Landasy Reality: Angel's Escape

by Fredrick Stokely

  “I'd like that. Worse comes to worse, at least we can't be imprisoned at the fortresses. I can't imagine anything drawing the war to a stand still as fast as that would.”

  He nodded and got to his feet. “Me either. I'll see you later, okay? I need to take care of some things before I log off,” he said before he turned towards the door. He stopped a moment later and looked back. “Asura... I'm really happy you're back. I hope we can make this as exciting for you in your... ummm... as you want.”

  The angel smiled and nodded. “I know. Don't worry. I'm just... happy I can spend this with my friends. I'll see you again, soon.”

  ------

  Asher was awoken by gentle movements of his bed. Amy stood over him, clip board in hand. “Good morning, Asher,” she said with a cheerful smile. “Are you ready for today?”

  “Uuhhh... uhhh...” he managed to grunt out weakly as his eyes moved around. It had been a few months since he and the others had slain Niohoggr and time had flashed by almost too quickly. While they did on occasion help with the war efforts, they weren't ready for a final battle yet. So the majority of their time had been spent exploring the world and attempting to locate the other great beasts. Unfortunately, they had yet to have had any luck. Nothing had nearly the flare Niohoggr had.

  When it finally came time to decide on his survival, he had sent his parents the letter as requested. He asked to live. He wanted to see the world for a little longer. Now, it was finally time for his surgery. He had lost all sense of feeling and control of movement in his body and the majority of his head, no longer even able to turn it. The tube down his throat had already been removed, after it had begun to inhibit his ability to breathe.

  “Just stay calm,” she whispered and pat his head. “Considering your condition, we'll be using an inhalation drug to put you to sleep. Just relax,” she whispered before pulling up a gas tank on wheels. She slowly lifted up the mask and put it over his face.

  He wondered why they even needed the gas. He couldn't feel anything they were doing anyway. As the gas began to take effect and he felt his eyes droop, a terrifying thought filled his mind. What if they weren't going to operate on him? What if this was just supposed to kill him, and they were lying about the surgery to give him hope? His breath began to quicken as he struggled to try and lift his arms, to kick, to roll around, but all he could do was blink in agitation as the world leaked away into darkness.

  Chapter 16

  Age: 18 years, 11 months

  Asher looked around darkness surrounding him. He tried moving his hands or legs, but, unsurprisingly, they refused to move. He tried to call out for help, but his lips didn't budge. Had he finally died? Was this the afterlife? They had killed him. He knew it. He tried wiggling about, but his body hadn't moved. He had to go into the afterlife with the same body? It wasn't fair.

  A bright light filled his vision suddenly. He let out a groan and tried to move towards it, but again he couldn't. Instead, the light came closer and closer. Before too long it surrounded him, blinded him in its glow.

  His eyes opened to stare into the large white lamp over his face. “Asher? Can you hear me?” Amy asked.

  “Grrgl?”

  “Good, good. The operation was a success,” she said before reaching down by his stomach and lifting up a small machine. “You'll be receiving your food from here from now on. Are you feeling any pain? The doctors say you shouldn't be, but phantom pain may occur.”

  “Guh.”

  “Good, good,” the nurse said before reaching over to take his headset. “Do you want to go play your game?”

  “Uh uh!” he said from the back of his throat.

  “Okay, here you go,” she said as she put it on and turned it on. The screen flashed for a moment before the words 'Applying update' came across the screen. He sighed.

  “Complete waste of money.” Amy's voice suddenly said.

  “I'm sure it's not that bad,” another voice, he recognized it as the male nurse he had. He tried to remember his name, Tod? He couldn't place it, but the voice was so familiar. He swore he had heard it somewhere before.

  He didn't move, instead listening the nurses working in the back ground and discussing.

  “Don't see why they keep throwing money at him like this. It's not like he has any chance of survival, they're just delaying the inevitable.”

  “Well, he is their kid. Not like it's his fault he got this,” Tod said before something metal clattered.

  “Just goes to show you, when you actually have money you can spend it on whatever useless thing you want,” Amy said with a sigh. “Could have put a hundred kids through-”

  'Update complete' flashed across the screen and the world disappeared around him. He sat there for a moment, floating in the darkness as her words echoed through his mind. He slowly began logging into LRVR as he mumbled. “Is that all I really am? A waste of money?”

  The world shifted again as he found himself once again in the body of Asura. He gulped and opened her friend list and looked through the names. B4hamutt wasn't on, but, to her surprise, Andremedia was. She sent a message, “Media? It's Asura. Do you think you'd be able to talk for a bit? I really need someone I can chat with.”

  After a few moments she heard a light ringing, alerting her that the fae was establishing a private connection. She accepted it.

  “Hey Asura. What's up?” Andremedia asked before letting out a little grunt.

  “I... ummm... not much. I just wanted to talk. Are you busy? Are you sure you can talk? You're not usually on at this hour.”

  “Huh? Yeah. Just got on. Running some system tests. I'm not fighting anything really tough so I can chat.”

  “I just... I... I wanted to know if you had any leads on your monster yet. Heh heh,” the angel lied before lying back on her bed. “Wait, system tests?”

  “Huh? Oh, not yet. Tests on my set up. You know, make sure it doesn't lag. So, you wanted a private chat just to see if I found anything?”

  “Yeah,” she said gently. “I'm gonna head down to the Black Sea later. Wanna come with me?”

  “Maybe. I can't be on too late today.”

  “Really? Wanna go now then?” Asura asked before clenching her hands over her stomach.

  “Well... sure. I'll meet you there,” Andremedia said softly. “Invite me to a party when you arrive.”

  “Okay.” She ended the call. With a groan she slowly got to her feet and made her way to the exit.

  ------

  Despite spending nearly an hour in the dark seas, Asura and Andremedia came up empty handed. They found no new information about the leviathan's special boss. The angel tried talking to the fae a number of times, but each time she couldn't bring herself to talk about what was really bothering her. Before she knew it, her friend had to log out from the game and she was alone again.

  With nothing better to do, she returned to Everlight and joined in the fighting once again. She charged through the enemy forces, her sword cleaving and dagger stabbing. With each kill and death, the thoughts of the real world slowly melted away like snow on a summer day. After an hour she found herself lost completely in the battle. Adrenaline pumped through her veins as she fought the enemy forces with all her might, even using her new dragon slayer blade.

  She was so distracted that when she finally stepped back from the battle, panting and exhausted, she realized someone had messaged her. She opened the menu and sighed when the name appeared in her view. B4hamutt. All he asked was a simple question, and it tore through her like a knife, bringing all the pain back to the surface. 'Is everything okay?'

  She slowly reached out and clicked reply. She felt tears forming into her eyes as the emotions slowly began to break through her barriers. “N-no. It's not,” she said.

  After a few more moments his response came. 'Come to my room, we can talk.'

  She nodded and headed into the fortress. When she came to the barracks an invite came up and she quickly accepted it.

  She appeared
in his room a moment later. She looked around with wide eyes. She'd never been in another person's room before and, while his did have trophies from their past victories on the walls like hers, that was where the similarities ended. His wallpaper was a very dark brown and the carpet was an even darker red. The bed was just a simple cot with a scratchy looking blanket. Other than that, the room was empty. Not even a desk. Not that it would fit, since the room was so tiny.

  “You don't come in here much, do you?” she asked.

  “No, not really. Decorating the room always felt like a waste of time,” the dragon said before looking up from his cot. “Only thing I ever put up were the free trophies we got. I always preferred to live in the real world when it came to things like sleeping. No offense.”

  She sighed and sat by him, before shaking her head. “Yeah. I can see that. You still have a standard room. I figured you'd at least have a master level room.”

  “Most those bonuses don't mean much to me,” he said with a shrug. “The food, the view, the extra storage. I don't really use any of that stuff. Not worth the gold either. So uhhh... how are you holding up?”

  “The surgery went well. I uhhh... for a moment... I thought they were going to kill me. I mean...” Her hands folded in her lap as she shook. “I-I really thought they would. T-that they were just putting me to sleep to make me think I would get the surgery. S-so I wouldn't panic.” Tears began to flow down her cheeks. “I... I wonder if they should have. M-maybe that would have b-been for the best. It's just...” She trailed off when B4hamutt's arms wrapped around her and pulled her close.

  “Shhhh... it's okay,” he whispered and lightly patted her back. “It wouldn't ever be for the best for you to just die.”

  “H-how can it n-not be?” she whispered softly and hugged him back. “My parents have spent who knows how much money on me over the years? If my family didn't have so much, I'd of died years ago. They could all be living better lives if it wasn't for me.”

  “If that was true, you wouldn't be here,” he said and tightened his grip. “If your parents didn't feel you were worth it, they wouldn't. You obviously have to be.”

  “But it's just delaying it... nothing more. I'm going to die. I'm going to die soon and... and I don't want to...”

  “Asura... It's okay,” he whispered gently into her ear. “I know you're scared, but listen. We all have to die eventually. I know you'll be doing it sooner than you'd like but... we're here. I'm here, your friends are here, your family is here. No matter what happens, I promise I'll be here for you until the end. You mean something to all of us, and no one wants to see you gone before you have to.”

  The angel closed her eyes and tightened her grip on him, before leaning up and kissing him on the lips for the second time. This time she didn't pull back and instead slowly leaned in closer to him. He didn't pull away. Her hands tapped on the menu as her armor disappeared and she slowly pushed him onto his back.

  ------

  Weeks slowly passed as time in the game world went on. Before long the master quest line was announced once again. For the first time in years, Asura didn't feel the quiver of excitement as a new challenge came to mind. The war was put on hold once again, to allow others to compete. She eventually found herself flying over the oceans, one of dozens heading towards the Black Sea.

  Where as just the year before, she had looked forward to the event with every fiber of her being, now she swam straight to her destination with barely any worry. She'd since searched the sea many times for the king of leviathans, so finding the narrow tunnel again was almost child's play. Before long she swam in front of the golem and merely dodged around as she began sealing its limbs within tunnels and then cleaved the creature to pieces. She was almost in a daze while doing it, hardly focusing.

  When the golem exploded it encased itself in a massive ball of ice. The ice began to shift and mold itself into the form of a roaring lion. As the ice lion's mouth opened a mace formed over its tongue. The newly master-level leviathan sighed and reached out to take the new weapon. Sharar.

  She held the weapon in her hand and shook her head. “You're a year late...” she whispered before it disappeared into her pack. She turned and swam away, abandoning the cave and headed back towards the surface. Midway towards the open air she brought up the menu and changed her class once again, becoming an angel. With the new leviathan class mastered scales formed across her body and the feathers of her wings receded under thick scales as well. She swam with ease towards the surface.

  Then something grabbed her ankle.

  “Huh?” she asked and looked down. A long, thin tentacle had grabbed her leg and was dragging her towards an all too familiar wall of mouths. “AHHH!” She drew her sword and cleaved through the tentacle. More of them reached out to try and latch onto her, but she quickly swam back and away as the creature tried to pursue her. “How are you up here?” she yelled. “I thought you were on the floor?” she shrieked and used her sword to cleave through another tentacle. She shot up through the water like a bolt and, when she broke the surface, the feathers of her wings opened and she took to the sky. She glanced down one final time as she flew off, but nothing broke the surface.

  She let out a sigh of relief as she took off, back towards the fortress. “Well, if nothing else I can at least tell the others the creature is still there. Eesh.”

  ------

  Asura laid on her bed, her eyes drooping on occasion as she waited. After a few minutes she reached out and brought up her message box, but there were no new messages. She sighed and closed her eyes for a few minutes before reopening it yet again.

  “Come oooooon. Hurry up you two...” she said in a high pitched whine.

  Finally after checking over a dozen times, an alert popped up. She quickly checked her messages, unfortunately it was from Andremedia. She opened it with a sigh. It was just text, not a voice clip. 'Did you hear? It's all over the forums. The Eighth failed to pass. She didn't get her fifth mastery.'

  Asura's heart jumped. “The Eighth failed? The fifth challenge must be extraordinary. I wish you two would hurry up!” she yelled before glancing at Scalios' and B4hamutt's names. She reached out to tap them, but shook her head. “No. You've already sent them one message. They'll message you as soon as they finish, I'm sure. If you message them again you might distract them...” she whispered and stroked her finger along their nameplates. “NO! They deserve to pass. They are good. You will not distract them! Ugh!” She flipped through the names. She then clicked on Andremedia and sent her a request to talk. After a few moments it was accepted.

  “Hey, Asura. What did you need?” the fae asked.

  “Just curious how your master quest went? Did you pass?”

  “Of course. Didn't you search for my name on the site?” Andremedia asked.

  “On the site? No. Is that how you knew Eighth failed? Can you see how Scales and Mutt are doing?”

  “Yeah, hold on...” the fae's voice trailed off. After a few moments she spoke up again. “They're still doing theirs. If they fail though, there will be a few hundred people trying to be the first fifth master next year.”

  “A few dozen?” Asura asked with a little squeak.

  “Oh, yeah,” Andremedia said with a chuckle. “There are already over thirty who made it to four masteries, and this is only the first day. Once more information is out and the people who are too scared to try now get it, there will probably be over a hundred.”

  “But... there were only nine of us. How did so many catch up?” She asked before staring up at the roof. She slowly reached up and grabbed her pillow, hugging it to her chest. “I think I have a lead on the leviathan king. It attacked me on the way down. Once Scales and Mutt get back, wanna... oh, wait. Can you check if Skyth passed?”

  “Sure, hold on and... and... huh. Don't think she's done it yet. Says she still only has three masteries. It's only the first day, so she might be pushing it pack to prepare or get more information first.”

  “O
h, yeah. I guess that's likely. Once they're done, wanna help me go through the black sea? I have a plan to catch the monster, but I want us all to be there. You have any plans later tonight?”

  “No, not really. I have to go for a few hours, but I can be on later tonight. Say in about three?”

  “Sure. I'll see you--” Asura went quiet as the connection closed. “Well that was sudden. I hope they finish soon.” She stared back at the roof and waited.

  She soon drifted off, and was eventually jarred awake by an alarm going off. Scalios messaged her. Her hands brought the messages up and she quickly tapped her newest one. It was a sound clip.

  'Hey, I just finished. I didn't make it. Sorry. Message me back when you get this.”

  She squealed in delight and clapped her hands together. “Yes! This just means if Mutt fails then we're tied! I can still... no no no!” She rolled onto her stomach. “You're done. You're not getting back into that. It's just... not important. You want your friends to succeed. You had your shot, it's over... r-right?” she asked herself before rolling into a little ball. A few moments later another message alert popped up. She gulped and slowly opened it.

  “I failed,” B4hamutt's voice said. A short clip.

  “No no no...” she said softly as she tried to hold it back. She couldn't. She felt the excitement as it bubbled up inside her. “It's not right. Stop feeling happy that they failed! Even if this does mean you can still become one of the first to master all classes and have your name down in... stop!” She finally slapped herself.

  After a few moments she took a deep breath, sat up and tried to establish a call with Scalios. He quickly accepted. “Hey. I ummm, I heard. How are you doing?” she asked softly.