It wasn’t her choice to end up stuck there.  Far from it, if she was being honest.  It had all started as a chance to get into a media that her family’s business had not yet started in.  She wanted to research it.  She didn’t go into it thinking she would end up trapped, but she wouldn’t have had it any other way.  Looking at the two children in front of her, she was glad that she was trapped… or at least as glad as she could be trapped in something from one of the novels her older younger brother enjoyed reading so much.  Games involving imminent death, both virtually and in reality weren’t really her thing at all, but it seemed interesting enough compared to the constant business meetings or medical classes she had been through before.
The two in front of the woman sobbed into each other's’ arms, although they were both mumbling their thanks under their breath.  She simply smiled and nodded, turning away from them and taking a few steps toward the awaiting shadows of the forest.  A small clearing of a throat stopped her in her tracks, and she looked over her shoulder at the boy who stood in front of his younger female companion, tears and sniffles not yet stopped.
“Miss, what are you,” he asked quietly, wiping away his tears and trying to look as if nothing had happened, but failing miserably.  He blushed a little, and the woman couldn’t help but chuckle at him.  “I… I didn’t mean it like that!  I just-”
“I’m ‘a’ Taro,” she said quietly, laughing under her breath.  She had never been asked ‘what’ she was, at least not like that.  She had been asked from what family she was from or what of what profession, but never of what race or… what did the boy even mean?  “If you ever need any help-”
“I didn’t mean that, Miss Taro!  You… you’re like no other player I’ve ever met!  And I’ve been playing MMOs for a long time!  Are you a guildmaster?  Are you a Shadowlander?  If you are a player, what is your level?  What class are you?  Subclass?  What skills do you-”
“You’re full of questions, aren’t you,” Taro chuckled.  The other girl giggled a little too, wiping at her face, but stopped when a man, in similar dress to Taro’s, walked out of the shadows that blanketed and caressed the mysterious dark haven of the forest.  Taro tensed before relaxing when the man put his hands up in a placating motion.  “Zen,” she acknowledged.
“Taro, it’s time to go.  I’m getting really, and I mean really, tired, and the monsters and MGs are beginning to show up more looking for stragglers who haven’t found havens for the night.  It’s dangerous, and you’re exhausted.  Don’t try to deny it,” he said before seeing the two young children standing a bit further away, eying him nervously.  “MPCs?”
“No, Zen.  They’re like us.  They’re solo,” Taro said, looking back at the two younger players.  “If you want to find out ‘what’ I am, why don’t you hang around with us for a while?  At least until you level up a little and get used to the game.  It’ll be safer than joining a guild or going it alone for now.  You may not know us, but you don’t know this game either, and I saved your life.  That’s more than you know about these woods.”
There was a moment of hesitation as both considered Taro’s proposition, and Zen tensed up, moving his hand slowly toward his weapon as if the children could somehow hurt them, but Taro stood firm, looking off into the forest with an intense gaze as if considering her proposal again.  She nodded and looked back at the children.  The boy’s frown turned into a beaming smile and he nodded excitedly.
“Then let’s go on an adventure.  How about it?”

Three Years After Day Zero in Land of Shadows
June 25th
The Town of Grounder

“Guildmaster Zen!  Guildmaster Zen!  She’s back from the mission,” Joey shouted as he rushed into the guildmaster’s quarters.  Zen, who thanks to the game system’s scans had aged since Day Zero and looked his age instead of like an eighteen year-old teen, looked away from flirting with his assistant.  The woman seemed less than pleased in her druid attire, a spell book clutched to her chest as she pushed against the guildmaster’s chest.

“Who is,” Zen asked with a bored expression.  His assistant sighed, rolling her eyes and pulling out a small notepad from one of the many pockets in her skirt, flipping through it and smiling when she found something.  Zen pouted at her, looking more like a small child than a twenty year-old guildmaster and senior beta player in the Land of Shadows VRMMORPG.  “How come you look like that when you look at a piece of paper, but when I’m with you, you seem to hate me, Karla?”
“Guildmaster Zen, how is it that you became a guildmaster and Taro, who by the way, has come back from a mission, isn’t when she is so much more suited to that position,” Karla asked haughtily.  She smiled at Joey as he stood impatiently in the doorway, both excited about Taro’s return and disapproving of their guildmaster’s motives toward the younger sister.  “Why don’t we go greet Taro?  She’s been gone for nearly three days now.  I think we were all a little worried.”
“I bet you wish my loner of a sister would be the guildmaster.  Too bad she prefers to be a solo player.  If she were a guy, you would be falling at her feet,” Zen mumbled as he walked swiftly back to his desk, grabbing his cloak and fastening the clasp emblazoned with the Shade Guild’s emblem.
“My, what gave you that idea, Guildmaster Zen,” Karla asked sarcastically before scrunching her nose up at the idea of Taro as a guy.  She looked back at her brother who had turned and waited patiently for her in the doorway.  “Zen, you are a good leader, and that is why Taro helped you set up this guild and let you lead.  She believes in you, so you should prove that you are who she believes you are.  You put up this front to defend yourself from your fear of your sister’s solo player status, but by doing so you are failing her and those who rely on you.  Toughen up and straighten out your act.”
“You should come greet her with us, Guildmaster Zen.  I’m sure Taro’d be thrilled to see you.  You haven’t talked to her since your last fight over her joining the guild,” Joey said quietly before walking out of the room, Karla hot on his heels.
“Yeah,” Zen mumbled, straightening his clothes.  “It has been a while.”
-..-..-
Taro was as cool and collected as ever.  Her face was carefully emotionless, her dress was chosen as to not give away her class, and her weapons were kept hidden as to keep her as pleasant to be around as possible.  She led her game-generated companion, a German shepherd named Kotaro, through the center of the commercial town of Grounder.  She made sure to keep her information inaccessible and to keep from showing exactly how exhausted she really was.
The citizens of Grounder parted like the Red Sea before her and she had to stop from snapping in annoyance at the players.  It was only natural, though.  The name Taro was like the name of a god in Land of Shadows.  Taro herself knew that she had done nothing to remain on the down low.  It was clear that Kotaro had noticed her emotional readings as his normally calm demeanor that she had set in his systematic reactions was wiped away, a growling beast replacing him much like the Kotaro she knew while in battle.
“Easy Kotaro.  We just have to make it to Shade Tower,” she whispered, and immediately calming her companion’s unease.  She could see the shining silver tower not too much farther into Grounder, but it wasn’t spawning her typical elated reactions.  She could clearly remember the fight she and the Shade guildmaster had had.  It wasn’t any harsher than usual, but she couldn’t help but feel that it was more final than the others she and her younger brother had had.
“You need to settle down, Taro!  This is a dangerous game and you know it!  If you keep going out to the front lines you might not come back next time!  What will I do then,” Zen shouted at her, eyes narrowed at his sister who stood calmly on the other side of his office.  The fact that her stats were hidden didn’t help the situation.  “How am I supposed to trust you to be all right, especially on your own, when I don’t even know who you really are here?  How am I supposed to let you go?”
“What am I supposed to do, Zen?  Let others go out and fight and die when I could be out there and maybe save lives?  We finally have a reason to fight, we’re on the verge of an uproar between advanced Shadowlanders and players!”  Taro’s composure seemed to slip a little, and she took a breath to regain it.  “I am more than capable, Zen.  I have the ability to hack the system to some extent, so I can protect myself even without my own skills.  I am plenty able to be doing this, and I have always worked best when I know who I can trust, and right now, that is just me and Kotaro.”
“Kotaro is a system-generated mutt!  He isn’t something you can trust or rely on,” Zen shouted, earning the same cool glare that was Taro’s trademark.  “Join the guild, Taro.  You started this guild, and you should lead it too, but you just being a member would put me at ease.  You would qualify for guild housing and be able to get out of the slums.”
“I chose to live in the slums, Zen.  I want to be with the people I’m out there fight for.  I don’t want to be in a guild, but knowing that the guild I gave you is safe for all members makes me feel better.”
“Taro-”
“No, Zen.  I’m not joining.  Take care of the guild for me, okay,” she said, turning to exit the guildmaster's quarters.
“Taro, we’re not done here!”
“Goodbye Zen.  Keep an eye out for any trouble in Grounder or in the guild.  I’ll be back soon.”
Taro sighed heavily; it had been almost a month since that fight and they still hadn’t talked.  Sure, she had been back to Shade Tower, and she had even seen Zen since then, but she was just as stubborn as he was, and they hadn’t even greeted each other.  She had taken more quests than usual in order to keep her mind off of their disagreement.  She idly wondered if Zen hated her or would speak to her once she got back, but that was of little importance.  She would continue to support him and the guild as much as she could, regardless of a strained relationship.  As long as they survived she would be willing to deal with any harsh feelings they held for her.  They just had to survive long enough for her to figure out why Land of Shadows had trapped them all inside the game and how to get them all out… or at least get everyone else out.
“Did you hear about Taro’s last mission.  She killed an army of 100 demons and then finished off some monsters before dinner because she was bored.  She’s a beast.  We should be glad that she’s a protector and not a member of a murder guild,” one of the players said to a friend.
“How do we know she’s not part of an MG?  She blocks all of her stats and data from public view.  I hear she also makes shady trips to international servers.  She’s probably hiding the fact that she’s a part of a foreign MG.  Either way, we should be careful around her.”
“But I heard she founded the Shade Guild on Day Zero.  It’s a powerful guardian guild that protects all of the U.S. servers and players, not to mention runs the guild alliances and helps out with the economics and politics of the towns.  She can’t be all that bad.”
“But she isn’t even a member of her own guild; she’s a solo player.  I don’t think she’s ever even been in a party.  She’s a powerful player who hates involvement with others.  She’s got enough assets to last a lifetime in this game.  I don’t see why she wouldn’t use all of that to her advantage.  That would be befitting of her solo status.  Solo players are selfish scum.  I hear she lives in some mansion in the upper east side of Grounder.”
Taro had to admit that what they were saying was true, except for the location of residence.  Solo players were notorious for being assassins-for-hire, rich, or fickle as could be.  She was none of those things, but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t suited to be like that… and she had to admit she was a terribly strong player with a tendency to overdo it or to act harshly.
She hardly realized that she had stopped until Kotaro began to whine beside her, looking up at her with his tongue lolling out.  She smiled down at him and patted his head softly.
“It’s okay, Kotaro.  I’m just a little worn out,” she said softly, ignoring the growing crowd that seemed to become more and more agitated.  Although the crowd was distracting, she could sense a group of approaching players with a more lighthearted atmosphere around them.  She had a feeling she knew who was in the group.  “Let’s just wait here for a while.  You okay with that boy?”  Kotaro panted in response.  They didn’t have to wait all that long before the oncoming party arrived.
“Taro!  Taro!  Taro!  Taro!”  Taro was nearly knocked over by the two younger players that barreled toward her.  She chuckled and looked down to see both Karla and Joey were both grinning up at her like idiots.  Kotaro just looked at them and continued panting happily, tail wagging.
“What a good guard dog you are,” Taro chuckled, receiving a bark in answer.
“We’re so glad you’re back, Taro!  You jerk!  You left us behind without a word!  We had to find out from Soren that you had gone off again,” Joey said softly, his eyes glossing over with tears.  He stuck his face into Taro’s neck.
“Don’t cry, Joey.  Remember what I said three years ago?”
“You asked us to come along on an adventure with you,” Joey said quietly.
“And adventurers-”
“Don’t cry,” Zen finished, catching Taro’s attention immediately.  “It’s good to have you back in Grounder again, sister.  Although I must say, talking to Soren instead of your beloved founding guild member children-things is kind of harsh, I must say.”
“Not much of a choice there… wait, what did you just call them?  Don’t answer that.  Soren is in charge of keeping my will in order.  I have to talk to the scribe every time I leave on a mission.”  Taro’s face went tight and her body language became less free.  “It’s good to see you again.”
“I’m sorry,” both Zen and Taro said at the same time.  Karla and Joey giggled from their places latched onto Taro.  Taro looked away from her brother, a look of utter defeat on her face.  “You have nothing to be sorry about, Zen.  You are my little brother and you are looking out for both of us.  I must apologize for my harsh actions.”
“It was a battle that I picked and I knew how you would react.  It’s my fault.  You have nothing to be sorry for,” Zen said quietly, looking away as well.  The heavy atmosphere was broken by Kotaro whose systematic response to his master’s upset was to take attention away from the problem.  Zen smiled at the dog that his sister treasured so much.  “I hope you’re taking care of my big sister out there, Kotaro.”
“He is,” Taro said softly, managing to push the two younger players away.  “I’m home, and I brought all kinds of gifts for you guys and the guild.  I made a killing on this past mission, so the guild should be good for expenses for at least a few months without worrying about watching costs, so feel free to spend a little extra and rest some of the front line fighters for a while.”
“And you have enough to get by,” Zen asked quietly.  Taro nodded with a careful smile.  “You should make sure that you don’t give too much to the guild.  You live in the slums, yet you pay dues to the guild plus some.  You know, you don’t have to give anything to the guild since you aren’t in it.  What’s the use if you don’t get guild support or advantages?”
“It is my guild, so I have a duty to keep it afloat,” Taro said dismissively, sending a smile to the two children who were beaming up at her.  “Hey Karla, how’s druid training?  Joey, how about your tank training?  I heard Soren talking about sending you guys out into the field on a mission pretty soon.  I’ll take that as a sign and say that training is going good.”
“Yeah, but just this week a team of healing druids and knights from the guild were killed by a MG.  I don’t think I want to go out there, let alone let Karla out,” Joey said, ruffling his sister’s hair.  Taro hummed.
“If you want, I’ll go out with you on a mission.”
“Really,” Karla asked excitedly, brushing off her brother’s hand.
“Yeah, it’d be fun.  Maybe tomorrow or the day after that.  Right now I want to catch up on guild affairs and rest for a while.  I’m starving and it’s about time I figure out how well my brother is at protecting my family.  I just brought back enough for an S class meal for everyone.  I’m cooking.”
“Yeah, we should talk about some of the guild politics.  Something pretty major has come up that I think you’d like some say in.  We can also look into some missions for the two noobs,” Zen said, leaning down to pat Kotaro on the head.  He paused.  “S class…  How much did you-”
“It’s settled then.  Let’s head back to  Shade Tower.  The crowd is starting to grate on my nerves.”  Kotaro barked an affirmative before bolting on ahead of the group, all of whom, except for Zen, quickly ran after him, laughing as if the mood hadn’t been heavy just moments before.  Shade Tower in all its shining silver glory glinted down on the four players as if death wasn’t an imminent part of everyday life in the world of Land of Shadows.

June 26th
The Town of Montoya
Sun Compound
The metal clashing of swords and the pained grunts of knights filled the air in the Sun Guild’s training courtyard.  Instructors in white guild uniforms roamed around, critiquing and correcting men and women as they went.  Not far away, a group of forager druids picked berries and small children, ranging from 10 to 15 years old, watched some hunters in the bordering forest chasing down a ginny dear for sport.
“Has anyone seen Benji today?  He has to take care of very important guild affairs,” screamed a short, skinny teenager with messy brown hair in guild council uniform robes.  He stopped in his tracks when he spotted the man in the center of the training formation.
The man moved with a practiced grace and ease as he fought with two small daggers against a much larger knight.  His white uniform pants, although usually a bit restraining, seemed to cause him little discomfort or trouble while fighting, and his black tank top enabled him to move his arms freely.  It was clear to see that he seemed to be winning.  “Guildmaster Benji!”
The fighting stopped immediately, and the man in the center, Benji, looked back at the boy, wide-eyed.  The knight he had been fighting against chuckled, punching him in the shoulder lightly.  “What was that about the council approving you to attend training, boss?  You might want to run if you don’t want shorty over there to catch you.”
“Bye, Paul!  Make sure to work on your quickdraws,” Benji shouted, stowing the two daggers away in sheaths on his belt before bolting toward the forest.  He didn’t get far before he was immobilized by a spell cast by the boy running after him, holding up his long robes as he ran.  “Damn enchanter class!  Why did he have to learn that spell?”
“You were supposed to be preparing for the guildmaster conference in Grounder!  You have two days before you have to leave, and you can’t skip out on this one.  The Shade Guild is hosting it and we can’t afford to lose any help they give us.  Guildmaster Zen is picky about who he helps, but he leads Land of Shadow’s top guild thanks to the guild’s founder.  He has offered rooms for all of those who attend and a security detail for those who want it.  Rumors even say that one of the most powerful players may even attend as a favor from Zen.  It would be nice to get some tips from them, especially since the guild is getting bigger and the threats from dark guilds and MGs are on the rise,” the boy said as he reached Benji.
“And why would I care about that, Kohl?  We’re a good guild on our own, so why would we need help from some guild who was abandoned by its founder?  It couldn’t be all that good if the person who started it left it behind.  And we have plenty of very powerful players.  I could be of more use to my own guild here working on guild matters or with the troops than there rubbing elbows with players who send others out to do the dirty work because they’re too scared.”  Benji sagged as the spell wore off.  He stood up a bit straighter, but didn’t look into Kohl’s eyes.  He knew what would happen if he did, but then again, what Kohl was about to say was inevitable.
“Is this about what happened three years ago, Benji?”  Benji didn’t answer.  “Benji, she didn’t abandon you or your first guild.  She had to save a lot of people, and she wanted the best life for you.  She was probably the only player to ever be able to really see true potential in another without using it to their own advantage.  I’m sure she is still out there helping players just like she helped you.”
“She left.  I’ve given up on all of that.”  Benji heard Kohl sigh.
“Whatever man.  I was with you when it went down.  Take some time to think about that woman before you decide to come back.  I’ll see you in a bit,” Kohl said before casting yet another paralysis spell and leaving Benji cursing at the forest’s edge.  It was quite obvious that the spell would only be undone when Kohl’s wish was fulfilled, and Benji honestly saw no use in prolonging the inevitable, so he let his mind wander to the day that started everything.  Day Zero.
Benji panted heavily, staring wide eyed at the woman before him decked out in a black and gray coat.  Her sword was still clutched tightly in hand and the remnants of the swarm of poisonous boarwasps that had attacked Benji and his now unconscious companion, Kohl.  The shock of the situation was stifling, and the fact that Kohl had passed out after reading the message in his PM inbox was extremely concerning.
“Hey you, the one not passed out, are you okay?  I think I got here in time, but I want to be sure.  If not, I need to make sure you get healed before you keel over.  We can’t spare any time if you are hurt.  I can’t lose anyone else on the first day,” the woman said quietly, still not moving from her crouched position.  Benji didn’t answer.  “I need to know you are okay before I do anything else to help you and your friend.  Your HP is my first priority.”
“I- I’m fine,” Benji stuttered.  “Who are you?  What happened to my friend?  Why are you so worried about my HP?  You don’t even know me!”
“You’re about as question filled as the other boy,” the woman mumbled to herself.  “Who I am isn’t important, but you are important.  Your friend received a message right before he passed out, right?”  Benji nodded.  The woman only glanced over her shoulder and nodded back.  “He read the news.  We’re stuck here.”
“What do you mean?”
“Never ending questions today,” the woman chuckled.  “Let’s just say that the logout button on the start menu isn’t going to work for a while and there have been some issues with players IRL recently.”
“What do you mean,” Benji asked again.  The woman finally stood up and faced him, and Benji had to say that he wasn’t expecting what he saw.  The woman was beautiful with red-brown hair and dark brown eyes, her featured smooth and even.  There was a small clip scar going through her right eyebrow.  He idly wondered why she would allow her avatar to be scarred like that, but he quickly shot down the useless question.  “What do you mean?”
“Not important.  Welcome to Land of Shadows, and your new home for a while.  We should get you out of this forest before another monster or demon shows up.  You might even attract some MG attention due to your betta player data.  What’s your name?  What about your friend,” the woman asked.
“Why would I tell you?  How do you know all of that about me?  I don’t even know you-”
“T!  It’s time we get out of here!  The two brats are getting restless,” called a voice from the darker shadows in the surrounding forest.  A man and two children appeared in the small clearing, staring intensely at the woman who smiled back at the group softly.  They did nothing to sooth his nerves.  “I set them up in the new guild, so all we have to do is get to a safe haven and finish the setup.  It’s dangerous out here.”
“Yeah,” the woman, ‘T’, replied softly.  She turned back to Benji, smiling as Kohl began to open his eyes again.  “So, what’s your name?”
“Why should I-”
“Benji,” Kohl called out, voice clouded in confusion.  The woman laughed softly, the noise startlingly different from her previous chuckling.  It was warmer and less forceful.
“Benji, then.  So Benji, how about you come with us.  You can join my guild.  It’ll be safer for now,” the woman said.  Benji shook his head from his place looking up at her from the ground, but was cut off when an arrow shot through the air.  The woman swung her sword, cutting it in half before dropping her sword and, almost impossibly, drew a bow, noosing an arrow and setting it flying.  It hit a goblin square in the chest, causing it to fall from a nearby tree and dissipate into nothing.  “You sure?”
“Go with her, Benji,” Kohl said.  And that was the end of it.
-..-..-
“So, how are you enjoying Land of Shadows,” the woman asked.  It had been a month since Day Zero and Benji had begun to get used to the death game that only resembled the game he had beta tested.  Benji looked up at her, playing with the gray and black coat of his Shade Guild uniform.
“Other than the fact that I kind of want to be IRL, it’s okay.  Why do you ask?”  The woman looked down for a moment, a soft smile on her face.  It was silent for a few moments, save for the footsteps of guild members.  “Why do you ask,” Benji repeated.
“I’m going away for a while, so I wanted to ask something of you,” the woman said quietly.  Benji sat up a little bit straighter.
“What do you mean you’re going away for a while?  How long?  Guildmaster-”
“I’m not the guildmaster, Benji.  I’m not even a member,” she said quietly.  “Benji, I’m going to ask you to do something for me because I trust you to do what’s right.  I’m leaving the guild for a while. My brother is capable of leading the guild.  This was the plan all along.  I would set up a safe haven and get it going, then I would leave and start to work on getting us out of this game.
“What is this,” Beji said, jumping to his feet, his calm demeanor gone, replaced by anger, confusion, and desperation.  “How could you leave your own guild?  People here rely on you!  How is the guild going to continue without its creator?  Your brother is a reckless fool!  How could you leave us so easily?”
“Calm down Benji, I’m not going away forever.  This guild will be fine without me, and it’s not like I’ve totally abandoned it or anyone in it.  I just… I’ve never been a good team member so I wouldn’t be a good guild member.  I’m going to finally live up to my solo player status and help out around the different servers.  I’ll still help out,” the woman said quietly, looking straight into Benji’s eyes with such intensity that Benji couldn’t help but admire.  “That’s not the point.”
“What is your point?  You are leaving all of us alone in a game that not even beta testers can beat when you are our best option.  You are being selfish-”
“Don’t lecture me on being selfish, Benji.  I am doing this for every player in here,” the woman said, her voice sharp.  She took a deep breath.  “My point is, there has to be more guilds with good leaders and the goal of keeping everyone safe and healthy both mentally and physically.  I want you to finally live up to all of that potential you have in you and-”
“You want me to help you set up another guild?”
“No, I want you to set up a guild of your own.  You and Kohl have the makings of great leaders, especially you.  You can do great things, and you’re holding yourself back by staying here under Zen’s care.  I am not able to create another guild because I wasn’t even really suited to make Shade, but I know you can do it like no other,” the woman said.
“No, you-”
“Don’t worry, Benji.  I’ll watch out for you and your new guild.  If you ever need me, and I mean truly need me, I’ll be there.”
“Yeah right, Taro.  Sure you will.”
-..-..-
“So, who are the strong players that Zen got to come?”  Benji looked exhausted when he walked into the guildmaster’s quarters.  His shoulders sagged and his uniform was in disarray.  He was showing off his childish side, no longer the composed and serious 22 year old man he normally was.  He looked anything but the guildmaster of the second strongest guild in Land of Shadows.
“Guildmaster Zen said that it would be someone from the War Paint Assassins.  I figured that they would be a good mentor for our front line battalions if we could get them to tag along when we come back.  Guildmaster Zen said that they were top notch and had news to share about conditions and developments in the game.”  Kohl only sent Benji a fleeting glance before looking down at the papers on his desk again.
“What is the conference even about?  Zen hates having  company, especially other guilds around his own,” Benji said, flopping down onto a chair in the opposite corner of the main office.  He looked at his own empty desk and sighed.
“Guildmaster Zen said that there was a new system update coming out that involved a member of the Shade guild.  Some programmer hacked the system and added in some new, and I quote, ‘groundbreaking changes,’ to the system.  He also mentioned talking about the use of system supplied companions, monster raiding plans, and a few things about guild politics and mergers,” Kohl said, running a finger down the length of a sheet of paper.  Benji sighed again.
“Taro made it seem so interesting when she used to talk about guild conferences,” Benji growled, rubbing his face.  Kohl looked surprised.
“I’m surprised you said her name again after all of this time,” Kohl said quietly before becoming serious again.  “I doubt she actually liked the idea of them, and you have to keep in mind that you and Taro are two separate people with separate interests that have nothing to do with one another.  She happened to be a natural at negotiation and politics while you are more physical.  Either way, I think she would want you to experience at least one of these conferences as she is the one who hosted the first guild conference all those years ago.  She would be furious that you’ve been sending proxies.”
“Yeah, whatever.  Get together a group of representatives for the trip.  We’ll get there early.  I think it’s time that I visit Zen.”

June 28th
The Town of Grounder
Shade Tower, Diplomatic Entrance Gate 3

“Welcome to Shade Tower, Guildmaster Benji and company.  My name is Levi and I have been assigned as your guide for the duration of your stay here.  If there is anything I can help you with, please do tell me and I will do my very best to help,” said a young boy, no older than about sixteen.  Benji glared around at the entrance gate.  It hadn’t changed a bit.
“Where is Guildmaster Zen?  Can we meet with him,” Benji asked cooly.  The boy’s expression seemed to soften.  He smiled brightly, his face looking even younger than before.
“Guildmaster Zen is in a meeting with a party that recently returned from a field mission.  He told everyone not to disturb him under any circumstance.  One of the members is very important,” Levi said quietly.  Benji, who had been glancing around, snapped his attention to the young boy.  Sure, he hadn’t seen Zen in years, but he knew the man well enough to know what he would and wouldn’t do.
“Zen said not to disturb him,” he nearly shouted.  “Who is he meeting with?  Zen would never deny anyone unless someone was dying on his floor or...”
“Benji,” Kohl called from behind some of the Sun Guild’s guards.  “Are you okay?”
“Is Taro here?”  The humming of the game’s soundtrack seemed to completely stop and the players froze, not even blinking for a moment.  Levi looked wide eyed at Benji.  “Well, is she?”
“How do you know Ms. Taro?”  Before Levi could finish, Benji was off like a shot.  “Wait!”
-..-..-
“So, I recommend moving Karla into a permanent secretarial position.  Her scribe skills are highly developed, but her druid healing abilities are lacking a bit.  It would be in her best interest to keep her here, not that she wasn’t a key part of the mission.  As for Joey, he is a great strategist with a very well developed mase skill, so maybe putting him in charge of small raids and missions would be a good start for him.  Either that or put him in a council position,” Taro said, seated across from her brother with the two younger players behind her.  She looked thoroughly exhausted.
“Good, but there is another issue I want to discuss with you.  Why did you go on a mission the day you got back, idiot!  You said you would rest for a while!”  Zen was fuming in his position, slumped in his chair.  He looked more like a sulking child than a guildmaster with his arms crossed and legs wide.  Taro didn’t answer, but continued to stare unflinchingly at her younger brother.  Zen sighed.  “Are you prepared for the conference tomorrow?  You are the one who requested that it be called.  You do realize that most of the guilds you invited are led by recruits of yours.  I know at least a few who hold grudges about being left behind, not that they’re bad-”
“I understand what you’re saying, but I know these leaders.  They are the best people to talk to and tell about what I have to say.  This is why I chose them to open up new safe haven guilds.  I wouldn’t choose anyone else.  We all know some of them would just open a raiding guild and get everyone killed,” Taro said, looking down and picking at her nails, although they couldn’t be dirty or imperfect due to the game’s system.  “If you are talking about Benji, I know what he’ll do.  In fact he’s already here.”
“How can you know what he’ll… He’s already here?”  No sooner had Zen said that, that the door was flung open revealing a disheveled young man, with mussed blond hair and wide green eyes in a Sun Guild uniform, panting heavily.  Taro didn’t turn around, but Zen and the twins who had previously been the topic of discussion, sprung into action.  They jumped in front of the seated player, Joey pulling a blade from his belt.  “Guildmaster Benjamin.”
“Taro,” the other guildmaster said, still panting.  The sound of heavy footfall was fast approaching.  “Taro.  Taro.  Taro!”
“Guildmaster Benjamin, please calm down.  Keep in mind that the Shade Guild owns rights to this tower and we can blacklist you.  There is no need for such inappropriate behavior,” Karla said smoothly, her ‘secretary mask’ covering up her easy expression and demeanor from earlier.
“That’s Taro, isn’t it?  It has to be!  That’s her coat!  Taro,” he shouted.  Taro still didn’t turn around, but she did stand up.  “Taro!”
“I’m going out again.  I will return before the meeting.  If you really need me, come get me,” Taro said and Benji strained against Zen and Joey as he tried to get to her.  “Benji should be kept on watch in a dead room until the meeting starts.”
“Taro!”
“You mean a lot to me, Benji.  Don’t do anything stupid until I get back.”  Taro disappeared from the room using a small, round object, just as Benji broke through.  Green eyes searched desperately for any hint of the signature black and gray coat, coming up with nothing.  He quickly turned back to the group behind him.
He was met with the sharp blue eyes of the other guildmaster, a glare that could kill… no, the eyes of someone who would.  Benji would never admit it, but his former guildmaster was a scary man, although he always thought that his more mild-mannered sister was far more intimidating.  Zen looked scarier than he had seen him in a long time, not that it had been that long since he had left the guild and Zen behind.  Benji cringed.
“I hope you have an explanation, Benji.  This was not even close to the ideal time for you to show up.”
-..-..-
“Do you know where she might have gone,” Karla asked her brother, trying to ignore the shouting match that the two guild masters were having on the other side of the door.  She glanced over at Joey, whose face was dark with worry.  “You don’t, do you?  She said we would know where to find her, but I honestly have no clue.  Who would know with her?”
“The only people who might know would be Soren, Zen, and maybe Levi because he is one of her favorites.  But honestly, she doesn’t seem like she wants to be found.  And when Taro doesn’t want to be found, she isn’t found.”  Joey looked down at his feet.  “She probably picked up another mission.  She’s a fool like that.”
“Yeah.”  Karla sighed heavily as something hit the wall on the other side.  “I hope they aren’t being too harsh.  Benji is her favorite.  I mean, she never said anything, but it’s just her reactions to his name and the way that he was the first one she sent out to set up a guild.  She didn’t even watch over them for that long.  He’s got her trust and by the blush on her cheeks, he’s got her.”
“She blushed?  THE Taro blushed?”  Joey’s eyes widened comically as he span around to face his sister.  He realized what he must’ve looked like and leant back against the wall, scratching the back of his head.  “Gee, Taro must see something really great in Guildmaster Benji.”
“Yeah, I don’t know what,” Levi said, popping up out of nowhere.  Karla glared at Levi; she had never really liked him and didn’t see what Taro saw in him.  Joey on the other hand, must’ve jumped about a foot in the air, both out of surprise and embarrassment at having someone he admired having seen him in such an easy position.  “Hello, Taro groupie twins.  I came to see if Guildmaster Benjamin was dead yet.  I truly hope he is!”
“Says the guildmaster’s guide.  What are you really here for, Levi,” Karla asked cooly.  She continued to glare at the smirking boy. 
“Oh, I came to see if Taro wants to go to the tavern.”
“She ran off a little while ago.  You wouldn’t happen to know where she went, do you,” Joey asked.  He sent a fleeting glance toward his sister, choosing his words very carefully as to not make the situation any worse.  Levi’s smirk grew ten times larger.
“Indeed I do, not that I’ll be telling you.  She’s probably waiting for me now, so I’ll be seeing you around, groupie twins!”  Levi opened up the player menu and transported away, leaving the two siblings alone in the hallway, staring at where he had been moments ago.
“Is that tracker Zen had you place on him still active,” Joey asked quietly, face palming at the devious look on his sister’s face.
“Yeah.  Let’s go find Taro before she does something that get’s her killed.”
-..-..-
Taro leaned up against the wall of Titan’s Fist, a troublesome murder guild in the town of Quest.  Her hands were soaked in blood, or what should have been blood, but was really just pixels; that didn’t make the pain any less.  There were at least seven players surrounding her, all wearing the same smirk.  It was quite obvious who was winning because the blood on her hands was her own.
“What’s a pretty lady like yourself doing here?  And you’re a feisty one, too.  I would have thought you were one of those losers who decided to join up with some guy in a ‘marriage’.  But obviously not, since you’re out here,” the leader said, stroking his beard.  Taro grit her teeth.  “Oh, did I strike a nerve?  Did your hubby get killed?  Or maybe you were shot down?”
“It wasn’t either of those, and like I would tell you if it was.”  Taro gripped her daggers tighter, flicking her hair over her shoulder.  If she didn’t start fighting soon, this would all be over, and there were things that she couldn’t lose.  It was hard, though.  She hadn’t taken a rest in days, not that she really needed to, but the fatigue was hitting her hard now.  This fight wasn’t prompting any adrenaline, and that was what she really needed.
“Woah!  Look at that spirit.  Why don’t you just give up?  We might keep you around for a little while.”  Taro gripped her daggers even harder than before, the cuts on her hands pouring out blood.  It hit the ground before dissipating.
“I just haven’t started fighting yet,” Taro spat.  The men laughed.
“Taro!”  Taro span around, eyes wide and horrified as she took in the person who called her name.

June 28th
The Town of Grounder
Shade Tower, Guildmaster Zen’s Quarters

“I can’t believe you!  Taro put so much stock on you being calm and collected and then you do that!  Do you know how hard it was just to invite you?  She hated letting you go somewhere that she couldn’t guard, but she did it for you!  And this is how you repay her?  She was tired enough and now she’s gone!”
“It’s not my fault!  And why would it be hard?  Why did she leave me if she wanted to protect me?”
“She loves you!  She knew that she couldn’t allow herself to guard you 24/7, so she wanted you to start a group that could!”  Zen paused and looked down, blushing.  “Don’t tell Taro I said that.  She’d kill me.  It’s supposed to be a secret.”
“If she loved me, she wouldn’t have left me behind!  I don’t need protecting!”  A jar of quills went flying and hit the wall beside Benji’s head.  Benji’s eyes went wide.
“You don’t realize how much protecting and guarding she does.  The system updates haven’t been from Land of Shadows’ creators!  She has spent hours creating tools to protect everyone, and she still spent 18 hour days out in the field!  She left you to people who could spend those hours protecting you!  Why do you think she sent Kohl with you?  She saw a protective second in command who would do anything for you and would ensure you didn’t end up like her!”  The room went silent as both men panted, eyes angry.
A beeping sound interrupted their stare-down and a notice popped up in front of Zen.  He quickly read through between opening his player menu and equipping his mace.  Benji’s anger turned into confusion.
“What are you doing?”
“Levi left the building, which means that Karla and Joey will follow.  They’re looking for my sister, and I’m going to follow and help out because she has most likely done something stupid,” Zen said, checking the clasps of his armor, not that he needed to thanks to the system.  He pulled up the player menu again, but paused and looked back at Benji.  “Are you coming?”
-..-..-
Levi and the twins stood shocked, staring at the bloodied and bruised Taro as she stood in front of a group of seven player killers.  They couldn’t even make a sound, and if they were honest with themselves, they were safer that way.  Titan’s Fist was known for their swift and violent ways of killing, and it was clear that they were prepared to show off those skills.  Taro didn’t seem to know they were there, and it was most likely better that way, as well.  She seemed to be struggling without the distraction.
Karla was the first to snap out of it, her breathing coming in short pants.  She stumbled back a bit, not taking her eyes from the stream of blood steadily dripping from Taro’s wounds.  She opened her mouth a bit wider to scream, only to have a hand placed over her mouth and her back pressed against someone’s chest.  She squeaked and looked up.
“Stay quiet, Karla.  She doesn’t need to know about us,” Zen whispered harshly as he nodded his head to the two boys.  Karla noticed Benji beside her guildmaster and gasped lightly behind Zen’s hand.  “Don’t do anything stupid, Benji!”
“Woah!  Look at that spirit.  Why don’t you just give up?  We might keep you around for a little while.”  Taro gripped her daggers even harder than before, the cuts on her hands pouring out blood.  It hit the ground before dissipating.
“I just haven’t started fighting yet,” Taro spat, her breathing heavy.  She squinted as some blood ran into her eye.  The group of player killers laughed and the leader took a step forward.  The warning Zen had issued to Benji went out the window as Benji stepped forward, drawing his sword.
“Taro!”  Taro’s eyes whipped to look at Benji, wide and horrified.  The grip she had had on her daggers loosened and she opened her mouth as if to say something.  Nothing came out, but Taro wasn’t the only one who heard Benji call out, and suddenly all seven of the other guild’s members were rushing toward the group, Taro long forgotten.  It was Benji’s turn to look scared.  He had fought on the front lines, but Titan’s Fist was off limits for the Sun Guild, their levels too low to handle the onslaught of murderous players.
“Taro!”  This time it was Zen who called out, gathering Joey and Karla to his chest and turning away to protect them.  Levi stood completely still, just a few paces away.  Taro didn’t spare any time, not wasting the time to have the system assist activate.  She sprinted forward, launching herself over the offending players and in front of her allies, dropping her daggers as two swords materialized in their place.  She stood in a defensive stance in front of the party of five.  The group slowed their sprint, unsure of what they had missed between conversation they had been having with the woman moments before, with daggers held firm, to the oncoming fight with that same woman several paces away with long swords.
“Wait… Taro?”  The leader stopped, slowing his run until he stood a few feet away.  “As in Taro, the founder of the Shade?”
“Oh, are you afraid of her,” Levi hissed snidely.  The other player killers had stopped behind their leader, but they were not above raising their weapons again.  “Sorry.  Sorry.”
“We simply have heard of this ‘Taro’ and his strength, but it turns out that he’s a she.  Never would have seen that coming,” the leader said, a smirk growing on his face.
“Is that a problem?”  Taro’s gaze was like fire, searing and intense.  The leader’s smirk grew wider as he shook his head.
“No, no.  Of course not, you just had me thinking.  A moment ago, we had you bleeding and panting, so close to death, and yet you are somehow this great player and leader.  I heard you were one of the causes for the haven guilds.  What a let down,” the man snorted.  “Oh, how wrong I was.  Of course our guild would be stronger than some goody-two-shoes who's never killed before.”
“But, I have,” Taro said, not breaking her stance.  “I just don’t go looking to do it, and I never do it for selfish reasons like you do.  Now, are we going to fight or are you going to do what’s right and walk away?”
“Taro,” Benji whispered, but Zen shook his head.
“Let her do this,” Zen said, glancing over his shoulder, still shielding the two twins.  Karla was sobbing into her guildmaster’s chest, and Joey was trying to peer over his shoulder, but failing in the process.  “She’s got the upper hand now.”
“But, she’s bleeding.”
“That’s just the system.  She may look half dead, but with us here, she’ll win for sure.”  There was no pause between the end of Zen’s statement and the move of the leader of the enemy.  The leader flung himself forward, the others following suit. 
The battle was over nearly as quickly as it started.  Before they got even close to the group, Taro had jumped forward, left hand sword piercing the leader's side as she flipped herself over his shoulder, tearing her blade free.  It took half of a motion to land a slash along the stomachs of the others with her right and paralysis set in due to the shock of the situation.  Taro landed gracefully on her right foot behind them all, spinning on the ball of her foot.  Her face was blank as she watched the players drop.
“Y-you-”
“There have been many names for me, so what you’re about to say isn’t as creative or hurtful as you think it will be,” Taro said, walking toward the leader who spluttered and gasped for breath.  Zen was busy tugging Levi and the twins away, Benji staring at the scene before him in awesome terror.  Taro knelt down beside the leader.  “The wound isn’t fatal, so don’t worry.  I don’t kill without a reason, and there is no reason to now.  You will be taken back to Shade Tower where you will either be held or join.  Either way, system limitations will be placed on your player to ensure you don’t kill again.”
“What are you,” one of the others asked, holding their stomachs as ‘blood’ seeped onto the ground.  Taro looked at him blankly, but reality was clearly hitting her as her eyes looked less cold and more uncertain than they had before.  She looked away.
“Zen, can you call for a team to pick these men up?”  Zen nodded, opening his player menu and whispering for the twins and Levi to do the same.  They quickly transported away, leaving a shocked Benji, seven groaning player killers, and Taro alone next to the Titan’s Fist guild hall.  Taro didn’t look at Benji.  “This is why I sent you away, Benjamin.  I have this thing that makes me want to protect you, and in the end, it’ll get us all killed.”
“What just happened, Taro,” Benji asked, stunned.  Taro still didn’t look at him. 
“I already answered that,” she said softly just as Zen warped back into the alleyway they were in.  Taro stood up, turning away from Benji.  “Zen, take him back to his room.  I’m going home, so don’t bother me.  I’ll be back in the morning to start the meeting.  I’ll see you at 10.”
“Okay,” Zen said.  Benji rushed forward toward Taro, but it was too late.  She had disappeared from her spot, leaving nothing behind to signify her ever being there in that place.  Zen huffed, looking around at the scene of guild soldiers gathering the enemies who struggled but were careful not to lose anymore HP.  “Benji, go back to the tower.  Levi will bring you to the rest of your guild’s quarters.”
“But… Where does Taro stay in Shade Tower?  I have to talk to her,” Benji said.
“She hasn’t lived in Shade Tower for a long time now,” Zen says, walking toward the rest of the group as soldiers finished subduing the murder guild members.  “She hasn’t since you left, Benji.  I hope you realize she did a lot for and because of you.  Now, go back, Guildmaster Benjamin.”
-..-..-
Taro sat on the edge of her bed, her player stats displayed before her.  She sighed tiredly, dragging a hand over her face.
“Not strong enough,” she murmured.  “If I don’t get better soon, I’ll let everyone down.  Then we’ll all be dead.”  She closed the menu and fell back onto her bed, staring at the wooden ceiling of her room.  She winced and rubbed a hand over her chest as a sharp pain lanced through her.  “Damn it all!”
A knock sounded at the door, but Taro made no move to answer it.  The pain wasn’t passing like it had before.  The knock sounded at the door again, this time heavier than before.  Taro groaned, but made no move to answer it yet again.
“Taro,” someone shouted from the door.  Taro still didn’t move to get up, but she pulled her menu and disarmed the lock on her apartment.  The door swung open and Soren rushed in.  His eyes were hard as he sat on the bed beside her, leaning over to pat her cheek as she paled.  “How is it?  I got a notice that you headed home without stopping back.  Are you stupid?”
“Probably,” she responded, pressing her chest a bit harder as she paled a bit more.
“But that’s what’s kept you alive, I guess.”
“Not feeling so alive right now, Soren,” she hissed.  The damned pain was consuming all of her thoughts and she felt faint.  The room was feeling colder and colder and her head was pounding.  “If this is it, Soren, I want you to-”
“You’re fine!  None of that,” Soren said, cutting Taro off.  “Now, on a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being the worst pain ever and once being a pin prick, how bad is it right now,” Soren asked, opening his menu and summoning a bucket of water and some towels.  Taro groaned.
“An 11,” Taro said before stilling.  “You haven’t told anyone have you?”
“No, but I think you should.”
“I will eventually, but I have work that needs to be done here first,” Taro said before her world went black.

June 29th
The Town of Grounder
Shade Tower, Council Meeting Quarters

“She’s late, Soren,” Zen growled, leaning back in his chair at the council meeting table.  The chatter going on around them was unignorable and Zen rubbed at his temples as if he was dealing with a headache.  “Did she come to get a new mission?  Is she gone again?  She isn’t answering her messages and it’s way past time for her to be getting here.”
“No, Guildmaster Zen.  She hasn’t gone out on any mission for the Shade Guild or any of those in the alliance, and there has been no notifications coming in regarding her name.  She was tired when I last saw her, so maybe she just overslept.”  Soren looked less than certain, standing a foot or two behind Zen, but Zen didn’t notice, opening his messages and scanning through them again, skipping over the ones from merchant guilds in town and staring the ones regarding diplomatic relations and mission notices.
“Where is she,” Benji hissed from his position in his chair on Zen’s left side.  Zen didn’t respond in favor of sending another message to his sister.  “I asked where she was!  You didn’t tell me where she lives, other than it not being in Shade Tower.  I respected that, but I was promised to be able to at least see her at this meeting!  What is going on?”
“There was no such promise made, Guildmaster Benjamin.  Now, if you wait a few more moments, I’m sure she’ll show up,” Joey said, leaning back in his own seat to Zen’s right.  His sister stood between Zen and Joey, nodding with a look to the angry guildmaster.  She worried her lip.  “Taro promised she would be here.  It’s her meeting.  I promise she’ll show up soon.”
Just as Joey finished, the door to the meeting room swung open.  At first, there was no one in sight, save for a system generated companion.  Zen whispered “Kotaro” under his breath and exited out of his menu, standing and brushing off his uniform.  His sister appeared next to her German shepherd not long after, patting him on the head before straightening out her own coat.  Zen frowned at how pale she looked, and Soren rushed to her side, taking the swords and quiver of arrows from her before allowing Taro to keep her bow after arguing about it for a while.
“I am very sorry that I’m so late, guys!  I overslept and…  You know what?  It’s not important.”  She rushed over to take the chair that Joey had saved for her.  “Welcome to Shade Tower, guildmasters of the alliance!  It’s good to see you all!”
“Are you okay, Taro?  You’re acting weird,” Karla asked quietly.  Taro nodded and replaced the stupid grin on her face with one of sincerity.  She became deadly serious.
“Zen, if you would.”  It was silent for a moment, tense as the guildmaster gazed at his sister, but he sighed and resigned himself to his duties.
“Welcome to Shade Tower in the town of Grounder, home of the Shade Guild, head guild and founder of the alliance.  My name is Zen Kagemune, guildmaster of the Shade Guild and supervisor of the alliance’s MG missions on the U.S. server of Land of Shadows.  I would like to begin this meeting, called by Shade Guild founder and solo player representative, my sister, Taro Kagemune, with guild introductions and then we will continue with the proceedings.”  The hall became silent as they stared at the hosting guild’s master before he turned his eyes to Benji, who stood up from his seat.
“Attending representatives from the Sun Guild.  My name is Benjamin, guildmaster and founder of the Sun Guild in the town of Montoya.  I am here as the second member of the alliance of 8 guilds and supervisor of the monster brigade on the U.S. server of Land of Shadows.”  Benjamin nodded to Zen before sitting down as another guildmaster stood.
“Attending representatives of the Black Coat Guild.  My name is Kyle, guildmaster and founder of the Black Coat Guild in the town of Rockwell.  I am here as third member of the 8 guild alliance and supervisor of the front lines on the U.S. server of Land of Shadows.”
“Attending representatives of the Raven Guild.  My name is Annabeth, co-guildmaster and founder of the Raven Guild in the city of Embers.  I am here as one of the two fourth members of the 8 guild alliance and am the second general supervising the public safety committees on the U.S. server of Land of Shadows.”
“Attending representatives of the Raven Guild.  My name is Noah, co-guildmaster and founder of the Raven guild in the city of Embers.  I am here as one of the two fourth members of the 8 guild alliance and am the first general supervising the public safety committees on the U.S. server of Land of Shadows.”
“Attending representatives of the Felix Guild.  My name is Cross, guildmaster and founder of the Felix Guild in the town of Terras.  I am here as the fifth member of the 8 guild alliance and am the supervising officer of the quest control committees on the U.S. server of Land of Shadows.”
“Attending representatives of the Autumn Guild.  My name is Lancer, guildmaster and founder of the Autumn Guild in the town of Constellation.  I am here as sixth member of the 8 guild alliance and am the supervisor of the Medical Corp on the U.S. server of Land of Shadows.”
“Attending representative of the Nightingale Guild.  My name is Frost, guildmaster and founder of the Nightingale Guild in the city of Kale.  I am here as the seventh member of the 8 guild alliance and am the supervisor of the Forgers Corp on the U.S. server of Land of Shadows.”
“Attending representative of the Blade Guild.  My name is Caden, guildmaster and founder of the Blade Guild in the city of Aero.  I am here as the eighth and final member of the 8 guild alliance and am the supervising officer of the Civilians’ Emotional Health Corp on the U.S. server of Land of Shadows.
“I am Taro Kagemune, representative of Land of Shadows solo players on the U.S. server and the player who called this meeting of the 8 guild alliance on the U.S. server.  Welcome to Shade Tower,” Taro said from her seat, looking around at the other guild masters, all handpicked by Taro herself.  She smiled and rubbed her fist over her cheeks to color them.
“Taro, are you okay,” Zen whispered to his sister.  She nodded with a bright smile which only furthered her brother’s concern, but he made no move to question her again as it would be futile.  “Okay then,” he whispered to himself before looking up again.  “Well then, with that out of the way, I will hand over the stage to Taro and we will begin this meeting.”
“What is this all about,” asked Caden, the black-haired guildmaster of the Blade Guild.  “It’s not that I’m not glad to see you, Taro.  I mean, you are the reason my guild exists, but I have a ton of important matters that I actually know about.  This was a vague invitation.  I didn’t even really know that it would be you, but I took a chance.  If this is just some stupid-”
“I’ve found a way to contact the outside world.”  Taro’s voice rang clear, her previously bright tone gone and replaced by her signature serious mask.  The room went dead still.  It was questionable if anyone was even breathing as her voice resonated through the hall.  Caden, who had risen during his little speech stood stock still, eyes wide and mouth agape.
“You what,” Zen asked loudly, the silence shattering.  He turned to look at his sister who still sat in her chair.  He sprang up and turned, grabbing her shoulders and gripping firmly.  “Taro!  You what?”
“She said she contacted the outside world.  She was able to break through,” Soren said from his position behind his guildmaster.  He said it nonchalantly, as if it was obvious, paying no mind to the other representatives, those visiting guild masters and their party of representatives standing behind them.
“Impossible,” Caden shouted, breaking through the shadow of shock.  “We’ve been stuck here for how long?  We would have figured it out before now!  And it would have been one of the programmers in the Syntax Sub Guild!  Not some solo playing woman with a tendency to play hero one moment, villain the next, and then finish off by abandoning everyone who relied on her!”
“That’s enough, Caden!”  Taro stood from her seat, eyes blazing.  “And you had asked why you were the last man I approached about starting a guild.  You have such little faith in others, and such a bleak outlook on life!  I did it for you, you idiot!  I did it for all of you!”
“Taro,” Soren growled as Taro fell back into her chair, a hand raising to her chest as pain flashed through her eyes, not that anyone was paying enough attention to catch it, not even Zen.  “Watch it!”
“I set up a video link to Towa VRGames and the Coraline Institute for VR Victims where all U.S. players are being monitored, including me.  The link was stable enough for me to give them updates and develope new system updates that include text messages to be sent to family, other gamers on all servers, Towa, and doctors and nurses at all of the VR victim institutes for updates and information on health matters.”  Taro stayed completely serious, unflinching in the face of the whispers that erupted in the room.
“Taro,” Zen called, “Did you contact Mori?”
“He said he would save you a little sukiyaki for when we got back and said to make sure that the medical bills don’t postpone our visit to the rest of the family.”
“Oh my god,” Zen said, falling into his chair.  “Oh my god!  You really did…”
“Taro?”  The whispers continued to ring throughout the hall, nobody looked at Taro, not even her brother.  Soren rushed over to her, noting the way she had begun shaking.  He knelt down beside her.  “Taro, what’s wrong?”
“Soren, get me out of here and try to get through to Coraline.  Something’s wrong.”  Without another word, Taro fell out of her chair onto the ground, her avatar flickering.
“Taro!”

July 1
The town of Grounder
Shade Tower, Med Bay
“What’s wrong with her,” Zen said, pacing in the hall outside of Taro’s private room in Shade Tower’s medical bay.  Soren sat in a chair on the opposite side of the hall.  He didn’t say a word.  “Soren!  My sister has been comatosed for almost two days and it was you who she called before she became that way!  Her avatar started to disappear!”
“I can’t tell you that.  She didn’t want me to tell you before, and she hasn’t given me permission to now.”  Soren seemed calm, but the constant tapping of her foot said otherwise.  Zen growled under his breath.
“So you do know something!  And you contacted someone after she passed out!  You not only knew about this, but you knew who and how to contact someone!  Why did she choose you?  Why did-”  Zen let out a shuddering breath, “Why did she choose you over me?  Why?”  He slid down the wall next to Soren.  “Why?”
“She didn’t want to hurt you, but she needed someone who would be able to do something if anything happened.”  It was silent for a moment and Soren sighed.  “She’s not doing good, Zen, but she’s good enough to survive in this world.  Honestly, this game is saving her.  If she was in the real world right now, she’d be going insane.  She just wanted to be normal for a little while longer.”
“Is she dying, Soren,” Zen asked.  Soren was silent.  “Oh god, my sister is dying.”
“It’s okay.  Taro is too good to die,” Soren said.  “She’s got everyone here and at home to look out for.  I think she’d be pissed if she heard this conversation… almost as pissed as Benji when we told him he couldn’t enter the med bay.”
“Taro is dying and I didn’t know.  I’m a horrible younger brother.”
“Shut up, Zen.  She’s a fighter.  She’s not dying anytime soon.”
“Hey Soren?”
“Yeah?”
“I know you won’t tell me what, but for how long?”
“Unofficially, two and a half years.  She was diagnosed by a medical doctor in the real world about a year and a half ago.  She found out on her first call to Coraline about six months ago.  The docs think it had been going on for a bit before that.”  Zen nodded, dropping his head into his arms.
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Okay.”
-..-..-
“She’s awake.”  The druid nurse broke the silence in the med bay halls.  Zen popped up from his spot on the floor, rubbing sleep from his eyes.  It took him a moment to recognise the fact that Soren was no longer in the chair and that the soft rumble of Soren’s voice in the room across from him.  The door was open and he could see his sister’s grim face as she spoke to Soren.
“Taro!”  The conversation stopped as Zen ran into the room.  Taro smiled at him, but when she saw the tears in her brother’s eyes, the smile dropped like a lead weight.  “Taro, you idiot!”
“You told him,” she asked angrily.
“No, only that you’re sick.  It was kind of unavoidable.”
“Taro!”  Zen fell to his knees as he began to sob.  “You- you big idiot!  You better tell me what’s really going on right now or… or I’ll… I’ll never forgive you.”
“Quiet down Zen, you’ll wake the neighbors.  This is technically a hospital.”
“Don’t joke with me Taro!  Tell me now!”  Taro listened to her brother’s sobs for a few moments, breathing steadily even though the pain in her chest was nearly unbearable.  “Taro, please!”
Taro saw no way out of telling him, and she didn’t want to sugar coat it and make it worse for him.  She took a deep breath.
“I’m in heart failure, Zen.”  Zen’s sobs stopped suddenly before they started anew.  “I had a heart attack in the real world about two and half years ago and the damage was really bad.  They put me on the transplant list.  It’s terminal unless I get a heart soon, but I’m strong.  I’ll get through it.  The doctor says that it could be five years before it goes south.”
“Taro, you’re dying!”
“That may be true, but you’ve known me for how long?  You think I’ll keel over without a fight.  Don’t you worry, Zen.  I made a promise to you and to Mori when mom and dad died.  I’ll never leave you, you’re stuck with me,” Taro said softly, reaching to brush away some of her brother’s tears.  “Stop sobbing you overgrown baby!”
“Taro,” Soren called, a look of question on his face. 
“Go give the news.  There’s nothing to hide anymore,” Taro whispered.
-..-..-
Benji stood with his eyes wide at the front of the crowd.  The news was still ringing in his ears and the rest of the room seemed to have disappeared.  He could vaguely hear the shouts of other guild masters and the members of the Shade Guild as they voiced their opinions on the situation.  Soren stood on the public stage with a stern expression, not that it ever changed.
“What,” Benji asked loudly and the entire courtyard went dead silent.  “This is some kind of sick joke right?  It has to be.”
“Heart failure?  Is that even possible?”
“Yeah, and she was such a good player too, one of the best.”
“You think she’ll keep playing like this?”
“Probably not.  She’s probably all talk about not fearing death.  She’s probably too scared to risk it.”
“Yeah, all the raiding and hunting and guarding is not good for the heart.  Plus, all that traveling she does between servers probably isn’t good for her.  I bet Guildmaster Zen won’t let her out of med bay ever again.”
“What’re we gonna do?  She’s our Ace!”
“What about that news about her being the update designer?  They’ve been saving lives.  If she dies, what’ll happen?”
“Stop it.”
“Yeah, we’re all royally screwed if she’s put out of commission by this.”
“Stop it.”
“I wish that she wasn’t our Ace.  It would be easier if she was just some player, but of course she isn’t.  I wonder if she was really just a weakling playing hero.”
“Stop it!”  The courtyard went silent again as Benji shouted over the whispers.  Soren stood on the stage, his expression never changing, and that really bothered Benji.  He clenched his fists.  “She is our Ace!  The strongest player in the game and here we are, wishing it was someone else!  How could you all say such things?  You are the only thing that she protects!  She doesn’t even care about her own life because she’s too busy trying too busy worrying about us!  Why do you think this might’ve happened?  She had a damn heart attack!  That doesn’t happen to healthy, low-stress twenty-one year olds!  She probably stressed over us so much she had a damn heart attack!  This isn’t just a game anymore!  It isn’t and here we are talking about her as if she were some A.I.!  As if she were just dust…”
“Guildmaster Benjamin-”
“As if she were nothing!  It’s our fault!”
“Benji!”  Benji stopped his shouting as someone grabbed him by the shoulders.  He knew who it was.  Zen dragged him away and Benji could tell Soren wasn’t far behind.  The noise of the crowd picked up again as the party escaped into the corridor marked ‘MEDICAL BAY ENTRANCE’ and continued on.  “I have to say you’re an idiot, but Taro saw something good in you and it’s undeniable.”
“Where are we going?”
“Taro wants to see you.  You’re lucky.  She’s the first one she asked for.”

July 4
The Town of Grounder
Shade Tower, Med Bay
Taro sat in her bed in the medical bay, staring at the master console she had created for herself.  The game information for the new update releasing the new contact access was displayed perfectly before her.  She smiled.
“I never thought it would be this hard to be ‘okay,’ but here we are,” she mumbled to herself.  The ache in her chest was horrible and she vaguely considered contacting her doctor before the others returned.  It wasn’t a bad idea because, if she was correct, they wouldn’t like what the doctor would say.  “It’s all coming to an end, but I’m glad I had a good run.”
“You’re not dead yet, Taro.  I don’t think we’d let you die either,” Soren said, leaning against the door frame.  Taro glanced away from the code to look at Soren before looking back down.  “Zen is talking to Benji.  Probably about not stressing you out.”
“Yeah.”  Taro sighed.  “Hey Soren, you aren’t going to like it, but I want you to promise me something, no matter what.”
“Sure.  You put your faith in me this far, so why not lean on me a bit more.  I’ll promise you anything.”
“If I die, and that is an if, I want you to go into my apartment and find a small gift boy.  There’s a button in it with a code.  It has information on dark players and an imperfect immortality spell set for all players.  I don’t want to press it now because it is so imperfect, but it isn’t deadly, but I figured it would be a good parting gift.”
“An immortality spell,” Soren said.  “Why not release it now?”
“Because… it would hurt them to know what it cost.  This world comes at a cost, and so does that spell.”
“In other words, you placed the take on your heart… or rather, your life,” Soren said, his voice quieter than before.  “How the hell did you do that?  Scratch that.  Why?”
“Soren, one life is better than all, but there are flaws that I couldn’t fix.  How I did it isn’t important, but at the very least it provides extra armor if I’m not around.  It’s already selfish that I’m not releasing it now, but I-”
“Idiot-”
“Taro,” Zen said, coming up behind Soren with his hand firmly gripping Benji’s shoulder.  Taro replaced her serious look with a light smile.  Benji nodded in greeting, concern obvious on his face as he observed how weak Taro looked.  Zen smiled back, but it looked forced.  “Are we ready now?  I got Benji for you.”
“Yeah.  I wanted everyone I love to be here, minus the younger ones,” Taro said, exiting out of the master console and pulling up a screen-like holographic, the name ‘RLink’ popping up.  “Original name for it, right,” Taro asked, trying to lighten the mood.  The others chuckled quietly.
Taro scrolled through the main menu on the side, reaching ‘favorites’ and tapping on the name ‘Coraline Cardiac Unit’ as the others observed with interest, minus Soren who had already known about the video link long before as he had helped keep it out of the public eye in order to not get any player’s hopes up.  The link began, a charcoal gray screen popping up with ‘loading.’
“Hello, Miss Kagemune,” said a rough male voice seconds before a young man’s face popped up on the screen.  “I was expecting you to call, but maybe not with so many people.  Did you clear this with Towa?  Why am I asking that at a time like this?”
“Good afternoon, Porter.  Or is it already evening over there,” Taro said quietly.
“It’s around 9 o’clock around here, but that’s not what you called about is it?”
“No.  I called about my health.  I passed out after I announced the new RLink and I was told that my avatar faltered.  I wanted to know what was happening over in Coraline,” Taro said.
“Yeah, what’s the deal,” Zen asked.  Soren and Benji remained silent.
“I’m sorry for my brother.  Dr. Porter Maxim, meet my brother, Zen.  The two over there are Benjamin and Soren,” Taro said, sending a glare to her brother.  “You have my permission to speak freely about my health in front of them.  Don’t sugar coat anything either, Porter.”
“Whatever you say,” Porter said, rolling his eyes before turning away from the camera and shuffling some things around.  “I must say, Zen, you look much more handsome in game than out.  You look a bit… dead right now,” he said as he searched for whatever it was he was looking for.  Zen made a sound just as Porter pulled up a paper and ran his finger along the edge, humming.  “You had a heart attack two days ago, your brain technically died and you were legally dead for about ten seconds.  You, or more your body, is currently being put through an EKG to check out any further damage.”
“Forecasting?”  Taro was sure to ignore her brother who had tensed up and opened his mouth to say something.
“Your life expectancy may have been cut in half.  You’re being moved up on the transplant list due to the severity and what is riding on your shoulders… or more, the lives that are riding on your shoulders,” Porter said, looking down at what must have been Taro’s chart.
“I don’t want to be pushed up just because of who I am.  I can almost guarantee that the others can finish what I’ve started.”
“Mori said you would say that.  Poor kid hasn’t left the hospital for months.  We finally broke down and got you and Zen a private room with an extra bed so he wouldn’t be so uncomfortable.  The kid was happy about having his own bathroom and shower.  Too bad he was in the room when you…”
“Is he okay,” Zen asked quietly.  The other two men still hadn’t spoken.
“Towa is fully supporting all patients, so your medical bills are covered.  Along with that, Taro made a deal that covered all living costs for Mori and provides steady income for working to fix the game from the inside.  She’s doing great and is a great individual to be accepting all of this even with her health.”
“They haven’t been able to access the game from the outside yet, so I just decided to help out.  It’s really nothing special,” Taro replied.  Porter chuckled.
“It’s more than others have done.  But you really should be careful.  Your brain waves indicate extreme stress and it’s putting a strain on your heart.”
“Should we pull her from the field,” Benji asked stepping forward a bit.  Soren didn’t move, but Zen nodded, his gaze flickering briefly from the doctor to the other man.  “You said it’s straining her heart.  Maybe it would be best to put her on bed rest or make her do office work.”
“That wouldn’t work,” Porter said.  “I wish it would, but you kind of need her out there, and it isn’t good for her mentality if you were to stop her.  From what Taro has told me, I think she’s the only one of her kind, and from what she knows about that, she might as well be the only key in existence in that game.”
“What the hell does that mean,” the three men asked in sync.  The doctor laughs half heartedly.
“So, you haven’t told anyone at all yet?”
“They don’t even know my level.”
“You sure do like secrets, but I don’t think that this is the time to be keeping them, Taro,” Porter said softly.  “They may be adding to the stress and that can’t be good.  You’re a valuable one, Taro.  No one else like you.”
“Whatever, Porter.  I gotta go.  I have a few messages from Towa asking about when I’m releasing the new update.  When do you want to talk to me again?”
“I would like to talk to both you and your brothers within the next 48 hours to talk about a plan of action and about your wishes if the need arises,” Porter said.
“Can’t get anymore of a vegetable than I already am,” Taro said with a light smile.  “I’ll contact you soon.  Watch out for Mori for me!  Make sure he’s attending school or at least getting his work.”
“Always.”  The link went dead and the room was silent for a few moments.  The quiet breathing of the inhabitants was the only thing audible other than the soft thrum of the soundtrack outside of Shade Tower.
“Taro,” Benji started.
“I’m hungry.  Let’s order some food,” Taro said.  She glanced at Benji and Zen, Soren having moved to a chair in the shadows that skirted the room.  She sighed, something she had been doing a lot of lately.  “Listen.  I’ll tell you all what’s going on, but I want a meal with just the four of us, like in the old days before anything else changes.  I also want your word that none of what is said will get out.”
“Whatever you want, Taro,” Zen said.
“Okay, I want pizza.”
“Coming right up.”
-..-..-
“It’s times like this that I love the system’s recreation abilities,” Taro mumbled around a slice of pizza made by the Shade Guild’s culinary druids.  She munched happily at her third slice as the men in the room finished their first slices.  The room was uncomfortable, the eyes of Benji the most piercing of them all as they waited for the meal to be finished.  “This would go faster if you weren’t all so tense.  And Benji, you need to stop staring at me like that.  You need to let me enjoy this.”
“If this were the real world, you wouldn’t be allowed to eat pizza with that bum ticker of yours,” Soren pointed out, reaching for seconds.  Taro hummed happily, continuing to munch away happily.  “So maybe it isn’t such a bad thing that we’re all stuck in this hell.”
“Yeah, but if we weren’t, you two wouldn’t be stuck with me as a dead weight.  Sorry brother, but you’d still be stuck with me.”
“Pretty sure that you are less of a dead weight than any of the other players even with this situation.  You’re the one being weighed down by us Taro.”  Benji slowly reached for another slice as well.  “I think Zen is perfectly fine with dealing with you, too.  You’re his sister after all.  Right Zen,” Benji said, voice edging on chipper although it was forced.
“Yeah,” Zen said, placing his half-eaten slice back onto the tray it had come in on.  He leaned back in his chair, but his gaze was anything but relaxed.  Taro ignored him in favor of finishing her pizza before she leaned back onto the wall behind her bed.  “Taro-”
“Level 483,” Taro said abruptly.  Zen cut off what he was saying and Benji choked on his slice of pizza.  Soren sat forward on his chair, eyebrows raised, the only sign that he was surprised.
“What,” Zen asked as Benji continued to cough.
“Player level 983.  Ace on all servers.”  Benji continued to try to get the blockage out of his throat and Soren leaned over to pat on his back.  “I reached level 300 about a year and a half into the game.  That was when I started searching for the rest of my race.  I figured it was some sort of superiority trait in the race’s programming.  I figured that my race could figure it out.”
“What’s your race then?  What are you, Taro?”
“I figure that it could be something my race could figure out because the higher your level, the safer and more invincible you are.  I figured-”
“Taro,” Benji whispered, finally calming down, “What are you?”
“I’m the only one.  I’m all alone here and I don’t know why.”  Taro slumped against the wall, head falling and hair covering her face.  “I- I’m the only one like this.”
“Taro-”
“I wanted to be a sorceress, but when I clicked it and continued into Land of Shadows… I’m the only one on all of the servers like this.  What kind of joke is that?  I mean sure, I feel special and I’m supposedly powerful, but what is that good for?
“I’m a Shadow Keeper.”
-..-..-
Joey sat on his bed in Shade Tower’s fiftieth  residential floor.  His sister sat on a chair in the far corner of his room, hunched over with her head in her hands.  If it weren’t for the shaking of her shoulders, nobody would have guessed that she was anything but calm.  Joey looked at her for a moment before looking away and flopping back on the bed, arms pillowing his head, and eyes closed.  He just sat there for a few moments, taking a few deep breath.
“She’s gonna die Joey.  Taro-”
“She’s Taro, Karla.  Taro doesn’t die.  She’ll be fine,” Joey said, not opening his eyes.  He wasn’t quite sure if he could believe himself, but he did know Taro quite well, and she would kill him for making the situation any worse.  “We’ll get her into a safer situation and we’ll make sure she works hard on getting us all out of here without stressing too much-”
“How can you worry about that at a time like this, you stupid idiot,” Karla cried, looking up at her brother with bloodshot eyes and a tearstained face.  “Taro is the one who’s gotten us this far!  She’s saved countless lives and has made this game safer than anything!  And now that she’s dying, all you can think about is her getting us out of here?  If you want to take that approach, then we should be focused on her health and getting her better!  Stop being so self centered!”
“Taro wants to get us out!  I’m not being self centered!  She would be furious if we didn’t stay focused on getting out of here,” Joey shouted at his sister before going silent.  “She wouldn’t be happy if we pushed that goal aside just because of her.  She wouldn’t forgive us.  I want to focus on her more than anything, Karla.  She’s the one who save me and, more importantly, you.  She’s done everything for all of the players on all of the servers.  I love Taro like a sister and she’s one of my best friends, but I need to not think about how bad this is right now.  I need to pretend that everything isn’t falling apart right now.”
“Joey,” Karla sniffed.
“Let’s not talk about this right now, Karla,” he said quietly.  “Please, let’s just leave it for now.”
“Okay.  Okay.”

September 3
The Town of Grounder
Shade Tower, New Expansion, Foreign Residential West Wing
“So, you promised her what,” Zen asked the doctor, growling under his breath as the thoughts of the current reveals bounced around in his head.
“I promised I’d save her if she flatlined before she achieved her goal, but that if someone else were to appear in need of similar treatments, I would drop her as an ICU patient and move them to top priority, no matter what.  She said that she wanted nothing more than to save the other players here, and since ICU is full right now, she wanted to make sure she wasn’t prioritized.  That was the deal.”  Porter leaned back in his chair as the link flickered a little, its daily update being received.
“So, you’re saying that if some player in that hospital needed to be moved, you would move someone with heart failure out just so you could save them,” Zen growled again.
“As a doctor, I am obligated to treat everyone the same without discriminating by wealth, lineage, or ability.  I am also obligated to respect every patient’s wishes, Mr. Kagemune,” Porter said, picking up his coffee mug and taking a big gulp.  Zen looked less than pleased on his computer screen and he had to laugh at how immature Taro’s brother was.  Taro was wise and mature and selfless to a fault, while her younger brother Zen was like a child, naive and self centered, always willing to give up anything if it meant less pain.  Porter knew the three Kagemunes well, and he had to say, they were all great kids, but Zen was obviously the most frustrating of them all.  “Zen, listen closely.  Your sister is a great woman.  She has been amazing, and I am honored to meet a prodigy like her.  I mean, even before the game she had graduated from MIT with a doctorate degree in computer sciences when she was 16, and then she had worked for the next two years on foreign relations and interpretation for the UN before getting another degree in medical sciences in three different fields.  She’s amazing!  But I can’t put her above anyone else, and she has given consent for this.”
“But-”
“Zen, she is going to get out of this.  Even if she isn’t in ICU, I’m sure Towa would figure out something to keep her alive.  She’s stronger than a lot of people I know.  Please trust her, even if you don’t trust me,” Porter sighed.
“She had another major heart attack last month, Porter.  I don’t know what to do anymore, but I can’t lose her,” Zen said quietly.  “I appreciate you playing psychiatrist for me and the others as well as keeping us updated on this.  I’m sure you’re a busy man.  I can’t thank you enough for this.”
“It really is an honor, Zen.  Taro is a legend here in the real world, and she’s a great woman.  We’re getting close to getting her a heart now, and she’s getting even closer to getting out of the game.  You don’t have to worry about losing her,” Porter said, taking another gulp of coffee.  The line was silent for a moment before Porter spoke once more.  “So, I have to go soon, but tell me something.  How’s that boy Taro’s so fond of.  What was his name?”
-..-..-
“Benji!”  Taro smiled at her new live-in partner.  He was one of the only people she could stand to be around recently.  Everyone else had been pushing her to quit fighting or fight even harder before she kicked the bucket.  It was bad enough that she was forced to live in the new Foreign Residential West Wing of Shade Tower, she didn’t need the added pressure of the other players.
“What,” he asked, finishing the last line of written orders to the newly instated co-guildmaster of the Sun Guild.  He glanced up at her and skimmed the screen she was at before c***ing his head.  “A breakthrough?”
“Yeah!  I figured out how to add in emotional support systems!  That and I found a way to share some of the magical abilities of a Shadow Keeper with the others.”
“That’s great!  Which ones,” Benji asked, standing up from his bed and walking over to Taro’s side of the room.  He glanced over the system coding before looking away and scratching the back of his head.  “You’re gonna have to translate all that gibberish for me, Taro.  I don’t speak nerd.”
“Jerk,” she chided gently.  “I was able to program an emotional support system more advanced than the system generated companions!  It comes in the form of a player-like party member that does nothing to the headcounts, so that the angels don’t have an issue there.  The program is customizable and can collect data from combat and social scenarios to create the most comforting settings for each player.  I couldn’t finish it, but it also has a defensive feature in which it can and will fight along its assigned player in order to protect them.”
“That was all… in those letters and numbers?”  Taro chuckled under her breath, rubbing her chest as she felt another surge of pain.  The system recreation system was functioning perfectly, but it was more of a hinderance than a help to Taro with her health back in the real world.  “Okay then.  Sorry.  Please continue.  What about the Shadow Keeper’s magical abilities did you figure out how to transfer.”
“I managed to share it, not transfer it, idiot!”  Benji put his arms around Taro’s shoulders and leaned on her in her seat, sighing as Taro didn’t pull away like she had previously.  Life in Land of Shadows had changed quite a lot, and his relationship with Taro was one of those changes.  He almost didn’t miss being the only guildmaster of the Sun Guild, but Taro never failed to remind him about everything he had loved about it.  “I was able to compile a list of existing spells and race traits and compare them to the coding in my own race coding.  It was really quite interesting!”
“English please, Taro.  I’m an idiot, remember?  You said it yourself,” Benji teased.
“The Shadow Keeper is basically an advanced combination of a sorcerer, an enchanter, a warrior, and about 4% of all of the other race codes compiled into one advanced coding system enabling the Shadow Keeper to utilize all of the race traits from all of the races.  So, by updating all of the race codes, I can give them the best parts of the codes for productivity and safety.  I can’t use it all because of pesky little bugs that the error forced on the system-”
“English.”
“I can give everyone a really awesome upgrade.”
“Good girl,” Benji said and kissed Taro’s cheek, ignoring the bright blush that colored her cheeks.  “Why don’t we go hunting to celebrate.  We won’t even tell Zen, so you won’t have to keep calling Dr. Maxim to report and check up on your status.”
“Zen will kill you, you know.  He’s already unhappy with you because of the heart attack last month,” Taro sang.
“I’m telling you, me asking to move in with you to look out for you wasn’t the cause of that.  You turned me down and everything, though here we are, but even so, he needs to lighten up!”  Taro smiled at him.  “Hey Taro?”
“Yeah,” she asked.
“I never got how you were able to feel how sick you were.  Is that something to do with the system?  And how does this world affect the real you?”  Taro looked at Benji like he was crazy and ruffled his already messy hair. 
“Idiot.  What were you in the real world?  I find it hard to believe you were a game tester for this if you don’t even know about that!”
“I was a game tester for Land of Shadows, but after the error, everything got real.  Like, real world real.”  Benji flinched away from Taro’s ministrations, turning and walking back to the bed.  “I swear.”
“It’s the games recreation system.  It stimulates the brain in a way that prevents all motor skills in the real world, but does not block pain signals.  The body here, in the game, is a perfect mirror of your real body thanks to Towa’s great programing and scans, so when our real body gets hurt, we feel it here exactly at the same place because the pain receptors in our brain are feeling it there.  As for the game making my heart worse, excitement and adrenaline are still produced even when I’m here, which makes my heart race, and with the damage it already has-”
“That’s enough, Taro,” Benji said abruptly.  Taro cut off and silence filled the room.  She took the chance to launch the update, the sounds of the console working making the already awkward atmosphere even more awkward.  “Please, just stop.”
“Benji, I’m not going anywhere any time soon.  I made a promise to be there for you no matter what remember.  You are really special to me, so I can’t just leave you here.  You’re my best friend,” Taro said softly after the update finished.  She looked at Benji, who had plopped down on the bed, and sighed again.  “So, how about we go on that hunt?”
“Taro, I know it’s impolite to ask this, but what’s your real name,” Benji asked.  The room went silent.  It was seen as something rude and intrusive to ask these things, but Benji had always wondered.  His name wasn’t his own as he had used his middle name, trying to abide by the rules set up in the registration process.  He knew the doctors called players by their username in order to keep the anonymity in case anyone was listening in, but Taro had a last name, and another brother for that matter.  He had always wondered about Taro, and if she didn’t want to tell him, he would take that.  “It’s just… you said we’re best friends.  Once we get out of here, I want to know what to call you.”
“Already thinking about out there?”  Taro chuckled tiredly.  “My name is Taro Kagemune, Benji.  That’s all you need to know.”  Benji’s face remained relatively emotionless, as it had been since she had called him her best friend.  “Don’t be mad.  I told you the truth.  Would you tell me your name if I were to ask?”
“Of course,” Benji whispered.
“Well then, what is it?”
“Theo,” Benji said quietly.
“Well then, Theo, my name is Taro.  It’s nice to meet you,” Taro chirped, standing up and equipping her daggers.  Benji groaned.
“That’s not fair,” Benji growled, sitting up and taking in Taro as she checked the straps of her armor and jacket.  He growled again under his breath before opening his menu and equipping his own armor and sword.  “You know what Taro?  I won’t look for you after this, I’ll just forget about you.”
The room was silent for a long moment as Benji realized what he had said.  He wished he could take it back. 
“It would be best if you would forget about me, Benji.  I’m sorry you met me, but I’m glad we’ve had this time.”  Benji went to speak, to deny what she had said, but Taro was too fast and hurried to finish what she had to say.  “Forget about hunting.  You stay here.  I’m just going down to the market.  Alone.”
“Taro!”  But she had already warped out of the room.  Benji growled under his breath and headed out to find someone to take his frustration out on.  If that meant punching one of the guards out in the courtyard, then so be it.
-..-..-
The market was crowded.  Actually, crowded was an understatement.  It was bustling with craftsmen, street venders, farmers, A.Is, and shoppers all chattering and laughing.  Taro had to smile.  It was nice to see that the devastation of being stuck in the game hadn’t completely destroyed the players she was fighting to help.  She adjusted her coat to hide her weapons.  There was never such a thing as enough protection.
She was careful to dodge guild members, from Shade Guild and others alike.  She hid her face from the bustle to protect her identity.  She honestly wanted to avoid the hassle that came with her name, from friend and foe alike.  It was already apparent that she had already been spotted by a few passers by; the passing murmurs of her name caught her attention like a bull horn.
Catching sight of her escape route, she took it, rushing through a few back alleys into the slums of Grounder.  The Shade Tower was still visible as she looked around before ducking into her old home.  It was a relief when she leaned against the closed door and heard the system automated ‘lock’ sound.  Kotaro, who she hadn’t seen since July, stood panting in one corner of the room, head tilted to the side.
“Kotaro, heel boy!”  The dog rushed to her side and sat down by her right side.  She reached down to pat the dog’s head as he panted before heading over to her room, opening the door and striding toward her bed just as the incoming call icon popped up in front of her.  “Accept,” she said, sitting down.  Porter’s face popped up on a holographic screen, his face smiling, but eyes filled with concern.
“How are you feeling, Taro,” He asked, voice warm and gentle.  Taro didn’t respond.  “I assume you are choosing not to comment on that.  I also assume you know that I’ve spoken to your brother.”  Again, he was met with silence.  “He said that you and that boy, Benji I think he said, have become quite close.”
“Yeah, but you know that isn’t what I want to talk about, Porter.”
“I sugar coated it just like you wanted,” Porter said, pulling up her chart.  He looked it over for a minute.  “You can’t have another heart attack, Taro.  The damage itself is progressing at a startling rate, but if you have another one, I don’t think we’ll be able to bring you back, no matter how much money Towa pours into it.”
“You haven’t told Mori yet, right?”
“Zen calls him all the time.  Plus, I don’t think that poor boy could take any more bad news,” Porter said, putting the chart down.  “Taro, how much longer until you test something?  Do you even have anything yet?”
“I’m dying, Porter.  That desperation you have, that should be me,” Taro chuckled.  “I do have something, but it’s a prototype and I don’t want to risk any bugs on anyone, but with the way it’s set up, I can’t be the tester because it will only activate by internal voice command, meaning I have to be here.”
“I wouldn’t ask you to test it, Taro, but there has to be a first, and there always has to be a risk.  Have you told your brother?  He might be willing to test it out for you-”
“Don’t ever suggest that again.  I may not be as protective as some people about my family, but suggesting that I use my own brother-”
“You are protective, Taro, or you wouldn’t have lied about how bad you really are or what has been going on with you.  You have protected everyone around you, Taro.  I think it’s time you let it go and see what happens if you let them try things instead of putting it on yourself.  I think it’s time to give it a rest,” Porter said.  “It’s time to try things because it’s coming to a point where we can’t wait any longer.”
“What about the transplant list?”
“Taro, your life expectancy is less than two months and the chance of you getting a heart is very slim.  I’m sorry to tell you this, especially because I’ve come to know you pretty well, but I think it’s time to take risks and then say goodbye,” Porter said quietly.  “This doesn’t mean give up because there is still a chance that a heart will come or that you’ll live longer than expected, but this is a chance to take a break and try to ease some of that stress.”
“Porter-”
“Taro,” Porter said seriously.  “I need you to be healthy.  Not for the other players, but for yourself.”
“Okay, fine.”
“Have you asked him out yet?”  Taro looked taken aback.  “You love him right?”
“He’s my best friend,” Taro said, knowing exactly who Porter was talking about.  There was only one possibility.  “He’s the only friend I’ve ever had.”
“Taro, you have to take risks.”
“Not that kind of risk, Porter,” Taro said, leaning over to pat the bed next to her in invitation for Kotaro.  “I’ll tell my brother and see what he thinks, but if this progresses, I want you to have a  full medical team on site when or if we try to push a player back.”
“Thank you, Taro.  This will be good for you,” Porter said.
“I need a promise on that last part, Porter.”
“You got it.”

September 4
The Province of Inaho
The International Server Portal Hall
The International Server Portals had been unused by anyone other than Taro of the Shade Guild, but now the portal door swung open and the A.I. guards rushed to check credentials as a group of travelers, dressed in red, walked through it calmly.  The group of three men and two younger women looked extremely serious as they pulled up their player information and tapped on the translate icons.

Kei Yamato
Gender:  Male
Age:  24
Race:  Druid, Tracker, Navigator
Level:  98
Shiroe Guild
Japan Server, the City of Taiko

Tohma Shiro
Gender:  Male
Age:  17
Race:  Enchanter, Medicine
Level:  32
Shiroe Guild
Japan Server, the Province of Kyoutoma

Saki Kaito
Gender:  Female
Age:  22
Race:  Vampire
Level:  48 
Shiroe Guild
Japan Server, the Province of Tora

Nanami Yamamoto
Gender:  Female
Age:  18
Race:  Assassin, Duel swords
Level:  96
Shiroe Guild
Japan Server, the City of Kirigaya

Ryuu Kagemune 
Gender:  Male
Age:  19
Race:  Warrior, Tank
Level:  93
Shiroe Guild
Japan Server, the Town of Watanuki

When the guards’ monotone request for a reason, the leader, the man with the name of Kei, stepped forward, eyes like steel.  His voice was rough, and his English broken, but it was pretty clear what he was trying to say.
“We’re here to request a place in the Shade Guild’s Foreign Residential wings.  We’re here to see Taro Kagemune,” said Kei.  “We’re here for her.”
-..-..-
Taro layed sprawled across her bed in the old apartment she had lived in before her brother moved her in with Benji.  It had already been a day since she had left and the messages from both Zen, Joey, Karla, and Benji were filling her inbox, but she didn’t respond.  She tapped away at her master console, tweaking the coding and checking the commands.  She could hear Kotaro panting over in the corner, but used it simply as background, along with the game’s soundtrack that played nonstop.
The video chat began to ring, and the icon sprang up in front of the console’s holographic screen.  She ignored it, seeing that Zen’s name was beneath the icon.  “I don’t need to talk now!  Why won’t he just go away?”  The call stopped before starting back up, this time with the word URGENT next to it.  “Goddamnit, Zen!  What is so urgent?”
“I won’t even mention your disappearance.  Poor Benji is beside himself thinking he forced you out into the field by bothering you, not to mention how worried I’ve been.  Soren mentioned something about you maybe having another attack and getting killed somewhere!  He had me worried-”
“Is that all you called to talk about?”
“No Taro, it’s not.  I called to tell you that Kei, Ryuu, and some others from Japan’s Shiroe Guild are here requesting stay in one of the FR wings.  Do we know them?”  Taro rolled her eyes at her brother, running a hand through her hair and shifting her position a bit.
“Did you notice Ryuu’s last name, Zen.  He’s a Kagemune, our cousin.  The others are probably family too, not that you would know since you never took an interest in visiting with me on my trips to Japan.”  Zen’s face was priceless, and Taro chuckled as she watched him give her what looked like a ‘manly’ pout.
“Not my fault, family relations and business is the responsibility of the eldest in the family.  Plus, you were born there.  That’s you Taro, little miss I-know-twenty-different-languages,” Zen mocked.  The blank stare he got from Taro made him shrink a bit.  “Okay, you speak sixteen, but still!  I don’t even speak Japanese… not that you didn’t try to teach me.”  Zen looked away from the screen.
“So, was housing the only thing Kei and Ryuu wanted?  I’m sure they wouldn’t have come from the Japan server just for fun,” Taro said, opening up her inbox to see if she, as founder of the Shade Guild, had received any word about the request.  There was a message, marked URGENT in large red letters from the International Guard Service.  She quickly read through it before standing, the holographic screen rising with her, and Kotaro whining from his position still panting in the corner.  “Accept the request.  I’m heading over to Shade Tower now.  Leave them in the meeting room.  I want Soren, Benji, Joey, Karla, and Hex there.  Hex needs to be there as a technician, and I want my friends there too if they plan on staying for any period of time.”
“Understood.  Hey Taro?”
“Yeah Zen?”
“You’re alright, right?”
There was no answer as the link disconnected, cutting off the two siblings.  Taro didn’t know what ‘alright’ or ‘okay’ was anymore.  Maybe it was the fact that she had been stuck in the game for almost three and a half years, or maybe it was the fact that she was dying, but it didn’t feel like she was living anymore.  It wasn’t even quite surviving.
-..-..-
The party of Japanese players strode through the marketplace in the town of Grounder, ignoring the odd stares.  Kei walked a few steps behind Ryuu, chest puffed out and glare firmly placed on his face.  Ryuu had an air of power around him, but a smile, light and childish, lit up his handsome features.  He stuck out in the group, his height an entire foot and a half taller than the others.
“Ryuu, do you think Taro will be happy to see us,” Saki asked in Japanese, her ponytail swinging behind her as she struggled to keep up with him.  “She always told us to stay on our server.”
“She said it because she didn’t want us to be seen as possible traitors, just like when she asked us not to be seen tampering with settings or codes,” Ryuu answered in English after seeing a few onlookers whispering about the foreign tongue she had used.  “English please, Saki.  And please remember not to call someone by their last name or to add an honorific.  This is the West.”
“But-”
“Ryuu!”  Taro appeared out of an alley, her grey coat neatly concealing her weapons as she swept her surrounding casually, ensuring that both the party of players and herself were safe.  Ryuu’s smile brightened even further when he saw her and he hurried over, hugging her tightly as Kei made a noise in the back of his throat, looking on in disapproval.  “Oh, hush Kei.  Always the uptight stick in the mud.”
“Like you’re any better-”
“She is,” said the other members of the group, and Kei fell silent.  Ryuu pulled back, holding onto Taro’s shoulders and looking into her eyes with an uncharacteristically serious look.  “Taro, how bad is it?”
“I should be done with the coding soon, especially with you guys here to help, right?”
“That’s not what I’m talking about.  I’m asking you about your heart.”  He was met with silence and he sighed in frustration.  “Fine, don’t talk to me about it.  I’m guessing you’ll help us.”
“Yeah.”  Taro wasted no time in leaving, striding toward Shade Tower.  She didn’t look back, knowing that the others would follow.  Ryuu received a harsh glare from Kei, to which he smiled back.
“Why are we here again?”
“Don’t forget who Taro is, Kei.  She is our cousin and the head of the Kagemune family as much as I know you hate to admit it.”  Ryuu jogged away from the group in an attempt to catch up with Taro, the others following behind.  Kei stood in place for a few moments before sighing and rolling his eyes.  “Kei!”
“Coming!” 
-..-..-
Zen sat in the meeting room, tapping his foot impatiently and glaring at the back of Soren’s head.  Joey and Karla were seated on the opposite side of the meeting room table playing tic-tac-toe and whispering back and forth to each other.  Soren stared blankly at the door.
“How long does it take her to get here?  What if something happened to her?  What if she died?”  Zen rambled on and on until the door swung open and he stood up abruptly.  He dropped back down in his seat as Benji closed the door behind him.  “God, Benji!  I thought that you were Taro.”
“So she’s not here yet?”
“No duh,” Zen said as Benji walked further into the room.  He threw his head backwards against the chair and let out a long sigh, closing his eyes.  “She isn’t here yet.  Where is she?  Is she having another heart attack?  Is she already dead?  Maybe I should call Porter.  He might know.  But if she’s having a heart attack, he would need to focus on that a hundred percent, so I shouldn’t call.  What if she’s already dead and she’s alone?  What if she went to meet those players and they killed her?  What if-”
“Killing me off already, Zen?”  Taro stood in the open doorway, staring at her brother and friends with a mild scowl.  Behind her stood the members of the Japanese Shiroe Guild, two men standing slightly in front of the rest of the group, one on each side of Taro.  “I thought you knew I wouldn’t go down so easily.”
“Taro,” Benji whispered, turning to look at his friend.  “I’m so sorry.”
“You have nothing to be sorry about, Benji.  Nothing,” Taro said, walking further into the room, the others following suit.  She walked up to Benji, patting his shoulder as she passed, before looking at her brother.  “Zen, these are our cousins and the Japanese agents who have been issuing my updates on their server.”
Zen just looked at her, not at the group behind her, unblinking.  “Thank the gods.”
“Gods?”  Ryuu looked perplexed as he stepped forward to stand shoulder to shoulder with Taro.  “America has polytheistic religions?”
“Of course.  There are the religions from India, and Shinto, which is what we were raised as.  That’s not important,” Taro said, waving dismissively at him as she sat down in a chair next to Zen, flopping down and sighing heavily.  “I’m so tired.”
“And that’s important,” Kei asked snidely.
“It is actually.   It could be a sign that Taro’s illness is progressing,” Saki said, Nanami nodding in agreement.  “Hi, I’m Saki Kaito, second head of the Kagemune Medical Group’s Japan branch, and this is my cousin… or I guess our cousin, Nanami Yamamoto.  That boy over there is Tohma Shiro, and that mean looking man is Kei Yamato, Ryuu Kagemunes’ assistant.  Mean as he may be, he’s still happy to be meeting Zen and Taro’s friends from America for the first time.”
“That’s right, we forgot to introduce ourselves!  How could I forget,” Ryuu laughed.
“Because your an idiot,” Kei snorted.  He went silent when he realized that the others weren’t laughing with him.  “Sorry.  I can get a bit overexcited.  I have no filter.  Ignore me.”
“Are we done here?”  Zen looked at his ‘cousins’ suspiciously before turning to look at Taro.  “Where have you been?  We’ve all been worrying ourselves sick about you being sick!  You didn’t answer any of my calls before that last one and Benji stayed up all night messaging you from my rooms because he was so sure he was the reason you had disappeared!  I couldn’t see you on my map, so I thought you went and did something stupid!  You- You!  You!”
“Zen, calm down.  I’m fine,” Taro reassured her brother, reaching out in an uncharacteristically timid motion.  She brushed some of her brothers hair out of his eyes and wiping at the tears that were falling.  “I’m sorry, alright.  I went to my old place and sent out a jamming code on my GPS.  I was totally okay.  I just wanted a little time to cool off.  It’s been rough recently.”
Zen was silent as he collapsed against his sister, shoving his face into the crook of her neck and gripping the back of her coat with both hands.  The skin of her neck and shoulder became wet with his tears as he shook against her.  Joey and Karla stood up as well and ran to Taro, hugging her and Zen as they too began to cry.  Benji took a few steps toward them, but stopped when Soren cleared his throat and continued to look at the bunch with a completely blank expression, although his eyes shone with emotions that even he wasn’t sure he understood them himself.
Ryuu and the others began to whisper in hushed tones in broken English for a while before switching to Japanese.  Taro stuck her head on top of Zen’s and closed her eye, listening halfheartedly to what her cousins were saying.  Zen’s quiet shaking turned into full blown sobs and he became a dead weight, dragging his sister to the ground with him, the other siblings easily following them.  Taro looked up to Soren, eyes carefully blank.
“Find my cousins all rooms in the Foreign Residential Wing near where Benji and I stay.  Take Benji with you.  I need a minute with these three,” she said hoarsely, giving away that she was anything but blank.  Soren nodded, grabbing firmly onto Benji’s shoulder and pulling him out of the room, nodding for the others to follow, which they did after a moment of hesitation.  “Thank you, Soren.”
“It’s my job,” Soren said quietly, “I’m your friend after all.”
“Taro-” Benji tried, but Soren quickly cut him off, shoving him out the door and closing it behind them.  The room fell silent other than the sobs and sniffs of the three who clung to Taro. 
Taro idly stroked her brother’s head, humming soothingly as she had when they were younger.  She sighed as she realized that the recreation system had recreated their scents.  It nearly made her laugh.  They had been stuck there for years, yet she had never noticed.  But she couldn’t laugh.  She was too relieved at the fact that she could have such a… such a comfort.  The mild cologne that he always wore had somehow transferred into the system, and she didn’t much care to know how.
“T-Taro… you smell like home,” Zen muttered as his sobs began to quiet down, burrowing further into his sister.  “I… I want to go home, Taro, but I don’t want to go home with-without you.  You… you make it home.  Taro!  I want to go home!”
“It’s okay, Zen.  I want to go home, too,” she said quietly.
“Promise me you’ll take us home, Taro.  Promise that you’ll take us all home,” Zen sniffed.  “Promise me Taro!  Promise me,” he shouted when she didn’t respond.  She nodded slightly.
“I’ll get us all out real soon, Zen.  Soren and Joey and Karla and you and everyone.  I’ll get us all out,” Taro said quietly.  She told him what he wanted to hear, but it tasted bitter on her tongue before dispelling the thought.  She hadn’t lied.  She would get them all out.  She would get them all home.  She didn’t promise she’d go home, only that she would bring them home… and she would do it even if it cost her everything she had, including her life.  “Zen, I’ll take all of us home.”
“Taro,” Joey and Karla cried, sobs renewing.  Zen hugged his sister even closer.
“I promise.  I’ll take us all home.”

September 4th
The Province of Bristol, Great Britain Server
Plume Guild Citadel, Guildmaster's Quarters
“Have you ever thought that maybe she hasn’t been coming here because you tried to control her, William?  She wasn’t too happy when you told her that you find a way to lock her down if she continued to fight,” said a young boy, no older than about 12, looking at the pacing guildmaster. 
“She’s dying, Collin!  She is dying, and she’s trying to speed it up with all of this stress!  I can’t lose her,” William said, pacing the floor, red guild uniform coat blowing behind him.  His eyes, the normally calm hazel, blazed with a fire that made his gaze burn with intensity.  “She’s-
“She’s Taro, William.  She’s our cousin, and we know how she is better than anyone.  She’ll be fine.  She’s a fighter, William.  She’s a fighter, and she’ll fight to the end and still come out alive.  I get what you’re saying, she’s my cousin, too.  She’s a friend and honestly, one of the most capable heads of this family,” Collin said, leaning back against the wall as his guildmaster paused in mid-step.  “What?”
“Gather a team.  We’re going to Shade Tower.  We’re going to help Taro get us out.  The sooner the better for her.”
“William!  You’re being stupid!”
“Do it Collin.  We leave tonight.”
-.-.-
“Are we okay now, Zen?”  The man didn’t respond, pushing his face further into Taro’s neck.  Joey and Karla had been called out of the room, Joey for a raid planning session, Karla for a medicinal lesson from the other druid herbalists.  The siblings were the only ones left in the room, and Taro had finally been able to calm her brother down.
“I’m a terrible guildmaster, Taro.  I can’t take myself out of this situation and I’m failing everyone in Shade, but I can’t just watch from the sidelines in this,” Zen said into the skin of her neck.  Taro let out a sound that was as close to an animalistic growl as she could’ve possibly made.  Zen let out a sound that was almost a whimper in response.
“That has nothing to do with this, Zen, and I wouldn’t expect you to remove yourself from this and be unbiased.  You are a great guildmaster, and you should know that because I haven’t told you that you were.  You know me well,” she said into the top of his hair.
“I know you too well, which is why I’m so worried about this.  I try so hard to protect everyone here because you entrusted them to me, but I so afraid that I’ll fail and make it worse for you because you’re so involved in these things.  What if I fail and you die trying to help fix it?”
“Zen,” Taro snapped, pushing him away and looking into her eyes, “You think too little of me, Zen.  You should know that I would never go down like that, I’d sooner go down in a fight against an MG.”  Taro tried to continue, but a message popped up in the air in front of both her and Zen, the name of the system’s guarding system displayed in bold.
Zen wiped his face on the sleeve of his uniform coat, reaching out and opening the message as Taro did the same, rubbing at the wetness on her neck.
User:  Taro Kagemune
Message:  As you are the sole founder of the Shade Guild, we, the Land of Shadows International Server Portal Guards, felt the need to inform you that a party of 10 members from the Plume Guild on the United Kingdom server have appeared through the International Server Portal and are seeking to gain lodging in Shade Tower’s Foreign Residency wing.  The names of the players are as follows: William Kyles, Collin Kyles, Rin Kyles, Lycan, Fang, Red, Renny, Prince, Korey, Hatori Kagemune.  We also obtained information from them involving your name.  We will not permit them to pass through until we receive expressed permission from you.  Please notify us via code within the next twenty-four hours or the party will promptly be sent back to their server.
“Wills?”
-.-.-
William tapped his foot, weapons on clear display, the system’s guards surrounding him, seeing him as a threat.  “This is ridiculous!  Why do we have to wait for permission just to leave the International Server Portal?  It’s already been twenty minutes!”
“Taro coded the guards in order to protect all players from different servers.  It was part of the first update, William.  She didn’t want anyone passing through without reasonable cause and permission.  It’s to defend against MGs and their members.”  Collin sat in a corner, playing tic-tac-toe with Rin using the app from the last system update.  Rin, the petite girl with reddish-brown hair and blue eyes, the perfect mix of their Japanese and British parents, nodded quietly, placing an ‘O’ perfectly, ending the match in a draw.
“Taro’s had to wait for us too, William.  All those times you decided to put off accepting her request to come to the citadel so you could play with some girls or got to sleep for the night, I think waiting a couple minutes in the middle of the afternoon isn’t so bad.”  Rin opened another game, ignoring her brother’s scoff.
“But we’re on totally different levels!”
“You’re right, she’s way above you,” Lycan said, sliding down the wall and scrolling through several messages, all from female players he had met in the tavern near his room within the citadel.  “William, stop being so stupid.  Spencer wouldn’t approve.  He held Taro in very high regards.  He’d be furious with you.”
William looked taken aback at the mention of Spencer.  “Don’t talk about my brother, Lycan!  He died saving you, and Taro did nothing to save him or bring him back,” he hissed, tone poisonous and wretched as he began stalking toward Lycan, eyes burning, only to be held back by the guards, still wary about his weapons.
“Taro wasn’t on our server, William, and she can’t bring back the dead.  She’s not God!”  Collin’s voice rang true as he turned away from his game with Rin.  “Do you think it was easy for her?  She’s the one who had to deal with it all on her own!  Spencer wasn’t just another head of the family, William.  He was one of her allies, he was her friend.”
“She didn’t even try!  I know she didn’t!  I was there!  And now she’s dying too, and she doesn’t even care what will happen or how it will effect everyone else!  At this rate-”
“Shut it, William!  I’ve had enough of this!”  Hatori, by far the most capable of the group, was the one to speak.  All of the players froze.  Hatori didn’t speak unless it was something important, and he never spoke as harshly as he had in that moment.  He stood against the wall a few feet behind the guards.  “Taro knows, okay?  She’s trying, harder than anyone else.  She knows what will happen, she’s planned for it too.  And guess what?  She’s dealing with it alone.  Do you think your petty grudge and attempt to shove away everything and everyone is helping?  It’s bad enough she has to deal with having her family here, she doesn’t need to deal with false hatred.”
Acceptance Code Entered
Party of 10 May Continue to Destination
“Finally,” William groaned as the guards backed away from him.  “How far do you think it is to Shade Tower?  I’ve never been.”
Party of 10, Please Enter Transportation Portal (User Transport ID: Taro)
“Not far.  Not far at all.”
-.-.-
Taro walked quietly down the hall, her gray coat folded easily over arm.  The black and gray clothing looked as if it were causing her pain.  The halls were quiet, most of the foreign residents either out on missions or away on business to deal with their guilds.  Taro silently thanked whatever powers that be that it was empty.  When she reached the hall that she and Benji’s quarters resided in, she slid down the wall, clutching desperately at her chest.
Incoming Call from Porter Maxim
Urgent
“Damn it all!”  She growled under her breath fiercely, her left arm feeling heavy and her right reaching shakily toward the answer call button.  She had barely touched the button when she felt her image waver.  “Porter, what the hell is going on?”
“Taro, you need to calm down.  Your heartbeat is irregularly fast.  You’re going to go into cardiac arrest if you don’t.  You’re under too much stress.”  Porter’s eyes were wide, his face pale.  In the background Taro could hear her youngest brother, Mori, screaming.
“Damn it Porter!  I can’t!  I don’t know why this is happening!”
“Taro,” Mori screamed. 
“Shut him up, Sam!  He’s not helping the situation,” Porter said harshly, looking away from the camera.  Taro wavered again, and Porter cursed.
“She’s flatlining!”
“Taro!”
“Shut up!”
“That’s enough.  Tell Mori to link in.  I need to see him just as bad as he needs to see me.  It’ll help me calm down,” Taro hissed under her breath.  She could distantly hear some players returning from their endeavors.  “Do it now.  The residents are coming back from their missions and I can’t be here when that happens.  It would cause a panic.”
“Taro-”
“Do it Porter.  Just do it.”
-.-.-
“Mori, your sister wants to talk to you right now.  I need you to calm down first though,” Taro’s designated nurse said, putting a hand on the young boy’s shoulder.  He looked up, redish-brown hair a mess from tugging, tear stains marring his cheeks.  “Look at you, such a mess.  Taro wants to talk to you.  She needs to know you’re all right.”
“How?”
“Mori, she’s not dead.  She needs to know you’re okay.  I think it will help stabilize her.”  Sam, the nurse, smiled gently at him, tugging on his shoulder so that he could sit up, away from Taro’s deathly pale form on the bed.  She tried to direct his attention away from the erratic rhythms on the heart monitor, glancing towards Dr. Maxim who stood outside the door with his portable drone camera.  “She’s waiting for you on Dr. Maxim’s chat line.  She really wants to see you.  I think you should go talk to her for a while.”
“Is Zen there?”  He sent a sideways look over to his brother on the bed farthest away.  His brother looked far healthier, and the relief he felt was almost palpable.  “I want to see my brother too.”
“No, he isn’t.  But I’m sure Taro could get him up on a chat too.  I just really think you should talk to your sister.”  The boy looked so young staring up at her, Sam had to remember that he was 17 years old and not a 5 year old child.  He looked thin, his clothes hanging off of him and his bones too sharp under the skin.  She had to pity him for having to deal with everything.  Taro, from what she had heard, was the only thing holding their family together, and now that she was dying, it wasn’t only that there would be a major setback for the game, but there would also be major consequences for the boy. 
“That’s okay.  I just need Taro right now.  Zen’s fine… Taro wouldn’t accept anything less.”
Taro couldn’t die, Sam had decided when she had been assigned to her post as Taro’s exclusive nurse, because her brother would die too, maybe even both of them.  Zen wasn’t enough from what she had heard.  He was the wildcard that Taro had brought back from the dark after their parents had died.  Taro couldn’t die because if she did, there would be nothing left, and Sam would never accept that.
“Stop thinking of my sister as a tool, Samantha.  I can read it all over your face.”  Sam was taken aback by the boy’s comment, watching as he stood.  “I may not be as smart or kind as Taro, but I can read you just as well as she could, and I won’t let you think about her that way.  I’m going to talk to my sister, so take this time to can the pity because we don’t need it.”
Mori walked from the room, past Taro’s near the window, his positioned between her’s and his brother’s, and then out of the door.  He tapped on Porter’s shoulder.  Sam continued to stare.  She’s not a tool, that’s right.
-.-.-
Mori had never liked the links his sister had made.  He hated that she could see him and see what he had become.  He was more than happy to see his sister alive and well, she always seemed so dead when he saw her in real life, so he couldn’t say that he hated it, but she always looked so damn disapproving of his state when she saw him.
As Porter transferred the link to Mori, he cringed.  Taro’s avatar, a perfect replication of her only far more healthy, wavered in the holographic window.  She didn’t look happy though.  She looked pained, and he could see her gripping her shirt across her chest, but her eyes held a light to them that he had missed.
“T-Taro,” he muttered quietly.  Taro smiled at him, a slight curve of her lips, and she loosened her grip on her shirt.  Her image wavered again, but she pretended not to notice.  “I-I… Taro.”
“Mori.  It’s good to see you, little brother, although you look even worse than the last time I saw you.  How is your course work going?  I hope you are doing well,” Taro said, ignoring the wavering of her avatar, looking straight at her brother through the link.
“It’s been good.  Towa got me a private teacher, so I have no trouble comprehending the stuff.  Maybe it’s because I’m related to you with your smart genes,” he joked, running a hand through his hair.  His eyes were bloodshot, and he could tell that they were beginning to tear by the stinging in his eyes.  “I kind of miss you helping me though.”
“You’re in college, Mori.  You are very smart, and you don’t need me to be that way.”  Taro took a deep breath as her image became more solid.  Her face, which had been tight, expression carefully blank in an attempt to hide how much pain she was in, relaxed.  “You are so smart.”
“I’m still a year behind where you were Taro, you’re the smart one.”
“You haven’t been eating or getting enough exercise.  You look pale as a ghost, you’re too thin, and I notice the image shaking.  You’re legs are too weak.”  Taro looked calm, but her eyes didn’t match.  “I’ll have to talk to Towa about setting up a program for you.”
“I don’t need one Taro.”
“Yes you do!”  The image wavered again and she struggled to take another breath and stabilize her image.  “I may not be there to bother you about doing these things.  You need to stay healthy for me and Zen.”
“Zen and I, Taro.  You’re not using correct grammar,” he responded automatically.  Taro smiled at him.
“You’re the smart one, Mori, but you need to be smart about your health or you’ll end up in a hospital bed.  I’ll put you on watch in your own ward if necessary.  Towa has approved any personal needs I have, and one of those things is your safety, education, and well being.  Any medical requests I make will be met, and I will make sure that you will not be allowed into our rooms until I am positive you are meeting my standards.”
“Taro-”
“This is non-negotiable, Mori.  What would I do in here if you started getting worse?”
“Well then get out,” Mori said without thinking.  He looked away away, briefly thinking about hanging up the chat before thinking better of it.  Taro rarely ever called, not like Zen did anyways, so this might have been the last chance he had to chat with her for a while.  A dark part of his mind also told him that it might also be the last time he may ever have to talk to his sister.  “I’m-”
“No, don’t be sorry.  You’re right.  I’m not working hard enough to get us all out.  I’ll work hard for you, Mori.  I can promise you that.”  Taro’s face was dark and determined.
“William is here, Taro!”  The faint shout in the background was overshadowed by Mori’s own shouts.
“No!  Taro!  Don’t over stress,” Mori rushed out, but it was too late.  The link went dead.
“She’s stable again, Dr. Maxim,” Sam said, walking out of the room that the three siblings had.  Seeing Mori’s face, an expression of both panic and anguish, she offered a bright smile.  “Why don’t we get you something to eat in the kitchen?  It’s about time I change your brother and sister’s nutrient bag anyways.”

September 7th
The Province of Inaho
Growling Thunder Citadel, Murder Guild Headquarters

The air was tense in the great hall of the citadel.  Members of the murder guild sat scattered around in chairs, drinking beer and spirits at tables, trying to ignore their leader who sat in his ‘throne’ at the front of the hall, expression dark.  His partner, an older player of about 30, looked nervous.
“Sir, why have you decided to wait for so long?  Our players are growing weaker and weaker.  Maybe we should start thinking about breaking up the guild?  Our members are our guild, and we should try to integrate them into guilds so that they can safely reach physicians.  Maybe we could-”
“Shut up!  This has nothing to do with that!”  He sat brooding, his cape pulled into his lap.  He played with the guild seal which had been embroidered into it, eyes burning with something close to fury.  “And we were waiting for her to get weak enough to attack.  I want her to give us some advantages before killing her off.  I think I’d like to play with her for a while.”
“But sir!  Why don’t we give up on her?  She’s the strongest and most protected player in all of Land of Shadows!”
“I can’t leave her be Torez!  I’m not some weakling!  Growling Thunder is not some weak little PK party!  I will have her!”  He coughed.  “Damn.”
“Sir?”
“I will have Taro, Torez, and Growling Thunder is going to help me get her,” he said calmly, but it did nothing to hide the dark intent.  “No matter how long it takes, I will have Taro Kagemune, Ace of Land of Shadows.”
-.-.-
“Will you go out with me Taro?”  Taro looked utterly shocked at the man in front of her.  It had been a long time since she had heard those words, and she had never expected them to come from the person they did.  Frost stood in front of her, gray-blue uniform neatly arranged and pristine.  The normally too serious man looked more nervous than he ever had, and Taro was pretty sure that it had more to do with the wall of her family… and Benji, most likely glaring at him from behind her than it was of her turning him down.
“Frost,” she said quietly, reaching a hand out to him, but being dragged back by Zen and Collin.
“Taro isn’t interested, Frosty boy,” Zen hissed over her shoulder.  “She has to show our visitors around.  She has to show them a good time today.”
“Isn’t that right Taro,” Collin sneered at him.  William, his whitish-blond hair shining in the light stepped in front of Taro, arms crossed and glare firmly in place, but a bright blush staining his cheeks.  Nothing like the game’s emotion sensors, Taro thought.  Frost glared back.
“Let Taro decide for herself!  I’m a visitor too, so she should be showing me around too!  I’ve been around longer,” Frost argued back, but the men in her family were less than receptive to the other guildmaster’s counter.
“But we’re newer and haven’t had time to explore.  Plus, we’re family, Frostbite,” William growled.  “Stupid Taro!  Why am I helping you?”
“Bye Frost,” Zen said, dragging Taro backwards.  Frost stood totally shocked, his normally calm, cool, and collected aura wiped away.  His normally handsome features that had earned him the titles of tall, dark, mature, and handsome among the girls of the Shade Guild were now making him young and childish.  He looked utterly appalled.
Benji looked completely silent as he brooded beside the girls in the group, ignoring as they cooed and complimented him and how handsome he was.  Rin was the most persistent of the bunch, the young girl always looked at him like he hung the moon and the stars, which more than surprised the rest of the group.
“Rin’s never acted like this before, you know,” Fang said, walking a bit behind the rest of the group and Taro in order to talk to him.  “She’s been emotionless since the day she was born, except when it came to Taro.  It seems that you’re something special, Mr. Benji.”
“Not really,” he mumbled in return, still stuck in his own thoughts.  Collin, William, and Zen were still talking to Taro in hushed tones, laughing occasionally, but Benji couldn’t act so lightly.  Taro was his best friend, and he didn’t want some other guy interfering his time with her or her health, which he knew would be the case if that other guy had decided to involve himself.
“Taro’s never had a friend before, you know,” Fang continued, trying to lighten the mood.  “Her parents were first generation immigrants.  They were the family heads, and were training her to be the family head as well.  She was so focused on pleasing them and protecting the family that she never considered having anyone else.  She was young when she completed university and medical school, and that didn’t help matters.  She was always traveling to take care of the rest of the family, and with the pressure of her parents, and after they died, looking out for the family and her two younger brothers.  I think that’s part of why Taro has done everything she has.  But you, you’re special.  You’ve cracked into a Taro that none of us, not even Zen, has known.”
Benji nodded, not really listening to what the other player had said.  I never liked Frost, he thought, He was always so harsh to Taro before, always the suspicious one.  I still don’t know what Taro ever saw in the others.  She rarely even talked to any of them.  Why would she choose anyone else?  I could have made the Sun Guild big enough for everyone, or we could have worked together in order to run the Shade Guild and make it open to all players.  There was no need for an 8 guild alliance or for Taro to leave behind her guild.  Frost didn’t have to come into the equation at all.
“Benji,” Taro called, snapping him out of his brooding.  “We’re going to split up.  Karla, Joey and Zen are going to take some of them into town, but I promised Collin and Ryuu’s party that Soren and I would take them out to hunt.  Are you gonna stay here, go with Zen, or come with me and Soren?”
“I could go for a good hunt,” Benji said, jogging to catch up to Taro.  Fang watched as he smiled at Taro and put his arm around her, laughing.
“He’s clueless.”  Fang shook his head, jogging to catch up with Zen and the two twins to head into town.  “He’s really clueless,” he mumbled.
-.-.-
It was dark in the forest, but Taro liked it like that.  With a high ranking illumination spell, she liked it when her pray couldn’t see her, but she could see it.  There were several dragon-like creatures near the clearing, just inside the treeline, and she could feel her fingers itching to move and to kill and to protect the group behind her.  Kotaro, who she had summoned to her side when entering the forest, panted beside her in excitement.
“Taro, what are we waiting for,” Kei said, hesitating as he translated his words.  His mace was hanging over his shoulder, left hand holding it firm.  Ryuu laughed beside him. 
“Just believe in our dear cousin, Kei.  Stop being so uptight and be quiet for one,” he whispered playfully.  Taro sent a glance their way, smiling as Kei nudged him a bit harder than necessary.
“What are you smiling about, Taro,” Benji asked beside her.
“I’m just happy that I don’t have to wait or travel to see my cousins,” she deadpanned before cracking a smile at him.  “I’m glad you came, Benji.  It means a lot that you came with us instead of going into town.  Especially because this is my first hunt in a while.”
“Taro-” Benji started, but Taro had sprung into action, noticing the the monsters had heard them and were slowly moving toward them.  The rest of the group followed, lead by Soren, and Benji couldn’t move.  He was shocked into silence as he watched Taro in action, moving with such grace.  He could tell that she was holding back, allowing the other members of the party to get some of the items for killing them, and jumping in to help the two girls who had come from Ryuu’s group when one of the monsters got too riled up.
“Benji!  Are you coming,” Soren yelled, finishing off one monster as another respawned.  Benji didn’t respond, just watched Taro slay monster after monster, never allowing a single blow to land on her while also protecting the others in the party.
“Benji,” Taro shouted, “Get going and do your part.”  She glared at him over her shoulder before Benji watched her eyes widen.  “Benji move!”
“What?”  As soon as Benji said that, a heavy weight fell on his back and a blade was pressed to his throat.  He made a sound similar to a whimper, and a manic laugh sounded behind him.  “Taro-”
The monsters were long forgotten by Taro as she sprinted toward Benji, swords drawn and ready.  The blade was pressed more firmly into Benji’s throat and the sound the sound he made stopped Taro in her tracks.
“I would stop where you are, Taro Kagemune.  I don’t think this little prodigy of yours would look as good in red as you look in gray,” rasped a cold voice by Benji’s ear.  “Put the sword on the ground or he turns into pixels and never gets out of the game.”
“Why are you here?  What guild are you from?”
“I’m here to kill you, Miss Taro.  My guildmaster has become fascinated with you, and the one to take your head gets to be his right hand man.”  The voice responded.  “I’m here from King Cross, and my name is Penance.  I’ll be more than happy to give you this little puppy dog if you’ll come over easy.
“Taro,” Ryuu shouted, fending off yet another monster that had respawned.  Soren actually looked concerned as he watched her, fending off his own monster.  “Don’t do it!  Benji will be fine!  They don’t want him!”
“Fine,” Taro said, glaring at the player holding Benji.  She put down her swords, moving slowly so as not to startle the offender.  Benji made another sound.  “Please, just let him go.  Benji is my prodigy, he has done nothing wrong and would never do anything to harm you if you just walked away.”
“Taro, your being stupid,” Benji growled as fear and adrenaline surged through him.  The way he’s holding me makes it close to impossible to escape.  He’ll kill me if I move, but Taro…  A video chat alert popped up in front of Taro, but she ignored it.  “Taro.”
The chat disappeared and popped up next in front of Karla who was hidden behind her brother, being protected as she chanted some healing and defense incantations.  URGENT!  URGENT!  URGENT!  “Damn it!  Joey, make sure they don’t get through!  It’s some guy named Porter calling and it says urgent!”
“Taro, calm down,” Soren growled over his shoulder.  Taro didn’t turn to look at him, and he hissed out a few curses under his breath.  Karla had already answered the call, and Soren rose his voice so that it was clear to hear for Porter.  “I know, Maxim!  What’s her BPM?”
“Way too high, that’s what it is,” Porter hissed through the link.  “Taro!  Calm down.”
“Just let go of Benji.  It’s me you want right,” she said quietly, hands still up in the air in surrender.  “Benji is not who you want, it’s me, so just let him go and I’ll take his place.”  Taro flipped her hair away from her eyes, startling the offending player, making him press the blade closer to Benji’s neck.
“Taro!”
“Fine,” Penance said slowly.  His grip loosened on Benji, blade slipping a bit as he relaxed.  “Come over slowly.  I won’t hurt your little pet if you don’t try anything.”
“Taro, don’t do it,” Benji coughed.  Taro paid him no mind, walking slowly toward the pair.  Soren tried to run their way, but was tackled by a monster.  The others looked panicked, but were too involved with monsters of their own and guarding each other.  “Stop it Taro!”
“Shut up little puppy, I wouldn’t want this blade to hurt you,” Penance said mockingly.  Taro had stopped and he nodded for Taro to continue.  He didn’t notice the slight movement of Taro’s mouth as she chanted an incantation.  “Hurry up!”
“Whatever you say,” Taro said.  Porter’s yelling sounded like quiet whispers in her ears.  Taro darted forward, too fast for anyone to react, ripping Benji away and throwing him toward the others.  The monsters had dissipated and weren’t spawning, allowing the other members of the part to catch him, but not to rush to help her.
“Stop her,” Porter yelled, “She’s going to seize!”
The offending player reacted far faster than anyone would have expected, positioning his blade toward Taro’s open right side, piercing her just as she managed to land a blow to his shoulder.  The two tumbled backwards, the man making a sound similar to a wailing cry.  Taro fell limp against him, her avatar flickering.  She didn’t move.
“Dr. Maxim!  She’s having a heart attack!  Get Mori out of the room now!”

September 7th
The town of Grounder
Town Square, Leo’s Weapons store front
“Look at this Zen!  Look at this,” Rin said quietly, the excitement sounding odd in her usually calm voice.  She held up a new type of blade.  “It’s a Taro Blade!  I had heard that Taro had created a blade, but they don’t have them on the UK’s server!  It looks so cool!”
“Yeah, it has changeable strength requirements so the weight isn’t all that important when considering getting a new blade.  And the shape makes it easy to activate and unlock sword skills.  Taro made it with really good, but affordable, metal and then sent the directions to all of the blacksmiths on the US server, but the head guilds on other servers didn’t want some foreigner to become more of a leader on their servers, so they refused the release of the Taro blade.”  Zen watched as Rin swung the sword around, testing it.  Rin’s face lit up.
“It changed its weight!  It’s just... right now!”  Zen smiled at her and nodded.  “Have you tried one, Zen?”
“I own the original, so yeah.”
“I thought Taro would have had that one,” Rin said, placing the sword on the counter and paying the smith for it.  “Why doesn’t she?”
“Taro has had the same blades and weapons since the end of Day Zero.  She refuses to buy any other weapon because she believes they should be used by the players who could actually make a difference out in the field.  I told her that she made a difference out there too, with her leading a lot of the alliance’s raids, but she shook her head and ended the conversation there,” Zen said smiling.
“I think we’re all done here,” William said, throwing his hands into the air and folding them behind his head as the rest of the group gathered around them.  Fang pulled up the clock from his settings.
“It’s been just a little over an hour since we left, so Taro and that group should still be fighting.  Hey Zen, want to go help them out?  Do you know how to use Taro’s transportation trick without a portal?”  Zen shook his head.
“I think a hunt would be a good idea, but Taro kept that little trick a secret,” Zen said with a frown.  “But, Taro did set up a portal a little further into town from this shop.  We can take that if you guys want.”
“Let’s do it!  It’s a monster hunt, right?  I don’t do MG raids,” Korey said, toying with a strand of her hair.  Will nodded along.
“They said it was a monster hunt, let’s get going!”
-.-.-
She was gone.  Her avatar was gone.  It disappeared into thin air.
“Taro!”  Benji fought against the arms that held him back, kicking and scratching in an attempt to go to the place where she had been, ignoring the grunts from Soren and Collin after each blow.  Karla screamed out, collapsing into her brother who had frozen in his shock.  Ryuu fell to his knees, Kei bending down to check on him.  Tohma, Saki, and Nanami rushed toward the player who still had Taro’s dagger sticking out of his shoulder, holding him down when he tried to crawl away.  “Taro!”
“Turn off the damn link, Sam!  They don’t need to hear this,” Porter shouted at the other end of the link.  His voice wasn’t the only one that could be heard.  Both Soren and Benji, who had met him over a link before, recognised Mori’s frantic voice screaming for his sister.  The monotone straight line beep of the heart monitor was just as loud in their ears.  Then, the link went dead.
“Taro!  Taro!  Taro, quite playing around,” Benji cried hysterically.  A portal opened not far behind them, allowing the group that had been in town through and into the treeline.  Zen looked around.
“Where is she?  Is she trying to freak you guys out,” Zen asked, looking around at everyone.  He went pale.  “Where is she?”
“I did it,” the man on the ground howled before laughing.  “I did it!  Guildmaster will be mad I didn’t bring her back to him, but then she’ll be so proud of me!  I just know it!  Maybe she’ll still let me be her right hand!”
“Where is she,” Zen whispered, falling to his knees when he realized that the expression on Soren’s face wasn’t his default calm, but was wrought with despair.  “Where… is… my sister?”
“I killed the-”
“Shut up!”  Ryuu looked furious, even with the tears running down his face and the glint of fear in his eyes.  “Shut up!  Taro’s not dead!  She can’t be!  She would never let some dirty player killer take her down!  Never!”
“I have to get to her apartment,” Soren mumbled, losing his grip on Benji and letting him fall forward.  “I promised her.   I promised her that I would… that I would launch it.”  His voice gave nothing away, but his face was dark.  “I… I have to kill him before that, though!”  Soren fell, tripping over Benji who had curled up at his feet after falling forward when he was let go.  Collin pinned him to the ground to stop him from going forward.  “Let me go!  He killed Taro!”
“Shut up!” Zen had long since crumbled, sitting curled up on the ground, but William’s quivering voice seemed to capture his attention.  “Taro had a no kill policy from what she told me when she visited.  Do you honestly think she would want you to kill him?  And you of all people, the person she chose to confide in, would actually suggest such a thing?”
“You shut up!  You didn’t know how much she was suffering!  She was in so much main, and all for you!  She put up with it because she wanted to get everyone out, and that especially went for her family!  Do you know how distraught she was when she found out that her family, the people that she has protected with everything she had, were stuck in this death game too?  Do you know how hard it got for her when she figured out how the headset worked or how it was able to end a life?”  Soren looked totally enraged.
“Zen,” Benji sniffed, stifling another oncoming sob.
“Y-yeah?”  The innocent tones, sounding completely broken silenced everyone else in the area, including the player who still had Taro’s dagger sticking out of the ground.
“I… I loved Taro.  She wasn’t just my best friend.  I loved her so much!  I’m sorry I couldn’t protect her, and I don’t expect you to forgive me for this or answer my next request.”  Zen didn’t respond, but he did nod, a small movement almost impossible to notice.  “What was Taro’s real name?  I know that isn’t something that I should ask, but I need to know.  I just-”
“Her name was and still is Taro,” Ryuu said, staring at the ground, eyes wide with terror.  “She told you, right?  She told me she did, but she said you didn’t believe her.  Taro was a liar, Benji, but she would never lie to someone like you… someone she loved.”
“Oh my God,” Benji said, mortified before his sobs began anew.
“That’s priceless,” Penance cackled.  “Love?  What a joke!  She was a worthless woman and a worthless player!  I bet she didn’t know that most of the players of deteriorating!  I bet she was taking her sweet old time trying to get us all out while she was out destroying the guilds like mine!  There are far better players to do that for us!”
“Stop it!  Just stop it,” Soren growled, but looked surprised when he realized he wasn’t the only one who had said it.  Kei stood up, eyes blazing, voice cold as steel.  “You!  She died because she wouldn’t kill you!  She died because she wanted to get every single player out!  Even the ones who killed others, who killed people she loved!  So shut up!  You didn’t know my cousin!”
“Soren,” Zen called out, “You said you made a promise to my sister.  What was it?”
“She made a way out for us, Zen, but there was too much risk to take a chance on activating it unless it was our last chance out.  She made me promise that if she died or was going to die soon, she wanted me to go to her apartment and find a gift box.  It contained the code that she believed could get us out and a list of all of the MGs, their members, and detailed records of all of the events she experienced within the game.”
“She knew she was going to die,” Zen said quietly.
“She told us so many times,” Karla said back, still crying into her brother’s chest.  “Why did she-”
“Benji.  She died for Benji,” Saki whispered in horror before turning her gaze on him.  “She would still be here if you hadn’t been so stupid!  She didn’t have to die, but she was in such a panic over some stupid ‘prodigy’ of hers that she couldn’t fight right!  You killed her!”
“She might not be dead,” Fang said quietly.  His words were overshadowed by the tears coming from his eyes.  “She’s Taro, right?  She’s probably back in the real world already nagging Mori about something stupid.  I mean, Taro’s the head of the family.  She would never leave us behind.”  His words edged on hysterical.  Karla fell to the ground as her brother finally caught up to reality, flinging his arms up to cover his mouth as he cried out into the now still air.
“She’s Taro,” Zen said firmly, although his face contained fearful uncertainty.  “Soren, you made my sister a promise, and I want you to follow through with it, but please wait a few days.  I want to meet with my family in here before we go back into the real world.  It’s selfish, but I know Taro would have done the same.”
“What are we going to do with him,” Tohma asked, sending a brutal sneer to the man beneath him.  “I’m sorry, but I can’t let him go after what he’s done.  He deserves to suffer after what he did.”
“Tohma, I won’t let you kill him,” Zen said, “But I won’t let him go after what he’s done either.  Taro wouldn’t approve.  We’ll put him in Shade Tower with the other members of MGs that we’ve captured.”
“But-”
“Tohma,” Ryuu said quietly, and the other boy became silent.  “Zen, I want to go home again.  I want to go home and see Taro again.”  He sounded devastated, and Kei had to catch him as he fell forward, eyes rolled back.
“I do too, Ryuu.  I do too.”