The Prince’s Rebirth
by Exile Wrath


Chapter Zero

When the Dictator is defeated, Prince is no more. 3 weeks later, Lan is yanked out of her depression by Yang Ming, and she makes a new avatar to to claim her rightful place with Odd Squad and as Ruler of Infinite City, with some new friends to help her.

Exile: Hihi ^_^ This is my first 1/2 Prince fic! Spoilers up to chapter 50. Contains OCs and semi-AU

Pairings: Lan x Gui, OC x OC (2 times)

Warning: An author that loves gaming and writing. And making OCs (don’t worry, no Sues guaranteed!)
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Prince’s Rebirth

Chapter Zero- Prologue

Prince/Feng Xiao Lan

“Dictator of Life!” I roared, pointing my Black Dao at him. “This is the end!”Charging him, I let my thoughts return to the happy times I had as Prince. As my weapon pierced his shoulder, the Dictator gave me… A relieved expression? Wha- Why? My mind panicked. Immediately, my thoughts flew out of my head as I was replaced with the Blood Elf. Narrowing my eyes, I whispered softly, “Goodbye, Dictator of Life.”

“ND Program Activate!”

“Goodbye, Prince.” Lolidragon whispered, silent tears rolling down her cheeks as the great shockwave of energy passed through the Infinite Army. All of a sudden, the birds stopped chirping, the breeze stopped blowing, and the trees stopped rustling. The NPCs and mobs stopped moving and the sky turned dark. The players dropped their weapons.

Player: Prince has successfully defeated Dictator of Life. All players leave to Central Continent for reprogramming to begin. Was what the stars read. Gui felt his legs go weak and he dropped to the ground.

“PRINCE! I’LL NEVER FORGET YOU!” the bard desperately yelled into the starry sky. As if on cue, several stars flickered, as if Prince was waving a sad goodbye.

“Goodbye, Prince.” I whimpered as I took off the Second Life helmet. I stared at the electronic machine with empty eyes, an overwhelming feeling of loss enveloping me. It was over.

I couldn’t run around with Odd Squad and Wicked and Nan Gong Zui and Western Wind and my friends, hacking monsters with them at my side.

I couldn’t punch Gui or hear his praises to “his most lovely highness”. The one I liked.

I couldn’t laugh and joke with Lolidragon, and reminisce about the newbie days. We couldn’t have private, sister-like talks.

I couldn’t go see Wolf-dage and get precious words of advice from he who had been like a mentor to me.

I couldn’t run from Yulian-dasăo’s moneymaking schemes and hug her kind, older-sister presence or tease her about Wolf-dage.

I couldn’t play with Doll or Meatbun for that matter. I couldn’t have fun running around with her and having small eating contests. The one who was like a little sister to me.

“Why am I not crying?” I asked myself, confused. Then I shrugged. “Hey, at least I don’t need to deal with crazy fangirls, or the scary moneymaking schemes, or my fanclub, or worry about my gender-bender dilemma, or…” While trying to think of other positive things about having no Prince, my brother flung the door open, a worried look in his eyes. “Oh, hi Wu Qing- I mean Yang Ming.” Out of the blue, I remembered.

Prince was dead.

“Sis! Sis! It’ll be alright…” my little brother tried to comfort me as I wept. “It’ll be alright…” I just continued crying my heart out, and I faintly sensed my parents joining the consoling huddle.

“Good-bye Prince.” I said for one last time. “I’ll miss you.”

Three weeks later- Feng Wu Qing/ Feng Yang Ming

“Sis?” I yelled at her bedroom door. No answer. “Sis!” I was getting worried now.

Don’t get me wrong. She’s my sister, how could I not worry about her? Not to mention she lost pretty much her second life – no pun intended – so she was different from the usual annoying older sis these days.

After the Dictator had been defeated, Second Life shut down for a week to purge the HD virus. Some select players (such as Odd Squad and the other admins of Infinite City) had been chosen to have talks with the NPCs and self-aware bosses during this week. An agreement had been reached:

-NPCs with self-awareness would remain as is, and would be treated like normal players with normal accounts, minus the fact they couldn’t log off. Sunshine, Kenshin, and MEATBUN (yes, Meatbun!) had been given personal accounts with the others.

– The Dictator of Life was back, but since he had been reprogrammed of the virus he was no longer considered a malevolent factor, and had been involved in the discussions.

-The ND virus was also gone, but some of the NPCs – oops, I mean N-players – proposed something surprising. Even though Prince’s character data had been deleted, his gear was still there, due to Lolidragon’s forcing the higher-ups to rewrite at least Prince’s gear into the game. The Dictator actually suggested that Prince’s sword have the ND program in case something happened once again. Our side willingly complied, not out of fear of another NPC uprising, but because it would be like a legacy, a relic of he who stopped the NPC uprising with the ND virus.

– What are N-players, you ask? N-players are the NPCs with self-awareness that have been given new accounts, obviously. N-players stands for NPC players, as contradictory as it sounds.

Back to real life, my sister had gone into a depression. She was a shut-in and hardly came out of her room but to eat and go to the restroom. She also barely said a word, except “Please”, “Pass the food”, “Thank you”, and “Sorry”. She hadn’t gone to school the whole time, too, and I suspect that it’s because if she saw Professor Min she would break down. I didn’t blame her. But seriously; no one in the family cooks as well as her, so our stomachs are suffering.

I went to school, turning around look at her window with her curtains closed. Shaking my head, I boarded the bus.

Even though it seemed everything was fine, in Second Life, nothing was. Even though players still fought mobs, ran dungeons with N-players, and overall had a good time, everyone knew that life wasn’t the same without the Blood Elf Prince. Lolidragon often ran around, eyes glazed over and a sorrowful expression on her face. Ugly Wolf and Yulian turned to each other for comfort. I had seen them crying together over old memories. Doll sometimes wandered around the castle with Meatbun on her head, looking for “Prince-gege”. It nearly broke my heart to see them. Prince was like the heart of Odd Squad.

The worst case was Gui. He hadn’t showed up to school for an entire week, throwing himself into the peace talks and surrounding himself with work, anything to stop remembering my sis. He had been on 24/7 during the time, except to eat in real life. Also, he (with the help of Yun) had constructed a barrier around Prince’s chambers; if anyone other than close friends of Prince dared try to walk in, they’d automatically be sent to the rebirth point by the “Thousand Trap Shield”. And as far as I know, Gui had stolen a few of sister’s pillows to sleep in-game. Scent-fetish pervert.

No one is the same. Nothing had been unaffected (except the mobs and NPCs). We all miss Prince. Okay, well, his in-game presence for me. It was sort of weird for me to not see my genderbent sister running around. Darnit! She’s rubbed off on me! My poor IQ!

School passed by like a tortoise plodding away ever so slowly. “Student Yang Ming, please stay here.” Professor Min called once the bell rang to end the day. With a sigh, I turned on my heel and strode back in.

“Yes, Professor?”

“What happened to your sister, Feng Lan? She’s been missing for 3 weeks.” he remarked, eyebrows furrowed. I moaned.

“She’s having a rough time these days.” I said vaguely. “She’s really sick, and can’t come to school for a while.” the professor’s eyes widened and he nodded.

“Very well then. Tell her to get well and I’ll see you online, Wu Qing.” I won’t, because hearing from any of you will make her situation worse. I thought grimly.

Second Life

“ARGH! I CAN’T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!” I howled in frustration, flipping over a table in my anger. “What is wrong with you people?” Everyone around me stopped and froze. There was Lolidragon, Gui, Wolf, Yulian, Wicked, Doll, Meatbun, Kenshin, Sunshine, Fairsky…basically all the people that had been close to my sister.

“What’s wrong, Wu Qing?” Wicked asked in alarm. I usually didn’t throw fits like this unless I was drunk, but this time I was pissed.

“What’s wrong? WHAT’S WRONG?” I yelled. “What do you mean? Is it “Mope Because Prince Isn’t Here” day? Do you really think that he would want you guys to mope because of him? It’s been three weeks!” All of a sudden, the sadness in the air changed into something akin to … murderous intent. Gui was the first to speak.

“What do you mean by that? DO YOU REALIZE HOW HARD IT IS TO FORGET A PERSON LIKE…LIKE PRINCE?” he screamed.

“Then just FIND HIM AGAIN!” I bellowed back, shooting lightning glares at the damn bard. I was sick of all this depression!

“How?” Lolidragon’s voice floated from behind me as I felt the tip of a dagger poke my back.

Freezing in fear at the terrifying atmosphere that was directed at me, I stammered, “The gear! We could organize a contest for each piece, and whoever claims all five pieces will be recognized as “Prince”!”

Lolidragon paused. “One second… let’s talk.”

Real Life – 4 days later

“Sis! Open up!” I yelled, standing in front of her bedroom and holding a brown bag. No reply, and then the door ominously creaked open, revealing a haggard person that hardly resembled my sister; she looked like a ghost.

“What?” she rasped, staring at me with hollow eyes. I shoved the door pen, ignoring her indignant gasp. “Hey!” I dumped the bag on her messy bed and turned to look at her.

“This bag.” I stated, pointing at it, “contains a game helmet and Second Life cartridge.” she immediately cringed at the words, but I forged on. This was the only way to help everyone. “Second Life has announced a contest based on Prince. When you “died” they managed to recover your gear. Now, for THREE goddamned weeks, everyone has been moping around because you aren’t there. So Lolidragon and I came up with an idea.”

“Each of the 5 pieces of your gear has been changed into an item set – the Inferno Dao, the Genbu Armor, the Poseidon Gauntlets, the Zephyr Greaves, and the Bloody Tiara are pieces of the Blood Elf Prince set. Each piece has been left with one of the Overlords, and the Bloody Tiara is with Odd Squad. The contest is basically this: each player has to go through a series of trials under each Overlord in order to gain the item. Whoever gets the whole set will be recognized as the “true Prince”.”

“Over the last 3 days, players have been trying to go through these tasks, but every one of them have failed miserably. Sis, Second Life is in havoc now. It’s your duty as Prince to go in and fix it again!” I stared at her, watching the battle of emotions that were being clearly displayed on her face. Finally, she let out a resigned sigh.

“I’ll think about it.” She said. I left her room with a triumphant smile. “Don’t bother to look for me! We’ll meet when I come for my crown!” My smile turned into a huge grin as I ran into my bedroom to share the news with everyone on Second Life.

Second Life

“He’s coming.” I reported. Everyone had some sort of reaction, so varied they were that I could’ve made “An Encyclopedia of Expressions” from them. Gui was the first to speak.

“What is his new ID?”

“Prince said, “Don’t bother to look for me! We’ll meet when I come for my crown!” He doesn’t want us to help him. I think he wants to have the same level playing field as everyone else.” At this, Lolidragon gulped. “What’s wrong?”

“Ehem. Do you guys know what Vocaloid is?” she asked, ignoring my question. Most people shook their heads. “The company is having a second event, based on this popular software called Vocaloid. It’s a voice synthesizer that was first released around 95 years ago, but it’s still really popular. I’m surprised you guys haven’t heard of it. Anyways, the Vocaloids are voicebanks, records of sung syllables which users use to string into words, then phrases, and then songs. There’s around 500 of them, and the ones from 95 years ago are still in use, because they keep on being remade.”

“Your point?” Wicked asked curiously, “What does this have to do with Prince?”

“The event is that new players that join Second Life over the next twelve hours have a 1/100 chance to be able to choose a Vocaloid as their character. If someone gets a Vocaloid as their character, they are incredibly strong, strong enough that at Level 80 they could probably easily defeat a Level 97 mob.”

“So basically Prince could possibly get a huge head start on other players, thus ruining his wish?” Sunshine asked. Lolidragon nodded slowly. “Well, either way, I think that no matter what, even if he doesn’t get this head start, he will come back to us in the end. All we need to do is waiting and praying.”

Feng Xiao Lan

I stared at the game helmet with hesitation. Even though I would be starting with a clean slate, no one in Odd Squad would recognize me. Every time I would try to get my rightful gear back, I would be doubted. Even now, Prince still comes back to haunt me. I thought grimly. Even though I have a near-zero chance of being recognized, I’ll go in, for the sake of my friends.

When I put on the game helmet and drifted off to sleep, a sense of nostalgia washed over me as I stared around the dark character-making area. In a flash, a GM appeared above me. Total eye candy! My inner fangirl squealed. Blushing, I shook off the thought, “Welcome, player-san, to Second Life. This is probably your first time playing, so please give us a moment to scan your body and record your vocal frequency. That you will be able to immediately enter the game once you put the game helmet on.” Like lest time, I waited for the scanning to be complete.

But before he could run off the race and realism spiel, “I’ve played before. My character was one of the ones destroyed by the HD virus.” his mouth promptly shut before he gave me a slightly grateful look. It must be painful to keep on having to say the same words over and over again.

“Then please make your choice.” he said softly. With a flash, the surroundings were filled with the different races. It didn’t matter; I already knew what I wanted to be.

“I’d like to be an elf, please. 10% beautification, black hair with silver highlights.” he snapped his fingers and in front of me appeared an elf that looked like Prince with different hair color and build. She wasn’t pretty enough to turn heads, but she had a calm air of simplicity that would make any guys that’s been around her for a while fall in love. “Okay! This is good!”

“What do you want your name to be, player-san?” the GM asked. Player-san? This guy must be Japanese, based on the honorific. But name! Darnit, I nearly forgot! I want a name that’s androgynous, but it isn’t too plain.

” Do you have any suggestions?” I questioned. He raised an eyebrow, “I want something that isn’t too cool or too plain. Or too weird, either.”

The guy frowned and stared at my avatar and I for a few moments. “How about Zero? I think that you seem to be a very determined person that’s on a mission; you won’t let anything or anyone stop you.”

I thought for a moment. It fits, and not to mention the zero-chance-of-recognition problem. “Zero it is!” I declared. A look of relief appeared on the bishounen’s face. “Is anything wrong?”

“No, It’s nothing. It’s just that now I can go make my own character now! The company said that when I’m done doing 500 characters, I can go do mine. I’ve always wanted to play, but this was repayment for the game helmet.” he said cheerfully. “And you were the 500th person! I’m relieved, because all the other girls were really, really picky about their looks! But you’ve only taken 5 minutes!” I winced, remembering my own 2-hour character-creation time. “Anyway, enjoy Second Life again, player-san! Oh, wait, what continent do you want to be born?”

My eyes widened fractionally. “Do you know who holds the Inferno Sword?” the guy’s jaw dropped. “I intend to become the reborn Prince.” After an awkward silence, he began quietly chuckling. “Hey!”

“That’s it! I like you, player-san! You really are set on a goal!” he said sweetly. “The Sword is on the Eastern continent, with the Smiling Overlord, Winter Triumph. I’m assuming that’s where you want to be?”

“Yes, please!” I shouted, saluting. He laughed again. This guy is really kind. I thought gratefully. Any other GM would’ve started making fun of me instead.

“Okay! Well, my character’s name will be Fai Blaze! PM when you start looking for a team, Zero-san!” when he finished talking, my avatar opened her eyes and lunged towards me. “See you!”

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