Chapter 1

Prelude to Awakening

I never asked for any of this. I thought that it was all just a game, something that didn't matter. I didn't think that it would end in war. Had I known that this would happen, I would have never installed that damn app, yet at the same time…

…I couldn't see myself doing anything else.

I guess I should start from the beginning to give you all a little background. My name is Cadmus Markos and, at the time, I was a Freshman at Silver Oak High. It all started after the first month into the school year; a day that would change my life forever.

The day I would become a Burst Linker.

-Rise of the Dragon-

The day started like any other Monday, the alarm on my neuro linker chiming, waking me up at 5:30, rousing me from my slumber and alerting me to the need to catch my train. After a quick shower I took only a few seconds to glance at my tanned face and dull blue eyes and comb my messy black hair, making sure to comb my hair in a way to cover the scar on my forehead. I then got dressed in my uniform, put my cobalt blue neuro linker around my neck, grabbed a bagel, and left my quiet apartment.

I quickly exited the apartment complex, giving a short "Hello" to Mrs. Flannigan, the elderly woman that liked to take walks in the morning with her cat, and made my way to the train station. Once situated, I quickly scrolled through my messages, noting that my sister had deposited my daily allowance into my account; just enough lunch (I got a little more on Saturday's so I could go grocery shopping). I had just finished tying my tie when he got to his stop.

Silver Oak High was, to put it lightly, extravagant. It was a large school, one that I would liken to a cross between a normal school and a three-story mansion, complete with a large fountain with a pristine marble knight with the water spurting from its head like a large elaborate plume. The 'fanciness' didn't end there as, the second you stepped into the building, you were met with pristine halls complete with marble floors, high ceiling arches, large oil paintings of past principals and teachers. They even had actual suits of armor lining the halls.

As you can imagine, the place had a certain…'air' about it. Something that commanded excellence and those of an 'upper echelon'. Hence the need for uniforms that were borderline suits, that were navy blue with white lapels, ties included (girls had ascot-like neckwear and long black skirts). The students there also tended to come from affluent and well-off families and, as one can imagine, many of them held themselves in high regard. Since I don't come from such a family, many students looked down on me or thought me beneath their notice.

"Hey! Caddy!" a loud slightly high-pitched voice called out, significantly louder than the cacophony of voices coming from the halls. Turning around, I saw one of the very few exceptions to the whole 'looking down on me' thing; Cecil Abernathy.

Cecil was a freshman like me, the only daughter to a business tycoon and the head to the Abernathy Cooperation. I think he was in shipping, but I can't remember. Every time I brought it up to Cecil, she got quiet. Speaking of which, she was the definition of teenage rebellion, although with an admittedly cute face. She constantly went out of the way to defy her father, going out with friends, being friends with me, she even died her hair bright purple, something her father -discretely- blamed me for. Her neuro linker matched her hair.

The excitable girl bounced over to me, curly purple hair bouncing as she went. Her pale face was slightly flushed, most likely from running through the halls, but her bright smile was firmly in place. Her jade eyes glittering in excitement. "Hey Caddy," she greeted happily.

"Hey, Cecil," I answered in kind, smiling at my friend, though I think my I twitched as she used that terrible nickname. "Do you have to call me that every time you see me?"

"Nope," she said cheekily, popping the 'p'. I sighed, but I couldn't find it in myself to get upset with her. I was far too used to her antics to be actually offended. She then reached out and grabbed my arm. "Come on! I want to meet up with Barney before first bell."

I allowed myself to be pulled through the hallway by my excitable compatriot, noting the familiar path she was taking me. "Let me guess…"

"He's in the library," Cecil said at the same time I did. We laughed, incurring several glanced from other students, but we didn't care.

Despite the school being incredibly large, the library was rather easy to find. In fact, the entirety of the library took up almost a quarter of the school's interior. Three floors of an almost endless amount of literature ranging from fiction to historical non-fiction. They even had a few graphic novels, though no comics, and sitting there with his perpetually bored expression, slicked back bright blond hair, and glasses, gray eyes, forest green neuro linker, reading a large book, was Barnaby Williams.

Barnaby was a strange addition to the duo of friends, or rather I was the strange addition. Barnaby and Cecil had apparently known each other since childhood. Their parents had some kind of partnership going on between their companies and, as such, they arranged for their children to 'interact'. I'm about seventy-five percent sure that their parents wanted them to get married in a few years, making a big corporation 'power-couple', or something like that. I seriously doubted that that would happen since…

"Hey Barney!" Cecil called, letting go of my arm and rushing to the blonde's side, nearly knocking the book he was reading off of the table.

"Cecil!" he chided, giving the girl a frigid glare. "Be careful! This book is very old and easily damageable!"

Yeah, he was about as sociable as a block of ice.

Cecil pouted. "I was just trying to say 'hi'…"

Barnaby's glare lessened a fraction of a degree, a small practically unnoticeable smile forming of his face. "It's fine. Just be more careful next time."

Okay, he could be nice every once in a while. He was more like a glass of ice water.

Cecil beamed over having been forgiven. She then dragged me to the table and forced me into a seat with a surprising amount of strength. "So, I've been thinking…" she said, sliding into the seat next to me, leaning in as if speaking conspiratorially.

"That's a shock," Barnaby commented with a smirk.

"Hey!" Cecil cried out indigently, slapping the smirking blonde's arm. "Anyway, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," she glared accusingly at Barnaby, "I was going to say we should hang out this weekend. We haven't done anything together since the start of the year and I miss you guys."

"You do realize you see us everyday at school, right?" Barnaby pointed out.

"It's not the same!" Cecil argued. "I mean, Caddy doesn't even have the same lunch period as us!"

"Such a shame," he said, sighing dramatically. "I guess we'll just have to make do without him."

"Wow, really feeling the love," I said dryly.

"No! We're doing something together as friends!" Cecil snapped, glaring at Barnaby, daring him to argue. Barnaby rolled his eyes, not at all affected by her glare, but he relented. Cecil glared at him for a few seconds longer before nodding. "Okay, so I was thinking we could hit up that new arcade down on 4th Street, then we could have a picnic in the park."

"A picnic?" Barnaby scoffed. "You do realize that we aren't married, right?"

"I think it will be nice," Cecil huffed. "The weather's supposed to be nice on Saturday, so I thought it would be nice if we all could meet up."

As Cecil and Barnaby bickered back and forth, I couldn't help but note the strange dynamic between the two. Cecil was bubbly and easily excitable while Barnaby was cold and abrasive. They didn't seem like they fit together, let alone associate with someone like me. I still remember how they met me two years ago when several other older students who felt that I 'didn't belong' at Silver Oak and decided that I needed to be put in my place with their fists.

It was…so cool. Barnaby swooped in and beat the crap out of the ones messing with me while Cecil tended to my injuries. After that, I started watching and following them like a puppy starving for attention. Eventually, they accepted me into their group, though Barnaby took a while to warm up to me. There were still times that I thought that they accepted me into their group because they felt sorry for me, but…

"Oi! Earth to Caddy! Are you there?" I jumped in my seat, noting that Cecil was an inch from my face.

"Huh?" Cecil rolled her eyes and glared at me.

"Have you been listening to anything I've been saying?!" I shrugged helplessly, pointedly ignoring the pitying smirk that Barnaby had on his face. Cecil inhaled deeply and pinched the bridge of her nose. She opened her mouth to say something but the shrill sound of the warning bell sounded off.

"Well that's the bell! I guess we better head to advisory!" I said, all to relieved to be spared Cecil's wrath. I quickly got up from my seat and walked quickly (I didn't run, I swear!) towards the exist.

"Cadmus!" Cecil shouted from behind. I gulped as she only used my full name when she was upset with me.

"I'll see you after school!" I shouted back, slipping out the door just as the sound of a leather-bound manuscript against hard wood followed by an indignant shout from Barnaby filled the air.

-Rise of the Dragon-

I sighed tiredly, doing my best to stay away as the history teacher droned on and on. I always hated this class, not because I hate history, but because it was the class right before lunch. I had already had three other classes and I was mentally exhausted so, as I watched my teacher pretend to write on the blackboard, I was fighting to stay awake.

Thinking back on it, it was strange that the teacher was miming writing on the blackboard when he was really using an app on their neuro linker to write notes that were shared with the class in real time. I mean, why have a physical blackboard if you're not going to use it? Seems like a waste of money.

Anyway, I was bored out of my mind and I wasn't the only one. Glancing around me I saw several of my fellow classmates moving their fingers up and down in a scrolling fashion and 'typing' over their desk. While these things could be attributed to taking notes or reading said notes, and the fact that I couldn't see what they could see, if I were to judge solely on the fact that half of them wore the same dazed and bored looks on their faces, I'd say they were all checked out.

I was pulled from my bored musings when a sudden notification popped up in front of my screen. I had just gotten a direct message. Confused as to who would send me a notification at this time and curious as to what the message was, I clicked on it and was met with an explosion.

Well, not a real explosion, more like confetti popper bursting in my face, bursting with the sound of a gunshot.

A startled yelp managed to make its way from my mouth before I was able to bite my tongue. Looking around, I sighed in relief when I saw that no one around me was looking at me. I then turned back to message and I felt my heart sink.

You're paying for my lunch. Don't make me wait!

I didn't need to see the caller ID to know who sent that. Glancing over my shoulder I was met with a malicious glare from Eric Cho, the resident 'bad boy' and one of my main tormentors. His uniform was unbuttoned and the sleeves of his jacket were torn off, a clear violation of school dress code, but, seeing as his father was a long-time friend of the principal, he got special privileges. His lanky legs were resting on his desk, something that the teacher blatantly ignored, his arms crossed behind his head.

The delinquent, and no, I'm not generalizing, he was definitely a delinquent, grinned maliciously at me. He was of Asian descent, the best I could tell anyway, with heavily gelled hair styled into a prominent mohawk, the edges of which were dyed a poisonous green. As he smiled, I could see the slight yellowing of his teeth from years of smoking, his piggy black eyes glittering ominously. He mouthed something, but I couldn't decipher what it was and I frankly didn't care to know.

My attention was pulled back to the front of the class as the bell rang. Immediately, everyone got up and rushed towards the door, eager to either get to their next class or to lunch. I purposely moved slower than the rest of the class, allowing everyone to exit the room before me. Eric passed by me, sending me a final smirk before leaving the room. For what felt like the hundredth time today, I sighed. I then packed up my stuff and left the room, but I didn't go towards the cafeteria. No, instead, I went to my secret place.

Walking the familiar path to the east wing of the library, I made sure not bump into anyone in my hurry. While I wasn't a bookworm like Barnaby, the library offered me solace from the bullies as the librarian was a cruel mistress that ran the library with an iron fist. I quickly made my way past the many bookshelves before slipping in between two shelves that were turned in towards each other at an angle. Within the space was a rather small area, just enough for a single person to sit comfortably.

I had discovered this place by accident when trying to avoid my bullies during the first week of school. After I had successfully hidden from them consistently, I moved a chair into the space and spent a good portion of the lunch hour there. Typically, I would sneak out in the last fifteen minutes or so to grab something quick from the cafeteria before going to my next class.

I sat down in the chair, shrugged off my bag, and loosened my collar. Now all that was left was to pass the time.

"Direct Link," I muttered, closing my eyes and letting the world fell away.

After a brief sensation of falling and a subtle numbing tingle running up my body, my feet touched solid ground. Settling into my new weight, I opened my eyes and welcomed the bright world before me.

Upon opening my eyes, it was like I stepped into an elven city. The sidewalks were all a clean white stone with what appeared to be a freshly cut lawn surrounding the winding paths, fences separating them. Enormous trees sprouted up in a wild yet controlled manner and flower beds gave color diversity to the lawn from their places framed around the many benches. In the distant I could see a large fountain, the same knight from the fountain in front of the school residing in that fountain as well, though it was much larger. The artificial sun 'warmed' shined brightly over it all.

I sighed in complete bliss. The school's network was probably one of the most beautiful plazas' in the city. No surprise considering the school. I hopped off of the warp gates, which looked like a tree stump and landed on a patch of grass. I reveled at the sensation of cool grass tickling against my paws.

My avatar was one of the default models; a bipedal fox with cargo shorts, though I did change it from a red fox to an arctic one and gave myself a dark blue scarf. I didn't see a real need to design my avatar from scratch like other people did. After all, it's not like I talk to anyone outside of Cecil and Barnaby.

I moved quickly through the streets of the server, doing my best to avoid other student's avatars. They occasionally glanced my way, but they never lingered on me. There were a few carts and booths set up sporadically, selling things from avatar accessories to food items. The food there didn't sustain you like real food, but the neuro linker, much like the earlier nerve gear, connected to the brain in such a way that allowed for taste receptors to respond to things eaten in virtual reality.

I was making my way to the game tower, which, as the name implied, held numerous arcade games that, instead of using a joystick, made the player the controller. It was really fun, though it offered no real exercise, and I was the current undefeated champion at Slash and Dash. As I was making my way to the tower, I couldn't help but stop at a loud squeal.

"Oh my gosh! Ash, your avatar is so cool!"

Turning towards the sound, I saw a group of girls, who's avatars were rather…R-rated, surrounding a guy, but not just any guy. It was Ash(ton) Calloway. The sophomore's avatar looked a lot like he did in real life, finely trimmed black hair, vibrant green eyes, a shade darker than Cecil's, dark skin, but he wore what could only be described as the classic 'prince charming' outfit with a royal blue tunic with gold embroidery, brown slacks, black boots, and a bright red cape.

Ashton was, by far, the most popular guy in school, possibly in the history of Silver Oak. He was the star of the school's basketball team and a consistent honor roll student. He held the top spot in academics, beating out the entire senior class. Rumor had it that several elite schools had already offered him full rides for their institutions. Not only that but he had the charisma of Elvis and Leonardo DiCaprio rolled into one, hence why he was surrounded by girls.

"How'd you set your avatar like that? Did you design it yourself?" one girl tittered.

"He's so cool," another gushed, fawning over the sophomore.

I shook my head at their antics. Some girls just had no sense and I'm sure Cecil would say the same thing if she saw them. I was about to continue on my way when I felt as if someone was watching me. Turning, I locked eyes with none other than Ashton Calloway.

The sophomore was staring me with an unreadable expression on his face. This confused me as, compared to him, I was a faceless nobody, hardly any better than an ant on the road. I held his gaze for several seconds, neither of us blinking or breaking eye contact. Eventually, one of the girls stepped in front of Ashton, pulling his attention away from me. I stood there a second longer before resuming my trek, still confused as to why he was staring at me.

-Rise of the Dragon-

After that strange encounter, it didn't take long for me to reach the gamming hub, a large tree with a building seemingly wrapped around it like a sleeve. Entering in the large hollow opening and going to one of the dozens of game rooms, each about the size of a gymnasium. Walking up to the sole podium in the center of the room, I selected Slash and Dash and watched as the podium sunk into the ground.

A ripple went through the room as the ground seemed to shift as if made of water. All at once, the large hexagonal tiles that made up for the room glowed bright red. On the floor, several of the hexagon, including the one I was standing on, on burst from the ground, creating several pillars about five feet in height. From the walls, holes began to open up, allowing about five spherical drones to fly out and hover around me. A blue lightsaber-like blade appeared before me along with the large glowing words "READY?"

Taking a deep, calming breath, I allowed my nerves and anxieties to filter out of me, my focus directly on the glowing blade in front of me. Steeling my nerve, I grabbed the blade and the second I did, the words faded and were replaced with "GO!" The second those words disappeared, the drones started moving.

Like a horde of angry bees, the drones flew around the room, sending small bolts of green energy at me every once in a while. At the first blast, I jumped off of the pillar with a backflip before landing lightly on my feet. Eyes narrowing at the drone that had just shot at me, I kicked off, racing towards the drone.

The other drones fired at me, but I dodged them with ease, either deflecting the beams with my blade or weaving between the pillars to dodge. When I was directly under the drone, I jumped into the air, kicking off from pillar to pillar before cutting through the drone like butter. Landing in a crouch, I turned to face the remained drones and grinned.

In this world, I wasn't the nobody that everyone loved to walk on that I was in the real world. In virtual reality, I had no limitations. I could do things like I was doing now, doing death-defying flips, wall jumps, and cutting through robots. This was where I belonged. A place where I had no limitations. Where I was free to touch the sky.

Before I knew it, I had cut through the last drones, completing the level. I had no time to relax, however, as level two started and twice as many drones appeared. Instead of being panicked at the increased number of drones, I grinned and charged.

-Rise of the Dragon-

I had lost track of what level I was on. All that I was focused on was the drones swarming me. After each level, the number of drones would increase to a max number of twenty-five. After that, they got quicker and fired at a much faster rate until they were almost impossible to track. It was difficult to continue to dodge and destroy the drones, but I began to see patterns in their movement, giving me the opportunity to track where they would be. However, there was a bit of luck and instinct to the game.

I dodged another flurry of laser blasts, rolling out of the way and coming to a knee. I was panting slightly from fatigue, how they programed that in the neuro linker I'm not sure, but I refused to call it quits. I got to my feet and charged another drone, dodging lasers as I went. I jumped towards it and brought down my blade, seeking to cut the machine in half, but, just as I was about to cleave it in two, it moved to the side.

Eyes wide in surprise, I was unable to dodge as the drone shot a point-blank laser at me. I felt a dull sting in my side and a loud buzzer rang out, signifying that I had gotten a game over. Falling to the ground, I sighed in defeat, the adrenaline fading from my body. I guess that was it.

Looking up I watched the scoreboard flashed to life. I watched with satisfaction as my name, Cool Fox (I was in middle school when I came up with it, cut me some slack) take the number one spot knocking my previous record down to second.

"Level 73," I said, smiling at my success. "Two more than last time, but I can do better."

I went back to the podium, which had risen from the ground as the pillars sank. I was about to restart the game when someone gasped from behind me.

"Level 73?! That's amazing, Caddy!" Cecil's voice exclaimed. Turning I saw my friend's avatar gaping at the score board. Her avatar was wearing a silver breast plate with a black, long sleeve shirt underneath. She wore vambraces on her arms and gauntlets on her hands. A skirt-like tasset was wrapped around her waist and greaves on her legs. She finished her look off with silver sabatons.

"Uh…yeah," I said awkwardly.

"That's so good! I've never seen a score that high!" she gushed, eyes wide in amazement.

"Umm, don't you have class?" I asked, confused as to why Cecil was here.

"Oh!" she exclaimed as if remembering something. "That's right. Quick, log off!"

Before I could even reply, she had already logged off herself, disappeared from view. With a sigh, I did as I was told and logged off. When I opened my eyes to the real world, I nearly fell out of my chair when I was met with the smirking face of Cecil.

"Cecil!" I squawked. "H-How'd you—"

"Find this place?" Cecil finished, grinning mischievously. "I have my ways. Now come on, I got food!"

As she said this, I noticed the small box of school-made pizza in her hands. I gawked at the sight. "H-How…Wh-Why…?"

"One of my friends from health class said that Eric Cho was glaring at you in history class," Cecil explained. "I figured that you would be avoiding the lunch room so I took the liberty to get you something."

I frowned slightly at the mention of Eric Cho. Both Cecil and Barnaby knew about the bullying I received on an almost daily basis and, while Barnaby said that I should deal with it or fight back, Cecil was always supportive of me. She always consoled me and offered support, but, despite all she did, I couldn't help but feel…weak.

"Come on," Cecil said, grabbing my arm and pulling me from my thoughts. "Mrs. Jane doesn't like people eating in the library."

I allowed myself to be pulled, keeping my head down so that Cecil couldn't see my face. We left the library, earning a stern look from the librarian, Mrs. Jane. Cecil was chatting about the various happenings going on within the school. I allowed her to talk at me, not really willing to get into the conversation, still deep in my funk. My impromptu depression only intensified when a familiar sneering voice reached my ears.

"Well, well, well. Look what we have here, boys."

I felt my blood chill. Slowly, both Cecil and I turned and saw Eric Cho stalking towards us with two of his goons flanking him. He had a nasty smirk on his face, one that promised bodily harm, most likely towards me. "I was waiting in the lunchroom for almost an hour, hungry," Eric said. His voice sounded light and almost carefree, but there was an underlining malice underneath. "I thought we had an agreement?"

I opened my mouth to say something, but the words caught in my throat. I could feel a cold sweat begin to run down my back and my heart rate begin to increase. I would have taken a step back had Cecil's not been gripping his arm.

"I'm sorry, what's going on here?" Cecil asked sweetly, though I could see her jaw clench.

Eric Cho turned his gaze to Cecil, appearing to have just noticed her. Immediately, a clearly fake smile stretched across his face. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't see you there. You see, me and my good buddy Cadmus over there had an arrangement for lunch and he skipped out on it," he lied. His lie honestly sounded like it could be the truth, something that he no doubt had practice doing. What he said probably would have been believable had Cecil known who exactly she was talking to.

"Uh huh," she said disbelievingly, causing Eric's smile to slip slightly. "You know, that's funny considering I'm Caddy's friend and he's never mentioned you, so how about you try again."

Eric's smile slipped fully off of his face, replaced by his signature sneer. "Look, sweetheart—"

"Don't call me sweetheart," Cecil practically growled.

"—I have business with that little creep next to you, so how about you prance off," Eric said, speaking as if Cecil hadn't said anything. I flinched a little, but not at the glare that Eric was now sending me. No, it was the frigid glare that Cecil was sporting.

"Excuse me?" Cecil hissed, her grip on my arm becoming bruising. "That is my friend your talking about and who the hell do you think you're talking to?!" She took a step forward, dragging me with her, and got right in Eric's face. "I'm not some little valley girl that will just titter around when her friend's being bullied, so I suggest you back off."

Eric was taken aback, probably not used to being spoken to in such a manner. Unfortunately, his shock was shortly replaced with blinging anger. "Listen here you little bitch," he growled, his teeth grinding against each other. "How about you stay out of things you aren't involved in. Lest you find yourself hurt."

I bristled at that. He was threatening my friend! "Hey, how about you—"

Beep, Beep!

The sound of a car horn caused me to stop abruptly. My body ceased, my heart skipped a beat, my throat constricted. For a second, I wasn't in the school hallway. I was in the middle of the street, the smell of gasoline and smoke clogging my senses. I could hear muffled shouts in the distance, but the only thing I could focus on was the growing pool of red growing in front of me.

A chorus of cruel laughter pulled me back to the present. Blinking I saw Eric and his goons roaring with laughter and Cecil looking at me in concern. Glancing down at myself, I saw that I was shaking.

"That's hilarious," Eric laughed cruelly. He grinned at me, tapping his black neuro linker. "Like the app? It's a soundboard. It plays anything from gun shots—" he tapped something and another car horn blared, though I didn't flinch this time, "to car horns."

The trio of delinquents broke out in another round of raucous laughter. Next to me, Cecil was shaking in rage. Without warning, she stalked forward and slapped Eric across the face. "You horrible monster!" she shouted, her green eyes burning with hatred. "How dare you do something like that to him! How could anybody be so heartless?!"

As Cecil laid into him, Eric brought a hand to his face. His eyes narrowed at the violet haired girl, his anger building with each word Cecil spoke. He cut Cecil off mid-rant, anger smoldering behind his eyes. "I warned you, bitch," he growled and, before Cecil could react, lashed out with his hand and backhanded her across the face with much more force than she had just moments ago. I could only watch gobsmacked as Cecil was sent sprawling to the floor.

Cecil was on the ground, her cheek already starting to bruise. Eric sneered at Cecil's body, muttering something to himself, his cronies too wore looks of shock, but they seemed much more at ease with it. All the while I could only stare there frozen in shock and fear.

"What seems to be going on here?" Everybody froze at the cold voice that addressed them. Across the hall, standing there with his arms crossed over his chest was Ashton Calloway. He stepped closer, stopping just a few feet from the group. He raised a brow. "Well?"

Eric flinched back slightly, his gaze falling to Cecil, who was just starting to sit up, and realized how bad the situation was. "Nothing," he grunted turning around and leaving with his two lackeys following him.

Ashton stared after the trio for several more seconds before kneeling down to help Cecil. "Are you alright?" he asked gently.

"I-I'm fine," she stuttered out, flushing slightly. It appeared that not even Cecil was immune to Ashton's charm.

As he helped her to his feet, I bowed my head in shame. My friend had been struck and I had done nothing to even defend her honor or help her up. He really was pathetic.

"Hey," I jumped as Ashton addressed me.

"Y-Yes," I squeaked out.

"Take her to the nurse's office," he said, gently pushing Cecil towards me. "I will be reporting those delinquents to the principal."

Without another word, the sophomore turned on his heel and walked off, leaving me and Cecil alone. Cecil started gushing about how cool he was while I could only think about how worthless I was.

-Rise of the Dragon-

"Are you sure you're okay?" Barnaby questioned, his usual calm façade breaking to concern. We were currently walking from school, the final bell ringing just several minutes ago. Cecil had explained to the blonde what had happened and it was safe to say that he wasn't pleased.

"I'm fine," Cecil insisted, batting Barnaby's hand away from her bandage. "Honestly, I don't even need a Band-Aid for this. It's just a bruise."

"Hmph," Barnaby grunted, not looked convinced. "I wouldn't be surprised if your father sues Cho for damages."

"I know," Cecil sighed. "He freaked when the nurse called him. I wouldn't have been surprised if he showed up and killed Eric himself."

"And where were you during all of this?" Barnaby asked me suddenly.

I gulped. "I was there."

"And you didn't do anything to help or stop Cho?" he asked quirking a brow. "Not very gentlemanly."

"Hey, I don't need a gentleman looking after me," Cecil said. "Besides…" she glanced at me, "Caddy was…preoccupied."

"Preoccupied?" Barnaby repeated, scoffing loudly. "He was preoccupied as you were being struck?"

"Stop it, Barney," Cecil scolded. "He's not my keeper. He's not in charge of protecting me."

"And neither are you in charge of protecting him," Barnaby snapped back. "You got hurt protecting him and he's not man enough to defend you? It's pathetic! I honestly don't see why you let him follow us around if he had no purpose."

I stopped dead.

Cecil whirled around. "Barnaby!" she hissed. She turned to me, worry filling her eyes. "Caddy, he didn't—"

"I'll see you guys later," I interrupted, rushing past the duo and to the train station, ignoring Cecil's calls for me to come back.

By the time I knew where I was going, I was already on the train heading to my street. Cecil attempted to call me several times, but I ignored them. I didn't want to hear any of her explanations of how "Barnaby didn't mean what he said" or "How she doesn't see me as a waste of space". I was just tired of it all. Before I knew it, I was home.

"I'm home," I said tonelessly, flicking the lights on to my apartment. No one answered, not that I expected anyone to. After all, Alexia hardly ever came by.

I set out doing my homework, cooked my dinner, watched a little TV, and laid down in bed. I stared up at my ceiling, the events of the day filtering through my mind, and I couldn't stop the tears from falling from my eyes.

-Rise of the Dragon-

The next day started without much fluster. I got to school around the time I normally did, though I went out of my way to avoid Cecil, who was waiting by the fountain, most likely looking for me. When lunch time rolled around, I avoided the lunch room again, not wanting to chance a meeting with Eric, but I didn't go to the library. Chances were that Cecil would look there for me. Instead, I locked myself in a bathroom stall and direct linked to the school's server. When I got to the game hall and moved to set up Slash and Dash I was shocked by what I saw on the scoreboard.

"Level 77!" I gasped. Someone had beaten my record by four and knocked me out of first place. "No…"

That rank was all I had. The only thing I could feel proud of and this 'Gilded Prince' had just taken it away from me. I fell to my knees, trying, and failing, to keep myself from crying. I knew it was stupid of me to get so emotional over a stupid rank in a game, but it was special to me.

"So, you're the person that reached level 73," a voice called from behind me. A very familiar voice. I turned my head to the voice and saw the immaculate form of Ashton Calloway.

Ashton regarded me with a strange expression that suggested he was, excited? It was hard to tell from someone whose expressions were closer to neutral than anything else. "I have to say, it was incredibly difficult to beat your score," he continued. "You should feel proud."

"Why are you here?" I asked with no small amount of bitterness in my voice. "Come to gloat?"

"No, nothing of the sort," he said with a shake of his head. "I've come here to offer you a job of sorts."

I blinked owlishly. "What?"

Author's Notes:

First off, thank you for checking out this story. I normally write Mystery Dungeon fics and, after my Sword Art Online fic didn't go the way I wanted, I was a little hesitant to write this one. I hope that I can put this fic on the same level as Stardust and Resistance and any suggestions or constructive criticisms are welcome.

Moving on, for those that either have watched the anime or read the manga, you can probably tell that Ashton will be the 'Parent' of Cadmus and, as such, the two will be close. Unlike the Parent relationship between Kuroyukihime and Arita Haruyuki, there will be no love between Ashton and Cadmus other than that of brothers. While I have nothing against same sex pairings, it simply will not be the case with Ashton and Cadmus as romantic relationships will not be at the forefront of my fic. With that out of the way, I hope you all enjoy my fic.