Chapter Text
Chapter One: The Great Kremnoan Detachment
“I’m thinking of finally trying out that game you like to play so much,” Cipher says over the line, “maybe I can convince Cas to play too, just like old times.”
Mydei sighs as he turns away from his monitor to entertain her antics, “Just for you to quit in a week? No thanks.”
“Oh come on, little prince. I won't lose interest, promise.”
“I’m supposed to believe that you suddenly gained interest in Saga of Heroes,” he responds dryly.
“Yep, you catch on so fast. I’m proud of you.”
He won't let her rile him up this time, he begrudgingly tamps down another sigh and asks, “What's the catch?”
“There isn't one.”
He doesn't believe that one bit.
“Let me guess, Aglaea plays it.”
The long stretch of silence is all the answer he needs.
“So I couldn’t convince you, but she could.”
“Precisely,” she replies smugly, clearly satisfied with herself.
“Fuck you.”
He peels his headphones off of his ears with a frown as she cackles away on the other line, “Anyway, do you wanna carry Cas and I through the early game?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“No.”
“Of course not.”
Mydei migrated to Saga of Heroes a little under three years ago after his previous most played MMO, with over five thousand hours logged, suddenly announced it was closing the servers down for good. Luckily, he and his old guild members were apart of an HSN Messenger group chat which allowed them to stay in contact long after the abrupt cancellation of the game; they were some of the lucky ones, he still sees forum posts of people looking for old IGNs and friends that were lost to the purge to this day.
The last game he recalls playing with Castorice and Cipher was MapleTale over a decade and a half ago which also happens to be the last time all three of them enjoyed something together after life drew them apart and split them up across the country. If he ruminates over it for a moment, what Cipher proposes would be a nice opportunity for the three of them to bond again—after all, they are his dear childhood friends.
He relents, “Fine, but I can only help on certain days. My guild is preparing for Guild Wars.”
“Nerd.”
“Do you want me to carry you or not?”
“You’ll do it regardless of how much I tease you.”
“You seem so sure of that.”
She laughs, softer this time, “Of course I am. You're the biggest softie ever.”
[ ▸ ]
[Party] Prince: What's with the usernames?
[Party] xXNyanXx: it's ok, dei you can say the word cringe.
[Party] xNetherwing: Do you not like it?
[Party] Prince: That's not it.
[Party] xXNyanXx: he thinks we're cringe, cas.
[Party] Prince: I don't. Can you read?
[Party] xXNyanXx: comfort me princess. _:(´ཀ`」 ∠):
[Party] xNetherwing: There, there, Cifera.
[Party] Prince: Cas, don't fall for her tricks.
[Party] xNetherwing: Do you really not like our IGNs?
Mydei has sighed more in the past two days than he has in his entire life. As much as he enjoys their company, Castorice is a bit too gullible and Cipher doesn't know when to quit, which makes for frustrating situations such as this one, but neither of them deserve his ire, so he types:
They're cute|
He backspaces.
They're interesting|
That sounds worse.
He swallows his pride.
[Party] Prince: They're badass.
[Party] xNetherwing: I’m glad you think so, that's exactly what Cipher said!
Yeah, he knows, unfortunately, and he knows that said Cipher is probably stifling the largest laugh of her life behind her monitor right now.
[Party] xXNyanXx: pfft. (=^▽^)σ
[Party] Prince: Fuck off.
The queue pops in the middle of their conversation and Mydei prays for whichever hapless soul has to put up with Cipher and her antics for the next twenty minutes.
Pirate’s Den [Dungeon Commence]
[Party] TrashRaccoon: o7
[Party] xNetherwing: Hi ♪(๑ᴖ◡ᴖ๑)♪
[Party] xXNyanXx: o7
[Party] Prince: Hello.
[Party] xXNyanXx: LOL, u r so stiff.
[Party] Prince: Can you behave for once?
[Party] TrashRaccoon: premade?
[Party] xNetherwing: Yes, we are :)
[Party] Prince: Unfortunately.
[Party] xXNyanXx: fortunately, for u scrub. you are in for the carry of a lifetime ദ്ദി๑-•̀๑)
[Party] Prince: Ignore her, it's her first time playing.
[Party] TrashRaccoon: lol noob.
He can't defend her if it's the truth—he lets it slide.
[Party] xXNyanXx: yeah, yeah scrub. you’ll be eating your words soon enough.
[Party] xXNyanXx has died.
Prince has cast Revivify on xXNyanXx.
Prince has cast Heal on xXNyanXx.
[Party] TrashRaccoon: you were saying LOL?
[Party] Prince: Don't walk into the orange circles on the ground, Nyan.
[Party] xXNyanXx: i was just testing your reflexes.
[Party] xXNyanXx has died.
Prince has cast Revivify on xXNyanXx.
Prince has cast Regeneration on xXNyanXx.
[Party] Prince: Verdict?
[Party] xXNyanXx: they're decent.
TrashRaccoon has left the party.
A dry chuckle leaves Mydei’s lips.
[Party] Prince: Nice going.
[Party] xXNyanXx: i bet i got you to laugh though.
[Party] Prince: In your dreams.
[Party] xNetherwing: Wait, do we have to clear this without a tank now?
[Party] Prince: No, it will autofill in a second. See the searching notification on your screen?
[Party] xNetherwing: Oh, I do now.
[Party] Prince: Let's hope Cipher doesn't scare off the next tank.
A tank has been found.
[h0ckeyl0v3r] has joined the party.
[Party] h0ckeyl0v3r: may i ask why your first tank quit?
[Party] xXNyanXx: he couldn't handle how awesome i am.
[Party] Prince: Can you handle a thirty minute penalty, tank? This run is looking to be the same length.
[Party] h0ckeyl0v3r: oh two of you guys are new? i don’t mind, i love helping newbies.
Pirate’s Den [Dungeon Complete]
You have received a commendation!
Mydei can say with nearly one hundred percent certainty that h0ckeyl0v3r will never want to help a band of noobs ever again.
The trio’s first dungeon run together ends after one regret-filled hour. He didn't even know it was possible to take that long in what is essentially a tutorial dungeon—HP inflation hasn’t infected the lower-tier dungeons, for now, at least, so it truly is a thing of marvel that they managed to clear at a snail’s pace, no, he’s sure a snail could have cleared it faster.
Could snails play video games?
He sighs for the umpteenth time; playing with Cas and Cipher has clearly depleted the last of his brain cells if his train of thought was anything to go by.
This was enough Saga of Heroes for the day.
[ ▸ ]
Mydei logs on the next day after work to enable the guild buffs before grinding, but he sees that Hephaestion beat him to it.
KremnoanEmpire Lv 20/20
Guild Master: MadKing
Established: October 20XX
Housing: The Castrum
Buffs Active: Heat of Battle V | Gatherer’s Boon V | Culinary Prowess V
Online: 3/8
Prince Guild Admin Lv 100
Hephaestion Guild Officer Lv 100
Peucesta Member Lv 100
Offline: 5/8
MadKing Guild Master Lv 100
Leonnius Member Lv 100
Perdikkas Member Lv 100
Ptolemy Member Lv 100
Miltiades Initiate Lv 100
Page 01/01
Hephaestion: Welcome back!
Peucesta: Welcome back.
Prince: Thanks.
Prince: Also thanks for refreshing the buffs, Hephaestion.
Hephaestion: No problem. You’re on later than usual.
Prince: Work as always.
Hephaestion: You really should quit one of these days.
Prince: I don’t hate it that much.
[Guild] MadKing has logged on.
MadKing: Has anyone here tried any damage hacks?
Hephaestion: Can't say that I have.
Peucesta: Welcome back, I guess? LOL.
Prince: ?
MadKing: I haven't had much time to grind out the new tier of gear for GW. So I was thinking of supplementing my damage a little.
Prince: Hacking is against TOS.
MadKing: You’ve always been such an ardent rule follower, Prince.
Prince: It defeats the whole point of the game.
MadKing: Someone with as much free time as you wouldn't understand.
Hephaestion: I’m inclined to agree with Prince here.
Peucesta: This seems out of character. Did King’s account get hacked?
Prince: We can only hope that's the case or else I’m not participating in GW.
[Guild] MadKing has logged out.
Peucesta: What was that all about?
Hephaestion: Nikador has been stressed out lately, something about his boss signing him up for five shifts back-to-back recently. It’s been splitting him apart.
Peucesta: You could even say it’s been splitting him into pieces.
Hephaestion: Not the time.
Peucesta: I mean, yeah it sucks, but resorting to hacking is kinda cringe.
Prince: Don’t you have a VAC ban on your Vapor account?
Peucesta: I was eight years old and I wanted Nex-Dollars on MapleTale, fuck off. Not everyone can be loaded like you dude. I bet you spent your weekly allowance on it.
Prince: …
Peucesta: No way, did you?
Hephaestion: Stop poking fun at everyone Pue, what’s gotten into you?
Peucesta: Stop calling me that, it sounds like shit.
Hephaestion: You mean poo?
Peucesta: Oh look, I’m Hephaestion, I don’t curse and everyone likes me. Whatever man.
Prince: ?
Prince: It seems Nikador isn’t the only one with a stick up his ass lately.
[Guild] Peucesta has logged out.
Prince: ?
Hephaestion: I’ll message him. Brb.
Mydei figures he should message him too, but the last time he tried to talk to Peucesta when he got like this it blew up in his face spectacularly; Hephaestion is more of the mediator-type. If not for him, he’s sure the guild would have broken up twenty times over. Maybe it should, everyone seems to be drifting apart anyway.
[Whisper] from: xXNyanXx: come on and carry us.
[Whisper] to: xXNyanXx: Does the word ‘please’ not exist in your vocabulary?
[Whisper] from: xXNyanXx: if i said please, you would ask what’s wrong with me.
[Whisper] to: xXNyanXx: Fair point.
[Whisper] from: xXNyanXx: how do u send a party request again?
He doesn’t know how many more sighs he has left in him.
[ ▸ ]
The day of Guild Wars arrives rather unceremoniously despite Mydei’s initial excitement for it.
Since Nikador’s question about hacking, he’s been uncharacteristically quiet in the guild chat, which doesn’t bode well at all. He can only hope that Nikador doesn’t follow through with it or else he’ll have to cut ties with him despite their long history—he’s not fond of cheaters nor underhanded methods, something Nikador should be well aware of.
When he spawns into the Guild Wars map, the rest of his guildmates are already waiting for him in the prep area as the timer ticks down. Perdikkas hands out a few extra pots he crafted for the event, while Ptolemy goes over the strategy one more time. The map is winter themed this time around, the towers coated in thick sheets of snow—the trees and bushes almost indistinguishable from its cover, the river dividing the two guild territories frozen over. Due to the terrain changes, the river will debuff your avatar and slow your movements, making you a prime target for getting picked off by the enemy team, which is why they’ve had to modify their tactics a bit from their original plan.
Guild Wars doesn’t provide anything other than glory and bragging rights, but it is one of the few things Mydei still looks forward to in between dry patches.
He just hopes today doesn’t throw him any curveballs.
[Whisper] from: Peucesta: Hey man, I’m sorry about the other day.
[Whisper] to: Peucesta: It’s fine.
[Whisper] from: Peucesta: I’ll treat you after GW to make up for it.
[Whisper] to: Peucesta: No need.
[Whisper] from: Peucesta: Oh so it’s your treat then.
He chuckles.
[Whisper] to: Peucesta: Get lost.
KremnoanEmpire vs. Council
Objective: Take down the enemies’ towers and destroy their fortress before the timer runs out. Time remaining: 30:00
Hephaestion: Prince and I will take top side towers.
Peucesta: I’ll take mid with Nikador and Perdikkas.
Ptolemy: Everyone else take bot or secure lane pressure and vision near river.
The first tower on top side is normally the easiest to take down due to its seclusion with the hardest tower to siege being mid tower due to it having the shortest path to the enemies’ fortress, which warrants more opponents surrounding it for defense. Mydei is normally relegated to frontlining down mid, but Nikador still seems to be fuming over his prior comments and has allowed that resentment to poison their strategy—it shouldn’t make a difference though, Mydei prides himself in being one of KremnoanEmpire’s strongest pieces.
He and Hephaestion arrive at their designated tower after a minute of trekking up the lane. Oddly enough, they meet no opposition when they cross into the tower’s sightline.
Focus Target
100% Tower(O) >>100% Prince
███████████████ 10,000,000 HP
Hephaestion has cast Damage Amp on Prince.
Prince has dealt 330k damage to Tower [O].
Nikador has been inflicted with [Leaden].
Mydei looks over to his mini-map, Nikador has already crossed into enemy territory by himself, which is incredibly foolish and dangerous; the respawn timers at the beginning of the match aren’t long, but still—
[Whisper] from: xXNyanXx: you should hurry up and join my guild. whispering is so inconvenient.
[Whisper] to: xXNyanXx: Can you not see that I’m doing GW? Bother me later.
[Whisper] from: xXNyanXx: how do i check your status again?
She’s so full of shit.
You have temporarily blocked messages from [xXNyanXx] for ten minutes.
MadKing has destroyed [Council]’s first-tier mid tower!
Mydei whips his head down to the damage logs in disbelief, he and Hephaestion have barely made a dent in their tower—there’s no way mid could have gone down first.
Nikador critically striked and dealt 7,800,320,560,200 damage to Tower [A].
Subtlety is a lost art it seems.
[Shout] TideFodder: Someone call a GM, that’s the most blatant hacking I’ve ever seen.
[Shout] IrontombBoyfie: Despicable.
[Shout] CouncilMemberA: Cheating is cringe.
He’s inclined to agree, if Nikador wanted to be banned so badly, he could have left the rest of them unscathed, now they’ll all look like accomplices to his madness. Anger isn’t something that comes easily to Mydei, but disappointment is.
And right now, he’s sorely disappointed.
Peucesta: Are you fucking crazy dude?
Prince: I guess I misjudged your character.
Hephaestion: All of us did it seems.
MadKing: Someone like you could never understand my burden, Mydei.
Prince: What are you talking about?
MadKing: That silver spoon has corroded your empathy hasn’t it?
Annoyance stirs within him. It is moments like this where he regrets divulging the inheritance that was promised to him; everyone always treats him differently because of it. He hates it.
Prince: Why are you always so obsessed with my wealth?
MadKing: You play this game for fun, I play it to escape. All your life you’ve been handed everything on a silver platter, never wanting for anything, never having to work for anything.
Hephaestion: Fuck off. You don’t know half of what he’s been through.
Peucesta: Fuck off is right. I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but no one gets to speak to him like that.
MadKing: Can’t speak for yourself, Mydei? Pathetic. Don’t you get tired of having your minions do everything for you?
Prince: Say what you want about me, but leave them out of it.
MadKing: How noble.
Prince: Look, I don’t know what you’re going through Nikador, but taking it out on me will never satiate you.
MadKing: You’re right, it won’t, but this will.
[Guild] Hephaestion has been kicked from [KremnoanEmpire].
[Guild] Peucesta has been kicked from [KremnoanEmpire].
You have been kicked from [KremnoanEmpire].
Mydei’s character is booted from the Guild Wars instance and he respawns by the teleportation crystal in the center of Okhema Square. Years of friendship down the drain in an instant, a tale as old as time for him. It always ends up like this, quiet resentment bubbling up and overflowing until it pulls him under like a raging tide. He wonders if Hephaestion and Peucesta feel the same way, if they’ve always thought of him as a spoiled, rich brat. No, he knows they don’t. He sighs, he’s not taking this as well as he normally does; maybe Cipher was right about him being a softie.
How unfortunate.
[Shout] FrogJuice: Did you guys hear that KremnoanEmpire is filled with cheaters?
[Shout] TrashRaccoon: holy cringe.
Word has reached the virtual town square faster than he was booted from the guild.
Ten minutes have elapsed. [xXNyanXx] has been unblocked.
[Whisper] from: xXNyanXx: i knew you would cave eventually, you just can’t live without me can you? (˵˘ ³˘˵)ฅ let me have little b invite you.
He has nothing else to lose, he guesses.
Welcome to [ChrysosHeirs].
[Welcome Message]: Welcome, new Heir! We’re currently trying to recruit people, please feel free to invite your friends, all are welcome!