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3.96% New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live / Chapter 44: Pandora's Box: Anguish, Part 1

Chapitre 44: Pandora's Box: Anguish, Part 1

In the cave under Astaroth's starting village, Aberon was looking at the young man in front of him with a knowing look.

He could feel it when the target of his 'Illusion Domain: Pandora's Box' spell completed one challenge. He had felt the realm from the spell disappear, so he knew it was cleared.

This spell of his could trap enemies within it, or he could use a lighter version of it that could serve as a mental fortitude test. This was one such test.

If Astaroth could clear all three realms, or emotional barriers, in this test, Aberon would let him go. He would consider the kid stable enough to use his powers endangering no one, for now.

Of course, if he failed even one realm, he would keep training him for another long period before testing him again.

From the reactions on the boy's face and the rate at which his heart had beat earlier, Aberon could tell which test he had gone through.

The realms generated by the spell varied from person to person. They also could change with time, as the three predominant emotions the person was bottling up generated them.

Aberon wondered which were gonna be the next emotions, but he had a good guess, as Astaroth sweat buckets and tears were forming at the corner of his eyes.

"Anguish is a bottomless pit, I wonder what caused him to feel this way. I hope he fares well in this one." Aberon said, keeping a close eye on Astaroth.

***

Inside the spell, Alexander had just woken up on his bed. He rose, looking around him.

His pod was nowhere to be seen, and neither was the VR helmet. It puzzled him for a while and then looked at his phone.

The date on his phone was Monday, August twelfth, two thousand and twenty-one. A little over ten years before the release of New Eden.

Seeing the date made him sad for some reason, but he quickly brushed it off.

"Did I dream all of that?" He thought out loud.

He looked at his phone again and saw what time it was. It was six in the morning, his alarm wouldn't ring for another half hour.

He got up anyway, to get ready for his day. He didn't work yet, so he liked to play 'tower of Babel' all day, trying to become a pro.

He walked out of his room and walked to the bathroom. He washed his face and brushed his teeth before going to sit in the kitchen.

He could smell some breakfast already being cooked. He walked into the kitchen, where his mom was attending to some eggs and bacon.

"Morning, mom." Alexander said, tiredly.

When he said that, he felt a slight pinching sensation in his heart. He grabbed his chest through his shirt.

"Are you alright, dear?" His mom said, noticing the motion.

"Yeah, I'm ok. Probably just a cramp." He answered, smiling.

"Ahh, how I missed your bacon and eggs." He added, almost salivating.

His mother looked at him weirdly.

"You had some yesterday, honey. Are you sure you are alright?" She said, walking to him and touching his forehead.

"I'm fine, mom." Alexander said, brushing her hand aside gently.

"Where is dad, by the way?" He asked, turning his head around to find him.

"Your father is in the garage, fixing up his old motorcycle." His mother responded, pointing to the door that led to the garage.

"I'll go get him for breakfast!" Alexander said, stealing a strip of crispy bacon as he walked by.

"Wait until you are served, you little hooligan!" His mother said with a laugh.

"I can't mom. Your cooking is just too good!" He replied, not turning back and heading to the garage.

He chewed on the bacon strip as he walked into the garage and walked down the three steps.

"Dad. Breakfast is ready." He said, his mouth still full of bacon.

"Ahh. Alex. Come here. I have to show you something." His father replied with a joyous tone.

Alexander went around their blue sedan and found his father leaning next to an old Honda motorcycle. The model was a Honda CB600F, also known as the Hornet in Europe, when it was produced, in nineteen ninety-eight.

It was a bright yellow sports motorcycle, with sharp angles and an aggressive-looking front light.

His father had been tinkering on it for years, but he was not a mechanic, so the work had taken much more time than needed.

Alexander liked the look of the motorcycle. He had been around that bike for years and had even gotten his motorcycle license, in case he could ever drive it.

So when he saw the machine fully reconstructed like this, he got a little giddy.

"Are you done fixing it?" He said excitedly, brushing his fingers against the handlebar.

"Finished her up barely ten minutes ago. I was putting some finishing touches on it." His father said with a wide grin.

It was too early to start up the motorcycle, but he was surely going to bring her out for a joy ride later in the day.

Both father and son stood there, admiring the machine for a few minutes.

"She's a beauty, isn't she?" Alexander's father said.

"She sure is." He responded, daydreaming about taking rides on the motorcycle.

"When can I take her for a spin?" He asked his father, turning to face him.

"Not before I do." His father replied, laughing loudly after.

"Enough drooling. Let's go eat before your mother gets jealous. Bahahaha!" His father added, laughing again.

Alexander's father had always been a 'Bon vivant' as they said in his hometown. Which was why he was a much-appreciated neighbor and a loved husband.

After his father washed up, they headed inside to eat breakfast. After eating Alexander went to his room to play his video game a bit.

An hour later, he received a text message from a friend. They wanted to hang out.

Alexander didn't really want to go, but he needed to uphold his social image, so he replied anyway.

He finished his quest on the game and took a quick shower. He then got dressed and walked out.

His parents were outside, drinking a coffee on the terrace, so he went to tell them he would be back later.

They told him to be safe and to come back for dinner. His father even told him he would take his mother for a ride on the bike instead of him.

Alexander only smiled and told him to have fun and be prudent.

He left the house and walked to the nearby park where they always met up before going into town.


L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS
Galanar Galanar

If you liked my story, add it to your library!

This story is in the Fantasy Carnival, so it needs Power Stones to up-rank. If I get into the top 100, I will drop an extra 2 chapters that day. Another 2 chapters for top 50. I will up the stakes at 5 bonus chapters for top 20, and another 5 for top 10! Please vote for me! :)

Also, I drop an extra chapter on Monday for every 100 PS I accumulate in the event!

We are still 50th, but the jump is a bout to happen! Woooooo! Although the competition is tough here on out, I have faith. Top 20 is our next goal! Let's keep this going!

If you like the novel so far or think something could use work, don't be scared to leave a review :)

next chapter

Chapitre 45: Pandora's Box: Anguish, Part 2

Once all of them were there, they went into town and headed to the local arcade. They always hung out there, since all of them were gamers to the core, and they had even met there.

They played for a few hours, before eating lunch in the little restaurant tied to the arcade.

Then they went back to play for a good part of the afternoon.

Around three in the afternoon, Alexander had more than his dose of social interactions and made his way back home. He bid farewell to his friends and walked out of the arcade, heading to his house.

On the way there, he saw a few police cars and two ambulances speed by him.

'Another car accident.' He thought.

These things were quite frequent in his part of town since the roads were winding and it was hard to see on the other side of the curves.

He paid it no mind and kept walking until he got home. He entered through the side door and took his shoes off.

"Mom! Dad! I'm home!" He called out.

He got no answer and surmised they had not gotten home from the ride yet.

So he did what he always did and logged back into Tower of Babel. His parents would holler at him when they got back, anyway.

He played for a long time before noticing they still hadn't come home. He logged out and made his way into the kitchen.

"Mom? Dad? Are you home yet?" He yelled.

Still no answer.

'That must be one hell of a joy ride if they forgot to come back home.' He thought to himself.

He looked at the clock and it showed six o'clock. He shrugged and guessed his father had taken a long route since he had wanted to joy-ride his baby for a long time.

He turned around and was about to go back to his room when his phone rang in his pocket.

'Ahh. Must be them calling to tell me they are going to be late.' He guessed.

But he couldn't recognize the number. He answered the phone unwillingly, hoping it wasn't a scammer or a religious nut.

"Hello?"

"Yes, hello. Can we speak to Alexander Leduc please?" The voice on the other end asked.

"That would be me…" Alexander replied.

"Alexander Leduc? Son to Robert Leduc and Anabelle Leduc?" The person asked again.

"Yes, that is me. Who is this?" Alexander asked, getting annoyed at the questioning.

"I'm Dr. Dufresne, from Joliette General Hospital. I'm calling you because your parents have you both down as emergency contact." The doctor started saying.

"Oh my god, are they ok?" Alexander asked, worry gripping him.

"Your parents have been in a car accident, Mr. Leduc." The doctor continued.

"Yes, but are they ok?!" Alexander cut him again.

A brief silence ensued, causing Alexander's worry to turn into anguish.

"Sir… They were declared dead on site. We would like you to come in and confirm their identities and sign some paperwork. Can you get here on your own, or should we send someone to get you?" The doctor finally declared.

Alexander was in such shock that he dropped his phone to the floor.

The doctor, hearing a loud thud through the phone speaker, called out to the boy a few times. He then guessed what was happening and hung up.

He ordered an ambulance to go fetch him at home, using the address on the emergency contact list.

When the ambulance finally got there, the paramedics found Alexander sitting on the ground in his kitchen, listless.

They grabbed him and sat him in the back of the ambulance. The paramedic in the back talked to him on the way to the hospital, but Alexander was unresponsive, his mind only repeating the words the doctor had told him.

He finally broke down at the hospital, when the doctor lifted a white sheet from his parents' bodies, laying in the morgue.

This was just too much for his brain and just shut down on him. The hospital was accustomed to reactions like these and moved him up to mental treatment floors to wait until he snapped back to reality.

It only took a day, but his mind was still broken. Alexander was functioning on auto-pilot, signing papers, meeting the notary, and the funeral home.

The next days all passed by him like he was just a watcher in his own life. His mind kept replaying the day his parents had died to him.

He kept wondering what would have happened if he had stayed home. Would his father have taken him for the ride instead?

Would they have avoided the crash if he was with him? Would they be alive and ok right now?

Was this his fault?

He just couldn't shake away the feeling he had something to do with his parents' death, making him wallow further and further into anguish and despair.

Days turned to weeks and then months, and yet, a nagging feeling kept appearing in his mind. Hadn't he seen all this once already?

He racked his brain and remembered the day of the accident. He had woken up feeling a sense of Déjà vu.

Like he had already lived through all these events. He tried remembering the dream he had that night, then he realized.

His brain finally realigned with his memories, and it restored his mind to clarity. This was all an illusion.

He was still stuck in an illusion, more than likely the continuation of the previous one.

With his heart still aching at what was happening, his thought process steadied itself.

He tried to think of a way to get out of this illusion, but couldn't quite figure it out.

So he started wandering about in his town, trying to find something that shouldn't be there. Something that would lead him out of here.

He soon found it, in the park near his home. The small building with the water controls for the fountains had a detail on it, it shouldn't have.

On the door to enter, there was a number carved into the door. It was his apartment door number, and it shouldn't be there.

He walked to the door, and when he put his hand on the doorknob, everything vanished again.

'Let's hope this is the end.' He thought as he felt his consciousness fading again.


L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS
Galanar Galanar

If you liked my story, add it to your library!

This story is in the Fantasy Carnival, so it needs Power Stones to up-rank. If I get into the top 100, I will drop an extra 2 chapters that day. Another 2 chapters for top 50. I will up the stakes at 5 bonus chapters for top 20, and another 5 for top 10! Please vote for me! :)

Also, I drop an extra chapter on Monday for every 100 PS I accumulate in the event!

We are still 50th, but the jump is a bout to happen! Woooooo! Although the competition is tough here on out, I have faith. Top 20 is our next goal! Let's keep this going!

If you like the novel so far or think something could use work, don't be scared to leave a review :)

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