"I'm... So sorry... Please believe me, I had no idea it was going to turn out like this!"

Flash.

"Are you ready?"

Flash.

"I can help bring back your lost memories, isn't that what you've wanted?"

Flash.

"It'll be fun! Come on, let's go together!"

Flash.

Connecting....Connecting.......Connecting........Connection Complete!

Of course, he's going to want another status report... Andrei Vosser rubbed his temples as his monitor lit up the small, dark, basement office he was forced to occupy for 14 hours a day. Of course, forced would only half describe his reason for being there. The truth is, he loves his job. It's his employers that rack his brain with stress day in and day out. He had never met them, or never been told their names, but he knew how they liked to operate. Blind cells, that would be the best way to describe it. He had been contacted by Angelo, an old acquaintance from past jobs. And he knew that Angelo had been tapped by someone else, who had in turn been tapped by someone else. Somewhere down the line, somebody was running the show; a puppeteer tugging the strings to make sure his or her modus operandi was running as smoothly as necessary.

Andrei leaned back in his chair to get in clear view of the camera built into his computer monitor. The person he saw on the screen was not Angelo; someone was sitting just inside of a shadow that filled their communication room. He could see the edges of a face, a mere silhouette full of mystery and possible danger. For a week now, this person was his contact. Not Angelo. A pair of gloved hands raised up and met to rest below the silhouetted chin. This was how they operated; hiding in the shadows. Even their voices were disguised. A low monotonous droll was the perfect match for these figures, forever shrouded in darkness.

"Well? Have we reached a final list?" The dulcet tones reverberated out of Vosser's speakers and bounced around his small dark room.

He looked into the camera and nodded his head. "It's done. Phase One is complete. Just let me know when you're ready to move forward with the job."

The person behind the voice seemed pleased to hear this. The hum of the speakers echoed throughout the basement, "Good," the gloved hands again found a resting place on the table beneath the enigmatic figure, "Commence Phase Two."

Flash.

"That look on your face... You get a flashmail?"

Flash.

Andrei is still sitting alone in his basement office when his phone rings. Usually he wouldn't answer if the caller went through the trouble of blocking their number purposefully. Curiosity sets in and guides his hand to answer the phone. Before giving him a chance to say hello, a shrouded voice on the other end takes control of the conversation from the start. "Mr. Vosser, do you know who you are working for? What are you getting yourself into?" Click. The line drops.

Flash.

If he were alone, nobody in Mac Anu would notice the silver-haired heavyblader who frequented a small, rarely traveled avenue of the root town. It was one of the sections of the city that held a few clan hideouts, and no shops. On most days he spends his time sitting against the wall near an old, forgotten, long abandoned clan area. The clan itself had seen its fair share of members, and a few leaders. At the end of its last prosperous era, the man at the helm was the very same heavyblader who still held a connection with its hideout. That heavyblader, Lakely, was not there alone today. A petit raven-haired twinblader, Maren, sat beside him this afternoon.

Flash.

They had met a while back by chance, or fate, as it may be. She was questing alone in the very field he had chosen to take up residence that week. Maren had lost her footing in a fight against a few enemies slightly stronger than herself. Lakely stepped in to save her, knowing nobody else could now. She asked if she could tag along, and if he could escort her through the dungeon. Off they went on that journey, growing closer and forming a real friendship, a bond like few others he had. At the Gott Statue, she had asked why he was there in the field all alone. He told her all about the part of his past he could remember. There were small fragments he knew, a lot of blank space, and then the moment he suddenly awoke in an abandoned building in Dun Loireag. He couldn't figure out where he had come from, or why he was there. All he had was a broken memory, and an inability to escape "The World" or Logout, as it is called within the game.

In time, he had divulged a few of his memories with her. She was intrigued, to say the least. But most of all, she wanted to do anything she could to help him find the memories and the life he lost. Together they are on a crusade to put his broken pieces back together and find out how to free him from the bounds of "The World".

Flash.

Back in Mac Anu. Maren tells Lakely what she's learned from offline research. Searching countless message boards has left her with no additional information. It's always the same old thing; always nothing. The minute any kind of post goes up about players being trapped, the post disappears.

If someone or something is responsible for this, they've gone to great lengths to cover up any leaks. Lakely does his best to cover up his look of disappointment, opting to ask Maren what time it is out in her world.

Maren freezes for a moment as her real-world counterpart checks a clock and then a calendar. The twinblader springs back to life, "It's 9:30 in the morning, I've got to get to class soon. I need to buckle down this semester or risk losing my scholarship."

Lakely nods, acknowledging that she needs to work out her priorities. A blank stare streaks across his face for just long enough that Maren would notice. "That look on your face... You get a flashmail? Anything interesting?" She listened intently as he gave her the details of the special event.

"I don't know... What are the odds on winning that kinda thing? Why me, and why now?"

"Well that sounds a little paranoid," Maren couldn't help but take this chance to poke fun, "It'll be fun! Come on, let's go together! You said teams of two, right? And we're different classes. My speed and finesse, your strength and quick thinking. There's no way we can lose this!" She couldn't act more excited about the prospect of this quest if she tried. It would be a great chance for them to work together, have fun, and win a nice prize or two.

Lakely glanced into her bright green eyes and saw the excitement pouring out of them. "Yeah, you're right. What's the worst that could happen?"

Flash.

A memory. Bits and pieces of one, at least. A special field. A festival in chaos and turmoil. Monsters running rampant. A deep purple hazy light surrounding Lakely and others. A maniacal wavemaster causing the uproar. A blademaster with a scar on his face.

Flash.

"I know that face. That one was a memory, right?"

Lakely smiles and explains to Maren what he saw, giving every small detail he could recognize as it happened. From the appearances of the monsters, to the paralyzed feeling he felt as the deep purple glow suffocated him from the outside in, and the scarred swordsman. "It was him...Wren."

Her face went through a gauntlet of expressions as he told her every bit. From fascination to confusion, to fear, to shock, and all the way down to sorrow. She reached out and pulled him close; the kind of hug that says "I'm here for you." And she let him know just that. She pulled away and looked directly into his golden eyes reflecting the twilit sky better than any mirror ever could. "Don't worry, we'll find a way to get your memories back. We'll find him and figure this whole thing out. Trust me." She went immobile for a split second and sprung back to life, "Oh no, I'm late to class. I'll be back in a few hours, you want me to come around?"

Lakely smiled and turned to her. "Of course. I'll either be here, or over by the main bridge. You know where to find me. Oh, and we'll talk about that event when you get back." She laughed and agreed before waving goodbye as she logged out and disappeared within a series of falling golden rings.

Flash.

The area around the Chaos Gate is empty and quiet for this time of day. A party or two would traverse through it a few times within an hour or so; They came at a slow pace today. Another rarely slow day for 'The World'. Though one pair of people seemed to linger around the area longer than anyone would anticipate. Arousing no suspicion at all, a blademaster and a heavyaxe were having a long conversation they felt the need to hide from the wide eyes of the game's many forums.

"So what do you think? You interested in coming with me?" The blademaster seemed to have a confident air about him. His direct, to-the-point manner was fitting of his clothing. There was little chance of him ever standing out in a crowd with his choice of shirt, jeans, and boots. The only thing interesting about it was the hue. Everything about him was a shade of blue. Even his hair, eyes and boots matched his self-chosen color scheme.

The heavyaxe shrugged and turned aside to help enforce what he was going to say next. "Well I'm not to sure, Omer, I haven't heard a thing about this event until now. You sure it's legit?"

"I can't be certain it is. But you can't avoid the subject matter. This may be our only shot at finding her, Tremel. Don't you remember what those people said that day?" The blue in Omer_Blue's eyes suddenly intensified. Without realizing it, his voice was erupting in tone. If the area they were in weren't empty, somebody would have taken notice at his shouting. "Those bastards said something about a 'Falcon Temple', and I can't sit here and think that this isn't related! We have to find Jayla!"

Tremel couldn't help but look around the area to make sure nobody was witnessing his companion's sudden uproar. "I know what you mean, friend. But we can't just rush into this blindly. I'll do some research and find out who these other people are and if there is a connection." Omer fought to suppress his temper and nodded at Tremel's words. The axe-wielder reached out his hand and clasped his companion's shoulder. "Don't worry, this will all work out soon enough. I'll get the information we need, so you just let me know when they decide to hold this little event."

With that being said, Tremel logged out; Leaving Omer_Blue standing alone at the Chaos Gate. Rather than logging out himself, he turned toward the Gate and let out a sigh. "Δ Lost Solitary Den"

Flash.

Vosser stared intently into the webcam built into the top of his computer monitor. He hoped his glare was carrying all the emotion he felt within him. Could it carry his dwindling blind faith and resentment for the man in the shadows he could see on his monitor? He wanted to let the stranger know that he didn't intend to be used for something and tossed to the dogs. But he couldn't allow himself to say it, as he had already come too far to get tossed aside while he was still, in his own mind, innocent. "So you can't think of anything that it could mean? I'm receiving borderline threatening phone calls, and you want me to brush it off and assume it has nothing to do with you and all your friends?"

The on-screen silhouette raised its gloved hands to meet beneath its chin. The oddly distorted voice cracked. "Now now, Mr. Vosser, what would make you assume I know anything about your phone calls? Let's not forget the way this works. Blind Cells. Someone recruits someone who recruits someone else. It goes down the list. I recruited Angelo, and he recruited you." The shadow chuckled, the reverberations echoing throughout Vosser's room. "You think I'm at the top of this chain? As far as any of us is supposed to know, we are down at the very bottom of this ladder. You and I can only see the next step above our own respective rungs."

Andrei felt the his resentment bubble up to the top of his face and just spill out. He managed to suppress it and force a sincere smile. "Of course. I forgot my place in this; I apologize. Well with that out of the way, I have your status report right here," Vosser sorted through a few papers on his desk and pulled out one with a time-line, "Ah, here it is. Phase Two was initiated successfully. My reports say that the pieces have all been put into play. As you can see on the time-line I sent you, a date and time has been chosen for when Phase Three will be put into motion. Everything else is on schedule, so do you agree with this time?"

The shadowed figure nodded its head as the crackled voice echoed around Andrei, "Yes. Continue as planned."

The room fell to complete darkness as the Alt-Chat window on Andrei's monitor closed out, ending their conversation. He stood and headed towards his door. He wasn't sure of the time, but it certainly felt like lunch time. He was a few steps up the stairs when he heard a sound from his office.

He had left his cell phone on his desk, and it was ringing again.

Flash.

A peaceful wind soars through the thin air of Dun Loireag. Blowing hard enough to block out the ambient sound of the high number of players and groups gathering to adventure together. Sadly though, it blows just gently enough to carry and amplify the incessant calls of "Mon Ami!" from the one and only Noble Grunty who has taken up post within the root town.

Many of the small floating islands are connected by a system of plank bridges that weave in and out of the blue sky between them. A number of the islands play host to shops and other such things, others carry clan hideouts, while others house empty, long abandoned buildings. Hiding just behind one of them a Fist Fighter and a Wavemaster find themselves locked in an argument.

"What is it you're asking me, Tirad? You want me to join up with you on another strange quest to some odd event nobody has ever even heard of?" The Fist Fighter leaned against the building looking at his wavemaster friend in front of him. The combination of their body language and the topic at hand would suggest that they have been companions for a while and have grown quite familiar with each other during their mysterious and danger-filled past.

"I know what you're thinking, and I know how it sounds. But I think this is something we have to do. The way the flashmail was worded, that can't be a coincidence, Ojan. 'fortunes lost long ago...' Fortunes? You can't say you don't see the connection..." Tirad was adamant to get his point across before his friend could find enough reason to brush him aside and leave him there.

"There are connections, and then there are wild goose chases. This seems to be the latter. I get what you're saying, trust me I do! But how can we assume that someone is talking directly to us and are subtly saying that this is the path to finding our old friend, DARK_Fortunes. Those people who attacked us couldn't be connected to CC Corp. They couldn't be behind this event! Why would they be letting these hackers work for them? Ojan looked his friend in the eye and immediately could tell the real reason he asked him to come along to that event. "This isn't about saving him at all, is it? You want to know more about what happened to you... Christ, why didn't you just say so?"

Tirad turned away and stepped toward the edge of the floating rock and looked down. "I couldn't stand to sound that selfish out in the open. You're right, I do want to know what they did to me. But the sound of being able to learn that and being able to find out where he disappeared to... Well I couldn't resist the opportunity to ask for your help." The wavemaster clenched his fist and turned around to look Ojan in the eye. "So? Now that you know why I need your help... Will you be my partner in this?"

Flash.

Back in Mac Anu. The busiest avenue within the entire city is easily the main bridge near the Chaos Gate. Its is somewhat of a center hub in the root town, a highway connecting every shop or building essential to the avid adventurer as they prepare to raid a dungeon. Though most of these adventurers are unaware of the small open area that lies beneath it where a side street meets the flowing river. Of those who know of it, even fewer go there. There is nothing important there for the average user.

Though there is at least one person who finds this hole-in-the-wall to be a quiet relaxing place to reside. Alone in this tiny area he rests. Lakely had only been here for a short time when he was surprised by his companion. The twinblader sat down and nudged him to get his attention. With a wide smile she greeted him. "Hey! I knew I'd find you here. So have you decided about whether or not we're going to that event together?"

Even if he tried, Lakely couldn't dream of being able to say no when she smiled like that. Her warm green eyes pulling him into a state of calm he enjoyed being able to re-live each time she gave him that look. "Oh, welcome back Maren. How were your classes?

Maren gleefully nudged him and chuckled, "How many times do I have tell you? You can call me Tess. We're close enough for you to call me by my real name. I would call you by yours, if you remembered it. Oh, and classes were fine. I have a test coming up in my art appreciation class, and the professor still hasn't given us the review sheet. I wish she would give it to us already." Maren's hope-filled eyes slowly sank for a second, but quickly lit up as she realized he hadn't answered her first question yet. "I can't believe you'd dodge that question! Come on, we should go! It'll be fun!"

Lakely smiled at Maren's persistence and shrugged the question slightly aside again. "Oh yeah, I keep forgetting that you want me to call you by your outside name. It's not easy remembering that everyone else here has another name out there in the real world." He paused long enough to glance up and see her face slump into a playful pout. He chuckled before continuing his spoken thought. "Alright alright! Haha, let's talk about this event... It sounds intriguing, and I can't really see any harm in at least trying. What kind of preparations do you think we should make, Tess?"

The two of them sat beneath the bridge discussing the plans and preparations needed for the event. They discussed an assortment of strategies for a number of possible situations or problems. Even the possibility that the whole thing was a trap came up, and escape plans were considered. They would be ready for anything, he would be sure of it.

Flash.

The wind blows through a grassy field, pushing a number of leaves into a pile above a small switch set into the ground. Elsewhere a row of trees sprouts from the ground and forms a barrier near a stone-set pedestal. Just a few feet a way a tree rises in front of a player character holding an electronic clipboard. He is of average height, slightly thin and pale, and is dressed in attire similar in appearance to that of a sport jacket and slacks. At first glance, of course. Upon closer inspection it is easily seen that the player is just wearing a burgundy jacket atop a white undershirt and slate-gray pants.

Formal looking from far away, but rather laid back in actuality; Obviously the appearance he was going for. His moderately short black hair sits slightly mop-like on his head. From first impressions, it would definitely be hard to tell if he's trying to impress or rebel against some sort of established order.

Holding the clipboard up to eye level, he smirks. "How are the tests coming along? Got all the puzzles working?"

Yes sir, all tests are running smoothly. Puzzles have been initialized and tested thoroughly. Barring outside tampering, everything should be in order for the event.

"Easy CACEE, don't jinx us! This has to be really special. It's the first event I've put together. I don't want anything going against plans."

Apologies, sir. I was programmed to say such things. That is my duty as your automated assistant.

"Of course. I shouldn't be so superstitious, I know. So things are on schedule, that's fantastic. You think you can handle it alone for now? I should go check on a few things elsewhere."

Affirmative, sir. I'll continue running diagnostics until you return.

The dark-haired young man looked up to the sky smiling and nodded at the invisible program. "Thanks CACEE, you're a lifesaver. I'll be back soon."

Flash.

"Hello?"

"Andrei. You don't have to go through with it."

"Who is this?"

"Let's not worry about that right now. Do you really know what your part in their plan is?"

"All I know is that Angelo asked me to come in on this. My friend wanted me to help with this, so I'm going to do all that is asked of me."

"Ah yes. But is that the help he wanted? He asked you for help, but he didn't say specifically with the project. And now he's gone missing. Think you might have missed the real meaning behind his request?"

"What do you know of it?"

"I know more than you can imagine."

"What is that supp-"

The line dropped.

Flash.

"Oh you're just being too suspicious." A Longarm and an Archer stood against the railing at the top of the main bridge of Mac Anu. The yellow-clothed brunette Longarm seemed to be bathed in sunshine as the twilight of the setting sun danced around her. She stared down into the river below and watched it ebb and flow around some strange object that had fallen in and was forced to be pushed and pulled by the will of the ever-flowing river.

"How can you be so cavalier about this, Andra? Do you really think we should be running off into some sort of weird quest so soon? What about your...situation?"

"What do you mean soon, Janus? Time flows differently for me here. How many days has it been out there? Every hour I'm stuck here is torture. You can't imagine how this feels." Andra turned to look her friend in the eye and as she did she felt the warmth of the wooden bridge. "I'm going through with this. The flashmail was sent to me, so I'm going. I just want to know if I can count on you to help me through this."

Janus stared intently in her friend's blue eyes. The two girls had been through so much already. The Archer was lucky enough to come out of their troubles with slight damage. As far as she could tell, only her player character had suffered any damage. Sighing, she turned away and glanced down at her own arm. She could see a faint light coming out of her sleeve. Even now the scar on her forearm remained. The glow it emitted had yet to fade either. She cringed as she straightened out the arms of the dark green jacket she wore over her dark blue shirt. "I'm sorry. I know it was harder on you than it was on me... If you're going, then I'm definitely going to stand there beside you. The event sounds intriguing anyways. If nothing else, we'll have fun."

Flash.

"Ooh, you look like you got another flashmail! Was it the one we've been waiting for? Maren had just returned from collecting supplies at the weapon and item shops when the flashmail had arrived.

"Oh, welcome back, Tess. Yeah it just came in. It starts tomorrow afternoon. Not too specific on the time, just says to wait for the flashmail to announce the beginning. Then we're supposed to meet at the field and wait for instructions." Lakely rose to his feet and turned toward her. "By the way, what time is it out there right now?"

Maren froze for a second and sprung back to life within seconds. "Ugh... It's 8:30 at night. And I almost forgot, I should go soon. I have a few assignments to do for my physics class, and a paper to write for my history class. Is there anything else we need to talk about before I go?"

Lakely smiled and shrugged. "I don't think so. We pretty much got it all covered for now. We're prepared for any situation that I could think of. So you go on and get your schoolwork done. I'll be around tomorrow. Don't worry about coming in before your early class, I'll be ok by myself till you're done for the day. Have a good night."

Maren chuckled and gave Lakely a quick hug before taking a step back. "Ok, you don't have too much fun tonight! Hehe, I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight!" One last quick smile flashed across her face before she was swept away by a trio of golden rings.

The heavyblader walked out from beneath the bridge and walked up to the main streets of the city. A few seconds later he found himself in front of the Chaos Gate. "I guess I should go find a field to stay the night in..."

Flash.

A soothing calm blankets a silent field. While it may be void of life, it is constantly changing. Small cosmetic changes including pedestals, trees, empty buildings left in shambles and large boulders. Three golden rings materialized a few short steps from one of the newly created trees and fell to the ground. A dark haired man with unkempt hair emerged from them.

Welcome back, sir. I assume you'll be sticking around to help finish up the last tests? Why have you changed your appearance?

"Thank you, CACEE, I will be here to finish preparations. And thank you for noticing. I had to find some clothing more suitable to the field. They're nice and... Springy... Don't you think?" The man was no longer wearing his sport coat and slacks. He had traded them for brown boots, dark green pants and a shirt and jacket combination of lighter shades of green.

Well to be honest, sir, I favored your other attire. It was relaxed and professional at the same time. But this works as well. I'm not sure that much green suits you as well as the burgundy did. But if you insist, you'll hear no protests from me.

"Flattering, as always." He reached inside the satchel at his hip and pulled out the electronic clipboard he held the last time he was here. After looking around the field, he looked to see the list on his clipboard growing smaller. "Well, you've almost got this all put together, now don't you? I don't see much else for me to do. We're almost set. All that is left is to wait for it to begin, yes?"

Correct, sir. We are right on schedule... It will begin soon.

"They will be pleased to hear that"

Flash.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

"Huh? A voice mail?" Andrei was asleep at his desk when his phone woke him. He knew he must have dozed off again. It wasn't the first time he had fallen asleep in his office. He would be hard-pressed to not fall asleep in the pitch black basement room he lovingly referred to as his own personal cave. His computer monitor was dark. It had taken the opportunity to get a quick nap in while Vosser snoozed. The only light Andrei could see was from the small light on the cover of his phone. He reached for it and flipped it open to see that he had no missed calls. "That can't be right."

He dialed his inbox and placed the phone up to his ear. He was shocked when he heard the voice cracking through the static that permeated the ten-second long message. After it ended he played it one more time to try and decipher what was being said.

"Andr...this...elo...eed your hel.....don't do...vent, please!"

Flash.

"Everything is as I left it. Even the note is still there. I don't guess Mr. Kiwi has been in since I came in the last time. He must be awfully busy. There is a tournament going on, I guess. It's likely he's taking that on." Lakely had decided to take a quick step inside the empty area of his former clan. The same building he found himself loitering outside of from time to time. He took a quick glance around the place to make sure nobody was sneaking in without an invitation. As he neared the door he heard a female voice outside the door. He paused to listen.

"Lakely!! Where are you at?! If I find you, I swear..." Maren had spent the last fifteen minutes wandering around Mac Anu in search of her heavyblade companion. She had checked beneath the bridge, by the Chaos Gate, and had just made her way to the empty clan area he liked to sit outside of from time to time. Flustered, she turned away and started to storm off out of the desolate alleyway.

"Where are you running off to?"

The dark-haired twinblader froze in place as the voice called out from behind her. She placed her hand on her hip and slowly turned around to see Lakely standing in the empty alleyway as if he had been there the entire time. "And where have you been? I've been looking for you.

The swordsman smiled and began walking toward her. "What do you mean? I've been right here. I took a quick step inside to make sure that nobody had gotten curious and decided to raid my old clan house." When he approached Maren, the two began walking together out of the alley. "Everything is well there, it seems. So that's good. Are you ready?

"Of course I am. I didn't know when they'd signal the start of the event. So I figured that the sooner I was ready, the sooner we could go once the time came." It had taken Maren a few steps to realized that Lakely had stopped mid-stride a few seconds before. She turned around to see the blank stare on his face. She knew it had to be time.

Maren was pulling on Lakely's arm as he snapped back into reality. She couldn't do much to pull him along as fast as she would like, but he soon gave in and kept a steady pace with her as they raced to the Chaos Gate. They were carried away as soon as they were within proximity of the large golden gate. The twinblader had wasted no time in activating the chosen keywords. Soon after that, Lakely could feel himself falling, or flying, he could never tell. All he knew was that a multitude of colors raced past him at high speeds and he could see the name of their destination in front of him.

Δ Nameless Vengeful Fallen Angel

The words slowly faded away as he watched the spectrum of color thinning slightly into a dull green. The swordsman's eyes adjusted slowly to the bright field that appeared as he was dropped softly onto the ground by the same golden rings that took him away from the root town Mac Anu. He turned to his left to see Maren was standing right there beside him. Lakely couldn't tell why, but his companion was amazed. He was too busy looking beside her to see what she saw. The three other pairs of players had all gathered in the grass a few feet beside where Maren and Lakely now stood. He tried to size them up as well as he could, but he wasn't familiar enough with too many other players in 'The World'. Because of that, he didn't know how what to compare these mystery people to. He certainly didn't know many Fist Fighters or Archers, so the ones in this group would be a new experience for him.

Maren nudged Lakely with her elbow and pointed in front of them to the large green mass they stood before. He nodded quickly to the other participants before turning to see the towering green bushes in front of him. He couldn't be sure, but he guessed they had to be at least 40 feet high. He looked to the side to see if he could find where the width of the bushes ended, but could find no end in sight. All he could see was four openings, and more green walls. "It's...a maze?" He turned around to look behind them, only to see that they were trapped between a rock and a hard place. The maze would be the only viable way forward. The steep cliff they stood at the edge of would be the only other option, and it would be a certain death. "I guess the maze is the only way out of this situation."

"Looks like it. I KNEW we forgot to plan for something..." Maren nudged Lakely again to be sure he got the fact that she was joking. He chuckled lightly and pulled her with him to go meet the six people who were seated nearby. The twinblader smiled and waved at the group.

"Hey, I'm Lakely. This is my partner, Maren. I'm glad to see everyone made it." The other players all stood and approached the two newcomers. They were mostly sticking in pairs, which served to inform Lakely that they hadn't been there long enough to all be comfortable with each other. So the heavyblader knew that he and Maren weren't too late.

The Longarm and Archer stepped forward. "My name is Andra, and this is my partner Janus."

The two women stepped back and let the next pair step forward. This time it was the Fist Fighter and Wavemaster who took center-stage. "I'm Tirad, and my partner here is Regants"

After they stepped back, the last two shuffled forward. A Blademaster and Heavy Axeman. "My name is Omer_Blue, but you can just call me Omer. And the big guy here is Tremel."

Maren smiled as everyone tried to shake hands in an orderly fashion. "It's great to meet you all. I don't know about you all, but I'm excited that this event is finally starting! Ever since Lakely first got the flashmail, I've been waiting for it to beg--"

The green-eyed twinblader stopped speaking immediately when she heard footsteps behind the group. Everyone turned to see a dark-haired man dressed mostly in green standing before them with a clipboard. He approached them, smiling. "Sorry to interrupt you, my dear. But as the flashmail stated, the race is set to begin." He paused for dramatic effect and watched the confused looks gather upon him. "Oh, I'm sorry I haven't introduced myself. My name is Avos, and I am the man in charge of running this event, The Search For The Falcon Temple."

Avos bowed before them and looked toward the towering hedge maze. "As you can see, this is a rather large hedge maze. And as you might have guessed, you must traverse this in teams of two to reach the center, and then safely reach the exit on the far side. In the center, you will be tasked to retrieve a certain artifact. It will be outlined which artifact belongs to which specific team. So no worries there.

Don't forget the surprise!

Avos looked up toward the sky and nodded. "She's right, I almost forgot. The voice you just heard was my companion, the Coordinated Automatic Cyber Event Engineer, or CACEE. She will be helping me to ensure this all goes smoothly. And as she said, there is a surprise. The flashmail stated this event is designed for four teams of two, so I'm glad to see that the main contestants all brought a partner along. Avos walked up to the eight participants and surveyed each of them individually.

"For the first stage of this event, you will be trading partners.

"The teams will be decided by CACEE. She has been analyzing your stats and equipment. Carefully estimating your strengths and weaknesses in order to figure out which teams would be best for each of the puzzles she has laid out." Avos began tapping his electronic clipboard against his chest before looking down at it. “It would seem she’s still working out the details, so we’ve still got a bit more time till we begin the first task. Does anyone have any questions?”

The group paused and looked around at each other, waiting for someone to step up and ask one of the many questions they were surely all thinking. The silence lingered until the sole Longarm, the girl named Andra, sighed and crossed her arms. “I guess I’ll bite. What is the first task? And what is the end-game here? I didn’t get much of a…chance… to read the boards and get too many details.”

“Excellent question Allow me to explain…

Flash.

“No… That’s impossible.

“Of course it’s possible. Ever wonder why you can feel things here in this world? There is a reason you can’t leave “The World.” Ask him, he’s seen the truth! Speak up…”

Flash.

“…Tell them all about what you found beneath the headstone. I’m sure all your new friends would love to hear it.”

Flash.

Flash.

Avos smiled and tucked his clipboard into a satchel at his feet. “This first task is rather simple… Sort of. You see this large wall behind me? This particular wall is part of a large maze garden. This is called The Dark Garden, and it was built many centuries ago. There are four entrances; one for each mixed team of two.”

The girl standing nearest to Andra frowned and bent down to sit in the grass. “Thank you, but I think we’ve all pretty much figured that part out. We’re standing near the edge of a very high cliff with only this maze as an alternate option. What else can you tell us?”

“Ahem… Yes… I was just covering the basics. The Dark Garden is a large maze with a secret hiding at the center. When you reach the center of the maze, you will find a willow tree and a well. It has been said that this is the resting place of a piece to the puzzle that surrounds a very ancient treasure. Once every team finds their way to the treasure, we will be finished with the first task.” Avos tried to hold back a smile as he surveyed the faces of the group in front of him.

Lakely could feel Maren looking at him and turned to meet her gaze. He could easily sense the concern in her eyes hadn’t lessened since she had sent her flashmail. The heavyblader started at Avos intently. “That’s it? Just reach the center and move on? What kind of surprises can we expect?

As he turned around to face the maze, Avos chuckled. “Sorry to be so cliché, but they wouldn’t be surprises if I told you all of them ahead of time.”

Avos… I have decided on the teams.

“Ah, thank you CACEE. Let’s hear the teams.”

Omer_Blue and Janus

Tirad and Tremel

Andra and Maren

Lakely and Regants

“Fantastic. I will give you a few minutes to split up into your new teams and get to know each other, maybe even exchange items if you would like to be fully prepared ahead of time.” Avos once again had his clipboard in hand, taping the face of it quickly with his stylus. It lead everyone in the group to wonder what it was he was setting up in the paths now that the teams had been decided.

Flash.