: Fragment No. 3 :
Possession
Fearing for his friend, Haseo quickly turned around and ran out of the HOME. Now, standing in the path in front of the HQs, he waited, watching to see what would happen.
Silabus had fallen to his knees, his arms wrapped tightly around himself as his long chocolate-brown ponytail fell to his back behind him. His eyes were closed tightly and he was biting his lip hard in an attempt to distract himself from the pain. He kept letting out agonizing groans, trying to keep from crying out.
"Silabus…" the Adept Rogue whispered; it was all his fault. If he hadn't have left Raven… this wouldn't have happened.
Actually, it was kind of funny… How doing such a small action could cause something as awful as this to happen. But then again, how would the AIDA react to being inside of Silabus, a non-Epitaph User?
"Silabus! Are you al—" he was unable to finish his question, because he had to dodge Silabus's sword.
Wait a minute… Weapons weren't allowed to be used in Root Towns! Well, it wasn't that they weren't allowed, but… it was just impossible. How the hell did Silabus—oh-no… The AIDA is able to defy the rules of The World R:2 and so Silabus can now wield weapons in Eternal City Mac Anu.
Growling under his breath, he forced his Spin Axe dual swords to appear for him. Haseo held his blades in an X position and managed to block Silabus's next attack.
"Silabus! What the hell do you think you're doing!?" he tried to talk some sense into his friend, pushing his blade back before jumping away.
"Nnnn… Nyaaah!!" Silabus roared, his eyes glowing bright Apple Green as he attempted to attack again.
Growling, he pulled out a Revival Medicine, checking to see if he could use it . Apparently, Fate wasn't on his side, because it had no effect. He took out every Healing item he had and tried it, but none of them would work! Biting his lip, his crimson eyes went wide as Silabus rushed at him with Sword Flash. Bringing up his twin blades, he gasped quietly at the strength that'd been put behind the technique.
Jumping back again, he thought, This isn't gonna be easy… I can't attack him because I don't want to hurt him, but what'll happen if I slip up? Or even worse; what'll happen if I get tired and he sees the perfect chance to attack me?
He watched as his friend was seemingly charging up another Sword Skill, holding his blades up at the ready. This looked like it'd be a tough one to block… but he'd have to do it!
As the Blade Brandier shot out toward him, crying out a warning and his blade ready to swing. Suddenly, he'd stopped. His blade had stopped just above Haseo's head, and the hand holding onto the hilt was beginning to tremble violently.
The Adept Rogue opened one eye that he'd just noticed had been closed, only to see Silabus trying to pull back his sword arm with his free one. Curious, he lowered his own blades a bit as he spoke.
"Silabus…?"
"Ha… Hase… o…" he stuttered, obviously struggling to get his words out and keep control of himself. However, it seemed in vain to try and communicate with his friend, because Silabus's glowing green-apple eyes suddenly began to grow brighter and brighter. A scream escaped his mouth as he dropped his sword; his hands went to his head as he gripped it tightly, tears swelling in his eyes.
Wait… Tears…? Was it possible to actually cry in this game? To feel true pain? If not… then what was happening to Silabus? Fear wrapped its cold hand around Haseo's heart as Pi and Kuhn's words came back to him.
SAGA is a very dangerous form of AIDA because not only does it take control of whomever it possesses, but it slowly starts to become one with the person. Not the character, but the person playing it!
Even by Data Draining, this AIDA will not get out of the player's body. It's a little scary when you think about it…
This was awful… Everything they'd said was completely and utterly true! Why hadn't he listened to them and just stayed put? His tendency to disregard what he was told had gotten him in some really, really deep shit this time!
The boy clad in green was suddenly lifted into the air, floating a few inches off the ground before really crying out. The glow that had been increasing at his eyes had now caused a reaction in the area… At that instant, an Avatar field had materialized and Silabus's body had disappeared.
Standing out before him was an AIDA that looked like it was half-ANNA and half-Phase Beast. The lower half of the would-be Avatar looked like ANNA, complete with long tentacles and black AIDA spots in the middle. And the upper half looked like the figure of some sort of animal… like what was supposed to be a bird, but was corrupted by data. The overall color of this particular… thing… was apple green.
"Yaaaah!" it piped, pointing a winged-arm at the Terror of Death. Several tiny beams of light shot out at the target, exploding through the air.
Haseo cursed silently as he ran out of the way, dodging every one of the beams that he was able to. When the raining attack came to a stop, he turned back around and tried to guide his emotions to a certain spot within him. A red glow began to radiate from him, causing a response inside of him to occur in the intensity of the situation.
"SKEITH!!"
His own Avatar appeared, in all its red-colored glory. A glare formed on Haseo's face as he summoned his Scythe, dashing forth and slashing at the enemy AIDA. SAGA was pushed back after the final 3rd blow, and before it could recovered, Skeith went in for another attack, managing to take it's HP down by a fourth.
SAGA was writhing in its spot, flapping its wings out frantically as if trying to grab onto something. It was then that a hologram of Silabus's body had appeared. He seemed to be on his knees with his arms wrapped tightly around his body, trying to comfort himself.
"Haseo…" he groaned, his grip visibly tightening, "You… You have to Data Drain me…"
"What!? Do you know what you're saying!?" Haseo asked incredulously, his own hologram appearing.
"It's the only way… Please! You have to!!" he shouted before disappearing again; SAGA had regained its composure and was flying up to him in offense.
Skeith rushed out of the way, only to get more of those green-ish beams shot at him. Continuing to run away, he found it futile, because all of the rays of light kept hitting him and forcing him to stay in one spot. He let out a yell of agitation, trying to get out of the predicament, but was only given back freedom when the attack halted.
Finding this as an opportunity, he dashed once more toward the AIDA. The whole way up to it, he shot out Stun spheres in an attempt to slowly lower its HP until he could get close enough to deal some real damage. With his scythe in hand, he began his assault.
"C'mon… Just a little bit more…" the Adept Rogue mumbled to himself; he'd already gotten his opponent's HP down to a little less than half.
It was then that SAGA was acting strangely again; did this mean that Silabus was fighting for control? He got his answer when his best friend appeared again for him.
"Haseo, get ready to Data Drain me!"
"What're you talking about? It's way too soon for that! AIDA hasn't even Protect Broken yet!" he protested, watching worriedly.
Silabus shook his head, eyes tightly closed as the AIDA possessing his body began to wiggle around with electricity crackling all over it. It let out a cry of pain at the same time the Blade Brandier had. Haseo immediately looked to SAGA's HP gauge, seeing that it was taking severe damage from itself.
SMASH! Its defense had broken, sounding as if a vase had just been smashed on the floor. Taking this as a hint, Skeith activated its Data Drain ability, aiming at the AIDA.
Haseo bit his lip, shutting his eyes; "You better come back alive after this!!"
With that said, he unleashed the sphere of data, observing as it rammed into SAGA. The said-AIDA let out a piercing screech as it was suddenly transformed into visible data and sucked into the bracelet-like weapon on the Phase Beast's arm.
The Avatar field began to fade away, and Skeith too disappeared, leaving only Haseo to land softly on the ground. Crimson eyes opened wide as he looked out, watching as an unconscious Silabus was slowly being placed down on the land. Running forth, he bent down beside his friend and picked him up, holding him close in his arms.
"Silabus, wake up! I said wake up, damn it!" he pleaded, doing his best to keep from breaking down. This was near exactly how it'd been when an AIDA infected Pi… but this time was worse.
Silabus stirred slightly, and then honey brown eyes opened narrowly to look up at the one who'd been so worried about him. That gentle smile of his was delicately formed on his lips as he looked up.
"I'm alright… see? I knew everything would be."
Haseo pulls the other even closer, embracing him tightly in a protective way. It was as if he thought that, if he didn't hold on firmly, the one he cared about most would disappear in his grasp. He lowered his mouth to the other's ear and whispered.
"I'm sorry… I should never have left Raven… Because, if I hadn't, you wouldn't have had to experience that."
The Blade Brandier blushed lightly, but relaxed and closed his eyes, leaning into his friend.
Involuntarily, the Terror of Death let Silabus go, pushing himself up to his feet, "I… I have to go now. I've been On-Line for too long." Turning around, he mumbled a farewell before logging out.
Silabus frowned; it looked like a gap had just been forged between the two of them, and they'd have to overcome their problems in order to get rid of it. Sighing, he too attempted to log out, but found that he was unable to.
Shock came over him as he clicked on the "Log Out" button several times, but it just wouldn't work. What was going to happen now? He couldn't log out! The only thing that came to mind was… go to Canard's HOME. Nodding to himself, he turned and entered the Guild HQ, hoping that he'd be able to find refuge in it the way he had so many times before.
Strange things began to happen since that little incident with the Avatars. Whenever the Blade Brandier went out to an area, unusual black spots would surround him… They really freaked him out, reminding him of the moment when he'd pushed Haseo out of the way and taken the blow meant for him. Every time this happened, he'd immediately gate back to town: the only place where those spots were least likely to show up.
A small grin came to his face as he looked down at his pink-colored Beast friend; Gaspard seemed to be in quite a cheery mood today. It was almost difficult to believe that so many terrible things had happened to him the other day.
"What're you so happy about, Gaspard?"
"Haahaa! My friend Piros the 3rd is going to come by! He told me that he was going to buy everything we have in stock at the Shop!" the pink pig-like character piped, smiling widely, "He's gonna give us lots of money, and then Haseo will probably be really happy! Do you think he'll be happy, Silabus?"
That name… Hearing that name made Silabus looked down at the ground, a frown replacing his miniscule smile, "I really don't know, to tell the truth. He doesn't seem to get outwardly happy all that easily, if you haven't noticed."
The Shadow Warlock sighed, slumping forward, "I guess you're right…"
Shrugging, he put his hands in his pockets and turned around, slowly walking off as he called over his shoulder, "I'll come back later."
The moment Silabus turned the corner toward the Harbor, Haseo had appeared. He had his arms folded as he stopped in front of Shop Acorn, an eyebrow raised.
"Hey, Gaspard. What's up with you?"
The said-Beast character snapped back to reality, hopping up as he regained his smile, "Haseo, Haseo! Remember to come back later, okay? Somebody's gonna come and buy everything!"
"Is that right…? Well, I guess I'll have to, then, huh?"
As if he could sense something, he glared over in the direction of the corner, turning around and summoning his Steam Bike, "I'll be back, then. Later."
He started up the engine and drove off in the direction of the Dome, seemingly in a hurry. This confused Gaspard, but then he turned his head to see that Silabus was back. Apparently, he'd heard the Steam Bike and automatically knew who'd been there.
"Haseo was here… wasn't he?"
The Shadow Warlock nodded sadly; what could have happened between his two best friends? Were they in a fight? Or was Haseo just being angry for no reason again? He tended to do that… When he was angry with someone, he'd take it out on they, the Canard members, without realizing it.
"I guess… he's still mad."
"Mad? What happened? Why's he mad, Silabus?"
The Blade Brandier smiled grimly, patting his friend on the head, "Nothing… Nothing at all." With that said, he turned and left again, sorrow obvious in his downcast face and posture as he walked.
"Hmm… I'd better tell Kuhn." Gaspard mumbled, writing a short message to send to the Steam Gunner.
"Haseo, good of you to come."
"Cut the crap, Kuhn. What do you want?"
The blue-haired Steam Gunner sighed desperately, "You've been acting strange lately… and so has Silabus. Did something happen with you guys?"
"No." The Terror of Death hissed venomously, folding his arms and turning around to face the fountain. Kuhn had said in an e-mail that he needed to meet up with him at Mac Anu's fountain to talk about something very important, "Nothing happened. Now, if you're done questioning me about stuff that isn't your business, I'll be going."
He was about to start walking off, when he heard a painfully familiar voice.
"Kuhn… why did you call me here?"
Haseo froze; what the hell was he doing there!? Kuhn had turned to face the young Blade Brandier, smiling down at him.
"Well, y'see…"
The Steam Gunner was forced to stop when he heard the hum of a PC near him logging out. He didn't even have to guess who it was… Shaking his head, he knew it'd be hopeless, but he tried, anyway.
"Silabus, what happened? Do you know why Haseo is avoiding you?"
The boy clad in green looked surprised, "Wait… how'd you know abou—"
"Gaspard told me that something was going on, so spill. What's going on?" Kuhn knew that if he tried to be strict about it, he'd probably get exactly what he wanted out of his young friend. It always worked with him and Gaspard.
Silabus, however, wasn't acting like himself either. He shook his head and took a step back; his head was low as he shook it silently, "He'd get even more mad at me if I told you… I'm sorry." After getting his excuse out, he turned around and hightailed it out of there.
Kuhn sighed again, "What is going on with them?" He put a finger to his chin in thought for a moment, realizing something, "Why didn't Silabus just log out, too?" Shrugging, he turned and logged out, as well.
"Haseo! There you are!" the ever-annoying Harvest Cleric exclaimed as the Adept Rogue appeared the Dome. She'd awaited him, watching him approach her, "I was wondering if you wanted to go to a field with me! Just… just the two of us." She blushed lightly.
It wasn't hard to see that Haseo was very much disgusted, and he was about to retort rudely at her when the Dome doors opened again. Out the corner of his eye, he could see a bright green-clad PC, or rather… AIDA-PC. Sighing, he nods rather involuntarily to the Moon Tree girl. Immediately, she latched herself to his left arm, clinging to him. He had an annoyed look on his face, but he got rid of it before Silabus could possibly notice it. At least this could be a way for him to forget about his friend, right?
Silabus would stop, staring at how Atoli was just hanging off of his arm… much like how the girls did with Kuhn. He could feel his heart beginning to ache… hurting his chest in a painful attempt to get him to go over there and separate the two. But the Blade Brandier knows better… he knows Haseo better than anyone else in Canard or in Moon Tree.
Haseo was trying to forget about him.
Biting his lip, something inside of him was saying, It's not true! It can't be! Beginning to walk slowly toward them, he puts on a fake smile that would surely fool Atoli. He'd pick up his hand and wave at them, calling out.
"Hey, Guys! Wait up!"
Haseo pulls Atoli closer to him and disappears. Silabus stops, frowning in a hurt way at the object of his obsession's shunning of him. Gaspard has just appeared behind him and can tell that he's trying his very hardest not to cry.
"Hey, Silabus? Are you okay?" the little pink Shadow Warlock asks worriedly, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder.
"Yea… Yea, I'm fine, Gaspard." Silabus lies, putting on that fake smile again. It might've worked on Atoli, but it sure didn't on Gaspard.
"You should go on back to Canard's HOME… you need to rest."
The Blade Brandier nods, taking his advice and leaving the Dome in favor of warping to the Mercenary District. Gaspard, however, gets straight to work on sending a message of Kuhn about how much more serious things had just gotten.
Author's Notes: Whee! I finally updated! What'cha think, Everybody? I'm trying to get the chars a little bit more IC... You probably can't tell in the beginning, but the end? X( I really can't tell, so you guys are gonna have to tell me.
I can't believe I got 28 Reviews after posting the 2nd Chapter! Please, give me lots and lots of good Reviews now that I posted the 3rd one? You will be rewarded with the 4th one if you do! ;D