A/N: Thanks again to everyone who left such positive feedback this chapter. I was worried about what reactions I was going to get to Kurat.

On another note, I feel I've finally gotten to where I want to be to retool the first two chapters. I should have those overhauled to meet what I feel is the much improved quality of the later chapters.

December 18, 2022

2nd Floor

Survivors: 7,763

"Switch!" Kirito deflected Baran, the Taurus General's hammer up and away from himself, darting to the side as Asuna took his spot, pelting the creature with blows to the body, glancing off its crimson armor. The minotaur like creature roared at her, slamming its hammer down at her. She slipped out of the way, jumping to the side. The creature responded by swinging its hammer sideways, sweeping along the floor. It was met with knives in both eyes as its momentum stopped with its head facing Sinon. It howled in pain, momentarily blinded, flailing madly. Agil caught it in one side, blocking most of the retaliatory blow with his shield, but he was still sent sprawling. Kirito switched back in, carving into its legs, aiming for its knees, dashing past the monster before he felt the crushing force of the hammer.

A crimson armored soldier joined the fray, catching the hammer on his massive tower shield on the way in. He stabbed the beast through the chest before jumping back out of the way. He had taken the least damage of any player, still in the lower green area. The minotaur lashed out, still recovering from the thrown knives. Sinon buried two knives in the beast's chest, though the damage barely registered on the monster's health, which was dangerously close to zero. Kirito switched back in, swinging intentionally for the creature's hammer, shoving it up and out of the way. "Switch!" Kirito yelled, jumping out of the way. Asuna charged in, leaping at the creature, stabbing at his already damaged eyes. Several of her blows missed, tracing lines and spots along his cheeks and forehead, but two struck home. The party had done enough damage already. Asuna hit ground as the monster howled and dropped, shattering in bits of light.

The crowd burst into celebration. There was no Kibaou to dampen the party, this time, and cheers and congratulations flowed freely. Kirito, Asuna, and Sinon hadn't killed the beast on their own, they'd done the same thing they'd done last time, protecting the crowd of attackers until the monster switched its attack pattern, then moved in to finish the creature as it started to wound the other players. No casualties this time, though.

"You three are making a habit of this," came a deep voice from behind where the three had gathered, Asuna and Kirito were on the ground searching for breath. Sinon was facing Agil, who continued speaking, "How'd you know it was vulnerable to the blindness status?"

Sinon shrugged, smiling, "I didn't. Eyes are squishy, and that usually makes for a good place to stick knives," she paused for a moment, before admitting. "Can't say I expected to hit him with both, though. Asuna set him up for me pretty well." She was just glad to have contributed more than needles this time around. She really needed to find a better weapon. She only had her long knife left, having unloaded the rest of her spares in the fight.

"Remind me not to get on your bad side," a new voice intoned. Sinon saw the man in red armor, they'd met him at the strategy meeting, walking towards them. She took a few moments to remind his name. "I didn't know anyone fought like that in SAO." Heathcliff, she finally placed it.

"I'm probably the only one. Not very good with a sword, but I don't plan to let that stop me," Sinon responded. They'd spent so much time in the mountains, so much time away from other players, Sinon had forgotten that most players weren't used to her fighting style. She knew Asuna had a brutal grace to her fighting style, and elegance in ferocity and defiance. It had caught Kirito's eye when he'd first seen her. Sinon knew that his attention hadn't really moved from Asuna, even if he wouldn't admit it. Kirito lost himself in combat, giving him a more brutal appearance. Sinon hadn't ever really thought about herself. She guessed her tendency to go for joints, eyes, throats, those sorts of things, which didn't always cause the same effects they should in real life, had a chance of causing status afflictions without enhanced weaponry, but still probably made her appear to be the most vicious of the group.

"You did pretty well yourself," Kirito said, turning to greet the Heathcliff. "Where'd you manage to get a shield like that so early?" He hadn't seen anything quite like it during the beta, but the game was pretty divergent already.

Heathcliff waved the question off, "It was a quest reward. It's come in handy so far." He looked around, then turned back to Kirito. "Congratulations, I hear you three were instrumental bringing down the first boss, too. You'll be a credit to whatever guild you decide to join." Heathcliff walked away after that, never exchanging a word with Asuna, who was still studying her rewards screen.

She accepted the reward, stood, and walked over to where Kirito, Sinon, and Agil were gathered. She liked Agil. He'd been the only other voice of reason after Illfang had fallen. He was only one of the few people from the floor one raiding party to come back for floor two. Kibaou had been nowhere to be seen, nor had most of his group. It was the first group of any kind that they had spent more than an hour or so with. At first it had been because of paranoia. People really seemed to hate them after the last dungeon. After a few days though, they'd run into the Goblin King. They'd spent the week questing through the mountains trying to find goblin territory. They'd cleared plenty of quests, but they hadn't been able to find anything. They'd abandoned that three days ago to help clear the dungeon. It had been nice to be around other, generally cooperative players for a change.

"You guys should get going," Agil was concluding a conversation with Kirito, while Sinon was quietly observing the crowd. "You finished off this one too, you should be the first ones on floor three."

Kirito gave a small chuckle. "We'll let someone else go first. We just about froze last time. I think it's someone else's turn."

Agil gave a bemused smile in response. "Alright. Suit yourselves. I'll see you guys next time we do this, alright?"

Kirito nodded in response. "Alright. Sounds good." Kirito was glad for the friend. They may not run into each other very often, but Klein and Agil had been some of the friendliest people he'd met. Klein had treated him like an good friend after he'd known him for less than a day. Kirito felt a pang of guilt at abandoning the man. He wasn't sure how he'd face him if the two ever ran into each other. Agil had been one of the few people who he'd seen defending beta testers. Kirito respected him greatly for that.

The crowd was starting to filter out. Heathcliff had gone on ahead. Agil and his party were moving towards the exit. Asuna, Sinon, and Kirito, were standing in the darkened boss chamber. "One floor in two weeks, not too bad," Sinon commented. At this rate, they'd still be stuck in this game for four years. No one could bring themselves to say that out loud. Most people never bothered doing the math.

"We're getting faster. We'll get out of here soon enough," Asuna responded. Kirito nodded, and produced a teleport crystal. The others did the same, and the two returned to town. Tomorrow, they'd be back in the mountains.

December 19, 2022

2nd Floor

Survivors: 7,762

"So, Asuna, what'd you get?" Sinon asked from her position behind the others. The journey had become easier. Their conditioning, their characters' coniditioning, however one thought of it, must have improved. Of course, they had leveled up a time or two, so maybe that had done it. Still, ritual was nice. They didn't always talk during these trips, but it was the same people in the same order.

"What do you mean?" Asuna responded. She hadn't really given much thought to the boss battle since they'd returned. She'd been more surprised by what they'd seen when they'd teleported back to the inn. They'd heard noises outside, celebration. They'd missed it last time, having moved on to the next floor, but it seemed that there was a public announcement when Baran fell. People were out in the streets, cheering and dancing. It was good to see people happy again. It reminded her of what Kirito had told her before. These were people living their new lives, celebrating being alive. It was more than celebrating finishing a level.

"The boss fight, of course. What'd you get? You never told us." Sinon responded, curious. Kirito was keeping quiet, letting the girls talk. Sinon got the distinct feeling that she wasn't the only one who was curious. Kirito had been showing off his Coat of Midnight for some time now. It was mostly the crescent moon that gave it away, though it mostly looked normal.

"Oh, that," Asuna responded, "It was something called the Raiment of Dawn. It's supposed to illuminate dark areas, as well as having armor stats that are a few levels above where we are now." She was planning to equip it when they got to the cave Troust had inhabited before they'd shown up. She wanted to see how exactly it illuminated the dark. Asuna wondered if it was just coincidence that the first couple items seemed to serve as themed contrasts to each other.

"That sounds pretty useful," Kirito intoned, joining the conversation. They'd discussed uses for his Coat of Midnight and come up mostly short. Hiding just wasn't something that they'd found much need for yet. Still, the coat's stats were nice, especially this early on. Then again, Kirito was a little more keen to fight than was probably healthy sometimes, but with everything that this game had caused, he needed an outlet for stress. He enjoyed it. It had originally been a game, after all. "I guess it'll be your turn to finish the boss next floor, Sinon."

Sinon just laughed. "Just burn through all our col throwing knives at him? Or do you expect me to get close enough to cut it without getting smashed?"

"Blinding it first would help," Asuna replied. Even she had been impressed by Sinon's throw against Baran. She'd seen her fight goblins, beasts, bulls, and the like, for some time now, so she knew how good her aim was, but that had been something else.

"That. . . That attack should never have worked," Sinon admitted. "Yes, I'd had time to observe him, figure out his patterns and such, while everyone fought him. But I should have taken some sort of skill based penalty to two handed throws. I'm not even sure my knife skill is supposed to cover throwing them or not. I got really lucky on that one." She wasn't complaining, but she knew her limits. This time next year, that kind of shot would probably more plausible, but right now, it had been luck, and she knew it.

"We're here," Kirito announced stopping that line of conversation. They'd returned to the mouth of the cave, which seemed a little better hidden than it used to be. It didn't stick out as much, the mouth staggered in such a way that coming from either direction it just seemed to be another protrusion of the mountain, and the path had plenty of twists and turns already. The snow didn't help.

Asuna paused, opening her menu once they entered the cave's mouth. She switched her equipped armor, donning the Raiment of Dawn. She let her cloak hang from her shoulders, the cave notably warmer than the outside. The raiment was white, a red line circling her waist. A red semi-circle stretched across her stomach, radiating red lines out at regular intervals, emulating the dawn. The garment seemed to glow faintly, but it didn't add much visibility. The room was already too well lit, she supposed.

"Looks good on you," Kirito commented, before turning and leading them deeper into the cave, down to where they'd fought Troust's army. He barely heard Asuna's expression of appreciation and definitely missed the knowing smile on Sinon's face. The place didn't quite feel the same as it did last time they were here. He couldn't put his finger on it, something was just off.

When they entered the next room, he could figure out what that was. There were two armored goblins, faces concealed. They looked for a moment as though they were going to turn hostile, until they noticed the bands around the players' wrists. They stood at attention, stepping aside, letting the players through.

The room they found on the other side appeared to be a hub of some sort, with several entrances and exits lining the walls. Most of the tunnels seemed to be empty, and there were few goblins milling about, but the presence of what they were conditioned to think of as enemies had the three on edge. One of the goblins strode up to them, gesturing for them to follow him. They noticed that his face was more humanoid, less animalistic than the ones they'd fought. His face was more like Kurat's.

They did as they assumed he wanted, the goblin having never said anything, and crossed the room to the tunnel that was directly across from the one they'd come through. The goblin gestured that they continue, and as they did so, they could see the creature scampering off the perform other duties.

They found themselves in a room covered in books and texts, with what seemed to be random objects made of gold or silver strewn about the place. There was a taller goblin, about two-thirds the height of Kirito, reading over a manuscript. None of them had any idea what he was looking at, who he was, or what was really going on. The goblin looked up at them as they entered.

Kirito was the first to speak. "We'd like to speak to your king," he said, attempting to be more polite than he had managed during their first encounter. That said, he really had no idea how to phrase the question.

The goblin shook his head. "King not here. On higher mountain."

For some reason, Kirito was surprised for a second time that goblins could speak. Eight floors of beta testing had told him that wasn't possible.

Sinon recovered more quickly. "He's in the highest mountain?" She asked, trying to clarify the question. She had her own suspicions about where he might be.

The goblin shook his head again, and repeated, "On higher mountain." This time, he pointed up, towards and likely through the ceiling. For Sinon, this just made her more certain of what she already suspected. The goblin king was supposed to be on one of the final floors

"He gave us these," Kirito held up his wrist. "Do you know what he wants us to do?"

The goblin shrugged. "I serve here. When he wants you, you know." He started to turn back to his books.

"Who are you, then?" Sinon asked, trying to get some scrap of useful information out of this trip. Just having Kurat's blessing didn't seem to mean they were guaranteed much cooperation.

The goblin looked back up at them. "Troust," he responded, matter of factly.

"I thought the traitor was named Troust. So you're also Troust?" Kirito questioned.

The goblin sighed, then gestured around. "Mountain Troust. I charged with mountain. I Troust."

Kirito and Sinon couldn't think of much else to say. They weren't sure what they were expecting. The wristbands had seemed like some sort of quest hook. Now here they were and it seemed like they were just wasting their time.

"You speak japanese better than you're letting on, don't you?" Asuna stated as much as asked. She'd been watching the conversation, examining the room, trying to figure out where all this was going. The goblin just tilted his head at her, as if confused. "Your books. You're well-read, and I can see kanji in some of the text."

Sinon glanced down, surprised that she'd let herself miss that detail. Sure enough there was kanji in some of the books. Other appeared to be in english, while others had a completely foreign text, likely goblin.

Troust gave them a fanged smile. "Clever. Yes, I can speak proper japanese. What would you three like?" He sat up in his chair, giving them his full attention.

"Wait, why did you act like you couldn't speak japanese?" Kirito asked, not willing to just let it go.

"His majesty may have given you his favor, but that doesn't mean you're not racist. My people have a history of being treated as mere animals by yours. The girl in the back gave me the benefit of the doubt of being able to actually read the books in this room. You two gave me some benefit of the doubt, but I wanted to see what kind of people you were. Now I know. What can I do for you? Weapons? I can't take you to his majesty." Troust's patience seemed to have returned.

The goblin was right. The party knew they'd been lucky that the goblins they'd found had been rebels, though, given the knowledge of Kurat's strength, it seemed unlikely that Kayaba would have considered having them fight him this early in the game. Still, that didn't change the fact that they had slaughtered a lot of goblins their first time here.

"Is there anything you need from us? Any other traitors to fight?" Kirito asked.

"No. The Guard was thorough. These mountains are clear," he responded.

"Can goblins make ranged weapons? Bows or anything like that?" Sinon asked. She figured that if bows did turn out to exist, this would be the best place to find them. She didn't get her hopes up, but there was at least a chance.

"No. No bows. But we will build something for you. It will be ready for you in two weeks. Anything else?" He asked, giving the appearance of having work to get back to.

"Wait, why can't you make bows?" Sinon asked. If they knew what they were, they should have been able to at least come up with something rudimentary.

"His majesty has decreed against it. I've never questioned it," the goblin said, returning to his work. "There are merchants in the room behind you. Anything else you may need you can get from them. I'm sorry, but I must return to my work." He looked at Asuna, "Thank you, for giving me some benefit of the doubt."

The three players made their exit, still not sure what to make of all this. They'd definitely be checking the mountain ranges they found on just about every floor. Sinon in particular wondered what they had in store for her.

December 25, 2022

3rd Floor

Survivors: 7,753

The trio had been late getting to floor three. When they finally went up to floor three, they found the mountains they'd become used to for the past two weeks replaced with massive forests. Maybe Kayaba had a better gauge of how long it would take them to get through each level than the beta would have suggested, or maybe it was just coincidence, but the snow covered conifers made it a fitting level for the players to spend Christmas in. The three were in Kirito's room, this time. Some players were starting to find their own places to live, even this early, but the three preferred to use inns. It was too big an investment for them to be able to really contemplate it anyway. Not that they were poor, they were very successful clearers, but there had been no floor they'd just fallen in love with.

"We're starting to get nicknames," Sinon said from her position by the window. She was curled up, legs in her chair, reading the announcements in their flier form. "Asuna, apparently you're 'the Flash' now. I guess that speed of yours is getting noticed," she told the girl, looking over in her direction. Asuna just shrugged. The girl was sitting by the fireplace with her back to it, looking through her menu at something. Sinon continued, "Kirito, you're apparently 'the Black Swordsman'. Yuck. That's such a mouthful. You really need to get known for something other than your coat."

"You're just jealous I get the cool stuff," Kirito responded. He was laying on her bed, staring at the ceiling. They were all in their full gear, having expected to go clearing today. The announcement went out this morning that the Aincrad Liberation Front had requested a hiatus of clearing efforts for the day, in an effort for the players to have a truly festive holiday, without anyone having to worry about losses. It was a request not an order, but the three didn't mind the excuse to take it easy for once.

"Eh," she dismissed the response, not taking the bait. "Apparently I'm 'Bullseye'. Eh, I've been called worse." She kept reading through the news, the article she'd been reading was a general list of the top level clearers. Heathcliff was the only other name that stood out to her. The others were people she knew she'd met at the last boss raid. Whoever was putting out the announcements were still trying to find a name for the three of them, she noticed. A lot of guilds were already starting to crop up.

Kirito stood up, stretching, growing restless. It was night time. They'd done relatively little that day. Asuna and Kirito had gotten their swords repaired. Sinon had restocked her knives and their other necessities. "Let's do something, guys," he started towards the door, not waiting for a response. There were festivities going on by the fires' light. The ALF had succeeded, it really did feel like a holiday.

Sinon looked up at him, sighed, and folded up the announcements, tossing them on the bed. Asuna closed her menu and followed, the three of them walking out of the building and out into the snow. They avoided most of the crowds, not feeling particularly at home there. The trees were heavy with snow, and they felt yet more of it crunching under their feet as they walked.

"Where are we going?" Asuna asked Kirito after a few minutes had passed. They were nearing the outskirts of town. Asuna hoped he wasn't planning to leave town for this.

Kirito looked around, then smiled, bending down and scooping up a handful of snow. "Right here should be fine," he said, as he packed it into a ball and slung it at Asuna.

Asuna yelped in surprise as it hit her, eliciting a laugh from Sinon. She glared at the girl and reached down to pack her down snowball as Sinon did the same. But Sinon didn't throw hers at Asuna, rather she slung it at Kirito, catching him square in the chest despite his attempts to move out of the way. Asuna took advantage of her speed, slinging hers at Kirito and dodging one from Sinon. The three devolved into flinging snow at each other, snowballs at first, then just clumps and handfuls.

"Is that the best you can do?" Kirito asked after a particularly small snowball sailed past his head, thrown by Asuna, near as he could tell. She responded with two more, even smaller sized, to show she could in fact go smaller.

Kirito tried to dodge, but slipped, Sinon having hit him in the leg as he tried to move. "Not fair," he managed as he hit the ground. The two girls turned on each other, briefly, from what he could hear. More giggling, the happy laughter the three of them didn't have enough chances to enjoy. Then, before he could stand back up, he saw the two girls standing in front of him, evil grins on their faces, and they proceeded to bury him in snow.

When he dug himself back out, the two girls were laying next to him, Asuna dusting off snow from where he'd thrown some on her accidentally as he dug his way out. "You started it," she reminded him, smiling.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Kirito responded, glancing the other way at Sinon. "Would it hurt you to miss once in a while?" He'd been able to avoid a few of Asuna's shots, but Sinon, as expected, hadn't missed.

"I nearly blind hit bosses in the eye. You think that coat's going to save you?" She returned. She didn't bother looking at him. She was looking at an angle into the sky, watching the stars that formed along the walls. She had to admit, when the world didn't hate them, wasn't trying to kill them, it could be beautiful. "It was a good idea though. Being stuck here. . . it's not so bad with friends like you guys."

"I feel the same about you guys," Asuna said. She'd been alone for a while. She knew how tough it could be alone in this world. She'd had school friends back home. No one she was particularly close to, but friends. This was better, in some ways, apart from the fact that the world seemed to be trying to kill them. Or was it? The goblin quests had her rethinking that, too.

"Merry Christmas, guys," Kirito said, echoing their sentiment but choosing not to parrot the words. They understood his meaning. He laid down between the two, the three of them oblivious to the cold, enjoying the stars, the lights, the snow. For a little while, they were almost able to forget the nature of the game.

December 26, 2022

3rd Floor

Survivors: 7,753

Kirito was out in the woods, helping to clear the area on his own. Sinon and Asuna had decided that, since they'd neglected to have any sort of celebratory meal the day before, they wanted to do something the day after. Kirito knew himself to be dangerous in the kitchen when he'd bothered to try, at least in SAO. The skill was just such a bore to grind. He'd found the woods to be filled with various types of canine enemies. It wasn't particularly difficult. He brought his sword through one more of the creatures. He was on his way to the dungeon. He knew that several players had already started scouting it. That meant they'd likely be going after the boss within the week. The pace had accelerated, and Kirito knew that guilds would only make that faster as they were able to rotate players in and out of the dungeon, ensuring that the quests could still be done.

He heard a rustling around him. He stopped still, glancing around, trying to place the creatures he assumed were around him. He didn't see any beasts. Instead he saw a number of the members of the Aincrad Liberation Front. They moved to surround him. He heard a familiar voice behind him. "There, he's one of the confirmed beta testers." Kibaou. Kirito wheeled on him, sword still in his hand. "You can walk away from here if you give us all the equipment you stole from the new players," Kibaou continued.

"That I stole?" Kirito asked, incredulous. "I've never touched another player."

"You abandoned us on the first floor. You gathered all that equipment and left the new players to fend for themselves! You let Diabel die! Now you can either give us your inventory, or we'll have to deal with you." Kibaou had a sadistic grin on his face. Kirito couldn't figure out how this guy had been close to Diabel.

"I'm not going to waste my breath," Kirito stated. "You're not going to kill me. You can't go back to your guild orange and you can't vanish for long enough to revert to green. I'm not going to give you anything. You're just a bully. You let me walk away, and I won't tell Thinker that you're turning the ALF into a bunch of extortionists." Kirito was surprised by the venom in his words. Kibaou had forced Kirito and his friends to avoid people, for the most part. Looking around, it hadn't been purely paranoia after all.

Kibaou just laughed. "You think I'm going to let a beater like you walk away? You really are an idiot. Everyone in that raiding party knows you killed Diabel. We're not going to kill you. We're taking you to the Black Iron Palace. Now you can do the right thing and drop your stuff and then go, or we'll just take you, and you can show just how greedy you are."

Kirito doubted these players could keep up with him if they wanted to. He, Sinon, and Asuna, were all level five or six by now, with most players floating around level two or three. The three of them just did very little in town, and the incremental experience had add up. He could fight them off, easily, if he wanted to. But he knew that would cause him all sorts of problems. If he even hit them, his cursor would change. He didn't need to be labeled as orange. That mark was just too dangerous. "Alright. Go ahead. Warp me. I look forward to hearing you explain why a green player is in prison."

Kibaou produced a corridor crystal, a fairly rare item, especially this early in the game. He gave a wicked grin. "Don't get your hopes up. No one has to know you're there." With that, Kirito heard Kibaou speak the instructions, and he found himself in a cold, dark cell.

Sinon and Asuna had finished the meal about an hour ago. Kirito should have been here by now, even if he'd had to finish combat before he teleported back to the city. It was only a short walk from the teleport gate. He was beyond late.

Sinon saw a notification in the corner of her view. Someone had messaged her. The message system was rarely used nowadays, since everyone was always logged in, and people generally knew where their friends were. She opened her menu, and found a message from Kirito.

Ambushed by Kibaou. Trapped in the Black Iron Prison. Bring Agil. Thinker may not know. Prepare for resistance.

Sinon just about threw something across the room. Asuna could tell something was wrong. "What happened?" the girl in white asked.

"Kibaou grabbed Kirito. He's trying to hold him in the Black Iron Palace. Do you have Agil's information? I want to bring him with us." Neither girl questioned the last part of the statement. They both knew Kirito didn't deserve imprisonment. They were going to go get him. Kirito had known that. Asuna knew it. Sinon knew it.

Asuna nodded and opened her menu, scrolling through her short friends list. She had, in fact, added Agil at the beginning of the last boss raid. She sent him a brief message asking if he could go with them, explaining what little she knew. "Do you know of anyone else who might help us?"

"I doubt it. We beta testers aren't really popular right now," she paused for a moment, thinking. "Yeah, maybe one. I'll see if I can get them to come along." Asuna nodded her approval, and Sinon opened her own friend list. She pulled up Klein, one of the only people on there. She remembered distinctly how friendly the man had been on day one. He'd even acted understanding when she and Kirito left. She still didn't regret it. She had to get stronger. She still did, and here, with her friends, was where she could be strongest.

Not sure if you remember me. I'm the girl who hung out with you and Kirito on day one. I hate to ask, after what we did. Kirito's in trouble. Can you help?

She brought up one other player. She'd meant to contact her back on floor one, but she'd hoped that maybe the problem would go away. As she was starting her new message when she saw the reply from Klein. She was surprised by the speed. He must not have been out clearing at the moment.

I'm there.

She smiled. Good. Now it was time to stop being nice. She was going to find out exactly what Diabel had been up to with Kibaou. What exactly made Kibaou tick, and how to hurt him. Now it was time to call on Argo.

A/N: I see that there are a lot of Argo fans out there. I'd been planning to bring her in for some time now. That said, my only knowledge of her comes from her brief scene in the SAO anime. Does anyone have any recommendations for good fic to help get a grasp of how she behaves? Thanks in advance.