Cold, shaky, dry hands clutched and pulled bits and pieces of cracked flesh and wry hair. Shivering. Cold, yet sweating. 'Heart's beating too fast, it's too fast, calm it down. Slow the heart.' Arthas thought, before he forced himself to take in a large, deep breath, his mouth nearly painfully dry as he did, before forcing it out slowly through his nose. Arthas stared down at the bed, wide and teary eyed as he whimpered. Every time he shut his eyes, every time his hands weren't touching something, memories of Varian's bloody neck, and the warm, trickling, inky blood washed over him. 'Lock it away, lock it away!' He nearly yelled in his head, letting out a strained, sobbing whine. Arthas took his balmy palms and pressed them against his face, sliding them down against his face slowly as he looked up. He had called in sick for work earlier, claiming to have hurt his ankle too badly to work. He was sitting on his thin, dirty mattress in a dark room. He could easily turn the lights on, but everything agitated him at the moment. Arthas gasped, as he nearly forgot to breathe, before closing his eyes briefly. He shook his head, and burrowed his eyebrows. 'What caused this?' He thought to himself, taking in a sharp breath through his nose. He sat up straight, and swallowed hard, thinking. He quickly assessed himself, and his mental state. He was decaying, and he could tell he was. 'Why am I like this, why am I like this, why am I...' Arthas paused his thought, trying to thoroughly and truthfully describe himself. 'Why am I cold, shut out, violent, angry, unstable?' He asked, frowning. 'Distractions. I need distractions.' He thought, nodding. 'Something I can push myself into, to escape. I need something that will make me forget everything when I need it to.' He said, swallowing and nodding. Arthas thought, taking a moment of relief to be thankful that his flashbacks hadn't returned, before looking around. Arthas spent the next few minutes, going over every facet of his room, and multiple ideas inside his mind. He spotted his computer, and thought, before getting out of bed. Perhaps finding a new, engaging video game would be, at the very least, a temporary relief.
Arthas walked over, and sat down at his computer, reaching over to boot it up, and leaning back in his chair. He was exhausted, though he was unsure why. Everything seemed slow to him. He glanced down at his dirty, dusty table that held his keyboard and monitors, of which he had two, and frowned. 'I should clean this.' He thought to himself, frowning. The moments seemed to take minutes for the computer to start, and when it did, Arthas quickly logged on. He glanced down at himself, disgusted with what he saw, before looking up and staring at the monitors. He waited for the computer to load up, before opening his internet browser, and pausing. 'How do I look for a game?' He thought to himself, before opening his favorite search engine. He sighed, and stared at the keyboard before quickly typing away. 'Types of online games' He searched, before studying the browser. He clicked on the first link, and read through it. Arthas read about several different types of games. It wasn't until he read about MMORPGs that his interest was caught. He clicked on a link that lead him to a list of several top MMOs, and read over them.
The one at the very top of the list, Realm of Battle, seemed very well done. It was an older MMO, by what the site said, and you did have to pay for it. Arthas didn't mind that part so much. Truthfully, he had quite a lot of money saved up, as he didn't pay rent, and only a few bills, since he lived with his grandfather. He glanced over the article, and decided to try the game out. He went to the game's main website, and read over it slowly. After creating an account, and buying the game, he started the download, before his face fell.
"You've got to be kidding." Arthas mumbled out, as he saw the whooping eight hour wait time for the game to be ready. Arthas rolled his eyes and sighed, before getting up, and walking back over to his bed. 'I guess I'll just play it tomorrow.' he thought as he laid there, staring up at the still dark room, which his eyes had adjusted to by now. Arthas continued to lay there for a few, long moments, before yawning. He stretched slightly, and closed his eyes, making a soft noise of comfort and relief, before drifting off to a much needed sleep, and started to dream.
Arthas gasped as he found himself surrounded by trees. He looked around, without turning his head, and seemed confused. This place seemed familiar, but he couldn't place why.
"Please." Arthas heard a distressed voice call out. Arthas tried to look forward, but couldn't. Arthas found himself unable to move his body at all, instead he could only stare at the ground. He felt himself moving, yet Arthas knew he wasn't telling his body to move. He was walking forward, and he could hear someone trying to rush away. Arthas felt himself unable to do anything, he wanted to see what was happening, he wanted to talk, but instead all he could do was stare down at the cracked, dry leaves as he walked over them. Arthas was panicking at that point, but he couldn't show it. He felt his head lift, and with it so did his eyes, eager to try and see what was going on. When Arthas looked up, he was met with a bright, red, blinding light, and Arthas couldn't help but to yell out.
Arthas awoke gasping, and crying again. His bed was nearly soaked with how much sweat he was giving off, but he shivered. He reached over, and grabbed his phone, wincing and squinting as he checked the time. Three thirty in the morning. Two full hours before Arthas needed to be awake and ready for work. Arthas groaned, and leaned his head back, frowning and whimpering. He turned and got out of bed, slowing pulling some pants on, before starting his morning routine.
Arthas' now mundane morning routine was quite simple really. A trip to the bathroom, with a stop on his way back to his room to grab a glass of something to drink, usually orange juice. Once back in his room, Arthas got dressed fairly quickly. His daily work outfits were very similar. One pair of jeans he wore and washed every day, with a different shirt depending on the weather for the day. If it was cold, he had a long sleeved, blue button up shirt, and if it wasn't cold, he had a short sleeve grey button up shirt. Truth be told, Arthas hated his job. He hated every aspect, of every part of it. Nothing appealed to him when it came to anything not digital, and even on the computer, not many things kept Arthas happy. Distracted, is a better term for what Arthas felt all day, every day. Regardless, Arthas got himself dressed, and made his way outside and into his car. He sat there, in the driver's seat, and put his hands on the steering wheel. Against his intentions and wishes, Arthas' thoughts drifted back to the night with Varian, an entire week ago by now. A long week, filled with nightmares, and panic attacks.
Arthas shook his head, and cleared his throat, forcing himself to focus on the day's work and shove aside any thoughts of that night. He pulled out of the driveway, and headed down the road, a small gas station his destination. It was a place Arthas went every morning to get his breakfast, and a snack for the day. It was small, and served an actual breakfast surprisingly. Not something that would normally be found in a gas station, not something that would have been sitting on a counter under a lamp for a few hours.
It was 5:53 in the morning when Arthas pulled into the gas station, just as he did most mornings. He got out of his car, and went inside the small, wooden almost cabin like structure. He greeted the attendant, and told the cook what he wanted whilst he got himself some drinks for the day, and a snack. He walked over, and sat down at one of two tables. A place for people to eat in at the gas station, if they so wished. Arthas usually didn't eat there, preferring to get to work as soon as he could, to get the day over with. Once the cook brought Arthas his food, he went and paid for his things, remembering to leave a tip for the cook as he did most days, before Arthas left the gas station. As he walked through the parking lot, he pulled his phone out and decided to check the weather, to see how rough today would be. He cringed upon seeing that the high of the day would be in 87 F, and let out an exasperated sigh. It was 6:07 in the morning when Arthas already wished that the day had never existed, and when he got back into his car. He set his food on the passenger's seat, and started to drive off to the work site.
Arthas didn't look forward to much in his day to day life. In fact, even when given the chance for free time, to pick and choose something to do that made him happy, Arthas dreaded all of his options. Nothing truly sounded fun to him, and nothing truly entertained him. Out of all the video games Arthas had tried, out of all the various things Arthas dumped his money into to try and make them fun, nothing really kept his attention. Nothing jumped out at him, telling Arthas to dedicate himself to it, and Arthas hated that feeling. Arthas hated how he felt like an insignificant, unimportant drifter. He was a jack of all trades, so to speak, and he dreaded it. He was never truly good at anything, but he wasn't extremely terrible either. Arthas felt completely, totally average in all regards to his life, and felt that since he couldn't do anything to make himself stand out, he wasn't worth trying to stand out, and wasn't worth being recognized.
Arthas arrived at the work site for his construction company, and sat in his car. He could see the foreman already there, and waved to him from his car, before grabbing his food. Arthas usually ate in his car, a place of solace and quiet for him in an otherwise loud, and busy work day. Arthas ate his food slowly, trying to savor it as best as he could, and sipped from his store bought drink. Today it was a soda, something caffeine free. Arthas didn't know why, but caffeinated drinks upset him, and made him feel sick if he drank them while working, so he was forced to drink what he could. Right before his time started, Arthas got out of the car, and stretched slightly. He yawned, and shook off whatever tiredness he had, before going out and starting his day.
Arthas fell to his bed hard, exhausted after the day. Carrying lumber, up to fifty pounds at a time all day, and nailing them all in after they were cut. It seems quite dumb, but it can exhaust someone easily. Arthas turned to his side, starting to undress himself from his work clothes. He frowned, and sighed with content as he got his boots off his feet, and his socks off, freeing his feet. They felt constricted most of the day, and he took a moment to move and wiggle his toes around, before sitting up on the edge of the bed. Arthas stood, and slowly, and carefully got himself undressed, down completely naked before he slipped into some casual, comfort clothes. He grabbed his outfit, and slowly made his way to the washroom, before stuffing his clothes into the washing machine. He added some soap, and turned the machine on after closing the lid, before going back to his room. He sat down, almost absentmindedly and completely out of habit at his computer, before turning it on. He sat there for a moment, staring at the screen, before remembering the video game he started to download last night. Arthas searched, and found the desktop icon, before clicking it, and loading the game up.
Realm of Battle started, and Arthas was greeted with a intricate, almost life like cinematic covering the game's current expansion. Arthas sat there for a moment, trying to remember his account information, before logging on. The game automatically enlisted Arthas onto a realm, and brought him to the character creation screen. Arthas looked over it slowly, humming in thought. There were two factions to choose from, the Federation, and the Legion. Arthas didn't care too much about the factions at the start, and instead looked over the various races. His interest was peaked by a race that appeared to be a mix between a human, and a rhino. Pachyos, as they were called, were tall, stood up higher than the other races, and was much more bulkier. A large horn protruded from the character model's forehead, and its eyes were deadlocked ahead. Arthas decided to pick that race, and looked over the classes. He went over each one available to the race, and was stricken with crusader. Arthas huffed with amusement to himself, imagining a huge rhino walking around with a sword and shield, calling itself a crusader for purity, as the game described it, and choose that class.
Arthas, surprising even himself, actually was enjoying himself playing the game. He spent hours on it, completing quests, enjoying his time on the game. He wasn't paying attention at all to the clock, and when he found himself yawning, the tabbed out to check the clock and panicked. 'Fuck.' Arthas mentally cursed, realizing it was far past what he normally stayed up at. He closed the game, deciding to play more tomorrow, before going off, and heading to bed.
Two entire weeks had passed since Arthas started the game. Since then, he had switched from his original character, upon unlocking the Lich class as he progressed. He created that class, and on a whim decided to play as an elf. Arthas spent as much time as he could in the game, grinding out quests, and honestly having fun. One Friday, when Arthas sat down after a day of work to play Realm of Battle, he stopped. He thought for a moment, about what got him into the game, what drove him to search out the game, and to download it. A small wave of anxiety fell over Arthas, but still, he willed and compelled himself to go to the game's forums. Yes, the prospect of social interactions were terrifying to Arthas, as he was afraid he would embarrass himself, and not make any friends, but the driving, longing fear that Arthas wouldn't truly get mentally healthier was a heavier, deeper fear to him. Thusly, Arthas made his way to the forum post, and quickly read over the rules. He searched through the different sections of the forums, finding one that belonged to the realm he played on, after double checking his own realm, and opened it up. Arthas burrowed his eyebrows, as he slowly tried to process all of the new information on the screen, all the different forum posts, and titles. He decided to ignore most of them, and instead searched for how to create a new forum post. He quickly found the link that would take him there, and with a quick click, a new page was brought up. Arthas stared at it for a moment, and took in a deep breath as he thought over what to say.
Arthas typed up a few drafts of the post, each one of them sounding more and more ridiculous than the last. When Arthas finally got a draft of a post he was happy with, he read over it again, slowly, double checking it.
"Hello, I just got into this game earlier this week. I'm currently level 79 on my lich, and am looking for new friends, and new people to talk to and play this game with. My character name is Saethlaen. I'm really close to level 80, and would love to have some friends to play with at max level."
Arthas, happy and content with his message, posted it. He sat back, staring at the screen for a split second, focusing in on it, before shaking his head. He quickly alt-tabbed back into the game, and went back to playing.
Anduin Wrynn sat down at his computer after being out and doing errands most of the day. He was home alone, thankfully, and decided to spend his time playing his favorite game, Realm of Battle. He loaded the game up, and quickly popped open the game's forums to check on them. Anduin truly enjoyed reading the forums, more so than the actual game. Reading about various people's experiences, or just finding a few funny threads, all appealed to him. He skimmed through the pages, not even bothering to select a character yet, and looked at a thread with interest. He clicked on it, and smiled. 'This person seems nice, I think I'll friend them.' He said warmly, copying their name, before signing into the game. Anduin loaded up, and quickly opened the chat box, sending out a whisper to Arthas.
"Hello. You're the guy who made the forum thread, right? The one looking for a friend? :)" Anduin typed out, quickly sending it.
Arthas was currently killing a mob, when he heard a strange noise. He glanced up and around his computer, confused for a moment, before glancing at the chat box. His heart nearly stopped as he read Anduin's message. He finished killing the mob, and stood there, scared for a few moments. Arthas sharply took in a breath, and closed his eyes, clicking on the chat box and opening it.
"Hello!" Arthas started out his message, deciding already whether or not he was being too eager. "Yes, that was me. It's nice to meet you :)" Arthas said, biting his lip and nodding.
Anduin smiled, and chuckled as he read Arthas' message. "Hello :) I was wondering if maybe you wouldn't mind if I decided to tag along with you while you do whatever you want? I'm kinda bored of running raids and dungeons :P" Anduin replied happily.
"Sure! I'm just doing some quests right now, I haven't quite gotten to max level." Arthas replied.
"Can I add you to my friend's list?" Anduin asked, smiling and pressing the button to summon his mount.
"Sure! I'd add you, but I don't know how to do that yet, haha." Arthas replied. He was feeling strangely giddy with himself. He had friends before, and while those friendships could certainly have turned out better, Arthas felt a tightness in his chest from talking to this random person on the internet. He saw a pop up, saying that someone wanted to add him as a friend, and he quickly accepted it.
"I'm Anduin, by the way." Arthas recieved, and he smiled to himself.
"I'm Arthas, nice to meet you. How are you?" He quickly asked, as he went about his business of leveling up.
"I'm great! A bit bored lol, dungeon wait times are taking forever. What do you play?" Anduin asked, checking his friend's list to see where Arthas was, before starting to fly out to him.
"Oh, I'm a lich!" Arthas replied happily. "I'm only 79, but I've got 10% more experience until I'm level 80. What do you play?" He asked. Arthas sat back in his chair, and truth be told wasn't bothering trying to fight anything anymore, currently too engaged in his simple conversation with Anduin.
"I'm a cleric. I'm addicted to healing :P" Anduin replied, chuckling to himself.
"Oh, a healer? I'm currently a tank specialization. Dungeons and raids need both, right? Maybe when I'm 80, we can do some together." Arthas said, smiling to himself. He glanced at his character, who was currently being attacked, and scrambled to defend himself.
"Yeah, that sounds great. It'd make the queue times go by much faster :)" Anduin replied. "I'm in your zone, where are you at?"
"The Glorious Arena." Arthas replied quickly. "I've got some quests here that I can't seem to do on my own. The enemies are too tough, and I can't kill them alone." Truth be told, Arthas was fighting random, stray monsters around the quest zone, as he couldn't currently kill the bosses needed to complete the quest.
"Oh, silly, that's a group quest :) I'll help you with it though." Anduin said, chuckling to himself.
"Is it? How do you tell?" Arthas asked, seeming confused. He opened up his quest log again, and read over a line. 'Recommended players: [2-4]'. Arthas rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"It should say right in the quest." Anduin said.
"Yeah, I see it now haha. I'm an idiot." Arthas replied, shaking his head. Soon after, Anduin landed near him, and quickly healed and buffed him.
"Hi :)" Anduin said.
Arthas smiled, and remembered something he read online. He quickly typed a command into the chat, causing his character to wave. "Hello! :)" He replied quickly. "Ready to do the quest?" He asked, wanting to make sure Anduin was set up.
"Whenever you are :)" Anduin told Arthas.
"Do you have the quest?" Arthas inquired.
"I've already done it, don't worry." Anduin answered.
"Oh, ok!" Arthas typed out. "I'm going to start it now." Arthas walked over to the quest giver, and started the quest up. As he told Anduin, he had attempted his quest a few times before. Arthas and Anduin went through the quest, which to Arthas' surprise was an entire quest chain. With each quest, Arthas checked his experience bar, and upon getting to the final quest, he quickly typed out a message to Anduin.
"I think I'm going to ding on this next quest. I've got 3% left." He said happily.
"Oh, awesome! :)" Anduin typed back, smiling to himself. "Start it up when you're ready!"
"I will. Great heals, by the way. :)" Arthas replied. Arthas walked over to the quest giver, and glanced down, smiling as he read a thank you from Anduin, before starting the quest. Like all the others, Arthas went and fought the boss, doing menial damage to it. All Anduin had to do was keep a shield on Arthas, and in his spare time, threw damaging spells at the enemy. Once done with the quest, Arthas quickly and excitedly raced back to the quest giver. To his and Anduin's delight, Arthas did indeed level up upon turning the quest in.
"Congrats! :D" Anduin quickly typed out to Arthas.
"Thank you! I couldn't have done it without you hehe." Arthas typed back, smiling and giddy with himself. He glanced down at the time, and frowned. "Can we play more tomorrow? I have to get to sleep soon." Arthas said, already dreading to spend time away with his new found friend.
"Yeah, sure! I should get going as well." Anduin typed back, a weak smile on his face. It was strange, but Anduin was strangely fond of Arthas already.
"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow." Arthas said, forcing himself to smile.
Arthas logged off of his computer, and sat there, smiling. He went over the events with Anduin, and couldn't help but feel giddy about finding a new friend. He let out a slow yawn, and blinked a few times, before shutting his computer down. He stood, and rubbed his face as he made his way to his bed. With a flop, Arthas fell to the bed, and squirmed around until he got comfortable. He reached up, and flicked the lights switch off, and smiled. Something told Arthas, that he was going to sleep better that night, than he had in a very long time.
