THE MOMENT
“I'll admit it was a change…,” Paul chuckled as he told the story to his latest group. They were adventuring through an unfamiliar area, and he'd never grouped with any of the girls before, but they seemed to be a regular trio. Still, he enjoyed sharing the story any chance he got, and it was part of the reason he was always joining new groups. “... Waking up in a sword & sorcery type world took some time to get used to. But, I've had years to acclimate since then.”
“I chose the Healer class thinking I'd keep myself safe,” he shrugged. “I haven't needed it the way I thought, but it's proven useful. It seems like groups are always looking for a Healer,” he laughed and gestured at the three girls. Two of them were teen twins who chose to be Knights, and the third was a younger girl, around 10, with brown hair who was a Paladin. They were currently on a quest for her, and Paul was surprised when she stopped suddenly.
“Oh no… wait!”The young Paladin in golden armor was in the lead, but everyone stopped as they emerged from the forest. Paul was following her and surrounded by both Knights for protection. He wondered why they stopped, and he looked ahead to see a vaguely familiar building that he’d never seen before. It was solid concrete construction, which he hadn’t expected, but he also noticed a black and yellow symbol on the heavy metal doors.
“Whoa… is that…,” he wondered aloud and took a step toward it before one of the twins, Karin, stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.
“SORRY!” Six, the Paladin dashed up to Paul to personally apologize with a concerned expression. “Something came up, and I have to leave. But, thank you for joining us! I’m going to disband the group now, but I think the twins are staying if you want to keep exploring,” she said.
“Wait, what?’ He’d been distracted by the door and didn’t notice a fourth girl join them. He’d gotten used to the twins, Davina and Karin, while they adventured. Davina was talkative and Karin wasn’t, but they all got along well. He was surprised at the existence of another young girl who looked identical to Six, except with blonde hair and brown eyes instead of Six’s green.
“That’s my sister, 23,” Six smiled as she gestured at her twin. “She needs me for stuff, sorry, Bye!” she waved, and both Six and 23 left through a black portal.
“Do you want to keep going?” Paul thought he’d gotten to a point where very little surprised him. But, he’d had a confusing couple of seconds followed by a question from the most unlikely source. Karin hadn’t said a thing all day, until she asked him that question with a nod at the ruin.
“Just us?” he asked. He was interested, but even though Davina and Karin were knights, Six had been doing most of the tanking.
“More loot,” Davina nodded in confirmation.
“You know, in my old world.. That was the hazard symbol for nuclear radiation…,” he nodded his agreement as they started forward. “What about the Earth you girls are from?” he asked.
“Same,” Davina nodded.
“It’s a good thing I had all those years to get acclimated,” Paul laughed as the doors began to open for them. “I woke up in a Sword and Sworcery type world and thought I’d gone back in time or something,” he chuckled at the memory. “I think I might’ve avoided this place altogether if I didn’t learn it was an AlterNet server owned by a multiversal corporation.”