Distortion
1948 Words
Suddenly, Mirana gathered strength to stand. A pulse blast came out of the general’s hands. She smiled and blinked slowly at us. “Take care, children. May the light of the sky bless you.”
She braced for the attack, then threw it back at him. The reflected attack blew the general from his feet. Mirana dropped to the floor, and she became still as stone.
“Mirana, NOOO!!! How could you do this to us?” I howled at her lifeless body.
“If only I was stronger, I could have… I could have saved her. Why am I so useless?” Girly stared in disbelief.
“Do not weep children, your unfortunate souls will join her soon,” the general assured us.
“Let’s make him pay, Keita,” she grabbed her bomb launcher.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought too,” I raised my shield.
We unleashed Projectile Defense. Bombs descended from the ceiling as we charged at him. I swiftly advanced towards him then stabbed him directly at the heart. He grinned as blood flowed out of his mouth.
“Well done, children. I can now rest in peace. Thank… you…” Those were his last words before he dropped to the floor.
His body reverted to normal. The hostile atmosphere disappeared. I fell to my knees and flopped to the floor.
“Quest Cleared! You have defeated General Gurthe. You have gained an extensive amount of experience points and tremendous amounts of Garnet. You also gained Epeitha’s Royal Sword,” a message popped up.
“Hey, this is the sword I was trying to get earlier!” I hastily equipped it.
“I noticed that we are already at level sixteen,” Girly pointed out.
“Yeah, I am surprised as well. Hey, I wonder how many days it has been since we have got trapped in here.”
“I could be just a couple of hours.”
“It felt like days already. You know, I sometimes think about my life at home.”
“We get homesick at some point. Look, we will end this game soon enough. I know it.”
“I sure hope so. Shall we get going?”
“I feel bad about Mirana, Can’t we do something for her?”
“This is just a game. They will be back as soon as the game resets. I don’t want to stick around when that happens.”
“True.”
A door glowed in front of us as we stood. We decided that it was finally time to get out of there. The outside felt like I haven’t seen it in years only for me to realize that it was all digital. I miss the real outside world, I miss my mom and I miss everybody.
“Hey, what are you thinking?” Girly broke my moment.
“I was having my moment. Now you ruined it,” I snarled at her.
“Sorry,” she backed away.
“It’s too late for that now. We should look for Kun and Vampire.”
“Maybe they are on their way out. Why not wait for them?”
“I cannot be at ease when those two are together. They are a disaster duo.”
“But I don’t want to get lost in that dark tunnel again.”
“You are right, let us wait for them. What is taking them so long?”
Meanwhile, Vampire and I got stuck in this endless loop. It sucks to be with him and I am dying to get away from this place.
“Hey Vampire, how much longer do we have to walk?” I complained.
“Just a little longer, Kun, I think we are close. I can feel it,” he assured me.
“I cannot trust a vampire and his gut. We have been walking around for hours.”
“If you have a better idea, I would be glad to hear it, but right now, we follow my gut.”
“I would be glad to take it out of you. Maybe it can function as a compass,” I mumbled.
“Were you saying something?”
“Nothing, I was just talking to myself.”
“We better hurry up or we will—, whoa!”
“What is it?”
“Hey, I found Girly. Yo Ghorl, are you okay? Answer me.”
“What the heck! Girly, what happened to you? Keith will be so pissed if something happens to you.”
She coughed and sneezed in front of my face.
“Geez, she sneezed at me. I need to wash it off. We are doomed!” I shook my hands like it was bitten by a spider, then I felt a sharp pain across my face.
“Shut up Kun, she’s not infected.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I’m not sick you guys, it’s just an allergy. This ancient place is full of dust and dirt,” Girly got up to explain.
“How do I know that you are not deceiving us?” I raised an eyebrow.
“I have my inhaler with me, see?” She waved a small tube thingy.
“Oh, okay. But why are you here? I thought you were with Keita?”
“We got separated somehow, then everything went black. That is the last thing I remember.”
“We should get to Keith as soon as possible. Girly, do you know a way out of here?” Vampire asked.
“If I did, I should be out by now.”
“Oh right, I shouldn’t have asked. Whoops,” Vampire’s face glowed red momentarily.
“Are you lost? I can show you the way to the kingdom,” a low whisper was close to my ear.
“Is that you, Kun?” Vampire was quick to point.
“Really Vampire, do I sound like that?”
“You could be playing with us.”
“At a time like this? Really?”
“Then, who said it?” Girly grabbed Vampire’s arm.
“Psst, come here. I can lead the way for you,” the voice spoke again.
“I guess we have no choice,” Vampire shrugged.
“Wait, wait for me!” I called out to them.
“You better hold hands as the darkness may mislead you,” the voice suggested.
“Yeah, great idea,” I agreed.
We held hands. I did not know who I was holding as it was getting darker and darker until I could not see anything at all. Everybody was quiet, which gave me the chills.
“Hey guys, are you still there?” I shouted.
“Yes, we are still here, Kun,” Girly replied.
“Thank goodness, I thought I lost you guys.”
“The voice instructed us to keep quiet so shut up, Kun,” Vampire sternly replied.
“You don’t have to tell me. You think I’m stupid?”
We walked and walked into the endless darkness. Finally, we ceased walking.
“Where are we?” I asked.
“You are safe here in my room for a while. Dangerous monsters have filled the area as quickly as a bolt of lightning,” he explained.
“How do we get to the kingdom?” Girly asked.
“Have patience. There will be an opening for you soon, but you must do something for me first.”
“I don’t like the sound of that,” I commented.
“What is it you want?” Vampire prompted him.
“I just need you to get something for me. Behind this door, I want you to retrieve the bodies of a man and a woman. They are lying somewhere in that room. Good luck.”
I felt a powerful push through the door as if I was being kicked in the bottom. The room had bloodstains on its walls. What kind of monster did this? This place is a wreck. On the floor, the old woman was dry as raisins and the old man got stabbed through the chest. I sighed, and I helped Vampire drag the two bodies out of there. Girly kept the door open.
“Hmm… You have done well. Good job,” the voice lifted the bodies from us.
“Can we have the directions now?” I sighed.
“Yes, just go straight this way and you will reach the kingdom.”
“Where? I can’t see anything,” Vampire raised his voice.
“Let me give you a slight boost.”
I felt another powerful push expel us out of there. We were going so fast that my body felt like it would crash at any minute. After a full stop, an open space welcomed us. It was full of blood and dead bodies. I soon regretted ever coming to this place.
“This is awful. Who could have done this?” Girly hanged her mouth open.
“Whatever is in there doesn’t look promising,” Vampire pointed towards the tower.
“There is no backing out now, is there?” I breathed deeply.
“Let’s go to the castle”, Vampire darted towards the entrance.
“Yo, wait for us. That darn Vampire…” I shook my head.
“Ngraw!” Grumpy growled.
“What is it, boy?” I asked.
“I think we should follow him,” Girly suggested.
We went for Vampire but found that he wasn’t there. Where could that creep have gone to? Girly held my tiny fingers as we explored the empty room.
“Kun, do you think Keita has gone this way?” Girly suddenly asked.
“I am sure of it. Do you doubt me?” I asked back.
“No, but—“
“Then, that should be enough,” I cut her sentence.
I didn’t mean to be harsh on her, but it’s that loser’s fault for leaving her behind. She shouldn’t have left me with his chick. Now, I feel guilty because of him and where the heck is Vampire?
“Hey Kun, check this out,” Girly called out to me.
“What? I’m busy minding my business here.”
“Just come and look at this.”
“Fine, I’m coming. What is it?”
“I think it’s an idol of some sort,” she held up a tiny wood carving of a deer.
“What does it do?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then screw it, I will check the next room.”
“I will keep it, just in case. It might be useful for something.”
“Do whatever with it.”
“Hey, wait for me.”
A hallway full of ghosts and hounds met us by the door. We went from pillar to pillar to avoid being detected until we reached the other door. This room had a lot of dirt and drawn all over the place were signs of destruction. I was glad that I wasn’t the one to face whoever it was that did this.
We went out of there and went to the room after it. This time, there was an old lady sitting on a high chair. She had a very slim body, as if she had not eaten anything for days.
“Welcome children, what brought you here?” She motioned for us to approach.
“Have you seen a dead person with pale skin and fish eyes?” I asked her.
“I’m afraid I have not seen someone that fits your description. Would you like some tea? I can make some for you. It is the best brewed tea in this kingdom.”
“Thanks but we don’t have time for tea. We should be on our way now,” I yanked Girly with me.
“Wait, I insist. You must try our tea. I won’t take no for an answer,” she stubbornly persisted.
“I think a cup would be nice,” Girly smiled at her.
“Great. Please make yourself comfortable as I make the tea,” her deathly smile felt cold.
“What are you doing, Girly? We should be looking for Vampire and Keith!” I scolded her.
“It is rude to refuse a gentle old lady like that. She was being nice.”
“She might poison us. Didn’t you see how scary she was?”
“She wouldn’t do that to her guests.”
“I wouldn’t be complacent about that.”
Soon, the old lady arrived with her tea set.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. Will you have one lump or two?” She held a pot of sugar cubes.
“One is fine,” Girly answered.
“Two for me,” I added.
“Enjoy your tea,” her smile scared the hell out of me.
Suddenly, I felt my head getting lighter. I looked at Girly and she was already sleeping. My sight was splitting into two. I could see the old lady smiling once again.
“I told you Girly, she was going to poison us,” I felt my body drooping.
“Now, now… You must let go, child.”
I could not feel my body, and I was losing my sense of sight.
“Sleep tight, don’t let the monsters bite”, she forced my eyes to close.
Suddenly, I woke up inside a dimly lit room. I discovered that I got chained to the walls and Girly was out of sight.
“Girly? Girly! Where are you?” I called out to her.
“Quiet, will ya?” A low-pitched voice said.
“Look pal, I am not talking to you.”
“You are now.”
“Mind your own business, you creep.”
“Hey boy, I was just checking on you. I thought you were dead or something.”
“Shut up.”
“Hey, I may know a way out of here. Would you care to listen?”
- Writer
