And we're finally in Alfheim!
Also, 'Let It Go' correlates with Karma so much more than I expected it to. Actually, Karma and Elsa themselves have more in common than I expected. Ice can be incredibly sturdy sometimes and also very brittle at others, and you don't know it's unstable until it's too late ;)
Happy New Year, by the way :D
it's time to see what I can do, to test the limits and break through; no right, no wrong, no rules for me - Let It Go (Idina Mendez, Frozen)
o0o0o
"Welcome to Alfheim Online," an automated female voice says calmly. "First, enter your gender and character name."
Still reeling slightly from being in another virtual world, Karma hits the female icon, then moves her hands to the keyboard. She has 'Karma' typed in before she hesitates.
Her and Kirito's names were all over the news for a short while after they left Aincrad. Even with intervention, it was impossible to completely erase that moment, especially when so many people saw it go down. Sure, there aren't many SAO players in her corner of the world, so it's not like she gets recognized on the streets all the time. Even her parents don't know that she's Karma (and they probably wouldn't believe it anyway).
But she can be totally anonymous here. Besides, she'll always be Karma, but she figures she might as well switch it up.
"Next, select your race."
Nine different female avatar fairies pop up in front of her, rotating in a circle slowly. Races, huh? The blurb mentioned something about that. She can already tell there's going to be a rather unique dynamic within the game between races, especially if the world is divided up into territories and such.
It'll be so different from Aincrad.
She'll take it still, because what else is there?
Her gaze is drawn to a red-winged avatar, and she hits the 'yes' button before it rotates away.
"Salamander, correct?" the automated voice asks, and she hits 'yes' again. She didn't do much research on the details, so the only thing that drew Karma to the 'Salamander' class was the red—like the Knights of the Blood Oath.
"Your character's appearance will be decided at random. Is that okay?"
She hits 'yes' again enthusiastically. If she doesn't look like herself, that eliminates risk of her being recognized, especially with her new handle. The chances of another SAO survivor playing another VR game, this one in particular, are astronomical. But she came here to escape, and she's not going to let anything jeopardize that.
"You will now be transferred to your hometown in Salamander territory. Good luck, player."
o0o0o
She's free-falling.
Hot air blasts her suddenly, taking her breath away as she twists and turns awkwardly midair. The sun is fierce, acrid and boiling, and beats down on the land for as far as she can see. It's all sand, a neverending desert with a few landmarks here and there.
And right beneath her is what she assumes is her hometown in Salamander territory, according to the game. It's a sprawling city of mud bricks and sandstone, all in shades of sandy browns and reds ranging from a brownish rust to a rich wine red. In the center is a huge structure resembling a castle keep right out of a medieval fairy tale, where a knight would go for an audience with the king to be told to slay a dragon, except fairy tales are usually a little prettier and not located in the middle of a blazing desert
The ground is approaching at quite a dizzying rate, though. She's about to try to tuck into a roll when the game suddenly slows her descent. A shimmery sound effect reaches her, and she twists around to see a pair of translucent, sharp red wings on either side of her, parachuting her down to land on the sandstone ground with a bit of a stumble.
"Amazing," she murmurs, still a bit overwhelmed. So that's what the flight engine is like…
The dry, crisp air smells like hot food cooking, and she can feel sweat beading on her skin already, an admittedly welcome change from the unnaturally violent snowstorms they've been seeing in her part of the real world.
Karma holds out her hand, letting the sun play through her fingers. It feels exactly as it did in Aincrad, like warm silk spun into impossibly fine strands flowing like water.
And then it hits her all at once, all over again—she's back in the virtual world.
With a joyful shout, she takes off again, laughing as she flies uncontrollably upward for a few seconds. Still, she didn't live in the virtual world for two years for nothing, and she quickly regains control of her body, spiralling around and entertaining herself with a few somersaults and other tricks. As much as she loves Aincrad, she has to admit, this flight engine is definitely something else.
She lets her wings go, for a moment hanging suspended in the air. With a whoop, she starts to freefall again, and she twists around, angling her body towards a roof nearby. She lands perfectly, skidding down the side and leaping, easily clearing the gap in the street.
For what has to be at least half an hour, she runs and jumps and flies across the city, relishing in her newfound freedom. Her real body is still not at its best condition, but here? Here, she can do whatever she wants. No one knows who she is. It's a clean slate, and she's going to make the most of it.
Karma lands on the street in a puff of dust and sand, startling some other players; the NPCs just try to sell her stuff. She throws an apologetic wave over her shoulder, in too good of a mood to stop now, before she takes off running through the city, making her way towards the city gates. What lies beyond them? The world of Alfheim, while different from Aincrad, is just waiting to be explored.
Oh, but she should probably go over her character first. She trots over to a main square area, blending in perfectly amongst a dozen other red-clad players, before sitting down and pulling up her menu.
Or, at least trying.
Karma has a brief moment of full-blown panic before she tries the other hand, sagging in relief when the menu pops up. The logout button looks functional, and she dismisses the 'would you like to log out' message.
"I need pants," she realizes, staring down at her beginning gear. For girls, there's a skirt, of course. Hopefully, she didn't flash anyone on her impromptu parkour trip…
"Don't laugh, you," she mutters, shaking her head.
She quickly switches her sword to her other side, since the starting position is for right-handers, and draws the blade. It's what she expected out of a starting weapon—plain steel, leather grip. The blade is broader and shorter than she's used to, so she makes a mental note to get it replaced soon. She can work with this for now, though.
"Now, let's see how much money I—oh, what the-"
She's pretty sure she's not supposed to have about six thousand plus moneys (yuld, they're called?) right off the bat—partly because six thousand, five hundred and seventy-four seems like a rather arbitrary number, and partly because she remembers having approximately that much col by the time she was done buying crystals for the 75th boss fight.
Fingers trembling now, she checks the other parts of her menu, her shock building and building upon itself as she does. Her inventory? Full of uncoded trash items. Her skills? The exact same. Her stats? Also the exact same, down to the single digits.
A cold shiver claws its way up her spine, and she swallows hard, a thrill of something shooting through her.
No way…
It must be some kind of glitch. Maybe it's because she's using her NerveGear? Everyone in this game is using the AmuSphere, presumably, with no prior VR experience. Does that have anything to do with it?
She wishes he were here so she could ask someone who would have the answers.
For now, she quickly deletes the trash items, since they won't be any use to her. And if they start to register as glitches, that could cause problems.
Her necklace was probably in there, she suddenly realizes, and regrets everything. A tight feeling of numb grief clenches in her chest, and she waves her menu away. Gloves, she thinks to herself distantly. She'll have to get those too.
After making a stop at a clothing shop, she walks out with a cloak, leggings, and a few pairs of gloves. The shade of red is a tad too bright, but she'll put up with it.
With a sigh, she turns to inspect herself in the fountain water. The intro NPC voice said that her appearance would be determined at random, so she's curious as to what she looks like.
To her mild surprise, she doesn't look too different. Her hair is a dark crimson, flowing down her back in smooth waves. Unlike her real hair, it's actually somewhat manageable when loose, which makes her almost miss her bristling bird's nest. She starts to braid it as she inspects her other features, making faces at herself in her reflection.
Her eyes are a bright, ruby-like shade of red, intense and striking, and her skin is a little tanner than she is in real life (which isn't hard to achieve; her real body hasn't seen much sun in the last two years). Her facial features are different, of course, but not by too much.
She flips her braids over her shoulders and sighs, running a gloved hand through the water. It's cool and smooth compared to the desert heat of this city.
It feels like Aincrad, she realizes, for the nth time, and a prickling sensation starts to nag at the back of her mind. The heat, the light, the smells, the water…
It's the exact same as Aincrad.
She came here to come home, but she didn't think she would come this close to it.
And somehow, the fact that she has...it just doesn't sit right with her.
She flicks her fingers at the water surface, watching droplets shoot back into the liquid at a level of detail that shouldn't be possible except in that steel castle. The ripples rush and collide, and behind her, she spots a glimpse of bright burnished steel behind her reflection-
In a whirl of red, she shoots to her feet, whirling around, heart leaping into her throat with instinctive hope-
"Hey, you."
The gruff voice snaps her out of her stupor, and she blinks at the tall, armored player approaching. His hair bristles like live flames in a bruise-like purplish red color, eyes of a similar shade peering down his hawk-like nose at her.
She sighs. Definitely not him. Her mind's playing tricks.
But still, she refuses to ignore her instincts. There's something else here, something besides the too similar world mechanics, that she knows better than the back of her hand.
Someone else here.
A quick once-over tells her that he's more than an average player. His armor is clearly high level, for one, but his limber movements tell of more experience than most players in the virtual world.
Another SAO player…? No, he doesn't move that well.
Her eyebrows crawl upward as he stops in front of her. "Yes…?" she asks slowly, blinking owlishly at him.
He sweeps an appraising look over her. Not in a weird way, but in the way that she was doing a second earlier—judging, assessing. Somehow, he seems to come to a similar conclusion that she did—that she is not ordinary. Was it that easy to spot?
"You're a new player, aren't you?" he asks expectantly, his voice like gravel. "I saw you fall from the sky." At her slightly skeptical look, he adds, "From the keep."
"Right…" she trails off, getting to her feet. "Yeah, I'm new. Who're you?" She seriously doubts he's a tutorial NPC or anything.
"My name is General Eugene," he says evenly. "I'm the leader of the Salamander army."
She stares. "You guys have an army?" More importantly, the general of the army is talking to her? A veritable newbie? This makes her instantly suspicious.
"The best one in the game," he agrees, looking proud. "The Salamanders are the strongest race, so naturally, we have the most cohesive army."
And she's already starting to see the unique dynamic she was suspecting when she first realized there would be races dividing the world up into territories.
"I'm sure," she says flatly.
His bushy eyebrows contract slightly, and she figuratively backtracks a step. Might not be the best to antagonize the general of the army. Besides, if he's leading the main combative units of an entire race, then he has to be a goldmine of information.
"What makes Salamanders the 'strongest'?" she asks with genuine curiosity. "I didn't do any research before making my avatar, so I don't know much about the game."
Eugene raises his eyebrows, as if in disbelief, before he turns away, motioning for her to follow.
They go to a small cafe, and he treats her to coffee, dismissing her arguments by saying that she'll need her money if she's just starting out. She doesn't bother correcting him and just savors her drink. Only in the virtual world can you drink piping hot coffee without the slightest bit of discomfort. And honestly, if he's trying to get on her good side or whatever, then at least he's heading in the right direction.
After getting their drinks, they make their way through the city. He apparently doesn't like standing still for too long, and neither does she.
"I'm sure you at least know that the world is divided up into nine races," he starts, and she nods. "You know what they are?"
"Salamanders, Sylphs, Cait Sith, Pooka, Gnomes, Leprechauns, Spriggans, Undines, and Imps," she says promptly. She at least knows that much from having looked at the disc case so many times.
"Right. Each race specializes in a different type of magic-"
"There's magic in this game?" she blurts out, wide-eyed.
He rolls his eyes. "There's magic in just about every MMORPG. Have you never played one before?"
Actually, she has played one, and only one—the one MMORPG that didn't have magic.
"Not really," she says aloud. She only lived inside of one for two years.
One bushy eyebrow crawls skyward. "And you chose a VR game for your first one?"
"Indeed I did." He probably doesn't catch the irony lacing her tone.
"Bold. Well, to answer your question, yes, there is magic. Each race specializes in a different kind."
He goes through to list them all—Salamanders wield fire, Sylphs use wind magic, Cait Sith are beast-tamers, Pooka play music for different buffs and effects, Gnomes employ earth magic, Leprechauns are blacksmiths, Spriggans specialize in illusion magic, Undines fight with water magic, and Imps have dark magic as well as the ability to fly underground, unlike any other race.
"The magic is summoned via incantations, and the stronger the spell, the more MP it costs," he continues. He gestures with his left hand, pointing up. "Your MP is right under HP."
She glances up; indeed, there's a blue bar sitting underneath the green one. Her magic points are pretty low, apparently, which makes sense. She has her SAO HP, but SAO MP didn't exist, so it makes sense that she would have the starting amount.
"How do you learn the incantations, then?"
"Each fairy has a basic list in their menu. It'll walk you through the pronunciations. More advanced spells have to be learned through quests and such."
She nods slowly. "So...what are the territory rules? Like, what comes out of dividing up the world?"
"If you're in the settlements of your territory, you can't take damage, but if you're in other races' towns, then you can take damage," he explains. "A lot of the rest of the land is neutral territories. Neutral settlements are safe zones."
Safe zone. The words make her feel better than they probably should.
"So, the whole middle of the world is neutral territory?" she asks. He nods, and she's struck with another thought. "How big is the world? Like, how long would it take to fly the diameter of the world?"
Eugene frowns thoughtfully and takes a deep breath, as if preparing to rant. "Well, there's a ten minute time limit on how long you can fly. And every player flies at a different speed depending on their build and stats. Plus, there are monsters everywhere. And if you were going to fly a straight line from one side of the map to the other, you would have to go through the mountains, and you can't fly over them-"
"Okay," she interrupts quickly, storing that information away for future reference, "what about flying from one capital city to the next territory's capital city?"
Eugene clearly isn't used to being interrupted, but he answers her question nonetheless. "Five or six hours, give or take. Including monsters and rest stops."
Karma nods to herself. She can probably make it in less, if her stats are really what they seem to be. Every inch of her buzzes with a frenetic energy, excited to test out her strength.
"So." She finishes her coffee and crumples the cup in her hand, watching it explode into shards. "You really don't like Sylphs, huh?"
His eyes flash. "No Salamander does. They're always trying to farm the neutral land between our territories, assuming it belongs to them. We have to divert valuable resources to guarding our own farmers from them."
Karma hums, unconcerned, mostly just curious. "I'm sure they think the same of you guys. So I'm guessing the Salamanders and Sylphs are two of the more popular races?"
"The most," he admits. "Followed by Undines and Cait Sith."
"Hmm."
She thinks of Aincrad, and its one hundred floors. To be honest, she's always somewhat regretted that they couldn't see all one hundred. She is confident that they were designed with just as much care and precision and detail as the others.
"So what's the point of this game? There's got to be some kind of end goal, right?" she asks. To be honest, just living in this world is enough for Karma, but she knows that only some people would be satisfied with that, VR or not. They need something to keep coming back for.
In response, Eugene turns, and she follows his gaze. Far, far away, shrouded and blurred by the sheer distance, is the World Tree. The magnitude of it takes her breath away for more than a second when she thinks about it. If what he said about the flight time from just one city to the next is true, then how far away is the World Tree? And how big is it that they can still see it from here?
"They say that the Fairy King Oberon lives at the top of the tree in a sky palace," Eugene explains. "The first race to fight their way through a near impossible dungeon and reach the top will be granted unlimited flight by him."
"Oh," she says in realization, remembering just how addicting that flight engine was. "That makes more sense." No wonder all the races are at war.
The Fairy King is probably the GM. She wonders if he (or she, maybe) actually does spend his time up there, or if they too chose to just play amongst the people anonymously. The thought stiffens her spine and clenches in her gut uncomfortably. There may not be a guillotine over anyone's necks anymore, but it's still a discomforting thought.
Did the GM design this game with the intent to create virtual war? She can't help but wonder. In a normal MMORPG, this setup would be rather benign, and actually probably fun to play, if you could set up a team with different races and specialties and stuff. But in a VR game, where you are literally living and breathing it? It's a whole different story.
Aincrad, for all its danger, was never segregated like this (and she shudders to think of how much worse it could've been if it was). The closest it really got to that was red and orange players versus green players, separated only by the divisions that they themselves created.
That was one good thing that came of SAO. It brought them together, in some ways.
The keep casts them in shadow as they approach it. She'd been letting Eugene decide where they were going within the city, and it appears they have reached their destination.
"This is the headquarters of Gattan," he says, waving at the imposing sandstone building. "It serves as a general hub for people leaving the city, since it's easier to take off from higher up." He gives her a strange look here. "And it's also the army headquarters and training areas."
"Are you trying to recruit me?" she asks, amused.
"Yes," he admits bluntly, staring at her like he's trying to figure her out. "I saw you flying from the keep. Most players need to start out using the controller, and many get used to it and don't bother mastering voluntary flight. You did it within seconds of starting the game."
She blinks. "Oh. I didn't think it was a big deal. I wanted to fly, so I did." That was probably just a matter of pride, to be honest. She spent so long living in VR, and it is her home in every way; no way was she going to be stymied by an integral part of any virtual world.
"And that determination is a powerful thing," he says, eyes gleaming. "We could use someone like you in the army."
Karma keeps her expression and tone perfectly even. "Thanks, but I don't fancy being 'used'."
Fighting in an army sounds like it would be an interesting exercise, but it doesn't quite appeal to her. She's always been a solo unit; even when she was at her highest point of involvement with KoB, she was a leader, subordinate to only one other (and look where that went).
She's been fighting alone for a long time now, and besides, the last time she had other people on her side against enemies that weren't just NPC monsters was an experience she would rather not repeat.
Karma continues before he can speak, still neutral.
"I want to explore the world on my own first. See what all the races are about, not just Salamanders. Maybe I'll even go to the World Tree. Besides…" She looks up at where the canopy of the World Tree spirals into the clouds. "This whole separation between races just doesn't sit well with me."
His bushy eyebrows draw together. "It's only a game," he says dryly, and she gives a lopsided smile.
How different things are now. It's a good thing for them, but she's not quite sure how she feels about it.
"To you, maybe," she agrees, summoning her wings again. "Thanks for coffee, and the information. I appreciate it."
"Wait." He scrolls through his menu briefly, and a friend invite pops up in front of her. "In case you change your mind."
She considers the friend request for a few seconds. It might be useful to have one of the more knowledgeable players in the game on her friends list, especially if she wants to keep updated on the goings-on of the world.
On the other hand…
With an inward groan at herself, she impulsively hits the 'accept' button. This is the virtual world, damn it. She came here to escape the paranoia...right?
Eugene nods in satisfaction. "Welcome to Alfheim Online and the Salamanders…" He trails off, reading the new name in his friends list. "...Catherine."
o0o0o
Humming a catchy tune from an NPC bard, Karma half-skips into the kitchen, grabbing the milk and cereal. Her mother, who has a short break from work for once, is at the table already, and she looks up from her phone at Karma's noisy entrance.
"You seem to be in a good mood today," she comments, brow furrowed in bemusement.
"I am," she agrees, even dancing in place a little as she makes herself breakfast. She didn't dance in the tavern; it was too lonely without the partner she wanted. The food tasted divine, at least, and she's making it a bucket list goal to try out the food in every race's territory at least once.
"Have a good dream or something?"
Karma grins. Everything feels wrong, now that she got a taste of the virtual world again. By contrast, the real world, in her apartment with the plain walls instead of candlelit, saturated oak wood, that big bulky TV and smooth, shiny plastic...It all seems so dull. How did she live like this for a whole month?
"The best dream," she agrees, well, dreamily.
But she knows that when night comes around and it's time to go to sleep, she'll wake up in Alfheim and everything will feel right again.
How do people balance real and virtual? Every part of her longs to just FullDive again, let herself fall fully into the virtual world of magic and freedom; she wants it so, so bad. This isn't living, not with a foot in each world; how is she supposed to be free like that?
For now, though, it works. One step at a time.
If she ever does cross that bridge, she'll make sure to burn it behind her.
o0o0o
moments make minutes and minutes make hours as the dawn meets the dusk and I've pondered the night away - Sometimes Hearts Break (Nathan Wagner)
lately, I've been in the backseat to my own life, trying to take control, but I don't know how to - I Don't Wanna Be Sad Forever (Lauv)
I let her keep her stats, which makes it feel even more like 'home' for her. I never quite understood how Kirito got all of his old stats and items and skills back, but I assume it has something to do with the fact that he was using his NerveGear, which allowed for some kind of connection between SAO and ALO because the Cardinal system was the same too? I have no idea. I just went with that.
Oh yeah, if you're confused about the name 'Catherine', I have a headcanon that Heathcliff's name was taken from the character named Heathcliff in the book Wuthering Heights. If you've read Retribution, you probably have some vague memory of this XD And I've brought up the book a few times in this fic too. Catherine is another prominent character in the book. The book characters have a very, er, complicated relationship.