by M J Conlon
Upon his arrival at the city gates he saw no fewer than four city guards who wanted to be seen, and felt no less than eight other guards that were either hidden in stealth, or positioned behind stone walls and formations that made their positions unknown to anyone until the person either passed the hiding spot, or were seen with psychic-viewing. Realizing how important psychic-viewing still was, Derick accessed his character sheet and began applying his Attributes and ability points. He put 10 of his unattributed Stat points into Intelligence, wisdom, and luck bringing them 35 each and luck to 36. Then he proceeded to add the ten spell power points he had gained from leveling to psychic-viewing. He still didn’t know what to use his skill points for, so he kept all 20, not wanting to waste them meaninglessly.
As Derick approached, he saw the two outer guards instantly tense their form, a sign that they were getting ready to strike. Derick dropped the hood to his robe. Out of the corner of his eye, he did see it, his hair did seem to be odd, much as Scarlet pointed out. He saw instantly that the base of his hair used to be a solid black, a sign of his Native American heritage, but there were now solid gray and white streaks that ended with violet tips. If Derick could see it right, it almost appeared as though there was a gray backdrop with black planetary bodies that were accented by different violet hues. Derick didn’t say anything, and it was only the stuttering of the guard before him that brought him back to reality.
“Ppplease come in and be welcomed in our city, young Ppportalist?” The large guard said, gesturing openly with his hand. Derick looked at the guard quizzically for a second, before putting up his hood.
“Derick, the guard yelled.” Derick turned back to the guard, but the guard was looking well over and past him. Derick followed the guard’s gaze to a young boy who looked to be in little more than rags. The young boy ran to within five feet of the guard and rendered a salute.
“Derick, go inform the palace guards that we have a portal master gracing us with his presence.” The guard told the young boy.
“That will not be necessary, I am but a simple tr… passerby.” Derick almost said traveler. He didn’t know if it would mean anything to the interactions with NPCs, but he especially didn’t want it getting out that he was a traveler to other players.
“Nonsense good sir,” The lead guard said, nodding with his head at the boy who took off towards the heart of the city in a second. “The ruler of these towns would be very angry with me if I didn’t inform him of such an occasion. You are the first portal master to visit our humble city since the Massacre of Atlantica.” Derick nodded, as this made sense, when he was pulling guard duty he would have to inform the Captains and Generals of any high value dignitaries that entered the Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) that he was on as well. Then remembering that this was a game world and that he would like the possibilities of future quest lines asked the guard.
“Is there anything I could do for you, while I am here? No doubt you are aware that I could offer unique opportunities?” Derick made sure to emphasize the word unique.
“Just inform his majesty that his humble guard Captain Tennerick VonHussen is the one who greeted you warmly and openly at the gates and that will be more than enough for me.” The guard, whom Derick assumed was the Tennerick guy stated. Derick could see the wisdom in this, as many times that was all a soldier truly wanted or needed, an affirmation from their superiors that they were doing a good job.
“As you command.” Derick said, giving a slight bow, before continuing to walk down the smooth cobblestone road with his stick. While the need for the stick was no longer as prevalent, as the roads were now even, Derick still used it for the sake of the character that he wanted to portray. As Derick made his way to the heart of the city, he instinctively felt for his bag of holding, which was tied to his pants and under his robe and two belts. This meant that a thief would have to slip through the two mismatched belts, under the robe and to the pants without him feeling a thing. If such a feat were to happen Derick would just assume that the person deserved the cash at that point, but that didn’t mean that he would make it easy for any would be thieves.
Almost as if to play into his paranoia, Derick heard a woman yell out “Stop, thief.” With that a whistle was being blown, and the streets began to clear as people made way to view the spectacle. What are the odds? Derick thought to himself as he saw that the thief, a man in his early twenties by the looks of him, was running crazily through the city. Instantly Derick saw images of runes and calculations flashing before his mind, seeing that he knew what he could do, Derick held out his staff with both hands then forced reality to bend to his will. Instantly the man who had been running on an open road going north of the city square was now running perpendicular to Derick and Derick’s outstretched staff.
Derick felt the force of full grown man running and tripping into his staff which almost flew from his hands, until Derick held onto the staff reflexively with the power of his psychic-telekinesis. Within a second the would be thief was tripped up, before the man was even able to realize what had happened Derick swung his staff once again with the force of psychic-telekinesis and bashed the would be assailant in the head. Derick watched the man who now lay unconscious on the street, blood oozing from his head, then looked up to see a city guard staring at him in shock through a purple portal that still remained opened.
Derick looked around to see that he now had a throng of people staring at him. In a second the loud city street that had been filled with the echoing sound of hundreds of people going about their daily routines feel deadly silent.
Derick waved his hand toward the portal, not because he needed to, but because he didn’t want anyone being caught in the inbetween when the two doors closed. Derick stood over the body of the thief, once again assuming a relaxed posture holding onto his staff. Only after seeing that everyone was staring at him did he realize that his hood had fallen off, no doubt when he struck at the thief. Derick raised up his hood, then looked around. Suddenly as if woken out of a deep slumber the entire city began to whisper quietly to themselves, it was a slow silent sound that almost felt like buzzing to Derick’s ears. The sound began to circle around, Derick almost decided to leave, but then the crowd parted to reveal a woman in a blue dress walking toward him. The woman was stunning, and Derick was lucky he kept his staff out, as his legs almost gave out on him. Even from a distance Derick could tell she was tall, much taller than a human. An elf, if so which kind? Derick wondered to himself. He hadn’t spent too long discerning the different races while in the Underworld as most of the Players seemed to play anything, while all the inhabitants of the Underworld were human.
Derick seeing the woman, and the entourage of people that seemed to be escorting her and instantly went to pick up the coin purse and all of the subsequent coins that spilled onto the street when the Thief fell. Derick could see that blood was pouring from the man’s head, and a clear liquid seemed to be protruding from the Thief’s ears. Might have over did it a little there. Derick waited for a snark filled comment from HAIL, but nothing. He knew the AI was still there, though he had clearly been acting differently since the one hour ban had ended. If you want me to apologize I won’t. Derick thought to HAIL.
“I do not require an apology. It is in fact I that should be the one offering an apology. I acted poorly and selfishly. Had you followed my ideas we would still be undead, and nowhere near our goal of being resurrected. It seems that you had a good plan, well not good, but a plan that seemed to work.” HAIL began, stopping himself before he could say anything that would take this away.
Did you just apologize and, AND admit that I was right? Derick asked.
“I did, I am sorry. Could we start over?” HAIL asked, but before Derick could respond a female voice said something breaking Derick’s concentration for a second. It was only then that he realized the tall woman who had to stand six feet tall, easily twice the height of Derick stood within inches of him.
“Answer the lady.” One o
f the lady’s escort demanded of Derick. The lady just raised her hand in a calming gesture toward the guard who instantly took a step away from both her and Derick.
“I am sorry, what was asked?” Derick asked, while holding up the coin purse towards the lady.
“I merely asked what the name of my hero was.” She said smiling and leaning down gently to retrieve the bag of coins from my outstretched hand, my other hand still needing to support my wobbly legs by holding onto my walking stick.
“I am De..OhmN” Derick said, once again catching himself, that was two times in the same day that he almost blew his role of the traveling Portalist trainer.
“De OhmN?” She said it gently, as if she was letting the word roll around on her tongue until it could find a proper resting spot.
“Sorry, just OhmN, ma’am.” Derick said, again bowing down and breaking eye contact with the woman.
“Might you reveal your head, so I can see the look of a true hero?” She said, while Derick knew he was immune to mind control effects, he couldn’t help but want to comply with anything this woman said, her tone and joyful spirit almost filling Derick with hope and joy with every word she spoke. Derick looking back up into her eyes, gently raised his hands up and revealed his face. A slight gasp was heard, only now was Derick aware that a crowd had gathered around their meeting. A notification blinked gold at the bottom of Derick’s vision, but his eyes were enraptured by the hazel green eyes that peered down and almost through him.
“Your eyes,” She said, staring at his eyes for a second, causing Derick to become self-conscious enough to want to cover his head back up again. Derick reached for his hood. “No, please don’t.” She said, placing her long gentle fingers over his hand. Derick felt a pulse of energy, as his heart began to beat quickly. It had been a long time since he felt the touch of a woman. Derick closed his eyes for a second, then reopened as he felt her hand leave his. Derick wanted her to keep her hand on his forever. Only opening his eyes did he see that she now played with his hair, letting the strands fall through gently through her fingers.
“And.” Derick began, but had to stop himself as his throat suddenly felt so dry.
“Yes?” She said, her gaze shifting from his cosmic purple hair back to his eyes.
“What do they call such a lovely woman, such as yourself on this planet?” Derick offered, he tried to feel smooth, but the words felt fake and flat when they came out of his lips. Yet, she seemed to smile at his statement.
“I am honored that one such as yourself would find me, lovely.” She paused, smiling at him. Derick rolled his head back, his cheeks filling with blood as he for the first time in days realized that he could feel heat on his face. Derick reached up to his face, and was again surprised to feel flesh under his fingers. Derick shook himself back to reality. “I am Penelope Von’Asteria, and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Sage Portalist OhmN.” She said with a bow.
“How do you know I am a sage portalist?” Derick asked, his voice dropping quietly, hoping that no one around could hear their exchange, but a quick look around said that such an event was unlikely as even with a horde of her personal guards securing a perimeter around them, the crowd was now trying to view their exchange with more intensity.
“Well your hair and your eyes are the first give away as to your profession. Then your robes do state that they belong to a sage portalist.” She said with a smile, once again brushing his hair with her fingers, when she mentioned his hair. Derick wanted to say something, but his words were broken up by the the sound of a sharp whistle being blown. Derick looked up to see that a group of people were quickly moving out of the way to make room for someone coming form behind.
“What is all of this!” A man said in a commanding voice. Derick looked up to see that the voice belonged to one of the guards who stayed near the city gates. The guard looked at Derick, the woman and the body of the thief who was still passed out on the street.
“You been in this city for what, under an hour and you are already killing people in the streets?” The guard said, as he angrily pushed his way between both Derick and Penelope. As soon as the guard touched Penelope, the first guard that barked commands at Derick pushed the city guard back.
“You dare lay a hand on Lady Von’Asteria?” Penelope’s lead guard, head security detail? Demanded of the guard that he was now manhandling away.
“I didn’t mean to.” The city guard began, before a second voice could be heard forcing his way through the gaggle of people that now completely blocked any and all commerce from taking place in the city square.
“What is all this?” The guard captain’s voice rang out, trying to take command of the situation. Derick, not used to the rules or structure of who was doing what in the city, decided to stay silent, while watching everything that happened around him.
“This man.” Penelope began, her voice calm and in control rang out instantly grabbing everyone’s attention while she pointed to the thief who still lay on the ground. “Robbed me, in the middle of my seven person detail, I was robbed. Had he had ill intent I could have been stabbed.” She added the last part a bit of worry cracking into her voice. Then she continued, “He took out Sir Roderick and Sir Munson, then began running north.” There was an emphasis on the word north that Derick didn’t quite understand, but seemed to send a spark of fear in the people around.
“I called out for help. Then like a divine miracle a purple portal appeared directly in front of the thief, where he apparently appeared right over here, where Sage Portalist OhmN subdued the would be attacker with a single blow from his staff. After which time he made sure I was okay, and then we waited here until your arrival.” She added. Derick mentally kicked himself for not checking to see how Penelope felt after the whole ordeal. He was just so entranced by her beauty that he couldn’t think of anything, then she started touching his hand and then his hair. Derick got lost, apparently the Guard Captain had gone down to look at the thief, turning him over to see that his head had been caved in with a single blow to the head. Derick winced at the sight, not so much that he was sad he killed the guy, but that he had been trying not to kill anyone.
“You did us a great service this day. This is a thief from the Thieves Guild NWO. He has, well had, a bounty on his head. If you stop by the guard barracks. . .” The Guard Captain said, before looking eye level at Derick and looking into his Purple eyes. “Actually I think his royal highness would want to deliver this reward himself.” The Guard Captain said. Clever, give me more reasons to see the King of these lands.
With that the Guard Captain stood up, then yelled in a bellowing voice “Clear out! Nothing to see here. Anyone not clearing the road will find themselves a nice view of our local dungeon,” he said, spreading his arms out wide, trying to blow everyone back. With that the majority of people who had crowded around Penelope and Derick began to back up slightly. Derick looked around to see that the body of the thief had been taken by the first city guard that arrived, the one that almost got in a fight with Penelope’s guard. Yet it seemed as though the city guard would have backed down if an altercation between the two began.
Finally everyone backed away, until it was just Penelope’s guards once again posting a secure perimeter around both him and Penelope.
“Your two guards, Sir Roderick and Sir Munson, are they okay?” Derick asked. Penelope just smiled as she answered.
“Yes they are.” While pointing to two guards that surrounded them. It was clear that there were indeed signs that a dagger had been used to stab one in the kidney and the other in the small of the back, a detail that was accentuated by the fact that both had dried blood stains surrounding the wounds but the skin that was now exposed was completely clear and free of any blemishes.
“A healer?” Derick asked. Penelope just nodded and bowed.
“Third Priestess of the Temple of Undead Wrath, Lady Penelope Von’Asteria at your service.” She bowed. A slight shiver of fear washed its way down his spine he
aring her title. Had she known all along? Did she know that he was up until this morning Undead? Would her powers still work against me? Hundreds of thoughts rushed through Derick’s mind, but fear truly froze his body when he felt her touch his cheek before speaking in her humming bird like voice. “Do no be frightened, it is mostly an honorific title, as I need to remain available to assume the line of the throne should anything befall my mother or sister.” The words once again caught Derick off guard.
“Your mother or sister?” Derick asked, without stammering too much.
“Yes,” She said with a smile. “You did know that I was Penelope Von’Asteria of the Ruling Asteria’s right?”
Derick must have had a blank look on his face, as Penelope smiled, instantly causing him to relax slightly.
“Where are you from?” Penelope asked.
“I just arrived here this morning and am new to many of the cultures and traditions of this world. Please excuse me if I have not shown proper respect or any formal courtesies deserved to someone of your stature.” Derick said, with a bow.
“Oh, so we are your first stop on this planet?” Penelope asked.
“I am afraid so, and I humbly ask your forgiveness for any trespasses or breaches of etiquette I have shown you thus far.” Derick said, still bowing over, his right hand gripping the staff with a death grip as his legs still felt like they were about to force him to collapse. A melodic laugh filled his ears.
“Oh no, it is I who should be apologizing, as you are clearly the first portalist we have seen in nine centuries and here I was thinking like a moron that you would automatically know our traditions and cultures.” She said, her gentle hand resting on Derick’s bowed head. Derick rose his head up slowly, his short stubby fingers gently touching the long delicate fingers that were resting on his hair. Looking back on it, Derick could now see why the guard demanded a response when Penelope first started to talk to him. Similarly, Derick could see why it was the city guard who backed down when signs of an altercation came through.