Trapped in a Game

As we ran for a bit, Serra pulled up to a stop, taking a long look about us.

"What's wrong?" I asked, as I joined her side.

"He should be here," she said, biting her lip, but just as I was about to ask who, a large black dog-like creature materialized next to us, and she lunged at the creature with delight.

"Cali!" she cried, as the creature's tail wagged excitedly.

"

Priest-human! I failed to detect your presence in this world. It was most distressing. I would rather not experience such a feeling again."

I stared at the two with interest, and an image flashed before my eyes of Serra with Katie, and a little knot formed in my chest.

I quickly pulled up my inventory, and fetched one of my signature roasted meat treats, and tossed it to Caliban, which he quickly ate.

"Josh-of-the-tasty-meats! Your presence was also missed,"

Caliban exclaimed, and Serra shot me a teasing smile.

"What?" I asked.

"Oh nothing. Just, seems like he only missed your treats, while he actually missed me. I'm the clear favorite," she added, a smug looking smile on her face, and I snickered in response.

*Bzz!

I pulled up my character interface to see that I'd received a message from Kelly.

Where are you heading?

To the hut in the forest where you are. Why?

I responded.

Meet up at our camp instead.

Attached to the message was a location, and I quickly relayed the message to Serra, who nodded.

"That's less than two minutes away. Let's go."

I suddenly felt another pang of anxiety, though this time, for a different reason.

Kelly was less than two minutes away.

I would finally see her again.

Wait... it wasn't that long since I'd last seen her, was it?

Why did I suddenly feel as if it'd been forever?

I was still ruminating the issue when we came up to the camp, and there she was, in the flesh... or well, sort of.

"Hey, kiddo," I said, but as I wrapped my arms around her, and hugged her tightly, I felt a strange feeling of... disconnect, from her.

"Hey," she said, and I tilted my head, as there was definitely something off about her tone.

"What's wrong?" I asked, and she cast a curious glance back at the others, who I now noticed also seemed to be on edge.

"Uh, can we talk? In the tent," she began.

"Can it wait?" Serra cut in. "We might have something pressing to handle right now."

"It can't," Karn replied, and Serra shot him a questioning look.

"We just need to confirm something," Kelly clarified, and Serra scoffed.

"Well confirm it," she said, her hand on her hip as she tapped her foot impatiently.

Kelly took a deep breath, before speaking.

"I, uh- need you to call Tracey," she stated, and my jaw dropped as I studied her.

"Who are you and what have you done to my sister?" I asked, and she sighed.

"I wouldn't ask this if it weren't serious," she explained, and Serra laughed.

"If it was serious, then you wouldn't suggest talking to someone who's an actual joke!" she shot back, as I continued to study Kelly.

"What's this about?" I asked.

"We need to confirm something from outside of the game," Kelly answered, and I nodded, swallowing uncomfortably.

"Okay-"

"No. Not okay," Serra cut in, raising a hand in front of me, protectively. "Whatever they want to confirm, Tracey's just gonna give us a runaround and probably make this all about her. Besides, why can't you just call your mom?"

"I'm on contact restriction until tomorrow."

"And this can't wait until tomorrow?" Serra asked, and Kelly looked to the others, before shaking her head.

"Okay, just give us a sec," Serra continued, turning to me, as she pulled up her message feature on her character interface.

"You're contacting Dieter?" I asked, and she nodded.

"He can probably lift the contact restriction."

I studied her for a bit.

"When did I tell you all of those things about Tracey?" I asked, and she shrugged.

"I don't remember exactly," she said, but something inside of me told me that she was lying, and I studied her carefully.

Serra twitched, as if she'd just gotten a message, and she nodded, turning to Serra.

"Contact restriction lifted. Now call your mom," she said, gesturing toward the tent.

Kelly nodded, but as Serra followed me into the tent, she suddenly seemed a bit uncomfortable.

She seemed about to say something, when Serra shot her a glare which seemed to say 'deal with it', and Kelly decided to let it go.

"Mom?" she said, as the call went through, "no, I'm fine. I just need you to check on Josh for me."

She paused for a bit, then tilted her head in confusion.

"No. He's here, I just mean, check on him on the outside. Mom, just do it, okay?"

Kelly sighed in frustration, and Serra rolled her eyes.

"Fucking Christ, could you just put her on speaker?" Serra said, and Kelly swallowed uncomfortably, before doing as requested.

"Was that Serra?" my mom's voice suddenly called.

"Yes mama," she answered.

"What did I tell you about your language?" the woman said sternly, and Serra sighed.

"Sorry mama. One of your children is just giving me a headache."

My mouth fell open, and I turned to Kelly, who seemed equally surprised by the exchange.

"Wait, mom. That was you? In the simulation?"

"Of course! What did you think, I was some kind of robot?"

My mom scoffed, and I stared at Serra, as I tried to process the revelation.

"Kelly, honey, I'm standing right next to Josh. He's fine," my mom said, and Kelly sighed, then walked up to me and hugged me.

"I just had to be sure," she said.

There were tears in her eyes as I studied her, the confusion visible on my face.

"We can handle it from here, mama," Serra said.

"Okay, sweetie. Bring my babies home," she said, before adding, "and feel free to discipline whichever one is misbehaving!"

Serra quickly flicked Kelly's ear as the call ended, and as she frowned, Serra shot her an apologetic glance.

"I'm sure there's a good reason for all of this, but we just wasted valuable time," Serra said, and not a second too soon, as Dana dashed into the tent.

"Something's wrong. We lost contact with Zephiel!"

"Who's Zephiel?" I asked, and Serra rolled her eyes.

"The guy in the black leather outfit with the two pet monsters," she said.

We quickly headed out of the tent, when a huge fiery explosion went off in the forest to our left.

"What the hell-?" Karn began, when Serra shot me a quick look.

"Was that a deity level spell?" I asked, and she shrugged.

"Can't tell from here."

"I'll let you know," Kelly said, as fire began to sprout from her back, eventually taking the form of wings, and she sped off.

As she left, I caught a party invite that she'd sent, and as I accepted it, I opened up a communication channel with her.

"What do you see?" I asked, and as Serra shot me a quick look, I invited her to the channel.

"Zephiel and one of the girls. They're fighting something, but I can't tell what."

"Don't engage," Serra said.

"Wha- Why?" Kelly asked, and Serra sighed again.

"Just, fucking listen, or I'll seriously tell your mother," Serra countered, and I stifled a chuckle as Kelly groaned in protest.

Serra tapped my chest, and I looked up just as a figure emerged from the forest.

"Kelly. We're gonna need you here," Serra said, and I drew my rapier. "Caliban?"

"Yes, master,"

the dog said, as he appeared beside her.

"Disapparate until I call for you," she ordered, the creature bowed, before fading out of existence.

I shot a glance at Karn, who was holding a hook like weapon, attached by a chain to heavy-looking metal slug.

"What's the plan?" I asked, and she looked around.

"We don't have the numbers or any kind of advantage. I'm gonna contact Dieter. Just keep her busy," she said, and I nodded, moving toward the figure.

She appeared to be an ordinary looking woman, maybe in her thirties, but as she approached, I could feel the pores along my hand raise, as the hairs stood on end.

Christ.

Frightful Presence.

It was a monster skill, but on a level beyond anything I'd ever experienced.

In an instant, I felt like an ant standing in front of a God.

My hands began to shake, and I steadied my mind, trying to overcome it.

I shot a quick look at Karn, who was also on one knee, struggling to stay up.

Move,

I told myself.

Fucking... move!

My leg moved, and I shuddered as my body overcame the initial paralysis, but an incredible heaviness remained.

It felt as if I was trying to move in wet concrete that was drying solid all about me.

"Interesting," she said, studying me. "By my estimation, less than two percent of the remaining players can break out of my presence; but your name does not seem to appear amongst their ranks."

Sheesh

, I thought,

it's not as if I care about my rank anyway...

"Focus Josh. Dieter didn't send us here to fight," Serra called, and I nodded at the reminder.

"Now you, I recognize. You're top ten. Or, at least you were," she added, studying Serra. "And you've met Dieter too. Did that broken robot finally decide to act? This should be interesting."

I blinked, and in that instant, the woman vanished, and I immediately sensed her presence just behind me.

I turned, as I braced myself for whatever she was about to hit me with, when a burst of static erupted about me, slowing my movements down to a halt.

Serra seemed to have gotten a light shield up just in time, but the shield quickly cracked, and began shattering, layer by layer.

"Mold... earth!" I chanted, raising my hand towards her with great difficulty, and I created a little platform beneath her feet, and suspended from the ground, and the intensity of the field around her seemed to weaken.

She shot me a thankful nod, readying her hammer as she maintained her shield with one hand, before leaping straight at the woman.

"We're not. Here. To fight!" she cried, in between each of the three strikes that she landed before her feet touched the ground, but as she landed, she cried out as the static field coursed through her body, forcing her onto one knee.

The attack was meant to break the woman's concentration on

static field

, but apparently, it wasn't enough.

I was about to try another spell when a pillar of flame appeared in front of me, along with five more, forming a hexagon, and Serra placed her hands on the floor, bringing up an elemental shield just as the area between the pillars exploded into flame.

I counted eight explosions before the fire died down, leaving behind a cloud of dust and smoke, and I breathed a sigh of relief as the electricity about me dissipated.

But the fight had only just begun!

"Dodge!" Serra cried out, and as Kelly hovered over us, she quickly dived, spiraling and weaving as she did, and not a second late, as a wicked stream of lightning shot out from somewhere in front of me.

Several more bursts came from the spot, and Serra wasted no time, lunging forward with her hammer.

"Smite!" she chanted, and a yellow wave of energy pulsed out as her blow connected with something.

I couldn't see the target, as she was still shrouded in the cloud of dust, but maybe that was something I could use to my advantage.

"

Earth bind

!" I chanted, focusing on the cloud of dust itself, and dust began to swirl as it molded around the target within.

"Light shackles!" Serra chanted, binding her further, and as Kelly landed on the other side, she summoned her own vortex of lightning.

"Three concentration spells just to bind me. Now what?" she scoffed, shooting a questioning look between us.

"We just wanna talk," Serra said, and the woman laughed.

"How about you give me back my husband, and then we'll talk."

"He's not your husband," I cut in, and she glared at me. "The woman you're trying to be. You aren't her. You know you aren't."

"I might as well be. I know everything about her... every memory, from her birth to her death. I even remember things she never could."

I bit my lip.

"A simulation based on her memories is still different from the real thing. She was more than what you imagine her to be."

"Please. You have no idea what you're talking about," she replied.

As we spoke, a man wearing an all-black leather outfit appeared on the hill in the distance, and he began to approach us, a fiery look in his eyes.

"You! What did you do to Maia?" he asked, advancing on the woman.

"Oh, I just showed her the truth," she answered, "about how you abducted her from her

real

father."

"He was a mindless fucking NPC," he shot back, and she scoffed.

"Not to her, he wasn't."

The man paused, studying her, before suddenly leaping aside just as a huge burst erupted from the earth where he'd only just stood.

I followed his gaze to the top of the hill, where one of the little girl NPCs now stood, a murderous look in her eyes.

She began casting another spell, when suddenly a wolf leapt onto her, and the two rolled away, down the hill, in a wicked struggle.

"Make them stop," he yelled at the woman, and she laughed.

"Stop them yourself... or maybe I should tell her sister what you did, so they could get their vengeance together."

He sighed, then headed off to join the fight between the two.

"Fuck. There's no way we can fight her,

and

one of those little monsters," Serra said, speaking through our communication channel.

"What do we do?"

"I'm not sure. We're in trouble here," she conceded.

I wracked my brain, trying to come up with a plan.

If only there was a way to get through to her...

I quietly looked through my spell list, trying to think of what might be useful, when a spell suddenly stood out to me.

Empathy.

When I first read the spell's description, I thought it was laughable that it had even been included in the game, but as I thought of it now, it seemed like something I could make use of.

Too bad I never learned it.

I sighed.

Maybe there was a way I could still cast it?

"

Empathy

," I chanted, under my breath, but nothing happened.

No... I needed to do it without a chant.

Even marking never worked when using an unlisted type of target unless you concentrated the casting without verbal component.

I tried again, this time, focusing on the woman, and trying to convey, though my thoughts, what I wanted to accomplish.

She turned towards me, studying me, and the earth bind spell began to weaken.

I had to relinquish concentration on it if I really wanted to cast this, didn't I?

It was risky, but we were just playing a waiting game right now that we were destined to lose anyway.

I took a deep breath, then released the spell, but as the woman immediately broke free of her restrictions, and advanced on me, I focused all of my concentration into the casting of

empathy

, and she paused, studying me curiously as the spell actually took effect.

Help me understand,

I thought, and she smirked, relaxing her posture a bit.

"You really wanna know, huh?" she asked, and I nodded. "Fine. Then let me show you!"

She leapt forward suddenly, placing a hand on my face, and I felt that now increasingly familiar sensation of my mind being pulled from my body.

...

Where was I?

I looked around, and suddenly found myself in the midst of... an orgy?

Seriously?

I thought.

"It's not what you think. Just watch," the woman said, speaking directly into my mind, so I obeyed.

I looked down at my own naked but unfamiliar body, as my hand, seemingly moving on its own, began to stroke my cock to its fully erect length.

There was a woman in front of me, on her stomach and lying prostrate, her legs spread apart and her sex on display invitingly, but as I placed a hand on her hip, and moved to enter her, I felt... a strange feeling of trepidation.

Why was I really here?

The thought appeared in my mind, not as my own feeling, but the feeling of the person whose body I was now in.

I felt lost.

Out of place.

But as I knelt there, my cock at this woman's entrance, I spotted her.

It was the woman.

She was stark naked, and younger... much younger.

But as our eyes met, she smiled, and I marveled at the peculiarity of the situation.

Her legs were spread wide, and she was massaging one of her breasts, and biting her lip as the woman I was about to enter was busily eating her out.

She gestured towards the girl's rear, and I nodded, entering her finally, but even as the pleasure of that initial penetration flowed through me, my eyes went back to her, and she smiled again.

"Stephanie," she offered, holding out her hand.

"Paul," I answered, but as I reached forward to accept her hand, my length shifted against the insides of the girl between us, and I let out a little gasp as the movement stimulated me pleasurably, and she snickered in response.

"You're new at this," she said, more of a statement than a question, and as I nodded, she smiled. "Figures. You can really give it to her, you know. She won't mind."

I nodded again, as I started to really move, and Stephanie's eyes remained locked onto me.

The woman between us, paused in her licking to let out a pleasurable moan of her own, and Stephanie directed her mouth to her own clit.

The woman stuck her tongue out, and as she began to flick the nub, my own thrusting added a new layer of stimulation to her oral onslaught, and Stephanie shot me a thankful look.

"I'm getting close, Paul. Do you think you can do me a favor?"

"Sure," I replied, as she bit her lip, provocatively.

"Really fuck her brains out," she commanded, and I felt a little pleasurable twitch of my own at the statement.

I began to slam into the young woman between us, and as Stephanie's moans quickly escalated to high pitched shrieks, I studied her, seemingly utterly captivated.

Her orgasm seemed imminent, but as she cried out, her eyes remained on me, and as she came, I pulled my cock from the young woman, and began to unload my own contents on all over her.

Stephanie leaned down, then gave the girl a little kiss on the lips as an appreciative gesture, before crawling past her toward me.

"May I?" she said, gesturing toward my cock, and as I nodded, she leaned forward, her gaze fixed firmly on me, as she took the head of my softening cock into her mouth, and cooed as she tasted me, making sure that I knew that the remnants of my seed was what she was after.

"Not bad for a first timer," she said, and I rubbed the back of my head, a little nervously. "Fancy joining me for a smoke?" she added, nodding toward the corridor to the right, and as I agreed, she led me to a little area that was unoccupied.

She fetched a smoke out of one of the drawers from a nearby table, and as she lit the cigarette, she took a deep draw, then let out the smoke in a long, exhaling sigh.

"So, what brings you to this neck of the woods, first timer?"

I snickered.

"You want the real answer, or the bullshit answer?"

"Well when you phrase it like that, there's only one choice, really."

As I sighed, chuckling a little nervously, she moved toward me.

"You can give me the bullshit answer for now, if you think it'll be easier. But I'll be honest with ya. I plan on getting the real reason out of you, and a whole lot more, long before you leave this place."

I studied her, and something about her expression made me suddenly feel relaxed.

"Fine. I'm just a sad, lonely fuck who probably can't get laid on his own; so, I came here out of sheer desperation," I offered, and she laughed.

"Oh? Is that all it is, honey? You, and half of the men here."

I stole a quick look around, and she scoffed.