volieredeatori | .hack//Reparation, chapter 8 (Reply)

.hack//Reparation
Chapter 8 - Prophecy

******

Ring. Ring.

Ring. Ring.

Ring. Ri--

Click.

Long dark hair fell to the side, shaken away from the ear now occupied by the receiver of a small cell phone. "Saeki speaking."

"It took you a while to pick up. Busy?" The voice on the other end was amused, knowing full well the answer to that question, and upon receiving the expected dry snort in response the caller continued on. "We finally have a result. I'm impressed, honestly, that it took this long even with Kigashita's help to crack her code and find out what happened. AIDA really is an amazing thing, don't you think? - but in any case, I think this is something you'll want to see firsthand. Log in and come to the Serpent of Lore. Secure connection."

Slender fingers were already flying over the keyboard, slightly-too-long nails clicking on the keys. "Secure connection? You really don't want to take any chances, do you?"

"Would you?"

"Touché." Amusement tinged the word. "I'm securing it now. I'll be there shortly."

"Good. I'll be waiting."

Click.

~*~

"My god." Pi adjusted her glasses on her nose, nudging them up and leaning closer to the screen as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing. "You're certain this data is correct? An anomaly like this..." She shook her head slowly in wonder, glanced to the dark-skinned man at her side, who stared impassively at the lines of code rotating lazily in the air before them. "...Master Yata, what does this mean? Avatars and AIDA...this data is telling a story I'm not sure I have the capacity to understand."

Yata folded his arms, looking deep in thought. "This is a story The World itself may never understand," he mused and almost smiled, but it was quickly gone to his normal unreadable expression. "Peaceful AIDA that travels freely through the system, unencumbered by anything. A lost Avatar, drifting in the Sea of Data and sustaining itself on the remnants of aggressive AIDA left behind. And when the two meet..." His arms unfolded and he moved a hand, controlling one screen to temporarily blank out and then display what appeared to be a stylized representation of some sort of atomic fusion, the resulting blinding flash causing Pi to gasp and throw an arm over her eyes. "A reaction occurs that has never before been seen in The World. AIDA absorbs the Avatar, and the merging of data results in a completely new type of AI - an AIDA Epitaph-PC." The image changed as he spoke, shifting to a blob of AIDA writhing madly as if it were in pain, stretching and bending itself into a shadowy humanlike form. "The system itself warps, twists - perhaps that is what caused the appearance of a new Lost Ground. The birthplace of an entirely new PC. The birthplace of the Epitaph User Mia."

Pi shook her head; her ponytails swayed disbelievingly. "...Do you think she knows?"

"I doubt it. She is, in the end, just a child." Now Yata did smile, letting the screens go completely blank and turning away from them. "Would you ask any child to understand the mechanics of their birth? The first fusion of DNA, the multiplication of cells? In time, she may learn, but the most important thing right now is that she exists - not the reason why. One mystery solved, we may now progress to the next, and begin the process of awakening her Avatar. It may be best to give her contact with other Avatars first, to reassure her that what happened with Skeith will not happen again."

"Is that why you're letting her roam the system freely?" No matter how hard she tried, Pi couldn't stop the hint of vinegar that crept into her otherwise-bland tone, showing what she thought of the risk of letting AIDA into the Serpent of Lore.

Yata almost smirked, covered it with a cough. "Hm. Perhaps."

~*~

She vaguely understood they were only doing what they had to do to protect her, but even despite that, Mia couldn't help but be incredibly bored. Wandering Net Slum, at first, had held untold thrills and surprises around every corner, but being the curious thing that she was, she had quickly wrung every drop of potential to find anything new out of her surroundings and had instead taken to drifting within the game parameters and other related systems instead. True, it was unproductive, but she didn't honestly know of much else she could do - she couldn't leave the area and playing with the incomplete AIs was only entertaining for so long, so being unproductive it was...even if she did wish for something to break the monotony, something to make her really think and exercise her potential.

So when she sensed an unfamiliar presence within the systems of the Serpent of Lore, she pounced not-quite-literally on the opportunity and hurried to explore.

There was a...rather strange being there, at the very heart of the system. Its bottom half resembling some sort of pedestal, petal-like protrusions along the top edge giving it the appearance of an odd flower from which a twisted, thin "body" with detached arms and skull-like head rose, it hovered with its hands pressed together as if in prayer and seemed not to notice her approach. Indescribably curious, but still exercising caution - she was far from stupid and could easily sense the power given off by this thing - she hovered closer, drifted uncertainly in the streams of data several feet away and watched with eyes flat and almost lifeless; she thought for a short while that she had gone successfully undetected until the head turned to face her and a deep voice echoed - "AIDA, in the Serpent of Lore?"

She froze; held her figurative breath and went very, very still.

"...Yet you seem no threat." The being swiveled to face her, rotating at the waist yet staying utterly still below, and scrutinized her through the holes of its eyes. "Fear not, child. I know of you - the AIDA that carries an Avatar, the young one pulled mercilessly into a conflict far beyond comprehension. Indeed, you are no threat; you have nothing to fear from a mere prophet such as myself." The hands finally moved, and the being bowed sharply at the waist, arms spreading wide. "You may know of me as well. The fourth Phase, Fidchell the Prophet - yes, child, an Avatar I most certainly am, and a terribly important prophecy I have for you."

The almost-soulless eyes seemed to bore into her, as if asking her whether she would accept this prophecy, and when she gave no hints to the contrary Fidchell seemed to chuckle and bowed once more. "Very good, very good. Now listen closely, child, and carry these words to the Avenger exactly as I speak them. 'The shadow descends, and with it comes deception. From this is born a new prophecy, a plan that tempts the soul to vengeance to be reborn of darkness.' No, say nothing," and a finger raised as Mia opened her mouth. "I know what you have been told. Carry these words first to the boy whose orders you follow, then carry them to the Avenger. Trust in me, child, just as I trust in you."

"I don't...understand," Mia whispered, but Fidchell's stare brooked no argument, and slowly her head lowered in acceptance of the task as she turned to leave the system.

As she had been told, she spoke first to Zelkova, and much to her surprise he offered no protest - he merely opened a gate through which she could go, and go she did, though with much hesitation. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it led straight into the Moon Circle, and naturally Enoki was there - he seemed to be staring off into space, but when he turned and looked at Mia, he was unsurprised (and even glad, she thought with some surprise as she gazed at him) to see her standing there. "Mia," he said softly, and moved towards her, looking straight at the turquoise eyes in which slitted pupils had faded immediately into view when she had neared him. "Zelkova's told me some of the story, but--"

"Words," Mia interrupted him slowly, normal speech failing her inside of the game parameters. "Words...from Prophet...to Avenger."

And haltingly, though doing her best to repeat them exactly, she spoke the words she had been given.

Enoki listened carefully, but when she had finished, he seemed just as confused as she had been on hearing the words. "I'm not sure that I..." he started, but then something odd came into his eyes and he gave Mia a long, piercing stare. "Where did you say these words came from again? Can you explain?"

She frowned at him, looked frustrated. "Prophet," she said again, sighed heavily when Enoki shook his head to say that wasn't what he meant and struggled to understand. "Words...from Prophet. Phase. Fidchell," she managed at last, stumbling over the name as she spoke it, but to see Enoki's eyes light up with realization was worth it - and the sudden hug he gave her, a hand rubbing tenderly behind her ears and making her purr, was even more so. "Enoki...knows? Enoki will tell?" she questioned, that all she could say around the waves of delight.

"The Avatars." Enoki let go of her, a bit reluctantly, and began to pace. "'The shadow descends, and with it comes deception. From this is born a new prophecy, a plan that tempts the soul to vengeance to be reborn of darkness.' I'm so stupid - I should have seen it sooner." He laughed, a strained sound, putting a hand to his head and not seeming to notice Mia's utterly confused expression. "The Prophet. A prophecy. It can't mean anything else..."

Before she knew what she was doing, Mia reached out and gripped the hem of Enoki's shirt, giving an irritated tug. "Mia...doesn't understand! Make Mia understand!"

Enoki paused, looked down at the hand, then up at Mia's petulant expression - it was so easy to forget that despite her appearance, she was really just a child. "I'm sorry. Listen closely, Mia. It's hard to explain." When she let go of him, her ears pricking up, he began to pace again, closing his eyes as if it would help him remember. "The Phases...the Avatars. There's eight of them in all, and you can shape them into a circle of sorts - a circle named by that prophecy Fidchell gave to you. 'The shadow' is Skeith, the Terror of Death - the first Phase. 'Deception' - the second Phase, Innis the Mirage of Deceit. 'From this is born' refers to the third Phase, Magus the Propagation. The 'prophecy' is of course the fourth Phase, Fidchell the Prophet. 'A plan' - the fifth Phase, Gorre the Machinator. 'Tempts the soul' - the sixth Phase, Macha the Temptress. 'Vengeance' - the seventh Phase, Tarvos the Avenger." A hand went to his chest and he smiled bitterly. "And finally, 'reborn' - the eighth Phase, Corbenik the Rebirth. From there, it comes back to 'darkness' - to Skeith - and the circle starts anew." His pacing stopped, his hand lowering as he looked at Mia. "Do you understand, now?"

Mia's eyes had blanked, pupils vanishing; she spoke perfectly clear, her voice barely above a whisper. "And when they gather, one must fall."

"One must fall? Mia, what...?" Enoki's face wore puzzlement, warring with surprise at her sudden fluency, a feeling tugging at him that something beyond his comprehension had gripped Mia's mind just long enough to impart a terribly important statement to him - and the feeling only grew when she shook her head, blinked in confusion and focused on him with eyes once more bright and full of depth. "...Mia understands," she finally nodded, and Enoki realized she had no idea she had said anything at all. Something told him that was for the best, however, and he forced a smile and rubbed behind her ears once more before thanking her, somewhat reluctantly sending her back to Net Slum and feeling as though a crushing weight had descended on his shoulders once he was alone again. It was too much to handle at the moment, and quite frankly, he didn't feel up to facing it, to figuring out what those words had been meant to mean so the weight would lift away.

...Forgive me, he thought, closing his eyes tightly and logging out. It was far past time for a break, anyway.

~*~

"...One must fall." A pencil in her hand, Karen chewed on her lip, idly sketching out rough figures in the margins of her programming notes and finding herself unsurprised when the figures seemed to take on the forms of the different Avatars all on their own. She supposed she should have known it wouldn't leave her alone even when she logged out, but at least the weight of the words was easier to bear now, and that would have to be enough. "When they gather, one must fall. One what? What's gathering, anyway? I feel like there's something obvious just outside of my reach and it's annoying!"

Letting the pencil drop, she fell back to sprawl on her bed and stare up at the ceiling, losing herself in thought and not noticing when her cell phone began to insistently chime until she sat up to return to working on her notes. "Huh? Oh, my phone...don't tell me Kasuga forgot our assignment again," she groaned, rolling her eyes at the thought of her absentminded classmate, reaching for her phone and shaking her King Chim Chim phone strap out of the way. "Honestly, can't she go a day...without..."

Her voice trailed off, eyes widening, when she saw who had sent the message.

Fifteen minutes later, as per the instructions in the message, she found herself at the swings in the park near her apartment building, and absently sat down on one of the creaky old seats to take out her phone and once more survey the message. There's someone I want you to meet - please be at the park by your apartment in twenty minutes. He'll meet you there. -Zelkova she read silently to herself, chewing on her lip again (and making a mental note to try and break herself of that nervous habit) as she wondered exactly how Zelkova had gotten hold of her cell phone number. It wasn't so much that she minded him having it - she really didn't - but she was getting that feeling again that Zelkova knew far more than any of them could even begin to comprehend, and she couldn't help but wonder if somehow he was orchestrating another grand plan behind the scenes. "That'd be just like him. First the Harvest Moon Festival, then the Descendants, now whatever this is? Just how much does he..."

"Don't you know there's such a thing as talking too much, even to yourself?" a voice interrupted from behind her, cheerfully amused.

"Ah!" Startled, Karen nearly fell from the swing, stumbling to her feet while tucking her phone away and turning to face an unfamiliar young man, around her own age, alarmingly pale and thin but nonetheless giving her a bright, lively smile. "I'm sorry, I was just thinking out loud - you must be the person Zelkova wanted me to meet, right? I'm--"

He smiled wider, interrupted her again. "Karen Karasaki. Or should I say...Enoki, of the Wandering Souls guild?"

How...? But just as she opened her mouth to ask, she realized where she'd heard his first words to her before, and the realization left her reeling so harshly she almost didn't hear his own introduction.

"My name is Keyaki Kigashita. But I think you'd know me better as Zelkova."