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"A-are you alright?" I was concerned.
"Fuck," she whispered now, "when the fuck did I become the idiot who rages at noobs?"
She looked on the verge of tears, and I wasn't sure how to react.
She took a few long minutes to compose herself, before standing up.
"Come on, we need to burn these corpses," she muttered blankly, but I couldn't help but notice the absence of her usual playfulness in her voice.
We gathered the bodies and made a pyre using some of the firewood that Serra made sure we'd stocked up on after our tree slaying expedition, and set them ablaze, before setting up camp on one of the hills that overlooked the valley.
Serra appeared to be deep in thought, and we ate in silence by the light of the camp fire.
She seemed curiously sentimental and I wondered what was going on in her head, but she never spoke up even as we set up our tent, and as we got ready for bed things were more awkward than ever.
I lay down and she gingerly climbed on top of me, still silently brooding.
She was still for a bit, and I began to wonder if she'd drifted off already when she spoke:
"You probably hate me, don't you..?"
I thought about the question carefully, before responding:
"No. I don't. Why do you think that?"
"I yelled at you."
"Yeah- well I kinda did fuck up..." I countered.
"No. I knew what your skill level was getting into this. I made the choice to take you along. It was my error, not yours."
"Still-"
"It's okay, you know. A lot of people hate me- so I understand-"
"Hey-" I sat up a bit, and she moved off of me. "Where is this coming from?"
She gave a little bitter laugh, "Seriously, you don't know? Gamers can be some of the cruelest people on earth... you don't even need to suck to get yelled at... When we started playing competitive league, my teammates yelled so much I started yelling back, but they were assholes so I never really thought much of it. But I kinda always thought I would be different; that I wouldn't yell at noobs for sucking; but I yelled at you even though I knew it was ridiculous for me to expect you to instantly play outside of your tier." She sighed, "one little death scare and I lost it."
I still felt pretty bad.
Serra was an amazing player, and I had the distinct feeling that I was just holding her back.
"Why'd you really offer to party up with me?" I asked, and she shrugged.
"Having even one person with you makes a world of difference in this game, and you fit the bill perfectly; you listen, you don't outright suck, and you seemed like a half decent human being by my standards."
"Wouldn't someone more skilled be a better match?" I asked.
"Hah- you clearly don't know what it's like being a girl in the world of professional gaming. Even when you play with players below your tier, you have your every decision questioned, everyone acts like if they know better than you do, and you get the added bonus of almost always being sexualized in every possible manner. Soloing was less of a choice and more of something I was pushed into."
I chuckled a little.
"For someone who gets sexualized a lot you sure come onto me pretty often."
She shoved me in the chest.
"Jackass! Just because I hate being sexualized by every fucking loser that walks through the door doesn't mean that I don't have a sexuality of my own!"
I studied her, then held up my hands apologetically.
"You're right- I'm sorry."
She rolled her eyes, then sighed before reluctantly climbing back into position on top of me.
She shifted around a bit uncomfortably, before she spoke again:
"Are you sure? That you don't hate me, I mean? Synergy didn't seem to get better- at all..."
I thought about what she'd said for a bit, before suddenly sitting up and gesturing for her to get off.
"Hey- What gives?" she complained.
"Just get up," I chided, nudging her off of me and onto her side.
She was about to continue her protest when I slid over to her, pressing my body into her back, and putting an arm about her, pulling her in tight.
I put my other arm under her head, and she nestled herself into the nook between my arm and neck, and I caught myself just as I was about to give her a little kiss on the back of her head.
Fuck, I thought to myself, I really do miss Kelly.
She nuzzled my arm, and gave a little satisfied sigh.
"Are you sure you don't wanna do the other thing?" she asked, rolling her hips against my pelvis; but all it did was earn her a little warning smack.
"Behave," I warned, and she whined softly in protest.
She squirmed a little bit in my arms before placing a hand on my own hand, which rested on her stomach.
"This is nice..." she muttered absently, before suddenly asking "Is this how you and little sis slept?"
I began coughing as the unexpected question caught me off guard, and left me distinctly flustered.
"Uh- not exactly," I responded, clearing my throat, and she giggled a little.
"Have you ever?"
"What?"
"Slept like this with someone..."
Before I could think, images of going to bed with Tracey flashed in my mind, and I flinched instinctively at the sting that came with the recollection.
"Yeah..." I answered softly.
"Oh... well- she must be lucky," she mumbled, before settling down.
I let the words hang in the air, but it didn't take long before Serra's breathing pattern softened, and became more consistent, and I realized she'd actually fallen asleep.
She was right about one thing, though. I'd forgotten how nice it was to just have the comfort of another human being there when I slept.
Not that it had ever really been comforting, sleeping like this with Tracey; but what it really made me think of was Kelly.
Sure we'd slept together from time to time, but I never had the chance to really hold her like this.
This situation was so surreal. Kelly was probably lying a few feet away from me in a hospital bed right now, but we might as well be a million miles apart.
It made me miss my sister more than ever, and I drifted off wondering what it would be like to hold her like this, not in the game, but with our real bodies.
***
When our alarms went off the next day, Serra woke up with a disgruntled moan.
"Ugh- five more minutes?"
I sighed.
The fact that sleep had been really peaceful and comforting actually annoyed me a little.
She turned over, still in my arms, and I found her closeness suddenly stifling.
Serra rolled me onto my back, positioning herself on top of me, before stretching out on top of me like a lazy cat after a long nap.
As she arched her back, thrusting her breasts out invitingly, and I fidgeted nervously as their softness pressed first into my chest, then slipped forward, hanging enticingly over my face as she moved forward, suspending her body above me by her hands which were placed on either side of my head.
I was about to ask her what she was doing when she relaxed her legs, allowing her pelvis to brush against my front.
"Seriously? Nothing? Not even some morning wood?" she asked with a giggle, and I groaned in disapproval.
"It's too early in the morning for you to be misbehaving," I scolded, and she shrugged:
"I guess I just can't help myself around you," she added playfully, before I sat up, forcing her off of me.
She gave a little pout, before crawling out of the tent.
I followed her out and was greeted by the sight of Serra stretching again, bathed in the soft orange rays of the early morning sun, and letting out a loud satisfied sigh.
"What a great day to kill a lich!" she muttered with a huge smile, and I nodded, smiling a little despite my anxiousness.
***
We stood over the mound where the Lich's lair was located surveying the scene.
"Doesn't look like anyone's here yet," she noted, and I studied her with a puzzled look.
"You expect that someone will come?" I asked, and she nodded:
"Duh! A Lich appearing so close to a starter town is pretty rare. I'm sure word would have spread from your friends by now."
"I don't think they would-"
"-I don't work with ifs and buts, buddy. Ideally I would have wanted to kill it the same day, but I needed a partner to get it done. Best case scenario; a bunch of noobs come by and just get wiped. Worst case- someone like me comes around with the same plan."
"Okay, so what do we do?"
"This," she muttered with a playful smile as a few lizards and a bird came along, drawn to the greenish glow at her hand.
"There- there and there, let them watch out for players," she muttered, pointing out certain spots that she wanted my critter friends to keep watch on, before adding: "No scanning unless I say so, got it?" and I nodded.
To be safe she prepared a few alarm rituals around the ruins, and I managed to befriend a hawk, whose screeches we could hear from miles away, to alert us if anything at all got nearby.
Serra activated her Chameleon cloak and using my synergy, I kept a hand on hers and we sneaked in.
Serra took a deep breath:
"Okay- I can fight this thing for forty seconds max; you take longer than that and we both die," she whispered, in a last minute review of the plan.
"I know, I know," I muttered, trying to concentrate on the task at hand.
My lizard friends confirmed that he was indeed in the throne room, so we approached it while Serra put the finishing touches on her silence ritual.
"Josh- please don't fuck up my silence this time," she muttered, and I gulped, before nodding.
She took a deep breath, and we were about to go in when she pulled me back one more time:
"One more thing: you can't lose sight of it when we're leaving- you need to mark it before you lose sight, okay?"
I nodded again, but as she activated the silence spell and we moved for the entryway, she gulped nervously and my eyes shot open with surprise:
You're nervous? You can't be nervous! I thought to myself, and a little bit of panic momentarily gripped me, but as we entered the room with the seven foot tall skeletal monstrosity and I took her hand, I conjured an image of Kelly, walking ahead of me as she always had before looking back and holding out her hand for me, and as I activated synergy, a curious warm sensation fluttered through me.
Serra looked back at me with a strange look that I could not place, before looking forward at the enemy we were about to take on.
"Lightning shackles," she muttered, and as the green glow appeared at her hand she aimed it at the Lich, firing a web of light which wrapped about it, and giving us just enough time to make it behind the pillars on the opposite sides of the entrance before the light broke into fragments and an icy spike shot across the room just to my right.
I took a deep breath, before putting our plan into action:
"Slice!" I yelled, swinging my hand as I activated the ability. I made several slices through the pillar I stood at, and as the stone began to crumble and the pillar gave way, Serra raised her hand, holding onto the pendant that hung from her neck as she brought forth the sword shaped lights from her suspended animation skill.
The pillar creaked a bit, before the first light appeared beside me, freezing it still and I dashed to the next pillar as Serra fired another lightning shackle at the lich.
As I sliced through the second pillar, I had to marvel at the sheer brilliance of her plan.
I mean sure, everyone knew that the lair of a Lich was corrupted by his very presence; but who would have thought that the divine lights of suspended animation would have affected the lair itself just as it had the Lich?
Two down, six to go, I thought, as the second sword shaped light appeared at this pillar.
We repeated the steps three more times before a pulsar force emanated from the center of the room, knocking both myself and Serra off our feet just as a mighty screech came bellowing from the lich.
Shit, I thought.
Serra had predicted that the lich would possess some means of ending the silence effect, which would directly impede his ability to cast spells and limiting him to the ice spike ability that he activated using his staff; but as the towering monster aimed a bony finger right at me I froze in panic.
"Sanctuary!" Serra cried out, just as a wicked looking sword appeared out of thin air in front of me, and a white light appeared in front of me just as the blade swung, causing it to vanish in in mid slice before reappearing in full swing in front of Serra.
The blade cut a large gash across her shoulder and she cried out in pain before shouting:
"Move, idiot!"
Her spell had protected me, I thought, as I dashed to the next pillar and cut through it just as Serra's light shaped sword appeared.
Her suspended animation ability was one which she could use only once per day, and typically it would only allow her to suspend all dangers in a radius marked by the sword shaped lights for five seconds; but she had discovered that if she slowed the activation sequence down, activating instead one single light at a time, she could increase the overall duration to forty seconds, instead suspending only small areas at a time.
But it would all end as soon as the final light was cast, and if at any point she delayed the activation by too long a time, the effect would end immediately.
Quicker, I told myself, knowing that she couldn't delay the sequence by much.
As is, she was concentrating on the suspension ability while casting spells to distract the lich.
"Lightning shackles!" she called again, as another sword sliced at her leg this time, causing her to hobble a little behind another pillar.
I moved quickly, slicing through another pillar then without pause I dashed to the next and began slicing there as well as another light appeared at my side.
Serra shot me a thankful glance, but as she was about to activate the final light, the lich raised his hand, creating three swirling beams of fire, and I quickly put my hand to the ground:
"Earth tremor," I muttered, and the ground shook causing the first two beams to crash into the wooden shelves just behind where Serra stood, and the final froze as the light appeared above him, slowing his movements to a slow motion crawl.
I retreated to the entrance behind me and cast my mark skill on the lich, then dashed from the building just as I heard a loud explosion.
Fire storm, I thought to myself.
A skill that cost close to five hundred thousand gold, and which she had just used in combat for the very first time.
Despite the life threatening danger that the game presented, I found myself somewhat wishing that I could have seen it explode into the room, but the feeling was short lived as the very ruins seemed to be crumbling around us.
I got to the entrance and looked up in time to see Serra leaping from the top of the ruins, presumably casting feather fall on herself, as she landed with a roll at the foot of the entry stairs; and I ran down the stairs to meet her.
We watched as the entire lair came down with a crash, and I nodded at Serra as my mark vanished, indicating that the Lich had indeed met his end.
"How do we kill a lich, Josh?" she asked with an expression of mock thoughtfulness, and I rolled my eyes at her:
"We bury him in his lair," I responded.
She was panting and laughing all at once, and for the first time I laughed with her, as we hastened away from the ruins, but just as we made it to our safe point, a loud cawing sound came from an eagle far above us, and Serra and I exchanged a concerned glance.
"Think we need to worry?" I asked, and she pulled me with her at once, leading me to one of the nearby camps.
She dragged me into one of the make-shift shelters there, then pulled me close, wrapping herself tightly against me, before retrieving an amulet, and draping it over us.
"Josh, use synergy- quick!" she muttered, and I did as she asked.
As we hid, she was panting, and up close I got a proper look at how bad her wounds really were.
"Can you heal that?" I asked, and she shook her head.
"Really low on magic- it'd hurt more to cast it than it would to just let it heal," she muttered with a wince. "I kinda skimped on the low level heal spells anyway... because they don't do much in combat."
She was clutching onto me, her nails digging into my flesh, and I realized that she must be in extreme amounts of pain.
"Hold still," I whispered, as I retrieved the herb kit from my inventory.
While I was still with Kelly, I had made it a practice to gather whatever useful medicinal herbs I could, making use of her class's survival skills, and using them to make medicinal salves in case Kelly ever got hurt.
I applied one of the salves to Serra's shoulder, and she winced a little, tightening her grip on me once more. Her teeth were gnashed and her breathing choked as she tried to bear the pain, and I stroked her hair soothingly as I waited for the salve to take effect.
"Jeez, what's in that thing," she muttered after a little while, inspecting the wound on her shoulder with a surprisingly pleased expression.
"Ginseng, valerian roots and garlic," I replied, and she chuckled:
"We'll call it 'Josh's miracle cream' and sell it and make millions," she muttered, half-teasingly.
"What does that amulet do?" I muttered, and she smiled smugly:
"Amulet of proof against detection," she replied, and I suddenly remembered that I had used my scanning ability on the day when we'd met her and it didn't detect her at all.
"That's pretty useful," I muttered appreciatively.
"Right?" she beamed, and I ruffled her head to her chagrin:
"I'm not your kid sister, Josh," she scolded me, and my face went red with embarrassment.
My lizard companions indicated that there were four of them, all of which we were reasonably sure were other players (try asking a lizard to differentiate between a goblin and a human, it'll be fun, I swear), so I applied the salve to the gash on Serra's leg, and she settled into her place pressed tightly against me as we waited out our unwanted guests in our cramped little hideout.
Serra was quiet for a little bit, before her chatty nature resurfaced:
"You know, I've been giving you more than ample opportunities to cop a feel. Are you sure you aren't gay?" she asked with a seriousness that bothered me.
"No- jeez, can't a guy show some decency without having his sexuality questioned?"
"Well I know you weren't snuggling with little sis like we did this morning, and you aren't married... soo- girlfriend?" she asked, and I sighed.
"Is this really necessary?"
"Yeah- we're bonding! Synergy might have worked today but it still needs to be a lot better if you and I are going to get anywhere."
I sighed.
"No girlfriend," I muttered, and she studied me.
"So where'd you learn to hold a girl like that?" she asked, and I looked away.
"Ex-wife, I guess."
"Holy shit, ex-wife? Wait, are you like some forty-something year old weirdo with kids or something? Because then I take back all of my flirting."
I rolled my eyes.
"I'm twenty three."
"And divorced? Well shit- I guess that's worse than being twenty-three and still married though," she added with derision.
"So wait- who's the special someone? Are you like, still in love with your ex-wife or some stupid shit?"
I shook my head.
"Just leave it alone please?" I responded, practically begging, but she was oblivious to my discomfort.
"I'm starting to take this personally, you know," she muttered, a little gloomily.
We ended up eating lunch while hiding, and a little while later my lizard friends came with the news that the group had inspected the ruins for a bit, camped out there for lunch then headed off soon after.
