The Game Before the Fall

Chapter 67: Where I am. (Part 1)

Chapter 67: Where I am.

Ardent Friend:

I opened my eyes to the view of a tall white ceiling and the surprising comfort of a mattress below me. I was in a large bedroom on top a king-sized bed. The room was pleasant enough and well-furnished but a mess of thrown clothing and knickknacks as if whoever had lived here departed quickly. A slight movement beside me alerted me of Ria's presence. She was no longer invisible but like the last time she had used her powers, the burning blue ghostly horns remained present on her forehead.

I struggled to remember how we had got here. We left the city of New York and reached the suburban sprawl. Somewhere along the way I had become too tired to move and together we found a place to spend the night. I remember collapsing at the doorway. Ria must have pulled me the rest of the way to the bed.

I gently rubbed her head, her hair silky smooth despite what we had gone through. She churned awake.

"Daddy?" she leaned up and blinked. "Are you better."

"Much better," I smiled to her as she crawled closer and curled up beside me.

Her stomach churned, "I'm hungry."

"Same here. Let's find something to eat," I lifted her out of the bed and began to explore the rest of the house. It was large enough to be called a mansion and we occupied a room on the bottom floor. Like the bedroom we had been, it was a mess of scattered objects. At first thought, it looked like someone had been through it, stealing whatever was handy. But on a closer eye, it was the rush of a family scrambling to find the essentials before running away. I had seen many places like it when the Rift Walkers appeared.

The bags we had taken with us had been shredded from the fight with Callus. We had packed food and other items just in case, but they were long gone now. Thankfully whoever's inventory I had hijacked had also saved up a plentiful amount of rations. They were packaged MREs or Meal ready-to-eat, and there were a lot of them, enough for at least a month. As Ria helped me set up the meal, I investigated the inventory space. It was much larger than what should have been capable after the Merge and closer in size to what Areithia Online had.

I flicked through the menu. High grade potions, ammunition, camping supplies, weapons and even explosives. The owner meant some serious business. Then there were stacks of notes and books. A map of the world that had locations crossed out, each marked with a date. If we went by my standards, the date was marked for 13 years after the Merge. The last circled location yet to be marked off on the southern coast of South Africa close to Cape Town.

The notes were details of the person's travels and what they found, clues searching for a way to save their world. Not only did it remind me the notes I took after the Fall, but the handwriting matched as well. Further still were letters sent to the owner, Dear Ardent.... It was like I expected, I was using the inventory of myself from this world, though what happened to him, I could only guess.

Ria swung her legs off her chair as she sat at the table, using the supplied plastic utensils to dig out the contents of her pouched ration.

"Is it nice?" I asked her as I opened my own.

"It's okay," Ria replied. "Uncle's food is much better." She paused at the thought, her legs slowing to a halt, "Daddy, I don't like it here."

"Neither do I Ria," I echoed the same feelings. That fight against Callus was about the closest I had come to death. Even now I could feel the existential dread of the Void creeping inside me.