.HACKLife of Death, Death of Life

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 10: Death and Rebirth

Tsukasa mutely shook her head, backing away from the other player. Fear was in her eyes, but determination was also there. She glanced at her friends with a sad expression, but tried not to meet their eyes. Demon Child stepped forwards purposefully, his stance almost menacing. He paused suddenly, as if hearing another voice. Tsukasa, too, seemed to hear it and the words she heard made her grow paler and her eyes widen in fear. Demon Child, on the other hand, grinned quite broadly and a gleam appeared in his eye. He took another step towards Tsukasa and she backed up to the edge of the platform where the Ghott statue's treasure had lain.

Suddenly, the wavemaster called out 'Rai don' and a lightening bolt fell from the ceiling into the blademaster. Tsukasa's eyes took on a slight yellow tint as she cast the spell. However, no one really noticed for she ducked around Demon Child as he recovered from the blinding flash. The wavemaster then sprinted over to the barrier. She tried to press through it, banging on it once, but to no avail.

"It won't break," explained Blackrose, her voice fringing upon hysteria.

"Look out behind you!" cried Reki.

Tsukasa looked over her shoulder and barely managed to dodge the slash of a sword. Demon Child cursed and leapt towards Tsukasa once more. This time, she was unable to dodge and the wavemaster screamed in pain as the blade pierced her stomach. Demon Child cackled with sadistic glee and thrust the sword farther, pushing Tsukasa into the fleshy wall and driving the sword through her stomach, up to the hilt so that she was pinned. Tsukasa's eyes were filled with pain as she clutched at the sword hilt, uselessly trying to dislodge it.

"Nooo!" yelled Reki, pounding at the invisible barrier. "Tsukasa!"

Kite clenched his blades tightly and watched helplessly, knowing there was nothing he could do. "Why?"

"Oh my god," breathed Blackrose. "You sick bastard!"

"Thank you," chuckled Demon Child with a half bow. "I do try. Why, you ask? Because I do not like CC corporation. I do not care that my program will doubtlessly effect countless people unaffiliated with that company, but I do care that it is unhampered by any, especially that one. With her death, any barriers upon my program, my purge of this foolish company's error ridden system will be gone."

He looked over to Tsukasa with a cruel smirk. Her face was deathly pale and her eyes seemed to be staring at nothing, pain filling their endless gray depths. She no longer screamed, no longer could scream, but moaned and the moans were terrible to hear for they were an expression of utter agony and despair. Her hands were clenched tightly about the end of the blade and the hilt, though now she had become too weak to even attempt pulling it. Crimson liquid seeped from around the wide blade, staining her clothing, dripping to the floor where it was forming a pool. The steady dripping was a sickening sound and it chilled the others's hearts. All that stopped the tormented wavemaster from collapsing was the fact that the sword was thrust through her, deep into the wall behind her.

With a groan, Tsukasa tried to move herself, placing a booted foot upon the ground. However, it slipped in the growing puddle and the wavemaster could not find the strength the lift herself so that her entire weight was not concentrated upon that deadly blade. She closed her eyes, her breathing shaky and labored. She could almost ignore the pain now. Her body was numbing itself, dampening the nerves in an effort to lessen the pain. Slowly, the girl was drifting towards blissful darkness, that sweet escape from pain. Tsukasa coughed suddenly and the choke sent a wrenching pain through her body, jerking her to a more wakeful state. She coughed again, a bubble of blood spurting from her mouth. The vital fluid of life stained her lips as blood trickled from between them.

If she had been a player simply sitting at a terminal, playing the game through a headset, then her avatar would have simply turned gray and faded. The player would then have been returned to the 'log in' screen where she could restart from the time when she had last saved. However, Tsukasa was not an ordinary player and this avatar was, for now, at least, her body and it was reacting in much the same manner that a body in the real world might.

In real life, in a hospital bed, a girl lay hooked up to an IV as well as several monitors. Suddenly, her heart began to race and the machine beeped loudly. A few nurses came in and one of them, as she looked at the girl's face, gasped. Her eyes had opened slightly, but were focused upon nothing and her expression was one of great pain. The slim pale hands of the unconscious one clenched tightly, the nails digging into the palms and a low moan escaped her lips. The nurses and doctors knew not what they could do, nor could they figure out exactly what was happening.

In the game, Demon Child cackled as Tsukasa died by inches. Bending down to look the wavemaster in the eye, he smirked and hissed, "Well now, it's your own fault. If you had listened to me, then I could have let you go free and right now you'd be awakening in the real world, but you had to be stubborn. However, I think I might just be feeling merciful. I think I'll let you live, but as a ghost to wander the World for however long it lasts or however long your body exists in the real world. Or, I could just keep you alive, but barely, in a state such as this until my designs are complete. Or I could let the one you call Death do with you as it pleases. But no… None of those choices would be merciful, would they? Farewell little wavemaster. May you rest in peace."

Lifting her head to look at Demon Child, Tsukasa narrowed her eyes and tried to say something, but all that came out was another few coughs. Fresh blood trickled from her mouth. The wavemaster closed her eyes and let her head hang loose once more. Her three friends could not hear what was said, but could guess some of it. They did hear the last two sentences, but that was all. The three continued to watch helplessly. Suddenly, it occurred to Reki to send an alert to Balmung. He did so, though he knew that his friend and boss would likely come too late. It was already too late.

Demon Child straitened and reached one hand forward, grasping his sword hilt just above where Tsukasa's hand still gripped it. With his other hand he grasped her wrists and pulled them each away from the sword in turn. The wavemaster was too weak to resist so her arms dropped limply to her sides. Then, the blademaster took the sword with both hands and placed one foot upon Tsukasa's stomach below the blade wound. With a slight grunt, he pulled the scimitar from the wavemaster's body. She moaned in agony as he twisted the jagged blade, loosening it from its hold in the wall. Then the sword was free and Demon Child removed his foot, letting Tsukasa fall to the ground with a dull splash as she landed in the pool of her own blood.

The blademaster waved his black stained red sword to the other three players. Then a golden ring appeared at his feet and rose, followed by two others and he was gone. At Demon Child's disappearance, the barrier vanished. Kite, Reki and Blackrose ran forward to Tsukasa, trying not to slip upon the crimson puddle in which she lay. The wavemaster moaned and coughed once, slowly curling herself into a ball. Blood continued to flow from the wound, both in the front and the back.

Reki knelt down next to her and gently placed his hand upon her shoulder. Blackrose stood there, looking as if she was going to be sick and wondered just how much blood was contained in the human body. Kite crouched down next to Reki.

"Is there anything we can do for her?" murmured the twin blade.

Reki shook his head grimly and closed his eyes.

"Wait!" cried Blackrose. "What about healing spells?"

"That might work," murmured Reki. He held his hand over Tsukasa and said, "Pha Repth!"

Nothing happened. Therefore, the male wavemaster tried again and again it failed.

"Maybe if we all cast the spell?" suggested Kite.

Therefore, the three of them put their hands over Tsukasa and said, together, "Pha Repth."

A white light appeared, surrounding Tsukasa. At first, it seemed to have no effect for they could still see the wound and blood was still trickling from it. However, after a moment, the wavemaster relaxed, uncurling herself slightly for the pain was beginning to lessen. Tsukasa could feel a gentle warmth where the light touched and slowly the blood ceased to flow and the wound faded. The blood upon the floor and the stains and rips upon her clothing remained, but she was now healed, at least in body. Her eyes flickered open, focusing for a moment upon her three anxious friends before closing as the wavemaster faded into deep, sleep.

In the real world, the girl upon the hosipital bed unclenched her hands and the expression of pain upon her face faded. Her heart rate returned to normal for one in deep sleep, but the doctors and nurses continued to observe her, puzzled by this odd occurrence.


Author stuff:

Rather dark chapter, I know... I think I was a bit depressed that day... Anyway, due to a minor complication, I am not going to be posting the eleventh chapter quite yet... I just realized that there is something in it I'd like to change... I'll post it later this week since is going to be down tomorrow...