"The Book of Wonders" - New Chapter now available! - Chapter 12

“Yo, what is going on y’all? GlendorBoy here back at it again with another short YouTube story for you. As you can see, I am finally settled in my crib. Pretty sweet eh? Now, about my secret mission here in Paris, about trying out the latest and greatest games, well you’ll be shocked to hear that Fairy Tale Odyssey is pretty big here in Europe. So yeah! Stay tuned. I’d be playing the game—NOT on stream though. I don’t have my equipment with me. Just my phone here. And I know you can stream straight from your phone nowadays but… I don’t want to! So…”

I shrugged—“#SorryNotSorry. But no worries. I will give you my spoiler-free impression of the game, telling you what I think. All right y’all, gotta go! Big party at the cram jam! So until next we meet, it’s been real! It’s been Casey! Stay perky and stay lovin’! Later taters!”

I flashed a V-sign and ended the stream. I dropped on my bed with a heavy sigh and stared at the ceiling, thinking about what I just said.

A spoiler-free impression of the game. Man, would that be hard to do.

There was so much about the game I wanted to tell my audience. But the risk of putting them in danger was big. And so was the risk of been called next-level crazy psychotic. And I’m talking Behemoth-like big.

I sat up and fished for my sister’s phone in my bag. I proceeded to pull out a few items besides my clothes: Cinderella’s shoe heel and my dad’s sword: the Beast’s Blade.

I stood up and stepped out of the room, glanced left and right. No one on sight. Victor was right when he said no students would be showing up here. Phew!

I went back inside and locked the door behind me. I made my way to the closet; but not before I first grabbed a handful of my clothes. I hanged a few clothes away into the closet, made a folded pile of jeans and gingerly slipped the Beast’s Blade under it. I let out a relieved sigh. No one should go through my things. Unless they’re very nosy.

I dug into my pocket and pulled out Mr. Spirit’s card. I briefly looked at it, thinking about that mysterious old man. How do I contact someone who was already dead? I tossed the card onto the bed and I plopped back to it with Sofie’s phone. “Okay, here we go.”

Taking a deep breath, I braced myself for another adventure into the game.

I tapped on the screen, booted up the phone, tapped the game app; and…

I didn’t fall asleep.

I blinked. I sat up; staring at a new screen from the title screen of Galenflyn on top of his father the Beast. The new screen displayed three data slots about the game. Two of them displayed New Game. But the one I started was on Chapter 1 - Swan Lake.

That’s odd. Shouldn’t something magical be happening after passing over the title screen?

I tapped on the data slot. The data slots vanished in a firework of light, soon replaced with the Now loading screen.

Two minutes and after an Internet update, I was now greeted with the Main Menu of the game—an image of a town square with a few folks strolling by in a gorgeous blend of pixelated 2D sprites in 3D sceneries. Some pushed past a few options titles like Start Chapter, Battle Mode, Rewards. Some were just chatting with each other.

I have never noticed such beauty in a game like this one. In fact, I’ve never even been in that part of the game. Where I wasn’t even inside the game, but actually playing it.

Okay! I thought to myself. I guess today isn’t the day for me to dive in.

Oh yeah, that’s it! Dive In! I remember tapping that Dive In option last time. The one that actually sent me inside the game. But where was it in the main menu?

I went through the main menu option. I went into Story Mode and saw nothing but chapters. I navigated into Battle Mode and was greeted by a plethora of multiplayer content. The Option menu was a dead end. Maybe I should go to the Sidequests option. Maybe I could see it there.

I’ve looked everywhere for the option Dive In, but… damn, I came up empty. I saw nothing.

Did that Internet update removed that option? What’s going on?

“You can’t look for it unless you really want to!” A voice spooked me.

I leapt from the bed and turned. Now that I saw him in the flesh, and his bright white eyes stared at me with a smile on his face, my legs buckled under me.

“You!” I said.

The old blind man, Mr. Spirit, smiled, “Yes. Me.” He jokingly said.

“But you’re dead!”

“And who told you that?”

“Victor.”

“And you believe everything he tells you?”

I was about to say “Yes”, but then stopped. Victor hadn’t been truthful to me for sure. Hiding his secret about his possible involvement with the dragons and all. But putting that thought aside, I went on, “Okay, what are you talking about?”

“Talking about your father. The one who raised you?”

“No, forget about my dad for a second. Don’t change subjects. What were you saying earlier about how I can’t look for it unless I really want to?”

“Oh yeah!” Mr. Spirit laughed, “About the game. You’re looking into diving in, correct?”

“Uh-huh.” I nodded.

“Sadly—” his voice suddenly came up loud behind me and I turned around; and there he was, BEHIND me!

“You can’t.” He finished his sentence.

It took me a minute to regain my composure after a quick double take behind me and in front of me. How the hell did he just—?

“And why not?” I pressed on.

“Because your heart and mind aren’t in coherence. And because of that, and until you can put them in coherence, you can only play the game like every other gamer. With your thumbs on the controller.” Mr Spirit then made a snorting sound, “Well… in your case, your thumbs on the phone.”

“What do you mean my heart and mind aren’t in coherence?”

“Your mind wants to know more about the game’s story plot. What happened to Galenflyn and his father since they were ambushed. But your heart is afraid of what you’ll find out and is trying to protect you. Keeping you reserved. Long story short, you do NOT want to dive in.”

“Oh, what do you know?” I said, “Maybe I just want to play the game like every other games, without getting that mandatory VR experience that it keeps pulling me into. You know, without the headset. Ever thought about that?”

Mr. Spirit shrugged. “I don’t know. You tell me.”

“Yes. And I just told you.”

“So—” he spoke again behind me and I turned to face him, “—I guess you don’t need to know the truth about the true nature of this game?”

My heart was beating fast when he said that. Either that or it was because he jumpscared me again.

“Can you please stop doing that?” I exhaled.

“Doing what?”

“Popping in and out of place?” I said, “Teleporting?”

Mr. Spirit threw his hands up, “Sorry.” The old blind man grinned, “Force of habit.”

I sat down on the bed to regain my composure. I honestly didn’t know how many more surprises I could take—the game on Sofie’s phone, meeting Cinderella, learning about the Dragons… but I needed to know what the hell kind of game was that and what was I getting myself into.

“Enlighten me.” I said.

“Okay.” Mr. Spirit walked—or rather, floated—in front of me, “Ask me anything.”

The question surprised me, “Anything?”

He grinned mischievously, “Anything.” A ghostly aura enveloped him at that statement.

I bit my lower lip, contemplating. Here’s the thing: Mr. Spirit, the man who knew about me enough to build a game based on—as I’m suspecting—my childhood life, was right in front of me, and I was in a great position where he could tell me everything about my life.

And boy do I mean EVERYTHING.

I mean, Sofie could tell me everything but I couldn’t reach her at the moment. And Victor wasn’t really trustworthy.

I should start with the basic questions first.

“Okay.” I exhaled, “Tell me, old man. Fairy Tale Odyssey. What kind of game is it?”

“It’s not a game.”

I raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean it’s not a game?”

“It’s your childhood memories manifested into a RPG game.” He began, “Extracted from you shortly after your ultimate battle against the Kingdom of Darkness in which you were woefully defeated.”

“I battled the Kingdom of Darkness?” I blinked, “Why?”

Mr. Spirit raised an eyebrow, “Hellooo? What do you think?”

“Oh right! Galenflyn’s kingdom. My kingdom. It was taken from me.”

“By the Legendary Kingdom of Camelot.”

“I thought you said the Kingdom of Darkness.”

“The Kingdom of Darkness is a spiritual kingdom, operating from the Realm of Darkness—or rather the Dark World. They need some sort of physical influence to operate in the Realms. So, Camelot was their vessel.”

“So I’m guessing King Arthur was my enemy?”

“Nope!” He said.

“Wait, what? He wasn’t? Then who was—” I stopped myself, “Wait! Don’t tell me! I think I’m reaching spoiler territory. I need to rethink this.”

“Take your time.” He spoke again a few feet away from me this time. I turned to glare at him. He apologetically threw his hands up, “Sorry.”

“So, since we’ve established that I’m Galenflyn,” I began, “All of the characters in the game—”

“They’re friends, family, and even enemies you have met throughout your journey across the Fairy Tale Realms. And be careful who you meet in the game, because the moment you meet them in the game, their memories will return to them in this reality.”

I nodded dismissively. “So who are you, in the Realms?” I asked.

Mr. Spirit reappeared again, this time sulking next to me on the bed, “I was many things. I am many things. A mentor. A teacher. A grandfather. But many people, even people in this reality, know me as Merlin the Wizard.”

The name surprised me, “You’re Merlin the Wizard?” I leapt from the bed and took a few steps away, “Whoa! You’re THE Merlin the Wizard?”

Mr. Spirit smiled.

I laughed, “You’re a legend! Did you know that?”

Mr. Spirit shrugged, “I guess. I don’t really like to brag. I just practice magic a lot. Like you back in the day. In fact, my grandson was your mentor in magic.”

“Wow,” I plopped back to the bed, next to him, “So Merlin the Wizard just confirmed my crazy life? And your grandson taught me magic? Awesome! And you’re responsible for building this game?” I waved the phone to him.

Mr. Spirit stood up and hobbled ahead, “It was a very difficult spell to pull off.” He said, “It required some great sacrifices.”

“Sacrifices? What do you mean?”

He turned to me and pointed at his eyes. “These are one of them.”

My heart sank. “You’ve lost your eyesight? Because of me?”

“Of course I didn’t do it alone.” He replied heartily, “I had help.”

“Help? Oh, of course. From uhh… ” I hesitated, “Game…developers?”

Mr. Spirit cocked his head on one side, “Gale,” he was now calling me by my original name, “Since when do game developers exist in the Realms? You need to think magically. I had help from the Gods, above the Godly Mountains called Olympe.”

My eyes widened. “Olympe?” I said, “As in like, Olympus?”

“If you want to call it that way, sure.” He smiled, “Now. Any more questions for me? I am eager to share.”

Should I ask any further questions? I mean, he did say he was eager to tell me everything. Unlike Sofie who didn’t want to; even when I tried to trick her into telling me everything about the game. If he does tell me everything, I’d be left intrigued, inspired, my mind would’ve been blown and flooded with great childhood memories of lost times with friends and family at the same time.

Maybe shocked and surprised by a few secrets I’d uncover.

I’d learn more about my mom Cinderella, my dad the Beast, my sister Sofie, my stepmother Belle; I’d get to know who my best friend was, my soulmate, my rival, even my enemies. But most importantly, I’d have all my memories back. I’d feel whole again. I will finally know who I really am, and where do I belong.

But the gamer in me—the one who loves a great RPG story—Casey Tresor, also known as GlendorBoy on social media—wanted to explore this story on his own to the very end. Every great story isn’t that much fun to experience if you just skip to the end. So what’s a conflicted guy like me gotta do in a situation like this?

I just went with my gut.