.hack/FRAGMENT
Saya
version 13.0
Outlaw Meets Outlaw
new topic posted 1.29.06
Erika was lying on her side at the edge of the river that ran through Mac Anu, watching people on the other side walk by. "I thought you'd be here," she heard a voice say from right above her. The girl shielded her eyes against the virtual sun as she looked up and saw the silhouette of a brunette with a large sword strapped to her back, Koto.
"You were looking for me? I'm sorry…" the girl said as she stood up and brushed herself off. "Wait a second. Why were you looking for me?"
The Heavy Blade gave her friend a grin, "Because you wouldn't check your e-mail. I sent you a message this morning and you never got back to me. That hurts, right here" (I missed my heart…hey, no one ever said I was good at anatomy).
The white-haired teenager chuckled, Koto was right (of course I was!) she hadn't checked for messages when she had logged on only ten minutes earlier. "Fine, fine…well, you've found me. Deliver your message."
"I'm not some delivery person that you can just push around!" Koto said jokingly, "But I will give you this message because I think you just might find it interesting. We got Mom out of retirement, so she's been doing a lot of research and, guess what she found?"
"A dysfunctional daughter…?"
"No! A dysfunctional area!" A glint appeared in Koto's eyes as she saw her friend's body instantly tense up. "Knew that would get your attention…the only problem with the area is, there's two dungeons and there's supposed to be this really tough monster in one of them."
Erika raised her eyebrows, "That's two problems," she said (I knew that, thank you very much). "Well, if it's that tough, maybe we should ask someone else to come along…"
Now the brunette raised an eyebrow as she placed her hands on her hips, "Oh yeah? And who could we possibly ask to come along? We're not asking anyone who's in connection with the Twilight Brigade."
"I do know people outside of that," the Twin Blade said, "I know you, don't I?" (Now, someone tell me, was that meant as a compliment or not?) "I know this Player Killer that would probably love to come with us."
Koto nodded her head, only having really paid attention to part of what her friend said, "Alright, alright. Call…call…" (So it takes a while for that kind of stuff to register, don't make fun of me!). "A PK? Are you insane?"
"Once again, I know you don't I?" (Saddest part is that she had a point). "He's alright, hasn't killed me yet. Give me a sec while I send him a message."
The Heavy Blade looked around at the crowd passing by, as if afraid that someone would jump out from the rush and attack her. "Maybe he's not online…" (not that I was scared or anything).
"Too bad for you, he is. He says he'll be over as soon as he finishes with something."
"Hello! Earth to Erika! What he's finishing is killing another player! That's what PKs do!"
"I'm very upset that you don't think I have a life outside of that." Koto swung around, bringing her blade up into a defensive position at the same time. "Let me guess, you're Koto? Don't look at me like that," (yes, I was giving him my own brand of evil eye), "I'm not stalking you. Erika told me about you in her message; she said you were afraid of me."
Koto shot a brown-eyed glare toward her friend who didn't seem to catch the message until the Heavy Blade said something. "I am not afraid of you," though her gaze was focused on Erika, her words were directed towards the dark young man. "I—"
"Why don't we get going, you guys," the Twin Blade interrupted (and I had a really good comeback, too, I swear). "We can do a proper introduction once we get there and there are less people around."
Reluctantly, her companions agreed and they made their way to the swirling golden light that was the Chaos Gate. A message appeared on all teenagers' screens saying that the area was off-limits, but in the same instant Koto had pulled something out of her items and they appeared in the area.
It gave off the same eerie feeling as the other corrupt areas Erika had been to. A purple sky streaming with data, vision acting up, and when they first arrive she heard a distant voice. "She can't get them…she can't get them…" the repeated, though neither of the girl's companions seemed to have noticed.
"You're a hacker?" the Player Killer asked, sounding highly impressed.
Unfortunately, Koto caught that note in his voice and let it get to her head. She puffed her chest out slightly (which is the reason Erika insists on the nickname 'puff-bird' even though I think it's lame). "No big deal, getting here was easy; I could do that kind of hacking when I was nine." (Hey, no one ever said I was modest).
"Koto," Erika motioned toward the Heavy Blade for her late introductions, "is the only daughter of Helba the hacker. And Death," as she mentioned the boy's name he gave a mock bow, "is a Player Killer."
The Heavy Blade tried in vain to choke down her laughter. "'Death'? Are you serious? Dude, couldn't you think up a better name?"
The boy merely smiled, a look that could send chills down anyone's spines, "Am I right in assuming you've used your real name for your character?"
"Of course not, it's a nickname!" (Oh yeah, that was brilliant of me, it isn't all that much better).
"Quit fighting! We all know why we're here: to see if there's one of those files in this place, so let's get to it. There's two dungeons so we'll probably be here a while," Erika said (alright, question, who made her the leader?).
The Twin Blade made her way towards the nearest dungeon, the other one laying a little way off in the distance, avoiding swirls of light in the process. The other two continued bickering, but the white-haired teenager managed to ignore it as she entered the dungeon's mouth (more literally than most) and waited for her friends to follow her in. They went from room to room they fought monster after monster (alright, I have to admit, that PK is pretty good). Surprisingly, Koto and Death worked well together, they had something in common that Erika couldn't quite explain. Some link, some connection…
They finally reached the last room, it was completely empty. Erika cursed under her breath and her companions stared at her open-mouthed in surprise, she never swore. "All that time and all those items wasted and there wasn't even anything here! I don't have any healing items left!"
"Don't worry, don't worry, you've got spells right?" Koto said after she got over the initial shock. "I mean, just one dungeon over and we'll have it, right?" The Twin Blade sighed and they used a Sprite Ocarina to get out, but the instant they were back on the field they were attacked.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say there's something here that's trying to keep us away from that file of yours," Death said amiably, grinning widely as he stabbed at the monster with his lance and it disappeared.
The three of them ran toward the dungeon, chased by the creature that had been accompanying the one the Long Arm had just killed. "You're a moron. Of course there's something trying to stop us! Besides, what fun would it be if there wasn't?"
The boy laughed, "True, true." They quickly cut their way through the second dungeon. When the teenagers got to the last room they all exchanged glances. "Is everyone at top condition?"
"As good as I'll get," Koto replied with a laugh as she and Death pushed open the door, allowing Erika to squeeze through the crack and rush inside before the others (taking all the glory…darn her!).
In the center stood a creature with patches of purple on its skin and visible streams of data surrounding it. "I guess we've found it, then," Erika said anxiously. She wasn't sure whether she liked everything that was happening or not.
Before they could attack, the shadow of a girl appeared on the other side of the room, a girl who looked identical to Erika's character but dressed in a long flowing black gown rather than white and with glaring orange eyes (I love Halloween colors). "She cannot find them; I will not let her get them. She must not have them; I will not let her delete me…"
The image faded and the monster slowly turned to face them. The three teenagers instantly started to attack, Koto and Death working together so well that it was almost as if they had planned everything from the start. Their teamwork left Erika feeling slightly left out, despite the fact that she was the only one that was actually dealing any damage to the creature.
It was Death who jumped back and started using scrolls, to great effect, while Koto and Erika continued to hack away at the beast. The Heavy Blade jumped up into the air and brought her blade down towards the creature's head just as Death used a scroll that caused spikes to envelope the creature, making it unable to move out of the way. Erika took the opportunity and while the spell was fading she jumped forward and spun, her blades leaving waves of darkness as they slashed into the monster.
The creature disappeared and a treasure chest appeared in the last place it had stood. The white-haired Twin Blade opened the chest and turned to look at her friends whose faces were curious despite their attempts at hiding it. "I didn't find any file, but I did find something you might find interesting, Koto."
She pulled a black sword from her items and handed it to her friend who immediately swung it in an arc through the air, testing it. As it moved a trail of darkness formed in the path it had taken, it was just like the blades Koto had given Erika when they had first gone adventuring together (thinking about how long ago that was makes me feel old; I'm not old!). "Awesome, it's got some good stats, too."
"Yes, but it seems as though we've been sent on a wild goose chase," said Death.
"Who cares? It turned out alright, and you didn't kill us!"
"So you really were afraid. I knew it!" the boy grinned knowingly as he taunted the Heavy Blade.
Erika sighed and covered her face with her hands, "Why in the world did I have to bring them both along?"
I'll find her; I must not let her have them. Those files…she must never have them. I will not let her come back; I will not let her delete me. I will never become obsolete!