Author's Notes: My, I'm really churning them out, aren't I? Think of it as a little present to tide you over until I get back from vacation on the 17th. Of course, some of you will not be pleased because of the utterly evil cliffhanger I'm going to leave you tumbling from, but all I can say is MWHAHAHA! Hey, a girl has to have a little fun sometime. If it makes you feel better, I'll bring you back some seashells. Or maybe pictures of them. (dodges tomatoes)

Wonderland of My Own Making
Chapter Five

Akira sat at the computer rigidly, her eyes tracing the single sentence until she felt her head start to ache with the strain. Rubbing her temple absently, she made no move to close the email or look away from the screen. She wasn't sure ignoring the declaration would do any good anyway. Obviously, someone had been searching for her and Kenji and had discovered them.

I've found you.

She suppressed a shudder and the desire to look over her shoulder and forced herself to think of the matter at hand. The email did not appear to have a sender or subject, it's one line of text her only clue. Despite the lack of information, she was sure it could have only been sent by someone in The World, most likely the Moderator that had tried to catch them, Brill. Akira's gaze darkened. Who did this guy think he was? Harassing them online and off!

The nerve of the man was enough to push her to bring up yet another new message, angry thoughts echoing in her head as she entered the recipient's address.

To: System Admin
Subject: Harassment By Moderators

She wrote quickly, fingers flying, and when she was done she sent it without rereading it, sure that her thoughts and feelings had been made perfectly clear. Surely the Administration would put an end to this abuse. After all, that was their job, to ensure the smooth running of The World.

Akira bit her lip. But then again, could she really trust an Admin who let players be deleted for standing up to oppressing Moderators? What was the true purpose of the Moderators anyway? She sighed through her teeth. She really needed to talk to Orca. Only by talking to someone who had been there would she be able to find out what was going on.

She started suddenly and grinned. Why hadn't she thought of it before? Of course there was a way she could find out information without actually logging in to The World!

Excited now, she closed her email program and double clicked on The World icon, bringing up the login screen. Without a second thought she entered her name and password, feeling a flare of determination as she briefly took on the persona of her alter ego, BlackRose. When the title screen had loaded, she went directly to the link for the message boards and clicked on it, admonishing herself for not thinking of this earlier. Perhaps if she went far enough back she would be able to…

Her jaw dropped open.

Stinkin Moderators! [message deleted]
Where is the Admin? [message deleted]
Yo, Ruka! Read here!
Has anyone seen Balmung? [message deleted]
This place sucks! [message deleted]

And the list went on.

Any thread that looked to cast a negative light on The World or its Moderators had been deleted, as well as those that had to do with anyone that stood up to the Mods. Akira snarled under her breath. Of course the Moderators would regulate the message threads, but erasing anything that made them look bad? It was enough to get her temper going again. At this rate, she would be hard pressed to find anything of importance that hadn't already been deleted.

Irritated, she went for the first message that had somehow survived the carnage and clicked on it, her expression easing as she read.

Subject: Yo, Ruka! Read here!
Author: Dagger

Hey, where have you been? Your email doesn't seem to be working. Anyway, we're meeting at Theta Forbidden Treasured Hills today. Try to put in an appearance, alright? We Mods have to stick together.

Well, what were the chances? Apparently, there were at least three Moderators: Brill, Ruka, and Dagger. Akira smiled to herself. Perhaps her search hadn't been a waste after all. The message was time stamped as of that morning which meant it was likely the meeting hadn't taken place yet.

She glanced at the clock. It was 1:35pm, Kenji wouldn't be home until around four, giving her plenty of time to get in and get out before he came back. She shook her head abruptly. What was she thinking? He would most definitely be angry at her if she went alone, and making him angry was not something she liked to do. Kenji barely had a temper as it was, but when he got upset he got passionately upset because it was usually for a good reason.

"And I made him promise," she muttered to herself. It wouldn't be fair to ask him not to go without her if she turned around and went in without him. Then again, a chance to spy on three Mods together might never come again. Could she really pass it up? Would Kenji if he were in her place?

She knew the answer to that one and so resigned herself to facing his righteous anger later. Reaching over, she grabbed his headset as she used her free hand to click The World's entrance icon. Slipping the goggles over her head, she set her mouth in a grim line and stepped directly in Mac Anu…

…only to step back in shock.

The Root Town was thriving, characters walking or running everywhere, their voices tangling in a great mass that drifted upwards. Shopkeepers shouted their wares and the sound of rushing water under the bridge filled her ears, taking her back to better times long ago.

BlackRose breathed deeply. Here was how it should have been. A cheerful, bustling hive of players anxious to get out into the field and earn some experience. She even managed to smile as two younger players almost ran her over on their way to the Chaos Gate. She remembered all too well what it felt like to be a newbie.

Reminiscing aside, she reminded herself that she had an errand to do. Weaving her way through the crowds, she hurriedly towards the Weapons dealer, taking a quick look at the swords in stock. The best blade available was something by the name of "Rainbow's Edge" and it stats were not much better than her old Forsaken Light. She smiled crookedly. Maybe The World had not changed as much as she had thought if Level 99 was still the highest one could reach. Or perhaps it was just harder to get there now.

Closing her menu, she turned away from the dealer and headed back towards the Chaos Gate, feeling better now that she knew she was still a strong player. She would be alright on her own and if there was even a hint of danger, she would log out. Despite her slim appearance in the game, she was keenly aware of the baby she carried and she would never do anything that might even remotely cause it harm.

Safety above all else, Akira, she told herself and activated the Gate, switching to the Theta Server.

The bright sunlight of Dun Loireag blinded her for a moment before she blinked and got her bearings, turning immediately to input her keywords.

"BlackRose?"

A tentative, young voice caught her ear and she closed the Gate menu, pivoting slightly to regard the Heavy Blade standing on the boardwalk. He smiled at her, pushing a lock of golden hair from his face unconsciously. He was dressed a little like Sanjuro, with a faintly samurai look about him, a katana belted to his waist. His white shirt was unbuttoned slightly, giving him a rakish appearance, and BlackRose had to smile. He was young, and obviously thought himself good looking, but his expression was kind and her intuition told her he did not mean her harm.

"That's me," she said cheerfully, tilting her head to read the name tag that appeared over his head. "Sasuke, is it? What can I do for you?"

He smiled again and came closer, his quick steps exerting excitement. "I can't believe it's you! I've heard so many stories but I never thought to actually meet you!" He clasped her hand, shaking it energetically. "You caused quite a stir yesterday too. I didn't think you would be back."

She frowned slightly and pulled her hand away, wondering if she had misjudged him. "What do you want?"

He blinked, thrown off guard. "Want?" His grin broke though again. "Just to shake hands with you is enough. My mother told me so much about you and Kite, and how kind you were to her when she left the game. Besides, your practically legendary here."

BlackRose shook her head, confused. "Your mother?"

"Oh yeah, that's right! You never met in real life did you?" His brown eyes sparkled. "She was a Wave Master named Mistral."

She did not know what she had been expecting him to say, but that was certainly not it. Mistral's son? She laughed a little, pleasantly surprised.

"Wow, I can't believe it! You're Mistral's son?" She squinted a little. "How old are you?"

He blushed slightly. "I'm twelve. I know I don't look it and that's what I like about The World. You can be whoever you want to be here," he said jovially.

His words pulled at her heartstrings and she softened her smile, already feeling rather motherly towards the boy. "It's good to meet you, Sasuke, but how did you know I had been in the game yesterday? I don't remember seeing you in Mac Anu."

The happiness on his face died and his expression clouded, his eyes darting around as if looking for someone. "It's not really safe to talk about that here, but I can tell you that both you and your partner are considered outlaws now. I wasn't online yesterday but…" He searched carefully for words, "…the Descendant told us what had happened."

"Us?"

His lips twitched in an almost devilish smile. "The rebels."

A surge of excitement welled within her and the answering smile she gave him was almost as defiant as his.

"Sasuke, there's a place I want to go to. A field where the Mods are…" She trailed off as Sasuke began shaking his head.

"I know. I saw the boards too, but whenever they meet they lock the field." He nodded towards the Chaos Gate. "Go ahead. See for yourself."

Knowing she was about to look stupid, she inputted the keywords again and watched as a flashing warning sign appeared telling her the field was inaccessible. She muttered under her breath. To reach the field they would need the Bracelet, something Kite no longer had since his deletion, which meant they would need to find Aura again. Or wait for her to find them.

Either choice was not optimal.

She closed the Gate menu once more and glanced at Sasuke.

"I think we need to talk."

An hour later, Akira logged out of The World feeling much more determined than when she had gone in. After hearing Sasuke's story it was hard not to. Reaching up to take off the headset, she sighed tiredly, realizing she was hungry as well exhausted. It was probably time to start dinner anyway, she thought, and turned to glance at the clock.

The blood drained from her face as her gaze landed on Kenji sitting quietly a few feet away, watching her with a calm expression that must have cost him quite a bit. His voice, when he spoke, was low and tight with restrained anger.

"What do you think you're doing?"

To be continued…