It was dark. So much darker than before, his Mom's smile grew fake, and her touch more distant.
"Ah, sorry ------, but mommy has to work. You can set things up on your own, right? Use those internet skills, okay?"
Charice nodded. His mother stepped away and closed the door.
A click could be heard. She locked it.
He couldn't see the walls, the world beyond his window, or anything else. All he could hear was the faint noises from the other room, a brief conversation, followed by sounds. Sounds that his mother refused to explain.
Charice plugged the headset into power, ignoring the fog swirling around his feet.
He put the headset on.
[Welcome to Genesis™.]
A great ocean appeared within the headset, yet he could feel a distant tingle, the echo of the virtual reaching for the real. This ocean, with waves of silver standing proudly against the night sky above, stood in stark contrast to a pair of stars, one blue and the other red, that loomed over it and him. They illuminated him with their combined grace.
As the boy smiled, looking out into the virtual night sky, within which red and blue stars glittered, he did not see the twin stars appear in the real night sky, looking down at him. The fog shifted from grey to the brightest blues and reds. Swirling to a bright pink at his feet.
Yet in the game world too, the silver sea swirled at his feet as a loving pink hue hummed into the abyss, and yet, the abyss above hummed back.
And above his sleeping form, the chains grew from pink to blue and red, tightening around Earth. And with one final strangle, it shrank into a tiny, egg-shaped pin-prick of light. Tiny pieces crumbled off of it, akin to dirt and dust, leaving the rest to fall into his chest.
The blue mist condensed into a plate while the red mist created some delicacies. The pieces of Earth crumpled in the air and flowed to the nightable, settling over the food.
And finally, a simple Kimono Dress formed at his feet from both colors. Glimmering for a few seconds before stopping.
Charice woke up. He sighed, feeling the soft blanket press against him. He felt the cold air bite at his leg. Looking down, he found his leg had somehow wiggled out of his sheets, leaving it exposed.
He mumbled in annoyance, gave the pillow a light peck, and mumbled incoherently for a bit.
"Mh..." Charice mewled, "Frick... I don't want to get up... It's so nice and fuzzy..." Getting up in the morning was always a struggle, but this bed made it a herculean task. He rubbed his eyes and yawned, his legs and arms twitching as he stretched them.
It was then that he realized where he was, his eyes softening, filling with tears.
'I... I'm not home, that means-!'
Before he could begin spiraling, his senses pulled him back into reality, soothing him; in particular, he could smell something.
A soft aroma wafted over his nose as it twitched, his eyes lazily moving to a plate on the night table, next to the still burning candle, whose pinkish flame cast long, soothing shadows over him.
There were some chocolate muffins with a strange pink glitter. They smelled like chocolate and looked like it, too. They also had some white cubes all over the surface. Next to them was also a small cake on a dish and a bottle of warm milk; the milk was untouched by the glitter, but the cake had some glitter all over the top.
At his feet, there was a new robe for him to wear, this one more akin to a Japanese kimono robe.
Gingerly, Charice crawled over to them on all fours and sniffed the muffins. He tasted one and sighed in contentment.
Bit by bit, he slowly nibbled on every single one, eating them. The white cubes were very sweet; it was white chocolate.
They tasted familiar, like the kind his mom used to cook for him when the kids at school were mean to him. Or when he couldn't find work.
He couldn't help it after this. The tears were no longer swelling in his eyes; they flowed from them, staining the carpet underneath him, washing away some of the glitter on his food.
"I want Mom back... Frick...!" Dread was all he could feel in his heart; he was alone, this world was real, it was no illusion, but what was he supposed to do now?
His mom was who knows where, if she was anywhere at all. His friends, not that he had many, were also gone.
"...B-But not all of them..." He realized, wiping away the tears. "Max was online... A-And those newbies too... They're alone and scared..."
'What will they do? If they're in a dungeon, they're gonna... Die. I-I should find them, I'll be looking for Max anyway, so I-I'll keep an eye out. Yeah. I can do that!'
He had to find others. He would die on his own, like a flower without sunlight; he needed their warmth.
Without realizing it, Charice had consumed all of the muffins far faster when he started to cry; he blushed, always a big stress eater, he was embarrassed to realize it happened again.
He wiped away the tears. The fear was overwhelming, the dread undeniable, but he would overcome it; his friends always told him to be brave. To be strong. He was neither, but he would be enough. He had to be.
The cake had a fork to go with it. Charice looked at it as if it were offensive and reached a hand toward it.
"...I want a spoon." He mumbled, a bit miffed, and the fork seemed to agree that it should be a spoon as a light blue glow emanated from his eyes. Its three peaks morphed together; it was now a small spoon, but a spoon nonetheless.
Charice felt it shake subtly in his hand, as if somehow afraid, or desperate to please.
Pleased to find more of his abilities intact and with a tactical spoon in hand, Charice happily took the plate with the cake and snuggled back into bed with a happy smile. He slowly ate it, bit by bit.
It had taken him two hours to eat just a few muffins. The cake took him another, he liked the soft texture and creamy insides a lot more, so he savored every bite.
The milk, saved for last, had gone cold. He blew on it, and a red fog trailed from his lips into the bottle, restoring the lost heat.
He then gripped it with both hands and drank it, one little gulp at a time, and changed into the robe. It was long-sleeved, covering most of his legs and arms, but felt very ventilated with a black and gold motif. It also came with a pair of loose, matching pants.
Finally, after all of that effort to eat and change, Charice convinced himself to leave the bedroom.