by Ryan DeBruyn
Rocky walked over to the slightly more substantial figure of Sela. She was slumped on the ground. He tried to pick her up with mixed results; he was now able to interact with a mist-like substance, but the cold substance seemed to just slowly slip through his fingers.
To get Sela closer to the fire, Rocky was forced to continually attempt to change grips, almost doing a ladder climb as he moved her. When he tried to make her more comfortable and place a wolf hide on her, the hide just slowly slid through her form. Instead, he left it under her in hopes it would help with the hard-packed ground.
Since Rocky had no other way he could think of to help her, he left a bottle of water beside her. Then he placed a wolf pelt on the ground for himself and quickly laid down. In his current tired state, it was safe to say he was asleep faster than a narcoleptic.
He awoke late in the morning the next day. Unsure what time it was, he lazily wondered if there were any clocks left in the world and then realized there probably were. Perhaps, the interface option had a watch he could display somewhere. He would ask Sela.
Mid-stretch Rocky jumped to his feet, remembering Sela’s ordeal from the previous night.
Where was she? Is she okay?
The man immediately almost fell back over. His world, the one he awoke to every day, was vastly different. Something was strange, and it was making him nauseous.
Rocky threw up what was left undigested in his stomach, which turned out to be mostly water. Upon opening his eyes again, he fell flat on his ass. It was almost as if the world was spinning and yet it wasn’t.
Checking his debuffs for something like food poisoning, he found the space to be empty. So he wasn’t suffering from any sicknesses. When the fog of sleep cleared, his eyebrows shot up into his hairline as his mind forced his eyes back to the debuff section with the realization. His lazy eye was healed, and he could now see perfectly for the first time in his entire life!
It looks the same but also so much different. This is going to take some getting used to.
Rocky hesitantly got to his feet and stumbled to the wolf fur he had laid out for Sela. He stowed it in the inventory since he found it empty and slowly scanned the area, trying not to move his head too fast, which would cause his already sensitive vision to blur. Standing still, he took a moment to close his eyes tight.
With his eyes closed, he felt his balance return, but also in the distance, he heard the sounds of Azoth splashing in a body of water. Rocky forced himself to take deep breaths and relax his tight muscles. Sela was with his pet, and they were both in the river, or at least, one of them was.
If it’s just Azoth, I hope it’s clean water.
Chuckling, Rocky moved with caution and purpose towards the sound, taking quick breaks to allow his still blurry vision to adjust. His jaw dropped and his eyes went wide as he saw a human-sized Sela wearing a look of concentration. She had traded her white gown for tight white pants and a top that would look at home on any athlete. At times, she seemed to pass through the water with one part of her body but was able to scoop and throw it with another. He almost stepped back in wonder.
Sela was beautiful in a way he hadn’t seen on many women in his life. Rocky could clearly make out the muscles in her legs and arms contracting and releasing with every movement she made. She didn’t look big and powerful, though; she was more tall and graceful in her actions, with an added air of confidence. Her smile lit up the room, and her excitement was contagious. When she saw him and smiled, his breath caught in his lungs, partly because of her beauty and partly because of its predatory similarities.
Her manner spoke of an ability to do anything she wanted, and for some reason, he associated her smile with a scary strength. Her entire body was held with confidence, and the posture screamed of overcoming numerous adversaries and great adversity.
I hope she isn’t going to go back to being mean because I am pretty sure she can kick my ass.
Rocky analyzed her to see if there were any ill results of the transformation the following night.
Selaphelia Ardensai
Level 10
Apprentice-Ghost–Druid
Rocky was pulled out of the screen, noticing that both Azoth and Sela had stopped playing and were staring at him. Rocky blushed because he felt like he was witnessing something he shouldn’t.
What is wrong with you. She is a ghost of your millionth removed Grandmother?
“Good morning, you two. How are you feeling, Sela?” Rocky coughed in surprise as his voice cracked, letting him know that her beauty had affected him more than he thought.
“I’m absolutely wonderful,” Sela replied with an elegant twirl that flipped her hair around. “I was able to drink the water you left me and have even been able to briefly hold objects with concentration. I was working on it with Azoth.”
She pointed at the cat-bird who nodded along as if he understood the words. “Oh, and I can speak to Azoth now because of my class. I have been teaching him English as best I can so that he can understand us. He is a quick study. “
Sela then cupped her hands and said in an aside to Rocky, “He keeps nodding like that but really doesn’t know what I am saying yet.” She then winked at him and splashed Azoth with water, making the Chimera splutter in indignation.
As the group lazed on the river bank, Rocky tried to allow his brain to adjust to his new, ‘improved’ vision, and Sela explained her class. Simply put, she was able to transform into animal forms and use them for fighting or travel depending on what they were. She currently only had three tiers of class skills unlocked and so only two animal forms. Her skill tree seemed to be the same as Rocky’s; she needed to place five skill point to receive the corresponding ability.
The first form she had received was called a predator form, which she assumed was mammalian. The second was some sort of avian form, which she didn’t seem to be as excited about.
Rocky felt his heart beat fast as he thought of flying but was quickly brought back to earth when Sela said, “We don’t know what type of creatures are out there. If I take to the skies, a massive monster could just swoop down and eat me.”
After a while longer of sitting in silence, Rocky straightened up. “Mind if we go back to camp, start cooking breakfast, and talk a bit about everything? When we start heading towards Ottawa, I am going to assume you will be more useful in animal form, so let’s try to get as much information you think I need to know out before that. “
At Sela’s nod, he added, “I have a feeling you should probably be combat ready for the whole Ottawa trip, just in case.” Sela had returned to practicing in the water and gracefully walked out of the shallow river like a stunning bikini model, which made Rocky quickly avert his eyes and begin leading the way back to camp. He missed her smirking behind his back.
A few hours later and after what felt like a thousand questions from Rocky, Sela responded one more time with, “I don’t know, Rocky.” As she took a bite of the wolf meat and groaned with delight, she continued, “I truly can’t answer much about what is happening to me.” The last sentence was garbled by the food in her mouth.
A swallow later and her mouth no longer full. Sela shrugged. ”I will repeat it. I don’t know what is happening. I have never heard of my class before, and while yes, I can place stats, I don’t know if placing more stats in Stamina will increase my corporealness. Finally, no, I don’t know what type of animals I will have to choose from tonight at midnight.”
Not long into the conversation, Sela had convinced Rocky to wait the rest of the day in the safety of Algonquin Valley. Sela could only change once a day into her animal forms, and at midnight, it would reset. However, her next class skill would allow her to gain a third animal form and maybe an additional charge for changes during the day. It would seem that each change took a charge, which meant returning to human could take an entire day.
The plan now was for her to change into her animal form tonight before midnight, if she could, and save a charge for the followi
ng day. Sela didn’t believe that she could stack charges by not changing for a few days but was going to test out the theory later. Regardless, Rocky had reluctantly agreed that three fighters were better than two.
Rocky sighed in exasperation at having exhausted every avenue he could think of. Even he realized he had just been asking those questions in multiple different ways hoping for a different answer than, “I don’t know.” It seemed that whatever situation Sela was currently in, she was at least happy.
Finally, the horse was truly dead, and Rocky chose to change the subject to things more important for the immediate future and their trip to Ottawa. He began with the most crucial question, “Why in the Hercules’ armpits are monsters spawning? Why are golems being created from houses and cars?”
Sela recoiled and her mouth dropped open at the sudden change in topic, or maybe his choice of words, before she began explaining. “Well monsters aren’t what we called them. In fact, we called them wildlife because, in essence, that is what they are, but unlike your world before Ether, the oxygen levels are already increased by about sixty percent in just a few days.” She pointed at the overly large trees, which had kept growing. “Ether allows for larger muscles and stronger bones, but without increased oxygen, they would not be able to support those huge forms. Since Ether has grown the flora so much, it allows what once would have been small wildlife to grow abnormally large and, in some cases like Steel, develop very unusual traits depending on what their bodies are born near. As for the more unique creature's arrival, it can only be theorized.”
Rocky leaned forward, interested in what she was going to say next. Sela had shut her mouth, hoping he would let her drop it, so she groaned loudly, “Come on! I hated lectures when I was alive. I barely went, and if I was there, I didn’t pay attention!” Sela sounded like a high school girl for the first time Rocky could remember which told him just how much Sela disliked lectures.
His raised eyebrow spoke volumes, and with a sigh, she continued, “Fine! The theory is that they somehow aid Gaia, and in trade, they are transported here by her will. The only beings known to be able to transport sapient and sentient creatures are Planetary Gods.”
She pulled out a golem core and studied it. “As for the golems, I have no idea why exactly there are so many and can only speculate. During my time, golems would only appear from long-abandoned areas where lots of materials were left unclaimed. Then they would terrorize those areas and eventually be destroyed. Gaia simply absorbed the waste twenty-four hours later.”
Rocky nodded, but before he allowed her to continue, he asked, “Please explain this twenty-four-hour thing. What do you mean reabsorb?”
“Oh, did the Earth not reabsorb biomaterial in the old world?” When Rocky made a comsi-comsa motion with one hand, Sela said, “Before I continue, maybe tell me about what happened to materials in your world, such as discarded metal, waste, and refuse?”
Rocky did so, explaining the decomposition and how landfills were used to store garbage; he even told her about plastic and its inability to fully decompose. Sela’s mouth fell further and further open, and she asked pointed questions. “What is this plastic made of?”
He shrugged slightly, not sure the exact chemical composition. “I think they are made of something called a polymer. No idea what that is, but I think it has something to do with pollutants like oil.” Her finger spun, clearly indicating the same question about oil.
Rocky smiled. Sela was definitely more alive than before. Then he told her, “Oil is a substance that is pretty much pitch black and is dug up from the Earth. It comes from living mass that has been compressed over millenniums–”
The explanation stopped when Rocky looked at Sela. Her face was a rolling thundercloud, and it froze him mid-sentence. Sela was so upset he thought he could literally see parts of her turn to steam and slowly drift around her body before rejoining her original mass.
Quite a drawn out half hour later, Sela finally calmed enough and stopped muttering curses to herself under her breath. She started in a forced voice that was full of mixed emotions, “So, you're telling me you dug holes into Gaia and extracted a dark black substance that your scientist's claim was from past life forms along with anything else you deemed useful?”
Rocky opened his mouth to explain it wasn’t him per se but humans as a whole with consumerism but was abruptly cut off by a sharp, slashing movement of Sela’s hand. “I really don’t want to hear it, Rocky. Of course Gaia was scared and angry. You literally took from her anything you wanted while she slept and changed it only to leave it in refuse piles where she couldn’t reclaim it!”
She was screaming at this point, and Rocky put his hand out with a water bottle which was promptly knocked to the ground. Sela’s continued voice was impossibly gaining more octaves. “In my time, if you threw away an item, Gaia actively reabsorbed it twenty-four hours later! This included biomaterial like bodies or any other refuse, and there were rumors of a substance known as Gaia’s essence which was so dark it was black! This was said to be her most precious material!”
She sputtered before spitting out, “You aren’t only saying you used it for everything from building houses to powering motor vehicles and electricity, you also were struggling to find more of it near the end? She probably created so many golems to hunt down and return the substance to her! You morons!”
She finished the last bit while glaring at Rocky, daring him to speak, so he chose to keep quiet. Instead, he scraped symbols and words into the dirt with his finger. Currently, he was feeling immensely embarrassed for humans as a whole.
He knew that the world was getting polluted and that humans were overtaxing the Earth, but he hadn’t thought much more about it. Rocky wanted to tell Sela how much he had tried to reduce his carbon footprint, how many local cleanups his sports teams had initiated, and the promotions he had undertaken to help his suburb be better at recycling.
Rocky knew it was a drop of water in a vast ocean, however, compared to the global issue. Instead, Rocky sat there silently, letting Sela fume. Azoth came over as if sharing Rocky’s fear of the terrifying woman, so Rocky traded drawing in the dirt to quietly stroking the Chimera’s fur and feathers.
Eventually, as he waited for the right moment to speak to the beautiful, ghostly woman, Rocky tentatively chose to begin cooking his mid-day meal. He slowly stood and moved as if the ground was egg shells, gathering wood and other materials for a fire.
Sela finally broke the silence in something near a whisper, “Very simply, Rockland, Gaia used to be a place where all the races were welcome. It was the pride of the universe and the strongest Planetary God alive. Many came here because Gaia offered freedom and abundance of resources to create families and communities, but we never took from Gaia more than what she offered.”
Semi-transparent tears were openly flowing down Sela’s cheeks. “Gaia was benevolent and kind, and you could find anything you needed if you were brave. It truly saddens me to hear that the other races have also forgotten the way.”
Rocky sat there, knowing he had to tell her but not wanting to say a word, just staring at the fire as it cooked the meat. The pressure built as he tried to think of a way he could leave without arousing suspicion. The last thing Rocky wanted was to upset Sela more.
The silence stretched until Rocky looked up and met Sela’s eyes. He could tell she saw the conundrum he faced in his eyes. Her face began to fall. “What is it?”
Now with the direct question, Rocky couldn’t avoid it any longer, so he whispered, “Humans are the only race on earth.” He put up his hands in placation as he saw new tears begin to brim in Sela’s eyes. “As far as I know, humans have been the only race on Earth since as far back as our history goes. Maybe the other races left to return to their original homes when Ether abandoned this one?”
Sela paused for a long time with her head bowed before saying, “In time, we will have to find Atlantis and review the histories stored there. It should be in the very cent
er of The Continent, so we should be able to find it.” Again, Sela went silent, shaking her head when she caught Rocky averting his eyes. “Now what?”
“You said ‘The Continent’ as if you are speaking of the Earth having a single continent, which is a scientific theory in our world. How many continents were there in your world?” Rocky spoke softly again, hoping he was wrong.
“There is only one continent, Rocky, many small islands but only one large landmass. What do you mean how many?” Sela said as if he was stupid and genuinely couldn’t be right.
Rocky swore inwardly, trying very hard to say the next bit with no emotion, so she didn’t get the idea he was calling her stupid. “No, Sela. In the current world, there isn’t just one continent but five-to-seven depending on what you believe and what country you’re from.” Rocky swore when he saw her mouth tighten then fall open in shock.
Rocky, you really suck at breaking bad news. Maybe tell Azoth, and he will have more tact than you.
Sela turned and walked away, clearly upset and finished talking for the day. It seemed that anything she thought she knew kept changing, and she wasn’t ready to have any more of her world come crashing down around her. Rocky still had so many questions but let it go slowly, flipping the wolf meat to allow it to finish cooking.
Trying to distract his emotionally charged brain, he threw some raw wolf meat, attempting to get Azoth to fetch again. However, after throwing it, Azoth would just stare at him as if he was the biggest imbecile in the world. Then in a very deliberate manner, the Chimera slowly walked over and ate the half-frozen chunk.
After swallowing the morsel, Azoth’s head and his tail were pointedly stuck exaggeratingly high in the air. Then the Chimera sauntered after Sela without looking back. Rocky snorted.
What a prima donna! Traitor! Whatever! Guess I will figure out my skills and stats in preparation for tomorrow.
Rockland Barkclay Level 11
Health Pool: 140/1450
