Access Denied
Eye of the Beholder
"I'm bored." Those particular words out of the mouth of Maximillian Pegasus were generally enough to set the people who knew him to quaking with fear. But it was the truth. He was bored - bored with business machinations, bored with his colleagues, even bored with wine and cartoons. "Croquet, have I fallen into a rut?" The young man held up his wine glass, regarding the color of the drink more than his manservant.
"Sir?" Croquet murmured neutrally in an attempt to dodge the question.
"Bah! You're no help." Pegasus rolled his eye in disdain. Sometimes he wondered why he kept Croquet around. But then he would recall that the man had served him loyally for years, and was familiar with most of Pegasus's eccentricities. Both a new butler and a new head of security would take forever to train properly. Still, Pegasus sometimes wished Croquet would voice an actual opinion. Having a decent conversation with Croquet was rather like having a decent conversation with a rock, which wasn't a bad thing if one didn't mind one-sided conversations.
Pegasus let out his most heart-rending "woe is me" moan. "Oh, it's true, isn't it? I have fallen into a rut!" There were no impassioned denials from the other man nor laughter over Pegasus's theatrics, as Croquet kept his face carefully blank. "You know, you could probably give Kaiba-boy a run for his money," Pegasus sighed. He sipped at his wine, wondering who the winner in a stony face stare-off between Croquet and Kaiba would be.
As the phone rang, both men glanced at it, but it was Croquet who answered. "Pegasus residence." Croquet's neutral expression shifted into a frown. "No, ma'am, he's not here. He's spending the winter abroad. No, ma'am, I do not know his exact whereabouts. Yes, ma'am, I will let him know you called." Without any attempt at a polite farewell, Croquet hung up the phone. "Your mother."
"She wanted the usual, I suppose," Pegasus muttered. "She's throwing a little soirée and wants me to attend? It's been... What? Seven years now since I've bothered speaking with her? You'd think she'd have taken a hint by now."
Pegasus had not been on speaking terms with his mother ever since she'd allowed a filthy tabloid reporter into Cecilia's funeral. What should have been a quiet moment of grief had been plastered all over the gossip rags. The man had earned a Pulitzer for the picture, and a broken nose from Croquet. Disgusted by his mother's "it's just a bit of publicity" attitude, Pegasus had split from the rest of his family. Much to his surprise, Croquet had chosen to follow. That sort of loyalty couldn't be bought.
"Some people do seem to have a hard time letting things go," Croquet, murmured, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly, as though he were trying to hold back a smile.
"Why, Croquet!" Pegasus gasped. "Did you just make a joke? Now, it wasn't a very good joke, mind you, but any joke that passes from your lips is deserving of celebration!" He drained his glass and held it out for a refill. The glass was never half empty or half full with Pegasus - not so long as there was a bottle of wine around, at any rate.
The wine didn't do anything for Pegasus's current problem, however. He was still bored. Sure, he could drink enough to forget about his boredom, but when he sobered up again, he'd be bored and hung-over. Pegasus really hadn't had any excitement in his life since he'd smuggled the Kaiba brothers into Germany over the summer. And even then, his part in their little mission had only been to provide money and transportation.
"Croquet, be a dear and go set up the virtual reality equipment." If he couldn't have real adventure and excitement in his life, then Pegasus could at least have some pretend adventure. Pegasus hadn't played much of Age of Heroes - RPGs generally weren't his style. But even he had to admit that the game was rather charming, and it made for an excellent distraction when bored.
Finishing off his wine, Pegasus rose and made his way to the basement where he kept the virtual reality equipment. In his mind, the machinery was bulky and ugly, clashing dreadfully with the decor. And so, it was kept tucked away out of sight. Pegasus paused in the doorway to listen to the soft electronic hum of the equipment as it warmed up under Croquet's ministrations. "Everything is ready, Master Pegasus," Croquet announced after a few minutes.
Pegasus lay down in the virtual reality pod, a slight smirk touching his lips. Kaiba may claim not to believe in magic, but yet he'd been responsible for the creation of a machine that could do one of the things the Millennium Eye had been capable of - remove a person's consciousness from their body and place it in another form. Admittedly, in the case of the virtual reality equipment, that form was a form that did not exist in the real world. Still, Pegasus would have been surprised if there weren't a slight hint of magic at work.
Once his consciousness was transferred from his body to the game's login screen, Pegasus entered the requested information. He entered his screen name, "Artist-boy," and his password, "Cecilia." He chose his only character from the selection screen, and then he was in the game.
Pegasus had to admit that he rather enjoyed the game form he had created for himself. He'd modeled it after the way he'd looked before he'd had the Millennium Eye jammed into his face. His platinum hair fell around his shoulders, and he stared out at the world through an unmarred face. In the game world, at least, Pegasus was able to appear as beautiful as he'd once been.
Only a week had passed since Pegasus had last been in the game, but in that week, he could tell that something had changed. Lilyvale, a town that should have been brimming with holiday cheer, seemed to be under a grim pall. NPCs glared nervously as they went about their business, and the weapon shop seemed to be engaging in more business than usual.
Frowning, Pegasus began making his way towards Dame Chat's house at the edge of town. He had no interest in the town gossip and her scripted responses, however. He wanted to find out what was going on from the creatures that had claimed her house as their own. As he strolled through the town, Pegasus noted many of the players wore colored bands upon their arms. "Team colors?" he murmured to himself, more than slightly intrigued. By the time he reached Dame Chat's home, Pegasus had counted four different colored bands - red, blue, white, and brown.
Dame Chat's home was an inconspicuous little cottage at the edge of town. Shuttered windows, a flower garden, and a rocking chair on the porch helped to augment the building's innocent air. Occasionally the home's owner, a gossipy old woman, could sometimes be found napping in the rocking chair. More often, though, she was in the market, sharing juicy tidbits of information with anyone who would listen. Only a small handful of people knew that Dame Chat's cottage housed two Vampire Lords and a sphinx.
Pegasus pushed open the door to the cottage and was instantly hit with a wall of heat. "Shut the door! Shut the door! It's cold!" Pegasus recognized the voice as belonging to one of the Vampire Lords - the one who had been modeled after, and given the name of, the Atlantean king, Dartz. Quickly Pegasus complied and shut the door. One did not argue with a creature capable of ripping out throats in one bite, no matter how sweet it generally behaved.
Dartz lay in front of the fireplace, bundled up under what looked like every blanket in the house, despite the roaring fire. He turned his head to watch Pegasus, a fangy grin breaking across his face. "Pegasus Knight, welcome! Would you like a quilt?" The vampire's nose wrinkled up distastefully. "It is too cold out. I don't like it. Next time you speak with Seto Knight, could you tell him to make the cold go away?"
"I'll try," Pegasus promised, chuckling a little as he sat down beside Dartz. "He never listens to me, though. In fact, he'd probably make it colder just to spite me." Dartz shuddered at the thought of colder temperatures, hunkering down into his blankets. Idly, Pegasus glanced around, but it looked like only he and Dartz were in the cottage. "So where have you chased everyone off to, dear boy?"
The blankets shifted slightly as the vampire shrugged. "Weevil Mage came, and the fur ball went with him to make kissy faces." Dartz paused a moment to giggle. "They think I don't know, but I do. I've followed them. They don't have to go off and hide. My Pegasus and I don't hide."
Pegasus smiled at the way Dartz distinguished the other Vampire Lord from himself. In Dartz's mind, there was "Pegasus Knight" and "his Pegasus." "I told them to bring back more firewood while they were out," Dartz murmured, stretching out lazily across Pegasus's lap. "My Pegasus is out looking for information. He thinks there's going to be war."
Thinking of the players wearing armbands, Pegasus asked, "A four-sided war?"
Dartz bobbed his head up and down. "Four sides, yes. The new places are recruiting people. I heard the new places had items stolen, and they're each blaming the other. The Floating City blames the Buried City, and the Buried City blames the Floating City. The Sunken City blames the Burning City-"
"And the Burning City blames the Sunken City," Pegasus finished with a sigh.
Dartz nodded again, the playful innocence fading from his expression. Even he understood that the possibility of war was a serious business. "Player killing is happening," he sighed. "The cities are closing their gates to all but those allied with them and those remaining neutral. This is very bad. My Pegasus wants to find the thief. He doesn't think it's anyone from the cities."
"Did the items disappear at the same time?" Again Dartz nodded, grabbing hold of Pegasus's wrist and nuzzling at it. Pegasus permitted the action because he knew there was nothing behind it. The Vampire Lords were simply sensual creatures with no concept of personal space. "Then your Pegasus is probably right."
"My Pegasus is always right," Dartz declared fervently.
Now that he was caught up on the latest game intrigues, Pegasus decided a change of subject was in order. "Well, can this Pegasus talk you into hunting with him?" Dartz frowned, the very thought of going outside making him shiver. "I'll let you have a taste of me," Pegasus wheedled. Having a creature like Dartz backing him up would greatly decrease his chances of getting killed. Game death, while not permanent, was quite a nuisance when trying to gain levels.
Dartz's gaze began flicking back and forth between the door and Pegasus's wrist as hunger warred with the desire to stay warm. Pegasus wriggled the hand still in the vampire's grasp like a small, wounded, tempting animal. "Hate you," Dartz growled before sinking his teeth into Pegasus's wrist.
"You're not the only one, dear boy," Pegasus chuckled. "There's probably a fair-sized club of Pegasus-haters out there." The vampire growled again in response, sounding for all the world like a dog worrying at a bone. "Easy, easy. You don't want me to expire, do you?"
When he finished with his snack, Dartz rose and dashed up the stairs to the house's single bedroom. Pegasus used a health potion while the vampire was gone. The tooth marks were already fading from view, he noted. The nice thing about the virtual world was that injuries seldom lasted long. Pegasus had only a short wait before the bedroom door burst open again and Dartz came bounding back down, bundled up in several layers of clothes, gloves, a heavy cloak, and several scarves wrapped around his head like a turban.
Pegasus laughed in sheer delight at the sight. "Dear boy, I do believe you are the very height of fashion!" Dartz pulled down the scarf covering his face to stick his tongue out at Pegasus. It didn't escape Pegasus's attention that Dartz still maintained his natural grace even when so thoroughly ensconced.
Vampire and knight player made their way out into the forest. It took every shred of Pegasus's willpower to keep from laughing as Dartz paused with every step to shake snow off his boots. The vampire showed all the enthusiasm of a drenched cat. In an attempt to cheer Dartz up, Pegasus began singing Christmas carols. The attempt seemed to work as Dartz eased off on the disgusted cavorting. In fact, a couple of times, Pegasus almost thought he heard the vampire trying to hum along.
The two never saw the attack coming until Pegasus was pelted in the side of the head with a snowball. A second snowball pegged Dartz in the back of the head. Pegasus froze in place, wondering why he hadn't thought of starting a snowball fight in the first place. Dartz, meanwhile, lunged into action - dashing after a cloaked figure. His outraged roar over the sneak attack reverberated through the trees. "Ah," Pegasus murmured in realization. "That's why."
Seeing as how Dartz seemed to have everything in hand, Pegasus watched the chase. The cloaked figure weaved through the trees in a desperate attempt to escape the vampire. Dartz, however, had inhuman speed and agility on his side. It really was no contest, Pegasus decided as the vampire managed to leap ahead of the figure. Dartz ended up sliding on a patch of ice, however, barely managing to avoid crashing into a tree. The stranger altered course with only minimal slippage, this time heading straight for Pegasus.
"Oh, no!" Pegasus called out. "Don't think I'm going to save you! I know better than to tangle with angry vampires!" But it was too late. The stranger threw her arms around Pegasus's neck, burying her face against his chest. Oh, she was very definitely a she, Pegasus realized as her body pressed against his - a true damsel in distress.
Admittedly the distress was of the damsel's own making, but Pegasus supposed that was no reason to throw her to the wolves, or vampires, as the case may be. He figured that this was especially the case when the vampire in question was currently charging towards them both with a look of sheer bloodlust on his face. "That will be quite enough, dear boy." Pegasus's voice was so calm and steady that the casual observer would think that he had angry vampires heading straight for him on a daily basis. He only wished that he felt as confident as he sounded.
Much to Pegasus's surprise, the vampire actually halted his charge. "Shouldn't let her get away with attacking," Dartz muttered sulkily. "It'll only encourage her to do it again."
Feeling the woman trembling against his body, Pegasus had his doubts about whether she would attempt to snowball a vampire again. "It's alright, Miss," Pegasus murmured soothingly.
"Ophelia," the girl murmured in a voice so hauntingly familiar that Pegasus's breath caught in his throat. "My name is Ophelia, good Sir Knight." Slowly she tilted her face up to Pegasus - a face Pegasus knew far better than his own, having painted it more times than he could remember.
Pegasus let out a horrified gasp, torn between the desire to shove the virtual construct away and to hold it close in the hope that his Cecilia had returned to him. Slowly, Pegasus released the young woman and turned his back on her. All color had fled from his face. This couldn't be happening! Kaiba wasn't cruel enough to pull a stunt like this. Was he?