"Be down for dinner by six!" yelled Kira's mom from downstairs in the kitchen, which was met with a silent reply of Kira closing her bedroom door and tossing her school bag on her bag, ignoring the several papers that fell out and floated to the floor.

Being home now, Kira could get her escape from reality, and today at school had been a rough one. Again, stupid rumors of some 'sexual exploits' she had taken part in started circulating. All were false, of course, but no one seemed to care as long as it meant getting her to cry and hide away in the bathrooms during her lunch hour. Now, most days her other peers left her alone and gave her the silent treatment, save the few close friends she had. But in her online world, Rise of the Dark Ages, Kira was fierce, confident, and had made many connections in the year she had been playing.

So, with that in mind, she plopped down in her computer chair and fired up the PC, scrounging around in the mess to find her headset and put it on. Once the main screen blinked on, she clicked the game icon and smiled as the music played. She hadn't gotten a message yet through the games mobile messenger she had downloaded on her phone, so she hoped her friend would still be on to get through the dungeon. With a few hours to kill, the two of them would have no problems defeating the boss for the special loot dropped this week only.

Now with the main menu opened, Kira opted for her Mage character, one that specialized in close to mid range magic spells that did lots of damage, offered buffs and minor healing spells to party members, and if needed could use a short sword with average effeciency. While waiting for the game to load in with her character with her username of ScarletAngel, Kira clicked on the online friends list and scanned it real quick. Her lips began to pull into a frown until she saw her friends name highlighted that they were online. Grinning, she clicked on it and hit the 'Send Message' option.

*Hey there, still wanting to hit that dungeon today? I have a few hours to kill!*

With a sharp twist, a hiss of pressure created by the carbonation in the soda escaped the bottle as William, or just simply Will to his friends, Gray pulled off the cap of his Coke. He took a huge gulp of the liquid before screwing the cap back into place and setting it aside. Readjusting his mouse, he then let himself get lost once again in the world of ’Rise of the Dark Ages’, his elvin warrior responding to his commands and attacking a nearby goblin that had thought to ambush him. He grinned as he dispatch the enemy easily with his two handed broadsword, then looting the body in search of some components for the armor he wanted to create later.

William’s clear blue eyes flickered over to the left side of his screen as a private message popped up and the smile managed to widen. Clicking on the text box, he quickly typed out a response.

*Hey! Took you long enough! ;) I’m definitely ready to go dungeon delving. Low level component grinding is getting boring. Meet you in the capital?*

He sent his message off, his own user name Shadowblight popping up next to the text after a second.

None of his friends in real life would really get it if he tried to explain the attraction he found with the MMO World he had gotten sucked into. They knew him best for sports, Basketball specifically, and could never imagine that he harbored a great love of all things fantasy and running around with a make-believe character to solve quests and sleigh the bad guys. And yet he did. Every opportunity he got, every ounce of free time he managed to scrape together, he logged on to the fantasy realm. That was where he had first met ScarletAngel, who’s character was that of a mage that she played very effectively, and the two had formed a connection. Now he found himself looking forward to the times they teamed up, diving into dungeons and going on long quest chains together.

Green eyes squinted with amusement as her smile widened even more.

*Sorry, bad day. But I will meet you there once I am loaded into the game. Can you sent up a chat party for us?*

Sending off her reply, Kira sat patiently waiting for her character to load in. Once it did, she was quick to walk over to the transport vendor and paid the small price for a horse ride to the capitol city Camelot. In the meantime of waiting, she went over her gear and weapons to make sure she was well equipped with all she would needed.

The lower level dungeons had become easy, so she never bothered adjusting her gear. And though she knew the two were quite capable of getting though the mid level ones together, she knew her cloth armor would do little to protect her. Plus the leather amror she had crafted would help with her mana abilities, meaning she could cast more spells during their exploration. She loved how immsersive the game was, it truly let her escape the world around her. Something she could never truly explain to anyone she knew, except Shadow, as she called him. He seemed to be the only one who understood how she felt about the game. Which was why it had become so easy to talk to him, and probably one of the biggest reasons the two of them had become friends so easily

As he absently scratched at an itch on his forehead with one of his thumbs, William couldn’t help but frown slightly at the message he had gotten back. Sure, he and Scarlet had touched lightly on some of those bad days in the past, but he had never really felt comfortable delving too deeply. Some part of him was worried that it would scare her away. After a brief hesitation in which he chewed on his lower lip, he finally typed out a reply.

*Sure. I am setting it up now. And I am sorry that you had a bad day. Need me to beat anyone up? I am pretty proficient with a broad sword.*

There. Enough concern that she could offer more information should she wish, but overlaid with a light joke just in case she wanted to brush it off as nothing serious. He sent the message and then got to work on setting up the chat, directing his character towards the capital city as well. As he waited, he sorted through his inventory, moving around items into what he wanted to keep and what he could simply sell, All the while keeping an eye out for any further messages.

* it’s ready!* He quickly sent as he finished setting up the chat, sending her in invitation to form a party.

Rolling her eyes at the reply, though it did get a smile on her face, Kira simply ignored it for now until they were in party chat. Her character jumped off the horse, landing with grace as it pulled up to the main gates of Camelot. And just in time as the party invite popped up on her end. Accepting it, she took in a deep breath, before releasing it slowly.

"First off, I don't think a broadsword would do much but make matters worse in this situation, but thanks for the concern," Kira replied in a grateful manner, though the smile sitll on her face could be heard in her voice.

She really did want to talk about it, she wanted to vent to someone about how she felt. But she worried it would scare him away, and leave her alone like she usually was when she was home. So, she bottled up the hurt and frustration and shoved it aside. She was here now, and all she wanted to do was enjoy her time. Taking one last peek through he inventory and making sure she had the proper gear equipped, she turned her character into the city and walked through the cobbled streets lined with flower beds and trees, ponds filled with exotic in-game fish breeds, small shops and taverns that served as buying or crafting items and equipment, or just a hang out place while waiting for raid patries to gather and what not.

"So, which one shall we try to get through today? I know there's two dungeons not too far from here, and if I read the news atricle correctly they give out different gear depending on which one you choose. I believe the one closer to the swampy area is a class specific weapon, which I wouldn't mind getting. What do you think?"

As he made a beeline straight for one of the many vendors located in Camelot, William heard a distinctive pop of sound in his headset when the audio connection activated. He couldn’t help but smile when a moment later, a familiar voice spoke, especially when he was able to detect the smile in that voice.

He chuckled. “ if you change your mind about it, just let me know.” He responded, his voice a pleasant, smooth baritone.

An indicator popped up on his mini map that Scarlet’s mage was close by, a small green dot moving across the city layout and marking her position. Will quickly clicked through his inventory, selling off the worthless junk, before turning his elf warrior, Valdin, in her direction, running through the streets to meet up with her.

“ i’m cool going to the Deep Bog.” He said after a moment of thought, absently rubbing at the end of his nose. “ I really like the layout there. And I wouldn’t say no to a new sword.” He released a soft huff of amusement.

He then brought his character to a stop, typing in a command that made his character wave one of his hands enthusiastically, before proceeding to then make him bow and say a short greeting. The myriad of actions that he could have his character do was one of his favorite aspects of the game.

"You'll be the first person I get a hold of if I change my mind," came her reply, as she clicked a few items in her inventory and placed them i nthe enchantment slots for her mage's staff. They'd help with DoT spells and give a boost to healing buffs she could perform on her allies.

Seeing Shadowblight's dot not far ahead of her on the mini-map, she continued moving along until she saw the bright green name above his chracter's head. Watching as he commanded his character to wave and bow in her direction, Kira herself giggled lightly and shook her head, only to return the gesture's with her character, named Kuroi for in-game purposes. She enjoyed the ineractions they could perform with their characters, it made her feel closer to those she played with, maybe a bit more "personable."

"Well, then Deep Bog it is!" she said excitedly, typing in the quick command to make her Mage do a little dance. "I could really use a new staff for my Mage, and maybe we can try again tomorrow with my Ranger for a new bow or short sword." Smiling, she moved on over to Valdin,a nd while her character couldn't show her emotions, she was smiling and feeling the excitement bubble up within her.

She loved going on adventures with her friend, a part of her wished it was more than just a game, that they could go on a real adventure. But she'd never admit that, in fear of scaring him away or making him think she was some weird crazy person. "Leead the way good sir!"