Once in a Blue Moon
Chapter 01: Welcome to the Complex World
[Disclaimer] I merely own the OCs in the story, all the fictional characters are copyrighted to their respected creators and the idea for this story came from Songwind's Bishonen and Bishoujo. Enjoy!
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They stood glaring at each other, she with her hands on her hips and him with his hands in fists. She was average in height, average body; golden, hair that was braided along her back resting in the center behind the belly-button. Crystal blue eyes that burned with anger, pale skin that was milky white. She wore a large black shirt with tight jeans and white socks. In her left hand was a dirty rag. He was different, tall and long silver, white hair. Creamy skins with sharp amber eyes atop his head were a pair of small dog like ears that were twitching furiously. He wore a red kimono robe with a necklace of black beads and white canine teeth. He had a shabby looking sword tied to his side, and he wore no shoes.
"I don't have to explain this to you!" She yelled.
"And I don't have to agree to it!" He growled back.
"It's not up to you!" She screamed slamming her foot down.
Around them was a sectional couch in a brown paisley pattern. Behind them was a large entertainment center with a big flat screen and various game consuls, movies, games, and such. To the left of the entertainment system was a door and to the right the room stretched out to a couple of chairs and loveseat with various bookcases with all kinds of books as well as a large stone fireplace that was currently not lit. Sitting in a rather comfy chair was a princely like boy, his hair short purple hair with two longish strands hanging on either side of his face. He had pale skin like the girl and deep purple eyes. He wore a white button up top with black slacks and socks. His legs were crossed and stared at the two arguing from over the top of his book; War of the Worlds.
"You have a job to do!" The silvery, white haired boy hissed.
"UGH! It's not like I can't do when I have the FREE TIME! I'm not slacking off from my duties there, but I have duties here too!" She protested.
The other boy silently closed his book rising from his chair. He replaced the book in one of the bookcases and walked past the boy and rested a hand on the girl's shoulder. The other boy glared and snarled at him.
"Rhiannon, do what you must. Besides InuYasha she isn't the only one who has to attend school. Riku, Yuffie, Draco, Edward, and I also have to return to our respective schools. Our break is over, we all discussed this last week why don't you stop being so obstinate with her." He said softly.
He left the room and disappeared around a corner. InuYasha was still seething, Rhiannon sighed looking at him pleadingly. He tightened his fists and stomped past her, a couple of the books and consul controllers shook, one book fell but only because it was on the edge of the shelf anyway. Rhiannon sighed sitting on the couch cradling her head in her hands.
***
It's hard to describe my life. In fact, I highly doubt anyone in the RW would believe it, well at least the ones not exposed to this lifestyle. My parents didn't, till they met the new members of my family. But you're here so I might as well try and explain this, no need for you to get lost! My name is Rhiannon; I'm currently a junior in college as a Graphic Design major. I want to be a game designer! Well, at the end of my sophomore year I was approached by a man named Naoki. He is a CEO at a company called BlueMOON. They're a computer programming company, mainly they create games. It was funny for Naoki to approach me shortly after I had declared my major. He told me about a new program they were working on; Complex World. A virtual reality game that allowed the player to team up with every fictional character ever created! Pretty cool, huh? It was a huge mess with the copyrights, but nevertheless it was done. So Naoki told me he was gathering various young Graphic related majors together to help BlueMOON test this game. Lucky me! My first day as a Graphic Design major and I basically scored my first job! Of course I agreed, so the next day I was escorted to the BlueMOON headquarters.
I wasn't alone, over a thousand other students from every walk of life was there! We were all gathered in a large room will thousands of monitors along the walls and a large portal like object in the center of the room. To make this part of the story shor, (well as short as it can be), the President of BlueMOON Tamotsu Saitou (written here in the standard Western format; first to last name). He explained the dynamics of the Complex World.
"This world is an alter-verse to our own the Real World or the RW. This world is divided up into ten sectors: Arcadia, Valea, Oceina, Radia, the Crimson Isles, Beratine, Lotra, Tera, Itine, Nuros, and Gaene. Each of these holds various provinces where the "fictional characters" live. These provinces are protected by the Emperor or Empress of these sectors. Needless to say, you cannot venture into these provinces without clarification. "
A girl around the same age as me raised her hand. Shed looked around her to see how many of us were as lost as her. Tamotsu chuckled nodding to the girl.
"I'm sorry sir, but I thought this was a game. You make it seem as though it's real."
"My dear, I'm sorry my staff seems to have misled you. But it was in your best interest. You see this world is top-secret for the time being. It's still in its infancy even though it has been around for centuries. You surely remember the basic concept of this world; you are partnered with a fictional character of your choosing to "play" through this world. Along the way you may be joined with other characters, as many as you wish."
"So like Pokémon?" A boy piped up deeper into the crowd.
Okay, okay. Complex World is ruled over by many Emperors and Empresses who protect the homes of fictional characters. As a player you team up with these characters and play through the world in an open ended game play. This I gathered easily, it was the story of the Emperors and Empresses that interested me the most. Who were they?
"They are players much like yourselves who showed their strength along with their fictional teammates and challenged the current ruler of the sectors and upon winning were blessed by the Gods or Goddesses…"
Gods and Goddesses? This is where the alter-verse idea sank in to me. This was another world…here the Gods and Goddesses of Myths existed and some were the deities of these sectors. For example in Greek Myths Athena was the deity of Athens, same concept here! By "blessed" Tamotsu explained that they accepted the Emperor and Empress of their sector. Some even found the new Emperor and Empress and influenced them to challenge the current Emperor or Empress for the throne. It's complicated, but that is gist of the world.
So we as players could choose our first partner and then would be randomly sent to a sector to learn the ways of the world and the players. And then we would be set to live our new lives! It was the next thing Tamotsu said to us that really made things interesting.
"Now you don't have to stay in Complex World, you can leave and you will be allowed to take your partners with you. Though it goes without saying you must never tell of their existence until we are ready to launch this world to the RW. But for one more explanatio: the concept of time, for every week you spend in Complex World, one hour will pass in RW. Easy enough? Well please in a orderly fashion register with BlueMOON and you be given a TimeWarp bracelet which will allow you to come and go from the RW to Complex World as well as hold all your information as well as your partners information. Thank you for being here, and enjoy!"
So that is where it started. I was nervous and unsure of what fictional character to choose. So I looked down at my shirt, it was an InuYasha tee-shirt that I had purchased at Hot Topic so that is who I chose. I was sent to Oceina; when I came face to face with InuYasha my natural fan-girly instinct hit me. Yes, I played with his ears; of course he yelled and shoved me off. He wasn't happy with me, of course he wouldn't be. Because of me he had been taken from his province, his home, his friends, and his life. That hit me as I was sitting through the seminar of my new education to the Complex World. So as we started our journey I apologized time and time again. It took seven months for him to warm up to me, SEVEN MONTHS! By then I had two new partners with me, Rikku and Gene Starwind. So by the standards of time I had been in Complex World for over a day. Realizing this, we all left for the RW. My parents weren't please with my disappearing act with no prior warning. I know Tamotsu told us not to tell anyone of the Complex World, but these were my parents and since I was sure during my summer vacation I would be spending a lot of time there I had to tell them.
Of course they didn't believe me. InuYasha, Rikku, and Gene had stayed in my room…and since InuYasha isn't the most patient person he of course found his way to my parents room steaming wanting to know when we'd go back to Complex World. My parents believed me after that…eventually they told my younger brother…and through the cycle of communications went down from there. At least I have a close knit circle so no one was really adamant about getting to Complex World. So life went on, I had to get a summer job to earn a little extra spending money that and balance my time in Complex World…the three of them were somewhat understanding to spending eight hours a day RW time at the house while I worked. Rikku enjoyed spending some of her time online, she mostly spent her time playing DDR, my family practically knows the songs by heart now! Gene would spend his time in the backyard working on his aim. And InuYasha…well sometimes he'd be out back with Gene hacking away at an old tree, or bothering Rikku trying to learn his way around the internet.
After crashing my computer once it was decided that he should stay away from it. He'd rummage through the kitchen trying to find Ramen…which my family never bought but when he demanded it I used my money to get him some. I showed him how to use the microwave to cook so and had Rikku and Gene keep an eye on him so he wouldn't burn the house down. Other times I learned he would follow me to work, I was lucky no one in town was very observant so for that summer my secret was safe. Half-way through the summer we were joined by Howl and Calcifer, Yuffie, Riku (its confusing to call one of them and have both respond!), Keiji Maeda, and Magoichi Saiga. Needless to say things started to get a little crazy! Keiji, Gene, and Magoichi became inseparable. Howl was very handy to have around, he taught me how to use various magic spells….oh that reminds me! I forgot to explain about the Garment Exchange, okay basically it works the same as the Garment Grids/Dresspheres in Final Fantasy X-2 and of course this action became usable once Rikku joined my party. But even before this each player takes a class job: up to two at a time along with their basic Cast (a title based on your level). Oh why didn't I explain this sooner?
Okay let me start with the Cast system! Casts by definition are like your rank in life in the old days (what I remember from history) you were Nobility, Peasant, ect. Well it's kinda the same thing, BUT instead it's a title based on your level as a player. So to start out you're a Novice (duh) from levels 1-20. A level 20 you change to a SuperNovice till level 40. From there you go to Valiant till level 100. Then you reach Elite…and the next Cast is Emperor/Empress but usually you stay at Elite. You can reach Guardian at level 900...but you have to go through a lot of trails and tasks to gain that Cast so there are very few players who are Guardians. Class Jobs are easy to know Mage, Cleric, Warrior, Ninja, and Bard. Pretty easy right? Well I took the Ninja and Mage class. Now Ninjas can use magic…but a Mage is more elemental and such while Ninjas use tricks more or less. Ok so the Garment Exchange is a special ability usable with characters of course from FFX-2 and a few others I can't think of right now. With this I can change between different class jobs with ease as well as special jobs…but that is something I don't need to explain right now.
So anyway back to Howl. He helped me work on my Mage abilities as well as being able to create things! So together we created a house accessed from a bookshelf in my room. Nifty huh? The house is pretty huge everyone has their own room, two large bathrooms for each gender I have my own private one…I'm special right? A HUGE living room, kitchen, dining room, meeting hall, library (though there are plenty of books in the living-room the library is more like a study area), a huge back yard that is more like a meadow surrounded by mountains! The house is amazing! And of course it's located in a remote section of Oceina. Its lovely, Howl and Calcifer did most of the work, but I help with small details I'm still learning all of this! After awhile we added two training rooms, one for physical work-outs and one for magical work outs.
This came in real handy when more teammates were added. Over the course of the next few months leading up to winter break we were joined by Yuki Sohma, Kurama (InuYasha doesn't like a full-blood demon around…though Kurama never says anything offensive), (fifth year) Draco Malfoy, Envy, Saix (Riku has a hard time accepting his presence), Kunoichi, Masamune Date (major drama with him…), Xiao Qiao, and last but not least Edward Cullen. Yes it's a house full, but never a dull moment and rarely a quite moment! Six of us attend school…Yuki, Riku, Yuffie, Draco, Edward, and me. The four fictional ones attend their own schools in Complex World…Yuffie and Riku go to school together of course. Edward…he should be attending a school in the Complex World…but being a vampire and from leaving his province he decided he didn't need to.
However, when my school started up for spring he contacted Naoki to get an identity for the R.W. Why? Simple he as well as few of the others decided its not safe for me to roam alone in the R.W. he chose himself for the reason that aside from Draco they are the only two who could pass for a person of the R.W. But Draco's abilities as well as hatred for the "Muggles" disqualified him instantly. You see, toward the end of July BlueMOON went public with Complex World…and a few weeks into players discovered aside from their partners entering the R.W. their job abilities followed them as well. So a few fights broke up and some mercenaries were born, why? Well the few Elites and Guardians that existed became prey for their wealth (money in the Complex World is the same in R.W.) and their partners being as strong as the player themselves if not stronger were desirable. Around this time I leveled 100...and my monetary wealth was around $105, 600, 000, 050. But think about how many mouths I have to feed, clothes, ect. That money isn't just sittin in the bank collecting dust! I work hard in both worlds to keep that amount! (Well most of it comes from Complex World.) So Edward was chosen as my bodyguard during my time in R.W. I bet your thinking, but if Complex World is public why don't the others join him as well?
The same reasons as certain groups of people hide from the masses: persecution. Many people dislike the idea of fictional characters coming to life, its "unnatural". Yeah, people are really hateful! But then again think of the book bans and such…that's just life. So Edward contacted Naoki because he is the regional head for the Southern Central Plains Region of America, I did mention I'm from Texas right? Well I am…so now you know! Edward wanted Naoki to make him a RW United States citizen so he could attend school with me. Of course for Naoki this was somewhat easy, something about having contacts in the government. I don't understand it, but its better that way. Now all this OF COURSE upset InuYasha who had taken up to following me to work and such…but some people in town noticed him and it was very lucky they were the compassionate type but it was a warning enough to keep him out of the public eye. So now when in the R.W. Edward takes the name Sweeney. And yes we do get a lot of the "OMG! Are you related to Sweeney Todd?" …yeah some people are idiots since Sweeney is his first name. I have met him once…he was with a player name Celeste, he was pleasant enough…he tried to offer Gene a shave it was a rather funny experience. So Edward Sweeney is my cousin who has come to live with my family from Washington. Ok now it's hard for Edward to be out a lot…being a vampire who glitters like a diamond in the sunlight, so Naoki came up with a solution to that problem too. A bracelet that casts a darken sphere around him…though only visible to those who are in the Mage class of the Complex World. And this sphere only is around him when outside in the sunlight. It's nifty…though I could never explain to you fully on how it works.
Here is something that is interesting to note, my family is of course Irish…Cullen is an Irish sur-name. It just amuses me to think about, but that is off point isn't it?
So everything became settled and Edward my angelic cousin is a Music major (he puts the whole music department to shame!), and our schedules are lined up for the same times, though he has one long class in the evenings so I usually hang out in the music department and study. If you didn't know Edward can read minds…so by being close to him he knows I'm around and that I'm doing just fine. Now this isn't to say I have come across some mercenaries…I have. But they were rather stupid and while Edward has that unnatural speed and grace I ninjutsued his sorry behind to kingdom come! Edward was a little upset with me for it, but hey I have a right to defend myself. It's nice to know that I have a vampire bodyguard around, but I can handle myself most times. So our spring semester when by rather calmly, we spend weekends in the Complex World my life is pretty sweet. So Summer Break rolled around…and being able to spend more time in the Complex World is nice. If you can believe it I've been training to be a Guardian, I'm only around level 300 but its better to start early it helps rank up the levels easier. Being in this program I have taken on certain duties. Like being a guard of the Empress of Oceina, Empress Dao Li. She's a lovely girl four years older than me, I'm not a personal guard now, but I do get to sit and talk with Dao Li from time to time. Keep in mind her name isn't really Dao Li, its just the name she took as Empress so she can still go out and about as a player without being harmed for being an Empress.
So that brings us back to today. Schools start up next week, and being so actively involved with my training and guard duties in the Complex World are going to be slacked a little. This ruffled InuYasha's feathers, don't ask me why I'm still trying to figure him out. Though I have to say it's really not just him Masamune, and Saix aren't happy with this either. But being twenty and trying to preserve my life in the R.W. it's important I get an education just the same as the others who attend school as well. Arguments are frequent and usually loud, but it doesn't change a thing…just makes a little more difficult to walk around the R.W. I told you this was difficult to explain, but at least now you have and understanding. Now if I just could find a way to make everyone happy with this situation that would be wonderful.
***
Rhiannon sighed pushing herself up from the couch and resumed cleaning. She heard a door open and shut.
"About time they got back," she muttered as she returned to dusting the media center.
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Author Notes:
:D Hi hi! I'm glad you've made it through the first "chapter" of Once in a Blue Moon. In all reality this chapter was running at 28 pages and still not finished. But instead of posting what I guess would be over 30 pages for a first chapter I figured I would just cut it down to a reasonable amount so maybe the first three chapters will be the original first chapter?
If you've got questions or criticism about this story feel free to let me know…but please no flames okay? If you can't say it constructively then please don't bother. Any-who for another bit of credits This story was inspired by Songwind's Bishonen and Bishoujo and all the fictional characters are copyright to their original creators.
Okay enough rambling. Please R&R thank you!
~binasu