Disclaimer: I don't own .hack or any of the stuff that's in the game. If it's something you run into in the game, then it's not mine. The Clan, however, is mine, and that's why you've never heard of them before. Basically, this is just a random idea that popped into my head one day, and I was at the computer, so I decided to type it. I didn't really want to make it a fic until I realized that .hack was the perfect thing to make this.

Aubrey was a normal girl, wanting nothing but to finish 8th grade so she could take Japanese next year. She is 5 feet 1 inch and has fiery red hair that goes an inch past her shoulders. She goes to an all girl private academy in Hawaii, and her uniform looks like a sailor's. The skirt is dark blue, and it goes down to her knees. Her blouse, which gets folded once at the bottom, is a little too long and she can sit on it. The tie slips around her neck, under the collar, slips through a strip of cloth sewed onto the shirt and makes her really look like a sailor. Her blouse has short sleeves, but since the shirt is too big for her, the detachable cuffs at the end go down to her elbow. The cuffs and collar are the same color as the skirt, and have three white strips. She's your average-sized girl, not skinny, but also not fat. She has a lot of friends, but not enough to be considered popular. She goes against it, wanting to be her strange self all the time. During lunch she hangs out with her friends, and they eat by the lower school area. They talk about anime and Harry Potter, basically anything but real boys. They all invite each other to birthday parties, and stick up for each other when they can. However, Aubrey met a girl on the city bus that went to her school, and since she became friends with that girl and her other friends, she had been acting a little strangely. It was about halfway through the school year when they met. They didn't talk to each other for a few days, but when they finally did, they became fast friends, and Aubrey was soon in Madison's group as well. They looked like your normal, but diverse, group. Then, one day, Aubrey and Madison got the same e-mail from an unknown person. A picture was attached, but it was blurry and they could barely make out a girl's face. They also couldn't understand the e-mail, because there were symbols as well as letters, and it looked like someone didn't want them to understand the e- mail.
"Aubrey, you're good with figuring out words. Give it a try." Madison had been smart and printed both the e-mail and the picture.
"It looks like some of the letters are in the right place. Hmmm..." They tried to figure it out over the next week. On the seventh day, the two got another e-mail, but this time the picture was of a group of girls, and the e-mail wasn't so distorted.
"Hey, this looks like us!" Madison exclaimed silently on their bus ride. Madison's brother had been sitting near the two lately (He was a year older than Aubrey, who was a year older than Madison) so they were careful what they said and did things quietly.
"Yeah, it does. And there's twelve of them, just like our group. I think I can figure out this one. It looked to me last night that it was somehow connected to the other one. And the other picture, we were right when we thought it was a girl. A bought a game called 'The World' a couple days ago, and I got an e-mail from her. After asking a couple of people that had hacked into an area, I got her name. It's Aura, and she's in some kind of trouble."
"Then we'd better hurry and figure out what they say. And why does your bag look so heavy today?" Madison noticed that Aubrey's red, one-strap backpack was pretty thick, thicker than it was the day before.
"Oh, I also got a new phone yesterday, and a few accessories. You see, 'The World' is an online game. And my new phone just happens to have M mode on it. So I thought we'd try something today." She opened her bag and took out the source of the weight: an Apple notebook with a built-in mouse.
"Sweet!"
"I thought so. Now, the game came with a controller that wouldn't fit into my Playstation. So I tried it with my PS2, and it worked. Also, it came with a really cool adapter, so I can use the controller on my laptop. Also..." Aubrey pulled out another device that had been wrapped in bubble wrap. "Headgear. You can see in 'The World' in 3-D. Here, I brought two." She handed a second one to Madison. She hooked them both up and took out her cell phone, putting it on M mode. Then she hooked it up to her notebook. They put in headphones and Aubrey double-clicked on the shortcut to "The World".
"Whoa, an in-game mailer! That's sweet! But that music is creepy."
"Sorry, it's not the standard. The players I told you about sent me this desktop stuff. You see that person? That's Orca of the Azure Sea, a friend of Kite, who told me about Aura. Orca's real name is Yasuhiko, and he's currently in a coma in Japan."
"Japan?!"
"Yeah, I kinda logged onto the Japanese server. Kite and Black Rose, and inseparable duo, are the ones that told me about Aura. Oh, and Kite is in my grade while Black Rose is a freshman."
"Gee, thanks for making me feel like a kid. So, why is this 'Yasuhiko' in a coma?"
"That's what we're going to find out. They're out of school for the day, so they should be logged on. I'll send them a mail."
"'Meet me and my friend at the same place. We have a few questions and received an e-mail from Her. You know who I'm talking about. See you there!' Wow, that sounds very suspicious."
"You're gonna love the character a made for you. Nothing like the real you. And you're taller than me."
"Holy shit! Is this me?! Damn, that's some good editing!"
"Can I see?" They heard Eric, Madison's brother.
"No! You're just gonna drool. And besides, I kept my end of the bargain."
"Madison, just slap him already. We're on the Theta server, and we have to go through the Chaos gate."
"Wow, these are some sweet graphics!"
"Kite, Black Rose! We're over here!"
"Wow, this is really sweet!"
"Ka no Kami! Who's this?" Black Rose asked.
"Getsu no Kami, this is Kite and Back Rose."
"What's with the weird names? Huh?"
"Shut up, Eric!"
"Who are you talking to?"
"Her brother. He's sitting behind us. We're on our way to school. It's 5:30 a.m. over here."
"That's way behind us! Anyway, what was that thing you said you had?"
"Right here. I just got this one last night, and the one from Aura we got last week. It was sent to or real e-mail addresses, and I hadn't even thought about buying 'The World' until I got the phrase." Two sheets of paper appeared, and Kite took them.
"Hey, I've seen these characters before! They went through the Chaos Gate on the Delta server, and something happened." Black Rose looked excited.
"Well, then, we'll meet there. Is there anyone you can trust with this info?" Aubrey asked.
"Yeah, Elk and Mia. Though, can we trust your friend?"
"Why else would she be dragging me along. I think the next time I drag you anywhere, I'll make sure it's painful." Madison retorted.
"Yeah, so are the rest of us. I'm gonna log out and try something. Getsu no Kami, you follow their instructions."
"What are you gonna try?" Madison asked.
"I'm going to try to meet Helba and see if she can decode this, or if she knows where I need to hack to crack it."
"Wait, you're gonna try to meet her? That's asking for the administrators to delete your file!" Black Rose exclaimed.
"Well, they can't. It's all nice and safe behind the best firewall known to the Internet. I made sure of that when I bought the phone I'm using to connect. Be good, you three." Aubrey logged out, not taking off the headgear. She started typing furiously.
"I can hear that typing through the music! What was that?!" The screen had blinked.
"The bracelet!" Kite was looking at his right wrist.
"Madison, tell them to Log out, like five minutes ago! We've got a problem. It's Skeith, and he's after the bracelet!"
"Au - - I mean, Ka no Kami says Log out! Something called Skeith...What the hell is that?!" Skeith had appeared.
"Madison, get out of there!" Aubrey ripped off her headgear.
"My character isn't moving! What the hell is that thing!"
"Madison!"
"Listen to us! Please, there is no time! In your meeting place, we will appear at the appointed time. You are us, and have the ability to help this place. Please, help us! We can buy you some time, but you must hurry!" A voice that sounded strangely like Aubrey's echoed through the girl's heads and through the game, and a great earthquake made Skeith stop.
"What the hell was that?"
"I've never heard my sister say such bad words before."
"Shut up, Eric! Aubrey?" Madison had taken off her headgear.
"That thing was Skeith...And he's the reason Yasuhiko, and many others, are currently in a coma."
"That game is the reason?"
"No. Not the game. It's not even a game. It's an alternate reality, in which many things can happen. And that voice, that was...That was one of the girl's in the picture, and I've just cracked both codes. They are the protectors of both worlds, and can pass freely through the two without having to use the Internet. Here, read." They both read the now decoded message. Madison almost fainted.
"Great, not only do we have to finish school, now we have to...Oh, this place is so screwed up and backwards it isn't funny!" Madison said so only Aubrey could hear. She giggled.

Was it good? Was it horrible? Does anybody have any ideas? Does anybody look in this section? Do I have a life? Am I dead? Anyway, enough with the questions from me, just please review!!!! I love reviews, and I won't update the next chapter until I get 7 of them!!