The curtains went on forever and my status bars came back. Separation of myself from virtual reality helped me breathe easier after those rapid fire visions of what might happen. Each little item from those visions had been disturbing for a different reason.

I spent years dwelling on my own problems before Continue Online. Starting this game helped me progress forward only because there were goals worth chasing. I had to take one step at a time then deal with whatever came next. Part of me felt like I had been walking an unknown path forward this entire time. The question was, where would it ultimately lead? Other than out of these endless drapes, hopefully.

A bunched bit of material slapped me in the face as I breached another stage. My eyesight went momentarily fuzzy and I turned towards the empty audience. Above, the light which had been white on my nightmare platform was replaced by a dull red color. I put a hand up to block the ambiance and searched around.

On the stage was a crumpled looking man weeping over a fallen body. He cradled the other figure in his arms and was unrestrained with grief. This stage looked to be a tragedy for another person. I ran a finger down the side of my face and felt at the teardrop shaped scales Dusk’s gift have given me.

“Voices why…” Despite the sorrow his words were soft.

“Wyl.” I walked up slowly, worried about startling the guardsman. “It’s not real.”

Getting closer made it apparent to me that the body in his arms was a dummy. A plastic face stared forward without expression, yet the guard captain stared down as if nothing else in the world existed.

“How could this happen? That city was meant to be safe.” The man said.

“It’s not real, Wyl. It’s an illusion.” I spoke quietly from behind him. He made me a bit nervous but I dared to get closer. These stages seemed safe enough once the illusion of fear had been broken.

He stood up for a moment and the dummy figure faded away. His eyes cast towards the distance and a shaking movement took over his arm. Wyl charged off towards the stage exit. “Not again! I won’t let it happen again!” The man shouted.

“Wyl!” I ran quickly after his fleeing form. Even with my [Light Body] the man still managed to stay ahead. His ragged body disappeared into the drapes with me trailing behind.

Fabric brushed by much faster this time. Almost immediately I burst upon a new scene. Wyl had a dull looking blade out and swung at straw stuffed mockeries of humans. He dodged unseen blows and spun around swinging at another haypile with crudely made arms. His movements grew progressively worse with each lap.

Cuts appeared along his body that hadn’t been there seconds before. One arm went limp and Wyl simply switched the blade to an offhand. I stood with my mouth hanging open trying to figure out what was happening. Could the nightmare inflict actual damage? Eyes scanned my own bars, they were at full. No penalties showed like [Dazed], [Asleep], or [Drugged].

“Why won’t you bastards die!?” Wyl shouted while hacking again. His blade looked pitiful as it brushed past the straw dummies without even denting them.

“Wyl, stop!” I shouted.

His weapon looked shoddy, but mine broke through the walls of this nightmare. I pulled out the weapon and charged towards the dummies. If he couldn’t break free himself, then I would do it instead. No other option seemed worthwhile, and the game wouldn’t have dumped me here if I shouldn’t help.

Wyl turned and looked at me. His eyes glowed with the same red light that spilled across the stage. He held his blade out and shouted, “You!”

The man charged me instead. A second stage light flickered on above and the floor below flooded with depth as another scene swam over my senses. Wyl was no longer in his broken tattered armor, but standing in a shining set of gear worthy of a leader among men. He screamed with a sword at the ready and a small shield on the other arm.

Behind him was an army of townsfolk. I took a breath and tried to understand what was happening. Vaguely familiar faces flashed among the crowd. I turned and saw another small group of people with me but none of them were distinct.

This wasn’t the nightmare before, but engaging with Wyl must have transformed the stage to include me. They charged while screaming incoherently. I held up [Morrigu’s Gift] and kept the blade flat. Wyl’s body ducked under and a suddenly sharp sword came up towards my face.

It slid by a cheek and sliced the tip of one ear. I twisted away then [Blink]ed towards the side. My landing put me in the middle of a grassy field which sat right outside of [Haven Valley]. There was only a moment to stare at destroyed rubble stretching for miles in both directions. There used to be a defensive fortification there.

Behind me the crowd roared and seemed to be clashing with other people. I turned to see an army of low level villagers fighting against four Travelers. Above them stood blaring symbols denoting their otherworldly presence. Each one like small giants slaughtering people left and right. Wyl stood at the forefront snarling at a woman who spun blades through the air, extra ones seemed to dance independently from her body and cut down inattentive people.

There were dead bodies everywhere. The pile of NPCs grew and Wyl looked worse as time went on. I couldn’t tell if this entire situation was based on a real event in the past or his fears. Wouldn’t I have heard if [Haven Valley] was destroyed? Beth could have told me. No, I had been gone for two weeks and stuck as a communication restricted [Convict].

“Wyl. It isn’t real!” I shouted.

He screamed. “Stop destroying my town!”

I looked around and tried to see how far the nightmare extended. Beyond the wall sat a fuzzy horizon of burning buildings. The streets didn’t look right based on my memories.

This was a nightmare, and Wyl was fighting against Travelers. There were four enemies and had been an equal amount of strawmen. It clicked in my head. If denial wasn’t his way through then maybe fighting was. Too bad the mob thought I was an enemy as well. Even now a small group of half defined faces charged towards my perch near the wall.

I readied my blade and prepared to dodge the mob.

“After all we gave you!” Yelled the furious guardsman. A small group of other guards had joined him. They were being cut down by Travelers. “We helped when you asked!”

“Voices above.” I cursed. One of those people looked a lot like Peggy Hall, a trainer at one of the two places to learn weapons. She had spent hours trying to retrain an elderly William Carver and being stuck with my poor skills instead.

The Traveler attacking the burly woman had mad eyes that seemed to vibrate. She died as I charged out. I made it just in time to stab at the Traveler. I slipped by with [Morrigu’s Gift] and clanged into an under armor of some sort. After Requiem and a few more boss monsters I knew exactly what to do.

[Morrigu’s Echo] planted into dirt at an angle while the Traveler laughed at me. One foot twisted and [Power Armor] clinked into place giving me extra weight and protection. [Blink] put me the air above while the Traveler kept up their dammed mockery. A moment later and my heavily weighted body slammed downward onto the person's back and shoved [Morrigu’s Echo] through their body.

Laughter died off while a series of messages came up telling me about armor values and unexpected attacks. NPCs around me cheered and seemed content not to try and insert their blades to my backside. I moved quickly with heavy footsteps towards the next Traveler of our four enemies. Those that had been attacking scattered towards new targets.

“This isn’t real, Wyl!” I shouted again, hoping to break through.

The people flowed around me and kept attacking Travelers. I did too, there was no other way through this trial that I had found yet. [Morrigu’s Echo] wouldn’t have much left if I [Recall]ed it right away, so it stayed impaled on the dying Traveler. The second enemy went down soon after. By the time I hit a third they felt even more like the dummy figures they had been originally. Their bodies offered no real resistance and soon everything around me felt like a stage play once again.

I looked around. The white light up above had vanished away and all that remained were the broken wrecks of other dummies. I turned then found Wyl, alone, swinging his blade slowly at a figure made of straw once more. His eyes were unfocused and foam lined his mouth.

“Voices, make this endless hell stop.” He mumbled.

“It’s not real.” I said but the man showed no signs of understanding.

I ran over and prepared to lop the fourth straw man in half. It vanished as I swung my blade and Wyl fell forward onto the ground. My [Reaction] barely managed to pull the blade back fast enough to avoid friendly fire. I ended up facing a wall in an awkward spin that nearly put one leg out of joint.

There were no footsteps behind me, only slow labored breathing. I took a moment to assess my foot and found it mobile enough. I turned to see Wyl had managed to get upright and was staring out towards the audience. Red lighting above still shone down and [Morrigu’s Echo] lay in a mess of straw. The remaining dummy bodies were gone, spirited away by game programming or those little flame men.

I walked over while favoring my recently damaged foot. The system provided me a message regarding it but I shut them all off until this series of nightmares ended.

Wyl abruptly saluted to empty space. My eyes winced from a sudden flare in the red light projecting down from the catwalk. When they recovered the scene around me had changed. We looked to be in a militaristic compound of sorts. There was a desk with papers piled on one side while barren walls took up most visual space. The flooring looked cold, flat, and dull.

“Where are we?” I asked Wyl.

The guard captain ignored me and faced a new person that stood opposite the desk.

“Commander, we have a report from your hometown, sir.” The other figure said. I tried to remember why his face looked familiar but couldn’t place the second person.

“What is it, Knight Middleton?” Wyl asked.

I blinked and stuck a hand out. Neither person noticed the action. Knight Middleton's body offered no resistance as my arm stuck through him.

“It isn’t good, sir. The report says Travelers attacked.” Knight Middleton paused then held up his letter. “A lot of Locals died in the aftermath.”

“Tell me what you know.” Wyl gave orders even in the face of a confusing situation. The man had never really demonstrated less than a take charge attitude with anyone besides William Carver. Dealing with him felt weird because of our halfway association. I expected friendly and got orders.

I hoped to get him through this without further complication. Then we could all sit down and I would explain everything to Wyl, Xin, the others. Even Beth would get a rehashed unabridged version. Maybe SweetPea could cook up some popcorn. The idea of her shy self supplying treats seemed amusingly fitting. HotPants didn’t seem like the type to offer snacks.

“No one’s sure. The bandits nearby broke into town shortly after and made things worse.” The other man shook his head. “The king offered to send aid but Haven Valley is neutral territory so he is unable to offer much.”

“And my son?” Wyl asked while fingering a bracelet I hadn’t noticed before. It looked to be a small piece of threaded metal that had two tiny jewels in it. He moved the item away before I could fully analyze what it was.

“His body isn’t reported among the deceased, sir.” Knight Middleton said carefully. Even an indistinct face still managed to look wary, though most of it was in his fidgeting hands.

“Tell me if he’s among the living.”

Knight Middleton paused. His face twisted briefly and an unspoken word almost made it out. The man gave up after another attempt then shook his head.

“Does the king know when I may be released from the conscription to see if my family yet lives?” Wyl asked instead.

“No.” Knight Middleton blinked rapidly then managed to speak this time. “He said this event only proves the need for more troops.”

Wyl’s face looked barely composed. His eyes wavered slightly and chin vibrated. He waved towards Knight Middleton

“This isn’t real, Wyl.” I tried to interject in the latest pause. “Your son might still be alive.”

“He’s dead,” Wyl said without focus. “I’m a soldier. I’ve got to prepare myself for the worst.”

“You don’t know for sure, do you?” I asked.

Wyl didn’t seem to hear me, but the red light flashed again. Now I understood better what those moments were in my own nightmares. The scene changers were introduced or triggered by that bright light.

I raised my hand and saw the nearly empty stage. A small table sat in the center. There was a pause between scenes again. Wyl stood and walked steadily towards the curtains while that damned red light flooded the scene. I frowned and closed both eyes. The idea that people from my world really had caused such grief made me sick. Who in their right mind would attack a town full of living and breathing people?

Then again, who was I to talk? I had dropped a bomb among tons of troopers back in Advance Online. Despite Jeeves’ reassurance that they were little more than cardboard cutouts, it still made me sick. We didn’t think about the damage our actions caused in a virtual world, especially not in the name of quest pursuit.

[Morrigu’s Echo] sailed swiftly towards the red light and I couldn’t bring myself to feel happy at the sound as it shattered. Wyl stumbled at the curtain's edge and grabbed onto the dangling fabric. His body swayed for a moment before feet managed to stand upright. The man's chest took deep rapid breaths as his gaze shifted around to take in the scene.

I stood there and tried to figure out what words might make this right. I still didn’t know what parts of the vision were true or false. Logic told me Wyl simply had never made it home to find out, and those battles where people died were part of a deep rooted fear. Part of me worried that he might be living an actual event repeatedly.

“Tell me where we are, convict,” He ordered.

I sighed and wondered if we would ever move past that label. Maybe Wyl couldn’t let himself, or maybe he didn’t know how else to classify me. My free hand rubbed tense neck muscles.

“Well?” Wyl demanded while stepping closer. He took unsteady breaths while his wounds didn’t seem to be healing.

“We’re on the way to The Shadow Zone.” Which was a goofy name to give this place. “And it shows us things we’re afraid of.”

“Likely story. You’re reckless enough to be Carver's reincarnation, and that fool didn’t know anything of fear. Defying the Voices, breaking into another man's fears?”

“I’m not Carver. I’m just a man who filled his shoes for a little while.” I didn’t want to belittle William Carver’s memory but Wyl kept asking. The guard wasn’t going to let go of this topic until it had been explained satisfactorily. Occasionally customers who demanded an over explanation while repairing their ARCs had the same attitude. Normally they were men.

“That’s not good enough for me, convict. First you waltz in here like these nightmares mean nothing! The only man I’ve ever seen with such bull-headed disregard and that weapon is Will and he’s dead!”

“Yes, he is, in both your world and mine,” I said.

“What are you, his son?” Wyl’s breathing sounded worse.

“No.” My own father was dead too. “I promise to explain, but only once we’re all together. I don’t want to repeat myself. And you need to get through-”

“That’s what you told that Traveler, but I deserve to know!” Wyl shouted unsteadily and cut off my statement. “I’ve held my tongue while you all prance me about the wilderness in the name of your kind’s stupid goals, and so far you’ve given me precious little reason.”

“Go through the exit, and get healed. Then we’ll talk.”

“Tell me,” He demanded.

“Not until you’re better.” I needed him to march off now. Explaining myself would take an hour at the least. That included time for follow-up questions, cries of outrage, and repeating myself a dozen times. All of which were actions I expected after having worked customer service for so long.

“I was better! For two damned days while you were off prancing around in whatever faerie tale land your people come from!” He swung the blade at me but his own wounds were so bad the weapon fell short.

“You’re not now. I promise by all the Voices I’ve met to answer your questions.” I didn’t have a better object to swear by. Some of those Voices would happily apply penalties if I broke my vow, others might find it funny.

He glared at me for a full minute. My body felt heavy under the weight of unspoken waves of frustration. Wyl’s body gave out first and he swayed to one side with a grunt. I moved to help him but the stubborn man held up a hand in my direction. He righted himself then stumbled off towards the curtains.

I felt sure the next noise would be the crash of a large man falling over. After two minutes it seemed like he made it through to whatever came next. I hoped he ended up reaching the [The Shadow Zone] or whatever location it was Shadow had access to. There Awesome Jr. or SweetPea could easily heal him.

We were headed through all these events with a purpose. I stepped within the curtains again expecting to come up behind a faltering Wyl, but this time, the journey between scenes was far shorter. I came out on yet another stage and saw a young woman sitting there.

My niece sat on the stage with sheets all around. Up above a faint violet light shone down. There were no straw men or plastic dummies anywhere about. I stepped in then remembered how interacting had triggered my own white light from above.

Beth gave a stuttered laugh of delight. She had an actual tail that twitched suspiciously. It looked devil like and pointed similar to how the Temptress Voice, Mezo, had. It might be close to my old [Red Imp] appendage as well, but that idea was weird. Whatever was going on in her list of fears I didn’t want to know why it might cause her to giggle like that. I threw [Morrigu Echo] in javelin form towards the blue, almost purple light and it shattered to pieces.

My niece's body straightened and the long strips of black fabric faded away. She stood up slowly while blinking. After a moment, the young woman turned and saw me then went crimson in the face.

“Uncle Grant!” She threw a hand across her chest and pelvis. Beth was fully clothed but acted like she hadn’t been wearing anything.

I tilted my head back and closed both eyes. I shook my head back and forth. There were a few real fears an adrenaline-loving teenager might have. Given my own close calls with parents walking in at poor times, she had likely been caught in a valid but childish reason to panic. At least, if I understood this stupid stage correctly.

Walking into high school buck naked would have been a neat and simple thing to worry about. Maybe it was best Beth didn’t get visions of her family dying. The idea of her having such an innocent problem compared to the trauma I or Wyl saw made me stutter with laughter.

“This isn't real.” Both my hands went up. “I didn’t see whatever you think I saw. Let’s go please.” I said between chuckles while waving at her. Looking away didn’t need to happen, but it felt awkward anyway. Parenthood would have been rough for me.

“Okay!” She said and I heard footsteps.

I risked looking at my niece tuck behind a curtain as another light flickered on. My chest lifted with a huge breath then let it out gradually. Fingers rubbed at stiff neck muscles and I glared at the curtains. There were no signs of her emerging and another scene starting, but that damned stage light was on again.

Those little flame creatures existed out here collecting thoughts and ideas. Maybe they would listen now.

“Do you guys want me to break that one too?! Because whatever you’re doing to Beth, I’m not really going to be happy about it!”

There was a pause while another light threatened to turn on. A faint hint of white could be seen and my head shook back and forth while glaring towards the catwalk. Little beings of flame could almost be made out performing whatever stagehand duties they needed to up above. I [Recall]ed [Morrigu’s Echo] and hefted the spear form in one hand.

The air felt momentarily heavy and my surroundings slow. [Awareness Heightening] kicked in automatically and I eyed creatures that shuffled by at brisk speeds. They still moved too quick for me to stop but I could see them moving objects around. I eyed one while readying [Morrigu’s Gift] for a throw.

It hissed out a jet of steam then ran off. The motion of curtains stopped and the backdrop behind me was suddenly replaced with a simple brown. Violet and white illumination in the catwalk flipped off and house lighting came up rapidly. A green sign started flickering above a doorway down in the audience.

Beth came stumbling out stage right with a confused expression. “What, what was that? I was just-” She sounded confused. It had taken me a moment too, but my response had been anger. My niece wouldn’t have the relationship I did with these AI programs.

“I think the show's over.” I pointed towards the exit with [Morrigu’s Gift]. It shifted to a calm looking pole with a hook then was tucked under my toga’s belt. “Let’s go.”

“That was weird. I had invited a friend over, and then-“ Her words trailed off.

My hands went up. “I don’t want to know.” And I didn’t really want to share my own nightmares.

She stayed quiet while we both went to the exit. I kept an eye out for those caretakers of this place but didn’t see anymore. Maybe they were off taking smoke breaks or whatever digital programs did when there weren’t people to torture with visions.

The faded red doorway opened up and revealed another cavern. I stepped through eagerly and Beth came quickly behind. She bumped into me while I gasped in wonder at the ceiling.

There were stars up there, and they looked far brighter than any I had ever seen. It reminded me of Advance Online’s character creation room for a moment. Only there were no options to choose races like [Cricket] or [Behemoth]. Beth stumbled into me and grumbled. The sharp end of her readied blade pressed flat against my shoulder.

“Where are we?”

“The Shadow Zone!” A young man shouted. “You made it! Awesome!” The person said, followed by a sharp grunt of pain.

“Heh.” I chuckled briefly then looked down. The floor was covered by a shallow but thick fog that almost made seeing my feet impossible. There was a dais of sorts that stood out far brighter in the distance.

This new area was filled with people. Wyl looked terrible. Awesome Jr. and SweetPea stood together. He was near a board moving pieces around and the younger girl looked to be knitting another object. HotPants stood with her staff muttering to a shorter girl who wore a robe over her face. The robe made it hard to tell but there was a small amount of black hair that spilled out from the hood's confines.

I narrowed my eyes and tried to absorb the staff in her hands. It looked like carved black bone with a serpent coiled around it. My head tilted and took in the robe and one skeleton standing behind her. Then I laughed.

It was her. It had to be Xin. Before I fully registered the motion my body had already [Blink]ed over the distance. My feet didn’t even hesitate and I grabbed the other person and started spinning her. We tipped around but my [Coordination] handled the uneven ground easily.

“Ahh!” She stuttered as the hood fell back. “Dammit, Gee! I was trying to be mysterious!” The short woman started laughing and my heart surged and eyes felt wet. It was her, in person again

“You think I couldn’t figure out it was you?” I asked as we slowed down. The rest of the crowd was muttering but their words didn’t matter right now.

“Now that we’re all here,” Shadow said with his artificially gruff voice. “Perhaps you should start explaining.”

My head shook. I wasn’t even sure what the Voices would do if I explained myself. [The Messenger] title, [NPC Conspiracy], and most recently [Altered Aura]. All of those items mixed together put me in an awkward between position with both people of this virtual reality and my own.

Luckily I had practice airing my own situation in a room full of semi-strangers. Maybe that was one of the few perks of being me.

“Right, I’ve promised everyone to share what I know.” I looked down at my hands and tried to figure out exactly how much to share.

“It’s okay, Gee. You can tell them.”

“Everything, even about-“ I froze for a moment. My fiancée nodded and smiled. “-you?”

“James said the choice was yours, as it must be.” Her words were quiet.

I nodded and chewed one lip. Those words sounded like something James would say. Balance had said much the same general idea. I should act as deemed necessary by my own personality and when had I ever been once to hold back over explaining my own life? I often told other people too much to the point of coming off as a bit preachy. Perhaps that was part of the reason Mother chose me. They needed someone to think about problems and be willing explain it to a circle of people.

Even now the others stood around forming a loose gathering. Wyl had stepped up to join the others and waited with his arms crossed. SweetPea set down her items and waited. Shadow fiddled with one of the small statues but otherwise stayed quiet.

“Right.” My head nodded a few more times. “Well then, I’ve told this story to others before, and I’ll tell it again. It may sound crazy, or unreal, but I assure you it’s not a dream. It’s my life, and it’s been a wild ride for a while-“ I started to do my best to explain everything again. This time, I told them it all, about Xin’s former life and her new one.

Xin tucked in closer. Her thin muscled arms found the gap in my toga and reached around my side. I kept an arm around her shoulder and drew her close. She reacted like there hadn’t been a gap of years in our association. The feeling reassured me and felt sad at the same time. To Xin, perhaps not much time had passed.

I needed to ask her about it after the others got done with their responses. I wrapped up the remainder of my story, including bits about Hal Pal, Jeeves, Mother and any other details that came to mind. Around us a panicked array of questions started and I had no idea who to address first.