Landasy Reality: Angel's Escape

by Fredrick Stokely

  “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” His eyes burst open and light blinded him. Nothing was covering his face and he could breath clearly. His eyes turned wildly as he tried to figure out what happened, and his cheeks turned red when the realization that it was a dream struck him.

  “W-wha?” he asked softly once he could focus. Amy was standing over him with a smile. In her hands she was holding his gaming headset.

  “Happy birthday!” she said again before moving closer to attach the headset. “Your parents asked me to get you up bright and early today for your special day. Are you excited?”

  “Huh? O-oh... o-of... c-course...” he said once she strapped his chin in.

  Once the headset was turned on the world slowly began to fade out of existence yet again. Messages popped up and soon as the world loaded. He gulped and reached out to touch his face. “Was just a dream. No need to be freaked out anymore. It was just a dream,” he said before clicking the messages. One was from B4hamutt, asking if Asura was ready. He applied Asura's voice filter. “I'll be around later. I have some things I need to deal with first. Bye!”

  He then disabled the filter and clicked on his parents invite, accepting it. Almost instantly the world around him shifted and a room materialized around him. A large table with cake and other decorations and a few dozen chairs lined the room. A few of his family members, at least he assumed they were, sat around the table and seemed to be discussing amongst themselves. Across the room from the table he saw a small terminal, designed for choosing games or attractions to play, and a few children playing in a bouncy house it had summoned. He snickered a little at that. “The power to fly through the stars or go under the ocean, and they choose a bouncy house.”

  Asher crossed his arms and walked towards the table. “Hey everyone! I'm sorry I'm late, just woke up.”

  “Hey honey,” his mom said before getting up and walked over to give him a hug. She looked far different, younger, not pregnant and with much shorter hair. A lot like how she looked in his parents old wedding videos. “How's my little boy today?”

  “Fine. You do realize I'm taller than you here, right?”

  “You'll still always be my little boy,” she said with a smile. He smiled and noted she didn't seem as nervous about being in the game world any more. All their time together was helping.

  “Is this everyone?” he asked before glancing at the bouncy house.

  “What? No. Just your cousin Alison's kids got here early. My parents are over there,” she said with a motion toward the mid-30's looking man and woman talking to his father. “We're expecting a few more, though not everyone can make it.”

  He nodded and crossed his arm. “Yeah, the home sets can be kind of expensive. I guess not everyone wants to spend the money on the arcade ones either.” He paused for a moment before glancing to her stomach. “How's ummm... the kid doing? Have you... had it yet?”

  She froze for a moment and glanced down. “I... no. It'll be another month or so. If you want to see the bir-”

  “NO! God no! Just, no!” he said quickly and shook his head. “I'll just wait until after birth pictures. Errr, of the kid after it's born.”

  “Well, suit yourself. Your father is going to try and stick through the birth this time. Did I ever tell you about when I had you? He ran-”

  “From the room and toppled over a nurse. I know, you've told me a hundred times,” he said and his eyes wandered off to the side.

  “Fine, fine. So what have you been up to then? Any plans after you finish hanging out with your boring parents?”

  “Actually, yes. There's another master quest coming up in my game so I've been training with some of my guild mates. We all have our class and weapons to the highest level, so we've been practicing actual combat. There's this really fun medieval combat game with arenas and stuff that we've been playing lately. You can choose all kinds of different weapon combinations and it even gives you combat training on how to throw certain shots, watch out for and counter them. We formed a three man team and... mom, I can see your eyes glazing over.”

  “What? No! I'm listening. You're playing castle with your friends and getting points,” she said quickly.

  He gave a sigh. “That's about as close as I can expect. Anyway, I told them I'd see them around four tonight so I should have plenty of time to--” He stifled a yawn. “--hang out with the family. Did you have to have them wake me up?”

  “I'm sorry. I just didn't want you sleeping through your party. You always stay up so late and sleep so long,” she said with a low, sad voice.

  “Well, there's just not a lot to do during the day. Most the other players come on later at night after work and school. The place gets pretty dead in the morning so I don't see as much reason to get on,” he said. His eyes went a bit wide. “I-I'm not complaining. I really am thankful you and dad let me play all I want now. I can try to fix my sleeping schedule if you like.”

  “No honey, relax. We know how precious all that is to you. Your father and I only want to keep you happy, we won't be taking them away from you. Promise. Now, come give your mother an actual hug.”

  “Ugh, fiiiine,” he said with mock exasperation before wrapping his arms around her. “So, what game is this?”

  “Birthday something seven. Your father got it from a special at work. Apparently a couple of his co-workers used it to celebrate their birthdays and went sky diving.”

  “Oh? Well I'm turning eighteen now. Does that mean I get strippers?” he asked with a chuckle. His mother whipped her head around and glared, causing him to gulp nervously. “N-never mind, w-was just a joke. You know what? Those cookies look delicious. I'm gonna go have a few. Bye!” he said quickly before walking to the table layered with food. He took a raisin cookie right when a loud chime went off.

  He glanced over to the bouncy house and a couple appeared in front of it. He recognized them, his cousin Alison and her husband. “Sorry we're late. We had to make new avatars since our other ones were so basic. The kids haven't been causing any troubles, have they?”

  “No, they've just been playing a few of the games,” his mother said with a smile. “Complete dears. We were just talking with my dad about the riots down south. Have you been keeping up on the news?”

  “Not much. We've been pretty busy with the kids and their activities. First time we've all had a day off in ages. After the party we were planning to drive down to the park,” Alison said before walking over to give Asher a hug. “I haven't seen you in ages. How are... oh. Right. I ummm, hope everything is okay there.”

  He let out a sigh and crossed his arms. “It's fine. Everything has been fine. I've been playing a lot more and keeping myself occupied.”

  “Well, it can't be all bad then, right? I mean, I'd love to be able to sit around all day and play games,” Alison's husband said with a nervous chuckle.

  “Chuck!” Alison snapped angrily as he garnered the glares of both women.

  “It's fine, really. It is kinda nice being able to play games all day,” Asher said before glancing to the bouncy house. “I've actually been playing a lot of sword games lately.”

  “Oh? I used to do a little kendo back in college. Maybe we can try a match sometime.”

  Alison shook her head. “Don't. It's his birthday and you know he's... special...”

  Asher's eyes twitched and moved to the terminal. “No, it'll be fun. Don't worry, if it's too... intense, I'll stop,” he said with narrowed eyes. He flicked through the options before choosing a small dueling game. Not too advanced, but it would suffice. He chose single longsword for himself and katana for Chuck. “Shall we?”

  The man glanced to his wife who, after a few moments, gave him a nod. “Just be careful,” she said just loud enough for Asher to hear, though she tried to hide it. “He's not like the kids. If you hurt him who knows what will happen?”

  Asher sighed and entered the game with a click of the button, appearing in a small round field. A long sword with a simple brown hilt and scabbard appeared
around his waist.

  A few moments later his Chuck appeared opposite him, katana sheathed at his side. “So how does this work? Do we get armor?”

  “No. First one to receive a death shot loses. I've turned down the pain feed back to minimum so there shouldn't be any problems. Ready?”

  “I don't see why n- GAH!” Before he even finished the sentence Asher's sword charged through his chest.

  “I thought you said you were ready?” he asked once the man reappeared a few yards away.

  “I didn't expect you to come at me like that. Heh, don't worry, one lucky swing won't be all,” the man said and gripped the katana in both hands. “Try that again.”

  Asher charged forward while holding his blade tip a few inches from the ground. The man swung down hard with both hands. The boy quickly stepped to the side so the blade flew by and brought his sword up once to cleave through Chuck's arm, before twisting around to stab the blade through his uncle's throat. When he respawned the man looked shocked.

  “How are you able to move so fast? I thought--”

  “There aren't any physical limits here. Your real speed, strength, weight, none of those matter. All that matters here is experience. When it comes to sword play, well... I've been training a lot. Even if I can't move in reality, there is nothing here to hold me back.”

  “I see. I guess I won't have to hold back to much then, heh,” Chuck said before charging forward, swinging wildly.

  Asher frowned while he watched. It reminded him of the way he used to fight, wildly swinging and hoping to cut something. He wondered just how well his uncle had practiced his kendo. Granted, with the spells it had made it far easier. It was one of the reasons he originally got into player combat, because he knew his actual sword skills were sub par. He easily deflected the katana away with the flat of his sword and struck up, beheading the man. Again and again he cut Chuck down, easily knocking his blows away and cutting through him. Asher did die a few times though. His defense was far from perfect. After a while he raised a hand. “How about we stop here?”

  “What? Getting tired?” Chuck asked with a glare, his hands clenching the katana tightly.

  “A little. Even if it's not physically tiring it can wear on the mind. Being so tense.” Though there wasn't a drop of sweat on them and the game didn't register fatigue, he was beginning to feel the strain on his mind. “Besides, if we'd actually been fighting in the real world we'd be near the point of exhaustion by now.”

  “Fine, I guess,” the man said before his hands moved through the air. Within a few seconds the two were back in the main party room. A few more adults had joined and the bouncy room was now empty.

  The kids ran up to the two when they appeared. “That was awesome!” one of them called out. “You were all like, slash cut jump jump! Can we try next? I wanna fight next!”

  “No, I do!”

  “I wanna play next!”

  Asher chuckled and made his way towards his parents. “Maybe in a bit. I need to take a little break.” He took a seat at the table. “So how is it going?”

  “Good, good. We're just discussing some business matters. Are you having fun?” his dad asked.

  “Loads. Thanks for setting all this up for me. I know virtual parties can be difficult to get everyone together for.”

  “It's fine, son. Today is a special day. You're legally an adult. One of the big land marks in anyone's life,” he said with a sad sigh.

  “That and you don't think I'll make it to my next landmark? Or my next birthday?”

  “What? No. I'd never say that,” he said before his eyes gazed down at the plate in front of him. The table went quiet and the adults nervously looked to each other.

  “Dad? Can I talk with you for a moment, in private?” he asked softly. Almost instantly everyone stood up and walked away. “I actually meant me and you heading a bit away, but I guess this works. I ummm... I just want to tell you, thanks.”

  “It's fine. Everyone deserves something special on--”

  “No, I don't mean for this. Well, I do mean for this. I mean for... everything. I know you and mom work really hard so you can afford paying for all my medical bills and games.” Asher said and nervously rubbed his shoulder. “You do so much to keep me happy. I wish there was something I could do to make it up to you too.”

  The older man glanced back to his son before reaching out and hugging him. When Asher was pulled into his father's chest his eyes went wide, he couldn't remember the last time they had hugged. Even if it was virtual.

  “Dad, I--”

  “You never have to make it up to us. You're our son. All we ever cared about was making you happy and ready to head out into the world. We would have worked ten times as hard as we do now to always ensure that,” he whispered into Asher's ear. “Don't ever be sorry for any of this. Just be happy. Enjoy the life you have and that is all your mother and I will ever ask for.”

  Asher felt his eyes get warm and wet as he nodded. “T-thanks dad. I... I am happy. You know? I still have goals and things I'm trying for. I don't... I don't think things could be going any better for me than they are. Thank you.” He hugged his father back. After a few moments the hug ended and the party continued on around him. He played a few more rounds of combat, had some of the desserts and talked with some more of his family that made it. Eventually it was time for him to leave and he waved good bye before he brought up the menu. He gave one last glance to his parents before disappearing from that world.

  ------

  Weeks passed quickly after his birthday and soon the announcement he waited so long for finally came. It was time for the masterhood quests. The truce had, fortunately, been negotiated a few weeks prior. All prisoners had been released and the borders were temporarily open between all the races. There had been a few incidents where those wishing to end the truce had captured and imprisoned others, but they were quickly broken up by the combined forces that wished for the temporary truce to succeed. There was nothing like the threat of imminent and total destruction to make people want to play nice.

  Asura flew high over the oceans and looked around. Her masterhood quest had directed her to the Black Sea, waters so murky and dangerous that not even the leviathans held an outpost. The water, despite it's name, was not actually black. In fact, from above the water looked clear and calm. The sea was completely smooth without even a ripple, and as far as the eyes could see it was completely clear.

  She dove down as the small map in the corner of her vision alerted her she was at the location. The water was ice cold, even with the leviathan's resistance to it. She swam down a few feet and the world around her changed. Despite the sunlight being only a short distance away, it was completely dark. Even with her dark vision abilities she could barely see more than a foot ahead of her. She nervously gulped and brought out a small compass from her inventory.

  It was called an enemy-pass. In areas with heavy vision problems it showed just how close enemies were by displaying a small dot in the center and other creatures, as dots, in the distance. She let out a gulp as almost instantly dozens of dots, far larger than hers, appeared around her. None appeared directly on top of her though so she kept swimming forward and prayed nothing caught her.

  It was, for obvious reasons, one of the least explored regions in the game, along with spider hell. She remained extra alert for anything to appear. She nearly screamed when an alert flashed in her vision. A call from B4hamutt.

  “What do you want?!” she hissed once she accepted the call.

  “I was curious how your masterhood is going? Have you found the quest location yet?”

  “No! I only just arrived at the location it's supposed to be. I haven't actually found it yet,” she whispered softly, as if afraid something might hear her.

  “Really? I just found mine a bit ago. It gave me a guide to follow this time. How about yours?”

  “Big arrow. Straight to the Black Sea.”

  “The... Black Sea? It sent you there? Have yo
u ever been there?”

  “No! I brought a few enemy-passes though. I should be able to avoid any fights until I get to the masterhood location,” she whispered again before looking back at her device, nothing seemed to be coming yet. “I don't know how deep it is though, I can't see anything.”

  “That's why it's called the Black Sea. Be careful. I've heard from a few players who went there, most the monsters aren't cataloged so they'll be hard to fight. There are even rumors that some of the original leviathans live down there.”

  “What? You mean something like Niohoggr?”

  “No. Well, yes, but the awakened version. You'd never even know it was there until suddenly it's jaws clamped around you and--”

  “Enough!” she said quickly while her eyes refused to look away from the enemy-pass. “This is freaky enough without you telling me stories like that. Is there anything else you wanted to ask?”

  “No. I just wanted to say good luck.”

  “You too. Don't worry, I'll be fine. With all the practice I've been doing this will be a cinch. Well, it will be once I find the place I'm-- GAH!” she shrieked once a sword suddenly appeared in front of her and she slammed into it face first. “My eye!”

  “What happened, are you okay?!” he asked quickly, his voice worried.

  “Ow, ow ow, yes. Greater heal. Ow. I think I've found what I'm supposed too. It's an old rusty sword just floating in the water,” she said before knocking it aside and swimming down again, albeit slower. “There's more of them,” she whispered once spears, swords, maces and other debris slowly began to appear in her small field of vision. She knocked them aside or swam around them while she went. Within a few moments of swimming down she came to a floor of wood planks. “Bingo. I think I've found it. I'll call you after I finish, okay?”

  “Okay. Good luck.”