With wind came the light. A very, very bright light. For a moment, I questioned if I was crossing over to the other side like all those near death experiences claimed. Just before it became altogether unbearable, I was able to open my eyes and take in the sight that must be New Beginnings.

It wasn’t much to look at yet. It was a circular island carved from marble with a complex network of docks. There were only two buildings as far as I could see, they were drab and weathered looking, and a few tents. The space, though, had room for much improvement.

The docks looked like they were prepared to be stretched out along this vast, bright sea. The planks were made from a very light colored wood and contrasted beautifully above the rich blue of the ocean below. I reached my hand into the water and tasted it curiously. It was salty, an actual ocean though I couldn’t spot any marine life. That would have been nice to see once in my life-oh right afterlife.

I stepped out of the boat and onto the new docks. These planks felt much more welcoming, they felt right. I know that is a silly concept, the floor feeling right under your feet but it just did. I felt at ease. I turned to look at the boat I just exited, but it had already disappeared. It was so dream-like how things existed suddenly and disappeared suddenly.

The docks seemed to attach to this man made island. It was carved from or pieced together from large marble blocks in a tiered system that moved down into the ocean. No water filled the six tiered structure as it sank farther and farther in like a step well. In the center of the structure was a black tower that poked up above the tiers and towered into the sky. Each tier was wide enough for a good sized building to be placed and deep enough that the four story building on the tier below would barely reach the floor of the tier above.

There were four main stairways that lead down each tier in a straight line in what I assumed was the cardinal directions. A compass likely wouldn’t work here, but it is what the paths made me think of. On the sixth tier, near the looming black tower, was a four story building, a two story building, what looked like a construction yard, and many tents of different fabrics. It was the only place I saw figures moving about.

“Well, new legs, hopefully we don’t take a tumble down that many stairs.”

Nervously, I began my descent. To my surprise, it was very easy to walk. I felt better balanced as my tail flicked about under my dress skirt. I started to skip down the stairs, testing my nimbleness and starting to laugh. I always hated running while alive, but this was fun. This was a joy. I felt so light and in control.

Soon enough, I was down at the sixth tier and felt eyes on me. I quickly stopped laughing and could feel the warm flush of a blush creep up on my cheeks. Sheepishly, pun not intended, I clopped along to the inn.

It was well decorated inside, looking much like the jovial taverns in most games. There was a bar, lots of round tables, a fire place with a pot of something bubbling above the fire. The NPCs were obvious. They were the only beings without a face. It was unsettling, but not as unsettling as the voice. It was the Nothing’s voice. The rooms were free for the first week of arrival and included three meals. After that, all adventurers must pay three coppers per night. I got myself a room key and looked about the bar at the other souls.

The persons present were varied in appearance. There was a trio by the fire place that were completely human in appearance. There was a pair of twins sitting at a table silently eating a plate of sliced meats and cheese. A man with feline ears and tail spoke happily with a woman who was beautiful beyond compare. It was quite the scene.

There was a loud thump, thump, thump on the stairs behind me that led up to the rooms. I turned and came face to face, well it was more face to abs, with a minotaur. The man was covered in fur as his shirtless presence showed off. His chest was broad and burly, his legs ended in hooves similar to mine but much, much larger, his head was that of a bull with horns but with eyes that faced more forward and trained on me, the creature in his way.

“Look out there, Miss. I nearly squashed you flatter than a flapjack on Sunday.” He said with a very thick Texas drawl.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have been standing by the stairs. I am just still kind of dazed by this all.” I said and clambered back while still gawking at the living mythical beast.

“First day?” He followed my retreat, which didn’t help my nerves. The guy didn’t seem threatening in his voice but that body was beyond intimidating.

My voice wavered even though I tried to keep it calm. “Y-yes. I just left the spawn.”

“So you haven’t been into the dungeon yet? Hope you have a party before yah do. I wasn’t so smart and ended back in the spawn not an hour later.” He laughed and set down at the table I had paused near. “My name is Clint Starling. Nice ta meet you.”

“I’m Alice Cross.” I wasn’t too keen on getting to know people but I didn’t have much choice. Being a healer, I would need a party. I recalled the words of Nothing, that those who looked more like their sign were better people when they were alive. I hoped that meant they were good people now as well. “I’m a healer so I don’t think I can do anything on my own, really.”

“A healer? I didn’t know that was an option. I’m Melee, some called me a tank. My brother Micha drove a tank in the war, so I think it is fittin’.” The bull face grinned at me in a way that was oddly charming.

It disarmed me and made me feel comfortable sitting down. My legs dangled at an odd angle and I scrunched up my face as I tried to find a comfortable position. Clint chuckled at my discomfort.

“It takes some time getting used to knees bending all katty wonkers. Almost makes you wish you were a bit more off color when alive so you get the good grace of legs.” He said with another laugh.

“I don’t know. Besides sitting, this seems pretty fun. I used to be rather clumsy.” I smiled. “How long have you been in New Beginnings?”

“I was one of the first handful. I’ve been here for four days. I have three days to figure out how to pay for things. I’m not too keen on going into the dungeon again, but I don’t think I have much choice.” He looked down into his hands.

“Was it really that bad?” I would like to say that I hated to butt into business that wasn’t mine, but I have always been a curious person. I also felt bad for Clint, he looked vulnerable even as he looked like a massively muscled bull man.

“It was pretty frightening, Miss Alice.” I flinched at the addition of Miss. I lived in the south, but I still didn’t like it much. “It isn’t like a cave or cellar. When you get in, it is just a forest. There is an open sky and everything. I didn’t get ten paces in when this little green man rushed at me, flailing about like the devil was on his back and stabbed me with a stick. I woke up back in the spawn pool.”

I thought on that for a moment. It was quite a bit of information. If the floors weren’t literal floors, but a dimension, it was going to be a hunt for a way to get to the next floor. The first floor sounded like it had little green men. If Nothing had pulled that information from our memories and experiences, it likely was a goblin. I was fairly certain that those were low level creatures in many games.

It also meant that things were deadly right away. I didn’t like that.

“What weapon did you get with your starter set?” I asked. I placed my necklace on the table. “This is mine, it is supposed to channel my magic.”

“You sound like a natural, Miss Alice.” His large, leathery hands reached into his drawstring bag he had tied at his hip and pulled out a sword as if the bag was bottomless. It was a two handed sword, not terribly broad so probably not a claymore. I really didn’t know too much other than that as my experience with the real deal was limited to that one time I went to a renaissance fair and there was a blacksmith showing of a few pieces.

“Looks like you could do some damage with that, that is great. I can’t really fight, at least not yet. I have no spells to do damage. I can stun and I can heal.” I chewed on my cheek as I thought. “Clint, we don’t know each other but would you be willing to enter the dungeon with me, just once? I can heal, so you probably won’t die and we don’t have to go very far.”

I was talking quick and my voice was getting higher as it does when I am nervous. Had I been smart and not panicking, I would have approached this a much better way. I shouldn’t show that I am so desperate for help at this stage, but I was so very dependant on needing at least one person to go with me so I could expand my skills and be on my own.

Clint’s large, brown eyes grew as I bombarded him with my plea. He held up his hand. “Woah, woah, slow down miss, slow down. I know I have ta go back in there some time too. Sooner would be better than later so yeah. Yeah, we can go together.”

“Great!” I shouted and then sat down looking sheepishly at the table. “I mean, thanks. I promise not to be a burden. I’ll heal when I can and run if things get to difficult so you don’t have to worry about my safety.”

“Your safety will be my priority, Miss Alice. My pa would whip me from here to yonder if I weren’t a proper escort for you.” He said, standing.

“That’s really nice of you, Clint, and you can call me Alice. No ‘miss’ needed. We are party mates now.” I said with a smile, hoping he would drop the word before my name.

“Party mates?” He questioned. “Oh, like in the book. A party.”

He opened his book and moved to stand next to me to show it. Surprisingly, I saw nothing written on the pages. I pulled out my own guide book and showed it to him.

“I see nothing on yours. Do you see anything on mine?”

“No ma’am, it is blank.” He reached over to touch my book, but his finger passed through it as if the object were a ghost.

“Interesting…” I mumbled, stashing that bit of information away for later. Anomalies in games were always important, that is why the existed. If they weren’t intentional, they were bugs and bugs often were useful. I flipped to the front page and spoke to the Nothing. It was time to test out the advice that was promised to me. “How do I start a party?”

To start a party, Nothing wrote on the paper and spoke in my head, you need to turn to page four and write the name of whom you want added to your party. Parties are limited to seven players. Once a name is written in your party, your party mate will receive the invite in their book to be accepted.

I slipped from my seat and went to the NPC innkeep to borrow a pen. I wrote Clint Starling in my book. The words shimmered and turned red with the word after it.

“Turn your book to page four. You can accept my party invitation.” I gave the pen back to the NPC, hoping I would remember to buy one once I came into some money. Clint’s name turned green, indicating he accepted. “In games I have played, being in a party benefits us more than just being around each other. If there is experience in what we do, it might get shared if we party.”

I wasn’t going to miss out on experience. I couldn’t kill anything on my own, so I couldn’t get experience on my own to level. I could heal myself over and over again, but that wouldn’t do me much good in the long run. Here was hoping, at least.

I looked up at Clint to find him watching me with his brown eyes wide again. I shrugged. “I know I don’t look like a gamer girl, but they helped me get by. At least it will help me get by here. All we need is three coppers a day, I am sure we can get that on the first floor.”

“You are tellin me that you had games like this when you were alive?” He asked as I packed my book away and put my pendant on.

“In a way, yes. Did you not have any games?” I pushed in the chair I used, not out of a sense of cleaning up but to give myself to hide my nervousness.

“No ma’am. Best we had for games was a deck of cards or some dice and Aunt Hattie thought those were the work of the devil so we didn’ really get to play.”

“What year was it when you died, Clint?” I asked as I started leading us out of the inn.

“1921, a little after the war.”

I tripped a little bit and one of his hands reached out and steadied me. “1921? That was… I can’t believe… I didn’t know they would have people from your time here. The Nothing said that it was designed for people like me and I figured that was more modern times.”

“Modern time?” Clint scoffed, clearly finding offense in my statement. “I am from modern times.”

I shook my head, fuzzy ears flopping a bit. I didn’t like that feeling. “I didn’t mean to make that sound like a bad thing, Clint. I am sure to you, those were the most modern times. I died in 2021. A hundred years difference. We had many games that held dungeons, healers, goblins, dragons. They weren’t physical like they are here, they were on devices that were big and small. They were written about in books, plays were made about them. Things were very different in my time than yours.”

Numbly, Clint opened the door to the inn and held it for me. “A hundred years…” was all he could say. I let him stew in silence as I walked through the door and started to make my way towards the tower in the middle of this step well.

There were a few other “players” littered about on the street near the dungeon entrance. As we got closer the black marble of the tower was clearer. Veins of gold raced about the surface, gleaming in the harsh light of the mid-day sun. There was no door, however, just an ornate pillar of stone. I circled the building and Clint followed behind me silently. I wasn’t sure if he was still mad at me for the modern comment or overwhelmed by the idea that he was at least a hundred years older than me. In any case, he wasn’t helping me find the way into the dungeon.

I didn’t get a chance to ask him as a man, who didn’t appear to have any alterations, pushed past me roughly. He was tall, broad, and sure footed. His black hair was streaked with lines of white. Deep brown eyes bore into me as if expecting a challenge from him bumping into me. He sneered in the foulest look of disgust as he pressed his hand to the stone tower and melted into it. At least that man’s rudeness came to some good. I now understood how to enter.

“Let’s wait until he gets farther out. I don’t want to be anywhere near that guy. He gave me the creeps.” I didn’t suppress a shudder.

“That’s a fine call, M-Alice.” He corrected himself. Thank the stars above and below, the era of miss was over. Hopefully. “I wouldn’t want to have to fight him an’ those green things.”

“Goblins. What you ran into earlier was likely goblins. They are a common first enemy in games. Some of the weakest. They aren’t very smart or very strong. They can be dangerous in numbers, but if you have your wits about you, they shouldn’t be too much of a challenge.”

Clint smiled down at me. “I am so lucky to have you in my party. I wouldn’t know where to begin, even with my guide book.”

I turned away so he couldn’t see me blush in embarrassment. I don’t know why I felt embarrassed, Clint didn’t mean anything bad by it. It was just different. Someone felt lucky to have me with them. He likely will change his mind at some point, people haven’t really wanted me around in the past. It was a nice feeling. Kind of like that hug from Nothing.

“Alright, that should be enough time, don’t you think?” I said after I collected myself.

Clint only nodded and offered his hand. I took it as he placed his other hand on the black stone in front of us. He sank into the material and pulled me gently along. I closed my eyes, to afraid to watch myself be engulfed by the tower.