Forsythe reached the Arena first. He had barely discerned that Amelia had been taken through the portal. He approached it, the long steel of his rapier at hand. He looked at the shimmering gold barrier quizzically and then thrust. “[Intrepid Strike].”

The force of the rebound bent his sword and almost caused it to turn on himself. He frowned, swiping experimentally a few more times. It was a barrier of which he wasn’t familiar with. It would take time to break through it. Yet there had been those five that had walked through it easily and then leapt the distance from the floor into the skybox. They would have to be enormously powerful. Forsythe was at a momentary loss.

Raven appeared moments later and without preamble began attacking the barrier in earnest. The explosions of noise with each strike only increased. Forsythe hadn’t stopped her even though he knew that what she was doing was futile. She only stopped when they heard a laugh. From the other side of the gold curtain, Forsythe and Raven realized they could make out a form.

“I am Demensil. A servant of the Sovereign. Be glad on this day that we have graced your small world. Though your world has emerged as powerful by the standard that has been set, be assured that our world is full of people more powerful than yourselves.” Demensil was close to the curtain now and smiled mockingly. He would have been handsome if he hadn’t been leering. “Without a profound ability you cannot cross. Even if you should have one, you must maintain it for nearly five seconds in order to pass. Failure to do so will cause anything within the barrier to disintegrate, even if you do somehow manage to pass part way through.”

“Why are you doing this?” Forsythe asked calmly. One of the objectives was to gather information.

“One of your world leaders has unlocked a profound ability. It is in order to express our dominion over you. Everyone who unlocks power wishes for more. It is war that will come unless we stomp you from the beginning. You monkeys are only on the first step of the ladder. Your entire world would fit in less than five percent of one of our continents. Your people are…” he shook his head. “...woefully lacking.”

“Say that to my face!” Raven muttered, looking dejected as she smashed into the barrier with her two-handed sword once more.

“I will. If you can cross over.” Demensil laughed.

“Aidan, this will take some doing. I think…” Forsythe trailed off. Aidan was behind him, and the shadow of his cloak fell over his face. He could only see Aidan’s mouth, but it was enough to silence him. Forsythe took a step back.

Raven turned as well, her jaunty smile fading. Both she and Forsythe stood very gravely, suddenly looking lost.

“Amelia?” Aidan called, he raised his face. It was gaunt and terrified. “Amelia can you hear me?”

Forsythe’s sword dropped so the tip hit the ground. He felt all the energy leaving him. He had never heard his friend, his brother, sound so lost.

“Amelia?” He heard Aidan over the group chat, then the Guild channel, then amazingly again in local chat. His voice was broken.

The guild chatter had trailed off. There was silence on the channel. He was not the only one to hear the pain in that voice.

Aidan looked up and his expression emptied. A terrible emptiness as he approached that golden curtain. “You took her.” It was a statement.

“Don’t worry boy. When you submit, we’ll give her back to you.” Demensil laughed. “Or she’ll die. If she dies, she’ll come back in your world. Isn’t that how it works for you? That’s enough, too.”

“Ah.” Aidan reached up and roughly rubbed the back of his eyes with his hand. “Ah. I see. You took Amelia. So all I have to do is come over there, right? To get her back?”

Raven and Forsythe had backed away from him, the look in their eyes tortured.

“It’s not as simple as that,” Demensil smiled. “If you come over I would be obliged to kill you. By now they have already crossed half the continent. An expanse of several thousand kilometers. Past territories with creatures you cannot imagine. Subjugated territories that would stop you. Sights you cannot express in words to those you who have never seen. With your power, wouldn’t it be better just to wait around like a good little kid? I’m 500 years old as of yesterday, and I’ve seen more than you can imagine.”

As if in a dream Aidan walked up to the portal and put his hand on it. His health started to go down almost immediately in very small percentages, the out of combat regeneration fighting the damage almost immediately. His hand blackened and then renewed, blackened and renewed. With his other hand he made a come here motion.

Looking amused, Demensil walked forward. “Something you want to whisper to me? I’m in a good mood. Your uncle will pass it along.” He stepped closer and looked at Aidan through the curtain.

Aidan pulled the hand on the portal away as Demensil came closer. He held it up, palm outward. Fred appeared.

Demensil stared at it quizzically, blinking a few times. “That’s pretty good. You’ll be a real wizard someday. Hahaha-.”

His laughter cut off as Aidan’s free hand reached through and grabbed him by the hair. He roughly dragged him forward. Demensil blinked, surprised when no resistance was met at the portal. He planted his feet and stopped moving, head and neck struggling with the surprisingly strong Aidan. Moments later his vision swirled and turned. He was too low. That damn brat was still holding his head by the hair. How had this happened. His eyes flickered briefly to the other hand were Fred had been sitting. Now there was no globe of light, no dragonfly. Only an empty palm.

“Happy Birthday,” Aidan whispered.

Aidan had pulled Demensil through by the hair, but only part of him. He had cancelled Fred almost immediately. That was all it had taken for Demensil’s head to become separated from his shoulders. A flash of golden light cut the head off at the neck. The body on the other side stumbled comedically for half a second and then vanished in green pixelation. The head in Aidan’s had remained for almost a full ten seconds before it too disappeared. Taking with it the look of shock on Demensil’s face.

----------------

Local Announcement - Aidan

Level up, Level up, Level up, Level up, Level up, Level up, Level up, Level up.

Profound Beginner 5 reached.

----------------

“Ah. Amelia?” Aidan called, trying to look through the portal. The Arena was silent. His plaintive cry shook the hearts of even the most jaded. More worrisome was the fact that he had just cut the head off of somebody and didn’t seem that bothered by it.

“Aidan.” Raven was at a loss. “It’s okay. I mean we can definitely get her back. I mean she’ll be fine for a few days. We have time. We’ll get her. Definitely get her.” By the end of this Raven had stepped forward and was actually shaking Aidan. He made no movement. He shook under her hands as if he had no weight or substance. His face was blank and empty and lost.

“She is safe.” Forsythe said carefully from the side. “She’ll still be able to log out. I mean this isn’t like…”

He stopped talking when Aidan looked at him. It was the first time he had ever seen Aidan enraged, and there was no mistaking it for what it was. “They took my family. They took her.”

Forsythe shook uncontrollably. Memories and feelings locked deep inside him burst forth and he felt it then. The madness that was almost contagious was being transferred to him. “Yes.” He said coldly. “They did. Why did they do that?”

“I have a plan.” Raven said. Her face was ugly with rage, she was not immune to the change that was passing through the three.

“What is it?” Aidan looked hopeful, and that was almost worse. If he had been his usual self they could have dealt with that. They didn’t know what to do with this new Aidan. This man that was hurt before them.

“We just kill everyone between her and us until we get to the last few guys right?” Raven smiled crookedly. “Then, cause they hurt you. We’ll kill them too.”

“Oh. That’s a good plan.” Aidan straightened slightly and some of the lost faded from his eyes. In place was something colder. “Let’s make a new rule. Rule eleven.”

“What’s that rule?” Forsythe and Raven asked as one.

“I’ll let you know. I’ll give you an hour.”

“An hour?” Forsythe was surprised. “I’d have thought you’d just go and we’d catch up?”

“I have to go talk to someone.” Aidan turned and left. It was as simple as that. Everyone fell over themselves getting out of his way even though he didn’t seem to see them at all.

The three had been talking and had completely tuned out the entire audience. World-wide, millions of people, and within the game thousands of people, watched in silence and never truly understood what had happened. An announcement to the viewership apologized for the delay in the start of the AA Finals. There would be a short delay while the situation was talked about with Centra Holdings. The general consensus was that despite the fact that a brand new world quest had appeared, the AA Finals would continue.

“Forsythe.” Raven asked suddenly. “We’re out right? We’re safe? Why is he doing that face? What happened? We’re safe. We’re okay.”

“We are.” Forsythe said. The dread that had been creeping up on him for years now was finally realized. His friend who never died. Who never seemed concerned with danger as though it were a matter of course in any world. His friend who held his family closer than he held himself. “Aidan doesn’t get we’re out. So I guess we’ll have to go find him.”

“Should we go get Hunter and Elisha?” Raven asked after a moment. She seemed to understand, and he was grateful.

“No. Do you really want to take them with us to that world?” Forsythe shook his head. “C’mon. We have an hour and I have no idea what to do to get through the barrier.”

Raven blinked and straightened. Her voice leveled out and there was steel behind it. “You’re right. Sojourn isn’t a place for our loved ones. One more time then?”

“We can’t let him go without us this time. This time…” Forsythe straightened.

“Yeah. This time we’ll all go to the end together. That’s still our secret right? That we know?” Raven smiled crookedly, and Forsythe smiled back. Broadly and without restraint.

“He’s such a handful.”

“The worst.” Raven agreed. “Do you wanna just fight maybe? See if we can figure it out?”

“I could kill you,” Forsythe said softly.

“No. I could kill you.” Raven raised her blade and it began to howl. Her eyes changed and there was only murder in them. “Do your best so you don’t die. It’d be good if we both got through. But if it’s just one of us.”

“If it’s just one of us,” Forsythe repeated soberly, striking his blade into a guard.

Then it is going to be me. Both thought to themselves.

Under the eyes of thousands Forsythe and Raven began fighting to the death.

“[Intrepid Strike - Final Form].”

“[Oversoul Cloudkill - Final Form].”

No one thought to stop them. It was just… weird.

The ferocity of the blows forced people to back away. The speed and anger behind every strike shocking everyone with the violence.

They had an hour before Aidan went through that wall. The only way to follow him was to figure out Profound Skill.

The clock was ticking.

Weirder still was the number of people who got up from the stands at some unseen direction and moved off toward the doors, leaving the stadium despite the cost of a ticket to the event in ‘person’.