Alternate Lives 1: White the Necromancer

by The 483

A lone girl running from Player Killers stumbles into the cursed forest on the 13 foot of Aincrad. There, her life in Sword Art Online makes an abrupt shift, as her would be saviors are not the hero's she would have prayed for, and she finds herself in an odd situation under a little know subsystem withing the games programming. OC Storyline, with possible, but light cameos.

1. Chapter 1

Sword Art Online: Alternate Lives

By: The 483

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Sword Art Online. Spoiler Alert: Light to moderate Spoilers may be contained herein.

Forest of the Dead

The girl ran, her leather boots plated with light iron tearing up clods of the loose, grassy earth as she sprinted. Behind her, about 30 yards or so, about a dozen others chased, their weapons out and ready, mismatched armor and cloaks snapping in the light breeze. Behind them, a larger force advanced more slowly, fanning out to prevent her escape. It was lucky that none of the pursuit had horses, or she would not have made it as far as she had.

She cursed her utter stupidity. Everyone she knew had told her, "do not go to the 13th floor without a full group," but she had failed to listen, believing that, being level 37, nothing on such a low floor could be a proper threat. And now, with a sick sense of impending certainty, she figured she was going to die. This floor was home to a large contingent of the PK Guild Laughing Coffin, along with a number of smaller, less organized PK guilds, and she, alone and wandering the otherwise deserted markets, had attracted their attentions. Had her tracking and scouting skills not been well developed, she would not have noticed.

It began with a slight unease crawling along the back of her neck as she moved along the empty streets, finding NPC merchants selling nothing of any interest. But as she moved along, she could sense something watching her, and every so often, a dark shape would melt into a deserted and dark building. After 15 minutes, she guessed there were at least 14 individuals following or shadowing her. So, not having been noticed that she had picked up on her pursuit, she made her way casually to the edge of the city portion, to where stalls bordered the wide, grassy fields that marched to the skeletal forest in the distance.

Floor 13 was justifiably famous, not just for the high murder activity, but because here was the SAO mirror of Mount Fuji. It was a beautiful site, but also the original claim to fame for the spooky 13th floor of Aincrad. For with the iconic mountain, came the mythological Aokigahara, also known as the Suicide Forest. In the real world, it was a forest that had dozens of suicides yearly; so many that a tourist ran the chance of finding a body hanging from a tree on any given occasion, and signs asking visitors to reconsider litter the forest. In Aincrad, the forest circled the base of the mountain, was shrouded in a heavy fog, and was said to be home to demons that even the PK hand high level players feared.

But now, the foggy tree line seemed the only salvation for Terra as she praised her choice of light leather armor and urged all the speed her thin body could manage into her flight. Rumors of the forest were even creepier then rumors of the ghost town of PKers, and the location was no doubt chosen for effect to, with the usual connotation of the number 13. Not that the real landmark was not creepy, but in the real world, the forest itself was not inherently threatening. About 600 meters from the boundary, the ground was already coated in light tendrils of fog, seemingly sweeping the ground for victims. But, for the moment, the pursuing gang of murderous thugs concerned her far more than any rumor of skeletal monsters and undead nightmares. Her only chance was to lose her pursuers in the fog and trees, and discreetly make her way to a portal to another floor and safety. This, because of course, being a positive horror movie cliché of a floor, teleport crystals did nothing except in very specific areas, which were very easy for hostiles to camp. The place was ready made to be a murderers den.

The gang was closing when she crossed the first tree, and kicked through a knee high flow of fog, which slithered away like it was alive. Her ankles were buried in it, and only the tips of the tallest knots of tangled grass could be seen in the still sea of white grey. She heard shouts and curses behind her, that seemed oddly muffled as she pushed deeper, the trees thickening and the air going heavy and still. The trees this far out had no leaves, but the sky seemed to pale as if a impermeable haze clung to the branches, turning the would grey. Turning her head over her shoulder, she could still clearly see those trailing her, even though it was cloudy. It was if the fog was only obtrusive one way. They were slowing down, and approaching more cautiously. She considered slowing down when a knife thunked into the tree next to her head, and she stumbled away and dove deeper into the forest. Slowly, bramble filled bushes rose over the waist high blanket of fog so thick it swirled like a liquid around her. The trees grew thicker, leaves coated their tops, and the whole of the forest became blanketed in shadow and thin fog.

Her boot caught on gnarled root invisible in the fog, and she fell onto her face. Down in the deep fog, she could not see the nose on her face, and she thought with a furious anger that almost brought her to tears that she was going to die in a f**king cliché. It was so silent in the still air of the forest, she could hear the rattling of her opponents armor, 70 meters back and closing slowly. She rose to her knees, deciding that she might as well make her stand now, and die proudly, mounted her feet, and gasped, taking a step back in surprise. Standing no more than a meter in front of her, completely immobile in the drifting mists, was a specter of death.

A thick, coarse black cloak, some largish animal skull like an elk protruding from the hood, and glittering metal clawed gauntlets stood, empty eye sockets seeming to look directly into her terrified eyes. A large metal shafted scythe, ending in a segmented spinal column where the blade attached and with bone encasing the top of the blade, was gripped in its right hand as if it were a Chinese spear, hand griping just below the blade, hooked behind the calves, and arm resting over the pole. More bones clung here and there to the cloak, but the thing did not move.

Frozen in fear, hearing the voices behind her, she noticed two other figures seemingly skeletal, a mishmash of confused bones, wielding spear type pole arms in the same stance, with different skulls but the same unnerving motionlessness, standing close to either side of the one in front of her. When, after 30 seconds, none of them moved, and the noise of the PKers was louder, she stole a glace back at the hazy forms now only a scant 20 meters back. There was a flick of movement from one, and a flash of flying steal, and she braced for the impact of the thrown knives, when there was another flash, three echoes of metal impacting metal, and three dart like knives exploded into non-being. Terra turned back, her neck cracking with mixed fear and relief, and saw the figure to her left had moved slightly forward, but was still immobile. The bandit that had thrown the knife looked confused, but took a step back as he realized that the shadow next to the girl was not a tree, but a... something hostile.

That was when a ripple of ghostly laughter rippled across the silent forest, a chorus of chilling cackling that echoed from more than 2 dozen throats, blended and coming from everywhere in the mist.

"I see you dare to enter my forest of death." The words flowed in after the echo of horrible laughter died, spoken by so many different voices in sync, that it came as one gestalt noise. Terra felt a shiver run up her spine as a shadow fell, and she turned to see the creature standing in front of her had lifted its left arm high. "How appropriate a resting place for creatures such as yourselves." The lower jaw of the elk skull moved as the voices continued. There was a rustle on the other side, as a big man stepped forward.

"Give it up, you. We know you have no real tricks to offer up, you fraud. Fade back into your mists, before we decide to whip you and your silly pets off the face of this world." The big leader of the bandits said in a bored voice, crossing his arms over his chest. The Death Specter tilted his head to the side inquisitively.

"Ah, Cerix, a fool to the end. You body shall make a nice addition to the ornaments that decorate my forest." The Specter said, lowing his arm with a fast sweep that spun the mists in its wake. The voice was still echoed by all, as if one brain controlled many mouths. There was a creaking sound throughout the nearby trees, as bodys hanging from nooses dropped from unseen perches, teeth clicking as the ropes pulled taught, and sending the limp limbs dancing hellishly. A few of the bandits screamed and ran, while the others just looked nervous, and the big man heaved a sigh.

"Such petty antics only serve to embarrass yourself." He said, and removed his large sword from his back. There was a flutter of movement as the troops behind followed his lead. The Specter nodded once.

"Very well. Those of you that manage to make it back to your holes alive, tell them, that to intrude on the Forest of White the Necromancer, does not but give me more materials with which to shape my army." The multi-voice spoke again, then he ducked his head, and charged at the large man. Terra, with a gasp of surprise, saw more than a dozen more creatures explode up from the mists in a rattle of bone, swish of cloth, and clank of steel, before feeling a hand push her back roughly in the chest. She fell back, sinking below the fog, but pushed up again quickly in tome to see the Necromancer close, dodge a horizontal slash by twirling below it, let the shaft of his scythe slide to the tip in his right hand, and slice upward through a bandit standing a meter away, lifting the body off it's feet. He spun again as he closed, pressed his left hand to the man's chest, clenched, and pulled. The skin fell away like a wrapping paper, as he pulled the entire skeleton out of its body, and tossed it on its way, where it hit running and charged another bandit that screamed and fled from the creature. Half a dozen more turned and ran, breaking off engagement and fleeing madly back toward the sun.

With a roar of rage, Cerix leapt, intending to slam his blade down on the Necromancers wide open back, but it met with quick resistance as one of the spear wielding bone creatures intercepted the blow and vanished back into the fog with a twist. Delivering a kick to the back of the head of his scythe with heavy metal boots, the Necromancer quickly spun his weapon at the enraged bandit, who deflected the blow, getting knocked back at an odd angle, and falling. He presumably rolled as a downward spin made no contact, so the Necromancer levered his weapon with an elbow, let it ride on his hip, and buried it in the side of another attacker nearby. He scoffed, and yanked, the skin and meat of the bandit tearing away and exploding into blue shapes as it vanished, before it's skeleton righted itself, gave a silent oar, and charged another group of now fleeing bandits. Fully three quarters of the attackers had fled the ghostly servants of the Necromancer now, and Cerix leapt again, jabbing straight at the exposed rear of his enemy. One of the spear wielding constructs rose against the Necromancer's back, knocking the tip of the sword away, turning and spinning the Necromancer forward, who used the momentum to sweep a leg under the bandits, bringing him down straight onto his stomach as the reaper twisted the scythe in a interesting 6 rotation move that brought the upturned blade resting on the throat of his adversary. Terra was close enough to see the ground where the Necromancers sweeping cloak had thinned the fog, saw the mouth of the elk skull move, and the boot on the back of the bandits neck. The scene was frozen for a moment, then, with a wrench, and the clink of metal meeting metal, the Necromancer pulled up, driving the blade into the metal of his boot, cleaving through the neck of his antagonist, who blinked three times, and exploded into meaningless polygons. The remaining bandits fled now, their leader gone, and Terra came to her senses and realized her position as the thing turned empty eye sockets on her. In a swirl of silent mist, both of the constructs wielding spears had appeared beside her, rising instantly form the mists, and grabbing an arm. The Necromancer nodded once, waved for his constructs to fall in, and began to walk, as Terra was turned, and forced to march deeper into the forest.

(...)

The walk to the home of the Necromancer seemed longer because Terra was stunningly terrified. In truth, it was a five minute walk from where the fight had gone down, to the mouth of a boulder covered passage that split to the right and left. The majority of the troops moved to the left, while Terra, shivering in fright, was pulled to the right, following the Necromancer. They emerged into a largish space dominated by a three step raised dais with a large stone throne. She was halted, and the Necromancer turned to look at her for the first time, and she shrunk under the blank stare. Suddenly, with a quick move, the white skull was right in front of her nose, and the mouth opened wide.

"Boo." A single voice said, and she let out a small scream of fear and surprise, pulling back. She felt one of the arms pull away from her, and there was a loud, solid *thunk* sounding a half second later, followed by a clatter as the elk skull fell to the ground at her feet. "Ow! Jeez, Willow, that hurt!" A male voice said bruisedly, and Terra, looking up in teary eyed surprise, saw the cloaked Necromancer, now skull-less, rubbing the back of his head, and staring at one of his bone minions, who had quite obviously just connected the hilt of its spear with the back of his head. With a frustrated speed, the construct yanked the hooded skull of its head, and shook out a shock of shoulder length blonde hair, and glared in irritation at the Necromancer over a small, sharp nose and dusting of freckles.

"You're lucky I used the blunt end! Why do you have to be such a jackass? Look at her!" The blonde gestured at Terra, who was still terrified, but now considerably confused as well. "She's already terrified, and you have to antagonize her! Why the hell would you do that!?" The Necromancer pushed the tips of his index fingers together, giving off such an embarrassed air that his expression could be imagined within the hood. "Aw... she just looked so cute, I thought it would be fun to tease her a little more." The blonde looked as if she were about to explode, but the Necromancer straightened, and seriousness snapped in the air and stopped her short. "Besides, Wil, she was chased into the forest by one of the Cactus Thorns higher sub chiefs. We don't know what she's done yet, so we aren't nice yet." He said, then pushed the hood back, revealing black hair, soft eyes, and solid chin with a diagonal scar on it. He turned, and moved to the throne, and sat sloppily in it. "Wil, go get the reports and Ambrielle, and send them in. Pree, go ahead and take her to Huggles and have her fangs pulled, get yourself comfy, then bring her back for interrogation. Willow, you can sit in, to, if you don't feel like doing anything else, but if you do, I expect at least a tray of sandwiches. Now, scatter." He made a shooing motion, and both the blonde and her retainer moved in the same direction.

Terra was marched back down the first corridor, and lead into a cavernously large area, smooth stone dome ceiling sitting 3 meters over the floor, the entire area lit by streetlamps and lanterns hung along the perimeter wall. Most of the room was filled with a rambling town of stone, single story houses with a central open air stall market in the center. There were even clear NPC villagers and vendors present in the bustling area.

"There was a town under the mountain!?" Terra gasped, forgetting her fear momentarily in the view of the strange place. The person holding her arm paused, opened her personal menu, made a few adjustments, and the ghastly suit of bones vanished, revealing a small, slender woman with chin length black hair, soft, green eyes, and a kind smile wearing a mix of thin plate and light ring mail armor. She shook her head softly.

"No. White founded this town in the magma passages in the mountain in the early days of SAO, soon after the floor boss was cleared, if I recall correctly. It started with just his own house, but as he pumped more money and resources in, and more people came to settle, even NPCs began to pop into being."

"And the PKer's don't attack the town?" The woman's features darkened slightly.

"No, because they do not know that there is a settlement here. As you no doubt saw in our... dustup outside, there is a superstitious fear among many players. This helps us remain hidden from... filth such as them." There was a spike of wicked vehemence at the word filth, and the woman's eyes flashed briefly. Her rage cooled quickly however, and she continued Terra along. "While we are on the subject, I will inform you of what is about to happen. I shall escort you to our local... well, we refer to him as out quartermaster, as he handles the general armory, but he is also our de-facto sheriff. He will disarm you, and take any other unnecessary items, and place them in storage, and draw you temporary quarters until such a time as a decision is passed on what White will have done with you. After that, I shall again escort you beck to the throne chamber, where White shall interrogate you to his satisfaction. Do you understand?" Terra swallowed hard, and nodded nervously, her fear back at the mention of the word "interrogate." "If I may offer a word of advice, any cooperation you render will show favorably." She cut off and led her into a long, blocky building with no door.

Huggs'n'stuff was an enormous, polished mahogany slab of man with a cheery disposition, glittering eyes, and teeth so blindingly white they actually reflected the light of the lanterns that lit his jailhouse. While it was more of a storage house for surplus supplies, it doubled as a makeshift jail in times like these. He never lost his grin as he allowed Terra to hand over her weapons, spare armor, repair kits, food stocks, crystals, Col, and all but the armor she was currently wearing, stored them in a numbered chest, entered a lock code, and stashed the chest in a room where a dozen others were kept. He had inventoried her supplies on a paper sheet, made a quick copy, signed his chop, and handed the original to her guard as a receipt.

"Thanks, Huggs." She said, depositing it in her inventory.

"You know I live to serve, Cap." She chuckled kindly.

"You and me both. Have a good one!" She waved

"You too, give my regards to the boss man."

"Will do!" She settled in and led Terra while walking beside her, no longer holding her arm now that she was disarmed. After a moment, she spoke thoughtfully. "Now, miss..." She left it hanging open.

"Uh... Terra..." She supplied, her voice quavering slightly.

"Ah, thank you. I am Capris." The name popped into existence over the health bar displayed on the girls HUDs now that they had officially met. "Now, if you do not mind, would you tell me why you happened to be in our forest today?" And so, Terra filled the woman in on the situation that led her to her current predicament. The woman nodded when she was finished. "Ah, not bad. I do not believe you are lying, anyway, and I am sure White shall judge it that way as well." Terra had gotten the impression by the manner and familiarity with which Capris spoke that she stood in rather good stead with this... White.

"Oh? That's good. Are you high up in this society?" Not subtle, but she couldn't be blamed for wanting to know where she stood. Capris giggled merrily, holding her hand to her mouth. She shook her head, and showed off a little black leather bracelet with a single link chain wrapping around it, clipped with a small silver lock.

"Oh, my, no." She giggled again, and gave a sunny smile. "I am merely one of the master slaves." She continued to smile in joy as Terra blinked stupidly.

"... ... ... WHAT!?"

"Yes." She answered blushing slightly, but still looking offensively pleased. "I have been owned by this Master for almost 6 months, now." Her look changed to one of concern. "But do not worry, I am sure he will believe you." Terra had stopped, and blinked more in stunned disbelief.

"You mean... slave like ... as it..." Capris looked confused.

"As in I Serve my Master in whatever way they wish. Why? Does it have some other meaning?" Terra could scarcely believe the innocent act she was giving, after referring to herself as a slave.

"Is it...like, some type of RP (Role Play) thing?" Capris shook her head.

"Oh, no. I assure you, it is all quite legitimate. This little bracelet is proof of my station." She turned her wrist, and showed a little emblem of crossed scythes.

"So this system is actually supported by the game?" Capris nodded, and urged Terra to continue walking. She continued as they walked.

"Yes, there is, though it is not well know. There is a type of weapon which, if used in a player fight, can result in an "enslavement" rather than a PK if the person has certain items. I don't know about now, but I know there were a few groups who were hunting the lower floors about 9 months back, trying to snag players who were still on the starter floors."

"And this one nabbed you?" Terra asked, disgusted look on her face.

"Oh, no. Not at all. But that will have to wait..." They had entered the entrance tunnel, and were approaching the throne chamber when Capris broke off. The other girl Terra had seen, Willow, was standing in shadow, looking in, dressed casually, holding a large platter loaded with sandwiches. She did not looked pleased, and Capris led her up next the her, were they could all hear what was going on within.

"... while I cannot be sure it was all of them, the three that I eliminated today were in the group that attacked your party, and killed Iggy-Yami and Lord_Fish." They heard a sniffle, and a deep intake of breath.

"Thank you, sir. We really appreciate what you have done for us. If there is ever anything we can do for you, don't hesitate to ask."

"It is not a problem, Ambrielle. If I think I have gotten any others, I will let you know." There was another thank you, and all three girls quickly pressed themselves into the shadow of the wall as another girl emerged from the throne chamber, and hurried away, back to the town. After a handful of seconds, Willow edged very carefully and silently to the edge of the wall, looked out, and came back, looking upset. Terra noticed a bracelet that matched Capris's on her wrist, and wished she had checked the retreating girl too, wondering just how many people this guy "owned."

"Ah, crap. He's depressed." Willow whispered, irritated. Capris looked worried.

"I thought he might be. This is not good." She bit a finger, and focused on a spot past Willow's head, lost in thought. Willow poked her insistently.

"I mean it, Pree, one look at his posture, and you can tell, he is not pleased. I think if there were anything in there, it'd be getting smashed right now." Terra could not help but feel the anxiety radiating off the two, and it in no way helped her nerves. Capris said nothing, and Willow then nodded to Terra. "Is she clean? I mean, she's green, but is she clean?" Terra knew what she was referring to. Her name, like Willow's and Capris's, was lettered in green, meaning that they were not directly involved in murder or crime. Just like she knew, if she saw the Necromancer's name plate, it would be "red" which was code for permanently orange, which meant a killer of living player. Applying the qualifier "clean" meant she was not involved in paying other, already orange players to commit crimes on her behalf.

"By her story, yes, and I am inclined to believe it." Willow, for the first time, looked actually nervous.

"But... if he doesn't like it... he's mad enough right now... do you think he'd..." She sputtered, but was cut off quickly by a harsh whisper from Capris.

"No." The firm tone could not be met with further argument. "Let's get this over with quickly, before he has more time to reflect." Willow grimaced, took a few silent steps up the hall, then returned, her footsteps loud, and tray clinking against the metal of her bracelet, as she entered the room. The noise was exaggerated, but gave a warning that she was approaching, and allowed her master to compose himself. Capris leaned in, and whispered into her ear. "We wait 2 minutes." The minutes dragged, and Terra must have showed her apprehension, for Capris placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled reassuringly. These two must have been firmly indoctrinated, to care this much for a killer slave owner such as this. At the end of the wait, she was marched in.

Willow was reclining on one of the steps of the dais, nested in a pile of multicolored pillows, munching a sandwich and tucked like a cat to the left of the Necromancer, sitting forward on his thrown, waiting. Capris had Terra stand about 2 meters in front of him, then moved to the dais, mounted the steps, and produced the receipt from Hugg'n'stuff. She then opened her inventory and removed her armor set, revealing a nice white and black dress, dropped her own set of pillows on the top step, one above Willow on White's right, grabbed a sandwich, and sat, back against the front of the thrown, leaning slightly against her masters leg. White paid no attention. He scanned the document, then, without looking up, called out curtly.

"Name?" He pulled a quill pen out of his inventory.

"T-Terra." She stuttered. She had thought about adding "sir" to sound good, but if he was going to kill her anyway, she didn't want to give him the satisfaction. He scribbled quickly on the paper.

"Not terrible equipment. Level?" She did not answer. His eyes rose from the paper, but just barely. "Level?" His voice didn't rise, but it seemed to crack against the silence like a whip. Willow glanced nervously at Capris, who frowned at Terra. Terra had jumped slightly, and suddenly remembered Capris's advice on cooperation.

"S-s-sorry. 37." He returned eyes to the paper, scribbled more, looked for a moment.

"Is this a complete accounting?" He asked, then looked down at Capris. "Why is she still in that haphazard beetle suit?" She did not look up.

"Was all she had. She didn't have an outfit for social occasions." He nodded, seeming satisfied.

"So, your inventory is empty, save your armor?" Terra nodded. "Any assets outside?" No, she had been staying in inn's this whole time. By the time she got near the price for a starting house, all the cheap real estate had been snatched.

"None."

"Any guild affiliations?"

"No."

"Anyone who'd miss you?"

"A few acquaintances. But no really close friends, and anyone who knew I was going to the 13th floor, does not expect to see me return." He nodded to himself again, and she detected that Capris was pleased with her honest answer, but it was hard to tell in the presence of the Necromancer. His ...aura... was strong. He let the paper back into his inventory, folded his still armored hands, and leaned forward.

"And pray tell me, Miss, why you just happened to be pursued into my forest, by one of the sub commanders of the Cactus Thorn Guild, and a raiding party of underlings, who were aware, in part at least, that Myself and companions dwelt in this forest?" His tone was curious, but something about the menace with which it was spoke caused her to pale slightly. It was like he was the prosecutor in some bad daytime TV court show, and she was the already presumed guilty defendant. But she told her story. It sounded a lot flimsier now then when she had told Capris.

"Well, that is consistent with what it looked like when we arrived." He heaved a deep sigh. "I guess it's not surprising that eventually someone would catch on that we were hiding in the forest. Luckily, all the ones we let get away should continue to keep the less organized parties out." He nodded, as if to agree with himself. "Very well." He had turned his attention back to her. "So, Miss, is there any argument to the statement that, thanks to the intervention of myself, my girls, and my militia, that your life was preserved?" There was an implication in there that she was not liking.

"Ummm... yes. I believe that those people pursuing me would have killed me, had you not intervened." She did not understand why he was going so far to clarify that. She had just watched him kill three players without any qualm, why should she be different?

"So then, you agree that I am entitled to compensation equal to the value of service rendered, yes?" She was so surprised, she didn't answer. "Come now," he said, exasperated, "TANSTAAFL." She didn't know what that was, but ...

"Yes." She said in a quiet, downcast voice.

"You see that this puts me in a difficult position, so I shall outline the limited options you have. Normally, I would have you incorporated into the city, but no one in the city knows where we are, save my militia, and they can be trusted. Now, what would be easiest, would be to take all your stuff, and dump you back in the forest, and let you make your own run back at the floor gate." Her face took on a horrified cast, but she also noticed that Capris gave her an encouraging smile. "But, after losing an officer and two others chasing you, I doubt you would make it, and they would most likely not let you off with something as easy as a quick death, so that is not something I care to risk." He looked uncomfortable, shook it off.

"Option 2, just knock you off now, and get it over with quick and clean, and move on. I do not favor this. I am a killer, but I do not consider myself a murderer, and do not wish to start."

"And, third option, you can pay me for the services rendered. The fee would be discussed, and taken from your Col, and, if proper fee was failed to be reached, your equipment would be leveraged based on lowest listed price on the open market. Any further discrepancy could be negotiated for with other means." At the term "other means" her eyes flicked from Capris, to Willow, and then back, a look of comprehension forming, until Capris shook her head. It was clearly her opinion that she would not have to pay with her body. At least in that manner.

"How would this... deficit, if it existed, be made up?" She asked, trying to keep her voice level, but there was a touch of venom brought on ny the thought of what could be inferred. He knitted his fingers together, and leaned forward.

"I will not lie, it would be in effect, a... shall we say... labor wage agreement.

"So you are saying I would be a slave." He seemed to wince at the word, which didn't make sense.

"I prefer to think of it more as indentured servitude, but you are correct in essence. Like these two, you would be bound to me by the Slave System for the duration of the period until the sum of the cost of the service was earned." Her leaned back heavily. "While I know these terms are far less then optimal, they are the options that are on the table. While it is not really any kind of a fair choice, I still do believe in giving you the right to choose which path you'd like to take. In order to facilitate your decision, please, think as long as you need, and feel free to ask any and all questions you wish." He poked Willow with his foot, and she stopped posturing, and carried the tray of sandwiches over, and offered it to Terra. Feeling tense, but better then she thought she should, she took one, thanked the bearer, and started to eat while she thought. She noticed, in an offhanded fashion, that White did not grab a sandwich himself until this point, even though he had ordered them. He did not eat them until everyone under him had something, even Terra.

Terra was not a ... particularly proficient player of SAO. She was often surprised by the breadth and depth of the game, and the systems in it that they could use. This far, a little under a year in, and there were still new discoveries in what could be done not infrequently. It was as if it was not only built to be a VRMMORPG, but was, under that, a life simulator. Indeed, several of the people she knew had adapted to this world to the point where they occasionally forgot there was a real world outside the game. And not just because they had little hope of the game getting cleared and they returning. This world, after a year, was home. Terra even felt it herself, though she often felt...unequal to the game, and was not convinced she would be able to survive overmuch longer. She had gotten lucky to survive as long as she had, and now she was just reaching the boundary where skill was more important than level. Over level 40, it was not enough to just have the modifiers granted by weapon and equipment proficiency, and the passive stat bonuses granted by skill scores dropped dramatically. It was necessary, if one were to actually progress, to be good at the combat itself. It was not something she believed herself capable of. So maybe her journey to the 13 floor was more than just a random jaunt. Maybe she sought the same thing in the forest so many people did in the real world forest every year.

But, being not great at the game itself, did not mean she was stupid. She noticed things, and was fairly good at puzzle elements and putting odd bits into place, and the thing with the sandwiches got her mind going. What kind of ruthless slave owner make sure everyone else is fed before they themselves ate? Capris, though she only hand gotten an brief impression of her, seemed sharp enough, and genuinely liked being owned by this man. Willow had struck him outright, and yet no reprisal had been observed. And what was with the oddly formal way he was putting his case forward? It would have been easiest if he just had not saved her at all, so why do all of this, now that he had, unless the picture was bigger than her, and she just couldn't see it?

"So, in full honesty, there are actually only two options on the table, correct."

"Yes." He did not hesitate.

"You would murder me just for being in the wrong place?"

"I believe it would be necessary, but I assure you, I would not relish it."

"But you would do it for such a trivial reason." She wasn't asking, just stating it.

"I sympathize with your perspective, but my reason is not trivial." He did not elaborate.

"Can you explain?" He looked tired, all of a sudden.

"I will not be able to answer all of your questions in a way I feel satisfied with. This question, is one of those. No, I cannot explain my reasoning to you, save that it is something I must do, solely for my own, selfish desires."

"Why are you explaining the reasoning behind your actions? Is it supposed to influence my decision?" She knew that he could, and probably would lie about this, but she took the shot anyway.

"No. I do not seek your acceptance, nor forgiveness in these matters. I feel in some small way that you are entitled to know some of the reasoning behind what I am doing, but it is only as a balm for my own conscience. I do and have done many things which any decent person would find despicable. I try to lend what consideration I can to the victims, because it is one factor that allows me to sleep at night.

"So, telling me all of this bull**** makes it easier for you because you "have" to kill me, is that right?" Her voice wasn't quite shrill, but it was clearly hostile. To her surprise, he nodded.

"Yes. I find that by trying to lend whatever courtesies I can to those who must suffer for my actions, I can continue to live with myself." He stated it in such a plain, matter of fact way, it pissed her off extremely. She snorted derisively.

"And you think that will save you, once we get out of here?" She was almost shouting.

"Oh, not at all. Once the game is cleared, I imagine that I will do my very best to end my life, as I hope I will not turn out to be the kind of monster that can live with themselves, after what I have done." Terra stood, dumbfounded, blinking up at the odd, almost cheerful tone he said it with. "But, until that time comes, I sadly have too much to do to quicken the process, and I must continue." She was so taken of guard, she had forgotten her line of questioning. That was...not the kind of answer she expected.

"You used and odd term... tan staple or some such. What did it mean?"

"It's an acronym. There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. It means that you get what you pay for. In this case, it means, I saved you, and I require compensation."

"What would be the cost of this...compensation?" She asked, warily.

"Well, in short, what is your life worth?" He countered, and she had to tear her eyes from the intensity of his. She thought, in these situations, based on the things she's seen on T.V. and in Manga, that sexual favors were often conferred in these types of situations. But she was getting no vibe like that from this person. Everything she was seeing seemed that the only answer would need to be in Col.

"What would you place it at?" She muttered, her eyes averted.

"Come now!" He said sharply, more in surprise then anger, and she looked up again. "Surely you are not telling me you do not have a figure you could place on your own life?" She thought for a long minute.

"No. I have no opinion on the matter." She answered in a flat, fatalistic tone. He grunted in irritation.

"How about..." he scanned her quickly, eyes examining her impartially like a head of livestock on an auction block, and she found her cheeks grow red in anger, and a petty little thought like "what, am I not pretty enough for your punk ass?" was quickly squelched. "3 mil." He said, and waited. She didn't have an answer; her mouth hung open. She had 30k on her now, in Col, and around 10k in gear and items. Total, in her life, she had had 1.2 mil, when she was looking for cheap property, but now, with the one rooms averaging 4.4+, she had given up, and quit trying to save. He saw her expression, and looked oddly sad. "2.5?" He cut the price.

"What the Hell!?" Willow, until then, calm as a statue, exploded, causing Terra to jump. "When you picked me up, you started at 5, and only dropped it to 4.3 after an hour of negotiating!" He gave her a sardonic, bored look.

"And look how that worked out. 4 months, and I am still losing money on that purchase. Quiet, Woman, I am busy." She looked fussy, and wanted to retort, but returned to her easy position, face still lightly red. He turned his attention back to Terra. "Is that an agreeable price for still being alive?" Truthfully, Terra wanted to spit in his face, and would have if she did not expect that it would shorten her life expectance greatly. He will to live overruled her pride.

"Acceptable." She grunted, disheartened.

"Very well." He opened a menu, typed a few commands, and a large page of paper popped into his hand, along with the quill pen. He scribbled upon the page in a few spots, tapped the point of the pen to his lip thoughtfully, stopped, spit out a bit of ink, and scribbled again. He then vanished the paper, making a throwing motion at Terra with one hand, and a notification window flared to life on her HUD. She accepted, and the paper appeared in her hand, typed except for a few, messily hand written fill ins. The basics of the document were that Terra agreed to serve in bondage as a personal servant (slave) to one "White The Necromancer Player ID# 1125) conforming to all rules and limitations pertaining to the SSC (Slave System Code) at until such a time as the total of 2,500,000 Col was earned, at which time, she would revert back to a free citizen. At the bottom, there was a place for her to sign, and chop with her Player ID. She wondered why he bothered with a formal contract like this, but maybe it was part of the mechanic of the Slave System. If it was originally developed to be an RP system, contracts for duration and terms would make sense, and even allow the "slaves" to be sold to other players consensually, and could be fun, for those who were into that kind of thing. But the implications now were beyond her, as for all intents and purposes, she would be selling her real self, not just whatever chunk of time Master and Slave were on at the same time. Resigned, she signed the line, and planted her ID# 7218.

The paper flashed into a glowing plain white sheet, rolled itself tightly into a horizontal roll, then bent, forming a large ring. It hovered over the wrist of her right, then contracted suddenly, and with a flash, transformed into a little bracelet matching the ones on Capris's and Willow's wrists.

As she watched, her HUD changed slightly, as a few options on her menu bar became grayed out, then vanished. Her empty Col slot changed from reading "Col: 0" to "Allowance: 10000" and next to where she could see her own name on the inventory, a little emblem of crossed scythes glowed where the guild emblem would have been had she been in one. Her inventory window contracted, the list style of 24 slots changing to 12 boxes, with a page change key growing above, rather then the slide bar that existed before. Another inventory tab grew on the top of the menu, labeled "House of White" but she did not have time to look, as the Necromancer cleared his throat for her attention.

She was mildly startled. Now, she saw that his name was displayed over his health bar, "White" in an orange color, the word "Master" in parenthesis after it, and his level, 58, coming at the end. She could see the same type of thing after Capris (level 46) and Willow (level 41) but with the word "co-slave" next to their names.

"Thank you, Miss Terra. I am pleased that we have come to an agreement. You may have noticed some changes to your interface, as I have set it to one I am more comfortable using. Now that you are considered a chattel of my "house" which functions as a guild normally would, except where I interact with you, there are few things new." He pointed. "First, the little wristband is a symbol that shows that you belong to me. It allows me to track you, communicate with you wherever you are, access ALL of your inventory, make contact with you any way I please without social and status issues, and, wherever normally permitted, use teleport crystals on you whenever I wish."

"What do you mean, access all of my inventory?" She said, after he had paused.

"Like this," he said, and opened a window. She couldn't see what he did, but he clicked a tab on his own screen for slaves, selected Terra, opened her inventory, selected an item, and removed it into his hand. She suddenly fell about an inch, and looked down to see her bare feet sitting on the stone floor. "As you had no other items in your inventory, I demonstrated using a of your equipped armor." Before the full implications of this set in, he place the item back, and her boots reappeared on her feet. He then opened another window, and began sliding other itmes into her inventory.

"What I am doing now is loading you with some basics. Teleport Crystals, healing Crystals, Repair kits, Feild Rations, and the like. Everything you would need for any basic errands I may have you run. You may have noticed that your money slot has now changed to an "Allowance" slot. This money is for you to use as you see fit for your personal comfort, and the completion of your duties. An accounting is automatically generated as the numbers change, and show up in a report under my house tab, so I can see how the money is spent. After I finish here, Capris will take you to the market, and help you shop for things she thinks you may need, as she has more experience being a slave then I do." Terra's face fell, think about how the price of living would drive her cost until freedom through the roof. White identified the look and continued.

"This cost is written against my budget to run the house, and not totaled against your total indenture. In the same vein, all costs of feeding, gearing, and housing are now my responsibility." He opened yet another window, "House Management" and clicked the "Expand Room" tab, selected the bedroom, and clicked the "Expand" key. 500,000 Col was deducted, and his personal quarters were increased by 5 cubic feet. He then backed up a menu, and selected "Add Room" and clicked a size of 10x10x10, clicked accept, and little red numbers to the tune of -1,500,000 floated away and faded from the air. Terra was able to see this, as this window could be view by all members of the house, so when he accessed it, the girls could see.

"There, I just added space to out our room, located behind the throne, and added a storage room for you to place whatever items you acquire while in my employ." Terra stood in open mouth astonishment, watching this person drop 2 mil without batting an eye. He looked at her, looking tired.

"What? I told you, housing costs fall to me. The designer planned well for this, and owning Slaves is not cheap. Oh, and before I forget, once Capris gets you re-outfitted, you are to go and turn over you current armor to Huggs'n'stuff to deposit in his lockboxes. Once you become a free citizen again, all the items you possessed upon signing the contract will be returned to you." He sat and thought for a minute, then rose.

"That is all for now. In a while, once you get settled, say... a week or two, I will take you out, and get you outfitted for combat. Until then, you are restricted to the city. You cannot tell anyone about where we really are, as the little wristband delivers incentives whenever you try not to comply with orders, and cannot leave, as you need a special authorization to use the floor teleport in the city.. Capris will fill you in on the rest of what you need to know." And with that, he turned from Terra, still stunned, like she didn't exist, and talked to Capris. "I am going out."

"Where?" She asked in a worried tone, but she was talking to his back as he left at a brisk walk, and ignored it. She watched, sighed. "He's going to get smashed, and wander in the early hours of the morning. Damn." She shook her head, then turned to Terra, friendly smile on her face. "Anyway, welcome to the family!"

End 1

Alright, this was going to be a one shot, but... it got a little complicated. So, I am going to pinch it off here for now, and I promise, more shall be explained next time, but I kinda just wanted to drop you right in the middle of it, and let you learn along with Terra rather then explain it all in one go. Hope it's not to loathsome, and thanks.