*BTW – names? Is it Erd or Eld? Gunter or Gunther (or Guntra?)? And is Levi technically a Captain or Corporal? I keep trying to look this up but seem to always get mixed results. I've never read the manga though so… If anyone could help me out, then I can make changes and fix whatever's wrong. Thanks!

Chapter Three – The New Players

The blue light of a teleport always seemed to shine on forever. With that blinding glow, the weightlessness that I felt, the loss of all sense of time – it certainly did feel endless. In this instance, even more than usual.

When the world rearranged itself back into order, a once-familiar sight met my eyes. Just seconds after I felt my feet touch solid ground, a small notification interrupted my vision – not that I needed it. The words were plain and white, telling me exactly where I was. A place I hadn't been in a long, long time.

Floor 1, Town of Beginnings.

We had all teleported to the Main Plaza, otherwise known as the spawn point. It was a place that I'd opened my eyes to see countless times during the beta test, back when I could fight and die as if it didn't matter. I had this courtyard memorized.

Except – now…

It wasn't the same. Because – at the center of the open area, gathered into a tight knot like a pack of wolves, was…something new. Something impossible, so much that the sight sent a wave of icy chills across my body.

That tight group was made up of about a hundred people, most of them wearing some sort of uniform – tan jackets bearing some emblem, although the symbol varied; many of them also wore some awkward, clunky-looking equipment consisting of huge metal boxes worn on the hips. Some of the people at the center of the group actually looked more like the average 'peasant' – they wore regular shirts and pants, without weapons or any sort of uniform. There weren't many of them, though.

Uniform or no, every single person in that group had something in common – they all looked completely and totally unnerved. Some were looking around in bewilderment, eyes wide and mouths gaping – others grit their teeth, scowling in fear. And, those on the edges of the group – all of them, undeniably, looking much more dangerous than the others – stood poised to attack, glaring outwards and brandishing plain, straight and deadly-looking blades. Two blades – each person held two, one in each hand.

I stared, my mind blank, along with the rest of the players who'd accumulated on the edges of the plaza. Impossible…but true…

There were new players in Sword Art Online.

That burning, white blankness – seemed to last forever. Time meant nothing – every emotion, feeling and thought was wiped from the mind, seared away.

And suddenly – it was over.

When Eren's feet ended up on solid ground once again – rather than noticing the sensation of regaining gravity, it seemed that it was just instantaneous. One second, there was nothing – and the next, he could suddenly feel a hard surface pressing against the soles of his boots. Just at the same second, he realized that the blinding white light from whatever that was had been replaced with another vibrant light, mixed with varying colors and hues. His senses were flooded with abrupt information, all at once; it was truly overwhelming. Without even realizing it, Eren squeezed his eyes shut, ducking his head and noticing a growing pain centered on his temple.

When the brightness had somewhat faded, Eren's eyes ended up open again. What he saw – took a moment to be understood. When it was…

Three things. First, his eyes immediately latched on to the closest and most familiar thing around him - an array of figures surrounded him, creating what seemed like a blanket of tan and white. Soldiers - survey corps soldiers, at that. The sight would have been comforting, but a second later, he took a closer look.

They were soldiers – his comrades, his friends. But something was wrong. On every face, all Eren could see was tension – Petra, crouching slightly with her teeth gritted fiercely. Eld, eyes narrowed in suspicion. Mikasa, standing directly in front of Eren – her eyes were reduced to slits, her face twisted by a scowl; both of her blades were drawn, Eren realized with a start. Levi – the captain was standing just a few feet to the right of Mikasa, turning his head as he glanced around, almost searching for someone – his stance was tight and tense, knees bent as if he were ready to jump at any moment.

What's going on?

Eren was beginning to get the feeling that he'd missed something important. And so, he forced his eyes to widen despite the brightness, and he looked past his companions.

The next thing he noticed – people. A crowd, dozens of unfamiliar faces – they leapt out at him, strange and almost unnatural. What was with all those bright colors? Elaborate clothes, shiny armor, ridiculously impractical hairstyles. Eren balked, just looking at them – and who were they, anyway?

And how did…

But that's when the memory came back to him. ERROR. Red light, sunless sky. Everything – dissolving.

What the hell happened?!

Eren's heart jumped into his throat as he glanced around with fresh panic – where were they? All he could see was exotic-looking buildings, bright green plants, bright blue sky, strangely bright faces – too unnatural, too different. What was this place – the Capital? What was that?

And suddenly it was as if someone switched the sound on – as if he'd been underwater and now, he was abruptly back on dry land. Frantic muttering filled the air, thick and dull like the buzzing of insects.

"…what is this place?"

"The hell happened back there?"

"Who are they?"

He could hear the voices of them as well, though he couldn't make out what they were saying; it was just a quiet murmur of barely-concealed panic. They were scared too – the thought came and went, and Eren found his hands reaching for his blades. This isn't right–

Suddenly Levi's voice broke through the muttering, low but still somehow clear. "Everybody shut up," said Levi slowly, still staring off at the crowd of strangers. "…And group together. Just stay calm."

"Levi," whispered a soft voice from Eren's left – it was Petra. "Do you have any idea…?" Her voice trailed off, and Levi's continued silence seemed to answer her question.

"It's obvious – we've been abducted." Gunther's voice was low, aimed deliberately at just those who were in the near vicinity. "Drugged, somehow – it would explain all that, back there. Hallucinations."

"That doesn't explain where we are," hisses Petra quietly. "I've never seen a place like this–"

"Quiet!" Levi snapped – there was something in his tone that said he was serious, even though he always was. Eren heard all the muttering from his fellow soldiers fade into silence again – but, not exactly silence. Beyond their tightly-knit circle, the whispering continued – that, and a sudden flurry of noise. Footsteps.

Eren craned his neck to get a better view, because there was something coming – someone. From across the strange courtyard, at a sort of opening between the buildings, emerged a dark shape. It took form in seconds – dozens of people, marching together in a brisk and hurried way. They all wore matching suits of armor, dark grey – one man led the group, his steps out of time with the others.

Eren watched as everyone around him tensed, and he did the same – in seconds, the new group was standing before them, only a dozen meters away. All the other people around backed away, looking towards the armored people as if they were an authority. The man in the lead took a final step forward, brandishing an elaborate, expensive-looking spear, and opened his mouth.

"Stop! Don't move!" The man's yell reverberated through the air, loud and piercing. "What are you?"

Silence. The man's words didn't make sense, and Eren couldn't think through the tension to figure out why. After a long moment of waiting, Levi took a step forward – placing himself at the head of their group. Eren almost wanted to look around, thinking of Erwin – is he here? – but that was pointless. Surely he would have spoken up by then, if he was.

"How about I ask the questions. What is this place, and who are you?" Levi's voice was calm, ridiculously so – how could he be calm, at a time like this? But then – listening closer, Eren thought he could hear the tension underlying his words. Just then, Levi was doing his best to keep the situation calm and under control – just like back then, when I accidently transformed while reaching for that spoon. Eren watched, silent, as the man in armor raised his spear slightly, as if in defense – around them, the whisperings of the crowd grew louder.

"I order you to tell me, what is your purpose here?!" The man was beginning to sound desperate – panicking. Levi didn't seem fazed at all – his voice grew cold and sharp.

"Our purpose is to kill titans, which was what we were about to go do before you brought us here. So, I repeat – where is here, and who are you?"

At that point the man faltered – he stumbled back, glancing around as if he were looking for answers, before squaring his stance and raising his spear. "If you do not answer my questions, then I will have no choice but to attack! Is this an event? A program? I – could you be – players?"

The muttering around them stopped, fading into complete silence.

"Look, I don't know what the hell you're talking about," said Levi. "The hell do you mean? Where are we? And if you don't mind, I'd prefer to keep the attacking to a minimum. We're on a bit of a timeframe, you see."

Suddenly the silence of the bystanders was broken – the muttering leapt up again, and soon a few angry shouts could be heard. "Stop playing around! Just tell us what you're doing here!" "Why are you here – to kill us? You sure don't look like players!"

Players? The fog of confusion in Eren's mind refused to lift. This place just wasn't making any sense, and neither were the people there – and if they didn't figure things out fast, then things would soon get worse.

Eren watched as Petra quietly moved to Levi's side, whispering unobtrusively in his ear. "We've got to do something – this is about to get out of hand. They outnumber us."

Levi tipped his head in a small nod, before raising his voice to speak to the entire courtyard. "This is beginning to look like some sort of misunderstanding, and as for whose fault it is – well, that's yet to be determined. But we're not going to get anywhere this way. How about we all put our weapons down and–"

"Do not think we will let you deceive us!" yelled the man in piercing tones. "We won't be beaten – we have survived here for two years already! We won't fall for any tricks or schemes now–"

"Alright, just calm down –" Despite Levi's words, everyone was starting to tense up – the soldiers around Eren were reaching for their blades, some starting the draw them out, and Eren was more than tempted to join them. Except – Levi… their captain turned around to send a scowl back at the rest of them. "Stand down!"

The armored man was inching forward, clenching his spear tightly between his two hands with an angry growl. The array of men behind him were raising their spears as well, looking ready to charge. "I won't risk it – not if you refuse to admit your identity – we won't die here! Not now–!"

And suddenly – then man was running towards them, hefting his spear. There was a roar of sound – the crowd around them, Eren's fellow soldiers, the man and his group of fighters – maybe they were all yelling, screaming at the same time. A flash metal glinted as Levi drew his blades out in an instant, and then there was the sound of dozens of blades pulling free from their sheaths – a sharp, cold, thin sound. Eren's hand had reflexively gone to his mouth – but then a familiar form was pushing against him, black hair obstructing his view – "Don't, Eren!" – for a moment, there was just noise.

But a second later – from somewhere, a burst of blue light erupted – it seemed to pulse, over and over again.

"STOP!"

The courtyard fell silent.

Eren pushed Mikasa out of the way so that he could see.

Everything looked like it had been frozen. The armored man was standing off-balance, as if he'd stumbled – his spear was lying on the ground a few feet away, while Levi remained with his left arm outstretched, his blade shining dully. In the short moment that had passed, he'd knocked the spear out of the other man's hands – but no one else had started fighting. Everyone else had turned away, looking back towards the far right of the courtyard – at something impossible.

Eren hadn't noticed before, but the other side of the courtyard had a strange looking structure – a sort of monument with two pillars. Seconds ago, that had been all – but now, an entire crowd of people occupied the space as well. It was as if they'd just fallen out of the sky – Eren stared in shock. "What the hell…"

The newcomers were obviously all fighters – each of them carried a weapon, deadly-looking despite how fancy and decorative some of them seemed. They also all wore heavy-looking armor, adding to the appearance of strength. But more than anything, it was just the look that they had – almost like an aura surrounding each person. They were strong.

At the head of the group was one person in particular – the one who had shouted out, just now. It was a woman – or actually, a girl. A beautiful girl with incredibly long, chestnut brown hair – she wore a strange sort of impractical armor, consisting of a white and red uniform with a tiny skirt that ended far above her knees, long white stockings, a trailing coat and dainty-looking boots. At her waist dangled a sword – a thin, ornate sword.

Her clothes made no sense, but she was a fighter; it was obvious. Something about her eyes…the girl took a few decisive steps forward before coming to a stop, glaring at everyone before her.

"Everyone! No more fighting," called the girl, eyes blazing. "We have a lot to discuss."

Thanks to everyone who's reviewed, favorited, read at all...thanks, everyone! I'm glad you seem to be liking this. Sorry it's taking so long - it's been a busy summer. But, I promise I will continue o keep on writing.

Later!