New chapter. Yay.
Yoko Sereana Lita: Yes, it IS a waste of money. _ BTW, I just got .hack, so maybe I will understand what you meant earlier now.
Fair warning: There is a tiny bit of language in here. Not much (just one word), but I just thought I should note it.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. _ _
*Chapter 18: Erased From Existence*
Everyone stared at the hole that was the only thing left to tell about how Asesino had died.
Neo walked up to it and looked down. He shook his head sadly. "It looks like it is bottomless…"
"A pity, but it can't be helped," Will said. "We will just have to push that fact aside and figure out how to get across that pit."
As he said those words, the sides of the pit suddenly closed. The passage looked perfectly normal now.
"What the heck? It's like it wants us to go on…" Rue muttered. "But what if it just opens up again?"
"I doubt it," Hope commented. "The Generals have kept their word so far. It seems they can't break their own rules."
Max shrugged. "It's either that or stay trapped forever." He walked fearlessly on the area where the pit had been. It held firm. That seemed to reassure the others; they followed him.
After some more walking, there still didn't seem to be an end to the tunnel. Hope was very tired by now, and couldn't believe that Max, Will, and Rue were still going strong. Especially Rue; he had that huge ax to drag along, after all. Hope was about to request taking a break, when suddenly, Rue's Dark Piercing Light card went out. In the darkness, they could hear Rue swearing.
"What happened? Did it run out of power?" Hope asked.
"No! It just went out for no reason!" Rue snarled.
"Neo, can you give us some light?" Will inquired.
There was a few seconds of silence, and then Neo responded. "It's no use. I can't light up this area for some reason."
"Then we will just have to keep going," Rue replied. "In the dark, unfortunately. This could be annoying."
"I'm in the lead, so follow the sound of my footsteps." Max's voice came from the front, so they figured he was right. Hope walked forward steadily, and then heard a crash, a yell of surprise, and what sounded like someone opening an over-filled cupboard of pots and pans.
"What was that?" Hope asked.
"NEO! GET OFF OF ME!"
"Sorry Gaston!"
Another yell was heard, a crash, and then a string of colorful language. "Get out of the way dang it!" Rue's voice was easy to place.
Hope sighed. This is going to be a long trip.
*****
"This is not working. Those children are scared at the idea of death, but somehow they still overcome it! Now how can I do this… ah, I know. Yes, that should work. They will know the true meaning of fear by the time this is over." The figure in shadows gave a cold laugh.
*****
After a few more mishaps, the going was soon smooth. It took about another thirty minutes before anything happened though.
"The passage ends here," Hope heard Max say. "The walls are much wider apart. Just keep walking straight forward."
They did so, but nothing eventful occurred until Hope left the passage; she had been the last person in line. When she stepped out, she felt that something was wrong.
"Uh… guys? I feel like something isn't right."
"I know what you mean," Rue replied. "It's like… the ground isn't solid! That's it!"
"What are you talking about?" Will asked. "How could we be walking if the ground wasn't solid?"
"The boy's instincts are accurate. You should listen to him."
It was like someone had directed a spotlight at each person and Soul Monster. Hope abruptly realized that everyone was glowing with a soft, yellow light. It didn't make things much better, but at least they could see each other. There wasn't much else to see though. It was just an area of blackness, completely empty. Hope didn't understand at first, until she looked down at her feet and found that she was standing on… nothing. It seemed solid enough to not suddenly float off of, but it didn't feel exactly solid.
"Are we… in an area like space? But there are no stars…"
"Very keen observation."
A movement was made, and they could suddenly see a young girl. Hope realized that the black cloak must have concealed her until now. She was glowing in the same manner as they were, so it was easy to tell what she looked like. She wore a long, pale, white dress that went down to her feet. She wore black shoes, and white gloves. Over face was a white veil that stood out against her black hair. She had gray eyes that resembled the clouds of a storm. Around her neck was yet another fiery orb, the only bright thing in this area. What shocked Hope was how young the girl looked… only about ten!
Her Soul Monster was another human-like one, but this one was the first female Hope had seen. She wore a simple, silver suit of armor. Her light brown hair fell down to her shoulders, and in her hand was a white sword.
"Welcome to a place of emptiness and space. People call me Alene. That Soul Monster is Twilight Zone Female Warrior. You may refer to her as Besta. I have lived in a world that is like this for the majority of my existance. My purpose is dedicated to serving My Lord as a General of Hell."
"Whoa!" Rue exclaimed. "There are female Generals of Hell?"
"I do not see why that surprises you," Alene said calmly. "Aren't all people just the same? There is no difference between male and female, in a sense. We are all equal."
"Say… what?" Rue looked very confused at this whole conversation.
"Besides that, just look at how young you are," Gaston pointed out. "There is no way you can be even thirteen!"
"I am not thirteen. I do not know my own age; I lost track of it after about one hundred years."
"What?!" Everyone was shocked.
"I was assigned to kill all that possess the power to stop the Ritual. I sense that you four…"
"You mean eight," Gaston pointed out.
"…Eight, if you prefer, are the ones I am supposed to defeat in a duel. If you lose, you will spend an eternity in hell." Never once did her expression change. It was like her face was set in stone.
"The Ritual… tell us more about it!" Hope demanded.
"I cannot disclose information about it. Now turn on your Duel Disk."
"One more thing; what IS this place?" Will asked.
"It is an area of emptiness, a place where nothing happens, a place where there are no thoughts or emotions. It is just space."
"Space? I heard you can float there." Neo attempted a back flip, only to land on his back. "OW!"
"You are mistaken. This is not based off of outer space."
Hope frowned. "This is too weird for my tastes. Let's just get on with this thing."
"A word of warning: there is a new rule that has been set. You will see what I mean soon enough," Alene said.
Hope: 8000
Alene: 8000
"You are to take the first move," Alene announced.
"Ok," Hope replied. "I set one monster in defense mode, and lay one other card. I'm done."
"I summon Twilight Zone Beast. (1400/1400) It will attack your monster."
"Looks like you hit my Severing Samurai. (500/800)"
"Any monster Twilight Zone Beast destroys in Battle is removed from the game."
"That is a good effect, but it is too weak to live for much longer," Hope stated.
"It depends on how you go about it. I lay two cards down. You may go now."
"Hm… I play Cyclone on the card to your left!"
"You destroyed my Magic Jammer. I will not activate it."
"I summon Iron Knight: Gear Freed!"
"I counter with Bottomless Pit Trap. Your Gear Freed is removed from the game."
"Then that's it…" Hope grimaced.
"I summon Turner Of The Dead: Kaiku. (1800/700) Attack your Life Points with both of my monsters."
"I counter with Curse Of Darkness! Your Kaiku is trapped, and he loses 700 attack points. (1100/700)"
"You may go through with that. However, my Twilight Zone Beast still gets to attack you. I end my turn."
Hope gave a growl of pain as the Beast attacked her.
Hope: 6600
Alene: 8000
The pain in Hope's chest faded away, but something else felt wrong. Hope shook it off and drew her next card.
"I summon… what's wrong Gaston?"
Gaston was staring at her in shock. "Just look! Your leg!"
"What?" Hope looked down at her leg, and gasped. It was… gone. She could see a little bit of her leg just beyond her knee, but that was it.
"What happened? What is going on?!" Hope demanded.
"Is this the new ruling?" Will asked.
"Correct. Each time we lose Life Points, a section of our body disappears, until the one with none left is just a memory."
"But… what if my arm is erased? How will I play then?"
"Your body parts are simply invisible for now. However, the one who loses will also lose their state of matter. That person will go from being a solid to just a soul without a body. This soul will remain in Hell forever."
Hope shuddered. "Alright then… it's too late to back out now."
"Be careful," Rue advised.
"No duh," Hope muttered. "I summon Blade Knight. (1600/1000) He will attack your Twilight Zone Beast."
Hope: 6600
Alene: 7800
Hope noticed a section of Alene's foot was now gone. "So we both start vanishing at our feet, and then progress upwards?"
"Yes. I sacrifice Kaiku to summon Lesser Demon. (2100/1000) Attack your Blade Knight."
Hope: 6100
Alene: 7800
"Lesser Demon also has the ability to remove any monster it kills in Battle. I will end my turn by laying one more card down."
Hope noted that her leg was almost completely gone before drawing.
"Hope, have you noticed that all the cards she has played, besides Magic Jammer, specify on removing cards?" Gaston asked.
"Now that I think about it… so that is your strategy? But what good will it do? It isn't like I would be able to get back most of those cards anyway."
"You will see soon enough."
"I summon Goblin Strike Team. They attack your Lesser Demon. Then, I lay one card down."
Hope: 6100
Alene: 7600
Alene didn't even seem phased that her leg was slowly disappearing. "I lay one monster down. I also lay one other card."
"Hm… I end my turn without doing anything."
"Then it is time to go to work. I will activate my face down card, Cyclone."
"You hit my Holy Barrier-Mirror Force."
"I will also use Thunderbolt."
Hope shook her head. "That was a waste. Any monster of yours could have killed them."
"True, but I was preparing for my next card. I play Release Of Soul. I get to remove up to five cards from either of our Cemeteries. So I remove Goblin Strike Team, Mirror Force, and Curse Of Darkness."
"What is the point of all this? You have no cards in your hand; all you have is that face down monster."
"It is all I need. I will flip it right now. This monster is called Fiber Pod. (500/500) It makes both of us shuffle our hand, Cemetery, and all of the cards on the field into our decks. The only cards that are not shuffled in are cards that have been removed. Then we draw five new cards."
"So I won't get any of my best cards back!" Hope said, horrified.
"That is the main point around this deck." She quickly shuffled her deck, put it in the slot, and drew five cards. "I summon Twilight Zone Swordsman. (1200/1000) He attacks your Life Points."
Hope: 4900
Alene: 7600
Hope's left leg was completely gone now. Her right leg was invisible up to the knee.
"Well, at least I have a new hand now. I summon Surprising Matasa. Attack your Swordsman! And then, I will attack your open Life Points!"
"You will not get the chance. When my Swordsman is attacked, he and the monster who attacked him are removed from the game."
"Darn it. I lay two cards down."
Hope: 4900
Alene: 7500
"I will use Emissary Of Destruction on the card to the right. This card allows me to destroy one face down magic or trap. If it is a trap, we both remove all of the copies we have of that card in our deck."
"You hit my Destruction Ring…"
"I must remove mine as well. Now, I summon Black Forest Witch. (1100/1200) She will attack directly."
"I counter with Magic Cylinder. Your attack is negated, and you lose Life Points equal to your attack."
Hope: 4900
Alene: 6400
"I will activate Besta's Deck Master ability. By paying 500 Life Points, I may select one card in your Cemetery and remove it. I choose Magic Cylinder."
Hope: 4900
Alene: 5900
"What? But then you are losing more of your body by doing that! Your whole leg is gone! Why do it?"
"If I am to win, I must make sacrifices," Alene explained. "Take your turn."
"Before I do, I want some questions answered," Hope declared. "How can you be here when you are only ten or so? You claim to be over one hundred, but that is impossible!"
"I see that you are strong willed. Very well… I will explain. I was once a human child. I had what many would consider a horrible life. I was born from a mother who did not want me. She was a whore, to put it briefly. One night, she had sex with a man, but was not careful enough. I do not know who my father was; she never saw that man again. I was born with a mother who did not care about me… who only saw me as a stress reliever. I was not even named by her, so I named myself. How I survived, I do not know. Somehow, I lived to be ten. I had no friends; my mother's reputation had taken care of that. One night though, everything changed. It was in December, if I recall…"
FLASHBACK
Alene walked into her house, and looked around.
"I need to ask mommy if I can go to the library… where is she?"
She walked up, and into her mother's room, only see her mother and a man talking. Her mother, upon seeing her, went white. The man looked at Alene, and shook his head. "So, you do have a child. It figures, doesn't it? I knew all you wanted was money." He walked right by Alene, not even looking back, and left the house.
Her mother immediately grabbed her by the neck. "You bitch! I told you; NEVER enter my room when I have company!"
Alene gave a choked, horrified sob as her mother struck her. After some time, her mother was finally too tired to hit her anymore. Alene was lying on the ground, trembling.
"You are to never come into this house again. EVER. You are an accident, a mistake! I don't accept those."
Alene's mom took her and threw her outside, into the snow, locking the door behind her. Clad only in the pale, white dress, Alene was instantly struck with the bitter cold. She ran back to the door and pounded on it, sobbing.
"Mommy, what's wrong? What did I do? Why do you hate me? Mommy, please come back and say you love me!" When no response came, the poor girl ran, not trying to hide her tears.
It began to hail, yet Alene still ran until she could run no more. She looked around, and noticed she was in the park. She ran up to the icy pond, and looked at it miserably.
"If mommy doesn't want me because it makes her sad… then I will make her happy."
Without a second thought, Alene threw herself onto the ice, instantly breaking through. Cold was an understatement for this water. She didn't even struggle, or try to swim. She just let herself be carried to her chilling death.
END FLASHBACK
Silent tears fell from Hope's eyes. Rue looked disgusted. Will had a look of sadness. Max was as cold as ever, although Hope thought she could see him give a pained look for a second. It's probably just my imagination.
"If you were killed though… what happened?"
"I am not dead," Alene said simply. Hope was amazed. Throughout the whole tale, her expression had never changed.
"What?"
"My body is frozen at the bottom of that pond. Nobody has ever found it. There it has been trapped, for too long. My spirit was restless though… it escaped my body. This is my soul, in a more solid form. I cannot look any older or younger than this."
"But… aren't you sad? Or angry?"
"I lost all of my emotions long ago. My only purpose now is to serve My Lord. It may be only for his purposes, but at least I am of use. Now, take your turn."
She wants to be loved… such a simple gift we take for granted was snatched away from her. Even Draken had someone who loved him…
"A-alright then. I lay one monster in defense mode, and end my turn."
"I will activate Emissary Of Obliteration. I select one face down monster, and remove it from the game. If it has a Reverse Effect, we remove all other copies of the cards in our decks as well."
"No! That was my Initiate Troops…" (1000/1000)
"I will summon Twilight Zone Female Warrior. (1500/1600) They will both attack your Life Points."
Hope: 2300
Alene: 5900
Hope groaned as she noticed her left arm was gone. Her right arm was barely showing. Geez, my Duel Disk looks like it is floating in thin air. How bizarre.
"Your Female Warrior… what is her effect?"
"If I choose to, when she is attacked, I can remove her and the monster that attacked her from the game."
"Just great," Hope grumbled. She drew, and was still for a long moment. "Gaston… this move could cost us the match. Should I attempt it?"
"We are lost if we don't. Go for it."
"Alright. I can use Magical Giga Cyber's effect and Special Summon him to my side of the field, since you have two more monsters than me. (2200/1200) Now I play Change Of Heart on your Female Warrior, and sacrifice her for Undefeated General-Freed. Giga attacks your Witch, and Freed attacks you."
Hope: 2300
Alene: 2500
Alene didn't even flinch as her legs, left arm, and half of her right one vanished. "I lay one monster in defense mode, and play Black Core. By discarding one card in my hand, I can remove one of your face up monsters from play. So I destroy your Magical Giga Cyber by discarding Critter. Your turn."
Hope frowned at her hand. "I attack with Freed."
"You attacked my Fiber Pod again."
"No!" Hope shuffled her deck and drew hastily. "Ugh… I'm glad I didn't summon yet. I lay down one monster, and one other card. I'm done."
"I play Emissary Of Obliteration. Remove your monster."
"My Rocket Warrior! (1500/1300)"
"I summon Critter, (1000/600) and equip it with Power Of Magics. (1500/600) Attack directly."
Hope: 800
Alene: 2500
Hope groaned. Almost all of her body was gone; all the spectators could see were her frightened, yet determined, eyes.
"I lay a card face down. I am done." It will do her no good to summon a powerful monster… my Bottomless Pit Trap will eliminate her last defense.
Hope had to try a few times before her hand landed on her deck. "If I don't draw something good NOW, we're finished…"
"You can, and you will," Gaston assured. "Just remember that you have the cards to do the job. All you need to do is use them correctly.
"Hope nodded, and then remembered he wouldn't be able to tell. "I suppose. Ok…" She drew, and nodded grimly. "That's it. I have won." I don't want to risk my Goblin Strike Team… what if she has another Bottomless Pit Trap? I'll have to be a little more creative. Of course, it still might be a Mirror Force, or Magic Cylinders. But I have to try!
"Please explain how," Alene requested.
"I drew the card that can save me. I summon Troop Comander! (1200/400) With his effect, I am allowed to summon another level four or lower monster. So I call forth Twilight Zone Swordsman!" (1200/1000)
"So you use one too…" While my trap will not work, she cannot win this turn with only them.
"I didn't know until now that I had one. I'm lucky I did though. Now I can defeat you. I equip my Troop Commander with Lightning Blade, raising his attack by 800! I also equip him with The Fused Weapon, Murasame Blade! That raises his attack by another 800! (2800/400)"
"Then you have won."
"Correct. I know that your Critter could get you a monster that might save you… I've heard of Kuribo, for example…" Hope swallowed deeply. "So I can't risk it. My Twilight Zone Swordsman attacks, removing both of our monsters instantly. And my Troop Commander attacks you, finishing the duel!" Hope closed her eyes as she felt almost all of the rest of her body disappear. She felt desperately afraid, until she heard Gaston.
"Hold on. You have won the match; just hold on for a few more seconds!"
Hope relaxed slightly, still tense.
Hope: 500
Alene: 0
Hope felt a warmth, and suddenly realized that her body was becoming visible again. Alene's, on the other hand, was vanishing rapidly. Besta's was already gone.
"Alene… I'm so sorry," Hope said. "Sorry for your life, and that you didn't get another chance."
For the first time since Hope had seen her, Alene changed expressions. She gave Hope a sad smile. "Don't apologize. I thank you for helping me. My existence has always been shrouded in pain and despair, so I blocked out all of my emotions. That was the wrong thing to do. Remember this Hope; feeling pain is always better than being an empty shell with no feelings."
With those words, Alene vanished completely, leaving the area where she had been as blank as everywhere else.
To be continued…
