Guardians of the World
A/N: One thing first, do NOT flame. I hate flamers, with their flames. I know my stuff is crap, so i don't need to be told ten times, or even once. I have some weird concepts running through my head, and this story's plot isn't as solid as you might think. The reason why i'm posting this? I've ready been writing for this story after playing the third volume of G.U when it came out in japanese. I can't remember everything there is, so don't blame me if i get anything wrong. If i do, just tell me politely. I'll be mixing in some Japanese themes, and some names will just come from the Japanese version. Like instead of 'Alkaid', she'll be 'Yowkow'. And also 'Multi-weapon', instead of... whatever that is. Forgot how to spell, that's all.
Disclaimer: I do not own .hack series, or anything like that, or anything close to it. I wish that sort of gaming were true though... sigh.
The silence of the field. The artificial wind that blows across his face. He paused for a moment, taking a look at the grand building before him. An old looking building of sorts, with great spires that emerged at the sides. An old cathedral. A legendary cathedral. The eternal sunset in the background bathed the entire field in its golden shine, and he had to cover his eyes as he looked directly at the light source. Maybe it was a natural reflex that he had, even if he knew that the sun would not really hurt if he stared at it. A soft tap on his shoulder caused him to turn. His companion looked at him questionably, but he simply smiled in return, continuing to walk forward. Soon, they were at the footsteps of the grand building. Taking a deep breath, he pushed the heavy doors open, and stepped into the main chapel. Rows of pews lined the chapel, the roof peaked and dark at the top. The only light source came from a stained window that sat at the front, behind an altar, on which stood a statue of a beautiful girl, but a disturbing sight was that the statue was chained by eight different chains. He heaved a sigh, walking up to the statue, the sound in the chapel being made by the movement of his boots, and his companion's. Stopping before the statue, he paused for a moment, looking around the base of the altar for something. But in the midst of searching a certain tone rang throughout the chapel, making his companion slightly uneasy, but he outstretched his hand to her, easing her of her main concern. He knew. A soft glow emitted form the back of the altar, where the two could not see. The glow died away, as a girl stepped out from behind of the altar. With long flowing pale lavender hair, and soft light blue eyes. Wearing a loose lavender dress with a white shawl around her shoulders, accompanied by a brooch in the shape of the infinity sign. The girl looked somewhat like an angel, her radiance was seemingly real to the two. In response, he knelt down before the girl, placing his weapon down on the ground horizontally before him, placing his right hand over his chest. His companion did the same. The girl did not express any emotion of any sort in response, but there was no need for it.
"Grand goddess, my liege, Lady Aura. It is good to see your complete return to 'The World'."
He said without looking up to her. Aura looked puzzled for a moment, then smiled.
"Stand, both of you."
She said, her voice sounding even more angelic than her presence, soft and warm. The two stood, keeping their weapons.
"So it was you who called me out, wasn't it?"
Aura asked, floating up to the statue, before seating herself at the base of her own statue.
"Yes, indeed."
He replied.
"And your purpose for this, is because 'they' told you to, didn't they?"
Aura asked, her voice having a slight hint of irritation in it. He could only speculate that she picked that up from some other player in the game.
"No, my lady. We were sent by 'him'. 'He' only expresses concern for what this entire situation may spiral into. Of course, 'he' is also concern for your well-being and 'he' sends 'his' regards."
He relayed his message, and now all he had to do, was wait for what Aura needed, or what Aura would reply. Aura sat there, staring past him, in deep thought. He only wished her 'deep thinking' was not going make her go back to sleep. But, she looked back at him after awhile.
"That man certainly is very cynical, hiding from the shadows and never showing up himself. But, i guess, he needs to do things from where he is. Tell 'him', that i will keep my end the deal, if 'he' will perform 'his'."
"Certainly."
"And tell him to remember, that this isn't about just the system, but this is for the players."
Aura glared at the messenger, who only bowed his head. Even if he wanted to reply, he couldn't. Aura's glare was very powerful and menacing.
"... Good. I will make the arrangements with the necessary people... Are you the only people 'he' will send?"
Aura asked, looking rather sceptical at the two before her. The man's companion felt insulted by that, but stopped when the man shot her a look.
"I assure you, my lady, that we are only two of the many capable he will send."
"... I know. I wasn't underestimating your abilities, but to enter this fight without the proper capabilities. I was sure 'he' was smarter than that. But... i guess we would have to see."
He really hated this weather. And she certainly picked a great day to call them over. Of course, there wasn't much he could do about it. The rain was intense, drumming down on his windscreen like thousands of stones falling from the sky. Sighing, he could only think to himself on how he had to wash his beauty later. He took a left turn, and entered the residential neighbourhood for this area. Now came the difficult part. He looked over to the passenger seat, where a chestnut brown hair girl about his age, stared at the map screen. For about five minutes, she had been staring at the same screen. He slowed the car to a stop, looking at his passenger and waited.
"... We're lost."
He stated bluntly. The girl glared at him, her eyes flashing dangerously at him.
"We are NOT lost! We're just a little side-tracked, that's all..."
She mumbled, looking back at the map. He really didn't know what to do with this girl. Her hair didn't go past her shoulders, and her shirt was rather loosely hanging off her shoulders. How did she go about choosing her wardrobe anyway?
"You know, at this rate, even the Kunisaki twins will get there faster in a taxi."
He casually stated.
"I KNOW! Give me a break here."
"Take you're time... It's not like we're going anywhere."
He replied, putting the car to park, before resting his hands at the back of his head.
"You're not helping, Kai."
"You were the one who said you could get us there yourself, didn't you? If i remember correctly it was like 'Oh! Don't worry! Akira will get us there in no time!'... Well, mighty Akira, you sure did a great job."
"Oh, put a sock in it. I will get us there, i promise. Now let's see... according to the email, their house should be... here."
Akira said, rather confidently, pointing at a place on the map. Kai peered over to the screen, before sighing.
"Finally."
He muttered, putting the car back into drive, and stepping on the accelerator.
"What is up with that tone? You make it sound as if you already knew where it is."
"I do."
"WHAT?! And you didn't bother to tell me??"
"You would only be upset that you were not much of a help, then i would feel guilty all day."
He sighed, turning up the speed for the wipers. Akira crossed her arms and puffed her cheeks in a sulking manner, mumbling something like 'Baka Kai'.
"I know, i know."
Kai only smiled, as he slowed down before a rather large looking house. It wasn't a manner to be exact, and the gates were already open, with a few cars parked on the porch. Kai drove in and stopped his car at the back of a small family size car.
"Looks like Mayumi is already here."
Kai said, turning the engine off. Both he and Akira got out, and hurried over to the main door of the house. Ringing the doorbell, the door opened and they were greeted by a friendly smile of a familiar face. The woman was in her early twenties, about two years older than the two, with mud brown shoulder length hair. Dressed in rather boyish clothings, she welcomed the two in, where they met a whole bunch of familiar faces. Maybe familiar was a little less appropriate. After all, they were all comrades. It has been a long while since they met up together like. The legendary dot hackers. Saviours of 'The World', an on-line net game. One of the largest on-line games in Japan during these times, has given rise many odd events, which caused massive damage and disturbances on real life. Many refuse to believe such a ridiculous reason behind all of those strange events, but to those who were involved, there was no denying it. Sitting on the sofa, a women in her late twenties sat there, a small child, seven years at most, resting her head on her mother's lap. The two players behind the same PC. Mother being Mayumi Kurokawa, Mistral. Daughter being Mirei Kurokawa, Mireille. Mistral was one of the original dot hackers, aiding Kite, her daughter took her PC and aided Shugo. Sitting by a coffee table in the middle of the living room, was a young women in her early twenties, talking with a man in his fifties. The young woman had shoulder length hair, and had a pair of head phones around her neck. She is Mai Hasoko, player behind PC Mimiru. The man she's talking to is a famous novelist, Ryo Sakuma, player behind Bear. Mimiru and Bear were key characters in aiding Tsukasa in awaking Aura, the goddess in 'The World'. Walking up to Kai and Akira, is a guy the same age as Kai. He stood a little taller than Kai and was also larger in size. Yasuhiko, the player behind Orca of the Azure sea, one of the descendants of Fianna, together with Balmug of the Azure Sky.
"Yo, Kai. Akira as well. Took you guys long enough."
Yasuhiko smiled.
"Classes only just ended. What about you? I thought you were suppose to be in Kawasumi sensei's class?"
"He took a break. Said something about his wife having a fit."
"I see... Well, is everyone here?"
Kai asked, taking a longer look around the living room of the large house. The owner is certainly very rich. Lots of ornaments, expensive looking ones at that, and very spacious.
"Well, the Kunisaki twins are not here yet. They should be soon though-"
Just as Yasuhiko spoke, the door bell rung. Since Kai was the closest, he opened the door, and standing there, were two teenagers. A boy and a girl. Both around the same age. The boy having short hair, with his bangs slightly to the right, and being neater than Kai's messed up hair, which Akira had complained about for countless number of times. The girl had long hair, which she tied up into a tail. The Kunisaki twins. Shugo and Rena Kunisaki, players behind PCs with their own names. They were the ones responsible for helping Aura's child, Zefie. Kai had seen the twins before, and they kept in contact a number of times. Two twins were already in their last year of high school, so choosing a college or university is the next step for them. But now, there was a matter that they all had gathered together.
"Ah, Kai-san! It's been awhile."
Shugo bowed. Kai was not very used to these ethics, but Shugo was rather awed by Kai. In fact, Shugo's PC was based off Kai's. The twins entered the house, and dried themselves, taking their coats off. That was when the door leading to the rest of the house opened. Everyone turned, and saw as the owner of the house was pushed in. A young in her mid twenties, with beautiful long hair, seated in a wheelchair. Her gentle eyes behind a set of glasses. Pushing the chair in, was the same girl who opened the door for Kai and Akira. Seated in the wheelchair, is Mariko Misono, the player behind the PC Subaru, former leader of the 'Crimson Knights', back when the game 'The World', was still new. Pushing her, is her best friend, and most likely lover, An Shoji. The player behind Tsukasa, the awakener of Aura. Tsukasa is also the very first case of a player that went into a coma because of incidents within the game.
"Good evening everyone. Sorry to call all of you tonight on such a sudden notice. Balmug, Crim, Ouka, Hotaru, BT and Kamui can't make it tonight due to certain circumstances. And i hope you all will have the patience to discuss about this."
Mariko apologized. It wasn't unusual for them to call each other by their old character names, especially since those who did not make it tonight, were not very open about revealing themselves in the first place.
"Don't worry about it, Mariko, I'm sure everyone is happy to be here. Well, maybe Akira had something else to do, but who cares."
Mai shrugged, and Akira was clearly not happy. Mai and Akira were constantly exchanging verbal insults, but other that those times, they were pretty good as friends.
"Ah, sorry to be a bother, but some of us have to be more feminine than others."
Akira shot back. True, Mai was rather boyish in her sense of fashion, and she enjoyed having accessories that were not very suitable for a girl. Mai was about to shoot back something, but An stopped them both.
"I'm sure you two have much to catch up on. But for now, let us discuss the problem at hand."
An stated, and the two girls stayed silent. With this, Mariko continued.
"As you all know, the recent events in 'The World', has caused many incidents. No doubt that something is going on in the game. We all wanted to leave it behind us, and get on with our lives, but ever since 'she' mailed us, I've been wondering, should we answer?"
Mariko turned to Kai, especially. Kai himself was not really sure about this himself. He had decided a long time ago, that he would leave it all behind. Seven years has past since that journey he made. Kai Mismanaging, the player behind the legendary Kite, leader of the dot hackers, and saviour of both worlds, on-line and off-line. He had done things no one else had done, or even dared to do. But he was just a simple fourteen year old boy back then. Now, he's also just a simple twenty one year old guy, who is just trying to get his degree, but also with a very extraordinary past. What was it that she was trying to tell him?
"I'm getting too old to play games already. I'm sure Kurokawa-san feels the same."
Ryo said, pulling out some gum to chew on. Apparently, he's been trying to give up smoking. Gum chewing seems to be his new favourite habit of choice. Mayumi sighed, stroking her daughter's head gently.
"I too, think that I'm getting too old to play. Besides, we've already had our fair share of adventure. I already have my hands tied with trying to get Mirei into a good school."
"But i thought your daughter is very smart?"
Mai asked.
"Well, yes, it's true that her intelligence and thinking capabilities far exceed her age group, but getting a transfer into middle school at her age is very stressful."
"Middle school?! Whoa..."
Mai looked at the young sleeping form on Mayumi's lap, and had the expression that she was looking at a monster.
"Anyway, going back to topic. Aura has mailed us, specifically. Asking us to go back into the game. Well, i feel bad rejecting her, but we have a lot of problems on our side as well, like Ryo and Mayumi-san."
An said. Kai didn't like to go back into gaming, since his exams were around the corner.
"Did Aura state a reason? For my mail, all she said was that she needed me to go back. Talk about vague."
Mai sighed, shaking her head.
"She did for me."
Kai answered, making everyone turn. All eyes were on him, and he had not have this experience in a long time, having everyone's attention on him.
"... Well, it was a little vague, but she said something about 'The World' being in trouble. She was saying something about gathering everyone she can trust."
Kai answered. There was a still silence for a moment, which made Kai uncomfortable.
"As expected of Kite. Aura still favours you, huh?"
Mai laughed, giving Kai a 'thumbs-up'.
"She said in my mail that Zefie was bored."
Shugo spoke up as well.
"... Zefie really likes you, huh? At this rate, you're nothing but a baby sitter for Zefie."
Mai shrugged, which really brought reality down on Shugo.
"Besides all that. We cannot say for certain just what is Aura up to, or what she means by 'trouble'. It could be anything, be it more 'phases', Cubia, or more viruses. We cannot really tell what is going on in the game to be able to ascertain just what we are needed for."
Mariko stated. As expected of the book worm, she uses words Kai never uses before.
"I've recently logged back in, though."
Yasuhiko said, and everyone turned.
"Yasuhiko? You? Are you nuts?"
Kai asked. Yasuhiko was the reason Kai went on that crazy journey in the game. Yasuhiko's character was killed by one of the eight phases of Morganna, Skeith, and it caused Yasuhiko to fall into a coma.
"No, not really. Since i got that mail, i went off to buy a set, and played for a while."
"I see... and the situation?"
Mariko asked.
"Well, 'normal', would be a term most would use. Nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe some bugs, but nothing serious that Aura would get worked up about."
"Did you see Aura?"
"No. I only spent about an hour in the game. I was asking around for information, and then i logged off."
Yasuhiko replied. That made Mariko think about this. Too many unknowns to her is like a crazy suicidal mission. Mariko was like a military general, planning before moving the troops, the rest of them.
"... I feel as though we have little choice."
Mariko finally said, closing her eyes for a moment.
"Although there isn't any problem on the outside, the many incidents since this new version of the game came out, has become more serious than during our time. The situation now seems clear, but if Aura senses something, i fear that that something is going to affect everyone. I've decided that I'll be going back in. An, are you with me?"
"Of course, Mariko."
An smiled.
"I can't miss out on another big adventure! University is too boring."
Mai said, her eyes beaming with excitement. Obviously, the Kunisaki twins were also up for it. Mayumi was still have doubts, but when Mirei suddenly woke up, and was briefly told of what happened, she agreed immediately. Mayumi then agreed, since her daughter was going for it. She said something about family time. Ryo was a hard one to convince. But he finally agreed, having An tell him that it may be helpful for him when he writes his next book. Ryo is An's guardian, since An's parents abandoned her. Ryo doesn't mind, since his real son is a jerk. But Ryo has always been a soft guy, so when An asked him, he couldn't really refuse. Now, all turned to Kai. What, was he a general to lead them into victory, or a battlefield? Akira had agreed as well. It seems her brother, Kazu was going to play as well. Kai didn't like to be stared at, and especially by Akira. Okay, so what if she is his girlfriend. Akira is a strong girl, she can fend for herself. She is, after all, the player behind 'Black Rose', a dot hacker as well. Kai felt that he wasn't really needed, but everyone else seems to think otherwise.
"... Fine, I'll join too."
Kai sighed in defeat. The only reason as to why he agreed without putting up much argument, is because maybe, he wanted to see Aura.
"Good. Everyone, get a set and let us meet on-line. Let's say... three days time. That should enough time, and it's also a Sunday. I'll mail the others who are absent. Till then, take care."
A/N: I know it is lame at the beginning, and i can't bring myself to change it. I tried to change it once, but it just went from bad to worse. Just deal with it.