S-S: And we're back! Sorry it took so long. I had finals and an audition to prepare for-mcdinh's had her part done for over a week.
Sky: What do you mean? And where's mcdinh?
S-S: See, instead of having your part and Crystal's part in the same chapter, mcdinh and I decided that I'll post both POVs simultaneously as different chapters. That way the shift will be easier to get used to.
Sky: Uh...huh...
S-S: Yep!
Sky: ...As long as you don't let your muses pour all the evil into this chapter, I'm okay with that.
S-S: Pfft, they're doing that with Crimson Games. And the evil only starts at the END of this chapter.
Sky: What-
S-S: We don't own Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds or SAO! Enjoy!

Chapter 1

Sky's POV

"Meema! Wake up!"

Something heavy landed on my stomach, and I let out all the air in my lungs with an "Oof." I slowly opened my eyes, knowing what I'd see. My six-year-old daughter, her short golden hair tied up in something resembling a ponytail, her green eyes filled with bubbly excitement. Even though I didn't like being woken up by getting jumped on, I couldn't help but smile. "Good morning, Reli…" I whispered.

She giggled. "Mornin' Meema!"

The clock showed 10:43. I didn't usually sleep this long - but I guess it couldn't be helped. That vision last night was exhausting, plus this way I have less time to kill while waiting for SAO to go online.

I ruffled her hair a little. "Say, Reli, why don't you go tell your daddy to go make me some food while I get dressed, okay?"

"Uh-huh!" Aurelia, my daughter, grinned again. "Extra-special pancakes! And then you tell me a reeeeeeeally long story, and then we can play that game!"

"Exactly, sweetie."

She's out of the room in a second. Sometimes, I had to wonder where she got her energy from…

Two hours passed by surprisingly quick. I didn't really care, and neither did Aurelia or Shoshan. We were all so excited to play SAO together - especially Aurelia, because this was her first time ever playing a virtual reality game.

We already had all of the equipment set up in Shoshan's and my bedroom, so all we had to do was strap on the NerveGear to be ready to start. We all got on the bed, with Aurelia sandwiched between me and my husband.

"Well…?"

Shoshan nodded. "It's time."

My daughter grabbed my hand, and I bet she was holding Shoshan's hand as well. A smile found its way onto my face, before all three of us declared, "Link Start!"

~X~

It took me awhile to decide on my avatar's name, which was why they probably made it into the SAO world before me even though we started the link at the same time. My outfit consisted of: a black shirt, with sleeves that went down to my wrists and poofed out a little; a thick leather vest, likely for protection from enemy attacks; a dark purple skirt that ends about three inches above my knees, which I am okay with; and black boots trimmed with purple. And my name while playing in here would be Dusk.

With that, I entered the game.

I froze up while trying to reorient myself to my surroundings. I had to be in a town square of some sort. There were people all around me, but I didn't recognize any of them. Did Shoshan and Aurelia start the game without me?

"That you, Sky?"

Or not. I spun around, and saw two people. I knew instantly that they were my daughter and husband, but they looked totally different. Shoshan had longer hair, which was also a little darker. His eyes were blue instead of green. Oh, and I'd never seen him in armor before - a silver chestplate atop a dark blue shirt, with leg guards and some heavy-looking boots.

Aurelia, on the other hand? For one, she changed her age to look like she's thirteen or so instead of almost seven. For another, her hair was now black. Her outfit was also blue, although it didn't come with a lot of armor. I wouldn't be surprised - it would probably be too heavy for her.

"Ah? Shoshan, Aurelia?" I replied, just to be safe.

The blonde nodded, but added, "My name's Dox in this game, though."

"Mine's Natsumi!" the girl cheered. "How 'bout yours, Meema? Did ya change it?"

I ruffled her hair - it still felt the same from when I did it this morning - and smiled. "Yep. I'm Dusk."

"I love it!" Aure - Natsumi - exclaimed. Then she grabbed my hand and started tugging me towards one of the side streets. "C'mon Meema! We gotta go see the market!"

I liberated my hand from her grasp, and smiled slightly. "Okay, okay, I'm coming."

"Um… The market's the other way," Dox interrupted.

…Man, it's going to take some getting used to their new names. And my own, too.

~X~

Clothes, armor, weapons, accessories. If another RPG had it, then this market had it in abundance. Everything short of magic, anyways. A lot of it was way too expensive for brand-new players to buy, though. I could probably only buy a basic weapon or healing item after fighting a few enemies.

That, of course, led to my daughter spotting a necklace in an accessory stand. It was a black cord, with crystal beads and one amethyst stone tied onto it. The stone was surrounded in a gold trim.

Natsumi looked at me; her eyes practically screamed that she wanted it. "P-Please, Meema?"

Haha… no, I thought when I spotted the price tag. 100,000 Cor. "Sorry Mimi," ah, figured out a nickname for her, "but we don't have enough money. Not even close."

"Daddy, don't you have enough?" she whined.

He looked sad as he shook his head. "We'd be lucky to get that much in a month. Not now… Mimi."

"Aw…" Her dejected face lasted all of five seconds. It then lit up, probably because she came up with an idea. Which she did, and shared with us immediately. "Let's go kill some monsters and get more money! Then I can get the necklace!"

Did she not hear the part where Dox said it would probably take over a month to get enough Cor? Oh well. At least we had a goal to work towards other than beating the game. Not only that, but it was the perfect excuse to get used to the weapons in SAO. Dox and I both had Straight Swords - his was two-handed while mine was only one - and Natsumi had a Short Sword, so our… if I remembered correctly, the manual referred to them as sword skills… would be different.

If the starting town, aptly named Town of Beginnings, was impressive, then the fields that surrounded it were ten times better. They looked like they went on forever (even though I knew they didn't), and the plants were all perfectly detailed.

And then there were the demon boars. I'd like to call them that even though they didn't really cause me any trouble. Why I called them the demon boars was because I saw a fifteen-year-old boy with teal hair and gold eyes, who pretty much sucked at fighting, getting destroyed by one.

Seriously, why? The boars are literally the weakest monsters in this game. I shrugged away the thought. He'll learn eventually.

~X~

Four hours, two dozen monsters, and 720 Cor earned later, my husband asked, "Think you got a hang of things, Sky? Er, I mean, Dusk?"

"Yeah," I replied. "I just wish we earned more money. I mean, only 30 Cor each time we defeat a boar? We'll never get anywhere." Especially if Mimi wants that necklace that badly.

"Eh." Dox shrugged, and stared back at the sky. It was only 5:25, but the sun was already going down. The skies were painted with golds and deep pinks - nearly as beautiful as sunsets in the real world. The programmers for this game must have been experts to pull this off. "It is what it is."

"Do we have enough for that pretty necklace yet?" Mimi squealed.

"Sorry… We've got a long way to go."

"Oh." She frowned a little, and then yawned. Immediately afterward, she clamped a hand over her mouth. "I-I'm not tired!" she cried out. "I don't wanna leave SAO yet! I love it here!"

"We've been here for over four hours though," I told her. "We need a break." I brought up the menu with a swipe of my right hand, and then stared at it in confusion. On the main tab, the bottom choice was empty. The bottom choice was supposed to be the log-out button. "Um… Dox… Total noob question, but how are we supposed to log-out if it's not on the menu?"

His brow furrowed as he went to check his own menu. It, too, was missing the log-out button. "Well… That's weird…" he muttered.

"No kidding."

"So… we can't go home?" Natsumi asked with a grin. Of course she would be happy about a game-breaking glitch, if it meant her being able to stay in Aincrad some more.

I sighed. "It looks like it." I wished we could go home though. I mean, this game was great and all, but I didn't want to be stuck in it forever. Plus, I was supposed to meet some friends from work for dinner at 6… and I wouldn't have to pay for it…

A bell started to ring. Each gong drove a shock through my body, and I wanted it to stop. Why would a bell be ringing in the first place? Was there some sort of event? I get my answer a second later, when a blue light blinded me. It took a bit of blinking to get my vision back into focus, and when I do, I realized we were back in the Town of Beginnings.

Then the sky started blaring an alarm, turning into a grid with hexagonal blocks. Something that looked an awful lot like blood seeped out of the cracks between the blocks, but it never reached the ground. Instead, the blood-like substance gathered into a giant figure - red robes, lined with gold, and we couldn't see his face. The figure spread his arms, and declared, "Attention players, I welcome you to my world." A pause, and he continued, "My name is Akihiko Kayaba and, as of this moment, I am in control of this world."

S-S: Alright, that's it.
Sky: Really? Was that blood coming from the sky really necessary?
S-S: Considering that was from SAO itself, yes, I'd say it was necessary.
Sky: *Sigh* So... then... what's with the avatar names?
S-S: You mean the fact that they're references to my other stories? I mean, what did you expect me to do, keep your name the same like Asuna did?
Sky: Yeah, pretty much. ...Although, how is "Dox" a reference?
S-S: Remember the different backstory I gave to Paradox in Blue Sky?
Sky: Yeah, but what does-oh. Paradox. Dox. I get it.
S-S: Good. Well... that's all for now. You guys review and go on and read mcdinh's chapter! And review it too!