Emerilia Box Set, page 56
part #1 of Emerilia Series
“I don’t think we’ve met before.” Dwayne reached out his hand toward Anna. “Dwayne Trebault.” He smiled.
“I have heard of you, Mister Trebault.” Anna returned the smile.
“How did you get stuck with these three miscreants?” Dwayne looked at the others, who smiled.
They’d all become closer; even Malsour, who was always buried in his books, seemed to genuinely care about the Stone Raiders.
It’s hard to admit but all of us feel a connection with them for the way that they stood up with us. Not one of them backed down and as soon as they respawned, they returned to the fight. They might look like a bunch of clowns but under it all, they’re some of the most determined fighters I’ve ever seen. They’ve turned their own deaths into a weapon. Death is no longer a barrier for them, so they use their deaths to their advantage. They won’t die easy and they’ll fight with everything they have but they’re resourceful, loyal, and kind.
Her thoughts drifted to the invitation that she, Malsour, Induca, Dave, Lox, and Gurren had all been given. The Stone Raiders had done something that no other guild had ever done. They had started to accept the People of Emerilia into their ranks.
Deia was interested in seeing what would happen but if the Stone Raiders could pull it off, she knew that there were enough people trying to make their fame and fortune adventuring with other people. Having a few Players in the mix would only be a good thing. She foresaw big changes, one of them being mixed parties of Players and People of Emerilia.
“I was kind of dropped off and told to fend for myself. They don’t seem all that bad, though. Odd but interesting.” Anna smiled.
Dwayne chuckled. “Well, it is good to meet you, Anna.” He bowed slightly and then looked to the others. “Something has turned up in the Endon kingdom, so we’re going to go deal with that. I was wondering if any of you have come to a decision. I know that we would all look forward to having you in our ranks. Even if it meant that you were hanging out in Cliff-Hill all the time.”
Malsour and Induca looked to each other.
“We’ve decided that we’re going to stick with Dave and Deia, if they want to party up with us,” Malsour said.
Deia looked at the two of them. Malsour looked serious and Induca smiled at her. “Are you sure?” Deia asked.
“You’ve got a lot to learn and we feel that being around you will be much more interesting than our normally aimless wandering,” Induca said.
“Wow, hmm, thanks, guys, and I know Dave will be downright happy to hear that.” Deia smiled.
“Well then, that sounds like one hell of a scary party.” Dwayne smiled. “We’d be over the moon if you joined us but in the end, no matter what, I hope that we can be friends.”
Dwayne made motions with his hands, opening up his interface.
Friend Request
You have received a Friend Request from Dwayne Trebault.
Do you accept?
Y/N
“Yes,” Deia said. The others did the same. She wondered how the others had gained interfaces but she guessed it mattered little. Malsour and Induca didn’t seem to have access to the Internet, which was, in Deia’s mind, one of the most useful parts of the interface.
“Well, I’ll be seeing you around!” Dwayne waved to them and headed over to the mixed party that was ready to start their training.
“Well, I think that is enough magical training for one day. I know that you want to whip Dave into shape with his Agility, so have fun with that. I’m going to find Kim and see what she’s up to,” Induca said.
“Okay, thanks, Induca,” Deia said.
“No worries.” Induca turned and started to head for the Stone Raiders’ camp. “You coming, Mal?”
“Fine.” Malsour sighed. He followed his little sister, reading his book the entire way.
Anna offered Deia her hand.
“Thanks,” Deia said as Anna pulled her to her feet. The strength in the Demi-wolf made it feel like Anna could’ve easily picked her up with one hand.
“Do you mind if I walk with you?” Anna asked.
“Not at all.” Deia smiled. She was interested in the woman Bob called his daughter.
“So, what made you decide to become a Player?” Anna asked as they walked.
“Going with the easy questions first, huh?” Deia laughed. “Well, I guess that’s because of Dave.”
“Just because of Dave?”
“No, not just because of him, but he is a large part. If I’m to continue to be by his side, then being a POE will strain things to the point where we can’t do anything because he’ll be so scared of me dying. He’s a good man and he cares for others but I could see that care turning into fear. Becoming a Player makes it so that never comes between us.”
“I’m sorry, but what is a POE?”
“Oh, sorry, it’s a Person or People of Emerilia. Something that the Players use.” Deia shrugged.
“Oh, okay, so what are the other reasons?”
“Well, the sheer amount of information and opportunities I get. There’s nothing quite like it. I’ve lived for over three hundred years and I have never met a man like Dave or these other Players. Sure, there are terrible times and not all of them are good, but Bob was right: Dave and I can act as bridges between the two groups. If we can get them to unite, then the whole of Emerilia will change.”
“Old man is stealing my plans,” Anna muttered to herself. “What is Dave like?”
“Well, I’m a bit biased on that, but he’s a driven man. First and foremost, when he has a goal in mind, he will focus his efforts to attain that goal. Honestly, he forgets to eat and sleep quite a bit.” Deia sighed. “He’s smart and he cares for those around him. Become his friend and he’ll do anything for you. That said, he doesn’t just buddy up with everyone. He might be a Player himself but in the beginning, he had a real problem with the Stone Raiders and Golden Sabres leaders because of how they acted. Got Josh to apologize to the people in the smithy and then Kol beat health and safety into Josh for an entire day. Even Cassie, who was...” Deia tried to think of a nice way to say it but shrugged. “A bitch...turned out to be not that bad. When Players just think that you’re an NPC, then they get uppity as hell and don’t really give a crap.
“After fighting with us, I think we’ve changed a lot of the Sabres’ view on POEs. At least I hope so. She even came over the other day to apologize to Dave, and she offered us both a place within the Sabres. Neither of us is really interested in joining a guild that is so closely attached to the Lady of Light, though Cassie is a nice woman. Even if Dave didn’t like her in the beginning, he forgave her for being a bitch and we became friends with her.”
“What do you think Dave wants from this?” Anna asked.
Deia laughed and smiled, thinking of her Dave as they walked down the main road that curved through Cliff-Hill on its way to Omal.
“Honestly, I think that Dave just wants to learn, to explore, and to see the world. On Earth, he was one of the most powerful men in existence, yet he had few friends he could call his own and even less people he could trust. Everyone wanted something from him and all those he cared for left him. He stopped doing what he loved—he stopped building things; he stopped striving to move forward. Dave is a man with big dreams, dreams that I can’t even come to understand. However, I will do everything I can to make sure that he is never as lonely ever again and be by his side as he reaches those dreams. What does he want? He doesn’t really want anything. He’s got freedom that he never had before, friends—even me.” Deia gave Anna a sly smile; Anna couldn’t help but laugh.
“With us at his back, I expect that my fiancé is going to do things that no one can really predict.”
They walked onto the road that cut through the copse of trees separating Dave’s compound from the main road.
“So, what do you want?” Anna asked.
“I want to be able to protect the people I care about. I want to figure out who my mother is. I want to see what the rest of this world has to offer and I want to see the Affinities Pantheon ripped from their towers and made to answer for the crimes that they have committed.” Deia’s words got more heated and angry as she talked.
Anna simply nodded as they made it to Dave and Deia’s home.
“Thank you for being so candid. I think I see now why my father said to stay here awhile. It has been a long time since I met so many interesting people.” Anna’s eyes drifted away, as if seeing some sad memory.
“Well, anyone who is a daughter of Bob is a friend of ours. Let us know if you ever need anything.” Deia smiled.
“Thank you.” Anna smiled, nodding to Deia before she walked off.
Deia opened the door to her house, finding Dave and a gorgeous High Elf—wearing clothes that showed her perfect white skin in many places—drinking some of Dave’s finer drink.
“Dave?” Deia looked at the barely dressed woman and then at Dave.
“Hi, babe.” Dave smiled at her and then frowned at the other woman.
“Sorry, he’s a bit of an idiot like that.” The High Elf stretched out her hand.
She’s even more beautiful standing. Who the hell is this woman? “Hello, I’m Deia.”
“It is good to meet you. Zel told me a lot about you. My name is Suzy.” The woman smiled.
Suzy—like the Suzy Dave knew on Earth? Deia’s eyes squinted and she pulled up Suzy’s stats. “From Earth?”
“Uhh, yeah.” Suzy’s smile faded as she looked away and her face turned serious.
“Dave, what is going on?” Deia asked.
“My damned shell is being a piece of shit, that’s what’s going on,” Dave growled darkly. He took a drink from his glass.
“Dave—sentences. Remember the thing about muttering?” Suzy snapped.
Dave grimaced but nodded.
Who the hell is this woman?
“Now introduce us and pull your head out of development and angry stage!” Suzy snapped.
“Fine! Okay, Suzy, this is Deia, my fiancée. Deia, this is Suzy, my secretary from when I was Austin Zane.” Dave stood.
Suzy and Deia gave each other appraising looks.
“Suzy here noticed my face from the battle while at the same time my shell was doing some paperwork. Intrigued, she looked into it some more and finally visited Emerilia. Right now, my shell is making some speech to the people of Japan while I’m here drinking a beer. Now Suzy is in the twilight zone as what is happening right now shouldn’t be.” Dave sighed.
“I’m sorry.” Deia winced at Suzy.
“Me, too. You have to deal with him.” Suzy brushed past the elephant in the room.
Deia smiled and looked over to Dave.
“Hey, I am here, you two!” Dave muttered into his cup again.
Suzy and Deia looked at each other, smiling.
“So, are you staying for dinner?” Deia asked.
“Seems like it.” Suzy smiled.
Chapter 5: Through the Veil
Suzy looked at her television, which was showing Austin Zane talking at a dinner in Japan. She checked her planner. He was exactly where he appeared. She looked out over her new apartment in Tokyo. She pulled the helmet back over her head and skipped through the menus and started up Emerilia again.
Sitting there on his porch was Dave and Deia, the same as they had been when she left them.
“How?” Suzy asked.
“Welcome to the real world, Suz—that one where we met, it’s just a simulation to make us think of this as a game. Who gets PTSD from a video game? Who cares who they kill in a video game? Who would ever believe a game is real?” Dave asked.
“How the hell didn’t we know of this?” Suzy asked.
“For centuries, Players roam Emerilia, disappearing for a few decades before reappearing. The new batch of Players are grown, fed the lie that is Earth and they eat it up. Your lives were made to make you more susceptible to play Emerilia and get addicted to it. There are only about four million Players in Emerilia and about five million people who are truly real in Earth. Most of them live in technologically advanced places, so it is easy for them to get the rig but their situations are changed so that you are more prone to stay,” Deia said.
“Our friend Jules plays this game because she needs to make enough money to keep up her medical treatments. She’s a veteran with a limited claim, even though she doesn’t have legs.
“The leader of the Stone Raiders was a stock trader who turned to gaming to get away from his life. I was so tired of meetings and just waiting for the next meeting that I went out into the woods and made a house to get away from it all.”
Dave pulled Deia close to him; it was easy to see their affection for each other. “I found a few other things along the way, though.” He grinned.
“So, how did you figure it out?” Suzy asked.
“Well, I had a bit of a helping hand and I was in here for days. I came out, not being hungry, nor tired. As my body here rested, I would gain energy in the simulation. I took more and more time between waking up. Until I started waking up and my body wasn’t in the chair anymore. I was in the middle of a meeting, or at my desk. It’s not possible for me to do that, unless it was a simulation.”
“Uggh, this is a lot more complicated than I thought.” Suzy slumped into her seat.
“So, what kind of magic are you thinking of specializing in?” Dave asked.
Deia hit him.
“Ow. What?” Dave rubbed his shoulder.
“First, we’ll work on your Agility tomorrow—you’re getting slow. Second, she just found out that Emerilia is real and you’re asking her about magic?”
“What? I’m curious!”
Deia pinched the bridge of her nose.
Suzy couldn’t hold her laughter anymore at seeing Austin—no, Dave—that happy and with a woman who was clearly putting him in his place. She was clearly a strong-willed woman and exactly what Dave had needed.
After a while, her laughing died down.
“So, what you thinking, Suz?”
“What makes you think I want to live in another reality with you?” Suzy asked.
“Aww, don’t be that way Suzy-suz. We make a good team and come on, look at this. We’re on another damned planet. We might have been running Rock Breakers, but we both knew what our ultimate goal was.”
What do I have left on Earth but parents who hate me because of my sexuality, a boss who is now trying to hit on me and isn’t the real guy, and a work life that doesn’t allow me to do anything but work constantly? Whoever made that simulation was pretty damned good. There’s pretty much nothing that I would like to go back to there. Even Dave’s beer ain’t bad and Deia is a fair hand at cooking. Was always interested in checking out one of those all-natural diets.
“I think summoning,” Suzy said.
Deia looked over. She seemed a bit shocked but also impressed. “Why is that?”
“Well, he never plans small and I have a feeling that I’m not going to be much good at fighting on the front lines. But I sure as hell can get a group organized and facing the right way. If I can summon me a few useful characters, then, coupled with Dave’s conjured creations and your fire power, then we’re going to have one hell of a fearsome party,” Suzy said.
“Someone’s been doing their homework, I see.” Dave smiled.
Suzy rolled her eyes. “With the amount of damned video game information you were spouting all the time, some of it rubbed off on me.” She grimaced.
Dave laughed and winked while Deia looked amused.
***
After talking for a few hours, Suzy went off to wander Cliff-Hill while Dave and Deia retreated into their house. Night was coming and it was getting chilly quickly.
They sat on the couch, lying next to each other and watching the dancing flames. Dave looked down at Deia, tracing his finger over her shoulder and down her neck. She shivered slightly and turned to him.
In that fireplace glow, with her red eyes, Dave drank in the sight of her face, that moment of peace. The more she used her fire and gained a greater understanding with it, her eyes seemed to become more flame-like.
How the hell did I get this lucky?
He tilted her chin up, kissing her lightly. After a few kisses, Deia pulled him closer as their lips and tongues melded together. Deia pushed him back a bit, her face flush.
“Well, seems I still have it.” Dave grinned.
She rolled her eyes and snatched a quick kiss. “Before we move this to the bed, I felt it’s time that we talked about what we’re going to do now. Do you want to join the Stone Raiders?”
“I wouldn’t be against it. They showed that they are good people and I’ve even heard that they plan on making this their base, training with POEs and accepting them into their ranks.”
“I was thinking much the same thing. So tomorrow, shall we make it official? I would feel a bit better if we had a guild backing us and when we’re done training, then we know that they’re going to be in the middle of the fight.”
Dave nodded. “Also, Kol did give me a quest to become a Dwarven Master Smith. I haven’t decided if I’m going to accept it or not.”
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Deia hit his arm.
She might have smaller arms than his but her strength was up there. She’d been fighting for centuries; he was just slowly picking things up.
“Sorry, babe. I meant to, but with Suzy and everything...”
“Who is Suzy to you?” Deia asked.
Alarm bells rang around Dave’s skull, telling him that he had indeed walked into a woman’s minefield.
“She was pretty much my only friend back on Earth. I think of her as a sister and she’s like Jules and Esa toward her taste in partners.” Dave hoped that he had covered most of the main points. “Though, she’s kind of sensitive about that. On Earth, her parents cut off all communication with her when they found out that she liked other women. Both of us don’t really have a family, but we had each other to get through the hard times.”
Deia’s face softened as she hugged Dave. “Well, you’ve got a lot more people who care about you now,” she said into his chest.
