Sword Art Online: Zina's Tale
Chapter 1: Link Start!
His name was Zina... Zina Kiadai, and he had always been fascinated by MMORPG's and virtual reality. Today he was going to be able to combine his love for both by playing the new hit MMO, Sword Art Online. The game had already been beta tested and unfortunately, Zina hadn't heard about the game until after the beta test or he surely would've signed up for it.
He was in such a rush he didn't even eat breakfast. He threw his clothes on and ran for the door. "Where do you think you're going in such a rush Zina?" His Mom asked. "Oh uh, hi Mom. Remember that release of SAO that's coming out today? Well I'm kind of running late and the line will be a mile long before I get there if I don't leave now, so bye!" He heard his Mom yelling at him as he swung open the front door and burst down the sidewalk.
His feet hit the pavement with such force he thought he would surely crack the cement. He ran faster than a lion chasing its prey. Finally, he rounded the corner of the block and nearly slammed into another person waiting in line for SAO. "Whoa, watch where you're going kid!" The man exclaimed.
"Sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't realize the line would be this long while I was running." Zina apologized, but the man didn't seem to care all too much to listen to his explanation. As soon as he said what he had to say to Zina, he went on waiting in line. It actually kind of pissed him off. Sure he ran into the guy, but he could've at least listened to Zina's explanation before he turned away and went about his business.
Then again. It could've just been his disdain for almost everyone. He only had a handful of friends. All of his friends liked what he liked and they always got along, even though Zina hardly ever talked to them. He wasn't too keen on approaching new people because of the world's stupidity. Everyone he encountered upset him and/or pissed him off. But, when he did run into new people who tried to say something to him, he put in his best effort to talk back and be friendly.
The line lasted what seemed like forever before it even got halfway, and Zina was starting to get hungry. He pulled out a bag of chips from his drawstring bag and munched on them in line. He was actually surprised he hadn't seen any of his friends in line, waiting for their own copy of SAO. Maybe they didn't have the money, or maybe they just weren't interested in this particular RPG. No, that was impossible. They had all been ranting about it for the past month. There was no way any of them would pass it up.
Finally, when he got near the front of the line, his best friend Jameson passed him and waved his game box in the air at him. "See you on the other side Zina, maybe we can start a guild?" Jameson scoffed, he knew that Zina didn't like partying up in video games. He was more of the lone wolf type, he didn't like people getting in his way. Nor did he like the idea of leading anyone. "Yea," Zina said half laughing. "maybe."
When Jameson walked away, Zina continued to wait in line while typically staring at his feet before he finally made it into the store. He was so tired that he nearly forgot why he was there. He walked up to the counter and said drearily "One copy of Sword Art Online please." The man kind of just looked at him weirdly before replying "That'll be 60 dollars."
Zina reached into his pocket and fished out the one hundred dollar bill he had earned by working at his Mom's IT workplace for a day and handed it to the man. Good thing that he had already purchased the nerve gear before the release of SAO in preparation. "Here you go, have a good one." The man said, and handed back Zina's change and his copy of the game. That was enough to restore his energy and make him plow through the crowds to get back home.
He slammed the front door open and called out "I'm home!" Then he ran into his room and instantly turned the PC on. But before he could even login, his Mom barged in. "Not so fast Zina, you still have to eat dinner, take a shower, and everything else before I even let you look at that helmet contraption thing."
Zina looked at his Mom extremely annoyed. "Mom, it's called a nerve gear." He stated. "Well, whatever it is, I don't want you on it until you have done everything I have said." She said, starting to raise her voice. He didn't like his Mom when she was angry. So to save himself from utmost destruction he just did as he was told and headed downstairs for dinner.
He gulped down his food in a few minutes flat and ran for the shower. As soon as he stepped into the steam, his mind began to wander. What class will I choose? What weapon will I use? A sword would be good for medium to short range combat. But, a bow would be really good for long distance combat. What type of armor would he wear? Light armor would make for better mobility. But, heavy armor would be better protection. The possibility's were unending.
Zina sat in the shower for a good hour before he realized the water was turning cold. He turned off the shower and got out to dry and brush his teeth and hair before he went to his room. He stepped out of the bathroom and it was like an icy dungeon. He had already gotten use to the steamy confinement and was not prepared for the coldness of his house.
When he went into his room he looked at the clock and realized it was already 11 o' clock. Dammit, he had school tomorrow, and he didn't want to be tired all day. So, he debated his options and decided that the game could wait until tomorrow. He slid into bed and kept thinking about the game. Everything would be new and exciting. What would it be like to be in a whole different world?
After about 30 minutes of thinking, his mind at last allowed sleep to come to him. But he almost wished he wouldn't have fallen asleep, because unlike in real life, Zina was vulnerable to the unimaginable in his sleep. Nightmares didn't come often to him. But when they hit, they hit hard. They almost always included death, or they involved a sickness or plague of some sort. But this dream was different. It didn't involve any of that.
He was on a snowy mountain, overlooking a luscious green field, spotting ruins and other amazing landmarks. It was the most amazing thing he had ever seen. It almost seemed like it was a whole, brand new world. Despite the coldness of the mountain, he lay down in the snow and stared at the sky. It was a brilliant blue with an orange tint to it from the sunset, and the clouds looked like huge cotton balls. For some reason it seemed like it was more vivid than the world he lived in. But then things took a turn.
The sky and the clouds turned red, blood red. Then a grid started expanding across the sky above him. In each rectangular polygon read "Warning". Zina wondered what that meant. Could something very bad be happening? Is this the way the world would end? What was he even looking at? He looked down at his feet to see them start to disintegrate and fly off in particles. The same thing started happening to the rest of his body, until he was a great nothingness.
He felt light headed as his body reformed itself in the middle of a town. He looked around as people of all shapes and sizes mimicked him, looking very confused. He looked at a sign on a statue in the center of the town. It read "Town of Beginnings". Was that the name of the town? He had so many questions. Why was he here? When could he leave?
Zina looked around and spotted a familiar face. It was Jameson; why in the hell would he be here? He rushed through the crowd, anxious to reach his friend. When he finally fought through the mass of people he grabbed Jameson's shoulder. "Jameson!" He shouted, but his friend didn't respond. "Jameson!" He tried again, still nothing. After a few tries, he gave up trying to make contact with his friend. Jameson looked different, confused like everyone else, and maybe he even looked scared.
It was calm for a few minutes, and then the sky started bleeding. He looked up into the sky as the red fluid poured down and started shaping itself into human form. When it finally stopped, the human silhouette had been completed. He stood there, no, floating there. It was completely silent and said nothing. A few seconds passed, but it felt like minutes. The floating figure exhaled and began speaking. 'My name is Kayaba Akihiko, and welcome to Sword Art Online."
Zina woke up in a cold sweat and nearly puked. But why? It wasn't a brutal dream, nor was it scary at all. What could it have meant? No, he was thinking this through too much. Nothing more, nothing less, it was just a dream. He got up and allowed himself a glass of water before he went back to bad. He looked up at the wall. It was 3 in the morning, and he was still laying here awake. Finally he dosed off into a bliss, dreamless sleep.
"Zina! It's 8 o' clock, wake up or you'll be late!" His mother called.
"Ok, ok, I'm up mom!" He replied.
He walked downstairs and grabbed some toast that his mom had cooked and headed for the bus stop. When he arrived at the bus stop he noticed something strange, Jameson wasn't there. He always met up with him at the bus stop. Oh well, maybe he was just running late or something. Perhaps he even stayed at home to play SAO. He was the type of person to do something like that.
He gave up on assuming that Jameson was late by the time the bus got there. He came to the conclusion that he just skipped to play the new game. So he climbed up the stairs to the bus and took a seat and noticed something. Half of the people on the bus were gone. No way that many people on his bus could be interested in MMO's. Even if they did, they definitely wouldn't skip school over it. Zina finally dismissed the thought and assumed some flu was going around or something.
When he got to the school he sat down at a table and took out a book and started to read it. It wasn't his favorite pass time activity, but what else did he have to do? He read for a few minutes until the bell finally rang. He looked up and realized that not only half the people from his bus were absent. But almost every soul in the school was. Something was definitely up, then he remembered his dream and started to think that it couldn't be a coincidence.
"Hey Mom, I need you to come get me. They're dismissing the school early because almost everyone is gone. Even most of the teachers aren't here today."
"Huh, that is weird. Ok, I will be there as soon as possible."
When she finally arrived, Zina grabbed his things and waved to the people in the front office and took off. He got into the car and his Mom looked at him, seemingly waiting for an explanation. "So, did they tell you anything?" She remarked.
"Well no, but I have a good idea of what I think is going on. But it's just a hunch, and I'd rather not say anything about it until I know for sure."
He expected an argument and for her to force him to tell her. But she instead just nodded and carried on driving. They stopped for lunch and continued the rest of the way home. When he finally got home, Zina didn't wait a second. He told his mom that he would be in his room for a little while and not to come in. Then he raced upstairs, threw his book bag down, and started his computer. He inserted the SAO game disk into the computer and put on the nerve gear. He lay down on his bed shaking nervously. I hope I know what I'm doing. He thought to himself, then he closed his eyes.
"Link start!"
