Disclaimer: No need to say it, I don't own .Hack. Wish I did, but I
don't.
Remnants of a Shattered Heart,
Chapter 4: Eternity is Waiting
War is a monster. A great, feral beast that devours lives and destroys order. It is a creature that seeks to expound the chaos of its own soul and ruin as many lives as it could. Those among the gathered combatants were a testimony to that loss, and though they fought, and though they were losing, the strength of their own desperation pushed them forward, abandoning the safety of cowardice and choosing to fight this losing conflict. It was their redemption.
Kite and Balmung of the Azure Sky held a common bond, that of their close friend Orca who fell into a coma along with so many others. The Wavemaster Elk, as he crouched behind the Elf's Haven in Net Slum however, lost something even more precious...for Mia was not a player who, when killed in battle could restart their terminal, she was a part of the system itself. And now that she had died, she was erased from the base system. That fact even now sent waves of despair over the despondent mage.
And he watched the battle, watched as Kite, BlackRose and Balmung battled the intangible form before them, while Wiseman and Helba healed the party when needed. Lios, the system administrator seemed to be working his technical magic among the field, attempting to control the spread of the Wave until it's defeat. He had his own grudge, as many of his subordinates were lost among the Wave as well. It was a last attack, and if it failed, there would be nothing that could be done to prevent it from pouring out into other servers. For the Wave was no longer content with its own little corner of the World Wide Web. It wanted the world.
But Elk didn't care for the dramatics of the confrontation. He felt heavy in his heart, and wondered still why he was here. Defeating the Wave would not bring Mia back; she was dead. One could say deleted, but that would give further argument to the fact that she wasn't alive. He did not...could not believe that. She was more alive than anyone he had ever met...and he knew whatever minimal role he could play in this final battle would do nothing to ease the gaping hole that took the place of his shattered heart, but it would be his form of revenge.
Morganna had promised him that she would bring back Mia if he betrayed his friends. He kept his promise, but she didn't keep hers, and so the Wavemaster was lost, friendless and without Mia. He had no doubt, whatever he attempted to do; he would not win back that trust. But in truth, this wasn't for them, this wasn't even for himself...this was for Mia, who had given him so much.
Peering around the barrels that barred his view of the battle, Elk noticed it was not going well. It seemed they could inflict no damage on the physical form the viral Morganna had taken. All their attacks did nothing beyond the great shield cast by the shapeless monster they fought. It was a losing battle, and Elk thought desperately to lend his support now, but his sudden appearance may distract the party as they fought against the compressing fear of losing. So he could do nothing but watch...and wait.
But the sudden flash in the sky tore Elk's attention from the battle raging mere feet from him, as a cadre of players appeared. Ten...maybe twenty luminescent figures appeared in the sky, and Elk was sure they were saying something, though he couldn't hear. Before he knew what was going on, each of the figures in turn began to dive at the monster Kite, BlackRose and Balmung were battling, then, they all dove toward the creature, cracking the armor and splitting it's defenses apart.
Elk screamed at the sight, not knowing what was going on, but frightened nonetheless. It was horrific, a scene of complete chaos, as the combatants, his friends, fought on regardless, battling against the Wave that had seemed to destroy so many lives. And despite his desire to help, Elk, terrified, crouched behind the barrels, hoping the Hell exploding around him would simply end.
And so, despite all the cries of battle, the conflict had ended with the scream of anguish that echoed throughout the server, and the Wave, the horrific creature Kite and the others battled, had been absorbed in the brilliant white light that, for a moment, blinded all that looked at it. That was probably why Balmung, the great Descendant of Fianna, did not see the tendril until it had speared his player. His scream caused Elk to peer around the barrels, seeing the legendary Blademaster's character shatter into a thousand pixels of color and light.
Elk stood up, terrified at the last attack of the sinister wave, but ran forward regardless. Balmung was gone, and he would, if Kite and BlackRose allowed him, would take his place in the battle. They would all have to think about what happened to Balmung afterwards, if any of them were left. The tendrils continued to lash about, finding it's next target.
BlackRose screamed in such agony that Elk felt his own heart stop, but it was Kite's scream that tore through him, as the Twin Blade had called out the name of his partner and best friend, watching helplessly as her character exploded in much the same way as Balmung's. Elk knew the scream that tore from Kite's throat, it was the same scream he let loose when Mia was destroyed. It was a scream of a breaking heart.
Three more tentacles lashed their way toward the last of the Wave's attackers, yet Kite's eyes were glued on the spot where BlackRose had stood. So Elk did all he could think of, he pushed the distraught Twin Blade from the path of the snaking coils and felt the spears tear into his virtual body...but not just his virtual body, his physical body felt the pain as well.
"Elk..." Kite had said, stunned to see the Wavemaster before him and realizing that he had taken the attack meant for him.
But Elk turned his eyes toward Kite, hoping the Twin Blade would forgive him for his betrayal. 'At least now...' Elk thought as his character began to dissolve into the emptiness. 'I can finally be with Mia.'
# # #
The suddenly awake Wavemaster began thrashing his limbs as if in the middle of the ocean, as if trying to stay above water. He wasn't sure what had happened but felt his body tighten as he recalled the three spearheads that tore through his body. Oddly enough, he had no injuries he could determine. For all purposes, he was perfectly fine. But that bothered him. He could only imagine Kite had somehow succeeded; otherwise his character should not have suddenly appeared in whatever random field he was in now. But he didn't care.
Thinking that Kite had succeeded, that he himself was not in a coma meant that everyone else would be fine as well. Everyone except him...because though Kite got BlackRose back, Elk would never get Mia back. And a new wave of despair washed over him, drowning him...forcing the air from his lungs and suffocating him in his grief. Perhaps he was being selfish...but he had hoped he wouldn't have awakened. Life without Mia was not a life he wished to experience.
Curling his body as he lay on the ground, Elk cried as he had not cried since the day Mia was deleted. He was alone. Somewhere within The World, Kite and his friends were celebrating, but there would be no celebration for the broken Wavemaster. No, for he would know only sorrow.
Yet, so lost in his grief was he that he hadn't noticed the comforting hand caressing his cheek and brushing his hair. He thought he was dreaming, or hallucinating in his own sorrow, he never expected that when he'd raise his head after noticing the gentle touch to his face, that he would come face- to-face with a cat.
It wasn't Mia...it was the form Morganna had shown him...tempted Elk into betraying his friends. It was the base-operating program from Mia's character...Maha. Elk's heart skipped a beat as he stared at the character for a moment before finding his voice. "M...Mia?"
Maha floated back a few paces and bowed deeply toward Elk, sweeping its hand across its waist as it did so before turning and floating away.
"No...wait!" Elk screamed as the cat paused to turn its head at the suffering Wavemaster. "It's you, isn't it Mia? Don't go...please."
Maha merely tilted its head to stare at Elk as if not quite understanding the strange boy's ramblings. Waving its paw, the cat-character shimmered and then faded from his view. Elk stared at the space where Maha had been before fresh tears had poured from his eyes. He felt as if he had lost his best friend all over again.
He wasn't sure when the tears stopped, but Elk felt cold, tired and drained. Yet as he sat in the lonely field, he looked down at where he had first noticed Maha and saw the single sprig of grass setting atop the other blades of grass. Elk picked up the Aromatic grass Maha had left for him before a smile finally tugged at the edges of Elk's mouth. It had been so long since he had smiled that it was almost painful, but this at least was a pleasant pain, for Elk understood what Maha had given to him. He knew now that Mia was back. Perhaps not in the form he remembered her, but she was within The World again.
"I will find you." Elk said, brushing away a single tear from his eye with the back of his hand. "I will bring you back to me Mia...I owe you that." And standing to stretch his legs, the shy Wavemaster gated out of the field. He would find Kite...he would find BlackRose, and beg them to forgive him for what he had done. He knew they would, but he couldn't deny being slightly nervous about confronting them. But he would. Mia was back...he would find her...and The World would be their treasure.
-The End
# # #
A/N: I wasn't too thrilled with this chapter, but I was struggling with the idea how to finish it. So, here you go. Please don't flame me...and I really hope this isn't a disappointing ending for the story...but I was sort of lost writing this...and mentally out of it. Oh well. If you've read this far, please review. Danke
Remnants of a Shattered Heart,
Chapter 4: Eternity is Waiting
War is a monster. A great, feral beast that devours lives and destroys order. It is a creature that seeks to expound the chaos of its own soul and ruin as many lives as it could. Those among the gathered combatants were a testimony to that loss, and though they fought, and though they were losing, the strength of their own desperation pushed them forward, abandoning the safety of cowardice and choosing to fight this losing conflict. It was their redemption.
Kite and Balmung of the Azure Sky held a common bond, that of their close friend Orca who fell into a coma along with so many others. The Wavemaster Elk, as he crouched behind the Elf's Haven in Net Slum however, lost something even more precious...for Mia was not a player who, when killed in battle could restart their terminal, she was a part of the system itself. And now that she had died, she was erased from the base system. That fact even now sent waves of despair over the despondent mage.
And he watched the battle, watched as Kite, BlackRose and Balmung battled the intangible form before them, while Wiseman and Helba healed the party when needed. Lios, the system administrator seemed to be working his technical magic among the field, attempting to control the spread of the Wave until it's defeat. He had his own grudge, as many of his subordinates were lost among the Wave as well. It was a last attack, and if it failed, there would be nothing that could be done to prevent it from pouring out into other servers. For the Wave was no longer content with its own little corner of the World Wide Web. It wanted the world.
But Elk didn't care for the dramatics of the confrontation. He felt heavy in his heart, and wondered still why he was here. Defeating the Wave would not bring Mia back; she was dead. One could say deleted, but that would give further argument to the fact that she wasn't alive. He did not...could not believe that. She was more alive than anyone he had ever met...and he knew whatever minimal role he could play in this final battle would do nothing to ease the gaping hole that took the place of his shattered heart, but it would be his form of revenge.
Morganna had promised him that she would bring back Mia if he betrayed his friends. He kept his promise, but she didn't keep hers, and so the Wavemaster was lost, friendless and without Mia. He had no doubt, whatever he attempted to do; he would not win back that trust. But in truth, this wasn't for them, this wasn't even for himself...this was for Mia, who had given him so much.
Peering around the barrels that barred his view of the battle, Elk noticed it was not going well. It seemed they could inflict no damage on the physical form the viral Morganna had taken. All their attacks did nothing beyond the great shield cast by the shapeless monster they fought. It was a losing battle, and Elk thought desperately to lend his support now, but his sudden appearance may distract the party as they fought against the compressing fear of losing. So he could do nothing but watch...and wait.
But the sudden flash in the sky tore Elk's attention from the battle raging mere feet from him, as a cadre of players appeared. Ten...maybe twenty luminescent figures appeared in the sky, and Elk was sure they were saying something, though he couldn't hear. Before he knew what was going on, each of the figures in turn began to dive at the monster Kite, BlackRose and Balmung were battling, then, they all dove toward the creature, cracking the armor and splitting it's defenses apart.
Elk screamed at the sight, not knowing what was going on, but frightened nonetheless. It was horrific, a scene of complete chaos, as the combatants, his friends, fought on regardless, battling against the Wave that had seemed to destroy so many lives. And despite his desire to help, Elk, terrified, crouched behind the barrels, hoping the Hell exploding around him would simply end.
And so, despite all the cries of battle, the conflict had ended with the scream of anguish that echoed throughout the server, and the Wave, the horrific creature Kite and the others battled, had been absorbed in the brilliant white light that, for a moment, blinded all that looked at it. That was probably why Balmung, the great Descendant of Fianna, did not see the tendril until it had speared his player. His scream caused Elk to peer around the barrels, seeing the legendary Blademaster's character shatter into a thousand pixels of color and light.
Elk stood up, terrified at the last attack of the sinister wave, but ran forward regardless. Balmung was gone, and he would, if Kite and BlackRose allowed him, would take his place in the battle. They would all have to think about what happened to Balmung afterwards, if any of them were left. The tendrils continued to lash about, finding it's next target.
BlackRose screamed in such agony that Elk felt his own heart stop, but it was Kite's scream that tore through him, as the Twin Blade had called out the name of his partner and best friend, watching helplessly as her character exploded in much the same way as Balmung's. Elk knew the scream that tore from Kite's throat, it was the same scream he let loose when Mia was destroyed. It was a scream of a breaking heart.
Three more tentacles lashed their way toward the last of the Wave's attackers, yet Kite's eyes were glued on the spot where BlackRose had stood. So Elk did all he could think of, he pushed the distraught Twin Blade from the path of the snaking coils and felt the spears tear into his virtual body...but not just his virtual body, his physical body felt the pain as well.
"Elk..." Kite had said, stunned to see the Wavemaster before him and realizing that he had taken the attack meant for him.
But Elk turned his eyes toward Kite, hoping the Twin Blade would forgive him for his betrayal. 'At least now...' Elk thought as his character began to dissolve into the emptiness. 'I can finally be with Mia.'
# # #
The suddenly awake Wavemaster began thrashing his limbs as if in the middle of the ocean, as if trying to stay above water. He wasn't sure what had happened but felt his body tighten as he recalled the three spearheads that tore through his body. Oddly enough, he had no injuries he could determine. For all purposes, he was perfectly fine. But that bothered him. He could only imagine Kite had somehow succeeded; otherwise his character should not have suddenly appeared in whatever random field he was in now. But he didn't care.
Thinking that Kite had succeeded, that he himself was not in a coma meant that everyone else would be fine as well. Everyone except him...because though Kite got BlackRose back, Elk would never get Mia back. And a new wave of despair washed over him, drowning him...forcing the air from his lungs and suffocating him in his grief. Perhaps he was being selfish...but he had hoped he wouldn't have awakened. Life without Mia was not a life he wished to experience.
Curling his body as he lay on the ground, Elk cried as he had not cried since the day Mia was deleted. He was alone. Somewhere within The World, Kite and his friends were celebrating, but there would be no celebration for the broken Wavemaster. No, for he would know only sorrow.
Yet, so lost in his grief was he that he hadn't noticed the comforting hand caressing his cheek and brushing his hair. He thought he was dreaming, or hallucinating in his own sorrow, he never expected that when he'd raise his head after noticing the gentle touch to his face, that he would come face- to-face with a cat.
It wasn't Mia...it was the form Morganna had shown him...tempted Elk into betraying his friends. It was the base-operating program from Mia's character...Maha. Elk's heart skipped a beat as he stared at the character for a moment before finding his voice. "M...Mia?"
Maha floated back a few paces and bowed deeply toward Elk, sweeping its hand across its waist as it did so before turning and floating away.
"No...wait!" Elk screamed as the cat paused to turn its head at the suffering Wavemaster. "It's you, isn't it Mia? Don't go...please."
Maha merely tilted its head to stare at Elk as if not quite understanding the strange boy's ramblings. Waving its paw, the cat-character shimmered and then faded from his view. Elk stared at the space where Maha had been before fresh tears had poured from his eyes. He felt as if he had lost his best friend all over again.
He wasn't sure when the tears stopped, but Elk felt cold, tired and drained. Yet as he sat in the lonely field, he looked down at where he had first noticed Maha and saw the single sprig of grass setting atop the other blades of grass. Elk picked up the Aromatic grass Maha had left for him before a smile finally tugged at the edges of Elk's mouth. It had been so long since he had smiled that it was almost painful, but this at least was a pleasant pain, for Elk understood what Maha had given to him. He knew now that Mia was back. Perhaps not in the form he remembered her, but she was within The World again.
"I will find you." Elk said, brushing away a single tear from his eye with the back of his hand. "I will bring you back to me Mia...I owe you that." And standing to stretch his legs, the shy Wavemaster gated out of the field. He would find Kite...he would find BlackRose, and beg them to forgive him for what he had done. He knew they would, but he couldn't deny being slightly nervous about confronting them. But he would. Mia was back...he would find her...and The World would be their treasure.
-The End
# # #
A/N: I wasn't too thrilled with this chapter, but I was struggling with the idea how to finish it. So, here you go. Please don't flame me...and I really hope this isn't a disappointing ending for the story...but I was sort of lost writing this...and mentally out of it. Oh well. If you've read this far, please review. Danke