Landasy Reality: Angel's Escape

by Fredrick Stokely

  “H... h-hello...” He barely managed to struggle out around the knot in his throat. His mind raced, but it was fruitless to try and say more. Instead he just stared at the little bundle.

  She sat on the bed besides him and sighed sadly “We... know it must be hard for you, dear,” she said softly. He could see his dad pretending to be focused on one of the medical posters. He stared up at his mother as he awaited the death sentence. “We know you haven't wanted to spend time with us lately, either,” she said before reaching out to take his limp hand in hers. “If you've... decided to... not take the surgery, we understand. But please know your father and I don't... we don't want you to go if you don't want to. Take all the time you need. We just want you to be happy...” He looked up and saw tears forming in her eyes. “We know how hard it is for you to talk here. So please, send us a message when you make your decisions. Know that no matter what happens, you'll always be our little boy. We love you,” she said before leaning forward to give him a soft kiss on the forehead.

  He blushed and made a soft grunting noise when she pulled away. She smiled a moment and let his fingers slip from hers. “Do you want to go back to your games, dear?”

  “Y-yes...” he said weakly.

  She sighed and soon handed off his little sister to his father. She then walked over to his headset and picked it up. “Remember dear. We do care and love you. All we want is for you to be as happy as you can.” She slowly slid it on and flipped the switch.

  Within a few moments the world changed around him and he was brought to his loading screen, the empty black void. He slowly fell to his knees and sobbed. “I... I don't know what I want... I just... I'm not happy. Mom, dad... how can I possibly be happy? I just want to die, but I'm just...” He rolled onto his side and hugged his knees to his chest. “The only time I've ever been happy was when I... when I...”

  He slowly looked up and reached out to touch the air. A small menu soon appeared as he clicked a few buttons. Before long his mail box formed and he clicked on the newest message sent by B4hamutt.

  “Hey, Asura. Please answer as soon as you get this,” the guild leader's voice filled the void. “I know you're upset about... everything, but I just want you to know I understand. Well, I don't understand, but you're my friend. I want to be there for you... ummm... if you've seen any of my other messages just, please let me know. I think we can do this if we work together. Maybe we can find another way.”

  Asher gulped and slowly began going through the rest of them. The oldest were practically begging Asura to return, to not just give up. But newer ones were giving advice, ideas. Plans. The war seemed to be going well, apparently each side was down to their fortresses now as all six capitals had been destroyed, and new information had come to light. One of the newer messages caught her attention.

  “We've been planning for a while,” B4hamutt said. “We're going to try to take on Niohoggr. Not the one with the dragon egg, but the actual full powered one. Its haven't been beaten yet, so I figured we should give it a try. New areas and creatures are being added all the time, some places have never even been explored. We may find something we can use. Please message me when you get this.”

  Tears began to well up in his eyes and he made his way through the rest of his messages. He slowly applied Asura's voice filter before sending his response. “H-hey, Mutt. I... I want to talk with you. I want to play... I want to come back,” he said before sending the message.

  He sat back and waited. His eyes glanced at the mail symbol over and over, though it didn't flash. “Come on, Mutt. I'm sorry... you sent me all those messages, so you can't have given up on me,” he whispered to himself. “Why aren't you on? Are you busy?” he asked as he checked his friend list, the man was gone. “I need you!” he finally yelled.

  After a few hours the alert came up and he nearly screamed. His hands tapped the message and, unsurprisingly, B4hamutt's name showed. He pushed play as the message began.

  Chapter 15

  Age: 18 years, 8 months

  “Asura!” B4hamutt's voice filled the void again. “I'm sorry I didn't respond sooner, I just got off work. I'm on the way to Everlight. Don't go, don't leave! I'm coming!”

  Asher let out a sigh of relief before he moved through the menus again. He clicked a few times and Landasy Reality loaded. He quickly entered the game and found himself back in the room he had once known for so long, and in the body he had spent so much time.

  Asura brought her hands to her eyes, the limbs shaking. “I-I can't believe I'm back...” she whispered. Slowly her hands moved to her side and she clenched her fists and waited. A message soon popped up, alerting her that B4hamutt was attempting to access her room. She quickly clicked to allow it and the dragon appeared in her room. “H-hey...” she said sheepishly as she eyed the floor.

  He didn't say anything as he ran to her side and pulled her into a tight hug. She eeked as he held her close for a few moments. “Asura, I'm so happy you're back. I'm sorry for what you've had to endure but...”

  “No, stop,” she said quickly before trying to pull away. “I don't want to talk about it. I just, I just came back to play. To have fun. I want to try those things no one else been able to do.”

  “Huh?”

  “You mentioned fighting... things. Going places others haven't,” she said before clenching her fists. “I want to do it. I want to try all those things, go to all those places and defeat monsters that no one else could. I want to be the first.”

  “Okay. But what about your uhhh... condition?” he asked softly.

  Asura glared at him before speaking. “I've spent too many months thinking about it. I don't have much left. I just want to enjoy myself for now. Is that okay?”

  “Right, sorry,” the dragon said before looking off to the side, before finally allowing her to pull away. “What did you want to do first?”

  “Niohoggr. We tried once during the first year, so we might as well try again. It's in dragon lands though, any idea how we can get to it without getting caught out?”

  “Maybe. Since most of their forces have focused onto their own fortress now, Voidhall, there should be a relatively minor force in the dragon lands. I have some important information I need to tell you about that, later. If we can get to dragon rising valley, it won't be any issue actually fighting the beast,” he said before moving to her desk and leaning against it. “But there will only be five of us. We can probably bring Scales, but I haven't decided who the other two will be.”

  “Heh, you, me and Scales. Just like old times, right?” she said before laying back on her bed, letting her feet dangle over the side. “How about Andremedia? How many masteries does she have now?”

  “She has three I think,” he said before moving his fingers through the air. “Yeah, fae, angel and leviathan.”

  A smirk formed on Asura's lips before she glanced to him. “My my. You sure knew that awfully quickly, didn't you? Keeping notes on her?”

  The dragon rolled his eyes before crossing his arms. “She's a member of Heroes of the Coalition, she joined while you were gone. She's... actually been asking a lot about you. I didn't tell her anything but I think she missed you. Anyway, she's proved to be very useful. Helped me organize a number of events and was pivotal in taking down the last capital. Since then I've been keeping notes on her and a number of others in the guild.”

  “Wow... wait, if you have all those notes do you know anyone else who could be useful for this?”

  “Possibly...” he said before tapping on the air a few times. “Most of the fight takes place in the air, so someone with an angel mastery would be best.”

  “Someone with...” Asura looked the dragon over as she felt a sharp pain in her heart. “Your... your fourth mastery. W-was it angel?”

  B4hamutt stopped for a moment before slowly nodding. “Yes. I passed. It wasn't easy to beat the puzzle, but I killed it. I'm sorry.”

  “You... you don't need to be sorry. How many others... got their fourth?
”

  “Not many. There's actually a post about it on the forums,” he said as he kept flipping his hands through the air. “Only three succeeded. Me, Eighth and Scales.”

  “So I was the only one of us three who didn't pass,” she said bitterly while her hands gripped the bed. “Did Scales get an angel mastery as well?”

  “Yeah... after I passed I gave him some pointers for it. I'm sorry...”

  “I told you, you don't have to be sorry,” Asura said before crossing her arms, struggling to find a use for them without tearing the covers. “It's my own fault.”

  “Sorry,” the dragon whispered again as he stared down at her before shaking his head. “O-okay, I think I have someone,” he said before he put his hands together then pulling them apart, a gesture for expanding a menu. “Mastered leviathan, angel and dragon. Mostly like Scales, actually. Seems pretty skilled. If I remember correctly, the only reason she failed the first mastery quest was because she joined fairly late.”

  “Yeah, a lot of people didn't,” Asura said with a chuckle. “Heck, if we hadn't pushed ourselves so hard with all those plans to defeat the bigger bosses, we probably wouldn't have either. Why didn't we ever try to do them again, once we got stronger?”

  “I guess we got too busy,” B4hamutt said absentmindedly before flipping through some more invisible menus. “We got out first mastery and focused on the next quest. We did a few things, here and there, but for the most part we stuck to ourselves. Did lower level quests that gave more experience and rewards or went after bounties. Lost touch.”

  She nodded and let out a sigh. “Yeah. I guess I kinda got a bit too absorbed. Spending all my limited time just... never mind. Is she messaging you back?”

  “Yeah, she says she'll be able to in an hour or so. You should remember her, she's joined us a few times before and says she's happy you're back. Scales won't be on until then anyway. I'll send a message to Media and then we can go prepare. Sound good?”

  The angel nodded and got to her feet. She brought up her own menu and went through her equipment, bringing her full body armor on once again. When it attached to her and she felt the familiar weight she reached up and ran her hand down the front. The grooves of the metal and jewels brought back a happy flash of memories. “Remember when we first got these armors?” she asked B4hamutt.

  “Huh? Oh, our racial ones? Yeah,” he said with a smile. “Took forever for us to get all the requirements and money together to make them. It's really easy now though, they've released so many pieces of equipment that are just as powerful that most people just buy the cheaper ones.”

  “Yeah,” Asura said with a chuckle. “Doesn't help the equipment doesn't scale as well with other races. Are you almost done?”

  “Hold on, Media just sent her response,” B4hamutt said before tapping the air. “Okay, she says she'll be here. So I guess we should go prepare. She's also happy you're back.”

  She nodded as the two left her room and headed straight for the fortress's library. “Last time we fought it, I remember we barely even nicked its scales.”

  “Yeah. Though we didn't have master weapons then. I think some people tried it again after the second mastery quest. I don't know how well it went though, I can probably find some mentions if I do a few searches. Wanna try?”

  Asura sighed before nodding. “Yeah, I guess it'll be faster,” she said before sitting on one of the soft cushions. She brought up a menu and connected to the outside world within a few moments. A few quick searches later and dozens of videos came up. The most recent one was nearly two years old. She played it none the less. It showed a group of five angels, each with an Excalibur, waving at the camera. A few quick introductions later and the fight began. It ended within a few moments, though to their credit the dragon did take some cuts from their blades.

  She began going through more videos and checking the comments. Most of them were the same, the party would get slaughtered after dealing some damage, unable to escape the blows fast enough. The comments were filled with insults and complaints, either about the beast being too powerful, players claiming to have killed it easily, others saying there was no proof that it died and they were liars and some saying the beast was unkillable.

  After a few more videos she closed out and glanced to B4hamutt. “You done?” she asked before reaching out to poke his shoulder.

  “Yeah. That was... I think I learned a few things.”

  “Oh? Like what?”

  “Our weapons should do far better than they used to,” he said before moving his hands through the air. “Don't keep bunched up or his flame breath will melt us. Cutting his wings and trying to ground him will backfire if done too soon.”

  “They did that in one of the videos? Where? How? What happened?”

  “Yes, they cut through its wings. It wasn't pretty,” B4hamutt said with a cringe. “It landed on two of them, and when it was down on the ground they couldn't find any openings to strike it without getting crushed. Did make it slower though. This isn't going to be an easy fight.”

  “I didn't think it would be. Where's the fun if it is?” she said with a grin. “How long until the others will arrive?”

  “Shouldn't be too long. We still need to come up with a plan to get there,” the dragon said before he tapped the air a few times. “We can go through leviathan lands, they're the closest. From there we can go through the rivers and make our way to the lava pits. We can fly over those so we shouldn't encounter any trouble, and we'll be hard to see through all the smoke. From there we'd... huh. No way around it, we're going to have to go through either Mordred mines or over Morgana rise. Either way we'll likely be seen.”

  “I say we go through the mines,” Asura said as she started walking again. “We'll be more closed in, but avoiding being seen will be easier if we're careful. How about we tell everyone to meet us there and we go ahead to scout?”

  “Fine, hold on a second while I let them know,” he said as he tapped the air a few more times. After a few moments he walked after her. “Okay, to the mines.”

  ------

  The two glided through the air, smoke surrounding them on all sides. Below were thick pools of magma that filled the air with streams of ash and smog.

  “It's so quiet,” Asura said as she scanned the lands below. “Where do you think everyone is?”

  “No idea. There isn't really a lot for most players to see here though,” B4hamutt said softly. “The lava pits don't offer many rewards aside from a few fire elemental enemies. The real rewards are in the mines. All those jewels. Hopefully more people will be farming the rise though. Better rewards, if a bit harder.”

  “Probably,” she said and soon a massive mountain range came into view. “There they are. This shouldn't be too hard, hopefully. The entrance is near the bottom, right?”

  “Yeah. We just have to find the cart tracks, and then it's easy,” B4hamutt answered before they left the cover of the smoke and descended towards the range. Within moments they spotted a long line of cart tracks and landed by the entrance. “I'll go on ahead, can you wait here?”

  “What? Why?”

  “Because if only one of us go in, less chance of detection,” he said as he stepped into the darkness of the mines. “The others will need to know where to find us too.”

  “Fine, don't be too long,” she said with a hint of annoyance. When he disappeared into the mine, she drew out her sword and dagger. She took a few swings with the blades and tried to get used to the weight once again. When she glanced back to the dagger, her mind flashed back to the last time she felt one. The way it felt as she plunged the dagger again and again into the man's chest, the blood coating her hands.

  “It's clear,” a voice said from behind her, tearing her from her memories.

  “What?” Asura asked and looked up. B4hamutt walked out from the darkness.

  “Come inside,” he said as he motioned her forward. “I saw a few players, but nothing too bad. It might be our lucky day.”


  “Oh, right,” she said before she slowly moved the dagger to her side. “Sorry, I was just a little... distracted.” She moved besides him. “Hey Mutt? Thanks for doing this with me. I know I left on... I didn't leave on the best terms.”

  “Don't worry about it. I'm just happy you're back,” the dragon said before leaning against the wall and watching the exit.

  Asura glanced down for a moment before sheathing the blades. She reached over and wrapped her arms around his neck and pushed against him in a hug. “I'm sorry I freaked earlier...” she whispered before she laid her head against his chest and let out a soft sigh. He felt warm and firm as she listened to his heart beat. His character's heart beat. “I was just... these last few months have been... I didn't know what I... I'm sorry. I'm not making any sense, am I?” she asked before closing her eyes.

  “No, not really,” B4hamutt said before wrapping his arms around her as well. “You don't have to talk about any of it, okay? No matter what, you're still my friend. If you're hurt or suffering, I'm always here to talk about it.”

  “O-okay...” she whispered. After a few moments she realized she could smell him, even worse was she didn't think she minded. Her cheeks turned red before she pulled away. “I think that's enough of that. I feel a lot better now. Uhhh, t-thanks.”

  “N-no problem,” he said and looked away. She couldn't quite tell in the darkness, but she thought she could see a bit of a blush in his cheeks as well. “They're on their way.”

  “Huh?” she asked before gazing up at him.

  “They're on their way,” B4hamutt repeated. “Scales just sent me a message, he was the last one, so it'll be a while before he arrives. He's close though, might even beat the others.”

  “O-oh, right,” she whispered and glanced back towards the lava pits far outside the cave. “I guess we just sit and wait...”

  ------

  Scales, still his normal leviathan self except with a pair of big leathery blue wings, burst from the smoke and plummeted towards the group. When he landed at the side of the cave, Asura and the others moved to join him. She was the only angel. Andremedia had arrived first and was a normal fae, though she had two large purple, red and blue butterfly wings on her back.