Aegis Online

(NOTICE: I DO NOT OWN THE SONG USED IN THIS CHAPTER!)

Stepping through the yawning portal, I stare about myself, my wings furled tight to my back. In the centre of a vast, obsidian-dark expanse, I can see a circular bar, staffed by a mixed-bag of humans, Andromal, Alvs, and a couple of Dwarves, all hard at work. Suspended in the vast, inky emptiness above at different altitudes, large round platforms hang, with people of all races and genders dancing, some with more skill than others. On a platform in the centre, like the sun at the heart of the solar system, a band is playing something wild, a sustained rhythm that speaks of something fierce, a chase, a deep bass drumming underscoring the higher, frenetic piping of the flute and the quavering of the viol, a wild, untamed melody that reaches to every corner of the unknowably-sized fissure.

I make my way through the smoky, dimly-lit interior, heading for the bar to order a drink. I purse my lips, before settling on something called a Mortisberry Blue, named after a player called Mortis, according to the Dwarven bartender, as he mixes up several different radioactive-coloured drams of liquor in a shaker, pouring over crushed ice, and swirling a citrusy fruit-peel through it, sliding it towards me. “That’ll be six Ducats, miss.”

I pay up, and a hand trails up the small of my back, a familiar Gaelic-accented coo drifting through the heavy air towards me. “Buy a girl a drink, pretty lady?” I shiver, turning my head and seeing Asteria’s face, right next to me. She licks her lips, and I smile shyly. “S-sure, what do you want?”

“I’ll have the same as you’ve got there! It looks good.” She purrs, and I order a second Mortisberry Blue for my girlfriend.

She takes her drink, sipping at it, and I watch as her pale pink lips turn a deep, night-sky cobalt, her tongue taking on the same colouration, and she smiles at me. “Go on, it’s really good! Sweet, with a hint of vanilla and something slightly spicy. I guarantee you’ll like it!”

Raising my own glass, I take a sip, letting the liquor swirl around my tongue, before swallowing. “You’re right, I do like this! It’s tasty!” I sip again, and, from Dana’s amused expression, my lips must be turning the same shade of sapphire as hers.

She leans in and murmurs, “Also, that dress is sinful! It’s making me want to do naughty, naughty things to you, my little angel…”

I look down and blush. As soon as I’d returned to Vassim, I’d hit up a dressmaker’s store. The outfit I’d chosen is a slinky, figure-hugging black dress that leaves my back exposed, out of necessity for my wings, and a slit up one side almost to my thigh. Black lace stockings cover my legs, with matching high-heels. It doesn’t have a cleavage window, the neckline of my dress joining with a choker that fits around my throat.

 Looking up at Dana, then letting my eyes wander, I bite my lip. Her hair’s changed colour again. It’s a deep, rich fiery orange, very close to her natural shade of red, and makes her look even more like her out-of-game self. Her buxom, curvaceous form is sheathed in a gorgeous dress, deep navy, as deep as the shade her lips turned from the cocktail. It hugs every single curve she has, while putting a healthy amount of her bust on display. Trinity’s comment about Astie liking clothes where she’s at risk of popping out of them seems to hold water.

Dana’s eyes crinkle as she smiles widely. “I know where you’re looking, sweetie. And yes, they’re modelled after the real deal! An exact match, as close as I could get them!”

I gulp as she scooches a little closer, almost pressing up against my hip, as she sips from her drink again, the colour of her lips shifting gradually from blue to a pastel lime.  I stare for a moment, and then take a sip of my own cocktail. Dana’s eyes widen as she gasps, “hey! Your lips are silver now!”

I lick them, and she giggles. “And I guess we can call you silver-tongued, too!” I stick my tongue out at her, and she mimics me, both of us breaking into muffled giggling as we unwind and relax after the hectic activity of the afternoon, just having fun drinking something that tastes nice and does something funny, as the wild, intoxicating music rises and falls, flowing from one piece to another with barely a pause.

I finish my drink, my lips and tongue changing colour again, as Dana’s turn black as night, taking her hand. Guiding her out onto the dancefloor, I find enough of a space to spread my wings and take off, heading for one of the elevated platforms hanging in mid-air.

Landing, I let her down, furling my wings, and starting to move my body, letting the music guide me as I sway and shift,  Dana’s arms loosely draped over my shoulders as we dance together, closer than we probably should be, but I don’t care. I like her, or even love her, and she still feels like that about me, since she hasn’t run off screaming or told me that we can’t hang out anymore, and the feel of her against my body is just right, and….

The music changes from its wild, unrestrained tones, becoming something softer, more melancholy and slower, as Dana and I move leisurely, letting instinct take over as we dance, sharing long, lingering glances as the music swells and crescendos around us, the platform beneath us perfectly level and steady, held in place by some magic or effect that I didn’t really care to focus on right now.

Finally, after no time at all and yet an eternity, the band pauses, tuning their instruments and taking a few minutes’ break to get drinks and snacks. I separate myself from Dana, smiling. “Just a moment, I want to ask the band something, okay, Astie?”

She smiles, blowing me a kiss. “Of course, darling Kettrin. I’m curious, I have to say!”

I step over to the edge, smiling, before hopping off into the emptiness, using my wings to make my way to the band’s platform, waving when I get a little closer. “Hey, I have a question. Do you take requests?”

One of the band members, an Alv with a dark blue bob-cut, a scar on her cheek, and half-a-dozen piercings in each pointed ear, turns to answer. “Yeah, sure, we take requests. Have you got anything in particular you’re after?”

I pull up my pod’s music menu, searching for a song from the days of the old Internet. It’d taken years for everything the obsolete worldwide network-of-networks had contained to be copied over, but it’d been done.

 Turns out, our ancestors didn’t want to leave their favourite songs and stuff behind. So, while it’s common to listen to modern tracks, there’s still a lot of fans of the ‘Golden Oldies’. Finding the song I’d saved, I grab the link and display it for the Alv, whose fingers make a series of gestures, opening and playing the song right into her ear.

“Huh, this is a pretty good one. Yeah, the tune’s easy enough to replicate, if you give us about five minutes to all get on the same page?”

 I nod and smile, making my airborne way back to the floating platform, as the band finishes up their break and reassembles, gathering back on the central stage, finalising the last of the tweaks and adjustments to their instruments.

The Alv girl steps up to a strange contraption that looks like a crystal mounted on a pole or stand of some kind, marked with a spiralling indentation that coils around the pole, from top to bottom. The crystal is surrounded by a cage of glimmering golden metal engraved with runes or sigils, each one glowing softly. She grabs the pole and it blazes into brilliant life, the spiral glowing a warm, softer white, as the sigils embedded in the cage start to flash in time with her voice. A magic microphone!

“What is up, Vassim Cityyyy!? Okay, we’re taking requests now, and we have a good one from the angel girl on the platform over there!”

She points at me, and I blush as several people start whispering and gesticulating in my direction.

“Now, I don’t know why this song in particular, but who cares, she wants it, she’ll get it! Three, two, one, LET’S GO!”

She hops back, the microphone unmoving, and snatches up an instrument that looks like some kind of guitar, striking a chord, then starting to play, following the glowing notes in front of her as she form out of thin air. Each band member has them, too, guiding their playing. I swallow, before stepping of the platform again, rotating in mid-air to face Asteria, before I begin to sing, backed by the band as Asteria’s eyes widen.

“I still hear your voice when you sleep next to me
I still feel your touch in my dreams
Forgive me my weakness, but I don't know why
Without you, it's hard to survive!

'Cause every time we touch
I get this feeling
And every time we kiss
I swear I could fly
Can't you feel my heart beat fast
I want this to last
Need you by my side

'Cause every time we touch
I feel this static
And every time we kiss
I reach for the sky
Can't you hear my heart beat so
I can't let you go
Want you in my life

Your arms are my castle
Your heart is my sky
They wipe away tears that I cry
The good and the bad times
We've been through them all
You make me rise when I fall!

'Cause every time we touch
I get this feeling
And every time we kiss
I swear I can fly
Can't you feel my heart beat fast
I want this to last
Need you by my side

'Cause every time we touch
I feel this static
And every time we kiss
I reach for the sky
Can't you hear my heart beat so
I can't let you go
Want you in my life

'Cause every time we touch
I get this feeling
And every time we kiss
I swear I could fly
Can't you feel my heart beat fast
I want this to last
Need you by my side…”

Midway through the song, I held a hand out, and Asteria dives into my arms, setting us spinning sedately through the air, my hands on her hips as she rests her head on my shoulder, my wings beating steadily.  The music rises and falls as the song fills the air, and I feel Dana pressed against me as we ignore the whole world. The only thing that matters is the music, and the warmth and closeness of each other…

The melody fades into nothingness, and we come back to ourselves. I smile at Dana as she leans into me, kissing my cheek. She murmurs, “See, I knew there were more reasons I liked you,” her thick Gaelic accent emerging for a few moments, before she reels it in and returns to her vaguely-American inflection.

I turn pink as several whistles and roars of approval crescendo from the patrons, a few looking salty that they won’t have a chance with either of us. I fly us back to the bar to order more drinks, spotting a couple of familiar faces mixed in throughout the throngs of the Void’s patrons. A few more people make requests, and, while the band sets up a playlist to work through, I take to the skies again, beating my wings as I rise to the central plateau.

The Alv with the scar and the blue bob-cut looks up. “Wanna make another request?”

I shake my head, before reaching into my inventory and jamming my finger onto the icon for my moneybag. Selecting a reasonable amount, I pull a pouch out of thin air and toss it to her. “Here!”

She catches the coin purse, hefting it briefly. “You DO know that you don’t have to tip us, right? We’re paid by the club.”

I smile. “I know. But I wanted to thank you anyway. Bye!” I turn and dive for the bar, landing next to my Dana. She winks, her lips and tongue a violent, radioactive green.