Aegis Online

(author’s note: I do not own the songs used in this chapter! It’s just one of my favourites and the other’s a song I thought would work as a duet! On with the story~!)

 

 While Ulged’s swarmed by people, each raving about an order they want him to make, I slip back. I’ll wait for another opportunity to discuss my own upgrades with the big guy. It’s starting to get late I.R.L, so I make my way back to the Devil Hunter and log out once I’m lying on my bed in the captain’s cabin.

Downstairs, mum and dad have dinner ready, and Houseworth’s sitting at the table using his little drone hardlight-projector, as my dad grins, holding up something with a familiar crest on it.

“So, we just got our tickets for the talent show! If you’ve got a moment, find out if your girlfriend’s given a ticket to her mum. We got a couple extra!”

I bite my lip and blush a little, before sliding my phone out of my jeans pocket and call Dana.

“Hello, Dana, it’s Kylie!”

“Oh, good evenin’ my love! So, to what do I owe the pleasure of hearing your voice today~?”

I explain, and she laughs silkily, sending a thrill running through my chest.

“Ach, ye don’t need t’ worry about that. Me ma and Padraig have tickets already. I made sure of that once we started getting seriously intae the practice!”

I relay her response to dad, and he grins. “Alright, Houseworth, looks like it’s yours!”

“Aw, nice! I can’t wait to see this act you and Dana are putting on, Kylie!”

I blink. “Houseworth, you sound… less formal and stiff! I like it!”

He grins. “Your dad got me an upgraded speech-matrix processing unit. Now I’m a lot more… ‘human’, for want of a better word!”

I smile. “Nice one, dad! So… how are we getting Houseworth to the show? I can’t imagine they’ll approve of the drone.”

He grins. “Actually, they DID. As long as we take seats in the back of the auditorium, they’ll allow us to use it!”

I clap happily. “Awesome! I hope you like it!”

After dinner, I try to sleep. The show’s in three days, and I’m streaming all day tomorrow thanks to it being a Saturday, which means a whole day with Dana….

 

 

THREE DAYS LATER…

 

I stare out through the curtains at the packed auditorium. I wasn’t expecting THIS big an audience. My costume fits perfectly, and I can’t help stealing glances as Dana, her own outfit making me feel… things…

Augh, focus, Ky! You’ve practiced super-hard for this, and you know just what to do and when. This should be easy…. Easier than coming out to my parents, at least!

 

Out on the stage, Jeffrey and Jared are standing, wearing black slacks, white shirts, and waistcoats patterned on the old American ‘stars and stripes’ flag. Each of them holds a microphone, and music plays over the speakers.

Jared starts, his deep, crooning voice flowing out over the crowd.

“Almost heaven…  West Virginia….. Blue-ridged mountains, Shenandoah river…”

Jeffrey takes the next, and they alternate upto the chorus.

“Life is old there… older than the trees…. Younger than the mountains, growin’ like a breeze.”

 

“Country roads, take me home! To the place… I belong!

West Virginia, mountain mama! Take me home, country roads!”

 

“All my memories gather 'round her… Miner's lady, stranger to blue water…”

“Dark and dusty, painted on the sky! Misty taste of moonshine, teardrop in my eye!”

 

“Country roads, take me home

To the place I belong

West Virginia, mountain mama

Take me home, country roads!”

 

“I hear her voice in the mornin' hour, she calls me!

The radio reminds me, of my home far away!”

“Drivin' down the road, I get a feelin' , that I should've been home yesterday, yesterday!”

“Country roads, take me home!

To the place I belong!

West Virginia, mountain mama!

Take me home, country roads!

Country roads, take me home!

To the place I belong

West Virginia, mountain mama

Take me home, country roads

Take me home, down country roads…

Take me home, down country roads…”

 

I stare. The two boys can absolutely SING. I hadn’t expected them to sounds so good, but that was phenomenal! I think we’re in trouble… taking Dana’s hand, I squeeze it gently, feeling her entwine our fingers and squeeze back.

 

The next few acts have their timeslots, from songs to musicians, acrobats to artists, until… finally, it’s our turn. I wait as the lights go dark, stepping out onto the stage. A single spotlight ignites, beaming down as I step forwards into the centre. I’m wearing an ornate, almost ballgown-style dress, my hair pulled back into curled ringlets. As I step out into the middle of the stage, I open my lips, the red standing out on my powdered face and blush-tinted cheeks.

 

The music begins, slow and heavy, almost hesitant.

 

“In sleep, she sang to me, in dreams she came

That voice which calls to me and speaks my name

And do I dream again? For now, I find

The Phantom of the Opera is there

Inside my mind…”

 

 

From behind me, a husky, deeper voice rises into full flow, as I hear faint rustling behind me.

“Sing once again with me, our strange duet

My power over you grows stronger yet

And though you turn from me to glance behind

The Phantom of the Opera is there

Inside your mind….”

 

 

Rising from behind me, looming out of the shadows, Dana pulls me against her, half-lit by the spotlight, her black cloak swirling. Tilting my head back, I look up at her. She’s wearing a half-face opera mask that covers the right side of her face, her skin paled with cosmetics, her dark red hair slicked back tight. Her eyes are glowing red thanks to a pair of L.E.D contacts. She pulls a second mask from beneath her cloak, raising it to my face, and pressing it into place. I twitch my thumb, activating my own contacts. Closing my eyes, I let my head loll forwards, then raise it, letting my now glowing eyes stare out towards the crowd as the light dims.

 

“Those who have seen your face
draw back in fear
I am the mask you wear…”

“It's me they hear…”

“Your spirit and my voice/My spirit and your voice…

In one combined! The Phantom of the Opera is there…

Inside my mind/inside your mind!”

 

Dana spins me as I pirouette, her hand holding mine, as she purrs,

“In all your fantasies, you always knew

Woman and mystery…”

 

I whirl back into her arms, leaning up, caressing the edge of her mask, trailing my fingers down the curve of her chest to her heart.

“Were both in you…

And in this labyrinth, where night is blind…

The Phantom of the Opera is here/The Phantom of the Opera is there

Inside my mind…/inside your mind…”

 

Dana’s arms lean me back, her glowing red eyes fixed on me.

“Sing, my Angel of Music!”

 

I arch my back, craning my neck to keep eye-contact.

“She's there, the Phantom of the Opera….”

 

“Sing!

Sing for me!

Sing, my Angel of Music!

Sing for me!”

 

I begin holding one unrelenting note, matching the music’s tone, as Dana commands me to sing for her. Upon her final command, I let out a sustained, high note, letting my head tip back farther and farther, before, at the same instant I let the cry cease, the light goes out, leaving us in pitch black.

Dana and I turn off the lights in our contacts, slipping back through the curtain just before the auditorium lights come back on again, as Jared and Jeffrey stare at us.

“Damn, Kylie…. That was…. Fucking hell, girl!”  Jeffrey breathes, and I blush, removing the half-mask from my face as Dana does the same, both of us breathing hard. My girlfriend grins.

“Now THAT was fun! I’m glad you asked me if I wanted in!”

I begin cleaning off the makeup and changing into my jeans, shirt and sweater, drinking from a bottle of water from the table of drinks for the performers. I hand Dana, Jeffrey and Jared a bottle as well, and we relax, waiting for the rest of the acts to wrap up their performances.

 

Jeffrey is holding a blanket out, facing away while I change, acting as a barrier so no-one peeks. Once done, he asks, “So… who came up with that act??”

I grin as Dana leans down and kisses my cheek. “It was her, actually. Apparently, she’s a fan of old Broadway shows from over three-hundred years ago! Hidden depths, huh~?” she hugs me close, still wearing her suit, as she playfully turns her glowing red contacts on and off.

 

After the talent show wraps up, we head home, with Dana taking her bike and revving off with a promise to see me in-game when we next have the chance, making plans to stream together, before things get too hectic with the new content. I can’t blame her for getting antsy. As a content-creator and very popular streamer, Dana relies on being among the frontrunners, always pushing the boundaries of what her builds and characters can do. I’ve watched a few of her archived streams, a little awestruck by how she exploits physics and mechanics to cover greater distances, or avoid damage while dealing out more than she could under other circumstances.

 

I keep up my gold-farming routine, now a lot more careful in the metal mines, thanks to knowing there’s a raidboss-sized spider that almost killed me and Randy roaming the tunnels, until, a few days before I’m ready to head out to visit the sky archipelago of floating, Skyborne-inhabited islands, I get a message from Captain Brandia Kael’Dornis-Galatea. Her father’s… on trial?!

 

My wings beat furiously as I head for the Vassim Grand Court, almost crash-landing in front of the uniformed Andromal captain, as she smiles tightly at me.

“Hello, Kettrin. It’s… been a while. I wish our reunion was under more… pleasant… circumstances. I figured that you wouldn’t mind acting as moral support for me… I mean, you’re one of the only Argonauts I know in more than passing. I helped you out before, remember? If you’d see your way to helping me, I’d be forever grateful.”

 

I nod and give her a quick hug. “Of course. I’ve been meaning to catch up with you, but now’s not the best time. So, can you tell me anything about WHY your dad’s facing the court?”

 

The Andromal woman lets out a shuddering breath. “Let’s… let’s talk inside. Out here’s too public. I’m not really at liberty to share too much information, though, I’m sorry…”

She leads me inside. A couple of armoured guards approach, but she holds a hand up. “It’s okay; she’s a friend of mine. She’s here for moral support, Sergeant. Please allow her to pass.”

The two guards step back, nodding. “Understood, captain.”

Passing through into the building’s hallways, the Andromal captain turns to the left and heads up towards a door at the end of the corridor. Pushing it open, she throws herself into a chair, sighing heavily. I take a seat opposite her, my wings furled tightly as I wait for her to speak.

Straightening up, she fixes me with a dull, sad look. “I can’t get into too much detail, but…. It’s serious. My father’s been accused… of treason, malfeasance in office, and espionage.”

 I stare. I’d known that her father was a glory hound, and as stubborn as they come, but to go so far as to maintain the glory of his military career…

I ask softly, “They found proof, didn’t they?”

“Yes… letters, penned in my father’s hand, marked using the seal ring he wears at all times on his right-hand ring finger… no-one else could have written them…”

 

I shudder. My heart aches for her. Now I see why she reached out to me. I reach across the table and grab her hands, the red skin clammy and chilled with nerves. She squeezes, harder than I’d expected, but I can handle the pressure.

 

“I’m not going anywhere, Brandia. You need me, and I wanna help. Is there anything I can do-?”

A knock comes from the door, and one of the armoured guards sticks her head around the frame.

“Captain? It’s time…”