The Shadow of a Hero: The Albatross

[t-t-ten million fireflies]

Shadow Of A Hero: The Albatross

Notes to the Guild:What the hell is this where am I? Hi. As you can tell I'm Lady Phantom and this is my fanfic Shadow of a Hero: The Albatross. It is part three and a standalone fic in my dramedy series that included lovesick tea and being turned into a duck. These were posted on FF.net. FF.net is NOT cool with .hack fans! How many reviews on my ENTiRE SERiES?! 3. Reviews. Seriously, I pretty much hit one big, fat brick wall. So, I'm giving it a test audience who actually know what I'm talking about so I can be SURE someone reads it, RiGHT? Right... right... right. Anyway. Fun to be had. Also, I always have massive headers of nonfictional content to make sure you have it all down
Notes on the Series: Alright, folks. I’m taking a wild guess that most of you didn’t read my humor//drama fics for .hack: .fiction//TEA and .hack//DUCKS. While this fiction generally stands alone it uses the main character Lara from both pieces. The only thing you need to know from those is that Lara was a player-tester of a tea-beverage that made her go hyper-insane and damaged her data which Balmung ended up fixing when she got turned into a duck. She also has the hugest crush on him.
Why Stand Alone? Like the cheese, this can be seen as a standalone fic. Why? Because Lara is no longer a spineless, lovesick wimp like I never meant her to be. She now kicks a**.
Dedication: As usual, my “sister” (note the quote) who has no fracking clue what .hack is, my baffle, Kabraxes who does. My second-cousin Katana definitely gets a dedication in here.
Rating: T for violence, potential swearing etc.
Continuity: Like most of my fics, this takes place AFTER .hack//DUCKS but right, right, right before //Legend of the Twilight (Bracelet) (.hack//DUSK).
Rating: T for Teen for those gaming folks or PG-13 for movie people. Violence, angst, drama and much throwback to the good ol' ol' ol' days when fanfic was King Arthur.
Disclaimer: Hi, I’m not CyberConnect2, CC Corp, Rei Idumi (Izumi Rei) or any other fantastic people that have worked on and developed project.hack and .hack conglomerate. I’m not with Bandai or anyone else. Characters such as Balmung of the Azure Sky and others belong to their respective writers, artists and CC2 who designed his sexy wings. The only person I lay claim on is Lara who, like me, believes that Balmung soooo brought sexy back before Justin Timberlake even took off his awkward boy-band curls. Hellz yeah.

ON WITH THE FRIGGING SHOW!!

.login 1// Café Albiero

He knew he was looking for her. Asking a few people here and there for the Blademaster with short orange hair called ‘Lara’ pointed him in the direction of Café Albiero, one of the numerous art cafes that existed in the night city of Carmina Gadelica.
She looked different than when he last saw her. She traded her blue crossed-halter top for a stunningly skimpy vibrant red top that seemed to only be constructed of a piece of red cloth crossed over her chest and tied behind her neck, barely covering what was necessary. Her leg-plates were replaced with a sort of red strapped-armor that only covered one leg, revealing her snaking Scorching Wind Wave tattoo, a combination of her lofty, love-high attitude and her flippant, fiery side. By the way she seemed to lean alone, with her legs stretched out on the wrought-iron fence surrounding the café’s patio, sideways in her chair with some strange blade settled in her lap as she sipped a frosty cocktail in a triangular glass. He’d never seen this kind of sword before and he was pretty certain that it wasn’t in the strategy guide or rare event or he’d know already. It wasn’t why he was here but Balmung of the Azure Sky was desperate to know,
“Your sword… I’ve never seen it before is it-?”
“Rare Item” Lara interrupted, “The blade, it’s a rare item from a quest. It has its own sub-routine; it’s called the Albatross and has some kind of curse on it”
“Really? Can I see it?” he asked, pulling up a curly, iron chair across the table from her.
She blushed, knowing where it really came from and that he would know immediately, “I’d rather if you didn’t. What are you doing here, anyway?”
“I heard some rumors that a Blademaster here was going after the One Sin and thought you might know something about it”
Lara smiled, “I do. Tomorrow, I and my party are heading out to Omega Sickened Imprisoned Fallen Angel. I’m going to take down The One Sin.”
“WHAT?!”
“You heard me.”
”Lara, you can’t take on The One Sin! You don’t have the right Elemental attacks, you can’t beat it!”
“And how do you know that?” she flew up from her seat with The Albatross in hand, “You don’t know me, Balmung. Not any more. You just know the little player who had a crush on you way back when. It’s been a year now, and you know nothing about me”
“No, you’re right, I don’t. But I can tell you that even I had difficulty with The One Sin and I don’t think you’re ready for it. Really, no one’s prepared for what the Spectrum Dragon throws at you.”
“Wave Attacks. The breath attacks are the Wave Elements. It only attacks when you do, mirroring the aggression of your attack but you have a very small window to counter it with the opposing Wave element. It’s also best if you only fight as two people in the final boss, so me and Khiro are going up the mountain. Believe me, I’m ready.”
He tried to hide it, but Balmung was a little taken aback. Maybe she could do this. “What weapons are you taking?”
“Quizzing me, are you? Not that it’s any of your business but I’m taking The Albatross which is a combination Thunder/Water Wave, and a I acquired named Nevermore which is Darkness element.”
“It’s pretty rare to find a blade with two Wave elements”
“Yeah. Rare. Anyway, I’m challenging The One Sin at 3 o’ Clock if you care to come and watch someone else earn their wings” she said before disappearing in rings of light
“She logged out, didn’t she?” the “waiter” at the café said. It was almost humorous how Lara never noticed that he wasn’t an NPC, but after all, it was a clever disguise.
Checking his data book, Balmung nodded, “Yeah, she did” he sighed, “I can’t believe she’s taking on The One Sin! You know she’s not going to do it! I have to stop her…”
“No. No you don’t. You have to let go of her, Balmung. Lara seems to be a big girl and despite what you thought was her dependence on you, she seems to take care of herself.”
“I don’t know, Wizeman, I just don’t know. It’s like, I know she’s probably doing this for attention or fame more than personal satisfaction but I can tell that she’s probably trying to show me up too.”
“I can see why. Balmung,” he sat, “You’ve been coddling her. After drugging her up”
“I-!”
“-On accident, then bringing her back to Ivy’s and the whole business that after you went to the trouble of fixing her data bug, she thought you had feelings for her, she obviously needs you to see that she’s more than something to be protected. Lara wants you to see her as her equal.”
“But I’m an administrator! She’s a player and I have been playing The World since Fragment. I hardly think anyone could be equal.”
“Obviously. I just think you’re jealous.”
Balmung jumped up, “Jealous?! Of what?”
“You defeated The One Sin. She’s off to defeat The One Sin. You’re a powerful Blademaster. She’s a powerful Blademaster. You obviously don’t want to share your fame and title with anyone else!”
“Yeah, cause no one’s tried to be me before.” Balmung remarked sarcastically.
“Maybe you’re afraid that she’d succeed” Wizeman replied, taking a sip of tea, “As if we need another one of you in The World”
“Hey!”
“Well, it’s true. The whole game is about being a great hero on great quests and no one besides the .hackers have made it anywhere close to that. Now the BBS is flooded with rumors about the next Descendant of Fianna and you have to be the one to stop her?”
“She’s going to be disappointed by one thing or another”
“Then let her take this on, let her find defeat in her goal, not in someone bent on crushing her dreams”
“No! If she’s setting out at 3, I’m meeting her at the gates to stop her and her idiotic party in their tracks! I don’t care what you think, Lara cannot defeat The One Sin!”


Your obedient servant,
LADY PHANTOM  

[t-t-ten million fireflies]

Hehe, thank you very much!
Chapter Two is comin' up later today~! ^),^
Your obedient servant,
LADY PHANTOM
EDIT: It's here! It's here! It's funnalully here!
.login 2// The Two Blademasters

“Is this about Orca?” Wiseman asked.
“What do you mean?”
“He hasn’t been on for a year and a half. I think you’re worried she’s going to replace him as a Descendant of Fianna.”
“You know nothing about me.” Balmung replied coldly, standing and leaving the café
“I know more than you think” Wiseman said after him, knowing he wasn’t listening anyway.

-::_._::-

She threw open the door to her home, ushering in the group of PC’s around the large, wooden table covered in various papers and maps.
“Alright, you guys, we’re heading to The One Sin in fifteen minutes!” Lara shouted in a commanding voice at one side of the round table, “Form up your parties! Party one is Isaye, A-20 and Keelie. Party Two: Delia, Lydia and Cecelia! Party Three: Desdemona, Ophelia and Mercutio! Party Four is anyone brought along or whoever wants to party up with the jerk of an admin who wanted to come. Remember the rules, until we reach the mountain, only in Talk mode! Keelie, Lydia and Ophelia are on lyrics if not everyone in your party know the words!” she felt powerful, she felt in charge and she felt so proud. Her friends were all here to back her and Khiro up, and they were gonna go in singing.
Khiro reached under the sheaf of papers littering the tabletop and came up with a huge chart blotted with numbers, letters various values, points, anything they needed to know about the area. No one noticed Lara slip out. “This is the map of Sickened, Imprisoned, Fallen Angel. Now, the Field looks huge but it’s actually very narrow. There is no background music which we’ve taken care of and there are huge monsters that can easily take out any player of any type. To make sure we will make it, each party has a Wavemaster for healing and a pack with various healing potions. We have to make sure Lara and me are at full-health to take on Zawan Shin”
“What are we waiting for?” Lara asked, appearing at last in her ‘Winter Ops’ outfit. She had to trade her skimpy top for a long-sleeved white blouse anchored with black wristbands under the cuffs and a bright red sweater vest for warmth. It was going to be one long, cold day. “Let’s go!”

-::_._::-

It was desolate. Cold and desolate. The sky hung with a thick alabaster that seemed oppressive on Lara’s shoulders as the heavy covering of snow on the ground was tossed in her face by a chilling, killing howling wind.
She looked out to her party, still smiling as they all gated in. She was ready. Raising her blade, The Albatross she let out her war-cry,
“To the One Sin!” which was met with cheers and whoops and happiness. She laughed and kept her sword aloft to the snowy sky.
There was no background music. Lara knew this. So she went in singing with her party,
“Take my love, take my land
Take me where I cannot stand
I don’t care, I’m still free
You can’t take the sky from-”
TING!
Out of nowhere, a second blade met hers in air. She was so shocked at this that she let her sword tip be pushed down by his.
“BALMUNG OF THE AZURE SKY!” at least three girls chorused at once.
“What are you doing?” she demanded, throwing him off her blade with both hands at the hilt.
“Stopping you” he stated simply, “You can’t do this, Lara. You can’t defeat The One Sin”
“Says who?”
“I know it, Lara. The One Sin is bigger, and stronger and has more HP than you ever imagined. You won’t be able to defeat it.”
“I don’t care how big and strong it may be. Khiro and I are going to take down The One Sin and nothing you can say will stop me.”
“Hmmph, I thought you’d say as much” he told her, getting into a fighting stance, “How about if we go around then, shall we? Blademaster to blademaster. I dare you to strike me once and I’ll let you pass”
Isaye, obviously displeased walked up to him with her hands on her hips, “Is that all?” she asked, using some unknown command to give him a firm slap upside the head, “Administrator or not, you don’t treat my friend that way” she informed him, “Now let us pass”
Lara couldn’t help but laugh, Isaye was the best and always looking out for her.
“Clever, I’ll give you that. But will cleverness save you here, Lara?” Balmung asked, lunging towards her.
She met his blade in time which made a distinctive PIIIING! After that was a series of quick parries, all met and all matched and countered the metal clinking as they went. Parry, parry turn and thrust, it was all a pattern and all a rhythm. Lara took a wide crescent sweep met at its zenith, sliding past the opponent blade to make a mirroring sweep also caught. But what her opponent didn’t see was the deep, stabbing thrust towards his shiny armor but he leaped to the side not a moment too soon.
“Why are you doing this, Lara? Why are you so bent to beat The One Sin? There are much easier events that you can clear for fame”
“I don’t want fame!” she growled fiercely, their swords locked.
Their blades crossed as she pressed her sword against his will with all the force she had.
“I’m tired of living in the shadow of a hero, Balmung!” she growled, reluctantly relinquishing her force. “It’s not like-” ting! “You can be-” ting! “A great painter when you’re against the greats like-” ting! “Picasso and-” ting! “Van Goh! With millions of players in The World-” ting! “It’s hard enough! I still have to compete-” ting! “With the likes of you!” ting! “I want to fight!” ting! “I want to be a hero!” ting! “I’m going to take on The One Sin. And you-” TING! “Can’t-” PING! “STOP ME!” CRACK!
The hilt of her sword flew from her hand, landing in the snow beside the other half of her blade. And she just stood and stared.
He didn’t take her down, he didn’t PK her, all he was was concerned. “Lara…? Lara, are you-?”
“You killed the Albatross” she told him with a deep and scary voice that seemed like there was more than one person behind the sound.
She glared at him with eyes of flashing scarlet as clouds of spirit seemed to gather around her. She paled, her skin even fairer with some unknown ethereal glow, her flamboyant orange hair fading to alabaster white. Even more of these cloudy white shades gathered around and beyond her hands until she was holding the shaft of a blue-white Heavy Axe that almost melted into the background of ice and snow.
She swung, not a wild swing, but a strong, focused, powerful swing slicing silence and taking a surprising amount of effort to dodge. She swung again, a movement of eerie grace backed by brute strength and controlled by pure rhythm. At last she seemed to stop as she grabbed the shaft in a fanciful sweep but it was not over yet.
Swirling ghosts surrounded the axe blade, leaving it the flashing silver of a pole-arm glaive. It shone brightly in the pure white of the Area sweeping across the snow-covered ground like a deadly broom. Sweeps and turns, he could all but dodge her sharp weapon, not even daring to counter or waste precious moments returning the strike. Sweep, turn, sweep, shing! The blade swept past… too close…
Again she took the weapon with both hands at the shaft but this time her grip tightened and with a scary lack of effort snapped it in half. The two halves ghosted to two twisted, pointed daggers. Quick as a true twin-blade class she danced with two deadly daggers, grace and speed seemed to be truly hers. He couldn't find her and couldn't miss her. Slowly his defenses wore away to her attacks. One doge too late… and one hit point was shaved off. That was her test. One strike. But it did not end.
It was almost as if with that one failed evasion Lara or what was controlling Lara was thrown into a vicious fury as two blades joined to a two-handed Heavy Blade that now sung wildly, swung drunkenly with as much force as possible throwing the thick steel crashing and bashing through the barren snow wilderness without rhyme or reason or rhythm. Only a moment did she wield a Heavy Blade until…
The Albatross returned. The final battle. This was Lara's weapon. Stronger than the Heavy Axe she held and cleaner than the glaive Long Arm she slashed on her own power without Wave or Skill just pure swordsmanship. Blademaster to Blademaster. He could catch her now. She came down vertically but a simple diagonal slash pushed her dangerous steel away. She took a shuffle back. She used the momentum to come back in a crescent but it was met just before it peaked. She slid a bit backwards without being followed. She shuffled back, took a step back. He wondered what she was doing. Realized too late as she gripped the hilt with both hands and charged.
It was as if her blade were truly some kind of ghost, passing through plate armor as if it were made of only air.
She fell to the snow with a soft thud and her eyes flashed back to violet.  

[t-t-ten million fireflies]

Chapter Three!
Your obedient servant,
LADY PHANTOM

"God," she whispered, balling her fists as she stared down the snow, "I hate it when that happens"
"Lara! Lara!" Isaye shouted, her whole party rushing to her side, "Wow, girl, you really rocked!"
"Did I?"
"Oh, hell yeah! You totally opened a can of wh00p@$$ on that guy and he couldn't even counter the s**t you were throwin'!"
Lara smirked. She probably just gave the angel-knight a run for his money. She stood and picked up the other half of her sword gingerly and dropped it into the sheath at her hip, the half with the hilt on top of it.
“Lara, he’s right, we can’t do this” Khiro told her, planting a hand on her shoulder
She spun to face him, “What are you talking about? Of course we can! We’ve been planning this for months!”
“We’re in over our heads. So many people have tried this and failed, what makes us so different?”
“Because we’re us. And we can handle this.”
“We hardly made it this far, Lara and as far as I can see, we’re not even near The One Sin. I don’t think we’re about to get there”
“So you just want to give up? Is that it?”
“I think we should stop while we’re ahead”
“Give me the items”
“What?”
“Give me the items we got for this quest. There are two other people here that could be my second and if they don’t want to go on either, I’ll do it alone”
“Lara, if you go alone-”
“No one will resurrect me if I get killed, I know” she turned to her party, “If you’re with him, you can leave too. I don’t care. If you think we’re not about to make it, if you believe we’ll never defeat The One Sin, do me a favor and get out”
Bring rings of light descended on her party, everyone except for Lara and Balmung who stood in the snowstorm in silence. Lara was alone. She slung the pack of items, revive potions and healing items over her shoulder, facing the storm head-on, still singing,
“Take my love
Take my land
Take me where I cannot stand…”
“You’re going on by yourself?” Balmung asked in disbelief
“Does it look like I’m about to give up?”
“Lara, you have no second to revive you, your entire party left you and your sword is snapped in half. Are you sure you really want to fight on?”
“The Albatross is fine. If I keep it in the sheath until I reach the mountain it will repair itself”
“What if you get attacked?”
“I have Nevermore with me”
“And you won’t take a second?”
“I can hold my own”
“Are you sure?”
“There’s no one else here”
“You know, I-”
“Already defeated The One Sin. I don’t need you, Balmung.”
He smiled, as if he knew something or was reminded of something and it was amusing, “Then mind if I follow you and watch?”
“No. You’re staying and watching this” she growled fiercely, as if she could really tell him what to do before continuing on through the snowstorm, singing even louder,
“Well, everyone’s got a reason.
To say…”
“Put the past away” Balmung sang back.
Lara blushed, knowing it wasn’t just a coincidence that he said that line. Put the past away. The past hurt and it’d been difficult to even get this far, but she had her boyfriend, Khiro with her… well, maybe he was an ex now, he left her in the middle of a snowstorm. Put the past away. Standing in the middle of nowhere in a snowstorm with the one advocate for why men are jerks.
“You know Third Eye Blind?” she asked
“Just that song, it’s on the radio all the time”
“Yeah.
Maybe today. You can put the past away”
There was a roar to her left which startled her a moment, quickly unsheathing Nevermore from her backstrap.
“Does this sword have a sub-routine too?” Balmung asked
“Nevermore? Only if it gets near a character named ‘Lenore’ or ‘Raven’”
“God, that must be kind of annoying. Has it ever gone off?”
“Once. There was a player named Ravena and it wouldn’t stop shouting ‘Nevermore!’ very, very loudly until I told everyone it ‘was the wind and nothing more’. I think a player actually reported me. The Cobalt Knights questioned me the next day”
"Huh. That's interesting"
There was a louder roar. It was closer.
"Lara!"
Nevermore smashed into something unrecognizable in the wind tossing snow everywhere.
"I'm not an idiot, you know!" she shouted as her obsidian sword slammed into the dark shade again and again. Soon enough its HP was nothing.
Balmung gave no reply, he knew she wasn't.
And she ran. Not because she was frightened of the monsters or because she was impatient or because she wanted to distance herself from Azure Sky. No, Lara ran because she wanted to. The wind whipped through her short hair and shivered down her spine as snow and ice and wet rushed through her, reminding her numb sensation that there was still feeling in her. It was unexplainable, usually she was some kind of lazy bum and hated or skipped Gym Class but it made her happy just to run and run and run until she felt like she was flying. The mountain approached like a giant icicle shoved up through the ground spiraled by dangerous icy stairs. Atop the jagged pillar of arctic despair stood its master, a being of spectrum death. The One Sin.
"There it is" she whispered on air to herself.
"Are you ready?" Balmung asked one last time
"I have been" she replied and then sped ahead to the foot of the mountain.
She took one deep breath and ascended to what she hoped was victory awaiting. All she could do was hope. Step follows step. Step follows step.
You can do this. You can do this! She reminded herself, You fought your way here against the greatest player of The World to be here, no event no mater how rare can stop you!
And she was at the top. Here we go. No stopping now. No turning back. This. Was. It.
One more step. And she could see what she was up against.
It was huge, huger than huge, one massive, giant… thing. It was called a “Spectrum Dragon” but that was a sort of an ironic understatement. “Spectrum Dragon” was meant to be some sort of scaly, winged kind of giant lizard that can breathe fire, like in fairy tales but this thing had the wings of mutilated insects, iridescent and torn like hauntingly beautiful butterfly wings, ripped of their original owner and stretched too-tight over claws of pointed bone and twisted tendon. Grotesque and strangely captivating, the “Spectrum Dragon” could only be called by one name. The One Sin.
“Oh. Crap.” Lara uttered, staring in disbelief and fear, shivering all the while in the ice and cold. It’s not too late to give in she reminded herself, It’s not too late to give up. But no. She clawed her way through an empty void unguided and buffeted by a snowstorm the size of a hurricane, facing and defeating the one greatest player of The World, an admin who faced her with this very defeat, then when offered the very choice she contemplated, traveled on alone through wind and snow and cold. No giving in. No giving up. Lara was going to earn her wings or die trying.
She stood, straight, tall and proud, raising the tip of her blade from the layers of snow. This thing was not about to bring her down already. Remembering back to those old knight movies and the heroes that defended fabled nations from mythical beasts and dragons… much like how she stood now, sheathing Nevermore and showing her true blade, lifting it into the heart of the pure, white sky
“Beast, I am Kailaralae of The Albatross and I have come to vanquish you” she announced to the still thing, “Prepare to meet your fate”
The One Sin does not attack until you do. That was the one key thing the BBS told her. Lara had time to plan her attack. Water.
“Rue Slash!” she swung a Level 1 attack with minimal effort, little water and using almost no Skill Points in the process
And it was met with fire. Lara, a Scorching Wind wave was no unused to the familiar feel of the flame but now, with the whole of the Spectrum Dragon bearing over her and surrounding her in hot, searing heat she was frightened. Terrified even. It came as a shock and almost a reflex, she shouted an inaudible word for a small shield.
She was safe. For now.
But Lara didn't want to be safe. This was the end of it, the end of it all. She had to give it everything she had.
"PhaRue Revolver!" Like its name, a machine gun of water shot from her blade as she lunged forward and was met immediately with an equal excess of flame met her. Now she stood her ground. Now she was ready. She leapt and invoked the words of the blade,
"Merrows Pha Crack!" and took down a handful of HP. But against this thing of 100,000 points, taking off 50 was nothing.
"Nice of you to show up, Hokuto" Balmung remarked, looking up from the foot of the mountain
"Good to see you too, Azure Sky" the girl next to him remarked, tipping the brim of her oversized white witch hat.
Anywhere else, this Wavemaster wearing only a strapless white bikini top and pleated miniskirt would look the part in The World, but here, again in the middle of an arctic snowstorm the girl looked out-of-place.
"By the way" she mentioned, "I hope you don't mind that I brought a friend along"
"Don't tell me you dragged that Albireo into this!" he moaned
"No, he didn't want to come. I know you won't mind. He'll be along in a few minutes, he's… catching up with some old friends right now"
"GiGan Slash!" a reply, "PhaGan Revolver!"
"So, who is this friend of yours?"
"Oh, I think you two have met" Hokuto replied coyly
"RaJuk Slash!" dodge, roll out of the way of the flames, "OrRue Crack!"
"Sorry I'm late" a voice apologized between them. A familiar… unforgettable voice. "It's been a long time, Balmung of the Azure Sky"
Balmung's eyes widened beyond disbelief to utter astonishment, "Orca?!"
"Balmung…"
"What are you-? I thought you left-!"
"I heard rumors that yet another Blademaster was going after the title of Descendant of Fianna and thought I ought to give it a look. Not that no one's tried before" Orca of the Azure Sea remarked, "Thankfully I have good connections to let me know that they were all true"
It was as if Orca had never changed and never left The World with Balmung drowning all of the responsibility and all the stifling fame. They could have been Administrators together. They could have been masters of The World. But the lone Descendant of Fianna was just that. Alone.
Lara was down but definitely not out. She grabbed from her shoulder pack a basic healing potion, it was all she needed and she could deal with it. She could deal with it… but God did it hurt like hell? She finished the last sip of the thing and clutched her side, growling with the pain and ferocity.
"It's not like you to be at a loss for words"
"It's just… been so long…"
"I know. Someone told me you're an Administrator now."
"Yes. I work for CC Corp now in their Administration floor"
"With the enemy now?"
Balmung bristled, "You aren't one to judge"
"Am I, am I really?"
Lara screamed with all her voice in the pain of the Sin's tail slashing through her. "F! YOU!" she roared before leaping again into the battle.
"What just happened?" Balmung asked in surprise
"I think she got hit" Orca replied
"But she'd been hit by this before, it couldn't have been the shock of the hit. It was like-”
"She was in pain or something"
"Well, boys" Hokuto said, leaning her elbows on the Descendants' shoulders, "Some people take the game and roleplay seriously. I remember two Azure Blademasters who wouldn't stop calling me 'milady' no matter what I said"
"Milady, this was different" Balmung told her
"It was timed perfectly. And you just don't roleplay to that extreme, milady" Orca insisted
"You wouldn't believe what I've seen" she argued
"It just seemed too… real" Orca remarked a little wistfully
She was fighting "the good fight". The one to end her captivity and stop her from being trapped in this World. She loved The World and all it had in it, the people, the events, the dungeons, everything but still it felt like an ornate golden cage that she wanted to be open. She would return by her own accord. Checked her Skill points. Nothing. Checked her HP. 40. The One Sin? Well over 9000. Why was this taking so long? If she didn't try it solo… maybe this would have gone faster. It just hurt so bad, battered, tattered and torn. Lara couldn't go on. If she'd let Balmung be her second- No! There was one last thing she could do. Down one last total-restore.
This was not a spell, not a move or any item by incantation. All Lara could do was screw her eyes shut, thinking of the loudest music she could muster, building rage and emotion in her chest. in out in out in out in out Louder, she turned up her mental heavy metal music, "The Feel Good Drag" by Anberlin. She had to do this, in out in out in out she had to enter her inner Wave. Her eyes flared with the passion of true fire. She had it.
Fire streamed from within her, without her, from everywhere the flames rushed like an open dam of heat willed free channeled, funneled and tunneled by a whirling tornado of wind.
The sound that came shook the speakers on Balmung's desk so they tumbled from the surface, taking down his Mr. Potato Head and Orca of the Azure Sea bobblehead, still vibrating on the office's carpet. He didn't notice. All he knew was that The One Sin doesn't attack, but return. And with a force off raw power and pure spectrum, it returned what was given
For only seconds, moments, fire wind and power collided like off-course bullet trains until, energy spent, rawness and strength of pure Spectrum overtook and enveloped her.
The beast roared, Balmung shouted for her and Lara screamed. She heard none as her suspended body fell to the ground of ice and snow.
"Lara!" Balmung screamed again, as if he couldn’t climb the icy stairs fast enough and still he didn't know why he was so alarmed. He knew this would happen.
But her body was still. It didn’t turn colorless like other killed PC's, it still retained its hue. No ghost ebbed from her fallen form. It was as if she wasn't actually dead. Little did anyone know what was actually going on.
"How do you know her?" Orca asked as she was lifted from the mountaintop.
"We… met when she underwent a CC Corp test of beverages with side affects and had an adverse reaction under my watch and apparently has had a thing for me ever since. I felt bad because her data became corrupted in her reaction to the tea she was testing so I personally re-edited her basic coding during the April Fools Day event because I was afraid her character data would be irreversibly destroyed"
"And so you grew attached to her." Hokuto whispered
"Maybe. I told her I didn't feel that way about her when she told me but… I'm not sure any more" he sighed for a moment "Hokuto, can you revive her?"
"I'll try" she replied quietly, drawing out a pure white wand, "Rip Maen!" she pronounced but nothing happened "Rip Maen!" she tried again. "I don't think so, my SP isn't even decreasing. It's like she was just knocked out cold or something without actually being killed"
"Is that even possible?"
"What if The One Sin is a Data Bug?" Orca mused.
Everyone went quiet
"Look, Balmung and I defeated this thing once and we thought it was gone for good. Now, it's come back and seems almost undefeatable and somehow took out a PC without making a kill and unable to revive."
"So you're saying" Balmung started, his mind boggled at just mulling over the thought, "That Morganna has returned? That after all of our hard work, there's still more to do? That so much of our time and effort has been a waste?"
"Things can be hidden in plain sight. Maybe The One Sin was a data bug from the beginning."
Suddenly she gasped, a deep and drinking gasp, coughing and sputtering back to life, clutching at her chest in an effort to breathe.
"Milady!" Orca shouted
"She's okay!" Hokuto announced
Balmung said nothing
"Cold… so cold…" she whispered, shuddering. Suddenly she stopped moving, "It's still there, isn't it?"
"It won't attack until you do, milady" Orca assured her.
"Good." Lara replied, tumbling ungainly from the arms of Balmung of the Azure Sky, "You're gonna want to get out of the way" she told them all
"You can't really be going after it again, can you?" Hokuto asked
"If you don't want to get hurt, get out of the way" was all Lara told her.
Hokuto nodded softly and made her way down the spindly steps with half-naked Green Guy.
Balmung however still stood there and planted a hand on her shoulder, "You don't have to do this, you know" he said
She brushed his hand off, "You have no idea how much I do. Go."
Now she stood, breathing heavily, in front of the beast one last time, staring it down with her gleaming violet eyes and letting what was left of The One Sin meet her blade.  

[t-t-ten million fireflies]

The ending NO ONE was waiting for because it seems that no one is reading!

.login4//Heavensent

And at last the fragments of data left of The One Sin evaporated into the air like swirling tendrils of smoke, mixing into the air until- no more.
Lara clutched the ground, digging her fingernails into the ice as she fought whatever it was, hearing through the rushing roar in her ears, a deafening beep as her hands glowed red like a pulse
"Wow." Orca was completely in awe.
"How much HP do you have?" was all that Balmung asked.
"Two, Azure Sky, two" she admitted, glaring at him from on her knees, gripping the ground below her.
"La Repth" he uttered, as she watched her health meter slowly grow to green
She stood. Breathed deeply. Shivered.
The ground suddenly shook below her feet in a rumbling that terrified her, the center of the mountain opening wide letting light and warmth- oh, warmth- seep into the air. From the encasing, crystalline ice flew rapturously an angel, a real angel with wings spread wide, spreading its soft, golden light like milky butter over the pure gray of the Area. Slowly, the cloudy snow faded to gentle green hills plush with grass, renewing the cold to something new, something special. An Area reborn.
Like soft, silky snow that had just left Sickened, Imprisoned, Fallen Angel, feathers of all sizes in their warm white tumbled down from nowhere, feathers that reminded Lara of a certain someone. She reached out to grab one. Background.
"What are you doing?" Balmung asked
"I thought they might have been real"
"Could you target them?"
"Well… no…"
"Then they're background" he reminded her as if she were only a newbie. "Well… except for that one" he pointed, as a bright read feather fell, "That one seems real"
Slowly, Lara moved to it, holding out her hands like a platform as it danced from open air into the palms of her hands as she stared at it, bringing it back to where she once stood
"Hehe, it matches your outfit!" Hokuto told her, looking intently at the crimson thing, but the Azure Knights knew that she was trying too hard to hide what she knew. She'd seen that feather before, four years back. Lycoris.
Hesitantly, Lara tucked it behind her ear and into her mass of tangled, mussed orange hair.
Was she seeing things? Balmung stepped back. The feathers continued to rain but their edges started to… glow. Slowly but more and more rapidly the glow began to grow brighter and brighter, her vision becoming clouded with purple-white light. She no longer had the strength to be surprised or bewildered any more. She just stared into the light and felt it. They protruded from her back in a kind of soreness but not stinging pain, she could feel the bones stretching and awakening as if she'd just slept, plush feathers spreading over tendon and membrane. She could tell already that they weren't long, flowing luxurious wings like Balmung's, those wouldn't suit her. It was as if the Angel knew exactly what she'd like. They were short, the triangulated tips not even reaching past her hips, the feathers in a rougher, more jagged pattern that matched the razor-cut of her hair.
He returned to her, with slow, easy steps, watching her. At last, he was looking down just slightly, right before her eyes.
"You're an -angel-knight now"
Hesitation… just a moment's wait until- And he kissed her. His lips softly came down on hers but there was more to it than that. It was as if she were shocked by electricity, feeling energy course through her as they moved in a measured, careful, practiced, programmed dance. It seemed too soon when they broke away. It seemed too late to slip away.
I'm free from The World now she thought, I can live my life the way I want to. I'm free.

::-.-::

Kaili felt sick. They removed the wires from her skin and congratulated her. No time. Have to tell him.
She walked to the elevator and stabbed the button, the lift relinquishing immediately and admitting her in. Pushed another button.
-22, 23, 24, 25… 27, 28… 30, 31- ding
Administrative floor.
A secretary walked by, piled high with sheaf after sheaf of paper
"Excuse me?" Kaili asked, "Could you point me out to the office of Balmung of the Azure Sky"
"Sorry, but I think he's busy and well… we don't let just anyone in"
She reached in and grabbed the keycard that was tucked beneath her shirt, "He knows me in The World and I work here" she clarified, showing him her pass which got an eyebrow raise of surprise. "Satoshi?" he called over the geometric ruin of cubicles, "Can you take this young lady to see Azure Butt- I mean Sky?"
An FMD unit rose over the spaces, "Coming!" a familiar voice called. She'd heard that voice before. "Come with me he ordered"
Very familiar. She stopped in her tracks for a moment. Oh, it's Reki.
"Mr. Fumito, sir?" the younger man asked, opening the dark, wood-paneled door. "There's someone here to see you"
Obviously a bit miffed, real-Balmung ended up putting down the controller more forcefully than he intended and tore off the FMD.
"What can I do for you?" he asked with feigned innocence.
Same voice. That was eerie.
Kaili shook and gripped the back of one of the leather seats just to keep from falling, "My name is Kaili Laera and if you don't recognize my voice by now, you should remember how you kissed me on the mountain this afternoon"
"Lara?!" he jumped out of his seat, leaving the chair still spinning a bit, "You shouldn't be here! How did you get in?"
"Security knows me" she told him, "I work here" she said, tapping her ID card around her neck
"You -what-?"
"I work here, always have. You just never knew" her eyes fell to the floor, "No one ever did" her gaze picked up again, "I can only tell three people the truth and I've already told one other person. Now, I want you to know, I want to tell you why The World is real to me."

::-.-::

SUBJECT: The Azure Rose
SENDER: W. B. Yeats

Hailed not from Fianna
For that is a place for no woman
But she, the one who defeated again
The beast of no name
Of size too large to call by any word
In the silence of snow and wind
Atop the mountain of frozen death.
Fire Within
Fire Without
A sight you wish to disbelieve
Fallen to the ground
Makes not a sound
She stirs not, the hero
And descends not into shadow
Appearing as no spirit
Something no one can understand
The snow does toss
The ice does turn
And not a soul can explain why
The hero rises again
Fighting as no man has ever fought
Battling what has taken many
Lara of the Azure Rose
Rising from heroes of old
Descended not of the men of Fianna
But of her own line
Although not alone

Together With the Descendants of Old and Heroes of New
W. B Yeats


A cliffhanger ending?! Oh, hell yes. I guess you'll have to check out my next fic in the series:
Why the World Is Real To Me
A Tsukasa-tastic, Sora-licious adventure into some old skool .hack media!
Your obedient servant,
LADY PHANTOM  

[herzlos niemand]

is it a .hack//story that youv made i gess i'll read it...  

[t-t-ten million fireflies]

Yep! It's a made-up story set in The World and contains characters from canon
Your obedient servant,
LADY PHANTOM