I hate technology so much. My computer decided to randomly close out of everything and once again delete half of my chapter, ruining all my hard work because I forget what I write and it never comes out the same(Insert sad violin music here). *%#$ you computer. Sigh. This is already pretty much a bi-weekly fiction at this rate, and the chapters are not as long as I'd like them to be. I just don't have any time these days, working 50+ hours a week and having other things to take care of on my days off. :(

Anyway, I know that some of you don't appreciate my side characters because they don't seem to have an impact on the story, but they will become increasingly important as the story progresses. When their importance is revealed, I want them to seem like real people, not tropes and ideas slapped on a two dimensional character.

In any case, I'm writing this story however I feel like. Side note: Are author's notes at the beginning of the chapter annoying? You don't have to read them as they will never reveal anything about what happens in the story. They're mostly just my rants and excuses for chapters being later than I wanted. Would they be better placed at the end of the story? Should I keep my thoughts and ranting to myself? (Probably...) Tell me what you think if it's bothering you or the dolphin person in your  head. What?

Please enjoy.

Chapter 20: The Storm

Star watched as her best friend stood off to the side of the battle, panting from exhaustion and injury. She couldn't tell what was wrong with her, but it wasn't like Nala to have so much trouble in a fight. She often left herself open after an attack, even missing horribly and having enemies counterattack. At first, Star thought that she was simply distracted and off her game, but now she could tell that it was more than that. Star jogged around the combat to go heal her friend while keeping an eye on the creatures, some kind of grey goblinoid, that they were fighting. She healed he with divine magic, scrutinizing Nala as she tried to physically see what was wrong with her.

She was afraid that her only friend wasn't having fun playing the game anymore, and seeing the determination in her eyes confirmed what she was thinking. Minala was a selfless person who would play a game just to keep her friend company, even if she didn't enjoy playing it. "Min." she whispered sadly. "You don't have to..."

"Shhhh. Don't call me that here." She glared at Star a moment before her ears drooped. "What's the matter?"

Star had tears in her eyes, but tried to force a smile as she spoke, "We don't have to play this game anymore if you don't want to."

"Is that what this is about?" Nala asked. When Star nodded, Nala punched her in the head.

"Ow! Why'd you do that!?" She rubbed the top of her head.

"Stop being a drama queen all the time. No one's quitting the game."

"Can you two stop flirting and help!" One of their new party members yelled half jokingly. 

"You looked like you needed the experience points," Nala called back with a grin as she ran into the fray.

They had been travelling together for a few days after deciding on a schedule to play together. They could have met at the chaos zone, but someone had suggested that they get some experience fighting as a group and everyone agreed. They were getting used to each other's style of fighting, their strengths, weaknesses, and skills. Many people in the party of ten had already friended, or at least tried to friend, everyone else in the small raid group. At the rate they were travelling, it would take another two days to reach the Chaos Zone, and anywhere from one to three more to finish their mission. They were taking their time so they could travel safely while leveling up and being careful not to lose anyone.

At the end of the day, they all said their goodbye's and logged off one by one. Star and Nala were pleased that everyone was able to get along in their raid group. There was only one person in their group that was a bit rude and somewhat strict, but he wasn't that bad after getting to know him. Overall, they were an effective team, but some of the other members of the team were beginning to grow frustrated with Nala's increasingly poor performance in combat. Star was beginning to wonder about what would happen to their current group if Nala couldn't get her act together, but she was more worried about the cause of the problem.

After everyone had logged out, Cara picked up her phone and called Min. As if she was waiting for it, Min picked up the phone almost immediately.

"Hey."

"Okay, tell me what your deal is. I wasn't gonna ask, but you've been really out of it."

"It's nothing, really."

"Great. If it's not a big deal then you can share it with me and I can help you out." Cara had a smug look of victory on her face as she waited for Min to explain herself.

"I found out that I made my agility too high after that last level up the other day. Apparently you need Dexterity to be at least half as high as your agility just to function as a speed based fighter. I've dedicated the last couple days of level ups to dexterity so...problem solved, and now you can stop worrying. Bye, see you tomorrow."

"Min. I know there's more to it than that. You'll feel better talking about it," she started off sounding reproachful, but eased her voice into a comforting softness to let Min know that she was concerned. She had to coax Min into talking about her problems as always, but she knew that her friend would feel better afterwards. Min didn't want to burden anyone else with her problems, and Cara understood how she operated in trying to solve all her problems by herself.

Hearing a heavy sigh through the phone, Cara had to smile, thinking about the grumpy face that Min was probably making on the other side of the connection. She knew she had won and she would be able to hear all about the troubles plaguing Min. Her smile was wiped away the instant she heard the deep sadness in the words that passed through the phone. "It's only getting worse here. Things were supposed to be getting better, but they're not. They promised me, but they're both liars. They fight almost every day now and I think they're gonna split up soon."

"I thought your dad and your step mom were getting along just fine. You said they were great last week."

"Well, they were probably just faking it so I didn't see them fight behind my back. Like that's any better. It doesn't fix anything."

"They're just going through a rough patch. It'll get better." Cara didn't really know how to deal with these kinds of problems, she just thought that those were the words a person was supposed to say in that situation. "Before you know it they'll...um...be closer than ever and...um..."

"I miss her." The words were a soft blow to Cara. Cara had both of her parents in a close relationship where they loved each other and everything was happy. Sure, they sheltered her and babied her way too much, but at least she had them. Min lost her mother to cancer four years ago and there was no way Cara could comfort her when she couldn't even begin to comprehend the pain of losing a loved one. She opened her mouth to speak, but had nothing to say, and the realization that she couldn't help Min caused her to feel miserable as well. They stayed on the phone, not speaking until Min finally hung up.

Cara felt tears on her face as she whispered into the phone. "Sorry."

After multiple days of travelling and fighting, they had finally reached the entrance to the chaos zone, an off-white portal that took up the entirety of a large hallway in the tower. Nala had fixed her lack of dexterity and was once again in good shape, though Star could see that there was still something off in the way she dealt with other people. There was nothing she could do to help, so she pretended not to notice that something was wrong. She didn't wan't to accidentally set off her friend and exacerbate the problem or cause a fight. She knew that Minala wasn't in the mood to talk about it with someone who didn't understand her feelings.

They stood staring at the portal for a minute before anyone was brave enough to try walking through it. As they stepped through the portal, they were enveloped in a cloud of snow, blown around by the wind and into their eyes. They could barely see a few feet in front of them as they trudged forward through the heavy snow. After ten minutes of fighting the snowstorm on their trek uphill, the snow stopped falling and they could finally see enough to get their bearings. They were near the peak of an enormous mountain that towered above all the others around it, except there was something strange about the view. Everything that was far away was somewhat hazy, as though blocked by a fog. Eventually someone pointed out that the mountain had an "edge." A few hundred feet from their current position, the snowdrifts and even the ground itself ceased to exist, simply stopping at an invisible line and falling off into the abyss.

"I've heard that this is what the chaos zone is like. The portals lead to real places around the world or a close approximation of a real place in the world. If you fall down into one of the abyss areas of the fake areas like this one, you're better off killing yourself. This must be a fake version of what it would be like to be on the top of the tower. That's why everything far away looks hazy. It's some sort of mirage or illusion. Let's keep moving." Even though they didn't officially have one, Arizona was practically the team leader. He could be somewhat strict, but he was also fairly understanding in most situations.

Scatter was the team scout and the self proclaimed comedic relief of the party while Skoff was the serious and usually apathetic caster that liked to use powerful magic to overkill her opponents. Fat Steve was probably the odd one out of all the party members, playing a beautiful elf girl cleric who never spoke other than to cast spells. There were those in the party taking bets on whether or not she was actually a girl solely based on the name. Sena the rogue, Bluejay the fighter, and Grud the berserker were some of the more shady members of the group. Then there was Sir Galahad, the middle aged man who fancied himself a knight fighting for justice in a world that sorely needed it. He was a good person though, if a bit too into his role to the point that it caused a bit of trouble for his companions every once in a while.

They soon reached a stony area barely even recognizable as ruins, the way it was covered in ice and snow. They followed a trail of thick red drops in the snow until they reached a cavern entrance. An older man in a guard's uniform and leather armor sat leaning up against the wall, looking deathly pale as he held an open wound that looked like a thick red mark in his side. Star and Fat Steve both attempted to heal him in vain as his health dropped lower and lower, nearly gone by that point. The man looked like he had already given up on surviving, and wanted only to to speak his last words.

"Why can't we heal him!?" Star shouted desperately.

"The demon's curse," he rasped. "Don't let them hurt any more innocent people. You have to kill them all. Don't let even a single one escape to spread its devilry to the world. I'm entrusting you all with this sacred task. Hurry." The man collapsed as his health points reached zero, falling onto his side. The raid group all dismissed the updated quest window and charged into the mountain, passing through another portal. They were filled with righteous fury, and they would do whatever it took to kill the wicked demons that plagued the tower. They were going to do something good and be paid extremely well for it, which was one of the great appeals of a game like Dead World Online. 

Moments after they passed through the portal, the corpse trembled, the lips splitting and twisting into a wicked grin. The eyes opened and the man laughed, his voice hoarse and foul. He curled up into fetal position and continued to laugh as the snow resumed its fall from the heavens.

Frost

Frost stared angrily at Seraya. "What the hell was that supposed to be? All I learned from that was that you know the way to break the curse, and this game needs some better writers."

She blinked at him. "I don't know what game you're talking about, but yes, I know the method to end the curse, and it is not easy."

"Hold on, you're acting like nothing happened down there! What was that whole thing about something changing me and that ominous shit you were saying before I went down into that study?"

Seraya looked almost scared as she looked at Frost. "What do you mean? I said something ominous?"

"You don't remember?" She shook her head and he calmed down. "What about the strange test that happened when I read the journal?"

"There wasn't supposed to be a test." She reached out andd put a hand on his shoulder. "Is everything alright?"

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He let out his breath as he shook his head. "It doesn't matter anyway. I'm fine." 

Seraya smiled and folded her hands in front of her. "What will you do now?"

"Well, how do we remove the curse?"

"That doesn't matter. There's no way that we can..."

"Stop," he cut her off, "Just tell me how."

She frowned and spoke quietly, hesitantly about what had been done to them, not wanting to get Frost involved in something so dangerous. "The curse hides me from the sight of the gods while I am in the tower, as it is an extremely powerful one. I must leave the tower and pray to the gods to release the curse."

"That's it? You could go out half of the portals of the chaos zone and be out of the tower."

"As I said, it isn't that simple. Don't you think that this place is a bit stable for a place that is known as a zone of chaos?"

Frost pondered for a minute while staring hard at the ground. He looked up. "The magic grid you were messing with. You're controlling the entire chaos zone"

"Yes. I am suppressing the dangerous energies of the area to create a relatively safe, inhabitable place. Those orbs of light you saw represent different energies or forces within the tower that wish to meet and clash to cause chaos and destruction. My presence here allows me to control those forces and channel them into something at least mildly useful."

"You created the portals."

"You are correct again, Frost. So sharp." She smiled proudly at him.

"I guess. What happens when you leave?"

She looked off to the side, biting her lip, and grabbed her arm, "By the time I returned here from the outside, the energies would no longer be stable, and the portals would be gone. This place would become much more dangerous and I fear that the fairies would not survive or be able to escape. I cannot use the portals to exit the mountain and quickly remove the curse. I have tried and am prevented from doing so. It has to do with the energies they are made from and the hatred that helped spawn them."

"Is there another way to leave the tower?"

"There's one. It leads straight through the center of the largest city on the continent."

He sighed, "I guess I knew that there was a good reason you hadn't tried to remove the curse, I just had to hear it from you directly." Frost was truly coming to care for Seraya and the fairies as he spent more time with them. They had always treated him as though he was one of them, from the moment he met them. Even though it had only been less than a week since he had met them, he was already beginning to consider them as an extension to his family. He knew that they weren't really alive or real, but the game made everything seem as if it was, at least when it came to interpersonal relations and personality. There were some things that were obviously unrealistic, such as the lack of blood and real looking wounds, but that was necessary to keep players grounded in reality and remind them that it was really just a game.

Even though they weren't real, neither was Frost. If a fake person wanted to have fake family, then he would, and he didn't have to give a shit about what anyone else thought.  He watched the fairies playing tag and took a deep breath to help clear his mind. "I won't feel right leaving you all until we at least try it. There has to be a way."

"I'm sorry Frost, but there isn't a way that doesn't risk their lives," she gestured towards the fairies who were giggling as their game of tag devolved into a tickle fight. "These children are too vulnerable and passive to survive a chase through the city, and they are defenseless against the deadly forces of this area, so I cannot leave them here. I myself would probably be killed attempting to make it through the city." Frost mumbled to himself and walked away, deciding to think of a solution as he completed more quests for the fairies.

Two days of leveling up passed and even his best idea had a huge flaw in it. He had spent most of his time trying to find a way around that flaw, to complete his plan, but all the solutions he could think of were questionable at best. If only the fairies weren't so useless, but considering that they were basically children, he couldn't fault them. Not to mention, they were great entertainment regardless of what they were trying to accomplish. He needed them to play a part in his plan where all they needed to do was run away, but they were terribly slow, with those wings creating air resistance. Why did fairies that live underground need wings anyway? It made no sense.

Frost logged in after dinner to find that everything was as bright and cheerful as always, creating a relaxing, happy atmosphere that always brought a smile to his face. He checked his equipment for no reason other than to assure himself that it was all still there, then walked towards the exit. His current quest involved hunting down a giant mole that was beginning to encroach on fairy territory. It was hunting them, and it needed to be killed or scared away before it could harm the fairies in their home. He pulled out his sword as he went, ready for the occasional demon ambush or trap that he would sometimes run into while traversing the tunnels and portals of the chaos zone.

He was quick when it came to learning directions as long as he walked through whatever place he was trying to memorize. He usually only needed to be somewhere once or see a map once to determine where he needed to go. He was easily able to move confidently through the stabilized pathways of the zone without having to worry about getting lost, having been there for almost a week. He hadn't gone even three portals away when something flashed out of the next portal, skating across the stone at breakneck speed. Frost barely had any time to react, bringing his sword up to block and gritting his teeth in preparation for impact. 

"Frost." it squeaked in a mousy voice as it stopped in front of him. Frost could see that it was one of the fairies carrying an injured friend missing a wing and heavily injured. "Run." She dashed off, sliding across the earth as though it was pushing her forward and she quickly disappeared from sight. Frost stood in stunned silence, his mind working in three different ways before he settled on a single thought. 

"It can work." He said to himself as his eyes widened in realization. He sprinted after the fairies, concerned about his injured friend, but giddy about the possibility of breaking the curse. It didn't take long to return to the large, open cavern that was similar to their town square. The fairies stood in a solemn ring around their injured companion, tense with concern as the little girl fairy who brought him there tried to rouse her companion. She started wailing when she was unable to wake him, and tears spilled silently down the cheeks of the many friends and family that stood watching. Seraya cried as well, knowing that they had no magic to heal him, and it was far too late to save him anyway. 

Frost felt tears fall down his own face a moment after he recognized the fairy that would never wake up again. NPC's didn't respawn in this game, and so Frost would never see Ber smile ever again. He let himself cry with them, rather than bottling up his emotions as Reid always did. It felt good to cry in the company of others who shared his pain because they could comfort each other by simply being there. They could share the pain and empathize with one another over the loss of a loved one. They didn't exclude Frost, dragging him into their tight circle and joining hands. When she had calmed down somewhat, the dirty little girl, Fali, stroked Ber's head and began to sing in a language that Frost could only recognize as beautiful.

The circle began to chime in a few at a time, and soon the fairies were all singing the same song that with a hauntingly beautiful melody. He couldn't understand the words, but he could understand that it was a song along the lines of them missing Ber and wishing him well wherever his spirit was going. They couldn't know the truth, and he was glad that they never could. The game was designed so that none of the characters, except the players of course, could recognize the world as a game. Frost decided to stop thinking about it and closed his eyes to let the music drown out everything else. The song faded out and Frost felt drained of energy, but also lighter than before. Ber's body was gone, faded away like all dead things in that world did.

The fairies slowly dispersed, having sung their farewell, returning to their homes to sleep or perhaps to continue mourning. Only Fali stayed behind so that she could speak with Seraya and let her know what had happened. She bowed to the lady who bowed in return as part of some ritual of formality. Frost had never seen them address Seraya directly, though they would often attempt to drag her into their games with varying success. This interaction was strangely formal, unlike the usual carefree nature of the fairies. 

"My lady."

"Fali."

She looked up at Seraya and Frost could see terror in her eyes as she shed most of the previous formality in her speech and her body language. "It's just as you said it would happen. There are adventurers on their way to kill us. This is so sad. What do we do?"

"How long do we have?"

"Maybe a day. Two at most if they moved really, really slowly."

"Can we get around them?" Frost decided to add his own thoughts to the conversation now that he remembered some of his earlier thoughts.

"We won't make it in time with the lady not being able to use certain portals. We have to go the long way and that would take a whole day. They'll be able to catch up to us using shortcuts and we'll be trapped."

"Can all the fairies move as fast as you did earlier? How long can you maintain it."

"Yes, we all know such basic earth magic. The weakest in magic can hold it for only about an hour. A few of us can go all day, like me."

"We can still do this." Frost was determined to go through with his plan. "Have everyone gather everything they need for a journey to the city, then take Seraya and go there as quickly as you can. Stay outside the view of the city and wait for me."

"I know what you're planning and I don't approve of you putting your life in danger for us." Seraya stared at him disapprovingly, but it only caused him to smile. "You can't even attack them or else you'll become a criminal, Frost."

He laughed to himself as he reached into his bag and pulled out a silvery object. "Not if they don't know who I am." He turned and started walking away as he put on the wolf mask. The wolf guardian never took it from him after he completed the quest and it should still work even though that quest was over and done with, not that it really matter to him. He didn't need the help of people and his status as an evil player would go away eventually. Becoming an evil player was nothing compared to protecting the ones he cared about. No matter what anyone else said, they were real to him and he wasn't going to let them disappear forever.

"Frost. Since you are so determined to do this...please help them."

Quest: The Curse of Virufex

Due to your determination to save Seraya and the Earth Fairies, Seraya has given you a quest to protect her beloved children. Save as many of them as you can while attempting to break the curse.

Rewards: 20,000 experience, Title, Unknown

Failure conditions:

All of the fairies under your protection are killed.

Difficulty: A+

The rewards were quite generous, but the difficulty was higher than any quest he had attempted yet, not including the quest for god's ore, which he had no intention of even looking at until after the "beta." Even without looking at the insanely high difficulty, Frost knew that this would be the most difficult quest he had ever, and probably would ever attempt. Every fairy that died would bring him pain and sadness the same as Ber's death had. He would be challenging an entire city full of people just to get from one side to the other. There was no way he was going to be able to sneak his way through, so the only chance he had was to fight high level guards who would think he was defending demons. He would have to do all of this while escorting pacifist fairies and running from bloodthirsty adventurers. He took a deep breath. 'Just try to stop me.'