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Yes, it's been a year.
I haven't updated at all, and no one really actually seems ta care.

Oh well....I'll just copy and paste the thing I wrote as an Language Arts assignment in November, 'cause I don't feel like ranting again. It's over and forgotten. The only thing I can say is, I'm sorry.
For wasting both my friends', and my own time on such things as stupid as games.

This is my tale.

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Ragnarok Online


The horizon’s vivid scarlet, vermillion, and azure colors were fading into the background of our star-filled universe, gradually for the mortals, but rapidly for time. Out there, while children were still outside on skate boards, bicycles, and grown ups in cars, evading the neighborhood runts, I was inside the expensive shelter provided by my dear parents who were either talking nonstop on their cell phones or watching the latest hit movie. Yes, instead if trying to get healthier, I was doing quite the contrary, rotting infront of my beloved laptop screen, (and because I have no life as some would call it, I named it ‘Nii’) though I’ve once heard that sitting burns calories as well. Online role playing fascinates the immature mind of a thirteen year old, and though I had a perfect sense of the virtual and the reality, mind addiction, along with procrastination, was a hard habit to break. Especially when the substance was Ragnarok Online, Norse for the apocalypse, a game based off of Norse mythology. Like many other RPGs (Role Playing Games) before it, it had character classes from which a player can choose to be, monsters to overcome, princesses to save and princes to charm. Of course, the programmers in Korea wanted to make it seem more realistic, therefore, added the infamous marriage system in which players could have their pixels marry each other…at the cost of enough virtual money to buy the country of Swiss. Nii’s screen was flickering slightly, meaning I had to answer another one of those instant messages sent from my friends whom I wished would leave me alone as I multitasked, half homework, half Ragnarok. I was idle on Ragnarok, but the instant message was from one of my best friends, (who would rather be called by her Ragnarok name, Lia), was telling me that I should ditch my arduous music review essay for Show Choir and help defeat the Lord of Death that was currently spamming the players to death. Of course, I heeded.
Jai. That was what everyone calls me at school, at home, and anywhere where stalkers might be. In my current society, I was just one of the thousands and millions or other kids, nothing extraordinary but never plain. I was a geek when it comes to the fine arts, a philosopher and critic in language and writing, and an overall logic nerd in just about everything else. The more sociable kids mock my quietness, but throughout the eight years of my academic life, I have learned to put up with that mockery just as most of my other friends do. But online, I was the famous priestess, Aura’s Bane, Aura of The Rose Seraphim, Kind Hearted Angel, Mir, Super Bunny Spuz Girl, or simply just Aura. She’s always noted for her kind efforts to save and revive assassins, crusaders, knights, alchemists, minstrels, dancers, archers, merchants, blacksmiths, rogues, monks, and possibly any other medieval occupation one could name. It was considered my duty, as a priestess, to use my holy powers from the believed Odin ( God on Ragnarok), to bless, heal and restore a player to full health, expecting no more than a ‘thank you’ in return. Often, new players, first starting out their adventures as first class novices, would look up to me, and regard me as ‘awesome’ or, ‘cool’, or ‘goddess’, while players more experienced then I would simply smile and say ‘good job’ every time I healed them. Never less, Lia, my calm yet fierce, intelligent yet closed minded, shy yet outspoken hunter of a friend with her never far off companion, her falcon, always had to remind me that my own safety and health on RO (Ragnarok) was supposedly more important than that of others’.
I’ve worked hard building up such a character such as my Aura, not only level wise, but also the sturdy relations with friends from literally all over the world, Costa Rica, Germany, Russia, Hawaii, England, France, Dutch, South Africa, Louisiana even. Once, a girl from Singapore thought that Lia and I were a married couple. But that’s beside the point. Along with friends, Lia and I also had a family, which included Astra, the guild leader of The Rose Seraphim, a brother to me and Lia, and husband to Vampire’s Angel (AKA Vixen because Lia and I strongly dislike her for reasons deemed unnecessary to mention), Squakka, the utmost faithful and loyal guy I have ever met. He’s totally devoted to Astra, like a noble would to his lord and master. Those two guys are like brothers, which in turn, would make him mine and Lia’s bro as well. Keri was the best darn possible older sis one can have, but through misunderstandings between her and Astra, she quit the guild, however, remained a good friend and awesome sibling. There were so many others, maybe not as significant to me, but they were there. However, Lia and I were also careful of our social relations, even online. Never did we ever tell anyone our real names, our address, or anything personal. Sure, we were inquired numerous times of all that, but since this is all role play, we made the information up, along with our personalities. And they believed us. According to us, the other players thought that we were seventeen year old geniuses that had just graduated college and was now relieving social stress by playing this game. We lived in Canada and worked in molecular biology as a profession. It was hard to stop the hysteria and laughter once we heard that they fully believe our improbable story. Yes, we’re paranoid. But at least we won’t be complaining when a person less fortunate than us gets kidnapped by a raving stalker from Kansas.
Its implausible that so many unplanned events, soap opera dramas, and stretches of fate would happen in a simple game intended for pleasure. Games are suppose to be for fun, are they not? There’s so much to tell, not enough time to tell all at once, lest I be making a short story my life on RO. And even then, it’d be a pretty long short story. Therefore, to make things much easier on our lives, an explanation rather than story would do. We both started out as novices, me and Lia, clueless, powerless, but cute. After hours of having our vision impaired by the flickering screen movements, we gradually grew stronger, more daring, and possibly cleverer about the game. Lia had decided to become an archer, with sharp perceptions for things one would not normally see or pay attention to. I myself choose to be an acolyte, not because I had unwavering faith in an elf god, but because I had aspired to be a support type character. I felt simply awful, watching Lia and other random players get massacred from monsters while I was powerless to do anything to stop it or help. All that was in my power to do was run. No more. From the moment I choose to be a supporter, I lost all of my physical strength and abilities, and gained miraculous powers. A gift by choice.
Not long after did we meet Astra while resting. Minutes passed by after short introductions were given, and we chatted like old acquaintances reunited again after fifteen years apart. Our awkward conversations lead us to one debate to a next, jittering away about fallacies of the world, fallacies of love, and fallacies of fallacies. Lia had taken a philosophy course the previous year at ‘Nerd Camp’ as one might call it (In reality, it is a program for smart people under sixteen to take a chosen college course). Me, I had taken logic. So it was philosophy against logic against common sense. None us of really knew who won the argument regarding if love exists or not, but I think we all had our points well taken. However, the people reading this are not here to debate. Days passed and every moment spent on Ragnarok was spent as a trio, Lia, Astra, and me. Our trust in each other never faltered and we were an inseparatable team. Later, there were episodes of drama after drama, way too many to tell in words individually of each. If any witness were to write a TV series or movie after this, I swear he or she’d be dubbed the maker of most repetitive tragedies. Every story requires a beginning, conflict, climax and plot, then resolution and finally an ending with happily ever after. Until they die that is. Currently, our little novel was going through its rising action, and heading straight for the conflict. What conflict? Astra’s wife, the oh so glamorous Vampire’s Angel. Even her character name shows that she is just as dim witted and unoriginal as any other girl who reads too much fiction ( not the good ones either) and can’t invent a name that doesn’t seem like she’s a poser. Seriously. Not to mention she flashes off the fact that she possesses a superiority complex with the luminosity of lighting. Exaggerating a bit? Probably so, but I believe, for all the bad she’s done, she deserves worse. Lia agrees.
And as we tried to hint to Astra that she was slowly changing him from a carefree vagabond wandering RO with always enough time to spare to his two obnoxious siblings, to this over stressed house husband, always worrying about his wife’s needs and wants, forgetting his priorities in the process. He could no longer identify the thin line between what’s real and what’s role play. It was a sad thing to watch your almost brother deteriorate infront of you, grow into less and less everyday, with no sign of ever returning back into a solid form. My priestess powers could do nothing. Days grew into weeks and weeks grew into months. Months had passed as well. Nothing had physically changed. Our emotions toward eachother had undergone an evolution however. There was more and more malice towards Vixen, more resentment toward Astra. Before anyone could question why, our once ebullient family drifted apart. Even until now, it hasn’t grown enough spare limbs to replace everything and everyone. Astra managed to keep the less admirable side, his hopeless romantic side. The one that drove everything that was dear and precious to him away. Even Vixen herself left him. We did in the process.
Our bond- the bond holding me and Lia together- was much too durable, much to hardened to break, even in the midst of all the drama. We knew what to do, our lives were in youth, therefore everything was set out before us, we just had to follow it. And when we got sidetracked onto another path unknown, we’d be lost together, and help one another back on track. This way, my optimism and humor kept us from depression, and Lia’s sanity and strict schedule kept us from slipping too much down, down to where a shadow of Astra’s body had wandered. And he still wanders, now lost in questions of why he was a broken man, a broken spirit, a dead soul in a living shell. We had the answers, but no pity. Thus ends the soap opera series. It wasn’t exactly short and sweet as one would have imagined. Just probably short the way I put it. But this was something to share with the masses. Not because we want to be locked up in a psychiatrist’s office or make the people fear us of being schizophrenic, but because it’s a story that has somewhat value in itself. Lia and I are still fully devoted to RO. I would never abandon my little Aura. Aura. Just Aura. Not Aura of The Rose Seraphim. Not Aura’s Bane. Just simply Aura. Need I repeat myself more? Aura is my outer ego. Jai is who I am. No one’s doll, no one’s savior. And Lia is my treasure that I must guard. Someone precious to me in all the murkiness that was lain before us. We’ll both head down a dirt road that we’ll make into a path, and perhaps our path will separate someday. But until then, we shall focus on the present and all that happens. The past and future is irrelevant. Down, always forward, whether we have to drag, push, pull, or even crawl. Astra’s time had stopped for him. He couldn’t and would not advance any further. Lia and I had tried. We haven’t failed, simply shoved ahead of his time. Perhaps, if we had slowed for him, would it of turned out differently? Or would we of been trapped there in deprived self pity and longing for love evermore? No. If one was to think back to the path untaken, we wouldn’t be able to fully move forward, not mentally. And so, I move on, with Lia and the rest of reality around be. No escape from reality. We can only befriend it. “Sayonara,” and that’ll be all she said.
It was near or past ten. I didn’t care. My mind was unfocused from thoughts as another IM appeared from the bottom of my screen. It was addressed from, ‘Astra’.
It read, “ Mir, I’ve been such a fool. I lost everything close to me…theres no reason for me to live.”
I read it. It was just like the other ten thousand things he said but never bother to do something about. He looks for pity but I’ve got none. No one has pity for a man with no action, only words. It’s about high time he, an eighteen year old high school student learned about society that even I, a mere thirteen year old knew. Lia and I plan on laughing at him when we find him in the streets of NYC as a hobo in ten years.
Then again, this was my chance. I could accept his chat, reply, and then, maybe, just maybe, he’ll return to us, and everything’ll be just right. As it was suppose to be. I reached for my dinky mouse that was half falling from the desk. But before I could click ‘accept request,’ another one of those pesky IMs popped up. This time, it was from Lia again.
It read, “ Jai, I feel so happy for some reason. I don’t have to deal with anymore drama, heartbreaks, and whatnot. I don’t want to see Asstra again. Ever. Jai, you’ve been awesome, helping me and everyone get away from him. (Insert happy face) Well, I’ll be on RO. See ya there!”
That was all. A simple thank you note from Lia. I exited out of her chatroom. My cursor that was right above Astra’s ‘accept’ button shifted to the little ‘x’ in the corner. Then I blocked the name that read Astra. No more. I found the RO icon located next to the Microsoft Word icon and double clicked. Well Aura, I hope you’re ready to battle a Lord of Death. And maybe we’ll battle the other monster lurking in a place we all know but too scared to visit. Yeah. That’s what I’ll do. I’ll ask Lia to come along too. After all, we’re yet to be defeated.

“We’re heroes. But no one knows about us. What does that mean? Sometimes a secret is too secret even for the keeper to find out. That’s when the world will turn to the specters who must find it. Something not even I know about me.”
An end quote I found while closing internet explorer. Onto bed. Onto another tomorrow.




....Thats it.

The End.