.Hack//Epitaph of Twilight Volume1 Prologue

Prologue//Fragment

As the curtain of night fell, a thick fog rolled in and obscured the scene. There, surrounded by a deafening silence was the Alba Lake, located at the center of the world. And at the heart of that lake, rising from still waters, stood a cathedral of unknown origins. Who built it there, and when? Why in this place, and for what purpose?

Its name was the only thing that was certain: Hulle Granz Cathedral.

And on this night – in this place rumored to have existed since ancient times – an unprecedented meeting was soon to take place. Helba, the Queen of Darkness had sent out the call. And Apeiron, the King of Light, had answered. They were leaders of the world’s two greatest powers, and their relationship with one another was one of unending conflict. 

―They shared a long history. Long before the birth of men, in the throes of twilight at the end of the tenth month, the lands and skies gave rise to spirits. That was who they were. And divided as they were between Light and Darkness, from the moment they were born, they have fought in order for one to dominate the other. It was during that conflict that humans were born with whom they could not coexist. For although they appeared the same, humans had shadows, and spirits did not. And when humans realized this difference, they began to oppress those who had no shadows. Many of their fellows were hunted down or disappeared entirely. And for a time, it seemed that this three-way war would continue on without end…… but the spirits knew that their defeat was inevitable. For while the birth of new spirits were seldom, humans could multiply constantly. And so together, the spirits established a world for themselves far away from the humans, and since then, the war between Light and Darkness entered a lull.

So why then did the leaders of Light and Darkness – even during this lull – decide to have a meeting now?

Because now the spirits were on the verge of extinction, about to be crushed by a calamity known as the Cursed Waves. Having taken on the literal form of a wave, they crashed through their world, and the spirits had no means with which to fight back. It came out of nowhere, swallowed up everything in its path, and then pull back, leaving nothing in its wake.

And it was for this reason that Helba sent these words: [I would like to discuss the Twilight Dragon and the Cursed Waves……]

If not for that, Apeiron would never have answered Helba’s summons this night.

“It could still be a trap.”

However, Apeiron’s retainer, Fili the White, was still troubled. Yet despite his fears, Apeiron prepared himself to venture out to the Hulle Granz Cathedral.

The Twilight Dragon Helba spoke of was a creature that could save them all from the Cursed Waves. Whether it truly existed or not, they had to take immediate action if they hoped to survive.

In this world, there was a legend about the Twilight Dragon. All spirits knew of it…… as did the humans. No one knew for certain if it was true, but as of now, the spirits had no choice but to believe in it.

[When the Cursed Waves appear, three shadow-bearers will set out in search of the Twilight Dragon that will save the world of spirits.]

“……ra.”

Faintly, I heard someone’s voice.

“……Lara.”

Someone was calling for me; someone with a warm and gentle voice.

Slowly, I rubbed my eyes to shake off my drowsiness.

“We’re almost there now, Lara.” I had fallen asleep in the passenger’s seat, so Papa woke me up.

“Sorry, I fell asleep.”

Papa smiled. “It’s nothing to apologize for.”

“Are you sure…… I made you bring me along, but I still fell asleep. I feel like I should apologize.”

“That’s alright. To be honest, I’m glad you tagged along with me.”

I smiled. Whenever Papa was happy, I felt happy, too.

“It’s been a so long since I’ve seen Uncle Harald.”

“A while?! But you–”

“Wait, haven’t I met him before?!”

“No, not really. I haven’t been to visit since you were very small, Lara.”

“Oh, I see.”

“So, you wouldn’t really remember him from that far back.” Papa laughed. “But I do remember him looking at you with wonder.”

“Wonder……?”

“You had just been born. I don’t think he’d ever seen a baby before.”

“But we see babies all over the place, don’t we?”

“Well, I guess so.”

I would be fourteen this year. To Papa and any other adults, I would still be considered a child, but I was already starting to feel more like a grown-up. I wasn’t an adult yet, but I wasn’t a child anymore, either; I was somewhere in the middle.

“Then, I guess I’m looking forward to meeting him properly.” I amended my earlier statement as I stretched and rolled down the car window.

The scent of grass wafted into the car with humid air. It was different from the scent of the sea breeze I was familiar with near the coastline, but it was still pleasant. I lived by the sea, so I took in a deep breath, taking in the new, unfamiliar scents of the forest and soil around me.

“By the way, did you check the boards again yesterday?” Papa asked, and I turned back to see he was still looking ahead as he drove.

One time, Papa had gotten distracted by a conversation and scrapped the car against a wall. And ever since then, he’s made sure he always has his eyes forward while driving. Even at red lights, no matter how much he talked, he wouldn’t look away. Sometimes it looked like he was talking to the windshield instead of me.

“Yeah, but I didn’t find anything new. It’s been too long since the original site went down. I’m not sure what to search for to find the full text anymore.”

“The ‘Epitaph of Twilight’, hmm?” Papa muttered while watching the road.

I had been staying up late recently to look into the ‘Epitaph of Twilight’― a web novel by a woman named Emma Wieland. She had been an amateur novelist, but the premise of the story was this:

The Epitaph of Twilight― in it, the world of shadowless spirits was being destroyed by the Cursed Waves and on the brink of extinction. The waves came suddenly, and they had no way to fight back. In desperation, the King of Light, Apeiron, and the Queen of Darkness, Helba, formed an alliance.

In their world, there was a legend that said: “When the waves appear, three shadow-bearers will set out to find the Twilight Dragon.”

The story began with one of the shadow-bearers – a girl known as the Little Witch living in a windmill shed in a wheat field – rescuing a shadowless stag.

The girl believed in the legend and set out to find the Twilight Dragon with four others. Fili, a spirit from the Lands of Light, Bith, a spirit from the Lands of Darkness, and two other shadow-bearers.

Unfortunately though, the story was left unfinished. Emma Weiland had died in an accident before she could complete her work.

And now that she was gone, the story had been swallowed up by the sea of the internet. And unfortunately, no one had thought to save the works of an unknown, hobbyist writer, so it was difficult to determine which versions of the story were original and which were edits.

The Epitaph of Twilight I had at the moment only covered the early portions of their journey, and was still missing several pieces. Some of the chapters were complete, but many only had summaries of their events.

I had begun reading this little-known novel after I heard about Emma Weiland from an online bulletin board.

Emma Weiland had led an extraordinary life, (having had a dispute over a huge inheritance while also being involved with a man 20 years older than her!) And it seemed that just before her accident, she had become obsessed with anthroposophy.

She was like the main character of some dramatic tragedy.

At least, that was what I thought when I’d read about her. It was surprising to find people like that in real life.

And because someone as extraordinary as that had written a novel, I ended up feeling compelled to look into it.

As for anthroposophy― it was a philosophical study on matters of the soul and human will that could not be explained by normal science. It also argued that things like psychic powers and reincarnation were real, but that part sounded more far-fetched to me.

“There it is.”

Papa pointed to one of the family houses built along the forest, and I followed his gaze. The one he pointed out looked abandoned. It was the only one with an unkempt lawn, and seemed somehow dark despite the sunlight.

“……Uncle Harald lives there?”

Papa gave me a placating smile when he noticed my frown.

“He does, he just isn’t taking good care of it.”

“Is that because he lives on his own……?”

“Well, I’m sure he’s busy with work.”

I took a look around. All the other houses were beautifully maintained, with perfectly mowed lawns and freshly painted fences. And even from the car, I thought I could hear laughter coming from some of them.

Compared to them, Uncle Harald’s house stood in stark contrast, sitting at the end of the road.

I knew that my uncle – Papa’s younger brother – was a famous programmer. He was an amazing engineer with connections all over the world, and apparently shared the same passion for anthroposophy that Emma had.

Once, Papa had said, “It’s amazing that he can stay on the cutting edge of technology and still make time in his life for philosophy.” But he had a bitter smile when he’d said it, so I didn’t feel like he meant it.

The truth was the Uncle Harald had been out of touch for months now. He seemed to be obsessed with something, working on it day and night.

Papa was worried, and I happened to overhear him saying that he would go see him despite living so far away. Then I felt worried about Papa driving out so far on his own (I guess Papa and I were both worrywarts) ……but I was also curious to know more about my uncle, so I decided to tag along.

“Well, let’s go.” Papa parked in front of the house and hurried me along.

I came to stand before an ivy-covered door with Papa. He reached out to press the old-fashioned doorbell, but it might have been broken, because the button got stuck and didn’t pop back out.

“Is he not home?”

Papa tilted his head, then forced the doorbell back out to press it again. Before he could however― the door opened with a creaking sound.

“……Who is it?”

For just a moment, I felt like running.

A tall, lanky man leaned out from behind the door, then looked at Papa and down at me.

“It’s you, huh……?” That man – my uncle – muttered in recognition of his brother.

“Yep. And since I’ve taken the trouble to come all the way out here, don’t go making this difficult for me, okay?”

Uncle Harald looked at me again with a look of annoyance. We obviously weren’t welcome here, but I greeted him politely anyways. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Lara Hoerwick.”

“……?” But Uncle Harald looked confused and quietly turned to Papa for an explanation.

“She’s my daughter. You came to see her when she was born.”

Uncle Harald stared at me with a blank expression like he was struggling to remember the occasion.

He had long silver hair falling over a haunted expression. Yet behind his amber eyes, his intelligence still shown through.

Papa had the same silver hair, but other than that, I wouldn’t have guessed that they were brothers. It wasn’t that he looked old, but if I had been told he was a more distant relative…… it would have been easier to believe. They were just too different from each other.

I felt like I might be staring too much, so I tried smiling up at Uncle Harald to not seem rude, though it didn’t seem to work very well.

Then Uncle Harald met my gaze as he turned away from Papa. He didn’t remember me, but that probably wasn’t surprising. I had been a baby last time he saw me, so I must look completely different now.

“……Well, alright then. Come on in.”

With that, Uncle Harald stepped back into the house. Then I caught Papa’s eye while his back was turned and whispered, “Papa, I don’t think he wants me here.”

“That’s just the kind of guy he is. You shouldn’t worry about it too much, Lara.”

“Oh…… maybe he’s upset because we showed up out of nowhere.”

“If that were the case, he wouldn’t have invited us in.”

“……Are you sure it’s okay for us to go inside?”

From what I could see from the doorway, the interior of the house was dim – like a haunted house. But Papa just smiled wryly.

“A bit late to go wait in the car, don’t you think? Come on.” He said, then stepped inside without me.

At the end of the hall, Uncle Harald looked back and I felt our eyes meet. And for another moment, I felt scared again.

(What…… what in the world does he do here?)

While my thought were still swirling, I realized Papa was moving further down the hall.

“Wait up!” I hurried after him, then, “Woah……”

Suddenly, I realized that the inside of the house was much tidier compared to the outside. I’d worried the place would be covered in dust and cobwebs, but the living room was perfectly clean and surprisingly – I saw picture up on the cupboard. Everything else in the room looked state-of-the-art, including the TV and audio setup.

“It’s surprisingly clean in here.” Papa said to Uncle Harald as he sat down on the leather sofa in the living room.

And stepping into the kitchen off the living room, Uncle Harald laughed at the comment.

“Come sit down, Lara.” Papa told me, and I did so.

(He laughed……)

That had been even more unexpected.

Suddenly, standing there in the kitchen with sunlight streaming in from the window, Uncle Harald looked like a completely different person.

(Maybe he’s a good person after all.)

I started to feel a little better about coming here.

A moment later, Uncle Harald walked back into the living room, followed by the scent of fresh coffee. “I’m afraid this is all we have to drink.”

He started placing three cups around the glass table, and I saw Papa’s cup was filled with black coffee.

(I like coffee, but not without sugar and milk……)

I decided I would just have to drink it slowly, but when Uncle Harald placed my cup down, I found it was filled with pure white milk.

“Oh!” I let out a sound of surprise.

“I figured you would prefer milk, but……” Uncle Harald noted and stood back up in front of us.

“No, that’s fine. I don’t really like black coffee, so…… thank you very much.” Uncle Harald sat back down without changing expressions. “Thank you for the drinks.” I said again and picked up the milk to take a sip.

His unexpected concern for what I would prefer raised my opinion of him again.

Next to me, Papa started talking about his recent affairs. We were supposed to be here for Uncle Harald, but Papa had started talking about his own life instead.

(Guess it can’t be helped……)

I shifted my attention from Papa to Uncle Harald. He seemed to be listening, but he still just had a blank expression as he sipped his coffee.

(This is kind of boring……)

Once I had emptied my cup, I could do nothing but wait for them to finish talking.

“Can we step outside for a minute?” Then Papa stood up with his cup of coffee.

Uncle Harald stared at him for a moment, but then stood up and walked towards the front door as if this were an annoyance to him.

“I knew it…… I shouldn’t have come, should I?” I asked Papa after he left.

“Not at all. I just think he should get some fresh air rather than talk in here.”

“Hmm……”

“We might be a while though, so you can watch some TV while we’re out.” Papa said, then walked quickly towards the front door.

The sound of the front door closing echoed through the now empty living room. “I came all the way out here just to watch TV……?”

I got up to leave the living room, then walked over to the picture frame I had noticed before. In it, a woman was standing next to Uncle Harald in a long black dress, but her face was obscured by a parasol and veiled hat.

They looked like a good couple standing in the sunlight.

(I wonder if there are any better picture of her……)

I set the photo back down and left the living room. I wanted to know more about what Uncle Harald did here all on his own.

From the sunlit living room, I stepped into another dimly lit hallway that led away from the front door. And at the end of the hall, I found one door slightly ajar with a bluish-white light leaking from inside.

“What’s that?” Quietly, I took a peek inside the room.

In one corner of the room, I could see several monitors lit up side-by-side, and starting to walk inside, I saw bookshelves along the walls that stretched from floor to ceiling. Even with those, there were so many books that many were left out in piles on the floor and a layer of dust covered the whole room.

“Is this his study room?” The monitors were blank, just glowing with that pale light, so I guessed they must have been in sleep mode. “And…… what’s this?”

On the desk with the monitors, I found what looked like a pair of thin goggles. And next to that, a controller like the ones for video game consoles.

(Uncle Harald plays video games?)

Carefully, I stepped closer while making sure not to knock over any of the books. Then, looking at the inner lining of the goggles, I could see some kind of electronic display shining through.

It wasn’t reflecting light from the monitors; it had its own built-in screen. I would have expected to hear about it from Papa if they’d come out with new video equipment like this, though.

“What is this……?” There was something displayed on the screen, but I couldn’t make it out clearly. I peeked out of the room to make sure Papa and Uncle Harald weren’t back yet. “It’ll be okay if I just take a little peek.”

I picked up the goggle-like device and peered into them with curiosity. The image on the inside of the eyecups showed a huge field of golden wheat with an overcast sky. The clouds had a strange purple hue to that made them look completely different from normal storm clouds.

(What country is this from?)

Behind the endless fields of wheat, I could just make out a small windmill shed. And when I looked closer, I realized that the windmill was turning slowly and the wheat was rustling slightly in the wind.

It was a simple landscape, but something about it seemed to draw me in. It almost felt like I was losing my balance, and if I didn’t grab onto something, I would fall in; so I reached out to steady myself against the desk.

Then I heard something fall over. It was the controller that had been next to the goggles. And it must have hit a few buttons when it fell, because letters began to appear across the desk monitors.

Fragment

It looked like the title of a game. And below the word ‘Fragment’, a login screen came into view. The same words had also appeared on the goggle’s display.

(I wonder if I have to wear this to play.)

I picked the controller up off the floor and pressed the corresponding buttons.

“!”

This time when the display changed, it showed words that I was familiar with.

[There was a legend in their world. When the Cursed Waves appear, three shadow-bearers will set out in search of the Twilight Dragon that will save the world of spirits.]

It was from the Epitaph of Twilight.

Which meant that the image of the wheat field in the goggles must be the area where the Little Witch lived. I looked through the goggles again.

(Could this be……)

Was this what Uncle Harald had become so obsessed with? Was he working day and night to make a game based on the Epitaph of Twilight? I couldn’t know for sure, but maybe through anthroposophy, Uncle Harald had come to know Emma and decided to use his programming skills to develop a game based on her works.

I had no proof that was true; but for some reason, I felt like that was the only logical conclusion.

Maybe I just wanted to believe something crazy like that. Maybe it was the strange atmosphere created by this room lit only by the light of the monitors, but I decided to go back and shut the door tight.

Then, as if something was calling me towards them, I put the goggles on my head and took hold of the controller.

(It’ll be fine if I just play for a minute.)

I logged in without hesitation, but I had no idea – no idea that this action would completely remove me from reality.

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