. The third landed perfectly from above and shattered the copy into pixels. The fragments returned back into the original Gregor who stood by. He lifted and slammed his leg down—two copies erupted from out of his body in a shower of the pixel fragments. Two more joined those copies, and then two more. They encircled us—eight of them in total.
"What the fuck?" Aria said. "If his copies have less durability than the original...do you think that he has to split his life to make the copies?"
"I...don't know, but I know I don't like it."
"Cover me?" Aria asked.
'Of course."
She unlocked her daggers and I went invisible. She ran forward and stuck one of her daggers into a copy's chest. He shattered and returned to the original. Two Gregors were running toward her from both sides. I thrust my sword into the chest of the one closest to me. Aria spun on her heels and drove her daggers into the chest of the other. The both of them dissipated—revealing a third who thrust his hammer out, sending Aria back. She tripped and fell. He towered over her and I—
"Dex?"
Athena was standing on the edge of the battlefield holding her arm. I looked for a fraction of a second, but that was enough time for—
Gregor brought his hammer down.
"NO!"
The world went silent. One of the remaining Gregors picked me up and held me tight, I dropped my sword. I couldn't focus—my vision went blurry. My mind was racing but no thoughts stuck.
I screamed louder than my lungs would let me. I felt my whole body vibrate and a sudden light enveloped me—Gregor's eyes opened wide. I opened my eyes to darkness. I wasn't held down anymore, and I didn't have anything on me. All I saw was a small ball of concentrated glowing light. I walked over to it, inside the center I saw some color—it went deeper and so I felt myself falling inside.
Gregor's eyes opened. Wherever we were I was looking at things from his eyes I'm watching through them, unable to move or speak. Up above was a small candle-lit ceiling. This looks like the armory, perhaps his room? The question is when this is, or why I'm even seeing it. I've never even seen his bedroom before, not from the inside, that is, so why do I know what it looks like? Something at the edge of his vision started to flash. It looked like a symbol of some sort. Almost like the Greek letter alpha? It kept flashing until Gregor focused on it directly.
The symbol changed and now started to spread text across his vision.
"You will head to Novus Callus," it said. "You know your purpose."
Kill as many as you can before you are killed.
"You are to begin immediately. This will be our final communication. Do not fail me."
Gregor stumbled out of the room and opened the wooden door to the lobby of the armory. He took in a deep sigh and turned to slowly climb the stairs leading up to Beth's.
He opened the door, stepped inside. I saw as he looked over her sleeping body. The hammer shifted heavy in his hands. I tried to pull myself away. I didn't want to see this. No. No...NO!
I was screaming again and ripped myself out of his mind. I was back in Novus Callus. He let go of me and I fell to the ground. I hit hard and was shaking. I looked up to see his face looked blank at me. I couldn't tell if he was breathing...and then he fell over. Everything was quiet. I held my breath as I tried to work out what had just happened, but Athena was right there.
"Are you okay? You're alive! Holy shit what the hell was that? Where's Klein?"
I sat there, stunned. I couldn't move. So I just screamed. I saw she was holding her arm out—the one not under her coat—and I took it, still feeling like I was floating in a dream.
"Hey, are you there? Hello?``she asked.
I looked past her, and found Aria's body. I slowly shambled over and stared. Her whole head was caved in. Blood mixed with bone fragments and the gray matter of her brain. I looked and immediately regretted it, turning around and emptying my stomach onto the grass. I let out a cry and felt tears stinging my eyes.
"Why...WHY...fuck!"
"What? Was she…?" Athena asked, her eyes darting from Aria's body to me.
"She's gone," I said. "Because...I fucked up."
Realization flashed across her eyes, "Oh...I called you..."
I screamed louder and cradled myself together. "Please, just go." I said. "I can't right now. I just...it's just me left and I can't..."
"Come on, stand up," Athena said, extending her arm out again. "You're still alive. Don't waste that. For fuck's sake don't waste it..." She started to tear up, too. "This game is fucked and it just takes and takes but you can't let it take you."
There was a wicked crack to my left and I turned to see a new figure standing where there wasn't one previously. It was...strange. It was a blank almost-mannequin like figure with its arms outstretched. It turned to me on a pivot, angled slightly downward. "Oh my god Andy it is you!"
The voice I recognized immediately—it was Jen.
"W-What? What's going on?" I asked, wiping my nose. "What are you doing here?" I flashed back instantly to Eldon reacting to Athena being inside the game and got shivers.
She ran up to me and got as close as possible. "Pretend this is a hug you fucking idiot. Jesus Christ do you know how much we've been worrying about you?"
"I...I'm sorry," I said. "So much has happened and I...I'm just so confused."
"Who is this?" Athena asked.
The figure turned to look at Athena, "I'm his sister, thank you very much." She turned back to me, "I couldn't just let things be. I had to find some way to help, and so I did. I found one of the guys who worked on this stupid game—"
"I didn't actually work on the game," an older voice added in.
"Well, he worked with the guy who did—Jack Adata."
"Woah wait a second," I said, sniffing and standing up, I took a breath to compose myself. "Can this wait...just a few minutes? This is kind of a bad time," I said.
"Bad time? I come all the way to Denver, Jake got fucking shot, and I'm risking literally everything to find you and this is a bad time for you?!" She said.
I backed down. "I just lost someone too," I said. "Well, I guess everyone in here. I met up with Jack, he was by my side the entire fucking time and I didn't notice—I just only barely survived fighting a giant, and now everything is colliding at once and I'm feeling overwhelmed. So yes it is a bad time—it doesn't mean that I'm not glad to hear from you but holy fuck I just need a second."
"You. Left. Me." Jen said. "You left me with mom just like you always do. And not once did you think about how that affects me."
"Hey hey hey," the older man cut in. "Okay, it's obvious that everyone is raw right now."
"Who the fuck is this?" I asked.
"My name is Jay Rein. I used to work with Jack Adata before he created this game. I understand there is a lot of tension in the air, but I have to ask that we suspend it so I can explain how we can get you out of this game."
"Get us out?" Athena spoke up. "You can do that...wherever you are?"
"Yes, but it is going to take some working together." Jay said.
"Sorry, yes, let me explain a bit. I'm not done dealing with you, you fucking moron, but there's a lot you need to know, Andy."
We talked—calmly, and I would be lying if I said that it didn't help me start to breathe easier. All at once I felt like I had lost everything close to me and here Jen appeared—because she cared that much about me. Laws be damned. The best I could work for was to push the hurt aside to think about what is most important right now—how this Jay person could help us all escape. That's what she would have wanted.
I picked up the two keystones from Gregor's body and returned to Aria's. I looked toward the both of them and told them that we weren't leaving her here. That I'd speak to them fully once we showed her proper respect. Athena offered to help, but I saw how bad her left arm looked, so I shook my head and did it all myself.
I couldn't make a hole in the ground to bury her, so I moved her body over by the fountain and rested her among the flowers. I held my hand close to my heart and wished her a peaceful rest.
When I was finished we met back up and I led everyone back to the inn. I needed to sit down and it was the closest place I could think of. We entered the room and all but Jen's avatar found a place to sit. I don't think she was able to sit, but it seemed to work as they began to explain.
Athena told her tale, too. How the entirety of the first floor and all those who didn't make it past the barrier were burnt alive. I learned about Jake and his father's apparent ties to Jack Adata's cause. But there was one portion that I just couldn't believe.
"There's no way my dad was involved in any of this."
"You don't have to say it so weird like that," Jen said.
I instantly regretted it—slip of the tongue like that could have been worse.
"That's the rub," Jay said. "Andrew, I think it would be pertinent that she knows the truth, don't you? I didn't say anything because it's not my truth to tell, but I believe that it is yours."
"What are you talking about?" Jen asked.
"Not now," I said.
"What are you keeping from me?"
"We should lay everything out on the table here and now. Same page." Jay said.
"What does he know that I don't? What could he know that you know?"
I looked in her direction and sighed. "I don't agree that this is the right time, but since you've pulled my arm...I said my dad accidentally but instantly regretted it because I thought I had slipped up."
"Slipped what up?"
"You and I aren't biological siblings," I said. "Mom adopted you after Dad...okay, listen. I didn't want to tell you, ever, because you're just as any sister should. I see you as my sister," I said.
"That's an incredibly selfish justification," she said. "And you fucking knew about this?"
"It wasn't my truth to tell," Jay repeated.
"I think I deserve any truth at this point," she said. "I deserve to know who my birth parents are."
"And I think I deserve to not have a dad who shoots himself!" I cried out. "But you know what? Fuck him! He's a selfish prick that left his wife and son alone to deal with his problems, and we're better off without him. And the same goes for your dad. I didn't know him but fuck if he didn't just abandon you like mine did me. Fuck them both. You're more family than either of them ever were."
"He...shot himself?" Jen asked, horrified.
I took in a deep breath. "It's a long story—one I only know the end to." I looked up to the sky, "Is this what you wanted, Jay? Real good effort the truth does right now."
"It's important that she know so I can tell her the truth that is mine to share."
"W-what would that be?" she asked.
"When we had worked together here in Denver, Jack had a daughter. There was an accident and Jack was badly harmed—and so was his daughter. Killed, in fact. He...didn't take it well. Not anything from it—it was the breaking point. This was back in 2008—he actually had another child five years later with a different woman—that child was you, Jennifer."
"I'm...his daughter?"
"If you saw him it would be obvious. But yes."
I saw him. I thought back to the man who was in this very room not too long ago. Did Jen resemble him? I...almost thought that she did, but already were the details of his face fading from my memory as time passed.
"Our goal is to find Jack—once you make contact I can interfere with his mental processes—the hold that he has on all of you and force him to sever the connection." Jay said.
"Sounds simple enough to me," I said. "Do you have any idea where he's hiding out in here?"
"I don't right now. I have surveillance on the different floors but I'm limited to specific views."
"Okay, we'll have to try to suss him out," I said. I leaned back in the chair and took a deep breath. "But that needs to wait, at least a little bit. Can I speak with Jen alone?" I eyed Athena and the ceiling.
"Right," she nodded, and stood up. "I'll be out here."
"Jay's left the room," Jen said.
I took in a deep breath. "Listen, I'm sorry. I know everything is a chaotic whirlwind right now—no, that's not quite right. It has been for a very long time. And I left you to deal with that. To deal with Mom and everything that's going on with her. I haven't been a good brother. Nor have I been a good friend—and I want you to know I am sorry."
"I just wish that you were here with us sometimes. It wasn't always like the way it is now and I just want things to go back to the way they were."
"I don't know if that's possible."
"With Mom? Probably not. She scares me, Andy. She needs help—and I can't be the only one giving it. You know she listens to you more..." her eyes darkened, "Probably because you're her son."
"Hey now," I said. "That's not it. I told you that I think of you just like a sister—no different than if she was your mom. She does too."
"How can you know that?"
"Because I didn't always think like I do."
She looked over to me. "What?"
"I was a wreck after my dad killed himself. I'd just seen it happen and I couldn't cope with it. Then all of a sudden we're taking in this baby left on our doorstep. I don't know what Mom was thinking then—I was still so young, but I knew I didn't like you at first. I just wanted my dad back. It wasn't until Mom sat down with me and told me that we were going to have to make a new family—one with you because even though I had lost my dad, you lost everything. It was after that that I had started to think about how you would grow to feel after that. I couldn't let anything else hurt you. I took my own hurt and transformed it into something I thought was good. Although, I guess I strayed from that a whole lot..."
I couldn't read her expression on the blank model, but I heard her sniffle. "You dolt you just had to stay like you were. I always thought you were the best brother."
"I can be that again—better, in fact." I said. "I've had a lot to think about since coming into this game—I even met someone I..."
"Was it that girl? The one you buried in the flowers?"
"Yeah. Her name was Aria. You would have loved her—she was so strong and confident. I...I wasn't strong enough to keep her safe. I was supposed to cover her—we worked as a team."
"Nope."
I looked over to her. "I'm going through this song and dance, Andy. Jake's dad shot him. That giant killed Aria. You can't blame yourself for circumstance."
"I'm sorry," I said. "About Jake. You two were closer than anybody I know."
"He's here with me. He's here in my heart. Just like Aria is for you. You grew as you say—that's how she's still alive for you."
"Yeah, I guess."
"I can't hug you from here," Jen said. "But take it anyway. You need some catharsis."
I chuckled. "Cheers to that."
"I do have one more question."
"Only one?"
"The girl out there. Who is she?"
"She's another player I met here—back when...well, back when it was just me and Jack before I knew it was him."
"She's not another one of your…?"
I shook my head. "No, of course not."
"Well, I would think it would be smart to build a new team," she said. "If we're going to continue in this game."
"I agree," I said. "Are you able to fight in that form?"
"I dunno. Do you have anything to give me?"
"I don't, no. But we're...oh shit."
"What?"
"Before Aria was killed we were going to meet up with a player she used to know who ran a weapon shop on this floor...oh wait!"
"What...again?"
I was scrolling through my menu, and saw I had a message waiting for me from a familiar name, Oaken.
"Hey, I got a message from Luna...but in trying to reply to her I received an error. I hope that doesn't mean what I think it does. I saw you were in her party and want to know if there is any update to this, thanks."
I quickly typed up a reply and sent it out. "He just messaged me—he saw that Aria wasn't available to accept messages anymore."
"Oh..."
"We'll work with it. I'll see if we can't get ourselves outfitted after all."
"Hey Andy?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry too, about Aria." I looked at her and nodded. "I love you, doofus."
"Same to you, Cress." I said. "Hey Athena, you can come back in now!"
Athena and Jay reentered the room and we filled them in on the plan. Oaken responded to my message and soon enough we had a plan.
"I definitely need to find something new," Athena had said. "With my arm like this I can't use my sword."
"I didn't want to say anything because I was scared it would sound rude, but are you okay?" Jen asked.
Athena gave her a sad look. "I don't know. I'm fine for right now, and it shouldn't carry over into the real world...but it feels so real—it doesn't hurt if that's what you mean. It doesn't feel like anything, really."
We organized and found a meeting spot with Oaken over in the town commons. His height gave him away immediately—he neared six and a half feet. But unlike someone like Gregor, he was slim, a dusty overcoat covered his torso and his head was shaved. He wore a dark green top and gray slacks ending in tight-laced boots that looked like they've crushed a few skulls in their day.
"You're Oaken, right?" I asked as we approached him.
"That's me," he said. "What a shame about Luna," he sighed. "Fantastic player, but I'm sure I don't have to tell you that."
"Yeah, she was something special," I said. "She told me that you had some wares available. Is this true?"
"Yeah, I've got some things here and there. Before I go into the details I have to ask...who is that?" He pointed to Jen's avatar.
"We're trying to beat this game. We have some outside help."
"Outside? Interesting. As long as they're not a threat to me that's more than fine." He said.
"Only threat is to Jack Adata," I said. "We've had plenty of recent events where people who seemed to be normal players ended up being allied with Jack. My question comes back around if you feel that way?"
"Me? Fuck no. Although I guess asking me would be one of the least accurate ways of finding that out, no?"
"Fair point. Just gotta ask is all."
"Well, since we're seeming to be at a mutual understanding, follow me. I'll take you all to my pop up."
We followed him down the street and crossed a garden that had been growing on a patch to our left. It was a small run-down building he led us to that inspired anything but confidence.
"This is your place?" Athena asked.
"Not impressed?" Oaken asked.
"It kinda looks…shabby."
He laughed. "I was given it like this. Can you imagine? This is the thanks I get for testing out their shitty game. I tell you I only started playing the full version because I got it for free. I wasn't going to play it past the first time curiosity got me."
"I'm starting to feel like I'm the only person who didn't try this game out in beta," I said.
"You're not the only one," Athena said.
"It wasn't anything special." Oaken said. He kicked open the door and led us inside. "First let me see what you've already got—I can judge what'd fit best for you based on what you're used to."
I unsheathed Elcor and placed the blade on the front counter-top. I felt a tinge of hesitation before letting go of the hilt. I knew that nobody ever keeps their starting gear in an MMO, even the first gear they get after that, but something just felt a little…depressing knowing that Elcor would be leaving my side. But thinking of everything that this sword had done since I had gotten it—my choice became much easier. I knew I needed something stronger than what I had to survive what this game would have to offer.
Oaken looked over the blade and held it above his head—feeling its weight and then turning around—looking through some storage cabinets I couldn't see inside. He pulled out a sharp cutlass that seemed to be merged with a heavyset revolver.
"That looks really awesome," I said.
"It works first as a sword, second as a gun. Your weapon was really rare, so I decided to up my trade just a bit. It's rare to find an actual gun in this game compared to the magic and swords," he said.
I picked it up and held it in my hands. A button on the side retracted the blade to better balance the revolver. A second button on the opposite side retracted the barrel of the revolver to better balance the cutlass. When both buttons were pressed the cutlass and revolver both merged into a small pistol. The weapon's name was Flintlocke.
"That can act as either a ranged weapon or a close combat one, it's all in your preference. And for that armor," Oaken began, "…the best I can do is this," he said, rummaging through his storage. What appears next on the counter top was a blue plated set of armor, it is heavily layered. I took it in my hands and a prompt opened up for me to equip it. I gave him the Shroud of Darkness. "It's not a unique class, that armor. It's got better defense than the gear you have now, but it lacks the special ability of this shroud."
Better to be rid of it. Invisibility was nice, but I couldn't bear to keep something tainted by Jack's influence—something given to me by Gregor. Technically anything in this game was tainted by Jack's influence. But I had to set a line in the sand somewhere.
"Alright, I think I can manage," I said.
"Now, how about you?" Oaken asked Athena.
She walked up to the counter-top and moved to unsheathe her Wo Dao. The curve of the blade extended almost the length of the counter. Oaken took it in his hands and looked it over.
"I need something that I can..." she motioned to her arm. "I can't wield ones like this anymore."
"Hm..." Oaken mused. "Quite an interesting dilemma. Have you ever thought of just waiting this whole mess out?"
"No," she shook her head. "I'm not sitting around. I'm not letting anybody else die because of this game."
"A brave answer. Foolish, but brave. The lightest I have here would probably be this," he brought out a short cylindrical tube the length of his hand.
"What's this?" She asked.
"It's called the Lance of Longinus." He pressed a button on the side of the tube and it extended out to a full spear. "The bible says that this weapon was the holy lance that inflicted one of the five holy wounds in Jesus Christ during the crucifixion."
"Holy wounds, huh?" She asked. "Looks like this lance is going to be killing another god. Seems fitting."
"I like the way you think," Oaken said. "But that man is no god. He is but a man."
"Either works for me. He's dead no matter what," she said.
"Works for me too," Oaken said. "I'm low on unique armor at the moment, the best I can do is a color variant of what he has," Oaken said, pointing to me.
"That's fine," Athena said.
Oaken placed down a set of purple armor down on the table. She took it and equipped it. It instantly flashed over and replaced the garbs she was wearing.
"Alright, and now for the last one." Oaken said. "I'm honestly not sure what I can do for you."
"Uh, is there anything I can have that doesn't go to close? Walking around is a bit of a hassle as it is," she said and demonstrated walking in very robotic lines back and forth.
"Ah, playing it old school? Interesting. Yeah, I may have something, but it'll cost you if you're not trading anything in."
"I've got it covered," Athena said.
"Really?" I asked.
"Yeah. I've been pinching from Rafael's stash before things went up in flames...literally. I've got enough to cover anything she'll need."
"That's...wow, thank you," Jen said.
"Hm, well, since our goal is to get out of this game, I guess the money that this world uses doesn't mean too much in the end. I'll let it slide," Oaken said with a smile.
"Even greater!" Jen said. "What have you got?"
"Well in your case I was thinking something like this," he brought out a silver cane with a jewel fit in the end. "It's called Zarathustra. You'd be acting as a spellcaster class."
"We'll have to find someplace to figure out how this all works," I said. "Is there a sparring hall anywhere in this town?" I turned to Oaken.
"Sure is, just follow the road here down until you get to the commercial district—you'll see the bazaars set up. Take a right and follow it down and you'll see it—it's as big as a Colosseum."
"Alright, that should about do it for us. Thank you very much!"
"No problem." Oaken said. "Now you all go get this game all solved for us so us common folk can head out of here, yea?"
"Why don't you come with us?" Athena asked.
"Too risky." He shook his head. "I know my place in this world. And it's not at the end of some fool's sword."
We walked out of the shack and Oaken locked it right up. The poor building looked like it's screaming to be put out of its misery, but Oaken disregarded it completely.
We went our separate ways and followed the directions Oaken had given us.