Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online

My name is Tanaka Niten, and I am eighteen years old now. I used to repeat this every day, just to remember the real world. But no more. It's been three years since I logged into this death game Sword Art Online and couldn't log back out. Three years I've been fighting digital monsters and strengthening myself, just to hold onto a hope built on nothing. Three years since Kayaba cruelly let us believe we could escape his grasp.

It was all for nothing. The man we had all followed blindly, who we believed was the strongest among us, was really our enemy. Like a wolf in sheep's clothing, he walked among us, pretending to be one of us, earning our trust, only to stab us in the back. It was all a lie. We never had a chance. We should've known that Kayaba Akihiko wouldn't let us escape. We are all trapped within this virtual hell, doomed to be the puppets of a madman playing God until our bodies in the real world wither away.

"This is it." Urian points at Forest House K4. "Can I go home now?"

Kirito's home is a picturesque log cabin just outside of Coral Village. It took twenty minutes of walking from the Teleport Gate just to arrive here, which makes me wonder why the Black Swordsman would choose to live here. From what I know of Kirito, he's a man of action, hardly the type to live in a remote location that would keep him far from the front lines.

"Not yet." I reply. "None of us are going home until we finish the game." Stepping onto the porch, I knock on the door, much more calmly than I did with Urian's. Moments later, the door opens slightly, revealing a young girl who looked to be about eight to ten years old.

Immediately, I round on Urian. "You said this is where Kirito is!"

"This is!" Urian shouts. "I don't know who this kid is, but this is where the Black Swordsman lives!"

"Excuse me!" The little girl shouts, opening the door fully and waving her arms frantically to get our attention. "Are you looking for Papa?"

"Papa?" Urian sneers. "Some fool decided to play the game with his young daughter?"

"Shut up, Urian." I punch the blonde fop and bend down until I'm eye-to-eye with the little girl. "I'm looking for a player by the name of Kirito. I was told he lives here. He's about my height, with black hair and clothes."

"Yup! That's my papa!" The girl nods happily.

Privately, I wonder why Kirito would ever adopt an NPC. There's no indicator over the girl's head, so that's the only explanation I have. "That's wonderful. Can you tell me where he is?"

"Right there." Yui points to behind me and Urian. I turn around to see Kirito standing just outside the porch, swords drawn and blazing with light.

"Get. Away. From. My. Daughter." There is fury etched into every line on the Black Swordsman's face. Urian takes a step away from me and immediately begins stammering something about how this was all my idea. Ignoring him, I step off the porch and approach Kirito.

"Put the swords away, Kirito. You know you can't kill me, and I'd rather not fight you in front of your daughter." I raise my hands in a gesture of peace.

Kirito's eyes narrow, but the opalescent fire fades from his swords. "What do you want?"

"I need to talk to you."

"Then talk."

"In private."

"We're about as private as it gets, Naitama." Kirito says dryly. "Unless you've brought more friends."

"Urian's not my friend." I snort. "But that's kind of the point. Look, did you know that the ghosts can speak to us now?"

"Yes." Kirito finally sheathes his swords. "I take it you too spoke with a friend who died?"

"Barton." I nod. "He and the other ghosts believe that the game itself is fighting Kayaba."

"That makes no sense." Kirito frowns. "He created the game, he should have absolute control over it."

"Yes, and apparently, the game systems consider that to be cheating. You were a beta tester, you know how tough SAO's anti-cheats are."

"Heh. That they are." Kirito smiles ruefully. "But your point?"

"If even the game is reacting against Kayaba, then maybe we do have a chance. It could well be that all is not lost, that Kayaba is not all-powerful. But we can't beat the game if we don't fight. We need to rally the Clearers, the other Unique Skill Users, and anyone else who can and will fight."

"So why not do it yourself?" Kirito cocks his head to the side. "Many of the players would listen to you. Your archery instruction was what allowed us to escape from Granzam during the Player War."

"Some, but not all." I point at Urian, who's been standing by awkwardly all this time. "Outside of the Clearers, I'm not exactly the most popular player. There's a reason they called me the Lone Archer. I don't have the pull with enough people to get them moving again. But you do. You're the most respected player in the game. Everyone knows who the Black Swordsman is."

"He has a point." Urian joins us now. "You fought a duel with Heathcliff himself and almost won. You have been central to the progression of the front lines. Many players owe you their lives, including myself. We would be honored to follow you as our leader."

"No." Kirito's face is shrouded in shadow, and he looks down at the ground. "I cannot be the leader. I know you mean well, but we have lost. Even if the game fights Kayaba alongside us, he still has too much power. I've made my peace with my failings. All I have left now is Asuna, and Yui. And what little time I have left, I'm going to spend it with my family."

Silence fills the air. Urian looks absolutely crushed, and for once, I empathize with him. Our last, best chance at ending this horror, has refused to help us. It feels like... like Heathcliff's betrayal all over again.

There's a roaring sound in my ears, and my heart is pounding. My vision blurs with tears, and rage wells up within me, filling me. "How can you say that, Kirito. Lie down and give up. Die. Is that what your ghosts told you?"

I shake Kirito, realizing suddenly that I've grabbed him by the front of his coat. "Is that what your ghosts told you?! That it's okay to just give up now, so close to the end, just because Heathcliff turned out to be Kayaba?! No! That madman was playing us from the start, but that never stopped us before! Do you know what we are?!

"We are not just Unique Skill Users. We are not just Clearers. We are heroes. DO YOU HEAR ME, KIRITO?! WE ARE HEROES TO THE KIDS AND THE ELDERS WHO CANNOT FIGHT! WE, WHO LAY DOWN OUR LIVES, GIVING OUR ALL SO THAT WE MAY BEAT THIS HORROR OF A GAME! WE. ARE. HEROES. AND HEROES DO NOT LAY DOWN AND DIE! HEROES DO NOT REFUSE THEIR DUTY BECAUSE THE ENEMY IS TOO STRONG! THAT IS OUR DUTY, KIRITO! TO END THIS MADNESS ONCE AND FOR ALL, BECAUSE WE ARE NOT JUST HEROES, WE ARE THE SURVIVORS! WE ARE THE LAST HOPE!"

I let go of Kirito, breathing hard. Urian is looking at me with wide eyes. I swipe at my eyes angrily and turn away. "Damn you, Kirito. Even if you won't fight, I will. I'll take on the remaining five floors myself. I can't die. I don't know how long it will take, but I'm going to beat this game. I'm going to fight until I win, or until my body in the real world rots away."

As I begin to walk away however, something pulls on my jacket. "Mister, wait!" I turn to find Yui holding onto my jacket, preventing me from leaving.

"Yui." Kirito sighs. "Don't bother Naitama anymore. Just let him go."

"No! You should listen to him, Papa." Yui plants her hands on her hips and looks the most formidable warrior in the game straight in the eye. "He's right, you know. You can't give up now. Don't you remember what you and Mama always said? That after you beat SAO, you'd find each other, get married, then find me? That we'd be one happy family in the real world?"

My name is Kazuto Kirigaya. Most of you know me as Kirito, the Black Swordsman. I have an urgent message for all of you. For the past three years, I've been fighting in the front lines to beat the game. But that all stopped when Kayaba deceived us. He has made us feel small, weak, and fearful. He has reveled in his power and strength over us. But he has forgotten that he is not all-powerful. He invited us to war against him, and that will be his undoing. This is more than just a battle between the players and Kayaba. It's a war for our freedom. It will decide what kind of future we will have. Will we live within a lie, waiting to die? Or will we fight, fight for what is right?

So please. Join me. Put your all into this, our last chance. Believe in yourselves again. It won't be easy. It never was. We will stumble. We will fall. But every time, we will get back up. We will not surrender. We will not accept defeat. Everything we have suffered, all that we have endured, was caused by one man. A man who plays God and calls himself the devil. Against such an evil, there is only one thing we can do. We will not run. We will not hide. WE WILL STAND. WE WILL FIGHT. WE WILL TAKE BACK WHAT IS OURS.