Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 13:16:48 +1000
From: BM
Subject: .Hack//Escape Chapter 6

.Hack//Escape
Chapter 6: Elysium
March 13, 2004

I apologize for my lack of updates on this story. I have received many
emails from people who thought I was dumping the story and was not going
to complete it. The reason for my lack of updates is that I just started
a new job and university again and I have very little time, also my computer
just shat itself after it was hit by a virus and I lost all the stuff I was
working on.

****

If you have love in your life it can make up for a great many things you
lack.
If you don't have it, no matter what else there is, it's not enough.

(Ann Landers)

****

We arrived back in Midge Village, right next to the chaos gate. The streets
of the village hadn't changed during the hour or so that we spent in the
field. Shoppers were still everywhere on each side of the main road and the
shopkeepers were still standing outside their shops trying to advertise
their wares. As I watched the shopkeepers at work, I wondered what it would
be like to actually have a job in `The World'. But from the manual I
already knew that these shopkeepers are not real people, they are
Non-Player Characters, (NPC's) that were built with the latest artificial
intelligence by the CC Corporation, the creators of `The World'. Michael
was watching me as we walked with a contented look on his face and I smiled
back at him, still thanking fate for bringing him into my life. I smiled to
myself as he adopted his shy-guy personality as soon as he realized I was
looking at him, and he blushed and looked the other way.

Michaels change in personality whenever I looked directly into his eyes was
really noticeable. My heart jumped as I thought to myself, could this be
it? Could he be as obsessed with me as I am with him? A voice inside me was
crying out "Yes! He's the one!" I smiled to myself as I realized how lucky
I was to find this boy, without him my life would still be painful and
meaningless. I was curious about where Michael was taking me, he claimed to
know of a place where we could be ourselves and express our love for each
other freely.

"So where are we going again?" I asked him as we turned off the main street
and kept walking.

He smiled, "It's a surprise. But don't worry, you'll love it."

"But how can there be a place where we have privacy? So far all of the
places I've been to have been filled with other players." I said to him as
he turned into another street and I followed him.

"You're right, `The World' is extremely popular these days and there are
millions of players logged on at one time. But the place we're going to
isn't accessible to everyone."

"So who is it accessible to?"

"It's only accessible to those who are approved by the doorman," he smiled
at my confused look as we stopped in front of a small shop at the end of
the street.

"Don't worry, it will all be made clear to you in a few minutes," he said
as he knocked on the door of the shop. The shop was pitch black inside and
looking through the windows gave me no idea about what was in the shop. The
sign for the shop was blank and the whole place looked like it was
completely empty.

"I certainly hope it's made clear soon because I have no idea what's going
on at the moment," I said as we waited for something to happen.

Suddenly the door to the shop opened and a shopkeeper was standing on front
of us. He was dressed like all the other NPC's, smart shoes, trousers and a
short sleeved shirt.

"Sorry, this shop isn't ready for use at the moment, please come back
later."

I sighed to myself. Great, what the hell was Michael thinking? This was all
a big waste of time after all.

"Elysium," Michael said out of nowhere. I looked at him with a blank
expression on my face, wondering if he was suddenly going insane right in
front of my eyes.

"Follow me," the shopkeeper said as he turned around and began to walk back
into the shop. Ilooked at Michael still wondering what the hell is going on
and he gave me an encouraging smile as he began to follow the shopkeeper. I
followed close behind him, hoping to finally see this place that Michael
had been talking about. We walked through the dark shop, the way being
lighted by a lamp that the shopkeeper was holding. The shop was bare and
dusty but as we approached the back wall I saw a faint glimmer of light. I
looked closer and realized that a section of the wall was glowing a faint
green color. I looked over at Michael, and the expression on his face told
me that the fact that the wall was glowing didn't seem weird at all. I
guess this is a game and anything's possible. Michael turned to me with a
serious expression on his face,

"Jim, this is a portal through to the place where we're going. The portal
won't work for people who have the will to hurt or hate those who are
different."

"But how can it know that?" I asked.

"I have no idea," he answered as he looked at the portal. "It's one of the
wonders of `The World'. There is a programmer who works for the CC Company
who's gay. I don't know him myself but I know people that do. Apparently he
was sick of all the hatred in the real world and this world so he decided
to make a place where there is minimal hatred and those who are victims of
hatred because they are different can enter and feel at peace with others
like them and people who have no hatred towards their kind."

"Wow," I said to myself as I stared at the portal. No hatred, that sounds
like a dream come true. "So there are people of all kinds in here?" I
asked.

"Yes," Michael replied. "Gays, lesbians, heterosexuals, blacks, whites,
it's just like a miniature world. In here we can be ourselves and never be
afraid of others, my love."

As he said those last two words I could feel the tears beginning to form in
my eyes.  He loved me, and I loved him with all my heart, and we were going
to a world where our kind was accepted, not hated. Michael saw the tears
beginning to form and he walked over to me. He stood there, his face a few
inches from mine and then he leaned in and kissed me. Our tongues danced
together as our lips were locked and when we finally broke the kiss we both
were breathless. Michael smiled and rubbed his nose against mine, "Are you
ready to enter Elysium?" He asked.

"Michael," I said in a croaky voice. "You are so perfect, I love you. I
entered this world to escape all the pain from the real one yet I find it's
just the same.  Then I find you, the love of my life and you show me the
way to a world without pain. I..." I was lost for words, "I just love you
so much"

I saw tears forming in his eyes as I finished, "I'll take that as a yes
then, shall I?" I giggled at his silly humor at a time like this.

"Yes, that's a yes," I said as I stared into his beautiful blue eyes. It
was weird, the way his personality changed around me, one minute he was a
shy quiet person, the next minute he's all happy and cheerful. Hopefully I
could make him always happy and cheerful, it broke my heart to see his face
when he briefly mentioned his life in the real world, and I don't ever want
him to be mentally hurt like that again.  However I wanted to help him as
well, but I guess I can think about that problem once we get to know each
other a little better.

"Let's go," he said as he grabbed my hand and we both walked though the
portal, leaving the shopkeeper still standing there with no emotion on his
face.

****


There were colors swirling all around me. As I flew through the colors the
only thing I could make out was the shape of Michael flying in front of
me. And then out of nowhere a voice in my head began to speak,

Well, well, well. What do we have here? A newbie huh?

`Who are you?' I thought back.

I am the doorman, the sole protector and manager of entries to Elysium

`What is Elysium?'

It is a paradise for those who are different and have suffered as a result
of those differences

`What are you?'

Excuse me, I'm the one who asks the questions around here! Hmmm... From
looking at your past history I can see that you have suffered because of
your differences

`Yes, I have suffered a great deal'

And you love Michael

`Who are you, my counselor?'

No need to be rude, I'm just good at reading the human mind

`So you're not human?'

No but I'm not going to tell you what I am. Welcome to Elysium Jim. And
after looking though your thoughts let me give you one bit of advice. I
know you want to help him but don't go searching into Michaels past, it
will do more harm than good and it could ruin your relationship.

`Wait! What do you mean? Talk to me!'

My thoughts went unanswered as I continued to fly through the void. A few
seconds later I fell onto cold ground and looked up to see Michael standing
next to me.

****

As I got up off the ground the advice from the doorman was still swirling
though my head. What happened to Michael in the real world? From his
actions earlier today I could tell that it was something terrible. But now
I found out that it is so bad that if I bring it up it may compromise our
relationship. I looked up at him and he smiled at me,

"Welcome, to Elysium."

I was distracted from my worries about Michael as I took in the scenery. We
were in a place that looked very similar to Midge Village; the main street
was lined with small cottages on each side and there were side roads coming
off that road which I guessed led to more cottages. There were no shops
anywhere and instead of the main street being a frenzy of activity like it
was in Midge Village, it was very still, filled with a few groups of people
standing around talking.  As I looked at the groups of people that were
talking I noticed that the majority of them were all boys, there were a few
girls around though.

"Ok, stay here for a second. I've got to go and look for somebody, I'll be
back soon." Michael said as he walked up to me and gently kissed me on the
lips.  At first his kiss was timid, like our first kiss. And then as I
began to respond with increased vigor our lips soon were locked and we were
in a passionate embrace. As Michael broke the kiss and walked away I looked
around, blushing from embarrassment from putting on a display like that in
the presence of so many other people.  To my surprise I found that no one
was even paying much attention to what had just happened. There were a few
smiles and winks from some of the boys that were in a group close to us but
in a matter of seconds they resumed their conversation like nothing out of
the ordinary had happened. My stomach was fluttering with excitement.
Michael was right, nobody cared at all that we were gay. At last I have
finally found a place where I can be myself without expecting painful
consequences.

As I sat there smiling to myself and feeling the happiest that I have ever
been, I spotted a face that I recognized in the crowd. After a few moments
of trying to remember who he was I realized that he was one of the boys
that I had seen with Michael when I was with Dave and the others during my
first day in `The World.'  As I watched him walking through the groups of
people that were talking in the street he noticed me and obviously he had
recognized me as well. He was one of the two boys that were in the first
couple that walked past me when I was with Dave. I remember his confidence
with his sexuality and I remember envying him because he was holding hands
and showing affection to his boyfriend in front of those who did not like
what he was. He looked around fifteen and had messy brown hair that came
down to his ears and looked like it could never be straightened out.
Attached to his hands were two katars (wrist blades) and he had blue eyes
that reminded me very strongly of Michaels eyes. As he approached me I
smiled at him, hoping to make my first friend in Elysium. This idea was
immediately thrown from my mind as he suddenly snarled at me and pointed
one of his katars at my neck.

"What are you doing here?" He hissed.

"I'm... I'm here with Michael," I squeaked, trying to put as much distance
between my neck and his katar without moving my legs.

"A likely story, I saw you sitting with Dave the other day so I know you're
making that up. And how did you get past the doorman?"

"H-He let me in."

"No he didn't. The doorman definitely wouldn't let in any homophobes. Tell
me the truth!" He yelled as he moved his katar closer to my neck. I had no
idea what to say next. Whatever I said to this dude he just disregarded
straight away. I guess it was understandable; I was sitting directly next
to Dave the other day when he was mocking Michaels group.

Just as I was going to begin to plead for my life I heard a voice yelling
behind me,

"No! Bill, stop it. He's one of us!"

I turned around and felt an overwhelming sense of relief as I saw Michael
and from what I gathered the other day, the boyfriend of this guy with the
katars.  Hopefully Michael and the other guy could convince him of the
truth better than I could! The guy with Michael walked up to the boy who
was threatening me and gently grabbed his hand that was pointing at my neck
and lowered it so I could finally breathe easy again. After he did this he
kissed him on the cheek and whispered something in his ear as they both
looked at me. Then suddenly they both smiled and the boy who saved me began
to talk,

"Hi, Jim is it?" I nodded. "Welcome to Elysium, Michael came and told me
all about you and I haven't seen him this excited or happy in a long time."
I looked over at Michael who had once again resumed his shy-guy persona and
was blushing with his eyes staring the ground. "My name's Cameron, call me
Cam, and this feisty character over here is my boyfriend, Bill." I looked
at Cam in awe at his ability to profess his relationship that easily with
someone he's just met. Cam looked the same age as Bill and had the same
type of hair color too, but his hair was neater and not all over the place
like Bill's hair. He also had a pair of sexy hazel eyes which matched the
brown amour he was wearing. He was also carrying a giant sword that looked
like it could do some real damage.

Bill was now looking nearly as embarrassed as Michael as an uncomfortable
silence came over our conversation, but it was broken after a few moments
by him.

"Look Jim, I'm really sorry for attacking you. I saw you a few days ago
sitting next to David as he insulted us and I thought you had somehow
gotten into here with the intention to hurt us. I should have had more
faith in the doorman and realized that you don't have any intentions to do
us harm. Please forgive me," he said, looking at me with his blue eyes
pleading for forgiveness.

"It's okay Bill. You were doing what you thought was best, and I'm glad
that you are so eager to protect this paradise."

After I said these words the tension lifted and Cam began to speak, "Right!
Now that we got that cleared up I think it would be a good idea if we told
you the rules of Elysium so you don't get yourself or anybody else into
trouble."

"Who regulates this place?" I asked. "Obviously it's not the Scarlet
Knights if the CC Corporation doesn't know about it."

"Myself, Bill and two others, we were given the title of moderators of this
place by the creator."

"So you know the creator?" I asked.

"Well, not personally but we do keep in contact via email. Nobody has ever
seen the creator face to face. Oh yeah, and I need to give you this since
it's your first time," he said as he reached inside his armor and pulled
out a piece of paper and gave it to me.

The paper read;


The Creator welcomes you to Elysium and hopes that you will enjoy your
stay.

The rules: 1. No fighting 2. Respect the moderators 3. No traveling outside
the city 4. Only reveal this location to those who you can trust

Severe or continual breaching of the rules will result in an IP ban of the
players involved. If you have any questions or complaints about this area
then talk to the moderators.

And remember, anybody who was let in here will accept you for who you are,
so be yourself!


I folded the parchment up and handed it back to Cam and he took it and
tucked it back into his armor.

"Why aren't we allowed to leave the town?" I asked.

"Because there is nothing outside town," Bill answered.

I looked at him with a confused expression and Cam, seeing my look said
"It's better if we show you why, follow me Jim." And we began to walk down
the main street to the far end of the town. All of the buildings on each
side were medieval looking cottages and gave the town a very quaint look,
just like Midge Village. As we walked behind Bill and Cam who were talking
about something or other, Michael slipped his hand into mine and we both
looked at each other with passion. God I loved him, every time he touched
me I felt jolts of electricity running through my body and I found it hard
to keep my `member' from standing at full attention as we walked. Suddenly
our hand holding moment was broken as I bumped into the back of Cam and
Michael bumped into Bill who had both stopped in front of us as we had now
reached the edge of town.

"Whoa! Easy guys, I know you two have it bad for each other but at least
watch where you're walking," Bill said with a grin.

I blushed immediately, "Sorry..." I began but I was interrupted by Cam who
told me it was no biggie and not to worry about it.

"We both understand what you two are going through," Cam said as he stared
at Bill with an intense look that could only be interpreted as a look of
longing desire and love.

I looked over at Michael and smiled as I realized that he was directing the
same look at me. I moved over towards him and planted a soft kiss on his
lips, his lips were soft and moist and we began to move our tongues around
together in unity as we both stared longingly into each others eyes. As I
broke the kiss I glanced over at Bill and Cam and it seemed they had
decided to engage in a tongue wrestle of their own. Not wanting to break
their moment I walked past them and looked out at the horizon, or I should
say the lack of horizon. Michael moved up beside me and we both stared out
at nothing. A few steps ahead of me the ground ended and the only thing I
could see after that was an endless stretch of black.

"This is called the deadzone," Michael said as he looked at me with a
serious expression on his face. "Please don't ever venture out there Jim,
there is nothing, and all you can do is just fall until you are forced to
cut your connection. This town is the only thing that is in this hidden
area, all of that black represents spare space that hasn't got any data in
it."

"Don't worry Michael," I replied, "I won't ever go out there."

"That's good to hear," said Cam from behind me who had finished with Bill
and was staring out into the deadzone. "The last person who ventured out
there experienced extreme headaches after they were forced to log out." We
all stood there staring out into the darkness for a few moments until Cam
began to speak again, "Bill, how about you take Michael back to the
house. We'll follow behind you; I just want to talk to Jim for a while."

"Okay," Bill replied and Michael kissed me goodbye and they both began to
walk back into town.

"Let's follow them slowly," Cam said as he slowly began to walk and I
walked beside him wondering what he wanted to talk about.

"I haven't seen Michael this happy, ever." He said with a smile on his face
as he looked ahead at Bill and Michael who were about fifty meters ahead of
us now.

"I like seeing him happy," I said as I looked at him while we were walking.

"Jim, are you serious about your love for him?" He asked me with a straight
face.

"Yes," I replied, unsure of where this conversation was going.

"It's just that I always look out for Michael, I kind of see him as a
little brother. And I don't want him hurt in anyway at all."

"I would never hurt Michael, I love him," I said.

He stopped walking and turned to me with a grin on his face. "That's
exactly what I wanted to hear Jim. Don't worry, I believe you, I can see
the love you have for him, it's painted all over your face every time you
look at him. It's just that I want you to know that he's very fragile
mentally and you must be careful with him."  After he said this he
continued to walk back into town and I continued to walk beside him.

"Do you know what his real life is like Cam? I've gotten some worrying
vibes from him whenever he mentions it." I asked, hoping he would know so I
could help Michael.

"I have no idea," he said, with a worried look on his face. "He used to cry
all the time. That's how I first met him; he was sitting by himself in town
just looking at the ground with tears in his eyes. I walked up to him and
tried to help, he was hard to interact with at first but after a while I
gained his trust and he told me he was gay so I invited him here. He was
happy for a while but still cries from time to time, whenever I try and
find out what his real life is like he just changes the subject, so after a
few tries I stopped asking."

"He did that to me today. He told me that he could see the point of living
now that he'd met me." I said, thinking back to how Michael had changed the
subject so quickly when I asked him what he meant.

"Yes, he's nuts about you. And I must thank you for saving him from Dave
and his gang the other day. I've always told him not to go out into the
fields by himself.  Since he's always seen with Bill and I people know he's
gay, and will give him a hard time about it. Ah! Here we are," he said,
looking up at a two story cottage near the middle of town.

"This is my house and it's really big because I'm a moderator so I let
friends stay here all the time. You're welcome to stay here any time you
wish."

"Thanks," I replied as he opened the door and walked inside.

The bottom floor of the house had only two rooms and both were filled with
armchairs and tables. Both rooms had a fireplace and were both lit with the
eerie glow of the fires that were burning. There were five people in the
first room, and Michael, Bill and two other people whom I recognized as the
other couple I had seen walking with Michael during my first day in `The
World' when I was sitting with Dave and his group.  They were both around
my age, and both had blond hair, but one had his hair cut short while the
other guys hair was long, hanging around his ears. The short haired one had
sparkling green eyes and was a swordsman while the long haired one had
blue-grey eyes and was a sorcerer with a staff that had a silver orb on the
end.  As we walked up to them they both got up,

"The names Ian," the short haired one said as he shook my hand. "And this
is Hugh," he said as me motioned his head towards his long haired companion
as Hugh moved forward to shake my hand and say hello.

"Welcome to Elysium, what do you think of it?" Hugh asked as he shook my
hand.

"It's great, I've never felt so free," I said as we all sat back down
again.

"Upstairs is comprised of six bedrooms, and you are always welcome to use
them whenever you please." Cam said as he looked over at me.

"Uhhh... thanks," I said. I looked over at Michael who looked as nervous as
I felt.  I wanted to go with him upstairs but I was too nervous to ask in
front of all these people.

Everybody must of sensed our nervousness and they decided to give us some
privacy.  Cam and Bill said they needed to go and talk to someone who lived
a few houses down and Ian and Hugh decided to go upstairs. Michael and I
were left by ourselves, I didn't know what to say. Michael surprised me by
beating me to it,

"W-would you like to, you know, go upstairs?" He asked timidly.

"Ummm... okay, sure" I replied, trying to suppress the butterflies that
were in my stomach.

We both walked slowly over to the staircase and began to walk upstairs. As
I walked my body was shivering with anticipation and nervousness. This
moment seemed like a dream come true but I was so afraid. My sexual
experience comprises of endless hours of masturbation and that interrupted
session with Kevin that had ruined my life.  When we reached the top of the
stairs we were standing in a hallway with three doors lining each side. We
walked up to the first one and both put our ears on the door to see if it
was the one Ian and Hugh were in. For a few seconds we heard nothing and I
was about to open the door butsuddenly I heard a sucking sound and a
teenage whimper. I looked over at Michael who had a grin on his face that
matched mine, not wanting to intrude on them, we walked over to another
door, opened it and went inside.

The room had a King sized bed and a small table next to it. We both walked
into it and leaned our sorcerer staffs up against the wall. I turned and
looked at Michael who was staring nervously at me. I decided to break the
ice,

"Look Michael, I don't know what we're supposed to do right now. My sexual
experience is fairly... limited," I admitted.

Michael face managed a small smile, "Good," he said with a sigh. "That's
the same with me, I was really nervous because I wasn't sure if you'd done
this before."

"How about we just sit and talk for a while?" I asked.

He smiled. "Sure, I'd like that."

I lay down on the bed and motioned for Michael to lie next to me and we
just lay there, looking at the ceiling for twenty minutes talking. We just
talked about our experiences in `The World'. I obviously didn't have much
to input to the conversation because I'm relatively new to this game but
from all the stories Michael was telling, I gathered that he's been logging
into `The World' for a long time. I watched his lips as he talked, he was
so perfect and just watching him talk and get excited about the time he
defeated a boss monster made me realize how lucky I am. During this time I
could feel my nervousness going away and I was slowly moving next to
Michael and noticed that he was slowly moving closer to me. After a few
more moments we were right next to each other, I turned my head and kissed
Michael, then I kissed him again, and again,and again until soon we were
rolling around on the bed in a passionate embrace. Our tongues were dancing
over one another as the intensity of our kissing caused us both to moan and
whimper with pleasure. I quickly slipped out of the sorcerer robe I was
wearing and Michael did the same. We sat there for a few moments, admiring
each others naked form. Looking at Michael while he was naked took my
breath away, he had a slender, sexy frame and had a small bush of dark
pubic hair just above his circumcised six inch penis that was fully erect
from our kissing a few moments ago.

We began to kiss each other again in earnest and the precum combined with
our sweat mixed between our bodies as we ground ourselves into each other
with lust.  As we rolled around together I was remembering the only other
time I was this close to a boy, but this time my Dad wouldn't be here. We
were all alone, it will be perfect.  My nervousness had now completely
disappeared and I was now being guided by my love for this beautiful boy. I
stopped grinding into him and began to kiss and suck on his nipples as he
made cute whimpering sounds. I moved down his body, kissing it all the way
until I reached his pulsing cock. I licked the precum off the head and
looked him right in the eyes as he said,

"I love you Jim."

"I love you Michael," I said as I took his penis into my mouth. I began to
run my tongue around the head and he began to squirm as his cock slid in
and out of my mouth. After two minutes of this he began to rub my hair and
I knew he was close,

"Jim, Jim I'm close. So I'll pull out if you want me to," he squealed.

I appreciated his warning but I had to intention of stopping, I began to
play with his balls as his cock began to slide in and out of my mouth at a
faster rate.  Suddenly he let out a huge whimper, it was the most beautiful
sound I had ever heard and I began to suck on him faster as his butt lifted
off the bed and he began to squeal uncontrollably as his penis swelled and
he emptied his sweet seed into my mouth. I swallowed the huge load that
shot out of him and he collapsed back down onto the bed. He lay there for a
few moments before he moved over and took my cock into his mouth. I sat
there in pure ecstasy as he ran his tongue around my shaft and began to
suck on it vigorously. I was already close to orgasm from the love that was
swirling between us, I began to whimper and mutter words that didn't even
make sense to me as he increased his pace. After a minute of intense
pleasure my penis had taken all the stimulation it could handle and I felt
my orgasm begin to surge from within me.

"Michael," I gasped.

The rest of my words were lost as my whole body began to tense up and my
penis swelled as I emptied what felt like the biggest load I've ever
produced into his mouth. It was so big that he couldn't swallow it all and
some of it ran out of his mouth and down the sides of his face. I was
nearly blinded with pleasure and when I could finally breathe again I lay
down next to him and we just sat there, kissing and holding each other.

After a few minutes of silence Michael turned to me with tears in his eyes,

"Thank you Jim, you make me so happy," he said as the tears began to run
down the side of his face. I began to choke up with emotion as I felt the
love that was pouring out of this boy. We began to kiss again and my cock
began to harden, I looked over at Michael and saw that he was in the same
condition. I grinned as I asked,

"Again?"

I didn't even need to hear an answer from him, he began to kiss me and I
immediately took that for a yes.

****

Well that's chapter 6, I hope you liked it and thanks for reading! I'll try
and get the next chapter out as soon as possible.

-{BM}-

P.S. If you want to read this chapter with formatting then go to
http://www.gayauthors.org/forums/index.php. This story is in the library
section.
You will also find many other great gay teen stories there as well!