DISCLAIMER: I do not own Sword Art Online. Sword Art Online and all associated characters are owned by Reki Kawahara. This story is merely written for my and your personal enjoyment. I was not paid to write this story. Special thanks to the SAO wiki for giving a timeline of the SAO universe and for providing me information to write the necessary context for this story.
Prologue: The Ghost of Aincrad
When the SAO players were finally freed from the virtual prison, many rejoiced at their salvation. Reunions sprouted up left and right as families were finally reunited. Brother returned to brother, sister returned to sister, lover returned to lover, children to their parents and parents to their children. It felt that all of Japan rejoiced at the return of the her lost sons and daughters after nearly two years of entrapment.
And the interviews started rolling in. The SAO Incident Victims Rescue Force questioned all the surviving players of SAO to ask them a series of questions. But one simple question weighed heavily on them all: "Who cleared Sword Art Online?". The individual or group that finally cleared Floor 100 would be rewarded greatly by the Japanese government and people and would be given great respect and honor for their actions to clear the game.
Yet the reply of each player came quietly, yet their voice full of respect and gratitude.
"Who cleared the game? It's him... The Ghost of Aincrad."
When pressed further on who he was, most players didn't give much details beyond a general description. Yet for the players who had met this Ghost of Aincrad personally, they spoke in hushed whispers full of reverence and awe. They said he was an enigma among legends and a god among men. He stalked the floors of Aincrad wearing his black cloak, his sharp gray eyes piercing right through your soul, always seeing, always knowing. When his sword was drawn on the battlefield, few could match him blow for blow. Only legends of among the Clearers could perform such feat. When his second sword was drawn, nothing could defeat him.
Stories tell of his great feats across the floors of Aincrad. One such story common among many survivors was if you were close to death, he would appear from the shadows to save you. He would ruthlessly slaughter everything that would have killed the players then promptly guide the players towards a place of safety, warning them to be careful in the near future. Players in the frontlines often spoke of encountering him on the path leading them to the Floor Boss. In these encounters, he often destroyed them with no mercy but offered them pointers to improve their fighting skill and strength, improve their tactics and pointed out quests not even info-brokers know that would grant them weapons and armor far superior to their own. The Ghost always ensured that they would defeat the Floor Boss with no casualties. Since then, the frontlines never suffered a single casualty or death against the boss. In fact, ever since his appearance, the deaths for SAO suddenly dropped from the hundreds every month to zero.
Whoever this Ghost was, his appearance came at a time of great need. The frontlines had stalled on Floor 70. The fateful Floor Boss fight on that floor had cost the lives of Heathcliff and Kirito, the two strongest players of Aincrad, to protect the retreating players from the 70th Floor Boss room. Despite their sacrifice, the frontlines casualties mounted. Their morale broken and shaken. Their vicious defeat and the deaths of their strongest players sent shock waves across Aincrad. It didn't help that death tolls were rising and PKers were on a rampage. All hope was lost until the Ghost reportedly soloed the 70th Floor Boss, kicked the front lines back into action and began his vigil of protecting the remaining players.
Several investigations were launched to figure out who this mysterious ghost is. Was he a glitch in the Cardinal System? A player taking up the persona of a ghost? Or is he an actual ghost? These investigations met a dead end. An attempt at SAO's servers failed as the servers were wiped clear of any player data. An attempt at the inner-workings of the Cardinal System failed as it was revealed that the management force of SAO had no connections to the Ghost. Investigation after investigation was launched until a breakthrough was found.
After a series of interviews, six players were found to be given special treatment by the Ghost for reasons that remained even unknown to them. All they knew was that the Ghost used them as his messengers for the purpose of instilling hope and renewed determination to clear the game. Today, they will finally be used to remove the veil of mystery covering the Ghost.
This is the story of the Ghost of Aincrad. He is always there. Always protecting. Always waiting. Always keeping watch over their souls.
A/N. I'm going to ridiculously alter the canon to suit this story if you guys decide this story feels good. Anyways, feel free to favorite, follow and leave a review if you feel this story has potential. See you.