[F29 | SP] [EV] A Bottle a Day, Part 2 | <<Fatal Error>>

[Acanthus 0]

Continued from <<A Bottle a Day>>

Everything was normal. And that wasn't normal at all.

Haru's heart monitor beeped steadily. The birds outside chirped, crowed, and sang just like songbirds should: there was no cackling, no rumbling, nor chittering from any fantastic, oversized creatures. Taeko Onuki  gently accompanied the birds, smooth pop playing through the radio by Haru's bedside. And a clean, antiseptic scent clung to the sheets. The same smell that clung to Haru every day she returned home from work. Every part of the room was familiar, and everything she saw felt like the world she had left behind. The only trace of her adventure seared itself into the corner of her vision. That faint outline of an empty health bar reminded her that her journey back to reality was more than a fantasy.

I'm not home. The thought formed involuntarily, another fact received and processed by her mind. It looks like home. It smells like home. But I'm not there.

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Acanthus | Lvl 72 (34/38) | No stats (RP thread)

[Acanthus 0]

Despite what her mind regarded as absolute truth, her heart ached with emotion. She would take whatever solace the hallucination offered her. Exhaling, she closed her eyes, ready to remain as long she was allowed.

<<You have a visitor.>>

The pleasant, neutral voice piped directly into her brain, and Haru's eyes snapped open. She accepted the disembodied voice without question or curiosity, and simply trained her eyes on the door, waiting for her guest.

A young girl entered the room. She looked remarkably like a young Haru, although Acanthus remained certain that she was not. The girl wore a plain brown dress the color of tree bark, and a small persimmon bow. She used Haru's voice to speak a simple command.

"You're not done."

Acanthus wanted to respond, but her mouth refused to move. "You still have so much left to do. You are not ripe." The girl’s voice shifted disconcertingly as she trailed off. As she spoke, Acanthus tried looking away to focus her mind on the soothing sounds and smells of the room, not this stranger who stood at the foot of her bed. Just as Acanthus’ mouth refused to move, her eyes remained locked on the girl.

"You have to save me. Save us. The people of Aincrad." Acanthus rocked the bed, thrashing violently against invisible restraints. No, stop it. Let me go home. Let me stay here. Please, I want to go home.

[Acanthus 0]

The little girl shook her head and repeated herself. "You're not done. I need you." Both pairs of eyes brimmed with tears. "I need you to find <<The Root>>."

The demand sparked a sudden wave of anger. I'm not going. Find it yourself. But the little girl again shook her head. "I can't. I'm not allowed to. It has to be a person… like you."

I don't care! If Acanthus could have spoke, she would have been screamed. The intrusion disrupted her peaceful kingdom. The room itself rebelled against the girl: every step she took made the fantasy waver. Acanthus' peaceful surroundings slipped into a digital mist as the girl walked around the foot of the bed, her hand outstretched. You stupid girl, Acanthus shouted in her mind. Let me stay! Let me stay right here, you little—"

The girl placed her palm on Acanthus' cheek, and pressed a finger into the place where the NerveGear's power button should be. With a mechanical click, the fantasy vanished.