AN: Alright everybody! This is my first fanfiction, so I'll be trying to figure this out when I post things, but in the meantime, I have to give credit to the person who gave me the idea about the Feral faction. The Feral idea was inspired by A Muffin with a Mission's story A Missing Sword, and I thank him for letting me use the idea. (As far as we know) Thanks again for giving me the idea to write this story! Everyone, enjoy! (I hope.)

Oh, and I don't know if I need to do this, but DISCLAIMER ALERT, I don't own SAO, and I'm not Japanese. Pay attention to the first part, not the second part.

Chapter One: Taken

盗まれた - nusumareta (stolen)

POV: Kazuto Kirigaya

Kirito's eyes opened sluggishly. He glanced around. He was in a golden cage, and he couldn't see the ground. He was chained to the floor, and had an unusual weight on his back. He closed his eyes again. There wasn't anything to be gained by having his eyes opened. He wouldn't know where he was anyway. Kirito thought back to the last moment he had been awake.

Crumbling, a deteriorating world. A falling castle. A man with glasses. He watched as the man dissolved alongside the castle, bits and pieces falling into the sky. A girl, smiling at him. "I promise we'll see each other again." A memory flashing by in his mind, a peaceful time in a wood with a cabin. He shouted and jumped in front of her, keeping in between her and a large disembodied hand that was trying to grab her. He screamed as it grabbed him and pulled him away from her. It burned, it hurt. He turned and reached for the girl, but she was already so far away…

Kirito shuddered involuntarily. Something about that girl seemed familiar. He shook his head tiredly. He needed more sleep before he could even try to begin to remember. He was far too tired to do anything like that. He let his head drop forward and fell into sleep.

POV: Sugou Nobuyuki

Sugou Nobuyuki, the chairman of RECTO Progress' Research Division, was furious. He strode into the secret work room of his most 'trusted' employees. Of course, they were actually just the ones he paid enough to keep quiet. His loud entrance made the little chatter that was present disappear. He stood silently in the doorway, glaring at all the workers inside. He slowly walked between the computers and other personal effects until he reached the head of the division.

Sugou turned to the man and quietly spoke to him. "How is it that I tell you very specifically to bring me the girl, yet you bring me a useless player?" The anger was clear in his voice, and the air seemed to vibrate with it.

The head stammered, "Well, Sir, that is, well… his code was extremely similar to hers. It didn't help that he was with her for most of the two years they spent in the Sword Art project. In fact, we think that-" His words, which had been gaining confidence, faltered when he saw Sugou's dark glare.

Sugou sneered at the man. "From now on, you're out of a job. Make sure you clear everything out by next morning."

The man froze. Sugou inwardly relished the defeated look that shone clearly on the head-of-division's face.

He turned to the rest of the department. "Someone give me some information about the useless kid we nabbed."

A nervous employee walked up to him. "Sir, the player in question is named Kazuto Kirigaya, Kirito in the game. He was in the final boss raid, and according to the reports coming in from the waking players, was responsible for beating Kayaba in battle and clearing the game. It says here that he was the strongest player in the game besides Kayaba himself. He also had close relations with Yuuki Asuna."

Sugou froze. If Asuna's beauty had been tainted by this fool, he would make him pay in blood. "How close was their relationship?" He asked flatly. On the outside, he appeared calm. However, on the inside he was boiling over with rage.

"It says here that they were married in-game, according to the Cardinal System's observations." The man continued to speak, but Sugou wasn't listening any longer. This boy, Kazuto Kirigaya, corrupted my Asuna. I'll kill him.

Sugou turned around while the man was in mid-sentence and stalked out of the room. He headed for his office, for his AmuSphere. The people that saw him walking by could feel a dangerous edge rolling out from him in waves.

The only thing stopping Sugou from killing the boy as soon as he saw him was the defenseless state he was in. Well, it also helped that Sugou wanted to make him suffer for as long as possible. Sugou stood in front of the unconscious boy, planning on ways to hurt him, mentally as well as physically. He thought for several moments, and turned to leave. It'd be easier to think when he wasn't in front of the boy. He stopped by the cage's gate and glanced back at the boy. Kirito, the one man had said. Sugou's eyes narrowed to slits. "I'm going to enjoy breaking you." Sugou whispered to himself, a large smile stretching from ear-to-ear on his face.

He faced forward once again and headed to the inner reaches of the World Tree. He walked up behind yet another group of scientists, and started to ask them several questions.

"Would it be possible to add another factor within the game?"

"Could someone's appearance in the game be altered?"

"How long would the new additions take?"

Sugou logged off, satisfied with the answers he had been given. It was indeed possible to add another group of entities to the game, as well as change someone's appearance. The new features could be introduced as a large scale update, which would, on the outside, appear to serve only the purpose of adding more questing content to the game. On the inside, however, it would serve a much more sinister purpose. The entire update would disguise the game's only prisoner as an enemy.

Sugou smiled, a sickeningly evil look that made his secretary shudder when she popped into his office to tell him something. She stuttered out something about a meeting, but Sugou didn't listen. He was still thinking about his perfect plan. Sure, you've experienced being hated, but you've always had friends by your side. This way, you will be hated by everyone. You will be isolated from everyone. Your own friends may be the ones to kill you! Sugou laughed harshly as the plan presented itself in his mind. The only downside to the plan was that it would take more than 3 months to put together, and that was if the programmers worked nonstop.

Sugou frowned suddenly. Of course, his plan would need the approval of the board. If it wasn't liked, he wouldn't be able to do anything about it other than release the boy and spread rumors of a legendary monster that looked human.

Actually, the three month delay wasn't all that bad. Sugou's sinister grin reappeared as the thought came to his mind. He would have plenty of time to torture the bastard for what he had done to his Asuna. He almost reached for the AmuSphere again, but stopped himself. He wouldn't do that just yet. In the meantime, he had to catch up on paperwork and sort the information from his research team, as he didn't trust anyone else to do it.

I'll be looking forward to seeing how you respond to being a pariah. Sugou let out another series of loud laughs that ended in an unfortunate coughing fit. He glanced at the pile of work and sighed. Once he finished all of the large stack, he could work on presenting the idea to the board. He threw himself into the work with a drive that better suited someone five years younger.

POV: Asuna Yuuki

Since the fall of Aincrad, Asuna had been working through extensive mental and physical therapy sessions. She had immediately asked to start the rehabilitation the moment she woke up. She sighed and asked the therapist for a drink of water. As the therapist made her way out of the room for the moment, Asuna started thinking about Kirito.

She hadn't seen him since the end of Sword Art Online. He had been ripped away from her by… something… that she didn't quite understand. She didn't know whether or not it was supposed to happen, didn't know if he was okay. She sighed and shook her head. Even if he wasn't alright, worrying wouldn't help. She would find out if he was, but until then she needed to get stronger. I can't help him at all if I can't even walk.

She started scanning the room, almost unconsciously looking for Kirito. She paused as she spotted a familiar bandana. She took a few hesitant, weak steps towards it before the therapist rushed back to her and started fussing at her for trying to move without the proper supervision. She assured the therapist she was fine and turned back to the room once more. The bandana was gone. She deflated a bit, unhappy that she had missed it, but happy that at least someone she knew was awake. She only knew one person that wore that bandana, virtual or not.

She made a note to talk to him next time. She looked at the room with a renewed resolve and reached for the therapist. She would find Kirito, no matter what it took. Even if he were dead, she would still find him. I promised him. She thought to herself. I have to keep that promise, for both of us. It only took two weeks for her to recover enough to leave the hospital.

It didn't take long for Asuna to find everyone. Using her father's influence, she had gathered the names of the players she wanted to see the most. She first talked to Agil, whose real name was apparently Andrew Gilbert Mills. It wasn't surprising that his name didn't sound Japanese. He didn't look it either. She organized a get-together at his place, the Dicey Cafe.

Once she was finished, she had called each of the homes of the people she wanted to meet. She invited Lisbeth, Silica, Kirito, and she had already let Klein know in person. She had everything ready, and it wasn't until she walked through the door of the cafe and saw Klein and Agil that she realized how much she had missed everyone. She smiled at them, overjoyed at the prospect of seeing Kirito again. She waved at them and made her way to their table.

Klein and Agil seemed to be having an argument about something, but stopped when Asuna came closer. "Long time no see, Klein, Agil."

The two of them smiled at her, although she could see that they were tense. She gave both of them a quizzical look as she sat down. Klein scratched his head, and looked off to the side, whistling while he did so. Agil started to polish the outside of his mug. Asuna watched them curiously as they did so, unsure what they could be hiding from her.

Finally, Asuna couldn't stand it any longer. "What has you two so excited?" Klein flinched when his eyes met her focused gaze.

"W-well, you see Asuna, the whole thing is a bit… let's just say that it's complicated and we want to have everyone here first." Asuna frowned, but let out a reluctant sounding 'OK.'

She looked around the interior of the cafe. The cafe as a whole was nice on the inside, if a bit suspicious on the outside. Due to its less than satisfactory appearance, her parents had originally decided to keep her home. Luckily for Asuna, when she mentioned that it could help her cope with the SAO incident, they gave up and let her go.

She saw pictures on the wall of Agil with the woman behind the bar. She was in several others as well. Asuna looked at Agil. "Who is that?" Asuna nodded towards the photos.

Agil twisted to see who she was talking about. He relaxed when he guessed who she was talking about. "Her? She's my wife."

Klein immediately turned to Agil with a hurt look on his face. "Not cool, dude. You didn't even tell me."

Agil shrugged. "I didn't think she was all that important to mention. She doesn't really have much to do with SAO or this party."

Klein was shocked. "Not important?! Since when have women been unimportant?!"

Agil let out a warm chuckle. Asuna smirked. "It's nice to see that you have your priorities straight for once." Klein let out a noise of protest before he gave up and hung his head.

A jingle signaled the entrance of a new patron. They turned to see the door. A girl that looked like Lisbeth with brown hair walked in with a smaller girl, presumably Silica. Asuna realized that she hadn't recognized her at first because the girl's dragon, Pina, wasn't at her side anymore. She stood up and waved to them, a large smile on her face.

"Is that you Asuna?" Lisbeth said with a grin. Silica looked around uncertainly, looking for someone that wasn't there. "Hey," Lisbeth said hesitantly, "is Kirito here yet?"

Asuna shook her head sadly. "He hasn't arrived… by the way, I wanted to make sure. You are Lisbeth," she gestured to the taller girl and then turned to the smaller one, "and you are Silica, right?"

Lisbeth nodded before frowning. "Why don't you just call to remind Kirito? He might've forgotten to come, or maybe he didn't get the call."

Asuna nodded thoughtfully. "That sounds like Kirito-kun. I guess it wouldn't hurt either way, so why not?" She pulled out her phone and pressed the power button. The screen flickered on, and she tapped the call button. She tapped in the Kirigaya household's number, and put the phone to her ear.

Someone picked up on the fifth ring. "Hello?" A tired female voice came from the other end.

"Is this the Kirigaya's home?" Asuna said brightly.

"Yes." The girl sounded suspicious, as though she suspected a trick.

"Can you tell Kirito that he was supposed to come to the Dicey Cafe?"

There was a pause on the other end of the line, during which Asuna looked around at her friends worriedly. Did I get the wrong number? She wondered to herself. "We don't have a Kirito here." The girl had a tinge of confusion in her voice.

Asuna nearly pounded her forehead with her palm. Of course his name isn't Kirito! I can't believe I forgot to use his real name! She sighed, glanced at the list of names she had brought, and tried again. "I'm sorry, I meant to ask for Kazuto-kun."

The girl gave a small cry of surprise before starting to sob quietly. Asuna was confused. What had she done wrong? The girl came back and shouted into the phone. "Is this some sort of sick prank?! That isn't even remotely funny! It's completely immoral to joke about that! Why would you say that if you know he hasn't woken up yet? Why…" The girl's voice trailed off into another series of sobs.

Asuna put her other hand to her mouth. Kirito hasn't woken up yet? She sat in her chair, frozen. She didn't even notice she was crying until Lisbeth leaned in close to her, brushed a tear off of her cheek, and asked what was wrong.

She waited until she was finished crying before she responded. "Kirito is still asleep." Silica's face changed to one that seemed slightly disturbed, and Lisbeth murmured something that sounded like, 'that's awful…'

Agil and Klein exchanged glances. Klein turned to everyone. "I guess that makes what we were talking about top priority."

The girls shared a confused glance with each other before directing their attention to the two men.

"So, Agil and I here were talking about VRMMORPGs, right? He mentioned one his sister-in-law played while he was asleep called Alfheim Online, or ALO. It's something about fairies, and he's been looking into it a little bit. Anyway, the game is owned by a company called RECTO Progress. RECTO bought the SAO servers soon after Argus shut down, and as far as Agil can tell, the company used the SAO servers for ALO. We were actually going to check out the game at first, to see how it compared to SAO, but Kirito being missing changes things."

Agil nodded, and opened his mouth to speak. His rumbling bass soon filled the room. "I don't know exactly where Kirito is, but if he isn't awake, that is the only place I can think of him being. It wouldn't make sense for him to be anywhere else. I propose that we all buy the game and an AmuSphere, unless you feel comfortable still using the NerveGear, and join up somewhere to look for Kirito."

Silica raised her hand as Asuna raised a weary brow. Agil pointed to Silica. She immediately shot off two questions. "What is AmuSphere? Where can I buy it and ALO?"

Klein excitedly jumped in, interrupting Agil, who had been about to explain both questions. "The AmuSphere is like NerveGear, but safer!" He grinned at Agil, seemingly overjoyed that he had done something well. Then the energetic expression left his face to be replaced by a concerned one. "That was right, wasn't it Agil?"

Agil laughed again, enjoying the presence of his younger friends. "Close. Yes, the AmuSphere is a safer version of NerveGear, as it monitors the heartbeat and brainwaves and can kick you out when it discerns that you are at risk of certain health conditions, but it also has a thicker protective patch and doesn't use microwaves to make it harmless. And Silica? You can order them both online, but they should also be on a front display in a gaming store."

Silica smiled brightly. "Thank you!" All of her previous worries about Kirito had disappeared. "We'll save him, right Asuna-chan?" Asuna nearly jumped when she realized that Silica was talking to her.

"Uhhh, sure we will Silica! We will all rescue Kirito-kun." She turned away from the others, trying to hide her distinct unhappiness with the situation.

Agil and Klein exchanged another quick glance, concern evident on their faces. "Asuna? Are you okay with this?"

Asuna wiped her eyes, and sniffed. "I'm fine. I'll be okay. We'll save him." She was really convincing herself more than she was convincing them, but she didn't care. It just wasn't fair that she was finally free of the virtual hell SAO had been, but she was without Kirito. It wasn't fair!

She stood up and made to follow Silica out the door. "Whoa, hold on Asuna!" She turned to see Lisbeth grabbing her arm. "Everyone is here for you if you need to talk about it, okay?"

Asuna nodded, but Lisbeth still held onto her arm for several more seconds, squinting at Asuna as though she would find something interesting. She must've found what she was looking for, because she decisively nodded and let Asuna go.

Asuna turned and strode out the door to her ride. The next few months would take a long time to pass, she thought to herself. She wiped away the last remaining tears and barked at the driver. "Take me back home." She settled in for the ride and turned to stare outside the window. A tear traced its way down her cheek. Kirito…

POV: Kazuto Kirigaya

Kirito wasn't sure how long he had been locked inside the cage, but he did know that whoever was keeping him in there hated him. Nearly every day since he had arrived, he had been cut or otherwise abused by the man with the shiny crown. The man had told him that his name was Oberon, although Kirito doubted that was his real name. Kirito still shuddered to remember the phase the man went through when he had been cutting off limbs and letting them regrow. However, luckily for Kirito, ALO was a game similar to SAO, in the respect that there was some sort of pain filter that kept him from feeling any of the true pain that the torture would inflict.

Kirito was also lucky, he supposed, because he had managed to remember almost everything. Although his thoughts were still in disarray, he mostly remembered the important things and some of the smaller details. Asuna, I'll find my way back to you. He told himself. He didn't care how long it took, as long as it was as fast as possible.

A smooth buzzing and a clanking noise announced the arrival of Oberon, once more coming in to hurt him in some torturous way. Kirito winced as his muscles twinged in a dreadful anticipation. He raised his head to see Oberon smiling happily.

"Do you know what is going to happen to you today? No?" Oberon said cheerfully. "You get to be part of the update!"

Kirito was dumbstruck. He opened his mouth for the first time since he joined and uttered a small and confused exclamation. How was he supposed to become part of an update? He found out soon enough, as Oberon pulled out a long carving knife.

Oberon giggled maniacally, brandishing his blade. He fiddled with his in-game menu using his other hand until he apparently found the one he was looking for. "My little prisoner, do you know what I've done? I've reduced your pain absorber to a four! Any more would send you into a long coma, and we can't have that, as we need you awake when we implement the update. In the meantime, however, I can cause you as much suffering as I want!" Kirito shivered, a dreadful feeling crawling down his spine.

"What-" He managed to croak out before Oberon grabbed his shoulder at stabbed him in the stomach experimentally. Kirito cried out in fear and pain. He hadn't been acquainted with pain in the past 2 years, and this rough reunion reminded him why he hadn't missed it. He let out a rattling groan as Oberon twisted the knife before dragging it back out slowly.

A sick and twisted smile stretched ear-to-ear on Oberon's face. "You don't know how many times I've wanted to do this, and it makes it all that much sweeter that you are the one I get to test it out on. Let's have some fun!" The knife plunged back into his stomach, and Kirito screamed. His nerves felt like they were on fire, and the signals hadn't stopped coming from the first wound.

Oberon ripped his blade back out roughly and shoved Kirito backwards, the sick grin still plastered on his face. Kirito groaned. He could feel sweat rolling down his back. "W-why?" He croaked before the pain made him stop speaking, a sharp jolt of it sparking up anytime he moved.

Oberon, meanwhile, had walked to his other side. "I didn't know I needed a reason." Oberon stabbed the knife into his back, and Kirito yelled in surprise. Oberon pulled the knife for a short distance, (it felt like forever to Kirito), and lifted it. He forced the knife into his back once more, and pulled it in another direction. Kirito gasped when it entered him a third time, and fell forward when it left him. He tried to turn and see what Oberon was doing, but Oberon put his hand on his shoulder and gripped harshly. "Now now, you wouldn't want your mark to be messed up, would you?"

"Mark?" Kirito whispered weakly, the word a silent question.

"Yes, mark! I'm carving something into your back, using a programming script on you so that the wound scars and leaves a permanent blemish on your body. Of course, I could just program this without being here, but this way is so - much - more fun." Kirito heard Oberon chuckle, a tinge of madness present in his laugh.

The blade ripped into his flesh once more, and Kirito fell silent after uttering a small cry. It wasn't like anything he could do would stop the torture anyway.

When it finally stopped, he let out a pained breath he didn't know he had been holding. There was an abrupt silence, and then - he screamed louder than before, a new pain coming from somewhere he couldn't feel, didn't see.

"Interesting. I was wondering if you would feel pain in your wings. It's nice to know that they've truly become part of you, now that you've been with them for 4 months, give or take. Even if you haven't used them yet, it looks like they-" A sharp jab in a different place, although Kirito didn't know where it was exactly, "-have connected to your senses. They don't have any real nerves in them, so I don't know how you can feel this pain, but I suppose it's something I can experiment with later." Kirito could hear a few familiar noises that he knew belonged to the menu. He heard a noise similar to a camera snapping a picture.

Oberon moved to face Kirito's front again, and showed him a picture. Kirito winced as he saw the deep, jagged marks ripping through a greyish black emblem on his back. He was still breathing heavily, struggling to forget the burning in his stomach, back, and - hold on a moment. Oberon had said something about wings, hadn't he? Kirito looked hurriedly at the picture, and gasped. How had he missed it the first time? The wings were a dark gray, as were the clothes he wore. He seemed to have a generic starting gear equipped, save for the golden chains around his wrists.

"Amazing, isn't it? That mark is beautifully ugly. It will fit your new character perfectly!" He started at Oberon's words. New character? Kirito looked defiantly at Oberon. He opened his mouth to tell him he wouldn't change characters, but he noticed that Oberon already had an administrator's window open. He also had a picture of a drawing in the other, and was seemingly comparing it to the 3D model of Kirito's avatar on the other window.

Oberon did something small with his fingers, and the two pictures melded together, leaving the image of Kirito's avatar different in appearance. Oberon grinned, and snapped. The windows disappeared, and a tingling, gentle shock went through Kirito's system. He closed his eyes tiredly, deciding to sleep off the pain.

When he awoke, he groggily shook his head. Then he winced. He could still feel each of the wounds, although the sensations coming from them were dulled. He sighed and tried to push off the floor and stand up, but his coat kept getting in the way. Wait, I'm wearing a coat? Kirito looked at his chest. He did a double take, as now he was dressed in almost noble looking finery. The new outfit was black, (naturally), and it had a stripe of gold on the outside rim of the pants. He examined his torso, to realize that its clothing had changed as well.

Instead of the starting shirt from before, he was now dressed in a ragged black cloak that also had gold highlights. There was one on the pocket, one on a shoulder patch, and another ring that went around the top of the collar. Kirito shuddered as he saw his wings when he shot a look over his shoulder. How had he not noticed them before? He winced then, as his shudder had caused the fabric to rub across his wound.

He stood, and noticed that he was no longer chained, although he was still locked inside of the cage. He swiped with his hand to open the menu. It didn't work. He tried several more times, using different fingers. He even attempted voice commands and strange gestures. He had nearly given up when he swiped with both hands. A menu similar to the SAO menu popped up where his left hand had been. He navigated the menu, looking at his equipment, his friend list, his inventory, and finally his skills.

He was pleasantly surprised to notice that his skills from SAO had remained, although several, such as Dual Wielding, had been replaced with question marks for the skill name and level.

He moved through the menu again, until he accessed the same 3D model Oberon had been at, although Kirito couldn't change his appearance back. He looked at the model and noted all of the strange changes. His appearance gave a rougher impression than it had before. While he still had the same effeminate looks as always, there was a rugged quality of wildness to them.

His eyes were a different color as well, he noted. Instead of the black they had been during his time in SAO, they were now a dark gold. His wings had also changed. Instead of the dark gray they had been, they were now an even darker gray streaked with veins of the same burnt gold color. His entire appearance seemed to have two base inspirations. Maybe noble and wild? His hair and the rest of him hadn't changed.

He turned to the door of the cage suspiciously. Could he break it? He reached for his sword before realizing he was no longer in SAO.

His eyes narrowed. He was no longer in SAO, and yet he still had all of his inventory items. Was it a mistake on Oberon's part? Either way, Kirito wouldn't give himself away just yet by busting out all of his gear from SAO. He doubted the bars could be broken anyway. He walked to own side of the large birdcage and studied one of the golden bars.

He experimentally swung a fist at one, but he immediately regretted it. He winced and studied his knuckles. They had slight flecks of the red effect wounds gave off within virtual reality. On the bright side, a notification had popped up that told him the bars were an immortal object.

He frowned. He had felt pain when his fist connected with the bars. The pain absorber must still be lowered. There isn't anything I can do about that though, so I'll just wait until he decides to turn it off. He wandered back to the center of the cage and sat on the bed.

A familiar ping sounded and he absentmindedly opened up the notification. He scanned it over quickly and then froze up. He started again from the top.

NEW EXPANSION UPDATE COMING SOON!

Alfheim Online v.2.0 has been announced, and will be implemented in the next few weeks!

Update will contain:

- New monsters

- New quests

- Different AI patterns

- Another story arc

- New locations

- New legendary class items

V.2.0 will also contain an end boss to the Feral story arc!

This boss, the Beast King, has a chance of dropping a legendary class item of the highest quality!

Enjoy the game, and we hope you enjoy Alfheim Online v.2.0 as well!

Kirito shook his head. There was no way. A mark, Oberon saying he would fit his new character perfectly, it all seemed to add up. He was chilled by the realization. Oberon was planning to make him be the Beast King. Noble and wild. Kirito chuckled bitterly. I can't catch a break, can I? Kirito stood up and walked back to the edge of the cage again. He looked over the land below and shook his head again, once more in disbelief.

He was going to be made into a boss for players to fight. This was unbelievable. He didn't even know if he would still die forever if killed. This wasn't fair at all!

"DAMN IT!" Kirito shouted as he pounded the cage with his fist. "Damn it…" His new body shook from his sobs. "Can't I just get a chance to enjoy myself?" He whispered, bitter again. He sank to the floor and leaned against the bars. He drew his legs up close to his body and wrapped his arms around them. Tears rolled down his cheeks, but he didn't bother to wipe them away. It wouldn't matter anyway. More would fall soon enough. He spent the rest of the day there, crying until he had no more tears to give up.

When he was done, he slowly crawled into the bed and pulled the blankets over his head. He didn't want to see the cage any longer, and if he were under the covers, he could pretend he was at home, sleeping in until the last moment, when Suguha would come in to wake him up. He yelped as he pinched one of his wings by accident. Another tear fell, and he rolled onto his stomach. No, he couldn't pretend any longer. It would only hurt more when he decided to face reality if he continued to act like everything was alright. He fell asleep with his cheek on the pillow, watching the moon rise.

I'll keep my promise, even if I have to die to carry it out. I'll see Asuna again. I'll see her, whether at her sword point or my own. I will find her.

END CHAPTER ONE

AN: So, how was it? Tell me what you thought, whether you think I should write professionally or if you think I should go die in a hole. (I don't honestly care if you 'flame' me, just make sure you're actually burning something, cause I'm not likely to care about what you think unless you have some idea I like, a question I want to answer, or some constructive criticism. Don't suck up for the purpose of sucking up either. That's ridiculous.) I know this chapter was probably annoying with all of the POV switches, but I kind of wanted to tell you when we switching as well as who we were switching to. I hope you enjoy the story (if I get over my lazy habits and keep writing this.) …. I actually don't know what to do right now, or even how to post a story the right way, so I guess I'll try to post this, and if it fails I'll fix it. Somehow. Oh, and in case you want to complain about the names not being in 'true Japanese format' or whatever, I'll have you know that A) I don't care, and B) I'm lazy and like copy pasting, and the way it shows up is the way I found it. Have a nice day!