Chapter 11: Zero

Heruseus regained consciousness in a small house surrounded by players in red and white armor. He shook his head and groaned. "The fox has finally woken up!" said a tall player in white armor with a spear.

Heruseus tried to move but he was in shackles. "What's going on here?" asked a girl with brown hair. She had a rapier at her waist. She was extremely pretty.

"This player was found in the woods on floor 17, Lady Asuna. He was in some kind of fox form," explained the spearman.

The player, Asuna walked over to Heruseus. She stared at Heruseus for a while until Heruseus said, "Take a picture, it'll last longer,"

Asuna blushed and stammered, "S-shut up! Where's Commander?"

"We don't know," the spearman sighed.

"Of course you don't Algernon," sighed Asuna.

"What did you say?" Heruseus whispered tensely.

"Algernon?" Asuna asked confused.

Heruseus screamed, "You bastard! Where the hell have you been?! I will kill you! Why would you leave Ezdeath, Roy and Firestone to die?! Answer me!"

Algernon lowered his spear. "Heruseus? Is that really you?"

"Of course it is you idiot! How do you not recognize me!?" he screamed.

"Chill out man!" Algernon took of his helmet and sure enough, it was the same player who had that stupid white buzz cut Heruseus hated so much.

"Did you just tell me to chill out?!" Heruseus screamed.

His claws were coming back. "Oh crap! Formation!"

Algernon put his helmet on and readied his spear.

Suddenly, the window shattered and a player burst in. He was wearing a gold mask with gold leggings and gauntlets. He was wearing a black cloak that had stars on the inside. He had shaggy black hair and through the mask, Heruseus could see green eyes. Heruseus lost concentration. He returned to his normal state. "Sorry D-, I mean Heruseus. I gotta kidnap you now," The player grabbed Heruseus and they took off through the window.

"Waaaaaaaaaaait!" Heruseus cried as he flew through the trees of floor 17.

The player ran just as fast as Heruseus could. He must have maxed out his speed too. Heruseus thought.

The two flew through the trees until his savior had set down Heruseus. "Uh, thanks,"

The player said nothing.

"Is your player name Loser? Because you look like Loser from Dimension W,"

"My player name is Zero,"

"Oh. So, why are we waiting here?"

"I am waiting for my little sister,"

"Oh. Cool. Is she hot?"

"That's gross,"

"Why?"

"You'll understand in 10 years or so,"

"Um, ok?"

"Just wait,"

Soon another player ran through the trees at top speed. Unlike her brother, Zero, she didn't wear a mask. She wore a coat, similar to Heruseus'. She wore her black hair in two long ponytails. She shared green eyes with her brother. "Hey Zero. Where's Ez?" she asked.

"Don't know. But I found him December," Zero sighed.

"Wait, your name is December?" Heruseus asked.

"I guess he's not that much different," December sighed.

"Nope," sighed Zero.

"Can you explain?" Heruseus asked.

Another player ran into the clearing. This player had shaggy blonde hair like Heruseus and he had green eyes. In fact, the player looked like he could be Heruseus' son. "Hey Zero, December," he said.

"Hey Nocturne," December smiled.

"Hey big sis!" Nocturne smiled. "So who found D-, Heruseus?"

"Zero," December said.

"Good job!" Nocturne said cheerfully.

"You definitely took Mom's cheerfulness," Zero sighed.

"And you took Dad's anti-socialness," Nocturne teased.

"At least December is in the middle," sighed Zero.

"Mind you we all took Dad's sarcasm," December reminded her brothers.

"And I got Dad's puns and pranks!" Nocturne laughed.

"At least we didn't get Mom's. Her puns and pranks are terrible," December laughed.

"Um, hi. Yes, I'm right here. You kind of abducted me," Heruseus reminded the siblings.

"Right," December sighed.

Nocturne came up behind Zero and took his mask off. Heruseus could now see that Zero had glasses just like his. "Ezreal! I will kill you!" Zero launched himself at his little brother.

Nocturne dodged. "Aww c'mon Sora, have some fun!"

"Shut up!" Zero ran at him.

"Boys, chill," December sighed.

"Shut up Alyssa! It's a brother thing!" Nocturne laughed.

Zero grabbed his mask and put it back on. "Stupid kid," he muttered.

"Still here!" Heruseus sighed.

"Sorry D-, Heruseus," Zero sighed.

"What are you guys trying to call me?" Heruseus asked.

"Not important," sighed Zero.

"Wait, didn't we abduct him so we could tell him?" Nocturne asked.

"Yes, we did, but I don't think we need to tell him until we get Mom. By the way, where is she?" December sighed.

"I just remembered something Dad said. We can't tell Heruseus who Mom is. It will alter time. Drastically," Nocturne sighed.

"Ok. Fine. Heruseus, in 10 years, you get married and have a son two years later. Two years later, you have a daughter. Then you have another son two years after that. When your eldest is 16, you invent time travel and you send you're three kids to go help you because you went back in time and accidently screwed some stuff up. So it's your kids job to help you," Zero explains.

Heruseus laughed, "That's a good one!"

"We're not kidding Dad. Oh, damn it!" Nocturne smacked his head.

"Dad? You're my kids?" Heruseus asked.

"Yes. We are Dad," December explained.

"Is that what you meant by it was weird for me to ask if December was hot?" Heruseus asked.

"Yes," Zero sighed.

"Ok, well even if you are my daughter, which I don't believe you are, you're still hot," Heruseus said.

"Dad!" December blushed.

"Sorry. Are you three serious?" Heruseus asked.

"Yes," The siblings said in unison.

"I can see how Nocturne here is my son, but not you two," Heruseus explained.

"You're how old?" asked Zero.

"14, almost 15," Heruseus said.

"Then you know how alleles work?" Zero asked.

"Yes,"

"Both you and the person you marry have recessive alleles for black hair," Zero explained.

"Oh. Who do I marry?" Heruseus asked.

"Classified," December said.

"Dang it," Heruseus sighed, "Worth a shot,"

December laughed.

"So let me get this straight," Heruseus said. "You," he pointed at Zero, "are my firstborn, and you're 16?"

"Yes," Zero answered.

"And you are my middle child and you're 14?" Heruseus pointed at December.

"Yes,"

"And you're my youngest and you're 12?"

"Yes," said Nocturne.

"I see," Heruseus nodded. "Come give your old man a hug!"

The siblings smiled and ran to him and they hugged. Around them, fireflies were floating around.

"I'd like to make myself believe

That planet Earth turns slowly

It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep

Because my dreams are bursting at the seams" December sang.

"You do know your father's favorite song," Heruseus smiled.

"And Mom's voice," Zero noted.

After an hour, the four of them lay there in the clearing. "How did you guys get your names. Both IRL and player," Heruseus asked.

"You were rewatching No Game, No Life before I was born. My player name was derived from Zeref, another anime character," Zero smiled.

He had taken of his mask. While it was on, Zero looked menacing, but now that it was off, he looked caring.

"Sounds like me," Heruseus laughed.

"My name you got from my godmother, Jamie-Lynn, because her real name was Alyssa. I got December because it was both Sora's and my birth month, and it was your favorite month," December smiled. "I almost made my name Sakura. Or Starlight,"

"Aw, now that's sweet," Heruseus smiled.

"Both my names are derived from League of Legends," Nocturne laughed.

"Another thing I would do," Heruseus smiled.

The group sat for a few more minutes before Zero got up suddenly. "Dad, your guild will be here soon. We gotta go. Don't tell them about us," Zero put his mask on and hugged his father. "See you soon,"

December hugged him too. Heruseus kissed her forehead. Nocturne hugged him too. "I'm not kissing you!" Heruseus laughed.

"I don't want you too!" Nocturne smiled.

The trio of siblings ran off at top speed. "Aw, crap, I didn't get their contact info," Heruseus sighed as he watched his kids run off.

"Heruseus!" yelled Flare.

"Hey guys!" Heruseus smiled.

Don't mention the kids… Heruseus reminded himself.

"Holy crap! You're ok!" Dragonstar rushed to Heruseus and hugged him.

"Squeezing…Me…Ouch…I'm…OK…" Heruseus struggled to breathe.

Dragonstar finally released Heruseus. "Jeez, don't scare us like that!" Dragonstar scolded.

"Sorry, I just caught up in," Heruseus cleared his throat, "family matters,"

"Family matters?" asked Grimmjack.

"Yeah," Heruseus said nervously. "Where's Aris?"

"Dead," Grimmjack said tightly.

"Did I kill him too?" Heruseus voice cracked.

"No," Grimmjack sighed.

"So that leaves who?"

"You, me, Flare, Dragonstar, Diana, Titanus, Talon and Terriblelizard," Grimmjack replied weakly.

"What have I done?" Heruseus murmured.

"Nothing. None of this is your fault," Diana said.

"I killed Azerath. I should've stayed solo. No one would have died," Heruseus replied curtly.

"That's not true!" Dragonstar replied.

"Isn't it? I killed Azerath, Lance died because of the BES, Aris died while you guys were looking for me, and Diana's brother died because of Black Serpents. Face it guys, I did all of this," Heruseus responded angrily.

"Theo…We just need to keep moving on, we need to beat this game, otherwise their deaths will be meaningless," Grimmjack pleaded.

"Maybe for you, but for me, no game, no life," Heruseus said curtly.

"Theo, that's not true," Talon said.

"Yes it is Justin. Especially lately, when I became a shut in. You can try to finish the game, but I will no longer hesitate to kill the clears. I will not leave this. No game, no life," and with that, Heruseus left his friends behind.

"Theo wait!" cried Diana.

"Teleport: Hexam!" Heruseus cried.

"Where the hell is Hexam?" Grimmjack asked.

"It's the main town of floor 17," replied Talon.

"Good bye…" Diana whimpered.

"It was his choice," Grimmjack said coldly.

"There goes the band," Flare joked.

"Are you kidding me? Theo just left and you're worried about a stupid band?!" Dragonstar yelled.

"I have some serious déjà vu," Grimmjack muttered.

"As you should," Talon whispered.

"How do you know about the Great Schism of Dark Theorem?" Grimmjack asked.

"Theo told me," Talon replied.

"Wonderful," muttered Grimmjack.

"Guys, I'm sorry," Talon looked at the ground.

"For what?" Flare asked.

"I saw this side of him once before… And I didn't remove the idea from his brain," Talon sighed.

"Are you kidding me?! Why not?" Flare demanded.

"I didn't think it was serious. But now I realize how grave this situation is. He's not kidding. He will kill anyone who attempts to clear the game," Talon said grimly.

"Even us?" Dragonstar asked.

"Even us," Talon replied grimly.

"What if we fix him?" Flare asked.

"That's the best idea you've had ever," Talon said sarcastically, "Of course we're going to fix him! The question is how?"

"No Game, No Life?" Diana offered.

"What is with that quote of his?" Flare asked.

"No, it's an anime, No Game, No Life. And to answer your question Diana, that will make it worse," Grimmjack responded.

"How do you know that?" Talon asked.

"Theo made me watch a lot of anime," Grimmjack sighed.

"What about Erased? He'd understand if he watched Erased,"

"Don't worry," said a voice.

The group turned to see Zero. "He just needs some time to think. And, Dragonstar, I need you to sing this song to him," Zero handed Dragonstar some sheet music.

"Are you sure?" Dragonstar asked.

"He'll cry like a baby when you sing it. Trust me. I understand a lot about my f-, I mean, him," Zero explained.

"Who are you?" asked Terriblelizard.

"His…friend," Zero smiled.

"Hurry up big brother!" whined Nocturne.

"Shut up!" Zero growled.

"Nocturne! We were supposed to stay hidden!" December whined.

"Oops. Just pretend we weren't here!" yelled Nocturne as he ran off.

"I apologize about my brother. I gotta go," Zero muttered and ran after Nocturne and December.

"What a weird dude," Talon muttered as the team formulated a plan to chase after Heruseus.