AN: Another character interlude... advances the main story a bit whilst highlighting the presence of everyone's most hated group in it's founding stages.

Strength: Lux's tale

"Look at her! Is she for real? Who dyes her hair that shade of blonde?"

"Seriously? She should have finished off with a dark tan, go full Gyaru, you know?"

"She's like, retarded or something. She can't seriously think the cutesy act will work on guys."

It never occurred to them that she could have simply had parents of mixed ethnicity (She understand English and a few other languages fine, but she couldn't really speak it well) or that she didn't care about what they said.

Pretending not to hear such hurtful words allowed her to continue her school life in peace.

At some point she had believed her classmates had come around!

And then she suckered into helping them with their studies… again, and again.

It was like that in the school she was in the last time before she transferred again.

She shouldn't have trusted them.

They were using her, she knew it to be true. But it was easy to lie to herself, thinking that it would be different this time.

It was the same cycle of events all over again. The moment she showed academic excellence or that she was of use to others then people would be all over her…

There wasn't any real friendship. They talked behind her back a lot.

'Cute' girls and girls that were 'different' in any way tended to be singled out.

She stopped trusting people ages ago.

The main issue was that she enjoyed the company of others a lot… and also, she was forgetful.

She was forgetful enough to forget that she shouldn't trust others.

That was why, a girl named Kashiwazaka Hiyori, would constantly be betrayed for trusting others.

So she sought an escape.

She heard a lot about Sword Art Online, the world's first VRMMORPG.

There was a small feature that was interesting to her.

Namely, that facial expressions and the like would be exaggerated just like emoticons in games, despite the fact real people were controlling every part of their avatars.

No one would lie to her then.

It would be a nice little retreat from real life.

She picked the named 'Lux', as it was latin for illumination.

To illuminate the falsehoods of the human façade… it was a pretentious name and reasoning.

She fought some monsters, and then Kayaba's announcement happened.

She was frightened, so very much so.

Especially the moment her Avatar defaulted back to her real world's appearance.

With her paranoia at an all-time high she managed to not be swayed by some of the player's 'kindness' in declaring that they would 'protect' her.

She stayed at an inn and managed to get some restful sleep.

For breakfast, she heard a rather emotional conversation.

Two conflicting train of thoughts went through her head as she had cooled down somewhat.

That either the man who declared he would protect that girl 'Uta' was a liar, or that he was 'strong'.

Strength, Power, those were words synonymous to her with people of self-reliance.

They wouldn't be hurt, swayed or deceived by the world. Not the environment, situation or of people.

She could fake being 'strong' but it was tiring, draining on her soul to do so.

To be 'Strong' was an ideal as it meant that the person could face any hardship and adversity alone.

She saw the man returning the same evening, fulfilling his promise.

He survived a day in the death game.

That was how a 'strong' person should be.

It didn't seem like he was a 'Beta Tester', yet he was independent and strong… albeit dragged down by the girl.

And so Hiyori, Lux, decided to emulate such behaviour.

In doing so, perhaps she should have been a bit more careful to not be conned by that blacksmith.

She knew she was conned, a part of her pretended that it was nothing more than bad luck.

That was… because if she admitted that it wasn't bad luck then that would mean she was a fool once again.

It was simply blatant lying to oneself.

Someone with real strength should not have to do that, yet, they should not have been fooled in the first place.

Ah, but she was such a forgetful person, wasn't she?

A month into the game, the first floor boss was defeated, the young man and young woman who she remembered from the inn were key contributors to Illfang's defeat.

If only she could be made strong too.

Just like how the girl filled with fear had enough strength to stand and sing in front of a floor boss.

Like the brave 'clearers' who fought through their fear and doubt, banding together to defeat the boss.

They were the people that were independent and fought for 'weak' people like her, so that the weak did not have to suffer or die.

"I don't know a nice way to put this… but you just fell for the most common scam in the video game history." NickLZH told her bluntly.

She couldn't remember a time when someone would just say it right in her face instead of behind her back.

"Look, I can tell that you care about helping to complete the game considering you bother with upgrading your equipment but… I would be the worst sort of person to let you get fooled twice. Follow me. I'll make you some new equipment and let you stay at my place. There's a lot you need to learn."

And there had never been a time someone wanted to actually help her improve that way.

The thing about the culture of her country was that people avoided the problem instead of deciding to solve it head on.

They were 'sheep' and the man in front of her was like a 'shepherd' who cared for the weak.

Considering that he has been known for organising concerts for the girl he was with to perform in along with helping in beating the boss made her forget that she shouldn't have just went along with him.

But… Uta lowered her guard a bit as she was a fellow female player.

They laughed as they whispered about their mutual disgust for the orange toad mount that Nick was obsessed with. Even if he pretended he didn't care about the toad.

As Nick left to check something she managed to observe just how strong Uta was, in fact, the songstress talked about learning all about fighting from Nick.

She was led to a bedroom in a farmhouse, and then she had a nice long hot bath.

"Yahoo! Hi there! I'm Strea! Got any room?"

"Ahh, the other end."

Suddenly any girl joined her in the bath, ah, she was really friendly.

Lux once again forgot about being cautious.

There was a bit of a commotion outside, Uta was wrestling with Nick about something but it apparently wasn't important.

She had been woken up for training the next morning.

It took her awhile to recall that she had opened the door while flashing Nick her panties but since he didn't bring them up she simply assumed that he didn't care.

Gamatatsu probably heard her yesterday as he got his revenge by putting slime on her hair.

After that, she was thoroughly trounced in a fight against a bare-handed opponent, whilst higher levelled, should not have been able to win the duel without even a single point of HP loss.

Uta, Strea and her became close friends. It was simply too real for her to try to deny their friendship.

Even if it was her enthusiasm that arose as she forgot to be cautious that initiate some, eh, bonding activities… they were very real people.

"Ohh? Where did Niku go?" She asked Strea and Uta as Uta was trying in vain to teach Strea how to sing properly.

They were by the side of a small lake, recently cleared out of monsters by Strea.

"It's Nick, wait, nevermind… I mean, I mentioned wanting to turn my hair back to normal once in a while so he's off questing for the right dye." Uta went ahead and reminded her that she still couldn't pronounce his name right.

She ignored that. She knew it wasn't a jab at her pronunciation. Strea said she had training in foreign languages and Uta learnt to sing in English as she loved music… plus, Nick gave her language lessions as well.

"Ehh? But your hair is so pretty right now!" Lux said, rubbing her face into Uta's dyed white hair.

"Heeee! Lux! Don't do that so suddenly! But, ehehe, I agree. But still…" Uta looked a bit sad as she was thinking about something.

"Huh?" Lux was perplexed.

"It doesn't feel 'right'?" Strea asked, surprisingly sharp even as she was smiling. (As usual)

"Yes, that's exactly that. I talked to Nick about it already… we both agreed that there should be a separation from my whole genki diva persona and the highschool girl that just wants to sing. It's… different, and sometimes when I look in the mirror I…" Uta opened up to Lux and Strea, Lux was rather surprised as this was one of the first times that she felt someone vulnerable in front of her.

Uta took a deep breath, changed into her 'songstress' outfit and began walking around the lake. To her surprise, she began singing in English, which Lux understood yet couldn't speak well.

"Look at me
You may think you see
Who I really am
But you'll never know me
Every day
It's as if I play a part
Now I see
If I wear a mask
I can fool the world
But I cannot fool my heart"

Uta sang to them whilst moving across the lake, before scooping up a handful of water from it and looked into it.

Lux was at first perplexed, but as the words flowed out of the diva's, no, her friend's mouth… she began to understand her feelings and how parts of it were similar to her own.

"Who is that girl I see
Staring straight back at me?
When will my reflection show
Who I am inside?"

Uta allowed the water to flow through the gaps of her fingers before walking on, Lux and Strea followed closely behind.

She saw Uta looking at her own reflection with dissatisfaction.

"I am now
In a world where I
Have to hide my heart
And what I believe in
But somehow
I will show the world
What's inside my heart
And be loved for who I am"

Lux could relate… most of the world was a place where you had to hide your real feelings.

It was much more obvious yet unspoken in Japan, one would be ostracised for stirring up trouble of having too much of an opinion. It also had a lot of meaning in western civilisation with the onslaught of social justice obsessed activists that would cherry pick what they champion, and ignored individuals like her.

She could only wish she had the strength for the last part.

Maybe if that someone was 'strong' enough for the both of them.

They ended up following Uta as she hopped on the rocks that littered the lake, acting as large stepping stones that required some measure of balance to use as a path. Uta stopped around the middle of the way.

"Who is that girl I see
Staring straight back at me?
Why is my reflection
Someone I don't know?
Must I pretend that I'm
Someone else for all time?
When will my reflection show
Who I am inside?"

No, no you shouldn't. There shouldn't be such a need for it. Those were the words Lux thought, and also the words she wanted someone to say to her.

The ditzy girl wasn't just that.

She cared. Despite distrusting others, she wanted to trust others. Despite the fact that he trust was abused she still wanted to help others.

Her forgetfulness was partly a selective desire to try again to connect with others.

But the moment she lashed out at others for such betrayal would be the moment where she would be left alone.

All she had left was to keep pretending.

If she was 'strong' enough to get through life the way she wanted too then… one day…

"There's a heart that must be
Free to fly
That burns with a need to know
The reason why

Why must we all conceal
What we think, how we feel?
Must there be a secret me
I'm forced to hide?
I won't pretend that I'm
Someone else for all time
When will my reflection show
Who I am inside?
When will my reflection show
Who I am inside?"

She wasn't paying much attention to the rest of the song, she had understood Uta's feelings about her whole singing career and worries.

Uta couldn't show that she was simply just a normal girl that loved to sing.

That wasn't how the industry worked out there.

Popular culture did not work that way. Sure it made a good gimmick at the start, and then it would go to hell due to the incessant need to 'pander' to the fans.

To the masses… those same masses that would throw people away and under the bus the moment someone disagreed with them.

The moment Lux, Hiyori, would disagree with her peers was when she would be rejected and ostracised.

There wasn't a place for someone like her… at least for now.

She could make one if… perhaps, she wouldn't lie to herself and keep getting hurt.

"It was beautiful. Uta… if I ever made you feel that way then… I apologise." Lux ended up praising and apologising reflexively.

Uta hugged her.

"Nope! You never made me feel that way Lux. You, Strea, Nick… were more 'real' with me than everyone else. You put up with my 'performance' persona, and the times I spent with you all were… eh, I give high school girls a bad name, don't I?" Uta replied immediately and joyfully.

"All high school girls should really be more genuine like you." Lux ended up replying without thinking.

"Maaa… it was a super nice song! And yeah, high school would only be fun if everyone acted like us!" Strea said with gusto before joining in the hug.

"I don't think breaking into song, hugging each other in a virtual world would make the best example of daily highschool life." Uta deadpanned, before grinning. "But it'll be like, totally cool!"

"Yes… yes it would be."

Lux would have said those words, but she was a little late as those words were said by the sole male of their party/guild.

"Nick! How long were you there!?" Uta asked.

"Oh, he's been there when you were halfway through the song." Strea said, admitting that she knew he was around.

What's with these people with high [Hiding] and [Searching] skills!?

A trade window appeared for Uta.

"I got back early because I played it smart and just bought a few [Dye of Original Hair Colour] from Diavel. Pretty boy like him has loads in stock." Nick remarked, utterly amused at the fact the guild commander of the largest guild was very concerned about his hair.

Whilst Uta, or Yuna as she told Lux and Strea to call her (as Nick already knew), had taken some time off to play her new Lute around town in her original hair colour.

She kept the long hair for a few reasons.

Mostly because Nick had once commented that he liked girls with long hair, Yuna admitted to Lux and Strea.

Strea had a happy expression from learning more about him, whilst Lux took a more calculating approach… before fantasising a bit…

Christmas Eve, Christmas Day… they passed by quickly as there were boss fights, Nick's birthday and a day of rest for many.

She had gained the [Katana] skill on Christmas Eve day.

"Lux… getting that skill, getting so strong so quickly… as a teacher I couldn't be happier right now. Managing to help you, doing something good is a reward… and a birthday present in on itself." Nick said those words to her, she was worried her little present she had made from a different tailor who wasn't Yuna would not be well received but… he accepted it gratefully, along with saying that her progress mattered more to him than her material gift.

He cared.

He cared for her.

It took Hiyori Kashiwazaka nearly a month to finally realise that.

She was thrilled.

New Year's Eve came and passed.

On New Year's Day, information about the slaughter of a small guild reached the ears of the Sons of Liberty… whose leader passed along the information to Nick.

A group of Orange Players calling themselves members of 'Laughing Coffin' had just caused the first murders in the history of Sword Art Online. Whilst there have been other monster PK's this was the first of its kind.

A real serial murdering unofficial guild.

They even had a symbol and tattoo.

Fear swept across Aincrad.

Lux was terrified, Yuna was sorrowful and Strea was angered.

Nick… he simply sat there calmly and took in the information.

Lux asked Nick about what they should do.

"Attacking orange players will not change your own color cursor's colour. Show no fear and keep on living. That is the greatest insult you can give to such people. As for dealing with them?" He smiled grimly. "Like I said before, hypothetically, if I were to attack an orange player and even if they died… well, it can't be helped."

Lux knew Nick was strong and did not let the natural fear of death hinder him at all… but his reaction, it only served to show the large gulf in 'strength' between her own and true 'strength'.

She was lost.

How could she ever reach his level?

Not a metaphorical level but that level where nothing could stop a person from fulfilling ones goals. Whilst Lux did not always agree that Nick's desire of helping others was the best show of his personal strength she did see it as the minimum threshold she needed to reach.

She left. She did not leave the guild but she left the party.

Why did she fear Laughing Coffin? It was obvious, it was because she feared death and it prevented her from reaching a new level of resolve, of power and of strength.

Nick, Strea, and Yuna… they cared for her but as a group she wasn't sure if she would overcome her past self as a weak individual.

So she partied up with some other players who wanted to challenge a dangerous labyrinth in the third level.

It should have been fine with their levels and equipment.

The group died.

There were more monsters than they could handle and for some reason members kept on falling into a [Paralyzed] status even if none of the monsters in the labyrinth should have inflicted it.

Lux survived through luck and due to her advanced skills courtesy of Nick's brutal training and observing his duels with Kirito.

Yet, she was surrounded by monsters… and was saved as they were cut down by another group of monsters.

Cloaked players, all of them orange players.

She did not have the [Paralyzed] status, yet

"Look what you did Xaxa, you overdid it. How are we to take their items when they are dead?" An excited tone of voice resounded through the labyrinth, and from in front of her.

"Well, look who we have. A survivor… her items are quite good, you know."

"Didn't we need an infiltration agent? You know, some green cursor minions?"

"Yes, yes, we did have to purge the last one after he went all 'moral' on us."

"I know right? What's with that! That guild had a party out in the field it's like… saying 'Please Kill us!', you know!"

"Hahaha!"

"Same."

"Gentleman, please, you're needlessly terrifying the girl." The leader said, in an enthusiastic gun-like tone of voice. "First we make her give up her items, THEN we can needlessly terrify her." He continued, leading to much applause.

Lux was paralysed with fear.

There were at least fifteen of them, she was cornered, there was no way out.

"Or…" The leader snapped his finger, one of the other cloaked men rushed forward and grabbed her hair.

He pulled it, raising her terrified face to meet his own bloodthirsty eyes and had placed his short sword's blade next to her neck.

"Or maybe the poor girl would like to have a say. Let's see, want to join our little band of friends? I know, you can be our errand girl, buying us some nice food and all from the towns. Don't worry, you'll have an escort just like yourself at all times." He said, pointing to a green cursor player in the midst of them.

Infiltration agents, Lux deduced amidst her terror.

She apologised to Nick, Yuna, Strea, her parents… at this rate she had no choice but to-

-A flash of light seared across her vision!

The face of the man she was forced to look at had fallen down the ground and dispersed into polygons.

"The back of one's neck is any creature's greatest blind spot. To not protect it at all times should be a sin on the battlefield." A familiar voice… she knew her rescue's lecturing tone from all the times he had beaten combat lessons into her head.

"How did you sneak past all of us?" The leader asked calmly.

"How fascinating… you seem under the impression that an opponent would reveal his secrets to you. It is a saying of mine… if you wish to protect that which must be protected, then strike while your opponent's back is turned. How fortunate that you all had your back facing me." Nick said as he held his Nodachi in front of him, using his left hand to point behind the leader of Laughing Coffin.

Seven members fell down at that very moment, under the [Paralyzed] status, two of them had exploded into polygons… evidently, Nick took the time to sneak attack, gag them, poison them and continued as they were too focused on her.

Which should not have been possible unless he was supremely lucky or everyone was just that negligent!

"What!?"

"Since when were you under the impression that I did not have my own poisoned daggers?" Nick elaborated.

He had disabled some of the members whilst on the way!?

"You think you'll live through this?"

"The correct question should be whether you can keep up with me."

The other members had finally gotten to treat their poisoned members when Nick took the opportunity to burst into action.

There were some cries of 'It's just one man!' and 'Get him!' but thankfully for Lux, common tropes dictated that the side that would dare utter those words would always be decimated.

It was insane, she now knew for real why she could never learnt how he fought.

Those that threw poisoned daggers at Nick would have their daggers caught by the handle in the middle of one of Nick's backflips and tossed at their own allies.

Swords caught by his gauntlet would result in a vicious counter.

Swords that clashed against his blade would break.

Even as he took some hits, he would never get poisoned or paralyzed because for some reason he was able to take selective hits from non-poisoned weapons.

Their leader called a retreat after another three members had died, and others were critically wounded.

Six Laughing Coffin Members died that day.

"Lux? Thank goodness you're alright." He helped her up as she was still in shock over everything.

'I'm not alright', she wanted to say in anger at her own weakness.

"Why… how…" She ended up asking.

"Eh, I was worried after you left on your own for two whole days and didn't reply our messages. And how? I paid Argo." He answered in a 'matter-of-fact' way.

"... I messed up. Everyone else died…" She wanted him to say it was her fault.

"And it's not your fault. Laughing Coffin is known for laying traps to weaken parties." He denied her.

"I gave up… I was going to become their spy… I wanted to live even if it meant betraying your trust. I'm such a weakling, a coward…" It would be better to just give up, to admit she'll never be strong… that her failure was inevitable.

"Shh… it's alright. If it was another lifetime then I would have made the same choice as you did." He confided.

"Liar."

How could she believe her ever calm yet fun dramatic teacher would make such a decision? A decision that would result in caving and cowering in fear of stronger forces…

"I'm not lying. There's something intrinsically wrong with me. I shouldn't be the standard but the exception. So don't hold yourself to unreasonable standards okay?"

How did he know?

"How did you know?" She ended up saying the same as she thought.

"I'm observant."

She chuckled a bit. "I thought all your powers of observation went into staring at Strea's chest."

He mock pouted. "That's not true. I stare at everyone's in a healthy and respectful manner by not leering. And it's not staring, it's called an appreciative glance."

"Ahh, I guess that's all right then." Lux ended up agreeing easily.

"…"

"…"

He pulled her in for a hug.

"…Nick!?"

"You fought the best you could and that's what counts in my book…" He paused and placed a hand under her chin, lifting her face up to face his own.

"You're much stronger than you think you are. Trust me." He told her those words.

The words that came from one of the people she trusted the most.

The man she believed to be her benchmark for 'strength', said that she was stronger that she thought.

Nick said to her that she was better that who she thought she was.

Was she really?

She quashed her self-doubt.

'Trust me.'

She wanted to trust him, to trust those words. Those words that no one else told her.

She forgot how much she cried then, even as they were riding out of the labyrinth on his orange toad, she had lost track of time as he held her closely all the while.

"…Thank you."

She said to him, finally, after they returned to the farmhouse on the first floor.

He accepted her thanks, adding on, " You might also want to thank Superman, I picked up that quote from him."

"Ahh, but you knew when and where to use it so… my apologies but I think I shall reserve my thanks for you."

She replied easily, making him smile softly as he cracked a light joke.

"Well, can't blame a man for trying to avoid plagiarism accusations."

"Lux-chan!" "Lux! You're alright!"

Ah, she was home.

The people who would fight to protect her were here, now that she thought about it, she would fight to protect them too.

Perhaps this power to protect is...

Oh! She was pulled into a tight group hug!

Ah, what a nice feeling this is...