I don't own SAO, or any characters associated with the original story. This is my interpretation, and a majority of the original characters, save for a select few, are my own.

…

Chapter 1: Observations.

Sword Art Online. It was a name that had the most profound effect on others. For many, it struck fear into their hearts when they were reminded of the dark cybernetic prison. For others, hatred consumed them whenever the time spent in the virtual world as opposed to the real world was brought up. Many people wished that they could forget the event known as the Death Game.

I, however, see the floating castle in the sky as something else entirely. That place…It was a perfect world. It surpassed Reality in many more ways than one.

…

It was a rainy day when I went in to have a nice cup at what is now my favorite café. My trench coat fluttering in the rain and the wind, I brought my hands up to hold my hood over my head. The rest of my body was shivering from the cold water cascading on my back, but that didn't matter to me.

When I finally reached the nearest Café, I felt a small sigh of relief escape my mouth. Quickly, as to not get the inside wet with the heavy rain, I opened the door and swiftly stepped inside, closing it promptly behind me.

Exhausted from my journey here, I trudged over to one of the nearest window tables and plopped down.

Bored with the moment, I observed that there were only two other players in the restaurant.

One was a young man who seemed to be completely dressed in a deep red. His armor and cloak were obviously well cared for, despite seeming to be slightly aged. His long black hair made him seem like-

Stop it. I told myself, swiftly looking away. What gives you the right to observe someone to that extent?

…My curiosity got the better of me however, and I snuck one more glance up at the player. His overall posture gave me the impression that he was…aggressive? Reserved? It was difficult to tell much when he was sitting down at that distance.

It was here when I realized he noticed me staring at him.

Crud. I turned my attention to the wood at the table, trying to guess what it was made of. Anything that I could turn my attention to, away from person I was staring at, would do.

"How're you doing, Sir?" A voice asked me. Looking up, standing there at my table was one of the waitress' of this restaurant. Her voice was bright and cheerful, like her long blond hair. Her outfit was quite simple: a brown dress with a white apron was tied around her waist, where she was pulling a small pad of paper from one of the pockets.

I didn't realize I was holding my breath until she greeted me. Letting out a small unnoticeable breath, I responded, "Just fine. How are you?"

She nodded. "Pretty good, thanks for asking." She brought a feather quill to her paper. "Can I get you anything today?"

I originally was going to have some nice tea, but looking back out the window, seeing the pouring rain, I changed my decision.

I brought my attention back to her. "Could I please get a cup of Hazelnut Coffee with a dash of vanilla? Along with a small plate of diced potatoes, please."

Scribbling all this down, the waitress gave me an affirming nod. "Of course, sir! I'll be right out with those!" She then bowed, before retreating into the kitchen area. Wanting to not focus on the wait time it took to prepare my food, I opened my inventory and brought out my personal journal, starting to write.

Day 91,

I finally found the location of the item I seek. As of writing this entry I am on Floor 5, the Ocean floor. From what I was able to gather, what I seek is on a small island somewhere within the 10 kilometers of water on this floor.

The floating town of Wileris, on a side note, has a nice little café. The atmosphere is nice and soothing. It reminds me a lot of

My hand stopped writing. When I compared this café to the one in my memories, my mind and body froze. Times and memories were flooding into my head, as if writing that simple incomplete sentence lifted a latch causing massive floodgates to open.

I don't know how long I sat there, practically motionless, before a small drop fell on the papers of my journal. Followed by a couple more.

"Hey…is it alright if I sit here?

Bringing my head up and out of my stupor, I saw that it was the young woman who was with the man in red. She was wearing a rich blue garment, and she herself had long black hair.

I pulled back my hood in an effort to look presentable, though it was still wet from the outside rain. I quickly snapped my journal shut, putting it in one of the pockets of my trench coat before responding to her.

"Erm…of course you may." She nods in what I assume to be thanks before taking one of the chairs across from me.

"…" I had no idea what to say in this situation. It was rare that anyone actively asked to sit with me at a table. "Uh…can I order you something?"

While I was trying to get the words out, the young man in red also walked over and took the chair next to the young woman.

He's unlike her. My mind went into overdrive. She asks to take a seat, he doesn't. They're polar opposites, yet they seem to be at minimum good friends if he would follow her to this table. I wonder-

Stop. The other part of my brain scolded me. Just stop.

"…Hello? Did you hear me?" The young woman seemed to almost want to wave a hand in front of my face. I blink a few times before letting out an awkward laugh.

"Er…my apologies. I lost myself in my thoughts. Could you…perhaps repeat what you said?"

She shook her head. "It's alright. I said that you didn't need to get me anything."

"Are-are you sure? It's no trouble to-to me. I can also get something for-for your friend." My stuttering kicked in when I tried to respond. Why does it always happen when I get nervous around people?

Why was I even nervous around these two?

"You were staring at me." The one in red spoke.

Probably because the one in red gave off an intimidating aura. I forced my mind to back down before I could observe anything else about him or her.

I took a deep breath before answering him. "I…I'm truly sorry, Sir. I have a bad habit of…staring…at people." To myself, my nervousness was obvious. They probably saw it too.

The young woman laughed. "Oh, there is no need to call him 'Sir.' I honestly don't think anyone has ever called Mataras that before." She gave him a little playful nudge as he gave her…well, it wasn't so intense to be a glare, but perhaps a look of annoyance.

So his name was Mataras…oh!

"I-I'm sorry, I haven't really introduced myself, have I?" I give them a small nod of what I hope comes across to them as respect. "My name is Phantom. And I presume that your name is Mataras?" I ask the man in red.

He gives me a small nod of affirmation. "Yea."

His companion gave me a smile. "Nice to meet you, Phantom. I'm Saphira."

It was at this moment that the waitress came back with my coffee and potatoes. "Here ya go, Sir. I hope you enjoy!" Noticing the two new players at my table, her curiosity got the better of her. "So, you two decided to switch tables." Turning her attention back to me, she asked, "Are they friends of yours?"

A sort of sad smile found its way onto my face. "…I suppose so." Opening my menu to pay for the bill, I added a bit of extra while saying to her, "Here, take a tip. And if it isn't too much trouble, would you please get these two…" Eyeing them, I wondered aloud "…What do you two prefer, coffee or tea?"

Saphira's eyes slightly widened at what she heard. "Oh, you don't need to get us anything, Phantom."

I shake my head. "I insist. Besides, I'll be giving the equivalent money either way. You are the ones who decide whether it's to pay for a drink or not."

Mataras eyed me warily. "…Fine. Earl Grey tea, please."

Saphira looked between Mataras and I before letting out a sigh with a smile on her face. "…I'll get the same thing, please."

The waitress gave us all a warm smile. "Of course! That'll be a few minutes. Phantom, was it?" She gave me a small bow. "Thanks for the tip!"

I waved her off. "Don't mention it."

After She left, I turned my full attention back to the two players in front of me. "I hope I don't come off as rude," I started, taking a small sip of my coffee. "But why is it that two respectable people like yourselves want to associate with a stranger dripping with rainwater who just entered the door?"

Saphira seemed to think for a moment. "Well- "

"For one, like I said before, you were staring at me. We got curious." Mataras cut her off. "It doesn't help that you're the only other person in this restaurant."

It looked like Saphira wanted to almost scold Mataras for cutting her off like that, but before she could I intervened. "Pardon me, Mataras, but the persona and aura that you're giving off tells me that even then you aren't really one for social interaction all that much." It wasn't until the words escaped my mouth that I realized what I had done.

I actively told someone what I observed about them.

Mataras's eyes narrowed, almost glowering at me. "Well, you certainly are perceptive, aren't you?"

My words stumble out of my mouth. "Erm…I'm sor-sorry si- I mean, Mataras. Itjust stumbled ou-out." If they couldn't tell I was nervous a bit before, they could now.

"Why are you apologizing?" Saphira asked, curiosity gleaming in her eyes. I was going to answer, but it seemed that She meant that as a rhetorical question since she continued. "I mean, you're right though. It was mainly my own curiosity which brought us over here."

Before either of us could continue, the waitress came back over with their tea. "Here ya go, Sir, Madam." She gave them a smile and a bow. "I hope that you enjoy."

Mataras and Saphira gave their thanks to the waitress before she wandered back into the kitchen area.

Taking another sip of my own coffee, I heard Mataras say, "Well, the NPCs here are certainly well made."

I stopped mid-sip. Carefully putting the cup back down, my eyes lingered on the brown-white liquid that circled around the cup.

"People."

He looked up. "Hm?"

I was still staring at my cup's contents. "The people here are certainly nice."

I didn't notice the confused looks the two gave me. I was busy lost in thoughts at that moment. Sitting here talking with these two people was certainly nice, don't get me wrong, but something else popped into my head after Mataras made that comment.

There was something I recalled that I needed to do. Something where I was planning on getting help anyways.

"Erm…" I broke the semi-awkward silence between us, bringing my head up. "If I might ask how high your level is?"

"High enough." Mataras answered. "Why do you ask?"

"Are you doing anything today?

THIS IS AN IMPORTANT AUTHORS NOTE, YOU SHOULD PLEASE READ

Hello everyone!

Wow, I haven't written anything like this on this site in a while. Anyways, Where to begin…

This is my 3rd or 4th attempt at writing an SAO story, with every other attempt being either a wash or unfinished. This I hope doesn't end up like that, and while there are a couple of other stories that I hope to finish soon, I would like to get this particular idea out of head and on the paper.

Anyways, to celebrate the recent release of SAO 3: Alicization, this story will be taking a LOT of inspiration from that story in a couple of different ways that will become apparent later on.

Also, I just want to thank Mataras for letting me use his character of…well, Mataras and Saphira. He's always been one of my favorite fictional characters, so I hope I do him justice, along with Saphira.

This story will be split into 3 seperate "books," with each covering, more or less, a different arc. Some may be from the original SAO story, or some may be inspired from said story, but be my own creations. We'll see how well this story turns out.

Lastly, while I'm not directly making this an SYOC (because of the overwhelmingness the last few times), If you want to send in a character for me to use in this story, then by all means do. In fact, I encourage it.

This seems to contradict the fact that I'm not "Directly" making this an SYOC, so what do I mean? I mean that I really want to use a couple of user-created characters, but I'll only be accepting a handful, like 2 or 3. Also, it is NOT first come first serve. I will look at your character, see how well they are made/how well they fit in the story, and decide whether or not I use them.

So, SYOC/technically not SYOC.

I'm not making a template, this is being made on your own. Just know your character can be a part of a guild, own a shop, have a certain relation to characters like Kirito, Phantom, Mataras or some other, or not at all.

I'm also attempting to make this story as less Kirito-centric as possible, although he will be making a couple major appearances.

WHEW that was a lot to cover. Alright, I'm done now.

As usual, thanks for reading and I will see you all NEXT TIME!

-Silver