The Devil In White: An AA Online Novel

"I can't start it Raven, I told you. Forsythe is making that dip thing you asked him to make. I didn't even know what you're talking about, be grateful he watches the food channels." Aidan said, holding out both his arms to either side and blocking her from Amelia's light curtain.

"Just start it! I really want to see what Amelia did! You said it was amazing. We can rewind when he gets done." Raven said, trying awkwardly to reach around him with her good arm. "You are discriminating against the handicapped."

"I feel like it's a fair advantage warrior woman. Any second you could strike me somewhere with your three remaining good limbs." Aidan said, and after she feinted a few times he proved he was actually concerned by trying to cover his stomach, c.h.e.s.t, and groin area. Raven cackled evilly and began feinting, watching him try to block. Amelia wasn't sure she even cared about the video anymore.

"I don't know what the big deal is. I just reflected the spell. I didn't cast anything really powerful at it. The boss did that. Most bosses will have other ways of dealing with people. The spider didn't cast any spells at all from what I saw." Amelia pointed out. "Khiafin is the one who mostly told me what the spell was."

"How was Khiafin anyway? His accent was peculiar. Almost English." Raven turned, batting her good fist at Aidan and still causing him to flinch even though she was looking at Amelia.

"He looked like he was 12," Amelia answered. "Like, high school track team fit I'm popular 12."

"Forsythe won't-" Raven began again, renewing her fight to turn the light curtain on.

"Forsythe won't what?" Forsythe entered the room carrying a large salad bowl full of green dipping sauce. He was wearing a 'kiss the cook' apron that was slightly pink. Amelia had tried to ask about it but he had shaken his head and told her she wouldn't understand. He had tried to enlist Amelia to watch but she had declined, saying it was more important to guard her living room. Forsythe hadn't argued, and the way he looked consideringly at the doorway that led to the living room, he seemed more concerned about her concern than she was.

"Forsythe won't stand for if we start without him." Raven lost interest in Aidan and ducked around Amelia. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed Forsythe on the cheek, then grabbed a chip and jammed it all the way into the dip. She leaned over the bowl and took a bite. "Wow. You're going to make a great wife."

"Thank you. Get the eco-plastic plates from the table and don't lean over the dip. You'll dribble crumbs and ruin the salinity of the sauce." Forsythe had the bag of ch.i.p.s, open, under one arm and managed to point to the kitchen while juggling the bowl.

Raven briefly looked at Aidan with a baffled look.

"You're going to get it too salty and it'll suck." He explained patiently.

"Oh! Plates!" Hurricane Raven briefly left the room and returned with the plates.

Raven and Aidan both decided to sit on the floor, and Amelia was starting to feel a little nervous about them eating dip. Forsythe sat on the couch and she joined him. With a sigh, she turned on MKC Online's broadcast of the floor boss she and Aidan had fought earlier in the day. Amelia had actually gotten several messages while they were out getting groceries. Most of them were from Mr. Thompkins freaking out about the end of the video. He had started demanding that she tell him everything she did so they could do captions over the video so people could see what she'd done, then he had abruptly said there was no time and they could hash it out for the later reruns. He said he was just too damned busy to talk to her and abruptly hung up leaving Amelia startled. If he was too busy to call her why did he call her? He had called later and left a brief voicemail explaining that he had gotten excited and apologized. That was the last voicemail he'd left on her terminal.

Amelia wasn't all that interested. They were just going to watch footage from her point of view. She didn't see why that was interesting to her since she had already seen it once. Maybe if she laid her head back just a bit she could close her eyes and nap.

Still, it was pretty interesting in the edited version. MKC Online's team had cut out the really boring parts and focused on Freds, Khiafin, and Aidan as well as the group tactics. It amused her that even though party chat wasn't allowed on the air, she still knew when Raven had told her to look at Aidan. In the edited version, Mr. Thompkins had frozen a moment right before Aidan started laughing and music started to play. It was some nameless guitar music that picked up in tempo as all the Light Globes dashed out and drew the Fishmen away. Periodically Khiafin was seen dancing on the head of the creature, as in the edited version they had taken all the footage and interspersed it over her normal view to break up the monotony of people hacking and slashing at the Terror of the Deep.

She was embarrassed that they left in that she had actually stopped fighting to start recording in her Chronicler. They cut through the footage so it didn't take any time at all but did freeze it for a moment so the viewer could see that she had stopped a paragraph short from the end. Just in time to look up, start to cast, cancel, and then activate the spell that destroyed the boss.

At this moment, in a purely artistic move, MKC Online had chosen to add subtitles above and below her character from a third person point of view. Above her head hung the words [World First Black Mage Appears]. Under her feet, the name of the spell appeared in a similar font right as the action started to happen. The light level was amplified through the editing studio, making it much brighter than it had been for the players themselves. Now that it wasn't so dark, Amelia could see the true devastation that the boss had taken from its own spells. Huge limbs came unattached, an eyeball was lost, it's lure even disintegrated.

Then, in a more embarrassing part, Amelia lost interest and started writing how the battle had ended even before the boss was dead. It was a small favor that the black mage text and the spell text had been removed and, instead, there was simply a [0% Mana] above her head explaining, or at least trying to explain, why she wasn't paying attention anymore. It cut away and ended on a final moment where all the Transients and Residents, exuberant in victory, crowded around her.

"Wow, Amelia. I bet when things explode you don't even look back. You're totally metal." Raven said enthusiastically. "That was one of your new spells right? You got it for giving up all the other ones?"

"Yeah. There are several disambiguations but it's basically a formula of which school, what type of area, and whether I want to reflect or counter." Amelia shrugged.

"How many schools were there? 9 right?" Forsythe looked at Amelia and shook his head. "Modest."

"Please don't start. People wouldn't shut up. I finally just made a description of my class and its requirements and started creating copies and handing it to people so they would go away." Amelia complained.

"Fame. Suffer well." Aidan patted her on the knee.

"Make me a Fred," Raven demanded, already annoyed that Aidan wasn't paying attention to her. It was a recurring theme.

"You can't cast a Fred. Besides I made my Fred look like your Fred. You remember the one!" Aidan placated.

"They all looked exactly the same," Forsythe argued.

"No, they didn't. You used special Fred?" Raven reached out with her hand, and Aidan took it. A short complicated hand gesture occurred where both moved their fists away from one another and then opened. Both made explosion noises with their mouths and started to comically pretend to fall back from a shockwave.

"You have a secret handshake?" Amelia asked, amused.

"Jealous?" Raven asked, eyes twinkling.

"Incredibly." Amelia said dryly. "So why did you spare the island people if you don't mind me asking?"

"I spare lots of people, Amelia." Raven said huffily. "It's not good for morale if the men are doing stuff they don't want to do. I try to be a good Captain and take into account their opinions and needs."

Forsythe began shaking. He was laughing quietly and trying to hide it. "You are practically Buddha." He agreed through his laughter.

Raven hit him.

"One of them looked like Bomath." Raven said, making a fake hurt face at Forsythe. He stopped laughing. "Except for the eye color." Raven turned to Amelia and explained for her benefit. "She was a friend that died in LS."

"Not just me then," Forsythe said grimly. "I saw someone that looked like Tens."

"Faux," Aidan said, and they all looked depressed. "I think the game uses random features and I'm not surprised since LS is integrated that some of the avatars would look the same. Most games recycle content. Residents all?"

Forsythe and Raven nodded.

"Wow. I'm sorry guys." Amelia sighed. "I'm not sorry I wasn't there you know, just wish that every day you didn't come across that sort of thing."

"It was good to see her…" Raven said tentatively. "Like she was still around."

"Not bad. Glad they were friendly though." Forsythe added, and Raven and Aidan shuddered, imagining having to fight people they used to know. Even evil NPCs with their faces.

"If it comes up I'll beat them." Amelia shrugged, actually surprised by herself a little bit with the confidence she had in her own claim and how easy it had been to make. Several eyes were wide and peering at her with different degrees of skepticism. "What?"

"I bet she would," Raven said at last. "It'd work out somehow."

"For someone who seems useless, Amelia is pretty reliable." Forsythe agreed, looking thoughtful.

"Someone other than me told her that she's the most powerful in AA." Aidan reflected.

"Who seems useless?" Amelia scowled at Forsythe. He just offered her the dip. She took a chip and bit into it loudly, chewing with her mouth open the whole time.

"Filthy." Forsythe said in disgust. He tried to hand her a napkin but she ignored him.

Forsythe and Raven had left, leaving Amelia and Aidan alone. He helped her pick up the living room which took no time at all and helped her load the plate washer. There wasn't much more to do. As she was seeing him out he bent over at the front door and pulled his backpack over, opening it. He smiled enigmatically and pulled out three books.

"You did borrow books." Amelia accused. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. She had sort of thought she had books missing but sometimes she misplaced them herself.

"I did, but I acquired a new one and brought it for you. It's the instruction manual for LS. Catherine hunted it down for me. I'm not sure, but I think it might have been her copy. Don't lose it, you can't really buy them or sell them legally." He handed her the first two books, the ones she owned. They were her favorites. He must have chosen them from the very first stack where she had placed them so she could easily find them. The first was about a bunch of people who went around in a VR game and had adventures even before VR became a reality, and the second was on the navigation of the solar systems. He handed her the third, and she was a little surprised.

"This is kind of a gaudy cover. Do women's b.r.e.a.s.ts even get that big? Do they make plate bikinis?" Amelia laughed.

"Hey, we used to joke that the less it covered the more powerful the armor." Aidan grinned.

"I like your bag." Amelia said approvingly, trying to think of something to say as they both stood there. It was a gunmetal grey, and had a one-armed fist bursting through a dark patch of a star. Some rock band she had never heard of probably. "Thanks… for the book." Truthfully Amelia was dying to peer through it. LS was such a taboo topic that no one bothered to make merchandise or sell merchandise from that gaming period. It was a real shame in her opinion.

"Thanks. Do you want to go for a walk? It's kind of early but I know you had a long day." Aidan suddenly offered.

"Seems kind of dangerous to go for a walk with the devil at night." Amelia teased. She immediately regretted it. "Sorry. I guess that's not a fun nickname for you."

Aidan shrugged. "From Amelia's mouth, it's not so bad. I promise no mischief tonight unless it's beyond my control." He crossed his heart with his hand and smiled.

"I don't believe much is beyond your control." Amelia grudgingly admitted. "Let me put some shoes on then."

"Do you own 15 pairs?" Aidan wanted to know as she walked out of the doorway.

"Don't most girls?" Amelia called back. "It takes as long as it takes and a gentleman waits."

They were walking at dusk between the trees and the road, and it was nice. Amelia didn't walk much, nor did she spend a whole lot of time with people other than in AA. She was enjoying the quiet and the lighting.

"What'd you think of Khiafin really?" Aidan suddenly asked. Amelia was relieved it was something game related. The quiet and the romantic ambiance was making her feel a little jittery.

"He was a sociopath. How exactly do you pick those out from a crowd." Amelia wanted to know. "I felt like there was this huge list he was comparing us to, and if we didn't pass he'd attack us."

"Succinct, I like it." Aidan thought about it and brushed his hand through his hair. "He was certainly a very discerning murderer. When we logged out I looked him up and found him in threads everywhere. Sometimes he helped people and sometimes he'd murder them in what seemed like similar circ.u.mstances. Sometimes people told him there was no point in killing them. Like they would say to him 'I'm a miner, I'm just mining' and he would laugh and say he was thinking about becoming a miner. He'd kill them and take their ore and trophies from their equipment. Other times he helped groups in really tough situations, and it really freaked them out." Aidan grinned. "No one, in these stories mind, ever claimed to have killed him."

"I wouldn't believe them anyway. He danced like he was on the head of a pin when he was on that boss. He kept an eye on everyone, but he didn't know what to do with a group." Amelia guessed. "I'd say his guild doesn't do a lot of group action. Which surprises me. If you're going to kill players don't you group up?"

"Not his. Single kill only is one of his rules. One of his guildmates responded to the thread defending Ignoble and said that he would murder them repeatedly if they broke his rules." Aidan laughed. "It sounded more like a complaint than a defense."

"Oh great. A sociopath with a code." Amelia muttered.

"I don't know. I find it more interesting that he gave up the guild and then paid that ridiculous amount to come to fight with us. He targeted me and you specifically you know?" Aidan pointed out.

"Well wouldn't be the first time in recent memory Gilduirn has erred." Amelia retorted.

"True. I think he used that sword so he could show us he wasn't an enemy. He's a funny kid." Aidan smiled. "I can't wait to see what he does. Lots of skill. More instinct than Raven maybe."

"I think Hunter should be worried. Elisha was a little too knowledgeable about him." Amelia said dryly. "Puppy love, that."

"You think? Well, I wouldn't worry about it. Forsythe noticed." Aidan said, dismissing it.

"You think that matters? That just makes him more glamorous and mysterious." Amelia said. "It's a girl thing at that age."

"Ah, the bad boy phase? Well if it's any consolation I didn't get that impression. I don't think he was bad, just bored. My impression was he hit level cap and didn't know what to do with himself." Aidan theorized.

"Continent level cap?" Amelia asked. "That makes sense. Then he realizes he can level up fighting other players?"

"I don't think leveling had anything to do with it. I think he just wanted to play with other people. Kind of like our AA AI conversation. Desperate to be acknowledged by his peers." Aidan smiled. "He saw you though. Did you see it in the stream? When you looked up he was staring directly at you. He found you in that throng of people and instinctively knew you could do something."

"If he hadn't used party chat I never would have looked up." Amelia pointed out.

"Yet, he was in our party. No coincidences in life." Aidan sighed and turned his attention to the trees above them. "I missed the smell of leaves. Real leaves."

"What else do you miss?" Amelia wondered aloud. "Feeling nostalgic enough to tell me about that last fight?"

"Will you hold my hand?" Aidan asked suddenly, his lips curling upward rakishly.

"What's this about. Stop teasing me." Amelia griped unconsciously taking a half-step away from him on the sidewalk.

"Hold my hand, and I'll tell you." Aidan insisted.

"No mischief was what you promised me," Amelia muttered and felt her ears getting warm.

"Do I look like I'm mischievous?" Aidan demanded wryly.

"You don't look anything but, sir." Reluctantly Amelia offered her hand. After a moment Aidan threaded his fingers in hers. They were a little longer, and soft.

"Granted. Alright. What do you want to know?" Aidan asked.

"Forsythe and Raven chased you, you were about to attack the world boss on your own. You got a scolding for a few days. Then what? What was your plan? What really happened?" Amelia asked.

"Going into your Chronicler book?" Aidan asked skeptically.

"No. I just want to know. I didn't put Raven or Forsythe in there. I don't think it works that way anyway." Amelia was puzzled. "Why do you ask?"

"Just making sure we're not part of your mania. I also don't want you to get in trouble with the law." Aidan said agreeably. "Fine. I'll tell you."