Stone Cold

Lart stared at me horrified before quickly turning away. "Shit...Shit, shit, shit. NO!" He shouted. I waited for my body to turn to stone but nothing happened. I frowned. 

[Effect: Petrification]

[Status: Nuetralized]

I frowned at the words above me. Whoa. So being petrified counted as a status condition and for some reason I had immunity to it. Awesome. Lart was on the ground whimpering and muttering about petrifying the first person who cared. My heart almost broke.

"Lart." I called softly placing a hand on his shoulder. The gorgon jolted and turned, expression fearful. 

"Hey. Open your eyes." I whispered.

Lart shook his head vehemently and I sighed. "Lart you can hear me. Smell me. Touch me. I'm still here. I'm fine." I said. Lart swallowed and his snakes gently caressed my face before he finally cracked his eyes open. He squinted waiting. When nothing happened he opened them fully and looked me in the eyes. 

"Beautiful." I muttered. And his eyes were. He had bright snake eyes which were a brilliant shade of amber and flecks of gold.

Lart blushed, and blinked. "I...I-I'm sorry." He whispered. I smiled. "It's fine. Nothing happened. And you know what?" Lart frowned and cocked his head. 

"You can keep your eyes open in our room." I said gleefully. I could see those beautiful eyes everyday. Lart grinned, finally looking like himself again. 

"I think we should head to bed." The gorgon said. I nodded and stood up. "Ok. Um...good night?" I murmured, not sure what to say after what happened. Lart laughed and his snakes writhed.. "Good night, little butterfly." 

"Butterfly?" I turned to gawk at him. "Where did that come from?" 

Lart frowned. "You didn't notice?" I stared at him confused.

"When we were fighting the mimics, butterflies were appearing out of your fire." Lart esplained. I stared some more. Butterflies? Where did that come from?

"Hmm. Ok. Um..good night, I guess." I said. LArt nodded and I entered my room closing the door softly.

I instantly jumped into my bed and sighed.

I lay there unable to sleep due to today's events. Lart being a Player. The mimics. All of it. Due to me not having played enough campaigns I had no idea what was supposed to happen in this campaign. Probably a big battle. But even then, that uneasy feeling never left as I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep. 

----------------

The world was silent. Oh so silent. And I was a speck of nothingness. Here I am. In a vast ocean of magic. It was cold. So cold. I was here again. The Weave. A mass of crisscrossing lines. But I could see it. A knot here. A little twist there. Simple. Small.

A growing. 

I put fate in your hands....

What? Who was that?

I put fate in your hands...

For I am your past, your present, your future. The web of time...I leave my strings in your hands....

Wait...don't go. Don't leave. I turned my non-existent self and saw something. Something of great power. Someone. She was big, encompassing all my vision and red strings surrounded her. No. Not just strings. Hair. All twisting and turning creating a tapestry of time. Of...fate.

Don't leave me.

But the voice was gone. And then I dropped. Surrounded by fire, a web of pure unbridled magic strings crossing and twisting around me. Into me. 

-------------------

I jolted awake with a gasp. What...What just happened? I coughed. Wow my throat was really dry. And I was sweating profusely as if I had run a marathon. I noticed something red in my peripheral and looked up. I did a double take at the sight in front of me. Crisscrossing my room like a web were red strings. And they were all connected to my hand. 

I stared at the strings glowing in front of me unsure how to proceed. 'Choal?'

[I am sorry. I do not understand what has occured. It seems you have a new skill as well]

I frowned. A new skill?

I pulled up my skill menu and stared at the new skill sitting there as if it was always there.

[Butterfly's String of Fate (Lv. 12)]

[You can call upon the power of the Weave and manipulate time, reality, and space. The larger the change, the more energy it will take. too much will kill you. Depending on the level of change, the amount of time it takes to recharge will vary]

Holy.

Shit.

No way. I could...quite literally control fate. That didn't make sense. Plus this was a level 12 spell...I was only level 2! Was that dream I had not a dream at all? Something similar had happened when I touched the Snarl. Maybe I could get more info if I touched it again? But I would have to do it without anyone looking...

There was a sudden knock on my door. "Who is it?" I asked sighing. I could think about this later. 

"Oh, its Lart. I brought breakfast." Lart called. "Oh, come in." 

The gorgon entered and smiled when he noticed me in bed. Oh my god, he was only wearing sweats. And he had the most glorious chest I could ask for. lIke seriously who had a chest that big? It looked soft. Or would it be firm? I wanna ouch it...nope. getting sidetracked.

I cleared my throat as he walked over, carrying a tray with food on it. He sat on the edge of the bed and handed the tray to me. "Here. Eat up. We have a tour to do today." He said. I grinned and gladly took the tray. god, I hadn't eaten since yesterday and my inventory only had so much.

"So how are you? I see your eyes are open..." I said around the pancakes in my mouth.

 Lart smiled at my antics but he looked away after a few seconds. 

"I...I'm sorry. I just...I don't like to talk about how I died. Its not very fun to hear." Lart said quietly. I frowned. Well guess it was time to come clean.

"Well um...I loved Dragon Quest. It was the thing that made me feel better when I was down. I could escape into a reality where people didn't judge me, my parents actually loved me. You know?" I said, smiling sadly. Lart stared at me in silence. 

"I was rushing to play my first official Dragon Quest campaign. It was a social event near my school. I wasn't paying attention. I was waiting for the street light to change and I'm pretty sure someone pushed me into the street. Right in front of a truck."

Lart gasped softly. "Yeah. Thats how I died. Sometimes I wonder how others felt when I died." I said, playing my food beside me. 

"What if we could look?" Lart asked. I frowned and tilted my head. 

[That is possible] 

"I guess it wouldn't hurt. Maybe later. But you can tell me about what happened whenever you feel comfortable." I said, smiling. Lart nodded. Suddenly I was pulled into a strong chest. Lart was hugging me. I grinned and hugged him back. He smelled of the earth, soil and cedarwood.. It was warm and comfortable.

"Thank you, Peren."

"It's no problem big guy. Come on lets go do this tour and meet up with Miri."

The gorgon nodded and let me go before leaving the room. I smiled before sighing and getting myself ready for the day. Little did I know that today would prove to be a lot worse than yesterday.