.hack//HUH?!
Author's Note!
Before there is any confusion, this is an AU.
Chapter One
Mimiru sighed. They were late, again. This wasn't the first time that she'd had to wait on her three companions. Tsukasa had been very reluctant at first about trying out an adventure with them, but in the end had relented (for some unknown and unexplained reason). BT and Bear were also coming, but separately this time.
"Waiting for someone?" a voice asked from behind. Mimiru turned to find Crim standing there, looking bemusedly at her.
"Yeah, but they're late, as usual. You'd think that at least Tsukasa would arrive on time." Mimiru said, with exasperation in her voice. Crim chuckled.
"I'd think Tsukasa would be the most unpredictable." Crim said, as he casually leaned on the rock wall and looked at the sea.
"Not far from the truth." Tsukasa's voice said, as he appeared next to them.
"What took you so long?" Mimiru asked, looking a little miffed for being held up.
"I was on the far side of 'The World' so I just got your e-mail! Sheesh!" Tsukasa said, giving Mimiru his 'Don't start with me' look before turning and looking at the just arriving Bear and BT.
"You guys are late." Mimiru stated, impatiently.
"Sorry. I had a tough time logging on. The servers are busy today." Bear said, arching an eyebrow when he saw Crim standing there.
"Are you going to be joining us, Crim?" BT asked. Crim shrugged.
"Can't see why not. I have no duties to perform." Crim said, perfectly willing to join the group.
"Then count me in as well." Subaru's voice said, as she walked over to them.
"Why do you want to come along?" BT asked, curiously.
"I haven't been on a dungeon adventure in a while. It would be a nice break from the everyday." Subaru said, as Crim gave her an odd look.
"Let's just hope that you-know-who doesn't show up." Mimiru said, wanting to go ahead and begin the adventure.
"You mean moi?" an obnoxious male voice asked, from above, as the owner then somersaulted and landed in front of them.
"Of course, what other green-haired psychopath do we know?" Mimiru asked, with sarcasm laced heavily in her voice. Tsukasa sighed and shook his head; he had a feeling that this was going to be more of an endurance test than a dungeon adventure.
"That's enough you two. Don't fight here, or you won't have any strength left when we reach the dungeon." Bear said, sounding every bit the parent he was in real life. Before any rebuttal could be made, however, a sudden, brilliant light enveloped them; burning through them as it did so. Tsukasa felt the wind rush out of his lungs, and was blinded by the light. He tried to scream, but since there was no air in his lungs, nothing came out of his mouth. Before he blacked out, he could sense that his friends weren't far from him, but they were in the same situation he was in.
"What………………….is happening?" Tsukasa wondered, before finally allowing the pleasant blackness of unconsciousness to cover him.
When consciousness did return, however, the first sensation Tsukasa felt was pain. It wasn't extreme pain, but it was enough discomfort to awaken him. Slowly, he opened his eyes, and winced when bright sunlight shone into them. When he could open them again, Tsukasa could see that he was in a grove of some sort. All across the floor of the grove, his friends lay, looking like dolls that had been tossed aside by a careless child. The closest one to him, Crim, appeared to be the worst off; there was blood dripping from a wound over his right eye and his left shoulder was a mess of deep cuts.
"Wait a minute………………..Blood?! That can't be right! When a player is wounded, they normally only lose energy, not blood! What is going on here?!" Tsukasa thought, as he got to his hands and knees and crawled over to where Crim lay. He gritted his teeth when his left wrist and arm protested against being used.
"Crim. Crim, wake up!" Tsukasa whispered, urgently, knowing that if the man had a concussion, things could get serious very quickly. He had to wake him up! After a few moments, Crim uttered a low moan and opened his eyes, showing a little surprise when he saw Tsukasa bending worriedly over him.
"What happened?" Crim asked, softly.
"I don't know. I've got to see about the others. Can you stay awake for a bit?" Tsukasa asked, looking even more concerned when Crim's eyes didn't focus right away.
"I think so………….." Crim said, grimacing when he tried to move his mangled shoulder into a more comfortable position. Without further word, Tsukasa crawled over to the rest of the group, succeeding in rousing Mimiru, BT, Subaru, and Bear (who all immediately began watching over Crim). Sora was the last one, and he'd been the luckiest out of all of them; there wasn't a scratch on him!
"If it wasn't that that thing was a surprise to us all, I'd say he'd planned it this way." Mimiru grumbled, as Sora was roused and he proceeded to annoy everyone in the grove.
"Sora, would you shut up for a moment? Crim is in bad shape!" Tsukasa said, showing, for the first and only time, a hint of being short-tempered.
"Is he now?" Sora asked, then took a look at the wounded Crimson Lightning. The next thing he did was rush out of the glade to bid farewell to the contents of his stomach.
"Guess he can't stand the sight of blood." BT said, as she stood and looked around.
"This doesn't look like any server I have ever seen. It seems too real." Subaru said, as she stood alongside BT.
"I'm afraid it is real." Tsukasa said, grimly.
"What makes you think that, Tsukasa? We still look like our player forms!" Mimiru argued.
"That may be true, but how do you explain the blood coming from Crim's wounds?" Bear asked, speaking for the first time since they had been covered in the light.
"This is a bizarre dilemma. Normally we'd be able to tell reality and fantasy; but this is baffling. How could this have happened? And what is happening to our true forms?" BT asked.
"I would rather not think about that right now. What we should focus on now is Crim. He needs help, desperately." Subaru said, as she kneeled down beside the fallen warrior.
"I'll go and see if there's anyone around who can help us." Tsukasa said, as he started to leave the grove.
"You're not going alone!" Mimiru said, obstinately, as she followed him.
"Then hurry up." Tsukasa said, not bothering to stop for the girl. With a growl of frustration, Mimiru ran to catch up with the Wavemaster.
"Do you think they will be all right? Shouldn't I have gone with them?" BT asked.
"They should be all right. Tsukasa is stronger than he looks, and he cares for Mimiru more than he would like to admit. He'll protect her, no need to worry." Subaru said, with confidence in her voice.
"Let's hope they get back soon. I don't think Crim will last very long without help." Bear said, as he watched Crim's chest rise and fall.
"Tsukasa! Look!" Mimiru shouted, elated by what she'd just discovered.
"What is it, Mimiru?" Tsukasa asked, then noticed what his female companion had found.
"A town! Let's hope there's a healer here that'll help Crim." Mimiru said, as she led the way.
"Wait! Mimiru! We don't know how these people will react! Mimiru!" Tsukasa shouted, as he ran after the girl. As they ran through the crowd of townsfolk, Tsukasa became aware that many people were staring at them in disbelief. Some even pointed at them as they searched for a place that would look like a healer's home. Tsukasa stopped when he heard a loud commotion inside the town tavern.
"What is going on in there?" Tsukasa muttered, as demands for more food came to his ears.
"Hey, kid, either you go in, or you get out of the way. You're blocking the door." A gruff voice said, as the owner brushed past. Forgetting the indignity, Tsukasa decided to go in, curiosity getting the better of him. In the meantime, Mimiru had lost track of Tsukasa and was now wandering around, searching for him.
"The least he could have done is told me to stop! That self-centered……………" Mimiru grumbled, trailing off when she ran into someone.
"Oops………….Sorry about that! Didn't mean to run into you!" Mimiru said to the man in front of her.
"Oh, don't worry! No harm done! Are you lost?" the man asked.
"Not really. I've sorta lost track of a friend. We were supposed to be looking for a healer that'll help a friend of ours." Mimiru said, with some frustration in her voice.
"Hmm. I think I know of someone who can help your friend. Come this way." The man said, as he started walking to the tavern. With a shrug, Mimiru followed. As she walked along, she mulled over the man's appearance in her mind.
"Black robes, cream colored tunic and pants, carries a wooden staff with a ruby on top, purple hair, walks with his eyes closed……………………..where have I seen this description before?" Mimiru wondered, as they entered their destination. She inhaled deeply when delicious aromas reached her nose and was startled when her stomach growled.
"I'm hungry! But I am not supposed to be!…………… I guess Tsukasa was right, we really aren't in 'The World' anymore. But then, where are we? How did we get here, wherever 'here' is?" Mimiru thought, not noticing when her guide disappeared from sight.
"Mimiru!" a voice called, from the corner of the establishment.
"Tsukasa, why didn't you tell me that you were coming in here?!" Mimiru asked, angrily.
"Sorry, but something told me to take a look in here." Tsukasa replied, as Mimiru approached the table where he and several strangers sat.
"Why, pray tell?" Mimiru asked, sounding every bit as miffed as she looked.
"That girl with the black hair is a healer; don't ask me how I know, I just do. I'm waiting for them to finish eating so I can ask her if she'll help Crim." Tsukasa said, pointing out the table where the girl sat with at least three other companions.
"It does seem that they're almost through. Let's go over there now." Mimiru said, forgetting her anger and having an odd amount of faith in Tsukasa. Tsukasa nodded, stood up, and followed Mimiru to the table where the four in question sat.
"Excuse us." Mimiru said, as she got close enough to speak. Three of them looked up (the blond haired man was still staring mournfully at the empty plates.
"Yes? What do you want?" the redhead, obviously the one Tsukasa had heard earlier, asked, with a little impatience in her voice.
"Is one of you a healer? My friend here says that one of you is." Mimiru said, as Tsukasa gave her an unreadable look.
"I'm not." The second man, this one clothed in cream-colored shamanist robes said, matter-of-factly.
"I'm not and neither is he. You must mean Amelia." The redhead said, as she motioned to the blond man beside her, then at the dark-haired girl in front of her.
"Hai! I'm a healer! What seems to be the problem?" 'Amelia' asked.
"A companion of ours has been badly hurt. He needs a healer's help or he will not make it." Tsukasa said, calmly.
"Then I will go and help him in the name of Justice!" Amelia said, melodramatically. All in the room, including Mimiru and Tsukasa, sweat-dropped.
"Uh……………….Amelia, I think you're overreacting again." The redhead muttered, her expression deadpanning.
"That's an understatement." Tsukasa said, under his breath.
"Let's go, there isn't a moment to lose!" Amelia said, as she got up from her seat and proceeded to leave the tavern.
"Wait!" Tsukasa and the redhead shouted, almost at the same time. Within moments, what remained of the redhead's group and Tsukasa and Mimiru were struggling to keep up with a rapidly moving, overzealous, Justice freak.
"At least she's heading in the right direction!" Mimiru said, as they ran.
"I just hope we have enough time to warn everybody else. I don't think they want to get trampled!" Tsukasa thought, as they reentered the woods where they had left their companions.
Bear stood up just in time to leap back to avoid someone barreling into the grove.
"What the………………..?!" BT yelped, as the person stopped and looked at Crim.
"These wounds are deep. What caused them?" the person, who turned out to be a girl with short dark hair and sapphire eyes, asked.
"Good question." Bear muttered, as he recovered from nearly having a heart attack.
"You mean you don't know?" the girl asked, again.
"It's sort of a long story." Sora said, from the back of the grove.
"I see. I will do what I can!" the girl said, then got right to work. It was just then that Tsukasa, Mimiru, and three others arrived on the scene.
"Amelia seems to have a nose for trouble." The shaman said, quietly.
"Troubles of her own, or the troubles of others?" Bear asked.
"Both." The shaman muttered.
"Wow, aren't ya'll a strange looking bunch? Where are ya from?" the redhead asked, impulsively. Bear and BT exchanged a glance.
"We're from a far away land. Would you mind telling us where we are?" Subaru asked, quietly, before either BT or Bear could say anything.
"Well, we're close to the city of Seiruun; about two days' journey away, as a matter of fact. By the way, my name is Lina Inverse. The dumb blond guy beside me is called Gourry Gabriev, the shaman's name is Zelgadis Greywords, and the girl helping your friend is Amelia Wil Tesla Seiruun." The redhead said, watching for a response from the group before her.
"You said your name is Lina Inverse?" Mimiru asked, suddenly sounding tense.
"Yeah……………" Lina replied, with an eyebrow rising in suspicion.
"And that is really Zelgadis? And Gourry and Amelia?" Mimiru asked.
"Of course. Have you heard of us?" Lina asked, her eyes lighting up at the possibility of being famous in other countries.
"Oh yeah……………….but where we were from, you guys were only anime characters." Mimiru muttered, not believing that she was actually talking to Lina Inverse.
"What are you talking about?" Lina asked, her face deadpanning.
"It's sorta hard to explain……………but let me put it this way, you guys are famous there." Mimiru said, uncertain as to how to explain this to Lina Inverse.
"Explain please." Lina said, her voice hinting that she was losing her temper. Mimiru sighed and exchanged glances with her companions. When she had gotten the go-ahead to begin, Mimiru looked directly at Lina, took a deep breath, and began to speak.
"It all started like this……………………"