I'm so tired of this...

Roland sighed softly as he gathered his binder and books together and put them into his bookbag. It had been three days since he had logged into "The World" as Hyruji to play, but he had still loaded the interface to check his e-mail. There was nothing from the female whipmaster what-so-ever. Despite the fact that he was worried about her and that she was his friend, that still didn't stop the anger that he had within build up considerablly. It was because that they were friends he expected an e-mail or two from her explaining her current whereabouts, what the ocarina is, and just what the hell she wanted from him.

The boy glanced around momentarily, watching as his classmates fiddled around with getting their own books and papers collected up. His Multimedia 109, more or less an Intro to Graphic Design class, was coming to an end and he certainly couldn't wait for it. Earlier in the day, before Roland went to school, he had decided that today would be the day he logged back in and went hunting for answers himself. With the way things were going, there was nothing he could go off of to do anything other than keep going back to that one area and getting killed. It was a wonderful thought, or at least in the best sense of sarcasm it was.

All he knew is that he couldn't rely on Rouge mailing him or contacting him in any way. Roland knew that he had to use what he was already givin and try and piece things together. The garbled messages that she had sent him during his absence from "The World" were the first things to be deciphered, something he was sure he could do givin the right decoding tools. After that he just had to get stronger as a character in order to knock down the first piece of the puzzle, Delta- Lonely Her Remnant. Once that was done he was sure another clue would be found.

He was only a little bit surprised when the bell rang and the students around him quickly jumped from their chairs in order to leave class. He too rose from his seat, though only after the majority had left the class, before following suit and leaving. Roland didn't make any stops at his college, or even on the way home that way he'd have more time to be logged into "The World" without any consequence later on. By the time he did get home he knew he would have the whole house to himself for a few hours as well, so those few hours were specifically crucial. The only thing he grabbed on the way to his room was a granola bar for a quick snack before settling down at his computer desk, putting his headset on and booting up the game.

Within minutes the game's interface was in front of him, low and behold there was still no new e-mails from Rouge. As typical as he wanted to say that was, it hardly was any comfort to him. Either way, Roland bypassed the rest of the game's functions and logged in the headset's screen going black then lit up with gold. He squinted through the bright light from the gold rings that carried him into Mac Anu, entering his character Hyruji into "The World". Without much thought, Hyruji turned on his heel towards the Chaos Gate and held his hand up with all intentions to warp.

"Lonely Her Remna--"

The blademaster stopped midsentence as bits and pieces of the adventure he had in the icy field a few days ago flooded back to him. The area itself was low level and relatively easy for most players. Even though he was by himself, it should have only proven slightly difficult for him to complete. However that was utterly far from the actual truth in the matter since the whole place was obviously hacked or bugged for some reason. Hyruji had never heard of a dungeon or field where no monsters appeared through almost its entirety or even where there were no treasure chests and breakable objects scattered throughout it.

Though he knew that he could probably navigate his way through the whole dungeon once more, there was no evidence that in the final room there wouldn't be another portal containing that god aweful swarm of Deadly Moths. It was so strange in the fact they acted so attuned to each other and attacked in a way to truly put him out of commission. Sure there were monsters, from what he read on the message boards a while back, that were really strong and smart but it didn't seem likely ones on such a low level field would act like that at all. If anything, what happened only prooved that something wrong was going on and it all revolved around Rouge. he hated that fact greatly.

Well, if I can't do this by myself then I'll just have to round up a party and go back down the dungeon with them. That's the only way I think I'll be able to demolish those damn moths...

Giving the Chaos Gate one more glance, its slowly spinning form giving of a soft, somehow calming whir, before hurrying down the stairs near it and into the main part of Mac Anu. Normally he would have waited on the bridge for Rouge and where he'd see other people waiting to meet up with their parties. He could ask someone there, but it would be likely that they all had plans with other people. Then there was the square over the bridge and past the other shops where players were constantly trading and socializing, which seemed like a good spot to ask, but also bad considering most probably just finished a quest and went there to relax. Finally there were those running from shop to shop, specifically the weapon, magic, and item shops to stock up for an adventure, and at this point that seemed the most likely.

Hyruji, now having a slight game plan, made his way over the bridge only briefly taking in the serene waters passing underneath, before turning left towards the weapon shop. A female Wavemaster and a male Long Arm were there talking while upgrading their equipment. It seemed like a perfect chance to get this done and over with. He approached them, both stopping their conversation to look at him suspiciously.

"Excuse me, I know an interesting area and would like to know if you two would mind forming a party and going there with me?"

The two looked at each other then back to the blademaster. With a sigh, the Wavemaster looked away while it seemed the Long Arm was mulling over how to say what he was obviously thinking.

"I'm sorry man, but we're kind of busy right now. You see, the two of us already decided to explore a different area today so maybe some other time, okay? See ya!"

Without so much as another word or glance the two quickly made their escape and towards the bridge. Hyruji could only guess that they were heading over to the Save post then to the Chaos Gate to start their journey. He couldn't help but grumble slightly to his failed attempt, but despite that he knew there were plenty more players roaming the streets of Mac Anu. With that in mind, the blademaster moved to the next shop, the magic shop, where he encountered two female blademasters and a male wavemaster. As he walked up he could already hear the three of them talking about the adventure they had planned, which, of course, shot his question down before he even asked it.

The same luck followed him as he went to item shop and even over to the Elf Haven in search of party members. Every single person either had plans, just come back from a quest, or was only on to update a few things before work/school/dinner etc. All in all, it was getting rather frustrating and Hyruji knew that it was probably written all over his face and he didn't even care at this point. The blademaster found himself back on the bridge, barely noticing that there weren't as many people on it like there was before. For some reason this seemed oddly familiar, a lot like the day he met Rouge from what he could remember.

"Heh, yeah, nobody wanted to form a party with me then either. I wonder what's so wrong with me or something."

It was at this point all he could do was either think to give up or just go back to that dungeon again by himself. Maybe Rouge would show up again and give him some super rare hacked sword that would cut through one hundred enemies all at once. The thought, though exciting, was too good to be true and could be straight from silly anime. With a shake of his head, the blademaster pushed off the bridge's railing he had been leaning on to call it a day for now. He'd play it by ear another day to see if Rouge contacted him before repeating this same process over again.

No matter how tedious it was, going out alone to level up was somewhat boring and difficult depending on situation. As he made his way off the bridge a hand stopped him by gripping his shoulder a bit too tightly for comfort. Hyruji yanked himself away from the hand's grip and turned on his heel to see who it was that had been so rude. The moment he did his entire body froze up, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end while a chill ran up and down his spone. There before him was the man who had started all of the trouble long ago when Hyruji first logged into "The World."

It was Sysuke.

His chuckle, his low gravelly laughter seemed to just resonate with the air around the blademaster, enveloping him and drowning him all at once. Breathing wasn't even an option, his body barely even responding other than slight twitches here and there. This was only a game, why was it he was so afraid of some virtual player character's avatar when he could just log out right here and now. Sysuke, taking notice to all of Hyruji's reactions to his appearance only could smirk as he took the few necessary steps to close the distance between the two of them so their faces were nearly touching. The archer leaned his face past the blademaster's, his low voice vibrating in Hyruji's ear which only served to unnerve the poor young man even more.

"So, what's this about an interesting area, boy? I'd really like to know what you've been up to all this time."

Every nightmare that could have came true did. Hyruji never expected that Sysuke, of all people would show himself at a time like this, especially so randomly. The blade master couldn’t do much but stutter while trying to respond, the closeness between the two of them more uncomfortable than anything he had ever experienced. Sysuke, of course, had his signature smirk chiseled across his handsome, yet terrifying face. Finally, Hyruji got the nerve to pull away greeted by the archer’s gravelly chuckle which proved to be as grating as ever.

“Well boy? Are you going to answer me or am I going to have to…force it out of you some way?”

Hyruji could only stare at the other man, horrified with the entire situation though of course Sysuke wasn’t trying to have the distance that the blade master made between them last for too much longer. He quickly got in the other’s face once more, laughing once again when Hyruji couldn’t help but jump back away from him. He was acting like a child and he knew that the other was feeding off of that entirely, which only made things worse. Of everything going on, that was the thing that ate at him the most of this situation. More gravelly laughter pulled him from his thoughts where he took a mild stand, standing up straight and trying to stare into the other’s dark ashen eyes.

“I have no intention of telling you anything. You don’t scare me one but Sysuke. Sure you’re a hacker, and ever since our last encounter, Kalulu hasn’t logged back into The World. There are things going on that I don’t know, but I do know for a fact that you’re at the center of it all!”

“Oh ho ho, really now? The little boy thinks he knows any inclination of the bigger picture? Sorry but you have no idea what’s really going on. If you allow me to accompany you, I can guarantee that you’ll find quite a bit out. My only stipulation? I’d like to have a word with your…whipmaster friend.”

He couldn’t help but stiffen up at the mention of Rouge. Just as he had suspected, the hacker’s intent was still completely focused on her, which only led him to believe he was behind whatever happened to her in his absence from the game. Hyruji’s hands balled into fists, only a brief moment passing before he swung his left fist straight for the archer’s jaw, something he easily dodged while pivoting around the blade master and putting him in a headlock. Shocked, he remained still while Sysuke’s grip only tightened, restraining his breathing only a little bit. It was times like this that he wished that this game wasn’t so realistic.

“So you won’t allow me to help you hm? That was the wrong answer Hyruji. Don’t make me make you an enemy of mine--”

“I---already---am---!”

Sysuke, not expecting to be one upped, was easily knocked from his feet when Hyruji kicked his leg backwards to try and escape the hold. It caused the archer to lose his balance and tumble over only slightly before quickly getting back to his feet only to see his target running away from him towards the town’s square. He growled out of frustration and took off after the blade master, not wanting him to get away so easily. Of course, by the time that Sysuke had even managed to get down near the square he couldn’t even see Hyruji amongst the crowd of people. He had escaped him a few times now, but it certainly wouldn’t happen the next time they met.

Hyruji had made two laps around the square, just to allow himself to get lost in the crowd so the archer wouldn’t find him. After his second lap around the square, he pressed himself flat against the wall to edge his way out of the square, turning left towards the alley that led down and around to the back of town. Once he was out of sight on the general public, the blade master stopped to take a quick breather though as he bent over taking in air, he noticed that the red ocarina was shining through the pouch at his leg. He inhaled sharply and stood up straight, emerald eyes glancing around to see if anyone had noticed the item shining. Luckily no one had so he turned and hurried down the rest of the alleyway to the back part of it.

By the time that he reached the back, the ocarina was shining more brightly than before. Hyruji removed it from the pouch and began to examine it, the red light that it emitted very calming and oddly familiar for some reason. It was then that the area around him began to flicker with static and little bits of 0’s and 1’s. He looked around, not to sure what to make of it while standing completely still out of fear that him moving or trying to touch anything could provoke something bad. However, it was just the opposite of that as golden rings that usually only the Chaos Gate provided wrapped around him and warped him away from the Aqua Capital.

The next thing that he knew, Hyruji was surrounded by a thin, cold mist that hung in the air like an unknown doom. The blade master spun on his heel, taking in his surroundings which were more difficult to believe than that of warping in the middle of a Root Town. The place that he found himself was a small bridge that led to a huge cathedral building that seemed to tower into the sky. Overhead was an endless sky of the palest purple with no hint of any kind of star or moon to be found anywhere. All he could go off of was that Rouge wanted him here considering that the ocarina was hers to begin with.

“She’s…in the cathedral?”

A question, not meant to be answered or heard by anyone particular, hung in the air with the mist as Hyruji slowly made his way along the bridge. Despite suspecting this tying in with Rouge, with everything going on it was hard to say he trusted what went on around him anymore. Despite this however he continued cautiously up to the large double doors, the right one slightly ajar meaning that indeed someone else was here. He eased the door open only enough to stick his head inside, however he was disappointed to see that no one was inside waiting. With a sigh, Hyruji opened the door completely and walked inside, the atmosphere completely different inside than out.

Inside felt so calming and safe, like there was some sort of barrier that kept everything bad away from there. Hyruji looked around, eyes tracing along almost each and every pew, the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, and then finally the statue of a beautiful young girl up at the altar. A stronger feel of serenity washed over him as he neared the statue, stopping at the slightest sound of noise to his left. He inched his head to the side to see what had caused the noise, only to see a female wave master appear from the darkness of the cathedral with a soft smile accentuating her delicate looking face.

The blade master couldn’t help but spin to face her while brandishing his weapon to defend himself, just in case. She, the wave master, stopped dead in her tracks it being obvious that she hadn’t expected him to draw his sword towards her. The two stood there in silence while his emerald eyes met her own bright sapphire eyes, a shade that reminded him of the deep sea. Out of everything he could have been thinking, the main thought was that she, whoever she was, seemed too different to be an actual threat. Perhaps it was that that made him so uneasy.

It was then that Hyruji took the time to take in her features, like Sysuke, imprinting her image into his brain so he could always know that it was her he was looking at. She was only a few inches shorter than him with long wavy black hair, streaks of a deep violet highlighting it. Her skin was quite pale, contrasting to her dark hair and also dark clothing. The clothing she wore was a tight black corset with a light lavender stitching and stringing through the backing of it along with ivory fur around the top seam. To round her attire was a black skirt that reached her mid-thigh with lavender stockings and flats for shoes.

“You can lower your sword now, I have no intentions of fighting a friend.”

Hyruji lowered his sword, though only slightly, while tilting his head to the side as to coax her into speaking a little more on the issue.

The girl didn’t say anything other then a slight little laugh. She walked towards him, and then past him towards the statue of the girl. With a smile she turned back around to face him while leaning against the railing that separated the aisle and the altar. It looked like she was mulling over what to exactly say, probably as to not give away too much than she should, whatever that may be. Hyruji lowered his sword even more while straightening up to take a single step toward her, of course this caught her attention and she looked up towards him as if to tell him stop in his tracks.

What’s with this girl…?

“This area is called Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground, a cathedral build to the gods. It used to be used as an event area long ago during The World’s Beta and as for me, well…she’s sent for me as well.”

Of course this only made Hyruji tilt his head once more, not understanding what she even meant. She couldn’t mean Rouge could she…?

"She's...sent for you? What's that supposed to mean? Who are you?"

Hyruji didn't know what to expect from this girl. It was too suspicious that the wavemaster would know him, Rouge, and this exact spot where he would end up. Maybe she was the one who controlled the red ocarinas and Rouge unknowingly was using it, giving it to him in the process. He mentally shook his head at the thought, overthinking the entire situation again like he normally did. The blademaster took a step back, away from the girl, while lowering his sword even more. It was exactly because he trusted her, but more so so she would feel safe and inclined to give more information.

"My name is Shion, a wavemaster as you can see. I've known Rouge for quite some time, well since you disappeared that is, Hyruji I believe it is?'

"Yes, but just call me Hyru."

His words sounded empty and hollow, Shion's remark cutting him deeply. After he disappeared, after Rouge's constant worry about him, he was replaced afterall by this wavemaster girl. If that was the case, why even bother bringing him back into the picture? It made no sense whatsoever as to why he would still be needed, unless they were going to use him to fight considering wavemasters normally couldn't last on their own. Was that all his purpose for The World would be, to be a puppet for them to pull his strings?

Silence fell between the two of them once more, only this time is was more so awkward than anything else. Hyru was merely standing there, this time around his sword put away entirely into its sheath while Shion stood there tapping the tip of her toes against the smooth marble floor. Only moments passed by before Shion closed the distance between the two of them and poked him in his side, jarring him from his thoughts and eliciting a high pitched squeak. Immediately the wavemaster started to laugh, backing away only a step or two from him with a smile on her face. Of course all Hyru did was hold his side with one hand and glare at her while the other hand covered his mouth.

"You should really learn to lighten up. You don't have to take everything so seriously. Rouge told me all about you, you know and that was one thing she never stopped saying. You're stubborn, serious, and yet always there for a friend--"

"Stop. You act as though you know me, and you don't. Sure some of those things might be true, and I don't doubt that Rouge may have said those things. But, I'm not a good friend. I left The World for the longest time and now she's in some kind of trouble and it's all my fault! I should ha--"

"No. Now I'm going to cut you off. Rouge never blamed you, she just wished you'd come back, that's all. She can handle herself, she didn't even need me. But we were careless and Sysuke caught up to us and, er, did something bad to her character. Rouge wants help, she controls these red ocarinas and apparently she wants us to work together."

Sysuke, that archer character who seemed to be the root of every single problem that he and those close to him had. What was it about Rouge, despite her necklace, that had him chase her so relentlessly. There were so many players within The World who could, and most likely do, have hacked items for him to steal. Why this entire situation had been blown out of proportion was completely beyond the mind of him. Hyru merely sighed and eased his way back against the railing that protected the statue of the beautiful girl behind him, his face blank of any true emotion.

There was no sure fire way to end this problem that he could even think of. Sure there was always the possibility that they could report him straight to CC Corp, but if it had been that easy than he and Rouge would have done that forever ago. In order to do that they would eventually have to bring Rouge's hacked items and character to CC Corp's attention which, of course, wouldn't go over well. What they needed was some way to maybe damage Sysuke's character or another hacker to completely obliterate his account. The probability of that happening though was way too slim to nothing.

"Well, there is no way to stop him so what do you suggest?"

"Heh, Sysuke means nothing right now. Our priority is to help Rouge with whatever problem she is having. Even I've been having a hard time contacting her, so it's worrying me."

"How can you say Sysuke means nothing? I ran into him earlier before the ocarina took me to this area. He was literally chasing me around Mac Anu in attempts to form a party with me so he could see Rouge in that one area..."

Shion tilted her head, obviously a little alarmed at the mention of this. The wavemaster wasn't too concerned with the fact Sysuke was still in the picture and already causing Hyru trouble. Her main concern was the fact that the blademaster saw Rouge out in a field when she herself could barely even contact her. Before she could ask the dozens of questions that began to pop into her mind however, weird sounds began to echo from the darkness of the cathedral. They were odd grunts and shuffling feet, from what the two of them could make out from it.

From the darkness across the aisle and the right side's pews, a few skeleton warriors lurched their way out with their swords pointed straight towards the duo. Hyru quickly brandished his sword while Shion raised her wand, not wasting any time before casting a Rue Rom spell and enveloping the three skeletons in a whirlpool of water and ice. The blademaster took this oppurtunity to charge towards them, pulling his blade back and letting it slice forward the moment the tornado faded away. His blade sliced through the three weakened skeletons, two falling while one met his blade with its' own. Shion raised her wand once more, about to cast another spell, before turning on her feet to parry a sword from another skeleton that came from behind with her wand.

"Hyru! I'll need some help! I won't be able to fend this things off alone!"

"Hn...I know! Give me a second!"

Hyru pushed the skeleton he was fighting back with his blade before slicing it straight down the middle. While the body began to gray and fade into nothingness, the blademaster ran to the wavemaster's side where not only was there the skeleton she was keeping back with all her might, but another one beginning to rush her side. Taking a deep breath he raised his sword high, it becoming slick with sharpened ice while slashing madly through the two frail bodies of the monsters. Shion seemed a little surprised though she was pushed to the side as Hyru swung his sword at a charging skeleton that came from behind the statue. It knocked the monster down which allowed Shion to take the end of her wand and stab it straight through its skull, killing it.

"I didn't know you knew Rue Slash. Last I heard from Rouge, she said you preferred no element affinity."

All he could do was smirk a little, wanting to elaborate that he'd rather be Gan alligned than anything but considering his level he couldn't really be picky with the weapons and armor he aquired. Unfortunately he had to save that conversation for later since the low shuffling and grunts all vanished and were replaced by a large scraping of metal along with a much louder groan that echoed all throughout the cathedral. Hyru held his sword tightly, pointing it towards the direction of the sound while Shion took a few steps back behind the blademaster, raising her wand up to ready an attack. From the darkness came an enemy much worse than the tiny skeleton warriors that they had just fought off. This time around it was one big Headhunter monster, one that Hyru had taken out before, but barely.

Hopefully with Shion here it'll be much easier...

Without giving the monster much room or time to give the first attack, Hyru charged the thing with blade ready to either attack or parry when ready. The Headhunter swung its' huge sword down at him, Hyru quickly dodging to the left and bringing his blade across the side of the enemy. It was as he struck that he noticed sharpened blade of ice converge in around the monster all at once to compliment his attack, stabbing into various portion's of the enemies body. He only glanced towards Shion once the spell had been finished, taking his hand and raising it up from the ground as a signal. Luckily she understand and nodded her head just in time for Hyru to put his focus back on the Headhunter and dodge another heavy swing from its sword.

He ran around the Headhunter in an attempt to make it follow, which luckily it did, by swiveling its large body around while raising its sword for another strike. Luckily for Hyru, this put Shion out of the monster's gaze and just as the sword was about to fall, blocks of ice rose up from the ground impaling it and sending it into the air only slightly. Hyru took this chance and ran underneath the beast, stabbing his blade upwards into its' body and tearing it through the side, leaving a very long, nasty gash. The monster fell, trying hard to get back onto its feet but it simply couldn't, the damage dealt to it to severe. Obviously the battle was over, the blademaster going to the monster's side and slicing through the top of the headless neck, causing the body to gray and finally dissipate into nothingness.

"Well, you certainly have a decent array of Rue spells there Shion. You must have been real helpful to Rouge before whatever Sysuke did..."

"Yep. I'm completely Rue alligned. Can't you tell by my wave symbols?"

Both players smiled at each other and began to walk towards the exit of the cathedral. With the few monsters slain, their meeting official, and their purpose defined the only thing left to do was head back to the city or maybe even go to that area Delta- Lonely Her Remnant and take of business. He had already mentioned that, only briefly, to the wavemaster and he was sure she needed to know about it. Though the problem was could the two of them really take on all those moths without any other help? Shion was a wavemaster afterall, if she got surrounded while Hyru was attacking other insects, she'd most likely die rather quickly.

"Listen, Shion. I saw Rouge at this field...it was in the Delta Server and called--"

A ping sound was heard by both players, a flash mail sent to each of them by the person their main concerns were all about, Rouge. They both had paused to read their respective mails for what seemed like an eternity before turning to each other as if expecting some kind of good news. Of course, neither would speak up first since both hadn't recieved anything useful whatsoever. Shion took a step away from the blademaster, holding her head in her hands as she sighed heavily. Hyru took a few steps forward and put a hand on her shoulder as if to comfort her, but he knew that it wouldn't change the situation.

"It's another garbled message, but this time it's a little more easy to read. Hyru, I can assume that you too have been getting these messages from her?"

"Yes, I have. So...I suppose we should hurry to the alley in Mac Anu?"

Hyru was amazed at himself. It wasn't until now that he began to understand the little bit of garbled text that the whipmaster was sending him. Once the day was over within The World, he was going to have to make a point to re-check all of the emails that Rouge had sent him during his time away from the game, specifically the garbled one. Maybe there was a clue within that message he could decipher now that he had a general grasp on it. Either way, now was hardly the time to mull over the messages but to focus on what was at hand for him and Shion---to head back to Mac Anu's back alley and hopefully finally have a meeting with their friend.

Don't worry Rouge, Shion and I will help you through whatever it is you're facing so the three of us can enjoy The World the way it's supposed to be enjoyed...