.Hack/PKK Chapter 1: Formation
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Author's Notes: This story involves three original characters. With the exception of a few references to .Hack characters, the characters from the actual series will never appear.
It's told from the point of view of all three of the main characters, switching points of view every chapter. This may be a little confusing, but I decided it was the easiest way to tell the story. If this even begins to resemble a Sue-fic, please notify me immediately.
Disclaimer: I do not own The World. I do not own any of the .Hack characters. I do not own .Hack. Anyone who thinks I believe that I own .Hack should read this disclaimer again. I do own every single character in this story, though, and you may not take them. They are under my, and only my, control, and they won't listen to you. Muhahahahaha!
Now, on with the story
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I met Valkyrie on the BBS. I had just joined The World, and I posted a message there, asking for friends.
>Does anyone want to help me?
>Author: Haneko
>Hi! I'm new to The World. I'm not quite sure what to do. Can someone form a party with me and help me?
Yup. I was the perfect example of a clueless newbie. Valkyrie was the first one to reply. She told me later that she wasn't sure if she should have at first—she's not so good at making friends—but now she's glad she replied.
>RE: Does anyone want to help me?
>Author: Valkyrie
>I'll form a party with you. I've only played for a few months, and I've played alone the whole time. It's getting kind of boring… Meet me in Mac•Anu by the Chaos Gate tomorrow at one.
I wasn't sure what Valkyrie would look and act like, but I arrived at the appointed time. There were a few people congregating around the Chaos Gate. I targeted the people who didn't seem to be in a party—I knew a few of the controls—and finally found the name when I targeted a Twin Blade hiding in the corner. Her character's hair was a light teal, cut short, and what she wore was a mixture of clothing colored that same light teal, light green, and gray. Small, dark purple shapes on the right side of her face, the left side of her neck, and on her right hand showed her wave, the element she was strong against. Darkness wave, I decided. It was a lot subtler than the red squiggly line separating my face diagonally that represented my fire wave. In her right ear was a bright red star earring. I found it kind of strange, considering the rest of her consisted of cool colors.
"Hi!" I said loudly, scaring everyone around me. I had Haneko walk up to the Twin Blade. "You said I should meet you here. I'm Haneko!" I typed in the command /smile.
"Nice to meet you," she said and returned the smile.
We traded member addresses, and I joined her party.
Soon, I had quite a few friends. I started making friends through friends. That's how I met Lyra. She was a Wavemaster, or spell caster, and I thought Valkyrie might like her. Anyways, I introduced Lyra to Valkyrie and we started going to areas together. We leveled up quite a lot, and I ended up trading with some of my higher-level friends for more powerful staves and twin blades, along with swords for myself, a Blademaster.
It was Valkyrie's idea to become PKKs. We were recovering ourselves in an empty room in a dungeon, and she suddenly said, "You know, this is my second avatar."
We didn't need to pressure her for more information. It seemed like she thought this over before she told us. She mentioned that her first character was defeated in a level-one area by a Player Killer.
"I've done some research," she said. "And I found some stuff out on the boards. The Player Killer's name is DeathMonster" Here, Lyra made a comment about the originality of the person playing behind the avatar. "A Heavy Blade. I was only level one, so I couldn't do any damage at all. I missed every time!" she finished.
She also told us that the red star earring Valkyrie wears is in memory of her old character.
"So, do you want to help me take my revenge out on other Player Killers?" she asked, finishing her story.
Lyra agreed right away. She said it was because of Player Killers that her friend quit The World. I agreed soon afterwards. I hadn't had any direct contact with Player Killers, but they didn't sound like very good people.
Lyra told us to monitor the boards and listen to conversations in Root Towns. "Who knows? A complaining n00b might be a lead to a Player Killer. Pay special attention to threads like…" She paused to type something. "'NOOOOO! Ive been killed:( :('"
"Okay," I said, and we continued through the dungeon.
That night, I visited the BBS. I skimmed the subjects of the messages, but I didn't find any victims of Player Killers.
I went to bed and got up really early. I always do, even on Sundays like that day. No one else was up, so I checked the BBS again and stumbled upon a complaint from a victim.
>Player Killer!
>Author: YetiLover
>Waah! I got killed!
I replied. There were some replies already, but they were all flames.
>Re: Player Killer!
>Author: Haneko
>Do you remember anything about the killer? Their username? Character class?
After lunch, I checked the thread again.
>Re: Re: Player Killer!
>Author: YetiLover
>Um… a long arm. I think her username was Mareen… or something like that…
I squealed and e-mailed Valkyrie and Lyra.
>To: Valkyrie, Lyra
>From: Haneko
>Subject: PK :)
>A Player Killer was sighted! Keep your eyes peeled for Mareen, a long arm!
I walked around Dun Loireag some, asking about "Mareen, the Player Killer." Nobody had heard of a "Mareen," but some knew of a "Marleen" who's favorite area happened to be Theta Server's Bursting Forbidden Tri-Pansy. When asked if she was a Player Killer, most replied that they were not sure. It was a lead, at least.