“So what are you expecting it to do?” John asked as three of us kneeled before the prince’s bed. I had been resting my head in my hands and focused on the spell Animate Object, but nothing happened.

“I really don’t know what I'm doing,” I admitted as I raised my hands and got up, stepping away from the bed. “I’ve tried everything I did with the other spell and just… Nothing.”

At that point, John got up and feverishly scratched at his chin like he was going to find an answer in the follicles of hair. Sal seemed to have gotten even closer to the bed, if that was possible.

“Hmmm. Why don’t you…” Sal suggested, pausing for dramatic effect. “Talk to it.”

“Talk to it!” John yelled after he was pulled out of his questioning daze. “What do you think this is? Our childhood or something?”

A reverent yet saddened expression appeared across Sal’s face as he defensively whispered something under his breath.

“What was that Sal? Did Mrs. Samone forget to get the salt again?” John brutally replied. Sal didn’t say a word and ended up just idly standing in the corner by the prince’s dresser.

John walked over to continue his attack on his brother and I sat there processing the conversation. Talk to it. The words bored their way into my head like a sweet whisper from an unknown angel.

I got back down, stared right at the bed and said, “Do you come here often?” while focusing on the Animate Object spell.

Nothing happened for a second, so I got up ready to announce my defeat when a quirky high pitched voice answered back.

“Me? Well, no, but someone sure does.”

John and sal rushed over in excitement. “It’s a damn peeping mattress!” Yelled Sal.

“Yes and I shall vanquish the demon!” John screamed as he withdrew his longsword from its sheathe and approached the mattress. I wasn’t sure if he was serious or not because his voice said one thing and his crazy lunge at the innocent little mattress said another.

“Hey wait, I need to ask it about my wife!” Sal said as he put himself between the man and the mattress.”

I looked down at the mattress and realized that holes for a mouth and eyes had opened up, only to be filled with a bright green glow. A warning popped up.

Skill Warning

You have summoned a [Magic Mattress]. At your skill level, it runs off of your mana and will only be conscious for as long as you have the resources to do so.

John and Sal had been asking the mattress all kinds of questions while I read the warning.

“So you are telling me that this woman…” Sal started as he pointed to a drawn portrait of his wife, has never been in here?”

“Well, I mean, I wasn’t aware that I had ever been able to see until that little mattress whisperer over there summoned me, but now that I’m awake I can see back for as far as I’ve ever existed. Let me see… Hmm. Yes, yes, I’ve seen her. I wouldn’t forget those eyes.”

”I’m going to kill him!” Sal yelled loudly as he withdrew his sword from its sheathe and pranced around the room, slashing out wildly.”

“Hey brother, let's relax and not scare the little bed thing. It has suffered enough having to support the spoiled ass of our beloved, uh…” the head guard said, pausing to look around half joking and half out of covering his own ass, “goblin.”

“You know, maybe we’ve been going about it all wrong…” I warned. I looked over at the mattress and said, “Who have you seen in here with the prince?”

“Well… Ummmm… Let’s see” said the Magic Mattress with a hint of menace in its voice. “I’m not sure if I can remember well enough I feel so restricted and maybe some fresh air could do me some good.” A notification warned me that my mana was down twenty five percent.

“Okay, you magic mattress, stop messing with us and tell us what you want before I slice you open,” John said angrily.

“Yes please. Slice me, slice me.” The mattresses eyes and mouth glowed ever brighter as it got more excited.

“You heard the thing” said Sal as he jumped up on top of the bed, readied his sword, and plunged it into the mattress.”

A quest notification popped up and I half expected it to tell me I failed because we killed the weird magic mattress with a death wish.

Billy’s Bargain:

The mattress has informed you that Salford’s wife is indeed sleeping with Beth. The mattress withheld information, which could have hindered your plan, but don’t fret. Your traveling companion followed his instincts without thinking and has now released the [Magic Mattress] from its constricted form. It is now free to move around as it likes. WARNING: You must imbue objects you plan on setting free with enough mana to carry out there task, otherwise they will fail you. Good luck!

It was at that moment that a glowing army from hell burst out of the mattress, filling the air like the million feathered fireflies that they really were.

“What in Dragaria am I going to do with all these pests in the castle? I was just joking, darnit brother. There you go making a mess of things. This is why I became head guard and you train new adventurers for a living.”

The brothers began to bicker back and forth. Sal shot back that the real reason John was head guard was because he was older and Sal was off learning to slay dragons with the great Knight Sir Alfred Skycane.

I blocked them out in order to chase after the feathers. I followed the [Magic Featherstorm] down four flights of stairs, barely managing to stop and channel half of my remaining mana into them. I checked the chat and saw players were freaking out.

Spot456: What’s going on? Is this some sort of event?

Gazelet: I don’t know, but it seems too big for a single quest.

G0truthith: Hey! Someone catch them! Maybe they are worth something.

I read the chat, but then closed it and continued to chase after the feathers. They took off in all directions. What I saw and heard next blew my mind and gave the players a real laugh.

“Prince Luke is sleeping with Andrew Bensley! Prince Luke visits miss Tylia but he sleeps in his bed with the banker boy Andrew Bensley!” The feathers continued to fly around the town. I looked around and could see similar messages spelt out in glowing feathers.

The chat started to blow up with controversy and many yelled in outrage at the feathers. Both players and NPCs alike ran around trying to silence the feathers. Well, to be honest, the NPCS were trying to save themselves and the players were hoping for some sweet loot.

The feathers eventually changed its message. “LUKE AND ANDREW ARE TOGETHER, BUT THAT’S NOT WRONG BECAUSE THEY ARE BOTH MEN, IT’S WRONG BECAUSE THE PRINCE IS ENGAGED TO Tylia. HE IS THE CLOSEST THING YOU HAVE TO A LEADER, SO YOU SHOULD CARE ABOUT THIS. Gooooood Byeeee!”

The feathers wheezed out its farewell as they began to float aimlessly through the wind with all signs of magic gone. My mouth hung open. I had no idea what to do next. I pulled up the quest notification that came with the [Magic Featherstorm]’s announcement.

Billy’s Bargain

You found a rather interesting way to get the word around about the dishonest prince. It’s unsure what this will come to, but you should probably swing by the AC and see if you can get Billy that date.

I sat down against the castle wall as I tried to muster up the courage to go in search of completing my quest. I got up after a few moments and walked quickly to the building. I got close to the building and slowed down at the sound of Sal’s voice.

“I’m so sorry sweetheart. I sort of caused this. I thought… I thought you might have been seeing the prince, so I helped an adventurer find the truth. I had no idea…

“You know, if it weren’t for the fact that my brother hadn’t told anyone, I might just not be upset with you. Maybe I would be able to overlook it because this is just the kind of thing you do. But I just can’t do this right now with that fact that you didn’t trust me and revealed my brother’s biggest secret. Who is this adventurer anyway? I’m going to have to smack him.

I sat scared to enter. So… Luke wasn’t her fiance, Sal was? But he said his wife was cheating… I had no idea what to think. I turned around to get as far away as I could, but then I saw him.

Billy sat on the other side of the road leaned up against a sturdy looking oak. He wore his usual outfit and was feverishly mowing down on an ear of uncooked corn. What was more disturbing though, was the ferocity in which he was chortling while eating the corn. It even began to shoot out of his nose all over the place.

I walked over and another quest notification went off, this time it was shorter and lower pitched, sounding more absolute.

Billy’s Bargain

WARNING: Usually quest updates don’t give away information early, but it looks like you need it. Billy The Adventures Guide set you up, meaning that he breached the rules of the contract. You might not have done what you planned to, but you definitely helped start a great change in the town of Landalof. Plus, Billy, Beth, Tylia, and yourself are all outside together; someone might consider that a date. Enjoy your [Dragonsteel Scalebound Box].

It was the first time that I really wanted to just log out. Things had gotten so out of hand. Talking to Sal, Billy, or anyone really, was the last thing I wanted to do. I glanced through the options fully aware there wouldn’t be a way to logout, but it wasn’t until everyone had make there way out side that I truly gave up.

Words flew around me like a swirling fog of drama ridden doom. I had avoided this exact type of situation countless times in both high school and college, yet somehow I couldn’t escape it in what was supposed to be my one safe place.

I stood up, looked at Sal, John, Andrew, and the twins. They were all arguing over whose fault it was and what the implications were going to be. I thought about what a hero would do. I envisioned myself telling everyone that it was my fault and that I would bear the high school consequences and fix all of their problems, but I just… I couldn’t do it. All I wanted was my Gilded Dragon Slayer #6…

I started walking away, but then turned around to glance at Billy again. He was still laughing his ass off like hadn’t a care in the world. It was then that my sadness turned to anger and I took off. Quests aren’t supposed to be like this.

I passed the HC, a few stores, the training grounds and eventually even the magic shop. I kept going until I was far out of town. I needed to do something different, to just begin my way back to the top. I knew I still wanted the GDS, but I was sick of the games.

I made my way west for awhile and then dropped down south until I stumbled upon the gates of Spardonia City.. It was originally founded by Draconamir, the fire dragon. Just like man creature himself, the city was flashy and known for violence.

A long fiery boarder sat around the perimeter of the City. Only those with fire in their hearts were known to be able to enter. If I was going to learn some skills and fast, that was the place to do it. I recognized that it was a place of violence and I was only armed with the ability to see visions, create talking objects, and move small objects with my mind, but that didn’t stop me from entering.

I made my way down a street full off shops of every shape and size. Spardonia wasn’t really a great place to live until you were eternally pissed off, but they had a lot of good wares and were often a big part of quests.

I took a left once I got to the town square and then turned right and walked into the Salty Saloon, one of the dirtiest bars in all of Dragaria. The room was full of NPCs rough housing and a few players striking up the bartender for quests.

I made my way to the bar, sat right on up, waited until the bartender wasn’t looking and then used my Telekinesis spell to grab myself a bottle of RIckey’s Firespice Rum.I had thought about paying for it, but then I realized I didn’t have anything because I had wasted a day and a half on that pointless quest.

I didn’t drink much, but it felt like one of those days. You know when an NPC called Billy the Adventurer's Guide screws you over and then just has an endless laughing fit about at your expense? Yes, it was exactly one of those days. I sat, feeling sorry for myself, and just drank the bottle away. I knew I had to make a plan at some point, but I sure as hell wasn’t doing it right then.