I awoke one morning like any other, completely unaware of what the day had in store for me, something I'd grown surprisingly accustomed to.
The sun in the sky shone down of me, bringing back painful yet bliss memories of day some time ago. Two years, to be exact.
"Bang." I whispered to myself with a laugh, rolling over to shield my eyes with the covers. I rolled a bit too far and quickly found myself on the floor with a throbbing forehead. Freeing myself from the entanglement of sheet covers, I stuck my head out the warm blanket and peered around my room. Oddly enough for a Sunday morning, Takita was nowhere to be seen.
Clambering awkwardly to my feet, head still spinning, I began making my way towards the door, leaving the sheet covers and blanket in the middle of the floor. Stepping out of the room, I paused for a moment considering what to do first. Look for Takita, or go to the bathroom?
Obvious answer.
I headed left down the hallway of our house and into the bathroom, pausing just before I made it to the toilet, having suddenly spotted the mirror to my right. I stood for moment, thinking back to the last time I'd actually seen my own face. In game characters differ from reality, and some find it odd to visualize, but a quick peek might not be too weird. Turning my head slowly, then my body, I came face to face with a familiar yet unfamiliar young lady.
Young lady!?
I took a step back. How long have I looked like this? When did I make this avatar? Thought after thought rushed through my head, as I locked eyes with this marvellously attractive gir-
"No!" I yelled, shaking my head and covering my eyes with both hands. "How did this even happen? Have I looked like this the whole time?" I mumbled, but no obvious answer came from anywhere in the house.
Uncovering my eyes, I got a closer look at the boy in the mirror. He- I, had blue shimmering eyes, feminine eyelashes and long, blondey-brown hair, wrapped up in a ponytail at the back as I was aware of, but still looking much more girlier than I originally thought.
I shook the thoughts out of my head, and ran into the hallway towards the front door without thinking. Tackling through the door, I immediately spun on my heels, went to the bathroom, and ran back out onto the porch. I was hit by that same shining sun as this morning, beautiful and stunning in all its glowing glory. I squinted against the bright rays, ripping open my menu right my left hand. Sliding through the options, I quickly found my armour and boots, equipping them in the blink of an eye. Moving into the weapons catalogue of the menu, I spotted a weapon I hadn't seen for quite some time after scrolling a bit too far.
FuwaFuwa was its name and I knew that somewhere, somehow, the Age of Aincrad Developers were laughing their asses off due to their foreshadowing of this event. Somehow I knew that they knew I was going to be the one to get this weapon.
The lightweight blade materialized and I slung it through the sheath on my belt. It was a powerful blade despite the fluffy name, and it was well and truly capable of allowing me to dispatch foes quicker than any other.
Walking down the steps of the front porch, I started to slowly make my way towards the dirt footpath outside of our house. Taking a glance back towards the fine estate reminded me of how lucky the two of us were in our situation, considering a lot has happened these past two years.
I started to jog as I turned back towards my objective, hoping to find one of our friends along the way to see if they knew where Takita was. The house Takita and I lived in wasn't far from the main town on floor forty-two and was a very common path. The chances were high I would run into at least one or two familiar faces on the path.
I enjoyed the morning run as the cold, fresh air was outweighed by the warm, soothing sunlight from above. It was a perfect day to spend with her, most probably why I was in such a hurry to go looking. I ran for a short while before my speculation was proved correct.
"Oi, Goku!" I yelled out to the gray haired claw-wielder. He spotted me coming and turned to wave.
"Terallian! Long-time no see…" He began. "…Where's Foyoki at? Not like you two to be separated very often."
"Funny you should say that." I laughed, panting a bit as I came to a halt beside him. "Have you seen her around?" I asked, hands on my knees. I stretched, and let out a sigh.
"I can't say I have buddy." He sighed in return. "I can help you look, though."
I nodded in reply, still panting. In the short few days we'd all decided to stop with the frontlines I'd become quite lazy, must to my own dismay. I looked around the area to see if anyone else was nearby, but my search collected no results. I wondered if Takita had headed down the path the opposite direction, or if she'd headed into town. I chose the latter over the former and decided the best course of action was the way we were already headed.
The walk, instead of a run, was rather peaceful considering how chilly it was when you slowed down.
"Hey, Goku, do you know anyone that might want to help out?" I asked, shooting the question across to the laid-back player beside me.
"Depends. Are you sure she's missing?" He asked, a tone in his voice made me realize I hadn't even tried messaging her yet.
"O-oh, well, I'm not really sure." I started while swiping my menu back open. I flicked open the Friends tab and quickly found her name, but there wasn't a Follow or Track option next to it. I tried to press the Send Message but even that produced no results.
"Uh, everything alright there?" Goku asked, noticing how frantically I was hitting my menu. I was about to reply but an arm suddenly gripped my neck from behind, the same happened to Gokudera I assumed as the two of us were pulled in towards one another and knocked heads.
"Morning boys." Said a familiar rough tone. It was a tone of voice that belonged to none other than Zephyr, a man I'd known from early on in the game. Unlike Zephyr, Goku and I had met on somewhere around the twenty-third floor, along with two others he was with at the time. The trio were attempting a quest that required four or more players, and I was concerned about the outcome, and decided to pitch in. It was a simple retrieval quest, but the number of NPC's we had to fight was staggering, at least eighteen times our own number by the end. After it was all over, we added each other like I do with most parties I'm with for a tough quest, a habit I picked up on after finally getting over my choice to deny this game's reality.
"Ease up, will 'ya?" Gokudera laughed, as the spear-user loosened his grip before dropping his arms to his sides.
"Sorry about that you two, I thought you'd have seen me coming by now." He said, a grin still spread across his face.
"Just a bit distracted is all." I replied, quickly closing my menu now I'd confirmed the inability to message Takita. Zephyr, now alongside us as we began to walk, began to poke a question out of concern.
"What's the problem?"
"Takita's missing." I said straightforwardly before adding to it. "Messages, Following, Tracking, all a no-go."
"Then allow me to be of service!" He yelled, causing me to flinch for a moment, a sharp flashback of Fogresh the PKer hit me hard.
"Thanks, put please don't say that ever again." I coldly responded. Realizing how rude I was, I quickly suggested we head into the two she's most likely headed to, and so we did.
The town wasn't particularly far from the house in terms of walking, and since there were no mounts in our possession, we had little choice but to trudge our boots along in the brisk morning air. Brisk was putting it lightly. I pondered as to whether or not it would start snowing someday this week, even more memories flashing back one after the other as a result.
Before long we were at the town entrance. Although we used the word town, it was actually the grand city of Asel which was opened up for public access a couple months ago after we cleared the boss below. That was a fight I'd never forget.
Forgetting about the fight, we headed into the city, its overwhelming atmosphere hitting us head on. If we wanted to find anyone here, our best bet was the tavern to the eastern side. Gesturing for the others to follow, after shaking them out of their stunned gaze at the townsfolk doing their daily routine, we proceeded to cross what appeared to be vast marketplace. The tavern was close, and so we cut through a few back alleys to get there. Just as we were about to exit into the main path once again, two shadows were cast down over us from both sides, accompanied by eerie footsteps.
"Where do you think you're going?" One of them, the left one, asked. As the footsteps grew louder and louder, a pair of silhouettes came in to view.
One belonged to Vengeance, the other to Shiru.
"To predictable, didn't work." I cut the pair's attempt at a skit short. "Goku, you're still with these two knuckleheads?" I teased, as the two stalkers came out of 'hiding'.
"Goku, you promised you'd help Shiru level today, I've been dragging him around the whole time. He's finally gotten over his 'settling in' stage as he calls it, and you've been off in your own world all week." Vengeance whined. The pair were none other than the other two members of floor-twenty-three's trio.
"Sorry to be a bother, but he has a point." Said Shiru from the opposite side. "Where've you guys been all day, anyway?" He asked, the two now standing in front of us.
"Takita's gone missing." Zephyr said, with a short nod as Goku and I did the same.
"As for the rest of the week, you know it's our relaxation week. We only get one of these, you two. You should learn to spend your time better." Goku said, lecturing the two as they stood there sulking.
"But… But…" Vengeance began.
"Give it up." Shiru, the white-haired mature one said, putting an end to Vengeance's complaints. "I can level on my own, you know. Now on a more important note, what's happened to Takita?"
"Tracking, Messaging, none of it's working. We thought we'd check out the tavern to see if anyone else might know, but then you two showed up. How long have you been following us, anyway?" I asked, glaring at the mischievous pair ahead. The two started whistling and I decided there was nothing to gain pushing the matter any further.
"Can't be helped. Are you two coming or not?" Goku asked.
"Sure, whatever." Vengeance muttered, clearly in a bad mood to Goku's lack of attention.
Turning around, we finally got back on track towards the tavern, having made it onto the main road and in the direction of our destination. I wasn't sure exactly who I was hoping to find there, but it was common hang-out for our Guild, the Brotherhood. Since the day it was formed, the Brotherhood has gained and lost members, but as day after day flew by, some were beginning to call as the most powerful Guild in the world. And what attentions has that brought to us, you might ask?
"TERA!" Screamed the rowdy group of tavern patrons as they swung their drinks into the air, beer and spirits alike flying all over the place.
"Honestly…" I muttered, having achieved such a high status brought along way too many prying eyes with it, our opportunities to have some along time, Takita and the other Guild members, was slipping away. It was worse on her than the rest of us, however, being the Guild leader. I was simply the second in command, and that alone brought along a ridiculous amount of bystanders to every quest, spectators to every duel and challengers to ever y fight.
I stepped over to the bar, avoiding the alcohol flying overheard, trying to keep it out of my hair and clothes as well. I sat down at the bar on a stool, and almost immediately a man slid his way across to me.
"I'm a boy." I said.
He then immediately slid his way back to the pile of drunkards he came from.
"Still getting that?" Vengeance asked.
"Getting what?" I shot him a look. Initially I thought that people were just interested in my status in the guild, but my facially orientated realization that morning shun a whole new light on the subject for me.
"N-Nothing." He said, taking a seat beside me. The others did the same, filling up five bar stools in total. We each ordered drinks, everyone a beer to themselves and a cocktail to myself.
"That won't help your situation." Zephyr laughed, patting me on the back as he'd taken his seat beside me.
"And that won't help yours." I said, hand on my rapier. He eased up and leaned back on the bar top. Vengeance tapped me on the shoulder.
"Easy there, Mr. Tera." He began, shooting me a wink. "How did you deal with that for the past two years?" He asked, taking a glance at my drink and then back to me. To the drink, then to me. The drink, me. Drink, me.
"Stop that." I said, his visual gestures at what seemed like a feminine side of me becoming irritating. "I didn't notice until this morning, okay?"
"I find that hard to believe." A voice said from behind me. I heard the door swing to a close, indicating someone had entered. The bar slowly went quiet, and a shadow loomed over me, shrouding myself and the bar table in darkness. There was more than one, maybe three shadows covering us all.
I span around on my chair to face the group as the silence became too much for me. As I came face to face with the three, their faces were revealed.
"Drop it." I said. "Shiru and 'Vengy here already tried the whole intimidation thing earlier."
The large group burst out laughing in front of me. Each was a member of the Brotherhood, the group we'd slowly formed over the years.
The tall and mature black-haired Hthiy. He held no weapons visible and was completely chilled in regards to combat. Out of the whole group in front of me, he may very well be the only 'normal' one amongst them.
Beside him stood the airhead Foxhound. He wielded a one-handed blade like most and his black hair with an odd tint of brown matched the majority of the group. Unlike Hthiy, he was anything but normal.
The last one on the end was Lashette, better known to myself as Asuka, but for the sake of keeping as many real-world identities a secret as possible, I never called her that around others. Her greyish-white hair was incredibly long and swayed when she walked like some kind of photoshop model, accompanied by a one-handed sword much alike Foxhound.
The trio stood there silently. Watching. Waiting.
"H-hi" I stammered out at the three.
"You've could've at least acted a little bit scared." Said Asuka.
"Well, that might ruin his character in front of the others, ya' know?" Added Foxhound.
"Yeah, wouldn't want them to think he's a gir-" Began Hthiy before I rested my hand firmly on my Rapier FuwaFuwa once more.
"N-nevermind." He stuttered somewhat similar to Vengeance.
I stood up and let out a deep sigh, wondering whether it was coincidence or luck that had lead us to find almost every Guild member along the way. I considered telling them about Takita's disappearance, but I figured it wouldn't take them very long to-
"Where's Takita?" Foxhound asked.
"Bingo." I muttered, knowing my prediction was right on target.
"Bingo?" Foxhound replied with a hint of confusion in his voice. "They have bingo in this game?"
I shook my head at his idiocy before turning around and tapping Zephyr and Vengeance on the their shoulders, a simple gesture for them to get up.
"She's missing." Shiru said, standing up of his stall as well. Gokudera did the same while the bar quickly quietened down as what appeared to be a standoff to the drunken crowds had formed. Chants of 'fight' and 'get him!' echoed throughout the acoustically small room.
"We best head outside and see if we can locate the others." Zephyr suggested to the others. "After you." He said, as we all began making our way towards the door. We kicked it open and stepped out into the fresh air, finally free of the drunken, smelly craze of a tavern. It took me a moment to realize we'd been there less than five minutes and were already out.
"I didn't even get to finish my drink." Vengeance whined.
"I didn't even start it." I said, shooting him a quick stare. I took in my surroundings to see if anyone else was coming along in our direction, but my search, once more, granted no success. We'd searched the only location we'd considered so far, and so our next target was a mystery. We started walking back in the direction of the marketplace, hoping to find some salvation over there.
"…Assuming you intend to help?" I just barely heard Goku say to one of the others behind me. What sounded like an 'mmhmm' could be heard from behind and was accompanied by what I'd have guessed would be a nod. We'd slowly recruited quite the party to find her. I wonder if she'll appreciate the attention…
After the short walk back, we'd arrived at the marketplace, with not much else happening. The others split up to do their own shopping and business, Zephyr and Goku heading one way, Vengeance and Shiru the other. Fox, Hthiy and Asuka had wondered off on their own path and as a result I was stuck alone once more, probably for the better.
As much as I like crowds of friends, I also love the rare chance to walk around in peace and quiet. Wanting not to waste the opportunity, I made my way over to the weapons and armour stalls not far from where I was. When I arrived, a distinct voice could be heard yelling with a meek one occasionally squeaking in reply.
"That's a stupid idea! Don't buy that." Said the loud, distinctly accented voice, with a sharp squeak of a girl in reply.
A few seconds later there was another one.
"No, no, no! You'll never level up with that, you idiot." Lectured the unmistakable voice of Kuma. I spotted him harassing a short, meek girl with long black hair. She was very pretty from what I could see, and was equipped quite charmingly. Her gear seemed fine to me and so did her weapon, so I considered my next move to be the best course of action.
I walked right up to the teasing masochist and activated Flash Hit without thinking twice. My right hand glowed yellow, and with one, swift punch to the back of his head, the boy was rolling onto the ground a couple metres away.
"Hey-hey-hey-hey!" He cried as he tumbled. "I yield!"
"Are you alright?" I asked the girl, ignoring the injured Kuma. She turned to me immediately and a sudden moment of shock hit me head on.
"Sen!" I yelled, rushing over to the girl, almost knocking her over with a hug.
The female who was caught in my arms was none other than Sen, one of many Age of Aincrad users I'd met during the game but saw very rarely. Releasing her, I turned to the idiot lying on his back. Shaking my head, I walked over and offered my hand to him, pulling him to his feet once he'd clasped onto my wrist.
"I'm looking for Takita, you wouldn't happen to have…" My voice trailed off.
Sen still stood speechless next to the two of us, as I began to question the likelihood of them two being together, shopping.
"This… Is unusual." I said, looking at the two now standing side-by-side. I'd never seen them meet before in my life, so to be out shopping for equipment, or put into better words, to be out getting-yelled-at-by-Kuma.
"Don't tell me…" I said, glancing back and forth between the two, a potential realization suddenly being brought to light.
"You're…"
"Don't even think about that." Sen said, finally speaking. I shook my hands in defence, worried I'd receive a Sword-Skill to the face for my incorrectly assuming response.
"T-Tera!" Came a quiet male voice from behind, as the distinct sound of a Sword-Skill being activated echoed across the courtyard. I began to turn, only to be met face-to-face with Griffith, the very first boy I'd met in Age of Aincrad.
"Griffith?" I said as he started face-planting the ground having dramatically missed the hostile Sen with what looked like a distractive Flute-Art. The flute he wielded had glowed an incredibly bright blue, capable of blinding a foe, obviously in an attempt to stop Sen from attacking me, which she wasn't likely to actually do.
There was a thud followed by a wave of dust as the blonde boy hit the ground.
"Where the hell did you even come from?" I said to him as he scrambled around on the ground in an attempt to regain his stance. Person after person had being showing up today and it was starting to get out of hand. First the two on the way to the town, then the two idiots in the alleyway, followed by the tavern havockers and now these two behind me and even…
I let out a sigh, heavier and longer than all the rest.
"I was playing in the tavern when," Griffith started as he stood up on two feet and dusted off his knees. "When you all barged in, disrupted the place and barged out, so I followed you and…"
With a sorry look on his face, he stuttered. "Y-you're not mad… A-are you?"
Just before I made my response, yet another voice, female this time, cut in from my left side.
"What're you all up to?" A girl with pink hair asked, accompanied by four men. I looked across to them, seeing their individual name bars.
Caesar
ZeXo
Tamo
Each looked ridiculously out of place standing next to this tiny girl, Serah, with pink eyes and hair like I'd mentioned, she had a black and pink long dress that perfectly matched her appearance, accompanied with a pink fan for the cherry on top.
"Oh, hey Serah." Kuma answered, immediately being recognised as a friend of hers since the three men took a step back. "Terallian here's looking for his girlfr-"
Another Embracer silenced the blathering fool.
"I'm looking for Takita." I said in his place, as he fell to the ground in a heap once more, letting out a groan.
"Takita?" The one named ZeXo answered. "We were just talking to her a few minutes ago."
"Yeah, over by the haunted house on the other side of town." Added Tamo.
I froze in place for what felt like a solid minute. They found her. They actually found her… This whole day's mess of player after player stumbling into us was a total waste, not one of them would have known but it was her, this pink-fluffy girl, that had seen her.
"What's up?" Said Zephyr, coming from behind with the others, clearly having finished their shopping. The thirteen others stood silently, staring in towards me in the centre, minus Kuma of course who was still frolicking around on the path having not taken into account the lack of pain in a safe area.
I slowly moved around in a full circle, taking into account the numerous people simply standing, watching.
Zephyr. Goku. Hthiy. Foxhound. Asuka. Griffith. Sen. Floor Kuma. Serah. ZeXo. Caesar. Vengeance. Shiru.
All watching.
All waiting.
"THE HAUNTED HOUSE!" I screamed, kicking off my back foot and pelting straight past the girl in the pink. The others jumped back with a dumbfounded look on their faces as I dashed past them all and straight through the closest alleyway, right in the direction of the haunted house. I could hear the sound of footsteps on the concrete as we all continued running, taking a right around a building and a left around what looked like a café.
I was puffing, panting, but the end was in sight. We were swiftly making our way every closer to the house as pedestrian NPC's and other players stared with confused and even terrified faces. Shaking off the burning eyes, I continued on left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot, an echo of leather boots against solid ground sounding through all the streets. As I rounded the final corner to the haunted house, a rarely used building that was player owned but no man had ever been seen entering.
As I closed in on the target, a lone silhouette stood in front of the building, staring up at it, tapping away at something in their menu. A moment later, I was sure of their identity.
"Takita!" I yelled out, her hair drifting in the wind as she turned to see a blur of fourteen crazed players dashing like a circus of madman towards her. She let out a sharp scream as I came skidding to a halt…
…Only to be knocked over, on top of her, with a pile of other players along with us, creating a huge mountain of people.
"Flashing Penetrator!" I cried out, activating one of my most explosive Sword-Skills. A huge ray of light burst out from the bottom of the pile, its source being the rapier, FuwaFuwa. The knockback from the attack sent everyone but the girl we'd been searching for and myself, flying.
There was a mess of bodies everywhere, and they were all mostly upside down or in physically impossible positions having been thrown halfway down the street. I sat up, pulling Takita up with me, and just stayed there, silent.
Until, "Uh… Tera. I appreciate the friendly gesture, but… What the hell are you all doing?" She said, looking furious and fierce as the sun begun to finally set.
"Looking for you!" I yelled, hugging her. "Where have you been? Why couldn't I message you or find you or track you or anything?" I said, blasting her with question after question as the others began to regain their composure. A few were on their feet, but the majority were still stunned by the knockback.
"Looking for me? I had my messages and alerts on silent after I headed to bed last night… I guess I forgot to turn them back on." She said with a giggle.
Everyone that wasn't already sitting up… Was sitting up. And staring. Staring hard.
"T-that's it?" I whispered to her.
She nodded. "Yeah. What's wrong?" As the onlookers became more and more intimidating.
"N-nothing." I replied, gazing back at the dozens of furious eyes. "I'll explain it when we get home."
All the people I'd dragged around the whole day looking for the allegedly missing Takita began to draw their weapons one by one.
"Takita, I think now would be a fantastic time to start running."
She nodded.