SAK: Sword Art Kingdom

by Jacob Pendra-Huth

When Kirito and Asuna take on a mysterious quest to fight a new monster, they took in more that they bargained for. They ended up not only going to a different dimension, but also aiding a trio of good friends on their quest. Join this exciting adventure full of humor, romance and action. This is based on the anime SAO and Kingdom Hearts II.

1. The Beginning! Guided by Keys!

4/14/2026

(6:30 AM) Kirito was inside one of the dungeons of SAO, fighting against a horde of monsters on his own, defeating them left and right. He unleashed his Sword Skills to eliminate the last set, then sighed in relief. He closed his eyes, about ready to call it quits when he detected something.

Kirito looked up to see something appear from the ground. At first, it looked like a shadow, but then it popped out of the ground, revealing an insect-like creature that was bent over on two feet, with claws and antennas. It was pitch black, except for the eyes, which were a glowing yellow. "What is that thing?" Kirito demanded, seeing more of them starting to appear from the ground.

Kirito had his Elucidator ready, about to fight off against the monsters. He charged in and slashed at one of them, but it only phased right through it, not doing any damage. "What?!" Kirito gasped, and he angrily slashed it several times more, but to no avail. These monsters weren't normal. They did not have life bars like other monsters did, nor were they in the monster's listings. Whatever they were, they weren't normal.

Two of them flung at Kirito, and he squinted as he parried them back with his sword. When he got a better view, he was shocked to see hundreds of the same dark creature in front of him. Kirito panicked and ran away, and the creatures pursued, like a dark tidal wave with glowing eyes. Kirito turned to see them coming closer. He wasn't able to outrun them. They came over him, and he got swallowed up by the sea of monsters, feeling himself being dragged into the darkness.

Kazuto then snapped his eyes open and sat up, panting heavily. He was in his bed, drenched in sweat. He slowly looked around at his room, then sighed assuringly. "It was only a dream…" he muttered.

"Papa?" called out Yui's voice. Kazuto looked to his laptop on his desk. The screen showed Yui inside his room, using the camera and microphone he planted within to created a pseudo-3D environment for Yui to be inside his room (Author note: Same tech Kazuto used for Yui near the end of SAOII Ep. 17).

"Are you okay, papa?" Yui asked, flying to Kazuto's side.

"Yeah…" Kazuto lied, looking at the screen and seeing where Yui was at.

"You've been having nightmares again, haven't you?" Yui asked, "I could tell when you're face tightens like you're in pain, and you start to precipitate."

Kazuto looked to his shoulder, where Yui was at, then smiled.

"You've certainly learned to read me well." he told Yui, "Then again, you were a Mental Health Counseling Program…"

"I was going off what my program is saying about the indications of a nightmare." Yui replied, "I'm not sure how human dreams or nightmares work, so I can't experience it any other way."

Kazuto stood up, making Yui fly off of him, then walked over to his mirror, looking at himself. His face was still a little sweaty, and his hair was limp. "You've been having nightmares like this a lot this month." Yui noticed.

"Yeah, and they've been all about the same thing." Kazuto added, "Fortunately, this one was the only one that didn't have anyone else in it." He thought back to some previous nightmares, which had Asuna, Suguha and his friends all disappearing before his eyes. Kazuto then shook his head of such things, then looked over to his laptop. "I'm gonna go wash my face off before Sugu notices." he told Yui, "I'll be back, okay?"

"Alright, papa." Yui replied as Kazuto exited his room.

Yui flew back onto the desk, thinking. "I wonder if I should tell mama about this." she asked herself, "Ever since the third nightmare, papa has been more on his own in ALO than before." Yui pondered on what would be the logical thing to do.

Outside, Suguha was doing her morning kendo practice, swinging her shinai as she stepped forward and back. She had just stopped when Kazuto walked out of the house to go wash his face. "Oh, hey, Sugu." he greeted her.

"Hey, Kazuto." Suguha replied, "You just woke up?"

"Yeah, I had to take care of some homework due tomorrow." Kazuto explained, going to the washpan.

Suguha looked to see Kazuto's face, and noticed the sweat. "What happened to you?" she asked, "You looked like you dunked your face in a pool."

"I woke up like this." Kazuto answered, turning on the faucet, "Must've sweat a lot in my sleep."

"Maybe it's because of all that black clothing you wear." Suguha said amusingly, "I mean, black does absorb heat. I learned that from my science class recently."

"Yeah, maybe you're right." Kazuto chuckled, scooping in some of the water and splashing it on his face.

Suguha watched Kazuto removing the sweat, thinking. Kazuto usually wasn't drenched in sweat like this in the morning, and during this month, he has had sometimes come down with sweat on his face. It was as if he was having a nightmare. However, she also knew how private he was about his own problems, so she didn't want to press him.

"Anyways, I'll go get breakfast ready." Kazuto told his sister.

"Okay, I'll put my equipment away and help out." Suguha replied, "Hey Kazuto, can we have a duel with one another?"

"Sure. Where at; IRL or ALFheim?" Kazuto asked.

"ALFheim. I can go all out there than I can here." Suguha answered.

"Okay, we'll duel this afternoon." Kazuto finished, wiping his face and hair with a towel, "I want to do something this morning before we fight."

"Sure, whenever you're ready, just text me." Suguha answered as Kazuto entered inside to prepare breakfast for the two of them.

---

(8:15 AM) Meanwhile, in the Yuuki mansion, Asuna had just finished her breakfast and was returning to her room. Her time with her mother and father have improved somewhat since her encounter with Yuuki. It has been about a week since her funeral. She still felt depressed since her death, but she tried to not let that get to her much.

There was one other thing she was thinking about as she walked up the stairs to her room again. Kirito had started to become a bit more distant, lately. Whenever she saw him, he had a look like he felt something bad was gonna happen. Maybe I should talk to him when we see each other in ALO. Asuna thought to herself, It would be nice if he explained to me his problems right now.

Asuna entered her room and turned on the news station on her computer as she went to her mirror, examining her hair. "In other news, the police are still baffled at the recent breakout in the Saitama Prison." the female newscaster explained, "In the breakout, four officials and three inmates were killed, and three remain at large, including former chief of RECT Progress, Sugou Nobuyuki…"

Asuna stopped her preening as she looked at her concerned face in the mirror. Sugou Nobuyuki. Over a year ago, he was once Asuna's fiancé, until he decided to kidnap her mind when Kirito cleared Sword Art Online. After all the things he had done to her, she became afraid of him. And since the news of his escape, she had begun to worry he might come for her or Kirito.

Asuna looked at her reflection for a second, seeing the frightened glance she was giving herself. She then shook her head, refocusing herself. She was in safe hands now. She wasn't trapped online anymore, and Sugou didn't have the power to control her anymore. She had Kirito and all her friends protecting her. She was okay.

"I'd better go online and finish my homework." Asuna told herself, "I'm almost done, anyway." Asuna finished her preening of her hair, then walked over to her bed, grabbed the Amusphere, and placed it onto her head. She booted up ALFheim Online, and waited for the Amusphere to fully activate before she shouted, "Link Start!" Her mind entered into the world of ALFheim.

---

(8:30 AM) Undine Asuna reappeared in her home in Aincrad; the log cabin on floor 22. She went to one side of the room, pulled up the menu, and changed her attire. "It took Kirito and I forever to recreate, but we finally did it…" Asuna thought to herself, looking through the inventory and taking out the necessary equipment.

When she finally finished, Asuna looked at herself in the full-body mirror, seeing herself in the old Knights of the Blood Oath uniform she wore in SAO. She looked from side to side, examining herself. "Hmm…the hair does throw off the look." Asuna muttered, lifting up her light-blue hair, "I should go and change my hair color. After that, the only thing that'll be out of place would be my pointy ears." She giggled at the idea.

Just then, Kirito logged into the log cabin, and Asuna turned to him. Kirito had already changed his attire to its' SAO form as well, the same Beater outfit he wore when he ended the game. He even managed to regain the Dark Repulser again thanks to Liz, but wasn't able to find the Elucidator just yet. However, he was planning to change that today.

"Hey there, Asuna." Kirito greeted her as Yui popped out of Kirito's pocket and flew to Asuna, "I see you got here before me."

"Hello, Kirito." Asuna greeted him, holding out her hands to Yui as she landed into them, "I just arrived a few minutes ago. I also changed into my old attire. What do you think?"

"Looks great." Kirito answered, "Though, the blue hair does throw it off."

"Yeah, I'll change that." Asuna giggled.

"I'd hate to greet and run, but I promised Leafa I would duel with her today, and Agil said he found a monster that has a high chance of dropping the Elucidator."

"Let me come with you." Asuna suggested.

"It's okay. I can handle this one." Kirito replied, "Besides, didn't you already promise Liz that you would help her today."

"Oh yeah, I did." Asuna replied, a little disappointed.

"I'll meet you later, promise!" Kirito assured her as he walked to the door, "Yui, why don't you stay with Asuna, okay?"

"Copy that, papa!" Yui answered. Kirito smiled at the two as he exited out of the log cabin, leaving the two girls.

Kirito looked back from the cabin, looking concern. Sorry, Asuna. Kirito thought to himself, I'm just not ready to have you join me. He thought about the nightmares he'd been having. Then he recalled all but the one he had today involving Asuna getting swallowed up by the dark creatures, reappearing with a heart floating out of her body, and her body taking the form of one of the creatures. I don't know what those dreams are about, but I don't want anything bad happening to you. Kirito continued to think, I promise you, when the nightmares stop plaguing me, we'll get back together. Kirito looked onward, produced his Spriggan wings, and flew off into the sky.

Asuna stood there, looking at the door in a sad manner. Yui was on Asuna's shoulder, looking at her mother with concern. "He left me again…" she muttered, "Is he not interested in me anymore?"

"No way!" Yui retorted, "Papa really cares for you! Besides, if he was no longer interested, I would do everything I could to patch mama and papa back together!"

Asuna smiled as she placed Yui in her hands. "That's really sweet of you, Yui." she told her, "But I'm still not sure why he's acting this way?"

Yui pondered for a few seconds before responding, "It might have to do with the nightmares he's been having this month."

Asuna looked to Yui, surprised. "Kirito's getting nightmares?" Asuna asked.

"Yeah. For the past two weeks, papa has had six nightmares. And by the looks of it, they all seem to be in common, though I can't say for sure what it is. He never tells me…"

Asuna looked to the door again, thinking. Six nightmares in two weeks. That's a lot of nightmares to have in a short period of time. Asuna thought to herself, Are these nightmares responsible for Kirito's behavior? If so, I wonder if I'm in them?

"Should we go talk to papa together on it?" Yui asked.

Asuna shook her head. "No, I don't think we should intrude. Besides, you know how your papa is; he will keep those kinds of things quiet until he needs to say anything about them."

"Okay…" Yui sighed, "Though I'd wish I could help him out."

"Just telling me what's wrong with Kirito is good enough." Asuna assured her, "It puts me at ease that it isn't anything more serious."

Asuna pulled up her menu screen, reverting back to her Undine attire again. "C'mon. We're suppose to meet up with Liz, Silica and Pina on material gathering." she told Yui.

"Okay. Let's do it!" Yui declared, and the two walked out of the cabin.

---

(9:50 AM) Outside of Aincrad, in one of the darker valleys within Spriggan territory, Kirito flew to a ravine where he noticed the shadows of an an abundant of large monsters in a large open part of the ravine. Standing before the entrance to that part were Klein and Agil. They noticed Kirito flying towards them, and waved up at him, issuing him to land in front of them.

"Hey, Agil. Hey, Klein." Kirito greeted them.

"Yo, what's up, Kirito?" Agil asked, saluting him.

"Hey, buddy!" Klein added, looking at Kirito's attire, "I see you went back with the retro look of SAO. Trying to relive some of the old times?"

"Yeah, kinda." Kirito answered haphazardly, though it really was Asuna's idea for them to recreate their old SAO looks.

"So is it true? Can you really find the Elucidator here?" Kirito asked, "When I obtained it in Aincrad, I got it as a monster drop from the floor 50 boss."

"Yeah, well since floor 50 isn't open yet, I figure you wanted to get it some other way." Agil told Kirito, "After some listening around, I heard about someone claiming that these monsters dropped a sword called the 'Elucidator' from those things…" Agil pointed to the monsters ahead, and Kirito, using his ALO Searching Skill, managed to see the monsters clearly from their distance. They looked like large black bulls with red eyes, three tails, long horns, and its' legs were smokey, almost like wisps. Kirito was able to analyze the monster, and see the name 'Black Taurus' over it.

"From what I heard, those things are a pain to defeat." Klein added, "Players say those things are fast and strong, but their magical defense is pretty weak."

"What about their physical defense?" Kirito asked.

"Pretty normal for a monster." Klein added.

"Klein and I have already investigated, and counted nine of those monsters." Agil followed, "We also know those things are phantom-based monsters."

"Thanks for the info." Kirito thanked them, walking to the entrance, unsheathing his blade.

"Hold on, Kirito!" Klein stopped him, "We're gonna help you out on this one." Kirito looked back at Agil and Klein, who pulled out their battle ax and katana, respectively. "Since there are nine of those things, we can take on three a piece." Klein told Kirito, "Let's hope that one of us is lucky to get the Elucidator to drop for us."

"And if it doesn't, we can just wait here for them to respawn." Agil added.

Kirito looked at the two, then towards the herd of Black Taurus. One of them looked towards Kirito's direction. In Kirito's mind, he witnessed the eyes of the monster turning a sharp yellow. The same yellow as those monster he saw in his nightmare. His eyes panicked on this. Were these monsters what he had been dreaming about?

"Kirito? Kirito!" Klein called out, shaking Kirito out of his daze. He shook his head and turned to Klein, who looked concern. "You okay there?" he asked, "You looked like you were gonna freak out." Kirito looked at Klein for a second, then looking back at the monsters, who showed the same red eyes as before. It took Kirito a few seconds more to calm himself, realizing it wasn't these monsters he was worried about.

"You gonna be okay, man?" Agil asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Kirito replied.

"Maybe those clothes are giving you bad memories, or something." Klein guessed.

"Nah, it's not that." Kirito chuckled faintly, "It was nothing. But let's put that aside for now. We should take on those monsters together. But we'd better do it quickly, since I promised Leafa I would duel her this afternoon."

"A little brother-sister quarrel, huh?" Klein said in his sly tone.

"Just shut it, Klein." Kirito snapped before rushing in, followed by Klein and Agil.

---

(11:25 AM) Up in Yggdrasil City, Leafa was walking out of Liz's Smith shop, her katana resharpened. Liz, Silica and Pina followed out of the building as well, Liz closing up the shop.

"Thanks for sharpening up my sword for me." Leafa thanked Liz.

"No problem." Liz replied, "Business had slowed down a little today, so I didn't have any other customers. And since you are about to face your brother today, you and your weapons need to be at their best." Leafa giggled at this.

Pina squeaked at Silica, drawing her attention. "I think Pina's saying we should hurry and meet Asuna and Sinon at our meeting point." Silica told Liz.

"I agree." Liz concurred, turning to Leafa, "Wish we could go watch your duel with Kirito, but I'm running low on material."

"Don't worry about it." Leafa replied, waving off her excuse, "Happy hunting. Tell Asuna I said 'hi'."

"Will do." Liz answered as she, Silica and Pina turned to a different road, "See ya!" Leafa waved them off as the three raced along the path towards their destination.

Leafa watched them leave for a few seconds, then heard a familiar cry. "Hey, Leafa!" It was Recon, racing up the path she was heading towards. "Hey there, Recon." Leafa greeted him as he stopped next to her. Recon was catching his breath, then smiled up at Leafa.

Leafa had started to move on from being in love with Kirito for a while. She eventually realized she could never win against Asuna, so she had to give up on it. Even though she felt that was the outcome, Leafa didn't take the idea too well. However, Recon was there to help her out, and since she remembered his sudden confession long ago, she decided to see how it would be if she would get along with him, both in the game and IRL. While it was slow to start, Leafa did start to be interested in him. His duties as the Lord Manor Staff Member did get in the way of their time together, but he found time whenever he could.

"Did you get off work today early or something?" Leafa asked Recon, who stood up straight.

He cleared his throat before replying, "Actually, I came here to tell you that I finally did it. I finally got reservations to that restaurant you wanted to go to IRL."

"S-Seriously?!" Leafa stammered, shocked at this sudden news, "You actually made a reservation there?!"

"Yep." Recon answered, rubbing his nose as he looked proud at his achievement, "I saved enough money for us to go there together on a date."

"But I was only kidding when I said I wanted to go there." Leafa told Recon, "I didn't expect you to take it that seriously!"

"You were only kidding?!" Recon gasped, then slumped in despair, "I didn't know that. And I worked so hard to create a perfect date for us, too…"

Leafa sighed as she looked down at Recon. "Honestly, Recon…" she muttered, then smiled, "Still, I appreciate you doing this for me. I can tell you were working hard on it. And I was interested in the food they had there."

Recon looked up at Leafa as she thought about it for a second, then said, "I'll take you up on that offer, Recon."

"You mean it?" Recon asked, his happiness revived again.

"Sure, as long as you're paying." Leafa answered.

Recon nodded. "Of course. Our reservations are a week from today, at 2pm."

"Okay, then." Leafa answered, "I'll set the calendar for that date."

"Oh, thank you, Leafa!" Recon cried. He was about to hug her, but Leafa pushed him back.

"Let's not go that far yet, Recon." Leafa replied, "Maybe after our date, then we'll see."

"Right…" Recon chuckled, rubbing his head embarrassingly, "Well, I'd better head back to Swilvane. Lady Sakuya is expecting me to return soon." He raced back the way he came, turning his head back to Leafa as he shouted, "I'll see you at school tomorrow!"

"Give Sakuya my greetings!" Leafa replied, waving him off.

As he raced off, Leafa lowered her hand, watching Recon. The truth was that she really did care for Recon's efforts on getting those reservations. It proves just how much he would do for her. Then again, this was the same guy who used a Self-Destruct spell to aid Kirito and Leafa to reach the top of the world tree in the old ALO. Leafa smiled a bit. "That Recon…he's something else." she muttered. She started to walk along the path, finding something to do before her fight with her brother this afternoon.

---

(12:20 AM) Somewhere in the open fields in Alfheim, within the Leprechaun territory, Asuna was fighting off a plant-type monster. Her skills with her rapier plus her speed made it troublesome for the monster. It swung one of its vines at her, but she avoided it, producing her wings, then flew at the monster. Her rapier glowed, and she unleashed her Quadruple Pain rapier skill onto it, defeating it and turning it into scattered data. She landed onto the ground, seeing the reward she got for defeating it.

"Great going, mama!" Yui cheered, flying in to join her.

"I should get a head start on gathering up material for Liz while I'm here." Asuna told her, "Besides, I need something to preoccupy my thoughts right now…" Yui settled onto Asuna's shoulder, looking at her face. She knew Asuna was talking about Kirito. It was bothering her that she didn't know what his nightmares were about, nor how to help him with them.

"Asuna!" a voice called out. It was Liz, Silica and Pina, all three of them flying towards her with their fairy wings.

"Hey, Liz, Silica." Asuna greeted them as they landed onto the ground, "Is Sinonon not with you?"

"She must be running late." Liz assumed as Pina and Yui greeted one another.

"Should we wait for Sinon to come?" Silica asked.

"I'm sure she'll be here soon." Asuna answered, looking around the air, then saying, "Here she comes right now." Everyone looked up to see another familiar face coming their way. Cait Sith Sinon was flying towards them, fumbling a bit as she was trying to keep her balance in the air. She landed onto her feet in front of the group, sighing in relief.

"Well look who showed up last." Liz sassed.

"Sorry about that." Sinon apologized, "I'm still trying to get the hang of flying without the controller. It's tough keeping your balance in the air while concentrating on flapping your wings. I nearly fell twice coming here."

"I know that feeling too well." Silica sighed as Asuna giggled.

"So anyway, should we get started?" Asuna asked.

"Seems like you've started already." Liz replied, pulling out her mace, "Oh well, let's get started!" Silica pulled out her dagger with Pina at her side as Sinon pulled out her bow and an arrow from her quiver. "Let's fight till there's no more left!" Liz declared as another one of the plant-like monsters appeared before them. The other three cheered in response as Sinon released an arrow while the other three charged in for the fight.

---

(1:15 PM) Back in the ravine, Kirito, Klein and Agil were still fighting all the Black Taurus in the vicinity. It was their eighth wave of monsters they dealt with in the same place, but they still haven't found the Elucidator yet. Kirito was slightly annoyed that he wasn't able to find his old sword, but Klein was even more ticked. Agil just said that any of the material or weapons they got from the beasts were good business for him and his shop.

"Dang! How many of these things do we have to fight?" Klein asked, leaping to one side as his target charged at him, then slashing the beast, "Hey, Agil! You sure your information was right?"

"I'm positive about it." Agil replied, gripping his axe sideways with both hands and holding his ground as the Black Taurus he was fighting was pushing him back. "I even saw the blade itself in that guy's hand. He even told me how to get it."

"Maybe he was playing with you." Klein assumed, "It's obvious the guy must've wanted to have the only rare blade for himself."

Kirito slashed one of his blade down onto his target, turning it into data. It's a possibility that Klein's theory is right. he thought to himself, looking at the remaining monsters, But there is a chance that the Elucidator is here. It could be so rare, that it'll take incredible luck to gain it, but we've been going at it for a while, and had not found it yet.

Then Kirito thought of something else. Maybe it's not the drop percentage that matters, but the monster itself. Kirito looked around, wondering. Maybe one of these Black Taurus is different from the others, and THAT'S the key to gaining it. Kirito observed each bull, examining them closely. He noticed a Black Taurus respawn a good distance away, and Kirito, seeing it appear, notice something. A small, silver cross-mark was on the forehead of the beast, and Kirito, recalling back to his SAO days, recalled the same cross mark on the flat of his Elucidator, just beneath the tip.

"That's it!" Kirito declared, and he charged headlong at the beast. The shout got Klein and Agil's attention. The Black Taurus with the mark turned to Kirito, his eyes set on him. Kirito raised his blade and slashed down onto the beast as it reared its' head. The blade caught one of its' horns, canceling each other's attack. Kirito placed his feet onto the head and kicked himself off as one of his blades started to glow violet. He performed his 'Lightning Fall' Sword Skill, somersaulting in the air and slamming the tip of his blade onto the back of the Black Taurus, damaging it with the wound and the electric shock that followed. The beast reared, and Kirito was forced off its' back. He then concentrated, performing his Skill Connect ability, making his second blade, his Dark Repulser, glow crimson. He folded his arm as he charged in, then twisted his body as the energy extended his blade to twice its' length, and thrusted the blade at the beast, who was unable to counter the attack as it got heavily damaged by it. It was sent hurdling forward as Kirito concentrated once more, making his first blade glow bright blue, then he charged at the beast, leapt high into the air, and performed his 'Sonic Leap' Sword Skill, slashing it through the head of the beast, sending it back to the ground.

"No matter how many times I see it, his Skill Connects are too cool." Klein stated.

As Kirito landed onto the ground, he turned to see the monster writhe in agony, then it slowly went still, then disappeared into fragments of data. Kirito saw the window pop up in front of him, indicating his rewards. He looked down it and saw, in the monster drop section, the sword icon with the name 'Elucidator' next to it. "Yes!" he said, pumping his fist. He placed his primary sword into his inventory, then tapped the Elucidator in its' place. The black blade he knew for over a year in SAO appeared right onto his back sheath. He reached back and pulled it out, holding it aloft. He looked down it, remembering what it felt like. "Hello, old friend." Kirito greeted his blade, smiling.

"Now there's a blade I remember." Klein stated as he and Agil joined up with him, "But how did you know it would appear from the Black Taurus you defeated?"

"Well, for one, you were half-right about what you suggested to Agil." Kirito explained, "He did say where to get the Elucidator, and he was right. What he didn't say was which Black Taurus would have it."

"Maybe he was just blindly going through the monsters, and didn't notice that detail." Agil suggested.

"Maybe." Kirito replied, sheathing his blade, "Though, the mark on the forehead sticks out a lot compared to the other monsters that don't have them. But either way, we finally found it."

"And now someone looks the part of an old-fashion SAO Beater." Klein added, indicating Kirito's entire look.

"Well, the ears are a dead giveaway." Agil pointed out, looking at Kirito's pointy fairy ears, "Oh well, can't be perfect, right?"

Kirito looked down himself, wondering. I guess it's okay for me to wear this look, despite what I had to deal with in SAO before. Will it help me overcome the nightmares I've been having? I don't know. All I do know is that I'm ready.

"So now you got your look down, what next?" Klein asked.

"Now it's time for me to test it out." Kirito replied, "And I know who my first opponent with it should be…"

"Wish I could watch your duel with your sis, but I have a bar to take care of IRL." Agil stated, "I'll go drop off the stuff we got from fighting these monsters and log out. Good luck."

"Yeah. See you IRL." Kirito replied as Agil produced his wings and took off.

"So when are you gonna fight your sis?" Klein asked as Kirito pulled up his friends list.

"I think 3 should work, at that open floating island near Aincrad." Kirito decided, pulling up Leafa and sending a text, "I'd better get use to having my Elucidator back."

"Dude, you don't need to 'get use to it'. It's, like, totally your signature weapon." Klein stated.

"Well, better safe than sorry, anyway." Kirito stated, "You gonna watch?"

"Hell, yeah! I wanna root for both of ya!" Klein answered promptly, "Let's go, already!" Kirito nodded as they walked out of the ravine, produced their fairy wings and took off into the sky.

---

(2:00 PM) Asuna, Liz, Silica, Pina and Sinon were just finishing the last of their third wave of monsters. Asuna sighed in relief as she sheathed her blade. Yui flew down to her shoulder as Asuna turned towards her friends, who were gathered around Liz as she looked at the rewards they got from fighting the monsters.

"So did we get enough for you?" Asuna asked as she drew closer to them.

"Sure did." Liz answered, closing the reward screen, "Thanks for helping me out."

"No problem." Silica answered.

"You're the one who keeps repairing our weapons, so we should at least help you out." Sinon pointed out.

"So what now?" Silica asked the girls, "Is there anything else we can do?"

"Well, I've already finished all of my homework for class tomorrow." Sinon recalled, "I'm pretty much free to do anything."

"I was planning to go to one of the hair salons in Yggdrasil City." Asuna stated, "I want to turn my hair color back to its' normal look."

"That's right. You've finally finished completing your original SAO attire." Liz stated, "I can't wait to see you in your full look again."

"I want to see it, too!" Silica agreed. Asuna smiled and nodded in confirmation.

Just then, a window popped up in front of Asuna, indicating a message from someone. Asuna tapped it, revealing it to be a message from Leafa. "It's Leafa." she told the others, "She says that her duel with Kirito is happening in about an hour from now. She even told me the location."

Liz, Silica and Sinon all looked to one another, then smiled. "I think we just found our next thing to do." Liz said slyly, "We should go and watch their match together."

"Sounds great!" Silica agreed, with Pina crying in agreement.

"Let's all meet at the floating platform before 3, okay?" Liz told the others, who nodded in agreement. Liz took off back to her shop to deposit all the material they've gained. Silica went with Sinon, wanting her help on a couple problems on her homework.

Asuna watched them all leave, with Yui on her shoulder. "I can't wait to watch papa's duel." she stated.

"Me, too." Asuna agreed, "And just maybe, if I watch him, I could understand what his nightmares might be about."

Asuna paused for a bit, thinking about what she had just said, then continued, "Well, I should get the last part of my SAO look completely down. Let's go get my hair and eyes done right." Asuna produced her Undine wings and took off into the sky towards Yggdrasil City as fast as she could.

---

(2:40 PM) Asuna was now looking at herself in a mirror in the changing room. She had just finished the color change in her eyes and her hair. Seeing her hazel eyes and her chestnut hair made her almost forget she was in the game. However, her pointy ears and her Undine attire were a dead giveaway that she was. Yui had just turned into her human-sized form, and she was standing behind her.

"So how do I look?" Asuna asked, wanting Yui's opinion.

"It looks exactly like your real eyes and hair, mama." Yui replied.

"Then I guess that just leaves me with one last thing to do…" Asuna stated, pulling up her equipment screen, and within a minute, she had replaced her attire to her SAO attire once more. She looked once more into the mirror, examining herself in as she twisted her body left and right. Apart from the ears, she looked exactly like how she did back in SAO.

She paused as she continued to look at herself, and Yui noticed her expression changed. "Is something wrong, mama?" she asked.

"No, it's nothing too serious." Asuna replied as Yui went to stand right next to her, facing the mirror, "It's just…the look is bringing back a lot of memories…" Asuna looked at her reflection, and imagined herself back in SAO, with Kirito standing on the other side of Yui. With how Kirito was, she wanted to have things back to normal, just like in those days. She was missing her time with Kirito.

Yui somehow was able to think what Asuna was thinking as she looked up at her. "Don't worry about it, mama!" Yui cheered her up, "I'm sure papa will get together with you again. I'll do whatever it takes to help papa with his nightmares, and we can be a family again."

Asuna looked down at Yui, surprised she could read her so well, then she smiled. "I know you can help him, Yui." Asuna replied, patting her head, "I want to do my part to help Kirito out, too. So let's go cheer for him with all we got so he knows we care."

"Yeah!" Yui cheered in response. She transformed into her Navigation Pixie form as she and Asuna raced out of the dressing room, towards the place where the duel between Leafa and Kirito would take place.

---

(3:00 PM) The floating piece of land that Kirito talked about was large, with a few marble-stone columns that looked like they were from ruins, and a few trees growing all around the edges of the platform. Silica, Pina, Sinon, Liz and Klein all were sitting on a fallen column, watching Kirito and Leafa standing some distance from one another.

Asuna and Yui had just flew over the trees, landing behind the group of watchers. "Are we late?" Asuna asked as she raced over to them.

"Nope, you're just in time." Liz answered, "They're about to start their match."

"Oh, wow!" Silica gasped, seeing Asuna's full look, "You look exactly like how you did in SAO. It's kinda nostalgic."

"The second commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath returns to the field." Klein stated humorously, "Now both you and Kirito have your full looks."

Asuna looked at Kirito, and noticed the familiar Elucidator sheathed into his back, along with the Dark Repulser. "He found the Elucidator?" Asuna asked.

"Yeah. Took a heck of a lot of time to find the blade, but Kirito did get it again." Klein answered, "Now, he's ready to bring SAO to ALO." Asuna looked back to Kirito, thinking about him back in those days.

Kirito and Leafa looked at the crowd watching them, then back at one another. "I know Klein was gonna come, but I didn't expect everyone to be here." Kirito noticed.

"Yeah, well I decided to contact the others, telling them where and when we would meet for our duel." Leafa answered, "I figured we'd have our friends watch our fight, too, and cheer us on."

(Cue KHBBS OST 'Future Masters')

She pulled up her menu, and setting up the duel for them. The request for the duel appeared before Kirito, who looked down at it. He pressed the 'yes' button, and the timer appeared before them with the words 'Kirito vs. Leafa' between the countdown timer. Leafa backed off as she pulled out her blade, gripping the handle in both hands. Kirito readied his Elucidator, and got into his fighter's stance, ready to brawl. The others watched intently as the timer counted down, then finally hit zero, signaling the beginning of their fight.

Leafa and Kirito charged at one another and clashed blades. They struggled off of one another for a second, then went into a series of attacks at one another, striking and parrying each other's attacks. The others were cheering for their fight, and while Asuna, Yui and Klein cheered for Kirito, the other three girls were cheering on Leafa.

Kirito's blade swiped horizontally in front of Leafa, leaving a mark just above the waist. Leafa grimaced, then did a slanting slash onto Kirito, who blocked it, then thrusted at Leafa, who ducked out of the way, making an upward strike that left a mark on Kirito's right side.

Kirito backed off, then made his blade glow orange as he prepared the 'Howling Octave' Sword Skill, coming at Leafa as his Elucidator's blade ignited into flames, then thrusted it multiple times at her, who couldn't avoid it in time, then Kirito slashed downward, then upwards, sending himself into the air. Leafa recovered herself enough to perform her own wind-element Sword Skill to counter Kirito's overhead slash. The clash sent a tower of flames flying around them, and made the others brace themselves from the shockwave of the attack.

Kirito was sent flying back as Leafa skidded back, both in a post-motion delay from their attacks. Leafa's HP was down by almost half, while Kirito's was barely down a quarter.

Leafa was the first to recover, and raised her hand, conjuring magic. "Þeír, slíta, fimm, grœnn, vindr!" she shouted, and she unleashed her 'Vacuum Blades' Magic Skill, sending five boomerang-shaped blades of energy at Kirito, who finally recovered. Kirito concentrated as he saw the attack coming, and with the skills he gained in GGO, slashed down three of the blades, but got hit by the last two, causing an explosion that engulfed his body. The attack reduced his HP beneath the two-third mark.

The two ensued their fight, which was all over the place and powerful to watch. Their friends all continued to watch, whether intently or with cheers. "They are really going at it, aren't they?" Sinon asked.

"Yeah, but Kirito still isn't using his Skill Connect." Asuna pointed out.

"He's probably saving it for if he really needs to use it." Klein stated.

Kirito and Leafa were backing away from one another, panting from their fight. Kirito's life was beneath 1/3 full while Leafa was at 1/4. Kirito was concentrating on Leafa, waiting for her next move. He's holding back. Asuna thought to herself, I guess that's just to be expected. He won't take things seriously unless lives were at stake. Leafa steadied herself, ready to make her next move. She placed her foot forward, and Kirito readied his blade for whatever she was gonna do.

Just then, Yui gasped, and looked up. "What is it, Yui?" Asuna asked.

"Up there!" Yui cried, pointing into the sky. Asuna looked up into the sky, and saw what she was seeing. The sky was starting to distort high above their position, then a trail of data broke open a black hole in the sky.

"What the heck is that?!" Liz exclaimed, noticing the black hole. Klein, Silica, Pina and Sinon were also amazed at what they were just seeing. Even Kirito and Leafa stopped and were shocked at what they were seeing. More data, similar to what opened the rift, poured out and started encircling Aincrad in the sky.

"Yui, what's it doing?" Asuna asked.

"I don't know." Yui responded, "All I know is that the data is not the same as the game's data."

"What do you mean it isn't the same?" Sinon asked.

"I can't say for sure, but I think it's coming from a separate source of data." Yui answered, analyzing the stream that formed a ring around a part of the bottom half of Aincrad, "It's so strange. I've never seen anything like it…"

They all watched the data continue to stream a ring around Aincrad. Then all of a sudden, it dove straight into the floating castle itself. The castle started to glow brightly as it seemed to be given brand new data into it. The team was just amazed at the sight of it all, wondering what was gonna happen to Aincrad. Then all of a sudden, the light became so bright that it blinded everyone. Then just as suddenly, the light vanished. The stream of data and the rift also disappeared. There wasn't a single trace it was even there to begin with.

For a while, everyone just stared up at what they had just seen, stunned. Finally, Leafa asked, "Did everyone see…what I just saw?"

"If that's another way of saying 'were you dreaming that?', then you were wrong." Liz replied.

"But what the heck was it? Some kind of crazy addition to Aincrad or something?" Klein asked.

"I don't know." Kirito answered, looking concern, "But whatever it was, it's gone now."

Just then, the crew heard the sound of a loud bell resounding throughout all of Alfheim. "Attention Players." said a female voice, "Due to an anomaly within the game, we ask that you would immediately log out of Alfheim Online while we do some maintenance on the server." The team looked to one another. If they just saw the anomaly, they wondered what it had done to the game.

---

(5:50 PM) As soon as they had logged out of ALO, Kazuto, Asuna, Suguha, Ryoutarou, Rika, Keiko and Shino all reunited together at the Dicey Cafe as fast as they could. Shinichi also joined them, having seen what had happened from a distance. Whatever they just saw, they wanted to pass it onto Andrew, and see what everyone had to say on it.

"…I mean, it just came out of freakin' nowhere!" Ryoutarou finished the explanation, "I don't know what it did to Aincrad, but hopefully it isn't anything too damaging."

"Well I didn't get a good look like you guys did." Shinichi stated, "All I saw was Aincrad light up suddenly, then it just suddenly stopped. But what was all that extra data about?"

"I heard a lot of this from all the Players in and out of Aincrad that witnessed all of this." Andrew explained, "According to the ones inside, they felt the ones that had the most problems were between floors 22 and 27. Everyone said that their bodies either started lagging or freezing up all together until it was over. But you guys got a front-row seat to the whole thing."

"Yui was the one who sensed it beforehand." Asuna pointed out, "I hope she didn't get infected by it."

"She's fine." Kazuto answered, "In fact, she looking into the anomaly as we're speaking right now. She became really curious about the whole thing."

"Yeah, well if I was an AI, and I saw what THAT happen in a game I lived a lot of my life in, I would check it, too." Rika stated.

"I really hope Aincrad is still okay." Asuna prayed, "Our home was on one of the floors that got it worse. I really don't want to lose it."

Kazuto placed his hand on her hand on the table, and she looked at him as he smiled. "Everything will be okay." he assured her, "I'm sure whatever it was isn't anything too horrible. All we have to do is have faith that our log is still there, okay?"

Asuna smiled up at Kazuto. "Why does it have to be something this big or more that brings us closer together?" Asuna asked him in a slightly amused manner. Kazuto's smile nearly failed on him, but he recovered it quickly. He had been distancing himself from Asuna ever since those nightmares, believing whatever was happening in them might happen in real life, and she might be involved. Why was he thinking that, anyway? He needed to stop thinking that way, and started getting things back to the way they were.

"Um, if you guys are done cuddling, we have other things to contemplate." Rika told them, and the couple turned to see snide looks from her, Keiko, Shino and Suguha.

"Man, it really must be rough being that popular." Ryoutarou stated to Andrew, who smirked in an amused manner.

Asuna and Kazuto let go of each other's hands, and Kazuto cleared his throat. "Well, in any case, the maintenance members of ALO should be working on fixing things right now. If Yui has found something, she'll tell me first. Then I'll tell you guys after that." Everyone nodded in agreement. After an hour of talking and theorizing what they had seen, they all bid farewell to Andrew and left to their individual homes.

Asuna and Shinichi stayed behind to watch Kazuto prep up his motorbike for him and Suguha to drive home. "When Yui finishes figuring out what's going on, please tell me as soon as you can?" Asuna asked Kazuto.

"Sure thing." he replied, getting onto the bike with Suguha, "You'll be the first to know."

"After me, of course." Suguha added to Kazuto, making him and Asuna chuckle at this added statement.

"Tell me as well." Shinichi added, "I'm anxious on what happened to Aincrad as well. You'll tell me at school tomorrow, won't you, Suguha?"

Suguha paused for a second. While she and Shinichi were starting to become a couple, it was weird for her to hear him address her by her first name. "Okay, you got it, Naga-, I mean Shinichi." Suguha replied. Kazuto revved up his motorbike, then took off, leaving Asuna standing there, watching.

Suddenly, Asuna had a sort of feeling cross her heart as she watched them leave. Whatever she felt also crossed her face, cause Shinichi looked to her, asking, "Is something wrong, Yuuki?"

"I'm not sure." Asuna asked, touching her heart, "It was as if…I felt like this would be the last day we could be like this." Asuna pondered for a second, then she shook her head, smiling. "Nah, it was probably nothing." she told herself, "I'm just anxious to know what had happened in Aincrad."

"Of course that's what it is." Shinichi answered, "Nothing's gonna change. Things will stay the same, no matter what!" Asuna smiled at Shinichi, then the two walked along the path towards the train station, where head would head for their home.

Little did they know that Asuna was absolutely right as Kazuto, Suguha, Asuna and Shinichi went their separate ways. This was gonna be the last afternoon they would enjoy in their everyday lives.

---

(Twilight Town, Mansion Computer Room) DiZ was sitting at his computer, typing away at the complicated keyboard. leaning on the wall at one end was a man dressed in a black robe, his head covered by a dark hood. That was Riku, or at least, Riku in his Ansem form.

"Sora's heart is nearly complete." DiZ informed, "It is now time for Roxas to reunite with him once more."

"At long last," Riku stated, "I was waiting for this moment. That sleepyhead friend of mine will soon wake up."

"Yes," DiZ replied, smiling a bit at Riku's sarcasm, "He will be ready to face the looming dangers that are about to appose him."

DiZ looked up at a separate monitor, where he was observing the digital Twilight Town. There, he noticed a boy with yellow spiky hair being attacked by a red, spiky-haired man, who wore the same black coat as Riku. Their names were Roxas and Axel respectively.

DiZ quickly tapped away on the keyboard, and suddenly Axel froze in mid-swing. "Roxas, to the mansion!" DiZ cried into the speaker, "The time has come."

The boy named Roxas looked about, wondering where the voice had just come from. "Hayner! Pence! Olette!" Roxas cried in desperation. Seeing as nothing happened, he started to run to the mansion.

"Good," DiZ confirmed, "Now I shall let my digital counterpart take care of the rest." He stood up and turned to Riku. "Go and gather up Naminé. She is of no use to us anymore." he told him.

Riku nodded in understanding, and was about to open a black portal to go get Naminé. He then stopped, and turned to DiZ, a question still nagging on his mind. "If you don't mind me asking this, but I couldn't help but notice you were working on a side project while gathering up Sora's memories." Riku stated.

DiZ looked at Riku for a second, then turned back to the monitor. "Yes," he answered, sitting down and tapping on the computer, "Over a year ago, I had discovered a link to a different world, one not from our dimension. There, I found a world inside of a 'game' far greater than what I created."

"A game?" Riku echoed. For some reason, he felt like he should know what he was talking about.

"A game that was once a life or death sort of game." DiZ explained, "A game that real people can created digital copies of themselves inside it. I had learned, through my research, that there are heroes there with unimaginable skills and strength. I am very intrigued by this world, especially these heroes that they talk about."

'It couldn't be...' Riku realized, now remembering him talking about this world to a certain person in the past. A person that was from that world. He then asked, "So what do you plan on doing with this new world?"

"I sent a test subject to that world. There are certain individuals I believe will be able to accomplish it. From what you have already discovered, the Organization had already added a new member to their ranks. A unique Nobody that came from the same dimension. I fear that he might be problematic if left uncheck. So I decided to recruit new pieces to our side to counteract this measure."

Riku looked puzzled at his words, but had to confirm what his assumption was, as he asked, "So tell me, what is this 'game's' name?" he asked.

DiZ finished typing and looked at the monitor, where it displayed Aincrad, floating in the sky above Alfheim. "The game's original name..." he said, turning to Riku, "...is Sword Art Online."

Riku looked at Ansem, then to the screen. He was right. It was that world. He only mentioned it once before by DiZ, back when he explained it to a certain girl about where she came from, and what he did to her.

"Is this really necessary?" Riku asked, "After what you did to 'her', you plan to take these 'pieces' from their world to here?"

"It is for the best." DiZ replied, "In order to stop Organization, one must utilize every method necessary, no matter how irrational it looks. What I did to 'her' was to protect her from the Organization. And I do regret what resulted in my hasty actions. But now, the same program that I used on 'her' is now fully complete. Now no one else will suffer like she 'did'. Not only that, but I believe that these individuals possess a skill you and Sora possess." He pulled up on the screen three individual characters. It was Kirito, Asuna and Leafa, all three of their faces zoomed closer on the screen for a better look at them.

---

4/15/2026

Kirito was having another nightmare. He was standing on a dusty canyon top, surrounded by the same black, yellow-eyed creatures that he had fought many times before in his other nightmares. And just like all the other nightmares, his Elucidator and his Dark Repulser were having no affect on the monsters. He was backed to the ledge of the canyon, the monsters surrounding him in a semi-circle.

"C'mon, just leave me alone, already!" he barked at the monsters. One of them pounced at Kirito, and as Kirito avoided it, it gripped onto his Dark Repulser. He tried shaking it off, but it was crawling towards his arm, so he threw it and his blade over the canyon. He looked down, and was shocked to see many others climbing up the canyon wall towards his position.

"This is ridiculous!" Kirito gasped, looking down at his Elucidator, "If only I could defeat these monsters with my blades, I could escape these nightmares…" He turned back to the monsters that he was fighting before, gripping his Elucidator tightly. Please, Elucidator. Help me defeat these monsters! Kirito thought to himself with all his might.

Just then, the Elucidator in his hand started to shine brightly, and it made all the monsters he was facing halt in their tracks. "W-What the…?!" gasped Kirito, blinded by the light from his blade. The light then died down, revealing a new weapon in his hand.

It had a distinct figure that looked like an oversized key. It was black and long, comprised of a rounded hilt guard that looked like bat wings, with a purple diamond in the front of the hilt. The shaft of the blade was black, with a chain running up it. The black teeth of the key-like sword looked like the Kanji word for 'Darkness'. Finally, dangling off the back of the hilt was a black chain, with a black crown token at the end of it.

"What is this?" Kirito asked, examining the blade, "A key?" He looked to the monsters around him, and noticed a change in their attitudes. It was like they were afraid of the new sword he had. Kirito looked at the key-like sword again, then got into a battle stance, deciding to use this against them.

He dashed forward and slashed at one of the monsters. It was destroyed instantly by his new weapon. Kirito was surprised at his accomplishment, but he didn't have time to praise himself. One by one, he started attacking the monsters, eliminating them with his new weapon. "It's so light, yet so powerful." Kirito stated, taking out two at once.

Once Kirito cleared the monsters that were on the canyon top, he turned to face the monsters that were climbing the walls. However, what he saw was something else. Something frightening. A gigantic, humanoid-like monster with a heart-shaped hole in its' chest and the same piercing-yellow eyes as the other monsters.

Kirito was stunned at the sheer sight of the beast as it raised its' hand and curled it into a fist. Kirito needed to regain himself as he saw the fist launch down at him. He dashed forward, leapt up at the fist, and struck his blade against it. His blade faded from existence upon impact, stunning Kirito even more. "No. Not now!" Kirito gasped. Then he was pulled along with the fist as he crashed into the ground, causing an explosion of rubble.

---

(6:30 AM) Kazuto fell off of his bed, and onto his back, his bed sheets scattered around him. He was in a daze as he laid there, waking up on impact. For a while, there was silence, then Yui spoke up.

"Papa! Are you doing okay?!" Yui asked, who according to Kazuto's laptop, flew right next to his head, kneeling right next to him.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Kazuto moaned, raising himself up slowly. He looked around, seeing the position he was in, then stood to his feet, scratching his head. He then lowered the same hand he used for scratching, looking at his palm. "What was that weapon?" Kazuto asked, thinking about the key-like sword he was using, "It helped me fight those monsters off for a while."

"Papa?" Yui asked, flying right next to him.

Kazuto shook his head, snapping him out of it. "It's nothing." he assured Yui.

"You were thrashing in your sleep a lot more than before." Yui told him, "Were you beating up those nightmares you were having?"

"Sort of." Kazuto answered, "Well, at least I was able to truly fight back in my sleep. That's something to be proud of." Yui smiled at this.

Kazuto went to his laptop, where he saw Yui fly towards with him. "By the way, Yui. Have you analyzed what happened yesterday?" he asked her.

"I did a full investigation of the anomaly." Yui explained, "From what I could gather, there hasn't been any damage to Aincrad itself, but there has been an added quest on floor 25 that wasn't there before the anomaly."

"A quest?" Kazuto echoed.

"Yes. And apparently, it is one that the officials are not able to remove." Yui continued to explain, "It is from an outside source that no one could figure out, not even me. From what I could gather, it's a simple boss-elimination quest, but it was something that no one has ever seen. It doesn't seem to come from any source of history, Mythology or even modern technology."

"So it's just some random boss monster?" Kazuto asked, "What's the name of the quest?"

"The official name of the quest is 'Kingdom Hearts'." Yui answered, "Do you have any ideas, papa?"

Kazuto looked down, thinking. Kingdom Hearts. A Kingdom of hearts. Sounds to him like it came from a fictional novel. The closest he could think of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, due to the Queen of Hearts. However, that was just a vague assumption. He then thought of reversing the words. Maybe it was the heart of a kingdom. The kingdom could possibly refer to Aincrad. However, floor 25 is hardly the heart of Aincrad. What could the name be referring to?

"I can't think of anything right now." Kazuto answered, puzzled at the quest name, "Maybe we should go ask the others if they know what it means."

"Good idea!" Yui answered, "Leafa might know. Ask her first." Kazuto nodded, and exited the room.

---

(7:00 AM) "Kingdom Hearts?" Suguha asked, about to eat her breakfast. Kazuto had just explained everything Yui told him to her.

"Yeah, have any idea what that means?" he asked.

Leafa paused as she took a sip of her orange juice. "Maybe it is just the kingdom of hearts. You know, people's hearts."

"Hmm…maybe." Kazuto agreed, "I had a similar thought, myself. Though, I don't know any other sources that would be referred to as the 'kingdom of hearts'." The two thought for a second on what might be known as the 'kingdom of hearts', but nothing came to mind.

"So what are you gonna do about it, Kazuto?" Suguha asked.

"I guess I'll try dealing with the quest." Kazuto answered, "I'm pretty curious about it, and that's the only way I could think of dealing with it."

"But you said it's from an unknown source." Suguha reminded him, "What if it's, you know, a trap?"

"Then I'll just have to improvise." Kazuto answered.

Kazuto thought for a second, then added, "I think it would be best if I took it on by myself, just in case if it is a trap."

"Oh, come on, Kazuto!" Suguha scoffed, "Even if it is a trap, I doubt you'll be able to handle it on your own. Let me come along with!"

"No. I want you to stay back, just to be safe." Kazuto answered sternly, causing Suguha to look surprised, "I don't want my cousin to be in any danger. Besides, if it is a trap, I want you to help find me if I can't get out of the situation."

"This doesn't feel right." Suguha muttered, "I mean, I know it isn't like all those other times when you went off on your own, but at least get some help doing the quest."

"I'll have Yui with me. That'll be enough." Kazuto assured her, "She knows how to help me out of places like that if things get hairy."

Suguha thought for a second, then sighed as she placed her mug down. "I guess I can't get you to let me come with you, no matter what I say." she understood, "Fine, I'll stay behind, but you still have to tell Asuna this, and I know she won't let you go on your own with this."

Kazuto looked down at his mug. "You have a good point." he muttered.

---

(12:30 AM) "Absolutely not!" Asuna barked at Kazuto, denying his request to take it on by himself. The two were sitting at their favorite bench in the gardens. It was lunchtime, and Kazuto had finally brought up the topic of Kingdom Hearts to her. And just as Suguha assumed, she wasn't gonna take no for an answer.

"I don't want you to be in danger." Kazuto told her.

"And I don't want YOU to be in danger, either." Asuna retorted, "That's why I'm coming with you."

"But I…" Kazuto started.

"No buts. I made my decision." Asuna stubbornly finished.

Kazuto tried thinking up an excuse to stop her, but she could tell nothing was gonna stop her from coming with him. He sighed, then rubbed the back of his head as he said, "Okay, we'll do it together. But listen, if I tell you to run, you have to do it, okay?"

"As long as you come with me, then fine." Asuna answered, "I don't want you to play the lone hero again, like back in SAO."

"Yeah, but back then, we didn't have a decision on the matter whether to go or leave. Akihiko Kayaba trapped us in the game without any warning. And after what happened to the Moonlit Black Cats, I didn't want anyone dead because I screwed up." Kazuto reminded her, "However, this one has plenty of reasons why it could be a trap, and that's why we have to be extra careful on this quest."

Asuna nodded in response, understanding the dangers. "As long as you, me and Yui are together, we can accomplish anything." Asuna assured him.

"Then let's get together at floor 25 after school." Kazuto decided, "Now the question is what should we wear for it."

"Let's use our SAO attire." Asuna decided, "Now that we have them, we should use them to accomplish this quest."

"Okay. We'll meet together at the warp gate." Kazuto decided, standing up.

"I'll see you then, and don't go leaving without me, okay?" Asuna warned Kazuto.

After school was done, Kazuto and Suguha met up together, and he told her what was gonna happen. "I figured Asuna wasn't gonna let you go." she stated, "Still, I hope you know what you are doing. This is a quest that someone hacked into the game to deliver. There has to be a motive behind it."

"Don't worry. Yui, Asuna and I will take care of it, and come back, safe and sound." Kazuto assured her, walking into his room, "Well, I'm gonna log in. See you after the quest." Kazuto closed his door, leaving Suguha standing there, worried.

"Please come back safe, Kazuto." she muttered.

As instructed, Kirito was standing at the warp gate, waiting for Asuna. Yui was on his shoulder, anxious. "I'm so excited. We haven't been on a quest with mama for a long while." she told Kazuto.

"I agree." Kazuto replied, smiling at Yui, "Maybe that last nightmare gave me a little hope, since I was able to fight off those monsters a bit." He looked down at his hand, recalling that same key-like weapon he used. "Wish I knew what it was." he added to himself.

Just then, Asuna appeared out of the warp gate, seeing Kirito looking up at her. "Thanks for waiting." Asuna thanked him as she stepped down and came to him.

"No prob." Kirito replied, "Well, should we get going?"

"Sure, but I want to head somewhere first before we go on the quest."

---

Where she wanted to go was a floor beneath them, at the island where Asuna first met Absolute Blade Yuuki. The blade with the red piece of clothe on the handle was still in front of the large tree, acting as Yuuki's memorial. Asuna was in front of the tree, with Kazuto and Yui far behind, watching her.

For a moment, Asuna didn't do anything but have her head lowered, her eyes closed. Then in an instance, she pulled out her rapier, which glowed purple. She then performed Yuuki's Original Sword Skill 'Mother's Rosario' in front of the tree, unleashing the 11-hit attack, then finishing off with the final thrust, causing a major explosion. When the explosion faded, Asuna sheathed her blade, and turned away.

"You came here to give your respects to Yuuki?" Kirito asked.

"That, and to ask her to wish us luck on this quest." Asuna added, coming back to Kirito's side, looking back at Yuuki's monument, "And the best thing I thought she would appreciate would be if I used the same Sword Skill she gave to me." Asuna looked back the monument, missing Yuuki's smiling face. She then shook her head, knowing the fact that Yuuki would want her to keep fighting forward.

"Anyways, let's get moving." she told Kirito, "Where is this quest, anyway?"

Kirito pulled up his menu, pulling out the description on the 'Kingdom Hearts' quest. "It in a cave behind a waterfall." Kirito answered, looking at the location, "Let's go and make sure the quest is safe for everyone." Kirito and Asuna produced their wings, and they took off to the sky.

---

An hour later, the two found the cave mention right behind a waterfall within a jungle-like part of the floor. They crept behind the waterfall, and entered the cave. Kirito performed his 'Night Vision' magic skill to help them see the path ahead. Yui led the path, with the two walking behind her.

"So have you got any ideas what 'Kingdom Hearts' might refer to?" Asuna asked Kirito.

"I'm pretty sure Sugu's suggestion might be our best bet." Kirito answered, "I mean, from what it sounds, it might be the kingdom of hearts."

"But what hearts could it be a kingdom of?" Asuna asked, "Is it a certain kind of heart?"

"I think it is just every person's heart." Kirito answered, "It is the only thing that would make sense. Question is, how will that be related to the quest."

"Over here, mama, papa." Yui ushered them over. Kirito and Asuna went over, and saw a man standing in front of a large door with a black and red-outlined heart symbol with a red, spiky cross through it.

The man was in a complex attire; a long black robe with yellow lining that reached the floor. He had several brown straps pinned to the front, with brown pouches in a diagonal formation going down. His top black shirt had armor pieces on the sides and abdomen, a white symbol showing through a segmented cut through the red long cape he wore over his shoulders. As for his face, it was covered in red bandages, with two black straps with silver buckles that crossed his face, one crossing diagonally over his left eye. His right one was exposed, revealing a bright orange eye.

The trio stopped as they approached the man, seeing the quest flag over him. "Looks like he's the one we need to talk to." Kirito guessed.

Asuna looked at the name of the NPC above him; 'DiZ: Darkness is Zero'. Darkness is Zero? Asuna thought to herself, What is that suppose to mean?

As soon as they got close, the NPC spoke to them. "Welcome, warriors of Alfheim and Aincrad." he greeted them in a deep voice, "I have been searching for certain individuals that are capable of challenging my test to prove their worth." He directed their attention to the door. "Behind these doors is an enemy for which you have never seen before." DiZ continued, "I assure you, the enemy is not for the feint at heart to fight. Those who accomplish the task of defeating the enemy shall be given a chance to prove themselves to something greater I have in store for them. I wish you luck." The quest accepted signal appeared above the NPC, signaling the start of the quest.

"So I guess all we have to do is defeat the monster within."Asuna summed up.

"Yeah, but remember all the clues he added." Kirito reminded her, "The stuff like 'searching for certain individuals' and 'prove themselves to something greater I have in store for them'. This could just mean it is a two-part quest, but we'd best be on our guard."

Yui was looking at the NPC, who had not moved from his spot since he finished his speech. "This NPC…his data is far different to other ones, even AIs. It's like he a Player, but not." Yui pointed out to the two.

"Are you sure?" Asuna asked her. The trio looked to DiZ, then to the door before them.

"Well, we aren't gonna get answers by standing around." Kirito decided, "Let's go beat the monster within." Asuna and Yui nodded in agreement. Asuna and Kirito pushed the doors open, and entered into the room.

The doors closed behind as DiZ turn to the doors. "So two of the three have come to challenge my test." he said, "Well then, I would like to see just how well they would perform against the Heartless themselves, and the tasks ahead of them." And with that, DiZ disappeared into data.

---

When the door closed behind Asuna, Kirito and Yui, they found themselves in complete darkness, almost like they were standing in starless space. Then all of a sudden, the place sparkled into a bright light. The trio shielded their eyes, wondering what was gonna happen. When the lights died down, the trio opened their eyes. "What the…?!" gasped Asuna, the trio amazed.

The area became something of a Victorian-age town district at night, surrounded by tall buildings with lights shining from inside and lamp posts. There were stairs that led to a higher part of the town, and a golden fountain in the corner of the lower area they were in. Behind them was a pair of large wooden doors, where they supposedly entered through.

"What is this place?" Kirito asked, looking about.

"It's a town. But it doesn't look like any place in Aincrad or Alfheim." Asuna described, looking about.

"Yui, do you know what this place is?" Kirito asked Yui.

"No. It's all new to me, as well." Yui answered.

For a while, the trio wondered what they might find here. Then all of a sudden, from above, something large and heavy fell from the sky, landing onto the ground. Asuna and Kirito braced themselves, then readied their weapons as they prepared to fight whatever just landed in front of them. What they saw was a bunch of oversized, purple and black armor pieces, comprised of a hourglass-like body, the helmet, two gauntlet with claw-like fingers, and hammer-like leggings.

Both fighters and the Navigation Pixie were standing there, looking at the armor, wondering what it was for. Then all of a sudden, the armor pieces started to shake, then float into the air. The body centered itself as the leggings went underneath, the gauntlets floated to each side, and the head landed on top. The armor stood there, none of the pieces attached to one another, but still acting like one set of armor.

(Cue KH OST 'Shrouding Dark Cloud')

The trio were surprised at this new monster that formed in front of them. "What the heck is this thing?!" Asuna gasped, hoping it wasn't a ghost with the floating parts. Kirito first noticed the symbol on the body, which was the same black and red heart on the door. Then three life bars appeared above the body, along with separate life bars for each gauntlet and legging. The name 'Guard Armor' appeared above its' head.

"Guess DiZ was right. I've never seen anything like this before." Kirito stated, readying both of his blades.

"Here it comes!" Yui warned them as the Armor stomped towards them. It launched one of its' gauntlets forward, and Kirito, Asuna and Yui scattered, avoiding getting hit by it.

Kirito recovered and charged at the armor, slashing at one of the feet. The individual life bar that was above the foot went down, getting Kirito's attention. He unleash a jumping uppercut with his blade onto its' torso, damaging it. The Armor retracted his gauntlet, and started spinning them around his body like a tornado, striking Kirito and sending him flying back.

Asuna jumped from behind and thrusted her rapier several times at the body of the armor. She landed onto the ground as the armor stomped the ground, creating a shockwave that sent Asuna tumbling back. She then used an incantation, unleashing the 'Ice Arrows' magic attack that sent four sharp icicles at the armor. It raised one of its' gauntlets to block the attack, damaging it instead.

"Those gauntlets and leggings are taking damage individually from the body." Kirito noticed, seeing the life bar of the gauntlet go down, "I bet if we take down all those arms and legs, taking out the body shouldn't be a problem afterwards." Kirito charged in and attempted to strike the feet again, but the Armor jumped high into the air. Kirito was surprised it jumped so high, then it came crashing down upon him, sending a massive shockwave that heavily damaged him.

"Kirito!" Asuna shouted, seeing him struggle to get up, and notice his life bar down to one-third left. Asuna then saw the Armor stall, and she quickly performed a healing spell on Kirito, restoring his stamina again. "Are you okay?" Asuna asked, racing to him as he stood up.

"Yeah. Thanks for the save." he thanked Asuna. They turned to face the the Guard Armor, who had begun stomping towards them. "We have to attack the arms and legs of the Armor in order to weaken it." Kirito told Asuna, "Let's take them down first!"

"Right!" Asuna answered, and the two dispersed as the monster nearly stomped on top of them.

Kirito targeted the damage legging he got before, and slashed it several times. The Armor target him with the gauntlets, shooting them at Kirito, but he dodge them and took a slash at each of them as well. He then charged up his Dark Repulser into a sky-blue aura, then swung at the legging four times with a 'Horizontal Square' Sword Skill, which ended with a 2D rhombus that scattered and disappeared. The legging's life bar dropped to zero, and its' color dulled as it tilted to its' side, then disappeared into data.

Meanwhile Asuna had been jumping around, striking the torso and gauntlets when she had an opening. She backed off as the Armor spun its' gauntlets around its' body. She got as far as she could from the Armor, then charged forward with her rapier glowing blue, and she unleashed the 'Flashing Penetrator' Rapier Skill. She flew like a comet at one of the gauntlets, and she pierced right through it, knocking its' life bar instantly to zero and making it fade away.

Despite having one arm and one leg, the Guard Armor still kept going like normal. It attempted to jump and stomp down on Kirito again, but he avoided the attack. "I'm not gonna fall for that again!" Kirito barked, jumping and slashing with his Elucidator onto the torso. The attack caused it to be stunned, it's body, arm and leg all toppled to the ground. Kirito targeted the last gauntlet while Asuna targeted the legging. Together, they destroyed both parts. Now all that was left was the body and head, and two life bars remaining.

The armor recovered as it' body floated in midair, and Kirito and Asuna were on opposite sides of the armor. "Time to finish you off!" Kirito declared, racing at the Armor. It started to spin around like a top, and Kirito swung his blade with the flow of its' spin, got spun around himself, then knocked away by the Armor bashing into him.

"Kirito!" Asuna shouted, seeing him topple towards the wall. Asuna then turned to the Armor, which went wild as it continued to spin. Asuna dashed forward, her rapier at the ready, and she thrusted forward. The attack on the spinning Armor was rebounded, and she was sent flying like Kirito, flying right into the golden fountain, which made a big splash.

Kirito raised himself up and saw Asuna in the water of the fountain. "Asuna!" he shouted. He then turned to the Armor, who stopped spinning. As it slowly turned to him, Kirito saw, through the holes of the helmet's visor, flashes of yellow, which were its' eyes. Kirito was stunned. Yellow eyes? Kirito thought, recalling the monsters in his sleep, It can't be…is this thing related to the monsters in my dream? Kirito looked at Asuna, who moaned as she rose in a sitting position. If it is that, then I can't let Asuna get involved with fighting this monster any further. Kirito decided, I don't want her to disappear like she did in the nightmares.

Kirito charged headlong at the Armor, and struck it with his blade. The Armor retaliated by thrusting its' helmet forward, to which Kirito blocked with his blade, but was sent skidding back. Asuna got to her feet, and watched as Kirito charged in again, slashing furiously with his Elucidator. The Armor flew high into the air, and intended to slam down on Kirito. He jumped out of the way as it fell, but was carried by the shockwave, sending him close to Asuna's position.

Asuna got ready to jump in, but Kirito noticed her. "No, Asuna!" Kirito stopped her, "You stay back and use healing magic. I'll deal with the close combat."

"What…?" Asuna asked.

"Just trust me." Kirito added, "I'll be fine." And with that, Kirito leapt forward, ready to continue the fight with the Guard Armor. Asuna just stood there, confused, with Yui flying down on her shoulder.

Kirito's battle with the Guard Armor was rough. The spinning attacks, the headbutts, the slams and shockwaves were all powerful, and Kirito was having a hard time dodging the attacks. Whenever his HP got too low, Asuna would perform healing magic to restore his strength, and he would continue to fight. It wasn't just Kirito being reckless that was causing him to get damaged so much. The Guard Armor's had no attack pattern to follow. Every attack it did wasn't based on an AI algorithm.

After several minutes of combat, Kirito managed to bring down the second life bar on the Guard Armor. Prepared for the worst, Kirito, Asuna and Yui watched as the Guard Armor stomped its' body on the ground three times, and from out of nowhere, smaller, armored creatures appeared, and their helmet visors were up, revealing their black faces and their piercing yellow eyes. The name 'Heartless Soldier' appeared above their heads.

Kirito looked all around him, seeing all the creature, and he was shocked. "These monsters…" he gasped, "They're like the ones from my dream. But why? Why the hell are they reappearing here?!"

Asuna and Yui looked to Kirito when he started shouting, seeing his expression of fear. "What's going on with Kirito?" Asuna asked, worried about Kirito.

"I think he said they were like the ones from his nightmares." Yui overheard. Asuna looked at all the monsters, who were clanking around with their armor on, then looked at the Guard Armor. What could this mean? Did Kirito had a premonition of what was to come here?

One of the Heartless Soldiers jumped at Kirito, doing a spin kick. Kirito prepared his Elucidator, and slashed at it, stopping its' attack. Kirito then performed his 'Vertical Arc' Sword Skill, forming a V on the Soldier, and making it vanish. He backed away from the spot as he looked around at the other Soldiers. "At least these ones I can beat!" he told himself, and he went to work on them.

He begun mowing down the Soldiers, one by one, all the while, the Guard Armor continued to attack Kirito when it saw fit. Meanwhile, Asuna had to take care of the ones near her. The Soldiers could only slash with their claws or perform spin kicks, and their HP wasn't that high.

As Asuna finished off the last one near her, she looked to Kirito, who fended off two more Soldiers around him. However, he didn't notice the Guard Armor flip its' body on its side, aiming the hallow bottom at Kirito. Asuna saw it charge up a ball of white energy at Kirito, like the barrel of a bazooka charging to fire.

"Kirito!" Asuna cried, realizing he was in danger. She charged in and performed her 'Quadruple Pain' Rapier Skill on the Guard Armor. It damaged it and made it angle its' shot as it fired, sending the ball of energy flying right past Kirito.

He had just defeated the last Soldier, then looked to the Armor, noticing Asuna had saved him. "Get out of there!" He shouted to her, panicked she might disappear. The Armor flipped right-side up, and Asuna unleashed several strikes from her rapier, slashing it repeatedly. The Armor jumped high into the air and slammed down upon Asuna, who sped out of the way fast enough to avoid the shockwave. She raced towards Kirito's side along with Yui, Kirito look relieved to see her safe. However, Asuna looked sternly at Kirito.

"Do you take me as a fool, Kirito?" Asuna asked him in a harsh manner, "Why the hell would you think fighting this monster on your own is a good idea?"

"I just…" Kirito started, but Asuna cut him off as she added, "And another thing. You said before that these things were like the monsters from your nightmares. Tell me, was I in them? Did you see me get killed by them?"

Kirito looked at Asuna for a second, then he looked downward, and slowly nodded. "I didn't see you get killed, but I did see a heart float out of you when you were shrouded by those monsters." Kirito explained, "And then after, you turned into one of them. I couldn't stop thinking about them."

"And that's why you distance yourself from me?" Asuna asked, "Because of those nightmares?" Kirito nodded, too nervous to speak.

"You listen to me, Kirito." Asuna told him sternly, "I may have not seen what your nightmares are like, but I am a whole lot better than that. I'm not the Asuna in your dreams. I'm the Asuna who knows when things are too dangerous, and who has fought in many tough fights, already. And more importantly, I'm the person who loves you, Kirito." Kirito raised his head and turned to her. "I am always there for you, okay?" she finished, "After all, you have always been there for me. We look out for one another, and that's how we solve all our problems."

Kirito looked at the Guard Armor, who had stopped moving about, and merely floated there, waiting for them. "I guess I've been a bit of a coward, huh?" Kirito asked, "I thought those nightmares were so real, that it made me distance myself from you." Kirito looked to Asuna. "Sorry for not saying anything. I just didn't know how to say it properly."

"Well, that, and you always seem to do everything yourself." Asuna stated, smiling.

"Yeah, that too." Kirito chuckled.

He, Asuna and Yui looked at the Guard Armor, who had grown tired of waiting, and begun spinning towards them. "Let's end these nightmares for good, together!" Kirito declared.

"You got it!" Asuna answered, and the two charged in.

The two divided up as the spinning Armor passed by them. It slammed into the wall and stopped spinning. Kirito used this opportunity to unleash his 'Savage Fulcrum' Sword Skill, causing ice to form on the back of the Armor, then performing a vertical slash as he twist around, causing more ice to form on its' front. Asuna then jumped in and performed her 'Neutron' Rapier skill, unleashing five consecutive thrusts, which caused a burst of holy light to appear from after.

The Armor's life bar was on its' last legs, and it flew high into the air, this time landing a good distance away before flipping its body around, ready to fire another ball of energy. Kirito and Asuna darted forward, racing at the Armor, then simultaneously slashing it on both sides of its' body. The Armor didn't move, but the light from its' hollow body disappeared. It then collapsed to the ground, its' helmet rolling away from the body. The body then disappeared in a flash of lights, much different to disappearing into data.

Kirito and Asuna swiped their blades, then sheathed them, looking back at the spot the Armor faded from. "I guess that's that." Asuna stated as Yui flew next to her, turning to Kirito, "We defeated that monster together."

Kirito smiled at the two, thankful for both of their help. After everything that happened here, I think I can finally let go of the fear these nightmares are giving me. Kirito thought to himself, Now I just have to know what those nightmares are about.

For a while, no one moved. Then the trio looked about, wondering. "Wait, I thought we were to be congratulated for defeating that monster." Asuna recalled, "So why isn't it showing."

"We also didn't get any reward for our efforts." Kirito added, looking down in front of him, where the reward screen should've pulled up, "What's going on?"

The two walked to the door that they entered through, and Kirito pushed on it. It didn't budge. Kirito tried harder, but nothing. "It won't budge." Kirito told Asuna. The two worked together, pushing with all their might, but it didn't open. "Yui, what's going on with this door?" Kirito asked Yui.

She looked up and down it, then answered, "That's strange. The door is right here, yet I don't detect it leading outside the way we came anymore." Yui looked all around, adding in a worried manner "In fact, I don't seem to detect the outside at all."

Kirito and Asuna looked at each other, worried. "What does this mean?" Asuna asked.

"It means we were right from the start." Kirito snarled, "This whole thing was a trap."

Asuna looked around, taking in the reality, then swiped her hand to pull up her menu. It didn't show. She tried it again, and it still didn't appear. "The menu's not pulling up." Asuna added, "We can't even contact anyone from outside."

Kirito stood in the center of the room, and looked about. Finally he shouted, "Hey! Whoever's the person who created this place, you'd better show yourself now! Get us out of here, right this minute!" Kirito waited for a response, but he didn't get one. Instead, something started to happen around them. The room started to deteriorate into data, from the sky to the walls.

Asuna and Yui backed off as the floor started to disappear, then they raced towards Kirito, who turned to see them. All at once the floor disappeared on all three of them, and Kirito, Asuna and Yui, who was somehow unable to fly, started to fall into the darkness below, their screams slowly fading away as they fell.

---

The trio were unconscious as they fell through the darkness, their eyes closed and their faces neutral. Suddenly, the place Kirito's heart was at started to glow, then it shined brightly, enveloping himself, Asuna and Yui. The trio weren't fazed by this light, but data started to pour from an outside source, going straight into Yui. She moaned a bit, but wasn't waking up. The light around them disappeared, but Kirito, Asuna and Yui's bodies were glowing as they continued to fall. "The time has come." came DiZ's voice, and then silence.

---

Twilight Town: Old Mansion

The trio were inside the computer room of the mansion. Kirito and Asuna were on the sides of the room in a sitting position, their backs to the walls, still unconscious. Yui was on the ground between them, sprawled on her back. She was the first to open her eyes. She looked up at the ceiling, then getting a realization what had happened, she flew up into the air, looking about.

The room was dark, filled with all sorts of technology and metal walls. The most noticeable parts were the computer with the multiple glowing screens and the machine next to it, which looked like it might be some sort of warp gate. "Where am I?" Yui asked, looking about, "What is this place? It has no data creating the environment."

She then realized Kirito and Asuna were behind her, and she turned and looked down at them. "Mama! Papa!" Yui cried, flying in between them. She looked to each one, wondering who she should wake up first. Finally, she went to Kirito, and looked down at his face. "Papa!" she called out, "Papa, please wake up!"

Kirito's face started to scrunch up as he moaned. Yui looked relieved, then cried out, "Papa!" Kirito opened his eyes. He had the strangest dream ever. It consisted of certain trials that a voice was telling him to do. He had no idea what he had just experienced. His eyesight was hazy as he looked up at Yui, who looked down at him worried. "Yui…" he moaned, seeing her above him.

"Thank goodness you're okay!" Yui sighed in relief. Kirito removed himself from the wall, rubbing his neck.

"What happened?" he asked her.

"I don't know." Yui replied, "I found the two of you here unconscious."

Kirito turned and saw Asuna, who started showing signs of waking up, too. "Asuna!" Kirito gasped as Asuna opened her eyes, then stretched her arms upwards. She looked to Kirito, then the realization of what happened to the three of them kicked in, and she gasped in shock.

"What happened to us?" she asked, looking about, "Where are we?"

"I don't know." Kirito answered, also confused about his surroundings, "Yui, do you have any idea?"

"No. This room isn't made up of data." Yui answered, looking about.

"What do you mean?" Asuna asked as she and Kirito rose to their feet, looking at her.

Yui looked about, then at her own hands. "This room…I can't seem to detect the data that forms it. I can't even see myself being made of data, either." She looked at the two as she added, "I can't even make it out on you guys, anymore."

"Wait, you can't even see the data anywhere in here?" Asuna asked, looking down herself, seeing her SAO attire the same as before, "I don't understand. If you can't see it, then what does that mean for us?"

"It puts us back in the real world." Kirito answered, already knowing the answer.

Asuna and Yui looked to him, surprised. "W-We're IRL?" Asuna asked, "But that's impossible! If that were the case, then why is Yui here, and why are we still in our combat attire?"

"I don't know the answer, but what Yui says makes sense." Kirito explained, "She can't see the data on anything. That means we are not in a virtual world anymore. And what's more, look at us. See something missing?"

Asuna looked at Kirito, and noticed a couple things that were off. "You're right." she realized, "I don't see a cursor on you. And what's more, you don't have pointy ears anymore." She felt for her pointy ears, but instead found normal ones. It's like she became human again.

"Not only that, but our weapons aren't with us." Kirito added, indicating their scabbards, which were empty.

"And…what about Yui?" Asuna asked, "Is she…"

"Yes. Yui has become part of IRL, too." Kirito answered, looking at the surprised Yui, "As crazy as it is, someone somehow created a way for an AI to become a living being."

Yui looked at her hands again, stunned. She then flipped in the air, and notice no change. "I can't even turn into my human form again." Yui noticed, now scared, "I can't change." Asuna held up her hands for Yui, and she landed into them, looking scared at her circumstance.

Kirito looked at the room, then walked to the computer. He sat in the chair, pulled the keyboard forward, and looked up at all the screens. "What are you doing?" Asuna asked as she approached him tapping away.

"I'm trying to figure out where we are." Kirito answered, "If we can understand our situation, then maybe we can find a way back home." Asuna and Yui looked up at all the screens as Kirito typed away, looking at all the information on each screen.

It took him a few minutes before he stopped typing. He stood up as he looked at one of the upper screens, stunned beyond belief. "This…this is impossible." Kirito mumbled, "There's no way…"

"Why? What is it, Kirito?" Asuna asked. Kirito was too stunned to even answer Asuna's question right off the bat. Apparently, Yui also saw all the information, and was shocked, too.

Finally, Kirito spoke. "This room…no, this world, is not the world we live in nor in the virtual world." he explained, "According to this data, we have ended up in an entirely different world. No…a different dimension!"

"WHAT?!" exclaimed Asuna, too stunned, "Y-You're kidding me?! You have got to be absolutely kidding about this. It's all just one lie, right?"

"I wish I was." Kirito answered, keeping Asuna in a shocked state, "I'm totally in disbelief myself, but there's no mistaking this data. Yui, can you understand it?"

"Yes." Yui replied, causing a shocked Asuna to look down at her, "According to all of the information, this computer was responsible for sending that quest into Aincrad. When the quest was completed, it would send a signal that would cause a digital wormhole of complex data to send the Players through time and space, and into another dimension. Specifically, this room."

Asuna hurried over to the machine next to the computer, looking up and down it. "But why?" Asuna asked, "Why would anyone want to send us here?"

"It's because this person, whoever he or she is, needed us." Kirito answered, "He used that quest as a test of some kind, then brought us, and I mean specifically us, here."

"Specifically?" Asuna asked, looking at Kirito.

"Yes." he answered, "You and me. The person also was interested in Leafa, but she wasn't with us. Thank God."

"But what about getting back?" Asuna asked anxiously, "Can't you use this thing to bring us back to our world again?"

"Unfortunately, the data to send us back was removed from the computer." Kirito answered in a despairing manner, "The person must've taken away any chance of us returning home again." Kirito looked down, thinking about it, "And since our data was sent to a different world, no one would know where we went to in Aincrad."

Asuna fell to her knees, drawing Yui and Kirito's attention. "This…this is just unfair!" Asuna cried out, "It was bad enough I had to spend over two years inside of Sword Art Online, then be trapped by Sugou, and now I have ended up even farther away from home than before? Why does this have to happen to us?!" Asuna then began to cry out of dismay. She was scared and shocked of the situation she was in, and she couldn't do anything but weep at this.

Yui also began to cry as she flew into her mother's arms, and she hugged her. She wanted to join Kirito and Asuna IRL, but this was not how she wanted to do it. It scared her to be in this position.

As for Kirito, all he could do was watch his girlfriend and his daughter cry, while at the same time feel terrified about his situation. While he was thankful that Suguha wasn't in this situation either, he had no way of telling her, or anyone else, where he was. He couldn't even tell them that he, Asuna and Yui were okay. What was gonna happen to their real bodies? He had way too many concerns to think about. However, he did know one thing; whoever brought them here was gonna pay.

Kirito noticed an open door on one side of the room, then turned to Asuna and Yui. "Listen, I know you guys are scared and worried. I am, too." Kirito consoled them, "But right now, we need to find the guy that brought us here, and teach him a lesson. It's the only way of getting back home again. Don't you agree?" Asuna and Yui looked up at Kirito through tear-strained eyes, nodding after a few seconds. "Then let's go and find our way back home, no matter what." Kirito declared, reaching down to Asuna with one hand.

Asuna wiped her eyes, then looked up at Kirito, smiling. He's was always the person she could count on to know there is still hope. "Yeah. Let's go." she replied, reaching up to take his hand. Kirito pulled her to her feet, with Yui, wiping away her own tears, flying up next to her. The trio looked to the open doorway, and walked right through into the next room, wondering where they might find the person that brought them here.

---

When they entered the door, they found themselves in a square-shaped room, with neon lighting surrounding the outer edges of the room floor, and another mechanical door on the other side of the room. The trio looked around, noticing no one was there, and walked to the next door. They reached the center of the room when black shadows started appearing on the ground, followed by the reappearance of the same monsters Kirito saw in his nightmares. He also saw them in the dream he had before waking up here.

"Not these again!" Kirito gasped, standing back-to-back with Asuna as they were boxed in.

"Wait, I saw these things in the dream I had." Asuna stated.

"What dream?" Kirito asked, questionably.

"It was a weird one I had before I woke up." Asuna answered, looking back at Kirito. Kirito was amazed. Did both of them have the same kind of dream? Apparently, Asuna was thinking the same question, but they didn't have time to answer. The monsters around them were drawing in closer, and they had no weapons to fight against them.

"Use your powers." said a voice out of nowhere. Kirito and Asuna looked above and around them.

"Who said that?" Asuna asked.

"Who said what?" Yui asked her.

"Unleash your newfound powers within you." The voice said again.

"What does it mean 'unleash our powers'?" Kirito asked.

"What are you talking about?" Yui asked them, apparently not hearing the voice.

Kirito and Asuna were unable to tell where the voice was coming from. It was like it was coming from inside their heads. Just then, the two noticed a pair of the shadowy monsters about to pounce, and they leaped towards them. The two placed their weapon arms up in defense to block the attack, and something appeared in their hands, knocking the monsters back.

Kirito looked down, and was shocked. The same key-like sword that had appeared in his nightmare now appeared in his hand. "It's that weapon I had before." Kirito stated in amazement as he raised the weapon, "Asuna, look at this! Do you see…" He turned and was surprised. Asuna was amazed as she was staring at a similar-looking weapon now in her hands, though the design was completely different.

Her key-like weapon was mostly white. Instead of bat wings for her hilt guard, she had angel wings, and the shaft of the blade was two white bars with a pair of hearts forming at the guard and at the tip. The teeth of the blade was fashioned in the shape of the Kanji word for 'light'. The keychain dangling from the end of her weapon was small, thin chains, ending with a pink star-like token.

"You got one, too?!" Kirito gasped, seeing her blade. Asuna looked back at Kirito, seeing his.

"What are these things?!" Asuna asked, surprised at their sudden appearance.

Kirito looked back at the monsters, then got into battle position. "I'm just glad that this thing is here." Kirito stated, "They'll destroy these monsters, for sure!" Asuna looked at Kirito, then at the monsters, then decided to focus in on fighting the monsters.

The two split up and took on the monsters. The weapons were absolutely resourceful against the shadowy monsters, fighting them off with great power. They acted like blades, based on how well they cut up the monsters and make them disappear, but they had no edges on them, except for on the teeth. It took them a couple minutes to clear the room of the monsters.

Kirito and Asuna walked back to one another, examining their weapons. "This weapon is so light, yet so strong." Kirito stated, praising his new weapon.

"I wonder how we were able to gain these…whatever they're called." Asuna asked, looking up and down her new blade.

"I don't have a clue." Yui replied, floating down next to Asuna and seeing her weapon.

"These weapons are known as 'Keyblades'." the voice spoke up once again.

"Key-blades?" Asuna asked, confused as she and Kirito looked up.

"These weapons will help you throughout your journey." the voice continued, "And each of them have a specific name. The black one is known as 'Oblivion'. The white one is known as 'Oathkeeper'."

"Oblivion…" Kirito muttered, looking at his Keyblade.

"…and Oathkeeper." Asuna followed, looking at hers.

"Follow the path the Keyblade takes you, and you shall not lose your way." the voice finished, "Unlock the path to your destinies. Beyond the next door lies the path awaiting you." The voice faded away, and the two didn't hear it again.

"So these 'Keyblades' will lead us to our destinies?" Asuna questioned, "What the heck does that suppose to mean?"

"I guess it means we are gonna be using these weapons to find our way back home." Kirito answered, looking at his blade. He flipped it around, then attempted to sheathe it onto his back. However, the Keyblade instead disappeared into a black light. Kirito looked at his hand, wondering where it went. "What happened to it?" he asked Asuna.

"Maybe these things aren't placed away like normal swords." she assumed, looking at her blade, "Maybe if I think of putting it away…" Her Keyblade then disappeared in a flash of yellowish-white light.

"Hey, it worked!" Kirito said in amazement. Yui looked to each of them, amazed at their weapons and wondering who they were talking to before. "We'd better keep moving." Kirito told the girls, and they pressed on into the next room.

---

The corridor passed the next door had the same mechanical walls and pipelines, but it also had another thing; there were several pods along one side of the wall. "What are these things?" Asuna asked, looking up at them.

"They're pods. But what for?" Kirito followed, just as confused as her.

"Mama, Papa, look at this!" Yui called out, drawing their attention. She was flying in front of two other pods, and as Kirito and Asuna drew closer, they saw two characters within. They weren't human, but animal-like, but they had some sort of anthropomorphic features.

One had a the features of a duck, and he wore a high-collared navy jacket with a short, light-blue cape, and a blue beret. The second character had the characteristics of a hound dog, and he had on a long green turtleneck sweater, a black combat vest, yellow pants, and an orange stove-top hat with small red goggles on the bottom.

"What are they suppose to be?" Kirito asked in a questionable manner.

Asuna got a closer look up at the duck's pod, examining him. "They look like they came out of a cartoon." Asuna compared.

Yui got a closer looked and gasped, "They're breathing!"

"Wait, these things are alive?" Kirito asked as Asuna backed away from them.

"How can that be possible?" Asuna asked, looking at Kirito, who shrugged.

Just then, the group heard mechanical noises, then saw flashes of lights appear from the grooves of the pods, making Yui jump and fly behind her parents. The two prepared themselves as the pods started to open up, revealing the two characters into full view. The two slowly opened their eyes, groggy from the sleep they had. While the duck stretched his arms up, the dog attempted to walk out of his pod, but he missed a step and fell face first into the ground.

"Oof!" he yelped as he landed, then he raised his head, rubbing his nose. "Gawrsh, when did I start sleeping?"

It's talking! Kirito and Asuna thought in amazement.

The dog looked up at the amazed trio, made a sign of recognition, then stood up. He was a bit taller than Kirito. "Hey, there." he greeted them, "Did ya happen to wake me up?"

"Uh…" Kirito and Asuna started, looking to one another, their looks asking if this was a strange situation to them.

"Hey, what's the big idea?!" squabbled the duck, hopping out of his pod. Unlike the dog, the duck was plenty shorter than the two. "Okay, who are you two, and where are we?" the duck demanded, looking at the trio.

"Well…" Kirito started, wondering how to answer when he realized he was talking to a duck and a dog.

"We don't exactly know where we are either." Asuna replied, "We only woke up some time ago, as well."

"So you were sleepin', too?" the dog asked.

"How do we know you aren't lying?" the duck asked suspiciously.

"We only have our word." Kirito replied.

The duck continued to look suspicious until Yui butted in, flying in front of the duck. "My mama and papa aren't liars!" she snapped at them, "We don't know where we are, nor who you guys are."

"Wak! Mama?" the duck asked.

"Papa?" the dog followed.

"It's a long story." Kirito answered, grabbing Yui by the scruff of her collar and pulling her back, "In any case, we should introduce ourselves. My name is Kirito. This is Yui."

"And my name is Asuna." Asuna greeted them, "Nice to meet you."

"Pleasure to meet ya." the dog responded, "I'm Goofy."

"And I'm Donald Duck." the duck followed.

The two animals smiled at the trio, then they gasped in realization as they looked at one another. "Where's Sora?!" Donald asked.

"Did ya happen to see anyone else here?" Goofy asked the three.

"Sorry. You guys are the first people we've met." Kirito answered.

"Maybe he's sleeping somewhere else!" Donald assumed. He waddle-ran away toward the curve in the corridor, down to the next door.

"Wait for me, Donald!" Goofy called out, racing after him.

The trio paused as they watched them go through the door. They looked to one another, then Kirito started to follow them. "Where are you going?" Asuna asked.

"Well, it's not like we have anywhere else to go." Kirito stated, "Let's follow them."

"I'm not even sure WHAT they are." Asuna stated.

"They don't seem like bad people." Yui stated.

"And who is this Sora character they were talking about?" Asuna asked.

"Only one way to find out." Kirito answered, and he continued on his path, followed by Asuna and Yui.

When they entered through the next doors, the team found themselves in a large, dome-shaped room. In the center was another bulb, but it was much larger than the others, and more technologically advanced. The interior was not see-through like Donald's or Goofy's.

Donald and Goofy were staring at it as Kirito, Asuna and Yui approached. "Sora!" cried Donald.

"Sora, wake up!" Goofy called out.

For a while, the group didn't hear a response. Then suddenly they heard more mechanical noises. The large bud-like machine flashed through the grooves like the other pods, then it started to open up like a lily in front of them, and inside was the first human they actually saw here.

(Cue KH 2.5 OST 'Sora')

He was somewhat younger than Kirito, lanky, with light brown, spiky hair. His uniform was composed of a red, zipped-up shirt with a black vest and white sleeves, white gloves with round metal pieces on the backs of the hands, an angled dark-blue belt, red pants that matched his shirt, yellow oversized shoes with metal soles, and a silver pendant with a crown similar to Kirito's Oblivion token. His attire did look a bit too small for him.

He yawned and stretched as he woke up, and he saw Donald and Goofy, who laughed as he floated in the pod. The boy leapt out of the bulb and hugged the both of them. "Donald, Goofy!" he greeted them as he got up. They started to jump in a circle together, laughing as they were reunited. The boy stopped and turned to see the trio standing there. "Oh, hey there." he greeted them, "Were you the ones who brought them here?"

"I don't know about that." Kirito answered as Asuna chuckled at their reunion.

"I suppose that must make you the Sora they were talking about." Asuna assumed.

"Yep, that's me." Sora replied, grinning at them.

Then another character came out from behind the boy. He was small like Yui right now, with a bug-like face, and he had on a top hat, and a coat with a tux, and he even carried an umbrella.

"That was some nap." he yawned as he hopped down onto the ground.

"You mean, we were asleep?" the boy asked.

"I guess we musta been, or I don't think we'd be so drowsy..." he stated.

"When did ya' we went to sleep?" Goofy asked. Both Donald and the boy crossed their arms in thought.

"Do you guys have any clues?" Sora asked Kirito, Asuna and Yui. The trio shook their heads, not sure, either.

"Let's see..." the boy recalled, "We defeated Ansem..."

"Yep," replied Goofy.

"...Restored peace to the world, found Kairi...oh yeah, and then we went to look for Riku. I think that's right so far?"

"Then what?" Donald asked.

They all pondered in thought, then Goofy asked, "What does your journal say, Jiminy?"

The bug, Jiminy pulled out a small book and looked at it. "Gee," he said surprised, "There's only one sentence: 'Thank Naminé'. Hm, I wonder who that is?" The trio of friends looked at each other before shaking their head in response.

"Maybe it's one of them." Sora guessed, pointing at the trio.

"Oh, their names aren't Naminé." Goofy answered, "These fellers' names are Kiro…Kiva…Kibble…"

"It's Kirito." Kirito responded, trying to not be humiliated by a misinterpretation of his name, "My name is Kirito. And these two are Asuna and Yui." The two girls bowed in greeting.

"Kirito, Asuna and Yui." Sora repeated their names, "Those names sound pretty weird."

"If you ask me, Naminé sounds like a weirder name." Asuna added.

"But like Goofy said, we don't know anyone by that name." Kirito finished.

"Some journal that is." moaned Donald. Jiminy looked doubtful for a second, then he responded, "Well, what do ya say we find out where we are!"

"Sure. Let's go." Sora answered, and he walked to the trio, "Maybe you guys can show us around?"

"Sorry, but we have no idea where we are, either." Asuna responded.

"Really?" Sora asked.

"Really. We just arrived here without warning." Kirito answered.

"In that case, let's find out where we are together." Sora decided, "C'mon, let's get out of here!" He raced out, with Donald and Goofy racing behind.

"Wait for us!" Asuna cried, and she, Kirito and Yui raced after them.

(Cue KHII OST 'Hand in Hand')

"Hey guys, do we even know if we should follow this guy?" Kirito asked Yui and Asuna.

"I have no clue." Asuna answered, smiling at Kirito, "But it's like you said; It's not like we have anywhere else to go."

"You have a good point." Kirito agreed.

"Let's see where they might take us!" Yui declared. Asuna, Kirito and Yui caught up with Sora, Donald and Goofy as they raced out of the corridor, and out into the biggest adventure they would ever face together.