.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.

Recap from last chapter and a little info on this chapter: After Tsukasa was in a continuous slump from the situation with Aura, things seemed to keep getting worse. Not only do the troubles in the World seem to rise behind everyone's back, but Tsukasa soon finds out that she is being kicked out by the CC Corporation. Secrets are being contained, but will the bubble ever burst? Meanwhile, Tsukasa is now thinking on how to spend her last day in the World as her character, but will it truly be her decision in the end…? (sigh… do you know how hard it is to refer Tsukasa as a girl? lol...)

Heh, anyways, I just felt like putting that little thing in. ^^;

Nothing much to say right now. I'm trying to keep this story short, but it seems to be prolonging itself, hehe. My first intention was to make it about 6 chapters (just a short story), but now I can tell it'll be much longer. ^^; This chapter is longer than the others due to the fact that something VERY IMPORTANT happens. Be prepared for new adventures and astonishing facts! And please review! I love reviews! Muahaha! ^^ Anyways, onto the next chapter...

Chapter 4 – Falling Soul

So this was how it was going to conclude. I was being kicked out of the World, and the decision was entirely beyond my control. I wish it was in my will do to what I wanted, especially in this case, but wishing was the only thing I could do and nothing would come out of that. I didn't want to be any other character other than Tsukasa. That was my decision. Once my character would be deleted, I would never play the game ever again. Sudden extremities had gotten me into this position, and I had to stabilize myself whether I favoured it or not. Of course, I wasn't thinking about poor Aura at that time.

Those were what my morning thoughts turned out to be. Well, what else could I truly think about? It was 10:00 in the morning, and I went to the kitchen to have a light breakfast before studying with Bear. I met Bear at the table, where he was eating eggs and bread. After finishing off, we cleared the table and put my entire pile of math notes and homework on the surface. From the looks of it, the day would not start out gracefully.

Countless of sheets was spread around. Thinking about all the complicated calculations I had to solve didn't leave a good taste in my mind. I looked up to Bear, who seemed more than determined to help me in this in whatever way he could. I sighed, but softly so he wouldn't be able to hear it. I took out my pencil and eraser and we began.

As I took a glance at the clock, I realized that an hour had passed. It was around the time where I wondered how much longer this whole session would take. Considering Bear's determination and my stubbornness, as usual, it would go on for three or four more hours, give or take a few minutes for me to re-establish my brainwaves after a large mathematics problem. Although I believed that I was slowly making improvements in certain areas, Bear wanted to make sure I understood every exercise and unit. My eyes were beginning to hurt from all the algebraic problems.

At around 4pm, we took a break. Bear went out for a short walk, and I trailed into the computer room. I remembered everyone saying not to worry, and to forget about the World for now, but it was easier said than done. I was losing a lot here. Yet, I still kept my word and said that I would not back online today, even though Bear was nowhere to be found at that moment. I decided to check my email. I had one new message. Nothing seemed too serious from it, so I opened it. It was from Mimiru. It said:

Hey there,

Sorry about this whole thing. Aren't the people at the CC Corporation a bunch of assholes? All this just doesn't make sense. Well, don't worry. I promise you that you'll have a lot more fun with your new character. To tell you the truth, seeing your old character while everyone else had a 'new' one was kinda strange. Maybe it's for the best. Maybe this will truly solve something. At any rate, don't be down. I saw you before you logged off and you didn't seem well. I'll talk to you in school tomorrow. And don't let Bear read this, but maybe you can sneak on after school on Monday once last time. ^_~

-Mimiru

In some times, Mimiru could truly be a mind reader. To be more honest, in most times. I didn't want her to be concerned about me, but the short letter did cheer me up a bit. It wasn't going to change anything, but it helped. She also seemed to have the idea that I should come back online as Tsukasa one last time on Monday. She was my age, so she understood me better than almost anyone else… well… besides Bear, and probably Subaru. I decided to cherish the idea secretly. It was better that Bear did not know, or it would complicate matters a bit. After all, it was just going to be for an hour or two, and then it would be over.

Things were going by almost optimistically when Bear came back and I continued my math lesson. Time was flying by like bread popping out of a toaster. Of course, at that point it would be toast, not bread. By the time I was done my practicing, I would still be myself with perhaps a bit more knowledge of math than before. All in all, it was an exceptionally well warm-up, and I gave thanks to my mentor. Bear was quite exhausted, and I felt a bit sorry for him that he had to put up with my lack of facts. However, he was truly supportive of me and I respected that completely.

It was 6pm now, and we were completely famished. I decided to set dinner for Bear and me, but when I looked into the refrigerator, all I could see was a block of butter, five eggs in a carton, two cans of beer and a bottle of grape juice. We had forgotten to buy the groceries for this week. I took four eggs, boiled them up and made them scrambled. Bear reached into the fridge and took out a beer. We sat down and ate the meal in about five minutes. Now all that was left was the decision on who would go buy the groceries tomorrow. I didn't want to because it might take a bit of time off of being in the World. However, I did not tell Bear this. Bear didn't want to, because he would have to leave work a little early. He decided that moving the cap of the beer back and forth would make the decision. Back for me and forth for Bear. Bear began.

Back, forth, back, forth, back, forth, back, forth, back, forth…

SNAP!

It landed on back. I slunk into my chair in disappointment and Bear gave a small chuckle. Well, there was no way out of that. If I had to get the groceries, then I would need to go straight home afterwards. The whole plan with Mimiru was slowly descending down the drain. There had to be some way to figure out a good outcome in this tight situation.

It was 7pm now. A quiet evening was upon us. Bear switched on the television, and we both sat down, watching a game show with random questions that, if answered correctly, would win you a million dollars in the end. Bear and I spent most of the half-hour guessing the answers, but realizing how completely wrong we were. It was a soothing enjoyment, and it took my mind of many things. Bear seemed quite debilitated in the end. I felt a little bad, because he spent most of his free Sunday helping me. I attached a reminder in my head to repay the kindness, sometime in the near future.

Tomorrow morning would be another predictable school day, so I prepared myself a shower before changing and climbing into my bed. The usual wake-up time would be around 7:30am. Within a half-hour, I must shower, change, eat breakfast, and do my brushing necessities. At 8am, I run off to meet Mimiru at the bus stop – I'm suddenly reminded of my dream at the bus stop – and we are off to school. Hopefully if the weather is normal, we make it to our high school at 8:30am. School will start at 8:45am, so we have time to spare. The free time is usually taken up by meeting others and having short conversations about the day before. An absolutely normal day.

******

The sleep-filled night felt extremely short, and I felt like I was being pushed out of my bed by my alarm clock, which was screeching the time, 7:30am. I felt exhausted, even though I slept the common hours before a school day. I usually felt quite refreshed and ready, but today was completely opposite. I struggled to get my legs out of the sheets and onto the cold floor. I walked half-blindly to the bathroom, and took a cold shower. There was my refreshment.

After feeling more awake from the shower, I changed into my uniform. The suit I wore to the high school I attended was quite common to others. It consisted of a purple skirt that reached the knees, and a white top with long sleeves with a purple bow made on the chest. If the clues weren't enough, the school's official colours were purple and white. I never had a favourite colour, and white was more of a pint than a colour. Purple was completely fine with me. I had already worn the same colours for the past two years, and I haven't complained, unlike other high school girls who have nothing better to do. I would sometimes find Mimiru complaining that purple wasn't her colour, but I had already gotten used to it. People have to express their feelings in some way.

After I made sure the uniform was put on well, I half-rushed down to the kitchen to make breakfast. Bear had his suit on and was ready to leave for work, as usual.

Before he left, he pointed to the refrigerator. I squinted to the direction, and noticed a long grocery list. I gave Bear an evil stare, and he smiled. I wished him a safe trip, and with that, he left. I walked over to the refrigerator to examine the list more carefully. At first glance, the items weren't unusual or anything like that. Bread.. milk.. turkey.. the main package. However, as the I brought my eyes down the paper, all I wished was that the beer cap landed on forth. I took the list and stashed it in my school bag, which was lying on the kitchen table. Beside the bag was a neatly made cheese sandwich with a note. It was ludicrous actually, because I didn't notice any cheese in the fridge. I read the note:

"You have the same for lunch too."

I laughed to myself and began to eat the sandwich while standing up, although I was in no hurry. After carefully stuffing the last few bits of the meal in my mouth, I looked through my knapsack to make sure everything was in place and order for the school day. I glanced at the kitchen clock above the stove, which read 7:50am. I zipped up the bag, put on my shoes and coat, went out, and locked the door. I slipped the home key gently into my pocket and made my way down the elevator.

Once I opened the door to the outside, I felt a sharp slap of wind brush across my face, which told that it would be quite a detestable day in terms of weather. I quickly dove down the street in hope to meet Mimiru at the station. Yet, I was in a deeper hope to get under the bus stop dome before the falling wind got any worse, or if it began to snow once more. The wet slush on the ground was uncomfortable enough. But, against my wishes, the sky soon filled with the white substance that I could now feel on top of my head. I made it up to the block where I would be able to meet Mimiru and wait for the bus to arrive.

I always expected to see Mimiru at the bus station, waiting for me. I never got a chance to beat her to the spot; but then again, I never bothered to try. She seemed to like being the first there. I got to the corner where the dome was and met her under it.

"Wow, the weather is quite fierce," I decided to say while catching my breath. Mimiru smiled and brought her hand up towards my hair.

"Yes, I can tell that it is," she said, and began to brush her fingers through my hair, getting rid of the snow that piled up upon it. She was wearing gloves, warm gloves for that matter, which I could feel close to my scalp, almost feeling like a cleansing massage. I smiled back as she put her hand back down to her side.

We didn't hold much of a conversation in the first few minutes being together, but when Mimiru poked her head out of the dome to see that a bus was not coming yet, she began discussing the predictable topic.

"Anyways, I'm sure you read my email," Mimiru began. Before I could give her an answer, she continued, "So, maybe I can come over to your apartment afterwards and we can go online?"

There was much to think on that. After school, I would always have three hours before Bear came back from work. But wait, I also had to get the groceries for home. The store was not too far from the apartment, so getting the food and coming back would take about an hour, depending on how long it should take me to find everything on the food list.

The excitement of wanting to be back in the World as Tsukasa rose. This was my only chance to feel the place as I did before. And besides, I needed to go back. Aura was in trouble once more, and before any more conflicts could arise, there has to a cease to it once and for all.

I looked at Mimiru. Her light brown hair was perfectly untouched, which meant that she got in the dome right before it started snowing. It was her hair that reminded me of her character in The World, where there wasn't much difference between them. I felt like running my fingers through it, in a friendly fashion, just like she did to mine. A wordless action to show what a wonderful friend she was. However, I decided to just answer her question.

"I like the idea," I commenced. "However, I need to get groceries from the food market once the school day ends. Will you want to come with me, and then to my home afterwards?"

Mimiru grabbed me by the shoulders. "Of course I'll come!" she exclaimed, with a large smile on her face. "We'll get the stuff right after school, head off to your place, go online, and I'll leave before you can get in trouble! It'll be a piece of cake."

That reminded me. Strawberry shortcake was also on the grocery list.

The subject seemed to settle to that since the bus had finally come our way. The vehicle was half-empty, and we managed to find two seats in the very back. It was extremely cold on the bus, so we spent the whole trip cupping our hands over our mouths. A 20-minute ride felt much longer today, and there wasn't much to talk about except the sudden cold weather. Once the bus reached the school, we quickly got off and, for the first time in a long while, felt an extreme desperation to get into the building.

We placed ourselves in our seats in the class and waited patiently for school to start. Mimiru was telling me something about how our English teacher was a psychopath, but I was only half-paying attention. The cold air surrounding the room distracted the other part of my mind. It would take about an hour for the heaters to do their job. I was thinking of complaining to the principal about starting the heating system just a bit earlier.

In any case, once everyone was in class and the bell had ringed, full attention was brought towards the front of the room where our math teacher slowly went through a few problems from our math homework. I carefully examined every note she made and compared it to my thinking. There wasn't much to be perplexed or confused about, so I took the rest of the time to make sure all the answers were right. I had the last two problems wrong, but Mimiru gladly helped point out where I missed something.

Lunchtime was fairly normal, but pleasant. We took this time to add any necessary conversation that we missed out while waiting for the bus. There wasn't much, so Mimiru decided to continue with the World discussion.

"Anyways, so we'll go to the grocery store, pick up whatever, and head to your house. I'll just stay for an hour. It sounds like enough," Mimiru said, and then took a large bite out of her rice ball.

I nodded, unable to speak with the jumble of cheese and bread in my mouth. An hour was unfortunately short, but all good things must come to an end. Either way, it was the one thing I was looking forward to after school.

After lunch, we ran quickly to our next class, Philosophy. It definitely wasn't a favourite subject of mine, but I manage to keep a mark slightly above average in the class, and so does Mimiru. I spent most of the class tapping my pencil on a blank sheet of paper and calculating my tapping speed every minute. It wasn't the greatest activity, but I was able to make an exceptional pastime, rather than having to listen to the teacher give a glorious speech about the essences of life. However, I stopped my tapping activity when a single word that the teacher mentioned rang through my head. I brought up my head to listen.

"The soul," the teacher began. "A definitely important philosophical reference to our topic. One can say that the existence of a soul creates a man, yet others would say that a man created the theory of a soul. Many different philosophers such as Plato have discussed the subject. In one of Plato's theories, he concluded that the soul is made up of three parts; the reason, the spirit, and the desires. I would like you all to make a one-page essay on Plato's theory of the soul, and hand it in by tomorrow."

For the first time in a long while the teacher actually caught my attention. Well, it didn't matter who was telling the story; it was the words that moved me. It reminded me of that note under Aura's pillow that read 'S.O.U.L.' and I was brought to remember how much confusion it gave me. Did the soul itself play some sort of role in this problem in the World? I couldn't see where it would fit in, but there were always those staggering possibilities.

Regardless, all this had to be more than just a pure coincidence. It made me want to get back to the World more than ever. However, I could tell that my brain was rushing far too much. I looked down at my desk and recollected my thoughts. This truly made me think deeper into the subject of the soul. Reason. I couldn't fully understand that point. The soul makes up reason? What sort of reason? The reason to live? The reason to understand? This subject was based on human thought, wasn't it? Spirit. I've heard different religious references to the spirit within one person. It was never a thing I really thought about, since I never saw or felt it. However, I do feel things getting deeper. Desires. Every human has desires. Some have desires for objects; others crave things that have more to do with emotions to each other. Could that also have to do with the soul? My head is beginning to hurt. Or perhaps it was my soul that was hurting...

The bell rang, ending school for the day. Luckily, the only homework I had was the philosophy essay. I would start working on it after coming back from the World.

I packed up my bags, left the classroom, and met up with Mimiru at our lockers. I stuffed unnecessary textbooks into my locker, and banged it shut. We both began to walk outside of the school, and towards the bus stop.

"How about we save a bus ticket by walking to your apartment from the store?" Mimiru suggested. That felt like a last minute thought to me, but as long as I didn't buy too much (how long was Bear's list again?) then that idea would be fine. I nodded either way.

Once we made it to the store, I took out the grocery list. It was then that I remembered how uncomfortably long it was. It would be devastating to carry around the bags alone, but, luckily, Mimiru seemed glad to help out. After a slow hour of grabbing what was needed, I paid for the groceries and carried three heavy bags. Mimiru insisted on taking the other four. That equaled another thing I owed her. Where would I be without her...?

It took us another stressing twenty minutes to drag the bags of solid nourishments. Although, not everything that we were carrying was healthy. I did mention that strawberry shortcake, didn't I? Bear also added some packs of chips to the list, with names that I couldn't even imagine could be turned into a thin, greasy, snack. That became the main discussion between Mimiru and me until we reached my apartment.

Once I opened the door to let Mimiru in, I glanced at the small clock upon the wall. It was 5pm, and Bear would arrive home in an hour. There wasn't much time left, so we both slammed the grocery bags on the kitchen table and headed straight for the computer room. I turned on both of the two computers me and Bear owned, deciding that we would use separate PCs. I pulled out the chair for Mimiru, while I sat on the other. In less than five minutes, we were able to log on. Thank goodness, the CC Corporation still didn't erase my account.

The sharp 'A' note echoed through my head, just like it when I last came to The World. I didn't bother to concentrate on it, or to let it distract me. When I opened my eyes I was back in The World with Mimiru standing right next to me. I had almost forgotten that her character was now completely different. Things needed some getting used to, especially after all the chaos happening that the others did not perceive.

I stood in my place for a few careless seconds and turned my head from left to right. There was nothing suspicious at all. It was almost like an ordinary log-in, to when I didn't have to worry about anything. However, there were many things I had to keep in mind. Aura was out there, in trouble, and I had to save her, even if it meant that I had to do it alone.

Mimiru shook me out of my silence. "Come on Tsukasa! We have to let this moment last! Let's go play a fun game or something!" she shouted. There was nothing I wanted to do more than spend the rest of the time with Mimiru. My own meandering enigmas would interfere with what I truly wanted. There had to be someway that I could continue my investigation without disappointing Mimiru. Or not just disappointing her, but making her suspicious. This wasn't something I wanted her getting involved into. Just thinking of her getting hurt made my nerves go unnoticeably hostile.

Mimiru grabbed my arm, and in a flicker of a second, we were transported to the front of a cave that I have never seen before. We were both standing on a wooden platform, which disappeared a few meters into the hole. I looked at Mimiru in confusion. She smiled.

"I checked this adventure out yesterday. It looks really great, and I wanted to do this one with you," she exclaimed. She displayed her sparkling eyes that resembled that of a young innocent child, almost like Aura herself. How could I say no?

Without any sort of hesitation, we entered the cave. In an instant, the atmosphere was completely dark and still. There was nothing else I could hear but Mimiru's and my footsteps over the semi-damp surface. While holding my staff with my left hand, I brushed my right hand across the adamantine walls and kept it as a type of railing to make sure that I wouldn't trip over anything. Mimiru was walking in front of me, although I could only tell by the sound of her feet meeting the ground every second, in almost constant rhythm. From the sound it was as if she was only about a meter ahead of me, but I could not see her at all. I couldn't understand how to do any kind of task in this sort of layer of darkness.

Finally, after many minutes of going through the narrow tunnel, there was a faint light ahead of us. I was now able to see Mimiru as she pointed forwards and said, "There's something up there. I think we've reached our destination." I couldn't agree with her more. The light clearly showed that there was something waiting to be found by us.

We picked up the pace, and entered a huge room that was many times larger than the burrow we went through. There, a tall monster was standing in front of a treasure chest, waiting for us. It almost resembled a knight, with large spikes embedded on his head and large, silver armor covering his body. Without another thought, I brought out my staff in front of me, as did Mimiru. She went up and took the first strike, right at its inner thigh. The knight flinched a bit, but the shot made little to no damage on the surface of his body. Mimiru stepped back as it tried to swing at her, and missed by a few centimeters. I decided that it was my turn to go for the next shot. I lifted up my staff, ran at a reasonably quick speed, and launched myself in the air. I aimed for his head, and swayed my long rod right over him as hard as I possibly could. The impact made him stagger a bit, which I didn't find too surprising. Real or computerized, nothing would like being hit severely on the head.

While the enemy tottered in a confused manner, Mimiru shot her staff through the area where a human's heart would lay. She treated her staff as if it where her old sword that she obviously longed for again, and the long rod went clear into the knight. The body began to fall, and I grabbed Mimiru's hand to drag her away from the knight-like enemy. It dropped to the ground and sent a crashing sound echoing throughout the entire cave.

The fight was over, and Mimiru gave out an expression of excitement. "Wow, that was pretty easy, ne, Tsukasa? Well, let's go see what we fought for," she said, slowly approaching the treasure chest that the knight was guarding.

There was something a bit off. Mimiru always chose challenges that seemed quite difficult, and although the knight was a bit fierce, it was an obstacle easily attained. Nonetheless, I followed Mimiru up to the bright container. We both put one hand on the front of the cover and pushed upwards. It was a bit of a struggle, but we managed to get it open.

An enormous amount of light shot through the chest. Instead of filling the room, it shined towards the ceiling of the cave, as if it was a flashlight. We both looked upwards, and saw that the light shined right through the ceiling, enabling us to see right through the cave. There were a few people walking right over the cave, as if almost walking over an invisible hole. It made me realize how much this cave was underground.

Although the light was extremely brilliant, it didn't seem that the characters walking above could notice it. I looked over to Mimiru, who was astonished to see such colour give off.

"It's so pretty, isn't it?" she said, and brought her hand over the light. I looked up and saw a shadow of her hand, which was brought back into the hard rock ceiling. It was stranger than I could imagine.

Suddenly, the light became brighter. Mimiru quickly took her hand away from the light and examined her palm, as if checking if it was burned. Did the light become hot?

Before I could bother checking for myself, my eyes became blinded by the light. The last thing I saw was Mimiru shielding her face from the blazes of brightness, and so did I. Before I knew it, I had lost all feeling around me. I kept my eyes closed, afraid to open them and see where I was. My feet did not touch anything, and I felt no wind to indicate me if I was rising or falling.

Time felt completely useless. It could have been minutes or hours that passed in between, but just as I decided to open my eyes, my feeling senses were back to normal. My feet were on hard rock again, or at least that was my guess. I couldn't believe it when I had finally brought my hands away from my face.

The cave had disappeared. There was no longer a luminous light in front of us. In fact, there was hardly any light at all. A glowing full moon was hanging in the sky, and an awful-smelling mist was contained in the area. It took me a while to find Mimiru only a few meters ahead of me. I could tell how frightened she was. Now she was involved in this mess...

"Ts.. Tsukasa.. where are we..?" she stuttered to ask. There wasn't answer I could give her. I didn't know where we were. However, the atmosphere was somewhat familiar.

We both began to walk around the sector. Trees began to develop in sight as we walked through the thick fog. Mimiru kept one hand over her nose to stop the smell from getting to her. I decided to breathe through my mouth, although that wasn't any better. After walking for quite a while, the fog began to fade. The trees, bushes, and ground began to look more perceptible.

The next thing I saw made me stop completely. I was holding Mimiru's arm at the time, so she was forced to stop as well. What I saw was Aura's bed, right where I used to keep my solitary times in the past. It was then that I knew why this place looked familiar. I was here not too long before as well. I was brought here once more and something terrible was lying ahead. It was beginning...

I turned Mimiru towards me before she could see what was previously in front of her. "Listen Mimiru," I started, holding both her shoulders, "We have to get out of here, now. This isn't right. We must-"

Before I could continue with my faltered voice, a dark wind of energy shot right at us. It was unbearably forceful. I let my staff drop to the ground and covered my arms around Mimiru to protect her as best as I could. But, we both collapsed to the ground and became covered by the darkness. It wasn't long before I heard the voice that I wished I would never hear again.

So, Tsukasa... Did you really think you could tear away from all this? None of this will cease until you understand what you must rightfully do..., the woman's voice echoed.

I carefully made sure that Mimiru was all right. She was shaking in my arms. Never before had I felt her in this way. Morgana must have done something to her. Mimiru was much stronger than this. I got her up to her knees, which was as much as I could do at the moment. On the other side, I had to deal with this horrid situation.

"Do you really think I will give into your words? I almost did one time, but that will never happen again! What have you done to Aura? Set her free now!" I shouted. There was no way to hide it from Mimiru now. She was completely consumed in this, and there was nothing I could do. I felt so retched inside, but at the same time, enraged to the point where I could kill.

I looked at Mimiru. She used most of her strength to get up on her feet, and so did I. She looked dazed and confused. Perhaps she didn't understand what was going around her. I brought my lips close to her ear, hoping that she could hear me. "Please listen Mimiru, I want you to teleport out of here. Log off. I promise I will catch up with you. Just.. please.."

"Ts.. Tsukasa... I... can't..." she weakly said. Her eyes were half-open, peering into mine as if the next few seconds of life were her last. I couldn't take it anymore...

"Morgana! It is me you want, right? Let Mimiru go right now so you can fully deal with me!" I shouted again. There was absolutely no way I would let Morgana get away with hurting my best friend. I spread my arms out wide as I spoke, to symbolize a shield protecting Mimiru from any harm.

Tsukasa... one thing you must learn in life is the sacrifices you must embed on yourself. They are painful at first, but you must understand that this is for your own good here..., the voice said. As the echoes disappeared, a rumble began encircling the two of us, which turned into a thunderous earthquake.

Once I located my staff and obtained it from the ground, I grabbed Mimiru tightly on the shoulders, hoping to snap her out of her daze at the same time. I shouted as loud as I could to her, "We're getting out of here! NOW!"

I tried to teleport the both of us, but it was no use.

Suddenly, Mimiru's arms spread out wide, forming a cross-like position, which threw me back on the ground. I saw a strange essence form around her, and could tell that she was unable to move. In fact, at that time, she regained complete consciousness. She looked on both sides, confused on why her arms were spread like they were. She struggled, but was unable to break free.

I got up from the ground and tried to pull her arms down. The dark essence was growing larger, and no matter how much strength I put in, I just couldn't move her.

The rumbling was getting stronger, and time was running out. There was nothing I could do.

"MORGANA! STOP THIS! STOP THIS NOW!!" I yelled. If that was all I could do, then so be it. I wrapped my arms around Mimiru, wishing that nothing would happen to her. I could hear Mimiru's rapid heartbeat. Strangely enough it was the loudest sound I could hear. Thump... thump... thump...

"Tsukasa..." Mimiru whispered in my ear. "... what is happening? Why can't I move...?"

My mind couldn't take it, and I completely fell into illusion. "Don't worry Mimiru," I said to her, and at the same time continued to try and get her arms free, "Everything will be all right. Really, it will be. We'll get out of here, and be back into the computer room. Then Bear will come and yell at us for going online, but it'll be okay. I swear, it'll be-" I lost the words as tears began to roll down my eyes. Nothing could compare to the destruction I was feeling. The feeling that someone I truly cared for was in trouble and I could do nothing. She was right there, in front of me, and I could do nothing.

I told that child this same thing..., Morgana's voice aroused once more. There are certain things that are worse than death. You will now be able to witness such a thing, and you will be ready to understand…

A light shot up from beneath Mimiru and covered her completely. I tried to grab onto her, but the light pushed me away with limitless force. All I could hear now was her screaming in agony.

"TSUKASA! HEEEEELP!!!!!!

"MIMIRU! MIMIRUUUUUU!!!!!!!!"

******

As my eyes regained focus, I realized that I was staring into a blank screen. I moved my fingers, and was able to feel the controller once more. I was back. I was..

"No.. no.. this can't be.. Mimiru..." I said aloud to myself. I looked at the screen of my headgear, and it said I was logged off. I typed in my username and password for my account.

'I'm sorry. This account does not exist,' was typed on the screen. Perhaps I was too hesitant when typing my information. I tried again. The same message. I tried once more. It did not work.

Then it hit me. It was gone. My account was really gone.

"No... not now... NOT NOW!"

On the left of me, I heard something large fall to the ground. Afterwards, I heard the chair Mimiru sat on spinning slowly with a squeak signaling every rotation. I sat there, frozen, not wanting to see what was beside me. I knew what I was going to see, but I wanted to avoid it at all costs.

Instead, something else inside of me forced me to take my headgear off. I looked down at the ground. There laid Mimiru. Her body was lying of the floor, motionless.

Mimiru...