Starla and Adelynn made their way through the winding, dark roads of Starviva City and could smell the docks before they could see them. The smell of brine and fish was not quite as nauseating as Adelynn anticipated. She expected it to be far worse than a trip to the beach since there shouldn’t be a breeze. As they neared the Whisperin’ Wench she felt a wind to her back, not quite the direction it should be going since most of the wind came off the ocean.

“What’s with the wind?” she asked.

Starla pointed out to the dark ocean. “There is a huge, permanent whirlpool that goes to the surface just a few miles out. It pulls the stale air out. There is a twin whirlpool elsewhere that pulls air in. I think it’s quite far from here.”

Docked nearby was a strange looking ship. It appeared to be a ship with an inverted ship on top of it. No sails, just a solid blob of wood with a keel facing up and a keel facing down. “Oh!” said Adelynn. “That’s a weird boat!”

“I think they’re more like submarines, but they’re able to move from magical propulsion and they can’t really take on water while making their way to the surface.”

“I want to ride on one!” said Adelynn.

“I think you get on one to pursue the guy who was supplying the goblins with the technology and committing treason.”

“And Zid will tell me who that is.” Said Adelynn.

“I doubt you could get him to talk, but he drops a signed document that gives you a clue if you kill him.”

“Hmm.” Said Adelynn. “This place is certainly dangerous feeling.”

“We’re in an area where player versus player stuff happens. We look a bit dangerous so that’s probably why we’re being left alone.” Starla knew that her magical sunglasses were from one of more infamous PVP tournaments and anyone worth their weight in salt would see them and decide not to pick a fight with someone wearing them. If the result was that it kept Adelynn safe from idiots looking for a quick win, she didn’t mind showing them off.

The two strolled past many docks and taverns and houses of ill repute before they heard the Whispering Wench. “That looks like the Whispering Wench.” Said Adelynn as pointed to a tavern that had clearly seen better days. The sign, which was hanging askew on one chain, showed a veiled lady whispering to an ear. The paint was faded and cracked and the sign looked like it was on its very last legs. It was built entirely on the dock and had looked like it’d been through a great fire many times and rebuilt without clearing the rubble.

“I wonder if I’m going to have any trouble?” said Starla aloud to nobody in particular.

“Why is that?” asked Adelynn figuring that it had something to do with the state of the building.

“Oh, mostly because I’m in disguise. I wonder if the NPCs can see through it.”

“What’d you dooooo?” asked Adelynn wanting the story.

“I’ll tell you on the way out.”

Adelynn rolled her eyes as she opened the door. She was assaulted by the sound of a rather rowdy tavern in full swing of things. A bard was playing some modified guitar and had a few lower-level bards playing back-up instruments. They were playing some oldie techno-rock mix and the NPCs in the crowd were seemingly enjoying it. They usually responded this way to players who were adept at playing and singing. Starla motioned Adelynn over to the bar and they squeezed their way over. Adelynn felt someone attempt to goose her bottom as they went, but her armor got in the way. Starla did jump and spin to look who had dared to touch her, but there was no telling who.

They got to the counter and the bartender gave Starla the hairy eyeball. “Ye been told to not come in here Missy.” He said over the noise.

Starla acted aghast. “Me? I’ve never been to this establishment!”

He looked her over again and seemed to doubt what he knew. “Alright, don’t cause any trouble.”

“Hey!” said Adelynn, “Know where I can find Zid the Shadow?”

“Whose askin?”

“Me?”

Starla handed Adelynn a small sack of coin and motioned for her to give it to him.

“This bag is asking.” She said handing it over.

“Ahhh, well, I’ll always answer questions for heavy bags like this.” He put the bag away and motioned to the stairs. “He found him a lady for the evening. Room six.”

The two of them pushed their way through the crowd as the band played and the bard sang about how he was still alive, which seemed kind of funny in a sense since most people were. The deeper nuance of the song was lost on the two of them; who could really understand what people nearly a hundred years ago were singing about?

The stairs and the corridor were much quieter than the main room. Starla spun around to slap something and a whisp of smoke vanished as it twisted away. “The hell is that?” asked Adelynn.

“The thing that haunts this place. It’s always very grabby.”

“I thought I felt something earlier, but it hasn’t tried again with me.”

Starla fumed and blushed. “Why would they put a perverted ghost in this tavern?”

Adelynn shrugged as she stumbled up the worn stairs. Starla was mumbling something about not getting it last time. They approached room six and didn’t hear anything from within.

“If he’s with a player, we’ll probably have to kill them so they don’t hear anything they shouldn’t.” said Starla.

“Seems like a douche-y move.” Said Adelynn.

“Do you want Zid the Shadow to refer to me by name? I’ve met him before and the bartender seemed to see through any disguise without issues.”

Adelynn thought for a moment. “Don’t you have something that would deafen instead of murder?”

Starla took a moment. “Sure. I’ll throw a soundblast and a darkorb when you kick the door in.”

Adelynn didn’t know what those were, but they seemed self-explanatory. “Ready?”

Starla was chanting something to herself and it sounded like a mess. One hand was holding a sparking orb of darkness and the other was holding a swirling mass of wind that seemed to be getting louder as she went. Starla seemed to have a moment of epiphany and pushed the two things together while shifting from speaking two separate things at once into a much more relaxed whisper. Starla nodded while holding the combined spell.

Adelynn gave the door a heavy kick. It held for a moment and then she kicked it again. The wood splintered and the door flew open. A dude who looked like he’d been through the ringer was in bed with another player. He threw a dagger at the caster that he’d pulled from somewhere. Adelynn saw it coming and reached for it. It wasn’t flying as fast as the weapons had from Arzuse and she caught it and threw it back. Her thrown weapons skill was still very low and it flew off to the side and clattered behind a beat-up dresser.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“Whatever this is called!” said Starla as she threw the spell into the room. There was loud, dull thud like a rave bass drop and the room went instantly dark. Starla and Adelynn could still hear a bit and heard the player screaming as she suddenly found herself blind and deaf.

Starla learned Deepbang! Popped into Starla’s vision. “That’s a dumb name.” she muttered.

Adelynn ran into the darkened room and grabbed the player and pulled her out of bed and threw her and the top sheet on the blanket to Starla. She then turned to face Zid the Shadow.

“Do you think I need my eyes to see?” he said from somewhere. “Or my ears to hear?”

“That’s kind of the point.” Said Starla wrapping the players head in the blanket and wrapping her up with a binding spell.

Blades lashed out from the darkness and slashed at Adelynn. She took a nasty scratch across the chest and one across her arm. She held her arms up to protect her face. She’d pulled out a short sword for the tight quarters, but she was having a hard time seeing Zid anywhere.

“I can’t see him!” she yelled.

“Light of a thousand suns, Radiant Incandescence!”

Adelynn figured she’d do something light based and was mostly prepared for the blast of light and heat. A shadow like a demonic bat appeared on the wall and everything else in the room was instantly bleached. Zid hadn’t managed get his arms up in time and went from absolute darkness to overwhelmingly bright in an instant.

Adelynn stepped forward and thrust her shortsword into his shoulder hard enough to pin him to the wall. “Who’s giving the tech to the goblins!?” she shouted at him.”

Zid the Shadow squirmed and lashed out with steel claws on his hands. He knew she was there, but Adelynn pushed herself away before he connected. He looked more like a wounded animal than a human. She wondered what he’d done to transform himself into this bizarre form, but figured she might never know. His voice rattled out of his body as he replied. “You’ll die a thousand deaths for that!”

Adelynn remembered what Starla had said. “Arzuse!” she called and her sword appeared in her hands. She thrust it into him and the blade easily slid in.

“How do you have this?!” screamed Zid. Starla looked up from the squirming bundle of player and dirty sheets when he said that.

“Answer my question and I’ll answer yours.”

Zid responded by screaming and quaking and burning to ash. The bleached room had a Zid shaped stain on the wall with two glaring holes poking through. A small ledger popped out as his treasure along with a sack of coin.

“What do you think he meant?” asked Adelynn. “By ‘how do you have that?’.”

Starla picked up the bound and squirming bundle and threw it on the bed before slamming the door shut behind them. “Rumor has it that Zid is actually some kind of undead monster spawned from one of General Arzuse’s men. I’m a bit surprised he recognized the weapon honestly, nobody else did today.” She then spun around and swatted at the air again. “Let’s go. I’m done with this place!”

Adelynn seemed to understand what happened last time. By the time they made it to the main room Starla had gained an angry looking aura. The bard had finished a song and was about to start a new one when he saw the NPCs clearing out of her way.

“Uh. Emergency teleport guys.” He said to his band and they grabbed everything while one of their members traced a sigil in the air. Before the two ladies reached the opposite door a few more players in the crowd made their way out of the tavern or swiftly teleported away. When a high-level player does something like that it’s time to move.

“Nyx!” yelled Adelynn. “What are you doing?”

“Trying again!” yelled Starla once she got outside.

The barkeep came running out of his tavern. “I knew it was you! I told ye to stay away!”

“And I told you to get an exorcist!” replied Starla. “Gods of the sun and all that’s light, Grant me use of the Medjed’s sight! For in this final hour, I summon forth all his power! Raaaaaa Blast!”

Adelynn hadn’t heard the second part of that spell yet. The light that shone from Starla’s finger became a white-hot, beam of radiance that she slashed back and forth across the tavern several times. She even cut the place off the thick piles that held it out of the water. Once the Whispering Wench had sunk beneath the waves, Starla continued to move the beam of light around where the structure still burned with a bright yellow flame. Only once the spell stopped did the former tavern sizzle and gurgle down into the darkness.

The barkeep just stared at the bubbling water. “Next time get an exorcist!” said Starla. She stomped off with Adelynn catching up.

“That was a bit much, don’t you think?”

Starla stopped and took a deep breath and let it out slowly; than another. “Yes. I gave the barkeep money to get an exorcist and he didn’t. I gave him funds to rebuild last time and that stupid ghost still showed up. He said it didn’t bother him. He clearly just pocketed the cash and just didn’t care.”

“Wait a minute.” Said Adelynn. “Weren’t you telling me that the NPCs are just programmed to do what they do?”

Starla turned away for a moment. “Yeah, I did say that. Sometimes it feels more real though. I used to hang out there, he used to listen to my problems when I had them. I just feel betrayed by someone who I thought was a friend, but I guess that’s what he’s supposed to do.”

“You burned it down out of frustration the first time.” Said Adelynn.

“Yep. It’ll get rebuilt in a day. Maybe cleaner this time since they can’t use the old supplies.”

“Why didn’t you get an exorcist friend to deal with it?”

Starla held out a hand and Adelynn took it before she thought about it. With her in tow Starla began to say something, but stopped before starting. “Let’s go to my place here first.”

“You have an apartment here too?”

Starla nodded. “Yes, I’ll show you.”

Together the two of them made their way quietly through the dark streets uncontested. Eventually they turned a corner and the air around them seemed less oppressive. “Not in a PVP zone anymore.” Said Starla.

They continued to walk past dark buildings with glowing windows and even passed a party in progress. A very drunk druid offered them something, but he was having a hard time holding it since he’d shifted his hands into bear paws and couldn’t figure out why he didn’t have thumbs. Adelynn chuckled at him as they continued. Eventually, they stopped at a darkened home and Starla pulled Adelynn up the stone path. Starla put her hand on the door and it opened and the lights came on. The house didn’t look to be in bad condition, just dusty. Starla flicked a hand and said “Cleaning fairy!” and a little light buzzed around the place picking up dust and cobwebs and squirreling it away somewhere else. Adelynn looked around the place, it wasn’t as well decorated as other places Starla lived in. In fact it seemed almost stark.

“Firebolt.” Said Starla lighting the fireplace. It helped to warm up the colors in the room and Starla took a deep breath. She pulled some large floor pillows out of a closet and flopped them down and sat on one.

“Oh, ‘Story time with Starla?’.” Said Adelynn sitting down and getting comfortable.

“Alright, so a long time ago, back when I was only level fifty-two-ish, I had some problems. The Whispering Wench wasn’t well used back then like it is today. Just a place for people to go to put the shakedown on Zid. About a year ago someone made a funny video with Zid as a singer and the place became more of a symbol of a wild time and it became more popular. This was before that. I could go there and not see a single other player the entire night. Even if I did they were in and out in a few minutes.”

Starla took a deep breath. “As I told you before, I used the barkeep as a sort of neutral third party. I was having problems with Lilreth at the time and it was great to have someone to talk to who would never blab to anyone.”

“Lilreth?”

Starla’s face showed a mix of emotions before she could continue. “She was my first.”

“First?”

“First everything. First girlfriend, first kiss, first wife… first everything…”

Adelynn got it now. “Even first everywhere?” asked Adelynn, meaning reality and Headspace.

Starla nodded. “Yep. It was all new to me. In hindsight it probably wasn’t Lilreth’s first anything. Sometimes it felt like she might have been comparing me to someone, but I ignored it. I was in love after all. Blinding love has a way of hiding someone’s flaws in the overwhelming glare.”

Starla opened her inventory and pulled out a bottle of wine and some glasses. “Courtesy of Avara.” She said as she poured two glasses.

“She knew you’d need it?” Asked Adelynn.

“Yep. Her class powers are rather impressive. I think the Headspace must be analyzing our brainwaves to give her a bit of a predictive model.”

Adelynn took a sip and seemed to enjoy it. “Right, you were in love.”

“Yes, and for all her flaws Lilreth was a very fun person. We would go out and do all sorts of stupid or crazy things, mostly involving me invoking some kind of spell or summoning and her delivering it where it should never appear. She had a way of getting into places that were locked down tight. She’d taken rogue into the realm of cat-burglar and could hide away an explosion spell and release it wherever she could get.” Starla smiled, but there was pain under the surface. “She asked me to come see her.”

“In the real world?”

“Yeah.”

“What happened?”

Starla took a deep breath. “I was not what she expected. She utterly hated the real me. She wouldn’t talk to me much in world and I hoped we could still salvage what was left of our relationship.”

“It was too late, wasn’t it?” said Adelynn.

Starla nodded a bit. “I don’t think I’ll ever know if we could patch things up. She started to accept the ‘real me’ as a thing and maybe we could have continued online only, but reality gets in the way.”

“What happened?”

A tear worked its way out of Starla’s eye and slid down her cheek. “She seemed fine in world and then just stopped moving and talking, like there was a lot of system lag. She didn’t have issues with the network usually, but her avatar stayed online and the system showed her logging out. I didn’t find out until I logged out that something had happened in her city. I knew where she lived since I’d visited just a month prior. A freak accident really, but her apartment was over an enormous undiscovered sinkhole. When I saw the news report about it panicked hacked my way into her local server to see what the status was.”

Adelynn didn’t say anything. She just waited for Starla to continue.

“Offline. Crushed in the collapse. They wouldn’t find her body for a week.