Disclaimer: I don't own…anything. Depressing, I know.

Warnings: Well, this is Sword Art Online, so…some fluff, angst, violence, kidnapping, murder, attempted rape, borderline incest…

Note: YES, I am well aware that Nyx is female. I just thought that the name made the most sense to be Nico's username, for reasons I listed in the first chapter. Do you really think Nico would care that Nyx is a girl's name? I don't think so.

Enjoy!


Kirito glanced at his friend, who had just made a 'huh' sound. "What?"

"Just a thought." Nico said with an, indeed, thoughtful frown. "You explained that the game got our measurements and body type from us patting ourselves down before logging on, to calibrate the Nerve Gear."

"Yeah?" Kirito tilted his head thoughtfully.

"How did the game get our coloring right?" the slightly younger teen finished his thought. "I mean, I don't know about you, but in the real world, my hair really is black, my eyes really are dark brown, I am actually this pale…"

Kirito paused, realizing that Nyx had a point.

"You're right…" he said slowly, confusion showing in his own dark eyes. "How did Kayaba do that? SAO didn't require us to upload a picture of ourselves or anything when we created out accounts, so the game couldn't have gotten the information that way…"

The pair stared at each other for a long moment before shuddering.

"Creepy." They said in unison.


"Oh gods, this is taking forever!" Nico groaned.

Kirito stared at his friend in surprise.

Not that he disagreed with the sentiment, but Nyx wasn't really one to complain.

Then again, anybody would be irritated at the very long and tedious process of killing enough low to medium-level monsters to earn enough money to get some decent equipment.

Yeah, now that he thought about it, he wasn't surprised.

Even the most patient of people could only stand so much.

He wondered, though.

Nyx had said 'gods,' not 'god' like most would.

He had mentioned that he was Italian and Greek, and the main religion of Italy was Catholicism, right? So did he follow the Greek religion?

Wait, no.

Weren't the primary religions of Greece and Italy monotheistic?*

And even in the US, where Nyx had grown up, in that cultural melting pot, most of those religions only believed that there was one god, too.

Not that Kirito thought it mattered, or would judge Nyx for whatever religion he identified as, but that didn't mean that the other boy's choice of words didn't make him curious.

Maybe he'd ask him at some point.

…But then again, maybe not.


Nico hummed to himself as he browsed his inventory with narrowed eyes.

Upgrade this…replace that…ugh, that one was hideous, why did he still have that?

He paused, uncomfortable, as his mind repeated what he'd just thought.

That was the most Aphrodite-like thing that had ever gone through his mind.

He shuddered, resolving to keep the damn thing if for nothing else than to attempt to knock those kinds of thoughts out of his head.


Please review! :)

*Monotheism is the belief that there is only one god. According to a quick Wikipedia search, Greece's main religion these days is Eastern Orthodoxy. And of course nowadays Italy is far more Roman Catholic and I doubt there are too many who still believe in the Roman deities.

Also, I know very little about, well, any sort of religion, so sorry if I managed to screw that part up.