Okay. Now that I've got a basis set up, I hope you guys are ready for some lengthy chapters. :) I'll try to give you as much as I can. And I am surprisingly having a lot more fun writing this than I originally thought I would.

Ryou awoke from his nap with a startled gasp, not even 30 minutes after he had finally gotten to sleep. A nightmare had awoken him. The same one. Every time. He sat up on the couch and put his face in his hands.

He had dreamt that AIDA had begun to infect everyone he had made friends with over the years he had been in [The World]. He could only watch helplessly in his dream as all his friends around him fell. He was powerless to stop them, and he was scared of the prospect of being alone. He brought his hand to his face and let out a shuddered breath.

The dream had absolutely no merit, as AIDA had been wiped from the network, but he still felt like if he went anywhere, something bad would happen to the ones he held closest to him. The ones who were able to soften his cold heart.

He stood up from his couch and glanced at his phone. His eyes widened suddenly and his heart skipped a beat when he saw the name on the text. He quickly unlocked his phone and scrambled to get the message open.

I'm sorry that I haven't been on too much recently. There have been some things going on… I want… no, I need to see you Ryou. I can't keep this bottled in anymore. Please Ryou… come to the Hulle Granz Cathedral.

The teen's heart sunk in his chest. He had a looming feeling that something terrible happened in her life, and he felt the urge to rush to her side and take care of her in any way he possibly could. He rushed back into his bedroom, which really only had a twin bed, a dresser, his desk that housed his ALTIMIT OS computer. He had blackout curtains over his windows so his room was dark all the time, and on a side note, it also kept his room warmer.

He might as well have jumped into his office chair, as he slid his M2D over his head started [The World] using his controller. After a brief loading screen, he saw the city of Lumina Cloth, where some players stopped and stared at him.

He had become a celebrity of [The World] and had more people obsessed with him than Endrance did in his prime. The shrill voice of "IT'S HASEO!" followed by the sound of many clambering steps spelt his doom.

Hands started to reach towards him as, he instinctively jumped backwards. "Damn it! I think I prefer when they ran away from me when I was a PKK." They continued to come towards him all of them asking silly questions like "How did you get that form?" "Are you going to fight in the arena again to go for emperor?" "What is your relationship to Alkaid?" "What is your relationship to Atoli?" "Can I join your guild?" He pushed his way through all the grabby hands, (a few of them decided to get a butt grab in.) Haseo decided he really didn't have time for this, so he accessed the Chaos Gate, and warped to the Δ server, Mac Anu, leaving many fans in a disappointment. Saw the Eternal City and didn't waste a moment in pulling his bookmark page up, and selecting Δ Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground, before anyone else could disrupt him.

The Hulle Granz Cathedral fluttered into the Adept Rogue's view, and he let out an enthusiastic grin as he started down the bridge towards the cathedral itself. He couldn't hide his anticipation as his pace quickened, almost flying up the stairs, and throwing open the main doors.

And there she stood, with her back towards him staring at the empty Plinth that once held the statue of Aura. She turned towards him and smiled gently at his presence. The same smile that never failed to leave him stunned and slightly out of breath. He quickly composed himself and walked towards her. "Atoli." He started in his normal tone of voice, stopping when he was standing next to her.

"I was starting to think…" she said holding her hand against her heart, letting her relief show. "That you weren't going to come. I thought I made you angry or something." The dual gunner scratched the back of his head and said "Look… I'm sorry about that, I kind of fell asleep and such…"

She shook her head quickly and threw up her hands in front of her. "Oh no! You don't have to apologize at all!" She then brought her hands behind her and twined her fingers together. "Though… I have to say Haseo, You really know how to keep a girl waiting don't you!"

Haseo cringed and sighed softly. She had him pinned under her thumb and he knew it. Not that he was really complaining. He leaned his elbow against the bars and held his chin with his hand. "So… what's wrong?" He glanced over at her with a worried expression. "You sounded kind of serious in your email."

Her face let off a sharp pang of sadness and her head dipped softly. Haseo quickly stood straight and walked over to her, now even more concerned than he was. "Atoli. You need to tell me what's happening." After a moment of silence she looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

Something inside of the young man just snapped when he saw her crying, and he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, wanting nothing more than to protect her eliminate the source of her tears.

She didn't pull back, although it initially came as a surprise to her, instead she started sobbing. It wasn't the first time he saw her like this. He saw all of her bottled feelings and memories when they saved her from AIDA. But back then it didn't hurt nearly as much as it did right now.

He didn't know what to say. Haseo honestly didn't know how he could help this girl in front of him. All he could do was hold her tighter and gently stroke her back as her tears made the white outfit he was wearing damp.

0-00-000-000-0000-0

Kitchi Teshima, was nervously twiddling his thumbs. He was waiting for an interview for a major technology company. Misaki Industries was the leading company when it came to development and improvements on the Micro Monocle Display units that were getting ever more popular with online games. He brushed his hand through his shaggy almond hair that really hadn't changed that much in the past 7 years.

The 3rd Network Crisis left many people extremely tense, Kitchi included. Although he was for a completely different reason.

It was so long since he was known as Kite, and ever since [The World R:1] had shut down, he hadn't picked up the game since. He knew while it was happening, exactly what the cause for the crisis was. The answer, as always, rested in [The World.]

He sighed sadly remembering how useless he had felt, and even contemplated sending an email to Aura asking what he could do to help. His new girlfriend, Akira, had told him that there was a point in time where the two of them wouldn't hesitate to take on dangers together, and she understood that he was scared to get back into that fight.

Kitchi just felt that the time of Kite and BlackRose were over though. That wasn't to say that he didn't keep tabs on [The World]. He knew everything that happened. Wiseman, (or as he was now known as Yata, or Nala, Kitchi couldn't really keep track anymore, and wondered how that man had so much time on his hands) occasionally emailed him about the events.

He knew about AIDA, and the Epitaphs, and the reappearance of Cubia, and the player called Haseo who kept them all together. But, the young man couldn't feel anything but unease. He felt like even after Cubia had been defeated, that it was just the calm before the storm.

The 21 year old tapped his foot at a quick pace and wondered if it was time to pick up [The World] one more time, just to put everything to rest. The young man leaned back on the bench and tried to calm his nerves, especially before an important interview.

The office was, for lack of a better description, was a gamer's luxury. The color scheme left a feeling of ease with its blue and yellow designs painted on the wall in no particular pattern. The crisp blue business suit Kitchi was wearing felt really out of place in such an environment, and it honestly it made him look like Phoenix Wright. (He had to fight off the urge to scream Objection! At the mirror when getting ready in the morning)

The office had a bunch of other really cool items lying around in cases, such as the first Head Mounted Display prototype, and even an antique ALTIMIT OS computer. There were also portraits of popular games that used the M2Ds as a display unit, including [The World].

Directly in front of him was the personal secretary of the company's CEO. She was busy at work typing away, trying to sort out her bosses schedule. Although not busy enough where she couldn't check out the cute boy who walked in for the interview. But she had to remind herself that newbies were friends, not food.

He looked down at the laptop bag that he brought everywhere with him and decided to check his email if he had some extra time. Getting his customized M2D out of the bag and sliding it on his face, Kitchi loaded his ALTIMIT OS desktop, and navigated to the email icon.

Yasuhiko had emailed him (again) bragging about the new gig he got down in the Shibuya district, selling tickets for soccer games. He apparently raked in a lot of money by doing this.

Akira emailed him a good luck letter, telling him to keep focused at the interview, and not to let things distract him too much, and that she would see him whenever he got back to the apartment that they had rented together.

But the last email he saw… made his heart stop for a few moments.

He stared into the display for a few moments before hurriedly opening the email from Aura.

"Kite… I hope this email finds you well.

I wish I could come to you on less dire circumstances, however, the slumber I have put myself in the sea of data has shown me a glimpse of what is coming. The Children of Morganna will not be able to handle this themselves, and even with you they still may not have a chance. The Twilight of the 3rd Network Crisis has yet to reach the land. You will need allies, new and old, to be able to stand a chance of defeating it. Otherwise your world, as well as mine, may become lost forever.

The email was chilling and he found himself short of breath. The feeling he had in his gut had been realized, and now he was getting dragged back into the fight. With shaky hands he removed his M2D to see reality once again. There was a man now standing in front of him casually dressed, with a smile on his face. He looked Kitchi in the eye and said with a hearty laugh,

"Nothing makes me happier to see young people using my company's technology! Especially those who are potential employees!" He stuck his hand out and said "Hello, I'm the founder, CEO and President of Misaki Industries. You can just call me Mr. Misaki!"

This took so much longer to write than I thought it was going to. So many revisions, but it was worth it. Kite's coming back, and so are a lot of familiar faces! Thank you to everyone who reviewed and gave me feedback on the first chapter, and I hope I get more feedback from this chapter to further develop myself as a writer! Thank you for everything you guys do.