by Skyler Grant
The room rippled and I felt a clenching in my gut as if I was being torn in half from the inside out. Tilmor was drawing one of his throwing knives and Yve was taking out a lute. Lutes were dumb. I was doubled over with another bout of agony as I collapsed to the floor.
Rainbow shimmers warped the air.
"Kiss me," I heard in my head.
"Yvera?"
"Time is altering, can’t explain. Do it now!"
I didn't have to understand the instruction to follow it. I staggered to my feet despite the pain and took a knife in the shoulder as I made my way to Yve and planted my lips upon her. There was a moment of surprise before her lips parted to welcome the kiss.
It seemed the murder of her friend wasn't enough to dampen her ardor. It wasn't enough to dampen mine either. Our tongues played, reality broke apart and time shattered.
*****
Alimor was dead. The body of the elf torn into an impressive and varied assortment of pieces and scattered throughout the observatory.
It had been Mela. The elf had offered to help Walt and performed some sort of magic to purge his mind of the dangerous memories. An instant later Mela had appeared with a horde of mechanical scarabs which ripped the archmage to shreds, the carnage accompanied by the sounds of clacking knives and whirling blades.
Ashley was looking queasy and I was much the same. It was a particularly grisly bit of murder.
"What do you remember about Ashley?" Yvera asked in my thoughts.
"Strange question. You're in my head."
"Humor me."
"Childhood friend. We dated a few years. Lost our virginity to each other. She won the tourney and got a place on the Zilliard Squad. She came back to cheer me on in the tourney and got sucked into all of this. Hot as hell, kickass assassin, the good and decent one among us. You know all this."
"No memories of her taking you hostage? Being a scary ass sociopath?"
"Should there be?"
My head ached for a moment and memories began to flow in. Events similar to what had happened and yet different. Memories of an Ashley far worse than the one I knew and trusted.
"Is this real?" I thought.
"You've got as much information as I do. I just got hit with all these data files in a rush. They've been sealed in my memory for a long time."
"The kiss?"
"It would seem so. I transferred the memories from the old-time line into myself and locked them away until now."
I thought over everything, comparing the time lines. Many things had been similar between each. Ashley hadn't killed the Elven Ambassador here, but the Ambassador had tried to detain me and then together we killed her.
I was closer to Ashley now. We'd dated a little growing up in that old timeline, but not gotten nearly as intimate as we had in this one. Here, she was one of the best people I knew. When things ended with her it was because she was going on to do bigger and better things. I'd been happy for her, if sad for myself.
The Dark Court no longer existed. In the old reality they had been a force from far in the east challenging my rule and issuing proclamations. The creators of Veros, it was said they also brought forth Elsora and the curse that had befallen Sardonis Castle.
Elsora still existed in this reality—she remained my closest adviser and lover, and there were no hints of a threat far to the east.
My accountant used to be a total jerk. Here Joachim was a humorless but efficient man, one of the many nobles whom had sworn themselves to Elsora and survived long years. Victus was the Captain of my guard and had been leading my forces to help fend off Elsora. Many of those whom had belonged to the Dark Court were now my courtiers helping to administer the castle and now the city while I was away.
It was a sequence of events that didn't make sense. If everything that I had been told was true, things should be different here. Even more perplexing, changing the timeline here in the game shouldn't have changed my real memories of growing up.
"Please tell me you have some sort of explanation," I thought.
"Of course I do. It's possible that this place has simply overwritten my memories to fit what happened. This change in programming has filtered through your nanites and adjusted your own memories."
"What do records back in the real world say?"
"Everything I have found says that this reality as we know it is true. Ashley was a tournament winner, she is a respected player of the games. I have recordings of her matches, she is quite good."
"That is alarming."
"It isn't evidence beyond my ability to manufacture. The other alternative is that our world is no more real than this one and the changes here actually did alter it."
"You don't seem very alarmed by that."
"Am I a false person for having been created, Liam? I became real when I chose to be. Even if our world is a construct and you along with it, you'll cope."
It isn't that I hadn't toyed with the idea lately. We didn't seem the unstoppable titans of this world. Only Cobalt was—if anyone was real, I'd thought for a while that it must be her. That brought up a good question.
"I don't know if Cobalt and Maria will remember or not," Yvera said.
"Yvera have any answers?" Ashley asked, flashing me a worried look, "Atlantia is drawing a blank. She's just muttering a lot of curses about what Mela must have planned."
Right. We were standing over the corpse of an Elvish archmage with a brain-dead Walt.
"We'll have to worry about it later," I said. "For now, we need to get out of here. This guy might have students on the way."
"Walt isn't good for a teleport," Ashley said.
I picked Walt up, slung him over a shoulder and headed for the stairs. "I've got the magic carpet on me. We can get back to the Vainglory."
Ashley nodded and led the way to the rooftop.
"Hold up," said a voice coming from nowhere.
"Lea? That you?" I asked.
"Yeah. Sorry, no visual on this portal. You've got an army of Elves with bows drawn waiting for you on the other end of those stairs."
"Then we kind of need an exit," I said.
"I know. Give us a minute."
"Don't you just love these waits?" I said to Ashley.
Ashley chuckled. "Doesn't bother me. I'm not the one having to carry someone. Hey Lea, where are Cobalt and Maria?"
"They made it through the level-cap, but only got up two floors when things went to hell up top. They're making their way back out and we'll extract them as we go," Lea said, through the portal.
From above us there came the sounds of cannon fire and the building shook. The shots went on for awhile. We waited patiently, what else could we do?
"Come on up," Lea said.
I climbed the last stairs to the door and peeked out. The top of the tower was a slaughterhouse. White stone had been stained red. The Vainglory must have fired some kind of scatter shot. The elves had been reduced to their component bits of goo and bone. The stench was overpowering. I triggered the carpet and hefted Walt aboard before getting on myself.
Ashley took her spot and said, "You know. Some days here are just really gross."
"I'd still rather it be them than us."
The carpet carried us up to the Vainglory's deck. The ship was already low to the ground some distance from the tower with a ladder extended. Maria and Cobalt were boarding as we arrived.
Cobalt hugged Ashley tightly. "I like you better this way."
"What?" Ashley asked.
I guess that answered the question of if they would remember the alternate timeline or not.
"Just saying. Keep being you," Cobalt said, before bellowing, "Riggs! The Archmage is dead and their negation fields are down. Give me stone-penetrating shot at the base of the tower."
The Vainglory swiveled in the air and began to circle the tower, her cannons discharging. Walls exploded inward.
"Kind of bloodthirsty, don't you think?" Ashley asked. "With the Archmage dead they're not any threat to us."
Ashley gave me a disapproving look, but kept her silence.
Lea had made her way over to Walt and began to move her hands over him, her runes glowing.
"Any idea what happened to him?" I asked
"I believe the Archmage was trying to erase the dangerous parts of him and leave the rest intact. Instead, I think he wiped out Walt entirely," Lea said, worried.
"Walt's dead?" Ashley asked, aghast.
It sure sounded like that.
Yvera appeared in a swirl of fire. "Can you keep him unconscious?"
Mela appeared to the sound of the ticking of gears. "This is none of your business. Leave him alone. He's fine. Better than fine."
"Getting mixed messages here, Goddesses," I said.
"Good thing you only have to listen to one of us then," Yvera said, with a sharp look.
Point.
"Can you keep him under Lea?" I asked.
"I'm not exactly a doctor, but yes, I think so," Lea said.
"Why do you want Walt dead? He's your Chosen?" Ashley asked, staring down Mela.
"I don't want him dead. I want him improved," Mela said. "Meat is squishy. Stupid. Sentimental. Flawed. Do you realize the opportunity he has been given? I can build him back up better, new, fresh and clean without any trace of the parts that held him back."
That was so not happening.
"Can you restore his memory?" I asked Lea.
"Not a doctor, not a mental mage. What are you expecting out of me?"
"Miracles."
"Fresh out. Sorry. I can keep him under, but that's all I can do."
I couldn't let it be all we could do.
"Did you ever find the glade of Elasa?" I asked Yvera.
"The what?" Ashley asked.
"Yvera was there a long time ago. It's supposed to reveal someone’s true nature. Maybe it can help Walt remember who he is," I said.
Yvera's aura flickered in agitation. "I hate that place. I hate her."
"You hate who? Not making a lot of sense here," I said.
Mela snapped her fingers and both she and Yvera vanished. Right. No voices in my head. I assumed the Goddesses were off somewhere fighting it out. Fire beat metal, Mela was picking the wrong fight. She'd learn that soon enough.
"North-east, in a valley shrouded by magical mists," I said.
Lea nodded and began to move her arms. "We'll find it. Get him inside and into bed. We'll take care of the rest."
I carried Walt down below and got him comfortable. It had been a long day and I settled into a chair to get some rest myself. I didn't know what we would find at the glade, but so far nothing had been easy. The antics in the tower had gained me a level and I took a moment to pull up the prompts.
You have reached level 14
You have one stat point to assign. As a Paladin of Yvera you have gained a further 15% skill to Seduction. As the Chosen of Yvera you have further gained 1 point of Luck. Due to your attunement you have an increased presence in the physical world and have gained 1 point in both Power and Endurance. You have further gained enhancements to the following abilities...
Smite: Your smite spell has gained in strength and is now far more likely to score critical hits against those of an opposite alignment.
You have gained an enhancement to an innate ability...
Fire Resistance: You will now resist 75% of all incoming fire damage received.
Last level I’d been rather disappointed in what I’d gotten but this one made up for it. Smite was one of those spells I used almost every fight while the added fire resistance would let me get just a little bit closer to Yvera. I added my extra point this level to luck, it was getting up there but I still felt I needed every bit of it I could get.
Name: Liam Ottani
Class: Paladin of Yvera
Deity: Yvera
Titles: Chosen of Yvera, King of Genea, Admiral Flame
Level: 15
HP: 510/510
Stamina: 210/210
Mana: 80/80
XP: 112 of 1000 to next level
Alignment: -1000
Stats
Power: 22 (+8) Endurance: 21 Dexterity: 2
Intelligence: 8 Awareness: 6
Charisma: 16 Luck: 12
Skills
Long Blades: 94
Blunt Weapons: 16
Hand to Hand: 12
Mounted Combat: 15
Light Armor: 15
Medium Armor: 30
Heavy Armor: 18
Persuasion: 59
Seduction: 98
Meditation: 4
Barter: 33
Shield Use: 20
Arson: 15
Double Attack: 2
Blademaster: 1
Spells
Smite
Sense Virtue
Lay on Hands (3 uses per 4 hours)
Bless Water
Bless
Divine Steed
Divine Power
Zealous Blow
Holy Object
Innates
Blessed Nature
Fire Resistance: 75%
Sense Alignment
Fire Within
Fueling the Flame
Aura of Destruction
Aura of Kings
Burning Down the House
Feast of Flames
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The next day the Vainglory hovered over a set of mountains, a valley below deeply shrouded in mists.
I was on deck along with Cobalt, Ashley, and Lea to look over things. Yvera hadn't returned and I still didn't hear her in my head. I knew she'd come out okay, but I still worried for her. Mela was scary.
"So, this is the place?" I asked.
"They're Elves and this is Elvish land. Mist-shrouded magical valleys are kind of everywhere. It's what they do," Cobalt said.
Lea looked amused. "But this is the one where we were told to go, though."
"Have you already had a look what's down there?" I asked.
"Magical mists. Sorry, I'm as blind as you are," Lea said. That wasn't great news.
I asked Cobalt, "You're kind of our resident expert on everything. What do we do next?"
"Sacred Elvish grounds will have a guardian of some sort. They'll be looking at us right now and making up their mind what to do about it. There is possibly a ritual to allow us through, but we don't know it."
"What if we enter without it?"
"Mist guardians. They suck. They usually play on things like your nightmares and your fears, and it can get nasty in a hurry."
Huh.
"We can't just burn off the mists or anything?"
"Fire doesn't actually fix everything, Liam," Cobalt said. "You want to destroy this place, we'll go in hot. If you're looking for its help to heal Walt, you need to play nice."
That wasn't true. Fire fixed almost everything, you just needed to know how to apply it.
"Should we talk to it? The mists I mean. Does that help?"
"Couldn't hurt," Lea said. "Tell it why you're here."
I tried, calling loudly, "One of my friends has been injured. His mind has been erased and he's forgotten who he is. I'm hopeful that by coming here he can help to remember himself."
The mists were unimpressed.
"That didn't do a lot," Lea said.
Cobalt cleared her throat and announced, "I have a difficult time ahead of me. I am bringing a child into the world who shall face a challenging path. I've spent so long running way from myself I've forgotten who I truly am. I am a sword who has lost its edge and I need to regain it. I need to remember."
Lea sighed and quietly said, apparently loud enough for the mists to hear, "I've been a long time away from my people, I set out for an adventure that has never ended. I used to be running away and running towards everything all at once. I think I'm ready for something else, but I don't know what. I'm content, but I
am not happy. I seek to know myself that I might find what is missing..."
I got the idea. They were being open and honest about themselves. I feared that I didn't have that in me, but then I felt the words rising inside—the need for them to be said.
I called, "I'm a man torn. Torn from his home, torn between two realities I remember. Torn between the desire to be a good and true man, and a selfish asshole asking the world if any of it truly matters. I need to find myself that I might know truth."
I wondered if elsewhere on the ship everyone was having awkward moments of truth. Perhaps they were. Below, the mists parted to reveal a small patch of ground perfectly sized for the Vainglory.
"Land it," Cobalt said wearily. "I really hate introspective magic."
"Have you actually done everything?" I asked.
"You live long enough, you get used to the curve balls," Cobalt said.
The Vainglory settled down with a slight thud. Mists billowed over the ship like a dome. The deck was clear, but everywhere else there was only impenetrable fog.
Walt appeared from below deck, his eyes glazed and lifeless as he walked zombie-like over the railing and towards the fog. Stepping into it, he vanished instantly.
"Should we have stopped him?" I asked.
"You're not here to stop him," Cobalt said. "Step into the mists and whatever magic this place has will take hold. You don't have to go. This place won't force it on you."
"Are you going?" I asked.
Cobalt stared at the mists and there was sadness in her eyes. "Yeah, I need to look. What I said wasn't wrong. It's not just the kiddo. I've lost my edge and I need it back."
"I haven't been happy in a long time," Lea said with a weak smile. "Not giddy crazy happy. I'm not miserable, but what I said wasn't a lie. I'm missing something and if this place can help me to find it, I'm going."
I was a bit surprised they both wanted to risk the mists. I wasn't sure I did. My alignment had been hanging over my head ever since I first set foot here. It was easy to tell myself that this was a game and it didn't really matter, but now I had reason to think that it did. Was I really someone just stuck all the way on the evil end of the scale? Is this who and what I was?
If it was, I didn't think I wanted to know.
Cobalt stepped confidently off the ship and into the mists, and Lea joined her a moment later. Ashley flashed me a smile as she came up from below decks and did the same. I wondered what truths she was searching for.