Twilight Eternity
AU: As the Infection spreads, Kite needs all the help he needs. While on the other hand, Morganna plots to use unconventional ways to get Aura, and at the same time, a shadowy figure attacks out of nowhere.
A/N: This is an AU, so expect some twists in the basic storyline. Story happens together with //INFECTION
I just stood there in the middle of the field; gusts of wind, rain drops continuously blew on to my face. Dark clouds circled and covered the sky; plants and trees withered. Then, I heard footsteps
…thump…thump…thump…
I clenched my staff on my left and my sword at my right; both of them tightly.
…thump…thump…thump…
Whoever…Whatever it is, its getting closer…My heart beats at least three times for ever foot step…
Chapter One: Striking At Dawn
"Ah!" I shouted as I woke up from my uneasy slumber. Gasping for air, I wondered what the heck happened. I've been have that same dream for a couple of days straight now. I calmed down and looked at my alarm clock, 5:57a.m. Almost time to get up anyway…
I stood up and fixed my bed then stretched a bit. I yawned as I walked in to the bathroom and washed my face. I wiped the excess water off my face and stared at my reflection in the mirror.
Deep at thought, I tried to figure it out, what the heck was that all about anyway? I tried to force the thought out by just continuing with my daily routine. I changed out from my PJs to my regular clothes; a plain white T-shirt with a blue vest unzipped, a black pair of jeans, and my 'white' sneakers. I took a look at my cellphone incase of any messages, and then pocketed it.
I ran down the stairs and went into the kitchen. I dug into the cabinets for the some cereal and got some milk from the fridge, took a bowl and spoon. I sat down on the dinning table, as I was gonna take the first bite, another guy stormed into the room, took a spoon and cup and started to prepare himself some coffee.
"Yo! Aaron where ya going? " I asked as I took a bite of my cereal
"Work, don't bother wait for me tonight, I'll probably be late…" he said as he poured some hot water into his cup
"Hmm, Natalie right?" I grinned
"Shut up…Twerp" he stirred and then took a sip from his coffee "so what are gonna be doin'?"
"Oh nothing you need to mess up for me…" I said taking the last spoon of my cereal then brought it to the sink and started washing my bowl. Aaron raised an eyebrow then took the last gulp of his coffee.
"Y'mind washing this too?" he gave his cup to me
"Whatever…"
"Thanks…" he said "…and oh yeah, congrats on being the newest Weapons Master." he said, and before I knew it, he already left.
I shrugged and just continued washing.
The Weapons Master class is the ultimate class that that enables a player, not only to use any type of weapon, but to make use of the weapon in any way he desires to (Ex: Using two Blade Master weapons on each hand). Although nothing like that is simple to get. It has a demanding requirement: being level 90+; a weapon level of 50+; and search for the "Bangle of Masters" (an item that should be kept at the inventory) by the way, this is an extremely rare item. After that's been done, they will have to get a certain stone found in one of the specially made monsters that serves as a key to the Gott Statue holding the scroll of mastery that activate the special effect of the bangle that confirms the class change. The participant must open the chest within the given time limit with risk of their character being deleted. So far, there have been only three who've become Weapons Masters, and I'm the fourth. The NPC supervising the event said that it was too close for comfort; he said that I only had 0.014 seconds left…
Oh yeah I forgot to introduce myself;
Character Name: Azakust or just Zak
-Level 15 Weapons Master
-preferred weapon combination: Sword and Staff
-REAL NAME: Ashley Nicole Dela Oyan for short Ash
-AGE: 17
-Date registered: December 31, 2007, 4:53p.m.
Starting since last year, a lot of strange stuff has been happening in The World. Monsters that can't be beaten; that issue with the Wave Master; constant errors that always end up with being disconnected from the game and a lot more. The CC Corp. says that it was Helba and her subordinates who were the main cause of all this mess; but I smell a cover up.
I walked back into my room, and I looked at my computer. Practice is this afternoon anyway…A few hours won't hurt…at least until Seiah comes…
I opened my computer and checked my mail, a few from some of my friends. But these two got my attention:
-Subject: Please…
Your fate waits at the girl's sanctuary…
Fate…? Girl's Sanctuary…? What the…? I thought
Then there was the second one:
-Subject: -no subject-
Theta: Soft Organ Market Pilgrimage
A key word? I thought, and then I decided to Login.
---NETWORLD---
I warped into the field of Theta: Soft Organ Market Pilgrimage; I looked up at the dark sky, weird choice of field…I thought.
I sighed; I wonder what this one's all about… I thought. Ever since I became a Weapons Master, a lot of chumps have been challenging me and always having their faces embedded on the nearby wall or on the pavement and sometimes in a well.
Then I sensed movement nearby, I saw a shadow but suddenly a gust of wind blew. The shadow disappeared, in looked around then started to concentrate; I just stood there in the middle of the field; gusts of wind and rain drops continuously blew on to my face.
Dark clouds circled and covered the sky; plants and trees withered. Then, I heard footsteps
…thump…thump…thump…
I clenched my staff on my left and my sword at my right; both of them tightly.
…thump…thump…thump…
Whoever…Whatever it is, its getting closer…My heart beat at least three times for ever foot step…
Then they got faster, I turned to the direction where the footsteps came from, but the footsteps stopped and nothing was there…
Then I felt a presence behind me, I turned around…
Our blades met…
The dark figure was still unclear, as soon as we crossed blades, he disappeared again. "What the…"
I turned to my right a there was the first strike; I flew back a bit…then rolled on the ground for a short distance. I picked myself up; I got a small glimpse of my attacker, a lightly clothed black Twin Blade or Long Arm; his blades were shaped like boomerangs; he had a long scar on his face and a V-shaped visor shielded his eyes and held up his dark red hair. He threw one of his blades at me; I narrowly evaded it, resulting to a small scratch on the side of my face. The boomerang returned to him; he then suddenly switched to a halberd, How the- Who the- My thoughts kept trailing off each time he attacked me.
The longer I kept fighting him the more he gave me a chill along my spine, "Who the heck ARE you?" I pushed him back then he disappeared again, I looked around then found him uphill with his head bowed down. I was getting pissed off already, "TELL ME ALREADY!" he raised his head. Then my character stopped I noticed he did some hand gestures as I started to let go of my weapons. With my limbs spread out, I was open for a hit, and as expected he threw his two blades at me. I cried out…the pain…I don't get it…how do I feel pain when this is virtual reality? This is just a mere game…but why?
"C-rap…" I groaned every part of my body hurt, just like as if it was burning.
Then he aimed his hand at me, sprites started to form around his wrist and formed a huge bracelet of some kind. A beam of light shot out of the bracelet and hit me. I screamed my lungs out then fell down.
A/N: For every time that a line is bolded out (like what follows) the POV changes.
"Where is that kid?" I stood atop of the steep hill.
I looked at the desktop clock, it displayed the time at 2:30. I was starting to worry, that kid never comes late but where is he now? I paced back and forth.
I took of my goggles and sighed and then looked out of my window. The full moon shun brightly above the city of Tokyo, despite the bright lights that the city gives off at night. It didn't really affect the moon's luminosity.
I rubbed my temples then went back to the game. He still wasn't there, if he couldn't come he should have sent an e-mail or any way of contact but there was nothing.
I plopped down on to my bed, "Practice was rough…" I groaned.
I wished that Ash was there, it would have been much easier. I'd rather get sermons from our geezer of a Math teacher than that drill sergeant of a coach shout at my ear. Oh 300 push ups; 300 sit ups; and 50 laps around the school would've been fine…I you were A GUY!
'If any of you low lifes won't get a shot in, you're gonna give me FIVE…'
'…HUNDRED PUSHUPS!'
I sat back, no matter how painful my body was, and then I looked into my backpack, "Now where was that…" I ransacked my backpack, and then I brought out a CD case. On the CD it was labeled 'The World'; it was given to me by Ash though Vincent. And I also got 'neuro goggles' as it was called together with the controller. I never understood why more than 80 of our school's population, plays this game including some girls…at free time, they either talk about shopping, movies, boys, or The World…
Some of them say it's an alternate way of meeting new people; others for excitement; but most of all, to pass time. I always see its commercial on TV, posters and ads, and anyway Ash introduced it to me…so I decided to give it a shot.
"Installment Complete." A message box displayed
"Alright…" I took the neuro goggles and controller, and then I stopped. I had a problem…
"Where do I connect this to?" I said, yeah…I suck when it comes to computers; hardware or software, there's no difference…
"Oh…it's to the game port then…"
I read out the instruction out of the manual that came with the CD case. "…where's that?"
I finally had everything set up - without burning the house down or electrocuting myself. I opened the patch and started the registration…
After all the personal data was settled "…now a name…"
User Name: Seiah
Character Name:
Hmmm…what should I put in? I thought, Based on my name…be original…I got it.
Character Name: Seianne
"Alright…I'm in…"
I woke up; I think I was still at Theta: Soft Organ Market Pilgrimage at that time.
I groaned, picking up myself up. I dusted off the mud on my clothing, everything was a blur…
…rain
…the field
…the mail
…the twin blade
That Twin Blade!
I gripped my weapons and cautiously looked around, seeking for a presence. There was nothing.
I sighed in relief, and then when I realized I had nothing else to do in that field, I left.
I warped into something that looked like a town, filled with a flurry of people.
I tried to fit in with the crowd, and then I met up with another player. He brought me to a sort of secluded alley, "You're a newbie right?" he asked. He seemed to be experienced; he held an elegantly made lance. His red long hair paired with yellow eyes matched the blue clothing he wore.
"Uh…excuse me?"
"A newbie…A noob…"
"?"
"Yup, you're a noob…"
"Uh…excuse me but I have to -"
"Hey, there's no need to rush, we didn't get to know each other yet…" he blocked my only escape way. "So where do you live? Do you live around Tokyo?"
"Uh…no…I"
"Hey, what's your name? Is Seianne your real name…? Maybe we could see each other…"
"I...uh…" I wasn't really sure of what to say…hey, I'm just new here…
"Hey…" a voice said, we both looked at the direction of where the voice came from. A silhouette was only visible, "…tell me if this guy is bothering you…"
"Crap…" the lance wielder said then warped away. The silhouette came closer, any details showed. He had raven black hair and blue eyes; he wore assorted white and dark green clothing. A blue tattoo was visible on the right side of his face. I couldn't understand what I was feeling. I was happy that the guy with me just a few minutes ago left. I was anxious if this guy wouldn't be any better…I was just………lost…
"Hey, are you alright?" he asked
I kept silent
"Ah, The World is filled with idiots like that…"
I remained quiet and continued to stare at him
He sighed, "Don't worry, I don't bite, I'm Azakust" he said while leading his hand.
She still kept staring at me; I tried to look for a way to make her open up "So…what are you doing here?"
"That guy brought me here…"she said at a low voice
"I meant 'Why are you here in The World'?" I said, scratching the back of my head
"That's none of your business…" she crossed her arms
"Fine." I said throwing my hands in the air "Are you new here?"
"Am I that obvious?" she said raising an eyebrow
"Actually…yeah…" I said "Do you mind that I teach you then?"
"Um…sure…oh yeah, my name's Seianne." She gave a faint smile, I barely saw it.
We were in front of the chaos gate. "Okay, keyword creation will take time to master but you'll get it."
I taught her the basic stuff about keyword creation then, "So, want try it out?" I asked
"Uh…okay…" A few seconds passed before we left the Root Town
We arrived at a one level dungeon, a church towered the mysterious field. There was a broken bridge behind us that lead to a deep fall.
I sighed, Why did have to you choose this one…
"Is there something wrong?" she asked with her head tilted as she looked at me
"It's nothing…" I threw my hand at her, she shrugged
We entered the chapel and we gazed at the statue that stood at the altar, it was a girl in chains. She went a bit closer, and then I heard a sound. It sounded like a tuning fork when struck. I look around to find out where sound came from.
"Is something wrong?" Seianne asked she put her hands on her hips.
"Did you hear that?" I asked as I started to bring out my weapons
"Hear what?" she raised an eyebrow
What are you talking about, didn't you hear that? I thought as I stared at her
"Well, I didn't hear anything…" she crossed her arms "…must've been your imagination." She turned around and looked back at the statue
"I hope so…" I whispered under my breath
We both look at the statue; it gave a sense of sadness the longer we look at it. "So…what's the story here?"
"Well, I can't say much about it…" I said as I scratched the back of my head "…it appeared here around a year ago. A lot of weird things happened that time, this weird barbell-shaped monster roamed around the game. The person that controlled it was a Wave Master; he had some kinda special power, not sure what but that doesn't matter. Then the leader of the Crimson Knights disbanded the group for some reason, I think she got fed up with the knights, they changed a lot from what they were like before. Then one day; everyone around the world that was playing 'The World' (that doesn't sound right…) got disconnected from the game. It took at least a few hours before the game was restored, then people found this statue a few days later…"
"Uh ok…" she nodded; I think she didn't get it.
"Well…I just say it's some sorta decoration more or less…"
"But don't you find it weird?" she tilted her head on one side to the other to get a better look at it
"What's weird?" I raised an eyebrow
"…the statue itself, why did it have to be a girl in chains?"
"I dunno." I shrugged
"Ah, who cares…" she threw her hands in the air.
---REALWORLD---
"Hello…" I knocked at the main door of the Dela Oyan residence, "…anybody home…?" the compound was silent.
I took a deep breath then let myself in. "Hey Ash! Why weren't ya at practice...hello?" I shouted as I walked by the living room
"Yoo-hoo…anybody home?" I said as I stood at the foot of the staircase.
"I'm coming up now…" I walked up the wooden staircase.
I reached the top of the stairs, "Ash!!" I called and yet still no response. Jeez… do you sleep like a rock or something? I shook my head and shrugged; I sighed then held the door knob. I sighed, "Alright…whether or not you know I'm here; I'm coming in…"
I opened the door then just froze there… "…ASH!!"
I dug in to my pockets for my cell phone, "I need an ambulance here, NOW!"
Then my cellphone rang.
"Could you hold it for a sec…?" I said as I took out my phone
"Uh…sure…" Zak said as he rests his hands on the back of his head.