Author's note: Yulier is now male in this story because I feel that's more realistic for the setting. I am trying to cut down on the side character females where I can so that the main girls feel like genuine exceptions to the rule in this world.

Chapter 7

The second time Kirito met Kayaba was no less sudden than the first time. But it was somehow less surprising for him, to look up and see Kayaba simply standing there in front of him, as if he had been there all along. This time, he appeared inside Kirito's cell, within two arm lengths from where Kirito was sitting. Kirito shifted restlessly for a moment, but he did not move from where he sat, with his back pressed up against the wall.

"Are you some kind of hologram?" was the first thing Kirito asked.

"Why do you ask that?" asked Kayaba.

"If you were an actual player avatar, you'd be constrained by the game's physics, wouldn't you…?"

It was probably the closest thing one could find to a "ghost" in the SAO world. Judging by how Kayaba blinked at what Kirito said, he had guessed correctly.

So while he was talking to a being that certainly possessed Kayaba's mind and appearance, Kayaba's true consciousness was somewhere else entirely. Perhaps he was listening to this conversation, wherever he was. In this world, he was truly like a god.

Kayaba smiled, dusted his lab coat and sat down on the floor in front of Kirito. "It's been a while since I've talked to someone like you," he professed. "Sometimes, I suppose I get sick of pretending."

Kirito wasn't sure what to make of this. "I guess you wouldn't have many people to talk to if all you're doing is just watching over the world."

He wondered if his sword would work on Kayaba. No, that was a stupid idea.

"You're being surprisingly calm," Kayaba noted.

Kayaba evidently had no way of reading people's minds, then, of knowing their deepest thoughts. Because inside, Kirito was the furthest thing from calm.

"I don't understand you," Kirito said bluntly. "Don't you have better things to do than talk to someone like me?"

He meant it, he realised, in both a resentful and in an admiring way. Before the death game started and SAO was still in its beta stages, Kirito would have said, without any irony at all, that Kayaba Akihiko was his hero.

And he was still a genius, no matter what transpired in this game.

"Well, to be honest," said Kayaba. "No, I don't really have anything better to do."

They were silent, neither of them looking directly at the other. Then Kayaba said:

"So how does SAO compare to other MMORPGs? I've assumed you've played many of them."

Kirito thought for a moment. There was no harm in telling the truth. "It was by far the best," he admitted. "I've always wondered how one person could make a world so, well, detailed."

"It was a long haul," answered Kayaba. "Many years – I've almost lost track of it now. The person who I was when I started and the person who I am now are two completely different people."

"So it was some kind of challenge for you?"

"Not really a change… more like escapism, I suppose?"

Kirito thought about that. "I think I get it," he said finally. You couldn't feel free in a video game made by someone with a restrictive mind. It couldn't be done. And Kirito had always certainly felt free in SAO, death penalties or not.

"I would have liked a job system, though," he said.

Kayaba laughed. "I don't think I'll be adding any expansion pack to this game. Besides, don't you think a job system would have made the fighting seem less real somehow?"

"Real was what you were going for?"

"I suppose I was. I don't know what I was thinking, really – those all-nighters have a way of getting to you."

Kirito almost smiled. He actually really liked the battle system in SAO. It was definitely linear and unbalanced by focusing entirely on hand-to-hand combat, but victory felt like something earned by your own hand. You put your life on the line every time you played.

I feel more alive in SAO than I do in the real world. Kirito almost opened his mouth and admitted that. SAO was more real than reality. Unless you played it yourself, it was not something you could begin to understand. In the floating tower of Aincrad, Kayaba had somehow managed to capture a kind of beauty that surpassed photographic detail – something that could only exist in the imagination but just a little bit too far out of reach in the mind's eye. It was only when you actually stood in Aincrad itself and watched the wind rustle against endless blades of grass that you would think – yes, this is something beyond a fantasy.

The death game only reaffirmed just how real it was.

"Oh yes, you get it, don't you?" Kayaba said with a chuckle. "Better than I do, I suppose."

But to that, Kirito said nothing. At length, Kayaba pressed a button on his menu and was gone again.


There are some things that one can only peg down as a happy coincidence – but for Asuna's party, it wasn't so much happy as it was a little bizarre.

It happened when they were just about to enter the teleport gate in the middle of town. Asuna stopped momentarily at a nearby vendor to buy fruit when she heard two men talking to each other, with the evident tone of voice that they were discussing gossip.

"Can't believe Silica the Beast Tamer's marrying Kibaou…"

Asuna immediately swung around. "Who's Silica the Beast Tamer?" she asked.

The two men jumped in their alarm at being addressed so suddenly. One of them was a squat yet smiling-faced while the other was taller, thinner and dressed in purple armour. Almost like a crossdresser, was Asuna's first impression.

Smiling nervously, the two men explained just who Silica was.

So this was it, Asuna thought. She had found the person she was looking for. So she had a connection to Kibaou from The Army. Asuna quickly signalled over to Klein and Agil.

"So it looks like the person we're looking for is getting married to Kibaou," Asuna uttered seriously.

"Married, huh?" Klein scratched his chin. "I wish someone would marry me in SAO."

Succeeding in getting married in SAO was like a sign of status. Not that many people managed to do it. "Well, you only live once," Klein said cheerfully. "You know how you die when you get killed in SAO?"

"No shit, Sherlock," said Agil.

"Personally, I can't help but think that there's some kind of conspiracy going on," said Asuna. "But that could just be me…"

"No, I can see it, too," said Agil. "A thirteen-year-old Beast Tamer and a commander from The Army? She's definitely got something Kibaou needs. Either that or she's attracted to his money."

"Where's Thinker been these days?" asked Klein. "All we're hearing is Kibaou this, Kibaou that."

It was all very mysterious. Asuna was not sure if she wanted to get involved in any messy guild politics. Her own guild was bad enough.

"Excuse me! Excuse me!"

Asuna looked up to see a silver-haired man running towards them down the street. Asuna blinked. The man stopped in front of them, panting.

He was tall and stood up straight with his mouth grim and stoic. He was wearing the standard bulky Army uniform though without the helmet, revealing rich silver locks that looked as smooth-flowing as water.

"Who are you?" Asuna asked levelly.

"Forgive me for my impudence," said the silver-haired man, panting. "I'd heard there were three frontliners down in the Town of Beginnings, so I rushed down to find you, hoping you hadn't gone yet."

"And your name is…?"

"Yulier. I belong to the Aincrad Liberation Force." He bowed, arms held rigidly by his side.

So, this person was from The Army. It was obvious, just from the uniform. Asuna spoke up. "So? What was it that you needed us for?"

Yulier straightened up and looked to his left and right. The two men from earlier were still peering up curiously at them, and with a sigh, Yulier turned back to Asuna.

"I think it's best if we discussed this indoors."

It was something to do with The Army. Asuna glanced towards Klein and Agil, who both nodded at her. Asuna faced Yulier.

"Lead the way," she said.


The story that Yulier told them was one they had mostly pieced together on their own. Kibaou had not always been such a dominant figure in The Army – formerly a sub-leader, he had wrestled power from Thinker after The Army became so large and difficult to handle that the hierarchy of control was no longer clear.

"Then?" Asuna asked, peering across at Yulier from where he sat at the table. (It would probably have been dusty if this was real life, but furniture never got dirty in SAO.) The bar they had entered was mostly empty – the owner had his back to them, wiping dirty dishes. He seemed to be rather busy. "What happened to Thinker?" Asuna pressed Yulier.

"That's the thing," said Yulier, frowning. The concern on his face was palpable. "No one really knows. I have my suspicions, but…" He took a breath. "And then there's this upcoming marriage between Kibaou and Silica."

"So what can you tell us about that?" Agil asked. "We need to talk to that girl."

"It appears the girl got her hands on a very rare item. Kibaou wants to marry her for her inventory but not only that, I think he wants to solidify his position by being married. That girl, too… She's very famous in the mid-levels because of her Beast Tamer skills. I guess he wants a share of that fame."

"Is she cute?" asked Klein.

Asuna elbowed him. "Not the time!" Klein grinned sheepishly at her. Asuna rolled her eyes and sighed; she couldn't stay mad at him.

"So what are we gonna do?" Agil asked Asuna and Klein. He stroked his chin. "Guess we could bust up that sham of a wedding."

"I don't know," said Asuna, frowning. "Getting involved in that kind of thing is pointless when we're just after Silica."

"Aww, come on," said Klein. "Where's your romantic side, Asuna?"

Asuna rolled her eyes. Contrary to popular belief, she did have a romantic side – but clearing the game came before emotional gratification. It was common sense to her.

"Kibaou is not the kind of person that would let you talk to something he claims as his own," Yulier said seriously. "So I beg you, please help us!" He bowed again, fervently.

Asuna considered. "Well, we can't PvP in a safe zone, so I don't see how we could help, exactly."

"Is your guild leader aware of this situation?"

He was talking about Heathcliff. Sometimes, people got nervous about referring to him directly by name. "He probably knows," Asuna admitted. "He knows everything, really. But he's not really interested in anything besides clearing."

Yulier curled his lip down in distaste. He did not seem to be particularly angered by what Asuna said, but rather he was brooding and these thoughts had been ongoing for the entire conversation so far. That much was obvious. Sometimes, his emotions spilled onto his face, righteous anger that was still not entirely pretty to behold.

"I'd draw my blade on him myself, but my level is lower than his. I just want to know where Thinker is. We started out in this world as partners and by damn we'll get out of it together."

"So you want us to threaten Kibaou?" Agil asked. "Roughen him up for a bit?"

"I just want to know where Thinker is," Yulier repeated, bowing his head. His teeth were clenched.

At that moment, the barman came over to them, setting a tray on the table. "Drinks," he said gruffly.

"Huh?" said Klein confusedly. "But we didn't order anything."

"You guys looked thirsty," said the barman with a shrug. He turned away, busying himself with the rag and the dirty dishes once more.

Asuna picked up the mug of coffee and held it to her lips. Then she froze. The texture of the mug was somehow rather strange. She peered down at it.

There was a crystal embedded on the side of the handle, where she had picked it up.

A teleport crystal…!

It activated almost immediately.

"Guys, look ou-!"

But she could say no more. Around her, the lights of the little poky bar faded away into nonexistence, replaced by the sickly sheen of ill-lit candles. Gone was the cosmopolitan feel of the Town of Beginnings. This was a quiet place, where the sounds of water dripping could be heard a mile away. The ceiling was high, held up by stone pillars, and the ground beneath her feet was equally cold and hard.

A dungeon.

Asuna let out a small yelp when lights flashed beside her and Klein, Agil and Yulier appeared beside her, looking just as disoriented as Asuna felt.

"What just happened?" Klein said groggily.

"That barman…" murmured Yulier. "He was one of Kibaou's spies. He's probably been trailing me… I'm so sorry."

Agil patted him on the back. "It's okay, you didn't know."

As he continued to pat the downcast Yulier, his eyes went up to meet Klein and Asuna's, calmly conveying his thoughts. This was not a good situation. The barman had planted corridor crystals in their cups and it had sent them deep within a dungeon. It was called Portal PK. They didn't know what dungeon it was, but it could be a high-level one and they had no way of knowing until they ran into monsters.

Asuna quickly opened up her menu, checking for teleport crystals. As she did, she noticed an unread message from Kirito, dated from several hours ago. She could not send any messages to him in a dungeon, but she quickly clicked on his message to read anyway.

"Be careful of Kuradeel. He was the one who sabotaged your quest."

Asuna paused. It threw new light on their situation.

Was it Kibaou's spy or Kuradeel who had sent them down here? She had no way of knowing.

Well, it wasn't important for now. The important thing was to get out of the dungeon.

"A-Asuna." Klein spoke up behind her.

"What is it?" Asuna grunted, flicking through to her item menu. Good, she still had some teleport crystals.

"Asuna," Klein said more urgently. And then he tapped her on the shoulder. "Look behind you."

So she did.

It was huge. Totally dark and faceless – a skeleton, dressed in robes blacker than Kirito's hair and trademark coat. But the thing that was most noticeable about it, just from a glance, was the wicked sharp scythe it was carrying. The blade alone seemed bigger than the entire length of Agil's body.

The Fatal Scythe – was the name that was printed next to its cursor. Judging by its size and its absolutely monstrous health bar, it was very obviously a boss.

"Ah, crap," was all Asuna had to say to that.