Chapter 16: Heraii
"But why me?" Shivan asked Ramza.
"Because you touch yourself at night."
"No, seriously."
"Because you won the latest UC, and according to a prophecy that I'm making up off the top of my head, that makes you special. Or something. I'm not quite sure. Linux has degraded my brain."
"So how am I supposed to stop this then?"
"First you need the whole story."
Sacred stepped up beside Ramza and began speaking. As her voice fell upon Shivan's ears, he felt himself in a dream, Sacred radiant before his eyes.
"When CJay created the .hack commands, he underestimated their strength. Ns and Ramza were given a string of corrupted code as part of a contest a month ago. They won the contest, identifying the error in the code, and through them we discovered that .hack commands could be manipulated by anyone. A new Administrator from CNET, Retribution Saint, came to power around this time."
Darkshine stepped up as Sacred ceased speaking, and his voice shattered Shivan's dream.
"Saint discovered a greater power to these commands and plotted in secret. CJay, however, discovered his designs, but not before most of the Mods had been corrupted. He came to us for help."
Ramza spoke again.
"We believe that Saint has discovered the YSB's connection to CJay and has empowered the WWESB to destroy it."
"And what is Saint's plan?" questioned Shivan.
"That is not your concern at this time," Ramza replied.
"We were given a chance," Sacred continued, the dream-like state once again returning to Shivan's mind, "to design a weapon from the .hack commands. We decided to use only little of the super-code, fearing that it would corrupt the code around it and be too easy to locate."
"And that weapon is?"
Ramza reached into his cloak and removed a sheathed sword, holding it out on both hands before him in offering. The sheath was black and of silk, winding around the blade of the sword like a stream of water. The pommel was a silver globe. The grip was long, leading to a wide guard adorned with silver at its ends. The blade was over four feet in length.
"Its name is Heraii," Ramza said, handing the sheath to Shivan.
"Heraii?"
"We were bored. And drunk."
Shivan pulled Heraii from its sheath and looked at it for a moment. The blade was smooth gray steel, marked only by its name engraved in ruby at its base. Fire shrouded it and left a red trail in the air as it moved.
As it was revealed, as one, the whole of the gathered drew identical steel swords from their own scabbards with a loud ring.
"There is-" Ramza was cut off. They looked to the right. Darkness had gathered and consumed a portion of the wall, and from it came vile hisses and whispers. Ramza and his entourage raised their swords in defense.
From that blackness emerged three dark shapes. Their cloaks were ripped and thin, revealing patches of darkness from beneath their shells. Hoods were drawn, hiding their faces in shadow: black faces like deep pits. Cruel steel armor covered their legs and arms. Their forms seemed one with the void around them, silky demons of the night.
One walked before the other two, and as he stepped, he drew from his scabbard a pale blade. In his wretched grip it waited, preparing to fall.
There was a shout and a flash of light.
"LAME~!"
A body came hurtling into the foremost shadow, crashing into it and knocking it to the side in a heap. Its sword fell and splintered.
The assailing figure quickly rose. His silver cloak sparkled and shifted about him. It too was of silk. In his hands glowed a steel blade marked with strange designs. A white light came from it. It shook in anger. His eyes were deep and black and his hair long and white. Upon his head was a silver band not unlike the others.
"Ogor?" Shivan asked. "You're not in this fic."
"Get over it," Ogordemir replied. "No one insults the Nazgul like this. Except me."
"RUN!" Ramza yelled as he plunged into the remaining two Shadows. More were coming, and the company rushed to meet them.
Shivan heeded Ramza's order and ran off as quick as his legs would carry him. It wasn't long before he left the sounds of battle behind and was again alone, the silence broken only by the clattering of rain and his footsteps upon the road. He slowed and sheathed Heraii. Up ahead stood a man.
"Hello Shivan," he said. "I've been expecting you."
"But why me?" Shivan asked Ramza.
"Because you touch yourself at night."
"No, seriously."
"Because you won the latest UC, and according to a prophecy that I'm making up off the top of my head, that makes you special. Or something. I'm not quite sure. Linux has degraded my brain."
"So how am I supposed to stop this then?"
"First you need the whole story."
Sacred stepped up beside Ramza and began speaking. As her voice fell upon Shivan's ears, he felt himself in a dream, Sacred radiant before his eyes.
"When CJay created the .hack commands, he underestimated their strength. Ns and Ramza were given a string of corrupted code as part of a contest a month ago. They won the contest, identifying the error in the code, and through them we discovered that .hack commands could be manipulated by anyone. A new Administrator from CNET, Retribution Saint, came to power around this time."
Darkshine stepped up as Sacred ceased speaking, and his voice shattered Shivan's dream.
"Saint discovered a greater power to these commands and plotted in secret. CJay, however, discovered his designs, but not before most of the Mods had been corrupted. He came to us for help."
Ramza spoke again.
"We believe that Saint has discovered the YSB's connection to CJay and has empowered the WWESB to destroy it."
"And what is Saint's plan?" questioned Shivan.
"That is not your concern at this time," Ramza replied.
"We were given a chance," Sacred continued, the dream-like state once again returning to Shivan's mind, "to design a weapon from the .hack commands. We decided to use only little of the super-code, fearing that it would corrupt the code around it and be too easy to locate."
"And that weapon is?"
Ramza reached into his cloak and removed a sheathed sword, holding it out on both hands before him in offering. The sheath was black and of silk, winding around the blade of the sword like a stream of water. The pommel was a silver globe. The grip was long, leading to a wide guard adorned with silver at its ends. The blade was over four feet in length.
"Its name is Heraii," Ramza said, handing the sheath to Shivan.
"Heraii?"
"We were bored. And drunk."
Shivan pulled Heraii from its sheath and looked at it for a moment. The blade was smooth gray steel, marked only by its name engraved in ruby at its base. Fire shrouded it and left a red trail in the air as it moved.
As it was revealed, as one, the whole of the gathered drew identical steel swords from their own scabbards with a loud ring.
"There is-" Ramza was cut off. They looked to the right. Darkness had gathered and consumed a portion of the wall, and from it came vile hisses and whispers. Ramza and his entourage raised their swords in defense.
From that blackness emerged three dark shapes. Their cloaks were ripped and thin, revealing patches of darkness from beneath their shells. Hoods were drawn, hiding their faces in shadow: black faces like deep pits. Cruel steel armor covered their legs and arms. Their forms seemed one with the void around them, silky demons of the night.
One walked before the other two, and as he stepped, he drew from his scabbard a pale blade. In his wretched grip it waited, preparing to fall.
There was a shout and a flash of light.
"LAME~!"
A body came hurtling into the foremost shadow, crashing into it and knocking it to the side in a heap. Its sword fell and splintered.
The assailing figure quickly rose. His silver cloak sparkled and shifted about him. It too was of silk. In his hands glowed a steel blade marked with strange designs. A white light came from it. It shook in anger. His eyes were deep and black and his hair long and white. Upon his head was a silver band not unlike the others.
"Ogor?" Shivan asked. "You're not in this fic."
"Get over it," Ogordemir replied. "No one insults the Nazgul like this. Except me."
"RUN!" Ramza yelled as he plunged into the remaining two Shadows. More were coming, and the company rushed to meet them.
Shivan heeded Ramza's order and ran off as quick as his legs would carry him. It wasn't long before he left the sounds of battle behind and was again alone, the silence broken only by the clattering of rain and his footsteps upon the road. He slowed and sheathed Heraii. Up ahead stood a man.
"Hello Shivan," he said. "I've been expecting you."