Alpha Phase

Before I begin this story there are a couple things I need to clarify.

I do not own Sword Art Online (ソードアートオンライン), the characters, or the storyline. All rights belong to A-1 Pictures, Aniplex USA, and Reki Kawahara.

The events depicted in this story are not part of the official SAO canon.

I am not profiting from writing this story.

Some of the events or mentioned events are based on some of my real life experiences. If one or more of these events are similar to one of your own it is unintentional and coincidental.

Please support Sword Art Online and its affiliates.

Author's Note: Hi guys! My name is Thomas and this is my first fanfiction. I hope you like it. Now before you yell at me because my character's names suck or my title makes no sense or the story is boring, I will say that I don't have a lot of experience when it comes to writing. I have written a short story or two in my time but it still isn't enough for me to really qualify as an "author". So remember, this is my first story, I am more than aware that there are flaws, and I am open to suggestions. So please, feel free to tell me what you think.

Chapter XXV

POV: Kimi

November 7, 2024

I starred at the ground for what felt like an eternity. I couldn't believe that he was dead, and I would never see him again. I looked over and I saw the Lun Reaper lying on the ground, the writing on the blade almost completely faded. Slowly, I reached for it and grasped the handle and tried to pick it up. It was so heavy I found myself surprised that Hikaru could swing it around with ease. As I stood up I could hear Kayaba walking up the stairs to the gate. I turned to him.

"Kayaba! Get back here right now!" I shouted as loud as I could. He turned around.

"Sorry, but you heard Hikaru. I'm to make sure you can't kill yourself. Therefore, I'm also not allowed to fight you," he replied.

"I don't give a damn what Hikaru said! I'm finishing what he started!"

"Oh please, like you would be able to even scratch me." I lunged at him and tried to hit him with Hikaru's sword, but Kayaba blocked it and knocked me back. "Alright, if that's the way it's going to be, I'm not going to stop you." He plunged his sword through me faster than I could blink. I saw my health bar depleting very slowly. I looked at his health bar; it was red and about three centimeters away from hitting 0. In other words, it was lower than mine. I lifted the Lun Reaper slowly. "Why are you struggling? It's not like you'd be able to hurt me when that thing is so heavy." I ignored him and pointed the end of the sword at his chest.

"I'm sick of your crap, Kayaba. Hikaru told me to get out… And that's exactly what I'm going to do!" I plunged the Lun Reaper into Kayaba's chest, his health bar depleting. Two beeps sounded as my HP also hit 0. I looked down at Hikaru's sword. "You did it, Mizuki… You cleared the game…" I whispered. The white stone glistened as my health bar dissolved and I closed my eyes. Everything went white.

When I came to, I was standing on a completely transparent platform in the sky, the sun setting in the distance. Was I dead? I looked down. I was still in my equipment in SAO. I swung my hand downward and the menu opened up. The loading circle was on the screen with a number inside it going up. 55%... 56%... 57%... Above the Circle were the words "Initializing Final Phase." I closed the menu. So was I alive then? If so, why? If I can't see him anymore, then I don't want to be. I looked down as a tear rolled down my cheek…

"Didn't I tell you not to get killed?" I heard someone ask behind me. I didn't really care about what the voice said, I was more interested in who the voice belonged to. Of course, I knew who it was before I turned around and saw Hikaru. "Hey Kimi," he said.

"Hikaru… You're still alive?" I asked in disbelief.

"I don't know how or why, but think so."

"Yes! Thank God!" I ran over to him and threw my arms around him. "Don't scare me like that!" I demanded.

"Sure thing."

POV: Hikaru

November 7, 2024

"Where are we?" Kimi asked.

"I don't know for sure, but I have a pretty good idea. Look down there." I pointed down to the point of interest. Below us was Aincrad, falling apart from the bottom up, each chunk that fell off turning yellow and dissolving. We starred at it for a couple minutes.

"Stunning view, isn't it…?" We heard someone ask. I looked to my right and I saw a man in a white lab coat and brown hair. I knew who it was, despite the differences between how me looks in the real world and his SAO avatar.

"Akihiko Kayaba…" I whispered.

"At Argus Headquarters," he began, "The SAO Mainframe is in a room five floors below street level, and right now it's deleting all the data from its drives… In about ten minutes, everything in this world will disappear forever."

"What about the players?" Kimi asked.

"You don't have to worry about them. The 6,147 players who survived the game up to now were logged out a few seconds ago."

"And what about the other 3,853 players that died? What happened to them?" I asked.

"They'll never return… In any world, real or virtual, once you're dead, you're gone…"

"Why? Why would you do this?"

"That's a good question… It's been so long I've forgotten the reason. Isn't that strange…?" He looked up to some dragon-like creatures flying away. "Even before I developed a system for the full-dive environment I dreamed of this, a castle in a world that wasn't governed my earthly laws and restrictions. I poured my life into making that world a reality. I created this world, and I got to see something that surpassed anything I could've imagined for it. My steel castle… Floating in the sky… I don't remember how old I was when I became obsessed with it. I wanted to leave the Earth, to fly to that castle. I wanted that more than anything else, for as long as I can remember… You know what, Hikaru? I want to believe it's still out there, that somewhere in some other world my castle is still standing, taller than ever…" I was silent for a couple seconds.

"Yeah… Maybe it still is," I replied.

"Before I forget, congratulations on clearing the game, Hikaru, Kimi." He looked over to us. "Well then, I should probably get going." He turned around and walked away. As he got farther away I saw him turn to dust and blow away into the wind. Kimi and I sat at the edge of the platform we were standing on.

"I wonder if we're going to die after this," I said.

"If you do, I hope I can join you. I don't want to have to live in a world without you, it would be too empty," she responded.

"Thanks, but it would be nice to know if my life is going to end within the next couple seconds." Kimi giggled.

"Yeah, it really would… Hey Hikaru?"

"What is it?"

"Do you think that there are any other VRMMO's, or do you think they've been completely removed from the market?"

"I don't know, it's possible that the genre will go through some complications before they're back on the shelves. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"Yeah… I think we're leaving soon." I looked down and saw the last tiny bits of Aincrad falling apart and disappearing.

"Yeah, I think so too. Well I'll see you one the other side."

"Right, bye for now." Kimi hugged me as a flash of white filled my vision, only for it to all go black. I tried opening my eyes, and when I did I was on a bed in a hospital room, the Nerve Gear still on my head. I looked around. No one was here. I slowly reached up and took the helmet off and placed it on the table next to the bed. Then I heard the door open and close. A girl with dark hair and a vase full of flowers walked in. When she saw that I was awake, her jaw dropped.

"Mizuki?" she questioned. It was Kiyomi Yuuki, the middle child in the Yuuki family, and Kimi's older sister.

"Kiyomi!" I sat up quickly, but when I did, my head exploded in pain and every muscle in my body burned. I fell backward.

"Don't move!" Kiyomi demanded. She ran over to the table and set the vase down on it. She picked up the phone and dialed a number. The phone rang a couple times. "Hello? Mrs. Hatsumode?... No, nothing's wrong. It's your son, he's awake!" With my head still hurting, I sat up slowly and tried to get out of the bed. Kiyomi stopped me. "You need to rest. You can do whatever you want when you're released."

"I… can't wait… that long…" I said, barely able to speak. "I have… to do it… now…"

"Sorry, I'll have to call you back," she said into the phone and hung up. "What are you trying to do that's so important?"

"I have… to see Kimi… Please… take me… to her…" She raised her eyebrows but eventually she nodded.

"I'll take you to her when you can walk. For now, you have to rest." She gently pushed me down onto the bed. I realized that I wasn't going to convince her to let me go, so I just lay back down.

"Kimi…" I whispered. "I swear… I'll find you…"

END OF CHAPTER XXV