Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground… Sora had heard about how important this place was, but it was her first time actually being here. An area that had existed since the original version of The World, she didn't know what to think.

It was gorgeous, that much she could say. A perpetual sunset, a cathedral rising in the distance. She'd heard it was free of loot and enemies around here, so it seemed like a good place to hold a meeting…

But something about this place left a strange feeling in her stomach, a feeling she couldn't quite place as she pushed open the doors and walked into the building. Pews on either side as she approached an empty pedestal.

What used to be on this, if anything, she wondered, running a hand over the smooth surface. It almost looked like the perfect place for a statue, maybe once the goddess statue sat here, instead of in the middle of The World?

She didn't have much time to think on it, though. Soon enough, the doors behind her creaked open. Someone else was here and she needed to prepare herself for whatever she was going to learn.

Squaring her shoulders and sucking in a deep breath, she turned to face whoever had entered.

Plenty of information was on display. Tsukasa, a Wave User was the first to appear. Level one… So this was one of the people who hadn't played in a while. They had white hair, hanging around their face, and red wave markings upon their face. Their purple eyes were wary as they walked in.

But their knowledge of MMOs was fairly apparent when they sent Sora a whisper. "Are you from the forum?"

She nodded. "Mm… Sora_Kite is me!"

"I see." Tsukasa hummed. "...Funny you picked this place for the meet up… I remember when…"

Tsukasa trailed off, sitting on one of the pews and holding their staff close. Sora wasn't sure what to say. The look on their face was so melancholic… Was there anything she could say?

"...Uh… w-which form user are you?"

"An_S." They sat back against the pew. "Sorry, I just… haven't played The World in years. It's hard being back here."

"N-no, it's fine!" Sora moved to sit next to them. "I'm sorry if I picked a bad place to meet…"

Tsukasa shook their. "It's probably for the best I confront the feelings this place gives me, anyway."

"Feelings…?"

Before Tsukasa could say much more, the doors creaked open again. Sora turned to look and something akin to fear gripped her. Information was once again displayed, but it didn't tell her anything good.

9, his class listed as ?, level also hidden from view. And the way he looked, he didn't look anything like a normal player. He was dressed in pants and a hoodie, the kind of thing her friends would wear on their days off…

"H-Hacker?!" She grabbed Tsukasa by the arm, biting her lower lip. Had a hacker replied to the forum posting?! There had been someone going by 9 on there…

"Oh, that does look like one." Tsukasa sounded almost too nonchalant as they looked the man over. "Less extreme than Helba was, at least."

Sora blinked at Tsukasa, head tilted to the side. "Helba?"

"...Don't worry about it, she doesn't matter right now."

"You guys are from the forum too, right?" 9 approached, an awkward smile on his face. "I, uh, know I probably look bad, but I'm on your side…"

"9 from the forum?" Tsukasa rose an eyebrow. "I guess I'm not surprised a hacker knows something about what's going on with Aura… By the way, I'm An_S from the forum, this is Sora_Kite."

"Tsukasa, Kite." He gave a small nod, leaning against the pews. "We're waiting on five more, right?"

"Right." Sora gave a nervous nod. "A-As long as they all come, of course!"

As if on cue, the door once again opened and walked in… Someone else with a Kite-Type PC. Sora hadn't realized when Makoto made her PC, but apparently the general look was fairly popular among players.

Maybe this was Sakuya, then? They seemed to actually play the game, but…

Shugo, Twin Blade, Level one just like Tsukasa. It had to be another one of the forum members, then. He was small, smaller than even Sora was in-game. He almost looked like… a…

"Chibi…" Tsukasa pointed at him, speaking plainly. "I didn't know you could make chibis…"

Shugo groaned, shaking his head. "...I wanted to look as much like I did back in R:1, so if we meet Zefie, she can recognize me."

"Zefie…" 9's mouth was pulled into a frown. "So you noticed that, too… Meaning you're S_Kunisaki?"

"Yeah, that's right…" Shugo looked 9 over. "How do you know about Zefie…? Only me, my sister, and our friends really knew about her… Are you Kamui…?"

"A-Ah…! Um, well, you see…" 9 seemed caught off guard by that, as Shugo continued to look him over. "That can wait until after we discuss what all we know with everyone, right?"

"Hm…"

"I'm here!" A girl's voice rang through the cathedral as another Kite-type PC, this one female, crashed through the doors. Sakuya, Twin Blade, a higher level than Shugo and Tsukasa. Yeah, this had to be the Sakuya from the forum.

"That's great." 9 nodded, trying to push the conversation off of him. "We're only missing three people now!"

"Oh man, I'm later than I wanted to be." Sakuya sighed. "I should've known that all-nighter was a bad idea!"

Tsukasa rose an eyebrow. "Why did you pull an all-nighter?"

"I was really curious about all of this…" She kicked at the floor as she moved to sit next to Sora. "I couldn't stop thinking up theories in my head!"

"I guess we did sorta leave you hanging with information…" Shugo gave a little laugh, scratching his cheek. "But no sleep? Not even an hour?"

"...Maybe thirty minutes…?"

Tsukasa gave Sakuya a look. "...Sleep more after this, okay?"

"Yessir!"

"Don't call me sir, you make me feel like my father."

"Sorry-"

The doors creaked open again and Sora looked, hoping it continued to be people that made sense. One more hacker and she might cry. Albireo, level one… Okay, good. Class- Long Arm?! Sora didn't know much about this game, but there was no way a level one character could have that class!

"A-another hacker!"

"Another one…" Tsukasa's looked. "...That looks like a debugger from R:1, are you sure that's a hacker?"

"He has to be! His class a-and level make no sense." Once again, she was clinging to them.

"...I would never hack the game." He shook his head. "I made a PC to look like my old debugger PC and… Something went wrong with the character creation."

"So the class ended up all weird?" 9 put a hand to his chin and hummed. "Is that possible?"

"Apparently so…" He sighed and revealed a weapon. "The Spear of Wotan was in my inventory when I checked, on top of it all."

That put Shugo on edge. "...If you're here to discuss things, you better not be planning on deleting any AIs with that."

"Of course not." Albireo shook his head and Sora swore there was a tinge of sadness in his eyes. "Never again…"

"Mister Albireo…" Sakuya's eyes were watering up, affected by the look on the man's face. "What happened…?"

He shook his head, staying silent. Shugo glared at him, arms crossed. Sora was starting to think they'd fall into an uncomfortable silence when the door once again opened. Standing there was yet another Kite-type PC.

K1te was the name, as if he wanted Kite but couldn't get it (Sora felt bad if that was the case, after all, she had that handle), a twin blade like the rest of the Kite-type PCs, and level one. So another person who hadn't played in a while.

For a moment, she thought something was on one of his wrists… Almost like a bracelet made of light… but that had to be a trick of the light, she decided. It wasn't there when she looked again, anyway.

"A lot of people here already…" He gave a small laugh, walking up to the group. "Sorry if I'm a little late."

"Oh no, it's fine." 9 shook his head. "You're not even the last one here, so don't worry about it."

"...I wonder when the last one will get here." Sakuya kicked her legs up and down with a frown. "By the way, Albireo, K1te… What are your names on the forums? So we can figure out who's missing!"

"I'm A_K!"

"And I'm K_W…"

"So that leaves…" Sakuya hummed, finger on her chin.

"Just Haseo." Tsukasa spoke up, looking towards the door. "And I think he might be here."

In walked another PC, wearing black and red. Kinda gloomy to look at after the bright and earthy colors of everyone else… His hair was white, eyes red. His name read Haseo and… Wow! His level was high… Probably the highest level here (unless 9 was hiding a level of nine hundred ninety nine or something).

And his class… Represented by glitched text. If she forced herself to make out words, she supposed it might say Adept Rogue, but… That wasn't a class, at least not anymore!

Sora opened her mouth, it felt dry. "H-h-how are you an Adept Rogue?"

"...I dunno, actually." Haseo shook his head and sighed. "I logged in and when it told me I needed to choose a new class, it glitched for a while until I closed it down…"

Kite rose an eyebrow. "You sound really casual about that."

"I've been playing since R:2, during the AID- the black anomalies incident. I'm used to weird things happening with this game."

"That so?" Tsukasa narrowed their eyes as they looked at him. "...Are you sure you've only been playing since R:2…?"

"Never touched the game before I was sixteen…" He put a hand on his hip. "Never touched any sorta virtual reality device until then."

"Interesting…"

"Well…" Albireo looked at the group. "It looks like we're all here. Should we get to discussing the goddess statue?"

"Oh yeah, that!" Shugo clenched his hands. "There's no doubt about it, that statue is of Zefie now, instead of Aura!"

"Zefie…?" Sakuya tilted her head to the side.

"Aura's daughter!"

"Eh?!" Sora's eyes went wide. "She has a daughter?!"

"Oh, good for her." Tsukasa nodded. "Kinda strange hearing that, though. I still remember Aura as just a little girl…"

"That's how I remember Zefie, so I guess we're in the same boat…"

"Zefie…" Albireo furrowed his brow. "She looks so much like… Lycoris."

"Lycoris?" Kite tilted his head to the side. "Who is that?"

"She's-"

Before he could finish his sentence, everyone's attention was drawn towards the front of the cathedral. The warm golden tones were overtaken for a moment, by a blue flame. Sora felt her heart catch in her throat as figures began to appear from it. Three of them, all dangerous looking.

Now what did they do?