For those who don't already know, I kinda remade the previous chapter. It's almost the same, but I mostly worked from scratch and it ended up different from the original version. It's mostly the same, but it's still...newish I suppose. Okay, now I'm sure I just repeated myself. I don't know how to say it, but it is different from the original version.

I don't know if I said this before, but I'm trying to cram as many of the .hack characters into this fanfic, keyword try. So if anyone's waiting for their favorite character...they'll appear sooner or later, I'm mostly seeing where this will go. Also, I don't know about the romance department, I'm not confident in romance. I could work on pairings/romance that was already there, but other than that...well, I'll see how it goes. I'm not in control anyway, I'm just writing what my brain spits out. All I can do is make sure the sentences make sense and there won't be much of a grammar problem.

Thank you people who reviewed and/or put this on their alert. I'm still surprised people like...some of my brain ooze.

Thank you Gray for being my Beta.

Disclaimer: I don't own the .hack series or anything officially related to it.


"Hello Haseo."

"Hello…Aura."

Haseo didn't tell anyone, but ever since the Cubia incident he had been in contact with Aura. Her sending an e-mail with the addresses of the three Azure Knights was just the start of their correspondence. At first, they'd simply contacted through e-mail, even though she was said to go back and sleep, which was why he told no one. So far, the only ones who knew he was corresponding with her were the Azure Knights. It was understandable that they knew, they were created by her after all.

Now, in the Hulle Granz Cathedral, he faced the goddess of The World. It was one of the only places where he could communicate with her face-to-face. One of the other lost grounds may have been sufficient, but Haseo had yet to find out which. It wasn't important at the moment and there were other things occupying his mind.

"Your thoughts look heavy." The girl sat upon the altar where her statue once stood, dangling her feet, covered by her dress, over the edge. "Has anything happened in your world?"

"A bit," Haseo sat on the steps in front of the altar. "There's this little girl in the real world who I tutor, turns out she played the first version of The World before. Well, she gave me this sad look so I promised something that sounds stupid now." He leaned his head back against the altar. "I asked Yata about restoring certain PC's yesterday and it seems the proposition he made was a hit. CC Corp. is thinking of asking some people called the Dot Hackers and some others to come back to the game, to try and gain back its popularity." Gold eyes with a hint of crimson looked up into the blue ones above them. "The Dot Hackers," He spoke in a soft voice. "You…were waiting for them, weren't you Aura."

The goddess smiled. "In a way," She replied. "The Azure Knights, who I hastily made before my departure, were in memory of the Descendants of Fianna."

"Those heroes everyone talks about?" He arched an eyebrow, seeing her nod. "But there were more than just those three, right?"

"Yes." Aura answered. "They were said to have solved the final mystery of The World, but in truth, they saved it from destruction as well as saving those precious to them."

"If they come back, if most of them come back, what will happen to the Azure Knights?" Haseo asked. "You won't delete them will you?"

The goddess shook her head. "No, I will leave the Azure Knights to do what they were originally ordered to do, protecting this world in my place." She gave him a curious look. "The three blades I entrusted to you, please, watch over them. I fear they still have many things to learn." Aura giggled. "This time, the heroes of old should enjoy this game as it was meant to be enjoyed."

"Yeah, whatever." Haseo stood. "Well, I better get going. Yata wants to introduce some people he wants us Epitaph Users to meet. Apparently they're new employees from CC Corp."

Aura nodded. "I will not detain you." Slowly she faded into sparkling lights. "I have sent something special to Wiseman, it is a gift for the heroes of old and you, Haseo." Her voice echoed as she disappeared back to her slumber.

"See you later." Haseo walked out of the cathedral. As he stepped out through the doors, a frown crossed his face. "Who's Wiseman?"

"One of mama's friends." A voice said from beside him. Haseo turned around quickly in alarm, eyes widening in disbelief at who was there.

Standing right beside him was a little girl with saffron hair and reddish-purple eyes. She wore a white dress and was barefoot. A teddy bear was held in her arms.

"Hi, I'm Zefie."

~*~

A small, silver, short-haired girl, with crimson ribbons decorating it, trembled as PK's cornered her. She was backed against a tree, her red robe standing out against the color of the tree as her bare feet had bumped against its roots.

"Hey, you ever seen a PC model like this?" A male Blade Brandier asked his partner.

"No, you think it's a vagrant AI? I heard they were starting to pop up again." A female Flick Reaper replied.

"What do you think would happen if we killed one?" The guy asked.

"Who knows, let's find out." The girl grinned wickedly.

They had their weapons pointed at the small girl, ready to strike.

"Bamyon!" Suddenly they fell, all color fading from their PC's. A tall man smirked as he stood in front of their fallen bodies. "Aw, is it over already?" The katars on his wrist retracted, job done, as the PC's faded.

The small girl kept trembling, a bit scared of him. The man wore a dark, navy blue outfit with purple stripes on it and leather guards. His hair was forest green with short hair in the back and long bangs in the front held up with a purple bandanna tied around his forehead. Slowly, as he gazed at her with his crimson eyes, he approached her.

"Well, well, what's a little girl like you doing all alone out here?" He smiled, playing with one of his bangs.

Slowly she calmed down, realizing what he was. "You're like me."

"Maybe a little, but I most definitely am not like you." He grinned. "So, you got a name?" He tilted his head to the side. "It'd be nice to know just who it was I saved. Not everyone is as kind as me to save you from PK's after all." He said smiling.

"…I'm no one." She looked down at the ground. "An unwanted child that even God doesn't want."

"Don't be like that," He knelt in front of her, crimson meeting gold. "If you keep thinking that, it'll come true." He said in a sing-song voice. "And I didn't ask what you were, I asked for your name. Even someone unwanted has a name, right?" He grinned at her.

"…Lycoris." She sighed, giving in.

He smiled brightly. "Wonderful!" In a quick motion, he had swept her up into his arms. "Well, Miss Lycoris, I'm Sora. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Are you going to delete me?" Lycoris asked.

Sora let mock horror cross his face. "Of course not, why would I do that? We're friends now, after all. I didn't save you for my own personal gain…or maybe I did, you never know." He laughed, twirling her around, before setting her down. "By the way, you have a caterpillar on you."

Lycoris just stared at him. "You're strange." Though true to his words, a caterpillar was crawling on her robes. Gently she held it in her hands, before setting it on the infinity symbol that adorned her robes.

"Why thank you." He kept smiling. "Now, what shall the three of us do now?" He thought a bit, before grinning at her. "I got it!" Sora once again swept the little girl into his arms. "Hang tight, we don't want her or them to catch us after all!" Still smiling, he leapt into the air. "Hyup!" Both disappeared into golden rings, leaving the area.

A few seconds after their departure, some people warped in. They scanned the area before some slumped over in depression and warped out.


AN: I'm not writing this, my brain is. It's making me spit out this stuff. It may sound like a lame excuse, but it's the truth. Thank you everyone who read this, I hope you enjoyed it to some extent. With the amount of dedication my brain is putting into this fanfic, I bet my parents wished my brain would show the same amount to my work/grades.