Welcome to Gaia! ::

Oh, me likey.

Woah! Awesome job, James! I'm really looking forward to the next chapter! Like Rhiko, I'm left wondering who the other survivors are! Not so much who they are, but how you'll portray them in your writing.

Keep 'em coming, James! T'is very exciting!

At first the three's vision was filled with nothing but light that they seemed to be falling through endlessly. Eventually though, it faded to black nothingness aside from a trail of light that the three made as they spiraled further downward. Finally a view of a large world, not unlike the Earth that they had just lost came into view. From a distance, it was hard to tell that it wasn't Earth. As the three looked around they could see other trails of light, identical to their own come into view, growing closer and closer together as they neared the world. They all sealed their eyes, fearing the imminent crash down to the ground of wherever it was they were going. Despite how fast though, the crash never came….

"Who are all of these people?"

"Gawrsh I sure hope they're alright."

"We should inform the King and Queen immediately."

"Yes Ma'am!"

James could hear the voices, two of them sounded very familiar. The third voice, a female, was new to him. He heard the sound of someone running off before the foot steps faded away. James tried to open his eyes, will his body to move, any kind of movement at all. However, he was too badly injured and exhausted. If there had been any movement it was very slight, hardly noticeable, and in exchange he hissed audibly in pain.

"Looks like they're waking up," the voice, which James now recognized as Goofy's said. "What should we do with them?"

"Go get the guest quarters ready, a lot of them are injured and are in need of rest." The female voice replied, her voice drawing nearer.

"Yes Ma'am A H~yuck." Goofy said before running off as well.

'What happened to all of these people?' thought the woman as she knelt down next to one of them and placed her hand on their shoulder.

"Cura!" she called, a bright green light glowing from her hand before it transferred into the body of the person she was healing, apparently the person was unconscious though as it elicited no response.

She repeated this process with a few more people before she finally knelt down next to James and placed a hand on his shoulder, causing a slight groan in pain from the young man as his body flinched in reaction.

"Relax, I am General Beatrix of his Majesty's Army, I am going to heal you now, so don't try to move," her voice was strong, yet gentle. "Cura!" she called yet again, evoking the curing magic.

James could feel the warmth of the light that flowed from her hand and into his shoulder, spreading throughout his body as if he had been submerged in a warm bath. The pain in his body was gone, though the fatigue from both the lack of sleep, and all of the fighting remained. Though James' eyes slowly opened he barely moved aside from turning his head to see who else was there. Beatrix began to move on and the young man realized that it was the General from Final Fantasy IX. Thing clicked into place as James slowly moved his head to look around. He realized that they were in the Courtyard inside Disney Castle, the same place where one first saw Donald and Goofy together in the first Kingdom Hearts.

So it's true… we somehow wound up in the Kingdom Hearts universe, I never expected this…,' he thought as he closed his eyes, trying to relax.

Moving his head so much in his state had made him dizzy, he had only seen Michelle and Bobbi and couldn't make out anyone else very well. He heard Beatrix continue her rounds, casting a few more curative spells where necessary and then began to walk away.

"Take all of these people to the guest quarters. Gentlemen in the East Wing and ladies in the West Wing," she ordered before walking off down one of the paths.

There was no reply from whoever she had been ordering, so James could only prepare to be moved soon. He hadn't expected that the orders were going to be carried about by none other than animated mops. One picked him up with what seemed like relative ease, carrying him in a bridal style like manner. It wasn't very comfortable, but there wasn't much he could do about the fact that they basically had poles for arms. It was surprising to him that they could bare his weight at all. James never really enjoyed being carried, but he endured it until he was placed down on a soft bed. He then removed his glasses and before long was out like a light.

To James, the hours drifted by in sleep and before he realized it, he started to stir and his eyes slowly opened. He felt a lot better after the much needed rest and slowly sat up, pulling his glasses on. He let out a heavy sigh as he looked around. The first very noticeable thing was the fact that Michelle and Bobbi were no where nearby. However, his eyes narrowed curiously as he looked at a young man sitting on a nearby bed, clearly deep in his own thought. It took a moment, but James recognized the man, particularly by his unique hair style.

"No way…," James muttered, getting down from the bed and walking over to him, "Kyle? Kyle Volkmann?" he asked, trying to get his attention.

Sure enough, the name Kyle had been enough to get the young man's eyes to open and he just kind of smirked at James.

"Took you long enough to recognize me," Kyle stated with a light laugh.

"This is the first time I've really been awake since we got here, this isn't exactly the way I had anticipated we would eventually meet." James replied with a light chuckle in response.

"Believe it or not, we're not the only ones," Kyle stated looking around at the other beds. "Mind, I don't recognize everyone here, but it looks like a lot of the guys from our guild are here too."

James' gaze followed Kyle's as he too observed the sleeping forms of his friends and fellow Kingdom Hearts guild members. He felt like his head was starting to spin again and he was definitely developing a headache. All of this was becoming a bit too much for the young man, who until that moment would not have believed any of what had happened was possible. His attention soon turned back to Kyle. James focused and called his keyblade into existence.

"You're the expert here… any idea how this could have happened?" He asked. "I thought keyblades were only able to be wielded by specially chosen people? You have one too right?"

"Not entirely accurate," Kyle responded, though it seemed he himself were still deep in thought. "Anyone with a strong heart can wield a keyblade, so long as it's been acquired by the proper method. As to how we got here, we can only assume that Earth has been connected somehow, maybe always has been., and yes I have one as well."

"Hey, would you two mind keeping it down? Some of us are still trying to sleep," a voice called very tiredly from a nearby bed, both James and Kyle recognized the person as Joe.

"Sorry Joe," James replied, feeling a bit bad about having woken his friend up. "Maybe we should continue this conversation outside?"

"Sure," Kyle replied, following James into the hallway.

Despite Beatrix's healing, James' leg still felt a bit sore, so there was a hint of a limp with each step as he made his way out into the nearby hallway. He didn't go too far before leaning his back against the nearby wall for support. Kyle joined him, his eyes on the young man as he leaned against the opposite wall.

"What does all of this mean?" James asked Kyle, his eyes looking right into his as he spoke.

"It means exactly what the mysterious letter we received said, we have been brought here to fight," Kyle replied, matter of factualy. "We must remember to maintain the World order though, especially around the canon characters we are sure to meet."

"Right, I can't imagine what revealing to them that they're video game characters in our world would do…," James replied with a slight nod of agreement. "Have you spoken to anyone else?"

"Kichi, Joe, Anthony, they've all come to from time to time, mostly just fell back asleep though," Kyle replied with a shrug.

"Ah, good morning gentlemen," Beatrix greeted as she approached, though her smile was kind and polite, they could tell that it was simply hiding her worry regarding the situation.

"Good morning General," James replied with a slight nod of his head.

"Please, you may call me Beatrix. I am guessing you two are hungry. If you will follow me, I will take you to the Dining Hall, a few of the ladies are already down there," Beatrix stated.

"Lead on then," Kyle replied, pushing his back off from against the wall.

Kyle and James followed Beatrix down the hallway to where it branched off, one to the right, the other leading straight. James assumed that heading straight would lead them to the West Wing where the girls were resting. Beatrix led them to the right, heading down yet another corridor which brought them back into the courtyard where they had arrived. They traveled in silence as they made their way around the courtyard with it's uniquely shaped hedges. Their trip lead them to the other side of the courtyard which connected to another long corridor and finally stopped at a massive set of double doors in the middle of the hall. Beatrix stood in the middle of the door and pushed, causing two normal sized doors to open in between them instead. She stood aside allowing the two young men to enter, holding the door for them, motioning them inside.

The two young men walked into a very elaborate dining hall. A long table stood in the middle of the room, surround by many comfortable looking arm chairs. A large chandelier hung from the ceiling and there many pedestals with potted plants on them. The large hall, seemingly like everything else in the castle was far too large for the actual occupants.

'I never actually understood why that is…' James thought, as he walked closer to the table, his attention turning to the current occupants.

Just as Beatrix had said, a few of the women had gotten up already and were eating, he recognized two of the three. One of them from pictures he had seen of her. The other, had been at his wedding not more than just a few days ago. He couldn't help but smile, realizing that this would be the best opportunity to meet the guild members who had become like another family to him. However, he had wished that it could have been under better circumstances.

"I'll say the same thing I said to Kyle, this wasn't quite the way I was expecting to meet you for the first time, but it's wonderful to finally see you in person, Noelle," he said, greeting his dear friend with a warm smile.

At the sound of her name, Noelle immediately turned to look at the source of the voice, just like James, she had only seen most of the guild members through pictures. Though she had gotten to see some of the ones from California from time to time. She immediately got up from her chair and ran over to James, wrapping her arms around him in a hug.

"Likewise James," she replied with a smile as she squeezed the young man a bit tighter.

James returned her hug before letting her go. His attention then turned to the other girl, "Of course, it's wonderful to see you again as well Amy."

He walked over to her and as soon as she rose up from her chair he wrapped his arms around her and picked her up, spinning her slowly his usual greeting for her.

"Nooo, not again," she squealed as he spun her around and then she laughed, "It's good to see you again too."

After all of the warm greetings and hugs from the people who were were meeting for the first time or not, they all returned to the table to sit down and begin eating. Magic was obviously at work as food appeared on their plates, and drink appeared in their glasses as they simply said what they wanted. The food all tasted as though it was made from scratch, and the juice, if that is what they asked for, tasted as if it were freshly-squeezed. Bit by bit, the room filled up with all of the Earthlings as they woke up and came to get food. There were many more hugs, introductions, greetings etc.

As Michelle finally came into the room, James immediately got up and wrapped his arms around her in a hug and then kissed her softly.

"Good morning love," he greeted with a smile.

His attention soon turned to the woman who entered just behind her and he couldn't help but smile, standing up immediately yet again to walk over and give her a hug.

"Hello," she replied softly as she embraced and kissed him in return.

"And I am glad to see you here as well Daw,." he said, his smile even brighter now as he made his way over to give her a hug as well.

The three of them made their way back to the table and after finally finishing all of the introductions it was confirmed that everyone at the table was a member of the Kingdom Hearts guild. Not all of the expected people were there though. Nick and Louis were not there. James simply thought though that there was no way everyone could have made it. The young man was just glad that as many of his friends had made it as they did. There were of course a few faces that he didn't particularly enjoy seeing, Cory's namely. However, there was little that could be done about it. Little did the group realize that just outside the door to the Dining Hall, Beatrix and a man wearing a black jacket with a feather collar and long brown hair were conversing.

"It seems that they all know each other, interesting," she said, her attention now turning to the man as she let the door silently close.

"Don't look too much into it, if they come from a small world, then it isn't that surprising," he replied. "What I want to know is why are they here?"

"Do you have any ideas Leon?" Beatrix asked, clearly curious as to the gunblader's intentions.

"No clue, I find it hard to believe that they're all just castaways though," he replied, pushing his back off of the wall he had been leaning on before walking away. "Probably should reveal the situation to them before too long though."

Beatrix nodded in silent reply as Leon walked down the hallway, she could never really figure out the very reserved gunblader. She gave them all another twenty minutes to finish eating and then took a deep breath as she pushed open the door and walked into the Dining Hall, anyone could tell by the way that she approached the table that she had come to give them only bad news.

"Now that you all have had something to eat. There is an important matter we must discuss with the King. If you would all please follow me," She said, turning to leave the Dining Hall and holding the door open for them all yet again.

"What do you think is going on?" Michelle asked James tentatively as she took hold of his hand as they stood up to leave.

"I can only guess that we're about to find out why we ended up here," he replied, following the General's lead and exiting the Dining Hall.

Once everyone had exited the hall, Beatrix took the lead and took them all down another long corridor that seemed to lead to the center of the castle. At the center of the castle there was a tall, spiraling set of stairs that lead up to the highest tower in the castle. The stairs, were white, seemingly marble that made an echoing sound up the tower with each step. They walked all the way up the tower and stood upon a large balcony that seemed to overlook all the lands. Looking down upon the Kingdom, stood the benevolent mouse himself, Mickey. Beatrix knelt to her knees before her King. A few of the Earthlings followed suit, while others simply bowed their heads in respect.

"Your majesty, these are the people who appeared in the courtyard yesterday," she said, still on her knees.

Mickey turned to the Earthlings and smiled kindly at them. "No reason to be so formal fellas, come closer and take a look," he said, motioning with his hand for all of them to look down from the balcony. "As you can see, we've got a bit of a problem on our hands."

The Earthlings did so, all of them standing against the tall railing of the large balcony as they looked down upon the land. Immediately they could all tell that something was very wrong. They all knew that the worlds of Kingdom Hearts had been separated long ago, they had been that way in both of the games. However, looking down, they realized that all of the different worlds had been connected, into one massive world. They all realized that this was the planet that they had looked down upon as they had arrived at the castle.

"All of these worlds used to be separate, but as you can see. They have all become one giant world, without any order or organization as to how they combined," the King explained.

"Your majesty, do you have any explanation? Any theory at all as to why it happened?" Michelle asked, before being able to catch herself.

"You can just call me Mickey, and I'm afraid I don't. Some very powerful magic is at work here, and I don't fully understand it."

"Can you explain why we're here Mickey?" Kyle asked now, trying to have his own curiosity satisfied.

"I'm sorry, I can't," He replied, clearly that issue had been bugging him.

James suddenly looked up as he recalled the letter that he had left sitting on his desk.. "Mickey, by chance did you send out letters to us? Or to the different worlds? That warned of the danger that was coming? I remember receiving a letter that had your seal on it, right before the Heartless came."

"I did, I sent letters out to as many worlds as I could think of, trying to warn people. Did all of you get one?" the King asked, looking at the group of Earthlings once again. "What world are you all from?"

The entire group nodded in response, but it was Kichi this time who replied. "We're from a world called Earth. Do you know of it?"

"Earth huh?" Mickey asked, clearly trying to place it. "I'm sorry, I haven't. However, there are many worlds that I haven't heard of before, and there are plenty of ways the letters could have arrived there. Perhaps for some reason, they were drawn to your hearts. The letters would explain how you fellas wound up here though."

"The gateway will open, only when the end is at hand," Kyle recited the last line of the letter.

"Right, that gateway is what brought you straight to the Castle," Mickey replied.

"Your Majesty look!" Beatrix yelled, turning the King's attention back towards the land beneath them, a mass of darkness was beginning to form right outside of the castle walls.

"Heartless! You guys get back inside, we'll deal with this." Mickey said, summoning his keyblade. He then leaped over all of the Earthlings heads and ran back down the stairs.

"Stay safe, we will come and get you when the Heartless have been defeated!" Beatrix said before charging down the stairs after her king, sword at the ready.

The earthlings all simply looked at each other as Mickey and Beatrix left, no doubt, the great majority if not all of them were thinking the exact same thing. They all had weapons to fight with, so they would use them. They all ran down the stairs as well. The great majority of them summoning their keyblades before they even got all the way down the stairs and continued to run as best they could to the main gate where Mickey, Beatrix, Donald, Goofy, and even Leon were fighting off the Heartless Swarm.

It was mainly a bunch of Shadow, Soldier, and Minute Bomb Heartless. Not too much of a threat, at least it didn't seem like it at first. However, it was the sheer numbers that made them a challenge. They all plunged into the battle, ready to aid the other defenders of the castle.

"Put ya guns on!" Cory yelled, an all to familiar phrase that he and his characters said often as he began to swing at the Heartless with strong powerful strikes, if the attack didn't kill them, then they were sent back a good distance.

James simply rolled his eyes as he charged into the battle, swinging at any Heartless that he could. The Shadows, and even the Soldier Heartless were relatively easy to beat, a few swings and they were done. Dani and Kyle McKenna, fought in a different manner, they would wait until the Heartless gave them an exposed back and then charge in, delivering fast blows to finish them off. Regardless of the method, they all were more than less effective.

He took a glance around, while the great majority of the others were mostly focused on defending themselves, he didn't want to lose sight of Michelle, Dawn, or Bobbi. He was doing his best to stay close to them as possible. However, it was very easy in the course of battling, to get swept away, losing track of where one was, or who was nearby. More often than not, he found that he had gotten taken clear to the other side of the chaos and was forced to fight through more Heartless to get back close.

'Hard not to get lost in the heat of battle.' He thought, he was fairly certain that was a quote from someone, but couldn't think of who it was from.

A sudden explosion, strong enough to knock him off his feet snapped him out of his reverie. A group of Minute Bombs had exploded at the same time. Their self-destruct, while not powerful on it's own, combined with many of them at once, spelled trouble. James' right knee gave out on him a few times as he tried to get back to his feet. The explosion not doing his injured leg any favors.

"Don't let your guard down kid!" Leon yelled as he defeated a Heartless that was trying to attack the young man.

James simply nodded his head, finally able to get back to his feet and fight on. He made his way back to Michelle, who was fighting off a group of Shadows. James stood back to back with her.

"This is getting ridiculous," she said, clearly getting exhausted from all of her fighting, beads of sweat clearly visible on her forehead.

"Yeah, we don't have any choice but to keep fighting though," He replied, dashing back into the fray, slashing through countless more Heartless.

Through the chaos, James saw that Kyle V. was playing Defender as well. Dashing around the battlefield taking out as many Heartless as he could, but also focusing on protecting Jenny, Noelle, Kyla, and any of the other ladies he could find.

Just as the Heartless' numbers seemed to be dwindling, more phased in. This time a mix of Soldiers, Large Bodies, and Bolt Towers. The Soldiers immediately charged forward, their sharp claws ready to slice at anything they could. The Large Bodies for the most part stayed still, waiting for someone to approach or to strike them before before attacking, stuck in their usual state of lethargy.

"This is getting ridiculous," James muttered, now reciting Michelle's words. He had really been hoping that the battle was going to end soon. Though he hadn't gotten seriously injured like he had back on Earth, his body had probably taken a bruising.

"Not much we can do about it, but keep going," Kyle said, apparently hearing James as he had run by. Taking an opening to strike at the back of a Large Body.

"Aye," James agreed with a nod, joining Kyle in his attack with a swing of his own to the back of the massive ball that was the Large Body.

Their combined attack was enough to knock the Heartless down onto it's front, making it easy to finish from there with one more strike each.

"That's how it's done!" James called, in celebration, flashing a wide grin at Kyle.

Kyle simply nodded in response, though there was definitely a pleased smirk on his face. "Don't get overconfident my friend. This battle is not over yet."

Kyle then ran off again, diving back into the chaos that was the battlefield. James did his best to survey what was going on. The Earthlings were fighting with everything that they had. Mickey was a ways off, his keyblade a flash of movement as he leaped high and attacked with the surprising fury for the King. Beatrix was a flash of movement as well, her broadsword leading the entire time. Donald and Goofy, no surprise were taking care of a good number of Heartless too. They were old pros by now though, so that was no real surprise to the young man.

He turned back to the fight just in time to get knocked back down to the ground by a Bolt Tower that just slammed into the ground, which unleashed a powerful shockwave. He then had to basically roll like a log, just in time to dodge a lightning bolt from the same tower. He finally managed to get to his feet and fight on, attacking the head of the Tower that had hit him.

The flow of time was lost in battle. However, eventually it ended. Most of the Earthlings were on the ground, either from injury or just plain exhaustion. Beatrix and Mickey both used their curative magic to heal any injuries. However, the spells did very little to help the Earthlings regain their stamina. With a little help though they all managed to get back inside the castle. While they were all resting in the guest quarters a meeting was going on in the Library.

"Well, this certainly changes things," Leon said, looking down at the floor. "They all wield keyblades, we can't just let them go off on their own."

"You're right Leon. The darkness is too strong, the last thing we want is for them to fall to it," Mickey replied, clearly deep in thought as well.

"They handled themselves rather well in battle. With some training, they could be very helpful," Beatrix stated, her attention turning back to Mickey.

"Well then, I guess there is only one person who can train them," the King stated, his attention turning back to Leon. "Master Yen Sid."

Leon simply nodded his head in agreement. "Yen Sid is finishing training Sora, Riku, and Kairi right now. I hear Sora is close to getting the Mark of Mastery."

"Then it's settled. Tomorrow we'll send them to Radiant Garden to begin training with Master Yen Sid," Mickey stated, officially closing the matter.

Wow... the muse finally returned for this fic. Welcome back to the Reaper Files Chapter 4! ((Edited slightly from the original By the way))



A/N: In this Chapter we introduce another member of Clan Shinsei who has recently joined game. Her in game name is DaniNotte. Enjoy the resurrection of the Reaper Files!

It had been a few weeks since the members of Clan Shinsei had been virtualized. They had done as had been instructed by the System Administrators and had tried to collect information on the Chaser, as well as meet with any people who had been trapped in the game. However, every time they went into a Chaser Match to try and get attacked by the modified chaser, they got nothing. It would end up just being a regular match, nothing eventful to report at all. During this time, Pentavision had upgraded the game, adding in additional weapons, outfits, stages, and even new matches. The administrators were acting as if nothing was going on, a cover up as any member of Clan Shinsei was well aware. The S4 League had entered the Dark Lightning Era.

"It's all stopped, I thought things were getting more out of control. However, there haven't been any new reports of new people getting virtualized. We're still stuck here though, at least last time I checked," Gamoden stated with a sigh as he relaxed in one of the seats in the Lobby.

"If it's all stopped, we should have been able to go home then, right?" Misherukuro asked her husband as she gently rubbed his back.

"One would think," he replied. "What about you guys? Heard anything new?" he asked, his attention turning toward their friends and fellow members of Clan Shinsei.

They all sat in couches around a large table, their My Panels laid upon the tables as they browsed the web for any new reports or posts in the forums. They were searching for anything, some kind of lead.

"Same as you two I'm afraid, I haven't seen anything either," OwlEyes replied simply before letting out a sigh. "So strange…"

"Same," KichiK replied, his head resting on his hands as he looked up at the ceiling.

The rest of the members that were currently with them, Whitemantis, ArcanaFate, FewSunlight, and Taowel simply nodded their heads, confirming the same thing. Gamoden couldn't help but look down at the floor and let out a long sigh.

"Well, what a bunch of happy faces," ArcticFeredir stated sarcastically as he approached the group.

"We've had no luck, so sorry if we're not all that happy. Do you have some good news to give us Joe?" Gamoden asked, slipping back into real world names by instinct.

"Well, I'm not sure if it could be considered good news, but I do have a lead," Arctic replied, taking a seat in one of the empty chairs.

He set down his My Panel and had it access a full screen mode, projecting what was on the small screen in a larger size so that everyone could read it with ease. The headlines read:

"Virtual Terror Threat!"

The group sat in silence as they read the article that Joe had obviously pulled up from a website. It seemed to be from a general news site. A copy of an article that had actually been posted in a newspaper. Well this certainly didn't lighten the mood for anyone, though it seemed they were glad to have some kind of lead. Gamoden leaned back in the couch he was sitting on and looked up with a sigh, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Oh boy… so it's not just S4, other major online games that went virtual have had reports of similar instances. Unlike Pentavision though, they're not doing much to cover it up," he stated looking back up at the group.

"So we're dealing with Cyber Terrorists? That's what Clan Reaper really is?" Owl asked, after having copied the article into his own My Panel for future study.

"So it would seem," Arctic confirmed, picking back up his My Panel.

"Do you think Leo is aware of this?" Mantis finally spoke up, clearly deep in thought until this time.

"Probably," Kichi stated plainly. " Though it may not hurt to send him a copy of this article.

"Aye," Gamoden confirmed with a nod of his head, looking around at the others for their consent as well.

When Arctic saw that everyone had gone and given the nod, he went ahead and forwarded it in a message to Leo. When that was done, a swipe of his hand cleared the My Panel and he set it back into place against his forearm.

"So the reason why things have been quiet here, is because the terrorists responsible are busy spreading out to other systems?" Arcana asked, looking up from the floor.

"Makes as much sense as anything else," Tao replied. "In an attempt to dissuade people from using Virtual Reality Technology and to stop the technological progression."

"Well that's just mean. Why is it with everything new, there is always someone who must oppose it?" Misheru asked, clearly irritated.

"Just the way of the world," James stated plainly, placing his hand on his wife's shoulder.

"How long does Leo intend to keep things quiet anyway?" Sunlight asked. "Sooner than later the public is going to figure out."

"He already stated that he was going to keep it quiet as long as possible, it's the only thing he can do to make sure the game doesn't get shut down, and possibly us along with it," Gamoden replied with yet another sigh. He had completely forgotten that Sunlight had not been there for their first meeting with Leo.

"Speaking of Leo," Arctic interjected suddenly. "I just got a reply from him in regards to the article I sent him."

Much as he had done before, Arctic removed his My Panel from the mount on his forearm and set it down on the table, projecting a larger screen for them all to read, the message read:

We are aware of the current situation, we are doing our best to keep it under control. Though things have been quiet as of late on here I do not think it will last for much longer. Be on your guard, We will contact you when we have information worth telling you.

Leo

Pentavision System Administrator

"Well that's reassuring, at least he's aware," Arcana replied sarcastically as Arctic picked back up his My Panel and returned it to where it belonged.

Gamoden couldn't help but chuckle at the evident sarcasm in his voice. However, other than that, he remained deep in thought. Though they now had at least a lead of some kind, there was still so much that they did not know. A fact that no matter how much he tried to shake it, disturbed him greatly. Right now, their staying ahead of the flow of information was key to their survival. There were many questions that raced through his mind, a good part of them regarding what was happening to their mortal bodies in the real world. He had no idea how long a body could remain comatose, it had already been a few weeks. He had heard news reports before about people having survived for months in a coma. It seemed that they would now be putting that to the test for themselves.

"Alright, well I am sufficiently bored now. Let's go do something," Kichi suggested as he stood up from his seat and stretched.

"What do you have in mind?" Gamoden asked, his attention turning to Kichi.

"Anything, come on. We're gonna go crazy just sitting here trying to figure this all out," he replied with a light laugh.

"How about a Death Match? I need to win a game for a mission," Arcana suggested.

"Fine by me, I need to win one as well," Gamoden replied.

After they were virtualized, for awhile it seemed almost pointless to a lot of them to participate in the missions. However, they played a lot more matches being stuck in the game, thus they used up a lot more of their items and the missions were now somewhat necessary to earn PEN to be able to replace what they lost. Though just playing rounds was an effective method too, combined with the missions they were always guaranteed more. Being stuck in a third person shooting game, there wasn't a great deal else they could do.

"Alright then, it's settled. I'll go set up the room James and Nick will be on my team as well Rhiko, that will pretty much insure a win," Kichi stated, yet again shifting back into their real life names by accident.

He then accessed his My Panel and hit the Create Room button, derezzing into the all too familiar green ones and zeros. They would all wait for a few seconds before receiving the message on their My Panels from Kichi. They all hit the button and soon they appeared in the circular waiting room that floated above the familiar stage known as Neden 1. An almost industrial district like map with a large warehouse in the middle, with flow from a sewer running in a channel below. Gamoden saw the well known stage through the glass floor of the waiting room.

Gamoden, KichiK, ArcanaFate, OwlEyes and ArcticFeredir signed their names into the Alpha Team panel, while Misherukuro, FewSunlight, WhiteMantis, and Taowel all signed their names into the Beta Team's panel, signifying they were all ready. The room was password protected so there would be no additional people joining, this meant that the teams were uneven, which is what they wanted. It was a method Shinsei used to insure that those who needed to win would.

"Alright here we go!" Kichi exclaimed as he hit the ready button on the panel.

"Fight! Show me your S4!" the all too familiar voice of the "commentator echoed through the arena as they all appeared, signifying the start of the match.

Gamoden appeared right outside of the warehouse and quickly went into a "dash" his speed increased as he raced up the stairs around the corner to a fenced off area. As he rounded the corner he brought out his Heavy Machine Gun. As the drum began to spin to life he was forced out of his dash. He rounded another corner and the bullets flew in the direction of the warehouse roof that was straight ahead of him. The bullets of the gun unleashing havoc, destroying parts of the roof as well as dealing damage to Sunlight and Mantis who were using it as a vantage point. He jumped around as best he could with the large gun to avoid return fire. However, he was taking some damage as well He managed to defeat Mantis and just as Sunlight was about to defeat him she was sent flying as a bright blue blast got her in a headshot with his railgun.

"Nice one Kichi!" he called, the voice appearing in the general chat window on everyone's My Panel, he didn't really care though, they were all friends after all.

Gamoden made his way into another fenced area and jumped up against it, pushing off in a flipping wall jump to face the wall of the building next to it. He then pressed off again in another flip to land on top of the warehouse he had just bombarded with his machine gun rounds. His gun whirled back to life and unleashed fire on Misheru and Sunlight as they ran around below. However, it wasn't long due to his decreased heath until he was sent flying by Taowel's Railgun.

"Gah! Stupid son of a railgun!" Gamoden cursed in his usual way, though a slight chuckle was evident. "That always gets me."

After the respawn time passed Gamoden reappeared inside the warehouse this time, he held out his arms to his side and Twin Blades appeared in his hands, the short blades with chains at the hilt were one of his new favorite weapons since their release. He quickly ran and stopped against the wall that had an opening outside. He would now wait for someone to enter, during which time he held the blades, their tips dangerously close as purple electricity charged in between them. He was preparing to ambush someone with a fully charged attack, a move strong enough to end someone in one hit if the impact was right. The chains of the blade were wrapped around his hands to allow for control.

"Got you!" he yelled out as someone rounded the corner. He didn't care that it was his own wife as the two blades were brought around and then down, slamming right into her.

Just as he had planned, the strike finished her off in one shot as she disappeared into green ones and zeros.

"Watch it Chickidee, James is going to try and ambush you!" Misheru warned Sunlight, using both her husband's real name, as well as Sunlight's nickname.

"Thanks sis!" she replied back a nasty laugh escaping as she prepared a surprise of her own.

Gamoden had indeed prepared another charged attack. However, he was unable to use it as suddenly a spiky ball with a yellow core was thrown into the warehouse. If his virtual eyes could widen, they would have as he recognized the ball as Sunlight's Earth Bomber.

"Oh not good…," Gamoden stated as he was forced to spin out of the way to dodge the blast. He was able to dodge the center of the blast. However, he still took a good amount of damage from the bomb.

It had proven to serve it's purpose though, it had stopped Gamoden's ambush as well as left him open as he tried to shake off the effects of the bomb. During which time Sunlight came in and opened fire with her sub-machine guns. Due to his already reduced hit points it only took a few hits to finish him off.

"That's what you get!" Sunlight taunted him as he respawned.

"I'll show you…." Gamoden replied with a slight growl in his voice, though that wouldn't show up in the text.

When he respawned in the warehouse again he quickly hunted down Sunlight, Twin Blades in hand as he charged forward. Right as she turned to face him he jumped. The chains on the pommel of the blades were in his hands again as he brought them upward in an x-pattern, hitting her and sending her flying as well as propelling himself backwards. As he landed he charged forward and quickly unleashed a series of fluid downward strokes with the blades finishing her off.

During all of the chaos, Arcana and Tao were engaged in a sniping battle and Mantis and Misheru were trying to take down Kichi. OwlEyes would also join in with a few one hit sniping shots of his own whenever he had an open target.

'DaniNotte' has entered the room.

That was what a message read on all of their My Panels, signifying that someone else had come in and was about to join the match.

"DaniNotte? I thought you set up the password Kichi," Gamoden stated, accessing the team roster to see that she had joined the other team thus evening the odds.

"I did. I'm positive," Kichi replied, clearly as surprised as the others were.

"Sorry guys, Dani joined S4 recently and I told her the password so she could join," Sunlight stated.

"It's fine, though it would have been nice if you had informed us that she might be joining us," Misheru replied to Sunlight's apology.

"Right, sorry," she apologized again.

"HEY GUYS!" Dani exclaimed excitedly as she entered the match.

"Hey Dani, we don't mind you joining, just know that Nick and James have to win," Kichi stated, yet again falling back to real life names.

"Got it," she replied.

"Guess this is what we get for always using the same password," Gamoden muttered.

Half time of the round came and all things went according to plan. Kichi's team led by a good 10 points, and they intended to make sure that their lead would only increase in the second half. However, they noted that they now had to contend with even teams. When the "Half time show" concluded the match was ready to resume.

"Start! Show me your S4!" the commentator yet again announced signifying the start of the second half.

Yet again the teams were out of the gate. Gamoden made his way through the sewage channel. and made his way back up above heading toward the warehouse. He hid against the wall in an attempt to ambush someone yet again. However, he noticed too late the slight blur of motion that signified one thing, someone was invisible. Before he could do anything he gasped as he saw the a red projection erupt from a blade that had just pierced through his chest. He recognized the curved style of the blade as the Spy Dagger. The strike from behind was a one-hit kill and he respawned.

"Oh she will pay for that…," he muttered as he made his way back toward the warehouse at a dash.

Right as he was about to enter the warehouse, he saw the blur of motion running away from it, signifying that she was on the move.

"I've got you!" he yelled as he pulled out his semi-rifle and fired at Dani's invisible form.

He had gotten used to tracking invisible people in the many matches that he had had to deal with them and soon she was defeated. The general chaos of the Death Match continued at break neck speed, people falling right in left in an epic clash that was closer than had been anticipated. In the end their objective was complete Kich, Gamoden, Owl, Arcana, and Arctic won the match 80 to 76.

"Yeah! Alright! Mission complete!" Gamoden exclaimed in joy as they returned to the Waiting Room after the match. "Great match, that was a lot of fun."

"Indeed, what now?" Dani asked, looking at the group. "Dawn has explained very little to me. Can you guys please fill me in on what has happened."

The members of Clan Shinsei looked at each other for a moment before slowly they all gave a simple nod, a sign confirming that they should tell her the information. They all left the Waiting Room and returned to the Lobby where they sat in the same seats they had had earlier.

"Alright Dani, we believe we are stuck in here because of some cyber terrorists. They hacked into the system and corrupted the Daemon virus in the Chaser Matches to make it so that those that are defeated get stuck here. We have no idea how many others are stuck in the same situation as we are. However, we have been asked by the System Administrators to help try and gather information regarding the modified Chaser. It's not as though we can do a great deal else while we're stuck here," Gamoden stated with yet another heavy sigh.

"I want to help you guys," she stated plainly. "You guys are my friends, I won't let you face this alone!"

"We don't need you getting stuck in here too though. I don't want Dawn or Joe getting stuck in here either. If you want to help, help us on the outside and don't go anywhere near the Chaser Matches please. It seems to be the only way they can get into the system. Please, the last thing I want is any more of our friends stuck in here like us," Gamoden stated, his gaze looking right into Dani's eyes, trying to make her understand.

"You all want this? Or just you?" Dani asked in response, her gaze locked on Gamoden. "Do you think Dawn and Joe feel the same way as you do?"

"She has a point actually, I want you guys back with us. If that means getting stuck in here myself then so be it," Sunlight finally spoke up.

Arctic showed no real response, so Gamoden's gaze looked around at the other members who had been virtualized. He had hoped that they wouldn't want them to be stuck here as well. His attention focusing on his wife as he gently placed a hand on her leg.

"Love, surely you don't want them stuck in here like us do you?" he asked, trying to get some help to make them see sense.

"I don't know…," she replied hesitantly. "It isn't our decision to make, it's their decision."

Gamoden lowered his gaze with a heavy sigh as he looked into the eyes of the other members of Clan Shinsei, trying to see if they were all thinking along the same lines. Definitely a problem with digital eyes, they didn't really hold as much emotion as real ones. However, it seemed like none of them were going to put up a fight.

"Fine, if you want to end up in a coma just as we are. I can't stop you it seems," he stated and stood up.

"I have a Chaser Match I need to do at Temple - O anyway, we might as well do it together don't you think?" Dani asked with a smile as she stood up as well.

Gamoden simply shook his head in disbelief, it seemed she was intent on completely disregarding what he had said regarding Chaser Matches. However, it was better than letting her go alone, it was still part of their job to try and get the modified Chasers to appear.

"Kichi, get Gensoukyo ready then," Gamoden requested with a light chuckle.

"Right, I'll invite you guys shortly," he replied with a nervous smile as he disappeared.

Everyone knew that Kichi had a habit of naming the rooms for their matches after game references. He typically called Temple-O Gensoukyo, a Touhou reference. Before long they all received the usual invite to the room and below the waiting room. Everyone, aside from Arctic, who seemed to have logged off once again. The all too familiar appearance of the shrine in the middle of Temple-O was visible. They all readied up and the next thing they knew it they were all on the field and the skeletal Chaser Virus appeared.

"This is the Chaser!" came the announcer's voice.

Standing in the center of the room was Kichi apparently the chosen Chaser for this round.

"Oh this is just as bad as the modified chaser," Gamoden stated jokingly.

"Ready! Go!" the announcer stated, signifying the start of the round.

Immediately the players dispersed, running away from the room or shooting out the glass to get to the outer courtyard as Kichi approached. His infamous Storm Bat in hand as he took down Rhiko with a well timed lightning strike. He continued down the line of targets as he always did and barely finished out the round beating all of the targets.

"Next round… will be… starting!"

The interruptions were brief, but definitely noticeable as the announcer spoke, a hint of static in the message. The scenery around them flickered briefly before returning.

"This… is… the… chaser!"

Standing in the center of the Shrine this time was someone completely different, not one of the original combatants. The name on the screen read Bloody_Reaper. The combatant was encased in the Guardian Force armor set, making it impossible to see his face.

"Leave now! They've returned!" Gamoden yelled as he realized all too well that it was one of the modified Chasers.

"Bring it!"

"We can't! It won't let us leave the game!" Sunlight yelled out as she began to run away.

Gamoden felt it, he was sure that all of them did, his heart beating fiercely in his chest as fear gripped them. What had been nothing more then a sound effect in the last round, as it had in the past had become real. He held out his hand and his Revolver digitized into it as he ran.

"Aaaah!!!" Dani yelled out in pain as she was defeated by one swift stroke of the Spy Dagger, the blade piercing into her chest as she faded into ones and zeros and was removed from the room.

"No! Run don't get near it!" Kichi yelled as he rushed toward the Chaser and tried to smack it away with his Storm Bat.

"Gah!" he yelled out in pain as the dagger then pierced into his chest, the same effect happening to him as had happened to Dani moments before.

"****!" yelled Arcana as tried to escape from the chaser before long meeting the same end.

"James!" Misheru called out to her husband as she ran towards him.

"Michelle! Stay behind me!" Gamoden replied as he unloaded six revolver rounds into the Chaser.

The shots were all direct hits. and pushed the Chaser back slightly. However, it seemed as though anything he threw at him did very little.

"Gaah!" Gamoden yelled in pain as the dagger pierced his chest, his hands instinctively came up to his chest in pain as he faded into ones and zeros. "Michelle… run…"

Unfortunately, they all knew that it was futile, the "Reapers" had apparently returned and they seemed stronger then ever. The pain from the dagger felt real to all of them as they were all defeated and ended up collapsed on the Lobby floor… Now all of them were stuck in the game. No way out, nothing to do but fight and try and stop the virus that had now returned.

To be continued...

...Question. How did get virtualized? O.o I thought you edited it so I wouldn't join the chaser match because i wouldn't risk myself, and would think someone on the outside would've been more helpful......ooooh, later you say Joe didn't join, but in the first paragraph you said he did.

Your...continuity is getting messed up, Darlin'.

Also It's Murasa's ship, not muramasa XD

I didn't get to comment before, but I'm really lovin' The Second War! Tooootally cool, I can't wait to read what happens next!

Dang, The Reaper Files look interesting too, I guess I'll have to look back for the first chapter. XD

Holy crap it's been a long time since I've actually posted anything here. Hopefully I can get into the habit of posting chapters on a more regular basis. I have had more muses for this thing lately than I thought possible. So yeah time to get back to work.



As I walked under the sign that said Domina I gazed around the seemingly quiet town. At least it seemed quiet, more than less a nice community. My attention soon turned to a man walking by wearing a green mantle. He didn't even seem to notice me as he walked towards one of the buildings straight ahead. I couldn't help but notice that his right arm seemed to be made entirely out of crystal.

"Hey! If you're going to go around harassing people, the least you could do is tell us your name! Seriously that's just rude!" a short man that looked like he was wearing an onion for a hat yelled, as he tried to catch up to the man.

'So much for being a quiet town…,' I thought as I focused my attention on the scene unfolding.

The green-haired man stopped only for a moment. Long enough to turn his attention to the onion man. He remained silent, a very stern look on his face. His eyes narrowed coldly as he seemed to consider whether or not to give his name. His crystal hand was clenched tightly in a fist.

"Elazul, though if you were wise you would forget it," he stated before turning away and walking into the building.

"People like him really make me sick…," muttered the onion man as he began to walk away. However, he stopped and his attention quickly turned to me. "Hey there! Welcome to Domina. I am Duelle the Onion Warriort, are you new around here?"

I made my way over to the short man, not sure what to make of all that I had just witnessed. "Yeah, I guess so. My name is Leif."

"What do you mean you guess…? Oh I get it, You're an adventurer aren't you? You don't stay in one place for very long then I take it," he replied, obviously curious, if not just a little bit confused about me.

"I guess you could call me that," I replied with a small nod. Sure feels like an adventure already anyway.'

"You're not very decisive are you?" Duelle asked, now apparently even more confused about me.

I wasn't quite sure how to respond to that one, so I decided to change the topic instead. "Anyway… what was all that about?" I asked, my eyes turning to the pub in case he didn't get my meaning.

"Oh nothing, that guy has been bothering a lot of people even picking a few fights. Apparently he's looking for a lost friend or something like that. He's not very nice about it though. If I were you, I would stay away from him," Duelle replied, obviously not very happy about Elazul's activity.

"I see, well nice talking to you Duelle," I said, my focus back on finding the rabbit-man Niccolo

"Well then, if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask me. I'm usually over at Mark and Jennifer's house right over there," he stated, using his spear to point over to a nearby house.

Without even waiting for response, the Onion Warrior walked away. It was apparent to me that he was heading toward the house he had just pointed to. Which left me to wander, and the first place I wandered to was the building that Elazul had entered. Just as my hand reached out to open the door though it was forced open from the inside. I managed to jump back enough to prevent getting hit by the door though. Standing in the doorway was looked to be a large rabbit-man wearing a poncho.

"Out of the way please, it's rude to block someone's path you know," the rabbit stated quickly an evident smile on his face despite the scrutiny of his words.

Caught off guard in the moment I didn't realize at the time that this was Niccolo, the rabbit I was looking for. However, by the time I had thought to ask him, he was already gone. My attention turned back to the door and as I opened it I could hear a lot of noise, mostly yelling. I quickly rushed inside to find Elazul, sword in hand approaching a girl who looked kind of like a faerie.

"What is going on here?" I asked as I approached the obviously very tense scene.

"Silence! Do not interrupt!" Elazul snapped, raising his left hand in my direction without sparing a glance at me. He slowly but deliberately took a step towards the girl. "Speak up girl! You are getting on my nerves…"

I noted that Elazul's words were doing nothing more than scaring the girl. She was trembling, her back literally against the wall. Her eyes turned to me, not sure whether I was there to help her or not. I wasn't just going to stand by though as this guy terrified her. Especially when she had no means of defending herself.

"Elazul… Enough! Leave her alone!" I yelled, making my way toward him, trying to force my way between him and her.

"Don't call me by my name you don't even know me! Just leave us alone!" he snapped back, his attention turning to me as the grip on the sword in his crystal hand tightened.

As if instinctively, my hand went to the hilt of my sword as he turned the blade on me. My eyes narrowed intently at his and then looked down at the blade. I would be prepared if he attempted to strike out at me. However, I wasn't willing to let this end up in a fight.

"Terrorizing this girl isn't going to get you anywhere! Especially if you injure her. What has happened that has gotten you so riled up?" I asked, thinking that perhaps letting him talk about it might help him calm down.

"A friend of mine is missing…," he said in a softer voice after what seemed like a great deal of thought, as though he didn't want anyone to know.

"I see, that doesn't give you the right to harass the entire town though. I am not about to let you hurt innocent people, regardless of the situation." I stated in reply, trying to diffuse the situation.

"It's just… I sense her, she was here," he stated, his attention turning back to the girl again. "You must know something! Don't you have any idea?" he asked, his voice becoming more tense and volatile.

The girl still did nothing but tremble. Obviously she was still too scared to say anything at all to Elazul. Given the way he had been acting I couldn't blame the girl either. Slowly but surely, the man lowered and sheathed this blade. Though his hands still remained clenched into fists.

"Dammit!" he yelled, the crystal fist going into the nearby wall, cracking it upon impact. "I've done nothing but waste precious time! I must find her!" he yelled and then made his way out of the pub. The door closed with a loud bang as he left, I was amazed that it hadn't been knocked off it's hinges from the force.

That left me alone with this girl who looked like a faerie. She was still so scared though that she didn't seem to want to move. Though she did manage to slide down along the wall until she was sitting. With a small smile I offered my hand to her to help her up. After she finally stopped shaking she took it and rose to her feet.

"Thanks for helping me…. can I get you anything to drink?" she asked, making her way back over toward the bar.

As I followed her to the bar and took a seat at the stool I thought about the small amount of money I had in my pouch. "Sure, get me your cheapest drink." I replied, trying to use this opportunity to get some information as well as help calm the girl down.

"Don't have a lot of money eh? That'll be five lucre," she stated as she grabbed a glass and filled it from a tap, setting it down in front of me.

I reached into my pouch and pulled out five of the coins in my bag, laying them down on the bar for her to take. One look at the money and she looked back up at me, clearly confused. She looked at me for a moment until she finally seemed to catch on and laughed lightly. She then pushed four of the coins back towards me and added a copper colored one to the pile.

"You're not from around here are you?" she asked, though it was obvious that she already knew the answer.

"No, I am not. Why do you ask?" I replied, truly confused at her brief laughter and her question.

"You just tried to give me fifty lucre, not five. Each of these silver coins is worth ten lucre. The copper ones are worth five, so that's your change," she stated with a small smile.

'So I actually found one hundred Lucre instead of ten like I thought I did, I thought as I took a sip of the drink she gave me. It was obviously some kind of fruit juice, judging by the taste. "Ah, thanks for the advice, what's your name by the way?" I asked, trying to learn more about the girl.

"I'm Rachel, The Daughter of Mark and Jennifer who live down the street. And before you ask, I'm not a faerie," she stated, a hint of annoyance in her voice as she did so.

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind, my name is Leif," I replied with a small smile. "So why did that guy think you knew where his friend was?"

"I am not sure… he claimed he could sense her here," she replied, clearly getting uncomfortable about falling back on the subject. "It might have had something to do with this, I found it near the beach a few days ago."

As she spoke, she reached under the counter and laid upon it what looked like an egg. However, it was unlike any egg I had ever seen before. It was rather large and it was a dark jade color. Picking it up and tapping it with a finger revealed it to be made entirely out of stone. I couldn't help but notice that the jade egg seemed to shine in my hand.

"You can keep it, consider it a thank you for helping me out. If it's going to attract people like him I don't want it anymore," she stated now seemingly bored and drying glasses with a cloth.

"Oh, well thank you very much. I will be sure to take care of it for you," I replied with a smile. However, it seemed to me like she was getting rid of it in case Elazul came back.

We talked for awhile longer as I finished my drink. Thanks to Rachel I learned a lot about the town and it's people. She recommended that I go to the Church of the Mana Goddess and speak with the Reverend if i wanted to know more. I left the pub with a smile on my face, the Jade Egg in hand as I walked around the town.

I stopped for awhile at a fountain of the Mana Goddess, watching a monkey juggle and a man play some kind of instrument happily. As I sat at the fountain I looked up at the Goddess' face. This was their deity, the one who supposedly had given them everything. For some reason I felt a connection with her. Something at the time that I just couldn't explain.

'Why am I here? How did I get here?' I thought as I looked down into the fountain water with a sigh. This wasn't the land I was from, I knew that. However, for some reason just as there was a connection with the Goddess, there was a connection with this land.

My thought dwelled on these questions without answers as I continued to wander the town aimlessly. Heading North I entered into what appeared to be a marketplace. Many different stalls were set up with all kinds of different things. One in particular caught my attention. At first I thought it was some kind of fruit stand, until I realized that a woman was sitting in a basket who looked like her hair was made out of grapes.

"I am Meimei, the fruit fortune-teller. Would you like your fortune told?" the woman asked me as I stared at her confused.

"Sure why not, " I replied. 'I could use some kind of guidance right now.

"Ten lucre, I am saving up so I can retire, so no less," she stated outright, her hand outstretched toward me to accept payment before she even began.

As soon as I handed her the coin she stashed it away in a bag. Her arms raised upwards as she closed her eyes and before my very eyes the basket in which she was sitting began to spin quickly. Watching her spin made me wonder how she herself didn't get dizzy, as it was making me very dizzy just looking at her.

"Vitamins, Carotins, potassium, fiber… Polyphenol!" she said in almost a kind of chant as her basket spun faster and faster. When it finally came to a stop she reached into the basket and pulled out what looked like an orange. "Hmmm… it says that you will soon have an unexpected encounter."

"Hey you!" came a sudden shout from a familiar voice. I knew it was Elazul and I was looking for where it came from.

"Wow that was fast," Meimei muttered, a look of surprise on her face.

"Over here!" Elazul's voice came again, as I turned to face him he almost charged forward. "I knew there was something different about you. Tell me why I sense her around you now!" he yelled, his crystal hand yet again clenched into a fist.

"What? You sense her coming from me…?" I asked, now more confused than I was before. It took a bit of thought on my part, but at last it hit me. "It must be this."

From my small pack I pulled out the Jade Egg that Rachel had given me. I held it out for him to get a good look at. His eyes narrowed and suddenly I saw a flash of blue light from the large stone on his chest. His regular hand immediately lashed out and grabbed the stone. He closed his eyes and focused, as if he was listening for something.

"I sense her!" he stated, as his eyes snapped open again. He then began to run off.

"Hey! You can't just take that! Rachel gave it to me. I told her I would take care of it! Give it back!" I yelled, quickly giving chase after him.

Elazul quickly turned to face me, clearly agitated. He handed the Jade Egg back to me, though reluctantly. "Then I am coming with you and we are going to search for her! That is my only clue and I won't leave you alone until she is back! I mean it!" he stated, clearly his decision was set in stone, just like the stone that seemed fixed to his chest.

The way he said it, that dead set look in his eyes, I could tell that I didn't really have a choice. He wasn't going to leave me alone until we found his friend. I suppose I could have just given him the Jade Egg and left him to do it himself. For some reason though, I wanted to help him, despite his attitude. Together we left Domina in an awkward silence.

We traveled away from the town, heading South. I practically had to jog to keep up with Elazul's brisk pace. There was a stern look on his face the entire time as we headed farther and farther away from the town. Where we were going, I wasn't entirely sure. However, it seemed Elazul had some kind of idea.

"So, what exactly are you? I can tell you aren't a regular human like me," I asked, trying to get him to possibly loosen up and talk to me.

Elazul's fingers clenched into a fist, obviously due to my question. A sure sign that he didn't want to answer it. "You mean you can't tell?"

"No, I don't know anything about this place. I literally just woke up here this morning," I explained, probably sounding crazy to the young man.

"Did you hit your head or something? How could you not know anything?" he asked with a scoff. Clearly he didn't know what to think about me now.

"I don't have amnesia alright!?" I asked, getting agitated myself. "I don't know what's going on."

"If you don't know anything, then there is no point in telling you," he answered coldly.

'What do you mean by that…?' I thought.

This time my fist clenched in anger at Elazul. However, I could tell there was no point in fighting it, he didn't want to tell me for whatever reason. We continued our walk from then on in silence. I could tell by the position of the sun that it was getting close to midday already.

After what felt like a very long time of walking I stepped off of the beaten path and rested under a tree for a bit. Elazul didn't seem too keen on taking a break, it was like he didn't intend to stop until he had found his friend. I sighed, watching the interesting bugs and creatures move along without paying us any real mind. In my hands I held the Jade Egg, looking at the large stone sparkle in my hands.

"So what's the deal with this friend?" I asked, yet again trying to get him to say something. "They must be pretty important to you if you're this worried."

Elazul opened his eyes and spared me a glance as he considered whether or not to answer. "She is like a sister to me. She also has a bad habit of letting her mind wander, so she gets lost often."

"Ah, what does she look like?" I asked, beginning to understand the situation a bit better.

"She has long brown hair and wears a white dress," he replied. It was obvious though that talking about her, just made him more intent on finding her, if that was possible. "Alright, break time is over let's go!"

He quickly pushed his back off of the tree and began to hurry towards the path. I set down the Jade Egg for only a moment to stand up. However, by the time I turned to pick it back up before my very eyes it was sinking into the ground! I reached down to try and grab it. It was as if it had sank into mud but the ground where it had vanished into was completely dry.

'That's really strange…,' I thought as I felt the ground where it just laid.

"Let's go! Quit wasting time!" Elazul suddenly yelled, making me jump.

'If Elazul finds out I lost our only clue he will kill me…, I thought nervously as I made my way back to the path, hoping that Elazul hadn't noticed.

We continued on our way for a bit. I was intentionally keeping a bit of distance from Elazul now. My thoughts fell back on the egg, and how it suddenly vanished before my very eyes into the ground. My mind so focused on that that I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and nearly ran into Elazul as he stopped abruptly. I managed to stop just in time, though one more step and I would have hit him.

"Damn! I lost the trail… let me see that stone again. Maybe I can pick it up again," he demanded, holding his hand out for the stone.

Now I was really nervous, this was exactly what I had hoped wouldn't happen. Reluctantly I reached into my pack and pretended to dig for something that I knew wasn't there anymore. It didn't take more than a moment of my rifling through the now nearly empty bag before Elazul got impatient. That stern, cold look that could cut through a rock back on his face. I had to face the music it seemed.

"Ah… It must have fallen out of my pack somewhere along the trail," I lied, hoping that he wouldn't pick up on it. Keeping up the act I turned my attention back to where we had walked, trying to see it off in the distance.

"You… LOST IT!?" Elazul bellowed, his crystal arm raised as he brandished a fist at me. "That was our only clue! How could you have lost it!?"

"I'm sorry… I thought I had secured my pack right. I'm still getting used to it," I stated, trying to get him to cool down. "If it's any help, Rachel said that she found the stone near the coast. Is there a coastline near here?"

At the mention of the Coastline Elazul seemed to calm down, at least a bit. "Yeah, it's further South. I might be able to sense her again as we get closer to it…," he muttered, lowering his fist. However, I noted that it hadn't unclenched as he continued down the path.

As we continued South the scenery began to change. It shifted from meadow to sand and rocks with more almost tropical looking plants. A sign to me at least that we had to be nearing the Coastline. Elazul would stop periodically and close his eyes, as if listening for something and then move on again. Suddenly I heard it, a chiming sound as the gem on Elazul's chest flashed yet again.

"I sense her… she must be nearby," he stated scouring the area for any sign of his friend.

I joined him the search. However, I was unable to find anything. Before too long I stopped to relax under the shade of some trees next to a few bushes. As I rested I suddenly felt a strange sensation, wind coming from behind me. Moving the bushes aside I found what appeared to be the entrance of some kind of cavern. It was large enough for someone to enter, but only one at a time.

"Hey Elazul! I think I found something!" I yelled, trying to get his attention, my voice unintentionally echoed into the cavern.

Elazul quickly made his way over to me and without even thinking about it walked eagerly into the cavern. I sighed as I followed after him. When I stopped next to him, I noted his eyes were closed yet again. It wasn't long though before they snapped open.

"I sense her… Pearl must be nearby! Let's hurry!" he yelled, quickly charging into the cave.

'Like we haven't been hurrying already?' I thought as I yet again took off after him.

I had to take to running in order to keep up with Elazul. His speed didn't seem possible for a normal human. It made it really difficult to distinguish a lot of the details of the cave. However, I could tell that it seemed to have been made from the ocean waters from the coastline. The cave floor was damp and upon occasion I could hear the dripping of water hitting the floor as we ran. The smell and taste of the moisture in the air definitely had a hint of salt to it.

Suddenly Elazul stopped and drew his sword as a group of bats decided to descend upon us from the stalactite covered ceiling. I quickly followed suit and drew my sword from the scabbard on my back. I watched as Elazul expertly dispatched one of the bats, cleaving it in half. However, when one came for me, I simply raised my arms and swung my arms trying to get it away. I had never actually struck at a creature before. However, before it had the chance to sink it's sharp teeth into me, Elazul disposed of it as well.

"What are you doing!? Don't just stand there attack!" he yelled, cutting another one of the bats down.

I swung as another bat came for me. However, I had never actually used the sword before and I hadn't anticipated the weight of it. As a result, the blade missed and struck the ground, sending a jolt through my hand and arm. I quickly brought it back up again, finally managing to strike the bat down. It seemed that for now, they were gone.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed!?" Elazul asked, clearly annoyed at my lack of skill. "You carry around a sword but don't even know how to use it…?"

"I have used swords before…," I replied, though it was a blatant lie. "I'm just not used to this one, it's new to me."

"Then you're a fool, monsters will strike when you least expect them to. You need to be prepared! Let's go!" he stated yet again charging off.

As Elazul had said, more monsters did appear. Many different kinds ranging from aquatic creatures that rose up out of pools of water, to lizard and plant like monsters as well. It was definitely a crash course as to what to expect in this world in terms of what kind of creatures I would meet. It seemed that the great majority of the creatures were aggressive. Or at the very least, very defensive about their home. It took me a few more battles, though eventually I got the hang of the b*****d sword I had taken from the home.

Without warning, out of a nearby pool two large fish with tridents leaped out at us. Elazul wasted no time charging in a growl escaping from his mouth as he engaged the fish. I quickly followed suit, drawing my sword and swung at the fish like monster. However, before it even got close to hitting, the creature caught it in the forks of it's trident. With skill of an actual fighter it used the trident to force the sword to the ground. Right as I managed to force the sword free the fish hit me with a blast of water knocking me back.

"Sahagins… don't underestimate them, they can wield those spears with skill," Elazul stated as he broke the guard of the Sahagin he was fighting. "I've had enough of this!"

Elazul charged forward and with a swing of his sword knocked the Sahagin in the air. He then leaped high and cut the creature clean in half and landed with a flip. The corpse of the Sahagin crashed to the stone floor with a clatter from it's trident. Meanwhile, I finally managed to disarm and take down the Sahagin I was fighting. I then sheathed my sword and was just about to fall to my knees to catch my breath when Elazul rushed off again.

"Hey! At least let me catch my breath!" I yelled out. However, I knew that he wouldn't wait and my break would have to wait as I raced after him yet again. 'It seems that I need to exercise more...'

I had lost track of how many battles we had fought. How many different paths we had taken. I was starting to wonder if Elazul still knew where he was going, or if he ever did for that matter. At last we came to a room and Elazul stopped, the gem in his chest flashed again and he looked around.

"She is close…," he stated about to rush on ahead again as a woman approached us, it seemed as though she had been waiting.

"Well you sure are late, Pearl is that way. Hurry, go help her," she stated with a light laugh as she fixed one of the flowers in her orange hair with a gloved hand.

"Elazul… do you know her?" I asked, approaching the two of them cautiously. I could already tell that just this woman's appearance was making Elazul tense.

"No… Who are you? How do you know Pearl's name?" Elazul demanded of the woman, looking like he was about to run her through.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" she replied, "Anyway, I'll be on my way. Better go before something bad happens to Pearl."

And sure enough she began to make her way toward where we had just come from. However, she stopped to look at me. As if she had just now noticed me. She almost looked a bit surprised to see someone else here.

"Oh! One more thing… You'd best stay away from these people," she stated with a glance towards Elazul.

"Hey! What do you mean by that!? How is that you know of us?" Elazul barked yet again, trying to get some answers out of this woman.

"I hope you don't get turned to stone or anything…," she said snidely clearly meant for me as she completely ignored Elazul once again.

"Why you!" Elazul yelled, his sword drawn as he seemed prepared to attack the woman.

"Aaaaaaaaa!!!" came a sudden yell that made Elazul stop dead in his tracks and turn toward the source of the sound.

"Pearl!" he yelled and he dashed off, as if completely forgetting about the woman he had just been infuriating him.

My head had turned as well towards the sound of the scream. I wanted more information out of the woman as it was clear that she knew something I didn't. However, as I turned back to face her again she was gone. That brought my focus back to why I was really here and I quickly rushed off after Elazul.

As I entered the room the first thing I noticed was how dark it was. So dark that I couldn't see a thing at all. My left hand skimmed across the wall as I made my way deeper into the room.

"Pearl!? Elazul!? Where are you?" I called out, trying to see anything in the pitch black room.

My hand brushed against something pointed, and as it did so suddenly the room was filled by a blue light. I closed my eyes and when I opened them again I saw that I had touched what looked like a candelabra made out of coral. The three tips of the coral glowed with blue light. However, it was greeted with what a massive roar which felt like it shook the entire cave.

"What did you do!?" Elazul yelled, drawing his sword as he prepared for whatever was coming.

"I'm not sure… I just touched it and it lit up," I stated, drawing my b*****d sword as well.

Before we could even see where it came from a massive club that looked to be made out of an animal skull came flying at us. We both had to jump out of the way to avoid a direct hit from it. I winced slightly in pain as my arms got scraped up from hitting the hard rock floor of the cave. I rose to my feet just in time to see a large furry creature clinging to the stalactites. It looked like some variety of primate, and it definitely wasn't very happy to see us. It let out another roar as dropped to the floor and picked up it's club.

"Du'Inke… I've never seen one this big before," Elazul stated sizing up the large beast.

"Elazul Help!" came another yell from behind one of the rocks.

"Pearl! Stay right where you are!" he yelled in response.

"So what's the battle plan?" I asked, clearly not sure how to take down such a massive beast.

"Hit it before it can hit you…," Elazul stated as if it weren't the most obvious thing in the world.

'I could have thought of that…' I thought to myself, the grip on my sword tightening in nerves.

He then lunged and leaped high to bring his blade down, trying to cut into the monster's torso. However, it raised one of it's massive arms and knocked him back down to the ground. Elazul slid to a halt, his crystal fist digging into the stone like a brake. He was back up and charged in for another attack. Meanwhile I charged in beside him. Hoping that together at least one of us would be able to get in an attack.

I brought my blade down upon the beast's leg. However, it seemed that the fur of the primate was so thick that it absorbed all of the force of the blow. Elazul had the no better luck as his second attempt got him swatted like a fly with the beast's hand. My focus had shifted from the beast to Elazul as he fell to the ground. A very big mistake on my part as the Du'Inke caught me with a swift kick that sent me into the air. I crashed to the hard stone where I laid dazed. My sword landing with a clatter nearby.

"Move!" Elazul yelled, back on his feet as he was forced to jump away from the club strike that was heading right toward us.

I came back to my senses just in time to roll out of the way as the club smashed into the ground, sending shards of rock everywhere. I managed to get back to my feet and pick up my sword. My body was aching from all the fighting and running we had done earlier, my movements slow as I brought my blade back up to the ready.

"This… isn't… working…," I stated between gasps for air.

"Aim for the areas that aren't covered by fur, they should be easier to penetrate," Elazul said, not even seeming fatigued. If anything the injuries he had sustained just seemed to get him more riled up. "Distract him, I'm going to finish this once and for all!"

I nodded my head in understanding to Elazul's words and charged forward first. I dodged a blast of what looked like ice crystals from the large beast's mouth by jumping to the side and then leaped into the air to try to bring my blade down. This time I felt blade pierce flesh as it sunk into the beast's stomach. Certainly not a killing blow, but enough to distract it. The beast roared in pain and anger as he reached down and grabbed me.

"Elazul!" I yelled as the Du'Inke squeezed the air from my lungs. "Whatever… you're going to do... do it!"

As if in answer to my yelling I saw descending upon the massive primate what looked like a beam blue light. I followed the path of the laser to see it was coming from Elazul's sword. The Du'Inke's grip lessened enough as the laser blade began to cut into it that I was able to escape and moved away as fast as I could. Elazul's attack had pretty much succeeded in cutting the furry beast in half. What remained of it fell backward, crashing to the cave floor. The ground quaked from the impact, shaking the cave structure. Stalactites cracked and rained down on us from the ceiling, crushing the remains of the Du'Inke as well as threatening to crush us.

Elazul and I were forced to dive for cover, narrowly dodging being crushed by the rocks that had shattered upon impact with the floor. As the dust cleared I slowly pushed myself back up to my feet, brushing the dust off of me. I looked around at the damage. It appeared that the Du'Inke was completely buried under the shattered stalactites. My attention turned away from the primate though as I saw Elazul frantically digging through the rubble.

"Pearl!" he yelled, throwing any boulders that he could move out of the way. "Where are you!?"

"Oh no… don't tell me," I muttered under my breath.

I quickly ran over to where Elazul was and began to help whatever I could. He continued to dig for a few more minutes before he seemed to calm down and stop digging. Suddenly a bright blue flash of light accompanied by a chiming sound resounded from his core. It echoed through the cavern a few times and then fell silent. After a pause from the far corner of the room there was another flash and a higher pitched chime. From behind a rock a woman timidly stood up. Her long brown hair and white dress flowed behind her as she stepped out from behind the rock.

"Elazul?" she called softly as she made her way toward him.

"is your core alright?" Elazul asked as he quickly made his way over towards her.

"Yes…," she replied, her hands going up to cover the pearl that was embedded in her chest.

I couldn't help but give a sigh of relief that we had found Pearl and that she was alright. As for Elazul, if he had shown any kind of relief, it was soon replaced with frustration. I had gathered that this was not an uncommon occurrence. Still though, I personally would not have wanted to be in Pearl's situation right now.

"I told you not to go wandering off by yourself! How did you end up down here anyway?" he asked, not even trying to hold back his frustration.

"I was um… just wandering around, thinking about things… the usual," she replied, her face turning a deep red as if in shame of herself.

"You don't need to think anymore. Right now you should just stay by my side so we can get out of here," Elazul replied.

"But…," Pearl tried to speak

"No Buts! That's enough!" Elazul snapped, his patience clearly reaching it's limit.

Elazul's response caused Pearl to jump, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"That's enough Elazul! You're being way too hard on her!" I yelled, having heard enough to the point that I was irritated.

"You stay out of this! It doesn't concern you!" Elazul yelled, now turning his anger and frustration towards me.

Pearl now turned her attention to me, as if she just realized I was here. Curiously she looked back at Elazul and then back at me. "Elazul, who is that?"

"Just some person who helped me find you… a very strange guy," he stated, as if I was nothing at all anymore.

"The name's Leif, Thank you," I snapped back at him, trying not to get angry with him.

Elazul seemed not to acknowledge my remark and turned his attention back to Pearl, " Well then, let's get out of here."

"But…," Pearl stammered yet again.

"See you around," Elazul said, cutting Pearl off. He then turned away and began to walk away, leaving Pearl where she stood.

Timidly, she took a few steps toward me, her face turning even redder if that was even possible. "Um… Th-thank you…," she stuttered, bowing her head slightly.

"We're going!" Elazul yelled again, making Pearl jump and surprising me as well. I hadn't realized that he had re-entered the room.

"I'm sorry… give me a moment I'm coming too!" she shuttered out in response. She then took a few more steps, coming closer to me yet. This time when she spoke she didn't seem as timid, she was holding something in her hands that I hadn't noticed until now, it glowed as she held it. "Thank you, Leif. This is for all that you've done for me," she stated handing me the object.

I took the object into my hands and realized that it was a type of lantern. It was very intricately made, the late emanating from what looked like a flower made out of glass. The handle of the lantern was built into the stem, and the legs for it were the roots. It was beautiful in appearance and showed that someone had put a lot of effort into making it.

"Thank you Pearl, but won't you be needing it?" I asked, realizing it was probably the light she had used to find her way in the cave.

"No, I'll be alright now that I'm with Elazul," she replied blushing deeply yet again.

And with that she made her way over to where Elazul was and they began to leave the room. I quickly followed after them so as not to be left behind. I made sure to keep my distance from Elazul. Despite this journey with him, I certainly wasn't comfortable about being around him. I still feared he might turn on me, sword drawn, if I got too close to his charge.

As we walked along the path back towards Domina, my body ached from all that I had done that day. My mind fell back to how I gotten to this world, and the fact that I still had no clue. This world was so different to me, yet it somehow felt familiar. My thoughts wandered all over the place. I still had no idea what Elazul and Pearl were, it was pretty obvious they weren't human. I still had to find the rabbit man Niccolo to ask him about the house too. I had decided that would be my top priority tomorrow.

I finally snapped out of my reverie when I realized that we were standing right outside the entrance to Domina. I looked at Elazul and Pearl. Elazul continued down the path, heading toward a building next to the pub. Pearl though had stopped and she now turned her attention back to me.

"Good bye for now Leif," she said with a small smile and a deep blush. Without another word though she turned and followed after Elazul.

I sighed as the door closed and I turned to head for the house. The town was quiet now that the sun had set, though a few noises could be heard from the pub where Rachel worked. I contemplated telling her about what happened to the stone egg she had given me. However, I was just now realizing how tired I was feeling. So I silently left the town and headed back along the path I had walked to get here and returned to the house under the great big tree.

"Tomorrow I'll find Niccolo," I said to myself while stifling a yawn as I opened the front door of my new home.

It did not take me long to get out of my gear and get changed into the night shirt I had woken up in. I looked over at Li'l Cactus in his pot and smiled. He was asleep already and looked quite peaceful and content in his little pot. It did not take long at all for me to lay my head down and fall asleep to await the new day.