Last minute edit: Ok, Fanfiction.net really doesn't like me...Now it takes out the stars, and the other sign. And almost everything else is already gone...Oh well. Drat. I don't have time to fix it up now though...And it refuses to work. Sorry.
Second edit: Ok, it took out italics too. Grrrr....Fixing, fixing...
Final exams are over for me, but now summer courses have begun...I'm retaking Algebra I (just because I went through an accelerated course during school, so I feel I need a refresher) and some weird placement thingy (because I'm going to a special, interview-to-get-in high school...). Updates won't be a few times a week anymore, most likely...More like once or twice a week, if I manage it well.
Oh, and I'm gonna be getting part 2 of .hack next week or so! I've already got the guide, and I'm waiting...Even more delays in my posting, most likely sweat
Thank you for staying with me! bows
REVIEWS!!!!! ::squee::
Cool-kitsune – Lol, yay! Others are joining the few of us! And I sorry...chapter six was a note --'' Here's the real chapter six though!
Kitty Riku and SW- ::eats snickers bar in one bite:: Yay for chocolate! And thank you! Hope you enjoy this one...Fluff to all!
Azusasan – Yay! Cookie! ::chomps this as well:: Wheee! I think I no longer count as a starving artist now....
One-Winged Angel – Well, as for exams...I did ok. My worst was around a high B. I'm a good student...But yes! Balmung/Kite is so rare...I kinda felt obligated to add to the small amount. Enjoy!
MKS – Thankees! I hope you enjoy this series as much as I do
Crimson Rogue – Thank you ( Well, I'm back, and as you've probably read, now I have summer courses...But I think I can. And finally, exams are over
Cool-cat1 – Thank you! And I shall!
Ok, I just got my computer all nice and reset, and got Microsoft Office XP in too, so now I have Microsoft Word! Yay! I can stop using some of the weirder seporators and such. Here's the updates...
= Entering new areas, or time change, or POV change
underline = System Message
italics = Thought
Warnings for this chappie: Shounen – ai – If you haven't caught this hint already, I feel sorry for you...There's also slight spoilers now, following the game, and ignoring any side-quests that have no real meaning.
As Kite and Balmung arrived back at the root town, the two separated instinctively, although neither had the wish or will to.
"Until later then." was Balmung's simple good-bye, and he smiled – actually smiled for a second -- and faded into swirls of golden thread without waiting for an answer, expecting none.
This time, as the last bits and bytes of the man disappeared, Kite turned to wave to him, offering and equal smile. "Bye!"
It felt different. But it did feel better. And just right.
Just as he turned to face the town, a distinct "Hey," came from behind, a vaguely feminine voice, as well as a tap on the shoulder. "Kite."
The young boy turned, to be met with a rather purple person. A rather purple person with a heavily modded body, looking like a cross between human, cat, and bunny.
"So, enjoying your time with Balmung of Azure Sky?" she said, a feline smile spreading on her face.
Kite opened his mouth to retort, that nothing was going on between them...Why does everyone keep thinking that recently?...but was cut off by the knowing smile and careful words of the cat lady.
"You two did return rather close together, in the same portal even. But that's not why I needed to talk to you...May I see your bracelet?" she said smoothly, probably far too smoothly to be trusted, but Kite was a trusting guy. So he allowed her, holding out his right arm and watching the band of leather-like materials re-appear. She touched it gently, as if it were delicate glass.
"Ah...Yes, just as I thought."
At that moment, a boy (or girl!?) about his age seemed to fade into view, speaking to the cat girl. "Umm...Umm...Mia? Shouldn't we go? I found a place, it has lots of aromatic grass..." while to Kite, she threw an interested, hurt, and cautious glance.
So it's Mia...Mia is her name.
Mia motioned to the both of them, going closer to the gate. "Kite, add us, Mia and Elk, to your party. Our member addresses..." she seemed to pause, and suddenly their addresses were there, in Kite's contacts.
The boy nodded, and keyed in the commands quickly. Mia smiled at his efficiency, and now motioned towards the gate.
"Go to (delta) Closed, Oblivious, Twin Hills. Quickly now, before anyone comes near again."
The twin blade nodded, now at least a little suspicious. What's so strange about a place lik-
Error...Error...Protected Area
He looked back at the cat girl in surprise – Why lead him to a dead end? But she only smiled, a smile that told that everything was going according to plan.
"Kite...You do know that you can hack gates with that bracelet of yours..." she said with a purr, eyes glinting amusingly. The image of her faded though, to be replaced by dark cyberspace, and a few glowing words.
Accessing Gate Hacking
Even as he read the message, it quickly flitted off elsewhere, and he was no longer in his avatar...Instead, he was before a strangely shaped diagram and a chart. He tried to move, but it wouldn't let him...Instead, he only managed to move the four pointed figure – Strange, it was missing parts – And highlight bits of the chart.
...She could have at least told me what to do...
The interface was simple enough, however, and being a smart boy, he figured it out soon enough. As he keyed in the last virus core, he heard a satisfied beep...And was thrust suddenly back into The World. Except no one was there, not even Mia and her friend. The bracelet suddenly took control again, just like with the data drain, except it was aimed at the slowly spinning gate.
His eyes widened. And he was pulled in.
He was being pulled up. But was up the right word for it? Well, he was being pulled in some direction, although he could hardly tell with all the random words streaming past his face, the whiteness of pure cyberspace zooming past.
Just as suddenly as it began, it suddenly stopped – On reflex, the boy jumped as space seemed to warp around him, and he landed in a neat pile in a fairly typical looking area...Except, of course, that it was infected. Small bits of code floated about, the sky violently slashed to pieces, bits seemingly dropped onto the plain as pockets of emptiness.
Mia and the boy dressed in blue appeared out of nowhere behind him, and approached slowly. The cat girl was smiling again, this time of satisfaction.
"Good, good...Now we can talk."
The man who played Balmung paused in his playing, and watched the small spy window on his screen carefully. Strange...He hacked through with that bracelet of his effortlessly...
Part of him screamed that here it was, here was the proof that the boy was not to be trusted. But through the days he had spent in his company, this accusation was quickly swept aside. He was just as clueless as everyone else. But that girl...She knows more than she'll admit.
He watched carefully, but saw the view change abruptly into darkness, and panicked, beginning to type furiously...
Kite was startled into an attacking position as he saw a brief flash of purple at his neck, and Mia looking at her hand very curiously. It took him yet another second to figure out something was missing – the necklace/scarab that had remained close to him since that day, long ago.
"Hey! That's mi-"he started to yell, but was cut off with a particularly sinister glare from the cat woman.
"A bug...Quite literally too, as it seems." She said, turning to look thoughtfully at the tiny silver bug held tightly yet carefully between two fingers. She watched it struggle with a strange detachment, and looked Kite in the eye.
Without another word, she brought her hands into a fist, and crushed the still-moving beetle to bits.
As Mia brought the little spy to its crushing demise, she felt something in her hand. The beetle, of course, but it felt a little different.
Whoever made this thing must have been good, I'll give them that. She thought, giving a few points of interest to the maker of the bot.
Between thoughts, she crushed the thing swiftly and without hesitation, letting digital bits of bug and metal fall to the ground in a shower of dust.
BlackRose returned to The World a bit anxious. Well, more than a bit...Her sister had another seizure, the second this week. But that wasn't the main thing that was worrying the heavy blade. It was Kite.
His behavior had started to scare her. Well, normal fluctuations were fine, but what the boy was going through wasn't all that normal. After all that time they spent together in the beginning, she had even started to grow mildly attracted to the boy...But it seemed that he was more attracted to that Balmung character.
Balmung was dangerous, she had decided long ago. He was, and couldn't be trusted. But somehow, he had her friend under his spell – I mean, sure, he's attractive, but he's a complete jerk!
Angrily, she kicked a stone in her way, watching it bounce lazily across the bridge of Mac Anu.
BlackRose hated this. Hated it with every fiber of her being.
...She had Kite first, after all.
And...Tada! Please review if you like and whatnot...It's the nice thing to do, after all...
::Promises free altoids to anyone who reviews...::
::Shakes the tin enticingly ::