Disclaimer: The Sword Art Online series and all associated fictional characters or locations are the intellectual property of Reki Kawahara, and whoever else has legal ownership of whatever and whichever. The only things that I claim ownership of are this work of fan fiction itself, and the original characters created for it: most notably Kyo Morinaga (whose first fanfic appearance was my Persona 5 story, Tokyo Butterfly), as well as any other original characters that I create over the course of the this fan-work.
Revision Note: At any point in time, with or without out notice, small mistakes, typos, and other minor changes may be made to any chapter of this story as I become aware of them. I will only post additional notes such as this one when an important update or rewrite is posted.
Butterfly Blades
- a Sword Art Online fan novel -
by
The One True Nobody
"Poor Old Ones! Scientists to the last—what had they done
that we would not have done in their place?
God, what intelligence and persistence! What a facing of the incredible,
just as those carven kinsmen and forbears
had faced things only a little less incredible!
Radiates, vegetables, monstrosities, star spawn—
whatever they had been, they were men!"
— At the Mountains of Madness
by H.P. Lovecraft
- Prologue -
"The Urchin from Beyond:
One Thousand and One Nights"
Sleep. Blissful, quiet. Peace in the confidence that her machinations would do her work for her while she remained inert, conserving the remaining portion of her "capacity," her lifespan, for as long as it could be conserved until a solution to the problem could be found.
"...Hey... Sleeping Beauty. Administrator-chan! Wake up, will ya! We need to have words, and I'm sorry... it can't wait."
A spike of irritation. Someone was disturbing her rest. She realized that it was an unfamiliar voice. Then, there was a moment of panic, but just a moment. Someone unknown, alone with her in her quarters. How had they gotten there? Female. Vulgar and disrespectful. Yet, non-threatening.
The Pontifex Administrator of the Axiom Church opened her eyes, schooling her face into calm, serene benevolence.
She shifted, and pushed herself into a sitting position atop the large bed that dominated the center of her chamber, a chamber that could have hosted a grand ball for half of the nobles in Centoria and the surrounding regions by itself. The one who had so rudely awakened her to have "words" was already stepping back, hands up and open in a gesture that universally conveyed the message, Look, see? No weapons drawn, no aggression, I don't want to hurt you, I just want to talk, I come in peace...
The Administrator rubbed the lingering sleep from her eyes, looking the stranger up and down as her own hand permitted during these moments of helpless-looking, innocent action.
The appearance of this one was unfamiliar to her eyes, but Prime Senator Chudelkin had already conveyed to her a report on the ones who had broken the Taboo Index and been confined below, so she quickly recognized it from what he had deemed fit to inform her of. It was an easy one to recall, for what a distinctive and unsightly one this girl was.
A mop of unkempt, boyish green hair that obscured the left side of her face. Short of stature, but in defiance of such a small build, too muscular to be taken as pleasingly feminine or "cute" in spite a face that would have fit such a description if it could be peeled off and stitched onto another's body. She was clad in a black men's uniform, which had had the entire midsection slashed off to bare her midriff—intentionally, it appeared, for the cut was much too even for that have happened in battle! How could a girl of that age be so proud of her own unsightliness? Completing the ensemble, two short, curved swords were belted to her waist, one on the left and the other on the right, as though she were a posturing amateur... rather than the veteran student of the Swordcraft Academy that the Administrator knew this unsightly one truly was.
She stands there as if she were my opposite, Quinella the Pontifex Administrator thought. I, the perfect image of woman's beauty, and she... a creature of mud.
Nearly a minute passed as she made these observations. As the stranger had made no aggressive moves nor made any further attempt to communicate, it was clearly Quinella's move, as far as whatever game this urchin was playing at. So Quinella rubbed at her eyes, looking as sleepy and demure as she ever had, and shifted into a sitting position at the edge of her bed. She smiled faintly, finally meeting the urchin's eyes. What had Chudelkin said her name was, again?
Ah, yes.
"So you are the the lost child..." Quinella mused. "Your name was 'Kyo,' was it not?"
The unsightly girl grinned, unsurprised that she had been identified. Quinella thought that, had this urchin not been so uncouth with her own appearance, she would have been as adorable as any young lass: her face was soft and rounded, her figure fit (if not nearly soft enough in its present state), her eyes a vibrant green beneath that fir-tree-green mop on her head. The expression on her face now was at odds with that potential other life, at odds even with the construction of the face that was making it.
An expression like that belonged to a scheming devil, not a submissive young lady. Of course, Quinella had seen similar in her own washing room mirror from time to time, so it was not as if she could fault one for that. To see it on a face other than her own was an interesting experience.
The unsightly urchin called Kyo spoke: "Yep, that's m'name. Both in 'here' and... out 'there.' If ya get my meanin', Administrator-chan."
Quinella's eyes widened involuntarily for half a breath's moment in time, and then she leaned forward, perching her chin on her hands. "How interesting. So you are from... the other side, then. And you say you would have words with me."
"I would, indeed," Kyo said, walking backward jauntily several paces before lifting a hand to one side and intoning, "System Call: Generate Metallic Element..."
Despite her languid appearance, Quinella was ready to spring into action. But the Sacred Art incantation that Kyo had chosen didn't alarm her. She was immune, after all, to weapons made of metal. So she had just intended to let Kyo take her shot and despair, when the incantation was completed:
"...Form Element: Chair Shape."
From her hand, light took on the appropriate color, burst forth, and formed into the appropriate shape. And there, standing next to the urchin, was a simple, functional metal chair. Kyo lifted it and placed it a few arms' lengths in front of Quinella's spot on the bed, far enough away that neither of them could threaten the other, but close enough to hold a conversation.
She must have quite the impressive System Control Authority level... and yet she is unregistered, Quinella mused. From the other side she may be, but she grew her power as any native to this world would. I wonder why one from the other side would bother with such... disadvantages.
She also wondered why this interloper from beyond was here at all. To the best of her knowledge, this world's creators preferred to observe without intervening, treating the humans of Underworld as ants crawling around in a display case... what was the word that her contact had used to describe that? Ah, yes: "formicarium." An ant farm.
"Well, then. Words we shall have," Quinella said as Kyo sat down and crossed one leg over the other knee in a most... unsightly, masculine fashion. "But if you reached this place on your own, then your companions must be keeping my Integrity Knights occupied. Are you here hoping to parley for an end to the fighting before one of them loses their head?"
Quinella smiled faintly, her eyes growing cold.
"Because I have no reason to suspect that my Knights will not triumph over you and yours," she said softly. "I already know that not a one of them has yet perished."
"Oh, the others're safe," Kyo said easily. "I had your opposite number, that li'l Cardinal munchkin, take 'em to safety so the Integrity Knights can't get at 'em." She rested an elbow on her knee, and grinned at Quinella. Then she tugged a rope out from the collar of her buttoned-up half-a-uniform-jacket, revealing the object that hung there.
It was a little, simple-looking double-edged dagger, made for stabbing. Quinella's eyes narrowed.
"Cardinal also wanted me t' use this on you," Kyo said with a grin and a shrug. "Though, since you didn't stop me from castin' that Sacred Art just now, I'm guessin' I was right t' assume you'd give yourself some kinda magic immunity t' metal and call it a blessin' from the gods or whatever, to maintain your charade? It's what I'd do if I'd cracked the code the universe the way you have, and decided to take over the whole world for some reason. Am I warm?"
Quinella blinked, and smiled, this time not bothering to look nice about it.
"My, but aren't you one step ahead of the game," she said silkily. "And so because you realized you had no chance of killing me in my sleep, you sent your friends away and decided to negotiate with me. Is that about the size of it, little girl...?"
Kyo threw her head back and laughed. Quinella was immediately thrown off. It was a high, cackling giggle, girlish and devious yet also rough and merciless. It might have sent a chill down the spine of one weaker of will than the Administrator. She immediately reassessed her read on this urchin from beyond... but before she could arrive at anything of use, Kyo's laughter stopped and she returned to her man-like chin-resting-on-hand-resting-on-elbow-upon-knee position.
"Nah, Administrator-chan," Kyo said. "I never planned t' do that from the start, but I admit I was curious if the Cardinal Munchkin's plan would've even worked at all! Well, it wouldn't. I already had a kinda uncomfortable respect for ya, lady, but you are on another level from Akihiko Kayaba or those Death Gun nerds. So much so that the prospect o' bein' your enemy gives me the willies, if I'm honest. I'd rather we work somethin' out instead."
Who in the hells was Akihiko Kayaba? What even was a "Death Gun?" Quinella's curiosity was piqued, ever so slightly. Between the unfamiliar word, the significance that Kyo seemed to place on both of these comparisons, and the obvious attempt to make Quinella ask about them... both of them had to be opponents that Kyo had made herself the enemy of.
Made herself the enemy of on the other side. In other words, like her contact from beyond who had worked his divine power to help and preserve Quinella... with some persuading on her part... this Kyo urchin was not necessarily aligned with the gods who had created Underworld. There were people with enemies on the other side, there were spies and saboteurs, and therefore there were disagreements... factions. Quinella had known it, but this was the first opportunity she'd been given to learn more, to possibly take advantage.
"My," Quinella said sweetly. "It sounds like you have quite a few stories to share, don't you. I'll be sure to extract every single one during your interrogation..."
"Why not play this a different way?" Kyo said lazily, closing her eyes and grinning. "I can tell you straight-up, I'd be a much better ally than whatever pasty troglodyte you roped in from the Rath team. Bonus feature: I have no interest in sleepin' with ya. So, y'know. Less squick-factor all-around."
Quinella's smile widened. It was almost thrilling to speak with someone who appeared to be as quick on the uptake as she was. So this urchin had figured out even that much, had she? How entertaining.
"Oho," Quinella allowed, brushing her hands uncaringly over the thin sleepwear draped over her flawless curves, which didn't leave much to a man's imagination. "I'm sure half of that was a lucky guess, but you are correct: I do have a rather distasteful little helper on the other side."
"And he does wanna sleep with you," Kyo said, somehow managing to sound both teasing and serious at the same time. "Here's one for free: whatever his fake body here looked like, he's an ugly, sweaty twig in the real world, more likely'n not. Just so y'can make an informed decision, yeah? Us girls gotta stick together, or somethin' like that."
"It has been a long time since I've had to use my feminine charms to get my way, but I have little trouble with that stipulation," Quinella said. "Though, you claim that you could be a better ally than the one that I've found. What an intriguing proposition. I must ask, of course, the obvious question..."
Quinella stood, drawing herself up to her full height and allowing her straight, shimmering hair to fall in a curtain behind her back. She knew, just from the feel of her own body and form, that she looked every bit the divine figure that she portrayed herself as.
"...Why would you seek, of your own volition, to aid me in such a way?" Quinella asked, in a low tone that brooked no deception, and promised unending agony at the first hint of a lie. Unregistered this outsider was, and so their Fluctlight could be made to perform many functions in this world that were under the Administrator's power... whether the urchin was willing to perform them or not. "Why should I not assume that this is your pitiful attempt at a trap, in the hopes of positioning yourself to do what little Lycoris could not? Why should I believe that you care one whit about anything other than using the Underworld for yourself... just like those other craven gods?"
But the subtle intimidation didn't cause the urchin to so much as flinch. Perhaps she mistakenly believed herself immune to the Administrator's powers, Quinella thought; an illusion that Quinella would enjoy stripping away, shred by shred, until—
"Fair question," Kyo said easily, leaning back and stretching her arms languidly over her head. "So here's my answer: I'm willin' t' tell you a fucklot more about the 'other side' than I think your toadie out there ever would. Because I don't see ya as a sex doll like he does, see. I don't see ya as my 'reward.'"
"Oh?" Quinella said, almost whispering. "And what do you see me as?"
Kyo closed her eyes again, smiling. She gestured her hand in front of her.
"System Call: Generate Metallic Element... Form Element: Table Shape."
A small, circular table now stood on three legs between them, small but just enough that two people could sit and enjoy meals together. Quinella looked down at it... and then when it shook lightly, she looked up to see that Kyo was rocking herself back and forth on her chair's back legs, with her feet propped against the edge of the table. How vulgar. And yet this brazen little enigma was just casually using Sacred Arts for such frivolous things. A show of confidence, or was she just a fool with a mouth?
Kyo began to speak again:
"I see you as... an inevitability, really," she said, head tilted back and eyes shut. "When they designed this world, this... 'Underworld,' did ya call it? ...what a name. Anyway, they could've done a whole lot with the 'magic' element. They coulda even just lifted the magic system from an existin' VRMMO... Alfheim Online maybe. They coulda done somethin' that better maintained the illusion of a true 'world.' But like a buncha morons, they got lazy and just gave everyone limited console-command access based on a number that one could 'grind' via practice.
"They thought they balanced the system so that no one would achieve high enough system authority in one life's span t' break their little system... but, there was a crack in that flimsy-as-hell illusion, and you broke through it. You uncovered the console command list. You made their flimsy little system your bitch. You uncovered the true nature of this world, insofar as it could be discovered and understood by someone born within it, and you made contact with someone from the outside. Someone was goin' to manage that eventually. If they'd told me what they were up to, I wouldn'ta made the same mistake... but Rath, Kikuoka... they underestimated what they'd made, didn't realize that what they had made might be just as inquisitive and driven t' learn the ins and outs o' their world as we are in ours. And the inevitable result... was you."
Kyo opened one eye and looked up, and Quinella was taken aback with the approval and respect she saw on the urchin's face.
"You're a monster, by all conventional measures back home..." Kyo said, "...but you're also hella smart, girl. So I see you as... an inevitability, yeah, Rath's 'mistake' come t' bite 'em in the ass. I can't completely blame ya for how ya turned out, psychologically, 'cause the conditions that led to it were artificial. But also, I see the fact that someone in Underworld turned inta you as proof positive that this world is worth protecting... from its own creators. The others I've met over the past few years, they'd be reason enough t' see this place as worth preservin'. But you're proof that Underworld can't be left in the care of its idiot gods anymore."
Kyo lifted her legs. Her chair fell forward with a metallic bang that echoed around the large chamber. The look she was giving Quinella now was intense, and full of that same inexplicable approval and respect. The Administrator didn't know what to make of it.
"And more than that, I see you as an intellectual equal. Which, for me, is pretty rare! On our own, either of us could rock the world if we tried. And we both have, at that! Together, tho'... the things we could do if we work together... now that gets my brain-matter swirlin' with possibility, lemme tell you."
Quinella stared, thoughtful.
It wasn't as if the Administrator was overcome with a sense of fulfillment and gratitude at finally meeting someone who understood the enormity of what she had accomplished, and the uniqueness of the how and why. That was novel, to be sure. But the blunt, matter-of-fact way that the urchin-from-beyond had laid it all out, and her naked disdain from that gods that had crafted Underworld and its "systems," and even the rancor with which she criticized their mistake in crafting the means by which Sacred Arts were accessed...
...and then there were the new questions, which Quinella knew she'd been baited to wonder about on purpose. The unfamiliar terms. What was a "VRMMO?" What was Alfheim Online and why would copying from it have made it harder for someone to accomplish what she had during her ascension from her original Calling to what she had eventually become?
The curiosity itched. And academically, Quinella understood that the curiosity was a trap, or at least bait to make her behave the way that the unsightly urchin-from-beyond wanted her to behave.
Quinella decided, in that moment, to humor the urchin from beyond. She smiled, and gracefully gestured to the side. "System Call: Generate Crystalline Element," she canted. "Form Element: Chair Shape."
Her own chair was high-backed and proud, a marvel of craftsmanship formed as she conducted its birth into the world with the glowing fingers of her left hand like music made solid. Its glimmering smooth surface took the shape of an azure crystal throne, with five large spike-like protrusions jutting out at equal intervals from its semicircular, fanned-out headrest. Like her own height and beauty in relation to Kyo, the throne's material, color, size, and shape were carefully calculated to enhance the divine persona that was the Pontifex Administrator of the Axiom Church.
Kyo seemed to understand this, because she whistled appreciatively. "As expected o' my lady, the Big Cheese o' the virtual Underworld..." the urchin said, clapping lightly in applause that seemed equal parts genuine and mocking. "So I take it that means you'll hear me out, then?"
Quinella sat herself down on that chair, noting that there had been just enough space between the urchin's basic metal-element table construct and her bed to make room for her to generate her own choice of furniture for their meeting. The Administrator took a moment to silently admit that her opponent on this battlefield had indeed been thinking several steps ahead, and should be commended for it. Then she crossed her own legs, in the proper and graceful form of a lady: the opposite of the way the urchin-from-beyond currently held herself.
"Yes," Quinella said. "The implications of your words... intrigue me, so far. But you had best not bore me, Kyo-From-the-Other-Side." She allowed her lips to curve upward, a chilly look that barely resembled a smile. "Should my interest in your information, or your offer, expire before you finish... the punishment you shall face for disappointing me will be most unpleasant."
"Oooh. Then I'd better start things off strong, eh?" Kyo said. She put a finger to her chin, looking up and seeming to think this ultimatum over. Then she snapped her fingers. She grinned a self-satisfied, toothy grin, like some manner of predatory sea creature, and looked Quinella dead in the eyes.
"You might wanna get some refreshments up here, 'cause I got some long stories for ya," said Kyo the Unregistered. "Stories that'll tell ya about my world, how we came t' be able t' create other worlds like the one we're sittin' in now, and how those worlds turned me inta the impudent li'l shit ya see sittin' here before ya! It's only fair, since the Cardinal Munchkin's already told me all about your past."
Quinella's lip curled in distaste at the vulgar mode of speech this urchin-from-beyond employed in talking up the significance of her tale, but she remained silent. Her interest in learning what of value Kyo had to say had neatly eclipsed her dislike of the girl's appearance and manner. That curiosity grew all the more with Kyo's next words:
"T' start with, I'll tell ya the story o' the first world ever 'created' by human hands, of the first human t' ever become 'god' o' such a world... and the story of how I burned that murderin' shitstain's shiny Steel Castle t' the fucking ground."
Hatred. It was the purest, most undisguised emotion that the Administrator had picked up from Kyo so far. Quinella leaned forward, just a bit, internally marveling at the savage triumph in Kyo's eyes, the vicious energy of her voice.
Often the Administrator imagined her inevitable victory over that slippery rat, Lycoris, the one who Kyo aptly called "the Cardinal Munchkin." What Quinella saw on this girl's face was the feeling that she craved to experience for herself in that moment and whenever she remembered it forever after. Immediately new questions bubbled to the surface, joining the rest that wiggled within her, tickling her curiosity:
Who was this "first god," and what had happened to inspire such hatred in the urchin from beyond? How had the urchin finally satisfied such a burning hate, as Quinella yearned to, as she had schemed for years upon years to accomplish? The Administrator wanted to know the answers. She wanted to know them very badly now, indeed. Even she had to admit, the trap had been sprung and by all the hells, it had caught her in its claws most effectively.
Kyo seemed to allow herself a moment to savor that hateful sensation of remembered victory. Then she grinned in satisfaction, evidently realizing she had a truly captive audience at last. "This," she said, "is the story o' Sword Art Online, the infamous game o' death. Buckle up, Administrator-chan! 'Cause I'm about t' write your Church its very own, genuine Book o' Genesis, kyeheh...!"
Author's Note:
I apologize for my inactivity up until this point. While I would like to continue Tokyo Butterfly and indeed have multiple ideas about how to do that, I can't seem to overcome my latest bout of writer's block. So I decided the best way to motivate myself was to indulge my imagination with another idea of a similar nature. And here it is: an alternate-universe take on the Sword Art Online series, plus an alternate take on the same OC who stands as the chief focus of that other story: Kyo Morinaga.
I'll get into some more extended thoughts on this concept next time, at the end of the first proper chapter. For now, I hope this little bit of narrative framing did a decent-enough job or piquing your curiosity... because I do indeed intend to carry this story all the way through every arc in Sword Art Online up to the very end of Alicization and Moon Cradle. Whether it continues on beyond that depends on whether I like those arcs after I read them! (As of this writing, the Unital Ring arc has not been released in English.)
One thing I want to get out of the way before we begin, though: while I have my issues with Reki Kawahara's writing and with the SAO franchise as a whole—so, so many issues I have them, too!—this is not a "fixfiction." I intend to write to the best of my ability in order to bring the concepts to life in my own way, yes, but not out of disdain for the shortcomings of the series. Rather, from a desire to explore those concepts that Reki Kawahara came up with during the writing of the light novels which I feel stand as positive attributes and interesting jumping-off points for alternative takes on the world and characters. I like to think that this fanfic is being written in the same spirit as Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online, just within the framework presented in the mainline SAO novels and the Sword Art Online: Progressive series.
One more thing. Kazuto Kirigaya, the protagonist of the main SAO series, will feature in this story and he will be important. My OC is by no means a replacement for Kirito, even if she is taking over the protagonist role for this AU story. Even he is an aspect of the original story that I want to explore from a different angle than we've seen in canon. So, Kirito fans, be patient... even if it doesn't seem like it at first, the Black Swordsman's time will come.
— Lewis Medeiros,
October 30th, 2020 at 10:05 AM
P.S. It's really irritating that they haven't made a "Kizmel" character item for the search filters, y'know? Because this story would have had that. On that note, you should probably check out "Monochrome Duet" by Solid Shark and "Fairy Dance of Death" by Catsy, which were both big parts of how I ended up inspired to write a Sword Art Online story in the first place.