A/N: Hey readers. Time for a brand new Lost Story. This one will be going away from Ren and Alice and the majority of Wyvern's Inferno to focus on a different character. Hope you all enjoy it.

Also, Emma and Kione are both characters of the Arctic Swordsman fic by Marcus Cersy.

Ayumi walked through the Central Galactic Station. It was pretty much the center of Galaxy Star Online, or GSO for short. It was the starting point for all players, and had all the latest up to date information about everything related to the game. Players could find out about upcoming events, tips for difficult dungeons, the best places to farm certain materials. Anything and everything happened here.

"Hey look! A Plutarian!"

"What's wrong little girl? Need someone to help you find your mommy, hahaha!"

Ayumi rolled her eyes as she heard the comments come her way here and there. Being a Plutarian, she was thought of as being the weakest of the races. The only thing Plutarians had going for them was speed. But their small height, and minimal power and defense led many to believe the cons far outweighed the pros.

A little over half a year ago, Ayumi would have felt depressed from hearing such insults. But so much had happened since then. She had met Ren and Alice, taken down Ghost, and made so many new friends. On top of all that, she had been reunited with her family, now living with her aunt in Japan. She had learned a lot about true strength. And as she was now, she could probably take out most of the players that insulted her. So she opted to ignore them and carried on.

Ayumi went to the nearby refreshment stand and ordered a drink for herself. She sat at a table and sipped on her drink while scrolling through her menu.

Suddenly, the clock struck 3 and all the monitors in the Central Galactic Station changed, each of them showing an announcement.

"Hello all you GSO players!" a female announcer called out as she appeared on screen. "Are you all having fun exploring the galaxy? Well I hope you aren't too busy, cause I've got a major announcement for you all! There's about to be a brand new event, unlike anything GSO has seen before! It's called the Great Galaxy Relay!"

The announcement had caught the attention of every player in the station. Ayumi herself also looked on with her interest piqued.

"Here's how it will work." the woman explained. "Players will compete in a big race filled with different obstacles scattered along the way. Whoever reaches the end first is the winner. But hold on, it's not called the Great Galaxy Relay for nothing, players. This will be a relay race. That means you'll need to form teams. Teams for this event must consist of five players total. No more. No less. Each member will end up tackling a different part of the race. So you'd best find a good team."

Ayumi thought to herself. With little info on what the obstacles would actually be, diversity was key in creating a team. That meant having teammates of differing races.

"The race will be in one week. Further details about the event will be updated as time grows closer." the announcer said. "See you there, players."

With that, the broadcast ended and each of the monitors went back to showing their usual random information. All around the Central Galactic Station, players were suddenly chatting and gossiping about the revelation of the new event. Ayumi herself went back to sipping her drink.

'The Great Galaxy Relay, huh?' she thought. 'Sounds fun, but who do I know in GSO that's reliable and on good terms with? Kai? I guess he's good, but we're both AGI types. With only five players for a team, I should try and go with someone else to get better diversity.' The small girl kept thinking to herself, but nothing came to mind. There just wasn't anyone she really knew well that played GSO.

But what about players from games other than GSO?

Ayumi grinned to herself as she finished her drink. She tossed it in the trash and opened her menu to log out. 'I bet the Clair and Emi are gonna love this.'

Opening the door to the Dicey Cafe, Alana walked inside. For most places like this, it would be strange for a high school freshman girl to go into. But she knew this place wasn't so bad, despite its shady outlook and location.

"Hey, if it isn't Alana." Agil greeted. "Haven't seen you in awhile."

"Hello Agil." Alana greeted with a polite bow. "It's nice to see you again."

"Anything I can get you?"

"Just tea is fine, thank you." Alana said. "I'm meeting up with Clair and Emi here soon."

"I see. Well it'll be nice to see those two as well. Most of the gang is of at college these days."

It was true. With it being fall, a lot of the friends she had met from Dan and Alicia, including those same two people, were off starting their college lives. Alana would have liked to invite Dan and Alicia to be on her team for the Grand Galaxy Relay, but they were no doubt busy with their studies. But she still had some friends that were in high school like her.

Another few minutes passed before the bell rang by the door to the cafe. Alana turned and saw Clair and Emi walk inside. Ever since she had been introduced to them, the three girls had grown to be close friends.

"Hey Alana. I hope we didn't make you wait long." Clair greeted with a wave.

Alana shook her head. "No, I just got here myself a couple minutes ago."

"That's good." Emi said as the two of them took a seat at the table Alana was at. "So can you go more into detail about what you texted us about the other day?"

Alana nodded her head. "Yeah. Like I said, it's an event taking place in GSO. It'll be a big relay race with teams of five players."

"And you asked us cause you don't have a lot of close friends in GSO that are reliable for this sorta thing." Emi said, remembering what Alana had told them over the phone.

"Yes. So I was thinking the three of us, and two others could enter and compete in it." Alana said.

"But you don't have anyone else in mind, right?" Clair said.

"Well… no." Alana admitted. "But it shouldn't be too hard to find two other people."

Clair and Emi looked at each other and grinned. "Actually… we happened to have just the duo in mind." Clair said.

"Really?" Alana asked.

Emi nodded her head. "Yeah. they're good friends of ours and pretty good VR gamers. They're sure to be a big help."

"So who are they?"

"We actually already asked them to meet up with us here. They should arrive soon." Emi told her.

As if on cue, the door opened once again. Another pair of girls walked in, though Alana didn't recognize them. The first was a girl with raven black hair. The other had silver hair and wore a hood that covered most of her face. A German Shepard was at her side. Both of them seemed to be the same age as Clair and Emi.

"Hey girls." the raven haired girl greeted with a smile.

"Alright, introduction time." Clair said as she got out of her chair. She gestured to the two new girls. "These are Emma and Kione. Kione has the same name in ALO, but Emma's called Melody in there. Both of them have older siblings that were friends of Dan and Alicia back in SAO."

"It's nice to meet you." Emma, the girl with the black hair, said. "You must be Alana, right?"

Alana nodded her head. Her gaze was more fixated on the girl wearing the hoodie. "Isn't it hard to see with that hood covering your eyes? It's not that chilly in here."

Almost immediately, the red-haired girl could tell she shouldn't have said that. An awkward silence suddenly filled the room.

"Um… Alana." Clair said, rubbing the back of her head nervously. "The thing is… Kione's blind."

Alana covered her gasp with her hands. Suddenly, the dog at the girl's side made a lot more sense. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"It's alright." Kione said. She removed her hood, revealing a large scar along her face, most notably over her eyes. "When my sister was trapped in SAO, I got attacked by a drunk man. The incident caused this, and I've been blind ever since."

"That sounds so awful." Alana said. "I'm so sorry."

"It's alright. I've gotten used to it." Kione told her. "Plus I have a new friend because of it. Lex."

Alana walked up and patted the German Shepherd on the head. The dog leaned in and licked her face. "Hehe, that tickles."

"So what was it you called us here for, Clair?" Emma asked. "You said something about a big event in another VRMMO."

Alana went on to explain the Great Galaxy Relay to Emma and Kione. The two girl listened attentively as Alana talked.

"Hmm… A big relay race, huh?" Kione said as she thought to herself. "The teams are made up of five people, which would mean the five of us."

"I think it sounds fun." Emma said. "GSO sounds kinda like Star Wars. My brother Marcus and I have always been big fans of those movies."

"So you'll join?" Alana asked.

"You can count me in!" Emma grinned.

"Me too." Kione nodded. "Though it's in less than a week, right? We'll need to prepare ourselves before then."

"Don't worry. If you transfer over, you're stats should be fine." Alana told them. "Though as for gear… we might have to do some searching."

The five girls discussed their game plan. Clair and the others would be transferring their accounts over to GSO after school tomorrow, where Alana would meet up with them. After giving them a quick intro, they would spend the next few days working on getting equipment in preparation.

The Central Galactic Station was as busy as ever as Ayumi logged on to GSO. Players were getting ready for the special event happening soon. There were players looking to recruit others, as well as those looking for information. Betting booths were already open, with some players looking to make some fast cash.

Ayumi sat at a bench near the starting point for new players. With the others transferring their accounts over, their appearances were likely to be different. That meant it would be easier if they came to her, since they already had an idea on what she looked like in GSO.

"Ayumi? That you?"

The sudden voice snapped Ayumi out of her thoughts as she realized a young girl was standing near her. It was a young-looking girl with short dark-blue hair and an appearance of what Ayumi believed was a Neptunian. Their starting equipment gave it away that this was one of her friends, though the voice made her sure of who it was.

"Hey Himiko." Ayumi greeted with a smile. "So what do you think of your avatar?"

"It's certainly different." himiko admitted, examining herself. "I'm glad my height and body type didn't change much though. Moving would be so much harder if it did."

The two girls weren't waiting long before another arrival joined them. Ayumi easily recognized the player's race as Martian. Her appearance was roughly similar to a certain Sylph they knew in ALO.

"What do you think?" Mai said as she struck a pose. "Am I rocking the Martian look?"

"Not as much as us rocking our looks I bet." another voice said. All three turned to see a Uranian and a Jupertian, the races of Uranus and Jupiter. The Jupertian had dark blue eyes, shoulder length tan hair, and rough skin that seemed almost as hard as rock. The Uranian had long black hair and grey eyes. Her skin was a dark grey color, common for Uranians.

"No wait, don't tell me. Let me guess…" Himiko said, looking at the two girls. She pointed to the Uranian. "Melody?"

"Bzzt, wrong!" the Jupertian said with a grin. "That would be me. Kione's the Uranian."

"Darn it!" Himiko said in frustration. "Well in any case, we're all here."

"So where should we go first?" Melody asked. "Like you told us before, we're gonna need good equipment for this thing."

"It's primarily a race so something average should suffice." Ayumi said. "That's still gonna be pricey though. I don't think I have enough cash on me to cover everything."

"Then let's go farm some. Or perhaps there's a quest with high level gear as a reward." Kione suggested.

"Farming would take awhile and as far as I know, there's no known quests with good equipment rewards we could clear with just the five of us." Ayumi said. "Luckily, I know a little something special happening later tonight."

Mai narrowed her eyes. "And that is?"

Ayumi grinned as she pulled up a window from her menu and showed it to the others. "There's a monster hunting event going on over on Mars. Kill monsters to get points within a certain time limit. And the payouts are pretty sweet."

"Sounds like just the thing for us." Himiko said. "Our gear may be starting-level but we still have our stats from ALO. This'll be a breeze."

Ayumi nodded her head in agreement. "Alright, we've got ourselves a game plan." she said. The Plutarian raised her fist into the air. "Let's go get some money!"

"Yeah!" the other girls cheered together.

A/N: Well that's chapter 1 of the new Lost Story readers. Look forward to more coming up.