First the dog’s working front leg lost traction. The hind one soon followed. They ragdolled outwards as if there were no functional muscles left. I raised a tiny hand to my mouth and tried to understand why the big head stayed up in the air.
“Well, that was useless.” The younger Traveler sounded muffled and strained. The dog’s jaw was trying to close but failed. Requiem turned his sword even more and detached the last few strands connecting its body.
Then the heavy head was heaved from Requiem over to one side. His blue aura flickered like a lightbulb stuttering. Requiem shuddered then kicked one leg, shaking off the goo. The red energy connection between the dog and Frankenstein shattered as the head fell to the side.
“Darnit!” I muttered. That would have been a perfect chance to [Blink] down and stab him. Sadly I had been lost in the fight. A few months of playing this game was not enough to completely break years of listlessness.
“Pathetic. I was never afraid of these minions of yours.” Requiem cracked his neck and rolled both shoulders. Undead body chunks were littered across his gear and hair.
“But. But. But.” Frankenstein looked pitiful next to the other player. It was strange to see a man who seemed to adore his minions become reduced to this. His clothes remained pristine despite the battle.
“Anything else?” Requiem slid his blade on the dog’s back and cleaned it off. The biggest chunks of the beast fell off. I took stock of how my ex-master was doing.
Neither one had much health. Their fourth of a health bar was still slightly more than my full one. Voices, I would love to have my Hermes body with some of these skills. Then I could just [Blink] down and swing the real [Morrigu’s Gift] into his face over and over.
“No, then? Very well. Here’s the ultimatum, give me your piece of the key, forfeit the quest. That or I’ll kill you and take it. Either way, I win.” The younger Traveler pointed a smoking sword towards Frankenstein. Ash dripped down and scattered as it hit his clothes.
“No, I can’t, I can’t do that.”
“I know your weakness, Freakinstain. I know why you always stick around this forsaken castle instead of in Othello.” Requiem said. I perked up and tried to figure out what he was talking about.
“What? I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Frankenstein may be able to act the fool, but he was also a terrible liar. Even back in the room with that giant face, it was pretty clear that Frankenstein had no clue how to talk to people. He might also be a touch crazy. The jury was still out on that one.
The giant undead dog lifted its head weakly and tried to growl. Severed tendons looked gruesome. Cliffy’s head moved independently of his body. Both halves bent muscles which no longer connected in order to bite at Requiem.
“Under here is where the shrine is, isn’t it? The one to the Voice of Blood.” Requiem stomped one foot on the ground. Small vibrations shook the remains of mortar and bodies.
“Nooo. No, there’s no shrine. Nothing of the sort.” Frankenstein scrambled backward, kicking with his feet.
“See I think there is. And I’m going to kill you, break that shrine into tiny pieces, and sell them to anyone who wants a piece of the action.” The young man’s words served to set off Frankenstein.
“Seriously? You’re taking this whole game way too far.” Frankenstein’s tone changed a little. He sounded almost disappointed while standing up.
“It’ll be good gold. I’m sure there are a lot of people on the black market who would pay for a statue of her.” Requiem smiled and took a step back. The two sized each other up, one with a smile of happiness, the other with disgust.
There probably were. Jean was a fairly good looking woman, for an untouchable Voice who was already claimed by a wall of muscle. Though I imagine a statue of Vlad would stomp through and recover Jean’s.
“No! I won’t let you do that to her!” Frankenstein said. I couldn’t tell which part of him was acting anymore.
“Jean probably wouldn’t like it either,” I muttered. They were close now. Something was about to happen and I wanted to be able to get in there.
“Ahhh!” Frankenstein roared out and that red squiggly energy poured in from all over the castle. “I’ll kill you, brat!”
“Why is it all you adults think you’re so tough?” Requiem said calmly. He started chanting.
I shuddered. He would do his chant and pop that black hole. Then it would be my time to move. All the other opportunities wouldn’t stack up compared to my plan.
“I call upon the power that overcomes all!” Requiem shouted. I had enough time mentally barf. [Lithium] was a terrible language to understand.
Frankenstein kept roaring like something out of a cartoon gone wrong. Bodies from all over the castle collapsed. Red swirls of energy like the ones he used to travel and escape slithered from all over the castle.
“Ghost of a dead sun! Shadow of a singularity! Draw all into your grasp! Let nothing escape!” Requiem pulled out his sword.
I watched as the blue aura about him brightened and seemed to reach a sky blue peak. Once again it compressed. First to his arms, then hands, and finally up the sword. His weapon shone like a small blue sun.
“I’ll never let you take her!” Frankenstein sounded grotesque. Whatever he had done seemed to pump his body up to an incredible size. His body appeared to have cracks where bright red glowed through. His clothes somehow adjusted to fit his new swollen size. A red hulk with a frilly neckpiece and coattails was just wrong.
Would calling out to Frankenstein be of any use? I could warn him that Requiem was about to suck his face into a black hole. In the time it took me to figure out what was best, Frankenstein charged.
I bit my nails and worried. Requiem dove in with his one blade. Frankenstein whipped to one side and dodged. The super move dot of doom stayed on the sword. They bashed around a few more times. Each pass making Requiem look more annoyed.
“Enough!” Requiem shouted and yanked off the necklace. He threw it down onto the ground with his free hand.
Before the small eyeball necklace had only given single flashes. Enough to stun Frankenstein each time he tried to escape using the red energy. This time the world went white. There was no sound other than the scream of both Travelers’ yelling.
[Dark Vision] didn’t seem to care. It cleared in time to see Requiem drive his blade into the air before Frankenstein. Blue hung on the blade’s tip like a waterdrop rolling off. The Traveler who had been my former master hopped back and prepared to lean against the pulse of gravity. This was my chance.
“Letthestabbingshappen!” I shouted.
I used two [Blink]s quickly to get behind Requiem. One end of my weapon was planted into the ground as a prop. My strength wasn’t enough to do this on my own. The [Echo of Morrigu’s Gift] extended in time with a black hole’s pulse.
As force slammed him back, the tip of my weapon slid through his armor. I watched in happiness as system messages popped up.
Requiem’s health bar hit bottom. All of it, all the way down to zero. He had enough left to turn his head in broken confusion and glare at me. I gave a wide smile that displayed all my teeth while waiting out the last of his black hole ability.
Part of me felt guilty for sitting on the sidelines this entire time. Being a frail [Red Imp] meant that there was no good method to solo Requiem. This had been the chance I waited for.
Frankenstein’s health bar had also hit zero. Despite my warning of the black hole move, he didn’t take anything to heart. The issue of losing Jean’s statue had turned him inside out with rage. Most of an arm and the side of Frankenstein’s face vanished into the depths of Requiem’s attack. Everything about us had dragged across the landscape because of the pressure extended by a super move.
It was just me. The entire castle with all these bits and pieces of dead monsters was lifeless. This was a landscape of strange goodies and possible loot items that any other Traveler would be proud of. Both Travelers had been removed from competition an
d it was just me.
I also felt rather sick. It was one thing to try and kill someone, but another to actually do it. What had started with two humans in a forest months ago, now ended with me literally stabbing a man in the back. That was when I found out it was possible to feel both repulsed and elated at the same time.
Slowly I flew over to Frankenstein to check his body. The Traveler had faded away once his health bar had been brought to zero. Nearby there was a clearly glowing object. I lifted it up for an [Inspection].
There, this was the object that these two had been fighting over. There should be a second one over on Requiem’s body. Maybe I could put these two pieces together and complete the quest myself.
I turned to find Requiem’s half and be done with this whole bit of nonsense. Being a [Red Imp] was neat in some ways but it was way past time to move on. Everything would be done soon and Xin would be safe.
“What? Wheredid hego?” I asked. Requiem’s body was not impaled on the tip of my weapon. The [Echo of Morrigu’s Gift] happily sat there digging into the ground.
“You.” A voice shaking with rage came from nearby.
“OhVoices, now what?” I managed to get part of a shout out before everything ended in an abrupt squeak. “You!” I shouted. How on earth was the twerp still alive? It was completely impossible. “You died! I sawyou die!”
“Give, me, that, now.” Requiem was shaking with anger. I had never seen him so upset. His eyes were practically dark bottomless pits of anger.
He threw me to the ground and a dazed message popped up on my screen. I tried to focus the [Blink] ability but failures popped up repeatedly due to the confusion. Requiem reached down and yanked the quest piece out of my hand.
My vision was doubled up. The [Echo of Morrigu’s Gift] was out of reach. I tried to focus on activating any ability.
“And as for you,” Requiem said squeezing my neck. The [Red Imp] body had tiny hands. They made no dent against the bigger teen’s grip. “Did you think I didn’t know you were still around?”
“What?”
“Who’s the stupid one now?” He slapped me again. “Throwing objects? Thinking you’re sneaky?”
“What isgoing on?” I had believed my meager [Red Imp] form was a low enough profile amid all the chaos going on down here.
“Thinking I wouldn’t have something prepared in case you dared to show up?” Requiem completed ignored my high-speed protests. “You can’t really kill me.”
“Howdidyou!” Then I saw it, the glint on his finger. That ring looked almost exactly like the one I had received for a glitch. Now everything made sense. Requiem had the same ring Hermes did, [Howard’s Phylactery].
I tried to remember exactly how that item worked. My one read through had implied it stored health for a rainy day. That means Requiem either found his own during the course of gameplay or stumbled across a glitch in the world.
“No, Nonono why doyou! No! Youfound one!” I rambled off a wall of words in panic. Killing him once had been hard enough. There was no more black hole super move. First I had to get away. I tried to focus on triggering [Blink].
Requiem shook me violently. “None of that now.”
“Dammit! Ihateyou!”
“The feeling’s mutual.” He lifted his blade up and got ready to stab it down.
I focused my attention on the [Echo of Morrigu’s Gift]. A spear popped into my hand instantly. There was not enough durability and time to do more than stab at him. My tail curled then jabbed into Requiem’s leg. I turned to his foot and sunk my teeth into a toe. My small arms drove the weapon forward without deliberate aim.
He stumbled and backed off with a snarl. I immediately popped [Blink] and came in behind him. My [Red Imp] body had sharp teeth which latched onto his neck and tore. We flailed around the room as he banged into one object after another. I hung on and tried to imagine my tail stabbing into him over and over. Hopefully, the ARC would pick it up.
We crashed into a third wall and another dazed message popped up. I had enough time to look up. Requiem twisted his ash blade and slashed downward.
I put the [Echo of Morrigu’s Gift] up to defend but it had no durability. My strength wasn’t enough. The health bar of my [Red Imp] character shattered.
A blast of sensation crossed my face. Rapidly behind it was a sinking chill. The world went crazy with color. Pulses of energy flew by distorting Requiem’s face. He looked pained, but the health bar above showed a sliver of life left. I couldn’t feel my hands or legs. The odd sensation of having a tail and wings vanished as well.
Above all that was a sense of foreboding. The world snapped into view. The landscape was amazingly bright compared to the dull landscape of Requiem’s portion of the game.
There was an entire wall of pop-up items displaying. None of them mattered but the one. A box that spelled an end to all my efforts. There was noise coming from all around me. People were shouting and it sounded like a war. Name tags floated above people attacking each other.
It took a moment to register. Like avoiding the realization would prevent anything from going wrong. I mentally tried to back up, to reload from a save point in life so that everything could be wished away.
My eyes were glued to the quest notice. A clear sign of my failure. Last time I had been unaware of her passing until hours later. There had been no one to blame. This time, it was all my fault. I could have saved Xin, but failed. Everything went white and I screamed.
Session Thirty Eight – Insane Reality
The screaming didn’t help. Facing consequences from my halfhearted efforts had me so upset that the ARC actually started losing connection. A small message to one side advised me of stability warnings.
Shazam stood nearby. Her hands wiggled with a thumb up, one down, and the ‘which’ motion. I felt dizzy and she was moving rapidly, my brain couldn’t keep up. My head hurt and heart felt heavy.
“Terrible. Terrible. It’s all wrong.” I muttered.
The admission made Shazam raise an eyebrow. I put up my hand to forestall any more questions. There was too much going on for me to handle explaining it to her on top of everything else.
I wrote a note to James and chewed my lip. ‘How can I fix this?’. The question should be right up his alley. I closed my eyes and counted, tried to remember dance steps, hummed, anything to distract myself from the recent clear failure. It felt like sitting in the van again waiting to identify Xin’s body. To be confronted with reality.
No. This was a game. Xin was dead. Yet, this was like holding on to her memories. Whatever. There was no sane way to justify myself to another human being. Any reasoning used would be the result of half desperate madness.
It was hard to decide if I was angry at the Voices for holding Xin’s recreation and memories over my head. Maybe it was self-loathing for failing. Or frustration at Requiem for being so goddamned self-centered that he needed to bone everyone over to make a few dollars in the real world.
Heat fed back through my ARC letting me know about an incoming message. I jerked the tube’s lid off and ripped the page a bit while trembling. The note was short and came with a projection of James’ face.
Deliver the letters. Okay. I would hand them over personally if that’s what it took. If it helped Xin these scrolls would become suppositories for some poor soul. There were two remaining. Shazam and my autopilot must have taken care of the others.
My hand shook as player inventory was accessed. Two items displayed with burning borders on the interface. I pulled them out both and let the Continue Online world provide me with a quest beacon.
Both were nearly in the same place. This might be possible. I would deliver the messages promptly. There was a battlefield between me and there. Most people were divided into two groups with scattered people in between.
“Goodness.” I really looked at the war in front of me for the first time. The scene was madness incarnate. There was a castle on one side that was under siege.
Shazam pl
opped down nearby. I turned away from a field of people yelling to look at her.
“I need to get in there.” I pointed at the castle. My quest markers had clearly bobbed up and down over there. Katelyn and Cathryn were the intended recipients.
She nodded then shrugged.
“Are you going to help?” There were at least six creatures that looked like giants. From here only a few of them were obviously players similar to me. One had a pack of dogs swarming along a flank of the enemy attackers. Spell effects went off as enemy mages cast bolts at each other.
Her head shook back and forth in a negative. One finger pointed towards me.
“My problem, huh?” I tried not to be angry with her. Shazam had already done a ton for me as a player and my autopilot. There were a lot of little skill ups that had been gathered during my time as a [Red Imp]. A good deal in fact, I was still trying flick away a sea of plus ones and minor rank increases.
Shazam nodded.
“Did the Voices tell you that?” I asked while popping away something about [Wilderness Survival] increasing.
She nodded again.
Great. I had failed to deliver on my second real quest with them. Finding another way through the problem had to be accomplished on my own. My weapon skills showed minor increases. [Blade Dancer] went up along with [Actor].
“Any suggestions?” I tried not to feel upset at gaining all these stupid [Actor] ranks for being a [Red Imp]. It felt like getting rewarded for failure. Or grade school all over again where the teacher very happily said ‘nice try’ but handed me a D.
Shazam stood up and pantomimed swinging a bat. Armor jingled as her shoulders got into the motion.
“Go down swinging?” I looked away from my battle with the system messages to focus on her.
She shook her head again. Then one arced arm pointed far into the distance.
“Swing for the fences?”
She nodded and plopped back down again. All I had to do was deliver these messages and the Voices might provide me more information. Fine, I could do that. There was precious hope.
Dusk was conked out nearby. It was hard to tell why he was so exhausted. The little guy probably terrorized all the small creatures around here for days and decided to take a nap. Maybe he was in a depressive funk. I lifted him gently and handed the small [Messenger’s Pet] over to Shazam.
Continue Online (Part 2, Made) Page 36