Author's Notes: Hello, and welcome to the beginning of what you guys will hopefully think is an interesting new Sword Art Online fanfic! While yes, this technically falls under the "rewrite of the Fairy Dance arc" genre of SAO fanfiction, I am taking it in a very different angle than what is usually done. For those of you who have read my other story, I am doing POV and chapter structure differently in this story, so just a heads up. Also, mandatory disclaimer time (ugh)!: I do not own the rights to Sword Art Online. Anyway, this is the prologue chapter of Dance of the Floating Castle, so enjoy and please leave a review when you are done!
December 15th, 2023
He looks so peaceful. Laying there, as if he doesn't have a care in the world. Her eyes went from the pale skin of his legs sticking out of the utilitarian hospital robe he wore, to the thin chest that reassuringly rose and fell with every breath, to his face she used to know so well, and the cruel metal helmet that encased it. It was frightening seeing him like this, knowing that at any second in a far off virtual world his avatar's HP might hit zero, and right before her eyes the device affixed to his head would fry his brain. At any second, if he made the wrong move, he would be lost to her forever.
Still, she thought, pushing that horrifying thought to the back of her mind, it's reassuring to see that he's still alive, that he's still here. He'll come back, won't he? I need him back, I need to know why he pushed me away. He's survived in there for over a year, he'll make it. She felt the light touch of a familiar hand on her shoulder, and looked up to see the kind yet concerned face of her mother. "C'mon, it's time to go home. I'm sure you miss him, but unless he does something stupid your brother will be here for you again tomorrow. Ok?" Sighing, she nodded and rose from the hospital bed where she had sat cross-legged for the past hour. As she walked out the door to his hospital room, Kirigaya Suguha glanced back one more time at him. Come back to me.
It's so cold, hethought as he wandered the wastes of the 49th Floor of Aincrad. He could hear the snow crunch under his feet, feel the howling wind sting his face. It was Christmas after all, of course it had to be cold. Not like I care, he thought. If I'm able to get the revival item everyone's been talking about, if I can just bring her back...I'd walk through cold a thousand times what this is. He looked around, seeing nothing but an endless snowscape before him. Nothing to farm...the other guys on the front lines sure are pushing it. Sighing, the boy activated his Search Skill, looking around for any stray monsters to kill.
Thankfully, due to the Floor being just recently opened, not ALL the good hunting was 't long before he found his quarry: A group of 3 dog-sized lizards coated in red plumage with four wicked-looking fangs curving inwards. He blinked as another gust of freezing wind buffeted him, his black coat ruffling out behind him. The boy's hand reached for the sword held in its scabbard on his back, and he quickly unsheathed the weapon. The moonlight above glistened off its metallic sheen as he pointed the longsword toward the monster group.
Letting his body flow into position, the boy angled the blade out in front of himself. A second later, he felt the satisfying tug of the System Assist, as the Rage Spike Sword Skill shot him forward, straight at the nearest monster. His sword stabbed right into the beast, and the high level of his One-Handed Sword skill meant the monster's HP instantly zeroed and it satisfyingly burst into polygons, rewarding him with a little Col and XP. The death of their companion served to get the other lizards' attention, however, and they turned towards their assailant in the black coat. One down, Kirito thought as he felt himself already sliding into his next attack, just another on my quest to get you back.
She's 16. No matter how many times he said it over in his head, he still couldn't believe it. She'd be dating boys I didn't kill first, probably hounding after that new phone model or something. She'd be in school, acing all the exams like she used to. She'd be...the man stopped his train of thought. It was pointless to think back on the could-have-beens. The reality that denied them stared him straight in the face from her medical bed. Outside, he could see snow starting to fall. He'd have to leave any minute now if he didn't want to get stuck at the hospital again due to snow drifts clogging up the road.
But he didn't. He owed it to her. Instead, he thought about what must be going on inside her head, inside the game. I wonder if they have snow in Aincrad this time of year. Nothing he knew from what he had heard from the beta test had indicated whether there was a seasonal weather system, but many had suspected that the seasons might actually correlate to the ones going on in the real world at the time, and since the beta test had lasted only a month there was no way to prove it then. Given how much effort Kayaba had put into making the world he intended to trap 10,000 unsuspecting gamers in as realistic as possible, it was likely that was the case.
I should know, I devoured everything about that game. I didn't get into the beta test so during the month it occurred I hung on to every last word the testers leaked. And now, I'm doing it for her. He knew that there was no way to contact anyone trapped in the game, but still, learning all he could about what she might be going through softened the flame of guilt that burned angrily in his heart. If I hadn't had to go to that meeting, if I had just said no, if I had just told her to wait until I got back. That wouldn't have changed anything, he reflected He knew her, if he had told her no, her beautiful sense of curiosity that Mother had thankfully not been able to stamp out of her would have won out and she would have donned the Nervegear just the same. That doesn't change the fact that this, he thought, as he once again looked at his sister laid out serenely on the hospital bed, this is my fault.
He felt his phone ring in his pocket, and answered the call. "Yes." He paused as he listened to the voice on the other end, "Alright, I understand. I'll be there as soon as I can." Stowing his phone after ending the call, he rose from the chair by her bedside. Gently, he took her pale, limp hand. "I'll be back, don't you worry. Just hang in there." He felt no response, but the warmth that meant she was still alive was enough to calm her older brother, at least for the moment. He sighed wistfully, wishing like he had over and over for the past 13 months that she could be awake and enjoying life like she should. Yuuki Kouichirou left the room, the pneumatic door hissing closed behind him.
Stab, roll, combo. Slide to the left, execute with a Linear. Check your surroundings. The moves flashed through her mind a second before she performed them. The axe-wielding dwarf that had been their targeted quickly fell before her blade, and despite herself she flourished her sword as the monster exploded into polygons, what equated to death in this world. Death, she thought, for us players at least. No matter how many times an NPC gets in the way or a monster is defeated so we can be free of this cursed game, they always get to come back eventually. She understood that in a normal video game when a player avatar died that was standard for them as well, a little wait and they'd be right back to life at the respawn point as if nothing had ever happened. But this isn't a normal game. In this, if my HP reaches zero, the Nervegear on my head in the real world will kill me. I'll die, for real.
She ducked to avoid the axe blade of another dwarf; there had been 5 in this group when she had started 5 minutes ago, and now only this one remained. She unleashed the 4-hit Quadruple Pain Sword Skill, stunning her target and knocking its health into the red zone. She felt a tiny smile creep up as she saw it had stunned the monster as well. She drew her right hand back, readying the single powerful jab that constituted the Linear Sword Skill. The skill that had taken her from the crying girl too terrified to leave the Town of Beginnings, trapped in a world she didn't understand, to one of the most fearsome clearers on the frontlines. She had been sick and tired of everyone else ruling her life back in the real world, and while she yearned like the other players did more than anything for freedom from the death game to return to that world, she was going to get that freedom herself.
As she drove her rapier into her target, the dwarf gave a dying metallic screech, before it was replaced by a sound akin to glass being broken. The girl sheathed her weapon, and to her surprise in addition to the usual notification of loot and XP awarded for the killed enemy the level up menu had appeared in front of her. Her surprise lessened a little when she took note of how much XP each monster had granted her upon their demise. Were they really that high-level? They didn't seem so hard. She tapped the option to increase her AGI stat on the level-up menu, her nimble fighting style having no need for STR. The menu chimed again as it closed automatically.
She heard footsteps behind her, and whirled around to find two of her guild mates, both young men in matching white and red KOB plate armor, standing at attention. When they saw that she had noticed them, the one on the left spoke. "We cleared the side rooms, Vice Commander. There was a loot chest in the third one, but it seemed to be one of the anti-crystal traps we've been hearing about so we left it alone."
"Good work." She said, her eyes flickering up to the party screen. The names of the 5 Knights members she had taken clearing the labyrinth hung in the left of her vision next to a display of their current HP, the HUD a constant reminder that no matter how realistic virtual reality was they were still in a game. "Tell Kayagi and Saco to hang back and take a health potion. Their HP's only at 50%, but I'd rather not risk losing anyone today." They nodded and ran back to the others.
She suddenly heard the resounding beep of a received message, and grimaced in a second of annoyance as she pushed her hair out from in front of her face and looked at the icon. It was from Argo the Rat, the infamous information broker who was the clearers' go-to source for most game knowledge. She constantly scoured the front lines looking for new quest details, new player information, along with anything else she could get her hands on, and sold it to the hordes of players who rightly would rather cough up the Col than learn a deadly lesson firsthand in this game of no second chances. She'd heard from a certain someone that Argo had a kind spot deep inside her, but from the few lengthy interactions with the other girl she had yet to find it.
Wait a minute...have I? Have I found that spot? She thought as she read the message. "Kii-bou has been acting weird lately, soloing really dangerous quests and leveling like crazy. Do you have any idea what's wrong with him?" it said. Ki-bou...that's Argo's pet name for Kirito, she realized. She thought back to the last time she had seen the Black Swordsman, the moniker he was quickly earning for his deadly solo skill at longswords and his seeming obsession with black clothing, at the 48th Floor Boss fight. He had looked he's been through hell, and she remembered deciding to ask him what was wrong after the boss fight, assuming they both lived that is. But after the battle he'd simply disappeared. And now Argo of all people is worried about him, she thought as she quickly checked and saw that the two injured members of the group were now fully healed. The girl turned to order the rest of the party to advance to the next chamber, but her thoughts were, for the longest time in a while, of a certain black-haired boy she'd fought beside at the start of this damn death game. Kirito, Asuna thought, what happened to you?
December 24th, 2023
It's the last day of school before the winter holiday. Why am I not ecstatic? She thought as she stared at the clock that counted down the minutes until her last school day in 2023 was over. Is it because of him? Is it because this Christmas will be without Kazuto? The clock ticked ever closer to the crucial hour, and she fidgeted in her desk. This nervousness was born of the thoughts that now weighed heavily on her mind, had done ever since she had gone to see him in the hospital last week.
We'd had it last year without him, but I think the only thing we felt like celebrating was that he wasn't one of the 2,000 that died that first month. The news was full of the death toll, there were dozens every day...then they finally seemed to slow down...I was a total mess, thinking any minute the school counselor would walk in and call my name, saying she had something bad to tell me...if she were truthful with herself, she knew, she still feared that would one day happen. That she would lose her cousin, no, her brother, he would always be her big brother, without understanding why he had pushed her away like he had. What's so great about those games of his? She wondered, not for the first time. Even though he had no way of knowing, what in that virtual world could be worth being trapped in one like he is now?
As soon as the bell that signaled their freedom for the year rang out, she rose from her seat and turned to the back of her classroom. If there was one person in her school who would be able and willing to help her, it would be him. She found him sitting at the back of the class, an unassuming slim boy with rounded glasses and a mess of black hair. He had a complex-looking laptop open in front of him. The boy seemed to be rapidly typing something, so he didn't notice her approach. She stopped in front of his desk. The girl cleared her throat, and when that failed to get his attention, she spoke: "Shinichi-san?"
He looked up, confused at the sound of her voice, and looked slightly taken aback when he saw her standing in front of him. "K-Kirigaya-san? Umm, hi?" He said nervously, tapping some sort of quick message out on his laptop before pushing it away. "What can I do for you?"
She thought about how to ask her question, despite all the nervousness bubbling inside her, but what came out sounded awkward: "You got one of those Amusphere things for your birthday this year, right? That VR device that's supposed to be safer than the Nervegear?"
"Well, yeah, how did you know?" He asked, seeming relieved that they were talking about something he was comfortable with.
A serious gamer like Nagata Shinichi wouldn't expect a kendo zealot like me to ask about VR gaming, he'd expect that kind of question from someone like Kazuto...thinking about her brother only brought all her painful emotions back to the surface of her brain, but she forced them down and channeled their energy so they instead reinforced her desire to ask what she had come to talk about, and she responded: "I overheard you talking about it a couple weeks ago, and I wanted to ask you something about it."
"Go ahead." He said, puzzled.
She took a deep breath, and spoke:"Could you recommend me any good VRMMO games? I'm going to buy an Amusphere with some money I saved up , but I've never really played any so I was wondering if you knew a good one someone like me could pick up fairly easily..."
He blinked in surprise. "You've never played a video game before and you want to start with a VRMMO?"
She nodded. "Yes, but it would have to be something that doesn't require an insane of time to be good at it...I still have kendo practice and the entrance exams to worry about after all..."
He smiled, but then a thought seemed to cross his mind that caused his expression to darken. "Why the sudden desire to play a VRMMO? Isn't your brother one of the-" he began, but even thinking about her brother too much right now caused her face to fall, and he stopped speaking.
"Yes, my brother is one of the 73 hundred players still alive in Sword Art Online. I want to understand him, understand why he cut himself off from the world even before the death game did it for him. That's why I want to play a VRMMO. This way, I have a shot at trying to understand him, even if he...if he..." She never tried to let anyone but her mother see her emotions about this, but she still felt the water sting her eyes.
She felt the light touch of a hand on her shoulder, and despite not asking for it she didn't reject it either. "I'll help you if you want me to, Suguha-san. I'll help you get into that world people like your brother and I love, and show you how great it can be when someone like Akihiko Kayaba doesn't turn it into a nightmare."
She wiped her eyes, and looked into Nagata's. "Really? I mean, you and I don't know each other that well, but you'd help me?"
He nodded. "There's this new VRMMO out which is based entirely on player skill rather than level, so you won't have to grind for days on end to be powerful. It's high-fantasy themed, so I hope you don't mind elves and magic or anything."
Skill-based...does that mean I can carry over my kendo skill into the game? She wondered, not understanding the other half of what he said not being a gamer herself. An image of her and another girl from one of the various kendo tournaments she'd attended fighting a duel again, except this time in ridiculous fairy avatars, flashed through her mind, and she almost let out a nervous chuckle at the thought, but her whirlpool of emotions she was barely keeping a lid on silenced it. Nagata wasn't finished speaking however, and her ears perked up once she heard: "The coolest gameplay element though, is that they have a thing called a Flight Engine that allows your virtual avatar to sprout and control wings that allow you to fly around freeform. It's really hard to learn I've heard but it sounds awesome! A couple friends of mine and I have been talking about getting it since it came out, but they live in the U.S. so I don't know when they'll be able to get a copy..."
Suguha looked at him, a smile finally forming on her face. A fantasy world where I'll be able to fly...will I find the answer to understand you there, brother? "Alright, you've sold me. If you could teach me how to play, seeing as I've never done a VR game before..."
"Sure!" He responded. Then Nagata grew a little nervous, and said: "So...does this make us friends?" The boy asked hopefully. He seemed to be blushing a little as he said it, but Suguha didn't think anything of it.
"Yes, I guess this makes us friends." She said, still smiling. "Well, if I'm going to get it I need to know: what it's called?"
He smiled, quickly tapped a couple keys on his laptop, and then turned the screen to face her. The center of the display showed an image of what she assumed to be the game's box art, with groups of male and female fairies of all different colors and wing colors all flying above a forest toward the giant white structure in the background. All assumptions that this was a kid's game left her mind when she saw the gear of the fairies: armor, helmets, shields, swords, spears, bows and other assorted weapons of war. The part of Suguha that thrived in kendo, that loved the thrill of simulated battle, seemed to speak: this looks really FUN. I'm not even playing yet, and I can already begin to see why Kazuto would enjoy these. "The official title of the game is Alfheim Online, after the realm of the elves in Norse Mythology. But like the death game, everyone abbreviates the titles of most MMOs. To most, the game is known as ALO."
December 25th, 2023
Is the real world like this right now? he wondered as he walked amongst the streets of Myujen, the main settlement on the 49th floor and the location of his current residence on the front lines. They were lined with all sorts of Christmas decorations, the kind meant to evoke the holiday cheer that was the antithesis of what he felt right now. It was still very early in the morning according to the clock on the upper-right corner of his HUD, so as he trudged back home he saw few other players. Still, he avoided the main streets, instead working through the back alleys. One place where he knew even at this hour would have several players that he couldn't avoid was the central square, as the inn he was renting at was located just next to it.
It's so bright, he thought as he walked into the square, the mighty Christmas tree at it's center blazing with artificial light. Then again, everything in this world is artificial, isn't it? A voice inside him whispered, The real world wouldn't have such an artificial rule as that ten-second limit, would it? The tall tree loomed over him as he approached, it's happily twinkling glow a stark contrast to the other giant tree from the night before where he had fought narrowly defeated the Christmas event boss Nicholas the Red, where he had been reminded of the cruel reality of what happened when a player's HP zeroed in the death game. It's all my fault, if I had just told them my level...the words echoed into his mind for the hundredth time. He stared at the ground as he walked in the general direction of the inn.
"Looks like the Beater got beat, eh? At least you're alive." A small, somewhat nasally voice called, and he looked up to see Argo the Rat, sitting where he had chatted with her not four hours beforehand to make certain of the location of the event boss. "Why the long face, Kii-bou? You survived, so didn't you get the item?" She asked, standing up. She was dressed in a set of basic high-level (for their floor) leather armor largely hidden under her flowing brown cloak, whose hood fell down as she stood to reveal a youngish face with Argo's signature whisker markings on her cheeks and a mess of brown hair. He stopped and turned to face her. Something about his expression must have concerned her, because her own softened a little.
"Why did you send Klein after me?" He asked softly. When she adopted a hurt look, he continued: "Argo, you were the only one who knew I was going there to find the boss, and Klein and his guild followed me right to the very spot. He even admitted it. And only you could have told him where I was going. Why?"
"The same reason I do everything, Kii-bou: he paid for his info with cold, hard Col. Just because you're a valued customer doesn't mean I keep a lid on EVERYTHING about you. And as a valued customer I didn't want you dying fighting a event boss alone for a revival item a solo player like you shouldn't even need." He simply maintained his cold, both emotionally and physically, face. "Speaking of which, where is the lovely little rez crystal?"
"I'd ask Klein if I were you, I gave it to him."
"Huh?! But you were leveling like crazy to be able to solo the boss and get the item yourself!"
"I wanted to use it to bring someone back. Someone in this world who meant a lot to me." Who am I kidding, I loved her, he thought. And now she's dead forever, all because of my social cowardice of being a Beater. "But the item has a use limit of only those ten seconds between when someone's HP hits zero and when they...shatter. The reason that limit exists,"he said, the despair coming out as simple, cold, emotionless rationality, "is probably because that's the window between when the system registers your death and when it sends the signal to your Nervegear to fry your brain in the real world."
Argo nodded, and gave him a weird look: "How long have they been...gone?"
"Almost half a year now." Has it really been that long? he wondered. Then again, even with my power leveling since then, I've gained over 20 levels. I'm level 70 right now. I guess it just...blurred together.
Argo opened her mouth as if to reprimand him for being so foolish as to think he could bring back someone who had been dead IRL for months, but thought better of it. Instead, the information broker turned to him and said: "Please tell me you won't do something that stupid again? As much as I can tell they mattered to you, you shouldn't risk yourself like that. You're one of the strongest players driving the other clearers forward to clear this game so no one else has to die, and I'd hate to lose one of my best customers. So don't die on me, will you, Kirito?" she said, dropping her pet name she usually referred to him by for once. How can I live, after failing them and killing them. Ducker, Tetsuo, Keita, Sasamoru, and Sachi...how can I live with myself after my cowardice killed them? Argo opened her mouth, and he could swear he heard the parting words of customary holiday cheer forming on her lips, but she called them back before they became sound and walked off with a sad parting wave, her cloak billowing behind her as she lifted her hood back up to cover her face.
The boy turned and resumed the walk back to the inn, his black coat barely keeping him warm in the cold weather. Finally, he entered his lonely, dark room. It's all wrong, he thought as he looked it over with his somber gaze. The room was so close to the design of the one he had shared with her for those few months he had been in the Black Cats guild...The inns in this game look too alike. He felt his fist slam against the wood as he sat down at the desk next to the window. More players were emerging onto the streets now, still celebrating the holiday despite their captivity in the death game. Suddenly, he saw a flash of orangish-yellow out of the corner of his eye, and saw that he had a message. He could feel his heart stop as he read the name of the sender. "Sachi..."he breathed. He tapped the icon, and an item he recognized as a recording crystal materialized in front of him. When it's message finished, he noticed the desk below his face was wet. Sachi, I….Kirito felt hishands curl into fists, I will never let Kayaba or his world take anyone I love ever again.
Merry Christmas, he thought as he entered the room again, though he did not say the words out loud. What am I afraid of, that I'll wake her, as if she were just in some deep sleep? That I'll let someone see that I wish it was anyone but my sister lying there in that bed, with a Nervegear ready to kill them if they died in a stupid game?! There's not even anyone to hear, almost all the staff is off with their families celebrating. Still, he remained silent, as he stood over her.
"Why are you going there TODAY of all days? You'll just make yourself miserable." Their mother had said when he was leaving, and he'd returned with a withering stare. She cared about her daughter, but some part of the stubborn old woman refused to see this as anything but Asuna's fault. I want to spend my Christmas with the family who actually knows how to love, he'd thought as he walked out the door, but he knew deep inside that was unfair. The Yuuki family each had their own way with dealing with the horrible thing that had happened on November 6th, 2022, the day the death game had begun. The noticeable background noise of the IV machine hooked up to her brought his thoughts back to the present, and he took her small, pale hand in his.
If I could have anything for Christmas, what would I ask for? That was the kind of question that kids only 5 or 6 years younger than her would ask each other this, but despite being 6 years older than her the man who was her brother knew what his answer to that question would be now. I want my sister back. I was supposed to be the one trapped in there forced to fight for my life, not Asuna. Not the one who'd never touched a video game before. It wasn't the first time he'd had these thoughts. It was as if Fate, which seemed to have decided that he would be one of the 10,000 players trapped in Sword Art Online, had changed its mind at the last minute, sending him off to a meeting instead with his sister taking his place in that virtual prison. Those first few months I was absolutely terrified, he recalled. She never played any games before this, I think I even told her when she asked if she could try it that day that she'd probably die a few times her first 2 hours. Now that I think about it, she's now beaten me in total amount of time spent playing video games. The gamer inside him was even proud of Asuna. For all I know, she's doing a lot better than I could have in there.
His thoughts felt as if they were about to continue down that line, but they were interrupted by a buzzing sensation from his pocket. Sighing exasperatedly that he'd forgot to turn the damn thing off, the man plucked his phone out of his pocket. He nearly tapped the ignore option, his finger hovering over it, until he saw the number the call was from. The Virtual Affairs Department? he thought in surprise. He tapped the ACCEPT icon instead, and a man in his early 30s with dark hair and glasses appeared on the phone. "Merry Christmas, Yuuki-san." The other man said by greeting.
"Hello, Seijiro-san." he replied flatly, "What can I do for you?"
"Please, Kikuoka-san is fine. Are you busy?"The man on the screen asked, looking farther into the camera as if focusing in on the surroundings on the other side of the screen. "Visiting your sister, eh?"
"Yes, now what is it you called me for? My schedule is so busy that I...I don't get to come see her like this that often."
"It's actually about those files you sent me that I had requested, though this time I might be able to begin repaying my debt to you for those."
Kouichirou's breath froze. Given the deal he and Kikuoka had worked out about him smuggling Argus' code files for SAO currently classified by RCT Progress, tech the company owned by the Yuuki family, to the Virtual Affairs Department to help in the investigation, that could only mean one thing. He glanced at his sister on her hospital bed once more and then checked to make sure he was alone. Satisfied that he indeed was, Kouichirou's full attention returned to the man on the phone. "I'm listening."
Kikuoka smiled, and began to speak: "It has to do with the game that RCT's Virtual Reality department developed with the older copy of the SAO code. I'm sure you've heard of it: Alfheim Online?"
Author's Notes: Well, there you have it, the prologue for Dance of the Floating Castle. I hope you guys enjoyed it! I so far only have this chapter down but if you want to see more please say so in a review. Any feedback in reviews for the matter are appreciated; they are a writer's gas and their engine grease. As for responding to reviews, I currently have a poll up on my profile page as to which method you readers would like me to do so which will be open until the next chapter of my other story, Attack On Aincrad, is released. If you enjoyed this and like me love both Sword Art Online and Attack on Titan/Shingeki No Kyojin, be sure to check Attack on AIncrad out, as it is a crossover between the two! Thank you guys for reading, and hopefully I'll have something new for you ASAP!