Serendipity
Part 4 – The Unwilling Comrade

Why do evil men get away with it?
Can't you see that I'm in a world of shit?
Turn your back on hope, and go back inside
Stop my bleeding heart and let the engine die
Go – Blink 182

Moonstone made Terajima Ryoko very uncomfortable, no doubt about it. She had felt an insane and irrational amount of guilt for forcing him to slow his pace to a quick stride, and even then she had trouble keeping up, resigned to putting away her Thunder Dad and lifting her formerly immaculate white skirts to maintain a jogging pace. Sure, she—she was by no means the strongest member of the group, but this was ridiculous. More than ridiculous. Scandalous. Kite was a wonderful person and very sweet, but sometimes the choices he made were absolutely…ludicrous.

She bit her lip, ignoring the thunder that roared in her ears (heartbeat or actual thunder?). It wasn't as though BlackRose and Kite were…well, together. Sure, they—they had been partners for a very long time, but their relationship was strictly business and strictly platonic. And…and Balmung was there! No funny business in Balmung-sama's presence…

But…it wasn't as though Balmung would make an effort to do anything about it.

She brushed away a lock of gold hair clinging to the side of her face and adjusted the circlet on her forehead, idly wondering when Moonstone would be done making his rounds. He had insisted, not with words but with actions, that they perform a full-field scan; Kazu had no complaints, although he was slightly bewildered about being there in the first place. Ryoko knew BlackRose had put him up to it, and that he was here as an act of gratitude. A debt unannounced but still unpaid.

It wasn't as though she didn't like Moonstone, either. Moonstone was polite…but then again, so was everybody. It seemed that total strangers were automatically the best of friends at Kite's whim.

He doesn't see me at all, though…

Her thoughts became increasingly morbid, her sapphire eyes glistening with tears (not to be confused with rain)—and then, quite uneventfully, she slammed smack dab into Kazu's back. The Wavemaster responded by toppling forward with a yelp, falling face first into the labyrinth of water obstructed by blades of grass.

"I'm sorry!" Ryoko exclaimed, kneeling next to Kazu's immobile form, one hand clasped over her mouth. "Are you okay? I wasn't paying attention, I'm so sorry—"

Moonstone's palm flew over her mouth, and she squeaked softly as the Twin Blade's head jerked erratically from side to side.

"Stay down," Moonstone ordered, and Kazu obeyed, propping himself up slightly on his elbows and wiping his face with his sleeve—which didn't do much good, obviously, since his robes were wet as well, but it helped get a bit of mud off of his cheeks at any rate. Ryoko's fingernails scrabbled for a hold at Moonstone's wrists, and annoyed, he pulled his hand away. "I heard something."

"Well, you obviously didn't see anything, did you?" Kazu grumbled to himself. He then instantly looked guilty for his slipup. Luckily, Moonstone hadn't heard, or was pretending not to have heard.

"It's probably just a monster," Ryoko whispered, a bare finger nervously smoothening the folds of her dress.

Beneath his orange blindfold, she got the distinct impression he was glaring at her. "There are no monsters," he said simply and shortly, as if that solved all of their problems. Was that what he was doing when she and Kazu had mysteriously lost track of him for a good three-four minutes? To prove his point, a Fairy Orb appeared in his hand with a low hum; as evidenced by the hologram that stood upright from the glinting ball, there was no doubt about the fact that Moonstone had cleared Delta: Bursting Passed Over Aqua Field in record time. Kazu's eyebrows rose nearly to his hairline.

"Well," the Wavemaster said, voice uncertain but optimistic, "it could be another player. It's not like this area is closed off or anything."

Moonstone was motionless upon hearing his words. Finally, the Twin Blade stood in his usual rigid manner. "Go into the dungeon." A brief pause. "I'll catch up." And he vanished just like that, leaving Ryoko and Kazu alone, cold, wet, confused, and conveniently near the staircase that led to the stony underground cavern. He looked at her, again uncertain.

So this was leadership. Although the burden was nowhere as heavy as Kite's, she still found it rather…stressful. She sympathized with Kite, having to order around a dozen and more people, providing them with weapons to better service him with…

Her lightly pink-glossed lips curved upwards into a weak smile, and she made a mental note not to move as fast as Moonstone (though such a thing was probably impossible and improbable), lest he feel rushed; her axe appeared in her hand and she made her way towards the dry (yet still insanely chilly) dungeon with the Wavemaster wordless at her heels.

The dungeon in Delta: Bursting Passed Over Aqua Field was small, and the portals few and far in-between. Kite, after the defeat of Macha, had struggled with an excuse to explain Mia's absence to all but Elk, until finally with the aid of BlackRose he was resigned to telling the one thing people would believe: the truth. Sure, they had known the extent of his bracelet's powers, but only Mistral had bothered to inquire as to the bracelet's true origins. Everyone else automatically assumed it was a rare item he won for a contest of some sort.

Imagine his surprise when his storytelling merited casual shrugs and casual replies, followed by the unanimous confirmation that they were behind him all the way.

This place was where it all began, she realized, descending the narrow stairs and shivering as the last of the sunlight was shut out. A level one Kite had dwelled these halls months before she had even thought of registering for The World.

"This place is nowheresville," Kazu remarked, and she heard the whoosh of air indicating he was now disarmed. "I don't think we have much to worry about, Terajima-san."

"Ryoko," she said absently. "J-just Ryoko will do."

The dungeon was slightly dark, with frost collecting in the tight corners; aside from the mundane corridor, the occasional wall had a mock-prison cell imbedded in it, a skeleton's decayed arm extended halfway through in a last, desperate attempt to bid for freedom. She could still hear the splatter of the rain outside, the impact of water against water; if it weren't for the slight upward indentation of stone built just before the stairway, the dungeon would have collected its fair share of water as well.

Ryoko flapped her wings if only slightly in a weak attempt to dry out the white feathers. With a sigh, her fingers fiddled with the gloves on her forearms, and then the damp gloves vanished altogether. Unfortunately, that was about the only thing she could remove without taking off her dress altogether.

Her thoughts drifted again as the duo trotted quietly across the first corridor, stubbornly refusing to consult a Fairy Orb for such a miniscule dungeon.

An intersection. "Which way, Ryoko-san?" Kazu asked, eyes flitting from side to side.

Ryoko peered down the right path, squinting slightly into the darkness; she shook her head, a nagging feeling suddenly pulling at the recesses of her mind. "…Let's go left," she said.

As he nodded and trotted down the left path, Ryoko found it increasingly difficult to believe that this subservient person was related to the hotheaded Heavy Blade in any way, shape, or form. BlackRose would have challenged almost every decision, and in response Kite would give a logical answer with a patient smile, or maybe a curiously raised eyebrow…

…and she was thinking about Kite again.

"H-hey," she stammered, keeping her back to him so as not to reveal the wide array of emotions crossing her face. "So…um…how's your sister?"

He shrugged nonchalantly, not really paying attention. "Fine, I guess." He continued plodding after her, looking somewhat eager to get this over with. "Talks a lot, but I don't really mind. She's good. It's cool." Ryoko could detect a hint of fondness in his voice. "Talks a lot about stuff now, more than she used to. Skips out on tennis sometimes to play The World, but mom doesn't mind." After a lingering pause, she realized that if she wanted to hear more he was waiting for a prompt.

"Oh?" she said, obviously out of the lack of anything smarter to utter.

"Mom knows." A careful emphasis on the last word indicated something a lot deeper…

"Oh. …Oh!" Her bare hands flew to her mouth, but she lowered them trembling to her sides. That was something…new. Ryoko hadn't quite heard of any of her comrades reporting their online escapades to, say, a coworker or a real-life friend, much less their family. Then again, she realized, it might have been for the better, considering…well, it was Kazu and BlackRose. "I…I see." Dimly, she wondered what to ask next. "Um…what does she talk about?" she ventured, fearing the worst.

Kazu shrugged again. "Stuff. Mostly about the stupid things her friends do." He chuckled, and she didn't inquire as to the reason; he seemed to be reflecting on a private joke. "She used to hate The World. I asked her about it one day after I woke up from my coma. I asked her if she would quit playing after, you know, everything's done."

Ryoko was surprised to find a ray of hope where it shouldn't have been, and she shook her head vigorously, as if it would fall out of her ears. What am I thinking…? she asked herself in amazement. Ryoko was in love with Kite, yes, and she was somewhat deterred by the Heavy Blade, but even so, those were horrible thoughts she would never, ever entertain.

"She just got all quiet until I changed the subject."

She felt the majority of the negativities she harbored towards BlackRose dissipate, replaced by worry for—for a friend. "Is she okay? Is she sick or anything?"

"Um, not sick, no. Physically, no. Mentally…well, sometimes I have my doubts." He was laughing. She was not.

Suddenly, she felt a little prod at her shoulder, and she furrowed her brow. "What is it, Kazu?" she asked distractedly, a little peeved at his reaction to her genuine concern. Tap, tap. She resisted the urge to growl in a very Gardenia-like way, and let out a sigh, spinning around, her white skirts fanning out elegantly in the wake of her twirl. "Kazu, what—" she began, but upon crashing face first into a bare, tattooed torso, she shrieked and tumbled backwards. "MOONSTONE-SAN!!" she screamed almost accusingly, thrusting one finger out to point at him. "D-don't scare me like that! You—you!!"

She had half a mind to whip out her axe and relieve him of the burden on his neck—until she noticed his outstretched hand, a gentlemanly gesture belying his monotonous façade; feeling herself flush in response to her previous anger, she accepted it and scrambled to her feet, glowering at the Wavemaster behind Moonstone. Kazu shrugged and chuckled. Obviously, he had seen the stoic Twin Blade coming and hadn't bothered to notify her.

Moonstone cast a sideways glance at Kazu.

Kazu lifted an eyebrow. "What?"

"…You've been taking your time," Moonstone said dryly.

Ryoko swallowed. "S-sorry."

"…Keep moving."

Kazu perked up. "Hey, did you find out what that thing was? The one you were so suspicious of?"

"…No. That doesn't mean there isn't anything out there. Be on your guard."

Looking almost dismayed at the lack of action, Kazu reluctantly led the way, the soft soles of his shoes making a rather discernable echo that bounced off the stonewalls. Ryoko thought to adjust the contrast of her headset; it seemed the hallways dragged on forever and ever into the darkness… But, she reasoned, this was a relatively tiny dungeon and the search would be over in a minute. Comforted by the presence of the level 99 Twin Blade at her back, her familiar elbow-length and fingerless white gloves appeared on her forearms, and she continued walking.

"Do we have to be on our guard?" Kazu inquired curiously, extending one finger to trace the tiny ridges in the walls. "This is a level one area. We have a level 56 Heavy Axe and a level 99 Twin Blade…and me," he added as a humble afterthought. Ryoko approved, though with a quiet smile. "I don't think we have a lot to worry about, aside from maybe a couple of Goblins… Unless you think that it's another player…?" He craned his neck around to give Moonstone a questioning look, then scrunched up his face upon realization that Moonstone couldn't…quite…see…it. His questioning look.

The silver-haired man's lips tightened and curled slightly downward as he mulled over his response. "Maybe. This may have been far safer if Kite had accompanied us—any of us—but since he's only one person…" His lip curled farther downward in disdain, and she dimly wondered what that meant. Maybe he sympathized…or maybe not. "…Be that as it may…if there is a Data Bug of any sort…"

"We run," Ryoko acknowledged with a determined nod. It must have sounded comical, because Kazu's mouth quirked upward, but then sank immediately as his eyes became unfocused—sad, and weary. She bit her lip. "A-and what if it's a person?" she questioned, trying to get the Wavemaster's mind off Data Bugs.

Another hesitation. Obviously, Moonstone was not the kind of man who did or said things on impulse. "That depends on whether or not he or she is a threat," he said flatly, and that effectively ended any and all conversation. Kazu, the kind of person who talked to ease his way out of uncomfortable situations, decided that in this case, and in the company of this particular person, silence was a-okay.

For a while, anyway.

A shuddering moan echoed through the spiraling darkness, almost the stereotypical ghost's wail but not quite; it was fragmented and hollow and sorrowful, and it sent a chill down Ryoko's spine—but that came before the fear.

"M-M-Moonstone-san!!" she whisper-screamed, tumbling backwards; his hands clamped down on her shoulders, but her shaking left arm wrenched free from his grip and thrust outward towards the darkness. "There's something out there!! O-or someone!!"

Kazu braced himself, but lowered his hands to allow his staff to appear in his hands. "I think it's a person!" he called over his shoulder, and as a shrill note was placed into the next wail, Kazu bobbed his head up and down in an anxious nod. "D-definitely a person. We gotta help them!" And with that, the Wavemaster sped off without awaiting Moonstone's response.

"Kazu, wait!" the Twin Blade barked to his rapidly disappearing back, and then he relinquished his grip on Ryoko's shoulders; she opened her mouth, and then squeaked loudly as he hefted her into his arms, her face burning red. "You move too slowly," he informed her by way of calm reasoning. And in a dizzying rush of air and color, he was off and running evenly at Kazu's side in a matter of seconds. "…Kazu. This is most likely a trap…"

The Wavemaster exhaled noisily between his teeth, face ashen as he ran towards the source of the noise. "I know," he said.

"…Then…?"

Kazu stopped abruptly, and Moonstone (clutching the panicked Ryoko in his arms) stopped with him, scrutinizing him carefully behind the orange cloth around his eyes.

"When I was taken," he hissed venomously, causing Moonstone's lip to curl downward again and Ryoko's heart to skip several beats, "I screamed."

Ryoko's eyes glistened again, and she kept her eyes focused on the curve of Moonstone's shoulder and the wall behind it, a dozen nameless emotions ensnaring her heart and suffocating her slowly.

"And no one helped me." His voice lowered to a strangled, anguished, but somehow controlled octave, and it took all of Ryoko's self-control not to cry. But why? she asked herself, some small, unimportant part of her angry about the way her emotions were overwhelming at times. "No. One." And with that finality, Kazu sped off again, crossing hallway to hallway and finally making it into the deepest level—or, rather, the second level.

Moonstone watched him go, before jogging at a reasonably slow rate (for Moonstone, anyway) after him. He didn't comment when Ryoko choked out a sob, and he pretended not to notice when she wept, noting that she politely avoided crying on his bare torso, preferring to daintily disperse the tears trickling down her pale cheeks with the fingertips of one hand.

She sniffled and hiccupped for the final time just as they descended into the last floor, and he lowered her; her feet touched the ground, and she was grimly resolute once again.

Kazu had halted at the entryway to the corridor, ashen-faced, hands quivering at his sides; his staff had vanished in the wake of his unadulterated horror, and the Wavemaster fell to his knees, his lower jaw shaking uncontrollably, moving over unvoiced queries and exclamations and screams. Ryoko was alarmed immediately, and she opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, but Moonstone stepped forth first. It was quite a feat, upon reflection, how he managed to stay calm upon the sight that awaited him.

Those weren't skeletons scrabbling outside of their jail cells. This was not a sight that could be dismissed with a hearty laugh and a claim that it was purely digital and little else.

Moonstone swallowed, struggling to look impassive as he walked further into the corridor, slow footsteps resounding in the chamber; he raised two fingers to the side of his temple (in the real world, tapping a button on his headset) and uttered two words:

"They're real."

Surely enough, as he continued pacing further into the depths of the corridor, the moaning figures with their outstretched arms and their poorly-stitched faces, with that clear fluid dripping out of twin indentations in their heads that Moonstone could only distinguish were tears and eyes (respectfully)…

To each figure (there had to be more than 20), hairless and clothed in torn and ragged remnants of armor and robes, the visor innocently displayed a name, and innocently suggested the initiation of a trade.

"They're real," he said, more quietly this time.

That had been the closest thing to fear Moonstone had ever felt.

The worst was yet to come.

Author's Note: This chapter was a bitch to write; other than that I have no real excuse for the lateness. I needed to give Kazu a personality. I needed to pull off angsty Ryoko. And sooner or later I lost track of redundancy, so leave my multiple usage of the word "alarm" (or whatever) alone!

Kazu… Let's outline his persona a bit, okay? He's kind of reluctant to be here because he doesn't belong, but he'll do anything for his beloved sister and her friends. He's a nervous, fidgety kind of guy who makes idle conversation (as noted somewhere above). He admires his sister a lot, and kind of wants to be like her. See? Kazu has personality!
Ryoko… I'll be frank. I don't want her macking on BlackRose's Kite. EVER. If she wasn't such a bloody Mary Sue, I'd be a little more tolerant. So, deciding that everyone needs love (kind of), I sat down one day (a long time ago) and thought, "Who x Ryoko = love?" And I came up with…

Moonstone. Yes, I know. It's just bizarre and kind of creepy. But come on, when you really think about it, it's kind of sweet. Here we have monotonous and fearless Moonstone who's obsessed with stabbing things/people stronger than him…and then there's kind, sweet, easily intimidated Terajima-san, the perfect person to chew on his heart. Or make one for him. I don't know how I'll make it work here, exactly. This chapter seems to lean towards Kazu x Ryoko, and that kind of saddens me. I'll fix that someday.