by Max Jager
"Jess, right?" Mendelen asked, and when he got a nod he began talking "Where did you come from?"
"Erm, the United States?" Jess answered.
"No, I mean how did you get into this forest?" Mendelen rephrased.
"My boyfriend and I were trying to get into this new game called Immersion. We got invited to a beta test. We went into the pods, and suddenly now I'm here. It was supposed to be a game, but this is NOT a game and I can't get back to my home and I don't know where my boyfriend is. When I appeared in the forest he wasn't here, the only thing near me was a bunch of skeletons, and not the dead kind." Jess explained, speaking so fast she was tripping over her words.
"Relax." Estellese said softly. "This is Immersion, but you are right, it isn't a game. We need to bring you back to town and figure out what is going on. You trust us?" Estellese asked.
"I don't have much choice, do I?" Jess pointed out. "I most definitely do not want to stay in the forest, and while the reaper over here is kinda freaking me out I think my best bet for safety is with you guys." She said, gesturing to Kaden when she mentioned the reaper.
"Hey, just 'cause I got a scythe doesn't mean I'm the reaper" Kaden countered. "To the fairy city or the elven village?"
"Fairy city, we can go to the library. Pex might be of some help." Estellese answered.
"Quick question." Zanath asked. "Jess, how many people were with you?"
"What do you mean? I came here with just me and my boyfriend." Jess answered.
"No, I mean were there other beta testers in the room. Clearly there were a few others, since these guys are dead. We need to know how many beta testers might be out there so we can work on saving them all." Zanath explained.
"Oh! There were a couple hundred in the facility with us." Jess replied. "But, there was more than one facility. If I remember correctly, they said a few thousand people won tickets to the beta tests right before we went in. I'd assume most of them showed up."
"A few thousand!? Thousand?" Estellese nearly shouted in disbelief. "How do we protect that many people? Is the game even safe yet?"
"Portal's open" Kaden stated. "Let's stop shouting in the dangerous woods and get to the city before the little girl gets mauled. We'll figure it out there."
"It's the Emory Forest, it isn't that dangerous. At least, not during the day." Estellese countered.
"Really dude?" Jess spoke up. "You guys don't sound that much older then me, you gotta be in your mid twenties. Where do you get off calling me a little girl?"
"Bingo" Kaden replied. "Doesn't change a thing though."
"Don't worry Jess, Kaden is just a dumbass." Estellese replied as she walked through the portal.
"Bingo again. You guys are on a roll today." Kaden laughed as he and everyone else followed her through the portal.
Once they went through the portal they began the short walk to the fairy city. By now the Alphas had gotten so used to the shrinking spell on the city that they barely noticed it, but Jess noticed after a few seconds.
When the grass was suddenly up to her hips she stopped and looked around. "What the hell is going on? Are we shrinking?" She asked.
"Yes." Estellese replied. "The fairies don't want us squishing their city so they put a shrinking spell around it. The closer you get, the smaller you become until you are fairy-sized. Don't worry you'll be fine. You will return to normal when you leave, I live here. Don't let the wings fool you, I'm not a fairy, just a human with fairy wings."
"I don't know if I want to go in there. This is really weird." Jess said unsurely.
"I can put ya back in the forest with the wolves. Or better yet, leave you here with the giant fire monsters." Kaden replied.
"Okay, okay, I'm coming." Jess quickly sped up to catch up with everyone else. Once they arrived at the city Jess, like most people, was astonished by the floating city, the gems, and the bright colors reflecting off the gems all over the city. It was beautiful. The Alphas had seen it a thousand times and just kept walking but Jess was stunned and stopped for a moment, before realizing she was getting left behind and running to catch up with the others.
The library wasn't too far from the entrance, once they reached the rope Estellese turned to the others. "I'm just going to fly up and warn Pex that we are coming. Meet you guys inside." She said before unfolding her wings and taking flight.
"See you guys at the top." Zanath added as he began fiddling with his boots.
"What do you mean?" Mendelen asked.
Zanath said nothing, he just jumped into the air and did a backflip. As he was mid-flip and upside down, his boots made an odd sound and suddenly he zipped up into the air. He landed on the underside of the floating library, where he stood upside down on the bottom of the building. Once there, he began walking across the underside of the building, walking right over the edge where he was able to step onto the wall of the building, and from the wall he walked right through the door in complete defiance of gravity.
Mendelen was shocked as he watched. "Well, that's new." He thought out loud. "Anyways, let's get climbing."
Jess looked up at the rope connecting the ground to the floating library. "You serious? That's really high up. I don't think I can climb that high."
"Well you have to." Kaden stated. "Better to get used to it and start getting into shape now. Because it very well might save your life later."
"No need Kaden." Mendelen interjected. "I can probably just carry her up."
"And I could just make a portal to get her up there. I can open portals in the city as long as we are already in the city. But that isn't the point. If she doesn't get used to extreme physical exertion, get in shape, and get ready to survive now, she will never survive later." Kaden stated. "If she is like we were when we first joined, she'll grow stronger incredibly fast as long as she works at it like we did. So start working on it immediately and get climbing."
"Kaden there's no need, she is safe with us. It is a pretty long climb." Mendelen replied. "Jess you want to climb up or you want to be carried?" He asked.
"I'd prefer to just take a portal up." Jess answered.
"Not happening." Kaden countered. "You need to start training for this world."
"Then carry me up?" Jess asked as she turned to Mendelen.
"Yeah no problem, get on my back." Mendelen replied as he crouched down and turned his back to her. Jess got onto his back and held on, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. Then Mendelen began climbing up.
"Don't come crying to me when she dies because you babied her and prevented her from becoming strong enough to survive in this world." Kaden stated as he opened a portal beside himself and walked through. The portal closed behind him.
"Is he always that big of an asshole?" Jess asked. "I mean, his choice of attire is pretty telling. He looks like some sort of evil villain with that spiky black armor and the scythe, and only an asshole would dress like that. But it's like he has no compassion at all."
"He means well." Mendelen replied. "He's just not the most social, or intelligent in the group. I wouldn't worry much about what he says. Just follow the lead of Estellese and I and you'll be fine, we know more than he does about how to survive in this world and all. And send any technical questions to Zanath, he's our tech support"
Jess nodded "Noted. So is Estellese the leader of the group?" She asked.
"Er, no. I am." Mendelen answered.
"Oh. She seems to be more in charge." Jess thought out loud.
"Yeah, she is the take charge type of person. She very easily could be the leader, but seems like she prefers not to. Whenever a leader is needed, I'm the one who steps up." Mendelen replied. "But if I'm ever not around, follow her lead. Me and Estell see eye to eye, the other two don't. Especially Kaden, I don't know what goes through his head, but it isn't right. Don't trust him."
Jess nodded "I can see that."
"You didn't hear any of that from me though." Mendelen stated. "Especially the parts about Kaden. I d
on't trust him and want to keep an eye on him, and I can't do that if he doesn't trust me."
"That's kinda manipulative." Jess commented.
They were nearing the top of the rope, and Mendelen stopped climbing to finish the conversation. "We all have gained a lot of power, more power than any normal human would ever dream of getting. You saw it at the bottom of this rope, the power is going to his head. He thinks that just because he's powerful he can boss everyone around. He is NOT the leader of this group, and should not be making these calls." He stated. "And he shouldn't be abusing his power like this." He added.
"You have a point." Jess thought out loud.
Mendelen continued speaking before she could say any more, and resumed climbing the last couple feet of the rope. "If he's going to abuse his powers like this, and treat those weaker then him like he treated you, then we need to keep a close watch on him. Who knows what else he will do, he's unstable and can't be trusted."
"He's right ya know." Kaden spoke up as he reached down from the platform, offering a hand to help pull them up. "You never know when I'll stab ya in the back. I am an evil genius after all, said it from the start."
Mendelen froze for a moment. "You waited at the top for us?"
"You will need help getting her onto the platform. And when haven't I been here to help?" Kaden replied in a sharp tone.
"Kaden, you know I am only looking out for your best interest." Mendelen stated as he took Kaden's hand.
Kaden pulled Mendelen and Jess up onto the platform the library was on. "Of course."
"Kaden." Mendelen stated. "As your friend it is my job to rein you in when you're treading too far, and your life choices are putting you in danger. You're only going to make enemies, of both humans and the other races, if you continue acting like this. Making so many enemies, and not making any new friends, is only going to get you killed. You're already on Princess Alicia's bad side, and the fairy queen doesn't like you much either. They won't help you if you need help, and we won't always be able to save you. By reining-in your behavior, I am protecting you."
"Who says I need to be saved or protected?" Kaden questioned.
"Someday you will." Mendelen stated. "Everyone has a day when they need help, and if you have no friends and only enemies on that day, you're dead. You need to behave, stop acting out of line, so when that day comes you have the backup you need to survive. Estellese and I know what we are doing, just follow our lead."
"But." Kaden started. "Do you really know what you are doing? You can't hide behind a shield your entire life, something will someday break your shield. No defense is unbreachable. You need to slay your opponents, you need to attack. Same applies to these new players. They can't hide in safety their entire lives, they need to train and fight because some day their lives will depend on it. We can't protect them all. We need to inform them of the danger they are in, give them the tools and information they need to survive, then kick them out of the nest and let them fend for themselves."
"A lot of people will die if we did that Kaden." Mendelen stated sharply.
"A lot of people are going to die doing it your way too." Kaden stated. "They will just die later on, rather than sooner. They must learn to fight and survive, they need to learn how unforgiving this world is if they want to survive. Defense alone won't save them."
"Kaden, you can't live your entire life on the attack, that leads to a life of violence which is morally wrong. And that's not even considering the idea that you want to do nothing to help these people survive." Mendelen argued.
"I never said do nothing. I said don't baby them, don't make it too easy for them. If they don't struggle like we did they will shatter and die as soon as things begin falling apart. And we know things will eventually fall apart again. The demons could come back, something even worse could come along, who knows?" Kaden argued. "Every elf in the elven village can fight, so can every fairy here. The civilians can't fight well, but they can fight. Lillith kicked our asses, four against one, when we first met her and she was just a civilian. That is because the elves and fairies do not baby their civilians, they force everyone to learn at least a little combat. We must do the same if we want these new beta testers to survive, even if it means letting some of them die."
Mendelen shook his head. "Are you listening to yourself? You're suggesting that it's a good idea to just let people die. That is sociopathic at best. The players will never need to protect themselves as long as they are under our protection, and the protection of a city or village of some sort. Estellese and I will build our own cities if we need to, to ensure that the civilians are safe. So you are wrong, they can live a normal life here without learning to fight. While the ones who do want to learn to fight, can do so in the safety of town first where they won't die trying to learn. Then they can venture out as they wish. We know how to handle this better than you do, just follow our lead."
"But life is never that simple." Kaden stated. "And you don't know what you're doing. Doing it your way, giving them a false sense of security, will kill far more people than doing it my way." He added as he turned and walked into the library.
"It isn't a false sense of security when they are actually safe and secure." Mendelen countered, speaking a little louder so Kaden could hear as he walked away. Mendelen then turned to Jess "You see what I mean? His way of thinking is dangerous. You can't trust him"
Jess, however, was gone.
Inside the library Estellese and Zanath were sitting across from eachother at a table on the first floor.
Jess took a seat beside Estellese, she was distracted by the fairies that were flying and walking around. Surprisingly the library didn't have any books too high off the ground for normal people to reach, however the building was very tall and they only had a small staircase for non-winged people to get up to the higher floors. While there was a large gap in the center of the building for fairies to easily fly up and down.
"Where are the guys?" Estellese asked, she was a little confused by Jess coming in alone.
"Being all macho and fighting over who's the better leader and who's got better morals or survival skills or something. I dunno." Jess replied.
"Being men, basically?" Estellese laughed.
"Yeah, pretty much. Wasn't interested so I came in to find you." Jess shrugged. "Pretty girl shows up and of course they have to fight over who the alpha of the group is. But I already know it's you."
"For the record." Kaden started as he walked past. "I dislike egotistical people so I have no interest in you. You are irrelevant in this argument." He stated as he took a seat beside Zanath and took his helmet off.
Mendelen walked over just a second after Kaden and quickly sat down at the head of the table. "So Jess, tell us everything you know about the beta tests."
"I don't know much, so I'm not sure what you guys are hoping to get from me." Jess replied. "I know they said there was a few thousand people picked for the beta tests. I don't know anything about games so I have no idea if that's a lot or not. My boyfriend and I got separated in the crowd, there was a lot of people in the building, so I figured we'd find each other in the game. I went into the pod and it felt like I passed out. But I didn't, next second I was standing in a forest with a few skeletons that had swords and they were trying to kill me." Jess told her story.
She paused for a moment to catch her breath, then continued. "I, of course, ran away from the skeletons because they scared the crap out of me and it all looked too real. That's when I found the other players, some of which I recognized from the crowd at the beta test. They were already fighting a few skeletons and were losing pretty badly. They were screaming in pain when the swords and maces struck them, so I ran up a tree. Unintentionally, the two skeletons chasing me lost track of me and found the group, and you all saw how that turned out. They were focused on their own fight and didn't know they were about to be attacked by more. With the reinforcements attacking from behind, the group was overwhelmed by the skeletons and died. I h
id in the tree for several hours, I saw at least two other groups pass by, then your reaper friend showed up to look at the bodies and he almost immediately looked up into the trees and spotted me. I tried to jump down and run, but as I was running a portal opened right in front of me and before I could stop I ran right through it and crashed into him. At which time he grabbed me, and we talked. Then you guys came shortly after"
"You didn't tell the group that more skeletons were coming?" Zanath questioned.
"If I shouted to the group the skeletons would have found me." Jess countered. "I was scared and confused, I panicked, and I didn't know they'd really die. It isn't my fault."