Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

.hack//MASK

Login 3: Twilight

Konaru warped in at Σ Hidden Forbidden Exhibition. In front of him stood a large building. Konaru walked up to the great brass doors of the building. The image of eight deity like figures were engraved onto the door. Konaru reached his hand out to open it. "Stop!" came a voice from behind him. Konaru turned around only to see Roze standing behind him. "Why should I stop? You called me out to this place, didn't you?"
Roze looked at him seriously. "You have a decision to make....."
"Really? What kind?" Konaru asked mockingly.
"You can choose to enter this room, but once you enter, you will never be able to live like you used to."
"What? What does that mean?! Isn't this just a game?" Konaru asked.
"Or..... You can turn around now......And your profile will be deleted."
"What?! You don't have that kind of power!" Konaru said, angered. His eyes began to turn red again. Roze smirked. She was sure he was 'it'.
"I alone? No. But we do..."
"We? Who else is with you?"
"If you enter, you will soon find out...." Roze said calmly.
Konaru clenched his fist. Streams of data formed and circled around it again. "Fine. May I enter now?"
Roze smiled. "Sure, just open the door." She said as she walked up to him.
Konaru turned around and looked up at the door. He took a breath and pushed though door open. As the light from outside poured in, Konaru was able to see everything inside. A near infinite multitude of architectural styles decorated the building. Ranging from early Renaissance to Roman to Gothic. Hung upon the walls were paintings. Each one unique. But Konaru couldn't help but think they were all of something that he knew about, or had seen. He walked up to a display labeled 'Home'. As he looked into it, he saw Tokyo. But it was just any part of Tokyo. It was his home.
"Wh-what exactly is this place?! Why does this display have a picture of my home?"
Roze smiled. "Really, I dont see your home, I see mine....." She folded her arms. "Each of these exhibits comes from your heart. The exhibits look different for each person." Roze walked up to the exhibit. She looked at it knowing what it would show her. "When I look into it, I see my home in Shimokitazawa..."

Konaru folded his arms and looked away as if trying to seem unimpressed, when in actuality he found it amazing. He looked at Roze sternly. "Is this all you wanted to show me? Is this what you threatened me for?"
"No." She said softly. She walked over to a painting and looked up at it. It was titled "Desire". "Look at this and tell me what you see..." Konaru looked up at it. Infront of him was a picture he could not recognize. A shadowy figure emitting a dark aura. He analyzed it a bit. "This is one of the figures from the door!"
Roze nodded. "As I thought, you desire power, and truth...."
Konaru thrusted his hand out and grabbed her neck. "What is all this?" He said in a low angered tone. Roze pulled his hand off and moved it away. "This is the Balbol Museum. This is truth." She turned to a set of doors. She placed her hands to her chest, then pointed to the doors. "This.... Is what you desire."
Konaru walked past her and opened the doors. Inside, in the middle of the room, was the statue of a girl, bound by eight chains. Eight altars surrounded the walls of the room. Each with a painting behind it. He was only able to see one of them. It was the same figure as the one on the door, and it the last exhibit. He walked up to it. A small name plate titled it. "Terror Of Death." The altar contained nothing. It was empty. He reached his hand out as if something was really there, but there was nothing. "So that is the one you see......" Roze said as she walked in the room. "What is this." Konaru said calmly. He didnt turn around, he just stood there looking at the altar with his hand out.
"Skeith."
The name rung through his ears like a bell.
"The Terror Of Death." Konaru completed the sentence. Strands of data formed around his fist, forming a circular shape.
Roze looked surprised. "H-How did you know that?"
Konaru turned around and looked at her. "I dont know....." He looked at his hand again. The data had faded. "Why are you showing me this? What does this have to do with me.
Roze walked up to him. "Your PC hold the data for the Epitaph, The Terror Of Death, Skeith."
"Epitaph?"
Roze nodded. "The Epitaphs, or Morganna Factors, were eight monsorus creatures created by Morganna, the original 'Mother' of this world. They were defeated by Kite. But, programmers at CC Corporation attempted to recover that data. I dont know much about it, but the epitaphs were released into the worlds data and have been attaching themselves to PC's. And you seem to be one of them."
Konaru was speechless, he didn't know what to say. "I know its a lot all at once, but please try to understand....."
"And why is this so important?"
Roze didn't seem to expect that response. "Lately there have been bugs appearing around The World. Programmers and debuggers have been unable to fix them. We think the Epitaphs are the only ones able to fix it."
"How? It's not like there is anything different about my PC!"
"You need to awaken this power...."
Konaru looked at the ground. "Fine!"
Konaru began walking towards the doors.
"Where are you going?!"
"To awaken this power."

Konaru walked out to the warp point and returned to Breg Epona.

Konaru sat on the ground clutching his head. "Power....Truth...I want them....No, I need them." He slammed his fist to the ground. He sighed. "I dont even know how to awaken this power."
"What are you talking about?" Asked a familiar voice.
Konaru looked up. It was Naomi. Konaru stood up. He was only a bit taller than her. "N-Nothing..."
"Ok then...Ummm, I found out when our next match is..."
"When?"
"Four days, so I thought I would start training."
"Zenta should be back by then, so we wont need you."
Naomi looked down. "Oh...o-ok then....Ummm....If you ever need me...you have my member address....ok...well...bye..." Naomi ran off before Konaru could say anything. She stopped at the chaos gate and looked at him once before warping. Konaru kicked the ground.He felt like an a**. He walked to the Chaos Gate and chose Luminia Cloth. At least there he could let off anger.

Konaru sat in the arena watching other people fight. Konaru hadn't really been paying too much attention. He could only think about the ''power'' that was within him. He looked at his hand. He opened and closed it numerous times, but felt nothing. Then he remembered. What he had felt back in the arena. He only wanted to kill. To destroy. To have total power. He had felt that when he turned the fight around and began winning. He stood up and left the arena.
As he got out side he went to the front desk. "Sign me up for a limit battle!"
The NPC woman at the front desk nodded. "Please chose your opponent."
Konaru chose a team of three people only slightly lower leveled than him.
"Your match will soon begin." Konaru nodded. Konaru walked over to the warp point that took him into the arena.

"HEEELLLLOOOOOOOO LUMINIA CLOTH!!!!!!!!" Yelled the announcer. "On the left side we have Konaru Of The Azure Rose, from team Azure. And for some reason, he is on his own today!" Konaru wasn't paying attention to the announcer. All he was focused on was power. He didnt even care that he would most likely lose. He didnt care if his opponents figured out his weaknesses. All he wanted, was power. The announcer introduced the opposing team and he was warped to the bottom of the arena. He stood facing his opponents. His eyes were blood red. He only saw power. He only heard power. He was only focused on power.
"BEGIN!"
Konaru pulled out his scythe and dashed towards his opponent, a Harvest Cleric was chosen the team leader. Konaru didnt care all he wanted to do was cut into the opponent. Watch them die. But he was stopped. He was thrown back and then down by a water serpent. He had forgot about the team members. He had stood up, and was immediately shot back. 'Damn' Konaru thought. 'A Steam Gunner...'. Konaru was shot against the wall, and then was rained on by meteors. He stood up and looked at his opponents. Hate. Only hate. Thats all he felt towards them. "Skeith....." Tje name echoed in his head. "Skeith....Skeith....Skeith....Skeith!!" He clutched his head and closed his eyes. When he opened then, he was no longer in the arena. He was alone. That was all. Skeith..." He heard the name. "Skeith." This time he said it. "Skeith." He said it again. He felt somthing. It was like a ripple of water in his thoughts. "Skeith." "Skeith." Skeith!." Skeith!" Skeith!!" "SKEEEEEIIIITH!!!" He yelled it.
He opened his eyes. He was in the arena again. In his hand...A mask.