The Art of Dreams and Nightmares.
Summary: Sword Art Online was supposed to be the beginning of a new dream for gamers, but instead, Aikon Krane and her brother are trapped in a nightmare world where their next action could be their last. Their differencing ideals of what this new reality truly is drive them apart, and when they finally reunite, Aikon may have to kill him. That is, if she can survive... Please read and review. (Now accepting avatars! PM for info!)
-(Prologue)- Sword Art Online.
November 6, 2022: Day Of Sword Art Online Launch.
...
She was wasting time, brushing her teeth methodically for an additional two minutes when she normally would've skipped this basic hygiene step, leaving her teeth tinged with plaque until Monday. The minty foam was finally rinsed away with near scalding water when her father knocked on the door, citing his need to go to work as the reason why she needed to hurry up.
She wiped her face on her slightly worn pink towel, being meticulous as she traced her face with her cotton covered hands. She inhaled the scent of Tropical Tango Gain and deeply sighed into the towel, the anxiety that she had built up over the past few weeks finally bubbling in her gut. A wave of fangirl nausea hit her and she steadied herself on the counter, shivering at the cold surface.
Sword Art Online... She couldn't believe her luck! First her brother had gotten his hands on the golden ticket—somehow—and then she had managed to buy a copy off of a poor sap on eBay whose NerveGear broke and he was unable to secure a replacement before the week of the launch. That was the best two hundred dollars—plus an extra fifty for overnight shipping; she knew that the guy was a vindictive asshole who was trying to squeeze every penny from a desperate gamer—she had ever spent.
She hadn't even opened the case, unlike Tosuke with his, for fear of anyone damaging the precious cargo inside. And letting the delicious factory air out. She loved that smell. It smelled of money well spent.
Of course, her parent figure had given her that unbelieving look of "Why in god's name do you want to spend nearly three hundred dollars on a video game?" when she asked him about it, but since it was her own money, he watched her—basically—burn hundred dollar bills with a single click. She thinks she saw her father cringe when the ping announced that she was now the proud owner of Sword Art Online, or SAO, as she was quick to correct with a set of narrowed, serious eyes.
And now, she was so close! Only a few more hours until she would be in the first VRMMORPG—virtual reality massive multiplayer online role playing game—ever. She would be a pioneer of sorts—one of ten thousand—in the budding industry of Full Dive Technology, though she would be more like a test subject, but she didn't think of it that way. She just wanted to play one of the most ambitious games ever made.
Another series of knocks accompanied with a warning involving him breaking down the door if she didn't answer snapped her back to her reality more than the coldness of the counter.
"Sorry." She apologized, but she wasn't sure he heard had her as her father dashed into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him with a slam. He was more than likely late for work. Again. He slept far too much for his own good. The shower gushed to life, proving her right.
She tentatively and rapidly tiptoed on the cold tiles, each step chilling her to the bone. Would it kill her cheapskate of a father to turn the heat up at least four degrees?!
Ehh... Now that she thought about it, after watching her buy that game, it just might.
Tosuke's door was already shut as she passed by and leapt for the warm safety of her carpeted bedroom. She shivered as she tore mindlessly through her dresser, looking—but not really—for anything to wear during her dive. If her father was leaving for work, then he would turn down the heat, not understanding the concept of Full Dive enough to know that his children would still get frostbite, even if their minds were in a desert, or wherever they would end up. Eventually, as her collectable Hello Kitty watch beeped to signal eleven o'clock, she settled on a pair of soft, warm blue pajamas and thick socks, to protect her toes. Who cared about fashion? She would be designing a whole new persona soon enough.
The socks came on quickly, but she took extra time with the left; her eyes locked on the numerous scars on her left leg, one on her foot, her ankle and two on her shin. There were three more on her thighs, but she didn't notice those unless they decided to itch. These though, these were an ingrained part of who, and what, she was.
A kid who hated reality because reality screwed her over.
She heard her father call from below that he was leaving and to make sure that they set the alarm after he left. She made it down the stairs by the time he was unlocking his cruiser and waved to him as she closed the door and entered the code on the alarm system.
But all this was tediousness that distracted her from the excitement threatening to send her flying up the stairs to glare at her clock until it read '11:59'.
Instead, she turned on the television in the living room, filling the adjoining kitchen with the sound of the day news. It must've been a slow news day that day because they were talking about Sword Art Online extensively. She toasted a bagel while watching the hosts explain the game's premise to a panel of clueless parents.
And before she knew it...
She swallowed a gulp of water far too fast, nearly choking on it when she saw the clock on the stove: '11:57'.
"Oh..." The sound came out choked and she bolted. She wasted time after she slipped on the stairs and bruised her chin, but she ignored the daze as she made it to her computer and connected NerveGear. '11:58'. She had made it...! She exhaled deeply, ignoring the stinging on her chin, as she slowly placed the gear on her head, feeling the heft of the battery on the left side disorienting her for a second until she got used to it again.
She slid the mouse around and her computer came to life, showing the page where she had completed her register for the game. A quick battery of her fingers on the keys and she was in. The disk whirred to life and she was given a sixty second warning after which the game would start, with or without her.
She didn't even bother with her brother, he was probably already in his dive, waiting for the game to start. She jumped onto her bed, her hair wild and anarchistic on her pillows. Her aquamarine eyes slid shut.
"Link Start."
...
...
She was disembodied, her body dust and data. She was floating, upright and yet somehow horizontal. If she had a stomach, maybe she would've been nauseated at the conflicting sensations, but she didn't have anything but her mind, and even that was blank. Her senses were gone.
...
Sight. Ok!
Hearing. Ok!
Touch. Ok!
Taste. Ok!
Smell. Ok!
Log In. Username: A-i-k-o-n, Password: ********.
Downloading Linguistics Software v.2.4... Complete!
The colors rushed past her, filling her ears with high pitched whooshing sounds as the flew to meet a point at the end of her horizon.
And then... The sun. That was the first thing she noticed. Which was strange, because this was winter in the north. The sun was a myth. And warmth? This place was a wonderland.
And the second was that she was standing with her eyes closed, silence all around her.
And the best part was that she was finally here! Sword Art Online! Aikon moved, her legs wobbling for a moment as she oriented herself. Her eyes adjusted to the glare of the afternoon sun above the obelisk in the center of...wherever she was. Her eyes went down as she realized she wasn't alone and hundreds of other players surrounded her. Akion doubted that half of the girl players were actually girls, but she was riding a high of giddiness. She didn't have time to be cynical!
And apparently, neither did the other players because they came to life with excitement in their voices. The sudden roar would've deafened her, if she wasn't squealing with her own joy. She had done it! She had done it! She had—
Tosuke. Where was Tosuke?
Oh wait, he was playing with his friends. He probably didn't want to be with his little sister while playing with them. Huh. Oh well. His loss.
She had done it! She had done it! She had done it!
She had no idea what she had done.
...()...()...()... Author's Notes. The first time they're important; the rest won't.
Welcome to my first ever anime Fanfiction! Whoooo! I wrote this all in a few hours! Double WHOOOOOO! Lol, can you tell? Please say no.
Anyways, I've desired to step out of Sonic and FFXIII fics and try something new for a long while, but I've never had the inspiration to do so. And then, SAO came back on my radar when SAO II came out on Toonami. I kinda hate the series now—separate, purely personal reasons that do not effect the writing of this fanfiction whatsoever—but I do love writing Fanfiction! :3 to the max. Maybe I'll do like four or five separate fanfics, including a maybe sequel to this, but it's all up to how I feel about it. :P
Also, there were some basic questions left unanswered in the series, the most burning being, how did ten thousand worldwide players—all on one server—communicate? Surely they all spoke different languages. So if I make up something to explain the unexplained, please don't think I'm deviating just because this is a Fanfiction. A lot of time and thought went into the premise, including some daydreaming of what it would be like to be trapped in SAO. How would basic functions work and such.
One last thing! Though she is the main character, this story will not exclusively feature Aikon! We will follow other's points of view, which is why I need avatars. I felt that SAO was really lacking in that department so I wanted to help fill the gaps of what the other players were thinking. :3 Kay, good?
I used the word "day" three times in one paragraph. Aww... (Paragraph sixteen)
Toast Writer. Get the buttah!