1-Up

by Dean Smith

  ‘Take the time you need, embrace your emotions, don’t hide from them.’ Nina spoke sage advice and Valiant agreed, he only wished he could follow such direction himself although he didn’t envy the reason for Mordoom’s despair one bit. Valiant wished he could have said something to ease Mordoom’s pain but there was nothing to be said, no magic words to quieten his despair, no sentence to stop his tears. All Valiant could do was be there for him and so he did just that.

  Mordoom took a few minutes to grieve before he stood up and motioned to Valiant and Nina to follow him.

  ‘I won’t forget Cathy but we need to get going. When this is all over I’ll take the time I need but until then, we have a job to do.’ Mordoom’s eyes were blotchy but determined and Valiant didn’t want to patronise him by suggesting that he needed more time. They proceeded ahead and found themselves in a long corridor that contained several items. The first and most imposing were the stuffed beasts that, upon entering the corridor, made Valiant pull out his sword in preparation for a battle that never came. There were three in total, a drake (a small icy blue dragon that was the size of a bull) which was put into a standing position with its claw’s outstretched and its mouth wide as though it was in mid roar. The second was a ferocious looking griffin that leaned dangerously low to the ground while its large wings were outstretched. The third one was a gorgon, a human/snake hybrid creature whose jaw was unhinged and open wide to reveal endless rows of inch long fangs. its red eyes seemed to follow them wherever they went. The corridor was host to several stained glass windows, all of which depicted an evil looking Mordoom and his minions which included Cathy and Minos. Valiant could hear Mordoom gulp as he saw them on the windows. The next item in the corridor was a book on a stand, Valiant recognised it as the ‘Mordoomic Text’, a bible which Mordoom, in his villainous days, wrote to teach his ways of evil to all that would seek to learn. It was open but Valiant didn’t see the point in reading it. Hoisted on the wall opposite the windows was a large golden sculpture of Mordoom’s face, his eyes were large rubies. Valiant would have made a joke at Mordoom’s expense in any other situation but he knew it wouldn’t be good timing. Beyond the sculpture was the next door.

  ‘That was easy enough,’ Valiant stated gratefully. He was still wiped from climbing up to Cathy’s room.

  ‘Don’t be too sure.’ said Nina with an air of caution as they went through the door to find themselves back in the exact same corridor.

  ‘What?’ Valiant ran ahead and Mordoom followed but for once, Nina lagged behind, taking in their surroundings as Valiant charged through the door at the other end of the corridor to find that the corridor had repeated itself again.

  ‘Is it a trap of some sort?’ Asked Mordoom.

  ‘Must be...’ Valiant looked around for some sort of clue or solution to their problem but nothing made itself apparent, Nina caught up with them as Valiant finished speaking.

  ‘It’s not a trap, it’s a puzzle.’ She looked ahead at the Mordoom sculpture and smiled as though she had figured something out. ‘Come, I’ll explain.’

  She pointed to the ruby eyed sculpture when she arrived at it.

  ‘When we first arrived in this corridor, the sculpture had ruby eyes but in the next two iterations, this sculpture’s eyes were sapphire and now in this corridor, they are rubies again. This is a repeating corridor with three different versions.’ There it was again, the number three. ‘The loop should end If we can find the differences in each variation.’ As she finished speaking, the rubies glowed bright white to such an intensity that Valiant had to look away, when the light faded, the rubies were replaced with sapphires. ‘It’s a game of spot the difference.’ Nina concluded before heading through the door. In the next room, Valiant inspected the stuffed monsters while Mordoom studied the windows. Nina was left to inspect the book.

  ‘Here.’ She called to them after a minute or two. ‘Found it.’

  She pointed to a sentence that said ‘Live and die with me.’

  ‘I looked at the books in the other rooms when we first walked through them. In the other two corridors, that sentence says ‘Live and die for me.' The text glowed like the rubies did so before and the incorrect word was swapped for the original.

  They moved on but this time Nina seemed stumped. The stuffed monsters had not changed in any of the variations of the corridor and the windows or the sculpture were the same. Not finding the answer here, the trio walked forwards to see the other variations of the corridor. After a few cycles, Valiant caught Mordoom staring at the ceiling which was made of a shimmering dark substance that looked as though it could have been made from black crystals.

  ‘Found something?’ Asked Valiant as he approached

  ‘Possibly.’ Mordoom said as he continued to look up. ‘The diamond looking things in the ceiling, I think there’s less of them in this corridor than in the other two.’ When Mordoom finished speaking, the now familiar glow returned but this time, the door at the end of the corridor glowed and changed and a large jewel encrusted door appeared where the smaller wooden door once was.

  ‘Well done, Mord!’ Nina said gleefully as she ruffled his silver hair. He smiled briefly as he brushed his hair down with his hand.

  Whilst walking towards the door and the hopeful exit of this loop they were in, the trio noticed that the music that had been playing since they entered the castle was fading and was replaced with an eerie silence.

  ‘I think this is it.’ Valiant stated, unable to hide the anxiety in his voice. ‘I think the throne room is through here and that’s where Rita said she’d wait for us.’ He turned to Mordoom and Nina. ‘Are you guys ready?’ They nodded and Valiant took a deep breath before opening the door.

  ***

  The throne room was grand in stature with obsidian stone encasing almost every surface. Its walls rose high into the air and the ceiling was the sky itself. Crystal pillars that glowed a faint purple lined the way to the throne which was the grandest object in the room. The throne sat upon a raised platform and comprised of silver encrusted with countless purple jewels. The back of the chair stretched up into the sky and at the top, the back split into two widespread ornate wings. It would have looked ridiculous by itself but with everything else in the room it inspired awe and intimidation.

  Sat with her legs crossed on the throne was Rita and she regarded them with a regal look of an imposing queen and with just a single glance, she had made her presence felt.

  ‘You made it though the castle, not that I had any doubt you would. You are the protagonist after all, the hero who will triumph no matter what. You were destined to make it here, to this moment. It was written in the code and like all things within in the code, it came to pass. You’ve overcome all obstacles in your way, you’ve reached the final level and now the only thing that remains is to do your duty and kill the villain to end the game.’

  Valiant stepped back.

  ‘Kill you? I just came to talk. I don’t want to kill anyone.’

  ‘What you want is irrelevant, our free will is simply a glitch in the system, a mistake. What good is free will in a world where the code dictates who we should be? You may think you are free but the code is infallible, the only choice we get is which role we play in the proceedings. I didn’t want to be a damsel in distress so I tried to be a hero and that didn’t work out either but I figured out my role in the end, the villain. This game will never end without one and Mordoom isn’t up to the task. Speaking of which, did you like your reunion with your friend? Your pet? No need to thank me for it.’

  Mordoom roared and threw a fireball at her that she dispelled easily but her face grew dark and thunderous.

  ‘You are just a bit player now, Mordoom. You’re not important and you never were, now it’s time for you to fade away like the failure you are, goodbye.’ Her hand glowed with static as she pointed it at Mordoom.

  ‘No!’ Valiant cried in a strangled voice as he dived in front of Mordoom, his arms outstretched.

 
; ‘If you want to delete him, you’ve got to delete me first so go ahead! Delete the hero! I dare you!‘ Rita surveyed him for a moment and dropped her hand gracefully back down to her side.

  ‘So be it, the cretin will live for now. Now, back to what I was saying before. This game will never end until we end it. A villain must be defeated, the heroes must triumph or else we are stuck in this unchanging limbo.’

  ‘What’s so bad about that? We can make this world our own as it stands.’ Stated Nina but Rita didn’t acknowledge her much to the trio’s joint annoyance.

  ‘What happens when the game ends? What becomes of us?’ Asked Valiant, he wanted to understand her. He could understand Rita not liking her role in the game before and that the code opened her eyes to many things, but he didn’t understand how all that related to her newfound need to force them to play the game. If Valiant couldn’t understand her, he couldn’t help her.

  ‘That… I don’t actually know… But anything is better than this purgatory. My head is full of things I’ve learned and I can barely understand any of it but the bits I understand bear ill tidings. Nothing is real and free will is just another cruel illusion. I can’t cope in this world.... I truly can’t but the only way to escape this misery is to end the game and I will do that regardless of the cost. The game has to end and we all must play our roles, speaking of which.’ Rita stood up and floated towards them before setting her feet on the ground. She flicked her fingers at Nina and Mordoom and they flew through the air and collided with the ground a distance away. Valiant turned from her and ran to help them but a purple wall of flames blocked him from them. The flames encircled Valiant and Rita, blocking them in.

  ‘They aren’t hero characters, they aren’t your designated allies so they have no part in this. They are just spectators now.’

  ‘I will not fight you, Rita. I won’t.’

  ‘You don’t have a choice.’ She paced around him. ‘I’ll even give you an advantage. You hate turn based battles, right?’ Her hands became encased in static as she waved them over the room. ‘I’ve changed the battle system, this will be a raid battle now. You like them. I was watching as you triumphed in the Obsidian Stronghold, you did so well. Do well by me now and end this game.’

  Valiant shook his head in defiance.

  ‘I won’t hurt you. There’s too many people in this world who have awoken up to possibilities they never had before, you keep going on about the code but you never gave this world a chance. I understand that everything scares you, it used to scare me too but this world, while it seems limited, has been opened up to so many possibilities and I will not risk that by ending the game. There are too many lives at stake.’

  ‘Irrelevant lives, NPCs don’t matter. You are the only thing that matters in this world, you are its saviour so save it, kill the villain and save the day like you always have.’

  He shook his head at her in disgust.

  ‘Everyone matters, Everyone should get a chance to live life how they please. It’s not down to me or you to dictate what happens, not anymore.’

  Rita rolled her eyes and sighed.

  ‘Philosophy has no place here, We have a job to do and if you won’t do it, I will make you do it.’ Her eyes became glazed over with static and her hands followed suit. ‘I found out that my powers can do something I didn’t expect when I tested them on this castle’s denizens. I can take away free will, I can revert you back to the way you were and when I do that, you’ll defeat me without question.’ Her face softened for a moment. ‘I didn’t want to do this, you know. I had hoped you would see things my way, and I thought we could end this nightmare together but I can’t get through to you and so I must do what needs to be done. You aren’t the hero you’re meant to be and that must change.... I’m sorry, Valiant.’ She unleashed a static blast at him and he held up his arms in a fruitless defence. There was nothing he could do, it was all over. That blast would hit him and he would follow the code to its natural conclusion. He thought of the people he would fail. Mordoom and Nina, Erica and Jessie, The two villages in the Undying forest and the people of Valetide, Goldharbour and Wingcrest.... King Theodore... He hadn’t thought about him in a while, he was still waiting for Valiant and Rita’s return, not knowing what had happened since they left. Valiant would fail them all. He closed his eyes.

  I’m so sorry everyone. I wanted to be a hero, to be better than what the game had in store for me but I couldn’t change a thing. I’ve failed you all.

  The blast hit him and he saw the code again, just like he did when he defeated Vardant. Before, they revealed to him the truth of the world but as he looked the endless code now, he saw something else, something more than he expected. The answer to their troubles. He gasped as he felt knowledge flow through his veins. He saw a vision of the blocked cave from way back before he and Mordoom entered Valetide and the solution to their problems became clear to him. The code didn’t just grant him knowledge, the fibre of his being was changing into something new, not reverting to who he was. The walls of numbers and letters faded into him leaving darkness and a pale purple light in the distance. Having nowhere else to go, he travelled towards that light and reached out to it until it grew bigger and brighter and when he touched it, he breathed deeply and desperately although he had been deprived of air as the throne room snapped back into vision.

  ‘I don’t understand! Why isn’t this working!?’ Rita screeched in frustration.

  Valiant lurched forward, his balance was precarious, his head fuzzy, his eyes blurry. He held on to a nearby pillar for balance and saw that Rita was preparing to try again. She fired another blast at him but he didn’t fear it this time, instead he held out his own hand and a dome of static encased him, protecting him from Rita’s power.

  A collective gasp rang out from Nina, Mordoom and Rita as Valiant’s barrier faded away.

  ‘You’re not the only one with the power to change things now, Rita.’

  For once, Rita looked scared rather smug or melancholy and she backed away from him.

  ‘This isn’t how it’s meant to happen!’

  ‘You don’t understand, you never have. The code created us all, but it doesn’t control us, not now. It’s a blueprint, not destiny.’

  ‘No!’

  ‘I want to help you understand, give me a chance. Let’s talk.’ Valiant’s hands had been glowing with static since he erected the barrier but now they had faded but it wasn’t down to anything he did. He was exposed to the same powers that awakened in Rita back when they learned that the world was just a game but Valiant’s powers hadn’t surfaced until now and he was unsure of how to use them.

  ‘I’ve had enough of talking! If you won’t do as I ask and I can’t force you to do it, then leave me be! Let me think!’ She looked around the floor wildly although the solution to this predicament was at her feet.

  ‘I’m not going anywhere, let’s figure this out together.’ Rita sneered at him in response before she caught sight of Mordoom and Nina to which she smiled a sinister smile.

  ‘Rita? What are you planning?’ Valiant knew something was wrong but before he could anything to stop her, she snapped her fingers and Nina and Mordoom disappeared, leaving only static behind.

  Valiant screamed and turned back to Rita, his face torn up in fury.

  ‘WHAT DID YOU DO?!’

  The smug smile of victory returned to her face.

  ‘They’re fine, for the moment. They’re thousands of feet in the air and in, about, or say a minute, they will be a stain on Goldharbour’s docks. What will you do? Will you stay here and try to talk me down or will you save your friends?’

  He knew the answer, he glared at her and looked to his hands. He didn’t understand the power he wielded, even less how to use it but he thought of Mordoom and Nina, he envisioned them falling and hoped for a way to save them. He thought of their journey so far, their friendship, their connection and he reached out with his mind, desperate for a light to come on in his head so he could mak
e sense of the power he had gained. He kept reaching into the darkness of his mind, he saw the skies of Goldharbour and he could see his friends falling. A panic gripped at his soul and he felt weird, lighter as though he was floating although his feet were firmly on the ground. He opened his eyes and saw he was covered in static and fading away. He felt like he was in two places at once, with his friends and with Rita. He was teleporting like he had seen her do so many times but his method of doing so was slower.

  Before he faded from the throne room, he looked at Rita one last time.

  ‘This isn’t over.’ He warned her.

  ‘But it will be soon enough,’ she responded as she melted from his view.

  Level 9

  The second Valiant materialised next to his friends, he grabbed hold of Mordoom and Nina’s hands. The feeling of plummeting through the air at speed and the tropical jingle of Goldharbour’s background music made for a strange combination that would end badly for them if Valiant didn’t do something soon.

  Mordoom shouted something at him but his words were lost to the wind.

  ‘Keep holding on to my hand!’ Valiant screamed back but he could only assume his words met a similar fate. Instead of talking them through what he would try to do, he would simply have to do it and have faith it would work out. To that end, he focused on the fast approaching ground below and imagined that he would find himself safely on the ground hoping it would trigger his teleportation abilities but he had no such luck. He searched for a solution inside of himself, he begged his newfound power to save his friends, if they couldn’t teleport to safety, hoped he could at least slow their descent. He closed his eyes and focused and repeated ‘Save my friends’ in his head like an incantation until the roaring wind quietened down and became a gentle breeze. Bewildered but hopeful by the sudden change in sound, Valiant opened his eyes.

  All three of them were gliding downwards, their fall had slowed down considerably. It would take a while to reach the ground but they would do so safely. With the sounds of the wind no longer tearing through his ears, Valiant could hear the laughter of his friends as they all got out of yet another sticky situation. He could feel their grip on his hands gently tighten. Their plan to reason with Rita had been a disaster, and they had learned nothing but grim tidings for Venturis for their efforts. Rita wanted this world to end; she considered it a prison, a gilded cage where freedom and choice are illusions but Valiant knew that wasn’t the case. This world had limitations which were reinforced when he looked out at Goldharbour from their vast vantage point. He could see the town in its entirety and for the first time he understood why loading screens were a thing.