Noon, April 4th, 2023. Luna was walking down the stony streets of the main city of the twenty-seventh floor. A majority of the floor was similar to an underground city, built deep inside the mountains that took over the entire level. Large stalactites with an abundance of brightly glowing crystals were the primary source of light in the otherwise dark caverns. Staring up at the blue crystals was similar to watching the stars back home, to some extent. When Luna first arrived there, she had gazed up at them for what felt like hours while reminiscing on old camping trips she and her family had gone on when she was a child. She hadn't done that since, not after the pain in her heart grew too much to bear. That was when she realized how much she really missed her old life, and the family that was waiting for her to return from this game of death.
While walking through the bustling, dark roads, the sounds of smiths hammering their anvils and the aroma of burning metal filled the city, seeing as ore was in abundance here, and the players who had put more focus on their crafting skills had a particular fondness of this place since its discovery. Luna herself had no interest in this, but she was in need of a new dagger, and this was presently the best place to go in order to get one made. She continued her path, her hood up, her head down, and her hands in the pockets of her cropped leather jacket. She tried to make herself stand out as little as possible, and tried to avoid any conversation whenever she could. In the last month, she had grown more distant from her fellow players than she was before, which was already a considerable amount. Even Trail, who had become a sort of friend since then, had not seen nor heard from her in two weeks, despite having sent her several messages in that time.
Luna didn't want to talk to anyone, didn't want to be around anyone, and certainly didn't want to work with anyone. After the incident, she had grown colder, more distant, and it was only amplified by the pain that this particular day brought her. April 4th, her birthday, which for most people would be a happy occasion, one worth celebrating. For Luna, however, she could only think about her family back home, and the fact their way of celebrating today would be hovering beside her lifeless body as it withered away in a hospital bed. She remembered that her mother would always make her a chocolate cake with vanilla icing around the rim and lathered between the three layers. That was her special cake, the one that she had always liked for as long as she could remember. Jin would mess up her hair as he said "Happy birthday, pup," and surprise her with some stupid gift that he bought at a dollar store. The real present would always come after dinner, but he liked to play his idiotic pranks whenever he could.
Her father, well, he was at work a lot, but he would always make a point of being at dinner on that day, at least. Now, she wasn't there, and they would be feeling the lack of her all too much. Despite them being in a cave, and despite the dry, iron-scented air, she felt as if she was in a torrential downpour, if her mood was anything to go off of. It was like there was a cloud hanging over her head and it was constantly dumping gallons of rain down on her. She turned a corner and found herself in an alley of merchants and various permanent shops. Some of them were player-owned, but a majority were handled by programmed AI proprietors, all advertising their wares and services to any and all who passed by. Luna kept her head down as she progressed the length of the alley, and as a result, she managed to walk into something solid, and apparently alive, since it let out a high-pitched "Gah!" from the surprising impact.
Both of them fell backwards and wound up on their butts, stunned and motionless atop the warm stones that made up the streets. Luna looked up and saw that the thing she had run into was a young girl that was approximately her age. The next thing she noticed was how stunningly beautiful this girl was, or perhaps cute would be the better word for it. She had round, youthful blue eyes that were as dazzling as the gems they resembled, and long curls of blonde hair fell around her face while the rest of it was tied into a braid behind her head. She was wearing a blue tunic, a white miniskirt, and solid black tights. Around her left wrist was a black leather bracelet, and her right hand had a silver bangle. The look on her face as the two of them locked eyes was one of shock and awe, but most of all, it seemed momentarily lost. Before Luna could speak, the girl's small mouth changed into a wide, pretty grin that seemed almost too perfect to be true.
"Oops, my bad." she said, and Luna was shocked again by how angelic her docile, gentle tone sounded. It was playful and girlish, but it also had a hint of an odd maturity in it, like it was perfect, even in the way that it wasn't. It was complicated, and Luna couldn't explain it properly, but that was her impression as the girl continued to speak. "I guess I should have looked where I was going, huh? I was so distracted by all of the shops, I forgot to look ahead of me. Silly, really." she continued.
"N-no, it was my fault." Luna quickly said, apologetically.
"Ah, there's no need to take the blame for my mistake." said the girl, and she gave another showing of that all too perfect smile. "Oh, I should introduce myself." she then added. "My name is Clair, it's nice to meet you."
"Luna." Luna said, softly, and curiously. She looked at the girl, who was rocking her feet back and forth as she did the same with her head.
"That's a pretty name. Like the moon, right? I think that fits you. It's a lot better than my name, that's for sure. Anyway, Luna, nice to meet you. Err, I already said that, huh? Ha, oh well."
"Are you okay?" Luna questioned, growing concerned that the impact might have rattled her brain somehow. It was either that, or this girl was simply this spacey and bizarre.
"Perfectly well, why do you ask?"
"No reason." Luna eventually decided to say, and then she rose to her feet while the girl continued her gleeful movements. "Umm, do you want some help up?"
Clair seemed to think for a moment before nodding her head. "I would." she said, holding out her hand for Luna to take it. "Thank you. Oooh, your eyes are really pretty." Clair then said, now catching a better look at Luna's face.
She quickly reached for Luna's hood but Luna ducked and dodged to avoid the grabbing appendage. Surprisingly, the girl was able to react quick enough to spin around Luna and pull the hood down. Luna batted the hand away and shifted to create some space between them, reaching for the dagger on her hip. Her brown, unruly hair was sticking up everywhere, and this only seemed to excite the girl even further.
"Wow, you're so cute." the girl said, putting her hands in front of her and touching the ends of her fingers to one another. "I never would have guessed."
"T-thanks?" Luna said, questionably, feeling her face growing hot, and she could only imagine how red the game's engine was making her face presently. SAO's engine had a knack for overdoing facial expressions, and for Luna, this was currently an embarrassing thing, which only made her face grow more scarlet.
"Cute." Clair murmured, stepping closer to Luna and reaching for her hands. "Would you like to go shopping with me?"
"S-shopping?" Luna gasped, trying her hardest to avoid the girl's penetrating gaze, but she also couldn't deny the urge she had to get lost in those gem-like irises. Clair nodded feverishly as she stepped even closer, their faces almost touching now.
"Please? I would love to have a girl tagging along while I look around. Please, please, please?" she asked, repeatedly.
It almost seemed like Luna didn't have a choice. If she said no, she had a feeling this girl would not let her go without driving her half-crazy with even more pleas. She even thought, by the way Clair was acting, that she would follow Luna out into the fields if she refused to accompany her in town.
"I beg you, Luna, pretty please?"
"Really? Why me, anyway?" she asked, reluctant to agree, but feeling like her chance of escape had fled a long time ago. Thinking back, she should have left the second they had fallen over. Luna should've apologized and ran off, but instead, she stayed, and now she was stuck in this situation.
"Why?" Clair repeated. "Don't you feel it? Don't you know what's happening here?"
"Uhhh, no?" Luna answered, still unsure of what exactly this girl was talking about. To Luna, the possibility of her being crazy was only growing more credible with each word she spoke.
"This is like an anime or a manga, right? One of the romance ones, where the main characters bump into each other and then their journey together starts. You know the ones, right? And then they start out not liking each other, but then they quickly find out that they do like each other, and after that, one might act tsundere for a while but secretly, both of them know their true feelings. A few more months go by and they finally admit that they love each other, and then this leads to that and their getting married and having children together." Clair hastily said, in a breathless ramble that only served to increase her excitement and Luna's cautious disposition.
Luna raised an eyebrow and took an involuntary step away from the girl while pulling her hands free. "Look, I don't know what books you're reading or what shows you're watching, but I really don't have the time for this." she said, coldly.
"Oh yeah? What are you doing today, anyway?" Clair asked, and Luna instantly regretted not having an excuse prepared beforehand.
She could always say that she was going to grind some Exp or do some quests, but she really wanted that new equipment before heading out again. It would be stupid to lie to the girl and to stay in the same market, but it would aslo be pointless in going outside of the city to just come back here later. She was already here, and she really didn't feel like wasting that sort of time.
"Well?" Clair questioned, growing more persistent and frustratingly close.
"Well…" Luna started, trying to think of a suitable answer. "Well, I was going to shop for a new weapon. I'm sure that you wouldn't want to do something that boring."
"Of course I would, as long as it's with you. Besides, I was going to get a new sword made anyway, so it all works out." Clair assured her, showing another wonderful grin. "I'll even give you some of my lunch if you want, I have a pretty good cooking skill, after all." she added, trying to add more incentives to persuade Luna.
Luna looked away from the girl and gave a quiet, but firm "No." in response.
"Sorry?" asked Clair.
"No. I'll pass. The truth is, I just want to be alone." Luna admitted.
"How come?" asked Clair.
"Because I do. Quit being so nosy."
Luna hardened herself and pushed past the girl, trying to forget the already cementing image of Clair's pained expression. She pulled her hood back up and continued down the corridor of shops and merchants, ignoring the urge to look back and gaze at the girl again. There was something about her, something that drew Luna to her, but that didn't make sense. The only person she had gotten close to was Trail, and even he was kept at a distance lately. She didn't have the space in her heart for another person, not after what happened. It was something that she didn't want to admit to herself, but in the end, after the first week, she had to realize the truth of it. Her killing that man, the murder she carried out, it affected her. She had trouble sleeping since then, and she barely ate anymore. It was like she had betrayed some sacred oath, broken some ultimate rule, and it scarred her. She felt sick and cold and heartless for doing what she did, and she grew angry at herself and at the man that forced her to perform that heinous act. In the end, however, what hurt her the most, was that the decision was hers. From the very start, she could have sacrificed her gear in order to avoid a fight, or she could have run away after participating in the fight. She did neither of these things though.
She turned and plunged her blade into the man's stomach. She wasn't completely certain it would have killed him in one hit, but there was a good possibility by just the difference in their levels and stats alone, and she would be lying if it wasn't what she had hoped to happen, somewhere deep inside herself. She wanted the fight to end, and the fastest way to end a fight in this world is to kill your opponent, be it monster or human player. In the heat of the battle, she forgot her humanity and morals in favor of putting a swift end to the fight, in favor of keeping herself alive at any cost to those around her. With Luna's current mental state, getting close to anybody just seemed like a bizarre, out of place idea. It was almost like she felt she didn't deserve it. Perhaps that was the case, and she didn't feel like she had the right to be happy anymore. Somebody lost their life, her blade had delivered him death, and what was she supposed to do now, prance around and make good memories with friends? It just didn't sit right with her.
No, for now at least, she would go get her weapon, and continue throwing herself into her daily business of farming monsters. She might even dip into the floor labyrinth for a change, just to tackle some of the higher level enemies in there. Maybe, to atone for her sin, she would even join the frontlines, and perhaps even enter one of the Clearer guilds like the KOB, or Knights of the Blood, which debuted in the most recent floor boss on the twenty-sixth floor. Luna was surely a high enough level to become a member, and she was a capable fighter. She could offer quite a bit to help progress the game, and now she had a reason. Besides, even if she didn't want to join the guilds, solo players helped all the time with clearing the floors. One of the strongest players, according to things in the frequent newspapers, was a solo-player named Kirito, The Black Swordsman. A beta tester, and a powerful solo-player that made large contributions to the frontlines.
She could be that, if she wanted. While she thought, she found herself walking blindly again, too distracted to pay any attention to where she was going. If she wasn't careful, she might wind up running into another player, and that was the last thing she wanted to go through again. One time today was one time too many for her. Instead of focusing on these persistent thoughts, she started eyeing the many stalls and such of the busy mining city. As she passed by one stall, if it could be called that, she stopped to examine it. In reality, it was just an empty table, a man that stood behind it, and a few tools of his smiting trade beside him. The man appeared to be in his mid twenties, so he was an older player, and had a short, black ponytail that brushed against his muscular back. The shirt he wore was gray and tightly fitting, with two of the three buttons at the collar unfastened, revealing some of his chest. A recently trimmed beard outlined his jaw and encircled his mouth, all of it just as black as his hair, and his eyes were similarly dark in color.
Overall, he looked like an average, youthful Japanese man, and his face had a kind, welcoming appearance to it that probably served him well while selling the fruits of his trade. It wasn't the man that caught her attention though, it was the table. The fact that he was here, presumably looking for customers for his crafts, didn't line up with the fact that his table, where his wares should be, was empty. Usually, you would suspect that a seller would have something out on display, anything to show the quality of their work, but this guy had nothing. Every stall around him had mannequins of dazzling steel plate and racks on racks of swords, shields, and even maces, but he sat there with a confident gleam in his eyes and an easy look on his face, as if this would be all he needed to pull in customers. Luna had to admit, this lackluster appeal had caught her eyes. It was as if he had nothing to prove, and it made everyone else appear as if they were trying too hard.
"Do you need something, miss?" the man asked, his voice deep but welcoming. There was no intimidation in it, and nothing that could possibly be mistaken for rudeness. If anything, it reminded her of her father back home, a caring man that genuinely wanted to help people. Of course, that was a lot to assume after hearing only one question come from his mouth, so Luna would withhold her certainty of it until she had further proof, but this was her initial impression of him.
"I do." she replied, approaching the table. "I don't see anything on your display though. Do you have anything to sell?" she asked him.
"I have my skills to offer. I only do custom orders. I don't make things in advance to sell or to show off, I take requests and I fulfill them. Having said that, is there anything you're looking for? You're small, and the armor you're wearing looks like that of an assassin, so you would probably want a dagger, yes?"
"Good eye." Luna said, astonished by his conclusion.
"How about armor?" he asked.
"Not yet, but if you do good on the weapon, I'll keep you in mind for the future." she replied.
"Well, Ms…" he started, and gazed at Luna for a moment.
"Luna." she offered.
"Megaris." he then said, before continuing. "Anyway, Ms. Luna, we should start by determining the material you want to use. Do you have any on you? Are there any specific traits you wish to see in your weapon? Anything I should know about before I get started?"
"Well, Megaris," she started, staring into his dark eyes. "I have this ore I found in one of the dungeons on this floor. I figured it would suffice for something worthwhile." she finished, pulling a crimson ingot with wavy ripples of black mixed within it from her inventory. As she did, she brushed against a dangling cord that was fixed to her belt. Tied to the end of the black cord was a shining blue jewel that almost resembled the glowing crystalline stones in the ceiling above their heads. She saw him eye it briefly before turning his attention to the ingot she laid out on the table.
"This will be a suitable ingot. I have a few other orders to get to so you can either hang around or you can go about your business for a while. I'll probably be done with your request in an hour or two. Oh, one other thing before we finalize anything. I'm not cheap, just so you know. My work is top quality, and I expect to be paid properly for it. Will that be a problem?"
"Nope. I'll have it covered. Just get started when you can." she answered, and then turned to step away from the table and the man behind it. "Gah!" she gasped, loudly, as for the second time that day, she ran into something. "Grrrr." she growled, gritting her teeth and rubbing her nose, out of reflex more than anything, like when you say "Ow," despite not actually getting hurt from something.
When Luna's glaring eyes looked forward, she saw a familiar face. Before her stood Clair, the blonde angel she had encountered only minutes before. At first, Luna couldn't believe it, but after a second, she realized that what she expected to happen, was actually happening. She refused the girl and the girl followed her, just like she thought. Now that she was properly looking at her and not trying to avoid eye contact, seeing as Luna was far too annoyed now to bother with timidness, she noticed that the girl was close to her height. Clair was probably a couple of inches taller, but it wasn't enough to make a real, noticeable difference. The primary separation between them was that Clair did not entirely share the same petite figure that Luna had. She had a bit of a larger chest, though not by much, but the natural contours of her body were much more defined. She had a curvy waist, somewhat thick hips and legs, and a bit more meat on her than Luna did. She wasn't fat, and her body was nearly perfectly proportioned. Everything about her was just right, that was the only way Luna could describe it.
"Maybe that's my type." Luna thought, before shaking that thought out of her head and returning to her blank, chilling expression. Her eyes narrowed and she stared down the blonde haired disruptor.
"What, don't give me that look." Clair said, grinning.
"You followed me." Luna accused, sharply.
"I told you, I was in the market for a new sword, and look where we are now. We're surrounded by sword and armor shops. I just so happened to come down the same aisle you did, and would you look at that, a well groomed man that is more than willing to sell me a sword." she said, putting her hands behind her back and nonchalantly moseying over to Megaris' table.
"You followed me." Luna repeated, her voice growing lower and more aggressive.
Clair put a finger to her chin and rocked on her heels for a moment before saying something that caught Luna by surprise.
"I guess I did." she said, clearly. "Hmm, would you look at that?" Clair looked at her and now looked slightly confused. "What, are you really surprised by that? I mean, you did accuse me of it."
"I didn't expect you to admit it." Luna replied.
"Why would I lie?"
"I-I don't know, I just…" Luna stopped and sighed wearily. "Why did you follow me?" she then asked.
"I don't know, I want to spend some time with you. I mean, I think we could be pretty good friends if we give it a shot."
"We literally just bumped into each other." Luna pointed out. "How do you imagine us being good friends after that's how we met?"
"Isn't that how friends usually meet?" Clair asked, tilting her head slightly, causing some of the blonde curls to brush over her face, partially hiding one of her glistening blue eyes. "From my understanding, friends almost always meet by chance. You know, they just happen to sit next to each other in a classroom, or they drop something at the cafeteria and the other person picks it up for them. Stuff like that happens all the time." Clair said.
Luna couldn't exactly deny it. She met Tami in a similar situation. Luna was walking down the hallway on the first day of middle school and tripped over something, she couldn't remember what, and all of her stuff spilled on the floor. Tami was the only person to rush over and help her get everything scooped up and put back in her bag. Ever since then, they were practically inseparable.
"Your point?" Luna asked.
"My point is that I want to be your friend." said Clair, and she quickly held out her hand for Luna to shake. "I swear that I can be a pretty good one."
"Blondie, there you are!" came a boy's voice, reminiscent of Luna's brother, Jin. It was so close that she actually looked over, expecting to see him standing there.
Unfortunately, and obviously, it wasn't him. Instead, it was a boy that was either in his late teens or very early twenties. He was wearing a loose white tunic and some black pants, and she saw no weapon on his person. His hair was short, wild, and the normal shade of black that she saw a lot of here. His features were handsome and had a lighthearted, carefree appearance to them. He was walking over, one hand raised in a wave, and the other stuffed in the front pocket of his pants. Clair returned the gesture, but bounced on the tips of her toes as she did it, putting a lot more energy into the action than the boy did.
"Welp, I guess I got to go. A bit too soon, but it can't be helped." said Clair, before leaning in close to whisper in Luna's ear. "I ran away from them for a bit of fun, but don't tell them that."
"Them?" asked Luna, looking back at the single approaching boy. "Them?" she then asked herself, quietly.
"Here, before I forget." Clair said, making a few motions with her finger as she clicked and swiped on things in her menu. Luna then received a friend request in front of her with the options to either accept or decline it. "We should actually hang out soon, maybe even do a quest together. For now though, I have something I have to handle."
She skipped to Luna's side, kissed her where her cheek would be if her hood was down, and then hurried off to the boy, waving and jumping as she went further and further away. Luna was left speechless, and without thinking about it, she hastily accepted the request and swiped away the menu, her face growing scarlet and her body feeling hotter than usual. After a couple of hours went by, Luna paid Megaris for his services, and collected her new dagger, a wicked, two pronged blade that was as crimson as the ingot, and had the same dark ripples in the metal that the material carried within its refined surface. Later that night, she was lying in an inn on the same floor, and received a message from Clair. It was nothing special, just a typical "How are you doing?", but to Luna, for some reason, it meant a lot, and it made her want to respond.
She also didn't want to lie, another thing she couldn't explain. Instead, she thought for a while, maybe even half an hour, before finally typing a simple message in return.
"Not okay." she put, and after several more minutes, she hit the 'Send' prompt on her purple display. To Luna's astonishment, Clair responded within the next two minutes.
"I'm sorry to hear that. I thought you might have been a little down. What's up?" the message read.
Before Luna knew it, she told her everything. She told her all of it, everything since coming to this world, right up this very moment in time. Clair responded in a way that continued to shock Luna. She was supportive, not insulting or disgusted or condemning. She sounded like a real friend. She sounded like Tami, and for Luna, that was everything she needed right now. They talked for hours, and when it was all said and done, when Luna was curled up on the bed, her legs pulled to her chest, her chatroom pulled up in front of her, and her lips forming the first genuine smile they had made in weeks, she found sleep. It was another first in recent memory, a good night's rest.