Immersion World

by Max Jager

  "Ugh, heal me please." Kaden groaned, grimacing a little as he tried to move causing his burns to send a sharp pain through his body.

  "Dumbass, what did you expect to happen when you did that?" Estellese scoffed, but her and Lillith got to work on healing his burns.

  "I expected him to give me a cookie, not a fireball. But instead I stalled him, for like two seconds, but still I stalled him and I got no cookies for it." Kaden countered.

  Mendelen turned back to the boy. "You're a human?" He asked. "What's your name?"

  The boy nodded "Yep I am, I'm Thomas. And my dog's name is Rex, he's my best friend from-" He started but stopped. "From my home." He added with a brief glance to the fairy hovering near him. "I never knew any other humans were in this g- Erm, here."

  "We just got to this world a few weeks ago." Mendelen replied. "But we have some questions for you, that we'd like to ask sometime when we are alone. Just us humans."

  - Next Chapter: The Truth -

  Chapter 19: The Truth

  - Chapter 19: The Truth -

  Mendelen turned back to the boy. "You're a human?" He asked. "What's your name?"

  The boy nodded "Yep I am, I'm Thomas. And my dog's name is Rex, he's my best friend from-" He started but stopped. "From my home." He added with a brief glance to the fairy hovering near him. "I never knew any other humans were in this g- Erm, here."

  "We just got to this world a few weeks ago." Mendelen replied. "But we have some questions for you, that we'd like to ask sometime when we are alone. Just us humans."

  Sybil gave them a suspicious look and Thomas looked confused, but he quickly replied with "Okay, maybe later? Kinda busy right now." As he spoke he spotted Zanath and Lillith trying to set up a new machine on the edge of the rift "What are you guys doing?" He called over to them.

  Zanath looked up at him with a perplexed expression on his face "Closing the rift?" He answered.

  "Oh! You can do that?" Thomas asked in a shocked tone. "Don't worry about it, I got it covered. My friend can close them real quick. She should be here any second now." As he spoke those words he heard Rex barking in the background and pointed in the general direction of the sound. "There they are."

  Mendelen and Zanath turned to where the boy was pointing and spotted two figures in the distance. One looked like a little girl, and the other was clearly Rex. The dog had changed back into a golden labrador retriever and was running circles around the girl while barking happily. It would run ahead of her, trying to lead the way, but the little girl wasn't fast enough to keep up so the dog would turn and run back to her. It would then run a circle around her and run ahead of her again, repeating the process over and over.

  As they got closer Mendelen could tell that the girl was not human. She looked to be only eleven, and had a human shape to her with long white hair, but she had black and white fur covering her body and face. She resembled some sort of a cross between a human and a panda. Her face was mostly covered in white fur, with big circles of black fur around her eyes, she had panda ears, and the fur along her arms and legs was mostly black with a few spots of white here and there. Her nose also looked more like a panda nose then a human one, but her body shape was human, and she had human-shaped hands and feet. She was wearing a brown t-shirt that looked a little big on her, and brown pants that also seemed a little baggy and big for her. Mendelen wasn't sure what to think of the strange girl, she looked frightened but she seemed to lighten up when she saw the friendly faces of everyone around the rift.

  She went straight over to Thomas, but her eyes wandered to everyone in the area.

  "I'm sorry Inami, your mother was not here. This source of energy was just Mr. Ugly-face again, same demon that was at the dwarven settlement." Thomas sighed.

  Inami giggled lightly at his nick-name for the abyssal demon, but seemed a little disheartened when he said her mother wasn't here. "I no feel any more. The other one that way disappeared weeks ago." She said as she pointed in the direction of the elven village.

  Thomas sighed softly and frowned "No more? You sure your mother was strong enough to radiate energy like that?" When he saw Inami nod he sighed and shook his head. "The trail goes cold again then. Don't worry, we will find her. Can you break this rift like you did the last one though? We don't want Mr. Ugly-face to get out."

  "Oh! Yeah that be bad." Inami agreed. She walked over and crouched down beside the rift, then she touched it and closed her eyes. Suddenly both Inami and the rift changed, they were both made of nothing but green ones and zeros for a very brief moment before Inami returned to normal. The rift seemed like it froze in place for a second, then it suddenly just disappeared. "Poof!" inami exclaimed as she jumped back onto her feet, after which she promptly hiccupped and covered her mouth. "Oops! I think change myself again when change rifty thing. I no good this." She murmured.

  "Don't worry, you got rid of it and you seem to be okay, so it's probably fine." Thomas replied with a smile.

  Mendelen turned to Sybil "Is it just me, or is the translation spell not working well on the panda?" He asked. "It's translating her speech, but not nearly as well as it does for you, the other fairies, or the elves."

  "It isn't the spell, it's just her. Seems like she doesn't know how to speak properly, if I pry into her mind with telepathy, it looks like she speaks the same language you do." Sybil replied. She seemed to be shocked and at a loss for words, this was a lot to take in. She didn't have the slightest idea how these children did this, it was baffling. "You do not know this other human? And is the girl not from your world?"

  Mendelen shook his head. "The girl definitely isn't from our world, I don't know why she'd be speaking our language. And we don't know the boy." He answered.

  "My father is the creator of this world." Thomas spoke up. "Believe it or not. And you guys wouldn't have known me, I… Well I never really left home. So I didn't have any friends until I got to this world." He replied.

  "The son of the creator? That would explain the holy weaponry and the divine powers to drive back the demons, is the girl also the daughter of god?" Sybil replied with a hint of skepticism in her tone.

  "Oh no, no." Thomas replied quickly. "My father isn't a god, just the creator of the world. I'm not part of any of this world's religions. And the girl is just a friend I met on my journey, I offered to help her find her mother."

  "But surely he is if he created the world." Sybil pressed him for information.

  "It's… Too hard to really explain." Thomas replied. "But honestly, I'm nothing special. I'm just an average boy."

  As the last of the demons fell on the battlefield and the others noticed that the rift was destroyed, the cheers of the soldiers could be heard ringing out, the battle was finally won, the demons were driven back.

  Sybil didn't seem to believe him. She looked back at the battlefield. "I need to lead them back, and let them know I'm still alive. Thomas, please come to my castle in Altia, the fairy city that is on the central island. Son of god or not, I must find out where you got that sword, and possibly study it so we can figure out how to use that element of magic incase the demons ever return."

  "I would like to but…" Thomas started.

  "We will pay for you to have a room at the Inn, and will ensure that you get a big cooked meal." Sybil stated. As soon as she mentioned food both Thomas and Inami's stomachs growled, and Rex's head perked up. Sybil laughed "I figured that'd get you kids' attention. You two are out in the wilderness alone right? You need to eat."

  "I can forage and Inami can eat most meats raw." Thomas said. "But it has been years since I had a cooked meal."

  "Good, come see me at the castle then we will-" Sybil paused, she took a deep breath and tried to recompose herself. "I will make sure you and your friend are taken care of. And Rex too."

  "But ma'am, my holy sword is from my signet skill. It isn't an item you can really study, and signets defy the typical laws of magic." Thomas replied as he gestured to his signet ring.

 
"Oh, that is unfortunate." Sybil sighed disheartedly. "But come anyways, we'll learn whatever we can from it and at least you can get a decent meal and a good place to rest for the night. I must get back to my people." She turned and flew off towards the rest of the soldiers.

  "Thank you ma'am!" Thomas shouted back to her he watched her go.

  "We are heading back to the others as well." Alicia stated, she still sounded upset but seemed to be doing better. The rest of the group was now fully healed and standing not too far from Mendelen and Thomas. "Good work everyone, and thank you Mendelen for keeping Lillith and I alive."

  "I told you not to make me say I told you so." Kaden replied. "Yet you made me say it. That burst of emotion both of you had nearly got you both killed."

  "Kaden!" Both Estellese and Mendelen shouted.

  "You went down first human, due to your own stupidity and ego. You couldn't just follow orders?" Alicia snapped back. "And I told you not to address me like that. Remember your place human, and show some respect for your superiors."

  "You and Mendelen both don't get that defense is not the best option. Offense is more important, take them out before they get a chance to hurt us. Which is why I do my own thing, I'm not gonna sit around on defense and watch people die. Plus you should know me by now, if you demand respect just because you're royalty I'm just going to keep pissing ya off. I hate people who do that. Respect is earned." Kaden answered, only to get promptly smacked over the back of the head by Estellese.

  Inami started giggling as she watched the two of them.

  "Knock it off Kaden." Estellese insisted.

  Alicia sighed and shook her head "He's your idiot, I don't have time to deal with him." She scoffed.

  "Unfortunately. Yeah." Estellese sighed.

  "I'm getting back to Adamus and the elves before they worry and send the rescue. Come on Lillith." She took Lillith's hand and the two of them ran off towards the elven army together.

  Thomas turned to Mendelen, "I also have questions for you, but you can go first." He said.

  Mendelen shook his head and glanced back at Pex who was sitting on Estellese's shoulders. "Estell, do you and Pex wanna head back ahead of us?" He asked, hoping she'd catch the hint.

  Estellese hesitated. "I want to be here for this too." She murmured. "Pex you mind heading back without us? We will catch up."

  Pex frowned a little and looked up at Estellese's face from her perch on the woman's shoulder. "Why can't I be here too?"

  "It's a human thing, one that might be offensive to anyone who isn't human." Estellese replied.

  Thomas looked very confused when Estellese said that, "But… Neither of them are human?" He murmured quietly, his comment went unnoticed. Estellese's wings were throwing him off.

  "I can handle it. It is clearly important to you, and you're a friend." Pex replied.

  "It made Alicia really mad." Estellese countered.

  "But Alicia is a stuck-up princess. That isn't hard." Pex chirped, which prompted Kaden to burst out laughing. Even Estellese and Mendelen chuckled a little at that one.

  "Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you." Estellese replied.

  "You first." Mendelen said to the little boy.

  "Well, I just had a few questions. How long have you been here? And are you enjoying the game so far? Do you think you or others will stay in the game for a while? Is there more people in here? Was it released worldwide?" Thomas asked, he sounded like he was hoping they said yes to the last three.

  "Well," Mendelen started "we have been here a few weeks, I am not really sure how to answer the second question considering a few glaring problems we found. We are the only humans in the game that we know of, and we were invited to the private Alpha tests, so it isn't actually released to anyone yet."

  Thomas looked disheartened. "Oh, but you're not enjoying it?" He asked.

  Mendelen shook his head, but it was Kaden who spoke up first. "Well kid, we can't log out of the game, and when we get hit by things it hurts us as if we were really hit. We are also terrified about what happens if we die considering the first two problems."

  "What!" Thomas exclaimed in shock. "You really can't log out? And things actually hurt you? No wonder you're not enjoying it."

  "You don't feel pain? And can you log out?" Estellese asked.

  "Erm…" Thomas looked a little upset as he stared at the ground for a moment. "It is… Different for me. I can't log out, and I do feel pain here. But that should be different for you." He explained. "I must speak with my father about this tonight."

  "Why would it be different for us?" Zanath asked. "We are all humans, from the real world, right?"

  Thomas grimaced and looked down again, but took a deep breath to calm himself. "It is hard to talk about. But if what you say is true then it's only fair I give you the truth. We are different. I died." He said quietly. "And no, I don't mean that I died within this game. I was dying from an incurable disease back in the real world. My father put me in this world, where magic existed that could cure my disease. This body I have here, this is my real body, he didn't just send my consciousness into the game because at the time he didn't know how to do that. His machine could only take the person's actual body, and inject it into the world. I ran out of time, so he put my physical body into this world, and cured me with this world's magic. Because of that I can't go back, and I feel real pain. I've been here for years." He explained. "But my father told me he would turn this world into a game, so that people would come play this game and I could make some friends. I watched the world get filled with monsters and game-like things, it was rather empty before they showed up a few months ago. My father promised me that he found a way to send people to this world the right way, without sending their actual body." He explained.

  Thomas gave them a moment to take it all in, before continuing. "I understand if you guys don't want to come back once you get out, but I will speak to my father tonight and make him take you back out."

  "Thank you." All four of the Alphas said almost in unison.

  "If we do happen to die before getting out of here." Kaden started. "What would happen? Can you die?"

  Thomas shook his head. "If I died, because this is my real body I would be dead since I can't go back to the real world. But you guys should be able to just log out, once we figure out how. Don't die until we do, because if you're dead I don't think I can talk to you and tell you how to get out. As for me, my father made Rex and I immortal. We feel pain and can get knocked out if we take a lethal blow, but our bodies always regenerate. I know for sure that doesn't apply to you. Also, for reasons I do not yet understand, it would seem my friend Inami here is also immortal. I'm still trying to solve that mystery, and the mystery of how she does… Well… What she did to the rift. That isn't normal, I think. What are your names? So I can send you guys a message tonight with the info on how to log out? Maybe we can play together, if you guys ever come back?" He asked hopefully.

  The alphas all gave their names, but none of them made any promises to come back. Once Thomas had the names Kaden opened a portal and gestured to it. "Shortcut to the fairy city?" He suggested.

  "Don't open one into the city, we'll all get sick again." Pex spoke up. She sounded confused and unsure of what she had just heard. It sounded like they were suggesting that this world is fake, and that did not sit well with her. But but she promised to not get mad, so she was keeping these feelings to herself.

  "I didn't, it leads to just outside the city's shrinking spell thingy." Kaden replied.

  "That's a pretty neat power" Thomas chirped.

  "Yeah, I like it." Kaden replied. With that everyone went through the portal. Thomas, Inami, and Rex went first then the Alphas and Pex followed. Once through the portal they headed to the city.

  "WOOOOW!" Inami exclaimed when they finally arrived. She was mesmerized by all the shiny things and colorful lights reflecting off the gemstones, nevermind the fact that the city was floating.

  Estellese chuckled, and
Mendelen wished Thomas good luck as the Alphas headed their own way, towards the inn. Thomas, once he was finally able to get Inami to move, headed to the castle.

  "Well guys." Mendelen started when they finally reached the Inn. "Amazing job out there everyone, and I don't just mean today. We need to stay friends once we get out of here. I guess that was our final boss or something?"

  "I'm curious." Kaden spoke up, "Was that kid real? Or was he an AI? Maybe now that we beat the final boss we get our freedom from the game as a reward for beating the game? I mean, that's incredibly sadistic and cruel, considering how hard that was to pull off. But it makes sense."

  "Maybe, who knows?" Zanath replied.

  "Yeah, I just want to get out of here and go home." Estellese added.