Neverquest – Part 119

Characters: Michelle, Cara, Mack, Jeff, Roy, Siarra, Kim

Location: Inside the dungeon of Felwinter

Time: Day 5 – Early morning, before dawn

“It’s not real…” she whispered. “None of it is real…”

She was in the corner of her cell, fallen against the cold earth like an angel without wings, and she gripped her knees in such a tight embrace that they looked like they would shatter into shards of ice. Her memories slipped away, liquid recollections of a life that was melting before her eyes. She looked now to the sky, trapped under this cage of soil and fantasy, and shuddered again. Like a child shrinking from a demon, like a nightmare shrinking from the dawn.

“I won’t forget… … I haven’t forgotten…”

But her voice seemed so far away.

And so did the visions. She could see them there, shimmering lights on the horizon, fading to black… And Frankie. He was laughing, holding something in his hand. And he was running with her again. They were running through the fields that seemed so innocent. And Grandpa was there, sitting on the park bench, smiling at the reverie of the past.

No, it couldn’t be so far away.

But there were those dark clouds. Always there. Always blocking the sun. And Gena looked down, her face in the clouds, and she laughed harder than any of them. And the skies turned to fire, and everything that was good turned to hate. Frankie began to fade until his hand left hers. And she watched him, opened her mouth to scream, and nothing but Gena’s cold laughter filled her lungs.

“He’s mine now,” she mocked from the bleeding, black skies. “Don’t you know? You spend all your time in your little fantasy world. Your little fantasy world… Your fantasy world…”

“No,” she breathed into the wall. “Frankie, come back…”

Gena laughed again.

“You’re not real…”

Darkness filled the world.

“You can’t be…”

And then the fire spiraled into a distant sun and a blanket of night overtook her last breath. But the flame moved closer and glittering armor stood behind it.

“That’s her,” came a voice. “On the ground.”

“Thank you, Cara.”

Siarra continued to stare into the wall of earth and fantasy. “It’s not… No… … Frankie…”

Donned in a white robe that reflected the light, Michelle stood over her and looked down. “Siarra… You’ve caused a lot of people a lot of problems.”

She heard voices. Coming from afar. Galloping like horses, whispering like fireflies in this night.

“She doesn’t look well.”

Falling like water. Calling like rain.

It all seemed so calm now.

“Get her on her feet!”

Sailing on the wind. Gone from this land.

“What the hell is she doing?”

More voices. Asking for her.

It was her turn to come.

“We need some water. Quick!”

And now they were singing.

Angels in disguise.

Sweet meadows, paper flowers, golden bark, endless green…

She sighed.

The dreams…

So close…

So cold…

And then she coughed. Water poured from her hair and cheeks as she sat up, sputtering out the memories of the other world. She choked on the thoughts and coughed again, feeling her heart pound against her chest. Her blood began to thaw. Silver rain began to fall. Cold skin enveloped her soul once more and she opened her eyes to the other darkness.

“Siarra.”

“Who…?”

Michelle lowered the bucket in her hand and looked at the redheaded girl sitting calmly on the bed. “Why didn’t you do something? How long has she been like that?”

Kim shrugged.

 Sighing, Michelle dropped the bucket and held Siarra’s head up with her hand. “Siarra. Are you okay?”

Water trickled from Siarra’s lips as she sputtered again.

“Siarra. We need to talk.”

She rubbed her temples, dazed and beaten. “Who…who are you…?”

“My name is Michelle. I come from…” She glanced over at Cara. “I come from your land.”

“My land…?”

“Yes. I know what you did, how you wound up here, and why you can’t find your way home. I know a lot about you, Siarra.”

Siarra’s eyes widened and the world became so clear. “Then you’re—”

“Yes, I am.” Michelle straightened herself and stood up.

“Oh, thank God.”

“God?” Cara echoed. “Wait… I thought she was your daughter.” And then she looked at Michelle. “And I thought you were her mother.”

Michelle shook her head.  “I’m sorry, Cara. I lied to you.”

“Then she’s not related to you?”

“No.”

“…Then I’ll have to place you all under arrest,” Cara said, reaching for her sword.

But Michelle raised her hand and knocked the sword away with a blast of telekinesis. “I’m really sorry about this, Cara. But this concerns matters that are above even you.”

Cara looked over her shoulder. Her sword had been wedged deep into the dirt in the wall. Turning back to Michelle, all she could do was frown.

“You lied to me…” she said. “What do you want with Siarra?”

“I’ve come to ask her a few questions. That is all.”

Now Siarra looked just as surprised. “Questions? What questions? I thought you were here to rescue me.”

Roy marched out from behind Michelle’s long dress. “Ho-ho, what is that? Rescue you? Little lady, that’s the last reason we’re here. Do you have any idea what your ‘virus’ has done?”

“My virus!? No! I told Tony that—”

Michelle grabbed Siarra’s chin and pressed her face so close that she could see right through the mage’s eyes. “Tony’s dead.”

“Dead…”

“Dead, Siarra. In game and out.”

She stared up at Michelle and the words dribbled off her lips. “But…how is that possible?”

“You tell me. It’s your virus.”

She just shook her head in astonishment.

“The game’s over, Siarra. You can stop lying.”

“I’m not lying! I didn’t create that virus.”

“We traced the signals straight to your computer.”

“No…”

Michelle sighed and bent at her knees. “Look, Siarra…. I’m not your mother and I’m not going to yell at you. Nor am I the police and I have no desire to send you to jail. You’ve done a fine job at that already. All I want is to know the password to the seventh-door of your encryption, so I can stop the virus before anybody else gets hurt. That’s all.”

Siarra stared at her.

“Please. Tony was a good friend of mine. I don’t want to see anybody else end up like him.”

“…I’m telling you the truth.”

“Stop lying!” Roy snapped. “Or I’ll…sic my frog on you!”

Siarra and Michelle looked down.

“Why is he—?” Siarra started to say.

“Don’t ask.”

Siarra was quiet for a moment. “…I know who created the virus.”

“Dear, we know it came from your computer.”

“But it wasn’t me. It was Gena.”

“Gena?”

“Yeah. She created the virus so she and her power-hungry friend, Roxanne, could be super high-level characters.” She looked around the room. “Think about it! If I had been trying to cheat, why would I end up here? I would be too strong for the guards to catch me.”

“The virus shows no sign of offering any beneficial abilities or modifications to a player. That’s not good enough.”

“But why would I want to create a virus?”

“…Um, excuse me,” Cara said. “Are you implying that some kind of…disease is loose in our town?”

“Yes!” Siarra said. “And her name is Gena. I’m telling you!”

“There was a…Necromancer by the name of Gena who came into town a couple of days ago. She was at the Tournament of Champions, too.”

“Yes, that’s her! She’s the villain here.”

“My captain sensed something wrong about her as well.”

But Michelle shook her head again. “Siarra… I’d like to believe you, but I can’t. The virus came from your computer.”

“Maybe it was…I don’t know… I don’t know anything about computers.” She closed her eyes. “Couldn’t she…maybe, like…couldn’t she have set up the virus so you would trace it to the wrong source?”

“I guess it’s possible… But why would she do that?”

“Because she hates me! She kidnapped my brother and it’s her every intention to keep killing until she takes over this whole kingdom… She’s already won over the queen. Tell her!” She looked at Cara pleadingly.

“…She has gained favor with Isabella,” Cara admitted. “Rather quickly, in fact. But Lucilla is suspicious about her. There’s something about a Forsaken that can’t be trusted. …Although I’d like to trust to them. I’d like to think everybody can be trusted.”

Michelle nodded. “It’s hard to know who to trust…” Then she turned to Siarra and let her fingers slide away from the mage’s cold skin. “I hope you’re not lying to me. Tony was a good friend to us all.”

“I’m not, I swear. I want to go home more than anything.”

“Okay… I’ll believe you. For now.”