AN: Sorry this took so long. I won't make excuses I had major issues finding the motivation to even try and write this. And I kept getting distracted by errr research, ya research *cough reading fanfiction cough*. Anyway I also had some problems with inspiration but hopefully now that I've started writing again I'll get more inspiration.

Review responses:

SleepyMangaHead- I'm assuming from how you worded your question you mean sex. I'm not sure if I'll write the scenes or simply imply and scene shift. On one hand I've never written one before and I don't want to put an even more awkward than usually written scene in, but on the other hand I feel like not including those scenes would piss some people off. As for Marzanna's family getting their shit together and finding Kayaba's sorry ass they defiantly will, but you gotta realize while they're used to Marzanna being in danger because of her parentage and profession they're used to one of them almost always being around to bail her out if she gets in over her head. (I say almost because they don't go to school with her and I feel like she'd get dragged into limbo on her way to, at, or on her way home from school at least once.) Not to mention they're used to the idea that she's got all her Nephilim and witch abilities, which she doesn't really have access to at the moment. To them she's incredibly vulnerable and has no back-up, but they don't know about Kirito. :)

Have A Little Feith- I'm sorry it took so long to get to SAO and Kirito, for my writing errors, and that you feel like before the Devil May Cry/Harry Potter was just lumped together but trust me it wasn't. The HP universe will have more of a role than just being Marzanna's origin. As Marzanna and Mike are 14 now, over at Hogwarts the goblet of fire picked its champions for the triwizard tournament, which Mike would also be participating in, 6 days ago. He'll be making an appearance soon. I'm sorry to hear that you didn't like DMC. I've only had the opportunity to play Devil May Cry 4, part of Devil May Cry 3, and DMC. I say part of 3 because I got to mission 18. I didn't care that I had to fight all the other bosses again but when it occurred to me that I had to fight Nevan I will shamefully admit that the very idea made me rage quit despite how much I loved the game. But anyway, personally I liked DMC, but to each their own.

It had been a little over two hours since Kirito and Hanna had left the starting city. Kirito had sent her a request to join his party on their way out of the city, and they had been grinding on their way to the next city since. While they wanted to make it to Horunka -the next city- soon, it wasn't their priority. Leveling up and becoming stronger was. Currently they were taking a break while they waited for the mobs to respawn. It was quiet till Kirito, who had been looking thoughtful for almost their entire break, spoke up.

"Hey Hanna?" Once he assured he had her attention he continued, "So listen. There's this quest in Horunka called 'Secret Medicine of the Forest'. The reward for it is a one-handed straight sword called the «Anneal Blade». It's the best one-handed straight sword until the third floor plus it's possible to enhance it eight times, but because of that the quest is also incredibly dangerous. However, I'm going to go attempt the quest. Considering the danger, I'll understand completely if you don't wanna come along."

Hanna blinked for a minute then smiled and replied, "No, I'll go. If we're going to be partying together both of us need to get stronger. That means we need to level up and get better equipment."

Kirito looked hesitant for a minute before speaking, "You sure? I agree with the both getting stronger thing but... You use a curved sword not a straight sword. The «Anneal Blade» wouldn't be suitable for you. So it's not like we can just both do the quest and get better weapons."

Hanna nodded before replying, "I'm sure. We should get going for the quest."

Kirito smiled and nodded before saying, "While we're on our way there I'll message my friend Argo -she's an information broker- and ask her if she knows any quests that give you a good curved sword. If she does depending on how long the quest for the «Anneal Blade» takes we'll go get you a nice curved sword either tomorrow or the day after. With the way we're grinding, I don't think we'll even be able to get the «Anneal Blade» today."

Hanna tilted her head and hummed as they started walking, then said, "Could you ask her about «Claws» too? I prefer to fight with a claw and falcata, but the claws in the shops on the first five floors just aren't worth the Col."

Kirito nodded, but tilted his head and asked, "What's a falcata? I've never heard of it."

Hanna glanced at him then said, "It's probably because you prefer straight swords. A falcata is a curved sword. The skill for it doesn't unlock till you've gotten the curved sword skill up to level 20."

Kirito nodded at Hanna's explanation. He was thankful for the fact he'd chosen to use the account he made for the beta rather than create a new one, and that Argo had been planning on doing the same. The beta testers didn't get any benefits for using their beta accounts, the only thing they got to keep were their screen names, avatars -which was no longer the case anyway-, and their friend list. Though since they also didn't get any benefits from starting a new account most of the beta testers he knew had been planning on using their original account. Even if they had no other reason than having an easier time getting back in touch with friends and acquaintances they made in the beta.

Shaking off the wayward thought, Kirito went into his friends list, found Argo, and messaged her. She took a few minutes to respond and when she did, rather than an answer to his enquiry he received a panicked message asking him a bunch of questions. Whether he was ok, where he was, and why the hell he needed that information amongst other things. Kirito blinked for a minute in confusion before realizing that it had only been a few hours since Kayaba Akihiko's 'tutorial'. It occurred to him then, that not many people would be able to recover from that information and immediately focus on what they needed to do like Hanna and himself, and that it was probably pure chaos in the starting city. With that thought he messaged her back reassuring her that he was fine and quickly answering her other questions. He also predicted the questions he'd get about why he'd left the safety of the starting city in return if he left it at that. So he also explained that he and Hanna both believed that it was better to prepare for the worst and assume they'd get no help from the outside, than waste precious time they could use for grinding and getting stronger, lingering in the starting city waiting for a rescue that wasn't likely to come.

The response took almost 15 minutes to arrive. From what he could tell it seemed the reason she took so long was because Argo had forced herself to calm down, think about the situation, and arrive at a similar conclusion as himself and Hanna.

Turning to Hanna, Kirito told her what the message said, "So Argo says she knows of two quests that gave a great curved sword and a decent claw. She said she would sell the info for the claw quest for 500 col, and offered to trade the info for the curved sword in exchange for picking up two claws from the claw quest for her."

Hanna tilted her head and asked, "Why does she want two? Claws are pretty much the weakest weapon class in the game, but in exchange for that they have ridiculously high durability. Well, they've also got buffs on them, but not until floor three. All the claws before floor three are just regular claws. With the durability claws are known for, it doesn't seem necessary to have a backup this early in the game."

Kirito contemplated the information on claws having buffs for a moment, but shook his head before replying, "She doesn't want it as a backup. The system doesn't allow duel wielding, except for when it comes to claws. Due to their low damage and incredibly short range, the system allows people to duel wield claws. Argo fights with two claws, hence why she wants two."

Hanna nodded in acceptance then said, "We need to get to Horunka to sell the mob drops we don't want anyway, but I'd like to take our time so we can grind a bit more. Without the claws she'll probably avoid combat and rush to wherever she's going, so ask her if she's willing to meet us in Horunka."

Kirito nodded then messaged Argo the request. A minute later she replied, agreeing to head to Horunka and meet up.

An hour later they were walking into the inn they'd agreed to meet Argo in. They'd already sold the drops they didn't want at one of the shops and stopped to pick up the quest for the Anneal Blade so they just needed to talk to Argo. As expected she was already waiting for them when they arrived so they made their way over to her. Argo obviously deep in thought and didn't notice them till they sat down.

Jerking at their in her view sudden appearance, Argo took a moment to regain he composer before speaking, "Kii-bou, it's good to see you're alright." at Kirito's raised eyebrow she huffed then added, "What? I was just told a couple hours ago that there is a high possibility that I'll die simply because I enjoy video games and some madman wants to play God. So excuse me for being a bit out of sorts and being concerned for one of the few people I genuinely consider a friend."

Kirito barely stopped his jaw from dropping. He realized Argo had a point, but it was still incredibly shocking to have her be so open and honest. A minute later his face softened slightly when her last sentence managed to truly sink in. Then he gently said, "I'm fine Argo and I'm glad to see you're ok too. I'll probably never admit it again since you'll find some way to use it against me, but for the record I consider you my friend as well."

Argo blinked rapidly for a moment before smiling gently. It was far smaller than the usually grins she plastered on her face, but by far more genuine. Then again it wasn't often that Kii-bou admitted that he enjoyed her company, and he'd never called her his friend before, so it was to be expected. Shaking off the thought she turned to Hanna and got down to business, "So, the info you wanted, like I told Kii-bou, I'll sell the claw info for 500 and trade the info for the curved sword for two claws."

Hanna nodded her head, then opened a trade window and gave Argo 500 col, before looking at her expectantly. Argo double checked to make sure she had received the correct amount, then told Hanna the info, "Alright, so the quest is east of Horunka. If you follow the stream that leads that way out of town you'll eventually come across a small farm with wilting crops. The NPC you receive the quest from will be sitting on the porch steps of his house, looking depressed. If you ask him what's wrong he'll tell you that his crops have been infested with a strange bug that eats the roots of whatever he plants. He'll continue by saying that he's tried everything he could think of to get the bugs to leave, but nothing works. At that point if you ask if there's anything you could do to help he'll ask you to head north and talk to an old woman who used to own a farm with her late husband. Don't worry about finding the woman's house you just need to follow the waypoint on your map to find it. He'll also say something about being unable to go himself because the forest is dangerous, this is a warning. Halfway to the woman's house you'll get attacked by a group of four Dire Wolves and the slightly stronger Alpha Dire Wolf. Since it's only claws that's really all there is to the quest. Once you get to the woman's house just tell her about the bugs and ask if she knows how to get rid of them. She'll tell you that all the farmer needs to do is add some moon flower oil to his fertilizer and the bugs will leave, but you can't just tell the farmer that. If you try he'll criticize you for trying to give advice on a subject you know nothing about. Anyway once you've seen the woman he'll accept the advice and give you two claws and 100 col. The quest can be done by two people at the same time as long as they aren't in the same party, so if you guys wanna save time you'll have to temporarily disband your party. I'm warning you now though, if you do it that way, then when you reach the halfway point instead of four Dire Wolves and one Alpha it'll double and be eight and two Alphas. Although the distance between the houses isn't that far, maybe a 30 minutes and that's if you're walking. So personally I'd just make two trips, since there isn't a cool down time on the quest."

Hanna thought about it a moment before turning to Kirito and asking, "What do you think Kirito? One trip or two? On one hand two trips will take longer, but on the other one trip is more dangerous. After all Dire Wolves on their own or in two's and three's may not be that dangerous, but the buffs they get in bigger packs or with an Alpha can make them deadly. And with eight wolves and two Alphas..." Hanna trailed off before shaking her head to clear it and continuing, "Although with how much grinding we did I'm confident we could beat them if you wanted to go that route."

Kirito tilted his head in thought before sighing and answering, "I think we should just make one trip. We can handle it. Plus since getting the quest item for the «Anneal Blade» will take a while I think we should wait till tomorrow, since it's a little after 9 PM, go and get the claws first then head over to get my sword. After we trade Argo's claws for your sword info and if there's enough time go and get that. Sound good?"

Hanna nodded and a comfortable silence settled over the three as they ordered some food and ate. Halfway through the meal though, Argo shifted before asking Hanna, "So in Kirito's message, he mentioned that you're a beta tester. Just out of curiosity how do you not know the info about first floor claws and curved swords already? Did you not start fighting with them till later levels in the beta?"

Hanna swallowed her food before responding, "No actually. My family has... strange traditions, I suppose you could say. You know how some families in Japan have their kids learn Kendo?"

Out of the corner of her eye Hanna saw Kirito jerk slightly at that. She briefly wondered if his family was like that, but brushed it off when Argo frowned before saying, "Ya, but what do you mean 'in Japan' aren't you from Japan?'

Hanna shook her head before saying, "No. I was in the international beta, I live in America. Anyway, my family has a... tradition that we learn how to use swords, kinda like those families I mentioned. Except unlike those families we don't learn how to use a shinai, my family learns how to use actual weapons. When I started playing SAO it immediately became obvious that the rare players who had experience, usually with kendo, and the players with natural talent for weapons where off the bat better at the game. Of course the more other people played the better they got and the gap in skill level lessened, but it was still there. So rather than focusing on my equipment I initially just worked on getting the falcata skill unlocked, as that was what I chose to learn IRL. After I had my falcata I almost exclusively focused on improving my skill with a falcata. I did of course upgrade my gear, but not often. I chose to use a claw with my falcata because I also learned how to use something similar when I was learning how to use my falcata. Really the only difference between the claw I learned how to use in real life and the in game claw is that the ones in the game have three claws extending from between my knuckles and the one I learned with in real life had one extending from the tip of each of my fingers."

Argo was staring in shock, but Kirito looked thoughtful before saying, "You know my grandfather forced me and my sister to learn kendo, and now that I think about it I did have a much easier time then almost all the other beta testers when the beta started. I didn't even notice."

Hanna nodded but before she could say anything Argo shook off her shock and spoke, "You know kendo Kirito?" Kirito nodded, then Argo continued, "I always wondered how you were so much better at SAO than anyone else."

Kirito grinned and Argo shook her head before turning to her and continuing, "I apparently am the only one at this table with no training, and I'm fairly certain I'm not naturally talented if the way I struggled at the beginning of the beta is any indication. And I can't really party with you guys since my being an information dealer means I usually have a busy schedule running all over the place. So do you have any tips on how I could get better on my own?"

Hanna grinned before saying in a teasing tone, "Now Argo, surely an info broker like yourself knows you don't get anything for free?" Argo looked incredulous and out of the corner of her eye she could see Kirito trying not to laugh. Just as Argo was about to start whining, Hanna laughed before smiling and saying, "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I couldn't help myself." Argo poured and Kirito was now hiding his face in his arms which were folded on the table his shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter. Shaking her head at Kirito even though he couldn't see it, Hanna turned to Argo and started talking again, "Well my advice would be that once you have your claws put some time aside every day, and practice. Start with the claw skills from the system. Focus on one skill and use it over and over, once you've memorized the movements start trying to do the skill without the systems help. You'll probably be awkward and slow at first, but don't get frustrated or disheartened, just keep practicing. Once you can comfortably do the skill on your own reasonably fast, start on the next skill. Keep doing that until you've got a good portion of them learned, then begin practicing starting a skill and partway through switching to a different skill."

Argo, who had been intently listening till then, abruptly interrupted her, "You mean like if the first skill has say and upward slash hallway through and the second skill starts with a downward slash, to start the second skill instead of finishing the first right?" Hanna nodded, and Argo continued, "I figured, I just wanted to be sure though. Considering what that bastard Kayaba has done to SAO the better I am, the more likely I am to survive. I don't wanna waste a bunch of time learning something useless because I misunderstood you."

Hanna hummed in agreement before continuing, "Anyway just keep practicing switching between skills and once you're comfortable enough with it go back to the starting city and practice fighting without using any system skills on them till you're comfortable fighting without using any skills. After that just move on to an area with slightly tougher mobs, wash, rinse, and repeat. Before you know it you'll be fighting high level monsters without using a single sword skill. Oh and little nugget of information for you? The mobs are programmed to know when the player activates any skill in the game, and attempt to either block of evade. The only reason it isn't usually successful is because the game designers realized that the skill system would be heavily relied on. So to make it fair all the mobs much lower agility compared to the rest of their stats. You know how «Switching» with another player causes the mob to freeze for a couple seconds because it confuses the learning algorithm?" Argo and Kirito both nodded so she continued, "Well if you start one skill then abruptly switch to a different one? Confuses the hell out of them. See the programmers apparently realized that players might learn to mimic skills on their own, so the AI for the mobs is not only programmed to know when you activate a skill but they're also programmed to recognize when you mimic a skill. So if you wait till you've almost finished a skill, say hit 8 out of a ten hit skill since the algorithm will defiantly have recognized the skill by then, and then switch? Their programming has no fucking clue what to do. I've seen mobs freeze upward to 20 seconds while their programming figures out if it should be responding to a skill it knows or using the learning algorithm to try and predict your attacks."

Now Kirito and Argo were gaping at her. Then Kirito incredulously blurted, "20 Seconds?! At most switching will buy you 5, and your telling me there's a way to get them to freeze for 20 on your own?!" Hanna nodded in amusement at his antics and Kirito leaned back before muttering, "Damn. I'm defiantly going to learn how to do my skills manually just so I can switch between them. With the new rules to this death game 20 seconds could easily save my or someone else's life."

Hanna nodded in agreement. Then after glancing down at the clock said, "Well as nice of company you two make I think I'm gonna check into the inn and get some sleep. We should try to start as early as possible tomorrow Kirito so I'd suggest you do the same, but that's up to you of course."

Kirito and Argo both glanced down and to the right obviously checking their own clocks before Kirito nodded and stood while saying, "Ya that seems like a good idea. Goodnight Argo."

Argo looked back up at them, "I'm gonna stay up a bit longer, but goodnight Kii-bou, Hanna-chan."

Hanna nodded, "Night Argo."

Kirito and her both walked up to the counter and checked in, as they were walking up the stairs Hanna glanced at Kirito before saying, "Hey Kirito?" seeing she had his attention she continued, "Why were you laughing so hard when I teased Argo about paying me for the information on how to get better with her claws? It really wasn't that funny."

Kirito grinned and said, "Well see while I've seen Argo buy info off plenty of people it's always Argo who teases when someone ask her something. I've never seen anyone turn the tables on her, actually I don't think she's had someone get her with her own game ever if the look on her face was any indication. That was also funny, her expression."

Kirito laughed lightly undoubtedly remembering Argo's expression, and Hanna smiled. Now standing in front of her door she turned to him still smiling, "Goodnight Kirito."

He smiled back, "Night Hanna."

Going in and closing the door behind her she started unequipping her armor for bed. As she did an absent thought crossed her mind, 'He's pretty cute when he smiles. I could really get used to it.'

She was already asleep when the message, 'You have been disconnected. Attempting to reconnect.' inserted itself into her vision.

Dante was laying on Marzanna's bed staring off in thought. Lily had eventually cried herself to sleep in his arms. So he'd put her in their bed before hiding himself in Marzanna's room. Dante sighed when Vergil came in and leaned against Marzanna's desk. For a while nothing was said, but Dante eventually lost his patience, which wasn't a surprise, Vergil was always the more patient of the two. Growing in irritation Dante snapped at Vergil, "I came in here because I wanted to be alone. Go away."

Vergil shook his head before answering, "I knew that already. The question is why you want to be alone. I'm the one who wants to be left alone in situations like these, not you. You've always been about family. You're comforted by their presence when you're upset and are always right there for them when they themselves are distressed. Our family is definitely distressed right now, yet you're up here, in Marzanna's room, all alone instead of down there with them. What's wrong Dante? And I know it isn't just Marzanna, you'd be downstairs if it were."

Dante was silent for a while. He didn't even contemplate trying to lie to Vergil. They were twins. For Demons and Angels that created a mental link. In Vergil and his case this led to being able to sense the others emotions and tell if they were lying. They could block the others ability to sense their emotions, which Dante was doing at that very moment, but it was impossible to lie to each other. Dante contemplated whether he should tell Vergil what was bothering him. He knew Vergil would understand, wouldn't judge him, but he was ashamed of his thoughts. Which was why he was hiding from the rest of their family.

Sighing again as he sat up Dante was silent for another minute before whispering so quietly that Vergil had to strain his Nephilim senses to hear. "I... I wanna fucking kill him. I wanna tear that Kayaba bastard to tiny pieces and feed his soul to demons. I want him to be in such agony he begs for death. I-I..."

Unable to continue Dante stopped blocking his emotions. Letting Vergil experience it all for himself. Allowing him to feel depression and terror at what was happening to Marzanna, at the fact she could die. To experience Dante's rage at Kayaba, his desire for revenge, and his bloodlust. And wallow in Dante's shame at such thoughts and feelings. His shame in not believing in his daughter, at having such bloodthirsty thoughts for Kayaba. To feel Dante's self-hatred for going against everything he believed and told Vergil regarding humans and the fact they should never abuse their Nephilim abilities to hurt, kill, or enslave them. Dante simply sat there, drowning the torrent of negative emotions, waiting for Vergil to sift through and process them all.

Finally after almost two minutes Vergil sighed before pushing off the desk, and sitting next to Dante on the bed before speaking, "Dante. You've nothing to be ashamed of. Marzanna's your daughter, these feelings would be natural even if you were human. You're not though your Nephilim, and your demonic side makes those violent emotions all the worse. And of course you're terrified of losing Marzanna, like I already said she's your daughter. It's natural for a parent to worry about their child even when they're safe, and Marzanna's far from safe at the moment. As for feeling like you're going against your own beliefs... I don't know what to tell you except that while yes those thoughts and emotions go against what you've always believed, it doesn't change the fact that they're natural."

Dante shook his head before burying his face in his hands. Vergil sighed before putting his hand on Dante's shoulder and squeezing it in comfort. Vergil wasn't a hugger, unless it was Marzanna, but with how cold he normally was, and considering how he usually fought with Dante, that might as well have been a hug. That was all it took to finish off Dante's composer, letting his own tears finally escape into his hands.

AN: In case anyone was wondering why Lily and Dante were immediately attracted to each other but Kirito(Kazuto) and Hanna(Marzanna) weren't. When Lily and Dante met they were both relaxed and relatively safe (Dante's a Demon Hunter, and related to Sparda, he's never truly safe) and Lily was even looking for someone to sleep with. Plus Dante is, or rather by this fic was, a ladies man. Whereas Hanna was seriously concerned and distracted first by the lack of log out button and then by the fact SAO had become a death game. If you notice I didn't delve into Kirito's perspective before he knew about the log out button/death game. It's only now that Marzanna's adjusting to the situation that she's noticing. Also since I'm pretty sure I'd get at least one comment about it if I don't say something, Kirito has shown multiple times in Canon that he'll adjust quickly to his situation whatever it might be. The times he doesn't in Canon are either when people die in front of him or when it's should technically be impossible for him to win. Marzanna on the other hand is a Demon Hunter, she's used to her life being in danger. The only thing she needed to adjust to was that this time she was in a video game. And Argo was panicking till Kirito messaged her.