Three Boys, Two Worlds, One School
Nanashi Sonzai
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea and my own original characters.
Hack/SIGN-HP-FMA
The World is not just a game; Tsukasa was truly a part of the system. The World was a whole other dimension accessible thru the use of virtual reality. Tsukasa is an inhabitant of that dimension. Edward Elric is still the Full Metal Alchemist, but Alphonse was not aware of what his brother was attempting that night, which is why Edward lost both his arm and his leg. He didn't lose his body because of his power, and the attempt at human transmutation left him with alterations to his structure.
Voldemort being the power hungry Dark Lord that he is, sought out rituals to someone beings from an alternate dimension, The World. What he got was Tsukasa.
Albus Dumbledore called in a favor, so Edward is assigned to help the Order in the War against Voldemort. When he finds out that he will be attending school to guard Harry, he gets mad.
Tsukasa in the meantime is being tortured by the Death Eaters so he will submit to Lord Voldemort. His suffering calls to the entity that promised to protect him, and so she acts on his behalf by transporting him to the Dursleys.
Harry was worrying about Voldemort when Tsukasa appeared in the middle of his room. Harry does his best to help the injured Wave Master, when the Order arrives and takes them both to Grimmauld Place.
The three boys, Harry, Ed, and Tsukasa are all headed to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and none of them know quite what's in store for them.
Chapter One: Capturing Twilight's Child
Deep inside the fabric of reality exists multiple realities. Sometimes, one can experience some part of another reality without ever truly realizing it. Such was the case of the popular online game, The World.
Using virtual reality, the game created by CC Corp allowed its users to actually experience The World that they had created. Using the System Administration and the Crimson Knights, they kept tabs on the activities within the system to avoid problems.
What they never realized was that the game world they had created was a very close replica of another dimension. Because of the nature of the game play, the users were actually viewing this other dimension through projection. Of course, the power of the System Administration over the computer program allowed them some influence, but the reverse was also true.
The inhabitants of The World had power inside the game.
Some of these beings were twisted in the game version of their reality, but others retained their true forms and powers. Some examples were Macha, Aura, the Guardian, and the omnipotent and omnipresent 'Voice'. The Voice was twisted into something evil, and Aura was forced to sleep.
Only the Key of the Twilight could restore the entities to their true state.
The main designer of the World had created the whole Twilight scenario because of visions he had in his dreams of a Child of The World being born into the world and needing to return to his own reality.
This was a secret, but when the creator knew his death was coming, he posted a message about the Key of the Twilight.
This is where the story begins…
An Shouji waited until she heard the car drive away before booting up her computer. She put on the vid-gear and entered her refuge, The World. As she logged into Mac Anu, she couldn't shake the feeling of being watched.
The Voice sensed a change in Aura, and a feeling familiar to both her and Macha.
"Could it be that the Key of the Twilight has finally come?" her voice echoed as always, filled with hope and awe. The cat, Macha, offered to test the character from whom the feeling was coming from for the possibility of being the Key to awakening Aura.
"Since I have been unable to successfully copy them, yes.." her voice was regretful, she didn't want to put the Child of The World through such pain as would be necessary.
Macha nodded, empathizing with the voice for a moment before leaving.
An, whose character was a young male Wave Master named Tsukasa, sighed. As always, people insisted on asking him to join their party. Tsukasa was a loner, and did not want to be used by a party just because they needed a magic user. Tsukasa had played solo for so long that he had reached the highest level, 99. He even had a one of a kind level 99 Ludicrous Rod from a special event for Wave Masters. Most didn't think or realize his level because of his appearance. With his frail petite frame and plain clothing, he looked like a weakling newbie.
Tsukasa was drawn out of his musings when a strange cat-player appeared in front of him. It turned to look at him, and spoke to him.
'You want to be left alone, don't you?' the voice was gentle and sympathetic; Tsukasa couldn't help but feel some trust for the other character. It floated over to him. Holding out its hand it spoke again.
'I am Macha. I know of a way for you to be left alone.' Tsukasa stared at Macha in desperation. Life outside was terrible for him, he only felt at home in here.
"How?" he asked almost pleadingly. Macha smiled sadly at him.
'First you must go to this dungeon and get a specific treasure chest, I will be waiting for you there.' Macha vanished, leaving Tsukasa at the Chaos Gate.
"Alpha, Oceanic Overlord Grave." The rings rose, taking him to the Dungeon entrance.
The dungeon was very easy; the monsters were very few and pathetically easy. Tsukasa was getting worried that it was the wrong dungeon when he saw Macha sitting on the treasure chest. Macha smiled and floated off, fading somewhat.
"Wait, what should I do!" Tsukasa called reaching toward the other player.
'Open it.' Macha said as he completely vanished. Tsukasa tapped the chest with his Ludicrous Rod, and it opened. He bent over to look in it, and a ball of multi-colored light hit him in the chest.
And then came the pain. An felt something forcing her away from herself, and her memories were fading as though deleted. Just before she lost consciousness she heard an echoing voice.
"I am sorry, Twilight's Child…" she wanted to ask what that meant, but she was fading to fast. Just before total blackness.
"Forgive me…"
In the dungeon, on the floor lay a young Wave Master. He was unconscious it appeared, but suddenly began to wake up.
"What was it?" he asked in confusion, having no memory of what had happened.
Mimiru was bored and lonely, she had forgotten this dungeon and visited to see if it had changed. But so far it was pathetic. No monsters, no puzzles, and no other players.
She was about to declare the trip worthless when she spotted a small Wave Master in front of an unopened treasure chest. He had messy silver hair, pale skin, red-orange boomerang marks, and violet eyes. He was wearing a brown outfit, with a simple cap with green decoration. He carried a simple rod with a red orb.
Mimiru fought off a sense of dÈj‡ vu; she knew that the Tsukasa she knew, An Shouji, refused to return to the game ever again. But this person looked exactly like Tsukasa had when they first met.
"Oh hello, I didn't know I had company, hi there. I'm Mimiru." He simply stared at me, a look of confusion on his soft features.
"Is something wrong? Are you okay?" he moved back when she stepped closer and continued to watch her.
"I hardly ever see a Wave Master working alone. You must be powerful! Are you?" he pulled out a sprite ocarina and left, despite my attempt to be friendly.
"That was definitely freaky. I am going to need to talk to the others about this."
Tsukasa sat down by a well in a field of Dun Lorieag, feeling utterly confused. He couldn't help but feel that he was out of place, but at the same time, like he truly belonged here. He was interrupted by the arrival of three player characters that dressed in armor that included helmets. They were holding their swords, so Tsukasa stood up and held his rod in a defensive position. The one in the front with red eyes and horns held his sword above his head and then all three placed them point down in the ground.
Silver Knight had been confused by the flash mail sent by Mimiru. It had said that she had met a Wave Master in the same place she had met Tsukasa. It had also stated that the character design was identical, and so was the behavior. He had decided to test it the same way he had met Tsukasa.
"We are not here to fight, greetings. We are the 13th squadron of the Crimson Knights. I'm sure you've heard of us." Without pause the one to the left behind him spoke.
"We Crimson Knights value courage, civility, and tolerance. We watch over the World and insure its smooth operation." Then the third one spoke up.
"We are constantly on watch for any illegal activities inside the World." Tsukasa didn't want to be investigated by these people. He just wanted to be left alone.
"Then I'm of no interest to you." He stated forcefully and with a hint of hostility.
"You're wrong, we are interested in all who come to the World. Just a few days ago, you were seen with a mock-cat player, am I correct?" the head Knight said with authority.
"A-a cat?" Tsukasa said, getting a brief flash of something, a strange cat person.
"Someone saw you in the presence of this player."
"That character was obviously edited illegally."
"We cannot ignore this fact. However, that does not mean we wish to cause you any trouble." Tsukasa was somewhat confused by them, and he couldn't remember a thing.
"Was this cat-player-character male or female? Tell me, we need more information." Tsukasa started to back up.
"We will not inconvenience you any further, I promise you that." Tsukasa was seriously uncomfortable, so he warped back to Dun Lorieag.
Silver Knight was very worried now. The player he had just met had reacted in exactly the same manner as Tsukasa had. He sent a flash mail to all the people from the first incident, including the original Tsukasa.
Tsukasa continued out into Dun Lorieag, only to run into the female heavyblade from before, and a male Blademaster with brown hair and blue markings. They both looked at him with friendly faces, but he felt uneasy somehow.
"Hey! I remember you. You left before I could ask your name." Mimiru said kindly, smiling at him. He didn't want trouble and couldn't see a way out, so he answered.
"…Tsukasa." He said his name in a monotone to indicate that he didn't want to be here, but the male blademaster smiled at him bigger.
"Well then, I'm Bear, and as I'm sure you know, this is Mimiru. It is a pleasure to meet you, Tsukasa." Bear then placed a hand on Tsukasa's shoulder gently, unsurprised when Tsukasa tensed at the gesture. The pair of them then gently led Tsukasa to the Chaos Gate and warped back to Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground, where the rest of the people involved in the previous incident were waiting.
Tsukasa was scared, these strangers had warped him to a field that he recognized somehow, and felt safe in. but they then guided him inside the depressed looking building. He was very surprised to see so many people in the place.
Bear looked around to see if anyone was missing. The female Wave Master BT was here, as was the male long arm Krim, the Silver Knight, the Heavy Axe Subaru, the Blade Master Balmung of the Azure Sky, the hacker/Wave Master Helba, the Twin Blade/Player Killer Sora, and the previous Wave Master Tsukasa. He noted that they all were looking at the young Wave Master he held in his arm with shock.
"Everyone, I would like you to meet Tsukasa. Would you please introduce yourselves?" he said, tightening his grip reassuringly on the trembling Wave Master in his arms.
"I am BT. Nice to meet you." The blonde haired green clad female Wave Master said, gently and soothingly. Tsukasa looked at her and attempted to smile.
"I'm Krim, master of the Heavy Spear. I'll be around if you need me." Said the red-clad blue haired male with his usual friendly personality.
"I am Silver Knight." Said the leader of the people who had questioned him earlier.
"I am Subaru, it's nice to meet you." Said the blue haired blue clad Heavy Axe.
"I'm Balmung of the Azure Sky." Said the winged blade master.
"I'm Orca of the Azure Sea." Said the tattooed blade master beside Balmung.
"I am Helba." Said the strangely dressed female Wave Master.
"I'm Sora!" said the green haired Twin Blade who appeared hyper.
"I'm An, but I'm also called Tsukasa." Said the female version of himself.
"Who are you people?" Tsukasa said, looking at all the friendly faces in confusion. Bear continued to hold him, so he could only glance about instead of run.
"That's what we're trying to determine about you, actually. I need you to answer our questions, okay?" Bear stated, giving off this gentle aura that makes the young Wave Master feel safer. Tsukasa nods slightly.
"Great! Let's begin." He said, leading Tsukasa to the altar and sitting with him in his lap on it.
"Tsukasa, how much do you remember?" asked An looking into Tsukasa's eyes searchingly. Tsukasa thought for a while before answering.
"I remember a cat, a treasure chest, and pain… I almost remember hearing something before the pain though." He answered honestly in a quiet tone.
"Are you able to log out?" asked Subaru, shifting Tsukasa's focus to her. Tsukasa looked at her in confusion for a moment before he understood as he remembered that term.
"I…tried." He said, looking down at his lap. Bear's arms tightened comfortingly around him.
"How long have you been logged in now?" Subaru asked, trying not to let her feelings interfere, this wasn't the same Tsukasa.
"I logged in…at 8:45 pm on Friday November 4th, in 1993. I don't know how long ago that was." An was visibly shaken. She stared at Tsukasa in horrified disbelief while the others watched her.
"Tsukasa, did you open a treasure chest in Alpha Oceanic Overlord Grave?" An asked with a grim expression. Tsukasa nodded in confusion, and An looked incredibly saddened.
(I made that date up, but in the story it's the date and time An logged in when she got trapped in the World.)
"Why is that important An?" Sora asked in confusion, having never learned the exact circumstances behind An's being trapped.
"That day and time…are the same as the one I was trapped on. That treasure chest in that dungeon are the same ones Macha had me open." They all turned to the Tsukasa in Bear's lap in shock. Tsukasa was starting to freak out from their staring.
"Does that mean that this Tsukasa could be a…?" BT started to ask but stopped when Helba nodded.
"It is possible, and would explain the lack of memory. It could be that when An touched the chest, it made a replica of her data in its drained form to make sure that there would be a Tsukasa to awaken Aura. What I don't get is why it appears now, a year after you managed to log out." They all looked at Tsukasa thoughtfully. Tsukasa stared at his hands in shock.
'I'm only a copy? I'm not real?' he thought in shock. The others noticed his state of shock and were concerned.
"Then, if what you say is true, and I'm only a copy of An, what am I?" Tsukasa asked almost brokenly. Helba thought for only a moment before responding.
"An AI who is based off a player character. An NPC who acts like a PC." Helba said in a confident way that was meant to comfort Tsukasa, but didn't. Tsukasa moved off of Bear's lap and ran for the door. He was halfway down the aisle when Sora grabbed him from behind by wrapping his arms around his waist and neck. Tsukasa froze at the contact, feeling fear. Sora lifted Tsukasa so that his feet were not touching the floor.
"And where do you think you're going?" Sora whispered into his ear, his breath making Tsukasa shiver, which pleased Sora for some reason.
"…. away from here…" Tsukasa whispered in a frightened and unnerved tone. Sora tightened his grip slightly at the thought of never seeing Tsukasa again.
Sora knew that the Tsukasa he was holding was not the same as the one he knew, but that didn't keep him from feeling something for the male Wave Master in his grip. He had been disappointed when An had changed her character design to female…
"Why are you trying to leave?" Mimiru asked softly, unable to see Tsukasa because Sora hadn't turned around. The others all moved closer to the pair, trying to keep Tsukasa from panicking.
"I'm not real…." The broken whisper was just barely audible, but it gave them an insight into the mental state of the AI in Sora's arms. Sora kept the body of said AI firmly pressed against him. He wanted to make Tsukasa not think like that. He was perfectly real; he just didn't exist outside The World.
"Yes you are, Tsukasa. You just don't exist outside The World." Subaru said soothingly, trying to reach the depressed Wave Master. Sora decided that he would take Tsukasa somewhere else when the others left.
"I'll tell you what. We'll flashmail you soon and talk to you again, okay? If you promise to come, we'll leave you alone until then." Bear said, glancing around to check for agreement. Everyone nodded, even Sora.
"All right…" Tsukasa said, still in Sora's grasp. Bear nodded, and then warped to the Chaos Gate. He was shortly followed by BT, Subaru, An, Krim, Silver Knight, Balmung, Orca, and Mimiru. He was waiting for Sora to let him down and leave when he noticed that Sora wasn't loosening his hold.
"Aren't you going to leave?" he asked in confusion, wondering why the Twin Blade wasn't going away. Sora merely tightened his grip.
"Yep!" Sora said as he warped the both of them to a field that he had discovered by accident, and had hidden from everyone else in the game.
Tsukasa looked around in confusion at the forest around them, noting the lake and the small meadow with a blanket in it. Sora walked over to the blanket, where he set Tsukasa down. He then sat down himself and pulled Tsukasa into his lap, his back to Sora's chest.
"Comfy?" Sora asked playfully, smiling when Tsukasa blushed without knowing why.
"Wh-what is going on?" Tsukasa asked fearfully, full of confusion. Sora could only run his fingers through the free part of Tsukasa's silky silver hair.
"I just wanted to spend some time with you." Sora said with a small smile, looking down at the small AI with hidden possessiveness. He felt a rush of desire when Tsukasa looked up at him with questioning eyes.
"Why?" the Wave Master asked in a small, confused voice. Sora put his hand on Tsukasa's cheek, gently caressing. Tsukasa let out a small gasp as he blushed again. Sora smirked triumphantly, hidden desire in his eyes.
"Because, I think it would be nice for us to get to know one another." Sora said honestly, he did want to get to know this beautiful being for who they are, and not who they looked like. Tsukasa smiled a small smile up at him, and he felt completely elated.
"Thank you, Sora." Tsukasa said softly as he turned to look at the lake. They stayed that way for a while, content in each other's presence. Sora gave Tsukasa the address to this field, telling him that it was just for them.
"When I want to meet you here, I'll have said alone in the message." He said before he logged out. The Sora in the real world looked at the screen in satisfaction, before printing out the screenshot he had taken of Tsukasa outlined by the sunset.
"See you soon, Tsukasa-chan." He said, hiding the print out in his book hidden under his pillow. Satisfied, he went to sleep.
Tsukasa warped back to that dungeon where the treasure chest had been. He saw flashes of what had happened when he last opened it. Then Macha appeared again.
"Macha…" Tsukasa whispered, getting a smile from Macha before Macha touched the chest and floated while fading.
"Wait, what should I do?" Tsukasa called to the only one he clearly remembered. Macha nodded while holding his hand out.
"Do I open this?" Tsukasa asked before tapping it with his Ludicrous Rod. The chest vanished, leaving behind a floating glowing stone tablet. Tsukasa reached out and touched it. The glow enveloped him and a familiar voice spoke to him.
"I've been waiting for you, for such a long time. I need you just as you need me." Tsukasa listened to the hope and love in that echoing voice.
"Let us walk together. As long as we walk together, I shall protect you." The tablet went inside him and the glow vanished, leaving him staring at the wall behind the chest.
"Waiting, a long time?" Tsukasa whispered, before turning to leave the dungeon. As he reached the entrance, a strange blademaster blocked his way. Tsukasa took out a sprite ocarina, but it didn't work.
"It's useless, I set up a barrier to keep you from getting away." Said the black haired blade user. Tsukasa sighed, and ran further into the dungeon. The Blademaster flipped in front of him, slashing at Tsukasa with his sword, but Tsukasa blocked all his blows.
"Why do you run?" they asked with a glare.
"Because I think its fun." Tsukasa responded, not wanting to tell anyone the truth.
"Is that the only reason?"
"Your not satisfied?" the blademaster managed to knock Tsukasa into a wall. He fell to the ground. It hurt so much.
"Get up!" Tsukasa could barely move. The blademaster charged forward just as Tsukasa was reaching for his rod. About to be killed, Tsukasa closed his eyes. But then this golden blob appeared out of nowhere and shoved the attacker away. The strange creature looked like a golden barbell with a strange ring in the bar.
"What sort of monster is that!" the blademaster said, getting into attack position. The ring moved back then forward stabbing the blademaster with a then spike of ooze. Then the player was surrounded by ones and zeros before dropping to the ground dead.
The blob moved closer to Tsukasa, sniffed him, and left after moaning. Tsukasa looked at the player that would have killed him, then remembered what that voice had said.
"As long as we walk together, I will always protect you." Tsukasa murmured before smiling sadly. So he was protected, but why him? Why had they been waiting for him?
Tsukasa warped to Mac Anu, and sat staring at the water with a small smile.
'I'm here. That's right, I'm here. Instead of dwelling on the fact that I only exist in here, and that I am not like others, I should think about the fact that I'm real, and I belong here. Besides, I don't ever have to go to that ludicrous world outside of here.' Tsukasa stood and moved off to find a place to sleep.
Sora and the others met in the forest where he and Mimiru had made their pact. They were discussing what should be done about the young AI.
"Should we tell the System Administration about him? I mean, he's not part of the programming and could be a sign that Morganna's returning…" Subaru said softly as she sat next to Mimiru and Krim. Balmung looked over at her with amusement.
"You forget that I am part of System Administration. The appearance of Tsukasa does disturb me, but I'm not sure that it is Morganna's doing. It could be that Aura wanted to resurrect the one who freed her as a part of The World. Or maybe the World itself created him as some kind of function. I don't really know." Balmung said as he leaned against a tree.
"The question is what would the System Administration do to Tsukasa if we told them about him." Bear said, a protective look in his eyes. He had come to see 'Tsukasa' as his own child when he was trying to help An log out. The appearance of another Tsukasa with the same memories as An started with awoke them full force.
"They would probably try to eliminate him." Helba said softly, her tone sad at the thought of loosing such a miracle. Sora wanted to kill the System Administration. They would destroy someone as beautiful and wonderful as Tsukasa just because they didn't make it themselves!
"For now, I don't think we should tell them. We don't know why Tsukasa was made, or who did it. I think we should learn more before making such a decision." BT said, a hand on Bear's arm. They all nodded and left, knowing they would meet again later.
Sora went to Mac Anu on a whim. He didn't do enough PKing in root towns. He was looking around for a target when he found the object of his desires sleeping on a roof.
"Tsukasa?" he asked gently a hand on the AI's shoulder. Tsukasa opened his eyes sleepily, blinking at him.
"Sora?" Sora pulled Tsukasa into his arms and hugged him. Tsukasa was startled but then tentatively wrapped his arms around Sora's neck. Sora was in heaven.
"What were you doing here?" he asked gently, holding the Wave Master close as he prepared to head to his place.
"Sleeping." Tsukasa said simply, laying his head on Sora's shoulder sleepily. Sora warped them to their spot, sitting with Tsukasa curled up in his arms.
"You need sleep?" Sora asked in curiosity, wondering how realistic the creator had made Tsukasa.
"I think so, I just wanted to sleep for some reason." Tsukasa said, drifting off in Sora's arms. Sora smiled down at the adorable Wave Master, letting him sleep. Sora woke Tsukasa when he left, and disappeared.
Macha watched over Tsukasa as he slept, making certain that Tsukasa would want to have a place where he could truly be alone. The Voice, the one that the PCs had named Morganna, was worried that he wouldn't be safe until he had come back to their special place.
Tsukasa woke up and went back to Mac Anu, only to find the Cobalt Knight Brigade waiting for him. Terrified, he warped out to a desolate and high-level field with a giant skeleton. He knew that the Cobalt Knights wouldn't stop watching that gate, so he couldn't leave.
"Oh which way should I turn?" he said sadly. That's when Macha appeared. Macha asked what was wrong.
"I just want to be left alone, alone and not be bothered by anyone. Can't you see that?" Tsukasa said, lowering his head in depression. Macha then told him he knew a place where no one could bother him, where it was peaceful and safe.
"Is that true?" Macha nodded, reassuring him that it was wonderful.
"Does a place like that actually exist?" Macha nodded.
He headed into the dungeon of the field he had gone to, heading into the Gott statue room. Behind the Gott statue was where Macha said the entrance was.
"Right here?" receiving an affirmative, Tsukasa put his hand on the wall and focused. He was surprised when he was gently pulled through before the opening vanished.
He was the most beautiful place he had ever seen. A meadow bordered by a stream and trees. In the middle of the meadow was a white bed. He was drawn to the bed by his exhaustion. He lay down on it, and heard the echoing voice from before.
"Welcome home, Tsukasa." The voice was so gentle and loving that he felt safe.
"Who are you?" he asked weakly, exhausted.
"I'll tell you everything once you've had some sleep. Sweet dreams, Tsukasa." As she spoke, he drifted into a peaceful sleep.
Once the child was asleep, Macha floated him off the bed, pulled back the covers, and set him back down before tucking him in. Macha then floated over to the tree from which he had been watching earlier. As he watched a gentle breeze began to blow through the clearing, carrying on its wings a gentle melody. Macha smiled contentedly, the Voice was finally back to its true self.
"Now, everything will be as it should be. The Child of the World is finally where he belongs." And the gentle voice faded as the entity behind it settled to watching over Tsukasa. The gentle song continued, fading out as the night went on.
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Please, tell me what you think