Author's Note: Here is where it begins, the Prologue may be short, but I think I can finally make it longer because my head is popping with ideas. Blah, I was too addicted to La Tale (CB tester! Woot!) Here it is, Chapter 1

Chapter One: Regroup

9:44 AM, Henesys, Victoria Island. June 26th, 2010

Michael suddenly started to laugh uncontrollably. What was he talking about? He lived his whole life here. He remembered his job advancement when he was 10; his father's death to the demon, Horntail last year; recognized for getting to Level 50 at the tender age of 13. He could go on forever with those memories.

Then he realized.

He had two sets of memories in his mind. He remembered vividly that he played Maple Story yesterday with Chengjia and had his Social Studies final at school. He could recount the most of his childhood memories with his real family.

Michael's head was spinning beyond control. 'What the hell...is this shit...' So he decided to wonder around Henesys for a bit while he thinks, he was sure his advanced intellect would prevail.

"Michael Li, I've been looking for you." A voice calmly said.

Michael jumped so violently that he almost missed the person that spoke. A short, middle-aged women.

"Who are you?"

"I am Katherine Kewq."

"No way! You're related to the richest guy in the world?!"

"Yes, I'm his wife. As you should know, he bought Nexon a couple years ago."

"Wait...what? He did? ..."

"I am a prophetess, and I know the answer to your questions, but hear me out first."

So Michael listened to her story.

"Two days ago, my husband's workers found a mummy while they were digging the foundation for his newest building. Inside the mummy was a demon, it's name is Reggie Sulfrice. It took over my husbands body and basically took over the world."

"So...how come I'm here?"

"Everyone who has came in contact with an electromagnetic wave in the past 24 hours have been moved to another dimension. Sulfrice, amazingly in two days' time, came to control every single satellite in orbit. He used it to target every inch of land on Earth."

"So, 6 billion people are in this dimension? He moved us into the Maple Story dimension? But how can he control the world with that?"

"Well, Nexon does operate Maple Story right now, so Sulfrice could easily turn us into slaves, we're in the programming right now. Right now Sulfrice is reshaping the Earth, it would take him around five years to complete the job. Of course, first he has to hunt down the odd number of people who wasn't caught by the satellites."

"We're doomed...?"

"Yeah, basical-"

Suddenly Katherine took a sharp intake of breath and was close to collapsing. Her eyes flipped over so the white of the eyes were showing, and she started to chant.

"Seven will come, out from the blue,

Four were known, friends from the past.

Three are strangers, may they be the glue.

The Sworn Ones will face, the greatest foe of all,

In the greatest disaster and war of all, humanity's fall.

And one will soar above all, the lone survivor."

After that, Katherine collapsed, Michael caught her before any damage was done, and asked around for her house.

"So, can you interpret it for me?"

"Certainly, did you record it on paper?"

Michael spread the paper containing the prophecy delicately on the table, as if it contained his life.

"Seven will come, out from the blue. It means that seven people will battle Sulfrice."

"Four were known, friends from the past. Well, I think this means that four of the seven were friends when they were on Earth"

"Three are strangers, may they be the glue. Hmm, this is a tricky one. The first part obviously means that three of the seven are complete strangers. Second part may mean that there will be dispute between the four friends and the three will hold the group together."

"The Sworn Ones will face, the greatest foe of all. Same as the first sentence, except the seven will be known as the Sworn Ones. Possibly mean that they swore an oath to bring down Sulfrice."

"In the greatest disaster and war of all, humanity's fall. The final battle will end humanity..."

"You mean every last human will die?!" Michael cut in sharply.

"I think so..."

There was some silence before Katherine continued.

"And one will soar above all, the lone survivor. One person will survive, maybe one of the seven."

Michael stood up and walked towards the door. This was too much for him to intake in such a short period of time, he needed some time alone to think.

"Michael, she needs you."

Michael didn't move or respond.

"Take this amulet, it will let you revive her memories."

Again, Michael stayed idle.

"You loved her once, you know that you have to save her."

"What if I refuse?"

"Michael, you are special. You are the only one who still have their memories of Earth. I believe you are more powerful than the others, you are the One. She will not refuse your help, that incident is long forgotten."

Michael flinched violently. "How...?"

When he turned around, Katherine was already out, dozing peacefully.

'It's such a wonderful day.' Tina thought as she made her way to the legendary Mushmom monster.

Though she knew that a Level 43 Hunter couldn't hope to defeat it alone, she still took the risk and went off without a party.

'I'll prove to Salina, then she can't say I'm weak again.'

Before Tina entered the portal which teleported to the place where Mushmom spawns, she strung her Maple Soul Searcher carefully. It had been well scrolled by her mother, who had passed away to cancer a few months ago.

She took a deep breath, and walked into the light.

Then faster than the speed of light, a huge Orange Mushroom jumped on Tina as soon as she got used to her surroundings, dishing out huge damage.

Tina quickly downed four White Potions. "Double Shot! Arrow Blow!" Her voice rang clearly over the farmland of Henesys.

But the great Mushroom proved too much for her as it jumped to create a massive earthquake. Tina was sent flying.

She screamed in pain as she landed on another earthquake.

Darkness was clouding over her eyes, blood flowed profusely out of the corners of her mouth.

'No...not here...I can't die here..." Suddenly a dark shape appeared out of nowhere and killed the huge Mushroom in five hits. An Ice/Lightning Wizard finished it off but couldn't get the drops.

Tina gave in to the blackness.

Michael rushed to the potion store after carrying Katherine to her bed.

"Whacha want chief?" asked the store clerk after Michael crashed through the door.

"One thousand Ginger Ale," Michael felt around his Brown China shirt and was shocked to find ten sets of Crystal Ilbis. "And please recharge my stars."

"That'll be around five hundred thousand mesos."

Michael felt around the pockets of his Brown China pants and pulled out all the cash he had on him, grabbed the potions and stars, and ran as fast as he could.

"Haste." he muttered to himself and he felt lighter immediately.

"WHOA CHIEF, TOO MUCH, YOU GOT CHANGE COMIN'!"

"Keep the damn change!"

The store clerk counted the money, and whistled. He was impressed.

"Ten million mesos," he muttered happily to himself, "time to plan an early retirement to Florinda Beach."

--

Michael arrived at Somebody Else's House just before a giant Orange Mushroom was about to jump on a dying girl.

"Haste, Claw Booster, Drain." Michael muttered to himself to set the buffs. He soon realized that Haste was the only thing that worked. 'Cool,' he thought, 'I'm a Hybrid in this life."

"Lucky Seven!" The words echoed across the fields of Henesys and Mushmom flinched as the Crystal Ilbis came in contact with her and backed away from Tina.

Michael repeated the skill five times, the stars flashing out of his Dark Slain at amazing speeds. As Michael was about to finish the job, an Ice/Lightning Wizard suddenly appeared and killed Mushmom with an extremely strong Ice Beam. Ilbis and a 60 scroll appeared out of thin air as the carcass of the great mushroom disappeared.

The Wizard rushed towards the items but was blocked by an invisible ward.

"Nooo." The Wizard watched with much desperation as Michael slowly walked towards the drops, taking his time, and grabbed the items just before the ward gave in.

"What drops were those?" The I/L Wizard asked sadly.

"Well Ilbis...and a 60 Glove Attack Scroll. Here you can have it" Michael tossed the items to the Wizard, who apparantly was masked.

Michael looked around for Tina and found her battered body a few meters away from the Mushmom spawning area. He quickly got to her side and checked her pulse, and sighed in relief. She was alive.

Michael tried to lift her carefully, but despite her small appearance, she was quite heavy. 'Goddammit, how does she eat so much all the time and stay smaller than me...' Michael thought angrily and with much amusement.

"Can you give me a hand here?" He called to the I/L Wizard.

"What's wrong?"

"I found her injured here, help me take her to my friends house, she's quite heavy and has some major injuries."

"Do you know her?"

"No." Michael lied.

"Okay, I'm coming." The Wizard came and together, he and Michael carefully lifted her into the air.

"You have a Return Scroll or a stretcher?"

"Wait." Michael rummaged through his pockets and found a Henesys scroll. He ripped it apart with his free hand and teeth. Instantly they were transported outside Katherine's house.

"This is what I call luck." Michael chuckled and opened the door.

"Hot little number isn't she?" The Wizard said. Michael paled but hid it so perfectly that the Wizard didn't notice. He plopped down into a chair.

"So," Michael said, "I guess we should introduce ourselves. Proper way?"

"Sure." the Wizard shrugged.

"Michael Li, Level 50 Assassin-Bandit Hybrid. You?"

"Douglas Lam, Level 47 Ice/Lightning Wizard. Nice to meet you." he extended his hand for a handshake.

Michael didn't respond, he was in shock. Doug was another one of his close friends at school on Earth.

"Let me see your face." Michael snapped back from his memories.

The Wizard took off his mask, he was indeed the Douglas Michael knew.

"Ah, we have company." A voice came from the direction of the stairs. It was Katherine.

"Katherine, how do I activate the amulet? I can't get this crap to work."

"Eye contact. Amulet precisely five centimeters from your eyes. Lower amulet after five seconds and break eye contact."

"Okay, got it." Michael turned to Douglas.

"I'm conducting a test of my sanity, Katherine is helping me by supplying me this amulet. Please work with me."

"I guess I should help you...I mean you gave me the drops."

"Okay, we follow her instructions, eye contact."

Doug looked Michael in the eyes and Michael moved the amulet between them, precisely five centimeters from himself. Five seconds later Michae lowered the amulet.

Almost immediately, Doug's eyes flipped back and his body went limp.

"He'll be okay after a while." said Katherine calmly, surprisingly close. Michael turned around and saw her treating Tina's wounds.

"She'll wake up after a bit, do the ritual with her after you calm her down."

Michael didn't respond, he was thinking of how to approach the person he was so eager to avoid for four long months. Though they had became friends on MSN, he hadn't approached her in person other than asking her to the school dances.

'Where am I...'

'Am I dead? Is this heaven...?'

Tina slowly opened her eyes, adjusting to the light.

"BOO!"

"AHHHHH!!" Tina screamed and bundled her body into a ball. When she dared to look again, she saw an I/L Wizard roaring with laughter while an Assassin sat across from them, apparently deep in thought.

"Who...who are you guys?"

The I/L turned to the Assassin. "She doesn't remember us? How is this possible?!"

"Calm down, I haven't done the ritual dumbass." The Assassin turned to Tina. "Maintain eye contact with me for ten seconds please."

Tina nodded, too scared and confused to say anything.

"But before we do that, tell us your name. Proper way if you please."

Tina finally got the confidence to speak out. "Before I do that, tell me where the hell am I and who the hell are you guys."

"You'll get the answer to the latter once we give your memories back." The Assassin said darkly. The I/L looked away, as if reliving a past experience.

Tina thought hesitated for a moment. "Tina Wang, Level 43 Hunter."

"Good, now maintain eye contact with me for ten seconds."

Tina looked into the Assassin's brown eyes, they seemed to be filled with sadness despite the blank face he manages to keep.

The Assassin moved an amulet between them, Tina was going to adjust so she could see the sad brown eyes again but the I/L held her still. "Don't move." he said.

Suddenly, a blinding white light, complete with white noise, came to overwhelm all of her senses. She remembered everything she had lost in the transition to this dimension.

Her family. Friends at school, the two guys she was with were Douglas and Michael. Doug was a talkative person, Michael was a shy one. They both liked her but she only returned the feelings to Doug.

What relieved her was that Michael didn't care, he just avoided talking about his feelings ever again.

She moved onto other memories and after she finished going through them, everything went pitch black. She felt that she had control of her own body back and managed to open her eyes.

"How are you feeling." asked Michael

Tina was shocked, she doesn't recognize anything in this house, and she was sure that it wasn't Doug's or Michael's house either.

"So, time to answer some of my questions. Where am I?"

Doug looked over to Michael.

"You explain things to her, I have to fetch something from my house." And Michael quickly moved to the door before Doug could reply.

"I'll start...with Quen Kewq."

To be continued...