The Red Hand

 

The two sisters embraced each other for a while longer. Kana's lingering doubts about her sister had vanished, and Akagi was comforted in the knowledge that her sister still loved her. On this night, the bond between the two was tested, and, yet again, it was proven to be unshakable. As far as Kana was concerned, Akagi's appearance didn't matter; as long as she was still her sister, she didn't care how scary she looked.

Akagi separated from Kana. "Do you feel better now?" she said petting her head.

"Yes, I do." She looked up at her sister and smiled. "I think all that crying made me thirsty though." she chuckled.

Akagi smiled. "Well then, take a seat, I think I've got something you'll like." Akagi reached into her item storage and pulled out a teapot, some cups, and some black tea leaves. The two sisters sat at the table as Akagi began to pour water into the pot with her magic.

"Is that tea?" Kana asked leaning in to smell the leaves. "It's strong." she pulled away from the smell. Kana wasn't one to like especially strong or bitter tea.

Akagi chuckled. "Trust me, the leaves are pretty pungent, but I've never had better." Akagi lit a small fire around the pot to bring the water to a boil.

"It's called Black Ash. At least that's what the game called it. Apparently, it came from a Japan Esque nation in FWO." Akagi said sitting down. "That area wasn't in the Alpha, so I never got to visit it, and as a result, this tea was super rare," she told Kana the price it cost.

"That's absurd!" the amount Akagi had paid was crazy high. "Why would you pay so much for tea leaves?" 

Akagi could only shrug. "I have far more money than I could ever hope to use, Kana. So even paying that much didn't really matter. Besides, you know me, if it's something rare in a game, I want it."

Not much later, the teapot gave off a whistle.

"It's done." Akagi dispelled the fire. "Now we give it a minute to cool and it will be ready."

"You seem used to this. I know you cooked for yourself most of the time at home, but you rarely made tea. Was it something you drank often?" Kana asked while pulling a teacup over to her.

"Kind of," Akagi answered. "You know me, I still prefer coffee to tea, but the developers didn't really share my love of the stuff. Much of what you could drink that wasn't alcohol was tea, any of the coffee they did have was....." Akagi's face contorted to look like she just ate something very sour.

"So rather than drink that nasty stuff, I began to experiment with tea and this stuff was the best I could find. Although I usually just drank sake to be honest." Akagi's love of the drink was quite well-known among players.

"Never thought you would be a drinker, but I guess that goes with the whole Taisho Era motif you have going." Kana chuckled. "You have no idea how many of my classmates have asked about your outfit."

Akagi shrugged. "If you think that tea costs crazy money, remind me never to tell you what I paid for these clothes. I think your head might explode."

“Based on how Naomi reacted, you're probably right.” Kana shook her head.

After a few minutes, the tea had cooled to an acceptable level, and Akagi poured a cup for the two of them. Kana took a sip and was floored by just how good it was. "This is amazing! It's got to be the best tea I've ever had! Just how could something from a game taste this good?" Kana was amazed by its quality.

"That is an excellent segue into something I wanted to discuss with you," Akagi said while drinking the tea. "But first, Kana, I need you to keep what I'm about to tell you between us. Yumi and the others are aware but don't speak about it to anyone else. You never know who is listening." Akagi warned.

Kana nodded.

Akagi set her cup down. "At the very end of the game, right after the system listed statistics, things like which player killed the most monsters or which one had the highest bounty on them.”

“I presume you had the highest bounty?” Kana chuckled.

Akagi replied with a smile. “But that wasn't all, it also stated that one player became a "Limit Breaker."

"A limit breaker? That sounds like it had something to do with level caps in a game." Kana theorized.

"You might think that; however, FWO's alpha had no such thing." Akagi reached into her storage space and pulled out a small notebook. "The in-game status page wasn't exactly a bastion of clarity, at times it was outright deceitful, so most of us began writing our own notes." she placed the notebook on the table.

"This little book is a record of everything I found out about FWO. I took great care to be as thorough as possible in my recordings." she looked at Kana. "There is nothing in here to suggest a level cap or tell me what limit breaker means."

Kana was confused. "So what does that mean? Was it just something so obscure that even you couldn't find it." Kana couldn't believe something existed in the game that even her sister knew nothing about.

"That brings me back to what I said a moment ago." She put the book back into her storage. "I said that the system informed us that one player became a limit breaker, right?" Akagi continued. "That one player was me."

"So what does that mean? Did the game tell you anything else?" Kana asked.

"No, it didn't." Akagi shook her head. "But, just before we were logged out, the system sent a personal message to me." Akagi relayed what that message had said.

"Who is Mizumi? Is that the person behind all this!" Kana said, almost jumping out of her chair.

"I have no clue, but whoever they are, they had the power to make things in the game real." Akagi had no idea who this person was. "However, I think the reason that I was classified as a limit breaker is most likely because I merged with that Shadow Lord. That's the only thing I can think of that sets me apart from other players." (Akagi)

"I mean, wasn't that just a special event? One that triggered because you met its conditions?" Kana wasn't sure what Akagi meant. It was common for MMOs or other games to have special boss fights or events for players to find.

"No, it was not," Akagi responded immediately. "Hishya and I did some digging. We spoke to multiple players who had interacted with that quest, and even got a few to complete it later." Akagi stuck out her hand, changing it into an inky black form.

"In the game, something like this should have been impossible, Kana. It went against the very rules of the system itself." Akagi continued while changing her hand into various forms. "Normally, any ability that changes your shape is limited in some way. For example, Hishya's ability to transform into a dragon had time limits."

"Ehhh? Hishya is a dragon?" Kana didn't know this.

"Yes, she is. I forgot you didn't know that." Akagi chuckled as she returned her hand to normal. "Hishya was a tank and a heavy damage dealer with magic that she used up close and personal. She eventually became what was called a Star Human; an upgraded human in lore terms." Akagi shrugged. Ascended humans were standard fair in games.

"So she can turn into a dragon? Like a full-on flying, fire-breathing dragon?" Kana was genuinely curious.

"She can. However, in the game, it was only for a limited time, and generally, it wasn't that great of an idea against boss monsters." Akagi pointed out its limitation. "Against cannon fodder though, she could roast entire armies."

Akagi continued. "The transformation wasn't the important part. Instead, she benefited from many important status improvements, and, most importantly, she could temporarily stun enemies with her frightful presence skill." Akagi recalled the battle of Hassan, and how Hishya stunned the massive monster army.

"That sounds strong. So why didn't more people try to become dragons in the game? Was it limited to just one person?" Kana knew enough about games to understand just how powerful something like this was.

"There were others who attempted the quest so it wasn't like it was impossible for others to become dragons. However, it was extremely difficult and basically suicidal. Hishya only pulled it off because she's crazy like I am." Akagi smiled.

{Is it sad that I would be lying if I refuted her.} Kana laughed in her head.

Kana had a sudden realization. "Wait, then does that mean Hishya can turn into a dragon now!" the thought of a real-life Kaiju was worrisome.

"Probably, and I wouldn't be shocked if the time limit was gone too seeing as some of the game limitations on my powers have vanished." Akagi poured a second cup of tea. “However, I haven't seen news about a massive European dragon in the skies of Tokyo, so I doubt she's flaunting that ability.”

"So, how's Hishya's ability different from yours? Aren't they just game transformation abilities?" Kana couldn't see how they were much different.

"Kana, remember, I said that my real form is actually a living shadow." Akagi stood up and smiled at Kana. "Don't freak out I'm going to revert back to my shadow form, ok?"

Akagi's form dissolved before Kana's eyes. Where she was standing just a moment ago was a writhing mass of shadow. Kana knew this was still her sister, but she couldn't help but feel a twinge of fear in her mind.

"Are you ok? Is this too much?" the shadow asked in her sister's voice.

"I'm ok. It's just.... going to take some getting used to, is all." Kana gave a wry smile. "But, um. Why did you change into your shadow form?" Hearing her sister's voice come from a black mass of shadow would take some getting used to.

"Because doing this was the best way to explain things," Akagi replied. "You asked me how this was different from what Hishya could do. Well, it's simple; in-game THIS became my default state." Akagi moved further away from the table so Kana could see her entirely.

Her appearance was that of a writhing black mass of shadow. She appeared to be a cross between a liquid and solid. She was squishy, like dough, when touched, but when she moved her entire body flowed like water.

"There's no ability to activate, no cool-down to watch, nothing. I can change my shape between my usual appearance or this at will." the shadow Akagi began to coalesce into a humanoid shape. "This was not something that should have been possible within the game's logic." Akagi finished transforming and now had the appearance of a girl that looked like she belonged in Kana's class.

“There we go, I think I got it right. Although, I may have made a mistake or two, after all its been four years.” Akagi said with an much younger and more immature sounding voice.

"Ehhh!" Kana stood up in shock. “Onee-chan, you... you can turn back?!?”

Akagi transformed into an appearance Kana had known for her entire life. It was her original form before FWO. She even opted to change into her familiar school uniform. Kana had no idea this was possible.

"I can change my appearance into anyone I've seen; and much, much more," Akagi said in her original voice. “Of course, that includes my original appearance as well. Should I turn into you next?” she asked playfully.

Kana was stunned. She never imagined she would get to see Rishia again.

“Don't get used to it.” Akagi warned. “Looking like this feels wrong, it makes me uncomfortable to be like this, so I doubt you'll see it much.” her face told Kana that staying like this would be mentally taxing.

Kana got up and walked over to Akagi. “Is, is this some kind of illusion?” she asked while poking her in the face.

"It's an illusion in that its a false body, but, as you can see, it's corporeal." Akagi replied with a smile. "This is why I think I was considered a Limit Breaker." she walked over to the table and sat back down. "Every ability or power had some drawback or cost in FWO." she said as she poured another cup of tea.

"For example, Hishya's dragon form could only be maintained for about an hour, and she would need to wait three days to use it again. However, I don't have to worry about any of that." Akagi explained. "Since my real form is the shadow, I can transform back and forth as much as I want, for as long as I want."

"So the difference is that, while you became the shadow permanently, Hishya could only temporarily become a dragon?" Kana had figured out what Akagi was getting at.

"Bingo," Akagi confirmed. "Transforming into a non-humanoid creature, temporarily, was possible in the game rules, but permanently becoming one shouldn't have been possible. It was clear that the devs didn't want to deal with all the psychological issues that would come from long term use of a non-human body." The human mind did not take well to being crammed in a completely different body type. Most people couldn't handle it so games would limit it to only small amounts of time to reduce the chance of issues.

"But wait. How could you do something that went against the game?" Kana asked. "FWO was still just a game; it had pre-programmed rules. No matter how flexible it was, you still should have been limited by what the developers made possible." Kana asked.

{And what does it mean that you seem not to be affected by having your entire body changed; if you can even call a living shadow a body. Is it because Onee-chan's mind was already broken once?} (Kana)

"I don't know," Akagi said flatly. "But I do know that whatever gave me this power was most certainly not made by the developers." Akagi continued. "At present, my theory is that whoever caused this incident is likely some sort of supernatural being." (Akagi)

"You mean like a god?" Kana asked in disbelief.

{Do gods even exist? And if they did, why would one trap people in a game and give them powers? It makes no sense.} Kana was unconvinced.

"Yumi used to be a priestess before I recruited her. I picked her brain, and we both agreed it was the only thing that made sense. The only other possibility that we came up with was that some insanely powerful mage did it, but the amount of magic to pull this off would be ridiculous." Akagi said. "Neither of us recognized the name Mizumi as a god, either in this world or the game." Akagi shrugged.

"If it really was a god." Kana paused. "Why would they do something like this?"

"I honestly don't know Kana," Akagi said while looking at the night sky.