5. Aura
"Why are you hiding? Are you embarrassed of me?" She asked.
"No, it's just…"
"IT'S HIM! He's at it again!"
"RUN!" David grabbed the girl's hand.
Yeah, it all started when I was on my way back from my visit to Mom. My Mom was pretty ok, she should recover pretty soon. It was on my way back when a classmate bumped into me. She asked me to help her set up with "The World". So here I was, helping her out.
"We should be safe here for now," David leaned against the wall catching my breath. David could see a group of people running outside, searching for him, through the little crack of the door.
"Why are those people after you?" Asked Amy curiously.
"It's a long story," David thought for a while. "So can you get some cloth for me? Here's some creds." I handed her .hack's money.
"Err, sure. Did you do something really bad?"
"Not really, so can you get me a cloak of some kind of, and a hat, and sunglasses."
"Oh so you wanna look like Sherlock Holmes, OK. Be right back, I think I saw a clothing shop near by." She rushed off out of the building. David sat down in the corner. He sighed. He loved his new friends, and loved to spend time with them. They were so nice to him. And they were cool. But one little problem was: he couldn't exactly just show up in public. He waited five more minutes, and was growing impatient.
'There you go." Amy burst into the room, holding pink cloak, lime green hat, and purple sunglasses.
"I didn't ask you to make me… em… colorful!" She looked at him a little bit hurt. "Thanks, I guess." David said still grateful for disguise. And for creds that she returned. He put on the cloak and then a hat and sunglasses. The hat was too big so it was sliding on his eyebrows.
"Let's go to a dungeon or something," David said.
"Sure let's go." As they walked out, David noticed that he never had so much attention in crowded streets. Everyone was looking at me. I was like a raccoon in a crowd of small children.
He kept hearing: "Nice hat." "Nice cloak." "I just love your sunglasses." You know how sometimes you want attention, and when you finally get it, it turns out to be not so great. And David kept saying thank you and thank you.
"Thanks Amy, I wanted to blend in with the crowd, now look at me I'm a class clown."
"But David those items were on sale, they were the cheapest." She smiled.
"Oh, well thanks, I guess," David said the second time. They were now walking out of the city. The light shone with bright rays through the canopies of trees. The place was deserted.
"The newbie's dungeons are located here." David said.
"Well you see actually, my reason for coming here is my brother." All of a sudden Amy sounded serious. "He was in a coma ever since last month. He was playing .hack when he passed out. His headset was still on. I think his mind is trapped inside "The World"." She looked away sadly. "When I was in the hospital, visiting my brother, I saw a vision." She sat on the roots of a huge tree. David sat besides her. "He called out to me 'Sister! Help' I turned around, and I saw him being sucked into a black whole, where a monster's heart supposed to be. I've seen pictures of monsters like that, on the net, at the homepage of .hack." Then she looked up at me. "You think I'm crazy, don't you?" She laughed somehow.
"No, I know one other person. Similar events happened to him. He was one of the outrageous and famous characters once. It was all over the message boards. His name was Tsukasa. Same happened to him as to your brother."
"Oh, but he awoke in the real world right?"
"Yes that's what I heard. After that I don't remember hearing of him ever since."
"Have you ever met him?"
"No," David said thoughtfully.
"Then what… what should I do about my brother?"
"I'll contact Hestia. She's a hacker, she should have some information on this. All you can do for now is wait." I saw pain in her face and worry, but it was replaced with a smile.
"Alright, thank you so much for helping me."
"No problemo. Now let's go to some dungeons." David jumped up, and ran toward the hill with an entrance. Amy followed him, smiling.
XXX
To: Hestia
From: David
Can you meet me at Secret Sun 5/17 at 8 pm?
David
To: David
From: Hestia
Sure, why? Is something wrong?
Love
Hestia
XXX
It was evening. The horizon was lit with red, of blood. He watched it, from the bridge across the channel. A lot of people were around at that time. He stared at the long boat, on which the princess usually traveled across the channel watching for everything to go smooth. One part of the boat was higher then the other, he remembered well seen Lady Subaru not long ago pass under this bridge, standing there, and her faithful Crims and Knights kneeled down before her. It was the game. The irony was how easy it was to forget it wasn't.
The tinkling feeling passed of the evening's breeze. He looked at the chaos gate, some were arriving, others logging off, but the number of arrivers overwhelmed. David didn't had much liking of crowds of strangers, especially which stared at him, like he was some sort of freak show. He closed his eyes, and just with the thought of his mind, he reappeared, in a new place. The old church. As usual empty of people, he ran through the many hallways, till he reached to wall. With a bit of touch, the wall swallowed him inside, into darkness. David realized that the place was lighted just a bit with a strange shimmer, he looked at the light source. The glow of a girl. It was her. Aura.
His eyes widened. But the girl just giggled.
"Hi!" She said playfully.
"What are you doing here, how did u got…" He stared at her, horrified. How did she got here? Who was she?
She looked at him a little bit with sadness, "I just wanted to see you," she smiled again, "What's your name?" she asked.
"David," He looked around distracted, "but promise me you won't tell anyone that you found this place not to one living…" Again he stopped, without finishing his sentence. It was the star that, coming out of shadows of twilight. It traveled into the mouth of a dragon; it lit the whole chamber with bright light. Hestia noticed him, looking at him with disappointment.
Aura happily, flew toward her, "My name is Aura. What's yours?" The kid was making friends, not noticing the disturbance.
"Name-Hestia," Then she turned toward David, "How can you explain this, bringing your little sister to our place," She point toward Aura. "How did that little brat pass through the barrier, nobody can come here, unless I add them into the database." Then she looked at him slyly, "You look like an idiot in that cloth."
"She's not my sister!"
"I'm sorry," Aura interrupted, "I came to see David. This place is so warm. I like your domain, would you like to see mine?"
"Not now," Hestia said. Looking back at David.
"Please?" Aura waved her hand; she held a key. Just one swish with her hand, and the rip in the data was in front of her. It was like a door was opened. The portal led into a place not many saw. Aura stepped in, and waved her hand for them to follow. David and Hestia looked at each other, shaking their shoulders. They made a step, and the portal closed behind them.
The place they now appeared was a paradise created in The World. Many shadows of bright color were present, flowing from one place to another. Colors shifted and changed, light came to one thing, then passed. Aura smiled and said welcoming speech.
But Hestia still stared at him wordlessly.
"She's the one who showed me the way to Forgotten Field, and the chamber with treasure," David whispered to Hestia.
"Who are you?" Hestia asked.
"I'm Aura."
Hestia shrugged, "That doesn't tells me anything. Anyway, where do u live kid?"
"Right here, I told you this is my domain." She said it, as if it was a matter of fact.
"Want to play hide and seek?" She offered them, trying to break the suspense.
"Sure," Hestia answered, "Do you have any friends?" She asked the girl.
"Yeah Tsukasa, but he wasn't in this World that much, he visits me sometimes but not often." David and Hestia exchanged glances. Aura mentioned Tsukasa, who was famous once, for he held something everyone wanted, the Key of the Twilight. The legend said that it was an item of ultimate power. "His friends sometimes stop by to visit me. Subaru isn't much fun, but she's nice, and Mimiru, she's fun, but no that very smart," She made a face. And David softly chuckled, for he remembered famous characters, who were center of attention of all the players, not too long ago. There were BT, yes and Bear, Crim, and Silver Knight in the inner circle. He remembered meeting Crim. The way, he held himself higher then others, his smirk, the fire burning in his heart. Again he questioned himself who was she? Who was Aura? Was she the Key of the Twilight?
They started playing hide and seek. David was counting. Something strange was happening. It gave David shivers. Then the ground shook. David looked back, worried. Then again the earthquake shook Aura's world. The field was losing it's color, becoming grey. It seemed only Hestia had an idea what was going on. She grabbed his hand and Aura's. Three rings surrounded them.
They were no longer there. The fog laid thick on this place, it was hard to see anything, but chaos gate, circling.
"What just happened?" David asked, looking at Hestia who sternly stared at Aura.
"What are you trying to pull kid! WE could have just been erased!" Hestia shouted at Aura, whose face went all wobbly.
"It wasn't me. It must have been…" Aura stopped. She walked close to Hestia, and whispered something in her ear.
"But that character… I mean I thought it was a legend." Hestia said.
"She tried to make this place her own," Aura whispered.
"Was she the one who trapped, Tsukasa's mind in The World?"
"Actually, it was me," Aura admitted with shame. "But it was for a purpose. But she wanted to use him." David thought about Amy's brother. She mentioned that his screen name was Sora.
"What about Sora?" David asked.
"He was a sick player killer." Hestia said.
"I'm so glad you know. He's my classmate's brother. We got to find a way to free him."
"Let's meet in a chat room. We can freely discuss it there. I'll send you an email with link. Is it alright?" Hestia asked.
"Yeah."
"Hey Aura, we'll be back, to save you." Hestia said cheerfully.
"Do you really have to go? Please visit it me more often!" She said desperately.
"Alright, we'll remember to do that!" David said. Three rings appeared around him, and he was gone.
A/N if there are any mistakes please email me or review so I can correct them. A/N