It had been almost a week and the explosion was still the talk of the school. The day afterwards, everyone had tried to get to the top floor and get a good look over the devastation. Even now, James had heard plenty of rumours flying around, and the place was still cordoned off by several reams of police tape. There were rumours of a corpse being seen there, but no one mentioned dragons and the police hadn’t reported any deaths. James hoped Draconautis’ weird physiology made him melt before anyone found him or something.

  Most of the students had gone home at that point, other than a few sports clubs that were still playing in the ground below. James stood at the end of the corridor at the top floor of the building, which ended in a window overlooking the site. Even from here he could see the burn marks from where they’d bombed Draconautis. He was still struggling to believe that was real, or that he’d acted so decisively in a situation like that. And at the end…

  “James?” Patrick said, forcing James out of his train of thought. “We need to get home. It’s game time.”

  “Sure, sure,” he said, smiling. “Why are you still here?”

  “Detention. Why are you still here?”

  “I’m just lost in thought, I guess.”

  “At this time of night? You’re really lost.” Patrick walked over, looking out of the window as well. “What are you thinking about?”

  “What else could I be thinking about, Patrick?” James snapped back. His voice mellowed out. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound…”

  “I know. Truth is, I’m feeling that way too. Draconautis was a monster, what we did was self defence, but even then…”

  “It’s hard to get the image of him burning alive out of your head, isn’t it?”

  Patrick nodded. “God knows I’m trying.”

  “And then I…”

  “I don’t blame you but that was a little overkill.”

  “Even in death, he just wouldn’t shut up.”

  They both chuckled mirthlessly.

  “What follows is gonna be worse, though,” James said. “We’re going to have to do worse things to get to the bottom of this. Stronger monsters, more human ones. Can you do that?”

  Patrick looked surprised. “Y-Yeah. I guess. I don’t know, I’d rather cross that bridge when we get there. Are you ok with it?”

  “I’ll do what I have to. I said I’ll protect you guys forever. I keep my promises.”

  Patrick looked slightly shocked. “I’m glad about that. Just…don’t get overzealous about it.”

  James smiled and turned around to leave. “Alright. Let’s go play this game, then.”

  >>>

  Fast Travel Unlocked

  Sirensport

  James jumped off the carriage, thanked the driver and walked down the dirt track to enter Sirensport. The town started with ramshackle wooden houses on the outskirts but he eventually entered a district of strong stone buildings as he approached the port, the smell of salt and crashing of waves getting stronger. Fishermen and traders were passing him by, delivering items or food from the port.

  He stood in the middle of the street to take it all in. The game had always been pretty, but now he knew it was real, he suddenly realised quite how beautiful the world of Sable was. Everyone around him was a real person, one who had lived peacefully before Maximilian Kable appeared. Seeing them do the same monotonous NPC tasks day in day out, it was hard not to want to free them.

  He walked down to the port, surveying the area to find the boat they’d be on. Luckily for him, it stuck out like a sore thumb: a massive sailing ship in the midst of several fishing vessels, surrounded by guards. As James walked closer, avoiding the fishermen pulling their hauls up into the harbour, he could make out Amelia standing at the helm, looking out across the endless ocean.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  He walked up the pier the ship was situated on, the guards parting to let through one of the (assumed) saviours of Corinth. There were a lot of players milling about on the pier, checking their gear loadouts and item stocks before setting sail to the unknown continent. Among them, Grey and Patrick were talking.

  “Patrick,” Grey said, “I wanted to talk about what Draconautis said about me. They were bullshitting, I’ve never done anything in the past a-“

  “Did you kill someone?” Patrick asked.

  Grey looked at him incredulously. “What? No, I’ve never broken the law.”

  Patrick shrugged. “Then I don’t care. Whatever that thing was talking about was in the past. I know you better than Draconautis did, and I think you’re a good person, regardless of whoever you used to be. Happy?”

  Grey sighed. “Yes. Thank you, Patrick. I appreciate it.”

  “Anytime.”

  James walked up to them. “It’s good to see you two. How have you been doing?”

  “I’ve fully recovered now,” Grey replied. “I appreciate you guys hanging around the hospital for so long.”

  “Are you sure you can pay off the bills?” James asked.

  “Yes, and you can stop asking now.”

  “I’m good too,” Patrick said. “You ready to go to…what was it called again?”

  “The Hammerfell Republic,” Grey interjected. “Hopefully we don’t have to play the entire game to find the answers we’re looking for.”

  “This has been pretty short by MMORPG standards,” James said. He looked over his shoulder at the guards parting for another group of players. “Although it’s hard to think of it that way anymore.”

  “I’m trying my best to ignore it. If we just keep focusing on how anything works in this place, or the philosophy of what we’re doing and what we’ve done, we’re never going to get anywhere.” Patrick admitted. He looked at Amelia on the helm. “She’s gone full existential crisis over it, though. You might want to talk to her.”

  “You ok about it, Grey?” James asked.

  “I’m fine.” They smiled back. “I feel the same as Patrick. Let’s just keep our heads down and get going.”

  They boarded the ship, where a woman in a long coat was waiting for them. She had raven black hair tied in a ponytail, a cutlass hanging from her belt and an eyepatch over her left eye.

  “Welcome aboard!” She said in a surprisingly deep voice. “The name’s Sonya Vigilant. Captain of the Sanctuary, His Majesty’s finest off-the-record freighter. We’ll be taking a journey to Al’Vash port in Hammerfell, gonna take a few days. The water’s got some nasty beasts swimming about, and I’m banking on you keeping us safe. Talk to me when you’re ready to leave.”

  James smiled. “Sure, give me a minute.”

  He walked up to Amelia, who seemed almost mesmerised by the water.

  “I used to write off this game as some generic fantasy junk with fancy graphics,” She admitted. “Just another reason to spend time with all of you. Now I have no idea what to think of this place. With everything we know now, was what we did really the right thing? We’ve killed so many people…”

  “We had no idea anyone here was real,” James replied, leaning against the front mast, “and if we keep going, we’re going to have to do whatever the game wants us to until we find a solution to this insanity. If you don’t think you can do it, then you can duck out. We won’t blame you for it. I’m scared too. We all are.”

  “I wish I could hide how I felt as well as you and Grey do.”

  “We tried to teach you in high school. It didn’t work. We can’t really blame you for it. People like you and Grey don’t want to put up with bullshit. Grey learned, you didn’t.”

  “I know how other people want me to be. I hate it. That’s why I liked you back in the orphanage. You accepted me for me.”

  “I wouldn’t want it any other way.” James walked away. “Five more minutes and we’re going to start the journey. Make sure your potions are in order.”

  “I didn’t buy any,” Amelia shouted back. She looked back around at the nation of Corinth behind her. She could still see the capital behind her, the same looming presence it had been back when they first booted at the game. The only difference was that they were now on the other side, and it had a whole lot more holes in it. The world of the game would be stagnant, repeating the same cycle over and over for the sake of players. The victims of the Battle of Corigrad had been living out the worst day of their lives for two years. How could Amelia hide her hatred of that?

  She walked over to the other three, who were all standing around Sonya.

  “You ready?” She asked, before a text prompt reminiscent of the one they saw before entering Corigrad appeared.

  Warning

  The journey across the ocean will be long and arduous. You will not be able to leave for a long period of time upon entering. Logging out during this time will return you to Sirensport.

  Would you like to proceed?

  The group looked around at each other, nodding. James spoke before he pressed the button.

  “Lillian, Nolan, Kiula…Delarius…all those trapped in this nightmare. I promise you. This kingdom will fall.”

  With that, they accepted the quest, and the next step towards the world’s salvation.