Back to Reality: Remix

Brenda stood off to the side as John and everyone readied to leave. To say she felt out of place was an understatement. Finding out there was a hidden world of magic and fantasy creatures and that her son was a part of it, and that it had put him in the crosshairs of dangerous people left her feeling completely unmoored.

She rubbed her ring finger, an old habit that hadn't died out even after she stopped wearing her wedding ring, as she tried to sort through her feelings. First amongst them was worrying over John. No mother wants to see their child hurt and she had to endure seeing him fend off monstrous hounds and a homicidal madman over the span of an hour.

An hour where he had been bit, clawed at, stabbed and thrown around all while she had been rendered motionless either by being restrained or just because of being out of her depth. The fact that John had been able to fight, even ready to do so, had left her with questions she wasn't sure she wanted answered.

'How much fighting has he done?' she couldn't help but wonder. 'He said it was only since Monday, but he didn't look like he was too uncomfortable fighting.'

She glanced over to Vivian, who stood still, her eyes closed in what Brenda assumed was in preparation for whatever she was going to do to keep them from being seen.

‘Was everything they told me a lie?’ she wondered. If it was, the sting of it wasn’t as bad as she would have thought. With the small taste **** upon her, she could understand why John had not told her about this. Her eyes floated over to the winged woman that maintained a vigil over the **** girl.

‘She kissed John when she arrived,’ Brenda recalled, electing to focus on something more normal for now. ‘Was Vivian some smokescreen so I'd assume John was spending time with her, someone I could meet under normal circumstances?'

But why make things seem like John had snuck the redhead in under her nose if the plan was to simply portray her as his girlfriend. A plan that she had only found out about because of a stray strand of hair.

'It's not both of them, is it?' Brenda wondered. She knew John had inherited her high sex drive; his activities were not as covert as he thought they were. And after discovering a world of magic and fantasy right under her nose, John entering an open or polyamorous relationship was something she could more easily understand.

That line of thought caused her to take note of the people that had come to their rescue, in particular their gender, which was somewhat shocking. She knew her son wasn't the social butterfly type, so the number of allies of the fairer sex was surprising.

'I don't think I've seen John with this many ladies outside of school trips,' she thought. 'Then again, I haven't seen him with any group of people, so maybe it's not a big thing.'

Still, she couldn't help but wonder if there was more to things as she watched John approach Vivian and gently place his hand on her shoulder, whispering something to the redhead who flushed slightly and offered John a small smile.

The dark haired girl with the ruined shirt walked over to them, something held in her hand. John easily engaged her in talk as she handed what she held to him, a few pieces of something wooden.

Brenda caught a few emotions flash across her son's face, mainly sadness and gratitude before he pulled the girl into an embrace. That was certainly something the John of last week wouldn't have done.

How much has he changed?' Brenda wondered. 'And how much more would have happened without me noticing if we hadn't been attacked?'

Brenda didn't like the idea of John running into danger, but she liked the notion of him doing so without her to help him less. There was a limit to how far she would go and let him live his life, and if she could only provide a safe haven and a warm meal, then she would take it.

'And if there's more I could do, I'll do it,' she pledged.

"Mom," John called to her, pulling her from her thoughts. "We're ready to go."

"Alright," she said in reply, pulling his coat closer around her as she recalled what was going to happen next. "How's this supposed to go again?"

"I'm going to pull you out with me," John answered in an uncomfortable tone. "Teri was probably right that it's going to feel weird, but since you got pulled in, it shouldn't be too hard to pull you out."

"You make it sound like I've driven into a ditch," Brenda joked, trying to disburse some of her nerves.

John let out a small chuckle of his own but still looked a bit out of sorts. Electing to keep him from dwelling on possible problems with their egress, she asked, "I saw you pick something off the ground? Some kind of clue or something?"

"No, not a clue," John answered. "My powers interact with summoned creatures, even ones I don't create myself. Beating them causes loot to drop."

"Loot? Like the stuff from your games?" Brenda asked.

"Yeah. Stuff like crafting materials, gear and money," John said.

"Wait, money? As in…"

"As in cold hard cash," John answered. "Those vine hounds were worth a couple hundred. Bad news is even relatively mundane stuff in the Abyss is expensive. Bought a pretty basic book on staff making and it ran me a grand."

"So you could hunt monsters for a living?" Brenda asked, the notion of John's path in life being one of constant fighting weighing heavily on her. "Is that something people do?"

"It can be," John answered. "But most people can't whip up monsters to farm. They have to wait for naturally occurring barriers to form."

"Was that what that dark haired girl was giving you?" Brenda asked.

John grinned softly and answered, "Nah. Beth thought I'd like some of the pieces of my sword. There's a bit of a funny story there but we can go over that later in a more comfortable place. No point in putting off getting out."

Brenda nodded and took John's hand when he offered it, finding his embrace firm and warm. Then she felt a slight jolt, the kind one felt in the winter after taking off a coat then touching a door knob, followed by a lurching sensation that seemed to push the air from her lungs.

She felt herself pitch forward, buoyed only by John's hand as the world around blurred. Browns and greens gave way to gray and black as the forest melted away and became the parking lot once more.

John's grip on her hand tightened as she stumbled slightly and he turned in towards her, ready to catch her.

"I'm fine," Brenda gasped out after taking a deep breath. "That was rather unpleasant."

Catching the quick flash of guilt race across John's face, she quickly added, "I know you made it as easy as possible, sweetie. Don't think these shifts in and out are going to agree with me."

"We have good timing," Vivian said, her brow furrowed in concentration."Not a lot of people around. John, Brenda, could you walk towards your car and open the back door for our patient?"

"Right," John said and he let go of Brenda's hand. "Who's coming with us?"

"Me," Teri answered. "Just in case something happens on the way. If she wakes up, she could fly into a panic."

"I'm coming too," Aeolia interjected, looking slightly annoyed to be carrying the blue haired girl.

Brenda saw a conflicted expression cross her son's face before he nodded and said, "Okay. Let's hurry before someone wanders too close."

John, Brenda, Teri and Aeolia moved towards the Newman family vehicle. For a brief moment, Brenda felt something ghost over her skin and goosebumps popped up over her arms. She glanced back and noticed everyone else was gone.

"Where did they-" she began to ask when John let out a cough, interrupting her.

"Vivian’s still got them cloaked," he said.

"Certainly handy," Brenda remarked. "Is that how she got in Thursday night?"

With a light flush across his cheeks, John answered, "No, Aeolia flew her in."

"Ah," Brenda intoned, her idea that John was seeing both of them increasing in likelihood. "I suppose that's something you'd be more comfortable talking about in a less public setting."

"For more than one reason," John muttered, furthering her suspicions.

He opened the door and a subtle distortion of air brushed past Brenda and an unseen body depressed the seat. A second later the seatbelt blurred as it was pulled over the **** girl.

The space next to her depressed a second later and a sharp rapping sound came as an unseen hand tapped the window.

"All set," John said, closing the door, then slipping into the car himself. Brenda saw a quick flash of the three people in her back seat, the blue hair and green skin standing out against the beige upholstery, before they vanished once more.

Shaking off the latest weirdness, Brenda fished out her keys and got in the car, quickly turning it on. After a much longer time than a normal shopping trip, the vehicle pulled out of the space and made for home.

The ride home was quiet, leaving John with his thoughts on everything. The monotonous task of driving seemed to have had the same effect on his mother, though her silence could have been due to the invisible passengers in the back seat. While he couldn’t see them, he could sense them. Aeolia’s presence was one he could detect reflexively, though it hadn’t felt as abrasive as it was, the normally brisk wind a chilling gale. Teri’s was becoming increasingly easier to detect, feeling like a warm ocean, flowing back and forth. Its rhythm was slightly staccato, leading John to think she was somewhat uneasy, though whether that came from worry over the girl or from the awkward situation they found themselves in, he couldn’t tell.

With a more stilled mind, John drew his focus to the unknown woman. Her presence wasn’t too unlike Teri’s, making him think of water. But unlike the flowing tide that represented the goblin’s magic, her's was unnaturally still and John imagined he could see his reflection in the unmoving pool.

He let Arcane Sense deactivate, and turned his thoughts back to the barrier, namely the popups he had left unread. He had ignored them in favor of letting his brain process the fight and to deal with the more tactile aftermath of loot gathering and dealing with the **** girl.

‘Getting them out of the way while everyone’s not talking sounds like the best move,’ John thought, willing the displays to return to his field of view.

New Achievement: Against the Odds
Survived an encounter where you were outnumbered.
Reward: +2 Endurance

New Achievement: Rallying Point
The connections you’ve formed proved to be your lifeline. Better cherish them. And good luck explaining them to your mom.
Reward: +2 Charisma

New Achievement: Mana Weaver
Unleash an attack with three elemental attributes influencing its effects. Nice going, wizard boy.
Reward: Elementalist Book

New Achievement: Defense of the Heart
Kept a loved one from getting harmed. Though she does have a pretty good arm.
Reward: Aegis Amulet

New Achievement: Mano e Mano
Fight and win against a flesh and blood enemy. Knew you had it in you.
Reward: $1500, +2 Strength

Close Encounter of the ‘Oh Shit’ Kind
Survive a meeting with an entity more than four times your level. And yes, you were but an ant to him so best start leveling.
Reward: 1000 Exp

John let them float open as he tried to keep his breathing steady after reading the last one, not wanting to alarm anyone, Brenda especially.

‘That Helmas guy was at least close to level 40? He could have probably dealt with all of us without breaking a sweat,’ John thought with dismay. ‘And he wasn’t even the top dog. There was at least one person above him. How strong were they? And how strong are Bill’s superiors to be messing with stuff connected to people like them?’

Things had grown bigger than he had ever anticipated and John couldn’t think of how they were going to deal with it. Grinding was an option, but to level up that much would take near constant forays into barriers to achieve it in any realistic timeframe.

‘Is that what life will have to be?’ he wondered, idly watching the buildings fly by. ‘Only having time to grind so we can take down these Phantom Reach guys or deal with whatever they’re caught up in with this Crimson Dynasty.’

It sounded like a recipe for disaster, going all in and forgoing everything else. Could their relationships even last through such a strenuous situation or would tensions between them grow to a breaking point? If that happened, then what? Would they just become easy pickings for their enemies, ‘divided they fall’ style?

‘We can’t afford to break apart,’ John reasoned. ‘We can figure out how to move forward after we get time to unwind. Making any decision right now is a bad idea.’

Shelving those thoughts for later, John dismissed the achievement popups and summoned up his character sheet to familiarize himself on his recent updates.

‘I really need to bump Charisma up to double digits,’ John moaned, letting his distaste for the lack of symmetry override the more pressing matters his sheet presented. Reining in his pettiness, John found his eye drifting to his skills, namely the newest addition.

‘That’s the same name as the god Teri tapped me into,’ John thought, subtly moving a finger to tap the skill. ‘I didn’t even get a notification for it.’

‘Just a weaker version of the one I got through my sword,’ John thought, slightly disappointed that it wasn’t something more flashy. ‘Guess I can’t be too upset over getting a permanent buff given the circumstances. Gives me some good burst potential.’

Willing the screen closed, John pulled up Thaumaturgy’s info, recalling that he had unlocked a mod when it leveled up. Finding his memory correct, John called up the particulars of the new Skill Modifier.

Unity: Increases the power of combined magic effects by (Skill Lv. x 5)%. Enables you to more easily combine your magic with others.

‘Explains the better control I had when I mixed the wind spirit with Fiery Pursuit. Wonder if Aeolia’s wind wouldn’t have had as big an effect if this didn’t come into play?’

Electing to not look a gift mod in the mouth, John moved to the last bit of housekeeping he thought he could get to as the surroundings became more and more familiar.

Calling up Hex’s info, he saw the addition of ‘Fire’ to the ‘Effect Mods’ portion and tapped it.

Fire: Reduce the durability or duration of conjured material by (Skill Lv. x 10)%, whichever is applicable.

‘Lines up with what happened,’ John thought, recalling how the vines burned away. ‘Nice to have an option against physically manifested effects.’

John let the screens fade. A part of him wanted to check out the two pieces of loot he received from the achievements, but the turn onto his home street dissuaded him from doing so.

‘Plus, summoning things out of thin air might spook Mom,’ John reasoned. ‘Giving her all the info will probably do that anyway.’

The car pulled into their driveway and a heavy weight settled on John’s shoulder. It was time to come clean and face whatever consequences were to come of it.

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