Location: The Dungeon -- The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria

---

Seele had a lot of breaths to catch, and too many things to say with them. She wanted to shower her group with praises and thanks, especially to Graves for pulling her out of the dreadful position she’d found herself in at the end. Benkei too had saved her skin with that fancy rock-foolery. Were things strange? Sure. Was she in pain, and did it feel like someone had reached into her lungs and scooped the wind out of her? Yeah. But otherwise, things had gone exactly as she’d hoped they would. A slew of different, even clashing personalities working together to solve a deadly problem, and she got to be there to help.

Okay though, ow. She laid back against the wall, nursing her…unhealthy looking hands close. When Graves came to her, she meant to rise and thank him, but he seemed pretty firm that she stay put. She couldn’t pretend to understand his particular brand of magic, and while she was sure he knew what he was doing, it still concerned her to see him wound himself, especially given how serious things seemed to be.

But she didn’t protest, even when he commanded the blood onto her wounds, and the magic burned in her veins, she bit her lip and only let out the smallest squeaks of discomfort. Gradually the skin began to repair itself, and the blackness in her veins faded. It wasn’t perfect, and it didn’t relieve the fatigue, but for such an unconventional healing method, it was surprisingly effective.

As the pain faded to a dull throbbing, she found herself smiling again. She turned her hands over, inspecting the ghosts of arcane scaring, and looked up at him gratefully. “Well you’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?”

None of them were as bad as their reputations would have suggested, Seele was sure of that. No one had lost themselves to panic, or tried to leave anyone behind, or shouted anyone down. In the face of a challenge—a real challenge—people would always come together.

Gosh, she felt like singing, and she was an awful singer. Even through the strange happenings and fatigue, it would have taken a miracle to bring her mood down.

“Greetings, wayfarers from all walks of life! We entities from beyond…”

Missy listened in silence as the moderator explained what was happening to them, before they vanished into the dark. Her budding enthusiasm withered into an empty stare, in the back of her mind she felt an itch begin to spread that she would have to tear through her skull to scratch. The realization was rapid, the emotions she felt came and bloomed and died within blinks. The sensation was dizzying, sickening, and it was…familiar.

They weren’t real, it took only a moment of reflection to understand that. These emotions, the panic and confusion, the fear, all loud and hollering and then suddenly silent, like actors forgetting their lines in a play.

Like rain off a parasol. …Missy……please…

Missy closed her eyes. Seele opened them again.

The sound of Graves throwing his fist against the wall startled her almost more than the moderator’s appearance had. She blinked, looking around at the rest of them as the message would doubtlessly be sinking in. Graves fell to his knees, Alja was backing into the dark, and even Kalie fell straight into tears. This was her team. These were her friends.

There was a dissonance between her mind and movements as she got up to her feet, but she quickly reeled herself together. She reached down and placed a hand on Graves’ shoulder, and her voice—steady, she found, without even a trace of panic—lowered to a gentle whisper.

“It’s okay. We’re all here, take your time, hun.”

She looked back to the others, intent on making her way to someone else—Kalie, maybe, the poor thing—when Alja let out a horrible scream. Seele’s eyes flew to the shadows the giant of a woman had retreated to, prying her huddled form from them. Not too far away, Rael had approached Kalie, and Seele immediately noticed their tank’s collected demeanor. Had she been unfazed as well? Was she just good at hiding her fears? She supposed it didn’t matter too much right now; they needed that sort of resilience, and if Rael was able to do her part, Seele would do hers, too.

Running a hand through her hair, Seele noticed her hat was gone. Lost to the spikes, it seemed. It stalled her a moment, she felt somewhat plain without it, funnily enough, but then, maybe plain wasn’t so bad right now.

Gathering herself, she made her way into the dark, to Alja, where she found the woman balled up against the cold stone wall. Seele dropped to a crouch beside her, tentative at first about reaching out to someone who was very clearly in the throws of panic. Just to be on the safe side, Seele quietly snapped her fingers, and gave herself a small boost to her defense before she placed a hand on Alja’s knee.
…I’m…scared… …don’t…leave…me…
“Alja, sweetheart. Shhh, shh. It’s okay. Look at me,” she said softly, trying to angle herself to be at eyes with her. “Right here, hey. You’re okay. You’re okay, you’re going to be okay. I promise.”

More than once, Seele had been derided for her optimism. People had called her naïve, blind, outright stupid even, for how often she hoped for the best. It was reflex to act this way, to make promises against the odds. But Seele wasn’t acting on reflex. This wasn’t an empty platitude, Seele didn’t make those.

She made promises, and she kept them.

She always kept them.

Location: The Dungeon, The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria

---

Kalie kept on crying and rocking herself back and forth because her tears wouldn’t stop coming. She was always a bit scared as a younger girl, but she wanted to be like her older sister Susan. Her older sister was the family model, the greatest and most well-liked woman with loads of cash on top of it. It made her remember when her older sister reluctantly gifted her this game and its peripheral to go with it. She was wholly happy about that specific gift that her older sister finally gave her something after all the dismissals and annoyances. ’ I-I tried so hard… but my sister constantly stayed her selfish, narcissistic self no matter what. In-game or out of the game, always dismissing me as a lesser…’, Kalie thought to herself, with more tears coming from her. She was choked up, much from all this and all that might happen in the future.

It didn’t take much to make her, even more, break down when she heard Alja scream in the hallway somewhere. Kalie was too much cowering and fearing the entirety of what might happen to her, even to comfort another. She was never once comforted by her sister, not even when she fell on her knee and scratched it when she ran a little too fast. It hurts much because she didn’t think no one would comfort her either, since all anyone would call her is crybaby Dawn. She tried to be the friendly young girl to do whatever she wanted, but everyone in and out of the game used her. The homework was dreadful, but multitasking was her go-to because it's better than dealing with no one passing. ’ Used and Abused… only to be discarded like the trash I am… that’s what my sister said one day...’ Kalie thought to herself, with shattering herself.

Kalie was a bit shocked when someone put their hand on her shoulder, and she moved her head slightly to see who it was. It was even more shocking it was Rael, of all people, the one person her avatar absolutely despised, but it felt sincere enough. She couldn’t help but continue to cry because this is like the first time anyone actually cared about her. No one before this moment actually did care for Dawn, and they only cared about themselves. ” R-Rael...” Kalie said a bit in shock. This type of shock was different from the shock of learning they could die. It made her tear up even more when Rael showed true compassion and put her other hand on her shoulder that didn’t have a hand. She heard the words that Rael had said and was utterly shocked. ” I-I’m s-so sorry… I-I believe you… T-Thank you… you are like the first person… in my life that said anything reassuring to me, like ever...” Kalie said. It is the one thing she wanted for all her life but never gotten it until now, under the strangest of circumstances. She never knew that someone like Rael, of all people, was compassionate.

It was something to behold, and she’ll take this moment and hold it in her memories. Kalie should’ve been much nicer to the people around her in-game. She always had bad thoughts rolling in her head about every single person in her life wanting to use her. However, she felt like Rael wasn’t that type of person from what she had said to her. It made her try to collect herself because her entire being was splitting apart slowly. Her tears were still flowing, but not as much as they were. It has been a while since she has broken down like this, but she trucked on, but this time she couldn’t truck on so hard as she had. ” I-I can’t believe this… It’s scary, Rael. How can you be so calm and collected?” Kalie questioned slightly. She wasn’t that good at reading the room or the crowd because of her older sister's problems mostly. Because everyone worships the ground that Susan walks on, as a byproduct of her looking more beautiful than her.

Location: The Dungeon -- The City of Thorinn, Aetheria

---

Benkei hated being right.

They’d all watched the message from the moderators at the same time, and there were three things that were now certain to him:

1: This was not a hack.
2: They were trapped in the game.
3: They could die.

His eyes went over to Graves and to Seele, two of the party who’d already been hurt, and then turned around to the way back; which was now completely sealed. There was no way back. Something is very wrong. Alja was screaming. Kalie was crying. Everyone was freaking out.

His heart was pounding.

This was no longer about getting admitted to Aag’s guild. Fuck the guild. Fuck the game. At this moment, what mattered was survival. He had seven other party members with him, and one of those party members was his older brother. He could not let any of them die. They had to escape.

“We don’t have the luxury of following the moderator’s orders,” Benkei said in a low voice, nearly a whisper. “We have to complete this dungeon.” His hands were shaking because he knew this was true. The smells, the gore, the pain; it was all real. Which left him wondering about a fourth thing that he still could not prove, but he was constantly worrying about. What kind of game would filter out smells, pain, and blood. Who in their right might would even code such a thing in a game? His doubts about the glitch itself were growing, but he knew they had no time to discuss it.

“Everyone, we need to heal up, get our energy up and finish this dungeon, then find somewhere safe.” He looked at the party members who were most scared, and worried. Hell, it was pretty much everyone, in a way. They were all scared, even if some were putting on a brave face. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry we all got dragged into this. But we have to finish this dungeon because there’s no way back.”

His mind went to Aaginim, Luci, and the others. They’d taken the more combat-oriented path, but they were also much more experienced in general. They weren’t going to die. And they would complete this dungeon, and they’d work together. 16 players of their quality? They could find somewhere safe, wait for another message from the moderators. They would survive this. And maybe they would all be friends after this happened. Pariah Online wouldn’t survive an issue like this; it couldn’t. But they could. Humans were strong. They were resilient. History proved how much a person could survive, and get through. They would too.

He hefted his greatsword up and looked to the others. “We don’t have the luxury of traveling like some speed running party anymore. We need to protect each other and be ready for anything. This isn’t a game anymore.”

Location: The Dungeon, The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria

---

“Rael. How can you be so calm and collected?”

That was a good question.

How could she? What kind of answer could she give in this situation? Normal people tended to be scared of dying. The Japanese girl wondered on it for a moment, if she would be perceived as some kind of sociopath or worse by telling her that she wasn’t afraid of dying. That her whole life up to this point was miserable so she didn’t care about losing it. Still… she didn’t want to die.

“I don’t know.” She said before Benkei finally spoke up to the group.

Benkei spoke with a clear sense of mind. At the very least Rael recognized, as she looked at him, that he was strong. She wasn’t sure if he was broken goods like she was, that he wasn’t afraid. He could’ve been freaking out on the inside for all she knew. Japanese expectations of public presentation wasn’t something they could so easily erase and Rael knew that. She gripped Kalie’s shoulder’s tightly as she smiled at their leader’s speech as he tried to boosten their morale in spite of the situation they found themselves in. Soon enough, she let go of Kalie and rose to her feet while offering Kalie her hand to pull her up.

“Benkei’s right.” She turned to the rest of the group, “If we stay here and wait... we might starve to death. So we have to just stay alive and get back to Thorinn.”

Location: The Dungeon, The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria

---

Kalie didn’t understand why Rael had that strange look on her face, in terms of like she was thinking about things. It made her a bit unnerved slightly, but she does have a hard time reading people, but cultures are quite different. She heard Rael’s response to her question and felt there was a bit more to it, but probably not. All she did was a nod to Rael, which in the end kind of made her hear what Benkei had to say.

It cut deep to hear him say all these things, and something must be wrong with him. However, if they stay here, it would be even more of a dire situation. Kalie’s lack of understanding of people’s feelings is a problem, but it would be better to follow Benkei’s orders. When Rael gripped her shoulders tightly, it did give her a slight ego boost because it was quite literally life and death now. If anything, it would be better not to sit here and cry herself to sleep in a dungeon with monsters. She looked at Rael, who gave her a hand, which she eagerly took with a slight smile on her face. It didn’t help, and she was still out of it slightly. She was turning slightly normal but much more how she acts in real life over otherwise.

Rael spoke again, and it made her nod in agreement because she felt a bit fearful. The best thing to do would be to leave the dungeon, never to return. ” Y-Yeah, I agree, Benkei and Rael, we should all get out of here.” Kalie said, slightly nervous. It was what Rael said after that terrified her. Starving to death would be terrible. ” Uhh, yeah,… wouldn’t want to do that now. Better to get something to eat in Thorinn after this dungeon...” Kalie said with a mind of wanting to get the hell out of this dungeon. It must mean this game is now their real world, so to speak. ’ Uhh, this is going to be quite hard to deal with… This game is my world now… I don’t know how others would deal with this type of thing.’ Kalie thought to herself.

It was pretty much one of the few things she never thought about, living in a video game rather than playing it. Basically, this never crossed her mind because of how much was important to her in the university she was at. However, in the back of her mind, she remembered what she thought about Enos; hopefully, he’s alright. She wouldn’t be able to forgive herself if something happened for what she wished for, all because she couldn’t handle a bit of a pervert. She overthinks that everyone is a bad person or thinks very lowly of a person because they undress her with their eyes. ’ I do hope, everyone in Team A is alright...’ Kalie thought to herself. The worry on her face was about something different than breaking down; again, need to be strong for everyone else’s sake.

Location: The Dungeon -- The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria

---

"Why do you let them call you Alex?"

It had been in the third grade. No? Fourth grade. During recess, a sudden question from Mrs. Wynn. He had shrugged.

"I don't know."

He really didn't know. It just made sense. It was weird to call a Ben a Benjamin, so it was weird to call an Alex an Alexis. But the question had stayed in his mind after that day, like a little seed that kept growing. Or was it a weed? It felt like a weed sometimes.

It feels good.

That had been the most he could figure out. The question didn't sound important, something his mind put next to the grades on his history tests or his favorite dinosaur. A question with an obvious answer people asked because they like talking. But that didn't feel right. He didn't know a lot of big words, or if it was something that was important in the first place. So his mind had put it away. Adolescence however... had shaken everything around.

Throughout its spread his body had begun turning into something else, something that was no longer synchronized to his mind. It was a foreign thing that actively behaved like an enemy, a thing that provoked disgust with every new change and twist that sprouted from the inside. The weeds were blooming now, choking him, controlling him. They had a way of spreading beyond his body too, touching things that were innocuous and covering them in thorns.

"Any cute boys at school?"

That was dangerous. If he couldn't find a way to deal with that quickly, it would start to grow. And if it grew more, the weeds would cover more things, more questions, more whispers between people when he wasn't in the room. It was impossible to make the sharp parts that poked and prodded go away, but he had to at least try.

"People are gonna get the wrong idea if you keep cutting your hair that short!"

He couldn't stop it. He really, really couldn't stop it. That feeling of constricting weeds was growing and suffocating him from the inside out. He had to get rid of them somehow, even in ways he knew just spread them around further, ways that would make the feeling worse for him later on. He had developed a system at least, methods and tricks to ease things. Safe articles of clothing that he could wear. Cosmetics he was comfortable applying. Although it helped, it was like an uphill battle, one he was shoved into nearly every day.

Then Pariah Online had launched. The game that boasted an avatar generation system attuned to your deepest desires, the one that let him visit beautiful scenery and create whatever he wanted. It was a happy dream he could have in a doll-like, numbed avatar that made the constriction go away, a dream he began to love more than reality itself.


The messenger was gone, leaving only turmoil in his wake. Alex was... at a complete loss for words. He could only mutter snippets of the man's over and over again. Adrenaline coursed through his weary body and made his legs quake, and his chest rose and fell at an intense rhythm that couldn't find its footing. Was he doubtful? Happy? Scared? He didn't know, couldn't know under the raw crash of sensations.

He was going to spend more time in this beautiful dream. But it was different now. It was no longer an avatar, it was his body. Every bruise, nick, and scratch that hummed in pain with every breath belonged to him and him alone. And as the palms of his hands felt the muscle and bone fit for a man through his equipment, he cracked a small grin. A crooked, wiry, broken grin. His next words were a whisper, one even he could barely hear.

"It feels good."

Location: The Dungeon, The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria

---

“Be careful. As for the rest of us, I think we should go over some things first.” Rael said, as Seele comforted Alja.

It wasn’t that rushing to get everyone on their feet didn’t make sense to Rael. Feelings were best expressed in private. That’s what her culture had taught her, however everyone was a mix of hungry, fatigued, and underprepared.

“Benkei.” She called out without looking at him, “You seem smart. What do you got in your kit?”

It was a simple question, but one that seemed odd but Rael’s intention seemed pretty clear when she removed her backpack and dropped it on the ground with a resounding thud. Her belt of potions followed. For someone who wasn’t bright it might’ve been confusing as the girl removed two needed things to get moving and progress through the dungeon.

She retrieved two bags first and placed them on the center of the floor. “I’m not hungry, but some of you have to be.”

It was a lie. She was a little fatigued and a little peckish, but her needs were secondary. She had purchased food from the wayfarer’s hall on their way out. She hadn’t touched it, even in the scorching heat. She also had bought a water canteen and had it filled, but she had no intent on sharing that. That was one of the few things she would likely need if they were going to fight through several encounters.

“The bag on the left is dried fruit. Berries, apples, cherries, mango. The bag on the right is dried meat. Take what you need to get your energy up.”

While Benkei began to answer her question in his way by looking through his own kit, Rael began unpacking some items. Items she had kept and not sold on the black market. Potions. Elixirs. A cobbler’s kit. She immediately looked to Kalie, as she knew her reputation as both a tailor and leatherworker was well known enough that people bought her things from auctions in the player’s market. She looked at her and tossed the cobbler’s kit over, she would’ve been faster and more efficient than if Rael did it herself.

“Kalie. Think you can repair Graves’ boot?” She asked, though it was less of a question and more of a statement.

“Yeah, I can fix Graves' boot. It is better to fix it than leaving it how it is.” Kalie managed as she began going through her kit for her leatherworking tools. Rael was glad. She couldn’t have anyone breaking down.

Rael went back to her agenda with equipment optimization as the blonde assassin went to work.

“I have multiple potions. I have no idea if any of them are addictive by the new rules we’re playing, but I think the ironskin potions here,” She moved two vials of gray liquid, “and these restoration potions will be needed to be split off between the party. I also have a few poisons should Graves want a little payback on this dungeon, or Alex would like his arrows to sting a bit more. They should be effective on goblins and similar creatures. I also have a few more potions of moonlight if we want to cut down on torches.”

She moved a few trinkets on the floor as well.

“This is the Amulet of Adala. It’s supposed to steadily heal your life energy at the cost of lowering your magical reserves. I don’t know how it works here.” She looked down at the unique item. She had held onto it since her first raid of The Tower of Adala. A unique quest item. Only one of its kind. Part of her didn’t want to part with it, but she knew she had to.

“And this is Amelie’s Bracelet. The wearer has complete resistance to physical attacks until it runs out of magical power.”

Rael looked back up from the floor. She was already enchanted and geared up, so she figured whoever needed either item would be the new owners. It was weird. The old version of her in Pariah Online would have never considered acting like this. But then again, the old version was never in a life or death scenario and as much as Rael hated to admit it, she needed them as much as they needed her.

Location: The Dungeon -- The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria

---

Graves didn't get up. He felt a hand grasp his shoulder and gentle words reach his ears but he couldn't hear them. The ringing was all there was. A loud, constant screeching, accompanied by a blood-pounding headache. His eyes snapped shut. It was quiet here. Dark. A place he'd often visit when he needed a moment of reprieve. Andrew was usually alone in this place.

Not this time.

'We're goin to die, aren't we?'

Probably. Dungeons like this one were meant to challenge top tier players. It wasn't strange for a group to wipe several times trying to complete one. Only this time they wouldn't get up, he supposed.

'Doesn't that scare you?'

No shit! Andrew'd have to be certifiably nuts to not be frightened by a thing like that. It was only human, after all. Still, it was something he'd thought long and hard about for a long time, even before today: what'd it be like to die? He wasn't much of a religious person anymore. Odds were the only thing waiting for him was the void. That was a bit scary, he had to admit. Nothingness wasn't a concept he could wrap his head around.

'Its too soon. We're s'posed to have the rest of our lives head of us...'

Not much of a life worth living for, Andrew laughed. It was a scornful, hateful little sound. He'd had two short decades on this earth and what'd he waste them on? Shuffling through every day like a zombie? Playing games when other people were actually, y'know, succeeding in life? He'd gotten good at this last one. He was proud of that-- proud of this fake life he'd built for himself. It was more effort than he'd ever put into the other one.

'You never gave yourself the chance to, you fuckin' idiot. And now its gone!'

Maybe so. There were other around him, though- others who had actually used the time they'd been allotted. Alja must've had people that loved her waiting back home. Kalie wanted to be a teacher. Wasn't that something! How many lives would she go on to impact for the better if she got out of here? We have a chance to do some good here. A real chance. All that work you put into swinging a fake sword around and now you might be able to do something with it.

'...'

You're better at this than any of them, aren't you?

'Yeah.'

I didn't save up every penny I'd ever earned on a scalped video game so you can throw this one, solitary opportunity to not be a complete fuck-up away. So get up. Get up and kick some ass for me before you turn my brain to mush.

And with that Graves turned away, walking out of the dark and back into the humid corridor in the middle of a dungeon. His eyes slipped open. He could feel his heartrate slowing back to normal. The ringing in his ears faded into dull background noise. The headache lingered; that one was manageable, at least. He stood up, looking to the people around him- actually taking the time to see them.

To see them scared outta their minds See them being brave for the others around them. See them setting aside their differences to help however they could. See them taking charge, or offering up supplies, or even just giving words of encouragement when they had nothing else to offer.

They were a motley group of weirdos who never should've had to go through this.

Graves took a breath. "Don't fuck it up."

Location: The Dungeon -- The City of Thorinn, Aetheria

---

“You seem smart. What do you got in your kit?”

Rael was divvying out whatever she found in her kit, and Benkei joined her, doing the same. Out came various potions, food stuffs and materials. Sharpening stones, small torches, a lantern, and rope. He also produced several potions.

Several health draughts, a few mana draughts, one remaining stoneskin potion and several strength elixirs as well were laid out on the floor. He also placed a few wrapped packages of dried fruit and meat alongside Rael’s. One final meal they could all share together before journeying into the deeper dungeon.

“Seele, take some food and drink this mana draught, you burned too much energy in that trap room,” Benkei called the girl, knowing how much she’d gone through already. “And don’t pull heroic stuff like that again. We need you with us, not half-dead from spell exhaustion.”

They needed every ounce of strength.

Location: The Dungeon -- The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria

---

There was work to be done. The party wouldn't get another respite until the dungeon's end, so it was best they prepared for what challenges lay ahead. Their fearless leader, Benkei, was working with Rael to account for all the supplies they had to work with. They'd gotten to work mere moments after the attendant left-- were they just putting on a brave face? Or did a chance encounter with death really not scare them?

"Could use a snack." He cleared his throat on approach, burying his shame for another day. He hadn't expended much energy thus far, but he was still peckish. It was weird. He didn't get nearly so hungry so quickly in the real world. Was it all the extra muscle he'd put on in the game? An odd thing to mull over as he reached down and collected a sizeable bit of food. After a moment's thought and a glance over his shoulder he picked up a second share.

Then his eyes went to the collection of special items and potions they'd laid out. Graves hadn't taken the time to drop by the alchemist in Thorinn before the raid, stupidly enough. He'd gotten cocky, excepted to run through this no problem. "I could use one'a them ironskins too." He reached down and plucked one up, slipping it into a specially made loop in his belt. There was another vial hanging next to it that he pulled from its string. "Don't like takin' without offerin' anything back," he said, tossing it to Rael. "Extracted straight from a basilisk's fang. The guy said the poison's so potent it'll burn you just by lookin' at it too long."

Graves winced just at the memory of it, a hand moving up to rub his shoulder. "Think I believe him, too."

That single, concentrated extract was worth almost a quarter of the kill by itself. It would've made for a hell of a hunting tool in his arsenal if the world hadn't gone to shit. Now, all he could hope was that it saved a couple'a lives before the day was done. "Maybe hand it over to the archer. Can only imagine what a shot of that shit through the eye would feel like. But, y'know," he shrugged, "I trust your judgement any which way."

With a final, over-exaggerated bow, he turned away and was off.

His path brought him over to where Seele was "helping" the much larger Alja to her feet. Evidently they'd managed to work through her panic attack together. That brought some comfort, he had to admit. Alja was good at what she did and they needed her help if they were going to get through this. She might not be back to her usual, chipper self for awhile, but this would have to do. Seele'd done good.

"Here." Graves offered the second serving of food he'd taken over to Alja, plopping down on the ground where she'd once been to scarf down his own meal. "Goshta keep yer shtrengthh up." He sloshed out between chunks of jerky and dried out fruit.

Location: The Dungeon, The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria

---

“Yes, of course. Thank you.”

Seele’s voice was clear as Rael noticed Benkei hand over a mana draught to the girl before telling her she needed to be more careful. The group of her, Graves, and Alja had situated themselves on a back wall, not too far from them.

The whole group seemed to be regaining their composure, which was good. Rael herself had buried any doubts she had in the back of her mind, replacing it with questions like “Who needs what?” and “What is best here?”. Rael was decent at preparation, but she’d never have to prepare for an entire party before. She led by example and expected everyone to pull their weight. But that was before the glitch; before the announcement of some elaborate hack. The best thing she could do in the moment was try. Try to be the Leader of the Student Council she always had wanted to be in High School but never had a chance to be. But Hanako hadn’t been good enough. Ikuta Tomomi was in that position. She wondered what Tomomi would do in this situation? It was pressure like this that made her feel what Tomomi’s life would have been like.

Rael snapped back to reality. She couldn’t think about life in Japan. She needed to focus with life in Aetheria.

“Seele. I’m giving you the Amulet of Adara.” Rael commented as she tossed the bronze and sapphire amulet to the dark-haired girl, “It will probably sink some of your magic but what magic it takes away will probably keep you alive if things get bad.”

Seele caught the amulet with…questionable deftness. Something flashed across her face, indecipherable in the shadows, and for a moment it looked like she might protest. Instead, she smiled at Rael and gave the red-haired tank a wink.

“Sounds like a fair trade to me!”

“As for Amelie’s Bracelet…” Rael looked at the group and then at the empty corridor that led to the next room—the direction Kazuki went to explore.

There were a few options. Alex was lightly armored, as was Kalie. They were fast but not so durable. They would’ve been ideal options, but what would happen if Kazuki got ambushed from behind when they went through the rest of the dungeon? She considered the thought, but she wasn’t sure what to expect. After mulling over the decision she decided to give it to Kalie. Alex was fighting from distance and Kazuki had Seele and Benkei holding the line while Rael held the frontlines. With that in mind the red-haired tank’s eyes moved to Kalie who had finished patching up Graves’ boot, though before she could call Graves back over Rael spoke her name and got her attention.

“Kalie, I think you’re most liable to get hit by physical attacks. So you should take the bracelet.”

Rael took a light breath as she looked at the assorted accompaniment of vials before organizing them into piles for each person. Basilisk’s Blood and a Restoration Potion for Alex. A Strength Elixir and Stoneskin Potion for Alja. Poison vials for Kalie’s scythe. Potion of Moonlight for everyone save for Kalie who had some sort of darkvision ability through her darkness magic. Stamina Regeneration for Kazuki and Seele so they could keep their energy up with constant use of spellcasting since they now had to worry about constant fatigue. Whatever was left Rael would hold onto, though admittedly it was not much.

With all of that said and done Rael reached into the bag of dried meat and took a few bites.

“It’s gonna be real rough out there. Kazuki’s already taking a look at the lead-in to the next room. Just remember to play smart and try to remember about these new survival mechanics being forced on us.”

Location: The Dungeon, The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria

---

Kalie was working on Graves’ boot to diligently fix it with the leatherworking skills she had in this game. She couldn’t help but smile because she enjoys doing this type of thing in the game, repairing others' gear or giving them an incentive to buy her goods. It was a bit odd, but she tried never to show true feelings while doing this type of thing because her roleplay persona usually got in the way. ’ Graves’ boot is going to be so much better than it was, without that hole in it anyway.’ Kalie thought to herself, kind of reminiscing and focused on working on Graves’ boot.

It’s because she reminisces; it causes her to remember her childhood or adolescence life. She had a plushie of hers that constantly got ripped up or teared up by her older sister, and it was a bit mean spirited. Because of this, she usually went to her mother to get her plush cat to be fixed. Her mother smiles as always because her mother wouldn’t see her little one cry over a broken toy. It didn’t help that her mother’s kindness was rewarded by Susan's snide remark, in not wanting to apologize to the little sister that was the favorite in the family. Therefore, this entire event caused Dawn to try to basically be friends with her sister, even though it didn’t work. It only helped in delaying Susan’s departure from her family’s life for a few years.

Kalie shook her head as she came back from that mild case of sadness, but she had a smile on her face. She was hopeful for what she could do in Aetheria with the group of people she’s stuck in this dungeon with. Kalie had a job to do, and she would rather be like her mother than her older sister, which the latter she was emulating in her roleplayer persona. ’ I do hope this will keep him going for a while longer before I have to repair everyone’s boots.’ Kalie thought to herself with a smile. She did hear the others talk around her while focusing on her assigned task for now.

It was done, the boot that she so diligently was finished in being repaired, with a grateful smile on her face. She was about to call over Graves with a wave of her hand until she noticed Rael walking up to her. She noticed the bracelet in Rael’s hand, and it was Amelie’s Bracelet. All she did in response to hearing what Rael said was smile happily and be a bit amazed. ” Aww, thank you, Rael. I will take the bracelet, so you don’t have to worry about me as much.” Kalie said with a gleeful smile on her face. It was indeed the first time anyone gave her something without a catch, and it made her incredibly happy. All the other times, it had to deal with Susan’s constant ordering her around and stuff like that. She gently took the bracelet from Rael’s hands and put it around her left wrist.

Kalie remembered after that exchange to look over to Graves. She sighed at him while he was eating and speaking simultaneously, which slightly annoyed her. ” I must say, Graves. Dear, I’ve finished your boot so that you can receive it now. Heehee.” Kalie said to Graves, trying to tease him. It was one thing, but she always wanted to do that to another player, but Graves is Graves nonetheless. However, the potions' dividing up made her smile since poison potions for her Scythe will help them in the road ahead. She had a smile on her face and put the poison potions in her potion belt. It made her want to be even more prepared with the news over what she’d been throughout this entire experience.

It didn’t take her long to remember she should eat something as well. Kalie wouldn’t want to die of starvation after that panic attack she had. She ended up taking some of the fruits and meat since it's better to do that. However, it didn’t take her long to realize that Kazuki wasn’t here. She kind of worried about him, but Rael did say something about Kazuki scouting ahead, which seems like the dumbest idea. It couldn’t be helped; everyone else was much more fragile, like Alja and her. ’ I should seriously apologize to Kazuki. For being so rude to him… better to get back on the right foot or so to speak, as my mother, Ashley… I miss her so much…’ Kalie thought to herself with trying to look on the positive side of things. She felt a bit bad for having that argument with her mother, while her mom had no idea what she was talking about. It was their idea for her to get a hobby and play video games, but her father was much more into them than her mother.

Location: The Dungeon -- The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria

---

Slowly, things were starting to happen again. The group was composing themselves, working out strategies; Kazuki even had the emotional wherewithal to strike out on his own and scout ahead for them. Between the efforts of Benkei and Rael, the world—the world of Pariah, anyway—seemed to be returning to normal. All of them who had said it were right, of course. They’d need to move forward and push through what remained of this horrible place in order to reach safety. Aside from some new, admittedly cumberson…mechanics, they were going to have to go about it the same way they’d have approached any challenging content. Well-prepared, and as a team.

They were good. She’d have to thank them afterwards, maybe with sandwiches or a nice stew—one of the only other rudimentary things Seele could, to put it generously, “cook.”

Her attentions remained with Alja for a while, as the young woman got back up to her feet. Seele had to catch herself to stop from thinking of her as a girl. She didn’t know how old Alja’s player was, or even her real name—something she’d at least try to remedy once they were all out of here. But the way the ghosts of panic still clung to her, and with how small her voice sounded when she’d squeaked out: “Thank you, Seele,” it was almost impossible not to see the human within that great warrior. She wanted to throw her arms around Alja, tell her how proud she was already. Tell her she’d make it.
…you’re…
Later.

Instead, Seele gently patted Alja’s arm and gave her a bubbly smile. When Graves plopped down beside them, she jutted a thumb at him. “He’s right, you should eat up,” she said, and gave his newly-patched boot a playful nudge with her foot. “Just maybe not so much like a goblin.”

With that she went about following Benkei and Rael’s directions. Based on the way that Moonlight Potion had staggered Rael earlier, Seele was expecting the mana draught to fight her on the way down, but she was surprised to find it was…well, certainly not good, but not terrible either. Bitter, bubbly, with a sort of ethereal aftertaste that caked a bit too thickly the throat. The earthy scent of petrichor was strong in her nose. She shut her eyes, and the pleasant chill of a passing rain swept through her.
…cold…
Last was the amulet, which was a bittersweet gift. Immediately a distant, inner piece of herself was reduced, but at the same time the rest of her was refreshed. The last, nagging effects of her exertion in the spike room evanesced, and she felt more or less like new again. An odd thing to feel, all things considered.

All said and done, she made her way over to Benkei and Rael. Her hand came up in salute, but her expression was anything but formal. “Ship-shape, captains.”

Location: The Dungeon, The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria

---

“Healing Wave!”


Enos’ voice echoed as a wave of heavenly energy surged throughout his party as the gelatinous ooze melted into ash before his eyes, the smoke from Priscilica’s fire magic filling the room as the fumes from the slime-like monster turned into nothing.

He wasn’t sure how they did it. Leaves had almost been absorbed by the monster and Aaginim had lost his shield protecting her from certain death. All forms of slimes were dangerous but gelatinous ooze’s were pretty dangerous and had it not been for the announcement minutes ago Enos would’ve felt less stressed than he was. But Enos never cracked under the pressure and his friend’s lives were on the line. He did still feel awful and guilty about what had happened with Atlas but between the adrenaline and his pure unadulterated rage there wasn’t much room for hesitation.

“Is everyone okay?”

Luci had been keeping it together as best as she could, but Enos wasn’t sure how focused she was. Between the engagement and the announcement he had to guess that her brain was everywhere instead of being focused. She had slipped up a few times already, though none of it had led to anything they couldn’t heal or adjust for. If not for Priscilica they might’ve lost Leaves. Enos wouldn’t accept that. He had already lost one person on his watch. It would not happen again. He’d die first.

He took another light breath, looking over to the two randoms that had survived. They were holding together well. The power of having a sibling next to you in a life or death scenario, he supposed.

“I’m okay, too. We’ll be ready.”

Siegfried nodded, “This dungeon fuckin’ sucks.”

“Fi-fine. I’m fine. Just tired.” Priscilica managed.

Enos nodded as he looked forward at the door to their left. They had made some progress since the Ogre Room and the Elemental Puzzle and with this Slime Room out of the way he wondered what could be next. Truthfully, he was hoping to meet up with the other group soon so they could all make sure they got out. As far as he was concerned the situation desperately needed it. He was already worrying about the group given it was stuck with a bunch of self-serving assholes. Not that they were bad people, but with other people’s lives at stake? He imagined most of them were still catatonic while he and his group pressed on.

“Drink a potion. Get your stamina back up. I have a feeling what’s up ahead has to be worse than a gelatinous ooze.”

He turned to Leaves as she checked her quiver, “You okay, Leaves?”

“Yeah… bit of a close one, though.”

“You’ll be okay. I promise.”
-
-

Location: The Dungeon, The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria

---

The journey through the dungeon had been arduous and tiresome. Graves, Benkei, and Alja had done most of the heavy lifting with the elaborate puzzle in the room Benkei had dubbed the “Totem Room”. Kazuki helped figure out the right combinations of where which stone “key” went where. Rael thought it was a waste of time until Kazuki had opened a secret passageway that led to a treasure chest which contained some ancient Aetherian gold coins, a gem the size of someone’s head, and a wand of some kind. A decent trove, but one that didn’t give them anything of needed auxiliary equipment beyond the wand.

“Kazuki, you hold onto it.” Rael had told him while the rest of the group prepared to leave the room when the main puzzle was complete and the doorway forward was open.

Inside had been… a grueling effort. If not for the bracelet Rael had given Kalie a troll might’ve squashed her with his giant, spiked club. Kalie was fast and had just as sharp reflexes as Rael or Graves, but dungeons always caught you off guard. At this point Rael wasn’t surprised the dungeon wasn’t playing by the “rules”. Monsters came from directions that were unexpected, there were no basic kill mobs, and anything she thought she knew about the way dungeons work was put into question. Part of her found it an exciting challenge, but mostly she was terrified. One wrong move and game over. Forever.

The surprise troll had been easy enough to deal with once the initial surprise ended things. Alja had frozen its feet to the ground for as long as the tepid, humid heat allowed and that gave people like Rael, Alex, and Graves ample opportunity to take it down. The next room, however… well, it gave Rael the creeps.


“If I pushed you, I don’t think I’d hear the splat.” Rael uttered to Graves, trying to break the tension.

The red-haired tank looked down before kicking a rock to what appeared to be a giant chasm.

Past a slew of cave gnolls and the troll had been what appeared to be their next challenge room. Rael’s eyes looked around every corner of the chasm. It was wide. Even with high level wind magic or enhancement magic neither Rael nor Alex was getting across. It took a minute, before she looked up to see what appeared to be a stone bridge, locked in place about four or five stories above the chasm. The red-haired girl wasn’t sure how to lower it, but there it was.

“Well, there’s the bridge, but I’m not sure how we’re going to lower it. There must be a switch somewhere.” Rael looked over her shoulder, to the group, “Make sure we don’t get any surprises from behind.”

Rael hadn’t seen it yet, but someone else might’ve with the moonlight potions on their tongue. Four out of place stones, a little larger than the rest of the dungeon’s rock formation, on the opposite side of the chasm.

Location: The Dungeon -- The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria

---

“If I pushed you, I don’t think I’d hear the splat.”

That great, terrible canyon stretched down for what felt like eternity-- so far down that the rock Rael had kicked never seemed to hit the bottom. It made bile rise up in the back of his throat. Heights were something he got a lot of back home in Nowhereseville, Indiana. The tallest point of the town was a hill right up from the church; some genius a long time ago had decided it was the best place for the graveyard. Andrew still remembered how badly his legs had ached after they'd buried his father.

"Think we found somewhere to fit all that ego." He grunted. Try as he might, he couldn't hide how nervous he was. He hadn't been able to compose himself since the Glitch. Every little sound, every sudden movement, made his blood pressure spike. His hand kept finding its way to the hilt of his blade, like a child reaching out for his comfort blanket. What was he goin' to do if he fell, exactly? Stab the fall to death?

It'd worked on those trolls back there, at least. Blood still lingered along the edge from where he'd lopped one'a those massive arms off. Fatigue still lingered in his muscles, too, as it never had before. All of the visceral aspects of Pariah's combat that Graves had loved had been cranked up to eleven now, n'...it scared him how much he was enjoying it. Sure, he was terrified of every blow he had to tank. It hurt to all hell, too. But the fucking rush he'd gotten killing those things was better than any high he'd ever experienced.

'Least there's nothing to feel guilty for,' he mused to himself, watching the rest of the party deliberate about how they'd get across this gap. Graves turned from the edge at Rael's request-- giving her a sly wink as he did-- and jogged to the back of the party to keep an eye out. 'S' not like they're actually alive.'

Location: The Dungeon -- The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria

---

Alex had been out of it, to say the least. The people around him underwent serious emotions, some of them switching from one extreme to another from what he could guess, but none of it truly registered in his mind. It was as if he was trapped inside his own head as an observer, gazing at the rest of the world from a foggy window. As he returned to his senses it felt like waking up for the first time, the mixture of euphoria and discomfort, the good kind that kept him alert. He was alive and in the body of his dreams and equipped with powers. Consequences could be ignored...

...But there were his parents to think about. They loved him and he wanted to make them proud. But they didn't know about his identity, nor did he think they would approve of it. And so much of their lives had been invested in raising him and providing him with the best life they could. But I want to be happy too. But his future as a professional needed to be considered. The world of freelancing was a tough one where industry standards changed every couple of months and work would disappear right in front of you unless you were constantly fighting for it. There were long-term projects that were depending on him, e-mails and phone calls that needed to be made. But I want to be happy too. But his friends were back at home, probably missing him. They had made plans with him, wanted to see updates on some things he was making for them. Sure, none of them understood him beyond a surface level, but it was fine as long as they kept seeing each other. But that's not my happiness. That's theirs.

I just want to be happy too.

It was a cruel joke. The boy who kept himself under so much pain to let the world revolve with no complications, now having the opportunity of a lifetime dangled in front of him with no certainty to it whatsoever. His breaths remained sharp despite the exhaustion having waned considerably, and his sense of freedom was beginning to fade as well. None of his doubts or yearning or wishes mattered if they were all dead.

"A chasm, huh." The words were aimed at himself more than anyone else. He could avoid that strange loop of guilt by keeping his thoughts confined to the outside. With fatigue now being a permanent addition to their trek, the idea of using wind abilities to get across was discarded immediately. In its place was... nothing at all, really. Being faced with an impenetrable wall of darkness gave one very little in the way of artistic inspiration, he realized. With a vague shrug that only hinted at his turbid interior, he dug out the potion of moonlight he was given and began to chug it like an energy drink.

"Bleh, this thing tastes so bad, what the hec- holy fuck I have night vision." He messily wiped his mouth as his warm eyes shifted to a shade of silver. The opposite side of the chasm was now visible, although the results were disappointing. "Looks like it's nothing but rocks. There's four weird ones, though." It reminded him of cartoons where you could tell something wasn't part of the background because it was drawn slightly different. He wanted to say that, but even someone like him knew it wouldn't make for very good commentary.

"Wait, I got it." He drew his bow in a single movement and began firing at every one of the four stones. They were large and stationary targets, so all it took was extra time to secure the success every shot.

After a brief pause the groan of shifting weight could be heard reverberating throughout the dungeon. The bridge was starting to lower. He knew it was in poor form to keep treating this as a game but... four out of four? "Awesome," he said. He held up his free hand, expecting a round of high fives.

Location: The Dungeon -- The City of Thorinn, Aetheria

---

Deeper into the dungeon. Deeper into the trials. From puzzles and treasure (which Benkei’s surprise at his brother’s treasure hunting skills left him flabbergasted). When did Kazuki get so….good at this? The troll was shocking from its surprise attack, but luckily Kalie was safe from the surprise attack of the troll. The stress of the dungeon was growing with each new room, and Benkei was feeling it.

Just a little further. Just a little further and we’ll be out of here.

Then came the chasm.

Another problem that came completely out of his wheelhouse, but Alex took point and surprisingly raised the bridge. Benkei breathed a sigh of relief, and walked over to the archer, patting him on the shoulder. “Good job,” he whispered to him. When was the last time he’d given a real compliment?

Hell, how many times had he ever been complimented?

Kazuma. These grades are inexcusable.

Kazuma. Why aren’t you watching Kazuki? You need to be more like your brother.

Why did I get stuck with the disappointing son?

Benkei had to focus up. They were not out of the woods yet, and another beast like the troll could be waiting ahead. He hefted his sword up and looked to the others. “Hopefully we’ll be nearing the end, which could mean more fights. And a boss.” He did his best to give the group a smile, though his stomach was twirling into knots. They’d barely made it this far; would they be able to finish off an unknown boss with zero casualties?

Just a little further. They’d link back up with Aag’s party, they’d escape the dungeon, find somewhere safe, and be logged off when a fix was found.

And what if there was no fix? What if this was permanent? After all, this already felt real. What if this was reality from here on out?

Was it so bad?