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User ID: Tsukasa

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The screen went black, and after a moment or two, I stood in Mac Anu. I looked around to admire the architecture; the designers were wonderful. Taking a deep breath, I touched my face. Every time I log into The World, I have to remind myself that it is only a game, again. Even though this wasn't the same game, it was still too familiar for me to feel completely comfortable here.

I looked down at my hands. Maybe I could go to an area. I'd have to go alone, because I didn't have anyone's mamber addresses, but alone worked for me. I turned around to the Chaos Gate and selected Delta Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground. It was the last place I had seen in the World R: 1, years ago.

Stepping out of the Gate, I saw it: The Hulle Granz Cathedral. It survived the fire after all. I thought it was a rumor. Everything from the old World was supposed to have been lost in Pluto Again, but this survived. I walked forward, across the bridge and into the temple. The graphics looked the same, with one exception. Last time I was here, Aura stood chained to the alter, but now she wasn't.

Did she escape? Was she back? Did Macha return as well? A thousand questions raced through my mind. I had to find the answers. Maybe Mariko would know what happened. I turned to leave. If Aura was back, I had to find her. I ran toward the door, but I was stopped as I tried to push it open.

"Well, where are you going young one?" A floating cat player character asked as the door swung out. He was probaily only two feet tall, and he hovered about three feet off the ground. His fur was brown and somewhat shaggy, but there was something familiar about his eyes.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"My name is Phyllo, and I came to visit the Lost Ground. Why are you here?" Phyllo's tail bobbed as he floated into the Cathedral.

"Lost Ground?" I asked thinking that maybe he knew something about Aura.

"Areas from the old game that the admins and moderators can't delete. They're said to hold some mystic stories. Have you heard any of them?" He flicked his tail from side to side and gave me a quizzical look.

I shook my head. I didn't know that these area were still here, much less that they were somehow special.

"Well, let's start here. Did you know that there used to be a statue of a girl in here?" Phyllo fell to the ground and walked up to the alter. Actually he more waddled than walked because his legs were so short. I stayed in the back of the room, thinking that maybe The World hadn't changed so much after all.

"Aura." Was she still here? If the cathefral had survived, Aura must have as well.

"Yes that was her name; so you have heard the story!" he jumped back into the air and flew back to me.

"I know the story, but what happened to her? Where is she now?" I looked back to take a closer look at the severed chains that once held the statue in place.

"Some say that she just gave up on The World, but I believe that she probably had something better to do than just stand up there all day," the cat said with a smile.

"Do you know where Aura is now?" I wanted to meet her again. I hoped she would remember me.

"No one knows where the data went, after all a lot was lost in the fire," he shook his head. "I really kind of miss the old World. Did you play?"

"Yeah, but I hadn't logged in in a while, and now The World is so different," I looked back down at my hands. Tsukasa was no longer a Wavemaster; that class didn't exist anymore. Now I was a Harvest Cleric, with a similar design. I managed to get the same kind of cloak and hat, but my staff looked a bit more fancy and it was now blue.

"Well, I hope you enjoy The World R: 2 then. I'll see you around." With that, Phyllo headed toward the door of the cathedral.

The alter looked too crowded when the statue had been there anyway. I had prefered the this place looked before her awakening, but now it almost seemed depressing. What if Aura had been deleted? There was no more Subaru, no more Mimiru, not even Bear or BT played any more. No one played anymore. "So why am I still here?" I knelt down in front of the alter and stared out the stained glass window until the images of preists looked like Macha and the Gaurdian.

"They're all gone now." I stood up and turned around until I faced the door. "The game is safe, and if no one else has a reason to be here, maybe I don't either. I thought of everything I had been through as I walked out.

Meeting Mimiru and Bear.

Meeting Macha.

Running on the wrong side of the Crimson Knights.

Finding Aura for the first time.

Everything seemed like it happened so long ago. I missed my friends, even though I still met with some of them offline. I mean, I still had Mariko and Ryu, even if I didn't have Subaru or Bear. Playing with Mimiru had been one of the most fun things to do, but with college, not even she logged in anymore.

Apart from that, the characters that only existed online died in the fire. I'll miss Macha more than any of them. She was always there for me, when no one else was. She was the that always found me, and looked out for me, but now I was on my own. I didn't know how to opperate in a world without Macha. By this time, I had walked out the door and stood on the bridge.

By the Chaos Gate at the other end of the long walk, someone gated in. They slowly walked toward me, as I walked to the Gate. Shortly after she started walking, I could see her well enough to know that she was a Harvest Cleric. She had a big poofy black hat and black wings. Her skirt was high and so were her boots, and she had the wave tattoo of a tear under her left eye. She smiled as she passed me on the bridge but continued walking.

When I reached the Gate, I paused one last time. I looked back at the Cathedral. I realized that I had no reason to be here any more. My story in The World was over, but I didn't want to leave quite yet. I wanted to burn this scene into my memory. When I was satisfied with the conclusion of my journey, I turned back to face the Gate, but as I did someone else came through.

He was dressed in black and sported twin blades. He had wave tattoos that looked like lightening bolts across his eyes, and spikey grey hair. He must have been in a hurry because he didn't seem to notice me as he ran flat out toward to Cathedral. For a moment, I wanted to run after him, to run off on another great adventure, but I stopped myself. My story was over, and I had to accept that.

I waved to the boy's back as if to tell him "good luck, this is your story now." It was someone else's turn to run off on some adventure, and that was as it should be. I gated out.

Once in Mac Anu, I turned immediatly at Logged Out. Taking off my FMD, I opened "The World" folder on my desktop, and moused over "Uninstall."

At about that time, the phone rang. I reached down and picked up the handset next to my terminal. "Hello?"

"An?" Mariko's voice came through.

"Mariko! How've you been?" I hadn't talked to her in a while.

"I'm great. Hey, how would you like to come with us to Shimokitazawa this week end?"

"I'd love to. What time?"

While talking to Mariko, I clicked The World Uninstall. I got quiet as the program finished running.

"An, are you okay?" Mariko asked sounding concerned.

"Yeah. I uninstalled The World today." We both got quiet. She knew that that had always been a touchy subject for us. After a minute or two she spoke up.

"Why'd you do it?"

"Because, now I have a life worth living." I smiled, although she couldn't see me.

"That's good to hear. I'll see you later, gotta help mom with dinner."

"Alright, bye." With that, I hung up the phone. Now I had a real life. I understood now. The reason why I didn't feel comfortable in The World now was because I no longer had to be there. What started out as an escape bacame a prison, and now I was free. Maybe that's the purpose of The World, and all MMORPGs. They all provide a way out of the real world, but more than that, they can teach you about the real world. If it weren't for that game, I'd either still live with father, or he would've killde me by now. The World, in a sense, saved my life. Now it can save someone elses. It, and the people in it, helped give me the strength to finish the game, and log out. It helped me accept the real world, and my real life. It gave me my real friends, and the best way to repay it, I think is to let it run its course.

After all, there may no longer be a place in The World for Tsukasa, but there is a place in the world for An Shoji.