Sorry for everyone who's been waiting. I have this story written down on paper and I'm typing it as I go… so please be patient with me. I just started writing a .dothack//Dusk; Legend of the Twilight Bracelet story and anyone who wants to have a character made for the story can contact me at GrieversLastAngel@hotmail.com for the details.

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Chapter Two: Moonlighting Roleplay

                                    And I've heard that you can't fight love so I won't complain

                                    Cause why would I stop the fire that keeps me going on?

          The next day after school, Tawna rushed up the steps to her room. Pulling the laptop out from under her bed, she plugged the phone jack into the wall and placed on the head visor.

          "Alright. I'm on." She smiled as Altimit's front page booted up. "Mail? Who would know to send mail to me?" Opening her inbox, she fell over, her head hitting the wall. "That little!"

          Clicking on the message she read what it had to say.

          ~ I've heard you tried to find me last night. Sorry, for abruptly leaving, but I had other matters to attend to. Let me get to the point. Just because you've met me, do I strike a sudden interest to you? Maybe I misjudged you, thinking you different from every other person I have met in the World.

Balmung of the Azure Sky~

          She sighed as her fingers scanned the keyboard, bu she couldn't think of a single thing to say. After re-reading the letter twice her fingers began to dance over the keys.

          ~You've got it all wrong. I didn't mean to pry and I'm sorry if I offended you. I just thought I should learn more about what I'm getting in to. You are a very important part of this world. I know that's why you called me a newbie before, and I'm trying to learn as much as I can. I wouldn't be playing this if it weren't for a friend of mine who is no longer with me. It's because of him that I have to find out what I can about this game. I didn't mean to cause trouble.

Savana~

          "Hopefully that will satisfy him." She mumbled as she entered the Aqua Capital. "Oh well. Maybe he'll reply."

          Savana skipped over to Dun Lorieag. "Maybe Beta server will prove more useful. I don't think he wants me to, but maybe I could find some more information on Balmung." She stretched. "I don't want to seem like I'm stalking him.

          "I guess it's a good thing I'm not afraid of heights." She said shakily as she crossed over the rickety bridge connecting the chaos gate to the rest of the city.

          "The levels in the Beta sever are way to high. So I'll just talk to the people here."

          It took a while, but she finally found some information on Sieg and an area keyword to one of the last places he'd been seen at. Balmung on the other hand was a different story. Raquel was right on the account that there were always rumors flying around about him.

          "So, Balmung looks over Dun Lorieag as if it were his own. And his partner, Orca of the Azure Sea, looks over Mac Anu. The two are the best players in the World. Balmung holds first place in the Hero of Ziet contest. Orca has second place. And-" she smiled. "Sieg is in third." She looked down into the pen at the small blue grunty that had been watching her for some time. "Well, hi there little guy." She pulled a root vegetable out of her pocket. "You hungry?"

          Watching the little animal's mouth water, she tossed the vegetable to it and watched it swallow it in one bite.

          "Well, I have to go. Mom just got home and she's calling for me. It's kind of hard being an only child." She hopped the fence and patted the small grunty on the head. "But you can relate, huh?" she grinned. "Later!"

          "Man, school was boring as hell today." Savana yawned as she walked around Mac Anu. "And Balmung still hasn't replied yet. You would think a famous character like him would play everyday!" her stroll took her back to the chaos gate. "That level Sieg was seen in was on Beta server and that's way to high for me. So, I guess I'll go level up."

          She went through level 10 and 11 areas by herself. Battling all the monsters, opening all the treasure chests and collecting all the grunty food.

          "Wow, that's six today." She replied as she opened the last chest in the dungeon and watching the gott statue. "And three more levels. I know Sieg would be proud of me, if he was still around." Her golden eyes softened and her smile fell. "He wouldn't believe I've been spending so much time online. I never told him why I-"

          "Hey!"

          Savana spun around to see a woman her height and age standing at the entrance. Her short sandy brown hair and cerulean eyes stood out against her tan skin and she wore a heavy sword strapped to her back. A man stood next to her, with blue and white paint covering most of his face and chest. A sword was strapped around his waist and against the side of his deerskin kilt.

          "Did you happen to see a wavemaster in here, with silver hair and purple eyes?" the girl asked.

          "I haven't seen anyone in this dungeon. Why?" she told them, walking up.

          "Damn it! When I find him, I'm gonna kill him!" it was obvious the girl's temper had been set off as she was screaming at the air and clenching her fists.

          "You'll have to forgive her. She gets very emotional over him." The man smiled looking down on her with amethyst eye. "A blademaster, huh? I am too. The name's Bear."

          The kindness radiating from the man made her smiled back in turn. "I'm Savana."

          "Sorry 'bout that." The girl had evidently calmed down and was grinning sheepishly. "I'm Mimiru, a heavy blader."

          "So, who is it that you're looking for?" Savana was curious to know why two high-leveled swordsmen would be searching for a magician.

          "He's a wavemaster. Tsukasa." Mimiru sighed.

          The female blademaster raised her eyebrows. "Tsukasa? The Tsukasa who caused all that trouble six months ago in this game? You're friends of his?"

          "More like acquaintances. But as close to friends as he'll let anyone get." Bear explained.

          "Besides Subaru. I bet she knows where he is!" Mimiru clenched her fists again. "Man, she gets kicks from hiding from us. That dumb girl!"

          "She?" Savana stared at the heavy blader, confused. "I thought Tsukasa was a guy."

          "He is. But his offline player is a girl." The male swordsman told her.

          "Woah. Didn't know that." She paused. "I guess she can't relate to her the character she plays, can she?"

          "On the contrary. Tsukasa's player puts her heart into her character. But, at the same time, she reminds herself that he is not her, but another male warrior."

          "So, she can understand what he's going through, through her own actions, but she acknowledges that Tsukasa is his own character and therefore has his own rights! That's is so cool! It's like a role play!"

          "Isn't the World based around roleplaying?" Mimiru snorted, running her fingers through her sandy brown hair.

          "It is, but," she paused not sure how to say what she wanted to get across. "Back before the internet crash in 2005 and when I was a freshman in highschool, I used to RP different characters in online chat rooms. I would actually play two or three different characters, and it didn't bother me whether they were male or female. I put all my effort into them, but never really connected with them. I let their personalities inspire to talk and act the way they should. I kind of know how Tsukasa's player feels. Or at least I did. Savana is, well, she's my virtual self, in a way."

          "You bring up some very interesting points. You're pretty smart." Bear complimented her, a smile on his handsome face.

          "I can't believe you've been playing playing online since before Altimit. That's kinda creepy." Mimiru put a hand on her hip.

          "You forget that Altimit has exsisted for less than three years. I remember a time when MS-DOS was the leading operating system." The tall blademaster told them. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Savana. Here." A double sound went off above them. "Take my member address, and get in touch with me if you want to form a party."

          "Here, take mine too." Mimiru winked. "It might be easier than tracking down a reckless wavemaster. Later!"

          With the use of two sprite ocarinas they warped back to Mac Anu.

          "Tawna! Dinner's ready!"

          Tawna threw off the goggles at the sound of her mother's call. "Alright!" sighing, she slid the visor back on and logged out. Placing the computer back under the bed, she got up and turned off the lights before heading down the steps.

          "You've been spending a lot of time in your room the past couple of days. What's going on?" her mother asked as she sat down at the table.

          "I have a big project coming up that's been taking up most of my time." She explained picking up her chopsticks, and lying through her teeth.

          "Oh?" her mother's cerulean eyebrows raised and she smiled. "Well then, keep up the good work. But keep in mind that there is a life beyond work."

          "I will Mom." She shoveled her food in her mouth with her chopsticks. "I'm going to go take a bath. Later!" she sat her plates on the counter in the kitchen and raced up the stairs to the bathroom.

          "Man, I have to get my math homework done tonight too. I wanted to spend all night online." She sighed as she felt the hot water surround her as she hopped in the tub. "Oh well, I guess I'll live."

          Spending as little time in the shower as she could afford she hopped back out twenty minutes later. As she left the small room, she realized the lights had already been turned out downstairs, which meant her mother had gone to bed for the night.

          She got dressed in her night clothes as the computer signed on and pulled her textbooks out of her back pack.

          "Only an hour more online and then I have to get my homework done. I'll definitely be in trouble if my grades slip."

          As the desktop came up (one of Savana Tawna had Cged herself), her mailbox sounded and the icon 'New Mail' flashed up.

          Sittinf down on the floor, she attached the visor and slipped it on, not even remembering her long crimson hair was still dripping wet.

          "Nani?" she gasped as she quickly read the letter.

          ~…. I see. It is I who should be apologizing then. I'm sorry. I can admit your story has caught my attention as well. I would like to meet again, if you are online tonight. The keywords will get you to the meeting place on the Delta server. If you don't receive this until tomorrow, then don't worry about it.

Balmung of the Azure Sky~

          "So he wants to meet up with me again, huh?" she smiled. "Alright. I can live that."

          Hopping into Mac Anu, she typed in the keywords and climbed back into the chaos gate.

          "Hey!" she gasped at what she saw. "It was the same place she had initially met Balmung, but something had considerably altered the area. The screen continued to flash and glitch. Text ran through in some places. The sky was full of glowing green gaps and the moon eerily shone blue. "What is this?!"

          "This…" a familiar voice sounded off in the distance and got closer as Balmung emerged further down the walk way. "Is the work of a virus."

          "A virus?" she whispered back.

          He stepped closer, until her body was just inches from his. "You've grown stronger I see. But you haven't reached level 20 yet."

          Savana swallowed under his heavy emerald eyes. "Seventeen." She shoved him back a little. "And don't change the subject! How did this place-"

          "We don't really know. There are 20 million players in the World We can't track which one unleashed it into the World, that would be impossible. And we don't even know if it was a player. Hackers intercept this game all the time. But, this, this is what it does." He held out a gloved hand as the plains below continued to corrupt. "It eats away at anything. Areas, dungeons, players-"

          "Players?!" she took a step back. "How?!"

          "We're not totally sure. It's something referred to as a data drain. It absorbs a player for an extended amount of time, killing the character. Sometimes it's indefinite, sometimes not. It depends on what mood the virus is in." his hands clenched and he gritted his teeth. "It keeps us eating out of the palm of its hand, and there's nothing we can damn well do about it!"

          "This data drain…can it effect the offline player?" at the stunned look on his face, she continued. "Can it? Because, if it can, it's the one thing I have to destroy! If I destroy it, Tomonari will wake up, won't he?" Savana shouted before ducking her head in embarrassment. "He… was my best friend."

          "Your friend who was no longer with you… Sieg…I didn't know he.."

          She jerked her head up. "You knew Sieg?"

          "Knew him?" he snorted. "He and I were good friends. Orca, him and I used to go adventuring together, back when the World wasn't so crowded and nobody knew who we were. But, I didn't know he was gone." He beat his fist on the marble wall. "This is why Orca and I were trying to stop this! Tsukasa bought us sometime, but not enough. Not nearly enough. And now I don't know what to do."

          "Why don't you and Lord Orca team up with Tsukasa's group again?" the female warrior stated.

          "He doesn't want to become involved anymore. Who could blame him though? That poor kid was kept in a situation that no thought possible. He did enough under his circumstances and I'm grateful."

          "Then why don't you and Lord Orca team up? You two are the best in the World, right? This should be a piece of cake for the two of you." She answered.

          "He looked back and his emerald eyes showed pain. "I haven't heard from him. I'm afraid he's no longer with us."

          "No…you have to be kidding me…" her own eyes widened. "Lord Orca…was…data drained?"

          "Maybe. I'm not sure, but he might be like Sieg now." His voice was soft and mournful at the same time. "We can just hope and pray that when we defeat this thing they'll be spared as well." He turned toward her, his wings rustling as he moved. "Savana, I would like to join you."

          "What?" she took a step back.

          "We're both after the same thing. We should work together instead of against each other. Besides, with me on your side we can tackle higher dungeons and you can go up levels faster." He explained. "Please."

          Savana was thoroughly surprised that Balmung of the Azure Sky was asking for her help. "Why…" as she started he looked up at her. "Why do you want me? Most people would laugh if I told them I had Lord Balmung in my directory. You almost never see a person of your level willingly helping a newbie."

          He smiled, and then chuckled. "First off, I won't call you a newbie. Naïve maybe, but not a newbie. Your level's too high. Second, the World is just like the real world. There are nice people out there. Not everybody's out to get you, although there are P-Killers and Admin takes care of them. And third," he paused to take the time to walk past her. "Maybe I think you're cute."

          "Balmung…" she murmured as her cheeks began to flush.

          "So de we have a deal?" he asked as she turned back to look at him.

          She smiled. "Yes."

          "Alright." He smirked again in satisfaction. "Here's my member address. Contact me when you get on tomorrow." He paused again and his smirk dropped into a smile. "Good night Savana."

          "Good night!" she called as he gated out. She sighed. "Man, how do I explain this one? Balmung, you are one unique guy. And I don't mean that just because you have wings." Her lips formed a smile. "But, he's willing to help, and he knew Sieg That's reason enough to work with him." Glancing at her watch she momentarily freaked. "It's almost midnight?! Where the last three hours go?!"

-*END CHAPTER TWO*-