by Charles Dean
Mother? Bonnie noticed that word. Not “mom,” not “ma,” but “mother.” It was the same word Bonnie often used for her own mother. It was a barrier of formality the woman had insisted on. “Then, did you ever go back?”
“I think it’s your turn for a story again,” Viola said instead of answering. “Maybe this time”--she produced the gold coin again--“you can tell me why you want these so much.”
Bonnie looked at the coin that Viola had given her at the beginning of the conversation. “Well,” Bonnie began, frowning, “I don’t care about the coins themselves. I don’t want to be rich or powerful or famous. I just want to be free.”
“I think you need the coins for that, though, don’t you?”
Bonnie’s fist tightened around the gold coin as if someone were going to try and take it away. “I just . . . I hate how people use money as a weapon against me. It’s like a chain they use to leash me to them. I got so tired of my stupid parents tying me down with money. If you don’t do this, we’ll cut your allowance; if you don’t do that, we won’t help with your tuition; if you don’t stop what you’re doing and appreciate us, we’ll take everything away. It’s so frustrating! I hate it! I hate it so much! It was so painful just living with them, and all I wanted was to be free, so I started chasing these stupid coins in this game. That way, I could live here in this fantasy world forever and not have to go back.” Viola had stopped walking without her noticing, and Bonnie turned to find her standing in the middle of the road as she finished her rant, almost as if the woman has simply forgotten to keep picking up one foot and putting it back down again. Viola’s eyes were a little teary as she stared at Bonnie. “What?”
“I’m so sorry!” Viola rushed forward with her arms open wide.
“What? What are you doing? Don’t make me attack heal you!” Bonnie reeled back defensively, but she didn’t even have time to reach for her bag before Viola had already descended upon her. However, Viola suddenly stopped, inches away from what Bonnie could clearly tell was meant to be a hug.
“I-I’m sorry,” Viola stammered. “I forgot what it’s like, not wanting to be touched after . . . I just . . . Your story . . .” Her eyes were filled with a few tears. “I had no idea.”
“What?” Bonnie didn’t get what was so tragic about her story. She was just someone who wanted some independence; she didn’t understand how that could be interpreted as tragic enough to warrant the sympathetic waterworks threatening to flood from Viola’s eyes. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing. I can’t help it. I’m so sorry you had to go through that. But don’t worry; I’m here for you now. I’ve got you covered,” Viola insisted. Her voice was gentle, yet she was more confident and more assuring than anyone Bonnie had ever heard.
“What? I . . . No. I don’t need covering.” Bonnie stepped back, trying to create some distance between Viola and herself. “I just--”
“Need freedom?” Viola asked. “It’s fine. I get it. I know what it’s like. I know how hard it is after so long, but I promise you, not everyone is like they are. Not everyone is going to hurt you. No one is going to abuse you. You can trust other people. I promise. I’ll show you. It took me a long time to trust that old woman, but no one has ever hurt me since I left home,” Viola said firmly. Her eyes shook beneath pools of water, and her expression was filled with anxiety and concern, but her voice was firm and steady.
“I think . . . I think you’re mistaken,” Bonnie said hurriedly, taking another step backward. “I was fine. I just wanted space--and choice.” She could feel her cheeks flush with embarrassment and her heart race as she tried to figure out how to undo this situation. This was not the outcome she had expected. Viola clearly thought that her parents were abusing her, and the more Viola talked, the larger a lump of something intangible, hard, impossible to swallow grew in Bonnie’s throat, stifling the words she needed to say from coming out. “I’m fine. I promise. I’m fine.” Unfortunately, all she could manage was to repeat the assertion she’d already said.
“It’s okay. I understand. You’re tough. They couldn’t keep you down. That’s good. That’s the spirit to have. But it’s okay to let others in. This world is filled with people who are open, caring, devoted, loving and genuine, like . . .” She paused, and her eyes darted to the side.
“Lucas?” Bonnie asked.
“Yeah. Lucas. Or Katie. Or Nick. Or--and I know I’m a little biased in saying it--me. We’re all here for you. If you have no place to go, even if they won’t open their doors, I’ll open mine. Someone opened her door for me, so it’s only right I’ll open mine for you if you need it.”
“No, really,” Bonnie insisted. She dug in and tried to stand against the onslaught of odd emotional pressure Viola was pushing on her. “I’m fine. My parents weren’t like what you’re thinking. They were just strict. That’s all.”
Viola’s expression seemed to crack a little, but it looked like the young woman had been shaken to her core. “Okay,” Viola began quietly, “if you need to be that way, to be tough, that’s fine. But if you ever feel like you want someone to talk to, let me know. I know a lot of places and support groups that you can reach out to. I used to be afraid of cops. I thought they’d throw me back into hell, but you don’t have to be. They won't take you back if you just tell them what is happening. Honestly.”
“Viola, I’m twenty-five years old. I’m legally independent, okay? And I’m fine . . . Can you just . . . Can you drop it?” She was beyond frustrated that Viola wasn’t listening to her, but there was also more than that. She hated that Viola pitied her, even though it seemed like Viola had it way worse. She didn’t deserve that type of pity; she couldn’t accept it. She actually wished Viola had just stayed a liar. What Viola had let slip about her past dwarfed Bonnie’s own issues, yet it wasn’t Bonnie who was telling Viola how sorry she felt for her. It was the other way around. It was like Viola was slapping her with her persistence and strength of character, as if announcing to Bonnie, “I was strong enough to go through hell, and here I proudly stand. Why are you pretending to be so tough? Why are you so weak?” Being next to her now just made Bonnie feel exposed, small, and insignificant. The unspoken accusations pierced through Bonnie’s armor and left her weak and vulnerable. In a single word, she felt pathetic.
“Bonnie . . .” Viola faltered, and the word lingered in the air as Viola’s gaze penetrated through the twenty-five-year-old's soul.
Surprisingly, however, the stare was a contradiction that Bonnie couldn’t read, a strange combination of hot and cold, warm and distant. Is she upset? Does she feel lied to? Is she mad? Is she going to cry or get angry? Is she going to chastise me, yell at me, berate me? Is she going to call me out for being so pitiful? Is she going to tell me off for not being clearer? Bonnie ran through various scenarios while Viola studied her in silence. Why won’t she say anything?! Bonnie was practically screaming inside her head while trying to understand the woman.
“Bonnie,” Viola began, finally breaking the silence. “It’s okay. No matter how small or big your problem, it doesn’t make it less valid. It doesn’t mean you don’t need a hand sometimes or that you don’t need a shoulder to lean on. Even if you’re thirty, and you’re not only independent, but successful, it doesn’t mean you won’t need people there to support you. I can’t promise that I’ll be the best at it, but I promise you that I’ll try. If you ever need it, I’ll do my best to be there for you. Running away, breaking those chains your parents used to bind you . . . Those problems couldn’t have felt small, and those chains couldn’t have felt loose. I can’t imagine what you’re going through, but I’m here for you.”
Bonnie sighed. Viola’s words lifted a crushing weight off of her chest. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I just . . .” She felt like crying. She felt letting loose and bawling like a little girl just thinking about the chance to finally get all of it off of her shoulders. It was such a relief. She had been afraid that Viola was going to hate her or judge her, and here
she was with arms and ears wide open. “I’m sorry. I just--”
“Shh!” Viola cut her off, surprising Bonnie.
What? You just said I could talk about it! she thought, but she was too nervous to counter the order to be quiet, so she just stood there awkwardly while Viola seamlessly resumed her regal posture.
“Whatever Lord Lucas says, we must do,” Viola said, throwing her head back and holding it high. “We must carry out his orders immediately.”
“His orders? What? What are you talking about?” Bonnie didn’t understand the shift in conversation. You just told me to open up to you, and now you’re back to this? What the heck? Bonnie wanted to smack Viola until she turned her head and saw a group of players following them. Freaking, stupid players! She cursed internally, a slew of filthy curses flowing through her head after the initial anger passed.
“I know that one, and that one knows me,” Viola whispered softly. “He used to follow me around like a puppy dog, and it seems he’s here to free me from Lucas’s grasp, so play along.”
You liar! Bonnie bit back her anger at both the players and Viola. “No,” Bonnie said, answering Viola’s question. “I need to hit something. Someone. Badly.”
“Oh my,” Viola gasped. “I can feel it too. It’s Lucas’s control. His enemies must be nearby! But we must fight it!” Viola shook her head back and forth as if she were struggling to wrest it free from someone else’s control while she spat out the terrible line. “But I have one life to live, one heart to give for my beloved!”
“I told you, boss: They’re under his control. Jake just told me that they mind-controlled his girl too,” one of them said.
“I knew it! I knew there had to be a reason that our princess was following that evil sorcerer around. I knew that he had some way of mind-controlling them. I just don’t know how,” Thomas said.
“You don’t need to. Jake said that the system told him that all he needed to do was kill Lucas to free them,” said a guy who was wearing the most ridiculous set of thick robes, even in the middle of a hot day.
Kill them? Kill who?! Kill Lucas?! Bonnie’s mind churned as she tried to figure out how she was going to end this group just to feel better about them interrupting her conversation, but that remark tipped her over the edge. Now, she wasn’t just going to kill them. She was going to make them suffer. You think that I’m going to let you touch a hair on Lucas’s head?! She pulled the Web of Deceit up over her head, activating its spell and blurring her movements. Idiots. Stupid idiots who never listen. I don’t stay with him because of mind control. I stay with him . . . Her heart and mind faltered a moment despite being halfway through channeling her first skill, Swimming Grass. Her question made her miss a moment in concentration, and the skill, which should have been a rather easy one, backfired instead, dealing damage and leaving her momentarily stunned.
“Mind-controlled or not, take them down. Especially that one. She was with Lucas when . . . She helped steal Princess Viola!” Thomas yelled, pointing at Bonnie.
Thomas’s two minions, each wearing an equally ridiculous mage outfit, started channeling their attack spells. One began casting an upgraded version of the Shadow Fall called Shadow Pillar. Bonnie had only seen it in videos online of people fighting, but she recognized the popular skill immediately. It created a pair of dark, ethereal pillars right in front of the caster that were around ten feet tall. They each had a square base, and the shaft was covered with what appeared to be moving faces. The columns slowly began rotating around, and once they reached a certain speed, they would start shooting out small black spikes. Unlike the noob version, however, the pillars wouldn’t gradually shrink in size so long as the caster continued pumping mana into them. In theory, the spell would channel forever so long as the caster had enough Arcane Energy. Despite its flashy nature, the spell did have a major weakness: it would only ever target a single person despite there being two columns shooting spikes. The other mage cast a spell that Bonnie was much more familiar with: Scorching Skull.
Crap. Focus! Bonnie urged herself. She was still a little shaken up and hadn’t quite pulled herself together yet after the conversation she had just had with Viola. As a result, she was already a lot more exposed than normal. While the Web of Deceit would give her near invisibility, it wasn’t 100 percent. The enchanted item also wouldn’t interfere with tracking spells if the person could target her visually at all. That was why she needed to cast Swimming Grass.
This time, focusing very intently, she managed to trigger the spell before the Scorching Skull reached her. A blue flash burst right in the path of the magical head of Fire. The flaming death’s head crashed into the bright-blue light, and just like light reflecting from a mirror, seamlessly streaked back toward its original caster.
Woosh! A sea of green rose into the air as Swimming Grass finished, and just like leaves being kicked up in a windstorm, bits of grass materialized and fluttered upward from the formerly barren road. Her Chi then manifested as a dozen blades, which were each about the size of a man’s forearm. The weapons were propelled through the air by Wind in the form of a rolling tide of grass straight toward the man channeling the two Shadow pillars. He didn’t flinch when they streaked across his chest, leaving trails of blood behind as they slashed through his skin, but without shaking him at all.
What the hell? Bonnie grumbled, realizing the vast level difference between them. How the hell am I supposed to kill these guys? They weren’t on Hesse anymore, and there was no telling what level the enemies were. People with endgame levels could show up at any time, and fighting them would be the same as going up against a one-hundred-man raid boss to Bonnie.
All of her attacks were designed to either let her attack and move or attack and interfere with her opponent’s perception, and this one was no different. Thankfully, despite her special Chi attack not even doing enough to faze her target, her grass spell sufficiently cloaked her.
The second man fired another Scorching Skull, slamming it into the one careening back toward him, canceling the effect, and the other guy’s two pillars began firing.
“No, don’t shoot at her!” Thomas yelled, trying to stop the mage from firing at Viola, the only target that was still visible.
“We can wound her a little and heal her up later. Right now, we need to subdue her,” the Shadow Mage countered.
The crystal shards rushed toward Viola, who just smiled nonchalantly while hefting a large smooth-worn oaken quarterstaff that she used as a weapon. She grinned slyly as the shards approached, and then there was a bright-blue flash of light. The staff seemed to leap forward, reappearing midair in front of her and intercepting the two Shadow crystals. The shards were instantly turned around and sent flying back toward their caster, and a second later, a Force Shield sprang up in front of her, stopping the next pair from reaching her.
She giggled coquettishly as she taunted the mage. “Do you truly think that you, when compared to the great and mighty sorcerer Lucas, whom all people sho--” She suddenly choked off mid-sentence and grabbed her head feebly. “His . . . His control . . . It’s . . . I can’t . . .” She moaned loudly, pretending like she was struggling against Lucas’s evil powers.
This damn liar, Bonnie thought, cursing the actress as she slowly crept forward. Her focus was locked on the mage controlling the Shadow pillars, and she watched as the two solid-black crystals that Viola had reflected toward the mage prompted him to jump to the side. He momentarily lost control of his spell as his concentration was broken, and the two columns faded away like powdered graphite struck by a heavy gust of wind.
Your feet! Bonnie wanted to yell when she saw the beginning of another familiar Fire spell, Fire Wall, erupt beneath Viola, but she held back. Any noise she made would reveal her position.
Right before the spell engulfed Viola in the long wall of Fire, however, the Sage collected herself from her feigned struggle with Lucas’s mind magic and jumped into the air. She immediately cast a second Force Shield beneath her,
which she then landed on with effortless grace. The spell ignited underneath her in a torrent of flame at the same moment her feet found purchase on the platform, but Viola simply stood above it, completely unfazed. She strode forward confidently and stepped down off the shield while giving Thomas and his two goons the same wry smile she had adopted earlier.
“You think this is enough to stop one of Lucas’s chosen brides?” Viola asked, chuckling softly. Another blue flash erupted from her staff, and the counterspell redirected the Fire Mage’s newly cast Scorching Skull right back into his face. The spell was shot back from a much closer distance this time, and he didn’t have time to avoid being burned by his own magic. “I am soon to be one of Lucas’s--” Viola then went back into her act, grabbing her head again. “Ahh . . . stop . . . me . . .” she pleaded before straightening up again.
She really loves her play. Bonnie thought as she crept closer and closer to her first prey, the Shadow Mage, but when she was about halfway to him, he began channeling a new spell. This time, instead of pillars shooting up from the ground, a large, fifteen-foot dark, ethereal haft appeared in the air, and a long glowing blade of pure Arcane Energy formed at the end of it. The towering weapon lifted itself a foot off the ground, and Bonnie panicked. She immediately dropped to the ground and pressed herself as flat as possible. She never saw what came next, but she felt the scythe cut a long horizontal slash in front of the caster, reaping the ground around her.
Damnit, Bonnie cursed. Dropping to the ground so quickly had given away her position. She started to push herself up, fully intending to rush her target, but she soon found herself completely weightless. She frantically looked from side to side, whipping her hair about and into her face, and discovered two angelic wings on each side of her. She had no idea where they had come from and could only assume that Viola had cast them, but she wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
“Coming up on your left,” Viola called from behind as she reflected another Fire spell back at the other guy.