Rain closed her eyes tightly and silently waited for the pain that would end her life. A quick death with no unnecessary torment was all she wanted at the moment. She shuddered at the thought. Then all of a sudden, the weight was lifted off of her chest. Surprised, she opened her eyes and watched the gray, lifeless sky. Am I…. dead? Rain wondered.
"Vak Slash!" A voice cut through the dead silence. Rain quickly sat up and searched for the Wyrm. A flash of movement made her spin her head around. A guy was attacking it fiercely with his sword. He was thinner and less brawny than the average burly Sword Master, and seemed more quick and agile than anything else. He wore an interesting garment, one that reminded Rain more of modern-day street clothes than the traditional medieval garb. Nevertheless, the clothes did have a unique RPG theme to them. His blue hair, which was all spiky and pointy in traditional 'anime'-style, gleamed vibrantly in the rays of sunlight that filtered through the stormy clouds.
Rain watched as he sliced into the monster.
"Cross Slash!" He yelled out, almost lazily. A quick slash with his sword ended the Wyrm's life. It crumpled to the ground and faded away. The sword master turned around, saw Rain and walked up to her, flashing a wide grin.
"I got a level up, baby!" He struck a pose with his sword. Rain stared at him in a confused awe.
Chapter SevenAn Acquaintance for Some
The snow had stopped and the clouds parted, revealing the sunlight.
Rain snapped her head away from the mystery man and dashed towards Reid, who was lying on the snow. She bent over him and shook him violently. He didn't stir.
"Hey, aren't you even going to thank me?" The sword master walked up behind her, a puzzled expression on his face. Rain stood up and turned to him.
"Listen, this guy needs help. Do you know any healing spells?" Rain asked breathlessly.
The sword master raised his eyebrows and bounced up and down on his toes a few times.
"I dunno." He grinned in mock troubled voice. "Perhaps if you said, 'thank you.' And maybe…. a little hug?"
"What!?" Rain gritted her teeth. "Can't you just help me?"
"Well! If you're going to be like that." He retorted in an annoying singsong voice. "I'll just go."
He turned around. Rain slapped her forehead in frustration.
"Fine! Thank you." She muttered under her breath. He turned around with a smile on his face. "Aww…. You're welcome."
"Good. Now come here and heal him." Rain glanced over to Reid.
"Wait, wait. And the hug?" He pouted with his hands at his hips.
Rain gritted her teeth and muttered under her breath. The sword master skipped over to her.
"See how easy that was?" He put his arm over Rain shoulder and talked in a mock-heroic voice to the cloudy sky.
"And so, the brave knight saved the damsel in distress, and-" Rain shoved him away.
"That's enough, you creep." She glared at him. He took a step back and shrugged.
"Suit yourself." He looked through his pocket and took out a small bottle.
"There you go! One Healing Potion!" He tossed it to her.
She snatched it from the air and dashed back over to Reid. As she used it on him, the bottle flashed brightly, and faded away. He revived instantly and opened his eyes, squinting in the sunlight. Rain helped him to his feet.
"Ouch." Reid rubbed his head. "What happened? And who's that guy?" Reid noticed the Sword Master standing behind Rain. The Sword Master came up to Reid and held out his hand.
"Vince, at your service!" He introduced himself cheerfully. "I helped your lovely friend here kill that monster." Rain gritted her teeth again and felt like strangling him. Reid shook his hand, still a bit unsure about what had happened.
"Umm… I'm Reid, and that's Rain." Reid informed Vince. Vince smiled and shook his head.
"I knew what your names were." Vince grinned. Reid was confused.
"Umm, how?" Reid asked. "I've never seen you before."
"Oh, it doesn't matter!" Vince laughed. "But I do suppose you'd like the whereabouts of that virus, would you not?" Reid and Rain both froze. Vince continued grinning.
Rain stepped next to Reid and stared at Vince in the eyes.
"How could you even know about that?" Rain questioned. Vince let out a fake sigh.
"Well, these kind of things just get out, you know?" Vince looked up into the sky, his hands in his pockets. Reid shook his head.
"No, I don't." He answered.
"Bah." Vince shook his hand. "It doesn't matter anyway. The place you want to go to is: Delta Great Forbidden Sky Palace. That's the place." Rain narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"How can we trust you?"
Vince shrugged and smiled. "It's up to you. See ya later!" He winked at Rain and logged out.
They both paused for a second. Reid glanced over to Rain.
"I hate him." She muttered.
* * * *
Back in Cid's place at Mac Anu, Cid nodded at them. "I see. So a person named Vince knows about the virus, hmm? I'm not terribly surprised. We're not the only ones that know about it." Rain tilted her head sideways.
"We're… not?" She asked, uncertain. Cid shook his head at her.
"No, CC Corp knows about this virus as well. How much they know, I haven't a clue."
"And the field that he told us about, does it really exist?" Rain questioned.
Cid sat down in deep thought. After a few seconds, he looked back up to Rain.
"That keyword. 'Sky Palace' isn't a keyword."
Rain slammed her hand down onto the table. "I knew it! That jerk!"
Cid held up both hands. "Hey, hey. Wait a minute. I never said the field didn't exist."
Rain looked at Cid carefully. "What?" Cid nodded.
"The place does exist. It was a corrupted field that we excluded from the game when I was still working for CC Corp."
"Or did you really exclude it?" Reid wondered. Cid shrugged.
"Well, even if it is there, we can't get to it. 'Sky Palace' isn't a valid keyword anymore."
"I thought you said you were a hacker." Reid asked, baffled. "Can't you just hack through it?"
Cid shook his head. "That would take time. Way too much time, in fact."
Cid looked outside his window and stroked his goatee. "There's an easier way. I know someone who can get us through."
"What? Who?" Rain demanded.
Cid turned to them. "Helba."