My mouth was dry. The sandpaper texture of my tongue didn't make me want to wake up. I rolled onto my side and tucked my pillow under my head. It didn't help. I knew that moving was going to be rough, but I didn't expect it to take such a toll. The weird dreams, flat pillows, and the strong scent of rotten fruit were not a good way to start the day. On top of all that, my left sock was wet.

No.

It was my entire leg. I opened my eyes and looked down at my foot.

"Oh, come on," I said.

I was lying on a patch of clean stone. A few puddles of goo dotted the floor by legs with a bigger nearby.

[Health 5/25] [Mana 5/5] [Energy 3/25]

[Status: Stunned]

[Codex Entry Added: Slime]

[XP: 10]

"How are you feeling?" A garbled voice asked.

The world spun way too fast as I tried to find the speaker.

"Woah," I drew the word out as I spoke. "Stunned."

"Are you a person?" They asked.

I closed my eyes. The spinning was not helping things.

"Yeah, I think so," my slurred words came out slow. "Are you?"

"As far as I know," the voice replied. "What's your name?"

"Mason."

"I'm Ashley," they said.

The spinning stopped. I opened one eye. It seemed fine. I turned my head to the right to see Ashley sitting on a stone bench nearby. Her raven black hair was in a messy pixie cut and shaved on the side. We wore the same leather armor, but she had a bow instead of a dagger.

"I don't know you," she said after a moment.

"I'm new," I replied as I sat up. "Please tell me you're seeing this too?"

"Seeing what?"

I waved a hand at my armor, the remains of the slime, and the room around us.

"That was sarcasm," she stated.

She stood and offered me a hand. Her dark amber skin made mine look pale in comparison. She helped me to my feet. I was taller than her now that I wasn't on my back.

"What level are you?" She asked.

"Level one, quick," I answered. "You?"

"Level one, agile," she replied. "Where did you get your gear?"

"I got a starter pack from the office," I let the words hang to see if she would say more.

"Are they stuck in a loop?" She asked.

I nodded.

"There goes my plan," Ashley muttered under her breath. She tapped her pocket and held up her tablet. "Do you have any idea how this all works?"

I equipped mine.

"I've got my HUD and mini-map setup," I said with a shrug. "There's not much else."

A blinking line of text caught my attention.

[Contact Added: Ashley Wright]

"I have no idea what that means," I said.

She stared at me.

"I know you're added to my contacts, but what does that actually do?" I continued.

"It probably means that we talk to each other," she replied.

"Sarcasm is your default setting, isn't it?"

She nodded.

"My plan was to get answers at the office," Ashley said. "That's not going to happen if they're in loops. You looked like you were going somewhere."

"Get outside and go home," I said with a smile. "This isn't outside."

"No, it isn't," she said as she put her hands on her waist and looked around. "Home sounds like a good idea as any."

She started off toward the doors without another word. I caught up to her easily enough. Our footsteps echoed in the vast, empty room. Nothing moved. We were completely alone in the ballroom.

"How did you get here?" I asked.

"Same as you," she replied. "I found a door that led to the quad."

"Where did you get your gear?"

"My math teacher," she said with chuckle. "I stopped in before class. There was this flash and I got a killer headache. Everything was changed when it wore off. I tried to talk to him. He gave me a bow and this leather armor."

"Have you seen anyone?" I asked.

She looked back toward the doors. "Come on, we're almost there."

"There was a guy," I spoke slowly. "Before all this, he pulled a trick on me. I asked where my class was and he locked me in a basement. After the change he turned into a clown."

Ashley looked over her shoulder at me.

"An evil clown."

"Are there any clowns that aren't evil?"

I shook my head and kept walking. The doors were bigger than I had thought. They stretched to the ceiling and were a good twenty feet wide. We started to jog as we got closer. A screen shifted into view before us.

[Key Required]

"Where do we find the key?" I asked.

"How should I know?" She snapped.

[Quest Stared: The Lost Key]

[Retrieve the Gate Key from the Troll Jarl]

[Quest Reward: 5000 XP. Gate Key. 1000 Renown]

[Trolls -500 Renown]

"Troll Jarl?" Ashley looked over to me.

"A jarl is kind of like a noble," I said.

"The troll part," she shook her head as she spoke. "Are we talking about the 'who's that clip clopping on my bridge' kind, or 'they've got a cave troll' type?"

"I guess we'll find out," I said as I turned back to look at the stretch we had just crossed.

[Quest Marker Added]

I pulled out my tablet and navigated to my map. It was a top-down view of the campus.

"Where is this?" I showed Ashley my tablet.

"That's the practice field," she said with a sigh. "It's over there," she pointed the way she came. "Through the building, across a street, two parking lots, and the gym."

"I was in that building for like twenty minutes," I said. "I ran into an evil clown, a giant spider, and a slime that nearly killed me."

"Well," she took out her bow as she spoke. "You could setup camp here and wait for me. Unless I find another gate, the key can open. It's not like you owe me for saving you from carnivorous hospital food."

I stared at her for a long moment.

"Ladies first," I said with a small bow.