Another Life In The New World

Bugged

It was like her eyes spoke to my soul. Unconsciously, I leaned closer to her as I handed her weapon back. She just stood there, unmoving. My hands exactly fit themselves on her waist as her hands found their place on my shoulders. The milliseconds that we stood there felt like hours.

“Dude, make your move already. Now is your chance,” Kun whispered to my ear.

I leaned down to reach her face. She closed her eyes as I closed mine. I could hear our heartbeats sync into one. Finally, I made it. It was a touchdown, and the scoreboards went flying across the sky. Fireworks exploded as our lips touched. I felt like a man reborn.

“Took you long enough… Now, it’s time to head for the oracle,” Kun pulled my ear.

I slowly backed away from the goal. Our eyes met again. It was like looking at shooting stars falling from the sky. I held her face for another moment before letting go. Suddenly, I realized that our hands formed an unbreakable lock. There is no turning back now.

Vampire sluggishly followed behind us. He shuffled the sands with his feet and I felt the same icy stare as before. I pulled Girly closer to me, then slightly looked to my left. I don’t think our stalker has reached us, yet. I pulled in a force full of air, then breathed out slowly.

From the side pocket of the bag, I pulled out our new bug friend. I named him Bugseye. Vampire climbed up first, then he pulled me up with a look on his face. I smirked as I silently celebrated my victory.

“What is wrong, Girly? Come on,” I motioned towards her.

“I can’t. On second thought, can we just walk? I don’t feel like flying,” she closed her arms.

“Girly, think of it as riding an airplane, only with an open roof and some turbulence.”

“Okay,” she breathed, then our bug buddy smiled at her or something. “Ahhh! No! I can’t.”

I already had her hand when she pulled away. Then Vampire went down and threw her at me. That is not an acceptable way to handle a lady. Without a word, he steered our newfound friend to our destination. Girly had her eyes closed during our travel.

“Open your eyes or else I’m going to sing that song,” I warned her.

“Please, I feel safe seeing nothing,” she closed her eyes tighter.

“What could possibly harm you with all that armor on your face? I’m not asking you to take them off.”

“Still, I can’t.”

“Okay, I’m going to sing it. I can show you some things… Gleaming, glistening, gorgeous… Tell me Girly, now how did you last let your eyes decide… A whole new game, a new terrific point of view…,” I pulled her hands tightly on my waist.

“You suck, dude. Shut up before Bugseye loses it,” Vampire snarled.

“You like it buddy, don’t you?” I patted our ride. He jumped up and down in agreement. “See?”

“Whatever.”

“It doesn’t sound so bad… I kind of like it,” Girly complimented me.

“No, you killed it dude. Keep going, don’t let Vampire ruin it with his distaste in music,” Kun sat in front of Vampire, but he never bothered him.

“Do you want to sing it with me?” I asked her and she nodded.

We sang our lungs out up to the chorus, where it circulated in a loop. I finally got her eyes to open. The light of the setting sun reflected in her eyes. I know Vampire uttered some words under his breath, but I wasn’t sure what it was because of Bugseye’s turbulent wings.

When the stars filled the night sky, we saw tall mounds of brown and green scattered along our path. On one of them, a small cabin stood puffing organic smoke. Vampire veered in that direction. Surprisingly, the door was unlocked.

It looked like a saloon inside, complete with different kinds of liquids. A deer head with a gun on it sat on the farthest wall. The fireplace burned strongly at the center of the room. We saw no one as we explored the interiors.

“It must be recently occupied,” Vampire assessed.

“I think we should get out of here. We might get in trouble,” Girly gently placed her hands on my arm.

“There is no point in staying here. Let’s get going,” I added.

“Too late, I hear someone coming,” Vampire whispered.

“Hide!” Kun shouted.

I pulled Girly behind the door while Vampire grabbed a stool. The door revealed a middle-aged woman with her head dressed in babushka. She had cat ears sticking out of her silky green bandana. Her body fit perfectly with the shape of the door.

“Oh my gingerbreads, panacotta and cherry balls! What in all Caelum Terra are you young ones doing in here?” She let out a piercing voice.

“Oh, uh… We are looking for someone,” Vampire gently dropped the stool.

“I am the owner of this place, Madissa. May I ask who you are looking for?”

“We are looking for the Oracle of Anarco. Can you help us?” Girly asked.

“Grab a seat, children. We need to have a talk.”

She placed her coat down on the counter, then disappeared behind the wall of liquids. When she reappeared, she had some food on top of each hand. After we filled ourselves with cherry pies and gingerbreads, she sat at the center of the table.

“Why do you want to meet the oracle, anyway?” Madissa raised an eyebrow.

“There is this man in this village named Crassus. He told us that you can guide us,” Vampire answered.

“I have never heard of him. I am sorry, but I can’t help you with that. You can stay here for the night, for it is dangerous to send you out at this time of night,” she put out the fire.

“But we came a long way. We really need your help, Madissa,” I cradled her hand with both of mine.

“Fine, I will help you if you weren’t so cute. Oh, I mean… forget that I said anything.”

In total darkness, the room rumbled and shook, transforming it into a place of oddities. Various glowing potions lined the walls that lit up the room. Madissa now wore a woven garment for ethnic ceremonies. In front of her, a floating orb whirred above the round table.

“I don’t want to do this, but you kept on pushing me,” she travelled her hands around the floating ball. “Ha… ask me anything that you need to know. The succeeding questions will cost some Garnets.”

“How did we end up here?” I asked.

“I thought you knew the answer to that already. Fine, to put it bluntly, you guys messed up the game, big time. You got sucked in and here you are. Next question, please.”

“Is there any other way to get out of here?” Vampire asked.

“Pay up first, one hundred Garnets for each succeeding question.”

“Are we good, now?” Vampire transferred the amount to the floating ball.

“The answer is no. Come on, ask me a hard one.”

“Do you happen to know who is chasing us?” Girly deposited some garnets before asking.

“I cannot say that for merely describing it puts me at a greater risk than I am in now just talking to you.”

“We only wanted to know what we are up against and how many,” I pulled her hand.

She smiled at me after hesitating for a moment, “If you put it that way, all I can say is that they are watching you.”

Suddenly, the potions broke one by one.

“Oh no, they are already here. I am sorry that I was not able to spend much time with you. You have to go,” she pushed us to the back door.

“But go where?” I asked.

“Sigh. You need to reach Sursum Ante. That is where your journey ends.”

“How do we get there?” Girly asked.

“Sigh. You have a map, use it,” she shut the door on us.

“But what awaits us there?” Vampire asked, but no answer returned.

Then the cabin shook and groaned. Above it, we saw dark figures infesting the roof. Madissa shouted words I could not understand, and her cabin dashed towards the stars. She disappeared with the monsters in the blink of an eye.

“What do we do now?” Vampire asked.

“For now, let us check our stats. Allocate the remaining stat and skill points before continuing. We might face our stalker, soon.”

“Congratulations! You have reached level twenty-seven. Your Strength has increased to 2331, Dexterity to 1980, Vitality to 2,098, Mentality to 1,085, and Resistance to 1832,” a message popped up.

“Let us see my skills. I have Cross s***h and Hero’s Resolve at level ten and Devil’s Finger at level fifteen. All my unity skills are at level twelve, pet skills are consistent and I am yet to unlock others,” I looked at my character using the character menu.

“We need to improve our other skills as well, such as crafting and enforcing,” Girly pointed out.

“How?”

“Why not start with combining stuff around here? Like this leaf, for example. I can place it together with a piece of wood and stone and there you have it. I have forged Caelum’s Helmet,” Vampire held out a shiny well-rounded helmet.

“Let me give that a try,” Girly grabbed two pieces of wood and a stone. She had crafted Heaven’s Arm, a flexible armlet that glowed with faint light.

With two stones and a leaf, I have crafted Solar Judgement. It was a breastplate with breathable fibers.

“This feels good. I have my crafting level to max already,” I felt the newly crafted armor embracing me.

“I feel invincible already. How do I look?” Vampire did some silly poses with his new helmet.

“How do I put this thing on?” She seemed oblivious to her craft.

“Let me help you there. Open your hand and then you slip it in like this. How does it feel?” Our eyes met again.

“It feels… great,” her eyes glowed with desire.

“I hate to break it up to you, but we have to leave this place. I hear a lot of fast footsteps approaching,” Vampire urged us.

“Come out, Bugseye! Use Fly!” I summoned him out of the net.

As we mounted, Skeletal Warriors swarmed the area. One of them managed to grab my foot. I kicked the bony creature, but it kept on biting. I summoned my sword and swatted it like a bug. It crashed like broken glass.

When I looked behind us, an army of skeletons flew at us. They rode on Poison Stingers which looked like honeybees but bigger, and their stingers are on their faces. They kept on poking Bugseye on his bottom. Bugseye decelerated upon contact.

“Grumpy, help us out! Use Angery Face!” Girly shouted. They backed up a little but kept on pursuing us.

“Vampire, keep on steering. Girly and I will have your back,” I ordered.

“Understood, hold on tight,” Vampire veered Bugseye under them.

Somehow, this seemed familiar. I remember playing this in a local arcade when I was a kid. Suddenly, Girly blasted her missiles and hit some of them. They shrieked as they fell down below. I slashed the ones that got close on our tail. No matter how much we kill, more and more kept on coming.

“We can’t shake them off. We have to lose them,” Vampire shouted.

“Okay, on my signal. Girly, are you ready?” We locked hands.

“Let’s do this. Projectile Defense!” We both shouted.

A barrage of missiles dropped at our enemies while I raised my shield. Soon, a small hole opened its way for us. I signaled Vampire to it and turned towards it. The hole was closing fast. I slashed at the skeletons coming at us on both sides until we reached the exit.

“Whew, finally made it. A blast of the eighties, eh?” Vampire smirked.

“Well, the gaming trend is a cycle. They tend to come back sometime in the future,” I replied.

“I see a town below us. Bugseye must be tired from all this flying,” Girly patted Bugseye.

We landed at the town square. A big brick clock faced us, ticking at one o’clock in the morning.