“Harahel and I wanted to bring everyone together to discuss what all we know about what is going on.” Jessica said as she took the podium. “First I wanted to thank everyone here for taking quick action in the rescue and migration of so many people. Harahel and I could not ask for better and more committed people to aid in this cause. I ask that everyone here persevere as we continue to serve the people that were caught up in this as well.

“Harahel and I have interviewed many of you as to what you remembered before coming here and it would seem that all of us had a similar experience of falling in darkness for hours before re-emerging, of course with no small amount of pain. We currently do not know what forces summoned us here or why. Until we get answers we are vulnerable which is why it is imperative that we collect our people and fortify. I want to hear everyone's thoughts on this.”

“It could be the work of a God right?” Kokou said. “Whatever brought us here had to be extremely powerful.”

“That would be impossible,” Liminal exclaimed. “Partially because of the guild master and the vice master. The angels were quite thorough in killing all of the Upper Celestials. Well at least all of them with the power to do this. I believe a few Neter still inhabit Enthroned but they are more intelligent than powerful.”

Liminal was referring to the lore of the game which to him really happened. The Upper Celestials were three races of Gods that existed and created the Enthroned; there were Gods, Great Old One and Neter. The Upper Celestials also created the many celestial races such as angels, kisume spirits, shinigami and millions more. One of the Goddesses of War was the creator of the angels and she went insane and used her armies to start a never ending war with all of the other Upper Celestials. She became known as the Butcher of Gods and the crazy thing was she won. They killed every Upper Celestial with the exception of a few of the Neter who were smart enough to evade her and not powerful enough to be worth the trouble in tracking down.

Demons came about later once the war in Enthroned had ended. Half of the angels became restless without battles to fight. They ended up turning on their own and the Butcher of Gods who planned on betraying them anyway. They ended up being victorious and successfully slayed their Mother Goddess and bathed in her blood which caused them to absorb her sins and were cursed becoming demons. The angels that sided with the Butcher of Gods in the decisive battle hunted down the demons and removed their wings as punishment.

“Aren’t you forgetting that several Upper Celestials did escape.” Pneuma stated. “They caused all sorts of havoc on Tonantzin. Who is to say that more didn’t escape either.”

“The Three Dark Gods were foolish and ended up being killed by each other and a few mortals.” Liminal stated. “But I guess you have a point.”

Kevin and Jessica knew that the conversation would go towards the possibility of there being Upper Celestials involved. In the game they were supposedly the strongest beings to have ever existed beside the unconfirmed Pit Walkers. However, to Kevin and Jessica there is no possibility of fictional gods, no matter how powerful they were in the fiction, being capable of pulling two people from the real world into a new one. It would be the same as being summoned by a character in a book you were reading. Luckily they had a plan to steer the meeting back onto helpful subjects.

“We that have fought and killed Upper Celestials have gained the innate ability to sense their divinity.” Kevin said as he stood. “You were right to think that they may be involved but neither I nor Lilitu sensed them, so we can rule them out for now.”

“I see, we did not know that angels and demons could do that.” Kokou stated.

Jessica looked back at Kevin with a slight smile as he sat back down. She then turned back to the small crowd happy that their lie worked.

“Most can’t, Harahel and I are exceptions to the rule given the amount of Upper Celestials we have fought against.” Jessica continued she then cleared her throat. “How we were summoned will have to be a subject for another day. We are here now and our people need us. There are thousands of people out there but most of them I have never seen.”

“If I may.” Awen said as she stood up. “It looks like the power that summoned us here is tied to AFKIRL, as it is at the center of everything. From what I noticed from the map that Pneuma constructed it looks like the first building to arrive was the Guild Hall then you and Harahel. Then everything you owned then the people that worked for you including us. After that our assets started appearing and the people that worked for us and their immediate families. All I am saying is that this attack on us was targeted and we should definitely collect everyone and bunker down.”

“To keep track of everyone we should have everyone’s soul marked with the guild seal. That will allow us to communicate more effectively.” Svaralfer added. “While I was searching around I found one of my estates in the forest. My guards and servants can not use the guild chat to coordinate easily so there may be overlap in the search area.”

“Vara, you call that hovel an estate?” Kokou said with a smile.

“It’s bigger than anything you have out there!” Svaralfer screamed as she stood anger plastered across her face.

The two continued to bicker for a few seconds before Fredrick stood up. The sound of his shuffling armor attracted everyone’s attention.

“Agreed.” Frederick's deep voice bellowed. “Coordination is going to be key and having more able bodied guards will help keep the people safe. I am worried that fear will get the better of some of them if things don’t start to improve. The last thing we need is a riot.”

Jessica looked over to Pneuma who averted her shy eyes as soon as she felt the gaze on her.

“Pneuma, are there still buildings and people appearing now?” Jessica asked.

“Y-yes… Less frequent now than previously, I think we are nearing the end.” Pneuma squeaked.

The conversation shifted to how to effectively organize the new families that would soon join the massive number of people they already had. It was estimated by Fredrick’s men that currently they had around 5,500 civilians with more still finding their way to the Guild Hall. In addition there were around two hundred servants, and six hundred guards not counting the ones from the other avatars estates. That was well beyond the capacity of the estate and even more pressingly beyond what they could provide in food supply.

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Everything was broken down into three main points. The first was rescuing the civilians still lost out in the forest which would be overseen by Hyperion, Svaralfer, Pneuma and Fredrick. Second was security which was going to be carried out in two fold, Liminal would assign guards to police the populace and handle disputes ensuring people didn’t fall into disarray. Eraká, Kokou and Aureole would secure the perimeter to keep a lookout for any would be attackers until more permeate defenses could be made. Lastly was shelter which would be handled by Awen who was the guild’s engineer and Murder who really just wanted an excuse to be outside and take sample of the flora.

The meeting quickly concluded and the avatars and NPCs left to complete their tasks leaving Kevin and Jessica truly alone for the first time. As soon as the last person left the room Jessica used her magic to close and lock the entrance. She then ran through a laundry list of anti-surveillance magic spells which would make it impossible for anyone to spy on them. The briefing room already had anti-surveillance but the extra precaution she felt was warranted. She was silent for a few minutes as she stood at the podium looking blankly at the door in the distance.

As soon as Jessica felt like no one could see her anymore she keeled over. Kevin ran the few steps to her side and caught her before she even hit the ground. Her body was shaking and her nerves were shot. Kevin noticed early on in the meeting that her legs were shaking but still she stood strong and put on a better performance than he knew he would have done. Jessica felt like she wanted to scream but something in her would not allow her to concede. Jessica could feel something like a memory of Lilitu’s dauntless determination as if it were her own.

“That went well.” Kevin’s voice was soft and hung in the air.

“As well as it could go.” Jessica responded. “They know what they're doing and we sound convincing.”

“We? No, That was all you, baby.” Kevin said with a smile. “All I did was sit back and look pretty.”

“Well you would make a good tree topper for christmas.” Jessica said with a playful smile.

“I am pretty sure that is racist to angels.” Kevin joked.

“You will have to run that by the HR department to report me.” Jessica said as she readied herself to stand on her own but instead let Kevin continue to hold her. “And I am pretty sure demons are angels too.”

Kevin opened his mouth to say something then stopped himself to consider. He was pretty sure that demons were still considered angels in the classification of their celestial races. Technically they were just cursed angels thanks to the sin they absorbed from the Butcher of Gods.

“Huh… I think you’re right.” Kevin said.

“Anyway, we have to come up with a plan for us as well.” Jessica said, having regained her composure.

“I have an idea about that.” Kevin responded. “I will fly around a little bit and see if anything looks off. There are roads out in the grassland which means there are people somewhere.”

“It would be dangerous for you to go out by yourself!” Jessica said sternly.

“Yes but I am the fastest out of everyone, including you.” Kevin stated with a little pride behind his words. “Hell, I am the fastest player in the game, which is a fact, you remember what the devs said about our builds. If things get dicey I have the highest chance of getting away.”

“I still don’t think that’s the best strategy! I could come with…”

Kevin took off his armored gauntlet, they vanished into his incorporeal inventory deep within his wellspring of magic. His hands were strong and not his own since he was Harahel yet to him they felt no different. He leaned into Jessica, who he was still supporting, her mouth still open trying to form words but nothing came. He drew closer to her and with one hand holding her and the other moving a strand of hair from her face. For the first time since coming to this world, for a split second they saw each other behind the eyes of the avatars they inhabited.

Up until this moment both of them had their secret reservations that the other might not actually be their avatar. There was no way to know or anyway to check. Wherever they were now or whomever summoned them had the power to fill the gaps in personality, jobs, game mechanics and lore from Deicide, who was to say it couldn’t replicate players. Sure Jessica and Kevin sounded the and acted the same to each other but that could have been part of the ruse. However, despite how brief the moment was they had confirmation that they truly were not alone in this crazy world.

A flood of emotions swelled in both of them too quick and too many to name. However, passion took center stage as they closed the small gap between their lips. Jessica threw her arms behind Kevin’s neck as more of their armor vanished, tucked away in their individual inventories like the gauntlet earlier. Items and clothing continued to vanish until all that remained were their thin undergarments as their tongues continued to play passionately in eachothers mouths.

The feel of each other's bodies were different but still felt familiar because of the remnant memories Kevin and Jessica inherited of Harahel and Lilitu respectively. Even though Kevin and Jessica could never do something like this in the game they both had detailed knowledge of the other’s most erogenous zones which were different from their human bodies and even more sensitive. Somewhere along the wave of passion they found their way to the ground which was blanketed in Kevin’s soft feather wings as Jessica straddled on top of him.

Doom, Doom, Doom!

A bang at the door of the briefing room shook both of them back to reality. The rumbling of the door echoed around the chamber almost menacingly. Jessica and Kevin shot up looking like two teens that were caught doing something they shouldn’t. In an instant the two stood up as Kevin’s armor and Jessica’s robes reappeared on their bodies. Jessica fixed her hair before she dispelled all of the enchantments she performed on the room before using [Grasp of Hell] [Awakened] her telekinesis skill to unlock and open the door.

Cullen rushed inside as soon as the door opened. The clanking of his armor as he ran up to the podium radiated around the amphitheater like space. When he stopped he bowed and caught his breath.

“Please pardon my intrusion. We have been trying to reach both of you.” Cullin stated.

“What is it?” Jessica asked.

“Homes in the outermost perimeter to the west have been ransacked.” Cullen said as he removed his helmet. “Several bodies, almost exclusively men, have been discovered. Signs of struggle suggest that women and children may have been taken. The bodies we discovered have lacerations indicative of a sword or cutting weapon so we have ruled out animal attack.”

Anger welled up inside of both Jessica and Kevin which caught both of them off guard. More than anything else they wanted to kill whoever had the gaul to attack their guild. They could feel the emotions originate from the same fragmented memories of the avatars whose bodies they controlled. It felt surreal to have such raw emotions overtake them from what was essentially a broken alien mind infused into their own thoughts. The manifestation of that anger bubbled up through their magic. For Jessica her rage manifested in a dark purple corona around her body which gave off concentrated dread. The room drew darker around her and the shadows seemed to warp and twist bowing to her power. For Kevin this bright orange-red halo appeared behind him burning with bloodlust and enveloping him in a soft flame.

Cullen fell to his knees in both terror and awe at the two unholy monoliths before him. He felt Kevin and Jessica’s gaze cut daggers into his very soul however he knew he was the target of their anger. To him seeing the masters he served so concerned and outraged at the deaths of people they did not know only strengthened his loyalty to them. However, had they been callus his loyalty still would not have faltered.

“Master Hyperion, and Lady Svaralfer are leading a detachment to hunt down the bandits as we speak.” Cullen continued.

“Kill them all.” Kevin said flatly. “Bring the bodies of our fallen back for their families.”