Chapter Text
Space. All there was was space. It filled every horizon, stretching in all directions in its infinity. Above was space. Below was space. The same dark view could be seen wherever one turned. Only two things shattered the stellar seamlessness. Two objects shone in the blackness of the void.
The first was a glowing blue sphere. Far away, it seemed just a pinprick in the vast expanse of space, but its radiance was, while soft, persistent, and it would be easy to believe that its light could be seen for huge distances. It was called Skaia, and it was the center of what would be a solar system if there was a sun. Deep beneath its sky-blue atmosphere was a place called the Battlefield, a checkered planet that changed and evolved as certain things were accomplished. Or was intended to, anyways. Unfortunately, things had gone wrong in this particular instance. The catalysts that were meant to trigger its shifts had never arrived. So, it sat at the heart of Skaia in its unaltered state, waiting for a change that would never come.
The second was two pinpricks silhouetted against Skaia’s glowing orb. As they grew bigger, it became apparent that the dots were in actuality two figures. Both looked to be fairly young, perhaps fifteen or sixteen. One of them was a girl, the other male. And as they both flew through the empty space surrounding Skaia and everything else, it became apparent that one was pursuing the other.
The girl was the one doing the chasing. She had long black hair that, at the moment, was looking horridly unkempt. It flowed down her back along with a double-tailed hood, which was attached to a long-sleeved black shirt and skirt combination. Striped stockings and sparkly red shoes completed the outfit. However, something was strange about the girl. In the midst of her hair, there were two ears- dog ears, right on the top of her head. And where skin was revealed, on her face and neck and hands, there was not to be found any sort of normal hue. Instead of peach or brown or tanned or any other mundane color, her skin was a dark grey. Her name was Jade Harley, and she had orders to kill.
The boy, the pursued, was somewhat similar in appearance. His clothing, a short-sleeved shirt and long pants, was also black. His shoes were also red. The front of his chest bore the same symbol as hers- a six-armed white swirl pattern. But where she had a double-tailed hood, his was a long, long lyrapipe that extended a good two feet beyond him when he was at rest. Which he was not. His name was Finn Rogers, and he was running from the girl who wanted his life. The girl…. who used to be my friend.
Their meeting had taken place many years ago. Over the Internet, naturally, as she lived on some island in the Pacific, and he… well, he was in Adak, Alaska. The smallest, coldest, most secluded pocket of humanity this side of the Antarctic research station. Anyways, after they’d bumped into each other a few times on some forums or other, she’d offered to exchange Pesterchums. Doing so, they’d begun to converse, haltingly at first, but soon just about every day. It turned out she had a lot in common with him. Their temperaments were much the same- optimistic by default, not quick to anger, and generally enthusiastic about most everything. They shared a lot of interests as well. And the strangest thing was, they shared a common dream- of a golden planet, with blue sky above, and clouds that showed pictures.
The more Finn talked with her, the more he enjoyed doing so. She was quirky, vivacious, and really fun to talk to. On days when things weren’t their best, she was always prepared with a silly little anecdote or something that would bring a smile to his face no matter what. As time went on, he began to consider her one of his closest friends.
Then had come the game. One day, he, courtesy of his supergenius friend Brom’s rummage through some corporate servers, had gained a copy of a video game titled Sburb. But it was more than a game- as evidenced by the meteor that had appeared in the horizon on a collision course just after he booted the game up. A meteor which had spontaneously vanished, along with the entirety of the rest of Adak, just before impact, leaving him and his house in an unfamiliar landscape. Disoriented and unsure what was happening, he tried talking to Jade… and found out that she was just about in the same position.
As it turned out, they’d both managed to obtain Sburb. And she recounted a similar experience to his- with the meteor and the house and everything. Apparently it was something the game just did. She mentioned that these new places were personalized planets known as Lands- hers, for example, was the Land of Frost and Frogs. After reading that, Finn had searched his own memories to find that, somehow, he knew the title of his as well- Land of Lakes and Frogs.
And true enough, when he’d looked out his window, that had been what he saw. Lakes and frogs. He could hear the cacophony of croaks already. There were immense numbers of the amphibians, and they frolicked about in the myriad lakes- he would guess that the terrain was easily 60% water. Which was not the best plan- he couldn’t swim a lick, never had been able to, so if he fell in he was certain to drown. Sure, game. Hahaha, very funny. Give the aquaphobe freaking ribbity Atlantis for a land. Good Goddesses, this is going to be a pain.
Unbeknownst to him, at the other window, a small black monster was attempting to break in. It shattered the glass, but Finn was totally oblivious- until a large chunk of wall tore itself out, flew over, and creamed the imp. Finn turned, startled, looked at the wall, then the puddle of black underneath the chunk, then at his computer. He went over and sent a quick thank you to Anna, his friend and server player.
Distracted by this, he’d gone out to examine his land more fully. The next time he talked to Jade, it was a lot further down the line. They’d both learned some important things: First, they were both Space players, she a Witch, he an Heir. This was why they both had the frogs- they were meant to use them in creating… something- neither of them knew what yet. Second, they’d learned about Prospit and Derse, about dreamselves and why they had shared the common dream (both, obviously, were Prospit dreamers), about the Battlefield, and about the Gates- namely, the goals of the game. There was still a lot that confused both of them, though, so they decided to diverge- her focusing mostly on the frog collection, and he on the Gates and enemies and vaguely mentioned Black King and Queen.
The Black King and Black Queen turned out to be the final bosses of the game. Beat them, and you basically won. The gates were for getting the players there as soon as possible, because there was a time limit in the form of a whole lot of meteors. Gathering these and some other information, he logged on to find out what she had to tell him- and couldn’t reach her.
He’d tried everything. She was the one who was always talking about having at least five computers with her at any time- surely not all of them could be malfunctioning. So… something must have happened to her. It worried him, but he just had to hope for the best, and move on with his own dealings.
Which included, by some miracle, ascending.
When he’d first learned about the so-called "God Tier", he immediately knew what he was supposed to do. The lake nearest his house had a large tall island in its center, and atop it sat a structure that could only be his Bed. Unfortunately… there was a lake inbetween it and him. At first, he swore to himself that that was most certainly not happening. But, as the game progressed, the notion began to develop and develop, until, gritting his teeth, he’d decided that the reward matched the risk. So he’d struck out for the island.
He shuddered at the recollection, punctuating it with another glance over his shoulder. How about we not go into the memory of trying to cross that lake, he thought to himself. How big and scary and watery it was. Also, let’s not remember how the island turned out to be illusion, and I just got suckered into a cheap death. Long story short, I drowned, no need to go into detail. The important thing… is what happened afterward.
And what happened afterwards was….. the lake shot into the air. All of it. As if some sumo wrestler the size of a mountain had done an uber-cannonball directly into its center. The landscape for five hundred yards in all directions was utterly drenched. And in the dry lakebed, at the very deepest point… there sat a stone slab. Pillars at each corner. In color, a glossy black. And just above it…. an Heir, ascended.
From that point on, the game was a joke. Flight meant the lakes were irrelevant. His health and other stats rocketed up, and most enemies just crumbled before him. He watched and cheered as first one, then two, then three, of his four friends ascended to God Tier as well, each in some spectacular fashion. Brom faced down his fear of death and died by his own hand on his Bed to become a fully-realized Thief of Mind. Anna barely defeated her Denizen, but was then locked inside its lair as fire sprang up to consume the dwellingplace; in a happenstance just as fortuitous as Finn’s, deep beneath the layer of ash that constituted the floor was the bed preordained for the Witch of Heart. And his third friend, Nick, tried to take on a monster too tough for him, but was carried to his not-so-final resting place by, of all things, his dog Bone. He awoke as Prince of Time.
However… there was the matter of his fourth friend. Kale. Kale had not managed to reach his own godhood- a Rogue of Blood. And this was because, for whatever reason… the game had screwed up. Finn and Brom had dreamselves on Prospit. Anna and Nick dreamt Derse. But Kale… had no dreamself to begin with. And while this didn't necessarily mean he couldn't ascend… it meant things were against him doing so from the beginning. But who knows? Maybe he would have done so… if all this hadn't happened.