Disclaimer: Ged565 does not own SAO or any of its characters, nor does he own any other characters used from other anime/manga.

Warning: Contains characters from Bleach, Kaze no Stigma, Angel Beats!, and Fairy Tail.

HI EVERYONE! I'm finally back! I know I haven't posted in a long time, but, here I am! I got some reviews and there's one thing I want to focus on right now, the topic of Asuna in my story. I found it really funny that you all commented on how she wasn't living up to how strong she's supposed to be in my story, and the funny thing is, there's a legitimate reason behind that. You see, I actually write these stories with my sister, and my sister HATES Asuna. In fact, Asuna is probably tied for one of my sister's least favorite characters in all of anime! She says Asuna is helpless, useless, and weak, so that's kinda what Asuna is like in this story. So yeah, that's that. Don't flame my sister or anything please, it's just her opinion of Asuna. And to each their own, right? Anyway, this chapter is to showcase Reyna's past, but it's also to introduce Knightwalker. Have fun crying while reading it!

Episode 9: Reyna's Past

"45!" Asuna yelled, slashing a monster. She landed.

"What do you think about that, Kirito?"

"Zack said we had to keep her busy. You shouldn't get so worked up over this. It's not like she provoked you to start this competition or anything." Kirito said, cutting a monster in half.

"Well, this is how I keep her busy. And if I'm going to do this, I'm doing it to win." She said, jumping at another monster.

"If you say so." Kirito said, looking behind him at Reyna and Elliot. He noticed even though Asuna and Reyna didn't really fight over this, Reyna was fighting especially vigorously today.

"Just don't work yourself too hard." Elliot said, just staying back and not interfering with her.

"Don't mind me. You don't even have to be here." Reyna huffed and panted as she viciously stabbed a monster.

"Yah!" Asuna yelled, slashing another monster in half.

"How are we doing, Kirito-kun?"

"Um...52 monsters." Kirito said.

"Perfect. And how much does she have?"

"I don't know. Hey, Elliot! What's the score?"

"For us? We're at 78!"

"Um, Asuna…"

"Yes?" She said, turning around and smiling sweetly. Kirito laughed nervously.

"If we keep this up, we'll definitely win!"

"Yeah!" Asuna said, flashing at another monster.

"Crap, I can't tell her Reyna by herself is beating us both." They continued for another half hour.

"Phew." Asuna said, landing.

"That's time." Asuna and Kirito began walking towards Reyna and Elliot, who had also stopped.

"Good training, Reyna." Elliot said.

"Score, now." Asuna interrupted. Reyna was too tired to say anything.

"Um, you first." Elliot said.

"156." Kirito said. Asuna smirked smugly. "Beat that."

Elliot gulped. "183." There was a moment of silence.

"Unbelievable!" Asuna yelled. "There was no way I just lost that! No way we just lost that!"

"Hah...take...that." Reyna said in between breaths. "Well, let's get going now. Quick, back to the guild!"

Elliot said, rushing. They followed after him.

"Here we are."Kirito said.

"Kirito." Elliot said.

"Yeah?"

"Um, nevermind." He opened the door and they walked in. Everything was dark.

"Hey, this isn't funny guys. If you're trying to scare us, it isn't working." Reyna stated. Quickly, Elliot closed the door and all the lights turned on with confetti everywhere.

"Surprise!" Everyone yelled, jumping out of places. Geminorum popped out of the lamp.

"Woah, you guys didn't have to do this…" Reyna said.

"Here." Geminorum said.

"I brought you a cake. And another cake. And another cake."

"Um, okay…"

"Happy anniversary." Zack said to her.

"Wah!? They're married!" Asuna yelled, falling back. Kirito caught her before she could fall.

"I don't think that's what he means…"

"We're NOT married!" Reyna yelled quickly. Zack stepped away, embarrassed.

"No, that's not what we meant."

"Don't ever assume something like that again!" Reyna's face was red.

"You could assume we're married though." Asuna said, grabbing Kirito's hand.

"Uh...hehe…" Kirito said, scratching the back of his head.

"On to what this is really about…" Elliot said.

"Right." Zack said.

"Three years ago, on this day, you officially entered this guild. Now we know you went through a lot to get here, so, happy anniversary."

"They're gonna kiss!" Asuna screamed.

"If you say something like that, one more time, I'll personally-!" Reyna yelled furiously.

"Please don't ruin this for her." Elliot said, running in front of Asuna.

"Hmph. Well, aside from that, thanks for throwing this party. I wouldn't be here without you guys." Reyna said sincerely.

"Cake, hahaha!" Geminorum said, throwing cake at the walls.

"Is that mapu tofu?" Ren asked Toshiro, pointing at Kanade.

"What? No! Ren, I think we should just let that go- and, I think it is!" Toshiro yelled.

"Come, let's go upstairs and quick." Elliot said, grabbing Asuna and Kirito upstairs.

"What's up? Shouldn't we be part of the party?" Kirito asked.

"The two of you don't even understand why we're partying. And no offense, but I'm not just gonna sit here and stand around while Asuna throws out those insults. Not on this day."

"Huh?" Asuna said.

"Well, that's what they do on a normal basis though. It was fine before." Kirito said.

"Let me explain." Elliot said.

Reyna was on a quest with the two others in her group.

"This dungeon will be no problem as long as we stick together!" Reyna said confidently.

"You got that right. No one can beat the three of us!" Her blonde haired friend smiled. They had little trouble getting through the dungeon, but then it came to the boss.

"It's strong." It took them a while, but they finally beat it. Reyna panted.

"Is everyone alright?"

"Yeah! Now for our hard earned reward." Her red haired friend yelled triumphantly. Just then, the entrances were barred by iron gates.

"What the?" The three of them backed into the middle, back to back.

"It's a trap!" Reyna said. They all dove away from the center just in time as a geyser of water shot out from the ground. Arrows began raining down on them as well as bullets. Pink snow surrounded the area as water began filling up the arena.

"Ahh!" Reyna heard a scream from behind her.

"No, Aki!" Reyna yelled as her red haired friend was pierced by a multitude of arrows. Reyna heard a sinister laugh come from on top of a ledge. Her eyes narrowed. "Reyna, run!" She turned to her blonde haired friend.

"Kari!" Everything seemed to go in slow motion. Reyna began running towards Kari, but didn't make it in time as a spear showed through her stomach.

"Run…Reyna…" Kari fell and dispersed into a bunch of data.

"Nooo!" Reyna yelled, tears streaked down her face. She growled angrily and looked up at the ledge, where the evil laughter echoed off the walls.

"Knightwalker!" Reyna yelled with murderous intent. The red haired woman jumped down from the ledge. Reyna charged at her, but was knocked aside easily by her sword.

"Hah, how pathetic." Reyna growled and got up again. She attacked swiftly, but her attacks were parried by Knightwalker's sword.

"Huntress' blessing!" Reyna got a power boost and managed to scrape Knightwalker's face.

"You wench!" Knightwalker furiously knocked the dagger out of Reyna's hands and kicked her to the ground, stomping on her arms.

"Ahh!" Reyna yelled out.

"You'll wish you had died along with your little pathetic friends." Knightwalker stabbed one of Reyna's legs with her sword.

"Gahh!"

"Hm, you'll pay for doing that. I won't kill you, but I'll take you back to the Kingdom. I'll show you what real pain is and you will wish you had died." Knightwalker laughed sadistically. Reyna's sight faded and she fell unconscious.

When Reyna woke up, she was in chains in a cage with little light.

"Where...am I? What happened?" She looked around and remembered instantly.

"Aki...Kari...I failed…" Tears fell down her face.

"Aw, is my prisoner crying? You're so pathetic. However, you'll be fun to torture." Knightwalker laughed.

"You'll never break me. You can cut me all you want, but I'll never give in!" Reyna challenged, though she doubted herself.

"We'll see. You won't last two days here." Knightwalker proceeded to torture Reyna. She cut her and stabbed her mercilessly with a variety of weapons. Sometimes it was for hours on end. Sometimes it was a sword, or a spear, or arrows, or just her fists and legs. A girl came in every now and then to replenish her health bar to full so she wouldn't die. Reyna lost count of the time she had spent in the dungeons of the Kingdom. Her resolve had faltered until nothing remained. She lost all hope of ever leaving the cage and wished for death every time Knightwalker left.

One day, as Knightwalker was going through her daily torture session, there was a loud explosion noise. Knightwalker stopped a moment.

"What's that? Intruders, huh. I'll deal with them. Don't worry though, I'll be back as soon as I'm finished." Knightwalker taunted as she left.

"Please, just get it over with. I can't deal with this anymore…" Reyna whispered to herself. An hour passed before she heard footsteps.

"Please, just kill me. Haven't you had enough of your fun?" Reyna pleaded weakly.

"I'm not gonna hurt you. Calm down." From the shadows, a guy with dark purple hair came forward.

"Who...are you? Did she send you in her place?"

"She? I don't know who you're talking about. But I'm here to get you out. Don't worry."

"Out?" Reyna asked, confused.

"Hold on." Blades appeared out of the gauntlets on the guy's arms and he slashed at the bars, easily cutting an open door. He cut the chains on Reyna's arms and legs and carried her.

"You're safe now. Rest."

"Safe…" Reyna sighed as her eyes drooped close. She was too tired to stay awake any longer. She had spent countless nights without sleep and couldn't resist the temptation.

"Where am I?" Reyna opened her eyes slowly. Her whole body was sore and it was all she could do to keep her eyes open.

"Hold still. You've been badly injured." She recognized the voice of the purple haired guy.

"Who are you? And where am I? Is this a dream?" He chuckled.

"No, it's not a dream. You're back in our headquarters. I'm Zack of the Golden Legion."

"The...Golden Legion?"

"Yeah, it's a guild. We're far away from the Kingdom. They won't hurt you anymore. You're safe here. We'll protect you."

"Safe…" The word was foreign to Reyna, but she felt warm and comfortable, even when she was so sore and in so much pain.

"Is this...what it feels like to be safe?" He nodded.

"You can stay here with us."

"I'd...like that."

"What's your name?"

"Reyna...Reyna Chrome."

"Welcome to the Golden Legion, Reyna."

"That doesn't sound too...pleasant." Asuna said.

"That's terrible!" Kirito yelled.

"Who would do that to a person?!"

"Yes, who?" Yui yelled out.

"The Kingdom, that's who." Elliot said. Kirito balled his hands into fists.

"No one should have to go through something like that! We have to put an end to them." Elliot nodded.

"That's what we're here to do. But for today, why don't we go down to the party, yes? Now that you know what's actually going on…" Kirito nodded.

"We'll make sure to keep it a happy party, and to be kind to Reyna, right, Asuna?" Asuna slowly nodded.

"Yes, for today." They walked back downstairs and joined the party. As soon as they got down, they were all slammed in the face with cake. Geminorum laughed maniacally, running around and throwing cake everywhere.

"So, this is a party at the Golden Legion. It's fun!" Kirito said.

"She just hit me in the face with cake. Kanade, allow me to borrow your mapu tofu?" Kasana said. Screams lit up the entire guild.

I hope you liked this chapter so please please please REVIEW! :D