I found myself hating the young man more as time went by. His hair was a mess from the wilds and the clothes were worn down. Still, he knew how to play, and once we made a choice to move forward, there was no hesitation. Requiem acted decisively and kept training other skills while walking around.

After an hour of work, the four of us stood in a large pool of water that reached near freezing. Wraith looked the most uncomfortable. A heavy moon hung overhead. Requiem sent little waves through the water. Its surface rippled with a hypnotic movement.

“This, is stupid.” My teeth chattered. Being waist deep in this chill sucked. “We should have brought swimsuits. Do we have swimsuits?”

Xin shook her head.

“No can do. This shortcut requires suffering anyway,” Requiem sounded matter of fact.

Briefly, I recalled the room that Shadow and the others used. There had been a certain level of mental suffering required as we played out our nightmares. Hopefully, this shortcut wouldn’t require the same.

I didn’t completely buy his explanation. He convinced us that we could access a shortcut by traveling to a swimming pool like location to the castle. This used to be Frankenstein's location, part of me wondered where the man was now. His character had been offline for days.

“Still, why do we have to freeze to death?” Xin asked.

“It’s this,” Requiem’s face softened a bit when Xin asked the questions, “or go the long way. Based on what you’re both saying, that way isn't fast enough.”

“I didn’t know there were portals in this place.” My wife stared at the water. “Is it a doorway?”

“Him I would charge for the knowledge, but you I’ll tell for free.” He shrugged then smiled toward Xin. “No, and it’s not really a normal portal, so much as a beacon.”

Wraith kept chuckling. Apparently he found my displeasure with Requiem to be a source of amusement. Every five minutes I felt the desire to [Blink] Requiem off a cliff than get Xin through her beam of light in [Haven Valley]. Afterward, I could watch the world fall apart from a safe distance. Only then, hundreds of other NPCs might be deleted.

Teeth clacked together as the game increased our feedback response. Both legs felt stiff and arms refused to form a complete fist. Requiem didn’t look any better. Xin leaned in next to me while Wraith simply stood there waiting.

“We’re almost ready,” Requiem managed to say through chattering teeth. He looked worse than the rest of us. His thinner body and low weight were working against him. I needed more than a toga. Chill caused my virtual balls to shrink.

Xin’s hand squeezed mine.

Our health bars were starting to drain. It wasn’t just me and Xin, Requiem also looked worse for wear. I seriously debated the wisdom of this path. We were both on a first strike after fighting an initial round of player killers on our honeymoon. Requiem hadn’t yet died during the event.

“It will be okay, brother, Requiem may be a mad human who inspires loathing in every Traveler who meets him, but this path isn’t a lie.”

His deep voice made me shiver again. That sense of infesting amusement lingered in the back of my skull. I had no idea what level of feedback in the ARC caused such a specific notion. Combining that feeling with the numbness of this pool confused me.

The four of us stood around the reflected moon and waited. Nothing else stood out in the darkness. Even Xin’s face started blurring into the background. Wraith’s fog covered face wove in and out. Requiem’s shivering form reflected along with everything else. I stared at the white wiggling mirror.

“It’s here,” Requiem’s words came from far away.

“What?” Xin said.

“Listen carefully, and don’t do anything quickly,” the teen said. “Take a breath, then let out all the air. Without taking another breath you need to look slowly from the moon in the water, straight up to the moon overhead.”

“What will happen?” I asked.

The young man glared at me through the water’s rippling surface. Wraith was the first to fade. His towering form existed in one blink, then vanished into the other so quickly I worried he might have teleported away.

[Sight of Mercari] showed nothing. Xin’s face tilted back to look overhead. I watched her body fade out. The pressure at my hand vanished. Requiem’s unpleasant smile faded next.

I swallowed and wondered why jumping into the unknown still made me hesitate. This was only a game in most senses. The method Requiem suggested would be a built in secret or shortcut simply like Requiem said.

Breath came in then went out completely. I stared at the moon’s rippling form for a few seconds and admired the serenity. My head tilted backward gently. Dizziness swept across my senses as the moon’s shape fell downward. I felt as if nothing existed but both large white spheres, pulling at my form.

My body saw both moons until I had no clue which one was the reflection and which might be original. Then it didn’t matter. I fell backward and landed on a bed of gentle sand. The grains rubbing between outstretched fingers were the first sensation to return. I heard Xin’s delightfully quiet laughter, she tried to restrain herself.

Wraith chuckled too.

Even Requiem sounded pleased when he started talking. “Don’t look up yet, until I tell you. If you do, you may end up being teleported to a random spot, or end up in one of the areas that World Eaters have destroyed.”

He probably over explained for my wife’s sake. Xin’s hand reached down to grab mine. I stood up and looked at the ground under my feet. Sand was everywhere, pure white grains which were only broken up by small puddles of water which had a planet reflected upon them.

“Every time I think I’ve seen a lot in this game, there’s always something new,” I said.

“Where is this?” my wife asked.

“The Moon’s Shore,” Requiem answered while stepping carefully around the puddles.

“How did you find this place?”

The teen ignored me.

“How did you discover a place like this?” Xin asked instead.

That he started to answer, “It’s, only visible when you’re near death and near the moon's reflection. I, died a lot during the beta and found this place.”

“So we use this to get to the island?”

My wife kept Requiem answering questions while we progressed. I had no clue how far we needed to go. Our path traveled a good half mile while they talked about all kinds of beta secrets. All of which were nearly useless now that the game was coming to a close. I hated that Xin’s questions got more results than me doing it. Then again, Requiem and I had a terrible history. My eyes nearly rolled every time the young man blurted out an answer at high speeds. Despite being pummeled in the package by a pillar of bone, he seemed infatuated.

“Almost. We’ll use this to get to a place where we can see the island.” He shuffled his feet then peeked up at Xin. “That took me two months to grind out, and was one of the last things I did before the beta closed.”

“Stop your useless attempts at impressing another man’s woman,” Wraith said.

“That’s not it,” the younger man muttered.

I shook my head. There was no doubt in my mind that Xin would stay loyal. She had always been forthright in her feelings to everyone. It took me years to even get close to her. Such a hard-won person wouldn’t be fickle no matter how longingly Requiem gazed.

“There’s no need to worry, Wraith, I can hate someone and respect their hard work.” Xin summed up her point of view. Voices help me, but I snickered loudly. Requiem’s glare caught me in one of the pools.

In a completely separate pool, I got a reflection of the space under Xin’s robe. The sight was startling enough to make me double take. All thoughts of Requiem were gone as I realized once again she had nothing on under the thick black robe. I almost laughed even harder. My wife was a keeper in every single way.

“Xin’s not so easy to sway,” I said. It was unlikely that Requiem’s personality would work for her anyway.

She was high speed, adventurous, and sneaky with her fierceness. Even now Xin’s free hand was typing in the air and sending a message. The box popped up and I wasn’t sure if now would be a good time to read it.

Hecate: Ever wanted to have sex on an alien planet?

Hermes: I think it’s on the list.

Hecate: What else is on the list?

Hermes: A lot of things. But you saw Shazam’s message. Time’s running out.

Hecate: Pick one then, if you had one day left to make the best memory ever, what would you do?

Her last question made me shiver briefly. I nearly looked up but froze at the last moment. Xin’s hand squeezed mine.

“You don’t have to answer,” she said.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to freeze,” I whispered while closing my eyes. The question struck far too close to home. It was the sort of inquiry I had spent many nights contemplating.

“We can only take it one day at a time.” My wife’s hands rubbed upon my bared arm. We weren’t in chilled water. This place felt neither warm or cold. Sand squished unevenly with each step. Behind us, the footsteps faded away as if they had never been.

“What are you two talking about?” Wraith rumbled nearby. “Lovers talk perhaps?” Giant horns bobbed up and down while he rambled on. “I know a fabulous demon of lust who might be able to provide tips if your wife has already grown bored of you.”

“What?” I asked.

Xin’s hand tightened while her head tilted. She glanced briefly toward the demon then cast both eyes down. We were both having a hard time preventing ourselves from looking up.

“Her name is Katrina,” the large demon said with a rumble to his words. “She’s excellent at telling men tricks to better pleasure women and keep them coming back.”

“No, thank you,” I said. Wraith meant well, I think. Dealing with a demon of lust scared me after having to suffer the Voice herself. “I’ve had enough help from Mezo.”

The greater demon paused. I turned to look at him and the giant’s body almost vibrated with excitement. His wings fluttered and head tilted to one side. Other parts of him looked to also be excited.

I shook my head and Xin closed both eyes slowly. The image of a towering demon being excited in all the wrong aspects seared its way into my brain. There might not be enough virtual reality bleach left on [Arcadia].

“Truly? You know the Voice of Lust herself?” Wraith asked.

“Jesus, really? What is wrong with you all?” Requiem turned and looked back at us. I couldn’t see his expression completely because we were trying not to look up, but the tilt of his head showed clear interest.

“Yeah. I’ll put in a good word for you.”

We walked after Requiem. The young teen kept grumbling and growing further away. I noticed that some of the puddles displayed versions of [Arcadia] that were sickly. Or had holes. Almost like the planet below was made of Swiss cheese.

“You are the best brother!” Wraith cared not for my disturbing discovery and laughed in a boom. I swear his giant bull horns curved into a second grin while Xin shook her head.

“I wish you luck. I have Xin, and that’s all I’ll ever need,” I said.

“Ah, the Voice. To stand in her presence would be welcome enough,” the demon’s tail wiggled back and forth, “not to downplay the attractiveness of your wife, brother, but Mezo, she is a Voice that can speak to my soul any day.”

“To each their own,” I muttered then looked up at Xin.

She was visibly upset at the conversation. Maybe because of that past near violation that Mezo had visited upon me. That scene had been disturbing to live through, but also reaffirmed where I stood on relationships. It was Xin or no one at all.

“Would you like to dance?” I asked.

My wife nodded as I put out both hands to Xin. A slow smile crossed her features as we joined together. We didn’t need to look up to dance. I hummed in time while my wife rested her head close. There, upon the surface of [The Moon’s Shore], we swayed to music that no one else could completely hear.

Our pace went fast enough. When Requiem got too far ahead, we [Blink]ed another ten yards in the right direction. Our feet barely avoided puddles. Having her next to me felt great. Lists, our insane quest, and jealous teens aside, dancing with her put me in another place where nothing else mattered. It was just us.

Empty space hung overhead. It felt like being in Advance Online again as if this place existed between game worlds. I wanted to look up but couldn’t see more than a hint of reflected starlight. The planet in those puddles looked so much like Earth that I started to think we really were on the moon.

“Did it look like this from space?” I asked my wife.

“In parts, except for the breathing part, and wearing these clothes,” Xin responded.

“Hey!” the teen shouted at us. He sounded upset but I didn’t feel like looking over at him.

“What?”

“If you two would pay attention to anyone else, then you might realize we’re here!” Requiem looked angry.

“Maybe you don’t need that demon’s help after all,” Wraith said dryly. There was a pause then he started laughing again. His wide eyes could be seen through a mirror like puddle.

Requiem started marking out crosses on the ground for us to stand on. They were all located around a puddle with a planet reflected in its center. This version of [Arcadia] looked like every other one we had traveled by. How the teen knew which one to go for was beyond me, maybe trial and error, or other system notice we weren’t receiving.

“Everyone get ready, the same way we got in. Breath in, then look up slowly,” he said.

Requiem vanished, followed by Wraith and me.

I looked down at the reflection and worried about the holes piercing through [Arcadia]. They were digital representations of the damage being done by [World Eater]s and the ongoing deletion process which would eventually claim Mother’s life. It was like knowing a friend was dying rapidly of aggressive cancer.

My head tilted back. Then the world below was above me, and below. They flipped back and forth while my body felt dizzy and pressure weighed upon my chest. Both hands shot up and I felt weightless as one place switched with the other.

Xin’s lap felt comfortable. I didn’t know when she got her knees under my head, or how long I had been laying there. We sat on the edge of an ocean. Waves could be heard along with the cries of birds overhead. Dawn colored part of the sky above, what little was visible through my wife’s draping hair.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“Are you alright?” she asked quietly.

I shook my head in the negative and reached out to touch her face.

“I saw the world. It looks bad,” I said.

“It is. But we’re going to find this last piece, and make everything better,” she sounded firm.

“Are you sure?” I asked.

She tried to smile but it faltered. Then my wife closed both eyes and nodded slowly. Her uncertainty echoed my own. The pair of us were clearly both dancing around the same future outlook.

Heavy footsteps thudded by jarring my mind out of the moment. Xin’s lap was comfortable and any expression on the woman’s face beat a day without her at all. I sat up and saw an ocean that felt very different from the one at [Haven Valley].

The black haired teen was yelling from way further down the shoreline. There were a few monsters nearby, generated by the game, but Wraith looked to be killing them quickly. Xin’s white skeleton monster had been summoned as well and was competing with the demon.

We stood up then walked silently toward our other party members.

“Good, the boat’s still here.” Requiem stood near a chest-high mound then started pulling back dead branches. There were layers of items covering the object which disguised the boat.

“This is yours?” Xin asked.

The teen nodded while pulling off a final cloth cover. There was a rather solid looking vehicle carved out of wood. Between the boards, black paste had been applied to seal potential leaks. The boat was big enough to house two people tops. Assuming Wraith could fly, then Requiem and I would need to go across.

“I’m going to autopilot and take care a few things before we get too far,” Requiem said. “We’ll need to put in a few hours on the boat, then we’ll be ashore.

I looked at Xin and asked, “Can you recall to town, and get any supplies you think we’ll need from the auction house?”

“And my money,” Requiem said. Even his apparent drooling over Xin couldn’t overcome the need for money. It was another place where our priorities differed.

“And half of his money. Twenty thousand. Then I’ll summon you back once we get ashore.”

“Okay,” she said then nodded. She pulled out a scroll then [Recall]ed back to [Haven Valley]. Part of me hoped she would run to the beam of light and vanish to safety.

Requiem logged out, leaving behind a serious looking autopilot. The pale version of Requiem started inspecting the docked boat for cracks. Items came out of his inventory and a fresh layer of goop was applied. It might have come from a stockpile of crafted supplies, or he expected to need it all along.

I followed suit and went about cleaning myself up. A quick nap, shower, and food went by, giving me the energy needed to function. It felt like we were entering a home stretch. At the very least I wanted the next day in-game to pass by without interruption from the real world.

An hour later I logged back into the Atrium and saw Dusk sulking on a broken couch. His body looked absolutely huge compared to the version when we first met. He had one been a very small cat, but now he looked equivalent to a medium sized dog.

“The world’s ending, are you going to come, or sit and pout all day?” I asked.

Dusk lifted his head and puffed a fireball at me. I dodged quickly, unsure if the fire would actually hurt me inside the Atrium. The [Messenger’s Pet] had proven more than once not to care about system programming. He could apparently alter portions of the ARC to suit himself.

I stood in a new spot, watching for further aggression while contemplating this standoff between us. Dusk and I had been together everywhere, and four real days without him felt downright weird.

Finally, I decided on a method that would satisfy me, annoy him, and probably still be okay. It would involve ruining the anniversary present I had prepared to buy him. We had only been together in real world time for around half a year. With the ARC programs crashing, maybe there would never be a better time.

“ARC!” I told the machine above.

“Awaiting input,” it responded.

“Buy the one year package.” My hand went up before the machine could ask for confirmation. “Yes, buy it.”

Dusk stared at me with his head tilted to one side. A dozen cupcakes appeared, centered around the dragon. They had wings. This program actually merged two different ones. A chasing game for virtual cats where creatures would fly around, and instead of birds or other crunchables, I asked the designer for cupcakes.

The [Messenger’s Pet] went absolutely crazy when they all took off in separate directions. His tail went one direction while claws scrambled in the other. My couch was knocked over as the large creature spread his wings. One of the cupcakes got knocked around while others darted by his nose at high speeds.

I sat there laughing. One of the cupcakes started chasing me which only increased the chaos.  At some point, Dusk ended up with a pile of five or six large crushed cupcakes. Bits of pink frosting layered upon his wings and everything else. For my part, I sat there huffing from exertion. Even though the Atrium version of me should have been tougher, the action got my real life heartrate up.

“There.” I gestured to the defeated mess of baked goods. “When you have the urge to chase something, can you come here and do it instead?”

Dusk cocked his head to one side and lowered ears in my direction.

“No, of course I’m not still mad. I’m sorry I grabbed you,” I responded to his glare. “We were in the middle of trying to help everyone and didn’t have time for playing with the lesser monsters.”

The [Messenger’s Pet] whined a little then gave a noise which sounded like a bird and cat mixed together. His increased size turned the sound into a choppy deep mix.

“Did you want to keep going? There’s,” I took a breath as Dusk walked over, “there’s not much time left, I think.”

He sat down on thick hind legs and gazed at me. I sat on my rear, which put us at nearly the same height. One eyebrow went up as I tried to figure out what was going through Dusk’s mind without system messages.

Every minute out here was four not in the game world. After my nap, we had to be getting close to the island. It had been visible from the shoreline. I leaned back and looked at the dark doorway to Continue Online.

A long tongue licked my face. I fell over and quickly looked at Dusk. My hand lifted up to wipe away the fresh mess. Cupcake slobber created a trail of gross.

“Alright. Fine.” I looked at his face. The small beast had been with me since day one of this adventure, leaving him behind didn’t feel right.

“Birthday present respawn! Attack pattern dive bomb!” I shouted at the ARC.

A dozen fresh cupcakes spawned into existence. This time, they didn’t run away or scatter, and instead went straight for Dusk’s face. It was the first time I had ever see him run from a dessert.

I laughed abruptly and ran through the doorway to Continue Online. The sound of thick nails scrambling against my Atrium floor quickly trailed behind.

My body slid into the Hermes avatar with only a brief bit of disorientation. The trail of dragon slobber on my face faded. Cupcake bits also vanished. Those sensations were replaced by a salty smell and ocean breeze.

I looked around. We had apparently made it to the island’s shore. All four of us stood on a dock. The material looked solid and well built. This spot was at least twenty feet wide and had stairs which were made of thick bricks going down either side for boats. I looked off the edge and saw our tiny wooden vessel, sitting there indifferently.

“Are we all here?” Requiem asked.

I looked at Xin and wondered when my autopilot had summoned her. The idea still bothered me a bit, that it would perform actions within my character, but that I hadn’t actually done.

“Good, first, my money.” He put out a hand.

Xin looked at me and I shrugged. She handed over a huge bag that clinked with coins. Requiem lifted it up, testing the weight. He nodded and put it into a backpack then poked fingers at air to check the actual figures.

“Alright,” he said.

“What can you tell us about this place?” My wife voiced the question for all of us.

“Once we step off the docks onto the actual sand, things will get weird.” Requiem pointed down to the concrete ending. “We’ll be teleported inside somewhere, and need to make our way to the maze's center, at least I think that’s what we need to do.”

“Do you know which way to go?”

Requiem shook his head. His eyebrows lowered and lips tightened.

“What do you know?” I asked.

For once, he answered, “No one has made it even halfway. The last time I tried it took six days for my supplies to run out, after that my character starved to death and I had to release back to my bind point.”

Wraith chuckled.

“Anything else?” Xin asked.

“Nothing I’m sure enough of. We’ll take it one step at a time inside,” Requiem said.

My wife nodded and we walked down the pier’s length. The forest in front of us looked plain. A steep hill loomed overhead but there were no signs of wildlife anywhere.

“You ready, babe?” I asked.

“For adventure? Always.” She smiled at me.

Requiem looked disgusted and stepped off first. Wraith chuckled as always then moved next. Xin and I stepped off into the sand, hand in hand.

We made it five feet onto land before being hit by the teleportation. There was a sense of energy warming my belly then digging in with a giant hook. It yanked me sideways and the vision of Xin’s face and the island shore bled into a new location. I lost focus as she dripped away.

The motion felt unkind compared to the moon’s gentle dizzying swap. Using [Blink] repeatedly for months didn’t prepare me either. This reminded me of the [Red Imp] being summoned. Disorienting and a sense of immeasurable distance.

“Where are we?” I asked as vision cleared.

I rolled onto my side and checked all fingers and toes for a change of body dimensions. Eyesight locked on my hands until it became clear these were not small red chubby fingers. This was not a demon’s body. Everything had remained Hermes.

The warmth from Xin’s hand dimmed. I reached out as the fog cleared to try and find her form. As the seconds passed it became apparent that no one was around me.

Not only had we been teleported inside, but none of us were together. That annoyed me. I knelt down then started scribbling out Dusk’s summoning portal. A moment later I chanted the key phrase, while thinking about how many cupcakes Dusk had already been given, and watched the golden light flare up.

The illumination started to fade and the form of a hesitant and confused Dusk could be seen. He looked at me, then around at our location, and started hissing. His body started vanishing away.

“Find Xin!” I shouted at the fading image. “Keep her safe!”

His barely visible nod was the last thing to fade.

My foot kicked at the ground in annoyance. Whatever mechanics kept this island going included isolation from our party. Was it designed to drain our resources? Maybe starve out the weaker ones who weren’t carrying food?

Hecate: Are you okay?

Hermes: Yeah. Lost, can’t even see Dusk and I just tried to summon him.

Hecate: We’re split up, I guess. Maybe a mechanic of the island? This is weird. Half my - interface I guess - is missing.

I looked at my own screens and started poking around for options. Sure enough, there were items grayed out or completely hidden. I couldn’t see a view counter to tell who was watching me. There were no notices about how far along my skills were.

This place was even weirder than the missing interface boxes. The walls around me looked solid until I stepped forward. They moved as if there were a dancing picture behind them that only existed while I was in motion. It reminded me of an optical illusion from grade school, where they used to test us with weird problems.

Each step forward took more effort than expected. There was an after-echo to each movement like I wasn’t simply moving myself one foot, but three, or four. Every step gave me a headache. By the fourth foot, I felt like the real world had grown distant as if my mind were slowly detaching from itself.

My head shook rapidly and tried to focus. There was a box in front of me that needed to be paid attention to. The chat from my wife served as a lifeline.

Hecate: We can talk if you want to pass time while we explore?

Hermes: I’d like that.

Hecate: Okay, so a slightly different question than the earlier one; if you only had a day left to live, what would you do?

Hermes: If I only had one day to left to live, then I would go on a grand adventure with my wife. One that doesn’t involve splitting us up. What would you do?

Hecate: Beg god for another day. There are too many things to do!

Hermes: Well, someone heard your plea. We’ve had a lot of extra time together, and I’m thankful for every minute.

Hecate: What about after? Have you thought about what happens to us next?

I shouldn’t have typed that at all. The sentence slipped out before any self-control could be exerted. I could blame the high processing speed of this virtual reality for poor judgment.

The text hovered in front of me as I started to realize exactly what we were talking about. Holding myself in one piece became impossible. Maybe it was for the best that our party got split up as part of this dungeon. Grieving alone felt survivable.

We had both had more days then we deserved. Her coming back from the dead, and I, surviving my own attempt at rushing toward an end. We had only been parted for a few minutes yet I still missed all three versions of my wife. The one who died on a train. Her digital continuation that had married me. Then I felt upset for the woman she would be on the other side of this event.