Kingdom Hearts Online

Chapter 1: "Link Start!"

A/N: This is a side story to my Time Break AU, so it was originally posted in Blue Skies. However, it's turned into a multi-chapter affair in its own right, so I've made a new story for it.

Summary: While Sora, Donald, and Goofy are doing their second sweep of the worlds to try and stop Organization XIII, Riku and Lambda take a separate path that leads them to ALfheim Online. Unfortunately, the Heartless have followed them to this newly-connected world, and it's up to this weird crossover pair to save the game. Takes place about a year before the Fairy Dance Arc of Sword Art Online.

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Twilight Town: Computer Room...

Our heroes had nothing to do, and about a week of time to kill before Sora finished re-sweeping the various worlds for an entrance to Organization XIII's stronghold. Of course, Riku and Lambda already knew where that entrance was-in the Twilight Town simulation, of which only the relevant rooms were still maintained-but their efforts to clue Sora in with an obvious box of clues had failed, or at least had a delayed reaction. Donald even ate the Sea-Salt Ice Cream bar that was supposed to help them guess the password!

Riku suggested forming a Dark Corridor to a random world. The only certainty was that it would take them somewhere they'd never heard of. Lambda agreed; it wasn't time to meet Sora yet, and they had a better chance of not running into him by accident if they didn't retrace either party's steps at all.

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ALfheim Online: A forest clearing on the edge of Sylph territory...

The Dark Corridor formed, and the pair of travelers stepped out. Almost immediately, Lambda could tell this world was different from the rest. She could practically see the computer code that generated their surroundings. And that wasn't all.

She nudged Riku's shoulder. "Riku, I think we're in a virtual reality game."

Riku's expression showed he had no clue what Lambda was talking about. "A what?"

"This whole world is part of a game running on a really powerful computer. People log in to 'ALfheim Online' from wherever the 'real' world is to experience a different world, since apparently human-sized fairies, swords, and magic are uncommon in their reality," Lambda explained.

Riku nodded. "Sounds cool! Does that mean there's some sort of heroic quest to complete that someone thought up?"

Lambda shrugged. "Sort of. A lot of people are supposed to log into this world at once, and they all have to form alliances and compete with each other to find the quests, monsters, and loot first. Then I guess more quests get added by whoever runs the game, and people can trade the loot around."

"How do you know all this?" Riku asked.

"Well, I..." Uh-oh. "I think the system just caught onto the data link I used to figure this out. It's trying to decide if I'm an information pixie...or a foreign object."

Riku hesitantly asked, "What happens to foreign objects?"

Lambda gulped. "They get deleted. I'm not sure if it can do that to us, but I'm not about to test it. I'd much rather be an 'information pixie', whatever that... Oh." Lambda suddenly began shining brightly, and when she was fully obscured, the glow started shrinking.

When the light show faded, Lambda was only about as tall as Riku's fist, though she still looked mostly the same. She still wore her black bodysuit and white cape, but her red eyes were somewhat larger than usual compared to her face, and she had translucent, white wings, like holograms. They were shaped like dragonfly wings, but curled on the ends like flower petals, and held her aloft at the level of Riku's chest despite having no apparent substance to them. Her whole body glowed faintly. "Huh. I guess this is what a pixie looks like," Lambda remarked in a relatively calm tone, partly because her capacity to worry about weirdness had been exceeded several worlds ago.

"Weird. Will anything like that happen to me?" Riku's expression was a mix of concern and alarm.

"No, the system thinks you're a player, though there's a few points that don't line up. Your race is apparently 'Spriggan,' but not only are we nowhere near Spriggan territory, your avatar hasn't changed at all. You don't have the customary black hair or wings, so it might be better to just not bother pretending to be a player or a Spriggan."

Riku latched on to one part of that explanation. "Wait, players get wings?"

Lambda nodded and flew up to Riku's eye level (in Ansem's body). "Yes, sort of like these. Players can fly with them, but you don't need wings to fly, remember? Wait, you'd better test that."

Riku nodded and floated off the ground with the Power of Darkness. "Okay, that still works."

Lambda gave Riku an examining look. "The system's treating this like the normal flight mechanic, with the maximum skill level. If you try to fly for more than ten minutes, the game will try to make you fall." Lambda's expression became worried. "Remember, we're technically invading hackers, so if the game thinks we're breaking the rules, it'll try to delete your account and my role, and then what?"

"I'll try to keep a low profile, then," Riku reassured his girlfriend-turned-pixie. Lambda's worried expression didn't go away, though. "Hey, Lambda? What's wrong?"

"Nothing serious, it's just...forget it." Lambda waved off Riku's question.

Riku made to grab hold of Lambda, then realized that grabbing her shoulder wouldn't work the same when she was so tiny. "If you're unhappy, then it's serious to me. Please, could you tell me what's wrong?"

Lambda didn't miss Riku's aborted motion, which fed into the problem. "It's stupid, really. You said it was 'weird' when I turned into a pixie. Do I look weird?"

Riku was taken aback for a second. Normally, his girlfriend was more concerned with how well she could fight than how she appeared. Then again, in this form... No, the important thing was reassuring Lambda right now. "No, Lambda, you don't look weird. That form's actually pretty cute."

Lambda blinked. Did her hearing just glitch up? Riku was an awesome warrior of Darkness and all-around badass, who wore a black hood over the face he'd stolen from his arch-enemy just for the added intimidation factor more than any sort of stealth, but did her Riku just say the word cute? "Do you really mean it? I guess I might be cute. I can't really tell without a mirror." Lambda started leaning around to look herself over.

"Oh shoot, did I just say that out loud? There goes my tall, dark, mysterious image." Riku facepalmed, and Lambda giggled at him.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Anyway, I can live with being less than a foot tall for a while. I'll be pretty useless in combat, though..." Lambda tested out her strength by flexing her arms, then giggled more sheepishly when she realized how silly she must look.

Riku chuckled along with Lambda. "Good to hear you're back to normal. It's not like you to worry about how you look. But what's an information pixie supposed to do, then?"

Lambda blushed a little, making her look even cuter...though Riku would only say so over his dead body. "I was more worried about how you think I look. Sure, I'm a sword-shooting death machine, but I have insecurities sometimes, like anyone else. Anyway, in this form, I have a wide-range map of the area, and access to the tutorial programs. I'd better run you through those. First off, raise your left index finger in front of you, and then swipe it downward."

Riku did as instructed, and a line of holographic circles formed a trail behind the motion. Lambda continued, "This is the main menu. Get used to that motion, because practically everything in this world relies on it. For right now, touch this button here..." Lambda flitted over to point at one of the circles with a backpack-shaped silhouette, "...to check your inventory. If I'm right, you'll need to do that to summon your weapon without being noticed by the system."

Riku opened the inventory sub-menu, which raised a stack of labeled rectangles. Black Coat (full outfit, [equipped]), Soul Eater (custom enchanted sword, wakizashi type), Potion (3 doses), and one other... "What's this 'Way to Dawn' thing? Aside from my personal philosophy, I mean."

Lambda peeked at that option and made a guess, hoping she was correct. "Judging from the custom icon next to it, you should equip that thing right now."

Riku touched the option with his left index finger, causing a flash and a swirl of blue energy around his right hand. He now held what was clearly a Keyblade! The Way to Dawn Keyblade took much of its motif from Riku's Soul Eater, but the demonic wing that formed the blade was more triangular and straight than the curved edge of Riku's previous sword. It also had a white angel wing attached to the tip to serve as the Keyblade's teeth, and two more angel wings in white and gray-blue surrounded the handle to form the hand-guard. A chain dangled from the pommel, ending in a Keychain charm shaped like the Heartless Emblem.

Riku gazed at the weapon in wonder. "I almost forgot we got this Keychain in Castle Oblivion... Sorry, just give me a second to let this all catch up with me. I have a Keyblade. I have a Keyblade!" Ah, there came the rush of relief and joy he was expecting. "This is awesome! I finally have a Keyblade!"

Lambda looked closely, with all her Observation protocols active, and came to the unfortunate conclusion that something was just...incomplete about the weapon. "I hope you have a Keyblade, but this might just be another item to ALO. I think it'll work just as well as the real thing while we're here, at minimum. Think of it as a sneak preview, as well as practice for when you get to switch to using this for real."

Riku smirked. "Well, I'm still going to jump for joy all the way to town. If the system running this world thinks I have a Keyblade already, it probably means I can get one eventually. I'll probably get this exact one, and the design is a perfect fit for me. I'm so glad you were right about that all along."

"Yeah. I wish I had a Keyblade. I'll have to make do with Murakumo for the foreseeable future. Not that being 'stuck' with a Nox Nyctores is a downside in any way. It could be better, but that logic applies to everything." Lambda fondly recalled drafting a speech to precede beating down Relius Clover, but she probably couldn't pull it off without a Keyblade of her own.

Riku realized something. "It seems kind of out of place, though. All the legends say the Keyblade tends to appear right in the middle of huge crises, but I don't see a crisis around here, do you?"

"Uh, I think I do." Lambda pointed at a Shadow Heartless that was forming nearby, alongside about a dozen other Heartless of various types. "The system has no records of anything like the Heartless, so I think this is the first time they've shown up here. I'd like to believe they can be deleted as outsiders by the system, but DiZ's computer certainly couldn't do that, nor could it stop them from coming in."

"Well, I'm pretty sure I know what can stop them." Riku smirked as he settled into his favored combat stance, taking note of how it worked with the Keyblade and adjusting his footing to compensate for the slightly greater weight of the weapon's extra parts. "We can't just leave the world like this. I guess I'll have to find the Keyhole, and seal the breach when we leave." Riku took out all the Heartless in this group with even greater ease than usual, but he knew there would be others.

Lambda nodded and flew over to Riku when the battle ended. "It is our fault that they're here. Making a Corridor of Darkness to a new world may not have been the best idea after all."

Riku gasped as he realized the ramifications of his actions. "Shoot, I might as well have rolled out a red carpet and posted directions! I hope I can fix this as fast as Sora usually does."

Lambda held onto Riku's hand with both of hers. "I'll be here, too...sort of. I wish I could help you fight, but like this..."

Riku dismissed the Keyblade, then checked his menu to make sure it was properly back in his inventory. "Don't worry about it, Lambda; I'm not mad at all." Lambda smiled gratefully and flew around behind his head. "I might be jealous if you just found a comfy spot back there to sit in for the rest of our stay, though," Riku called out as Lambda settled into the pocket formed by his Black Coat's hood.

"Whoa, this is pretty comfy! Who would have guessed that those Organization guys walk around with a luxury hammock around their necks?" Lambda kicked her feet over the edge of the hood as she laid on her back.

Riku laughed sarcastically. "Very funny, Lambda. You're the one with the map; where do you think the Keyhole would be?"

Lambda checked with the system to access the maps. "Let's see... I bet it would be at the most important place in the world, so if it's anywhere, it's at the World Tree. We can see it from here, actually, if we go above the trees. Getting there is another matter; it's not very close, and we can't risk using a Dark Corridor and calling the system and the Heartless down on us. The fastest way to get to the center of the continent where it is would be through the cave to the north, since these mountains exceed the altitude limit for flight." Riku didn't move; Lambda could practically feel the disapproval and impatience rolling off him. "Fine, I'll get out of this comfy hammock and lead you there."

Lambda flew out of Riku's hood and waved him over to one end of the clearing, then led him to the mouth of a cave in the side of a cliff. "This leads to a huge underground tunnel network. Since it's the best way to get from this half of the continent to the center, the tunnels are neutral territory, so we hopefully won't have to deal with any players who want to force us out, but be ready for local random monsters. That said, you won't be able to pass for a player, and I doubt you want to repeat the same sentence over and over to fake being an NPC. I hope you have an alibi to keep the world order intact."

Riku nodded. "I've had a lot of time to think one up." With a smirk, he continued, "Then again, nobody seems to bat an eye at Donald or Goofy when they go to all kinds of worlds with Sora. You'd think those guys would stick out more obviously than Sora's giant shoes, but they always get away with saying they're 'just passing through'. Maybe there's some sort of force that prevents locals from recognizing outsiders right away. I can do better than to rely on that, though." He followed the faint glow surrounding Lambda into the cave.

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A/N: Here's where the rabid plotbunny that forced me to write this side arc removed its carrot from my throat. If anyone wants to hear the rest, tell me so! I'm pretty sure I can finish this as a mini-series within Blue Skies.