A/N: Hello everyone. I'm back with a new adventure for the lost stories. This one was an idea I got from a friend of mine on this site. As I promised at the end of last chapter, I've posted the entire Caged Canaries story as a whole, so feel free to enjoy it in full. Additionally, this particular story is an AU, so it is not cannon in the Blazing Revolution universe. But I'm sure you'll figure that out once you read this first chapter.
Chapter 2: Caged Canaries Pt.1
Alfheim Online. The first VRMMO to be released after the events of Sword Art Online. There were thousands of players enjoying the fantasy world. The land of the fairies. A place where you could fly. It was less than a game and more like a dream world for everyone that played it.
For Asuna though, it was a living nightmare.
The chestnut haired girl sat alone in the large birdcage hanging in the branches of the World Tree. For the past two months since Sword Art Online had ended, this prison had been her home. She was cut off from everything else. Friends. Family. The real world itself. The only things that kept her any company were the virtual birds that flew in and out of the cage every now and then.
And that wasn't even the worst part. The worst part was the one keeping her imprisoned here. The disgusting rat known as Sugou Noboyuki, or Oberon as he liked to go by here. Nearly every day he would come and visit her. He'd toy with her, treating her like some doll for him to play with. She hated him. There was no other word to describe her feelings towards him other than pure hatred.
Besides her, nearly three hundred other players that had survived SAO were being held captive in ALO. She still remembered Sugou telling her about the inhumane experiments he and his team of scientists were performing on them. But not her. She was untouched. Simply because Sugou wanted her as his trophy.
"Why hello there Titania, my dear."
There he was again. Standing right outside of her cage. Had she the power, she would have beaten him to a bloody pulp and tossed him off the branches of the World tree. But he was the GM here. He had all the power while she had none. It was the one of the few things that made her hate Sugou more than Kayaba. Kayaba at least had the fairness to lower himself to the level of player.
"What do you want Sugou?"
"Why Titania, I'm hurt. Is that any way to treat your future husband?"
"Go to hell." Asuna spat venomously.
Sugou grinned as he opened the cage door and walked inside. He toyed with her long hair. "Such a sharp tongue you have, my dear. And I even went out of my way to bring you a friend."
Asuna spared a small glance at Sugou. "What are you talking about?"
A smirk became stretched on Sugou's face as he walked around her cage and looked outside. "I visited your hospital room the other day. I saw your little hero boyfriend while I was there. Seeing the look on his face when he found out I was marrying you soon was priceless. And this time there was someone with him. Another person with a loved one still asleep. I took a peek in her hospital room. Quite the pretty girl if I do say so with that long black hair of hers. Not as beautiful as you though of course."
Asuna's eyes widened in fear as she brought her hands to her mouth to cover her gasp when she realized who Sugou was referring to. "Alice…"
"Ah yes, that was her name now that I remember." Sugou said. "And seeing as you and her were such good friends, I thought I'd give you a little gift." With a snap of his fingers, a player manifested in front of Sugou. Her body fell to the floor with a thud. The gasp that came from Asuna was exactly what Sugou was expecting. "Recognize her, do we?"
"Alice!" Asuna bolted out of her chair and ran to her friend. Alice laid unconscious and helpless on the floor. Her armor and scythe from SAO were gone and replaced with garments similar to Asuna's, except they seemed more befitting of a slave or servant. Asuna glared hatefully at the fairy king as she placed herself between him and her friend. "Don't you dare touch her!"
Sugou dismissed Asuna's threat with a wave of his hand. "Please, I have no interest in her. I just thought I'd give you someone to keep you company. It must get so lonely in this cage all by yourself. And losing one measly test subject won't affect the progress of my research that much anyway."
Asuna glared hell at Sugou. She wanted to strangle him right then and there for treating Alice and the other SAO Survivors he was holding captive like guinee pigs. But even if she had the power to do so, she couldn't risk endangering Alice any more than she already was. She hated being in this cage, but Asuna had to admit it was a better alternative for Alice than being experimented on.
"I'll leave you to get reacquainted with your little friend there. Bye bye my dear." Sugou said with a smirk as he walked out and closed the cage door behind him. "I do hope this will change your attitude a bit the next time I visit."
Asuna grinded her teeth as she watched Sugou walk away. Not long after the fairy king was out of sight did Asuna hear a low moan escape from Alice. She looked down at her friend. "Alice. Alice, can you hear me?"
"Ugh… where am I?" Alice moaned as she slowly came to. As her vision cleared, the first thing she saw was Asuna holding her in her arms. "Asuna? Is that you?"
"Alice, are you alright?" Asuna asked. "Are you hurt anywhere?"
"My head is aching, but other than that I'm fine." Alice told her as she sat up. Taking a moment to check her surroundings, she noticed their setting. "What the hell? Where are we?"
Asuna put a hand on her friend's shoulder and frowned. "It's a long story. And unfortunately, I have more than enough time to explain it to you since we're stuck here."
Alice listened as Asuna slowly began to explain their situation. About how Sugou had managed to capture them and about three hundred other survivors from SAO and was using them as guinee pigs for human experimentation. She also explained her history with Sugou, clearing up why she was an exception and locked away in the cage they were in.
By the time Asuna had finished her story, Alice didn't know what to say. She had never imagined this happening to them after they defeated Kayaba. She said the only thing she could think of. "So what do we do now?"
"Right now, there's nothing we can do." Asuna told her friend. "We'll have to try and wait for an opportunity to escape. But until then… we may have to wait for the others to save us."
Alice lowered her head and frowned. "Do we even know if this Sugou guy doesn't have them trapped too?"
"I doubt he does." Asuna said. "He talked about meeting Kirito and Ren in the real world. That's how he knew you and I knew each other back in SAO. I think it's safe to assume they're both not among the three hundred Sugou's captured."
"What about the others? Mai? Dagger?"
Asuna shook her head. "I don't know about them. For all we know, they could be trapped here too."
Alice looked down, her hands shaking slightly. Mai was possibly one of the people Sugou and his men were experimenting on. The very thought of her sister going through that terrified her. She could only pray that Mai was lucky enough to be one of the ones back in the real world. But more than anything, the one she wanted to see was the face of the boy she loved.
'Ren… please… I need you…'
The Nerve Gear laid on Ren's lap as he stared at it. He was really doing this. There was no backing out now, nor did he want to. He was going to use the device that had put a knife to his throat for nearly two years. All because of one simple reason.
This was the only way for him to see Alice again.
He still remembered it. Seeing her after he had managed to track her down. Asleep on the hospital bed with the Nerve Gear still on her head. It had felt like a nightmare. For the past two months, all he had been able to do was visit Alice, or Alicia Tsuki as he had found out her name was, laying on that bed. Her eyes stayed closed and hadn't opened once yet. There were only two of his friends that knew what that felt like. The first was Kirito, due to the fact that Asuna was also still asleep for some reason. The second was Mai. Alice was her sister and Ren knew that Mai loved her more than anything. Not in the same way he did, but still.
And then earlier this afternoon, Ren and the others had found out from Agil a clue as to where Asuna and Alice might be. A blurry picture of a girl resembling Asuna sitting in a birdcage inside a VRMMO called Alfheim Online. And if that really was Asuna, then there was a good chance they'd find Alice there too.
Over by the desk next to his bed, Ren heard his phone buzz. He looked at it and saw a new message in the group text they had all set up.
-It's almost time. You guys ready for this? -Hyde Gekido
Soon another response came from Dagger, and one more a few seconds later from Riku.
-You bet. Let's do this. -Lilina Yoake
-We'll save Asuna and Alice for sure. -Shirou Makengo
Ren showed a soft smile on his face. He felt blessed to have such amazing friends at his side. He sent a text to one member of the group in particular.
-You don't have to come with us Mai. We'll be fine on our own.
Almost immediately, Ren received a reply from the youngest member of the Wyvern's Inferno guild from SAO.
-Just try and stop me. I'm going and that's final. -Emi Tsuki
Ren didn't know why he even bothered asking as a chuckle escaped him. Mai was young, but she was also stubborn and determined, a trait she shared with her sister. He sent one last text to the group.
-Alright guys. We're going in and saving our friend. Let's do this.
Ren strapped the Nerve Gear to his head. He laid down on his bed and closed his eyes. He uttered the two words he thought he'd never say again.
"Link Start!"
A/N: So for those of you wondering, no I won't be doing Wyvern's Inferno's adventure through Alfheim again. This story is going to focus mostly on Asuna and Alice's perspective up until the last couple of chapters, hence the name Caged Canaries. This will be the last Author's Note up until the last chapter for this story so you guys won't have to hear me ramble on over and over again. Hope you enjoy the story.