K: Sorry this took so long. I've been busy with the band I'm in, Space Monkey Mafia. I'm the lyricist, secondary vocals, and shakers. Not maracas, shakers. They're plastic eggs with beads in them.

Anyway, that's where I've been. I haven't even been updating on Devart all that much. (a miracle, I know) Well, here's the next segment. I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I don't own the .hack series.
Dedications:

- Sargeant Snarky (Novus Ortus is 'rebirth.' I've kinda given up on the whole 'guess what the title means!' thing, so I figured I'd just tell you…)

- AerisValeria (Good idea, if only it'd fit… The summary's so jammed, I can't even fit another character!)

- Steeple333 (Yeah, I know he was roaming about the higher level servers as a PK, but in the end he'd been messing around in the Delta server, so I said delta instead.)

Gosei no Ai

Gate IX: Effectus

(Blackrose)

# There appears to be a mass of rapidly moving data heading toward Omega: Ressurecting Someone's Fallen Angel. Proceed to the designated field as soon as possible. This might be the final phase. #

"I'm on it!" I replied, hefting my sword up and racing to the chaos gate.

A few others were there already—Balmung, Wiseman, even the rough-n-tumble Marlo, all prepped and rearing to go. The old man nodded to me as I approached, then surveyed our miniscule 'army'. We waited a couple seconds for anyone else who might come to aid us, and when no such comrade arrived, we silently gated to the area where it seemed our final battle was about to take place.

(Elk)

I cried out as I was dealt blow after blow, my HP dropping steadily with each pass. My opponent paused every so often and allowed me time to heal myself, falling back to circle me, watching almost amusedly as I staggered to my feet again after casting a Phal Repth spell. It was toying with me, but how corrupted data could advance to such behavior, I don't know. Maybe it had something to do with the data they had gained from draining Kite.

My assailant grinned at me, happy its prey was ready for some more. "Y0U'123 50 MU(4 FUN 70 PIAY VV174 :D"

I froze.

Fixing my eyes on the data copy, I stuttered, "Y-you can talk?"

He smiled at me, mocking me with his silence. Instead of answering me, he darted toward me, slicing my character's stomach and landing opposite from his original location. He hopped once to turn himself around, then did it again—this time slashing my back. Over and over he dashed; ripping, tearing, gouging, shredding, leaving me a mass of tattered 'bloody' data, barely alive as my lifebar screamed for attention, flashing red. The fake Kite giggled, dancing back out of range of my magic, waiting for me to heal myself again.

Ignoring the blaring siren, I struggled to crawl toward him, just close enough to aim a spell at him. "GiRai Don!"

The clone simply laughed, cartwheeling out of the way and wagging a finger at yours truly as if he were chiding me for fighting back. I growled at him, too fed up to be quiet and courteous.

"WHERE'S KITE? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HIM, YOU BASTARD? GRAAAAAH!"

I attacked him again and again, with as many spells I could, but it was all for naught. It was no use—he was just too fast. Exhausted, I collapsed, my MP expended. I was somewhat thankful I couldn't feel anything, since I probably felt like shit. He frowned, walking up and grabbing my hair roughly so I met his eyes.

"43AL."

It took me a moment to translate, but once I did, I wished I hadn't. He still wanted more, and I was just too tired, too frustrated, too goddamn depressed to care. A small part of me wanted him to end it right there.

"43AL!"

He was beginning to sound annoyed. Aww, your little toy isn't being any fun anymore… Too bad.

"43AL! 43AL! 43AL!"

He screamed at me, shaking my character's body with each exclamation. I ignored him, too far gone to bother with him. Oh, how I longed to sleep… Perhaps even drift there enveloped in the warmth of… someone… Mia, where are you…? Why don't you answer me anymore…?

Then something strange happened. I couldn't hear the beeping of my lifebar anymore, and my data was repairing itself before my very eyes. Confused, I refocused my eyes and found the clone towering above me, casting a healing spell over my hunched form. Why would he do that? Just so I could entertain him a little longer?

Stop.

The cold, effeminate voice echoed throughout the dungeon, and the doppelganger stiffened. The room shook, a crackling of white noise sounding as a new figure emerged from the hacked data. It was a girl—at least, I'm fairly sure it was, and she hovered there above us in a tattered gown. The fake Kite whipped around to face her, eyes wide with shock.

"M-M074312!"

…Mother…?

The red twinblade backed away, nearly tripping over me in the process, and gestured wildly as if trying to explain itself. "M-M074312 3X1L3! 1… 1 WA5 901N9 70 F1N154 41M, 40N357! 1 JU57…"

Silence, fool. You and your brothers are useless! Your powers can't reach beyond this world, even if you were created of him.

The girl sneered down at him, and the copy fell to his knees, shaking his head back and forth.

"N0! M074312, PL3A53!"

...Die.

She raised her hand, pointing at him, and his data began to erode and tear itself apart. The clone screamed in agony, and something inside me pitied him despite how many he'd harmed. Maybe it was because he looked so much like Kite… Or that this must have been very similar to what Kite had gone through when the clones were created… No matter which, I was reminded of how utterly worthless I was… Tears came to my eyes, and I hated myself for being helpless to stop his destruction.

"M074312!"

"NOOOOOOO!" I cried, reaching my hand out to him, but it was too late. With that last plea, he'd been shredded into millions of data particles, and I watched disconsolately as they drifted up into oblivion.

(Blackrose)

We arrived at the bottom of the dungeon just in time to witness someone, or something get torn to bits. We raced to the aid of the fallen figure, and as we grew closer, I was surprised to find it was Elk.

"Elk! What are you doing here? I thought you weren't going to help…"

"Wha- what are you talking about?"

I shook my head, helping him to his feet. "The final phase-"

"What is THAT?" Balmung shouted, pointing.

I followed his gaze, startled to find a strange girl floating above us. I jumped back, Elk in tow, and we both scrambled to fall in with the rest of the group. There was safety in numbers… at least, I hoped so.

"She's the one who destroyed the Kite clone." Elk murmured, staring at the ground where the whatever-it-was had been eradicated. I supposed it was the clone.

"Well, does that make her good or bad or what?" Marlo spat, not quite ready to let his guard down just yet.

The young juumontsukai was silent for a moment before he whispered, "She's their mother."

"Their WHA-" I began, but was cut off by a loud rumble.

The room shook wildly, its data strained from such a violent data hack. The girl growled, her eyes narrowed.

Mother…

Huh? Mother? Could that mean she wasn't the one sending the phases? That she was someone tampering with The World on her own, while her 'mother' fought us? What on Earth is going on, here?

Before I could lift a finger to try to stop her, she phased out, leaving us to face the final phase of the wave… And hopefully, this would be the end of our journey…

(Elk)

It isn't working… None of it's working… Spells, skills, any of it…

We can't destroy it. We can't destroy Corbenik…

…It's impossible.

"Why isn't it taking any damage?" Blackrose shouted, narrowly escaping the leaf-like being's clutches.

"It's that shield! We can't break through it!" Wiseman called, firing off a healing spell when the great plant grazed Balmung.

"What are we going to do? We're hanging on by the skin of our teeth, here!" griped Marlo, grunting as he hammered at the shield to no avail.

"I- I don't know…" The old man mumbled, unsure of himself for the first time in what must have been a long while. "I just… don't know…"

Just then, a girl in white appeared overhead, shining brightly. An army of ghostly figures stood beside her—the spirits of those who had been data drained. I quickly searched the sea of faces, but there was no flash of red and teal, no azure eyes smiling down at me… Kite wasn't there.

"We're here to help." Aura stated calmly, and the crowd swooped down on Corbenik.

They pummeled the shield over and over until at last, it shattered completely. Then, their energy depleted, they faded away, leaving them to the task of finishing the beast. I wanted to call out to the girl, to ask her where Kite was if his spirit hadn't fought, but a huge rumble interrupted before I had the chance. The air was filled with static, and all I could see was snow crash. The white noise overloaded our senses; we were sent reeling, confused and dumbstruck by the cacophony.

When everything cleared, we couldn't believe our eyes. Skeith… Innis... Magus... Fidchell... Gorre... Macha, the phase I hadn't fought… Tarvos… They were all there.

The other phases were back. We'd never killed them, we'd only thought we had. Now, we were facing them all at once, with no real data drain to destroy them properly. What was worse, Aura had disappeared—without bestowing anything upon us that might help us survive.

No weapon. No Kite. No Aura.

…No hope.

K: Yes, I know how much you all must hate me now for leaving it there… But hey- at least I updated. Right? RIGHT?