The Eden Crisis

School is over and I am finally home. It’s the weekend, so I just toss my books and stuff by the door to do later. Jon is already in the game waiting for Jason and me. My twin moves past me and goes toward the basement where his VR equipment is located.

He stops at the door. “See ya in a few minutes, brother,” he says. He goes down and I head up to my room. My equipment sits on my desk, almost calling to me to put it on.

I pick up the helmet and put it in place. I plug it in to the wall and lie down in bed. “VR, deep dive initiate,” I command. The helmet activates, and I am pulled into the world of Eden.

I am standing in Indagatus and Jason/Vergil is waiting for me there. My brother puts up a fist. I return the favor and bump our fists together. Vergil hands me a ticket. “Cloud is waiting at the concert hall in Convivium,” he says. “Let’s go; it starts in ten minutes.”

We activate the Teleportation Sphere and transport to Convivium. I’ve never been here. It’s a continent that has no boss or any quests. Its only reason for existence is that it is where the battle tournaments and concerts are held.

I follow Vergil to the concert hall and we meet up with Cloud. He is sitting in the middle area. We take our seats next to him and wait. The place is beautiful, as I look around and take in all the detail.

The hall is done up in a striking red and black combination. At the rear of the stage is an artistic backdrop of the ocean while above the stage appears a large crystal. I think light is supposed to shine into it.

Sion comes out onto the stage and waves to us all. He greets and thanks us for coming to see him. As my brothers tell it to me, Sion is sponsored by Dignitas. In exchange for bankrolling his career, Dignitas receives free concerts in the game and is permitted to use Sion’s songs in its advertising.

Sion obviously agreed to the deal. There is another effect of these concerts, though. Sion’s magical abilities with song increase with each concert, making him the most powerful Siren class in the game.

Sion starts his singing and I am wowed. His voice is remarkable. I can’t tell if this is his magic or him naturally. As he continues, Sion clones made of water appear around him and act as dancers. One of the gifts of the Siren class is manipulating elements—weather, wildlife, monsters and even players. The tempo in the song is picking up, and Sion begins to dance majestically around the stage with the clones.

Everyone in the concert hall is going crazy over the song. They love it and I do too. The end of the song is coming close. Sion and his clones are going into their final positions. Sion is finishing it up. The clones all jump into the air and collide to form a large bubble of water.

As Sion finishes his song the bubble bursts into an explosion of light. He smiles and bows quickly. “Thank you!” He waves. “Thank you, all! I hope you liked it. As for my next song—“ he is cut off before he can go on to the next song by a crystal shattering above the stage.

A red light flies out into a dome shape over the area. Everyone starts to scream and run from the concert hall. Vergil pulls his swords out and runs toward the stage.

What is going on? I ask myself. I have no idea why people are freaking out or why my twin is running to the stage. As if sensing my confusion, my older brother looks at me. “That red dome is a duel area,” he says. “It is created when someone uses a duel crystal. They are very rare items and enable fighting anywhere, even in the cities where fights normally can’t happen. Someone is going after Sion. Let’s roll.”

Cloud pulls out his sword and runs to the stage. I pull Yggdrasil out and go with him. As I run up there I see fifteen or so men rush the stage to attack Sion.

Vergil tosses his kodachis into the air and pulls out a scroll. “I seek the light that dances through the sky, lightning!” Lightning shoots from the scroll and hits one of the men and knocks him away.

Vergil jumps into the air and catches his swords. He twirls in the air and uses a sword skill. “Twin-blade blast!” Energy shoots from the blades and hits two more men, making them slide across the arena floor.

Cloud and I finally get to the stage. Cloud uses one of his skills called Tri-Slash. One of the men is instantly killed and his body shatters. I hold up my right hand. “Water blast!” A stream of water shoots from me and hits another man. The attack knocks him off balance and gives me the chance to put him out of his misery. I thrust my sword into him and he screams before his body shatters. My twin finishes off the three he damaged moments ago.

That still leaves ten players. They surround us. Sion regains his composure and yells to us. “Cover your ears!” We all do as he says and a loud, sharp shriek erupts from Sion. The other players all fall to their knees in pain.

As soon as Sion stops with his shriek, we let go of our ears and charge. We take three more of the attackers out. The others quickly retake their positions and defend themselves from our offensive.

They begin putting up a real fight. These must be the strongest of the group. I place my hands on the ground. “Sinking earth!” I shout. They disappear into the void.

Sion makes his “weapon of choice” appear, and it is a violin. This is the way the siren class fights. They use music from instruments or songs. Sion plays a fast and angry-sounding melody. Thunderclouds appear and lighting bolts descend, striking all the remaining men.

Cloud, Vergil and I could use a triple skill, a unique ability with compatible classes. “Tetra strike!” we yell in unison before eliminating all of the attackers but one. He scuttles away until he smacks into the backdrop.

Vergil points a kodachi at his throat. “Who sent you to kill Sion?” he screams. The man shakes his head. “No, I will be banned.” Cloud places his sword on the would-be assassin’s shoulder and slides the sharp side of it against his neck. “If you don’t want SOLDIER to have you classified as a Player Killer and thus be the target of our constant hunting, you will tell us now!” he yells.

The man opens his mouth to speak but is interrupted by a scythe piercing his chest. We all look up to see Cain. He extracts his scythe from the player, and the man shatters into pieces.

Sion hugs Cain. “Thank you, Cain!” he exults. “You saved me, as always!” Cain doesn’t return the hug. The young singer lets go of Cain. We all put our weapons away.

I look at Cain. “Why did you kill him? We needed to know who sent him.” Cain fakes a yawn. “Clearly, you are not observant at all,” he says. “The crest on their armor was a crescent moon. They belong to The Knights of the Lunar Order.” That doesn’t explain who sent them, I say. “They were sent by the guild’s second in command, Leon,” he says dismissively.

I have to concede that makes sense. Cain is amazing. He is so confident and strong. We still need additional info, though, and I wonder if he has more answers. “OK, but that doesn’t tell us why they went after Sion.”

Cain shakes his head. “Do I have to hold your hand, too?” he says. “If I have to explain everything to you, how do you expect to learn anything?” Vergil growls at this insult towards me. The duel dome is still active. Crap! Vergil pulls out one of his swords and attacks Cain.

Cain smirks at the sudden confrontation, but before he can counter my twin, Cloud grabs him midair and holds him back. My older brother looks at Cain with annoyance. “Don’t insult or provoke either of my brothers,” he snaps. “Now tell us what you know.”

Cain frowns. “Fine . . . Leon intends to overthrow the leader of The Knights of the Lunar Order. However, in order to get the required support from the other guild members, he needs to prove his strength. They want to kill me, but first they needed to draw me out. Leon knows I come to everyone of Sion’s concerts, so he understood that to draw me out they had to attack Sion.”

The duel dome breaks apart and Cloud lets Vergil go. My twin puts his sword away and tosses a crystal onto the floor. A black portal opens before us all. Vergil looks back at us. “I’m going to Continent Twenty Three where The Knights of the Lunar Order reside.” Cloud sighs and puts me in his clutches. He makes me follow Vergil into the portal. Cain waves his hand and wishes us luck.

This is my first time at Continent Twenty-Three. I question whether it’s even possible for me to be here because I haven’t beaten the required continents yet. “Cloud?” He looks at me as we walk into the beautiful city. “The portal crystal allows players to bypass continents even if they haven’t beaten those continents,” he says. “The final ten continents are the only ones that are exceptions to the bypass.”

We follow Vergil as he goes towards a large white building made of marble. This building is massive and spectacularly beautiful. As we ascend the stairs to go inside, Cloud explains to me that The Knights of the Lunar Order are one of the largest guilds, and as they recruit more members, their guild headquarters keep getting upgraded.

We go inside the halls of the building. I can’t help but take in the beauty of everything. I almost lose sight of the others as they move on without me. I quickly catch up with them and follow them into a large open room.

The room is adorned with banners, paintings and other decorative arts. It’s almost as if a girl designed it. It definitely has the female touch. I scan my eyes around the room to get an idea of the players here. There are seven sitting in marble thrones. They are positioned in a crescent shape.

My eyes spot familiar strawberry-blonde hair. It’s her, Claire. Is she part of the guild? Vergil walks to the center of the crescent. The seven players look at him, Vergil and me as we come up to join him.

Claire looks at me and smiles but turns her attention to my twin. “Vergil,” she says, “what brings you here?” Vergil points to the man to Claire’s right. “Your second in command attempted to kill one of my friends. I am here to get justice.”

Claire looks at Leon and then back at us. “Is it justice you want, or revenge?” My brother scoffs at her words. “Is there a difference?” Claire laughs lightly. “Revenge serves one and justice serves all,” she says.

Cloud steps in front of Vergil. “Claire, you know how things work. Lucien will charge The Knights of the Lunar Order with PKing. That means members of SOLDIER will be hounding your guild constantly, and that’s not to mention the in-game fines.”

Claire sighs. “Always so serious, Cloud. You need to find someone to release all that stiffness onto.” Cloud blushes and Claire looks over at her second in command. “Leon, as you participated in an attempt to kill a player as a means to take over my guild, I am banning you from the order.” Leon leaps up from his throne in anger. “You can’t ban me!” he shouts.

Claire taps her chin as though she is reconsidering. “Yes, maybe banning is too extreme. I’ll tell you what; if you win in a duel against Vergil, you can have the leadership you so desire. If you lose, you are banned from the guild forever.”

Leon smirks. “All right. It’s sad you will leave the guild this way, Claire.” Leon flicks his white cape from his shoulders and walks over to the more-open area of the room. Vergil walks over to him.

We all gather around them to watch the fight. Claire steps between the two players. “The rules of the duel are simple,” she says. “This is a fight to the finish. Use whatever means you have to win.” Claire gives a wish of luck to both fighters though she clearly doesn’t mean it for Leon.

The two initiate a duel challenge. I’ve seen this option in the game menu, but I have never needed to use it. My understanding is that it’s like sending a “friend” invite on social media. You challenge the player, and once he or she accepts, the rules are determined for the fight.

A timer appears above them and counts down from ten. They each draw their weapons. The countdown hits five. Vergil takes a deep breath. I’m wondering how strong Leon is. He is the second in command; I wonder if my brother can win.

The countdown hits zero and Vergil charges a sword skill. “Twin slash!” He hits Leon early, getting in a good blow on him. Leon turns quickly, slashing with his sword. Vergil back flips out of the way and thrusts his own sword toward Leon.

The strong second in command reacts quickly, blocking and deflecting the attack and throwing Vergil backward. Leon jumps into the air and charges a skill. “Fated wave!” He spins in the air and a white wave of energy shoots from his sword into the ground. The energy redirects from the ground and hits my brother hard. His Hit Points drop below fifty percent.

Can Vergil do it? He can’t lose, can he? He shoves his swords into the ground and pulls out a scroll. He tosses it into the air and it unravels. As it falls Vergil catches it and wraps it around himself. “I offer up this seal to unleash the power of the dragon that rules the void!” he shouts. At that moment, a dark energy surrounds him.

He holds his hand up. “Gravity!” A wave of purple and black energy soars through the air and hits Leon, who is propelled through the crowd and into a wall.

We all are watching with wonder about who is going to win. Just then, Leon rushes back with his sword toward my brother, thrusting his blade at my twin. Vergil jumps into the air, narrowly missing the thrust, and manages to gracefully land on the sword and balance himself.

Leon looks at my brother with eyes agape. Vergil holds his hand up. “Gravitational crush!” Leon is forced to the ground by an invisible force. He clearly can’t move. Vergil stands over him and holds his hand in a victorious pose. “It’s over,” he says. “Flare!” A ball of red and golden energy shoots into Leon, who lets out a scream before his body shatters and the duel ends.

Vergil puts his swords away as we all walk toward him, clapping and cheering. He smiles at us and gives me and Cloud a hug. Claire walks up to us. “Congratulations, Vergil. I knew you could win. Justice is served.”

Cloud and Vergil teleport back to Indagatus, Claire stops me before I can follow suit. “Dante, meet me on Continent Six tomorrow,” she says. “I want to show you something.” I nod. “All right,” I say. “See you then.”