I actually didn't have this chapter in the story when I posted the last part, but due to some of the comments I figured this would be a good idea. I ran through it a few times, so I hope I didn't make any errors, but no guarantees. Anyway, this is a little shorter than most of the other parts are going to be, so sorry about that :)

-Tas

Part 3

Chapter 2: Ilos, Day 1

Nick stood slowly, trying to ignore the uncomfortable numbness that was the indicator of damage in this game. Shaking his head to clear it, he helped Jess – Lassea. He reminded himself – regain her feet, and then looked around for David.

As he had feared, Cariss was nowhere to be seen. Everything was as it had been, and the players within sight were slowly recovering from where they had been thrown by that massive shockwave. Lassea was shaking as he supported her, her eyes wide with fear and seemed to hold the question he himself was asking. Did I really see what I thought I did?

The memory came unbidden, causing a chill to run though him.

DONG

David’s form seemed to shudder, as if being pushed by the shockwave from the sound, and he looked as if he was starting to lose substance. All three of them cried out, shocked and fearful at this sudden violent change.

DONG

He had been tossed as if someone had shoved him with full force, toppling to the ground along with Jess. David hadn’t been moved in the slightest, but his face was the picture of terror and pain, a sight Nick found especially terrifying. David was always calm, he never showed his fear or pain or anger to anyone, and the fact that he was doing so now elicited a cry from Nick’s mouth. He shouted at his friend, trying to keep him there with the power of his voice, and Jess was screaming. David reached out, his mouth open and yelling, but only the faintest of sounds reached Nick’s ears, as if he was a great distance away. His body was transparent now, as if made from a fine mist.

DONG

With this most powerful shockwave, Nick saw his friend’s body was blown away like the mist it looked like just before he himself was thrown, tumbling end over end, away from Ilos.

Jess clutched his arm, holding on as if he too would vanish if she did not. “Nick,
I want to leave. How do we get out? I need to get out. Please we need to get out of this place. I want to go home. Please.” Her voice shook as she begged him.

He took a deep breath, trying to steady his nerves and remember what David had told him about logging out of Ilos.

“If you can’t do the mental shift to log in or out, all you have to do is cross your arms across your chest like a mummy, make the number three with both hands, and say ‘log in’ or ‘log out’.”

“Okay, Jess. Jess, listen.” Nick waited until he got her attention, then continued. “Cross your arms across your chest and make the number three with your fingers, then say ‘log out’”

She nodded, and followed his instructions, vanishing in a twinkling of red and blue lights. Many of the players he could see were following her example, and he expected that it was the same all over Ilos.

Instead of logging out himself, Nick started towards the North Gate. There was something in his gut that told him that there was something wrong with this whole situation. There was no possible reason for the makers of this game, whoever they were, to do something like this. Everything he had read about Ilos, and he had researched this a lot, told him that there was something happening that was beyond his understanding. Now that Jess wasn’t there with him, he could use all that knowledge without making her feel out of sorts, and he sprinted towards the Palace using the fastest route possible, his bastard sword clinking in its sheathe on his back.

During the months David was playing the game, Nick was reading everything he could about Ilos. He had the layout of the city memorized, including all of the alleyways and out of the way shops, and he also knew every word of power posted online. Now that he wasn’t in a panic, he recognized the massive sound that had torn David away: the Bell of Recall. By the description he had read, it was a massive bell formed of some unknown material, and was made and enchanted to be heard throughout all of Ilos, including the highest floating islands. It had only been used once during the beta: to recall all the players to defend the city against a goblin attack.

However, there was no attack here. Everything was as peaceful as could be, though there were still people he passed that looked shaken from the Call to Arms. So what had happened? Why did David vanish like he did? He didn’t know the answers, but he knew of someone who might.

His footsteps echoed as he weaved through the alleyways and then out into the plaza, still moving as fast as he could. The pair of Capital Guards straightened when he approached the entrance to the Palace, but made no move to block him as he thundered past into the long hallway that was the only way into the great stronghold.

The Palace was the heart of the city of Ilos, and the last line of defense against any incursion. Its walls were fortified by the strongest Earth magic, and it had its own supply of water and even deep caverns underneath that grew food, or so one man had claimed. If necessary, the Palace could withstand a siege almost indefinitely, and seemed designed as a place players could log off even when the city itself was taken.

More importantly right now, it housed the most knowledgeable of NPCs, including most of the mages, the elite craftsman and enchanters, and the Regent. According to everything he had gathered, the Regent was the effective ruler of the city, and directed most of the NPCs within it. He was in charge of pretty much everything, including the Bell of Recall.

Nick slowed his breakneck pace as he approached the Council Chamber, or at least what he hoped was the Council Chamber. He didn’t think he got lost, but the Palace was designed to be confusing in the case any enemy ever got in. As he got closer to the door, the sound of footsteps echoing up the hall reached his ears, and he turned to see who it was.

A woman wearing the armor of the Capital Guard approached him, a sword and shield resting on her back. She wore no helmet, revealing her bark brown hair pulled into a short ponytail and her forest-green eyes. Stopping in front of him, she looked him up and down, almost tall enough to look him in the eyes. “Are you here to speak to the Regent as well champion?”

“Ah- yeah.” Nick replied, surprised. “I need to know why the Bell of Recall was rung.”

“I am here for the same reason. Lorilee Avenia, Commander of the Capital Guard, at your service.” She said, inclining her head towards him in greeting.

“Finn.” He offered, returning the head incline. “I guess if you’re here you don’t know anything about this whole situation either?”

Lorilee shook her head. “We were told by Xynus to prepare for the champions to arrive in the city and given some advice and guidelines on how to interact with you, but there was nothing about the Call to Arms. That is something that is only supposed to be rung when the city itself is under attack, but there is nothing to defend against. The Regent is the only one that can give the command, so he must know what is going on, even if I am supposed to be informed of these things.”

“I figured he would know, but it’s nice to have it confirmed. Let’s go.” Nick said, turning and pushing open the door.

The audience room was pretty large, probably 100ft across, and the Regent himself sat in a miniature throne at a large table. Behind and above it sat the true throne of Ilos, a graceful piece of art carved from a single piece of wood that seemed to have grown out of where it stood. The table was covered in papers and there were NPCs everywhere, conferring with the Regent, with each other, and sending runners in and out.

Nick hesitated at the entrance, and Lorilee walked past him, striding with purpose towards the table. He followed the imposing woman, noting that she had signs of rank on her shoulder plates that the other guards did not.

“Regent! What is going on here?!”

The man at the head of the table looked up from some papers he was studying. “Lorilee! I’m glad you’re here! I need your help with this.”

“Help? With what?”

“This whole thing!” He said, gesturing broadly with a frustrated look on his face. “Someone rung the Bell of Recall, and I have no idea who!”

“You don’t?” Nick blurted out.

“No! As far as I can find out no one gave the order! It’s driving me insane! Lorilee, you didn’t send the order I assume. Can you find out if any of your men did?”

She nodded sharply, “Yes. I’ll check with them.” Turning, she ran off.

“Champion, as much as I would welcome your help, there is nothing you can do. Leave this to us for now.”

“I-“ Nick stopped, rubbing the back of his neck. “Well, alright.” I need to get back to Jess anyway, she’s probably freaking out right now about not being able to contact me.

With that thought, he crossed his arms across his chest, and in the middle of all the activity, logged out.

Earth, Day 1

The swirling light vanished, leaving behind darkness. Nick opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling for a moment before sitting up. His room was pretty simple, if a bit messy, but he was a college guy, so that was kind of expected. The full sized bed he was sitting on was pushed into a corner, a couple of pillows against the two walls, with a tv across from it. His desk was to the right of the tv, covered in random crap with a clear space in the middle for his overly powerful laptop and mouse. The floor was mostly clear, though he did have a few changes of clothes strewn about that he thought he could wear a few more times before he had to wash them.

His phone buzzed loudly on the desk, and he pulled himself out of bed, grumbling, to snatch up the phone. “Allo?”

“Nick! Thank God you finally picked up! I’ve been calling and calling and I couldn’t reach you and David hasn’t answered either! What took you so long?”

A warm hand clutched his heart at her worried tone, and he frowned at her use of David’s name. She must be on the verge of panic to use that instead of Brother like she always did. “It’s okay Jess, I’m fine, I just went to see if I could find some information about what happened. I’m sure David’s just doing the same thing and he’ll call you back when he logs out. Whatever happened it’s over now, so just relax okay?”

He heard her take a deep breath, letting it out slowly, before speaking again in a more moderated voice, though there was still an edge of fear to it. “I don’t think it’s over Nick. I can’t remove my headband, that Key thing.”

His hands darted to his head of their own accord, pulling at the black band that adorned his head. A chill swept through him. It wouldn’t budge! He felt along the edges of the thing, but it was as if it was a part of his head!

Now is not the time for panic, I have to keep control so Jess doesn’t freak out as well. Damn it David how do you make this calm thing look so easy?!

Keeping his tone as steady as possible, he tried to reassure one of his closest friends. “I’m having the same issue. For now all we can do is wait I think, we don’t have the resources to deal with something like this. I’m sure the government will be in a right tizzy once this goes public. Hell, the whole world will want to know what these are and what they’re doing, so all we have to do is wait a little bit.”

She sighed, but his attempt to calm her seemed to work. “I know, but I’m really worried about Brother. There’s something that tells me something bad has happened to him, and I really want to prove it wrong this one time.”

Shit. Shit shit shit! Nick cursed to himself. Jess had a special knack for these kinds of things, and whenever she said the words ‘something tells me’, it was essentially guaranteed to be correct.

“Jess, I'm going to video chat you on my computer, then I’m going to see if I can get through to David.”

“Okay, let me turn my computer on.”

He booted up his own computer, and as soon as it indicated Jess was online he started the video chat, hanging up his phone when her worried face appeared.

The thing that grabbed his attention first was the black band across her forehead, a match for the one he wore, and one of 990,000 identical black Keys. Her odd brown-into-blue eyes were fearful, though that faded into just concern when she saw him alive and well. Reaching up, he tugged at the band on his head, grimacing. “I can’t get mine off either. Let me see if I can get ahold of David.”

She nodded, her blonde hair swaying with the movement, and Nick picked up his phone, dialing his best friend’s number. The phone rang, and he prayed that David would pick up.

“You’ve reached David Appleton, but I’m not available at the moment. If you leave a message at the tone I should get back to you sometime today. Thanks!”

Beep!

“David, you need to call me or Jess as soon as you get back from Ilos. We are both worried sick about you.” Nick looked at his computer, noting Jess’ increasingly worried expression. “Jess says that something tells her something bad happened to you, so we’re going to call the police in the case that you are injured and can’t pick up the phone. Hopefully we’ll talk to you in a bit. Bye.”

“Call the police? But…”

Nick took another deep breath, trying to keep his fear from showing. “Look Jess, these feelings you get have never been wrong, and as much as I want it to be this time, we need to do what we can to help. Both of us live too far away to just drive over to his place, and we need to get someone to check on him.”

She nodded, then closed her eyes and seemed to refocus herself, clearing the worried expression from her face. “Thanks for keeping calm, but you can relax now, I’m fine. I’ll call the cops, I have Brother’s address right here.”

Nick breathed a sigh of relief, finally letting the strong sense of unease he felt with the whole situation show on his face and in his voice. “Do you really think he’s okay.”

“I hope he’s okay.” She answered, dialing the three digits everyone in America knew. “We’ll find out in a few minutes.”

The cold hand clutching his heart just wouldn’t go away. David’s fine, there’s nothing to worry about. I’m sure they’ll just find him on his bed with that silver Key of his around his head, and we’ll have to apologize to the police. I don’t know how Jess is going to get them over there on a feeling though.

The operator must have picked up, because Jess started talking. Nick’s head came up sharply at her panicked tone, but her face was clear and she nodded slightly to him to let him know she was just faking it, though he wasn’t sure how much was really an act. “Please, you have to help me! I just got a call from my brother and he sounded like he was having a heart attack or something!”

The operator said something, and Jess read off David’s address. “No, he didn’t say anything besides ‘help’ in a this really weak voice, and then I couldn’t get him to say anything else, like he might have passed out or something! You’re sending an ambulance? Oh good, thank you so much!”

She nodded at him, giving him a thumbs up. “Yes, I’ll stay on the line, please let me know if you need anything else.”

The minutes seemed like hours as they crawled past, and Jess’ calm façade began to dissipate until her expression mirrored his own. Nick couldn’t keep his hands off of the Key that seemed attached to his head, tracing it with his fingertips, trying to find any sort of gap or blemish or button that would get the thing off. There was nothing there, it was smooth segmented black metal all the way around, but he couldn’t seem to convince his hands to stop looking.

“Holy shit! Nick! Turn on the news!” Jess’ voice rattled him from his thoughts. Fear filling his heart, he leaned over and hit the power button to the tv, knowing it was still on the news channel from the previous night when he was watching the weather.

The image resolved to two women sitting in chairs facing each other in the news room the station always used. The brown haired one was talking. “-here with our head investigator into the mysterious game Ilos, Cindy Weir. Cindy, what can you tell us about Ilos? I understand there was something you needed to get on the air that has to do with that thing on your head?”

The camera switched to show the red-headed one – Cindy – and Nick gasped. A familiar black band of segmented metal adorned her head, a Key. “Yes. This is the equipment that allows entry to Ilos, commonly referred to as a Key.” She was trying to sound calm and professional, but there was a note of fear that hovered in her voice. “990,000 people own one of these, and I want to warn them to not use the Key until more can be found out about them. As you can see, I’m still wearing mine, but it is because I can’t get it off.” She raised a hand and pulled at the offending object to prove her point, and her voice started to lose that professional edge to a panicked tone. “No matter how hard I pull, it won’t come off! Please, I don’t want to report on that place anymore! I just want this off!”

With Cindy moments away from tears, the camera cut to another portion of the news room, though you could still hear a dim commotion in the background that made it through the anchor’s mic, clipped to his shirt. “We are getting reports that these Keys are somehow attached to the heads of the people who have used them, and nothing seems to be able to remove them. We will continue to update you as this story progresses here at CVUE News, but for now let’s talk to Martin Forcus, a self-proclaimed expert on Ilos. Martin, why do you think the Keys are not able to be removed?”

Of course, ‘Martin’ immediately began spouting crap about the stars and the pyramids and all this random stuff. Nick sighed and turned off the tv. Another guy looking for his fifteen minutes of fame.

“Ma’am? Are you still there Ma’am?” A woman’s voice came from his computer. He turned to look, discovering Jess had put the operator on speakerphone.

Jess turned off her tv and unmuted the phone. “Yes, I’m still here. Have you found anything?”

The operator paused for a second, as if listening or looking at something, and her voice got real soft. “Hun…”

A coldness swept through him, the icy feeling of dread. Nick knew what she was going to say, and it looked like Jess did too. He saw tears fill her eyes before his own vision grew watery. Unable to bear the sight of his friend crumpling where she sat, he squeezed his eyes shut, salty water running down his cheeks.

“Say it.” Jess’ anguished voice came from in front of him. “J-just, say it.”

“I’m so sorry hun.” The woman’s gentle voice came from the phone. “Your brother was just pronounced dead on the scene.”