Chapter 19: The Agony

The sun rose over the trees as morning finally arrived. Its light shone through the window of Tom's room. Slowly the beam of warm light moved across his room. Evidence of last night's tryst was revealed by the crawling light. Sweaty sheets were crumpled on the floor around the bed. On the bed were Tom and Reia both nude and in a deep sleep. Tom was on his back with Reia sleeping face down on his chest.

The sun light eventually reached Tom's eyes. The heat started to irritate Tom's eyes causing them to twitch. He opened them to be briefly blinded. Tom turned his head to allow his vision to clear. He turned his head to see what was on his chest.

Seeing Reia sleeping naked on top of him brought a smile to his face. He placed his hands on her back and lightly ran them up her back. Reia groaned pleasantly as she felt the warmth run up her back. She shifted slightly on top of him, sliding up slightly on his body.

"Reia," he whispered. Tom placed a kiss on top of her head. "Reia... Wake up."

"Mmm..." Reia's eyes slowly opening. She looked up and saw Tom smiling at her.

"Morning, beautiful."

Reia gave him a quick kiss.

"Morning, Tom," she replied.

"How are you feeling?"

"Amazing," Reia answered.

"I, uh, wasn't too rough last night, was I?"

"No, you weren't. Last night was incredible." Reia let out a small chuckle. "Any way, if I didn't like what you were doing, I would have told you to stop. If I recall correctly, I was saying the exact opposite last night."

Notice You have made love to someone who loves and cherishes you as much you do them. It is said that the key to a successful relationship is communication. By achieving this synchronicity with your lover, you have been granted the skill "Language Comprehension" to ensure a great future for your relationship.

"I just unlocked a new skill," Reia exclaimed. "Language Comprehension!"

"That's amazing! How did you get it?"

Reia smiled at him. "A window popped up and it said that by making love to someone who loves and cherishes me as I do them, I got the skill for better communication. That window only confirms what I already knew about you."

"Of course I love and cherish you. I'm so glad you now have that skill. Now this world will open up for you even more so. So much we can do together."

Tom gave Reia a tight hug to celebrate.

"I know!" Reia cheered. "Oh! Did you get a skill?"

"I don't know I haven't seen any windows yet-"

Tom cut himself off and stared off past Reia. Reia saw his eyes move back and forth as he was reading a window that appeared to him.

"What did the window say?"

"Uh, oh, uh, nothing much," Tom stuttered. "Just, uh... confirming what you said about your skill."

"You're lying," Reia said. "What did it say?"

"R-Really nothing-"

Reia sat up on top of him. She held his shoulders down with her hands and stared him in the eyes.

"Tell me," she demanded.

Tom suddenly felt compelled to answer her.

"Sh-Show Status." The words were forced from his mouth.

Status Name Thomas "Tom" Everett Level 22 Experience 13320/13850 Class Magic Blade Race Human Alignment Good Currency Canadian $10,686,171.27 Xoth 0 platinum 4 gold 66 silver 30 copper Title Clever One, Determined, Giant Slayer, Vaccinated, One Of The First, Sole Survivor, Generous Healer, Interpreter, Selfless Lover Buffs Agent of Kara 2x experience Bestiary of Xoth +10% damage towards the creatures of Xoth Brief History of Xoth +10% persuasion chance and friendliness towards the inhabitants of Xoth Debuffs - - Health 1250 Health Regeneration/min 33.99 Mana 1190 Mana Regeneration/min 40.3 Stamina 1190 Stamina Regeneration/min 8.2 Fame 3900 Infamy 0 Strength 125 Intelligence 119 Wisdom 130 Perception 58 Endurance 119 Vitality 103 Agility 82 Luck 90 Unallocated Points 0 Selfless Lover You made sure that your lover's first time was a wonderful and memorable experience instead of focusing on your own pleasures. Due to this and your status as an agent of Kara, you have earned the title "Selfless Lover". This title unlocks the skill "Lover". Lover Type Passive Rank S Level Beginner 1 (0%) All Stats Boost +1% Time Limit 12 hours Sex is good for the mind, body and soul. By earning this skill through the Selfless Lover title, this skill will grant stat boosts only to people you make love to. Increasing this skill's level will increase the boost percentage and your own abilities in love making.

Reia's face scrunched up. Some air escaped her lips. Reia leaned forward with her head on his chest and started laughing. Her body shook as she did.

"It's not that funny," Tom said while pouting.

"Yes it is," Reia choked. She took a moment to collect herself. Reia wiped away her tears and took a deep breath. "That skill of yours does explain why I feel so refreshed."

"It's embarrassing! Anyone with a decently high enough Identify skill will be able to see that title."

"Why are you so embarrassed? It just lets people know you take good care of me."

"I don't want people to know about my sex life."

Reia kissed him and said, "Don't worry about it. You made me feel wonderful last night and that's all that matters. Who cares what others will think."

Tom rolled his eyes and sighed in resignation. "I guess you're right."

"Now we have another skill to level up," she said while cocking a brow.

"Well, aren't you the sexy little minx."

"I don't know what that is, but I like the sound of it."

Reia leaned forward and kissed him. After the kiss, she moved herself off of him and stood up next to the bed. Tom turned to face her. Reia stretched her arms, back and wings while giving Tom an excellent view.

"I'm going to take a shower," she announced. "Do you need one?"

"I'm okay for now," Tom replied. "You go on ahead."

"Oh... Okay."

Reia walked out of the room while swaying her hips. Tom waited until she left the room before he turned onto his back. He closed his eyes and listened to the shower turn on.

A few moments passed before Tom shot up and screamed in his head, 'I'm so fucking dense!'

Tom got out of bed and rushed out of the room.

"Ah! Tom!" Reia squealed.

VVVVVV

All that surrounded Rika was an impenetrable darkness. Every attempt to see anything else was met with failure.

"Rika..."

A voice started to call out to her. It was a whisper at first but grew in volume.

"Rika..."

"Shut up!" Rika yelled.

"Rika..."

In the darkness, Rika could see some movement. Something was moving towards her in the darkness. Little by little, more details appeared. Before long, Rika could see the thing in the darkness.

It was a wall of flesh. Bodies of humans of varying ages and races were fused into the wall. Each of them screaming in agony. The people of the wall reached out to Rika while calling out her name.

"Rika..."

"Leave me alone!"

"Rika... Come to us..."

"Go away!"

Rika started to run from the wall of flesh and agony.

"Rika... Rika!"

Darma screamed as she sat up on her cot. She was drenched in sweat and breathing heavily. Rika realized she was back in reality and started to calm down. She rubbed her forehead.

Rika looked to the side and saw Mordiggian standing next to her bed. She let out a scream before realizing it was him.

"Saw it again?" he asked.

"Yes, I saw it again," she hissed. Rika got off of the cot and went to grab her clothes. She dressed herself. "What the hell is it?"

"Did you think when you absorbed those Soul Axes for power that there would be no consequences?"

"I don't understand."

"Of course you don't." Mordiggian's tone was insulting. "Absorbing those Soul Axes may have destroyed those souls, but the pain of their destruction remains. You have taken that pain into yourself. Now the embodiment of that agony will come after you. In your dreams and in the darkness. You can never allow it to catch you."

"What if it does?"

Mordiggian walked towards her and placed his face in front of hers.

"If The Agony catches you, you will face a fate far worse than death."

"You never warned me about this!" Rika yelled in anger. "You deceived me!"

"You wanted power," Mordiggian reminded. "You seemed willing to sacrifice others to that end. Men, women and children."

"I can't even sleep! My dreams are constantly interrupted by that thing. It's all taking a toll on my mind. I can't even think straight and I don't even sound like myself."

"There is a way to keep it at bay," Mordiggian said.

"Tell me!" Rika demanded while grabbing his shadowy robe.

Mordiggian growled in response to the act. "You have a lot of gall to make demands from me. You may be used to pushing around other Humans, but remember that I am no Human."

"I've been cooperating with you," Rika said. "I have been causing chaos and deaths worldwide. Public panic hasn't been this high since the second World War."

"Something you would have done without me." Mordiggian grabbed Rika's arm. His "skin" was cold to the touch. Mordiggian pulled her hand away. "You had the opportunity to kill Thunder and Reia Zyer, three days ago. You failed."

"We would have been able to if he hadn't teleported away. Had he stayed we would have been able to kill the two. He wasn't as tough as you feared."

"You got very, very lucky," he said. "The fact you didn't die right away was a miracle. Allow me to go over where the mission went wrong for you."

Mordiggian picked up Rika's bulletproof vest. There was a large burnt hole on the front of it.

"You announced yourself to him instead of attacking him right away. Had you not been wearing this vest with its special electricity resistant fabric, he would have outright killed you in one attack. Your arrogance continued as you fought. You were used to fighting opponents without magic. You fought him like a regular Human and it almost cost you. He almost immediately found out the weakness of Shadow Creep. The only reason you managed to gain the upper hand in your fight was because he severely underestimated you. Next time he will know better. Those two will be far more deadly."

"What do you suggest we do then?"

"You need to get your level up. You need to start killing more people."

"I had plans with the data drive I stole from the Russians but that will take time."

"Time is something you do not have. You need to catch up to those two and you need to do it now. You'll need at least ten thousand experience points to do so. I currently have no quests for you so you must earn this through killing. This is a problem since most creatures on this planet can only grant you a few experience points each."

Rika walked over to her workstation. She wiggled the mouse to her computer waking it up from sleep mode. Rika clicked several times on the computer revealing an assortment of files.

A smile came to her face. "I have just the thing to earn that much experience in an instance."

VVVVVV

Baker, with a distressed look on his face, burst in through the door of the Oval Office. The President was in a meeting with the Secretary of State Joseph Fischer.

Despite his rush, Baker still stood respectfully in front of the President's desk. "Urgent news, Mister President."

"What happened?" he asked.

"There has been a confirmed attack by Phoenix on a Russian military convoy." Baker was still breathing heavily from running in the White House.

"Take a breath, Baker," Forest told him.

Baker took a breath and steadied himself. "Approximately three days ago, Phoenix attacked a Russian convoy. They recorded the attack and..." He stopped himself. "It might be best if you watch the footage yourself."

Baker handed Forest a scroll. Forest pulled out the screen and selected the video file. Forest and Fischer watched the entirety of the video without saying a word. As the video played, they watched as Phoenix slaughtered Russian soldiers using similar abilities to Thunder and Aurora.

Soon Aurora and Thunder appeared to assist the Russian soldiers, even pushing back against the Phoenix terrorists. Events were going in their favour until a secondary ambush group appeared and attempted to attack Aurora with a missile. The last view that the video sees of the two is Thunder jumping in front of Aurora and taking the missile attack. After the explosion, they vanished. The video concluded with Rika executing all of the remaining Russian soldiers except one.

Forest returned the screen to its container. "Do we know why they attacked the convoy?"

"The Russians haven't made any statements, sir," Baker replied. "We do know that whatever it is, it is extremely important. The Russian Intelligence community is in a panic."

"Were they using magic?" Fischer asked. "This video wasn't doctored was it?"

"We analyzed it. It's authentic. Somehow members of Phoenix have gained access to abilities similar to Thunder and Aurora."

"What about Thunder and Aurora?" Forest asked. "Have they been confirmed dead?"

"Currently unconfirmed," Baker answered. "The Russians have been generous enough to let us know that neither of their bodies have been found. Knowing that Thunder is able to teleport, it is logical to conclude that he was injured by the rocket attack and retreated. He has been reported being able to survive being thrown through buildings. It's not outside the realm of possibility that he survived this rocket."

"I guess this rules out the theory that he might be working with Phoenix," Forest stated. He rubbed his temple. "Is there anything else?"

"Yes, Mister President. We weren't the only ones who received this video. This video will be playing on every news within the hour. Despite the recent monster attacks in the last month, Thunder and his companion have been keeping the public calm. If the public believes he is dead, we could be looking at the same level of panic we had in the days following M-Day. At the very least, a statement should be made that we have no confirmation of Thunder's and Aurora's death."

"Could you two please leave this office? I need to make a call."

"Yes, Mister President," they both replied before getting up and leaving the Oval Office.

As soon as the door closed, Forest pressed a button on his desk causing a panel to open up into two perpendicular screens. The top screen was a video screen for video calls and the bottom displayed a menu of options. Forest dialled the number of an old associate of his from his days in the CIA. The woman's name was Grace Cooper.

The phone rang several times before the sound of the phone being picked up was heard. The screen only displayed an audio visualizer since the person on the other end had a regular phone.

"Hello?"

"Grace Cooper?" Forest asked.

"Mister President?"

"It's been a while. And please... Michael is fine."

"It's good to hear from you. Running the country keeping you busy?"

Forest let out a small laugh. "Yeah. I hear you're also pretty busy training recruits for Central Intelligence."

"It does. I get the feeling that this isn't a personal call."

"You're right," he admitted. "Grace, I need your help."

"You know I'm retired from field work, Michael. I just teach now."

"I know, but this is serious. It's about Thunder and Aurora."

"Oh..."

"We have every available resource dedicated towards finding him but so far we have no leads. It isn't just us. No one else in the world can figure out who he is. I can't say much more, but we need to find him as soon as possible."

"If no one in the international community can find him, what makes you think I can?"

"You are the best agent the CIA has ever known. I have worked beside you and have seen your abilities in gathering information and seeing connections no one else can see. I'm not asking you to strap on a gun and storm a military compound. I'm only asking if you help us look for him." The President leaned back in his chair waiting for her answer.

Forest heard Grace let out a sigh. "Will I have access to government resources?"

The President leaned forward and answered, "Yes, you will. Whatever you need to find him."

"Alright, Michael. I will help you find him. I'll need everything you have on this man."

"I'll contact the Pentagon and have them transfer you the files. You'll receive them at your office by tomorrow."

"I'll get started first thing then."

"Grace... Thank you."

"Of course, Michael. Seems like old times with me covering your back."

"Just like old times," he laughed.

"I'll talk to you soon."

"Alright, bye."

The phone hung up and the screen folded back down. Forest leaned forward and placed his elbows on his desk. He clamped his hands together and rested his chin on them. Forest's eyes moved to the side to spot the report on the mission to Trevor's Peak, Colorado. Forest picked up the scroll and unravelled it.

-------------------------------------

Characters' Stats:

Spoiler :

Status Name Thomas "Tom" Everett Level 22 Experience 13320/13850 Class Magic Blade Race Human Alignment Good Currency Canadian $10,686,171.27 Xoth 0 platinum 4 gold 66 silver 30 copper Title Clever One, Determined, Giant Slayer, Vaccinated, One Of The First, Sole Survivor, Generous Healer, Interpreter, Selfless Lover Buffs Agent of Kara 2x experience Bestiary of Xoth +10% damage towards the creatures of Xoth Brief History of Xoth +10% persuasion chance and friendliness towards the inhabitants of Xoth Debuffs - - Health 1250 Health Regeneration/min 33.99 Mana 1190 Mana Regeneration/min 40.3 Stamina 1190 Stamina Regeneration/min 8.2 Fame 3900 Infamy 0 Strength 125 Intelligence 119 Wisdom 130 Perception 58 Endurance 119 Vitality 103 Agility 82 Luck 90 Unallocated Points 0

Resistances Physical 44% Disease/Toxin 89% Fire 44% Plant 44% Ice 44% Earth 44% Lightning 44% Water 44% Wind 44% Spirit 44% Light 44% Darkness 44%

Skills Identify Master Level 2 Persuasion Intermediate Level 1 Language Comprehension Master Level 10 Book Learning Master Level 10 Teacher Beginner Level 4 Nonchalant Master Level 10 Lightning Strike Intermediate Level 6 Lightning Enchant Intermediate Level 6 Lightning Shield Intermediate Level 3 Heal Intermediate Level 4 Purify Intermediate Level 5 Sword Skill Intermediate Level 6 Disguise Intermediate Level 8 Prayer Master Level 10 Hero's Call Master Level 10 Fast Travel Master Level 10 Loot Collector Intermediate Level 3 Magical Repair Master Level 2 Tactician Intermediate Level 3 Cook Intermediate Level 4 Mixed Martial Artist Beginner Level 8 Club Skill Beginner Level 2 Trap Master Beginner Level 7 Unbreakable Beginner Level 5 Fireball Intermediate Level 1 Fire Enchant Beginner Level 9 Bow Skill Beginner Level 9 Surge Strike Beginner Level 10 Enhanced Body Intermediate Level 3 Enhanced Mind Intermediate Level 1 Chain Lightning Beginner Level 3 Group Heal Beginner Level 4 Enhanced Spells Beginner Level 9 Enhanced Resistance Intermediate Level 4 SM Transfer Master Level 10 Computer Skill Beginner Level 10 Massage Beginner Level 1 Lover Beginner Level 2

Status Name Reia Zyer Level 20 Experience 8835/8865 Class Lancer Race Naga Alignment Good Currency Canadian $0.00 Xoth 0 platinum 4 gold 45 silver 14 copper Title Unknown, Giant Slayer, Determined, Life Saver Buffs - - Debuffs - - Health 1600 Health Regeneration/min 9.7 Mana 450 Mana Regeneration/min 4.5 Stamina 1010 Stamina Regeneration/min 10.6 Fame 3900 Infamy 0 Strength 160 Intelligence 45 Wisdom 45 Perception 53 Endurance 101 Vitality 97 Agility 106 Luck 89 Unallocated Points 0

Resistances Physical 24% Disease/Toxin 100% Fire 24% Plant 24% Ice 24% Earth 24% Lightning 24% Water 24% Wind 24% Spirit 24% Light 24% Darkness 59%

Skills Identify Intermediate Level 8 Weapon Repair Intermediate Level 6 Armour Repair Intermediate Level 3 Weapon Crafting Beginner Level 9 Armour Crafting Beginner Level 10 Accessory Crafting Intermediate Level 1 Spear Skill Intermediate Level 8 Clothing Reform Master Level 3 Ice Spike Beginner Level 6 Wind Shield Intermediate Level 3 Wind Blade Intermediate Level 6 Heal Intermediate Level 4 Club Skill Beginner Level 1 Sword Skill Beginner Level 9 Persuasion Intermediate Level 1 Power Strike Beginner Level 10 Enhanced Resistance Beginner Level 8 Group Heal Beginner Level 1 Flurry Beginner Level 1 Spiral Thrust Beginner Level 1 Enhanced Dodge Beginner Level 1 Language Comprehension Master Level 10