A/N

Bold means the point-of-view from within the game... it will make sense once you read it.

Ludwig opened the door to a surprisingly quiet house. Well, it wasn't completely quiet because the three dogs were there barking happily in greeting, but there was no loud Gilbert, his older brother who was currently living in the basement. Ludwig would've thought Gilbert was asleep if it wasn't for the fact that he arrived home so late today. So he must be out with his friends, which is good for Ludwig who just finished a horribly long and stressful day.

He grabbed a beer from the fridge and went up to his study. He relaxed into the chair and stared his black computer screen. He had quite a bit of work left to do but after today, Ludwig felt as if he could sit in this chair forever. He felt himself relax into the quietness of his study, even the dogs calmed down. Then the front door slammed open.

Ludwig was broken out of his relaxation and almost immediately felt the stress come back to him tenfold. He heard the dogs barking madly and a string of German loudly addressing them calming them down slightly. Then he heard boots stomp up the stairs, much to Ludwig's annoyance. His brother should know by now to take off his boots in the house!

Why did his brother have to return now? Ludwig almost preferred it if Gilbert drank himself silly at some bar with his friends. Instead, said brother just had to slam into the study where Ludwig was.

"Luddy! Knew I'd find you here kleine Bruder!" the Prussian said loudly, and Ludwig felt a migraine coming on.

"Why are you here, Gilbert?" Ludwig asked tiredly.

"Oh rough night?" Ludwig barely nodded in response before Gilbert interrupted, "Well, I have just the thing to get you back into the spirit!"

"Do I even want to know?"

"Yup!" he exclaimed before pulling a box out of a grocery bag in his hand and shoving it into Ludwig's hands.

"Realms of Destiny?" Ludwig read. It was a small box Gilbert shoved into his hands with some sort of people of the front with weapons and- was that a bear?

"It's a game!"

"Strategy?" Ludwig asked knowing his and his brother's shared love for those kinds of games.

"Nope! Mmorpg!"

"What?"

"It's a mmorpg. Massive-multiplayer online roleplaying game. It's a computer game you can play online with other people," Gilbert clarified.

"Oh, one of those."

"Hey! Give it a chance Bruder! Besides, this one's a special kind of mmorpg. It's more awesome!"

"How so?" Ludwig asked bored, putting down the game and turning back to the work on his desk.

"Well, instead of clicking on the NPCs, non-playable characters, to talk to them, you can actually speak into a mic. So you can talk to the NPCs and to fellow players! Hey, are you even listening to me?"

"Hm? Ja," Ludwig replied distractedly.

"No you weren't! Just promise me you'll give it a try. Trust me, it'll help with your stress!"

"Alright, alright," the younger German sighed.

"Danke Bruder! Oh and you'll need a mic!" Gilbert said before running out of the room.

"Take off your boots!" Ludwig yelled after him.

It wasn't until two days later Ludwig remembered the game. Ludwig was again resting in his office after a long day and noticed the game box buried underneath some papers on his desk. He grabbed the game and looked at the description on the back.

"Wizard, Knight, Ranger, Thief, Cleric. What do they all have in common? They are all fighting to protect the kingdom of Rei'yla from Krauss' legion. Join together with your friends and meet new people on a heroic quest to defeat King Eldrien! Microphone is required for game play."

Well, Gilbert wasn't kidding about the mic... however, a fantasy game? Really? Gilbert should know by now that Ludwig didn't like these kinds of games. Then again, Ludwig hah needed an outlet, maybe he should just try it out to keep his mind off of work for once.

It took almost an hour to install the game and a half an hour for Ludwig to create an account, but now there was no turning back.

He logged in and clicked on the "Create a Character" button. First, he had to choose his gender- easy, male. Next physical parameters. It took nearly 45 minutes for Ludwig to finish his character's look (perfectionist) and, when he was done, his character looked exactly like himself. Next was class. He had to choose between Knight, Wizard, Ranger, Thief, and Cleric. There was a small question mark next to each name, so clicked on the Knight first.

Knight – Close-ranged fighter with heavy armor. Has no magic skill but uses slow melee attacks instead. Focuses stats in stamina and strength.

Wizard – Long-ranged fighter that uses damaging and disabling spells. Has light armor. Focuses stats in intelligence and critical hit.

Ranger – Long-ranged fighter that fights with the use of an animal companion. Has medium armor and little magical skill. Focuses stats in critical hit and speed.

Thief – Close-ranged fighter that has medium armor. Has no magical skill but uses abilities to support and attack from the shadows. Focuses stats in speed and critical hit.

Cleric – Long-ranged fighter with light armor. Uses magic to heal and aid others. Focuses stats in intelligence and speed.

Well, definitely not a magic user, Ludwig decided. So that left Knight, Thief, and possibly Ranger. Ludwig made a quick pros and cons list in his head for each of the three remaining choices.

A Knight looks like it has a good chance of withstanding a battle, especially the longer ones. However the attacks are slow so the battles will naturally be longer. The Ranger, on the other hand uses magic, and although there is an animal companion, it also fights from a distance. Ludwig preferred to be up close when in a battle, not standing off to the side. So, he crossed Ranger off the list. Thief is also fights up close like a Knight, but it sneaks around and doesn't look like it could withstand a battle very well on its own. Well, Knight would probably be the best choice for him.

Confidently, Ludwig clicked on Knight.

The last thing was to pick a name. Ludwig clicked on the small question mark next to the text box for more information.

"Choose a name between 5-21 letters or numbers. Do not use your name as this will be seen by other online players."

Well, that wasn't a lot to go off of. After much contemplation, Ludwig finally decided on Ludvig. Nobody ever said Ludwig was creative.

He was finally in the game. After a small cut scene, Ludwig found his character at some sort of starting zone. It was fairly barren though there was the occasional new player, like Ludwig, running past. A pop-up appeared on the screen, telling Ludwig how to walk and interact with the AIs. After thoroughly examining it, Ludwig pressed the "w" key to move his character forward to the NPC man named "Althrien Gatred". He knew this by the name hovering above his head.

When he got closer, the NPC turned to him and spoke, "Greetings traveler, would you mind helping me out?" Another pop-up box appeared on the screen which instructed Ludwig on how to interact with the NPC by using the mic.

Ludwig quickly grabbed the mic he uses for conference calls and plugged it into the computer.

"Er…" he spoke into the mic unsurely.

"I apologize, but I don't think I heard you correctly. Could you help me out?"

"Er, what do you need?" Ludwig asked almost embarrassed to be talking to a computer like this.

"Ah good. You see, I have been having some problems with those troublesome goblins over there stealing from my garden. Could help me out by killing 6 of them?"

Ludwig stared at him, still not really sure what to do and, after a few moments, the NPC spoke up again, "Could you help me out by killing 6 of them?"

"Oh! I'm supposed to answer- ah, sure!"

"Great!"

A notification appeared telling Ludwig that he accepted a quest apparently and that it's been added into his log.

Ludwig looked around and found the small garden ridiculously over-run by the goblins off to the right. After figuring out how to fight with his character, killing the monsters was very easy. He assumed that that was because this was a starting zone for players to get used to how to play the game.

After an hour of boring quests that seemed to get easier the more Ludwig got to play, he was instructed to go to a town called "Rythendal" by following the path out of the starting zone.

The town was a lot bigger than the measly 5 NPCs he started off with. They were people selling stuff and people calling out to him to help them with whatever they needed. There were even players running and jumping around. Some were selling/buying things but others just seemed to be standing around. Ludwig briefly wondered why he couldn't hear other "real" people talking to the NPCs. He assumed a town like this would be loud.

After going to his trainer to level up, he went around the town grabbing all the quests he could. Many of them were to kill animals or monsters for a certain type of loot, a few were to go and retrieve something, and one was to simply deliver a crate to "Thaedyn Citadel" the main city in this zone.

Ludwig went ahead with the last one, after all it was simple and would be easy to get out of the way. He quickly made his character run up to the path to the Citadel after checking the map to find out where it's at. If he thought the last town was big, man was he mistaken.

"Thaedyn Citadel" was easily 20 times bigger. There were much more NPCs and actual players just standing around. The NPCs were talking and interacting. Yet, he still heard no other actual people talking. Maybe he had something in his settings turned off? Oh well, that was beside the point.

He was supposed to deliver the crate to a "Marelin Gadfray" at her shop… wherever that was. After wondering around the city for a good ten minutes, Ludwig was fed up. He considered deleting the quest, but instead he decided to try and ask for directions. He wasn't sure if the NPCs could understand that request but where's the harm in trying?

Ludwig found a man standing idly next to a tomato stand. His name read "Feliciano."

"Er, excuse me. Do you know where I can find a 'Marelin Gadfray'…?" he asked hesitantly. The guy (boy?) seemed to not have heard him… he just kept standing there spacing out with his eyes closed. Ludwig could've sworn he heard a soft "ve~" too.

Maybe he wasn't supposed to answer to players?

"Excuse me?" Ludwig tried again. This seemed to snap him out of it.

"Ve~? Are you talking to me?" he asked tilting his head lightly.

"Ja, who else could I be talking to?" he said a bit harshly causing the guy to flinch slightly. But really, no one else was even close to them.

"Ve~ S-sorry…" He looked so hurt and afraid, Ludwig felt guilty… even if he was just a NPC.

"It's alright. Do you know where I can find 'Marelin Gadfray'?"

"Mrs. Gadfray? Sure! She's super nice~ Sometimes she lets me stay at her inn if it's too late at night and I don't feel like walking all the way home. It can be scary walking around here at night. It's such a big city and scary people can come out and-"

"Okay okay! Could you just take me to her- er, just tell me how to get there?"

"Sure! I'll take you there!" He said happily. "My name's Feliciano, what's yours? Oh, Ludvig! Haha of course!"

Ludwig found himself easily addicted to the game. It wasn't a bad addiction or anything - he still went to work and acted like a human being. In fact, if it wasn't for Feliciano, he probably would've not kept up with the game. He probably would've given the game back to his brother long ago saying sorry he tried it but it just wasn't his thing. The boy - NPC - was interesting. He would follow Ludwig around as soon as he logged on, telling him about his day. He sometimes even tried to help fight but more often than not he usually ended up getting himself into trouble - attracting monsters with his yelling and crying, running away into another group of monsters, etc. But Ludwig found that he's been gaining quite a bit of experience getting Feli out of trouble. Besides, the guy could be helpful sometimes, especially when searching for something or someone on a quest. The NPC definitely knew his way around this world.

Though, admittingly, this did get Ludwig thinking. Do people usually have an NPC following them around? He has yet to actually see anyone with an NPC that's not an escort quest. (Which are the worst because Feli and the NPC that they are escorting tend to get distracted by talking, which causes even more monsters to attack them than usual.)

Of course, Ludwig still looks forward to the time he gets to spend with the boy. He was nice and always talking, creating an enjoyable and comfortable atmosphere for Ludwig where he is not obligated to talk back. It seems as if Gilbert was right after all. The game does help relieve some of his stress.

But Ludwig couldn't help but wonder what Feli does when he logs off. Does he go back to the city? Or does he go help and follow around another player in the game? Ludwig didn't know how to feel about that last one, but he didn't like the sick feeling in his stomach whenever he did think about it. Wait, why should be feeling anything anyway? He's an NPC for Gott's sake! Of course, he can help another player! That's what they're supposed to do! Yet, that didn't make him feel any better.

He logged on after a particularly stressful day. His character was now level 27. He has gained a lot of levels in the past two weeks.*

He waited around for a bit in the city he was in. He knew, after all this time, that Feli would be arriving in a few minutes. Somehow, Feli always knew when Ludwig logged on and never failed to meet him within five minutes. It's as if he never strayed too far away from where he logged off at. Ludwig would never admit it that that thought made him happy.

As predicted, Feli arrived out of breath as if he ran all the way here from wherever he was (which Ludwig wouldn't doubt it).

"Luddy! Hi! You're here! It's been super boring without you!"

"Ja, hallo Feli. Just give me a moment," Ludwig said distractedly in reply. He finished whatever he was doing while waiting for Feliciano to appear and then turned back to him.

"So what's first Luddy?" He asked excitedly once Ludwig was finished. Ludwig blushed slightly at the nickname. He once tried to correct it at the beginning but Feli looked so heartbroken, so he hasn't bothered to fix it since then. For an NPC, Feli was surprisingly good at expressing emotions.

"Well, I just picked up a few quests for a demon base camp near here."

"Sounds scary! Ve~!" Ludwig doesn't know why Feli makes the "ve" sounds, he only knows that he makes them when he's showing a lot of emotion.

"It shouldn't be too bad," Ludwig started, scanning through his quests. "Though there is a quest to kill a guy named Mokdraemas."

"Ve~! Mokdraemas!? He's scary! A level 29 elite!"

Another nice thing having Feliciano around, he knew the level, names, and locations of the named monsters.

29 elite? Well, Ludwig was almost level 28. So by the time he finished the other two quests in that area he should've already leveled.

"Alright, let's go," Ludwig said, turning his character in the direction of the base camp.

"Ve~ what!? Wait! What about backup ve~?" Feliciano sounded really nervous.

"We shouldn't need backup," Ludwig said. "Not if we stick to my plan."

Needless to say, the ditzy boy accidentally attracted the attention of a nearby shaman in the middle of the battle with the elite, and it decided to join in the fray and heal the elite back to full health.

Shiße! They most likely will not make it out alive. Ludwig wasn't sure what happens to Feliciano when he died, but he wasn't about to take that chance. He quickly ran through his options and picked the one that was the best suited for Feli's survival.

"Feli!" Ludwig yelled out, while at the same time trying to grab the attention of both the elite and the shaman. "Run Feli! Run! Go back to the town!"

"W-what ve~ what about you ve!" He yelled back in near tears.

"Go Feli!" He ordered. "I'll meet there!"

"P-promise?" Feli cried. Ludwig rolled his eyes.

"Ja, I promise! Now go!" He ordered and the boy took off with one last glance to the German.

Ludwig held off until Feli was out of sight. Once the boy was gone, he allowed his character to die.

Well, that did not work out quite as well as he hoped. The elite was a bit stronger than expected.

He quickly respawned back at the city before Feli freaked out at the length of his absence.

Ludwig went back into the city to find Feliciano crying, frantically trying to find him.

"Feli. Feli! I'm right here," he sighed. The boy turned towards him quickly and ran to him and hugged him.

"Mio dios ve! That was so scary ve! Don't ever do that again!"

"Ja ja I won't."

"Ve~ Did you kill them?"

"Nein, I die- I mean, I just barely escaped."

"Well that's okay! As long as you're safe!" He chirped still latching on to the German's character.

Ludwig inwardly sighed in relief, glad that Feli didn't pick up on his slipup. He didn't know how much Feli knew about the fact that he was in a video game, but Ludwig couldn't bear to see heartbreak on his face if he did found out.

"Alright," Ludwig said his character stepping back a bit from the still teary-eyed boy. "We'll try again and this time, stick to the plan."

"Ve wait! What!?" He cried as Ludwig began to walk away. Ludwig needed to repair his armor and get some healing supplies before the battle.

"No!" Feliciano cried as he got into Ludwig's way, preventing him from going any further. "No, we can't get him by ourselves ve!"

"We have t-"

"No, ve, we need more people," Feli said stubbornly.

"No we don't," retorted Ludwig. "We can take care of it ourselves. As long as we follow the plan-"

"The plan is good," Feliciano agreed. "But, Mokdraemas is still too strong ve. Plans are useless unless we have the strength to back it up." Ludwig didn't know what to say to that so Feliciano continued on. "We need help. Please, Ludvig."

This was a game right? But it seemed so real, Ludwig didn't know how to react. Why would it matter how many times he died? He'll just keep respawning. But Feli sounded so serious and sincere just then, he may as well go with it.

"Ja, very well," he said after a few moments. "We will go with your plan."

"Ve~ yay!" He cheered. Serious moment over. "Let's contact your friends an-"

"Whoa wait," Ludwig cut in. "I don't have any friends here."

Feliciano looked confused and tilted his head to the right as he said, "You don't?"

"With the exception of you, nein, I do not."

"Really... Well you're in luck!" He said happily. "I happened to know a guy who's really strong and he's level 40! I met him a few days ago! I'll just contact him real quick!"

"Ja... Okay..."

"One sec ve~" Feliciano concentrated for a moment then he opened his mouth... But nothing came out. Feliciano was talking but saying nothing. He seemed to be having a silent conversation. Finally, his face broke out into a huge smile and nodded. Then-

"Okay Ludvig!" Feli said suddenly (causing Ludwig to jump slightly). "You should be getting an invite from ZeAwesomeKnight!"

As soon as he said it a pop-up appeared on the screen and, also just like he said, it was a group invite from "ZeAwesomeKnight."

Ludwig quickly accepted and Feli started talking "in silence" again. It was actually slightly annoying not being able to hear the conversation. He also noticed that there were four new names and health bars on the left side of his screen. The top one was "ZeAwesomeKnight" and underneath that was "Allred," "Saethwr," "Lizzy," and of course "Feliciano." Ludwig assumed that the other three were originally apart of "ZeAwesomeKnight's" team.

Feli cut through his thoughts again, "Ve~ Luddy."

"Ja, Feli?"

"You need to switch over to team chat."

"I... er what?"

"Switch to team chat," Feli repeated with a smile.

"How, how do I do that?"

Feli just shrugged. "I don't know, I just do it whenever I want." That's true. Why would an NPC know how to do something that's probably some sort of setting on here? Ludwig messed around on the settings for a bit before finding a command that allowed him to switch to team chat.

Once he did, a loud, obnoxious laugh sounded through his headphones, startling Ludwig and knocking off his headphones in the process.

He quickly retrieved his headphones and put them on just in time to catch Feli say, "Ok! We'll see you here!"

Feli turned to Ludwig with a smile, "They'll be here in a sec! Did you figure out how to switch over?"

"Ja-" Ludwig started to reply when he was cut off by a loud, American voice.

"Hey! Feliciano! Where are ya? I can't find ya on my map!"

"Git!" Cut in a deeper voice with an English accent. "Lower your voice! You're too loud!"

"Hahaha! Whatever you say Iggy!"

"Don't call me that!"

"We're over here!" Feliciano said taking off in what Ludwig assumed was the other three peoples' direction. Ludwig quickly followed after him not wanting to lose sight of him already.

Feliciano and Ludwig quickly found the three over-geared level 40s just outside of the town.

"Hi!" Feli said when he reached them. "Thanks for helping us! The guy is really hard!"

"No prob!" replied the "git" (the American?). "Heroes are always willing to help! I'm Alfred by the way!" So was he Allred?

"I'm Arthur," said the Brit, even though there was no "Arthur" in the group.

"Yeah we all call him by his real name because Sae-whatever is too weird to pronounce!"

"It is not weird!" Arthur replied.

"Yeah it totally is dude!" Alfred said with a laugh.

"Kesesese! Don't scare off the noobs!" said an all-too-familiar voice. Ludwig almost choked. He would definitely recognize that voice anywhere!

"Gilbert?" Ludwig said tentatively when the group died down.

"…Ludwig!?"

Ludwig heard some banging coming from down the hall and then heavy, booted footsteps quickly pounded to his study. He turned around just in time to see Gilbert barge into his study. Ludwig rolled his eyes at his brother's expression

"You're… actually playing it…?"

"Ja-"

"Why didn't you tell me!?" Gilbert said coming over to check Ludwig's screen just to be sure he really is playing the game. "I could've been helpin' ya!"

Ludwig rolled his eyes. "I don't need help Bruder."

Gilbert just stared at Ludwig for a moment before a shit-eating grin appeared on his face.

"You like it don't ya?"

Ludwig rolled his eyes. "Well not necessarily-"

"You like it! You like it!"

"Stop being immature Bruder and go back to your computer!"

Gilbert left the room cackling and Ludwig turned back to his screen.

"-and that was how I became known as a hero worldwide," said Allred/Alfred.

"Ve~ really?" asked Feliciano obviously captivated by his story.

"Don't listen to him, Feliciano," said Arthur. You could practically hear him roll his eyes by the tone of his voice. "It's not true."

"Yeah it is!"

"Well, it most certainly didn't happen like that!"

"Kesesese! Awesome is back!" Gilbert said loudly. "So it turns out that this guy is my little Bruder, Ludwig!"

Feliciano turned to Ludwig.

"Really? Wow! I've always wanted a brother! You never told me you had a brother!"

"What!?" exclaimed Gilbert.

"Sorry Feli… but now you can see why I didn't," Ludwig said.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean!?"

"It's alright. He seems nice~" said Feli, as trusting as ever.

"Yeah Luddy! I'm nice!"

"Anyway," cut in Arthur. "Weren't we going to kill someone real quick so we get back to running dungeons?"

"Oh right!" said Gilbert. "Liz will be here as soon as she gets back on. She went afk for a few minutes, but we can totally do this without her. This should be no problem."

"Afk?" Feli asked.

"Away from keyboard," replied Alfred. Feliciano looked at Ludwig for an explanation and Ludwig just shook his head.

"Never mind Feli," he said quietly in response to the questioning look. He didn't want to explain that expression to an NPC.

"So, what are your guys' classes?" Gilbert asked Ludwig and Feliciano.

"Knight," Ludwig simply said.

"Really? Me too! That's awesome! Kesese!" Gilbert said. Then he turned to Feli. "And you?"

"Oh," Ludwig started. "He's a-"

"Rouge!" Feliciano interrupted. Ludwig looked at him in surprise and noticed that Feli now had rouge gear and weapons. Feliciano looked at Ludwig and whispered, "Please don't tell them! I promise I'll explain everything later!"

Ludwig, still curious, nodded and turned back to his brother who was arguing with Arthur.

"I tell ya! The guy is totally north!" said Gilbert.

"No, I remember he's south," replied Arthur.

"Who?" asked Ludwig.

"The elite," said Alfred.

"Oh! He's southeast!" Feli said.

"There, see? I told you," said Arthur smugly.

"No you didn't! You said south!" argued Gilbert.

"Guys! Let's just go!" Alfred said taking off in the direction of the base camp.

The level 40s easily killed Mokdreamas within seconds causing Feli to be in awe (and Ludwig a little bit jealous). Before the three over geared players left, Gilbert turned to Ludwig and said, "If ya ever need help, Luddy, just ask!"

Ludwig shook his head. "I'm sure I can handle it."

Gilbert laughed. "Okay Bruder!" Then he turned to his group. "Alright! Let's run some dungeons!" The three players quit the team and Gilbert gave a little wave before taking off.

Once Ludwig and Feliciano were left alone, Ludwig turned to the smaller boy and asked, "Okay, what was that all about?"

"Ve? What?" Feli asked with a head tilt.

"You being a rouge. Why couldn't we tell them the truth?"

Feliciano suddenly looked worried. He looked down at his hands as he answered, "Oh, ve… because, I'm not supposed to leave…"

"Leave?" Ludwig asked. "Leave what?"

"The city."

"Wait, you mean… oh, what was the name? Thaedyn Citadel?"

"Yeah…"

"Why couldn't you leave?"

Suddenly Feliciano looked around slightly panicked.

"We can't talk here," he whispered.

"Why not?" Ludwig asked. He was so confused. Did everyone have such a complex game experience?

"Because," Feliciano said still whispering. "There are eyes watching us. C'mon, I'll take us somewhere safe!" Feliciano grabbed Ludwig's character's wrist before taking them back to Thaedyn Citadel.

The boy led them through busy streets and into winding alleyways before stopping at a few boxes in a corner. Feliciano looked around real quick to make sure no one was watching before moving the boxes out of the way. Then he quietly motioned for Ludwig to follow as he stepped into the wall and disappeared.

After some hesitation, Ludwig followed him.

At first, the screen blinked a few times, alternating between black and fuzzy gray. Ludwig jumped back slightly and raised his eyebrow unsure of what was going on. Great, he probably crashed the game. That's what he gets for following around annoyingly cute NPCs. Then the screen came back to show Feli and Ludwig's character.

They were standing in a very small room which had a bed and a few other belongings. The walls, though, were like something out of the Matrix. They were black and had computer code written all over it. The code looked like it could go on to infinity and Ludwig couldn't make any sense of it… not that he could read computer code in the first place.

Feliciano had his back to Ludwig when he started to speak. "I know you're different." His voice was quiet and pensive… maybe even a little sad. "I know you come from a different world."

"Feli…" Ludwig started. He wasn't sure what he was going to say, but Feli cut him off anyway before he could find out.

"Please, just let me finish." He turned to face Ludwig with sad eyes. He took a deep, shaky breath before continuing. "I know you and the other heroes come from a different world. I hear things that you talk about that don't make sense. And I see so many people start out and then never return… they just disappear. You don't have homes here. You just go back to your own world don't you? But that's okay. I like it here. This is my home… but I'm different."

"I've been hearing others talk, and I think I'm what the people from your world calls a glitch. I'm not like the others from my world. I talk more freely and I go wherever I want, but there are downsides too. It's dangerous living like this. Glitches are supposed to be bad, and they are supposed to get fixed. So, I have to be careful, because I know they're looking for me. And when they find me, they'll erase me."

Ludwig wasn't sure what to say when Feli finished. How much could he tell the NPC? How much should he confirm? Was it even possible for a glitchy NPC to become self-aware?

So this was what Ludwig had gathered so far: Feliciano is a character in the videogame, somehow though he is self-aware that he's different, but he doesn't know he's in a made-up reality and isn't actually real. Ludwig ran a hand through his hair. This had just suddenly gotten much more complicated.

The game was supposed to help him relax not stress him out even more!

He glanced at his computer screen which was just on the home screen. He hadn't been on the game since the day before yesterday. He could chalk it off as having too much work, but the truth was that he was still trying to get Feli's situation sorted out.

What should he do? What could he do? He couldn't just tell the creators about the glitch, they'd erase him! Besides, Ludwig didn't care if Feli wasn't real, the boy still had feelings and memories. He couldn't do that to Feli.

Ludwig sighed. Definitely more complicated.

With one more glance at the empty screen, he made his decision.

He put on his headphones and turned on the game.

A week had passed and Ludwig was still no closer to figuring out Feli's problem than he was a week ago. He's been distracted at work and wanted to do nothing more than to go straight home and log onto the game. It was starting to become worrisome how addicting it had become for Ludwig. Briefly, he wondered if this is what other people felt like when playing games like these, then he remembered that he had a… computer friend. He can't call him a fake friend, because his friendship with Feli was real. However, Feli was still just a mesh of computer codes… but how was that different than a human's own genetic makeup?

Ludwig's head throbbed and he shook his head to get rid of such confusing and intricate thoughts. This situation was out of his control now. He just had to focus on balancing his computer life and the limited time with Feli against his real life, job, and natural needs. Even Gilbert was beginning to notice something was up, and that said something since his brother spends a lot of time on the computer playing games, watching youtube, and general trolling (what he calls "being awesome").

Ludwig opened the front door to his home and shouldered off his coat and then took off his boots. Although, he wanted to go straight upstairs to the study and to get on the computer, Ludwig decided to slow down and take his time. Not only was his strange addiction to the game worrisome, but he also worried about his relationship with Feli. He wasn't stupid, he was perfectly aware of his emotions and feelings, and he knew that what he felt for Feli wasn't just friends.

The whole situation was quickly turning very dangerous and complicated, and deep down Ludwig knew that eventually he'd have to put a stop to it. He'd have to say goodbye to the cute boy and turn off the game forever.

But for now, he was content to just harmlessly flirt. Maybe Feli hadn't realized it yet anyway.

Ludwig headed to the kitchen to make some coffee and read the day's newspaper. After all, he should at least keep up with the real-world. He had just sat down at the table with both things in hand, when his older brother came into the kitchen.

"What's up mein slightly-less-awesome-than-me younger Bruder?" Gilbert said cockily as he strode towards the fridge and opened the door and grabbed a beer.

Ludwig rolled his eyes lightly and took a sip of his drink. "Gut. I thought you were spending the day at Antonio's?"

Gilbert snorted. "Nah, he wanted to spend time with his boyfriend, some big-shot guy named Lovi-something. How unawesome."

Ludwig hummed, while still reading the paper.

"Hey, you gonna get on the game today?" Gilbert asked, leaning against the kitchen counter.

"Ja… probably," Ludwig said, slowly as if he were thinking about it. Actually, he was really thinking, Most definitely.

"Well then, you might wanna get the game loading. There was a pretty big patch last night for some reason."

At this, Ludwig's head shot up and he staring sharply at his brother. "What? Patch? Don't they usually announce these things?"

Gilbert narrowed his eyes in suspicion at his brother. "Ja… they found some unexpected problems… why? What's up?"

Ludwig's heart pounded furiously. Patches were always very worrisome. It was when the makers of the game tried to fix glitches and mistakes in the game. It was when Feli was at most danger. Usually, they had a notice beforehand about an upcoming patch and could prepare accordingly, but this time they had no warning!

Feli… was he alright?

"Ludwig!?" Gilbert asked in surprise when the younger abruptly got up and ran upstairs to the computer.

Ludwig quickly turned on the computer and began to download the patch. It was taking an annoyingly long time and Ludwig was beginning to feel very impatient. As it downloaded, he noticed the patch notes and skimmed through them.

Patch 2.4.2

Resolved a large bug that interfered with the game process.

Once it finished downloading, Ludwig quickly logged into the game.

"Look, Luddy, I think we need to talk…" Gilbert said unusually seriously as he stepped into the study,

Feliciano still hadn't shown up or sent him a message like he usually does. Ludwig suddenly had a bad feeling settle into the pit of his stomach. He quickly bought a transport and flew to Thaedyn Citadel, the main city… maybe Feli was just at his home…

"I'm afraid you're becoming addicted to the game," Gilbert sighing, coming closer. "All you do is play the game and work. You barely eat or sleep anymore."

Ludwig landed in the city and immediately got on to his horse.

"I had no idea it would be this bad… oi, West? Are you even listening to me?"

He quickly passed Mrs. Gadfray's inn and the tomato stand where he first met Feli. He went into the alleyway and to the familiar corner.

"West? Ludwig?"

He dismounted and ran… straight into a wall.

"No!" Ludwig yelled and slammed his fists onto the desk. It was gone… so did that mean…?

"Ludwig!" Gilbert yelled, while grabbing his younger brother and hoisting him to his feet.

Ludwig was, of course, snapped out of it by Gilbert. He then realized how bad this could all look to his older brother and tried to reassure him.

"Gilbert, it's not what you think…"

"Are you sure?" Gilbert said, a little more than just worried.

"Yes, just listen-"

"No, you listen to yourself! You're completely obsessed!"

"I'm not!"

"Yes you are! And I know I'm to blame for it… I shouldn't have given you the game," Gilbert said guiltily.

Ludwig rolled his eyes exasperatedly. "I'm not addicted, I just need to check something-"

"It's a game!" Gilbert interrupted desperately.

"I know," Ludwig said, starting to lose patience. This was pointless. He wasn't a child. "It's just that my friend was-"

And the doorbell rang.

The brothers looked at each other in silence for a moment before Gilbert pointed his finger at Ludwig and said sternly, "Don't get on the game, I'm still talking." And then he went downstairs to answer the door.

Ludwig just rolled his eyes and followed the other downstairs to see who was at his own front door. Ludwig still owned this house after all.

Gilbert opened the door to a shorter, black haired man who immediately bowed and said, "Sumimasen. Does Ludwig Beilschmidt live here?"

The brothers looked at each other with raised eyebrows, before Ludwig stepped forward. "Yes, I'm him."

The man gave a small smile and said, "Hello. My name is Kiku Honda. I am the Game Director for Realms of Destiny."

The two brothers looked surprised and exchanged glances.

Kiku continued on. "If you could, Mr. Beilschmidt, we would like it if you came with me. Romulus Vargas, the Executive Producer, would like to see you."

Ludwig swallowed. The executive producer? Isn't that basically the creator of the game? And why does he want to see Ludwig? Was it because of Feli? Oh god, it was, wasn't it? Ludwig probably broke some huge videogame taboo.

Luckily for him, Gilbert voiced his very thoughts. "Whoa, wait, what!? The executive producer? Didn't he create Realms of Destiny? Why does he wanna see Luddy? The guy's not even level 40! He's still just a noob!"

Ludwig rolled his eyes. "Thanks, Bruder," he muttered sarcastically.

"Anytime."

"I'm sorry, but Romulus specifically asked for Ludwig Beilschmidt. I cannot say anymore."

Gilbert looked really upset, and Ludwig just was put off. He didn't want to go and be sued for messing up a huge online game. It wasn't his fault he made friends! Gilbert was always trying to encourage him to make more! Maybe Ludwig could just blame it on him…

"Do not worry, it should not take too long," Kiku said as if that was Ludwig's main concern. Well, that was part of it, but not the main one.

Ludwig looked at Kiku, who seemed trustworthy enough, back to his brother, who was still looking shocked. Finally, against all that he believed, Ludwig sighed and nodded.

"Alright, I'll go with you," Ludwig resigned.

"What!?" Gilbert cried from behind him but Ludwig paid no mind to him.

Kiku bowed and said, "Thank you. We will provide the transportation. It's not far."

Ludwig nodded. "Alright." Kiku turned and began to walk to the car that was parked outside the door, and Ludwig followed after him.

"Alright? What do you mean 'alright'? Are you out of your mind, Ludwig!?" Gilbert cried running after him and grabbing his arm.

Ludwig sighed to himself and turned back to face his brother. He deserved the truth after all.

"Look, Gilbert," he started quietly. "Do remember that man who was with me in the game?"

Gilbert furrowed his eyebrows. "You mean that Frederick guy?"

"Feliciano, his name was Feliciano. I don't even know how you got Frederick out of that."

Gilbert shrugged. "They both start with 'F'."

Ludwig rubbed the bridge of his nose before continuing on, "Anyway, Feliciano isn't- er, wasn't human. He was a glitch in the game, and I don't know how but he could act like he was human. I befriended him and I think I accidentally helped to expose him. Now, I'm in trouble with the game creators and they're probably going to sue me and kill Feli if they haven't already!"

"Good-bye, Bruder," Ludwig said (maybe a little too dramatically, but oh well. It worked if was going to go to jail.).

And as Ludwig walked towards the car with Kiku, Gilbert silently repeated Ludwig's words multiple times to himself trying to make any sense at all of what he said.

Ludwig followed Kiku through the Vargas Interactive Headquarters, which is the company that designed Realms of Destiny. They walked through the large building where people were creating things and talking about things that were way over Ludwig's head.

What was someone like Ludwig doing in a place like this anyway? Aside from Realms of Destiny, the only video game he had ever played was Age of Empires. In fact, the only kind of games Ludwig really liked to play were strategy board games –Axis & Allies, Risk, chess, and Monopoly. He even liked jigsaw puzzles better (considering they have all the pieces, of course).

Kiku was quiet the whole walk there. Perhaps he wasn't a sociable person, but it certainly didn't help Ludwig's nerves. He just hoped that whatever trouble he was in, Gilbert would be alright. And briefly, he calculated how long his funds could last with Gilbert on his own.

Finally, they stopped outside of an office with a plate on it that read:

Romulus Vargas
Executive Producer

Ludwig swallowed thickly and tried to calm himself as Kiku knocked on the door and received the go ahead. Kiku motioned for him to go on in as he opened the door, and Ludwig hesitantly nodded and stepped into the room.

The door closed and Ludwig looked behind him only to notice that Kiku didn't enter the room with him.

"Well, well!"

Ludwig looked at the man in front of him. Now Ludwig was a tall man, but this guy was taller and honestly a bit intimidating with his too wide of a smile. It caught Ludwig off guard.

The man, who Ludwig assumed was Romulus, walked up to Ludwig and clapped him on the shoulders. "So you must be Ludwig Beilschmidt huh?"

"Er, yes?" Ludwig answered.

"My name is Romulus Vargas," Romulus said guiding Ludwig to a plush chair across from the large, cluttered desk, where he went to sit behind. "As you may know, I am the creator of Realms of Destiny, the game you also happen to play."

Romulus took Ludwig's silence as a cue to continue. "Now, I hope you don't mind me looking at your personal information, but I had to know your name and where you live. It's, em, less creepy than it sounds. Honest. Anyway, you must have noticed by now that one of your friends is a bit different. Yes?"

Ludwig gripped the armrests a little tighter but didn't say anything, even though Romulus paused to give him time for an answer. After a few moments, the older man continued, "Unless, of course, I am mistaken…?"

"No…" Ludwig began. "Feliciano, right? I know… he's a glitch. He told me himself. But I am sorry. I had no idea it was a rule not to talk to him. I just assumed it was okay since he wasn't harming anything. The game seemed to work fine no matter how far away he got away from that tomato stand. Please do not prosecute me, or at least my family. However I think you should know, Feli is not dangerous. He is the most caring and thoughtful person I've ever met. And although he is only a mesh of confusing computer code, he learns and develops just like humans do. I don't think you should've have deleted him with the new patch. If only you knew him and what he was capable of you could see that he was actually-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Romulus interrupted, waving his hands in front of Ludwig. "You lost me," he deadpanned.

Ludwig furrowed his eyebrows. "My relationship with Feli- the glitch. Isn't that what you brought me in for?"

Romulus blinked as he processed the information. "I think you're confused…"

"How so?" Ludwig furrowed his eyebrows.

Romulus took a breath. "Well, first of all, Feliciano is not a glitch. Well, fully at least. He's my son."

"What."

"My son."

"I heard you the first time," Ludwig groaned pinching the bridge of his nose. He could already feel a headache coming on.

"Ludwig," Romulus said, standing up and motioning for Ludwig to do the same. Then he led Ludwig out the door and through a series of hallways as he continued on. "Have you ever heard of the Oculus Rift?"

"Em, no?" Ludwig responded. It sounded like a serious problem.

"It's a virtual reality headset. It's not available to the public yet, nor is it the only kind in existence, but I believe it's currently the most well-known to the public. You put the headset on your head like a very large set of goggles, and it lets you experience a video game as if you were actually in the game. It gives a whole new perspective to gaming, understand?"

Ludwig nodded, not really following how this pertains to Feliciano.

"Well," Romulus continued. "My company has recently been working with a way to bring the players into the game. As you know, we've already made it so the players have to communicate verbally with the NPCs, but we still want it even more real. And this is where this room comes in."

They stopped outside of a door with large glass windows on either side of it, but Ludwig didn't get the opportunity to look inside.

"This is what I call the Virtual Creation Room or the VCR." He snickered to himself at the joke, before continuing on. "And recently we've been experimenting with something that I think is pretty cool. Come on in."

Romulus opened the door and Ludwig followed him in.

Inside, there were more computers and gadgets lining the walls than Ludwig could have ever imagined. There were even people monitoring and playing with the computers. And in the center of the floor was a mat with some sort of design on it and cords connecting to it from all different sides. There was a man standing on the mat with a large, bulky headgear on, covering his eyes, along with gloves, elbow pads, and knee pads.

"See that man there? Believe it or not, this is how we create NPCs. We record the natural human movement and how they react to certain situations. We're also recording their voice too. Seems pretty simple huh? Well we're actually trying to make the NPCs seem more human-like without having an actual person control them 24/7. I think it'd be pretty neat to walk through a town and see different things happen with the NPCs each time. Perhaps watch children learn or relationships develop. But, it's still a long way off."

"Anyway, you must be wondering how this is related to you, huh Ludwig?" Romulus said with a smile, and Ludwig full hearted agreed silently. He opted for just nodding instead. Romulus smiled knowingly and motioned for Ludwig to follow him as they walk to the back of the long room.

"Right, well. We've been testing out some of these advanced NPCs separately, without putting them into the game. And, somehow, my son got ahold of the technology, even though I had specifically forbade it," he said with a thin smile. "And for some ungodly reason, he apparently wanted to create his own NPC and do I-don't-know-what! He messed with my game and could have seriously messed up some of the systems! Of course, he actually didn't, but that's beside the point. Anyways…"

They stopped at a desk in the back where a brunette man was working away on the multiple computer screens there. Romulus tapped the man's shoulder to get his attention, and the man smiled and stood up.

Romulus turned to Ludwig as he gestured to the man. "I would like you to meet my youngest son, Feliciano."

Ludwig swore his heart stopped as he locked eyes with the shorter man.

"Feli… this is Ludwig Beilschmidt." Feliciano's eyes widened after a few moments of taking in the man's appearance and letting the information sink in.

"Ve~ Ludvig?" he said finally.

Ludwig coughed. "It's Ludwig but yes."

Feliciano smiled and laughed. "You look exactly like your character!"

Ludwig smiled a bit before frowning. "Why didn't you tell me who you really were?"

"Well… I wasn't actually the NPC, I only monitored him. I put him into the game to see how he'd react and grow to the NPCs and world around him. I never thought a player would come up to him and ask for directions. And when I came back to see what happened, I knew it was the perfect opportunity to really test my character. Ve, I'm sorry Ludwig."

"Wait…" Ludwig started. "You mean this was all just some sort of test?"

"Sort of?" Feli replied with a small guilty shrug. "It was supposed to be harmless, but then it changed. I monitored his progress and the interactions between you two, and I learned so much! His ability to change and blend in with human players –amazing! And then he found out that he was a glitch! I didn't even know that was possible! Imagine, a computer becoming self-aware!"

Ludwig ran a hand over his forehead, trying to process the abundancy of technical information, as Feliciano continued on.

"And then, Papa had to go and ruin it all," Feli said with a pout.

"You were interfering with the game!" Romulus said. "Now, I'll give you that it was pretty neat how you created that NPC, but there's a reason we have private test servers!"

"I know," Feli said disappointingly. "But it's not as fun."

"So, wait," Ludwig interrupted. "Feliciano wasn't real…?"

Feli and Romulus glanced at each other, before Feli answered, "Yes and no."

Ludwig raised an eyebrow with a doubtful expression and motioned for him to continue.

"No, he wasn't real in that he was only computer code – computer code so complex it was equivalent to the human genetic make-up, but still only computer code. But he was still based completely off of me. From the way he talks to the way he thinks."

"This is a lot to take in…" Ludwig said with a groan.

"Ve, I understand…"

Ludwig glanced up doubtfully at the man before him who looked guilty.

"If it helps," Feli started hesitantly. "I did take control part of the time. I knew it might interfere with the NPC I had created, but I really wanted to meet you. You seemed so nice! And I think it was worth it."

Ludwig didn't know what to say to that. Then finally he sighed and said, "I still wish you had told me. I thought I had gotten into some serious trouble!"

"Well, I didn't know how you'd react. After all, I was experimenting to see how you, um the players, would react. And besides, I really wasn't supposed to be in the game anyway." He looked sheepishly at his dad. Romulus gave him a look that most children see from their parents. A terrifying look that Ludwig only knew too well. (He'd have to after being related to Gilbert.)

Ludwig nodded at Feli's explanation and then looked to Romulus. "So now what happens? Will my account still be suspended?"

Romulus raised an eyebrow at Ludwig this time. "Ludwig, your account was never suspended."

"Well, then you're going to delete my account? Because I assure y-"

"No, we're not going to delete your account either," Romulus said amused. "I'm not going to punish you for being my son's guinea pig." He gave a pointed look to Feliciano who gave an innocent smile back.

"Oh… okay," Ludwig said, not really knowing what to say. That was good… he guessed?

"However," Romulus started. "Feliciano's character will no longer exist." At Feli's upset look, he added. "Instead, we will move him to a private test server. This way he will no longer interfere with the standard gaming process. I also have a favour to ask of you Ludwig."

"Me? Ah, sure," Ludwig responded. He hoped that they wouldn't ask him to test anything dealing with videogames. Maybe he could just redirect them to his brother. Gilbert would love that. Heck, maybe he'd even start contributing to the rent.

Probably not… but it was a nice thought.

"We would like to make a copy of your character – what was it? Ludfig or something?"

"Ludvig," Ludwig and Feli supplied at the same time. Feli beamed at him and Ludwig slightly blushed and focused his attention back on Romulus.

"Yes, yes. Ludvig. We'd like to make a copy of him to also put into that same private server, so we can better observe the NPC's progress with 'humans'. Of course, we'd need your cooperation and we'd have to observe your gameplay as well as your interactions with him and other NPCs."

Ludwig's head was spinning. They wanted to watch him play? That was even worse! "Er, well, I'm not the best player… my brother, on the other hand…"

"Oh no, no, no. It has to be you. The NPC knows you. It can't be anyone else," Romulus reassured him. "You don't have to make the decision today. Sleep on it and think about it for a few days. We will compensate you for your time, of course."

Ludwig nodded. Gilbert was going to go ballistic when he finds out.

"Well, thank you for taking your time to visit us," Romulus said with a bright and friendly smile. "Kiku will take you home now." Ludwig turned around and found that the Japanese man was right behind him, nearly making the German jump. He didn't even hear the guy!

"I hope we'll hear from you soon," the older man continued, as Ludwig followed Kiku out of the room.

Ludwig turned back to face him. "Thank you," he quickly told Romulus.

"Good-bye, Ludwig!" Feli said with a wave. "It was really nice to finally meet you in person!"

Ludwig gave a small smile and an awkward wave back. He wished he could've gotten to know the real Feliciano more. Oh well.

"Ludwig! Wait! Ve~!"

Ludwig stopped before he got into Kiku's car. He turned around and saw Feliciano run out of the building and up to him.

"Ludwig!" The shorter boy gasped. "I wanted to say I'm sorry again-" Ludwig opened his mouth to reassure him that the apology wasn't necessary, but Feli put a hand up and kept talking. "-and I wanted to tell you that even if you don't agree to the testing thing, that I'd still like to talk to you and get to know you more. So here." He shoved a scrap of paper into Ludwig's hands. "It's my username to Realms of Destiny. Look me up if you ever want some company- and don't worry, it's the real me this time, and only me. My phone number's on there also… y'know, just in case…" Feliciano looked at the ground awkwardly with a blush and scuffed his shoe against the ground.

Ludwig smiled. "Thank you, Feliciano. I'd be glad to have your company. I'll text you and let you know when I'm on."

Feli looked up at him and beamed. "Oh, thank you Ludwig!" He gave Ludwig a quick hug and then ran back into the building with a cheerful wave and good-bye.

Ludwig chuckled and ignored the blush present on his own cheeks.

Maybe he'd be able to get to know Feli – the real Feli – better after all.

*There are only forty levels in the game, so it takes a little while to level up after level 7.

A/N

I Am Done.

Oh my god, I finally finished it xD

The title and story idea comes from my sister, Amber. So credit and props and such goes to her for that.

Sorry if Feli was OoC... he felt it, but just imagine him being a computer genius, and aside from that he's still the ditzy, loveable Italian we all love xD

And I know I really didn't have to mention the Oculus Rift, but it's something I really want and I guess I'm just excited for it xD (even though I'll probably never get it)… but it's so cool! I want one so bad! xD

I hope you guys really liked this story! It was fun to write and make up my own futuristic MMORPG for xD (just ignore plot holes and current technology restrictions please lol)

And yes, Realms of Destiny is totally taken off of that one USUK I wrote called (strangely enough (sarcasm)) "Realms of Destiny"… they're not from the same universe, I'm just uncreative with names. But you can pretend it is! xD lol

Please tell me what you think!

Thanks for reading! :D