3013: AFTERLIFE: A 3013 Novella

Chapter 4

The following day dawned bright and clear, although Tira had little time to enjoy the warm, blue rays before being ushered to one of the outer islands to begin beta testing.

She had slept fitfully during the night in her unfamiliar surroundings. As she’d tossed and turned in a bed that was too soft, her mind had been filled with questions that had no answers. Almost all of them centering around a certain Krytos male who had turned her entire world upside down with nothing more than a smile.

When they had returned to her little bungalow the previous evening, Vadis had helped her clear away the remnants of their meal. Then, he had taken his leave without her having to suggest it. Standing at the door of her quarters, she had expected him to try to kiss her, and honestly, she had been a little disappointed that he hadn’t.

It was her own fault, of course. She had been the one to set the boundaries between them, and she couldn’t be upset at Vadis for respecting them. The problem, however, was that although she knew how to make rules, she wasn’t that great at changing them in the middle of the game.

In essence, she had no idea how to make the first move and get close to him.

“Are you ready, daka?”

When Vadis had arrived to pick her up that morning, the first thing she had noticed was that he had thankfully reverted to his normal size and appearance. Well, except for his eyes. She didn’t know what color his irises had been before, but they now shined a deep, blood red and were outlined by a ring of deepest black.

Other members of the Evo team had commented that they were “freaky,” the moment they’d seen him, but Tira disagreed. They suited her male, and she found them darkly beautiful, almost mesmerizing.

“I am ready.”

He led her to a long, padded lev-chair shaped like a gentle wave and waited for her to get comfortable.

“Just try to relax.”

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and made a conscious effort to do as he asked, but it was difficult. She didn’t like heading unprepared into the unknown. Even if none of it was real.

“There’s nothing to worry about,” Vadis assured her. “I’ll be right there beside you the whole time.”

Her eyes flew open, and she levered herself into a semi-sitting position. “You’re coming with me?”

As she’d understood it, she would be entering the game alone, while Vadis and other techs monitored her from the real world.

Her mate chuckled. “Of course.” He placed a hand on her shoulder and eased her back onto the reclined chair. “Are you comfortable?”

She nodded. Stopped. Nodded again.

“What is it? Is something wrong?”

“It’s a little cold in here,” she answered quietly, uncomfortable with the complaint. On Xenthian, she had endured much harsher temperatures and environments.

“Hold on.” Vadis rounded the chair and hurried over to a lighted cabinet on the other side of the room. When he returned, he draped a thin blanket the exact color of her eyes over her from shoulder to toes. “Better?”

The material was incredibly soft, and despite its lightness, perfectly warm. “Yes. Much.” Taking his hand, she gave it a gentle squeeze and smiled. “Thank you.”

He returned her smile and brushed the back of his hand down her cheek. “Now, we’re going to be testing one of the VR games. Do you know what that means?”

“Nothing is real. It’s all in my head.”

“Close enough.” He chuckled as he attached some kind of monitoring device to her index finger. “It will feel real, though. Your body won’t be physically injured, but you will feel pain or other kinds of discomfort while you’re in the game.”

“I understand.”

Once he had attached a few more wires and nodes, including a glowing disk to the middle of her forehead, he sat beside her in the other chair while a female tech wired him in as well. “We may enter at different locations in the game, but I’ll find you quickly.”

“Okay.”

“Any questions?”

She couldn’t think of any. “No. I’m ready now.”

“All right, Captain. I’ll see you in hell.”

“Wait! What?”

Her eyes flew open, but it was too late. The room with its bright, flashing lights and rhythmic hums dissolved around her, replaced by a dark, desolate hellscape. Jagged crags jutted up in the distance, silhouetted against what she could only describe as a hollow moon. Sort of like an eclipse with a bluish glow surrounding only the outer rim, leaving the center completely devoid of light.

That was the first thing she noticed. The second was how absurdly she was dressed. Her actual clothes had been replaced by flimsy strips of fabric that barely covered her breasts or nether regions. Metal bands with jewel inlays wrapped around her arms and legs, though they appeared more for decoration than any kind of actual protection.

She had also been given a heavy cloak with a wide, oversized hood, but it did little to appease her. On the bright side, she found a sword strapped to her waist, and upon inspection, discovered it was a suitable and well-crafted weapon.

But none of it was real, and worrying about her attire was a waste of both time and energy. Instead, she decided to familiarize herself with her surroundings while she waited for Vadis.

A circle of glittering purple appeared beneath her boots on the black sands, glowing then disappearing with every step. Curious, she bent to scoop up a handful, but the grains melted into a gel-like substance that slipped through her fingers, then reformed when it hit the ground again.

“So strange,” she muttered to herself.

The earth shifted beneath her as she made her way down to the banks of a river that appeared to stretch on forever. Crouching near the edge, she dipped two fingers into the still, inky waters, but immediately jerked her hand back when electricity zinged across her skin. Like the sand, a luminescent ripple spread across the surface, shining brightly before fading back into darkness.

“Where in all the worlds am I?”

“The Underworld,” Vadis answered as he approached from farther down the shoreline. “A place from ancient Earth mythology where souls go after death.”

“The Underworld,” she repeated, turning the word over in her head. “Like the afterlife?”

Vadis beamed. “Exactly.”

She would have been more interested in the information if she hadn’t been distracted by what he was wearing. The golden cuffs on his thighs and shoulders appeared to offer no more protection than her adornments, but that was where the similarities ended.

Black leather pants stretched across his massive thighs, and an ash-gray tunic with gold filigree molded to his broad chest. His long ebony hair had been pulled back from his face in three, intricate braids, each embellished with small gold rings. He had not one, but two swords strapped to a harness on his back, as well as twin daggers at his waist.

“What is that?”

Vadis glanced down his body, then back to her. “What do you mean?”

“Why are you dressed like that? And I’m—” She waved a hand to indicate the scraps of fabric that barely covered her. “—wearing this.”

“And you wear it so well,” he responded with a seductive purr.

“Vadis Kesski!”

“Okay, okay.” He chuckled as he held his hands up in supplication. “I’m sorry, daka.” Linking his hands together behind him, he tilted his head back slightly and spoke with more volume. “Evo?”

“How may I assist you, Tech Kesski?” asked a feminine voice that seemed to emanate from all around them.

“Who is that?” Tira drew her sword from its sheath and pulled her arm back, taking up a defensive position. “Show yourself!”

“Easy, Captain. Evo is the artificial intelligence that runs things around here.”

Tira frowned but relaxed her posture. “I thought the Artanes were in charge here?”

“That’s what they like to think, and I find it is beneficial to allow them.”

Tira arched an eyebrow at her mate.

“Ignore her. She is learning from the staff here, and I’m afraid to say they’ve corrupted her.” Vadis laughed again. “Especially the bosses’ mate.”

“Diva Elle will be delighted to hear that.”

“Diva?”

Vadis shook his head and sighed. “It’s a long story.” Then under his breath he added, “Fucking menace.” After a couple of deep breaths, he addressed the AI again. “Evo, can we do something about my mate’s attire?”

“Congratulations on your mating, Tech Kesski. I shall make a planetoid-wide announcement.”

“Thank you, but I don’t think that will be necessary.”

“That’s right,” Tira agreed. She felt no shame at being mated to Vadis, but she did hate being the center of attention, even indirectly. “No announcement.”

“Are you sure? The staff and full-time residents of Evo would be—”

“I’m sure. Don’t tell anyone anything.”

“As you wish, Captain Meadowlark.”

“Just Captain. Or Tira.”

“Yes, Captain.”

“So, what about my clothes?”

There was a brief pause before Evo responded. “Escape from Hades is part the legacy game series. All settings are operating within specified parameters.”

Tira tilted her head, a scowl twisting her lips. “Meaning?”

“My database shows this was the preferred costume for female avatars during the time period.”

“I somehow doubt that.” It certainly wasn’t her preference. She also couldn’t believe she was arguing with a fucking disembodied voice. “Are there any other options?”

“One moment, Captain.”

A few seconds later, her upper thighs were covered by a stretchy, silver material barely bigger than the strip of fabric on her groin. Then, a bodice made of flexible leather surrounded her torso, squeezing her breasts so that they nearly popped out of the top.

“Will this suffice, Captain?”

Tira closed her eyes and sighed. She was going to have a serious talk with the game designers before leaving for home.

“It’s fine.”

“I, uh, will make a note about the costume options,” Vadis said. Instead of being annoyed, however, he sounded amused.

“What are we supposed to be doing here?” The sooner she accomplished her goal, the sooner she could get out of there.

“The objective of the game is to rescue Persephone form the heart of the Underworld and return her to her mother.”

That sounded simple enough, but she had questions. “Who is Persephone?”

“The wife of Hades, ruler of the Underworld.”

“A wife is like a mate,” Vadis explained.

Well, that didn’t make any sense. “Why does she need to be rescued from her mate?”

“According to Earth mythology, Hades kidnapped her, brought her to the Underworld, and forced her to become his consort.” A quiet chuckle rumbled from his chest. “I’m sure it sounds absurd to you.”

Actually, it didn’t. She had learned long ago that not all stories that started with “once upon a time” ended in “happily ever after.” Besides, she had wanted to know how to play the game. To that end, the finer details of the story arc didn’t really matter.

“Evo, can you take us to Persephone?”

“I’m afraid that is your assignment, Captain. Not mine. Good luck.”

She had suspected the response, but it had been worth a try.

“So,” she said, turning to her mate. “What do we do now?”

“First, we have to find a way across the river.”

Remembering the zap she had received from merely touching the water, she scowled and shook her head. Even without the risk of electrocution, it was too wide to swim. They would tire long before they reached the other side, and she had no desire to drown in some ancestor-forsaken abyss.

“There should be a ferryman.” Resting his hands on his hips, Vadis moved closer to the edge of the water and peered out into the darkness.

“And he will provide us passage?”

A smirk pulled at one side of his mouth. “For a price.”

“What price?”

The male shrugged.

“Thank you, Vadis Kesski. That is most helpful.”

He laughed right from his belly. “Sarcasm becomes you, Captain.”

Tira ducked her head to hide the stain of her cheeks as tingles raced over her exposed skin. Stars, those eyes would be the death of her. The way he looked at her with such longing and reverence evoked feelings that were both alien and eerily familiar.

In an effort to hide her discomfort, she pulled her shoulders back and marched toward the bank of the river. “Where is this ferryman?”

She meant to walk with poise and confidence, but her boot caught on the end of her stupid, impractical cloak, and she stumbled through the sand before Vadis caught her.

With a powerful arm around her waist, he righted her easily and pulled her protectively against his chest. The warmth of his muscled body enveloped her, igniting a fire in her lower belly she had never experienced before. At least, not to that degree of intensity.

Tiny bumps broke out over her skin, and heat rushed up her neck and into her cheeks, spreading all the way to the tips of her ears. Untangling herself from his arms, she took a step back and coughed to clear her throat.

“Thank you.”

Vadis bowed his head. “Captain.”

Before she could think of something else to say, a small boat emerged from the darkness, gliding silently across the surface of the water. A dark figure stood at the stern with one hand wrapped around a gnarled staff, and a lantern held aloft with the other. Though his face was hidden beneath his hood, Tira felt the skin of her nape prickle as if she was being watched.

When the boat came to a stop, its bow resting in the sand, she turned to her mate with an arched eyebrow.

“Now what?”

“Now, we pay him.”

“With what?” Apart from her sword, she had nothing of value to offer, and she sure as hell wasn’t giving up the only weapon she possessed.

Her answer came from the cloaked figure, his hollow voice echoing around them.

“Waters still, dark, and deep, hiding secrets you cannot keep. The road is long. The way uncertain. Remove the veil. Pull back the curtain. Future and present are what you lack when the only way forward is looking back.”

“A riddle,” Tira mused when the ferryman finished speaking. “The waters are obviously the river, but what secrets?”

“The road is long. The way uncertain,” Vadis repeated. “That part seems pretty straightforward.”

She nodded in agreement. “Pull back the curtain,” she muttered under her breath. “To reveal something.”

“To reveal a secret,” Vadis suggested.

A logical conclusion, but they were still missing something. “What was the last part?”

“Something about lacking the future and present.”

Right. Now she remembered. “And we can only go forward by looking back.” She paced the shore, gnawing on her lower lip as she tried to put the pieces together. “Secrets. Reveal. Something only in the past, not the present or the future. To go forward across the river, we have to look back. Secrets. Past secrets. Revealing past secrets.”

“Memories,” Vadis interjected. “We have to give him a memory.”