A/N: I'm struggling with ideas for my Warlords Wrath Online story. I have a couple of ideas, but they're in far-out chapters. Like I already have plans for the 25th floor. There are other ideas I have in store after the events of the 25th floor, only I haven't decided if it'll be soon or later. I'll find out when I get there.

I'm open up to some requests or ideas if you guys have one.


DECEMBER 25TH, 2022. FLOOR 1, VALLEY OF PEACE.

What a beautiful day it is today, and not just because it's Christmas.

It's night time and it's snowing. The very ground is already coated in a thick layer of snow. In the center of the Valley of Peace is a massive Christmas Tree. Probably as big as a city building. A lot of players, nearly all the remaining 8,205 players, are wandering around town. The kids are playing in the snow, teenagers or adults are wandering around buying gifts, having a special feast, helping the NPC's passing around gifts.

Warlords Wrath Online never ceases to amaze me. Everything is just as radiance and joyful then it is in the real world. The only thing that could make this better is that Serah would be here.

Right now, I'm just sitting on the park bench facing the town tree. I'm wearing a dark red coat and purple scarf to keep myself warm from the cold. I open my menu, scroll through my items list for the DSCF0001 item. The photo appears in my hands. Every time I think about Serah or Hope, I'm always glad I brought this photo into this world.

I wonder how Serah's doing in the real world. Every year on Christmas, we use to do everything together. Open presents, have dinner, sing Christmas carols. My favorite thing to do is watch a Christmas movie on the couch by the fireplace with a nice cup of hot chocolate. Hope used to fall asleep halfway through the movie, snuggling up against me or Serah. I'll admit, he was adorable doing that.

But this year, we can't do that. Hope and I might find a substitute in this world, but Serah doesn't have us to do it with. I'm just hoping that idiot husband of hers is taking care of Serah. If only I could watch them from here. He better takes care of Serah or it'll be the last thing he'll ever do.

"Hey!" I jump, startled by someone shouting from behind. I turn to see it's Kirito standing from behind me.

"Oh, it's you," I say. "Geez. Don't sneak up on me like that."

"Sorry. Couldn't help it." Kirito walks around the bench and sits next to me.

"What do you want?" I ask.

"Just wondering what you are doing. Leafa is out having a feast with her guild. So, I'm just looking for something to do." Kirito says.

"Such a price of being a solo player," I say.

Kirito just shrugs his shoulders from my comment. "So, what are you doing?"

I don't answer at first. I'm not fond of Kirito. I let out a sigh. "Right now, I'm trying to figure out a gift I want to give to Espeon."

"Oh, that Cleric from the boss fights?" I nod. "Well, what do you got?"

"Well...he's been telling me he needs a new weapon." I open my menu, scroll through my items list until the Zhu Bowstaff appears in my hands. "I figured I give him this."

Kirito takes the staff, getting a look at it. He pokes it once and a window identifying the staff appears. "The Zhu Bowstaff, huh? A level 22 spell weapon."

"That's right. It's the highest I can get." I say. It really is. Hope is a level 32 Cleric right now. His weapon is pretty much a level 18. It's probably a Rank D or E to him. If anything, this staff is probably a C or B.

Kirito looks at me. "Want my opinion on the staff." Kirito gets a grip on the staff with both hands. I realize what he was doing but I was too late. He breaks it in half.

I give a shocked look seeing the staff break, then the weapon shatters. I was frozen for a moment, then the next thing I do is grab Kirito by the coat, smashing him against the wall off of his feet.

"What the hell was that for!?" I shout at him. "Do you have ANY idea how long it took me to find a spell staff?"

Kirito looks frightened by my attack. He should be. "He-hey! Wait! I'm just trying to help."

"Your way of helping is destroying the weapon?" I bark at him.

Kirito looks away, thinking. "Uh...sort of, I guess."

I set Kirito down then give him a hard slap in the face. His cheek is left with data damage that matches my hand. "Honestly! You are just like that idiot Snow my sister married!"

"Calm down, Lightning," Kirito tells me. He leans in and whispers. "I know where we can find a better weapon."

I cross my arms, putting all my weight on my left leg. "Is that so?"

"That's right. There's a rare monster on the eighth floor. It has a chance of dropping a powerful spell weapon." Kirito says.

"Let me guess. This was in the beta testing?" Kirito flinches back, astonished, to hear that. "Leafa told me."

"Crap." Kirito turns with his arms crossed. "That girl just doesn't know how to keep a secret!" Kirito faces me again. "Anyways, I know a lot of tricks from my beta testing. So just leave everything to me."

'I'm gonna regret this' I thought.


FLOOR 8, COURT OF BONES.

The eighth floor in this world is just a stormy swamp area with crumbling ruins. All the mobs on this floor are those Mogu creatures and some ugly green-skinned trolls known as 'Zandalar'. This is an okay floor I guess. Might be well fitted for me since lightning mostly strikes on this floor.

Kirito and I are walking down the road in this one area of the floor. He suggests finding this rare monster for the staff known as 'Gravesoul'.

Kirito is a level 40 Assassin. He's pretty strong, I guess that's expected from a Beta Tester. What's unexpected is that he's using swords for weapons. Most Assassins I have met in this game are usually using daggers for weapons. This is the first I've ever seen a sword-wielding Assassin.

Soultrappers, the Mogu Wizards, appear before us. Kirito and I fight off these creatures. I made my first kill, but I'm surprised to see Kirito has already made his fourth. He's only nearly 5 levels higher than me yet he's powerful. What interested me was his illusion ability where he duplicates himself to confuse the enemies. Just one swing and his hologram vanishes.

I didn't realize Kirito finished all of the enemies until he speaks. "Lightning. You okay?"

I snap back to reality. "Ye-yeah. I'm just surprised."

Kirito smiles. "Seems I've made an impression on you. Espeon usually says you're the uninterested type."

Kirito moves on ahead. "Well, that kind of hurts," I say, following Kirito.

We arrive at some large building. Kirito and I walk right in. There we only a few mobs in here as we make our way to the top. We do, however, avoid the broken floors, otherwise, we would fall back to the first floor.

We arrive at the top of the building. "Here is where he spawns."

I look around to see nothing. "There's nothing here."

"That's because he's still respawning," Kirito says. "Rare mods don't spawn all the time. They aren't called 'rare' for nothing." He got me there.

"I see...So what now?" I ask.

"We wait," Kirito says.

We sit around, waiting for the monster to spawn. Time passes by, we start to grow bored, impatient for me. I do end up getting messages from my guild and everyone I've met, even that Klein guy. All of them wishing me a 'very merry Christmas'. Rokel's message said to me 'Merry Christmas. Will you go out with me?'. At first, I felt offended, then he sends me another messaging saying 'Sorry, impulse'. I have to remember he has an impulse on other girls.

Over an hour has passed. Right now, Kirito is just browsing around his menu, while I'm just sitting with my legs and arms crossed, looking impatient. When the hell is this creature gonna make its appearance.

I figured I should start up a conversation. There is something I wanted to know about Kirito. "What's it like to be a Beta Tester?"

Kirito looks at me surprised, then returns his attention to his menu while speaking. "Not much. It was exciting to test the game."

"Bet it was nice to be trapped in it and not tell anyone," I say.

Kirito looks at me offended. "Hey, I feel just as betrayed as you and all the other players. Kayaba Akihiko never said anything about this. If he ever did, I would have warned everyone and I certainly would have left Leafa out of this."

Now I regret what I've said. "Well. Do you know anything about Kayaba's disappearance?"

"Why are you so curious?" Kirito asks.

"Before I came to this world, I had a conversation with Argus. Apparently, they know nothing about trapping players inside either, and that their boss vanished. Along with Sugou days before this game was released." I say.

"I'll admit, I was suspicious about his disappearance. I never did found out anything." Kirito says. "Even Beta Testers don't know everything."

"Yeah. You're probably right." I say.

We are now back to silence. The monster has yet to spawn. How much longer is this going to take? "Hey, Lightning?" I look at Kirito. "Have you ever done anything special on Christmas?" I raise my eyebrows hearing that. Why is he interested in my real life.

I just look ahead, facing the direction where the monster appears. "It's nothing you need to know."

"Right. Sorry." Kirito says. "I just miss spending Christmas with my family."

I look at Kirito. "But you just joined this game this year, didn't you? ...Unless you messed out a couple of Christmas's with Beta Testing."

"It was just one year. And that's not really it." Kirito crosses his arms, looking down. "I was ten years old, and then I found out I'm not the actual child in this family." My expression softens hearing that. He also lost his parents? "My parents died long ago. I barely even remember them. I have been living with my aunt and cousin."

"And I'm guessing this Cousin is your little sister, Leafa," I say.

Kirito nods. "She probably doesn't know either, we grow up together. Ever since I found out the truth, I've been distancing myself from them."

I'm surprised to hear that. That happened to me once. "I know how you feel." Kirito looks surprised to hear that. "Me and my sister lost our parents. It was a hard time for both of us. But I tried to be strong for Serah, so I thought I had to grow up quickly. I even changed my name and I've been distancing myself and building walls on other people. I usually don't open up to anyone other than my sister and Espeon."

"I see," Kirito says. "Didn't Espeon say he lives with you?"

I nod. "He lost his parents from an accident. So I rescued him."

"That's gotta be rough," Kirito says. Kirito looks to the side. "He's here!"

I look at the spawn point to see a Mogu Wizard, channeling dark magic facing against us. "It's about time." I stand up.

Its name: Blacktwister, cursor, and Health bars appear. "Two Health Bars?"

"Yeah. Another reason they're rare. They have more health." Kirito says. "Now let's kill this thing before other people arrive."

"Why? Wouldn't it matter after we tag it?" I ask.

Kirito looks at me like I said something stupid. "You are pretty clueless, aren't you? Rare mobs are tagless. Watch." Kirito opens his menu. I wonder what he could be doing until I notice his bar disappears from my vision.

I know what he's about to do. I was about to speak, but he already strikes Blacktwister. As I watch the battle, I notice its cursor isn't turning gray. I'm surprised to see that. When Blacktwister is down to 80% of its first health bar, Kirito does an illusion ability, causing a puff of smoke all over the area. When it clears, he's gone as well.

Blacktwister seems confused but then returns to its previous position with its health bar returning to full. Kirito appears right next to me, which startles me. "See what I mean?" I'm still getting used to that Assassins can turn invisible.

"Yeah. I get it. So everyone can get the credit?" I ask.

"Yeah, but the downside is the more people that get credit, the less chance there is to receive rare items," Kirito says.

"I see. What are the chances of that staff dropping with just the two of us?" I ask.

Kirito thinks for a moment. "Well, there's probably a 35% chance. But I would suggest either you soloing the creature...or maybe we fight together, but you apply more damage and a finishing blow. With that, I'd say it's a 87% chance."

"All right, we'll do the second one," I say.

"Excellent choice," Kirito says with agreement.


FLOOR 1, VALLEY OF PEACE.

Kirito and I make our way back to the Valley of Peace on the first floor. Blacktwister was no challenge, but he did cast such powerful dark spells. One of them hit me for a thousand hit points. Barely survived with 400 HP. We walk right into town with the Gravesoul in my hands. Gravesoul is a long staff. At the tip are purple crystals, two, swirling around into the form of a sphere with a black crystal floating in the center, pulsing with dark energy.

I feel like this staff is more suited for Witches and Wizards.

"That went well," Kirito says.

"So it did." We both stop and turn to face each other. "Thanks for the help."

"My pleasure," Kirito says.

My expression turns to anger. "That doesn't mean I'm not mad at you for breaking my first choice of a gift." I lean in close to Kiritos face, glaring at him. "Do that again, I'll slice you in half."

Kirito looks worried. He should be. "Yes ma'am." He says.

I leave Kirito behind. I figured I should have this present gift wrapped. I found a vendor who sells wrapping paper. What surprised me was that all I had to do is tap the wrapping paper and my hand glows. When I touch the staff with my glowing hand, it instantly transforms into a wrapped present.

With that done, I start searching for Hope. I start tracking him with my Friend Locator. Personally, I find this a bit stalking. It's a good thing to make friends, the victim has to agree to be listed. I wonder if when you remove someone from the friends' list, will my name will be removed from theirs?

I found Hope sitting on the city wall, just watching the view of the large Christmas Tree. "Hope." Hope looks at me surprised.

"Lightning? I told you not to call me by my real name." Hope says.

"Actually, we agreed not to call each other by our real names in public." I approach Hope and sat next to him. "We're alone now, aren't we?"

"Uh...I guess." Hope says.

Hope and I look at the Christmas Tree ahead. All of the players are gathering around it for the gift exchange. I wonder how long that's gonna go on since there are over eight-thousand players remaining in WWO.

I look at Hope. "Is something wrong?"

"I was just thinking." Hope pulls his legs up, forms them into a pretzel cross. "Being here reminds me of everything we use to do in the Real World." I see what he's talking about: The traditions we did every year on Christmas. "I miss doing them..." He leans to the side until he's resting his head on my shoulder. "I...miss Serah."

I feel my heart sunken hearing that. I do miss Serah as well. Right now, I'm imagining Serah in the real world, all alone on this day, probably crying that we're not there with her. However, I believe that's not what's really happening. I just can't imagine her and Snow together. Even when I'm nothing more than just data, the very thought just makes me upchuck.

I warp an arm around Hope, pulling him closer. "I know. I miss her too." I begin stroking Hopes arm. "And I'm sure she misses us as well...But it's not all bad. I mean, at least we have each other."

"I just wish we could return to the real world to be with her. Just one more time." That would be nice. If only Kayaba would allow it. "How long are we going to be trapped in this game?"

"I don't know how long we will be here, but I know we'll one day return to the real world. And Serah will be there waiting for us." I say.

"Yeah. You're right." Hope says. "Hey...how do you think Serah's doing on the other side?"

"Hmm...Well, I'm hoping she's doing okay and Snow's taking care of her like he promised." I say.

"If he promised you, and there's really nothing to worry about." Hope jokes. It even made me laugh.

"Hey, I have a gift for you." Hope sits up straight as I open my menu. I scroll through the item list until the present I made appears in my hands. Hope seems a little surprised as I hand it to him. "Being trapped in a death game doesn't mean we can't give each other gifts."

Hope takes the gift, but only sets it on his lap. "Claire...I'm surprised." He looks at me with guilt. "I didn't even get you a gift."

"It's fine. Don't worry about it." I say. "Well, you going to open it?"

Hope looks back at his gift. "Oh, right." Hope opens his gift. All he really had to do was undo the ribbon, then the present turns back into Gravesoul. Hope is beyond shocked to see it, I'm guessing he's aware of the Gravesoul. "Is...is this?" Hope pokes are the weapon, and the window identifying the weapon appears. "Gravesoul...it is!" Hope looks at me. "Claire...how did you get this? That mob is rare and everyone's been attacking that thing. It's nearly impossible to get a rare item from him."

I shrugged my shoulders. "I got a little help...from a Beta Tester." I lean close to Hope, whispering to him. "If Kirito asks, you didn't hear he's a Beta Tester from me."

Hope stores the item into his inventory. Once his hands were free to use, he instantly wraps me in a hug. I was even startled. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"

I take the moment to take in what happened, then I return his hug. "You're welcome. Merry Christmas, Hope."

"Merry Christmas, Claire," Hope says.

I smile as I brush my fingers on his silver hair. While Hope is in this position, I look up at the sky as the snowflakes start to fall, wishing a certain one a Merry Christmas. I don't know if she'll hear me, but I don't care.

"Merry Christmas, Serah."