It had taken quite some time to get Atoli to accept that they hadn't done what she thought.
Haseo felt as though he were talking to a wall over a long period of time.
She was just that stubborn about it in that time.
And the fact that she was speaking to herself didn't help much for that entire ordeal.
"...I guess you chose Alkaid after all..." Atoli said in a distant voice.
"No you idiot!" Haseo tried to yell in response to that, and thankfully, over time, they finally convinced the girl.
Though the state of the room remained a question as well.
Several holes had formed in the walls (via several times Skeith and Eu would ram each other's heads there), the book shelf thrown down and destroyed (Skeith tried to throw it at Eu, and she'd dodged it narrowly), the wooden desk split in half (Eu kicked Skeith on his back and onto the desk, him moving just in time to avoid getting a downward slash of Alkaid's twin blades to the face), and the door leading to the bathroom with several cut marks on them, which healed themselves over (self-explanitory).
And seeing nothing else but the truth to say, Haseo could only tell Atoli that he and Alkaid had been fighting.
He knew it'd sound like he was lying if he said he didn't know why they'd gone that far into the fight, though it was the genuine truth, so he said that it was a private matter.
Which more or less got the same result he tried to avoid.
Atoli puffed her cheeks up when he said that.
"What?" Haseo said.
"Nothing." Atoli turned, hands clenched into fists, walking out, "Absolutely nothing at all." She closed the door with a very loud snap.
Haseo stared at the door for a long time, then sighed.
Great, he thought, now I have Atoli pissed off...
"Haseo," he turned at the sound of his name, seeing Alkaid looking around her room, "Is it alright if I sleep with you again?"
Under different circumstances, Haseo would promptly say no (or yell rather), but under these circumstances, what with the room the way it was...
"...yeah. You can." He turned away then, "Just put on some clothes before you come in."
"I'll need to take another shower before I do that..." Alkaid sighed, and Haseo didn't need to, nor did he dare, to look at what she meant.
He was as banged up and dirty as she was, dust and dirt mixing somewhat with the blood that had poured out of his body before they stopped fighting.
At least he actually had clothes on though...
He turned the doorknob, opening the door just enough for him to slide through, and close the other side of the door quickly.
Though he noticed the knob felt different at first, Haseo didn't look until the door was closed.
There was an indent on the metal, as though curshed by someone else's grip.
And he knew only one person could have done that...
Haseo sweatdropped then.
Just how strong was Atoli anyways...?
He shook his head, then followed the things he told himself in his head.
Just walk away. Walk and don't look back.
He saw Atoli at the end of the hall way, and he weighed the options of trying to talk to her or not.
The thing that determined his decision was the fact that she would see him again anyways.
He might as well try to...
He walked next to her, "Hey, Atoli." He stopped when he was a meter or so away from her.
"Yeah Haseo?" She said as she looked out the window in a monotone, and Haseo could almost sense that she wanted to walk away from him then.
Only... nowhere to go.
Haseo felt himself hesitate, but walked next to her, pushing his hands into her pockets.
They stood next to each other for a long moment, and Haseo sighed after a moment, not knowing what to say.
"...Atoli..."
"It's okay Haseo." She stopped him, "You don't have to tell me what happened." Her expression was unreadable.
He sighed again, "I'm... sorry..."
"For what exactly?"
"For hurting you..."
"How did you hurt me Haseo?" She looked at him, and though there was in fact hurt in her eyes, she still asked the question.
And Haseo didn't have a response to that.
"See? You don't even know!" Atoli yelled at him, and he had a feeling she had been reading his thoughts.
"..."
"I'm not hurt because I thought you were doing that kind of thing with Alkaid... I'm just hurt because... because you don't ever try to show me or Alkaid how you feel about us!"
Haseo was taken aback by this, and she still continued yelling, "It'd be fine if you just got together with Alkaid and be done with it... I'd accept it and try to let my own feelings for you go..." Atoli's eyes hardened, "But it keeps getting worse the more you deny us our feelings whenever we try to show you how we feel!"
Haseo gave no response, only looked away.
"Just tell me Haseo..." Her voice trembled, and she looked down, "...just how DO you see us... see me..."
Again, Haseo gave no response.
She snapped her gaze up at him, her hurt becoming anger, "Just tell me how you see me! Just do it, for once in your life Hase-"
She stopped herself when he walked to her, stepping in front of her and hugging her tightly.
"I love both of you." Haseo whispered, and her eyes widened, before softening somewhat, tears slipping out of her eyes.
"...you idiot..." Atoli punched him lightly in the stomach, though it only ended up as a light push, resting her forehead on his shoulder despite this, eyes still shedding tears, "You have to choose between us. You can't say you love us both..."
Haseo held tight, "I can't say I'm very in control of that."
Atoli sighed softly, then leaned more heavily on him, "Do you want to make it up to me?"
"Yes. What would you like?"
"Let me sleep with you... just for tonight..." Haseo freezing up at that didn't make her feel very assured in that moment. She looked at him, "Don't tell me..."
Though she couldn't see his face at that moment, his thoughts were still open to her.
Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT! Why now?! Why did Alkaid have to ask now to sleep in my room now?!
Atoli looked, then threw her arms around Haseo's neck as tightly as she could, "Fine, she'll sleep with us then." She said, and when Haseo looked, he could see her puffed up cheeks again.
He mentally sighed.
How did he get himself into these situations?
"Don't complain... I thought that was what every guy wanted!"
Haseo stared at her.
No Atoli, he thought, not every guy wants this...
She scowled, then leaned in again, "We'll see how you feel about that when it actually happens."
"She really isn't going to let this go, is she?" Skeith said, rubbing the back of his neck as his ghost like shape stood next to them.
"You've got you and your host to blame for that." A woman with strange clothing said as she suddenly appeared next to them.
Her clothing was only very baggy white sleeves that were cut off just before her shoulders by a golden brace, along with something similar happening with her pants, a brace going around her waist tightly, white pants just as baggy as her sleeves, hair white and eyes black almost completely, the sole exception to that being the center of her eyes a bright red orange.
The thing covering her cleavage was a white bra that seemed to be held by the braces on her shoulders, but besides that, there was nothing stopping her from revealing skin.
She lifted a fist up into the air, then slammed it harshly into Skeith's skull, making him clutch his head, "What the hell Innis?"
"For being an idiot again." Innis scolded.
Both of the Epitath Users present stared at the two, and Haseo looked at Innis, Atoli looking at Skeith and Innis both.
"Who...?" Atoli left the question hanging.
"Skeith... this is Innis?" Haseo asked, blinking as he saw the Mirage of deception look his way.
"And you," Innis kicked Haseo in the face, and the boy actually felt it, getting pushed back several steps as he lost his balance somewhat, "You're more unfit of a host than any of the others."
"What the hell was that for?" Haseo held his nose, scowl deep on his face.
"For being a weak user of the Epitath. Tsk, I understand your wanting to get the Sitic Queen, but don't put yourself in the line of fire just for that." Innis spoke to Skeith, her pointing finger poking him in the head.
It was like seeing an older relative lecture their younger counterpart.
"Ah... Innis..." Atoli tried to hold her hands up towards the woman, and she looked at her, eyes narrowed.
Then she hugged her tightly, holding Atoli's head in her shoulder, "You beings are such monsters... hurting such a kind and gentle girl like this..."
Haseo and Skeith both stared.
"I-Innis! Please, it's alright!" Atoli tried to reassure the woman, only for her to hug her more tightly.
"Nonsense child. You were never supposed to go through such suffering. I cannot begin to imagine what you had gone through beforehand..."
Haseo could see Atoli look at him pleadingly.
Guess she forgave him...
"Look, Innis, we-" Haseo tried to speak, only for Innis to swing around and strike him against across the cheek, the clap of her hand and his flesh loud in his ears from what he could hear.
Haseo stared in the direction he was forced to look in because of the slap, then slowly looked back at Innis, seeing her scowling at him.
"Would you at least tell me what I did to piss you off?!" Haseo snarled.
"You have tainted the fine innocence that was surrounding this poor defenseless maiden!"
"How did either one of us do that?!"
"You dare ask such a question?"
Haseo scowled even deeper then, but held his tongue, forcing himself to walk away despite Atoli trying to get him to come back.
He wanted to hurt Innis, he knew that.
It was like talking with Death Grunty for the first time; only difference was the fact that it was just that much harder not to get physical about your anger when the source of anger in question was getting physical with YOU.
So he could only walk away silently.
He thought of going straight to his room then, but in his times of being pissed off, Haseo often found that having some time alone would often get him to calm down faster.
And with the possibility of Alkaid being in there already, he didn't want to take the chance.
And that's why he would walk outside then, passing a few of his friends and going out silently, without a word to them.
But as he went...
"Hey, Haseo, let me out of you for a minute..." Skeith's voice filled his head, and after checking that no one else was around, Haseo took a breath before feeling the sensation of a force pushing him back, him opening his eyes to see Skeith standing in front of him.
"What?" Haseo crossed his arms.
"I wanted to try seeing if you tried using your new weapon yet."
He raised an eyebrow at that, "What new weapon?"
"It looks like you haven't." Skeith smiled, "That's perfect though."
"What are you talking about? And why ask anyways, aren't you always watching everything I do anyways?"
"Even Epitaths like to sleep apparently." As though for emphasis, Skeith yawned as though on cue.
"That answers one question." Haseo said, still looking at him expectantly.
"My wand. You never used my wand." Skeith said, looking at him silently for a moment.
"Your wand?"
"Check your weapon items list. Look for something called "Shadow's Wand"."
He did, and Haseo scrolled down, not seeing it, "It... isn't there."
"Keep looking. You won't find it as easily as your other weapons."
He looked again. And again.
As he tried it for a fourth time, Haseo found that the thing Skeith had mentioned wasn't put in alphabetical order like the other ones. Or at least what Haseo THOUGHT was what Skeith was talking about.
There was something written in a foreign language that he couldn't read at all. The only reason Haseo had noticed it at all was because he had noticed a strange icon next to all his weapons, each signifying what weapon type it was.
The item in the unreadable language had a strange mark next to it as compared to a weapon symbol.
"..." Haseo pushed it for the weapon to come to his grasp, and suddenly his sight went staticky about three times before returning to normal, a dot appearing around Haseo's hand and orbiting it, until a giant red wand fell into his palm, which he grasped tightly.
"That's it..." Skeith said, eyes focused on the weapon, walking towards Haseo.
"What is this thing?"
"Like I said, it's my wand." Skeith repeated himself, then pressed a hand lightly on Haseo's chest, "But before you can use it, I need to try something first."
Before Haseo could ask what he meant, Skeith ran into his body again, fazing right into him, and Haseo took a step back as though pushed roughly.
He clenched his teeth, his entire body hurting then out of nowhere, his arms feeling as though they had several sandbags weighing down on them.
Despite this, he raised his hand slowly, brown eyes glowing somewhat now, and placed his hand on his heart, feeling it beating much too fast, hammering like a drill into his ribs.
"Skeith..." Haseo said through still clenched teeth, and his eyes began to become a burning red.
He simply felt his heart suddenly stop then, only to be replaced by one lone heartbeat.
*b-bump*
His eyes widened, and he fell down to his knees, before the wand in his hand started to raise itself up into the air, over his head, the pointed end aiming right for his head.
It plummeted down, and Haseo got stabbed through the back by it as it glowed brightly, eyes becoming an even brighter yet deeper red as his spine arched.
Then the wand disappeared, and Haseo stared up at the sky for a moment, eyes still wide.
Then his pupils started to change shape, until they were in the same shape as Skeith's wand, a white glow appearing within them.
He closed his eyes, then stood up slowly, his cloak emitting light again.
As he was about to stand back up onto his two feet, Haseo felt another pulse rack through him, and he hugged himself tightly, narrowing his eyes, before spreading his arms, roaring up to the sky as the light coming from his cloak became crimson, Skeith's wand appearing before him.
Haseo saw it, and reached out, grasping it in both hands, holding it close to himself, it vibrating uncontrollably in his hands.
The concentration of light from his body increased around him, forming a sphere that resembled a bright red star, before finally shooting a beam up into the sky, cutting through the clouds as Haseo stood his ground.
His appearance changed yet again.
His white cloak was now a dull glowing ruby red, the signs on his back, leg, and torso, once red like the wand Skeith had mentioned, now a coal black. His hair retained its usual appearance, only now it too was black instead of brown.
Haseo breathed slowly, holding his heart, his eyes still retaining the same appearance as before.
"What the hell... is this?" Haseo looked down at his hand, seeing that his black fingerless gloves now had marks of Skeith's wand on his palms as well.
"I finally perfected it." Skeith's voice had a self satisfied smile, "Haseo, say hello to your form when you use your "Avatar Awakening"."
"I don't understand why you have done this." Ovan said, both hands gripping the hilt of his two swords as he stared at the man before him as he stood at the end of the hallway.
The red hooded figure looked back at him, speaking as though in surprise, as his face was unseeable, "So, one of the Epitaths have already located me."
"Answer me." Ovan said, red glasses covering his narrowed eyes.
"Why create my own world, you may be asking?" Kayaba spoke, lifting a hand out to the world outside the window he was in front of moments ago.
"No, why did you force all the servers of "The World" to be converted to this server?"
"I thought doing that might make things accelerate a bit faster."
"Accelerate?" Ovan asked, though his weapons weren't loosened from his grip at all.
"Yes."
"You forced all of us into this world, and made our consciousness' all appear here, making us all Lost Ones in the real world," Ovan scowled, calm demeanor turned to a scowl, "Simply to "accelerate" everything?"
"Yes. It's not as though the people who have been said to be killed in the real world because of this have been killed. They simply become Lost Ones like everyone else, while the NerveGear operates as though they'll still be playing Sword Art Online. So due to that, unless you weren't going to ask for that information anyways, you don't have to worry about your little sister being dead. Unless she becomes a PKer, she'll be fine, much like everyone else."
"So you're saying you used the death penalty rule to keep players from trying to kill themselves?"
"Yes, you could say that..." Kayaba looked up suddenly, then sighed softly, "It seems I have to go now. Oh well. I wish you the best of luck in beating this game of mine if you ever wish to leave Ovan." Kayaba looked at the other man, "Until then..." He lifted up a hand towards him.
"Tell me how to ressurect the Lost Ones. That's all I came here for."
If possible, Ovan was sure Kayaba would smile if he could see his face, "If you really want the answer..." Ovan's eyes widened when he saw the black dots surrounding Kayaba's hand, "Then you must find and defeat me, before the game is finished Ovan." Was the last thing he said before the AIDA particles shot at Ovan.
He scowled in anger, "Corbenik!" He yelled, and his avatar appeared then, only able to make short work of the one AIDA particle Kayaba sent his way by immediately using Data Drain.
As he looked at where Kayaba was, his eyes widened when he saw that Kayaba was gone.
"What...?" Ovan looked around himself.
Yet no Kayaba anywhere.
He sighed under his breath, anger in his expression relaxing somehwhat.
And his voice was ice cold as he spoke, "I'll personally make sure you die. If some don't make it to you before me that is." Ovan said to himself before turning, leaving the small out of the way house he'd located Kayaba in.
It seemed Yata would be very busy once again as he tried to find Kayaba for him...
Ovan sighed.