Sword Art Online/ソードアート・オンライン 1. Prologue

I do not understand in which the world I live in. The cruelty and hostility I happen to experience everyday. Some say everyday is a new day with a new beginning; others say that life gets harder as you get older, but which is it? I do not believe in either of these sayings. I believe that life is what you make of it. Some things you can't change other things you are in control of. I see that I am an unlucky child who desperately seeks a way to hide from my fears and cover up my tears. As each day goes by I wonder why I have not taken the opportunity to fix my life. As I get older I grow stronger and now that I am 17 I need to do something for me and that's make a change. How will I? It may sound crazy but recently I have decided that I shall escape from this world somehow and live the life I have always dreamed...


	2. Chapter 1

I am alone and lay still in bed as my alarm clock sings to me. Every day I wake up and breathe in the fresh air that streams into my room through the window. I roll over onto my right side to see the alarm clock that reads 5:30 am. I am not awake because I have school super early, but I have things that I must get done before I am even allowed to leave for school. There's only a few chores I have to do every day then there are some extra chores I do for myself of if I am asked to do so. Every day chores such as: cleaning both my and my parents' room, sweeping, doing dishes, and vacuuming. I get out of bed and open my closet door to choose my outfit for the day. This isn't hard because I do not have much to choose from due to my low income. It's a little chilly out; so I pull out a pink tank top and an oversized grey knitted sweater along with some jeans and slip on my brown combat boots.

I quickly strip down from my baggy Marilyn Monroe t-shirt and pink soffees. I quickly throw my clothes on and head over to the bathroom which is located at diagonal across the room from my bed. I open my draw and grab two hair clips and a hair tie. I pin my bangs up to give me a bump and throw the rest of my hair into a ponytail. I grab my foundation and apply it and a little mascara; it's not much but it'll have to do because it's all I have. I examine myself in the mirror.

My name is Eden Leigh Harper and I am 17 years old and live in a small little house on the country side in Lancaster ,PA . I have dark brown hair, bright blue eyes, and a few freckles- which I try to conceal with my foundation. I try to make myself beautiful but _beautifu_l isn't even in my dictionary. On the outside I may look like your average teen, but I can assure you I am not. I am alone in my life and no one seems to care.

I have no siblings. My parents are alcoholics and druggies who don't seem to care or notice me; yes, they treat me like crap. I am a disgrace to them. They probably stopped caring about me when I was age 4. My mother has always been a drunky druggy- as I like to call it and soon got my father into it. When my parents are out of the house, I am at peace because I know I am not needed nor do I have to deal with the mental and physical pain they put me through.

I try not to think of the bad things in life. When bad things happen I try to find the good and smile. When I can't, I just pray to God.

I tiptoe down the hall to see if my parents are home, they're not and they left the bed unmade. It's a priority to make their bed -actually their entire room, so I do. I quickly make the bed making sure the covers are tucked in tight and the pillows are fluffed. After approving the room, I head downstairs to the kitchen where I must sweep and do the dishes. To be honest, I can do these chores whenever I please as long as I am done before either one of them gets home. I guess you can say I am kind of the Cinderella in the house. After sweeping and washing dishes, I grab the vacuum and vacuum the living area.

I collapse on the couch in the living area and stare at the clock on the mantle. It reads 6:15am, perfect timing as always. I patiently wait for the bus to come, constantly checking outside to see when it pulls up. It's now 6:45am and the bus is in front of my house. I grab my raggedy brown backpack, it's on it's last legs but I still love it. I walk outside locking the front door behind me and get on the bus where I meet my best friend, Audrey and take a seat next to her.

"Looking adorable as always", she says.

"Thanks" I smile, "You have the most fashionable taste" I add.

"Well aren't you a doll?"

I smile.

Audrey has to be one of the prettiest and topnotch girls I know. She always has to have the _new_ thing. Today she is wearing a white blouse and blue pashmina along with a black skirt, black tights, black ankle booties, and her Michael Kors purse. She has blonde hair and green eyes. She could honestly be a model. Both of her parents are lawyers -that's where all their money comes from. She is my age and we share common interests. We have been best friends since fifth grade.

"Hey, Eden I got you something".

"You really didn't have to again..."

"Oh sure I do, you're my best friend who deserves a little something".

Audrey is known for her selflessness and kindness towards others. She loves to buy things for others. Majority of things I own are from her such as clothes and any type of jewelry. Even though I don't have much money, I try to pay her back, but she never accepts.

"Let me guess... it's a new shirt?" I ask.

"No, but you're close enough" she laughs.

She pulls out a gift box that has been wrapped in pink wrapping paper and a white bow. The box is about the size of a hand. She holds it to me hand and nods. I take it from her.

"Open it!" she exclaims.

"Are you sure, I shouldn't..."

"Eden Leigh Harper if you don't open that damn box!"

I laugh and slowly begin to unwrap it and before I can even get most of the wrapping off I know what it is. My eyes widen and I squeal like a little girl. I throw the rest of the wrapping off and reveal a cell phone.

She asks "Do you like it?"

Tears swell up in my eyes, I have never had a phone before. I embrace her which is kind of awkward sitting on a bus but I don't care.

"I am taking you like it?", she questions.

"I love it except, you know I really can't afford..."

"You don't have to" she interrupts "I will be taking care of that bill".

The bus arrives at the school and I put the phone into my bag which only contains one contact, Audrey. We get off the bus and head into the double doors of the school.

"Well this is where we split" she says.

"I know but we shall meet up at lunch?" I add.

"Of course"

"Of course" I say back.

_Of course_ is kind of our thing. It lets the other person know that they don't even have to split and I grab my books from my locker on my way to English IV class with Ms. Ritterson.

Ms. Ritterson is my teacher, my favorite one to be exact. She gives us thirty minutes in class some days to write whatever is on our minds. This relaxes me and makes me go deep within my thoughts. Sadly, this is not one of those days. She asks us get out our notebooks and answer some questions to Beowulf. It's a good story that interests me. There's a hero who defeats all the bad guys but then in the end has to die because no one is everlasting no matter how strong, or is it _possible?_ Time flys through the class and I head over to my art online class.

Mr. Nikes welcomes me, "Good morning, Eden".

"Good Morning" I smile.

Mr. Nikes isn't my actual art teacher, he's just the one who supervises the classroom to make sure we keep up with our work.

I log onto my account and read what my teacher has post.

_Students, this upcoming week I would like you to paint a canvas that depicts your image of a hero._

The first thing that pops into my head is someone who has armor and weapons. I google _sword art _to get ideas. I click on images and find this beautiful golden resting on a small pillar. I save and print the image, I walk over to the printer and wait.

"What are you working on this week?" Mr. Nikes asks.

"Just what makes a hero a hero."

"So what are you going to draw?"

"Actually it's painting" I state, "painting on a canvas but I thought about a sword, a shield, a ring".

"You could include yourself"

"But I am not-"

"Eden, a hero can be found in anyone, it's not just a person with swords".

This got me thinking. I grab the picture and walk back to my seat. As soon as I exit out of the picture an ad pops up for an online game.

_**Sword Art Online **_

_- The most extraordinary online game where you are blown out of this World. This game requires you to physically gain the abilities and experience to progress further into the game. Make new friends and defeat the evil. Be the hero and preorder today. Games will be sold in stores Friday September 17._

I watch the preview. A boy puts on some head gear and lays down. He looks like he is sleeping. The camera zooms into his face and pulls out to another world. There is epic instrumental music in the background and a boy in combat armor appears. He walks towards the camera with fog surrounding him and what seems to be like friends following behind. He draws his sword and starts charging for something. All you can see is the fierce in his eyes and the confidence in his posture. He jumps and swings his sword towards a three headed troll. With one swing he takes them all out and lands.

Mr. Nikes sneaks up on me Whatcha looking at, Eden?"

I freak and close out of the ad.

"I was just watching 'heroes' to get an idea of the armor".

He laughs and walks away. I quickly grab my phone and text Audrey.

_"Hey we have got to meet up, I found something that is very interesting to me"._

_"What is it?"_

_"It's an online game that I am quite interested in."_

_"Online game? Count me in!"_

_"Great, ok I will see you at lunch."_

_"Of course."_

_"Of course."_

_This could be my escape from this world, _I think to myself.


	3. Chapter 2

**Note to Readers: I will try to post a new chapter every Tuesday. If not Tuesday then Thursday at the latest. I will not forget to post, I promise! Reviews and comments are always appreciated. Happy Reading! Don't forget to subscribe :)**

I sit at the computer staring up at the clock desperately waiting for the bell to ring. Only ten minutes left until I will go to lunch and meet up with Audrey. I can hardly wait, but negative thoughts start to wonder in my head.

_What if the game is sold out? What if I can't afford it? What if it's not as I intend it to be? What if there's a certain console you have to have along with the game? What if my parents find out, will they take it away from me? Most importantly... where do I get this game?_

I'm sure I'll figure this all out soon enough. The worse that can happen is me simply not getting what I want. This wouldn't be the first time that things just don't go my way. _Happy thoughts, Eden.. Happy thoughts!_

The bell rings I quickly grab my books, throw them in my bag, and speed my way down the hall. I push through people trying to get to the cafeteria as possible. Down the hall, around the corner and... I run into one of my crushes since freshman year, Peter Rix. We both fall on the floor and his books scatter.

"Oh I'm sorry, didn't see you there."

"I-I... hehe no no, _I_ am the one who should be sorry."

"You're Eden, right?"

_I can't believe he remembers my name. _"That would be me", I giggle while collecting myself from the floor.

"Haha, you're cute."

"Hu-huh?"

"Oh, nothing.. hey would you mind giving me your number? We should definitely hang out sometime."

My jaw drops "Y-y-yeah."

I don't even know my own phone number. I pull out my phone and quickly start clicking the screen hoping to have my number pop up. _Where the heck is it?! _This is hopeless and a waste of time.

"Would you just mind giving me yours?" I smile.

"Sure, 555-5748"

"Thanks!"

I dart away pushing through a couple of people. I exit the double doors and reach the cafeteria. In the cafeteria I am so anxious to tell Audrey everything that I don't even go to the lunch line. I find her sitting at the usual table in the corner and I join her. It's usually just the two of us, it's kind of just our table.

"Ok, so where do we begin?" She asks.

"Audrey we have got to get this game. It was so lively. It's not like other online games where you use your fingers to click some silly buttons and make your own character. You have to actually feel the game and it's a different world..."

"That sounds like fun-"

"WE HAVE TO GET THIS GAME"

"Calm down, we will get it. Ok? So what exactly do we need to buy?"

"Uh I'm not too sure..."

"We can always check that game shop on the corner of Gibbson Ave."

"Yeah, let's do that!"

"I can't today, Eden. We will just have to check it out tomorrow."

"Thats fine."

"So how were your other classes?"

"They were fine." I say, "Nothing new just same old same old."

Audrey took out her sandwich from her lunch box and began to eat it.

"I ran into Peter today." I interrupt her eating.

"Rix?"

"Yeah, but I seriously_ ran_ into him. I felt so clumsy and stupid."

"Aw, you still like him?"

"I just think he's cute"

"Cute?! Eden, that's not even close to description. Try Hot."

"Ha-ha, yes he's attractive. He gave me his number." I start to blush.

"Oooh, so are you going to text him?"

"Am I suppose to do that? I think it's better if I just wait for him to text me."

"Eden... Does he even have _your_ number?"

"Shoot-no. I couldn't find my number in my phone so I just asked for his. Oh goodness."

"It's okay", she smiles "Just text him first.

"I may just have to do that".

The lunch bell rings, I leave the cafeteria and head off to the library. I'm a teacher assistant in there so all I have to do is sort books and help out with ever the librarians need help with. Super easy!

I walk into the library and find a stack of books left for me from Miss Summers, the librarian. These books need to be put on their correct shelves.

"That's all the work I have for you today" Miss Summers says.

I look up "Alright, this won't be a problem, thanks!"

I grab the stack and start wondering around the library matching the book genres with the other books. I like books and all because of how you can feel like you are the character in the story; it just amazes me. You can be whoever you want to be but the story is already written for you. This is why I like writing a lot more. I get to tell the story I want to tell or tell the story of my fantasy world rather than read someone else's fantasy.

I place the last couple of books in their rightful spots and sit down. Maybe after school I can just walk by the game shop. I know Audrey would like to come but I need to make sure they have the game before I get too excited.

The bell rings and I grab my bag and leave the library and head to my last class, math. Math is difficult for me. I do not understand why I will need this in my life unless I want to be an engineer. Which I do not. I walk into my math class and take a seat in the middle row.

"Alright class, I need everyone to take out a pencil and notebook paper. I have two math worksheets that need to be done for homework. If you have any questions let me know." Mrs. Milton instructs.

I can sleep in math if I want to; I mean, Mrs. Milton's lectures are just so boring. I can't seem to concentrate on something I do not care for. I look at the problems and get started. It's basic algebra, polynomials and what not.

Mrs. Milton reminds us "What ever you did not get done today is homework." on that note, the bell rings.

I walk towards the buses, but thinking about the game just makes me want to go to the game shop and see if they even sell it. I walk by the buses and decide to take the sidewalk to Gibbson Ave. It's really not that far of a walk. Just about three blocks away. I start walking and I see many kids from my school that drive by me with their fancy cars. Audrey and I are probably the only seniors who do not have a car. I do not have one because I cannot afford one. She does not because I think her parents want to get her one for graduation. I come up on the street where I can see the game shop. I wait for the crosswalk to turn green and I go.

Game Goers, is the name of the shop. I slowly approach it and reach for the doorknob. I am hesitant and back away. _What if they don't have it? _I think. I start to walk away, then stop myself. How will I know for sure unless I go in there? _I just won't get my hopes up too high_ I tell myself. I turn around and enter the store. A chime goes off when I open and close the door, there are games everywhere. The smells like fresh paint.

I haven't been in here since.. _never. _

_I don't own any games, just a laptop for school which I bought myself a few years back._

I think about looking for an advertisement but I don't see any. I decide to ask the guy at the register about the game.

"Hi, I was wondering if you happen to sell Sword Art Online, like the game and the consoles?" I ask.

"Yeah, we carry the game but since it's supposed to be popular there is no guarantee you will get it unless you preordered it. If you preorder it it's like we hold one for you."

"Well, will you have any extras?"

"Yeah but only a hundred since it's expensive to get them shipped here and the boss doesn't know if they will sell. We are actually having the store doors open at 8am tomorrow. Don't show up at eight though, it'll be too late I'm sure."

"Well, thanks for your help. Oh and how much is the entire game plus the consoles?"

"$350."

"Alright, thanks again." I say.

"Not a problem."

I have some money in my bank account. It's money I have earned in the past to put towards a car, college, and eventually whatever else I need in life. Since, my parents won't chip in one bit for anything I constantly have to save, save, save. Is it worth it though? _Yes._ I don't even have to hesitate with that thought.

I walk home, about a 15 minute walk so not too bad. I take the sidewalk until I am away from the shopping and town hall area and take a dirt path up to my house. When I come up to my house, I get the mail. Always full of college options. I throw these brochures away because I still don't know if I will afford college and I refuse to take loans. I walk up to my house. It's made of red brick which looks nice. The plants in the yard are pretty much dead and our porch is just trashed. The railing up to the door has loose screws so it's not sturdy; meaning it doesn't do a justice. I will probably fix this.

I see my mom's white pontiac G6 in the "drive way" not much of a drive way just some pebbles scattered around. I do not like it when my mom is home before I am, this only means trouble. When I come home from school I don't ever tell my mom really about my day but rather the school work and the fact that I am pulling straight A's. I will also never tell her about the cell phone. I grab my house key out of my bag and slowly open the door which leads straight into the living area.

"Hi mom, I'm home!" I yell.

"About time." she demands "Where have you been?"

I look at the clock on the mantle and see that it's 4:15pm.

"I had to stay after school and finish up an assignment for school." I hesitate but start walking towards the kitchen.

"So you didn't do your work or you procrastinated?"

"Neither, the teacher just asked if I wanted to get ahead on something since I am quite smarter than the rest of the students."

"So now you're cocky, hmm? You were supposed to make dinner tonight, since I have to go back to work. Did you forget, it's Thursday?"

As much as I don't want to, I enter the kitchen but keep my distance. She throws pots and pans around, mumbling things about me.

"Let me get that, mom."

"Oh, you're gonna get it."

_These words always scare me because I have heard them ever since I was four years of age._

She walks over towards me and slaps me right across the face. I turn and try to hold back my tears. She grabs me by the arm, her face to mine.

"You just won't get dinner tonight then, how about that? You're so selfish, Eden. So selfish."

I don't say a word but keep my focus on her eyes. _How can you possibly treat your own child this,_ I think to myself.

She releases my arm and I head upstairs.

"I also don't need your little ass attitude!" She yells.

I walk down the hall and enter my room. Lay face on the bed and whimper a little. Tears swell up in my eyes. No, this isn't the worst thing that has ever happen, but the fact that she doesn't love me rips me up inside. I can't tell Audrey this because I know her parents will probably want to take me in and get my mother in jail. Even though she treats me like this, there's still a part in me inside that loves her. _  
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My mind ponders, _selfish. _Maybe I am being a little selfish. I mean I know it's Thursday and I have to make dinner but instead I think of myself first. I turn over onto my back and stare at the ceiling where I have my favorite quote written.

_Be strong now, because things will get better._

_It might be stormy now, but the rain can't last forever._

This is what keeps me moving through life. I mean, how long can the life I am living last?

I stop thinking about all the hatred and think of what needs to get done. I pull out my math homework and finish the last ten problems I did not get done during school. I decide that I will work on my art project later during the week, as of right now I want to relax.

I hear the front door slam. My mom has left for work. I hate how she doesn't tell me when she's leaving. She couldn't leave me with a simple goodbye or a message. _Message. I forgot to message Peter. _I quickly grab my phone and open the messaging app. I type in his name and stare at the screen. _What should I say?_

_"Hey."_

Not even a second later, _"Hey who is this?"_

_"Oops, sorry. This is Eden Leigh Harper."_

_"Oh hey, Eden! What's up?"_

_"Nothing. Just finished up some homework."_

_"Oh, same here. Hey I really wanted to know if some time you know, we could get together?"_

_"That would be fun!"_

Texting is so easy, there's no reason to be nervous. He can't see me right now, I know I am probably blushing though. I should have gotten a phone earlier.

_"So, what are you up for? Movies, __video games (even though you're probably not that type of girl), going out to eat, you know just hanging out stuff?"_

_"I'm really not picky. Actually I am into video games, or I want to be. There's actually one coming out right now that I would like to play."_

_"Hmm?"_

_"Sword Art Online."_

_"Ah, I want to play that game as well, luckily I preordered one so one is saved for me. I get to pick it up after school."_

_"Oh, lucky. I have to go wait in line for it."_

_"Skipping school, huh? ;)"_

_"I'm not going to skip school..."_

_"Haha, whatever you say. Well I've got some homework to do but maybe we should get together either Saturday or Sunday?"_

_"Sounds fine with me, bye."_

_"Good bye, cutie ;)"_

_What is up with him and all the windy faces _I wonder. _Oh well. _Something about him gives me butterflies. I need to get to know him more. I put my phone away and head down stairs to fix a bowl of Froot Loops.

_If I skip school tomorrow, will I be caught? _I don't know if it's all that worth it. If I do go get the game tomorrow, I have to, one: go to the ATM first and two: figure out how I am going to get the equipment home. If my parents catch me, I am in so much trouble.

I finish the cereal, wash the dishes and head upstairs to shower off. I play the radio and sing along with every song I know, even if I don't know it, I just make up my own lyrics. I grab some shorts and a long sleeve shirt to sleep in, lay on my bed and rest.

_Is it __worth it? Over a silly video game. I want to do something for myself for once. Get something that will give me some joy so I won't have to feel so alone. _

I pick up my phone and set my alarm to 5am. I will go to the ATM early and buy SAO. I close my eyes and drift off into my happy place.


	4. Chapter 3

**Note to Readers: I will try to post a new chapter every Tuesday. If not Tuesday then Thursday at the latest. I will not forget to post, I promise! Reviews and comments are always read and greatly appreciated (can't emphasis this enough). Happy Reading! Don't forget to subscribe :)**

_Beep beep beep!_ My alarm goes off and I role over to smack it right on the head. I am so excited. I jump out of bed, grab my red v-neck shirt, baseball jacket, cap, and jeans. I choose to go with my high tops today because I know I will be in a hurry. I quickly change clothes, make my bed, and hurry down the hall to visit my parents' room. Both of my parents are home so I know to be quiet. I go back to my room, grab my cell phone, throw it in the bag and head downstairs. I am afraid to grab breakfast because if I am too loud it'll be the end of me. Then again, if my parents do catch me at any point... _it's over. What do I have to lose? _I pull out a Ziploc bag from the pantry and the cheerios. I open the box and shake some into the bag. I very quickly open the refrigerator and grab a bottle of water. I throw everything into the bag when all of a sudden I hear something.

"Eden?! Is that you downstairs?"

I don't say a word. I very quietly walk over to the front door and grab the knob. I can hear footsteps coming from my parents' room upstairs. My heart starts racing. I feel an adrenaline rush come over me. My arms are now full of goosebumps, _what do I do? Is this really worth the trouble? You only live Once, Eden_ I think to myself. I take a deep breath and swing that front door open as if I am now _free. _I step onto the porch and shut the door quietly. I feel great and start walking down my driveway. I am so sick to my stomach; to make things better on me, I don't turn around to see if someone is watching me walk away.

I start walking toward Gibbson Street, on the way there I will stop at the ATM and withdraw some money. After about ten minutes of walking on a sidewalk, reading buildings' names, and the graffiti on the abandoned ones I reach the ATM. I pull out my wallet from my bag and insert my debit card, then punch four 'secret' numbers in. It asks me if I would like to withdraw or deposit. I hit withdraw. Then it wants me to select how much money. _What ever you withdraw.. you won't get back_ I hesitate.

It's so easy to spend money than it is to earn it. I hit 3-5-0-.-0-0 and cash comes flying out. I grab the green paper and throw it into my wallet and back into the bag. As early as it is it's probably not a good idea to walk around with this much money. I check my phone for the time, it's six. I decide to go ahead and get to Game Goers because I don't know when people start lining up.

As I walk the streets towards Gibbson Street I come across a cute little shop. The name of the store is_ Cute & Cuddly_ Critters, it's a pet store. I look through the window and I can see some puppies in a pen. They're so cute. _I've always wanted a dog. _The reason why I want a dog is to have that companionship. I hear they're a lot of work but I mean I'm always working. They can't be as bad as what people complain they are. My parents would never let me get one. "Supposedly" it's just because they pee on the floor -not necessarily if they are housebroken. I think the real reason is is because the dog will probably bite them if they hurt me (since I would be kind of the mama to the dog), great protection if you ask me.

I tap on the glass to get there see me and start running in circles, 'barking' -_those things are loud._ Next thing you know, all the dogs start barking. I check my watch and it's 6:15. With one last look of course, I fall in love with a golden puppy- _can't have it._

I walk down the street and see Game Goers. There only seems to be a few people in line. As I get closer, I see that there are a ton of people, they wrap around the store. I begin to trot into a jog straight to running. I get to the line and immediately go straight to the last person and stop. I catch my breath and wonder how many people are in front of me. I stand on my tip toes swaying side to side trying to count, 1,2,3,4...28 _is that even right?_ There's so many people that I would have to get out of line to count. Everyone in line is either on their cell phone or has a friend to talk to, I stand _alone._

I pull out my phone to make it seem like I am busy, the time reads 7:00 _I have one hour. _What happens after one hour? Do we all get let in at the same time or one by one? I think I have a better chance if they let us all in. If this happens I will have to run and find the game, or maybe an employee will just get it for me. Either way maybe they will announce it once the time gets closer, then I will think of a strategy.

People start lining up behind me. I try not to make eye contact so I pull my cap over to hide my face a little more. I never even thought about _what happens if I run into someone._ If they question why I am not at school I will have no excuse. With no excuse, they can call my mom and tell her where I am. Ok, enough of the paranoia. I listen in to others' conversations. It's boring things such as the ladies in front of me talk about the fact that they have to rescheduled a hair appointment just so they can pick up SAO for their sons.

The sun is rising, I look at my phone and it is now 7:45. Just 15 minutes and I will be in those doors searching for this game. This man who seems as though may be the manager of this store shouts

"If you have preordered the game please make a line over here on the other side of the building."

Those people are guaranteed a game because of the preorder -_if only I knew about this. _Six people in front of me got out of line, this increases my chances. The manager lets those people in and tells us to wait. I wait impatiently wondering when we go in.

This man who looks like a worker starts passing these tickets out. He passes me and hands me a blue ticket and on the back read #42. I don't like where this is going.

"Ok, if you are numbers 1-25, you can come on in!" he shouts.

_Are you kidding me?! _Now I start to worry. _Maybe this just happens so the store doesn't get too crowded._ People from the 'preorder' group come out with these boxes, not too big but not small. Every time a person comes out, someone else goes in. Finally I am standing right outside the doors, watching through the glass, people everywhere picking up this game to buy it.

"You can go in now" an employee instructs me.

I push through the doors turning in every direction to find this game. I see a shelf that is bare and a sign that reads SAO #378860. Maybe they have some in the back. I wait in line, it seems I am not the only one who empty handed they are probably going to ask as well.

"Sorry, sir. We are sold out."

My heart breaks. I turn around as to walk out. As the rest of us are walking away, I get a tap on the shoulder. It's the same cashier who gave me the details about the time to be here.

"Hey, um didn't you preorder the game?"

"No. I need to be going" I say, embarrass at the fact that I try and don't succeed.

"Well, what if I told you I have one extra left I was saving _just_ for you."

"I would say you're my hero" I giggle.

"Well, it just so happens I do".

I look around the store and it is bare. The manager is in his office and all the customers have gone.

"Ok, let me ring this up."

He scans he box and adds up some numbers.

"That'll be $358.40."

_What?! He told me $350 and that was even supposed to be after tax._

I grab my wallet and slowly start pulling money out. I lay all $350 I have in case of some miracle. Maybe he won't notice but then I feel guilty.

"I can't-"

"Oh, no worries, I will take care of it" he grins.

A piece of paper roles out of the cash register.

"Here is your receipt, enjoy!"

"Thank you" , I smile "I owe you one" I take note that his name tag reads Stephen.

"Maybe one day" he laughs.

I carry the box out walking down the street back to my house. I don't understand why he saved me a game but he did and I am just grateful for that. I set the box down and check my phone, it's 9:00 already and I have a text from both Peter and Audrey. So anxious, I check Peter's text first.

_"Good morning, cutie. Was just wondering if I could see you after school, just text me whenever :)"_

_Dang, he wants to see ME?!_

I close out of his message and check Audrey's.

_"Where are you? Your parents met up with me at the school because they said they couldn't find you this morning."_

_Holy Crap, I'm done for._

Home is not always the safest place for a child to always be. There is no way on earth I can go home now with this box, I will probably be a goner. I have to think fast.

I continue my way home but just before I reach the dirt road to my house, I find and abandon house. I walk up to the porch where it says **No Trespassing.** In stress I may get in trouble, I take the chance and hide my game in some over grown grass.

I observe and approve it it well hidden. I text Audrey that I am on the way and I start running. By the time I get to the school, it is lunch time. I check in to the office and tell them I was sick earlier this morning. I head to the cafeteria where I find Audrey sitting alone, I join her.

"Eden! Where have you been?"

"I went out to buy some thing..."

"You did not buy SAO did you? Don't tell me you did..!"

"Ok then, I won't. What are you eating?"

"Eden! You skipped school for it? Oh well, I can't blame you. I didn't have to go because my parents preordered it. I didn't want to upset you so I didn't tell you."

"It's okay, I understand." I smile, I am glad we will both be able to play tonight.

"Oh and Eden, I told your parents that you had a meeting to go to for NHS. I know it's an awful lie but they bought it."

"Yeah, well we will see when I get home. What really happens."

She looks down, not sure what to think.

"Hey, Audrey guess who texted me... Peter.."

"He did not."

"He did."

"Let me see."

I show her the texts and she squeals.

"You two are going to be dating before you know it."

"I don't know how to date nor am I really comfortable with it."

"It'll be fun, Eden. I promise."

"You wanna come along?" I laugh.

"Ohh goodness no! I wouldn't want to interrupt anything" She winks.

I give her the most serious look. The lunch bell rings and we plan to text each other when we are going to get online. I head over to the library and start to put all the books Miss Summers has for me today away. As I am shelving books I hear what sounds like rocks hitting the roof. I put the books down and rush over to the window. _It's raining._ This means my box is getting wet. _If the rain soaks through my box, I will be ticked. _I put the rest of the books away and sit at a chair by the window, praying and hoping it'll just stop. I keep looking at the clock and time is just slowly ticking. I rest my head on the armchair and just stare at the rain. What seems to feel like forever the bell finally rings. Miss Summers comes over to me.

"Are you okay, dear?"

"I don't feel very well." _If I am sick they will send me home and I can get my game out of this rain. _

"Maybe we should call the nurse."

"Well I would really like to call my parents. When I feel this sick my mom has some special medicine for me at home."

"Ok, well I will send a note to the office and call for your ride. In the meantime gather all your belongings and just wait in the office."

I grab my bag and books and walk over to the office. By the time I get there, they tell me that my mom is on the way. I become very stiff and I begin to tense up. Not even ten minutes pass and she enters the office.

"Aw, how's my baby feeling?" She strokes my hair, "I feel so bad for you right now, you look so sick. Let's go get in the car and I will get you some soup and medicine when we get home. How does that sound?"

This is all just a show for the staff at the school. If she wasn't like this, then I am pretty sure someone could catch on to how she really treats me. We walk to the car with her arm around me. We separate and get into the car, I take the passenger seat. We start to pull away from the school.

"Where the hell have you been!" She screams, "Did you leave the house this morning? Someone was downstairs way before they were supposed to be. Then when I called your name you didn't answer. What's the icing on the cake? I didn't find you in your room and the chores weren't done. You have a lot of explaining to do."

"I had an NHS meeting this morning quite early actually. I was going to tell you but I didn't want to wake you, also if I had hear call my name I would have answered. Not answering is disrespectful."

"Are you mocking me?!"

"No-"

She reaches over and slaps me upside the face keeping one hand on the wheel. She goes again but I duck and she hits the chair. She is furious but leaves me alone. I pray for this car ride to end and in a snap we are in the driveway. I get out of the car and head upstairs straight for my room.

"You have a lot of chores to get done! I refuse to do them for you no matter how sick you are so get your little ass down here and do them. Don't make me come up there..!"

I shut and lock my door, I lean up against my door and slowly sink to my knees. I take a deep breath to calm me down and soon come to my senses. The first thing I need to do is get my game but how? I quickly get the idea of climbing out my window like you see in the movies. I grab some of my oldest t-shirts and rags and begin to make a rope. I tie one end to my bed post and throw the other end out. _I can do it_ I tell myself, no matter how great of fear I have of heights. I grab on to the rope and slip both my legs out of the window. With my legs planted on the wet house, I don't dare to look down, I slip and prepare for the _worse._


	5. Chapter 4

**Note to Readers: I will try to post a new chapter every Tuesday. If not Tuesday then Thursday at the latest. I will not forget to post, I promise! Reviews and comments are always read and greatly appreciated (can't emphasis this enough). Happy Reading! Don't forget to subscribe :)**

Due to the rain, I slip on the house's wet surface. I grasp the rope as tight as I can while my feet dangle. I try to bring my feet back onto the house but I skip again. I get an idea that I have seen on the Super Agent TV show. I release my grip just a little on the rope and start to fall towards the ground, keeping my hands around the rope. Before I can hit the ground I hold tight the rope and lower my feet to the ground. I have made it.

I am at the back of my house. I one around the side and collapse straight into the ground. The window to the living area is right there. The last thing I need is for my mother to catch me. I crawl through the mud with the raining pounding on my back to the abandon house. I reach the house and begin to search through the grass for my box. _I can't find it. _My heart starts racing and I go into panic mode and run around the house. I start tearing at the grass and kicking up the dirt, but still no sign of it. _What if the rain washed it away? What if someone stole it?_ I settle down and curl myself into a ball, grabbing my knees as close as I can to my chest, _I am cold_ and decide this is no use. After a moment of solitude, I get up, pat as much mud as I can off of me, and start to walk away. As I am walking away I_ do_ look back. I look back at all the things I went through to do something for myself, _just_ once. I just did not succeed, thentears swell up in my eyes. I bundle my arms into a knot for security and warmth and just as I am about to head home, a light catches my eyes. My tears magnify the light coming from in between the wooden planks blocking what once seems to have been a window. It reminds me of star, but very dim. I run to the house searching for a way in.

I fiddle with the doorknob but it won't turn. I begin to bang my shoulder into the door but it won't bust. My only concern is if I take out a door or window, will the house still be standing? I walk around the house and find a window that only a sheet has been placed over. I remove the sheet, jump up, and throw my self through the window, hitting the floor with a big... _**THUMP!** _Dust flies up into my eyes. I rub my eyes, and shake my head, look up and I see my box. I stumble getting up and walk over to my box. It is sitting next to a table that holds a candelabrum and an envelope with a letter inside. It has my name on it. I open it and begin to read.

_Eden,_

_I saw you struggling so I followed you, making sure that everything was all right, right now. I saw where you hid it and noticed the rain was only getting stronger. Sorry to have startled you or put you in to distress. _

_See you there,_

_B.B._

_B.B? What does that even stand for? And now I have a stalker of some sort?_ I don't ponder on the acronym. I put the letter into my pocket and observe the candelabrum. The candelabrum looks golden and seems to hold five candles but only three are lit. I open the box, without examining the contents inside. I blow out the candles and stick the candelabrum into the box, close the box and hoist it up to my chest. I make my way back to the open window and it's still raining -heavily. I throw the box out and hump right after it. I remove my jacket and cover the top of the box with it.

Running back to my house, I slip in the mud and fall, but I do not let go of the box. I steady my feet and jog the rest of the way to the house. Then I think _How am I supposed to get this inside? _I run around to the front of the house and peek through the windows. I see my dad sleeping on the sofa and no sign of my mom. _If I can run past my dad and get upstairs before I am seen or heard, I will make it. __  
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I grip the box in one hand and slowly open the front door with the other. I step inside, grab a hold of the box with two hands and kick the door close. Kicking it shut, I run up the stairs, skipping steps and dart to my room. I set the box down and quietly close my door and seal it with a lock. _I have succeeded._

I grab my 'rope' that I used to climb out the window, untangle the knots and hang each piece of linen up to dry in my bathroom. I shut the window and lock it, grab a dry towel, and place it on the floor next to the window to soak up the rain that came in. Everything is in order now and I stare at the box. I am longing to open it and get a start on this game.

I quickly grab some pjs from the drawer and head to the shower. I undress and turn the water on warm. Scrubbing the mud off from me my mind leads my to the letters _B.B._ I don't know anyone with the name that starts with a 'B' other than this weird guy whose name is Bryan but his last name doesn't even start with a 'B'. Maybe it is code for something. Either way there is no way of me knowing other than thanking him/her for saving the box, but also scold for being such a _**STALKER!** _

I get dress and dry off my hair, standing in the doorway of my bathroom just looking at the box. _It is time._

I hurry over to the box and remove the envelope with the letter from B.B. and the candelabrum. I place the candelabrum on my night stand and the letter in the drawer. I get the idea to grab a piece of furniture to cover my door so my parents will not disrupt me. I struggle but manage t push my dresser in front of the door. Now that everything is in motion, I grab the laptop and set it on the bed along with the headgear. I plug the headgear in, but nothing happens.

I start to worry, yet _again. _I unplug it and plug it back in. _Still nothing._ I am going impatient, _unplug..plug...unplug..plug..unplug..plug..THAT'S IT! _Next thing you know I am talking to myself.

"Why won't you work? I just ran out in the freakin' cold rain to save you, spent a ton of money on you and now you won't work? Piece of CRAP."

"Ok, computer I am really sorry I didn't mean that. Please work.. for me?" I smile.

I wait.

"OK THAT'S IT!" I start banging on the keyboard, "freak..sh..guuur, #$^(^$%& !" "You're going to work because I said so! You got that?! Sooo WORK!"

_Eden stop talking to yourself. Man, I really need help._

Then it hits me.._ how does the computer know what I want to play unless I tell it? _I scurry over to the box and see a CD at the bottom. I place it in the computer and the computer starts making noises.

"Ohhh I love you computer! You're such a good computer yes you are!" _That's enough Eden._

A message pops up,_** Please equip your headgear to get Started**_

Shakingly I grab the headgear, place it on and lay on my back. I close my eyes and enter a dark room.

"Welcome, young fighter!" A deep manly voice echoes from the blank sky, "Please give me a moment to analyze you"

A loading sign appears in front of my face, _I am actually part of the game._

"Ah, Eden. You're a 17 year old girl from PA. Am I correct?"

"Yes."

"Good, let's get this started. Welcome to SAO! The game with the most interaction, correction, only physical interaction. In SAO there is much for you to do. Before I give you a little walkthrough let's see what class you belong. Would you like me to give you the name AND description?"

"Yes, please." _This is really exciting even though I can't see squat._

A big white screen pops in front of me. "These are the options we have as of right now." He says.

**Knight-_ A fighter, stronger with a group than individually, can easily team with other knights rather than other classes. Usually sent out on the Land's End quests. Accompanied by a side minion. _**

_**Dragon Slayer- Tends to live in the caves in the mountains each have their own, full of solitude. Very territorial. Strongest class, can fly but only for so long until strengthened.**_

_**Guardian- One who is a great deal of help to others. Is able to obtain health or give health when needed. A giver and a taker, is able to steal the health of others under certain conditions. **_

_**Wizard- Different types, works well with Dragon Slayers. Starts off with a wand and a great individual fighter.**_

**_Fairy- An adventurer, not much of a fighter but more of a helper. Gets along with all the other classes. Can fly, smaller than average height. Serve greatly as lookouts and __messengers._**

"So what will it be?" He asks.

"I'd like to choose knight."

"Excellent choice! Now let's get you equipped. Please select the the gear you would like."

A mirror pops up in front of me and I can see myself along with the outfits to choose from. There are so many options. I pick a high-low dress that's black. the top doesn't cover the shoulders but reaches down to my wrists. The back is open but there is gold sparkly material that creates an X. I leave my hair down with a golden headband to match the back, along with black knee high boots._ I look awesome._

A screen pops up and allows me to pick the kind of weapon I would like. Nothing is very strong but they're cool looking. I choose a silver sword that comes with a small dagger.

"Now that you have gotten your weapon and gear, please select your minion. Your minion may accompany you throughout your journey. Not that you may only have one to claim as yours at a time."

I look at the list and there's not much just a snake, crow, lizard, owl, cat, just nothing special. "I'll pass" I say.

"You sure?"

"Mhm."

"Very well. Let me teach you the basics. In order to change items or look at the map you just grip your hand into a fist and slowly release. The scroll will appear and float in fort of you. Go ahead and try."

I tap in front of me and a list of options pops up.

"This is your 'knight's scroll', yes you can touch it. It allows you to view accomplishments, your gear's stats, weapons, minions (but you don't have any), a map, and how much money you have.. etc. This also allows you to see your friends and enables you to exit the game. Basically anything you acquire throughout the game will be put here but only so much can be placed here. The things that don't fit, you can keep in your room which will be assigned later. You get to pick where you would like to live. Yes, you do have to pay rent. You can get a roommate or live by yourself. In order to add a friend, type their name in the **Find Friend** box and an actual letter will be sent to where they live. You may custom the letter. This may take a few days. Everything in the game is paid with a currency of jewels. Certain jewels are more expensive than others. You get these jewels by defeating monsters such as taking quests from the Grand's Hall which you will find on your map. In order to gain new places on your map you must physically go there or get a quest to it. Then your map will update itself. Basically how you map is set up right now, this is the called the Communal. This is where everything you all need shall be, basic shops, food, housing. Your quests will take you far off this path and also your adventurous self. If you venture out you will find other towns that offer similar things but you may be at an advantage other places, it is all up to you where you would like to be. You have a life meter which tells you how much life you have. If at any point you die, you will respawn back to the Communal. Or if our in another town you will respawn back to their communal or whatever it is called there. There is such things as levels. As you progress throughout the game you will gain XP and level up. This will allow you to get new gear and strengthen you. That's all for now. To get rid of the scroll, just swipe your hand in front of it and it will close out."

"Awesome.." my jaw drops.

"Throughout the game there will be others that can help you if you need it. These are just the basics there's so much more of there young Knight Eden. Find it all. There is no true way to beat the game, it's an ongoing interaction. Any questions?"

"I-"

"Let's get started!"

The black all around me becomes a bright white and I feel like I am falling. _I am falling._ I safely land in the middle of the Communal. So many players I see around me. All sorts of classes, then it hits me. _I forgot to tell Audrey I was getting on. _I fist my hand and grab my scroll. I click on the friends tab and see I have none. Then I see an option that says I can sync friends from the real world. I click it, **Processing, Complete. **I have two friends, Audrey and Peter.. _Peter?!_ _Oh well. _They're both online. It's time for me to meet up with Audrey now.


	6. Chapter 5

**Note to Readers: I will try to post a new chapter every Tuesday. If not Tuesday then Thursday at the latest. I will not forget to post, I promise! Reviews and comments are always read and greatly appreciated (can't emphasis this enough). Happy Reading! Don't forget to subscribe :)**

As I wonder through the Communal I see many different types of equipment shops, food markets, and many different places to buy apartments. My first priority is to find Audrey, then together we can become roommates. _I wonder what class she chose..._ While wondering through the Communal I realize it's practically a huge circle, how do I find Audrey? _What if she isn't even in the Communal? _I walk a little further, bumping into a young girl who seems to be nine years of age.

"Oh hi there" I say with a smile "I'm sorry, I didn't see you there.."

"Why is it because I'm short!" She sneers.

She_ is_ kind of short, well.. very short. She's about three foot. With her black hair pulled up into a messy bun, along with some sparkly blue wings, and a two tone blue short little dress. She has a white headband in and a little pouch that attaches to her waist.

"No it's just.. I-"

"Hehe, it's not a problem. It's pretty crowded here right now. I'm sure as the players progress, there will be less and less people here. So you must be a knight?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Knights, swords... Knights.. swords..? I see your sword soooo get it?!"

"Yeah, yeah I get it all right and you must be a-"

"I'm a fairy! See the wings? I chose fairy because I want to be able to fly and help others. Not much of a fighter but what the heck, right? I think I look adorable."

"Haha, and that you do."

"This little pouch I have here is where I cast my 'Fairy Dust' basically everything I need is found in here. Kind of like your 'Knight's Scroll'." Hey, where do you keep it anyway?"

I show her how I make it appear and her eyes widen.

"Ohhh I wish I had a scroll, that's sooo cool!"

"Oh, I'm Eden by the way."

"Oooh that's a pretty name, I'm Iridessa! Nice to meet you! Hey, can I tag along with you on adventures. I promise I'll be a big help."

Fairies aren't really fighters but more of tag alongs... _Will this help me?_

"Eden, I know I am a fairy and people think I'm just someone who flies around- but that's not true! Fairies can heal and gain somewhat of attacks. It just takes a really long time. The attacks aren't too strong but I will grow stronger staying with you. Oh please please please?! Don't just leave me.."

I wonder why she is begging so much to stick around with me. _Well, I guess I can't just leave her._

"Sure, Iridessa. I can use all the help I can get!"

"Yaaaay!" She screams and hugs me.

I decide that I will send her a friend request later on in the evening after I find Audrey.

"Iridessa, do you happen to know how I can search for a friend that's on my list already?"

"Sure do. Go to your scroll, then to friends. Click on the friend you want to locate and click the **Seek Out** button."

I grab my scroll, select Audrey and seek her out. "It says she's in Hunter's Ground.. where is that?

"That's a few miles north of the Grand Hall, I'll take you there. Just don't ask me about this place though, I've never been just learned my locations. After all I _am _a lookout." she smiles.

"Great! You're right you are such a big help."

We walk by the shops, and follow a dirt path.

"Eden.. why did you pick knight?"

I never really thought about this. "Oh, I don't know. I guess I was just looking to be a fighter or something like a hero. Why did you pick fairy?"

"Oh, no reason.."

"Oh um ok..."

"I just rather not talk about it" She grins, "It's a secret, so HUSH! I don't want anyone knowing!"

"Ok well.. Why did you pick the colors blue?"

"When you're a fairy, you don't have a choice, really. It's for beginners. That's how we know the strengths of the other fairies. It's not like the other classes that you have you look closely and read their stats to find out."

"Oh, I see. Very distinctive, there's nothing wrong with that."

"Yeah, I know. So why did you start playing this game?"

I stop and rub my hand up and down my arm, contemplating whether to tell her the truth or not.

"Well.." She interrupts my train of thought.

"I guess sometimes you face some things in life you want to escape. So, I left the real world to try to make this place, a place I've always dreamed of."

"Soo, you ran away from you problems?"

"I wouldn't say 'run away' more like took a break, you know? I want an adventure."

"So do I, I wanted something new and different. Plus, this gives me the opportunity to meet new people that I'd probably never meet in my entire life if it weren't for this game."

I smile, "Shall we keep going?"

"Yeah, we're almost there. It's about another five minute walk." She says.

We walk by a rose bush and Iridessa stops.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"Those roses are pretty... Eden, roses are my favorite flowers."

"Mine too, looks like we share something in common wouldn't you say?"

"Oh, yes. I collect roses all the time."

"Here, let's take one."

I pull a red rose out of the bush and tie it, using the stem to the strap of the pouch.

"Oh my. Iridessa, you look beautiful!"

She giggles, "You can just call me Ira if that's easier." She takes something out of her pouch and sprinkles it on the rose. "It's called a preserver, makes things last longer. I want this to last forever."

We take a moment of silence and I break it, "So, are we ready to finish this little walk?"

She smiles and grabs my hand to hold. I look down at our hands but keep quiet and roll my eye. It's nice having someone who looks up to you, I guess.

We walk a little further and reach a circular area that's surrounded by bushes and trees with a sign at the entrance that reads: **Hunter's Ground** in big bold letters.

"So this is it" I look out in the distance. We enter in Hunter's Ground and see that the area is actually bigger than what it looks like on the outside. We keep walking "So, Eden.. You never actually told me who we were looking for"

"Her name is Audrey. She has blonde hair, green eyes."

"Ooh, what's she like?"

"She's my best friend."

Disappointment shows in her face, but I grip her hand tighter "Well, she's one of my best friends" I smile, she smiles back at me. Then, out of no where I hear someone calling my name. We drop hands, I look around and I see Audrey.

"Eden! Eden! I'm over here!"

"Audrey?!" I scream.

We run over to her and I hug her ever so tight.

"Audrey, this is Iridessa. Iridessa, this is Audrey."

"Hi, nice to meet you. You're a fairy?"

"Yep, that would be me and you are?"

"I'm a wizard, a storm wizard. Weird, I know, but I liked the outfit and Eden knows I love fashion, right Eden."

"That's right." I add. I look closely at Audrey's appearance. She has purple sparkly tips in her blonde hair, black skinny jeans, black combat boots along with a purple v-neck t-shirt.

"Oh, and I have this." She takes out her wand that has a little storm cloud engraved into it. "Pretty cool huh?"

"Ooooh can I touch it? Nevermind I don't want to break it.. I'm a fairy and our little thing is this pouch that carries all of our junk."

She smirks "Ooh well watch this." She raises her wand up to the sky. A storm cloud appears as she takes a stomp forward. A bolt of lightning strike right in front of her, freezing in time. "This is how I look at my 'bag' or whatever you want to call it. It's different for all classes."

I have never seen Audrey like this. She's starting to get real cocky. Before this gets too far I interrupt.

"Hey, um Audrey.. so what exactly do you do in Hunter's Ground?"

"Oh, simple. You see, here is where all the beginner players come to practice their skills and earn just a few xp points. When you fight and kill a monster, you get xp as well as jewels depending on the strength and level of your monster."

"Wow, where do we start?"

"Anywhere you'd like, you just see a monster and approach it. Then starts the combat. Oh hey, Eden we need to sign up to room together."

"I was just thinking that as well.."

"I can go look for a place, I'm worn out as is. I'll catch ya later."

"Alrighty, cya Audrey!"

I look down at Iridessa and realize she is as still as a stone. "Is something wrong?"

"No." She shakes her head and runs off, I let her go. _It's time for me to get started._

I look around the area and find a tiger-like beast in the distance. I approach it to get a better look. It has fangs that poke out of its mouth, touching the bottoms of his chin. His claws are ready to grasp for something and that something might be me. He sees me and stays frozen. I slowly move my hand toward my sword and hug it tightly. This is suppose to be an easy fight but since it's the first, I'm nervous. He starts trotting and I pull my sword out, pointing it straight towards him. I take off running and the beast starts charging.

I lock my eyes on him, hoping I don't miss. I imagine myself as that guy I had seen in the trailer, how he uses his sword. We keep running and just when he is about five feet away, he jumps into the air to attack me; to make this fair I jump. I grab the handle of my sword with both hands firmly and swing right at his neck. My sword shines bright from the sun's rays radiating off of it. _Just how I imagined it would be.._ He falls to the ground, head separates from his body, as I land beside him, examining the beast. He turns into little pixels that fly up to the sky. In place of the body, a floating red jewel appears. It's a ruby, I grab it and my level bar pops up showing I gain 36 xp. I need another 2964 xp.

"Eden!" I hear a little voice.

I turn and see Iridessa run towards me. "That was EPIC! You got xp and how many jewels?"

"I got a ruby which is worth..?"

"I don't know how about checking your bank.."

"Way to be smart with me." I smile, "It's worth 50 I guess. Maybe we can get a book on jewels and look up how much they each cost."

"I'm hungry, let's get something to eat."

I am surprised "You don't want to stay longer?"

"I'm hungry."

I don't say another word and we leave the Hunter's Ground, neither one of us speak. We don't know where we're really going, just listening to the sound of our feet kick up the dirt on the path back to the Communal. _I don't understand how her mood changed so quickly... Everything was fine until Audrey showed up. Jealousy? _

We finally reach the Communal, "So kiddo, whatcha hungry for?"

"Maybe some fish.."

"Sounds good to me!"

As we continue to walk, we come up to a large crowd of players, _Something must be going on. _They all seem to be looking at something. They form a circle, there's hollering and yelling. I hear someone say " You can't do that in the Communal!" I grab Iridessa so I don't lose her and she squeezes my hand and stops. I look back at her and she points to an apartment listing building. Her mouth moves, but silent words come out. It's too noisy. She lets go of my hand and cups her hands around her mouth, I still can't hear her. Just then, a part of the crowd disperses. This big buff-looking dude flies into her and all goes silent. They both knock into a nearby food stand. I run over to them, he can barely move. He says "I'm sorry I'm sorry." I glare at him.

"Are you okay, Ira?"

"Yeah", she smiles and her eyes widen. I look away from her and look in the direction of her eyes. The players stand aside and I see _him._ My heart stops. I can't see too much detail about him because of the distance that stands between us. I can see his body- very muscular, no shirt. His skin is crispy, but not burnt. He has red, loose pants that rest on his waist and a black looking jacket that flows to his bare feet. Black short hair, that's all I can collect from his looks. His eyes lock on me and I see the red color, fury in his eyes. The way he holds a stare with me makes me feel so trapped, as though I can't run, _he's got me. What's his name? Why is he looking at me? _He gains composure and runs, picking up massive speed. The players move out of the way. Flames burst from his back and flare into great big Dragon wings, he's gone up-up into the air and disappears. _He's a...__Dragon Slayer._

_"_Ooh Eden! Mmm Bang bang bang Whaaaa?! Talk about a hottie huh?"

"Yeah, his back has to be hot to shoot flames out of it."

"That's not what I meant, dumby."

"Oh, I'm sorry." I pick her up and put her on my back "Are we ready to get dinner now?"

She shakes her head and holds tight. "What's wrong?" I worry.

"Are you going to room with Audrey?"

"Uh, I don't know maybe all three of us can room?"

"Eden, I think it's obvious we're not going to get along and plus you can't room with more than two until you get further into the game or until you can afford it and trust me it's Expensive."

"How do you know so much?"

"I tend to spend time in the library doing as much research as I can.. Are you going to leave me?"

"Leave you?"

"Yeah, are you going to leave me?"

My voice cracks "We're going to stick together. We'll be a team what do you think?"

"Eeek yaay! Eden the knight and Iridessa the Great and powerful, awesome, no extraordinary, no.. undefeatable-"

"Ira, let's just keep it you and me, nothing fancy."

"Okay." She smiles.

"After dinner we can go get a home together, but what does it really matter if you can exit the game, right?"

"Yeah, but it's just for fun!"

"So it's a waste of money?"

"NOOOOO!"

"Ok ok calm down, haha. Hey, what do you know about Dragon Slayers?"

"I know they don't associate with people often and they don't train in the Communal. What you like him?!"

"Nooo! I was just curious, seriously I like another guy.." _I think._

"Whatever.. Anyway, it's rare to find them in a large group. You saw he got into a fight with that other guy. Probably being like a paparazzi to him.. Girls fall all over those guys, hehe!"

"Riiight. So where did he go?"

"Probably somewhere no one can find him. After the incident about today, he probably won't ever return."

"Why couldn't I see his name?"

"They don't share it, they can only tell it."

"So, Ira... how do you add Him.. I mean a dragon slayer?"

"You don't."

_I don't..._


	7. Chapter 6

**Note to Readers: I will try to post a new chapter every Tuesday. If not Tuesday then Thursday at the latest. I will not forget to post, I promise! Reviews and comments are always read and greatly appreciated (can't emphasis this enough). Get your friends to read! If you haven't already.. read the other chapters. Happy Reading! Don't forget to subscribe :)**

We eat our food quite quickly. This way we have time to go to the library. We need to figure out about the values and different types of jewels.

"Ira, slow down!"

"I'm a fast eater..."

"Right. You're going to be complaining to me later that your little belly hurts"

"Nuh uh! If anything I'll keep it to myself."

"Well, I'm ready to go when you are.."

"I'm re-"

"Hey Eden, how's it going?"

I turn around, I see Audrey and with her is Peter. I think I might throw up.

"You girls have room for us?" she asks.

"Yeah but we were just about to-"

"Shh, Ira.. we have some time."

"Who is this?"

"Peter, this is Iridessa. Iridessa this is Peter."

"You must be a fairy? And Eden you're a knight..?"

"Yep I am a knight and you must be..?"

"I'm an ice wizard." I observe the dark blue pants, light blue button up shirt, and white neck scarf. _He looks like a freakin ice wizard.. I feel stupid. Just lost in his good looking-self. "_I picked ice wizard because Audrey told me she was going to be a wizard. Plus I thought that you would of been aswell since Audrey chose it.

"Well then.." Audrey interrupts "If you two are leaving I guess it'll be just the two of us, huh Peter?"

"Yeah, I suppose" he agrees.

"Oh and Eden, did you want to room together?" Audrey insists.

"No, she doesn't! She's going to room with me. She promised she wouldn't leave me."

"Right, because I was asking you, puny, hehe."

"Yeah, Audrey.. I told Ira I'd room with her."

She looks confused "Well I'm not going to beg you to stay with me. Peter wanna room?"

_WHAT?! Is this girl out of her mind?_

"Haha, I'm just kidding. Man, Eden your eyes popped out of your head when I said that."

"Well um, Ira and I need to get going so we'll see ya around. Bye!"

I grab Iridessa's hand and pull her away so fast.

"So that's the guy you like?"

"Kind of yeah.. maybe."

"He's really not that cute. Same typical tall guy, muscular probably flirts with all the chicks.. shaggy blonde hair, blue eyes. I bet he knows ALL the pick up lines. Nothing special about him you know?" Her eyes widen.

"That's enough! Let's just go to the library.."

I check my map and pull up the library. Not that far of a walk. It's back where that fight broke out..

"Ready, kiddo?"

"Yep!" she squeals.

We start walking to the library. When we pass the apartments, I make an agreement with Iridessa that we will stop there once we finish at the library. She is thrilled and I am too. We finally reach the library and enter. It's so big hundreds and thousands of books, no probably millions and millions. Iridessa takes off running, I chase after her. I don't even try to stop her or question. I am super sure she knows where to look. She takes off into the air to one of the highest bookshelves.

"Eden! I found the book. It's called The Jewel's Journey."

"Well bring it down!"

We take seats on a nearby couch. She opens the book and the jewels in the book are listed lowest value to highest. We flip through the book, first is the emerald which is one dollar in the real world. Next, is the sapphire which is five. Gold is worth 10, amethyst is 25, and ruby is 50. The rest of the pages are blank. It's doesn't even give us a name for any other jewel.

"Maybe we should go talk to the receptionist." I suggest.

We walk over to the little check out center. Iridessa hides behind me, it's like she has a switch and when it's flipped, she changes. Nothing I can do about that though. I try to get the little elder lady's attention.

"Uh, excuse me. Hi, I was looking at this book and I was just curious as to why there are pages missing."

She looks up at me and stretches her hand towards me. I hand her the book, she reads the title and hands it back.

"Oh, my dear. It's not missing pages, the pages are there. You're just missing the information." I roll my eyes.

"You have to collect the jewels yourself. This must be your very first day.. Throughout the game, you can't be one step ahead of it. You have to learn it when you see it. It'll get you working more. Plus these are the only jewels you will get by going to Hunter's Ground. My suggestion to you is to grab yourself a quest and get on with your journey. Take the book as a gift, but don't tell anyone I gave it to you."

"Thanks" I say.

"My name is Ray."

"I'm Eden and this is my little rascal, Iridessa." Iridessa giggles and nods.

"I won't forget, deary. Have a fun journey!"

We walk out of the library and I stop. I put the book into the scroll.

"There we go, now we're all set. We will go get an apartment and get a quest probably tomorrow." I smile.

We look at the map and find some apartments secluded from the Communal. It's a hidden place, I am guessing it's pretty peaceful. We trail over to the apartments.

"Can we get a room pretty high up, Eden?" she asks.

"Sounds good to me, I don't really want anything on the first floor." I add, "I like the scenic view you get from being way up high." _Although I have a fear of heights..._

As we follow the map we are lead down an alley way, to a single one way road. It's getting dark and Ira is getting tired. I scoop her up and carry her. Street lights start coming on. The dark road makes me a little uneasy, but I'm okay I have a sword and this kid. I see apartments, as we approach the place looks a little rundown on the outside. The sign reads Mama's Sweet Home, _this scares me a little..._The lights are flickering, nothing makes this place feel homey. I look down and find Ira fast asleep.

Inside the apartment a lady greats me along with a few other really short ladies. They don't seem to have a specific class.

"Well help there." the manager whispers, "Where you looking for a place to live?"

I nod, "How much does it cost to live here?"

"Well, we don't get too much business since we're off the beaten path of the Communal. Since, you're new we can keep it one ruby a month for both of you. Just for the first few months though. Will the tenth floor do for you?"

"Yeah, we wanted to be up high."

"Great, now the way our rooms work is you each will get your own room, they'll be right next to each other, but we like to provide privacy to our guests. You will each be given your own room key, of course. Anything you need, let any of us know."

Two ladies take Ira from me and take her to her room. The manager sits me down with a cup of hot cocoa.

"So you two related?"

I shake my head, "I actually accidentally bumped into her. We sort of became friends then."

She confirms with a smile, "It's getting late you should probably go to bed. I don't want to keep you up. I own this place, you can also call me Mama."

I laugh, "Sure will."

"You may want to log off and get yourself some rest now. If you go lay down then log off, when you log back on you will be right where you left yourself."

"I don't really want to log off until she does.."

"She'll be okay, we'll take care of her. I promise."

"Thanks for what you're doing." I leave to my bedroom. Walking up ten flights of stairs. It's a real leg killer, but I guess I can use the workout. I reach my room which is at the end of the hall, room number 317. Right outside my door is a little mailbox, this is where any mail of mine should come in. I insert my key into the door knob. The room is gorgeous, very warm and welcoming. There's a pink bed spread with white cherry blossom pattern. The room is very oriental. A bathroom, bath and shower along with jets in the tub. Loads of fragrances and all the essentials in the cabinets. Just in front of my bed is a set of double doors covered by pink drapes. It leads to a balcony, I walk right onto it. With this view, I can see part of an alley way, mountains and forests in the distance. _I am going to really like it here._

I collapse on my bed and pull out my scroll. Hesitating, I finally hit the log out button. Everything goes black and I am able to take the headgear off.

"Eden!" my door rattling, she's banging on it. "Eden, what the hell is going on?!"

I look out the window and see that it's morning, _Oh goodness, someone help me. I need sleep.._

I grab the headgear and hide it in my closet. I hurry over to the door, trying to move the piece of furniture.

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" I yell. I struggle, but manage to push the dresser out of the way and just when I do, the door flies open and slams into my back. I plunge straight into the dresser, knocking the wind out of me.

"What is this shit you've been up to!" She screams. I gasp for air and she takes me by the arm, yanking me up to my feet.

"The entire night you've kept your door closed. Why are you hiding something?" She drags me towards to stairs and slams my head into the wall. I stumble and roll down a couple of steps. She come up from behind me and kicks me, I tumble the rest of the way. At the bottom of the stairs, my dad grasps my arms and pulls me up. He pulls my face close to his, shaking me.

"You're mother and I don't need your attitude. We do so much for you and you do so little, why!"

"She's a brat that's why.." my mother interrupts.

My head falls to my shoulder, " I just need some rest.."

"You look like you need some rest" as my dad's fist meets my face. He drops me and I fall to the floor.

"We're leaving for two weeks" my mother states "Keep this place clean or it'll get worse."

They walk out of the house, leaving the door wide open. I lay there just looking out the front door. I start to close my eyes hoping to stay awake. _I never know when it's the end for me.._

I wake up a few hours later. I touch my head and I can feel dry skin. I manage to get off the floor and shut and lock the front door. Walking to the stairs, I fall, I try to steady my feet but it's no use, not yet. I get on all-fours and grab the steps, pulling my legs behind me. I get to the last step and use the railing to ill me to my feet. I hug the wall on the way down through the hall just to get to my bathroom.

I examine myself in the mirror, I have been bleeding from my head, cuts all over. I take off my shirt and find a bruise the size of a fist on my back from the door. On my chest I have a cut down the center of my body. I grab for a dark-colored washcloth and rinse myself off where needed. With every drop of water that runs down my body represents a tear that I didn't shed this time. _I'm growing stronger.._

I decide that the best thing to do is get the chores around the house done. I wash the dishes in the kitchen, vacuum the living area, scrub down the bathrooms, tidy up the little things in my parents' room, and start a load of laundry.

I still really haven't had much sleep, so I make my way to my room and lay down in my bed. I stare up at the ceiling, not thinking about much just about the peace I will have for the next few weeks.

I turn over on my side and I see my closet. That game, _Iridessa.. _I have to get back on.

Rolling off my bed I scurry over to my closet and pull out the headgear along with the laptop. I push the dresser in front of my locked bedroom door- for precautions. I ready the game, equip the headgear, and lay down.

I enter the game, as I wake up Iridessa is waiting right in my face.

"Ahhh!" I fall off my bed "What are you doing?"

"Just waiting for you to wake up, silly" she laughs.

"Oh. Hehe that's Real funny..."

"Soo what are we going to do today?" she jumps on my bed.

"I was thinking we'd grab ourselves a quest from the Grand Hall, what do you say?"

"Sure why not."

We head out, then it comes to my mind _how did she get in my room this morning?_

"Umm.. random but how did you manage to get into my room this morning?"

She laughs "you left your balcony door unlocked so I flew to it and opened it. By the way, did you have a guest over last night?"

"No.. Why?

"Nothing, I'm just messing. Oh and when you log off wherever you log off is where you'll start back at."

"Well, thanks for that heads up" I smile.

As we walk, Iridessa decides to fly higher and ahead of me. We pass by a potion shop just for fairies and Iridessa flys in. A sign reads **Fairies Only, **so I keep walking I know _she'll catch up. _

I see the doors to the Grand Hall. Looking at the roof I see three Dragon Slayers take off, _I wish I could fly... No more walking._ What surprises me the most is that the Dragon Slayers were sticking together. They probably picked a very difficult quest.

I enter into the Grand Hall, still no sign of Ira. The Grand Hall has many different halls that go in all directions. Players hang out here and everything any player would need can be found here. Right in front of me is a billboard full of papers tacked into the wall. I watch other players to see how this is done. I see a group of Guardians grab a piece of paper from the board, examine it and take off. Then, someone walks out and replaces that piece of paper with another.

I approach the billboard, looking for something not too difficult, but maybe a little of a challenge. I scan the quests and find one that reads **Five Trolly Trolls. **I grab it and read the front. It's a beginner quest it says, reward is fifty rubies.. _that would be a total of 2500 in total. Of course I would have to split it with Ira, but that's still a lot._ I have to travel to Treeston Town, from there go to Oak Woods, and find the Trolls' Trolley Way. There's also a time limit, I have a complete five hours to finish this quest. I roll up the quest and put it in my scroll. I take off, jogging back to the Potion shop where I lost Iridessa. She is no where to be found. _I can't wait all day. __I just hope she can find me..._


	8. Chapter 7

***Just thought I would throw I'd an extra chapter in this week ^_^ Excited are we? Yeah, I know.* -Note to Readers: I will try to post a new chapter every Tuesday. If not Tuesday then Thursday at the latest. I will not forget to post, I promise! Reviews and comments are always read and greatly appreciated (can't emphasis this enough). If you haven't read the other chapters.. READ them! :) Get your friends to read! Happy Reading! Don't forget to subscribe- **

Hurrying through Treeston I get bunch of stares from some not so inviting people. The scenery is beautiful, but the people there are not the prettiest. I ignore the creepy people and keep to myself. _Eden, calm down._

There are so many trees and plant life everywhere, nothing like the crowded Communal. With a super sunny sky and not a cloud to be seen. They have vines growing up every other building some even blooming very pretty yellow wild flowers. Many boutiques, just plants Everywhere! I see many fairies and quite a few knights here and there walking, usually in big groups which is a little intimidating.

I come up to the Oak Woods and it becomes darker due to how many trees there are. They block the sun completely, not even a ray of sunlight peers through a branch. I get a little nervous due to the darkness. As I am walking, I hear someone's footsteps nearby. I stop and look around, Nothing. I continue forward, crossing a bridge arching over a stream of running water. Very shortly ahead I find a circular area with no plant life of a sort, _this must be Trolls' Trolley Way. _I take a step forward as someone jumps on top of me. I squirm and kick.

"Shhh!" she grabs my mouth, "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just going to help okay?" she lets go of my mouth and I get to my feet. She must be about a year older than I am. This girl is in all black head to toe, shirt, pants, cape, everything along with a skull necklace and ring.

"What are you doing?" I am stern.

"Look, I am a death wizard which means I'm definitely not the weakest even at the lowest level. I have tried this quest before and it's extremely difficult to do alone at your level. When I went back to the GrandHall to actually grab this quest, I saw _You_ take it. Just to confirm, I looked up who took the quest at the desk. I know you can use the help. "

"Well I was with my friend."

"Well... I didn't see her around. You want help from an expert or not?"

"Not much of an expert if you've failed before, huh?" I laugh. She looks upset and squints her eyes at me. _She's plotting to kill me?! _

"You can come, you can come! Just don't kill me." I beg.

"Haha, alrighty."

We step into the center of the circle and wait.

"Soo, Ivy... what do we do?"

"Shhh! By the way." she whispers "There are more than just five trolls..."

We wait a bit longer and a troll comes out from the trees on Ivy's side. He's dirty looking, brown and grey with elf ears. His nose is way too big for his face and equipped with quite a large tummy. Sharp claws, about my height. He's got just a sack thing to cover his junk. She takes two steps forward, raises her hands and sends out a plague towards the troll. I hear something and become more alert, _I'll learn more about Ivy when the time is right._

A troll comes out from my side, running towards me I ready my sword. Posing it in front of my chest, I wait for the troll to get to me before I swing at him. He is weaponless and I take a good slice through the neck.

"This is too easy.." I say

The next moment, a good one hundred trolls come out, with all sorts of weapons. We stand back to back, ready as we'll ever be.

"Stay alive", she yells "Otherwise we have to start the quest all over! Oh, and you can feel Pain in the Game."

She takes off and I take off in the other direction. A troll swings what looks like a steel sledge hammer right at my head. I duck, slamming my torso straight into the ground. I swing my leg around to hit his calf and he falls. I leap and pierce his chest with my sword. The others start coming up in big groups. I roll and dodge every single one of them. I hit each of them in different places trying to figure out what all I can do.

"Eden!" Ivy screams. A troll has tripped her, holding a dagger just inches near her neck.

I sprint, putting my sword in it's scabbard. _I__f one of us dies.. we have to start over. _I tackle the troll, causing us both to fly. I hit the ground pretty hard, not able to get up. Another one sits on my stomach lowering a sharp sword to my heart. I manage to get both my hands on my sword and push up on his, _Don't give up, Eden._

I turn my head and I see Ivy struggling again. My arms start to lower to my chest, _he's winning. _I close my eyes and the weight comes up off of me, _Am I Dead?_ I force myself to look and I see Iridessa standing over me with some sparkly looking shield. Along with her, she's brought a guardian who is assisting Ivy ,and Peter who is taking care of the last bit of trolls.

"Perfect timing?", she asks.

"Ira, thanks! I gotta help."

She moves and I jump up, joining Peter's side. He just smiles at me as he's freezing these things, like it's a piece of cake... With icing.

Ivy is still being treated, _I wonder what happened.._

We finish up the trolls. I notice Peter is a level 35.

"How are you level 35?" I ask.

"How are you not?"

I blush, "Well, because I am struggling."

"You need someone like me." He winks.

"Right" I roll my eyes.

"Hey, Eden wanna go out tonight?"

My eyes burst from my face "Y-Y-YES! I mean uh.. that would be nice."

"I'll see you later tonight."

He disappears into the woods. I run over to Ira, Ivy is gone.

"Where's Ivy?"

"She is alive don't worry, but she needs some more guardians assistance."

"Well what happened?"

"You know the guardian I met, his name is Derek- So cute! Anyway, he's like level 60" _How are they such high levels, play too much? _"He said that a troll actually would not take damage for some strange reason, then another troll actually should of been going against level 50s not level fives..."

"Is it a glitch?"

"I'm not sure Eden. He said this type of thing has happened for a little while now."

"So where was she taken to exactly?"

"She was taken to the Hopeful Hospital in a the Communal."

"Maybe we should visit her." I suggest.

"Let's go, but first let's turn in the quest."

We return to the Communal and enter the Grand Hall. There's a little machine that you insert the quest into. I take the quest out and insert it. It asks for who I was with. I type in the names of the four of us. The rubies split and go to everyone's account, xp is also given. I level up to a level 10, _that's pretty steep and doesn't seem right, but I won't complain._

We exit the Grand Hall and the skies goes dark and blood shot red. Everyone is in panic, embracing each other. I let Iridessa hug me and I stay as calm as I can.

A deep voice releases "Good evening young players! I'd love to introduce myself as the game maker, Bryant the Brawny. I hope you have enjoyed the game so far. There's been a little change to the game. We are making this _Your Life NOW... _There are no more levels, or xp given. Yes, you can use quests to gain your own personal experience and jewels, but it will not make you stronger until you learn how to gain strength. Any pain you may face, you will actually endure. If you get killed, it's over for you. You will actually be dead. This goes for quests, bosses, and even practice PVPs. There is no escaping the game under any circumstances. As for the real world, if you are disconnected from your headgear, you will also die. For those of you who do not have apartments, you may want to get some now, I wouldn't to face sleep deprive if I were you. Also, eating, and all those other essentials are necessary. Welcome to Your NEW World!"

His voice disappears and all the players disperse, trying to get apartments, food, and new weapons. I grab Ira's hand we we fight through the crowd to Hopeful Hospital. We go straight to the front desk.

"Hi, I'm Eden. I'd like to see a girl named Ivy, she's a death wizard." I tell the receptionist.

"She's on the 4th floor.."

"Thanks!" We take off just when she stops us.

"The room number is 506, please do not spend too much time, she really needs rest."

We get in the elevator and click the 4th button. We wait patiently watch the numbers increase slowly. The elevator comes to stop and the doors slowly open, _Could they open any slower?_

We dart out and down the hall to room 506. I quietly knock on the door and slowly open the door, sticking my head in. I see Ivy laying there, hooked up to some tubes sending some clear stuff to her bloodstream.

"Ivy?" I whisper.

She perks her head up and smiles, "I'm gonna go get her some flowers" Ira whispers.

I enter her room, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm doing alright" she says, "They really got me, huh?"

"You took a lot from them. You're going to be okay now."

"Great."

"I put the rubies you earned into our bank."

"Oh, thank you!"

"There's some not so good news though. We are stuck in this game, it's now our _Life_.." I explain to her the dilemma.

"That's awful. There's got to be some way we can get out of here." She looks desperate.

"You're right. I'm sure there's some way to get out of this." I reassure her.

"Soo" I say, Ira barges in.

"Hey! I brought you some sunflowers." She's thrilled.

"Thanks, Ira" she smiles.

"When can you leave the hospital?" Ira asks.

"Probably within a few days."

"Where's your apartment?"

"I haven't gotten one yet.."

"You can live with me!" Iridessa is excited.

"Ok, well we better get going. There's somewhere I have to be." I interrupt.

"You go on, I'll stay with Ivy." she jumps into bed and starts clicking buttons. "Woah, this moves the bed!" clicking another button "A massage!"

"If she gets on your nerves let me know"

"Hey!" she yells at me, I wink.

"I'll see you both later, tomorrow? Ok, be careful." I leave the room.

As I am leaving the Hopeful Hospital, a shop on the corner catches my eye, **Pagers' Emporium**. I take a look through the window and see a wide variety of pagers.

"You can buy a pager, it's almost like a cell phone, you can send messages, alerts, and signals to your friends."

I turn around and see Audrey, "Hey!"

"Haha, hey thought you'd need to know."

"Yeah, so how does it work?"

"You go in, buy a pager, and it'll be inserted into your 'bag'. Each of them have different fees depending on your friend list and how long of messages you want to send. They created this after we all got 'captured'. It's a good idea to get one."

"Yeah, I'll think about it." there's a moment of silence between us.

"So Eden.. You and Peter?"

"Well we're just going out tonight."

"Cute. Be careful.."

"Huh?"

"He's a tricky one."

"Oh uh ok, thanks..?"

_Audrey has been acting weird lately.. _Audrey walks away without another word and I enter the store. There are different types of pagers, one type for each class. I read the labels on the shelves and finally find one just for a knight. I look around the store and a guy is watching me very closely. I try to ignore him and pretend to check out the pager before I buy it. I watch him out of my peripheral vision. He equips the pager to his 'bag' without paying. I turn around and see some more players doing the same thing. I'm not sure if that's what we're suppose to do or not. I go ahead and equip it in my scroll, look around and head out the door.

I return back to my apartment and lay on my bed. I drift off into a nap to regain my energy. It's not long before I wake up and there's a knock at my door. I look at the time on the clock on my nightstand. It's 6pm and the sun is setting. I answer the door, it's Peter.

"You ready? I've been waiting out here for about an hour now." He isn't too happy.

"Sorry." I am embarrassed. He grabs my hand and we walk.

"So where are we going?" I ask.

"There's a little place I want to go to in Treeston." he insists.

_Treeston is definitely not the place I want to go to. _

"Oh" I hesitate "Isn't there a place nearby you'd rather go to."

He grips my hand tighter "I got you, don't worry" he laughs. I fake a smile.

We reach Treeston, there's still a little light in the sky. We walk through the town and turn down an alley way. I grip on Peter's arm, he smiles and kisses my forehead, I feel a little better. We take many turns and I forget how we even get here, but we reach a pub at a dead end. He nudges on me.

"Um.. Peter, this really isn't the place I want to be.."

"What are you talking about?" He's confused "We only live once."

"Yeah, well I'd rather not be here."

"Oh hey!" A girl's voice shouts from the door, it's Audrey, "Oh, Eden ready to have some fun? Haha"

I shake my head, "This really isn't the place I need to be." _He invited her too? Wow, ok..._

"Just come in for a minute" she pulls me through the doors. We take seats at the bar. I feel very uncomfortable. This guy who is serving drinks asks what we want. Audrey and Peter shout out some fancy names and he quickly pours the drinks.

Audrey give me her drink, "Take a sip girl.."

I take the cup and get a good drink, I gag. "What is this?"

"It's Sierra Tequila." she's proud, "Like it?"

"Uh no."

"You're no fun."

"That's fine, I can't take this stuff." I feel shameful, " I need to go for a walk.."

"Suit yourself", she says as Peter gorges down some drinks then, starts taking shots. I leave the pub, lonely and cold. It has gotten darker, the street lights turn on. I start to trail away from the pub, trying to find my way back to the Communal. I go down an alley way, it leads to a dead end, I turn around and go the other way, _I'm completely lost._ I go down a street and out of nowhere, the street lights go off. I tuck my arms close to me and continue to walk on.

I see groups and I hear people walking in the streets, _somewhere. _I feel that I need to be with someone. I pull out my pager, but there's no use. You have to have someone else's pager number in order to contact them. Sighing, I put it away. It's hard to see anything in front of me, I can only see silhouettes. I see two people ahead of me, I turn around and go the other way. Then, a group stands in front of me and they corral me into a circle. I'm guessing that there's five of them. My heart starts racing, no one says a word. Then, I feel someone's hand go down my back.

"Where are you going?" Someone asks.

I move forward and bump in to another player.

"Don't touch me." I scold at them, I grasp my sword. They move in closer, I rip my sword out and I hear a clang. _Someone has a sword as well, this won't be easy.._

I keep myself at ease, "Put that away or we'll kill you." he is stern. I don't listen and someone grips my hand so tightly, I let go. It starts burning my hand. It's painful.

"What do you want?" I need to know.

"Haha, Why are you by yourself? You shouldn't be out this late at night."

"Why does that matter?" I shove into a tall masculine guy.

One touches my butt while another grabs my waist. I kick up on the one in front of me and turn around and punch the guy directly on his nose. I knock him to the ground, they're angry with me now, _bad move, Eden_.

I gasp and try to get through the rest of them. "I need to be somewhere", I lie.

I jump over the one lying on the floor, he catches my leg and pulls me down. I smack my head straight into the stone path. He picks me up and throws me over his shoulders, "I'll take you somewhere."

"Put her down or I'll send you somewhere." A voice comes from ahead.

"Huh?" We're all confused. _Another guy? You have to be kidding me..._

"Well, I guess you'll be meeting the flames from Hell tonight.", he laughs.

I look up and flames splurge straight to the sky, he sets a building right next to us on fire. I guess he does that to produce some light._ This can't be real,_ I feel so much better even though I don't know what's going to happen at the end of all of this.

Only because it's_ Him..._


	9. Chapter 8

**- Note to Readers: I will try to post a new chapter every Tuesday. If not Tuesday then Thursday at the latest. I will not forget to post, I promise! Reviews and comments are always read and greatly appreciated (can't emphasis this enough). If you haven't read the other chapters.. READ them! :) Get your friends to read! Happy Reading! Don't forget to subscribe-**

"All of you are knights?" _he_ grins, "This won't be a challenge. "You have got to be some of the weakest things I have ever seen." _He _stands ready, eyes concentrating on all of them.

"He's just blabbing!" one of them shouts.

They draw their sword with the exception of the one who has me hostage. They don't hesitate, not for a second. Together, swinging at _him_, _he _catches a blade and burns it to a crisp. _He _grabs one of them by the neck and smashes his face straight into the ground. A river of blood flows out, making the rest of them stand still,_ such scaredy cats..._

"Don't just stand there, fight him!" my capturer shouts. His voice sounds very familiar, but I can't put a face to it.

They each go one by one. _He_ dodges the first one by jumping over him. _He_ turns, reaches for his wrist, grabbing it then, twisting it behind his back. It cracks and breaks. He screeches in agony, but _he _does not give any look of remorse. _He _then, puts one in a head lock, dropping him to the floor. The last, _he _hugs the head with his hands with until it disperses into many little pieces. Grabbing them one by one _he_ throws each into the burning building, they disintegrate into ashes. _He_ looks into my eyes and the man throws me on the ground. My shoulder feels numb now.

They stand face to face, _his _fist begin to burn into flames, _he _takes charge towards the man. The man moves quickly, spreading wings of icicles, _he's an ice dragon slayer..._ and leaping into the sky, _he _misses, but takes off after him. _He_ throws fire, at the iced man, he freezes every fireball thrown at him. This doesn't stop _him. _They chase each other. _He_ moves quicker and comes up under the man, punching upward one of the wings cracks, but somehow is restored. The iced man captures _him_ in a full body icicle, causing _him_ to fall back to the ground. The ice breaks and _he_ stumbles to _his _feet. _His _head steams, his full body turns red._ He_ throws off his jacket and lights, into a flame. _He_ flies up, high, faster than anything I have ever seen before. The iced man flies up higher, coming down transformed as a piece of hail. They collide, an explosion of smoke bursts. Both come crashing into the building on fire.

Rain drops fall from the sky right where they hit. The fire becomes very small, I jump to my feet and run toward the building. I come to a halt, the building sways and crumbles, nothing is left standing. Slowly, I move closer. A piece of debris flies up, crouching over, it's _him. I don't even know what to do right now._  
><em>He <em>gets up and strolls towards me. He puts his jacket on and picks up my sword that I lost earlier. _He_ hands it to me. I put it away and _he _grabs my hand, palm facing down. There's a red mark on the dorsal surface of my hand. It looks like a faded blue snowflake.

"He was trying to fully imprint on you." _he_ looks at me full of concern.

"Huh?"

"You know, make you one of his own..?"

Confuse as I am, "I still don't understand. So am I him now?"

"No. It's not deep in your skin enough. You're a knight I presume, because of your sword?"

"Correct."

"Knights are I guess you can say a neutral type. They are the closest things to you in the real world. They rely on weapons and physical strength. Unlike the rest of us. We have a specific class and we can't change, but you can. In order for that to happen, you have to get imprinted and it hurts. Or at least I am told."

"Why would they want to do that? Will it come off?"

"It might wear off eventually. Your mark is pretty weak, but still visible. I wouldn't worry about it right now. Anyway, he's a dragon slayer, we don't really have teams. He may have wanted you to team with him. Or kill you and leave a mark of the group he was in to show his strength. He may have wanted you to be a dragon with him. You do you can change classes if you wanted to. You know that, right?"

"If I wanted to be a dragon slayer I could have at the beginning."

"You had that option?"

I nod.

"You didn't pick it because?"

"I didn't want to."

"They wouldn't have let you anyway."

"Yeah they would have."

"No!" he interrupts. I lock eyes with him. "To be something like that you have to be imprinted. Someone has to call you one of their 'own'." He removes the sleeve on his right shoulder and reveals a flame symbol engrave into his skin, the color of lava.

"So how did you become a dragon slayer?" I test him.

"I came in the game as a knight. Then, met a dragon on a special quest I was given, I found it in my scroll. They wanted me to kill her. She really never did anything wrong they just wanted to see how strong I was. You know there are no dragons left because of those types of quests. The game designer realized the over power they had and did not respawn anymore. Anyway, the dragon I had met I took away into a cave I found in a village called Fire Valley, it's really 'out there'. Someone must have gotten the quest and found where she was hiding. They went in there and let's just say they had to have hacked somehow the way they killed her."

"How-"

"Please don't ask."

I feel rude for even interrupting. "Continue" I say.

"Thank you. I returned to the cave that night and found her 'light' going out. Now, I have read about dragon slayers prior to meeting her. Long story short, I let her bite and tear into my skin, burning through my shoulder right before she passed. She left this symbol and I immediately gotten to be a dragon slayer. Of course, I get to keep my sword but everything else changes. I had to learn how to control all the fire and stuff, because it's very hot stuff you know." he winks.

I roll my eyes.

"So, it was probably a glitch you saw."

"Probably."

The rain gets harder. "Why is it raining?" I ask.

"When you die, rain comes to kind of 'wash you away'"

"Ohhh."

"Let's get you back to your place." He pulls me closer. "Do you mind?" he looks at me strangely. Before I can even respond, he scoops me up and take off running until he starts flying. I look down and we are so high up, I bury my face into his chest, looking up I notice he's watching me, but focuses his eyes ahead immediately. He is so warm, I have never felt so secure in my life with such a stranger. He gets me to my apartment without me even telling him which one is mine. He flies up to my balcony and sets me down.

"You know there is a front door, right?" I joke.

"Yeah, but now I can see you safety get into your room. I don't like to be seen, ya know?"

I understand I open my door, "Wait."

He freezes.

"What's your name?" I ask.

"What's yours?" he shoots back.

_Oh, right because he runs around __saving girls. Then, sweeps them off their feet, and doesn't want anyone to know who he is. Real charming._

"That's fine, I'm Eden. Anyway." He looks shameful.

"It's really okay." I smile. We just stand there staring at each other.

"Blake." he smiles.

I blush, "Will I see you again?" I ask.

"Maybe. No promises." He goes completely still. Then, he takes off.

Without another word I go into my room, and sprawl out on my bed. _It's been a long day. _

I fall fast asleep. When I wake up the next morning I get ready to see Ivy and Ira. When I leave my room I check my mailbox, nothing. I grab a croissant and a water from the apartment's "complimentary breakfast" that won't be around much longer due to lack of funds. I gobble it down and head to the Hopeful Hospital in the Communal. Before I can even reach the doors, I see Ivy and Ira coming out.

"How are you feeling?" I wonder.

"I'm fine, thanks. Hey, Eden there's something Ira and I have to talk to you about. It's pretty important."

"Okay? Is this bad?"

"NO!" Ira blurts, "It's just secretive. It's about the ending of the game."

_There's a way to shut it down?_

I nod, "So when and where do we speak of this?"

"At the Grand Hall, late this afternoon. That way we are more guaranteed to a quiet place." Ivy says.

"Ok. By the way, you two need to go get pagers." I insist.

"Yeah, we just heard about them!" Ira is excited.

"Well while you two go do that, I'm going to go to Hunter's Ground."

"You be careful, Eden.", Ivy worries.

I smile "You two stick together." We part ways.

I am guessing that the two of them want to do some questing. It's a good idea for me to go and practice a little. I get to Hunter's Ground and there's been a bit of a change to the arena. Usually players go to a PVP arena to fight, but here I see players arguing which breaks out in a fight. Some fighting and killing monsters, _this could be a bit risky._ _Watch what you say Eden, stay out of their way..._

I enter the circle and move off to a vacant area. A beast appears, this time carrying a sword like me. Our swords clang together, dancing with one another. With a good hit, I smack his sword out of his hands and slice right through his chest. Blood drains, as he lays there. He's taken into tiny little pixels and they disperse into thin air.

A voice catches my attention "You know, there's not that many more knights standing and there's a reason for that. Tiny, weak, so predictable." his group laughs with him.

I turn and give him a dirty look. Before I can even close my mouth, words slip out "You think you're better than me?"

_Eden... they only want to start trouble._

He starts making his ways towards me, a lot taller than me and looks very intimidating. I keep my head held high to show my confidence, even though I'm not sure if I have any against this guy.

"'You think you're better than me? She says." ,he chokes on his laugh. "Jake is the name. Anemic, your name is?" He grabs my hand to shake it, but burns it instead. _Why does everyone want to burn me? _I snatch my hand back, embracing it with the other, the pain alleviates, how?He's showing off for his friends. I notice the wand in his other hand and the red spark that follows it, _he's a fire wizard_.

"Do you have to have a group with you to make sure you stay alive?" I blurt.

"Someone has a big mouth, huh?" he says. I look down at my feet and innocent. I walk back to wear I was to begin with me. I hear the sound of thunder and turn. He's running towards me, _run Eden._

I take off into a sprint, through the trees. This may just be it for me if he catches me. I hear the trees' leaves rustle. I trip over a tree root, but catch my balance. _I guess you can't run forever. _I quickly reverse my direction, draw my sword and ready myself. Seconds later, he appears in front of me and casts a wild fire enclosing me in the center of it. He jumps through the fire.

"This is where you get turned into ashes." He sends lava rocks for me. I block each one, reflecting them back to him. It hits him, a hole burns almost entirely through his chest, and just about reaches his heart. He's got mad eye now. I leap through the fire, bursting the bottom of my dress into flames. I drop my sword. _I can't stop now. _Ahead of me I see a river, _Hunter's Ground is a lot bigger than I thought._ I dive head first into the river, my feet just hit the water when I feel a tug at my leg. He pulls me out and rolls me onto my back, straddling me down.

"Yeah, I don't think so." he asserts me. "Good night." He points his wand at me ready to fire.

"No!" I scream, covering my face with my hands, "Stop!" A sharp and bitter razor shoots out of my right hand and straight into the hole that was produced by the lava rock. _What just happened? _He grasps his chest and falls forward on top of me. I kick him off, catching my breathe. Tears fall from the sky. I look at my hand,_ the baby-blue snowflake_. His jewels that he's earned scatter all around him. I guess this is loot I can take if I want it. There's no point or gain from it. I leave the scene, grabbing my sword on the way back. I emerge from the trees and see his group of friends. I make eye contract with each of them. One girl hugs her mouth in hand. I just acknowledge them and walk away. I really need to clean up, it's back to the apartment.

My mind ponders with every step I take. _I just eliminated a player. Am I a Murder? If I hadn't said anything we wouldn't have had to fought or would we have anyway?_ I'm not sure if I should tell this to Iridessa or Ivy. Either way they may ask about the snowflake and it'll eventually lead to the killing today. _I killed a fire wizard. I am definitely not weak._ I actually feel pride in myself and don't regret killing him. The whole snowflake thing is still not making any sense to me. I need to catch up with Blake and see if he can tell me more about the imprint or at least help me figure it out.

I get back to the apartment and Mama comes up to great me.

She worries, "Oh deary, your dress.. it's-"

"I had gotten too close to a uh.. fire pit. One of my friends was practicing, no harm done."

"You sure you're alright, hone?"

"Yep." I smile. I can tell by the look in her eyes she knows I am lying. "If something ever happened that is unbearable, I'd tell you." I hug her.

"Well, go wash up."

I take my first step on the first stair when Mama grabs my hand. "Eden.. if you give me your dress I can mend it."

_Is she crazy?!_

"Right now?" I ask.

She nods her head.

"Like right this second?"

"Mhm."

"Do I-"

"Eden, give me the dang dress, there's no one here. If you don't give it to me..."

"Ok ok." I surrender to her, throwing my hands up. I strip down from my dress, left with nothing except my falu red color bra and matching lace undies. I take off, running up the flights of stairs. _Mama was right, no one is here, I could go skipping nude and no one would see me. That could be a lot of fun._ I reach my room, check my mailbox, nothing. I unlock the door, take a step in and shut it behind me, setting my sword up against the wall. Before I can even take another step I notice someone is in my room.

I drop straight to the floor, screaming, "Blake! Get out!"

He slaps his hands to his eyes "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I didn't think you'd be just abut naked." he goes to walk back onto the porch.

"Blake, Wait!"

He walks straight into the wall, and falls onto the floor. I jump over my bed and charge into the bathroom. There's a pink robe on the back of the door, I put it on and check on Blake.

I lean over him "Are you okay?"

"You didn't see anything." ,he insists.

"NO! You Didn't see anything."

We laugh.

"Can I look now?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

He opens his eyes and I notice they're actually a dark brown.

In a daze, "I thought you had red eyes." He doesn't answer just looks at me. "Uh hello..?"

"Oh yeah, sorry. They get somewhat of a red when I'm fighting or working with fire. Whenever I want them to be. Told you I started as a knight so you still have some of your original physical appearance."

"Understandable." I move out of the way so he can sit up, "Why are you here? I mean I don't have a problem. I'm just curious."

He hands me a piece of paper, "So you can contact me. Plus we need to be friends. It's my pager number."

"I didn't know you had one."

"Hmm?"

"Well since you like solitude."

"Well yeah, but when I met you I thought it'd be a good idea to get one as well."

"Well thanks." my face glows, "I have to meet up with two of my friends real soon."

"Oh, that's fine I knew I couldn't stay too long. Especially without being invited."

"No, really it's okay. I know you'll probably say no, but did you want to come? They have to tell me something about ending the game."

"An end?", he grabs my shoulders and pulls me close. I can feel his breathe, _oh his grip..._

"Yeah, supposedly."

"Can we meet up tonight?" he urges.

"Sure, where?"

"I can just come here."

"That's fine."

He smiles and leaves, closing the balcony doors behind him. I follow him to the door.

He turns back to me, "Don't ever lock your doors."

"You perv!" I joke.

He smirks and takes off. I close the doors behind him and get into the shower. As I am washing myself, I realize I forgot to ask him about the snowflake. I can't forget tonight. I finish my shower, there's a knocking at my door. I answer it and my dress is on the floor in a fold. I put it on, it's time to see Ivy and Ira. I grab my sword and head out the apartment.

First, Ira and Ivy get to tell me how we get out of this game. Then I get to see Blake.

_He's coming to see me tonight, ME..._ I take a deep breathe, I barely even know the guy. Why am I even inviting him to come over? Eden,_ calm yourself. _I know I'm blushing because Mama looks at me with broaden eyes.

"Thanks for the dress. I appreciate it."

"Mhm, sureee, Eden."

I skip out the door, the sky has gotten darker. I think it may rain. _This is going to be a good night, I can already tell..._


	10. Chapter 9

**Decided to post this chapter a little early. Hope everyone enjoys the story so far! Share with your friends. Due to the cost of writing this story which adds up to be absolutely nothing, but my time.. Donations are accepted.. Just kidding! :) Please Subscribe and Comment, I read everything with great gratitude. **

The sun starts to set on my walk to the Grand Hall. Not many players out tonight, _where have they all gone?_ My pager alerts me, I check it. It's Iridessa.

_"We're at the back table in the right corner. Ivy told me to tell you to grab a quest when you walk in. This way everything looks normal."_

_"Will do. How do you have my pager number?"_

_"When you're friends, you don't need numbers."_

_Dang it! I need to add Blake's number as soon as I get home._

I enter the Grand Hall, and approach the Quest board. I take an easy quest that has a time limit of three hours. It'll expire soon and I won't have to worry about it. Seeing Ira and Ivy I take a seat with them in the back corner.

Delightfully I great them, "Hey guys!"

Ivy looks up at me, focused on my face, "Hey, nice to see you here, please sit."

I sit down with them, Ira stays quiet, but smiley as if she were told to.

A few more groups of players walk in to the Grand Hall.

"Hey." Ira whispers.

"We can't be too loud." Ivy interrupts, "Just normal, but low."

"Is this that really big of a deal?" I question.

"Eden, there's a way to get out of the game. We don't need everyone knowing that."

"Wouldn't we want to spread the word? We'd work stronger as a team."

"Do you really think that?"

I ignore her.

"Let me just tell you what's going on and you don't have to ask the questions until the end. Alright?" Ivy is sincere, "There's a way to get out of the game, like I had said earlier. We went to Hunter's Ground looking for you. We've noticed it's changed a lot. Anyway, we saw a woman just laying there brutally slaughtered. She may have been in her late 30's. She had to have been attacked by some sort of gang or team. Because of the marking we found on her neck. It was practically chiseled into her. There was a big letter 'G' with an 'O' on top of that and an 'x' in the bottom right corner of the two letters. She was still conscious. We didn't get her name. We just tried to help her, but she didn't want it. All she said was 'Please end it before they end you.' We were a bit confused. We knew she wasn't talking about her pain, she was talking about the game."

"Well what info did you get out before she.. passed?" I ask.

"We didn't get another word from her mouth. She handed me a slip of paper then, went unconscious. We immediately got out of their and hurried over here to read it. There was a note in her pocket. I opened it.. Actually, here Eden. You can read it."

Ivy pulls it out of her pocket and slides it across the table, to me.

_Dear Sarah,_

_I did exactly as you have asked and researched some thing that might be of interest to you. The results upon your _

_request came back as positive. There is a way to defeat the game. There's a way for you and I to finally escape. There's some basic things _

_you __need to know Right Now. Number one: Do not trust anyone. I don't know if you've made friends, but if you have we need to cut them off._

_ Number two: Bryant has a group out there __working for him. I need you to be extremely careful. Number three: If they find you before you find them,_

_They Will KILL You._

_Come see me in two weeks, it's been a long time now. I miss you a great deal. I'm sure you're tired and it'll be better to discuss this in person._

_Yours Always,_

_Mama._

"Mama?!" I bawl. "She has something to do with this? This is just great!"

"You know her?" asks Ivy.

Ira cuts off, "She's the lady who runs the apartment we stay at now."

"Is there more to this note?" I demand.

Ivy states the obvious, "Does it look like it? No. We need to talk to this 'Mama'."

"Maybe we should go do that now." I suggest, "By the way, Ivy. we need to become 'friends'"

She chuckles, "I'll send you a request tonight."

Ivy reaches for the note, "Wait!" I slam my hand on it, "Can I keep it?"

"Fine." She shrugs, "I don't see the difference in who keeps it. I guess we can't make any new friends."

"Sure we can, we just have to be careful." Ira smiles.

Ivy's eyes broaden, "What is that on your hand?"

"When I was out by myself the other night, I almost.. I don't know what would have happened. This dragon slayer helped me out. Anyway, this one guy grabbed me and he started to imprint on me." I explain to them what imprinting is and how only Knights can obtain imprints. "It turns out that guy was an ice dragon slayer. So the two dragons fought it out."

"Sooo uh now are you an ice dragon?" Ira's jaw drops.

"No. It didn't go all the way through or at leaf Blake and I thought."

"The dragon slayer?" Ira winks. I roll my eyes to Ivy.

"There's more to the story. Earlier today when I went to Hunter's Ground... I said something I shouldn't have said to someone and what started was a brawl. I ran from him, he got cut in the chest, almost killed me. Then, he pinned me and an ice razor thing shot out of my hand and went straight into his heart. He died. I'm not supposed to have powers, so this is something I have to talk to Blake tonight."

"This is crazy." Ivy stutters.

"Cool!" Ira blurts, "Do we get to meet Blake?".

"I hope so, more than likely. Oh, and let's keep this thing to ourselves. Now that that's said.. Let's go talk to Mama."

We exit the Grand Hall, it's dark outside. Which means we really need to be on our lookout. I can tell by the look on Iridessa's face, she's a bit nervous. I pick her up and hold her just like a baby.

"You're gonna be just fine wittle baby." I tease her. Her nose cringes, then she bursts into laughter. She yawns and falls asleep once again in my arms.

"I'm really hungry." Ivy whispers, "And I am sure she will be when she wakes up."

I nod. We fine a sandwich shop and Ivy goes in. I wait outside, sitting on a bench with Ira. Across the street I get a sense of someone watching me. Then I see, a pair of eyes peering through the shadows. I hold Ira closer to me and pretend not to notice the figure. The silhouette darts to slowly walk towards us. Just then, Ivy comes out.

"Hope you like ham. That's all they had in there."

"That's fine. Look over there." I nudge her.

There's nothing. "Eden, what are you talking about?"

"There- I- something- Nevermind."

We finally reach the apartments. When we go in I hand Ira to Ivy and they take a seat in the lounge. I walk over to the counter.

"Is Mama around?"

"Just a moment." The little lady walks to the back of the room into an office. She comes back out all by herself, "Mama is a little busy right now. You'll have to give her a few hours. Maybe 3 hours? I can call you when she is available."

"Ok, thanks I smile." I make my way back to Ivy, "She's busy right now so I think what we should do is this... You take Ira upstairs to the room you'll both be staying in. Wait for her to wake up and give her dinner. By that time, Hopefully Mama will be done. I'll come get you two when Mama is ready."

"That's just splendid." Ivy agrees.

I go to my room and check my mailbox. There's two friend invites. One from Ivy,_ "Heyyy, we're friends now. Just like you asked."_

The next invite is from Blake, _"Thought I'd send you one of these. Stop blushing because I know you are ;) I know you'll accept, why wouldn't you?."_

_Why does he do this to me? I ought to decline his just because he said that. Nah, he's special._

I accept both and enter my room and set my sword aside. I grab my pager and the number Blake gave me earlier. I put his number in my contacts under his name and text him.

_"Can you come over now? Lots I have to discuss with you..."_

_"Sure give me just ten minutes."_

_"Thanks."_

_I lay flat on my back on my bed, I am so tired. It's been another long day. It's a scary world here, but is it as scary as where I came from. I mean back at home home? More like House of Hell, I never knew what day I would die. It's the same here as well, I guess there's nothing to be afraid of._

I decide to text Audrey since we haven't been talking.

_"Hey Audrey! How have you been?"_

_"Hi. I've been fine. This game is the best thing that has ever happened to me."_

_"You do know we're stuck right?"_

_"Yeah, I'm glad we are. Can you just be thankful for once?"_

_"Are you alright?"_

_"Never better. Enjoy the game, Peter and I are going to start questing tomorrow so we'll see you around hopefully :)"_

_"Have a good night."_

Things just haven't been the same since the start of this game. I lay on my bed for a few more moments until I hear a knock at the balcony doors.

"Can I come in?", It's Blake.

"The doors are always open." I prop myself up.

He comes in instantly and closes the door, then runs and jumps on my bed like a little kid. "Sooo what did you have to tell me?" He face is to my face.

"This.." I show him the snowflake.

"I've already seen that." His face displays disappointment and backs away a little.

"No. Today I was out in Hunter's Ground and let's just say I got into a fight and was almost killed by a fire wizard. I really couldn't move then out of no where this sharp icicle thing broke through my hand and hit his heart directly."

"Well one, that's how you kill anything fire, ice to the heart. Only if it's strong enough though. Don't aim that towards me!" He's so dramatic.

I roll my eyes, "Do you know anything about this?"

He studies my hand closely, "Maybe he did get enough in you to where you have powers. Not much power, but it may come in handy."

"I still don't know why he imprinted me."

"He needed a group, his just wasn't strong enough."

"Why not just imprint on someone in his group?"

"Why waste an imprint on people you know aren't brave? You saw them cower when I showed up."

"Psh, yeah I don't know why they were so scared."

"I'm scarier then you think.", He taps me on the nose.

"Oh yeah!" I exclaim, "There's a way out of the game." I show him the note Ivy gave me and explain what happened at Hunter's Ground and the engraved symbol.

"We need to-" he starts to say, there's a knock at the door.

"Sorry.", I answer it.. It's Peter.

"Can I help you?", I ask stubbornly.

"Hey there, cutie. Yeah, Audrey and I are going questing tomorrow and wanted to know if you wanted to come. Also I was wondering if you wanted to try to go out again sometime. I apologize about last time. I shouldn't have been so selfish.", he smiles.

"Oh.." I fake the setback, "I can't I'm busy.."

"With new friends? Way to ditch us."

"I've just made some new friends..."

"You're-" he starts off, but I feel Blake's breathe hit the back of my neck and he's looking over me at Peter.

"I guess I better be going... Bye, Eden." Peter winks at me and smirks at Blake then, he leaves.

I close the door, Blake plops back on to my bed. I sit next to him, watching him closely, I think I'm staring.

"Why'd you do that?" I break the silence.

"Do what?" He plays the innocent part.

"Scare him off?"

"I don't like him, Eden. Not one bit."

"You don't even know him."

"I know he's the one you went out with. I know he's the one who wasn't there for you when you needed him."

I sit there quietly, not knowing exactly what to say.

He finally looks at me, "You don't like him do You...?"

"I'm not sure anymore." I look away, "I've had a crush on him for a long time. Finally, this year he starts talking to me. I guess I was caught up with him just talking to me that I never really asked myself why I liked him."

"Makes sense." He really looks like he doesn't know what to say, but at least he's trying. This makes me smile.

"Okay, enough about my love life. Tell me about yours."

"Haven't had one."

"Seriously?"

"I mean a real one."

"Ok, I won't push you any further with questions."

"It's fine. I don't care." He falls flat on his back.

"Back to the note?" I ask.

He closes his eyes and nods, "We need to talk to Mama. Figure out who this Sarah was."

"I agree, luckily Mama is the one that owns this apartment."

"Sooo when can we see her?"

"In a little bit when she's not busy, the lady said she'd call me when Mama was free."

"So can we nap until then?"

"Yes, we can." I move to the floor and lay down, not knowing if it was even appropriate to share the same bed. I definitely wasn't going to ask him to move. I try to keep my head propped up with my arms. I'm really not physically all that comfortable right now. He follows me onto the floor, laying down right next to me. I look over towards him, he looks back at me. I close my eyes. He moves in closer to me, I only know this because I can feel his heat radiate off, hitting my body.

"Are you alright?", he asks.

"I'm just fine, you?"

He doesn't answer, instead he pulls my hands from under my head and moves in closer. He adjusts himself so I lay on the upper upper part of his arm, right below his shoulder. _Now, I feel very comfortable._ _We're just friends... _I fall asleep. I have a dream about becoming something more powerful, but everything is blurry. All I feel is heat, burning into my skin, and deep deep darkness. I imagine myself flying, lighting up the sky...

After what feels like I good while, I wake up in my bed. I see Blake is sitting on the railing on the balcony.

"Man, you sleep forever.", He grins.

"I was tired cut me some slack. Geez." I laugh.

"Mama is ready whenever you are. While you were asleep I got to meet Ira and Ivy, we learned a little about each other."

"That's good.", I rub my eyes, "Let's go see Mama."

We head downstairs and meet up with Ivy and Ira on the couch. Mama is sitting in a rocking chair nearby. I sit in between Blake and Ira, Ivy sits on the end.

"Good morning, Eden.", she chuckles.

"Real funny." I look down.

"You all needed something?" she asks.

I hand her the note. "Ivy and Ira were given this today by a woman."

The smile from Mama's face fades into a frown soon as she reads it. "Where's Sarah?!" She yelps.

Ivy intrudes, "I'm sorry to say, but she's dead. Ira and I tried to help her. There was something engraved into her as well." Ivy explains the symbol in such detail.

"I sent her this note years ago. Why didn't she come to me?! She's dead!", Mama starts to cry.

We all give her a moment before putting her through all the questions we have. She starts to talk.

"This isn't a new game like some of you players think. Every so many years this game is rereleased. We were beta testers years and years ago. Both of us were knights. We soon found out we were trapped in this game. Bryant's plan was to kill us all, then invite more players into the game. Sarah and I had caught on soon enough as we made friends and watched them die. We really wanted to kill Bryant, but thought it was impossible. I started looking into things and I found out some important information. Bryant is among us players, he also has people working for him. He will eventually find you and kill you. You would think you could find where the codes to this game are and shut it all down. It's more difficult than that. His hideout is practically invisible."

"How do we find him?" Blake jumps in.

"From bosses. Each boss in each region and world may or may not give you a clue. There are tons of bosses, you may even need to defeat them all just to get an idea of where to go to next. Yes, there are other Worlds out there which make it more difficult. You have to beat certain bosses to get to those worlds though."

"Such a hassle." Ivy grunts.

"I don't know too much, I just know that. You see, it's been a while so my mind is very weak. I just know he's out there along with many others to destroy all of us one day.", she starts to sob again.

"We're going to find him." I stand up.

"No Eden! Stay hidden."

Ira, joins me and holds my hand, "Sarah told us to find Them before they find Us."

"Where do we start?", Ivy is excited.

"Defeating everyone in this world. Stick together. Here is my map. It has almost all the regions in this world unlocked. This way you can decide where you want to start. I don't have any other worlds open though."

I take her map and thank her with a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"If you need anything.", she adds, "I'm right here. For right now, you'll have to excuse me." Mama leaves, crying about Sarah.

Ivy picks Ira up, "It's time for bed, kiddo. We have a long day tomorrow."

We all part ways, Blake follows me back to my room.

"I was a beta tester." he says quietly as we enter the room.

I stay quiet, he continues, "It's been about 5 years I think. I don't really know though, since the real world and game time are different."

"I'm sorry to hear."

"That's why I kind of want to end this. While we were trapped if we didn't get killed, we weren't allowed to say a word to the new comers."

"It'll be over one day, we all just need to work together."

"That was corny." he laughs so hard.

I glare and slightly push on him. He looks at me too seriously.

"I guess I better get going." he gestures himself to the door.

"Do you want to stay the night? I mean just as friends, this way you won't have to get up this early and travel. You can sleep in a little longer."

"Like I'm going to sleep if I stay here..."

I frown, "That's okay."

He over exaggerates "Fine I'll stay just because uh... someone might come in through the balcony."

"Right..."

I grab a pillow so I can sleep on the floor.

"What are you doing?", He asks.

"You can sleep in my bed.", I smile.

"We need to make this fair."

"It is fair." I hesitate.

"Eden, get in your bed."

I get into bed and he takes the floor.

"You're making me feel very guilty." I confess.

He doesn't respond, so I fall asleep. I wake up in the middle of the night, my balcony doors are open and it's freezing. I go to close the doors and when I turn around I see Blake jump into bed, snuggling with the blankets. I get in beside him, laying on my tummy.

"Can I have some blankets?" I plead.

"Noooo!"

"You're a fire dragon, heat yourself up."

"Then come over here and get some."

"NO!" I yell, "You give them to me or else."

"Or else?" He looks at me for a moment, "Just because you're freezing..."

Without another word, he throws the covers on top of me. _He then, goes and sleeps on the floor..._


	11. Chapter 10

**New Chapter! Who's excited?! I am.. Hope you enjoy this Chapter! Keep Reading, Get all your friends to read as well! Let's experience this story together.. Remember YOU are Eden in your own way. Happy Reading! Love All My FOLLOWERS. If you're not a follower, become one and I'll love you too! Ok, SHHHH! The story continues...**

Blake starts shaking me and I wake up with him in my face, "Morning, sleepy. Dang, you sleep forever."

"And you never sleep." I push him and pull the covers over my head, "Just five minutes, ok?"

"You said that an hour ago and I was generous enough to give it to you. We've got places to be, did you forget?", he pulls on my covers, "We've got to start on our journey to beating this game."

"Ahh!" I throw myself up, causing Blake to fall on to the floor, "We gotta eat and get ready and hurry!"

"Don't freak out. We've already eaten, even brought you a little something."

"Thanks, uh when do we leave?"

"Whenever You're ready.", he's a little annoyed.

"Ok then, get out!"

"Geez, whatever you say princess."

"Sarcasm isn't really necessary." I glare, he smiles then leaves.

I go to the bathroom and fix myself up a little, then eat the danish on the tray he brought me. I take a sip of water from the glass cup. Then, slide on my combat boots and head out. When I get downstairs, I see Mama handing out things to everyone. When I get over there I see she has equipped everyone with a certain item that suits them.

"Good morning Eden." she greets me, "I was just passing out things that I have collected. These are from former friends over some pass time that might be of little help. I gave Ivy a black bracelet that will sparkle, when an attack is being used. She can also cast a few of her minor spells without her wand now. I'm not sure which of those spells are though, you'll have to ask Ivy. And it will also illuminate dark places. Ironic for death, huh? Ira has been given a headband as you can see, with three flowers. Pink, blue, and indigo. Each flower comes with a healing power of some sort. If she uses it too much at a time and does not replenish these special flowers after a while, it can cause her life. To replenish the flowers, she has to gain healing from someone who is dying before they disappear. In order to get the healing into the flowers, she must prick the heart of the player and feed the flower with blood, rather than water. Finally, Blake has been issued, well... Not much but a compass, so I thought maybe you should give him the map."

"Ugh, fine." I hand the map over to Blake. A flame of fire bursts into his hand, melting the map into his 'pocket'.

"Thanks Mama." We all thank her, give her hugs and kisses and head out.

"Wait, Eden." Mama stops me, "Come here, please."

I walk over to her and she holds out her hand with something in it.

"Take this and put it around your neck." She focuses on my eyes until I reach for it.

I take what she has from her hand, "What is this?"

"It's a key. Keep it with you. You may need it."

"Where did you-"

"Enough questions." she interrupts, "Just keep it with you at all times."

I hug her tightly and give her a wave goodbye. We step just right outside of the Mama's Sweet Home.

Blake pulls out the map, "Where to first?"

"Well since you're a beta tester, shouldn't you know?" I question.

He studies the map a little longer. "Yeah, but not all of the names of these places are the same as they were. The names change each generation of this game. Another reason why it's hard for players trapped here to beat the game, you have to start over each time. Mama's map is updated , say she wanted to continue though, she'd have to start all over no matter how many regions she has opened in this world. With that said.. let's complete the boss in Treeston, should be easy enough."

Blake leads the way, Ira's feet get tired and she starts flying.

"So when we get there we find the quest and beat the bad guys.. that's it?" Ivy challenges.

"Not exactly." Blake get serious, "There are four types of quests, each type of quest is found next to the title of the quest you choose to do. The easiest, being a 'Side Quest'. This is a single quest that leads you to one boss or one dungeon or anything singular. There's no groups attached. This is a modified version of any other quest. Usually weaker or new players do this so they can get a feel of what they're going up against. The loot isn't as much nor is the xp. We don't have to worry about xp anymore, because now it's all physical gain we have to obtain ourselves. The next category quest is a 'Side Story Quest'. This quest is basically three or four side quests put together. It's just a little more challenging than the side quest. The only problem with these two categories is that you will never reach a big boss, just minor ones. In other words, you will not actually defeat the region or world boss."

"What's the difference between the bosses?" I ask.

"The region bosses are the smaller ones you may run into during the end of each region. For example, once we beat the boss in Treeston, we won't progress to another "World" but perhaps the next place in this World. The World Boss is the final boss in each World. Another example, once we beat the Final boss in all of The Principium Path, which is the world we are in incase you did not know that.. we will be opened to a new world."

I nod.

"Ok, ok the next quest is a 'Main Quest'. It's a quest with a story line. You go through groups of quests to get to the boss. There are more than just one 'Main quest' in each region. It does not matter which one you pick, you will get something new each time other than the region boss. We don't want a main quest though. The final quest, not very many people know about is called an 'Ending'. Technically no matter what you do in life, there is always an ending. Bryant can't keep the game from having an ending, but he can keep players from doing it. That's why he may have his team go out and take the quests just to make them disappear for a while, but they will reappear. That's why it's so hard to find them. The ending quests are the only quests that may give an extra boss at the end of each region. The bosses are bound to drop a hint on the hideout or something, not too sure though until we do it. Also if another player or players are with us, they may understand that there is an ending to the game. That's only if they happen to be at the final boss with us at the exact same time. If not, it'll just be us vs the boss."

Ivy sneers, "How do you know so much?"

"I was a beta tester, I knew people.."

"Alright." she shrugs.

"I'm excited!" Ira screams, "We're going to beat all the bad guys and win!"

"That's right!" I laugh.

"When we reach Treeston and we look for the quest.. we should split up." I start.

Everyone nods and the rest of the walk is silent. We get to Treeston and close to the main entrance, Blake leads us to a little wooden house by a river.

"Welcome to The Chosen Cabin. This is like the Grand Hall, just in Treeston." Blake sounds excited.

We go in, the inside of the house looks bigger than what we saw on the outside. There's a huge wooden pillar in the enter of the floor where players are gathered around. We approach it and there are thousands of quests hanging. We each take a face of the pillar and search for a quest that reads 'Ending' right next to the quest title. I carefully read each quest, picking each one up, but still nothing. Before I can pick up another I see a player about my height, with a black cape, covering so you cannot see the face or the rest of the body. The player picks up a quest and calls what looks like her partner over.

"This is it. Nice job, Tarah." what sounds like a guy in her pats her on the back. I can't get faces of these people.

"Final boss here we come." she smiles and they both leave.

I run to Ivy, where she gathers Blake and Ira.

"I found the quest." I announce.

"Oh great job!" Ivy says, "Where is it?" she looks concerned.

"Uh.. You see." I scratch my head, "Another group has it."

"What?!" Blake screams, "We have to get it from them, they may know that there's an ending to the game."

"We need to all work together." I stomp my foot.

Ivy jumps in, "No. This is just our thing, other people don't need to know. I told you that once, we're going to keep it like that."

I get shy and shut my mouth. Blake comforts me, "It would be great to team with other players, but we have to make sure we can trust them, otherwise it may be part of Bryant's team. In that case they may help us reach Bryant, but may kill us on our way there."

I shut my mouth and take off running out of the cabin looking all ways, trying to find that team. I see a group trotting on the dirt path and going into the escaping into the trees, not knowing where I am going, I step on it. I have no idea what I'll do when I reach them, but I need that quest. I run faster and faster, I can hear the others following behind. They catch up to me and Ira heads off into the sky to get a better view of the pair.

"We have to take them out." Ivy tries to talk while we run. I send a smile towards her. Blake speeds up and passes us, setting flames into the roots of the trees he steps on. Ivy and I start jumping over the small flames, before we think they may burst into something bigger.

"Blake!" I yell, "You're going to set the forest on fire.."

Just for that, he extends his arms and starts setting fire to the trunks of the trees, luckily each flame dies quite quickly. _He knows better than to cause too much attention to himself. Setting the entire region on fire, would only get him in a heap of trouble._

"Catch up!" he hollers.

He passes the pair and stops himself in front of them along with Iridessa, blocking any further movement. The pair comes to a holt. Ivy and I eventually reach them, trying to catch our breaths.

The young girl's voice has such a high pitch, now. This is not what she sounded like before.

"What do you want?" she asks.

Ira blurts, "We need that quest.."

The person next to her sounds like a robot, "This one? I'm afraid that just won't do.."

All gets quiet, no one moves. I feel as if the game is lagging. I suddenly look up into the trees, were are trapped. I see many more players in capes, at least a fifty. I start to open my mouth, but before I can say anything they start jumping down. The four of us get closer together, with our backs to each other. Ira grabs my hand, I can feel her shake, she's scared. I can't help comfort her right now. Ivy slowly reaches down into her boot to pull out her wand. One of capes mumbles. It's hard to tell who is talking because the faces stay hidden. With a quick move, the player zaps Ivy with their wand, she falls down. Before any of us can move, we are all zapped by lighting shooting from hands in all directions rather than wands.

I'm paralyzed and I can't move any part of my body except for my head. I look over and I can see the players are scanning down each one of us. One of them come over and grabs Ivy. I open my mouth to scream, but I can't. I can hear Ira whimper and they take her next. _Oh, I wish I could feel some part of my bones right Now._

I turn my head over and look at Blake, all he does is close his eyes. There is no sight of Ivy or Ira, I start to worry. I close my eyes and hope they're okay.

Someone grabs me by my arms and pulls me to my feet, throwing me over their shoulder. He takes me into a tent, I get slammed onto a table. I can feel my arms and legs again. A bottle of this green liquid intrudes itself inside my mouth.

"Uck!" The words slip from my mouth, as I force the bottle out.

"What do you want?" He asks.

"It's not what I want, it's what I need."

"The quest? Hmm?"

"Yes!"

"You're not getting it." He grabs me and pulls me outside, "She's gotta go as well." I see Ivy and Ira together, but no sign of Blake. Ivy's foot is chained to Ira's left and Ira's right arm to Ivy's left arm. He starts leading me towards them. We hurry by many other players when all of a sudden, I am pointing in a different direction. He takes me into another tent where I see Blake, sitting on the ground.

"Sit there." the man points next to Blake, I sit. The man joins his other partner in the tent, they're looking at something. We look at each other with no exchange of words. I know Blake isn't scared because of the look in his eyes. They tie his hands together with some rope. Then, go back in the corner of the tent, talking some more.

"River." I hear one of them mumble, my eyes go abroad.

"We're out of cuffs.." one says.

"The tide will be strong enough." the other says.

"Scared of water?" Blake whispers.

I don't move.

"Why?" he insists.

"I never was taught how to swim. My parents use to dunk and drown me into the water when I was younger if I ever did something they didn't like. It was just one of the punishments.."

He looks worried and opens his mouth, but they grab each of us and take us back to Ivy and Ira. We're all quiet. They lead us down a path through a valley of trees. As we reach a river, _I am frightened, no wonder they didn't cuff me._

There is a player sitting upon an american paint horse.

"Whose first?" she laughs.

More cape players surround us, a pair of them push Ira and Ivy into the river and they go under for a second. _It's got to be deep..._

"Noo!" I screech, I soon see them come back up. Quickly, the water pulls them away.

"You want to swim?" the cape girl doesn't even look at me. Rather, she keeps her eyes on the direction the water is going._  
><em>

She signals some players to station Blake and I right on the edge, _one more step and I'll hit the water._

_"_One.. two.. isn't the hesitation killing you? Oh wait, that's the water's job." Someone behind me kicks me into the water.

I go under. The tide is too strong for me, even if there was not a tide, I probably still couldn't touch the water. I struggle, getting my face out of the water I grasp for air. My arms are trying to keep me up, _how does one swim? _My arms keep me up for a brief second, until I get knocked back under. I open my eyes, looking for something to grab, maybe a rock or some sort of plant life. Even if there was something, I am moving too fast to grab a hold. _  
><em>

"Eden!" I hear from behind me, it's Blake.._ of course._ I don't know how he does it, but he manages to catch up to me.

"Grab on." He takes my hands and adjusts me on his back. I lock my arms around his neck, "Make sure you don't choke me. I can't swallow too much water now, then we'd both go under."

As we are carried by the water, I see the horse and woman cantering along the river. Other players are following close behind her.

"Stop them!" she shrieks.

"Why do they want us?" I try to yell over the water. I can see the smile in Blake's eyes. He has the quest...

I look up, she is aiming something at us, I look back. Explosions go off behind us, nothing can really hit us except for more water, anything stormy... or I guess anything that can catch us, _Someone help us_. I notice a cloud of smoke in the water that appears out of no where behind us.. emerging from it are electric eels. Blake pulls me under water with him and swims with the current, we go faster and faster. He comes up for a second for me to breathe.

"We need to catch up to the other girls." he guarantees me. As of right now though, I can't think straight.

Players start jumping into the water trying to grab on to us. Blake goes under and we dart through the water, like an underwater missile. I turn my head back and open my eyes once again, they all start to get out of the water. I smile and turn back forward. Blake pulls us up and I worry, I am no longer smiling. A waterfall ahead awaits for us, _I also have a great fear of heights. I am sure we'll hit rocks when we fall. I'm really not ready for this._ He pulls me to his front side, my back to the waterfall.

"Just look at me. You'll be okay." He promises me and grabs me around my waist. I snuggle my face right into his shoulder and hold on...

_We are falling..._


	12. Chapter 11

**Thanks for keeping up with the chapters and I hope you've liked the story so far. There's more action to come, I promise! I'm not sorry about that little cliffhanger though. Thank you to all the followers and the friends of the followers for reading. It truly does mean a lot. Happy Reading! **

**~Everlasting Eden~**

We are falling. My stomach picks up a sinking feeling, like you feel when you take off in a plane. It's worse though because I am actually falling. All I can think about are the rocks waiting for us at the bottom. What's even scarier is the fact that I can't see anything. This may be the end of me. Even if I do survive, I'm not going to be able to swim. I hold onto Blake as tightly as I can. _I don't think I can breathe.. no, I know I can't breathe._ The water drives us straight to the bottom of the fall, it doesn't feel like a long time, but it's a rough ride. My back hits what feels like a boulder. I lose Blake's grip and we bounce off in different directions.

The water forces me under and into the plunge pool. I try to come back up, but it's impossible. I open my eyes under water, all I see are the bubbles coming from the cataract. I swallow water, then bubbles leak from my mouth. I'm going to pass out I just know it this time.._ Eden, stay calm. _Everything goes blurry, a figure swims towards me. I feel a shock, which I can't bare. Closing my eyes I drift off...

* * *

><p><em>I'm only three years old. My mother calls me into the bathroom and spanks my rump.<em>

_I can tell this won't be good. She's stern and every word that comes out of her mouth is like a dagger to my heart._

_"Did you think it's fine to just leave your dirty clothes here balled up after a bath? Then make ME have to pick up and put in the hamper?" _

_I shake my head._

_"What was that?"_

_"I said no ma'am." trying to save myself._

_"You think I have to do all the work around here? Why don't you clean your clothes for once. Go put these dirty things back on."_

_I know better than to say another word. I change right in front of her, putting the dirty clothes back on as she runs the bath water._

_"Kneel." She says and points right __next to the bathtub._

_"I'm scared mama.."_

_"Maybe next time you'll think twice before pulling a stunt like this again."_

_"I'm sorry, please it won't happen again.." _

_The palm of her hand pushes up against the back of my head. The brink of the tub stabs me into my stomach and I plunge into the water._

_I start to count in my head, 1..one thousand... 2 one thousand... 3 one thousand.. _

_I make it to 20 and I black out. I hear my mother screaming something at me. She's mad, thankfully her temper dies down just enough to gain control._

_I'm finally lifted from the water._

* * *

><p>I choke on water and gasp for air as I lay on my stomach. Blood drips from my skull to my cheek. Face buried in the ground, I soak up the dirt. I see Blake just a little ways from me, no sign of Ira of Ivy though. In push up position, I push all my weight to my hands and lift myself from the ground. I steady my feet and make my way to Blake who seems to have just woken up.<p>

"Where are they?" I worry.

Blake sits up and stares at the water. Ira's headband is floating and washes up shore. I run towards it and grab it. Holding it close to me, I take off back into the water. Blake grabs my arm and pulls me back to land. I cover my face and slump down to my knees. I hear people off in the distance, it _must be my imagination.._ Before I can even cry I see Ira and Ivy walking along the shore, they both look dirty and beaten up.

"Ivy, we have to find my headband."

"We don't have time."

They pull at each other and fall down. I smile and we make our way over to them.

"Looking for this?" I hand the headband to Ira.

"THANKS! Finally." Iridessa smiles, "How do we get unchained?"

"I'll take care of that." Blake asserts. He takes the chains in between his hands and melts it right off.

"Now tha that's been done.." I start.

"Now we have to go get the quest from those Capes." Ivy frowns.

"Nah, Blake got a hold of it.. didn't you?"

He nods and smiles. "How did you manage?" Ivy is curious.

"They tied me with rope. Obviously, they were dumb and didn't realize I was a dragon slayer, fire to be exact. Rope is too weak for any of us slayers. So, before they pushed me in, I melted the rope and stole the quest right out of the girl's hand. Diving into the water, I caught up with Eden, and now we're here."

Ira doesn't mean to be coarse, "So where are we going Now?"

"Before we go anywhere, we need to wash up." I sound so motherly. I don't even mean to.

"Maybe we should even set up camp nearby, that way Blake can figure how to get to where we need to go to start the quest." Ivy adds.

We all get into the water, knee deep, and scrub ourselves off as best as we can. Ira splashes me.

"Are you kidding me, Iridessa?!"

She just laughs. I cup water into my hands and when she's not looking I splash her in the face, "Was that funny?"

"Very funny." she giggles.

We all start a water war. Ivy runs up on shore.

"Fish out of water! Cheater!" Ira screams.

"Haha, cheater." I smirk.

Ira comes back up, with her jaw dropped, "me and Blake vs You and Ivy!"

Ivy loosens up and skips through the water, "Count me in!"

I grab Ira and throw her into the water. Ivy jumps on her, but let's Ira dunk herself under to make it fair. after all Ira _is _tiny. Blake comes up from behind me and picks me up. He plunges me into deeper water, cautiously and not letting go.

We come up for air, "Take me to the shore!" I laugh and shout. I splash him in the face until he does as I say.

He carries me back, "I have to teach you how to swim if you're going to be around me for a while. There's plenty of water in this game."

"Just not today." I mumble.

We all settle down and sit on the shore as Blake reads the map. It's getting late. As we wait for Blake, we each draw in the dirt with our fingers. Ira draws a bunny. It doesn't even look like one, but I tell her it looks great anyway. Ivy draws this detailed picture of a rose and Ira's face lights up.

"I've got it!" Blake exclaims, "The quest is called Wilted Willows. We have to go to a man named Jeston. He's a carpenter in Oak Woods."

"Well where are we now?" Ivy presses.

"We are in Little River.. Funny because we we're just in a riv.. no? Ok, then I'm just going to.." he shies at me and gains his composure, "Everyone ready?"

I'm still a little confused, "Where are we going now though?"

"We need to at least make it somewhere where players nor monsters can get us. I thought we could just make it there to meet Jeston. It's only a 30 minute walk."

I'm a little unsure about this, but I need to trust him, "Okay." I agree.

We begin our journey back to Oak Woods, Blake leading us.

"I'm starving!" Iridessa grips her tummy and opens her mouth wide.

"Can't you wait until we get there?" I ask.

She over exaggerates, "I'm gonna faint."

"You'll be fine." Ivy reminds her.

It gets darker and darker as we walk through the forests. The moon comes out, emerging from the tree branches.

"Maybe I should try this.." Ivy says, being a show off. She holds her right arm as high as she can. The bracelet sparkles into silhouettes of lifeless trees, _it's beautiful. _Light shines through, uses just like a lantern, but bright as a flashlight.

"Looks easy, huh? It takes power from me. If I get too tired, I'll have to stop it. Believe you me, I'm strong enough to keep this thing shining." she winks.

I smile at her. I know Ivy is one of the sweetest people in this game. She just tries to be cocky when she can.. she's not even very good at it. _If I could have a sister, she would definitely be one of my first picks.. oh, and Iridessa of course._

Ivy and Blake walk side by side. Ira takes hold of my hand and we trail behind the two. She tries to jump on each tree root, without 'falling' and touching the dirt.

"Why won't you touch the dirt?" I ask, not knowing what her imagination has in store.

"It's not dirt, it's lava. I'm a secret agent attempting to par core over this lava. I'm on a secret mission, a very important one.. Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, what is it?"

She gets serious, "How are you walking in the lava?"

"Uh.. I have some metal magic boots that keep my feet from burning." I make up.

"Oh cool, I'd like to borrow those since my feet are getting tired."

I know this means she's too tired to keep hopping around. I scoop her up in my arms, "I don't have an extra pair right now, but this will have to do."

"Thanks, I'm beat from being a secret agent." and with that, she closes her eyes and turns her face into my chest.

I take extend my walking stride and walk right next to Ivy, "How much longer until we're there?"

"Not much longer." she whispers, "How is she doing?"

"Tired as always." I laugh.

"Poor thing."

We reach Oak Woods, Blake pulls out his compass. We hear wolves off in the distance, but we push forward. We walk through a muddy trail, getting our feet glued to the ground every step we took. We reach a building that looks like its been build out of twigs with a door crookedly thrown on the front. There's a little workshop off to the side of the house.

"This should be it." Blake says satisfied. Before he can even knock on the door, an older man with a dark beard answers the door.

"Who are you?" he asks.

"Are you Jeston?"

"I'm sorry, I'm very busy." He goes to shut the door, but Blake stops him.

Blake gets frustrated, "Look, we have a quest that says we need to speak with you!"

"I'm not Jeston! I don't know who you are.. now Scram!"

I quickly, but gently hand Ira over to Ivy and extend my hand to him, "Hi, I'm Eden. This is Blake, Ivy, and the sleeping one is Ira. We have a quest with an 'Ending'. Maybe you could help us find this man...?"

I don't know why but he changes his mind, "Quickly, come in." He says worried.

We enter the home, everything is made out of wood except for the concrete fireplace. The fireplace is off to the side, not lit along with a little kitchen. There's also a table in the middle of the room with one candle shining alone. Blankets and pillows all spread out covering the wooden floor.

"Please, make yourself at home. May I please see the quest?" without hesitation, Blake hands him the quest.

"Wilted willows, ah yes. There's three willows in all of Treeston that have been blocked off from their water source. They're all sister willows, without them, we've started to lose all of our nature life. Everything is dying."

"Well where do we find them?" Ivy lays Ira down on a pillow, tucking her in.

"They're all over Treeston. Each is guarded by some sort of boss. There's a willow in Blossom Bountiful, River Rally, and Dirty Path."

I speak without thinking, "Such weird names."

"Ok so where in each of these regions can the willows be found?" Ivy jumps in.

"That I am not sure of. You see, I'm just the starter of your quest. Wouldn't be too much of a quest if I told you where the willows were, would it? I am not so sure where these trees are. I can give you an idea. May I suggest you start in River Rally."

"I don't see why not." I say, unsure if it were appropriate to speak.

"In River Rally." he continues, "You will need to find a young lady named Amelia. She can be found at the fishing market, she's a fisher girl."

I think we could have figured that one out." Ivy whispers to me.

"She will give you directions to what you need to do next. Fair warning, she's stubborn and needy."

"Well, thank you very much.." I start

"The name_ is_ Jeston."

I'm not shocked one bit, "Why didn't you tell us before?"

"Here's the thing. They're out to get me. I go by the name Wilson to strangers."

We all look at him confused.

"I have a feeling they want me. Why am I telling you this? Do you work for him?"

"Bryant? No." Blake steps in.

"I know he's after me, I just know it."

"Were you a beta tester?" I ask.

"What's that? How do you know about that? I mean.. I was." he rages, "I'd kill all the beta testers if I could find them! They killed my dear sister, Lucy..."

"Ok, ok well none of us are beta testers. It's okay. Take it easy." Ivy tries to sooth him.

"Bryant gave all the beta testers left a deal after about fifteen years in the game. Whoever could make it out alive of course would be the one who could escape the game alive. Only one could win. They threw a good amount of us, calling our names into a huge cage contraption at a time. You couldn't run away from the fight. As you fought.. Bryant would throw in their obstacles. My sister was put in there with fifty. She was something called a Countless Considerer. In other words, she could consider herself as anything, anything that she could make up in her mind, and she would be transformed in it. It took a good amount of energy. She was very young, 14. Very very powerful little thing." he sobs, "Not only that, but in the ring. Whoever you killed.. You'd immediately obtain their powers, plus yours. So as you kill, you only grow stronger and stronger. What happens when everyone knows your power and strives for it? They gang up on you. Lucy died. How, if she was so powerful? She knew what was going to happen, every one would go after her. That's just what they did. Too nervous to think of something big and powerful, she was pinned and that's all that needs to be mentioned... Being young and having such a fragile body, it was over soon. I wasn't put in the round she was. I was sixteen at the time. Yes, I was a pussy, still am. I had hid when they called my name.. That's why I am still in hiding."

"I'm sorry to hear." I show sympathy.

"Just end this stupid game." He has anger in his eyes, "You can all stay here tonight if you'd like. I would enjoy the company."

"He's a little strange." Blake nudges into me.

I agree, "That would be great."

We all snuggle on the floor wrapped in blankets, laying on pillows. Wind blows in between the house's 'walls'. I hold Ira close to me to keep her warm. I start to doze off when I hear the front door open, I lift my head up. Everyone seems to be asleep, or trying to. I get up and walk to the door. _Must of just been the wind... Wait, nook Eden. You know that's what they all say to stay 'calm'._

I look outside, no one seems to be there. I take the candle on the table and head outside. I look at the ground for verification that no one is here. I was right, no One is here. There's little paw prints on the ground. Must have just been an animal looking for food. I go back inside and close the door. Quietly, I place the candle back on the table. Pushing the table to the door in order to block the entrance, Ivy comes over to me.

"You okay?"

"Yeah there was an animal or something outside and the door opened. I was just going to keep it from coming in."

"Get some sleep girl, we have a long day tomorrow. There's no telling what's in store."

Today we stay in Oak Woods. Tomorrow we head out to River Rally. I go back to lay down, Ira has cuddled up to Blake. _They're so cute. _I smile and lay down, as soon as I close my eyes Blake opens his mouth.

"Psh, can you take her. I'm not used to this."

I grab her, trying to separate the embrace, she finally releases and latches on to me.

"I love you, Eden." she mumbles.

"Goodnight." I whisper to Ira and give her a kiss on her forehead. _I can never say those three words..._


	13. Chapter 12

**Another chapter, sorry this one is coming out 'late'. Since this time of year is quite busy for me... I will have one Chapter each week. Meaning between Sunday and Saturday. It can come out between those days at anytime and there may even be double chapters. Happy Reading! Get your friends to read and if you haven't already.. Comment and Follow! **

**~Everlasting Eden~**

I wake up early and find everyone still resting. Quietly, I pick up one corner of the table and slide it out of the way; just enough to squeeze myself out the door. The first thing I notice when I step outside is the sky. The bluish-gray color as the sun starts to rise and the smell of fresh air. I decide to do some snooping and look around Jeston's work area. There's a newspaper on his work bench. According to it, an ad states he owns his own carpentry company. He has many wooden pieces of furniture. _He_ _m__ust not get a lot of business even though his work looks incredible._ I look at the different types of wood he uses, dark wood, teak wood, maple wood, oak wood, and many others. Nothing to real look at though. Until, I notice one thing in far back corner, a table with a wooden box covering it. As I get closer, I notice there's a sheet over the table, checkerboard. Lifting the box, I discover little carvings of people, scattered on a table, twenty to be exact. They're all painted, four coordinating each other and the other sixteen remain dark in color. They look as if though they're opposing to one another. I pick up, a figurine standing on a platform, it's a little girl. Black wavy hair, green eyes, but wears nothing more than a single silver cloak, hiding her body_. _On the side of the platform it reads, Bravery. I look under the platform and find a name..._ Lucy. _Next, I pick up a dark male figure. He's completely blacked out and stands taller than any other piece on the board. _Bryant. _Looking under it, it does say Bryant. Everyone who seems to be on Bryant's team does not have a name. Rather, it says Furtive number one, number two, number three, and it keeps going to fifteen. Looking at the 'good side' I see many identifiers for each piece: Lucy- Bravery, Carter-Hope, Stephen-Strength, and Rayce-Courage. _I wonder if all these people have affected Jeston's life in some way._ _I'm sorry, Jeston. _I back away from the table, but trip on the sheet. All the pieces fall off. _Someone must have heard me. _I jump up and grab the sheet by the corners, flapping it I get the dirt out. I go to throw it over the table when the under part of it it catches my eye. There's something written on it... **When playing chess, there's no time to rest, especially when you know that you're the one who's next.** I hear the door open and throw the carvings back on the table and toss the box over them. I dart out of the little workshop and run straight in to Blake.

"Whatcha doing?" he steadies me.

"Don't scare me like that again!" I shout.

"Breakfast is ready.. we have bread. Just bread."

"That's fine by me." I nod and go back into the house. Ivy and Ira are already eating.

"Where have you been?" asks Ivy.

I lie, "Just out for a walk."

"Look at what I did!" Ira exclaims, "I made a face on my bread with the jelly."

I smile at her and tear a piece off the loaf for myself, "Where's Jeston?"

"We have no idea." Ivy looks at me, "We need to get a move on on this quest though, so hurry up and eat."

I quickly gobble down the bread, "I'm ready." I say with food in my mouth. Everyone looks at me strangely, usually I don't ever talk with food in my mouth.

Ivy rolls her eyes, "Let's go. We'll thank Jeston if we see him. If not.. I'm sure we will be back here."

"So how do we get to River Rally?" I ask Blake.

"We have to fly there. Otherwise it'll take too long. Iridessa? Can you carry Eden?"

She giggles, "Worth a shot I guess.."

"Blake, there's no way she could."

"Why because I'm tiny?!"

"I think Ira can do it." he grins at her, "I'll carry Ivy. It's really not that long of a flight."

We go outside and Ira takes me by the hand, "Ready?"

I shake my head, 'no' jokingly, but on the inside I'm honestly terrified.

Ivy jumps on Blake's back. They take off and we follow. My feet and my right hand dangle as we go up into the sky. I think Ira might have a hard time doing holding me and at the same time, keeping up with Blake. We fly a little ways and lose Blake and Ivy in the clouds.

"Uh Eden, I don't know where they are.."

"Ivy?!" I yell, no answer.

"Where are they?"

"Bla-" my body smashes into something, I lose Ira and grab a hold of what I've hit. I'm hanging..terrified to look down, I do anyway. I'm on a tree, a very tall tree. It sways back and forth. I really want to yell for help, nevertheless I'm afraid it will disrupt the quietness of the tree, causing it to snap and collapse. I feel so sick to my stomach. I shut my eyes tightly trying to not think about the height. _They'll find me soon, right?_ It feels like forever and no one comes. I try to re-adjust my grip, my hands are too sweaty and I know I'll lose it soon.

I look up, keeping my eyes away from the hidden ground below me. _Gosh this is one tall tree._ Then, I hear a screeching sound coming from below me. I look down and see a silhouette flying in and out of the clouds, it's a hawk. An oversized hawk, black with purple highlights. _If I could just land on it maybe I'd have a chance. _I take a deep breath and wait for the right moment. I need to let go of this tree before the hawk even comes underneath my feet. This way I have time to fall and be caught. If I miss, it's the end for me. The bird seems to be going back and forth, not much change so I should be able to carry out my plan. _On 3, 1.. 2.. 3.. _I let go and fall. I fall as if I just jumped out of a plane to skydive. Staring at the bird, I can't lose my focus. The bird isn't lining up with me. I close my eyes and hope for the best. Then, a ball of fire knocks straight into my chest, knocking the wind out of me. It's Blake, _perfect timing as always._ As he holds me, I can see him clearer.

"What the heck were you doing? Trying to commit suicide?" He's stern.

My eyes widen and an attitude comes out, "No! I was trying to catch a ride so I wouldn't just fall from the tree and end up like splatter paint."

"That thing is poisonous, Eden."

"And how was I supposed to know? I just wanted down. It was life or death, Blake.."

"It was death, death, or wait for me. You knew I was going to be there."

"That's why I hung on, but-"

"From now on, no matter what.. you wait for me."

I roll my eyes, he's too protective that's for sure.

We fly quickly so it doesn't feel like long and down into what looks like a fishing market. We're in a certain part of River Rally. We land and meet up with Ivy and Ira.

Ivy states the obvious, "We need to find Amelia."

Ivy takes the lead and we follow her into a little fishing shop. The smell of fish is overbearing. I may get sick. Ira runs around the store petting and naming each fish. They have fresh and raw fish, all types. Some are even hanging from the ceiling, _strange._

"Excuse me?" she asks the man at the counter, "Do you know a girl by the name of Amelia?"

"I beg your pardon?" she looks confused.

"Do you know a girl named Ame-"

"I heard you the first time. That girl died a long time ago. I'm sorry."

_Why would Jeston send us to a dead girl?_

Without knowing what else to say I ask "Would you mind if we looked around?"

He sneers, "Do what you'd like."

I pull Blake aside, "Why would Jeston do this to us? A dead girl? Once you're dead you're dead. It doesn't make any sense."

"No, it does."

"Huh? Stop playing games."

"I'm being serious. You can be a dead girl. It's not until you're Eliminated that you're really dead."

"So you're saying that this game is full of dead people?"

"Exactly."

"How does one become 'dead'?" I push on with the questions.

"Bryant may have just wanted her to be that way. It depends, that's something you'd have to ask the unliving."

"So how do we find her?"

"Hey guys." Ivy interrupts, "I got on the man's good side. She used to spend the night at a little hut two blocks from here. We need to go there and find something that was in her possession, something no one else would really touch, but her. Or a picture that may work as well."

"Why does this matter if-"

"Do you really think we would be given a quest we couldn't complete?" he nudges me, "There's always an answer to every question. This time.. Ivy is our answer."

"Come on, Ira." I call her over, "We're leaving."

Iridessa runs over to me and grabs hold of my hand, "Bye Mr. Fish number one.." _This child.._

We follow a pebble pathway, not many trees around. If there are any, they seem to be mostly burned up. We come to a fork in the road.

"Um.." Blake looks clueless.

"Well where do we go?" I ask.

"We split here." Ivy adds, "He said he wasn't technically allowed to tell me which way, but it is down one of these paths. We are looking for a brick little shack with a white fence at the perimeter. Everything looks dead."

"So who is going with who?" I inquire.

"I'd like to walk with you, Eden." Ivy mumbles.

Blake nods and takes Ira from me, "Cya soon."

We go left as they go right.

I try not to be rude, "So how is finding one of her possessions going to help us?"

"I can see the dead and talk to them."

"I guess that makes sense since you're a death wizard and all.."

"I acquired the skill from losing someone I once loved."

"If you don't mind my asking.."

Her feet stall and she stops. Words pour out slowly, "I lost my sister."

"Oh, I'm really sorry to hear." I hope I'm not bringing her any pain.

"Yeah. Then, I lost myself."

"Hmm?"

"I had a twin. They say that twins always have a connection. We were fraternal, so we did resemble each other. She was the life of the family, I kept to myself a lot, but oh my.. she was outgoing and funny. Always doing ridiculous things to draw attention to people. She just wanted to see smiles. She would help me make friends, if no one wanted to see me, she'd ditch those 'friends' for me. Just how come it is always the innocent?"She sadly passed away when we were sixteen, due to a shoot out."

"She was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. It's not your fault."

"Yes it is, Eden! It was supposed to be me. I was supposed to be where she was. You see, I had a let's just say 'not-so-good' guy in my life. Didn't care about me, but I couldn't escape it. His plan was possibly to kill me."

"Why?" I stomp.

"I don't know.. anyway, he had pulled up to our house and told me to go somewhere with him late one night. I thought about her and told him I'd just get my coat and it wouldn't be long. I didn't know exactly what was going to happen, but I knew it wasn't good. When I went inside I walked into my walk-in closet to grab my coat, when the door was shut and blocked by a chair. A note slipped under the door. It said: **I'm sorry. **I heard a car start and I started banging on the door. I couldn't help, but scream. I ran into that door so many times. It wouldn't budge. I actually passed out and was rescued by my parents the next day once they had gotten back from wherever they were going on a trip to. All I remember was her in that golden casket the week or whenever afterwards."

"So was this in real life?"

"Eden. This or real life, it's your life. Nothing is different, you have your skills from the real world pulled with you in here."

Ivy starts to cry, I pull her into a hug.

She sobs into my dress, "I tried to become one with her, but it never worked."

"Is that why you wanted to play this game?"

"I'm not supposed to be here."

"Ivy, don't say that. You have something to live for. Look at you. You are absolutely beautiful and need to be here. There's a life ahead of us full of opportunities that we have to take."

"Right.. Well, that's how I can connect with other spirits. I can take something that someone has once owned or look at a picture and read the story of their life. Then, I can picture them and talk with them."

I feel bad for her.

"Her name was.. I mean _is_, Farah." she forces herself to smile.

I grip her hand tightly, "It's going to be okay. I promise."

"You just don't know what pain is until you lose love."

We stand silent, this way Ivy can just let it all out. Then, she dries her eyes and lifts her head. Without any words she just starts walking.

"Oh, one more thing, Eden. I can't talk to anyone I have loved before that's gone."

I don't say a word, just follow next to her down the path.

We come up to a brick house. A white fence borders it, there's a 'No Trespassing' sign on the door. We open the gate, it creaks. There are weeds everywhere and vines growing the side of the little house.

"We need to get inside without making it look like we trespassed."

"Good idea." I agree.

I shake the doorknob, trying to get it to open. I feel a shock from the knob that causes me to fall on my butt.

"Eden? You alright?"

"Yeah.. um this house may be full of security crap and what not."

"Oh. No. Eden. We have trouble.."

"What?" I turn around. Standing by the gate looks like the girl Blake had stolen the quest from. Along with her are two side companions.

"We have to kill them." Ivy whispers.

"Don't move!" she demands.

"Psst. I'll knock out the two blockheads if you take on that girl."

"Deal." I nod.

They start walking towards us, Ivy takes off running in the opposite direction. The two players follow her, leaving me and this lady alone. I get up and start walking towards her. Until she pulls something out from her cloak. _A crystal ball looking_ thing.

"Would you like to take a look?" she smirks.

I take a few steps closer to her, just an arm reach away. It's Ira and Blake, tied up underwater. _Drowning._

"Give me the quest and I'll let them go."

_I need to think fast.. Her hands are the only thing powerful. The Only thing she needs._

"I don't have it!" I stomp on her foot, flinging out my sword I slice one of her hands off. She sends shocks through me with her other hand that sends me flying back into the ground, losing my sword in the weeds.

"Get up!" she kicks me in the rib cage, "Look at what you did, bitch!"

I make quick eye contact and knock her in her calve with my foot, causing her to trip. I scramble and crawl towards where I think my sword may be. She grabs my foot and pulls me back. She sits on my back, puling my hair so that my head will fling back. Her arm captures my neck into a tight grip, _I can't breathe._ I shake my head trying to loosen the grip and manage to pull my chin closer into my neck just slightly. I bite her as hard as I can. She lets go and I break for it. I slide my feet through the weeds and luckily find my sword. I turn back to her, she fires at me. Quickly I am able to block the bolt _like I did with the fire wizard and his fire balls._ I sends it flying back to her, out of nowhere she pulls out a sword and reflects the bolt back to me. Back and forth we play 'ping pong' with the lightning. After a few hits, she ducks and the bolt strikes the weeds, causing a tiny fire. It catches me off guard and I am pinned to the ground by her. I kick her off, as she rolls back; her cape catches hold of the fire. She frees herself from the cloak. I can see her fully now. Bald she is, her body is completely made out of electrical wire. _Is she a robot? Her face is completely human. _Scars cover her face. She screams and cries, tears run down into her wires, she bursts into sparks and charges after me. I run and jump the fence, she follows, but gets caught on the fence. I drop to the ground and cover my ears, explosion and sounds of popping start going off. I get hit in the back by a spark and immediately start to slither away.

Looking back at the house is on fire. _I have to get an item from that house. _I pull myself to my feet and take off back to the house, through the flames. I kick open the door, part of the roof collapses into the house. There's a living area in front of me and to my right a hallway. I charge down the hall and bust into a room. It looks like a young teen's room. I scramble through the drawers and dressers.

"There's nothing left!" I scream at the top of my lungs.

Angry as I am I tear the bed sheets to shreds, throwing everything everywhere. I try to catch my breath and crash on the bed. _I set someone's home on fire and for what? Nothing. _Then, I feel something funny. Under the pillow is a diary, pretty worn out. I tuck it under my arm and head out. The smoke is too heavy for me, but I push through. I get knocked in the head by a brick and fall to the floor. _Never letting go of this diary. _

Bricks fly my way from the left, Blake is standing right there.

"Eden!" He shouts over all the chaos. He picks me up and I black out.

* * *

><p>Flames<em> burn in front of me in a fire pit, burning the paper to ashes.<em>

_"There's no need to keep secrets from me, Eden."_

_"But.. they're not secrets."_

_"Don't lie to me. God, you're such a liar, Eden."_

_She smacks me upside the head, "You know hitting the head kills brain cells.. I guess you can say I can hit your head all I want because you won't be affected in anyway."_

_Tears fall from my eyes, yet Again._

_I watch as she tears each piece of paper out of my journal and drops it into the fire._

_Everyone's story is important in some way except of course,_

_My story..._

* * *

><p>I wake up to Blake breathing into me, trying to relieve me with oxygen. I gasp and he immediately gives me space.<p>

"Are you okay?" He pulls me into an embrace. I close my eyes and thank God for this guy. I feel helpless.. _I'm not helpless, Sometimes I just sometimes need some help._

"I'm okay." I smile, "Thanks."

"Yeah, yeah." He gives me some space.

I see Ivy and Ira sitting close by.

"Look, Eden.. I didn't expect you to go in. I can always find something later, I'm sure that will help me see Amelia."

I laugh, "I got this."

"Woah, girl. We'll have to read this and go see her later tonight."

"Yeah!" Ira is excited.

"We should find where we're going to stay tonight though." Blake adds.

"How about that place down by the fishing market? The little Motel?" Ira jumps for joy.

I agree, "I don't see why not."

As we walk back, I grab Blake's hand and make him walk next to me.

"Would you mind staying with Ira tonight so Ivy and I can go see Amelia?"

"Why can't Ira go?" he stops me.

"It'll be late and I don't think it's a good idea for her to see someone dead."

"Yeah well-"

"Please?" I beg him.

He hesitates, "Fine, just this once."

"Thanks. By the way I forgot to ask if you and Ira are okay.."

"What do you mean?"

"The girl showed me you two in a crystal ball.."

"Eden, that was a fake. If it was real she wouldn't have shown it in a crystal ball."

"Uh okay.. and why were those people made of wires?"

"To gain more power she may have just.. I don't even know. The people Ivy took care of were regular storm wizards."

"Doesn't make any sense, but I won't question it."

"Yeah."

_I can't wait to clean up.. It's been a long day. One thing after another._

"Oh yeah, thanks again for saving me.." I am shy.

"Oh yeah.. um.. I, yeah you're welcome." he gets serious.

Blake_ gave me CPR.. so did he technically kiss me? _

_No..._


	14. Chapter 13

**Been real busy.. but another chapter is finally here- Yay! Hope you enjoy it. Remember to leave comments, follow me, favorite me, get your friends to read. Reading is fun, am I right?**

**~Everlasting Eden~**

Late in the night after we reach the Machaca Hotel, we find out we all have to share a room with just two beds. On a group vote, Ira and Blake would stay together and me with Ivy. We settle and gather around in our room on the floor.

"Time to read the diary." I say excitedly.

I open the book to the first page..

* * *

><p><em>July 8,<em>

_I sit down by the dock everyday, with this somewhat new journal mum got me. I've always wanted to keep a diary, except I'm really bad at committing with things. This time, I thought I would at least just write down the important things that happen to me, so that way I won't forget any__thing. Mum and dad say that I lose my memory a lot. That's why they thought that writing would help me out quite a bit. When I look into the water and see the many colorful fish, I dream I was a fish. You don't have to do anything except for swim and eat whatever you need to, I guess._

* * *

><p>I start flipping through the journal, there's only six pages in the entire thing.<em><br>_

* * *

><p><em>November 14,<em>

_I went for a walk today. The weather was beautiful. The sun was shining, birds chirping, and flowers blooming. It was a happy day. I found a note in a bottle down by the dock, It was sitting on the dock though, not in the water. It was just sitting there, waiting for me. Without any questions I read it. It was about a boy and girl who had super powers. The girl could turn invisible and walk through walls. As for the boy, he had super speed and could read minds. They were out to change and save the world. This sent a thrill threw me. I wish I had super powers. If I could have a power it would be to be able to hold my breath forever. Just to be funny, I decided to draw a picture of how I'd imagine them on the note. I even added a picture of me too, and left the bottle. This time, in the water._

_January 23,_

_I finally made some friends today down by the dock, Layla and Connor. I have never been so happy in my life. I told my parents the news and they were grateful for me. Layla and Connor wanted to actually go swimming, but it started raining. Instead, we went into the Fish market, bought fish, and had a picnic in the store. It was a lot of fun. We agreed to meet up next week. I can't tell you how excited I am right now. I'm counting down the days, like if I were counting down the days until Christmas. I just wonder why we can't see each other sooner._

_February 4,_

_I invited my friends to visit my parents. They denied. So I decided I'd bring my parents to them. I dragged my parents down by an oak tree where Layla, Connor, and I have played hide and seek, before. I introduced them to my parents. My parents asked me when my friends would get here. I didn't understand. My friends apologized, saying they had somewhere to be and left us. My parents escorted me home and told me to go to my room. I did not have any other communications with them that day. I don't know what's going on. _

_May 15,_

_My parents would not let me go out today. I was told to stay in my room. With no remarks, I went back to my room and sat there. I sang a little, trying to ease the sadness within me, like I always do. I still wonder about my friends. Sometimes I feel like they're in my room. Sometimes I wake up with them right outside my window. Other times, I see Layla standing next to my reflection in the mirror. I've asked her where she has been, but suddenly her eyes got cold black and she fades away. I am terrified by this._

_May 16,_

_I got woken up early and was told to put something nice on. There was a visitor coming. I put on my only dress, my yellow sunday dress that I never use. I hurried into the living room not knowing what was going on. I took a seat in one of the chairs in the living room my mum greats a man at the door. He is dressed very well. A button down suit and tie, along side with him travels a briefcase. On the briefcase 'G.S.' are engraved near the handle. He extended his hand toward me and introduced himself as Gary Strider. He pulled out a notebook and sat down, started to ask me all sorts of questions about my life; what I like to do, my relationships with people, and who my friends were. It came quickly to my mind... I have seen many doctors before about my forgetfulness, but this man was different. My parents called him over obviously they were concerned with something about me. I knew he was no doctor like that. I've read about his kind before. When he started asking me about my friends, it turned out he was really testing me. I knew then, he was a psychiatrist. _

_June 18,_

_I talked with my parents today. They told me that the doctor concluded that I was just having hallucinations. This upset me very much. I screamed and yelled at them that I wasn't lying. That I could feel them and they were real. I cried and I've been sitting in my room ever since. I think I'll go to the dock tonight._

_June 18,_

_It's dark and cold here. I'm sitting on the edge of the dock, just thinking about my friends they said_

* * *

><p>Nothing more is on the page.<p>

"Is that all?" Ivy asks.

"I guess that's all." I shrug.

"There's something missing."

Blake jumps in, "Maybe something came up and got in the way of her writing. Maybe she slipped into the water and died?"

Iridessa's eye widen in shock, "Are you sure I can't go?"

"We'll find out tonight." I nod towards Ivy, "Uh Ira, I'd really like it if you got plenty of sleep. This way, you'd have a lot of energy for our adventure tomorrow" I smile.

She frowns, I scoop her up and place her in bed. I tuck her in and lean down to give her a kiss. She locks her hands around my neck, I am not able to move.

"Uh Ira.. I can't move."

"I know." she giggles.

"I really need to get going, I'll be back."

She just keeps her eyes close, I can tell she's upset.

"Geez, Fine! You can come with me."

"Really?" She jumps up.

"Yeah, we're a team." I roll my eyes.

Together we leave the Hotel and walk towards the dock. I keep Ira's hand in mine, _I hope she's not scared to see a ghost._ As we walk, Ivy lights the way and starts studying the journal, mumbling some words. We all follow behind her, not interrupting her train of thought.

"What are we going to do when we get there?" Iridessa whispers.

"Well." I start, "Ivy is going to contact a ghost and we're going to see what information we can get out of her about saving the Willow in River Rally."

"I mean I know that, but can we just talk to her like we normally talk to each other?"

I turn to Blake looking for an answer.

He steps in, "We'll have to see when we get there. Ivy will have to do most of the talking, she also has to do some special death magic so that we can see Amelia. The best thing to do is let Ivy and the girl get comfortable with each other before we step in."

"A lot of waiting." Ira complains.

"It'll be ok." I pat her head.

We reach the start of the dock, nothing ahead except the end of it, foggy waters, and the half moon. Ira lets go of my hand, trying to show bravery.

Ivy starts, "Maybe you should-"

"We'll wait for a signal." Blake cuts her off.

The three of us sit and wait at the start of the dock as Ivy continues onward. We can see her sit down on the edge. No movement from her, nor words spoken.

"How long is this going to take?" Ira leans on me.

"Shouldn't be long." I confirm.

We sit for a while, the moon rises in the sky. Ira doses off and I get a feeling of someone summoning me.

I give Ira to Blake and make my way to Ivy. I'm a bit nervous myself. As I get closer and closer I can actually see Amelia as well as Ivy. What's strange is Ivy has her eyes closed, sitting with her legs crossed. She has the journal in her lap, empty. The pages float around her, she just keeps mumbling. She must not be able to keep Amelia in our presence unless she just concentrates on the spell.

Just when I'm about to reach them Amelia speaks, "Sit right where you are, do not come any closer."

I do as she says. She has long blonde hair and a long torso as she sits straight and tall.

"What's your name?" she has a bit of an attitude.

"I'm Eden. You're Amelia, right?"

"What do you want?"

"Well, we were sent here on a quest. You know, Wilted Willows."

"So you've come to me to help you with some silly tree."

"I guess.. We were told to-"

"Who sent you?" she sneers.

"I can't remember his name. I forget easily." I lie.

She laughs, "That's a lie and I know it."

"No, I seriously don't know what to tell you."

"You can give me a name."

"Jeston."

"Don't know him."

"Well, could you tell me-" I start.

Ira runs up the dock, Blake trying to catch the little speed demon.

"Don't come any closer." Amelia yells.

Ira ignores her and grabs Amelia by the shoulders, "Where is the-" she stops as she was peeking at Amelia's face. Ira screams as if a little girl were to scream at the scene of murder. Iridessa stumbles backwards, falling on her bottom. Amelia pounces right on top, screaming in Iridessa's face. I go to push Amelia off, except Amelia has something else planned.

"Come any closer and I'll kill her."

"No you won't." I try to be strong with my words, like if I am actually the one who is in control of her actions.

"Try me." she spits.

"You want to hurt her because someone hurt you?"

She doesn't respond.

Ira starts crying a river that transforms into an ocean of tears. I can't let her go through with this.

I grab Amelia around the waist anyway, "Get off of her!" pulling her off, Blake grabs a hold of Iridessa.

I pin Amelia down, she starts screaming. Her eyes, there are none just empty space. Her face is full of cuts and dried blood, very pale. I put my face closer to her and scream as loud as I can and keep my face as brave looking as I can. She squirms under my hands and tries to claw at me. I keep quiet and still, _I'm not giving up._ Her screaming turn into crying. _What is wrong with her?_

"You don't understand." she sobs.

"I understand that you think you're scary and a monster, but you're not. You're the one who is afraid. What's your job? Get people on your level?" _To be honest, she looks like one of those girls you find in those creepy horror films._

_"_I'm lonely."

"Yeah I know you are." I am stern.

I can tell she's in pain now. I pull her into a hug as we sit there, "You're not the only one who is lonely." I guarantee.

Amelia calms down and I see Ira sitting at a good distance from all of us, still regrouping.

"I'm okay." Amelia assures me. She sits there looking down, "What do you need help with?"

I claim, "We're on a quest called Wilted Willows. We were told that the willow here was cut from her water source, correct?"

She nods, "The willow here the region named Brooklyn. With out her living, our nature dies. This includes our waters. The rivers will eventually reach a drought. She was cut from her water source years ago.."

Blake jumps in, "Well what's to do first?"

"You need to take three iron buckets from the supermarket and fill it each of them up with three different elements. Two of course need water, the water needs to be purified. You can purify water from a tree by using a dagger. Shouldn't be too difficult. One bucket needs to be full with something called spacio. It's a type of magic that will actually expand the water around the little 'island' where Brooklyn is. After you do this, come back to me and I will give you your next task."

"Where do we get spacio?" I ask.

"It's actually any soil that you burn mixed with a lava liquid. It's lava liquid though. You can't just make fire and call it done. You have to get this from a man named Sparrow. He's located in a cave under the this river."

"How do we find the cave under water?" Blake wonders.

"You literally just dive off this dock and go straight down. There is a lock though, you'll need a key. You'll have to check it out yourself."

"Thanks a lot. We'll get to work." I smile.

"Be careful wherever you go. There's a ton of monsters out there. Oh and tell your friend I'm truly sorry."

"I will." I give her some space and she slowly fades away.

Ivy gasps, the papers go back in the journal and she falls backwards.

"Ivy!" We all lean over her.

"Are you alright?" Ira starts shaking her head.

"How'd I do?" she opens her eyes.

"Great!" Blake exclaims.

"Ok so what happened was-"

Ivy cuts me off, "You don't have to update me. I was listening to what happened, difficult, but I did it. It was like a story to me. As soon as I get used to this spell, I'll be able to multitask and cast the spell while being part of the conversation, I'm sure."

"So what should we do first?" I turn to Blake.

"I say we go get the water first, since it's the easiest." he responds.

I add, "Ok, but where do we get a dagger?"

"I can take care of that." he smiles, "Ivy and Ira, you two go back to the hotel. Eden and I will go get the dagger."

"That's just fine." Ivy winks at me. She picks up Iridessa and they walk away.

"I'll see you later!" I yell to Ira. She just waves to me.

"Ready?" he puts me on his back.

We take off, "Where are we going?" I look nervous at him.

"My cave." he smirks.

We fly through the sky, it's cold and windy. You can see the different regions from the height we're at.

To break the silence I ask, "So where do you live exactly?"

"I live in a cave."

"I mean like where's your location?"

"Wouldn't you like to know."

"Why can't I know?" I urge.

He laughs, "I'll tell you later. We're just about there."

We fly straight to a huge mountain with a cave opening at the very top where we land. He lets me down.

"Welcome to my home."

Looking around, there's a fire pit in the center of the room, surrounded by some plows and blankets. A bed further in the back and he has lots of wall hangings. Such as a few weapons and random maps of the world. There's carvings in the wall and finger painting like the cave men once have done. Lots of the paintings resemble many different types of dragons. There's torches on the walls to produce light. From the pictures to the fire pit and this place just being his really makes it.. _Nice and toasty in here._ There's also more cave further back that eventually leads to a dead end. _This place is huge._

"Make yourself at home, I'll be right back." He walks towards his bed and takes a knee. He retrieves a chest and pulls something wrapped up out then, starts walking back to me.

"Here." he extends out his hand, he unfolds the item from the sheath, "It's a dagger."

I take it from him, on the handle it has his name written in cursive.

"I want you to keep it." he looks at me in the eyes.

"Uh, sure."

"I know my name is on it, but until I can get you a different one.. That'll have to do."

"No, this one is perfect. I'm not going to need another one, but thanks." I kneel down by the fire pit, the blade shines in the light. I let the flames take hold of the dagger's point, twirling the handle in my hand. I remove the dagger and stick it in my right combat boot. As curious as I am, I make my way over to the chest he pulled out from his bed.

"What are you doing?" he jumps up.

_I should've asked. _"Sorry, I was just curious." He joins me, but doesn't stop me.

I look inside, all that's in there is his old knight outfit.

"This is all?" I look pitiful at him.

He lifts the clothes, and reveals something, I'm not sure what to make of it, "It's a dragon's horn. I tied it to some rope like a necklace."

"Was this hers?"

He nods, "Yeah, people say it's good luck. Right before they die, you cut off one. I don't know if it's real luck. I didn't have to cut hers off though because hers just fell off. So why not keep it?"

I shrug. I then realized I had made myself a little too comfortable on his bed.

I immediately get up, embarrassed, "Should we head back?"

He shakes his head, "Let's just rest, I'm super tired."

"Ok, you go to sleep, I'm going to just look around for a minute."

He puts the chest away and gets into bed. I go to the entrance of the cave and look out. It's very cloudy, looks like a storm is coming. I still wonder what region I'm in. Oh well.

"Hey, Eden?" I hear his voice echo.

"Yeah?"

"When you're done, can you put the fire pit out?"

"Sure.."

"Thanks." he goes silent.

It starts to rain. I go over to the fire pit to catch the warmth. Lightning strikes, wind blows, lights go out. I'm cold and a little scared of the dark. I lay down on a pillow for a second until I hear thunder. It makes me jump, came to me by surprise.

I run over to Blake, "Psst. Blake?"

"Hmm?" he's half asleep.

"I'm not very comfortable."

"What do you want me to do about it?" he sounds a bit annoyed.

I don't say another word, just grab my pillow and blanket it and take them with me to the entrance of the cave. The lightning creates light for me. The rain bounces on the ground right next to me, making a song of dance. I close my eyes and start to doze off.

I wake up to Blake taking a spot behind me, wrapping his arm around my waist.

He pulls me into his chest, "I'm right here."

_His words... _I latch on to him and fall in a deep sleep.


End file.

Sword Art Online/ソードアート・オンライン, Adventure, Romance