A/N Hey everybody! A Log Horizon fic here :3

O dear... -.-' I'm really exited to upload this, though also kinda afraid to, but hey, just trying here. :) Hope you'll like it! Please let me know and review. :D

Betaed by the awesome Ebeewhale, thank you so much! :D (Normally I'd say 'English isn't my native language, but since it is betaed and I got an A on the Cambridge exam I did last june (I think), there shouldn't be much mistakes. If you do find one... woops.. ^^ tehe~)

Hopefully the characters won't be too OOC, it's been a while since I saw the anime. So if I missed facts, please let me know. Also, I don't really know if they can feel pain in the game (they scream and flinch and stuff like that...) so I just assumed they did. Would also make it more interesting, I think... ^^

And I'll do this only once since it's a pain and it's called fanfiction.. Disclaimer: Do not own!

Please read and review! For now; just enjoy the preview! :D

Prologue

Shiroe blinked, his vision blurry.

What happened? Keeping his balance was unexpectedly hard and he stumbled against the wall, almost falling. Why did his head feel like exploding? Why did he feel like sleeping and never waking up?

He shivered, trying to fight the effects of whatever it was that kept him in this state.

When he fell, he still fought against it and tried to stay upright. The corners of his vision were darkening and flickering.

Whoever was trying to make him black out was doing a damn good job. He gritted his teeth, trying to stay conscious and find a way out of the mess he was in. How did he even end up in it?

It was hard to keep his concentration, Shiroe flinched when he noticed a particularly loud noise filling his aching head. With his blurry eyes it was difficult to find out what the noise was, his fingers sliding forward to make up for it and he found shards of glass in a wet substance.

Oh. That's right, he was drinking some wine when he heard something. But when he shifted his focus on.. What? There was something… A lingering suspicion. There had to be something. Someone.

Someone! There was someone with him in the room.

But there was only silence, except for his raspy gasps. How did it end up like this? He didn't know any spells to help him, but was it even a spell that made him like this?

No, impossible, he would have found a trace of magic in the room. What then? Poison?

The wine!

But that wine was something he bought himself from a random store. It couldn't have been poisoned then. But when? It couldn't be done in the house, they wouldn't have been able to enter without his consent.

It couldn't be…

Shiroe coughed. It felt as if there was a fire burning inside his chest.

He opened his eyes but couldn't see anything besides the blurry shape of his desk with a single chair. When did he even close them?

Oh no, this wasn't good. Not good at all. His strength was leaving him.

Shiroe blinked, a desperate attempt to stay awake, as he struggled to move his arms and legs. Where was his staff when he needed it?

It appeared in his hands. Apparently he hadn't yet taken it out of the system.

The staff helped him stand up without falling. It helped him stay upright while he struggled to move towards the door, his energy quickly leaving him.

It looked like the door wasn't coming closer.

Or was it that his vision was failing him?

Or maybe it was his limbs who weren't listening to him.

He fell, his head knocking against the door, efficiently closing it. Why was it even open? He always closed the door.

His staff slipped out of his grip and rolled out of his reach.

Frustrated he tried to get up, growing more desperate with the second. His calm demeanor was nowhere in sight. But then again, he wasn't ever fed poison before, so he could understand why he was getting scared.

But he didn't like it; he didn't like it at all.

Naotsugu, chief, Akatsuki… What he intended to be a shout was hardly more than a breathy whisper.

Wait! Telepathy!

He had almost no strength left, but the adrenalin in his body forced his arm upwards, reaching the 'call' button on the menu in the air.

Naotsugu!

Please pick up, please pick up, please pick up….

The dial tone resounded within his head as he felt his conscious slipping.

"Naotsugu…" Shiroe whispered, before slipping into unconsciousness, ending the call.

A/N So... Did you like it? Please review and tell me! :D

For now, till next time! (I don't know how long it'll take though, sorry, but I won't stop writing!)

~Blessed be, Caithlinn