Firm: Opal’s Story

Empyrea

Content Warning: Some gross depictions. Reading this while eating is not suggested.

-POV Hive Sac-

Ding!

The screen says in front of me, even though I don’t have eyes. What were eyes again, damn, I can’t remember. I feel another baby crawl out of one of the holes in my head.. Oh that’s right, it’s where one of those eye things used to be. I try to remember what those things were for, but I don’t feel the flesh tubes in my other holes anymore, and it’s a bit distracting. Have they ever not been there? Another one of the screens pops us in front of me and I start feeling tingly.

Ding!

Repairing to a presentable state for visit with Mother.

I wonder what is being repaired. The screens are the only things that are nice to me, the voices in my head are usually very rude. I think. I can’t hear them either right now, which is different. Have they ever not been there before? Usually they’re in my head calling me names like useless and failing. Recently they even said I’d have to be replaced. Will I not be replaced if the screen repairs me then, will I not be failing and useless?

Suddenly I see a lot of bright white, and it’s not a screen. Oh I remember now, this is what eyes did. I guess the repairing thing put them back. I wonder how babies will crawl out now though… I feel my stomach lurch and I throw up onto the gray-white ground at my feet. Oh, I can see the babies now, but they aren’t moving their little worm bodies. I guess if the tube thing isn’t in my face hole, they can be thrown up out of it.

As I look down at the shriveling babies, I see my body as well. I wonder if such a gross bloated body is normal for me. I feel tingly again and large parts of my body seem to shrink and more unmoving worm babies pop out of other holes that quickly close, leaving much nicer looking skin. I think. Ah, I can move my head again… again? Hmm, well my head can move now at least so I look around for the things that normally say mean things in my head or the tubes that are normally inside my holes. I can’t remember what they look like. I shiver, but I don’t know why.

All around me is a flat white and gray surface with a black sky. It seems really bright, and I can’t hear anything. I feel more tingles and I can move my limbs again… did I have limbs before, I don’t remember having these arm and legs things. I can move them now though, and seem to know what they are, so I stand up from my previous sitting position. It takes a few tries, since these things feel a bit weak. There really isn’t anything around me but white under black, it feels… strange though.

Oh, I see something else and try too look at it closer. It’s in the black sky, and it looks blue. I guess these eyes aren’t that useful since I can’t make out anything else other than it’s round and blue. I feel another tingle in my head this time and I start to remember things. So I throw up, since I start to understand. My name isn’t Hive Sac, it’s Carrie, and and… I dry heave but nothing comes out. I start to panic, the things those bugs did to me, the pain… I fall down to my knees and scream as loud as I can. I don’t hear anything, so I touch my ears assuming they’re missing, since the bugs used them for… something, but they’re there again, and I can hear my fingers touching them. Nothing else though, like when I would put cotton and alcohol in my ear.

I look over the rest of my body, the horrors of the last… I don’t know how long all now fresh in my mind. I have all my pieces again, and I look fine, maybe better than I did before. Wait… I look up at the blue circle in the sky again, and then around me at the almost featureless white plain. Why am I on the moon, and how am I not dead? I start to panic and try to breathe, but I can’t. I didn’t notice it until I tried, but no air is filling my lungs, I don’t feel like I’m suffocating.

Before I can even start to focus enough with all my horrid memories and questions flooding my mind, I feel a trembling in my feet and legs. I look around and feel more thuds from the ground, so I stand up again. There are moon rocks and dust shaking loose and drifting. Then suddenly, there’s a large explosion of rocks and dust about 30 ft from me and I feel it in my bones. A huge armored worm shoots up out of the hole it’s made reaching a hundred feet into the air before opening its massive toothy maw and falling over, tens of feet in front of me. I fall to the ground again, losing my balance from the heavy shock wave I feel from the impact.

The armored worm stops moving, and all I can do is stare at the thing that can probably kill me with a misplaced wiggle. There were only vibrations felt through my body from the whole thing, not a single sound coming to my ears. It almost felt like I was watching a movie with sub-woofers but the sound is muted. I then see some movement from one part of the worm, or more accurately it looks like something is trying to push out the side of the massive dead creature. I start to wonder if I should be trying to run, but all I can do is dry heave again, thinking about the things that would burrow out of me not long ago. Maybe I should just let whatever it is kill me.

There a burst of black blood as the creature inside finally reveals itself. It looks humanoid, but is covered in the black blood of the worm. I see it’s eyes open and stare at me, a bright white smile revealing itself from blood covered lips. The eyes are a strange glowing pink color as they stare at me, and I can’t help but stare back as it starts walking towards me. I see it’s mouth move like it’s talking but still can’t hear anything. Then it’s suddenly clean of all the black blood, and below is the most beautiful female body I’ve ever seen. She has black hair and white skin, just like the sky and surface beneath me. As she gets closer I can tell she’s much taller than me, maybe even 7ft.

She stops right in front of me and I see her mouth moving again, but still can’t hear her. I do hear a chime and see another screen though.

Ding!

I feel a tear roll down the side of my face and I try to thank the woman, but I can’t hear anything coming out of my mouth. I see her nod and give me a big beautiful smile before I focus on accepting the gift.

-POV Carrie-

I’m suddenly confused and it’s really bright. Where am I? I look around and see I’m standing in front of a strangely beautiful naked woman and… am I on the moon what the fuck? I remember a screen popping up and getting a mage class that let me shoot fire balls, how am I on the moon now? I look closely at the woman and see her lips moving, but don’t hear anything. Well I guess if I’m on the moon it would make sense, but how would I not be dead then? I hear one of the system chimes and see another screen.

Ding!

It says, so I look at the woman in front of me and see -Mother- with no levels listed, right before my vision goes white and I’m in a poorly lit cave surrounded by gross looking purple worms. Every surface is covered in them, and they make me shiver all over for some reason. I start throwing fireballs at them, and they just jump at me and bounce off. I hear stuff now, so I must not be on the moon anymore. One of the things I hear is chittering sounds coming from a tunnel to my right. From the tunnel emerge 3 large purple bugs that look like preying mantises, with huge scythes for arms.

I pale at the sight and toss a fireball at them, only for one of them to shrug it off and jump at me, swinging it’s scythe at my head. I wince, but it’s attack just glances off of my neck without any pain. Is that from the buff the screen said I had for the next day? I blast it with another fireball at point blank, and that at least did a little damage… wait, how am I tossing so many fireballs? I quickly look at my mana, which is still full and cast yet another fireball at the big bugs. It doesn’t go down… so I’m basically god mode right now against these tunnels full of bugs? Lets see just how fast I can use skills then.

About 12 hours later

I step out of the gross bug tunnels, that I’m not sure how I got into in the first place, completely victorious. It feels better than I thought it would, maybe it’s this awesome buff going to my head. I have to remember it won’t be there forever. I only have half a day left on it. I actually managed to get to the third tier in there and even get my second and third class. Lucky for me, there were lulls in the fighting where I got levels in between, so I wasn’t just throwing fireballs the whole time. No, I can do so much more now, but where am I?

Ding!

Oh, the system is being really helpful, so It must be my lucky day. I select yes, and see an arrow pointing off to my right. Well, maybe I can get there before this buff wears off. I’m a bit worried now, by how strong those bugs looked, even if they couldn’t do anything to me at the time. I start running, since my Stamina doesn’t go down with this buff either, and I might as well use it. I hope they don’t mind if I show up naked, since I don’t seem to have any clothes.

About 8 hours later

I burn the last of the fucking slavers. Damn, if I didn’t have this buff they would have gotten me with that Brand thing my screen said I was immune to. How can people be so horrible, it’s only been a few days since this all started right? They’re basically no better than monsters.

Ding!

I can check all of that later. Right now I need to help these people out of their cages and shackles. Such horrible, filthy conditions. After I free the last of them, a man walks up to me, naked, just like myself. “Thank you so much for freeing us, do you happen to know how to get to Dragon Roost or Safety from here?” He doesn’t seem to be interested in my naked body which is nice, but my own eyes do wander down a few times before I answer. “I don’t even know where here is, I was lost and given a quest to find this place since it was the closest Land. Now I have a Land Menu, that I’m not sure what to do with.”

He looks surprised, but hold out a hand for a shake so I shake it. He says “My name’s Neil, since you helped us out, I feel obligated to help you as well. I’ll teach you what my dad told me about being a Landowner, and I can try to learn how to get home in the mean time. I see you looking at my penis, but I have to inform you that I have a girlfriend so we can’t have sex.” I blush and pull my hand back after he says the last part. How can such a cute man be so forward? I could really use some help right now though so I tell him “Thank you, any advice would be appreciated.”

I then ask “Why does it say High Human above your head?”