This is a fanfic taking place right after the fight with Skeith at the end of .hack//infection. This also mixes with .hack//sign and I don't mean any of it to be corny. K? Good so................If you like it then I like you. if you don't then I need to know why because I need this to be good!

Chapter 1: Queen of Darkness

Kite fell to the ground, fighting to stay conscious. He had just fought with Skeith and was weak. He looked up and saw a mysterious woman in all white with an interesting head dress. It was the mysterious woman that had sent him the emails. She said something in another language and laughed, looking overhead. Kite looked up further and saw that Skeith had turned into something bigger than anything he could have ever imagined. It was like a giant spider beast with electric tendrils. Kite put his head back down weakly and everything went black.

The woman that Kite saw was the great hacker, Helba. She spoke again to the monster above her and repeated it again in another language
"It is time for I the queen of darkness to rule. Find the Key of the Twilight and this world will end."
She smiled down at Kite's unconscious body and knew that it was not his time to die. She waved her hand and he was gone.
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Chapter 2: Revelation
When Kite woke up he was in a calm field. It was made of green hills and there were flowers dotting the grass. He struggled to rise and found that he was very sore. How am I so tired? This is just a game! But his thoughts were interrupted by an obnoxious sound. He spun around with his blades ready to fight. He laughed at his stupidity. It was only a Mandragora. Man I must be really screwed up!
He remembered his fight with Skeith and the mysterious girl's death. Black Rose and Mistral had been there too but when the field had crumbled they somehow escaped. He shook his head and sat down next to the annoying grunty food.
"I hope they're okay. If they ended up like Orca I don't know what I'd do." he said to the plant. He checked the name of the field he was in. Delta Her Artificial Death. That seemed like it might be a clue of some sort. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind and got up again. He decided to go back to Mac Anu and check on Black Rose. Maybe I should get some food first. I'll log out and get some rest. Then I'll come back .Kite yawned and went back to the Delta server.
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Black Rose was in Mac Anu buying weapons. The computerized store clerk thanked her for her business and she turned around to go buy some magic. When she turned around she saw Kite coming toward her looking very tired.
"Are you okay?" she asked worried. She'd never seen anybody tired when in the World. Kite looked at her and forced a smile. She smiled back and motioned towards her new blade.
"It's the strongest one they have on this server!" she giggled. But Kite wasn't looking at her. He looked alarmed and started sniffing around. He sprinted to the bridge and ran his hand over it. Black Rose was confused when she saw the look of complete horror come over his face.
"Uh...Kite...what's goin' on?" she asked getting a little freaked herself. Kite ignored her and ran to the Chaos gate. He looked as if he were going to log out but didn't. He gasped and tried again. Black Rose ran over and touched him on the arm. She thought she understood what was happening. She had read it on the message board. A character named Tsukasa had been trapped in the game, unable to log out. The Crimson Knights had been after him for sometime. They had finally caught him and then, for unknown reasons, they let him go. Few people had seen him after that. Kite turned to her and looked as if he were going to collapse.
"I...I can't log out.." he said quietly. He hadn't been on the game long enough to know about Tsukasa. He thought that it had something to do with his bracelet. Has the bracelet infected me? He thought, looking down at the invisible power on his wrist.
"I can...feel...taste...smell everything." he said mostly to himself. Black Rose's fears were confirmed.
"I know what this is," she said. Kite looked at her and she told him all she knew.
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Chapter 3: Reminisce
Kite was filled with a new fear. He had originally started the game because his best friend had told him about. His friend's character name was Orca and Kite later found that he was actually one of the strongest players in the World. Orca of the Azure Sea or something like that from what he's heard. But when Orca was teaching him the ropes they saw a mysterious girl being chased by a huge monster named Skeith. Orca was data-drained by the skeletal monster and the girl gave Kite a book. The book was called the book of the Twilight. With this book Kite was given the same power that had killed Orca. Kite's best friend was in a coma when Kite logged out. Even though he knew that he'd be in that danger himself, Kite decided to play the game and find out who was behind Orca's coma/death.

Now he knew that he had no choice but to stay in the game. What would his mom think? Would she be worried that her son was sitting mindlessly in front of a computer screen? Was he still in front of his computer? He had so many questions but none of them could be answered. So he decided to find this Tsukasa and learn more about what was happening to him. Black Rose said she'd help but Kite knew that she wouldn't be there all the time. Because this game wasn't made for someone to live in, Kite would also have some trouble finding food and a place to sleep. Maybe that grunty food would taste good...he thought. But since he was now allowed to go to places that were supposed to be there for decoration, he could go to the restaurants and find something there.
I'm just so tired! I need to find somewhere to sleep!
He decided that the field he'd been in when he first woke up was a nice place to sleep. Black Rose had logged out earlier so she could go to tennis practice. She was a sophomore in high school. Kite always enjoyed being around her. She was just so happy and full of energy.
It was turning into night quickly and Kite was exhausted. He went into one of the restaurants and grabbed some food off one of the nearby tables. It seemed pretty unrealistic that someone would just put a plate of food down on a table and leave it, but Kite didn't care. He wanted to eat it when he got to Delta Her Artificial Death and thought it might look weird for some random character to be running with a plate of food in his hands so he walked with a plate of food in his hands. No one really cared. It was so late, practically no one was on anyway.
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When Kite got to the field night had taken over. He sat down against a tree tiredly. He had grabbed a plate of spaghetti. I hate spaghetti! It's too messy! He laughed to himself. He was so hungry that it really didn't matter much anyway. Anything he'd eaten would have caused a huge mess. When he finished he laid down on the soft grass and fell into a calm sleep.
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Chapter 4: Aura
Kite woke up with a start. It was still very dark and it was too quiet. Why did I wake up? Kite asked himself. He got up and turned around. He saw nothing. When he turned around again she was there. The girl dressed in white. She was asleep, floating in the air. Last time Kite had seen her she was being data-drained. As far as he knew no one could survive that.
"Hello?" Kite called cautiously. She didn't move. The girl just floated. Kite sighed but became alert to a voice in the back of his head. It felt as if the girl were right behind him, whispering in his ear.
Is it safe?
Kite turned around. Nothing was behind him. The floating girl was still in front of him. Floating.
The book...is it safe?
"Who are you?"
My name is Aura.
Aura...that name described her perfectly. He suddenly remembered the epitaph. It spoke of deep sadness and despair that would come to this girl named Aura. Kite was confused and didn't know how to react.
I don't have much time. Please tell me that you have the book of the Twilight. It must be kept from those who would destroy the World.
"I guess that's what it's called. Yes. I do have it. And the bracelet. May I ask you a question?"
You must hurry. I don't want to draw it near here.
"Why did you give me the same power that hurt my friend...Orca?"
It is the only thing that can stop them. Find the boy, Tsukasa. He needs you. I must go. Keep the book safe.
Kite was left alone. The floating girl, Aura, was gone. He didn't know what to do. He couldn't just log out and hope that Orca would wake up. He couldn't even log out! He also wanted to help this ill-fated girl.
"Tsukasa..." he said aloud. Where would he find him? He looked down and saw an object. A glass dragon figurine. It looked like it was made of stars and a dim light came from it.
"It looks like...like twilight!"

Author's note: I was so excited they put my fanfic on the site!! Ok so if anyone wants to give me a review then send it to Scaryanna@aol.com but I can only get email from AOL users so sorry. Also, Mimiru isn't in this. Actually Black Rose is the new Mimiru! It's just like Christmas huh? No? Ok then...sorry.
~Amara
Here's the next part!

Chapter 5: The search for hope

Kite went to sleep that night with a lot on his mind. How would he find Tsukasa in a place with infinite fields? Would he just have to go to every possible field and hope that Tsukasa stayed in one place all the time? All these questions spun through his mind the rest of the night. Consequently he didn't get any sleep. He got up in the morning and was surprised at where he was.
"Mom?" he yawned. He laughed at himself for saying that name. He wasn't at home. He was in the "World". His mom wouldn't answer him. He got up and looked around. He was hungry so he decided to go to the same restaurant and get some breakfast. The field was cold in the morning. There was dew on the grass and he saw a nearby monster coming towards him.
"Why do they follow me like this?" he asked himself. Kite got in fighting position. This was going to be a piece of cake! It was a goblin. Kite went to hit it but fighting was different now. He couldn't just hit it anywhere and be done with it. This was a real fight. He had to really cast magic and hit the goblin with force. He withdrew his blades and racked his mind for a quick spell.
"Juk Rom!" Kite yelled hoping that was enough. He didn't notice that he'd had his eyes tightly shut until it was all over. He opened his eyes and saw that the goblin was gone.
"I guess it worked!" he thought to himself excitedly. This fighting thing was going to be easier because in MMORPGs you can attack a monster 20 times and only 5 of those attacks will hit. But now every attack would hit. Kite didn't want to think about what would happen if he got hit.
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Black Rose went through Chaos Gate a little disturbed. She knew Kite would be angry if she told him, but she had posted something on the message board. She was asking if anyone knew where Tsukasa hung out. When she got on this morning she noticed that her message was deleted.
"How is this possible?" she asked herself aloud. She shrugged it off. The Crimson Knights might be protecting him or something for all she knew. But the really scary part was the email she got later. It was a little garbled but she understood most of it.
If you are near to the d(rk
I will tell you bout the sun
you are here no EsCa-e from
my visions of t%e "WORL)"
You will cry all alone
but it does not mean a thing
to me
Au`a

That was pretty much what the email looked like. Black Rose thought she had it all figured out. The words that were screwed up were Dark Escape WORLD. That didn't sound like much until you looked at the signs that replaced letters. (-). That looked like the theta sign. So she had a new keyword. (-)Dark Escape World. She knew how Kite would react but she had to tell him. That might be where Tsukasa is.

She was walking across some wooden planks in Dun Loireag. It was a little windy but since she was only a player she didn't feel anything. It was only a little tougher to run. She just didn't know what she could do for Kite. He was like a best friend to her. So she decided to go to the only person she thought could give her good advice, Bear.

"Hey Black Rose!" Bear yelled through the wind. The blinding wind parted near the grunty stables and Black Rose could see Bear clearly.

"Hey old man! How's it going?" she yelled back good naturedly. Bear just smiled at her nickname for him.

"Your message sounded urgent. What's up?" Bear asked, his face turning serious. Black Rose turned serious too. The friendly air around them turned slowly colder as Black Rose told the sad story that had befallen Kite.

"And I decoded the email and don't know what to do next. So I came to you." Black Rose finished. Bear looked down at the ground for a second as if thinking of what advice to give. He finally spoke after a little longer.

"What ever you do, include Kite in it. This is his problem and although you are helping him, don't take anymore liberties without consulting him first."
Black Rose looked at a nearby grunty and thought about what Bear had said. It was all true. That was what Black Rose liked about Bear. He always had good advice, he was like the father figure of the game. Black Rose sighed and got up from where she was sitting.

"I should go find Kite and tell him what I know." she said. But Bear was looking at someone behind her.

"Tell me what?" The boy behind her asked. Black Rose turned around guiltily. He had just arrived and she didn't want to tell him the whole story with Bear right next to her but she knew she had to.

"Um...well don't be mad but I posted something on the message board," Black Rose began. Kite already had a shocked look on his face.

"Did it say anything about Aura?" he asked anxiously. Black Rose was a little confused about him mentioning Aura but reassured him that it had nothing to do with her.

"What do you love her or something?" Black Rose teased. Kite laughed with her and they argued for a while about his new "girlfriend" but Kite knew that he shouldn't be talking like that. She could be in serious trouble. He didn't mention anything about her to Black Rose. He didn't want her to tell anyone about Aura. He felt the need to protect Aura from the real world. They just didn't understand what was going on.

" I know where Tsukasa is." Black Rose said smugly, breaking Kite's thoughts. Kite broke his blank stare and smiled.

"Well let's go find him!"
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Chapter 6: Tsukasa

Black Rose and Kite went to the new keyword alone. They knew that they might need Mistral to help out with the monsters but if they did find Tsukasa then Mistral would just freak him out and make him run away. They went to (-) Dark Escape World and found that it was a small grassy plain. It looked a lot like the place where Kite had stayed.

"Now if I were a kid stuck in a video game, where would I hide?" Black Rose said in a sherlock voice. Kite looked at her mildly annoyed.

"Oh! Um...er...sorry. I just meant, well you know!" Black Rose stuttered an apology for bringing up such a painful subject. She felt so sorry for Kite. She was staring at him with a sad look on her face when she noticed that he was a little preoccupied with something. She looked in the direction that he was looking. It was a floating girl. She was blonde and wearing all white.

"Man! She has a LOT of hair!" Black Rose finally said. She laughed at her own joke and looked at Kite. He was not amused. He just kept on staring at her, shocked. Black Rose ran her hand in front of his eyes and sighed at his unresponsiveness.

"That looks like Aura." Kite whispered under his breath. Black Rose heard him and looked again closely. It was true. This girl looked a lot like the mysterious girl in white. There were major differences though. She had blonde hair instead of white and more of it. Her clothing was more of an off white also. Black Rose thought she looked a little evil too.

"No, you can't be her." Kite said quietly. He looked off into the distance to see a monster quickly approaching. It was an ogre. Black Rose noticed to late and the ogre knocked her off her feet.

"NO! Black Rose are you okay?!" Kite screamed and hurried to her side imeadiatley. She got up and seemed okay.

"This Is just a game. Let's bust this overgrown history teacher!" Black Rose yelled excitedly. Kite smiled and took fighting stance. The ogre swung a massive club over Kite's head and he almost lost his balance. Black Rose drew her giant heavy blade and screamed.

"Death Bringer!" she yelled and brought it down with all her might. She thought it would have died but when she backed away from the beast she saw that she was clearly mistaken.

"What is this thing?!" she said angrily. She checked the ogre's data and panicked as she saw that it was a level 60 monster.

"Oh my god...Kite won't survive this." She whispered to herself. She had to save him. Kite was swinging his twinblades around and panicked himself when he saw that it was doing no damage. Black Rose ran to his side and stood in front of him.

"Run. I won't die for real. You can't risk it." She said in a voice that shocked Kite. She had a valley-girl voice most of the time. She sounded like a warrior just then. He shook his head in disagreement.

"I don't care. We can beat this thing together." he replied. Black Rose nodded silently and headed towards the ogre yelling a war cry. She swung at him and still did very little damage. Kite joined her but Black Rose had a disadvantage. She couldn't dodge attacks as easily as he could. This was just a game to her and she was running around a lot.

"Black Rose! Be careful! He almost got you that time!"

"I know. I won't get hit. Don't worry Kite!" Black Rose answered. She was getting tired. She got up from where she had dived and looked over at Kite. While he had been checking on her he had let his guard down. The ogre took this chance to hit him in the stomach. Black Rose screamed at the sight of his body flying 20ft across the field. The only thought that came to her shocked mind was to kill the ogre. She swung at him with renewed strength. The ogre turned to his new adversary, leaving Kite to get up.

"Black Rose?" Kite called weakly. He leaned on his side and looked up with blurry vision at the two fighting figures. A shining object caught his eye. He looked down and saw that the dragon figurine had fallen on to the ground. It was glowing. Kite had to ignore it for the time being though because he saw that protect break had happened to the ogre.

"Whoa! Black Rose must have been mad to get a protect break!" he said to himself. Maybe the ogre had messed up her hair. He got up and ignored the intense pain in his side. He held up his arm that was mysteriously heavy from the invisible bracelet that he wore on it.

"Data Drain!" Kite yelled. A white light surrounded the ogre and Kite. Kite felt like he was in a world of 1s and 0s. He tried to hold himself in place as the bracelet pulled him towards the monster. A green shield engulfed the ogre and spikes ran through it. When the light faded, the monster had turned into a small version of itself. Kite sighed in relief.The threat was gone and he could tend to the dragon. His side hurt and he knew he wouldn't stay awake very long.
"What are you doing here?" a voice near where the dragon was asked. Kite turned around to see the boy he was looking for all this time.

"Tsukasa." he whispered before passing out.
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Chapter 7:Black Rose
When Tsukasa woke up he was on the hard ground and his back ached. He didn't open his eyes because he heard voices. Black Rose and Tsukasa were talking.

"Look, I don't know who you think this girl is but I know I've seen her before, and that's NOT a good thing." Black Rose argued. Her voice suggested that she was slightly afraid of the person to whom she was referring.

"Her name is Aura. She isn't a bad person! I just want her to wake up..." A boy's voice almost sobbed.
"It must be Tsukasa" Kite thought to himself.

"That is NOT Aura. Don't ever say that. Aura would never send him into a coma!" Black Rose screamed. Kite could hear her moving towards him. He could feel her feet right next to his head.

"Tsukasa...this is...this is Kite...he's st-stuck...here in "The World". Am I wrong in believing that you are also?" Black Rose said. She was holding back tears. Kite could hear her choking on his name. He couldn't let her speak to Tsukasa alone anymore.

Kite opened his eyes and got up. He had startled Black Rose but she gave a sigh of relief seeing that it wasn't another ogre. There were tears in her eyes. Kite was about to ask her if she was okay but instead gave Tsukasa a calculating look.

"I am Kite. She is right. I can't log out of "The World". Can you help me or not?" Kite said almost coldly. Tsukasa had upset Black Rose. She was crying silently near a tree.

Tsukasa looked at the ground. Kite was in a horrible position, then again, Tsukasa was in the same boat so they both immediately knew that they'd have to help each other.

"I don't know what I can do for you. If I knew how to leave this place I would." Tsukasa answered slowly. Kite could tell that there was more on his mind.

"What else? You've gotta have some type of plan! I can tell that you're not the type of person who'd just let things stay this way!" Kite prodded. There was something Tsukasa wasn't telling him everything. Nobody was telling him the whole story. Black Rose was being a little too emotional for just a simple conversation and he knew that there had to be something that he could do to get out of the "World". Kite was ready to walk away when Tsukasa finally said something.

"I'm looking for something...the Key Of The Twilight." he confessed. Kite turned around grinning. This was it. He'd help find a simple key and be free of this insane video game.

"But I'm really looking for it for Aura." he said quickly.

"That's not Aura. I don't know who that is but I know Aura and...and she is...different." Kite said. He looked at the floating girl. She did look a lot like Aura but there was something about her...

"Stay away from her." Black Rose said suddenly. She was looking at the girl with a scared look of recognition in her eyes.

"I finally remember..." she whispered so quietly that no one heard her.
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Chapter 8: Twin Blade Sora

Tsukasa and Kite spoke for a long time about the Key of The Twilight. It seemed to be very important. Tsukasa said that it had never been found and was rumored to have powers that surpassed the system. All visions of being home soon vanished in Kite's mind. This would probably be a pretty long journey. He could imagine himself in a wide eyed coma. There he was in his mind...laying in a hospital bed with tubes sticking out of his arm and a beeping sound always surrounding him. Kite shook his head and shuddered from the vision.
Kite was walking down the bridge in Mac Anu. He needed to think about everything that Tsukasa had told him. If that girl was Aura then who was the girl he had tried to save from Skeith? They couldn't both be Aura could they? One of them had to be the imposter and if it was the Aura that he'd just met then Tsukasa was in danger and he had to be sure she was Aura fast. And what about Black Rose? There was something she wasn't telling him. Something very important and Kite had the feeling that it might help him figure out this mystery, this horrible event that Tsukasa and him had somehow gotten caught in.
He was in the middle of the bridge when he heard it. He heard two people speaking.

"...The key of the twilight must be there. The keywords make perfect sense."

"Yes, it is both hidden and forbidden. And a holy place. It's a church after all."

Kite turned around quickly to see two figures leaning over the edge of the railing on the bridge. One was a woman. She was blond and wore blue white and green robes. She was carrying the wand of a wavemaster. The other was a man who was covered weird octagon prints or blue and white. It was Bear, Black Rose's friend that Kite had met the other day.

Kite decided to stay within earshot a little longer. He had an idea of what they were talking about. That was the church that had the figure of the girl in chains in it...Delta Hidden Forbidden Holy Land. But why did they want to go there. He'd been there and hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary. Then again he hadn't been looking for anything out of the ordinary either.

"Bear, Curim's calling me. I'll see you tomorrow." The woman said suddenly. A golden ring surrounded her and she was gone. Bear sighed and turned around. He stopped short when he saw Kite who was staring at him in wonder. So Bear was in on this too. Kite wondered how much of this Black Rose knew.

"Hello Kite. You should have said hello. How long have you been standing there?" Bear asked when he recovered from his momentary shock at seeing Kite.

"Long enough." Kite said shortly. Bear sighed again and his pose lowered a little as if he was trying to be friendly to someone who'd try to eat him any second.

"Black Rose doesn't know about any of this. The key I mean." Bear said.

"Actually you'd be surprised how much she knows about the key." Kite said coldly. He didn't like Bear treating her like a kid who had to be protected. But he also knew that Bear probably had some information that would help him find the key.

"I want to find the key. Black Rose, Tsukasa and I are looking for it." Kite said. He was looking off into the distance as if he saw something that wasn't really there. Bear looked at him questioningly.
"Tsukasa? You mean the player you and Black Rose were looking for? You found him?" Bear asked. Kite nodded. He decided he was going to call Black Rose and tell her what he'd found out. It didn't matter if Bear was there or not, either way Black Rose was going to yell at him.

* * *

"How could you leave me out of something like this?!" Black Rose yelled. She'd been screaming at Bear for about ten minutes. Bear looked mildly upset but defended himself anyway.

"I didn't want you to get hurt. This is a very serious subject we're talking about. Even the Crimson Knights are looking for the Key." Bear said with an air of wisdom. No matter what he did he always seemed to be able to make it look like the right thing to do.

"None of that matters now. We just need to find it." Kite interrupted. Black Rose and Bear looked at him. Bear looked a little relieved to not have a voice screaming in his ear anymore. Black Rose just turned her head slowly, angry at being interrupted.

"None of you guys get it do you?" Kite started.

"There is something much bigger out there than your petty secret keeping...what about the secrets of the game?" Kite was about to go on again before a voice came from behind him.

"BOING!" it said. A figure had jumped down from an amazingly high building and landed unscathed.

"Who are you?" Kite asked putting up his twinblades. The figure had green hair and a dark navy band around his forehead. When Kite checked his weapons he saw that he was a twinblade also.

"Calm down! My name is Sora, at your service." He said happily. Bear made a disgusted face and Kite saw that Bear obviously knew him.

"Oh Bear don't be so happy to see me!" Sora said in the same happy voice and walked over towards Black Rose.

"Leave her alone!" Bear suddenly yelled threateningly. Sora was right in front of her now and she was reaching towards her blade. Sora turned his neck to look at Bear and had a malicious grin on his face.
"Don't be so protective of her. I won't hurt her. What are you, her boyfriend?" Sora said tauntingly.

"You seem a little old for her don't you?" he went on. Bear gave him another disgusted look and straightened his posture so that he only looked mildly annoyed. Sora's smile deepened and her turned back to Black Rose.

"So, what's your name? Can I have your member address?" Sora asked her. Black Rose gave him a fake smile clearly knowing the danger of his blades being so close to her.

"My name's Black Rose and I'm sorry but I'm not sure I want to give you my member address." she said. Her head was craned back a bit so as to not be so close to his face which was very close to hers. Sora smiled again and raised his blades up.

"Very well then, I guess I'll just have to.." he began. Black Rose quickly backed away and ripped out her sword.

"Stop!" Kite said suddenly. He was annoyed that Sora had cut in so suddenly and wasn't about to let Sora kill Black Rose. Sora stopped and turned around to face Kite.

"Want to fight? To save your friend?" Sora asked menacingly. Kite almost got into fighting stance but stopped when he saw Black Rose shaking her head. She mouthed something. Kite gave her a confused look that did not go unnoticed.

"What is it? You, a newbie, would fight me? My stats are maxed out. You are either brave or stupid, care to find out?" Sora boasted. Kite understood. Since he was part of the game he could not read Sora's stats. If he had he would have known that he was at level 999. That was almost unattainable unless someone hacked or played 24/7. Kite could not afford to die when he was so close to being free of the game. He backed up a few steps. Sora took this as the perfect opportunity to strike. He quickly swung his blades at Kite who dodged them easily. Sora frowned.

"How did you dodge that? No one in the game can move that easily, except maybe me." Sora said happily. If there was one thing Sora loved, it was a good challenge. He struck again and once again Kite dodged. Kite was panicked. He moved so fast, Kite wasn't sure he'd be able to dodge forever. This went on and no one stopped Sora. They all knew that Sora would only take that as a challenge and no one wanted to die.

"ha! You're slowing down!" Sora exclaimed. Kite tried to dodge again but stumbled and fell. He looked up at Sora waiting for a death blow. "If I'm going to die like this, I will show no fear." He thought to himself. But no blow came. Everyone stared at the assassin as he stopped in mid-step and all of his killer antics disappeared.
"Sorry!" Sora said as he turned to walk away from the stunned group.

"My mom says I have to clean my room. She gets upset when I stay on too long." He said and faded into the Chaos Gate. They stood staring for a while at the gate. Black Rose was the first to recover.

"What was his problem? His mom told him to get off? That's lame." She said as she helped Kite off the ground. Kite suddenly loved Sora's mother.

"When I get away from this game, I'm going to thank his mom for saving my life." Kite said laughing. Bear smiled at this. Not only was Kite alive but Bear was also free from Black Rose's rage.

"Okay Bear, Tell me all you know about the Key of the Twilight." Kite said turning back to Bear. Bear led them to an unused harbor on the outer edge of Mac Anu. When they were sure that no one was listening, he began to tell them all the information he had on the key.

"The key is an element in the game that surpasses the system. Some aren't sure whether it's real or not, but B.T., some others and I have decided to try and learn more about it. Maybe we'll even find it." Bear began.

"Whose B.T.?" Black Rose interjected. "Who would name their character B.T.? That's so...weird." She asked. Kite thought it was a little funny too.

"Was it that blonde woman that I saw you talking to at the bridge?" Kite asked. Bear nodded. Kite looked out over the water. This was where he had met Mia. He wondered when he would see her next. She had been able to see his bracelet so why couldn't he?

"I met her through an email," Bear continued. Kite let his attention fall back to what Bear was saying.

"She asked about the key and we decided to find it together. We got in touch with the hacker, Helba. She told us where to find the key. That was what B.T. and I were talking about when you overheard us." Bear said looking at Kite. Kite looked at the water again. Helba sounded so familiar.

"Helba! I've gotten email from her! She told us some stuff about Kite's bracelet and gave us some keywords." Black Rose exclaimed. Kite's remembered her. But he also knew that he had seen her before too...somewhere very important. He shook his head and suddenly remembered something Bear had said.
"You said the Crimson Knights were in on this too. Are they going to come tomorrow?" He asked.

"Yes. Lady Subaru of the Crimson knights will be there. Curim will also be there. He is a former officer of the Crimson Knights. They both promised to leave the duties of the knights out of this." Bear answered. He could tell that Kite was worried that they would think he was a virus like other players had. Kite sighed in relief at this. Maybe he could finally explain his situation to someone who cared.

"That's about all the information I have. You guys can meet me tomorrow at noon. We'll be meeting at Delta Hidden Forbidden Holy Land." Bear said standing up. He waved goodbye and disappeared behind the corner that led back to the Chaos Gate. Kite looked out over the harbor and shook his head. Another night spent in the game. But there was nothing else he could do. He decided that he would find Tsukasa and tell him what he'd learned.

"I better get going. I have to...uh..visit someone." Black Rose said standing up. She looked preoccupied.

"What's wrong?" Kite asked. She looked at him for a second and resumed her usual happy personality.

"Oh nothing! Just a friend in the hospital." She replied waving it off. She said goodbye once more and left behind the same corner. Kite got up and walked a little ways behind her.

"Tomorrow I find the key of the twilight!" he said to himself as he disappeared through the chaos gate.

Chapter 9: Silver Knight

Even though Kite had told Tsukasa everything that Bear had told him, it wasn't as much as he had thought it was. Tsukasa seemed to know more information than Bear had. Kite wondered why he didn't share any with him.
Kite got up early in the morning. It wasn't that he was worried he was going to be late, he just couldn't sleep. Something was going to happen today. Something big. Kite didn't know if he was going to find the key, but he knew that even if he didn't there was something in that abandoned church. When he was last there with Black Rose he may not have seen anything but there was definantly a vibe. Like something very old, powerful even, was waiting to be unleashed.

Kite was sitting on a rock over a small lake in Tsukasa's field. It was very small. A bed surrounded by a tangled mess of vines. It was enough protection to keep even the strongest heavy axeman out. The sleeping girl was floating over her bed as always. Kite looked at her with cold eyes. Aura was asleep when he had seen her. But somehow she was different. But not that much different...maybe she was changing. He had seen it happen before. Whenever he data drained something, it changed into something smaller, weaker. Aura was probably something weaker now. Maybe the sleeping girl WAS Aura. That seemed almost impossible though. That floating girl wasn't something that Aura could become.

Kite was startled by a hand on his shoulder. He quickly turned around.

"Relax! It's just me." Tsukasa said yawning. He had just woken up. Kite smiled and relaxed his tense arms. He wondered what would happen if he or Tsukasa died. Where would their souls go?

"What time is it?" Kite asked. Tsukasa shrugged. Watches weren't really something that a player would wear in the World.

"We should go to Mac Anu and get some food. The clock tower has the time on it anyway." Tsukasa said as he stretched. They headed back toward the sleeping girl to check on things before they left. Kite snuck one last look at the floating girl. He suddenly had a vision of her waking up. Kite blinked and looked back at the girl. She was the same as always. But an evil laughter was resounding in the back of his head. Kite looked in wide eyed terror at her. What was happening to him?

Tsukasa was about to leave but turned back to Kite. When he saw the look on Kite's face he ran back to grab Kite.

"But- but I saw her! She...she was...awake!" Kite babbled. Tsukasa took his arm and warped to Mac Anu with him. When they arrived, Tsukasa continued to silently guide him. The server was very busy. There were people crowding the streets but many who recognized Tsukasa moved aside.

"Hey! That's the wavemaster! He's the one from the message board!" One particularly loud one said. There were gasps and then everything was silent. Kite heard Tuskasa mutter under his breath.

"I have to get him somewhere quiet. Why won't these people just go away?" Tsukasa muttered hopelessly. He quickly walked by a small restaurant and grabbed some woman's chicken and her friend's salad. Being that they were computers, they just went on talking about their hair. Tsukasa turned around and went back to the Chaos Gate. When he got there he was confronted by a tall, muscular player in silver armor. He was wearing a gray helmet that looked very intimidating with the bright red eyes staring out of it.

"Hello Silver Knight." Tsukasa said coldly. The man looked down at Tsukasa and Kite.

"What are you doing here?" The knight asked with authority. Kite shook free from tsukasa's iron grip and stood at full height. Silver knight glanced at him and his cold eyes seemed to stay on his for an eternity.

"I believe that as a player I am allowed to be here." Tsukasa answered. When Tsukasa said this, Silver Knight's gaze quickly snapped back to Tsukasa. Kite could tell that they did not like each other. Since he was being so mean, Kite didn't really blame Tsukasa.

"Where is Lady Subaru?" Silver Knight asked Tsukasa with accusation dripping from every word. Tsukasa looked a bit confused for a second but regained his calm coolness in an instant.

"I don't know. Why are you asking me? Aren't you the one whose been telling me she's busy all the time?" Tsukasa answered. Kite guessed that Subaru was their connection. Silver Knight must be very protective of her.
Silver Knight looked annoyed and turned to Kite again.

"You. Why are you standing here? Go about your business." Silver Knight barked. He thought that Kite was just a spectator.

"I'm with him." Kite said innocently pointing at Tsukasa. Silver Knight raised an eyebrow and Kite quickly fixed his mistake.

"Not WITH him. I'm just going to check out dungeons with him." Kite explained. He didn't want to let the Crimson Knights know what was going on if they didn't already know. Subaru would have already told them if she wanted them to know.

Silver Knight looked skeptical. Kite wondered what he didn't believe. What did he think they were doing. Well, besides having a gay relationship. Kite gagged at the thought.

"What is your name?" the knight asked. Kite looked up at him and found that Silver Knight was addressing him.

"Kite." he answered. Silver Knight looked at him almost gleefully. Kite should have known that the Crimson Knights knew about him.

"You are the hacker Kite. The outlaw. I have been looking for you." He said. Kite looked confused. How was he a hacker and wouldn't he know if he was an outlaw. Tsukasa grabbed his arm again and ran all the way to the Chaos Gate with Silver Knight close behind. Kite dragged behind and glance back at the furious Silver Knight who was yelling threats and curses at him. Tsukasa muttered a few keywords and he and Kite disappeared.
_________________________________________________

Chapter 10: Hidden Forbidden Holy Place

Kite and Tsukasa found themselves on a bridge surrounded by fog. It was the dark and mysterious cathedral that Kite had been to when he and Black Rose had first met. Kite looked at Tsukasa who was a little bit ahead of him. Kite had never told Tsukasa the keywords to the place they were supposed to go to today. How did he know?

Tsukasa was taking in the scenery. He hadn't been here in a while. The last time he was here was when he came to look at the statue. The figure the statue was about was so sad. Tsukasa felt he related to her even though she was trapped inside stone. But that was almost the thing that he related to most. Wasn't he too trapped inside stone? The World was a substance he couldn't break away from either. Tsukasa slowly walked towards the grey stone building. He had to tell Kite about the floating girl. He didn't know that he wasn't the only one having the visions of her waking up.

They were at the doors. Tsukasa moved to open them but was stopped by a sudden noise. He turned around to see a snake wrapped in a green light. Kite stepped in front of Tsukasa getting ready to fight.

"Stay back! This is a Data Bug!" Kite screamed. The snake wriggled closer surprisingly fast. Underneath the glow his scales were a shiny magenta and his eyes were a deep purple that glistened with power. The snake hissed and stopped when he arrived in front of the two boys.

Tsukasa ran the word over in his mind. Data bug. What was that? He wondered to himself. It didn't matter. He had to fight, Kite couldn't take this alone. Tsukasa moved out from behind Kite and stood beside him. Kite looked a little surprised but smiled when he saw Tsukasa getting ready to fight with him. Tsukasa chanted a fire spell loudly and the snake reared back.

"It's going to strike!" Kite screamed and ran to the side. Tsukasa stood his ground. The snake struck at Tsukasa who had his staff ready to strike back. He dug his heels into the ground as the bug struggled to bite through his staff.

"Guardian!" Tsukasa screamed. Kite was confused and shocked to see a yellow blob appear in midair. It squished itself into the shape of two circles connected by a thin line and a weird metal circle within the line. Kite looked closely at it.

"No..it can't be." He said under his breath. The Guardian shot out a clear yellow tendril that wrapped around the snake's head and sent it flying across the narrow, stone bridge. Kite jumped at the protect break that only he could see as Tsukasa tried to regain his footing.

"Data Drain!" Kite screamed thrusting his invisible bracelet forward. Tsukasa watched, spellbound. He had seen this before but he couldn't remember where. The white light and the green barrier that surrounded most of the snake. He was horrified. What was this power?

Kite struggled with his bracelet. He felt as if he would be thrown off his feet any second. The power was never easy to wield and it never got easier.

The snake fell to the ground, smaller than before. Kite walked over to the small snake that resembled a worm now and stepped on it.

"Glad that's over with." Kite muttered to himself. He turned around to go back to Tsukasa and stopped when he saw him standing in a corner.

"Tsukasa? What's wrong?" Kite asked as he ran over to Tsukasa's side. The Guardian dissappeared as Kite approached. But he didn't notice.

"don't come near me! " Tsukasa ranted. He had a terrified look on his face that hurt Kite to look at.

"The snake is gone now. It's okay." Kite urged trying to help tsukasa to his feet. Tsukasa came to a little and stood up.
"That power. W-where did you get that power?" Tsukasa asked when they got into the church and sat down. Kite sighed and told him about the girl and the bracelet. All the information he had withheld from Tsukasa on his first visit. Tsukasa's eyes widened when Aura was mentioned. Kite thought about what Tsukasa had said about Aura. The dates matched up. The day after his fight with Skeith was the day Tsukasa had met Aura. Maybe she had changed into this because of the data drain.

"The girl who was floating. I have seen visions of her waking up. I thought I was losing my mind and didn't tell anyone, then you saw it. I saw her eyes opening and nothing but darkness in them. It was horrible. I also had visions of us running and having fun but then...she..." Tsukasa explained staring at the statue. Kite understood. He had seen it too. The darkness.

"She tried to hurt you didn't she?" Kite asked. He looked at the statue also. There was something strangely familiar about it. Like he knew the person who was wrapped in all the chains and he wanted to free her so badly.

"Yes. But she said that as long as we walked together she would keep me safe. She said she would protect me." Tsukasa said. But it was no use. He knew deep in his heart that something in that field was evil. The voice that had spoken to him was cruel and manipulative. Toying with his mind.

"I wonder what time it is." Kite said to himself.

"Why? Do we have to go to that meeting place?"

"I thought you knew. This is the place. We are supposed to all meet here." Kite explained. Tsukasa smiled. This is where it was. He knew there was something special about this place.

Kite and Tsukasa sat together with their chins pressed against the cool wooden railings on the side of the benches. Even a church filled with singing and happiness could not compare to this holy place. It was almost as if it stopped time altogether and they were floating in a place where nothing changed and they could rest without fear.

"Hey! You guys are here early!" Black Rose said as she entered the church. Both Tsukasa and Kite were startled by Black Rose's loud voice since it had been so quiet in the forgotten church.

"What time is it?" Kite asked when she came and sat next to him. Black Rose stood very still and stared into the space ahead of them for a second and then turned to him and said,
"11: 45 on the dot."

"I guess we are here early. But why are you here too?" Kite asked Black Rose who was busy scratching at a piece of frayed wood on the bench.

"Why? Am I bothering your solitude?" Black Rose asked in mock offense.

"No, no it's not like that. I was just wondering." Kite laughed. Black Rose stuck up her nose and turned away from Kite.

"I'm not talking to you." She said and kicked her feet over the side of the railing. Kite laughed and tried to get her to turn around.

"Come on Black Rose! It was just a question!" Kite said and they argued as Tsukasa watched in sadness.
It had been a while since he had been happy. He had been so wrapped up in finding the key that he had completely forgotten about friends.
In no less than ten minutes the whole team was assembled. B.T. and Curim had come in first and Sora after that. Everyone had laughed when Sora complained that Subaru and Bear had taken too long.

"I like to make my entrances to full audiences." Sora had complained.

Bear had come in a minute or so before Subaru. Everyone watched as she came in slowly and sadly. She had a graceful but sad air about her and only Tsukasa could relate to it. He was more attentive when she entered the room. It was as if her presence made him more respectful. But he was also happy to see her again.

Once everyone had arrived they all sat in a half circle on the floor in front of the statue. Bear got up to inform everyone of what the plan was.

" Thanks to Sora, we have gotten in touch with the hacker Helba." He began. Sora stood up and bowed in front of everyone. Black Rose groaned.

"God he's annoying." she muttered. Sora heard and stood in front of her grinning.

"Got something to say to me?" he asked Black Rose. She growled and almost stood up to face him. Kite grabbed her arm and shook his head. Black Rose growled again and sat back down.

"Oh I see!" Sora exclaimed. Black Rose and Kite looked at him, confused.

"You and the red boy are TOGETHER. Haha. You do know that internet relationships never last right?" Sora yelled happily.

Black Rose and Kite looked at eachother. Together? They had never really thought about it but they didn't want to at the moment. Kite found himself blushing and couldn't figure out why.

"Enough sora. We have business to attend to." Bear said. Sora turned around and glared at Bear.

"Jealous are we?" he said and sat down. Black Rose giggled.

"Okay, before I was interuppted, I was going to explain the email that we received from Helba." Bear continued, ignoring Sora's comment.

"When the Key of the Twilight doth open all shall be revealed." B.T. quoted.Bear nodded.

"She also gave us 3 keywords. Hidden. Forbidden. and Holy Land. This is the only place that follows all 3 keywords." Bear said. Black Rose raised her hand.

"This isn't a school room. You don't need to raise your hand." B.T. said cuttingly. Black Rose looked at her and stuck her tongue out. Kite laughed and Bear was a little annoyed at the interruptions.

"Yes Black Rose?"

"Okay, I was just wondering, like, how do we get the eye to open?" Black Rose asked.

"We can't make the eye open. It has to open on its own." B.T. explained. Black Rose put her chin on her knees and thought for a second.

"Did she give you a time or date?" Kite asked. He was thinking about the Guardian. Maybe it had something to do with this. Kite remembered the ring that he saw in the Guardian.

"Is that the key?" he said to himself quietly. Black Rose looked at him.

"What did you say?" She asked loudly. Kite snapped to attention and shook his head.

"It's nothing. Really. I was just thinking out loud." he answered. Bear cleared his throat.

"She said nothing about dates or times. She just talked about the eye opening." bear answered. Kite nodded and stood up.

"Is that all?" he asked.

"Yes. That's all the new information we have. Now we just have to find the eye." Bear said.

"We may not have to." said Tsukasa distantly. He was looking through one of the windows in the cathedral. Outside the sky had dropped from a grayish fog to a deep black. Everyone hurried to their feet and ran outside.

"What is that?" Black Rose asked. B.T. ran to the side of the bridge and pointed.

"The eye! It's opening!" She exclaimed. The clouds bubbled up to create a dome in the sky and everyone watched, astounded. The dome blew up like a balloon and eventually got so big that the entire sky was taken up. Then it opened up like a fireworks display and everyone gasped. Tsukasa hung back and looked at the farthest end of the bridge. There, a red spinning portal had emerged and it looked much like the Chaos Gate.

"Everyone! Look!" B.T. yelled over the rushing sound of wind from the exploding dome. The noise died down and they all looked over to the portal.

"Is that where we must go?" Subaru asked quietly. Curim put his hand on her shoulder.

"The eye's opened now. We have to find the key of the Twilight. Come on!" Curim shouted and he ran off into the portal. Subaru silently followed his lead and so did everyone else.

Kite was the last to go in. He stepped up to it and heard a faint sound. Black Rose was a little ahead of him and heard it too.

"That sound! I know that sound." She said. Kite looked at her and said nothing. She nodded and went through the gate.

"My turn. Man, what have I gotten myself into?"Kite said to himself.

_________________________________________________

Chapter 11: The Broken Man

The world was quiet except for the whistling of wind. Kite stepped out and was a little shocked at how narrow the path was. It was a long stone bridge that had four directions to go in. It was so high in the air, you couldn't see where the drop ended. Everyone else seemed okay with the height so Kite gulped and walked to Curim's side.

"What are we going to do first?" Kite asked a little shaky at first. It was obvious that Curim would be doing most of the leading. Sora was the only one that seemed to have a problem with this. As soon as Curim's loud, even voice rang out, Sora groaned with annoyance.

"I think we should split up into groups. Kite will lead Black Rose, and Sora. Bear, B.T. and Sora will travel together and I will go with Subaru." Curim ordered. Kite gasped when Curim asked him to lead. Sora smirked and walked ahead.

"I travel alone." he said simply and walked on. Curim sighed and turned back to the group. B.T. walked behind sora.

"I'll go alone too." she said and continued. Kite looked at the dwindling numbers.

"Are you two really going to go alone?" kite asked Subaru and curim. Curim shrugged.

"No big deal. I can take anything we come across here." he answered. Bear walked up to him.

"I'm not so sure I can. Can I travel with you guys?" Bear asked Subaru. She looked at Curim and silently nodded.

"We'll walk in separate directions. Kite you take the left and we'll take the right. I doubt there is anything behind us." Curim said and walked to the right without looking back. Subaru smiled at Tsukasa and followed Curim. Tsukasa made a small noise and turned to Kite.

"Are you ready?" Tsukasa asked. He had a funny look in his eyes. Like he was worried about something. Kite was about to ask what was wrong when Bear came up to him with a serious look on his face.

"I'm going with Subaru so I want you to take care of Black Rose. Don't let her get hurt." he said sternly.

"I don't need protecting old man!" Black Rose protested. Bear looked at her like a father would.

"Just don't get yourself killed." He said and walked back to Curim and Subaru. Black Rose shook her head, smiling. He really was worried about her.

"Let's go." Kite said over the wind whipping his face and screaming in his ears.

They followed the path that led to the left. Black Rose was freaking out every step.

"Did you hear that?!" she'd say whenever she heard a sound. Kite would roll his eyes and say once again,

"It's just the wind." They continued for about five minutes. Tsukasa was the first to realize the direction of the path.

"Is it just me or is this path like a circle?" he asked. Kite and Black Rose looked at the bridge and saw that the path went to the left then straight then to the right.

"This just leads right back to the center path!" Black Rose exclaimed. They started running when they heard a scream.

"I suppose that was just the wind also?" Black Rose said to Kite sarcastically as they ran. Kite just shot her a look and ran faster. When they arrived at the center path they saw B.T. hiding behind Curim.

"You do know that she was just using us, right?" Sora said to Curim. Kite's stomach did a flip when he saw that Sora was getting ready to fight Curim.

"I knew from the start. But that gives you no right to hurt her." Curim answered. B.T. looked over his shoulder and glared at Sora.

"Some of us don't like to be used." Sora said to B.T. She looked annoyed and stepped back from Curim.

"I didn't use you. It was a partnership." B.T. explained. Sora laughed.

"Call it what you want. But tell me, what did I get out of our little ‘partnership'?" Sora asked. B.T. looked at him and shrugged. She walked in front of Curim and past Sora into the room ahead of them.

"You know she played us both." Sora said to Curim. Curim shrugged and held his spear higher.

"You still have no right to take someone's life away, game or not." he replied.

Sora grinned and looked at the glint of his blades.

"You are so juvenile! Just like a child who thinks the rules don't apply to them." Curim shouted.

The twinblade frowned.

"And the rules? Are they not juvenile ways of keeping everyone from having fun?"

"They are there to keep chaos from breaking out in the world."

Sora jumped back and smiled.

"Enough talk. Let's fight. I won't go easy on you." Sora provoked. Curim hesitated and lowered his spear.

"This is not the time for petty battles. B.T. shouldn't be in there alone."

Curim walked past Sora and motioned for everyone to follow him into the room. Kite looked at the annoyed sora. Black Rose stuck her tongue out at him and Sora sighed.

"Such a child." he said as he passed Kite and Black Rose.

"HEY! You're one to talk!" Black Rose yelled. Sora ignored her and walked on.

They continued to travel through the halls and it wasn't until they came to a door that Black Rose stopped muttering and fuming.

"I think this is it." Bear said. His voice echoed across the high ceilings. Kite looked up and thought about everything that had happened to him.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this. It's just a game!" Kite thought to himself. He looked at Black Rose. She was saying something under her breath.

"I'll bring you back. I promise." he thought he heard.

"You okay?" Kite asked. She looked up with wide eyes and shook her head.

"It's nothing...really I'm fine." she said quietly. Kite nodded sadly and looked at the door ahead of them. Bear reached for the door.

"Let's get this over with." he said and grabbed the silver handle. He jumped back as the door swung open without his help. B.T. stepped out of a blindingly white light and looked rather dazed.

"Don't go...it's not worth it." she said vaguely and walked away. Bear almost went after her but held back.

"She's okay. Let's go see what's in there." Bear said and walked in. Kite and Black Rose followed.

The light grew in intensity and finally died. The group appeared in a large white room with only one other person. A man with white hair and a red suit. He was hanging upside down and smiling.

"Hello?" Bear called. His voice echoed loudly through out the whole room. Kite and Black Rose looked around and were disturbed at the infinite amount of space in the room.

"I wanted to make my love tangible." the man said. The group looked at the broken man.

"I must repent for my mistakes." the man called and looked at them with the same vague look.

"Mistakes? What mistakes?" Black Rose asked.

"It should not exist. I made it. And now I must repent."

"Who?!" BlackRrose yelled. Kite stared at the man. What was "it" ?

"I created her to stop it. She must wake up." the man said. Kite walked closer to the broken man.

"Aura? Do you mean Aura?" Kite asked.

The broken man looked at Kite as if he had just woken up.

"Could it be that you know about my Aura?" he asked. Kite nodded.

"She was made as a vaccine to stop it. But she must wake up."

Tsukasa made a small noise.

"How do I wake her?" Kite asked. The broken man looked Tsukasa and said nothing.

A booming voice cried out from all around them.

"HARALD! Do not get in my way." the voice said. Tsukasa cringed and looked around him. He recognized that voice. It was the one that claimed to protect him. But now all the sweet promises had disappeared from the voice and all he heard was anger.

"Dark Aura cannot exist! Save her!" the man said with more urgency in his voice. Tsukasa jumped to the man's side.

"Tell me! Is the floating girl Aura?" Tsukasa asked. The man nodded and whispered something to Tsukasa before he disappeared in a red wave of corruption. Black Rose gasped and everyone froze for a second, horrified at the broken man's death.

"Let's...go." Tsukasa said quietly and tore his eyes away from where the man once was. The white room seemed too lonely and empty now. None of them wanted to be there anymore. It was too sad. They all turned around to walk away.

"We still haven't found anything about the key of the twilight!" Black Rose sighed angrily.

"But..I think I know where it is." Tsukasa said. He was thinking of his guardian. It must be the direct connection to the key. Tsukasa didn't exactly know what to do but he had an idea. He had to wake Aura up.
"So the floating girl is Aura. Skeith turned her into that!" Kite said to himself angrily. Tsukasa looked at Kite sadly.

"Yes but that wasn't Aura who showed us those images. It was the voice. She wanted to show me what Dark Aura would be like." Tsukasa explained. Kite took in the words and nodded. All they had to do now was find Aura and wake her up. Something made Kite anxious. Did the voice know what they were planning to do?

Tsukasa ran back to windy outdoor walkway. He stopped in the center of where all the paths intersected and quickly thrust the tip of his staff into the bricks in front of him. Using the spell he'd always used, he called his guardian.

The yellow shape was there in the blink of an eye. Slowly pulling itself out of an invisible door, it molded itself into the two blobs with that mysterious ring in the middle. The group caught up right after the guardian was called.
Sora appeared in a flash of green. He stood next to Tsukasa and looked at the Guardian.

"There it is. The key." Sora said under his breath. A faint smile twitched at his mouth.

"I knew I'd be the first to find it." He finished and took another step towards the Guardian. Tsukasa went cold. The key, it was the ring in the middle of the Guardian. How did Sora know?

"Sora! Please, don't do it. I need the key." Tsukasa pleaded. Sora laughed and took another step. He clicked his blades into place and jumped at the Guardian. Black Rose ran up to Tsukasa.

"Why didn't you stop him?" she demanded. The boy just shook his head and looked down. Sora didn't know that the Guardian was expecting a fight. The monster didn't wait for Sora's blades. He shot a yellow tendril out and Sora, with all his speed, barely had enough time to dodge. Sora smirked. He knew this wasn't going to be easy, but he loved it.

"Sora, stop! You're going to get yourself killed!" Black Rose pleaded. Sora ignored her. The rest of the group stood by Black Rose and Tsukasa, waiting for one of the fighters to be killed. There was nothing they could do, Sora had brought this on himself.

The Guardian shot out 10 tendrils at once, making it extremely hard for Sora to dodge them. Sora was sharp though. When he had succeeded in dodging all 10 of the yellow arms, he sliced into the Guardian. It had exerted too much power and couldn't do anything about it. A blinding light came from where the blade and key met. Sora's smile turned to a cry.

"It hurts! The fire! It hurts!" Sora babbled and fell back. The key was in his hand, but there wasn't much of a hand left. Black Rose and Kite quickly ran to Sora's side. Sora was badly burned from the light, but he was also fading. He looked like a memory, there and not there at the same time. Kite knew that they were quickly losing him.

"Give this to Tsukasa, I just wanted to b-be the first to find it. He can save her now." Sora said, clearly in pain. Black Rose held his head and cried out.

"No! I'm tired of losing people!" Kite looked at her sadly and watched as Sora faded away. He took the key as it fell to the walkway. It was beautiful, a golden ring with foreign inscriptions covering it. Kite looked over at the stunned Tsukasa.

"He wanted me to give this to you. Even through it all, Sora was really a good guy." Tsukasa took the ring cautiously. It was heavy in his hand, but it glowed faintly when he touched it. The ring slowly grew smaller and Tsukasa, suddenly knowing how to use it, put it on his right arm like a bracelet.
The rest of the group walked over to Tsukasa slowly. Curim had his arm around Subaru, trying to comfort her. Her eyes shone with tears. Curim took one glance at the place where Sora had once been and his face hardened.

"How are you going to use that thing? Be careful. You saw what it did to Sora." Curim commanded. Curim knew he wasn't the leader of an army anymore, but he still had that spark inside him. He felt the need to take the lead in most situations.
"What should we do first?" Black Rose asked, slowly standing up. Tsukasa looked at the brilliance of the key's light. He really didn't know what to do. Saving Aura was what he wanted to do most. But he knew that Black Rose and Kite both had someone they wanted to save also. There was also the question of how to use ring.
The familiar chime of someone warping into a field sounded. Helba looked at Tsukasa through her uncommon head dress.

"You found it. Let's go." Helba ordered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I know!! I'm SO sorry! It took me so long to get this done. I guess you could call it...going on a sabbatical. I call it going insane but that's just me. Let me see if I can finish this before Christmas but bear with me here. School takes up a lot of my time. Who needs to learn innyhoo? I'll just drop out and write this fanfic. Okay, that's going a little far. I'll get the next installment out ASAP!
~Amara