It was a bright and gleeful summer day. A day that any child would enjoy, as their friends come over and play outside or to become absorbed in video games; but for me, it was merely another day of hell…

"Asakura! Get your ass down this here this minute!" yelled his mother. The shrill of her voice filled the whole house and I reluctantly started towards the source. I trudged down the stairs with the taste of bitter disgust stuck in my mouth, anger boiling within me with each step that I took; a response spurred by the utter resentment I had for my family and nearly everybody associated with it.

I am a boy of seventeen. My mother hails from Japan and my father is Chinese. I had my heart stomped on, mangled and left virtually useless when my girlfriend of seven months left me with no explanation. I don't have the best family; and have practically no friends. I had nowhere to turn until I met my sweet gothic Naomi. She is the one who cheered me up when I was crying on the way home. Well, actually she saw the bad shape I was in and she slapped me across the head to knock me out of my slump, and told me to stop crying. As unorthodox as her methods are, they are the only ones that work. I saw sincere care in her dark eyes, something I so rarely see.

"Asakura Cozy, look at this mess that you have caused in the kitchen!!" Mom exclaimed. I narrowed my eyes slowly yet cautiously to see what disaster lay within the room ahead. What I saw made me stop and stare; I stood there amazed at what was once a kitchen that glittered and shone, but was now dull and nasty, as pots were dangling from shelves with slimy green liquid coming out of them, accompanied by a pungent smell that made my nose feel like it was about to melt off. So I started to turn away to gasp for some air, but before I could do that I felt a sharp pain across my back that almost made me fall to the floor.

I said in pain, "What was that for?" And when I turned around again, I saw my mother; her eyes were red with fury, her pupils nothing but black holes that led to torture. Before I could explain to my mom that it wasn't my fault (even though it would be a waste of my breath to argue), she pushed me into the kitchen and yelled at me to clean it up. As I stood there fuming by myself and glaring around at the miracle it would take for me to accomplish this task, my rage so great it overrode my impulse to vomit, I saw my two sisters Amaya and Shiri laughing their heads off at the torture that they had arranged for me to go through. But before I could find something hard to toss at them, they dashed off to safety.

It took agonisingly long hours to finish cleaning up the mess that was not my doing, and I was exhausted. With the taste of disgust and anger preserved with also the pungent smell which still burnt my nose and still made my stomach churn, I decided to take a cold shower in an attempt to get rid of this stress and anger that I was feeling.

Then suddenly I heard the doorbell ring and the thought that that person might be here to see my parents made me decide to move like my old geezer grandpa, which would probably have been the case either way with how tired I was; in short, I took a very long time to reach the door. And even then, I stopped for a while as I grasped the cool doorknob, various thoughts swarming through my head. The doorbell sounded again, but I still didn't open the door immediately. But I knew the reaction my parents would have if I took too long, so after waiting a few more seconds, I turned the knob.

When I pulled open the door, I was a bit surprised to see Naomi standing there. She immediately embraced me and held me so tight, it was as if she was trying to crack every bone in my body. I was too surprised to ask her why she was so excited, but I was glad to see her, regretting my little attempt at rebellion. Then, with absolutely no warning, she released me, grabbed what was left of my prune hands (from all the cleaning) and started leading me, a bit roughly, away from my house.

"Come over to my house," she exclaimed with a wide smile. "I've got a surprise for you!"

She almost didn't let me close the door behind me.

"Naomi! This isn't like you, why the hell are you so happy today, and what's this big surprise?" I asked, Naomi's dark hair flowing behind her.

"If I told you now it won't be a surprise," Naomi said, smiling gleefully. Then she tugged me even harder as we came closer to her house.

"Uh, come on, I wanna sleep Naomi, can't you show me this another time when I'm actually awake?" I retorted tiredly.

"You can sleep after, you big baby," she remarked.

We finally arrived at her house. Naomi swung the door open releasing me momentarily so I could climb the stairs without falling forward, although she still pushed me verbally. Then she took me to her computer, which had two helmets sticking out at the side of it. I looked at her angrily, a look of pure fury on my face. I almost felt like killing her. "You dragged me here for this?!!" I yelled.

With a small voice, she answered, a bit surprised and disappointed with my reaction, no doubt, "Yes."

I was in no mood for this. I turned to leave but she was too fast; she pulled me by my shirt, dragged me to the seat as though I was her pet and slammed one of the helmets on my head.

"Quit it, Naomi! Games are for losers!" I yelled, my tone as livid as before. But the next thing I knew, I couldn't see or hear anything. What did she do?

The apprehension and fear lasted no more than a few seconds and presently, my senses returned. But I was no longer in Naomi's room; I was somewhere else. It looked like the scene from a fantasy flick. There were buildings around. They were not the concrete structures I was used to, but they were made of clay. The sign that bore the name of the town was made of wood. Street vendors called out to passer-bys the items they carried; like rare items, weapons and armour. This place… for some reason, I felt at peace here, despite the fact that strange-looking characters crowded the streets. The fresh air in this pristine world was wonderfully simulated. A beautiful, clear river trickled along nearby. Elaborately dressed patrons turned to look at me, standing there all alone.

Then, after a few moments later, a flash of flame bolted down beside me and when it was gone, Naomi was left; but she looked different. She had the look of a female soldier; her black hair with red highlights had been replaced by long snow-white hair. Virtual Naomi had a clear beautiful, tender body covered by a coat of amour with long leather boots. She wore a golden band over her head like a crown in the middle of it was a precious blue stone and finally she was armed with a beautiful – but undoubtedly deadly – sword with the edges glistening, as though it cut the sun's rays in every direction and in the middle of it were ancient symbols that were blue and glowing brightly.

It was then that I decided to see what changes this virtual world made to my appearance. Quietly, I walked over to the river and the person that I saw wasn't the Asakura I was used to. I still looked my age, but I was no longer the pale skin and bones I used to be. My hair was still brown, but spiked; my muscles surprised me but not as much as the glowing tattoos on my right arm. A very large sword (longer than I was tall, and I was taller in this world) rested in its hilt, which was strapped across my back. It had a golden handle with a dragon chain at the end. Instead of armour I was dress in black garments, you couldn't see my mouth as the clothes covered my mouth and stretched to my belt buckle as I was wearing leather pants with boots that felt as hard as steel and they too were black leather.

For a moment I stared at my reflection, I said softly, "This sure beats real life." Then I turned my eyes away from the new me. I stretched my new muscles, realizing the just how tired I was. Although reluctant to leave, I didn't see anywhere to sleep in this place. "How do you take off the helmet?" I called over to Naomi.

The stunning figure before me answered with seemingly great disappointment that I wanted to leave already. "You have to pull it off by holding your head then you pull it up," she said in a low tone. I tried it, but still found myself in the game.

"Idiot," Naomi said as she made the same gesture; NO LUCK! She looked at me in astonishment.

For a moment I just stood there thinking it was all a dream; actually a nightmare. While Naomi tried constantly to take off the helmet, each time to no avail. Then with the anger from earlier and the tiredness that I felt, I let out a loud, anguished cry. I didn't even care that my tattoo began to blaze even more brightly and that the crowds of passer-bys, vendors and customers, turned curious eyes in our directions, probably wondering if I was possessed or something. From there tears of sorrow and anger began flowing down my face as I stared at Naomi, she was now coming up to me, with her mighty sword she used the handle and thrashed me across the head.

"Cut the crap, Asakura! This isn't helping either of us!"

"Well, you knocking me in the head isn't helping either!" I retorted.

"What're you lookin' at?" Naomi demanded as she turned to the curious eyes of those around us. Either losing interest or not wanting to challenge the obviously angry – and possible insane – pair of warriors, they went back to their business.

I did feel a little better, though, after crying a bit and yelling at Naomi, although my head still hurt. This virtual reality was amazing; each sensation must have been sent directly to my brain, so it felt as real as if I were in my own house getting whooped by Mom. I stared at Naomi's character and I said in a low tone, "What're we gonna to do?"

Always quick to answer, she said, "Guess we have to finish the game and see, we also have to find a guild."

I asked her to explain what she meant by "guild". She said it was a group of people working together for the same thing - a team. As I was about to ask her one final question, she appeared to read my mind.

"This game is called The Terra; I won it in a sweepstakes I entered."

I then took a deep breath, wiped my eyes and looked around again to see what journey I had ahead of me in this

"Terra," I thought….

To be continued……

Well guys I finally got over the fact that I'm stuck in a virtual world, I am happy though that I can get away from my parent. The only hard part now is that I have to make friends Ugh (lol).

Next: Chapter 2: The Trials Ahead