.Hack//Epitaph of Twilight Volume1 Prologue

Prologue//Fragment

As the curtain of night descended, a thick fog coated the scene. There, surrounded by a deafening silence, lay Alba Lake, located at the center of the world. At the heart of the lake, rising from still waters, stood a cathedral of unknown origin. No one knew who built it, when, why it was here, or what its purpose was.

It was known as the Hulle Granz Cathedral.

On this night – in this place rumored to have existed since ages of old – an unprecedented meeting was soon to take place. Helba, the Queen of Darkness, sent out the call, and Apeiron, the King of Light, answered. They were the leaders of the world’s two greatest powers, locked in an unending conflict.

― They shared a long history. Long before the birth of men, in the throes of twilight near the end of the tenth month, the lands and skies gave rise to spirits. Divided between Light and Darkness, they fought from the moment they were born, each striving to dominate the other. It was during that conflict that humans were born — beings with whom the spirits could not coexist.

Though they appeared similar, humans could cast shadows, whereas spirits typically could not. When humans realized this difference, they began oppressing the spirits. Many were hunted or destroyed entirely. For a time, it seemed the three-way war would go on without end… but the spirits knew their defeat was inevitable; the birth of new spirits was rare, yet humans could multiply endlessly. So, the spirits established a world for themselves far from humanity. Since then, the war between Light and Darkness has entered a lull.

So why, even during this lull, did the leaders of Light and Darkness decide to meet now?

The spirits were on the verge of extinction, about to be crushed by a calamity known as the Cursed Waves. Taking on the literal form of a wave, they crashed through the world, and the spirits had no means to fight back.

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.” Fili stated cautiously while standing beside his king.

Apeiron’s retainer, Fili the White, was very troubled by this situation. Yet despite his fears, Apeiron steeled 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. Regardless of 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 legend was the only thing the spirits could put their faith in.

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.”

The faint sound of a familiar voice broke through my drowsiness.

“… Lara.” A warm, gentle voice slowly pulled me from unconsciousness.

Slowly, I sat up in my seat and rubbed the tiredness from my eyes as a sleepy yawn escaped from my lips.

“You awake, sleepyhead?” Papa chuckled, “We’re almost there, now, Lara.” I had fallen asleep in the passenger seat.

“Sorry… I fell asleep.”

Papa smiled. “Don’t worry about it.”

“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.”

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

“It’s been a while since I last saw Uncle Harald, right?”

“A while?! But you–”

“Wait, haven’t I met him before?”

“No, not really. The last time I visited him, you were a just baby.”

“Oh… I see.”

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

“Wonder…?”

"You had just been born, and from the way he looked at you, I assumed he’d never seen a baby before.”

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

“Yeah, I guess.”

I would be fourteen this year. Papa and the other adults still considered me a child, but I was starting to feel more grown-up. I knew I wasn’t an adult yet, but I wasn’t a child anymore either — 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, and humid air smacked me in the face. It was different from the sea breeze I was used to near the coastline, but still pleasant. Living by the sea, I took in a deep breath, absorbing 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.

Once, Papa got distracted by a conversation and scraped the car against a wall. Ever since, he’s made sure to always keep his eyes on the road while driving. Even at red lights, no matter how much he talked, he wouldn’t look away. Sometimes, it felt like he was talking to the windshield instead of me.

“Yeah, but I didn’t find anything new. It’s been a very long time since the original site went down, so 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 Emma Wieland. She had been an amateur novelist, but I really liked the story she wrote and wanted to find it again.

The premise was this:

The world of shadowless spirits was being destroyed by the Cursed Waves and was 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 to find a solution.

In their world, there was a legend:

“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 the two other shadow-bearers.

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

After her death, the story had been swallowed up by the sea of the internet, and no one had saved the works of an unknown, hobbyist writer. As a result, it was difficult to determine which versions of the story were original and which were altered.

The Epitaph of Twilight I currently had only covered the early portions of their journey and was missing several portions of the story. Some of the chapters were complete but many only had summaries of their events.

I had begun reading this little-known novel after hearing 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! It seemed that just before the accident, she had become obsessed with anthroposophy.

She was like the main character of some tragic drama.

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

Because someone as extraordinary as that had written a novel, it compelled me to look more into her and her interests.

As for anthroposophy — it was a philosophical study of the soul and human will, focusing on things that could not be explained by normal science. It also claimed that psychic powers and reincarnation were real, but that part sounded a bit too pseudosciency to me.

“There it is.”

Papa pointed to a house along the forest. I followed his finger to a small, rundown shack that looked abandoned. It was the only one with an unkempt lawn, and an air of darkness seemed to hang over it despite the sunlight.

“… Uncle Harald lives there?”

Papa gave me a reassuring 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 it’s because he’s busy with work.”

I took another look around. All the other houses were beautifully maintained, with perfectly mowed lawns and freshly painted fences. Even from the car, it almost sounded like laughter could be heard coming from some of them.

Compared to the others, Uncle Harald’s house definitely stood out, sitting at the end of the road.

I knew that my uncle – Papa’s younger brother – was a famous programmer. He was a brilliant 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 a bitter smile always spread across his lips when he’d said it, so I couldn’t help feeling he didn’t mean it.

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

Papa was worried, and I happened to overhear him saying that he would visit him, even though he lived so far away. That made me worry about Papa driving so far on his own.

I guess Papa and I were both worrywarts…

Though, I was also curious to know more about my uncle, so I decided to tag along.

“Come on, let’s go.” Papa parked in front of the house and waved for me to get out.

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, as the button got stuck and didn’t pop back out when Papa pulled his hand away.

“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 creak.

“… Who is it?”

For a moment, my heart pounded, and I felt like running.

A tall, lanky man leaned out from behind the door, then looked at Papa before his gaze shifted down to me.

“It’s you, huh?” That man – my uncle – muttered as he recognized his brother.

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

Uncle Harald looked at me again, annoyance in his eyes. We obviously weren’t welcome here, but I greeted him politely anyway. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Lara Hoerwick.”

“Huh…?” Uncle Harald looked confused and 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, struggling to remember.

He had long silver hair that flowed over his shoulder; a few strands covered his face, partially hiding the haunted expression he wore. 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 Uncle Harald looked old, but if I had been told he was a more distant relative… I wouldn’t have batted an eye at that. They were just too different.

I felt like I might be staring too much, so I tried smiling up at Uncle Harald as to avoid seeming rude… however, that didn’t seem to go over very well.

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

“… Well, alright then. Come on in.”

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

“That’s just the kind of guy he is. Don’t take it too personally, OK?”

“Okay… 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 of the house’s interior, it was dim and empty – like a haunted house. Papa just smiled wryly.

“A bit late to wait in the car, don’t you think? Come on.” He said with a chuckle, stepping inside before I could respond.

Uncle Harald was waiting at the end of the hallway, glancing back at us as Papa walked inside. When our eyes met, fear gripped me again.

What in the world does he do here…?

Lost in thought, I realized Papa was moving further down the hall.

“Wait up!” I hurried after him.

“Woah…”

The inside of the house was much tidier than the outside. I’d feared the place would be covered in dust and cobwebs, but the living room was pristine. A picture sitting on the cupboard caught my eye for a moment; 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 plopped down on the leather sofa.

Uncle Harald stepped into the kitchen off to the left, laughing at the comment.

“Come sit down, Lara.” Papa told me. I nodded and sat near the edge of the couch.

He laughed…

That had been even more unexpected.

I could see him standing in the kitchen, sunlight streaming across the countertops and floor from the window. Uncle Harald looked like a completely different person.

Maybe he’s a good person after all.

I began to feel a little more at ease about coming here.

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

He placed three cups around the glass table. Papa’s cup was filled with black coffee.

I like coffee, but not without milk and sugar…

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

“Oh!” I couldn’t help but let out a sound of surprise.

“I figured you’d prefer milk, but…” Uncle Harald stated, straightening back up in front of us.

“No, that’s fine. I don’t really like black coffee, so… thanks.” Uncle Harald sat back down without changing expressions.

“Thank you for the drinks.” I said again before picking up my glass to take a sip.

His unexpected concern for my preferences further raised my opinion of him.

Next to me, Papa started talking about his recent affairs. We were supposed to be here for Uncle Harald, but Papa had immediately shifted to 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 that same blank expression remained etched onto his face 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.

“Could we step outside for a minute?” Papa stood up; his cup held firmly in his hand.

Uncle Harald stared at him for a moment before standing and walking towards the front door; he seemed annoyed again.

“I knew it… I shouldn’t have come.” I stated to Papa after Uncle Harald exited the house.

“No, no. I just thought he could use some fresh air over staying in this stuffy room.”

“Hmm…”

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

When Papa closed the front door, it echoed throughout the now empty living room. “I came all the way out here just to watch TV…?”

I got up to leave the living room but decided to check out the picture that had caught my eye earlier. The photo was of a woman in a long, flowing black dress standing next to Uncle Harald in a park around midday; her face was obscured by a parasol and veiled hat.

They looked like a good couple.

I wonder if there are any better pictures of her…

I set the photo back down and left the living room, curiosity getting the better of me. I wanted to know more about what Uncle Harald did here on his own.

Leaving the sunlit living room, I stepped into a dimly lit hallway leading further into the house. At the end of the hall, a door stood slightly ajar, with a bluish-white light leaking out.

“What is that?” I quietly took a cautious peek inside.

In one corner, I saw several monitors lit up side-by-side on a metal desk. As I stepped further into the room, I noticed bookshelves stretching all the way to the ceiling along the far wall. Despite the shelves, so many books littering the room that multiple piles had collected on the floor. Layers of thick dust covered everything.

“Is this his study?” The monitors were blank, glowing with that pale, bluish-white light, so I guessed they must have been in sleep mode. “What’s this?”

Sitting on the desk next to the monitors, I found what looked like a pair of thin goggles, with a controller lying beside them, like the ones made for game consoles.

Uncle Harald plays video games?

I carefully stepped closer to the computer, making sure not to knock over any books. Looking at the inner lining of the goggles, I could make out some kind of electronic display where my eyes would go.

It wasn’t reflecting light from the monitors; it seemed to have its own built-in screen. I knew for a fact I would have heard about this from Papa if they’d made some new kind of video equipment like this.

“What is this…?” There was something displayed on the goggle’s 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. “I-I’ll just take a peek. That’ll be fine…”

I picked up the goggle-like device and peered into them with curiosity. The image inside the eyecups showed a vast field of golden wheat beneath a stormy night sky. The clouds that loomed overhead held a strange purple hue that made them look ominous — I had never seen clouds like that before.

What country is this from?

As I scanned the endless fields of wheat, I could just make out a small windmill shed sitting on the edge of the horizon. Looking closer, I realized that the windmill was turning slowly and the wheat was ever so lightly rustling in the wind.

It was a simple place, but something about it really drew me in. I gripped the edges of the desk, feeling as though I was losing my balance — as if not holding onto something would cause me to fall through the goggles into the picturesque landscape before me.

As my hands gripped the desk, I heard something fall, causing my heart to jump into my throat. I quickly removed the goggles to find the controller now on the floor. It must have hit a few buttons when it fell, because massive, stylized letters slowly formed across the desk monitors.

Fragment

I think it was the title of a game. Below it, a login screen popped up, with the same words appearing on the goggles’ display.

I wonder if I have to wear these to play.

I picked the controller from up off the floor and pressed a few of the buttons.

“Whoa!”

This time when the display changed, more words flowed onto the screen like sand caught in the wind. What they said felt very familiar to me.

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.

Does this mean the image of the wheat field in the goggles was 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 busily working day and night to make a game based on the Epitaph of Twilight? I couldn’t know for sure, but it was possible that 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 it was the only logical conclusion.

Maybe I just wanted to believe something crazy like that could really happen. Maybe it was the strange atmosphere of this room, lit only by the glow of computer screens, that was affecting me. Whatever it was, it didn’t really matter right now.

I walked over to the door and shut it tight.

And as if something was calling me back to the computers, I quickly returned to the desk, picked up the goggles, and put them back on before grabbing the controller again.

It’ll be fine if I just play for a minute or two, right?

I logged in without hesitation, unaware that this action would completely remove me from reality.

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