Be prepared for a long chapter…this is the most important chapter yet. But, don't be fooled, this chapter is far from the last one…

Enjoy.

.hack/OMEGA

Chapter 9

I remember…

"Ikardis has the Horn and other Fang of the Twilight Dragon, then?" I asked with my head pointed to the ground, thinking. I sat there on the ground with my knees nearly pulled up to my chest, each wrist resting on a knee. I was still recovering from the collapse an hour ago.

Aura nodded to me. "The Horn is the one that Infects players. The other Fang is identical to yours; it casts magic. His items have been corrupted by Morgonna, and changed into the Weapons of the Eclipse. If you take his weapons, they will be purified. But, if Ikardis gets your weapons, they will be infected, and that is when things get much worse."

"No. If Morgonna's plans go through as wanted, and she infects Sorma, and Sorma has possession of all the Twilight Dragon's items, then it will be worse." Muru stood. "Time for me to get to work. I'll see you two later." Her head turned to me slightly. "Glad to see you again." Three, golden rings circled around her before her body disappeared; Muru logged out.

Aura looked to me now, a smile showing; smiling was definitely something that suited this child more than grim frowning. "She really likes playing with you."

"From an outlaw player to a some hero; yeah, figures that people would be attracted to such things." My wrists fell from the tops of my knees to the ground to help me stand. "I'm going into town. Things should get interesting soon, and I have to make sure the innocent don't get into this."

"You can't go into town with things like those showing!" Aura stated, pointing to the Twilight Dragon's Claws and Fang. She hopped over to where Muru had been, picked up my cloak, and then galloped over. "Muru told me that she gave you this cloak when you two were friends…that is why your cloak and her cloak are so alike."

I snatched the article of player clothing away, put it on, pulled the hood over my head, and then gated out.

I walked quietly and slowly down the streets of Mac Anu. The streets were crowded, but easily able to walk around in. I weaved in and out of groups and clusters of players until the Mac Anu Café was reached. I pushed through the saloon doors, and entered; the room got silent as I entered.

The same, annoying NPC behind the counter greeted me with a wave. "Hey, Drifter! Where've you been lately?"

"Around." I sat down in my usual corner table. I folded my arms, and waited for the information to float through the air again. As always, I was the only non-newb in here; thus, the newbs stared at me with curiosity and great interest.

"Yeah, he killed two players! One was a high level that was training a new player. Then, he stole the new player's Wavemaster staff," told a red headed newb to the group surrounding her.

Everything was about me in here. I guess it made sense since the newbs would be killed by me, and then would come here to warn the next newb.

The saloon-like doors were kicked open by two feet; the doors fell off their digital hinges. Two players, identical twins, entered. Each 3 foot tall player carried a halberd twice their size with ease. They wore a red robe, which shook with each step. Their blue, spiky hair stuck up vertically with one strand down across their right eyes.

"Yo, newbs! Who wants to be defeated by the two strongest players in the game!" one of the twins asked with a large grin, holding a fist up as if he had triumphed already.

The other twin twirled his halberd in the air before pointing the lightweight axe blade at the group clustered at the counter. "Yeah, who?"

The look of fear of the newbs faces changed at the sight of the two; they turned back to the NPC behind the counter. They sighed, some laughing. "It is just the Pigeon Twins again," said one of the people in the group.

"Who said that! Come on! Let's take this outside!" shouted the twin that had spun the halberd before.

"We're the Phoenix Twins, got that?"

I resisted in joining the others in hysterical laughter; I may have been tempted to PK the two, but that was resisted also. Newbs were not only odd, but also stupid… I pulled my hood over my head a little more, the shadow on my face darkening.

The group bursted out into laughter and mocking the "Phoenix Twins." "You two haven't killed anyone!" "I prefer the Pigeon Twins…" "Ha, you two have gotten PKed thirty-seven times! It shows in your stats." "Yeah, why would we want to fight someone that sucks even more at fighting than us newbs!"

I did a stat scan on the twins. The group was right. They were level five Long Arms, which had gotten into forty-eight battles. Thirty-seven times they had lost; the other eleven times they ran away from battles. Yes, even for newbs they weren't the best players.

"Oh, yeah? We…let those players win those battles, so that they could get experience! They are friends of ours!"

"Sure you did. Admit it, you two suck," replied one of the group newbs.

One of the twins shouted something to the group that I won't repeat to you; cursing is too distasteful for me to bother.

The group quieted. And then, a sword blade lunged at the twin that had cursed.

I jumped from my seat to the players. My hand shot out at the blade; the Claw of the Twilight Dragon equipped on that hand was a dark blue streak, which grasped the blade tightly, stopping it before it reached the cursing twin's throat. Unknown to me, I tightened my grip on the sword, and the area of the blade that I was holding onto shattered. My hand retreated back under my cloak. My shadowed eyes went to the player who had attacked. "The two of them are protected under the Safe New Player rule. No player five or lower is to be killed. I don't think you would want to be banned from The World on your first day of playing, would you?" I didn't wait for an answer; I exited the café.

The sun was setting. It was getting late again. The crowd was now gone; everyone was either in the café or in the bazaars at this time of day.

I began my walk. I wondered Mac Anu aimlessly until…

"Hey!"

I stopped, now hearing the heavy strides of four feet behind me. The strides got louder, nearer, and then stopped a few feet behind me. Panting now came. "We finally…caught up…to you!"

I recognized the voices from earlier. I turned to face the Phoenix Twins. "What do you want from me?"

One of the twins sprawled himself out on the ground. "You walk fast."

The other twin was bent over with his hands on his knees. "You've got every stat that a Blade Master can have max-ed out, max-ed out."

"And why does that matter?"

The two Long Arms retrieved enough energy to get on their knees and bow.

"Teach us! Please!"

"Yeah, we want to be your apprentices!"

I gave the two players a blank stare. "You are kidding, right?"

"Please! We really need you to accept!"

"You do not want to get involved with me."

They both stood suddenly.

"Do you want us to prove ourselves? We'll fight whatever monster you put in front of us!" they told me in sync.

"Go find some other player to teach you." They wouldn't be able to find another player my level; my breed of player has long become extinct.

"Let us prove ourselves." They gave me a look; determination, loyalty, desperation, envy were all wrapped into one (or rather two) look.

"Before I accept you as apprentices…you should know my name."

The twins just jumped straight up into the air, giving the other a high five. "Yes!" It was only when they landed did they think about the second part of my sentence. "All right?" they asked, curious as to why it matters.

"I am Sorma; the Winged Knight to CC Corp; the Bandit King among the newbs." I pulled from my head the hood, which hid my face.

It took the twins a little while to process the information.

"No way…"

"You are Sorma!"

They tapped their forearms together; I guess it was some gesture with the same meaning as a high five. They then locked arms, hopping in circles of joy.

"Oh! Yeah! We're not only being trained by a level 100 player, but by the Bandit King!"

"We're so totally going to pawn those café guys soon!"

I tilted my head slightly.

They were happy about it? Well, I guess now that they have made friends with me, they decided that they didn't have anything to fear…in some odd twin way. But then, they stopped their dance, and the heads dropped.

"We have to go now…"

"Mom caught us up past our bed time…"

Oh, the wonders of parents… I nodded. "We'll train tomorrow then when I have some extra time."

Their faces lit up again, but dimmed again when they realized that they had their mother to deal with now. The rings took away both of them; the Phoenix Twins gated out.

I don't understand why I was doing it; I don't understand why I am going to have them as apprentices. Those two certainly aren't really ones I would have first on my list of players I wanted as apprentices. Oh well, I'll figure it out later.

The necklace suddenly yanked at my neck.

"Sorma, we need to talk." Ikardis' weapons were not ready for battle. He was very calm, and seemed to have just been crying again. Yeah, he wasn't going to attack me; at least not without warning like he usually does.

Despite him not looking like he was going to attack, the Claws rested on the handle of the Fang, ready to pull the sword out just in case. "All right."

He told me the field name that we were to meet in. And then he gated out.

"I wonder what this is about…" I followed after him.

The field was covered in snow. A fortress sat on the top of a cliff also covered in snow. Snowflakes floated down from the sky like feathers down upon the land and us. Pine trees were misplaced here and there. Bushes dotted the other areas. A moon levitated in the sky above us. I remember this field.

"I need you to kill me," Ikardis said to me rather loudly.

"What are you-"

"If I die, all of this will end. Millions will be saved from the end that my existence will be sure to bring," he interrupted.

"Traps are beneath you, Ikardis."

Ikardis laughed quietly, but then straightened up. "This is no trap."

"You are telling me then that you are giving up your life, so that you don't infect me, and then indirectly cause the death of the players of The World?"

"You have everything down to the point."

Ikardis was not noble enough or bright enough to come to this conclusion by himself. "Who did you talk to that talked you into sacrificing yourself?"

"No one important." I knew Ikardis. When he said, "no one important," it meant that there was no chance of finding out. "Sorma. I die tonight no matter what. But, will you do me the honor of a last battle?" Ikardis pulled the Twilight Bracelet off his wrist, and it shattered into data and disappeared; this is when I realized the change. Ikardis was not the insane Ikardis that had suddenly come out of nowhere; this was the Ikardis that I had made friends with such a long time ago… "The Twilight Bracelet gave me too large of an advantage. Man, the thing was a tight fit anyway."

I pulled the cloak off, and tossed it aside. My set of wings swung out, almost matching the snow, which fell.

For whatever reason, the air behind Ikardis got blurry. Large, black, bat-like wings appeared on Ikardis' back. "I was told by Morgonna that the Wings of the Twilight Dragon were to be used only in the final battle."

I nodded, understanding that this was the final battle.

The both of us flapped our wings, and we floated above the snow.

"Hey Sorma, you wouldn't happen to have any liquor on ya, would ya?" Ikardis smiled. "I'm going to need it." He followed this with a laugh.

I laughed a little with him, but quickly stopped myself. I pulled the Fang from its sheath, and held it diagonally in front of me.

The left blade, the other Fang swung forward from Ikardis' forearm and locked; the right blade, the Horn did the same. "Don't hold back."

I threw my sword at him. The sword spun in circles towards Ikardis; a distraction. I got behind Ikardis, and made sure that a foot Claw collided with his spine. I then caught the sword, and flew towards Ikardis again.

From the kick to his back, Ikardis had been thrown, but he quickly turned around to face me. He then threw open his wings to slow him down.

We collided, and skidded on top of the snow. We landed with our blades crossed. Our teeth were bared; we could feel the hot breath coming from the other; our blades rattled as we tried to push the other's blade out of the way and get to the throat.

"You remember when we were little? When we sucked so badly at fighting? We must have been killed a hundred times between us. And then, we found Balmung, and pleaded with him to train us," Ikardis said with a smirk.

I figured it out; the reason I accepted those two twins was because they reminded me of Ikardis and I when we had just begun. "I remember."

Ikardis slid one of his blades off my sword, and went in for a stab.

I jumped off of him before it could connect.

He then pushed off the ground with his wings, and leaped through the air at me.

Our blades came together again.

"And then, we'd come to this field with Balmung, and train for hours on end. We pulled all-nighters just to come here and train with each other," I said.

Our blades began to glow red from heat. The snow on the ground and the snow coming down from the sky melted.

"I remember." Ikardis pushed my off again.

I slid back.

Ikardis swung his blades from every direction, which I blocked with a combination of the Claws and the Fang. "When we trained, I always lost. Balmung would always praise you!" Ikardis swung both blades downwards.

The blades went diagonally across the top of my forehead, bridge of my nose, and then across my left eye. Blood came out from the two wounds; it was a good reminder that this fight was for real.

As I recovered from the wound, Ikardis grabbed me by the arm, and lifted with all his strength, and threw me straight up into the sky.

The force of the throw sent me around a hundred feet into the sky, but before I fell down to him, as he had wanted, I flapped my wings, catching myself.

Ikardis shot up from the ground to me.

I shot down at him.

Our blades came together once again. This time, a shockwave was sent through the field. It was like thunder, which blew all the clouds and snow away from us.

"Balmung always did like you most!" Ikardis spun around, kicking me.

I was sent a few feet, but quickly recovered, and propelled myself back at Ikardis. I flew a little bit above him, but it was close enough that the tip of the Fang went through Ikardis' shoulder.

Ikardis placed a hand on his new wound, and then pulled his hand up to his face to see the blood. He tilted his wings, so that he could turn. He pointed his Fang at me.

Lightning bolts suddenly streaked down at me. I fell down from the sky. I was unconscious for a few seconds, but then I pointed my Fang at the ground, which I was soon to hit. From my Fang, I shot a blast of air down at the ground. The forced from the blast sent me back up into the sky.

Ikardis greeted me with a sudden attack. He had swung each of his blades in a scissors motion, but I put my blade in the center of the two before it could be completed. "I grew to hate you for always beating me in front of Balmung. And then, the War of the Alphas event came…"

I swung my left foot Claw at him, but he turned his waist slightly, and blocked it with his knee.

"War of the Alphas was my final chance at showing everyone that I'm better. So, I chose the opposite side. We fought, and fought, and fought, but you won! Balmung was so overjoyed when he saw that you two had the same set of wings, that you two had another thing in common!" He tried to go for my head with his left blade, but I threw my arm over his wrist, locking it in my elbow. "And then you and Helba's apprentice, Muru met and became engaged! I wanted her! She was mine! But you won her over! You won again!"

We parted from each other, but came together with fists meeting the other's face. We fell from the sky. We landed hard in the snow, which was like concrete from the distance we fell. Snow burst into the sky from the impact of us falling, creating a mist. When the mist disappeared, you could see that Ikardis and I were struggling to stand, but we did it.

"When you and Muru broke up, I was so happy. I then asked her out, and I was rejected. Even if you lose one thing, you win at another, Sorma… That was the final straw. I never played The World again after that."

I had heard enough of this. "You idiot!" My energy suddenly came back to me. I ran towards him, swung my blade across his chest. I then flew a several feet into the air above Ikardis, and pinned him down to the ground with my Fang.

Ikardis was on the ground with my blade probably half in his heart; my foot rested on top of his body. His eyes were wide; he was probably in much pain, but he was still alive.

"Balmung only praised me so much to make this rivalry continue, to make you work harder, because you were lazy back then! When I beat you in the War of the Alphas event, I did it through cheating! And Muru and I decided to break up, because she revealed to me that she loved you. When she rejected you, she was only playing hard to get!" I pulled my Fang from his body.

Ikardis' body burst into flame, burning until there was nothing left of him.

I lied out on the ground. After I caught my breath, I began to think clearly. I had taken a real human life…this wasn't just some PKing. I had killed a former enemy, a rival, and a friend… In the back of my mind, I knew that Ikardis had to do it or I'd be infected, and I'd be the one killing all those people; Ikardis hadn't done it for the player's lives, he had done it for me! "For me!" I yelled up at the sky. "I remember…that I made a promise to myself…not to kill Ikardis." That night, I cried more than I will ever again…