What happened--? Where am I?
Jayden was definitely not in his room. Not even a cold, hard floor, either. He was simply surrounded by warmth and silence.
His sight was slowly returning to him. Faded colors swirled around him, and he saw the shape of a… person kneeling, right in front of him.
"Sera," the person sighed, his voice deep and sorrowful. "I can't imagine how proud you would've been."
"Sera"...? Who's he talking about?
A confused thought struck him. Surely he doesn't mean that Sera, as in…
"You always said you wanted me to name your child," the man murmured. "I don't think I deserve to… What happened to you was my fault, and I don't think it'll be easy to go on without you."
The shapes and colors in Jayden's vision slowly began to sharpen into recognizable things. The man in front of him wore all black, his messy hair almost covering his eyes. A deep scar ran along the right side of his face. He looked downcast.
Wait.
Jayden had seen this man before. Many times, actually.
Leo Van Haines--the main villain of Tales of Marelia.
He was supposed to be the untouchable final boss of the game. One that no player had ever actually faced in a bossfight--although art of him was found all over the official website, and his main quest cutscenes from way back in the game's beginning were famous for how unnerving they were.
The game's description even talked about him--become a renowned adventurer, and save the land of Marelia from the evil clutches of Leo Van Haines, or something.
And now the guy was standing right in front of Jayden, sounding like the last member of his family just died?
Pfft, no way. I'm probably just dreaming. Maybe I had a heart attack or something and this is just what my brain has decided to cook up while I'm unconscious.
Now, Jayden saw the man with perfect precision.
Damn, even my eyesight is better in a dream. Usually I can't see shit without my glasses, in the real world.
Leo reached forward and picked up Jayden, holding him gently, as one would with a baby, now sitting cross-legged.
Well, this is getting strange. What does it say about me as a person that I'm even dreaming about this?
"I'm sorry, little one. Because of me, you will never get to meet your mother."
Who cares? Can you put me down now? I'm just gonna go try and find a way to get out of this weird-ass dream.
Jayden moved his arms, attempting to move around. Except--his arms didn't move. Not that he could see, at least.
Well, that's great.
He tried moving his fingers. He felt something, but it was like he was missing some of them.
Still in the man's arms, he looked down to see what was going on.
To his surprise, and somewhat horror, he found that white scales on a stubby little arm replaced his normal one. Five tiny claws replaced had his fingers.
Okay, what the fu--
"It's good to see you moving," Leo said softly. "Your mother would've smiled."
Why the hell does he keep going on about my mother?
"What about my mother?" Jayden attempted to say.
What came out instead:
"Squeak squeak. Chrrp!"
Huh???
On top of having weird white arms, unusually good sight, and being held by his favorite game's supervillain, he couldn't speak, either?
Can I get out of this dream already? It's creeping me out.
Leo gave a small laugh. "Do you think so, too?"
He set Jayden back on the ground gently. Jayden realized there were a few shards of glimmering white eggshell behind him, as he stood on four legs
Now that I think about it… It feels like I have an extra set of arms, too.
He tried moving the mystery limbs, and a small gust of wind blew over his back.
"Right," Leo said to himself, as if suddenly remembering something important. "Someone will have to teach you how to fly. Pity I don't have wings."
Jayden sat on his hind legs. So it's a dream where I'm a tiny winged thing. I can basically already fly in-game though. It's nothing cool.
Wait.
What else was winged, scaled, and white?
Leo's dragon ally, Seraphine. The one that Jayden had quite literally just killed.
He's talking about a dead "Sera," and I happen to have just killed a diamond dragon named that. And now I'm a… baby dragon?
Jayden was dreaming about being the son of a dead main quest boss? One who never even had any voicelines?
Yeah, as soon as I wake up, I'm gonna need to forget this.
He glanced at his claws again. They shimmered like crystal, and looked as sharp as one, too.
He pressed one hand to the other, slowly drawing his right claws against his soft left palm. His hand shook--and he accidentally drew the claw across too sharply.
Jayden hissed in pain, red welling up like paint against the white.
Ow! That hurt! Actually hurt.
Pain meant he couldn't be dreaming. If he wasn't dreaming, then what did that mean?
Is this--actually real?!
Leaping to all four feet, Jayden stumbled backwards clumsily in dread, tripping over a tail he hadn't even known was there. This couldn't be happening.
He was in the game. Not as a human. But as a baby dragon.
"Wait, little one," Leo said quickly, picking him up again. "It seems you're a little clumsy."
He gently opened Jayden's clenched, bleeding hand, frowning. "Hmm, that's a large cut."
Jayden stared up at him, frozen. If this was actually the game, and he was actually being held by the villain every NPC whispered about in fear, and whose army players were tasked to defeat often, what should he do now?
Running away seemed like a good option. But as he finally took in his surroundings, he realized that was no choice at all.
The large room was shockingly normal, for wherever this place was. The walls were a pale icy blue, and the floors were made of sturdy wood planks. Leo sat calmly near one of the windows, and the sky outside was a pleasant mid evening hue.
When the players had defeated Seraphine, it had been late afternoon. Since the game's time was synced to the real world time, it must've been a couple of hours since he had… died? Passed out? Assuming it was still the same day, of course.
But that was all the useful information he could garner. The rest of the room seemed quite comfortable. There were pillows and blankets gathered on a section of soft carpet, and a table with some chairs slightly further away.
What really concerned him was the door.
The doorknob seemed impossibly high, from Jayden's level. He wouldn't be able to reach it if he tried. What if Leo trapped him in this room as some kind of twisted experiment?
His tone felt so genuine, though.
Leo Van Haines was designed to be a terrifying figure, both to the inhabitants of Marelia and players. When Jayden had played in one of the few main quests with him in a cutscene, he was shocked by how scarily the game portrayed him, and how he could actually respond to unscripted player actions because of the game's AI.
The final boss of a game as popular as Tales of Marelia was definitely not supposed to be nice.
Jayden heard the villain reach into his pocket for something. It was a tiny piece of black fabric, which he carefully tied around Jayden's cut hand.
"Only a few hours old, and you're already getting into trouble, little one." Leo paused. "I can't keep calling you that forever… soon, you'll be much bigger than me."
I like my own name, though! I don't want a new one.
"How about… Ryn?"