Chapter 4: A Girl's Dream

-C.J., 4D

Saige: So my character Solene is married now :D.

Jenna: oh sweet! Who's the guy?

Saige: He's a fisherman, but I'm pretty sure this sim will stay faithful. I told my husband he ought to learn from this guy.

Jenna: haha, so true. I'm still working on getting some special guy's notice.

C.J.: I just learned that the guy my character is dating is a prince.

Saige: What? How did you get so lucky?

Jenna: Wow, amazing. And you didn't even notice.

C.J.: I didn't know he was until he told me. I haven't got him secured yet, though.

Jenna: you ought to stick by him. It is so rare for a dating sim to acquire a royal partner without cheating or arranging.

Saige: did you arrange things?

C.J.: No, he's an NPC as far as I know.

Jenna: So what're you gonna do to keep him?

C.J. paused in her typing. She wasn't sure what to do. Getting a prince involved in one's dating sim was incredibly rare if it happened at random. But then with the doctor's restrictions, she wouldn't be able to play as Celine much longer if she somehow got Chris. That would require switching from a dating sim to a life, love, or family sim. And there was the political situation that he had talked about. Politics in the Eternal Sphere were a big matter. If she helped trigger a war on Expel by marrying Chris, some players would hate her for disrupting their peaceful game lives. Others would like her for the same reason, or even join Expel if there was a war going on. It would drastically change play on her favorite planet.

But then if she cut it off, Celine would get depressed, which would affect her, which would be noticed by the medical network. Next time, they might be a little more heavy-handed about starting her over.

C.J.: I'm not sure yet.

She cut off the conversation a few lines after that. Saige was jealous and probably wouldn't talk to her for weeks due to this. That, and an alert had come up on Tria. She needed to get back into character.

-Celine, Cross country road

Although the weather was brilliant, sunny, and clear, the trip back to Cross Castle had been noticeably less spirited then the trip to Cross Cave. Celine and Chris tried to appear happy so the other two didn't get involved in the issue; they thought they were just heading back to check with some experts in the castle town about the various small treasures they'd found. Unfortunately, it didn't work out as Rena asked, "What's the matter with you two? You don't seem too happy today."

"It's complicated," Celine said.

Chris closed his eyes for a bit, then looked to the three of them. "I told her last night… I'm actually Clothier, the Prince of Cross. Which means I'll be marrying the princess of Lacour soon, not her."

"Well that's…" Claude started, but wasn't sure what to say.

Rena knew what she wanted to say, though. "But you two love each other! That much is obvious. Why not marry Celine instead? You'll be happier for it."

"I would be," Chris said. "But I can't risk getting the Kingdom of Lacour mad at Cross. I've been engaged for a long time. So even if I've never met Rozelia, I have to go through with it."

"Well why don't you explain things to Rozelia then?" Rena argued. "I'm sure that if you explained that Celine is your true love, she would understand."

"How can you be sure of that?" Chris asked in mixed tones. It seemed that he wanted to believe she was right, but had doubts. For herself, Celine felt the same way. "You couldn't know her either."

"I would think any reasonable person could understand the situation. Besides, she's a girl. Every girl dreams of finding her one true love." She gave a happy little smile to that.

"Well, Rozelia would be sixteen too," Celine said. When she had been young, she had believed in waiting for her true love as well. Now that she was in her twenties, she hadn't been so sure about it. But if it got her together with Chris, she would believe in those old dreams again.

"I really want it to work out that way, but…" Chris thought about it. "If I try and Rozelia refuses to accept it, it's going to cause a big mess. And I have to set a good example for my people, so I can't just give in to passion."

"But then you wouldn't be true to yourself if you accept a false happiness," Rena insisted. She might have been the youngest one there, but she seemed to have the strongest voice. "And that would be a bad example too."

"I know. Let me think about it." He found something about his crossbow to distract himself with for a minute, but as they walked on, he was mostly quietly, reflecting on things in his mind.

Celine looked down at the stone road they were following. It had been made for easier cart travel. Since the noise and sight of the carts kept the monsters away, it was safest for travelers who were walking too. When she looked up, she saw Cross Castle, its white towers standing high behind stone walls. It seemed much too close for her liking.

Coming over by Chris' side, she took his hand. "You don't have to talk to Rozelia about us if you don't want to," she said quietly. "I don't want to cause trouble for you. But I'll always think of you as my lovey-dovey Chris."

He finally smiled, something he hadn't done all morning. "Thanks, my lovey-dovey Celine. I've thought of something about that… you know those rings I picked up? Should I get a jeweler in town to look at them? I trust your magic and knowledge, but I don't want to… to cause problems if I give them as a gift."

She lightly patted him in playful admonishment. "Now if I say they're not cursed, you ought to trust that. I'm kidding, lovey. If you are going to give them as gifts, you should get a second examination, just in case. You don't want to be turning your gift recipient to stone, after all."

"Right. I know a place in town. If we don't get spotted by the guards, I'd like to stop by there."

By the time they got to the city gates, Chris looked more confident, like the problem had lessened its weight. ""I'll try explaining things to Rozaline," he told them. "Celine, would you come with me? I think the two of you ought to meet."

She smiled at him. "Sure, my lovey." She looked to the other two. "It's been fun traveling with you both. I wish you the best in your trip to Eluria."

"Thanks," Rena said with a nod. "You've helped us a lot."

"We'd invite you to the wedding if you're going to be around," Chris said. "But I'm not sure how a trip to Eluria would allow for that."

"We might find a reason to stay around for a while longer," Claude said with a grin. "Depends on how much longer, though."

The pairs split up. Celine and Chris went to the market square and found the jeweler he wanted. After waiting for some time for the store owner to use probably every bit of equipment he had to examine the silver rings, he came back with a sound judgment. "I can't find any hint of a curse on these two, nor a blessing. They seem to be just a pair of rings, although obviously well-crafted by a master of metalwork. Still, I can't give you a price estimate on them as I have nothing to compare them to save for modern ring work. They could sell very high due to their ancient origins, but they could sell for almost nothing due to their lack of any magic craft."

"I see." Chris took the rings back, then paid for the exam. "Thank you."

They walked north to reach the castle itself. As an extra security measure, the castle had originally been surrounded by a deep moat, only accessible by boat or a single stone bridge. A drawbridge at the end could be pulled up to seal off the castle. But then the city outgrew its castle, and another outer wall had to be erected in order to allow enough room for expansion. As a result, the inner castle was much more elegant and ancient than the rest of Cross Castle City.

As they entered the grand hall, with its black and white tiles and lofty ceiling, Chris let go of Celine's hand. "If you don't mind, let me handle the castle staff. I have more experience with them."

She nodded. It would help him to be a stronger man if she let him do so. And besides, this was a big change from the meek and naïve Chris that she had met originally. "I'll be good."

He chuckled, then came up to one of the guards on patrol. "Excuse me."

The guard turned, then widened his eyes. "Your highness? Where on Expel have you been? We've been looking all over for you."

"Hold on, good man," Chris said, holding up his right hand. "I'm all right. I'll speak with the King later on about this. For now, we need to see Princess Rozelia. Is she in yet?"

"Yes, she arrived just yesterday. Who is this?"

"Celine Jules, a friend of mine. Where is the princess staying?"

"Up in the guest chambers. I will take you there if you wish, your highness."

He didn't seem too impressed; he probably knew how to get there on his own. But Chris let the guard led them up the stairs to the correct guest suite. It was quite grand considering the small space it took up. A big picture window looked out over the mountains and forests by the castle. It had its own toilet room (very exclusive; not even Celine's prestigious family could afford one) and powder room. To finish it off, it was filled with beautiful furniture: a large bed with a silk canopy, a rare dark cherry set of drawers with polished mirror, a tall wardrobe to match the drawers, sumptuous stuffed chairs, and other showy items.

In the room, they finally met Princess Rozelia. She was beautiful, with fair unblemished skin, dainty long hands, a larger chest than Celine, and a full hourglass figure. However, she did look uncannily like Chris, with her long sunny blond hair and her sky blue eyes. They probably had relatives that were the same if one looked back enough generations. Even though she seemed to be relaxing here, she wore a stylish white and pink dress with sparkling ribbons around the hem and on the chest. Kicking her feet some, she looked to them with a bored expression.

"Princess," the guard said. "I bring you Prince Clothier T. Cross and his friend Celine Jules. Prince, I present to you Princess Rozelia Lacour."

The Princess got up and curtsied as her maid came up and did the same. "It is good to meet you, Prince Clothier, after all these years." She spoke a little stiffly, too politely.

"Tis good to see you in good health," Chris replied, in the same kind of formal tone. "If you don't mind, Rozelia, we need to talk about our futures."

"Well, all right," she said, twisting her fingers about in some nervousness. As she was anxious about something, she continued with formalities. "It is good to see you in good health as well; I had heard that you were recovering in the provinces."

Celine glanced at the knight, who pretended not to notice the lie.

"Right about that… I have actually been traveling around to meet with my people and, I mean you no disrespect, but with an honest heart, I must say that I cannot marry you, Rozelia."

In response to that, Rozelia moved back some in surprise. Celine had to admire her self-control right then. Some women she knew would break down and wail at a declaration like that. All she said was, "Oh my."

"Now why would that be?" the maid interrupted. The middle-aged woman narrowed her eyes at him. "You've been engaged to her for sixteen years, you can't possibly back out due to cowardice now."

"I am not a coward," Chris said, sharp enough to stop a rant from her. But his words quickly softened as he turned back to Rozelia. "It took quite some courage to decide to tell you this. But you see, I love Celine here." He took her hand at that point, as she started smiling. "It started six months ago when I decided to leave my crown behind and explore the city as the people did. I knew people treated me special because I was the prince, but I didn't realize how much until I did so. And when I nearly got into trouble based on my ignorance, Celine stepped in and covered for me, for no reason but simple generosity. I spent the rest of the day with her, and then many more days after that. I realized a short while back that I loved her truly and deeply. I know this is unorthodox and I had promised my hand to you. But I was just a child when I signed that treaty, unable to understand what I was doing. I know now that I couldn't possibly be happy with anyone other than Celine as my wife. She's helped to make me a better man, and I'm sure a better king in the future. I give you my deepest apologies, but our wedding must be called off."

The maid did not look happy to hear this. But to her surprise, the princess brightened up and clapped her hands together with a girlish laugh. "Oh, that's wonderful Clothier! I'm so happy that you found your true love that I don't mind calling off the wedding. And you're so lucky, Miss Celine. From his letters, I know that Clothier is a great man in the making."

Laughing too, Celine replied. "Yes, I knew that all along."

Chris smiled at them, then pulled the rings out of his pocket. "There's something else. I knew we were to be married in order to cement peace and friendship between our kingdoms. But since the marriage will not take place, I have this to offer instead." He put one of the rings on, then held the other out to Rozelia. "In the interest of having a brighter future for the both of our countries, I offer you this ring of friendship, to promise that I will never bring Cross to attack Lacour, and to promise assistance and free trade between our grand countries."

She accepted the other ring. "On behalf of the Kingdom of Lacour, I too promise that Lacour will not attack Cross, and promise assistance and free trade between our fine countries." She put it on and grinned as the two shook hands on the promise. "How exciting! Miss Celine, may I help with the wedding? I don't think my dressmakers have done much on my wedding dress, so we can go to them and have them refit a lovely one for you."

"Certainly, your highness, thank you," she said with a curtsey.

She came over and patted her on the arm. "Oh, it's okay, just call me Rozelia."

"Are you sure this is wise, princess?" the maid asked.

"I'll speak to father about this," she dismissed. "Better yet, I'll write him a letter before he comes over here."

"And what about your father, the king?" the guard asked.

"We'll speak with him too shortly," Chris said. "Besides, I've got things to tell him about the other people that I've met. There are problems that haven't been brought up to the court yet."

And with the major problems out of the way, preparations for the wedding of Chris and Celine began.

-Ashton, Mars

The group stopped off at the village of Mars. It was a quiet but intelligent town which blended in with the woods to the north of it. "I'm afraid this is where I have to leave you two," Ernest said, jumping off the cart. "I have some business to take care of to the northwest before I head up to Hoffman Ruins. It's been good traveling with you guys, though."

"Right, we appreciate the help," Bowman said, shaking Ernest's hand. "Take care of yourself now. Hoffman Island is a rough place."

"Sure enough."

Ashton shook his hand too. "Yes, thank you. I've learned a lot from you in these few days."

"You're welcome, sonny." He clapped his other hand on top of Ashton's. "I think you've got a bright future, so don't do anything to mess it up."

"Um, all right, I'll keep that in mind."

After that goodbye, Ernest headed into the general store of Mars for some supplies. Bowman and Ashton unhitched their horses and led them over to a stable by the main road. By showing a written contract list from other stables, they were able to trade their tired horses in for fresh ones. Normally, travelers would simply keep one set of horses. But since they had to deliver the medicine fast, Bowman had arranged this deal so they could keep moving. They left Mars not long after arriving.

A couple hours later on the road, they encountered a band of bandits. At least, they would have encountered the bandits, if not for a strangely narrow blast of wind which swept across the road in front of the cart. The unprepared bandits were all knocked over and were scrambling to get up as the wind died and the cart moved on. Before the band could give chase, the wind returned, again not hitting the cart.

Bowman noticed. "Huh, someone must be watching out for us. Whichever god protects our path, we give our heartfelt thanks."

Being in the back of the cart keeping an eye on their things, Ashton saw a quick movement of green overhead. Not a god, but XINE was watching out for them. His mouth went dry. What did the phoenix have in mind for him? However, he did his best to keep Bowman from noticing. The older man would worry.

They arrived in the port of Herlie as the sun was setting. Bowman brought the cart into town and parked it by the house of Eleanor's family. "Take the medicine and handle it carefully," he instructed. I'll light a lamp and bring what else I need."

Ashton nodded, but it worried him. He'd been having a string of decent luck ever since the incident in falling off the mountain. In his life, that was always a bad sign. It meant that something terrible would happen shortly. He didn't know why, but his life had always been marked by ill luck. It had yet to kill him, but he couldn't count the number of times that he had caused accidents or had completely random mishaps ruin one day or another. Thus, when whatever god of chaos he was born under had held back for a while, he knew it was preparing to make a terrible strike.

Still, he picked up the clay container holding the medicine Bowman had made from the Metox. Although lidded securely, it still had a scent like fire coming off it. It sloshed gently as Ashton carried it from the cart into the red roofed house. A few candles were lit inside, but it was not light enough to see the interior well.

Eleanor's mother had answered the door and led them upstairs. "She still breathes, but she hasn't stirred much since you left. I followed your instructions and she doesn't seem to be in much pain now."

"Good, good. I've got enough of the medicine for two weeks now. If she shows signs of improvement, then she should recover by the end of that time. I'd like your help with this first night. Ashton, you'll have to leave since you're not a healer."

"Um, all right."

"You may rest in the room across from here," Eleanor's mother said. "I know it's been a long trip for you both."

"Yes, thank you. I hope this works." He bowed politely, then left the room.

There was a blip of a moment where something didn't happen.

-Ashe, 4D

That something was time freezing, but only the player Ashe noticed. His vision as Ashton in the candlelit hall dulled as an alert from Tria came up. 'Immersion session ending at scheduled time. Thank you for playing.'

Then it all dissolved away until he became aware of the chair moving away from him. There was a moment of grogginess as he tried to recall what this scheduled end was for. Pulling the browser screen over, he saw his own note. 'Stop for party at Jubilee.'

"Oh right, the party!" He got out of the immersion chair and left his game room. He automatically turned left, but then reminded himself that he wasn't at his parent's house any more. In his house, his closet was to the right, at the end of the upstairs hall. Ashe entered and shut the door. Technically, he didn't have to as he was living alone. He was just used to doing so.

The room was walled with mirrors and well lit. Green text began to appear on the back mirror. 'Select saved appearance or design a new one?'

He chose a saved appearance and then went to the cosplay file. Some more selections brought up his Eternal Sphere characters. He had two, although one was now full-auto and he couldn't log into it anymore. That one was a traveling merchant on Elicoor II, his training character. Every child got assigned a training character; they were limited in what they could do, but it taught one how to operate the Eternal Sphere and, more importantly, the etiquette for players. Because he had played remarkably the last few years, earning in-game success and fame, he had been allowed to take on a challenge play-through already. Drawn to the idea of a challenge, he had taken the Ill Luck build as the one that seemed best.

However, he wasn't able to run two characters at once yet. Thus, his active character was Ashton, on a different planet. He selected that one.

His hair was already black and of the appropriate length. His eyes were the right color too, so the closet did not touch either of those. Instead, it altered the structure, color, and mass of his clothes in order to mimic the traveling outfit that Ashton wore. The closet wouldn't give him the two swords, though, or any armor. That was illegal. Not only that, but it was lighter than the actual clothes. Well, actual being the virtual reality actual. Ashe wasn't physically used to wearing the multiple layers that Ashton was.

Once it was done, he left the closet and ran towards the stairs. But he managed a misstep and stumbled at the top step. For a moment, he was facing a fall down the stairs. It was frightening to face real pain.

But then the house picked up on his clumsiness and quickly caught him with a grav-mod bubble. It set him at the bottom of the stairs and held on for a moment to wait for his mind and body to calm then. Then it restored him to normal gravity.

"Good thing you are okay," the robotic butler said, coming down the stairs. "You should be more careful."

"I'm sorry," he said. "I was just a bit excited."

"There is no need to rush. You have plenty of time and there is no punishment for being late to a party."

He blushed. "Um yeah. I'll be going now."

"Have a good time."

On his way out, he picked up the flyer from a small table by the door. He then walked along the streets of his home block. It was absolutely gorgeous out here today. Then again, it was always gorgeous. Blue and purple flowers were blooming in neat beds. The walkway was clean, made to appear and feel like grass, but more hygienic. Beside every home, there was a garden that could grow whatever the homeowner wished. And at every crossing, there was an elegant water fountain. Today, every fountain was topped by a merman wielding a trident.

Ashe arrived at the transport station and waved at the uniformed woman working there. "Good day," she replied with a smug smile. "How may I serve you today?"

"Hi, I'd like the transport to…" he checked the flyer, "Jubilee Square." He handed over the flyer.

She looked at it. "Oh, how fun. I hadn't heard." She passed it back, then touched a keypad on a post near her. "Okay, you're approved to transfer to Jubilee Square. I hope you have a good time."

He grinned, then stepped into the transporter circle. For a moment, there was an odd sensation of movement without moving. For this reason, all transporters had been built identically and all transporter staff was required to dress and look identical. Ashe waved at the next transport girl, then went to enter Jubilee Square.

As each square had their own parameters, Jubilee had a nighttime sky. There were many playfully shaped buildings, all shops and bars. Colorful paper lanterns (or very safe copies of such) were string overhead to provide lighting and mood. Already there was party music playing and many people mingling in costume. But to get in, he needed to confront a woman in rainbow curls and a silver dress that was pretty much made up of slivers of material.

"Hello, and welcome to Jubilee Square's Color Festival," she sang. "Do you have a flyer?"

"Yes, I do." He handed it over to her.

She checked it, then checked the security terminal by her to make sure he was old enough. "All right, you'll all clear to go. Have fun!"

Nodding to her, Ashe went on into the square itself. It was so different from any other place on 4D that he had ever been to. As he was trying to decide what to do, a woman sprang on him, wrapping her arms around him. "Hi! First time to this kind of party, huh?"

He tried to look at her, but all he could see was her face, with a pink painted nose, red glitter eyeshadow, peach eyes, and attached whiskers. "Hi… yeah, how can you tell?"

She hopped back, letting him see that she was wearing a red bikini with pink fur fringe, red slippers with pink pom-poms, a pink fluffy bunny tail, and pink fluffy bunny ears. "Cause you're looking at everything for the first time," then giggled. "Would you like a bunny buddy for the night?"

"Do you work here?" he asked.

"I wish," she said, dropping the cutesy act for a bit. "No, I'm just attending the party too. But it's no fun alone. Pwease come with me?" She put her hands together and gave him wide eyes.

He grinned. "Sure thing."