===== Tokyo, Japan - August 1, 2022 =====
Chris Farron strolled into an electronics superstore with his best friend, Lanay Ruzanaki. They had both received an e-mail from a company called Argus, asking them to "beta test" some new virtual reality video game called "Sword Art Online" for a platform called "NerveGear." After doing some research and learning it was a (legit) massively multiplayer online game, the two agreed. Chris was a modestly skilled MMO gamer (not a pro by anyone's standards, but he enjoyed playing games and was halfway decent at them) and Lanay was an accomplished kendoka after training with her father growing up, so she knew her way around a sword. The only reason they agreed to become beta testers was because Argus was providing everything free of charge, so they went to the store with e-mailed instructions in hand. The transactions went smoothly, and soon enough they were heading back to their apartment with everything they needed.
Once they were back home, Chris started cooking dinner while Lanay showered. Once she finished, she took over the meal prep while Chris took his own shower. They ate together, as they had long developed a habit of doing, and set up their NerveGear rigs in their own separate bedrooms. There was no romantic relationship between the two, nor seemingly any desire for one. They had been best friends since growing up in Canada together, near the border with the United States, and had even decided to study abroad together after graduating from college. There were always whispers growing up about what a wonderful couple they would make, which they'd always done their best to squash, which of course only seemed to give them even more life.
Once everything was installed correctly, Chris and Lanay both dove into the SAO beta. They tried creating their avatars as close to their real life appearances as the character customization engine would allow. Chris' avatar stood 5'11" tall and was wiry yet muscled, with blond hair and green eyes. Lanay's persona stood 5'4" tall, slender but exaggeratingly curvy (she definitely took some creative license with her avatar). Both went with the names the system suggested, with the option to change them once the game went live.
===== Aincrad, Floor 1: Town of Beginnings =====
"Wow... this place is huge!" a young lady exclaimed in sheer awe and wonder. She noticed a new player spawn in next to her. "Chris? Is that you?" she asked him.
"Not anymore," the green-eyed youth boasted, puffing his chest out. "In Aincrad, I'm Link."
Lanay laughed. "Well, it's nice to meet you, 'Link.' I'm... Zelda."
"Well met, Zelda. Let's check out - holy shit, what happened to your chest?"
Zelda laughed as she flaunted her new digital figure. "You like these big boys?"
"Umm... sure..." Chris was completely double-you-tee-eff'ed. He would be sure to ask Lanay what prompted her to enhance herself to such ridiculous proportions, but later. "You think you're gonna be able to find armor to fit over them?"
"Of course. The game wouldn't have let me have these if I couldn't protect them... right?"
"Right. Come on, let's check out the shops."
The pair went around to the various shops, checking out armor and weapons. Link found a simple set of chainmail armor with a dragon tabard over the chest, and Zelda opted for a set of full plate (which both were pleasantly surprised to see automatically adjusted to fit her curves). For weapons, Link chose a one-handed longsword and shield, while Zelda drew on her kendo background and went with a two-handed greatsword. Sufficiently armed and supplied, the two went out into the wilds. They picked up on the game's combat system fairly quickly, learning some of the basic combos as well as their own moves.
Over the next few weeks, Link and Zelda took as much time as they could to learn the ins and outs of Aincrad: different types of weapons and the skills it took to equip them, support skills, armor proficiencies, even the ability to cook their own food. The beta only lasted for a couple weeks, but it was enough to get them interested enough to plan to stay home on launch day.
===== November 6, 2022: Launch Day =====
5...
4...
3...
2...
1...
0!
"LINK START!"
Welcome to Sword Art Online!
===== Floor 1: Town of Beginnings =====
Link's avatar materialized in the Town of Beginnings, just like it had when in the beta test. Slowly hundreds, then thousands of players warped in around him, until the beginning plaza was full. 10,000 players, the entire population of the game, were now swarming around town like flies. Naturally, the first thing he did was seek out his hunting partner Zelda, who he found being swarmed by a crowd of ogling teenage boys. She seemed to be enjoying the attention, which Link found himself getting jealous of for some reason. Eventually she noticed him and made a show of having to go join her "boyfriend," and attached herself to Link's arm.
"Jeez... are you having fun yet?" Link asked.
"Oh, calm down... it's not like any of this is real," Zelda mused. "Might as well have fun with it, right?"
"Eh... yeah, I guess. C'mon, let's go get some equipment." The two purchased similar equipment as they had during the beta test (except Link opted for an eagle design on the tabard this time around). Link was scrolling through his inventory, looking for his new armor and weapons, when he noticed several strange things. One, there was now a tattoo on his right hand. Three golden triangles, with the lower right one darker than the other two. The other was a curious object in his inventory called a 'Sheikah Slate.'
"Hey Zelda, come check this out," he called to his partner. She inspected his menu along with him and noticed the strange object, but couldn't venture any opinions as to what it was. "It definitely wasn't in the beta; I'd have remembered something like that." He tapped the menu button, and the object materialized in his hands. It looked like a small tablet, but the screen was completely blank. The back had ornate decorations, with a design like a magnifying glass with an open eye dominating the cover.
"Odd to have an item like that in a game that's all about swords. Hell, there aren't even any spells in the game unless they added them after the beta," Zelda pondered, rubbing her chin. Suddenly, Link grabbed her hand. "What's wrong?" she asked. Link said nothing, merely turning her hand so she could see the back of it. On her right hand was a similar tattoo to the one Link had, except the lower left triangle was darkened instead of the right.
"What do you think they mean?" Zelda asked as she marveled over the markings.
"No idea. This wasn't part of the customization, and it doesn't appear to be linked to any equipment." To test his theory, he equipped his new set of armor, and the image showed through onto the gloves. "This is wicked weird..."
"You're telling me. Maybe we'll find out what it is later on?"
"I guess that's all we can hope for," Link shrugged. "Come on, let's go hunting."
"Right," Zelda smiled. She scrolled through her inventory, but something stopped her short. "Huh... check this out: 'Bow of Light.'" She tapped the item, and a gleaming golden longbow appeared in her hands. "What am I supposed to do with this? I've never shot a bow before... you think I can sell it to a merchant?"
"I doubt it. This is the first bow I've even seen in this game. Doesn't seem like standard equipment. Just put it away for now. It could be a quest item or something."
"Maybe you're right." Satisfied with as much of an explanation as she was likely to get at this point, Zelda and Link partied up and headed off for the wilds. After a couple of hours, they had done a good amount of hunting, racking up some decent spoils in XP and Col, the game's currency.
"Wow, we've been at it for a while now," Link said with a laugh. "What do you say we log out and get something to eat?"
"Sounds like a plan," agreed Zelda. "It's your turn to cook tonight."
"Hey, I think you should cook as a way of saying 'thank you' for saving your hide when that bandit snuck up on you."
"Well, what about when I made pork rinds out of that boar's hide right before it gored you?" Zelda tossed back playfully.
"Fine, fine, I'll flip you for it when we get out," Link said as he accessed his main menu. "Wait a second... where's the logout button?"
Zelda accessed her main menu, and to her surprise the logout button was also missing. "Maybe it's just a bug. It is launch day, after all. I'm sure the GMs are working on a fix as we speak."
"Sounds good, but there's no option to contact them to make sure."
"Oh... that's really not good."
As they pondered their situation, they heard the town bell tolling. Suddenly, they were warped back to the main plaza in the Town of Beginnings, along with everyone else.
"What the hell... a forced teleport? What's going on here?"
Zelda swallowed hard. "I'm just as confused as you, maybe a little bit more."
Suddenly, the bell stopped tolling. Link looked around, and a tiny flash in the sky caught his eye. As he pointed it out to Zelda, the entire sky was covered in a dome of red tiles that alternated between "WARNING!" and "System Announcement." Zelda found herself panicking, while Link found this odd swell of bravery coming from nowhere. Maybe it was just his instinct to protect his friend, as human nature dictates at times. His thought process was interrupted by the sky... bleeding? There was really no other way to describe it: the red dome in the sky was leaking blood, which pooled together to create a giant cloaked, faceless avatar.
"Link? What the hell is going on here?"
"I get the feeling Giant Sky Ghost is about to tell us."
Almost on cue, the ghost in the sky began to speak. Link and Zelda both did their absolute best to ignore the noise around them and listen:
"Attention, players. Welcome to my world. My name is Kayaba Akihiko. As of this moment, I am the sole person who can control this world. I'm sure you've already noticed, an item missing from your main menu: the logout button. But this is not a defect in the game. I repeat; this is not a defect in the game. This is how Sword Art Online was designed to be. You cannot log out of SAO yourselves. And no one on the outside can shut down or remove the NerveGear. Should this be attempted, the transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit a powerful microwave signal, destroying your brain and thus ending your life."
At that moment, Link remembered a key feature he had researched about the NerveGear. The transmitter's signals worked just like microwaves, and if the safety were disabled it could possibly destroy a human brain. Cutting the power would also be pointless, as the NerveGear had an internal battery. The cloaked speaker rammed his way back to the forefront of Link's consciousness.
"Unfortunately, several players' friends and families have ignored this warning and have attempted to remove the NerveGear. As a result, two hundred and thirteen players are gone forever, from both Aincrad and the real world. As you can see, news organizations across the world, are reporting all of this, including the deaths. Thus, you can assume that the danger of a NerveGear being removed is minimal at best. I hope this brings you some small comfort as you attempt to clear the game. But I want you to remember this clearly. There is no longer any method to revive someone within the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be lost forever. Simultaneously the NerveGear will destroy your brain. There is only one means of escape: to complete the game. You are presently on the lowest floor of Aincrad, Floor 1. If you make your way through the dungeon and defeat the Floor Boss, you may advance to the next level. Defeat the boss on Floor 100, and you will clear the game."
"All 100 floors? The beta testers never even cleared Floor 10!"
"Finally, I've added a present from to your item storage. Please, take a look."
Link and Zelda both scrolled through their inventories and found the item in question: a Mirror. Suddenly Link, Zelda, and 9,785 other players were surrounded by flashes of white light. When the light faded, the mirror reflected each player exactly as they looked in the real world. Link's hair was different, a little bit less scraggly than his avatar's previous appearance, his muscle tone changed somewhat, but nothing too major. Zelda, on the other hand... the massive breasts and butt she equipped were gone, replaced by her normal modest proportions. Link couldn't help but snicker, which brought on a flurry of punches from Zelda. The more she hit Link, the harder he laughed. "But wait a second... how does the game know what we look like in real life?" he pondered.
"Hmm... I have a theory on that. I read that the NerveGear covers your entire head with a high-density signaling device, so it can see what our faces look like. As for our height and body shape, you remember the initial calibration we had to do when we first used the hardware? You had to touch your body all over. That must be where it got the data."
"That all makes sense. But what's the point of all this?"
"I'm sure he's going to tell us."
Almost on cue, the hooded figure continued:
"Right now, you're probably wondering, 'why?' Why would Akihiko Kayaba, developer of Sword Art Online and the Nerve Gear, do all this? Ultimately my goal has already been achieved. I created Sword Art Online for one reason: to create this world and intervene in it. And now, it is complete. This ends the tutorial for the official Sword Art Online Launch. Good luck, players."
With that, the hooded figure faded away, and the sky returned to normal. For a moment, all was still. Then complete panic erupted. People screaming, running, trampling each other. Link grabbed Zelda by the wrist and dashed off into a nearby alley. "Come on, let's go!"
Once they were a safe distance away, Link and Zelda stopped to catch their breath. "So, what do you think?" Link asked his partner.
"I think..." Zelda paused as the words caught in her throat, but she forced them out anyway. "I think everything that Kayaba just said is true. Somehow, he created an entire online world with 10,000 citizens, and no way out except to clear the bosses on all 100 floors." Zelda began to panic as the reality of what she was saying hit home, despite her best efforts to stay composed.
"I see. Then our mission is pretty clear: get as strong as we can, and stay alive."
Then, something completely unexpected happened. It happened so fast, neither Zelda nor Link was prepared for it.
Link took Zelda's face in his hands and kissed her.
Then, even more unexpectedly, Zelda threw her arms around him and returned the kiss.
When they finally broke, they looked each other in the same familiar eyes they had known for the last twenty years, yet seemingly somehow for the first time. Was it love they saw looking back? No, it wasn't love. This was something different.
In Link's eyes, Zelda saw a new fire, a resolve to get them home alive.
In Zelda's eyes, Link saw a new trust, putting her life in his hands.
Zelda pulled Link's hands down and held them between her own. "Get as strong as we can, and stay alive."
Link nodded in the affirmative.
Their resolution set, Zelda pulled up a map of the first floor. "All right, here we are in the Town of Beginnings." Link followed her hands as she pointed out her thoughts. "From here, the path is pretty straightforward to the next few villages. Until we come up with a better plan, we slay anything that gets in our way, and help any players we come across."
"We're not gonna come up with a better plan than that," Link conceded. "Although I do think we should spend the night here in town. We can leave as soon as we're stocked with supplies. With a good night's rest and fresh supplies, we should fare pretty well."
"All right, let's go find an inn. We should move fast, though. No telling how fast they're going to sell out."
Link and Zelda received a mixed bag at the second inn they stopped at. The good news was they had one room left; the bad news was they only had one room left. They got checked in, and there was definitely some awkwardness hanging in the air. Link suddenly found himself regretting that kiss earlier as a result. That was foreign territory enough, but it was mostly out of instinct to try to keep Zelda from panicking; now they were actually being forced to share a bed! What if they... but wait a second, could they even...? Sure, the rest of them looked anatomically accurate, but...
Link debated looking down his pants, terrified of what he might find, but before he could commit to the action Zelda burst into the room, back from her shopping trip. "Well, I got us some food for the night, Zelda started before noticing Link's baffled expression. "Are you all right? You look like I just caught you masturbating or something," she said with a slight laugh.
"Hey now, you've never caught me doing that before!"
"Thank the gods for that... I don't know who would be more embarrassed; you or me."
"Oh come on, I know you've definitely tried to sneak a peek or two while I was in the shower."
"Umm, keep dreaming, laser brain!"
Laughter between two old friends filled the room, pushing the weight of their situation out the open window, which Zelda was now moving the table closer to so they could eat. The gesture was not lost on Link; he always sat facing the living room window during meals to watch the outside world. Except now, he was watching a plaza full of people struggling to come to terms with their new reality.
"How many people do you think will make it out alive?"
Zelda frowned. "Difficult to say. Something like this could bring out the best in people, or the worst. I overheard a few people talking about seeing people commit suicide."
"Jeez..."
"I mean, we've all basically been kidnapped. Not always easy to keep it together. But you'd think people would band together or something. Hell, that's pretty much what the guild system is for, right?"
"It's day one. People aren't thinking that rationally at this point. It's all panic, fear, anger... humanity as a species doesn't respond to adversity particularly well."
"And you? How are you responding?" Zelda placed her hand on top of his.
Link scoffed. "Me? I haven't thrown myself off a balcony, and I don't intend do. I came into this world twenty-two years ago, screaming like a banshee and covered in someone else's blood. And if I have to go out the same way, so be it."
He turned to look at Zelda, and she couldn't help notice how the setting sun reflected in his green eyes. "But it also helps that I have my very best friend in the whole world to help me get through this. Not many are so lucky. We're a team in this. No matter what else happens, you and I are in this to the very end. And if I'm being completely honest, I couldn't think of anyone I'd rather have watching my back."
Zelda smiled. "I feel the same way. There's no one else in the world I trust more than you. And, if I do end up dying, well..." She found herself choking back tears. "Never mind... let's just get some sleep. I want to be on the road at first light."
"Deal." Whatever she was going to say wasn't worth pressing her over. Although he did notice she was a lot less shy in this virtual world, more emotionally liberated and vulnerable. I suppose the prospect of imminent death will do that to a person, he mused internally. He closed the window and went to lay down on the side of the bed closest to the window, only to find Zelda already there. "Oh, I'm sorry, did you-"
"Stay there, it's fine. I'll take the door."
"Oh... okay." Link laid down, keeping a... respectable distance between their two bodies. "Well..."
"Good night. Sleep well." Link turned his back toward Zelda so that he faced the door. Eventually, they both fell asleep.
After a while, Link blinked himself awake. It was still pitch black out, so why was he awake this blasted early. Then he registered that the bed was trembling.
What the hell...
He turned to the wall and noticed Zelda shaking fiercely, like she was stuck in the throes of a nightmare or something. Without even thinking, he reached out to place a hand on her shoulder, and she erupted in tears. "I'm scared, Chris! I don't want to die in here!" she sobbed, burying her head in his chest. All of the fear, all of the rage, all of the despair, all of the everything came gushing out of Zelda like a broken dam. She had tried so hard to keep it together, to not appear weak and scared, but she had finally reached her breaking point. Any other time she would have hated looking so broken in front of anyone, especially Link/Chris, but right now that was the farthest thing from her mind. All she knew right here and now was that she was no longer in her own world, and there was a very real chance she might not make it back. That was a concept that scared her absolutely to death, no matter how she might try to hide it.
Link, for his part, said nothing, just holding her as tightly as he could. He stroked her hair in an effort to calm her down, although it seemed to be having little to no effect. When she seemed to have cried herself out, and had switched to short, raspy breaths, he looked her in the eye and said, "Lanay, I know you're scared. I'm scared too. Believe me, I'm terrified out of my mind. I don't want to die in here either, but a part of me feels like I can't even think about that. Something's pushing me to be brave, not just for me, not just for you, but for everyone trapped in this death game."
"What do you mean? How can you be brave if you're afraid?"
"Because..." He kissed her forehead while he scrambled for an answer. "Because that's the only time a person can be brave."
"A person can only be brave when they're afraid..." The words sounded foreign to Zelda, but she had to admit there was a certain wisdom in them. "Just promise me one thing, Link: don't leave me all alone in here."
"I promise. Now, get some sleep."
A/N: TwistedViper20XX here! So, what had happened was...
I was taking a break from writing "Ace of Blades" to read some other stories on this site. I looked up LoZ/SAO crossovers, and was *highly* disappointed! Only 10 stories, none of which took advantage of both sprawling universes to put together one awesome story. So I said, "Challenge accepted!" I plan on having a *LOT* of fun with this, if for no other reason than I'm going to have to play/replay a lot of Zelda games for research purposes. I will say that I plan on drawing on a lot of concepts from 'Hyrule Warriors' and 'Breath of the Wild,' so if you haven't played them, either play them or watch YouTube footage of other people playing them. Trust me. You'll be glad you did.
Oh, and spoiler alert: I am shipping Link and Zelda. Why? Because I can.