Chapter 1

Link Start

The faucet was dripping.

From her volatile perch on the edge of her precariously tilting bunk bed, Luna could hear the soft plink, plink sound resonating from behind the thin wall that separated her bedroom from the bathroom. Steve must have left the faucet on, she thought bitterly. In fact, he'd probably done it just to annoy her, since Steve was perfectly aware of her bedroom's close proximity to the bathroom.

Well, maybe not. It could just have easily been Ariel, but Luna had a gut feeling it had been Steve. After all, he was an all-around jerk.

After a minute of intense speculation on how to deal with this dilemma, Luna finally resolved to ignore the aggravating dripping, determinedly plunging her nose into the fantasy novel resting on her lap and trying her best to drown out the sound, but to no avail. Her inner environmentalist berated her, insisting that water was being wasted and why was she still sitting there and doing nothing about it?

Luna shook these thoughts away. Let Steve turn it off in the morning, she resolved.

Her unfaltering bravado only lasted for a few seconds. Groaning quietly, Luna cautiously lowered herself to the ground, where her feet floundered for a bit on the rough carpet before sliding into her soft, fuzzy slippers. Keeping her footfalls as silent as possible, Luna cracked open her bedroom door before slipping into the hallway.

The clock on the wall read 12:46 PM; way past her bedtime. Not that she'd ever paid much attention to her bedtime, anyway; most seventh graders didn't. Well, at least she wasn't a hard-core rule breaker, like those kids in her grade who snuck out at midnight to party at bowling alleys and stuff like that.

Stuff like that. Her vocabulary was atrocious, she knew. Luna's English teacher would flip if he ever caught her saying that. Snickering quietly to herself, Luna envisioned his reaction.

Tiptoeing across the wooden floorboards, Luna could hear the television blaring from downstairs. Her older sister, Ariel, was probably lounging on the couch with Steve, her cheap boyfriend. Luna's nose wrinkled with distaste at the thought of Steve. He smoked, was a complete slob, and Luna was pretty sure he was cheating on her sister. Not to mention he was also an all-around jerk.

But the worst part was that because of Steve, Luna barely got to see her sister anymore. These days, Ariel was always off at some party with him, and the few times Luna ever had a chance to hang out with her, Ariel always excused herself to go do something else with Steve. Luna resented him for that.

Whatever Ariel saw in Steve, Luna would never know. She just wished Ariel would listen to her and dump him already.

Carefully squeezing through the doorway, Luna reached out and shut the faucet off. The silence that followed was bliss. Luna pivoted on one heel and stepped into the hallway, tiptoeing cautiously across the creaky wooden floor. Upon re-entering her bedroom, Luna silently looked over her shoulder to check that the coast was clear before closing the door. Clambering back onto the top bunk of her bunk bed, Luna exhaled, letting out a relieved breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. She'd turned the faucet off, and no one knew she was still awake. Mission accomplished, Luna thought smugly.

After a few more minutes of lying listlessly around, Luna hopped down onto the carpeted floor. Yawning slightly, she examined herself in the full-length mirror that adorned the opposite wall. Her wavy dark hair stopped a few inches below her shoulders, and her dark brown eyes shined in the low light. Luna's medium brown skin, slightly shiny with sweat from the excitement of her midnight escapade, was barely visible underneath her thick woolen pajamas.

Luna took a minute or two to admire her reflection some more. She knew she was quite pretty for her age, since both her parents, who had passed away a few years back, were also notably good-looking. They were both from India, though they and Ariel had moved to the US before Luna had been born. She felt a slight twinge in her heart at the thought of them.

Combing her fingers through her hair, Luna posed at her reflection. Appreciating your own beauty wasn't vanity per se; it was just a show of self confidence. That was the motto Luna had always lived by, and she stuck by it with pride.

Turning around, Luna's eyes fell on the prone NerveGear shoved hastily under her bed. It was already plugged into the monitor, and Luna knew that when 1:00 AM came, all she had to do was slide it onto her head before she would plunge into the world of virtual reality. Her fingers trembled with anticipation.

Lucy, Luna's best friend, was Japanese. She'd ordered the NerveGear straight from Japan, so that she'd be one of the first to try out the new virtual reality game, Sword Art Online. Unfortunately, she'd left for Japan a week before the starting of the interactive VR game, and since the NerveGear didn't fit in her suitcase, she'd lent it to Luna to use until she returned.

So far, Luna had done a superb job of hiding the NerveGear, and she sincerely hoped Ariel or Steve didn't suddenly decide to check on her in the middle of the night. If they did, Luna knew she would have a lot of explaining to do.

Checking the digital clock on her nightstand, Luna nearly tripped over her own feet in shock. The clock read 1:03 AM. She'd missed the grand opening of SAO!

Frantically shoving the NerveGear over her head, Luna took a few deep breaths to calm herself. It was only three minutes, after all. She couldn't have missed too much.

Luna climbed onto the bottom bunk. This was it, she thought. She, Luna Raval, was taking the first step into the breathtaking world of virtual reality.

Closing her eyes, Luna uttered the two words that, unbeknownst to her, would change her ordinary life forever.

"Link Start."

Author's Note: Hey guys! I really hope you're enjoying this so far. The action starts in the next chapter, so don't worry.

If any of you are wondering about the time zone difference, then yes, I am aware that 1 AM in Japan would be noon on the east coast of the US because of the time zones. But for the sake of the story, I kept it at 1 AM.

Remember to review my story; constructive criticism is welcome!

-Ember ;)