Seraph appeared before the chaos gate of Mac Anu. It had been a few days since he met up with Mireille and found the white monster that had almost put his new friend into a coma. Mireille had stayed in contact with Seraph, but only by mail. She somehow injured her arm to breaking point. She could only email Seraph due to circumstances. He, himself, stayed away from 'the World' because of what happened. He decided that he wouldn't log in unless he had a good reason.
Seraph had returned, this time, with two reasons: One, to find information on the ring that he received in the dungeon, and two, to meet up with an old friend. He walked over the bridge and turned left, heading for the weapons shop. He walked into the small window area, staring at the shop owner, face grim.
The owner looked back and said, "Gonna buy something, or should I get the Crimson Knights for you?"
"I'll take a Cheeseburger and fries, hold the mayo..." Seraph replied. The owner laughed and held out his hand. Seraph's face changed to one of happiness, shaking the owner's hand. "I guess you found another job... And I thought you'd be flipping burger patties for good."
"Not a good pay for someone my age. Besides, The CC Corp. offered me a corner office and free lunches. I can't complain." The owner bent over behind his counter for a few seconds and came back up. "Here's the sword you ordered. It's the Dogman's Sword, right?"
"Yup! You have a good memory, 'old man'." Seraph responded as he unsheathed his old sword and slid the Dogman's Sword in. "I also want to sell this one..." He handed over the Basic Sword and the owner gave him a meager handful of money in return. "That's it?!"
"Yeah, that's all there is. Prices have lowered since you left. Someone started a riot because the costs went way up in most of the servers. Luckily, there wasn't any fighting, but the bickering lasted for days. They finally negotiated with the Knights and lowered the prices. And as you know, you can only sell an item at half of its price in a shop."
"Geez, that's a bit over-board... Things have changed..."
"Yeah, well, don't call me 'old man' anymore, okay? It gets kind of annoying coming from my son..."
"Sorry, but don't tell anyone my relation to you. It'd get pretty strange. Well, thanks again." Seraph walked away from the store, heading for the bridge. As he was coming up, a Heavy Blade wearing a camouflage-green sleeve-less jacket with a gold-yellow plate armor covering his chest, legs, and his right arm. Keeping with the theme, his pants were of the same hue of green as his jacket. He had brown eyes and short, dark brown hair that spiked up a bit. He was about an inch shorter than Seraph was, looking about 18 years old. The Heavy Blade ran up to Seraph, stopped, and stuck out his tongue. Seraph grabbed his tongue, and drew his sword.
"I'm sowwy!" he tried to say.
"I guess you did want your tongue cut off!!" Seraph retorted. After a bit of quiet, he began laughing and let go of the boy's tongue. The boy wiped his tongue off.
"Is that how you always greet your friends, Keith?" the boy asked. Seraph twitched, and moved his blade up to the boy's neck.
"My name in here is Seraph," he said as he sheathed his sword, "And what are you called now..?"
"It's still Solo Maxwell. At your services, Guardian Angel." Solo bowed as he replied.
"Forgotten... Forgotten Angel, Solo." Solo gave Seraph a weird look and stood straight. "Now, do you have your translator ready?"
"Yup! Sure as hell do!!" Solo replied as he fiddled around with his sword. "I'm ready!" Seraph held out the ring in his palm. Solo looked closer at it, then whiled away at the air. After a few moments, he stopped, donning a dumbfounded look. He looked up at Seraph and said, "I... can't translate it." Solo put his sword on his back. "The figures seem like a mix between Celtic, German, and either Japanese or Chinese."
"So, it's inajumbledtext. Well, thanks anyway. See ya." Seraph began to walk away. Immediately, Solo drew his blade and sped in front of Seraph, pointing the sword at his throat.
"Hey, I think you forgot our deal!! I translate and you join my party!!" He said threateningly.
"You didn't translate anything! Now if you don't mind..." Seraph tried walking to the side, but Solo blocked him.
"It doesn't matter if I translated it or not. I helped you find it's origin, so you owe me your member address! And I can't take 'no' for an answer!!" Seraph sighed, gave Solo his Member Address, and walked towards the Chaos Gate. "Now, before we leave, I'm meeting up with a friend of mine."
"Who are we dragging along?!" Seraph asked. Solo shook his finger, leaning back on one of the pillars nearby. Seraph walked to the adjacent pillar to the left and leaned back on it. "Is it someone strong at least? Last time, it was a complete wuss."
"No, she's brave when it comes to battles. Hell of a fighter!"
"She..?" Seraph looked up, reminiscing of the past. After a few minutes, three gold rings appeared, revealing a small girl with a large scythe. She had purple eyes and chestnut-brown hair that was an inch above her shoulders. She was wearing purple boots that went to her knees, purple gloves with white frills at the wrist, a purple dress lined with yellow and a sun-like figure in the front, a white vest also lined with yellow over the dress, and a large purple cape held on by an orange star pendant. She had a purple hat like a renaissance artist, only with a tail hanging over her left ear, another orange star at the end. She looked around, noticed Solo, and ran to him.
"Sorry I'm late, Solo. I had some leftover homework... Who's this?" The girl looked at Seraph.Seraph chuckled, standing straight. He brushed himself off a bit.
"I'm Seraph, the Forgotten Angel. I'm a Blade Master, began playing the game again about a week ago. And you are..?"
"I'm Zanzoo. Just Zanzoo. I'm a Long Arm, been playing the game for a long time now... Whoa, wait! What do you mean, 'again'?" she asked.
"Well, let's just say my old character got deleted, so I started over." Seraph turned to Solo and nodded. Solo blinked a few times, realized what he meant, and stood up.
"By the way, the keywords are for this server. They are Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground. I heard there's some cool stuff there, like some books and information on rare items." Seraph's face went from smiling to exasperated.
"Dammit, I thought you'd given that up!!!" he yelled. Zanzoo stared at Seraph, while Solo stumbled to the ground.
"Geez!! What did ya think?! I'm too stubborn to give up on it!!!" Solo replied, also yelling.
"ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!" Zanzoo screamed. Both Solo and Seraph looked at Zanzoo timidly. "Now what's this all about?!"
"Well, when I was last here, Solo was still a Heavy Blade. Ever since I had told him of this legendary Heavy Blade weapon, he's been obsessing over it. It's a mythical sword that is hidden somewhere in the weaker servers. It's called the Gaia Zanbato," Seraph explained sourly.
"Yeah, and I have an obsession with the Zanbato, cause my favorite character from an anime uses one," Solo added.
"Oh, you mean Sagara Sanosuke? He's cool, but not as hot as Shinomori Aoshi!!" Zanzoo replied, daydreaming. Solo walked over to Zanzoo, waving his hand in her face. She didn't respond, staring off.
"Well, anyway, let's get going..." Seraph said suggestively, acting rather embarrassed. Solo shook his head and walked over to the Gate. Zanzoo, out of her daydream by then, followed. All three said the keywords and they left the Root Town.
When the rings had disappeared from in front of Seraph's face, he looked around. He was standing at the end of a bridge, one that seemed to be built as a dead-end bridge. On the other end of the bridge was a large building closely resembling a Celtic chapel, with spires, stained-glass windows, and even the doors. Behind Seraph, Solo and Zanzoo had just appeared to watch him walk towards the church. Both followed after, but Solo stopped before the steps to the entrance, looking around at a closer view.
"Wow... Sure looks like a library..." Solo said after a minute of awestruck staring. Seraph began walking into the open door, Zanzoo following. Solo looked at the doors, noticing that the other two had already strode into the building. "Hey, wait for me!" Solo yelled as he ran to catch up with Seraph. When they passed the door, they all drew their weapons. Inside, it looked as if it was abandoned for years. There were pews on the sides of an aisle that had a stone figure holding a large brass dish, which supposedly was meant to hold Holy Water. Seraph walked in further, passing the dish-figure and walking all the way to the altar, where a statue stood of a girl with very long hair and a type of gown. The girl's face was one of hopelessness, bound by chains to the walls at her sides. Zanzoo walked up, her scythe at her back.
"Poor girl. I wonder who would make something like this..." she said, breaking the long silence. Solo was looking in the pews for any papers or books.
Suddenly, the area flashed and a large monster appeared between Solo and the statue. It was dark, wearing a black cape and a dark-gray turban, wielding a large scimitar. Under the turban, two yellow sharp eyes shone. Solo looked at it and brought his sword up. The monster headed towards Seraph and Zanzoo. Before Seraph could say anything, Zanzoo sped towards the monster and slashed it with her scythe in a continuous pattern. After a few twirls, the monster fell to the ground. Then, the area flashed again, reviving the monster, which was now covered mostly in green hexagons. Zanzoo looked up in shock as the monster rose up and slammed her into the left wall. Solo charged at the monster from behind, but was slashed by its sword and knocked into the dish-figure, which shook and moved an inch toward the open doors. Seraph, whom was shaking in anger, also lunged at the beast, but stopped when he a loud ringing began to resonate in his ears. It made him think of when Mireille was attacked by the white demon and was almost killed. He dropped his sword, holding his head. The monster drew closer and closer. It lifted its sword and was ready to strike. In an instant it was blown forward. The sound withdrew, allowing Seraph to look up. He saw a man clad in blue armor, with white hair and white wings. He had a sword that was blue in the center, and silver at the edge.
"Leave now, or you will be killed." The man flew towards the monster, ready to strike. Seraph got up, grabbed his sword, and walked towards the beast. The man, slashing at the monster, was slammed against the right wall, falling in and out of consciousness. The monster drew closer, and just as it was about to kill the man, its attention was drawn towards Seraph.
"You will not kill him or anyone else!" he yelled as he searched his pockets. He pulled out the ring, put it on his right middle finger, and slashed the monster. A strange sphere surrounded it, stopping it from moving. Then Seraph sheathed his sword and held his hand out, palm facing the monster. A blue bracelet once again appeared on his wrist, growing larger. "Data Drain!!" he called out as a dispersed beam hit the monster and pulled out all of the green hexagons. The monster regained movement, but just as it had, it split in half, revealing the man behind it. The monster disappeared.
"I see now... That power... You must beoneof them..." the man sais to himself. Seraph looked down, thinking, and then looked back up. By then, Solo had limped over to them, and Zanzoo was already next to Seraph. "Are you in league with the viruses?! Answer me!!"
"No, I just found this ring in one of the fields and it gave me this ability... I didn't want it..." Seraph replied. The man sheathed his sword. "You have to believe me, Balmung!" The man turned towards Seraph.
"You knew who he was the whole time, Seraph?!" Zanzoo asked. Balmung looked surprised when he heard Seraph's name. He laughed and drew closer to Seraph.
"Well, well, I guess you came back after all. Too bad you don't have your high stats anymore! Now you're just a novice Blademaster!!" Balmung retorted in joy.
"Hey, you're a Blademaster, too. Don't knock it. And you were once a novice as well! I'm glad that I got a chance to change. You haven't changed a bit, though. Good thing..." Seraph replied, drawing his sword. "'Cause I'm gonna kick your ass again!" Balmung drew his sword and pointed it towards the ceiling.
"Let's go then!" He said, smiling gleefully. All at once, they were fighting all over the chapel, swords clanging, sweeping past one another, randomly hitting armor. Jumping over pews, cornering into walls, and even swinging around Solo and Zanzoo, they were exchanging blows, both amazingly at equal strength. Finally, they came at a standstill in front of the statue at the altar, both gritting their teeth, pushing on their swords, until they both flew back, panting. Seraph slid a few feet back and tilted over a bit. Balmung had back-flipped to keep from falling on his back. Seraph began to laugh as Balmung swore.
"I don't understand... How..?" Balmung panted.
"I bet you're wondering why my strength matches yours. I can think of three possibilities," Seraph stated, "One, it's because I have the Dogman's Sword. Two, the Data Drain has a tendency to raise a stat by a little bit. Or three, you're either holding back, or using a weaker sword." Balmung looked at his sword and sheathed it.
"You're smart, but still very cocky. Don't forget, you may have beaten me as a Wavemaster in combat, but as a Blademaster, I am champion!" He walked out of the chapel, arms crossed in thought.
Seraph sheathed his blade, and then fell back. Zanzoo ran up to Seraph and caught him; slowly sitting down, letting his head lay on her lap. "I guess... I was right on all three, but left a detail out... I was also low on health..." Seraph whispered weakly. He smiled and fell unconscious. Zanzoo lifted his head up a bit. He opened his eyes, blinked a few times, looked up and saw Zanzoo, and smiled. Zanzoo gave a puzzled look. As if in response, his smile faded and zoomed right up into standing. "I'm sorry!! I wasn't thinking straight!! Forgive me!!" he said, blushing.
"Don't worry about it..." Zanzoo replied. Solo stood there, fighting the impulse to guffaw himself to death. After a few minutes, they began to leave. "Sorry you didn't find anything about the Gaia Zanbato."
"It's okay," Solo said sadly, "At least we tried." He stopped, smiled, and almost began to laugh again. "At least I got to see something that funny!!" Instantly, A sword was at his neck, Seraph behind him.
"Be careful what you laugh at. You just might die laughing!" Seraph said evilly. Solo gulped and shook his head. Seraph sheathed his sword. "Besides, it was an accident." Zanzoo giggled a bit at Seraph's reactions to Solo. They walked out further, then Solo gated out. Zanzoo faced Seraph.
"You know, it felt strange, having your head on my lap," she told him. He began to blush.
"Well, I was kind of in a dream when that happened..." he replied, "You see, I had a girlfriend in the game and we'd ironically have little dates in the areas. It'd usually end up with me laying my head in her lap under a tree, listening to the sounds." He looked down at his hand, the ring still on his finger. He took it off and put it back into his pocket. "She was put into a coma by a thing that had the Data Drain power."
"Wow. That's what you meant when you said you didn't want it." Seraph shook his head. "What did she look like?" He looked at Zanzoo.
"Well, she had the same hair as you, only she had green eyes. She also wore a costume like yours, only a light blue color with dark green lining. She was also a Long Arm. That's why I thought I was still dreaming... But that's over with. Let's just leave." Seraph began to sweat as he gated out. Zanzoo laughed a bit and gated out as well. Meanwhile, at the top of the chapel stood a woman wearing a white cloak and a large white hat and a white visor. She was holding a white wand that had a red gem at one end surrounded by three small white rings and three prongs on the other end. She chuckled, saying, "Well, Seraph, looks as if you've become a piece to this jigsaw puzzle." She smiled as three gold rings surrounded her, leaving only a space of air where she stood.