The Fake Elf

He focused back on Mikkah, closing his status – and shutting up the annoying imp girl with it.

“Again, o Holy Knight,” the elf girl said, “I know this must be quite confusing for you, but I implore you to take on this sacred mission with me. We need to save this shard from the demon’s rule.”

“Right.” He nodded. “You mentioned a prophecy?”

There was no such quest in MYSTALE ONLINE.

“Yes! The prophecy of the elven priestess and her holy knight.” Again, she nodded as if to underline her words.. “I have awoken from my slumber, just like you did. And together, we will get rid of the demons.”

“Wait, what happened to the balance of light and dark?”

“There is no such thing as that.”

“Uh, isn’t that the main thing of this game? That there has to be a balance to be maintained, and as such, the factions can work together, as well as against each other?”

“Demons working with humans?” She let out a bitter laugh. “Never in a million years. They are all horrible, vile creatures.”

“That’s not true,” he argued instinctively.

Of course, most players were mature enough to see MYSTALE ONLINE as what it was, a game to have fun with, but there were some that took the basic morality a little too seriously, thinking they were ‘the good ones’ just for choosing Lucine’s faction, and justified yelling slurs at demon players with it being ‘roleplay’. They really needed to touch grass.

She took a step back and shook her head. “What the fuck is wrong with you? You’re a holy knight. You shouldn’t defend the demons!”

“I’m not a holy knight, I’m an automaton,” he corrected her.

At that, she blushed a deep red, but it didn’t reach her long ears. “I, um… don’t know what that is. Since I’m an elf, and all.”

He stopped.

“Something is wrong with you,” he said.

“There is nothing wrong with me! You’re the strange one, defending demons!”

“That’s not what I meant.” He gestured at her. “You’re not an elf.”

“Of course I’m an elf.” She, in turn, pointed at her ears. “I was just asleep for a long time. I know that the others have vanished, but I stayed to fulfill the prophecy.”

He did not buy it.

“So, how old are you then, elf?” he pressed her.

“Um, a few hundred years? N-not that it’s important. Again, I slept, and…”

“I know what elves look like.”

Despite this being different from the game he knew, there were a few things that remained the same. The automaton looked old and rusty, but just like the ones in the game did. The imp girl assistant was the same, even though she proclaimed herself to be his tormentor. And he could finally put together just what had been bothering him about Mikkah.

“Your hair is too light,” he finally pointed out, “And the ears are all wrong. Real high elves have their ears pointing downwards, not upwards.”

“T-that doesn’t matter, by Lucine’s truth! No human alive has ever seen an elf, so how should I know that their ears are wrong, or that their hair is a different blue from this?”

She grabbed her hair, glaring at it as if willing it to change its color to something more lore-accurate.

“At least you’re admitting it,” he sighed. “But I don’t understand why you did this facade.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “For the prophecy, of course! Everybody knows the story of the elven priestess and her holy knight. It’s our only hope.”

Her voice got smaller. “How can we have hope if there are no elves to save us?”

She fought her tears back, as she grabbed her hair tighter and tighter. And suddenly, he felt quite guilty.

“I… I’m sorry,” he finally said. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I feel like this is just as difficult for me as it is for you.”

He still didn’t fully understand. He was dead. Reincarnated, maybe — but could you call it that, if your new body was made of metal instead of flesh?

She sniffed. “Oh, sweet lady. This is all too much, really.”

But at least she was calming down. He got closer to her, before he knelt down, one hand on his knee.

“So, you’re human?”

Up close, when he focused right, he could see the edge of the fake ears. They were impressive, really, and would have fooled him if not for his game knowledge.

“Uh-huh.” She took a shaky breath. “I’m a human… mechanic, if that means anything to you.”

He nodded. “So you repaired the automaton.”

“That’s right. I fiddled a little with the settings,” she wiggled with her hands, “And prayed to our good Lady over here, to find a reliable soul to fill it with.”

He looked at the statue. “Huh. Aren’t you a follower of Lucine? Why would you pray to Nys?”

“What are you trying to imply?” she hissed.

He pointed at the statue’s feet. “See that detail? It’s her tail.”

It had always been amusing to him that there was a temple to Nys on this world shard, as it was so far away from the usual temples of hers. Even the style reminded him more of Lucine, and for many other players, it was the same. It probably was supposed to show the duality of the twin goddesses or something, but it never got implemented. He wouldn’t be surprised if the person responsible for making this temple left the company at some point, and it was all but forgotten.

She stared at the statue, and on her face was a mix of all kinds of emotions. It was so easy to read that he didn’t know why she even bothered with her fake elven act. But finally, she looked at him again.

“I’m sorry. I was in such a hurry that I didn’t understand what I was doing,” she finally whispered.

He shrugged. “It’s alright. I’m here now, and this body is pretty neat. I’m not sure what you did to actually let me take control of it, but I appreciate it.”
For a moment, he went back to his menu. There, Ki-Rai was, looking as angry as before.

“So it’s her fault,” she hissed. “Oh, if only I had a body, I would…”

“So you really tried to force me to kill her?”

She glared at him, then let out a shrill laugh. “Of course! Wouldn’t that be funny? Wouldn’t it drown you in agony and despair as her blood stains the water?”

“Wow, you’re actually evil.”

“Hehe, of course! I told you, I’m a curse that gained consciousness, and my purpose is to—”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re an evil program. Great. Thanks for clearing that up.”

“Hey, I wasn’t done—”

It was kind of fun, being able to cut her off like that. He stretched, and realized that Mikkah was still staring at him.

“What was that?” she asked.

“Oh, just a little talk with the evil AI implemented in this torture machine,” he answered.

“AI? What’s that?”

“Oh, like a program, I guess?”

She blinked at him. “I don’t understand.”

“Ah, just imagine it like an little ghost that wants to hurt people. But it can’t do anything right now.”

“...alright. Whatever that means.” She didn’t look fully convinced, though.

He looked around. What was it he wanted to do, again? But then he remembered. Of course. Even if he was stuck in the game’s worst class — in his opinion, at least — he should see what his skills actually were.