Note: Some of my symbols aren't working...

Urgh, about halfway through this, I have writer's block (at "forget it, Grove"). Damn. I can't wriiiiite thiiiiss. ;; Waugh, please review, guys, it's one of the best things to kill writer's block. Die! >o

Well, writer's block is gone! After I got all the levels in We

Thank you all soooo much for your lovely reviews! - I can't do responses, but the reply system is pretty nice… anyway, you all make me happy! Thank you!

Chapter 4: Encounter

It had been two weeks since the Sphinx Riddle Event. Morgana mostly wandered around the Root Towns, sometimes chatting with passing players, sometimes trading with others. She didn't really care about items, rare or not, but some players, attracted by her unusual design, insisted on seeing her humble inventory. She sometimes went with an incomplete party looking for a Wavemaster or merely a third member.

Right now, she was perched on the barrel of a cannon in Lia Fail. Morgana absently rocked her legs back and forth over the cloudy abyss the cannon was pointed over. Elsewhere, it would have been impressive, but it was not within the laws of the game to actually go over the edge. Morgana knew without trying that a player would merely run into and bump against an invisible wall.

"Rather precarious position you're sitting in, doesn't you think?"

Morgana blinked, and turned her head toward the speaker. It was another Wavemaster, of the short male type. He had dusty gray robes with lighting bolts of muted yellow, and the gloves that went to his elbow were a dark gray. All this contrasted with his blonde hair and bright green eyes. He was leaning against the short wall next to the cannon, a smile tugging at his lips.

"It's not as if I could fall," Morgana replied coolly, turned her head back, "So it isn't truly 'precarious'."

The Wavemaster leaned over to look Morgana in the face, "But the illusion is there. After all, I cannot see anything that would prevent you from falling to oblivion."

"But you know that there is a programmed barrier." Morgana said.

"Come now," The Wavemaster put his staff in the crook of his arm and hoisted himself to sit next to Morgana on her strange bench, "an online game like this is much more enjoyable if you pretend things aren't programmed."

Morgana cocked her head, her interesting piqued, "How so?"

"Well," the Wavemaster gave a wily smile, "What if I pushed you?"

Morgana sniffed1, "That isn't possible; that action and reaction isn't in the programming. If you tried to push me, I wouldn't move because I cannot move off of here."

"That is just what I mean!" he exclaimed, "Stop thinking in terms of computers and programs. In case you haven't notice, The World is a fantasy setting." He softly smiled, "It's meant be enjoyed as it appears. I believe that if players take The World as it is, they will get more out of the experience."

"You have a strong case, but…" Morgana sighed, "I have a hard time forgetting about the programs that dictate this game."

"That's alright." He smiled again, "I just don't like it when some players make fun of others for… appreciating the graphics."

"Hmm?"

"Well, for a specific example, say Mr. A and Mr. B are in a flesh wall dungeon. Mr. A is disturbed by the organ-like rooms and hanging skeletons. Mr. B scoffs, saying that it isn't really mucus on the walls and floors, there aren't really any bodies decomposing. It's all fake. But I don't like calling the environments fake. After all, even if the dungeon doesn't exist outside of the game, the feelings impressed on Mr. A are real."2

"Very true." Morgana admitted, nodding, "But it does not do to dwell on dreams."

"Ah-ah!" The Wavemaster shook his finger, "But what use is a dream if not to be enjoyed? Of course, it is unhealthy to be obsessed, but why not enjoy what you can?"

"You're quite skilled at rhetoric." At that comment, he smiled, and then laughed. "What is so funny?" Morgana asked, frowning.

The Wavemaster shifted on the piece of artillery, still grinning. "Nothing, it's nothing important. It's just humorous that you think I'm a skilled speaker." He said, waving his hand.

There was a small pause. Morgana turned to the Wavemaster and asked, "I don't believe you've given your name."

He laughed again, "I didn't; but neither did you, huh? It's Lane."

"Morgana."

"Then it's an honor to meet you, Phantom Queen."

She blinked, "What?"

Lane chuckled, "I'm sorry. In Irish mythology, which is where most of The World's names and things are derived from, there was a goddess name Morrigan, or Morgana in English, "

"Continue." She prompted, intrigued.

"Morrigan, sometimes Morrigu, was the Celtic goddess of war. She was represented as a hooded crow, a crow with white on its breast and neck, and sometimes was seen as a trio of goddesses, including Badb, the goddess of strife, and Macha, the personification of battle."

"Macha is…"

"The personification of battle, yes. It was also said she ate human heads. May I continue?"

Morgana smiled a bit, and then said, "That's interesting. Go on."

Lane smiled, "Right. As I was saying, Morrigan was the goddess of battle, sometimes seen as a trio, and her symbol was the carrion bird, the hooded crow. She played an active part in the Cuchulain myth as well. Not only did she curse him when he refused her love, but she appeared as the Washer Woman, a phantom woman who is seen washing the clothes of the soon-to-be dead. It's even said that the three old women who weakened Cuchulain by forcing him to break one of his oaths were Morrigan. And when he died, tied to a pillar of stone to die on his feet, he enemies knew he was dead when a hooded crow landed on his shoulder to feast on his corpse."

"So she represents battle and death?"

Lane pursed his lips, "I suppose so, but she was not evil; she was an essential part of the Celtic pantheon. Anyway, in Arthurian legend, after Christianity was introduced to the British Isles, Morrigan was integrated as Morgan Le Fay, Arthur's evil half sister. Morrigan was thus vilified from the phantom that healed Arthur on her Isle of Apples, Avalon, to becoming Arthur's half sister, thus mortal, and his nemesis. So, in essence, when Christ came to Ireland, Morrigan ceased being a goddess."

Morgana was quiet for a long while, digesting what Lane had said. So she was named after the goddess of battle and death. Did that make Aura Christ? After all, she was born on Christmas Day, if her clock was correct. So the old divinity was ousted by the new. A sad parallel that cut too close for her comfort. They both had similar names, and even had a goddess named Macha… So this was it? Was she to wander forever in a realm that was no longer hers? But what could she do? Usurp Aura? Morgana beat that plan into the ground, and it only destroyed her. Aura would probably have wised up to her presence by now, she was probably keeping tabs on her, just to make sure she was a good girl. The thought filled her with a mix of morose agitation. The sky darkened somewhat. Her thoughts we interrupted when Lane spoke.

"Morgana? Are you alright?" Lane asked, concerned. The sky lit back up.

"Oh, yes, I just…"

"Didn't know the history of your name?" he suggested.

"Yes, it's… interesting. Well," Morgana turned to Lane, "What about you? Why the name 'Lane'?"

"Because my brother got 'Grove'."

"I don't understand." Morgana said.

"That's ok." Lane's avatar froze for a moment, and then he looked toward Morgana, "Speaking of which, there's an event today for Twin Blades and my brother is competing in it."

"That would be the Twofold Master event, correct?" Morgana said. She had heard a couple of players talking about it. "Where is it?"

Lane hopped down from the cannon and offered his hand to help Morgana down. When her feet touched the stone, he said, "I'm glad you asked, because I was wondering if you'd like to come with me. It's at Lambda: Triumphant Battling Twins."

"Yes, I will come with you." Morgana said, joining Lane in warping to the Lambda Server.

"Welcome all players, to the Twofold Master Event!" a smallish admin announced into a microphone atop a platform. "To explain the rules of the event, please welcome System Administrator Balmung!" There was a wild burst of applause, shouts, shrieks, whistles, and other enthusiastic noises as the winged admin came onto the stage.

"Thank you, Reki, and my fans, for that wonderful introduction." He paused for more shouts and yells, then continued, "Yes, thank you. Now, the Twofold Master is a contest for all Twinblade class characters to test their mettle against all who have gathered here. As you can see," Balmung made a sweeping gesture over the stone-strewn wasteland area, "We have prepared a field especially for this event. The proceedings will be as such: After all Twinblades register with Reki" here he pointed to the smaller admin at a side table, "a random selector will place the participants to fight, tournament style. Because of the massive turnout, participants will be divided up into four blocks: A, B, C and D. As for the prizes, we'll find out about those when we come upon the winners! Now, who wants to win?" The crowd let out an exhilarated shout, "That's what I want to hear! When you're prepared, register so we can begin when the bell chimes in fifteen minutes!" With that speech, some players rushed the registration table, while those less prepared warped back to the Root Town.

Lane led Morgana around the mobbing players to spectator stands that were set up for the event. "Grove said he would meet us here as soon as he could." Lane said, finding good seats a few rows from the front.

"You see him?" a female Heavy Axeman in pink asked as soon as they both sat down.

"Excuse me?" Morgana said, surprised. "Who?" Lane asked.

The Axeman clasped her hands together with a dreamy sigh, "Oh, much wonderful player, Kite! He is the cool red Twinblade!"

Morgana froze at the name. But Lane said, "Uh, your Japanese is…"

"Much bad, yes I know." The Heavy Axe, "I not be speaking Japanese first; I try to learn, though I bad."

"What language do you normally speak?" Morgana asked.

"English." She responded.

"Oh, how lucky you are, then." Lane said in English, "For that's my first language, too!"3

"You speak English?" the Heavy Axe said in a British accent, "Oh thank God, Japanese is hard, and my grammar is simply atrocious. And some people make fun of my accent!"

"Your grammar leaves something to be desired, but your accent is acceptable." Morgana said, shocking them both.

"M-morgana, you speak English?" Lane asked incredulously.

"Quite fluently." Morgana said matter-of-factly.

"Wow, who would have thought that I would meet two people who spoke English!" The Heavy Axe said, "Lucky me!"

"I'd say." Lane said, "My name is Lane, by the way, and this is Morgana."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance." Morgana said.

"That's cool. My name's Kettle. Nice to meet you as well." Kettle said, "Both of you speak with an American accent, so I take it you're both American?"4

"I am, but I'm living in Japan right now." Lane said.

"That's brilliant! I'm in an exchange program. I'm getting better at Japanese, but it's so difficult!"

"You just gotta get a hang of the grammar. After that, it's simple." Lane said.

"Oh, could you both teach me? That way, I can learn online as well." Kettle asked.

"Sure! I'll be glad to!" Lane said, "Right, Morgana?"

"I will try."

"Thank you both so very much!" Kettle said.

"Hey! Bro!" a red and orange ninja-type Twinblade with gold armor dashed up the steps to when the three were sitting, "Sorry I'm late, there was a mad dash at the registration table."

"No, it's ok." Lane said. Turning around, he introduced the Twinblade, "Morgana, Kettle, this is Grove."

"Nice to meet you." Morgana and Kettle both said. 5

"Aw, bro, no wonder you didn't miss me, you had two lovely ladies to keep you company!" Grove said, winking.

"I only just met them, bro." Lane said, smiling nonetheless.

"I much flattered by you speak, Grove." Kettle said.

"I think for Kettle's sake, it'd be easier to speak in English." Lane said.

"Yes, please" Kettle said, embarrassed by her poor Japanese, "Thank you."

Grove shrugged, "Ok. I'm gonna be in the D block, so wish me luck, ok?"

"We will!"

"And dear Kite is in B block…"

"Eh?"

"Forget it, Grove." Lane said. A chime dinged through the field. "Well, that's the bell. Good luck!"

"Right!" Grove ran off toward the mass of Twinblades in the D block.

Since the D block would be last, Morgana and company ambled to the A block to watch the matches. They managed to find good seats before they were all taken, thanks to Lane, who used a Speed Charm and dove onto a bench for the slower Kettle and Morgana.

The first match was between a dark assassin type and a petite female. "The first match of the Twofold Master event will be between players Sora and Hayate!" the administrator, Reki, said from the admin platform. "I hope both of you are adequately prepared, because it is time to begin! Start!"

Morgana started. It was that Sora. The silly PK that she Data Drained so long ago. Judging by the eager grin and the glinting eyes, he wasn't the worst for wear. Of course, looks could be deceiving. When start was announced, his grin widened and he mowed the other Twinblade, Hayate, down. The match was over in mere seconds. Morgana excused herself and walked off. She didn't want this ghost of her past to find her.

"Oh! Um…" No one anticipated such a quick victory, least of all Reki, "Er, yes. The winner is Sora!" from the shocked audience came applause. Reki leaned over to a frowning Balmung, who was standing next to him, "Hey, Balmung-san, who decided to put a level 99 with a level 34?" Balmung sighed, "The match-ups were random. Level had nothing to do with it."

"If you say so…" Reki said, hand over his mike "Oh, up next..!"

While Reki was playing emcee, Balmung walked off to another part of the field. It was tiring having all those eyes on you, those whispers and girlish (and some boyish) giggles, even if it was diverted by an event. Sometimes his coveted wings and the status that went with them were tiring.

Balmung didn't have a destination in mind; he just wandered and pushed his way through the crowd and his fans. He finally found an empty space in a grove of trees, occupied only by a woman in a red dress. 'Wait… wasn't she..? It's that player from the admin room!' Balmung thought. But he keep calm and asked, "Do you mind if I sit here?" The woman looked up and paused before nodding her head. Balmung sank down onto the grass about a meter from her. 6

Morgana was a little surprised when Balmung entered into her clearing. Fortunately, he didn't seem to recognize her from when she first materialized in the admin "field". Morgana certainly wouldn't remind him.

Balmung broke the silence first: "How long have you been playing The World?" A harmless question. Morgana thought upon her answer, then said, "I've been around for a long time, but I haven't played like this in awhile."

Balmung nodded, silent. They both sat there for a few moments, then Balmung asked, "And how did you get into the Administration Field?" Balmung's eyes glinted dangerously, "Only Sys Admins can enter, under normal circumstances, and there has not been a new admin with your description."

Morgana gave him a slightly appraising look. This was not the enthusiastic admin with the weird events. This was the Descendant of Fianna, Souten no Balmung 7, the man who told Kite to draw his sword those years ago. Against this adversary, she chose her words carefully. This required tact and wit.

"Balmung," she said, smiling ever so slighting with a hint of danger, "it gladdens me that you have slipped back into your old role."

"What do you mean?" Balmung wasn't on his feet yet, but it was obvious that he would be at the first sign of danger.

"When you were first around, you were a serious young man, grimly determined to protect The World from evil." Morgana's upper lip lifted, exposing her teeth and making her smile closer to a sneer, "But more recently you have been acting like a puerile fool, skipping and prancing through infantile events you create. It seems that you age in the wrong direction Balmung!"

Balmung was on his feet now, eyes narrowing, "You…"

Morgana was also on her feet, frowning and shouting at him, "The World isn't your little wonderland, Balmung! Because of this, not only am I angry and insulted, I'm disappointed most of all! Heavens forbid that Balmung should act like a child!" Balmung was speechless, trembling with anger, but Morgana wasn't finished, "You said yourself that adults shouldn't interfere with your playground. While it's true the game should always be fun, that doesn't mean you can trivialize me!"

They both started, catching the slip. Nonetheless, Morgana still held the fire in her belly, while Balmung exercised more caution.

"Who said anything about you?" Balmung said coolly.

Morgana was panting with her shouting, her nostrils flared, "Forget it. Go back and indulge the fans with your scintillating presence." she said venomously.

"Wait." He reached forward and grabbed her wrist. Morgana violently threw him off, "Get off of me! Don't touch me!"

"Morgana?"

Both Morgana and Balmung turned their heads; Lane had entered the grove. "Eh, yes? What is it, Lane?" Morgana said, quickly regaining her composure, absently smoothing a strand of her hair.

"Well, the D block is up next, so I thought I'd come get you…" he looked from Morgana, to Balmung, and back again, "is everything ok?" he asked in a worried uncertain tone.

Morgana released a breath of air, and put a hand to her head "Yes, Lane, everything is fine. Let's go cheer on Grove."

"That woman… could she be…" Balmung muttered as he watched their receding backs.

The crowd was, to put it bluntly, going absolutely nuts.

Blocks A, B, C, and D were already finished, and the four winners were about to duke it out. As before, Reki was announcing while Balmung just sat there ("being pretty" Lane whispered to Morgana and a giggling Kettle).

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have come to the semifinals of the Twofold Master event! Let me take this time to thank all of the participants so far for coming. Those who failed will receive a special consolation prize." Reki paused as there was a murmuring amoung the crowd, "So, to continue. The semifinalists are the players Sora, Kite, Moonstone, and Grove.8 We will now use a random generator to set up the matches!" Reki stepped aside from a screen behind him with four empty slots. There was a brief pause and the slots were filled with four names, one in each.

"And the results are as follows!" Reki said into the mike, "For the first semifinal match will be between Sora and Moonstone!" Reki was interrupted from many screams and shrieks from a group of mostly girls. "I love you, Soraaaaa!" "Marry me, Moonstone!" "Teach me how to be cool!" "I WANT TO BE YOU!" screamed one insane Sora look-alike9.

"…Um, moving right along," Reki said, rather disturbed, "The second match will be between Kite and Grove!" Reki paused again for screaming fans, mostly girls proclaiming love. Reki continued, "So, after those two matches take place, the winners of each will move into the finals for one last battle. The final winner will be declared to be the Twofold Master, and get a wonderful one-of-a-kind prize! Of course, the semifinalists will get special prizes as well, but please try your best!

"Now, first semifinals match! Sora, Moonstone, good luck, and… begin!"

1010101

1 Morgana doesn't snort, she sniffs like a lady. XD

2 It's actually "A-san" and "B-san", but I find it easier and less awkward to limit Japanese to the honorifics, because those are hard to translate fully.

3 Bold will be English, Japanese will be normal

4 Lane and Morgana are speaking in a "normal" American accent. Like on TV. Why does Morgana speak in an American accent? My excuse: because Harald worked on The World in America. It's true, look in /AI buster u Yes, that'll work nicely… No, it's not a plothole, I swear! O

5 Why doesn't Kettle have poor Japanese here? Because "Pleased/nice to meet you" is a phrase, "Hajimemashite". Yep.

6 I'll probably be using mostly metric for this fic, since Japan (and most of the world) uses it. Lane will most likely use both, since he's an American.

7 "Souten" means "Azure Sky", "no" is a possessive. So "Souten no Balmung" is "Azure Sky/Heaven's Balmung", or "Balmung of the Azure Sky/Heaven". I find the English translation awkward and unwieldy for me to type and say, so I'm taking a bit of license here. For those who are curious, "Descendant of Fianna" is "Fianna no Matsuei" in Japanese. nn

8Why are most of the semifinalists canon characters? Well, logical, I thought it made sense. Kite is strong because of his adventure. Who hasn't leveled up to 99 for the last dungeon? Moonstone is there because 1. He was part of Kite's party, thus is strong from that, and 2. he desires to be strong. He does play for two hours every morning! ; And Sora… he's just plain strong. 0 Seriously, he's always killed with one or two hits, and Death only happens 15 of the time (supposedly). So that's my logical explanation D

9 …Now that's just scary. oo I tried to make the fanpeople borderline creepy.

Wow, that chapter was a lot longer then normal (with a lot of notes! ; Sorry about that). And Lane-kun and Kettle-chan appears! Originally, Kettle wasn't invented until when I wrote her scene. And even then she was only there to point out Kite. But I decided to make her a character, because there's another in the wings… hehehe… Anyway, Kettle had a lot of name revisions, from Alice to Susan, then finally to Kettle. Strange, huh? Grove was also made so Lane would have a reason to go to the event, but I like him, too. FYI, Grove looks like a normal "ninja" type Twin Blade. Originally he was blue and white, but I always imagined him as orange and red, with gold armor… he has blue eyes and black hair, by the way. Kettle wears a pale pink, a Subaru-type Heavy Axe, with a twisty heart necklace and li'l white wings. Her hair is black and goes to the base of her neck.

Now then, there is one more thing for you guys to know! THIS IS IMPORTANT, SO READ IT! Who should win the event? I'm (mostly) leaving it up to you! However, I have requirements! So please write the following in your review:

1. First of all, whom do you want to win? This is just opinion, but if you provide a reason why, it'll count for more

2. (Honestly now,) who should win? Who would be most likely to win? Though I haven't given any info on Grove, so…

If there's a tie, I have a solution in mind, but I really want you to be involved with this! If you've never dropped a review, do so now!

And now, Random Omake!

Morgana: But you can't push me off

Lane: Oh yeah, watch me! push

Morgana: goes careening AAAAAAAHHHHH!

Random Omake: Creepy

Random Fan: I WANT TO BE YOU!

Sora: OO Uh…

Random Fan: jumps on stage IF YOU DIE, I WILL BE THE TRUE SORA! MWAHAHAHA! draws knife

Sora: No way, dumbass stabs

Random Fan: I REGRET NOTHING! Xx

Guest Random Omake from reweird:

Narrator: A wild burst of applause, shouts, shrieks, whistles, and other enthusiastic noises as the winged admin came onto the stage.

Random person: Oh my god, there's a PK here who just killed someone!

Another random person: Run away! a stampede of players

Steeple333: Sora! Stop messing with the script!

Sora: grins mischievously

Wow, my sister knows my favorite character. nn Hahaha.