Close, yet so far

It felt like a long drive to Blair, but once she arrived. Well, she was not happy with what she found. Where once the impressive mansion of Zane's estate had stood, now only housed the wreckage of his home, but what surprised Blair the most was what she felt, nothing, nothing, but an emptiness. Was this the effect of Gamer's Mind? Would one of her abilities rob her of the solace of being able to grieve? She got out of her car and looked around.

After several minutes of looking around carefully, she noticed something odd. If this place had been destroyed, where were the bodies? Even if Nora, Zane's, and most of the others were completely destroyed. Surely, Ellinor and Henry would have been in this wreckage, and possibly Skyler and Sakura as well. Something was clearly off, but she didn't have enough experience in the Abyss to know what it was. Hmm, even if she couldn't see them, perhaps calling Ellinor would help.

A quick dial of her phone brought up Ellinor's familiar voice, though an explosion immediately disrupted her first words. "Mis~?" A boom, pop, and rattling sound, filled her receiver, taking several seconds before clearing up. "Mistress Blair? Are you all right?" Ellinor asked, clearly more concerned for Blair than herself. Blair smiled weakly before replying. "I'm okay, just missing you and the others. I, I am at the mansion area, but all I see is wreckage." There was a pause, Blair could hear voices in the background before Ellinor's voice became clear once again. "As a precaution Skyler had Sakura set up an illusion of a wrecked mansion. I assure you, it is still standing. Just follow Sakura, and she will lead you to us." No sooner had Ellinor finished her sentence than Blair felt something nuzzling against her left ankle. She looked down and saw Sakura was the culprit. "Ah, okay. See you soon then." She reached down to pet Sakura as she hung up her phone. "Okay, Sakura. After you." Sakura began to lead Blair towards the wrecked mansion's windowsill just to the left of the main entrance. It had the most jagged edges, and looked rather unsafe. Blair looked to Sakura, who simply lept up to it, vanishing before Blair's eyes. "Well, I'll be." She said with a chuckle, taking a moment to climb in after Sakura. As soon as she did, the rest of the illusion before her faded. The damaged areas before her shifted to the clean and well taken care of mansion she knew of before, but honestly this was a rather odd turn of events. It would seem she still had much to learn about the Abyss. A notification popped up.

You have entered Zane's Mansion.

No entry or exiting restrictions.

As she read that an explosion popped right next to Blair, catching her off guard. Her right hand lost its grip, causing her to lose her balance and spun slightly in her descent towards the floor, landing on her side. "Oww..." She groaned, but when she got up she saw a slightly worried Ellinor. Ellinor helped Blair up and hugged her tightly. "Mmm, mistress. I missed you so much. ♥" She whispered into Blair's ear before kissing her lips gently. Blair smiled within that kiss, deepening it for just a moment before breaking it gently. "Mmm, I missed you too, my sweet Ellinor."

Blair held Ellinor gently for a moment. She sighed softly before beginning to explain what she had learned about these explosions from Isidora.

Ellinor listened and closed her eyes, nuzzling gently to Blair before saying. "I thought that such a thing was just a tale to scare children. Given what you have told me and what I have witnessed. That would make sense." A few more explosions rang from different points in the building before going silent once again while Blair's quest turned itself in and brought up a new one. "Sadly, we cannot close Zane's barrier without him. None of us are strong enough. If only someone could find the corners of the other illusion barrier for me, then I could stabilize it."

Quest complete: Finding the lost, part 2 of 5

Reward: More information and 15 xp.

Finding the lost, part 3 of 5

- Help Ellinor stabilize the illusion barrier.

Reward: 1 level in Phase Shift and 300 xp

Optional: Do so in less than 1 hour.

Reward: 1,000 xp and 1 level in Arcane Twin.

Accept or Decline?

She quickly accepted, but blinked seeing the optional section of her new quest. 'Hmm, what does my Arcane Twin have to do with any of this?', she thought. After a moment of thinking about it, it hit her, if she summoned her Arcane Twin before phasing out, she can have her twin stay and point out the illusion barrier points to Ellinor, genius! A new exclamation flashed that she allowed to pop up.

Achievement Unlocked!

Took a hint!

Clever girl!

Reward: 1 Intellect and 1 Wisdom.

She ignored the sarcastic remark of that achievement and said. "I can locate the corners of the illusion barrier with a new skill I have learned. You'll need to watch my Arcane Twin when I do so. I will not be in phase with reality while I am able to see the illusion barrier's perimeter. Do you need anything before we begin?" Ellinor looked slightly confused before nodding, saying. "I will just need a few minutes to get the supplies I need together. It won't take lo.." Another loud explosion scared Sakura this time, sending her bolting for the door. Blair nodded and Ellinor didn't waste another second and walked out of the room to get what she needed. This would work, right?

Name: Blair Mitchell

Title: The Gamer

Lvl: 12 XP 1,249/2,400

Hp: 312/312

Hp regen: 3.84 per min

Mp: 266/266

Mp regen: 3.4 per min

Money: $6,342,715.77

Bust size: D cup

Inventory slots 8/20 (Lusserina's Soaked Red Silk Panties, Ring of Fingering, Emiko's Leggings, Hearthstone, Firebrand of Nature, Demon Leather Boots, and White Dragonscale Chainmail Shirt)

Unspent skill points: 0

Str: 35 + (5) End: 31 + (5)

Int: 32 + (0) Wis: 37 + (0)

Agi: 35 + (5) Cha: 35 + (0)

Lib: 20 + (18)