.hack/Morganna's Revenge rewrite

Chapter 8

Tsukasa saw the final core fall down, a relief showing on his features. However, the monster didn't seem to be dying. Tsukasa and the others seemed horrified at this thought, but Kite had only to think on what had been said before he went to take on this task. Aura's words stuck in his head, he had to think, if only he could think! "Wait...light and darkness...could it be?" He took a minute to take a deep breath, and he turned to Blackrose. "Blackrose."

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Strike my bracelet."

"What!"

"Don't you remember what Aura said? The bracelet must be light, and Cubia must be the shadow." Blackrose took a few minutes, looking at the others for a moment.

"If you won't,I'll do it myself." Kite took one of his twinblades, aiming it to strike the Book of Twilight.

"All right! I'll do it!" Kite made a jump up, leaving room for Blackrose to strike the bracelet down. Her blade clanged with the bracelet, causing sparks to emit. Kite's wrist was in pain, Cubia's form falling apart along with the bracelet.

Delta: Sleeping Silent Death Trap

"Miss Helbaworshipper, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with this area..." Shana turned, holding one of her twinblades with a slight laxing stance.

"I'm sure something is going to happen here." The wavemaster smiled slightly, her smile becoming more sickening as Terra realized it.

"What are you!"

"A vagrant AI, and you were caught in my trap." Helbaworshipper's smile grew, and data drain blades shot at the two off guard adminastrators. A hole formed, showing her the way to where she had intended to go. "Let's get the real plan in motion, Mistress Morganna."

Delta: Mysterious Sleeping Deathtrap

Cubia's form finally desintegrated, but the bracelet had dissapeared on him. What was he going to do without the bracelet? What if he needed to data drain? "Kite, which switch do we pick?" Subaru's voice, along with Crim's hand on his head brought him back.

"I don't know, which one do we choose?" He turned to Tsukasa, who looked at everyone before choosing the center switch of the three. The area changed, and there was Elk...trying to heal Aura!

"Elk!" Kite knew something was wrong, the barrier was being thwarted, but why? Aura should have been able to protect them all, right? A sudden surge of energy revealed the so called vagrant AI, Helbaworshipper.

"Do you really want to know why your barrier is becoming obsolete?" The so called vagrant AI smiled with a satisfied smirk. Phases appeared behind her, and data drain blades were forming in front of their satisfied smirks. "It's because you are about to die." As if on cue, an appearance from Helba stopped everything. Her eyes widened at the wavemaster that had summoned the phases, her fingers in the real world hesitating on the warp from Elk's subconcious. She quickly caught herself, letting no time be wasted on her thoughts.

Lambda: Pulsating Truth's Core

The parties arrived in net slum, just as Elk's eyes opened. The dagger dislodged, desintegrating slightly. Elk would have gotten up, but felt a weight on his body. The weight was moving, and Aura's white hair was the first thing Elk saw of her. Aura smiled slightly, moving off him as he was overwhelmed by many bodies. "I suggest all of you log off, Elk...I'm sorry to say I can't bypass what's stopping you from logging off yet. Aura...will you stay with him?" The ultimate AI nodded with a smile, the next step in the right direction yet to be made.

In the real world...

Helba made her way through the hospital's clean hallways once again. What she had seen today merited a visit to the still comatose player. The gifts were still piled the same way, with maybe two or three different gifts actually sorted out. However, she didn't really care about it now. "What are you doing...Tania? Why are you working for Morganna? I'll have to tell them about you, you know." She placed a hand on the woman's hand, squeezing it slightly. "I'm going to make sure you wake up again, I promise." A smile was on her face, and she continued to talk to the probably deaf woman.

The next morning...

Helba was the first one in Net Slum that morning, and she didn't even notice them until they had actually yelled her name. She took a deep breath, prepared to do what she must. "You must be wondering who that person was, the person that sent those phases."

"Yes, I was wondering that. Who is she?" They had all sat down, Helba changed the building to just accomadate a few chairs and just one bed. Elk was the only one who really needed a bed in Net Slum, and he wouldn't need a bed there for long. However, it was Tsukasa that was curious.

Meanwhile...

Helbaworshipper, having been so active before, seemed completely frozen in time. Her eyes were glazed over, teddy bears sorrounded her everywhere, and a small bed was against her back. The wavemaster from before had become a lifeless doll in a matter of hours. "I'll make sure you never wake up again...and I'll make sure Harold accepts that fact."

Meanwhile...

"Helbaworshipper is a character played by a person that I hired. Her and I are on the same level of ability in hacking, but she was always doing something different."

"Well, how did she become like that?" Helba took a deep breath, this had always been hard, she had not wanted to say this. She had no choice, to save Tania, she had to.

"Awhile ago, she was playing the game at a late hour. She had become friends with a character that even I didn't know. After awhile, their relationship began getting very strange. One day, while she was working...she was data drained and went into a coma."

"You...sound a little hesitant..."

"Well, she has data drain scars. I don't know how...but she says she feels her character's pain, no matter what. That is off the topic of what I'm talking about...so I suppose that is all I have to say." Helba hoped that no one was going to ask for more information, she probably didn't have it in her to do so.

"How long?" Wiseman's typing could be heard, almost as if it was the background music.

"Tomorrow, it'll make it a year."

"A year? So she's been like this for a year?" Tsukasa's anger began to rise, Morganna's doings were more than just harsh, they were like taking away your soul. Tsukasa nodded to Helba slightly, when a surprised look came on her face.

"Yes, but I'm afraid that we have to hurry up and investigate an area. It may be Morganna's doing from the looks of it. Wait...this was..."

"Helba...what's wrong?" Elk knew something big was going on, just the way Helba was speaking already made it painfully clear. He wasn't even able to really wake up in the real world yet, so he had to be careful.

"This is the area Helbaworshipper last investigated before her comatose incident. I would be careful." Helba handed the keywords to everyone, nodding that she would be monitering in a way. After the others had warpped away, Elk found Helba was busy looking into something else. Could he find a way to sneak to the area without getting caught? He had to, if she was stuck, and he was stuck...he had to do it!

Omega: Despaired Gate of Destiny

Elk had made it in record time to the area, he was glad that he had done so. Why? There was Helbaworshipper right there, thinking on something she may not even have known. "Hey." Her face looked up at the other wavemaster, she stood up, beginning to go to the dungeon. "Wait!"

"What?" Her voice was much calmer, and she looked different in facial expression as well.

"Don't you know that Helba's worried sick about you?"

"Who's Helba?"

"Don't you know that you're in a Coma right now?"

"I'm a vagrant AI, I've been part of the game code, I have no player." What was going on? Her head was beginning to hurt, was she really a vagrant AI? Was she really what Morganna said? Her head was in pain, it hurt, it hurt as if her body were tearing apart! "Who...what...am I?"

"That's what I'm here for. My name is Elk, and I'm here to help you." He offered her a hand, which she took as if desperate for.

"Thank you."

TBC...