Surviving The Myriad Worlds (A Multiplanar LitRPG)

Dante was suspended in darkness. Not the kind one would experience in day-to-day life. True darkness. The complete absence of light, like what would be found in the deep, darkest cave where the stone had never felt light. Ordinarily, such an experience would be terrifying, but he wasn't scared for some inexplicable reason. The darkness was familiar and behind its veil was a world of pain.

It feels like there is something I am missing. But, for my life, I can't remember what.

He had been on a journey and he had fought for so long that even his bones felt tired. He had been injured and so had someone important to him. Those were the broad strokes and yet, when he tried to push for details, they slipped through his fingers. No matter how many times he tried, it always ended the same. Dante gave up and turned his attention to other thoughts.

Where am I?

He could feel his body in a strange detached way, like a heavy weighted blanket had been drooped over him. Dante swore he could hear something. It was muffled and distorted but sounded like a voice. And not one he recognized. It was speaking one word over and over again, a name he was pretty sure, and it was getting louder.

"Dante!"

His eyes snapped open and he stood up from a bench. Dante almost tripped as he found the bench, and the table it was attached to, nailed to the ground. Scanning the room, Dante almost lost his balance again from shock. He was in the middle of a large drab room with many beige tables. Sitting at each table were teenagers dressed in orange jumpsuits.

All were looking at him.

Something about it was familiar and he realized that he could recognize faces in the crowd. They belonged to people he was none too happy to see again. A thought struck him and Dante looked down to see that he was in the body of his teenage self.

This is … Juvie? The Crown County detention center I think. But that's impossible. I haven't been here for years.

"Mr. Embry, sit your backside down! You are being very disruptive." Dante gazed at the speaker and found himself looking at Correctional Officer Jefferson. That was a face he would never forget. Despite living in Seattle for all of his life, the man wore cowboy boots, a ten-gallon hat, and aviators — even indoors — like he was cosplaying a sheriff. Just like one, he had never been afraid to lay down the law. Naturally, he had not liked Dante from day one.

"I am not going to ask again." Jefferson jangled his handcuffs menacingly and he got the picture.

Dante complied, not wanting to set off the man's short fuse, and looked around at his table mates. Just like he remembered, there was Jeremy, David, Andrew, and one he struggled to place. They appeared to be at the tail end of lunch, which was composed of unnaturally green peas, a meat puck, and clay-like mashed potatoes. Wanting to fit in, Dante dipped his spoon into the mashed potatoes and ate a spoonful.

Yep, tastes like chalk. At least nothing is rotten this time around. Just what is going on here? This is far too lucid for a dream.

"Hey man, are you alright?" This came from David, a four-eyed skinny boy who had bad acne and was probably the closest thing he had to a friend in this place. "Was Andrew's hooch bad this time around or something?"

Oh yeah, I forgot that I used to drink. Must have been desperate if I drank that stuff. To be fair, it made this place bearable.

"Yeah, I'm good. A cockroach ran over my foot and I thought it was a rat."

Jeremy nodded seriously. It was a common enough occurrence here. "Glad to hear that, especially since it's game day. Been looking forward to this all week."

Game day? I don't recall … Oh that's right!

Before this last stint in prison, Dante had been introduced to Demenses & Demons by Ray. Prison was incredibly boring and so he decided to try teaching some of his prison buddies the game. To his surprise, they had taken to it incredibly well. It helped that Dante chose to surround himself with the shyest and most nerdy inmates.

"Can we start already? We hardly get enough time to play as is," asked Andrew, who embodied the term gentle giant. Out of everyone, he had taken to the game the most.

"Suuuure," Dante was still confused about what was going on but he didn't think there was any harm in playing along. He glanced at the one teenager he didn't recognize. For some reason, the sight of him made Dante nervous, a feeling which the boy seemed to share. He frequently shifted back and forth in their seat, biting his lip and glancing around like he was expecting some imminent disaster. Putting that out of his mind for the moment, Dante was surprised to find that he remembered exactly the state of the campaign.

That is so suspicious. I don't think I could remember these details if I were awake.

"Ok, If I recall correctly, you were all about to assault the Blackwatch's fortress to save Connor from its dungeon." Dante frowned to himself. Who was Connor? The name had lept unbidden to his lips. Was it the stranger? The name had brought a similar sense of foreboding.

"Yep, we made a plan." David piped up, smiling a smile that always meant that disaster was imminent. "I remember you saying that the gate guard was a woman?"

Dante groaned. He could already see where this was going. "That's correct."

David grinned mischievously, "I'll straighten my clothes, slick back my hair, and swagger down to lay on some classic Urukmar charm."

Dante really should have expected this. None of them had seen a woman for months, so every woman in the campaign was fair game. Even the dragons. Especially the dragons. He had been half tempted to cut most of them. "You can certainly try, David. Give me a persuasion roll."

David withdrew a pair of dice from his pocket. The guards didn't normally allow them as they could be used for gambling, so they had been forced to make them by melting styrofoam into a cube and drawing pips on them. It wasn't normally what you used to play the game, but they made do. David rolled the dice. Snake eyes. "Ah shit," he complained, throwing his hands up into the air. "Every time!"

Dante grinned, he always preferred describing the failures. "Oh, that sucks. This Guardswoman sees this half-orc clad in armor, who is still bloody from the earlier bandit encounter by the way, smile at her with a leer and she will ring the alarm bell. Roll for initiative." There was a chorus of groans all around.

"Shit, sorry guys my bad," said David. "Got any suggestions for what to do?"

Before anyone could comment, the nervous-looking boy spoke. "Gu ... guys, he's looking at me again!"

Following his gaze, Dante found himself looking at a medium sized group of older teens. Dante indeed found a tattooed older teenager looking over. Though he could hardly be called a teen anymore, he was certainly larger than most adults. He recognized him. Elijah. Dante had run in the same gang with him a few years back ago. A real piece of work, though Elijah had been behaving since his incarceration.

"Well, that is probably because you have been eyeing him since you got here, Connor," said David while rolling his eyes. "Seriously, chill man. We didn't invite you to hang out with us so you could beef with the biggest gang."

So his name is Connor. I remember him now. Wasn't the sharpest kid. He was my cellmate for a few days until …

"Nah, he got it out for me. He's going to jump me the first chance he gets, I can just tell. Shit, I have to do something." Connor perked up. "Hey, I know! He's the biggest guy here, so I should jump him first and then no one will mess with me! Just like in the movies."

"Connor, it doesn't work like that. You are only going to … " Dante trailed off as Connor had already stood up and was walking over towards the gang leader.

"Should we stop him?" asked Andrew, who readjusted his glasses nervously. "Elijah isn't going to go easy on him."

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"No, he needs to learn his lesson," Dante said, then frowned. He hadn't meant to say that. It was like he was repeating the lines to a play. It was happening exactly as it had in the past and Dante found himself helpless to stop it. "It's going to be his first offense, so the COs won't go too hard on him. Besides, I can't imagine Elijah feeling too threatened by —"

Dante cut off as Connor reached Elijah and sucker-punched him. Elijah collapsed to the ground and Connor kicked him viciously in the gut. He whooped and then turned to the rest of the cafeteria.

"Yeah that's right, I am the big dog here! You mess with me, you get — eugh!"

One of Elijah's friends had bashed the back of Connor's with his thick, plastic cafeteria tray, sending mashed potatoes flying everywhere. Another grabbed Connor from behind, holding him still so the rest could rain blows down upon him.

Andrew began to stand and Dante grabbed onto his arm, pulling him back down. "You want to get thrown in solitary? Make some enemies?" He hissed.

"But they're killing him out there!"

"Connor made his bed, what was he thinking sucker punching someone like that? The COs will stop it soon enough."

Andrew sat back down, saying: "If you say so man, I trust you." Dante released his arm.

Together, they watched as Jefferson and a few other of the COs finally reached the fight. They waded in, separating the fighters and dragging Connor and Elijah apart. Connor was insensate, Dante was fairly sure his nose was broken and he was mottled with quickly forming bruises. Despite being attacked first, Elijah was in far better shape, only having one visible bruise across the face.

Elijah spotted Dante and lunged at him, forcing the COs to restrain him. "You put him up to this, Dante!?!" Elijah screamed, spittle flying from his lips.

"What? No, I —"

"Save it, he's one of yours. Once I get out of solitary, you are dead meat. All of you." Any further words were cut off as the fighters were dragged through the cafeteria door and, presumably, to the infirmary. A dead silence went over the room, unbroken even by the sound of plastic forks scraping trays as everyone collectively lost their appetite.

"Staying out of it worked so well, huh?" Muttered Andrew sullenly. Dante sighed and let his head thud against the table.

This is a nightmare and I am just along for the ride. Great. Not like I wanted to remember this again. Didn't even get the chance to change anything.

His memory had cleared somewhat and Dante remembered what happened after this. They never saw Connor again. His injuries had been severe enough to go to an actual hospital and there was too much ill will for him to come back to this detention center. Once Elijah had gotten out of solitary, life became a living hell. They had been forced to travel together between classes or risk getting jumped. Even with the precautions, they had gotten their teeth kicked in a couple times. Fortunately, he only had a few months left in prison by that point. Dante would be lying if the experience hadn't been a huge motivator in straightening out.

"I wonder if this would have gone differently, had the current you been here?" Asked a distinctly familiar, feminine voice.

Dante raised his head and found himself looking straight at his sister. Andrew, whose chair she was sitting in, was nowhere to be found. She looked exactly like the night they had been separated. Sophia was not looking at him, instead inspecting where COs still wrestled with some of Elijah's gang.

"Sophie?" He asked tentatively.

Sophia finally looked at him, meeting his gaze with cold, dispassionate eyes that were entirely unlike his sisters. She inspected him like he was some interesting insect before returning to look at the ongoing violence. Dante felt a shiver run up his spine.

"So?" Sophia prompted.

Dante was caught off guard and realized that he hadn't heard her first question. "What?"

"Would you change anything?"

"Who … what are you?" Dante was certain now. This was not an ordinary dream and this was definitely not his sister. Something was in his head.

The not-Sophie turned to him and sighed. Her eyes had been replaced with a solid blue light, as if whatever was impersonating his sister had given up on pretending, "I see that there is nothing more to be gained from this discussion. You might want to consider the question before the next time."

Then, she snapped her fingers and the world went black.

Dante burst out of his bed, sending the blankets flying. His chest heaved like he had run a marathon and whipped his head around to look for threats. He was greeted by the interior of a cabin. All of the walls were made out of a fancy, lacquered wood that was so polished it gleamed. On one wall was a porthole that reminded him of what could be found on a sailing ship.

Where the hell am I this time? Is this another dream? Is the not-Sophia responsible?

"What ails you, Dante? Have a nightmare?"

He whirled around and saw Ren sitting in another bed next to his. She looked far better than the last time he had seen her, having recovered a lot of color and was absent of any wounds. It seemed like she had even found time to bathe. She raised an eyebrow at him expectantly.

"Where is Pauwna?" Dante asked frantically.

"Oh her? You need not worry, she will make a full recovery. A little concussed, but recuperating quickly. So calm down a little, will you? You are making me ill at ease."

Dante collapsed on the bed, energy leaving him now that he had received that reassurance. He only now realized that he was still in pain, though it wasn't as bad as before. Looking himself over, he saw that his hand, arm, and chest were all bandaged. Dante experimentally poked the hand bandage and was relieved when he felt something underneath the cloth. He no longer had any holes in him.

"Where is she?"

"Still with the healers, I am afraid. She took quite a hit in that last fight and she needs special attention."

Quite a hit indeed.

That was the last thing that he remembered, the giant crystal leg descending upon them. Dante had taken too long to decide what to do, so he had activated everything in hopes it would help somehow. After that? Mainly just pain.

"Do you know what happened after we got hit? The impact knocked me out."

Ren sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Not directly no, that strike also took me out. Ironic that Pauwna, the least injured of us, got it the worst in the end. But from what I heard, it cast us into the sky. Given the elevation, I've been told we flew quite far before we were snatched by Lightbringer himself."

"Truly?" Dante asked incredulously. "That seems hard to believe."

"You doubt my honesty? Really?" She sniffed, clearly offended.

"Sorry, it just doesn't feel real. Please continue."

"Apology accepted. In any case, it seemed like Lightbringer attempted to abscond with us. Likely to pilfer our intel, that overgrown lizard. Verily, we would be in a cell if the First Princess hadn't intervened." A dreamy look appeared on Ren's face. "She negotiated personally for our return, truly the gem of our great empire."

"I am guessing that she brought us here?"

"Just so, where we were attended by some of her personal healers."

Dante fell back on the bed, absorbing all of that. It seemed like they had been highly fortunate, which immediately made him suspicious. Ever since he had arrived in these lands, nothing had gone right. Perhaps that dream had put him ill at ease. Speaking of …

"Hey Ren, is it possible to mess with someone's dreams?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Is this in relation to your nightmare?"

"Yeah, the dream was too vivid to be normal. Something had taken control of a … person within the dream and was trying to talk to me. Ended the dream when it didn't like my answers."

"It's not out of the ordinary to have strange dreams when —"

"Just answer the question, please?"

Ren met his gaze and seemed to realize how serious he was. "Very well. If you must know, there are several abilities that could do what you are describing. Some of them are even rare. Most of them could leave you a gibbering idiot if they wanted to. If you have such enemies, you might want to train a mental resistance skill."

Probably good advice. I will ask Pauwna how to do that the next time I see her.

"Thanks, Ren."

And, with that, their conversation died out. Ren picked up a book she had previously been reading and Dante was left to inspect the room. Dante stared out of the window and realized, with a start, that it was moving. He rubbed his eyes, worrying that he was hallucinating, but it remained.

"Ren, where are we?"

She put back down the book and a wide grin spread across her face. "Why, we are on the First Princesses Landship! She wanted to be the first to hear our report." Ren sighed dreamily. "What an honor!"

"Huh, I suppose it is."

Dante walked over to the porthole to gaze outside and was stunned. Fields of golden wheat interspersed by strange fruit trees. An idyllic stream flashed by along with a quaint cabin. After so long being surrounded by devastation, Dante thought it was perhaps the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. He stared at the vista for a good while, feeling at peace.

I am finally away from that accursed war. No more constant threats of death or dismemberment. No more nights being woken up by explosions or screams. I can even sleep on an actual bed now. If my luck lasts, then I might be able to slip away from all of this.

Then, a question occurred to him.

"Where are we going?"

She put down the book again with an exasperated sigh. "Did I not mention that? We are following the First Princess to the capital. We might even end up staying in the Royal Palace!"

Ok. That is not the worst thing that could have happened. The Royal Capital is big I imagine, I bet it's easy to slip away from. I'll hop on a caravan or something. Go to a country that isn't hell.

"Oh, we will also be attending the First Princess during her audience with the Empress. Isn't that amazing? Dante, are you alright? Should I call a healer?"

Dante had sat back down on the bed and was holding his head in his hands. He could feel a headache coming on. "No, my injuries just caught up with me. Pay it no mind."

I should have known. Things were going too well. Of course, I am going to meet the leader of this evil ass nation. I am sure that will only go well.