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Sara
Sep 12th, 2004, 07:41 PM
.hack//coma: Chapter 1: Twilight

A/N: Please review.

Disclaimer: Don’t own it…. Yet.

~*~

I sit on a roof of Mac Anu, waiting for this player called Shugo and his twin sister named Rena to log in.

I shift my weight, lost in thought about the past few months since the meeting with Helba and me.

I like Rena, but Shugo seems, c0cky, confident. He uses the bracelet to get to the end of his own means, doesn’t try the regular way of leveling up.

Only a short time ago have I seen Shugo go like his past counterpart.

Kite.

He uses his bracelet less, actually starting to play the game as it’s programmed to be played like. It makes me wonder if he does actually have a chance to fight the force that comes from the bracelet.

His personality has changed, too.

He is no longer c0cky; he seems to actually care about the game and the world.

He has changed a lot.

I sigh, looking away from the monotony of watching the chaos gate to look over the roofs of Mac Anu, to look at the river that flows through the town, and ultimately leads to the Colbalt Knight’s base.

My mind strays back to the moment where I ultimately decided that I didn’t like Shugo.

When he used data drain on a player called Komiyan III.

We were lucky, no coma came out of it, mostly because of some hard work done by Helba after I sent her a flash-mail when I saw it happening. She did let the data drain change his profile though, I think she did it just for the fun of it.

I shake my head about the memory. I was afraid that this was going to happen when the bracelet was given to someone who had no clue what it does. I felt like personally going down from my hiding spot and smacking the boy for doing such a dangerous thing.

My hand goes to my right shoulder, rubbing it slowly, as if it hurts. Even though the pain is a trivial, in my mind the pain comes from as it stirs old painful memories that never leave.

The reason I hate data drain, and the boy who uses it for his own power.

And the reason I fear him.

The day where data drain was first used…

The day I was put in a coma….

~*~

I still remember that e-mail…

I was sitting at home, logging into the world, hoping to find out more information about Morganna.

Helba had a bad feeling about Morganna from the start, so she asked me to look into it,

and see how we could stop her, if there was any way

When I found an anonymous e-mail from someone who said that they had information about Morganna, and a way to stop her.

I followed the lead to: Delta: Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground, expecting to find another dead end, nothing.

Boy, was I wrong.

A blinding flash, and I found myself somewhere; there was a teddy bear. With a cat standing there, floating in the air next to a girl floating over a bed.

I backed away, breathing hard as my eyes dilate in fear as I realize the mistake I made. “Never trust anonymous e-mails.” Helba’s words rang in my head.

I made the worse mistake ever.

I followed one, and that might cause a deletion to my character, or even worse.

A voice out of nowhere, but seemingly everywhere speaks: “I’ve been waiting for you, Sara.” The voice that to this day still haunts me, won’t let me sleep, won’t let me rest.

Morganna.

“Why?” I whispered, scared to death, heart pounding as I reach for my flash-mail that I can contact Helba with.

“It won’t work here, Sara.” The voice says, now mocking and cold as I turned to run.

A singing voice stopped me, so high-pitched, so beautiful. I felt myself getting pulled towards it unwillingly.

A beautiful girl sang a wordless song, her dress long and flowing, going feet away from her actual body.

I was only steps from her when I realized what was happening as I snap out of it. I turned to run. Only to find myself trapped, unable to get free as I struggle, getting lifted in the air.

“No…” I whispered, desperate, my voice pleading. “No…. Let me go, I swear I’ll do whatever you want, just let me go!” My heart was pounding, I didn’t know what was going on, but I was scared about it.

I heard the voice again, as I saw a bracelet appearing on the girl’s wrist. “I want you, for punishment for interfering with me, for punishment of getting too close to the truth!”

My eyes widened even more, now completely dilated as my heart slammed into my chest in the real world. “Morganna….” I whispered as spikes from all sides of the bracelet, aimed right for me.

“NO!!!!” I screamed one more time, desperately.

That would be the last thing I would say for over a year.

“This is what you get for getting too close to the truth!” The voice snarled, sounding hateful as the spikes get longer and merge and hit me all at once as one beam.

I screamed in pain, feeling my body in the real world being ripped apart. Feeling my brain, my thoughts, my senses, my consciousness getting ripped from me as I screamed louder, trying to reach for the visor, my body not responding.

My senses went into overload. Blinded and in pain, I tried to fight back as a blinding light makes me blind, a high-pitched ringing noise echoing in my ears as I tried desperately to fight back from this wave of data sensory that is overloading my brain.

I felt my body get ripped in one direction, my mind and thoughts and consciousness into another, still screaming as the beam stops and I hear this loud shattering noise….

Then……

merciful darkness.

~*~

I look over the rooftops of Mac Anu, trying to pull away from that painful memory of what Morganna did to me. Waiting for the boy named Shugo, watching him like I did Kite, and in a way, Tsukasa.

I sigh and close my eyes, trying to forget, trying to forget the pain, trying to forget the haunting voice. I bury my face into my arms, still listening, trying to forget.

Trying to forget….

I shake my head slowly, clearing the memories, shoving them into the back of my mind. I have a job to do. I tell myself silently, trying to snap out of it.

I never told anyone what happened that day. I sigh, rubbing my shoulder unconsciously. I don’t want anyone to know.

I see Shugo appear in the world, followed by his sister Rena. I quickly get to my feet, tugging on my braid as all thoughts about Morganna are completely shoved out of my mind as I follow the two on the rooftops, keeping my distance as I go from roof to roof, leaping lightly.

I land in a crouch on the roof of Mireille’s hideout, watching carefully as they go inside. Leaning against a wall, waiting for any sign of trouble.

I stiffen slightly after waiting for several minutes, seeing Kamui log in at the chaos gate. I remembered her return at the opening of the new server. Where she seemed to be snooping in areas she didn’t belong, as is her style. Especially about Kite and the Vagrant a.i. named Zefie.

Magi is right behind her, and I stick my tongue out at the two. I hate the knights, they’re even more worse than the crimson knights, too deadly accurate with Kamui behind the wheel, and too many close calls for me getting caught.

Not to mention the players that they caught.

Unlike the crimson knights, I actually know someday these knights will catch me, and I fear that day more than anything.

I lean in closer, catching the conversation fully without being seen. The words making my eyes go wider with every word that is heard.

“Have you heard any news about this wanted character?” Kamui asks crisply, all business as usual.

“About the character of Shugo, no. But we do have an informant who is willing to tell us about witnessing cheating by the player, he claims he even has proof.” Magi says, adjusting her glasses, looking pathetically small next to Kamui.

“And what about Balmung?” She asks crisply, and I grab the edge of the roof, leaning in to hear the words more clearly.

“He is under investigation, the administrators have handed the Shugo case fully over to you.” Magi says, and my eyes widen in fear at the thought of our only informant in power possibly being deleted from the game, or at least losing his job.

Kamui’s eyes narrow, and she gets that predatory smile on her face that she gets when she is close to the prey she hunts. “Good, lets see this informant of ours, then.” She says, briskly heading for the base.

I reach for my flash-mail, about to contact Helba when I lose my grip, fingers scrabbling wildly for the roof as I fall down to the street below. I land in a crouch, knees and legs absorbing the impact as I land a mere foot away from Kamui.

Too close.

Kamui’s eyes narrow as she spots me, even as I turn to run. “There she is!! Get her!!!” She yells, and I sprint desperately away, knowing that I was running into a dead end, but hoping to also double back away from Kamui to get to the chaos gate.

It would be my only chance to get away.

I run desperately, hearing the footsteps of the knights as they chase after me. I try to activate my flash mail, crying out in pain as a spear grazes my hand that is holding it. I clutch my injured and bleeding hand as I run away, dropping my flash mail device at the same time.

I run around another corner, skidding to a stop at all the spears pointed right at me from the Colbat Knights. I turn to run in the other direction, only to be surrounded by the knights there. I curse softly under my breath, knowing that if I was a twin blade, maybe I could jump to the roof to safety, but a long arm doesn’t have nearly as many advantages on jumping.

The knights surround me, and I see a losing battle. I slowly put down my spear and raise my hands in the air.

Sara
Sep 12th, 2004, 07:45 PM
Sorry for double-posting, I couldn't fit all of this in one post.

~*~

“Good job,” Kamui says, walking to the front of the knights smiling coldly. “I’m impressed that we finally got the hacker who’s been a thorn in the administrator’s side for over ten years.”

I shrug, feeling a little smart aleck even in my situation. “You must be losing your touch… The administrators would be disgusted when they hear how long it took to catch me, a wanted player on your most wanted list since the knights started.”

I feel a slight sting as Kamui slaps me across my face, adding to the pain of my bleeding hand, then she shoves my chin up with her ax. “You are in no position to mock and insult the knights.” She hisses, eyes blazing with anger as the knights grab my arms. “I would delete you right now… But an administrator wants to talk to you. Take her away!”

I shrug, despite the hold on my arms. “Fine with me…. I would like to know what he/she has to say.”

Kamui’s eyes narrow, “I bet you won’t be nearly as c0cky when we’re done with you.” She says, walking away with the knights following, me right behind her, still being held by the knights as we head to the chaos gate and to the knights prison.

Balmung’s eyes widen in surprise as I am lead in front of him towards the prison, and I catch his eye and shake my head slightly when I see he’s about to protest. It’s better that they don’t know about our little history. I think as I get shoved into a cell.

I sigh, ripping off a piece of my blue shirt as I sit in the cell and wrapping it around my hand tightly. Trying to stop the flow of blood coming out my hand as I wait for something to happen.

The next thing that happened was something that I expected, but not so quickly.

Shugo and the rest of his group appear, being held by the knights and generally looking unhappy as they’re put in cells with Zefie, Rena and Shugo in the cell with me, and the others put in a cell across from us.

“Who…. Are you?” Rena asks, crossing her arms and staring at me as I lean against the wall. “What are you doing here?”

I chuckle softly, getting up as the knights debate amongst themselves. “My name is Sara,” I say with quiet confidence. “I have been wanted by the knights for quite a long time now, and even longer by the administrators. I was hoping we would meet in better circumstances than this.”

Rena’s eyes narrow suspiciously, while everyone else just stares at me. “What do you-“

I stiffen slightly as I see the admin that’s coming towards the knights, signaling Rena to be quiet as a bad feeling like a wave pours over me. The admin turns towards me, a delighted smile crossing his face as he recognizes me.

“I think I’ll have that chat with her now.” The administrator says smoothly, barely concealing his glee to see me as the knights open my cell and walk in, keeping their spears ready for Shugo and Rena so they won’t try anything as they grab my arm and start to pull me away.

“Sara!!” Rena calls desperately as I turn my head around as they pull me out of the cell and lock it behind me.

“I’ll be fine!” I shout back, being lead away by the knights as they hand me over to the admin. “Don’t worry!” I hope, I think silently as I’m pulled into a small room with the admin and the door is shut.

I glare at him, trying to pull from his tight grasp even as he holds on tighter. “Who are you? And what do you want to talk to me about?” I demand, angry and a little scared.

The admin just smiles, looking at me with contempt. “Always the defiant, defensive one, Sara. Even after all those years, even after what Morganna did to you.”

I stiffen in fear at his words, knowing that I never told anyone about what happened with Morganna, not even Helba. “Who are you?” I whisper, trying to sound as authoritave and demanding as I can with my voice shaking.

He smiles, sensing my fear as he tightens his grip on my arm, bruising it. “I am the one who will return you back to where you belong.” He says, and a blinding flash later, I no longer see an admin holding my arm, but…..

“Skeith….” I whisper, my knees giving out on me, only being held upright by Skeith’s iron hold. “It’s impossible…. You can’t….”

“Be alive?” Skeith says, snorting at the thought. “Morganna brought me back. And I think it’s time for you to pay her a little visit.” He says, holding up the staff, as I feel myself get pinned to it.

“No!!!!” I cry desperately as a bracelet appears, its points extending.

“Say hi to Morganna for me, Sara.” Skeith hisses as the points get long enough to data drain……

TBC……

~*~

I love cliffies. Please review, everyone!!!