Virtual Reality: Dragon Quest II

The dolphins dived, and didn't resurface. I didn't think much of it at first, but then I started getting a bad feeling. "Well, they're gone. Maybe we should get away from the... FUCK!"

A pair of smiling, jellyfish-like Man-O-Wars rose up from the waves, hovering directly toward us. As with the Babble I'd encountered near Endor, they certainly looked a lot less comical in real life. I pushed Gwen out of the way, drawing my sword. The creatures just missed Gwen, landing on the deck.

"To arms!" A sailor shouted.

The two Princes came up on deck, their weapons ready. My shield was in my bag, but I had the Dragon Killer out and ready. One of the vicious little jellyfish critters leapt toward Gwen, and I intercepted it, slicing in a wide arch with my sword. The creature deflated when I hit it, making a gurgling noise that sounded like someone hocking up phlegm, and fell to the deck.

I spun, looking for the other monster, but a stroke of electricity from Gwen's Staff of Thunder found it before me. The creature twitched, steam and smoke boiling from it, and then fell to the deck. Its tentacles continued to twitch -- muscular contractions caused by the electrical shock -- but it was certainly dead.

Thakkor and Lars sheathed their swords as they approached. "You fight well," Thakkor said with a grunt of approval.

"I get by," I responded with a grin. I dug around in my bag, and found a cloth to wipe the critter slime off my sword.

"You've saved me again, it seems," Gwen said, smiling beatifically.

"They were just Man-O-Wars, you handled that second one well enough with your staff," I disagreed, while wiping down my sword. Holding it up to examine it, I decided it looked clean, and slipped it back into its sheathe at my hip.

"I wish we had some Fairy Water left," Lars lamented. "The repel spell twists my tongue."

"Hmm," I said, and dug into my bag. Sure enough, I found numerous bottles of Fairy Water. Pulling out one, I said, "Ask and ye shall receive!"

"Thank you," Lars said with a relieved sigh. "I'm sorry I didn't think to cast the spell before we left."

"Not your fault, Lars. It would have hardly worked in Rhone, so you're out of the routine," Thakkor said.

After I sprinkled the Fairy Water over us, the remainder of our journey was uneventful. I saw numerous monsters out in the sea around us, but none approached out ship. When I noticed them drawing a little closer, I pulled out a second bottle and sprinkled it over us. We made it to World Tree Island without incident.

Beaching the ship was an interesting experience, to say the least. Fortunately, the crew knew what they were doing, and we didn't hit too hard. I understood the necessity, considering that getting into a longboat in an ocean full of vicious monsters wasn't exactly wise, but it didn't make the thought of crashing our boat into a deserted island any more appealing.

Once we all regained our balance, Gwen suggested, "Thakkor, why don't you go get the Leaf, since you usually carry it anyway. Lars, Matt, and I will go gather up some of the fruit here on the island. It will be a rare treat for a couple of days."

"Sounds good to me," Thakkor agreed, and flipped a coil of rope that was tied to the rail over the edge. It landed in the sand, and he swung over the side. The Prince and Princess followed, and then I got a taste of the difficulty inherent in climbing down a rope while wearing armor.

I wasn't looking forward to the climb back up onto the ship.

Once we were on the beach, a couple of sailors tossed us down wicker baskets, to collect the fruit in. Once we had the baskets, we started hiking inland. Finding the World Tree wouldn't be any problem, because it dominated the horizon. The tree had to be a hundred feet tall, and shaded most of the island. We found the fruits Gwen was looking for long before we reached it, however.

"It looks like these are ripe, and there are plenty of them. We won't have to carry the baskets so far, either," Gwen remarked, heading toward a berry bush.

"I'll head on to the tree, then," Thakkor said, waving as he walked on.

"I'll get the berries. Why don't you and Matt climb up and get some of the other fruit?" Gwen started whistling, as she gathered berries.

I chuckled slightly, realizing that Gwen was whistling Endless World, one of the two overworld themes from the game.

"I'm lighter, so boost me up, Matusen," Lars suggested.

"Okay," I replied. We walked over to one of the trees, which had yellow colored, banana-like fruits hanging from it. Lars took off his more cumbersome plates of armor, and I cupped my hands, giving him a boost up to the lower branches.

Lars started dropping down the fruit, and I deposited each in a basket after catching it. Soon enough, we had four baskets full. Glancing over, I saw that Gwen had filled two baskets with the berries, which looked much like cherries. She was bringing the second basket over to the trail and sitting it down, just as I dropped the last fruit from the tree into my basket.

"I think that's about all they'll hold, Lars," I called up to the Prince.

"Step back, and watch out then. I'm coming down," Lars responded.

I picked up the baskets and moved them away from the tree, while Lars climbed back down to the lower branches again. When he reached them, he eased himself down, and then dropped to hang from a branch. A moment later, he hit the ground with a grunt, and dusted off his hands.

"Let's get this back to the ship. We'll have the crew pull the baskets up, and then we'll relax on the beach until Thakkor gets back," Gwen said, picking up her two baskets with a little sound of exertion.

Lars strapped back on his armor, and then we hefted our own burdens, following after the whistling Princess. I couldn't help but pick up the tune as well, which drew a roll of Lars' eyes.

Once the baskets were on board, Gwen happily skipped off away from the ship toward a spot on the beach that was more or less free of driftwood and other debris.

"I'm going to go take a nap under a tree," Lars said, and waved to me as he headed back toward the tree line.

Shrugging, I walked over to the beach after Gwen. She kicked off her shoes, and hiked up her Water Flying Cloth, showing off a long expanse of very shapely leg. My lips twitched into a smile, even as my cock twitched with arousal beneath my armor.

Gwen sat down on the beach, sticking her feet into the sand where the waves washed over her legs as they came in. I walked over and asked, "Is that a good idea? No way of knowing what's lurking out there."

Gwen waved her hand in a dismissive gesture, "Poo. The monsters won't come this close to World Tree Island. This is one of the few places left in the world that is truly safe. Come sit down." Reaching into a pocket, Gwen withdrew some berries, wrapped in waxed paper, and a couple of the banana fruits. "Care for some fruit?"

"Sure, why not," I said, accepting the banana from her. I sat down a little farther back, not really in the mood to put back on my boots with wet, sand covered feet later, or get my boots wet in the waves.

Peeling the fruit, I found it tasted exactly like a banana. The tree it came from had looked more like an apple tree, but it was a banana, nonetheless. I figured the other fruits probably tasted like cherries, even though they came from a bush, instead of a tree.

Gwen picked up one of the cherries by the stem, and dangled it over her mouth. I wondered if she had any idea how erotic the action of sucking the fruit from the stem looked. A second cherry followed, with exactly the same distracting display. I shifted a little in the sand, knowing that it was going to do little to relieve the pressure of my steadily rising erection. Hargon changed her into a dog, but I think a fox would have been far more appropriate. Damn, she's hot, I thought with a mental chuckle.

Letting out a contented little sigh, Gwen leaned back and shook out her blonde hair. Sitting behind her, it gave me a good enough view to determine that she had perky breasts, which were probably just about a handful in size. She lay back for a minute or two, her eyes closed, letting the sun warm her face.

Sitting back up, Gwen reached into her pocket again. When she pulled out one of the bananas, I thought, Oh boy -- don't tell me she's going to...

She was.

As Gwen slipped the banana between her lips, taking her sweet time with it before biting down, I thought, She has to know exactly what she's doing. There's no way any woman is this blatantly erotic naturally.

Thakkor's voice rang out from behind us, "We'll have to wait for the tide, so I managed to catch a couple of pheasants on the way back. Would you mind cooking them, Gwen? Lars or I will just burn them."

I thought I caught just a faint hint of irritation from Gwen, but if so, it vanished as quickly as it had appeared. "Of course, Thakkor. No sense wasting good meat on your cooking."

Thakkor laughed, "At least I'm willing to admit it! Lars still believes he can cook!"

"I can cook!" Lars protested.

Thakkor countered, "Tell that to the rabbit stew we buried at sea a few weeks ago. Every fish for a mile around probably swam the other way when we threw it in!"

Gwen stood up, brushing the sand off her bottom. When she finished, she turned toward me and bent slightly. "Did I get it all?"

I couldn't see much through the thick Water Flying Cloth, but I could see enough to know she certainly had a very nice ass. "Looks good to me," I replied.

I know I didn't imagine the slight raise of her eyebrows when I said that.

Thakkor was still teasing Lars about his cooking. Gwen turned back around and said, "Why don't you take Lars inland, to look for some vegetables? He knows what he's looking for. He may not be able to cook, but he's good at recognizing plants. You bring back some firewood, and we'll have a hot meal before we set out again."

"Can do," I replied. I stood up, wincing from the pressure of my erection against the metal codpiece of my armor.

"Are you okay?" Gwen asked, with just the hints of a knowing smile on her lips.

"Fine, just sitting down a little too long I think."

Gwen's smile broadened a little, and she walked toward where Thakkor held the two pheasants by their necks. I walked over to Lars, and we set out inland.

@===||>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Thakkor sat back with a long, content sigh. "Gwen, remind me to thank whoever taught you to cook when we get home."

A shout came down from the ship, "Tide's coming in!"

Lars stood, and kicked sand over the fire until it was completely snuffed out. "Let's get going. We still have a long sail ahead of us."

We all gathered up our belongings and headed toward the ship. Thakkor started stripping off his armor when we reached the rope. "I'm just going to have them toss down some sailcloth to wrap this in, and have them pull it up. I'm too full to try and climb wearing it."

"Good idea," Lars remarked, going to work on the straps to his armor as well.

"I'm going ahead," Gwen announced. Turning to me, she asked, "Give me a bit of a boost, Matusen?"

"Sure," I answered, and followed her over to the rope. We waited until the square of sailcloth that would transport our armor dropped to the ground, and I tossed it to Thakkor, who was almost done removing his. I then cupped my hands under Gwen's feet as she grabbed the rope, lifting her as she climbed. I felt her slip a second later, and heard her exclaim, "Oh!"

Looking up, I reached out to steady her. The hem of her magical gown dropped over my head as she slid down, leaving me looking straight up it at her bare -- very sexy -- bottom, which I was supporting with my hands to arrest her fall.

Using my shoulders as steps, Gwen climbed again, looking back over her shoulder and saying, "Thank you for catching me."

"No problem," I called back up. Other than the fact I have a raging hard-on again, I added silently.

Thakkor and Lars both bundled up their armor in the sailcloth, and Thakkor turned to me. "Go ahead and get out of that armor. We'll send it all up together."

Trying to ignore my erection banging on the codpiece again, I said, "Go ahead and send yours up, and get on board. That way you don't have to wait for me to get all this off."

Thakkor nodded, and tied off the bundle. While they pulled it up, I tugged at the first of the straps on my armor, running the least arousing images I could think of through my head. Lunch ladies. That weird old woman with the goat beard who used to live up the street. The chick off Kingpin. That one did it. The image nearly made me gag, and sent my cock heading south in a hurry -- just in time.

I removed the last of my armor, just as Lars sent the sailcloth back down. I tied it up, sent it on its way, and then climbed the rope behind it. A short while later, the tide buoyed us off the beach, and we were on our way again, protected this time by a repel spell from Lars.

@===||>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"I'll never understand why they eat gold," Lars remarked, scooping up a few coins from amongst the muck of the dead Healer on the ground in front of us.

Thakkor added, "Or weapons -- or lottery tickets for that matter. Just another symptom of Hargon's madness, I suppose. No ticket?"

Lars shook his head. "Dozens of Healers, and who knows how many other monsters, and we only have one ticket to show for it."

I noticed three more of the creatures popping up over a hill just to our right. "Incoming," I hissed to the others, who immediately set for battle.

The healers looked startled, and very uncertain. I had a weird thought, spurred on by D.Q. Four, and acted on it for the hell of it. "Hey, you -- Healers! Give us lottery tickets, and we won't splatter you all over the landscape!"

"Are you mad?" Thakkor asked me quietly.

"Worth a shot," I whispered back.

The creatures hovered close together, and appeared to be communicating with each other. One hovered forward slowly, its tentacles dangling limp below it, in what I assumed was a gesture indicating an intent of non-hostility.

My three companions prepared themselves for battle, causing the Healer to hesitate, and hover backwards a few feet. "Hang on," I whispered. "Be ready, but try not to look threatening."

"This is insane," Lars said in a quiet, singsong voice.

"Shh, just trust him," Gwen admonished.

The Healer remained where it was for a few more seconds, and then drifted slowly forward again. It stopped a short distance away, and started to speak. "Come. Give tickets. No kill. Go away." The thing's voice reminded me of Merman off the old Masters of the Universe cartoon. It sounded like the thing was speaking while gargling Listerine.

"Okay then, show us where the tickets are, and we'll leave you alone," I answered the creature.

It turned, and waved its tentacles in an oddly human beckoning gesture. The other Healers backed farther away, but remained within sight, their tentacles drooping in the same non-hostile posture as the lone on that had approached us.

"I'm not following that monster into an ambush," Lars hissed.

"I'll go," I told him. "Just keep your eyes open, and come save me if this is a trap. I don't think it is, though."

"We'll be ready," Thakkor informed me.

Nodding to him, I started off after the Healer. It went toward a rock up next to a tree, and I could see a hollow beneath the stone. The creature disappeared into the opening, and emerged a few moments later with something clutched in its tentacles. Hovering forward, it dropped the lottery tickets, actually little rectangular lead tokens, a few feet away from me.

"Take. No kill. Go away," the creature said, while backing away.

When the Healer was far enough away for both of us to feel comfortable, I took a few steps forward and scooped up the tickets. "Pleasure doing business with you," I said with a wave.

"Go away," the Healer gurgled.

Laughing, I said, "Yeah, no problem, we're going. We've got what we want."

Jogging back to the chosen ones, I held up the four tickets and smiled.

"I've never seen anyone reason with a monster before," Thakkor remarked with surprise.

"I've never seen anyone mad enough to consider it," Lars added, shaking his head in disbelief.

I shrugged my shoulders. "They're not all completely mad from Hargon's magic, and they're not stupid. I made them an offer that was too good to refuse. They already had all the evidence they needed that we could kill them, if we wanted to." I gestured at the nearby remains of the monsters from the previous battle.

Thakkor chuckled. "Regardless, we have what we came for."

I stuffed the tickets in my bag, and said, "Let's get to town and put these to good use. Five should be enough. Like I said -- I'm lucky!"

@===||>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Lars shook his head and laughed, as the man running the lottery handed over our third Wizard's Ring. "I don't believe it. I simply don't believe it."

I'd won several free plays, and lost one, before I won the first Wizard's Ring. The process was much the same for the other three, except I never had another dead spin of the wheels. "One ticket left. Let's see if we can't get a fourth, for insurance purposes."

Thakkor laughed, "I don't see why not, you've certainly done well, and it isn't costing us anything."

Handing over our last ticket, I told the man, "Give her one more spin. Poppa needs a new pair of shoes."

The man stared at me in confusion for a moment, but then shook it off and turned back to the wheel. He gave it a spin, and when the first wheel stopped, I knew we weren't getting a fourth ring.

I turned back to my companions and said, "Oh well, we got three, and had some fun."

"We have a grand prize winner!" The man behind me announced.

I turned, and saw the wheels had landed in the proper sequence to win me the Golden Card, which would give us a twenty-five percent discount on anything we purchased from a shop.

"Woot!" I sang out, and took my prize from the man, who stomped off muttering to himself. Holding up the card, I said, "Looks like we'll be getting that Shield of Strength for Gwen on the cheap."

Slapping her cousin playfully on the arm, Gwen told him, "Close your mouth, Lars, before a bird takes roost in it."

"Impossible," Lars muttered, with another shake of his head.

"Impossible perhaps, but true," Thakkor countered. "Let's go take a room at the Inn. We could probably all do with a good night's sleep. That storm that's rolling in will keep us from leaving today, but tomorrow, we're heading back to Rhone."

That put a major damper on everyone's mood.

@===||>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

A good meal -- and plenty of drinks -- lightened us all up at the Inn later. The storm rattled the walls and windows, and we were all glad we hadn't decided to set out in the ship immediately.

We were all a little tipsy, mostly because we hadn't paid for a thing since we'd walked in to the Inn. Someone had recognized us, and patrons had stood for our food and drink from that moment on. The innkeeper even offered us our first night's stay for free, even though we would be using three rooms -- one for me, one for the Princes, and one for Gwen.

Thakkor stood, looking a little unsteady. "I'm going to bed. If I drink any more, I'm certainly going to regret it."

Lars stood as well, "I agree, cousin. We should all seek our beds."

Gwen yawned, and shook her head in agreement too.

"Go on, I'm going to stay for a while. I'm a night owl, and I just don't feel like I could sleep yet," I told them.

The three cousins wished me goodnight, and went to their rooms. One of the other patrons stumbled up to me, and slurred, "You wanna nuver un?"

"Think I've had enough for tonight, friend," I said politely, steadying the guy before he fell on me.