Final Reality XI: The beginning.

Unending BE - episode 350015

James dropped his backpack on the couch and ran upstairs. Linear Algebra had been boring, as expected, but he had been too busy daydreaming to notice. James waved to Devin, his roommate, and turned his computer on. Devin was already in the game. James knew that the rest of his night was going to be devoted to Final Fantasy XI.

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Kitiana pulled out her dagger and licked the edge. Still sharp. She crawled slowly up the hill, checking out the Yagudo standing at the top. It was facing the other way, and she could see its money pouch hidden beneath its loose plumage. Her tail twitched in anticipation. Wait for it... Wait for it... NOW! She pounced up the hill, and shoved the dagger in its back.

It spun around, surprised, and tried to hit her. She dodged to the left. It followed up with another fist, and this time it got lucky. They proceded to dance, the bird man punching, and Kitiana slashing with her dagger. Suddenly, she spotted an opening, and grabbed for the money pouch. Success! With a flourish, she readied her blazing dagger attack, and swiped at its throat. It fell over with a gurgle, defeated. She sheathed her dagger, and sat down to catch her breath.

But the relaxation was not to last, because another of the filthy beastmen had been sneaking up on her. With a savage blow, it swiped at her head, and all went black.

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"Owned." said Devin, smirking.

"God damn it! Fuck this game!" James replied, slamming his keyboard on his desk. "Every fucking time I go to Giddeus some fucking Yagudo agros me while I'm healing."

"You could always stop playing." Devin replied, smiling, because he already knew the answer.

"Eh, it's not that bad. Your elvaan fighter still in West Saru? I could use a party.."

James and Devin played until around midnight, when Devin called it quits. James's class the next day was not until 4 pm, so he had a little more leeway. James played for another half an hour, then glanced back at Devin, making sure he was asleep. Shallow breathing and a slight snore indicated that he was. James logged out of Final Fantasy and clicked a link that installed his personal mod. He was still working on it, but there was a lot of content so far. He logged on to final fantasy again, and lingered on the character select screen.

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Sean's bed was wheeled back from the chemotherapy ward, and the nurse plugged him back into his regular IV tubes. She wished him goodnight, and left to tend to the other patients. Sean looked out the window, and contemplated his last days on Earth. Sean had a brain tumor, that had proved to be inoperable. Sean currently spent his time on another planet, at least in his head. Videogames catered to most of the senses, and it made it easy to forget about the harsh reality of his short life. No 13 year old should have to go through this, Sean thought. He turned on his game boy and loaded up Final Fantasy Tactics. Kinda a lame story. A boy wishing Final Fantasy was real. Even though it was lame, it sure would be nice. Not having to worry about his daily radiation treatment, fighting monsters in a perfectly healthy body with friends to back you up... "I wish Final Fantasy -was- real." Sean whispered.

Every once in a blue moon, the wish of a dying boy is granted...

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James suddenly blacked out. His first concious thought was "Why am I on the floor?" The last thing he could remember was... sitting in front of a computer? I dont have hardwood in the bedroom... James opened his eyes, and looked around. "Holy..."

Go back - Go to the parent episode.

Dragontaur (Dont be frightened by the terminology, I wrote this when I was playing the game. For reference, Mithras are www.secondsight.net/ image/mithra.jpg )

Sat May 01 20:17:14 2004