To those of you who have been waiting, I'm SO sorry. My computer died, I don't have a new one yet and I hit a bad bad case of writer's block. But due to recent events in my life, I've started writing again, and will continue to until it's finished. Just be patient with me, it will all be up soon!
Turn out the lights now…
To see is to believe…
Tawna awoke on her that morning, sunlight streaming through the slits in the blinds. She vaguely was aware someone was banging on the door.
"Tawna! Tawna, get up!"
"Mom!" the young woman bolted up, her body wrapped in blankets and wires. 'The laptop's still out…'
Shoving the computer and the visor under the covers she got up and unlocked the door.
"Sorry Mom. I went to sleep with my headphones on." She smiled sheepishly.
"Well finally. Good morning. It's eleven already." Her mother huffed, looking at her coldly. "I'm heading into work. Apparently some of the lines are down in the office and I have to go what work I can get done before deadline."
"Alright. I'll see you later then."
Her mother fidgeted for a moment. "Tawna, do you know anything about the phone line being disconnected? A couple of my clients said they couldn't get through to the house phone last week." She narrowed her eyes. "You haven't been on three-way, have you?"
Tawna's heart had stopped in panic but she just shook her head innocently. "No Mom, I don't know what the deal is with the phone."
"Alright then. I'll be back as soon as I can." Her face softened a bit but not all the suspicion had drained from her look
"Alright. I'll see you then!" Tawna collapsed back on her bed as the front door slammed shut. "Damnit she's catching on and I haven't even found out anything yet."
The phone rang, disrupting the silence. Startled Tawna looked at it for a moment, before she grabbed it off the ringer by her bed. "Hello?"
"Tawna, it sucks!"
"What sucks?" she said sleepily. "And why are you so coherent at this hour on a Saturday anyway Lena?"
"Because I am." She giggled. "But anyway, I was online last night talking with Keita-kun and all of a sudden I got kicked off. Apparently 'The World' had a major malfunction last night and they had to shut it down."
"What?" Tawna's golden eyes widened. "What happened? When's it coming back?"
"I don't know. It was on the news this morning that there was a major phone line distribution. Keita called me and we talked for a while. The two of us are planning to go out tomorrow night."
"That's cool." She yawned. "Let me know if you hear anything about the problem."
"Yeah, just hope Balmung's okay, right?"
She swallowed. "Yeah."
"Well," the girl brightened. "I have to go help Mom with my chores. Will you be at school tonight?"
"Yeah, I have to finish my homework first."
"Alright then. Talk to you soon girl!"
As she hung up, Tawna sighed. "Great. No fun today." Reaching onto the floor she grabbed her thick heavy math book. "Why do we get to have school on the weekends anyways?"
After a day full of homework and then six hours of night school the junior was exhausted when she walked into the door. Still she found the effort to unbury the laptop from its hiding spot under the bed and log on, to still find 'The World' offline. Sighing and a little depressed of not being able to play, she slunk into bed, the laptop still up in running in the bed beside her.
The beeping of the 'You have Mail' icon was what woke the girl up early the next morning. Groggily sitting up, she smiled through her sleep when she realized that the game was no back up and running. Looking over at her clock, she stared at the big digital numbers that read 8:00.
"About time." She mumbled, pulling the laptop onto her lap and placing the visor on.
The only mail she had was from HiRelena, stating that she was already online and that her and Keita were in Mac Anu at the time the letter was sent, which was 6:47. As soon as she was finished reading it, another e-mail popped up in her inbox.
~Hey, sorry, I'm not going to be able to see you today. I have other things to do offline. -Balmung of the Azure Sky~
She sighed. "Well there goes that idea." Logging in to the game, she checked over her member list. HiRelena and Keita were both online, but Lena had a busy icon up in her screen, so Tawna sent an e-mail to the silver-haired blademaster telling him that she was in Mac Anu and wanted to see them if they found the time. Staring at her member's list again, she was surprised to see Hiko's named was illuminated in white, meaning he was online and playing the game. Sending him a flashmail, she was surprised when she immediately got a response.
"Hey, hold on. I'll be there in a moment."
A circle of gold light appeared by the chaos gate and the handsome black-haired heavy blader appeared. "Hey, good morning."
"Good morning to you too." She smiled as he walked up.
"I was surprised to hear from you. I thought a pretty girl like you would be a once-chance meeting." He smiled at her.
She blushed. "I wasn't expecting to hear from you either, or that you'd answer me if I called."
"It's a man's duty to come to a lady's aid." He grinned. "Besides I'm always on."
"Well have long have you been on? Couldn't be to long, because the game was down."
"I've been on seven hours and forty-six minutes." He told her. "Since right after the game came back up."
Her jaw dropped. "Don't you sleep? Or do you live in someplace other than Japan and it's been day there all along?"
"No, I live in Japan." He nodded. "But why waste time sleeping on the weekend when I can be playing? Sleep is what my classes are for on Monday."
"I wish I could do that." She sighed.
"Well, it's my last year before I got to college, and my grades are really good, so my teachers are pretty lenient with me. I can afford to sleep through the boring subjects."
"You're a senior?" she cocked her head to the side. "What school do you go to?"
"Yasashiima High*."
The blademaster's mouth fell open. "N-No way! I go to that school! I'm a junior."
He looked over her for a moment and then his amethyst eyes widened. "Wow, I didn't even recognize you, but now that you say something I know exactly who you are! It's been a while Saganachi!"
She blushed. "W-Who are you?"
"Take a guess. I didn't change to much, did I?" he asked.
Looking at him for a moment she gasped, taking a step back. "Hiko…" There was only one Hiko she knew at her school and he had bright purple eyes and long flowing black hair. "Hiko Tobuowanai! Is that really you?"
She couldn't believe that she was standing face to face with the most popular guy in school's online character. Good at sports, captain of the varsity soccer team and one of the few guys high on the social rank at school who was actually a nice guy, it was easy to see why he was the most talked about of the girls and the most envied of the guys. She could easily see Hiko in his character now, except for the kanji in his forehead, you could put him in his school uniform and it would be the same man, if you added his thin-framed glasses.
He smiled. "Glad you remember me. We had English together last year, remember? You were the youngest kid in the class. That took a lot of courage."
"Yeah I guess." Crimson hinted across her cheeks again. "B-But what are you doing playing online? Don't you have a soccer game to be playing? Or at least you could be hanging with your friends or your girlfriend."
"Girlfriend?" he raised an eyebrow. "No, I don't have a girlfriend. I'm determined to get through school first before I worry about any of that. But yes, I was hanging online with some friends, and no I don't play soccer on the weekends for the school. Sunday is a day to myself." Suddenly, his face darkened. "I've been wanting to talk with you anyway. Is it true you've been hanging around Balmung a lot lately?"
"Yeah, he's a friend of mine. What's up?" she asked.
"Man you guys better be more careful. There was a post on the board this morning, threatening anyone who got near Balmung. The Admin deleted it immediately, but a couple of us read it. As long as you're near him, you're being watched." He sighed, running his fingers through his onyx bangs. "I really do feel sorry for that guy. I don't see how he can stand to play the game when people are constantly trying to hunt him down. That would drive me nuts."
"So, does Crim go to our school?" Savana asked, wanting to change the subject. The fact of being watched by a group of jealous girls was something she definitely didn't want.
"Nah. I just met him on the net. He and I were in the same area and he came up and asked if I wanted to go through the dungeon with him. We've been friends since. He doesn't get a lot of play time in, but when he is around we're a team to reek havoc." He grinned.
"I see." She nodded. "So, another thing. You said you know Kei-"
"Savana!"
Turning she saw her cat-girl wavemaster friend and her new boy walking up the bridge toward the Chaos gate. Lena let go of Keita to jump over in front of her friend. "Good morning."
"Hey, you all got my message." She grinned.
"Yeah, and after she heard, it took us forever to find you. Mac Anu is so big." Keita pointed out. "Hello Savana." He nodded his head in greeting.
"Nice to see you again Keita." She smiled. "Guys, I want you to meet Hiko. Hiko, this is HiRelena and Keita."
"Ah, the same Hirelena from school. Hyper active as always I see." The heavy blader smiled down on her.
"Nyao?" the cat ears twitched. "Do I know you or something?"
"You should since you used to be the boy's soccer manager." At the still vacant expression he sighed. "You don't even recognize your captain."
Her green eyes widened. "Hiko-Hiko, nyao, nyao!" she exclaimed, running over to hug him. "Didn't think I'd see you no mores after I quit the team. I thought you were mad at me."
"Course not." He smiled. "Nice to see you again."
"You all go to the same school?" Keita blinked.
"Yeah, Yasashiima." Savana nodded.
"Well that bites. I go to Ichidgo ** on the other side of the city." He sighed.
"It's okay Keita-kun! That's still not too bad." HiRelena cried hugging the blademaster again.
"Okay a quick question." Savana cut in. "Hiko, Keita, do you know each other?"
They looked at one another. "No, we've never met." They both said almost at the same time, breaking out in smiles.
"Then who's the Keita that you said you knew, the first time I met you?" she looked at Hiko.
He chuckled. "You mean Kei. He's a friend of mine from school. He's online right now, so you can meet him." A second later a beep went off, telling everyone nearby that the heavyblader had sent a flashmail. He got a response almost as fast. "Kei!" he called out into thin air. "Stop making out with Ramia and get your butts here!"
Moments later a circle of light appeared and took the form of a strict-looking blonde-headed woman. She wore a short black shirt showing off her toned belly and simple purple pants. A large scythe was held in one hand while the other came to rest firmly on her hips. Her amber eyes narrowed. "Hiko, I can't believe you would have the nerve to say something like that in a flashmail. What could you want right now?"
Suddenly another form appeared in the gold ring of light. A tall muscular man, with shaggy black hair that fell to midback and daggers sheathed at his hips. His gorgeous sky blue eyes opened as the light faded and he smiled at the group. As he went to take a step though he tripped over his own feet, stumbling and reaching out to grab something to steady himself. That something was Savana who went down in the process.
"You klutz." The blonde woman sighed.
Savana opened her eyes and came face to face with the most beautiful pair of ocean blue eyes that she had ever seen. The man blinked, instantly leaning back. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry. I didn't mean that, honest."
The female blademaster blushed, but she nodded. "I'm fine. Who…are you?"
He stood up, brushing pieces of his hair out of his face. "I'm a twinblade master, Kei." He smiled a sweet emotion on his handsome face. "But I'm kinda clumsy for a master."
"Kinda?" the blonde snorted again.
"Guys, this is Ramia, a long arm, and that's Kei. Kei and Ramia, this is Savana, HiRelena and Keita." Hiko explained. "Savana thought you two were the same. Guess that solves that."
"Yeah I guess." The two men stared at one another. They looked nothing alike. Keita was taller, his body more toned and his armor heavier. His facial structure made him look younger and gave him the cute innocent expression. The long silver hair pulled into a ponytail went down to his waist and his brilliant green eyes seemed to mysterious for his childish look. Meanwhile Kei was more muscular and wore light clothing to compliment his body and class. If it wasn't for the whimsical vacant expression in his beautiful eyes he would possess all the regal qualities of you typical tall dark and handsome.
"Wow, you're right." Savana nodded.
"Wow, I can't believe all you guys are so hot." Hirelena sighed. "Except you Savana, no offense."
Hiko smiled at the cat girl and Keita ruffled her black hair.
"So Hiko, why'd you call us anyway?" Ramia sighed finally dropping her guard a little bit.
"No reason really. Just thought you all might want to do something." Hiko told her.
"Well, we were going to go check this place out." Keita spoke up. "Lena and I heard about a protected area that opened up last night. If you want, we can all go."
"That sounds like fun." Hirelena stopped drooling over the guys for three seconds to answer.
"It sounds like somebody's been gate hacking then." Hiko muttered.
"Gate hacking?" the woman swordsman blinked.
"Hacking takes a little bit of skill but once you get it, it's relatively easy. CC corp on the other hand is really hard to crack though. I had difficulty just creating my characters. Gates have got to be close to impossible to break." HiRelena explained.
"Why would creating a character be difficult?" Kei leaned down to look at her. "Hey you have the ears of a kitty." He smiled. "That makes you a-"
"A?" Lena's ears twitched.
"A-"
"A what?" the wavemaster's tail moved.
"You're a-" his eyes lit up. "Oh wow! You're a catgirl aren't you?"
Savana and Hiko fell over while Keita sweatdropped and Lena laughed.
"That was painfully obvious." Keita sighed.
"She's a hacker you moron." Ramia exclaimed.
The twinblade looked back at her. "Really? How can you tell?"
"Are you sure there isn't a screw lose somewhere in his head?" Savana asked as Hiko helped her up.
"You can answer that. Do you know Nenji Amiya from our school?"
"I should have guessed. The klutziness wasn't just a roleplay thing." She smiled. Nenji actually looked a lot like Kei. He was on the wrestling team, the basketball team and soccer team as well as being Hiko's best friend. Where Nen was excellent he sports he lacked in smarts, but that didn't make him less popular in school. "And Ramia has got to be Raine, there's no other way."
"You got it."
Rain Kouhei was Nenji's girlfriend and a rather popular senior who's anti-social personality clashed with her pretty looks.
"Okay enough of who we are." Ramia snorted. "Are we heading to this protected area or not?"
"Wow. What is this?" Hirelena asked as they emerged into the area.
"It's just like some of the places Balmung and I have visited." Savana's amber eyes widened. "BTW, has anyone checked the board lately?"
"Yeah, what of it?" Hiko shrugged.
"Did you see that article about the green-haired twin blade?"
"Yeah. He had the power to change data!" Lena said excitedly.
"Balmung's talked to him before. What if that twin blade… what if he was the one who unlocked this place somehow?"
"You think he's here?" Keita raised a platinum eyebrow.
"Well come on, let's check it out then." Kei unsheathed his deadly kodachii swords in one movement of his hands.
"Yeah but it's level 35, and I'm a wavemaster. Can I handle this?" Lena whimpered.
"Tell me about it." Savana agreed.
"Don't worry you got me." Keita put a hand on their shoulders.
"And me." Hiko added.
"Stop the sweet talk and move your asses." The scythewoman snapped.
As the moved closer to the dungeon, Savana was surprised with the skill Kei possess with his blades. It seemed the clumsiness he usually showered disappeared and he became a top warrior.
"Savana, you're drooling." Keita teased as she watched the twinblade finish off a Mu guardian by himself. The soldier turned as his opponent disintegrated, noticing Ramia limping over to him with a wound in her leg. He quickly ran over, sheathing his swords, healing her and pulling her into his arms.
Savana sighed. 'Balmung…'
"You miss him, don't you?"
Looking up she saw those gentle emerald eyes staring at her through sterling bangs. He smiled. "Lord Balmung I mean."
She nodded. "Yeah." She spoke softly she he had to step closer to hear. "I know he has other things to do, but I can't help but wonder where he is when he's not here with me."
Keita didn't say anything for a moment. "When you talk like that Savana it makes me wonder how you feel about him." He sighed. "I haven't known you long at all, and I know I'm really one to talk, but I don't know if falling for this guy is a good idea. It's not Lord Balmung that's bad, but I think that post this morning was directed at you and if that's the case then you're being watched. I just want you to be careful, cause I think of you as a friend, okay?"
"Keita you're such a sweetheart. Thanks for caring about me. I'll be careful I promise." She smiled at him.
He blushed and then nodded. "Thank you."
"Hey, you trying to steal my man?" Lena cried running up.
"Nope, just talking." She put her hand sup in defense.
"Guys, drop the talk and let's take the dungeon." Ramia growled. "It's right there."
Splitting into three teams they decided to tackle the five level dungeons in a race and whoever found the Gott statue first got it's prize. Now it was Hiko's turn to prove his worth in Savana's party and the girl was impressed with his massive strength and speed, even when carry such a heavy sword. As they went down floor by floor, Savana kept an eye out for anything unusual, but taking their time meant coming in last.
"Don't feel to bad, they beat us here." Keita told them as they entered.
"I'm going out for Hero of Ziet anyway." Ramia smirked. "Balmung won't win this year!"
"You have to get past Orca first!" Hiko teased.
"I can do that no problem!"
Listening to them argue, Savana dropped her head. They didn't even know that Orca was gone, lying in a hospital bed sometime. And she didn't want them to know. They were better off not getting dragged into all of this. The fact she was putting her life on the line to help the cause was enough. But somehow they would realize that the corrupted areas like this weren't just glitches in the system, and then she'd have some explaining to do.
"Tawna?" Lena called to her.
"Yeah?" she called, jerking her head up and out of her thoughts.
"Keita and me are leaving. We're heading to the movies tonight, remember?" the catgirl grinned.
"Okay. See ya!" she waved as they logged out.
"Tawna!" Her heart skipped abeat.
"My Mom's home! I have to go!" she panicked. "Talk to you all later!" she cried as she logged off. She shut down the computer and stashed it under the bed and prepared to head down the steps when she realized she was still in her pajamas. She abruptly turned and dashed into the bathroom, shutting the door as quietly as she could.
She undressed and hopped into the shower. Her mother was downstairs unloading groceries. Taking her shower could be her excuse for not answering her mom when she called. And it gave her tome to think.
"Spending time with the others was fun and I'm glad I met Kei and Ramia." She sighed into the steam. "But I want Balmung to come back. And I want to meet this green haired twin blader"
* A school name I've heard before I just threw it in.
** A made up word… don't even know if it exists. ^_^
