Never-Forgotten Realms

“Okay, so we take the third sigil out, swap it with the second, then fire it again!”

“I think that’s right. There were only two possibilities, if we read its magical signature right. But can we even get close to its anchor point again?”

Layla and John sat hunched over what could’ve well been a fairly standard tabletop scene, if it weren’t for the seemingly living pieces. Their party, consisting of John’s mageblade Viktor, Layla’s bard Rebecca, two beefy mercenaries they had hired, and a female thief who had talked her way into the party in order to have her sentence commuted by the queen of the realm, were currently embroiled in battle against a massive magma demon summoned by its loyal cultists. It was nearly four times the height of their characters, and exceedingly pissed off. Probably because they had just tried to use a piece of magitech the queen had bestowed on them to banish it, and they had messed up the calibration the first time.

“If we work on distracting it, we might be able to get close to that sigil that bound it here again. As long as at least one of us can get within a few feet, we can throw the magitech disruptor to them. Then all they have to do is activate it. Piece of cake… right?” John looked to Layla for reassurance and was relieved to see her nod slightly.

“I can try to distract him. Let me create an illusion with my music, maybe we can confuse him if we increase our numbers enough.”

Layla’s bard hefted her lute and began to play a discordant melody, a sound so strangely contradictory it was as if played by two different musicians – and as that strange, lilting music played, an identical form of her character appeared. A moment later, the rest of the party had matching copies. The massive magma demon raised its rocky fist, uncertain where to strike as the now ten targets all darted in different directions, circling the massive beast. There was a subtle blue glow to the duplicates, though by the way the demon was frantically looking around, it clearly was just for their benefit.

The ten of them feinted and dashed around the creature, trying to find an opening in its wide reach to make it over to the engraved sigil. Numbers began to appear at random, flashing blue for success and red for failure in rapid bursts, as they all tried to get closer to the sigil carved on the massive obsidian stone near the back of the room. The large slab of obsidian seemed to be enchanted against heat due to the creature’s sigil, and it was currently sinking into a massive pool of lava – which would make it nearly impossible to ever retrieve if they didn’t stop the creature now.

“Alright, I’ll circle around to the left and bait it out so that one of you can make it in. Have my duplicate do the same thing but from the other side!”

John’s words took immediate effect, and Viktor started to curve toward the end of the room closest to John’s side of the table, while his illusion mirrored the motion. The unholy lava creature swept both of its arms out, trying to catch both of them at once – Viktor’s duplicate was clutched in a fiery claw and vanished in a puff of mana, while the real one narrowly ducked under the beast’s wrists. With the duplicate now gone, the arrows and daggers pelted into it by the mercenaries hardly seemed to phase it as it focused all its attention on Viktor as the closest threat.

“I’ll try to throw it off balance!” Layla said, almost sounding genuinely worried.

The tune of the lute changed. The duplicates remained, though they did waver a bit – and a green swirl appeared over the magma demon’s head, swirling and rotating nearly as quickly as the demon’s head suddenly began to. It drunkenly swiped at Viktor, barely failing to catch him thanks to Layla’s intervention, but successfully destroying a part of the wall and knocking enough large boulders down to block the edge of the room. Viktor turned back as his path would now cross almost directly beside the creature if he continued, and he couldn’t scale the rocks due to the magma now pouring over them.

But at the other end of the room, the young thief girl Rika had spotted her opportunity and was in the process of taking it – she was nearly to the obsidian slab, but with Viktor in full retreat, the demon began to scan the room once more, quickly turning its gaze on the young girl. A red seven flashed above Rika’s head as she froze in place, knees quivering slightly as the demon raised up a massive fist to crush her.

“Throw the sword, freeze its arm and pin it!” John shouted, sounding more like a demanding commander than someone controlling a character in a game. Still, Viktor responded quickly - and with a cool twenty-four popping up in blue, accurately too. His sword glistened with a blue light as Viktor tossed it at the creature’s moving arm, somehow managing to strike it almost perfectly – just off center of its wrist, piercing through the flowing magma of the demon’s arm. The second the sword pierced through its outer layer, the blue hue manifested as a massive icicle, nearly as long and thick as the demon’s arm itself, penetrating all the way through, out the other side of its wrist, and then embedding itself deep in the cavern’s roof.

Due to the heat the ice almost immediately began to crack and seethe from the water evaporating, but it bought Rika the precious few seconds she needed to close the distance. Layla played a power chord on her lute and a green wave of energy engulfed the party. In a flurry of movement so fast John would’ve missed most of it if he were still mundane, one of the mercenaries tossed a grenade that erupted in a quickly-solidifying goo mass that trapped the demon’s remaining arm as it tried desperately to grasp at the thief. Then the second mercenary tossed the glistening box etched with yellow runes through the air, heaving the device all the way over to Rika, who caught it flawlessly.

Rika dexterously flicked the third rune token out of its slot, slid the second over, and then re-embedded the third where the second had been. The yellow runes switched to a dark orange hue, Rika slammed the box against the obsidian stone that was now nearly halfway into the lava, and a brilliant white light flashed that covered the entire table, washing away the action below.

When the light receded, it revealed their characters not only alive and unharmed, but in a completely different location – the throne room, kneeling before the queen of the lands herself in her throne room. A vast crowd of onlookers surrounded their party, and servants hurriedly dashed to and fro, slipping in and out of privacy curtains at the rear of the room.

“You have done well, champions! With the cult of Nack’thamor dead by their own hands, and with the demon himself once more banished to his own realm, our kingdom can prosper and grow once more. Allow me to bestow upon each of you a gift worthy of your efforts.”

The queen descended from her throne and stood in front of Rebecca while a servant emerged from behind a nearby curtain, proudly displaying what seemed to be a solid gold lute on a massive pillow. The queen gestured toward Rebecca and the servant knelt, proffering the instrument as reverently as if it were a gift from Gaia herself.

“For you, most wondrous bard, a tool I hope is worthy of your craft. This lute was enchanted by the finest spellcasters in my kingdom against wear, tear, age, and damage – it should not even need tuning but once a year. May it serve you as faithfully as you have served our kingdom, honored champion.”

Rebecca graciously took the instrument, delicately handling it as the queen strode over to Viktor. Another servant emerged from the same place as the first, this one with a sword. The handle was inlaid with gold, and a large ruby stone was socketed into the pommel. The construction of the scabbard itself was of similar fashion to the lute, seemingly a solid gold.

“And for you, great magus, a weapon worthy of its wielder. This blade should be nearly impossible to break, save by the mightiest of foes, and it can amplify the power of any spells that are channeled through it. May it bring you victory against your foes, even should you face a greater threat than that you have saved us from on this day.”

Viktor took the gilded scabbard, drew the blade just far enough to see that the sword itself was gold as well, then bowed graciously and clutched it to his chest. The queen proceeded to present both of the mercenaries with lavish riches for their service, and even gave the young Rika a beautiful golden necklace as well as officially pardoning her for all of her roguish crimes.

When she was finished, the queen strode back to her throne and turned to face them once again. The miniature figures were a bit small, but John thought he could see a rather awkward smile cross the queen’s face as she did so.

“Further, though I must admit this is somewhat unconventional… as you know, the attack of the Inferni cult disrupted my daughter’s birthday ceremony. Traditionally, our heirs choose their spouse on their twentieth birthday, both as a celebration of their age and to acquaint the kingdom with their future ruling couple as early as possible. Isabella was denied the chance to pick on her birthday proper, but she must choose all the same. We are planning a celebration of your victory and the future of our kingdom, of course, and I had asked her if she would like to include a small ceremony during the festival. It would seem that my daughter had some… other ideas in mind.”

A young woman with jet-black hair stood up and strode from her seat beside her mother’s throne, standing beside the queen. Her skin was a creamy tan, though the coal black of her hair made it seem paler. She brushed a raven lock away from her face, smiling up shyly at Viktor and Rebecca.

“Heroes of the realm, the two of you came before us with no obligation to aid us in our time of need, yet you rose to the call all the same. You gathered these allies together and saved my people from a great and terrible foe. It would be my honor, if either of you found it… erm… acceptable… that I would wed either of you. I am not, well… not particular, and you are both such brave and noble heroes. I would be overjoyed to accept either of you as my partner, and to take the throne one day with you at my side would make me certain that the future of our kingdom is secure!”

The action paused, every character freezing in place and a countdown timer beginning overhead, displayed as a large clock slowly winding backwards.

“Wait, the princess wants to marry us? And she doesn’t even care which one? What about the mercenaries, or the thief girl?” John mused, tapping a small square on the table in front of him to call up a notepad. He scanned over his brief musings from the start of their quest, eyeing the details he’d thought important at the time. “Did she even have any lines earlier? Aside from her party getting interrupted, I don’t think we interacted with her at all.”

“I think it’s probably a pre-programmed ending. The magic in these games can allow the story and characters to react pretty dynamically, but a lot of times the people who made them really like certain ideas. She probably always offers this at the end unless we really throw the story off – that’s probably why she’s only offering it to the player characters, too,” Layla noted.

“I dunno, she seems earnest. Well, I think Viktor actually has a betrothed, if I’m remembering his backstory right… yeah, I jotted that part down, an enchantress he met during his study under an archmage. Maybe you should be the one?”

“I would… prefer not to marry the princess,” Layla mumbled.

“Not into girls?” John asked teasingly, but his wry smirk was met with a nervous shrug from Layla.

“It’s not that. I don’t think Rebecca is going to be happy settling down in a castle instead of traveling the world and finding new music to play. I’m going to say no. Maybe we should both turn her down?”

Time resumed on the scene for just a moment, and though no words were spoken, Rebecca lowered her head where she knelt in a soft bow to Isabella, whose smile fell only a little. Isabella’s eyes turned toward Viktor, time froze once more, and the clock resumed ticking down.

“Well…”

John looked up and noted that the time was running out on their decision, leaving them just a few more seconds to think.

“Uh… fuck it, it’s the end of the story anyway, go for broke,” John said, eyes shifting down to Viktor’s model. “Tell her that you already have someone you’re betrothed to, but it would be the greatest of privileges to accept her hand in marriage, if she’s willing to let Viktor stay with the one he loves too.”

Time slowly resumed, and numbers flashed above Viktor’s head. When they finally stopped, a golden 32 proudly glistened above his head. Viktor repeated John’s words almost verbatim, with a few verbal flourishes and no longer referring to himself in the third person. There were murmurs and gasps from the audience, and a look of shock on both the queen’s face and her daughter’s, but eventually, Isabella stepped forward and nervously placed her hands on Viktor’s shoulders.

“It is… a rather unconventional union that you propose, but things have hardly been traditional around these parts the last few weeks. I can accept this unusual bond, hero, if your betrothed can accept it as well.”

The crowd began to cheer, fanfare played out, and soon the characters and the scene below faded away beneath the musical theme rising around them. Darkness overtook the throne room and left only the rolling credits in its place.

John glanced over to Layla and saw an expression on her face that was difficult to read. The only part of it that seemed clear was the look of disbelief he had grown so accustomed to seeing from others.

“You really do have a talent for that sort of thing, don’t you? Even in games,” Layla mused. “I thought I was supposed to be the bard?”

“Well, like I said, end of the game, right? Might as well go for broke,” John said, shrugging innocently. “I dunno, they didn’t give us a ton of info on the characters, so I thought maybe it would be flexible enough to work.”

“Well, the story was set to end there, so we don’t get to see what Viktor’s fiancée thinks,” Layla said. “What would you do if she doesn’t want you to marry the princess?”

“Try to roll really well again?” John said, chuckling.

“No… I meant if it was you. You’re the only person I know with so many romantic partners, so I’m curious. What would you do in that situation?”

“I mean, I already ask them not to go for any other guys, so if there was someone they really didn’t get along with for some reason and wanted me to not be with them, I’d listen. I mean, it’s only fair – plus most of the people I care about are pretty good judges of character. Them really disliking someone would kinda be a big red flag on its own,” John explained.

“Well, what if one of the people you’re with wanted you to break up with another member of your little harem?” Layla asked. John blinked a few times, caught off guard, and before he could muster a response, Layla giggled nervously and waved her hand in the air. “Sorry, this isn’t a game we’re talking about, I shouldn’t just come up with hypotheticals like that and make you uncomfortable.”

“No, it’s… I mean, we’re supposed to be getting to know each other. It’s a date, right?” John asked, nodding as if that made sense – and as if discussing one’s harem was a normal date topic of conversation.

“It’s just a hard thing to answer. I mean, I guess it would depend on why? If someone started a fight or had a falling out with the others and wanted me to stop seeing them, I’d probably have to break up with them, if it couldn’t be fixed. I mean, it wouldn’t be fair to me or any of the other girls to lose all those bonds and relationships for the sake of one. If everyone wanted to break up, and made me pick one? That would be…”

John trailed off, eyes widening at the thought of having to pick any one of the girls that he had fallen for, or was even in the process of falling for. Where would he even start? Mithra was the mother of his children, but he couldn’t separate her from her twin sister. Sophia was so loyal that John couldn’t imagine what she would do if she lost him – but maybe she would be fine if he was still around in a platonic fashion? Or perhaps not.

“That one would take me a long time to think about. I don’t even know what it would come down to, honestly. Should it be who I care about the most and makes me happiest, who I make the happiest, who needs me the most, who would be the saddest… I dunno, what would you do with your partners?”

“Wh- me? With a… harem?” Layla murmured, blushing slightly.

“Yeah, you know. If you were dating me and ten other people, and we all wanted you to pick one and break up with the rest, how would you decide?”

“W-well, it’s hard to say. I’m not with anyone else, obviously, so it’s easy to pick you. You’re real, and your aura feels like we were made for each other,” Layla admitted. “Besides, haven’t I already chosen you, since we’re in a relationship? Isn’t that giving up others, in a sense?”

“I mean, kind of, depending on who you’re talking about. I get a little jealous when it comes to other guys, but I wouldn’t stop you or even get upset if you wanted to date another woman.”

“Wait, you… wouldn’t?” Layla asked, eyes widening.

“Well, why would I?” John asked, surprised that Layla was so taken aback at the statement. “I mean, it’s only fair, right? A lot of my partners are already interested in each other, or at least like to flirt and be intimate with each other. As I already said, I get a bit jealous when it comes to other men, but I don’t really see you dating another woman as any different than hooking up with, say, Sophia.”

“I hadn’t… considered that,” Layla whispered, looking genuinely shocked. She fell silent, leaving John uncertain what to say. His eyes wandered around for a few moments, long enough to flick his inventory open and eye his phone.

“Holy crap, it’s almost ten?” John asked, instinctively shifting to stand. “Damn! This place was so much fun I completely lost track of time. I’ve had a wonderful time tonight, Layla, thank you so much for showing me this place.”

“Oh, of course! I’m glad you liked it. I thought you would, but I was still worried,” Layla admitted shyly. “Would you… like to do this again sometime? There are some other places we could go, clubs and Abyssal escape rooms for starters, but I’d have to find out how many are still open.”

“We should definitely do this again. I'm kind of busy with everything going on, but I can message you in three days or so and we can set up another date. I should be back in Springfield then. But we don’t have to do anything crazy. As much fun as I had with the games, let’s do something quieter next time where we can focus on each other a bit more.”

“We could do something more traditional. Why not a proper dinner date?” Layla proposed.

“That would be amazing. I’ll message you in a day or two, once I know when I’ll be back in town. I’ll get your address then too. If we’re going traditional, one of us should pick the other one up, and, uh… I don’t really have an address you can drive to,” John said sheepishly.

“If you want, you could walk me home and learn where it is yourself,” Layla said, smiling as she stood up as well, offering her hand to John. “It’s not far from here, and it will give us something ‘quieter’ now, instead of having to wait three days. And if you want, I know the perfect place to stop by on the way to pick up some mana converters for your little private world.”

“That sounds lovely, actually. Lead the way,” John said, snaking his arm around Layla’s and tenderly locking their fingers together as they left the game room together. Layla smiled appreciatively at him the whole way out, looking tired but quietly happy.