A/N: And here's more, a lot quicker than I expected. Hopefully, this sort of thing will happen more often.

Disclaimer: (sigh) See the other chapters. I'm too lazy right now.

Darkness of the Unown Part 4: The Silver Saga

Episode 7

Silver fell through the portal onto the invisible surface of the Unown's Realm. He slumped over on his side, his eyes cemented shut. He gritted his teeth hard together as more and more explosive pain invaded his mind.

He lay there for what seemed like hours to him, but what was more likely a few minutes. The pain gradually faded away, and he staggered to his feet.

"Why..." he said weakly at first, but then picked up his voice to yell out into the blackness, "Why did you stop me!"

In response, The Unown came as they always did, rising in a column around Silver, shifting and moving about too fast to be seen. Their voice rang out.

((YOU WENT TOO FAR. YOU HAD TO BE STOPPED.))

"But why! I have to kill them to get stronger!"

((WRONG.))

He started.

Impossible...it can't be...

((IT CAN, AND IT IS. YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS. YOU HAVE GAINED NOTHING FROM YOUR BATTLES.))

"But why did you wait!"

((YOU HAD NOT TERMINATED ANYONE OR ANYTHING OF IMPORTANCE. YOU WERE NOT IN ERROR UNTIL YOU ATTEMPTED TO.))

"What do you mean! She isn't important!"

((SHE IS TO YOU.))

That finally got to him. He had stood up to yell, but now he slowly sank down onto his knees. He dropped forward onto his hands. A muffled sob passed his lips.

"Naoko...I..."

And as the Unown dispersed around him, for the first time since his rebirth, Silver wept.

A scant few hours after the encounter at Tin Tower, Naoko found herself again lying soundlessly atop her bed, exactly as she had before she made the trip to Ecruteak.

In the confusion about the two officers tossed from the top of the building, Naoko had managed to get away from the Tower without much trouble and get onto a train back to Goldenrod.

"So now...I'm right back where I started..." she mouthed silently to herself, "So...what do I do now?"

By the time darkness had fallen, most of the police presence at the Tin Tower has drifted off, as it came to light that there was no evidence to be found of the mysterious attacker. So now Ho-oh was perched on the roof of the tower, leaning forward to watch the actions of the human in front of him.

The human, a slim young man wearing a long black coat over stone grey pants and shirt, was knelt down on one knee with his back turned to the Legendary. Beside him, a long wooden rod lay on the roof.

He reached into a pocket of his pants, and pulled out a thin card of some kind, its faces covered in complex systems of runes, geometric designs and images. He placed it down against the roof, holding it in place with one finger. The images on the side facing up rippled like water, and gradually they began to shift and move about. Some even vanished and were replaced by new ones. The human watched it all carefully until it stopped. He replaced it back in his pocket, picked up the rod, and stood to face Ho-oh.

"So?" asked the bird.

"Well..." said the human, running a hand through his thick silver hair, kept in place by a rough grey headband, "It's even more powerful than you thought. I'm really surprised it didn't spontaneously shift as soon as it was put up..."

"I did tell you he had exceptional control."

"That's an understatement...well, it looks as though we're going to have to keep careful watch over this one."

He fixated the Legendary with a quizzical stare.

"And you're sure neither Mew, Celebi, or Jirachi know anything about what the Unown intend to do with him?'

Ho-oh shook his head sadly.

"Nothing. None of the others have heard anything either. We're all in the dark on this one."

"Alright then..." he said with a sigh, "I'm going to start by trying to find him. If I can at least speak with him, I might be able to get some information, at least."

The Legendary nodded. The human turned away from the bird, but was stopped again by the Pokemon's voice.

"Actually...there is one potential lead we have."

The human turned to glare at Ho-oh.

"Which is...?"

"Before, when he was here, a girl came."

"A girl?"

"Yes...he called her 'Naoko'. He attempted to kill her, and it was only then that the Unown intervened and took him back.

"So you think she may be significant?"

The bird nodded.

"Let me see your Illusion card. I'll give you an image."

The human dug into his pocket again, and drew out another card, this one subtly different from the last. He tossed it in the air before Ho-oh. The Pokemon took hold of it mentally, and it froze in midair. It glowed, and before it appeared a semitransparent image of Naoko as she had been when she was at the tower.

The human took a moment to memorize the look of her face, and retrieved the card from the air. The image promptly vanished.

He dropped the card back into his pocket, and drew out a third. He shouldered his rod and gave a farewell wave to Ho-oh before taking a running leap off the edge of the Tower. The Legendary watched him float slowly down to the ground, and then run off into the woods nearby, away from the city. Shaking his head sadly, he retreated back into the Tower.

Silver slowly rose from the surface of the Unown Realm into a standing position. Even as he did, the Unown themselves returned, coming up about him in their same endless tube.

((SILVER. YOU HAVE A NEW ASSIGNMENT.))

Kono basho wo dete aruku

There was no reaction from Silver.

Michi no koto wo kangaeru

((THIS ASSIGNMENT CONCERNS NAOKO HIMOGIRA.))

Sora wa mada hyai yuugata

His head jerked up to look at the Unown.

Kumo ni iro wo nokoshite

"What!"

Hajime mo owari mo iranakatta

((THERE IS AN INDUVIDUAL AMONG THE HUMANS WHO INTEND TO HARM HER.))

Kimi no me ga tsukuyaita

Silver's eyes widened.

Donna kiouku wo sagashitara

"What do you mean? Who!"

Mune no fukami e todoku no darou

((IT IS NOT NECESSARY FOR YOU TO KNOW. SIMPLY PREVENT HIM FROM ACHEIVING HIA AIM.))

Nagasugita kimi no iu

Silver was silent for a moment.

Hibi wa hitoyo no yume no you de

((WILL YOU TAKE ON THIS ASSIGNMENT?))

Owaru koto ga shinjirarenai

"Yes! Yes, of course...but I..."

Mezameno toki wa mada tooi

((Good.))

The Unown dispersed again and vanished.

Sen no yoru wo kesenaide

"...I can't...speak to her..."

Mada koko wo tatenai

A/N: And...cut! That's it for this chapter, short, as always...(sigh) Well anyway. That song at the end was "A Thousand and One Nights" by See-Saw, and yes, it is in Japanese. And for those of you who noticed, yes, it is the theme song for the second part of .hack/Liminality.

Here's the translation:

Walking out from this place

Pondering the path

The sky is still early dusk

Leaving twilight colors on clouds

I didn't need a beginning or an ending

Your eyes murmured to me

What memory do I need to search...

...in order to reach deep into my heart?

The too long days you speak of...

...are like a one night dream

Not able to believe it will end

The time to awake is still far away

Don't erase a thousand nights

Still can't depart from here

Trippy, eh?