Oh wow, back to back chapters? Why you ask? Because I can! Things take a bit darker turn now friends, be prepared...

Bryson

We had all been working a few good hours. We had been killing the imps and doing our second prototyping.

I picked my Sylveon plushy for Me'mesprite and while sure she was all pink and stuff now, she had really cool powers! I don't think she minded all that much really I mean, not like she could…she was a sprite after all.

After I had that small mess figured out I agreed with both Mark and Nikki that we all needed to go out and gain some grist. I had asked Mark what he picked as a strife Specibus and I nearly died when he informed me that he had used his trumpet…I really should not have been surprised I mean he was a musical genius. Still the instrument did not seem like much of a weapon but he got along just fine and after maybe, I don't know three hours? Something like that. He texted me and informed that he should have enough to build up to his first gate.

Our sprites had told us about the gates that we needed to find and access them to get to our denizen but the first one lead to another players world. As soon as we all learned that our goal was to gather in one central area and discuss our next step! The first gate for everyone was a few hundred feet above our homes and not really too hard to reach.

I had had a lot of fun killing the small imps; I know that sounds a little off but really it was like being in a real life video game…which I guess it kind of is.

That is all beside the point though, what really mattered was that my mother had finally woken up, I had explained to her everything that was going on and she took it surprisingly well. She agreed that she should stay in the house and try not to get to involved seeing that she did not have any real weapon at all but she would keep the house safe with whatever she could find.

I finally had sorted out everything at home, I walked into my bed room and to my Alchemizer, I stared at the thing for a moment and got a really crazy idea. I had some left over grist from building and I sort of wanted to improve my knife.

Without another thought I went into the laundry room and dug around for a while before finding one of those tools you use to scorch wood or even melt metal, I grabbed it and ran back and quickly punched it in with the knife and for a low sort of price or grist I had a new weapon! It still looked like the same knife but now there was a button on the handle that turned the blade red hot, which could easily come in handy at some point. I decided I really liked this thing and would have to think of more cool stuff to make later.

Right now I was beginning to think of actually going through my first gate, I had no clue whose land I would go to but I was going to assume it was Marks. I mean that would make sense right? I shook my head and laughed at myself a little, when did anything make sense anymore?

Me'mesprite came into my room as I stood up from the Alchemizer; she looked at the new weapon with widened eyes. "That look dangerous Bryson, be careful in the house with it! Also you need to get going if you want to see all of your friends, you are the leader and it would not be polite to make them wait." She scolded and I just laughed a little.

"I would not call myself the leader! I mean, not really," I said as I checked my Sylladex making sure I had everything I would need for a while. Me'mesprite just shook her head and floated off to god knows wear.

I began the ascent toward my gate, walking up the new levels and staircases Nikki had made for me. I never knew she had an interest in architecture but she had done a really good job creating a steady working of platforms and stairs and rooms.

After a few minutes I was finally face to face with the little glowing green circle that represented my first gate, like everything else I just sort of assumed that I walked through it and then I would end up somewhere new. I took one last deep breath before I just stepped right through.

For a moment I felt suspended in space, like I was just sort of floating and everything was dark. Then I felt like I was falling and below me I could see a dark green version of the logo and I just phased right through it.

I landed with a small thud on what I can only assume was the roof of one of our friends home, I had not been prepared for the small gap between the gate and the ground but I only fell a few feet thankfully without harm! I picked myself up and dusted myself off and looked around.

I could see for miles! The air was hot and heavy with moisture. Great Cyprus trees grew out and around as far as I could see and there was a steady sound of croaking frogs that let me know this was defiantly a swamp. I had landed in Marks world.

I looked around for him, I walked down a few sets of stares before I heard music? My eyes darted around at the sound of the soft melody drifting up the stairs; obviously whatever was making the sound was down at the bottom.

I took out my new knife and continued downward, along the walls were bare and white with pretty much nothing notable and there were not branching rooms and platforms like there were in my home. This was a lot more strict and sterile as far as design was concerned.

The music stopped when I reached the bottom, finally there was some kind of decoration. The house was simple and smelled very nice! Sort of small if you ignored all the obviously added on part but really pleasant as a whole.

I was about to enter one of the rooms when the front door opened, and in walked the owner himself Mark.

My eyes widened a bit, he looked sweaty and worn and his trumpet hung loosely at his side in a sling that I could only guess he alchemized himself. He ran a hand up and through his short blond hair and he smiled when he saw me. Then before I could really react he crossed the short distance between and wrapped me into a tight hug.

"Thank goodness you are alright! This is all so crazy and no one is really replying which I guess is understandable seeing that we are all trying to build so we can see each other." He said with a breathy laugh as I just stood there a little struck.

I had returned Mark's hug but he had surprised me so I did not exactly catch all he had said so I just sort of laughed in agreement because I was unsure of how to reply. He let me go and stepped back, looking me over and after he was satisfied he let out a big sigh. "So, what now?" He asked with the most optimism I had ever seen a person have…ever.

I just sorta laughed again and shook my head, "Well I guess all that is left now is to meet everyone in the middle like we planned, I think that was Jason's world? Well anyway I think that is the plan." I told him, we all had come up with this on sort of short notice so I was still fuzzy on details.

When we were about to leave I noticed that there was no one in Mark's house except him…I was about to ask but I decided against it and closed my mouth quickly, I know if it were me I would defiantly not want someone pointing out that my parents were more than likely dead.

So without much more thought Mark and I made out way through gate by gate.

Our first stop was Rylan's world which I made a mental not of too never come back to, it was dark and gross and smelled like death, which I guess made sense since all of his consorts had a sort of plague that he was supposed to cure.

Mark and Rylan reunited with a big manly hug, you know the kind where they pat each other on the back and did not make many facial expressions because if they did it would seem too touchy feely? Yeah it was that sort of hug. Rylan did not say a word to me but I did notice the shield on his back that was all covered in this black stuff, so I assumed that was his weapon of choice which kind of surprised me. Rylan did not seem like the 'defender' type.

Thankfully we did not spend much time in Rylan's world and we quickly moved on to Brandon's. When we arrived Brandon was actually waiting for us and the first thing out of his mouth was,

"I swear this whole games fucked me in the worse was possible, it is a giant fucking maze…with mirrors Bryson, MIRRIORS…and a MAZE!" He yelled in a clearly irritated tone and it took everything in my being to not laugh at him. No one commented on the broom he was carrying with him either.

Then we were off to Mimi's! Her land in my opinion was absolutely gorgeous! It had this kinda of dusky feel and there were these rivers of Cadmium everywhere which is absolutely awesome because they were all shiny but she was really not all to impressed.

Finally we picked up Drew, when we entered Drew's world the first thing everyone noticed was that it was hot. All around us there were sounds of what I could only guess was wildlife but you could not see more that a few feet because of how thick the foliage was. I called out for Drew and I could hear her making her way but she sounded a bit far off, we all looked around a bit more and discovered that there were also a lot of exotic flowers and fruits but also that at the edges of the leaves and roots the plants were decaying. This must be her quest, to bring this all back to life, I thought to myself.

Finally Drew poked her head through the many vines and she instantly ran to me and wrapped her arms around my neck. I held her tightly and buried my own face in her long hair, I knew she wanted to cry but she was not going to do it here in front of everyone…she was too stubborn for that. So we settled with the most heartwarming reunion.

"Bryson, is mom alright?" She asked as soon as we parted. I gave her an encouraging smile.

"Yeah, she is back at our house, she is okay and agreed it was best that she stay home," I explained.

I could almost hear he exhale of relief and let out my own, finally we were about to get things figured out and meet up with everyone.

Nikki

I had gone through the long and grueling process of picking everyone up on my side of the game, I had first stopped and got Lofton who was so happy to see me she nearly tackled me with her hug. I could understand though her world really sucked, it was all icy and barren and colder than anything I had ever experienced! She was super glad that I had come to take her out of this place.

Along the way we picked up Kailee who was my cousin, Brittany, Cade, and then we arrived at Jason's. It was sort of awkward I mean I knew Jason and we had spoken a few times and I knew he was a nice enough guy but I did not really like, know, him. Cade and he got along just fine talking about their muscles and such. For the most part Lofton, Kailee, Brittany, and I sat together talking about our new worlds and quests and what we thought these titles meant.

Lofton leaned back against an old spire; Jason's world was full of them. "I am a Sylph of Breath, whatever that means." She shared clearly confused as the rest of us.

Brittany nodded, "Knight of Heart" She proclaimed.

Kailee looked a little shy, "Yours all sound cool, mine sounds evil…Witch of Blood." She confessed and I sort of agreed, that sounded sort of dark.

All of them looked back at me for a moment and I realized it was my turn, "Oh, I am a Seer of Time…and I am sure the boys will tell us theirs when everyone gets here." I muttered but smiled, at least they were not all depressed, instead the two teenagers were talking about what they had prototyped, Jason was commending Cade of thinking of the Joker for his and then his dog.

We waited only about five more minutes before the other six of our group came through the portal. Without a single word Jason and Drew ran for each other and shared a rather passionate kiss in front of all of us. I personally laughed a little, at least they had each other. It occurred to me that romance was not really an option anymore which sort of sucked…

I did not get much time to think about it because I saw Bryson bring up the rear of his groups, he was chatting with Mark about something and I remembered a certain promise very clearly.

I did not say a word as I stalked toward him and as soon as he noticed me he could see the malice in my eyes and knew exactly what was coming. To his credit I thought he would at least try to talk me out of it but he accepted the punch willingly.

And punch him I did, I swung my fist back and knocked him in the stomach with as much force as I could muster, he coughed out and staggered back a little. His face was screwed up in pain and I instantly felt bad but a deal was a deal.

He let out a few more coughs before he opened his eyes again, his hand still cradled around his gut, he looked at our friends who were not staring wide eyed and confused.

He sighed, "It is alright guys, I deserved it…Nikki had a feeling that the game was a bad idea but I talked her into it, when I was I promised that if anything bad happened she could punch me." Bryson explained carefully, everyone nodded in understanding and let out a sort of nervous chuckle.

I just sort of nodded my head and looked at out group, "Alright everyone, let's sit and get comfortable, we may be here a while…Jason would you happened to have snacks because I am starving," I said honestly and like a good host, Jason went and retrieved chips of all sorts, cookies, and both coke and Dr,Pepper.

I thanked whatever gods out there as I took a sip, it was no secrete I had a small addiction. We had all gotten out preferred poison and sat in a large circle, the circle was located at the base of Jason's home and we were thankfully surrounded by ruins and spires. The grass underneath was soft and made sitting here almost pleasant as the sun shone brightly overhead.

I let everyone eat for a moment before standing up, it was easier to keep their attention this way, "Well guys, obviously you are all filled in up to this point, Earth is gone and the only hope we have of getting out of this game is to win it. Now I don't know exactly how to do that but I assume it can't be too different from a real video game right? We all have quests in our own worlds and maybe if we solve that something new will present itself, a final boss of sorts." I began. "A couple of you are already figuring out how to Alchemize things and I am sure you are noticing that we are 'leveling up' in a sort of way…but I think the first order of business it to figure out what those test results mean…" I said firmly and a mummer broke out among the group.

"So I am going to go around the circle and ask what your title is, that way we can all get this is sorted out!" I told them and shared mine.

Those we already know were repeated and we learned everyone else's as well

"Thief of Light," Cade told us.

"Page of Space," Mark said.

"Maid of Life," Drew smiled a little.

"Heir of Hope," Jason stated

"Mage of Void," Brandon said spitefully.

"Rouge of Rage," Mimi said and laughed a little, the title seemed sort of extreme.

I had sort of forgotten about Rylan and I jumped a little when he spoke up, and everyone else did too.

"Bard of Doom," He said in almost a whisper.

We all mulled this over for a moment, contemplating what it could possibly mean before Lofton suddenly pricked up. Her chestnut hair swished a little as she stood up, "Guys! I think Liamsprite said something about this!" She exclaimed and I looked at her for a moment, Liamsprite? Suddenly I realized what she had prototyped.

"Lofton, did you throw your Teen Wolf poster into that thing? Do not tell me you brought him to life." I said with a laugh hoping that she was joking.

I watched a blush spread across her face, she was not joking…

"That is beside the point Nikki; the point is that he told me something useful!" She exclaimed, her hazel eyes glittering in excitement at contributing to this big puzzle, she took a deep breath before she continued.

"These titles are sort of like powers, and they have something to do with another thing called god tier but he did not go into much about that…the point is that our first title is our class, for instance I am a Sylph and then our second word is our Aspect, which is sort of this thing we control which for me is Breath, which is like wind and stuff I guess." Lofton explained carefully, "All of our titles and aspects are different obviously but I think if we start trying to do stuff and really look into it, maybe we will find that we have like…I don't know powers?" She said shuffling her feet a little.

We all stared wide eyed, instantly my thoughts went to my title, Seer of Time. I knew what a Seer was in like mythology and stuff, she predicted thing and toughed people and time was obvious, could I time travel? I would have to ask Bellasprite about this!

We all sort of spit balled ideas for a while longer, well a lot longer! The sun was almost below the horizon before everyone agreed that it was time for us to return home…everyone was sort of reluctant to leave but I could feel my eye lids becoming heavy and I knew sleep was not far away.

We all said out goodbyes and went out separate ways; I agreed to let Lofton stay with me tonight seeing that her world was so cold that her heater had broken almost as soon as she had arrived.

"We will fix it tomorrow," I told her.

We sat in my room for a while, laid out across the bed and just sort of staring at the wall. She spoke first.

"It is really gone isn't it?" She asked me in a small voice, I could hear tears threatening to break lose.

I could not say anything because honestly I did not want to cry, so I just nodded.

She looked over at me and without another word she pulled me into a hug, I could feel her tears on my shoulder and I let her weep. I rubbed her shoulder carefully and let my own tears come silently.

After some time and when our tears were spent, we fell asleep.

Nikki

Something was different about my dreams, I woke up in my room but, everything was gold around me? I looked down and I was wearing a gold dress of all things with a little sun on it. I was confused out of my mind but I threw my legs over and on to the floor and walked to my window which had not been there before…

Outside was even more shocking than the inside! Everything was gold like it was in my room and in the streets below I could see people mulling around and about but they were not people, they were all white and looked like they were made of some kind of shell.

I freaked out for a moment, forgetting that this was a dream and in the process of scrambling back I fell backward and hit my head on the floor with a thud but before I could feel pain I woke up.

I was still in my room but everything was normal now, Lofton was sound asleep beside me. I had sort of hoped that maybe things would be normal now but Bellasprite was curled up at the end of the bed, purring her little bunny ears off.

I was going to go back to sleep, but I heard a noise in the kitchen. I got up and went to investigate, grabbing my sword in the process.

I tiptoed carefully out of my room, making sure not to make a sound and I rounded the corner into the main living area. I nearly cried out when I saw who was standing there.

It was myself, but not…

She, well, me. She was standing there just waiting, but she looked older, maybe a year or so? She was also covered in blood…it was coming heavily from a wound in her side and my eyes widened, I must still be dreaming!

She was also wearing really weird cloths; she had this red robe on with a weird symbol on the chest, a darker red hood hung down on her shoulders. She noticed me quickly and gave a weak smile, her face was covered in dirt and grime and there were tracks where she had clearly been crying. Her hair was also a mess, all disheveled and pulled back to the nape of her neck.

She looked like a wreck.

She fell down all a sudden, coming down to the floor and I was beside her in an instant, I caught her before she could fall onto the hardwood and I supported her head in my lap as I looked around quickly, unsure of what to do!

She coughed a little and spoke, "I know this is sort of crazy, I remember how weird it was when the first copy came to see me I- "She stopped and coughed up a little bit of blood, I was to confused to react.

"But you need to listen to me Nikki…I-..This is about your powers, you can time travel and thats what I did but I am from a doomed timeline." She began in a shaky voice, "I was never meant to live so I decided that I should at least help you out right?" She laughed a little like it was some weird joke.

"I can't tell you how to travel but I wanted to warn you, you are going to see things, terrible things Nikki and it is going to hurt but don't be afraid…your friend can help. You-…your job is to keep them alive…" She coughed again a little harder this time. "I- I failed at that. But you can't okay?" She almost pleaded to me.

I was shocked and confused but I could see it in her eyes that she needed this; she needed to know that I had heard her and that I would carry out this wish.

"Okay, I will." I said with a sad smile.

She almost beamed; this was defiantly me…just in not such good shape…

I was about to look at her wound but she stopped me, "No it- its okay…I am not scared anymore," She muttered and I just felt my own tears well up a little, she was dying and she knew it.

I felt her grip find my hand and I squeezed back reassuringly, she would not die alone…

I heard some shuffling from my room and Lofton walked out, still half asleep. She saw us and confusion was plain on her face but when she saw 'me' dying and bloody, her face paled and she rushed over.

Lofton slid down on her knees and sat beside and gabbed other me's hand. She had almost fallen asleep but the sight of Lofton brought her back for a moment.

I swear new tears formed in my clones eyes but these ones were full of regret...I know she said she had failed at keeping our friends alive, but did that mean Lofton too? I glanced up at my best friend, the girl I had known since sixth grade and the thought that I had failed to protect her chilled me to my core.

She let a small, sad, smile splay across her face, "I am so sorry," She said to Lofton with a chocked sob, Lofton just patted her hand, I don't know how she did it.

"It alright Nikki, everything is fine…just rest alright? I will see you first thing in the morning and maybe you can cook us something alright? Deal?" She asked, I could see her tears but her voice held true.

My clone just nodded, "Okay, that sound ni-..ce" She whispered and finally her eyes closed.

And there in my arms, not for the last time, did I watch myself die.