This Story was revised on April 10, 2020.

"I'm home, momma!" Malia Ryudo called out as she dropped off of her school shoes and arranged them in the shoe closet. She ran a hand through her thick, silver-white hair before pushing it out of her face. She had a very irritable day at school and all she wanted to do was go upstairs and get ready for the launch of the biggest game of the year.

Sword Art Online was a VRMMORPG, but it wasn't just any online game, no. Sword Art Online or SAO for short was only for those who had NerveGear, a helmet that stimulates the user's five senses via their brain. Malia was extremely excited for the game; She had been one of the very few chosen to play the Beta half a year ago. They selected only a few; about a thousand or less.

Malia heard barking and child-like laughter as she broke out of her thoughts of SAO. Her seven-year-old little brother, Kurai, stumbled out of their formal living room in his school uniform and trailing after the young boy was Malia's three-year-old German Shepherd, Moko-moko.

Kurai launched himself at Malia, going to wrap his short arms around her slim waist, "Malia! How was school big sister?" Kurai asked, beaming up at Malia.

Malia smiled down fondly at her baby brother and stroked his silvery hair, "School, was school, baby brother. How did it go at the doctors? Is momma home?" Malia questioned, noting the stillness of their huge home.

Kurai let go of Malia and dragged her to their living room with Moko-moko at Malia's side dutifully. Malia allowed her hand to glide over the spot between her companion's ears. The creature whined happily, pressing more firmly into her side. Malia let her bag fall at her feet as she plopped down on their couch with Kurai curling up against her. Malia draped her arm over the small body of her brother and ran her artistic fingers through his short hair.

"Momma had to run to the store," Kurai replied softly with a laugh, "She forgot certain ingredients for the curry." Malia rolled her wistful blue eyes. Her mother was from California and was still getting used to living in Japan.

Heck, Malia was still getting used to how things were here and they've been living in Japan for almost six months now. Their mother was still getting used to the different cooking styles here, which meant frequent trips to the farmer's market.

"She should be home soon," Kurai added more quietly, looking like he was falling asleep because of Malia's magical fingers combing through his silky hair.

Malia hummed lightly, "I hope you did your homework otherwise it will upset momma." She chided her brother with a stern look.

Kurai nervously shot up and rubbed the back of his head, "Homework? Oh, I had forgotten about that! I heard you come in and came to greet you," Kurai jumped off of the couch, "Are you going to go play your new game?" Kurai asked curiously.

Malia watched her younger brother with amusement, "Yes, I am. Maybe at dinner, I can convince dad to buy you one so we can sneak you into SAO." Malia had lowered her voice as if telling him a top-secret. Kurai's eyes widened, and he nodded rapidly.

"But only if you do your homework." Malia finished with a slight smirk.

Kurai vanished within a second. Malia could hear his footsteps scrambling to their study room upstairs. Moko-moko lazily looked after where Kurai had been before looking up at Malia with a clear question in his eyes.

Malia shrugged, going to rub the creature's ears once more, "C'mon, boy, let's go to my room." Malia murmured gently as she moved off the couch and up towards the grand staircase. Malia still wasn't used to having so much space in their new home.

Father was a very wealthy man who worked alongside Akihiko Kayaba, the creator of SAO, and owned several businesses in different parts of the world, including California.

Malia wandered past their study room where Kurai was singing along to one of dad's favorite songs and scribbling away on his homework. Malia smiled fondly at her younger brother before moving towards her bedroom down the hall. The light blue walls greeted her and lights hang delicately from the ceiling. Her bay window overlooking their acre of land and out towards their stables. Her desk and computer pushed up against the large window.

Moko-moko passed Malia and jumping on her bed with her school bag in his mouth. Malia had forgotten about her school bag. Malia walked over to her trusty friend and cooed at him lovingly. Moko-moko soaked up the affection brightly. Malia kissed the top of the dog's head before going to turn on her computer so she can video message her friends. They must have been home by now. They were going to video call for a while before the launch in about thirty minutes. While waiting for her computer to load up; Malia stripped off her school uniform before throwing it into her hamper. By that time, her computer was on her home screen. She leaned over and logged in and waited for the invite.

She changed into a baggy old shirt she had stolen from her father ages ago and some shorts before hearing the familiar ring of someone video calling her.

Malia stumbled into her chair, threw an excited glanced at her shiny NerveGear, and accepted the call. It loaded into the video call and she saw five other small, square windows blank for a few seconds before they lit up. Nami, Shen, Ryku, Jordan, and Elaina's faces popped up. Malia beamed brightly at the faces of her new friends.

They were from different parts of the country and were studying Japanese with her and in most of her classes. Nami was a petite Swedish girl with crazy-flaming red curls framing her freckled, round face. She had wide, almond-shaped spring-green eyes.

Shen was from America but from New York. Shen was large and well-built. He had slightly wider eyes than most typical males here in Japan. He had shaggy light brown hair he kept up in a neat bun on his head and subtle hazel eyes. Most avoided conflict with the large male because Shen had a scary appearance.

Ryku was the oldest of their group of six. Ryku was from Athens, Greece. He was smaller than Shen but large and tall. He was a gentle giant with kind brown eyes that sparkled with mirth. He had light blonde hair that he never bothered with.

Jordan was the only one from Japan and their guide to everything Japan-related. Jordan was dark-skinned with clean dreads pulled together by a hair tie and bright, honey eyes that stood out among any crowd. He was easy to spot out and an amazing friend to have.

Last, there was Elaina, who was Russian. She was the shortest and youngest, being only fifteen while the rest of them were sixteen and higher but what she lacked in size; she made up in personality because the petite girl was far from what she looked like that. She had a regal, innocent face with wide, doe lilac eyes and ringlets of deathly black hair cradling her face, but her personality was very blunt. Elaina was blunt, dark, and stern, but she loved being with friends and having a good time.

Malia smiled as her friends greeted her. They were her friends, and they were the best! "Are you losers ready or what?" Elaina's rough, low voice greeted Malia's ears first. Elaina was sitting up perfectly in her chair with a white brush in her hand. Her eyes were on the brush as she ran it through her deathly black hair several times.

Ryku was leaning against the headboard of his bed and reading one of his favorite books and answered in his modulated voice, "How long do you think the character setup will take?" Ryku wondered without looking up from his worn-out book, "My takeout should be here by five-thirty." Ryku lived alone despite moving to Japan with his parents.

Nami was doing her homework and humming to some pop song before speaking up in her silvery, accented voice, "Say Malia? How many levels can we reach in over two hours?" Nami briefly glanced up the screen, looking straight at Malia before returning to her work.

Malia shrugged as she brought out her notebook and pen and began scribbling away random thoughts on paper, "I don't know if we all spawn within the same area, although I think so, the character step-up shouldn't take too long; maybe about five to ten minutes? I'll wait for ten minutes before sending out party invites and we can all meet up somewhere close to where we all are. Right after, we should go level up before they take the good quests." Malia explained knowledgeably not taking notice in the way her friends hung on her every word.

Shen, who was boxing in the corner of his room, grunted and said loudly, "We should play for over two hours. I want to be level five or four by the end of the day." Shen wiped at his sweaty forehead before peeling off his sweaty tank top and flinging it in some random direction.

"Some of us eat, ya know," Jordan replied easily clicking away on his laptop.

"Eating is for losers," Shen replied with a snort.

"He would say that." Elaina scoffed darkly, putting down her hairbrush and going to paint her nails.

"Anything else, Malia? Any heads up or anything?" Nami asked thickly, with wide eyes peering at the computer screen.

Malia gave a smile before launching into a brief explanation of what she was expecting.

Soon the clock was two minutes away from the official launch time for SAO. Malia reminded everyone to remember their usernames so they could find each other easily and without complications before signing off of her computer. Malia got up from her chair, grabbed her new NerveGear, and settled down on her bed. Malia was sure during her video call with her friends she heard her mother come home. Moko-moko, who had been asleep, jolted upwards and ran out of their room before returning to Malia's side earlier.

Moko-moko easily jumped onto her bed and settled in comfortably beside his owner. Malia giggled softly and stroked Moko-moko's soft fur. Malia placed the NerveGear over her head and flipped the switch on. She greeted the familiar screen with a grin of excitement before stating, "Link, start!"

Malia came to her account log-in and inserted her username and password before a message popped up asking if she wanted to use the character she made when she did the Beta testing. She responded with an easy yes. Her character had icy blue hair with soft, candy eyes. She didn't want others to know what she looked like. This was an online game and most people wanted to look different from what they looked like in real life anyway, right?

She received a confirmation message about her character; she clicked yes, and suddenly she encased in a blinding blue light. She felt her body become weightless, and she almost wanted to laugh from the sensation that was all too familiar to her. When she came to she was staring up at a beautiful, cloudless sky.

She blinked several times, adjusting her vision before grinning to herself as she glanced around. She had spawned in the Black Iron Palace. She was certain her friends would spawn here, and she saw other player's spawn here.

She was giddy and excited, and she couldn't wait to explore this beautiful world! She was eager to see what was new and climb her way up the scoreboards. During her beta test, she had been second to achieve the highest floor which was the 7th floor although she heard of someone reaching the 8th floor in just the second month into the beta testing.

She looked around to the other players who looked just as excited as she did before noting the dual daggers strapped to her left and right thigh and the wooden bow clasped on her back with a quiver. She dressed in regular starting armor much like everyone else, only hers were a silvery-blue color.

She waited for her friends and quickly found a bench to sit on while she waited. She was well aware of the males nearby staring at her. Malia shuddered and muttered curses under her breath. It was as if these barbarians have never seen a female player before!

Soon, ten minutes were up and still many peoples were spawning rather rapidly into the plaza in front of the Black Iron Palace. She opened up her menu and inserted the usernames of her friends and invited them to her party. It didn't take long for them to respond. It seems they were waiting for Malia to invite them to the party.

When each of her five friends listed under her name, she waited for them to teleport to her. Once someone accepts a party invitation, they would receive a pop-up message asking the player if they wanted to teleport to the party leader's location. She had read about in the beta-testing but never tried it herself.

Within a few seconds, her friends were teleporting either beside or near her. Nami had altered her hair to a clean color of mahogany and changed her spring-greens to a darker shade of gold.

Ryku traded in his usual hair and eye color. His hair was now a light shade of ash blonde while his eyes were now a wicked green with purple flecks.

Jordan had also opted to change his dreads into a buzz-cut and his eyes into a more subtle brown color so he wouldn't stand out as much among other players.

Shen and Elaina were the only ones who didn't change their appearances. Malia jumped up from her seat and grinned widely, "Now, we are so ready! Come on, let's go level up. There's a field nearby that has some wild boars to practice on and then we can move on the harder stuff like dire wolves." Malia said happily as she and her friends wondered out of the crowded plaza and into the streets of the Town of Beginning; it crowded the town with players.

Most were marveling at the NPC stands and getting used to the game. Others were heading towards the outskirts of the city to go out and level up. Those were the wise ones. Malia and her friends chatted excitably about their plans in the game and how much fun it would be for the next couple of months. It was almost daunting knowing that they had 100 floors to clear! But they had time on their side!

_break_

"Ryku! Shen! Switch!" Malia called out as she and Elaina jumped back right as the two bigger boys lunged forward with their heavy swords and struck the large black dire wolf. The large creature gave out a pained howl before disintegrating into a thousand pieces. Malia wiped at her forehead and grinned as she received a pop-up message:

Level 3!

Exp. 50

Col. 65

Items. 2

"We made it!" Jordan cheered as Nami giggled wildly with a large grin.

"Level three already, eh?" Shen smirked, looking very pleased.

Elaina gave a soft laugh, "We still have a long way to go, guys!" She pointed.

"We got some wolf meat and pelt, nice!" Ryku laughed, looking excited.

"The pelt will sell for a decent price back in town." Malia mused, going over her items and Col. It had been over three hours and she knew that they would need to log out to eat soon before coming back and playing more.

"Whew," Jordan plopped down on the grass, "We still have a lot of leveling up to do. I am thankful we have you with us, Malia, you know all the hunting places."

Her friends nodded along with Jordan.

Malia rolled her eyes, "They have changed little on the first floor but that's being expected. I'm surprised that there's no one out here." Malia frowned.

Shen scoffed, "They're probably in town being idiots and partying up. You know how these things usually go. It's about finding friends and buying items and running around the town before going on actual quests." Shen had a fair point. So far, Malia had only seen two people in the outer fields of the Town of Beginnings, but that had been hours ago.

"H-H-Hey, guys!" Nami's panicked voice caught their attention.

All five friends turned to look at their Swedish friend who had her menu open. "What is it, Nami?" Ryku questioned kindly with a curious look.

Nami looked up at her friends fearfully, "There's no log-out button!" She nearly shrieked.

Malia froze and frowned, "What?" She demanded as they all immediately opened up their menus to check. Malia's eyebrow rose in confusion, "There isn't a log-out button, that's weird." She commented looking over at her friends who had similar expressions, unlike Nami who looked completely freaked out.

"Maybe it's a glitch," Shen shrugged it off and tried to reassure a frightened Nami, "They riddle the first day launches with glitches and errors."

Malia nodded but had this very sickening feeling in her stomach. Something did not feel right-suddenly the sound of a bell tolling rang throughout the fields, echoing and sending many winged creatures into the sky from fright.

Malia froze and frowned looking around at the sky taking note how everything seems to freeze for a second before changing drastically. Her eyes widen, "A force teleport?" She whispered, shocked before being engulfed in white light and teleported back into the plaza in front of the Black Iron Castle. Her friends were just as shocked and confused as her.

All around them, players spawned with equally confused expressions. Malia felt her stomach grow more and more uneasy. She clenched her fist with a grim frown.

Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

"Look!" Nami pointed a frightened finger up at the sky gaining her friends' and other players' attention almost instantly. Malia looked up at the sky and saw a blinking red warning panel. It blinked a few times before the sky filled with these warning panels, turning everything an eerie blood red.

Her friends, instinctively, shuffled closer to one another. Nami going as far as clutching tightly onto Malia's upper arm.

Gasps and cries of shock echoed through the plaza as thick, red liquid dripped down from the sky. Malia felt her stomach clench once more. That looked like blood. The blood dropped and formed into a cloaked figure that towered in the sky while the shadow of the man cast over Malia and her friends. Malia felt fear grip her heart. "What the hell is that?" Shen growled from beside her.

"It's the Game Master." Malia murmured so quietly that she was sure none of her friends hear her.

All around them players were whispering their fears and their confusion before an eerie and familiar voice hushed all with these simple words, "Attention, players. I welcome you to my world." Malia's eyes widened in alarm. His world? Was that Akihiko Kayaba?!

"Malia, does he mean he's…" Ryku trailed off as the cloaked figure spoke once more.

"My name is Akihiko Kayaba. And as of this moment, I am in control of this world." Malia did not like where this was going. She clenched her fist as Akihiko Kayaba continued, "And as of this moment, I am in control of this world." She clenched her fist. Something terrible was about to happen; she could feel it in her bones.

"I am sure most of you have already noticed an item missing from your main menus," Kayaba gestures his hand downwards to open his menu, "The log out button." He speaks in a calm and eerie voice before adding on more wickedly, "Let me assure you, this is not a defect in the game," Malia jolted with horror, "I repeat, this is not a defect. This is I designed how Sword Art Online to be."

"Holy shit, is he serious?" Jordan hissed in horror.

Others cried out in anger and fear but Kayaba continued, "You cannot log yourselves out of SAO and no one from the outside will shut down or remove the NerveGear from your head," Malia heard his calm voice fill with almost indifference as he added, "If anyone attempts to do so, a transmitter inside the NerveGear will discharge a microwaves signal into your skull thus destroying your brain and ending your life."

Malia, as if someone had dumped iced water over her tiny body, gaped at the sky in complete horror. Her friends gasping in response as other plays voiced their disbelief and horror up the Kayaba.

Around them, a player shouted out, "Oh, come on! That's such BS!"

"Hey, I can't get out!" Malia and her friends turned and saw several players among the outer plaza attempting to leave but they were all caged in the plaza like animals. Malia stared in horror up at the man who her father worked for. Did her father know about this? No, he couldn't have…

"This must be a joke or something!" Elaina sneered nastily, but something shifted in her usually cold lilac-colored eyes, Elaina was afraid.

"Right, Malia?" Elaina added more frantically as her friends turned to the beta-tester with pleading and desperate looks.

But they saw the severe expression on their leader's face and the realization dawned on them. "You can't believe him, Malia!" Shen spat in an accusing tone.

Malia numbly looked at her friend with her mouth set in a hard, firm line, "He is not joking, Shen. The transmitter's signals in the headgear could work just like a microwave. If they disable the safety, it could fry your brain." Malia spoke truthfully, and it scared all of her friends.

"Despite my warning, the families and friends of some players have attempted removing the NerveGear, an unfortunate decision, as a result of the game now has two hundred and thirteen fewer players. We have deleted them from both Aincrad and the real world." Kayaba murmured and Malia could've sworn she heard a tinge of sorrow in his voice.

"Two hundred and thirteen?" Jordan whispered in shocked horror.

Shen glared up at Kayaba's form with disbelief and anger, "Murderer!"

Others protested the same, and it was then that Kayaba opened up multiple floating screens casting the news and some ever international. Malia's body was buzzing with negative emotions she felt weak now. "As you can see, international media outlets have round-the-clock coverage of everything, including deaths,"

"It's safe to assume the likelihood of a NerveGear being removed is minimal. I hope this brings you a little comfort as you try to clear the game." Malia growled under her breath, glaring at the figure above them with anger and fear. He would trap them in this death game until they cleared all 100 floors? It took Malia two months to reach the 7th floor! She felt her stomach turned uneasily, and she felt as if she were about to become sick.

"It is important to remember the following," Kayaba droned on calmly, "If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will delete itself from the system forever and the NerveGear will simultaneously destroy your brain." The news stories floating around Kayaba slowly disappeared one by one as players gasped, screamed, cried, and shouted their woes, their waves of anger, and their fears.

Malia swallowed thickly as her and her friends exchanged shocked, scared, and grim expressions as they waited for Kayaba to continue his speech, "There is only one way for a player to escape now—you must clear the game." Players stood silently with gaping faces of disbelief at Kayaba's cursed and twisted words.

"If you can get through the dungeon and defeat the boss, you may advance to the next floor," Kayaba pulled up a map of the first floor, "Right now, you are on the first floor of Aincrad. Defeat the boss on Floor 100 and you will clear the game and set everyone free." The map turned into a full-scale model of all hundred floors. It looked so horrifyingly daunting that Malia felt her hand seek her friends' hand.

She gripped Jordan's hand tightly seeking comfort and found that they were all holding each other's hands. "Why should we believe any of the shit you're saying?!" A random player screamed up at the floating Game Master.

"We can't clear all 100 floors," Nami whispered in a whimpering voice.

"That's freaking impossible." Commented on an angry Shen.

Malia finally spoke, "It took the best beta-tester two months to reach the eight floor alone." How would they clear 100 floors without dying? Malia bit her lip harshly. It would take them years to finish this death game!

Kayaba exited out of his player menu and continued to speak lazily, "Last but not least, I've placed a little present in the item storage of every player. Please have a look."

Immediately, players flocked to their storage. Malia did the same and frowned when she noted a strange item that hadn't been in her storage before. "A mirror?" Ryku spoke in a perturbed tone.

Malia clicked on the item, and it appeared in front of her. There was nothing special about the mirror. It was small, about the size of a small journal, and silver. She tentatively grabbed the cold, lightweight item and gazed into her avatar's face. Suddenly, there was a shocking cry.

"Klein!"

Malia jerked her head up to the sound before a vibrant white-blue light that was engulfing every player—including her — blinded her eyes. The entire plaza was in a state of silence; Malia blinked her eyes several times to adjust them before turning around.

"Holy shit!" Ryku stated looking exactly as he backed in the real world. His hair was no longer ashy blonde and his eyes were no longer a wicked green but now back to their kind, light brown.

Jordan also had his vibrant honey-colored eyes and dreads back.

Nami had also shifted back to her real-world appearance. Malia quickly gazed into the mirror, seeing her own icy, pale blue eyes staring up at her as her abnormally long white-silver hair cascading down her back.

Malia sighed as the Plaza filled with much shocking chatter and it was then that Malia noted the sudden decrease of female players. Most of the female players had turned out to be guys, and most of them were standing in their female avatar's clothing.

"How the hell did he achieve this?" Shen demanded angrily.

A boy that look their age spoke to his red-headed friend, "The scan," The black-haired player glanced at his red-headed friend, "There's a high-density signal device inside the NerveGear's rig, it can see what my face looks like, but how does it know of my height and body type?"

Malia listened intently before speaking to her friends who had heard this player speak, "When you first put on the NerveGear, it had to do this calibration thing…" She trailed off as her friends gazed at her with enlightenment.

"It asked you to touch your body all over like this, remember?" Ryku finished going to show the gestures they all had to do.

"Right. That must've been for its physical data." Malia murmured.

Kayaba spoke again, silencing all the players once more, "You are probably wondering why. Why would Akihiko Kayaba, developer of Sword Art Online and NerveGear, do such a thing?" Kayaba spoke in an almost smug voice and Malia could practically hear the smirk in his droning voice, "Ultimately, my goal was a simple one. The reason I created Sword Art Online was to control the fate of a world of my design."

"Bastard!" Elaina swore with icy cold rage.

"As you can see, I have achieved my goal." Kayaba's voice grew with some emotion, "This marks the end of the tutorial and the official launch of Sword Art Online. Players, I wish you the best of luck." Like a coward, Kayaba slowly vanished altogether and the blood-red panels faded away and everything returned to normal. As if nothing had ever happened.

No one spoke, no more moved, no one said anything for in shock and disbelief and fear. They were all trapped within a game; a death game. One wrong move and Malia could be permanently dead, ceased to exist, never to see her little brother or her parents. Malia tightened her fist to the point her knuckles were turning white.

For a second, Malia's mind flashed with many ways she would die before her instincts took over. Her eyes took in the shaken and angry figures of her friends. She would vow that they would clear all 100 floors and survive this hell hole.

"We need to leave now," Malia ordered lowly and quickly with urgency.

She was already walking towards the many exits as many players remained frozen in fear and shock. Very few players had moved quickly and if they were smart, they'd move on towards other villages. She saw the black-haired boy and the red-headed man moving quickly through the crowd. Malia had gotten a strange sense of déjà vu as the boy brushed passed her. In one second, his light gray eyes met her blue ones.

There was a hard edge in his eyes as he dragged the red-headed man away from the hysterical mass of players. Malia was sure she matched his expression. In another second, their eye contact broke, and they went on their ways as if it had never happened. He had been a beta-tester. She knew it.

Malia dragged her friends well away from the plaza before leading them into the safety of a dark alley near some of better NPC stands, "Look," Malia spoke in a steely voice, "We will spend most of our Col on potions, weapons, clothes, and food. We are all heading to the next village because I am sure things around here will become hectic." Malia had seen the state of some players and she was sure things in the Town of Beginnings would turn ugly soon.

"I do not doubt in my mind that Kayaba was not lying," Malia continued feeling the heavy gazes of her friends on her face as she paced in front of them, "In these types of online games there is only so much stuff to go around like EXP, money, and items. The fields around the town will clear soon and we need to move on onto the next village so we have the better drops and quests."

Her friends looked a lot more relaxed now after hearing Malia's plan of action. Shen sighed, running a large hand through his wild hair, "As always, you're right." Shen gazed fondly at Malia, happy to have her with them. He couldn't imagine what would have happened had she not been here with them.

Nami nodded rapidly, "She's Malia, she's always right!" Nami looked on the verge of a breakdown, but Malia and Elaina held the Swedish girl's hands in comfort and reassurance.

Jordan held his head with a groan, "I don't even know what to think right now!"

"Don't complain just yet," Malia quickly cut him off, "We need to get out of here first before we settle down for the night. We still have a few hours of daylight left and if we hurry, we can make it to the next village and get a room for all of us." Malia explained as she beckoned for them to follow her.

The NPC stands were empty, but Malia had led her friends almost to the opposite side of the large city, far away from the Black Iron Castle. The stands on this side were better and offered cheaper items but were always of good quality.

Malia had known of this hidden alley because she stumbled across it in the beta. They could get a lot more of their money's worth here. Thankfully, they had a hefty amount of Col from their hunts and quests from earlier in the evening.

Since they were a party, they combined most of the Col they had.

She assumed that most of the players hurrying around had to be beta-testers. She was almost sure of it. In less than fifteen minutes, Malia and her friends were already exiting the overwhelming city. Malia was leading in the front and for a moment, she gazed over her shoulder to gaze at the entrance of the Town of Beginnings. She could see the tip of the Black Iron Castle. She clenched her jaw tight.

She would make sure she and her friends beat this game and return home.

Hello, I'm back! After a very long and never-ending hiatus, I finally recovered enough energy and inspiration to revise and possibly continue my fanfics! Though, do not hold it against me if I seemingly vanish again, lol. It's nice to be back and I appreciate every single one of you!