A/N: I do not own Ragnarok Online in any way. Ragnarok Online was published and developed by GRAVITY Co., Ltd. The Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy.

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Chapter One:

Typical

Orthodox, noisy, and predictable. Whether it be an ordinary classroom, or the buzzing streets of New York City, the normal days never end. Those who you thought were your faithful companions turn into your greatest foes. Those who you assumed to love you dearly turned out to be using you for their own personal game. The twisted society in which we live in today is far from what was originally considered normal, but as time passed, is now deemed so.

We begin our story in New Jersey. Regarded as a safe state by many; not many things happen here. Our heroine, Noelle Villanueva, is in seventh grade and is thirteen years old. She's Filipino. She's has medium dark brown hair; her hair has short layers on the top and long layers at the bottom. She also has side-swept bangs. As of now, she's wearing a blue hoodie with her school logo on it, jeans that are a tad bit ripped, fuzzy black boots, and a chain necklace with a dog tag and a holy cross. She's the "quiet and smart" girl in a majority of her classes. Although that's far off from her real personality, she doesn't mind it; she's had this title for as long as she could remember. Noelle's currently seated in her homeroom- Social Studies; the only time of day she considers to be tranquil. A majority of the students are tired, and they aren't as hyper as they are later in the day. A majority of the class are acquaintances to her, four or five being good friends.

Noelle, as always, writes down the Do Now before anybody else, so she doesn't have to worry about it later on. A few minutes later, the morning announcements came. All of the students that were present stood up, put their hands on their chests, and recited the Pledge of Allegiance.

Pledge of Allegiance

I pledge allegiance to the Flag

of the United States of America,

and to the Republic for which it stands:

one Nation under God, indivisible,

With Liberty and Justice for all.

Most of the students sat back down, but some still loitered around. Once the teacher coughed, the remaining students who were standing up ran back to their seats. Noelle yawns as the day started, knowing that it'll end up being a tiring and frustrating day just any other day. Social Studies ended in about forty minutes. Then, it was on to Science. After that, it was lunch time. Noelle sat with her normal group of friends.

Colleen Murray is generally a funny and hyper girl with Irish blood. She has short blond hair with bangs, green eyes, and black glasses. As of now, she has pink and purple braces, blue nails, jacket, jeans and shirt, a white undershirt, a heart necklace, and black boots on. Emily Rivera is your brave and forward Puerto Rican girl. She dyed her hair blond, and has bangs as well. Her hair is of medium length. She has brown eyes and is wearing a rainbow hoodie with a peace sign in the middle, light blue pants, and neon yellow and blue shoes. Krystel Alvarez is a unique Peruvian girl with long black hair, dark brown eyes, and glasses. She currently has a white jacket, orange shirt with a white undershirt on. She's also wearing white flip-flops and blue jeans. Tzitlaly Espinoza is your everyday random girl with a good heart. She's of Mexican origin and has long brown hair and bangs, brown eyes, and black glasses. She's wearing a brown shirt and undershirt, a green and black plaid jacket, jeans, and black shoes with purple designs. Reetica Sarin is a sweet Indian girl with black hair reaching up to her waist tied into a ponytail and black eyes. Today, she decided to wear a bright pink jacket and shirt, light brown boots, and blue jeans. Sarah Kowalski is of Irish descent. She's kind and pretty. She has medium length brown hair, bangs held back by a black headband, and hazel eyes. She's wearing hoop earrings, jeans, dark brown shoes, and a wine red hoodie with her cheerleading squad's name on the front. Mary Santiago- a random and cute Filipino girl. She's wearing black and gray Converse, a brown jacket, and a black shirt with a saying on it. She has short black hair and straight bangs. Mary and Noelle consider each other as sisters or twins, even; they haven't known each other for a long time, but they shared a lot of interests. So they ended up declaring that they were each others sibling. The group of girls talked, laughed, some sullen moments here and there, but it was all part of the routine. After lunch came Math, which is the most loudest period in her whole academic schedule. Well, Math came and went, then Language Arts took place. After a long morning, Noelle finally ended up in Science Enrichment. Her class was louder than usual.

"After this is Gym, then Chorus, then I go home and enjoy Spring Break," Noelle thought to herself, "Just bear with it a little bit longer. Don't do anything reckless."

As the children continued to scream inside jokes out loud, share rumors, and mess around, the teacher was preparing write-up slips, not being able to take the class's noise level. Noelle rapidly tapped her fingers on the desk as she awaited for the clock to reach 12:15 PM. The volume got higher with every word the children spoke, and with it, Noelle's temper. Noelle looked over to the clock; it was 12:10 PM. She put her hands to her ears as she rested her head on the desk. She looked at the clock again. 12:12 PM. The class continued to chatter, which in result, gave Noelle a massive headache. The clock read 12:13 PM. Noelle stood up from her seat. The so-called quiet girl slammed her hands on her desk, causing a sound that topped the class's volume.

"Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!!!" Noelle screamed on the top of her lungs. "Nobody gives a damn about what half of you are talking about! Rumors and shit- you can talk about that outside. Do anything you want outside, just leave me out if it!"

The teachers and students were taken aback. Her friends were surprised as well, but they knew that she felt this way a long time ago. The whole room was dead silent. Noelle's eyes were tearing up as she trembled.

An unexpected thunderstorm arose and the ground shook. The students panicked. The teacher, trying to keep her cool, instructed everyone to take cover under a desk. They did as they were told. The wall hangings fell one by one. The windows broke, the shards flying everywhere. Fierce wind made its way into the room. The students instinctively turned their backs against the windows to prevent serious injuries. A few moments into the quake, the roof shattered into various sizes. The children yelled as the pieces fell near them. Noelle was sitting under the table with two other classmates, her face showing no particular emotion.

"What exactly is happening today?" Noelle wondered. "Seriously, one thing after another. First time I've snapped, then a thunderstorm and an earthquake just happens out of nowhere. Now what'll happen?"

The earthquake stopped after a few minutes, but the rain lingered. It was 1:00 PM. The announcements came on.

"All students and staff members please gather outside, at the front of the building." the principal stated. The teachers lead the students to the location as instructed. All of the students and teachers formed a circle surrounding the principal. Next to her is an odd looking man in his twenties.

"Now, I'm sure you're wondering what had just happened today." the principal said. "This man, who goes by the name of Sylphe, will hopefully be able to explain what had happened."

The principal made a gesture to the man, signaling him to talk.

"I have come to this world today to tell all of you that the end is nearing." Sylphe casually announced. "I don't really care about this dimension you call "the Universe", but if you want to save it you'd to risk your life to kill Nidhoggr's Shadow in another dimension. You see, Nidhoggr's Shadow is what you call a dragon. He's a top-notch dragon that's out to rule the whole Margiheimur- the many universes. He's out to suck each and everyone of the world's resources until he has enough power to kill all of the gods. Who's up for it, eh?"

The students, staff, and principal look at him with a confused look. Sylphe snaps his fingers, as if he remembered something important.

"Did I forget to mention that if you leave this world, your memories will cease to exist?" Sylphe laughed, but he had a somewhat serious tone. "Not only that, but you have to kill several other monsters and people, live a different life, and have a different past. You'd start off the age you are now... so basically, it's like you never existed in this world! Isn't that hysterical?"

Nobody raised their hand. The man chuckled, knowing that this was going to happen.

"Well, I guess "the Universe" is done and--"

"I'll go." Noelle volunteered in a calm voice, her eyes showing a spark of excitement.

"...Kid, you got guts!" Sylphe complimented. "Anybody else want to go?"

"I'll go!" Emily and Colleen yelled simultaneously.

"Hey! Don't forget me!" Mary and Tzitlaly hollered.

"I guess I'll go too." Reetica and Sarah smiled.

"...Alright, I'll go." Krystel sighed.

"Well, I guess this is good." Sylphe smirked. "Go into the portal then!"

The man snapped his fingers, causing a swirling vortex to emerge from the wet grass. Noelle and her companions gazed at the phenomenon.

"If anybody else wants to go, go right in!" Sylphe snickered. Krystel went into the portal first. Then went Reetica, Sarah, Mary, Tzitlaly, Colleen, and Emily. Noelle stared at the portal, then at her school. She took a big breath and jumped in.

A girl with long brown hair and green eyes pushed her way through the crowd. She looked as if she were Italian. She had pink hoop earrings shaped like a peace sign, a gray jacket with a martial arts logo on the back, dark brown boots, jeans, and a white shirt. Her bangs were clipped back, forming a poof.

"If we all just stand here, our world will die!" she shouted. "Let's all go for the sake of our family and friend's lives!"

"Are you crazy?!" a teacher yelled. "That man looked as if he came just out of the asylum! Besides, what if he was just messing with our heads?!"

"If you thought that way, then why didn't you stop the others?!" the girl pointed out. "It's because you knew that it's true! Now let's go already!"

No one moved an inch. The portal was about to close.

"Erica, just stop this already!" a girl from her class demanded, reaching out for Erica's shoulder. Erica slapped her arm away, turned around, and jumped into the portal just before it disappeared completely. The people left behind stood there in complete disbelief, not being able to completely absorb the events that took place.