A/N: The concept for this story was inspired by one of my readers: PEJP BengtZone V2 to the point where this entry wouldn't exist if he/she didn't pitch an idea I found myself fascinated in while I had made a decision to put my other stories on temporary hold since I have just recently posted a chapter of Divinity. After posting long chapters, I like to take brief breaks.
While I know that this chapter is rather short by my usual standards, I wanted to keep this prologue brief since their time in Elder Tale in this story is going to be brief. The bulk of my creative prowess will be utilized in every other chapter of this story.
Theldesia Standard Time: [9:00] December 12th, 2018
Location: [Yamato Server - Streganna Keep]
After spending six months stranded in the MMO: Elder Tale because of an event known only as the Apocalypse, a group of six long-time foreign players from three different servers: Russian, West European, and Korean quickly found themselves trapped in the Japanese server after using fairy rings and although they did their utmost to hide the negative emotions, they finally had enough, especially with their fairly frequent skirmishes with the native Japanese guild: Plant Hwayden and decided to take matters into their hands as they ventured to the nearest fairy ring, Jotam discovering that, this particular ring at least, seemed to absorb magic since he was with Irina on a small dungeon run in the nearby Crystal Catacombs and when they were returning to their base, Irina attempted to heal Jotam since he took some hits but the mana expended was absorbed into the ring, with opinions going both ways on the matter
"This really a good idea Jotam? We're messing with things that we ought to be leaving alone. I get we're all unhappy being stuck here, but this seems dangerous, trying to supercharge a fairy ring with magic and all." Although she was appointed the leader of this six-man group, Aria rarely chose to pull rank since this wasn't her guild she was working with, aside from her close friend and fellow guild member among her girl-only guild Dream Legion: Lucia, having recruited her when she was a new player who didn't have any hint of knowledge regarding the game but Aria took the girl in regardless and mentored her to such an extent that she had reached the level cap of 90 in a single year.
"Well you haven't given us any sort of plan Aria. I am freaking sick of living in this damn world! I miss my family and I am not going to stand aside when this potential course of action could work in our favor. Think about it, Fairy Rings were designed to teleport people according to the lunar timechart back when this was a game. If we supercharge this ring with magic, we might be able to create a way back home. Cheol, Lucia, Irina, do it." Saying that Jotam was unhappy about the situation would be an understatement since he made no secret of it all, especially knowing that they all shared in it to some extent, but hid it to the best of their own abilities.
Although the Taoshi, Exorcist, and Cleric carried apprehension at this course of action, although knowing that they've been able to do things they'd never be able to do in an MMORPG, they shared Aria's unease about this level of 'freedom' of activity within the game world, but they all quietly obliged as they formed a triangle formation around the fairy ring, Cheol casting the Enchanter's ultimate trump card spell in Infinity Force to temporarily remove all of their ability cooldown periods and with all of the time each one of them has spent in this game, training their reflexes alongside their knowledge of each classes' skill enough that they each know the respective combinations, each one of them was able to unleash seven spells which were all immediately negated and absorbed all of the expended mana. After Cheol's Infinity Force had run its course, the fairy ring began to glow a bright white as six small spears of light pierced through them all and in the corner of their eyes, they rapidly saw both their HP and MP being drained
"Ugh...this is beyond...painful. Not even falling from my old school rock climbing hurt this much!" Lucia had to fight the urge to scream from the pain she is feeling at the current moment.
"It feels like...my soul is being torn asunder." Befitting his largely stoic nature, Ivan kept his exchange brief, slowly slumping to his knees alongside the others, seeing himself losing nearly one thousand HP and MP every ten seconds, suspecting the others are suffering the same fate as they too are in similar stances to him, from the heavily armored guardian: Jotam to the lightly armored swashbuckler: Aria and Exorcist: Lucia and the robe wearing cleric and taoshi Irina and Cheol.
"Well shit. While we did set up shop in Nakasu when we arrived in Yamato six months ago, we haven't been in that city once since Plant Hwayden took over. Well, that Nakasu Defense Front tried recruiting us to help fight off Hwayden, but they've been getting decimated battle by battle. Looks like we'll have no choice but to fight."
"We've been prepared for that possibility a long time now Cheol. Remember that we've been sabotaging Hwayden supply routes and bases from the shadows for the last four months. After that...this is nothing." Despite the pain coursing through her body, Irina carried enough mental fortitude to flash a confident smile towards the elven taoshi.
"Irina has a point...let those bastards come fight us! I dare them!"
Cheol could only give a weak smile of acknowledgement at his friend's words as he sees his comrades explode into pixels one by one, himself being the third to die followed by Ivanov, Aria, and Jotam since the trio are a Cossack (Samurai), Swashbuckler, and Guardian respectively which gives them more HP than Lucia, Irina, and himself as an Exorcist (Kannagi), Cleric, and Taoshi (Enchanter). However, following their deaths after working with the fairy ring; what Cheol and the others bore witness to after the empty expanse death in Elder Tale always presents differed greatly as, instead of the interior of the ornately decorated and built Nakasu Cathedral, they continued to see pure darkness, to such a level that they cannot see each other even though their voices could be heard around them
"Ivan? Cheol? Irina? Aria?! Are you guys around?! I can't see anything!" Despite her history as a powerful player, Lucia was still the youngest among the group at age 14, everyone else being adults, and occasionally finds herself in situations that cracks her yet-to-be developed sense of mental stability.
"You don't need to shout Lucia. I can you hear you just fine. But yeah...where are we? We ought to be in the cathedral by now." Having elected herself in a big sister role early on when the six players found themselves stuck in Yamato, Irina knew that it'd be better for them to remain close then divide since they are all stranded fish in a foreign tank.
"Yeah, this is messed up. We ought to be back in Nakasu. Er...could we have possibly have screwed up bad when messing with that Fairy Ring...What if Hwayden bought out the cathedral and prevented us from respawning?! Are we...Are we incapable of coming back to life?!"
"Take it easy Aria. Let's just...figure out what the heck is going on. We're in some dark void blinding our sight to such an extent that we can't see each other but-" Cheol tried keeping the mood light and relaxed, but he stopped halfway as he himself saw a faint light glow in the distance "Could that be a way back to Theldesia over there? That light over in the distance."
"Possibly. Let's go." Ivan once again spoke little as the sounds of his footsteps could be heard, quickly followed by the others following after him.
As the group walk through the pitch black corridor toward the light which is ever-growing as they approach, that said light slightly began to illuminate their bodies, but not enough to show their undying appearances and when each member passed through the light, they quickly found themselves outside a door on what seems to be a twenty foot tower, finding their appearances to be slightly altered versions of their game avatars and the moment they crossed through the light, they oddly felt much of their memory seemingly 'erased' as the first memories they can now recall were of the Apocalypse instead of their time on Earth, waking up in Theldesia though the sound of the door they crossed through slamming shut did little to alleviate their unease and after Aria attempted to see if she could activate the menu that was available to them in Elder Tale, she was met with nothing, only making herself look like a fool wailing her arms for no discernable reason
"That's not good. Looks like we're not in Kansas anymore...wait, what the heck does that mean?"
A/N: For a basic idea on what each of these characters look like, refer to my profile page where I have posted them (Full credit goes to the creators/uploaders.)