Virtual Reality: Dragon Quest

“Ah, don’t be such a stick in the mud. You just nailed a goddess and helped save the world. All in all, a pretty good day, I should say.”

“Let’s just get to the song and dance number,” I said with a shake of my head. I was already missing Renelle’s presence, and my mood was souring by the second.

“Everything happens for a reason,” the old man said in an uncharacteristically optimistic tone. He then slapped his knee and almost immediately whirled into a cartwheel to stop right in front of me. “I’m not in the mood for a song tonight. Look in your bag.”

I opened the drawstring and saw something sitting right on top of the bag. As I’d expected, it was a wing of the wyvern. I pulled it out to look for the maker’s mark, wondering where I was off to next. To my surprise, it had the stylized E logo of Enix on it.

I held it up and looked at it curiously for just a second. As I did so, the codger who had followed me thorough all the worlds said, “For old time’s sake. Have a nice trip!”

Then he swept my feet out from under me.

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

I rubbed my head and opened my eyes with a groan. When I looked around, I realized I was in the floor at the foot of my found-along-the-side-of-the-road Lay-Z boy recliner. My half-assed repair job had broken down again, and the back had laid out flat, dumping me in the floor.

On the television, the hero of DQ Four stood in the field, his theme playing as it had for hours, according to the clock. “I’m home,” I muttered in surprise.

I shook my head then and thought, I’ve been home. Man, what a dream. I remember every moment of it. Has to be a frikkin’ world record for a dream or something. I’ve only been out for five hours or so.

I shut down the NES, not really caring about what little progress I’d lose since my last save. Renelle’s face kept flashing in front of my eyes, and it was depressing. Figures — my dreams are just as disappointing as my life.

I reached for my Dr. Pepper next to the chair, only to find it empty. “Bloody wonderful,” I grumbled. It was my last 2-liter, which meant I had to go out and get more. I snatched up my keys and headed out for the convenience store, the only thing that would be open in the wee hours of the morning.

Docs tucked under my arm, I walked out of the store under the baleful stare of Wicked Winnie of the north-end Pantry, who wasn’t terribly amused that I’d walked across her freshly mopped floor to make my purchase. Wasn’t my fault that she’d mopped right in front of the rack I had to go to. I’d parked around the side because the tanker truck was on the small lot filling the gas tanks, and I almost walked right into someone as I turned the corner.

I dropped my 2-liters in the process of trying to avoid the collision, but my irritation vanished almost immediately when I saw whom I’d almost run into.

She said, “I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going. Let me help you.”

I knelt down almost without thought to pick up my bottles even as she did the same. When we each reached for the same bottle and our hands touched, our eyes locked. That close and looking into her blue eyes, there could be little doubt that she may as well have been Renelle’s twin. She laughed and reached for the other bottle as I picked up the one I was touching. Her cheeks also turned a little red.

She handed me the other bottle and said, “Sorry again. My name’s Tina.”

“Lee,” I said as I stood up. I know I must have looked like an idiot staring at her with a mixture of longing and loss.

She scooped up something else just before she stood and held it out to me. “Is this yours?”

My eyes widened as she held out the little golden wing on a chain, emblazoned with the Enix E. “Yeah, it’s mine. Thanks.”

The experiences in the DQ worlds rushed back over me, and I did something I never would have done before that strange dream journey, which I now knew hadn’t been a dream after all. “Would you like to go out some time?”

Her blush this time was unmistakable. “I’d like that.”

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

The old man stared into his crystal ball and said, “Done!”

He then waved his hand over the crystal ball and the scene within switched. Now, within the crystal, a Japanese man frantically wrote down the ideas that had just come to him in a dream. The old man leaned in close to the crystal ball and examined what he was writing. “And, Done! Not exactly what I had in mind, but that will do. Number seven is as good as in the can now, eh Yuji?”

The old man waved his hand over the crystal ball again and the device vanished. He clapped his hands together as if to dust them off and said, “I love it when a plan comes together.” With that, he transformed.

Master Dragon sailed off skyward toward his castle in the heavens.

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

Hope you've enjoyed the journey through the DQ worlds as much as I have. Your vote and/or comment would be much appreciated, and you can always add me to your favorites, if you'd like ~_^

Apologies for the long wait between stories in this series, and thanks to flutterbug for the great chain idea. I know I deviated a little from the intended formula, but hell, it was fun!

May the light shine upon thee.