Author's Note:

I want it to be known this is a republishing and continuation of a story I once started uploading to this site of the same name. If you are new to this story, stick around for a while, you might just enjoy yourself. (I do not own any assets of the SAO Project nor does my story represent the opinions or story planned/written by Reki Kawahara. I merely own my characters and the story that develops on the following work since it comes from my own creative mind.)

So please, kick back and enjoy Stee1 & Sw0rds!

Chapter 1 - Welcome to Sword Art Online

November/6th/2022

Alshep

Finally, it is finally here. Sword Art Online. The pinnacle of VR gaming. I stood in line for a good seven hours just to wait for the damn thing to launch, but I finally have my copy. Eagerly I stand at register ready to pay for it.

"That'll be six thousand five hundred yen please," says the cashier.

More than willing I hand over the money. This game is going to be the best thing in years to come. Complete immersion. The acclaimed -full dive- is finally possible. All thanks to a nifty piece of tech called NerveGear. This helmet kind of thing actually taps into your brain and feeds it the whole game. It's supposed to work by interacting with your brainwaves. This way the piece of hardware is able to stimulate your senses. All five of them.

The amazing technology works hard to make you feel as if you were in the game. You move like in the real world, see, touch and feel. It's…it's just like real life. Except for not feeling pain, which is good of course. Thanks to a friend of mine I was able to play Sword Art Online's beta for a day. He got too excited and into the game that he only let me play the damn thing one time. It was amazing. I forgot everything about the real world and found myself absorbed into a new one. I was in a whole new world, vast and colorful, filled with exciting possibilities of adventure.

A short bus ride home is what now separates me from losing what little I have of a social life. Feeling beyond excited I board the bus as patiently as I I'm able to. I can't wait until I'm in my neighborhood. A few minutes go by and the doors open, as soon as that happens I'm off running. Turn right here, left there, go a few flights of stairs up, and soon enough I'm standing at my door step.

"I'm home!" I yell as I enter my home and take my shoes off.

Not even caring if someone replied to what I yell I speed towards my room and slam the door behind me as I enter it. Fumbling with the bag the game is in I reach inside and grab the game's case. Not wasting any more time I pop the game in and grab my NerveGear. I'm so glad I purchased the helmet before my copy of the game. Putting the thing on feels somewhat tight and weird, but once I start the link none of that will matter. Seriously, technology never ceases to amaze me. Thankfully, while in the excitement of the night before I had already charged and calibrated my gear. I am just minutes away from starting to play. It really paid off to at least convince the ever so gallant Charles' to let me install SAO's client into my computer. I strap myself in and lay down on my bed. It is two twenty six, a lot of the lucky ten thousand people with copies should already be playing by now. I get comfortable and close my eyes.

"Link start."

I start seeing streaks of light fly in my direction, but I know I am no longer in my body; the NerveGear has started its amazing doings. After a few seconds of flashing colors of what seems to be a long tunnel I find myself at the calibration screen. It quickly okays my settings and prompts me with a log in screen. I'm a bit surprised since I have never really played something with a log in screen, SAO is going to be the first MMORPG I ever play and I'm excited it is going to be a VR one, the whole concept of the full dive and the game itself is already interesting and it is just begging me to try it by myself. I did get to play that one time, but it was short lived and sadly so long ago. Once I go through the log-in screen I find a character slot.

I get an option to create a new character, I quickly select it and it displays what might as well be a mirror. Slightly curly short black hair, tall, slightly chubby. I'm certainly not going to play as myself. Why be yourself when you can be a better version of yourself? Just to fool around a bit I go over the "change sex" option. A few seconds later I quickly change back to normal. Horrible idea. A woman with my physical qualities isn't exactly what I would call attractive.

Without hesitation I start making some minor adjustments over my image. Straight hair. A Little muscle here. Less fat here. Some other minor changes and done. My avatar is ready. The starting clothes are nothing too shabby, but they look good nevertheless. With a brown and black combination it looks nice. I choose a long sword as a starting weapon and place the sheath at my hip. I've always liked knights hence why I place the sheath there. There is nothing more badass than a knight casually resting his arm on the pommel of his sheathed sword.

-Is this Character OK?-

I press the "yes" option and wait for about three seconds.

-Are you sure?-

Yes, I am sure game. Are you questioning how good I look or something? After selecting the right option a flash of white light blinds me for a moment. My ears start ringing for some reason. Things slowly become clear before my eyes. I feel ground below my feet; I wobble around a bit and touch my legs.

"Holy crap this is amazing!" I exclaim.

I can feel the fabric of my pants. Lifting my head a little I can see a plaza with people coming out of blue flashes of light. Voices sound clear and I can even hear the steps of people around me.

"Hey guys, let's go hunt some of the boar looking things!" says a player going past me with her group.

The warmth of the sun, the slow yet fresh air current, I can feel it all. Reaching for my sheath I feel my sword and slowly take it out of the scabbard. The blade gracefully reflects sunlight as I thrust it into the air in excitement.

"Woah! Watch it, man!" huffs player walking by.

All feelings of excitement disappear as I pull my sword down in embarrassment.

"Err, sorry," I say while scratching my head.

I sheath the weapon and turn around still being mesmerized by all the things going on around me.

"Haha, want to get an orange cursor over your head already or what?"

I recognize that voice.

"Charles!" I shout while turning around to a bald man and his companion, "You…you are bald…"

Charles is my friend form school and the one who let me try out SAO's beta. His name is not Charles obviously, that's just what he calls himself in every single game with an online component. Calling him by his online moniker has become commonplace for me even in the real world, a bit of an inside joke.

"Indeed I am, and guess what? Charles is my user name once again," he says while laughing.

It looks like I'm spot on, again.

"Huh? Now that you mention it…I can't see it," I mumble.

"Oh, I guess I should invite you to our party first," he mutters.

He starts going through a floating menu, it's slightly transparent but it has all kinds of options all over it. I find myself ogling like an excited child when his friend has a new toy. The menu seems to be significantly different here than it was on the beta.

"Wait, first things first. How did you know it was me?" I question.

"Well, you always make the same kind of character for games. I would even dare to say you have the same user name as always."

Well that is bullshit, he is either psychic or…I do make the same kind of character for games. A beep snaps me out of my thoughts as a little screen pops up in-front of me. It's a friend invite from Charles, I hover my finger over the blue circle and press it. It feels natural and the little screen is dismissed as I do so. A second later another little screens pops up, it's a party invite from Charles. I press the circle again; I glance to my health bar on the upper left corner of my own vision and I'm able to see two other bars being added just below it.

"Oh, I forgot, I got this other guy with me, his name is Daath. We met during the beta testing period," Charles says.

The thin black haired guy behind him steps forward and extends his hand to greet me. Grabbing his hand with a tight grip I shake hands with him.

"Pleasure to meet you, Alshep. A friend of Charles is a friend of mine," he says.

"Haha! I knew it! Same character name as always!" shouts the bald man.

I grin as I punch him on the arm.

"Shut up, you chose a bald man!" I tease.

Daath starts laughing and I join in to mock my friend. We stop laughing when something crashes with us, toppling us to the ground. It didn't hurt at all, but it sure was disorienting and I could feel the impact as pressure.

"What the hell, watch it!" I yell.

"I-I'm so sorry."

A girl is on her knees rubbing her head about a foot or so away from me. She has red hair and is wearing a purple cloak. She looks about my age, a tad bit shorter than me. I get up on my feet and stare down at her, a little angry to be honest. She seems to be shaking, probably thanks to her legs being all wobbly.

"Are you alright?" Daath asks while helping the girl up on her feet.

"Uh…uhm yes, thank you, sir," she replies.

This girl looks clumsy as hell. I think on it for a second and scare myself a little. She might be a man or an old lady, or worse an old man. An awful goose bump goes up my spine as I imagine it.

"You seem fairly new to this, why don't you join us? We are going to teach this guy how to play. You might as well come along," says Charles as he pats my back.

The girl seems flustered as she looks at her feet and fidgets a little. Charles keeps patting on my back as if waiting for me to answer to stop doing so. The girl keeps doing her little shy dance on spot for a few seconds.

"Yes or no?" I ask with a harsh tone.

This breaks her out of her fidgeting and she looks straight at us.

"Y-y-yes! Yes please, please teach me how to play!" she says.

Charles stops his patting and then slaps my back, hard. Trying not to trip I step forwards a bit. I sigh in my head as I hope for the girl not to be a creepy old man. The little screen pops up in-front of the girl and she nervously presses the blue circle. Another green bar is added below Daath's and I am able to see a name.

-Elina-

"Alright! We are set! Let's teach these two newbies how to play Daath!" Charles shouts.

He always makes too much of a fuzz out of things. Elina gets besides me and smiles at me before turning to see the other guys.

"Please don't be a creepy old man," I mutter under my breath.

"Did you say something?" she asks softly.

"Huh? Nope, not at all," I reply

"First off! What weapons did you two choose!?" Charles screams.

"I got a long sword," I say while unsheathing the cool looking piece of metal.

"I chose a short sword," says Elina while taking her weapon out as well.

Daath nods and Charles scratches his chin, trying to appear thoughtful. A few seconds pass by and he doesn't move nor mutters anything. Even Daath gets in front of him to see what is going on. Charles lets his arms down with a quick movement

"OK! So a sharp stick and a butter knife! Let's move!"

What? Elina suddenly looks embarrassed and she sheathes her sword. I do the same as I try not to punch my friend in the face. Charles walks past us and Daath waits for us to follow Charles. Daath seems to be on the verge of laughter.

"He can be a little…"

"Weird, haha I know," I interrupt Daath.

"Is my sword really a butter knife?" Elina mutters.

Daath laughs a little and pats her back.

"Don't worry; he has a starter sword as well. Even I have a starter long sword," he says trying to reassure the girl.

We keep walking down a large street; a kind of lake can be seen in the distance. The town door is placed farther across the lake. I take a few seconds to just look around as we walk. It all feels so lively, so real, so interesting.

"Oh right, take these as a gift from myself, " says Daath while handing us each, one red vial.

"Health potions?" I ask.

"Yes, but be weary, these take a bit to kick in so be sure to drink if you feel in danger."

Both Elina and I take the vials and store them in our inventory. We keep walking some more and we are already past the lake and heading out of town before I have time to notice. Charles walks in front of us in a really absurd way as we follow.

"Wait, isn't everyone supposed to be new to this game? How can you two know how to play? It just came out today," says Elina.

"True, but some people were given early access to the game as beta testers," replies Daath

We make it out of town and into a big open field of grasslands. Other players go in and out of town, rushing, laughing, and having a blast. A strong breeze passes by, brushing the field's grass. I see boars and some big insects not too far away from the entrance itself.

"What is a beta tester?" Elina asks.

Wow, you have got to be kidding me?

"By any chance, is this your first MMORPG?" I ask while trying not to be rude, but being a hypocrite.

Elina nods as we keep walking. Daath glances at me with a confused look.

"My sister got it for me, she said it might pique my interest and maybe it'll make me happy," she states.

"Well, a beta tester is a person from a selected group of people chosen to try the game before it comes out," I explain.

I wonder what kind of person is she, if she is a girl that is. Or a guy…a regular guy please.

"I see. That's very nice of your sister. Well, we are here now so we better teach you how to use your weapons," Daath adds.

I unsheathe my sword and place myself in front of a boar. For a low level enemy its eyes are rather intimidating to be honest. Charles looks at me and nods. What are you my master or something? I return my attention to my enemy and get on a battle stance. A whirring sound confirms that I'm charging a sword skill. Great, just like in the beta. I let my body move forwards and jump over the boar. Confused it tries to find me but I quickly slice through him. I sheath my sword and stand proudly for approval as the result screen pops up in-front of me.

-Result-

-Exp: 20-

-Col: 15-

-Items: 0-

"That was amazing!" Elina cheers.

"It seems you remember from what little I let you play, huh?" Charles chuckles.

"Yeah, I'm like ten percent beta tester," I reply jokingly to Charles.

Daath and Charles laugh as Elina stands there confused by what I just said. The swiftness and speed this game grants you is amazing, there is no way I could've done that in real life.

"Are you a beta tester too, Alshep?" she asks.

I shake my head and get ready to reply, but I'm quickly interrupted by Charles.

"It so turns out I know this little bugger in real life. We attend to the same school, I let him play a little of my beta version," he says while putting his arm over me and pulling me close to him.

"Yeah, haha," I say while pushing Charles off me.

She wows in awe and turns to Daath.

"What about you Daath? Do you know them in real life too?"

He smiles and shakes his head.

"No, I only know Charles from the beta period," he replies.

Daath and Elina smile to each other as another boar spawns close to us.

"Just a heads up, I asked my sister to disconnect me in an hour or so since we have to go out to buy some stuff. So I'll be leaving you guys then," Charles reports.

I look at the clock, three forty. Time sure flies in here

"It's your turn Elina, show us what you can do," says Daath as he bumps the girl into the general path of the boar.

The poor girl almost falls with the push and readies her sword while shaking a little. She side steps a bit and charges at the boar. With a sword skill she could easily take him out in one hit or two. I guess she isn't that familiar with the system yet. Elina flails at the boar damaging it only a little.

"Watch out, it counters after a little while!" Charles shouts.

Elina dumbfounded turns to us leaving her defense open.

Oh boy.

The boar hits her, knocking her to the ground and depleting quite a bit of her health.

"Quickly, get up and try a sword skill. Think as if you were about to attack it really hard," says Daath.

Elina gets on her feet and steps back a little before looking at us again. She refocuses and lifts her sword over her head. It lights up as she closes her eyes.

"What in the world is she doing?" I mutter.

"Focusing," Daath says.

The boar takes this as teasing and charges at Elina. This is a lost cause; it's going to hit her again. To my surprise she side steps swiftly before getting hit and slices the boar vertically as it passes next to her.

The boar turns into light and the results appear before Elina. She jumps in joy and shouts out in excitement.

"I did it!"

We clap in sync at her success as she hops over to us. She smiles and seems to be rather excited of her accomplishment.

"How do I equip an item?" She asks.

Daath quickly walks her through the inventory screens and tells her how to equip items. Meanwhile I talk with Charles about how much the game amazes me. Soon enough Elina has a new round shield equipped and we continue through the grasslands hunting some boars.

Daath proves to be an experienced player as he kicks a boar off the ground and slices it midair. It's amazing how little limitations this game has as of what you can do. It's simply overwhelming. More time passes by and I'm the only one without any new piece of gear. Elina got another sword and Daath too. Charles is flashing a new coat he got from a wolf.

"So how far did you make it during the beta, Daath?" I ask.

Charles is teaching Elina how to do a -switch- during battle as both Daath and I stand in the sidelines.

"I mean like how far up did you make it?" I ask

"Not very far, I only made it to the fifth floor. Although I did hear some players made it higher than that," he says.

We watch as Elina does a successful switch with Charles and kills a boar. That looked nice. As they walk over to us. Charles just bursts into tiny crystals of light. Elina jumps from the sudden visual effect and tumbles right on her butt.

"Woah…what the hell was that?" I ask.

"Hmm…he did say he was going to leave in a while, but that's nothing like the logging out transition of the beta. My guess is that they changed it for the full release of the game," says Daath.

"Guys! Guys! What happened to Charles?!" Elina asks worriedly.

"It's nothing Elina, he must've been logged out by his sister," I say.

"Oh, alright. What should we do now?"

Daath sits down and smiles. We are going to sit? I don't follow. Elina sits next to him and they both gaze past me as if I were invisible.

"What are you two doing?" I prod.

Daath extends his arm and points in front of him.

"Look," he says.

I turn to a bright beautiful sunset. Clouds subtly over arch the mountains making a beautiful sight along with the floating islands and waterfalls. This…is amazing. I sit and lose myself in the beautiful scenery set before me. I feel the soft grass with my hands and warm touch of the sun in my face.

"This is beautiful," says Elina.

"Yes, it truly is," replies Daath.

As if rehearsed, all three of us exhale loudly. Our moment of peace is abruptly interrupted by loud bells sounding off in the distance. The ringing is constant and very loud; the sound seems to be coming from the city we exited a few hours ago.

"What is it with that noise?" I ask.

Daath gets on his feet and helps Elina up.

"If I knew trust me I would tell you. This first day has been very odd, first the log out button is nowhere to be found and now this. None of this happened in the beta."

"Wait, what? There's no log out button?" says Elina.

"Yeah, I first noticed when I logged in," Daath mutters.

To confirm this as the bells continue, I quickly bring up my menu by swiping my hand in front of me. I go over the icons and go in shock as I confirm it.

"What is going o-" Elina says as she disappears from our sight in a flash of light.

Light suddenly engulfs me as well and I find myself standing in the plaza where I started playing. Elina is standing just a few feet away from me when Daath suddenly appears between me and her. Looking around I notice a massive group of players has been gathered in the plaza. What in the world is going on?

"They force teleported us here..." Daath mutters.

Is this some kind of event then? Why gather all of us here? All of the people around us seem anxious and scared. The atmosphere makes it feel like something bad is about to happen. The bells come to a sudden stop and the chatter from players does too. Elina gasps as she points to a red figure in the sky.

-System Announcement-

The figure slowly starts to replicate, it soon covers all the sky with impressive speed and things took a turn to the bizarre. The sky starts dripping a gooey red liquid. It looks like blood at first. Gross and unsettling, but it slowly starts to take an even more unsettling form.

It finally forms something recognizable. It looks like a man in red robes. It is gigantic, it has this omnipotent feeling to it. It slowly moves its arms up and speaks.

"Players, Welcome to my world. I am Kabaya Akihiko. I'm the only person currently in control of this world."

"That's the guy, he created SAO," says Daath.

I find myself baffled by what is going on, the man's presence is too much, too big, too powerful for me to just overlook.

"I hope you have already noticed the log out button is missing from the main menu. This, is not a game malfunction."

How is it not a game malfunction?! We are supposed to be able to log in and out freely. People all around me open their menus and seem shocked. I guess they didn't check it earlier either…

"I repeat. This is not a malfunction, but an original feature of Sword Art Online. You cannot log out of SAO on your own and no one in the real world will be able to remove or shut down your NerveGear."

"That's bullshit, Charles was able to log out just fine a bit ago," I say.

Daath and Elina both nod at me and turn to Akihiko quickly.

"Should this be attempted, the transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit a powerful burst microwaves destroying your brain and thus ending your life."

My legs go numb and I kneel slowly, I feel sick, really sick. There's no way, Charles is still alive, there's no way he is dead.

"That isn't true…is it?" Elina asks.

"I…I don't know," Daath replies.

"Unfortunately, the friends and families of several players ignored this and have attempted to remove the NerveGear. As a result, 213 players have permanently retired from both Aincrad and the real world.

In a fit of anger I punch the floor.

"No! There is no way, you are lying!" I yell, part of me hoping that maybe I will be heard in between the massive crowd.

"As you can see, news organizations around the world are reporting this incident, and its many deaths. Thus, you can assume the danger of having your NerveGear removed to be greatly reduced. So, please relax and work hard to clear the game."

As the massive figure speaks, it shows us pictures and video of what he's talking about.

"Let us out! You are lying!" someone shouts.

"However, do take note of this. You can no longer re-spawn in this game. If your HP reaches zero your avatar will be permanently deleted and at the same time…the NerveGear will fry your brain."

What..? Around me people are panicking, I hear crying and shouts of agony.

"You need only fulfill one condition to set yourselves free…clear the game. You are currently on the first floor, the lowest level of Aincrad. Make your way through each dungeon and defeat the Floor Boss, and you will advance to the next floor. Defeat the final boss on the one hundredth floor, and you will clear the game."

Is this guy for real? The beta testers didn't even make it to the 10th floor in one month.

"And finally, you can find a gift from me in your item storage. Please, do check for yourselves."

And there it is, right in the inventory. A gift from Akihiko himself, labeled as "mirror", somewhat hesitant I click on it. A literal pocket mirror appears before me. Glancing around myself I see a lot of people taking it out as well. Lifting it up to my face I can see it reflecting my avatar's face. What the hell is this supposed to mean? Suddenly people start shouting as they are surrounded by bright light. Scared, I turn around to Daath and Elina just before they are blurred by the light as well. I am blinded myself for a moment as the same happens to me. The shouts of fear don't stop, it feels as if people already started to die.

The light clears up after what feels like an eternity and I rub my eyes to try and make things clearer. I can't spot Daath or Elina anymore. Where the hell did they go?

"Al-Alshep?" says a blonde skinny guy in front of me.

"What? How do you know me?"

"Your gear...its colors, they are like Alshep's. You are Alshep, no? It's me, Daath."

No fucking way. I'm panicking, I look at my hands and then at my clothes. I reach for my face and touch it, feeling different than before. This isn't my avatar. It's...it's me. The real me! What is happening?

"What happened to my avatar?" I ask.

"I think it changed mine looks how I look in real life. It doesn't make sense…well it does, I think...it took the calibration data and replaced the avatars," he replies sounding very unsure.

No way can't this be happening. It takes me a bit to realize, but I guess he is right. Just looking around I am able to see players freaking out, touching their faces and bodies in shock. I see guys in girl's clothes and girls in male attires. This can't be happening.

"Where's Elina?" I ask.

Daath is about to speak when our attention is caught by what sounds like a little girl crying and sobbing. I can't believe what I'm seeing. A little brown haired girl with a purple cloak is sitting on the ground crying just a few feet away from us.

"Elina...?" Daath asks.

The little girl brings her tear filled face up and looks at me and Daath. She appears confused, but her tears stop flowing.

"Alshep? Daath?"

How old is she? She doesn't appear older than my fifteen year old cousin now. This game is rated fourteen and up, why would she be here? Then again...no one really cares about ratings when it comes to games nowadays. Daath helps her to her feet and she stands behind him, scared and shaking.

"All of you must be wondering why. Why would Kabaya Akihiko, the creator of SAO and the NeveGear, do all this? My goal has already been achieved. I wanted to create a world that I could observe and admire this is why I made Sword Art Online."

"Are you trying to play god?!"

I look at Daath who just yelled his lungs out. His face is filled with anger and rage. However Kabaya doesn't stop talking. He just keeps going.

"And now, it has all been fulfilled. This ends the tutorial of Sword Art Online's launch. I wish every player…the best of luck."

With that he dissolves slowly into thin air.

I hear nothing for a moment and then the sudden crash of something on the ground, followed by a girl's scream, and then, all hell starts to break loose. Shouting, screaming, crying. It is chaos. I suddenly feel someone pulling me up. It's Daath.

"Grab Elina and follow me. Don't fall behind."

He says that with a straight face, no emotion, I instinctively grab the little girl's hand and start running behind Daath. I might be too forceful about it, but I'm merely acting on impulse. Daath stops after running far apart from the plaza. The streets are dark and there is not a noise to be heard. He takes a deep breath and turns to us.

"Look, there's this room where you respawned during the beta. I refuse to believe Charles is dead. Let's go there. Maybe we'll find some sort of clue," he says.

Elina starts crying again and drops to her knees. Daath quickly gets on his knees as well and gets close to her.

"This was supposed to be fun! I don't want to die!" she cries.

Daath puts his hands on her shoulders and shakes her gently.

"Listen, you need to hold yourself together alright? I promise you won't die, but please, you have to be strong. Everything will be alright."

I stare while he tries to calm the small girl, I feel hopeless. There is so much information my mind I is still trying to process. What if my brother, or my sister rip the NerveGear off my head. That's nonsense they don't live with me, they don't even live in Japan, but, what if? What if something happened in the real world that I could not control? I would die. With no voice or choice in the matter, just like that. Dead.

Elina stops crying and gets on her feet. Daath smiles and then returns to his serious face.

"Alright, we'll have to head back to the Black Iron Castle. If I remember correctly the Room of Resurrection should be there."

I nod and follow as he starts walking. We walk for quite a while before I notice Elina is not with us. Turning my head back is enough to spot her. She is looking straight ahead with teary eyes. Without thinking I extend my arm and beckon her over.

"Come on, it's ok," I say.

She places her arm ahead of her and starts walking towards me until she reaches my hand. I can tell she is holding onto my hand tightly. We continue walking until we come across the main plaza again. It is mostly empty now, just a few groups of people stayed behind. Constant sobbing can be heard, except this time it isn't Elina.

Daath walks confidently in-front of us and without hesitation. Elina lets go of my hand and places herself between me and Daath.

"You two ok?" Daath asks.

"Yeah," I reply.

"Y…yes," says Elina.

"Good, we are almost there," he says.

Daath leads us through the door of a black castle and into a dim lighted corridor with what looks like a big black stone tablet on the back.

"That big stone wasn't there during the beta," says Daath.

"You sure this is the right place?" I ask.

Elina wanders deeper into the corridor and reaches the stone. As if she was looking for something.

"Yes, I'm completely sure. This is the room of resurrection."

"Monument of Life," says Elina.

With that, the big stone lights up and displays what appear to be words. I get closer and notice they are actually names. They are placed in alphabetical order all over the stone. I look around and quickly find mine in the first bunch.

"What is this thing?" I mutter.

"It's showing the character names…" Daath follows.

Elina goes along the tablet and stops near the middle. She gasps and clicks something. Daath goes over to her and I follow out of curiosity. What I see takes the air out of my lungs as I stand back clenching my fists really tight.

"No, this can't be," says Daath

Elina drops to her knees and starts crying again. Daath gets close to her and tries to calm her down once more.

"Please, come on. Please stop crying, it'll be alright I promise."

"Why are you sugar coating this shit?" I say harshly.

Daath looks at me and Elina stops crying as I say that. Daath's seems annoyed as he stands up.

"Don't you get it? That bastard was right, if we die here that's it. Game Over. If we die here, we'll die for real!"

Elina gathers strength to get up and stands behind Daath.

"I was just trying to make someone feel a little better you asshole," Daath replies.

"What point is there? You don't even know her."

He looks behind him and put his hand on Elina's shoulder.

"She is in my party," he replies.

I try to hold my frustration in and clench my fists tighter.

"And so are you," he adds

Suddenly I relax and look straight at him and Elina

"Now, I have a plan and I don't mind taking you two along. If anything it'll make things easier, and I guarantee you, we will survive. You have to trust me."

I stare at the ground and stay silent. After a bit Daath walks behind me as Elina follows him slowly. Elina stops next to me and Daath continues walking until he reaches the end of the hallway. I feel something tugging my arm.

"Please come with us…" she says.

I turn my head to the source of the sound and see Elina, she is trying to hold back tears and so am I. I don't know what to do.

"Are you coming as well, Alshep?" Daath asks from afar.

"Yeah…I…I'm sorry," I stifle.

Elina walks away and I walk behind her. Daath turns around and heads for the exit along with her. I stop at the end of the hallway and turn to the lit up stone. I feel tears run down my face as I remember what I saw on it. I won't give up man. I'll make it back…That's a promise.

-Charles-

-Disconnection-

-5:15 PM-

-November 6, 2022-

Crysina here!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

This chapter has been updated as of July/26/2016

Well this is the first chapter of my long running story. I've gone back and actually started thoroughly revising all of my chapters. Hopefully I can rid them of silly spelling or grammar mistakes as well as to fix some paragraphs or sentences in order for them to make more sense. Hopefully me going back all the way to my first chapters will do some good. This story is already around 80+ chapters and close to coming to an end, so before that happens I want to give it a good scrubbing and make sure I leave in the best shape I'm able to.

So what did you think? Good? Bad? I accept all kinds of reviews and feedback. So please, if you like what you read, please leave a review, if you don't, do so as well, I know my story is not perfect.

Thank you for reading! Hopefully, you will keep doing so!

Next Chapter: "Under The Night Sky"