Author's Note: Thanks to all the people who sent their reviews! And thank you for encouraging me to keep going! I still don't own .hack//SIGN, the games, the characters, or any of that stuff.

          Aqua Capital Mac Anu

          Ancient looked over the bridge into the clear, blue water. He had his oak staff (it looks like the Rod of Sea, or whatever its called, I have the memory span of a goldfish, so I don't remember) strapped onto his back. The rope that circled his waist held it on. The bottom half of his face was hidden behind a blue scarf. His eyes were sharp, piercing, and gray. He was thinking about what had happened yesterday.

          "Now whenever we speak, we shall speak as enemies!" the black robed man had said (I'm not going to give his name until later! HAHAHAHA!).

          "I tried to save you," Ancient thought. "I tried so hard to try to move you from this path, but…"

          "Mr. Ancient," came a quiet voice from behind him.

His head jolted upwards. It had been a long time since he had been caught off guard. And a lot longer since people had called him 'Mr.'. These days he was known as 'Master Ancient' because he had become the most powerful Wavemaster in 'The World'. But there were still a few people who called him that, such as his close friends, his equals, the System Administration, etc. "Sir, its me, Elk," the small voice said to him.

"Good evening, Elk," Ancient said calmly. "Or is it 'Good morning' where you are?"

"Its 'Good evening' sir," he said, and smiled.

Ancient looked over his shoulder, smiled behind his scarf, and said, "You make me sound like I'm a fifty year old man." "But I feel like one," he thought. "Things are about to get incredibly complicated. And the System Administration, knowing them, won't even lift a finger!"

"Sir, you said you would start teaching me some of the new spells that you acquired," Elk said then.

For reaching a level of power that no other Wavemaster had even come close to touching, he had received the 'Book of Spell Casters'. Through that book he had been allowed access to different spells, and he didn't have to call out their names when he cast them.

There was suddenly a large beeping noise in Ancient's ear. Someone was asking for him. Orca?

"What does he want, this late? Oh, well. I suppose I'll just take Elk with me."

"Sir?" he asked. "Is something wrong?"

"I just got a request from someone to join his party. Its Orca."

"Oh," he said then. His head went down and he said, "I suppose-"

"You can come with me, if you want to," Ancient said then.

Elk's head shot back up then. "You mean it? Really?"

"Of coarse you can. Now come on. We have to switch servers…"

Cultural City Carmina Gadelica

Sera, Orca, and Balmung had been waiting at the Chaos Gate for about fifteen minutes.

"So who is this person, that you think can help me?" Balmung asked Orca then.

"You and he have never met," Orca replied calmly. "But I will tell you this: he's one of the strongest players in The World.

"Well, what's taking him so long," Sera said then. Orca chuckled. "He is a very busy person, you know. You can't just call him up, and expect him to show up in five seconds."

Suddenly there was the sound of two people who had just gated in. Both of them were Wavemasters, Sera noticed. One of them was a tall man who hid the bottom of his face behind a veil, the other was shorter, who had light-blue hair and a blue hat. Each wore dark-blue robes, but they had different types. The shorter one had on a blue jacket that covered the top of his robes (for those who haven't played the game, he looks like Tsukasa except, well, blue robed); the tall man's robes were simple. He had just plain blue robes on, with a small rope tied around his waist. His hood was up, so his hair couldn't be seen. What shocked her, were his eyes. They seemed to look right into a person's soul. Those piercing, gray eyes sent shivers through her.

"What do you want now, Orca of the Azure Sea?" the tall man asked. His voice was deep, yet calm.

"Do you know about any problems that are happening in 'The World'?" Orca asked then.

The tall man lifted an eyebrow. "Problems? What happened, Orca?"

"About thirty minutes ago, Balmung gated onto the field that I was on, landed on top of me, and he doesn't remember a thing about where he was, before that."

"I'm afraid I don't know anything about memory loss in 'The World'," he replied.

"He-hem!" Sera coughed.

Orca and the tall man looked at her then. The tall man bent down to look her.

"Who is this girl, Orca? Is she the newest addition to the Balmung fan-club?" the tall man inquired calmly.

"WHAT?!" Sera said then.

"I thought you'd never met Balmung," Orca said.

"Haven't," he replied calmly. "But I've seen girls drool when they speak his name." The boy called Elk turned around then, but you could tell by the way his jaw moved from the back of his head that he was laughing.

"I DON'T DROOL!" she roared.

"Anyway, that's Sera," Orca continued. "And that one's Balmung," he said pointing at him.

"Oooh," the tall man said to Sera then. "So you follow him like a little puppy, huh?"

"WHAT?! THAT'S IT! YOU'RE GONNA GET IT!"

And so the chase seen occurs. After a few minutes, Sera was leaning over breathing hard. The tall man leans on a wall, calm as ever.

"Ancient, huh?" Orca said then.

"What?" Sera said then.

"That's his character's name, Ancient," Elk spoke for the first time.

          "You wanted this guy to help me?" Balmung inquired.

          "Well, he usually knows what's going on in 'The World'," Orca replied.

          "I'm going to get you now!" Sera said then.

           And thus, the chase scene resumes.

          "But sir," Elk said then, "weren't you going to teach me some of your new spells?"

          Ancient suddenly stops, and Sera rams face first into his back, and falls to the ground, her eyes have become all swirly (like in anime cartoons where the person is in a daze or something).

          "That's right, huh? I completely forgot," he replied, seeming to be completely oblivious to Sera on the ground.

          "Okay, let's go to-"

          "Hold it," Balmung said then. "I want to see what you can do. I challenge you to a duel of magic."

          "Uh…er…Balmung," Orca said then. "You don't want to face him."

          "Why not? It'll just be a friendly match."

          "But he isn't like this when he's in combat. He's deadly serious. And his power's are…incredible."

          "That just makes me more interested," Balmung replied.

          Plenteous Smiling Hypha

          "Are you sure you want to do this, Lord Balmung? I will show you no mercy," Ancient said.

          "Then neither shall I," was all that Balmung said.

          Ancient sighed and said, "As you wish."

          "Vak Don!" Balmung said, and soon a giant fireball hurled downwards towards Ancient.

          Ancient didn't even look up. The fireball hit an invisible barrier that surrounded the Wavemaster and faded. Balmung stared at him, his eyes were wide.

          "Is this the most that you can do, Lord Balmung?" Ancient inquired with a smile spreading across his face beneath his blue scarf.

          "Let me show you a REAL fire spell!" he said then.

          Ancient placed his staff in front him and closed his eyes. Soon, multiple fireballs formed in front of him. They became bigger and bigger until they were the size of Balmung's fireball.

          "I will end this here," Ancient spoke. The fireballs were released and they flew into the sky.

          And then, the fireballs rained down upon the entire field.

          Monsters that weren't inside of Magic Portals were instantly defeated. The entire field was soon covered in flame. Ancient had set up a barrier on Elk, Orca, and Sera so that they wouldn't be hurt. Balmung was constantly dodging fireballs. They were coming from left and right.

          "Surrender, my lord," Ancient spoke then. "You cannot hope to win. In a contest of magic, I am the superior. Surrender now!"

          "He's right," Balmung thought. "I can't stand still long enough to cast a spell. He's won."

          "You were right Orca. He is powerful. Very well, Master Ancient. I surrender."

          The rain of fireballs immediately ceased.

          Elk and Sera were both staring at him with wide eyes.

          "Wow," Sera said.

          "I didn't think anyone," Elk whispered, "could create anything like that."

          Ancient smiled. "That is what you will be learning under my instruction. It will be difficult to learn these kind of spells, I promise you that."

          Cultural City Carmina Gadelica

          "This has been quite a day," Balmung said. "I think I'm going to go to bed. I hope to see you all again, soon."

          "HEY! DON'T LOG OUT YET!" Sera said then.

          "Hey, the poor guy needs to sleep! Give him a break!" Orca said then.

          Balmung walked to the Chaos Gate and just…stood there.

          "Well?" Ancient said. "I thought you said you were going to log out."

          "I tried to," Balmung whispered, "but I couldn't get out."