A/N: This is an AU fic that takes off about a day or so after the
.hack//SIGN episode 'Wanted'. Those who haven't watched the .hack//SIGN TV
show at all or up to that point will be totally or mostly lost. I don't
have very much to say (O_o Amazing!) so just KB, R, E, & R!!!
Disclaimer: I don't want to own .hack//SIGN. I want to BE IN .hack//SIGN. There. Now thou accusation hath no basis. =P
Punctuation Notes:
'something' - Italics for emphasis
=========== - Scene Change
II\\//\\//\\//\\//II
.hack//DISTORTION_
-- Prologue: Beginnings --
"In the beginning. . . darkness was over the surface of the deep. . . And He said, "Let there be light," and then there was light." - Genesis 1:1-3
___________
"Where are we?" A hushed female voice, bright and clear even when muffled in the utter darkness.
"I. . . I don't know." The reply was soft, the voice warm and unwavering yet unsure of itself.
A tiny glimmer of light appeared in the darkness, a faint glow that grew slowly brighter and brighter, pushing aside the endless darkness all around. It was a small beginning. But it was a beginning. It illuminated their faces and for a moment the cocoon of radiance made them seem the only two in the world.
The glow crept up a brown face, softening the gold-highlighted features. Perky brown hair tumbled, flaring in spikes about the neck. Sharp emerald eyes peered curiously down at the source of the lone light.
"Y-you're using magic."
Jagged silvery locks peeked out from beneath a dark cloth cap, trailing softly into deep pools of gentle indigo, flickering light and swimming in shadows. A quiet weary sadness weighted the pale delicacy of the young face. Twin dark red boomerang markings made the white cheeks seem even thinner. A crescent-shaped staff's end of no particular color, bearing a round red jewel, lay vaguely outlined in his lap.
He raised his head to her from his thoughtful contemplation of the small bright flame dancing in his cupped palms, and a frown hardened his features.
"Yeah. So?" A challenge colored the words, the tone suddenly brittle as thin ice.
She held up her hands; it was her turn to frown. "Hey, what's your problem, anyway? Look, I'm sorry, all right? I didn't mean-"
The look on his face had twisted strangely and he had opened his mouth, about to interrupt her, when suddenly the angry mask was gone, replaced by surprise and confusion. His face tightened and he reached with one hand to rub vaguely at his chest. The fire in his hand dimmed and she started in alarm, irritation quickly melting into concern. "What's wrong? Are you all right?"
His reply was strained, forced through gritted teeth. "It. . . it hurts. . . So much. . . Like something's gone."
"Huh?" Her confusion was evident in her face.
"N-never mind." He seemed to have recovered, so she didn't inquire further, not wanting him angry with her again.
"So. . . where are we, anyway?"
He sighed but closed his eyes, bowing his head. The fire he held blazed to roaring life.
===========
Lush grasslands and rocky pinnacles pierced the clouds. Various buildings and unusual structures dotted the landscape, and wooden bridges connected the floating islands. Strange colorful shapes floated about in the sky. Here and there spun large gold-rimmed pale blue circles, transparent and floating in mid-air, surrounded by rock posts.
A series of collapsing gold rings heralded the arrival of a blonde woman in flowing green robes. Matching earrings hung from her ears and gold shimmered on her arms and wrists as well as on her forehead. She clutched a tall sorcerer's staff in one hand, the end a pair of rigid blue-violet pincers enclosing a gleaming green orb. Her watchful green eyes blended with her robes and earrings and darted about till they finally settled on a man sitting at the foot of a stone arch.
The woman flipped her long, lustrous forelocks out of her face as she strode over to the man. The sharp bottom tip of her staff left deep little gouges in the dirt as she walked.
Much of the man's face and body were colored in blue lined with white, and his shoulder and legs were enclosed in bulky bronze armor. His shoulder- length brown hair was smoothed out of his face. Broad shoulders and a muscular bare chest did little to upstage the strong lines of his face, or the wisdom in his dark eyes.
As she reached him, a sudden, keening cry came along the wind, so piercing in its intense grief that both players winced. It was an eerie faraway wail, almost otherworldly, seeming neither human nor animal nor otherwise.
"What was that?" the woman whispered when the echoes ringing in the mountain peaks had faded at last.
He had been sitting with his arms resting on his thighs, staring silently at the ground. At the sound of her voice he lifted his face, and his eyes were troubled.
"So you can hear it too. . . You're the first. . . I don't know," he stared off at a far off point in the sky, "But it reminds me of. . . of someone who's lost something very dear."
The woman just shook her head in reply. "So, what's new with that rogue Wave Master of yours?"
"I have no idea."
"What?" the woman seemed genuinely surprised, "What do you mean, you have no idea? You always do, Bear, and you know how much you like it." Her tone had switched from puzzled to teasing.
Her smile faded when he remained serious, looking steadily up at her. "What happened?"
"Nothing 'happened'," the man shook his head, staring hard at his knee, "And that's what worries me."
"What?" the woman sat down beside him, crossing her legs and looking up at the sky with faint irritation in her voice, "Must you always talk in riddles?"
At last the man did smile a little, "Patience was never your strong suit. All right, I'll get to the point. I tried to contact Mimiru yesterday. The Crimson Knights are after Tsukasa."
The woman nodded impatiently. The wanted posters were plastered in every corner of The World.
"That's nothing new, I know. What troubles me is that they've never been this thorough, or nearly this persistent, about looking for a player. Tsukasa is an unusual case, but there's something about all this I just don't like."
She nodded again. There was obviously something else behind this massive search effort. She had an inkling of what it was, especially since. . . She started. Bear was still talking.
"I thought to warn him. Mimiru is the one he seems to be most comfortable with. I didn't want to make things worse." The blonde sorceress raised an eyebrow, but he did not elaborate. "Since she wasn't logged in, I e-mailed Tsukasa."
She made an impatient noise, and he smiled again.
"He wasn't logged in either." She blinked. "You know what that means, BT."
She knew. "But I thought-"
Bear chuckled mirthlessly, "I can't say I'm surprised. I'm starting to believe anything is possible, with that kid."
===========
"Are you sure?" Clear amber eyes narrowed, slender eyebrows drawing down in thought.
"Certain, milady," the Knight replied, "The Wave Master's last appearance was traced to that area."
Long teal locks framed a heart-shaped face of alabaster; a strange lavender- pink rune arced up her forehead. Small snowy wings fluttered at her shoulders as she shifted her grip on the golden-hafted axe she held. A slim young girl, radiating a quiet and inconspicuous, yet still incongruous authority.
"Lady Subaru," the Crimson Knight towering protectively over her shoulder wore the standard silver skull-like helmet, with distinguishing horns, "Perhaps we should look into this."
"No, Ginkan," the girl said softly, and he looked at her in surprise, "We have no way of knowing what he will do. I will not risk any of my Knights in face of this Wave Master and his Guardian. I will go."
"Milady!" the Knight Captain began in protest. A look from Subaru silenced him immediately.
"Please understand. I wish to speak with this Wave Master, personally, not as a captor to a captive." The Knight Captain nodded.
"Have faith in me, Ginkan, though I am only another player in this world." She added so quietly, it escaped the hearing of the other Knights.
Ginkan inclined his horned head, the blazing glow in his red eyes dimming, and stepped back, his hands clenching into fists at his sides.
A man with long forest green forelocks held out of his weasel's eyes by a deep blue headband, a scar marring his cheek, had looked up quickly at the girl's words. Suddenly he leaped out of the boat at the river's edge with the grace of a cat and sidled up to the gathering.
"Yes, of course. You won't find anything, you know," he grinned, his face a study in craftiness as everyone looked at him. His voice lowered, slipping through the air oozing with cheer, in a dancing singsong tease, directed at the young girl. "But I still want to have 'my' little talk with the Wave Master."
The Knight Captain took a menacing step forward, his hand on the hilt of his sword. His lip curled in an expression of intense dislike as he glared at the Player Killer with fiery red, white-hot eyes.
"Yes," Subaru's voice startled both men, "You will get what you want. But first, please, explain yourself."
His grin widening, the green-haired man shook his finger back and forth before her nose, "Nuh-uh-uh. Tsk, tsk, tsk, you people in high places, looking in all the wrong places. Maybe someday you'll actually 'find' something. . ." He wore such a patronizing sneer that the Knight Captain actually drew his blade halfway out of its sheath. The girl laid a firm hand on his arm, stopping him. Growling softly, he stepped back once more.
"Now, Sora-" Subaru cut off her words with a startled gasp as she turned back to the man. Where he'd been standing, there was only empty air and three flabbergasted Knights.
The girl narrowed her eyes. "He is not to be underestimated," she murmured.
===========
"I've a mind to do a little digging of my own," he mused as he stood.
BT gave the man beside her a startled look as she stood up next to him, then gave a small laugh, "I should have known. You're far too curious to keep your nose out of other people's business."
"I'm just worried," Bear murmured, running a thumb along the blade of his sword as he led her across the wooden walkway, "Will you help? You're fairly good at poking around in others' affairs as well if I remember correctly, BT."
The blonde sorceress blushed and glared, "History as ancient as you, old man. Besides, how do you expect to find anything out? You have nothing to go on."
"Oh, really, now?" he grinned, "Goes to show how much you know."
"What's that supposed to mean?!"
They came to an edge that dropped away sharply into the clouds. He turned to face her, amusement twinkling in his dark eyes.
"Oh, I have my sources. I've already done some nosing around," he was serious once more, "I've found out little, but it's a beginning. So what do you say?"
She shrugged, her blonde locks playing over her shoulders. "I suppose I've got nothing better to do. . . at the moment," she added warningly.
He just smiled and looked contemplatively into the sky.
"I just hope Tsukasa won't take it too badly. . ."
===========
Golden rings appeared in midair and dropped down to pile upon one another, fading. The young girl ventured forth into the unfamiliar area, gripping her axe. Her wings fluttered till they were almost a white blur, and her bright amber eyes looked about warily. They fell immediately on a single thing.
She caught her breath, and her eyes widened in wonder, "What. . . 'How'. . ."
She stepped forward, dropping her axe, drawn irresistibly to the thing that had captured her attention and her heart. And then she was before it, her head falling back and her teal forelocks brushing the back of her neck as she stared up at it, transfixed.
"Can it really be. . .?" Glittering tears quivered in her eyes, a trembling smile touched her lips as she reached out a shaking hand to it, "I-is it really you?"
===========
A clap of thunder. Streetlights cast their misty glow in the pouring rain that pooled in mirroring puddles in the dark wet streets. The real world.
The house was dark and silent, seemingly empty, the heavy silence broken only by the steady patter of rain on the rooftop and the soft humming of a machine in the upstairs bedroom. Suddenly the humming ceased. A vidhelm dropped to the floor with a loud crack that echoed in the stillness.
And a faint voice, a weak, fading cry. "No. . ."
The computer terminal that had been the only thing illuminating the room with its cold colorful light lay dark and silent. Dead. Now the house was truly empty.
___________
A/N: That's the prologue! I hope I'll be able to do the rest soon, but no guarantees. As you can see, I've tried my utmost to imitate the show's mysterious technique of jumping around and giving info in snatches and hints. Please tell me if I got it right or totally screwed up! Also, I know there was a boatload of description in this part, but since it's the prologue I had to introduce everyone and well. . . I'll try to make the description load a little less heavy in the future, promise! 'Less you don't want me to. ^_~ I know y'all were probably wanting more Tsukasa in this but it just turned out that way somehow. * shrug * Oh well. You'll see lots more of him in Chapter 1, 'least I think you will. These guys are temperamental with their appearances. Is anyone OOC? I swear I tried to make all the characters like they were in the show but since I've only watched up to 'Wanted', well. . .I'm just a poor ole dub-dependent newbie to the whole .hack thingamajig but I'm totally hooked. The rest of this might be up in a week or a month or a year. O_o I'll try, I promise, depending on the number of reviews I get. So review if you liked, and even if you didn't like! ^_~ Remember, this is ***AU*** so no complaints about how the storyline is screwed up with the actual show. Flamers will just add to my lovely little review count and make me laugh my head off at their complete pointlessness in life. So review, please, and make my day!!! ^__^
+++++++++++
Ending Note: Much of the info used to write this fic was culled from the site .hack//SIGN Defragmented, at I recommend it as an absolutely excellent source for anything .hack, not just .hack//SIGN. Episode summaries, character profiles, pics, soundtracks, the PS2 game series, you name it, they've got it! (If that stupid URL still doesn't show just go to Google.com and search for .hack//SIGN Defragmented and there you'll have it)
P.S. If you're wondering what the heck Carmina Gardelica is, you can check it out at .hack//SIGN Defragmented. There's a listing and series of pics of the places in The World shown in .hack//SIGN.
Disclaimer: I don't want to own .hack//SIGN. I want to BE IN .hack//SIGN. There. Now thou accusation hath no basis. =P
Punctuation Notes:
'something' - Italics for emphasis
=========== - Scene Change
II\\//\\//\\//\\//II
.hack//DISTORTION_
-- Prologue: Beginnings --
"In the beginning. . . darkness was over the surface of the deep. . . And He said, "Let there be light," and then there was light." - Genesis 1:1-3
___________
"Where are we?" A hushed female voice, bright and clear even when muffled in the utter darkness.
"I. . . I don't know." The reply was soft, the voice warm and unwavering yet unsure of itself.
A tiny glimmer of light appeared in the darkness, a faint glow that grew slowly brighter and brighter, pushing aside the endless darkness all around. It was a small beginning. But it was a beginning. It illuminated their faces and for a moment the cocoon of radiance made them seem the only two in the world.
The glow crept up a brown face, softening the gold-highlighted features. Perky brown hair tumbled, flaring in spikes about the neck. Sharp emerald eyes peered curiously down at the source of the lone light.
"Y-you're using magic."
Jagged silvery locks peeked out from beneath a dark cloth cap, trailing softly into deep pools of gentle indigo, flickering light and swimming in shadows. A quiet weary sadness weighted the pale delicacy of the young face. Twin dark red boomerang markings made the white cheeks seem even thinner. A crescent-shaped staff's end of no particular color, bearing a round red jewel, lay vaguely outlined in his lap.
He raised his head to her from his thoughtful contemplation of the small bright flame dancing in his cupped palms, and a frown hardened his features.
"Yeah. So?" A challenge colored the words, the tone suddenly brittle as thin ice.
She held up her hands; it was her turn to frown. "Hey, what's your problem, anyway? Look, I'm sorry, all right? I didn't mean-"
The look on his face had twisted strangely and he had opened his mouth, about to interrupt her, when suddenly the angry mask was gone, replaced by surprise and confusion. His face tightened and he reached with one hand to rub vaguely at his chest. The fire in his hand dimmed and she started in alarm, irritation quickly melting into concern. "What's wrong? Are you all right?"
His reply was strained, forced through gritted teeth. "It. . . it hurts. . . So much. . . Like something's gone."
"Huh?" Her confusion was evident in her face.
"N-never mind." He seemed to have recovered, so she didn't inquire further, not wanting him angry with her again.
"So. . . where are we, anyway?"
He sighed but closed his eyes, bowing his head. The fire he held blazed to roaring life.
===========
Lush grasslands and rocky pinnacles pierced the clouds. Various buildings and unusual structures dotted the landscape, and wooden bridges connected the floating islands. Strange colorful shapes floated about in the sky. Here and there spun large gold-rimmed pale blue circles, transparent and floating in mid-air, surrounded by rock posts.
A series of collapsing gold rings heralded the arrival of a blonde woman in flowing green robes. Matching earrings hung from her ears and gold shimmered on her arms and wrists as well as on her forehead. She clutched a tall sorcerer's staff in one hand, the end a pair of rigid blue-violet pincers enclosing a gleaming green orb. Her watchful green eyes blended with her robes and earrings and darted about till they finally settled on a man sitting at the foot of a stone arch.
The woman flipped her long, lustrous forelocks out of her face as she strode over to the man. The sharp bottom tip of her staff left deep little gouges in the dirt as she walked.
Much of the man's face and body were colored in blue lined with white, and his shoulder and legs were enclosed in bulky bronze armor. His shoulder- length brown hair was smoothed out of his face. Broad shoulders and a muscular bare chest did little to upstage the strong lines of his face, or the wisdom in his dark eyes.
As she reached him, a sudden, keening cry came along the wind, so piercing in its intense grief that both players winced. It was an eerie faraway wail, almost otherworldly, seeming neither human nor animal nor otherwise.
"What was that?" the woman whispered when the echoes ringing in the mountain peaks had faded at last.
He had been sitting with his arms resting on his thighs, staring silently at the ground. At the sound of her voice he lifted his face, and his eyes were troubled.
"So you can hear it too. . . You're the first. . . I don't know," he stared off at a far off point in the sky, "But it reminds me of. . . of someone who's lost something very dear."
The woman just shook her head in reply. "So, what's new with that rogue Wave Master of yours?"
"I have no idea."
"What?" the woman seemed genuinely surprised, "What do you mean, you have no idea? You always do, Bear, and you know how much you like it." Her tone had switched from puzzled to teasing.
Her smile faded when he remained serious, looking steadily up at her. "What happened?"
"Nothing 'happened'," the man shook his head, staring hard at his knee, "And that's what worries me."
"What?" the woman sat down beside him, crossing her legs and looking up at the sky with faint irritation in her voice, "Must you always talk in riddles?"
At last the man did smile a little, "Patience was never your strong suit. All right, I'll get to the point. I tried to contact Mimiru yesterday. The Crimson Knights are after Tsukasa."
The woman nodded impatiently. The wanted posters were plastered in every corner of The World.
"That's nothing new, I know. What troubles me is that they've never been this thorough, or nearly this persistent, about looking for a player. Tsukasa is an unusual case, but there's something about all this I just don't like."
She nodded again. There was obviously something else behind this massive search effort. She had an inkling of what it was, especially since. . . She started. Bear was still talking.
"I thought to warn him. Mimiru is the one he seems to be most comfortable with. I didn't want to make things worse." The blonde sorceress raised an eyebrow, but he did not elaborate. "Since she wasn't logged in, I e-mailed Tsukasa."
She made an impatient noise, and he smiled again.
"He wasn't logged in either." She blinked. "You know what that means, BT."
She knew. "But I thought-"
Bear chuckled mirthlessly, "I can't say I'm surprised. I'm starting to believe anything is possible, with that kid."
===========
"Are you sure?" Clear amber eyes narrowed, slender eyebrows drawing down in thought.
"Certain, milady," the Knight replied, "The Wave Master's last appearance was traced to that area."
Long teal locks framed a heart-shaped face of alabaster; a strange lavender- pink rune arced up her forehead. Small snowy wings fluttered at her shoulders as she shifted her grip on the golden-hafted axe she held. A slim young girl, radiating a quiet and inconspicuous, yet still incongruous authority.
"Lady Subaru," the Crimson Knight towering protectively over her shoulder wore the standard silver skull-like helmet, with distinguishing horns, "Perhaps we should look into this."
"No, Ginkan," the girl said softly, and he looked at her in surprise, "We have no way of knowing what he will do. I will not risk any of my Knights in face of this Wave Master and his Guardian. I will go."
"Milady!" the Knight Captain began in protest. A look from Subaru silenced him immediately.
"Please understand. I wish to speak with this Wave Master, personally, not as a captor to a captive." The Knight Captain nodded.
"Have faith in me, Ginkan, though I am only another player in this world." She added so quietly, it escaped the hearing of the other Knights.
Ginkan inclined his horned head, the blazing glow in his red eyes dimming, and stepped back, his hands clenching into fists at his sides.
A man with long forest green forelocks held out of his weasel's eyes by a deep blue headband, a scar marring his cheek, had looked up quickly at the girl's words. Suddenly he leaped out of the boat at the river's edge with the grace of a cat and sidled up to the gathering.
"Yes, of course. You won't find anything, you know," he grinned, his face a study in craftiness as everyone looked at him. His voice lowered, slipping through the air oozing with cheer, in a dancing singsong tease, directed at the young girl. "But I still want to have 'my' little talk with the Wave Master."
The Knight Captain took a menacing step forward, his hand on the hilt of his sword. His lip curled in an expression of intense dislike as he glared at the Player Killer with fiery red, white-hot eyes.
"Yes," Subaru's voice startled both men, "You will get what you want. But first, please, explain yourself."
His grin widening, the green-haired man shook his finger back and forth before her nose, "Nuh-uh-uh. Tsk, tsk, tsk, you people in high places, looking in all the wrong places. Maybe someday you'll actually 'find' something. . ." He wore such a patronizing sneer that the Knight Captain actually drew his blade halfway out of its sheath. The girl laid a firm hand on his arm, stopping him. Growling softly, he stepped back once more.
"Now, Sora-" Subaru cut off her words with a startled gasp as she turned back to the man. Where he'd been standing, there was only empty air and three flabbergasted Knights.
The girl narrowed her eyes. "He is not to be underestimated," she murmured.
===========
"I've a mind to do a little digging of my own," he mused as he stood.
BT gave the man beside her a startled look as she stood up next to him, then gave a small laugh, "I should have known. You're far too curious to keep your nose out of other people's business."
"I'm just worried," Bear murmured, running a thumb along the blade of his sword as he led her across the wooden walkway, "Will you help? You're fairly good at poking around in others' affairs as well if I remember correctly, BT."
The blonde sorceress blushed and glared, "History as ancient as you, old man. Besides, how do you expect to find anything out? You have nothing to go on."
"Oh, really, now?" he grinned, "Goes to show how much you know."
"What's that supposed to mean?!"
They came to an edge that dropped away sharply into the clouds. He turned to face her, amusement twinkling in his dark eyes.
"Oh, I have my sources. I've already done some nosing around," he was serious once more, "I've found out little, but it's a beginning. So what do you say?"
She shrugged, her blonde locks playing over her shoulders. "I suppose I've got nothing better to do. . . at the moment," she added warningly.
He just smiled and looked contemplatively into the sky.
"I just hope Tsukasa won't take it too badly. . ."
===========
Golden rings appeared in midair and dropped down to pile upon one another, fading. The young girl ventured forth into the unfamiliar area, gripping her axe. Her wings fluttered till they were almost a white blur, and her bright amber eyes looked about warily. They fell immediately on a single thing.
She caught her breath, and her eyes widened in wonder, "What. . . 'How'. . ."
She stepped forward, dropping her axe, drawn irresistibly to the thing that had captured her attention and her heart. And then she was before it, her head falling back and her teal forelocks brushing the back of her neck as she stared up at it, transfixed.
"Can it really be. . .?" Glittering tears quivered in her eyes, a trembling smile touched her lips as she reached out a shaking hand to it, "I-is it really you?"
===========
A clap of thunder. Streetlights cast their misty glow in the pouring rain that pooled in mirroring puddles in the dark wet streets. The real world.
The house was dark and silent, seemingly empty, the heavy silence broken only by the steady patter of rain on the rooftop and the soft humming of a machine in the upstairs bedroom. Suddenly the humming ceased. A vidhelm dropped to the floor with a loud crack that echoed in the stillness.
And a faint voice, a weak, fading cry. "No. . ."
The computer terminal that had been the only thing illuminating the room with its cold colorful light lay dark and silent. Dead. Now the house was truly empty.
___________
A/N: That's the prologue! I hope I'll be able to do the rest soon, but no guarantees. As you can see, I've tried my utmost to imitate the show's mysterious technique of jumping around and giving info in snatches and hints. Please tell me if I got it right or totally screwed up! Also, I know there was a boatload of description in this part, but since it's the prologue I had to introduce everyone and well. . . I'll try to make the description load a little less heavy in the future, promise! 'Less you don't want me to. ^_~ I know y'all were probably wanting more Tsukasa in this but it just turned out that way somehow. * shrug * Oh well. You'll see lots more of him in Chapter 1, 'least I think you will. These guys are temperamental with their appearances. Is anyone OOC? I swear I tried to make all the characters like they were in the show but since I've only watched up to 'Wanted', well. . .I'm just a poor ole dub-dependent newbie to the whole .hack thingamajig but I'm totally hooked. The rest of this might be up in a week or a month or a year. O_o I'll try, I promise, depending on the number of reviews I get. So review if you liked, and even if you didn't like! ^_~ Remember, this is ***AU*** so no complaints about how the storyline is screwed up with the actual show. Flamers will just add to my lovely little review count and make me laugh my head off at their complete pointlessness in life. So review, please, and make my day!!! ^__^
+++++++++++
Ending Note: Much of the info used to write this fic was culled from the site .hack//SIGN Defragmented, at I recommend it as an absolutely excellent source for anything .hack, not just .hack//SIGN. Episode summaries, character profiles, pics, soundtracks, the PS2 game series, you name it, they've got it! (If that stupid URL still doesn't show just go to Google.com and search for .hack//SIGN Defragmented and there you'll have it)
P.S. If you're wondering what the heck Carmina Gardelica is, you can check it out at .hack//SIGN Defragmented. There's a listing and series of pics of the places in The World shown in .hack//SIGN.