DISCLAIMER: dothack, all characters, places, names, etc. are copyright of Bandai Entertainment. They are by no means mine! So don't sue! This plot, however, is my own, spawn of my unbridled, albeit quite unimaginative, imagination. Any resemblance of any name to any person, living or otherwise, is purely coincidental.

AUTHOR'S NOTES aka RANDOM RAMBLING:

Fic started: November 13, 2005 (after coming home from a party...time's 00:20 as I type this)

Ah well...I'm doing this the same time I'm trying to write my Galaxy Angel fic. Haha...I dunno. Inspiration just struck and I got some ideas in my head.

This isn't going to be as long as most of my other fics...probably less than 10 chapters or so. I enjoy a bit of not-too-mindless, Kite/Blackrose in my spare time (or when I'm too lazy to do work). This story takes place circa Part 3: Outbreak, though details may not be accurate as per the game itself. And also please forgive some OOC-ness and cheesiness...yum.

Many thanks to all the dothack writers out there, especially those who support the cutest pairing in the entire "The World" (mentioned above)! And thanks to you, dear reader...yeah, you, for reading this. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Oh yeah, please review, if possible. I mean constructive criticism and non-degrading, non-mortifying comments, that is. Well, if you just HATE the fic, then don't continue reading! It's that simple! You don't have to blab about 'how the story sucks' or something. Well, you can write flames, but you'd just be wasting your time and effort, you can be sure of that. So please. If you don't like this, then just go and write something you do like . Everyone has the potential to come up with a great story.

Oh well. That takes care of my A/N protocol. Enjoy!

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"Seeking Destiny"

dothack

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CHAPTER 1

Demand

'Kite! Hurry ove to the bridge at Mac Anu ASAP! Impotant!'

'Either she's in a real hurry or the 'r' on her keyboard isn't working all that well,' Kite thought with a slight chuckle as he made his way from the Mac Anu Chaos Gate. In any case, Blackrose's e-mail seemed urgent enough to get its recipient started immediately once he had logged-in to "The World".

Still, he wondered just what could have been so urgent...

He spotted her at the bridge, just where she said she would be waiting. Her gaze was cast at the river that flowed underneath. 'She looks somewhat...I couldn't place the emotion, was it uncertainty...?' Kite wondered as he neared.

Just then she looked up and saw his approach. The expression on her face was quickly replaced by one that was clearly irritation. "What's the meaning of showing up late!" She yelled, as if their meeting was a scheduled one. "I've been here for half an hour already!"

'What's her problem...?' Kite mumbled in his head, but said openly, "Uh, sorry about that...it's just that I just logged in right now. So...what's so important? Find out anything about those bug activities?" The task of investigating a recent alarming string of data bugs had been delegated to Wiseman and Balmung, who still haven't given any word.

The questions seemed to infuriate the Heavy Blade even more. "Do you think I called you about that!" She roared, and then all too suddenly calmed down just a bit. She harrumphed, cocking her head to one side, and murmured, "You're really dense sometimes, aren't you?"

"Huh?"

"Anyway," she blurted out, ignoring his reaction. "You know the recent event by the CC Corp, the one where there's a really rare item in the Gott statue of a hidden dungeon somewhere?"

Kite blinked. He had been too preoccupied as of late with fighting animate viruses, accessing restricted areas and tagging unsuspecting goblins to really bother with such trivialities. It came to him as more of a surprise that CC Corp was even holding an event like this, what with all the problems they must have been having lately concerning certain hackers and consequent faults in the system. Maybe it was just to cover-up the crises and to keep the masses distracted.

Still, Blackrose seemed genuinely interested in it, so he decided that it wasn't going to be a total waste of time, especially if it was something they could make use of in their quest...besides, he was with Blackrose, so it definitely was worth it to go wherever that place was.

'What am I thinking...?' Kite mused, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. He had a certain strange feeling lingering about whenever he was with his trusted partner, but always pushed the notion aside due to more pressing matters at hand; in other words, he didn't give it too much thought. Recently, though, those thoughts made their presence more felt, much more than any time prior, and he was doing the best he could to still act casual; curiosity was not one of his more dominant characteristics when it came to the particular subject.

Before he could answer, however, she caught sight of his initial reaction and realized that he didn't have any idea as to what she was referring to.

"I'd take that as a no, huh?" she sighed, but then began to explain, becoming increasingly excited as she went on. "Well, that's exactly what it is, though there are a few conditions, according to what I've researched. First, only parties with two characters will be allowed into the dungeon. Second, even though it is somewhere in the Delta server, the enemies are really strong. Third, no reviving items or spells can be used while there. Makes it kinda harder, huh? And lastly, the...uh..." She stopped suddenly, as if hesitant to continue.

"Lastly...?" Kite urged.

"I-it's nothing...really; nothing more. Haha..." she stammered, quickly waving her hands in front of her. 'Very un-Blackrose-like...' Kite thought, but shrugged it off. He found it cute, though.

But still, he assented. "Okay, let's go there if you want to," Kite grinned. "Just give me a few minutes to get ready, okay?"

He had turned and started towards the elf's haven storage, and, as consequence, didn't see the grateful and genuinely happy smile Blackrose wore on her face.

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"So, where is this dungeon?" Kite asked. Both he and Blackrose were standing at the Chaos Gate of the root town, having readied their gear and items.

"It's in 'Buried Corrupted Paradise'...cleverly hidden too. Only those meeting the criteria and know the password would be able to access the right place. Otherwise, it's just an ordinary level fourteen darkness field," she answered. Nodding, Kite selected the keywords and the Chaos Gate began to glow.

"Password?" the twin blade asked. His voice was accompanied by a mechanical one, which said the exact same word and made him almost jump in surprise.

Blackrose cracked a smile. "Seeking destiny's fulfillment," she stated confidently.

Only a second passed before the voice answered, "Correct. Fare well on the challenges ahead."

"Cool," Kite uttered, figuring that his companion had done quite some research about this quest beforehand. "Well then, you ready...partner?" he asked as the golden rings that brought characters to different parts of The World began forming around them.

Blackrose still wore a smile on her lips yet an unreadable expression in her eyes. She spoke with certainty, "Yeah...partner."