November 23rd 2022

Dudley woke up slowly, lethargic with the embrace of sleep that was about to pull him back into unconsciousness when he remembered. Remembered yesterday which had started so normally if you discounted his cousin and how they'd been actually getting alone and spending time together. Until SAO -

Startled, Dudley's head whirled to the window which was streaming light into the room. He'd fallen asleep. When had he fallen asleep? He hadn't even noticed drifting off but by now - by now Mum would have been up and she…

He all but lurched out of bed, covers sliding over his body like they'd never been there to start with. Dudley hits the floor but the sudden loss of height doesn't starve his panic as he stumbles to the empty bed opposite his own, sheets undisturbed.

Harry…wasn't in his bed.

Harry wasn't in his bed.

Dudley can hear the echo of his heartbeat, feels faint as he stares and stares. No. No. Not Harry. Harry couldn't just - just. No! 'Harry,' he whispers, voice barely audible as his breathing grew more erratic. Silence followed.

'HARRY!' The scream bellowed from his throat but he couldn't feel it vibrate. Couldn't feel anything but a faint tingle as his eyes frantically jump around the room, only to pause when the bathroom door slams open.

There, Harry skids out - naked, pixelated and unsexed, dripping water from one room to the next with his staff in hand. His expression is set but his eyes are wide as they search for danger before settling on Dudley. Wafts of steam enter and hit Dudley in the face. The temperature shifts accordingly but it's far from natural -

No, he shakes himself. Keep on track.

'What?' Harry asks, wrong footed and on-guard. 'What is it?'

Alive, he thinks. His cousin. His cousin too short and just a bit too brave. His cousin who gave more than he got. Dark hair, green eyes. Harry. Without thinking, Dudley stumbles up and in a rush of momentum and limbs, clenches his hand into a fist and hits Harry's still-there-face. The force sends Harry backgrounds onto the floor where his staff clatters away from them.

'Dudley?' Harry says in askance, confusion on his wrong face as he uses the wrong name. The warning that cuts in-between them is barely a distraction, red and glaring though it is. His cousin's hand goes up to brush his palm against his cheek though he can't take damage in a safe zone. 'Wha-?'

'You weren't here,' Dudley hisses and thinks he sounds a bit unsteady even to his own ears. He doesn't care as he stares, and tries not imagine what it would have been like to be stranded a lone here, in a new world that was suddenly so ominous with ten-thousand players, all of whom were strangers.

'I…I don't sleep well,' Harry doesn't need to explain but he does, softly, as he gets up from the floor with round eyes. 'So…I got up, waited a bit and found I - it was strange, I could tell I needed the loo -'

Dudley can't help himself however bad it makes him feel when he punches his idiot, idiot cousin again. Another warning appears which he ignores. 'The next time, wake me up! You can't say the stuff you were, like how you don't if you'll be here and then not be here.'

Harry rubs at his face though it'd be from instinct alone. 'I…' His cousin pauses before he takes a breath. 'I'm sorry, De. I didn't think -'

'No you bloody well didn't!' Dudley snaps and without pride and much regret, hits his stupid cousin again and he crashes back down. Harry'd given him a fucking heart attack; for being thoughtless, for saying what he did at all.

Dudley deflated not a minute later. The guilt triples and he hurries to kneel and grabs hold of his cousin whose as naked as the day he was born, sprawled on the ground. Dudley squeezes Harry as tightly as the system will allow and doesn't bother to wait for Harry to return it before he pulls away.

Dudley pulls them both up. He steps away, averting his gaze. 'Dry off and put something on, will you? Dudley grumbles as his eyes attach themselves to the corner of the room; not needing to see Harry flush red to know he does as he rushes off, forgetting his staff as he speeds into the bathroom. The door shuts loudly and it doesn't take more than that for the weapon to shatter and disappear in transportation.

Dudley breathes through his nose, glancing at his fist. He flexes his fingers and grimaces. He should never have hit Harry; he'd know that but he'd still done it. His coach would kill him if he'd seen that. He'd already hurt Harry too much. He couldn't keep doing this. Dudley had always had a problem with his temper, it got away from him, overwhelmed him and all that emotion had to go somewhere.

'You should probably read that pop-up,' Harry's voice greets him as he emerges from the bathroom, clothed and unarmed. Dudley watches him for a moment, remembers his thought when they'd been running from the Town of Beginnings and how he'd noted Harry's easy stride, the ease of Harry's movement.

But then "pop-up" is resonating in his ears and Dudley looks at the warning alert that he had yet to dismiss it. He starts to read it and almost wishes he hadn't. 'Shit,' Dudley says, running a hand through his hair. Harry is by his side immediately, hand on his shoulder.

Warning

Repeated violence in Safe Zone against Player(s)

Fine is now pending at The Court House. You have a week to pay.

(X)

'Ah,' Harry cringes. 'So…'

Dudley closes the warning and scrubs his face with his hands, quietly despairing. 'It's my own fault,' he sighs, eyes shutting closed as he feels exhausted. Steeling himself, he turns to address Harry. 'What do we do?' It wasn't as simple as just going to pay however much Cor he still had on him. He probably wouldn't be able to afford it with how little money they had after buying their weapons and the room. The problem was the travel involved, knowing that the Court House would be in Starting which meant returning to that chaos.

'Well…we have a week,' Harry says slowly. 'We'll do that Quest today, get some training… Try and earn some money before then. How's that?'

'Good. Great,' Dudley replies though they'd have to be flexible about it to make sure they didn't miss the week's deadline. He wasn't entirely certain where the quest was, only having a rough idea from what he had heard from the betas. This was the finished product, though, things always get changed when the developments finished.

'Sorry…I shouldn't have…' Dudley gestures at Harry hopelessly.

Harry shrugs. 'It's alright.' He waves it away and i just makes Dudley feels smaller. 'Don't worry about it.'

'Harry…'

Harry shakes his head. 'No, really. I didn't even feel it. It helped you more than it hurt me -'

'That's not an excuse.' Dudley frowns and no, it can't be. Allowing this to be just swept under the rug - he can't be who he was before those Dementors. He can't. 'I shouldn't have - hit you. It was…I was worried and didn't know how to handle it. I'm sorry.'

Something about Harry softens, relaxes even if his brow is completely confounded in how they knot. 'Then…I forgive you,' he allows. 'Now, do you want to leave for this quest?'

Dudley looks out the window, sees how bright it is and nods. They'll have to be careful about the time if they didn't want to get lost wondering around in the dark. It was just too dangerous with the stakes so high. 'Yeah, if we can't find it by tonight we'll have to try again tomorrow.'

Harry frowns for a second but after a moment agrees. 'Alright, let's go then,' he says and they both move towards the door with Harry, bending to pick up his staff that he carries with them as the leave.

Dudley ends up leading them towards a barn about half an hours walk from the Inn. There's a boy around their age propped up on an unstable-looking fence, appearing uneasy if the set of his features said anything. He dressed like a farmhand of some sort but what captured Harry's attention was the cursor above the boy's head; it wasn't a crystal like every other player's way though the colour was right for an NPC even with the indicator as an exclamation point framed in a box.

'De -'

'A Quest NPC.' Dudley responds without Harry having to finish. 'C'mon.'

Harry nods and follows Dudley over to the boy who - unlike the barmaid - responds to them before they speak, turning in their direction once they're close enough and narrowing his hazel eyes. 'Is…something troubling you?' Dudley asks and instantly the exclamation point changes to a question mark.

'Who…who're you?' the boy asks.

Dudley looks a bit stumped so Harry tries to help with wherever this is going. 'Friends. We've heard you need some help?'

The NPC turns towards him and doesn't speak for a second or two before he's lightly jumping off of the fence to stand in front of them. 'Aye,' he responds in a way that immediately makes Harry think back to Seamus. 'Been havin' some trouble, me. You interested in some cow huntin'?'

Cows? Harry thinks and subtly glances at Dudley who at least looks like this should make sense. 'Wild?' Dudley asks.

The boy grimaces. 'Aye,' he confirms. 'Been…attackin' this here farm. Me Pa tried to run em off bur…he weren't no fighter.'

"Tried." "Weren't." Harry winces and thinks that it was unlikely that they wouldn't be meeting the father. 'I'm sorry,' he feels compelled to say. It wasn't like he didn't understand what NPC's were once Dudley had explained what felt like so very long ago. It was just…sad, was all.

The boy looks back up from where he had turned his attention to his shoes and sort of…stares at Harry. 'Thank yer,' he responds eventually. 'I ain't strong neither an' I got a little sista. I can't…' Harry's discomfort grows. If someone really had…designed these people then why couldn't they be…happier?

'When do the cows attack?' Dudley questions as he places a hand on Harry's shoulder.

'Night, when the moon's full.' The boy responds. 'Does that mean y'all be there? An' stop them damn cows?'

'Yes,' Dudley responds just in time for another pop-up to appear in front of them.

Cows' Counter Attack Quest Activated

The wind blows ominously even when the boy's face relaxes, shoulders slumping. 'Thank ya.' He breathes. 'Me sista's sick so I can't…I need ta be 'ere.'

'Why "counter attack"?' Harry asks in confusion and the boy's face shutters closed. He recoils, taking a step back.

Big eyes turned wet and Harry wonders again why someone would program this. 'Hey…?'

'I - I didn't mean to.' The boy pleads as his arms curl around his middle. 'It was just…Me Pa had just gotten this new herd an'…I - I didn't mean ta.'

'Choice.' Dudley whispers.

'Didn't mean to?' Harry parrots as he focuses on the boy.

The boy sniffs as tears build. 'I…was playin' around with a friend o' mine an…a calf died…' he cries as he looks frantically up at Harry. 'It…it was an accident, bur…the herd - it…it went mental.'

Harry swallows, an awful, automated feeling followed and he nodded. 'Alright. Alright,' He says. 'Tonight there'll be another attack?'

Tears are running down flushed cheeks before disappearing into nothingness under the boy's chin. Luckily, he can still respond. 'Aye.'

'Then we have time for some training.' Harry turns to Dudley who seems kind of lost.

'…yeah,' Dudley agrees and starts to turn around.

'Later, kid,' Harry waves as he goes to follow his cousin who was heading in the general direction of the Deep Forest. 'De…?'

'Quest NPC's are a bit different to normal NPC's.' Dudley states seemingly the apropos of nothing. 'A lot of NPC's are just programmed for simple tasks and to understand a few preset commands. Quest NPCs are much more intelligent; they're given personalities, relationships, backstories and are able to interact on a whole other level.'

'Alright…' Harry trails off, slightly confounded.

Dudley looks at him then, that sort of constipated worry clear on his face. 'But…don't go - getting attached.'

Harry's lips purse and thinks he understands. 'Okay,' he agrees simply.

Dudley nods and seems to drop it. 'So what…training were you thinking about?'

Harry jumps on that new subject and not just to try and expel the awkwardness. 'We need to practice how to fight together better.'

'We're in a party now but it's a good idea.' Dudley frowns. 'Some strategy wouldn't hurt either, I guess.'

Harry nods. Honestly, he wasn't overly used to fighting with an ally. The last person who he had trusted with his back had been his teacher, his mentor and although Dudley was trying, he wasn't Mad Eye. 'Where would you want to start?' He didn't have his magic here and he was very out of his element. Dudley was better, so Harry would have to try and let go of some control here.

'We should try and get used to the Fight and Switch.' Dudley suggestions.

Harry blinks and after an explanation agrees to spending a few hours at practising this in the Deep Forest. The time of trial and error stretches out until night starts to fall and they head back to the Inn for something to eat on the spoils of today's massacre. Consuming anything in SAO ended up a very…strange experience and Harry couldn't help but find it unpleasant, but it numbed the hunger pangs that echoed through this empty shell of his so he deemed it necessary.

There wasn't much of a variety on the Inn's menu, with just a few different meals and a number of different, very expensive drinks and spirits. They ended up spending too much in the Inn but Dudley had been worried about what would happen if they starved themselves despite not currently being connected to their bodies. Harry had conceded since Dudley had more experience with technology.

They finished up and left the Inn again to check the position of the moon and decided to head out when they see how dark it is. Harry's eyes are constantly flickering to the sky for the time and what is around them. He's paranoid that they'll be attacked from the shadows while on the way to the farm and wishes that this quest didn't have to happen at night.

Luckily, the closer they approached the farm on the beaten path the more in focus the barn was. Thankfully, the Quest NPC had lit the barn so they didn't have to rely on the brightness from the moon and also had candlelight streaming from the windows. Harry breathed a little more easily knowing that even when loud snorting and grunting noises reached them as they got to their destination where they had first met the Quest NPC.

They stand shoulder to shoulder as the moon slowly inches its way to its peak while they ready their weapons and listen to the crunching of plants under hoofs and the sounds of their breathing, out in the darkness. Harry's heart settles into a slightly erratic pace but it is one that Harry is comfortable with; used to in his years of battles, of war and monsters. Dudley wasn't and maybe that was something he should have paid more attention to as multiple sets of glowing red eyes bleed through the black.

Dudley lost his head. He played a lot of MMORPGs but he hadn't realised the difference it made to be up close and personal with the mobs he was fighting. With actual monsters - or good enough - and to have to "physically" battle them. They had all been thrown into this death game and the consequences of what that meant hadn't fully…clicked until he had rushed forward and gotten separated from Harry.

There had been too many and with every hit he wasn't dealing half as much damage as he was taking. He got more and more panicked with his health etching into the red and his thinking grew more erratic. He nearly -

But then Harry was there, using the Beast Cows as stepping stones until he was back to Dudley's side. (Must have been an unlocked Skill, Dudley's mind whispered). Harry, whose expression had a manic edge to it even if it might seem psychotically calm; with all controlled movements as he swirled to put his back to the mobs. He stood and went through his menu, taking the time to scroll to summon a Potion to his hand all the while taking damage. Damage for Dudley.

Because Dudley had lost it; because Dudley was an idiot, twice the one as whatever he had accused Harry of ever being.

'Heal,' Harry commanded as he held the phial in front of Dudley and instantly he feels light. The notes from the betas had never suggested any sensory feedback from damage but that wasn't the case anymore; the lower his hit points had gotten, the slower his reaction time had become, the number his limbs felt with a pins and needle sensation starting to travel through his body.

Now, he was free but he didn't even have time to digest the change before Harry was ripping around to attack the Beast Cow that had been ramming into his unguarded back. 'Dudley,' Harry commands in a voice so deep it near distorted the mic that was enabling it. 'Help me.'

Dudley jolts as if burnt as he jumps into action and starts to pull his own fucking weight. Idiot, his mind screams as he slashes. Idiot, it roars as he parries and unleashes a Sword Skill. What were you thinking?! Dudley, what -

But Dudley knows already. He wasn't like Harry. He had lived a mostly save life minus few exceptions like encountering those Dementors but even then, he had had Harry to deal with it. He had never had to fight for his life and now not only was that hurting him but it was also hurting Harry.

Sorry, Dudley thinks as tears well in his eyes. He feels their sting and hates how they cloud his vision. Like SAO was punishing him for having an emotional response. He hates himself for putting Harry in this situation at all. This is all his Goddamn fault and he can't -

Fuck.

He can't be the reason that Harry dies. Not here. Not like this. Not with all Harry had been through and fucking survived. This couldn't - pull it together, he demands as he yells "Switch" and forces Harry back as he screams into action, raw and desperate. His own voice breaks and he resents that as he forces his sword through a Beast Cow's fucking face.

Their attention seems to be on him now, the pressure less on Harry whose own HP was low enough for concern. 'Use a Potion.' Dudley calls as he defends, sword heavy in his hands as he watches in his peripheral as Harry hesitates, staff wavering before nodding and opening his menu up once more.

Dudley snaps forward again more to see a Beast Cow trying to get around him and - no. He rushes in and cuts the bastard across the face, it's a small cut but it figures that a mob that big would have high Defence. It doesn't seem to take it's attention off of Harry either which further infuriates Dudley.

Since you liked it so much the first time, Dudley thinks and takes a breath. Holds as his heart echoes in his ears and releases in an almighty roar that has even Harry flinching from where he's downing their last Potion like an alcoholic on his last drink. The sound rattles and for a minute there is silence as every mob surrounding them freezes.

Class Activated

Class Protector Has Been Triggered.

Do You Identify as Protector?

[O] [X]

Dudley's mind barely has time to process the pop-up. He's in the middle of a quest, trying not to die and murder his cousin and the screen is frankly in the way. But "Class" catches his attention before he can close it because - a Class. They were notoriously hard to activate due to the prerequisites. In SAO you couldn't just click a button and choose. That wasn't enough. "Protector"; Dudley knew that Class. It was a Tank, in other words. A Tank to specialise in defence, he could work with that. Harry was more of a forward -

'What're you doing?!' Harry snaps as he calls "Switch" and forces Dudley's arse intro gear. 'Get into the moment!'

'Right!' Dudley shouts back as he presses the accept button with a shaky hand. Classes were a huge advantage. It meant a different, alternative Skill Tree and weapon specialisation. It meant choices.

Dudley feels almost jittery as hope and fear war in him as he tries to concentrate back on the battle. It lasts hours and it's early morning by the time they've finished the last mob off. They both stand out in the clearing they've made, still and ready while waiting for one more - a surprise attack that never comes when a pop-up appears in from of them.

Quest Cleared

[O]

Dudley all but falls to the ground in relief but doesn't even get a chance to breathe at having survived it before Harry is turning on him with burning eyes, and he thinks that maybe he wouldn't after all. 'You -' his cousin growls with his mouth set as if he's about to bite into Dudley's throat. 'You -'

Harry has a sharp, unforgiving tongue. He's a cheeky brat, really. Always has been and Dudley couldn't ever see that changing. For that reason, Dudley knows he's fucked up when Harry can't even finish a sentence. 'I'm sorry,' he says instead.

'You think a -' Harry is about to say before he's standing down with a guarded expression of mighty displeasure. Really, it was never truly the magic that Dudley was afraid when he was younger. His little cousin just always had this way about this that made him seem…more.

'Heroes!' a young voice calls which is enough of an answer to Dudley's unasked questions as to what had stalled the fire. He looks behind him and sees the Quest NPC with another just next to him, a little girl wearing old fashioned bed clothes and holding on to her "brother's" hand.

Dudley glances at Harry and they both approach the two. The nearer they get, the sicker the girl looks. The boy has a large grin on his face, stretched and thin as he thanks them. 'Mighty kind o' ya!' He exclaims as his sister silently nods, poking out just behind his shoulder. 'Ere, take this. Pa did always say to repay debts.'

Bonus Item

Cream

[O]

Cream isn't anything to get excited over but the reward was only part of the reason why people went on quests. Another reason was to earn EXP, Skills and - sometimes - currency and Dudley knew that they had accomplished as much.

'Thank you,' Harry says as he accepts the Item.

The boy grins. 'Jus' don't eat it all at once,' he quips as he waves goodbye, his cursor turning back into an Exclamation point.

'V-visit again s-sometime….' the little girl whispers and Dudley knows from her own cursor that she would give them the other quest on this floor.

'Sure,' he agrees and hopes that that's enough even as she smiles shyly back at him. He vaguely knew some of the initiating sentences to start some quests but not many and it would really be all guess work.

'Bye,' Harry says with as much patience as he has before turning around and leaving Dudley staring after him. It takes a second before he realises he's meant to react to that and he quickly starts to try and catch of up with Harry's pace.

'Choice -'

'You're an idiot.' Harry states before Dudley can try apologising again.

Dudley cringes but doesn't deny it as he stares at the angry back of Harry's head. 'Yeah, I know. I'm -'

'This isn't just another of your games,' Harry goes on, stomping down the path back to the Inn in a way which said he'd much rather be stepping on someone's face. 'You don't get another chance if you fuck this up.'

Dudley feels himself tense and hates himself just a little more. 'I know.'

Harry turns so quickly towards him that Dudley must have blinked and missed it because one second he's staring at Harry's wild hair and the next Harry's nose is bumping into his as his small cousin has to lean up on his tip toes to slap his shoulder, pushing Dudley back a step. 'Then. Don't. Do. That. Again.'

'Right, I promise,' Dudley responds sincerely. He has no plans to hold Harry back or put him in danger. 'I'm…I really am sorry.'

Harry's frozen for a moment. 'I don't want you to be sorry!' Harry yells back as his eyes go wet and - Christ, Dudley feels like a piece of shit already but please don't cry, he pleads to himself. 'I want you to stay not dead!'

Guilt triples in Dudley and he almost apologises again, before he remembers that it's probably not something Harry wants to hear for a third - fourth time. 'I know. I'm…readjusting. I'll get my head on straight, Choice, I promise.'

A second passes, then two and then three before Harry curls inwards like the strings that had been holding him up had been cut. 'Just…you can't die on me, you hear? You can't.'

Dudley's heart beat speeds up and he wishes that Harry's anger was merely that, that it wasn't born out of fear or need. Dudley wishes that he could promise Harry this; could reassure him the world but this was a death game now and Harry had been through a war at the ripe old age of sixteen where leaders of both sides had been pushing him into the great unknown.

Harry's smart and he understands how death goes so much better than Dudley, himself does. They'd be empty words so he doesn't say them. 'I'm with you, Harry,' he promises instead because he will be. Because there is magic in this world. 'And I always will be.'

Harry doesn't nod right away but when he does it's small like he's accepting one thing when he really wants more of something else. In the next few days they ago on to complete the next quest and set out to Starting City. It is, tellingly, not brought up again and Dudley feels like he's walking on eggshells not to fuck it up as the two of them try and get used to - needing each other.

Luckily, they gain a friend from their trip that goes to ease the tensions between them.

Con/Textual Vomit: So, to keep things short because I've got another chapter to add after this. (Ironically, the day I choose to try and finally update this story after all the work I've been doing for it is when the site was offline - or not responding, either way.) I've given this story a complete rework. It needed a few changes, better pacing, just things fixed cuz they didn't work so well. Also, I info dumped too hard and it wasn't feeling natural to me so I've taken that out and refocused with more relevant information and will continue to release it when it is relevant etc so, yeah.

The next chapter will be a properly new, filled with new content so I hope people enjoy it and forgive the shuffle round.

P.S.I realise that in SAO that there isn't classes but for me, it doesn't make any sense not to problem them in. Classes - especially in an RPG setting - allows for greater expression of self, customisation, bettering control of weaponry, skill and can even out stats and shit between players. There's a reason RPG's have classes so for SAO not to have them just doesn't make sense.

(Originally Uploaded: 15/04/2017) (Rewritten: 18/03/2018)