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Notes:

Well this is a thing.

Alright, so if you don't wish to be bored by my explanatory prattle (which has nothing to do with the story) then feel completely free to skip ahead because I know how annoying prattle such as this can be. However, I will briefly cover some crucial elements of the story right here.

Terminology: So there are some strange words in this. Well, not so strange if you are at all familiar with Latin. If you are, then the use of the words should hopefully make sense. If not, there is a sort of glossary at the end of the chapter which explains some of the lingo. Think of it as Jiminy's Journal or something. Even if you do know some Latin, I would recommend reading it anyway, as context is everything, and the context is very much explained there.

Also, beware of mildly coarse language. I'm not really a notorious potty mouth, but it's nice to not self-censor my writing for once. Hey, teenagers tend to swear. I would know.

Now, without further ado...


Chapter I
A Murder of Crows

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There were nine bullets in the gun. That's what the red floating number said, at least. Nine bullets out of a possible twenty, and no reload to speak of.

When he'd checked twenty minutes ago, the number had said nine. It was as if he hadn't fired any shots. Only, he had – he'd fired three shots. One straight through the eye of a lumbering wild bovem, another into a red-eyed cornix which had tried to swoop in as he'd separated the beast's thick hide from its stringy flesh, and a third into another cornix with similar intentions. Three shots, and yet the little red number hovering above the hammer of the gun told him that there were still nine bullets in the Beretta's twenty-round magazine.

A glitch, he supposed, and not a debilitating one, either. Yet, he knew, glitches were never good. They so often ran just to avoid glitches. So would it be better if he were to throw the weapon away from himself, and continue back to camp unarmed, laden as he was with the collection from the day's hunt? What if he happened upon one of the aegrotii, human or animal? For now, he decided he would keep the glitched weapon, until he could consult someone about it back at camp. Then they could decide what to do with it.

If they did, in the end, decide to dispose of the weapon for the better interests of the camp, where would they be, then? One weapon down, out of a measly total of the two firearms and one hunting knife they had between three of them. Having two guns at least gave them a decent system on hunting days. One to hunt, another to defend the camp, if needed. With only one gun, they would all have to hunt together in order to protect themselves, and leave the camp and their food and belongings unguarded – practically an invitation for bandits.

So what would their other options be? Find a dungeon, perhaps. As if they'd survive five seconds with nothing but one measly handgun. They themselves could always take a lesson from the bandits – find the camp of some poor unsuspecting players and pilfer anything of value? Gold, silver, leather, food, first-aid items, and weapons most especially.

Not gonna happen, he thought to himself. They'd chew me out if I even so much as suggested it.

What they really needed was numbers. A trio wasn't the most convenient of numbers, despite how well their trio worked together and coordinated. A larger group might not be so in tune, but there's a certain strength in numbers – which is why going it alone is sure to get you killed. Glitches, aegrotii, bandits and wild animals aside, the system wasn't designed for lone wolves, so such people found themselves dead very quickly through the most extraneous circumstances. Falling out of trees, slipping off a cliff, falling into river rapids, feeling the sudden urge to turn one's own weapon on oneself. That kind of extraneous circumstance. The kind created by the first game masters specifically to kill off single fliers.

He adjusted his grip on the Beretta as he lugged his day's winnings into more familiar territory. A cornix sat eyeing him from one of the lower branches a few metres ahead of him. Its stare was unnervingly intelligent – in an utmost malicious way. He didn't hesitate to put a round straight in its ink-feathered breast. Out of curiosity, he flicked the back of his thumbnail lightly against the underside of the hammer. The red number still glowed nine. No question now: definitely a glitch.

The first thing he noticed as he approached camp was that it was silent. Much too silent, with the company he kept. Slowly, quietly, he lowered the hessian sack of lepii he had snared, then slid the bovem skin from his shoulders. He straightened and held his gun ready, casting his eyes about the camp. It was in disarray – the fire was out for the first time in days, the stone circle surrounding the charred wood disturbed. Their shoddily-made tanning rack was askew, lying sadly on the trodden dirt of the clearing, a large bulge underneath the leather as if it had fallen on a small boulder. The tent's tarpaulin cover had an array of new rips and tears across one side, revealing the thin canvas underneath. He couldn't see any shapes or movement from inside, but he thought it might not be light enough, anyway. Hoped.

He held the Beretta tightly with both hands, arms ready to straighten and aim, index finger ready to pull and fire. Experimentally, he called out, "Sora?"

There was a sudden flurry of movement from within the tent. He pointed the gun towards the other side of the tent, where the entrance was. There was an intense rustling as the canvas flaps were pushed aside, and a spiky brown head popped out, blue eyes wide, an eyebrow lifting at the sight of the gun pointed at him. "Really, Riku?"

Riku sighed, lowering the gun and releasing the hammer. "The camp's a mess. Did you two have a party and invite all your woodland animal friends to trash the place while I was gone?"

Sora shrugged. "Something like that." His expression turned grim. "Only we didn't actually invite them."

Without the gun's barrel in the way, Riku was able to properly see his friend, the shallow cut across his cheek, and the bloodied bandage wrapped tightly around his right forearm. "Is Kairi okay?"

He nodded. "Sleeping. I think she's still a bit sick, she was coughing."

Sighing again, Riku ran a hand through his hair. "Okay, what the hell happened?"

"Cornices," Sora said simply. "They're getting way aggressive." The fingers of his left hand absently brushed the reddened bandage on his right.

"Cornices?" Riku said in disbelief. "You got beaten up by carrion-eating birds?"

Sora looked hurt. "They have really sharp beaks! And don't even get me started on the freakin' talons!"

"Did you at least shoot at them?"

"No, no way. I sang them a lullaby and then we all had tea. Of course I shot at them!" he nodded at the bulge underneath the tanning leather. "They got real ugly to look at after about an hour."

Sighing yet again, Riku shoved the Beretta into its amateur-made bovem-leather holster. He nodded towards Sora, who was still fingering at the bandages on his arm. "Let me see that."

Sora pouted as Riku picked his way around the tent towards him. "It's nothin' too bad."

"Sora, you're bleeding through the bandage. Let me look at it."

With a resigned sigh, Sora's left arm dropped away from the right, which he held out to his friend. Riku quickly and efficiently unwound the bandage, which was, thankfully, wrapped correctly – credit to Kairi, obviously.

The wound was neither fatal nor infected (yet, at least), but it was certainly nasty. Eight long, deep gashes – talon wounds. They were deeper towards the far end of the gashes judging by how much further the flesh spread apart at these points.

"Holy shit," Riku breathed, gripping Sora's elbow and wrist and gently manoeuvring the arm to properly inspect it. "There's no way a cornix did that."

"I'm not lying!" Sora protested. "There were maybe five of them. They started pecking and scratching at the tent, so I came outside to see what was goin' on. Shot three before they could come at me, but missed the other two. One I sort of dodged, though he gave me this," he explained, gesturing towards the cut on his cheek. "The other was right behind him, so I had no time. Managed to put my arm up before he could gouge out my eyes, though." He said the last part with a sort of pride at having avoided blindness. Fair enough, thought Riku as he listened. "But it kinda… wouldn't let go." His intensely blue gaze drifted towards the now-dead fire circle. Riku instantly understood.

"Considering you didn't burn yourself, that was a smart move," Riku admitted. "If you had, I'd have no choice but to call you an idiot."

" I'm an idiot, anyway," Sora said, a guilty undertone to his voice. "The noises it made were loud enough to attract any wandering aegrotii within ten miles of camp."

Riku didn't reply straight away. "Then we'll move on as soon as Kairi wakes up. It's about time we did, anyway."

"Think she's well enough?"

"I hope she is."

The bullet glitch had flown from Riku's mind completely.

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There was really no other way to put it, to make it sound better, softer, or kinder: Sora was having a really shitty day.

Though, he supposed, to be fair, all three of them were. Kairi was on the recovering end of a crippling cold, and Riku'd had a hard time finding much more than bovem (which were only good for hide because their meat was too fibrous for human digestion unless prepared correctly – and none of them had any clue how to correctly prepare bovem meat) and lepii. They were all sick of eating lepus meat, no matter how many different ways Kairi had tried preparing it – as a stew, as steak… okay, that was about it. They had limited resources! Seriously limited! There weren't even any edible plants or herbs about to at least liven up the bland flavour.

As for Sora, he'd been absolutely assaulted by psychopathic carrion-eaters. As far as he knew, he was not carrion. Not yet, anyway. And he didn't want to think about ever being carrion, because the thought of those awful creatures picking at his dead, rotting corpse had reached a new level of repulsive. Ergh, awful thoughts.

Not like he had much else to think about, really. The gashes on his arm throbbed, even after Riku's careful administration of disinfectant and a fresh bandage – even after his protests that Kairi had already disinfected the cuts. He didn't know whether the two just liked to see him in pain because disinfectant hurt like a bitch, or whether they were just babying him. Probably a mixture of the two. They all babied each other really, because they didn't have much other choice. They had each other and no one else. A team, a family. They had to be careful to keep each limb of the team healthy and functioning.

And now it was raining.

"You just had to wait until it started raining to wake up, didn't you?" he grumbled to Kairi, who rolled her eyes. He stood watching her pack away the tent – rolling it up and securing it with twine. Sora had tried to help, but with his arm rendered practically lame, he was more of a hindrance than anything else

"I don't control the weather, Sora."

"Well why not!?"

Before Kairi could even figure out how to reply to Sora's strange outburst, Riku called to them from where he stood beside the burning pile of dead cornices. Pleasant. "You two ready to go?"

"Ready!" Kairi called in reply, straightening with her satchel, the tent strapped to her back. She threw a glance at Sora, then crossed the clearing to Riku. With a sigh, Sora followed close behind, his eyes fixed on the gun and holster at Kairi's hip. With Sora's arm out of commission, they'd made a unanimous decision that for now, Kairi would handle Sora's glock, and Sora would take Riku's hunting knife – a weapon only slightly less discriminating than a gun. Less expense to miss, at least, and if it came to it, he almost certainly would miss, using his uninjured left hand.

Riku turned and headed off through the trees without another word, and Kairi and Sora followed with equal wordlessness. Sora held his breath as he passed the flaming cornix pile. He wasn't really in the mood for roast carrion-eater. He supposed that if they achieved one thing by this incident, it was that they'd put eating roast cornix completely out of the question.

Within seconds, they were surrounded by the dense trees, treading through the thick undergrowth to who-knows-where. Riku took point, as always, and Kairi paused to wait for Sora to pass her so that she could bring up the rear – Sora's usual position. It wasn't that they were usually sexist in not letting Kairi handle the guns, it was just that Sora and Riku had a higher proficiency with firearms, while Kairi's speciality was close-range combat. She looked delicate, but she could kick like a freaking horse. Not that she wasn't at all able to use a gun, she was just better with a knife – and vice versa for Sora and Riku.

They walked like this a good two hours before Riku suddenly stopped. Sora, zoned out, very nearly walked into him.

"Hey, what's goin' on?" he complained.

"It's too quiet," Riku all but whispered, his long fingers tense on the Beretta. "We haven't seen any life the whole time we've been walking. No cornices, no aegrotii, not even any bovem."

"Isn't that a good thing?" deadpanned Sora.

"I don't think it is," Kairi chimed in from behind.

Sora sighed. "So, what? We stand here and what until whatever's scared away all the wildlife comes and eats us? Hell, it was probably us. We probably stink of death and burning bird-brain."

"Charming," muttered Kairi. Riku didn't say anything, though Sora was sure he was going to spiel off about static variables and program-y system-y stuff that simply reminded Sora and Kairi how much longer Riku had spent outside the system than them. His knowledge of Ludum was certainly useful, but also a bit grating when he just wouldn't shut up about it.

Rather than starting a lecture, Riku simply grunted and continued forwards.

Another half hour and they finally stopped to take a break. It wasn't until Sora sat down that he realised how much of a toll his arm was taking on his overall physical state of being – he felt lousy with exhaustion, whilst Riku had barely broken a sweat and Kairi had only thrown in the occasional cough now and then. She currently looked no worse off than Riku, though her cheeks were slightly pinker than usual.

Sora closed his eyes and sank down against a tree, his body flushed with the heat of exertion; his limbs practically numb with it. Aside from the constant, painful throbbing of his forearm, that is.

He opened his eyes to see Kairi peering into his face, concern written all over her inwardly-turned eyebrows. "Feeling okay?" she inquired.

"I don't think I feel as okay as I think I should, but I don't think I know how okay I should or think I should be. So I think I'm okay?" Sora answered, but then was immediately confused by his own words. "Wait, what?"

"Right," Kairi replied, handing him a floppy waterskin. "Here, drink. Blood loss and all that."

"Pfft, it's not that bad," Sora said nonchalantly, but took the water anyway, almost emptying it in his vigour. He hadn't quite realised how thirsty he was. So much so that in his haste to fill himself with liquid, he hadn't noticed Kairi take his arm and unwrap the bled-through bandage.

"I'd say it's pretty bad," she said, biting her lip. Whilst before the gashes had been fairly clean-edged, the edges were now raised, white and painful, when Kairi probed at one with a gentle finger, eliciting a hiss.

"They've been disinfected – twice!" Sora lamented.

"Maybe it's a glitch," Riku interjected, walking up behind Kairi. "And not the friendly or amusing type either."

"Is that possible? A glitched player injury?" Kairi questioned in a hushed voice.

Oh boy, thought Sora. Here we go.

"Why wouldn't it be? Our molecules have literally been translated into binary data. Injuries modify the binary, and therefore the player's physical make up. Every injury is real. But since the actual act of getting an injury and the process of it either healing or declining into infection is essentially the data running an error repair and restoring the original binary data from a backup, the use of disinfection items are controlled by a variable, which determines whether or not the wound heals or infects. A glitch might cause an error in the code that makes it so the disinfectant variable is isolated and can't be changed, meaning the wound will get infected no matter how much disinfectant is used."

Kairi nodded with understanding, but Sora was confused as ever. "Translation, please?"

Riku rolled his eyes. "Disinfectant no workie."

Sora nodded. "Gotcha. I hate variables."

"Wait, but, isn't that extremely bad?" Kairi chirped. "Sora could lose his whole arm!"

"Or, more likely, his life," Riku confirmed, too casually for Sora's liking. "Which is why we need to move. I'm sure we'll come across a town if we keep going straight."

Kairi bit her lip, nodded obediently and set about re-bandaging Sora's arm.

Before they set off again – after Sora hauled himself to his feet with a fair amount of difficulty – Riku approached him.

"Look at this," he said simply, calling up the ammo check on his Beretta to show Sora.

"Nine bullets," the smaller boy stated. "We really need to restock. My glock's only got six."

Riku didn't reply. He simply raised the gun above his head and shot into the air. Kairi, who was packing away the first aid kit, jumped and whirled about to glare at the offender.

"Hey, hey!" protested Sora. "Don't waste ammo, man! We've got limited…" He trailed off when Riku again showed him the bullet count.

"Glitched variables aren't all bad, maybe," he said.

"Guess not," Sora agreed. "I still hate them, though."

Riku smirked. "You only hate them because you don't understand them."

Sora couldn't exactly deny that.

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They had to rest twice more in the next few hours. Once at Sora's request, and once at the others' behest; he hadn't looked at all good.

Worry had clawed its way into Kairi's chest, gnawed a hole through her heart, and now sat snugly in the newly-opened cavity. She could tell Riku was concerned, too, though he showed it differently. Whilst Kairi showed her concern by fussing, Riku showed it by being moody and hurrying them along – the type of behaviour which generally led people to believe that he was pissed off at them. Kairi new better, knew that he was just anxious to find help, but Sora wasn't quite as observant as she, and so reflected an equally moody demeanour as they travelled. Though Kairi suspected that it was partially caused by the fact that he was injured, and injury was the right downer for everyone. Especially when it was glitchfected, as they'd come to call it.

When finally the trees thinned and the undergrowth grew sparse, Riku stopped in his tracks. Sora took a few more steps before sinking to the grassy ground, unnaturally pale skin shining with sweat. Kairi continued until she stood next to Riku, sparing a glance to Sora to make sure he was OK. Well, as OK as he could possibly be, given the circumstances. She then looked at Riku, raising an eyebrow wordlessly.

He lifted a hand, pointing to his ear. Kairi understood the gesture; he was listening for something. So she listened, too.

At first, she could hear nothing but Sora's shallow panting, but then she heard what Riku obviously had, with his near inhuman senses. She heard voices, and steps in their direction.

"Oh, come on! They're just rumours! You don't honestly think that ghosts exist, do you?"

"So what if I do? That's not the point! It's an old, rotting house, we'll probably fall through the floor!"

"It's private property, too."

"And that!"

"Not helping, Olette!"

"It's true, though!"

"I don't know what your problem is, Hayner. We're going aren't we?"

"Hey, I'm just trying to understand why you don't wanna see any ghosts."

"So… you believe in ghosts?"

"What!? No! That's not what I…"

The voices stopped as three kids, probably similar age to themselves, came into view behind some trees. The guy in front, with blond hair and camos, had frozen at the sight of Riku and Kairi. A brunette girl stepped forward.

"Hayner? What's…"

She spotted them, too. So had the other boy. All five of them (Sora was still hyperventilating on the ground) stood frozen and staring.

Then Kairi realised – she and Riku had guns clutched in their hands. Hurriedly, she shoved the glock back into its sheath, and elbowed Riku, hoping he would get the hint and do the same. She stepped forward, holding her hands up and smiling with what she hoped was a friendly expression.

"Um… hi! We don't mean you any harm, we just, uh… We're looking for a healer."

The blond guy raised an eyebrow. "A healer? Why?"

The girl hit his arm with the back of his hands. "Hayner!" she hissed, and gestured with her head towards Sora.

"Oh," he said blankly. "Oh! Oh my god, you need a healer!"

The second boy – black-haired and ever-so-slightly rotund, raised a hand. "I'll go fetch Doctor Fitzroy. I'll meet you guys at The Usual Spot, alright?"

The girl – Olette – nodded. "Yeah. We'll take them there."

Kairi finally lowered her hands. "Thank you so much." She looked to Riku, and lowered her voice. "They seem harmless."

Riku nodded his assent. "They're Game-born."

"Game-born?"

"I'll explain later." Before Kairi could press the question, he turned away from her, holding a hand out towards Sora.

"Come on," he said, at normal volume. "Not much longer now."

"Ugh," Sora groaned, feebly grabbing with his uninjured hand at Riku's proffered one. "You'd better hope so."

Riku smiled grimly, pulling him up with some difficulty on Sora's behalf. "Yeah."

Kairi put a hand on Sora's shoulder as he passed, falling into step with him and Riku. The three of them approached the blond boy and brunette girl, both of whom wore troubled expressions, likely at the sight of Sora's pale, slightly grey skin. Or, perhaps, the bandaged arm which was now supported by a sling fashioned from a ragged yellow scarf.

"There's a hole in the town wall just up this way a bit," said the boy, gesturing back the way they had come, and the other boy had gone. "It leads right into the Tram Commons. From there, we can get to The Usual Spot. It's er, where we hang out. Pence will bring the doctor there."

"He's a very good doctor," the girl supplied. "Oh, by the way, I'm Olette, and this is Hayner. The guy who just left is Pence, obviously."

"Let's not waste time, then," Riku all but growled.

"Yep, yep! This way, this way!" Hayner said hastily, turning and making his way through the trees. His pace was reasonable. Olette waited for Sora, Kairi and Riku to pass before following behind them.

The trees continued to thin, so much so that the woods smoothly transitioned into the clearing surrounding a large hole in the side of a standardised city wall. They'd seen cities before, but it had been ages since the last time. Cities meant players, and players meant trouble, generally speaking. At least, Riku seemed to think so, and Sora and Kairi generally trusted Riku's greater wealth of knowledge.

"Don't be too surprised if people don't trust you, with those weapons," Olette spoke up from behind them. "Twilight Town is a Perfugium."

Oh, Kairi bet Riku was over the moon about that. The use of weapons was banned in a Perfugium, and breaking that rule meant severe punishment. It was more troublesome than anything else, as the aegrotii were known to appear inside cities – including Perfugium – and the AI guards weren't exactly efficient in disposing of them. Whenever it happened, Players could do little more than simply watch the NPC corpses pile up. At least they were able to respawn, Kairi supposed.

There was no guard at the hole in the wall. If Kairi had asked why, Riku probably would have launched into an explanation about predetermined patrol routes and player-inflicted game environment destruction and whatnot. So she stayed silent, to save everyone's ears and minds. Valiant of her, really.

"The Usual Spot isn't far from the Commons," Hayner called from up ahead. "Not too much longer, I promise!"

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Sora said through gritted teeth. Riku put a firm hand on his upper back to urge him forwards.

"Because you look awful."

"You too. Wait, never mind, that's normal."

Riku frowned. Kairi just rolled her eyes. Sora hadn't missed a beat, even in his weakened state.

They emerged through the wall into the paved streets of the first town they'd been in for… what, months? The sun hung a while above the horizon – barely visible behind the town's taller buildings. It was not the biggest town in the Realms, but it was no small village, either.

Hayner and Olette escorted them into a rapidly darkening alleyway, and through a chain-link fence gate into a garage-like hang out area, with golden light filtering in through the slatted ceiling. They were underneath train lines, Kairi realised. Goodness, how long had it been since she'd seen either train or line?

"Have a seat," Hayner offered, gesturing vaguely to the shabby couches. Couches! Civilisation sure had it easy.

Riku had led Sora to a seat almost before Hayner had even opened his mouth, taking the rest of the space on the two-seater for himself, so Kairi perched anxiously on the other couch, on the side closest to her friends.

"Pence should be here soon," Olette said, the nerves prominent in her voice. "Doctor Fitzroy is the best healer in Twilight Town, but he's practically on the other side of town."

They made small talk as they waited. Hayner even blatantly asked Sora what was wrong with him, but was quickly silenced by a glare and a short answer of "Infection" from Riku. No more was said on the matter. Naturally, Sora didn't have much to contribute, as he was far too busy slumped on the couch with his eyes practically rolling in his head. This, of course, made Riku very reluctant to talk, and the combination of these two things made Kairi less willing to make conversation. She tried, though, to return the friendly gestures of Hayner and Olette with mindless chatter. She could normally chatter like a pro, but today her heart just wasn't in it. A couple of coughs hacked at her throat while they waited – the last remnants of the nasty cold she'd had. It seemed so insignificant now, in comparison to what Sora was dealing with.

After what seemed like an age and a half, the other boy, Pence, finally returned. Trailing behind him, looking rather harried, was a greying, balding middle-aged man in a typical white doctor's coat. The mark of an NPC healer, generally, but this guy had his Profession Badge pinned to the lapel of his coat. A Player Healer. More skilled than an NPC, but not always as reliable.

"Oh, good lord," he said immediately upon entering. His doctor-sense had enabled him to spot Sora straight away. Or something like that. Kairi realised it had been a long time since she'd seen a doctor, too. It had been a long time since she'd seen most anything generally found in civilisation. Doctor Fitzroy crossed the room briskly, conjuring a thermometer (seemingly from nowhere) and all but forcing it down Sora's throat. Normally, Sora would have protested, but he was too far gone at this point. Kairi wondered if this was how infections worked in real life, too. The game's take on physical injuries wasn't quite accurate, according to Riku. More code and variables than actual physical components. In some cases this made sickness and injury more deadly, and in others less.

The thermometer beeped, and the doctor hastily removed it, examining the reading. "Hm. Infection?"

"Yeah," Riku replied simply, gently lifting Sora's right arm by the elbow to bring the doctor's attention to it. "Cornix talons."

"Ooh, ouch," the doctor visibly flinched, gingerly taking the arm. "Did you not disinfect it?"

Kairi could have sworn she'd heard Riku's teeth grind together. "We tried."

"You tried? Disinfectant isn't a hard item to use."

"It glitched," Kairi replied calmly, throwing Riku a warning glance. "It wouldn't work, no matter how many times we tried. We used up all of our disinfectant trying."

"A glitch? Goodness, that is unfortunate. Uncommon, too. Not sure I've ever seen disinfectant glitch. Honestly, I think the only thing I've ever seen glitch is my toaster, that one time I…" Doctor Fitzroy trailed off at the look on Riku's face. He coughed, and gently lowered Sora's arm. "Not to worry, I have a good supply of Omni Sana."

That was the difference between NPC healers and Player healers. Player healers could hold items like Omni Sana shots – injections that returned a Player to full health. It was the kind of overpowered item that would be abused if any old player were able to hold it, so, of course, only players with their profession specialisation badge in healing were allowed possession of the powerful item.

Doctor Fitzroy pulled the syringe from his coat pocket and removed the cap. The barrel was filled with a potent green liquid. He tilted Sora's head to the side, and the latter seemed completely unaware of his surroundings by now, bloodshot eyes swivelling in their sockets as if following the erratic path of some invisible flying insect in front of his head. The doctor used a wet cloth to clean the side of his neck, then didn't hesitate to plunge the needle straight into the exposed vein. The swivelling of Sora's eyes slowed to a stop, and his eyelids slid shut.

"You'll want to be wary of the cornices these days," the doctor said, his tone grim. "They're growing awfully boisterous."

"But why?" Kairi questioned. "They attacked us out of nowhere."

Doctor Fitzroy shook his head; no clue.

Pence spoke up. "My dad thinks…" all eyes turned to him. He blinked, but continued. "My dad thinks it might have something to do with Organization XIII."


Chapter I – Terminology:

Cornix/Cornices: Creatures heavily resembling crows, but considerably larger, with longer, sharper beaks and longer, sharper talons. Easy to kill, but dangerous if angered and not quickly disposed of.

Bovem: Ox-like creatures, but with longer legs, shorter hair, and larger tusks. Slow, but hostile and deadly when provoked. Its meat cannot be digested by humans unless it is correctly prepared. Its hide is pliant and durable, and can be applied to an extensive range of uses, depending ever so slightly on the creativity of the Player wishing to use it.

Aegrotus/Aegrotii: Grotesque, humanoid creatures. Terrifying. Difficult and messy to kill. Not much is known about what they really are or why they exist.

Lepus/Lepii: Like a rabbit, only smaller. Larger ears and tail, sharper teeth. Has a nasty bite, but not much of a threat. Its meat is ideal for human consumption, but the flavour is plain.

Ludum: The Game. The official name for the system in which Sora, Riku, Kairi and countless others are currently living within.

Game-born: A player, but born within the game, meaning that one or both of his/her parents were/are players. Perfugium are home to many game-born, as their peaceful nature is the perfect environment for older players to settle down and have children in. Doing so is encouraged rather than discouraged. Game-born lack the same identification as a regular player, and while it is theoretically possible for them to leave the game, it has never been attempted. One potential outcome is a complete sensory overload – the sort that can result in death.

Perfugium: A city which acts as a sort of sanctuary or refuge to all Players. Conflict is banned, and perpetrators will face severe consequences such as confinement or disablement of functions.

Omni Sana: Heal all. Heals any and every kind of ailment within seconds. Can be taken in many forms (injection, pills, liquid etc). Side effects include drowsiness, unconsciousness, lack of coordination, extreme hunger or thirst, hyperactivity. Excessive consumption may result in the total loss of control over all biological functions or full-body paralysis. For this reason, the possession of this item is restricted to players in possession of a Profession Mastery badge in Healing.


Notes (cont.):

So I figure it fitting to put these particular notes at the end rather than at the beginning.

If you somehow understood that at all, and wish to see more... don't hold your breath? Chapter two is well in the works, of course, but don't expect any kind of regular updating schedule. In fact, don't be too surprised if there are no updates at all. Any updates that do happen to happen will be quite spasmodic.

Why? Well, I'm writing this for stress relief/mind-clearing/procrastination and absolutely no planning has gone into this. In fact, the whole thing started with the concept of the glowing number 9 and the knowledge that it applied to a number of bullets. It was a dream I had, then promptly forgot everything but the 9, which stuck with me all day until I finally started this. I'm not sure how it progressed from nine bullets to Latin to glitchfections, and I'm not sure why I chose this fandom, but I suppose that's just the beauty of absolute free form.

So don't be surprised if:
- I never update this again or
- I do update it, but it spirals madly out of my own control (I can tell you with certainty that this is already sort of happening. That's not to say that it isn't interesting. Heck, it's a good chance for me to evaluate my mental state, if nothing else. So far the verdict isn't great.)

Updates may be few and far between, but they will also be monstrously long, just like this.

If you did enjoy it (heaven forbid) then you'd be best to follow it rather than trying to find it again. And I swear to god this isn't just me trying to get follows.

That being said, reviews are a good form of motivation, wink. I'll also reply because it's a great way to further procrastinate and still feel as if I'm being productive. Also, it's a good way to tell me if I'm being too confusing or ask for further explanations if you don't quite understand some elements. This will both give me the opportunity to either explain it to you directly or explain it better in the actual story.

I promise I'll keep these obnoxious notes to a minimum next time. If there is a next time. Which there hopefully will be, as the next chapter introduces some intriguing elements.

The secret is in the code. Wink.

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