14 — Orange Juice

At Velrick’s insistence, Alex stepped through the portal’s obsidian gate…

…and into a world without light. Strange, that. 

No, not strange. Wrong. 

“I lied,” Velrick said, “We’re not late, we’re ahead of schedule actually. About three minutes, give or take. Mind your step, it’s a straight walk but if you cuff my heels I’ll break you.”

The entrance closed behind them, creating the sort of dark that was no different from total blindness—from losing the sense of sight itself. Alex didn’t have to look to know that there were no stars in the sky.

This is wrong. Nightmare should have the budget for instantaneous transport. And even common channels still have stars watching overhead.

Alex started walking. He could tell from the sound of footsteps that Velrick was not far ahead. His hackles were raised but his trait wasn’t telling him he was in any sort of danger. Not physically anyways.

That didn’t reassure him. Velrick had been his guide in his last life, and Alex knew well he didn’t have to raise an arm to hurt him. He didn’t have to do anything in order to hurt him really, he just had to be negligent at his job. System Guides were representatives of the System itself, the power they lorded over them was no little thing, and it came with a responsibility to match.

Negligence. Was that all it had been?

The man yawned, and though Alex couldn’t see, he still narrowed his eyes as they came to a stop.

“Two minutes now,” Velrick said.

“...I see.”

The man started up again, not caring to elaborate. Alex followed, growing more perplexed and wary by the second. This was a private channel, he was sure of it. He had to have prepared this before he’d come to pick him up.

“You’re a strange one,” Velrick eventually said. His tone had the droll of bored small talk. “You’re not a mage. You have no backers. As far as we can tell you’ve spent the last few months either working or bumming around the casinos. And yet, a blacksmith.”

“My father taught me the trade,” Alex said, “while he was still around.”

He added a sad inflection to the last part. It was the answer he’d prepared in case anyone got curious, and while he hadn’t thought he’d need to use it, he doubted the System had so much data as to recount his whole life and disprove him.

Velrick hmm’d noncommittally, “One minute now.”

There was only the sound of footsteps to fill the space as they walked.

Why does he keep mentioning the time?

Hell, what was the need for this to begin with? Forget instantaneous transport—to have a private channel in a place like Nightmare had to be ridiculously more expensive. One would think it would be used for secretive gatherings or for nefarious purposes—things that shouldn’t be done under the Constellation’s prying gaze. Instead, they were here just taking a leisurely stroll.

Alex got so absorbed in his thoughts that he almost didn’t notice when Velrick had stopped again. Almost. He made sure to stop short before bumping into him. If he was willing to leave a newly awakened behind in the Soul Mists for being too slow, then he didn’t doubt he would break something of his if he scuffed those fine leather boots.

“You didn’t ask any questions,” Velrick said.

“What?”

“Ah, there we go. But still not the right ones. Not even ‘where are we going?’ or a ‘what are we gathering for?’. You were like this last night as well, no questions.”

His voice was montone. Alex couldn’t tell what this was without any expressions to work with. Accusatory? Suspicion? Interest?

“I…I didn’t know I was permitted. Sir, if you could... could you possibly tell me why we’re being gathered?”

“I’m not at liberty to discuss that.”

Then why–

“Still,” he continued, “I have been assigned as your Guide, and since it seems possible that you might survive Nightmare, you should know more about what that entails. As someone who is newly integrated to the System, you have a right to a System Guide under any circumstance where the System is being utilized for contracts or stipulations of any kind, and this arrangement will be for the entirety of the Integration. I represent the System, but please understand that I am here for you, and this arrangement is for your benefit.”

Hah. 

He said it all with the rhythm of a practiced recitation and Alex struggled not to roll his eyes. A moment later Velrick drew his hand down and light followed the motion as if he were drawing a zipper in empty space. His voice suddenly turned more stern as he turned to face Alex, his golden locks flowing around his face from the sudden wind.

“This is as far as I go, but let me issue a word of warning. Keep your head down. You do not want to draw attention to yourself yet, not more than you already have. And please. For the love of all primordial, do not agree to anything without me present. If you are offered sponsorship, call for me. They cannot deny me access where negotiations are ongoing.”

Right, because that went so well last time.

Alex took another step, eager to be out of the directionless dark. “I’ll keep that in mind.” 

“Oh, and Alex?”

“Yes?”

Velrick’s eyes had a sardonic quality to them that his dull expression didn’t reflect. 

“The only type of person to not ask any questions is he who already has all the answers.”

There was a sudden thrum in the air as the gate closed. A buzzing thwoom filled the space, like the sound like a vacuum being powered off and Alex was left standing dumbfounded, cursing his poor foresight for letting his apprehension get the best of him. But there was nothing to make of it either. He’d never managed to get a good read on Velrick in his last life, and being able to see the man’s expression did little to tell him what this was really about.

Regardless, he’d been right. Alex already knew where he was.

The Gathering Hub.

Admission fee: 1 Nightmare Token.

Admission fee: Waived

Alex centered himself then took in his surroundings. The floors were wooden with inn-like decor that fit the time period of Nightmare, if not for its exuberant polish. The trophies decorating the walls were fresh and looked less like they would raise themselves as undead and more as if they’d been hunted just yesterday.

It shouldn’t be open this early.

The Gathering hub had its use as the only true safe haven in Nightmare, but for little good since it was only available directly after the Scenarios or on special occasions. Primarily, its purpose was as its name implied—to provide neutral grounds for negotiation and trade amongst players, but he saw little point in that now.

The dining hall was beyond large, but it was completely empty but for its skeleton staff. Literal skeletons, with no flesh left on their bones. There was an information desk the wall opposite to him, and a host of barmaids and chefs, innkeepers and cleaners, attendants and a scant few merchants stood in unison as he took his first step. There was a red carpet laid out in front of him—actually red—and they formed a line to each side of it, taking a sweeping bow.

“Welcome, valued patron,” they said. 

And no matter how long Alex waited, their bow held.

Creepy.

Beyond so, in fact. These weren’t like the undead from the night before who’d retained some of who they were before in some perverted fashion. No, these undead would’ve had their souls twisted out of shape entirely to fulfill a new persona. To the extent that they were no different from robots, or even characters in some game.

“Please, this way,” the attendant at the desk beckoned. Alex accepted, thankful that his sword was in slumber. He was certain she’d be urging him to cleanse them all even from his inventory, and that would’ve been a ridiculously bad idea.

I wonder if this is how Camilla likes to be welcomed home.

Heck… Camilla…she might even be here right now. Her life before the integration was a mystery to him, but she’d finished Nightmare in the top five. It wasn’t hard to imagine she might have received this VIP pass as well.

And she had to have pledged allegiance to her Constellation earlier on to get as powerful as she did. 

It was not a hard conclusion to reach that that was what this was all about. Alex frowned at the lack of pain in his steps as he walked forwards.

“Where are the others?” he asked the attendant.

“Ah yes—valued patron, you must be referring to the gathering you have been called for here today. The others have already arrived. Our coordinators don’t wish to force uh– interaction amongst our esteemed guests if it is not wanted. You are free to mingle as you please while you wait.”

Congratulations, you have been granted an opportunity to meet with the Constellations!

Please wait, you will be received shortly.

Queue: 24/24

Alex looked around the empty venue in confusion.

Well? It doesn’t get much better than this. There were the private rooms, and perhaps a few practice ranges but he couldn't think of many other places they'd be holing up…

“Then, please show me all available lobbies.”

“As you wish, valued patron,” the attendant gave another nod and the list appeared on Alex’s interface. He scrolled… and… scrolled? And scrolled.

His stomach broiled and he began to feel deeply disturbed by what he found there.

Warning. Those who enter are vowed to secrecy in regards to all that they witness. You may only discuss your experience with others under similar vows.

Do you accept these terms?

[Yes/No]

This is wrong. Alex found himself revolted as he responded ‘yes’.

No, this… this is so wrong.

***

Nightmare wasn’t just a place in Alex’s mind, it wasn’t just a bad memory, or a three month blip of an event to mark the start of fifteen bad years. No, it was closer to its namesake in what it represented, and though there were times that haunted his dreams with more frequency, this had been where it all started. Where they all started. Before they’d grown to become the monsters they truly were, this was where those Nightmares had been born.

Alex took a hesitant, shaky step forward as space cracked and warped around him—an effect he distantly recognized to signify that he was in a pocket realm. The sky was dark here and lit torches lined the walls with fire like from the night before.

In some ways he’d been thankful for Nightmare and its malicious cruelty. In his last life, he would’ve been better off not coming, would’ve been more powerful perhaps, but in some ways it had prepared him for what was to come. It’d been a harsh, but early lesson to be careful about who he trusted, and on what it took to survive in a world filled with monsters.

Voices spoke to him as he ambled. More undead, but their voices were distant. He was too distracted to listen. Alex’s gait teetered.Tall totems stood along his path, demonic carvings etched into their faces and he stared at the familiar markings in bewilderment.

This is wrong. He thought. These shouldn’t be here.

He walked forwards regardless. His boots met the shuffling crunch of sand. 

The shore at night was a terrifying thing. The sky loomed dark with clouds overhead and there was no telling where the horizon met the ocean’s depths. No telling where roaring tides met the blood-soaked sand, where riptides prowled and which step might be your last. The crash of waves could hardly be heard over the ringing of steel that night, and no amount of perception had helped Alex parse where heaven met earth, it had been an all consuming darkness.

Even after the fighting, I had to wait until morning to know. I had to check the bodies as they washed up on the shore.

Alex must’ve slipped off his boots at some point. His feet met the cold of ocean water, pulling at the sand between his toes. Calm waters, a peaceful night, the horizon was lit by gentle torchlight, a soft acoustic strum lingered to his ears and someone offered him a drink. It took him a while to remember where he was.

This is Nightmare.

[Room 12 - Hawaiian Tiki Bar]

Youthful women wore grass around their waists as they danced—they did not look undead, their flesh did not rot when they smiled at him, but it was all the same. A man Alex recognized but had hardly spoken to lounged on a beach chair nearby. He raised his coconut and flashed a friendly smi—

No.

Space cracked around him as he left the realm.

He’d selected “Olympic Swimming Pool”, a part of him still in denial. A part of him hoping it wouldn’t be so. 

Elizabeth Ainsworth, Heir of the Golden Dawn, eventual Godhand of the 13th Celestial Order, swam the butterfly. 

She suddenly stopped, as if sensing the disturbance in space and turned to give him a questioning look. 

Alex gave a brisk nod, a brief wave, and noped the fuck out of there.

A Southern bar. A Spanish Nightclub. A Scottish pub. Food Courts. High End Restaurants. A horse range with skeletal mounts. Brothels.

Alex now sat at a pristine, white-clothed table beneath the late-dawn sun. It had a gentle heat to it, not overbearing, but not to be overpowered by the morning’s light wind either. Surrounding him was healthy, green grass that swayed in the breeze and an immaculate garden whose roses still dripped with dew. All was in perfect harmony, serene and tranquil.

But Alex remembered it still.

He remembered the burn-scarred man sitting atop an army of corpses on the dawn of their defeat. He’d had the red eyes of a demon and the beating heart of Earth’s Guardian in his left hand. And when he’d crushed it, he’d sent a pulse of energy across horizons that painted the skies in blood. He was Alex’s eternal reminder of the things monsters were capable of. The man who had killed the Undead King and beaten Nightmare—he, who had been the first to achieve the title of Immortal.

Zhao Yuxuan held no denotion of being that same man who haunted his dreams. 

He had no scars, and his eyes were black and human. His expression was placid, unbothered by the others at the table as he plopped three sugar cubes into his earl grey. Then he made a strange face as if it were too sweet.

Some men faced their demons with bravado. Alex simply stirred his lavender tea with a small spoon, set it down on its plate, and lifted the ceramic cup to his lips. His eyes were on the clouds, reminded of those days he’d spent under his master on a distant planet. 

Looking back, they may have been the most peaceful he had ever known.

One more cup. One more cup, then I can leave. As is natural. Polite.

Yuxuan dipped a biscuit in his tea and ate it. He swept the crumbs into the grass, his eyes sharp but distant, his motions quick and flawless. He didn’t move without purpose, he didn’t give anything away. And Alex’s trait didn’t warn him of danger, instead it did something new again, and this time he could understand what it was telling.

I know. This man is Earth’s end.

But Alex’s attention didn’t linger too strongly on the man. 

Sure, it lingered a small amount, a perceptible amount, but none more. Instead he watched the clouds drift up above. No elephants today, and somehow they never seemed to block out the sun in their drift. He sipped his tea, names coming to mind. Good women and men. They’d trusted him. 

The sky pulsed, and then darkened to the color of blood.

“God! This is so fucking boring!” the third man exclaimed, “I’m gonna have some real drinks if anyone wants to join me!”

Luan, who had been incessantly bouncing his knee only moments before, pushed his chair out and stalked off. The air shattered around him, leaving small cracks in the space he’d occupied that slowly started to heal and close.

Alex sipped the last of his tea, pinkie lifted for the hell of it, and placed his cup down on the table.

“Yeah, I could go for a change in scenery.”

The betrayer gave an imperceptible nod and Alex walked into those cracks in space, following the wolf-man to gods only knew where.

***

[Room 86 - Brazilian Pub]

So I guess Camilla probably isn’t here then.

Alex hadn’t checked the casinos, he supposed, but that seemed unlikely. In the last hour he’d gone from room to room and had come across nineteen others in that time. Most he’d recognized. Some he hadn’t. A few of them likely didn’t make it out of Nightmare, it was known to happen. 

Regardless, no matter who he saw and where, Alex did not draw needless attention to himself. He’d been quick to adjust to his new reality, and after the swimming pool fiasco he’d molded himself to be as inconspicuous and forgettable as possible. And even if that meant tea-time with a literal world-ender, it did not matter, Alex kept his composure in check.

Until now.

He stopped cold as he entered the room, his trait shivering at a distant memory as he noticed the woman in the corner.

Twenty now, Alex noted. 

He took note, that was all he did. He didn’t draw his shattered sword and plunge it through the bitch’s gut. He didn’t cry out and turn to flee. Both urges overtook him for a brief second but he swallowed them, locked them up in that dark place in his mind. Let them pass and drift in peace.

Zhao Yuxuan had been so far beyond them that his betrayal felt almost impersonal in a sense. Like a natural disaster destroying your whole world, he’d been an incomprehensible terror, shapeless in form and hard to rationalize.

Then there were other Nightmares. Ones that were more tangible, more personal, more outrageous—more unforgivable! I’ll wrap my hands around your fucking neck and squeeze until I hear the snap of your—!!

Alex hardly finished the thought before the room broke out in fight. 

But it wasn’t him who couldn’t keep their composure.

“LUAN!” The vampiric bitch lunged at the man where he stood at the bar. His ears perked up at the motion but his back had been turned. He was defenseless, and her nails were sharpened to a knife’s point. She moved faster—much faster than Alex’s eyes could perceive. She closed in, her fingers pricking the nape of his neck—

And then they stopped there. Luan gave a delayed reaction. 

“Oh, hey Ana,” he said, turning. 

He waved his hand in front of her face, but her expression was frozen. Then a timer appeared above her head and she disappeared. Then he turned to Alex, forking his thumb towards the empty space where she’d been.

“Crazy right? They gave me one of those when I tried to fight the gray wolf earlier.”

As Luan laughed, Alex slowed his hammering heart to a less suspicious cadence. A distant part of his mind recognized the moniker ‘Gray Wolf’ and his mental count ticked up to twenty one. 

“Yeah,” he responded, “That’s… just, yeah…crazy...”

Good, he thought. You’re shaken. But not too shaken. You haven’t led a life exposed to violence. Quiver your hand slightly.

That last part was easy enough. The fact that Alex hadn’t lunged for the woman had less to do with self control and was more the fact that he already knew this was a no-conflict zone.

“Gods,” he muttered, “I could use a drink…”

“Hah! Who wouldn’t after all this? Hey ‘tender!”

The man behind the bar stopped polishing his glass and perked up, “Esteemed patron, what can I get you?”

“Not me,” Luan said.

“Orange juice,” Alex said.

He walked up to the bar. He hadn’t meant to make that complaint out loud, but now that he had he’d just act natural about it. 

‘Orange juice’ though…

“On the rocks,” he quickly added. “With whiskey. And none of that cheap shit. I’m talking Columbia George, not Florida’s Natural. High pulp.”

The bartender mixed Alex’s drink to order. Luan perked his eyebrow at him but some things couldn’t be helped. Tropicana was all he could get in Dykriest and Alex had been lucky to find even that after the purge.

“It’s been… a rough few days,” he explained. 

A flimsy excuse, but even normal people had their quirks. It would do. And for all intents and purposes, Alex was normal. At least compared to these people. They had all been born into this world of magic— heirs and heiresses all of them— born to the very same ‘world leaders’ who’d agreed to all this. Violence was not new to them, even if they hadn’t known it on the scale of the apocalypse. And they were all dangerous in their own ways.

Even Luan. 

He’d by far been the most personable Alex had come across, but he didn’t mistake it for true friendliness. The man was built with both length and stock and had long, ginger hair with a patch in the middle that was black. He had the air of a wild beast, yet moved with the gracefulness of a prodigious talent. Even at his strongest he was the kind of person Alex would’ve avoided.

Well, they all were really. For all that it seemed to work out for him.

Alex swirled his glass, all too aware that Luan was watching him. His gaze was predatory, even if not hostile, and its prick lingered on his neck. He’d ordered a beer and took a sip, asking the bartender to put on some football. Alex took a sip of his own drink, a tad disgusted at the pairing of pulp and whiskey. 

His heartbeat was approaching normal levels now, but Luon had shown keen hearing earlier so he didn’t let it quite stabilize. He swirled his glass again, not bothering to hide that he was lost in thought. 

It had all happened so fast, he hardly had time to process everything. But Christ, an Olympic swimming pool. In Nightmare. It all sounded like a sick joke. Actually, he supposed it might’ve been one. And the Godhand had been swimming in it!

Alex almost grimaced at the botched first impression, even if it was better than the one from his last life. He’d met too many Nightmares in the last hour and it was taxing on him. It’d been unavoidable. Despite what Velrick had said about keeping his head down, Alex knew he had to show his face here. Sooner or later his name would appear on the leaderboards, and an inconsequential impression to match it was far safer for him than being an unknown.

Honestly, Camilla’s probably the least of my worries right now. Why am I so focused on her?

Well that was no mystery. You spend a few weeks obsessing over a woman and it’s hard to get her out of your mind afterwards. Alex sloshed his glass, downing the rest whole. 

He peered subtly, but not-so-subtly at the man next to him. Opened his mouth, then closed it. It was time to start asking questions.

“Luan–”

“You’re doing it again,” the man said. 

Luan didn’t turn from the screen. A match was being replayed between two Brazilian teams Alex couldn’t recognize, but he thought he sensed some melancholy from him at that moment.

“Doing what?”

“I can smell it, you know. The fear.”

He thumbed his nose, bearing a sharp toothy grin and Alex’s heart skipped a small beat.

Wait, had he been bailing me out earlier?

“And hey, look. It’s not like I don’t get it. That guy out there? You’d be stupid not to fear him. The vamp? Eh, debatable, but she’s not a looker I’ll give you that. Me? There’s nothing to fear, kid. I don’t bite on the first meet.”

…Kid?

Alex’s mind took a brief pause before he remembered his age. Well, that made things a little easier in some ways. Fucking whiskey and orange juice, he could see the angle now.

“I am not afraid!” 

“Don’t take that tone with me, pup.” Luan growled.

He’d suddenly stood, slamming his gruff hands onto the bar top. Glass shattered under his palm, making Alex flinch. 

It was a subtle expression, brief, and quickly covered by sullen acquiescence as he clicked his tongue.

Still, it was enough to make Luan drop his hostility when he saw it.

Alex was just that in his eyes now, a pup. One with exceptional talent, sure—but a pup nonetheless. He was a mundane, someone who’d lived in an entirely different world from him. He had too much belligerence, but it came from a place of ignorance so it was to be pitied and not to be taken as an insult. That was how it was with shifters. You did not want to challenge their authority, but if you were too weak they would not respect you and that was worse.

And though Alex had never met the man in person, he was starting to get a feel for who Luan was.

Fear—in small amounts at least—was useful. And genuine, to be frank. Surely, he would’ve accepted nothing but utter docility from his pack, but now he looked almost guilty for yelling at him. The sort of sizzling hatred Alex had felt earlier would’ve been much harder to explain, had he picked up on it.

“Hahhh, don’t be so stiff! Don’t tell me your dad never beat you?”

He slapped Alex on the back, enough to knock some air out of him. He scratched his head in befuddlement before his expression lit up.

“Ah, I know what will loosen you up. How about a friendly bet?”

His eyes found the Snooker board, gleaming with eagerness.

“I…no, I’ve been trying to abstain from gambling late--”

“Hey, bartender! We could use a switch up!”

“Of course, esteemed patron.”

The bartender tapped something in front of him and swiped his hand and the snooker table was switched out for Billiards.

“There! That should be more your speed. So how about it?”

“Billiards?” Alex felt his resolve cracking a little, “Are you sure?”

What could he possibly think he could get from me? Essence Crystals? Information?

He found himself following Luan regardless, and as they reached the table a smile cracked his face. The man was holding up a 10 Real bill and scratching his head again, “Damn, that’s less than I thought…”

Alex shook out his own wallet, two dollars and some change clattering onto the table. 

“You and me both,” he said.

They shared a deep laugh and then got to playing. Billiards. Here, of all places. It was so hilariously outrageous that it took Alex a second to realize his laugh was genuine.

Nightmare. What a joke.

Your Queue to meet with the Constellations has moved up!

[12/12]

Expected wait time: One hour, twenty-three minutes.

***

Hey Yall! Waaaaaay past my bedtime again :P

But I love the fuck outta this chapter so who cares. It was the first one I've been able to fully plot out and write from scratch since coming back to writing, so I've been happy to stretch my wings after all that revision. I hope yall enjoyed it too ^^

I got a good fluff for you this time! I know I say that every time, but it's always true so yea

This one is called "Acrobat"