.hack//SOUL -- .hack//Destination of a Soul

Disclaimer: I do not own .hack//SIGN or any of the characters in the anime series. This is just a fan fic based AFTER the series, that's all.

I truly hope that you are enjoying this story, because that's why I'm writing it. Here's a question from the comment box that I would like to answer:

Comment by: Mathais-8888

This is a good fic, but it presents confusion because of the various add-ons to .hack. .hack//SIGN was the first to come out followed by .hack//INFECTION x-amount of time afterward. An x-amount of time after that, .hack//DUSK was released in the same storyline. The reason why I placed them in that order was because of the characters. With spoilers, what Sora turned into in SIGN was seen in INFECTION. While in DUSK, it is definitely after INFECTION, for the use of Sanjuro, and the character types Kite and BlackRose. I also happily noticed that Balmung was in all three. This presents a major confusion. Liminality is supposed to be what happened in the real world during either INFECTION or SIGN.

Like I said before, this presents a major confusion. When does SIGN end and INFECTION start? That's a problem. We can possibly span about a few years between SIGN and DUSK because of the use of Ginkan in DUSK. I like this transition and sequel, but I just don't see how it fits in because of DUSK. Anyway, I look forward to more.

Well, if it is confusing for you than it probably is confusing to others as well. I have never played the .hack//infection game so it complicates matters. First, I'll just justify one thing. The DUSK series has absolutely nothing to do with this series. This story is strictly focused on the characters of .hack//SIGN and only them.

Now, I am currently reading the story of INFECTION. I was making this fanfic to be a story RIGHT AFTER the .hack//SIGN series ended. You can call it a fan sequal if you wish. But with the whole story of INFECTION, it might make the story a bit confusing. However, none of the things in INFECTION is interpreted in this story SO FAR, so just keep reading and if there is such a time when it actually does, I will post with information in advance. Thank you.

If you're a bit confused with the usage of blood in this story, don't worry, that will be explained as the chapters go on.

Also, please review. I like to read questions and comments, and they help me keep working on the story and making it better. ^_^

P.S.!!! If you ever want to find out about when the next chapter is coming out, check out my profile! ^^

Chapter 3 – In Depth

I made it to the apartment half an hour later. I speed-walked to the washroom before Bear could take a glance at me, so he was unable to see my wounds. I quickly washed my hands and face and shouted to Bear, "I'm taking a bath now."

I turned on the tap to the tub and waited beside it for it to be half-empty. For some reason, whenever there was a glass filled with water, I would look at the glass as half-empty while many others would look at it as half full. I didn't understand why my perspective was like that… why it always seemed different compared to others…

I turned off the tap, took off my cold clothes and slipped in. I left my head staring at the ceiling, while all I could think about was Aura. Why was she in trouble again? Why was history repeating itself?

I felt a slight sting from my wounds when the water made its surroundings, but it soon disappeared and felt healed by the warm water. I closed my eyes and sank my entire head into the water. I felt my hair brushing slowly across my cheeks. My lungs felt uncomfortable after a few seconds, but I managed to ignore it for a while longer. My mind felt relaxed when it was under water. I was able to clear it a bit and try to concentrate more on what might lie ahead of me. From the facts that I could understand, I had to go back to The World and fix everything before it got worse. Things wouldn't be the same as they would have been. I would need to go back and save Aura, and The World.

I got out of the bath, put on a robe, and went to my room. Bear was in his room with the door closed. I liked him a lot for the fact that he gave me space when I really needed it.

I changed into my nightclothes and placed myself on my bed. I looked at my side. My clock indicated that it was 10:30pm. Tomorrow was Saturday. I had a whole weekend to set things straight before I had to go back to school. I didn't seem to have much homework, so if I finished it tomorrow morning I would have a good start at escaping to The World. Oh, but I forgot. Bear and I scheduled Saturday afternoon for a study period. My marks were very low in Math and Science, and he wanted to make sure I was brought up to the class average. I liked Math and Science, but I wasn't very good at studying when it came to those two subjects. Perhaps if I worked really hard with Bear tomorrow afternoon, we could finish early and I would be able to make an excuse to meet Mimiru at the World. Oh, I remember now. BT asked if everyone could meet her tomorrow at noon at Dona Roriak. That's a perfect excuse to cut the studying time. I just hoped Bear wouldn't be too strict about it…

I had a strange dream that night. I was at a bus station and it was raining heavily. I knew this station well; it was the one I took every morning with Mimiru to school. I didn't understand my reason for being there since it was a weekend. I was under the small bus dome, not knowing if I was waiting for a bus or not. I looked to the side. I could see a very faint reflection of myself. I wasn't in my school uniform, nor was I in any of my usual clothing. I was Tsukasa. What was I doing as Tsukasa in the real world? I put my hand out of the dome to feel the drops of rain. As the water fell down to my skin, it transformed into blood. It was no longer a red substance that I didn't know, it was blood. Recently, blood was playing a significant role. It was something I certainly could not explain. I ended up walking out of the dome and presenting myself into the rain. It was very warm, just like blood would be when coming out of the skin. I looked to the ground and saw a giant puddle of blood surrounding my feet. It wasn't something I could bear much longer. I ended up trying to run back home. It felt so long and slow that I ended up lying under a tree. All this time I was holding my staff without knowing it. Without thinking, I threw it on the empty street. There I was, lying under a tree with a bit of blood stained on me, not knowing if this was, in fact, a dream. All of a sudden, I saw a white figure on the street walking towards my staff. It was unmistakably Aura. I tried to get up, but I found it an extreme struggle, and I gave up in the end. All I did in this time was watch her. She walked slowly, which did not matter to me since I was not thinking on time. She made her way to my staff and picked it up. Compared to her, the staff was quite tall. It made her look like a young sorcerer, which I admired slightly. She then turned her face towards me. Her beautiful purple eyes struck through me gently, and I was able to get onto my knees while still looking at her. Aura began to walk to me. She was as tall as me from my current position… so young… so innocent… there was no thought in my mind that such a delicate child could be going through such complicated things. Did she know what she was going through?

Aura brought forward the staff for me to take. I brought up my arm, and grabbed the rod firmly. She then gave the most soothing smile I ever saw. It reminded me of the smile she showed me when she first awakened. She bent forward and kissed me on the forehead. She slanted to the left a bit and whispered in my ear, "Please don't give up. The World needs you, and I do as well. You must help me…" She straightened back up and put her hand on the ball of my staff. Within one second, it glowed white and then back to its original colour. I didn't understand what she did. Before I could ask, everything went blank. Once my eyes regained focusness, I was back in my room with my head on my pillow. Nothing else happened.

I looked at my clock once more. It was 9:30am, my usual awakening on a weekend. A surge of memories went through my mind, which included the dream and last night. I never thought too much of dreams since they weren't even real to me, but for the fact that Aura was in it made the dream a bit more significant than the others were. I wrote down the details of the dream and set it aside on my desk. I would ponder on it a bit later.

I started to think more on what I did when I left Mimiru's apartment. I felt a bit bad… not saying anything to her after logging off. It would be best to call her, but on weekends she usually doesn't wake up until 11:30am to noon. How could she sleep in so long? I always found it quite a struggle to lengthen my resting time. I never liked oversleeping, even if it was a weekend.

I went to the washroom, washed my face, and made my way into the kitchen. Bear, unsurprisingly, was awake and reading the paper in the room drinking a large cup of coffee. I never liked the taste of coffee, and the thought of that liquid helping to jump-start your morning gave a very slight shiver down my spine. I few hours of sleep was just enough for me to bring me up and awake afterwards. I walked towards him. It was best if I asked him now.

"Ummm… uh… I know we were supposed to study together today, but I really think we should-"

I stopped in the middle of my sentence as he brought down his newspaper and had a quick look at me. Unshaven, as usual. Nothing in the real world changed. All the transformations occurred in The World only. It was a short glance, and then he handed me the paper he was reading. He never did such a thing, so there must have been an important article he wanted me to read. I took the folded newspaper. The article took about a quarter of a page, but it was definitely serious.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

CC Corporation explains sudden World transformation

After many months of silence, the CC Corporation, founded company for the construction of The World, finally speak to enlighten millions of people on their sudden dismantle and remantle of the popular program.

"We are sorry for the delay in our explanation. We wanted to get The World back up and ready for users again before we confessed the problem." Usachi Mokurawa, member of the CC Corporation said at the conference. "Unfortunately, there were some mishaps with a few areas in the program, and we were afraid that it might create a chain reaction and cause other areas to be in a predicament as well. All we wanted was for all the players to enjoy the game without going through these problems that may have arisen. However, everything is in perfect balance once more and there is once again nothing to worry about."

There have been rumours travelling around about the global Internet network experiencing another 'Pluto Kiss', but Mokurawa reinsures that this news is nothing but fiction. He also mentions the fact that there are absolutely no viruses floating around the system since the restart of the World.

After the conference, players of the program felt more at ease with the situation. Some were angered at the revamp, but were soon able to get used to it. The CC Corporation once again notes that change is needed to overcome difficulties.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

I read through the article twice to make sure I comprehended every bit of information, but some certain parts were unfamiliar to me. I didn't understand in depth what the CC Corporation was, and I was pretty sure everyone else did. This was something I never really thought about. This brought the situation to a whole new level.

I placed the paper back on the table and sat down beside Bear. He then began to discuss the details that I wasn't able to grasp. It all made a bit more sense then.

"I'm afraid that it's necessary to finish this, even though there is school to worry about," Bear said after finishing the discussion about the article. I agreed with him, even though the thought of my grades was always on the corner of my mind. Yet, some things were growing more important than others were. I accepted what I soon had to face.

At half past eleven in the morning, we both connected onto the World. We met up with Krim and BT at Dona Roriak, and not soon after, Mimiru and Subaru also came.

Bear and I assumed that the others read the article this morning, so we began discussing it without a fuss. I was afraid that some uncomfortable questions would arise on me, but I could tell that the others were striving to keep me out of it. There wasn't much that I could say, even though I did want to be part of the discussion. I had to face the facts. No matter how much Bear would be able to explain it to me, I wouldn't be able to fully apprehend the situation. The relationship it had with Aura made it all the more confusing. I thought that it would be best to tell the others about what I saw yesterday.

As I was about to speak, I heard a slight click in my head. I, for some unknown reason, had an email. Everyone stopped talking and turned their heads to face me. Each one had a perplexed look on their face. I didn't blame them; I never received an email before.

"Read it Tsukasa. It might be important," Bear said. I began to read the letter:

To the user Tsukasa,

We are unfortunate to announce that we must delete your account as soon as possible. Through indefinite problems that we are unable to fully understand, some of the cases that we've had from a few months ago with the program seem to be unusually linked to your account. It would only be safe for you to log off and create a new character before any stronger problems can arise from this.

We are sorry that this must take place, so if you have any rare items in your storage system we will transfer them to your new account once it is installed. Again, we are sorry for this mishap. If you have any questions before you want to delete your account, please write back to us.

Member Administrator of the World

"They're… kicking me off." That was all I could say. As if I thought I understood nothing before, now I'm being kicked out of my account, which meant I would no longer be Tsukasa. I could no longer be the character I was from the beginning, all because of Morgana. No, it was also Helba's fault; she was the one who destroyed that disturbing area which made the CC Corporation restart the whole World. Now they're probably still out there somewhere…

"What do you mean they're kicking you off?? Who is??" Mimiru asked, in a loud tone.

"I don't know… I… I think it's the CC Corporation. They… they say my account is somehow linked to the problems they were having in the past… and they want me to log out and create a new one…" I answered. This was all idiocy. I didn't want to make a new account. I like this one. I liked being Tsukasa.

"This can't be real. Why would Tsukasa's account be linked to the restart of the World?" Krim said confusingly.

Subaru walked up to me. "Tsukasa, don't log off just yet. I will talk to the administration myself." And with that, she left without giving anyone else a say in this. It wasn't something she would normally do. I didn't want her to go through trouble for me.

I was stuck… trapped. If I logged out than my account would be deleted. I couldn't stay in here like I used to; I had to get out some time. I wish I had more time to think about this.

The question going through my head was, When should I log out? Or, in that matter… Should I log out? I could tell that I wasn't going to make this decision myself.

"Well, I guess that you should stay online for a while longer Tsukasa… at least until Subaru comes back…" Bear said, in disappointment.

I was not in the mood for waiting. If I was going to stay in the World, I would want to do something. Anything. Heck, even play a game, although I never was fond of the games here. It never was my kind of style. Either way, I didn't want to keep Bear and the others around me without anything to do. I could tell that they would stay by me for as long as… well… as long as possible.

I soon found myself obtaining a treasure chest from an adventure challenge. I played it with Bear and Mimiru in the form of a party. Krim and BT went off and said they would meet us back at Dona Roriak.

I opened the treasure chest. Mimiru pushed me out of the way and grabbed the item, as she usually would do when a new item was shown. It appeared to be an advanced form of potion. It looked quite useful to me, but Mimiru sneered at the item.

"Ugh… all that for this? I have quite a few of these kinds of potions." she pouted. I looked at Bear, who also didn't seem to be pleased with the prize. Mimiru handed the potion to me. "You can have it if you want."

I paused for a moment, than accepted it. I never remembered having one of these potions around with me, so I kept it thinking it might become beneficial in the future. Bear and Mimiru hung by my side, looking quite disappointed. At least they got their minds off the situation with my account. It wasn't something I could forget for even a second.

I began to ponder the other ways I could keep my account. I could go back to how I was before, staying online and never logging out. Well, it wasn't exactly the same as then, but I could stay on for as long as I want until they finally kick me out. Being in the World was important to find out the new purpose of mine. I hoped that I would see Subaru soon, and that she had some information from the administrator.

The three of us were back at Dona Roriak not too long afterwards, where Krim and BT were patiently waiting. The patience soon grew thin as all of us waited for Subaru. The sun was ready to set within a few hours. Then, Subaru finally came.

"I talked to the administrators," she began, "but I'm afraid that they will only give Tsukasa two days before they delete his account. There really is nothing else we can do…"

And all was disappointment once more. Two days was all I was given. I didn't want to stand around and watch the Tsukasa-part of me fade away, but in the end, it all seemed hopeless. I wondered that once my account was deleted if I would still want to be in the World. Nothing would the same again.

I decided to go offline afterwards. I didn't want to think about Aura or even the World for that matter. My mind kept going through different thoughts throughout this whole situation, which also affected my moods. After I logged off, I went to the kitchen and had some chicken and rice for a meal. After I washed the dishes, I noticed that the article about the CC Corporation was still on the table. I took a pair of scissors, cut out the article from the rest of the newspaper, and posted it on the refrigerator. I would read it again once more in the morning.

I went to my room. My clock radio displayed that is was 7:30pm. Bear did not go offline yet. He was probably talking to the others about me. I never liked people talking behind my back, but perhaps this was necessary for once. After all, they were trying to help me. Things aren't going right for me at all.

I sat down on my desk and struggled on my math homework. I did this for two straight hours. Of course, I have seen others do more, but this was quite a hard time for me. I grew tired quickly, but I was able to hear Bear come out of the computer room. He made his way to the kitchen, took out a plate, and began to eat. I suspected that he finished the rest of the leftover chicken and rice. My mind, at this time, was hazy. I looked at my clock radio again, and it was now 10:00pm.

I took a shower, slipped into my pajamas, and went to my room. Suddenly, Bear opened my door. "I talked with the others. If you wish to discuss anything with us, we're always here. Tomorrow, we'll work on your mathematics. Just forget about the World for this weekend." He left the room afterwards.

This wasn't something I could just forget about, although deep inside I really wanted to. If I forgot about it all this weekend, than my account would be gone forever. The thought of this kept sinking deeper and deeper into my soul, until I was actually beginning to feel pain in my chest. I couldn't explain to myself why, but I knew that I needed Tsukasa. Tsukasa was me, and I can't just let go of him.

I fell onto my bed and stared into nothing. What I realized was that if Bear was going to study mathematics with me, than I wouldn't be able to go to the World. That's one whole day gone and only one more to go. I decided that I would go to the World right after school the next day, which was Monday. If there was truly nothing I could do, then it would be nice to be Tsukasa one last time.

Before I went into a deep sleep, I was thinking of emailing the CC Corporation the next morning with a few questions of my own, and perhaps I could get some information that linked to Aura. It wasn't much of an action, but there was nothing else to do.

I slunk my head into the pillow and motioned my hand to the radio clock and set a wake-up call at 8:00 am. I went to sleep right away.

I did not dream that night.

Do you like the story so far? Any questions or comments? If so, please review. ^^