Radical-9

CHAPTER 13: Romeo and Juliet

February 24^th, 2022

2:00 am

The light dissipates around us, we've arrived back on the second floor. The larger-than-life trees bounce up around us, shading the ground below. We've brought enough potions so that even an alchemist might take a spit take. We've also shopped smart by buying extra teleport crystals. Fortunately, we were able to do so before Klein got us kicked out by flirting with one of the shopkeepers. I feel if we stayed for any longer we might as well have.

The three of us step out from on the pedestal and begin walking, a branch cracks out from underneath my boot. I look down and see the splintered wood. I reach down and pick it up, the branch isn't completely separated, as the one piece dangles off of the other by a thread. It seems every part as a normal branch. It makes me think back to the lower level of the castle right at the beginning of the game, where I kept close the sound of the crackling fire. This is a fake world, yet some things are just so real. Some real time was spent on moments like this, moments that for just one moment can trick you into believing this is anything but reality.

At the same time, it seems the opposite amount of attention was given to the gameplay. The balance is all off, and I think Jack Adata knows it. He's given obvious advantage to beta testers and has since forth refused to balance for anyone else. Well, somewhat, from what Klein said about me having this unique skill. I mean, is it possible that there are just players out there that receive skills at random, or am I a unique case? If so, why me? I'm no different in any of this...unless you count that contest I won. Maybe that Technodome worker gave me the skill, but why would that even be? Just then, an explosion shakes the earth, I can hardly hold myself up as I drop and throw my hand out to stabilize myself.

“What was that?” Klein asks.

“I don't know, let's see if we can just ignore it, I mean, it isn't anything we need to deal with, right?” Athena asks.

“Somebody could be in danger,” I say.

“Hey Dex, do you remember that thing about being careful that you would said you would work on?” Klein begins.

“Y-Yeah, but-”

“But...one part of that is knowing when to fight and when not to.”

“I don't like leaving people to die,” I say.

“Think of it this way, how many people will die in the time it takes to save those here, if there are even any at all? The more time we spend not trying to get out of here is more time that even more people can die. Needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few,” Klein says.

Is that really the best thing to do?

I'm shaken out of my thoughts as Klein grabs my arm and begins dragging me along, Athena running right beside him, “Trust me Dex, we need to start making some forward progress, and stopping for every little thing isn't going to help us.” We're running through the brush of trees, I hear an earth shattering roar from above, I think it might have been the sound from before, not so much an explosion at all, just the same ferocity. Klein looks up and begins to slow. I look as well and a swift black mass flies overhead. It flies so fast it is almost hard to tell, but it seems to be some sort of dragon, one with multiple heads and a large eight-pronged tail. Something red glistens from the center head’s neck. It’s a Keystone.

It flies so high that it becomes a small speck in the sky, it must be several hundred feet above us...even the entire jungle.

“I don't like the looks of this,” I say.

“We need to keep moving,” Athena says.

“Right.”

We pick up our pace as the large dragon comes soaring down, spitting out bursts of fire. It catches to the trees, causing smoke to begin bellowing. It swoops over the trees we're next to and then soars back up. Next one of its other heads spits out a purple mass of energy which opens into a portal, it flies right through and disappears. The jungle is burning in its absence, the fire spreads tremendously fast.

“I'm going to take a guess that if we get stuck in the middle of this we're toast,” I say.

“Not funny,” Athena says, beginning to run, leaping over a fallen burning branch.

“I thought it was pretty clever,” Klein says, smirking, following behind Athena.

I cover my mouth with my arm as I cross past the branch, following the both of them, “So, that beast is just gone,” I say.

“Right, we'll need to catch up to it at some point to get its keystone,” Klein says.

“That point isn't right now,” Athena says.

“Obviously,” I call out.

“Do you know where we're headed?” Klein asks.

“Not a clue,” Athena says, her breaths are short, staggered even. She halts on a dime as a nearby tree succumbs to the flames and nearly explodes in smoke. She veers right and keeps on moving. Klein looks back to me and I nod toward him.

“This whole place seems to be like some sort of labyrinth, it all looks the same,” Athena calls out.

We pass the fire, it spreads quick behind us, but for the second we've outrun the trail. The trees ahead of us haven't been burnt to a crisp yet. Up ahead I see that the trees begin to clear out, I think it might be another clearing, nearly void of the stupid things. We make it out, and in the middle of the dirt there are two vines that run concurrently upward in a double-helix. In the middle of the vines is the stone pedestal, decorated in a very bright green with red runic marks emblazoned on it. I look up towards the sky, smoke entirely fills the area and shields the sky above.

“Come on, let's go!” I call out, running forward. I am swiping at the air, opening my inventory as I climb in between the two vines, making contact with the pedestal. The familiar white light surrounds us as I turn to watch the fire envelop the rest of the trees, it spreads to the trees beside them and even beside them. The whole place looks like one giant inferno, and then it is cut off by the white. I am breathing heavily as the world around me begins to deconstruct itself. I see Athena and Klein standing in front of me, their out of breath as I am.

“Smokey Bear would not approve,” Klein mutters.

Athena walks up to me and wraps her arms around me, I hold her close as the ground recreates itself underneath our feet. What used to be dirt is now replaced by a sort of cobblestone. Buildings arise in the distance, larger than the ones in Novus Dandé.

Around us a grassy plain filled with flowers and small greenery grows. A path of stone leads down to what seems to be a large town in the distance bouncing up to life. I turn, and behind me the grassy plain seems to continue on for eternity, shrinking into one single point in the distance alongside the horizon. The night sky illuminates the flower petals, reflecting off of them so they glow amongst our feet.

“Wow, that's absolutely gorgeous,” Athena says, still holding me close.

“Why don't you two kiss already?” Klein goads.

Athena gives him a look, and then turns back to me, planting her lips straight on mine, and then finishing to continue giving the look to him, “There, that's the second time, actually,” she says, and then lets go of me.

“W-Wow. I didn't actually think...well, I'm happy for the both of you. Just make sure you keep it together on the battlefield, okay?”

I look to her, her hair hangs close to her head, it looks full of sweat and clumps of dirt. We're all so weary and yet even still she catches my gaze. “Yeah, I'll keep my composure on the field,” I say.

“Good, I don't need you two going all Romeo and Juliet on me,” he says.

“I don't have any intention of being a complete moron,” I say.

“What do you mean?” Athena asks.

“They weren't the smartest of people, I mean, they hardly knew each other and killed themselves because of it,” I say.

“To be fair, we've known each other for less time then they did,” Athena says.

“Well, I don't really have any intentions of ingesting poison,” I say.

“Little too late for that buddy,” Klein says.

“Well then, Athena, do you have any plans of sticking a knife through your chest to complete the story, then?” I ask.

“Um, no, not really,” she says.

“Who would that make me?” Klein asks. “And let's start walking.”

I look to Athena who does so right back at me, we both grin as the words escape our lips in almost unison, “Tybalt.”

“Aw, I don't want to be the one that dies first,” Klein whines.

“You wouldn't die first, remember, Mercutio dies first?” Athena says.

“Oh, well then I'm second to die, great,” he says, his feet nearly dragging alongside the ground now.

“Dude, it's not like you're destined to actually become Tybalt. It's just a joke, you're a little hotheaded like him, that's all,” I say, chuckling.

“Yeah, I guess you're right.”

“Enough of this business, a laugh is all in good fun here, but I could use some rest. I don't know how much more I can run after that,” Athena says, picking up her pace, but only slightly.

“Okay, let's see if we can't find us an inn in this town up here, shall we?”

Sweet rest for even the shortest of times sake, each step seems to multiply in the weight I carry. I feel as if I run anymore then under this heavy burden do I sink.