To survive in a world

Created to be unbeatable

They must fight the beast.

Tainted Light

i luv niki4444

Chapter 2: December 1st

The sky was a soft grey in the early hours of the morning.

Dew twinkled brightly on the grass; green grass that the morning sun sent into a kaleidoscope of colors. Sparkling, twisting, creating anew.

'A perfect day.' Kagome thought.

She knew exactly how everything would happen.

At 7a.m. the warmth of the sun would cause the dew to evaporate.

8:30a.m the sun would begin to come on strong, it would wake up everyone, even those who did not wish to wake. The one's who threw a pillow over their heads and muttered "5 more minutes".

Throughout the day it would not surpass 91 degrees and a gentle breeze would cool down anyone foolish enough to stay outside for extended periods of time.

At 8p.m. the sun would finally begin its decent and the moon makes its appearance. Yet on this night the air would remain at 78 degrees and humid.

Kagome scoffed; how did she remember this day in particular so well?

She had created it, that was why.

Today was that day, the one that happened once a year, always the same day...

"Daddy! Why are you always working?!" A little girl said, jumping into the lap of her extremely busy father.

Kayaba Akihiko patted her back and ruffled her black hair. "Ahhh, Kagome. You're 7th birthday is tomorrow isn't it?"

Kagome nodded excitedly, grabbing onto his lab coat with pudgy hands and looking at him brightly. "Yeahhhh! What did you get me?! What is it!?"

He turned her around to face his computer; symbols, numbers, and letters were gathered in some kind of secret language that only the two of them could read and it warmed her heart. 'I'm the only one besides daddy who can read these, only me and daddy.'

It was the only thing they did together, he'd taught her the language and she'd given him her input. "I don't have a store boughten gift for you this year Kagome. This year... I'm going to let you design a piece of my game."

Her blue eyes reached saucer like proportions and she let out a series of well placed oohhhhhhs and aahhhhhhhhhhs. "Really?!"

He nodded focusing back on his computer screen. "You're going to design the weather of your birthday. Your ideal, perfect day. Does that sound like a good present?"

Kagome blinked back tears of joy and hugged him tightly. "The best present, EVER!" Sniffling, she pulled away and looked him straight in the eye. "Promise me that I'll get to see it one day?"

Kayaba Akihiko smiled at her gently, "I'll one up you. I promise that one day, you will live it Kagome."

"December 1st. You have no idea how much I hate you." Kagome muttered, watching as the time rolled by and her predictions came true.

Kagome tucked her head down and waited for the storm to come. "I was a beta too."

Kirito stared at her incredulously, "Then why did you ask for help?!"

Kagome made sure to blush extra madly. "I-I... I thought you were cool... I remembered seeing you in the beta meeting!" She started trembling and she finally made looked at him with tears gathering in her eyes. "But I'm too s-shy to ask you to be in a party with me... so I-I..." She trailed off.

There was a brief silence before Klein started laughing. "You really are as cute as a button Kagome-san!"

Kirito fumbled for words, honestly not knowing how to react to this kind of situation. "H-Hey don't cry Kagome-san it's alright."

She looked at him with tear tracks running down her face. "B-But I lied to you!"

He laughed awkwardly, reaching over to lay a hand on her shoulder. "Come on everyone tells a little lie every once in a while. I don't mind Kagome-san, but..." He paused looking her full in the face. "You could have just told me you wanted to be in a party."

"But she's too shy Kirito!" Klein crowed from behind him and Kirito gave him a half-hearted glare.

"Come on, I still have to show you how to do this!"

It had been a month since that day, since he'd abandoned those two. Two thousand players had died; was she gone as well?

Kirito's brow furrowed slightly. He didn't like the idea.

Klein was also at risk; of course he was also with a few people, maybe they'd managed to get by.

She was alone.

His pants made a slight swisshhhhing sound as he took slow steps forward, pacing himself with the rest of the crowd, before he managed to step to the side down a less populated alley to continue his journey.

The worst part of the whole thing, was that even with 2,000 dead players; even knowing that Kagome and Klein could be dead, their smiles never to be seen by his eyes again...

The worst was that they were still only on the first level. One of One Hundred.

And a fifth of their population was already gone.

It all just seemed so hopeless.

Even the beta testers didn't know where the boss room was located!

But today they were going to turn it around. A bunch of people were getting together to figure out how to do something about it! Kirito expertly navigated his way through the remaining alleyways and finally found the old coliseum that was to be the meeting place.

Kirito looked around the place and found there were quite a few people there, though it was not nearly as full as he would have expected it to be.

"Okay! Let's get started people!" Called a man with slightly long blue hair. "Thank you for coming today. My name is Diabel! I like to consider my "job" as Knight."

Most people laughed at his remark.

"There's no job system in this game!"

"You should take this seriously!"

"Then, is the meeting a joke, too?"

A hard edge entered Diabel's eye and he looked at them all, "Today, our party found the boss room at the top of the tower."

"Seriously?!"

"We need to defeat the boss, reach the second floor and tell everyone waiting in the Town of Beginnings that it is possible to beat this game! Everyone present here shares this duty." He looked around at them again. "Do you all agree?"

The crowd in front of him looked around at each other and gradually started clapping and nodding.

Kirito smiled slightly, maybe there was hope for the them after all.

"All right! Then let us begin our planning! First, divide into parties of six. An ordinary party has no chance against a floor boss. We'll need to form a raid group using multiple parties."

Kirito blanched looking around to see everyone had already partied.

Warning bells rang off and he glanced up a bit further and saw that there was a cloaked person without a party sitting in the same row as him, just a little ways away. As well as another sitting just a little above them.

Kirito slid down to the first figure. "Hey you got left out too?"

"I wasn't left out. I just stayed out because everyone seemed to know each other already." The girl under the cloak murmured.

"A solo player? Then, want to form a party with me?"

The girl looked at him with a slightly furrowed eyebrow.

Kirito gulped, "He just said we can't beat the boss on our own, that's why I thought we should party up along with that other girl sitting up there. Just for this fight?"

The girl nodded and Kirito sent out a party invitation, which she accepted.

'Asuna.'

Kirito turned around and quietly made his way up to the other girl. "Hey..."

"Party?" The girl asked, already knowing what he was about to say.

A small blush coated his cheeks and he nodded. "Ah, yeah." She accepted his invitation and he was slightly curious when the girl ducked in her head a little.

He frowned slightly when he saw that the health bar showed but her name didn't appear. "Um..."

"It's a special skill." She murmured and got up quietly to sit next to Asuna. Kirto shrugged slightly and hopped down to sit next to the mystery girl.

"Okay, have you formed your parties?" Diabel asked. "Then-"

"JUST A SECOND!" Someone called out Turning they saw someone standing at the top of the stairs, he hopped down in just three steps and landed in the middle of the platform. The man was slightly shorter, bulky, and had spiky brown hair. "My name's Kibaou."

He looked at them all and crossed his arms. "I wanna say something before we take on the boss."

"Eh?" The girl next to Kirito murmured and he had to agree, what could it possibly be?

"Some of you here need to apologize to the two thousand who have died so far!"

Diabel frowned. "Kibaou, are you referring to the beta testers?"

Kibaou turned to him and said, "Of course I am! On the day this stupid game started the beta guys ditched us beginners, they all disappeared. They took all the good hunting spots and easy quests for themselves so only they could get stronger. And then, they just ignored the rest of us."

His eyes flashed and he turned to wave his fist at the crowd. "I'm sure someone here was in the beta! They should get on their knees and apologize and give up all the items and money they've hoarded. Otherwise we can't trust them to protect us as party members and they shouldn't trust us!"

Kirito closed his eyes nervously waiting to be called out. His eyes snapped open when he felt a smaller hand slide into his own.

He looked back over at the unknown girl, but she wasn't even looking at him.

'A-Arigatou...'

"May I speak?" A man of darker skin, great height and obvious strength stood up and walked to stand in front of Kibaou. "My name is Egil. Kibaou, tell me if I have this right.

"You're saying that because the beta testers didn't take care of them, many beginners died. That they should take responsibility, apologize, and provide compensation. Correct?"

A bead of sweat rolled down Kibaou's face as he tried to hide how intimidated he was. "Y-Yeah."

Egil smoothly took out a brown book. "You got this guide-book, didn't you? It was provided for free at the item store."

"Sure I did... Why?"

"It was compiled from information given by the beta testers."

Everyone in the place -who had previously been riled up by Kibaou's speech- gasped. "Seriously?"

Egil turned to look at them. "Listen. Everyone had equal access to this information. And even still, many players died. I thought the topic of discussion here was what we could learn from their deaths, and how that can help us defeat the Boss."

Kibaou glared at him, but was forced to relent the topic because of the other man's good logic. Both sat down in the front row and Diabel took center stage once more.

"Alright. Then, can we resume? The latest edition of the guide-book has been issued, and it contains information on the boss. According to it, the Boss's name is Illfang the Kobold Lord. He is guarded by assistants known as Ruin Kobold Sentinels. He is armed with an axe and a buckler. He has four health bars, and when the last one enters the red. He switches to a curved sword-type weapon called a Talwar. His attack pattern changes as well.

"This concludes the briefing. Lastly, items will be automatically distributed. EXP goes to the party that defeats the monster. And whoever receives an item keeps it. Any objections?"

No one objected.

"Okay, we leave tomorrow at ten in the morning. See you there!"

When the speech was over everyone gathered around Diabel. Everyone, that is, except Kirito's party.

Asuna took off and Kirito was quick to follow, their mysterious little friend trailed along her hand still clutched tightly in Kirito's.

"Hey, why are you so quiet?" Kirito asked, looking at the girl next to him. He still didn't know her name and that annoying cloak was keeping him from seeing her face. Still something about her was familiar.

He made a choking as he realized how he must have sounded. "Ahhh, Gomen! I didn't mean to be rude!"

She tipped her head to him slightly, "I guess, I just don't feel like talking much." There was silence before she spoke up again, "Asuna. She's the other member of our party."

Kirito nodded, "Yeah, what makes you say that." Asuna had split up from the two of them as quickly as possible. Kirito had half expected this mystery girl to do the same, but she'd remained.

She hadn't let go of his hand either.

It was like she needed an anchor to keep her there... or something.

'She's so familiar. I know I've heard that voice before and yet I can't place it.' Kirito frowned, maybe he knew her outside of the game somehow.

He noticed that the girl's cheeks got a little red under that shadowy cloak. "Ahhhh, I was just wondering. Do you know her?"

Kirito frowned his head cocking to the side. "No, you?"

"Nope!"

'That voice, who is she?' He was once again reminded of how dang familiar she was when she spoke a little more cheerfully.

"Speak of the devil!" Kirito muttered seeing the object of their conversation sitting by a fountain not far away.

"Can we sit down?"

Asuna looked up slightly and nodded, sliding further away when the two did as he'd asked.

From there Kirito gave them both cream from a quest he'd done called "The Heifer Strikes Back." and he offered to help them complete it.

Little Miss Mystery said she'd already done it and that she'd let him have some of her cream and Asuna replied that she didn't come here for good food.

"So why are you here, if not for good food?" Kirito asked.

Asuna hesitated for a minute. "So I can still be me. I'd rather stay myself until the very end than sit and rot away at an inn, back in the first town. Even if I get killed by a monster, I don't want to lose to this game... To this world. No matter what."

Kirito frowned, eating the rest of his bread. "I wouldn't want a party member dying on me... so at the least, don't die tomorrow. Either of you."

It was with those words that the nameless girl finally let go of his hand and stood up to leave.

Kirito watched her walk away and saw Diabel approach her just within hearing range. "Ahhh! Hey, Ka-chan! Why did you refuse my party invitation. I know you don't do well with people you don't know!"

"Gomen-nasi, Diabel-kun. I suppose I wasn't thinking straight. I just thought perhaps those two could use more help."

He laughed, "Don't worry about it Ka-chan! And you'll do fine tomorrow, even fighting with people you don't recognize."

Kirito's eyes widened and the surprise on Asuna's face showed she'd been listening as well.

'She refused a party request with Diabel... because she knew Asuna and I would be the only ones left?'

Just who was 'Ka-chan'?

"Let's do it over again. Our leftovers are supposed to target the Boss's helpers; the Ruin Kobold Sentinels."

"I know," Asuna murmured.

"I'll use a sword skill to knock their pole axes up. The second I do, you both switch in."

Asuna frowned, "Switch?"

Kirito's eyes widened, "Is this the first time you've ever been in a party?"

"Yes."

Diabel stood in front of the door and faced everyone, "Listen up, guys. I have only one thing to say! " He looked around at them and smiled. "Let's win!"

With that he pushed the door open.

The room was dark to the people creeping in, but as soon as they'd all stepped in light flowed in and the door slammed shut.

Green, pink, blue, yellow, a kaleidoscope of colors made up the room. The Boss Monster jumped down from his throne and landed heavy on the forever changing floor, his landing causing quakes.

He roared and a red diamond appeared over his head as well as his name and health bars.

Lastly, the minions showed themselves, jumping from one foot to the other as they eagerly awaited their chance to slice into the players. Only six of them.

"COMMENCE ATTACK!" Diabel yelled pulling out his sword, all around him players leaped forward with battle cries.

As the attack went on, Diabel yelled orders.

Kirito's party was in charge of somehow keeping the Sentinels off him and the others while they went in to attack the boss.

Kirito attacked and then ordered a switch and like lightning both of the female party members were attacking a single Sentinel.

It didn't stand a chance.

Unfortunately for one of the girls, her cloak fell off, not that it really mattered.

Asuna huffed a little and tried to get her red cloak off the battlefield so she wouldn't step on it while fighting.

Kirito stared for a moment, he hadn't expected either girl to be able to fight well. He'd thought they were beginners!

Yet...

'They're so fast, I didn't even see them move until the Sentinel was dead. And Asuna...'

Well Asuna was just gorgeous.

He glanced over at 'Ka'. Her cloak had opened but the hood still shadowed her face.

Though her hair...

Kirito shook it off and switched in fighting off an enemy that got a little to close to Asuna for his liking.

"KA-CHAN MOVE!" Diabel suddenly shouted and both Kirito and Asuna whirled around to check on their party member.

Ka moved to the side in a flash and before long had her long black sword embedded deeply into the Sentinal's flesh, ending its life in an explosion of sparkling red.

Diabel was at her side in an instant. "Ka-chan what was that?" He'd never seen his friend come so close to being skewered.

"Nothing, Diabel-kun. I was distracted." She muttered as a response. "You have to get back to the boss."

It was then that he remembered who he'd been taking on when she'd gotten so close to death and he turned and ran back, landing the blow that got its fourth bar down to red.

All the players retreated while the boss monster threw down its weapons.

"Looks like that information was right." Kibaou said smugly.

"Stand back!" Diabel called, rushing forward. "I'll go!"

Kirito frowned curious as to what was going on. 'We were supposed to surround it with the entire group.'

It was then that the Boss Monster took out its final weapon.

It wasn't a Talwar. It was a No-Dachi.

Kirito and Ka's eyes widened at the same time.

"NO!" Kirito yelled. "Get back as fast as you can!"

"DIABEL-KUN GET BACK! IT'S CHANGED!" Ka screamed, rushing forward to protect her friend.

The Boss Monster jumped into the air and landed behind Diabel, it's landing causing quakes once again and putting Diabel on unsteady feet.

Diabel stared death in the face as the No-Dachi came toward him too fast to dodge, but then again he didn't have to.

There was a light wind and a clang of swords before Ka was in front of him, her sword barely holding under the pressure of the Boss Monsters attack.

"Ka-chan..." Diabel whispered, gratitude taking over his features. "Thank you."

"No, thank you Diabel-kun." She murmured as the sword cracked, "If not for you I would not have ever left the Town of Beginners."

Her sword cracked again and a gust of wind made her cloak slide off, revealing her face.

Kirito gasped in shock, his sword clanging to the ground. 'I knew it. I knew I knew her.'

It all made sense now.

The way she'd held his hand and wouldn't let go. She was afraid he'd leave her again.

Her voice was so much more familiar when she'd cheerfully said 'Nope'. After they'd gotten past her shy nature she'd been enthusiastic and hyper.

Her hair was bluish black. It was a color he'd never seen before on anyone. He'd seen greenish tints and reddish tints, but no blue.

Diabel called her Ka-chan. KA-gome-CHAN.

His fist clenched. She'd survived after he'd left her. Was it some cruel twist of fate that now she'd die in front of him?

'No. I won't let it happen...'

Grabbing his sword up off the ground, he charged forward and slashed the Boss Monster's side, making it release the pressure on Kagome's sword -which was broken beyond repair-. She dropped the sword and grabbed Diabel's just as he yelled, "SWITCH!"

Kagome let out a war cry, set on her revenge -Thing almost killed her friend!- and charged in dodging his attack and slash and leaped onto his arm getting in a good shot to his chest before calling, "SWITCH!"

With that Kirito went in and slashed his arm, before retreating to dodge a strike.

It was then that they noticed how quiet it was. Turning around slowly Kagome found Diabel, almost directly behind her, holding her discarded sword... with a slash across his chest.

On the floor.

Dying.

Tears entered her eyes and she ran to his side, falling halfway there and sliding to him. Kirito was next to her in an instant. "Diabel, what were you doing!"

She'd known her friend was headstrong, but this was a stupid move. To take a useless sword and head into battle...

Realization clicked into her mind. The special bonus reward.

"You were a beta tester too." Kirito whispered understandingly.

Diabel nodded and clutched at Kagome's hair. "You have to... kill the Boss... for everyone. Please..."

"It's gone Diabel. Everything is going to be fine." Kagome murmured, hoping he was too far gone to notice that the Boss was being held off by some of the other players as she took out a health item."You're going to be-"

She was interrupted when he grabbed the item and shook his head. "P-Put it... a-away Ka-chan." He turned his head slightly, "H-He's the o-one, is-isn't he? The g-guy y-you were wai-waiting for b-ack in t..."

The light left his eyes and he erupted into a flurry of green sparks.

Kagome's eyes widened and she tried to grab the quickly disappearing pieces. "No...No... NO! Diabel..."

Kirito grabbed her arm. "Kagome... he's gone..."

"NO! LET GO! I CAN SAVE HIM! I KNOW I CAN SAVE HIM! LET ME GO KIRITO!"

Tears gathered in Kirito's eyes as his friend struggled and cried, screaming and kicking until finally she gathered into a sobbing mess in his arms.

'When this game started, the only thing I thought about was surviving. I left Kagome and Klein back in the Town of Beginners. However, Diabel, you were a beta tester. But you never abandoned the other players. You led everyone and you fought brilliantly! You tried to do what I could not.'

"No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No..."

"Kagome, the boss is still there. You have to help me and Asuna fight it." Kirito murmured gently as his other party member appeared by his side.

"It doesn't matter. Nothing matters." Kagome replied back hollowly. "Nothing..."

Asuna frowned, trying to think of a way to get the heartbroken girl up. "Kagome-san, the thing that killed your friend is right there. Don't you want revenge?"

Kagome looked up at her uncomprehendingly for a moment before her eyes darkened and she wiped away her tears, "Diabel's...killer. A monster." She turned to get a look at the Boss Monster and grabbed the sword she'd dropped in her haste to check on Diabel. "Let's do this."

Charging in Kirito made it just in time to save Egil and he turned back to his party members as the creäture stumbled unsteadily on its feet.

"One more strike! Asuna, Kagome! We do this together!"

The girl's nodded and ran in with this stabbing and chopping until finally Kirito got in a slash that was beyond the point of fatality.

It shattered into a rainbow of colors and everyone erupted into cheers.

Everyone but the party who had defeated it.

Congratulations!

The sign had appeared from the flurry of red sparks and wouldn't disappear until everyone left the room.

"We did it!"

Kirito was on one knee, with Kagome in the same position beside him, when a sign appeared in front of him.

Congratulations

()(_)()

You get the last attacking bonus!

Bonus Item.

*Coat Of Midnight

"Good work." Asuna said, making him turn around. She and Egil stood there looking at both him and Kagome a bit soberly.

Egil nodded to him. "That was splendid swordsmanship. Congratulations. This victory belongs to you."

"No... " Kirito shook his head as the room's contents cheered him on.

"Why?!" Kibaou suddenly yelled, getting the attention of everyone. "Why did you let Diabel die?"

"Let him die?" Someone whispered. "It looked to me they were trying to save him."

"Of course! You two knew that technique the boss used! If you'd bothtold us about that up front, your sword wouldn't have been broken and he could have used it to shield himself. He wouldn't have died!"

There was whispering amongst the gathered players and they now looked at Kirito untrustingly.

"They must be beta testers! That's how they knew all the boss's attack patterns!"

"They knew but they didn't tell us!"

"Other beta testers are here too right?! Come out!"

Kirito frowned, 'This is bad. At this rate...' He gulped.

That's when terrible laughter lit up the entire room, every occupant turned, including a stunned Kirito.

Kagome got up with a flourish. "Beta tester? I wish you wouldn't compare us to those newbies."

"W-What?!"

"Most of the thousand beta testers were beginners." Kirito said, getting onto what she was doing and standing himself. "They didn't even know how to level up. You guys are better than they are!"

"But we're not like them." Kagome finished and they began walking toward where they knew they could enter the next level. "I made it higher than anyone else during the beta test and he was right behind me."

"The reason we knew the boss's skills, is because we fought monsters with katana skills on floors far above us."

Kagome smiled darkly, "We know a lot more. Way more than any information broker."

Kibaou took a step back. "W-What? That's way worse than a beta tester. You're cheating! You're cheaters!"

The crowd erupted in yells of "Cheaters!"

"Cheaters and Beta Testers! They're Beaters!"

Kirito grinned. "Beaters. I like it don't you, Kagome-chan?"

Kagome smiled when he went back to her honorific. "That's right... we are beaters. The only two in existence. From now on don't confuse us with the other testers."

Kirito -who had been messing around with his items- selected his new cloak of midnight. With that the two headed up the stairs.

"Wait!" Asuna called running to get to where they were. "You called my name when we were fighting."

"Sorry for using just your first name. Or did I mess up the pronunciation?" Kirito asked.

"Where did you learn it?"

"You can see another HP Gauge under yours right? Isn't something written next to it?"

"Ki...ri..to... Kirito? Is that your name?"

"Yeah."

She paused a moment before blushing with a small laugh. "Oh, it's been there all this time!"

Kirito looked down at her solumnly. "You'll be really strong. So if someone you trust ever invites you to join a guild, don't turn them down. There's a big limit to what you can do as a solo player."

"Then, what about you?"

Kirito moved forward another step before disbanding the party. Kagome moved a little closer and put her hand on his arm before turning back to the other girl. "Bai~! Asuna-chan~!"

With that they both walked into the door that opened for them.

Ready to go to the next level.

i luv niki4444

YOU'RE A BEATER!

...Sorry I couldn't help it LOL! :D

Hey guys! After a very VERY long wait, here is chapter two of Tainted Light. Hope you like it!

Now, if I'm write the two year time skip occurs somewhere between the third and fourth episode so I will FINALLY be able to branch out from the SAO episodes without feeling like I'm changing the entire story plot.

Anyway, again Enjoy! REVEIW!

THANKS GUYS !

Love Always

~ Niki