Act 0-0 'Prologue': «Prelude to a Revolution»

Our story begins
The death of the old
Rise of the new
Or so has been told

And with this...

Death of a Hero

…I picked up Asuna's silver rapier, and with the last vestiges of my strength moved forward into a final thrust, lunging for the centre of Kayaba Akihito's chest. Kayaba didn't move. His expression of surprise had already disappeared— a sad smile stretched across his face, and I couldn't tell whether I had succeeded or not.

Two years' worth of struggle pierced his armour, penetrating his body, in a strike fanned by the burning flames of my soul.

Visibly unaffected by Asuna's rapier, he stabbed me in kind, piercing through my heart without blinking an eye.

For a moment we simply stood there, with blades that penetrated the others' body. In that one moment an eternity passed, draining away the remnants of my being.

I used the last of my strength to force my head up and look at the ceiling. From somewhere far away, I could hear Asuna calling.

Kirito...

I know...

Kirito...

Is this enough...?

I could see a HP bar hovering above my head. The gauge was almost empty, save for a few dots.

Is this the end...?

Whose HP bar was it? My vision was fading now, and I could barely see. Using the last of my strength, I held my head in position.

Kayaba...

The bar decreases at an agonizingly slow rate, towards zero.

It's...

Through my vividly red flashing vision, I finally identify the empty bar.

...mine.

I could feel myself disintegrating at this point, the remains of my virtual body fading away into a shower of polygons and light. From somewhere far away, I could hear the others shouting out, but their cries merged into a meaningless wave of words.

But regardless, their meaning was clear. In the last few moments of my existence, with my body almost fully erased, only the merest hints of my head remained. My lips moved, barely forming words that anyone could hear. I wasn't even sure if she would hear them.

But I knew she would.

"I'm sorry…Asuna."

And then I died.

Silence.

Heathcliff, or rather Kayaba, remained standing. It seemed as though an eternity had passed; and yet Kirito's last moments were over in a matter of seconds. Slowly, Kayaba reached for his chest, and with a minimal amount of effort pulled out Asuna's rapier, grunting slightly in the process. The tip finally exited from his body, dripping with a few red particle effects, and with a clang he dropped the weapon onto the ground. It clattered uselessly against the ground, rolling around in a spiral before dissipating into nothing.

Kayaba turned around and headed towards the stairs. He stopped in mid-stride, coming to a stop before the grand pathway. He opened his mouth to speak, and uttered his last words as an ally to the congregation littered across the floor.

"I'll be waiting."

He started to ascend the staircase, allowing a single tear to fall down his cheek. As he climbed he took an object out of his inventory and looked into it. A blue light surrounded his silhouette as he ascended the last few steps, obscuring his distinct features.

Reaching the top of the staircase, the light faded, and a young knight could be seen taking one last look at the group of clearers that he had led since the 25th floors. His face was identical to the chiselled features of Heathcliff, albeit with less wrinkles; and his hair was cropped short, bearing a resemblance to his features in the real world.

Stepping out into the scattered lighting of the 76th floor, he spoke briefly, conveying his words in an emotionless and detached manner.

"Teleport, Ruby Palace."

And Kayaba Akihiko disappeared in a flash of light.

Aftermath

As soon as the shower of particles disappeared, the effects of paralysis wore off.

Slowly, as the shock of the events wore off, many of the players lay still to the floor, trying to process what had just happened. The 3 strongest players in the entire game were simply gone. Two of them had died in the fight against the creator – no, god – of this death game.

What were they supposed to do now?

An gloomy atmosphere settled down on the congregation, many of which were feeling a heavy sense of loss and despair. They had beaten the 75th floor. But the cost of that victory was too great; it was as though they had been handed a death sentence on a tarnished silver platter.

Freedom and hope were now constructs beyond their reach. The hope that they would be freed of this accursed game, their virtual prison for the last 2 years; gone. Consequently, freedom to live their lives, taken away. With no chance of returning to the «Other Side», 'Freedom' was now a dead word.

Their spirits broken, their resolve shattered; an hour passed before the movement of the first player to their feet. One by one, as though a spell had been broken, the rest of the players followed. Many of them were slumped over, no longer the same proud warriors that had entered the boss room, thirsting for battle.

They dragged their feet in groups towards the stairs leading to the 76th floor. None of them felt the will to fight the oppressively gloomy mood of overwhelming despair. Slowly, they left the boss room, until a single player remained.

The corners of his lips were touched by a grim smile as he closely inspected his skill slots, his screen hovering before his eyes. He looked from the screen to his weapon, studying it closely as though this was some kind of twisted joke. He then opened his inventory, materialising another weapon and equipping it on his belt.

A player that no one knew. No. To be more accurate, a player that no one noticed. He was known, and yet always overshadowed by others. Indeed, if you were to ask on of the front liners, their reply would be likely be along the lines of 'Oh, that guy.' But regardless, he was strong enough to stand among the clearers of «Aincrad».

The Black Swordsman, Kirito, with his «Unique Skill» «Dual Blades», and the leader of the «Knights of the Blood», Heathcliff, with his «Unique Skill» «Holy Sword». Long assumed to be the strongest players in the game, they were the only two players that had ever possessed «Unique Skills»; and there was no evidence to prove that this was not the case. If there was, it was obviously a closely guarded secret, kept away from the prying ears of other players..

Regardless, looking at the screen, the player's mind was in a state of confused disbelief.

He remembered, when he had first acquired his «Extra Skill» «Katana», the feelings of accomplishment he had felt that day.

Right now it was the complete opposite, his chest filled with the pain of bitter achievement. He had done nothing to deserve the skill occupying his final slot.

And yet there it was.

After a time the figure grunted, pushing himself up to his feet. Turning around he walked up the stairs, the last player to exit the room.

Standing before the simple entrance to the caverns of the 76th floor he hesitates, before lifting up his hand in a reversed salute to the darkness behind him.

The final resting place of the «Black Swordsman» and the «Lightning Flash». And perhaps too, the «Holy Sword». In a metaphorical kind of way.

"Farewell."

With no traces of the deceased warriors remaining in this world, only a single skill remained to remind him they had even existed at all.

The inheritor of a dark legacy he continued on towards the city, ignoring the final tone of the doors slamming shut behind him.

Lowering his hand he walks forward, not bothering to look back.

Not a single tear rolls down his cheek.

But inside, his heart is filled with pain.

November 8th, 2024
The 75th floor has been cleared. Aincrad's strongest is dead.

November 30th, 2024
Not one player has found the boss room of the 76th floor.

Not one.

Prelude to the Future

I stand in the ante-chamber leading to the boss room of the 76th floor. Shivering slightly from the damp cold of the sewers behind me, I check my items, rearranging and equipping items in and out of my inventory.

Feeling my nerves start to reawaken, I clench my fist in an attempt to drive away my shivering body.

Is it worth it, to die a martyr for this godforsaken game? In a reality created by human hands?

If I die here, it'll only be another crossed out name on the list in the «Town of Beginnings».

…But if I live, I will continue their legacy, for the future of all the players inside this game.

Strengthening my resolve, I push against the doors, opening the entrance to the boss room.

Mere data, being interpreted by the «NerveGear», is sent to my brain, recreating the sense of stale air escaping the reaches of the darkened room.

As I am, I am imprisoned by this world; the creation of the mad scientist Akihiko Kayaba.

Inevitably I will die one day; the question is what I do with my life before then.

I can still remember the real world, that faraway place on the other side.

The place for which I was fighting for; my reality before this entire mess.

Regardless, I have bound myself to carry on their legacy; and it is that that has brought me to where I stand here, right now, in this virtual world, inside a floating fortress in the sky.

I rub away the mental fatigue from my eyes and walk through the open stone doors. They slam shut with a bang, sealing the only exit from the room.

I've thrown in all my cards, and now I've gone all in. I just hope he doesn't call my bluff.

The boss awakens, breaking up the ground beneath my feet.

And the battle begins.

Author's Ramblings, in Chronological Order

[A/N (OLD): So, some of you may be wondering about the sub-titles of 'Death' and 'Phantom Blade', and the non-included 'Resurrection' that's in the title. Well, this story originated as several separate one-shots. But I saw links between the different story arcs, and started re-writing them to complement/fit in with each other. One was based on "What if Kirito died in the duel?" which diverged into "He dies and a new hero is born." and "He becomes reborn." Then the reborn became "Reborn with a vengeance because he lost Asuna." and "He finds Asuna and Kayaba above the clouds. (Like the anime)." And then there is the 'Phantom Blade', which is a «Unique Skill» that was inspired by a character from a game I play, «Dota 2», which I plan on introducing in the next chapter. (Imaginary cookie for whoever guesses where I got the inspiration from!) :P

Basically, a whole load of half-finished one shots were pulled from an incoherent mess into a cohesive story, which I'm in the middle of editing, re-writing and ordering into arcs and chapters which will [hopefully] convey the story I'm trying to tell.

So thanks for bearing with me, since my writing is far from perfect. I hope it's good enough to tell a story though, so thanks for reading, and please review!

~BB11, 25/08/13]

[EDIT (7/08/14): The only A/N to escape my warpath of erasure, due to circumstances and context. Yeah. Ignore the title bit, I just want to keep my original words intact.

New words? A total rewrite of the story, Kirito dead, and a OC appears to take his place.

Thanks for reading!]

11/08/14: Believe it or not, I'm rewriting this! Again! This time with a plan!

Looking at it, it's a mess, really. So I'm merging some chapters, scrapping others, etc. A lot of that is unpublished material though, so don't worry about it.

Shoutout to «Knowledgeseeker66» for lots of inspiration, stimulus and ideas from their story 'The Kirita Chronicles'. It's a really good story, gender bending certain characters and adding A LOT of detail to the original story, along with a lot of original content and a VERY large cast of characters! Bottom line is: [It's very good]! Go check it out!

As for the story, Kirito still dies, a new Gary Stu comes in, his name is Jin, and I actually have a plan for this story! If you're interested, (which I HIGHLY doubt), PM me and I'll send over a copy of my plans/notes. (Muwahahaha…)

…Not that anyone cares. I doubt anyone would understanding my rambling notes anyway.

As a side note; this is supposed to be 3 chapters…but I'm lazy, so it got rolled into one.

More for personal reference:

Act [X.Y.Z] - Act Name: Sub-Act Name
Chapter Title

1st Digit: There are Acts; each act has a name.
2nd Digit: In addition, these are divided into sub-acts/scenes; each sub-act has a name.
3rd Digit: Finally, each sub-act is divided into chapters, which each have names.

Hope that clears up any confusion.

Thanks for reading.

13/08/14:

Yet another edit. This is going to be a constant thing.

Don't mind me.

Remember fellow writers, PROOFREAD your work.

Or even better, get someone else to do it for you!