Chapter Text
Azul’s heart pounded as he handed Jamil the flowers. Jamil, for a moment, smiled, then his gaze went from the roses to Azul, with understanding of what was happening.
“Will you go out with me?”
-
Azul stepped into the room where the board game club was happening, but at the moment he didn't feel like playing games.
He felt like sinking into a pit of nothingness. But that was no one's business.
At least until Idia looked up from his tablet with a frown.
“What happened to you?” He asked.
“Nothing.” Azul sounded more pitiful than he wanted.
"Okay…well, the others can't join us for DND today," The fire headed said. “Something about detention and needing to do homework.”
“Good. I have nothing planned.” The mer sighed a little, relieved that he didn't have to run a campaign. He sat down and practically sunk into his chair.
There was a moment of silence.
“Uh…do you want to play instead of running?”
Azul looked at Idia with a tilt of his head. “Are you offering to do a one-shot?"
“Sevens no.” The other shook his head. “I found a tool that's supposed to run a campaign without a dm. It's supposed to be really immersive.”
“A tool? Like a program?”
“Yeah, a program.” He nodded. “I was gonna study it and make my own version, but we can test it out if you, you know, wanted to play."
Azul paused for a moment.
Not being himself for a moment sounded like really good plan.
“Alright. Let's do it.” He nodded and then adjusted his glasses.
They made characters, and Azul waited for Idia to set up the program.
Azul had made a relatively simple character.
Lucian was a reborn warlock with amnesia. He didn't even know who his patron was.
Mostly because Azul didn't really trust this program to use backstory or really be that immersive.
About half an hour later, Idia had his tablet on the table with a screen that said, ‘Press To Start'.
“Ready?” Idia smiled slightly at the other. His nerves were starting to get the better of him. If this didn't work, it would look bad on him.
Azul nodded.
The other tapped the button on the screen, and Azul was falling from the sky.
He panicked, trying to grab anything to stop his descent.
It didn't work. And he hit the ground with a loud THUD.
He sat up, looking down at himself with a bit of panicked patting as he made sure nothing was broken.
Nothing, miraculously, was.
There was a loud THUD next to him, causing the teenager to jump.
The man sat up quickly, standing but seeming very wobbly. He had long, wild, shaggy blue hair that covered his eyes, dark blue skin, and short horns.
“What just happened!?!?” He asked.
Azul frowned, staring intently at the tiefling. “Idia!?”
The man turned to him. “Azul!?”
Azul stood up, looking down at himself.
His skin was still pale, but his clothes were flowy robes. Sort of in the same style as the ceremony robes back at school, but they were mostly purple in color, specifically lilac.
“What is happening?!” Idia, or who Azul was pretty sure was Idia, asked.
The reborn looked around. They were in a busy street, and no one was looking at them weirdly for dropping out of the sky.
“I think…we're in the campaign.” Azul said. “You made a tiefling. We're literally the characters we just made.”
“What!?” Idia clenched his hands, holding them close to his chest. “How, how do we get out?”
“I don't know!” Azul frowned. “It's your program!”
“It's not *my* program!” The tiefling yelled back. “I just found it online!”
“Excuse me? Mr. Lucian? Tinker?”
Azul at first didn't pay attention to the sound of someone talking. Lucian wasn't his name. He didn't know anything about tinkering.
Then he felt a tap on his shoulder.
He turned with a frown.
“Mr. Lucian. My name is Elsmerelda.” The small lady smiled at him. She was, as said before, small and looked frail. Her ears told Azul she was an elf of some kind; her slightly dark skin tone suggested a wood elf.
“Are you talking to me?” Azul frowned.
She nodded.
Azul suddenly remembered his character's name. In the midst of the chaos he had forgotten it.
Pretty fair for the situation he was in.
“Am I Tinker?” Idia asked.
She nodded again.
“Uh, how can we help you?” Azul straightened himself out.
“We have much to discuss. Please follow me into the tavern.”
"Right. Right. Sure.” He looked back at Idia, or Tinker, apparently to make sure he was following.
They didn’t have to walk far. The tavern was just across the road from where the two students had fallen.
Azul had a hard time paying attention to the woman talking. Idia didn’t seem to be faring much better.
“Are you two listening?” Elsmarelda asked after a moment. “Is something wrong with your drinks? Do you need food?”
Well, the quest giver was rather kind; they would give her that.
“Uh, can you give us the most important details so we can head out quickly?” Azul asked.
The elf smiled. “Of course. There have been disappearances in the East Corner. Talk to the farmer named Joe for the latest case. If you need more help, don’t hesitate to ask me. I’ll be in the inn above the tavern.”
“Perfect. East corner. Joe. Got it.” Azul nodded and grabbed the tiefling’s arm next to him, causing Idia to jump. “Thank you Elly. We’ll reconvene later.”
The reborn pulled the blue-haired boy along.
“Elly? You don’t usually do nicknames," Idia said.
“Huh? Elly?” Azul frowned.
“You called Elsermalda, Elly.”
“Oh. Didn’t notice.” He shook his head. “Not important. How do we get back to school?”
“I have no idea!” Idia frowned at him. “There was no mention of getting out in the program's synopsis! There was no mention of getting trapped in the program in the program’s synopsis!”
“Were there no reviews?” Azul frowned.
“I found it on reddit.” The blue-skinned man admitted.
“Are you serious?”
“I wasn’t gonna use it until you had a shit day!” He said. “I was gonna disect it! Had I had time to do that this wouldn’t have happened!”
“Are you blaming me?” The reborn’s jaw dropped. “You suggested it! It’s your program!”
“It’s NOT my program!”
Azul groaned.
He adjusted his glasses and looked around the street; people were staring.
“Come on.” He said. “We’ll focus on the quest. It’s the only direction we have.”
“Okay…pogchamp. We can do the quest. No problem.” Idia’s hands went close to his chest.
“Maybe if we finish the adventure, it’ll spit us out.”
Finding Farmer Joe’s house was probably the easiest thing in the world.
They went to the East corner of the town and waved down a farmer who happened to be Joe.
“Hello, sir.” Azul smiled. “We’re investigating the disappearances. We—"
“Are you gonna find my lil Jo?” The farmer asked.
“Wait, aren’t you Joe?” Idia frowned.
“Yes.”
“And your son’s name is Joe as well?” Azul paused.
“No. His name is Jo. Without the e.”
“Right.” Azul shook his head. “What can you tell us about the last moments he was seen?”
"Well, he was with my daughter Jolene—"
“Are you for real?” Idia frowned.
"Idia, focus.”
“It’s not my fault the program cheesed their npcs.” He protested.
“Just let him continue.” Azul rolled his eyes.
“Like I was saying,” Joe continued. “Jolene was with him getting their maracas from my brother Joel—"
“For seven’s sake.”
“-across the way. She said she left him to go inside my brother’s house and heard a scream. She ran outside to help, but he was just gone.”
“Right.” Idia nodded slightly. “And where does your brother—"
“Joel.”
“Pogchamp, live?”
“By the cemetery," Joe told them. “He’s the grave digger.”
“Thank you.” Azul smiled. “We’ll be in touch with news and/or questions soon.”
“Of course. Stop by anytime, Lucian.” Joe smiled. “You too, Mister.”
Azul gestured as he walked away. Idia followed.
“Zombies?” The devil-kin asked.
"Definitely." The dead man nodded. “We are not getting that kid back.”
“Yikes. Murking the kid…Brutal.” Idia frowned. “I hate that actually. Why would the game go so hard so quick?”
“Simple quest.” The other said, “Not important. That zombie is going to kill more people if we don’t stop it.”
“Fake people.”
“Yes, fake people.” Azul rolled his eyes. “But we have to treat it as real. Lest we be lost in this…wait.”
“What?”
“This is a digital world. Right?” He asked. “Made by a set of magical code?”
“Yeah?”
“Hack it!” Azul frowned.
“Oh, yeah, no.”
“What?”
“I tried.” Idia fiddled with his hair. “Already. While we were in the tavern.”
Azul frowned. “You couldn’t get us out?”
“I couldn’t use my magic.”
“Shit.”
“Can you use any magic?” Idia asked.
Azul was quiet for a moment.
Then he pointed at a hay bale, and a beam shot out of his fingertip.
“WHoa!” Idia jumped.
“I don’t have…any real magic?” Was that the correct wording? Azul didn’t sound so sure. “But I have eldritch blast.”
“Does that mean—"
“Yes. We have spell slots.”
“FUCK.”
“Relax.” Azul told him as Idia started to shrink in on himself. “We’ll figure something out.”
“Right. Right. Sure. Don’t panic. I’m not panicking.”
“Idia, breathe.” He tried.
Idia took a deep breath.
“What are we going to do, Azul?” He asked. “If completing the story doesn't get us out?”
Azul paused for a moment.
“We’ll figure something out.”
Probably.