Prologue

      Working at a video game store was my greatest accomplishment. Sure, my parents hoped that I would go onto university and make big money as a fancy business lady, but they are just happy I’m doing something I love. As much as I enjoyed geeking out over various franchises with customers and co-workers alike, my favorite part of the job was the sweet discounts I’d get on games. Unfortunately, company policy didn’t allow us to buy the new releases until a month after release, unless we buy at full price, and with the paycheck they give us, that isn’t in my monthly budget.

     For three months ago, the latest game in my all-time favorite series released. We sold out the first week. Ever since then, I have had been having to dodge spoilers, that is, until today. My new favorite co-worker had put a copy of “Era of Aberrant: Royal Aura” in my hands as I was about to leave for the day. We had just got the shipment in that morning, and my dear colleagues had been hiding them from me all day. What is even better, I have the next day off, screw what plans I had, this game is all that matters now.

     If you think about it, Era of Aberrant isn’t all that special. It’s your run of the mill medieval fantasy staring a prince and a princess who reincarnate every game to defeat the king of all demons who also reincarnates. My favorite character isn’t any of those people, it’s the captain of the royal guard, Harriette. Is so cool, not to mention pretty. Her role in the games is to be the guide/ support character when you’re in sections that you play as Princess Freya.

   After the grueling forty-nine-minute bus ride, I was finally home. My apartment was small, all it had was the main room and the bathroom, but there was a full kitchen completed with a stove and oven that I rarely use, but I don’t have to share. Honestly, how much room does one person need to store all her figurines. I slid the disk of my brand-new game into the designated console, and while all the information downloaded, I changed into my pajamas and microwaved myself some instant ramen. I got settled in my big chair; I slurped on my ramen as I watched the download bar finished. ‘Download complete.’ I booted up the game.

    I played that game until two in the morning. I saved the game and closed it down. I set down the controller on the end table, blankly I stared at the home screen, Princess Freya’s golden eyes burning into my soul. I waited all this time of this game, all for it to suck! They damseled Prince Ronald, some how making him dumber then usual, and my beloved Captain Harriette is no where to be seen! There are so many glitches it’s not funny, maybe I had received a faulty copy? I snatched my phone and typed ‘Era of Aberrant: Royal Aura reviews’ into the search bar. I cried at the sight of the results. I went to the bathroom, cleaned my face and teeth, then clutched my chest. I know I was disappointed on the game, but for my heart to hurt like this was uncalled for. I popped some mild pain pills and laid in my bed. ‘Just go to sleep’ I kept repeating in my head. ‘You will feel better when you wake up.’

    I did feel better when I awoke, unfortunately I had a heart attack that night. I had died. I was thirteen again, falling from the sky. I recognized the place below, it was Bugalas Castle from Era of Aberrant! For a moment a felt excited, until I remembered I was falling from the sky. I smashed into the path just below the stairs to the doors of the main castle, leaving a huge crater in my wake. When I came to, there she was in all her glory, Harriette, younger than I had ever seen her before. She and all the other royal guards surrounded me.

    “Captain,” I was shocked to hear Harriette to call someone else that, but it made sense, given how young she looked. “What should we do with her?”

   A man nearing the end of middle age stepped forward. “Throw her in the dungeon until the king gives us further instruction.” The current captain commanded.

    Harriette grabbed me by the shoulder. I admit I was extremely giddy; I was smiling like I had just won the lottery. She and another guard threw me into a cell in the cold, damp dungeon. Harriette looked down at me in disgust. She slammed the door closed. I then noticed a rat on its hind legs next to me, I screamed at the top of my lungs, which scared the rat, it ran towards the bars. It scurried past Harriette, who was unimpressed by the whole situation.

    She slammed her hand against the bars. “I don’t know why the King of All Demons would send, someone like you?” She raised an eyebrow. “Hold on, you aren’t a monster, just a weird looking person.” She pulled back. “Hm, the king will get to the bottom of this.” She then turned her back to me, leaning against the bars.

    It dawned on me, in a world populated by super models, my average appearance is totally out of place. After a few minutes of waiting, I got bored, even with admiring Harriette’s silky black hair. So, I did the only rational thing there was, count how many cells there were around me. I concluded that I was in the same cell Harriette and Princess Freya was in at the beginning of her first level of the fourth installment of the Era of Aberrant series. I stood up to test something, I walked over to the far wall. I jammed my index finger into the space in between two bricks. Yes! It was there, the secret passage. I pressed my back against the loose bricks as Harriette side eyed me. I would wait for my verdict from the king, if it wasn’t favorable, I would slip out and escape into Forfeit Forest. It’s quite the lovely place, if you don’t mind the few monsters that lurk there.

    I was always fond of the levels there, perhaps it was because my parents would take me hiking often as a kid. I miss them, sure my hero is standing before me, but I’m dead, my parents outlived their daughter. I’m never going to see them again. I broke down and cried. I shouldn’t have ignored the pain in my chest, I should have just called an ambulance, it’s not like I knew the signs of a heart attack, grandma made sure I knew because that’s how grandpa died when dad was the age I have regressed to. I didn’t appreciate my family enough, I should have called home more, or at least texted ‘I love you’ more. It is too late for all that now, I’m gone.

    I lifted my tear-soaked face. Harriette was watching me with pity. Her hand grasped the bar as footsteps approached. Harriette turned to whoever it was. Her slender pink eyes grew wide. “Your highness!” She gave a bow.

    “How is the prisoner, Harriette?” The man that would become King Gotthilf was the one who asked her. He is the father of Prince Ronald and Princess Freya, or he will be in the future. At his side was the captain of the royal guard.

   “She seems remorseful, my prince.” Harriette answered, still bowing.

   Gotthilf then waved his hand for Harriette to get out of the way. He replaced her in front of me. “My father has entrusted me to decide your fate. Now, tell me young lady, why and how are you here?”

   Thus, I explained everything. How I lived and how I died. I confessed everything, how I was such a big fan, the only thing I didn’t reveal was the secret passage behind me. The captain was stern. Harriette seemed to have an epiphany about my perspective, and Gotthilf had his mouth covered by his hand and his eyes closed in thought.

   “Captain,” Gotthilf commanded. “What are her stats?” I had almost forgotten about stat stones; in the games they were used to explain why only the player could see HP bars and MP bars.

    The captain did as his prince asked, he reached into a pocket in his inner jacket and pulled out a clear gem. He held it to his right eye and closed his left. “She has a healthy two thousand five hundred HP,” he lowered the gem to meet Gotthilf’s gaze, “but my prince, she has no MP. There is no bar, no number associated with her, even bugs at least have a stat of one.”

    Gotthilf closed his eyes again. “How peculiar.” He then addressed me. “Amice, get on your knees and swear loyalty to the kingdom of Bugalas.”

     I got on my knees; I proceeded to cover my heart with my right fist. “I, Amice, swear my undying loyalty to the Kingdom of Bugalas!”

    I was released and hired as a maid in the castle. Not long after Harriette and I became best friends. Through out the years, we learned more about my condition. As it turns out, it is rare for one to not have any MP but not impossible. My lack of magic did make it harder for me to do my work as efficiently as the other maids, but it did open an opportunity for me. I wasn’t an official part of the royal guard, because I didn’t meet the height requirement of one-hundred-sixty-five centimeters. My job was to keep an eye on things, no one would suspect that the magicless maid would have working ears or was a master of every secret passage in the castle. People often forgot I existed, opposed to when Harriette was in the room. With her mere presence, people kept their mouths shut, even when she was just an ordinary guard.

     On the day that we celebrated my seventeenth/thirtieth birthday, Harriette gave me my most treasured possession, my very own stat stone. I had never been so close to anyone in my previous life. When she was twenty, I even asked her to court me, she declined and asked to just be friends. I understood, so I took an oath; “I, Amice, swear to find you, Harriette, the best husband ever!” After all these years, I never forgot that promise, even though it seems I failed.

     Three years ago, Harriette was promoted to Captain of the royal guard. There was a huge celebration, I was the only one in the castle who wasn’t hung over the next morning. One good thing about never drinking, I guess. If they went that hard for Harriette’s promotion, I hate to see how King Gotthilf’s wedding celebration would be like, if he gets married. No one remembered what happened that night, but nine months later, Harriette had twins. I should have kept an eye on her that night instead of going to my room to read. Esmee and Biff took over our lives. I promised to protect them with every fiber of my being as their aunt.

     All good things must come to an end. Unfortunately, this place was not my personal heaven. War was soon to begin, all three of my promises would be put to the test.