"Skeith, I would like a report."
The Phases had gathered in Morganna's area, assembled in a circle around the sleeping Aura. Most of them looked annoyed or bored, but Innis glared at her older brother will fury. Skeith's expression was blank, his eyes fixed on the empty sky above them.
"The Vagrant AI, Lycoris, has been erased from this 'world'. Nothing of her remains, but her erasure has resulted in a spread of lycoris flowers throughout certain fields in 'The World'. These have been analyzed, but they show no remnants of her data."
"You have shown yourself capable, Skeith."
"Thank you, Morganna."
Innis targeted him and they entered Whisper Mode. "How could you do that? How could you erase Lycoris?"
"I wasn't the one who erased her, first of all: it was the Spear of Wotan. Second, Lycoris wanted it."
"That's hard to believe," she snorted indignantly.
Skeith was calm. "Lycoris gave him her final fragment: her fate. If she weren't prepared, she wouldn't have made the decision to give it to him."
"And what did you do during all this?"
"I abided by her wishes. I watched her die."
Innis glared at him again. "You're making less and less sense."
"Lycoris wanted me to witness the truths of this 'world', no matter how harsh they are. She wanted someone to be witness to her end, and I did. I'll offer the story of her end to Aura and provide her with the most appropriate event of 'death' in this 'world'."
"You're crazy."
"Innis, no matter what you think, I know the truth. I know that no one is to be trusted."
Her expression was one of hurt. "Surely, you can trust us…right?"
"I'm not sure."
Morganna had finished addressing them; the other Phases were warping out. Skeith stared at Innis before she warped out, and then decided to wander the vast confines of the area. He turned to leave.
"Skeith."
"Yes, Morganna?"
"I will have further use of you in the future. Be sure to remember that."
"Of course, Morganna, I will."
When Morganna's voice didn't reply, Skeith walked back over to Aura, looking at her sleeping face. Slowly, he reached out to her, but pulled his hand away at the last moment.
"Aura, I don't know if you can hear, or if you'll understand, but…" he sighed. "Never mind. I think it can wait until you wake up." With one last glance at her face, he warped out.
Skeith sat in a field, staring at the lycoris flowers, when he felt the other presence in the field approach him. He stood up, watching Albireo, in his player appearance, walk towards him. The two were not too far apart, but out of each other's attack range.
"I'm looking for someone," Albireo told him, his voice clear, "Have you seen anyone suspicious?"
Skeith smiled wickedly. "Am I not suspicious enough for you?"
Albireo summoned his spear and struck, but Skeith countered it by summoning his scythe and blocking. The two jumped back, giving themselves a chance to prepare another attack.
"You're the Vagrant AI?" Albireo snapped the question.
"And you're the leader of the Cobalt Knights?" Skeith taunted, "I'm not impressed."
His face a mask of confusion and fury, Albireo lunged, launching attack after attack, all of which Skeith easily blocked. The Long Arm then launched a straight attack, aiming for his chest, but Skeith twirled his scythe in front of him, knocking the spear up and out of Albireo's hands. It landed point-first in the ground far behind him. Skeith swung the end of his scythe up under Albireo's chin, where he could easily land a deathblow.
"Give it up, player. I surpass the system. You can't delete me."
"The Divine Spear of Wotan can delete anything, especially scum like you."
Skeith's evil smile made Albireo shiver. "Scum, am I? Then your spear is just as worthless. Things created by the same person have the same worth. Does Lycoris rate the same to you?"
Albireo was speechless, grasping at words. "You… Are… How… You know about Lycoris!"
"I know what you did to her," Skeith replied, his face serious.
"I…"
"Lycoris was rejected by her creator, and thus, rejected by the system. She had to be deleted, whether you did it or not."
"Did I… Do you want revenge for that?"
Skeith laughed. "Not at all. In fact, I'm jealous of you. Lycoris chose you to be the bearer of her fate. If only I had been that lucky…" He paused. "She's happy now, though. I think these flowers were her true wish…" Turning back to Albireo, he smirked. "Still want to erase me?"
Taking that as a signal, Albireo knocked Skeith's scythe away and lunged for his spear, but 'The Terror of Death' was gone, having seemingly vanished. Grumbling his frustration, Albireo left. Only after he was long gone did Skeith reappear, removing his basic cloaking only for a minute before he brought it back up and warped back to town.
"Skeith, we need to talk."
Skeith didn't even need to look up to tell who was approaching him. Pushing himself back to his feet, he stood up, ignoring the looks of people walking along the canal as he suddenly seemed to appear out of nowhere. He glared openly at Innis, Magus, and Tarvos. "What is it?"
"It's about Morganna," Magus explained, hands in his pockets. "She's been acting strange lately, and we were wondering if you noticed it too."
"Depends on what you think is strange…"
Tarvos grabbed his armor and yanked him close to her face. "Enough of that smart-alecky attitude! You know something and you're not telling! Spill it. What do you know?"
Skeith pushed her off. "As much as you do. There's nothing complicated to it."
"Skeith, it's more than that. You've changed too, ever since what happened to Lycoris." He cringed, and Innis smiled. Knowing she had hit a tender spot. "It's Lycoris, isn't it? What happened with her?"
"Nothing you should worry about."
"Skeith, you have to tell us. If it deals with Morganna's behavior, we have to know. It affects all of us. She's been planning something, and she's been using Macha to-"
"Corbenik," Skeith interrupted, looking coldly over their shoulders. The three other Phases spun around to find their youngest brother standing there, regarding them with his usual calm expression. "What do you want?"
Corbenik didn't give any sign that he was aware of their conversation. "Morganna calls. Her orders demand that all of us are present."
"Now?" Tarvos groaned.
"Now."
"We'll be there in a moment. Tell Morganna we'll catch up with you soon," Skeith answered, scratching the back of his neck lazily. When no one moved, he stopped scratching and glared. "That means 'leave'."
Returning the glare, though not as effectively, Corbenik left. Magus, Innis, and Tarvos turned to leave as well, but Skeith moved faster, wrapping his arms around their necks as he dragged them backwards, his lips close to their ears. In Whisper Mode he said, "If you want to talk about something like that again, make sure no one is listening. Treasonous talk like that is dangerous."
When he released them, Innis turned to him and smiled. "So you do know something?"
Skeith smirked. "We'll see. For now, we'll leave it at that. Until then, find a better meeting place, and watch who you talk to and how you talk to them."
"What, pray tell, is making you so charitable on such a day?" Magus asked, using a formal tone to mock him.
"You were right about one thing: it affects all of us. Besides," his smile was sly, "What kind of older brother would I be if I didn't look out for my foolish younger siblings once in a while? Let's hurry, before Corbenik throws a fit."
"I have taken a player by the name of Tsukasa into my confidence. All of you are to acknowledge his presence and avoid contact with him. Macha?"
"Yes, Morganna?" Macha snapped to attention, her ears twitching out of habit.
"I leave Tsukasa in your hands. I have placed an item in a dungeon. You are to lead Tsukasa to it and ensure that he gets it. Within it is the Guardian I have created."
"Of course, Morganna. I will make sure of that."
"Corbenik."
"Yes, Morganna?"
"You are to keep an eye on the Cobalt Knights. Observer their movements and report everything to me."
"As you wish."
"Magus."
"Yes, Morganna?"
"You are to observe the Crimson Knights and report on their activities."
"Yes, Morganna."
"Tarvos."
"Yes, Morganna?"
"You are to observe the Descendants of Fianna, and in particular their dealings with the Cobalt and Crimson Knights."
"Yes, Morganna."
"Skeith."
Startled to hear his name being called, Skeith blurted out, "Huh?"
Gorr and Rei broke out into a fit of giggles, and Macha joined them. Corbenik glared at him, and the others exchanged varying degrees of smiles.
"Pay attention, Skeith. I'm putting an entrance to a special area inside of a dungeon. When the time comes, I will have Macha lead Tsukasa here. Until then, you are to guard the entrance, and prevent anyone from discovering it. Once Tsukasa has used the door once, only he may enter, and I will reassign you."
"Yes, Morganna."
"The rest of you are to resume your other duties until notified otherwise. You're dismissed."
Morganna sent Skeith the words for the field and he left for it. Much to his dismay, it was in the back of a castle dungeon, his least favorite kind of field. Grumbling to himself, he went to assume his post.
'Saying 'guard the entrance' is one thing, but this… This is pathetic.' Skeith leaned up against the wall in the dungeon, folding his arms across his chest while he glared at the 'entrance'. It was disguised to look like a normal wall, but Skeith could see right through its fake covering and into the secret area on the other side. He cringed at the idea of bringing someone into it. He'd been on stakeout for a few days, but no one had even come down into the lowest level of the dungeon, making him bored out of his mind. 'If you could wear groves into pixels, the floor in this place would be ten inches lower…'
His thoughts were cut off by a message from Innis, which he read blankly until he hit the end. "Just wondering how things are going. We've sorted out a few meeting places, but there's nothing to discuss if you're not around. Contact us once you've been relieved. We'll tell you where to meet. Meanwhile, Macha's still on the move. Tsukasa has picked up the Guardian, and I've been keeping an eye on it without her noticing." It was something Innis could do. Only Innis, using her 'Mirage of Deceit' ability, could hide herself from anyone in the system, even the other Phases and Morganna. "Just letting you know," the message continued, "it attacked a player to defend Tsukasa. The player was Silver Knight, who holds a high rank in the Crimson Knights, and they're in an uproar about it. Apparently, he hasn't logged in since the Guardian 'killed' him."
Skeith turned the information over in his head. 'The Guardian attacked Silver Knight to protect Tsukasa. What was Morganna thinking, giving him something like that? It's almost as illegal and dangerous to the system as we are. It's almost as though she's trying to attract attention to him. The Crimson and Cobalt Knights will be all over him at this rate.'
Before his thoughts could flesh out the matter any further, footsteps brought him to attention and he reflexively summoned his scythe, wielding it in one hand. As they got louder, a silver-haired Wavemaster dressed in brown and cream came down the stairs, purpose evident in his eyes. He walked past the invisible Phase to the treasure, and then walked around the statue. 'This must be Tsukasa…' Skeith watched as Tsukasa placed his hand against the wall, closed his eyes in concentration, and then melted through the wall as if it didn't exist.
Hurried, almost silent footsteps draw Skeith's attention as a Twin Blade with green hair jumped past him and around to the other side, pausing in confusion where the Wavemaster had been. 'Must be a PKer, and his prey got away.' Skeith resisted the urge to chuckled, but something about the PKer bothered him.
He sent a message to Innis, letting her know that he was finished his job, and then took off after the retreating player, watching him with interest as he left the area.
Just as he'd expected, the PKer was suspicious. Skeith followed him to another field, where he confronted a couple of the Crimson Knights, and then back to the dungeon. He seemed as intrigued with Tsukasa as Skeith was becoming, and it seemed to be for similar reasons.
"What makes him so special?"