Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/4265619.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Underage
  Category:
      F/F, F/M, Multi
  Fandom:
      Sword_Art_Online
  Relationship:
      Kirito/Harem
  Character:
      Kirigaya_Kazuto_|_Kirito, Yuuki_Asuna_|_Asuna, Kirigaya_Suguha_|_Leafa,
      Sachi_(Sword_Art_Online), Ayano_Keiko_|_Silica, Asada_Shino_|_Sinon, Argo
      (Sword_Art_Online), Rosalia_(Sword_Art_Online), Ailyn_(Female_Original
      Character)
  Additional Tags:
      BDSM_elements, Strategy, GuildMaster!Kirito, OOC!Kirito, MMORPG-style
      Combat, Pseudo-Empire_Building, Underage_Sex, Cousin_Incest
  Series:
      Part 1 of The_Shattered_Chains_Saga
  Stats:
      Published: 2015-07-04 Updated: 2015-11-12 Chapters: 9/? Words: 42623
****** Sword Art Online: Shattered Chains ******
by shadowsofvanity
Summary
     Kirito had planned on beating SAO, with his friend Ailyn at his side.
     What he hadn't planned on was having something that was supposed to
     be fun, turn into a death-match for survival, one pitting he and his
     comrades against man and machine alike in a desperate bid for
     freedom. slightly!OOC Kirito, Kirito/Asuna/Harem. Eventual
     GuildMaster!Kirito. Read and Review!
***** FullDive and Freedom Lost *****
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Sword Art Online: Shattered Chains
Chapter One
Fulldive and Freedom Lost
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Kazuto Kirigaya stood before his rather impressive computer station, which he
himself had constructed and set up, watching the news reel depicting the long
lines and excited gamers waiting to buy, or having already bought, copies of
the latest and greatest VRMMORPG, Sword Art Online. Black eyes watched steadily
from beneath long black bangs that framed what most would describe as a rather
feminine face, something that irritated him to no end when it is mentioned.
                “Kazuto-kun, I’m going to kendo practice! I’ll see you later,
okay?” he heard his cousin, Suguha call through his door.
                “Okay, Suguha-chan! Stay safe, and I’ll help you with your
homework later, okay?” he called back as he began to get his Nervegear ready
for use. The technology, developed specifically by Kayaba Akihiko for Sword Art
Online, would connect directly to his brain stem, allowing his mind to
literally ‘dive’ into the game, resulting in the technology being referred to
as “Full-dive”.
                “Okay!” he heard her cheer before she dashed down the stairs
and out the door. Smiling slightly to himself, Kazuto lay down on his bed and
slid his Nervegear headset on and powered up. His second cousin was always an
energetic girl, and was one of the few people that he actually liked
interacting with in reality, resulting in the pair of them spending a great
deal of time together over the years. Even now, she was doing enough kendo for
the both of them, to keep the patriarch of their family happy. Glancing at the
clock in the upper right hand corner of display, he noted with excitement that
there was less than a minute left until SAO launched. He waited with baited
breath, and the instant the clock read ’13:00’ he activated the login sequence.
                “Link…Start!”
A blur of colors flashed before his eyes, followed by several circles. Quickly
running through the calibration sequence, Kazuto logged into his beta account,
Kirito. ‘Landing’ in the main square of the starting town, the Town of
Beginnings, he grinned and clenched a fist as he looked around.
                “I’m finally back in this world!” he cheered softly to himself.
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Running down the crowded street, Kirito dodged around the roadside markets
selling swords, daggers, spears…anything you can imagine, as well as avoiding
running over passersby or customers. Ignoring the chatter of merchants hawking
their wares, people inviting each other to groups, or discussing the game, he
turned into a side street and headed for the west gate. A shout pulled him up
short, and he half turned to see a red-headed guy running after him. The man
halted and put his hands on his knees, breathing heavily for a moment, and then
stood upright.
                “You move like you’ve been here before. You were in the beta
test, right?” the guy asked, and Kirito blinked at him. What did that have to
do with anything?
                “Y-yeah?” he replied, confused, and the guy got a look that
could only be described as begging on his face.
                “This is my first day! Please, show me the basics?” he asked,
and Kirito blinked at him again, feeling a little awkward.
                “U-uh…” he stuttered, and the guy clapped his hands together in
what looked like a cross between praying and more begging.
                “I’m begging you!” the guy pleaded, before smirking and
pointing at himself with a thumb. “My name is Klein! Pleased to meet you!”
                “I’m Kirito.” Kirito replied with a smile. The guy was a little
weird, but seemed nice enough. “C’mon, a friend of mine from the beta is
waiting for me in the West field. Best place for a level 1 to start.”
                “Yes sir!” Klein saluted with a grin, and the pair headed off
again.
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                “Uwahhh!” Klein cried out as he went flying backwards to land
on his back in the grassy plains of the West Field, his dagger landing
abandoned beside him as he curled up around the one target that no man can
fully resist a hit to.
His crotch.
                “Oh, give me a break!” Kirito snorted, shaking his head with a
small grin as Klein continued to roll around on the ground. “You don’t actually
feel any pain right?”
                “Oh…oh yeah.” Klein muttered, embarrassed as he got to his feet
and scratched the back of his head. “Just a habit, I guess.”
                “Ne, get hit in the crotch often, Klein?” a young woman’s voice
chortled from nearby, and the pair turned to see a brunette with green eyes
wandering towards them, carrying a short spear in one hand with a shield on her
other arm.
                “Oh? Is this your friend, Kirito? She’s cute!” Klein’s eyes got
small stars in them, and an instant later he was before the girl, her left hand
somehow in both of his while he gave her what he thought was a handsome and
roguish grin. “My name is Klein, pretty lady, what’s your na…GWAHHH!”
For the second time in five minutes, Klein was writhing on the ground in
(supposed) pain to his crotch, as the girl had driven her knee none-too-gently
straight into his manly area. She stepped over him and walked up to Kirito
before throwing her arms around him in a hug.
                “I missed you, Kirito! It’s been so long!” she cheered, and
Kirito blushed while patting her head awkwardly.
                “It’s been a little less than a month, Ailyn.” He pointed out,
before looking at Klein, who had regained his feet. “Klein, this is Ailyn. She
was in the beta test with me, and we partied together through most of it. I
sent her a message as soon as I ran into you.”
                “Ah, nice to meet you, Ailyn.” Klein said with a bow, and she
nodded in reply before eyeing him.
                “You need to work on your initial motion input, Klein.” She
said after a moment, and he sighed gustily.
                “I know, that’s what Kirito has been telling me, but the little
bastard keeps moving around!” he grumbled in annoyance, and Ailyn giggled
before picking up a large stone of  the ground and bouncing it in her palm.
                “If you do the motion input right, and activate a sword skill,”
she explained, holding the stone up next to her head as if she was going to
throw it at the boar, and it began to glow red. She didn’t throw it so much as
it exploded from her hand and smashed into the boar’s flank, spinning it around
and enraging it. “The system will ensure that your technique hits it target.”
                “Motion input…motion input…” Klein muttered, readying his short
sword with a skeptical look.
                “How should we explain it…” Kirito mused as he attracted the
angry boar’s attention, easily dodging its charges as he talked. Catching the
boar’s tusks on his sword, he found the words he was looking for. “Add a slight
pause, and when you feel the skill beginning to activate, let it explode!”
                “Explode?” Klein muttered, before his face got the proverbial
“light bulb” look and he settled into a combat stance, bringing his short sword
up next to his head as it began to glow orange. Kirito smirked and shoved the
boar of his blade, giving it a solid kick so it was pointed towards Klein. The
boar charged, and Klein fired his technique with a yell, dashing forward. His
blade sliced straight through the boar, and it’s health bar dropped to zero
before it shattered into a cloud of multicolored particles.
                “YEAH!” Klein shouted in victory, throwing his fists into the
air. Dropping into an impromptu victory dance, he continued to congratulate
himself in a display that would have been embarrassing if it wasn’t so
entertaining.
                “Congratulations.” Kirito said, interrupting his celebration,
and both he and Ailyn high-fived the rookie.
                “You do realize that those boars are about as strong as slimes
are in most other games though, right?” Ailyn asked with a smirk, and the way
Klein’s face fell was beyond comical.
                “Seriously?” he groaned. “I thought that was like, a mid-level
boss or something.”
This proved to be too much for Ailyn who proceeded to start laughing long and
hard, leaning against Kirito to keep from falling over, while Kirito himself
gave a couple of soft snickers before schooling his features again.
                “Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up!” Klein grumbled, although his lips
twitched slightly in response.
                “Of course it wasn’t, Klein! Look around!” Ailyn finally
managed to say through her giggles, gesturing around the field. Klein looked
and saw several more of the boars wandering around or re-spawning. Grumbling,
he practiced using his sword skills again.
                “Pretty exciting, isn’t it?” Kirito asked, smiling at the
enjoyment on the rookie player’s face.
                “Yeah!” Klein agreed with a grin, twirling his blade around and
making a few practice cuts. “Hey, there are lots of skills, right? Like,
blacksmithing and stuff?”
                “Yeah, from what I heard, there are an unlimited amount of
skills. Since the game is so life-like, you can literally create new classes
and skills. Take Ailyn for instance. She invented using a shield and spear
together during the beta, and figured out how to be a tank with that armament.
Now, thanks to her, there is the Lancer class.” Kirito answered, gesturing to
his companion.
                “That’s pretty impressive. I never would have thought of that
kind of combination.” Klein mused, looking at Ailyn with respect in his eyes.
                “However, there is no magic in this game. None of any kind. If
you need healing, you had best have a potion on you.” Kirito added, drawing
Klein’s attention again.
                “An RPG without magic?” Klein mused, powering up another sword
skill. “That’s a pretty bold, and risky, decision to make!”
                “Maybe.” Ailyn agreed with a shrug as Klein unleashed his skill
in a blur of red energy. “But isn’t it much more fun to move your body while
you fight, as opposed to just standing there?”
                “You’re right!” Klein agreed, nodding slowly.
                “Hmm. Well, let’s move on to the next group now.” Kirito
smiled, and Klein nodded enthusiastically.
                “Yeah, let’s keep going!”
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Some three and a half hours later, a tired but still energetic and happy Klein
was sitting cross legged, with Ailyn and Kirito stood together just a few feet
away, watching the sun set over the horizon.
                “It’s amazing. No matter how many times I remind myself, I keep
forgetting that I’m actually in a video game.” Klein said aloud, shaking his
head appreciatively. “Whoever made this is a genius, for sure. I’m really glad
I was born in this time!”
                “You get so excited over the littlest things…” Aiyln sighed,
shaking her head in amusement at their companions perpetually child-like and
energetic attitude.
                “Hey! This is my first full-dive, you know!” Klein protested,
sounding slightly petulant, and Kirito looked at him in surprise.
                “Then…this is your first time using Nervegear?” he asked, and
Klein nodded.
                “Yeah, I rushed out and bought all the gear and stuff just for
SAO. I was really lucky to get one of the ten thousand copies. Of course, you
two are ten times as lucky, since you got into the beta test. Only a thousand
got accepted.” He replied, and Kirito rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.
                “Yeah, I guess so.” He muttered, feeling a little embarrassed.
He should be used to naturally exuberant people (he did grow up with Suguha,
after all) but he still felt awkward sometimes.
                “How far did you to get in the beta?” Klein asked, curious, and
the two glanced at each other before shrugging.
                “In the two month beta, we only made it to Floor 10, but this
time it will take less than one.” Ailyn answered for the both of them, and
Klein’s eyebrows rose. From what he read on the forums, most beta testers had
only gotten to Floor Five or Six.
                “That’s pretty impressive. You two are really into this.” He
said, and Kirito nodded while drawing his sword, relishing the realness of the
grip in his hands.
                “To be really honest with you, during the beta test SAO was all
I thought about, day or night. In this world, one blade will take you wherever
you want to go. It’s a virtual world, but I feel more alive and more at home
here then I do in reality.” He replied quietly, rotating the blade so it caught
the light of the setting sun.
                “I felt the same way, that’s why we went so far in the beta.”
Ailyn agreed quietly, watching Kirito with a smile on her face. When she had
first met him, the boy had been impersonal and a stalwart solo player. She had
managed to get him to open up slowly, and they had become friends, although he
was still rather off-putting to most people. Not that she could tell him yet,
but she was really starting to like Kirito, which is why she had been thrilled
when he had asked her if she wanted to meet up after the game’s release and
play together again. Shaking her head to free herself of her thoughts, she
smiled and rapped her shield with her fist. “Well, shall we go hunting some
more?”
                “Of course!” Klein agreed, clenching a fist, before his voice
dropped into a somewhat depressed tone. “I’d love to but,” there was the sound
of a stomach rumbling fairly loudly, and Klein sighed while wrapping his arms
around his stomach. “I’m really hungry so…I’m going to eat.”
                “You know that eating food down here only makes you think
you’re not hungry, right?” Kirito pointed out dryly, but Klein grinned and
pointed a finger at him.
                “I already ordered a hot pizza! It will be getting delivered to
my house around 5:30!” he declared, and Kirito laughed slightly.
                “Well, I see you’re so prepared.” He commented, and Klein
posted his hands on his knees and nodded.
                “Yup! Once I’ve eaten, I’ll be back!” he said, and Kirito
frowned slightly.
                “I see…” his voice trailed off, and Klein noticed.
                “Hey, I’m going to be meeting friends from another game when I
get back. Do you two want to friend them to, and join us?” he asked, prompting
Kirito and Ailyn to exchange glances and shuffle a little awkwardly. Klein
noticed, and hastened to continue. “Hey, if you don’t want to, that’s fine! I
can introduce you another time!”
                “Yeah, sorry.” Kirito said quietly, looking down. “Thanks.”
                “Yes, thank you.” Ailyn said, just as quietly as she watched
Kirito. She could tell he felt bad about saying no, but hadn’t wanted to meet
too many new people at once. She sighed gustily. Looks like she had more work
cut out for her, making him open up to more people.
                “Hey, that’s my line!” Klein grinned, walking up to them and
putting a hand on each of their shoulders. “I owe you guys, and I’ll repay you
sometime. In the game, of course. Dead broke in the real world, after paying
for all of this.”
Kirito and Ailyn laughed along with him quietly, all three enjoying the easy
camaraderie that seemed to have sprung up over the course of a few hours.
                “If you need to know anything else, just ask me or Ailyn. Beta
testers are here to help you newbies. After all, without us you might end up
losing to a wild boar, or cutting your own foot off!” Kirito joked, and Klein
mock pouted before grinning and laughing.
                “I’ll do that! See you guys around!” he agreed cheerfully,
waving and turning away, swiping one hand through the air to bring up his menu.
Ailyn and Kirito were turning to find another pack of mobs to fight when
Klein’s voice grabbed their attention. “What the…? There’s no button too
logout…”
                “Yes there is, newbie. Look closer, at the bottom of the menu.”
Ailyn sighed, giving Kirito an amused look that said “Really?”Kirito just
shrugged with a wry grin.
                “No, the icon is there but there is no button to press.” Klein
said, sounding bewildered and concerned.
                “Eh?” both Kirito and Ailyn walked closer to him and summoned
their own menus, only to find out that he was right.
                “Well, I’m shocked and chagrined…” Ailyn muttered, blushing
lightly. Kirito nudged her with an elbow, and she smacked his arm loudly before
they refocused their attention to the dilemma before that was, quite literally,
before them.
                “I don’t understand though…is it a bug?” Kirito murmured,
staring at his menu with a furrowed brow.
                “Well, it is the first day, so there are bound to be a few
bugs, right?” Klein said, a little annoyed. He had spent a lot of money on this
game and the Nervegear. Getting a bug the first day was irritating even if it
was expected, but since he had food coming soon... He grinned after a moment,
his easy-going nature coming to the fore once more. “Heh, I bet that the server
people are freaking out right now.”
                “Yep, and in a minute you will be too.” Ailyn commented with a
sly grin, pointing at the time display on her menu. “It’s 5:25 right now.”
Klein froze for a moment, his expression disbelieving, before his eyes widened
in horror. Throwing his head back and grabbing his hair with both hands, he
bellowed his pain to the sky.
                “NOOOO! MY TERIYAKI MAYO PIZZA AND GINGER ALE!” Ailyn and
Kirito both stared at him, before sighing simultaneously with a hint of
amusement. Klein, it seemed, had a flair for the melodramatic.
                “Hey, calm down and call your GM.” Kirito sighed.
                “I did, but no one is picking up. What’s going on here?” Klein
muttered, confused even further. “Hey, is there another way for you to log out?
Like, a bypass or something?”
                “Hmm, no. If a player wants to log themselves out, they must
use the menu.” Kirito replied, shaking his head, and Klein groaned.
                “That’s nuts. There has to be someway out.” Klein declared,
before making several wild gestures, one of which being jumping in the air with
an upraised fist while yelling aloud. “Return! Log out! Escape!”
Provided that crickets existed in SAO, and happened to be in that field, they
would no doubt have been the loudest sound there as Kirito and Ailyn both
stared at Klein with expressions that clearly stated their concearn for his
sanity, while Klein stood there, arm still upraised, and waited for something
to happen.
Nothing did.
                “There wasn’t an emergency logout in the manual either.” Ailyn
murmured with a frown. Something wasn’t right here. It could be a simple bug,
but it felt far more ominous than that.
                “You’re kidding right?” Klein gaped at him, before holding up a
finger as if he had a great idea. Reaching up to his head, he made lifting
motions with his hands a few inches away from his skull. “I know! I can just
rip the Nervegear off of my head!”
                “Is he for real?” Ailyn murmured to Kirito, as Klein continued
his actions, and the young man shrugged before returning his attention to
Klein.
                “Oi, don’t waste the effort. We can’t move our real bodies
while Linked In. The Nervegear intercepts anything our brain does at the brain
stem, remember? That’s how you move in the game.” He said, and Klein stopped
his attempts with a frown.
                “So, we have to wait for them to fix the bug?” he asked, and
Kirito shrugged slightly.
                “That, or someone in the real world has to unplug us from the
Nervegear.” He replied, and Klein grimaced.
                “Ah, I live alone, so there goes that idea. How about you two?”
he sighed.
                “I live alone as well, but then I don’t need to log off anytime
soon.” Ailyn said calmly.
“I live with some relatives. Both my parents are dead, so it’s just me, and
aunt, and a cousin. They will probably notice by dinner time.” He replied, and
Klein got the same look on his face that he had when he first saw Ailyn.
Dashing forward, he grabbed Kirito by the shoulders and shook him slightly.
“Oh? How old is your sister?” he asked excitedly, and Kirito stared at him
before his eyebrow started to twitch slightly.
“She’s on a sports team, and she doesn’t really like gaming.” He replied, but
Klein didn’t seem put off in the least.
“That doesn’t matt…KYAAAAA!” Klein started to say, before releasing a girlish
scream as Kirito’s knee rammed into his crotch. Flying backwards, he bounced on
the grass and immediately clutched it, tears in his eyes, before blinking and
nodding. “That’s right, it doesn’t hurt…”
“Doesn’t this seem really, really strange to you guys?” Ailyn said suddenly,
and the two boys looked at her.
“Well, yeah, but it’s just a bug, right?” Klein replied in confusion, and Ailyn
frowned.
“It can’t be just a bug. If we can’t log out, it could pose a very serious
problem for this games future. If there really was a bug, all they would do is
shut down the servers to force-quit all the players.”
“You’re right, now that I think about it…” Klein muttered, looking around the
area.
“Yeah, and there hasn’t been a GM announcement or anything, either.” Kirito
agreed with a nod.
Somewhere in the distance, the sound of a massive bell ringing was suddenly
audible, echoing across the entire floor. All three turned to look at its
origin, the Town of Beginnings, and were suddenly wreathed in a white aura.
Moments later, they found themselves in the main courtyard of the town,
standing before the massive clocktower, in which the bell still rang. All
around them, other players were appearing in white flashes of light, and
started chattering with one another.
                “Hey, what’s going on?”
                “I don’t know…”
                “A forced teleport?” Kirito muttered, looking around. The bell
stopped ringing, and Ailyn gasped aloud.
                “Look, up there!” She pointed to the sky, were a blinking red
WARNING notice hovered. Moments later, it began to multiple, until the entire
sky was blotted out by a massive red dome WARNINGs and System Announcements.
Through the cracks at the apex of the dome flowed what looked rather like
blood. Pooling in midair, it began to form a definable shape until at last an
enormous, red robed figure hung above the crowd. Immediately, the crowd began
murmuring again.
                “What is that?”
                “Is it a Game Master?”
                “Why doesn’t he have a face?”
                “Is this some sort of event?”
                “I’m scared…”
                “Ah, don’t worry, it’s just a part of the opening ceremony I
bet.”
                “Greetings, Players.” The figure spoke at last, raising his
arms. “Welcome to my world.”
                “My…world?” Ailyn muttered, a sick sensation starting to gather
in the pit of her stomach.
                “My name is Kayaba Akihiko, and as of right now I am the sole
person to have control of this world. I’m sure you’ve all noticed by now that
you are unable to logout. This is not a defect, nor a bug. This is an
intentional feature of Sword Art Online.”
                “WHAT?” Kirito yelled, as around him other players did the
same. “What the hell is going on here?”
                “A-a feature?” Klein gasped lowly, eyes widened in shock, and
Ailyn gritted her teeth.
                “You cannot log out of the game, and no one in the real world
can shut down or remove the Nervegear. Should this be attempted, the Nervegear
transmitter will release focused microwaves, destroying your brain and thus
ending your existence.”
                “What the hell? Enough already!”
                “Come on, let’s go.” One player said to the female player at
his side, pulling her towards the edge of the courtyard, only to run headlong
into an invisible wall. “I can’t get out!”
                “What is he talking about? He has to be nuts, right guys?”
Klein asked, turning to his companions, only for Ailyn to shake her head.
                “No, he’s right. The transmitter’s signals work just like
microwaves. If the safety were ever disabled, it could easily fry a brain.” She
replied, and Klein gaped at her in disbelief.
                “Then…maybe if we cut the power?” Klein said slowly, but Kirito
shook his head.
                “No, Nervegear has a built in battery.” He said, and Klein
shivered, shaking his head violently.
                “Unfortunately, several players’ friends and families have
ignored the warning sent out via the news agencies, and have attempted to
remove the Nervegear. As a result, 213 players are gone forever, from both
Aincrad and the real world.” Kayaba continued, and a ripple of murmurs ran
through the crowd.”
                “Two Hundred and Thirteen?” Kirito breathed, while Ailyn moved
closer to him instinctively, one hand reaching out to clutch his sleeve.
                “I..I don’t believe it…” Klein muttered, shock written all over
his face.
                “As you can see,” as Kayaba spoke, several windows showing
various news reports flickered into life around him. “Many news agencies are
reporting all of this, including the deaths themselves. Be reassured that the
danger of the Nervegear being removed from you is now minimal. I do hope that
you will relax and attempt to clear the game. Please, remember all of this
clearly: There is no longer any revival method in this game. If your HP drops
to zero, your avatar will be deleted, as will your mind as the Nervegear fries
it.”
The crowd stared up at him in disbelief. Sure, being stuck in the game until it
was cleared, on pain of death, was bad enough, but dying for real if you got
killed in battle? This was insane! Some sort of pipe dream, or maybe he would
suddenly laugh and say that it was all a joke, and to enjoy the first event of
the game!
                “There is only one way to be free. Clearing the game.” The now-
revealed psychopath continued, uncaring of the crimes he had committed and
would continue to commit. He brought up a map of the entirety of Aincrad, and
pointed to it. “As you now, you are on the lowest floor of Aincrad. If you make
your way through the dungeon and to the Floor Boss, defeating it, you will be
able to advance to the next floor. Defeat the Final Boss on Floor 100, clear
the game, and all the players will be freed.”
                “Clear?”
                “What is he saying?”
                “You…you’re making that up!”
                “Clear all 100 floors?” Klein glared at the red-robed menace.
“That’s impossible! The beta testers never got anywhere close to that level!”
                “Finally, I added an item to your inventories. Think of it as…a
welcoming present from me. Please, see for yourselves.”
                “’Mirror?’” Ailyn said slowly, looking at it in confusion
before selecting it. At once, a small square hand mirror flashed into being
before her, and fell into her hands. Looking into it, she saw her face for just
a moment before the mirror flared white, blinding her and bathing her in light.
Moments later, the light faded, and she looked at herself. Her Avatar form was
gone, and her actual appearance was in its place. Long, scarlet-gold hair hung
in luxurious waves down her back, mid-length bangs partially hiding bright
amethyst eyes. Her skin was a dusky brown (Think Yoruichi from Bleach. That
skin tone.)and her armor was tight against her C-cup breasts, giving some of
the men (and women) around her a slight nosebleed.
                “Ailyn?” Kirito’s voice came from nearby, and she turned before
her eyes widened and she blushed faintly. Kirito’s short, spiky black hair
framed what could be described as a feminine face, his black eyes looking at
her in wide-eyed amazement as a not-so-faint blush stained his cheeks. “Wow,
you…you look good.”
                “Thanks…you too.” She replied, her blush darkening further at
his praise and his continued stare.
                “Man, what is this?” A red-head with short, red spiked hair, a
bandanna, and a rugged appearance said as he came over to them, rubbing the
back of his head. “What happened, Kirito? Eh? Who are you guys, and where did
Kirito and Ailyn go?”
                “Eh? I’m Kirito and she’s Ailyn, but who…KLEIN?” Kirito gaped
at the red-head, who blinked at the pair of them before fixating on Ailyn
again. Glaring at him, Ailyn fingered her spear, and was satisfied when he
gulped and turned away slightly, moving his hands to shield his manhood from
harm.
                “Yeah, it’s me. So I guess that the Mirror revealed our real
appearances, but how did the game know all the details?” Klein asked again, and
Kirito narrowed his eyes in thought.
                “When we were setting up the Nervegear, remember how we had to
put in all of our data, and scan ourselves with the Nervegear? I bet this is
why.” He replied, and his two companions nodded in agreement and understanding.
It made sense after all.
                “But why? Why is he doing all of this to us?” Klein asked
plaintively, and Kirito pointed at the still floating form of Kayaba Akihiko.
                “I’m sure that he is going to tell us.” Was the simply reply.
As if on cue, the red-robed menace began to speak again.
                “I’m sure that many of you are thinking: ‘Why would Kayaba
Akihiko, creator of SAO and Nervegear, do all of this? Well, my goal has
already been achieved! I created Sword Art Online for one reason, and one
reason only: To rule of this world!”
                “Damn him…!” Ailyn growled, fists clenched at her sides as she
glared hatefully up at the madman.
                “And now, it is complete!” he declared, gazing down at them
all. “This concludes the tutorial for the official Sword Art Online launch!
Good luck…players!”
With those final words, the figure dissolved into the blood-like substance,
which vanished. Moments later, the dome of system alerts vanished, the sky
returning to its previous appearance of normalcy. That normalcy was nothing
more than a façade, however, as 9, 787 horrified players stared
uncomprehendingly at the space that had previously been occupied by one Kayaba
Akihiko.
                “This…this is real.” Kirito murmured to himself, just loud
enough for his two companions to hear him. “The genius who created Nervegear,
and created a completely virtual space, Kayaba Akihiko. I used to admire him so
much, so I can tell that everything he just said is true. If we die in this
game…then we will die in real life!”
Suddenly, the silence broe as several girls screamed in fear, while the men
started yelling angrily at the empty, uncaring sky.
                “Screw you! Let us out of here!”
                “I can’t stay here, I have a meeting after this!”
                “What the hell are you thinking?”
                “Let us go! Tell us that it’s all a lie!”
Kirito gritted his teeth as he looked around at the yelling crowd. This was
bad, and it was only going to get worse.
                “Klein, Ailyn. Follow me, quickly!” he hissed to his two
friends, trying to keep his voice down, before heading for the edge of the
courtyard. Some fifteen minutes later, the trio was near one of the gates out
of town, and Kirito turned to them. “Listen to me. I’m heading to the next
village right now. Come with me. If what he said is true, the only way to stay
alive now is to become as powerful as you can.”
                “He’s right. The resources in MMORPGs are limited, and can take
a lot of time to respawn. In other words, the amount of money, exp, and items
we can get is limited, and will be hard to get enough off once everyone back in
the courtyard snaps out of it and starts flooding the area. If we want to stay
ahead of the game, we need to move to the next city now, where we will have the
run of the place.” Ailyn agreed softly, looking at the two males. “I’ll be at
your side, Kirito. Someone has to keep you out of trouble.”
                “Ailyn and I know all of the dangerous areas, and the areas
that are the most profitable. Even at level one or two we can get there with
relative easy.” Kirito continued, and then both looked at Klein, waiting for
his thoughts.
                “I…I spent a long time in line, waiting in line to buy this, so
that I could play this game with my friends. They’re out there, in the plaza. I
can’t abandon them!” he said with concearn.
Damn, if it was just Klein, it would be hard enough, but with me and Ailyn we
could smash through, but any more than this…we can’t make it! Kirito thought to
himself, his mind racing as he tried to figure out a way for it to work.
                “Sorry. I can’t ask you for anything else, can I? I used to run
a guild in our old game, so I can’t pull them together and stay alive until we
meet again. I’ll show them what you showed me. Just please send us updates when
you can about good places to hunt.” He said with a smile, and Ailyn and Kirito
returned it sadly.
                “Alright. Then let’s say goodbye here. If anything happens,
send me a message.” Kirito ordered.
                “Will do!” Klein replied with a grin.
                “Alright…goodbye, Klein…” Ailyn said softly, as the pair turned
away.
                “Kirito, Ailyn!” Klein said suddenly, and they stopped. “You
guys were actually pretty cute. That’s my type.”
                “Heh, and that unkempt face of your suits you ten times
better!” Ailyn replied with a smirk, looking over her shoulder, before the two
raced out off the gate and down the path, leaving Klein staring after them with
worry in his eyes.
Please, don’t die… he thought, turning back towards the courtyard and brining
up his Private Message box, and keying up his friends’ names. It was time to
get started.
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Ailyn and Kirito raced down the dirt path as fast as they could. Kirito was
deep in his thoughts, thinking about his younger cousin, and his aunt. He was
sure they would find out what had happened soon, if they hadn’t already. He
knew Suguha would be crying hard. She loved him so much, was always trying to
help him and spend time with him. His aunt would be putting on a strong front
and comforting her, hiding away her own pain for Suguha’ sake.
I will not die! I am going to come out of this alive, and I am going to help as
many people live as I can! He told himself, determined. 
Ailyn’s thoughts were similar. Though she lived alone, she knew her parents and
friends would be terrified for her safety. Well, she wasn’t going to die, and
she would make sure Kirito lived as well.
Ahead of them, a pair of wolves spawned into existence and charged towards the
running humans, who drew their weapons in response. Kirito cut one in half
while Ailyn smashed the other with her shield before impaling it with her
lance. Re-sheathing their weapons, the pair continued down the path, having
never broken stride, both placing their hope and trust for survival in each
other.
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***** Illfang's Fall *****
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Sword Art Online: Shattered Chains
Chapter Two
Illfang's Fall
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Kirito and Ailyn, now both level twelve, sat on the stone benches of the small
amphitheater in the small town of Misha, a little over two dozen other players
arrayed around them. It had been a month since the revelation of the true
nature of Sword Art Online, and more than two thousand lives had already been
lost out of the initial ten thousand. Yet, despite the efforts of dozens of
players and parties, the first floor boss room had yet to be discovered. Now,
however, there was finally going to be a meeting, and a plan would be made.
                “Okay, let’s get started, everybody!” a bluenette in basic
armor with a sword on his hip and a small shield on his back was saying from
where he stood before them all. “Thank you all for coming today! My name is
Diabel, and I like to consider my “job” as Knight!” He rapped his knuckles on
his breastplate with a broad grin as he finished speaking.
The attempt to ease the tension succeeded, for the most part, as the entire
watching crowd laughed aloud, several speaking up.
                “There is no Job System in this game!”
                “A Knight?”
                “You should take this seriously!”
                “So, then is this meeting a joke too?”
Diabel simply held up is arms for silence before becoming very serious indeed,
his eyes hardening slightly as he looked around at them all.
                “Today, my party and I found the boss room at the top of the
tower.”
His words received a reaction appropriate to their weight, every player-Kirito
and Ailyn included- lean forward unconsciously.
                “Eh? Seriously?”
                “It’s about time!”
                “I thought no one would ever find it!”
                “We need to defeat this boss so that we can all advance to the
second floor, and show everyone waiting back there in the Town of Beginnings
that it is possible for us to beat this game, and to be free! All of use, here,
share this duty! Are you with me?!” Diabel continued, his voice growing louder
and stronger as he spoke, clenching his right hand into a fist in front of
himself, looking around at them all with fire in his eyes, although there was a
hint of desperation there, too.
A desperation that all of them knew all too well.
It began with one player, and slowly spread until the entire group was
applauding and cheering the blue-haired ‘Knight’s’ words. Several players even
whistled loudly, and Diabel smiled around at them with relief and joy in his
expression.
                “All right! Let’s begin planning this out then! First, everyone
divide into parties of six!” Even as Diabel continued speaking, the players did
as he said and began forming groups. “An ordinary party stand no chance against
the boss, We need a full up raid group for this!”
Kirito and Ailyn looked around, wondering if there were any partial groups.
There weren’t, and they were prepared to declare themselves as a small, back-up
unit, when Ailyn caught sight of a cloaked young women sitting by herself
further down the row, the long hilt of a rapier jutting out from above her left
hip..
                “Kirito, let’s get that girl into our group. It will increase
our survivability, and maybe we could invite her once we form a guild, if she
is good enough.” Ailyn whispered into her friend’s ear, who looked over at the
cloaked girl appraisingly. And maybe you can gain another friend, someone else
you can trust in this hellhole. God knows, we all need as many friends as we
can get now.(A/N: Remember to vote for the name on my profile!)
                “I don’t know about this whole guild idea, Ailyn…” he murmured
back, and Ailyn shook her head.
                “I told you, I won’t let you be a recluse anymore. Get used to
the idea.” She said with a grin, tugging him out of his seat and over to the
girl. Sitting down next to her, she smiled warmly at the girl. “Hey, my name is
Ailyn. My friend and I were wondering if you had gotten left out?”
                “No, I didn’t. Everyone seemed to know each other already, so I
figured that I would just stay out of the way.” The girl replied, her voice
soft and sweet, and Ailyn’s smile grew.
                “Ah, a solo player. My friend and I duo, but why don’t you join
our group?” she asked, and the girl looked at her in surprise from beneath her
cloak’s hood. Ailyn noticed and continued. “Diabel said we can’t beat this
thing solo. Being in a group will increase your odds of survival, because we
can cover you if you need to heal.”
The girl seemed to think about it for a moment, before nodding slowly in
agreement. Kirito quickly opened up his menu and sent her an invite, which was
promptly accepted. Immediately, the Party section of the HUD expanded as
another health bar appeared, and both Ailyn and Kirito looked at the name
beside it.
                “Asuna, huh…it is a pleasure to meet you, Asuna. We looked
forward to fighting by your side.” Ailyn bowed her head slightly in greeting, a
gesture that Asuna returned.
                “Okay, have you formed your parties?” Diabel asked, seeing that
the chatter had died down and that most of the players were looking at him
again. At the various sounds of agreement, he smiled and nodded. “Alright! Now
then…”
                “Just a second!” a loud and obnoxious voice yelled,
interrupting him. Everyone turned to see middle-aged fellow with spiky light-
brown hair standing at the top of the amphitheater steps. He jumped down from
bench row to bench row until he skidded to a halt next to Diabel, who was
looking at him with a surprised and confused expression. “My name’s Kibaou. I
wanna say something before we take on the boss!”
Diabel blinked at the man, but good-naturedly gestured for him to go ahead and
say what he wanted to say. Turning to the crowd, Kibaou posted his hands on his
hips with an angry expression.
                “Some of you here need to apologize to the two thousand players
who have died so far!” he yelled, pointing a finger in condemnation at the
group as a whole, who murmured in surprise.
                “Kibaou, are you talking about the beta testers?” Diabel asked
carefully, and Kibaou nodded choppily.
                “Of course I am! On the day this stupid game started, the beta
guys ditched us beginners, and then they all just disappeared! Taking all the
good hunting spots, and easy quests for themselves, so that they could get
stronger faster than us! Then, they just ignored us!”
His face took on a dark scowl, and Ailyn shivered slightly as he raked the
stands with his eyes, carefully examining each player with malicious eyes.
                “I’m sure someone here was in the beta! They should get on
their knees and apologize, and then give us all the items and gold that they
have! Otherwise, how can we trust them as party members?”
The crowd murmured their discontent, several players staring at the loudmouth
in disbelief. Was he a complete moron? Demanding that players hand over their
hard-earned items and money?
                “May I speak?” an older male voice, slow, strong, and deep came
from the crowd as a large bald black man got to his feet. At least six feet
tall and broad-shouldered, his physique perfectly matched the large battle-axe
that was slung over his back. He calmly walked up in front of Kibaou, who was
forced to bend his head back as the other man towered over him. “My name is
Agil. Kibaou, tell me if I hear you correctly. You’re saying that, because the
beta testers were not watching over them for every moment, it is the fault of
those beta testers that everyone who has died, died? That the beta testers
should take responsibility, apologize, and compensate those still alive?”
                “Y-yeah, that’s right!” Kibaou said loudly, clearly feeling
off-balanced that someone was not immediately agreeing with him.
                “Hn.” Agil grunted as he reached into his pocket, pulling out a
small brown book. “You got this guide book, right? It’s free at any item shop.”
                “O-of course I did!” Kibaou replied, not entirely sure where
the large man was going. “Why?”
                “The entire book was written by a beta tester, using
information freely given by other beta testers.” Agil said calmly, and the
watching crowd shifted, surprised. Many had not known that, and it certainly
did not paint beta testers in an ill light if they were creating such a helpful
item. Kibaou gritted his teeth angrily, seeing that he was losing what support
his idea might have had from the crowd. Agil turned his back to the brown-
haired man, and faced the crowd. “Listen to me. Everyone has and had equal
access to this information. Yet, many, many players have died. I had thought
that what we were here to talk about was how to learn from their deaths, and
how we can defeat the boss. To get one step closer to freedom. Do not lay the
blame on the beta testers. Lay the blame upon those who did not heed the
warnings of those who knew how to live.”
Agil turned his gaze back to Kibaou for a long moment, his expression daring
the troublemaker to disagree. He didn’t take, the dare, instead scoffing in
annoyance and going to sit down in the front row. Agil nodded slightly to
Diabel and returned to his own seat.
                “Al right, then! Let’s resume!” Diabel said after a moment of
silence, pulling his own copy of the guide bok out of his pocket. He held it up
slightly, making sure everyone could see it. “This is the newest edition of the
Guide Book, and it contains strategic information on the boss.”
The crowed murmured their surprise and their pleasure. Advanced information and
warnings when going into a boss fight, or any fight of any kind, is a very good
thing indeed.
                “Now, according to this, the boss is called ‘Illfang the Kobold
Lord’. He has several minion-type monsters protecting him, called ‘Ruin Kobold
Knights’. He is equipped with an axe and a buckler. He has four health bars,
and when the last one enters the red zone, he will switch to a large sword-type
weapon called a Talwar. He will also change his attack and defense pattern, so
we will have to be prepared to change our own quickly. The best idea will to
surround him at that point, and attack from all sides. That should give us an
advantage.”
                “Wow…”
                “This guide book thing is amazing!”
                “Yeah, I need to read mine more, I guess.”
                “Same here.”
                “That concludes the briefing.” Diabel flipped the guide book
shut and put it away. “Now, item distribution will be handled by the system. Of
course, the majority of the experience that comes from defeating the boos will
go to the party of whoever lands the last blow, but don’t do anything stupid to
make sure you get the last hit! This game is truly deadly now, and no amount of
EXP or items is good enough to die for. Any objections or questions?”
The amphitheatre was silent for a long moment, and Diabel nodded firmly.
                “Alright then, we leave for the boss room at ten in the
morning. Get some sleep, double check your gear! See you all there!”
The crowd broke up, several going down to talk to Diabel, while others headed
out to train, item farm, or check out the marketplaces. All of them wanted to
be as prepared as humanly possible. After all, they all wanted to stay alive.
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The clearing party, gather together once more (for the most part) in the small
central square talked and relaxed together, getting to know one another.
Several players watched and cheered as Diabel and Kibaou engaged in a drinking
contest, despite that the inability to get drunk.
Out of sight, on the wall of a stone planter that was in the shadows of a road
leading off of the square, sat Asuna, a bread roll in her hands. Biting into
it, she was forced to jerk her head back sharply in a tearing motion to get any
of it into her mouth, and then had to chew hard before she was able to swallow
it.
                “It’s pretty tasty, isn’t it?” a voice asked quietly, and Asuna
turned to see the black-haired young man whose group she had joined for the
raid standing there, smiling slightly. “Do you mind if I join you?”
                “If you want.” Asuna replied softly, stealing a glance as he
sat down. Some might have described his looks as feminine, but to her they
seemed equal parts strong and gentle and she blushed lightly, glad for the
darkness of the street and her hood so that he couldn’t see it. She shifted
further away from him hastily, wondering why she felt so shy and so
embarrassed, but the boy seemed to take no notice nor offense. He merely
reached into a pocket and pulled out his own bread roll, prompting Asuna to
look towards him slightly. “Do you really think that this tastes good?”
                “Of course, I’ve eaten at least one a day since arriving in
this town. Although, I try to switch it up sometimes.” He replied, and Asuna
cocked her head to the side in confusion.
                “Switch it up?” she echoed curiously, and Kirito smiled that
small smiel again as he pulled out a small brown jar and placed it as close to
her as he could.
                “Put some on the bread, and you’ll see what I mean.” He said,
and Asuna hesitantly reached out and tapped the top of the jar. Her fingers
gained a white glow about them, and she slowly ran them over her bread.
Immediately, a spread of cream appeared on the roll, and she blinked in
surprise.
                “Cream?” she said slowly, the word both a question and a
statement at the same time. Looking over at the raven-haired swordsmen, she saw
him taking a large bite out of his own cream-covered roll. Looking back at her
won, she lifted it slowly up to her mouth, hesitated, and took a tentative
bite. Her eyes immediately brightened in pleasure. It actually tasted good!
Really good! She quickly demolished the rest of the roll and let out a happy
sigh.
                “It’s the reward for a quest called “The Heifer Strikes Back”,
about one town back. If you want to complete it, I can show you the trick?”
Kirito offered, and she was strongly tempted to accept the offer, so much so
that shaking her head was almost impossible.
                “No, thank you. I didn’t come to this town to eat good food.”
She said softly, and Kirito eyed her calmly.
                “Why did you then?” were his next words.
                “So that I can still be me. I would rather be myself and fight
until the very end rather than sit and rot away in fear at an inn, back in the
first town. Even if I get killed by a monster, I don’t want to lose to this so-
called game, to this world. No matter what, I want to be myself.” Asuna told
him softly, but with a hint of steel in her tone.
                “Well, you won’t die with us, so don’t worry.” Ailyn said as
she walked up, smiling brightly at the pair of them, though she was somewhat
irritated with the large amount of space that they had put between each other.
“Just stick with us and focus on the fight. Don’t let thoughts or doubts cloud
your judgment. Feel, don’t think.”
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The next morning, the raid group was following Diabel through a forest area to
the base of the tower, each determined to do their part and to stay alive.
While Diabel, Kibaou, and their squad was in the front, Asuna, Ailyn, and
Kirito had opted to stay towards the back during the long march.
                “Let’s go over this one more time. We leftovers are supposed to
deal with the boss’s sidekicks, the Ruin Kobold Sentinels.” Kirito was saying
to the pair of them.
                “I know.” Asuna said softly, while Ailyn simply nodded in
agreement.
                “Ailyn will take their first hit on her shield, then I will sue
a sword skill on their pole axes to knock them aside. Then, you switch in and
finish them off.” He continued, and Asuna looked at him in confusion.
                “Switch?” she asked, and both her companions stopped in their
tracks, forcing her to do the same.
                “Is this the first time you’ve been in a party, Asuna?” Ailyn
asked, and sighed when the other girl nodded slowly. “Troublesome. Listen,
switching means that you move to the front of the party and perform a move.
It’s not really a complicated thing, or an actual function of the game, it’s
just your party member’s way of telling you to make your move. It helps with
the teamwork.”
                “I see…tell me what else I need to know about fighting in a
party while we walk…” Asuna asked softly, and the pair nodded while Ailyn
smiled a faint smile. This girl was smart, learning what she could. Hopefully,
she would stay alive.
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                “Alright, everyone! This is it, the boss room! Remember, stay
with your squads, pop healing potions as much as you need to, and protect each
other. Stay alive!” Diabel said from where he stood before the large stone
double doors that led into the boss room. “Let’s go!”
Turning around, he pushed lightly on the massive stone panels, activating the
doors and causing them to swing open. His squad carefully paced in behind him,
shields and weapons ready. The darkness of the room was menacing in and of
itself, and that only grew worse than a pair of demonic red eyes opened at the
far end. At the same time, the room became filled with light that seemed to
come from nowhere and everywhere. The light revealed Illfang the Kobold Lord
sitting on a large throne at the end of the room, his axe leaning against the
arm of the throne. Growling, he grabbed the axe and jumped from the dais,
landing on the floor a few dozen yards away from the raid group. He let out a
menacing roar as his four health bars appeared on the group’s HUDs, and
pixilated light particles appeared and coalesced into a trio of Ruin Knight
Sentinels. Each one was wearing full plate armor and carrying a large, two-
handed mace in their hands. After a moment, the trio of Sentinels lead the
charge with the boss just behind them.
                “Commence the attack!” Diabel yelled, thrusting his sword at
the oncoming monsters, and the raid group counter-charged with a roar, weapons
already beginning to glow as the players prepared their skills.
The two sides slammed into each other in a collision of steel and sound as the
battle of the first boss began in earnest.
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Steel clashed against steel as the raid group engaged the boss party. At least
a dozen players surrounded the boss while the others battled its minions, which
appeared to be endless. Every time one fell, another rose in its place,
ensuring that boss couldn’t be swarmed by the players all together.
                “Squad A! Squad C! Switch out and heal!” Diabel ordered from
his place towards the rear of the battle. Illfang roared and hefted its axe
high into the air, catching Diabel’s eye. “Here he comes! Squad B intercept and
block! Squad C, keep guarding and prepare to switch in! Attack from the
sides…now! Squad D, E, and F, keep holding those Sentinels off our backs!”
                “Roger that!” Kirito yelled back as Ailyn intercepted yet
another Ruin Knight Sentinels mace strike. Darting around her, he swiped his
glowing blade upwards, knocking its mace aside. “Switch, Asuna! Take it down.”
                “Right!” was the girl’s reply, as she darted around both and
charged with incredible speed as her rapier began to shine bright green.
“Strike, third technique!” She unleashed her <<Blade Barrage>> on her off-
balance prey, shattering it into a cloud of pixels.
She’s so damn fast. Even my eyes can barely follow her blade. I guess she isn’t
the rookie we thought she was. Kirito thought to himself as they waited for
their next target to spawn.
She’s incredible for someone who wasn’t a beta tester. She would be perfect for
the guild, once I get Kirito to start it.Ailyn thought to herself with a small
smile, as another Ruin Knight Sentinel spawned. All of a sudden, the Ruin
Knight Sentinels stopped as Illfang roared loudly and snapped his fangs at the
raid group. Kirito quickly looked over and saw that his final health bar had
hit the red, which meant he would be changing weapons and tactics now. It
growled again and threw its axe and buckler aside.
                “Looks like the information was correct…” Kibaou said with a
grin, holding his sword ready. The fight was almost over now, and no one had
fallen yet. They were almost through this.
                “Stand back, I will go!” Diabel yelled suddenly, running past
the group towards the boss.
We were supposed to surround it and attack it together as a group. What the
hell is he doing?Kirito thought to himself, looking at the blue-haired man. As
if sensing his gaze, Diabel turned his head slightly so that he was looking
half at Kirito and smirked. A moment later, he was standing before the boss,
his sword shining with a gold-yellow light.
The boss grabbed the hilt of the large weapon slung across it’s back and drew
it, holding it straight out from its side. Kirito gasped at the sight and
cursed.
No! That isn’t a Talwar! That’s a Nodachi! It’s different from the beta test!
He’s gonna get killed!
                “No! GET BACK! Jump back as fast as you can!” he yelled towards
the bluenette, catching Kibaou’s attention even as Diabel ignored him and
charged the boss with a yell. Before Diabel got within a few feet of the boss,
Illfang leapt upwards, bouncing from pillar to pillar, before ricocheting off
of the ceiling and smashing into the ground before Diabel, its sword glowing
purple and biting deep into the swordsmen’s chest. As he went flying back, the
boss <<Charged>> and cut him again, sending his body flying across the room.
                “DIABEL!” Kibaou screamed, but before he-or anyone else- could
help Illfang landed in the midst of the group and roared, his teeth mere inches
from Kibaou’s face.
                “Diabel! Asuna, Ailyn, cover us!” Kirito yelled, running over
to the fallen warrior and kneeling next to him while the two girls put their
backs to him, protecting his rear. Pulling out a health potion, he tried to
hand it to Diabel. “Why did you try to go in alone?”
                “You were…a beta tester, weren’t you?” Diabel said haltingly,
his breathing and speech clearly labored as he pushed the potion away. “You
know what I was doing, then.”
                “You were after the last strike rare bonus item.” He said
slowly in understanding, wondering why the warrior wasn’t taking the potion.
“You were a beta tester to?”
                “Please…” Diabel gasped with a slight nod, clearly on his last
legs, looking over at the battling players, who were fighting hard against the
boss. “Defeat…defeat the boss…for everyone…”
With that, Diabel shattered into pixels in his arms, leaving Kirito and several
other players who saw watching in horror as the pixels slowly faded into
nothingness. It was then that Kirito truly realized just how terrible this
world really was. Sure, he had seen the “Memorial Stone” that showed all the
players who had died, including how and when, but he had never seen anyone
actually die before, in this world or the real one, and he was just now coming
to understand as the veil of innocence was well and truly banished. Diabel…you
were a beta tester, but you never abandoned the beginners. You led everyone,
and fought brilliantly! You tried to do what I couldn’t-or wouldn’t- do! I will
not let you die in vain!
Kirito rose to his feet and turned towards the boss, eyes hard and face set in
determination. Ailyn noticed and was quickly by her friend’s side.
                “We’re going in.” Kirito said calmly, and Ailyn nodded in
acceptance. A moment later, Asuna was on Kirito’s other side, rapier ready.
                “Not without me. I’m going with you as well.” She said,
ironclad resolve in her soft voice.
                “Alright. Ailyn, take point. Asuna, you and I will protect her
flanks. Use the same tactics that we used on the minions. Ready?” Kirito said
in an authoritative voice, and both girls responded together.
                “Yes.”
Kirito waited for a brief instant until the path to the boss was clear, and
then all three raced forwards together, as if an invisible signal had been
sent. The boss’ first slash was intercepted by Ailyn, who stepped back as
Kirito spun around and past her with the grace of a dancer, sword shining a
brilliant sapphire as he smashed the boss’ own gleaming white blade aside,
leaving him open to Asuna’ barrage of rapid sword strikes. The boss’ eyes
gleamed suddenly, and Kirito’s eyes widened in fear.
                “Asuna! Step back, and to the left!” he yelled, and Asuna
immediately obeyed his commands, narrowly avoiding being cleaved in two by the
hammering sword strike from Illfang. Her cloak, however, was shredded,
revealing Asuna to be a beautiful auburn-haired, topaz-eyed young woman a
little older than Kirito. Her eyes locked onto the boss, her lips drawing back
in a faint snarl of defiance and anger as her sword blazed a bright pink as she
unleashed <<Linear Strike>>, sending the boss flying sideways. Kirito watched
in awe of both her skills and her beauty for a long moment before the roar and
thundering footsteps of a charging Illfang regained his attention.
                “He’s coming back!” he yelled, twirling his sword slightly in
preparation to attack.
                “It looks like we have his attention! Let’s << Blitz>> him,
hard and fast! Kirito!” Ailyn shouted, and Kirito nodded tightly. The <<
Blitz>> was a collaboration move he and Ailyn had created, intended for Ailyn
to rock a target  back on its feet before Kirito dashed in with his speed and
eviscerate it. It was designed for large groups of mobs (monsters) and, as luck
would have it, bosses.
                “Asuna! Hard and fast, don’t let up! Your most powerful
strikes!” he called, and Asuna nodded tightly as the two swordsmen took their
places to the sides and just behind Ailyn. “Ailyn, go!”
                “Right! <<Charging Lunge!>>” Ailyn cried out, putting her
shield back and thrusting her lance forward. A moment later, she was streaking
towards the boss with impressive speed. Her lance smashed into the boss,
knocking it back a few steps. The instant its feet were still again, Ailyn was
already on it. <<Onslaught!>>, <<Shield Barrage!>>, and last but not least,
<<Lockdown Blow!>>.”
Ailyn’s lance seemed to blur, pummeling the boss repeatedly, preventing it from
retaliating, before she smashed it three times with her shield, before
finishing off with an enhanced strike to one of its legs. The system
immediately accepted the debilitating attack and slowed the boss’ movement
speed by 15%, making it something akin to a sitting duck to people as fast as
Kirito and Asuna. She immediately leapt back, leaving Kirito and Asuna an open
approach on the boss.
                “My turn! <<Vorpal Strike!>>, <<Flashing Penetrator!>>,
<<Reaver!>>, and <<Backstab!>>.” Kirito darted in, sword flashing in the light
of the boss room as he unleashed his own fury upon the boss, first with a
single, well-placed and high speed attack, followed by a series of rapid,
shallower cuts. Landing, he unleashed a vicious, leaping uppercut that carried
him above the boss. Landing on its back, he plunged his sword into its thick
skin before leaping off, spinning in midair to land facing the boss. Again, the
system recorded the debilitating strike, and lowered the boss’ attack and speed
by 15%.
                “Alright! <<Flashing Penetrator!>>, <<Linear Strike!>>, and
<<Blade Barrage!>>.” Asuna cried out, sending her own hurricane of blows into
the boss, sending it staggering as its health bar dropped rapidly.
The end result of the party’s triple barrage of attacks was that the boss was
down to 300 HP (Health Points), and stuck in the middle of the triangle that
the trio had created, with themselves as the three points. The other players
watched in muted awe at the three players who had, seemingly, smashed the boss
with relative ease, leaving it close (relatively speaking) to death
Damn them! The must be beta testers! Those bastards! I’m not going to let them
take the glory, or the items! I’ll finish this myself!Kibaou growled to himself
mentally, before charging the boss with a cry, his sword beginning to shine
with energy as he prepared to unleash his most powerful attack.
                “Stop, Kibaou! What are you doing?” he heard Agil yell from
behind him, but the brunette ignored the dark skinned man and continued his
charge.
Kirito’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the charging Kibaou, and the boss. While
he didn’t care if Kibaou got the last hit bonus item or not, the boss was being
too passive. It was just sitting there, so what in the world could it be…?
His question was answered as the boss suddenly shone with a red light, and
seemed to grow before their eyes. Its body bulged as muscles became visibly
larger. The debuffs that Kirito and Ailyn had laid on it vanished as it howled
to the heavens.
Shit! It berserked! This never happened in the beta! I never even knew that
SAOhada berserk function for bosses!Kirito hissed angrily as the boss counter-
charged Kibaou, his movement having attracted its wrath. The image of Diabel
dying in his arms flashed through his mind, and he gritted his teeth angrily
and shook his head. I don’t let anyone else die!
Decision made, he poured on all of his speed and dashed in front of Kibaou,
kicking the man away even as Illfang’s glowing purple blade swept down on them.
Kibaou yelled out in shock as he went flying away, while Kirito let out a
scream of pain as the glowing Nodachi bit into him, cutting an enormous gash
across his chest and sending him flying backwards into Asuna, knocking both to
the ground.
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Asuna groaned as she shook her head slightly with a wince, smarting slightly
from the speed and force that Kirito had hit her with when they collided.
Glancing down at him, her eyes flew open and she let out a soft gasp of fear.
Kirito was hanging onto life by a thread. He had a mere 25 health points
remaining. If the boss so much as blew hot air at him, he would die instantly.
For some reason, one that she didn’t really have the time to think about, the
idea of Kirito dying terrified her.
                “Kirito! Come on, don’t die! Drink this potion, qu…ickly…”
Asuna said frantically, holding out a health potion, her voice stuttering off
at the end as massive shadow loomed over the pair. She looked up fearfully, to
see that it was Illfang, surrounded by the red aura that indicated Berserk
mode, his massive sword starting to fall. Asuna, instead of dodging and saving
herself, grabbed her rapier and held it overhead to block, in a likely futile
attempt to save Kirito.
                “RAGH!!!” a deep voice roared as a green streak of light flew
over the pair, smashing their incoming death away. There stood Agil, battle-axe
still shining green and outstretched behind and above his shoulder from the
massive blow he had used to save their lives. The man turned to Asuna, glanced
at Kirito, and grinned. “Heal him up, girl! We will hold it off until the kid
is back on his feet and you three can finish it off!”
The boss leaped backwards, landing hard with one clawed hand digging furrows in
the marble floor of the room, sword held out by its side, and roared angrily,
clearly displeased with losing its prey. As Asuna put the health potion to
Kirito’s lips, Ailyn appeared next to them, and Agil’s party charged with a
roar, Agil storming after them, brandishing his axe and giving a loud war cry.
The boss rumbled in fury as it was forced to hold its sword in front of its
head and hunker down under the hail of blows smashing into its guard as Agil
and his party gave it everything they had.
Alas, it was not enough to break the beast’s guard. It stomped hard on the
ground and spun its blade, the pressure throwing the attacking players back,
and then it leapt into the air, sword glowing. Kirito gasped, recognizing the
move that had resulted in Diabel’s death. Except this time, and entire party-
that had saved his life, and that of Asuna- would be the ones too die. Grabbing
his sword, he lunged to his feet.
                “WATCH OUT!” he roared, holding his sword over his back as it
began to shine. Down the boss came, howling its triumph, and Kirito’s eyes
narrowed. “Not if I hit you first! <<Skyward Scythe!>>.” He unleashed his
skill, flashing into the heavens to intercept the boss in midair, landing a
heavy blow to its midsection. The boss was knocked off course, and it plummeted
to the ground, thankfully not landing on any players. Kirito hit the ground and
rolled back onto his feet, charging towards the boss. “Asuna, Ailyn! One more
<<Blitz>> is all we need. In position!”
                “Roger that! On point!” Ailyn acknowledged, leveling her lance
at the boss and charging once more, shield before her as she swept towards it
like an unstoppable juggernaut.
                “I have the left side!” Asuna cried as she fell into step
beside Kirito.
The boss clambered to its feet, snarling in defiance as it faced the oncoming
trio of players. Its sword came up, and began to shine as once again a sword
skill was charged in preparation to unleash death. Ailyn smashed into the boss
like a hammer, sending both of them reeling back, horribly of balance and
vulnerable. Fortunately for Ailyn, and unfortunately for the boss, Ailyn had
friends that the boss didn’t. Kirito and Ailyn swept in, blades flashing as
they unleashed a barrage of sword skills on the boss. The fight finally ended
when Kirito cut its head in half length-wise with a vicious downswing, and
Ailyn impaled it in the stomach at the same time. The boss gave a final howl of
defiance before finally, finally, exploding into a shower of pixels, flying
into the air before vanishing.
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The boss room was silent for a long, long moment, as the players watched the
cloud of pixels slowly disperse and vanish. Finally, it seemed to sink in to
them.
                “We-we did it!” one player shouted in mingled surprise and
joyful excitement. His words proved to be a capable catalyst, as the entire
raid group began to cheer loudly as a large ‘CONGRATULATIONS!’ System Notice
appeared in white lettering over the entire group, small windows popping up
before each that told them what they had gained from the battle. Most gained
EXP and some money, but Kirito and Ailyn received a shock.
HIDDEN ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED!
ACHIEVMENT: DOUBLE TAP! TWO PLAYERS LANDED EQUAL STRENGTH KILLING BLOWS ON THE
BOSS AT THE SAME TIME! BOTH WILL RECEIVE A LAST HIT ITEM!
Kirito’s window went on to announce that he had received a Coat of Midnight,
while Ailyn received a Sword-breaker’s Bulwark.
                “Hey, that was incredible, all three of you. It looked like
you’ve worked together for a long time.” Agil said, coming up to the trio, who
turned to him. Asuna decided to answer.
                “I never met them before yesterday, actually. Thank you for
saving my life.” She said softly, and Kirito nodded in agreement.
                “And mine as well, and thank you for the potion, Asuna. I
thought I was a goner for sure.” He said, holding his hand out to the man, who
shook it.
                “It was the right thing to do. We’re all in this together.” The
tall man replied with a smile. The other raid members cheered as the trio and
Agil rejoined them, many congratulating them on their skills and for slaying
the boss, although they were quick to say that everyone had done their part,
and it had been Diabel’s leadership that made the victory possible.
                “WHY! WHY DID YOU LET DIABEL DIE?” Kibaou shouted suddenly with
fury, glaring at them, making the entire rest of the raid group look between
them in surprise. What was Kibaou talking about?
Kirito, Ailyn, and Agil’s eyes narrowed angrily while Asuna looked at the
brunette with suspicion. It looks like Kibaou was trying to start trouble
again, but what, and why?
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***** Division and Unification *****
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Sword Art Online: Shattered Chains
Chapter Three
Division and Unification
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"Let him die? What are you talking about, Kibaou?" Kirito responded a trifle
coldly. Although he was expressionless on the outside, inside his mind was
flitting from thought to thought quickly. Kibaou had clearly not given up on
his anti-Beta Tester agenda, which wasn't all that surprising, but what did he
hope to gain from this? "I tried to give him a health potion, but he refused to
drink it."
"Shut up! Just shut up! You're a damn beta tester aren't you? You knew that the
boss had changed but you let him attack any way, let him die, just so you could
be the one to beat the boss!" Kibaou screamed back, eyes filled with hatred.
Every eye turned to Kirito, waiting for his response, and his eyes quickly
traced over every face he could see, gauging the air in the room. He could lie
about this, but if he was honest and up front about it, he might be able to
improve the general view of beta testers.
"Yeah, I'm a beta tester, one of the best. I made it further than anyone else
in the beta, which is why I knew as soon as the boss equipped his new weapon
that things had changed." he replied, deliberately leaving out the fact that
Ailyn was also a beta tester. If things went pear-shaped, he wanted to make
sure that the proverbial crosshair was painted on his back alone.
"I knew it, damn cheating beta tester!" Kibaou roared triumphantly, leveling a
condemning finger at him, and Kirito noticed that the players seemed to be
leaning the brunette's way in this argument. He sighed internally. It seemed
that raw invective and shouting still managed to win over calm reasoning.
"You....you, BEATER!"
"You've seemed to forget, Kibaou, that Diabel broke formation and abandoned the
plan in an attempt to get the final hit himself. That is when he died, and I
along with many others heard Kirito shout for him to get back. He ignored
Kirito, and that is why he died." Agil retorted, stepping forward to support
the swordsman who had saved his life.
Many players began murmuring in agreement. The giant had brought up a damn good
point. They had all heard Kirito shouting at Diabel, though some were unsure of
exactly what was said, and it had been Diabel who had tried to attack alone.
Support, by and large, seemed to be shifting back towards him, but he did see
several players firmly on Kibaou's side, if their facial expressions were any
indication.
"And, after all, didn't Kirito save your life when the boss Enraged, and nearly
died in doing so? I'm pretty sure that's what happened. How much health did he
have left after saving Kibaou, Asuna?" Ailyn now joined in, coming to her
friend's defense.
"25 health points." the young woman replied, eyes cold as she glared at Kibaou,
angry with him for doing this after Kirito almost died for his worthless hide.
Many of the player gasped or murmured in surprise at the low number. They all
knew that even a glancing blow from the boss with that little health would have
meant death, and Kirito watched as many players more firmly joined his side of
the argument. After all, if Beta Testers were what Kibaou was portraying them
as, he wouldn't have come a few moments away from death to save someone else,
especially someone who had already spoken out against beta testers publicly.
"Remember this as well." Kirito said finally, stepping forward and letting his
eyes trace over them all. "Beta testers are stuck here, same as the rest of
you. We all have family and friends waiting for us. We all have something to
live for, and we all want the same damn thing: to clear the one hundredth
floor. To win our freedom of this world and to kill Kayaba Akihiko. That is all
that should matter to us, because we won't be able to clear one hundred floors
if we are divided amongst ourselves over petty differences."
"You damn Beater!" a player that supported Kibaou stepped forward, and both
Asuna and Ailyn shuddered as he leered at them with thinly veiled cruelty and
perversion in his eyes. "You fucking beta testers should die like the bastards
that you are, and watch your back. Someone might help you along. Don't worry
about your lovely friends here though. I'll take real good care of them. I'm
sure we'll become great friends."
The implications were clear, and Kirito's mouth twisted into a snarl of disgust
and loathing as his hand went for the sword now sheathed on his back, while the
two girls flinched away and Agil rumbled in displeasure, his own large hand
settling on the haft of his battle-axe. Before the two males could reeducate
the bastard, Ailyn and Asuna stopped them with hands on their shoulders and
some hurriedly whispered words. Kirito and Ailyn, in fact, had a short
conversation, before Kirito released his hilt and eyed the crowd of players
with eyes of chipped onyx. Many a player shuddered slightly as those eyes swept
over them.
"Ailyn just reminded me of this, and I thought I would clue in all of you
newbies. In each major city of each floor, there are NPC magistrates. If you
bring them substantial, ironclad evidence of a crime being performed, they will
give you a warrant for players. That warrant can range from arrest...to
execution on sight. So spread the word to every player you meet that crimes
will be discovered and punished with whatever force is deemed necessary. If I
hear of any rapes or anything of the sort happening..." his eyes grew, if
possible, even colder and harder, and the players swore that they saw the
Shinigami himself standing behind the swordsman. "I will lead the party to hunt
you down and kill you myself."
With those final words of warning, Kirito turned and headed towards the boss'
throne, and the large door behind it, Ailyn and Asuna hurriedly joining him.
"Where are you going, Kirito?" Agil asked aloud, and Kirito looked back at the
large man.
"To open the next floor, and see if it's the same as the beta. I'll send Argo
the updated safe path to the first quest hub and town by tomorrow morning." the
teen replied calmly, and Agil nodded before jogging over. Kirito blinked at the
older man, who grinned at him and unslung his battle-axe, hefting it onto his
shoulder.
"What, you think I'm going to let a bunch of kids like you take all the risks
finding the safe route without someone older and wiser along to keep you out of
trouble?" Agil asked, and Kirito raised an eyebrow at him with a faint smirk
playing across his lips.
"When you find someone older and wiser, let me know. I would love to meet him."
he replied, starting off again, followed by a giggling Asuna and Ailyn. Agil
glowered after him for a moment, before shrugging and chuckling deeply as he
caught up. Soon enough, the other players that supported Kirito or were neutral
about the whole affair headed after them, until the boss room was inhabited
only by Kibaou and his own supporters.
"C'mon, this is a good opportunity. We need to head back to the first floor and
make sure a story that shows beta testers for what they really are is released
to the other players below before those bastards can feed them lies." he
ordered, heading for the door that would take himself and his followers back to
the first floor proper. After the last anti-beta tester was gone, a feminine
figure shrouded in a dark brown hooded cloak flitted out of the shadows. Brown
eyes danced with mirth and cheeks with matching trios of red whisker marks
stretched in a sly smile.
"Naughty Kibaou, spreading nasty lies~!" the young woman known to all as Argo
the Rat, premiere information broker of SAO, said in a sing-song voice. One
slim hand dipped into her cloak and came back out with a teleportation stone.
"I can't let you tell nasty lies about Kiri-bou~! Teleport: Town of
Beginnings!"
The famous-or infamous, depending on whom you asked- player vanished in a flash
of blue-tinged white light. When Kibaou and his supporters finally managed to
get back to the Town of Beginnings, they found themselves fighting a losing
battle to convince more than a handful of people that Argo's story was a lie.
After all, her little newspaper article had screenshots, while Kibaou didn't.
And you know what they say in MMOs.
Screenshots, or it didn't happen!
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"Ah! The second floor is just as beautiful as it was in the beta, ne Kirito?"
Ailyn said happily, twirling in a small circle as the other players took in the
massive rolling plains that was the majority of the second floor. A clear blue
sky stretched overhead, and large herds of various neutral-beast type mobs
roamed over the hills, while being watched with dedicated attention by
aggressive beast-types for one to fall behind and become their next meal and
flocks of flying-types wheeled over the grass.
"Hrm. I wonder if this is how Lewis and Clark felt when they first saw they
Great Plains back home." Agil mused aloud to himself, making several players
look at him in surprise. They hadn't met many foreigners playing SAO. In fact,
most hadn't met any.
"Are you an American, Agil?" Asuna asked curiously, having met several when
they came to do business with her father, and finding them a by and large
likeable group of people, although there were those few that made her want to
introduce them to gravity.
Preferably from the 33rd story of her father's business headquarters.
"Yeah, I was born in the USA, but my parents brought me here for vacation once,
and we all fell in love Japan, sold our home back in Minnesota, and moved to
Okachimachi. Been living there ever since." the African-American man replied a
nod and a wistful smile as he thought of his family's small farm in the USA,
and his coffee shop-and his precious flower, Sakura- here in Japan. Shaking
himself from his thoughts, he smiled at Kirito. "Well, Kirito, what's the
plan?"
"The first quest hub is about a ten minutes walk from here down the road. It's
a small guard outpost of NPCs from the first city, who are being attacked by
the surviving minions of Illfang. We help them out and they will give us a
recommendation to the Mayor of the town and a good bit of Col. Little known
fact, you need the recommendation to do the majority of quests for this floor."
Kirito replied, and Ailyn nodded beside him.
"Now, the mobs are going to be Ruin Kobold Sentinels, so fight them the same
way you would have fought the one's during the boss fight. We need to kill
about 50 of them each, but since we're in parties, we will get credit for our
party members' kills. Stick together and don't screw around. Remember, more
things may have changed since the beta." she continued, looking around at them
all seriously, receiving nods and words of understanding and acknowledgment.
With another nod, she looked at Kirito, who nodded to the group as a whole.
"Alright, move out. Try not to stray into the zones of those aggressive beast-
types. They're as strong as the Sentinels, and much faster, plus they work as a
pack." he ordered before turning and heading off down the path, the raid
ambling along after him.
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"Are you our reinforcements?" the NPC outpost captain shouted to Kirito, as he
cut down yet another kobold.
"In a manner of speaking! We just killed Illfang, leader of the Kobolds
attacking right now!" Kirito said, following the UI's conversation prompts to
receive the next quest. "I can only assume that these little bastards are
running away and right into you!"
"As long as you're here I don't really care why! I need you and your people to
push them back until my men finish with the charges that will close the little
rat hole these things are swarming out of!" the captain grunted as he blocked a
mace swing with his shield and ran his attacker through the chest.
"We'll handle it!" Kirito replied, ending the conversation and getting the
quest, which he quickly passed onto the other raid members. "Alright, spilt up
into your parties and hold the line! Timer is starting, we have to hold out for
ten minutes to finish the quest! Squad A, I want you..."
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Meanwhile, in the real world, we find one Suguha Kirigaya, second cousin to our
intrepid hero, sitting in a hospital room chair, next to the aforementioned
hero's catatonic body, tears in her eyes as she looked down at him, and one
hand came up to stroke his cheek lovingly. As always happened when she visited
her cousin, her mind drifted back to when this nightmare began...
FLASHBACK
                "Good match, Sugu-chan!" her best friend (besides Kazuto-kun,
of course), Uzume, cheered, patting her on the shoulder as she sat down,
pulling off her helmed and brushed sweat-soaked hair off of her face.
                "Thanks, Uzume-chan." Suguha smiled at her chestnut-haired
friend and leaned back with a deep sigh. She had just won a match against a
third-year starter of the kendo team, something she couldn't wait to tell
Kazuto-kun about, but the match had left her exhausted and sore. She knew her
cousin would be proud of her. He was a kendo prodigy, best in his age group and
able to fight on even ground with those years older than himself, but then one
day he had up and quit without a word of explanation.
Suguha knew why, though. Kazuto-kun had found out that they were only distantly
related, not brother and sister as they had always thought. Suguha had been
overjoyed at the news, as she now could pursue her feelings for him without
fear of what the world would think, but Kazuto had taken it in with far less
happiness. He had become colder and more withdrawn from everyone, including his
friends from school, and it had broken her heart that Kazuto-kun didn't feel
comfortable around them anymore. For ages, all he had done was play games and
do his schoolwork. Only in the last few months had he really started to open up
to her again.
                "So, ummm," Uzume started hesitantly, and Suguha turned to look
at her, one eyebrow raising in curioustiy that was quickly sated as she saw
what her friend was doing.
Blushing, looking shy and embarrassed, while looking at her hands and fiddling
with the hem of her shirt.
                "Yes, I'm spending some time with Kazuto-kun today, and no you
can't come over this time. He's going to help me with my homework, and then I'm
going to watch a movie with him." Suguha said with a sigh, well aware that
several of her friends had crushes on her Kazuto-kun. "You can come over
Friday, though, if you like."
Uzume looked momentarily crushed, but brightened up at the prospect of hanging
out with Suguha-chan and Kazuto-kun in a mere two days.
Before she could reply to the offer, the door to the dojo slammed open
violently, and Suguha's classmate and long time friend Nagata Shinichi burst
in, eyes a little wild as they flew over the rooms occupants. Landing on Sugu,
he dashed over to her and leaned over, bracing his hands on his knees, sweaty
and breathing hard.
"Suguha-chan!" he coughed, and Suguha glared at him, reaching for her shinai.
She knew Nagata had a crush on her, but she had told him time and time again to
address her by her last name. Before she could beat him into the mats, however,
he started speaking again. "Suguha-chan, you have to get home! It's a disaster,
it's terrible!"
"What are you talking about, boy?" Suguha's sensei demanded coming over to
them. Suguha felt a tightening in her chest, a dark feeling of foreboding
washing over her.
"A terrorist attack!" Nagata shouted loudly, grabbing Suguha by her shoulders.
"Everyone who played Sword Art Online has been trapped in the game! Over three
hundred people have died so far because people tried to get their NerveGear
off!"
"Sword...Art...Kazuto-kun!" Suguha mumbled to herself in shock. That was the
name of the game her cousin had been talking about recently! He was supposed to
be...playing...right now!
She was on her feet, shoes back on, and out the door before anyone could move a
muscle or say a single word. She ran faster than she had ever run before,
praying that she would get home to find that Kazuto had never logged into the
game. Her feet hurt from being improperly put on without socks, the freshly
started rain and win pummeled and soaked her, but none of it mattered.
Nothing mattered more than getting home to her Kazuto-kun.
Several minutes later, she arrived at her house to see one of her worst
nightmares. Her beloved cousin being wheeled out of their front door on a full-
sized ALS (Advanced Life Support) gurney towards a waiting ambulance. An
ambulance under the watchful eye of a squad of JDF Marines (Japanese Defensive
Forces). They were, however, insignificant to her right now, as was the yellow
police tape that she ran straight through as she dashed towards the gurney.
"Hold it, girl!" one of the Marines said in accented Japanese as he grabbed her
around the middle. "This is a crime scene, I'm going to have to ask you to
leave now."
Suguha, normally one to obey the authorities in her life, decided that her
cousin was more important and swiftly applied the S.I.N.G concept that her
sensei had taught her to free herself from male attackers. Four strikes, four
targets. Stomach, Instep, Nose, Groin. Caught unawares, not having expected her
to target...such areas,  the Marine released her with a stifled yelp of pain,
and she used the opportunity to get another five yards closer to her cousin
before being promptly apprehended again, this time by a pair of Marines. Not
willing to suffer the same pain and embarrassment as their comrade, they held
her arms behind her back. No matter how hard she struggled, there was no way
she was getting free of that.
"Kazuto-kun! Wake up!" she screamed, tears blurring her vision and dripping
down her face, where they mixed with the rain. Her cousin didn't move, didn't
respond, didn't even seem...alive. "Kazuto-kun, please wake up! You HAVE to
wake up! You promised me, Kazuto-kun! WAKE UP!"
FLASHBACK ENDS
"Suguha-chan, you should probably be heading home. I can't let you stay anymore
and its getting dark already." one of the nurses dedicated to Kirito and the
other SAO victims at the regional hospital said gently. Like many of the other
doctors and nurses on the SAO Special Medical Division, she had begun to lose
her patient/doctor emotional detachment with the families and friends of the
victims. How could you stand to be cold and impressionable, a detached doctor
in essence, when you see a 5 year old child crying because her daddy won't wake
up? When you watch a girl crying as her fiancée's body is wheeled away to the
morgue because he fell in the game?
Of course, even more so had they become attached to young Suguha Kirigaya. When
all the other victims families eventually stopped coming to visit, she alone
continued to visit. Bringing fresh flowers, talking to him, reading to him.
Many of them would bend the rules until they were nigh on unrecognizable for
her, and some would drive her home at night so that she could stay longer.
"Ah! Yes, of course, I'm so sorry Ayame-san." Sugu started, looking at the
clock and realizing how late it was. Getting to her feet, she gathered her
things and bowed low to Ayame. "Thank you very much, Ayame-san. I'll see you
tomorrow after kendo practice."
"Alright, be careful heading home." Ayame smiled as the girl rushed away,
heading for the parking lot and her bicycle. She took one last look at the
unconscious face or Kazuto Kirigaya and turned off the light with a sad sigh.
So many lives ruined, and for what?
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Later that night, in the darkness of his inn room, Kirito sat on the window
sill and stared out across the dimly lit town, his mind going over everything
that had happened. Diabel dying, the growing division in the player base
between those that supported Beta Testers and those that wanted them gone. He
glanced over at the other bed in the room to see Ailyn and Asuna facing each
other, a peaceful expression on their faces, hands lightly touching. He smiled
softly and returned his gaze to the stars before slipping out the window and
heading off into the darkness. He wouldn't let anything hurt them, and to do
that he needed to be stronger.
Just you wait, Sugu. I'll beat this thing, and I'll keep my promise to you.
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***** Shattered Chains *****
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Shattered Chains
Chapter Four
Shattered Chains
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                "Asuna, switch!" Ailyn shouted, blocking a powerful attack from
the boss, and the rapier-wielder called out her acknowledgment as she dashed
forwards, her blade lashing out blindingly to lay a dozen powerful strikes of
her own.
                "Support teams, hold the line! The boss is entering its final
phase now!" Kirito shouted to the rest of the raid group as he cut down an add
that was trying to blindside Asuna. The sound of a howl from behind him made
him spin, to see a Empowered Werewolf mob ready to strike him down. Before it
could attack, however, there was the sound of shattering as it exploded into
pixels, revealing a smirking Argo, her twin claws gleaming in the moonlight.
                "Careful, Kiri-bou~!" she chastised him playfully. "If you
died, then where would we be?"
                "Thanks, Argo. Let's end this!" he grinned back, gripping his
sword's hilt tighter. The assassin-class/informant nodded with a smile before
vanishing, only to reappear, cutting down another add as Kirito raised his
voice in warning to the raid. "Phase Change now!"
With perfect timing, Were-King Lycaon, the floor boss for the Fifth Floor,
howled to the sky. High above the forest clearing that served as the boss room,
the full moon was turning blood red, a change mirrored by the boss' eyes. The
creature seemed to bulge at the seams, growing larger and blood red letters
spelled out the words Were-King Lycaon, Blood Moon Formin midair.
The boss' head dropped back down from its howl, crimson eyes gleaming
maliciously, and Kirito shouted his next orders as a symbol appeared over the
boss, before the boss vanished from sight.
                "Form Square! FORM SQUARE!" he roared, and the DPS players
scampered into the center of the clearing, the tanks hurriedly surrounding them
in a bastardized version of a Roman legion's hollow square defensive phalanx.
The Were-King's final phase was a dangerous one, the scout groups had
discovered. The First Phase, New Moon, was easy. The boss had stats as low as
those of the hordes of Weakened Werewolf mobs that he would summon. The second
phase, Full Moon, had the boss much stronger, moving faster and hitting harder,
with fewer but more powerful Empowered Werewolf mobs. This final phase,
however, was truly dangerous. His power and speed was nearly tripled, and all
of his abilities had passive Lifesteal, in that successful hits would heal him
a portion of the damage done. The Bloodcrazed Werewolfs that he summoned were
even faster, and the general consensus had been that he was unbeatable. Until,
that is, Kirito and his people took a crack at it. He, Ailyn, Asuna, Argo, and
Agil, along with Klein and his friends, had gone in and fought the boss almost
until its defeat, being forced to retreat when the number of adds became too
much for them to handle. However, the intel they brought back was
irreplaceable: the boss self-destructs. During the fight, Argo (being the cute
little spy/information broker that she was) noticed the skull and crossbones of
an old RPG favorite hanging over the boss' head. Doom. If they could survive
the onslaught for three minutes, the boss would die.
Far easier said than done.
                "Stay together!" Kirito ordered, eyes flicking about from his
place behind Ailyn. "DPS, remember to work together to cut down your adds as
fast as possible, before they drain the tanks to much!"
Noises of affirmation and the sound of people, weapons, and armor shifting was
his response, and he smiled grimly as he prepared to defend Ailyn. There was
dead silence for a long moment, and then a cascade of blood-curdling howls
shook the air as the mobs appeared at blinding speeds, unleashing a hurricane
of blows at the tanks before being cut down by the DPS.
                "Two minutes, thirty seconds remaining! Hold together! Thirty
seconds to tank switch!" Kirito barked, just before another wave attacked.
Thirty seconds later, he barked again. "Two minutes! Tank Team One, step back!
Tank Team Two, step forward!"
The players moved swiftly to follow his order, the first line of tanks stepping
back and popping health pots while the second, uninjured line stepped forward
to replace them just as another wave appeared. For a short while that seemed to
take an eternity, the air was filled with nothing but grunts of pain, clashing
steel, and blood-chilling howls.
                "Alright, this is it! One minute left. Do not falter! If one of
us goes down, we will all die! Protect each other, heal when you need to, and
stay alive!" Kirito shouted as the adds dispersed and the boss himself began to
attack the phalanx, landing a barrage of blows on a pair of targets before
flitting away with impossible speeds to do the same to a separate pair.
                "Kirito, we can't hold much longer!" Ailyn shouted, staggering
back and falling to one knee as she clutched a red, pixilated gash across her
stomach with one hand while tossing back a health pot with the other. "He's too
strong, we should warp out and come back at a higher level!"
                "No! We only need another thirty seconds! If we break formation
to warp out, we will lose people! Just stay in formation!" Kirito shouted back,
pulling a heavily wounded tank backwards just before the boss could finish him
off. Biting back a scream of pain from the damage he sustained in doing so,
Kirito downed a potion and checked the timer. "Thirty seconds!"
                "Kirito!" he heard Argo scream, and he spun to see her on the
ground, trying vainly to crawl away from the boss, who had appeared from
nowhere and struck down two tanks just as they were trying to switch out with
another pair to heals. Dispersing pixels told Kirito of their fate, and he bit
his lip hard enough that, in the real world, he would have drawn blood.
Readying his sword, he charged the boss with a hoarse shout. Lycaon snarled in
defiance, his hunt disrupted, and faced the challenger, rushing to meet him as
a deadly dance began.
Twenty seconds....Kirito ducked and spun under a swiping claw, laying a heavy
strike across the Were-King's abdomen, only for it to heal over again
immediately after as a second strike clipped his shoulder, wounding him for
nearly a fifth of his health and healing the boss over again.
Fifteen seconds...Kirito dropped to the ground to avoid another blow, before
dashing between the beast's legs and stabbing it between the legs. As it howled
in rage and turned to face him, he smirked a little and popped a potion. Step
One, attract boss' attention and save Argo: CHECK! Step Two, survive pissed off
werewolf-king being entirely focused on killing him: Working On It.
Ten Seconds...Kirito screamed in agony as he dodged the Were-King's razor-
tipped hands, only for a clawed foot to lash out and catch him directly in the
chest, sending him hurtling across the clearing and through several trees
before he slammed into another and slid down it, barely alive and totally
incapacitated from the pain.
Five Seconds...the boss rushed towards him, ignoring the desperate attempts of
Kirito's comrades to distract it, before another group of adds swarmed them,
preventing them from helping the swordsman.
Four Seconds...Lycaon phased into being before Kirito's slumped form, growling
down at him with what sounded like satisfaction.
Three Seconds...red eyes gleamed sadistically as one clawed hand grasped the
inert player and lifted him into the air, towards a mouth that gaped open,
saliva dripping off of large, serrated fang-like teeth.
Two Seconds...a dazed Kirito stared defiantly at his death. If he was going to
die, it would be with courage, not fear.
One second...just as the boss prepared to devour the young player, a large
spear came whistling through the air and slammed into the boss' hand, forcing
him to drop Kirito as he howled in rage and turned to face the thing that dared
interrupt his hunt again. A young woman dressed in medium chainmail armor stood
facing him defiantly, another spear in hand, grey eyes narrowed fearlessly
beneath silver-grey bangs, a smirk firmly on her lips as the boss reared back
to smite her. An instant later...
Zero Seconds...the boss shattered into thousands of pixels, along with the
surviving Bloodcrazed Werewolf mobs. The girl's smirk grew before it turned
into an expression of concern and fear as she raced to Kirito's unmoving body.
Falling to her knees beside him, she pulled his head into her lap and began
digging around in her pouches for a health potion. Her panic visibly grew as
her hands came up empty, and Kirito's health continued to trickle ever lower
for some reason. She watched in horror as the bar inched inexorably towards
zero, only for hands to appear and force a health potion into his mouth,
tipping back and depositing its contents into his system, bringing him back
from the brink of death.
The girl looked up to see Ailyn, Asuna, and Argo kneeling near her, while the
other clearing members milled about nearby, looking on in concern.
                "Thank you very much for saving his life!" Ailyn cried in
relief and joy, staring at the grey-eyed girl with tears in her eyes and a
bright smile.
                "Of course, I couldn't let him die." the girl replied, brushing
his hair off of his face gently, looking down at him again with a slight blush
and warmth in her eyes, something that didn't go unnoticed by the other girls.
Any questions or comments they might have made, however, were promptly removed
from their minds when Kirito stirred with a groan and opened his eyes. Blinking
a little blearily, he looked up at the face above him and smiled.
                "So, you saved me, Sinon. I'm glad you decided not to give up."
he said softly, and the trio of girls all looked sharply between the two,
wondering how they knew each other. Sitting up, Kirito shook his head as if to
clear it and looked around before smiling. "I'm glad you girls are all alright.
That was a pretty tough fight. We lose anyone other than those two tanks?"
                "No, but Kirito, you almost died! Show a little concern for
yourself!" Asuna scolded, and Kirito rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and
smiled at her broadly.
                "Eh, I'm still alive, so not to worry!" he said cheerfully
before becoming solemn again. "I just wish we hadn't lost anyone..."
                "You tried your hardest, Kirito. No one expects anything less.
What you did was noble, brave, and very foolish." Agil boomed, coming over and
pulling Kirito to his feet by the scruff of his neck before clapping him on the
back hard, nearly sending him to the ground again. "Good work. Now, I believe
you and your lady friend should have the honor of opening the sixth floor."
Kirito nodded, still smiling, and looked over at Sinon, who was looking
nervously at Ailyn, Asuna and Argo. All three young women were staring at her
hard, scrutinizing her, and it was kind of scary. It was like they were a pack
of wolves and she was a small animal being surrounded until they decided to
pounce.
                "Hey now, no need to look nervous, Sinon. Opening a new floor
is easy and safe! C'mon, let me show you how it's done." Kirito said
reassuringly, totally missing the real reason behind her discomfort. Grabbing
the spear-throwing girl's hand, he pulled her to her feet and set off towards
the edge of the clearing, where a large archway formed out of tree branches
stood tall, an impassable curtain of thorny vines stretched between them,
blocking the way to Floor 6. Once they reached it, Kirito looked at Sinon
again. "Now, since you got the last hit, you open the door. Just approach the
vines and Interact with them. Follow the prompts to open the next floor."
                "Okay..." Sinon said quietly, feeling shy. She was normally a
rather calm and cool-minded person, but something about Kirito made her feel
like a shy school-girl instead of a young woman fighting for her life every
day. Doing as he instructed, she approached the door and Interacted with it.
                                                                               
  Floor Five Cleared!
                                                                               
Proceed to Floor Six?
                                                                               
           YES/NO
Reaching out tentatively, Sinon pressed  YES. A flash of light nearly blinded
her before the vines began to withdraw from before them, opening the path for
the players.
                "Well done, Sinon." Kirito said warmly, squeezing her hand
before letting go and turning to the rest of the raid group, missing the slight
frown of disappointment that crossed Sinon's face when he let her hand go. "All
right everyone, unlike other floors, the first city on the sixth floor is right
near the entrance, so feel free to go find friends and spread the news. Make
sure to stay safe and watch each other's backs wherever you go!"
The raid group dispersed, chattering and laughing with each other as they
either headed back towards the fifth floor's main city to spread the word, or
forward towards the sixth floor. Asuna, Argo, and Ailyn approached the pair and
clustered around Kirito, who looked around at the four girls with a smile.
                "Kirito, you really need to stop almost getting killed every
boss fight." Asuna frowned at said raven-haired teen, who blushed in
embarrassment.
                "Sorry, Asuna. I couldn't not do anything though. Argo would
have died..." he replied sheepishly, and Argo smiled brightly before grabbing
his right arm and holding it between her breasts, giving Kirito a slight
nosebleed and bright red face. The other girls, including Sinon, leveled dark
glares at the spy, who smirked and stuck her tongue out at them.
                "My hero, Kiri-bou~!" she purred happily, and Kirito chuckled a
little awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head while the girls fumed in
annoyance. Pulling himself free, and missing her pout of disappointment, Kirito
crossed his arms over his chest and looked through the dark void of the door,
as if he could see the next floor in its depths, his face set in a thoughtful
frown.
                "C'mon, Floor Six awaits, girls." he said abruptly, uncrossing
his arms and heading through the door. The girls exchanged glances of confusion
before hurrying after him.
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The Sixth Floor, much like the second, opened onto rolling plains. It's
dominating feature, however, was the massive, glittering expanse of water that
stretched as far as the eye could see along said plains. Flocks of birds could
be seen flying over the water, diving periodically for fish or to harass the
NPC fisherman that worked their fishing boats for fish to sell in the main
city's marketplace. On the plains, more powerful versions of the beast-type
mobs, both passive and aggressive, were grazing, lounging, or hunting.
                "Amazing..." Sinon and Asuna, the only non-beta testers of the
group, breathed in awe at the beauty of it all.
                "Welcome to the Sixth Floor. Most of this floor involves
missions along the coast, such as dealing with pirates and the like, but a fair
few involve hunting rogue beast-type mobs or what-have-you." Ailyn told the
pair, shouldering her lance as she kept a careful eye on the aggressive mobs.
Glancing at Kirito, she smirked broadly. "This is also where the Guild
Registrar is, so Kirito here can form our guild. Right, Kirito?"
                "Ailyn..." Kirito groaned, hoping she would drop it, but no
such luck.
                "Nuh uh, Kirito. You're a natural leader, and all of us are
always together anyway. I think it is the next, logical step to form an actual
guild, which has all kinds of benefits, not the least being the ability to get
an actual headquarters to sleep in safely!" the crimson-haired beauty said
firmly, shutting him down hard, before putting the final nail in the proverbial
coffin by turning to the other girls. "You girls agree we should form a guild
with Kirito as leader, don't you?"
                "Yes, of course."
                "Kiri-bou would makes a great leader~!"
                "Yes."
                "Then its settled!" Ailyn said triumphantly, turning back to
Kirito with a broad grin as Asuna, Argo, and Sinon endorsed her plan. "All that
is left to do is reach Selam, the capital for this floor, and think of a name.
Off we go!"
With that, Ailyn grabbed Kirito by the arm and headed off down the road, half
dragging the grumbling raven-haired swordsman behind her, whistling a jaunty
toon all the while. The other three girls sweat-dropped at seeing their leader
and love interest hauled off like a sack of potatoes by his second in command.
                "Um...Ailyn really is...aggressive, isn't she?" Sinon said
softly, still a little shy with her new companions. Argo and Asuna exchanged
glances before their shoulders drooped and they nodded with twin sighs.
                "Yeah, it makes getting close with Kirito hard." Asuna pouted
as she muttered under her breath. "I'm never going to get my chance with him at
this rate..."
                "Oh~? What was that, Asunaaaaaa~? Are you crushing on Kiri-
bou~?" Argo said, eyes gleaming with mischief as she dragged the other girls
name out over several syllables. The hazel-eyed rapier-wielder immediately
blushed and started stammering denials before rushing off after the rapidly
vanishing pair. Argo smirked at Sinon before following.
                "Oh, what have I gotten myself into?" Sinon sighed wryly,
before smiling lightly and setting off at a rapid pace to catch up with Kirito
and her new friends.
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                "So, how did you and Sinon meet, Kirito?" Asuna asked
curiously, wanting to know not only more about her as a comrade and potential
friend, but mostly as a potential rival for Kirito's affections.
                "Well," Kirito hedged as the strolled down the path towards
Selam, hands laced together behind his head. "It's a bit of a long story..."
                "We've got time." deadpanned Argo, Asuna, and Ailyn, gesturing
as one to the endless road before them, and he sighed before nodding.
                "Troublesome." he grumbled, before taking a deep breath. "Ever
since we arrived on the second floor, I've been leaving while you girls sleep
to go train and find more quests and good farming zones. I've also been doing a
little...well, some call it bounty hunting but I prefer to think of it as
delivering justice."
                "Kirito...do you mean to tell me that you've been going off
alone in the middle of the night to solo packs of mobs or to hunt down oranges
and reds?" Ailyn asked with deceptive calm, referring to players that have
committed crimes and had warrants or bounties put out on them.
                "I'm tell you that I did what I had to do to keep you, and
Asuna -and Argo, when she joined us full-time- safe and well supplied, as well
as protecting other players be removing threats to their safety." Kirito
replied with calm and deadly seriousness, none of his normal laid-back
personality visible or audible in his body language or voice. His eyes held her
own for an eternity before she looked away, worry written across her features,
and he continued. "Anyway, on one of these little excursions I ran into Sinon
here, who was going to be subjected to a fate worse than death by a pack of
oranges on my List for sexual harassment. They were going to...take the next
step with her, as she was a solo player and thus "disappear-able". I dealt with
them and then had my hands full keeping her from killing herself for the next
day or so, before I convinced her to go back the starting city instead of
killing herself."
                "But not before telling me that even though I had been nearly
raped, I shouldn't give up, but keep on fighting. Fight for my freedom, my
safety, and to see my family again." Sinon said softly, gazing at him, and he
flashed her a warm smile and a slight nod. "After all, if I had killed myself,
they would have won. Write, Kirito?"
                "That's right." he replied firmly, and the other three girls
were silent before all three hugged Sinon tightly, murmuring various sweet and
kind things to her, showing solidarity for the almost-rape victim despite not
knowing her well. Kirito smiled at the quartet, glad the girls still had the
ability to care about strangers. Many players, he knew, were starting to lose
that as the months dragged on.
                "So, that's the the day you sent us a mail saying you would
catch up with us, and to spend the day in the market, ne Kirito?" Asuna asked,
and said young man nodded in confirmation. Pouting slightly, Asuna glared at
him lightly. "Why didn't you tell us what you were doing?"
                "Didn't want to worry you. Besides, when it comes to scouting
or bounty hunting, its best that I work alone." Kirito admitted firmly, and
Ailyn looked at him sharply, well aware of what he was saying with the last few
words: Don't get involved, this is my problem. Stay home, stay safe, stay out
of the way.
                "Doesn't matter, because once the guild is official, we can all
go together." she said  just as firmly, and Kirito gave her a hard look.
                "Unacceptable. There are few female players that most of them
are recognizable, and all of you stand out especially as members of an elite
clearing unit. It's easy for me to disguise myself so the criminals can't
figure out who I am, but if they recognize you, we could all be killed in our
sleep. Leave this to me." he commanded, tone brooking no argument, and Ailyn
growled angrily before standing down, even if only for the moment.
The other girls were spared further drama as the group finally came in sight of
the main city of the Sixth Floor, the great City of Sails, Selam. A massive
port city, it was surrounded by high, alabaster-white stone walls, with
ballista and catapults standing poised to drive of raiders by land or by sea at
any time, night or day. A massive mercantile fleet was protected by an equally
large navy while platoons of armed and armored soldiers could be seen
patrolling the outlying fields and small villages.
                "There it is. Come on, girls." Kirito grinned, and set of in a
jog for the city, the girls hurrying after him.
Fifteen minutes later, the quintet was wandering through the streets of the
enormous and bustling central marketplace. Dozens of NPC vendors hawked their
wares, and Kirito swore he saw some other players already setting up temporary
stalls to sell their own.
                "So, where to first, girls?" Kirito asked, and immediately
received a universal answer.
                "The Guild Registrar." they chorused in perfect unison, and
Kirito sighed, defeated, before allowing himself to be dragged along by the
quartet. Out of the marketplace and to the city square they went, passing many
a player or NPC guard, to stop outside of the Guild Registrar. A large line
stretched out the door, and down the side of the building as players waited to
form their guilds.
                "Oh well, look at the massive line. Too bad, no guild being
formed, let's go check the market!" Kirito said hastily, turning to lead the
girls away. He didn't know how so many players were there already, but he
wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. However, four hands grabbing the
back of his jacket stopped him, and he swore he was crying anime-style tears as
they dragged him bodily towards the building.
                "Oh my, look at this long line!" Ailyn sighed loudly, a strange
breeze blowing out of nowhere as she loosened her armor and pouted
outrageously, scarlet-gold hair  streaming in the wind like something out of an
anime. "Oh, we've walked for hours and I'm so tired! This line will take
forever!"
Kirito sweat-dropped with a dumbfounded expression as dozens of male players
eagerly threw themselves all over each other to offer her their place in line,
all hoping to make a good impression on the red-haired goddess and her friends.
Somehow, none of them noticed Kirito until the girls had already secured a
place at the head of the line and Ailyn shoved him to the counter with a smirk.
                "I'd like to form a guild, please." Kirito caved with a sigh,
and the girls squealed happily as the NPC nodded, turning to a fresh page in
his book.
                "Name of the guild to be formed?" he inquired, and Kirito
looked down at the ground thought long and hard before smiling slowly, raising
his head to look back at the man.
                "Shattered Chains." he declared, and the girls looked at each
other with raised brows while the NPC wrote the guild name down.
                "Guild Leader?" came the next question.
                "Kirito."
                "Guild Lieutenant?"
                "Ailyn."
                "Headquarters?"
                "None, yet. Waiting for a higher floor."
                "Any other guild members to name at this time?"
                "Asuna, Argo, and Sinon."
                "Please draw your desired guild emblem on this pad of paper."
                "I'm a horrible artist." Kirito groaned, glancing at the girls.
"Any of you any good?"
                "I am, Kirito. Just describe it to me with as much detail as
you can." Sinon said, taking the pad of paper and a pen.
                "A forearm with a broken shackle and a clenched fist. Umm,
maybe have a chain breaking of the shackle too. Three, maybe four links?"
Kirito mumbled, picturing it in his head. "Black and white, of course. Make a
stark contrast."
                "Like this?" she asked, showing him the picture she had drawn,
and he smiled with a nod.
                "Perfect, Sinon. That's amazingly well drawn." Kirito praised
the now-blushing girl, passing the pad over to the NPC, who accepted it. A
flash of light later, and all five of them had the guild emblem on the front
and back of their armor, the pommels of their swords and, in Ailyn's case, on
the face of her shield.
After paying the guild-creation fee, Kirito and Co. left for the city's biggest
inn, messaging the more trusted members of their raiding group to join them.
Kirito offered each membership in the guild, though only Agil accepted, as
Klein and his friends had already created their own guild, Fuurinkazen.
Thus it was that the group of friends sat eating, drinking, and laughing
together. Klein finally got to his feet, raising the mug of ale in his hand,
his normal roguish smile on his face.
                "To our guilds, Shattered Chains and Fuurinkazen! May we clear
this damn game, kick Kayaba Akihiko's ass, and become heroes! KANPAI!"
                "KANPAI!" the group cheered, jumping to their feet and clashing
their mugs together in a toast.
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***** Bounty and Fresh Blood *****
##################################
Sword Art Online: Shattered Chains
Chapter 5
Bounty and Fresh Blood
##################################
Labyrinth Dungeon
Floor 27               
                "This is really bad, Keita! I don't know if we're making it out
of here!" Tetsuo yelled to his guild leader, who grimaced as he cut down
another of a seemingly endless wave of mobs, only for another to take its
place.
                "I know! Damnit, how did it come to this?" the brunette
snarled, struggling to find a way out of this with his friends alive.
It had started out as a normal dungeon run, with the group trying hard to level
up so that they could catch up to the Clearing teams and fight beside the likes
of the Kuro no Kenshi and his guild, Shattered Chains. News of their strength
in battle, as well as the Black Swordsman's leadership capabilities, had
filtered down even to the Town of Beginnings, nearly thirty floors below the
front lines. Inspired, the Black Cats of the Full Moon, a rookie guild made up
the members of their school's Computer and Science Club. However, during one of
their EXP dungeon runs, a member of the group, Ducker, had foolishly activated
a trap, keeping them from porting out whilst spawning the seemingly endless
army of monsters. Ducker had died almost instantly, cut off from the rest of
the group by the enemy. Now the surviving members were fighting desperately,
hoping it was a time delay trap that would deactivate if they held out long
enough.
                "Kyaa!" Sachi, the only girl in the guild, and a rather sweet
and delicate person cried out in pain and fear as a monster got through her
overwhelmed guard and cut her shield arm, weakening her defenses even more as
she stumbled back. The monster roared, raising its sword to finish her, and her
guildmates could do nothing, pressured as they were.
                "NO! SACHI!" Keita screamed as the sword descended towards
her...only to stop an instant from her flesh as the monster stiffened. Sachi
peaked up through her fingers, wondering how she was still alive, and saw a
long black blade jutting out from the center of the monster's chest for a
moment before it shattered into pixels and dispersed.  In its place stood a
young man with shaggy black hair, and a slightly effeminate face, wearing all
black.
                "You alright, miss?" he asked gently, and she nodded with a
bright blush as she placed her smaller hand into his larger, warm ones. Sachi
opened her mouth in reply, only to be startled by a loud bellow from behind the
boy. Both looked over at the sound, and Sachi's eyes widened again as she saw a
large black man swing a massive battle axe and cut a trio of monsters in two at
the waist. another pair rushed him while he was recovering from the powerful
swing, but a white-clad figure darted past him, rapier flashing, and first one
then the other burst into pixels. Looking around, Sachi recognized another girl
wielding a spear and shield, a claw-wielder with face paint that looked like
whiskers, and a girl who appeared to be throwing her spears at the stronger
targets. Eyes wide, she glanced at the back of the jacket of the boy who saved
her, and gasped.
A clenched fist. A broken shackle and chain.
A young boy wearing pure black, wielding a longsword but no shield.
It was the Kuro no Kenshi and his guild, Shattered Chains.
In short order, the members of one of the top clearing guilds in Sword Art
Online had slaughtered the rest of the monsters, wearing out the trap and
keeping the rest of the Black Cats of the Full Moon alive. Under the watchful
eyes the Black Swordsmen and his friends, the survivors teleported back to the
eleventh floor, Taft, and were followed from there to their temporary base, a
small and little known inn.
                "Thank you for saving us, Kenshi-sama!" Keita bowed deeply to
the Black Swordsmen, surprising everyone with his use of an honorific,
something traditionally not done in VRMMOs.
                "Just call me Kirito. What were all of you doing down there?
You're lucky you didn't get wiped out!" Kirito said almost harshly, before
sighing and running a hand through his hair, shaking his head. "I apologize for
my tone. I'm getting tired of seeing people die to this damn game."
                "...You're right though." Sachi said softly, looking at her
idols with somber respect. Everyone looked at her, and she looked at the floor
before continuing. "We were foolish and too confident just because the last
dungeon we did was easy to clear. We should have recognized such an obvious
trap. I mean, it was a treasure chest in the exact center of an otherwise empty
cul-de-sac. That just screams trap, now that I look back on it..."
                "Sachi is right. We would have all died if you hadn't gotten to
us in time, and Ducker did die. All because we..no, all because I grew
overconfident. And now my best friend is dead. Now I have to go home one day
and tell my girlfriend that her twin is dead because of me." Keita said
heavily, and Kirito shook his head, stepping forward and placing a hand on his
shoulder.
                "There was nothing you could have done. Your guild-mate was
probably overcome with excitement. It happens to everyone. I just wish we had
made it in time to save everyone. I'm...I'm sorry about your friend." the
ravenette said in as reassuring tone as he could manage, and Keita smiled at
him tremulously.
                "Thanks Kirito..." he murmured, before his eyes widened and he
blushed in embarrassment. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself. My name is
Keita, and these are my guild-mates. Sasamaru, Sachi, and Tetsuo."
                "I'm Kirito, as you know. The mountain of a man over there is
Agil, the sassy brunette with the whiskers is Argo, the scary red-head is
Ailyn, the silver-grey with the spears is Sinon, and the sweet chestnut with
the wicked rapier is Asuna." Kirito returned, pointing to each member in turn,
who acknowledged the introductions in their own unique fashions.
                "I don't want to pry or sound ungrateful, but what were front-
line elites like you doing way down here?" Tetsuo said, curiously, and Kirito
exchanged glances with his comrades before answering.
                "We're hunting down a criminal. A serial rapist known only as
"Fiend" to the gaming populace. He's been preying on lowbies for a couple of
weeks. Seven victims so far. We took the case to a magistrate, who issued a
capture/kill order. We're here to follow through on it." the young man said in
an iron tone, causing a slight shiver of fear to go through the Black Cats.
They would hate to be this Fiend guy if he had the likes of Shattered Chains
after him. Everyone knew of Kirito's promise from after the first boss fight,
and very few that had baited that promise had found that he was capable and
willing to keep it.
                "Kiri-bou, one of my contacts just messaged me. Fiend was just
sighted in this town. He's hunting again, it looks like." Argo interjected
suddenly, and Kirito nodded, turning to face the doorway.
                "You lot stay here, I don't want any of you getting caught in
the crossfire. Sachi especially, you're just his type." Kirito ordered, voice
no longer kind and gentle, but as cold and implacable as ice. "Let's move out.
This freak's "fun" ends now."
                "Hai!" his comrades responded in unison, flitting out the door
and into the darkness. Kirito was the last one out and shut the door before he
could be heard racing away quickly, footsteps almost silent on the flagstones
despite the speed he was moving with.
                "...well, this Fiend fellow is screwed. Good riddance to bad
trash." Sasamaru said, breaking the silence that had fallen over the room with
the other guild's departure. The rest of the Black Cats nodded solemnly in
agreement before going to bed, each silently wishing the best of luck to the
hunters.
#############################
Mihigu, real name Minato Higurashi, also known as "Fiend" to the players of
SAO, had a sickening grin on his face as he stalked his newest victim, a petite
brown-haired girl of maybe 13 or 14 years. He had always liked loli
pornography, and this game was the chance for him to live his dreams without
any interference from the authorities. After all, they couldn't exactly unplug
him from the game to arrest him, and he doubted Kayaba Akihiko was going to
turn over the player data to the authorities when he was encouraging players to
kill each other for freedom.
Besides, the chance of getting caught added a certain spice to his fun...
                "Hey little girl, what are you doing out here so late at
night?" he asked, stepping out of the shadows. The girl 'eeped!" adorably, and
spun to face him, allowing him to see the small dragon cradled in her arms, and
his eyes widened slightly before his sick grin came back full force. Maybe he
should up the ante, and do what he saw in some of his favorite hentais. Break
his victim's mind and make her love him, and obey him. A cute little girl who
could tame dragons?
His new, horrific, plot formulated, he quickly rushed the girl, placing one
large hand over her mouth and knocking her dragon unconscious with a little-
known hand-to-hand technique at the same time. Dragging both into a nearby
alleyway, he forced the girl onto her back and flipped her skirt up before
ripping her panties off. Leaning up, he licked her cheek, and his sickening
arousal grew as he tasted the salt of fresh tears there. He loved it when they
acted all child-like and weak. It made him feel even stronger.
Relishing in the sound of her whimpers, he was about to take her when he found
himself grabbed by the scruff of the neck and thrown into a wall with bone-
breaking force, smashing the air from his lungs. Groaning in pain, he lay
crumpled against the wall, and struggled to look up. What he saw froze his
insides with pure terror. Standing around him were the stone-faced, blazing-
eyed members of the well-known clearing guild Shattered Chains. They,
especially the leader, were known for their skill in battle, leadership, and
for hunting criminals players like himself like dogs. They had never failed to
capture a mark thus far.
                "I-impossible! You're supposed to be on the front lines!
There's no way you could be here!" he stammered fearfully, and Agil, the large
black axe-wielder of the guild, growled at him, making him quail and fall
silent.
                "We were, yes, but having the best spy and information broker
in the game as a guild mate means that we hear about everything, Mihigu, a.k.a
"Fiend". You're under arrest for multiple counts of rape, and are to be brought
before the magistrates for your crimes. Will you come quietly?" the Black
Swordsman himself spoke from where he was crouched next to the girl, and Mihigu
said nothing as he passed out from fear, a small but spreading puddle of liquid
beneath him. Kirito sneered in contempt at the sight. "How pathetic. Like all
criminals, he is a coward at heart. Agil, handle him. Asuna, Ailyn, go with
Agil to the local magistrate. Argo, Sinon, get this girl presentable so we can
get her to safety."
                "Hai!" his guild acknowledged their orders in a chorus,
splitting up. Agil quickly and skillfully tied the still-unconscious criminal
tightly, ensuring both that he couldn't run, and that he couldn't fight. Once
he finished, he and the two designated girls set off, dragging the trash behind
them like fish on a line, not particularly caring if he got battered and
bruised all the way there. None of them would have been willing to touch him
more than necessary even before he pissed himself.
Argo and Sinon quickly hurried to the young girl's side as Kirito turned away,
giving the trio privacy while keeping an eye out for anyone else not of the
group. Moving with ease, the two older girls opened trade windows with the
girl, giving her undamaged clothes. After she had pulled them on, the two girls
spent several minutes coaxing her to her feet, and several more finding out
where she was living at the moment.
While the quartet was on their way there, the girl stuck so close to Kirito she
might have well had her fingertips sewn onto his clothes. Kirito, though
surprised by her clinging to him as opposed to another girl given recent
events, chose not to say anything, instead allowing her to glean comfort
however she could. It isn't like it could cause any harm to anyone.
                "So what is your name anyway?" he asked her kindly, wanting to
do what he could to distract her from what had been just barely averted, and
she looked up at him for a moment before mumbling a reply. "Silica, huh? That's
a cute name, for a cute girl like yourself."
The now identified Silica blushed brightly at the compliment from her savior,
and ducked her head, while her small pet dragon (awake once more, and curled
around her shoulders), Pina, rubbed her small head against her human's cheek.
                "I would have thought a young girl like yourself would be
staying down on the first floor with the rest of the young players." Argo
commented off-hand, and Silica's cheeks puffed out as she turned her head and
glared at the older girl, surprising everyone as she replied hotly.
                "I'm thirteen, I'm not a little kid! Besides, how many beast
tamers can tame a dragon! I bet youcouldn't! They call me Dragon Tamer Silica!"
                "Never heard of you." Sinon said bluntly, and Silica's jaw
dropped in disbelief. Everyone had heard of her! She was the only Dragon Tamer
in SAO!
                "Hold on, I think I have, through my contacts. She's supposedly
the only person to ever tame a dragon, but she isn't anywhere close to being a
front-liner. Probably why you never heard of her, Sinon." Argo said after a
moment's thought, and Sinon nodded as if this made perfect sense, which it did.
Unlike her whiskered friend, she cared for little beyond her guildmates,
clearing the game, and not dying. In that order of importance. Anything else
was extra. It wasn't that she was cold or uncaring about the other players, she
simply had her priorities. Most people did, these days. Only a limited few like
Kirito and Asuna went out of their way for the random stranger on the street
anymore.
                "Sinon? I know that name..." Silica mumbled to herself as she
tried to remember the hazy details from the few news articles she had bothered
to read. Then it struck her, and her eyes widened as she looked around at the
group escorting her. Her eyes fell for the first time on the symbol that each
bore on their jackets. She knew that symbol well, and everything fell into
place as she gazed with child-like awe at the young man she was clinging to so
tightly.
                "Kuro no Kenshi-sama?" she said in a shocked whisper, and the
two older girls snickered as Kirito grimaced slightly with a faint blush, and
Argo's mouth twisted into a wicked smirk as she teased him.
                "That's the second time today someone has called you that,
Kenshi-sama." she purred outrageously. "Should I feel jealous and call you
Kenshi-samatoo? Or maybe," her smirk got decidedly lecherous before she
continued. "Maybe Shujin-sama would sound better. Can I call you that, Kirito?"
Kirito and Silica were now a truly spectacular shade of scarlet, and Sinon
herself was blushing rather heavily, and Argo cackled happily in amusement, her
teasing accomplishing three things. First, she had gotten the poor kid's mind
off of the night's events. Second, she had distracted the girl from fan-girling
on Kirito, something he was no doubt eternally grateful for. Finally, and most
important in her mind, she had planted a seed in Kirito's mind, a seed that
hinted to her affections for him. She just hoped he figured it out sooner
rather than later.
                "Anyway, I think we're at your inn now, Silica." Kirito coughed
awkwardly, opening the inn's door and holding it as the three girls filed
inside carefully. The black-haired swordsmen glanced around the street for a
moment, before stepping inside and letting the door shut, fingers flicking
across his UI keyboard as he sent a message to his guildmates, telling them the
inn's location so that they could all meet up. "We'll stay here tonight, just
in case he has friends, although it's not very likely."
########################
After Silica is Rescued
                "Where is the Magistrate on this floor, anyway? Anyone know?"
Asuna asked, fingers drumming on the hilt of her rapier with a faint scowl
gracing her features. She wished that they could just dump this bastard already
so that she could get back to her Kirito. She blushed faintly, chastising
herself slightly for being so possessive over someone she wasn't even dating.
The blush deepened at the thought of dating the boy she had a massive crush on
before she glanced at Ailyn and resisted the urge to scowl again. She respected
and liked Ailyn a lot as a person, but as competition for Kirito's heart, she
and Argo had the advantage of having beta tested with him. That meant months of
being friends, of getting close to one another, before Asuna had even met him.
                "Not far from here, just another couple of blocks, I think."
Agil hummed in thought, eyes slightly squinted to see further. Despite the
well-lit nature of the streets, they were still rather dark and it was
difficult to see too far down the streets, making getting lost easy, which was
on reason players rarely strayed from their lodgings at night. The other being
the criminal elements of the gaming community.
                "Good, I want to ditch this sorry bastard and get back to
Kirito." Ailyn grumbled, taking the words out of Asuna's mouth as the red-head
turned her head slightly to give an almost challenging glare to Asuna, who
glared back. Agil felt the urge to sweat wash over him as he felt the tension
sky-rocket behind him, and immediately decided that he didn't want to know, and
he didn't want to get involved even if he did know. There was nothing scarier
and stupider than being between two arguing women.
Ah, the wisdom of a married man.
                "Here we are!" he said suddenly, as the trio (criminal scum in
tow) turned a corner and beheld before them the City Hall for this floor. The
largest building to be found, directly across from the town green, it was
beautifully sculpted and designed, managing to simultaneously display a warm
welcome and a menacing reminder. Here could be found Bounty Boards, the Player
Prisons, the Guard Barracks, and the Magistrates.
Crossing the green, the three friends climbed the long staircase, and entered
the building. Walking through the silent, echoing halls (empty save for NPCs
due to the lateness of the hour) until they arrived at the Barracks of the City
Guard, which contained the Bounty Board and the Prison.
                "Asuna, Ailyn, and Agil of the Shattered Chainsbringing serial
rapist Mihigu in." Asuna announced, marching up to the guardsman at the desk,
who lifted his head from his paperwork and glanced at her, before standing and
leaning forward to peer down at the bound rapist.
                "I see. Hold on a moment. Hasufal, Erodd, get in here and take
this trash to the pens!" he barked, and two more guards hustled in and grabbed
said rapist. "He's a rapist pedophile, make sure you book him and cage him
accordingly."
                "Sure thing, Sarge. We'll make sure to do just that." Hasufal
said with a dark look at the subject matter. Usually he would be put in
solitary, but they were conveniently being cleaned just now, so he would have
to go to general population. He probably wouldn't live to see his trial. (A/N:
True fact, most pedophiles have to be put in isolation for their own
protection. They have an unfortunate tendency to end up dead due to mysterious
circumstances otherwise.)
                "Here is the bounty. Sign here, here, and here, please."
'Sarge' requested, placing a large sack of gold on the counter, along with
several sheets of paper before placing a pen on top of them. Asuna stepped
forward and read through the papers quickly before signing the indicated places
and handing them back to the officer. Taking them and skimming them quickly, he
looked back up and nodded. "Everything is in order miss. Please take your
bounty, have yourself a nice night, and bring us anyone else you catch. God
knows having scum like this off the streets is good for everybody."
                "I will, thank you. Take care, Guardsman." Asuna bowed
slightly, picked up the sack (which automatically entered her inventory and de-
pixilated), and turned to leave the room, Agil and Ailyn at her back.
                "Those kids have really been cleaning house, hey Sarge?" Erodd
commented, coming back into the room with a thick folder full of papers. "I was
just checking the records 'cause the name sounded familiar, and that group is
responsible for dozens of criminals being captured or eliminated."
                "It's good to see some citizen doing the right thing." the
officer replied, leaning back in his chair and putting his feet up on the desk.
"When does the next shift arrive, anyway?"
                "Three hours, sir."
                "Wake me in two."
                "Very good, sir."
########################
Later That Night, 11th Floor Inn
                "Well, they really wanted him off the streets. With this amount
of gold, we could fully equip at least two players with top-end gear. Or, we
could add it to our already considerable cache for a Headquarters." Ailyn
mused, looking at the large sack Asuna had "dropped" on the table before them,
while resolutely ignoring the small brunette that seemed to be grafted to her
love-interest. It wasn't like a girl a few years younger than him could be much
of a threat to her quest to get Kirito. No, it was Argo, Sinon, and Asuna she
had to look out for. Especially Argo. Who knew what that vixen would attempt if
she was given half a chance.
                "Agreed, and we need to expand our numbers, too. Problem is
finding trustworthy and capable members. Everyone on the front are with us,
Klein, the Divine Dragon Alliance, or that new guild, Knights of Blood." Asuna
commented, getting a round of agreements from the majority of the group, though
Kirito remained silent and contemplative, and the guild waited patiently for
their leader to speak.
                "New members would be useful, but how do we decide who to let
join? We are all either friends, or fought together on the first floor and
every floor since. How do we choose who else to allow?" he said finally, and
looks were exchanged around the room as they all thought about it, before
Silica piped up cheerfully.
                "I'll join, Kirito-sama!" she said, and several of the girls
scowled unconciously. Small chance or not, she was still more competition for
Kirito, that much was obvious. Still, they needed the members, she adored
Kirito (and was therefore trustworthy), and she was the only Dragon Tamer in
the game. Who knew how powerful she, and especially her Pet, Pina, would be if
they power leveled her?
                "I'll join too." Came another, surprising, voice from the door,
which had been opened silently during the discussion. There stood Sachi,
looking nervous but determined, and the members of Shattered Chains looked on
in shock for a moment.
                "W-what? Don't you have your own guild already?" Ailyn
spluttered, very much not wanting this girl to join. It wasn't that she
disliked Sachi, far from it, but she was the same age as the rest of them, and
rather beautiful too. She was a legitimate threat to her plans for Kirito.
                "Black Cats of the Full Moon has been disbanded. The others
went down below to help keep the peace amongst the Campers by joining the
Army." Sachi explained, referring to those players that lived on the
'liberated' floors, and didn't fight. The Aincrad Liberation Force, more
commonly called "The Army", was a former clearing guild. However, after its
leader, Kibaou, had gotten half of the original members massacred in a foolish
attempt to clear the 25th Floor Boss with a mere 40 men, they had retreated to
the cleared floors and taken up security and humanitarian duties. Under the
kind and gentle leadership of the new leader, Thinker, the guild had swelled to
number more than three thousand souls, all told. "Keita didn't think that we
could handle continuing to try to reach clearing level as a group, not since
Ducker died. I wanted to keep fighting, so know I am wanting to join you."
She looked directly at Kirito when she said this, but looked away with a blush
after meeting his eyes, starting a new round of internal cursing by those
already "in the running", in a manner of speaking.
                "...Alright Silica, Sachi, if you want to join, I won't turn
you away." Kirito said finally, and Silica cheered while Sachi visibly
brightened, but then Kirito gave a dark smirk as his eyes gained a wicked
gleam. "But first...you must be...PREPARED! Training begins in the
morning...sleep well..."
Chuckling darkly, the black clad swordsman rose to his feet and seemed to glide
over to the innkeep. Paying for a room, he then proceeded to ascend the stairs
in a disturbingly fluid fashion, still laughing that disturbing laugh, which
only ended at the sound of a door being shut.
                "...Well, as disturbing as that laugh is, I am going to get
some sleep. If I have to help whip two rookies into shape for the front lines,
I want to be well-rested." Ailyn sighed, copying Kirito. One by one, the rest
of the guild, as well as the two fresh recruits, went to bed and dreamed of the
day when they would be free from this accursed game.
########################
***** Hope From Darkness *****
#############################################
Sword Art Online: Shattered Chains
Chapter 6
Hope From Darkness.
##############################################
"Thank you all for joining us." Kirito said from the front of the room, in
which sat the fourteen gathered members of Fuurinkazen and Shattered Chains.
Six months had passed since the rescue and disbanding of the Black Cats of the
Full Moon, and the recruits had come along magnificently. Silica and her pet
dragon, Pina, had become a force to be reckoned with, the small blue dragon
being the only creature that a player could possess that could heal players and
their allies. Silica herself opted to wield a long dagger, almost a short
sword, and had adopted Argo's style of combat. The pair of them now flitted
about a battlefield with monster-baffling speed, laying bleeds and poison DOTs
on as many foes as they could. Sachi, under Ailyn's instruction, was turning
into a respectable tank, thought she preferred to wield a mace or hammer
instead of a spear.
"No problem, Kirito, but what's up? Your message didn't say." Klein chuckled
from where he lounged against a wall, and Kirito gestured to Argo, who stood
and joined him at the front.
"Kirito asked me to brief you all on our next mission." the playful female spy
said, sounding deadly serious for once, which immediately caught the attention
of everyone in the room. if Argo wasn't being playful, than the subject matter
was of the utmost importance. "I received Intel that the Christmas Event Boss,
Nicholas the Renegade, will drop an item capable of reviving dead players to
life."
The room went silent instantly, No one moved, no one even breathed, as they
attempted to wrap their heads around the idea that such an item existed, or
rather, would exist in the game. Something that every player had long since
given up on.
"We must secure this item. If the likes of the Divine Dragon Alliance get their
hands on it, they will either horde it or sell it to the highest bidder."
Kirito said firmly, hands folded behind his back as he paced back and forth.
"Quite frankly, I do not trust anyone other than one of us with this item, and
I know that we would use it for the right reasons."
"If Argo is right," Klein stared, and Argo gasped in disbelief as she placed a
hand over her heart and pouted. "Which, of course, I am sure she is, then I
agree. I cannot think of anyone else in SAO I would trust with such an item
besides yourself, Kirito. Fuurinkazen will help you defeat this event boss."
His declaration was met with a chorus of firmly worded and loudly professed
agreement and emphatic nodding from his subordinates, and Kirito gave a small
bow of thanks before looking to his own guild members. Asuna simply huffed at
him before speaking for all of them.
"Kirito, obviously we're going to support you in this. This is a good cause,
you're our leader, and you're special to m...us." she told him, blushing
prettily and looking to the side towards the end. The other girls glowered at
her almost-slop a little but nodded in agreement. Totally missing Asuna's
almost confession (again), Kirito grinned around the room before growing
serious and nodding to Argo again.
"We have reason to believe that Nicholas the Renegade is going to be hard to
beat, very hard, for the minor fact that he didn't appear at all in the beta.
Not even at the lower floors and levels as a teaser. Furthermore, Kayaba
wouldn't have such a powerful item guarded by a weak enemy." the Rat warned
them all, looking each of them in the eye. "It very well could be more
dangerous than the last floor boss we engaged, and the boss for this floor."
The group nodded in understanding as Kirito came to the fore again.
"Obviously, we are going to power-level nonstop for the next few weeks. I want
us to be able to crush this boss rapidly so that no one else can find it and
get a last hit in, thus claiming the item from us." he said strongly, tone
brooking no argument. "From now on, I want group leveling, hardest difficulty
you manage. By the time the event drops, each and every one of you needs to be
level sixty five, at least. Seventy is preferable."
"Oy, that's pretty hardcore, Kirito." a member of Klein's guild grumbled good
naturedly. "Will we be having time to sleep?"
"Sleep? We are gamers, there is no such thing as sleep." the Black Swordsman
responded in wry amusement, getting a chorus of laughing agreement from his
fellow players. Sharing it with them for a moment, he shook his head and
continued. "Regardless, we start tomorrow, at ten o' clock. Be there, or..." he
gained a predatory smirk. "You will get to be my sparring partner for the next
month."
Exaggerated shuddering followed his declaration, and laughter followed as the
group relaxed and spread out, calling over the innkeep or one of his fellow
NPCs, ordering food and drink as they played the night away.
#################################
Another monster disappeared with a screech and the sound of shattering glass as
it dissolved into pixels. Klein sheathed his katana like the ancient samurai
his armor and weapons of choice imitated, looking appropriately solemn and
calm, before ruining the effect by smirking broadly and fist pumping as a
bright golden flash surrounded him.
"Ding! Level 64, oh yeah!" he cheered happily, feeling reinvigorated as the
level-up restored his health and energy to full. Light applause filled the
grassy clearing that the two allied guilds were leveling in, coming from those
who were taking a break from training to eat or rest against a tree trunk.
The members of Fuurinkazen and Shattered Chains had been hard at work since
earlier that morning, camping the forest-side clearing spawn-point of some of
the strongest monsters that the floor possessed outside of the dungeon.
Admittedly, the monsters were easy picking for the large group of front liners,
but the Guild Perks built into the system offset any experience loss they might
have suffered for having so many players present.
"Good, excellent. Well done, Klein." Kirito praised him genuinely with a smile,
arms crossed over his chest from where he was leaning against a tree, Ailyn and
Asuna sitting beside him. Argo and Silica were a few yards away, cutting a
single large ogre-type mob to pieces, while Sinon was keeping an eye out for
other players who might try to steal their kills. Sachi and Agil were a few
yards past them, smashing a trio of enemies into the ground. Well, actually, it
was Agil doing the smashing while Sachi Taunted to keep their focus on her.
Raising his voice, Kirito addressed the entire clearing. "Finish off your
current opponents and come here, everyone."
It took a few minutes to mop up the last of their enemies, but soon enough both
guilds had gathered around the tree Kirito was leaning on.
"We've all made excellent progress today. You've done well enough, in fact,
that I am going to offer you a choice: finishing things up early today and
relax, but spend more time tomorrow. Or, we can start doing some map-work of
the dungeon and make some more progress but have tomorrow off entirely."
He gave them some time to think about it and discuss the pros and cons of each
amongst themselves before clearing his throat and asking for a show of hands.
It was overwhelmingly decided that they would do some mapping today and take
the following day off. After all, as Agil pointed out gruffly, they were
already out here and on a roll, so why not?
Proud of his companions and their dedication, although utterly unsurprised that
they wanted the next day off, Kirito began to head towards the distant dungeon
entrance, the others trailing along. Unbeknownst to him, but suspected by one
another, each of the girls interested in him was attempting to plot a way to
spend the next day alone with Kirito. The imaginations of each ran along the
same track, though carrying in...intensity. From Sachi and Silica blushing at
the thought of simply holding his hand, to Argo's idle consideration of renting
a inn room, all of them desired to have their leader's uninterrupted attention.
###################################
Suguha sat once more at Kazuto's bedside, quietly doing her homework with one
hand while the other rested on his own. Despite the warmth of the room, he felt
so cold to her. So lacking in life. She knew that in reality his hand was
barely cooler than her own, and it was all in her head, but she was used to
seeing him as his laid-back but still energetic self. Seeing him so still, so
expressionless, still haunted her after all of these months.
Her mind wandered to the latest press release from the SAO Case Victims Rescue
Unit (SAOCVRU) on their latest assault on the Sword Art Online server banks,
attempting to punch through whatever Kayaba Akihiko had done to prevent players
from logging out. While they ultimately failed to do so once more(Kayaba was
not referred to as a programming prodigy for nothing), they did manage to find
a way to place "vid-worms" into the system, allowing them to directly monitor
players from a third person view via the Cardinal System. Since that
announcement, the entire world had been clamoring for access, either for the
media, or to watch over friends and family. Thus far, everyone but the more
powerful world leaders had been allowed to do so.
A soft knock on the door drew her attention from her work and her musings, and
she turned to see Ayame, her nurse friend, standing there with an excited look
on her face.
"Ayame? What is it?" she asked, wondering what was going on. The doctors and
nurses tended to leave her undisturbed while she was visiting Kazuto, something
she appreciated immensely, but it made this interruption very odd.
"Sugu-chan, a man from the SAO Victims Unit is here, he says he needs to talk
to you immediately." Ayame told her with excitement filling her voice, and
Suguha frowned in curiosity and a fair amount of annoyance as she put her
notebook down on the bed and reluctantly stood, her hand slipping off of
Kazuto's own.
Following the nurse from the room, Suguha's frown deepened as she found herself
looking at Kikuoka Seijirou, leader of the Victims Rescue Unit, and Yuuki
Shouzou, the CEO of RECT Inc., the company that had taken over the SAO servers
and their maintenance after Argus had been disbanded.
"What can I do for you, gentlemen?" she asked as politely as she good, though
she still sounded distinctly unhappy, as she gave a short bow.
"We're sorry to pull you away from young Kazuto's bedside, Miss Suguha, but we
needed to speak with you on a matter of significant importance." Kikuoka said
kindly, smiling and bowing in return. "Might we adjourn to young Kazuto's
room?"
Hesitating for a moment, but deciding there was truly no harm in doing so,
Suguha turned on her heel and lead the two men back down the hall and into her
cousin's room, where she immediately reclaimed her seat beside his bed and put
her hand back on his. her two guests took the other two chairs on the opposite
side of the bed, and she looked at them expectantly.
"Miss Kirigaya, I can only assume that you know who we are, as I am sure you
have paid great attention to anything related to his...incident." Kikouka
started, and Sugu nodded, eyes darkening slightly with fresh anger and pain,
and the man smiled a little sympathetically as he continued. "However, I don't
know if how much you know about the goings-on of that world?"
"All I know is Kazuto is stuck in there, and I want him back. And that I would
happily wield real steel if ever I met Kayaba Akihiko." Suguha spat the name
out hatefully, as if the man were the Devil himself. Which, in her mind, he may
as well have been.
"Indeed, many share that opinion of the man." Kikouka replied dryly, adjusting
his glasses slightly before continuing. "What you do not know, then, is how
truly influential your cousin has become in that world."
"What do you mean, 'influential?'" Suguha asked, frowning lightly at the man's
choice of words.
"Simply put, Kazuto has become a very powerful person inside the world of SAO.
The guild he commands, Shattered Chains, is regarded as one of the most
powerful, rivalling guilds with member coutns in the hundreds despite it's
relativly small size. His influence, as I said, is significant as well. He is
the de facto commander of the Clearing Force, those players that have banded
together to clear the game, and is also gaining quite the reputation for
hunting down and dealing with player criminals in the game."
Suguha sat back, eyes wide at the information. A charismatic war leader?
Kazuto?! Sure, she knew that her cousin made was a kind and friendly person
(when he was actually social) who you couldn't help but like and trust, but
still! She couldn't picture him the way the man was describing her.
"Miss Kirigaya, I wanted to meet you personally after learning you were the
cousin of Mr. Kirigaya." Yuuki said, softly, leaning forward earnestly as he
folded his hands under his chin and gazed at the face of her cousin. "Kirito-as
he is known in that world- has saved the lives of many people, my own daughter
amongst them, many times. I wished to meet the family of such an amazing boy,
and invite you and your family to stay with my own at our estate."
"But, I couldn't possibly..." Suguha stammered, reeling from the events of the
past few minutes. "School...home...Kazuto!"
"I will arrange for you to be able to visit him as often as you like,
naturally, and for your parents to be taken to and from their places of work."
the father said earnestly, almost pleadingly. "It is the least I can do to
repay your family for what a member of it has done for my own."
"In addition, Miss Kirigaya, we will arrange for the vid-worms dedicated to
Shattered Chains (of which there are several, due to the guild's significance
in that world) to relay the live footage they will be gathering to a series of
TVs in a special room on Mr. Yuuki's behest." Kikouka added with a smirk,
knowing the moment the words left his mouth that she would agree.
"And in return?" Suguha said shrewdly, showing just how much she was like her
cousin, and Kikouka chuckled lightly, raising his hands in surrender.
"As much as I would like to say "nothing", I would simply like to request that
you keep your mind open to any future requests I might make." he said casually,
and Suguha nibbled on her bottom lip as her mind raced. In truth, her choice
was already made, but she didn't want to jump in without thinking. Still, she
supposed, did it really matter what he asked for if it meant she got to watch
over her beloved cousin?
"You have a deal, sir." she said firmly, and Kikouka smiled and clapped his
hands once in appreciation, getting to his feet.
"Excellent! Now then, I must be off, but I leave you and Mr. Yuuki in one
another's care." he said with a bow, before excusing himself and departing. The
two conscious inhabitants of the room looked at each other somewhat awkwardly,
neither knowing what to say.
"So, is Kazuto alright, in that world?" she asked finally, desperate for any
news of him. The man smiled broadly and nodded before elaborating.
"As Kikouka said, he is a very powerful figure in that world, and very
respected. He is widely acknowledged as the most dangerous swordsman in the
game, such that every player knows of the Kuro no Kenshi. The Black Swordsman
(Here Suguha resisted the urge to snort at the dramatic nickname her laid-back
cousin had been given). Every member of his guild is equally deadly, and while
I loathe the idea of my daughter being in danger, your cousin has helped her
come into her own as a woman." The CEO explained, looking simultaneously
pleased and concerned. "He and his guild are especially well known for hunting
down criminals, sometimes even brutally. He has stopped thieves, muggers, and
rapists from further victimizing the innocents in that world, players who
remain in safety on the cleared floors and don't fight on the front lines."
"Rapists? How can you commit rape in a video game?" Suguha asked, frowning
heavily at the idea. One reason she had stayed in kendo when her brother had
given up was to ensure that she would never be at the mercy of a man with more
libido than morals.
"Kayaba Akihiko disabled many of the safety codes in the game. While an Ethics
Law is still in place, it can be ignored and broken, just like the real world.
Those with the depravity to commit such acts figured out how, and so now it is
not just the game that players are in dager from, but each other. Fortunatly,
there have been no player-instigated murders yet, as far as the Victims Unit
can determine." Yuuki answered, getting to his feet. "I would greatly enjoy
answering any more questions you and your family might have at my home. The
hospital's visiting hours will be over very soon, and it would probably be best
if your parents had a chance to hear the same information as you."
"Ah, of course, you're right. I am simply desperate for any information I can
get about him." Suguha aploigized sheepishly, bowing, and the man returned her
bow with a kind smile and told her not to worry. He did, after all, completely
understand.
################################
The next few hours were a blur of activity. Suguha's parent's were nearly
paralyzed with shock when a black stretch limo pulled up outside their modest
home and their teenaged daughter hopped out, followed by a middle-aged man in a
black suit. Despite their trust in their daughter, the couple began to panic
internally. Had their daughter gotten pregnant? Had she been seduced by this
older, wealthy man? Or had she commited some grave offense? She had become
rebellious and tempermental ever since Kazuto had been trapped in that damn
game, had she finally lost control?
These wild, but not outlandish, assumptions were fortunatly proven to be
drastically off of the mark. Their daughter, nearly bouncing from excitement,
had explained that this young man was the father of one of their nephews
"guildmates", his friends and allies from SAO. That he admired and appreciated
what Kazuto had done for his daughter in that world so much that he wanted
Kazuto's family to stay with him for as long as they desired.
The elder Kirigaya had been hesitant, at first, unsure of such a generous offer
coming out of nowhere, but the fact that the proposal had been vetted by the
head of the SAOVRU had gone a long way to making them feel more comfortable.
What had finally tipped the scale though was the desperation and hope in their
daughter's eyes as she told them about the offer to watch over Kazuto through
the viruses that the Rescue Unit had managed to get into the servers. While
they themselves didn't know if they would watch (having long since given up on
speaking with their nephew again), neither of them felt they could deny her the
chance to observe. Besides, they had the distinct impression that she might go
ahead and leave with Mr. Yuuki regardless.
Finally, they agreed to do so, and their radiant daughter hugged them both
feircly before rushing to pack clothes and other nescessities, leaving them
alone with the man.
"I truly appreciate this. It is an honor to meet the family of such a
remarkable boy." He said earnestly, and the couple smiled a little awkwardly at
him, not sure how to react to such an eager attitude in regards to Kazuto.
Don't get them wrong, they loved their nephew dearly and missed him terribly,
but he had never inspired such heartfelt emotions from anyone other than their
daughters girl friends, many of whom Suguha had complained about being
infatuated with her "cool, laid back ice prince of a cousin". While he did well
in school, was respectful, and stayed out of trouble, he didn't exactly set
himself apart from the masses either. At least, he hadn't.
"We are honored by your kidness and regard for our nephew." Mr. Kirigaya said,
bowing slightly, not knowing what else to say and settling for a simple and
polite, if entirely accurate, response.
"So, what do the pair of you do?" the magnate tried again after several minutes
of awkward silence. While he already knew, having had his associates find out
every scrap of information about the family before approaching them, he still
wished to make polite and friendly conversation, in order to put the couple
more at ease.
"Ah, well, I myself am a game designer for Square Enix." Mrs. Kirigaya
responded, smiling as she spoke about the job she loved so much. "Unfortunatly,
I have to work very long hours, arriving home when the kids are asleep and
leaving before they wake up. But, when I have time, I try to play chess with
Suguha or games with Kazuto. He has actually helped me several times on my own
projects in the past."
"And I teacher at Tokyo University, where I teach Law." Mr. Kirigya responded,
not nearly as enthusiatically as his wife but with a fair bit of pride, pride
well deserved. Teaching something like law at Tokyo U was no mean feat for a
man in his early forties.
"Ah! My daughter has no doubt enjoyed your work then, Mrs. Kirigaya, and I
myself attended Tokyo U some years ago, though I majored in Computer Sciences,
not Law." Yuuki said almost wistfully, recalling his own days walking those
hallowed, old halls of learning. And, though he would never admit it, some of
the rather wild and youthful activities that had taken place there. One such
wild activity was where he had met his wife, though if one met her now one
would hardly think she was the type to even smile, never mind party.
Further uncomfortable attempts at making small talk were halted as Suguha
bounced back into the room, carrying her kendo bag and a bag of clothes over
her shoulder. Beaming at the three adults, she announced that she was ready to
go, and perhaps her parents should pack their own thing? Rapidly?
Chuckling slightly at the girl's excitement, her parents hastened to do so,
leaving Suguha to entertain their guest for a few minutes.
################################
Not a few hours later, the family found themselves gaping in awe at the house
(mansion, in all total honesty) that was to be their place of residence for the
forseeable future. High stone walls topped with a spike-tipped iron-wrought
fence surrounded spacious, grass lawns and well-kept gardens. The house itself
was beautiful, a magnificent blend of Traditional Japanese and Modern Western
architecture. The moment they exited the limo, the trio quickly found
themselves divested of their bags, which they were told were being taken to
rooms that had been prepared for them earlier that day. The haughty looking and
sounding Yuuki Kyouko introduced herself as the husdand of Mr. Yuuki, and the
teenaged boy in her shadow as Asuna's brother, Kouichirou. The father then
insisted that the adult adress him by his given name, Shouzou, before tasking
Kouichirou in showing them around the house, leaving him alone with his wife.
"Why are they here, Shouzou?" she asked coldly, and he winced slightly at the
harsheness in her voice. She loved their daughter, that much he knew beyond the
shadow of any doubt, but she had always resented her interest in her father's
company and products over more "ladylike" things, such as sewing and house
work. Just about the only thing the two had agreed on was cooking, something
that both enjoyed immensly. Shouzou, by comparison, felt like his wife had
pressured Asuna to hard to get superior schooling, a lucrative carreer, and a
important husband. Now, he knew, she was haunted by the idea that her
pressuring of their daughter was what had driven her into SAO, where she was
now trapped and fighting for her life.
"I told you, they are the family of Kirito. I felt that it was only right
that…" he tried to explain once again, striving to make her understand, but she
cut him off coldly.
"That boy constantly puts our daughter in danger, and you're treating him as
some sort of hero!" she hissed angrily, eyes flashing with rage. "You corrupted
her with your stupid computers and virtual games! Now she might die in that
God-forsaken game, and never become what she was destined to be!"
"That boy has saved our daughter a dozen times or more! That boy has stopped at
least one rapist we know of! Would you prefer our daughter was alone in that
world, easy prey to monsters like that, or would you rather she was with
someone who is arguably the most dangerous person in that game!" he snarled
back just as angrily. He understood her fears for Asuna's safety, even shared
them, but if his daughter was going to fight, he was glad it was beside the
person most likely to keep her alive.
"Of course not! I just…!" she grimaced, tears suddenly welling up in her eyes
as she bit her bottom lip, shaking her head violently as she tried to banish
whatever nightmarish imagies her mind was conjuring within its depths. Eyes
softening, he wrapped his arms around his scared, grieving wife and held her
close, rubbing soothing circles on her back.
"It will be alright, my love. We've already managed to get some worms into the
system. Our foot is in the door. All we have to do now is start to pry the door
open." He told her soothingly, but with iron-clad determination filling his
voice. "Our daughter will return to us. I will make sure of it!"
#######################################
***** Merry Christmas To All! *****
########################################
Sword Art Online: Shattered Chains
Chapter 7
Merry Christmas To All!
##########################################
Suguha had to restrain herself from bouncing eagerly on the seat of the window
bench she was lounging on, nose pressed to the glass as she hawkishly watched
the estate's main gate through the falling snow. After nearly a week of
waiting, it was finally Christmas Day, the day that the SAOVRU would be
delivering and setting up the massive screen that she knew she would be
spending every waking moment (and more than a few sleeping moments) in front of
as she eagerly and desperately watched every move her Kazuto made.
After moving onto the estate, her family had been welcomed with fairly warm and
open arms, the lady of the household being the only one who seemed less than
pleased with their presence. Mrs. Yuuki had remained cold and distant the
entire time, remaining silent as often as possible, and saying as little as
possible when she had no choice but to speak. Suguha and her parents had been
caught off-guard and rather offended by her rudeness, until Kuichirou had
explained that his mother was not handling his sister's disappearance well at
all. He had, in fact, once confided to Suguha the extraordinary guilt he felt
at the knowledge that his sister was trapped in the game because of whim. When
the confused teen had inquired further, he had reluctantly explained that he
had acquired a copy of the game and intended to play, but had been called away
for his duties to RECT Inc. When his young sister had asked if she could try it
out, he had readily agreed. Since then, his sister had been in what might as
well have been a coma.
Suguha had called him an idiot for blaming himself and reminded him that, had
he said no, it would be him trapped in the game instead. The he had to have
faith in his sister and her friends, and to focus on helping his family manage
in such a difficult situation.
A movement drew her mind back from wandering, and she yipped happily at the
sight of the large, utterly nondescript truck with tinted windows pulling
through the gate, followed by two equally unimportant looking cars. While some
might have thought that it could be a furniture order or something of the sort,
Suguha had watched enough spy flicks to know that the more innocuous something
appears, the more likely it is something to be suspicious about. Besides, she
had the feeling that if this family had ordered furniture, the truck would be
proudly displaying it's loyalty to some insanely exclusive and expensive
business.
Popping to her feet, she grabbed her jacket from where it lay draped over the
armrest and scampered from the room, hastily pulling it on as she ran through
the house, dodging maids going about their daily chores with apologies over her
shoulder. The maids watched her go in amused affection for a moment before
returning to work. The family's guests, especially the daughter, had quickly
rubbed of on the household staff with their infinite politeness and utter lack
of any sense of entitlement, which was rare for guests of the family. Most were
like that brat that the lady of the house wanted to push Miss Asuna (the
staff's favorite) towards, Sugou. He was always insulting and fairly lewd to
the prettier maids, when there was no one else to see him do so. To Miss Asuna,
he was condescending and dismissive, though it was veiled by a thin veneer of
false chivalry. It was clear to many that he had no care or affection for
Asuna, but did desire what would come with her: control of RECT Inc. when her
father retired. As such, the maids took it upon themselves to be as disruptive
to his attempts at wooing her as possible.
A few minutes later (the house was rather large, after all, and she had to ask
for directions once or twice) Suguha skidded to a halt and bowed to Mr. Yuuki,
a brilliant smile on her face, as the man looked towards her from where he had
been talking quietly with the utterly average looking man wearing overalls and
a cap that was pulled low to hide his eyes.
"Suguha-chan, why don't you show Satou-san and his associates to the room we
set aside for the equipment." The man suggested, and Suguha nodded with a
smile, though she nearly giggled at the man's name. Satou was the Japanese
equivalent of the Western last name "Smith", stereotypically an alias for a spy
because of how common it was.
"Hai! Follow me, please!" the high-schooler said cheerfully, turning and
heading back through the foyer, starting the one route in this house she had
memorized rapidly. That path which lead from the main body of the house to the
room that had been set aside for viewing their loved one's struggles and
triumphs. Trailing along behind her came nearly a score men who were just as
bland in appearance as the one who was speaking with Mr. Yuuki earlier,
carrying large cardboard boxes. Three sets of two mean each carefully
maneuvered boxes that proclaimed their contents to be 60" TVs, while the other
boxes seemed to be carrying various other electronic devices that she doubted
she would understand, though she had no doubt Kazuto would have, were he here.
Opening the door to the room, she gestured for them to enter and stepped well
clear of the doorway, leaving them plenty of room to maneuver with. She
remained safely in the corner while they bustled about, extracting the various
technological gadgets from their boxes and setting them up. Each massive
television was connected to a small, innocuous looking black box, which was in
turn connected to a plain black desktop tower. A few minutes later, all three
screens flashed to life. By this point, the entirety of both families had
entered the room and were watching the screens with bated breath.
"All systems, online. Sword Art Online Monitoring Station, operational.
Identify Primary Controller."A soft and cultured female voice echoed from all
three TVs, and one of the men offered Mr. Yuuki a small booklet. He regarded it
for a moment before shaking his head and gesturing to Suguha. Tentatively
taking the booklet when it was offered to her in turn, Suguha cleared her
throat.
"Identify Primary Controller: Suguha Kirigaya." She said clearly, if nervously,
and a soft tone sounded and all three screens flashed again.
"Primary Controller Identified: Suguha Kirigaya."The woman's voice confirmed,
reading the words that were now shown on the screen, before it changed again.
"Identify Authorized Users."
"Identify Authorized Users: Yuuki Shouzou, Yuuki Kyouko, Yuuki Kouichirou,
Kirigaya Midori, Kirigaya Minetaka. Confirm Command." Suguha listed the names,
the screens showing each one after it was said.
"Command Confirmed. Identify Targets of Primary Observation."The computer asked
again, and Suguha brightened. Leafing to another page in the booklet, she gave
her next command.
"Identify Targets of Primary Observation: Kirigaya Kazuto, screen name Kirito.
Yuuki Asuna, screen name Asuna. Identify Third target as members of guild
Shattered Chains, random rotation unless overridden by voice command." She said
clearly, feeling very much like she was in some sort of American science
fiction movie.
"Observation Targets, confirmed. Identify SAOMS Integrated AI?"the voice asked,
and Suguha frowned as she leafed through the booklet, trying to understand what
it wanted. Finally figuring out that it was asking for a name to be addressed
as, she thought for a ling moment.
"Identify SAOMS Integrated AI as Overwatch. Confirm Command."
"Command Confirmed. This unit is now identified as Overwatch. What can I do for
you, Kirigaya Suguha-sama?"the now-named Overwatch asked pleasantly, and she
smiled eagerly.
"Overwatch, please bring up Kirito on the center screen, Asuna on the left, and
the guild rotation on the right."
"Understood. Connecting to audio-visual worms. Downloading…download complete.
Imagery online."Overwatch said, sounding almost cheerful as the images of all
three TVs changed to reveal what was essential the same image, from different
angles.
Kirito, Asuna, and a large group of people were gathered together in an inn,
eating and drinking as they cheerfully chatted. Kirito himself was, to Suguha's
displeasure, surrounded by a fair number of beautiful women and a single red-
haired man, all of whom were paying him all of their attention as he spoke.
"…should be a relatively simple fight. We are not only over-leveled, but there
are quite a few of us. We should dispatch him fairly quickly and withdraw
before any…undesirable elements show up. Ailyn, you and Sachi will trade off
aggro the entire fight. Since this is an event boss, I don't think that there
will be any adds. So, whomever does not have aggro is to get out of range and
heal up, then Charge back in. Argo, take Silica and the rest of the speed-types
under your command. Hit and runs, he will probably have a dangerous cleave that
will take chunks out of you, so don't get hit by it. Klein, you and the rest of
the heavy hitters will stay in with me. If he shows himself to have an
interruptible ability, call out if you're going to take it. We don't want to
waste cool-downs."
"Alright, Kiri-bou, but what do we do is the Divine Dragon Alliance shows up
before we down the boss? Because you know as well as I that they're damn well
going to try." The small green lettering over the whiskered girl indicated she
was Argo, a rogue-class player. Suguha found herself frowning as she sat down
in an armchair, barely noticing that everyone else was filing out of the room
as she absorbed every detail that she could.
"Then I solo the boss while you lot hold them off." Kirito said, and there was
an instant uproar.
"Kirito, that's insane! You're letting your own legend get to your head, and
Kuro no Kenshior not, trying to solo a boss is suicide!" Asuna snapped angrily,
and the others chorused their own agreement.
"Perhaps, but I think it is possible if necessary. I would prefer to avoid
that, however. Does everyone understand?" he said definitively, and though
displeased, the others acquiesced, agreeing with nods and grunts. Nodding,
Kirito leaned back in his seat. "Alright, have some fun, everyone. We're
heading out in an hour."
#######################
An hour later, Kirito finished his drink and got to his feet, the girls rising
around him. Moments later, the others noticed that they were moving out and
rose as well, finishing off their drinks and food before tossing a few silvers
on the table, into the invisible zone designated on their HUDs for payment of
fare.
Nodding to the inn-keep, they filed out one by one, stepping into the cold
Christmas air. Lights and decorations were all over the city, every building
decorated to some degree, and the massive pine in the town center shone like a
beacon in the night. Kirito took a moment to take a deep breath, enjoying the
cool and the sensation of snow melting in his hair, before gesturing for his
companions to follow as he headed towards the city gate.
In the shadows behind them, they never saw a small, lithe figure dressed in
light leather armor bearing the symbol of the Divine Dragon Alliance wait for
them to depart before sending a PM and following silently.
##################
Suguha watched, on the edge of her seat, as Kazuto and his companions cut a
wide swath through the random monsters ("mobs", as they called them) that
aimlessly wandered the path that the players were taking to reach this
"Nicholas the Renegade" they were planning on killing. Her eyes never strayed
from her cousin, who was displaying incredible skill with a blade, skill that
had barely been shown when he had been taking kendo. He had developed an entire
style for himself, one relying on a combination of speed, incredible reflexes,
and punishing strikes.
She was beginning to see what Mr. Yuuki meant about Kazuto, and why he was so
feared. While she knew that he was doing things that he could never do in the
real world, she was still deeply impressed. Her infatuation with him helped her
awe along, of course, not that she would admit it if anyone brought it up.
The snow was falling heavier now, large wet flakes that had forced the group to
pull up hoods lest the melted flakes go down their shirts. Their footprints
lingered in the snow, edges and imprints softened by the constant snowfall.
Finally, they came to a large clearing with a single path leading further into
the forest, at the end of which appeared to be a massive, decorated, Christmas
tree.
"That's most likely where the boss will spawn." Kirito commented, point to the
tree, and the group nodded and headed in that direction, before stopping as
Kirito raised a closed fist, a strange expression on his face as he tilted his
head slightly to the side. Hand drifting to the hilt of Elucidator, he spoke
again. "We're not alone."
"Well spotted, Kuro no Kenshi, if a little late. We've been tracking you for
hours." A male voice said cruelly as a couple dozen men and women in heavy
plate armor came out of the trees in a staggered line, all bearing the mark of
the Divine Dragon Alliance.
"I expected it to take longer for you lot to show up, but perhaps I
underestimated your greed and obsession with rare items. How long will it take
you to realize that you have no more right to them than anyone else?" Kirito
retorted, and the leader of the DDA group glared and growled angrily.
"We are one of the top guilds in the game! Who other than we deserve rare
items, when we take the most risks and have lost so many of our number?" he
snarled, with his comrades nodding and adding their agreements.
"Yes, you have lost a few members, but your losses are nothing compared to
those the Army endured. Granted, that was through their own foolishness, but
you are hardly the only ones who have lost friends." Kirito pointed out,
striving for a peaceful solution. "I fully intend to utilize this item for the
good of the entire clearing group, but I will not allow you to lay claim to it.
History has shown that you would horde such an item for yourselves, instead of
using it for the betterment of all."
His voice was firm and his stance unyielding, and the DDA drew their weapons as
one. In response, the members of Fuurinkazen and Shattered Chains armed
themselves, sans Kirito, and began to fall into formation.
"If you're willing to become orange to try and claim this item, then my people
will oppose you." Kirito said, his tone glacial as he folded his arms over his
chest and glared. "I suggest you rethink this course of action, because getting
sent to the dungeons for a few months won't do your reputation or your rare
item cache any good."
"We outnumber you almost two to one!" the leader scoffed, and Kirito shook his
head with a sigh, glancing at his Second.
"Ailyn, take care of this. I will acquire the item and return here. Try to
avoid beating them up to badly, they are an admirable force for the Clearing
Force." He commanded, and Ailyn planted her fist over her heart in salute.
"Understood. We'll watch your back." Ailyn said, kissing him on the cheek
impulsively. Blushing lightly, Kirito ran a hand through his hair and told the
girls to be careful before turning on his heel and striding off towards the
distant tree.
######################################
"You shits may be everyone's favorite fighters, but without your precious
leader, you're nothing!" the DDA leader snarled, incensed at being so casually
dismissed. Kirito's friends exchanged looks before chuckling lightly, further
infuriating the man. "What's so funny you bastards?"
"Your arrogance, really. You honestly think that Kirito is the only member of
our group that is strong? All of us are level seventy at least, do you honestly
think you can take us on?" Ailyn said with a smirk, brushing scarlet hair out
of her eyes. The DDA members mumbled to each other in shock and concern. The
strongest of them, their leader, was level 70 but the rest of them were in the
mid 60s.
"I dunno if this is such a good idea, man." One of them said to the leader
nervously. "They're the top guild in the game and out level us pretty badly.
Kirito promised to use the item on anyone who needed it, so let's just head
back to HQ."
"I will not have a pack of kids intimidate me into backing off! Like hell
you're all level 70!" the leader sneered, and looked at his followers. "Attack,
or you will find yourselves item-less and kicked from the guild!"
Clearly displeased, the members of the DDA group readied themselves to attack
the instant their leader did. While not to eager to take on such powerful
opponents, neither were they particularly eager to be stripped of their hard-
earned gear and kicked out of the guild. They would be essentially marooned in
the Town of Beginnings until they could scrounge together enough starter gear
to start hunting mobs, working their way back up to their current gear level.
The tense face off continued until the leader suddenly charged with a yell, the
others following after a moment.
"Don't hurt them to badly. Take them down!" Ailyn shouted, thrusting her spear
towards the oncoming players before locking onto the leader and Charging him,
shield at the fore. With a roar, her friends and allies joined her, a wedge of
loyalty and friendship meeting a wall of greed and fear. Steel clashed on steel
as battle was joined.
##########################
Suguha scampered back to her seat. She had just asked one of the maids to tell
the rest of the house that a large battle was going on in Sword Art Online,
involving their loved ones. Moments later, the adults streamed into the room.
The three Yuuki's focused on the screen depicting Asuna, her rapier flashing
and biting away at her opponents as she ducked and weaved through their heavy-
handed assaults. The elder Kirigaya focused on their nephew, who was standing
alone before an enormous Christmas tree, his black blade still sheathed on his
back.
The sound of Christmas bells filled the night, echoing through the forest, as a
flying sleigh drawn by reindeer flew overhead. A large red shape jumped as it
passed over the tree and plummeted into the ground, kicking up a massive clouds
of snow. When it finally cleared, the shape resolveditself to be a hunched over
man in a long red coat. As he rose to his full height, he towered over Kirito,
laughing psychotically as his uneven eyes spun insanely in their sockets. Four
large green health bars materialized next to his head, above them blood red
lettering spelled "Nicholas the Renegade", and a massive double-headed battle
axe materialized in his hand.
"Is he going to fight that alone? Is he mad?" Mrs. Yuuki said shakily, having
glanced at the appropriate screen momentarily, and Suguha nodded tightly, her
face awash with fear for Kirito.
"Yes. The people his friends are fighting are trying to steal the item from
that boss, which apparently will let the user bring players who die back to
life. They want to sell it or keep it from everyone else, but Kirito wants to
use it to save lives. So, when they attacked, he had his friends watch his back
while he fights the boss alone." She said, giving the simple version of the
last few hours of activity. On the screen, Kirito's hand slowly reached up to
grasp the hilt of his pitch black longsword, and he drew it swiftly to rest
diagonally by his side as he stared up at the boss. Taking a deep breath, he
centered himself before charging.
########################
Kirito's veins were filled with fire, and his heart sang as he battled against
his enemy. This, was where he belonged. On the field of battle, matching blades
and reflexes with an opponent. He thrived on the thrill of battle, that
intoxicating mixture of fear and courage at the knowledge that a single wrong
move could spell his death. He could spare no thoughts or concerns for his
friends, even as he heard the clash of steel and voice behind him as they
fought to give him the time he needed. Soon enough, he heard nothing but the
song of steel, his harsh breathing, and the boss' inhuman roars and guttural
grunts. Avoiding a horizontal cleave from the boss by bending backwards Matrix-
style, he performed a rather admirable backwards handspring. The moment his
feet touched the ground again, he darted forward and laid a devastating blow to
the boss, dropping its second health bar to zero. It staggered back with a
scream of pain and rage, and he took the moment of peace that offered to down
yet another pair of Health and Stamina Potions, feeling his energy returning.
Rolling his shoulders, he carefully observed as the boss resettled into its
stance, hoping that the boss didn't get much more dangerous or change its
combat pattern too greatly. While he was defeating it handily, it was also a
long and grueling fight.
Tossing the battle-axe aside, the boss howled as it's sleigh hurtled over the
tree again, and two "small" axes plummeted from the air, sending up twin plumes
of snow into the air. Grabbing them, the boss roared again before charging.
Kirito cursed colorfully as he threw himself out of the way, the two axes
smashed into the ground where he was standing moments before. The Renegade's
movement and attack speed had at least doubled, and he was willing to bet that
the boss could do a mirror cleave, one axe cleaving the front and left, the
other the back and right. That would make this fight a lot more difficult…
################################
Breathing heavily, Ailyn Shield Bashed yet another DDA member, sending him
reeling backwards as he held his face and shouted in pain. Recovering her
stance, she looked around for her next opponent, but there were none. The
majority of the group was on the ground groaning in pain or totally
unconscious, with only the leader still standing as he and Agil hammered away
at each other, both being high-endurance two-handed weapon wielders.
"Agil, finish things here. Klein, you and yours support him. Girls, with me!"
she ordered, turning and running towards the distant howls and sound of battle
from where Kirito and the boss were still fighting. They were halfway there
when a familiar voice shouted in pain.
"Kirito!" they cried together, increasing their paces significantly and hoping
they made it in time.
#################################
Suguha screamed in fear as her cousin finally stumbled, the boss catching him
with a vicious backhanded swing, a glowing red gash opened from left hip to
right shoulder and sending him hurtling into one of the trees surrounding the
boss area. Slumping to the ground, he seemed totally insensate and incapable of
moving as the boss moved in for the kill. With a triumphant bellow, it raised
both axes high and brought them plunging down on top of him.
##################################
Steel rang as Ailyn and Sachi both Intervened on the boy they had come to love.
Shields upraised, each took an axe to their shield, feet sinking into the snow
and the dirt beneath it under the force of the impact. Together, the pair
shoved back, rocking the boss back a step, before advancing with a shout as
they blew a few of their cool-downs, increasing both their damage and their
defensive stats as they began to hammer away at the boss. Twin blurs began to
slice away at the boss' rear as Argo and Silica began their own assault. Asuna
flitted about as well, avoiding what cleaves she could as she laid down her own
punishing barrage of sword skills. Sinon fell to her knees beside Kirito, her
HUD clearly showing how low his health was. If he didn't get healed now, he
quite possibly would die before they made it back to town.
"C'mon Kirito, stay with me!" she said desperately, trying to help him sit up
and get the most powerful healing potion available at their level into him. He
groaned, head rolling limply on his neck as he struggled to regain awareness of
his surroundings. It took several minutes of coaxing, but he was finally able
to down the potion, and then two weaker ones. His mind cleared, his aches
faded, and the red gash slowly shut as the potion's effects washed through his
body.
"Ungh…Sinon?" he groaned, putting a hand to his head as he shifted a little
weakly. Sinon nodded happily, glad that he was safe, and helped him stand as
his faculties rapidly began to recover. Running a hand through his hair, he
searched for his blade and saw it lying not far away. Looking at Sinon, he
ordered her to rejoin the fight while he recovered. Though reluctant, Sinon
heeded the command and began hurling her spears at the boss' eyes and joints,
hoping to land Debilitating Blows on it.
It took until the boss had less than half of his finally health bar remaining
before Kirito had gathered himself enough to be able to rejoin the battle,
which he did with fervor.
##########################
The observers watched in awe as the members of Shattered Chains hacked and
slashed away at the boss, Kirito landing the final blow with a leaping slash
that cleaved its head in two. The boss howled one last time before exploding in
a massive cloud of pixels. A long dagger fell to the ground at Silica's feet,
while Kirito and Ailyn both received new chest pieces, and the Last Hit item
was given to Kirito, which was a pair of armored boots that increased his
primary stats, and his movement speed by 15% while in battle.
Finally, the item they actually cared about fell into the snow in front of
Kirito: The Divine Stone of Returning Soul. A small sky blue stone in a steel
frame, it seemed such a small and innocuous item for such a powerful ability.
"Well, what does the tooltip say?" Ailyn asked impatiently, as the girls
gathered around him, and he opened his menu to look.
"Use: Target an allied player and use this item to return them to life. Must be
used within ten seconds of death. Cool-down: Two Weeks." He read off, surprised
that the item wasn't single-use. While two weeks was a hell of a long time in a
death game, being able to save someone's life even that often was an enormous
boon. Pocketing it, he looked around at the girls. "Are all of you alright?"
"Hai! You really gave us quite the scare, Kirito." Silica said with a deep
frown marring her adorable visage. Walking up to him, she kicked him hard in
the shin.
"Gahhhh!" Kirito yelled, falling to the ground and rolling around in the snow,
clutching at the abused body part as tears gathered in the corners of his eyes.
"Why would you do that, Silica?"
"Because you were stupid, Kirito." She said bluntly, frowning down at him, arms
crossed over her chest. Turning on her heel, she began to stomp away, the
majority of the girls following with muffled giggles and chastising words of
their own. Only Asuna remained, offering him a hand to his feet, which he took
gratefully.
"I really made them angry, huh?" he said softly and seriously, ruffling his
hair agitatedly, and Asuna nodded firmly.
"You made all of us angry, Kirito. None of us can bear the thought of losing
you, not when we all care for you as much as we do." She said softly, blushing
faintly as she looked down at their still-linked hands.
"Asuna, I'm not going anywhere. I promise, I will never leave you girls. I will
always protect you." Kirito promised her just as softly, also blushing, before
changing the subject out of waters he had no experience in. "Hey, we need to
catch up with the others and get back into town. I don't want to risk any
orange guilds coming after us while we're tired and weakened from fighting."
"Ah, yes, of course." Asuna agreed, turning and heading down the path with
Kirito following, their hands still linked together as the snow continued to
fall all around them.
#################################################
Suguha glared harshly at Asuna's screen, which showed the brunette still
holding her cousin's hand tightly as they returned to their friends. Her worry
began to grow as the other girls gave him displays of their own affection,
having forgiven him for being an idiot, if only temporarily. In this moment she
wished that she was inside the game, to defend her claim on her cousin...a
claim that she had never had the courage to voice aloud, even to herself.
She vowed then and there to win him for herself the minute that he was free.
#####################################################
 
***** ALFs and Coffins *****
#######################################
Sword Art Online: Shattered Chains
Chapter 8
ALFs and Coffins
#######################################
                "Suguha-chan, I really don't know about this..." Mr. Yuuki said
slowly, almost a month later. After the epic battle between Kirito's friends
and the Divine Dragon Alliance, followed by their slaying of the Special
Christmas Event boss and the acquisition of the powerful, rare item he had
carried, the Black Alliance, as other players had taken to calling it, had done
little but rest and keep their skills sharp. To Suguha's mounting irritation,
her Kirito seemed to be getting closer and closer to the women that were
amongst his friends. Competition was getting brutally fierce fast, and she
wasn't even able to be there in order to compete in the first place!
So, she had sought out ways to make herself more appealing to her love
interest. She practiced her cooking and other "womanly" duties by helping the
maids with the various tasks around the house. She threw herself into her
schoolwork, studying hard so as to impress Kirito with her intelligence when
they met once more. It was, in fact, at school where she had heard about her
latest tool for getting closer to understanding him, and to making herself more
appealing.
The brand new, perfectly safe improvement on the Nervegear made by none other
than Asuna's father, and his company, after months of exhaustive testing and
development using the information found within the Argus archives. While the
original hope had been to use the Amusphere's to access Sword Art Online, the
Rescue Unit's hackers still had not managed to penetrate far enough into the
servers to do so. And, as the team leader had pointed out: if they could get in
deep enough to put people in, they would be in deep enough to get them out. So,
now the Amusphere was debuting with latest and greatest of VRMMORPG games,
ALFheim Online. Created by RECT Progress, it was a game focused aroudn many of
the more famed races of the ancient Fae, or the Fairy-kind, and drew very
heavily on Norse Mythology, jsut as SAO had drawn heavily on Medieval Europe.
Suguha had decided that if she was going to have a prayer of competing with
Kirito's other admirers, than she needed to know about the same kinds of things
that they did. That meant gaming. Besides, watchign them running around
fighting monsters and relaxing together in between missions made her want to
try it for herself, without that whole "die in real life" thing that they had
to deal with. This decision, however, had drawn protests from several of the
adults. Once her own parents had realized she would not be swayed, it had
fallen to Mr. Yuuki himself to try and do so.
It wasn't working.
                "Yuuki-san, you yourself said that the Amusphere is perfectly
safe. And that I should do something more than schoolwork or staring at a TV
screen all day!" Suguha pointed out fairly, and Mr. Yuuki winced slightly,
knowing that both things were true. He had in fact said that, but this was
hardly what he meant, something she was well aware of.
                "Yes, I meant that you should spend time with your friends from
school, perhaps? Go to the mall, maybe a movie or two? I am certainly willing
to fund such things for yourself and your friends." The father said, pulling
out his last ditch play: the lure of unrestricted time and funds at a mall.
What teenage girl could say no to such a thing?!
                "Ah, I appreciate the offer Yuuki-san, but I do not want to
impose upon you in such a way. Please. Excuse me." An unnatural one,
apparently, the man grumbled to himself in an affectionately amused sort of
way. The girl had grown on him quickly, reminding him so much of how his Asuna
acted (whenever her mother wasn't around to make life difficult for the both of
them), sometimes shy and amiable, and sometimes bold and unyielding. Shrugging,
he went to report his failure to the other parents, and to reassure them that
he would have his technicians spend special attention to her safety.
################################################
Welcome to ALFheim Online!
The bold words filled her mind, their elegant and flowery script lingering for
a moment before fading, to be replaced by the next phrase.
New User Detected, Initiating Character Creation and Tutorial Walkthrough
In short order, Suguha had selected her race (Slyph, who had the most womanly
character modification options) and created her character to be a tall, lithe,
busty blonde woman warrior she named Leafa. Quickly running through the
tutorial, she watched in amazed excitement as the world warped around her,
shifting and changing into the wooded, rustic-looking area that served as the
Slyph starting area. She was wearing simple clothing, with very basic longsword
belted to her side, and she looked around in awe at the magnificence of the
virtual realm she now found herself inside. She was very rapidly beginning to
see why Kirito-kun was so engrossed with these games.
                "Heyyyy, Suguha-chaaaaaannnn!" she heard her classmate,
Shinata, yell as the sound of running footsteps reached her ears. Turning, she
saw another player character, one that looked remarkably similar to her
somewhat pathetic classmate, coming towards her. Coming to a halt in front of
her, eh put his hands on his knees breathing hard. Thus, he was unprepared and
unable to protect himself when her clenched fist hammered down onto his skull.
Falling to the ground and clutching his head in pain, the teary-eyed youth
stared up at his classmate with a kicked-puppy look that was utterly
unsuccessful in making her feel guilty.
                "That is what you get for calling me that. It's Kirigaya-san in
the real world, and Leafa in here." She admonished him, before frowning. "And
how did you know it was me, anyway?"
                "Ah, your character was standing and walking just like you do
in real life! Your body language was the same, so it was easy to figure it
out!" the other Slyph said, with the result of her fist impacting his head
again, harder than last time. "Now what?!"
                "That was really creepy." Leafa said simply, turning and
walking away towards the NPC her HUD tagged as being her Introductory Quest
Giver. Sighing to himself, the boy got back to his feet and followed timidly in
the wake of the confidently striding young woman he so admired. Speaking of
admiring, his eyes fell to the swaying read end in front of him, the loose
Linen Pants she was wearing doing little to hide her figure, much like the
Linen Tunic she wore did little to hide her good-sized chest. Yanking his gaze
away from her physical assets, knowing full well if she caught him he would be
in a world of pain both in the game, and the real world. Not to mention, any
hope he might bear of ever getting together with Suguha-chan would be vanish so
fast his head would spin. Noticing that she was done with the quest giver, he
sent her a party request. He was about to explain what it was and how to accept
it when she promptly accepted the party, eyes flicking up to where his name
would be on her UI, before nodding and walking away, presumably to start her
first quest.
Staring after her, this time for an entirely different reason than previously,
Recon blinked several times before writing it up to Suguha-chan being herself
and followed along.
######################################
                "We all agree then?" an muffled voice spoke from the depths of
a small forest on the fiftieth floor, two floors below the frontlines and so
far less frequented by those who might object to the nature of the proceedings.
With the speaker stood four others, each shrouded in the saem dark, feature-
shielding cloak he himself wore.
                "Of course, I see no reason we cannot make a great deal of
money out of this situation and those similar to it. It is, after all, just a
game." An oily voice responded from one of his companions, sounding rather
pleased with the idea of money.
                "Yeah, all that shit about players dying IRL* is bull. Ain't no
way that it's true!" the third, carefree and loud, agreed, but his exuberance
was drowned by the frankly psychotic rambling of the fourth.
                "Who cares if it's real or not? Gonna cut them, gonna hurt
them, gonna kill them!" it cackled madly, and the fifth and final player spoke
up, voice level and calculating, bordering on emotionless.
                "Enough, Johnny. Even if this nonsense about players dying in
real life were true, the blame for any deaths at our hands would fall purely
onto the shoulders of Kayaba Akihiko. After all, we are simply...playing as
intended."
                "S-sorry PoH..." the psychotic voice mumbled in apology, and
the now named PoH spoke again.
                "XaXa, spread the word to the orange guilds. If they want
wealth and the thrill of the hunt, they should disband and join us."
He paused for a long moment, raising a fisted right hand to reveal the image of
a coffin embossed with a bizarre, grinning mouth and a skeletal arm.
                "The Red Guild, Laughing Coffin!"
#################################################
A beautiful flame-haired women leaned against the bar of the inn, eyes closed
as she rested her left cheek on her hand, the fingers of her right tapping
lightly against the untouched glass of whiskey before her. A soft creaking
sound let her know yet another person had sat down next to her. Sensing their
attention on her, one violet eye cracked open enough to see the figure was male
before closing again as she sighed lightly before speaking.
                "No, I don't want to know how many monsters you've killed, no
I'm not interested in a date with you. No, I am not a lesbian, and even if I
were, no you're not the man to convince me to 'go straight'." She drawled,
disgust coloring her tone as she obviously thought about previous encounters
with members of her new bar-mates gender.
                "While all of that is good to know, and I think it is a damn
shame a women as beautiful as you has such an issue with my gender, that's not
why I'm here." The male voice said amused, a teasing note in his voice. "As a
matter of fact, I'm here to meet a young woman named Rosalia. You wouldn't
happen to know her, would you?"
                "I think you know exactly who you're talking to, Kirito-san."
Rosalia smirked, opening her eyes fully to look at her companion. "After all, I
am sure Argo-san compiled quite the dossier on me after you mentioned my
message to your guild. I'm willing to bet that the majority of you allies are
nearby, too, just in case."
                "Well, can you blame me? When the leader of an Orange guild
asks to meet with me in a small inn, out here in the end of nowhere, I might
wonder for my safety." He commented, and Rosalia snorted in amusement.
                "Right, that was the primary concern of your posse of
girlfriends. The fact that I have a reputation for being a flirt and beautiful
had nothing to do with them coming along to watch." She responded, getting a
baffled look in response. Staring at him for a long moment, Rosalia continued
incredulously. "Don't tell me you've not seen it?"
                "Seen what?" the honest confusion in his face and voice struck
her dumb for a moment, before she began laughing almost hysterically, a sound
that Kirito found himself forced to admit that he rather enjoyed. He could
certainly see why the 20-something lady gamer had so many would-be suitors and
fans.
                "We can have that discussion later, Kirito-san." She said after
getting control of her amusement, though laughter still bubbled in her voice.
Sobering more, she gestured for Kirito to follow her upstairs to room she had
rented. As she turned away, she noticed several of the other players in the
inn, people who had been lounging about there for hours or telling boastful
stories like most adventurers did in inns, shift slightly as if to follow,
before a slightly raised hand from The Black Swordsman settled them, and she
shook her head in awed respect. The Shattered Chains were as formidable as she
had heard, with people in place for so long. Not to mention that, had this
actually been a trap, she never would have thought them to be potential
threats...which meant any ambush she planned would have been counter-ambushed
in turn. As they ascended the stairs, she addressed Kirito again. "You and your
friends are even better than I had heard. It is a small wonder that you are
regarded as the over-all leader of the Clearing Forces."
Kirito made a somewhat embarrassed, noncommittal grunt in response as he
follwoed her into her room and turned to shut the door. When he turned back to
face the room again, his head promptly snapped to the side, eyes closing as he
saw Rosalia in nothing more than her underwear.
                "Would you please put on some more clothing, Rosalia-san?" he
asked a little gruffly, a blush on his cheeks, and the crimson-haired young
woman smirked, though with a faint blush of her own. Casually equipping some
casual clothes in the form of a loose Cotton Shirt and a pair of Cotton
Breeches, she languidly stretched herself out on her bed as Kirito took the
wooden chair next to the small table-desk beneath the room's window. "Now, what
was so important you called me out here? The clear group is planning on making
a big push soon."
                "I know, that's why I called you." She said, all traces of
flirtation and joking gone, though she remained draped across her bed
tantalizingly. "I was approached recently by a player calling himself XaXa of
the Red Eyes, and he was the member of a newly formed guild by the name of
Laughing Coffins."
                "Rather macabre a name, and more than a little strange, but I
fail to see..." Kirito started, but Rosalia interrupted him harshly.
                "They plan on becoming the one and only Red Guild of Sword Art
Online." Kirito froze as her words entered his ears, staring at her in
horrified disbelief as she continued. "They plan on selling their services, any
services at all, to whoever is willing to pay."
                "Am I to understand that those services are...?" Kirito
whispered, unable to speak it freely through his fear, and she nodded tightly,
eyes dark with anger and worry of her own.
                "They will kill anyone and everyone someone is willing to pay
to have killed."
                "Let me guess: since your guild is an orange guild, they want
you to take the next step and joing them?" Kirito asked, and when she nodded,
continued harshly. "Damn them! What are they hoping to accomplish?"
                "It's not just us, either. XaXa mentioned that every orange
guild in the game is being approached, just as we were." Rosalia informed him,
before addressing his second comment. "Their selling point, which is gaining a
lot of ground with people like my subordinates, is that even if the whole "die
in game, die in real life" stuff is real, the players can't be blamed. That is
to say, any kills they make are not their fault, but Kayaba Akihiko's."
                "Ludicrous. That's like saying a murderer or a rapist isn't at
fault for committing their crimes because they grew up in a broken family."
Kirito scoffed in disgust, an emotion she shared, though his analogy was a bit
odd. At her strange look, he elaborated. "It's this stupid idea that is
becoming popular is certain countries, that people with bad experiences in
their past shouldn't be held accountable for any wrongs they commit. In true
hypocritical fashion, they only want to apply that to random, average people.
Heaven help a soldier that has a PTSD attack or something of the sort! No, its
life in prison or execution for him!"
                "I agree that does seem fairly stupid." Rosalia nodded, before
getting back on subject. "Regardless, my subordinates have bought it hook,
line, and sinker. I havenot! Rob people, put them back into the starting zone
for a few months, sure. Criminal, underhanded, even cowardly. All of this I
admit is true. I will not, however, become party to murder, much less murders
for hire!"
                "So the issue is how to get you out of this situation without
you getting killed or hurt." Kirito murmured, thinking hard, before pulling up
his Guild Window and issuing a Recall command, instructing all members to
return to HQ, before pulling out a teleport crystal and offering it to Rosalia.
"We need to discuss this en masse. Gather your things and grab on, please."
Hesitating for a slight moment, she nodded, gathering her pack and loose items
before taking hold of the other end of the crystal. With a murmured command and
a blaze of white-blue light, the pair vanished from an inn in the middle of
nowhere, to reappear in the fully established headquarters of the Shattered
Chains Coalition. Small when compared to the massive complexes of the other
major guilds, it was nonetheless a large and imposing structure, a stone keep
set into the side of a cliff near the biggest forest-side lake of the 22nd
floor, enclosed by a high stone wall and an outer perimeter wooden palisade.
While Kirito and his companions had originally wanted something small and
homely, they quickly found that demi-human class mobs, such as Kobolds,
Sahagin, or Goblins, would occasionally attack lone settlements outside of the
defensive perimeter of the major cities, towns, and villages. This meant that,
unless they wanted to constantly have rotating watches made up of themselves
and their allies, they would need to acquire a fortress-type building, which
came with their own NPC guard forces. Thus the small fortified keep that they
called home, though it was officially deeded as "Freedom's Progress".
#################################
                "Damn them...!" Sinon snarled, slamming a fist into the round
table that the Coalition was seated at. The Coaliton, formed primarily out of
the members of Shattered Chains, Fuurinkazen, Col Worl*,and Blood Legion** with
other non-affiliated players, mostly crafters and gatherers, supporting them.
"Were we of the Clearing Force not perfectly clear on what we would do to
people who tried this kind of shit?"
                "We were, but in the end their argument gives them a supposed
out. It's pathetic, underhanded, and a complete farce, but it exists
nonetheless." The leader of Col Worl grunted from inside his massive, heavy
plate armor. Ggodmachina (more commonly referred to as "GG") rivaled Agil in
sheer size, and was one of the Coalition's dedicated heavy tanks on the front
lines.
                "The question before us now is thus: what do we do now? Can we
afford to ignore them, in favor of clearing the current front line as planned?
Or, do we deal with them and risk losing our forward momentum?" Kirito
interjected as several members of the table opened their own mouths to speak.
                "I suggest we do both. Rosalia said that this guild would
perform their first mission after the orange guilds joined them?" the leader of
Blood Legionmused, tilting his helmed head slightly to the side. When Rosalia
and Kirito nodded, he continued. "Then we kill two birds with one stone.
Rosalia can feed us the information we need to intercept the attack, allowing
us to either eliminate or imprison a significant number of this newly-formed
guild, keeping them from posing much of a threat while we finish with our
current push. Once the next floor is opened, we of the front line can turn our
attention to keeping the peace for a time. Allowing such thoughts as this PoH's
philosophy to spread will be massively damaging to the community, and make
clearing very hard to do."
                "Not to mention they might get contracts for prominent members
of the Front Line forces. I know quite a few people would be willing to pay
significantly to see Kirito dead, as well as many others in this room." Argo
pointed out, voice cold as her expression clearly said what would happen to
anyone who tried to murder Kirito.
                "Alright, so we draw them in and cut them off. Cripple them so
that they cannot pose a threat for the foreseeable future." Sachi mused, but
Ailyn shook her head, thumping the butt of her lance on the ground to draw
attention to her, where she stood at Kirito's right shoulder.
                "No. If we're going to do this, we need to ensure that they
cannot become a threat, ever. We must annihilate them. Purge their entire
member-base and those of their allies. Not a single member or associate can
escape alive or un-imprisoned." She said harshly, drawing startled looks from
her apparent bloodthirstiness. Shaking her head, she continued. "I may loathe
the idea of claiming another human's life, but when the other option is to be
constantly looking over our shoulders in fear of bloody retribution in the dead
of night..." she shook her head again, thumping her lance for emphasis. "No, we
need to ensure that we get them all."
                "She is right. Cruel though it may sound, if we don't get them
all, alive or dead, the survivors will constantly be waiting for us to let our
guards down so they can get revenge." GG grunted, and Kirito looked at Rosalia.
                "So, Rosalia and her guild-members will accept this offer. She
will gather the names of every single member via the Guild Information Log,
what levels they are, learn where their hideouts are, and any preliminary
clients. Than we move in and take them all out. Control of the guild and all of
its resources will automatically default to the only surviving or 'free'
player, that being Rosalia herself. That will give us an even greater advantage
for discovering anything we might have missed in the preparation stages."
Kirito decided, getting various sounds and gestures of acknowledgement and
agreement. Closing the meeting, he and the other leaders rose together and
bowed slightly in respect and farewell before dispersing back to their own
activities, leaving Rosalia and the members of Shattered Chains to themselves.
                "This is going to shake things up significantly, Kirito."
Rosalia said softly, getting a tired sigh and a nod from the Black Swordsman.
                "Yes, I know. Stay safe, Rosalia." He said kindly, and she
nodded with a blush before leaving, causing a mental groan to run through the
other women at the appearance of yet another competitor, this one with the
advantage of a gorgeous, twenty-something body as opposed to their own, still
growing teen forms. Bidding each other goodnight, each member went their
separate ways, each planning for the future to some degree. Each praying things
would go well, for themselves and for their friends.
#################################
*This is a guild I am actually in when I play World of Warcraft, though I do
not play it at this time, on Illidan. The name is a play on Cold World, as in
"It's a Cold, Cold World." However, it is said without the d-sound.
** Blood Legion is another major guild on Illidan, one could say the major
raiding guild, at least until recently. I heard they more or less disbanded of
late.
***** Blood *****
I did apply some personal logic referring to the Medicuboids into this. That
reasoning is that while the Sleeping Knights and the like do not exit the game
often, if ever, they are able to due to the fact that they're not Nervegear and
not part of the SAO disaster. I also moved the Konno sibling's move into ALO up
by a couple of years, for reasoning that will become apparent.
Furthermore, I created the idea of all the SAO patients being in one mega-
hospital, simply because that would have been the most logical thing to do, so
they could all be monitored more easily and simultaneously.
#################################################
Sword Art Online: Shattered Chains
Chapter Nine
Blood
#################################################
One wonders who is really in charge these days.Yuuki Shouzou mused to himself
in amusement as he watched Kirigaya Suguha holding court from her place in
front of the Information Desk of the largest hospital in Japan, the newly
constructed Sacred Hope Hospital for International Disasters.
Not long after the SAO disaster had begun, the Pope himself had made an
international address, calling for all men and women of every nation to come
together and help to care for the victims until they were freed from their
virtual prison.
While the call had been responded to by every land, it had been the Catholic
Church (naturally, as it was their leader who made the call) who had responded
with the most vigour. Tens of billions of dollars had begun flowing to the
SAOVRU in addition to their governmental funding, and they had been put to good
use. Plans had quickly been drawn up for a massive hospital complex, capable of
holding every single victim of the incident, or any other disaster that might
occur in the Eastern Hemisphere. The complex was designed to sit upon a man-
made island in Tokyo Bay, with a trio of bridges as well as ferry services
running 24/7 to shuttle staff and visitors to the premises.
 Workers, equipment, and designers had flooded into the island nation by the
thousands, and the U.N. Security Council had sent large forces of their most
elite military groups to help ensure the protection of first the workers, and
then the victims and staff.
With the aid and skill of every major power and several minor ones, the complex
had been completed in less than a year, a feat that had previously been thought
utterly impossible. However, as the Pope was quick to point out in his follow-
up address after the U.N. had issued a somewhat grudging thank you for the
support of the world's Catholics, such was the power and beauty of the world
working in concert for a single, righteous cause.
Now, the patients were beginning to arrive from across the world, though the
majority was from Japan and America, and Suguha had quickly taken command of
the situation. First using the head of the SAOVRU as a mouthpiece, then more
directly, she had begun by dividing the victims up into categories. The
children were in one section, their in-game caretakers split up amongst the
rooms, while the other 'campers' (those who were not actively trying to clear
the game) were placed in another section. The Clearing Force were in the most
heavily staffed section, given the more extreme risks to their health. The last
section was very different indeed. With reinforced doors, walls, and windows,
it could only be entered or exited by checkpoints, staffed by armed guards
provided by the military. It was in this section that the criminals of SAO were
placed. People who had been convicted and imprisoned of a crime within the
game. This had been done at the very strong urging of himself, with Suguha in
full agreement, after they had discussed what to do with those individuals.
They had come to agree that they could pose a risk to the safety of the non-
criminal players, especially those who captured them, and that they needed to
be contained until the real world police could take them into custody.
Asuna's father shuddered slightly as he remembered Suguha bringing him up to
speed on the next hurdle their family faced. To think, a group of people in
that world that were going to dedicate themselves to murdering others for
profit, and under such flimsy and amoral reasoning, at that. He hated the
scapegoat attitude of the modern world as much as Kirito and Suguha did. He
just prayed that none of the decent people in that world perished in their
efforts to stamp out such trash. He would not, however, shed any tears if
certain monitors registered a flat-line in response to their efforts. Some
might consider him cruel for thinking that, but any man or women who killed
another for no better reason than money was not only scum, but no longer human.
                “Yuuki-san, it looks like everything is all set here. You
promised your wife we would be home in time for dinner, ne? If so, we might
want to get going.” The voice of the young miss Kirigaya brought him out of his
musings, and he turned a warm smile to her.
                “Hai, Hai. My dear wife does not appreciate it when people make
her wait at the table. Something my dear daughter inherited from her, I dare
say.” He sighed a little wistfully before turning to escort the girl back to
their transportation.
################################################
Several hours later found Suguha logging back into ALO, eager to rejoin all of
the friends she had made in the game, many of which were not even Slyphs.
There was Alicia Rue, a beautiful if short, dark skinned blonde with golden
eyes and the frankly adorable ears and tail of the cat-race of ALO, the Cait
Sith. Smart-talking and flirty, the only thing that moved faster than her wit
were the twin claw gauntlets she wielded.
Sakuya, a fellow Slyph that was very popular with their people for both her
beauty and her grace. With long hair and longer legs, she cut a figure that
many women would be, and were, jealous of. Especially when she dressed in
traditional Japanese clothing and ornamentation, with a katana hanging from the
obi around her waist.
Incidentally, both of these young women were at the very top of the running for
being the leaders of their respective factions, each hoping to achieve the
Lordship in order to try and foster better relations between the two peoples.
Then of course there was Recon, who was almost perpetually flustered from being
surrounded by such beauties, and often made a fool out of himself as he tried
to be impressive and manly, only to bungle the entire situation. It was
actually really rather amusing, all things considered.
Regardless, between the amount of fun that the game was, and her friends, she
could see just why Kazuto loved these games so much, and spent so much time in
them before the whole SAO disaster.
The world around her finished forming, resolving itself into the interior of
the largest inn beneath Yggdrasil, the World Tree Inn. Given her friendship
with a member of a rival faction, her group spent the vast majority of their
time in the neutral territory where all the territories met, that being the
massive, neutral capital city of Asgard, which surrounded the entire base of
the world tree. While the city was technically divided into nine sections, one
for each major race (in fact, this was decided because the point where all
their territories met was the world tree itself, making the neutral city
technically 9 small cities that blended together. Not that anyone cared to
split such thin hairs) it was unlawful to attack or kill anyone within city
limits without declaring a duel, or in response to an unprovoked attack. Those
whose broke this rule usually found themselves attacked by the city guardians,
stripped of their gear, and dumped into the wilderness outside the city limits
with a cool-down preventing them from reentering the city for a month. Needless
to say, it only took a few examples of this before the player-base at large
decided to leave the factional squabbling for more appropriate venues.
                "Heyyyy~! Leafaaaaaa~!"
Leafa's lung emptied themselves in a rush as Alicia glomped her from behind
with a cheerful cry of her name. Stumbling slightly, Leafa looked over her
shoulder to see the cat-like smirk on the other girl's face and huffed at her
in wry amusement.
                "Do I look like a climbing post, kitty?" she asked, raising one
eyebrow, and Alicia's smirk broadened as she nodded, eyes sparkling with
mischief and amusement.
                "Nyaaaaan~, Leafa! Nyaaaaaaan~!" the blond purred playfully,
and Leafa shook her head again with an exaggerated sigh of long suffering.
                "Oh, my~!" Sakuya's gentle and musical voice came from her
left, and she turned (Alicia giggling on her back as she swayed with the
movement) to see the taller woman standing there, demurely giggling into the
sleeve of her kimono. "You are as playful as ever, dear Alicia."
                "And you are as formal and boring as ever, Sakuya!" the cat-
girl taunted in return, the warmth and affection in her expression taking any
potential insult from the words, and Leafa gave an unladylike snort at the huff
and frown that the bluenette gave to the vertically challenged blonde.
                "Regardless of certain people's immaturity," Sakuya ignored the
resultant tongue that was aired in her direction by 'certain people' and smiled
at Leafa. 'It is good to see you again, Leafa. I hope everything is alright
with your love?"
                "He's alright, all things considered." Leafa blushed faintly at
Sakuya's words. She had told her friends the truth, that the boy she was in
love with was one of the people trapped in SAO, and that she knew someone at
the SAOVRU who gave her updates on his condition. His name and the finer
details, however, were kept to herself. Frowning, her thoughts of Kirito were
disrupted by the knowledge of the threat they were preparing to face.
"Unfortunately, things seem to be getting alot worse in that world. There is a
group that is hiring out their blades to kill for money. K-kun and his
Coalition are planning on fighting with them, but I am afraid he and his
friends will get hurt or killed doing it."
                "Ha..? People will kill other for money, knowing that they will
die in real life? Dispicable." Sakuya sneered hatefully, suprising Alicia and
Leafa with the sudden show of negative emotion, something highly unusual for
the kind and graceful young woman.
                "Their excuse is that it isn't their fault, but Kayaba
Akihiko's for putting them in such a situation." Leafa explained, her tone and
body language making it clear what her opinion of that reasoning was.
                "Well that's stupid! Kayaba-teme isn't making them take the
money, isn't making them kill people! They could just do what K-kun is doing
and try to clear the game that much faster!" Alicia growled, dropping onto her
feet and padding around to stand beside Leafa. "Besides, don't they know what
will happen to them once the game is cleared?"
                'Well, they figure that if the game is cleared, the data will
be destroyed, and they will be home free." Leafa shrugged, as the trio of girls
exited the inn and started down the street towards the Flight Point that would
take them to a neutral town in the wilderness, where they planned on using as
the start point for the day's hunting trip.
                "Excuse me?" a young, female voice none of them knew
interrupted, causing them all to turn and look towards it's source. Standing
there were two girls, both about their age, and both of them members of the Imp
race.
The first, who looked to be slightly older than the second, had deep burgundy
eyes, long plum-colored hair, and was wearing heavy plate armor, with a massive
battle-axe hanging on her back. The way that she was standing and the general
aura of unshakable confidence around her reminded Leafa a great deal of Agil,
the massive former Marine that followed her Onii-chan. Of course, the
aforementioned heavy armor and battle-axe helped to encourage the impression.
The second, however, reminded her far more of Asuna than anyone else. Slim,
built for speed and agility, wearing light armor and wielding a rapier. She,
like her companion, also had red eyes and purple hair, though her eyes were a
brighter scarlet and her hair an interesting purplish-black whilst hanging
nearly to the backs of her knees.
                "Yes, can we help you?" Leafa asked politely, if confusedly, as
she and her group came to a halt and turned to them, their attention and
willingness to listen inviting the pair to approach, an invitation that they
took readily.
                "I was wondering...are you Kirigaya Suguha-sama?" the elder of
the two asked, and Leafa took an unconscious step back, hand falling onto the
hilt of her sword as she tensed.
                "How do you know my name?" she bit out harshly, her mind racing
as she thought back over the last week. She didn't think anyone had been
following her, and she was rarely anywhere other than the new hospital, the
Yuuki House, and school. For someone to know her name in the game, they would
have had to spend a great deal of time and effort spying on her.
                "I promise you my sister and I mean you no harm. In fact, we
dearly want to ask you for your help. It is quite literally a matter of life or
death." Came the calm reply, as the girl held up her hands in a placating
gesture, and Suguha relaxed slightly at the honesty and the pleading in her
voice.
                "Fine, I'll get us a private room." She sighed, unable to
resist the oppurtunity to help someone. She was too much like her Kirito, she
supposed, for as cold and stand-offish as he could be, he was always extending
a helping hand. Turning around, she led the group back into the inn and began
the chat-chain with the inn keep, acquiring a private room for the day in
exchange for five gold pieces. Ascending the stairs and opening the door, she
watched as the two strangers sat together on the bed, while Sakuya and Alicia
both took up flanking positions beside the room's single chair, which Sakuya
had turned to face the bed. Sitting down, the blond warrior sighed nad folded
her hands under her chin. "So, what is all of this?"
                "My name is Konno Aiko, and this is my younger sister Yuuki. We
know that you are the cousin of Kazuto Kirigaya-sama, the Kuro no Kenshi of the
<<Shattered Chains>> and Clearing Force Commander of Sword Art Online. We know
that you have very powerful friends, and it is because of those friends we
approach you now."
                "If you have relatives in the game, then I am sorry but even my
connections can't help..." Suguha started to respond with a sad frown, missing
the looks she was getting from Sakuya and Alicia. "The head of the SAOVRU
himself has told me that they know of no way to save anyone..."
                "While we appreciate the thought, that is not what we are
talking about. We were lucky enough not to have lost anyone to that madman's
machinations." Aiko shook her head in denial with a small smile on her face at
the concern and sympathy in the blonde's voice. Hopefully, her good nature
would save the pair of them.
                "Then I am afraid I'm confused. You know who I am, you know
about my 'powerful friends', and you even know about Kazuto-kun. You even say
it is a matter of life or death, and outside of SAO I am not sure what all of
those things have in common." Suguha folded her arms under her bust, pushing
them up slightly and causing a moment of distraction to the other occupants of
the room. Shaking her head the tiniest fraction to refocus herself, Aiko
nodded.
                "I can understand your reasoning, but it is a little more
convoluted than that. You see, while you were busy arranging all of the SAO
victims at the new hospital, my sister and I, and those like us, were being
transferred into a separate, smaller wing. Our parents overheard you talking to
Yuuki-dono and Kikouka-san, and they told us about you."
                "Well, that explains how you know all the things you mentioned
earlier, but I still don't understand..." the other girl started, before Aiko
answered the unfinished question.
                "You see, my family and I were infected by a batch of bad blood
a couple of years ago, with HIV/AIDS. My sister and I are even now lying in a
wing of that hospital using something called the Medicuboid, and it is there we
will remain until we die." Aiko explained, to the shock and sadness of her
listeners.
                "I cannot imagine..." Sakuya said sadly, shaking her head
slowly as her eyes grew misty, while Alicia had a furious look on her face.
                "What kind of piece of shit doctors did you have that you all
got infected with bad blood, never mind at the same time!" she snarled, deeply
upset by the incompetence or negligence that had led to such a horrifying fate.
                "I have to agree with Alicia, this is horrible! How could that
possibly happen?!" Suguha gasped, and the sisters shrugged together.
                "We don't know. We didn't have the money to hire any lawyers,
so we couldn't afford a lawsuit, never mind any treatments or experimental
cures. My parents only have weeks to live, my sister and I another two years at
the longest."
                "So you came to me, knowing that I have influence enough to
maybe save your family." Suguha leaned back in her chair, the pieces coming
together, and both sister's looked regretful.
                "I'm sorry to try and manipulate your emotions, to use you like
this, but I am willing to do all that and more to save Yuuki-chan. I could
never rest in peace knowing I didn't try to save her." Aiko's voice was heavy
with regret and shame, but the love she held for her sister, and the
determination to save her, was as clear as the sun in the sky, and Suguha felt
her heart warm at the sight.
                "I promise you that I will talk to Yuuki-san about helping your
family. If there is anything that can be done, I will make sure it is." She
promised firmly, and only her two friends quickly stabilizing the chair kept
her from toppling over backwards as both sisters tackle-hugged her, tears
streaming down their faces as they sobbed their thanks.
Sakuya and Alicia exchanged long looks, a mutual agreement to interrogate
Leafa-no, Suguha, at their next opportunity in their expressions. She had
obviously kept a great deal from them, and they were rather sore about that.
For now, however, perhaps it was best to help calm the two sisters before they
choked the blonde in between them to death.
##############################################
                "Yuuki-san, you have to understand what you are asking is less
than simple..." the best HIV/AIDS doctor in the world told a somewhat
unimpressed Yuuki Shouzou and a frowning Kirigaya Suguha. "Not only is there
incredible expense involved, but the risk is massive. Her parents would never
survive this procedure, and the two sisters have only a 75% of coming through
it."
                "Cost is of no object, but explain to me the procedure, and
detail the risks." Shouzou instructed, shifting his weight slightly to be more
comfortable. When Suguha-chan had brought the situation before him, he had of
course been horrified and angry, much as any decent person would be. The sheer
negligence that was resulting in an entire family, including two children in
their teens, withering away was unfathomable, mostly because the situation
should have been entirely preventable. He had been somewhat leery of attempting
to cure them, knowing that there was no true cure yet, but Suguha had insisted
he read an article from Germany, detailing the first case of curing HIV/AIDS.
Ten hour later, the doctor who had written it had arrived in Japan.
                "Do you know much of anything about HIV/AIDS, sir?" the doctor
asked, and the other man grimaced, shaking his head in response. "Well, the
reason it is so dangerous is that it is smart. We can, in fact, cure people of
HIV/AIDS. However, the disease leaves part of itself dormant, inactive inside
of the host body. There it waits until the active portions of the disease are
eradicated, before waking up and re-infecting the subject, multiplying and
sending fresh portions into dormancy. We have not yet determined a sure-fire
way to locate and destroy these dormant portions, preventing us from truly
curing someone."
                "I think I understand. You're saying that you could cure
someone a hundred times and never gain any headway." Asuna's father mused, and
the doctor nodded in agreement, garnering another grimace. "Damn nature,
sometimes its power and smarts are far more destructive than helpful."
                "Indeed, sir. I can assure you that doctor's all over the world
feel the same way everyday of our lives." The doctor said sympathetically, eyes
darkening as he thought of all the people he had failed to save. He remembered
every name, every funeral, every heart-broken family. And he would never allow
himself to forget them, his inspiration and incentive. Shaking himself
slightly, he rejoined. "However, my proposed cure, and it is barely worthy of
being called a clinical trial, is to infect the patients with a controlled
strain of leukemia, which would attach itself to all of the same cells as the
HIV/AIDS virus. Then, using a full-body blood, bone marrow, and white blood-
cell transfusion, we can completely eradicate both diseases."
                "Yes, and that is where the danger comes in, I assume?" Shouzou
asked, and the doctor nodded.
                "Indeed, sir. Such a procedure is extremely risky and puts an
incredible amount of strain on the patient's body. That is why only the
children have any chance of survival. As teens, their bodies are reaching the
peak of endurance and durability, while their parents are older and
more...well, fragile, sir."
He shook his head a little sadly, looking at Suguha.
                "I'm sorry, Miss Kirigaya, but the only options I can offer
your friends are to die together as a family, or for them to risk their lives
for the ability to watch their parents die years before their time." His voice
seeped with regret and no small amount of resigned self-condemnation.
                "Please, do not blame yourself. The fault lies in whatever
idiotic trash gave them the bad blood. I'm going to go talk it over with them
now, I will let you know what they decide." Suguha said with a bow, before
sweeping away to do just that.
###########################################
Suguha sat silently to the side, tears in her eyes, as the family talked
amongst themselves about who would live and who would die. Never in her worst
nightmares would she have imagined that she would have to put such a situation
before anyone, yet here she sat.
                "Kirigaya-san?" the father of the family spoke up, and she
looked up to see they had stopped talking and were looking at her. Seeing she
had her attention, he continued. "My wife and I have decided that we want you
to tell the doctor and Yuuki-sama that we accept their offer. Even if we cannot
be cured, we will be able to rest in peace knowing that our beloved daughter's
will live."
                "I understand, and I promise you that, even if Yuuki-san cannot
or won't help after you...after, than my family and I will do what we can, in
addition to securing justice for you and your children." Suguha bowed low from
her seated position, a bow that was returned in kind by the family, though the
two children looked heartbroken. Not that she could blame them. Getting to her
feet, she quietly slipped from the room to give them privacy and inform the two
older men of their decision.
                "Well?" the doctor asked softly as the teenage girl returned to
stand beside Yuuki-san, and received a subdued nod in response.
                "They will do it." Was all she said.
#############################################
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