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Chapter 4

To say that Gui was distracted when he went back to work on Monday was an understatement. Several of the other professors had commented on it, including Dr. Huang who was in the process of co-authoring a academic paper with him. He couldn't bring himself to care though and gradually his peers had left him to stew. This of course, had been after they had tried to get Lee Tian to talk to him since they were known to be good friends.

Unfortunately for all involved, Lee Tian had a similar attitude and only tried briefly with Gui before settling in beside them. Second Life had been miserable for them both without Prince.

It was amazing, to say the least, what impact Prince's mere presence in the game had on everyday life. Even when Prince was away on a journey or lost everyone always thought that if something went terribly wrong Prince would show up and save the day. After all hadn't it happened before? With Prince not logging on night after night, a gloom had settled over Infinite City. It was now dangerous to roam the streets as a lawlessness that had never existed before flourished.

Yu Lian had started to ask for more soldiers to roam the streets to keep players from breaking out into fights. There had even been a group of players going around accusing players of disrespecting prince and killing them. The complaints were mounting, and even with Gui being preoccupied about Prince's absence he was growing concerned about what would happen to Infinite City if Prince absence continued.

If someone else had become Lord of Infinite City it was difficult to say if the same thing would have happened. The struggle, Gui thought, was in that Prince inspired such devotion and faith that the removal of it had created a black hole of sorts. Like the Sun had been stolen from them with no way of getting it back.

Gui stared sightlessly as he stood at the front of his class that was slowly filling with students. The young adults seemed to feel the dark mood of their professor and reacted by being almost completely silent. It created an eerie mood that built upon itself until the tension in the classroom was almost suffocating. Gui only vaguely noticed.

BANG! The classroom door swung open causing a visible ripple as students startled from the noise. Gui himself finally pulled himself from his dark thoughts to see Feng Ming stomp into the classroom. He was unimpressed with his student's actions for more than one reason. Feng Ming was Feng Wu in Second Life, but neither he or Wicked would say anything about Prince's condition other than he would be back soon. In some ways Gui could respect that since Prince had been clear that he valued his privacy. On the other hand… Gui desperately needed to know that Prince was okay! With this annoyance in mind, Feng Ming acting up just grated on Gui even more.

"Feng Ming please take your seat quietly. Class will begin in approximately a minute and if you haven't logged your presence you will receive a tardy." Gui walked to the board and started his lesson. One student came in late looking shame faced. Gui didn't bother to address the student however as everyone knew what the consequences were for their grade for each tardy and absence. He reflected somewhat gratefully that he didn't have to bother taking roll himself like his own professors had been forced to do.

By the end of class Gui had once again drifted into his own thoughts about Second Life and Prince. Many of the students had followed likewise while still taking down notes as he wrote up on the board. Such was college life for both professors and students. It was a relief to end the class with a quick reminder of the paper that was due next class period. A groan resounded through the classroom but Gui paid it no mind. It was only a fifteen page paper for goodness sake.

As students were exiting the classroom Gui walked over to the classroom tablet that recorded the roll for him as well as class quizzes that the students sometimes took electronically. There were the two regular absentees as well as the one tardie, but on top of that there was a surprise. Feng Lan had been absent.

This was notable first, because Feng Lan had never been absent, unlike her twin brother. Secondly, because she was one of the only female students that Gui had enjoyed a real conversation with. Gui looked for Feng Ming who still was gathering his things. He had fallen asleep the last portion of class and hadn't started gathering his things together as the end drew nigh unlike many of the other students.

"Feng Ming, if you would come to the front of the class, I have something I would like to ask you." The remaining students seemed to think that Feng Ming was in trouble as they exchanged looks before hurrying even faster to get out of the classroom.

Feng Ming frowned a bit as he finished putting his things in his bag and came to the front of the classroom. "What is it professor?"

"I noticed that Feng Lan was absent today, do you know why?" It was likely that Feng Lan was just sick, but sometimes students were pulled from classes for various academic reasons.

"She's sick." Feng Ming said blandly, clearly looking like he wanted to leave the classroom as soon as possible.

Ah such an expected answer, Gui mentally began pulling away from the conversation. "Well then, I hope that she gets better soon. Remind her that her essay is due on Wednesday…"

Feng Ming interrupted him, "She won't be back on Wednesday."

Gui's eyebrows rose. "Is she that ill?"

A dark expression spread on Feng Ming's face. "She caught Mono from somewhere, so she has to home study for the next couple weeks. I already reported it to the school nurse."

Gui frowned, Feng Lan was one of his better students, she was going to be gone that long? "I am sorry to hear that. I will communicate with the school nurse about Feng Lan's school work directly then." Gui paused. "I appreciate you telling me."

Feng Ming nodded, "I'll head off to my next class then. Bye professor."

As his student left the classroom Gui gathered up his own things. He had another class to get to in an hour which would give him enough time to go and see Lee Tian. He could ask about the situation with Feng Ming as well as have a sympathetic ear about Prince.

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Xiao Lan was relieved to get home, if exhausted from the journey. Her parents had done their best to let her sleep in the car, but once she got home she immediately fell asleep on the couch. By the time she woke up it was after dinner and her brother was home from school. It looked like they had already eaten too from the scattered takeout boxes that littered the counter. Apparently the family had decided that while she was sick they would simply order in. She slowly raised herself off the couch and reached for her water. Although she was hungry she didn't have the energy to go and see if there was any food left. In a few minutes she was going to pass out from exhaustion anyway.

That thought jolted her. She had to get to her bed where her Second Life console was! She looked over to her bedroom door. It had never felt so far away before…

Xiao Lan concentrated and slowly stood. She could feel herself swaying from side to side, but she knew she would make it if she worked hard enough. She took one step, then another. Xiao Lan began feeling more confident even as her vision began to spin. She took a third step and cleared the couch and coffee table, just a little further…

As Xiao Lan tried to take her last step she realized that she couldn't lift her foot enough to drag any further. She had already moved her weight forward though and was horrified as the floor came up to meet her. With a last ditch attempt to protect her face Xiao Lan raised her arms.

Something soft caught her. Startled Xiao Lan looked up and saw the scowling face of her younger brother. "What the heck are you doing Xiao Lan?"

Xiao Lan wasn't going to be cowed so easily though. "I need to get to my room. I don't want to accidentally sleep away the whole night and miss everyone on Second Life."

This seemed to make sense to Feng Ming. Still, he wouldn't let the subject go so quickly. He nagged her as he helped her the rest of the way to her bedroom. "You should have just called for me or mom and dad. Don't be stupid and not ask for help."

"I'm not stupid, I would have made it… eventually."

Feng Ming snorted and plopped Xiao Lan down onto her bed. He looked at her speculatively for a moment and then yelled loudly for their mom.

Xiao Lan winced. "Why did you do that?" She let herself lay down on the bed, but pinched herself to stay awake for a bit longer.

"If you're going to bed for the night you probably want to get changed into your pajamas, and there is nothing in the universe that could make me help you with that. That's what moms are for anyway…"

Feng Ming's head suddenly jerked forward as their mom entered the room and lightly knocked her son's head for the comment.

"Yes, that's exactly why I had children Feng Ming." The sarcastic humor was plain in their mom's voice.

Feng Ming winced as he rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, yeah… well I will let you to get to it." With that Feng Ming escaped from the room.

Her mom sat down beside her on the bed and gently felt her forehead. "Are you sure you don't want something to eat before going to bed? I have some soup that I can heat for you."

Even though she was hungry Xiao Lan could barely keep her eyes open. "No its okay, in the morning…" Xiao Lan mumbled. "Don't let me fall asleep without starting Second Life alright?"

Her mother frowned slightly even as he daughter's eyes fell shut. "Are you sure you should be playing Second Life right away?" Her daughter didn't answer as sleep started to overcome her again.

With a sad smile she quickly helped her daughter change with only small mumbles in response. She briefly considered just letting her daughter sleep through the night and not bother with the virtual reality game, but then again her daughter had been very insistent. With a sigh she gently woke up Xiao Lan.

"Honey, do you want to start the game now?"

Drowsily Xiao Lan nodded, her mother put the head set over her eyes. "Goodnight sweetheart." Her mother leaned down and kissed her forehead before pressing the button on the console to start.

"See you on the other side." She brushed her hands through her daughters hair once last time before turning off the light and shutting the door.

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When Prince got online there were several people that instantly noticed and began trying to whisper him. Gui was not among them. This at first caused a rush of disappointment in Prince even as he noted that it was still early in the evening for many Second Life players. Plus Gui was probably busy with plenty of other things other than the game.

The attempts at reason did little to soothe Prince. Instead she focused on Lolidragon who had logged in early that night. Prince was a bit stunned to find out that while she was gone Infinite City had experience a huge increase in crime and that Yu Lian and Lolidragon were desperately trying to get a head start on that day's chaos. Lolidragon had no qualms ordering Prince to meet them immediately so that they could address the problem together.

Prince had a suspicion that he would play a key role in whatever plan the two of them were brewing. A shudder ran down his back. Even with the looming craziness he was no doubt going to face Prince couldn't help a smile that crept up on his face. It was nice to be back.

As Prince walked down the stairs from his room where he had last logged off he was glad to see that while he was still weak it was nothing compared to the last time he had been on the game. Still it would be good to watch himself, last time he had gradually felt weaker and weaker.

By the time Prince found Lolidragon and Yu Lian (after getting lost several times) he suspected that he was right about getting weaker the longer he was in game. While he hadn't been doing anything too active, well aside from running away from some fan girls that spotted him, there was a small but notable difference in the energy that he felt. It would be frustrating to try and explain why he couldn't do certain activities to his friends, not unless he wanted to end up totally exhausted in game like before.

Finally Prince swung open the door to the restaurant where his friends were waiting. Everyone turned to look at him, he in turn responded the blood elf's cold expression, it was the only way he could stop a blush from covering his face. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye he could see a dark blur moving towards him rapidly. Alarmed he tried to turn to face this new threat only to gasp as he was hit by the force and pulled into a bone crushing hug.

"Gui!" Prince shouted once he realized who it was who had attacked him.

"Your highness! The world becomes so much brighter now that you are here! When I discovered your presence I tried to send you my affections only to find some evil prevented me from communicating with you. Oh my only light in this dreary world, I could only come here to wait for you, but now you're here!" Gui continued to ramble on while Prince struggled faintly against his solid grip. Finally he just started beating his fist lightly against Gui's head.

"Let" Hit. "Me" Hit. "Go" Hit. "Gui!"

Princes struggles were weak, but Gui seemed to finally get the message. He pulled away looking battered.

Finally released from the death grip that Gui had contained him with Prince explained what had happened, "There were too many people trying to whisper me so after I talked to Lolidragon I decided to block whispers for a little while. There wasn't any 'evil' preventing you from talking to me" Prince rolled his eyes to make a point.

Gui pouted. "Your highness, couldn't you have just blocked everyone but your party members?"

Prince couldn't prevent a blush from rising at this statement. Gui usually didn't point out obvious facts that he had missed. The older man must have been pretty frustrated to mention it so bluntly.

"Ah, yeah… next time?" Prince said questioningly.

Gui's expression showed his disbelief for a brief second before morphing into a happy smile. "Of course you will your highness, Gui knows that you would never take away his only light in the world for no reason at all…" Prince couldn't help but feel that there was a slight threat hidden in that statement.

Suddenly Gui grabbed hold of his hand and started pulling him further into the restaurant. "Gui?" Prince cried out alarmed.

Gui turned to talk to him even as they kept moving inwards. "Now that you are better Prince we need to talk to you about taking care of yourself." Gui nodded seriously as Prince's horrified expression grew.

"What? No…" Prince tugged against Gui grip. "I take care of myself just fine Gui! What about planning to fix Infinite City?"

"Hmm oh that? Your beautiful countenance has already done more for Infinite City than any plan could do." Gui paused for a moment. "Though I think Lolidragon may want you do a publicity stunt of some sort later on."

They stopped abruptly in front of the table that Prince's companions were at. Wolf and Doll seemed to have gotten there before Prince as well.

After everyone greeted Prince, Lolidragon immediately turned the conversation straight to business.

"Alright, part 1 of restore Infinite City's sanity is done with, now we just need Prince to give a speech to reassure the people that he's alright."

Doll popped up, "I still think that we should do a parade instead. Speeches are boring in comparison."

The discussion between the girls continued and Prince became worried about how much they were going to require him to do. While it was nice that his friends didn't assume he was still invalid he still had planned to take it easy for a few days. He leaned his head against his hand tiredly. The creeping exhaustion really was annoying.

"Your highness, are you alright?" Gui asked quietly while the table's conversation continued on.

Prince glanced over at Gui before nodding in answer.

A frown flashed across Gui's face. "Prince you didn't get on even though you were still sick did you?"

Uh oh… "Ahh…" Prince said hesitantly. "I am getting better…"

Gui's expression darkened. For a split second it looked like he was going to say something before changing his mind. Instead he turned to face the rest of the table who were now discussing the benefits of first having a parade and then a speech.

"Unfortunately the second part of the plan will have to wait." Gui stood and loomed over the table catching everyone's attention. "His highness is still ill. I am going to take him back to his room to rest."

To everyone's surprise, Gui swiftly reached down and picked up Prince bridal style.

At first Prince was too stunned to even try to escape. "Gui? Gui? What are you doing? Put me down!" Prince yelped while trying to escape.

Gui paid no mind however, and ran away with Prince in his arms before anyone at the table could respond further but to stare wide eyed.

"GUI!" Prince's cry rang out even as it grew fainter and fainter.

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Much to Prince's displeasure he hadn't been able to escape Gui's hold until they were midway up the flight of stairs going to his room. Normally Prince would have been able to escape much sooner plus crushed Gui into the floor for even thinking about picking him up. Unfortunately the effects of being sick in real life were already coming down on him hard.

The fact that Prince escaped Gui's hold on the stairs though had just been unlucky.

Prince groaned as he held his head. He had used all his healing potions the last time he logged in and having is brain bounce repeatedly on the steps was not his idea of fun.

Gui was in a similar position, but instead of focusing on his own injuries, was fluttering around Prince in a panic.

"Just… stop Gui!" Prince groaned. The bard was sometimes way too much. "Just take me up to my room. I think there are some healing potions up there."

For a moment nothing happened as Gui took in the fact that Prince was willing to let himself be carried. With a small worried smile Gui picked him up and held him tightly while they completed the rest of their journey.

Gui kicked open the door and gently put Prince down on the bed before looking for the healing potions that Prince had mentioned. He was happy to note when he came back that Prince was sitting up and looking much healthier than the last time he had been in that bed.

"Here you are your highness. Please forgive your poor servant for causing you such pain."

Prince rolled his eyes. "What if I say no?"

Gui pouted heavily. "Alright, alright, you're forgiven." Prince paused before muttering. "It was my fault anyway for tripping you…"

Prince startled when Gui sat down beside him on the bed. Gui was pushing his luck… even if Prince felt like his energy was leaking out he still had his sword and could take Gui out with one slice. Well, maybe a couple with how he was feeling. How was it that he had ended up exhausted in his room, with Gui by his side, a second time? He turned his suspicious gaze towards Gui who looked innocently back.

"What are you doing Gui?" Prince glared fiercely at Gui whose face had crept slowly closer to his own.

The other man seemed to catch himself and pulled back. Instead he raised his hand and tried to feel Prince's forehead for his temperature only to be brushed away.

"I'm fine Gui!" The bard slowly stopped fluffing the pillow that he had turned his unwanted attention to.

"Are you really?" He asked quietly.

The air grew thick in the air between them. "Yeah of course I am…"

Gui turned to face him with a solemn expression. "You're still sick Prince. It's been days, and you're still exhausted in game after a few hours. Do you really think I will believe that?"

Prince's eyes widened, Gui's seriousness was always startling and sudden. "But I am…"

Gui cut him off, "Even if your fine this time, what am I supposed to do next time you disappear, or the next? What if you were in an accident? Or in the hospital?" Prince flinched guiltily.

There was stunned silence between them. "You were in the hospital?" Gui's horrified expression seemed to grow with every second that Prince stayed silent trying to figure out his answer.

"It wasn't a big deal Gui!" Denying it would have been futile at that point.

"You were in the hospital! What is it? What happened to you? Are you dying?" Throughout Gui's frantic questioning Prince had been trying to wave him off until the last question.

"What?" Prince burst out in exasperation. "What kind of stupid jump in logic is that? I'm not dying, I was only in the hospital for a few days!"

"A few days is a long time in a hospital! You could have cancer for all I know." Gui yelled out before pausing looking terrified, "You don't have cancer do you?"

Prince scowled darkly, "No! Stop being stupid, I just have Mono." There it was out and Gui could realize just how dumb the illness Prince had was and could go back to being his non-serious self.

"Mono?" Gui asked with a bemused expression. He was pretty sure he had heard that recently.

"Yes, so I will be tired for a while but that is pretty much it. So you can stop freaking out now." Prince grumbled.

Gui seemed to be thinking before turning to eye Prince suspiciously. Prince looked hesitantly back. "What?"

"Isn't Mono also known as the kissing disease?"

A fiery red blush raised across Prince's face. This time he didn't hesitate to grab his sword and send Gui to the afterlife, or rather to the rebirth point. There was no way he was going to have that conversation with Gui after all the teasing his family had already put him through.

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Gui winced as he came out of the rebirth point. Usually Prince avoided actually killing Gui when telling him he had gone too far. Still even dying had been worth the time he had spent with Prince, even though he had been stupid and made a foolish comment at the end.

That foolish comment did have some merit however. Gui wasn't terribly familiar with the disease aside from knowing that it wasn't terribly serious but was definitely debilitating over a long period of time. He had heard of it just recently… Gui suddenly remember. Feng Lan! Her twin brother had reported that she had caught Mono and wouldn't be attending classes!

Gui's breath caught. Feng Yang Ming was Feng Wu in the game, the same Feng Wu who had gone to help Prince. Could it be… A horrified expression grew on Gui's face. Prince must know Feng Lan in real life. Not only know but maybe they were dating? How else could they contract a kissing disease at the same time? This whole time Feng Lan had probably been laughing at him. Maybe that had even been why she had asked him out on that date—to check out the competition! She sure hadn't seemed terribly let down when he had told her that he couldn't be interested in her.

He clenched his fists tightly. Maybe he shouldn't jump to conclusions. Mono could just be going around. He hardly knew anything about the disease. Gui came to a swift conclusion. He needed to know more, and Prince wouldn't want his company for at least a few hours anyway.

Gui logged off Second Life and immediately pulled out his laptop. It wouldn't be until the early morning hours that he would finally shut down his computer and call it a night.

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A/N: Well things are starting to get moving. I am hoping I will get the next chapter up sooner than later as I already have a good part of it written. I decided to cut this chapter off a little early ;) I hope you enjoyed it and definitely let me know what you thought! Thanks :)