Weaver: Kite's only purpose in this story was to fork over the Bracelet. But, there is a possibility of having Balmung and Helba showing up later on, but I haven't thought far enough to really know if or when they'll show up. As for all the other .hack characters, I doubt they will show up.

.hack/OMEGA

Chapter 7

Winged Knight of Twilight

"Ikardis!" I shouted. I hadn't paid attention to the grass field, nor the woman's laughter from the sky. Ikardis had just killed a Legendary player, Kite, and that was what was important to me.

Ikardis looked away from the bracelet, allowing the bracelet's arm to fall to his side. He turned to me. What was this new look that he gave me? It was a look that I couldn't explain. It was a look that…a murder gives before his kill. I really can't explain it, but it was there, shown to me.

I ignored this look, focusing on the problem. "I see now that I cannot go easy on you any longer." My pair of wings unfolded as I pulled my sword from my sheath. I held the sword lightly, the tip of the blade lightly touching the grass.

Muru stepped in front of me, holding her staff tightly. She obviously wanted to take the first shot.

"Muru…"

She noted my tone, and stepped back.

Last time, I did not try my hardest to kill Ikardis. Last time, I did not try at all. Last time, he won. Last time, I lost. This time, I win. My wings slowly flapped, and I hovered above the ground. I rocketed towards Ikardis, spiraling in the process. I watched gold rings spiral around me when my blade was a foot away from Ikardis. My blade entered a wall instead, cracks forming around the entry spot. I folded my wings, now hanging from my sword. I dropped three feet to the ground, leaving my sword in the wall. I looked to Muru for answers.

"Welcome to the Dungeon of Aura."

"Take me back to that field!"

"I did not use Forced Gate Out on you; I want to see Ikardis die just as much as you do. It was Aura who did it." She shook her head to the left.

How could I have not seen her? She must have just appeared there. The white-gowned girl grimly frowned to me, shaking her head. "I can't have you die on me."

I grabbed her up by the necking of her gown. "Take me back right now!"

The girl calmly replied, "Why don't you just Log Out and then use the Last Field option?"

I threw her to the ground. Golden rings did not take me away. "What is this?"

"When you were stabbed with Ikardis' weapon, you became a part of The World," said Muru, folding her arms.

"And that means?"

"Your body in the real world is in the hospital. You are in a coma right now," answered the gowned girl as she stood from the ground.

I blinked a few times, giving the girl a look. I took off my headset…or rather tried to. I tried to do anything in the real world, but there was no luck. This explained the pain when Ikardis' weapon connected. "You're serious…"

"Kite now has the same problem." Muru sighed as she spoke. She sat down on a large pile of dirt.

"The difference is that since Kite was stabbed with the Blade of Infection, he is not free-willed in The World like you, Sorma. He is under the control of Morgonna, adding one more minion to an army that will soon come."

I spun around to look to Muru. "How long did you know that I was stuck here?" I yelled. She hadn't told me. But, I guess I can't expect anything of a former friend.

"I'm sorry," she said and her eyes went to the ground with her head following. "Kite was meant to kill Ikardis. When Ikardis dies, you will wake up from the coma, and be able to Log Out. But, we underestimated the abilities of the Weapons of Eclipse. They absorbed the Data Drain attack! It just…no, there was no way Kite could have won."

"I see." Yes, I was being calm about it, but inside…I was thrashing.

Aura would have smiled at my maturity, but she had more bad news to give me. "Kite has failed. It is time for you to step up, and realize that you must fight Ikardis for a different reason. You must kill Ikardis for Kite's life and your own."

Having some time to think about it, Ikardis is pretty much invincible…as much as I disliked admitting it. "And how do you presume I do this?"

I happened to glance over to Muru, and noticed that a smirk had appeared when I asked that. She drummed her fingers on the mound of dirt she sat on. "Is it time?"

Aura nodded.

Muru stood, using her staff for support. Then, she tapped the dirt mound with the fork of her staff.

The dirt separated from the center of the mound, revealing a gold chest. These chests were often used for rare items, so I already had a good idea what it was.

"A present from me," Aura said, tilting her head with a smile. "You just need to use the key."

My necklace, the one that led me to Ikardis originally, came alive again. It tugged towards the chest; it was at that moment that I knew it was planned for me to get this item; it was at that moment that I knew that I had been the back-up plan all along. I took one step forward. The arrow of the necklace shot a thin beam of light towards the keyhole of the chest. The necklace fell dead again.

The door of the chest swung backwards. For a second, nothing happened. But then, a small, but powerful tornado rose up from the interior of the chest. Dust made the twister visible.

I knelt to the ground to keep myself from flying in, Muru propped herself with her staff, Aura was completely unaffected.

My hair kept on whacking me in the face. I could feel the dirt being sucked from under my hands. I could feel the dirt…yes, The World was real to me now. I heard the rattling of something, and then looked up.

My sword rattled against the wall. It was slowly being pulled out. Once the blade exited the wall fully, it did many spins in the air as it sped towards the twister. With my sword's entrance into the tornado, the chest slammed closed, stopping the tornado.

I got to my feet. "And the point of that was?"

The chest slowly swung open again. From the chest came a dragon of white light. It was almost spirit-like. It stared at me, and I returned the stare. Without any notice, it launched itself at me in a white streak.

On instinct, I punched the dragon in the face with a grunt.

The dragon of white light split into two around my fist, and then rejoined together. The dragon coiled around me tightly, restricting all my breath out and maybe breaking some bones. Its mouth opened with an ear-piercing roar, which echoed through the dungeon, and then proceeded to bite my neck. It seemed to swallow a chunk, and then reeled back, entering my body from the wound. Once the light dragon's tail caught up and entered through my neck, the wound sealed itself up somehow.

I patted myself down, waiting for something to happen. But, finally, all the pain that hadn't been felt before now caught up in one gigantic, long burst. I fell to me knees, barely able to keep my eyes open, but I refused to go unconscious. All this pain…for something I don't yet know what was annoying. And then, there was this intense heat within my body. I did not understand what it was, but for whatever reason, I jumped to my feet, despite the intense pain.

Data collected around my hands, forearms, feet, and forelegs. The data then transformed into gauntlets and boots. The gauntlets were claw-like on the finger parts, while the boots were claw-like on the toes. The gauntlets and boots were gold, but decided to fade to a dark blue to match my other armor. I made a fist with my sharp fingers, and a sword appeared within it. The blade of this new sword was maybe five feet in length. The blade exited the engraved dragon's open mouth, and then the back of the head narrowed down to the handle in which I held.

I smirked. "Hm, looks fun." I then went back to my knees, blacking out when I hit the ground; the pain had intensified to the point of me no longer being able to stand it.

Aura smiled down at me. "Behold. The wielder of the Claws and Fang of the Twilight Dragon, the Winged Knight of the Twilight."