A/N: I'm really sorry I didn't get this out sooner, but I was wrestling
with my idea for this chapter. * growls * Ank. Anyway, this is the point at
which I start using characters and places for purposes of my own. * ducks
flying tomatoes * This is AU, guys, what'd you expect?! I will try to keep
everyone in character, though, and stick as close to the show's notion of
the The World as possible, though of course with my kind of plot there's
bound to be changes. * grinny grin * Nope, not tellin'. Also, apologies in
advance for this chapter 'cuz I didn't put in half the things the preview
suggested. * smacks self on head * More on that at the ending AN's. Bear
with me, though, there is more Tsukasa in this chap, though not as much as
I'd hoped. . . In any case. . . * click *
O_____O . . . . . . . . . * speechless * * unfreezes * REVIEWERS!!! I HAVE REVIEWERS!!!!!!! * builds a shrine to reviewers *
This chapter is very gratefully dedicated to - Kaylana (Continued right here! ^^ check out her fic Prison of Stone, peoplez! It's good, and it's funny!), tabris (Welp, more Tsukasa on da way jus' for my lovely reviewers! ^_~), Kaya Kydra (More! Finally, eh? Heh), Basia Lynn (Whoot, one more favorite stories list for me!!! ^_______^ Thanks for the nice long review! More description coming up. . .), Kitty-Yasha (Agreed! More .hack//SIGN fics needed!!! * holds up sign * ^^ Thanks!), Queen of Shadows (You're not being stupid! I do have something pretty major planned, let's just hint a little quantum twist to the good ole reality. . . Thanks, btw!), StarStruck (* too huge a smile to be conveyed through a smilie * I'm glad you like it so much! Thankies!), and dstrbdchild (Sorry about that preview, ehhh. . . * sweatdrops * Thanks for the review though! Heeerez Tsukasa! ^^), thank y'all so much for all your support and input!!!
. . . * looks back * Geez, gotta cut back on those author's notes. Anyway, KB, R, R, E & R!!!
Punctuation Notes:
'something' - Italics for emphasis
=========== - Scene Change
########### - Flashback
II\\//\\//\\//\\//II
.hack//DISTORTION_
-- Ill Winds --
"Can you hear the calling of the raving wind and water?" - To Nowhere, .hack//SIGN OST 2
___________
"It's. . . impossible," she whispered. The girl stood looking wide-eyed in all directions, then at the ground, her scarlet gold-trimmed armor dancing in shades of orange gold in the light of the great flickering flame her companion was ensconced in. One hand fingered the hilt of the greatsword over her shoulder.
She took a step, and gave a little yelp as the surface that had been flat and featureless suddenly changed, ringed ripples spreading outwards from where her toes had touched the ground. A single warm, bell-like note resonated vibrantly around them, the ever so slight touch of melody deep and rich. And within and around the note tiptoed suggestions of more than one, fading before they could be pinpointed.
He looked up with a little smile through his silver bangs. "Impossible?"
"Jeez! I'm walking on water, and you're calling it normal?!"
"I never said it was normal," he replied slowly, "And you're not walking on water."
She sighed exasperatedly, placing her hands on her hips and glaring at him with narrowed emerald eyes. Her wild brown hair scattered in all directions as she abruptly bent down to thrust her nose in his face. "How in the world do you know that?!" He flinched and shrugged, and she rolled her eyes. "Fine. Forget it. Now get up before I get a neck cramp looking down at you." She straightened and stamped her black boot for emphasis.
With a sigh, he stood as well, dusting his soft beige vest and dark robes before bending down to pick up his staff. He straightened with a little toss of his head, violet eyes bright and an almost childish smile on his lips. "Shall we go?"
She couldn't hold back a laugh. "Go where?" He just shrugged and mumbled something about paths. Grinning, she followed the young Wave Master's lead.
===========
The wind rose in a howling whistle, pounding against the eaves that flapped helplessly in the gale, creaking ominously. The small armory was barely visible in the clouds that had risen to smother the towering sky isles. Thick mist pressed its ghostly fingers against the windowpanes as though trying to come inside through the glass. Shelves lined the walls, filled with pottery, weapons, and whatnot.
"Are you sure you should go out in this weather?" A cloaked figure silhouetted against the roaring fire in the little shop turned. The stout shopkeeper, clothed in dust-colored shirt and a cap barely holding its own against untidy dull green hair, stood behind his counter, looking at his guest with concern in the round turquoise eyes.
The face of the cloaked player was steeped in the shadow beneath the cowl as he raised his head to look at the rotund little man wiping sweat from his red-hammered cheeks and forehead. The shopkeeper had been pounding steadily at his forge in the corner, where the great flame gave even the stone around it a reddish tinge of heat.
"I don't have any other choice." The voice that emerged from the cowl was rough and harsh as sandpaper, yet still retained a boyish lilt. "The Crimson Knights have this place under surveillance now." A faint touch of disgust filtered through the steady tone.
The shopkeeper looked hurt. "I never thought- I was just trying to help. I thought they'd be able to help you."
The other sighed. "What's done is done." For a moment the clarity of the young voice faded, taking on a sad, faraway tone. "What's done is done. . ." A hand slipped into the folds of his cloak, then quickly retracted into sight once more. The speaker turned away, and the end of a long shaft thudded on the wooden slats as he walked to front of the shop and pulled the door open, looking out into the mist.
He turned back to the little man who seemed to be shrinking away from the mist inching its tendrils ever so gradually across the doorsill. "In any case, this may be my best opportunity to move. They won't be expecting it." The cloaked player's hand fell from the blocky wooden doorknob and went to grip the dark shaft pressed to his side by his other hand.
"When rise the Mists of Dun Loireag, no land shall escape their clutches." He stepped out into the clouded world, his cloak flying about him in the wind that never calmed, fading from sight like a specter as the door swung slowly shut behind him. "Goodbye, my friend."
"Be careful," whispered the shopkeeper. He stood staring at the door as the bolts clicked shut and silence fell in the shop save for the steady crackle and roar of the twin flames. Then he returned to his work with a will.
The iron hammer's pounding rang loud, filled the little shop; its echoes dimmed into the featureless white world beyond, where just for a moment in the cold, a smile kindled, a heart warmed at the distant farewell.
===========
The vast city hospital, its long rectangular body stark in its clean new paint against the fading light of dusk. Sirens wailed, shattering the quiet twilight of the real world. Tires screeched, and voices rang out in a hasty haphazard jumble of alarm and command.
The beep of a monitor in the background against the clear clink of metal. Rivets and wheels creaked beneath their burden as the gurney was wheeled into the gleaming white room. Curtains were drawn across the windows, shutting out the outside world and seeming to muffle sound inside the room. A single conical lamp swung from the ceiling, casting its yellowed light on the pristine metal-framed bed, plunging the corners in uncertain shadows. It was a strictly utilitarian room, as bare of comfort and living softness as it was of furniture. The only things breaking the severe lines of the empty surfaces appeared to be the bed and the small table beside it, as well as the various machines clustered on the other side, emitting their soft ebullient noises and green neon glows.
However, at the very edge of the crisply bordered circle of light, a bit too far from the foot of the bed to give the impression of being there for watching over at the bedside, stood a single chair. Its intricately wood- worked frame gleamed, kissed with the slanting shadows, and its plush cushions were embroidered with brightly colored flowers. It sat there, eerily out of place and seeming to loom as the only object in the room.
Whispers of unease filled the air as they paused, their duty momentarily forgotten at the sight of that chair.
"Something's not right."
"I don't remember it being there before."
The blankets rustled and the gurney squealed tinnily in protest as the weight on it shifted slightly. The sudden movement, almost inaudible yet loud in the sudden stillness that had fallen in the room, seemed to suddenly spur them into action.
They lifted her from the gurney and set her gently on the bed, pulling the blankets over her and tucking them snugly, glancing over their shoulders at the chair that seemed to wait at the edge of vision. Her eyes were closed and she breathed peacefully as though asleep. But she never moved; never even a twitch, she lay unmoving and cold as a marble statue. Now that they'd done what they'd come to do, there was a slight guilty pause of turning to the door, then looking back. Hushed voices seemed to seethe in the heavy silence that they were somehow afraid to break.
"They say this is the second one this week." A derisive snort. "It's the third one, or rather. . . but of course the others. . ."
A gasp, quickly stifled with a fearful look about. "Impossible. . ."
"Yes. All while playing. They say they're looking into the matter, but. . ." A mournful glance at the lifeless form on the bed, heaving a deep sigh. "No. Never. Never let the world know of what The World hides. . ." Scornfully. "The cowards. They have too much to lose. . ."
A breath of a whisper. "It's unnatural. Unnatural, I say. No brainwaves, none, yet there's no sign of injury, none at all detected even with the scans, so they say. And the heart strong as a hammer."
"Unnatural, indeed." A shudder coursed through even the voice. "Do you think it could be that. . . Do you think we should. . ." The speaker trailed off as though something had suddenly clamped her lips shut.
The other jumped on her last words. "Yes! They'll know what to do."
"Hush!"
"What is it?"
"Something's here." A lull in which fear became a living thing, pounding in the room like the heartbeat of a fleeing bird. "Let's get out."
"Yes! Right now!" The quick cry was choppy, trembling, running with eagerness.
The light snuffed out like a candle in a whiff of wind that was never felt. Total darkness. Screams filled the room, bouncing from wall to wall in a vicious, endless round until they finally cut off into gurgling nothings.
Silence hung thick. A tainted scent crept on the air. A movement in the darkness, the scraping of a chair.
"Fools." A reedy voice with an underlying tone of laughter. " 'No one' will interfere. Especially not you and yours, 'Albireo'." Venomous anger filled the sound of the name.
And then the room was empty once more.
===========
A million lights lit the starless night, twinkling fireflies in the vast ocean of darkness. Carmina Gardelica. The Song of Gael. A hundred strains and snatches of song interwove in a bright, dancing melody no one heard but the wind.
The outskirts were quiet, empty as the streets of a real world city at night. Only the occasional player strolled in those parts, looking for a little peace and quiet. However, the central streets bustled with nightlife, the warm glow of a hundred street lanterns and building windows flooding the avenues with light. Day in night.
More wondrous still, the bubbling life of the city center itself was contained not within encircling walls like so many fortified cities of the medieval times, but rather the buildings themselves were a building, arch upon arch of stone soaring from roof to roof, the dome of the vast ceiling lost to the sky. A palace of glass rose in Carmina Gardelica. A city in a bubble.
Delicious hot aromas of food wreathed the air; fresh crusty loaves and savory smoked beef as well as every kind of food under the sun and moon were laid out to tantalize the eye. Vendors called out to passersby, a hundred thousand items adorning their stalls, and even the sides of buildings, countless butterflies clustered in bewildering multicolored melange on every side. Adding to the riot of color were the richly woven tapestries and banners hanging on every surface, depicting the history of the city and the greatest of the players who'd inhabited it. Kiwara Skybreaker, winging to his doom. Jiminy and the Crystal Saber. Midar of the Seven Tridents, grappling in fierce combat with the legendary Water Beast of Mac Anu. And the largest and most splendid of the tapestries hung over the grand double-door entrance to the glass palace itself. A cherished jewel of the real world's sea. The Isle of Man.
A man strode down a busy street, a frown on his face that quickly became a smile as he looked about. It was always easy to tell old from new in Carmina Gardelica. The older players, the book already read, the song already heard, the beauty long faded, went about their business without a glance left or right, while new players gaped wide-eyed at the splendor of the Bubble. The pride of Carmina Gardelica.
The man had no time for such fancies. He wove his way through the scattered crowd in the streets, his stride quick and purposeful, yet he never hurried. He had somewhere important to be at this moment. He had already been enough delayed.
". . . that player the Crimson Knights are looking for?"
The man stopped dead, the muscles in his feet and legs dancing at the very edge of the next stride. His dark eyes darted about the crowd, searching for the speaker.
"Yeah! That new Player Killer. Word is he took out an entire squadron all on his own." The man had finally spotted the source, a pair of youngsters sitting on some crates beside a window selling fruit. He began to approach, then paused, hesitating.
"They say he calls himself the Grim Reaper, and that he's absolutely terrifying."
A whisper the man had to strain his practiced ears to catch. "Taiki says she saw him do it. She says he's a demon from hell itself. Not just figuratively, either."
The other gave a derisive snort. "A demon! Typical Taiki."
As the conversation turned into an argument over the merits of Taiki, the man turned away, puzzlement creasing his blue-and-white-painted face.
"A demon," he murmured thoughtfully, "Now there's one I haven't heard before. The Grim Reaper?"
He ran a hand through his brown hair, his armor clanking, seeming to ponder for a moment longer. Then he seemed to reach a decision, and set off once more through the streets.
===========
This night, the Red Harp was particularly busy. Nearly every table was occupied, the innkeeper bumbling about laden with trays from head to foot as though he'd lost track of his hands and feet. Laughter rang in every corner and the sound of talk and merriment seemed to strain the walls to bursting. The smell of woodsmoke filled the air from the roaring fireplace. There was a pool table in the far corner, where the numerous players clustered round and cheered on their comrades.
Beyond the pool table, in the only quiet corner of the spacious common room, a green-robed blonde woman sat in a booth, half-hidden by shadows. She had her arms crossed, her sorcerer's staff propped carelessly against the wall beside her. Her narrowed green eyes kept darting impatiently to the endlessly swinging door of the tavern. She glanced at her bare wrist once or twice only to roll her eyes with a huff and glare at nothing.
"May I get you something, miss?" The throaty rumble of the innkeeper made the woman start. She directed her glare at the plump little man for a moment, then sighed.
"Not today, Loth."
The innkeeper had already begun backing away when he realized who she was. "Well, I'll be leavin' you be then, miss BT. A busy night, oh yes, a busy night for poor Loth. . ." And he waddled off to pester someone else.
The door of the tavern swung once again, and the man in blue and white war paint stepped into the stifling heat of the common room, his broad-bladed sword propped on his shoulder. When he saw the room, however, he resheathed his blade and began squeezing his way through.
The eyes of the blonde woman had fixed on the man the moment he'd arrived, and her face had brightened beneath the annoyed scowl that was gradually slipping away. She leaned back and squared her shoulders as the man arrived at her table. "Hmph. Took you long enough."
"I'm sorry. I was delayed," he apologized as he sat down across from her. The innkeeper popped up immediately and set two steaming mugs of cider before them. She sighed but refrained from commenting.
"Delayed?" She raised an eyebrow. His face darkened and she groaned. "Not 'him' again?!"
"The entire squadron, no less. There were others as well." Bear propped his chin on the back of one hand with a heavy sigh. "I suppose they have reason enough."
"Reason or not, they're becoming a bother," she spat. He gave her searching sideways look that made her look away uncomfortably. "Well," she changed the subject, "I haven't been able to come up with anything definite. Just rumors and more rumors."
"If you went to the Crimson Knights-" She growled threateningly and he cut off his sentence, shaking his head with a smile. "All right, then. Indulge yourself in your pride if you wish. They have been a bit distracted lately, though, I must admit. . ." He shook his head. "I heard something very interesting just now." He related to her the youngsters' story of the Player Killer called the Grim Reaper.
When he finished, she sat back with her head bowed, contemplating him with sharp eyes hidden beneath her lashes and letting out a long breath. The cider stood cold on the table, forgotten.
"Interesting. I'd say it was pure nonsense if I hadn't heard some whisperings of it myself. Anyway," she brushed an imaginary speck of dust from her shoulder, "We might as well get going now."
"Oh?" He narrowed his eyes ever so slightly, yet his look was an intensely scrutinizing one that made her feel very on the spot. She looked away.
"That Wave Master's been drawing attention like honey draws flies." The blonde sorceress stood and gathered her staff in both hands, looking down at him with an obscure anger smoldering in her green eyes. "And of course, the Crimson Knights." She uttered the name with disgust, tossing it from her lips like a filthy rag. "We'll just have to keep our eyes and ears open, I suppose. He can't have vanished into thin air, not when just about the entire World is looking for him. He's bound to surface sooner or later." She turned away to go.
Behind her, Bear mumbled, "I just don't know, BT. I just don't know."
===========
"Whew!" Mimiru flopped down spread-eagled on the ground with a sigh, her sword lying loosely in one of her outstretched hands. "I'm about ready for a break now." She sat up and looked up at her silver-haired companion, who stood with his back to her. "Hello? Are you even listening?! I. Need. REST!!!" she screeched.
They'd been walking with only sparse stops for what seemed to be days and days along the "water", as Mimiru thought of it, accompanied only by the notes that rang out with every step. Every footstep brought a different note, but they formed a haphazard jumble and no melody could be found in the confused pot-pourri. She often found herself having the most absurd thoughts about what lay in the darkness around them, but really, who wouldn't start going a little nuts after walking in total darkness for days and days with only a boy on fire to light the way?! And the strange flickers of neon green light that occasionally shone out of the darkness didn't help things. It seemed to her that every time as soon as they sat down he was on his feet again, stubbornly set on starting out once more. She didn't know what he was looking for, and that irritated her all the more. She hadn't said anything before now because. . . well. . .
###########
"How could you?! You knew what would happen, you 'knew'!" She jabbed a finger at him though he couldn't see it. "They were my 'friends'!"
When he turned his head slightly to her his eyes were deep and hard and shadowed beneath his bangs. She had never seen that icy blue before. The hands that gripped his staff were white. He stood with his back to the luminous green windows veined with circles of steel, his contours suffused with soft radiant light in the cold stone semi-darkness all around.
His voice was very, very quiet. "I didn't know."
"Stop lying to me!"
She could hear the trembling in his voice as he jerked around in a swirl of beige and brown. "I'm not lying! I'm not, okay?! I didn't- I never meant- "
"Like 'hell' you didn't!" she screamed, outraged at his behavior.
"Leave me alone." A whisper that did nothing to disguise the tears in his voice. "Go away. Please."
She gasped, sputtering with fury. "How 'dare' you! How dare you, you- you 'monster'!" He flinched quite visibly at her spiteful words, but she wasn't finished. "I thought your mother didn't teach you any 'manners', but I can see plainly now that she never taught you to be 'human', either!"
A long silence that seemed to stretch taut like a spring about to snap. When he spoke, his voice rang of steel. "No. You're wrong. You're wrong!" He turned on her then, his eyes full of fire.
She was taken aback. She hadn't expected such a reaction. He stood there trembling with rage, glaring at her so viciously she took a step back, sure he was going to raise his staff against her. Then all the fight seemed to drain out of him, and his shoulders slumped as he turned away from her once again.
"Leave me alone." Sounding so very tired and bitter, and worst of all, defeated. He fell to his knees with a wrenching cry. "Just leave me alone, all of you!"
"Please, don't!" She couldn't bear to watch this. She lunged forward, grabbing his arm in a desperate plea, "Tsukasa, I'm sorry!" Next second there was a blinding flash of burning light, and Tsukasa was screaming and she was screaming and they were plunging through an endless crazily pieced tunnel, and then there was only darkness.
###########
So now she spoke again, softer this time. "Tsukasa?"
He looked over his shoulder at her, his dark eyes half-lidded, looking even paler than usual despite the red-hot fire that glowed the length of his small frame. "No. . . We. . . can't stop. Not now."
"What do you mean we can't stop now?! When, then?!" He cringed at the shrill fury in her voice. She crossed her arms over her single-strap chest armor and glowered at him. "We've been walking nonstop on water - he gave an exasperated sigh but she continued as though she hadn't heard - for the past I don't know 'how' many days without seeing anything, and I mean 'anything' at all! Just 'where' are you in such a hurry to get to?!"
His demeanor saddened, and he paused in thought. "You know, I wish I knew."
"WHAT?!" She was on her feet in an instant, her mouth twisting in outrage. But before she could say anything else, the boy before her suddenly swayed dangerously, dropping his staff as he began to fall, his fire fading to quivering shreds.
Mimiru spent a millisecond in frozen astonishment, her mouth half open, before she darted forward. "Tsukasa!" He was on his hands and knees, gasping, his breath ragged. When he managed to look up and give her a faint smile she herself nearly collapsed with relief. As it was, she slumped her full length to the ground with a huge sigh. Her sword lay abandoned in semidarkness behind her and she hastened to retrieve it with her foot before glaring at him. "Dammit, 'never' do that to me 'again'! 'Ever', ya hear me?!"
"I'm sorry." His voice was a weak whisper as he tried to push himself to his feet, his legs quaking beneath him. She quickly moved to help him, and it was then she noticed the grayish pallor of his face, even worse now than before in the weak bluish flames, and the sweat shining on his cheeks and temples and practically dripping from his chin and nose. He shivered violently under her hands.
"What 'happened' to you?" she cried, shocked at his state, as she forced him back onto his knees and crouched beside him, trying to mop at his face with his robes as he twisted away from her. "Look at you! You're worn to the bone, and you 'still' wouldn't stop!"
"I'm all right!" Tsukasa hissed, scowling fiercely at her and stubbornly trying to stand again.
He wasn't up to his usual speed however, and she immediately stood up and placed a high black boot on his shoulder, pushing him down again. "You are 'not' all right! You are completely exhausted, and that makes two of us! We are staying 'here' until 'you' pull yourself together!" When he quieted beneath her she removed her boot and sat down beside him, handing him his staff and a heavy glare that dared him to try moving from his spot.
Her stomach chose that moment to voice itself loudly and she reddened slightly, shooting him a defensive look. He only gave her a bleak half- smile. "And I'm hungry, too. . ."
"It 'is' strange, though," she added almost as an afterthought, "If this is the World. . ."
He sighed and stared down at the staff in his lap, glowing with the same dull radiance as the fire that just barely still flickered around him. "This is. . . too much bother."
Mimiru saw him raise himself and plant his staff and growled. "Oh no you don't!" Tsukasa crashed to the ground, Mimiru's boot planted firmly on his chest. " 'Stay'!" She used her glare down on him again. He just sighed.
===========
"Hello, there!" A head of forest green hair popped up between them. Both players started and jerked back. BT had to clutch at her staff to keep herself from falling.
"Oops, sorry, did I startle you?" The lanky man straightened and tossed his head with a chuckle, long forelocks jerking playfully and trailing bandana ends swaying as he stood with hands on hips, smiling cheerfully at them.
"Oh, it's 'you'." BT snorted contemptuously and turned away, closing her eyes.
"Shloop!" He used the table to vault neatly over her head and leaned in close to her so that she had to bend over backwards. " 'So' disrespectful!" One ruby eye disappeared beneath long lashes in a roguish wink.
"Children, children," Bear muttered. They both just looked at him.
"Hmph." BT looked away.
Bear turned to Sora. "Why are you here?"
The Player Killer shrugged innocently. "I just happened to be passing by-"
"As if we would actually believe you." BT smirked, using the opportunity to step away from him.
He continued, unfazed, tiptoeing steadily closer to her new position, "- when I got just a little thirsty, wandered in, and heard a little something about a Grim Reaper." A mocking grin. "Information gathers where the Knights are, isn't that 'right', BT?" She snarled and he laughed merrily. "Oh, this is so much 'fun'! We really 'should' get together more often, don't you think so? Hmmm?"
"Ugh." BT stepped back once more and turned away again to the worthier practice of contemplating the plain stone wall.
Bear was not one to be sidetracked so. "Do you know something about this Grim Reaper?"
Sora winked. "Why, of course!" At this BT whirled around, alarm crossing her face. "Oh, don't 'worry' so much. I won't tell!" In a singsong voice that made her scowl even more heavily than usual at him.
Bear raised an eyebrow at this and opened his mouth to ask.
However, just then, a particularly loud round of cheering erupted from the pool table, drawing everyone's attention.
===========
An almost unnatural hush lay over the surreal landscape, as though no breath of life had ever stirred there. The barren, cracked wasteland was littered with broken rock arches, coal black, hooking in awkward patterns against the sullen scorched sky, wherein no cloud lay. The dull orange tinge gave the vast rearing spaces a suffocating dusty color that seemed to hang menacingly over the desolation below, threatening to crush everything beneath its weight. Not a hint of even the lightest breeze played in the twisted skeletons of the brambles and thickets that sometimes seemed to form a wall between two rock outcroppings, dead fingers reaching across the patch of sky still visible and enclosing the space below more effectively than the lowest ceiling. Wherever one looked, there was only silence, thickly strung across every gnarled branch and cliff, a lifeless silence that had settled to unmoving blankets on the endless plains.
And yet there was life. Somewhere in the desert, completely incongruous, a four-poster bed draped in silky white sheets rose like a beacon from the flat ground. It, and the young girl who floated above its pristine surface, seemed to glow with a soft light all their own. The child's hair undulated and swirled in endless patterns, thick curls obscuring her face. A simple dress billowed about her knees as she lay sleeping, oblivious to her bleak surroundings. A large teddy bear floated aimlessly by.
What was most remarkable about this child was that although she shone white a multitude of colors wove their way across her small frame, a rainbow of iridescence that gave the whiteness even more purity. However, in some parts of her the white had faded to the merest beginnings of a hint of blue, and carved on one of her satin cheeks a bright trail glistened like a vein of polished crystal.
It was then that the wind rose, sweeping up dead leaves around the bed with its invisible fingers. And the wind spoke, sobbing in the deepest nooks of every arch, the heart of every thicket, an eerily resonating voice that echoed again and again and again and again. . .
"Come back to me," it whispered, sighed its sorrow, "O Twilight. . ."
"Bring back to me my love, my light, my joy. . ."
"My Tsukasa. . ."
___________
A/N: AAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'M SORRY!!! I'M SORRY!!!!!!!!! I know I did promise less descriptions but I didn't take into account the fact that I had to introduce more new charas and new places in this one -_- . . . After what happened to the last preview I was just going to ditch them but I'll try to make them properly in the future. I promise the Guardian appears in the next part. If I'd stuck it in here this chappie would've been twice as long and would've taken me twice as forever to write. And if I'd stuck my original complete idea for chappie 1 it would've been three times as long. . . -_- Meh. Anyway the original idea has been split into three parts. I hope next one takes less time than this but since there's a lot more action and a lot more Tsukasa and a lot more new places and characters to describe no guarantees.
Well, about this chapter. . . What the heck is Albireo doing in my story?! He somehow just popped up and twisted my entire plot upside down. * sigh * I have not read .hack//AI BUSTER and probably won't for a while so Albireo's personality and function (though I know he's a debugger) is entirely based on my own imagination unless I can find some sources out there. . . * looks around pleadingly * And yes the fella's in the real world though I know he's supposed to be stuck in The World. AU + Plot. Draw your own conclusions. I will most probably also drag Balmung and Orca into this though I have no idea who Orca is and I don't want any spoilers about Balmung either. =_= I'll just have them lay low for a while, I guess. I KNOW Carmina Gardelica in all probability isn't quite what I made it out to be. I've only seen two screenshots. That's it. So I decided to make my own little embellishments. The mists of Dun Loireag are my own creation as well. There also probably aren't any taverns or food in The World. * shrugs and holds up a sign saying in HUGE block letters AU * Another important thing to keep in mind guys: this is NOT a romance right now and the top priority is NOT romances so all of you out there going Tsukasa/Mimiru on me 'cuz of this chapter just quit it, 'kay? I haven't decided the couples yet. I'll have to ask the characters about that. * makes mental note *
Note to reviewers: Keep doing what you've been doing and don't put any spoilers in your reviews. I myself have only watched up to Ep 4 as I've said before and also I tend to read the reviews of a story I read. So keep this story's reviews spoiler-free and .hack//SIGN-newbie-friendly, thanks.
So, er, leaving that impossibly long ending AN behind. . . Review? Please? I really need input on this chapter because it's my first few tentative steps towards my envisioned storyline (great, another epic, another millennium). I don't really like that last part with Sora and I need you guys to tell me if I've strayed into OOC zone. I'll take flames, death threats, murder by bobby pin, poisoned wine, shoes with black magic, etc. etc. Keep 'em coming, guys! Flames are welcome! I could use a little comic relief.
+++++++++++
Ending Note: Is it Maho or Maha? I've seen both. Names in .hack//SIGN seem to fluctuate a lot on the Net. Anyway, you guys, MORE .HACK//SIGN FANFICTION!!! Write already, write an AU if you haven't seen the whole thing, write a one-shot, write a poem, write a song, write the dumbest match of Ping-Pong. O_O No, seriously. There's just not enough out there, which means you'll probably get the reviews you want, too. SO GET CRACKIN', Y'ALL!!!!!! * bow *
Bye. * waves little American flag with anthem playing in the background *
O_____O . . . . . . . . . * speechless * * unfreezes * REVIEWERS!!! I HAVE REVIEWERS!!!!!!! * builds a shrine to reviewers *
This chapter is very gratefully dedicated to - Kaylana (Continued right here! ^^ check out her fic Prison of Stone, peoplez! It's good, and it's funny!), tabris (Welp, more Tsukasa on da way jus' for my lovely reviewers! ^_~), Kaya Kydra (More! Finally, eh? Heh), Basia Lynn (Whoot, one more favorite stories list for me!!! ^_______^ Thanks for the nice long review! More description coming up. . .), Kitty-Yasha (Agreed! More .hack//SIGN fics needed!!! * holds up sign * ^^ Thanks!), Queen of Shadows (You're not being stupid! I do have something pretty major planned, let's just hint a little quantum twist to the good ole reality. . . Thanks, btw!), StarStruck (* too huge a smile to be conveyed through a smilie * I'm glad you like it so much! Thankies!), and dstrbdchild (Sorry about that preview, ehhh. . . * sweatdrops * Thanks for the review though! Heeerez Tsukasa! ^^), thank y'all so much for all your support and input!!!
. . . * looks back * Geez, gotta cut back on those author's notes. Anyway, KB, R, R, E & R!!!
Punctuation Notes:
'something' - Italics for emphasis
=========== - Scene Change
########### - Flashback
II\\//\\//\\//\\//II
.hack//DISTORTION_
-- Ill Winds --
"Can you hear the calling of the raving wind and water?" - To Nowhere, .hack//SIGN OST 2
___________
"It's. . . impossible," she whispered. The girl stood looking wide-eyed in all directions, then at the ground, her scarlet gold-trimmed armor dancing in shades of orange gold in the light of the great flickering flame her companion was ensconced in. One hand fingered the hilt of the greatsword over her shoulder.
She took a step, and gave a little yelp as the surface that had been flat and featureless suddenly changed, ringed ripples spreading outwards from where her toes had touched the ground. A single warm, bell-like note resonated vibrantly around them, the ever so slight touch of melody deep and rich. And within and around the note tiptoed suggestions of more than one, fading before they could be pinpointed.
He looked up with a little smile through his silver bangs. "Impossible?"
"Jeez! I'm walking on water, and you're calling it normal?!"
"I never said it was normal," he replied slowly, "And you're not walking on water."
She sighed exasperatedly, placing her hands on her hips and glaring at him with narrowed emerald eyes. Her wild brown hair scattered in all directions as she abruptly bent down to thrust her nose in his face. "How in the world do you know that?!" He flinched and shrugged, and she rolled her eyes. "Fine. Forget it. Now get up before I get a neck cramp looking down at you." She straightened and stamped her black boot for emphasis.
With a sigh, he stood as well, dusting his soft beige vest and dark robes before bending down to pick up his staff. He straightened with a little toss of his head, violet eyes bright and an almost childish smile on his lips. "Shall we go?"
She couldn't hold back a laugh. "Go where?" He just shrugged and mumbled something about paths. Grinning, she followed the young Wave Master's lead.
===========
The wind rose in a howling whistle, pounding against the eaves that flapped helplessly in the gale, creaking ominously. The small armory was barely visible in the clouds that had risen to smother the towering sky isles. Thick mist pressed its ghostly fingers against the windowpanes as though trying to come inside through the glass. Shelves lined the walls, filled with pottery, weapons, and whatnot.
"Are you sure you should go out in this weather?" A cloaked figure silhouetted against the roaring fire in the little shop turned. The stout shopkeeper, clothed in dust-colored shirt and a cap barely holding its own against untidy dull green hair, stood behind his counter, looking at his guest with concern in the round turquoise eyes.
The face of the cloaked player was steeped in the shadow beneath the cowl as he raised his head to look at the rotund little man wiping sweat from his red-hammered cheeks and forehead. The shopkeeper had been pounding steadily at his forge in the corner, where the great flame gave even the stone around it a reddish tinge of heat.
"I don't have any other choice." The voice that emerged from the cowl was rough and harsh as sandpaper, yet still retained a boyish lilt. "The Crimson Knights have this place under surveillance now." A faint touch of disgust filtered through the steady tone.
The shopkeeper looked hurt. "I never thought- I was just trying to help. I thought they'd be able to help you."
The other sighed. "What's done is done." For a moment the clarity of the young voice faded, taking on a sad, faraway tone. "What's done is done. . ." A hand slipped into the folds of his cloak, then quickly retracted into sight once more. The speaker turned away, and the end of a long shaft thudded on the wooden slats as he walked to front of the shop and pulled the door open, looking out into the mist.
He turned back to the little man who seemed to be shrinking away from the mist inching its tendrils ever so gradually across the doorsill. "In any case, this may be my best opportunity to move. They won't be expecting it." The cloaked player's hand fell from the blocky wooden doorknob and went to grip the dark shaft pressed to his side by his other hand.
"When rise the Mists of Dun Loireag, no land shall escape their clutches." He stepped out into the clouded world, his cloak flying about him in the wind that never calmed, fading from sight like a specter as the door swung slowly shut behind him. "Goodbye, my friend."
"Be careful," whispered the shopkeeper. He stood staring at the door as the bolts clicked shut and silence fell in the shop save for the steady crackle and roar of the twin flames. Then he returned to his work with a will.
The iron hammer's pounding rang loud, filled the little shop; its echoes dimmed into the featureless white world beyond, where just for a moment in the cold, a smile kindled, a heart warmed at the distant farewell.
===========
The vast city hospital, its long rectangular body stark in its clean new paint against the fading light of dusk. Sirens wailed, shattering the quiet twilight of the real world. Tires screeched, and voices rang out in a hasty haphazard jumble of alarm and command.
The beep of a monitor in the background against the clear clink of metal. Rivets and wheels creaked beneath their burden as the gurney was wheeled into the gleaming white room. Curtains were drawn across the windows, shutting out the outside world and seeming to muffle sound inside the room. A single conical lamp swung from the ceiling, casting its yellowed light on the pristine metal-framed bed, plunging the corners in uncertain shadows. It was a strictly utilitarian room, as bare of comfort and living softness as it was of furniture. The only things breaking the severe lines of the empty surfaces appeared to be the bed and the small table beside it, as well as the various machines clustered on the other side, emitting their soft ebullient noises and green neon glows.
However, at the very edge of the crisply bordered circle of light, a bit too far from the foot of the bed to give the impression of being there for watching over at the bedside, stood a single chair. Its intricately wood- worked frame gleamed, kissed with the slanting shadows, and its plush cushions were embroidered with brightly colored flowers. It sat there, eerily out of place and seeming to loom as the only object in the room.
Whispers of unease filled the air as they paused, their duty momentarily forgotten at the sight of that chair.
"Something's not right."
"I don't remember it being there before."
The blankets rustled and the gurney squealed tinnily in protest as the weight on it shifted slightly. The sudden movement, almost inaudible yet loud in the sudden stillness that had fallen in the room, seemed to suddenly spur them into action.
They lifted her from the gurney and set her gently on the bed, pulling the blankets over her and tucking them snugly, glancing over their shoulders at the chair that seemed to wait at the edge of vision. Her eyes were closed and she breathed peacefully as though asleep. But she never moved; never even a twitch, she lay unmoving and cold as a marble statue. Now that they'd done what they'd come to do, there was a slight guilty pause of turning to the door, then looking back. Hushed voices seemed to seethe in the heavy silence that they were somehow afraid to break.
"They say this is the second one this week." A derisive snort. "It's the third one, or rather. . . but of course the others. . ."
A gasp, quickly stifled with a fearful look about. "Impossible. . ."
"Yes. All while playing. They say they're looking into the matter, but. . ." A mournful glance at the lifeless form on the bed, heaving a deep sigh. "No. Never. Never let the world know of what The World hides. . ." Scornfully. "The cowards. They have too much to lose. . ."
A breath of a whisper. "It's unnatural. Unnatural, I say. No brainwaves, none, yet there's no sign of injury, none at all detected even with the scans, so they say. And the heart strong as a hammer."
"Unnatural, indeed." A shudder coursed through even the voice. "Do you think it could be that. . . Do you think we should. . ." The speaker trailed off as though something had suddenly clamped her lips shut.
The other jumped on her last words. "Yes! They'll know what to do."
"Hush!"
"What is it?"
"Something's here." A lull in which fear became a living thing, pounding in the room like the heartbeat of a fleeing bird. "Let's get out."
"Yes! Right now!" The quick cry was choppy, trembling, running with eagerness.
The light snuffed out like a candle in a whiff of wind that was never felt. Total darkness. Screams filled the room, bouncing from wall to wall in a vicious, endless round until they finally cut off into gurgling nothings.
Silence hung thick. A tainted scent crept on the air. A movement in the darkness, the scraping of a chair.
"Fools." A reedy voice with an underlying tone of laughter. " 'No one' will interfere. Especially not you and yours, 'Albireo'." Venomous anger filled the sound of the name.
And then the room was empty once more.
===========
A million lights lit the starless night, twinkling fireflies in the vast ocean of darkness. Carmina Gardelica. The Song of Gael. A hundred strains and snatches of song interwove in a bright, dancing melody no one heard but the wind.
The outskirts were quiet, empty as the streets of a real world city at night. Only the occasional player strolled in those parts, looking for a little peace and quiet. However, the central streets bustled with nightlife, the warm glow of a hundred street lanterns and building windows flooding the avenues with light. Day in night.
More wondrous still, the bubbling life of the city center itself was contained not within encircling walls like so many fortified cities of the medieval times, but rather the buildings themselves were a building, arch upon arch of stone soaring from roof to roof, the dome of the vast ceiling lost to the sky. A palace of glass rose in Carmina Gardelica. A city in a bubble.
Delicious hot aromas of food wreathed the air; fresh crusty loaves and savory smoked beef as well as every kind of food under the sun and moon were laid out to tantalize the eye. Vendors called out to passersby, a hundred thousand items adorning their stalls, and even the sides of buildings, countless butterflies clustered in bewildering multicolored melange on every side. Adding to the riot of color were the richly woven tapestries and banners hanging on every surface, depicting the history of the city and the greatest of the players who'd inhabited it. Kiwara Skybreaker, winging to his doom. Jiminy and the Crystal Saber. Midar of the Seven Tridents, grappling in fierce combat with the legendary Water Beast of Mac Anu. And the largest and most splendid of the tapestries hung over the grand double-door entrance to the glass palace itself. A cherished jewel of the real world's sea. The Isle of Man.
A man strode down a busy street, a frown on his face that quickly became a smile as he looked about. It was always easy to tell old from new in Carmina Gardelica. The older players, the book already read, the song already heard, the beauty long faded, went about their business without a glance left or right, while new players gaped wide-eyed at the splendor of the Bubble. The pride of Carmina Gardelica.
The man had no time for such fancies. He wove his way through the scattered crowd in the streets, his stride quick and purposeful, yet he never hurried. He had somewhere important to be at this moment. He had already been enough delayed.
". . . that player the Crimson Knights are looking for?"
The man stopped dead, the muscles in his feet and legs dancing at the very edge of the next stride. His dark eyes darted about the crowd, searching for the speaker.
"Yeah! That new Player Killer. Word is he took out an entire squadron all on his own." The man had finally spotted the source, a pair of youngsters sitting on some crates beside a window selling fruit. He began to approach, then paused, hesitating.
"They say he calls himself the Grim Reaper, and that he's absolutely terrifying."
A whisper the man had to strain his practiced ears to catch. "Taiki says she saw him do it. She says he's a demon from hell itself. Not just figuratively, either."
The other gave a derisive snort. "A demon! Typical Taiki."
As the conversation turned into an argument over the merits of Taiki, the man turned away, puzzlement creasing his blue-and-white-painted face.
"A demon," he murmured thoughtfully, "Now there's one I haven't heard before. The Grim Reaper?"
He ran a hand through his brown hair, his armor clanking, seeming to ponder for a moment longer. Then he seemed to reach a decision, and set off once more through the streets.
===========
This night, the Red Harp was particularly busy. Nearly every table was occupied, the innkeeper bumbling about laden with trays from head to foot as though he'd lost track of his hands and feet. Laughter rang in every corner and the sound of talk and merriment seemed to strain the walls to bursting. The smell of woodsmoke filled the air from the roaring fireplace. There was a pool table in the far corner, where the numerous players clustered round and cheered on their comrades.
Beyond the pool table, in the only quiet corner of the spacious common room, a green-robed blonde woman sat in a booth, half-hidden by shadows. She had her arms crossed, her sorcerer's staff propped carelessly against the wall beside her. Her narrowed green eyes kept darting impatiently to the endlessly swinging door of the tavern. She glanced at her bare wrist once or twice only to roll her eyes with a huff and glare at nothing.
"May I get you something, miss?" The throaty rumble of the innkeeper made the woman start. She directed her glare at the plump little man for a moment, then sighed.
"Not today, Loth."
The innkeeper had already begun backing away when he realized who she was. "Well, I'll be leavin' you be then, miss BT. A busy night, oh yes, a busy night for poor Loth. . ." And he waddled off to pester someone else.
The door of the tavern swung once again, and the man in blue and white war paint stepped into the stifling heat of the common room, his broad-bladed sword propped on his shoulder. When he saw the room, however, he resheathed his blade and began squeezing his way through.
The eyes of the blonde woman had fixed on the man the moment he'd arrived, and her face had brightened beneath the annoyed scowl that was gradually slipping away. She leaned back and squared her shoulders as the man arrived at her table. "Hmph. Took you long enough."
"I'm sorry. I was delayed," he apologized as he sat down across from her. The innkeeper popped up immediately and set two steaming mugs of cider before them. She sighed but refrained from commenting.
"Delayed?" She raised an eyebrow. His face darkened and she groaned. "Not 'him' again?!"
"The entire squadron, no less. There were others as well." Bear propped his chin on the back of one hand with a heavy sigh. "I suppose they have reason enough."
"Reason or not, they're becoming a bother," she spat. He gave her searching sideways look that made her look away uncomfortably. "Well," she changed the subject, "I haven't been able to come up with anything definite. Just rumors and more rumors."
"If you went to the Crimson Knights-" She growled threateningly and he cut off his sentence, shaking his head with a smile. "All right, then. Indulge yourself in your pride if you wish. They have been a bit distracted lately, though, I must admit. . ." He shook his head. "I heard something very interesting just now." He related to her the youngsters' story of the Player Killer called the Grim Reaper.
When he finished, she sat back with her head bowed, contemplating him with sharp eyes hidden beneath her lashes and letting out a long breath. The cider stood cold on the table, forgotten.
"Interesting. I'd say it was pure nonsense if I hadn't heard some whisperings of it myself. Anyway," she brushed an imaginary speck of dust from her shoulder, "We might as well get going now."
"Oh?" He narrowed his eyes ever so slightly, yet his look was an intensely scrutinizing one that made her feel very on the spot. She looked away.
"That Wave Master's been drawing attention like honey draws flies." The blonde sorceress stood and gathered her staff in both hands, looking down at him with an obscure anger smoldering in her green eyes. "And of course, the Crimson Knights." She uttered the name with disgust, tossing it from her lips like a filthy rag. "We'll just have to keep our eyes and ears open, I suppose. He can't have vanished into thin air, not when just about the entire World is looking for him. He's bound to surface sooner or later." She turned away to go.
Behind her, Bear mumbled, "I just don't know, BT. I just don't know."
===========
"Whew!" Mimiru flopped down spread-eagled on the ground with a sigh, her sword lying loosely in one of her outstretched hands. "I'm about ready for a break now." She sat up and looked up at her silver-haired companion, who stood with his back to her. "Hello? Are you even listening?! I. Need. REST!!!" she screeched.
They'd been walking with only sparse stops for what seemed to be days and days along the "water", as Mimiru thought of it, accompanied only by the notes that rang out with every step. Every footstep brought a different note, but they formed a haphazard jumble and no melody could be found in the confused pot-pourri. She often found herself having the most absurd thoughts about what lay in the darkness around them, but really, who wouldn't start going a little nuts after walking in total darkness for days and days with only a boy on fire to light the way?! And the strange flickers of neon green light that occasionally shone out of the darkness didn't help things. It seemed to her that every time as soon as they sat down he was on his feet again, stubbornly set on starting out once more. She didn't know what he was looking for, and that irritated her all the more. She hadn't said anything before now because. . . well. . .
###########
"How could you?! You knew what would happen, you 'knew'!" She jabbed a finger at him though he couldn't see it. "They were my 'friends'!"
When he turned his head slightly to her his eyes were deep and hard and shadowed beneath his bangs. She had never seen that icy blue before. The hands that gripped his staff were white. He stood with his back to the luminous green windows veined with circles of steel, his contours suffused with soft radiant light in the cold stone semi-darkness all around.
His voice was very, very quiet. "I didn't know."
"Stop lying to me!"
She could hear the trembling in his voice as he jerked around in a swirl of beige and brown. "I'm not lying! I'm not, okay?! I didn't- I never meant- "
"Like 'hell' you didn't!" she screamed, outraged at his behavior.
"Leave me alone." A whisper that did nothing to disguise the tears in his voice. "Go away. Please."
She gasped, sputtering with fury. "How 'dare' you! How dare you, you- you 'monster'!" He flinched quite visibly at her spiteful words, but she wasn't finished. "I thought your mother didn't teach you any 'manners', but I can see plainly now that she never taught you to be 'human', either!"
A long silence that seemed to stretch taut like a spring about to snap. When he spoke, his voice rang of steel. "No. You're wrong. You're wrong!" He turned on her then, his eyes full of fire.
She was taken aback. She hadn't expected such a reaction. He stood there trembling with rage, glaring at her so viciously she took a step back, sure he was going to raise his staff against her. Then all the fight seemed to drain out of him, and his shoulders slumped as he turned away from her once again.
"Leave me alone." Sounding so very tired and bitter, and worst of all, defeated. He fell to his knees with a wrenching cry. "Just leave me alone, all of you!"
"Please, don't!" She couldn't bear to watch this. She lunged forward, grabbing his arm in a desperate plea, "Tsukasa, I'm sorry!" Next second there was a blinding flash of burning light, and Tsukasa was screaming and she was screaming and they were plunging through an endless crazily pieced tunnel, and then there was only darkness.
###########
So now she spoke again, softer this time. "Tsukasa?"
He looked over his shoulder at her, his dark eyes half-lidded, looking even paler than usual despite the red-hot fire that glowed the length of his small frame. "No. . . We. . . can't stop. Not now."
"What do you mean we can't stop now?! When, then?!" He cringed at the shrill fury in her voice. She crossed her arms over her single-strap chest armor and glowered at him. "We've been walking nonstop on water - he gave an exasperated sigh but she continued as though she hadn't heard - for the past I don't know 'how' many days without seeing anything, and I mean 'anything' at all! Just 'where' are you in such a hurry to get to?!"
His demeanor saddened, and he paused in thought. "You know, I wish I knew."
"WHAT?!" She was on her feet in an instant, her mouth twisting in outrage. But before she could say anything else, the boy before her suddenly swayed dangerously, dropping his staff as he began to fall, his fire fading to quivering shreds.
Mimiru spent a millisecond in frozen astonishment, her mouth half open, before she darted forward. "Tsukasa!" He was on his hands and knees, gasping, his breath ragged. When he managed to look up and give her a faint smile she herself nearly collapsed with relief. As it was, she slumped her full length to the ground with a huge sigh. Her sword lay abandoned in semidarkness behind her and she hastened to retrieve it with her foot before glaring at him. "Dammit, 'never' do that to me 'again'! 'Ever', ya hear me?!"
"I'm sorry." His voice was a weak whisper as he tried to push himself to his feet, his legs quaking beneath him. She quickly moved to help him, and it was then she noticed the grayish pallor of his face, even worse now than before in the weak bluish flames, and the sweat shining on his cheeks and temples and practically dripping from his chin and nose. He shivered violently under her hands.
"What 'happened' to you?" she cried, shocked at his state, as she forced him back onto his knees and crouched beside him, trying to mop at his face with his robes as he twisted away from her. "Look at you! You're worn to the bone, and you 'still' wouldn't stop!"
"I'm all right!" Tsukasa hissed, scowling fiercely at her and stubbornly trying to stand again.
He wasn't up to his usual speed however, and she immediately stood up and placed a high black boot on his shoulder, pushing him down again. "You are 'not' all right! You are completely exhausted, and that makes two of us! We are staying 'here' until 'you' pull yourself together!" When he quieted beneath her she removed her boot and sat down beside him, handing him his staff and a heavy glare that dared him to try moving from his spot.
Her stomach chose that moment to voice itself loudly and she reddened slightly, shooting him a defensive look. He only gave her a bleak half- smile. "And I'm hungry, too. . ."
"It 'is' strange, though," she added almost as an afterthought, "If this is the World. . ."
He sighed and stared down at the staff in his lap, glowing with the same dull radiance as the fire that just barely still flickered around him. "This is. . . too much bother."
Mimiru saw him raise himself and plant his staff and growled. "Oh no you don't!" Tsukasa crashed to the ground, Mimiru's boot planted firmly on his chest. " 'Stay'!" She used her glare down on him again. He just sighed.
===========
"Hello, there!" A head of forest green hair popped up between them. Both players started and jerked back. BT had to clutch at her staff to keep herself from falling.
"Oops, sorry, did I startle you?" The lanky man straightened and tossed his head with a chuckle, long forelocks jerking playfully and trailing bandana ends swaying as he stood with hands on hips, smiling cheerfully at them.
"Oh, it's 'you'." BT snorted contemptuously and turned away, closing her eyes.
"Shloop!" He used the table to vault neatly over her head and leaned in close to her so that she had to bend over backwards. " 'So' disrespectful!" One ruby eye disappeared beneath long lashes in a roguish wink.
"Children, children," Bear muttered. They both just looked at him.
"Hmph." BT looked away.
Bear turned to Sora. "Why are you here?"
The Player Killer shrugged innocently. "I just happened to be passing by-"
"As if we would actually believe you." BT smirked, using the opportunity to step away from him.
He continued, unfazed, tiptoeing steadily closer to her new position, "- when I got just a little thirsty, wandered in, and heard a little something about a Grim Reaper." A mocking grin. "Information gathers where the Knights are, isn't that 'right', BT?" She snarled and he laughed merrily. "Oh, this is so much 'fun'! We really 'should' get together more often, don't you think so? Hmmm?"
"Ugh." BT stepped back once more and turned away again to the worthier practice of contemplating the plain stone wall.
Bear was not one to be sidetracked so. "Do you know something about this Grim Reaper?"
Sora winked. "Why, of course!" At this BT whirled around, alarm crossing her face. "Oh, don't 'worry' so much. I won't tell!" In a singsong voice that made her scowl even more heavily than usual at him.
Bear raised an eyebrow at this and opened his mouth to ask.
However, just then, a particularly loud round of cheering erupted from the pool table, drawing everyone's attention.
===========
An almost unnatural hush lay over the surreal landscape, as though no breath of life had ever stirred there. The barren, cracked wasteland was littered with broken rock arches, coal black, hooking in awkward patterns against the sullen scorched sky, wherein no cloud lay. The dull orange tinge gave the vast rearing spaces a suffocating dusty color that seemed to hang menacingly over the desolation below, threatening to crush everything beneath its weight. Not a hint of even the lightest breeze played in the twisted skeletons of the brambles and thickets that sometimes seemed to form a wall between two rock outcroppings, dead fingers reaching across the patch of sky still visible and enclosing the space below more effectively than the lowest ceiling. Wherever one looked, there was only silence, thickly strung across every gnarled branch and cliff, a lifeless silence that had settled to unmoving blankets on the endless plains.
And yet there was life. Somewhere in the desert, completely incongruous, a four-poster bed draped in silky white sheets rose like a beacon from the flat ground. It, and the young girl who floated above its pristine surface, seemed to glow with a soft light all their own. The child's hair undulated and swirled in endless patterns, thick curls obscuring her face. A simple dress billowed about her knees as she lay sleeping, oblivious to her bleak surroundings. A large teddy bear floated aimlessly by.
What was most remarkable about this child was that although she shone white a multitude of colors wove their way across her small frame, a rainbow of iridescence that gave the whiteness even more purity. However, in some parts of her the white had faded to the merest beginnings of a hint of blue, and carved on one of her satin cheeks a bright trail glistened like a vein of polished crystal.
It was then that the wind rose, sweeping up dead leaves around the bed with its invisible fingers. And the wind spoke, sobbing in the deepest nooks of every arch, the heart of every thicket, an eerily resonating voice that echoed again and again and again and again. . .
"Come back to me," it whispered, sighed its sorrow, "O Twilight. . ."
"Bring back to me my love, my light, my joy. . ."
"My Tsukasa. . ."
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A/N: AAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'M SORRY!!! I'M SORRY!!!!!!!!! I know I did promise less descriptions but I didn't take into account the fact that I had to introduce more new charas and new places in this one -_- . . . After what happened to the last preview I was just going to ditch them but I'll try to make them properly in the future. I promise the Guardian appears in the next part. If I'd stuck it in here this chappie would've been twice as long and would've taken me twice as forever to write. And if I'd stuck my original complete idea for chappie 1 it would've been three times as long. . . -_- Meh. Anyway the original idea has been split into three parts. I hope next one takes less time than this but since there's a lot more action and a lot more Tsukasa and a lot more new places and characters to describe no guarantees.
Well, about this chapter. . . What the heck is Albireo doing in my story?! He somehow just popped up and twisted my entire plot upside down. * sigh * I have not read .hack//AI BUSTER and probably won't for a while so Albireo's personality and function (though I know he's a debugger) is entirely based on my own imagination unless I can find some sources out there. . . * looks around pleadingly * And yes the fella's in the real world though I know he's supposed to be stuck in The World. AU + Plot. Draw your own conclusions. I will most probably also drag Balmung and Orca into this though I have no idea who Orca is and I don't want any spoilers about Balmung either. =_= I'll just have them lay low for a while, I guess. I KNOW Carmina Gardelica in all probability isn't quite what I made it out to be. I've only seen two screenshots. That's it. So I decided to make my own little embellishments. The mists of Dun Loireag are my own creation as well. There also probably aren't any taverns or food in The World. * shrugs and holds up a sign saying in HUGE block letters AU * Another important thing to keep in mind guys: this is NOT a romance right now and the top priority is NOT romances so all of you out there going Tsukasa/Mimiru on me 'cuz of this chapter just quit it, 'kay? I haven't decided the couples yet. I'll have to ask the characters about that. * makes mental note *
Note to reviewers: Keep doing what you've been doing and don't put any spoilers in your reviews. I myself have only watched up to Ep 4 as I've said before and also I tend to read the reviews of a story I read. So keep this story's reviews spoiler-free and .hack//SIGN-newbie-friendly, thanks.
So, er, leaving that impossibly long ending AN behind. . . Review? Please? I really need input on this chapter because it's my first few tentative steps towards my envisioned storyline (great, another epic, another millennium). I don't really like that last part with Sora and I need you guys to tell me if I've strayed into OOC zone. I'll take flames, death threats, murder by bobby pin, poisoned wine, shoes with black magic, etc. etc. Keep 'em coming, guys! Flames are welcome! I could use a little comic relief.
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Ending Note: Is it Maho or Maha? I've seen both. Names in .hack//SIGN seem to fluctuate a lot on the Net. Anyway, you guys, MORE .HACK//SIGN FANFICTION!!! Write already, write an AU if you haven't seen the whole thing, write a one-shot, write a poem, write a song, write the dumbest match of Ping-Pong. O_O No, seriously. There's just not enough out there, which means you'll probably get the reviews you want, too. SO GET CRACKIN', Y'ALL!!!!!! * bow *
Bye. * waves little American flag with anthem playing in the background *