Ahna panted heavily in the summer heat as she raced down the street as fast as possible in her low heels. She garnered some strange looks but ignored them in favor of getting home.
Today of all days, why did she have to have overtime? The backup of work was caused by the newest intern screwing up every single piece of paperwork. She had stayed almost three whole hours over time with some others in her department trying to correct everything for tomorrow.
It was already eight PM, she was supposed to be logged in by six. Six!
"For the sake of everything good in the world, why does it still feel scorching when the sun is down." She growled under her breath. Ahna hated the heat as well as the cold. But it was worse because she was working up a sweat just from running.
Just when she was losing breath, she could see her apartment building up ahead. She hoped that Momonga hadn't thought she bailed on him. She sighed contently at the wonderfully cool air that graced her olive skin when she entered her building. After checking her mail quickly, she made it to the elevator.
There was no one in the lobby for now for which she was grateful. She had sweat starting to show through her white blouse and was puffing a bit loudly from the exercise. The elevator dinged and she tripped trying to get into it. Today was not going her way from start to finish. She could see herself in the reflective doors. Her brown hair was falling out of her usual work bun and her skin was shiny from sweat. She looked disheveled and a little defeated from the slump of her shoulders to the tired look on her face. Honestly she hoped that this wasn't a testament to how the night would go. She watched her brown eyes narrow in her reflection. She wouldn't let it.
No matter what tonight she would be getting online.
The apartment had changed alot since she had first logged on to Yggdrasil. On this particular day it was pretty messy. Cups and plates sat unwashed in the sink and dirty clothes were just draped upon furniture. But it was all her own doing so it didn't really bother her.
She hurriedly threw her work things onto the nearby loveseat and rushed to grab some food. She would have to be quick, or she could skip the shower tonight and do it in the morning. She heavily considered that despite the sticky feeling that was already making her uncomfortable.
She had been run ragged at work and then came home to try and set up for the closing of the servers. Momo had been helping track down their old guild mates but it was a slow process. One that took much more time than either had thought it would.
Both gamers had been at it since they had learned of the shutdown last month. It was work, eat, get on their chat app, search for emails, phone numbers, or social accounts, and sleep. Only to repeat the next morning.
She was exhausted and tonight all their efforts were going to show. For better or worse. So she had slacked on house work and sleep, but after tonight she would have a lot more free time to clean and whatever it was normal people did she guessed.
As she moved to her gaming rig she passed the most notable difference from the first time she had logged into Yggdrasil. Her empty guest bedroom. She hadn't thought about it for a while. But the last day made her think of her first day and that brought on a wave of nostalgia. Fresh outta college and so optimistic about life, the complete opposite of Takashi.
He was a highschool dropout and thought life existed to screw the little man. Or just him. The two couldn't have been any different yet they had the tightest of friendships. She shook her head. Thinking about it would not bring back the past nor would it make her any faster in logging on. Besides, there was still the chance she would see him today. She had checked to make sure that he had seen her message yesterday and while he hadn't responded, she hadn't really expected him to.
She quickly stripped out of her shirt and shoes and laid back in her game rig. She placed the headset on and made sure everything was perfect before turning on the system. Diving was a sensation that a person had to get used to before it was comfortable. The system basically input information to the brainstem and read impulses allowing you to move, chat, emote, and be a limited person in the game. But the transition from reality to a dulled down gamescape was…disoriented at times.
It was illegal to have a high sense of touch, taste and smell in the dive system so that players didn't confuse the game for reality. Didn't want a game that was better than life right? That would be bad for corporate numbers.
She felt the dive gear coming on line and her body becoming sort of paralyzed another precaution to prevent injury while in the dive. The hardware that laid on the back of a player's neck cut off all but the bare minimum electrical impulses to the body so when you thought about swinging your sword in the game you didn't swing your arms in reality. Her eyes fluttered shut and she could see the round table room coming into focus. She stretched her limbs in the game, as was her habit. She always worried that the circuits might glitch and make her trapped in the game.
She had heard horror stories of that. Her eyes looked around to see that Momonga was seated on the far side of the room. But he was the only one there. She quickly pulled up her menu to check the guild status but Momonga raised his boney hand.
Her eyes cast down for a moment but she spoke nonetheless. "Did I miss them?"
"No," the voice that responded to her was a bit cracked. "No one has come yet."
"Oh…" Ahna closed out her menu and moved to the seat a few chairs beside him, her designated seat. "Well I guess we are in for a wait."
Momonga and Ahna sat silently at the round table. Neither wanting to break the silence that their previous companion Herohero had left them in yet. It had been years since either of them had seen the slime player, and he left so quickly. The redheaded player glared angrily at the seat he had left though it didn't show on her avatar's face.
Momonga seemed sad that he left but not her. She was stuck on the phrase he used. 'I'm surprised to see the tomb still standing.'
"Bastards." Ahna broke the silence in her anger.
"Savior." Momonga scolded.
"Don't act like you don't feel the same. We sent invites to everyone and nearly no one showed up." Ahna spammed the anger emoji. "Did we mean nothing to them? Did everything we did together mean nothing to them? Don't we deserve more than a few minutes?"
Momonga stayed silent. He felt a similar way. Logically he knew that his friends were moving on with their lives, that they weren't just abandoning them. But knowing that did not take away the pain. "You know they didn't do it to spite us."
"I know!" The female avatar slammed her fist down on the table watching the damage counter read 2 damage. Momonga looked over at his fellow guild member. She had long wavy crimson hair with milky white skin that was almost grey in color. Her eyes were slitted and golden that matched the decorative designs on her armor and cloak. The cloak was tattered at the ends and was a very dark black with golden trimmings. Atop the cloak were pauldrons that had screaming skulls on either side. Her armor was black as well with a leather corset type without any sleeves. She had leather wrist guards and a pair of black leggings.
She wore thigh high leather boots and black leg guards on the sides of her upper thigh and shins. She was gorgeous without being over sexualized. Upon her hip was a bladed fan that had been specially designed for her crazy mishmash of classes.
"I'm sorry Momokins." She had been excited and sad to see her old guildmates one more time, to talk maybe exchange messenger info. But not many had even shown and none stayed for more than twenty minutes. The disappointment was piling high and making it impossible for her to stay here. "Do you mind if we separate from here? I wanna walk around for a bit."
"That's fine." Momonga said. He knew that she was taking it hard. She had looked up all their old guildmates and sent invites with him. She had invested a lot of time in setting up the last day on the server so he knew that she felt it was a slap to the face to ignore it.
"If I don't see you before the server shuts down…I'll message you tomorrow okay?" it was obvious that this was her way of saying that this would not be the last time they talked. He was grateful that she had said it.
"Then at the very least I'll speak to you tomorrow." She exited the meeting room to be met with Sebas Tien and the combat maids falling into a neat and synced bow. She greeted each one softly. Making sure she remembered each one's name. It would be the last time she would be able to say them.
Ahna moved through the Tomb of Nazarick with all the negative feelings in her heart. Anger, sadness, betrayal to name a few. She hadn't expected all of them to show up. No she wasn't stupid. But she had expected one specific member to show. But he hadn't. Of course he hadn't.
The succubus didn't have a destination in mind but she had navigated her avatar from the ninth floor to the seventh. Well, while she was here she might as well harass the guardian of the seventh. It would be the last time she saw him.
That made her even sadder. She would no longer see these sights and these NPCs that had been here for almost a fourth of her life. This one though was special. While she hadn't actually made Demiurge, he was her best friend's creations and she found him to be one of her favorite guardians. She knew that the NPCs weren't alive and didn't actually hear her but she did talk at them from time to time. She had a habit of talking to inanimate objects.
She blamed her childhood solely for that.
Her eyes moved to the corner of the screen. 22:41:13. So she had just under an hour and fifteen minutes to make it back to Momonga…If she wanted to talk tonight. With a quick glance to the chat to confirm that no new guild mates had gotten on, she moved towards the seventh floor guardian.
He stood stoically in a ruin that centered the seventh floor. The demon guild member had designed the seventh floor as a ruined worship area. The 'Idols' that once adorned the walls were nothing but rubble and alters torn asunder. It was very…devilish and suited its guardian well.
He stood tall and was a very visible presence in the room. There was no way to make it from the beginning of the floor to the end without ending up here, where the devil himself waited for you.
Demiurge's dark red suit sat well against his darker skin. While his eyewear hid jeweled eyes and a smirk that told you he knew every step of your plan. It almost seemed to say that every step you've taken has led you to him, just as he had planned.
Very few had even managed to make it to this floor at all, like she could count on one hand the number of times people had made it to this floor. Nazarick still stood undefeated until the end and that made her happy and sad yet again. She realized that she had been standing in front of Demiurge for a while without a word. While this place was nice she had a spot all her own on this floor.
"Follow me."
The character moved in step with her as she passed along pathways through the river of lava that made up the surroundings. Their destination was a little area on the far side of this floor. A long pathway led to a circular outcrop of land, and it looked out upon a waterfall of lava. A lavafall if you will. There was a low wall that might have been something but was now just a ruin, crumbled low enough to sit upon if one desired. This would be the perfect place to get her thoughts together and go though the emotions that were reeking havoc on her mind.
"Standby."
Demiurge's eyes stayed trained on the supreme being that stood at his side. Lady Antisavior69 had the habit of coming to him to stare at this view or craft or organize her inventory. Today something was different. Though she looked much the same as normal, the devil had heard something off in her voice.
She had also stood in front of him and stared for a very long time without words. When she finally did speak she sounded so sad, almost hurt. He wanted to ask her what the matter was and what he could do to rectify the situation. As was his job as a Guardian.
But he knew that his words would not reach her ears, no matter how much he wished they would.
"Oh Demiurge." She breathed out like a huge weight was forcing the air from her. Her usual enthusiasm was still missing from her voice. It felt disconcerting. Like the final toll of midnight signaling that the day was over. "HeroHero was just upstairs for a visit." She plopped down upon the ground.
Demiurge's visceral response was to find something for the succubus to sit upon rather than the disgusting ground that was not fit for her to be seated upon. He thought about commenting upon the newly returned supreme one, but knew that it was not his place to discuss the goings on of his superiors.
To make matters worse for him she threw her body backwards into a lying position and draped an arm over her eyes. He wondered what he had done for his lady to punish him like this. He could have provided her with anything other than the dirt. However she continued on not expecting him to provide her with an answer. "He just…He just left again!"
Ah. Demiurge knew this tone. She came to this spot whenever one of her companions left. It was her favorite spot on the seventh floor; she had told him this on many occasions. He wanted to do or say something that would make her feel better. But he also knew that nothing he said would reach her ears.
A sorrow filled laugh left her lips. "Takashi used to hate it when I moved you around." She spoke morosely with a bitter undertone. "Drove him up the walls. What I wouldn't give to go back to those days. Those days when we were all together. Not just Momo and I but everyone."
While filing away the name that he hadn't heard before, he knew precisely what she was feeling. He knew far too well that the last two Supreme Beings keenly felt the absence of the others of their 'guild'. He knew that the tomb was a monument to them, all of them, and the last two desperately clung to keeping it standing. A fact he was infinitely grateful for.
"Why did it have to happen like this?" There it was again. That tone of finality that struck fear through his heart. "It'll be okay. I'm going to stay right here. I won't leave, not till the bitter end. Not like they did…like he did." Her vow caused his heart to clench painfully. On one hand her devotion was pleasing but why was she so sad? What knowledge did she have that was causing her such strife? Why did her vow sound like a goodbye? He wanted so badly to ask, to find some insight that might help him solve his lady's plight.
She began to hum a tone. Strangely the melody projected across the lake and hung ominous in the air. Demiurge listened to the unfamiliar tunes with rapt attention and every thought he had was gone in that moment. She slowly got up with another soft sigh. "I should go and see Momonga…but I really don't want to. You know, I thought he would come. At least once more, just for a little while."
The devil guardian hated how defeated the woman sounded. Whatever the problem was she needed only to name it and he would resolve it. Didn't she know that? He watched her as she waited for what he did not know but she waited on.
Ahna checked the time 23:53:21. Not much time now. She had been so preoccupied with the sadness that she had not seen the little notification on her chat.
Ulbert Alain Odle logged on.