Origin ARS 4 (22 page)

“Scott?” asked Ero gently. He made an agreeable noise and she continued. “Is this really alright?”

He kissed her gently on the ear then said, “What could be more alright than raising a child with my best friend?”

A warm smile rose upon her lips even as she cast her eyes down to the sand. “You’ve always been so sweet to me even though I cause problems with you and Origin.”

“You’re not a problem Ero.” he said.

“Aren’t I? The entire reason you even came to ARS is because she loves you and believes in you. You only stumbled across me.” said Ero.

Scott lightly caressed her hip then kissed her on the back of her ear. “Ero, we both love you.”

“Do you? Do you really love me, Scott?” Her lower lip trembled slightly as she asked.

How did someone answer a question like that? It’s easy to say yes or no, but how did he actually answer it and have her know it to be true? He decided to say what he honestly felt. “Since we merged, you have become the best part of me. Even if it was possible, I would not want to be separated from you.”

A sharp intake of breath was followed by a soft sigh. Ero took a moment then said, “What if I am wrong? What if I’m not pregnant?”

“Would you like to be?” he asked her.

She released a sweet, deprecating, laugh. “I don’t know. I’m still so young, and…”

Scott’s hand slid down between her thighs and she unleashed a soft gasp of surprise. “Pregnant or not, you’ll always be my best friend.”

Ero laughed in a dulcet manner, her voice deeper and more sensual than before. “Oh, if you keep touching me like that I’ll definitely be your best friend forever.”

Scott laughed then rested his chin on her shoulder. “There’s that voice again.”

She leaned her head against his. “Am I strange?”

“Yes.” said Scott simply.

She chuckled gently then slid one hand down to rest atop his. As his fingers continued to express his love she could not help but smile. She adored Origin in any of her incarnations, but it was moments like this that she longed for above all. Tender moments with the man who had saved her and given her life purpose once more. Every sensual trill of pleasure that slid along her flesh reminded her that she had come close to ending everything. Every soft gasp or moan that his fingers elicited from her was a reminder that she was alive and that life could be wonderful.

“Scott…” she breathed out softly before pressing back against his groin.

“Ero.” he replied gently.

She closed her eyes and reveled in the dream, in the sensations that flowed throughout her body and soul. They had done things much more interesting in the past, but when he held her like this she could not help but feel a sense of peace that she rarely had otherwise.

His gentle touch became more aggressive. Her eyes fluttered open briefly even as she leaned her head back and unleashed a loud moan of approval.

“Does my cute little BFF like that?” he asked her lightly.

“Fairy much so…” she said, her words trailing off as her eyes closed tightly once more.

“Better than the cake?”

“Not sure…” she said before taking a quick breath. “Keep trying.”

Scott smiled at her response. It promised to be an interesting night. He had to show her that he was better than free cake after all. “Do you really think that cake is better than me?”

“Sweet- I have a sweet, tooth.” she said before uttering a cute little moan.

“That’s fairy odd.” said Scott.

“What was- Oh!” she started to ask him what was odd, but he had done something that made her entire body quiver.

“Isn’t everything about you sweet, not just your tooth?” he asked her in a casual tone of voice.

Ero laughed leisurely then said, “Keep that up and I’ll get extra pregnant.”

“You did order twins earlier.” He responded without missing a beat.

She unleashed an explosive laugh of pure joy. “Yeah, you need a little brother or sister, right?”

“I’m not sure that’s how it works, Ero.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m magic!” she said with a laugh.

“Yes, you certainly are.” replied Scott warmly.

They continued to discuss the possibility of how the pregnancy thing worked for a while. Somehow, during the conversation they wound up lying face-to-face on the sand.

Scott reached out and gently stroked her cheek for a moment. She placed her hand atop his and then spent a while simply looking at each other.

Ero’s eyes searched Scott’s for a moment. Whatever it was that she sought in them, she found it. Her smile grew and became even brighter than before. “You do love me, don’t you.”

Scott did not say anything. He didn’t have to. Ero had not spoken a question, she had stated her answer. She knew how he felt about her, and that was the best happy possible pregnancy gift ever.

Chapter 16: A Day Too Late

The return to ARS had elicited a strange sensation for Scott. On Earth he had finalized a few things and considered his course of action clearly. Once on ARS he could sense his mental state begin to shift. The more rational side of his mind seemed to recede a bit even as he began to feel things more keenly. It filled his senses and caused him to notice the color of a plant, the way the people in the street sounded as they walked by, and even the smell of the place in a way that was far more intense that it had been on Earth. Each of those things seemed as though they were more than they were supposed to be.

A startling difference, it took him a while to adjust. In some ways it was like his first day once more. However, unlike his first day in this world he did not awaken alone.

“I miss Earth, but it’s nice to be home.” said Ero. She fluttered over and sat down on Scott’s left shoulder, and then demurely crossed one leg over the other like a proper lady. Albeit, a tiny naked lady.

They wandered out of the alcove they had awakened in, and headed to the center of the church. Scott had never died before, so he was uncertain of the protocol. Did they just leave? Did he tip a priest? He had no idea.

Luckily, Rhea waited for them in the main room of the city cathedral. “Hello.” she said with a warm smile and a cute little wave.

“Hello!” called back Scott and Ero in unison. They rushed over to the third leg of their love tripod, both eager to reunite with her.

“Gee, no one’s going to say hello to me?” asked an annoyed masculine voice.

Scott and the girls looked to the wolf-guy who had been both a major help, and a general nuisance during their latest endeavor. Scott said. “Hello.”

“Right. Hello. I’ve been stuck in this cathedral for days waiting for you, but sure let’s be cordial.” He said in a petulant tone.

“You’ll be free of us soon enough. Why were you stuck in here, though?” asked Scott.

The wolf sighed. “I’m your slave. I can’t go far from you unless you specifically ask me to do so.”

“Oh, that sucks.”

“Damn right it does. I died, but before I could respawn, you died and I was forced to respawn here instead of near your location.” said the blood tracker.

“Ah, sorry.”

“It’s fine, I spent a little time grinding some of my skills. Most of the non-targeted ones are mastered now.” said the wolf man.

“Well, still…” said Scott. This conversation was a bit odd. Why was this guy being reasonable?

“Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad to be able to get out of here.” said the wolf.

The four of them immediately left and went to retrieve the Writ of Meritorious Service that had taken so long to obtain. Finally, their long side-quest was done. It was time to finish with the mermaids!

The retrieval of the writ had gone easily. They had reported their success and now they had what they needed to show the slave trader that they were trust worthy, among other things. They were in good spirits until they moved on to the trader’s tent and made a startling discovery.

“What do you mean, gone!?” asked Scott incredulously.

The slave trader shrugged his shoulder accompanied by hand gestures. “Sorry, but you took too long. The mermaid queen came in last night.”

“The hell…” said Scott. It was good that the mermaids had gone home with the queen, but it felt like they had wasted a lot of time. What good was the writ now?

“No way.” said Ero.

Rhea sighed softly in response. This was just typical.

The only one who seemed happy was the wolf. “Serves you right! If you’d logged in a few days ago this wouldn’t have happened.”

Ero glanced at him then put her hands on her hips and gave him an annoyed look. The wolf snorted then looked away. He would not apologize. It was true.

While they had been on Earth several days had passed on ARS. The entire affair had taken around a month to conclude. Of course the mermaid queen would come for her people if it took that long.

“Do you mind if I verify this?” asked Rhea.

“Go ahead. I won’t be offended.” said the slave trader.

She walked out of the room so that she could go
AFK
for a moment. While she attempted to contact the mermaid queen in the divine city, Scott turned to the second order of business.

“So, what about this guy.” He jerked his thumb at the wolf.

“What about me?” asked the wolf, not that anyone paid any attention to him.

“You sure you don’t want to just keep him?” asked the trader.

“We’re sure.” said Scott.

“Ah well, a deal’s a deal. I could not very well hold the mermaids for your return, but we can do this much.” replied the man with a smile reminiscent of a used car salesman turning a profit.

They discussed the details once more, and money changed hands. The wolf returned to the ownership of the slave trader and was then escorted back to his holding area until the next auction.

After he left, the trader asked, “How was he?”

“He was an overly aggressive douche with a useful skill.” replied Scott.

The trader laughed merrily then nodded. “I figured as much. His kind aren’t really that bad if they’re local, but the sort of people who tend to play as them take things too far most of the time.”

“How so?”

“Well, normally they are aggressive and want to be dominant in the local hierarchy. They respect strength and skill, however. If it is obvious that another male is stronger, they will accept that. The same happens among the female members of their race.”

“What’s so different about players then?” asked Scott

“Well, we don’t have any real ties to their true culture so we can only pretend to be like them. Like I said, most players exaggerate.”

Scott nodded to the man. It made sense. “Honestly, if not for the idiocy I would have liked having a dedicated tracker around.”

“I could arrange for you to purchase a local?” asked the trader without missing a beat.

“Ah, no.”

“Right, you have plans otherwise.”

“Yeah, we can go with that reason.” said Scott in a flat tone of voice.

The trader rubbed his chin for a moment then made another suggestion. “I also have a business on the classic server. If you change your mind, head down to Darby’s Quay. It’s near the Emerald Isles on the Eastern coast of Merrimonde.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” said Scott, though his tone of voice made it seem like he would not try too hard to remember that tidbit of information.

The trader granted him a shrewd smile. It was the sort of expression that made Scott want to punch him in the face, but so far he had not done much to warrant it.

He did not like the slave trade concept, but from what he could see most of the
products
for sale were either former bandits and pirates, or players who wanted to be sold. He sincerely doubted that everyone else here wanted to be on sale, but that might just be his old prejudices and life experience talking. For all he knew people liked that sort of thing here, as hard as it would be to believe.

They chatted for a short time and spoke of many things. The slave trader, as usual, was a fairly affable man. If he was not in the business of selling sentient beings like cattle, Scott might even admit to liking the guy. As it was, the personality of the trader was the only thing that kept the blue-haired sorcerer from giving in to his desire to
burn the sucker down
, so to speak. Well, that and the well-trained, highly equipped, guards.

Rhea returned after a little over two hours had passed. She wore an expression of bemusement as she walked back into the room.

“What’s the word?” asked Scott.

She sighed then nodded. “It’s true. She tried to give me an earful about my work ethic, but after we discussed the situation fully she calmed down.”

“Work ethic? You mean taking so long?” asked Ero. She fluttered toward Rhea and tilted her head to the side.

“Yes, she believed that if it was going to take this long we should have just let her know.” said Rhea.

“Wasn’t she busy with the Shar-Shar and rescuing the other girls?” asked Scott.

“They finished up after a week, apparently.” she said, before shaking her head.

“So, does that mean all of the mermaids were rescued except for the ones here?” asked Scott.

“Yes, it seems so.”

“Ah, well then our business is concluded?” asked the trader while he flashed his used car salesman smile once more.

“Almost.” said Rhea.

“Hmm?” asked the trader.

“What is it?” asked Scott.

Rhea walked over to the slave trader then placed her hands on her hips. She leaned forward and looked at him intensely.

He gazed at her impassively, proving that he was not one to be easily cowed by an intense look. They stayed that way for a moment before Rhea’s expression shifted to a smile.

The blue haired elf nodded then said. “You’re a good brother, aren’t you?”

“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.” said the trader.

“While I chatted with your sister, we drifted away from the mermaids and somehow got onto the topic of her love-life.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” said the man flatly.

“I’m not. It was fascinating really. As it turns out the man she had been seeing suddenly abandoned ARS and decided to have nothing else to do with her. He’s currently starting up a monk character on another game world and plans to become a mountain hermit.” said Rhea.

“How nice for her.” replied the man with a slight smile.

Rhea shifted her head to the left and then to the right. “You’re not going to admit anything, are you?”

He laughed merrily then said, “What interesting news you bring me. I wish them both well on their new passions.”

“R-
iiight
. All of this just happened to occur right after she came to collect her people.” said Rhea.

The slave trader laughed once more then presented an overly friendly smile. “Funny how life works, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, funny.” said Rhea with a smile of her own.

“I’m a little lost.” said Ero. She hated to be left out of things and whatever had happened sounded fairy interesting.

Scott nodded. He had the gist of things, but he was definitely out of the loop as well. “She’ll probably tell us more later.”

Ero fluttered over to Scott then sat down prettily on his shoulder. “I hope so. Sisters aren’t allowed to have secrets.”

“Sisters, huh?”

“Well, yeah. Isn’t that OK?” asked Ero.

Scott reached up and rubbed the top of her head. “I’m just glad to see you two getting along so well.”

“Me too.” Ero reached down and lightly patted her belly. “I wonder if it will really be twins…”

He chuckled a little. It there weren’t twins, it wasn’t for lack of trying. “Maybe it’s a meatball you haven’t digested yet?”

Ero snorted. “Our possible baby is not a meatball.”

“Oh?”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “So mean.”

“If I’m mean, then why are you smiling?” asked Scott.

Eros face turned slightly red. “How could you even tell when I’m sitting like this?”

“I can always tell, Ero. All I have to do is pay attention.”

Her eyes began to sparkle a little in the light. She leaned over and kissed him on the ear. “Thank you.”

Scott did not say anything to her, as Rhea had finished chatting with the trader. It was time to go. They needed to continue on with the next step of their exit strategy.

After they left the trader’s tent Scott reached down and took Rhea’s hand. The man, and his two lovers strolled off down the road. They had several things to do before they could leave this world behind. Sadly, many things they had earned here would not continue over to the new server. Yet, the most important things would remain always. The love they shared with each other and the experiences they had along the way were something that could not be taken away just by changing locations.

Chapter 17: An Uncomplicated Relationship

The world of ARS was an interesting place where grassrats danced to background music played by unseen hands. The people were generally friendly, though often overly emotional. In that world existed many things that would be deemed impossible in any another. The sight of a blue-haired elven badass zipping around at high-speed a battlefield while easily cleaving large armored beasts in half was one such sight. The fact that the elven badass was also an incredibly beautiful woman was another factor that made the situation seem implausible.

Scott watched from a distance while Rhea mowed down monsters like they were nothing. The last few days had been spent watching her do things. He’d gained a little experience or a few ability points on occasion if he moved too close to where she fought, but he had dutifully granted it all to Ero. They were planning to allow Rhea to reach a level higher than Scott so she could lead them to her closest major weapons’ cache using the world traveler function.

Rhea leapt into the air then crashed down atop a charging monster. The point of her sword slipped between its plates neatly just before she leapt away once more. The creature stumbled then flipped end-over-end before it began to pant. Blood pooled around it. Already dead, yet it did not know it, Scott watched as the beast slowly stopped moving. The elven slaughterhouse continued her deadly dance even as the last armordoe fell to the ground.

All of the monsters had fully respawned on the mountain by the time that they had returned, so Rhea had chosen to slaughter her way through the entire area in the hopes of finding rare drops or enough raw materials to have a much stronger weapon created for Scott to speed the leveling process.

By staying within a minimal range, Rhea could gain party experience and cause more monsters to spawn, but since Scott was at that minimal range most of that experience stayed with her. She easily gained twice the experience points that she had been getting before.

It was not enough. She had only gained a few levels in the last few days. The difference in experience required for her race was an obscenity. If it were a game played on a console, no one would be an elf in the land of ARS. Who would be willing to take ten times longer to gain a level? Sure, the extra ability points were useful and kept things even, but when someone wanted to level quickly to reincarnate it was difficult.

“Rhea’s amazing.” said Ero.

“Yeah, she really is. She’s been here practically forever and it shows.” said Scott.

The fairy girl fluttered over to a nearby branch and watched as the blue-haired girl continued her rampage of bloody carnage across the landscape. Heads and limbs flew away with incredible ease and monsters died in great numbers. It would not be long until this, the last herd of armordoe on the mountain were annihilated. “She’s like an extinction event.”

“She should change her name to the Blue Apocalypse or something.” said Scott with a smile.

Ero tapped her chin. “Hmm, maybe the Pretty Apocalypse?”

“Sexy Calamity?” asked Scott.

The fairy made a sweet noise then pouted slightly. “I kind of want to be called the Sexy Calamity.”

“No, you’re the Cute Fairy of Mischief.” said Scott.

“Adorable! But not the same thing at all.” said Ero.

“Fine, you can be the Fairy Apocalypse.” said Scott.

Ero giggled warmly then nodded. “I like that.”

They shared a laugh then returned to silently watching Rhea fight. The elf maiden was completely focused on the battle. Her hair whirled around in perfect harmony with the whipping motions of her blade.

Scott had known that she was a far better fighter than he was on technical merit, but she was a pure killing machine at the moment. She was too far away for him to see her facial expression but he knew that she would likely be wearing her ice queen persona. It was strange that she even had such a nature.

She had mentioned it to him on occasion, the fact that most of her people thought of her as unapproachable and unfriendly. It seemed absurd. She was possibly the sweetest person he had ever met. Only Ero even compared in that regard.

Ero glanced over at Scott and watched him as he watched Rhea. She saw how the light in his eyes seemed to dance and how his lips parted in a warm smile. A brief pain stabbed through her chest and she closed her eyes for a moment to fight down the unworthy feeling.

The little fairy knew that he loved her, she could easily verify that by rambling through his memory. Yet, she also knew the truth. He loved her but still saw her as more of a best friend at heart. There was nothing wrong with that. It was a wonderful thing. Still, it hurt a little.

She looked at Rhea, beautiful, radiant in the light of day. As her sword flashed, her hair seemed to sparkle in the light. It gave her a certain fierce beauty that Ero could not match. She bit her lower lip and fought back a sigh. She loved Rhea. She fully understood why Scott looked at the blue haired elf-maiden the way that he did, and yet it still hurt sometimes to know that he did not look at her the same way.

It was a momentary thing, a fleeting bit of jealousy. She knew that he would do anything for her, would never abandon her, and did love her. It just hurt a little knowing that he loved someone else just a little bit more.

The little fairy bit her lower lip then slowly slid her hand down to her stomach. A slight blush crept across her nose. Was she really pregnant? She hoped so. Eventually, Scott and Origin would have children. She was sure of it. Still, as much as she loved the blue-haired goddess, Ero wanted to have Scott’s child. The idea of raising a tiny little light with him made her fairy happy.

***

Two weeks had passed while Rhea trained before she finally reached a level above Scott. It was a feat made more difficult due to his increase in experience for each fight. He had regained his lost level due to the fact that Ero could not be level higher than he was. In the end, it did not matter. They had discussed things with Crimson Shadow and moved on to the next part of their journey.

The trip to Rhea’s storehouse in the Northern Mountains of the mainland continent had taken only a few hours by their reckoning, but several months had passed in the world of ARS before they had arrived.

“So, this is your cache?” asked Scott. He looked at the large pile of rocks in the far corner of the natural cavern.