Kirity: Heheh. Sorry. I've had this chapter forever and totally forgot to post it.

Wolfy: Way to go idiot.

Kirity: *sigh* I know.

Chapter 7

Zaira mumbled as she woke up a bit cold. She was all nice and warm until a little while ago too. One second it had been warm, she felt a little movement and then bam! It was cold. She walked briskly to her house and changed into something overly warm. After a few minutes she began to sweat so she changed into clothes that would suit the day, and then she remembered that she had school today. She glanced at the clock. It was still early and there was no need to rush so she took her sweet little time walking to school, not thinking about anything in particular. That is, until she thought about the prince and princess tournament on The World. She had to fill Rez in on all the information. Maybe they could go on a leveling trip together, or even another rumor hunt. She might even be able to get Kusari to join them. That could be fun!

When she finally arrived at school, she suddenly got depressed. School had always been boring, but ever since she met Narezza it had become to tiresome. She thought about skipping altogether, but since she was already there she didn't want to waste the energy going back home. Besides, at lunch she would definitely follow Rez up to the roof...or where ever she decided to go today.

Needless to say, Nerezza never made it back home that night. At one point, she believed that Zaira would indeed not catch a cold, and therefore it was safe to go back into hiding in the trees. The sun had woken her in the early hours. Regretfully, she hopped down. Her face was blank as she quickly walked to school, dressed slightly different from yesterday, meaning she could only change her shirt. It had been the only piece of clothing in her bag.

Something nagged in her mind, though. Did Zaira notice her presence? It was doubtful, but there was still something she was forgetting. Oh well, the annoying pest would surely remind her during the school day. She would have to be an expert in hiding if she wanted to avoid any lectures about forgetting. Where else would she go beside the roof? Perhaps another "suicide" gag would fit nicely...

Nerezza walked into the room and Zaira perked up. "Good morning Rez," she said with a cheerful smile.

"Sure," Nera half mumbled after taking her seat. Too bad she couldn't something about her damp backpack before arriving. At least she's not sick, the girl absently thought.

"Are you excited about the prince and princess tournament this weekend, Rez?" Zaira was in an even happier mood since Rez said good morning back...sort of.

That's what she had forgotten. That stupid tournament she had been talked into joining was soon. Today? Tomorrow? Next week? It didn't matter. She just needed to get it over with. "Sure," she drawled.

"You definitely sound excited," Zaira said with a sarcastic tone. "You forgot didn't you?"

"No!" Oh, that answer was a bit too quick.

Zaira gave her friend a creepy smile. "Oh, really? I think you're lying."

Nera visibly shrunk back, sinking down into her seat. Why'd this have to start? Talking in the morning was not fun. Actually, talking period was not fun. "I'm not."

"Of course you're not," she said happily.

A low growl set in Nera's throat. Was this girl trying to irritate her? She was too...cheerful. It would be possible to ditch the tournament if need be. Spending her time leveling alone was suitable enough.

Just as Zaira opened her mouth, the bell rang and class started. As soon as lunch started she hopped up with her lunch and proceeded to follow Rez around, such was becoming the new daily ritual.

Nerezza had to find someplace other than the roof. Wait, she remembered seeing an unused janitor's closet down that one hallway. It would be a good hiding spot until the end of lunch. With haste, she headed there and hid inside it.

Zaira picked up her speed and tried not to lose Rez's trail.

Nera had securely closed the door, laying her head against the wall. The small space was surprisingly comforting. It was likely she would fall asleep.

Zaira saw Rez walk into a closet and pounded on the door. "Rez! I need to speak with you." She was creating a scene outside. She didn't normally like standing out so much, but this was fun.

What? That was impossible. Zaira went to the roof. If she had gone up to the roof, why was she suddenly pounding on the door? Nera decided not to answer.

Zaira glared at the door. Maybe if she glared enough it would melt. ...like that was gonna happen. "Come on Rez. I'll make a scene if you don't open up."

Scenes. She just had to pull the dramatic card. Nera slammed the door open, hoping it would collide with her stalker. "Make your scene," Nerezza mumbled. She just kept walking. It really didn't matter if the girl followed her all around the school.

The just barely missed Zaira as she jumped back. Nerezza was being very difficult right now. Still, she followed after her friend.

Nera whipped around the corner breaking into a full speed run, too fast for most to keep up with. She avoided every barrier and obstacle with ease. Her feet took her outside and in through another door. Where was she going? The answer became clear when she saw the tennis court. Empty. Like a barren wasteland. Even if Zaira managed to follow the track, at least there would be no one around to watch the "scene".

There was no way she would be able to keep up with that girl, but that didn't stop her from trying. She chased after her. When she reached the door, Rez was well out of sight. "Uh-oh. Where do I go now?" Zaira looked around. Every where she looked there were students...except around tennis court. Zaira smiled an evil smile and ran there. It was her best bet.

Nerezza sat beneath the bleachers out of sight. Running had always been one of her better talents. She briefly thought about the one time she decided to try out for track to make her brother happy. Yeah, that didn't go over well. Too many people. And too many people that wanted to kill her for being so damn good at running.

Zaira reached the court and immediately proceeded to look for her friend again. There was no sign of her so she decided to take a break and eat her lunch. Tracking her down in 'The World' was a lot easier than in real life.

Nera, unfortunately, heard other footsteps, and when they pause, she almost stopped breathing. Maybe it would be possible to hide until lunch was over. She might miss the beginning of the next class, but it would be better than Zaira finding her. In the real world, she didn't have her brother here to expose her. And thank goodness for that.

Zaira climbed up onto the nearest set of bleachers and opened her lunch.

Just a little bit more time to go and she would be safe.

Zaira had no apitite so she pulled out her pocket notebook and logged into 'The World'. She wasn't gonna play it, she just wanted to read the rumors. See if there was anything worth disproving.

Nerezza was always good at these things. Hiding, slowing her breathing as to not get caught. And most of all, she wasn't being forced to eat anything disgusting.

Zaira glanced over the rumor boards looking for something tasty to chew on and found it. There was a rumor about a lonely prince waiting for his princess. She assumed that this was for the prince and princess tournament and as she read more, she found that she had been correct. She already had a partner, but thought this would be a good chance to check out the competition. She smiled to herself and saved the search so that she didn't have to find it again later. After that she just skimmed the rest of the rumors without even a care. Nothing interesting seemed to be going on in 'The World' right now.

Sitting still was boring. Nera needed to move around before her entire body tingled, telling her that she wouldn't be able to move properly for another half hour or so. She carefully got onto her knees and poked her head around to see the screen. Stupid rumor board. Most of the time nothing came out of those. However, it reminded her that she needed to level more in order to beat her brother. The deal was still in effect.

Zaira began to mumble things to herself. "I can't get past level 49...otherwise I can't participate in the tourny. I have to tell Rez that too. Knowing her, she'll easily pass that level if I don't tell her.

Level 49? She wouldn't be able to do much leveling before the tournament then. Lyall was already level 47! And she never kept track of how much experience points she was receiving.

Of course, Zaira still had a ways to go with levels before she hit that. She was only level 45 right now, but she could be level 49 after going to two areas. She calculated how many levels you can grow by where you go. Everyone she told said that it was complicated, but it was very simple.

Maybe Nera could settle with going to a level 30 dungeon or something. It would be something to do, but she wouldn't receive more than a hundred experience points. Or so she guessed.

Nerezza jumped out from under the bleachers. The bell rang and she ran at full speed back to the main building. Again, she somehow managed to avoid the rush of people, but gaining many weird looks as she flew past them.

Zaira was much slower than her friend, but she still made it back to class on time.

She couldn't wait until this day was over. Nera would go to the library and log in for two hours. She still wasn't planning on going back home. Not unless her brother demanded it of her.

Zaira was getting better at the whole track Rez down thing and knew she wouldn't be able to find her after school so she rushed home and logged into 'The World'. Turns out that was a good discussion. She caught up with Lyall just before he went off to god knows where. "Hey Lyall," she shouted as she ran up to him. "Wanna go on another rumor hunt with me? Actually, it would be more like checking out our competition for the tournament, but whatever. You wanna come?"

Nera sighed. Great, now she could be easily found here, too. Oh, and such bad timing for her "friend". A current message from her brother would take priority over some stupid rumor hunt. "No," Lyall simply said. "I have better things to do."

Well, you don't have to be rude about it, she thought. It's not like I was gonna drag you along regardless of what you said. "Okay. Oh, hey! Try not to grow over level 50 because if you do then you won't be able to participate in the tournament and I will hunt you down and bother you until I die...kay?"

Gods, and she did not want that. A ghost of some annoying persistent girl didn't sound appetizing. "Yeah, yeah, I got it. Can I go now?" Lyall put his hands on his hips.

"Oh, go on ahead," she said a little flustered. She hadn't meant to hold him up or anything like that.

Without another word, Lyall transported to a level 40 dungeon to meet her brother. He said it was urgent. And the deal was mentioned. She didn't have a choice this time. "What's so important?" She asked, taking on a thick coldness.

"Can't you be a little nicer to a little girl? And besides, you are in front of a guest."

"What guest?" Lyall scowled. Kusari smirked and gestured behind him, in which the "guest" took the hint and stepped up. "It's...a dude...and....it's pink."

"And it has a name," the guy in pink said. "Call me Skyli." Nera slapped her head. Her brother got her again. And she was stuck until he said this was over. It wouldn't be over for awhile.

*~*~*~*~*

Luna sighed and teleported to the rumored area. She battled through all of the monsters, stocked up on chim spheres and even found the lucky animal. She wandered around looking for the rumored lonely prince and happily trounced up to him.

*~*~*~*~*

"So, what are we doing here, exactly?" Lyall questioned Kusari.

"Skyli here wanted to go on a quest, but it needed three people. And of course I was nice enough to ask him if he was fine with you coming along." Lyall's death glare was enough to bring about a sudden explosion ranging a thousand miles.

"Listen, Kusari," he spat like it was the plague. "If it's not the deal, and it's not urgent, then I'm leaving. Have fun with Pinky." Lyall transported. But she ended up back in the same dungeon.

"Not so fast there, silly," Kusari giggled. "Surely you haven't forgotten about my expert skills in hacking your character."

"Don't taunt the poor...boy," Skyli smiled. Watching them go back and forth was enough entertainment for him. Lyall heaved a sigh and moved forward. There was nothing like defeating monsters to get rid of your anger. She cleared the first level in seconds. Being a higher level sure helped. However, she was still way behind her brother.

"Ne-Lyall," Kusari corrected herself, "This really is part of the deal. See, Skyli here now knows who you are. It's one more person that can spread the word."

"Just shut up." Lyall turned and grabbed Kusari's collar. "If it weren't for your stupid hacking skills, I would have turned into a PKK just for the sake of getting rid of you. Now stop making excuses and finish this damn mission. I have more important things to tend to."

"Time limit?" Kusari answered. It was more than obvious to him that she was at the library. Lyall growled and continued deeper into the dungeon. She didn't even know what the quest was. But it would be over soon. It would have to be.

*~*~*~*~*

"Hiya," Luna said cheerfully.

He turned around and stared at Luna. "Who the hell are you?"

He's not very polite. "I'm Luna. I heard you were looking for-"

"Oh! Are you another fangirl who wants to be my princess?" Without waiting for an answer he continued, "Sorry, but that spot has been taken. I don't need a weak little peasant like you."

"Who said I wanted to be your partner?! I already have one! And he's way better then you," she shouted.

"Yeah, right. I bet he's an adept rogue just like you. Adept rogues are the worst characters in 'The World'."

Luna was keeping her temper in check until he said that. "Oh yeah! We'll show you! We'll definitely win that tournament!"

"Is that a bet?"

"Huh," Luna blinked.

*~*~*~*~*

They finally cleared the dungeon, and as Nera suspected, there was no real point other than to clear out the dungeon. "You stupid girl! I swear, I am never answering your mails again. Not you, or Skyli."

"But, I really was doing you a favor."

"I could really care less. I have to do this myself or it would be cheating. You said so yourself, big bro."

"I didn't help you cheat, though."

"I. Don't. Care." Lyall growled again. This entire thing was pointless. Maybe she would just quit. That stupid deal didn't mean much anyway. "I'm not talking to you, and I certainly don't want Mr. Flamboyant here to spread my name around. Got it?" He poked Kusari's shoulder.

"Fine, fine, we get it, we get it."

"Good." Lyall successfully transported back to town. He sat down for a little rest. He needed to calm down. Otherwise he really would turn into a player killer killer. Nera sighed and decided to just sit and stare at the library computer screen. Inwardly, she cursed her brother for wanting to be helpful.

*~*~*~*~*

Luna teleported back to town after her little escapade. She sent a message to Lyall saying that they were defiantly going to win the tournament no matter what and logged out. She went into the forums and posted in the lonely princes forum. 'You better be prepared to lose you stupid prince! This is a declaration of battle!' After that she turned off the computer and went to bed. She was too angry to do anything else really.

Lyall read the extremely irrelevant message and logged off just before the library system booted her out. Nera slung her bag over her shoulder and calmly walked out. Not home, not an escape house, nothing. It would be better if she just went and hung in the woods again. It would be much different with the sun still up. So that is what she did. No one else was hanging around to watch her climb up a tree and sit on the relaxing branch.