Chapter Two- The World of Fairies and Friendship

*Outside the Nicholls Household, 4:10pm*

We arrived at my house and Yuuki stood outside while I rested by sitting down on a small ledge which is where a water fountain is located outside my house surrounded by a small metal gate. I laid my back against the gate and breathed slower to regain my breathing and slowing down my heart rate and I rubbed and massaged my legs to relieve some of the pain.

Yuuki looked at me with a look of concern and worry, she stood by me and squeezed my shoulder firmly out of the stress of seeing me in pain "Are you okay babe? Is there anything I can do to help?" She asked with a face full of pain and tears forming in the corner of her eyes.

I chuckled weakly while I rubbed my leg gently "No its okay baby it's just my legs get sore and stiff after walking for long distances I guess rehab and being bed ridden and trapped inside Sword Art Online will do to you"

Yuuki looked at me with a look of sympathy on her face. Since I got discharged from the hospital 15 months ago I sometimes have problems where my legs seize up when I walk for a long amount of time, when it first happened my parents looked into me seeing a physiotherapist and they prescribed some exercises for me to do which are helping- according to the physiotherapist my legs should one hundred percent healed and back to normal in a few more months.

Yuuki hugged me tightly, after half a minute of embracing she pulled away and kissed me on the lips lovingly. We stayed that way for a few moments before she pulled away and winked playfully "Come on handsome we have to go say hello to your parents first before we get into anything" Yuuki giggled playfully with a wink before she ran up the stairs and stood waiting for me with a innocent look on her face.

I chuckled happily before I walked up the stairs to join Yuuki, I opened the door and we stepped inside my house. We walked through the hallway until we reached the bottom of the staircase leading up to my room and my parents room. I looked around for my parents or little sister, not seeing anyone around I grew curious- they didn't tell me they would be going out somewhere.

"Hey mum, dad, Ichikaku I'm home is anyone here?" I shouted loudly to try and reach anyone who might be in the house somewhere to let them know that Yuuki and I had returned.

A moment later I heard footsteps coming towards us from the kitchen, we waited in place, a few seconds later my mother called Gillian Nicholls appeared with a smile on her face alongside my father called Peter Nicholls. My mother was now 38 and my father was now 40.

"Hello, you two did you get here okay?" Mum asked with a happy and cheerful smile on her face.

I smiled back and nodded my head "Yeah mum we did, my legs seized up a little bit outside once we got here but they're okay now" I replied with a reassuring smile.

"Well that's good dear just make sure to keep doing your exercises like the man said and your legs should be back to normal and fully healthy soon" Mum responded with both a concerned and reassured look on her face.

"I will mum, Yuuki and I are gonna go upstairs and go online now if that's okay?" I questioned my mum.

Mum looked at me with a raised eyebrow signifying that she wasn't happy with that. However she sighed lightly and looked at dad who chuckled slightly and nodded his head, mum turned her head back towards me and smiled "Of course son but be down for tea at half six in two hours got it?" Mum replied with a slight raised voice showing that she wanted us to make sure we came down on time.

We giggled together before we ran upstairs towards my room. When we reached the top of the stairs I looked down on my mum and dad "We will mum don't worry" I called out before we walked towards my room, we were stopped by a familiar person someone who I loved and adored.

"Hey big brother and big sister Yuuki weren't you going to say hello to me either gosh your both so mean!" Exclaimed a little girl with long flowing brown hair- it was my little sister Ichikaku Nicholls who was now 13. She was stood outside her door on the other side of the house to mine. She looked at me with a fake hurt and upset expression, she stayed this way for a few seconds before she giggled and ran towards us and embraced us both firmly.

"I'm only joking big brother and sister, have a good time inside Alfheim Online- Alfheim Online or ALO as it's sometimes called is the most popular fantasy game after the Sword Art Online incident which is played on the successor to the Nerve Gear the AmuSphere which has none of the threats to the player that the Nerve Gear had. I first started playing Alfheim Online a week after Asuna woke up- after the beta testers, Luke, Kirito, Shannon, and I defeated Akihiko Kayaba inside Aincrad and all the players were logged out, there were 300 players who weren't logged out including Asuna. Those players were used as test subjects for a new project led by the Nobuyuki Sugou who was the chief of the research institute of RECT Progress which picked up the maintenance of the Sword Art Online servers after the company who developed it went bankrupt and had to be closed down. Kirito found out that Asuna was most likely inside Alfheim Online so he dived inside the game and just less than a week later Asuna woke up from the game and was finally back inside the real world. Yuuki and I along with a few of Kirito's other friends from inside Aincrad went to visit Asuna in the hospital often. Kirito explained the situation with Nobuyuki Sugou once we met up in the real world once Asuna had recovered a little bit of her strength and could walk around slightly. Since then Yuuki and I, along with my best friend Luke Lawton and another beta tester from Sword Art Online who all of us but Yuuki in particular had grown close too dived into Alfheim Online and once we got used to the game we dived in quite often. The game was similar to Sword Art Online but instead of being level based, this game was skill based which meant you had to use your skills multiple times to improve them, also combat depends on your real life physical abilities, plus there were no sword skills so it did take some getting used too but after a year of diving into the game we're almost as good at that game as we were at Sword Art Online.

I smiled sweetly at my little sister, I ended the embrace and patted her on the head which made her smile happily "Of course we will little sis and we'll see you downstairs for tea at half six we promise" I assured her with my signature smile.

Ichikaku's eyes lit up and she nodded her head "Right well have fun you two I'm gonna go read my new book" She replied before we skipped merrily into her room and closed the door.

We stood in place for a second smiling at how friendly my little sister was, when she first met Yuuki and her family five days after I became discharged from the hospital, I thought it would be a little awkward, however the exact opposite happened. They got along really well and insisted we stay at each other's houses all the time once our legs had gotten a little stronger and we could walk without help unless it was necessary. Ichikaku saw Yuuki as a big sister and she treated both her and Aiko as such- Aiko is Yuuki's twin sister who is older by fifteen minutes which annoys Yuuki sometimes.

We entered my room. My room hadn't changed much in the past year since I returned from Sword Art Online, the only recent changed was the inclusion of a brand new double bed which was bought a month after I returned so that me and Yuuki could sleep in the same bed together, I still remember how embarrassed we both were when both our parents told us about the bed, but we were secretly happy but we didn't want them to know in case they got any weird ideas.

We went straight to the bed which is where my AmuSphere was located. Yuuki placed her bag down on my bed and rummaged around inside it, a moment later she pulled out her AmuSphere which her mum bought for her when I told her about Alfheim Online. She plugged it in to the power socket and laid on the bed with AmuSphere on her head.

I got ready to join her when I heard my phone vibrate which meant I had a text message. I checked my phone and grinned cheerfully, the text was from Luke, the text read:

Hey Jake, I'm about to dive into ALO, are you ready or what? I've been waiting all day.

I smiled and sent him a reply text which read:

Yeah sorry bro, I had to pick Yuuki up from the bus station and it look us slightly longer to walk home because of my legs but they should be fully healed soon, we're about to dive so meet in the usual spot see you soon.

Once I was sure the text had sent I laid on my bed next to Yuuki, I grabbed her hand and held it firmly while I put the metal helmet over my face, laid my head on the bed and Yuuki and I simultaneously called out the phrase to start the virtual reality device.

"Link Start"

The AmuSphere activated and were once again into Alfheim Online. Yuuki and I spawned in the middle of a large open grassy field just outside of a massive forest on the way to the central city of the world called Alne where all races mixed together more often then in parts of the world. Alfheim Online had 9 races of different fairies in the game, they are Cait Sith's which are race of beast tamers, they also have the best eyesight and high movement speed, players of this race are quite easy to notice because they have cat ears and a long tail, this race lived West of the central town Alne. The Gnomes which are brown styled fairies, they live in the frost areas of the Northern area of the world, they are also the best users of earth type magic in the game. The Imps which are a race of purple styled fairies which live in the Alphine Areas of the South-eastern area of the world, and they are blessed with immense eye night vision. The Leprechauns live in the frost areas of the Northern area of the world, they are a race of black smiths which have mechanical wings. The Pookas which live Northwest are the race of fairies that specialize in using music in combat to confuse and attack opponents and support allies. The Salamanders are red styled fairies which live in the desert areas of the Southern part of the world, they are masters of fire magic and have high attack power. The Spriggans which are black styled fairies that live in the Ancient Runes of the Northeast area of the world, they are black styled fairies which are masters of illusion magic and they also excel in treasure hunting. The Sylphs are green styled fairies which live in the grassland area, they are considered to be the fastest race and they are masters of wind magic. The Undines which are blue styled fairies which live in the wetland area of the Eastern area of the world, they are masters of healing and water magic.

*Yuuki's POV*

I looked at my boy Jake who was clad in thin red armour which covered his whole body, his hair was exactly the same as his Sword Art Online avatar. His sword was the Lion Fang sword the same sword from the dungeon on floor forty of Aincrad.

I looked around at the wide empty space- we were supposed to be meeting everyone else here… were they all running late or had something happened to them?

Suddenly I heard the sound of fairies flying through the air, I looked up and beamed with happiness. I saw Kirito and his girlfriend and my best friend Asuna Yuuki flying towards us along with all of our friends from Sword Art Online.

I waved frantically and shouted at the top of my lungs to be heard over the sound of the wind and their rapidly moving wings "Hey guys glad to see you again!" I shouted loudly until I felt like my lungs were going to burst.

Asuna flew towards me at top speed, when she came close enough she put away her wings and landed in my arms where she embraced me tightly with a large smile on her face "It's great to see you again Yuuki I've really missed you" Asuna said with a happy and cheerful expression and tone of voice.

"I've missed you too of course Asuna but come on now you're going to crush me if you carry on!" I exclaimed in a happy but panicked state while I could feel Asuna's grip tighten around my body.

Asuna suddenly realised what I meant and ended the embrace quickly. I bent over and breathed rapidly to get the air back into my lungs. Asuna giggled apologetically while she flailed her arms in the air frantically "I-I'm so sorry Yuuki I guess I got a little carried away their"

I chuckled lightly, I raised my head and looked Asuna in the eyes "No it's okay Asuna I tend to do that too I do it all the time with my sister and even Jake sometimes hehe" I giggled teasingly as Jake's face turned red with embarrassment.

Kirito laughed from behind Asuna as he and the others walked over to us to join and complete the group "So Jake has a soft side it seems" Kirito chuckled teasingly with a smirk plastered on his face.

Jake became embarrassed and flustered, he pointed a finger at Kirito "Shut up Kirito you asswipe it's not like that!" Jake exclaimed in a flustered state while he face turned a light shade od red.

"So you really are a softie at heart after all then aren't you Jake?" Came a familiar voice. Jake turned around and smirked at the person standing there.

"Shut up Luke, I'm only like that around my Yuuki and nobody else" Jake responded with a blush on his face.

I blushed bright red while the girls around me, Asuna, her friends Keiko Ayano known as Silica in Sword Art Online and Alfheim Online as Silica, Rika Shinozaki known as Lisbeth in Sword Art Online and Alfheim Online and Kirito's cousin Suguha Kirigaya known as Leafa inside Alfheim Online all looked at me smugly and questioned me about my relationship with Jake which made the blush deepen and turn a darker shade of red.

Jake's POV

I looked around at all my friends who were messing around and having fun. I looked at Asuna and the other girls who were quizzing my girlfriend which made me chuckle when I noticed her flustered expression- she never had been good with embarrassing questions or situations after all.

I suddenly noticed that one girl was missing, I turned to Luke who beside me with a smug look on his face- it was strange to see him have any emotional look on that anti-social face of his. I grabbed his shoulder which made him look at me with a look of confusion on his face "Luke where's Shannon wasn't she meant to be joining us today?" I questioned.

Luke shrugged his shoulders "I don't know where she is, she did text me telling me she was about to dive but that's about it really" He responded with his usual non caring tone of voice.

Suddenly a girl appeared behind Luke. She wore a light coloured purple dress with a dark coloured chest plate, she wore black knee high stockings and black shorts which could barely be seen for her long dress, she also had purple hair and cat like ears along with a long fluffy cat tail- the trademark signs of the Cait Sith's. She hovered just above ground level using her wings. "Sorry for worrying you guys" Exclaimed the girl. Everyone except Luke stopped what they were doing and looked in the direction of the voice, Yuuki ran over to the floating girl.

"Shannon where have you been? I was getting worried about you!" Yuuki cried as she ran into her friends arms. Shannon put her wings away and landed on the ground where she embraced the dark purple haired girl.

"Sorry Yuuki I got held up in my hometown where I last logged out from, some of the other players accused me of betraying them because they heard reports I had been hanging around with players from other races" Shannon chuckled uneasily.

"So what did you tell them Shannon? I hope they didn't do anything drastic" Asuna replied in a concerned and slightly irritated tone of voice.

Shannon laughed lightly "No no Asuna don't worry nothing like that happened, although a fight nearly did break out between me and one of the high ranking members of the Cait Sith army but his vice commander intervened and calmed him down" She replied with a relatively calm expression on her face.

Kirito chuckled slightly "Come on guys let's not worry about it after all we are friends so why can't we hang out together?" Kirito asked in a friendly and innocent tone of voice.

Everyone perked up and smiled, Asuna wrapped her arms around Kirito's right arm and placed her head against his shoulder "Kirito your right, you always know what to say" She replied before she kissed him on the cheek gently which made the black swordsman blush slightly.

"Awwwwh isn't that sweet Mr big black loveable swordsman" I teased while making fake kissing sounds near Kirito. Everyone laughed at that- even Asuna.

After that everyone returned to what they were doing before- the girls went back to quizzing my girlfriend Yuuki with one extra member now adding on the questioning side- Shannon.

I chuckled at all my friends having fun and laughing together, when I remembered about what Kikuoka said to me and my mood changed- I had to talk to Luke, Shannon and my girlfriend Yuuki and ask them if they would help me investigate the deaths happening inside Gun Gale Online.

Luke walked up to me, he placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed it firmly "Are you okay bro- I mean Jake, you can't go spacing out like that around me otherwise I could attack you ya know" Luke said in a half joking and half serious tone of voice.

I turned my head to face him, I chuckled lightly- whatever the situation or the world we were in Luke would always challenge and try to best and defeat me- he was my best friend but also my rival too so I suppose that couldn't be helped. "Thanks Luke your right in fact I have something to ask you" I responded in a serious tone. Now was the time to discuss the situation inside Gun Gale Online- and we didn't have long.

Luke looked at me curiously "Oh what might that be my friend?"

I chuckled lightly "First we need Shannon and Yuuki because I need to explain it to all of you" I replied "Do you think you could private message Shannon and ask her to come over to us? I want it done in private so none one else will hopefully see" I responded with a questioning look on my face.

Luke looked at me clearly confused however he slowly nodded his head. He opened up his menu and went into his friends list, he found Shannon's name and tapped it, then he pressed the send message icon. A moment later a text box appeared on his screen, he sent her a message which read:

Hey Shannon, can you come over to where me and Jake are because Jake said he has something to tell us all.

I opened up my window and sent a message to Yuuki, it read:

Hey beautiful can you come over here I have something to tell you and Shannon but don't give anything away to anyone else they can't know not yet at least.

Yuuki's POV

I was in the middle of getting questioned relentlessly by Lisbeth and Silica when suddenly an alert popped up on my display, the alert read:

You have received a message from player: Jake.

I tapped the blue button which opened the message from my boy. I read the message and looked at Shannon who had received a similar message from Luke. We both made an excuse to get away from the constant teasing and questioning from all the girls- but especially Lisbeth and Leafa.

We ran over to the boys who were stood waiting. I hugged Jake and kissed him lightly on the cheek which made us both blush out of embarrassment from me doing that in front of people.

Jake's POV

"Thanks for coming girls it means a lot" I said in a cheerful voice. I had to hide the serious face and tone so they didn't get nervous or worried.

"It's okay babe so what did you want to talk to us about?" Yuuki questioned in a tone of voice mixed with curiosity, a slight amount of worry and a slight amount of confusion too.

"Right I'll get straight to the point, well a few hours before I met you babe, I received an email from Seijirou Kikuoka asking me if I could meet him in an hour in the Weatherby Whaler which is a restaurant in the centre of my hometown Pudsey but I'm sure you and Luke already know that" I replied with a light hearted chuckle.

Yuuki raised her eyebrow in curiosity "So what did he want to talk to you about babe?"

I stopped smiling and looked at the three of them with a grim expression on my face which made Yuuki and Shannon nervous.

"He wanted to talk to me about two recent deaths that had happened to players of another VRMMO game, I'm sure you know it, Gun Gale Online" I replied firmly.

Luke raised his eyebrow "You mean the one with professional players who can earn money from playing the game by using the in-game coin to real currency conversion system?" He responded with a look of both confusion and slight excitement on his face.

I nodded my head "That's right, both these guys were ranked 8th and 11th in the last big tournament inside the game called Bullet of Bullets. They both died in the real world from heart failure after a mysterious player who called himself Phantom Star approached them in game, he ranted about arrogance and the need for these players to be judged then he shot them only once in game which made their avatar wheeze in pain and clutch their chest before they were disconnected in game and found dead in the real world a few days later… now I am 99% sure that this is just some kind of sick joke or something, but still on the off chance it isn't would you guys dive into GGO with me to investigate these deaths?" I asked my best friend and my girlfriend. I lowered my head and prepared myself for the obvious answer. No matter what I could not allow any harm to come to Yuuki. So I would dive into Gun Gale Online and contact this Phantom Star myself and get to the bottom of these deaths even if it meant reawakening the old wounds of Sword Art Online once again…