Sometimes the darkest of nightmares are actually fragments of truth trying to speak words of warning to you. Often, we avoid such visions, whisking them away as if they are nothing but horrific dreams. How could they be true for they are nothing but dreams with dragons, death, and other things not known to you or your culture. But what if they were real? Or used to be real?

What if I told you such dreams--pleasant and dark--were really windows to the reality you live in? Would that change anything? Would it alter your habits? Unlikely, for we are creatures of habit, discarding any hint of mystery and disconnect that seems too whimsical to be true.

Alas, this is where the downfall behinds. This is where I make my move to repair that inescapable harshness of life--that sometimes our dreams, are merely windows of what's to come.....

---

Nonu Maihel Online, a virtual world that links many worlds together. Although most assume it's just their home planet, such is not the case. Nonu Maihel Online is more than just a game for those of Earth to play; it's also a game for those of distant, strange, alien planets to play. It's a way to escape life and live as if you truly wished to be. You've the ability to alter your looks, craft your hero (or villain), and play through a ceaseless world of magic and mystery.

Our story begins with this game and follows a very unusual (read: unorthodox) group of individuals who must quest through the never-ending world of Nonu Maihel Online in hopes of saving those souls locked into the game world.

Nonu Maihel Online, although seemingly harmless, has been plagued by a virus that entraps its user into a loop of never quitting the game. To ensure the host doesn't die, the virtual reality system, purposely built with idiots in mind, comes with feeding tubes and excretion means--both of which function flawlessly. Although the takeover is done with darkness in mind, the Dark One does not want its people to die for how can one rule and enslave a population without inhabitants to rule?

No matter the realm, planet, or world, all those syncing into Nonu Maihel Online will find themselves trapped. To escape, the heroes of our tale must complete a quest and build a magical artifact that will prevent the Dark One from ruling all the universes. It's no easy feat, but, if done right, can yield the greatest rewards.

The story begins before the corruption begins. User Allyssandra and 13luice have just logged in for the day and are hoping to enjoy a few rounds in Nonu Maihel Online. Only, when nightfall comes and they go to unplug, they will be trapped, forever stuck in this virtual world. It is then, up to them and their guides of Light and Dark, to release the trapped minds of the users and begin about the much needed salvation.

And so, our story begins....

Allyssandra

Allyssandra let out a slow sigh as the slender elf materialize in the middle of the city. The other users around her went slightly wide eyed as they saw her appear, warily watching her as they went about her business. Not in the mindset for her character, the elf rolled her eyes as she lifted her hand in the air before her. A menu screen opened before her green eyes, much like the screens that all users had though hers had more options. She touched the mail icon to see a response from a user she had contacted through the jobs board. He was a lower level spell caster that was seeking aid in trying to fight a mini boss in their realm, but was having a hard time.

She read the message, him agreeing to meet her at their set time, which was practically upon them. The mini boss he desired to kill was known for carrying very strong weapons and armor for lower class, in the very rare case the creature even dropped a silvery-white unicorn mount; if it dropped, that would be the healer's payment for coming along. Ally out leveled the mob, but even for being higher level, being a healer still made it difficult to fight the creature. She could easily keep the spell caster alive to fight the thing, so she would rely on him to kill it as he would rely on her to keep her alive.

She closed out her ingame messages, the boy she be on anytime now. Granted, who knew if he would want to go after this thing once he saw just whom he agreed to go with. Allyssandra had a reputation among the player base. She was one of two main mods for the game (Aelki being the other), unlike her male counter part, she took her job very seriously. Her seriousness had won her the label of being a hard ass and cold hearted. The thought cause the woman to roll her eyes as well, the face behind the computer was a complete opposite of the character she played, but even Allyssandra, the elf priest and moderator wasn't as mean as people made her out to be.

The pale haired woman then swiped her hand over the screen, opening her mod settings to see what tickets people had put in recently. She looked through them, a few being simple items of auction house items never being received. She would clear out the easy ones while she waited, the boy would hopefully soon arrive.

Aelki and 13luice

---

"ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Before she could do anything, another user was tackling her to the ground. He was overly chipper today, which was not as unorthodox as some would like to believe. Dressed in his usual suit mirrored 100-percent after an anime character, he laughed.

"Hi, hi, hi," he blurted before jumping up and down like a giddy kid. "Whatcha doing? Whatcha reading?" He poked his head around and spied the admin panel.

"Boooooooooooooooo!" His hands were around his mouth, amplifying the sound tenfold. "Can't you be exciting? Like wander off and have sex with me kind of exciting?" Of course, her response left him even more rambunctious. "WHAT?! No ERP? Who wrote those rules!"

He was teasing. Honestly, everything he had done so far was to rile the woman up and get her lose it. He thoroughly enjoyed torturing the woman, namely because he had no one else he could bother. The other mods, although cool, were hardly ever on nowadays. Probably had something to do a with a "real world job." Psh, nah! People don't have those, he thought internally before recalling the stacks of paperwork he had been putting off. One day he would do them. Maybe.

Blinking, he pulled his gaze over toward another user that approached. "Hey-o, kidd-o!" He waved before dropping his hands into his pockets. "Can we help you with sum'tin?"

Sizing the kid up, he knew he was a lower level Elemental Spellcaster. Upon seeing his handle (13luice) he assumed the kid was following the ice/blizzard spellcasting path.

A blush crossed the user's face. He appeared to be a human, unlike Ally the elf, and wore pretty simply clothes (likely due to his lack of level). Meekly, his gaze shifted to the female mod. "Hi," he said in a soft yet sweet voice. "If you're still up for that mission I posted, I-" his attention fell on the mod, Aelki.

"OH. MY. GOD." His hands were flailing. "You have a date? Without me. You whore," he pouted before crossing his arms over his chest. Of course, the gesture was fleeting for he was soon laughing and looping one arm around 13luice and the other around Ally. "You two kiddies have fun. If you need help on the mission, just beam me up." Putting on a serious face, he strutted away. "I'll attempt to work on the ad-pan. Won't like it but you can play. Guess I can work... for once." Flashing the pair a grin, he vanished almost as soon as he appeared.

"Well," 13luice said while blinking, "he's an odd one." It was hard to be shy after having someone like that do everything he did. With a humble smile, he laughed. "How do you work with him?"

Allyssandra

The hard ground she had been standing on was soon pressed against the length of her body as something tackled her. The voice that came instantly cause the woman's blood to run cold, she had to get into character though. Once Aelki had gotten off of her, the elven woman was able to stand up, dusting off dirt and debris from her armor. "Saying such things will only cause misunderstanding to the user base," she said calmly and sweetly as she straightened her skirt.

Looking up at the male, she cast him a sweet, yet warning of a smile as she added, "Besides, you know as well as I that ERP is forbidden in the game." The male, of course, totally ignored her, much as he always did. Though, instead of the usual pink haired catgirl that would distract him, the male's attention fell to someone approaching from behind the woman.

Her eyes fell on an equally as pale haired male, the handle quickly telling Ally that this was the young man she had spoken to before. She peered down at the watch on her wrist, he was indeed timely. Before she was able to greet him though, he was already speaking to her and of course, in his typical manner, Aelki was blowing it out of proportion.

The elf sighed, folding her hands at her waist as the other mod went on and on. It was nothing new, anytime a user requested her for help he would do the same thing, regardless of gender. One would think he would have grown tired with the act by now.

As the male said he would at least try to work she calmly called out, "Aelki, if I find out you're slacking again, I will have to report you this time." Though her voice came off as sweet and pleasant, the vile warning in her words would have reached the male even as he vanished. Whether he heeded that warning or not, well, that was up to the man in question.

13luice spoke up after Aelki had vanished and Ally chuckled softly. Looking up at the male she replied, "With much patience." She then looked at her menu screen that was still open and closed it out, she would not need it now that the user had arrived. "Though I am impressed," she said as she continued looking where the screen had been. "Most people become quite taken with Aelki when they meet him."

She then opened her map, her eyes going to that instead. She tapped the zone north of them, it was a snow covered land and it reminded Ally of home. "The Hezzlefelt typically spawns in the northern part of the zone," she stated rather matter-of-factly, a tone that wasn't typically for the way Ally was typically RP'd. That thought alone silenced the woman as she cast her glowing greens eyes up at the male, a smile on her face. "Do you have an idea as to where we should wait for it?"

Even though Aelki had vanished, a message from him soon appeared on her screen. It said, in his usual script, "P.S. Dun bother with reporting me. I do it once a week. Boss-man overrides the report. Something about me being too awesome, too famous, too sexy to ban. So yeah, report away. Gimme my ego boasts, gawd knows I need them! ;P"

It wasn't that he meant to screen-drop, but he did and at it, 13luice laughed. "Wow, even in vanishing he manages to still pester you. Does MNO have a restraining order program? Might want to consider making one for that guy." He wasn't trying to be funny, but it more or less rolled off the tongue.

"Oh yeah," he said looking at the map. "I've been trying to approach it from this angle." He tapped the map lightly. "I heard from a friend that if you can do an aerial attack on it, it'll be stunned for a few seconds to give you time to land some solid blows." Pulling his head from the map, he laughed. "But, uh, last time... I landed in the snow. Missed the thing completely." He looked up and could sense her bewilderment. "I know, I know. It's a bit thing. How could I miss it. Well, let me tell you. Falling from that kind of height, even in a virtual world, is scary. I ended up..." he blushed, "fainting."

Brushing his hands together, he puffed out his chest and put a serious look on his face. "But this time, I'll succeed. I hope... maybe. Don't suppose you have a flying bluff in your repertoire of spells, do you?" He laughed before remembering he was talking to a mod. He wasn't overly sure of where the line was between joking, hacking, and all that other jazz.

"Er," he bit his lip, "if I ever get out of line, please let me know. I haven't been reported yet and I try to read the rules before I log on but sometimes you slip up. I'll do my best to follow the laws though!" Saluting her (why he saluted her was beyond him), he marched off in the wrong direction. Thankfully, before she could call him out on it, the user turned around and laughed. "And it's this way."

Now heading toward the Hezzlefelt, the spellcaster pulled open his spell list and started reading over the names. Sure, he knew all his magical abilities by heart, but he liked to be extra sure of things so he reviewed them on the walk.

For the most part, he was quiet. He was focused on the task at hand and he wasn't all that sure what he should talk about. Rumor had it that Ally was a hard mod to please and so most avoided her. She was too straitlaced and strict, a big turn-off in game. Hindsight, he should have asked Aelki to tag along. Then again, the mod did said they could just "beam him up," if needed.

A small chime noise echoed as a screen popped up in front of Allyssandra, it was from Aelki, of course. Her eyes narrowed at the message, he would report himself, the man was pompus enough. The fact that their boss just let them go was something the priest didn't agree with. She lifted a hand, but the user, 13luice, spoke up just before she was able to close the message.

Letting out a soft sigh she replied saying, "I do need his assistance though." Her green eyes then landed on the boy. "For all his joking, he does do good work." Her attention then fell to the screen as the male started talking. He had done his research, that was good. Though the mod knew all about how to kill the creature, she would let the boy lead things, it was his fight after all.

When he spoke about the last time he tried to face the creature, she wasn't entirely surprised. She had seen many a player fall to their deaths trying to get on that thing. Even with as massive as he was, it seemed like the landing box on him was much smaller than his hit box.

The boy then jokingly mentioned a flying bluff, this caused one of Ally's brows to raise as she looked at him, lips pursed slightly at he question. He seemed to quickly pick up on the error and apologized. "Duly noted," she replied, her tone soft yet firm. "I will let you know should you step out of line." The boy was then off, in the wrong direction. The priest stopped and simply watched him before he turned around and corrected himself.

She walked behind him a few paces, watching as his focus was in his book. He would vear off every now and then, his pace not consistent. "Perhaps flying would be a good option," she said as she stopped, lifting her hand. A light blue glyph formed at her palm and looked as though snow were falling from it. It flashed once before disappearing and as it vanished, a deep roar echoed in the world around them.

The beating of wings could be heard as a Wyvern flew into view, its pale blue coloring contrasting the yellow-green foliage around them. The beast roared once again as it flying down towards them, landing in front of Allyssandra.

It lowered its head, allowing her to pet the massive beast, its eyes were locked on 13luice though. Turning to look at the male, its lips raised slightly to reveal rows of sharp teeth as it growled at him. "Now, now," the woman cooed as she patted the beast's neck. "You know he won't hurt you." She then wrapped her arms around its neck before it lowered its body to the ground.

Ally climbed on the creature and extended a hand out to the spellcaster. "It shall be quicker this way," she told him. Once he got on, or if he chose to ride his own mount, they would be off.

The flying comment was really just a joke. The fact that Ally was bringing it up again made 13luice blush. It was embarrassing enough to mention it on his own, but to now have her talk about it. Gosh, it was just too much for his shy little self to handle. The more he thought about it, the more he wished he had just done the normal quests. Why oh why did he have to be "cool" and go after one of the harder monsters. Sure, the drops were awesome but the embarrassment wasn't worth it!

Eventually, 13luice quickly realized she wasn't teasing. She was 100-percent serious. Or so he discovered when a massive, blue dragon-like thing came into view. Eyes ever-widening with fear, he thought about turning to run but his feet were too immobilized by fear to even move! As far as he was concerned, he was a goner!

And yet, it didn't eat him. Or her.

Was it... her mount? Sizing the thing up, he gulped. There was no way this was a mount. It was too badass. He'd never seen anyone else on one of these. Was it a mod drop only?

His attention shifted to the growling creature. Drawing his arms up (as if it could save him....), he just stared at it. Honestly, he was petrified and the dragon-thing probably knew it.

But then, she talked it down and 13luice soon realized that this scary creature wasn't all that scary. It seemed like an overgrown kitten with the way it reacted to the attention. Hesitantly, he out stretched a hand to pet it.

"Will he bite?" His voice quivered as he tried his best to steady his shaking hand. Honestly, this was the first mount he'd seen. He wasn't quite the right level to get his own. You received your first mount at 15--he was just 4 levels off. Maybe slaying this monster would give him enough experience points?

After being assured he wouldn't lose an arm, 13luice hopped on its back and the trio took off. In no time, they arrived at the location and 13luice inspected the area. "Yeah," his finger pointed toward a cliff. "I'm told that's the best place to jump from. Just need to be careful."

As they flew in closer and closer, a black spec became apparent. And, the closer they got, the more it grew. Finally, nearly upon it, 13luice burst into laughter.

"Looks like your needy boyfriend is back," he tried to keep the grin off his face but it was futile. Sure enough, once Ally and 13luice landed, they were greeted by Aelki who was riding a white and green tiger mount.

"God you two are slow," he mocked.

It was easy to see why Aelki always won the "Mod of the Year" award. He was just so funny. Not to mention, super nice.

"I thought you were going to work?" 13luice blinked while cocking his head to the side.

"Yeah... work is boring. I cleaned up a bug. Nearly fell asleep doing it. And... well, now I'm here. I'll work later. We've a monster to slay!" It was actually pretty nice of the man to show up his level, 76, and build Knight Warrior (with lightning and fire abilities) would be perfect, especially since 13luice's friends bailed at the last second.

"Sooooo, whadya say? Ready to fall to our deaths!" He was way too overjoyed. Almost as if he liked the idea of dying and re-spawning in the town's center.

The boy was hesitant, his behaviors brought a small smile to his face. The beast was indeed uncommon, having a very small chance to drop off of a creature that looks just like it on the Southern End of the world. It was her prized mount, Ally liked to collect them and especially use those that held memories to her. The mod shook her head at the male's question, replying, [color="pink"]"Not unless I ask him to."[/ur;] Once the boy climbed on behind the elven woman, she led the creature into the sky, its flying pattern much smoother than one may have expected from a Wyvrn.

The flight North wasn't a bad one, it never was. The grounds went from a weathered yellow to green before they got to a vast mountain range. As they neared the peak, snow began to fall, they were nearing their destination. As the cliff 13luice was talking about came into view, the woman's green eyes seemed to land on the same thing that the male's did, though he seemed to find it funnier than she. The woman bit her lower lip in irritation, a habit that transferred from the real world to the game world, as she led the blue scaled beast to the ground.

She sighed at both males' comments as she slid off the Wyvrn, its head resting against her side once she was close enough to it. "It is not appropriate to exercise mod teleportation when travelling with your standard player," Allyssandra lectured the male. 13luice and Aelki seemed to fall into their own conversation as Ally peered over the cliff side, her mount looking with her.

"If you fall to your death, its your own repair bill," she snipped at the male recalling the number of times he had begged her for gold. Aelki was bad for the elven woman's RP character's personality. His character rub her the wrong way in the real world which cause conflict in her character's behavior, though, most of the player base seemed to just take the elf as quiet and moody because of it.

As the woman turned to look over at the men again, a leopard looking beast was clambering down the mountain side. Beside the beast, a small blue creature was running, it had three tails and looked like a mix between a cat, fox and rabbit.

The snow crunched under the beast's feet and nearly collided into the group. De-spawning at the last minute, it left behind the blue creature and a pink-haired cat woman that flung herself onto the masked mod. "AELKI!" She squealed as she wrapped her arms around the male's neck. Her bi-eyed stared into his eyes as she placed her forehead against his. "I have missed you my dear," she purred sweetly to the male.

"Valid point," Aelki said while pulling up a screen. Sprawled across it were the words "REPORT." With a grin on his face, he happily entered his name and "abusing admin powers like the thug I am."

Just as soon as he hit send, a message appeared on his screen that said, "REPORT DENIED. MOD UNABLE TO BE BANNED. PLEASE TRY AGAIN... NEVER."

Aelki practically fell off the cliff. "WHAT! He revoked my reporting powers?!" Punching the air (as if that would help), he huffed and puffed. "Seriously, what fun is that. I was going for the most reported person on NMO and he just ruins it." Tossing his hands in the air, he pouted like a kid and glared over the cliff's edge. "Maybe dying is the answer," he said in a strangely cold tone.

Not entirely sure what was going on, the level 11 player turned to Ally. "Is he going to be okay?" The look of worry in his eyes just hinted at 13luice's sweeter, softer side.

Thankfully, there was no need for Ally to get involved for before anyone saw it coming, a woman was pouncing onto the masked mod and shouting his name. 13luice winced and peeked over the edge just to ensure his monster wouldn't flee. Sure enough, it heard and started to trundle away.

"Oh great," a blank face washed over him. "I now think I understand your pains with this guy." Since the aerial assault was null and void, he pinched the bridge of his nose before offering up a new plan.

"Since we've lost our edge, want to go down and try to fight it?" He knew the odds of winning weren't in his favor now. "Or would it make more sense for us to farm elsewhere and then come back?"

Meanwhile, Aelki was busy eating snow before he realized just what was going on. Instantly, he threw his arms around the cat-like girl and started to return the purring.

"My adorable little stalker has found me, how cute," he cooed while rubbing cheeks with her. The notion was fleeting though for his attention fell on the pair that was now walking away. "Wha-wai-where are you going?" He reached a hand out but found her power of persuasion to be too much to overcome. "Er, we'll catch up later?" Turning, he rubbed nose with her before tickling her into the snow.

Blinking, the spellcaster turned toward Ally. "Well, okay then. I think I'm ready to go bleach my eyes out. How about we numb the mind with some senseless, boring farming?"

Ally took a slow deep breath at the male's reaction and the rejection that came with it. Clearly the woman would have to send a strongly worded letter to let management know her concerns with the male. Of course, such things never amounted to anything to them, Aelki drew in far too much of a crowd than the female elf even after they finally managed to persuade the woman to show some more skin.

Then, of course, in the typical dramatic manner that the male usually behaved, he was going to throw himself off the cliff. No doubt, it was more to feed into his desire to just teleport back to the main city without any hassle, other than a growing repair bill. When the lower leveled user asked about the male's situation, the elf nodded slowly, offering him a soft, sympathetic look. Before Allyssandra even had a chance to reply, the pink blur and shoved the male into the snow.

She was X'zimzizi Zinbhe, a female spellcaster with a known attachment to Aelki. You had the Aelki fan club and then you had X'zimzizi, the fan club had nothing on the tiny pink haired woman. Watching the woman cuddle up with the mod, Ally shook her head before looking back to 13luice. She then lifted her wrist, turning it to look at the time on the watch she wore. Nodding again she said, "Yes, we shall have some time before we are ready to attack."

The woman then lifted a hand in the air casting a protection spell to increase the team's defense. The interaction between the mod and cat-like woman was nothing new to Ally and was something she typically ignored, it was an instinct really. Directing a hand towards a pathway that led up to their cliff the elf said, "We shall head out for now." As she started walking down the cliff, her dragon following her, she called back to Aelki, "Do catch up once your done with your reunion and you're ready to hunt this thing down."

X'zimzizi squealed in excitement as the male paid attention to her. Rolling her large eyes up at the male she pouted at him, "You promised you would tell me when you logged on." Her hands were planted on his arms, nails lightly trailing up and down the muscle.

Walking down the cliff, the male tried not to laugh. It really was nice to see the stark contrast between the two mods. Ally was more composed and reserved--definitely the more respectable kind. Aelki was more flamboyant, loud, and crowd pleasing, hence being the most well-loved mod of the game. Heck, the guy even had an entire map made in his honor. It was only something that came around once a year and lasted for a month, but it always pulled the most money and most users. NMO really played the mod up. It made sense though. They not only sought him out but they also paid him for his services.

Not wanting to walk in complete silence, 13luice decided to inquire about the woman. "So what made you decide to be a NMO mod? Did they ask you? Or did you apply?" He glanced over his shoulder, "I had heard rumors that he was picked to be the mascott for the game but when they found out he had programming skills, they practically asked for his hand in marriage." The user just smirked. "I know most people would love the spotlight but... eh, it's just not really my thing."

When she spoke, he listened and tried his best to really pay attention. If they were going to work together, he really wanted to get the most out of the experience. Not to mention, if she ended up being pretty cool, he could ask her to party again. Thus far, she was a pretty chill user to run with.

"I apologize for my lack of research on you, but where's home? And, if you don't mind sharing, what do you do outside of NMO?" 13luice tapped on his chin and smiled at her with a cheeky grin. "I'm from the middle of nowhere... Alaska." As he looked around at all the snow, he scoffed. "Probably explains why the virtual snow never bothered me."

Meanwhile, Aelki was enjoying his little kitten. As she playfully swatted at him, he laughed. Of course, her question left him stuttering. "I... a... um, well. Yeah. I kinda saw that Ally was online and you know how I love to bug her so..." a hand racked throguh his hair. "Yeah. Sorry, kitten."

Leaning in, he placed a gentle kiss on the tip of her nose. Standing, he extended his hand to her and smiled. "Suppose we ought to catch up with our party." Wanting to make the party official, he pulled up the main menu and dumped the quad's names into a list. Deciding on the team name was easy. Too easy.

"Welcome to... Team Aelki is So Swag, Yo." Holding his hat, he started to run down after the hill after the pair. Of course, they were far faster as they had a huge head start!

"Looks like we'll have to skip along, dearie!"

The dragon bounded behind the two like an excited puppy in the snow, it would nearly ram into 13luice, stop and wait until they had managed to get further ahead and then repeat the action. Even in the cold, Allyssandra didn't seem to be bothered. Though they were in the game, their real selves could still feel what was happening around them. Her eyes glanced over the edge of the path, watching the white buzzards float about some skeletal remains. The boy started to speak up, asking what drove the woman to work for the game before going on about Aelki.

Her eyes glanced casually over at the male before she said, "I'm looking for someone. Games aren't really my thing, but they were his. Rules I can handle, so being a mod was very fitting."

When the boy continued talking, a small smile formed on the woman's lips. It wasn't entirely his fault for knowing nothing about her. People rarely cared about what the priest did outside of the game or why she was there. Her lack of a following was about as notorious as Aelki's fan base. It was something that she was fine with though, at least at this point in time.

when he started speaking about living in the middle of nowhere in Alaska, the priest stopped, her heart sinking for a moment. She took a slow breath though, closing her eyes and shaking her head slowly before catching up with the boy. Too many times had she heard people were from Alaska, tiny towns everywhere, none were the person she was looking for. It would be silly to get her hopes up over another one.

She let out a slow sigh as she looked up into the air, her mind trying to grasp on the fragments of images from the past. It had been so many years since she last saw him that those memories seemed to become hard and harder to recall.

"I work at an animal clinic in England," she finally replied, her gaze pulling from the snow above and looking at the male again. "I work as a surgeon, helping those that most other doctors would have said had no hope." Such a thing would also explain all the animals that tended to call her home theirs as well.

Aelki's response left the woman pouting out her lower lip, her pink feline ears falling back. "Ally always wins," she moaned. She wouldn't complain about the female mod though, she knew how much the woman meant to Aelki, but she also knew how much he annoyed her. If he annoyed Ally, it meant that he belonged to the cat woman.

She crinkled her nose, a smile on her face as the male planted a kiss on the tip her her nose. As he stood up, X'zimzizi happily took his hand, allowing him to pull her up. With both standing, it was very easy to see the stark contrast in their height and build. Squealing in excitement, she was pleased the he had added her to their little group, not like it would have mattered, she would have tagged along anyway.

As Aelki started to run down the hill to catch up, X'zimzizi followed, waving to her carbuncle to join them. Running was easy and even with the difference in the length of their legs, the feline had no issues keeping up with the male. "Let's go, let's go!" She cheered happily beside the male, it had been far too long since he had taken her on one of his adventures.

"England?" He stopped dead in his tracks to look the woman over. It was almost too much of a coincidence. This woman was from the only country he'd been saving up money to fly to. His long-lost friend had moved there may years ago and....

His thoughts were brought back to the here and now. There was no way she was his friend. His Rosalinda. Subconsciously, his hand reached for the scarf around his neck. It was a near replica of the one she gave him so many years ago. Of course, being a game, it had limitations as to what you could and could't copy. For example, if you wanted to show your love for Mac (Apple) products, you proudly wore a pear. They weren't allow to use copyrighted items so most users had to get creative when recreating real-world objects and items.

Letting out a small sigh, he gazed back at the noisy pair rather far behind them. "For being miles back, I can still hear them." With a smirk, more so as a laugh than a haughty act, he rolled his eyes. "Yup, I honestly have no idea how you can tolerate him." Recalling that she was 'looking for someone,' his focus shifted back toward them.

"So this someone you're looking for," he paused before figuring out how to continue, "it's not Aelki? Because he seems pretty attached to you. Then again, it might just be his personality--clingy and possessive." With a laugh he added, "He certainly seems like the type to get that way."

Dropping his shoulders, he glanced to the side. "Wish I could say I was that way. I'm more of a coward. If I had half the amount of courage and char-- courage, I probably wouldn't be where I am today." Hand racking through his hair, he sheepishly laughed. "I'm unemployed." Cheeks lighting up like a tomato, he tried to hide his nerves but failed miserably. "But hey, I guess we all can't be as successful as you--balancing NMO and work."

----

"Not true," he said with a pout. "I'm still trying to haggle for some vacation time so I can visit you. I've already got the hotel and attractions picked. Just need to convince my fath--er, boss to let me go. We're working on a new item and he wants me to be there to test and sell it." His face made an ugly sigh. "Trust me, I would rather be with you than dealing with these prototypes--which will fail. I keep telling him that and he keeps telling me 'oh they'll work like a gem.' No, dad, you're going to get people killed but what do I know. I only have a degree from MIT and know a thing or two about gu--gui interfaces?"

If X'z knew Aelki, which she did, she would pick up on those odd slurs and changes of tone. He was trying hard to hide something. What that was? Well, it would require some prying on her part.

Trying to avoid getting caught in a word-war with X'z, he nodded down the slope. "I can see their backs but it doesn't look like they're going to wait for us." He growled. "Clearly we're too cool for them." His arm, casually, looped around her neck and he pulled her in lightly. Even so sweetly, he placed a kiss on her cheek before pausing to take a selfie with the girl.

"So... should I post this on the Aelki fan club page?" With a wink, he tucked the image away before lacing his fingers witih hers. "Or should I just keep it between us?"

For as long as Ally had managed to be an admin for the game, she had learned that there would have to be more than mere similarities with location before she really started getting her hopes up. When the boy stopped in reaction to where her home was, she slowed, her body turning the face him as she nodded. "It's a quaint country," she said softly. "The country side is beautiful in its own right."

As the male started walking again, she continued on beside him. As he spoke, she upturned her eyes to look at the male. A small smile formed on her lips at the boy's reaction to the other two. Oh how simple it really was to deal with them, difficult in her character's personality, but easy at the same time because the woman's real personality was much louder and more boisterous than the elven woman that stood before them.

As the boy asked about the person she was looking for, comparing him the Aelki, she let out a slow sigh as her index finger hooked around the chain bracelet watch that hung from her wrist. "No," she replied calmly. "It's not Aelki." She shook her head slowly before her gaze seemed to fall further down the path. She thought to the worn out pictures that hung from her wall, a couple of her favorites sitting on her bedside table. "If I had to guess, Aelki doesn't like the fact that not every woman swoons over him and the fact that I'm looking for another man means he could never win me over."

Allyssandra smiled slightly to herself, something from her past coming to mind as the boy seemed to look down on himself. "Well, not all Princesses are damsels in distress," she said as she looked up at the boy. "Maybe you just need to find your Princess in Shining armor." It was a saying that never made sense, but the young Rosalinda had love the idea of being a Princess too much. At the same time, knights were cool so she would take from the best of both worlds to be Dmitri's Princess in Shining armor, there to protect him from all evil in the world.



X'zimzizi wrapped her arms around one of the male's as she squeezed against it. "You always could've just stayed at my place," she purred, resting her head against Aelki's arm. "We have plenty of room." He then went on about some of the dealings that he's been going through; at that point the feline-woman pulled back, her bi-eyes rolling up to look at the male. "Gui interface?" She questioned as she watched him. "what are those?" She had pulled back to allow the male some space to answer, but he was soon pulling her back in.

She squealed in delight as he placed a kiss on her cheek and was more than excited about the picture being taken. She shook her head excitedly at his question, her nose crinckling up as she looked at him. "Just between us," she purred. "No one has to interfer with us." She stuck her tongue playfully out at the male as she squeezed his hand before bumping his hip with her own.

She let the silence fall around them, or at least as much as two people and a four-legged creature walking sound allow them to be. After a few moments though, she looked innocently up at the male, her voice soft spoken as she asked, "So what is causing you problems Aelki?" X'zimzizi was definitely a nosy creature, but she did it out of the kindness of her heart. She was definitely one of those players that played her character similar to herself.

"I know, I know. I just," he blushed, "want to do things right. We both know rushing things won't end well. Slow and steady until we're both sure this is what we want." His hand gestured between them before shifting to their picture.

For a bit, he said nothing until she pried. X'z could always tell when something was wrong. Aelki was usually very vocal and his lack of comments and blabbering were a surefire sign that something was on his mind.

"Honestly?" His golden orbs looked up into her. "I'm just nervous about all of this." A small twitch caused his lip to smirk before falling into a frown. "You know I really like you. I'm just," eyes adverting, he sighed. "I'm just worried you won't really like--"

His attention shifted to a blade that fell just inches before his face. "The hell?" Aelki blinked before turning his nose up to the sky to witness the mothawk flying above.

"Ha! That's pretty funny. Never actually seen that happen before." Grin growing, he looked at his kitten partner. "Guess it's time to be the hero."

Turning his hat around much like Ash from Pokemon, he drew forth his bladegun. "Wanna give me a boost?" Gesturing toward some trees back up the way they came, he figured getting a higher angle would give him gun a better chance of hitting its mark.

---

He couldn't help but chuckle at her comment. "Yeah, I could see myself being the sleeping beauty in need of a valiant lady knight to slay a dragon." A light blush kissed his cheeks but he laughed that off. "My friend and I would joke about it all time. We were young and naive. I didn't know princesses were girl roles only so I would always complain that I never got to be the princess. When we got a bit older, she told me it was a good thing I never 'played the princess' because I was growing into one." Throwing his hands in the air, he sighed. "Admittedly, pink is a pretty color."

If one didn't know better, they might peg 13luice as an androgynous character. He was very lithe and lacked the muscle Aelki had. He was soft-spoken with a rather sweet voice. His eyes were fierce yet soft, much like coffee. On the outside, coffee looks harmless but after downing a 24-ounce cup, the true oomph kicks in!

What 13luice lacked in masculine features, he made up for with his humble personality. He was undeniably shy, but he was very appealing. He rarely argued and did his best to keep all parties happy.

Finally at the base of the mountain, he looked around for something to attack. Not too far off on his left were these little snow bunny looking things. From afar, they looked adorable. When you got close... well, you would say otherwise. They had hideous faces that dripped green oozing stuff from the orifices. It was actually a very ugly creature. And the little bastards had fangs and claws, hardly making them easy. To add to their 'charm,' they spit acid and were immune to ice spells.

Shuddering, he turned to look the other way. Maybe he could find something less gruesome to fight. And something that didn't completely undermine his powers.

"Princess doesn't like the ugly bunnies... I would prefer to fight something less disturbing."

With a pout, he wandered to the right. There had to be something else out there. He hardly made it 10-feet when something from above swooped down and seized hold of him. Eyes wide, he blinked as his body took to the air. With each passing second, Ally became but a small spec on the world below.

Finally finding the courage to look up, he spied a large moth-like hawk creature carrying him away. "It's rude to just abduct someone. At least offer candy or something," he mused while reaching for his sword. It was hardly the ideal weapon for fighting in the air, but it would have to work.

As he went to unsheathed it, the monster flapped its wings and jerked his body to the left. In completely disbelief, he watched as his sword plummeted to the ground.

"Wow. I am literally screwed." There was no point in squirming for falling from this height would suck.

Too bad Aelki had other plans.

Pzchoommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Eyes narrowing and sweat gripping his neck, 13luice felt his stomach turn. That moment when you're no longer flying and not yet falling hit him hard. Wincing and knowing what came next, he felt himself become lightheaded.

Falling. It was never a thing he enjoyed.

Aelki, cocky as always, turned to X'z. "Love, mind catching the boy before he explodes?" It was around that time that he realized Ally was nearby. "Don't worry, we got this," he chirped.

Of course, if Ally knew the pair, she knew that they did not, in fact, "have this."

"It sounds like you and your friend had a lot of fun together," Allyssandra stated. "Though, if things with you guys were how you say, I wonder what she would say to hear you saying pink is a pretty color." The elf thought back to her own past, what if he had said pink were pretty? She probably would have given him a hard time, but in the end would stand up for him if anyone tried to pick on him about it. It wouldn't have been the first time she had gotten into a fight over other boys picking on him.

She let out a slow breath as the got to the base of the mountain. All the talk wasn't going to do the Priest's heart any good. She then folded her wrist in a manner that got her bracelet to fall into the palm of her hand. The item really was like her safety blanket, she messed with that thing so much that it had started to bug the people she had gone to school with, not to mention the vet techs at work.

Allyssandra quietly followed the male though, letting him pick out what he wanted to fight. The woman had very few offensive abilities, which is why she would keep her mount out at times like this. The thing could do more damage than her mesley spells, though her heals were much stronger. She giggled slightly as the male talked about not liking the ugly bunnies, she was trying to get herself fully back into character versus the continuous out of character talk about her past.

"Well then Princess," she said giving the male a curtsey, "Please lead the way." Just as they were starting on their way again, a creature swooped from the air, ripping the male into the air. Both Ally and her mount toppled over from the sudden impact of the other creature. When the snow settled and she could make shapes out in the air, she noticed that 13luice was gone, the beast having taken him airborne.

"13luice!" She yelled, though she knew it would do nothing. Her abilities were limited and her mount, like others, was not meant for air combat. Her eyes shot up the mountain path to Aelki and X'z. X'z was a caster and Aelki was known to pull off some pretty impressive ranged attacks even as a melee class. She started running up the mountain towards them, though it didn't take long for them to catch onto what was happening.

---

X'zimzizi smiled slightly as she leaned against the male as they walked. Her mind was pretty set, though her parents would say that she quickly grew attached to many things and those attachments weren't something to take lightly. Over time though, she had learned that not everyone was that way and though it made no sense to her, she would continue chasing those that interested her until they would finally give in. One person went as far as to say she was a stalker, upset, she had turned to her parents whom took command at that point saying he wasn't worth it and then the girl never saw him again.

When his attention finally fell back onto her, his words and the sincerity only grew that small smile on her lips. The day they would meet in person, it couldn't come soon enough. Papa would be pleased, yes, she knew he would. This man was very cautious about everything and Papa would like that very much. She went to grab his other hand as he looked away when a blade came falling from the sky. The sudden impact and closeness startled the feline woman and she fell backwards into the snow. "Well, that wasn't nice," she mewed as her eyes went upwards to see the creature flying in the air.

Narrowing her eyes, she saw that the creature had something, a person, actually their fourth party member. The pink haired girl looked down the path to see the elf running back towards them, her dragon bounding behind her. Aelki had hero plans of course. She nodded at his request, jumping back to her feet. Pulling her book open, she waved a hand over the pages and it started to glow. She then gestured towards the male, sending a current of air to push him up.

Aelki had shot up at the beast causing it to drop the boy, he had an over confident look on his face as Ally got to them. Only his request was something beyong what the arcanist could do. She just shook her head slowly at the male, a look of fear in her eyes. "I can't catch him," she said quietly.

---

Allyssandra had calmed down during her run back up the mountain back to Aelki and the cat woman. Whether his cockiness was brought on by thinking he would win points with the priest or whatever, he was wrong. The smaller woman at his side seemed to echo that as she said she couldn't get the now falling boy. Sighing, the woman said, "Sometimes I wonder if you forget we're admins or the fact that I'm a priest."

She then turned over the cliff edge and pointed towards the boy, her dragon taking off after him. She waited though, he was still too high and out of range of her spells. It didn't take long for that to pass though and as soon as he was in range, she lifted her arms into the air, a yellow-white glow forming between her hands then around 13luice. It was the Priest spell 'levitate' and while it was usually used out of silliness of being able to float instead of walk, it also slowed ones fall. 13luice slowed dramatically, which easily gave the white and light blue dragon enough time to fly up under him, catching the boy on its back.

As his body whizzed through the air, all he could think about was the girl he had lost. She was absolutely perfect and he hadn't gotten any closer to finding her. Yes, he was fully aware that he was dying in-game and not in real life, but that didn't matter to him. A death, even fictional, was still a death.

Letting out a slow sigh, his eyes just watched the snowy world around him. Oh how he missed playing with her in the mess of white. He missed saying her name, Rosalinda. He missed the way she would laugh at him and call him out on being a 'bloody pussy' (she was trying to work her way into a force British accent).

Ground growing nearer, Dmitri's gaze shifted to the three on the mountain side. It was cute to see them all rallying to help him. But, honestly, what could they do? It's not like one of them was a support chara...

Duh.

As the fall slowed, he laughed. Of course the woman he picked, Ally, was the one to slow his fall. Not only did she slow him, but she also sent her dragon to fetch him.

Flying back to the ground, the body was dropped into a fluffy heaping of snow.

"The irony," he began, "is not lost on me. Talking about needing a knight and, whelp, here you are." His gaze rolled past Aelki and landed on the woman who really did all the heroics.

Aelki, totally not realizing he was talking to Ally, piped up. "No problem." Hand out, he helped Dmitri to his feet. Once he was on his own two feet again, Aelki rolled up his screen. "Huh, that was supposed to be removed." Buzzing his lips, he grimaced. "Guess I'll have to tap out for a bit. I have to rework a bug. That mothawk isn't supposed to grab low-level players." Glancing at the levels above everyone's head, his brows furrowed. "That's really odd. Three players over 50 and it goes for the level 11."

Whirling to X'z, he dropped a hand on her shoulder. "Keep your nav on. I'm popping off for a few. I'll respawn on you when I'm ready to rejoin. Okay?"

Before anyone could object, the man in the vest vanished. Off on the corner of their comm system it said "Party member Aelki [STAFF] has logged off."

13luice, officially confused as to what really just happened, turned toward X'z. "How can he respawn on you?" His icy orbs fell on Ally. "Oh! Is that the level 25 perk my friends were talking about? Where you can spawn on friends when you connect?" Rubbing his chin, he glanced at his level and the lack of EXP he had to get to the next level.

"Bleh, I'm nowhere near 25." With a growl, he glared at the snow where Aelki once stood. "He should have killed the mothawk. I would have gotten crazy EXP!"

As he spoke, a shadow appeared. It was the mothawk again.

"AGAIN?!" Fumbling backwards, he put himself behind the dragon and Ally. "I really hate flying. Please don't le... what the heck?"

The thing now had three heads and had no wings. Then all of a sudden it had four wings and one head. Next if flipped colors and shrunk in size.

"Wait a minute," his fist smacked into his open palm. "Is Aelki coding it and that's where it's glitching out on us?"

Allyssandra let out a relieved sigh as her dragon began its return to the group, plopping the boy into the snow before landing behind her. A small smile formed as the boy talked about needing a knight, given the conversation, she could tell whom he was talking to. The phrase was rather reminiscent to her past too. Though, in a typical fashion, Aelki was quick to jump to the thanks and compliment. If they had ported to a populated city and this conversation had gone down, the man would have garnered even more fans. It never bothered the woman though, even if she saved all the people, Aelki could take all the credit; the less people that fauned over her, the easier it was for her to do her job. Granted, that and she didn't think she would be able to handle having a fan club.

The woman looked over to Aelki, brows furrowed at his comment. "There has been an increased number of forum posts about things like this happening," she said quietly, yet firmly. Constant recurrences like this made the woman wonder just how often bugs like this were actually looked into, though based on the male's reaction this one should have already been handled. She may have not known too much about computers and programming, but the elf would have figured that once a bug was fixed, it should have been gone.

X'zimzizi stuck her lower lip out, pouting as the man talked about having to go for a bit. It's not that she didn't like Ally, but the woman scared her. She had the reputation of being the rule tyrant, not that the feline broke the rules, but one doesn't just get that title without other rumors floating about. Some say she flaunts her power or uses it as a threat while others say that she can override the game coding and take control of other characters.

The other user though, 13luice, as his name gave way, didn't seem at all bothered by the elven staff member. Instead he was asking her questions about Aelki's ability to teleport to them once he was back on. His excitement fell back to the elf once again, clearly he did not know of her reputation; perhaps he was a new player?

Allyssandra chuckled slightly, placing a hand on the male's head. "You should be happy that we didn't have to chase you back to the nearest town and get you fixed up," she said calmly, shaking her head. "Even with three higher level players, the mothawk still would not have been an easy foe. It usually takes a five-person group to take it down." Speaking of, the beast was swooping back in, its target still seemed to be 13luice. Ally put an arm out as the male hid behind her, the dragon stood on two legs, roaring at the beast.

"X'zimzizi," she yelled to the feline woman who's ears popped up at the sound of her name. "I hope you can get that thing's attention."

The bi-eyed woman just stared at the elf for a moment, partly surprised at the command. She then shook her head, bringing herself back to reality and nodded. "On it," she called out as she moved to put herself between the other two players and the creature. She opened her book, waving a hand over it, a summoning circle appearing below her. She watched the beast as the spell channeled.

It's appearance started to change and as she nearly completed the spell, X'zimzizi cast a backward glance at the other two, the priest still seemed determined, unmoved by what was going on. Biting her lip, the feline drew her hand back over the book, completing the spell. The emerald carbuncle that stood at her side jumped in the air, vanishing, a topaz colored one replacing it. She then pointed at the now small, oddly colored beast, the carbuncle bounding towards it, casting a taunt.

13luice made a comment about what he thought was going on and Ally shook her head, "If he is causing this, then he is playing with us." Though the woman had no clue what sort of attributes were tied into what the male was trying to fix.

Backing up further, he gulped. He was absolutely against the idea of playing with a glitching out beast. He heard rumors of the game going all Topsy-turby over such things. Sure, the jackpot could be worth it but permanently being banned? Yeah, no. He had to think about the woman he sought to find. Even if she didn't play the game, he knew someone she knew would eventually play the game. Slowly, one by one, he had been talking to people from England with the hopes of finding her. He wasn't this low leveled because he sucked. No, he was low leveled because she spent all his time talking and investigating, rather than questing.

When the attack seemed to hit the monster, a little blue box appeared on the screen and a pixelated face from a webcam popped up. It was the first time 13luice had ever seen anything like it. Users weren't allowed to show their real faces so he was instantly drawn to the man floating besides the now-transparent monster that was frozen (and floating!).

Squinting, he tried to make out the face. Looked like the guy had blue eyes, brown hair, facial hair, and a really expensive... car? ...parked behind him? Was he in a garage? Or was he rich enough to have cars in his office? Who was this guy?

Soon enough, his question was answered. The voice was so familiar that it was easily recognizable--Aelki.

"Uh, please stop attacking this. There's a bug in the code and whenever you hit it, it resets the code. It's," the webcam showed the man running a hand in his hair. "Uh, I'm coming back in. Something's really wrong on the outside. I'll see if I can hack it internally."

The second the screen closed, Aelki appeared. He was literally sitting in X'z's arms, which was quite an odd sight to see. Weren't the men supposed to catch the women? 13luice would have to write this off as being another one of those "men needing a knight" moments.

Not wasting a second with affection for the cat-girl, he moved toward Ally. "We need to issue a massive player shutdown and disconnect." The way he spoke sent a shiver down Dimitri's spine. Something was wrong. And his overly dramatic gestures were toned down. A lot.

Aelki tapped the space before him and a large screen scrolled up. It was definitely coding in some language, that much Dmitri knew, but what it said was beyond him. However, the red text and the foreign characters seemed to be a red flag. They seemed to be... overwriting the code? No, eating the code? Doing... something?

"Uh, is it supposed to do that?" He pointed to text just vanishing before their eyes and the words "Tᴿ⏏¶¶ΣD" repeat over and over until it filled up the entire window Aelki had open.

"The fuck," the male with the facial hair cursed. Flicking the screen a few times, it flashed red before a box popped up with "TROJAN DETECTED!"

"No shit," he said while dropped criss-cross applesauce on the ground. A pen materialized, which was followed by a tablet. Was this his in-game coding ability he spoke of? Perplexed, 13luice leaned over the male and watched him hack away.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck."

That wasn't a good sign. With a gulp, Dimitri backed slowly away and shot X'z a panicked look. He didn't want to speak for he didn't want to interrupt Aelki but... he needed to know.

"Uh," he began in a meek voice but was instantly cut off by the older male.

"Can you log out," his golden orbs flickered up to the pale haired man in the party. Sweat beads were pooling on his brow and the hike in his voice was really starting to cause alarm for the icy-male.

"Uh, yeah?" 13luice pulled up his user panel. Why wouldn't he be able to log out? Moving his hand to the log out button, he tapped it lightly. And then he tapped it again. And again. And again. It wasn't until maybe the sixth time that he realized it was grayed out. "Umm... no. Why is it grayed out?"

Thumb in his mouth, Aelki bit down on his finger hard enough that it drew blood. "Think, Bryan, think." At this point, he didn't care if he was using his real name. If someone wanted to call him out on it later, they could. But for now, he was lost in thought.

"Allyssandra," he rose. Jerking out a funny looking whistle-like object, he plunged it into the tablet he had. "I need to initiate mandatory disconnect." He shoved the tablet in her hand. She, being an admin, had a key much like his. If she inserted it into the tablet, Aelki could quickly hammer out a shut down protocol. With any luck, he would successfully pull a lot of users of NMO. And if he wasn't lucky? Well, then that meant there was a bigger issue at hand.

Any attack that X'zimzizi was preparing quickly stopped when the face of a man appeared in front of them, a blush crossing her face. He was so handsome! But no, she couldn't, she shook her head, she was loyal to her Aelki, another man wouldn't sway her. The man then spoke, it was her beloved Aelki. For once, the cat woman was speechless as she lifted a hand to fan the ever growing blush on her face. Her beloved was such a heart throb, that face with that voice, oh X'zimzizi didn't think she could fall in love with another more than she had.

The man on the other end shut the transmission down and was soon logging back in game. Just as the game was telling them of his log on, the man was in her arms and the pink haired woman wouldn't let him get away. Well, she didn't want to, but he moved towards the priest anyway. Following along, the feline woman wrapped her arms around his torso before climbing onto his back so that she was half on his back, half resting near his head.

The woman's ears oved back as she listed to what Aelki was telling the other mod they had to do and from the look on Ally's face, this wasn't something they normally did nor was it good if they had to.

Allyssandra's eyes hardened as she watched the male. "What are you talking about," she said, her tone falling out of character as much as the other male's had. "Aelki, what did you find?" The man was lost to his tablet though, which was not a good sign, well the bad signs started when Aelki was actually serious. She just watched in silence for a few moments before she lifted her hand up to open her mod screen, giving her access to view all the currently logged on players.

When the man started getting upset, X'z ducked behind him slightly, as though something scary was going to pop out on the screen. 13luice seemed just as concerned with the look that he gave her. When Aelki asked the boy if he could log out, the woman opened up her own control panel and had no luck logging out either. "What's going on?" She asked, her voice squeaking slightly in concern. Aelki was long gone and the worry that he was going through was the only thing that kept the cat woman from dancing around about learning the man's real name. When the man stood up, she loosened her grip, leaving herself standing as he walked over to Ally again. This was beyond her comprehension and she didn't want to get in the way, Momma never liked when you got in the way.

Allyssandra's eyes narrowed as she looked at the male, taking the tablet. He definitely wasn't telling them anything on the matter but she had to trust the guy. She had only seen the male get this serious a few times and when it had happened, it was definitely a big deal. Reaching into her robes, she pulled out a matching whistle-like key and plugged it in. "You better be able to fix this," she said as she handed it back to him.

Every part of Aelki wanted to gobble up that moment where X'z was clinging to him. Oh he wanted nothing more than to cuddle with her but, with this malware at hand, he didn't have a second to give her. Didn't help that she was now pouting and squeaking behind him. Every sad action ripped at his heart. He didn't want to see her hurt, let alone scared by his cryptic, serious tone.

Taking the key, he popped back on his rear. Sucking in a breath of air, he closed his eyes before inserting the key.

His heart literally stopped for a second. This moment would make or break the game. If what he thought he was reading was true, the game just became reality.

Not ready to give up just yet, his eyes shot open and his fingers danced across the keyboard. The speed was uncanny and the precious was truly peerless. His eyes were glued to what he typed, never looking down to ensure his keystrokes were accurate. He knew they were; there was no need to double check them.

In what seemed like forever, Aelki hammered out the emergency shut down protocol. Again, he closed his eyes before tilting his head up and muttering something across his lips (please work).

Giving the two keys a good twist in the opposite direction, the world all around them fell black. Not a single light shown, not even the tablet's screen. And then, Aelki's name started to glow. Ally's was next.

Blinking, Dimitri reached his hand toward Ally's. He didn't care if it was weird. He was scared and her hand seemed to be the ideal thing to hold and calm his nerves (not to mention, she was nice and pretty--who could resist). He gulped as he squeezed her hand. The look on his face was sheer fear. He was scared witness, as anyone should be. Such procedures never happened with over 78% of its users logged in.

Aelki coughed before tapped his tablet's screen. Sure enough, the active user's bar started to drop. At first, it was rapid but then it started to slow. A lot. Finally, it stopped around 22%.

"Fuck."

Jumping, he jerked Ally's hand. Blush on his cheeks, he turned away and released his grip. It was so embarrassing to be this scared. This was literally nothing but a quick shut down... right?

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Aelki flopped backwards into the snow. "Allyssandra." His gaze was directly at the sky, which was coming back online. Soon, the game's 'lights' were back and 13luice could see.

Aelki looked broken. Defeated. It was obvious something was really wrong. He wanted to share with Ally but with X'z and 13luice around, he wasn't sure it was wise. But, then again, did it matter. They were trapped. They all were as well as 22% of the other users online.

"We got hacked." A fierceness grew in his eyes. Sitting up, he growled. "And it wasn't by some random dick." Whirling his tablet around, he showed Ally the name and face of the man that hacked the game. "It was the fucking creator. He made this game so he could trap people in here. This was never a game," his voice was dry and full of frustration, "this was sick, twisted trap. A ploy to immobilize nations and planets. A trick to make sure--"

He threw the tablet across the snow. "Fuck, fuck, fuck." Standing he ripped at his hair. "Dammit, Bryan, how did you not see this coming. You knew all the players on the game. You saw all the 'high priority' ones were logged in. And you did nothing about it." Grunting, he kicked at the snow. "DAMMIT!"

13luice, still confused, found his voice. "I... I don't understand. Why can't we log out? What was that you did? And what are you talking about?"

"The creator. He's a bastard. He wanted a bunch of high priority, important figures to be trapped in this game. He," Aelki pulled up a taunting little note personally sent to him. "See, he wanted to fuck with us. He's part of some thug organization that needed all these 'top players' out of commission so they could enact their heinous crimes and... do whatever."

His nose wrinkled and his jaw shifted forward. "Dammit," he bit his cheek.

"I'm sorry but I don't understand. Why does that matter?"

"No offense, but you're a nobody, kid. All of you are. This attack wasn't meant for you. It was meant for people like the daughter of the lightning and fire gods. For an experiment that they've been trying to catch for years. For a rare breed of feline-like species. For," he growled and turned from the group. "Me." He was trying not to let tears swell in his eyes but he was beyond pissed at this point and the steam needed to come from somewhere.

"You?" 13luice turned to Ally. Maybe she knew what he was talking about.

"I'm rich. Unbelievably rich and I have... oh god." His eyes were on the trio now. "They're after the prototype. I've been working on a nuclear particle gun that disintegrates whatever it touches. It was supposed to be used on zombies or infected species but... they're going to use it to enslave the galaxy."

Hand in his hair, the panic really started to set in.

"We have to figure out how to get out of this game." Pulling up the taunting note from the creator, he ran his finger below a set of words. "He says, 'play my game and win and you might just come out of this alive.'"

Aelki now had his hand on his hip and a grimace on his face. "Ally and I can't 'beat' the game. We're admins. We've technically one. But you and X'z can play. We can help," he gestured to himself and the priestess. "If we can successfully run through all the worlds, bosses, and whatever else, we might be able to get out."

Just then, a loud clicking noise echoed from above. Seconds later, bold numbers appeared.

Growling, Aelki jerked his head back. "Looks like we've a time limit. One week."

13luice copied the man's grimace. "Is that possible."

"No. We'll need to divide and conquer. Smaller worlds, we can split up. You and Ally. I'll take X'z. Bigger worlds, we'll need to team back up."

None of it really made sense but who was Dimitri to question the mod. With sorrowful eyes, he turned to his new partner. "My level isn't going to make this any easier. Sorry."

Ally stood still after giving her key and the tablet back to the man. Worrying wouldn't make things better, it never did, but if it didn't work, rage might. Once Aelki took the items, the woman's eyes rolled up to the pixelated skies as the man typed away on the tablet. The digital snow continued to fall around them and as she heard the click on the keys being turned, a black dot appeared at the very top, center of the sky. From there, the blackness washed down the world around them before everything was gone.

They would log out, everything would be fine. The servers would be down for a while and then everything would be fixed. As she stood, her eyes still upward, the priest felt a hand touch hers. She didn't pull away from the grip, but instead matched it, her thumb instinctively moving to rubbing the knuckle and upper joint of the male's. When he squeezed her hand, her eyes fell to the male. He looked terrified and the look in his eyes was one that the female had seen plenty of times as a kid. She gave him a small, reassuring smile as she gave his hand a squeeze back.

It was Aelki's outburst that brought the woman's eyes to the other male. It also seemed to startle 13luice whom had let go of her hand quickly. She watched the man as he stared up into the sky, the sky that was slowly reforming around them. He seemed to destroyed, like this was the biggest mission he had and he failed, which, both were kind of true in regards to what he was going to explain.

Yeah, they had been hacked, this wasn't news at this point. What came as the shock though, was the name on the tablet that Aelki showed her. Her eyes went wide and she felt her blood run cold. She then listened to what he said about the high priority people. "Well that doesn't make sense," she muttered. "Shouldn't more people have been logged out? I mean I get we're admins but--" She then cut herself off as Aelki was talking about what he was like and Ally's parents were government officials for the US government that had moved to work as abassadors in England. She sucked in a breath at the thought, even people like herself, if the parents had such power, would be important to pull from the mix. "Shit," she whispered as she pulled her eyes from Aelki and to the snowy floor of the moutain path.

X'zimzizi had been quiet for a while now, she could sense the bad in the air so she let Aelki and Ally do what they needed. When it didn't work and the male started talking about what was going on and bringing up the lightning and fire gods, her face flared with an intense blush, her eyes also falling to the snow. Though, when he talked about his prototype, both women looked at him, shock written on their face.

"What would you design something like that for?!" Allyssandra shrieked at the male. "Where on earth have you seen a zombie? Are you crazy?" As he read the note and talked about what they had to do, the woman approached the standing male, fire in her eyes. Grabbing his shirt collar, she pulled him down, closer to her level. "You sure as hell better hope we can clear this game in a week," she cursed at him. "Or I swear, if things are ruined when we get out, I'll find you and I will kill you."

She then shoved the male away as she called back to 13luice. "Don't worry about the level, there are lower level bosses we have to clear out and that'll help." She started walking back down the path, one such boss was in their current zone. Whistling, the white and blue dragon from before roared through the sky once again, its shadow following the woman.

X'zimzizi watched the angry woman walk down the mountain side after yelling at Aelki. Cautiously, she walked up to the male, putting a hand on his forearm and looked up at him. "It's wind, by the way," she said almost shyly. When he would question what he was talking about she would reply, "It's not the child of Lightning and Fire, it's the child of the gods of Wind and Fire." There was almost a guilty look on her face as she told him.

From her perspective, she had every right to be mad. Not only did he tell her she wasn't important (truthfully, she wasn't; her parents were), but he was also spewing what seemed like crazy talk. At her raised tone and threats, the brunette simply listened with a heartfelt stare. She was scared, and so was he. Things like this only happened in movies, anime, or games--never in real life. Or so those of Earth believed. Little did they know that they were really a part of something bigger, much bigger.

Being the IP officer meant that Aelki had access to some very sensitive information, namely the fact that Earth wasn't the only planet to connect to the game. He was sworn to secrecy--something he knew all too well, especially being a Wesson. Er, well. He was usually good at it. The little slip-up with the weapon would prove problematic if Ally, X'z, or 13luice spilled his secret. He, technically, wasn't working on it. Obviously, he was and it was all approved by the galaxy's version of the UN. Aelki never understood why he was picked nor did he want to know. All he did know is that the world was bigger than imagined and that world, well, it needed his help.

That help was actually the reason he hadn't visited X'z yet. He had a deadline and it was literally weeks away. Obviously the creator knew this, hence planning the lock-in now. But how did he know? Clearly someone was playing dirty ball and he would eventually piece it all together. Not to mention, sooner or later the whole "other alien races exist as do other worlds" thing would have to become public knowledge. Ah yes, nothing said killer headline like "Popular Virtual Reality Game's Corruption Leaks Leads of Aliens."

Unaware of X'z initial comment, the male blinked at her while raising a brow. "Sorry?" When she repeated, he smirked. "Yeah, you're right. He is wind. I think their daughter is lightning? But I never looked into her too much. Her original account was hacked so I overrode the system to give her a new one. Never really checked since then. Didn't think I had the authority to ban a goddess." He smiled at the woman who was there to comfort him. "On that subject, I don't know much about you either." His ears flushed a brilliant red color. "I tend not to 'stalk' someone I like. Would rather get to know you verbally. I think the only thing I do know is that you weren't flagged as a threat."

Taking her hands into his, the brunette looked down the mountain after Ally and 13luice. "Think they'll ever forgive me for not stopping this?" Head slowly turning to face her, he repeated himself. "Will you ever forgive me for this?"

---------- Post added 07-08-2015 at 05:29 PM ----------

She was terrifying in this state, almost to the point where 13luice wished he was with X'z. At least she didn't seem mean. Dimitri had never been a fan of mean. Teasing, fine. Yelling, fine. But threatening someone? No, that crossed a line.

He was fairly silent as the woman stormed off. He kept up with her all while trying to avoid stepping in the shadow. He more or less turning 'shadow hopping' into a game to keep his mind off her comments. She was right, when was the last time someone saw a zombie? Back when Brad Pitt was staring in it? World War Z was honestly the last zombie movie he could remember. Still, Aelki's other comments seemed to mirror the madness of zombies. Gods? Like... Jesus? Or someone else? He said fire? Was Ra fire? Was Ra even possible? Nothing made any sense and the more Dimitri thought about it, the more he made Aelki sound like a crazy conspiracy theorist--not a billionaire genius.

"Are you really going to kill him?" He finally asked with a quiver to his lip. He had to know if her words were real or if they were spurred by the moment. He hoped the last but he had run into a few people on here who had pretty shady pasts so he couldn't rule anything out.

"I know creating something like that is weird but, let's be honest, we don't have that kind of technology. We're not that advanced yet. There's no way he could figure something like that out and, if he did, he sure as hell wouldn't need to play a game."

Reassuring himself that Aelki was just a big, fat liar seemed the best option to ease the fear. Oh, he could only hope he was lying and not being strangely cryptic about something else....

X'zimzizi could tell that Aelki was still upset over the matter, but at least he was talking more now, this brightened the woman some. He went on talking about the history of her first account to which she lifted a hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle. "You know more about me than you think," she teased as she nudged him with her hip. "And my account wasn't really hacked," she trailed off slightly, her eyes rolling up to see if he had figured out what she was getting at with those limited words. "Daddy didn't like the idea of me playing a game so he wanted to do something about it and ended up breaking stuff. Momma wasn't too happy about that." The woman nodded at her statement, as though it were the most normal thing in the world that she was going on about.

When he mentioned her not being flagged as a threat, she lifted a brow as she looked at him. "A threat? You mean, like tied to this? If that's the case no one has been looking into me," she said sticking her tongue out. She then let go of his hand shortly after he had taken it to run in front of him a bit. She gave him a playful bow as she said, "My name is Levina, Goddess of Lightning." She stood up, smirking at him before skipping back to him and taking his hand before he was able to react.

When he asked about everyone forgiving him, she looked to the two walking ahead and gave them a dismissive wave. "You haven't wiped out a whole race of people," she said, thinking back to when she saw the Aztec's fall. "And if that doesn't happen, they have no reason to be mad at you."

She then rolled her eyes up at the male as she added, "Buuuut, you do have to be honest or I will be upset with you. Bryan? That's not what you told me your name was." She bit her lower lip, giving the male a perplexed look. It was clear that the woman was both chatty in real life as her character, only in real life she freely told everyone who she was without a thought or care in the world.



The male was nervous, his question really told that to the priest and she sighed, shaking her head slowly. She then stopped and looked at the male, the fear was there and it reminded her so much of Dimitri when she first protected him against a bunch of bullies. Then again, a five year old girl bursting out of the bushing with a dead rabbit and a sharp stick, covered head to toe in mud all while threatening the kids that she would kill them if they picked on him again, yeah, she could see how that would have been frightening. A sad smile came to her face at the thought of it and she shook her head. "It's a figure of speech, kid," she said as she tried to break the connection from her past with what was going on.

"A figure of speech I used to always use as a kid," she looped her thumbs on a couple of the belts on her outfit as she shrugged. "Never thought I would say it again after moving to England." She looked up at 13luice before turning and continuing her path. "I guess I'm scared too," she finished. Threats always came easier than actually being scared to her. Showing you were scared only gave bullies more windows to pick on and tease a person, she learned that quick.

When the boy changed the subject to what Aelki said he had developed she shrugged again. "Whether he has or hasn't is his business." She then looked back at the pale haired man, "When your parents work for the Department of Defense, you tend to not dismiss much of anything as fake until you can be 100% certain of it."

Her comments were odd. From the way she giggled and danced around, Aelki could tell she was hinting at something. But what? It was beyond him. Of course, that was until she completely told him everything. Or at least everything he needed to know. And, at this point, he honestly didn't care about Ally, 13luice, or any of the other people trapped in the game. There was only one person that caused his face to flush of all color and turn ghostly white. And that one person? It was her father.

His body faltered and, had she not caught hold of him, he probably would have ended up in the snow. Blinking in sheer disbelief, his jaw fell ajar and everything around him became hazy. His ears began to ring and his consciousness was waxing and waning.

Was she?

Could be be?

There was no way... was there?

It was actually the warmth of her hand that brought him back. It was gentle, soft, and pure--much like her spirit, or the spirit of X'z. Eyes finally daring to gaze up at the ones before him, he just stood looking like a stupid boy.

Ever so slowly, he shook his head before blinking his eyes and closing his mouth. "I," was about all he could manage to say. To stand before a goddess, or at least a goddess' avatar, was beyond belief. He never expected such an honor. Not to mention, he was supposed to be visiting her soon.

It... none... nothing made sense. Why him? Why would she, a goddess of many lifetimes, pick him? He was a human. A man who had roughly 100 years to live. She had, what, a lifetime? What drew her to him? And why was she telling him this now?

As she called him out on his name, the brunette blushed. Jerking his eyes away, he pulled back and rung his hands together before drawing them through his hair.

"I'm Bryan Harvey Wesson," he spoke with his back to her. "As I mentioned, I build guns. I know everyone says guns are evil, guns are bad. They're not. They're tools that protect. You don't have to kill someone with a gun. You have the choice to injure. Most just assume the worst. But, without guns, we would have nothing to defend ourselves with if a bear attacked or a rabid dog turned on us. Guns have a bad rep. They shouldn't. Guns can't kill people. Guns don't think. Guns don't feel. People feel. People think. People kill."

He wasn't sure why he was rambling to her about this. Maybe to justify why he was worthy of loving? Maybe to prove who he was? Though if she knew nothing of humanity and the Wesson family, none of this mattered.

With a sigh, he swooped over to pick up the tablet. Folding it into the air before him, Aelki stood there. He just stood there staring out over the mountain. He couldn't face her. Not like this. He was... a fraud. He was... defeated. He was... human.