When the bracket came up on the looking glass, I realized that if both my guild and Frisco’s guild won the next battle, then we would have to fight each other.
The guild who had been chosen to be the face of the marketing campaign in our stead, the Doom Lords, were in the top 8 as well, and would be going against The One True Guild, which was sure to be an awesome match up. Both guilds had over thirty members, and it seemed like every player was a master of their art. Hiro Quest, a guild out of Japan, was set to fight the Norseman as well, but the most anticipated match was hands down the Purrrrsian Empire versus the Crimson Dragons. They had been the two highest ranked guilds in the game for some time now, and ever since Frisco and his cats beat the Crimson Dragons and took over their Castle, there had been bad blood between them.
As I sat there watching the announcers hype up the coming day’s battles, I felt a tug on the hem of my robes. I glanced down to see Frig grinning up at me, and he offered me a boney middle finger.
“Hey dickhead,” he hissed. “Megulla wants to talk to you.”
“Where?” I said, which gained me looks from Kit and Anna.
“Outside,” said the imp, before disappearing.
I told my guild mates that I’d be right back and made my way out of the coliseum. I looked for Frig, and finally found him rummaging through a dumpster in an alley behind the coliseum.
“Alright, Frig. Where is she?” I hissed.
He practically jumped out of his skin when I spoke and slammed his head on the wooden lid.
“Son of a whore!” he yelled as he dropped down from the dumpster rubbing his head. “Megulla is in the Underworld, you stupid bast—”
I grabbed Frig by the throat and slammed him against the wall.
“She can’t come to the surface,” he strained to say. “But you can talk to her with this.” He handed me a small mirror, and I tossed him back into the dumpster.
“Megulla?” I said to my reflection.
The mirror went black, and then Megulla’s bloody face appeared.
“Samson,” she said with a tired sigh.
“What the hell happened?” I asked, realizing that I feared for her.
“It wasn’t easy, but I did as you asked. Your parents are safe.”
“Where are they?”
She stepped to the side, and I let out a sigh of relief when I saw my parents sitting at a long dining table before a bounty of food.
“Hey Sam,” My mother said, waving happily.
“Are you guys alright?” I asked.
My father tore off a chunk of chicken thigh and grinned. “We’ve haven’t had so much fun in years!”
“We were kidnapped by a big dark demon,” said my mom happily. “Then we were held captive, until this beautiful demon woman saved us.”
Megulla turned and obscured my view, and she was all business.
“I have upheld my end of the bargain,” she said. “Now you hold up yours. Summon our children to the surface world, let them bask in the glory and healing power of your sun. Then I will release your parents.”
“That wasn’t part of the deal,” I said.
She shrugged. “That is the new deal.”
“Why are you holding my parents hostage?” I asked. “Don’t you trust me?”
“Trust?” she said with a raised brow. “I have not become the most powerful being in the Underworld by trusting people. Especially not surface world humans.”
“But I’m supposed to trust that this entire business of saving the children with the sun isn’t just your plot to invade the surface world?
“Our children are dying,” she said accusingly. “Yet you hesitate to do the one thing that will save them. You have forced my hand, Samson.”
“Listen—”
“No more talk. No more listening. Summon the children to the surface. Save them, and your parents will be returned to you.”
Her image disappeared, and I yelled her name at the mirror. When she didn’t appear again, I threw the mirror against the wall, shattering it to pieces.
“Way to go, dumbass,” said Frig.
I turned a glare his way, but he disappeared before I could put my boot up his ass.
When I got to the pub I found everyone hanging out in our booth and talking about the battle. They were in high spirits, and I didn’t want to bring them down with my problems, so I ordered a beer and tried to put on a happy face.
My guild mates knew me well, however, and it didn’t take long for one of them to notice that I was in a mood.
“Is it your parents?” Kit asked from across the table.
“Oh my god,” said Anna. “Have you heard any news?”
“Megulla has them, which is better than Baal I guess,” I said as I accepted a beer from the furry waitress.
“Don’t tell me that now she’s holding them hostage,” Nanaya said with a cross expression.
“Yup.”
“What’s that crazy bitch want now?” Tweak asked.
“Oh, just for me to summon her 1,000 demon children to the surface,” I said sarcastically. “Well, they’re not really children. More like chiseled demigods.”
“Do you think Baal really poisoned them?” Ember asked with concern.
“I don’t know what to believe. This is a devious demoness that we’re talking about. No offense Nan.”
“None taken, dick,” she said with a laugh that proved to be contagious.
I needed to laugh. It helped to clear my mind.
“If they die, will you mourn them?” Trinity asked evenly.
I had to think about that one, and my hesitation was answer enough for the warrior.
“Then screw ‘em,” she said with a shrug. “Your parents can just get a new avatar, and we can forget all about Megulla and this Underworld business and focus on what is important, which is winning this tournament and getting our own kingdom.”
“She’s right,” said Cecilia.
“I can’t believe you are both suggesting just letting Sam’s children die,” said Kit.
“Me neither,” said Nanaya. “Why would you waste such an opportunity?”
“Opportunity?” said Trinity with a look of bafflement.
“Uh, yeah,” Nanaya pressed. “Sam can summon 1,000 high level demon demigods to him with that pendant, and you think we should just let them die? Do you know how valuable an army might be to us?”
“Leave it to a succubus to want to take over the world with her boyfriend’s demon lover,” said Trinity.
“Out of all of Sam’s girls,” said Nanaya, “I can’t believe that you’re the one who’s the most jealous.”
“Jealous?” Trinity scoffed. “Bitch please.”
“Can you two go fight somewhere else?” Kit yelled.
“Everybody chill the fuck out,” said Cecilia. She tapped her interface and brought up the soundproof energy shield. “I’ve got a full house in here, and people don’t need to see us all arguing.”
“I agree,” I said raising my glass.
“I think Nanaya’s got a good point,” Tweak put in. “We can’t pass up on an army like this.”
“If we use a demon army to fight people on the surface world, what does that make us?” said Kit.
“I thought you wanted to save them,” Ember said looking exasperated.
“I do, but that doesn’t mean that I want to use them for an army,” said the cute furry.
“If Megulla is lying, then I will have unleashed an army of powerful demons onto the world who share my special ability,” reminded them. “And I don’t think that I can take that chance.”
“What if we bring the sun to them?” said Kit happily.
“How the hell would we do that?” Cecilia asked her fellow furry.
“I don’t know, magic?” Kit offered with a shrug.
“I have spells that use the power of the sun,” said Anna. “But I don’t think it would be a good idea to cast it on a demon.”
“No,” said Nanaya. “If what Megull
a says is true, then only you can summon the children to the surface world, and only the sun can cure them.”
“And if she’s lying?” I asked.
“Maybe you can control them. You are there father.”
“Have you tried?” Stormy asked.
I looked at the cute dwarf woman, having nearly forgotten she was there. She didn’t talk much, unlike the rest of my girls.
“I don’t know if I can control them,” I told her. “But they did seem to revere me. Who knows? But what kind of person am I if I just let them die? What if Megulla is telling the truth? I can’t just do nothing.”
“Sam, has anyone ever told you that you have a savior complex?” Trinity asked.
I let out a sigh. She was right
“Sam is a good man,” said Kit, reaching across the table to take my hand.
“Wow,” said Trinity. “I think that’s the first time you’ve referred to him as anything other than Big Daddy.”
“Alright,” I said and scooted my ass out of the booth. “Come on Trin, we need to talk.”
“What? Right now?” she asked, glancing around at the others and looking embarrassed.
“Yup, meet me at home.” I activated my heart stone for our tower in the Beartooth Mountains, and the next moment I was standing by the fire in the common room.
“It is good to have you home, Master Samson,” said the butler that I had named Pompousworth.
“Thanks Pomp, good to see you to. But I’m expecting Trinity any minute, and we’ll need privacy.”
“As you wish, Master Samson.”
He disappeared, and three seconds later Trinity appeared by the fire.
“So what do you want to talk about?” she asked, arms crossed and brow furled.
I gave her a hug, and she suddenly stiffened. It took her a moment to relax, but when she finally did, I felt her shoulders begin to quiver and jerk.
“It’s alright, Trin. I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.”
She cried into my shoulder for a minute, then she pulled back and forcibly wiped her nose, looking angry with herself for having been crying.
“Are you alright?” I asked gently.
“No,” she said with a laugh that ended in a deep frown. She turned around and paced for a moment, trying not to let herself cry. “I don’t know what the hell’s wrong with me. Maybe I’ve been logged in too long.”
“Trin, what happened in the Underworld?”
She blanched bowed her head. Her eyes went wide, as though she were seeing the memories in real life.
“Trin?”
“You know that my special ability is to make pain into pleasure…” she began, still staring at the floor with wide eyes.
“Yeah…”
“Well, in the Underworld, things sometimes get turned upside down. When I was being tortured, pain became pleasure, but pleasure became pain as well. Soon I didn’t know the difference, and I still don’t. It has left me numb inside, and I hate it, I hate it Sam. I’m afraid all the time. I used to be so strong, so sure, so…”
She broke down again crying, but then she began to laugh. It seemed that even feelings were getting mixed up, not just physical pain and pleasure, but also happiness and sadness. I started to think that maybe she needed to talk to Doctor Marks, or maybe take a few weeks off from the game. I didn’t know what the cost was to the physical body for people who played Rebirth Online for days on end. I never logged off. There was no need. I was a quadriplegic. But everyone else had a body to tend to, and although Rebirth Online offered excellent alternatives to the real thing, people had to log off every now and again to exercise and eat.
“Maybe you should just take some time off,” I offered.
“Probably,” she said with a laugh bordering on a pout. “But there’s no way I’m fucking up our chances to win a kingdom because of my frigging feelings.”
That was my girl.
“And then there’s the little annoying fact that I think I’m madly in love with you,” she suddenly blurted out.
I smiled at her. “I know you are, Trin. I love you too.”
“No,” she said, and took three slow steps toward me. “I love you. Like really love you. Like I-want-you-all-to-myself love you. You understand, Loverboy? I know that you can’t love me like I love you. And I know that this isn’t what the guild is about. Your special ability helps us all, and it is what brought us together, but I can’t help the way I feel.”
“Trin, I—”
“I know what you would say, but just hear me out, please,” she said, finally meeting my gaze. “You would say that you can’t pull favorites, that you love us all equally. But you do have favorites. It has always been about Anna. That’s how this all started, and it’s always been about Anna.”
“Trin—”
“I see how you look at her. It’s different than the way you look at the rest of us.”
Was she right? Did I love Anna more then the others? Did I really love any of them the way a man could love just one woman?
“I just needed you to hear me out, Sam. Thank you.” She said.
“You know what you mean to me, Trinity,” I said as I took her hands in mine. I kissed her deeply, and a part of me wondered if it hurt her in her altered state, or if she even felt it.
“And now you know what you mean to me,” she said with a smile. “I’m sorry I’ve been such a nut. You’ve got a lot on your plate.”
“We all have a lot on our plate, Trin.”
“None of us have a thousand demon children to worry about,” she said with a small laugh.
“This is true.” I said with a groan. “I don’t know what the hell to do, Trin. I mean, I know that they’re NPCs, but they’re still a part of me.”
“They are also part demon,” she reminded me.
“I know, I just can’t help but wonder if Megulla is telling the truth. And I don’t even know if the sun will help them.”
“Maybe you should just let it play out,” Trinity said with a shrug. “I mean, Megulla is the Lord of the Underworld. No offense, but it seems ridiculous that she needs your help in this.”
“You’re right,” I said. I hadn’t thought about it that way, and the realization made Megulla’s requests even more suspect. “Maybe I should just stay out of it.”
She nodded. “You’re doing the right thing, Sam.”
“I hope so,” I said with a sigh.
Chapter 14
Our guild mates met us at the tower in the Beartooth Mountains, and we spent most of the night going over the Dragons of Fury roster. They were a small guild like ours, with only fifteen players, but they were tight, and fought like a well-oiled machine. We watched all their battles more than once, taking notes and coming up with counter-strategies.
The Dragons of Fury were a guild of dragon shifters, which was often their greatest strength, but also their biggest potential weakness. The dragons couldn’t cast spells in their animal form, and we hoped to exploit the weakness as much as we could. Keeping them in dragon form was going to be tricky, because they could shift back and forth as often as they wanted, with no cooldown. The other downside to changing form was that they lost all their buffs, while retaining any curses that had been cast upon them. We had seen them fight and win as dragons, but also without shifting at all, and depending on the battleground that was randomly chosen, they would either fight as dragons or people, or both.
We stayed up well past midnight going over strategies, and when we finally hit the sack, I was tired as hell, but I still had a hard time getting to sleep. I was trying to focus on the tournament, but I was plagued by the images of my demon children fading like dying embers. When I finally did sleep, my dreams were full of the pleading voices of my many children, and the accusations of my parents for not helping my kids.
When I woke up, I found everyone already up and preparing for the coming battle.
“Morning sleepy head,” said Kit with her ever-present smile.
“Morning,�
� I said, accepting a strong cup of coffee from Tweak.
I was feeling pretty good, and I was excited for the coming battle. We only needed three more wins, but as victory drew closer, the competition became that much more intense. For such a small guild we had already accomplished a hell of a feat becoming one of the top 8 guilds in the tournament, and I hoped that our momentum would continue.
“I did it!” Ember said as she emerged from the hallway leading to the alchemy room. “Ladies and gents, I give to you Dragonsbane Elixir.”
“Sounds intense,” said Tweak as he popped banana slices into his big mouth. “What’s it do?”
“Oh, it just makes whoever drinks it impervious to dragon flame for five minutes.”
“Nice,” I said. “Should work well with Scorched Earth.”
Ember handed us each a vial, with instructions not to drink it until the battle began.
“We should hit the market before the tournament too,” said Cecilia. “Without decent dragon lances we won’t have a chance.
She was right. Every guild that had gone up against the Dragons of Fury had done so with enchanted dragon lances, but it hadn’t seemed to do any of them very much good. The dragons had won in the end.
“Only the best,” I said. “We’ve got nearly a million in gold in the vault, and Legendary lances would be an investment if it means getting us to the final four.”
We headed out early and hit the market. The place was pretty crowded given the tournaments, and it didn’t help that just about every player wanted to pat us on the back or talk to us. Some offered up their advice for the fight against the Dragons of Fury, while others cryptically predicted that the dragons were going to kick our asses. Given that I had saved the entire game more than once, I had a surprising number of haters. Some thought I was a corporate favorite, others were jealous or just plain disgusted by my special ability. But we ignored the haters and went about our business.
“This is the place I was talking about,” said Cecilia, indicating a high-end weapon shop.
When we walked in, Stormy let out a slow whistle.
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