.The Rising of the Wave
A fanfiction by Sargent Snarky
Genre: General
Rating: T / PG 13 for mild language, thematic elements, etc.
Summary: A novelization of the games. Nothing more. Nothing less. Kite is, of course, the central character.
Spoilers: Not if you take it as you play the game. If you haven't played the games and you skip to the, like, fifty seventh chapter, of COURSE there'll be spoilers, but if you just read it as you play the game or something like that, then there won't be.
Note: Although I will in many instances be taking thing directly from the games, in conversations, descriptions, et cetera I take artistic license, so it won't be exactly like the games.
THIS CHAPTER DEDICATED TO: Tobiasa and Rogue A.I. !
Congrats on getting the most answers right!
Chapter IV
The next day… Well, actually evening, but regardless, the next time Kite sat down at his computer, and opened his email, he was not surprised by any emails whatsoever. And, as he wasn't terribly interested in the news, he went right ahead into The World. But first, he checked the boards, skimming for something, anything; he didn't know what. Still, there was a chance he might discover some clue within.
And lo! The first new board he clicked on was a winner! Well, maybe not a winner, but it was still what he was looking for.
"Thread: Is this an Event Character?
Reply: Girl
I saw a strange character in the dungeon of (delta) Expansive Haunted Sea of Sand.
It was a little girl with long hair, but it didn't look like another player. She was kind of white – like a ghost and moved without a sound. Oh, and the music might have stopped too!
I could be mistaken, but if anyone sees her, please tell me!"
Kite wrote down the keywords on a pad of paper next to his computer so that he would not forget them. Then, since there were no replies to this thread, yet, he moved on. The board was full of a great many new posts today, after all.
"Test Version of The World.
Reply: Test Version (KYOUGOKU)
I heard that there was a test version of The World before it came out. Has anyone played it?"
No, that wasn't what he was looking for. Kite moved on.
"Protected Area
Reply: I can't go in! (waffle)
I tried a random keyword, but a warning message came up and I couldn't go in. I think it was (delta) Closed Oblivious Twin Hills.
Anyone know anything about it?"
That could be something related, so Kite also wrote that string of words down and moved on. There was a new thread where someone was complaining about his party being wiped out by monsters in a dungeon. But, Kite, after skimming it briefly and notating an area recommended for beginners (after all, if he had some free time, it would be good to level up, right?), he moved on. The only other new bits were a message added onto the Keyword Creation thread followed by some information on area elements. Once again merely skimming these, Kite left the boards and logged in.
0 0 0 0 0 0
Mac Anu
0 0 0 0 0 0
Kite, when he logged in, was in a way a bit disappointed to find that he could and did still feel everything. Perhaps it was a foolish fancy, but he had subconsciously hoped that when he logged in again, things would be normal…. Or as normal as they could ever be, given the current state of things. But, as they weren't, he let out a soft sigh and jogged forward, heading for the item shop, just to make sure he had a decent supply of Health Drinks.
He slowed his character to a walk as he went down the stairs to the shop, and that's when a fellow twinblade, on his way up the stairs, stepped in front of Kite, halting his progress. This twin blade wore clothing that was ninja style, albeit blue with yellow trim, as opposed to the stereotypical black. But the oddest thing about him was his set of blades. They weren't daggers or long knives, but, rather, vicious hooks he wore over hid hands instead of sheathed at his side.
"Excuse me, but would you like to trade?" asked Jutah, as the twin blade was named. "I'm specifically looking for Burning Oil. You can find it in Fire element dungeons."
"Sorry, I don't have any," Kite said, tone apologetic.
"Ah… too bad… Well, let me know if you find some. See ya around." And, with a nod, Jutah wandered off, disappearing into Mac Anu.
Kite blinked, then moved on to the item shop, where he sorted out the items he needed and purchased those which he had enough GP for. As he was finishing the last selection of Fortune Wires, a player sighed quite loudly next to him, complaining, "I'm so bored… and tired… I need sleep…"
"So, why don't you log off and take a nap?" asked another player standing there. This one was a wavemaster wearing green robes with yellow and white decorations. His hat did not entirely cover his light blonde hair, and he looked mildly annoyed. Kite's cursor named him as Tim.
The other player (labeled as Grid), save for causing his avatar to roll his eyes, ignored Tim and continued his ramble, "Hey! That radio show's on tonight! You know that show." He suddenly looked at Kite and Tim, since they were both in the same general direction. " 'Talk ON'?"
Tim nodded and Kite just blinked.
"It's sooo hilarious," declared Grid. "Talk On! Right on!"
"You need some help," Tim informed Grid.
Grid stuck his tongue out at Tim. And then began to hum. Kite was just beginning to walk away when Grid let out an exclamation of disgust. "What was that song! It goes lalalala… and it's been looping in my head forever, but I can't remember the name of the song!"
"Well, how should I know what song it is?" asked Tim. "You're tone deaf. Chances are you're not even humming in any known key."
"You're so nice. Pff… You've made me tired, so I'm taking off. Bye."
"Finally! You take my advice! Bye, Grid." Tim then glanced sidelong at Kite. "Are you going to just stand there staring, or do you want to trade? But, unless you've got Golden or Silver Axes, don't bother with me."
"No, sorry," said Kite, bowing slightly. "And sorry for eavesdropping… It's just…"
"Heh… no, it's all right. Grid's like that. Always has been… Oh well… farewell… I'm off for the time being, too." And with that, Tim left, likely to save and then log out.
Kite, meanwhile, wandered off to Elf's Haven, where he was accosted, along the way, by three further players, each seeking a trade. First, there was Cyan, a samurai type heavy blade desiring Well Water. Next, there was Benoit, a ninja type twin blade, who wanted Sports Drinks. And the third one Micino, a blade master, who was looking for axes, like Tim had been. A little unnerved by their persistence in finding these allegedly common items, Kite hurried to the recorder to save his status, then he sent a flash mail to Blackrose, as he didn't have anyone else's member address, and, well, he couldn't help but trust her.
A few minutes passed before he got a message from her saying that she would be there in fifteen minutes. So, Kite dithered for a moment, then decided to go try out the Goblin Tag event. From the message describing it, he doubted it would take long to complete, if he even could complete it at his level. However, there was no harm in trying. So, he went to the Chaos Gate and entered the keywords (delta) Detestable Golden Sunny Demon and away he warped.
0 0 0 0 0 0
Detestable Golden Sunny Demon
0 0 0 0 0 0
Kite appeared amid the three golden rings in a cheery, mild grassy field. It was a warm field, but not overly hot. A pleasant breeze rolled through, furthering the refreshing nature of the field as it carried the faint, distant scent of clover. But, this relaxing feel was utterly marred by the diminutive gold skinned gargoyle of a creature standing before him. It was a Goblin, albeit a sort different from the charcoal grey ones he'd fought before. This one had a glimmer of intelligence in its crafty dark eyes.
Its lips spread wide in a blue grin (complete with light blue teeth), the creature began to speak in a high, squeaky voice that was, despite this, definitely masculine. To punctuate his words, he waved his scimitar – his only weapon – back and forth, occasionally jabbing as well. "Let's play tag. If you win, I'll give you a reward. I really doubt that will happen, though."
The Goblin danced back and forth on his feet as a box containing the instructions "Defeat the Golden Goblin running in the field" popped up before Kite's eyes. Then, with a blink, the box vanished and Stehoney the Goblin took off running with a giggle. Kite took off after him, but found that the monster was barely faster than him and tended to turn sharply so that, if Kite timed it right, Kite could turn, too, and get in a slash or two at the Goblin.
However, this was a bit tedious and Kite did not wish to spend all day chasing Stehoney down and thus miss Blackrose. Therefore, he paused and searched through his inventory. Then, he selected a magic scroll at random and watched as his avatar went through the motions of spell casting. With a green flicker and the flash of a symbol beneath Kite's feet, as well as his utterance of the spell words that appeared before his eyes, Kite caused a tree to quite randomly sprout beneath the Goblin's feet, flinging him into the air before the plant vanished, leaving a Goblin with no HP left.
And so, Stehoney collapsed like a puppet whose strings are cut, only unlike a puppet, he let out a groan. With weak laughter, he choked out, "You did better than I thought. My bad for underestimating you. But don't get cocky! I'm only an apprentice of the Four Gob Kings!" He cackled, but the laughter disintegrated into coughs that faded into nothing, and he was still. The golden body turned grey and disappeared, leaving Kite with a Goblin Cap.
So, Kite examined the Goblin Cap's stats, but was disappointed to see that they weren't that great. But, it was his first event, and at least he now had a rare item. He warped back to town.
0 0 0 0 0 0
Delta Server
Mac Anu
0 0 0 0 0 0
Kite only had to wait around for another few minutes (after saving) for Blackrose to show up. After she appeared amid the typical trio of golden loops, she frowned, looking around for Kite, who waved to her, as there were several other players milling about the Chaos Gate, and he wanted to save her some searching. She ran over.
"Hey, there!" she said cheerfully, but Kite couldn't tell if it was genuine pleasure at seeing him, or a false happiness.
"Hi, Blackrose," said Kite. "Did you read the board..?"
"Which part? About the protected area or the strange girl?"
"Both, actually…"
Blackrose nodded. "Yeah… Were you going to check them out?"
"Of course… But, I thought I ought to call you…" He offered a weak, unsure grin.
"Good," she exclaimed. "Glad you actually have a brain! Because if you hadn't called me and then told me about it later, I would have had to do something you wouldn't like… And I've plenty of practice with my…" Something dimmed in her eyes as she trailed off, voice losing something of its boisterousness. "Never mind." Hurriedly, she offered an apologetic grin.
Kite looked at her sharply for a moment, then said, "Well… which one first?"
Blackrose thought for a moment. "How about we go find the girl, first?"
Kite nodded, but hesitated. "Although," he began, then stopped, blinking.
"What?"
"I was just thinking… maybe we should level up a bit, first… I mean, we are level one, after all."
Blackrose let out a slight groan and seemed about to protest, but then, upon brief reflection, decided better of it. "Ok, fine," she said, grudgingly.
"I read about a good area for beginners on the Board," said Kite, walking up to the Chaos Gate. "Discovered Primitive Touchstone is the field's name."
"Whatever. Let's go!"
0 0 0 0 0 0
Delta Server
Discovered Primitive Touchstone
0 0 0 0 0 0
They appeared in a barren desert wasteland. Everything was tinted maroon or red, from the rusty soil to the hazy sky. And everything in the distance, from the vague mountain outlines to the nearer structures, shimmered in a heat haze. The sun blazed in the sky, crimson. Kite immediately, from the moment of appearing there, felt the oppressive, baking dry heat and did not like it in the least. Even though he didn't feel it full on. Indeed, he could still feel the cool, comfortable air in his room at the same time, which produced a rather odd sensation, but at least it saved him from a full onslaught by the terrible desert conditions. Although, it didn't save him from feeling a bit parched or from smelling the dusty, slightly metallic scent of this sanguine field.
"Ugh," Blackrose informed him. "This is gloomy. I never thought the color red could be gloomy, but this is awful!"
"Mm," Kite uttered in an agreeing sort of tone. He licked his lips, as they felt dry, then used a Fairy's Orb. "Well… shall we head to the nearest portal?" He gestured in the direction of said portal, which was too distant on the field for them to see, but was relatively close on the map.
So, they started off towards it and were coincidentally going towards one of the odd structures they'd seen wavering in the distance. When they were near enough to see it properly, though, Blackrose let out another cry of disgust.
"It's a skeleton! Most of these are skeletons! That's hideous!" She looked at Kite, somewhat accusingly, as if they were entirely his fault. He merely shrugged and ran off towards the portal, which they could see just on the other side of the enormous rib cage.
When this portal opened, it revealed exactly three monsters, though it looked like more. The first monster, a Mad Grass, which was a red flowered plant that ran around on its roots, snapping with fangs concealed within its petals, was singular enough, but the other two, which were both the same sort, called Disco Knives, were each comprised of three crimson scimitars that seemed to glare at them, despite not having eyes. Blackrose and Kite stared at the monsters for a minute before meeting them in the attack, albeit cautiously. Kite took on the Mad Grass, while Blackrose fought one of the Disco Knives. The other debated for a moment, then flew around Kite, slashing at his undefended back.
Kite, feeling the slicing, burning pain across his back, let out a cry that was half a moan, half a shout, for he hadn't expected the attack. Blackrose looked over swiftly, concerned, but Kite clenched his jaw, gripping his controller tightly as he attempted to control any further sounds of pain as he finished off the Mad Grass and turned on the Disco Knives. Blackrose, after dealing the deathblow to her enemy, joined him, and together the swiftly killed the thing.
"You ok?" she asked as they each cast a Repth spell upon themselves.
Kite nodded. "Yeah… just banged my knee on the bottom of my desk is all," he lied, although he didn't lie particularly well, as he didn't sound terribly convincing. Still, he hoped Blackrose would believe him, for he couldn't let her know about being able to feel and smell things. He didn't want to scare her.
He also neglected to mention anything about the breaking of the protections upon the monsters that he witnessed as their hit points decreased. No point, as she couldn't see them, and no point as he wasn't going to use the bracelet any time soon, if he could avoid it. However, both of them saw the Level Up flicker over his head and the slight glow surround him.
Therefore, although she gave him a hard glance, obviously disbelieving his excuse and wondering what he was hiding, she shrugged it away and said, "Congrats! You're now level two! No fair that you're ahead of me."
"I've played a little more than you, I bet," said Kite.
"Yeah, whatever… Hey, look! There's a chest left."
"Go ahead and take it."
"You sure?" Blackrose lifted her eyebrows in slight surprise. "OK. Thanks!" After opening it, however, she added, "Blah.. It's just a bandana. Oh well, I suppose I can sell it or… something."
"Throw it into the Spring of Myst, then," suggested Kite, pointing to what looked like a bit of wispy fog not far off. On the map, it appeared as a small blue circular symbol. "It's over there."
So, they went to the Spring of Myst, which steamed in the arid environment, but did not decrease in level in the slightest, although it bubbled a little. Blackrose threw the Bandana in. She then let out a cry of surprise as the Monsieur rocketed out and stared at her.
He asked, "Did you lose a Golden Axe? Or was it a Silver Axe?"
Blackrose was offerred a selection box with the three choices. She selected neither one and glanced sidelong at Kite. "Do they all have such awful voices?"
"Unfortunately."
Meanwhile, the Monsieur said, "What! Neither one? Hmmm… Let's see… Then is it this? Till next time, Goodbye!"
And with that, he disappeared exactly like he had disappeared for Kite the day before in another field.
"Ick," declared Blackrose. "I hope there isn't a next time… Hey, sweet! It's a better item, now!"
"That's good," said Kite. "Oh!"
"What?"
"I almost forgot… I was on yesterday, and I… found a Heavy Blade sword that's level 2, I think. I can't use it… So, do you want it?"
"Uh, Yeah. I'll take it. Thanks!"
Kite targeted her and initiated the Gift command, then selected the Earth Sword from his inventory. Blackrose accepted it, then equipped it, as it was better than her initial blade. They wandered off to the next portal, which contained a Goblin and a Mad Grass. The monsters were easily dispatched, and didn't hurt so much for Kite, so it was easier for him to avoid crying out.
As they were running to the next portal, however, he let slip the comment, "Ouf, it's hot here, isn't it?"
Blackrose paused and gave him an odd look. "Huh?"
Kite, quickly attempting to cover, offered her a grin and gestured around at the dry world. "Well, it is a desert. And with the haze, well, it's easy to imagine the baking temperatures."
"Heh. You're odd, you know. But, I'll admit this place does make me a bit thirsty. Good thing these avatars aren't really us, though, isn't it? We'd die of thirst, or something."
"Yeah…"
The next portal was identical to the last one, and the next portal after that was merely an item. The fifth of their field portals held two sets of Disco Knives, whose attacks Kite was more prepared for and covered up.
"Yeah! Right on!" Blackrose said, punching the air as she leveled up.
On their way to the next portal, they encountered, upon one of the rocks, a small orange flame, just dancing there. They both stopped to look at it.
"What the heck is that?" asked Blackrose.
"That's a symbol," said Kite, activating it. "It casts a random support spell on you."
This one cast Ap Ruem, a spell that raised their water elemental power. A little water symbol with an up arrow appeared over each of their status boxes at the bottom of the screen, and a swirl of bluish sparkles glittered around them, like tiny water droplets. For Kite, it cooled him down a bit, for which he was grateful.
Blackrose also liked it and revealed this by saying "Sweet!"
They also found, in between other portals, a few bouncing, hyper Snaky Cacti. The pair laughed at them, but only Kite collected them, as Blackrose declared that she probably wouldn't waste time raising a Grunty, so she wouldn't need them.
Over the course of the rest of the field portals, each of them leveled up another time and Blackrose gained another Bandana. In total, there were fourteen portals, and when they opened the last one, which held only a chest containing yet another Bandana that Kite took, a message appeared before their eyes declaring as much.
At this juncture, Blackrose cried, "FINALLY! Sheesh."
Kite chuckled at this, but he, too, was glad to be done with the trek. Besides, he was hoping that the dungeon would be cooler in temperature. And, with that, they headed into said dungeon.
When the pair descended the stairs, they found themselves in what appeared to be the innards of… something really big, which was, of course, disgusting. The walls around them were pink, slimy and pulsing. Blue veins and the occasional red artery spider webbed across the walls beneath semi translucent lining. The ground they trod upon was gummy and the faintest bit squishy, squelching a little beneath their feet. Instead of background music, there was nothing more than faint gurgling, bubbling sounds in the background. For Kite, the air was sticky, thick, hot and humid. Plus, while it wasn't strongly scented, it still didn't have a pleasant aroma. Kite looked forward to getting to the bottom and then leaving.
"Eeeeew," groaned Blackrose. "It's like we're in some monster's stomach! This is soooo disgusting!"
"Yeah…" Kite gazed around, grimacing.
"Please, let's do this quickly."
Kite nodded, and with that, they ran to the next room. It was rounded and had a huge hole in the center, like a donut. There were two chests to open, as well as strange growths that looked like twisted branches of flesh holding glowing pearls serving to illuminate the dungeon where spontaneous glowing of the walls did not. Also in place were two semi mummified bodies that, when illuminated with a cursor, were labled as Warrior's Corpses. Blackrose backed away from them with a shudder. Kite, however, slashed at one and discovered that it was nothing more than a container for a random item; it disappeared as soon as attacked. In this instance, it held a health drink.
As there were three other doors off of the room, Kite used a Fairy's Orb to show the map for this level. And armed with that, they set out systematically clearing the portals and gathering treasure. The only monster they encountered that they hadn't seen outside was a Deadly Moth, which popped up in about every other portal. As for items, they found that eggs and piles of eggs also wound up containing items, which Blackrose did not mind so much. And the only Grunty Food they found were two Bloody Eggs, which danced back and forth declaring exactly what they were in nasally voices.
Eventually, they made it down to the second level. The first room they entered on the floor had no portals and was shaped like a side ways V. But its distinctive feature was that it had dead bodies hanging from the ceiling. Blackrose groaned.
"Oh, that is just wrong… what kind of drugs were these sick programmers on?" she wondered aloud.
Kite merely shrugged in return, and they used another Fairy's Orb. "Hmm," Kite said, looking at the map. "This floor is symmetrical, too."
"What?"
"The first floor was symmetrical in design, and this one is, too."
"Really? That's cool, I guess."
"Well, it makes it easier to find your way around without a map if the dungeon has a specific pattern."
"Eh… whatever, let's hurry up! We've still got a ways to go."
And with that, they headed off into a room with two portals. As soon as they entered, the passage behind them was covered with a tough membrane, and both portals activated. A total of seven enemies appeared, causing both players to groan. This was going to be difficult. Two of them were new enemies, diminutive Goblin Mages, which were smaller than normal Goblins, wielded small wands and wore colorful dresses and skeletal masks. One of the monsters was a Mad Grass, and the remaining four were, unfortunately, Deadly Moths.
Blackrose went after the Mad Grass and then the Goblin Mages, leaving the Deadly Moths to converge upon Kite, surrounding him. Of course, she didn't intend for this to happen, but since she didn't see it coming, she couldn't do much about it, since she was chasing after the mages.
Kite, attempting to get out from the swarm, which bruised him painfully with their wings, rolled under one moth and ran a short distance. However, the Moths were rather fast, and they surrounded him again. So, he had no choice but to fight them all at once. However, he didn't fare well, for they managed to time their attacks exactly right so that he had no second in which he wasn't getting hit. It was rather difficult not to groan or yell. So, instead, he grunted, his face screwed up against the pain. Despite their excellent timing, though, he did manage to attack them a bit.
However, this ended when, just as Blackrose was running over from the dead Goblin Mages, one of the Moths rammed Kite with its body, sending him flying sideways into the wall. Unfortunately, it wasn't one of the squishy parts of the wall, but rather a supporting random rib-like bone that Kite hit hard, then slid down with a moan, curling up a bit. He remained there, eyes closed, for a few moments, shivering a little
Blackrose, having witnessed this, was rather puzzled and concerned. However, she said nothing yet and instead cast Repth upon her companion, as his hit points were dangerously low. With a final shudder, he clambered to his feet, glancing gratefully at Blackrose and uttering a thank you, before heading back into the fray. Or, rather, he cast a Vak Kruz spell on one of the Moths, killing it before he actually entered the battle with his weapons again. Blackrose helped him with the last three Moths, which left behind two treasure chests.
Though she kept giving him odd looks, Blackrose didn't question Kite. However, during the rest of the battles on this floor, she watched him carefully. Kite pretended that he didn't notice her close scrutiny, though it made him uncomfortable; he knew she suspected something and would likely confront him soon, but if he ignored her stares and guarded gazes, perhaps she'd drop it. Or perhaps not.
After a time, they made it to the third floor. On this floor, there was another new enemy they hadn't seen before. This one was called the Chicken Hand, and it was a blue feathered, one-legged bird. Which Blackrose laughed at and Kite stared at with a quirked eyebrow. However, it proved a proficient enough fighter, and their laughter died as they struggled to defeat these strange bird monsters. Blackrose continued to watch Kite, and he continued to do his very best to hide the pain. Indeed, he was getting better at ignoring it. His pain tolerance was growing considerably. Which was a good thing, he supposed.
As they went through the rooms, they chatted amiably about inanities, and discussed things of The World. However, whenever they strayed near a topic involving the bracelet, people in comas, data bugs, or personal things, they either trailed off into uncomfortable silence for a few moments, or awkwardly switched to another topic. Indeed, much of their conversations were awkward, despite the friendly nature of discussion.
Also during this time, Kite ran low, though not out of, Antidotes, for the Goblin Mages were fond of casting poison spells on them. For Kite, they felt nauseating, so he cured his as quickly as possible. Blackrose had neglected to bring more than five, so she ran out on the last portal of the third floor, which let out two Goblin Mages, among other things. But, the first time she'd been poisoned, and her character had turned slightly purple, she had growled, "Kite! What the hell is this! Cure me, now!"
Afterwards, Kite had teased her a little about her overreaction, but her fierce glare quickly doused that. And eventually, they made it to the fourth floor. The only thing new there was an odd monster called the Sword of Chaos. It consisted of a sword with that apparently wielded, with invisible hands, its own smaller dagger and a tribal sort of shield. It was a nasty little thing to fight, as it was good at blocking blows with that shield and then nipping in with its tiny blade. On the fifth and final floor, there was a final new enemy, a Cadet Valkyrie, which looked like a female Long Arm player, albeit with subtle differences.
Both players were quite sick of this dungeon by the time they cleared the final portal, so when the message declaring that they'd cleared all of the dungeon portals appeared before their eyes, each let out a whoop of joy. And then hurried into the Gott Statue room. In the chest were a Ceramic Anklet and two Grunt Dolls.
"You can have them, if you'd like," said Kite.
"Nah… I got most of the other chests."
"Are you sure..?"
"Positive! Now let's get the hell out of here!"
They then used Sprite Ocarinas, and from the field, they Gated Out.
0 0 0 0 0 0
Delta Server: Root Town
Mac Anu
0 0 0 0 0 0
"Wow… That was… interesting," said Blackrose as they walked from the Chaos Gate to the Recorder. "A bit annoying though."
"Why's that?" asked Kite.
"Didn't think it would take so long to level up and clear the place."
"Yeah… that was a looong Dungeon… But at least we're both level 6, now! That's pretty good for one field and dungeon, don't you think?"
"I guess."
There was a pause while each of them saved their games. Then Blackrose turned to Kite again. "You still have time to check out the other place? Where the girl was seen?"
Kite checked his clock. "I think so… So long as it isn't a five level dungeon again. But first, I know I need to stock up on Health Drinks."
"Ok. I want to go trade or sell my five bazillion bandanas."
"I'll meet you at the Chaos Gate in five or ten minutes, then."
"All right."
And with that, they split up, Blackrose running off to check the prices on Bandanas with the Weapon Shop man. Kite wandered over to the Item Shop. This time, he wasn't assailed by anyone wanting to trade from one random item or another. However, he did almost run into a silver and orange outfitted long arm. One of his eyes was closed, blinded by a scar running right across it, and his hair was white, giving him a somewhat imposing appearance.
"I'm sorry," said Kite, bowing slightly.
"Do not worry," said the player, Alpha Ichigoro, his words tilted by an odd accent and pronunciation Kite didn't recognize.
Kite bit his lip, then said, "Um… If you don't mind me asking, where are you from? Your accent… I can't place it."
"I do not mind. I was born in Roma, but live in Tokyo. I still am learning Japanese."
"Really? What's it like in Roma?" Kit asked, genuinely curious.
"Heh… In Italy, we have pasta every day! Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Pasta, pasta. All day pasta."
"Sounds like rice, here. Um… This may seem totally random to ask, but have you seen anything weird in any dungeons lately?"
"Huh?"
"Any monsters covered in green glowing scales? Or a tall, stone like creature bearing a red wand?"
"Ah… I don't understand what you say," said Alpha, apologetically. "I study what you say now. Talk to me later. I'll study more."
"Oh. Sorry."
"Bye!"
And Alpha left. After that, Kite went to the item shop and concluded his business there. Then, he returned to the Chaos Gate. Blackrose came up a few seconds later.
"You ready?" asked Kite.
Blackrose hesitated, cocking her head to one side as if listening to something. Then she said, "Oh drat! I'm really sorry, Kite, but my mom just ordered me off the computer. I've gotta go."
Kite blinked, then nodded. "All right. I'll check out the place on my own, then."
"Oh, fine. But let me know if you find anything, K? See you." Blackrose waved, then logged out.
Kite stood for a moment. Then, nervously, he accessed the Chaos Gate and warped away.
0 0 0 0 0 0
Delta Server
Expansive Haunted Sea of Sand
0 0 0 0 0 0
The field into which he came was not at all what he expected. Indeed, seeing it was quite a shock, for the whole thing was… messed up. Kite stared around with wide eyes, for strands of flickering code flitted through the air, fading in and out with fizzes of static, while in the pallid blue sky, great swatches seemed to have been ripped open to reveal a green, circuit board colored mass of dancing code, into and out of which floating objects in the sky fizzled. Ugly yellow and red patches splattered the ground and objects on the ground, filled with ones and zeros.
The field was supposed to have been a yellow sanded desert with palm trees and oasis scattered across, bringing patches of cool color to an otherwise bright field, but it was not so now. What should have been golden sand looked more like grey ash, and what should have been a sun soaked blue sky, at least of the parts that were still blue, was bleached and sickly. The palm trees and other decorations, too, were colorless, save for the splotches of raw data.
Kite could verily feel the corruption of the field. There was an oily slickness to the air that he did not like in the least. The temperature was tepid, and the air was stagnant, despite the impression given by the drifting lines of code. Kite shuddered, wondering what the hell was wrong with this place.
He slowly, warily made his way towards the dungeon and was near to it when another player hailed him from a short distance away. Kite turned and saw a ninja type twin blade dressed in purple and silver.
The player came close enough for Kite to hear him and said, "I cam after reading the Board, but the operator turned me back. I guess we can't play here… Sorry."
And then, before Kite could even ask a question, the player logged out. So, with a slight sigh, he set out towards the dungeon again. Unfortunately, he had to go by two portals, first. The initial portal contained two Deadly Moths, which Kite swiftly extinguished with a spell and a scroll. The second portal contained one Goblin Mage and two Swordmanoids, which were purple suited knights about his height, though smaller in build. Kite dodged around them to quickly kill the Goblin Mage, then turned to fight them as best he could.
After claiming a treasure chest from one and activating a nearby symbol that gives him Rip Seam, a spell that would slowly regenerate hit points over time, Kite stepped into the dungeon. It, too, was splotched with corrupted data patches. But unlike outside, there was a chubby administrator program NPC standing there. He looked rather like the shop keepers, albeit with a different color scheme.
He stared straight ahead and didn't do more than move his jaw as Kite approached, as though he'd been a hastily constructed program, given a body and a message, but nothing further to make him seem real or to fit in. "Thank you for playing The World This area is currently unstable and not functioning properly due to corrupted data configurations. Please return to the field immediately and Gate Out to the town."
Kite blinked at him, then shook his head. "No. If I give up now, I'll never be able to help him! I must continue," he said, but to himself.
So, the player brushed past the NPC, who repeated his message, but didn't actually do anything, and Kite descended into the dungeon. Because of the earlier leveling up, his restocking and the fact that he'd traded his Grunty Dolls with a player for a better set of weapons, he did quite well in the dungeon, clearing out all of the portals as he went. The only odd thing he encountered at first, besides the occasional static and wonky graphics, was an ornate post with a flaming symbol atop it. Kite hadn't expected to find a symbol in the dungeon, but he used it nonetheless. It granted him Ap Corv.
On the third level, there was no portal in the first room he entered, but he didn't just hurry through to the next room, for Kite had a sudden sense of foreboding. He knew without knowing how or why knew that in the next room, there was something, and it wasn't good. However, with a deep breath to steady himself, Kite entered.
He let out a gasp as he came through, for there stood a huge Data Bug monster. A corrupted Head Hunter, much like the one that had appeared in the Cathedral.
"…data bug!" Kite whispered to himself as the creature turned towards him, grunting and twitching. "I need to use Data Drain to defeat it." This last he said with dread. However, there was no way out, now.
Kite and the monster dueled. The corrupted thin attacked with spells of darkness, calling forth shining obsidian claws from shadows upon the ground and with swipes and slashes from its blade, leaving a green tinged purple light in its wake. Kite did his very best to dodge, attacking in the brief lulls between each attack, wearing at the Data Bug enough so that he could Data Drain it. However, he could not dodge them all, and they hurt like hell.
Because this was a powerful and large creature with a very sharp sword, when the sword connected, it was like a baseball bat given a meat cleaver's edge. Kite, despite the beating he took when he couldn't dodge, was eternally grateful that he wasn't actually in the game, because he would most assuredly have been in many pieces by this time. Normally, he did manage to avoid the brunt of the blow, but once, with a sudden burst of speed, the monster slapped him with its skull hand, then sliced directly at Kite's side with the blade, knocking him flying into the wall for the second time that day. And this wall, being stone as opposed to easily cracking bone, hurt more.
After sliding down this wall with a bit of a moan, Kite had the extreme misfortune to be trapped, before he could get up, in a darkness spell. A large hand of claws came out of a pool of blackness beneath him, stabbing him and, well, clawing at him. The boy, despite his growing tolerance of it, was still quite unused to pain like that, and he couldn't help but let out a slight whimper. For a moment after, he lay there, shivering, then pulled out a potion and drank it. It soothed the pain and refreshed him, so he staggered to his feet and threw himself back into the fight.
He couldn't afford to give up. If he lost… If he fell… No, he couldn't think of that now.
Finally, his eyes saw a large blue sphere of hexagons materialize around the infected monster and then shatter like glass. Kite, with some trepidation, leapt back, running a little ways away before calling the bracelet's power, much as he had before when he returned to Bursting Passed Over Aqua Field. But this time, it was a tiny fraction easier. And with time after this, it would assuredly grow easier and easier, but Kite didn't think of that now.
"Data Drain."
Instead, he performed the task. And the power of the bracelet hurt just as much as it had before. Kite could still feel something pulled out of himself and a little bit of something else forced in, too. He still cried out as the bracelet flared wide open just before the data drain proper, and he still stood there for a moment afterwards, shivering. Part of the excess data was rewritten into a Virus Core C, though Kite as of yet had no idea of its use.
The Head Hunter, uncorrupted and free from the green splotchy scales, was left behind to growl and charge at Kite, leaving him no time to recover from the data drain. However, it was easier to fight than the data bug, and though a second protect break occurred, Kite did not data drain again.
Once the monster finally died, Kite stood there, staring, rubbing his wrist, and thinking. He did not notice someone robed in white with blue trim and a floppy weird two pointed hat with a pair of ribbons hanging off standing behind him. His first warning was a high, squeaky woman's voice declaring, "Wow! Cool:D"
Kite started and spun around to face Mistral, or so his cursor named him.
She stared at him in awe. "I can't believe you defeated the monster be rewriting its dats! How did you do that?"
Kite shifted uncomfortably. "I uh…"
"Oh. Did I hit a nerve? Should I keep my mouth shut?" she asked, lifting her eyebrows. "I came because I read a post about it on the Board and it sounded interesting. But this place looks so weird," she added, going off on a tangent. "Even if the data is corrupted, it's too weird. :O"
"…"
"Well anyway, it seems strange things have been happening everywhere in The World. Ever since the server failure, it's all going downhill. There's something going on!" She stiffened suddenly and turned to the side. "What! Oh, damn it!"
She stood, avatar staring off into the air. Kite turned to see what she was looking at, but saw absolutely nothing. So, he turned back to her. After a moment, she faced him once more, rather apologetically, wincing.
"I burned dinner… :( Oh well, gotta go." She paused, then exclaimed, "Oh! I almost forgot. Invite me to your party next time. Let's do this again, 'kay?"
She exchanged member addresses with Kite, then pulled out a Sprite Ocarina and left. Kite, after resting a little while, went ahead and cleared the rest of the dungeon before he, too, returned to the field. From there, it was back to the Root Town.
0 0 0 0 0 0
Delta Server: Root Town
Mac Anu
0 0 0 0 0 0
Less that three seconds after he had returned, a fellow player at the Chaos Gate called out, "He of fair eyes!"
Author's Notes:
I actually do have some notes about the chapter itself this time.
1) Spell Explanations: I don't think I explain what all of the spells do. If this bothers you, you can either look them up in an online guide to the game, or you can let me know in your review. If people would like, I can post, in one Author's Notes, a guide to the spells.
2) I tried to keep Blackrose and Kite's conversations in character, but as I was making them up from scratch, and since they still don't know each other very well yet, I tried not to make them as familiar and smooth as they will later be. So, if they seemed rough and a bit OoC, that's why. Still, tell me if they do.
3) Expansive Haunted Sea of Sand: I never actually went with just Kite, that I can remember. However, because of meeting Mistral in the bottom, I felt I should write as if Kite went alone, even though I brought Blackrose just to make sure I wouldn't accidentally die.
4) Goblins: Lookie! I put the first one in!
5) Dungeons; I know I didn't go into great detail with these dungeons like I did with Bursting Passed Over Aqua Field, but I've my reasons. First of all, they're kind of long and not much happens other than Kite opening chests, fighting the same monsters in different arrangements and cracking eggs, boxes, crates, etc. And, I know I don't wanna write all that stuff down in detail. Also, I think it would be long and boring if I did that, and I don't like long and boring. However, I do think some of the stuff in this chapter is boring.. so, sorry… If you've any suggestions on how to write boring dungeons interestingly, please let me know!
5) Piros at the end: I wanted to leave a cliffie of sorts. XD Actually, that's not really part of this chapter at all. It's the beginning of the next one, but let's just say I'm giving you a taste of what's coming. BUAHAHAH!
OK! First of all, thank you to all the people who reviewed! I'm glad all of you tried your hand at the trivia. This week, there are only going to be two questions, and they aren't really going to count for anything, methinks, but I'll keep tally of your scores for you!
1) In Mac Anu, if you go straight from the Chaos Gate, across the bridge and into the square beyond, there is generally a group of random players standing there. How many are in this group?
2) What is the title of the book Bear (from SIGN) wrote? His real name, in case that does anything for you, is Sakuma Ryou.
TRIVIA ANSWERS
(Note, the first three answers can be found in Liminality, episode 1, the next two in the games and in AI Buster, and the last one solely in AI Buster)
Question 1: Who is Sieg in real life?
Tomonari Kasumi, who is sort of perhaps Mai Minase's boyfriend. Both are from .hack/Liminality, but he also pops up in the game once before he falls into a coma and… well, I won't say any more.
Question 2: Who is Sieg's rival in the game?
Balmung of the Azure Sky, though I'd accept the Descendent of Fianna.
Question 3: Why did Sieg select "Sieg" as his particular name?
Sieg comes from Siegfried, a hero in Norse mythology. Among other things, Siegfried forged a sword he named Balmung from a meteorite and then used it to slay the dragon Fafnir. Sieg, who wishes to be better than Balmung, picked this name because the maker and wielder of a blade ought to be better than that blade, right? He was trying to one-up Balmung, as it were.
Question 4: (easy one!) Who won the One Sin event?
I did. That's right. I transported myself into the .hack universe and I killed the Spectrum Dragon! Actually, Balmung and Orca.
Question 5: What was the prize for winning the One Sin event?
Besides uber kudos, a single character upgrade with which one could do just about anything.
Lastly, Question 6: Why was Balmung the recipient of the prize and not Orca? (if you don't know this one, try looking in A.I. Buster.)
Because Balmung was the one who dealt the deathblow, not Orca. Balmung was the one to actually kill the monster.
SCORING:
Tobiasa: 5.5 of 6
Rogue A.I.: 5 of 6
Rayne: 4 of 6
Twilight Memory: 3 of 6
Twilight Sea: 2 of 6
Thanks for participating, you guys! -hugs you all-
Yours Truly,
Sargent Snarky
PS: I have started work on revising and editing Fragments of a Shattered Mirror, though I've not yet begun to reupload chapters in their edited forms. Once I've finished editing this, I ought to get my arse in gear and work on the sequels. I'll be sure to post on my userlookup when I actually start editing chapters.
Please note that with the editing, I will likely be rewriting some passages and cleaning up some clunky bits. Smoothing the edges and such. If I change anything drastic, I'll let you guys know. Ok? I also might be adding in a bit of stuff as I see fit. Or I might not. It depends. Hell, once I get into it, I may wind up entirely rewriting certain parts. Who knows. But, that said… I am editing it. It will take time, however, as I've got a million other things I've got to do that take precedence over it, including this fic.
PpS: X files rocks my socks! I LOVE Mulder and Scully! . I just started watching 'em earlier this year, and I'm on Season 3, right now. Almost through it, in fact, as I've got four or five episodes left to watch. But… -hugs Mulder and Scully- They make a nifty couple, too… Even though technically they aren't a couple.
And DON'T SPOIL anything for me, if you've seen more of the X files than I have. Ok? Thanks! - Sargent Snarky