Disclaimer: Though I wish I owned the characters etc. of the .hack
conglomeration, I must say that I do not. The plot is my own, though I
received inspiration from a .hack role-play that I was in.
Chapter 9: The Trap
By the time Blackrose and Kite reached the field after a hurried explanation of the situation, the two wavemasters were out of sight. Kite pulled out his flute and called a Grunty. It came running up with a cry of 'Mon Ami.' The two players mounted and, with a kick from Kite, they took off towards the dungeon.
Before they had even reached the field, Reki had materialized, via the golden rings, behind Tsukasa as she was calling her own Grunty.
"Tsukasa! Wait!" he called, sprinting over to her.
She looked back at him as she climbed atop the back of the Grunty. However, Tsukasa waited for the other wavemaster, even going so far as to extend a hand to help Reki up upon the Grunty. Neither said anything, Tsukasa not feeling the need and Reki knowing that any questions he asked would be ignored.
A short ride through a mushroom field later, they arrived at the dungeon and Tsukasa dismissed the animal. Reki was amazed at how quickly and surely she had navigated the field. He decided that Tsukasa must have come to this field often, though for what reasons or how she had gained such an intricate knowledge of the layout of the area he couldn't guess. They passed through the first doorway, no more than a small, throat-like opening in the far, fleshy wall. As they entered the next room, a flap of skin fell behind them, leaving the pair trapped in a corridor with a glowing magic portal in front of them. It dissolved to reveal a large manta ray like creature that had a rather cartoonish grin where its mouth was meant to be.
The two wavemasters exchanged looks, then Tsukasa closed her eyes and murmured, "PhaVak Kruz."
To Reki's surprise, for Tsukasa had neither staff nor any powerful armor equipped, a ring of fire balls appeared around the monster and contracted. The creature let out a plaintiff cry as it fell to the ground and vanished, all hit points depleted.
"How did you do that?" asked Reki in amazement, glancing sidelong at Tsukasa. He was surprised to note that her eyes had a slight reddish tint. It quickly disappeared, so he made no comment, instead saying, "You don't have any items equipped with that kind of spell power…"
"Rules aren't the same for me," she sighed, walking past the small treasure chest that had appeared. "I'm not bound by equipment restrictions. Not anymore, at least."
"I see," replied the other wavemaster as they continued along the passage and into the next room, where the magic portal contained a treasure chest. "But how? Even administrators have to equip items in order to use the abilities and spells."
Tsukasa halted, looking down at the ground a moment. "Morganna lets me."
"Morganna?"
"In other words, the World itself."
"Oh," murmured Reki. "Where in this dungeon are we going, anyway?"
"The bottom level," replied Tsukasa, but that was all she would say. After a few minutes, they began to talk of other things that didn't really have anything to do with events going on around them. They spoke to each other about themselves and a little about their friends.
Meanwhile, Blackrose and Kite were trying to find the entrance to the dungeon.
"Arg!" cried Blackrose. "Where the hell is it?! I swear it was to the south!"
"When you warp into a field," responded Kite checking his in game map. "You don't always warp into the same spot every time. There it is!"
The Grunty they rode rushed towards it. Kite pulled it to a halt just outside the entrance. The two players dismounted and the animal ran off. The twin blade ran into the dungeon and the heavy blade followed. Once inside, they found the portals already activated, a sure sign that someone had been by recently. The portals only reset themselves after twenty minutes or if the entire dungeon was empty.
"Where did you see Demon Child, anyway?" asked Kite.
"At the bottom of the level. He was hanging around the Ghott, though he had already taken whatever was in it," replied Blackrose. "When I asked him what he was doing, he said that he was awaiting the Child of the Twilight. I told him to explaining himself and he laughed, saying that if we knew what was good for us, we'd leave well enough alone."
"That's stra- wait a moment!" cried Kite, coming to a stop. "That monster I told you about referred to Tsukasa as the Child of the Twilight. You don's suppose that Demon Child is somehow connected with this?"
"Could be," said Blackrose. "But let's get down there quickly. Maybe, if we hurry, we'll catch up with Tsukasa and Reki before they get down there."
"Yea. Let's go!"
However, while Kite and Blackrose were upon the first floor, Tsukasa and Reki were already making their way through B2. Nevertheless, the twin blade and heavy blade were making swifter progress for they did not have to stop and fight monsters. Therefore, the two wavemasters only just reached the bottom floor when Kite and Blackrose caught up to them.
"Hey!" called Kite to Tsukasa and Reki as the twin blade emerged from the room behind. "Wait up, you two!"
Reki stopped and turned, but Tsukasa kept walking.
"Kite's talking to you!" shouted Blackrose. "The least you could do would be to wait."
Tsukasa ignored her and kept going, disappearing into the next room. The three other players exchanged looks, then ran after her. They entered the large square room just in time to see a magic portal fade and a monster appear. It was a grinning manta ray again. Kite and Blackrose ran forward, drawing their weapons. However, the ring of flames suddenly appeared around the monster and converged upon it. The two warriors hadn't even had a chance to attack when the monster collapsed and disappeared. Kite looked at Tsukasa and was surprised to note that her eyes had a crimson cast. Even as he looked harder, the eyes faded back to their normal gray.
"What did you do?" he asked.
Tsukasa sighed and looked down at the ground, saying nothing. The wavemaster then walked forward again, heading for the opposite door, the door to the Ghott statue.
"Tsukasa, wait a moment," cried Kite. "Please?"
"What?" she sighed, stopping and half turning back.
"I don't think it would be a good idea to just walk in there and meet Demon Child. For one thing, didn't that girl warn you against it?" said Kite.
Tsukasa nodded. "I'm still going, though. There are things I need to find out, some of which he might be able to tell me."
"But that guy is bad," cried Blackrose. "He's got this evil sort of feel. You don't want to meet him, believe me! Besides, I think it's supposed to be a trap for you."
"That may be," agreed Tsukasa. "But… I've got to talk with him. And I'm supposed to go alone."
"Be that as it may, we're not going to let you go alone," said Reki.
Tsukasa sighed once more and shook her head. Turning back towards the opening in the fleshy wall, she murmured, "It's not like I can stop you…"
Demon Child smirked as he saw them emerge from the doorway. He stood up from where he had been leaning against the wall and fluttered his wings. Striding to the center of the room, so that he was between the other players and the Ghott statue's treasure, Demon Child bowed and said, "Greetings, Child of the Twilight. I expected you to come alone."
Tsukasa made no reply to this remark, but stepped forward, facing the other with a cold expression. The other three did not step forward, but remained near the entrance, watching and waiting.
"What did you call me for?" she asked.
"Ah, yes," said Demon Child, the smirk still splayed across his features. "I was coming to that. I've a message for you."
"From whom?" prompted Tsukasa.
"The message is from me and it is that you cease your meddling if you don't wish to feel the true meaning of pain," replied Demon Child, emphasizing the point with a slash of his sword, a large, jagged scimitar with a black blade.
Tsukasa narrowed her eyes and said, rather coldly, "What am I to stop 'meddling' with? And why?"
"You know perfectly well 'what.' As for the 'why,'" retorted Demon Child, shifting his stance ever so slightly. "Well, let me simply say that I've a vested interest in letting the program I created run its course, purging the network."
Kite and Blackrose gasped. Reki narrowed his eyes and clutched his book tightly. Tsukasa opened her eyes wide in surprise.
"You created that thing?" she exclaimed in astonished incredulity. "You're a hacker?"
Demon Child smiled. "Indeed. I created the program a little over five years ago. I'm older than Keika thinks. Anyway, the graveyard world was not my devising, but CC corps's idea of a Halloween special event. Needless to say, my little implanted program went unnoticed by them. The World itself, however, blocked off that little field in an effort to preserve its chances of continuing to exist as it was meant to," explained the player taking a step forward, closer to Tsukasa. She almost backed away, but stopped herself.
"If that is so, then why are you telling us?" Kite asked suddenly.
"To answer your questions so that you'll leave. Yes, Tsukasa," he said upon a barely perceptible shake of her head. "Even you can leave if you so choose. You simply have to renounce your ties to Aura and Morganna. I suppose you aren't going to do as I say, though."
"No," murmured Tsukasa, meeting Demon Child's eyes with a hard glare. She paused a moment as if listening to another voice. Then she continued, "That thing, that program of yours isn't just going to be affecting the system. It will be affecting the people connected to it, whether through the game or elsewhere. I can't let that happen so long as it is in my power to stop it."
"Then I shall have to carry out my threat, shan't I?" mused Demon Child. "I expected as much, though I thought it might be nice to give you a chance to back out…"
Suddenly, a wicked grin played across his features. Reki, examining data in his book, cried out in warning mere seconds before Demon Child lifted up his sword and leapt forward, thrusting the wicked blade at Tsukasa. At the same time there was a sudden data surge and black ropes materialized in thick loops around Tsukasa, binding her even as she dodged the sword thrust of Demon Child. Kite and Blackrose jumped forward but slammed into an invisible barrier. Reki, too, ran forward and tripped into the barrier.
"What the hell?" exclaimed Blackrose, hacking at it with her sword. "What are you doing?!"
"Let her go!" cried Reki.
Kite made no comment, but tried using a spell upon the wall. It just reflected off, hitting and knocking him backwards, causing a decent bit of damage.
"Vak rom!" Tsukasa cried as the ropes now binding her caused the wavemaster to fall into the wall.
A tornado of fire suddenly appeared about her, burning the ropes, but not her. The flames leapt out at Demon Child, slamming him into his own barrier. However, little damage was actually done and the player simply chuckled as he got back up to his feet. Tsukasa had taken a sprite ocarina out and raised it to her lips.
"That won't work, m'dear," hissed Demon Child. "I sealed this room so that none may gate out of it and nothing can be summoned from the outside. That barrier there is the edge of my little cage, my little trap. Why don't you surrender now and save yourself much pain?"
Author stuff!
This chapter took a while to post because I was too lazy to transfer it from my laptop. Thus, for your patience, you get THREE chapters instead of only one... Lucky you!
Be warned, the chapter after this one is a tad on the violent side.. It was written under the influence of watching the movie Spaceballs as well as some random anime... (odd combination, I know... But I finished watching Spaceballs before I finished the chapter and anime is what I had on hand) The chapter after is was written last night while watching Aliens... (the sequel to Alien)
Anyway, reviewer....
Kitsunia, my sole consistant reviewer! Thanks for reading my next chapter... again... School starts for me on Sept the first, so you can probably look forward to me at least getting chapter twelve up... by then...
