Before Avery was an overwhelmingly large Festival of Life. They were celebrating her life. In the way of doing things by customs, the normal practice was to celebrate it after they had passed. That was thrown out the window today though. Having seen the future through Tarot cards and mythical back-alley seances, she found out the day of her death. This was the joke she told often. The truth though was far darker. Having recounted, Her doctors had given her a time-frame for when things would start to break down in her body. By the grace of recent laws and the Hospital's blessing, she was able to pick out the day she would have her "Medically Assisted Suicide".

Her doctor had entered the guest VR chairs in the room next to hers along with her parents. There, the hospital had mocked up a calm park for them all. There were a few NPCs walking around as they all sat on the park benches. There the "talk" was given, while Avery sat on a swing distance away. Even though Avery wasn't apart of the first talk, she knew what was going on by the hysterical crying from her mother.

She was able to mentally prepare herself by the time they talked to her. She was already at peace. Her parents could tell, but it only made it worse for them. The doctor had then laid out the charts for her while being supportive, but she only cut him off and asked: "when".

Over the course of the day, she dealt with the unstoppable march of time. Each minute ticked away was one minute closer to death for her. She honestly could have dealt with it, but seeing her parents deal with it made it hurt far worst. It wasn't until she found herself alone in the VR's mid-way room. A pitch black room with only a single light coming from a single floating screen. It was the room you'd come to before choosing your next destination. She found herself huddled on the floor. Her face buried in her knees as she let it all out...

On the screen was the video-feed of the camera that was above her bed. It pointed towards the observation window across from her. There was a microphone on the other side that she could turn on and off so people could talk to her. There, her parents were pleading with the doctors to replace her organs with theirs. It wasn't the first time, but it was always a resounding no. Her cancer would just destroy those organs too. She felt she had the best parents in the world. It was such a shame she wouldn't be able to spend her life with them.

Avery thought how cruel reality was as she looked at her mother's pained face. Her father's hopeless eyes. These two beautiful souls undeserving of watching their child slowly die before them. Avery thought about how it felt to be a parent to go through that. She would never have a child, a family of her own. She had asked her father what it felt like.

"As a parent who loves their child... all I can say is... Your child is supposed to bury you, not you bury them..."

Avery could get faint nuances in his words. It still didn't convey how much it tore them apart. She never really got to live in their world. She was barely a teen before she ended up in this virtual prison. She was barely exploring who she was as a person, making friends. She still was wondering what toys she would get for Christmas. That was until this cancer had struck her. Slowly eating away her. It was then her parents joined her world. Looked at it. How this virtual world managed to give their child the freedom she had lost.

After that day, Avery had picked a nice winter day on Christmas Eve. It was a day before the earliest projected day she could die. Having been given options, she chose the one she gave her the most freedom. The freedom to die on the day she wanted. In the grand scheme of things, it was meaningless. It was the only silver lining she had thought... That was when she posted to the forum, notifying the one place she felt free...

Δ​

The day she was to die was a roller-coaster of emotions, but she was content. Her parents were allowed to VR-dive while side by side in her room with all their hands linked together at Avery's request. The doctors allowed it, seeing as she'd die before her immune system could fail. With that done, on Avery's final day, they did whatever she wished. It was a strange day for her, how she could be the happiest, but the saddest at the same time.

Even though she still had lingering regrets and wishes, she kept them to herself. Everyone had come together for [Avery's star] event. Her parents came along on adventures. Her dad became a father figure to many while Mother... Well mothered others. Soon, many people would only call them Father and Mother. Even those older than them. It was like one big family when they came around.

Back at the festival. It was a worldwide festival. From the City of Beginnings to the Fallen Kingdoms of the Fey races. All took apart, players and NPCs alike. Until the moment of truth came. As the master of the SkyGardens and subject of the festival; Avery sat in the throne of honor. Her parents at her side. The Gamemasters also sat close by with her good friends. the whole festival had gone on without a hitch. That was until the timer had reached zero. Her good friend Gerald, "TheSharkySharkShark", stood up and yelled at her.

"Fuck this Avery! Stand your ass up and go out like a warrior! Laughing in Death's face with a smile!"

Avery wanted to laugh at him. It truly was like him. He was a man in his mid-thirties and his own child. He often preached the principals of a man and also of being a warrior. Gerald and Avery had been friends since the beginning of the game. She and her parents met him at an IRL Meet, held at a convention. He truly was a principled man and so was his son. "Look forward and face your problems. Even if you're crying!" Avery wanted to face-palm herself. This was also something she thought about doing, but having let the depressing thoughts get to her; she didn't.

She wished with all her heart. That she could live just one more minute. One more hour. Just one more day. Avery held that wish, deep inside her heart. Burning it into her very soul. She joined in their war-cries and defiantly looked up at the beautiful night sky. The shooting stars reflecting in all their eyes. She tried to hold her courage until the last moment.

As she felt her body lose it's strength and her mind become hazy, she felt a deep fear in her heart. She never really felt it before. Sadness. Anger. Regret. Those were not foreign feelings but never fear. Every step of the way, she never was alone. Her beloved parents and friends. Other players and even NPCs. Right now though, as death slowly came. She would be entering the unknown alone. If there was life after death, she would be going at it alone. Maybe Heaven, maybe hell. She didn't know what was coming next. She felt true fear grip her.

"Mommy... Daddy... Don't leave me... Please..."

That was her last thought she had when the darkness took her. A cold sensation enveloped her with one last thing reaching her.

" " " " " "To victory Avery!" " " " " "

Their cries reached her. Her heart felt warm, sending that sensation away. Fear... Fear no longer gripped her...

Δ

After an unknown amount of time, Avery felt something again. She had been stuck in limbo for what could have been a second or maybe a century. She felt like she was floating, suspended in darkness. It was cold and unwelcoming. She felt like she was a bodiless soul. It wasn't before long she saw her life. Then Dreams. Finally, they all became nightmares. Things repressed in her heart came out to haunt her. For a while, she was sure she was in hell. She could feel her sanity slowly break.​

Then nothing. The abyss returned and that, in itself, was its own hell.

Just before she felt her entire being slip away into the darkness, she felt new sensations. The feeling of having limbs. She felt they slowly twitch. For a while, she felt each twitch becoming more powerful.

It was then she felt like the darkness was just a sea. She felt which way was up and down. She concentrated on a certain spot she felt was the surface. Without rest, she tried to reach out towards that spot. Minute after minute, hour after hour. Maybe year after year. She never lost focus. Until one day... A light broke through.

She felt the freedom of her limbs again and shot forward through it.

Splash! Shhh! shh! * [ For extra immersion -> theme music + repeat ]]

Her upper body exploded through the surface of a faintly blue-glowing water. The liquid gushed over the edges all around her as she managed to cling to a low wall. Holding onto for dear life she tried to breathe, but couldn't. For a few moments, she convulsed before being able to puke out that liquid. She gasped for air the moment her lungs were emptied out. It was a sweet, sweet sensation. Cold crisp air entered her lungs. It didn't feel like hospital air, but it wasn't that artificial feeling of the VR world.

Pushing it to the back of her mind, she wiped away the liquid over her eyes. What greeted her was a white-stone floor, covered in a deep ocean-blue liquid. The wall she was clinging too was a wall of an above-ground pool. Inside the pool was the same liquid that faintly glowed. Taking a few minutes to compose herself. Her body felt exhausted just from pushing herself out of the liquid. Every muscle screamed in protest, but she stubbornly clung to the pool wall.

Looking around the room, it felt familiar. The walls were the same stone as the floor but hand carvings of deers and plants. The room had poor lighting, but it looked like an Elven Bathroom. She noticed that there were no windows in there and the only light source was coming from the liquid in the pool. There were also a few benches stacked into the back corner of the room, caked in dust. Just ahead of her was an archway leading into another room.

After getting enough rest, she heaved herself out of the pool. Her bare skin was so pale, her veins could be seen. She didn't pay attention to her body though. Stumbling across the floor, she managed to reach the archway and peer in the next room. It was a bedroom.

Peering into the room, it was a circular room with a ten-foot-high ceiling. Immediately to the left was a large window with a bench ledge to sit on. Circling the room, there was a wardrobe with large doors and a desk. Armor stands and weapon stands. There were also different artworks on hung on the wall. There was even a bed, but all of it was covered in dust. The room was all too familiar to her.

"My.. home in... Eos?"

Be it a nightmare or a dream. She was in her room in FkE. Walking into the center of the room, she knew where everything was. Taking a quick glance around, everything was like she left it. The dust was caked on like it hadn't been touched for such a long time. Walking over to the wardrobe. Avery wiped away the dust stuck to the left door. Under the dust was ornate paintings of nature. Taking in the familiar sight, she opened both the doors revealing a clean interior. None of the dust touched the contents inside.

There were several sets of loungewear and casual clothes hanging. Her eyes scanned over the contents before a mirror hung on inside of the left door caught her attention. Her eyes caught the pale naked figure that was her. Every vein on her body was visible but slowly faded at a noticeable pace. It took a few minutes before the veins were no longer visible and she looked normal. Rather, being that this room was in Eos, she looked to life like.

The person looking in the mirror wasn't her real body, but her character from FkE. A feminine face with a fair complexion. Two golden feline-like eyes and long lashes. Her cheeks were slightly rosy. Her like snow-white hair cascaded off her head onto her back falling behind a petite female's body with ample breasts. An almost hour-glass shaped body with decent sized hips and toned thighs. Her body was definitely a beautiful, but it's charmed laid in the subtlety of its portions. She liked it that way, rather than it be extreme as the other character. She stood about five-five and overall was adorable.

It was unlike her real body, withered husk. Some hopes came true for her. She made this character when she first joined and she always wished to look as beautiful like this. Now she was. That was her silver lining here. This world was real now. She was no longer some empty husk of a human waiting to die. Reaching inside, she pulled out a crop-top muscle shirt, cargo pants, and boots. All black. After dressing herself, she looked in the mirror again. Her features looked nobler. One could say heroic even. A gentle heroine?

Closing the wardrobe, she walked back to the window and looked out. Just below was the courtyard of the hybrid Roman-Italian villa with elven architecture, resting on the side of a mountain. It was a beautiful property that would be liked to those million dollars vacation homes. Now it was neglected and in disrepair. Vines, moss and other plants had overtaken most of the room top and grew up the pillars. Beyond laid a city, Heart's Rest.

What she saw only made her heartache. hundreds of buildings of similar architecture had fallen into an even worst state than her player home. Bushes, trees and other plants had overtaken the city. Many buildings had given into time and were turned into rubble. Many were in different states of collapse. Only a few looked habitable. It appeared abandoned for centuries. She found herself unsure of what to do.

She ran her hand through her hair. Then again. Then another time. She then started pulling her hair in frustration. All these things were happening and no one was here. She could tell just from how bad everything was here. She sat on the dusty floor, her back against the window's wall. Softling crying out for her parents and her friends. Someone.

≡​

After a while, she felt better, but her eyes were red. She pulled herself together and let her mind rest after processing everything done so far. She felt fatigued, but better now. she stretched her upper body before bring out her status with a thought

Chime~

[email protected]$% @$(#)@

[email protected]

[email protected](#@)(*$(*$(#

@#()($)#()$#$#*($#@*(*#@)(#@

+ =+ +=++=_____-___-_

[Current status display no compatiable with current World-System.]

[Displaying status from the last record.]

[Error, last record is currently blocked. Attempting again.]

The chime came out along with a holographic status screen that floated in mid-air in front of her. It was distorted. It struggled to keep it from before it closed. It made Avery feel sick to the pit of her stomach. Suddenly she threw up to her left the remaining liquid from earlier. Avery's sight blackened as she feebily supported herself. Her whole body protesting the sudden change before a wave of relief washed over her. Her earlier fatigue disappeared.

[Expelled remaining substance "Corruption" from the body.]

[Record retrieved. World-System data not available. Displaying unformatted record.]

Name: Avery Bailey |" FemmeFoxtrot "

Health: [Error] / 100,000 [+400,000]

Mana: 100,000 [+ 1,000,000]

Body Status: Strength [+500], Agility 500 [+500], Vitality 500 [+500], Wisdown 500 [+500], Constitution 500 [+500]

Level: 1,000 [Maximum level]

Age: 1,000 + [ System maximum numerical reached ]

Adventurer rank: SSS+

Home: Sky Gardens - The Keep.

Skills: [Error - Record corrupted]

Followers/Pets: Pets - Fenrir [High-MoonWolf], Athena [High-Sundragon], and Jessin [High-SilverLeopard]

Titles: > Showing recently earned titled

[Friend Of The World] - Majority of Players have tagged your username, +100 fame

[Conqueror] - Defeated the Demon King and dealt the most damage. +100 fame

[Avery's star - Fallen] - Witness the fall of the world's most beloved person and made their last wish come true - Adds a statue of Avery's character to Homebase's build menu.

[God's Mercy] - Beloved by all, God has heard your wishes granting you another life in a new, yet familiar world - Reincarnation in Eoos, the world the game world is modeled after.

[Second Wind] - God purges the world of reincarnates, but your loyal followers have managed to save your comatose body in an unknown substance. The origins of this substance are not of this world... - Alastair's Plague immunity

[Keeper of the Hearth] - While you have been long away, your legend has lived on through many ruins and historical records. You've been thought of as the Hearth Keeper, Mother of the flame. - 1,000+ fame, worshipped by wayfarers, explorers, and people who live on the road. [Includes pirates, bandits, etc.]

[Icon of Heresy] - You're viewed as a pagan Symbol by the Religion of Alastair, religion of the Holy Empire- 1,000+ infamy

Avery let out a sigh of relief. This world seemed to retain game-like functions, but opening the status screen left more questions than answers. Of course, it answered why everything looked the way it did. Very few races lived long, and even fewer lived more than a thousand years. Those who could surpass five-thousand were only races of the high meadows. It wasn't one race, but many. It was a place were lower races could begin their journey towards immortality. Such as a MoonWolf. They lived no more than sixty years. A mutated one can live up to five hundred. A High variant ascended into the thousands.

Though that was just the lore, they were immortal in the game. It wouldn't be strange to see them fall in line with their lore settings. After checking her stats, she moved on to the other tabs. Her inventory was empty like she left it, messages were the same, and the map tab was there, but that was it. Store, guild, settings, and social had disappeared.

Swiping away the menu with her hand and got up. She tied her hair up into a ponytail before heading towards the door. Grabbing the door handle, she pushed it open into the hallway beyond. What greeted her was overgrowth everywhere, but strangely, a perfectly cut path leading towards the front of the villa. Her steps echoed as she followed it and step foot in the courtyard. The path wasn't very big. It could only fit one person walking at a time, but the plants were trimmed back so they wouldn't touch anyone walking through. Avery felt an ebbing annoyance that the rest of the plants weren't cleaned up, but she kept them unsaid.

Walking out the derelict entrance and down a fairly intact brick mountain path into the city. Avery saw many shops and stores she remembered was always packed with people. Homes of friends and guild members. Many of them were good friends of her. Now, most of those buildings held the notion that the once use to house someone. The wooden furniture rotted away and the metal ones rusted into modern art pieces. There was a small sense of loss for them all.

Avery didn't linger long after giving them a glance. The path now started to weave through thick vegetation before it made its way into the large pavilion that was the center of the town. It was the Guild Pavilion. She stopped at looked at the cathedral-like building, wondering how such a majestic thing, could fall so low. It's decrepit appearance hide its glory

Throughout the entire walk, Avery never say signs of fighting. It troubled her greatly to see that this city had become so destroyed and it was all to neglect. Looking around, many of the defensive spells etched into the floors and side of buildings to prevent attacks remained intact. Above her in the sky, the Defensive matrix shimmered slightly as it's translucent shield continued to protect the city. Already in a down mood, she decided to continue going on. On she went until she reached the city walls. Reaching the ramparts was almost a godsend. Upon arrival, Avery noticed the lands around the wall were neatly taken care of.

Stone golems patroled the floor at the foot of the wall while large Meteor Golems protected the wall as they patrolled the wall. As if noticing her arrival, the two Meteor golems walked down the rampart stairs and stood by the large wooden gates.

"Authority, Avery. Requesting order display.

Last directive: City is not to be accessed without the Authority of Fenrir, or Athena.

Issuer: Athena

Last entry: 3 weeks ago [Fenrir]

Last Exit: 3 weeks ago [Fenrir

Average: 5 weeks.

Approaching the Golems, Avery had requested the gate information. Having seen that at least one of her followers was alive brought joy to her. She had her little happiness before she issued the gate be opened for her to walk out. On the other side, was the public gardens. There were also stone golems tending to this side as well, but strangely there were men and women dressed in over-exaggerated mage robs as they carried clipboards with paper and pens. They were trailed by knights in ornate silver armor and kept a few feet from them. The all seemed to be following stone golems as they tended to the garden, but what caught Avery's attention was the large ashen-white tree that grew in the center of the garden.

Walking towards that tree, the knights only glanced at her before turning their attention back onto their wards.

Reaching the tree, she noticed how it's large canopy cast a pleasant shadow down on her. There was a cool, gentle breeze at the moment. Gave a sense of peace as she walked around its massive trunk as she examined it. After walking around to the other side, she found a statue of her likeness of that night. Her in that battle armor, crying to the heavens. It stood almost twelve feet tall, with a plaque reading

[ Avery's Star has fallen, in her wake. The gods leave behind the Divine Tree of Memories. The Sky Gardens will remain open to those who have walked with her in her last moments. After tonight, only those who've received approval from the Ancient dragon Uggdren may step foot in Avery's holy grounds. From today, only her Guild members will have access to her Lost City.

Good night Avery, may you win more battles in the next life...]

[Date of death xx.xx.xxxx]

Below it, there was deeply carved words reading...

[ She never died, only slumbered]

It appeared to be carved out by a claw if she had to guess. The statue appeared to be made out of Meteorite. So whomever did it had to be powerful. Taking in this scene, she heard someone quickly coming towards her and she felt like they didn't have good intentions...