Arillia by Illuminati Architect

Chapter One, The Princess and the Gamer

On the evening of my 18th birthday, I made a silent prayer that some monster would attack the party as I faked a smile. “Baron Bromothus and Baroness, how nice to see you again.”

“The honor is all ours, your highness. And you’ve met our son, Eric?”

“Why yes, we both graduated from the Academy this year.” I turned to Eric and glared daggers at him as if I had forgotten anything he did during our school years. I held out my hand, and he placed his hand under mine as he bowed to pretend to kiss my hand, but he was cautious enough to not actually touch me.

Eric stood and looked around. “Is that the Duenits?” He hurried off.

My mother stepped up. “Princess, may I have a word?”

I looked around and saw that I’d reached the end of the line of noble families trying to impose their sons onto me. “But of course, Your Majesty.”

I followed her to an antechamber.

She closed the door behind me. “Arillia, I’ve seen you act more convincingly on the school stage.”

“Mother, I’ve already told you that if I had found a suitable candidate for the crown and my heart at the academy, I would have told you. These are the boys I’ve seen the measure of, up close and for too long a duration. I’m sure you have some political marriage in mind. Tell me the name, and if I can’t find a practical objection, then I’ll accept, my own heart be dammed.”

“Well, I wanted you to have one last chance to choose for yourself. You are I’d wager the smartest person and most promising wizard in the kingdom and would have your pick even without the crown in the balance.”

“Mother, you’re stalling. It surely can’t be that bad? Ow!” I felt a sudden jabbing pain in my head, worse than being hit by magical lightning, and collapsed into her arms.

I was barely aware as the Queen, assisted by a maid, dragged me to my room to lay me on my bed. She then sat beside me and chanted a basic healing spell.

“Better?”

“I will be. Give me a few minutes, and I’ll get back to our guests.”

“Please just rest. We can continue our conversation later.”

I lay quietly for half an hour, then noticed I was covered in sweat. I stripped off my dress and underwear, bathed, dried myself with a wind spell, and then stood in front of my full-length mirror. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong with me. What had caused that sudden reaction?

Wow, Princess Arillia in the buff. Just look at those nipples.

I glanced down at my chest but saw nothing unusual.

It’s really high res, better than my own eyesight. Whoever did the mod is a genius.

I turned from the mirror and looked around but saw nothing out of place. I put on my gown and picked up my wand.

Just when it was getting good.

I held up my left hand and drew on the stored mana of my wandstone as I cast silently. I detected no enchantment on my hand and, crossing my eyes, found none on my nose. I realized that examining my own head in the mirror wouldn’t work because mirrors didn’t reflect magic, which was one way of overcoming certain types of invisibility after all. Did my casting work? I picked up my dagger and saw Second Level Sharpness appear as script in the air.

She cast Magescan.

I looked around the room, but saw only the enchantments I expected. Then I let the spell drop so as to conserve mana. “Nave, show yourself now, and I promise that your death will be swift and painless.”

Now she’s talking to herself.

“No, I’m talking to you.”

Wait, she can hear me?

“Yes, but I am yet to determine your location. What is this mod you speak of?”

It’s a software patch, in this case, to decensor the game.

“The longer you play this game of yours, the more painful your death will be. So your spell is cast on soft wearables, some sort of clothes?”

Not clothes, code. You really can’t be that dumb. Stop pulling my leg.

“Code, as in a cipher?”

I guess I accidentally got my VR crosslinked with a real roleplayer. Sorry for messing up your game. I’ll logout and try again.

“Why do you keep bombarding me with all of this nonsense? I am not amused.”

Sorry about this, but I can’t seem to activate the menu. Can you try logging out and see if that clears up this bug?

“Menu as in a resturant? Logging as a lumberjack? This pretense of insanity can only make your demise slightly less painful. Why aren’t you running?”

I’m sorry about messing with your game. Just do me a solid and let me go. You really should share this mod, as it’s very nicely done. You’ve made Arillia’s right eye human and erased the scar across her face. And was that the Queen alive earlier? She’s only appeared in a few stills, but you’ve animated her perfectly. That’s exactly what her voice should sound like.

“Now you threaten the life of the Queen? Don’t bother running. Your entire family will die very slowly.”

Alright, if you really are Arillia, then what date is it?

“Monday, Thirty First Oluon, 22nd year of the reign of my father Peter the third. Of course.”

Yeah, that’s from the intro. Your 18th birthday, where your uncle Gustav gets you drunk and rapes you. Then, in the morning, you kill him and escape the castle to start the game.

“Uncle Gustav does what?” In a flash I reconsidered all the times he had looked at or touched me in ways that were almost over the line. I pointed my wand at the door to my chambers and cast Holddoor, then did the same for the window, and even went into the bathroom to secure the door that led from there to the unused room next to mine.

If you don’t want to let me logout that’s fine. This is interesting to watch. Some sort of next-gen upgrade. How’d you get such a clear picture on my old trash gear though?

I sat on my bed and closed my eyes as I attempted to figure out this puzzle. Despite how annoying this boy was, I found myself somewhat enjoying the mystery.

Why did you cut the visual?

I opened my eyes.

Oh, that’s back. Another oddity. Can you let me see her naked again? I only caught a glimpse of her bush and ass. Mightly fine that.

I lay down on the bed, pulled the covers up to my neck, and closed my eyes.

There was a knock at my door.

I looked across the room at it.

“Sweetie, it’s your uncle Gustav. I heard you were feeling under, so I brought some drinks to make you feel real nice.”

I slipped out from under the covers as quietly as possible and stood as I readied my wand and dagger.

He rattled the door handle, but my spell held. I heard him start the chant for a counterspell, but he stopped halfway. “No, that’s fine. We can party some other time.”

I stood silently listening for his footsteps down the corridor. Then put my dagger and wand on my nightstand and lay down again.

You even hacked the intro? Is this a hidden game path?

“Be quiet,” I whispered. “I want to hear if he returns.”

The voice in my head ceased, and I lay silently for a while, straining to hear the passing footsteps of the castle staff.

I was awoken by a knock at my door.

“Good morning, Your Highness.” It was my maid Mary.

“Are you alone?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

I willed my spell away as I sat up, my hand mere inches from my dagger and wand. “Please enter.”

“I’ve brought your breakfast.” Mary opened the door and then entered with a full tray.

“That’s quite a bit.”

“The Queen didn’t know what you would like.”

“No, that’s fine. I missed dinner last night.”

Is that Mary? How did you figure out what she would look like without the demonic possession?

“You’re still here?”

“I’m sorry, your highness. I’ll leave you alone now.”

“My apologies, Mary. I just awoke. Please fetch my sister and tell her to bring her wand.”

You’re going to face the big bad now? But you haven’t gathered all your gear yet.

I waited for Mary to close the door behind her before whispering. “She may be the most wicked and cruel creature in the seven worlds, but big is the one thing my little sister is not.”

That’s right. She hasn’t been possessed yet.

“My mother dead, and Carnel and Mary possessed? What is this future you see, evil spirit?”

I guess it’s spoilers, but you asked. But how could you be playing the game without knowing these things?

“You are stalling. Out with it, knave!”

The plot isn’t that complicated. After you killed your uncle and ran off, Princess Carnel tried summoning bigger and bigger demons to find you until one took control of her. She summoned another to control Mary, then slew your parents and ruled as a demonic monarch until you returned to slay her. In her final moments, she regained her humanity and choked out her love for you as she died.

I had clutched up my dagger and wand as I listened to the voice in my head. It was a lie, a terrible, horrible lie. It had to be, but I could see the faintest possibility of it all happening that way. I was, after all, the one thing that Carnel truly treasured. Either that or she was the finest actress in the seven worlds.

I put my dagger and wand into their pockets in my robe and forced myself to walk to my table to eat my breakfast.

That’s the main plot. What really sells the game is all the side quests. The big challenge in speed plays is how quickly you can gather the minimum set of tools to take out or bypass the castle defenses and then strike down Carnel.

“The future is not fixed? I have lived alternate lives?”

Sure, sure, go on like that. You’ve surely played plenty of times to use the controls so smoothly. But it’s not the future, you’ve hacked the past by changing the intro. I’ve never seen that before.

I heard light footsteps running towards my door, which then burst open.

“Sister! I heard you were feeling badly, so I came to chear you up!”

That’s Carnel in her human form? I’ve only seen that in cut scenes as an outline backlit by the light of her pentagrams. I’d like to see her naked also.

“Not a chance in the three hells!”

“Sister!” Carnel stepped back from the door with her hands folded against her mouth and her eyes wide in shock.

“No Carnel. It’s not you. I still have a bit of a headache. Please come in.”

“Sister, if you’re still not feeling well then you should just rest. I can come back some other time.”

“The one thing I cannot abide is idleness.”

“Yes, that’s my sister, always doing great things. How can I help you today?”

“Since I’m confined to my room, I thought I teach you some spells.”

“You’ll teach me?” I almost suspected Carnel had teleported with the speed she leaped to my side.

“Mary, I’m done with breakfast. I’ll call for you later as needed.”

Mary nodded to me, then took away the tray, closing the door behind her.

I turned back to my sister. “Carnel, remember how I told you last year that you weren’t ready to learn Magescan?”

She nodded.

“I think you can do it now. Go fetch that red book. Bring it to the table, and have a seat. Now turn to the 34th page.” I waited as she counted the pages.

“Yes, here it is. Magescan.”

“Good, read through the spell silently, but don’t put any mana into it. Just try and feel the rhythm of the incantation. Let me know which words you don’t know.”

We went through the process of learning the spell and between her innate genius and my intimate knowledge of that spell, she managed to make one successful casting by noon. I held the book up as she read through the incantation, moving her entire body through the gestures. While I could cast the spell with but a glance, her ability to cast it at all on her first day filled me with pride in my little sister.

I had her hold the spell and use it to locate all the enchantments in the room. She even spotted my dagger and wand hidden in my robe but mentioned no enchantments on myself. When I noticed her wandstone fading, I had her stop the spell rather than dig into her own young strength.

We had lunch together in my room, feeding each other tidbits off the tray.

“Carnel, I’m sorry I ran your wand dry like that.”

“Sister, it’s all my fault for not succeeding on the first try like you always do.”

“Carnel, I’m truly impressed by the progress you made today. I’m feeling a little weary so please take the book and study just that one spell in your room.”

“Oh, sister. I’m so sorry for imposing on you like this.”

“No. It’s fine. Come back here tomorrow, and we’ll go over another spell.”

“Another spell!” She knelt to hug my seated knees. She then sprang up, picked up the book, and just before the door, she turned. “You’re the best sister ever!” She opened the door and stopped. “Oh, Mother!”

“I’d like a word with Arillia.”

“Sure. I was just leaving.”

“Hello, Mother, care to join me for some tea?” I gestured at the tray Mary had brought to exchange for the remains of our lunch.

She sat across the table from me and then looked at the door she had closed on her way in. “That’s the first time I’ve seen Carnel smile in years. What spell did you cast on her?”

“It was a new spell she cast. I just showed her again the magic of learning magic. Hopefully, she’ll be able to return to The Royal Academy or at least suffer through tutelage.”

Looking at her closely, Queen Augusta is really stacked. Can you ask her to take a bath together?

I frowned and turned to look out the window.

“What troubles you, Arillia?”

“Since last night, I have experienced evil portents about the future.”

“You have the witch sight?”

“The what?”

“It’s been passed down in our family. Your great-grandmother had it. I’ll bring you her diary later. For now, I think it’s best if you rest.”

That’s a new element. When I logout, I’ll try searching for that online. If I can log out.

Newly reminded of my unwanted guest, I waited until after the Queen left, then carefully did not look at my own body as I undressed and bathed.

With your eyes closed, I can really feel your body, but not my own. That was nice when you brushed against your nipples. Can you try pinching them for me?

I arose from the bath, dried myself with a wind spell, then carefully not looking in the mirror I put on my robe and returned to the bathroom. Holding my left hand over the wash bowl, I drew my dagger and stabbed myself in my left pinky while not looking at it.

Ow! That hurts! That hurts a whole lot. How could you do this to yourself?

“This? This is nothing. You have clearly not been with me my whole life if you find such a minor injury to be so annoying. Shall I show you what real pain is?”

No! Please don’t! Just stop the pain.

“Then you will behave yourself, or I shall demonstrate.” I wiped off the blade of my dagger and put it back in its sheath, then drew out my wand, and cast a minor healing on my left hand.

Wow, it didn’t even leave a scar. But I guess a reversion to model saves on cycles.

“Now, no more games. You will explain yourself fully, starting with where you are located.”

I thought this was just the game, but it’s too real. I don’t feel anything about my own body, which ought to be hungry and thirsty by now. Am I dead? But if I’m a ghost, then why didn’t Magescan spot me either time? Perhaps I’m a ghost in the machine on a different level?

“We shall go over all of these issues one at a time. Firstly, who are you?”