Witch of the Web

Chapter 13

Summer

Standing side by side with Felicia, staring down this massive boss monster before us, I find myself thinking back to how I ended up getting involved in Quests in the first place. 

It was only a week before Rose would go missing. My parents had managed to salvage an old uplink system to let me enter Lanadel. Life in the slums was hard for all of us, but they wanted me to have an escape for when times were really bad. 

I had tried to get Rose interested in joining me. I knew she had access to an uplink system and I thought it’d be a great place for us to explore and spend time together. Even if I hadn’t been willing to admit it at the time, I was already starting to crush on the prickly teen. 

Rose hadn’t been terribly interested, so I ventured forth on my own. My first challenge came immediately after logging in. I had to design a proxy body. Most people use the built in generator to make their Lanadel representation, and I was no exception. I spent hours agonizing over my appearance, but every masculine form I considered just wouldn’t fit. I found them off putting in ways that didn’t make sense to me at the time. So without a better frame of reference, I assumed it was because I wasn’t attracted to men.

With a flawed understanding of the problem, I decided to make a feminine body for myself. Beautiful blonde hair, soft features, killer curves, the works. Did I look a little bit like a stereotype? Maybe. But did I also feel more connected to that shape than any others? Absolutely.

I spent hours and hours in Lanadel. So much so that it wasn’t until a week after Rose went missing that I really took notice of her disappearance. After that, I lost myself in the digital reality. Every single time I came out, I felt awful and I couldn’t understand why. I’d avoid eating and skip classes and spend every waking moment in Lanadel. 

My relationship with my parents started to falter, and I struggled to understand why I couldn’t handle existence in meatspace. 

The frustrations built up and ate at me until I was just as miserable in Lanadel as well. That’s when I took up questing. I needed an outlet for my pain, something I wouldn’t feel bad about. I initially took on the rogue class. It was admittedly so cliche, and I didn’t even realize how much of an edgy teen I was being.

I’d throw myself into battles with monsters over and over. I died multiple times, the only thing saving me were the standard respawn mechanics. Eventually someone came to save me, even if I didn’t realize I needed it.

Matira Ironwood was her username. She had rescued me from what would be another painful death. I, admittedly, didn’t react well to her gentle chiding over my recklessness. She saw through my anger and vitriol and just waited patiently for me to calm down. 

When the harsh, hurt emotions had drained from my body and I slumped to the ground. Matira wrapped me in a hug and asked me what was wrong. What had me so hurt that I lashed out like I did. 

At the time, I couldn’t really put it into words, but somehow she just got it. She immediately recognized how much meatspace was hurting me after I got to experience Lanadel. She told me a story about her youth, and how she experienced similar things. When I asked her what the problem ended up being, she explained that she was trans. She explained what that meant and I just knew that was the word. The word that summed up my recent experiences. 

I logged out shortly after that encounter, and rushed to tell my parents, only to find someone I hadn’t expected present. My aunt, Lonnie, was having a hushed conversation with them. I had debated waiting, but they quickly revealed that Matira Ironwood, the player that had saved me in more ways than one, was none other than my aunt. My parents had asked her to check up on me, since they knew she had her own presence in Lanadel. 

It was like a pressure valve had been released after that. I finally had a way to express my hurt and struggles. Things were difficult for a while, I couldn’t really start my transition properly until we had money for the needed procedures. Aunt Lonnie helped as much as she could but her financial situation wasn’t much better than ours.

Fortunately, I was smart. I took my time and focused on my career. I was able to get a job as a line cook shortly out of high school. I saved up, so that eventually I could open my own restaurant. Eventually, with the success I had found, I was able to have my dream transition and could live the life I wanted.

I still ran quests in Lanadel from time to time. I had switched from a rogue to a healer, and focused on helping people. And any time I found someone who seemed to be running from their life, I would offer them a patient ear and some helpful advice. 

****

Shaking my head to clear the memories, I reign in my focus for the monumental task at hand. A tank and a healer could hold a line for a long time so long as both worked together, but even I have my doubts about how well we can stem the tide of monsters. 

Something about this whole situation strikes me as particularly odd as well. Why are there so many monsters trying to get into Rose’s tower? Something tells me that Willow might have an idea or two about that.

“Why are they just standing there?” Felicia asks, her voice quiet. That’s something else that’s weird. The creatures before us just stand there, squaring off against us. Or they were until Felicia spoke.

The elephantine boss monster raises their massive weapon and trumpets loudly. The hundreds of vicious creatures behind them swarm around their legs as if a dam had been broken, releasing a tide of water. 

Felicia lets out an annoyed sigh and rushes into the wave of enemies with her shield raised and her spear striking out. She pierces one of the monsters in the skull, immediately destroying it. Rose must have provided her with some significant buffs to allow her to one shot something so easily. 

I don’t want to rest on my laurels though, so I swing my staff and cast a protective barrier on my red-headed tank to lessen the pressure on her. I quickly follow it up by spreading out a wave of searing light that solidifies into a dome of bright white flames. 

“Try and draw them in here! It’ll weaken them!” I call out to Felicia as she trades blow after blow with a serpent like monster. She nods and begins taunting the enemies so they’ll follow her inside. As they cross the flaming threshold, the radiant light clings to their flesh and causes a steady burn that slows them down. 

We settle into a steady rhythm of combat. Felicia’s every spear thrust dispatches an enemy, while they clamor against her shield. I heal any damage she takes, while protecting her from afar. Occasionally I throw out beams of light, or other offensive magic to take out the enemies just out of my tank’s reach. 

While we fight against the seemingly endless tide of foes, the boss monster just watches us. They almost seem to be studying our tactics. This sort of behavior is what makes boss monsters all the more dangerous. The AI quest givers describe how the malicious virus-like code can attain the beginnings of sentience. There had been some debate over whether they should be allowed to develop fully, but given their increasing aggression, most agree that it would be too dangerous. 

Eventually thought, it seems to have seen enough as it raises its large club and swings it down on Felicia. I only have a few seconds to react as I conjure a more potent barrier on the tank. For her part, Felicia raises her shield and takes the blow like a champ. Unfortunately, that seems to have been the monster’s plan all along.

While her shield is facing up to block the massive mace, it leaves her sides and front open to coordinate attacks from the smaller creatures. I try to keep a barrier on her to stave off the onslaught, but it’s too much and the shimmering shield begins to crack. 

This is not looking good. How long have we been fighting for? Is Rose almost done? I’m tempted to try and message her, but I don’t want to risk delaying her further. 

It’s time for a change of tactics. I reach out with one of my class skills and yank Felicia back towards me. The boss’ club crashes where she was mere seconds ago. 

“Thanks,” she breathes out heavily. “I don’t think just the two of us can defend this,” she says softly. She’s right. Even with her defenses and reach, and my healing and protective spells, we’re being overwhelmed. 

“Hey, can you get a message out of Rose’s tower to someone and leave them a path to teleport in?” I ask Felicia. An idea comes to mind, though I’m sure Rose will hate it. Without help though, we’re royally screwed. 

Felicia eyes me curiously before nodding. “Probably, but unless they are actively looking at their messages, I doubt they’ll get here in time,” she points out. I know that, but I also know how to ensure the message is received as quickly as possible. 

“That’s fine,” I say as I summon up another layer of barriers around us. The monsters are pressing against us from all sides and we’re going to be overrun any moment. Even with the fact that we’ll respawn in the tower, we won’t be able to get out here fast enough to stop them from getting inside. 

I quickly compose a message for my aunt. She’s one of the best questers I know, and with her help, we might actually manage this. 

After I came out to my parents, and after the early stages of my transition, I still spent a lot of time with my Aunt Lonnie, both in and out of Lanadel. I talked about Rose a lot and we both agreed that she came off kind of eggy. I always knew that there’d be a chance I would need back up if I ever met Rose again, so we agreed on a code phrase. If I sent her a message with the title, ‘Victorious Eggs over Hard’, she’d be immediately alerted to it in a way she couldn’t ignore. 

Felicia takes my message and routes it to my aunt, making sure to keep it from being easily traced back here for anyone who doesn’t have the right ID. 

I’d wanted to believe that she’d get here fast enough, but not even seconds after the message is sent, my barrier collapses and we’re overrun.

Waking up after a death sucks ass. You’re sore, and weary and you can clearly remember the pain, muted as it is, from dying. It’s meant to discourage people from being reckless. Still, we don’t have time to rest as we can hear crashing from down below. 

The two of us take up a defensive position at the door that leads to the base of the tower. Fortunately we’re not entirely alone as Rose’s tower’s defenses come online and reinforce us. Each protocol is made to look like a suit of armor that had been standing in recessed alcoves as decoration.

Goddamn my girlfriend is such a nerd. I fucking love it. 

I step back a bit as the door bursts open and Felicia and the suits of armor push back against the waves of enemies. Fortunately with their being a choke point, it’s much easier to keep them pushed back. No sign of the boss monster though. Or my aunt. 

The suits of armor go down one by one as the battle continues. Felicia has died a few times from piercing blows that slip through her digital armor’s gaps. It makes me certain that the boss is instructing its minions from below as that sort of precise attack is a bit more than your average monster can come up with. 

We’re down to the last suit, with Felicia having just gotten back up after her third death when the tower shakes. I rush to one of the windows and see that the boss monster has begun slamming their mace into the base of the tower. Each swing cracks the stone work, and it’s only the strong construction of the building that prevents it from shattering. 

“That’s not good,” I mutter under my breath. I glance over my shoulder at Felicia and point down. “It's trying to take the whole thing out. What should we do?” I ask her as I rush back to reinforce her and the last suit. 

“I’m not sure there’s much we can do,” she admits as she shoves a monster back, causing a few more behind it to topple over. 

Just as we’re about to try and ask Rose for help, she messages us preemptively. “Hey Summer, there’s a Matira Ironwood asking for entrance. Says she knows you. What’s that about?” I grin. 

“Let her in, that’s my aunt, she’s here to help!” I yell back, maybe a little louder than I need to.

The moment I say that, the air is filled with a violent whistling noise before the tower shakes suddenly, worse than before. But then all goes silent.

The monsters break the silence as they begin to screech in a panic and high tail it back down the tower. 

We leave the last suit of armor, who I have affectionately named Armand, to watch the door while we chase the fleeing creatures. We follow them all the way down the stairs and to what was once a presumably hidden entrance. 

Peaking our heads out, we look just in time for another shrill whistle to sound, followed by the boss monster crashing against a thick tree trunk.

“What the hell is happening?” Felicia demands. “How’s she doing that?” I shake my head and nod to the distracted hordes before us. 

“Worry about that later, let’s clear out the fodder while their boss is too busy to lead them,” I suggest. The heavily armored tank smiled widely before following my advice. 

We make quick and steady work of the standard monsters now that they don’t have the boss to coordinate them. Once the grounds outside the tower are clear of the chaff, all that remains is the boss and the rather petite looking elven woman before them. 

My Aunt Lonnie’s character has a name that suggests she’s a big burly tank. But she couldn’t be further from that archetype. She’s small, thin and fast. She admitted to once trying to pull off the manly front liner style but quickly found lightning fast devastating strikes to be more her speed.

The ear grating whistling is from her signature move which she calls the ‘Sonic Corkscrew’. As Felicia and I watch, Aunt Lonnie kneels down and launches herself in a swirling vortex of wind and lightning into the boss monster, once again sending it flying. 

Landing on the ground, my tiny aunt looks at us with a grin. “Well c’mon girls, join the fun. You can get some experience out of this too,” she laughs while gesturing for us to join her. 

Felicia stays back, saying that she should make sure we didn’t miss any and keep the tower entrance secure. So that just leaves me to join up with my aunt to defeat this ugly thing.

“So, is that your friend?” Lonnie asks with a smirk. I shake my head, though I’m smiling pretty widely.

“She’s upstairs. It’s a long story, though how much we share will depend on how much you want to get involved,” I explain. “We’re in some… well, heavy trouble,” I admit. “And while I don’t want to involve you, I won’t lie, we need all the help we can get.”

“Oh sweetheart,” my Aunt sighs. “I kno- hold that thought,” she looks back at the boss. “Hey, can you still do that haste spell?” she asks with a cocky grin. 

Heh. Oh fuck. She’s already way too fast. How fast would she be if I- ?

I nod and she lays out her plan. 

She catches the beasty’s attention and draws it away from me while she finds a nice spot to use as a runway. When she’s in position, she raises her hand, signaling me to hit her with the haste buff. The moment I do, lightning crackles off her body as she takes a starting position.

The boss monster is smart enough to try and take cover, but they aren’t nearly fast enough. With a thunder-like crack, my aunt takes off flying into the monster, piercing right through their chest in an explosion of black ichor. 

She comes to a stop next to me with a wild expression and pats me on the shoulder. “Alright kiddo, let’s go meet this friend of yours,” she announces before heading for the door.

I put my hand on her shoulder to make her wait. “I’m not sure if that’s ideal right now,” I admit. “Like I said, we’re in some pretty nasty trouble. I don’t want you to have to get involved if we don’t have to.”

Aunt Lonnie pats me on the shoulder before pulling me into a hug. “Hey, kiddo, it’s alright. I know all about the trouble you’re in.” 

Pushing her back, I stare at her in shock. “What? How?”

“You’re all over the news, LOG has put out a hefty bounty for you all.”

End Chapter 13