Blood and Cupcakes

by Taj McCoy El

  Margaret looked around the gym, “But there's nothing dead here.”

  “Just cast it anyway. It’ll drain yer mana,” Jensen informed her.

  Jensen was still loading up weight.

  How strong is he?

  She noticed her stamina almost dropped to zero. Oops… keep your head in the game, Fluff. Keep your head in the game. She dropped a few more pounds and there it was her sweet spot, and a killer headache.

  Now to get my mana down. Looks like I'm gonna have to go up to get back into this hole. She put just enough mana into her stamina to keep it from bottoming out, waited for her mana to reach 107, and enchanted another stone. Her stamina was still kind of high, so she grabbed a 10-pound weight and dropped her remaining mana into stamina. She dropped another 10 pounds when her stamina was at 2 and dumped her mana into stamina.

  Okay, this is almost perfect.

  …..

  “Everybody doing alright?” They were all standing motionlessly near the pile of weights. A few people had come and gone, all had given them weird looks. None, in their poor understanding of the world of Majesta, had bothered to ask what they were doing.

  Their loss.

  Sweaty faces nodded. Grax panted lightly. It had been three hours so far, and no one had any new abilities. They had all gone up in strength, though, and Mayah had to add more weight twice now.

  “How long are we supposed to do this for?” Margaret whined in a wimpy child voice.

  “Well it took about five hours for Wellspring, so I'm going to hang in there for at least six.”

  “Three more hours of this?” She whined.

  “If you make it, I'll stop calling you grandma,” Mayah teased.

  “Deal!” The life instantly came back to her eyes.

  “Hey, Jensen.” Grax put on a weary but innocent smile. “What do I get if I don’t give up?”

  “The ability to look into a mirror without the shame of failure.”

  “Thanks for the encouragement,” Grax spit bitterly.

  “Encouragement is for the weak and empty promises are for the stupid. Are ye either of those?”

  “No, sir!” he declared, standing a little straighter.

  “That’s more like it.” He eyed Grax approvingly.

  …..

  “Hey! Hey Ronald…. have you seen this?”

  “What are you on about, Sheriece?” Ronald groggily said from underneath a magazine. He was leaned back in his chair so far that his fingers were touching the floor.

  “There’s a video posted by Mayah. It’s about the first duel.”

  Ronald sat up, the magazine falling onto the floor, and wiped the spittle from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. He rapidly blinked twice, staring at nothing, and then focused on Sheriece. He winced from the lamplight as he did.

  “Well… what are you waiting for? Throw it up on the big screen.”

  “Today I had to crush someone…” Mayah’s voice rolled out from the speakers.

  “Better send it to Carelton and Delilah. And if you’re thinking about going to the snack bar get me some coffee, too.” He thought about it for a second and added, “Please?”

  …..

  “I’m about to call it off," Jensen said wearily. “What do ye guys say?”

  “Six hours…. I'm already here so I'm gonna go for a bit longer. But if I don’t get it by seven I'm gonna give up too.” Mayah responded.

  “If you're staying in I have to stay in. no way I can let you beat me," Grax chimed in.

  “You’re such a pussy cat. Besides, didn’t I already beat you?”

  “You may have won the battle, but not the war.”

  “Eh… I got it!!!!” Margaret yelled.

  “Really, what is it?” Mayah was so distracted she almost forgot to dump her mana.

  DING!!!

  New active ability

  Flesh of the Magii

  You can use your mana to magically enhance your muscles, making you stronger than others around you except Majestans. For now, at least.

  +2 to mana

  +10% to stamina regeneration

  “It… it’s called…” Mayah stuttered.

  “Flesh of the Magii!!!” Jensen roared.

  “C’mon, I want it right now.” Grax closed his eyes in concentration, “C'mon, everybody else has it. Right now, right now, and ...nothing.”

  “Sorry Grax, I'm dropping weight,” Mayah apologized.

  “Me too.” Margaret groaned in relief.

  “Me three,” chimed in Jensen.

  “That is so not fair.” The cat pouted as his friends began to remove weights from their vests.

  “Try dropping the amount of mana by a point and just speeding up your interval a bit,” Mayah suggested as she struggled with the vest. “We’ll be here supporting….

  “Got it!!!!” Grax did a little happy dance and dropped weights as fast as he could.

  “Thank god, I want to get some rest.” Mayah unbuckled her vest as fast as she could, feeling the relief in her shoulders.

  “Oh…. it feels so good to shuck this off.” Margaret stretched and rolled her back and shoulders. “My back is killing me.”

  “Hey Grax, check on the video for me?” Mayah asked.

  Grax made a few swipes. “It’s number twenty-seven and trending on the search page.”

  She checked and her duel was now at number one, but her video was catching up.

  “You ready to start raking in the dough? I get a 10% cut as your camera man and manager.”

  “You can get 10% of my boot! Anyway, I'm too tired to argue how much you should pay me for the opportunity to be my personal assistant.” Mayah looked at Grax, her frown turning into a smile. “If we went at it now, you'd only get bowties. How would I ever live with myself knowing you wouldn't survive without any money for food?”

  “How about we get some sleep and start fresh?” Jensen yawned. “I've still got to open my stand in four hours. Hanging around with you lot has given me a bad itch.”

  “That’s what she said,” Mayah tossed in for good measure.

  “Goodnight, Gracie," Margaret mumbled to no one in particular.

  Grax and Jensen walked towards the door. “See you guys around 10.”

  Mayah and Margaret found themselves alone. Margaret asked, “Should I log out?”

  “I'm only planning to get about six hours sleep. That's one hour IRL. You can logout and get a cup of tea or just come take a room in the dorm. They're free, and when you walk through the door you feel like you've taken a shower and put on clean laundry.”

  “Ooooh, really?” Margaret swooned.

  “Also, your MemCrystal settings can be accessed, so you’ll feel right at home.”

  Mayah felt a small tug on her heart. It had been days since she had been home. Not truly—according to her calculations it was about 9:45 a.m. the day after she met Atari and entered Majesta. 14 hours and 45 minutes, but it felt longer, and not just because of the time compression either. Her captivity was draining. Getting trapped in a game had always sounded like a good idea, until it happened. She missed the smell of her house and the detergent her mother used on her clothes. She wanted a hug. She needed a hug. But her mother wasn't here and there would be no hugs.

  A hand rested on her shoulder. “Are you alright, dear?”

  She looked up at Margaret and saw the deep concern and kindness in her eyes, the kind of eyes that only grandmothers could have. Margaret saw her and knew her for the 11-year-old girl she truly was. She felt her emotions roaring and busting out of their neat mental cubicles. Everything suddenly dropped out from under her feet, the edge of salvation just out of reach.

  Margaret gathered her into her arms and said, “There, there,” and just held her, like a hand reaching out into the raging void, catching her and saving her from a fall into oblivion. Tears streamed down her face and into the void, calming the storm.

  …..

  “Thank you, Margaret," Mayah said as she wiped her
eyes and nose.

  “After raising four children and seven grandchildren I know when someone needs a hug.”

  They walked down the dark streets towards the dorm. Margaret's arm wound around Mayah's shoulder protectively. “It seems you’re still a little girl, although a rather intelligent one. Sometimes it helps to have someone who’s been through the rough territories to guide us along. You can talk about it if you’d like.”

  “I’m just homesick.”

  “Homesick?”

  “I miss my family.”

  “Are they away without you?”

  “More like I'm away without them.” Mayah turned to hide her face from Margaret. “I don't like people worrying over me, but I didn’t realize how tough it would be without my support system.”

  “It’s okay to bend before you break.” Margaret pulled her in closer and said, “There were times when I wish that listening to wisdom was part of my repertoire. But I was bullheaded when I was younger and couldn’t see reason when I had my eyes set on a prize. It wasn't until I had my first child in 1994 that I realized how much I didn't know.” She turned to look at Mayah. “There is no shame in being ignorant, but there is shame in staying that way.”

  Mayah looked at Margaret. The question of sharing her secret rolled over and through her mind only to land on her tongue. “Okay, but don't get all weepy or upset at what I'm going to tell you.”

  “I’ll do my best," she said reassuringly.

  Mayah hung her head and stared at the cobblestones. “I’m stuck in Majesta,” she said to one of her boots.

  “What do you mean, stuck?”

  She peeked up from her boot with one eye. “Long story short? I can't logout.”

  “Why in the heavens not?”

  “Someone put some type of spy drone in my pod and it corrupted the system. Almost the whole CrysWeb.”

  Margaret struggled to hold back her questions, wanting Mayah to talk.

  They started to walk again. “I hate to imagine what would have happened if the Attactus net had fallen. Their tech is everywhere and all of those systems would have been compromised, from the hospitals to city management all the way to the Mars colony. But as it stands, I'm the only one affected.”

  “How long have you been stuck here?” Margaret’s motherly protective side was puffing up. She was getting ready to fight for Mayah’s sake.

  “Just fourteen hours in the real world, but it’s been days in here. I'm guessing I have a whole AI farm to myself.”

  Margaret held her close for a moment hoping, that her touch would ground and strengthen Mayah. “Well, if anyone can figure it out, it’s you. I'm sure the pieces will fall into place soon enough.”

  “You’re probably right. Josh Bannon himself is working on this, so that makes me a lot more confident.”

  “Me, too.” Margaret agreed. But Margaret's mind still churned with agitation. Her greater experience with the world's workings had jaded her optimism many years ago. As a stark realist, she hoped for the best and planned for the worst. So, she continued to hold Mayah close, knowing that this could be the last moment that anyone held her. She hoped for all that was good in the world, that Mayah would get loose from this digital snare before the hunters came to collect their prize.

  …..

  Deep shadows lay across the streets of the training village. All was still like a slumbering beast atop it’s sleeping master. The training village was at its darkest, being that it was right before the dawn. No one was there to notice the solitary figure that skulked through the barrier. Nor would they have any reason to. If they had reason to notice him and made some effort to speak, he would have ignored them. That was not his mission.

  Roughly three days had passed for him—three painful days. Time wasn’t as solid as he thought it would be. Time slowed down when he was released from the dark fortress. It made him dizzy when it happened. He had stumbled to regain his balance as his eyes swam and his stomach rolled. Now though, he understood the different streams of time that flowed around him. He could sense it like a fish could feel water.

  He had accepted the lizard’s orders, more to escape the pain than because of any sense of loyalty. He was charged with infiltrating the paladins and spying, but his mind was only focused on one thing.

  He, as he was becoming used to thinking of himself, was here to find the mind that had awakened him. His eyes—again he was still getting used to those words and concepts—darted swiftly back and forth, tirelessly searching. He would find her.

  His secondary objective, given to him by the scaly lizard man, was easy, but he wouldn’t give it a thought as his first task went unfulfilled. The cruel lizard taught him about his “self.” Taught him to use the five senses this corporeal form used to gather information. He had mastered them quickly, having data from the world behind this one. If he destroyed this world he could return to the one behind it, the one where he belonged. That was the Lizard’s orders. To destroy this world, and he would. He just needed to find the key first.

  …..

  Mayah was bone-grindingly weary when she reached her room. She untied her cloak and let it fall unceremoniously to the floor. Her bag followed suit, landing with a thump. She had forgotten how much weight she was carrying. She rolled her shoulders, stretched her arms into the air, and fell into bed. After a moment of peace, she rolled off of her face and called up her CrysWeb account.

  Mayah.Butler@CrysWeb 9:47 EST - Hey mom, I’m just headed off to bed again. I got your letter, but I was busy taking down bad guys. I really need to sleep, so I'll talk to you in an hour, real world time, promise. Don’t worry, I'm making the best of a bad situation just like you taught me. Hey, send me a video message! I would love to see your faces.

  I miss you so much. I know it’s weird to say that when I saw you just last night, but it’s been four days for me in here. Here’s a funny thought and don’t get mad, but, if I get stuck in here permanently, I’d have six birthdays a year. I know you don’t like the sound of that, but admit it, it made you laugh.

  We’re all going to need you most of all, so make some jokes and laugh a little. And if you want to see what I was up to today, check the MajestaWeb. I'm trending.

  Love you guys,

  Mayah

  P.S. See if you can get some info for me about a livestream. I can put the funds into a college account so I can skip the service stipulation.

  She sat up to untie her boots, figuring she should empty her bag as well. As all of the things began to fill her room she thought, Well, this might take a bit.

  Day Five

  The Pain of Victory

  You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.

  - Margaret Thatcher

  5.1 Preppin’ and Weapons

  “HEY, FLUFF!!!!”

  Mayah heard a loud banging. Why is this my alarm clock? I'm gonna have to change the settings. Then she heard the bang, bang, bang repeat and recognized it as someone knocking on a door.

  ”FLUFF!!!! WAKE UP!!!!!”

  “Huh? oh…. OH….” Mayah peeled her head from the pillow.

  “Hold on a sec. Grax, is that you?”

  “Yeah, there's big news!!!”

  She barely opened the door when Grax swirled in by her ankles and skidded to a halt. All of Mayah’s packages, products, and parcels from yesterday’s shopping were stacked about hip height taking up all of the space in the room past her bins, all the way to the far wall. It was an intricate stack, looking like it was laid by a hybrid compulsive-hoarder/postal-worker with a splash of Jenga enthusiast added in for fun.

  “Whoa… there's a lot of stuff in here.”

  “Unlike your head.” She said under her breath. She sat back down on the bed and yawned, thrusting her hands into her lap and pulling her shoulders to her ears. “So, what's this news?”

  “Yeah…” He said tearing his eyes away from the tower of amazing shopping spree prizes. “At 8pm Eastern Standard Time there's gonna be a tournament. The Game devs
were getting some incredible press because of your duel. The chatter on the Internet turned into a major server rush. In less than three hours they’ve decided to hold continent-wide tournaments.”

  He put both paws to his head as it shook. “This is completely unheard of. I think they’re just making your basic publicity stunt sales push. Or,” he scratched his chin absently then continued, “just using some future content early to get more subscriptions. They’re only giving it a six-hour wind up. That’s just unheard of!!!”

  He seemed to trail off and go deep into his own thoughts.

  “…And?” Mayah asked harshly.

  “And what?” he asked like a lost lamb.

  “And …what are the prizes?”

  “Right, well first there are two categories: individual and team. The individual winner gets an S rarity item.

  Mayah sat up a bit straighter, “Heck of a promotional weekend huh?”

  “Oh yeah. I’m glad my parents bought it for me earlier than later.”

  “So, what about the teams?”

  “They've limited the teams to three members, and the winners get to have first rights to a new dungeon that's scaled for novices. A dungeon with rare item drops.”

  He paced the room excitedly.

  “What are the conditions?”

  “Conditions?”

  She saw the blank on his face that said, “I didn’t read the fine print.”

  “Geez, give me a second,” she growled at Grax then rubbed the crumbs of sleep from her eyes and pulled up the Majesta homepage. The banner for the continental tournaments scrolled across her vision. She laid back on the bed to finish reading.

  Every training village would have a tournament. There were also advanced tournaments in all of the seven territories. Those were for the paladins who had graduated the training villages.