Bianca Allen

Chapter IX: Bianca Allen

For now, we shall skip over the Primal Vale Closed Beta. No doubt you might be disappointed my dear reader, but in the grand scheme of things, the closed beta offers little to this story. My story.

During the closed beta, I learned how to fight while moving my body. I learned how to use skills, trading my Sword skill for every single one of the Seed Skills during the beta. In the end, I favored the sword, but I learned something from each of them. I learned how game tactics can change from a screen to virtual reality. I learned where field bosses, hidden bosses, dungeon bosses and labyrinth bosses could be found in the first two areas. I know where events and quests can be located. Hopefully none of this changed too much.

I think you will learn all of these as my story progresses, but for now, let us move on. At the end of August, the closed beta shut down its servers. As the beta tester, we were given the option to pre-order the game, while everyone else would have to wait in line on launch day. In Europe, the first batch of games would total one hundred thousand.

Needless to say, my mother gave me the money. One early Christmas present. My official copy of the game would arrive September 2nd.

The Closed Beta started on June 1st and ended on August 27st, right before midnight. My copy of the real game came as soon as I got back. The large cardboard case was wrapped in a layer of plastic. The cartridge itself was secured inside. The game came with a surprise I hadn't been expecting: an account card. Unlike the 10,000 distributed to the beta testers, this card was white-on-blue. I preferred the gold-on-black that I had, but it was interesting to get a look at it. The cards were identical, only with the colors changed.

My mother's tour ended on the August 28th, but she didn't stay in Paris long. Her best friend, growing up, Alix, had married an American and my mother wanted to see her. Her friend lived in Mayfield, my old stomping grounds. It had been years since I had last seen the small town I grew up in. Not since the year my dad died. I had about a week before school started, so mom took this as a chance to go on vacation with me before high school.

Alix and her daughter Bianca were some of the few friends I had in my contacts. Bianca, now joined by Kanade, Euphie, and Amos, were the only people my age that I considered friends. Which was sad when I looked at it.

I was looking forward to seeing the familiar sights. The plane ride was much too long and it was harder than I imagined it could be to sit still. We flew straight into Mayfield, which should have been my first clue that something was different. The Mayfield of my youth was a small town with no airport. The closest airport was in the city fifty miles away.

Roosevelt International Airport was named after Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States. There was a statue of him in the courtyard, with a plague informing visitors that the airport started construction in 2007. The year after I died. It finished construction in 2013, the year I was born. I wondered if there was some connection, or if this was just chance. I couldn't put anything down to chance with a goddess in my corner. In a way, it was nice knowing there was some greater powers in the universe. It gave me someone to blame.

The airport should have tipped me off. It was huge, the size of FDR or JFK airports. It was still much too large to serve a small town. When we got into the Uber, I wasn't thinking about this. I was picturing the town I grew up in.

When we left the airport and I caught sight of Mayfield, I was shocked. The small town that was so clear in my memories was... Gone. The two-lane roads and small buildings were replaced with highways and ten skyscrapers. I had only been to Pittsburgh once when my father took me there for his work, but I never forgot what it looked like. Mayfield reminded me of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh in Texas.

Nothing looked the same. It didn't feel like Mayfield at all. If I didn't know any better, I'd assume I was in some other part of the country. I wouldn't even know where my old house was. If it was even still standing. For all I know, it could have been torn down.

If it ever stood in the first place. Athena said that Set changed history. What if I had never been born... The first time around. How did that work? If history was changed and I was never born, then how was my soul around for Athena to take?

If history was changed and dead people had never been born, did they still exist on the other side or whatever you called the afterlife? Was this a paradox? Did paradoxes affect gods?

I doubt I would ever have an answer. Not unless I spoke with Athena again, but she must have been busy because I haven't seen her once in the last fifteen years. If I was supposed to be her champion, shouldn't she take more of an interest in my life?

Maybe she did because I don't see how this could have been a coincidence. In my first go around, I lived on Maple Street, near the edge of the town. Our Uber came to a stop in front of a place called Maple Street Apartment Complex. Was this where my old house stood? There was nothing left of the street I had been so familiar with.

"Alix lives in suite 7-35. The elevator is over there," my mom said. She practically dragged me along.

As we rode the elevator up to the seventh story, I got a better picture of the city. The City of Mayfield had no trace of the Town of Mayfield left. It was a completely different place. The town my father loved so much was gone.

Bianca met us at the door and she smiled. She was blonde with blue eyes that matched the color of the sky. She wore a purple shirt that folded seamlessly into a purple skirt. Her yellow belt was the only thing that stood out and it worked with the outfit surprisingly well.

"Bonjour. Est-ce que ta mère est à la maison ?" (Hello. Is your mother home?)

Bianca looked us up and down and had the nerve to sigh at my mother. "Maman! Tu avais des invités." (Mom, you have guests)

At least she spoke French, even if it was with a thick American accent.

Bianca stepped to the side and let us pass. "Merci," my mother told her.

Biancal closed the door behind us and she grabbed my shoulder. "Est-ce que tu parle anglais ?" (Do you speak English)

"Yeah, I do. You know I do."

Bianca laughed. "I know. Thank God. I hate speaking French with strangers."

"Why? You speak with an accent, but I can understand you."

Bianca shook her head. "My French is rusty. I only use it to speak with my mother and her family when they visit. We're not related, are we?"

"Didn't your mom tell you?" She shrugged. "No, we're not. My mom and your mom are friends. We've been friends for how long and you don't know if we're related?"

Bianca shrugged again "Just need to make sure. It's been a year since I've seen you. You don't have an accent when you speak English."

I was American before I was French. "I practiced."

"Mm. A smart boy. I like it."

Did she... Did she just say that out loud? "I can hear you?"

"Oh, I know." And she touched my arm. "I broke up with my boyfriend because he was a cheating bastard and I need a rebound."

"That was frank." I couldn't believe she just said that. No hesitation.

"In South Glade, that's how we survive."

"Is South Glade a bad neighborhood?"

The place I lived was the bad part of of the city. Seriously?

Bianca shrugged. "It's a rough place. If you want nice and pretty, try downtown. Or one of the other wards. South Glade isn't like Paris."

Of course, we came to the worst part of town. I would say it was bad luck, but I'm more inclined to blame Set or Athena.

"I'm heading out to the beach. You want to come?"

"We're not on the coast."

"No duh. I mean the lake."

Since when did Mayfield have a lake? "What lake? I didn't read anything about a lake."

"It's an artificial lake the city council built in 2017. It's at the center of the city and it's pretty big... How did you miss that from the air?"

"I had an aisle seat." If you were riding a plane, the aisle seat was superior. The window seat came in second, in case you were wondering.

"Then let me be the first to show you. MOM! I'm going out!"

"Alright, honey."

"Can Calixte come with me?"

"Oui!" my mother called a moment later.

I did live here once, I might as well get to know it. And I did spend the last ten hours on a plane. I could stretch my legs. I wasn't too tired.

"Sure. Show me around." I did my best to smile.

In the US, you could drive at fifteen, so she grabbed her mom's car. I wasn't sure if it was legal for her to drive with another minor, but Bianca didn't seem to care if it was.

"You have your license?"

"Sure."

I didn't get the chance to see the lake. At the center of the city was a lake, with a ring of trees surrounding it. It wasn't very thick, but it was enough to hide us. I thought we were walking to the lake beach, but she was leading us deeper into the tree line.

Bianca crossed her arms. "My boyfriend broke up with me by sleeping with Selena. She was one of my best friends."

"Oh." I didn't know what to say. That came out of left field, and I wasn't prepared. "I'm sorry."

Bianca stopped next to a thick tree. "I wouldn't sleep with him. That's why he did it. Can you believe that?"

Yeah, I could. The world was full assholes. "You deserve better."

"I know I do." Bianca stripped off her jacket and tossed it to the ground. "I'm still a virgin. That's why he wanted to fuck me. Well, fuck him. Selena's a whore, so maybe he'll catch something."

In one swift motion, she stripped her shirt from her skirt and tossed it on the ground. She was wearing a lacy black bra.

"Bryce can go fuck himself. Or fuck Selena. I had to block him. He's been trying to kiss my ass since I found out."

My heart was racing and my face was burning. "Okay..."

"He still wants to fuck me, but I'll be damned before I touch his pencil dick."

"Alright. Fair." I took a step back and she took a step toward me.

"If he wants me to lose my virginity so much, then I fucking will."

Then she ambushed me. Before I knew what was happening, Bianca had her skirt on the ground and she was taking her bra off. We were around the same age and it might have just been my teenage, hormone-ridden body, but her tits were firm and her stomach was toned. She slipped out of her green pants easily enough, wearing a lacy pair of panties. She undid her ponytail, letting her long blonde hair slip free, and pulled down those paints.

Then she jumped me, in a literal sense. She was on top of me before I could process what was happening. Then we were a tightening knot of flesh being drawn together. Her hands were tangled in my hair, pulling me closer. Her breath was hot, and it was in my mouth and she tasted strangely like strawberries. Her breasts smashed against my bare chest which she just uncovered. She smelled like flowers and ripe apples, a musk that I hadn't noticed despite spending the last hour walking to find this meadow.

There was no hesitation as Bianca moved. There was no doubt as she pushed me down and pressed her lips into mine. One of my hands was on the back of her neck, tangled in her flowing blonde hair. The other was at her waist before she grabbed it and slid it into the wetness between her legs. She had done this before, so much that she seemed comfortable. She was aggressive, demanding to be in command. She pushed herself against me, flesh slamming onto wet flesh. It was a good thing there was no one else around because the sounds were unmistakable.

I didn't know why, but the thought that she wasn't a virgin didn't cross my mind. She had had a parade of boyfriends over the last few years, so I guess I shouldn't have assumed. Then she rolled me over so she was on the bottom and wrapped her legs around my waist. I didn't think much after that.

Not until we were laying naked next to each other, breathing deeply. Bianca was curled next to me, and if I didn't know her as well as I did, I never would have guessed that she was the sharp-tongued monster that haunted the school. It had taken me two lives, but as we lay together and I stared up at the cloudless blue sky, I felt satisfied.

***

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