.hack/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: Piros lovers. And haters. Here's the first chapter to feature one of his… adventures. I hope he doesn't come across quite so annoyingly now that you don't have to hear his voice.
Chapter V
Less that three seconds after Kite had returned, a fellow player at the Chaos Gate called out, "He of fair eyes!"
"Huh?" A little confused, Kite turned to face Piros, a large Heavy Axeman wearing green armor with a single red shoulder guard and no helmet.
"I trust your eyes," Piros informed Kite with great eagerness. "I have a favor to ask. A player I know is being harassed by a wicked monster in Delta: Indiscreet Gluttonous Pilgrimage. I will vanquish the wicked monster, and I want you to bear witness. You will do that for me?"
Kite blinked. "Uh… well…" He checked the time. "I guess so…"
"You will? Haha!" Piros grinned. "I knew you would say that. Oh good!" He laughed joyously. "I will be waiting for you there. This will be good!" He laughed again before bowing slightly to Kite and then logging out.
Kite let out a soft uneasy groan, wondering what he'd gotten himself into. Then, after saving, he followed Piros into the unknown field.
0 0 0 0 0 0
Delta: Indiscreet Gluttonous Pilgrimage
0 0 0 0 0 0
The field into which Kite warped was one different altogether from the ones he'd been in earlier. It was covered in a yellow grass, save for distant purple mountains, in which one or two castle towers stand tall and dark against the grey misty sky. Their flags whipped steadily in the wind, which, though light below, in this valley that was the field, moved clouds in a slow constant flow far above. Indeed, the clouds were just ragged and grey enough that Kite expected it to start raining any minute, but… it didn't.
Glancing at his map, Kite saw the dungeon to be very close, and, as he saw no Piros standing around, waiting, Kite assumed that the odd heavy axe man must have been in the dungeon. Therefore, although this field begged to be explored, Kite started off towards it. As he ran, he came to a tree before which stood two stone figures, one shaped as a man cringing and ducking away, as if he'd just been struck, and the other a woman, swinging her purse. They wore no clothing, but were not detailed. White flowers littered the ground around them and the tree. And Kite felt compelled to stop and stare for a long moment at this odd formation before tearing his gaze away to approach a magic portal floating in the way of his progress to the dungeon.
Within the portal was an ever-annoying Deadly Moth and an entirely new monster. A Sky Fish. The Sky Fish was a red and pink floating fish with a lilac stripe down each side. Its fins were spiny, and its flippers were wing-like. The flippers were normally folded at its side, but when it opened them, Kite saw a set of eye markings upon them.
While the Deadly Moth attacked in its same pattern, attempting to batter the twin blade with its powdery wings, the Sky Fish instead preferred to flutter just out of reach and cast a poisoning spell. The spell left Kite feeling a bit sick, even when he immediately used an Antidote, so he did his best to finish off the Sky Fish quickly before turning his attention to the Deadly Moth.
With that portal taken care of, there was one more magic portal between him and the dungeon. This one contained three Magical Goblins, which looked almost identical to Goblin Mages, save for their color scheme. Though they were fast and also liked the poison spell, they were easily brought low by one, maybe two hits. Kite was rather glad that he had plenty of Antidotes in his inventory, given the queasiness left behind by those poison spells. With luck, he hoped there wouldn't be any more of these things in the dungeon. Which was, now, right in front of him.
The dungeon wasn't an underground oubliette this time, but rather an enormously high, grey stone tower. It was wise, and random banners hung off of it at various intervals here and there up the sides. Kite wondered if instead of going down, as he had in every other dungeon, he'd go up instead. But, he didn't stand gawking for long before he entered.
Inside, it appeared more or less like any stone dungeon at its most basic. However, the details were unique, after a fashion. There were, for example, large red, vaguely Celtic designs twisting across the floor. Kite gazed at it, his eyes following the intricate knots for a few moments before he looked up, seeking Piros and friend. But, the pair weren't there. Where were they meeting, anyway? Kite didn't know, so he assumed he ought to just go down, checking all the rooms along the way.
And so, the boy went into the first room, which had a platform shaped as a large crossroad hanging over a deep, dark square pit. In each corner, a huge bladed pendulum swung back and forth. The four swung and swung slowly and silently and perfectly together, keeping and endless vigil over the dim room. Kite shuddered slightly and did his best to ignore them as he moved forward to activate the first portal. Within it were two Sword of Chaos monsters, which, though their small blades stung painfully, were not difficult to defeat.
From this crossroad, Kite went first to the left, which held a portal containing only treasure and a Golden Egg; then, to the right, which was a room containing a portal and lined with barred cells. In these cells were crumbly old skeletons and a few jars, placed just out of a player's reach. In the portal was a Sword of Chaos and a Magical Goblin.
Eventually, Kite wound his way to the stairs, which, to his disappointment, were shrouded in shadow, so he could not make out whether they went up or down. However, as he moved onto them, he found that they went down. Now, that was a shame, for there was this huge tower above him, and he was delving in the basement. Kite wondered if somewhere there was a hidden passage up to the top of the tower; he would have loved to see the view from the eye-watering height. But, alas, he was not here to spend hours wandering about in search of any secrets, so he descended to the second floor.
At first, in the second floor, all was just as above, and just as other dungeons. Then, Kite entered a long hallway with a portal. And when that portal dissolved, it left behind a Magical Goblin, a Sword of Chaos and… a Headhunter. Kite's eyes widened as they fixed upon the very same monster that had appeared in the Cathedral, and he fought the monster with trepidation, worrying every step of the way that it would turn into a data bug. Much to his relief, however, when it was slain, it turned grey and vanished, and Kite let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Despite this particular Headhunter not being a data bug, Kite still jumped and was leery as in subsequent portals, he met other Headhunters. But, he made it down to the third floor, in the end.
And on the third floor, he wandered into the Gott Statue (a large obelisk with a face and two floating fists) room. Figuring that, since the treasure (yellow candy and a rare Heavy Blade sword) was still there, Piros and his friend were fighting the monster, Kite grabbed the treasure (Piros could have some of it later, if he wanted) and then left to find where Piros's monster was.
Finally, Kite located the room in question and entered. Within, the first sight he saw was Piros running up to the dungeon portal; the man must've gotten there just before Kite, so it was a wonder they'd missed each other in the dungeon.
"He of Fair Eyes!" cried the exuberant Heavy Blade. "Bear Witness!"
So, apparently the 'friend' who was continually defeated by this monster was actually Piros. Ah well, Kite had expected as much, or at least something similar. Anyway, the monster was a Rock Head, and it was a large floating stone head that had two tiny palm trees on top, as if it were an island that had been shrunk. One on either side, a pair of floating rocks accompanied it, acting as its hands. Only one of those two had moss on it. The other was bare.
Piros attacked the monster with fervor, but not exactly successfully. He did cause a decent amount of damage at a time, but he was rather inept and missed as often as he hit. Furthermore, the monster seemed entirely unfazed by the repeated blows with a large axe.
"Arrrgh!" Piros was pounded on the chest and sent sliding back a few feet, but he got right back in the monster's face. "You're not gonna beat me! … ugh!" Hit again. "I am quite a new man today. You think… you can defeat me? Reveal your true powers!"
He kept this string of talk up as Kite watched, blinking. To himself, he wondered in all seriousness, 'Is he all right? Maybe I better help him…"
The twin blade then ran forward, but paused as Piros shouted, "Stay back!"
However, the axeman was knocked with a 'fist' making a violent clank once more, so Kite came forward to help. He highlighted the Rock Head with his cursor and whistled softly as he saw its stats. The thing had 410 hit points and it kept regenerating. Every half second, it regained twenty hit points or so, which meant one had to kill it quickly to really kill it. Kite darted in closer to help, but, unfortunately, the monster swung it's 'fists' around to him, as well. He was able to dodge the first swing, but the second caught him and sent him flying backwards. When he landed, he slid a bit farther before coming to a stop, his face screwed up against the pain of very much bruising. Chances are, if his body truly had been there, he might have had a cracked rib or two. As it was, however, his digital body was more durable, and Kite escaped merely with lower hit points and throbbing back and chest. Today… was not a good day.
The reason Piros' avatar did not get flung all over the room with the amount it got hit was simple. It was wearing heavy, heavy armor and itself was, well, heavy with broad shoulders and muscles, as the name Heavy Axeman would suggest.
Anyway, he shouted to Kite, "I can do this… myself… Brandish!" The last word was cried as he vocally selected an attack skill.
Kite ignore Piros' statement and, keeping his distance as he had no desire to be flung about again, used a scroll to create a wind tornado, as the monster was Earth Tolerant. Wind, after all, was the opposite element of Earth, in The World. This substantially damaged the hit points, which was the whole point. So, Kite immediately used Juk Rom (another tornado) and Juk Zot (trees piercing up from below) scrolls to finish off the monster. It collapsed with a loud and rocky crash as well as a deep groan.
Piros stared at it for a moment, then shook his axe at the corpse as it turned grey and sunk into the floor. "Hmm-mmm! That was quite refreshing!" he cried with vigor. "You may take the plunder." He turned to Kite and gave him the Meteor Strike recovered from a chest left behind.
"Ah… Thank you," Kite said, a bit awkwardly.
Piros laughed. "No need to thank me. I have a feeling we will yet meet again! Until that day… Farewell!" Piros bowed, a bit stiffly, given that his armor got in the way. "May the stars shine until the end of your journey." He gave to Kite his member address and then left.
Kite stared at the space where the other had been. "…nnn…" he groaned, then proceeded to mutter to himself as in real life, the boy stretched and yawned. "What was that? Oh well," he sighed. "I got his member address, so maybe I'll invite him…"
He checked the time, then used a sprite ocarina to leave the dungeon. Then, he went to Mac Anu, saved and logged out, figuring he'd deal with items and junk later. Once logged out, he went to bed, being rather tired.
0 0 0 0 0 0
The Next Day – Home
0 0 0 0 0 0
When Kite next got onto his computer, he had three new emails, and so the first thing he did was to check them. The first one had no picture and no address. It was listed merely as anonymous, and the subject was "Warning." The message itself read as follows: "You have been inquiring about server problems – case now. Do not ignore this warning, if you wish to continue playing this game."
Kite stared at it for a long moment, wondering whom it was from and what about his curiosity would prompt such a hostile reaction. However, he filed it away in the back of his mind and moved on to other emails.
The second one was from CC Corporation and had its logo as its picture. Subject? "You're Our Winner!" So, it was with curiosity and cautious anticipation that Kite opened this one. It said, "Congratulations! You are the lucky winner of our One Year Anniversary Power UP Campaign! As a prize, you will receive a special level up item created for this occasion. Please receive your prize at a shop in Root Town."
Kite again stared at it in bafflement. Aloud, he muttered, "I won…? So, I'll got to a shop, but… I wonder how I was entered…? Or… was it just all players?"
And then he moved on to the third and final email, which, he noted with surprised and a bit of happiness, was from Blackrose:
Subject: What do you…
... do when you're in your room? Don't just play games; you should go and work out. You'll get fat. :)
Kite laughed a little as he read it and then typed up a reply:
Subject: Well sometimes…
Aside from PE, I play soccer with my friends…
But only once in a while, though.
And then… he logged in.
0 0 0 0 0 0
Mac Anu
0 0 0 0 0 0
Once inside the game, he went to the Item Shop. On his way, he was halted by a red and white clothed wavemaster who, according to his cursor, was named Henako. She grinned at him, looking the twin blade up and down.
"Oh yeah! Come on! Right on!" she exclaimed, laughing a bit to herself.
Kite blinked at her.
"You're a fine gentleman. You got your hormones on? You're making me hot!"
Kite stared at her. "Um…"
She laughed again. "I am Henako, the goddess of love!" She then began to hum a tune that seemed to be her own personal theme music.
Kite continued to stare.
And Henako stopped, yawning audibly through her mike. "Henako is tired… Henako has no more energy. Time for Henako to sleep. Good night, says Henako."
And once again, as she left, Kite was left to stare in disturbed bafflement. How many crazy people had he encountered, now? It was a full several minutes before he pulled himself back together and went onto the item shop. There, the NPC greeted him and spoke:
"Congratulations! You are the winner of our prize! Please take your prize." Kite received an item called the Book of Law, and the shopkeeper continued, "The Book of Law is a rare item that upgrades your character. Select the item from the item window and the character's elvel data will be updated."
"Ok… thanks," said Kite, nodding.
Then, he ran off to save. As there wasn't anyone around the Chaos Gate at the moment, he moved over near it and decided to try the item. However, when he selected the option to use it, a message popped up, blaring in red, "INSTALLATION ERROR," followed by text in white saying, "Character data overwrite is forbidden."
Kite blinked. "Huh? That's… weird."
He tried again, but received the same message. Puzzled, Kite returned to the Item Shop, but the NPC there didn't even register that he'd given Kite the item. Instead, he merely greeted Kite and asked if the boy needed any potions. When Kite inquired about the book, the shopkeeper merely looked a bit puzzled.
"If you want to know about books," he said, "go to the Magic Shop."
So Kite, with a sigh, traipsed off to the Magic Shop, but there, the shopkeeper also seemed a bit puzzled. He said that there was no such item as the Book of Law to his knowledge, but perhaps it was some rare tome whose powers and secrets had yet to be unlocked. Kite took that to mean that the administration hadn't finished with activating the item yet. Or, perhaps he'd missed something in his email.
He logged out to check. In the short time he'd been logged on, Kite'd received one new email, from Blackrose, so he read that one, first.
Subject: Re: Well sometimes
I don't play soccer, but I like watching it.
Ps: Don't flashmail me when you get online; I'm not logged in, and I've got to go soon, so I won't be logging in, anyway.
Kite sighed; he'd been hoping to show her the book and ask what she thought about it, but it was just as well. So, he replied:
Subject: How about you?
Do you play sports? (and that's all right)
Then, he reread the email regarding his prize. He reread it again. However, no where did it say anything about having to activate it or having to wait for it to be activated. Then, he checked the time it was sent – five minutes before he'd logged on – so he figured it had to be just a delay or a glitch that they'd soon fix – and if they hadn't by the next day, he'd email them about it, anyway. So, he logged back in.
Once more in Mac Anu, Kite loitered by the Chaos Gate for a few moments, pondering how to kill time before trying a final time to use the book. He stared absently at the swirling portal for a few minutes before an idea hit him. Sliding the visor off of his eyes for a moment, Kite reached for the notepad he kept next to the computer, upon which he'd written down the fields he wanted to be sure to visit. There was only one he hadn't checked off – Closed Oblivious Twin Hills – and next to it he'd written the note 'protected area.'
Kite nodded to himself, then slid the visor back on. Next, he activated the Chaos Gate and entered in that protected area field. He read the field's stats for a moment, was a bit worried over its apparent level 10, and debated just picking a random low-level field instead. However, curiosity got the better of him, and Kite accessed the field.
For a moment, it seemed as though he would just warp to the field normally. However, a beeping sounded in his ears and before his eyes flashed the message (in red) "Protected Area: Access Denied." It flickered for a moment, but then, just as a little selection box formed to let him exit the warning, he felt his bracelet begin to twitch. He sensed, more than saw, it flicker and twist, as if it were trying, itching to do something. This, of course, worried and freaked the boy out a bit, so he quickly turned and ran several steps away from the Chaos Gate – far enough that he wasn't within selecting distance anymore. Along the way, his lips were twisted into a grimace, and he rubbed his prickling wrist.
He was standing, staring at his bracelet not more than a minute later, when the little blue envelope flashed on his screen, alerting him to new mail. So, worried and eager to escape the strange world that was The World, Kite logged out to check.
It turned out, as he opened his email, that there were actually two messages, now, and the first one was, again, from Blackrose. So, he opened it:
Subject: Re: How about you?
Thanks for asking!
I'm on my school's varsity tennis team! I'm the only one on varsity as a sophomore!
My goal is to play center court in Wimbledon. Heh heh. :)
Anyway, gotta go to practice (which is why I've not logged on), so see ya!
Kite lifted his eyebrows in surprise. So, Blackrose was a sophomore? Wow. He wouldn't've guessed at her being much older than him, and, he supposed, she wasn't, but all the same… there was quite a gap between eighth grader and high schooler. He wondered what she thought he was. Then, he decided it was probably better he didn't know. He debated typing a reply now, but decided against it, figuring he could write one later. It wasn't like she was hanging off her desk, waiting for a reply, after all. So, he moved on to the second email.
It was from, surprisingly, the purple cat player, Mia. Kite had to wonder what the hell she'd be emailing him about, but it was a wary sort of wonder. In order to edit a character like she had, she'd need to be a hacker, and it wasn't as though Kite could tell whether she was a good hacker or a bad. So, he wondered if he should just delete her email until he got to know her better. However, when he looked at the subject of her email, he thought better of it.
Subject: Power of the Bracelet
Data Drain is not the only power in your bracelet. Do you want to know more?
You do, don't you?
(delta) Boundless Corrupted Fort Walls
I'll be waiting at this area, so come alone.
Kite frowned at it, wondering if he ought to believe her. After a few moments of thought, he logged back in and accessed the Chaos Gate. Then, away he went.
Author's Notes:
A short chapter, I know, but I feel guilty about going so long without an update on this, so… I'm giving you what I have.
My delays I apologize for profusely, though I don't really have great excuses. Well, other than developing a major love of RENT, which has been occupying much of my inspiration and writing time recently. Also, for a while I couldn't find my jump drive, which had my copy of this chapter on it. But, I found the jump drive. Oh, and also… I haven't been playing .hack recently as during the times I've actually been able to play video games (I've been busy & my sister uses the guest room where the PS2 lives when she comes down every week, so I generally can't play on it during the evenings during the week) I've been playing KHII. And Oblivion, on the computer. And both are, I must say, VERY fun! Hehe…
Yeah… Anyway… that said, please don't expect an update in this for a while, as I've got driving school and volleyball and the forced volunteerism my school subjects us to. (we are required to have forty or fifty service hours to graduate… So, we are FORCED to VOLUNTEER for things. How's that for oxymoronia, then?) Then, I also have summer camp for a week, and by the time that's done, it'll be August, and… I'll need to do summer reading and crap, so… yeah. Updating in ANY of my fics will be slow during that time, but for this one especially because in order to do chapters, I first have to write out notes, copying word for word what the characters say and write. I also have to write what they do, what's going on, and, if it's a new character, what the character looks like, how it acts. So… that takes forever. Then, I write it all again, but in the form you see far above. Heh. Yeah… Unless I have large blocks of free time, I don't do that.
ANYWAY… Onto other stuffs.
TRIVIA: No, you're not getting the answer to what Bear's book is right now. Why? Because A) only once person bothered to give me an answer besides 'I dunno' (thanks A.P.Z.A.E.!) and B) Though I've got it written down somewhere, I'm far too lazy and tired (hey, it's three thirty in the morning, peeps!) to go find it, now. You'll get the answer next chapter.
NOTES ACTUALLY CONCERNING THIS CHAPTER AND THINGS CONTAINED IN THE STORY:
1) Random Characters: The reason Kite keeps encountering totally random people is pretty simple. In an online RPG, you meet totally random people all over the place. Now I've only ever played Runescape, but I've friends who'll attest to the randomness of people in other RPGs. Granted, if you play long enough, you'll start to run into some of the same players, but when you're just starting out (as Kite is), chances are very good that you'll find a ton of random people before you recognize players' patterns and are able to actually start to develop a relationship of sorts with the 'random' people. So, if you don't like the fact that every chapter he meets new and strange people, don't worry. As this goes on, though he'll still be meeting the random people, he will start to form friendships and whatnot with some of the random people. Just… not yet.
2) Gate Hacking: Will be coming up in the next chapter. Hurrah!
3) Three is a Magic Number
Yours Truly,
Sargent Snarky
PS: If you reviewed and I never replied, I am sorry. I try to reply to every review, but sometimes I forget and sometimes FF dot net doesn't send me the reviews, so I only discover them when I'm updating my fic. Yeah. Anyway, please do review, however; reviews are to me as drugs are, I suppose, to a junkie – I just can't get enough, and I go into withdrawal if I don't get enough.