Author's Note: Thank you, everyone who read, reviewed and/or supported the first chapter! I hope you will enjoy the second chapter!

Disclaimer: Gundam SEED and all its characters belong to their respective owners.

Fantasy Trap

Chapter 02: Ripples

After reading a lengthy description of his own character's history, Kira stretched out on the lush grass and enjoyed the scenery. The game's amazing attention to detail made him feel like he was truly a part of it! The log displaying the story winked out of existence the moment he was no longer paying attention to it. He scanned the thriving, green pastures around him. He was lazing in the shade of a gnarled old tree, waiting for something to happen. This was his character's father— his father's farm. I have to get into this properly, he reminded himself. His bow was propped up against the tree and his quiver of arrows stood next to it. He had chosen to be an archer, and had mischievously given himself a pair of pointy, Elf-like ears. Idly, he wondered what Athrun and Lacus were going to look like.

The only other character Kira had seen so far, had been his father. He was a broad-shouldered man with bushy hair, touched white at the temples. He had the same sharp, pointy ears as his son, a large grin and an even bigger laugh. Kira and his father were not of this land, but he had grown up here, on this farm.

Just then, a Non-Player Character, or NPC, came running up to him. The fellow was out of breath as he topped the hill where Kira's tree stood. The floating nametag above his head identified him as Arnold Clyne, the town's innkeeper. What a coincidence… Kira thought, frowning. He has Lacus's surname. The old man looked pretty upset when he finally reached Kira. He was mopping the sweat from his round face with a white handkerchief.

"What's the matter?" Kira asked, trying hard to look concerned.

It was difficult to keep a broad grin from spreading on his face as the excitement of a potential adventure took him. He realized he was being silly. This was a character controlled by the game, so it was not like he would really have minded if Kira looked excited, but the man just seemed so real.

"You must hurry, Master Kira!" the innkeeper urged, practically hauling Kira to his feet. "There's a dragon in the town square!"

"A dragon!?" Kira parroted incredulously.

But as soon as the man finished his sentence, a minimap representing the town appeared in the corner of Kira's vision. A red cross marked the spot where the dragon was apparently doing its rampaging.

"Yes! Yes!" the innkeeper insisted. "Now please hurry!"

Kira barely had time to grab his bow and arrows before the bald little man dragged him off towards the centre of town. Sure enough, a ferocious, red dragon, a good two storeys tall, stood in the village proper, blowing smoke through a pair of flaring nostrils and trampling the cement blocks around the fountain under its monstrous, clawed feet. A red life bar popped up above the dragon's head, showing the enemy's total amount of hit points, along with a convenient tag labelling it a 'Ruby Dragon'.

"I guess I'll have to take care of this!" Kira announced, groping for an arrow from the quiver on his back. He was not scared, exactly – this was only a game, after all – but it was a measure of how realistic the dragon appeared that his palms were actually sweating.

"Do your best, okay, Kira!" a sweet voice called from the sidelines.

He jerked his head in the direction of the familiar sound. There, dressed in a lilac dress that fell in folds to her knees and a small, white jacket that stopped short of her middle, was Lacus. A large, yellow ribbon held her luscious pink hair in a thick braid. From her position in the doorway of the local bakery, she stood waving gleefully at him where he faced off with the huge, fire-breathing beast. That braid reminded Kira a bit of a cat's bushy tail as it swung left and right behind her back in time to the movement of her arm.

As soon as their eyes met, a nametag appeared above the pink-haired girl's head, stating her name, character class and a paragraph explaining her back story. Kira half-expected to get himself walloped by the dragon for being distracted, but when he risked a glance in the enemy's direction, he saw that the battle had conveniently paused itself and the dragon was waiting politely for Kira to finish reading Lacus's profile.

xXx

LACUS CLYNE

Class: White Mage

Age: 18

Height: 160cm

Weight: 46kg

Blood Type: B

Lively and cheerful, Lacus is the youngest daughter of the innkeeper, Arnold Clyne. She is always concerned about the needs of others and studies healing magic from Mistress Neenah Yuwe, the village Healer. She likes to help out at the bakery in her spare time. Lacus is your childhood friend, but, though she has never said anything out loud before, she seems to have strong feelings for you.

xXx

That last bit made Kira blush. He wondered if Lacus had had a hand in the composition of that little paragraph. But then, he had never had a chance to write anything about himself. And Lacus was also staring in his direction intently, as if reading something. She giggled and he could feel his ears heating up further. He wondered what sort of thing the game was making up about him. He hoped it was nothing too embarrassing!

Abruptly, the dragon roared and started moving again. Kira spun back to face the scaled monster, arrow nocked and bowstring drawn taut. He loosed the arrow like he had been doing this all his life – in reality he had never even held a bow before – and it struck the dragon in its chest. It cried out in pain as a fat, white number 5 appeared above its head, indicating the amount of damage Kira's attack had done. The enemy's life bar shrank accordingly. Angered, the dragon reared its front claws into the air and swung one of them at Kira before he had time to ready another arrow. Its enormous, scaled fingers came down on Kira. He flinched, expecting the talons to rend his flesh, but all he felt was a feather-light swipe of air.

Oh yeah, he thought sheepishly, it's just a game!

The white numbers appearing above his head, indicating that he had lost ten hit points, told him that he had better start playing it more seriously. He drew the fletching to his ear and loosed another arrow. Again, the dragon roared as its life points was diminished, then retaliated. Kira quickly did the math. The dragon was capable of doing more damage than Kira's arrows. If they kept on taking turns attacking, Kira's life bar would be emptied first, and he would end up losing the battle! He would have to try something else… But what?

Just then, the battle paused again. He realized that Lacus had run closer to stand beside him. She cupped her hands over Kira's chest and closed her eyes. For a moment, everything was bathed in serene, white light. Kira's life bar filled up again as the gentle light seeped into his body. Lacus opened her eyes and smiled at him.

"You concentrate on slaying the beast," she said in her command-of-the-Eternal voice as she swung her head to stare down their opponent, her pink hair swirling hypnotically as it followed the movement. "I will cover you."

A message popped into view. "Lacus has joined your party!" it said in bright pink letters.

The rest of the battle passed smoothly, with Lacus using her healing magic on Kira whenever he was hurt, and Kira covering for Lacus whenever the dragon tried to attack her. At last, with one last mighty roar, the dragon collapsed in a heap at their feet.

"Wow! We won!" Lacus exclaimed breathlessly. She turned to look at Kira, her eyes sparkling. "I never knew role-playing games could be such fun!"

"Well done, Master Kira!" the innkeeper piped up, clapping a hand on Kira's shoulder. "I knew we could count on you!"

"Well," Kira laughed self-consciously, "I couldn't have done it without Lacus!"

"Which reminds me!" the pudding-cheeked man said, his jovial features setting into a serious expression as he regarded Lacus. "Lacus, you really have to be more careful! One of these days you are going to give me a heart attack!"

"I will be more careful next time… Father," Lacus giggled.

"I wish I could say there won't be a next time," the old man continued, "but this has been the fourth dragon attack in the past month! Normally, the dragons in these parts are peaceful and docile creatures. Something must be upsetting the dragons to make them come here… Master Kira, I was hoping you could maybe…"

"Leave it to me!" Kira declared. "I'll get to the bottom of this for you!"

"And I am coming with you!" Lacus added excitedly.

The innkeeper frowned a bit at Lacus's words, but did not argue. As he carried on to explain where they would find the Dragon Roosting Grounds, a minimap came into view, indicating a mountain path winding through dense woodland, called the Egg-Snatcher's Forest. At the end of the spiralling road, a big, red cross marked the area where the dragons lived. Still wondering why RPGs always insisted on displaying the names of locations in bold lettering, Kira studied the map. Once he was satisfied, the image faded away.

"Please take good care of my daughter, Master Kira," the chubby little man said finally. For all the world, he seemed to be on the verge of tears, so Kira assured him that he would protect Lacus with his life. With that, they set off for the Dragon Roosting Grounds…

As was typical of role-playing games, the path through the Egg-Snatcher's Forest was littered with small fry enemies – among them, a puny kind of lizard giving the forest its name - that Kira defeated easily. Lacus had even found herself a weapon, nestled between the roots of a tree. She's really getting into this! Kira thought proudly. In what seemed like no time at all, the two of them stood in front of a gaping cavern. The land around it was charred black. Tall spires rose from the earth and reached into the swirling clouds above for as far as the eye could see.

"Don't tell me you're here for the item too," a sombre voice spoke up behind them.

"Athrun!" Lacus exclaimed joyfully, like he was the last person in the world she expected to meet.

Athrun stood straight-backed in his majestic outfit of flowing red silk, tailored to such an extent of regal perfection that it would put any prince to shame. Somehow, Kira had been expecting to see this kind of extravagant garments on Athrun. The look was amplified by the proud and dignified air that naturally clothed his best friend no matter what he wore. If Athrun had lived in the medieval ages, Kira was certain that his friend would have fit right in…

Studying the design of the outfit, Kira wondered if Athrun was even aware of the fact that his elegant red tunic, cinched around his middle by a broad, white belt, was remarkably reminiscent to the style of a ZAFT uniform. He did not think so.

It was not a complete copy of the uniform, however. The spotless, white boots Athrun wore had black laces up the sides, the white belt sported a golden buckle and golden embroidery ran along his long, black sleeves and around the hem and collar of the tunic. A snowy cape, fastened to his shoulders with a gold chain, and a long staff encrusted with gems, provided a grand finish. Before Kira could comment, Athrun's profile filled his vision.

xXx

ATHRUN ZALA

Class: Summoner

Age: 18

Height: 174cm

Weight: 60kg

Blood Type: O

Athrun is a mysterious summoner searching for an object of power within the cave of the dragons, but will not tell you any further details about his quest. He prefers not to talk about his hometown, but your keen senses tell you that he must be nobility of some kind.

xXx

Kira was just observing how much the mysterious role seemed to suit Athrun when his childhood friend's lips curved into an amused smile. For one not as cool and composed as Athrun, that small quirk of lips would be the equivalent of stifling peals of laughter.

"What?" Kira demanded. He did not know why he should feel defensive, but he did.

"Nice ears, Kira," was Athrun's only reply, but the looked that passed between him and Lacus spoke blatantly of an inside joke.

Apparently, there was something really funny written in Kira's profile. What I wouldn't give to find out what, he thought with a groan. He was still frowning about it even after the bright green letters declaring that "Athrun has joined your party!" disappeared from view. He noticed Lacus studying him with a sidelong look. Hoping that he had not appeared sulky, Kira quickly straightened his shoulders and turned to advance into the cave.

--

The deeper they travelled into the dragon cave, the more useless Athrun began to feel. He was supposed to be a type of magician, but none of his spells were working. By now, they had faced enemies that ranged from poisonous leaping frogs to absurdly animated slime balls. No matter which of the spells in his selection he cast, the damage was always zero. He did not even try hitting the enemies with his staff anymore: the physical damage Athrun managed to deal was never more than 3, while Kira's arrows, on the other hand, produced numbers like 10 or 12 against the same monsters. That did not bother him so much, because Kira had chosen an archer – archers were physical fighters. What really rankled, though, was that Lacus, who was a healer and had nothing but a lousy, white cane to fight with, dealt out blows to rival Kira's damage!

The others pretended not to notice, of course. Athrun tried to tell himself that it was because they had fought more battles than him on their way here, and that their levels were higher than his. But he could not help feeling left out. Dejectedly, he kept to the back row whenever an enemy sprang up out of the darkness.

What was the point of playing a role-playing game if you could not even take part in the battles properly?

He was just considering asking them whether they would mind resetting the game and starting over – selfish of him, he knew, but this just was not any fun – when he sensed a glowing warmth from somewhere further into the cave. He felt drawn to it, like it was calling out to him. He glanced at the others, but they did not seem to feel anything. But he was not imagining it. With each step they took, they came closer to the source that was emitting the sweet warmth.

"A dead end!" Kira complained when they came to the deepest reaches of the cave. "I don't believe it! Did we take a wrong turn somewhere?" He scratched his head in frustration as he frowned at the air in front of him, probably consulting his map.

"I have heard of using a thing called a 'walk-through' in situations like these…" Lacus offered thoughtfully.

"Lacus!" Kira gasped, sounding scandalized. "That's cheating!"

"Oh my, are you sure?" she asked, cocking her head to one side innocently. Somehow, Athrun had the feeling that Lacus knew more about role-playing games than she let on.

Lacus continued twittering away in the background, Kira defending his cause all the way, but Athrun did not hear the rest of the conversation. The warmth that was calling out to him had turned into an aching desire. Captivated, he took a few steps until he was standing against the cave wall. It was definitely coming from here somewhere… He pressed his palms flat against the rocky surface. Suddenly, the wall rippled – and disappeared! – to reveal a new chamber behind it.

"Oh my!" Lacus exclaimed.

"Yeah! Way to go, Athrun!" Kira cheered, pumping a fist in the air excitedly.

Inside the hidden chamber, a golden podium made up the centrepiece. Atop it, perched on a velvet cushion, sat an oval-shaped bauble. The glow seemed to be coming from a tiny flame dancing within it. The trinket looked to be made of glass, but when Athrun touched it, it felt as hard and solid as a rock. As his fingers slid over the item's smooth surface, he could feel its heat gradually soak into his skin. The flickering flame grew smaller and smaller as the warmth became one with him. It felt right. When the little flame finally became so small that it winked out of existence, the oval-shaped object turned cold and grey, just like a regular stone.

"You have obtained the Phoenix Cradle," a message conveniently pointed out.

"Well, looks like you got what you came for," Kira said, casually leaning back against the far wall, "but we still haven't figured out why those dragons keep attacking our town."

His question was answered by the earth beneath their feet giving a violent lurch.

"GIVE BACK TREASURE!!" an inhuman voice rumbled.

A gigantic, living statue came tearing down the spacious halls of the dragon cavern. It had no eyes, just one enormous mouth – the teeth inside it looked like boulders. Sand and stalactites shook loose from the ceiling as the entire cave shuddered with the giant's violent footsteps. A 'Rock Golem', its name tag declared.

"Level 10…" Kira gasped as he read the enemy's statistics. "B-But we're only level 3! We can't fight this thing!"

He fired a volley of arrows at the thing – by now, his character had grown enough that he was able to fire several with one shot. But the measly little arrows snapped as they connected with the monster's impenetrable granite skin.

"Allow me to try!" Lacus chirped, running up to the beast with more courage than Athrun himself felt.

She swung her cane at it like it was a golf club instead of a weapon. She bounced back and Kira caught her just before she could make a rather graceless landing on the cave's stone floor. Hastily, he handed her a Potion from his pocket so she could replenish her lost hit points.

"GIVE BACK TREASURE!!" the creature bellowed, thundering like an earthquake.

It gave Kira one rock-fisted backhand. The tremendous attack sent the hapless archer skidding across the cave floor. His life bar ran empty, all of his hit points depleted.

"Just one attack and…" Athrun murmured in horror.

"Kira!" Lacus cried out, rushing to his side.

Kira was not hurt, of course, but while his life bar was empty, he could not control his character. Lacus began chanting a reviving spell as she knelt beside Kira, but even as she did, the monstrosity started its advance on her. Without thinking, Athrun darted forward and placed himself between Lacus and the Rock Golem, arms spread wide – as well try to stop a rockslide with his bare hands, but he could not just stand there and watch…

At that moment, the staff in Athrun's hand lit up with soft, warm energy, and he saw a new ability – one he had definitely not had before – start to glow from the corner of his eye. He could not help smirking at the stone-headed giant as the last piece of the puzzle slid into place… He was a summoner. Obviously his spells would not work if he had nothing to summon! But now, he had something… He spun his staff in a blazing circle in front of him. The golem shrank back at the awesome fireworks Athrun's weapon was producing. But he was not done yet. A marvellous, red-and-gold bird – a Phoenix – emerged from the ring of fire made by Athrun's staff.

The spectacular bird of fire drowned the Rock Golem in a blast of liquid flame from its scorching wings. Giving its magnificent feathers a disdainful shake, the Phoenix wheeled to perch on Athrun's arm. Nothing but ashes remained of the monster.

"Wow!" he heard someone breathe in awe.

He thought it must have been Kira. The Phoenix was the size of a large dog, but, sitting there on his arm, it felt lighter than a feather. Its fiery eyes stared deep into its master's admiring green ones. He found that he could not tear them away from the beautiful creature that seemed so wild, yet somehow so tame.

"Athrun, you defeated it!" Lacus applauded eagerly. Next to her, Kira was just getting up, his life bar refilled with the help of Lacus's healing magic.

"Hey, Athrun, where did you get those?" he exclaimed, staring at Athrun in complete astonishment.

"Where did I get… what?" Peering over his shoulder, Athrun saw them – glittering like a thousand candles and reflecting off the walls of the cave, two elegant wings of pure fire sprouted from his back. "I have… wings!?"

"It must be a gift from this lovely dear!" Lacus cooed at the Phoenix. "Isn't that right?"

She had already jumped up from tending to Kira and was admiring the Phoenix with its broad fan of rainbow tail feathers. But just as she raised her hand to stroke its beak, the great bird vanished into a ball of red light that slipped into a ruby that was embedded on Athrun's staff. The red stone shone brilliantly. All the other gems set into the weapon seemed dull in comparison.

The moment the summoned creature disappeared, the wings on Athrun's back winked out as well, causing a disappointed Kira to protest loudly.

"I suppose it's just for show," Athrun replied, shrugging off Kira's dissatisfied look.

"But they were so awesome!" his childhood friend insisted, pouting. Then his expression brightened. "Hey, do you think that if I level up a lot, I'll be able to do that too!?"

"Not likely," Athrun countered flatly.

"Well, how about we restart the game and both of us be summoners?" his best friend offered eagerly.

"Forget it."

"Whaaaaat? Why not!?" Kira complained.

That earned him an amused giggle from Lacus. She placed a delicate hand on his shoulder and proceeded to explain to him the importance of diversity in the party, and how they would need everyone's skills combined in order to win the more difficult battles ahead. If Athrun had not known better, he would have thought she knew more about role-playing games than Kira did! He was seriously beginning to doubt that Lacus had never played an RPG before.

A burst of static interference was all the warning he had. Ducking and rolling instinctively, he looked up to see a tall, sharp-ended icicle sticking up out of the floor, right where he had last been standing. The shard of ice was still vibrating from the force with which it had been driven into the ground. It had been meant for him.

"My sincerest apologies, Your Young Highness, but your father requires your presence," a velvety voice purred.

Athrun's eyes darted until they located the source of the voice; a sinister figure hovering close to the ceiling of the cavern. The man was cloaked in darkness, and shadows wrapped his face like a veil.

"I suggest that you return to the palace immediately," the figure continued, the tone of his voice more than a little threatening.

According to his character's history, Athrun had run away from home. He was supposed to act very secretive about it, so the profile had been vague about his home and family, but it never mentioned anyone looking for him. So it was to be a plot twist none of the players expected. This game seemed to have been programmed exceptionally well, allowing it to not only create random storylines for each player's character, but to make use of key story-telling elements… Athrun did not know why he was so surprised. Being capable of generating complex and unique storylines was, after all, one of the things the advert had been boasting about as one of the game's main attractions.

Well, his character would not have run away from home only to be called back by a menacing figure who tossed deadly icicles at your back. I suppose I should act the part, Athrun thought.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I won't be going back," Athrun declared, fixing the ominous shadow with what he hoped was a firm, yet defiant stare.

"I have orders to bring you back by any means necessary," the malignant voice droned, and momentarily Athrun could see a flash of white teeth displaying a sadistic smile, "so I was hoping you would say that…"

Athrun could not help feeling a chill at the unmasked eagerness that laced the man's voice. For a split second, static interference broke up the image of the man. In that instant, Athrun thought he saw two glassy eyeholes glinting in the blackness. He froze, his mind reeling. No… It's not possible…

"Athrun, look out!" Kira shouted, jolting him out of his daze.

Harsh, blue light, streaming from the palm of the man's right hand, shot at Athrun and enveloped him. The light was draining him. He felt dizzy. It felt like something was sucking all the air from his lungs. Fighting to stay upright, he dropped to his knees.

"Fear not," his assailant said in a mock comforting tone. As the figure spoke, vines shot from the outstretched fingertips of his other hand, ready to entangle Athrun and snatch him up. "My mission is to take you alive."

The vines seemed to be racing one another in a frenzy to see which of them could reach him first. He wanted to back away from the greedy plants closing in on him, but the cruel light seemed to pulse as it feasted on Athrun's remaining energy. He could not move. It was an effort to even keep his head up. Suddenly, the snake-like plants struck an invisible wall around Athrun with the sound of a beaten gong. That horrible light was cut off by it too. Blinking, in relief as much as surprise, Athrun realized that he was looking at Lacus's back as she covered him protectively.

"I will not allow this," she said in a calm, clear voice as she held the barrier spell in place.

"Hmph, wretched girl…" the dark figure spat. "You think that will stop me?" He aimed his right hand at her when three arrows pin-cushioned him from the side. Static ripple. His glassy eyes snapped in Kira's direction and shone with hatred. Static ripple. "Curse you, Halfling!"

With that, he disappeared.

Lowering his bow, Kira came running to Athrun's side. Athrun stood, only to collapse into Lacus's supporting arms. She shared a concerned look with Kira as he reached them. Athrun's vision was blurring and his head spun. He felt sick.

"Hey, are you all right?" Kira asked anxiously as he shifted some of Athrun's weight onto his own shoulders.

Athrun hung there between his two friends like a wrung out piece of cloth. His stomach clenched violently. Those glass eyes… That voice… Could it have been? No. That was not possible. It just was not.

"Athrun, can you hear me?" Lacus pressed.

Athrun realized that he had his eyes closed and forced them open. He did not trust himself to speak for fear of his heaving stomach taking over. He felt the gentle glow of Lacus's healing spell ease his light-headedness. Soon, he could stand on his own two feet again. He no longer felt as if he would faint at any moment and the queasiness around his middle had disappeared. But as he followed Kira and Lacus out of the cave in search of their next quest, he felt a growing uneasiness inside him. That voice… He wondered if the others had noticed.

Before he knew it, they were topping a rise from which they could observe Kira and Lacus's hometown, a charming little village called Iris. Shaking his head, he told himself that it was impossible and that he should stop worrying about it. Kira surely would have said something, anyway.

To be continued...