CD Chapter Ten (Patreon)

Atae’s temple actually was surprisingly humble. There were no statues, no pews or cushions for penitents to sit on, no candles or icons. A simple wooden door opened into a space perhaps ten feet wide and twenty feet long, and at the far end was a short pedestal, with a deep purple cloth draped over it. On the cloth sat a copper bowl, though Alpha couldn’t tell what the bowl contained, if anything.

You have entered a shrine dedicated to the Goddess Atae. You currently have no Patron Deity. You may swear fealty to Atae by praying at her altar.

As Mai Ley closed the door behind them with a firm click, a new notification appeared in Alpha’s vision, and she swore, whirling on the priestess. “What the actual heat pump? I’m a follower of Vorus! I worked hard to get some good buffs from him. What happened to that? Are you just here to force me to join your religion?”

A small smile touched Mai Ley’s lips. “Try,” she suggested softly. “You Travelers may choose any of the Gods, and if you decide you no longer wish to follow them, you simply switch to another. I promise I have not brought you here to convert you, and if you pray to my Goddess, you will see the truth of my words.”

Alpha glared suspiciously, but she knew the NPC was right, at least about being able to change her mind. She personally knew several players who had switched gods, some of them more than once, as they found another member of the seemingly limitless pantheon whose boons suited them better, or whose shrines were more conveniently placed.

“Is that why I woke up in the graveyard, rather than Vorus’ temple? I don’t have a god any more, so I rose in, what, unholy ground?” But even as she said it, she was stalking toward the pedestal.

Mai Ley trailed her, seeming to drift above the ground rather than take steps. At level two hundred, maybe she really did have some kind of [Hover] skill. The highest-ranked player on the leaderboard was a paladin named The Illuminator, who followed Virac, the god of justice, who supposedly led all the gods. Even The Illuminator hadn’t quite reached level one hundred and fifty, so generating an NPC who was level two hundred was basically the same as making that NPC unkillable, at least one on one.

Alpha started to kneel in front of the altar, but Mai Ley gently caught her elbow, halting her with no apparent effort. “Atae does not demand that you kneel before Her. Simply come to Her and pray.”

Shrugging, Alpha looked up at the ceiling, which was as bare as the rest of the building. “Okay, Atae. What if I did want to follow you?”

You have chosen to pray to the Goddess Atae. Would you like to Follow Atae?

Warning: The undead may worship Atae, but they must rejoin the cycle of life and death, immediately returning to the Chaos Pool.

Continue? Yes/No

Alpha stared at the message. “Am I reading this right?” she demanded. “If I want to follow Atae, I have to die? Poof, no more vampire?” Honestly, it was more than a little tempting. It wasn’t like she’d asked for this. There had to be a catch, though.

Mai Ley nodded serenely. “Your current incarnation would die, and you would return to formless void, as all living things must. You would begin a fresh life, once Atae found a suitable place for you.”

And there it was. If she did this, Alpha would die, and stay dead. She’d have to go back to character creation and make a new build, starting all over as a level one newbie. “So, AlphaOmegadon would really be dead,” she said, just to make sure she was understanding correctly.

The priestess inclined her head again. “Each time our souls pass through life, we gain new experiences and understanding. Travelers defy this cycle, and Atae disapproves, which is perhaps why so few of you enter her service. Undead are worse still, since they reject death in its entirety. While Atae accepts all, there are… consequences for attempting to violate the natural order.”

Alpha gritted her teeth. She needed to be strong. She didn’t have time or money to grind her way back up to a high enough level that she could charge real-world money for her services. “I see,” she said, and she did. She would have to wait, and listen to Amythyst, in order to find out what the GM’s ‘escape clause’ was.

Alpha leaned her head forward, taking several deep - and apparently unnecessary - breaths. “Fine,” she said, at last. “But I need someplace safe to leave my-,” she hesitated. Was the abandoned avatar of an undead still called a Zombie, or was she just a little more vampiric than usual? “Body, I guess?”

Mai Ley gestured around. “And that is why I have brought you here. This place is safe. It is rare that anyone disturbs my contemplation, and if someone should choose to do so, I can still protect you from anything less than a God. Atae has commanded that you be healed and given a place of rest. You are not one of Her servants, nor even one who has earned Her blessing, but I do not question my Goddess. I will give my own life before I allow anyone to injure you, at least while you are here.”

Well, then. Alpha nodded, glancing around. “Do you have a bed, or something? If it’s not too much trouble. Travelers get buffs for sleeping comfortably, and-”

“I believe,” Mai Ley said, “that you will find this is no longer true. You are, after all, one of the restless dead, now. The restless dead do not truly sleep.”

Alpha rocked back a step. “Then, what happens when I log- I mean, when my soul returns to my other world, or whatever? Does my body just wander around, attacking people and getting into trouble?”

The slight tilt of Mai Ley’s lips widened. “That is part of why you must be healed before you rest. You will find that your new body has its own needs, and if you leave while they are unfulfilled, it will attempt to solve the problem, with or without you.”

Nope. That was it. Alpha popped open her stat sheet.

“Blood!” She clutched her stomach, which felt abruptly queasy. “What does this mean, I have to drink blood? And what’s with this cheesy goth stat sheet? And why am I not at full health?” Scanning the sheet, she found one answer. “Zero health regen? Zero? Amythyst! Get down here right now!”

Mai Ley tilted her head, voice mild as she said, “You gain much as a Master Vampire, but Virac decrees that all things must be in balance. In exchange for great strength, speed, and power, you must steal the lifeblood of those around you. Or, as in this case, accept it when offered.”

Mai Ley extended a pale hand over the copper bowl resting on the altar. A small knife appeared in her hand, and she swiftly sliced her palm, closing the hand into a fist so her blood flowed into the bowl like juice squeezed from a hidden fruit.

Alpha was used to the sight of virtual blood. After all, her job was literally to wait while other people fought and died around her, but that was all in the heat of battle. This calculated injury made her flinch in a way she hadn’t when she saw R3dLit3 and his friends massacred by ghouls. Reaching out, she made a Bandage appear from her inventory. The item would instantly stop the bleeding from any minor wound, and she tried to wrap it around Mai Ley’s hand.

Mai Ley looked at her askance, pale eyes weighing Alpha as if puzzled. She opened her hand, showing Alpha that the wound was entirely gone. “Fear not, Traveler. I merely offer you libation, and have done myself no true injury.” Picking up the bowl, she held it out to Alpha, the crimson liquid within swirling slowly. “Drink.”

Alpha took a step back, even as she felt something press against her lower lip. Reaching up, she poked herself on her own fangs, which were now noticeably longer and sharper. “What…?”

You have lost 2 Drops of Blood.

“Scissor lift!” she swore, looking at the thick red fluid sliding down the side of her forefinger. “So, I can’t recover health points at all? How about potions?”

“Poison,” Mai Ley said, patiently extending the bowl toward Alpha. “While you are mostly immune to standard poisons, things that are not poisonous to others can now slay you.”

Alpha’s belly growled, and before Alpha could do anything, her own hands took the bowl, lifting it to her lips. She drank, though inside, Ava resisted furiously, struggling to take back control of her own character.

You have restored 198 Drops of Blood. Your Health is now full.

Your Mana and Stamina regeneration will double for the next twelve hours, thanks to Powerful Blood.

When she looked down, the bowl was empty. Completely, unnaturally empty, as it had never held anything to begin with. She wanted to vomit, and at the same time, she felt a pleasant warmth centered on her belly, and her tongue registered the lingering flavor of… red licorice?

Mai Ley took the bowl back, replacing it on the altar. “Your body uses Blood as a human’s does food and water. Without Blood, your health steadily ticks down. When you reach half of your total Health, you - or your corporeal form - will seek sustenance, whether your soul desires it or not. You have just experienced a very mild example of this, but if you are badly injured, you will do what you must to survive.”

“So, if I take too long to log back in, my Zombie will go on some kind of murder spree?” Alpha translated, incredulous.

The priestess simply nodded. “You must seek out and recruit others who will help you maintain your body while your soul is absent. Without them, not only you, but anyone near you, will suffer the consequences. This once, however, I will care for you, and make certain that you injure no one.”

In the corner of her vision, Alpha’s clock started flashing. She only had four hours left to get even a short nap before work, and she was exhausted. Certainly, she was in no condition to be making decisions. “I… Fine,” she snapped, “whatever. I won’t be back for almost two days, though. Will you be okay?”

Again, Mai Ley gave her that slightly bemused look. “I will. Atae commands it.”

“All right,” Alpha said. After one more look around, she marched over to a corner in the back of the temple. She sat, hesitated as the hard floor made her shift uncomfortably, then laid down on her side. Glancing up, she asked, “Is this all right?”

Mai Ley almost sounded amused when she replied. “It is, but you could simply stand. Your body will be fine either way.”

Alpha just grunted, then reached up and pressed the Log Out button that hovered in front of her eyes.