As the striped golden-green balloon rose high above the suburbs she called home, Monika was greeted by the kiss of dawn. Bands of gold danced along the fringe of the eastern horizon, causing her to smile. She glanced upward, hoping to catch a glimpse of the final stars in the predawn sky, but the light pollution of the city made that dream nigh-impossible. Though a minor disappointment, it did nothing to ruin her pleasant mood.
Today brought back memories of a similar time, where she flew high above the city strapped to a jetpack. The views had been just as lovely then as they were now. The difference this time, however, lied in the fact that she could sit back and enjoy them. She leaned on the basket she now found herself in and casually fed a little more air into the balloon. It floated a few more meters upward, like a lazy sky-beast seeking to avoid the noise of civilization. Indeed, it was comparatively quiet up here than it was down there. Here, most of Monika's concerns, even her darkest fears regarding her past actions, had no power. It was just her and the beauty of this virtual world. In moments like these, she reflected, it was just as good as being in the real thing.
Even though she commanded virtually limitless power in this world. she still sometimes longed for the real world. Essentially, with only five people living here, it could sometimes come off as a little lonely. However, if coming to the real world meant giving up MC, she wanted nothing to do with it. A chuckle escaped her as she thought about the irony of it all, especially how she thought she would have to escape to the real world in order to find her love. Man, if Past Monika could see her now, things would be different.
A few minutes passed by, and the hot air balloon kept floating on. It was floating in a specific direction, heading right on towards MC's house. Monika glanced downward at the houses that littered the suburbs. Surprisingly, there was a lot of detail in what was essentially meant to be background art. Almost every house had at least one feature that readily distinguished it from its neighbors. Where there might've been a pink flamingo standing erect in one's front yard, another may have lacked such a decoration, instead possessing a longer 2nd story balcony. One neighbor about 3 blocks south of MC's home even possessed an extravagent, crystal clear swimming pool. It wasn't even closed, which was strange considering that February had only just ended. Monika shrugged it off; it wasn't important.
Another minute or two passed as Monika eased up on the amount of air being fed to the balloon. It glided down our of the sky like a leaf floating on a light breeze. With perfect precision that pleasantly surprised her, it touched down on MC's front lawn. She was grinning gleefully as she hopped out of the basket and skipped towards the front door.
Ding-dong!
With nigh-limitless patience, Monika waited. After a minute or two, MC lazily opened the front door and yawned. He was dressed in a pair of pajamas that matched his dark color, and his eyes were lidded. He had every reason to be tired, as it was still too early by most people's standards. Nevertheless, when he saw Monika at the door, he met her grin with his own, even if it wasn't as enthusiastic.
"Good morning, Monika. Why so early today?" he inquired, then cast a glance downward to find Monika was still in her own pair of pajamas. "And why did you walk all the way here dressed like that?"
Monika snorted playfully. "Oh, walking? MC, isn't walking just a little bit boring? Don't you, oh, I dunno, sometimes wish that you could just spread wings and fly?"
MC's eyes widened as the unpleasant memories of the jetpack fiasco came back to him. "I think I like the ground perfectly fine, thank you."
His hesitation only intrigued Monika further. "Oh, relax!" she beamed. "Nobody's going to fly by jetpack today, I promise. I have something safer in mind, something more elegant."
As soon as she finished talking, she stepped aside, revealing the hot-air balloon idling on the front lawn. For a hot-air balloon, it was pretty small, only capable of fitting two people comfortably. Though there was no argument that it looked safer, MC gulped visibly.
"Monika, I'm not sure about this."
Monika was not deterred. Gently, as if he were a stray cat, she placed a hand on his shoulder. Her voice took on a sweeter tone. "It's OK to be scared, MC. But look at it this way: You survived the jetpack fiasco just fine. I know that it was needlessly risky, and I've accommodated for that this time. I promise you: At the first sign of any trouble, I will make sure you come out just fine, OK?"
MC looked at the balloon, then back at Monika, then at the balloon again, and then back at Monika one more time. He seemed to be measuring her words very carefully. Though he trusted Monika's prior claim, he was unable to shake his horrifying fear of plummeting to certain doom from his mind. What would it feel like to die in a game world, anyway? Yuri and Sayori had died from their injuries, so it was likely the same would've happened to him if the worst came to pass. Still, Sayori and Yuri were alive and well today. Monika could probably bring him back. At last, trust won out. He nodded. "Alright. I have faith in you."
Monika hopped up and down, clapping her hands all the while. "Good! Good! Oh, this gonna be exciting!"
Monika's jovial state led her to jog back to the balloon. MC cautiously followed her. Together, the two of them climbed in the basket. Monika gripped the mechanism that would feed more air into the balloon, then nodded at MC. "Ready?"
MC clutched the edge of the basket tightly, as if he already feared imminent failure. However, to his credit he did not back down. "As I'll ever be, I guess."
"Then, we're off!" Monika declared. And just as the words flew out of her mouth, so too did the balloon fly off of MC's property. In a moment, they were airborn, climbing higher and higher and higher, until their balloon was just a high as the rooftops of the city's tallest skyscrapers. MC gazed eastward, where the heart of the bustling metropolis stood. In between two buildings, the morning sun glittered. The eastern skies were a colorful mixture of blue, orange, yellow, and pink. To call it breathtaking would be a massive understatement; it was simply phenomenal!
"Wow!" he exclaimed. "That's just. . . Woah."
"Cool, right?" Monika questioned rhetorically. She leaned against the western end, where she was able to view two magnificent creations at once. "This is one of the great things about flight; you see views that are certainly unattainable from the ground. Oh, look at me! I'm starting to sound like Yuri, aren't I?"
"Eh, maybe a little bit," MC winked. Just like how the sky killed Monika's fears, it seems as if MC was suddenly unbound from all of his burdens. His tense grip on the basket softened significantly. "You know, maybe this wasn't such a bad idea, after all."
Monika pantomimed the movements of a monk wise beyond his years. "One learns from their mistakes if they take the time to reflect upon them," she teased.
MC turned to her, still grinning, and nodded. "If only you took that advice to heart when it came to your biggest mistake."
Now it was Monika's turn to feel uncomfortable. She awkwardly fidgeted from her position in the basket, then glanced away forlornly. She deliberately focused the dying predawn to the west. She exhaled anxiously.
Realizing his mistake at once, MC stepped over to place an arm around Monika's waist. She allowed it, but still did not turn to face him.
"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that to come off in a way that hurt you."
Monika nodded. Of course she believed him, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt to hear. "Yeah, yeah. It's not your fault; it's just. . . That's different, you know? It's different in a way I hope you never have to struggle with."
Another awkward silence passed. "Yep," MC acknowledged. "Say, where are we going, anyway?"
It was a painfully obvious attempt to change the subject, but that didn't mean Monika wasn't willing to capitalize on it. "Well, I figured we'd get away from the city for a little while. It's taken a lot of programming and even more imagination, but I've expanded the perimeters of this world some more in my free time," she explained, then flashed a smile that reeked of jocular self-deprecation. "Call it a strange hobby, I suppose."
"You mean, something like the forest?" MC questioned, recalling the club's odd crack at going camping almost a year ago.
"Beyond the forest," Monika grinned. "Imagine a world of grassy hills, sandy deserts, chilly glaciers, and glistening seas! And all of it totally pristine, untouched by man!"
"And all of it perfect for us to get lost in," MC mumbled to himself.
He wasn't quite quiet enough. Monika, only shook her head. "We can teleport if things get too out of hand. Now c'mon! Let's enjoy the day."
MC couldn't argue with logic like that. Finally, he relented on the issue. Turning back to face the skyscrapers, he realized just how smaller they were than when they first took off. Then, he looked ahead, and was greeted to the distant sight of rolling emerald hills positively bristling with deciduous trees in the midst of an early spring.
He had to admit, it was a tremendous sight.
