Fragments of a Shattered Mirror
Disclaimer: I do not own, have not owned, and will never own Bandai or the .hack franchise, including the anime, games, manga and characters, situations, items, and places therein. I do, however, own this plot. It's mine. My own. My precious! Muahaha!
Futher Disclaimering: This is the end. This is the last chapter. Personally, I think this is the worst chapter I've written so far for this story, but… I've never been good with endings. The thing is, I can picture it perfectly, but I can't draw it… and I can't articulate it. Therefore, you're stuck with this. Any suggestions on how to write this chapter better are quite welcome! As for an epilogue… well… I ain't promising anything, but… I think there'll be an epilogue. I highly doubt there'll be a sequel.
Chapter 16: The end of things
The dark one rose to his feet, countering Kite's slashes just in time to avoid being sliced open. The two twin blades exchanged blows at a frightening speed, and, for fear of getting hurt themselves, the others dared not join the fray. Abruptly, both connected, and the force caused them each to fly backwards a short way. Both landed in crouches, and then paused, as if determining the wisest course. Suddenly, with an evil grin, the dark one was behind Mimiru, and he sliced across her back. At the same instant, both Kite's and the dark one's bracelets flared to life.
Kite cried out in alarm as a sickening shattering sound pierced the air around Mimiru. She stood as if stricken, staring ahead and holding Tsukasa tightly. Try as she might, the girl in the real world could not move a muscle, not even to blink an eyelid. She barely realized the controller had slipped from her grasp. With horrible clarity, Mimiru knew what was coming; she didn't cry out, however, until the dissolving, destroying beams of the data drain from bother bracelets converged upon her.
Aura tried to shield the heavy blade, but the data drain ripped right through the shield. Helba did her best to divert the data… or anti-data in this case… but to no avail. Kite tried to keep his bracelet from reacting, but, obviously, he failed. Elk, Orca and Mia could do naught but watch in horror as Mimiru's scream abruptly fell silent, and her digital body first dropped Tsukasa – who, as seen by her soft moan and the way she had writhed, had been partially affected by the data drain around her – then collapsed, turning gray and disappearing.
Kite fell to his knees, staring at where Mimiru had been. He shook his head as if in disbelief, though his face read utter despair. "Mimiru," he breathed.
Then, raw, unabated anger and self-loathing twisted his face and mood into a bitter fury. Staggering to his feet, Kite stared balefully at his dark clone. After a moment, a strange, grim understanding dawned upon the twin blade's face, and his lips curled into a savage smile to match the clone's. The dark one's caustic smirk faltered a moment; a flicker of uncertainty appeared.
"Kite?" queried Elk, tone decidedly freaked out.
Mia stepped towards the twin blade who had been her friend. Her sword was held at the ready. "Kite," she hissed. "You… It all stems from you."
"That is not true," said Aura, with an actually venomous glance at the dark one. "It has taken root in him, but it does not stem from Kite."
Blackrose was mute, gaping. She didn't know whether to be horrified, sad or angry, and if the latter, then at Kite or at Morganna.
Orca shook his head. "Kite…" He honestly didn't know what he could say.
The dark one opened his mouth to say something, but a soft moan from Tsukasa distracted him. The wavemaster had awakened, though by her pallor, sunken eyes, and haunted expression, she really ought to still have been asleep. However, that didn't seem to faze her much as she staggered to her feet, despite her body's tremors. As she stood, her staff appeared in her hands. Tsukasa, one hand holding her head, gazed at the others with hollow, though confused, eyes.
Kite, with a pained glance at the wavemaster, looked at Aura, then Mia, then at Helba. Then, the boy looked down, face betraying his defeat. "Yes," he murmured. "This is all my fault, really. If… Well… If a lot of things… But… I can't begin to ask any of you to forgive me. So, instead… instead," – he looked up at the dark one, gazing at the boy uncertainly, - "Please, just help me end this."
"H-how?" queried Blackrose.
Kite met her eyes. Blackrose was amazed at what she saw… amazed and deeply saddened. Kite had changed. He'd changed a lot. His eyes no longer had a bright sparkle; they no longer contained the courage and optimism she knew Kite for. Instead, there was deep-seated bitterness, pain, anger, fear, and a grim determination.
Then, Kite turned his eyes back to his shadow. Stepping towards the dark one slowly, one sword pointing at his nemesis, Kite spoke:
"Morganna, as you said, planted her roots in me. I am what she draws from to acquire both energy and power. I am her source. Now, if you kill off something's life source, it, too, will die. Ergo, if… if I die, Morganna has no source. And therefore, she has nothing to sustain her; she dies."
Tsukasa's eyes seemed to actually focus now, upon Kite. She shook her head slowly, though she made no effort to rebuke him. Instead, she slowly began to limp over to him. The others stared at Kite.
"Kite, no! There must be another way," said Orca.
"That's not.. Kite! You can't!" snapped Blackrose, voice quavering.
"So be it," said Helba with an air of sadness. "I will make sure Morganna is unable to separate from you, making your efforts meaningless. Or, if she does separate, I will make sure you don't die and that she is contained. But, I'll need your help, Aura."
"Kite…" said Aura. "Kite…" Then she nodded to Helba.
Elk stared, and Mia looked a bit less hostile. The cat player watched Tsukasa as the wavemaster stumbled over to the twin blade. Tsukasa put a hand on Kite's shoulder.
Softly, she murmured, "Akira… Don't go dying on me. Please. Now.. let's end this."
Kite nodded. The dark one looked on, a sneer upon his face, but a hint of fear in his eyes.
"Are you done chatting now?" he asked, tone bored, but a strange urgency was present. "Can we get on with it?"
Kite's cerulean eyes met the black of his dark clone for a long moment. Then, a grim smile curved Kite's lips, and he nodded to Tsukasa. She glanced sidelong at Aura, who nodded sadly. Then, the wavemaster stepped towards the dark one, barely able to walk even with the aid of her staff. Suddenly, Mia was at her side, helping the girl to move. The dark one eyed them warily, but with out much fear. No, it was Kite to whom the flicker of fright was directed.
The twin blade maintained his bleak smile as he held out his bracelet. It was quite visible to all as it unfurled itself. Strangely, however, energy crackled along its length. Small peals of white lightening sparking down its length and along Kite's arm. He paid it little mind, but the dark one stared at it in abject horror. Oblivious of Tsukasa standing before him, the dark one gaped. Then, with surprising swiftness, his expression morphed first to relief, then to one of smug irritation.
"Fools," he hissed. "Do you honestly think that by destroying that trinket you'll destroy me?"
It was both Tsukasa's and Kite's turn to smirk. Together, they said, "No."
Then, Tsukasa lifted up her staff and swung the smaller end hard at the dark one's chest. Somehow, it impaled the clone, and the girl thrust it straight through and into the pillar behind. Kite, at the exact same instant, let the raw energy of the bracelet fly, and he lifted, with the same hand whose wrist held the bracelet, one of his swords. Both Blackrose and Orca cried out as the blade pierced the boy's flesh, driven straight into the heart.
The dark one screamed as his bracelet, too, activated, black and white energy crackling through his body. Tsukasa, unable to move for she had collapsed upon her staff, smiled briefly, mirthlessly, before darkness took her. A moment later, beams of data and energy flashed out from the two bracelets, converging upon each other. Morganna screamed in fury and in agony as she felt herself be shredded and destroyed.
And then it was gone. The cry was abruptly silenced. The energy trickled to nothing, then dissipated completely. The dark one twitched once or twice, then collapsed, fizzling into nothing a moment later.
Kite, however, had not faded yet. Fallen on hands and knees, vision swimming before him, the boy held a tenuous grip on life, much less consciousness. Blackrose and Orca ran towards him, and the boy looked up, giving them the smile the both knew so well. Knew and loved. His two friends immediately prepared to cast healing spells upon him. Kite looked up at Aura, who stood halfway between him and Tsukasa, looking from one to the other with a pained expression. For a brief instant, the cerulean and azure eyes met. Then, Kite's eyes traveled to Tsukasa, around whom Mia and Elk knelt. And finally, even as Blackrose and Orca cast their healing spells, Kite's eyelids slid shut, and he collapsed.
Not even a resurrect spell or potion worked.
The same went for Tsukasa.
Each had fallen into a deep darkness…
"You did it. I'll give you that."
:Mm… Amaya…:
"Yes?"
:um… :
"… umm…? What?"
: I… I… please… forgive me… I've caused you so much pain… I… :
"…"
:Amaya:
"Please. Let's start over."
:…:
"Hi. I'm Amaya."
:uh… Hi? I… I'm Akira… But most people call me Kite.:
"Pleasure to meet you, I'm sure."
:The pleasure's all mine…:
"Heh. See you on the other side…"
THE END
A/N
I want to thank you all for taking the time to read (and hopefully review) my story. This is honestly the longest story I've EVER written. Without the epilogue, it is 98 and a quarter pages in Word. With the epilogue ( or epilogues ), it'll definitely top 100. I've put a lot of work into this story, and I hope you enjoyed it, despite the fact it was so bloody and dark. My theory as to why is that this was how I relieved stress I didn't realize I had. I wrote many of the darkest scenes during times when I was under a lot of duress. So… Note to self: If you want a happy story, don't write it when stressed.
Oh. After I write an epilogue, I will likely go back to edit and whatnot, so... Yeah.
I really want to thank all the reviewers I have, especially the ones who have reviewed over and over again. Your comments mean a lot to me, be they criticisms, praise, or just random things. Like poking wars. Therefore, I hereby dedicate this, the final chapter, to you. You know who you are, but I'm going to list off the people who've reviewed a lot and given me the best reviews:
Twilight Memories
Cassiopia
Dreamcaster555
Kitedragon
Dragon's Hitokiri
Theare-sama / Araka-Sama
Steeple333
Twilight
Wind Kaze (By the way.. you had better update Paradise Sin soon... )
Anyway, I appologize for the semi-sucky ending... Until I write an epilogue, it's up to you to decide what exactly happens next. Do they wake up? If so, what happens then..?
When and if I write an epilogue, then you can see my idea... Or ideas... I have a couple concerning what would happen. So don't expect it for a while...
Reviewer Replies:
Shiner: They're making another .hack game? O.O! -drools- Uh.. what does GU stand for? And when would come out? Is there a trailer somewhere?
Twilight Memories : Muahaha... I like cliff-hangers... It ensures people wanting to know what happens next. Oh dear... -thinks about Morganna and the dark one and that chapter- Let me add that to my list of things I really don't want to think about. And as for the bracelet... well... uh... -pokes this chapter- -sigh-
dreamcaster555: You cheater! -gasp- On a math assignment! Why...? Math is fun! Anyway, it's all right that you didn't review, so long as you're reviewing now. I understand the pain of being grounded. By the way, this is my last week of school. Next week is exams... Wish me luck!
kitedragon: Wow. Thanks for reviewing so many of the chapters. Heh. Actually, depending on where one is stabbed, one can survive for a while before dying from blood loss. Besides, it takes longer to write it out or read it, sometimes, than the actual event would occur. GU trailer? O.O! Where! Umm.. no.. I'm not obsessed... ... ... much. Yeah... I just gave up trying to keep to cannon with this... Re...laxing? All right... Well, writing it was thereputic in a strange way... It's not that I'm purposefully making him weak... I mean.. I haven't shown this as well as I think I could, but because Morganna's in his head, she messes with him a lot, so he's just really depressed and confused and... yeah... Gah... the problems of trying to convey what I see in my mind's eye to writing... Oh.. and with being stabbed. Yeah... cuts hurt... a lot. Especially paper cuts on your cuticles... XD With lemon juice. But, please don't kill me! Please!
Angelyoshi: No idea why I didn't like that chapter, actually... I think it was that I was unsatisfied with my writing, like you said. Also, I dunno... It just... I don't know... It's probably the same reason I didn't like this chapter.
Dragon's Hitokiri: Thanks. Yes.. it is unfair! Buahahahaha... Sora: -is knocked out- Kite: -keeps poking at Hitokiri- Me: -grins evilly-
Again.. THE END! Thanks everyone for taking the time to read this!