Sword Art Online - Side B

by Sweetly Nera

Seichirou Kirie and Seichirou Kirika, two siblings who are unfortunately brought into the world of Sword Art Online, however, not before overcoming certain hardships. Also, not to their liking, they seemed to have earned the title of 'cheaters' from the game creator, Kayaba Akihiko. However, is this true?

6. Chapter 6

Sword Art Online – Side B (Parasite Unlimited)

Chapter 2: Nomia no ken (Nomia's sword)

Silvernet: Ah… I've always wanted to do this.

Kirika: Do what? Wait…

*Kirika looked around curiously; her eyes widen upon realization*

Kirika: You… You couldn't have!

*Silvernet smirks*

Silvernet: Oh, but I did. We are in the era of dialogue format!

Kirika: No! Actually, I'm okay with that.

*Kirika expressed nonchalantly as she then smiled*

Kirika: So what's this about?

Silvernet: Ah, you see, it's about the announcements of my next updates within the months to come.

*Kirika's eyes widen in excitement*

Kirika: Ah! I get it!

*Kirika looks forward at the screen with a huge smile on her face.*

Kirika: The story, "Yugioh Arc-V! Tag force special Battle Royale" will have its second scenario, featuring the duelists Katsuya Jounouchi/Joey Wheeler from Yugioh!, Johan/Jesse Anderson from Yugioh GX, Jack Atlas from Yugioh 5D's, Tenjo Kite from Yugioh Zexal, and finally, Akaba Reiji/Declan from Yugioh Arc V. Yay!

*Silvernet sweat drops*

Silvernet: You're surprisingly using a 'Moe' character here.

Kirika: Hm? Well of course! I am pretty bored so this is the only thrilling thing I can do.

Silvernet: Gee, thanks Kirika.

Kirika: No problem, Silv~!

Silvernet: …I don't have a comeback.

Link Start!

I looked back only to be instantly engulfed… in darkness. I put my left arm up in protection however the darkness completely devoured me. My body started to feel numb as I succumbed to the darkness. My arms dropped to my side and I could feel the darkness crawl into my eyes from the insides of my body. I stared blankly in front of me at the pitch darkness. Is this the end…?

I then remembered Kirie's sweet smile; my eyes widen. No! I can't give up now! I still have a family to return to…!

I turned to my underside and crawled desperately within the atmosphere I was in; trying to get out, but to no success. Come on…! I have to get out! My eyes were filled with rage as I screamed in anger and frustration. "HAHHHHH!" My fingers crawled towards my palms as I desperately slashed in front of me as if my nails were claws. The darkness had spread; I could feel that. However, it reconnected numerous times making my attempts useless. My eyes widened more as I grit my teeth. "DAMN IT!" I screamed in frustration.

What was this? I definitely was in control of my body, however, I felt different. What was going on? I continued to slash the darkness in frustration.

No… This wasn't me. This isn't how I want to be. I looked at myself in front, as if the opposite of a mirror. I felt sorrow as I stared at my pitiful state with a frown on my face. "Please… stop…" However, I continued to slash at the darkness; then, screaming into the air. My celestial figure approached my body and I hugged my pitiful self from behind.

My claws moved down. I was surprised; I had felt warmth.

"It's okay now." I reassured myself. "It's okay now."

My spirit entered my body as I was looking down calmly with closed eyes. "It's okay now…" My claws had now reverted back to normal nails. I looked down to my nails on my left hand as tears formed in my eyes. "I'm sorry, dad, mom. I almost changed this body… into a wretched thing." I muttered in tears; crying as I held my left hand in my right. Even now, I could still feel the form my left hand had once taken… I won't ever forget that feeling.

I looked up in determination. "I won't ever lose my sanity again. I'll never let the darkness consume me." I stated boldly. Then, something warm had touched my right cheek; startling me. I could feel flares of heat hitting my face. I looked down curiously at my right hand. Some kind of steel gauntlet had formed on my right fist which now held onto a blazing sword. It was cool… The sword felt kind of breezy for some reason. The flames moved from the tip of the sword, up to my tendon, in a spiral manner. I smirked at my sword as I then looked forward to the darkness. I held up my sword diagonally in both hands so that its tip was near my left knee. "Now, let's fight, darkness." I spoke mischievously with great confidence

I dash forward towards the never-ending darkness. Two arms formed in front of me, facing my direction as they then tried to grab me on both sides. I looked to my right, then to my left before jumping up into the air. I looked down; the arms were flying up towards me like torpedoes. I swung the sword in my left hand, slashing the two arms in half in a matter of 3 seconds. My eyes widen in surprise. It's fast! And it's light!

I then turned my body in the air so that I faced the ground. I smirked as I then dived down. Several arms formed in front of me. I moved the sword into my right hand and continuously slashed away the wave of arms forming in front of me. I squatted as I reached the ground; a gust of air appearing around me due to the impact. I looked forward excited as I then noticed my whole right arm, right shoulder, and my torso were now completely covered in silver armor containing the same properties as my gauntlet, which was rather thin. I jumped off the ground towards the pitch darkness. Gigantic hands formed all around me, ready to grab me and engulf me in their darkness.

As I turned my body left within the air, my legs, feet, and left arm were now covered in armor. I slash upward with the sword now in my left hand. The slash glowed a blue color; completely blowing a hole in the hand and devouring it as if it had been shot by a gigantic cannon. My sword glowed blue again; I figured I could make this useful before it ran out. I swung my sword in a circle with my body moving clockwise a few meters off the ground. The sword slashed numerous dark hands. Afterwards, a gigantic blue wave appeared below the hands; blasting up towards them and devouring their form completely.

As my feet reached the ground, all darkness had disappeared along with all my armor, aside from the gauntlet. I then looked down to my sword as I raised my right arm slightly so the sword's tip faced my left. It was light; way too light… Did it have another function…?

Before I could get my answer I felt a familiar presence. I turned around with my right arm moving to my side. It was darkness. The darkness had taken the form of a big giant slime, 8 meters away from me; not a big feat. I moved my right leg forward and then in an instant vanished. My speed had taken me forward. I instantly appeared in front of the slime with my left arm grabbing its body. I flipped up into the air, slashing the slime with my sword in both hands as I spun a few times in midair. I then lowered my body down to the ground upon contact. With my left foot stationery, I moved my right leg out so only its heel within my shoes had touched the ground. I twisted my right leg, hitting the slime slightly however that was not my full intent. My body was now spinning in a rather fast motion with my palms out in front of me, touching the ground. My head was starting to feel light so I jumped forward. The speed which my body was spinning at had created enough power for me to be flung into the air; easily bringing a monster or two with me!

As I flung up into the air with my left foot as the propeller, I grabbed the slime with both of my arms; moving it behind my body then overhead as I threw it in front of me within the air afterwards. We were now only 2 meters apart. I moved forward slightly since my sword was only slightly longer than an average sized one. I slashed the slime several times within the air horizontally; a blue color formed on my sword making me smirk. It was close.

I was slashing at a relatively fast speed that would otherwise be impossible had this not been a game. When my sword glowed blue completely, my eyes widened. Within my right hand, my sword was held behind my right shoulder. As I swung it forward I could feel energy bursting out. Upon the blade's contact with the slime, it had instantly burst before the sword's skill sequence could even start. I sighed as my body slowly descended to the ground. When I reached ground the gauntlet had now disappeared, leaving only my sword which I sheathed back on the right of my waist. I still wonder why the sheath was on the right side and not the left. I looked forward with a smile; feeling a slight bit of satisfactory after that fight.

But… I didn't expect that darkness to be behind me. Had it been there the whole time? My eyes narrowed as I was staring dead at the ground in front of me, in deep thought. No, then Vortex-kun would have noticed.

Let me explain. Aincrad is an iron-and-stone made floating castle that has about ten kilometers floor base diameter and consists of a hundred floors stacking straight upwards, meaning that each floor's diameter is a bit smaller than the previous one.

The goal of Sword Art Online is to clear all 100 floors by finding the floor boss and defeating it; starting from the 1st floor, obviously.

I looked behind me into the forest. "However, this isn't Aincrad." I then looked forward seriously.

I wonder why? For some reason, my soul felt restless. Was it because of the fear building up in my soul? No, I didn't sense any type of fear.

I glared in front of me to the greenery; 15 meters ahead was another forest which was connected to the one prior. Meaning, it's a new path. I walked forward, uncaring of the cave northeast from here. I walked cautiously the whole time with my knees slightly bended in order to avoid making a lot of noise. As I entered the forest I walked closely to the trees, inspecting the dark area given the fact that I only had a field of vision of about 2 meters into the darkness. I grit my teeth in frustration. It wasn't enough… It was then that I heard a sound. A surprising sound as if darkness was 'rushing' to contain me. I looked back instinctively at a relatively fast pace. Nothing. There was no longer anything behind me; just pure darkness. I could not see through the darkness behind me or at my sides so I turned forward once more and decided to walk further into the forest. If my brother was in this situation, he would probably spend his time determining where exactly this field of grass, forests, and caves are since this is definitely not Aincrad. However, I don't have the luxury to do such things. Rather, I'd find out how to get to someone who can actually help me get to Aincrad. Wait…

My memories then flashed back to Vortex. Why was he here? He clearly wasn't on this field when I was transported back here after having that 'chat' with Kayaba Akihiko. In that case, does that mean he knows something about this field? Or… could he possibly be an NPC!? No. What kind of NPC would wait to be found by players who might have not actually logged onto the SAO's main server and onto Aincrad itself? Okay brother, I'll give you credit. I sighed in defeat. I guess I'll fall into one of my brother's habits and do some thinking… this once.

Vortex-kun was definitely fighting the enemies… so that takes out the chance of him being an NPC. And then there's that. When I entered the SAO server… I was instead brought into some weird white room where I was then engulfed in darkness… at least until I defeated it recently. But here it is again. And there were no signs that Vortex-kun was transported back to this area. Does that mean that Vortex-kun was identified by Kayaba Akihiko as a person whose avatar had not went to Aincrad so Kayaba had transported Vortex-kun to Aincrad, thus the reason why he isn't here? Wait… If that's the case, why haven't I been transported back yet? Or rather, why are there enemies on this field? If this is an area outside of Aincrad… there would be no reason for there to be enemies since there should be no players here to defeat the enemies in the first place!

And this 'darkness' enemy… just what is it? In SAO, all enemies should have a physical form yet this one shares no traits with that of the monsters known in the SAO beta test.

… "AGH! I give up! Thinking is my brother's trait, not mines!" I shouted in frustration to no one in particular. I continued walking forward cautiously. The darkness was definitely still here; it was completely around me. Though I wonder, where am I even going?

After walking for around 15 minutes, or at least according to the accumulated length of each song I've sung thus far, I finally noticed a radiant light 5 meters in front of me. My eyes narrowed; adjusting to the sudden change of darkness to brightness. I couldn't help but smile. I was so close to reaching the outside of the forest. I didn't look back as I was walking, in an attempt to avoid jinxing myself.

My eyes widened; my mouth gaped opened in surprise. My cramped legs naturally moved up as I left the dark forest; my body standing straight up. My left hand was in front of my forehead, blocking some of the sunlight from the northeast; a mile away or so.

My hand slowly moved down to my side. I was startled; this area… looked like a reflection of the area I was in prior to moving into the 1st forest when I had first logged into the game. The difference was that a cave had been at the northeast but here it was northwest. The plains still extended forward however there was now a big hill of grass moving down to the forest instead of a flat surface like before. And the sun was now to my right… Wait, why was it even on the right side!?

I looked at the sun wide-eyed to express my contempt for the sun being at the right. It really was a reflection of the place I started at…! Was this place… an infinite loop map? No, wait…

I looked back into the forest; the darkness inside seemed as if it just wanted to jump over me and devour my soul but it was contained. In the first area… the darkness was not contained. In the second area… even with the darkness being in the forest, it didn't harm me. Fear… Fear!

The second darkness didn't attack me because it feared me! The first time, I had defeated the darkness when it went outside the forest. There's no reason it still wouldn't lose just because it's now in the forest! But… what? The darkness has emotions?

I continued to stare into the darkness which was moving about like steam. I sighed as I then turned my body to look at the cave northwest. And… I've never went to the cave. I closed my eyes to think.

The cave, the darkness, the sun, the grass… the forest. How are they connected? No, maybe they weren't all connected, essentially.

My eyes widened as I came to a conclusion. There is only one true route, and only one way to get there. "The cave represents an eternal darkness. The sun represents an eternal brightness. In that case…

I looked back once more at the forest. "What does the forest truly represent?" I questioned. My right palm moved out to touch one of the trees. "The real reason why I couldn't see in this forest… It wasn't darkness that had shrouded the place; it was my lack of information about it." I muttered.

"Hehe. It seems like you finally understand." A boy's voice replied causing my eyes to widen in surprise. I looked down to the tree that I had touched; it began to distort along with the other trees in the forest. I moved my left arm over my head in a protective manner as I closed my eyes. A sound similar to glass shattering had echoed within my ears.

When I opened my eyes, I was suddenly in a huge garden with vines and a grape arbor. I walked forward; stopping at what seemed to be the center of this huge garden where a cemented fountain was in the center. I looked to my left at a huge arbor gate with no closings. Above the gate sat a boy with his right leg bended over left lap as he smiled cheerfully at me with eyes full of gleefulness. "Well, well. I didn't expect you to solve the puzzle so quickly, Seichirou Kirika." My full name had caught my attention as I then turned my body to face him. I glared at the boy. However, I felt no anger for him; even If I did, it would be relatively far distinct. I analyzed what I could about this boy. Damn, I can only get his measurements.

"Who are you?" I asked the boy in a serious manner. The boy simply grinned meekly as he moved his head up and looked down at me in a playful manner.

"I'm Lea." The boy announced, using 'watashi' ("I" – Female dominant).

"So? What's your business?" I questioned further. The boy looked down at me curiously before laughing.

"Sorry, sorry. I thought you might want to know why these strange string of events are occurring, Seichirou Kirika-san." The boy spoke simply. My eyes widen as I notice his pupils starting to change from a bright green to a glowing cherry red color.

"What's going on?" I questioned; startled. The boy simply smirked. The sun behind him to his left was starting to enlarge as if engulfing his body.

"Seichirou Kirika… are you ready to learn about this world?" The boy questioned.

"Yeah."

"Now then, let's start… with the history of Aincrad, and… the creation… of my world, Lea's gear!"

"Lea's… gear?"

If Kirika's not in Aincrad, where is she? And what exactly is 'Lea'? Next time, Lea's gear

Author's Note: Hoping for some reviews…!

Music of the week: "Tsuki no curse" by Reika Okina (I think I'm in love with her voice)