Deep in the night
Far off the light
Missing my headache
"Fighting is no way to solve problems". The words echoed through his mind as the computer monitor in front of him glowed brightly in the darkness. 1:32am blinked the clock in the bottom right corner of the screen. It was a school night, but what did he care?
"Not at all" he muttered to himself, a grim smirk playing upon his lips. His fingers sped deftly over the keys, tak-tak-tak-tak-tak. Suddenly the monitor went black, then flashed back again, the words "The World" written across the screen.
Clicking the small box labled 'log in', he keyed in his username, "Sanryou63", his anger causing him to hit the keys harder than he intended. And why shouldn't they, he had every right to angry. Any 14 year old would if they had found out only hours before that their father was murdered in cold blood during a bank robbery. His eyes narrowed in sadness and rage as he recalled the incidents of the day; the phone call from the police, the way his mother had been so grief-stricken she simply up and left. Probably to a bar, he concluded, slipping on the virtual headset. She was always like that, even behind his fathers back, she would go out to a bar after work had ended, not reappearing at home until the crack of morning, claiming that the traffic was bad, or that she had stopped by to see her mother. Maybe his father knew the truth, maybe he didn't. The scent of alcohol always hung heavily in the air around her.
"Fighting is no way to solve problems." he muttered aloud, repeating the words his mother had told him after he got in his first fight at school. That drunken excuse of a mother of his didn't know a thing.
Visions of light
Sweeter delight
Kissin' my loveache
A small beeping sound form his computer brought his focus back to the present. He realized that his fingers had paused just above the enter button. "Forget you." he sneered as he pounded the 'enter' button.
Immediately an entire world appeared before his eyes, the server known as Mac Anu. He gripped the spear in his hands tightly, or at least, he would have had it not been only a program. Again the computer beeped at him. Moving his mouse up to his inbox, he saw he had one new message. Clicking on it twice, a short e-mail blinked on the screen. It was from Tetsuya.
"Hey dude. Heard about your dad. Really sorry. Hope to see you skool 2morrow. Dont do nething rash. L8er."
This wasn't rash. It was pretend, fictional, simply another program. Despite the fact that it was nearly 2am, The World was still packed with characters, people from all over the real world. Now all he had to do was choose a target. Just then a female character caught his eye. She had green eyes and red hair that was pulled into a high ponytail, reaching down to the middle of her back. A short green skirt and chest armor covered her and digital tattoos ran down her arm like blue snakes. She looked around unsurely, waiting for someone, maybe. Taking a moment to brush his purple bangs from his face, he approached her.
"Hey there." he said as she spun around to face him. "You looking for someone?"
"Oh, no" she responded hastily. "It's just that I don't really know what to do. I'm a newbie."
Just as I suspected Sanryou63 thought smugly.
"Not a problem!" he responded chipperly. "Hey, how about me and you form a party. I can help you level up and show you the wires. Sound good?"
"Yeah! Thanks a lot!" she responded enthusiastically.
People were so quick to trust. For all she knew, he could have been her stalker, someone out to gather information about her, hack her computer, steal her identity. Fortunately for her, he wasn't.
He led her to the rotating blue circle that stood at the very end of the town.
"This is a chaos gate." he explained. "You use this to transport to different worlds. To get there, you have to put in three keywords, and each combination takes you to a different world. The different worlds have different level monsters. Since you're new, you should start off at a lower level. You follow?"
"I think so."
"Great. Here we go, then. You just step up to it, like this." The girl followed his lead and took a few steps forwards towards the gate. "Now, just put in the keywords that I tell you. Great Broken Nothingness." Lifting his spear, he suddenly vanished. Following his lead, the girl raised her staff above her head and repeated the combination.
Suddenly she materialized next to him. The world around them had changed completely. It was dark, and bare plains stretched out in front of them. Dark silhouettes of ancient ruins were visible against the dark purple horizon and glowing golden orbs could be seen in the distance. All in all, the place gave her the shivers.
"You alright?" Sanryou asked, noticing her uneasiness.
"Uh, yeah." she said, looking at him.
"By the way, I don't believe we have really introduced ourselves." He gave a small bow. "Sanryou63, spear master, at your service.
"And I'm DarknessAngel35, a wave master." she said, grinning politely.
"Okay, well let's get started then. You see those glowing things? Those are monsters. If you get close enough to one, the monsters will be activated and you'll have to fight."
"But you can avoid them, right?"
"You can, but the point of the game is to level up and get stronger, and you can only do that if you fight monsters. Understand?" She nodded. "Besides, you really can't avoid them in dungeons." An obvious wave of uneasiness swept over her.
"D-dungeons?" she asked nervously, her hangs wringing her staff.
"Yeah. There are lots of monsters there, most of which you can't escape from. But if you reach the end, you get money and items. Think you're up to it?"
"I guess…"
This is going more smoothly than I imagined. Of course, I knew from the beginning this would be too easy.
He began walking briskly towards the large ruins when he stopped suddenly, spinning on his heel and almost causing DarkAngel35 to crash into him.
"Uh, what is it?" she asked, noticing the mischievous smirk that he had on his face, and a gleam in his purple eyes to match.
"First off, send me all of your items and money." he said coldly.
"W-what?"
Quicker than she could react, he raised the end of his spear, putting the tip to her neck.
"You heard me. Do it now."
Her character froze as her real-world counterpart sent the items, no doubt. After a moment she snapped out of it, and once again Sanryou63 heard his computer beep, one new message.
"Thank you for your services." he said as he drove the end of the spear into her neck. Her player character turned gray and fell to the ground, disappearing momentarily.
Now, next victim… he thought smugly, shifting his hold on the spear, when suddenly he noticed a strange sensation. Looking down at his hands, he realized with shock that they were stained red. He could feel the stickiness of the blood between his fingers, the irony scent overwhelming him.
"N-no way!" he gasped, trying to wipe it off on his clothing. His once-white shirt was smeared with red, but still it didn't leave his hands. He could feel his entire body begin to tremble. When he looked down at his feet, the body of the girl still lay there, looking up at him with a blank expression, a stream of blood pulsing from her neck.
"Get away from me!" he screamed, kicking the body with his leather boots. It limply flipped over onto her stomach, hiding the haunting green eyes. Hurriedly he tried to depart from the scene of the crime. "Log out, log out, log out…" he repeated with a quiet franticness in his voice. But when he tried to leave, nothing happened. Sweat beaded his forehead. "This is just a game, it's just a fucking game!" he screamed into the darkness. But if it was only a game, then why was this happening? Why did it seem so real? Suddenly all around him, more players began to appear, flashing their swords at him, players he recognized as the Crimson Knights.
"No! It wasn't me, I swear, it wasn't me!" he cried, his knees buckling weakly beneath him. "It wasn't me…" he whispered quietly, his tear stricken face looking at the ground, before darkness overcame him.
How come I must know where obsession needs to go.
How come I must know the direction of relieving?
He sat up quickly, breathing in quick, shallow breaths. He was tangled in his sheets, turned damp from sweat. Hysterically he looked form side to side, trying to place his surroundings. A set of blinds was drawn over a window to his left. Tearing his blankets off him, he sat on the edge of his bed, his body still shaking uncontrollably. A sudden beep caused him to jump of, his heart racing.
'1 New Message' flashed on his computer screen. Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm himself.
It was only a bad dream. Dad's still alive, mom's home. I was only sleeping…Just a dream…
Deep in the night
Far off the light
Missing my headache
He clenched his fists, wrenching his face into a dismal grin, when his fingers slipped on the familiar grip of his spear. He wiped the sweat off onto his white pajamas and walked to the full length mirror that hung on the other side of his bed. How funny it would be to see himself so shaken, and all because of a bad dream. Confidently placing himself in front of the glass, what he saw caused his eyes to widen in horror.
His white shirt was smeared with red, and in his hand was not his spear; it wasn't logical, this was the real world. Tightly in his grasp was a black handled kitchen knife, the blade shining crimson with blood. He checked himself over. He had no wounds. He took a faltering step backwards, collapsing on his bed when he became aware of more sounds from outside; the sounds of sirens. Scrambling up he ripped down the blinds, sending them flying across the room, landing on a pile of clean laundry. Lights flashed as dark figures jumped out from their cars, racing towards the doorway of his apartment building.
Fast as he could manage, his legs feeling weak and shaky, he stumbled from his room, bursting into the room just opposite of it.
A woman lay sprawled out over the bed, her red hair falling over her face. The familiar green tattoos that snaked up her arms was reassurance enough that it was his mother.
"Mom.." he called feebly. But there was no response. As he weakly flipped on the lights, it was then he noticed the pool or red blood she lay in. "Mom!" he screamed in horror, rushing to her side, still holding the knife clenched in one fist as tears streamed from his eyes. Her green eyes stared lifelessly up at him, a large gash wound in her neck clearly visible.
Visions of light
Sweeter delight
Kissin' my loveache
The next thing he knew he felt strong arms pulling him away, metal cuffs being locked around his wrists as he was dragged from the apartment. The bloody knife had to be pried out of his grasp.
"It was the boy!" a woman shrieked outside their doorway as he was being led out. She was elderly, still dressed in a robe and nightcap.
"Calm down, miss." said a tall police officer, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Now, can you tell us anything you might know?"
"H-his father…" she began shakily. "His father was just recently murdered during a bank robbery. Just a few minutes ago I heard banging and a scream. That's all I know, that's really all I know! It must have driven him mad" she panted, her face gone white.
Suddenly the boy came to a halt in front of her, fighting against the officer who kept pushing him forward.
"My dad….he's dead?" he asked with an eerie calmness in his voice.
"Yes." replied the woman, recoiling as he studied her calmly. He smirked and began chuckling to himself, the soft mirth breaking into hysterical laughter as he was led down the stairs.
How come I must know where obsession needs to go?
How come I must know the direction of relieving?
He sat on a green couch, the soft cushions giving below him. The only other person in the room was a bespectacled man, studying him closely over the edge of a clip board.
"Tell me your name." the man stated for the tenth time.
"My name is Sanryou63."
"What is your real name?" he asked again, making a brief note on his clipboard.
"Sanryou63."
"Alright then, Sanryou63, why did you kill her?"
"I don't know."
"I think you do know."
"I don't."
"Tell me."
A grin, bordering on the edge of insane, spread across his face.
"Mother told me fighting is no way to solve problems. Mother is dead." With that, he was led away.
>>>to be continued...
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Alright, .hack fanfiction! w00t!
Sentances in bold italics are song lyrics
Lyrics: Obsession (.hack/SIGN)
that is all.