Author's Note
So I've had some serious writer's block lately. I'm sure any of my followers reading this have noticed the lack of updates. My neighbor's dog died about a week back, and considering I basically grew up with that little guy, it hit me as hard as if he were one of my own.
While I didn't stop writing entirely, my pace drastically slowed as a result. This story here, however, is a contradiction to that – I devised the concept and wrote the whole first chapter in about two days, which is pretty fast for me in general.
That said, there are a few things you'll need to know before proceeding.
First off, the setting of this fic is basically a real-life ALfheim. I've made some alterations to better suit this story's purposes, but the world is essentially a real version of ALO.
Second, Kirito is female, as per the usual for me. Not just because I prefer writing about yuri this time, though. The Kirito of this fic is more believable as a girl than as a boy. You'll understand eventually.
Third, yuri. This is a yuri harem, honestly, so if that's not your thing I'd stop reading here. If you can deal with that, proceed.
Fourth and lastly, not a single chapter will be written from the female Kirito's perspective. This is sort of a challenge I issued myself, and I intend to follow through with it. This story will have a lot of different perspectives, but Kiriko's won't be one of them.
So yeah, that's about it. If those things don't bother you, go ahead and read. The first chapter may be somewhat confusing, but I don't think it was all that bad.
Castle in the Sky
Chapter One: The Wrong Target
The life of a thief was fraught with uncertainty. Even if one had the skill to steal from someone without getting noticed, there was no guarantee that the target would be worth stealing from in the first place. If a thief were to steal a wallet with no money in it, it would provide no benefit, after all.
It was for this reason that one particular thief, Philia the Spriggan, chose to invest time in developing a few skills not commonly used by your average pickpocket. One such skill was a spell that allowed her to see all gold within ten meters of her – even if that gold was inside a purse or behind a wall. It was a spell commonly used by Spriggans who made a living hunting for treasure, but its use among thieves, although rare, could often be much more lucrative.
The use of this spell is what led her to what she decided must have been her most lucrative target yet. It was a Spriggan girl who appeared to be a little older than Philia, with long, lustrous black hair tied into a pony tail that swished behind her as she walked. She wore a leather jacket that appeared top of the line, black denim pants that fit tight against her slim yet toned legs, and steel-toed black combat boots.
Perhaps most remarkable about this target was the contents of the black backpack she carried. With the spell active, Philia saw a good fifteen clusters of gold coins within the confines of that pack. She had never seen so much gold in one place – there was so much it made her mouth water with greed.
She first noticed this juicy treasure of a target while scanning the shopping district of the Spriggan harbor village of Polperro from the rooftop of a diner. The girl was talking animatedly with an elderly merchant who seemed pleased with the company. Philia's heart skipped a beat when she saw all that gold in the girl's pack, and she immediately decided that she would get her hands on it at all costs.
Once the girl finished her business with the merchant, she took a quick exit out of the shopping district by entering an alleyway a few buildings down. Philia quickly hopped across the flat, beige rooftops of the city in order to catch up to her target, only to find the holder of her desires just standing still in the dark, narrow alley below.
This is where the first warning bells went off in the thief's head. The girl had put herself in the perfect position to be attacked. It was almost as if she knew that Philia was following her. But at the same time, the payoff for success was too great to just pass up. She couldn't let so much gold get away.
The thief slowly and silently drew the dagger at her waist. Its blade had lost its gleam long ago and really needed to be sharpened, but it was a reliable weapon all the same. More than enough to cut through human skin.
And unfortunately, that was the only course of action at this point. If the gold were in a purse, Philia could simply cut the straps and be on her way, but that backpack's straps were thick enough that tearing them or cutting them with her dagger would be out of the question. She'd have to kill the girl to get the spoils, and in a single strike to avoid making too much noise and causing a scene.
Before she could talk herself out of it, the thief jumped down, landing silently behind her target and plunging her dagger into—
What?!
The moment her blade would have touched the neck of the girl, she vanished without a trace. Philia's head whipped around in search of her target, but found nothing at all – she had completely disappeared.
"You must be the thief I've been tasked with catching, then," a smooth, low female voice assessed.
Behind her! The voice definitely came from behind her. Philia turned around in a flash, but saw nothing but the beige brick walls of the buildings on either side of her. The owner of the voice was nowhere to be found.
This situation was quickly becoming absolutely terrifying. Now the massive amount of gold made sense – it was to bait her into making a move. This girl was more than Philia could hope to handle – somehow, that was the feeling she got.
"You know, for a thief in a Spriggan city, you're honestly pretty easy to fool," the voice called again, this time seeming to come from her left. "You'd think that in a place like this, thieves with the capacity for magic would master spells to see through illusions, but I guess not, huh?"
When the frightened thief turned to her left, she finally saw the girl – but her long black hair, rather than being tied into a pony tail, hung loose, coming down to her waist and swaying gently in the light draft of the alley. In this girl's right hand rested a sword with a black blade that seemed to radiate an overwhelming darkness.
A magic sword?
Philia didn't have much time to wonder about the blade before it was raised just under her chin, mere centimeters away from cutting her throat. She instinctually tried to force it away with her dagger, but found that her dull blade phased right through it.
Her first instinct was to believe that the whole body was another illusion like the one she jumped through at the start of her attack. But in the next moment, something else happened that proved something was in the space right in front of her.
Philia felt the cool, smooth texture of metal close around her left wrist, then her right a second later. She looked down and found shackles keeping her hands together. In her shock, she let go of her dagger, and it fell to the cobblestone alley floor with a loud clang.
Before she even had the chance to struggle, the captured thief felt something hit the back of her neck. She lost all of her strength and fell to the ground, her vision growing hazy. She could tell she wouldn't be able to remain conscious much longer.
What will… happen to me now?
Everything faded into darkness.
The first thing Philia noticed upon regaining consciousness was an incredible softness all around her. She opened her eyes and sat up, only to find herself on a bed. She had no idea how she got there – after all, she hadn't slept on a bed this soft since before her parents left. The cream-colored covers were thick and plush, and she couldn't even feel the springs in the mattress.
As she tried to remember how she got there, she raised her arms to stretch the sleepiness away, only to find that they seemed to be bound together by dark gray metal shackles. Upon noticing them, everything came back in a flash.
She had been lured into a trap by an obscene amount of gold. After trying to attack the girl carrying it, she got completely outwitted by her illusion magic and then knocked out. That girl must have brought her here afterwards, then left. But why would she just leave Philia there? Surely the girl knew that she would try to escape, right?
Well, whatever. I won't let such a chance slip by me. Time to get out of here.
The captured thief swung her legs over the right edge of the bed before standing up, hearing the slight creak of the wooden floor as her feet made contact with the boards. She looked around for something to break the shackles with, but for all intents and purposes, the room seemed like a regular bedroom.
Aside from the bed, the only piece of furniture in the white-walled room was a large cream-colored dresser on the opposite wall, with a mirror attached to the top. The bedroom had no windows or closets, though she did see a door to the right of the bed. She could try searching the dresser for something to break the shackles, but considering the circumstances, she doubted her captor would have left anything for her to make use of.
Philia walked up to the door and grabbed the knob with her right hand, half expecting to find it locked. To her surprise, when she tried to turn it, not only did it turn, it opened for her. At this point, she didn't know whether the one who caught her was crafty or downright careless, or perhaps both. But she couldn't complain about this – it worked to her advantage more than anything.
She walked out of the room slowly and carefully, finding that she happened to be at the top of a flight of dimly-lit wooden stairs. She descended the steps with extreme caution, feet light enough that they didn't cause a single creak. Just as she got within three steps of the bottom, she heard two voices. One male, and one a very familiar female. The thief froze to that spot and waited for the conversation to conclude.
"I'm just checking in for your report on the task we gave you," the male voice said, practiced and dull. "Have you captured the thief?"
"Yeah, I caught her," the voice of Philia's captor replied in a somewhat dismissive, jovial tone. "I went ahead and took care of her for you, since I heard that was your plan anyway. She won't be stealing from this city ever again."
"Thank you for taking the time, lady Kiriko," the man thanked her, the volume dropping as he presumably turned around. "General Heylel told me to say he wishes you success in your endeavors."
"Tell him we'll have to spar again next I come to the capital. He's good for keeping my reflexes sharp," the girl apparently called Kiriko concluded, her voice growing a bit louder as she apparently turned towards the stairs.
"Will do."
After that, Philia heard a clacking sound, which she realized must have been the front door closing. She considered waiting at that spot for a while in hopes that her captor would leave as well, but that plan shattered the very next moment.
"Thanks for waiting out of sight, by the way," the voice of Kiriko called to her, making her jolt in surprise. "After all, my story that I killed you would be a lot less credible if you showed up in the middle of it. You can come down if you want, by the way."
Philia realized at this point that she had nothing to lose by going to meet this girl. After all, as far as anyone knew, she was dead now. In a way, she owed her captor thanks for that lie. She descended the last three steps and turned the corner, coming face to face with the one that man called Kiriko.
While Philia had looked at the hair and clothes of this person before, she hadn't yet a chance to take in her figure. The black-haired teenage girl standing before her had an hourglass figure that made the thief a little envious. Her frame was thin yet very toned, and her skin complexion was a creamy white that barely even resembled a Spriggan's.
"Since you already heard my name from that military grunt, mind telling me yours?" she spoke, her voice light and peppy.
"…"
There were too many unknowns here. Beyond that, Philia had no way of knowing whether she could trust this 'Kiriko' person. Something about her put the captured thief on edge. She couldn't quite place what it was, but she knew it was something serious.
"Actually, before that, I guess I owe you an explanation," the mysterious girl said, turning around and walking away. "Here, come sit with me. I'll give you the gist of what happened and what's going to happen."
She walked a meter or two away before sitting in what appeared to be a reclining chair. Then, she looked up to where her captive stood rooted to her spot, giving a bright smile that beckoned her over. But despite her cheery tone, something about the way the black-haired girl said that last line unnerved Philia. More out of fear than of obedience, she followed her captor and took the seat opposite hers. This chair didn't recline, but it still had soft enough cushions to be comfortable.
"So, here's the deal," Kiriko started, her smile disappearing in an instant. "As I said to the army guy, they were planning to kill you once I handed you over. I thought it would be a waste to let such a rarity just die – I mean, you're a Spriggan, but your hair is blonde and your eyes are blue! How unusual is that?"
"My mother was a Spriggan, but my father was a Cait Sith," Philia explained, reasoning that it wasn't really crucial information. She didn't look at her own appearance often, but she knew that her blonde hair and blue eyes were a far cry from normal for a Spriggan girl.
"Ah, cool. A hybrid, huh? You'll be useful!" came the cheery reply – wait, did she just say useful? "So as I was saying, I decided to spare your life and just let them think you're dead. Which means, my friend, that you owe me your life."
"W-what?" to hear such a thing uttered so casually, this really was an outrageous situation.
"Let's get real, here," the bold girl said, her lips curling upward into a devious smirk. "I can't just let you go. If you decide to go back to stealing, then my good name will be dirtied a little, right? After all, I just told that guy I killed you. And besides, anyone with half a brain could see that you owe me for not actually doing what I said I did."
"Yes, but saying I owe my whole life to you is—"
"Is not far off from the truth, considering the circumstances," Kiriko cut the poor blonde off, her smirk widening a little. "Don't forget, if they had their way, you'd be dead. Because of my intervention, you get to keep living."
"Then… what do you want from me?"
At this rather blunt question, the girl's smirk softened into a kind, gentle smile that put Philia's heart at ease. "I was expecting more of a struggle, honestly. Guess I underestimated your reasoning ability. What I want is for you to join me in my journey, that's all."
"Your… journey?" what did she mean by that? And why her, of all people?
"You may not know it, but the magic you use is not something everyone can make use of," Kiriko explained, holding up her hands with all fingers outstretched. She then folded in the fingers on each of her hands until only her right index finger remained. "Of the seven fairy races with standard elemental magic, around ten percent of the overall population is capable of using magic. And about eight of that ten percent will never know because only the nobility ever get proper training for it. The fact that you can use magic makes you invaluable to my goal."
"What is your goal?" Philia asked before she could stop herself.
"You sure you want to know?" the girl said, the smirk returning. "Once I tell you, there really is no turning back."
"It's not like I have much of a choice in the matter," the blond said, closing her eyes and shaking her head. "I either serve you or die, right?"
"That's one way of putting it, I suppose. Though I'd prefer it if I didn't have to get blood on my hands at seventeen," Kiriko acknowledged, nodding her own head in response. "My goal is to reach and conquer a certain castle spoken of in the legends of every race."
"A castle?" for every question this girl answered, she seemed to create another one to ask.
"A legendary castle that has been abandoned for almost a thousand years," the girl replied, seemingly elated to talk about this subject. "My goal is the very top of the floating castle Aincrad."
Author's Note
So, how was it? I hope the chapter didn't sound as mechanical as it felt to write, but I'm not the judge of that. I'm not sure if it felt mechanical because I'm still recovering from loss, or because it really was mechanical writing.
By the way, something minor I forgot to mention above: all character names used are going to be game handles. Since this AU has a game become reality, I figured I may as well use game names to match.
For my followers who want updates on my other stories, GGO SW is a long ways off from getting a new chapter. Transcendent Bonds isn't any better, though that one spinoff of it is coming along rather nicely. Weapons with Hearts is as good as dead – a combination of some rude comments in a PM a while back and constantly having to deny accusations of copying Railgun (which I never watched, dammit!) have basically killed off my inspiration for it.
Anyway, I'm about done with today. It's past when I wanted to go to bed, but I wanted to finish the chapter before passing out. I did, and now I want to hit myself for doing it.
See you next chapter, whenever that comes.