Chapter 2

---Chapter 2---
He had spent about an hour with his strange new friend before he logged out the previous day. Lou was now back as his normal fifteen year old self and had plans to meet up with Fourteen again later. As school ended, the bullying against him began. It was two on one and seeing as he had no real daggers to fend off his enemies, things were much rougher.
"Hey! Get off of him!" shouted a familiar voice. Johnny pulled the bullies away and helped Lou up. Johnny had black hair, longer than most, and wore a simple T-shirt with kakis along with glasses. He had helpful looking blue eyes and a presence that made others feel just a little dumber. Lou had known him since he had been thirteen, witch is when Lou had joined The World. Johnny was 3 years older than Lou was.
"Thanks, Johnny," said Lou, wiping his shirt to take care of the extra wrinkles. He then had a great idea. "Hey Johnny, you still play The World?" he asked as they walked back towards their respective homes.
"Every now and then," he replied. "If it weren't for my brother I'd be on much more." Johnny and his brother had once been close, now they argued almost every time they met. Due to the fact that they both used to play The World, but once they had their first argument they slowly stopped talking. Johnny's brother now lived in the Kasumigaseki district of Japan so The World had been a place for them to meet.
"Wouldn't you like to give Hei another chance though?" Lou asked. "It's been two years after all."
"Why are you so concerned though?" Johnny asked. "Getting picked on in the game again?" Lou had often been picked on in game just as he was in real life. Once even, he won an argument against a hacker who deleted Lou's original account.
"No, it's not that, I wanted you to meet a new friend of mine."
"Who is it? Maybe I've heard of him."
"His name is Fourteen."
Johnny laughed, "Funny name." Lou just stared at him with the same questioning expression. "Well, I still don't want to go on if I meet Hei."
"Can't you two talk it out?" Lou asked.
"Well, I guess I could try it if it means that much to you," Johnny replied sighing. They were about to part and head home.
"What does Hei look like in game?" Lou asked. Johnny pulled out a picture even he wasn't sure about why he kept it. In the picture, it showed Hei in real life Japan. He was wearing a white, expressionless mask an unbuttoned overcoat that revealed the tight suit underneath. The only feature of the non-armored Hei was his black hair that was a little shorter than Johnny's. It easily looked like he was a military agent, he probably was.
"Yeah, this is a real life picture, what about in the game?"
"He has the same look. He likes to hang out in Carmina Gadelica. Other than that he goes to another place, 'Secret Eternal Shadow' or whatever it was in the Delta server."
Lou began running home now. He turned back while running to say, "Thanks! I'll get you on yet!"
Johnny stared, "maybe..."
---
Fourteen was sitting in his usual spot when Liff came around the corner. Fourteen didn't bother turning around but instead continued to stare down at the flow of the water.
"Did you even log off? You're in the same exact place as yesterday," Liff said. He was beginning to wonder if Fourteen had anything to do outside of the game. This lead to more questions such as: "How old is he? What does he do for a living?" and other questions like that.
"Even I need sleep," Fourteen said replied. "Besides, I like this place." There was no reason for Fourteen to lie so Liff dropped it there.
"I need you to help me with something," Liff said.
"What?"
"I need to find someone."
"Why do you need my help then?"
"I'm not sure what will be at the area," said Liff. He hadn't been there before and since there were so many areas this wasn't too surprising. "So will you help me?" Fourteen got up and turned to Liff ready to follow. "So that's a yes?" Fourteen nodded his head and stepped forward. Liff lead the way to the chaos gate. "Aren't you curious about where we're going?"
"Not really," responded Fourteen. He was genuinely unconcerned even after the incident yesterday. He also hadn't seen Jeck or his friends around either.
"'Delta: Secret, Eternal, Shadow'" said Liff. Liff was not high enough of a level to reach the Lambda server so he went to the place he could. Fourteen heard and followed through the chaos gate.
---
When they arrived at the plains that were shrouded in the black of night, they quickly surveyed the area. There was nothing too suspicious, just several monster portals. They looked around the area occasionally tripping the monster portals and defeating them. The enemies were a little hard for them though they were able to avoid death with good enough ease. Soon enough, they had searched the entire plain and had not come upon who they were looking for.
"No one other than us appears to be here," said Fourteen. "I'm going back to the river..." Just as he finished saying this, a dark figure appeared.
"Oh, Hei, I was looking for you," said Liff. Hei smiled from under his mask though no one could see. He drew his two daggers and continued to stare down Liff. "Hei?" As soon as he said this Hei rushed forward laughing and swung one of his blades. Liff barely dodged the strike only to be hit by a spell and be hit back. It seemed like a complete miracle that he was alive.
Fourteen had finished the spell that had saved Liff and stared at Hei. Hei turned his attention away from the fallen Liff to the expressionless Fourteen. Running forward, Hei laughed again as he began to strike. As usual, Fourteen simply stared at his attacker and let him come for him.
Another blade clashed with Hei's. The figure who had saved Fourteen had long black hair and bright red eyes. He wore what looked like ragged clothes and a silver chain belt. His drawn sword was a customized katana that was six feet long, had a black metal for a blade, and a poisoned edge. His other was also a customized blade, four and a half feet long, twin, entwining dragons as the hilt, and a axe for the shape of the tip of the blade.
"Johnny!?" Liff shouted surprised, getting up.
"I'm Reaver here, remember Liff?" responded the heavyblade. Hei laughed and jumped back staring Reaver down. Liff backed away and prepared to watch at a safe distance. This didn't seem like the Hei he had once met. Instead it seemed like another person.
"Hello Johnny," greeted Hei," long time no see. Prepare to be ripped to shreds."
---Chapter 2 End---

Chapter 3

---Chapter 3---
"You were looking for him?" asked Fourteen. He was both bored and interested at the same time due to the fight that was about to unfold before him. Instead of going back to the river in Mac Anu like he usually would, he decided to watch as if some strange force of curiosity compelled him to.
"I didn't expect him to attack us," replied Liff. To contrast Fourteen, Liff was very interested and partially worried. Though they had only met once, two years ago, Hei had seemed like a particularly kind person and even somewhat clumsy. This time he seemed like and entirely different person.
Hei made the first move. Rushing at Reaver at a great speed, he began to quickly slash at his brother with ferocity. Reaver barely had time to defend himself but was able to pull his sword as a guard in time. He jumped back only to deliver his counter attack witch was easily avoided.
"Shadow dance!" said Hei, activating his ability. The area got darker and Hei disappeared into the shadows only to quickly reappear at different angles around Reaver and attack him continuously. Hei appeared both quickly and at seemingly random places so that Reaver couldn't anticipate where to block.
Reaver continued his attempts to block, also at random, and each time he failed. There was no recognizable pattern in Hei's movement making it even more difficult. Then, their blades met and the shroud of shadow was lifted.
Hei had momentarily stopped due to the impact of the clash. Reaver seized this pause as his chance. Swinging his sword horizontally, Reaver not only threw Hei back, but poisoned him as well. Hei got up from the blow as if it had been nothing. He was far less injured than his brother though his health was now slowly draining.
"Very good brother," Hei commented. "I was beginning to think you'd die without a fight." Reaver remained speechless and slashed at Hei again. Hei dodged the strike making his blood pump the poison faster. They then began a quick series of clashes that neither could seem to gain an advantage from.
"If they're brothers, why are they fighting?" asked Fourteen, confused.
"I'm not entirely sure," replied Liff, still in awe of the scene. Hei finally struck Reaver and the poison took the same effect on him.
"Sure strike!" shouted Reaver, slashing Hei once more. He was hit back, felt the poison, and began dematerializing. The hexagons that had been Hei floated away and the victor had been decided. Reaver knelt to the ground, tired. "I'm out of practice," he said.
"Reaver!" shouted Liff running over to him, Fourteen following behind him. "Are you ok?"
"I'm sure he's fine," commented Fourteen. He cast a healing spell on him anyway. Looking over the situation, he decided he'd leave soon.
"Let's not talk here," said Reaver. "Do you know anywhere private we can talk?" Liff noticed Fourteen disappearing within the yellow rings that appeared as he teleported to Mac Anu.
"Yeah, I think I've got an idea," said Liff. "Follow me."
---
They sat side by side at the dock. Fourteen looked out into the water, Liff stared forward, and Reaver kept his eyes closed thoughtfully.
"To tell the truth," began Reaver, "I don't want to fight him. I act as though I hate him but we're still brothers and through everything he's done nothing will erase what we've been through." He thought back to days when they laughed together and then, opened his eyes. "One day, I noticed the change in him," said Reaver. "He seemed to be acting darker than he usually was. Eventually we began to fight while here and that's when I started trying to figure out what was wrong."
"So what was wrong?" asked Liff, turning his head to Reaver. Reaver did likewise.
"I haven't figured out," said Reaver. "I've almost completely given up and once I had, The World just didn't feel the same..."
"If you're brothers, why do you fight?" asked Fourteen.
"I already said that he started it."
"But if you're brothers, why do you keep fighting after the first fight?" Reaver remained silent. Silence ruled the dock they sat in for several minutes. Then, Reaver spoke.
"Well, Liff," he began, ignoring Fourteen's unanswered question, "I think I will get on a bit more. Your new friend certainly is interesting." Liff laughed and Fourteen had made another friend.
---Chapter 3 End---
 

Chapter 4

---Chapter 4---
     Logging into The World, Fourteen decided to go to his usual spot. He was half way across the bridge leading to the second district when he was held in place by the shoulder. Turning his head at the held shoulder he saw Reaver, with Liff right behind him.
     "Hey, we're going to go train," said Liff. "Reaver said he'd help me so I can get to a higher level. Do you want to come?" Fourteen considered the question and decided he'd do what he wanted to do instead.
     "No," he said, "I'd like to go to the river." Liff just shrugged and headed in the direction of the chaos gate. Reaver let him go but remained.
     "Are you sure you don't want to come?" he asked. Fourteen just shook his head no and walked towards the dock. Reaver went to catch up with Liff. As Fourteen walked through the streets he could hear gossip that even seemed to be about him.
     "Did you hear? Apparently the Guardian of the People has come back to the game."
     "Who's that?"
     "He's an old high level player who protected some of the other players, especially newbies. His real username is Reaver."
     "Oh, I saw him talking with that new guy over there just a minute ago."
     This was the sort of conversation that drifted through the streets as Fourteen reached his destination. He sat by the dock for minutes. He thought of nothing in particular but simply stared at the flow of the water. Eventually half an hour had gone by and a thought occurred to him. Fourteen had decided that he was bored. Although he enjoyed sitting at the docks, staring into the water, his adventures over the last couple of days had been much more interesting.
     Getting up he started towards the chaos gate to try and adventure. When he reached the chaos gate, however, he realized he didn't know what to do to have an adventure. He sat down cross legged and stared that the chaos gate's rotating rings and blue liquid-like portal. Finally, he decided what to do. He got up and teleported to Dun Loireag, the theta server root town.

---

     He arrived at the floating island that was Dun Loireag. The shops were easily noticeable and the island was rather small. This didn't stop many people from populating the area however. Fourteen didn't bother to take in the scene that may have left others breathless. Instead he scrolled through a list of area keywords. Soon enough, he found ones that he decided to try.
     "Racing, Quick, Sands." he said and teleported there.

---

     Fourteen arrived at a great desert. A sandstorm whipped around him making it harder to see the surrounding area. He wandered aimlessly every now and then triggering monster portals and coming out of the battles with half the strength he had before. Every time he finished a fight, however, he would heal himself through the use of magic. Soon enough, he came upon a pyramid. It could be easily recognized as a dungeon and Fourteen entered it. There was a considerably greater amount of monster portals in the dungeon though Fourteen had no real struggle. As he walked through the stone corridors he heard people running in his direction. He hadn't made any turns so this could be recognized as running out of the dungeon.
     Fourteen waited for the people to get to him and soon enough, they did. There was a party of three, the party limit, standing before him. One was a long arm, one was a blade master, and one was a heavy blade. The long arm wielded a bamboo staff and wore a green jacket, a green vest, and green pants along with black shoes. He had green eyes that matched his clothing and short, light brown hair. The blade master wore a black cape, black tunic, and black pants along with his dark brown shoes and rather large head band that covered his forehead.  He had black hair that matched his clothes and red eyes that stood out on his face. The heavy blade wore a skin-tight red suit with long, comfortable looking red pants that were torn at the end. He also wore a light, white jacket that was torn, sandals, shoulder armor, and long bracers that covered his lower arms and hands. He had red hair and red eyes though his red eyes stood out less than the blade master's. Both the heavy blade and the blade master wielded katanas however the blade masters was shorter and lighter looking.
     "Who are you?" the heavy blade asked. "Another one of that guy's henchmen?" Fourteen noticed a wound on the heavy blade and healed it.
     "I guess that answers that Kyo," said the long arm. He went forward and extended his arm in hopes of a hand shake. "Hi, I'm Rex, nice to meet you."
     "Fourteen," replied Fourteen, shaking his hand for little more than a few seconds. Kyo moved forward to pull Rex back towards him.
     "Rex, just because he healed me doesn't mean he's a friend," said Kyo. The blade master stepped forward now.
     "He's right, Rex," he said. "This Fourteen could be helping that Jeck guy." Fourteen recognized the name and shook his head no. "Well, I guess that settles that," said the blade master. "I'm Mikauonino. It's nice to meet you."
     "You two are too trusting," said Kyo. "If you do anything suspicious I won't hesitate to kill you," he said to Fourteen. They could hear people coming after them. It sounded like two sets of footsteps and sure enough, it was. The two heavy axes that had accompanied Jeck before emerged from the shadows behind them. They looked far stronger than before.
     Rex went to stand by Fourteen. "Those guys are about level forty," he said. Fourteen estimated they had leveled up about thirty times over the course of the last couple days and that they had been training since they had been beaten before.
     "Hey, there's that other guy," one of the two said to the other.
     "It's payback time then." The two of them moved forward and Kyo got ready to fight.
     "Go! Get out of here!" Kyo commanded. Both Mikauonino and Rex started moving towards the exit, but Fourteen moved forward and readied his staff. "What part of 'get out of here' don't you understand?"
     "Stupid wavemaster wants to die," said one of the heavy axes. "Let him." Fourteen cast a fire spell on him but it hardly scratched him. The heavyblades laughed. "Well Ort, looks like he thinks he stands a chance."
     Ort, the second heavy axe laughed. "Let's finish him Kith." They moved forward and prepared to attack. Both Fourteen and Kyo easily dodged the strikes and counter attacked. Ort, who had aimed for Fourteen but had been hit by a small spell instead, attacked again and hit Fourteen at his side. Fourteen was thrown to the wall and his health had dropped to zero. Before Fourteen's body began to dematerialize, Rex used a resurrect on him.
     "Thank you," Fourteen said, getting up.
     "Darn kid," said Ort, looking to Rex. He began to move toward him while Kith stalled Kyo. Ort moved forward to attack Rex but was blocked by Mikauonino, who parried the blow.
     "Get out of here!" repeated Kyo, still fighting against Kith. "I'll handle these two." Fourteen left as he was told but in the direction leading further into the dungeon.
     "Wait! Not that way!" yelled Rex, chasing after him.
     "Rex, wait!" Mikauonino called after Rex, following him. Fourteen moved quickly through the dungeon, most of the monster portals had been taken care of earlier. He was determined to go to the end of the dungeon, he hadn't explored any before. Soon, he came upon the end of the path, and Jeck. The room he was in now was a small bridge of rock that was high above a great black pit that most would die from falling into. There was a great stone door that appeared to be locked.
     "Ah, the wave master from before," he said. "Come to die?" Fourteen shook his head no.
     Instead he commented, "You must have no life to become a high level in just three days."
     "Shut up!" Jeck charged at him and Fourteen moved out of the way. Jeck, nearly having fallen off the edge that would mark his death, stopped in time to keep himself up and turned around. Rex and Mikauonino arrived in the room just as Fourteen dodged another attack from Jeck. Fourteen cast a fire spell at Jeck as he charged again and this time was hit. Once again, Rex used a resurrect on him but it was too late. Fourteen was hanging on the edge by sheer luck.
     "We should help him," said Rex. Mikauonino agreed and they moved forward. Jeck walked to the edge where Fourteen hung, paying no attention to the long arm and blade master behind him.
     "Looks like I wi-" he started. Before he could finish, he was pushed over the edge. In an attempt to save himself he grabbed for what he could, Fourteen's feet. The weight became too much for Fourteen and he fell along with Jeck.
---Chapter 4 End---

Chapter 5

---Chapter 5---
They fell down far. Jeck attacked Fourteen as best he could but continuously missed. They were both surprisingly more agile while airborne and their fight continued much faster. Soon, the fall came upon several outcroppings until they were both struggling more to avoid the rock ledges rather than fight. There were more and more outcroppings appearing until the fall split into two paths, one that appeared to slide forward, and one that continued straight down.
Fourteen seized this as his chance to escape Jeck. Avoiding another sad attempt of an attack, Fourteen counter attacked with a kick that sent Jeck rushing into one tunnel while Fourteen sped into the other. Fourteen had gotten the straight one. He continued to fall and fall, no more outcroppings to avoid and it finally got to him. Fourteen got tired, then sleepy, and then was unconscious as he fell.
---
"He probably just went 'AFK'," suggested an unfamiliar voice.
"He's been out a while, you'd think he'd be- speak of the devil," said another unfamiliar voice as Fourteen opened his eyes. He was dizzy and on a hard, cold, stone floor but otherwise felt fine. The man who had been speaking as he awoke had dirty blonde hair that reached half way down his neck and dark blue eyes. He wore a dark leather brown suit under a red cloak that contrasted his eyes. The other man was noticeably muscular and had bright green eyes with dark blue hair. He wore a black steel under a black cloak though it was difficult to differentiate where the cloak line began on the armor.
"Ah, good morning sleeping beauty, sleep well? Weather or not you did you're now stuck here," said the muscular man. "Since we're going to be living together for the next century it's good if we get acquainted. I'm Grimmjow, and you?" Fourteen didn't answer because he was still too dizzy. Instead he got up and looked around. "I hope you didn't have plans, 'cause again, you're stuck here."
"Come on, Grimmjow," said the other man. "Surely there's still a way out."
"Face it Elfyn, we can't logout here and we sure as heck can't save so there doesn't seem to be anyway out of here. We can't check the BBS either since we have to logout for that." Elfyn looked up through the tunnel.
"We could try climbing out," he suggested.
"We already tried that remember?" Elfyn hummed thoughtfully with his eyes closed. Amidst the confusion, Fourteen had realized he had gotten a couple flash mails. One was titled 'Where are you?' and the other was titled 'What happened?'. He checked the first one.
Subject: Where are you?
Sender: Liff
We finished training and you weren't back at the river.
No one said they'd seen you logout so I was wondering where you where?

He then checked the second one.
Subject: What happened?
Sender: Rex
Kyo managed to beat the two heavy axe men on his own.
(I guess they don't call him 'Demon eyes Kyo' for nothing.)
We left the dungeon since we couldn't get through the door, Jeck probably had the key.
After we left I wanted to thank you but you weren't there so
we asked around and met up with these
other people who where looking for you.
That's how we got your member address.
So what happened?
There's no way you could have survived that fall.

Fourteen registered the flash mail slowly and then wondered how Rex got his member address. He remembered giving it to Liff but never to Rex. He reread both flash mails and came to the conclusion that Rex had met Liff and obtained the member address through him.
"I'm Fourteen," said Fourteen answering the question he had held off from a minute ago.
"It's about time you answered," said Grimmjow. "Now I know it's not the fanciest place in The World but get used to it, it's all you'll see while if you don't want to lose your progress." Fourteen got up and began searching the area. It appeared he was in a some what damp cave far below the pyramid he had been in earlier. Both stalactites and stalagmites were plentiful in the room. "I've already checked the whole cave, there's no way out," said Grimmjow.
"Another look won't hurt," Elfyn said, joining Fourteen. Grimmjow sighed but assisted them anyway. Grimmjow was also the first to quit looking, however, and was later followed by Elfyn. Fourteen continued to investigate and reinvestigate the walls.
"You must be pretty desperate to have not given up yet," said Grimmjow watching him. Elfyn also took to watching him as he searched and researched the room. Eventually Fourteen stopped and stared at one specific spot. This whole process had gone on for half an hour until finally Fourteen had made up his mind. Readying a fire spell he aimed it at the wall. As soon as it was cast, the wall melted.
"Whoa, how'd you do that?" asked Elfyn, mystified.
"I assumed that since this cave is damp the stalagmites were water formed and therefore melt able," said Fourteen.
"Oh right, guess I need to study a bit harder for Chemistry. Maybe I'll do that later..."
"Ok, so you were right, there is a way out," said Grimmjow. "Let's get out of this darn place now." He was the first to step through the new path and led the way as the other two followed. The path was narrow but there was plenty of space for each of them. Soon they came upon two passages, one going left, another right. Suddenly, they each received a flash mail. It was a warning flash mail that occasionally came up as a character approached a boss room that was estimated to be too strong for them. The message read:
Subject: Warning!
Sender: CCCorporation Staff
You are approaching a boss room that is too difficult to enter at your level.
It is suggested that you leave the dungeon and train before attempting
this again.

"I'm not in the mood for a fight anyway," Grimmjow said, yawning. Elfyn agreed though Fourteen felt strangely drawn to the left tunnel. He began walking through it and the others followed. "Hey, the way out is the other way, I think..." Grimmjow said attempting to convince Fourteen to come back the other way. He was right though they didn't find out until after they arrived. A blue mist appeared once they entered the room that looked very similar to the room they had been in before only bigger. A phantom in the form of an egyptian god appeared before them and drew two large swords, ready to fight. They hear the door close behind them and knew they were locked in.
"He's probably not all that tough," said Elfyn. "The three of us are... wait a minute, what level are you anyway Fourteen?"
"Twenty," Fourteen answered.
"In other words, we're screwed," said Grimmjow. "But I suppose you're right, at least we have two high levels in this party." He readied his sword and prepared to attack. The boss made the first move and rushed at Fourteen, the lowest level character in the party. Elfyn cast a defensive spell to protect Fourteen as the attack hit him. The force of the blow still knocked him back however and he struggled to get up quickly before the next attack began. Grimmjow rushed behind the enemy and slashed vertically across its back.
The monster recoiled and flashed. "I've seen that before," said Elfyn. "Some bosses gain temporary resistance from an attribute attack being attacked by it."
"You mean to tell me I can't just use my sword to kill it?" Grimmjow asked angrily.
"These types of bosses are supposed to lose the resistance after a couple minutes of having it so until then I'll hit it with spells. Cover me," said Elfyn, dodging an attack from the boss. Fourteen cast a fire spell at the enemy to get its attention back but failed. Elfyn cast a number of spells quickly, each of a different variety. Grimmjow had to block the attacks aimed at both Fourteen and Elfyn at the same time leaving no room to defend himself. Soon, the boss began using magic to attack. Just as he had begun this, Grimmjow had his chance to attack again. The boss began charging what looked to be a powerful spell but was stopped by the force of Grimmjow's sword against its body. The rest of the pattern happened in about the same fashion it had the last time. Again, the boss was interrupted mid-spell and was forced to lose special points.
Fourteen noticed both Elfyn's and Grimmjow's health was low and began to heal them. The boss, however, used an ability to steal Fourteen's special points and then cast a quick spell against Elfyn. Elfyn had been the only one with resurrections or reviving spells at the time and slowly began to dematerialize without being able to do anything about it.
"Sorry, guys,” he said before the hexagons faded completely. Grimmjow not only looked angry, but was angry. The boss' health, having been at a quarter of what it had been at the start, dropped more than halfway from one stroke of Grimmjow's blade. He now more easily dodged the attacks from the boss but also didn't let its attacks get near Fourteen. Exactly as the time for the boss' resistance to physical attacks had ended again, it was slain by Grimmjow. He was breathing heavily and was still in the position his strike had ended in.
Grimmjow had obtained a strange item called "I)@+/-\ (0l^3" and left it alone in his inventory, ignoring it. "Let's go," he said. "Next time you follow me, got it?" Fourteen nodded his head and followed Grimmjow back through the passage and into the one they had skipped before. It lead to a spiraling staircase that seemed to go on forever. Once they reached the top, they pushed at what looked like a door and a passage led into the treasure room that had been locked before. Neither bothered to take the treasure and instead gated out.
---
They arrived back in Dun Loireag to find Elfyn waiting for them.
"That didn't take long," he commented.
"I hope you didn't lose to much data dieing," replied Grimmjow. Elfyn shook his head "no".
"I had saved the day before entering the dungeon," he responded. "I was the exact same level entering as exiting."
"Then you could have left the whole time!?" Grimmjow asked, frustrated.
"I didn't want to leave you all alone down there though." Grimmjow's eyes widened with understanding as he looked up. He quickly turned his face back to normal but muttered a couple words that could have been recognized as "thank you". "So Fourteen, do you know any good places to hang out?" asked Elfyn.
He knew just such a place. "Follow me," said Fourteen.
---
As Fourteen turned into the alley leading to the docks he saw a considerable amount of people there. They were all standing around as if someone had died.
"Fourteen?" questioned Liff.
"Yes?" Fourteen asked as his two new friends had turned the corner.
"Where were you and why didn't you respond to our flash mail?" Liff asked.
"That's no reason to act depressed," commented Fourteen on the sight he had originally walked into.
"We wouldn't be worried if you didn't give us a scare," said Rex.
"Wow, this is a popular place," said Elfyn, surveying all the people. "You must be pretty popular, Fourteen."
"He saved me," said Liff proudly.
"And he helped us out well too," said Rex motioning towards his group.
"He's not too bad I guess. Has guts to fight a guy too strong for him," said Kyo. Fourteen couldn't help but flush at all the positive comments. All but the quieter ones, Fourteen and Mikauonino, began chatting then until the suggestion came up.
"Hey, we should make a guild," suggested Liff. "Fourteen could be the leader since he ended up bringing us all together."
"What are you going to do call this guild? And where do you plan to get the funds for it?" asked Grimmjow. Liff stayed as quiet as Fourteen and Mikauonino and began thinking on it. Eventually, they had all quieted down and just sat around listening to the flow of the water in the river. It was a calming sound to listen to.
"I'm tired, I think I'll log off," said Fourteen eventually, and he got up and did just so. The others slowly left one by one as well.
---
"He seems to be making much more development now Mr. Genki," said the man working at the monitor. He continued to scan the data with his eyes reading today's adventure. "Of course, there was the irregularity where we have no data but we can probably guess some of the things that happened."
"And that is?" asked the large man known as Genki.
"I'm afraid I don't know yet sir, I'll contact you as soon as I do though."
"See to it that you do, it takes quite a bit of time to create a fake past you know."
"Yes sir."
---Chapter 5 End---
 

Chapter 6

---Chapter 6---
Hei sat on a bench in Carmina Gadelica, staring out at the lake the town sat upon and the moon that was reflected on the water. The way he sat on the bench was considered strange because he faced the opposite way most people would. He only faintly remembered the battle from a few days before. It had been his darker personality that had fought that fight, and not the side of him sitting there now. There were few people around for not many of the players cared much for the dark streets of Carmina Gadelica. Hei, however, enjoyed the darkness.
"Hi," said a voice familiar to Hei. Fourteen sat on the bench opposite from the one Hei sat at, staring at him. Hei looked behind him to see who had addressed him. He remembered having tried to attack him but failed. Hei was a little curious why Fourteen would come to say "Hi" even after the incident a few days ago.
"You don't hate me?" asked Hei.
"Why would I hate you?"
"I tried to kill you."
"And?" Hei couldn't think of what to say. Most people he met seemed to dislike him after meeting his darker personality, even his own brother. "Why were you fighting with your brother?" asked Fourteen, still curious about why he'd want to harm Reaver.
"You may not believe me..."
"Why?"
"I have two personalities. One good, the one I am now, and one bad, the one you met me as," explained Hei. "I was only 14 when I first noticed the split and I don't really like telling anyone."
"Why not?"
"I'm afraid they may not like me as much," Hei answered. They were silent and soon enough Hei turned back to the lake and moon. Fourteen got up and sat looking the same way as Hei was on the same bench. Hei was glad for the company and continued to stare out with the strange player next to him.
---
"Thanks for your help again today," said Liff as he logged out. Reaver had helped him train again and had returned to Dun Loireag. They would have been training longer had it not been for Reaver reminding Liff of his homework. Reaver nodded and decided to walk about the town. He crossed the bridge that linked the island together, heading for the edge of the island.
"Hello there, Reaver is it?" said Grimmjow, undetected as Reaver passed a rock after departing from the bridge.
"And you're Grimmjow, right?" asked Reaver, turning around to face him.
"Ah, so good of you to remember me," said Grimmjow. "Anyway, down to business. I need you to tell me about this item I got recently."
"Why me?"
"You're an older player than I am," Grimmjow answered. "Besides, this item doesn't seem normal."
"What's the name?"
"It's in leet." Reaver thought for a minute.
"Can you read it?" he asked. "If not then it'll be harder to help you."
"I don't spend all my time on the computer. I do have a life you know." Reaver once again went silent with thought. The most effective idea was also likely the most dangerous, for all parties involved. He pushed this idea out of his mind looking for other options. Eventually, he gave in to his mental struggle.
"I have contacts, that may be able to reach someone who can help you," he said in a serious tone. "Although, I'd rather not have to use this as our solution."
"Who is this, someone?" asked Grimmjow, also turning serious. If the only option was to use one that was unwanted, he knew this item was sure to be rare in some way.
"I don't know much about who it is," answered Reaver. "Just that he or she's a hacker." Being a hacker wasn't the only reason Reaver didn't want to contact this stranger. He knew practically nothing about the person either.
"Ah, you've got pretty shady contacts then," commented Grimmjow, joking. "Well, now I'm even more interested in this mystery item." Reaver suddenly became distracted for a moment. "What? Am I too boring for you?"
"Sorry, I've got to go somewhere."
"Well, later then." Reaver started to leave and just as he passed the rock Grimmjow had been standing by, Grimmjow moved behind him. "Don't forget, I want to know what this item's about." Reaver continued to the chaos gate and left.
---
Both Hei and Fourteen still stared out upon the lake and moon. Each of their attentions were focused slightly differently, Fourteen's at the water, and Hei's at the moon. People occasionally passed or came to stop and stare at the strange sight. Regardless of the fact that they both usually sat silently whenever they were seen in root towns, their differing habits, hobbies, and personalities made the pair strange being together. As another group of people passed them by, Hei spoke up.
"I thought about our conversation from earlier," he said, still staring in the same direction. "I decided to tell my brother." Fourteen remained silent except for a soft, short hum acknowledging he heard Hei. "He should be here soon if he decides to come." Just as Hei said this, Reaver walked over to them, and sat normally next to Fourteen.
"Well?" he asked Hei. Hei turned around to face Reaver.
"I'm sorry I kept it from you, but this guy here-"
"Fourteen," interrupted Reaver.
"Sorry, Fourteen here helped me decide to tell you." Hei paused for a minute to find the exact right words. Reaver had become curious. He knew Fourteen had that effect on people occasionally but he couldn't understand that Hei seemed like a different person than normal, whatever normal was for him.
"So what do you want to tell me?" asked Reaver, curiously.
"I have a split personality. By sheer coincidence you seemed to be meeting me more as my bad self more often back then," confessed Hei. "To be honest, I think I may have turned into my darker half more often too." Reaver laughed. He didn't see how anyone would fall for something like this. However, when he saw Fourteen had the same expressionless stare and not a hint of finding it funny or odd, he began to take Hei more seriously.
"Weather you're lying to me or telling the truth," Reaver began. "I forgive you. It would make some things make sense." Hei smiled and looked up at Reaver.
"Thank you."
---Chapter 6 End---
 

Chapter 7

---Chapter 7---
The man at the computer sifted through the data on the screen. Once again, he reviewed the day's happenings. Nothing was unnatural; things were progressing just as they were supposed to. After thirteen failures it was pleasing to have a sometimes interesting to have a non-sitting day to watch, read, or otherwise. Genki warped into the room and moved towards the computer man quickly.
"There's been a problem," Genki said. "Hodge, I want you to examine the records of zero-one-four more carefully." Hodge, the computer man, turned around to Genki.
"Should I look through the older records sir?" Hodge asked. He was fairly sure he had to and how far back to look through but he wanted to avoid extra work if he could.
"Yes, up to the point he met that first player," ordered Genki. "The idea of something like this happening because of a program I designed is absurd!"
"Your programs are very capable sir," commented Hodge. Genki assumed he was appealing to him for reasons other than admiration and ignored Hodge's comment. As Genki turned to leave, Hodge spoke up once more. "What exactly did happen sir?"
"One of our Data Cores has gone missing." With that, Genki rushed off.
---
"Man, where is that guy?" Grimmjow questioned, standing by the spot Fourteen frequented in Mac Anu. He was beginning to give up when someone began to turn the corner. "Fourteen?" Grimmjow asked the unknown character. Mikauonino turned the corner, against Grimmjow's hopes.
"No, just me," said Mikauonino moving toward the edge of the dock to sit down. Grimmjow sighed but decided to ask Mikauonino the question he had prepared for Fourteen.
"You'll do fine then," said Grimmjow. "I need you to hold an item for me over night, think you can do it?" Mikauonino turned to his acquaintance in surprise.
"Why do you need me to hold it? Won't it be fine with you just logging off?" asked he asked.
"It would if I didn't think I might lose this thing without keeping it online," answered Grimmjow. "I don't know how this item works."
"What's it called?"
"See for yourself," answered Grimmjow, handing Mikauonino the item. He hadn't expected to receive an item with its name in leet. Mikauonino could hardly understand it, and wasn't willing to gamble on what it meant. "So will you keep it for me until tomorrow? Mikauonino couldn't help but agree to helping Grimmjow. He had a fairly difficult time not accepting requests of people and some people who knew this even tended to abuse this flaw he had.
"Yeah, I'll help," sighed Mikauonino as he turned back to the river. Grimmjow thanked him and left to save and logout. Mikauonino sat there for hours on end. He grew very tired though he never let himself fall asleep. Several thoughts to relieve the boredom that gripped him passed his mind but most ideas put him at risk of dying and losing the item he now held. After thinking of this flaw, he saved and moved toward the chaos gate. When he got there, however, he didn't have a clue where to go and returned to the river spot.
It turned into an early morning from the late night it had been not long before and it became harder and harder to stay awake while staring at the soothing flow of the river. Eventually, Mikauonino fell asleep at his computer and simply sat there in the game.
He had a fairly loud alarm clock in the real world because he was a heavy sleeper. This, not having awakened him, teemed with his mother's yelling.
"Trevor! Wake up!" shouted his mother angrily. The alarm clock had done the job of waking her up rather than its owner. Trevor woke up to see Mac Anu just as it faded away. "You were playing that game all night?" his mother asked.
"Uh, um..." was all Trevor could seem to say. He knew he couldn't object on the grounds that he had slept because he knew she knew that. His mind was still foggy from waking up so suddenly and he couldn't think of any excuse to use.
"Well, not only are you going to still have to go to school, but you won't be playing that game for a while," said Trevor's mother.
"But, mom!"
"No buts," she said. "Now hurry up and get ready for school!" Trevor did just that. Throughout the day, he worried about what may have happened to Grimmjow's strange item.
---
The two of them were locked in conversation. Both of them thought it amazing the whole group had been united together only a couple days ago. The thought that a whole eight people had been brought together by a single player was extraordinary to them. Not even Elfyn, the older player in the conversation, could believe it easily. The chat was coming to an end now though and they were about to part.
"You sure you can't stay on and help?" asked Rex hopefully.
"Yeah, I've got a big test coming up and I like to study extra for those," replied Elfyn. "Sorry. Maybe one of the others can help you, Grimmjow and Reaver are strong."
"I figured you'd be more willing to help," said Rex. "Grimmjow doesn't seem like the kind of person who'd help someone like me, and Reaver seems to busy with Liff." Rex had been keeping in contact with the others as best he could but still found it difficult."
"You should ask one of them anyway," responded Elfyn. "Well, I've got to go, bye." Elfyn disappeared in the yellow rings that signified his logging off of the game and proceeded to study. Rex stood there for only a minute or so until he decided to go to the dock. Mikauonino noticed him and ran over to him quickly.
"Ok, I don't have much time," said Mikauonino quickly. "I need you to hold this item and get it to Grimmjow when he logs on." Though it was clearly urgent, Rex questioned it anyway.
"Why don't you do it?"
"I've been grounded and I'm sneaking on right now as it is," said the hasty Mikauonino, shoving the item into Rex's hands. Before Rex had the chance to give him back the strange thing, Mikauonino disappeared as Elfyn had. Rex sighed and continued on his way to the dock, wondering who he'd run into next before reaching his destination. No one else he knew crossed his path and he arrived to find Fourteen sitting there with Liff. He went to sit by them and no questions were asked.
They sat there for almost half an hour, all staring at the water and its flow. As footsteps began coming closer, both Liff and Rex looked back toward the corner simultaneously. A good looking woman with short red hair and purple eyes rounded the corner. She wore what looked like standard wavemaster clothing, a white robe with yellow trim, only it had one difference from the normal attire. The cloak was cut revealing her belly button down to her waist where she wore the rest of the robe as a skirt.
"Aha!" exclaimed the woman, excitedly. "There were rumors but I wasn't sure how accurate they might have been." She stepped forward and crouched down next to Fourteen and forcefully shook his hand. "I'm Marie," she told him.
"Fourteen," answered Fourteen to the strange, enthusiastic woman. She stepped back and stood back up, still ignoring Fourteen's companions.
"Oh, I know who you are," she said. "You're a popular topic of discussion right now. 'Strange player character who likes to sit at the Mac Anu docks not only begins socializing with a select group of people but also begins to move about. He also has surprisingly dark clothes for what his assumed level is.'" Marie recited.
"So why are you so interested in him?" asked Liff, joining the one sided conversation. Marie seemed almost surprised when Liff made himself known. She even noted Rex's presence.
"Oh, hello, who are you?" Marie asked.
"I'm Liff, this is Rex. We're part of that 'select group' you talked about." At this Marie seemed to grow even more enthusiastic.
"Oh! It's very nice to meet you, I'm Marie," she said as if they hadn't been there for the first introduction. "You could say I'm an information hunter. But I won't tell you if that's right." Liff sighed and looked back to the water. He found it helped clear his mind occasionally. "So, I want to know all about you," said Marie to Fourteen. Fourteen began to turn around when Marie spoke up again. "Hold that thought! I need to go for now. Stay there now, I'll be back later."
Marie left the dock and Grimmjow took his place. "Ah, you're finally attracting girls now," he said. "'Bout time. Now, have any of you seen Mikauonino?" Both Fourteen and Liff shook their heads no but Rex rose to face Grimmjow.
"He said to give this to you when you got on," said Rex. "He's been grounded and apparently won't be playing for a while."
"As long as he didn't log off or anything," said Grimmjow. "Now, I'd love to stay and chat, but I've just got a call from someone. See you later then." Grimmjow walked off at this and left the trio of Rex, Liff, and Fourteen alone again.
---
There didn't appear to be any links to what had happened. Hodge had several days to reexamine though and for that reason, continued at his sluggish pace of re-watching the daily record of things that happened. Soon enough, he came upon something interesting. Zero-one-four had entered an area that contained the missing item. He doubted this to be mere coincidence anymore and watched carefully. When he came across the stunning final blow to the creature that held the Data Core, he realized who was likely to have it on his person.
"Anything?" asked Genki, warping into the room. His temper seemed shorter so Hodge had to be careful about what he said each time.
"I found something interesting, sir," he answered. "It looks as though this player may have it." A series of beeps emitted from Genki's coat and Genki proceeded to but a walky-talky like communicator out from his pocket.
"It's been reported that a certain player has been reported to have logged out with the Data Core," said an official from the communicator. "This character, whose name is 'Mikauonino', is currently logged off but was reported on about forty five minutes ago."
"Affirmative," replied Genki. He already knew what the official, or rather, the head staff, wanted done. He looked at Hodge who looked back at him. "You heard the name, right? Search for any links to subject Zero-one-four."
"Yes sir," responded Hodge, turning back to his monitor to begin the review of each day over again. Genki warped out as quickly as he had warped in and rushed back to work.
---Chapter 7 End---
 

Chapter 8

---Chapter 8---
It didn't take long for the people Reaver had contacted to get there. The area he had chosen for the meeting was a forest and was deep into it. The first to arrive was Marie, skipping in her steps. She had a clear smile that told Reaver that she had achieved more than a single goal in her last endeavor.
"So," she began, skipping the greetings, "the guardian of the people finally comes back here, eh?" Reaver nodded instead of giving details. He knew that if he gave her too much information the subject would quickly change. "Not gonna talk for me?" Marie asked. "That's fine, I got to meet a character gaining in fame anyway. So, you said you wanted to ask about getting into contact with that hacker?" Grimmjow gated into the area and once he arrived at the meeting spot, was surprised to see Marie there.
"Hey, you were at the dock in Mac Anu," he stated. Marie laughed.
"Really? I would never have guessed," she responded. "I'm Marie, and you're Grimmjow, also known as 'Charger' or 'Anger fist'," she said, introducing herself and her new acquaintance. Grimmjow wasn't too surprised by the knowledge of his existence; he was fairly famous amongst some of the players. Regardless of this he asked her how she knew him.
"How do you know who I am?" he asked. Marie smiled at him.
"That's for me to know and for you not to worry about," she answered. "Now, Reaver, you had something you wanted to ask about?" Reaver had kept quiet during the entire conversation though Marie didn't seem confused or concerned about Grimmjow's presence. Instead, she seemed even more excited than when she entered the forest.
"Well, Grimmjow here has an item that neither of us can explain," explained Reaver. Marie looked interested at the mention that neither could explain.
"What do you mean when you say you can't explain it?"
"He means," answered Grimmjow," the item's name is in leet."
"Let me see." Grimmjow didn't comply.
"Go ahead and let her," said Reaver. "She's an info hunter but not a thief." Grimmjow reluctantly agreed and Marie had her hands on the strange, unexplainable item. It was just as they had said, it was in leet and there didn't seem to be any use for it at the moment. She had only heard of such an item from one person.
"Unreadable all right," Marie said. "But don't take my word for it." She handed Grimmjow back the item. Now, however, he could see the name of the item clearly. It had changed from I)@+/-\ (0l^3 to Data Core, though it still seemed to have no use.
"Wait a minute, you're the hacke-" began Grimmjow. He paused before finishing due to witnessing Marie gate out of the area.
"Huh?" questioned Reaver. There hadn't seemed to have been any reason to disappear as she had to him.
"She's the hacker, Reaver. That's the only explanation for the item changing into a legible text."
"You mean you can read it now? What does it say?"
"Yeah, she must have hacked it while she was holding it to change the name. Its name appears to be 'Data Core'." Reaver looked genuinely confused. Grimmjow didn't have an idea of what it may have meant either.
"We ought to track her down and ask her about it," suggested Reaver. Grimmjow looked distracted. He had received an interesting flash mail.
Subject: Data Core
Sender: Marie
If you want to know more about the Data Core,
you first need to agree to a few terms.
The first is not to tell my secret to anyone unless told you can by me.
The second is to keep the information entirely secret.
The last condition is not to get the admins on my tail in any way.
If you agree to these terms, I can tell you where we'll meet.

---
The idea finally came to Rex; he'd ask Kyo for help leveling up. When he attempted to contact him, however, there was no response. Sighing, Rex turned back to the water. Fourteen, on the other hand, got up.
"Going somewhere?" asked Liff.
"Kyo said something about Jeck and his friends and asked me to go to 'Theta: Quiet, Raging, Icecap'," answered Fourteen. That explained why Kyo hadn't replied to Rex's flash mail, he was busy with making his own. Occasionally, the flash mailing system glitched in a way that kept a flash mail being sent. This was a rare happening though and not many people were worried by it.
"Mind if I tag along?" asked Rex. "I just asked him if he'd help me get stronger anyway but he hasn't replied." Fourteen agreed to let him come and Liff stayed at the dock, deep in thought. Rex felt lucky to be able to go with Fourteen because he was only able to access up to the theta server. They reached the Chaos gate and warped to the area. Fourteen was calm in doing so, but Rex was slightly anxious.
---
"You did tell him to come didn't you?" asked Jeck to Kyo as Fourteen and Rex warped into the area. Ort and Kith were the first to notice the pair enter the area. They were in a place covered with snow and pine trees stood in different places.
"Jeck, he's here, along with another player," they said simultaneously. Jeck turned away from Kyo and smiled wickedly.
"Just as I planned," he said. "You didn't expect to come across me did you?"
"Yes we did," answered Fourteen. Jeck looked half astonished and turned to face Kyo.
"You didn't actually believe I'd do as you say did you?" asked Kyo. Jeck's astonished look quickly turned into an angry one. "Well, whatever, it's not like you stood much of a chance against me if you had tried to force me to call for him anyway."
"I'll get you after I take care of this guy!" Jeck shouted. He ran at Fourteen swinging his blade. Fourteen cast a barrier spell to stop the blow but do no more. In return, he cast a fire spell at Jeck who was pushed back. Ort and Kith moved forward to take Jeck's place but failed in their poor strategy. Fourteen did the same to them as he had to Jeck. The axes the two men wielded pierced the small shield Fourteen had conjured up however, and in response, Rex used a healing item to heal him.
"You're all weaker," said Fourteen. "Didn't you save before going to the pyramid area?" Jeck yelled in reply and swung his sword again. This one was not as easily dodged. Luckily, Kyo moved to Fourteen's aid as the sword came at him and countered the blow. Hit hard, Jeck was knocked off his feat and laid there in the snow. His lackeys moved forward to avenge their dying leader. They closed in on Kyo as Fourteen backed away to let him finish. They swung their blades with all the strength they could muster. It was only after they had finished this that they noticed Kyo coming down on the axes that were just swung. Kyo landed on top of the weapons and flipped behind the two heavy axmen to deliver a blow that left them as crippled as it had Jeck.
"Hey, Kyo," began Rex, remembering what he had come for, "could you train me?" Kyo agreed and they all left the group of three crippled players lying on the snow covered ground. No considerable amount of time passed until they were joined by another presence.
"I know what you want; it’s to get back at that character Fourteen. If you allow me to help you, we both have something to gain." Jeck looked up to see the speaker. He accepted the offer.
---Chapter 8 End---
 

Chapter 9

---Chapter 9---
Taylor returned home from school that Friday to find his mother waiting for him. He instantly panicked. He had thought he hadn't been caught sneaking onto the game the previous day but now he wasn't as sure. Although he was panicked, he kept the same composure he had before hand, only a little tenser.
"Hello," said Taylor to his mother. She returned this with her own greeting and went straight to business.
"I'm sorry about blowing up yesterday," she apologized. "As long as you keep finish your homework you can keep playing. I know that game is important to you." Taylor eased up, both calmed and relieved.
"Thanks mom," he said, rushing to his room. The weekend began today so this freedom was gladly welcomed. He got to work on his homework, eager to finish and return to The World.
---
Elfyn looked skeptical. He had come to Fourteen since he could find no one else online at the time. Grimmjow too, however, had come to meet with Fourteen. Grimmjow came looking for someone other than the quiet boy who often sat at Mac Anu's back dock.
"So, since you're here, why don't you come with me?" asked Grimmjow. Neither Fourteen nor Elfyn knew where exactly Grimmjow planned to go and this caused both of them to be hesitant, Fourteen less so than Elfyn.
"What exactly are you planning to do there?" asked Fourteen. Grimmjow shrugged in reply, indicating he wasn't sure.
"Well, maybe I'll come," said Elfyn. "Are you sure you don't know what we'd do there?" Fourteen turned back to the water from looking at Grimmjow. He appeared willing to continue the conversation, however.
"No, I'm not entirely sure what I'm gonna be doing," answered Grimmjow. He looked over to the corner and then back to his two friends. "Look, are you coming or not? I can't wait forever." Fourteen stood up and turned around, ready to follow.
"Lead the way," said Elfyn, still slightly unsure. He was fairly certain whatever happened there wouldn't be too bad anyway. They made their way through the crowds and towards the chaos gate. Once they arrived there, Grimmjow stopped.
"I almost forgot," he said, "I still need to tell you the area. Delta: Frozen, Missing, Coast." After saying this, Grimmjow proceeded to teleport there. Elfyn and Fourteen followed quickly afterward.
---
They arrived at a large area covered in snow. There were pine trees here and there and a large, icy looking structure not far away. Monster portals were set randomly along the ground and easily visible.
"Let's get moving," commanded Grimmjow to the others. He started moving in a random direction and the two others followed without question, assuming he knew what they were doing. They moved across the cold field, fighting monsters whenever they came across them. Following this pattern, they soon discovered that they stood upon a frozen lake.
Occasionally, monsters appeared out of their portals in a different way than normal. In this area, some creatures broke through the ice that covered the lake and once they were defeated, the lake would refreeze to cover the gap. Grimmjow eventually led them to the edge of the field. It was blocked by a fast flowing part of the water that stayed unfrozen.
"Why are we here?" asked Fourteen, bored.
"Must have taken a wrong turn," Grimmjow lied, turning toward the great, ice structure and moving that way. His company didn't question him and they trudged back through the snow, doing exactly as they had done before. It took far less time to reach the point they had targeted this time, due to the lack of enemies standing in their way. Before them was the entrance to the dungeon. It had been placed in an obvious spot and was fairly large. The only thing that seemed to help mask it were the stalactites of ice that hung from its entrance.
"Are we going in here?" Elfyn asked, curious. It would have been better for them to have entered there in the first place in both Elfyn and Fourteen's opinion because of the significant difference in their strength compared to the monsters that inhabited the area.
"Uh... Yeah, of course we're going in here!" agreed Grimmjow loudly. He moved forward, starting to enter the cave, when yellow warp rings engulfed him. He quickly disappeared from sight.
"Huh?" questioned Elfyn, also moving toward the entrance of the dungeon. Unlike Grimmjow, Elfyn was not consumed by the yellow rings but was able to move forward into the dungeon. Returning to Fourteen, he sighed. "What happened I wonder?"
"Maybe he gated out of the area," suggested Fourteen. Elfyn shook his head in reply.
"No, after all that trouble to take us to a dungeon filled with weak monsters and lead us across a big area like this, I doubt he just went back to Mac Anu." Elfyn looked around as if Grimmjow would appear out of the snow and ice like the monsters often did.
"Well, I'm going to go back," said Fourteen. "If I see him I'll let you know." Elfyn grabbed Fourteen wildly before Fourteen could disappear.
"Why don't you wait a bit," he said. Fourteen agreed and they stood in the snow waiting. Minutes passed slowly until eventually half an hour passed. Fourteen began to leave and Elfyn did nothing to stop him this time. Within a few seconds, Fourteen disappeared and left Elfyn to wait.
---
Grimmjow was unable to move from where he was. He could tell he was somewhere high, somewhere frozen, and somewhere where he probably shouldn't be. He gathered this from being able to see some place past the platform he stood on, the fact that the ground was covered in snow, and the idea that he was somewhere high at the moment.
"Good thing you talk so loud," began a familiar voice from close behind him. "I was beginning to think you wouldn't come." Marie walked in front of Grimmjow and faced him with a disapproving look. "I thought I told you not to bring anyone though."
"You said not to bring an admin or get let them know about you in anyway," corrected Grimmjow. Marie's expression didn't change through this.
"Well, as of now, that's a condition," she said. "Now I've had to go to all the extra trouble to get you alone. I almost forgot you were coming, I did so much." She turned her back on him and began pacing on the platform, trying to remember exactly what she had gotten him there for. Once she was no longer facing him, Grimmjow silently struggled in an attempt to free himself. "Don't bother," she said, continuing her pacing, "I restrained you completely. Can't even log off now, only speak."
"What if I just shut off my computer?" asked Grimmjow, a frown beginning to form on his face from anger. Marie faced Grimmjow again.
"I'm prepared for that too," she said. "Let's just say if you leave this conversation before I care, you'll lose all your character data and be reverted back to a level one of another class."
"You're bluffing," stated Grimmjow positively, though his frown grew more noticeable. "To do that you'd need to-"
"I'd need to get past a lot of security and change some data around," said Marie, finishing Grimmjow's sentence for him. "That won't be hard," she lied. Grimmjow gave into this and stopped trying to move.
"Why restrain me anyway?" he asked venomously. Marie laughed at the question and stepped towards Grimmjow.
"To be able to talk with you of course," she answered, "you can't expect me to believe it's completely safe for me to talk to you without safety measures. After all, you are quite violent. Now, however, let's get straight to what you came for so we can both end this."
"You mean the Data Core?" said Grimmjow. He had almost forgotten what he had come for in the first place. "Well, get on with it."
"'Well get on with it' what?" Grimmjow rolled his eyes and let his frown remain constant.
"Well get on with it please," he said, annoyed. Marie looked pleased her influence took control of him and stepped back to give him room.
"To begin," she said," a Data Core is more than just a rare item; it's something very important to the infrastructure of The World. By this, I mean it gives the admins the power they have."
"That's a stupid thing to implement into a game," said Grimmjow skeptically.
"Don't interrupt. Supposedly they didn't create the Data Cores and when they found them they couldn't destroy them. So, they put them in special places and kept them under protection. You, however, seem to have stumbled upon one of them. The thing I don't understand is that you survived. Alone, you wouldn't likely win against one of the monsters that guard it."
"I had help," said Grimmjow, answering the unasked question. "Two friends of mine, who you separated me from, had come to the same place and we found a way to the guy with the item."
"That makes sense. Now, who are those friends?" asked Marie. Grimmjow didn't see any harm in telling the names to her so he answered her question. "Fourteen and Elfyn, eh? Sounds familiar." Marie paused for a minute and then resumed her questioning. "What area was this place at?"
"Theta: Racing, Quick, Sands," answered Grimmjow.
"I see. Now, back to informing you. The Data Core you had allowed admins to pass the limit on strength everyone has. Their in game abilities match their levels now. The other Data Cores- Ah! I knew I recognized your friend's name!" Grimmjow was confused at Marie's sudden, strange enthusiasm.
"Huh?" questioned Grimmjow. "Which one? What about them?"
"Fourteen comes after the first thirteen numbers, not including zero or negatives," replied Marie. "This Fourteen happens to be the fourteenth A.I. in a series created by a group of admins working in the Artificial Intelligence branch of the company that owns this game, CC Corp."
---Chapter 9 End---
 

Chapter 10

---Chapter 10---
Once Fourteen returned to Mac Anu, he wandered aimlessly through the town. He thought of nothing in particular and simply retraced his steps once he had walked through the entire water surrounded town. Soon enough, he had returned to the chaos gate for the second time. Mikauonino appeared before him as he arrived, the yellow rings fading as Fourteen approached.
"Ah, finally done," said Mikauonino to himself, stretching. He then noticed Fourteen walking toward him. "Oh, I wasn't going to do anything but as long as you're here, wanna go to a dungeon or something?" Fourteen shrugged as Kyo appeared behind Mikauonino. Kyo took notice to the pair immediately.
"Are the two of you going somewhere?" he asked. Fourteen shrugged again. He was unsure if the second adventure that day would be more exciting and was almost unwilling to chance it.
"Sure, you wanna come?" asked Mikauonino.
"That depends on where you're going," answered Kyo. It didn't matter much to him but he preferred more challenging things.
"How about," Mikauonino started, pausing before finishing his statement. He seemed inactive to both Kyo and Fourteen but returned in little more than a minute and a half. Finally, he finished his sentence, "'Delta: Calm, Radiant, Plains'?" Kyo frowned in response. It wasn't what he had hoped for.
"Well, I suppose I'll go," Kyo reluctantly agreed. Fourteen prepared to follow as well. Mikauonino noticed the reluctance in both of them and gave them a reason for going.
"It's only to kill time and boredom right now," he said, "besides, you looked bored Fourteen." None of them responded and seeing that the silence was unlikely to be broken soon, Mikauonino led the way to the area.
---
They arrived at a sunny plain. The keywords of the area described it well, there were few monster portals and the sunlight seemed to reflect on the grass. An average looking dungeon entrance for the area, a large boulder-like stone with steps that led down into the earth, seemingly stood not too far away. The three of them started for the dungeon right from the start. They triggered only a couple portals and defeated the monsters with ease. The path to the dungeon was longer than it had looked at first though it posed no real challenge. After two more monster portals, they arrived at the entrance.
"That was longer than I thought it might be," said Fourteen. Kyo moved forward onto the dungeon steps.
"Sometimes it's like that," responded Kyo, "these things aren't powerful though, so it doesn't matter." Kyo was the one to lead through into and through the main passage. As soon as the path split, Mikauonino took the lead. The dungeon was purely stone, and the monster inside of the dungeon posed little more threat to the three adventurers than the ones outside of it.
The dungeon proved to be far larger than most dungeons on the delta server; with many more twists, turns, and splits in the path. Occasionally, the three had to retrace their steps to avoid complete confusion. After taking what seemed to be all the paths, they finally came upon a stone staircase, leading downward into the deeper depths of the dungeon. Little conversation was made during battle and they had soon worn down the subjects they could think of exploring the seemingly endless tunnels. The lower level of the dungeon seemed to have even more paths to enter, though they could not be sure due to the darkness that increased as they proceeded.
"Well, it's definitely killed time, but I'm getting bored," said Kyo as they turned yet another dark corner. "Do either of you have a sprite ocarina?" Fourteen rarely carried support items and only went to shops for equipment occasionally. His only spell that could evacuate a character from a dungeon only affected himself, the caster. Mikauonino also had no sprite ocarinas to speak of so they both answered that they didn't.
"Well, it is getting a bit boring going through here. Even the monsters are beginning to become less frequent," commented Mikauonino. "Let's try to get out of here then."
"That would be easy if we knew how to get out of here," responded Fourteen, looking into the darkness.
"We came from that direction," said Mikauonino, pointing in a direction. Kyo shook his head.
"No, we came from there didn't we?" he said, motioning in another direction. Soon enough, before the two could begin arguing, Fourteen began walking past them in a different direction than both of them. Mikauonino began to follow, but Kyo did not. "Come on," he said, "it's this way." Fourteen turned to Kyo and began to follow him regardless of what he himself thought on the matter. Mikauonino sighed but didn't want to be separated from the others so he reluctantly followed.
The path only seemed to get darker. The tunnel also seemed wetter than before. Kyo himself had doubts that he was wrong but he refused to stop going. The path lead to a damp wall, and nothing more. Both Kyo and Mikauonino began to turn around, Kyo feeling slightly defeated, while Fourteen examined the wall as best he could in the darkness. He touched it looking to see if it was anything like the wall he encountered with Grimmjow and Elfyn. It wasn't icy, but there were cracks that seemed to outline the wall as if it was a door.
"Hey, Kyo," began Fourteen. Kyo turned around.
"What?"
"Could you try to break this wall down?"
"You want him to do what?" asked Mikauonino. "Don't you know he'll do it?" Kyo grinned and moved toward the wall. He began by slashing at the wall with his blade. Once this failed, he switched to his fists. This proved much more useful. The wall cracked more and small bits of rubble began to crumble off of it. After several more blows, the wall began to crumble in bigger pieces. Not long after that, the path into the next room was open.
They entered to find the largest room they had come across yet. Water droplets fell from the ceiling at regular intervals and the faint glow of a monster portal lit the room. The general warning for high level enemies appeared in each of their flash mail inboxes.
"What the heck?" questioned Kyo, confused. "Why is it giving us this warning?"
"Maybe it's just glitched," replied Mikauonino. "This is probably the boss so let's hurry and finish this so we can get out if here." Though it seemed familiar to him, Fourteen remained silent. Mikauonino moved forward only a couple steps when the glow disappeared and was replaced by the sound of flowing water. In an instant, Kyo was in front of Mikauonino and water dripped off his blade. The water started moving back toward the creature that created it, hidden by the dark.
"Whoa," said Mikauonino. He hadn't expected the attack to be so sudden. He put his up in defense and moved back.
"Fourteen, don't you have a spell to light this place up!?" asked Kyo. The thought hadn't previously occurred to Fourteen and he thought about his abilities. He found he did have such a power and quickly executed it. The room lit up, the source being Fourteen's staff and the monster was revealed. A great, liquid creature hovered above the ground and seemed to be looking at them, though it had no face.
"Let's take this thing down!" shouted Mikauonino, running at it and slashing downward. The strike passed through it and seemed to have little effect on the monster. In response, it hit Mikauonino backward with a burst of water, and sent him flying with soggy clothing across the room.
"We can't beat this thing with physical strength alone," said Kyo. "We should try freezing it or electrifying it." In response to this command, Fourteen attempted shocking the liquid mass. The monster recoiled a little but put itself in the same position and shot a blast of water at Fourteen. As Fourteen fell to the ground, Mikauonino had risen and stood defensively again. Both he and Kyo charged at their enemy and striked. The monster, in response, expanded and knocked them both down. It shot another blast of water at Fourteen as he rose but Fourteen's reflexes proved better the second time. He froze the water and got hit by the ice instead. The water did not go back to the monster once it was frozen but instead laid there stiff.
Mikauonino was the first of the blade masters to notice the block of ice, and ran toward it. He slashed it and it shattered before disappearing. "That's it!" he shouted, excitedly. "Fourteen, keep freezing those!" Fourteen did as he was told, staying as far from the monster as he could and allowing his companions to block and destroy the ice. Soon, the creature was reduced to a simple blob of water. It began bouncing, water being left in its wake, around the room and towards its attackers. Fourteen, Mikauonino, and Kyo all moved to evade the enemy. It had become much more resistant to freezing temperatures and electricity.
Suddenly, Fourteen let out an involuntary yelp of pain. "What!?" questioned Mikauonino.
"The water left on the floor is dangerous," replied Fourteen, having been stung by it. A sharp pain coursed through his leg after the strange attack, leaving him to limp more than run.
"That's it!" yelled Kyo, aggravated after having ran for an entirety of twenty minutes. He rushed at the monster, leaping over puddles of water, and mercilessly slashed at it. His blade seemed to go as fast as the monster had originally gone and soon caused the monster to die. Its form seemed to melt in midair and all the water in the room vanished with the exception of the still dripping ceiling. Kyo panted heavily and left his sword where it had been after the last strike. With the monster gone, they all relaxed. Kyo however, became alert as a strange item appeared in his inventory. It was called a l)@+/-\ (0l^3. Deciding against discarding it and leaving it there, he kept it in hopes of selling it.
"Let's just get out of here," suggested Fourteen. They found the way out to be much easier now that Fourteen's staff lit the way, and easily exited the dungeon through its entrance. Once they had escaped, they returned to Mac Anu.
---
"Well, do you guys want to try any more areas?" asked Mikauonino. He didn't doubt he already knew the answer but asked anyway. Fourteen simply shook his head no.
"Sorry, I've got something I want to find out," answered Kyo, walking in the direction Fourteen had begun to.
"Well, maybe some other time," said Mikauonino, half to them and half to himself. He walked toward the dock to find solace. He got there, only to find three women waiting for him.
The one leading them was tall with short, purple hair and matching eyes. The other two stood behind her and were of smaller height compared to their leader but of similar height in comparison to each other. One of them had medium length cut red hair with red eyes and the other had long blonde hair, once again with matching eyes. They all wore a navy blue armor that was trimmed in black. They all carried small but sturdy looking spears.
"You are about to be taken in by the admins for questioning on the suspicion of carrying an illegal item," said the leader in a commanding tone. "Do not resist, but instead, answer our questioning and your character may be spared."
"But what did I-" Mikauonino was cut off. Both he and the three armored women vanished.
---Chapter 10 End---