Continue Online (Book 1, Memories) (63 page)

"You
know, if you'd danced as well back then as you do now, I might never
have let you leave."

"I
had adventures to go on." William Carver did. Who could say what
I myself might have done.

"I
waited you know. I'm still waiting." She was sad too. The other
ladies had all worn different expressions. Some were full of joy,
others were nearly possessive. Two went so far as to give Carver a
firm smack on the ass, which meant I bore their aggressive tactics in
his stead.

"I
don't think I'll ever make it back."

"I
knew you never would.” She sighed and it felt like the wind
moved through us softly. “You were the first Traveler I'd ever
seen you know."

I
took her hand and stepped into a dance. The music sounded a bit more
aggressive, and I treated the motions as such, confident that the
machine could keep up. Her commentary was difficult to respond to.
This elf, a woman whose name I never learned from Carver's journals,
knew he wasn't a local.

"I'm
sorry."

Our
steps were wide movements, bringing us from one end of the labyrinths
dance hall to the other. Walls of inky purple had grown to nearly
nothing over the course of many partners.

"Hold
it!"

"SweetPea,
tell me you got more of those heals!"

"Yes!"

"Get
HotPants back together."

There
was a crash of flame and fire off to the side that had grown much
more obvious as my avatar in the game improved. Eyesight could see
where streams of tiny creatures had fallen. The players were torn,
blood dripped everywhere. Horror crisscrossed my face as I realized
that they were in trouble while I had been enjoying a myriad of
beautiful women. Not only trouble, they were getting beat senseless.

"Thank
you, Grant, for giving me one last moment with him." Her
commentary was enough to be the final straw on my fragmented
attention. My well-practiced steps completely fall apart.

I
twisted a foot and lost myself. The cane, which had somehow been
tucked into a rope of my clothing, fell loose with a clatter. From
the ground, I turned and looked at the woman who used my real name,
both worried and hopeful that I might see my deceased fiancée.
No such luck. She was a slender thing with none of the same facial
features.

"Goodbye,
William. May whatever passes for Voices in your world be kind in
their judgments."

Then
she too faded away.

"It's
done!" One of the players shouted.

"They've
stopped spawning!" SweetPea was really into it now. No longer
did she hide, in fact, she was fiercely participating in the fight
now. Awesome Jr. was cradling an arm and busy eying a pile of dead
monsters. Glass was everywhere and parts of bushes were on fire.

"Melissa,
use whatever you've got left to heal the others." Awesome Jr.
was huffing and waved SweetPea off to the other players.

I
watched all of this while confusion racked through my mind. The
ground looked far more normal. Above us, there was a hint of dawn
pushing back the inky darkness. The ground started to rumble.

"Oh
good god." HotPants was trying to push herself back up with the
staff. SweetPea's hands glowed with a faint blue over her back and
sent some lights spiraling into her back.

"I
don't know how much I have left..." The little healer said.

"It's
okay, I think. Carver's done." Awesome Jr. was rubbing
SweetPea's back trying to reassure her.

"Jesus
wept. Look at him." HotPants said. "That's not the same
guy. Robot. Not the same robot."

"No,
he's not."

I
looked down and took stock in the differences. Not only was the robe
I had come to love completely gone, I was wearing some sort of scale
mail. Heavy but this armor was flexible enough to move around in.

One
hand went for the cane out of habit and I managed to get both feet
under me. Nearby the flashing inky colors that lingered about
[Maze
of Midnight]
shuddered. Suddenly blacks, purples, and blues
dripped off the plants and crawled towards the dance floor. My band
filled background was gone. If I were a betting man this event called
for some epic boss music. Sure enough almost in time with my standing
the inks swarmed together forming a larger mass.

"Voices
have mercy," I swore.

More
vein like collections of ink poured in from around us. Globs would
reach up towards the sky, stacking on top of each and forming a giant
creature. Almost like it was pulling up from the depths of some
artist's nightmare. First a giant leg, then a forearm. The shape
looked dreadfully familiar.

"Is
that?" Awesome Jr. asked.

"Oh
no. No, no, no. I'm not nearly strong enough for that. I want to hit
stuff, not be pummeled senselessly. I don't need that in here."

"It's
not a real one." Shadow protested with a hint of doubt in his
tone.

The
cane was a giant sword again. The tip much easier to keep up with
Carver's improved grip. Behind me, the other players were gathering
together in a huddle. Whispers went back and forth about what to do
next. Meanwhile, our enemy grew even bigger, taller, thicker until we
faced a creature that took up a huge chunk of the room.

"That's
a nope."

"Complete
nope." SweetPea agreed. "So gross."

SweetPea
was dead on with her assessment. We weren't looking at a normal
dragon shaped creature. This had no wings on its back. Littered all
over the claws, shoulders, spine, and down to the tails tip were
little tentacles. Like the monsters we had been fighting before.

"What
do we do?" HotPants whispered a very good question.

"The
door behind us is closed," SweetPea said with a note of panic.

There
was only one thing to do. Only one choice William Carver would make.
I readied the blade to one side, took the stance Peg trained me in,
and pulled up every ounce of foolish courage available. There was a
welling of energy that rushed up my arms and to the top of my head. A
mad sort of grin lifted my ears.

"LEEERRROOOYYYYYYYYYYY!"
The sheer silliness of my battle cry counteracted the terror. That
and the giant sword, something about it was a great equalizer.

I
got one good swing in, slashing across the giant monstrosity’s
leg. A tail came and my arm automatically moved to use the flat edge
of the sword for a block. There was enough time for a prayer of
thanks to the Voices above for giving me an assist. Carver's skills,
not mine, would carry the majority of this fight.

"If
he's going, I'm going." Shadow was much easier to hear now that
I wasn't completely enfeebled by virtual old age.

"Right."
Awesome Jr. agreed. "It's only a game..."

I
got another good swipe in before a giant paw came down from above to
crush me. This one was slow enough that I could move out of the way.
If dance had taught me one thing, it was how to get across space in
one or two easy steps.

Grasping
tentacles reached out of the giant leg and clawed at the parts of me
too close. Health points shaved off in bits. I stepped further back
and swung the lightened blade. Where my sword passed, globs of inky
monsters came apart.

"Carver!"
A player cried out.

"Old
Man!"

"To
hell with this, if he can do it, I can." HotPants charged in
from the side of his right leg and gave a stab.

"Ugh!"
Her staff sunk into the monstrous forearm and refused to come out.

"HotPants!"
Awesome Jr. hadn't hesitated in lighting up one of his flasks. "I've
only got three more!"

"Make
them count!"

"Aim
for the head!" Shadow yelled.

I
dodged another blow from the tail and rolled away. Pain waved through
the shoulder and a computer assist allowed me to keep a grip on the
sword somehow. Heat flashed as two more imitation Molotovs lit up.
One got the monster's shoulder resulting in a giant shriek of anger.
Noise far deeper than the ones outside rippled through the mazes
inner sanctum.

"Carver!"
I turned and looked ask the second ball of fire went off. This one
completely missed the creature due to his sudden withdrawal.

“
What?!”

“
Look
out!” SweetPea cried, her voice turning into a high pitched
whine.

Oh.
The creature’s tail swept in again and caught me full on in the
middle. Part of the blade was up in a block, not enough to resolve
the collision. I went flying into a wall of bushes. These bordered
between the cleansed green and inky taint.

“
SweetPea!”

“
What?”

“
Don’t
distract the NPC!” Shadow yelled while stomping downward at the
latest pile of little tentacle monsters to come out of the big
creature.

“
But
I was helping!” She wasn’t really.

“
Shut
up and kill the little ones before they crawl back!” HotPants
screamed. She was busy trying to sweep a pile of them away with her
staff. “The little ones keep giving that big guy health!”

“
We
know!” Awesome Jr. was yelling too. Everyone was, their bodies
damaged and run down. William Carver's existence could see the pop-up
boxes forming off to the side of the party’s screens. They were
receiving increases to abilities as each one practiced with their
virtual lives on the line.

I
growled and tried to stand back up. The sword slipped and lost my
progress. Another whack from one forearm sent me sprawling a second
time. The world rung and Carver's vision took a turn for the worse.

“
Come
on.” This time, I pushed through all the protests and got back
to my feet. A third crash of flames poured against the boss monster's
arm and set it shrieking.

Carver’s
fancy blade swung. Light formed on the top along with a notification
of various abilities colliding together in some super move. There was
no time to read the system text as I tightened my face and pulled
with all the simulated strength Carver had. My unintended move
connected and severed the already burning leg.

“
Get
them!” Shadow yelled again.

“
I’m
out of fire potions!”

“
Figure
out something useful then!” Shadow and Awesome Jr. seemed
destined to babble at each other. The creature fell off balance with
another roar which stunned us completely. Their continued argument
was muffled in the ringing that followed the creature's shout.

“
No.
Not yet.” My arm wiggled but failed to move correctly. Only
four weeks of clutching at a cane kept my hand's grip strong.

HotPants
couldn’t swing her staff but she did manage to fall to one side
and squish a few of the small scattered enemies. If she could do that
much, then William Carver should be at least twice as stubborn.

“
Come
on.” It was becoming a mantra as I fought to stand.