Disclaimer: I do not own .hack//SIGN or any of it's characters besides my own character Lain Auska X. Oh and great apologies for not updating for so long. I've been heak of busy...
.hack//SIGN
Episode Three: Rescuing Tsukasa
Saga: Born from Darkness
Lain looked at her surroundings in front of her. A teenage wave master boy was sitting, with his knees pulled up close to his face, his arms were wrapped around his knees. She couldn't see his face but she knew he was unhappy.
Surrounding the two of them, were four stonewalls. The one behind Lain had a chamber door in the center. It was made out of a hard type of wood. The only light that was given was by the single torch, it was placed to her left on the chamber wall.
Lain gulped as she took a steep forward to get closer to the boy. "Are you Tsukasa? The player who can not log out?"
He looked up at Lain to see her face. He wasn't smiling at her. In fact he wasn't showing any emotion at all. He then gave his short answer. "Yes."
Lain sighed with relief. At least Subaru was right in telling her that this boy was Tsukasa. "So it is true that you are stuck in this game also?" Lain asked him this and then walked over closer to him. She was only a few inches away.
"Yes," Tsukasa said again. HE seemed a little twitchy when Lain walked closer. Was he scared of her? "What do you mean but also?"
"IT is said that I can't log out either," Lain replied gravely to him. "But I don't understand why."
"Your never coming out you know," Tsukasa said. HE looked back down at the ground to his right. "You shouldn't be all that grave about it though. At least you don't have to go back to that ludicrous world."
"What?" Lain asked looking a little shocked and confused. "Ludicrous world? Are you talking about outside this game?! Do you know how I can exit?!"
Tsukasa looked back up at her and then laughed quietly to himself. "Sorry but I don't. Even if I did I'm not sure that I would tell a stranger suck as yourself. You know my name, but I'm sorry to say that I don't know yours."
"Lain," Lain replied. She smiled at him slightly and then looked over to the dungeons door. "Why are you here? You must have done something really bad to be guarded like this. And look! You don't even have your weapon! You can use magic without your weapon can't you?"
"I'm not allowed too," Tsukasa told her. Fear had now spread across his face. As if something horrible was going to happen. He was now starring at her contempt. "They said that if I called for my guardian they would delete me. I wouldn't exist then! I didn't do anything! She betrayed me!"
"Delete you?" Lain cried out ignoring everything else he had said. She clenched her fists in anger and looked down at him shocked. "But that means if your…you'll be…gone…?" She looked at the dungeon's door in anger at the two guards standing outside. "They can't do that. That's murder. It's just wrong." She looked at Tsukasa mournfully and held out her left hand to him. "I'm not going to let them do something like this to you. I'm getting you out of here at all costs."
"What?" Tsukasa replied looking confused. "Why would you do that for me? You don't even know me."
"Do too," Lain replied grinning. Tsukasa finally took her hand and stood up. HE had on a robe that was a tan color, outlined in a darker tan. It stopped five inched from his ankles. Under his robe he had on black pants that stopped two inched from his shoes. For shoes he had on a pair of strange leather boots. ON the back on his rode he had a tan hood also outlined in the darker tan. His hair was white and his eyes were a melancholy blue. His skin was pale and he wore a sad expression. "You are a level 50 character. Wave Master. Your weapon is a rod. You know black and white magic. I just looked up your file a second ago…no way! You killed all those players?! Deleted them all!? You're like a legend or something? How did you do that!?"
"I didn't!" Tsukasa yelled out. "It wasn't my fault! I didn't mean to! I tried to stop him! He wouldn't listen! I don't know what happened!" Tsukasa's expression changed from sad to horrify. He began to back up until he ran into the wall. "You should probably leave now."
"I told you before," Lain replied. "I'm going to help you. At any cost. No matter what. And you know? Maybe we could team up or something after this? If not then you can go off and do your own thing."
"You would still help me?" Tsukasa asked. "But you would be wanted by Subaru and the knights. You would be in trouble."
"If you don't know, I have this thing that sort of helps me be immortal. So I guess I'll always be fine. Unless… nah, won't happen. I'm on level 50! So I'll be fine!" Lain smiled at him and then gave him a victory sign. "You just stay here! I'll be back in a few minutes!"
"You don't-" Tsukasa began but stopped as she disappeared though the dungeons door. She is going to do something horrible. I know it. Why wouldn't she just leave me alone? She didn't have to do this for me. I didn't ask for help, all I wanted was to be left alone.
He sighed and then closed his eyes. They shot open a second latter when he heard the screams of the guards outside the door. She must have dought them. And won. After the screams it went quiet. What was she doing? Had she been hurt in the process? He walked towards the door and reached a hand over to push it open. But before he had made contact with the door it had opened to reveal Lain, with his weapon, his rod.
"I told you to wait!" Lain said looking a little disappointed. "Oh well, we got to hurry though. I managed to disconnect the guards and some others in the area. But it won't last for long. We have to hurry."
"Okay," Tsukasa replied unsure. He walked out of the dungeon and took his weapon, which Lain held out to him after she got his reply. He smiled a little, but was then jerked forwards when Lain grabbed his free hand and begun to drag him into a run.
"I don't know what's up ahead!" Lain called out to Tsukasa over her shoulder. "So there could be more fighting! You ready?!" Tsukasa nodded his head for a yes and Lain grinned. "Good!"
As they exited the hallway Lain stopped dead in her tracks and let out a sort of muffled scream. Tsukasa ran into her slightly. Neither of them fell to the ground.
There standing before Lain and Tsukasa was the woman or virus that had put Lain into this huge mess she was in.
"No!" Lain screamed out at her. "You go away! Keep away from me! You're the one who put me in this mess! Just leave me alone!"
The woman didn't reply to Lain's screams but walked forward. She saw Lain let go of Tsukasa's hand and unsheathed her sword and point it at her. The woman backed away a little but then smiled at what she was doing. She was backing away from a level 50 character. That was nothing compared to her. But still she had done part of what she was created to do. Keep this girl stuck in this game. Now she would do the second part. Speak to her.
"I am Mitski," Mitski said with a faint grin on her face. "As you know I am a virus. I was made to keep you in this game. I have done this, now your role is in play. I am here to keep you in action, I assume. I do have a message for you."
"What is it!?" Lain yelled out. She didn't drop her sword but was slightly shaking.
"Find the child born from darkness," Mitski said with the same grin. "She will help give you back what you have lost. What you have forgotten and had no need to remember."
"What!? I have lost nothing!" Lain yelled glaring at her.
"Your emotion to love. That is what you have lost," Mitski replied.
"When have I lost this emotion to love!?" Lain yelled out angrily. "You don't know what you are talking about!"
"It has been gone for so long, for six years, you thought you had it back when you returned home, to your loving parents," Mitski answered. "It was still missing, you thought you could never be loved or love anything. So it went away. You hated everything, that's why your parents abandoned you. Left you alone."
"You lying!" Lain screamed out dropping to the ground on her knees. "You lying, you're not telling the truth! That never happened! My parents loved me! They always did! It only happened because I was different! I couldn't handle some things! Go away! I don't ever want to see you again!!"
Mitski disappeared laughing silently to herself. Tsukasa looked down at the now crying Lain and back up to the spot were the virus had exited.
"What does this mean?" Tsukasa asked breaking the silence that followed after Mitski left. "What was she talking about? Lain?"
He walked in front of her when she didn't answer to his questions. Her face looked so sad, worse than before. She looked as though all the happy things that ever happened in her life had vanished as if never to come back.
"Lain?" Tsukasa asked her. He sank to his own knees so he had a clearer look at her face. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?"
"You wouldn't understand," Lain said as more tears rolled down her face. She didn't look sad anymore. Her face was expressionless. Blank. "I don't have the emotion to love. Part of me is dead. I'm so alone. Everything that has ever been good in my life is now dead. Why did this have to happen to me?!" Lain let go of her sword, which was still in her hand and then wrapped her arms around her shoulders. "I'm so stupid! Why did I ever play this game!? I was stupid to think that this wouldn't effect me! I WAS WRONG!!"
Tsukasa was speechless. He didn't know what to say to her. To make her feel better. He didn't know what to do. "Lain," Tsukasa started. "Don't cry. You're not stupid. You don't need to think that stuff, it's not right. It'll be okay. I'll help you get back your emotion to love. So please, please stop crying."
Lain looked up at Tsukasa as she dried her tears on her black shirt. He looked almost as sad as she was. Why though? They had just met a while ago. He didn't know her. He knew nothing about her past. But yet he was sad for her. This was something she thought she would never understand about him. Or was it pity in her look?
"You would help me?" Lain asked still blank in expression. "But you don't know anything about me. About my past, about how I was…"
"Your right about me knowing nothing about you past…but I do know stuff about you character, in this game," Tsukasa said now smiling at her. He was going to use the same tactics that she used for him, for her. "I looked up your file, like you did mine. You're a level 50 swordsman. With Blue, White, and Black magic. Your names I Lain and you have been playing this game fore two days. I'm right, aren't I?"
Lain smiled up at him, picked up her sword and then stood on her feet. After sheathing the sword she began to walk towards the exit onto the field that was outside of the dungeon. Tsukasa was following closely behind her.
"so," Lain began walking out into the sunlight with the Wave Master. "What are we to do first? Split up?"
"I told you," Tsukasa replied with a grin on his face still. "I'm going to help you. I'm helping you get back your ability to love." Lain smiled at him and then sighed.
"You to nice,' Lain replied smiling more brightly at him.
Okay so I know this chapter is a little short…but then again I didn't want to drag it on too long. Then it would just get stupid…right? Well REVIEW and tell me what you think.
I'm not too sure about this chapter though. I always thought it would be nice if someone in the show lost an emotion, (well Tsukasa sort of has…I mean he's so down all the time…) and went to look for it. Well if you can guess what this is going to lead to or maybe have some idea that might make this better or a comment that would help in the future…please tell. I would truly like to know…. Like I said before REVIEW and keep reading!!!