Chapter Twelve: Desert Polaris
We're stuck in a hole…
Searching for anything to hold onto…
"Dungeon Marathon this Saturday night, 7pm to Midnight. Opening of Aerial City Fort Ouph." Yue read, her lavender eyes widening as she looked up from the paper. "Are you seriously doing this Tawna?"
The redhead nodded. "I thought we all should get together and doing something fun."
"If Tawna's running this then I'm definitely in." Hiko smiled over at her, adjusting his glasses.
"Me too." Lena and Shinta said at the same time, which caused the two to break out in giggles
"Hell, I'm taking off work." Tatsu grinned.
"Do you think Rei will show up?" Raine asked looking over at the amber-eyed junior.
"I'm hoping." The girl smiled at her. "I'm just worried. I sent him a letter apologizing for the way I was acting the other day, but I haven't heard anything back."
"He'll write you Tawny, I'm sure. It'll be okay." Lena told her, nodding her head.
"Here." The girl pulled more papers out of her bookbag. "This is the list of people I've already invited. You can feel free to invite as many people as you like."
"We're going to have a lot of people there as it is. Are you sure you want more?" Yue asked again her eyes glancing over the list.
"I'm positive." She nodded. "It's going to be something fun. It doesn't matter who's there as long as we're all having fun, right?"
The bus pulled up at the stop in front of the school, picking up Lena and Tawna. "See you all tomorrow!" the two called as they climbed onto the crowded bus.
Tatsu grinned, running a hand through his bangs. "This is going to be awesome! I'm going to dominate this thing."
"You wish." Raine looked over at him.
Hiko stared at the bus being swallowed by the city traffic. "Tawna, it's just like you to do something like this." He murmured.
Savana, Hikaru and Kamui tackled five dungeons in Carmina Gadelica that evening. It was more like the blademaster and the wavemaster did all the work while Kamui played back-row healer, but the team worked out nicely and the two girls leveled twice from the massive EXP.
"So are you going to hang out with us on Saturday?" the fox-girl asked her winged friend as they walked through their sixth dungeon.
"Of course. Balmung gave me permission to go and Crim's supposed to get back from a business trip tomorrow, so hopefully we'll both be there." She got closer and whispered "Is Balmung gonna show?"
"I don't know. You've heard from him since the incident on Tuesday. I haven't. I think he's mad at me."
"He's not mad."
The girl's ears pricked, looking over at her Hikaru. "Really?"
"Yeah. He's just been busy that's all." She told her. "Don't worry Savana. I think he's going to be there. In fact, I know he's going to be there. It's just a feeling I have."
"Alright then, I trust you." She smiled over at her. "Hey Kamui," the axe-wielder had been so silent the blademaster had almost forgotten she was trailing behind them. "Are you coming Saturday night?"
The axewoman snorted. "To what?"
Turning around the girl's amber eyes widened. "You didn't get my e-mail!"
"Calm down. Yeah I got it." The girl rolled her intense reddish-purple eyes. "And I don't know yet. If I show up on Saturday you'll know." Stalking past the two, she took a sharp right into the next room. "Come on. We've almost made it to the Gott Statue."
Yue took off her reading glasses, a small hand rubbing her temples as she closed her book. The words were blurring over in her mind, making it impossible to understand.
Just as her hand left her forehead, her fingers were snatched up to a pair of soft lips as bright chocolate eyes stared at her. When she sighed and pulled away, Tatsumaru turned his head, long dark bangs falling in his face as he looked at her. "Baby, what is it?" he asked softly, staring at her.
Staring at the book she leaned back against the couch and closed her eyes for a moment. "It's nothing, really."
"You've been distracted all day. I don't want to hear that." He replied softly. "What's bothering you?"
She looked over at him for a minute uneasily then let out a sigh. "Its…Tawna."
"Tawna?" he blinked. "Why? If you ask me, her life seems to be going pretty good right now." He grinned mischievously. "Especially this thing with Balmung."
"That's what's bothering me." Yue replied. "When I told her that she should find out his real name, I thought that that would be enough for her. But now she's on a first name basis with him and she's calling him too. I was thinking about it today in school and if she was calling him during the school day and he was home, it interests me a little bit why he wasn't in school."
"Big deal, he wasn't in school. I used to skip class all the time. Maybe he's got a cold or he's home schooled or something. Maybe he stayed home because of what's been happening online. He's such a big character in the world that he might find he needs to be online right now." Tatsu told her and then furrowed his eyebrows when he saw the amazed look Yue was giving him. "What?"
"I'm surprised…you of all people siding with Balmung…"
"Heh, don't let it fool you. I still hate the guy, but at least he's taken decent care of Tawna, and he's backed up off my girl." He replied in a huff.
Yue shook her head, a slight smile touching her lips. "Still…it just…doesn't add up somehow. And unlike Tawna I haven't completely forgiven him yet for what he did to her, going back and forth between her and Raquel."
"You know, for someone who used to adore Lord Balmung you sure have done a complete 180." He grinned.
"Before he wasn't messing around with my best friend." She muttered after a minute.
"Hey," Tatsu scooted across the couch, pulling her into his lap. "This is Tawna we're talking about here. This is the girl that continuously has put her ass in danger and has sacrificed all she could without even thinking about it. If there's anyone who can completely get through to Balmung, it will be her. She'll get through this, and we'll be there to back her up. Have some faith hon. She'll know what to do."
"Well buddy, I thought I'd keep you posted on what's going on in my life." Tawna told the comatose form in the bed. Crossing her legs butterfly style, she paused to balance herself on the small bedside chair. "As long as Mai and I and your parents don't give up, there's still hope. She squeezed the lifeless hand tight as she got up. "We'll get you back, I promise. I know I keep saying that, but it'll happen. This-" she ducked her head slightly. "Lena and I were talking and we decided we were going to run a dungeon marathon. I'm, going to organize it and she's going to help me run it. I felt a little bad for throwing a party while you're still stuck in here, but after thinking on it. I've decided to through it in your honor. You won't be there to see it, but I'll tell you about it the next time I come to visit." She smiled. "Just…hang in there Tomonari."
Tuesday passed without an e-mail from Tawna's angel but it was just as well because she, Alyanae, Eji, Grem and Ranku sat around in an area talking about the marathon. At first it was suggested that the three hackers would gate hack into the new root town, check out the areas and report back to Savana and Ranku, but Eji had taken such a liking to the new blademaster that he and Grem were teaching him how to hack code himself. With Ranku's first hacking lesson complete, the entire group wandered around the root town, checking out the newest areas and dodging administrators who were running about, impatient to complete the town in time.
Wednesday when Tawna got home from school there was a message waiting in her inbox.
Tonight 6pm, Tokyo time. Carmina Gadelica. I hope you get this on time and that you're doing okay.
-Kite-
"That's perfect." She smiled. "Thanks Kite, I know have something to do."
He was waiting by the chaos gate at exactly six when she logged in. He blinked and then smiled. "Hey, you made it."
"I wasn't expecting to see you again so soon." She replied, grinning back.
"Well, I got an email from my friend saying she wanted to level this evening, so I figured I'd give you a call and see if I could get a hold of you." He explained looking at her with emerald eyes.
"I'm sorry I'm so late."
They turned to see a petite young woman dressed in a long silky white gown. Her gorgeous face was framed with short wavy blonde hair. A golden halo rested inches above her head and she had the most beautiful vibrant eyes. She was straining to carry a heavy axe, which took both of her small hands to wield. Small angel-like wings protruded from her back as she bent over the massive weapon and she smiled at the two of them. "Good evening."
Savana swallowed, immediately intimidated by her beauty. Compared to this woman the crimson-haired blademaster looked like a rugged Amazon.
However Kite smiled back at her, that sweet adorable half smile as always. "Don't worry about a thing. You're fine. I would like you to meet somebody though. Terajima Ryoko, I'd like you to meet Savana. Savana, I'd like you to meet Terajima Ryoko."
"It's an honor to make your acquaintance. You're Lord Balmung's friend, are you not?" The axe-wielder rested her weapon against the ground to extend a hand to her.
Savana shook with a nod of her head. "Uh…yes." She managed a smile. "It's nice to meet you too."
"If you ladies don't mind, let's get going!" Kite's voice held a tone of excitement, which eagerly caught on to the others as he gate hacked the chaos gate.
Savana nearly fell on her butt as she emerged on the other side. "Well, that was different. I don't think I'll ever get used to the powers of your bracelet Kite." She said, regaining her balance on her two legs. Those golden eyes glanced around today's level. "Oh…this looks fun."
"This level is a little high, even for you Savana. Let me fight through the first couple of battles and the two of you just support yourselves." The twin blade replied to them after looking over the area. "Terajima Ryoko…. why did you want come to this level again?"
Before he had time to answer the blademaster's fox-like ears heard the sound of a portal opening and she turned her head to the right where a hill lay before them. "Uh, Kite, I think we have company."
Shadows of monsters appeared in the dim light up the rolling meadow and Kite unsheathed his daggers rushing toward them. The twin blade's form disappeared into the group while Savana and Terajima did as they were ordered and waited behind.
"Do…Do you think he's doing okay?" the angel axe maid ask her after a few moments.
"Dunno. But we'd know if he died. I think he's gonna be okay. This is Kite we're talking about after all." She crossed her arms, waiting for some sort of reply.
Suddenly a white light surrounded her and code flashed by her side. Those animalistic amber eyes blinked, checking her stat page to make sure she was reading the information correctly. She had just gone up two levels!
"He must have won!" Terajima beamed, raising her head again to watch the hill.
"Yeah one battle." Savana swallowed, her sensitive hearing picking up another portal being opened. "He must be clearing out the area for us so we'll be safe to roam around."
"He's so thoughtful." The other girl smiled and Savana found herself smiling with her. Kite had to be one of the nicest guys she had ever met.
The blademaster sat down on the ground with a sigh, her arms resting on her knees. This might take a while, but at least it was incredibly easy leveling. She wanted to see the look on Balmung's face when he finally contacted her again. Terajima Ryoko took her actions and sat down as well, tugging her gown around her feet as she dropped the axe on the hard ground as she took a brief rest.
"Your appearance…. it's an altered appearance like Lord Balmung's right? You don't really see a lot of characters in red." The angel said after a minute, trying to make conversation. "And your ears and tail are pretty unique."
"My character has changed a lot since I first started. She was originally deleted, but then she got restored…. it was a long story. Let's just say I have friends in high places." She smiled.
The girl nodded. "I love the way Savana looks. She's very beautiful. I wish I knew more about creating characters."
Savana blinked. "Terajima Ryoko turned out okay. She's very pretty. I'm kinda jealous." She admitted. "Plus she's unusual. From her looks she would be a wavemaster, but she wields a heavy axe. It's really different."
"That's what I was going for." She replied before she gasped, her eyes widening. "Savana, lookout-"
The blademaster jumped away just as a scythe came down on the spot where she had been sitting. She had been way to into the conversation to notice a rogue creature sneaking up on her. A mantis. Great.
"Bastard…" She huffed, standing up straight and drawing her sword. Between the two of them, the swordsmaster would be the best choice to take on the monster. "Terajima…" She started, not daring to take her eyes off the creature. "Get a safe distance away and contact Kite. Let him know what's going on. I'll stay alive long enough for him to get here."
"Y-Yes mam." The axe wielder replied, snatching her axe up and dashing away.
The sudden movement caught the monster's control and it turned, preparing to pursue the angel. Savana gritted her teeth. "You wish!" She cried, lunging at it and slicing across its chest with her weapon. Those gold eyes widened as the hit registered…ten damage. Ten damage out of a four-thousand health bar. She dodged the next attack just barely and felt her health bar drop by nearly a hundred as the scythe narrowly missed her. "Great…" She retreated into her inventory and healed herself before back flipping away from another strike. "Since when the hell did I become so weak? This is the last time I come to a dungeon ten levels higher then me."
The next several minutes consisted of this repeated pattern of dodging and healing as the creature was relentless in its attacks. Seemingly fed up with her ability to shy away it used both of its hands in a double attack that sent her health down to nearly zero and the creature recoiled immediately preparing another strike. The fox-girl huffed, sending out a 'help' signal just as she was struck and taken out, reverting to a ghost form. Tawna sat quietly, waiting to see if anything strange happened when she died, but despite the area's corrupted state, it seemed game play was going on as usual.
"Savana!" Terajima arrived only seconds later with Kite who killed the monster and fully healed her.
"I feel helpless now." The blademaster faintly smiled, though her voice held a frustrated tone.
"Don't. The creature's here are unbelievably strong. I was surprised." Kite told her reassuringly. "Here, maybe this will help you."
He handed her a long, slightly curved sword that pulsated with lightning-like energy that changed to a variety of wild colors. She blinked, looking at it. "What is it?"
"I'm not sure myself. I got it from one of the monsters I data-drained…. but the bracelet started acting weird just before I performed the attack. Once it was finished, that was the end result. It's a powerful sword but it's made for a blademaster. You mine-as-well use it. I think its name is called the Desert Polaris? Or something like that." He replied with a sheepish smile.
Equipping the weapon, the woman's eyes lit up. "Critical hit…and a boost on all stats…Kite, this is awesome!"
"Glad you like it so much." He smiled before her arms wrapped around him in a hug. "H-Hey…!" He swallowed, cheeks flushing.
Terajima Ryoko giggled. "I'm happy for you Savana." She told her as the blademaster let go of the blushing twin blade.
"Alright then!" She sheathed the sword with a grin. "I've got a new toy to play with! Kite, find me a monster portal! Whether I'm ten levels lower or not it don't matter! I wanna try this thing out!"
"Alright then…the dungeon seems to be our next place to head. I'm sure you'll get some well-earned experience there." He told her with a smile.
"That's because there's less room to get away." Terajima said timidly but Kite just put a hand on her shoulder. "That's what I'm here for."
Right inside the entrance was a gold monster portal which conviently opened it self as they took one step inside. Out of the bright light came two Halloween.
"Fun…" the woman muttered as she stared up at the ghastly ghosts with pumpkin heads. "A physical tolerance guard."
"Terajima, stay close to me. Savana, you think you can take the other? You're only about six levels off." Kite glanced at her.
"Guess I'm gonna have to try." She nodded to him.
"If you have any lightning attacks, now would be the time to use them." The twin blade responded, shielding the much lower-level axe maiden behind him as he used a spell.
"Go figure, I wouldn't." Savana dodged a dark magical attack, racing further out into the wide room and luring the other monster away from her friends. "Gan Don!"
A rain of rocks began pelting the creature, momentarily paralyzing it. Tying to seize an early upper hand she rushed into attack only to be blown away seconds later, her health flashing red in the danger zone.
"Pha repth." A light blue aura filled her body as she quickly stood up, looking over to Kite who was dodging attacks as well as protecting Terajima as well as healing her. "It has death on its sword. Be careful!"
"Now he tells me." She huffed. "I'm not going to lose to you again, you pathetic excuse for a ghost." The hilt in her hand began to tremble and she blinked at it as she jumped out of the way of another attack. "What the…" The handle was shaking more and more and it was all she could do to keep it secure within her fingers. Staring at the blade, she noticed the aura around it had stopped changing, crackling like white lightning. A lightning element. "Alright then. Let's try it your way." Jumping out of a darkness attack and getting scrapped by its touch she charged the creature, lunging her weapon into its head. For a moment the screen seemed to freeze and the next thing she knew she was picking herself out of the wall where the explosion had nearly put her through the stone.
"Savana? Savana are you alright!"
The warrior sat up, blinking slightly. "Yeah, I'm okay, I think." She stood up slowly, grabbing for her sword, which was embedded into the stone floor by the force of the blow. "What the hell happened?"
"I was wondering if you could tell us." Kite watched her, surprised she was even still moving. "You attacked the creature head on and it suddenly fell to pieces before exploding."
The blademaster grabbed the handle, wincing as a spark of white lightning shocked her palm. "Ow. What was that for!" she demanded, sheathing the weapon. Text flashed on the screen as the game finally calculated the 520 exp she got from killing the creature. Opening her screen she smiled in satisfaction. "Now I'm only two levels behind." She blinked and then screened through her equipment list, staring at numbers that just couldn't seem to be real. "Guys…I'm not hallucinating, but my sword just leveled up."
"It leveled?" Kite repeated, his mind processing it as he said it.
"And it gained death touch." She stared at him for a second. A weapon that could level and get stronger as it's wielder did. This was starting to sound remarkably like another unique item in possession of someone in their party.
"Savana…maybe it's not a good idea for you to wield that weapon." Terajima swallowed.
"No way! This thing is awesome!" She cried, stilly staring back at the weapon's stat page as if she couldn't believe it.
"…Just be careful." Kite said after a moment. "We'll deal with it later. If she's still going to use it, those no reason to worry too much on it now. She does things the way she wants to, regardless. Let's continue into the dungeon. If the sword becomes a problem then I'll do something about it. Until then, let's just keep moving."
Savana's weapon seemed to act up in every battle, but not on the same level it had upon its first fight. One the contrary it was very helpful to get through fights since it could usually kill an enemy in one hit. Closely monitored after every battle, it had picked up another two or three effects from other enemies they had fought as well as leveled again when Savana had leveled. The three were completely dumbfounded by the weapon, but they weren't complaining about it's tremendous strength either as the reached the fifth floor.
"Here it is. That last room." Savana smiled as they walked to the doorway. "To easy."
"Let's get this over with." Kite replied, heading through the door first.
They had barely entered the room when they were attacked by a massive boss monster. The blademaster barely had time to recognize her name being called before she was thrown to the ground. Blinking up she stared into the handsomely cute face of the twin blade. "Are you alright?" He asked worriedly, eyebrows furrowing.
She nodded, crimson touching her cheeks. He was off of her in the next moment, dashing to save the angel axe maiden before the massive creature had her in its tremendous grip. Sweeping her into his arms he dropped her on the far side of the room where she would be safe before turning to face the gigantic animal. His first attempt at an attack ended up backfiring as he was tossed like a rag doll nearly twenty feet, his body slamming into the stone wall.
"Kite, no!" Savana cried, drawing her weapon. Ryoko let out a gasp as their hero fell to the ground. She gritted her teeth, looking up at the monster. If it had bested Kite…there was no way she would be able to beat it, but she sure as hell was going to try.
"Don't…even think it Savana."
She turned her head in shock as the twin blade stood up, hands shaking as he clutched one of his daggers in hand. The other one was gone, somewhere around the massive room. Blue-green eyes stared up at the monster with a knowing smile. "You're powerful but not very fast, or very smart."
Before she could calibrate what had happened he was on the beast, launching into the air. His bracelet reacted as he drove the weapon into the creature's neck, watching it disintegrate into nothingness. He tried his best to land gracefully on his feet, but to no avail and slumped over, his hat falling on the ground next to him.
"Kite!"
The two women were on him in an instant, Terajima practically in tears as she dropped to her knees by his side. "I'm so sorry….this is all my fault…you've been protecting me all this time….and I….didn't know any better…."
He smiled up at her, brushing shaggy teal locks of hair from view. "It's not your fault. It would have happened regardless."
"The nice guy as always." Savana grinned, holding out a hand to help him up.
While Terajima stayed by his side, Savana went to find his other dagger, which was stuck in the wall near where the blademaster had been sitting. Handing it to him, she stretched with a mischievious grin. "So, what next?"
"We get out of here." Kite replied.
"I have to be getting offline." The axe maiden frowned and then smiled apologetically. "But let's all meet up again sometime, alright?"
Savana nodded. "Sure!"
The three made it safely back to Aerial City Fort Ouph's Gate and then from there changed servers to Carmina Gadelica.
"Thanks for the great time today you guys. I don't know what I was expecting from the new server, but you cleared that up for me." She smiled at the twin blade.
"No problem. Talk to you guys soon." He said as he logged out, Ryoko right behind him.
Savana took a step into the server root town and froze in place. Not being able to access any of her menus she panicked but before she had time to shut down the system she was flooded by a bright light and found herself in an empty void of white.
"What…. hello?" She called, but only heard her own voice echo throughout the realm. She took a step in the air…at least she could move again and she had confirmed there was some sort of floor underneath her, even if she couldn't see it.
"Blademaster." A deep voice rumbled through the vortex as a large chunk of green data began materializing in front of her, taking the form of a middle-aged player character.
"Where am I?" She demanded, gritting her teeth. "And who the heck are you?"
"You are in one of the containment rooms maintained by the Admin. I am Lios, one of the head administrators. Recently we have been closely monitoring the twin blade character Kite. We saw what happened this afternoon during your dungeon trip. I demanded that you hand over that weapon immediately."
"Like hell!" she snapped, her amber eyes narrowing as she rested a hand protectively on the hilt of the blade.
"If you do not comply I will have no choice other to delete you." He replied calmly.
"That's harassment!" she cried back. If she lost Savana again… "And what would you tell my friends when they start asking why my character's been destroyed!"
"That you were the head of an illegal event that was not approved by the Admin beforehand. That you're character appearance is illegal as it was created by a group of hackers. And now you harbor an illegal weapon. There are so many choices. Why don't you be the one to pick."
She swallowed. "Balmung wouldn't-"
"Balmung is a traitor to the Admin he was working for," he cut in sharply, anger rising in his voice. "And he will be greatly punished for his disloyalty, one way or another." He smiled, something that sent chills up her spine. "Maybe destroying you would take a blow to his ego."
"You bastard, no!" She withdrew the blade, holding it tightly in a clenched hand as she point it at him. "You leave him alone! He's doing the right thing! You're nothing more then a bully and a coward who goes around destroying other characters under your own pretense of justice. If someone defies you, they die. You're pathetic!"
He raised a slight eyebrow as he smirked. "Now you're attempting to assault an admin? You're criminal record is probably one of the worst I've ever seen. Enough talk. Consider yourself deleted."
"That would be enough of that Lios."
A hold opened in the empty void and the blonde-headed hacker of legend entered gracefully.
The admin clenched his teeth. "Damn you Hel-"
"I said that's enough!" she barked again, her temper flaring. "You just want someone to abuse since Balmung wisened up and left your idiotic cause. Picking on someone close to him is not right."
"She's carrying a weapon that is illegal by the rights of the admin! That sword is not even normally under registry! And its effects are devastating! She could-"
The sound of the wavemaster's staff slamming against the floor shut the babbling moderator's mouth. The hacker turned, looking at the blade the girl was holding at her side. "Indeed she does." She responded gravely. "But that is not your concern."
"My concern!" he scoffed. "Do you realize that I'm a system administrator!"
"I've realized that you did all but cheer on that heavyblade, Eji, when he had Balmung down on his knees on the dirt, and I also found out how satisfied the admin board was when Savana jumped in the way to protect him and was hit with that poisonous blow instead. You were hoping that he would take them both out after that." The hacker said, her voice chillingly cold.
"Wh-What!" the blademaster gasped. "The admin set him up!"
The wavemaster glanced back at her. "Of course. They were suspicious of why Balmung was putting in the extra effort to follow up on Kite. And when he started to pull away from them and hide things he was finding out from them, they decided to threaten him. It was just fortunate enough that they knew a player who hated Balmung enough and could easily get the job done. The area was setup and was supposed to have been protected but Alyanae undid the locks when she arrived so the others could get through. They weren't counting on you to be there, but since you showed up and had gotten injured they figured you would just be killed off again and that was the end to you. Hopefully after all he had been through Balmung would put two and two together and come back faithfully to the Admin, but he did the exact opposite and continued to pull away."
"He said…that the admin had been hounding him about something…I couldn't believe it would be something like this…" Savana swallowed.
"It makes sense now that you think about it, doesn't it?" The hacker nodded. "Think about why they haven't reinforced the hacker laws against that heavyblade, even though he's a major threat."
"That's because damn Kazuma is almost as good at getting around our system as you." The Admin spat venomously at her. "We administrators would never plan such an insane conspiracy as the one you're spewing. We-"
"Lios, just admit that you all allowed the boy to keep his equipment and weapons and that he was allowed to continue hacking if he would scare Balmung back to you." Her voice was unmoving and cold, like a column of ice. The moderator could hardly think up excuses around her words.
"But, I still don't understand why they would want to punish him like this… what did he even do wrong? I mean, so what if he was hiding information. Most of us are." Savana asked after a minute, looking at the sorceress for an answer.
"Little Lady," the hacker started after a minute. "Whether you've realized it or not, Balmung is very arrogant. That cocky knight grew ten times worse after Orca disappeared to hide the fact that he was upset, but the admin didn't like it. They knew Balmung had power and respect from the players and they feared him teaming up with Kite because the two would definitely be able to sway the players if they needed to. So, when he started getting close to the twin blade, they decided to do something about it and that plan involved Eji. The point I'm trying to make out of all of this is that everything that spews from this man's mouth is a lie, and you should trust him about as far as you can throw him. The Admin have lost their reputation as the fair leaders of this world."
"I will not stand here and be insulted straight to my face like this! And you're little ridiculous plot of yours still has nothing to do with that fact that she's an unauthorized character carrying an illegal weapon and that she's responsible for organizing an event outside of the Admin's decision." Lios demanded, though his fierce tone had dropped considerably.
"Hmm…" The hacker walked up to her. "The weapon was obviously made by Kite. That could be the only reason you want it so badly. As for her appearance, I was the one who altered it, and if you're looking for someone to come after for that it would be me. But, you're stupid barriers don't work on me and you could never catch me, so you might as well let that drop. And, as far as I can see, the Admin shouldn't have a problem with a party." She turned, her long curtain of blonde hair swishing behind her. "Maybe if you explained why you wanted the item, the girl might lend it to you."
"Lend?" The Admin snorted.
"No way." Savana replied, resheathing the weapon and keeping a firm hand on it.
"Now, now." The woman smiled. "Maybe we will come to some sort of agreement."
"…Fine." Lios snapped after a minute, finally caving in. "We believe that sword has similar properties to Kite's bracelet. We want to test it to find out its true strength."
Savana hesitated after a moment before unbuckling the sheath from her hip and hold it out. "As long as I can have it back by tomorrow's dungeon trip."
The admin glared at her but the wavemaster smiled. "He'll have it delivered tomorrow, I can assure you, and it will be in the same condition as it is right now." Her voice was absolute and she glanced over at the admin. "And Lios, send Savana some help for her little party. Give her an area or so to work with and announce the event as legal and open to the public."
"Are you serious?" the blademaster's golden eyes lit up.
"Consider it done." The admin snapped, logging out the second the sword was in his hands.
"Well, that settles that." The hacker said triumphantly. "Let's get out of here, shall we?"
They suddenly found themselves in a creepy rundown town. "Welcome to paradise, or as other players call it, Net Slum."
"Wow." Savana stared around the place. "Wow." Looking over at her she smiled sheepishly. "Thanks for the help back there Miss."
"The name is Helba." She stared off down the street, waiting momentarily for the blademaster to catch up. "And don't mention it. Anything to aggrivate that pig-head." She smiled. "You're a very interesting character to watch."
"Me?" The shorter girl blinked.
"You fall for one of the most popular, arrogant, self-centered men in this game, go through hell to make him yours and never lose sight of your true goal. I think if you get stronger, you will be a very powerful ally to Kite. And that boys needs all the help he can get."
"Miss Helba, do you know why my sword was created?" Savana asked after a second. "My Desert Polaris…do you know why Kite's bracelet created something that strong?"
A long silence fell between them. "Kite cares about you." She said finally. "He wants to see you happy. At the moment his data drain went off, he was worried and afraid for your safety. His bracelet reacted to those feelings, and he wanted to find a way to protect you. As Aura herself said, the power that bracelet holds can bring forth salvation or destruction at the whim of the user. You were chosen as part of Kite's salvage team." She looked over her shoulder. "People are expecting big things from you tomorrow. I'll help create some fireworks for the festivities tomorrow evening. Until then," she smiled, logging out.
Tawna pulled the visor off with a sigh. It was already past nine and still nothing from Balmung, but she wasn't surprised. She collapsed on her bed, gold eyes staring at her poster. "Rei…I hope you're alright."
CHAPTER TWELVE END-
Author's Notes- OMFG…. it's been a long ass time since I worked on this! I've been feeling bad since I recently started putting a lot of time back into my writing and this has been sitting untouched for months. It's not fair, so I'm bringing it back with intent to finish it. It'll take a while but it WILL happen. ; Okay…chapter thirteen… things finally seem to find a moment of actual peace for Tawna's team as her event comes into full swing. But the one person she wants there hasn't even contacted her and she's stuck between worry and sadness, thinking that he's going to totally miss the dungeon event she has been planning. Little does she know, Balmung has been doing some planning of his own, as Rei doesn't intend to let this opportunity go to waste. Until I write again!
Sora Tokumi Kazuma
