Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online. I only own the OC's that you see throughout the story.

When Kevin woke up, Henry was equipping his armor and sword on the other side of the room.

"Damn... So this is real," Kevin said aloud. "Where are you going?" Henry's back had been turned to Kevin. It was odd seeing Henry as a child, rather than a large man like his old avatar. He turned around and looked Kevin in the eye. His bright blue eyes were like a fierce ocean of determination. Kevin had never seen such emotion in just a person's eyes.

"I'm going out to train. I won't be back until lunch time." His voice spoke with even more determination than his eyes showed.

"Wait! That's not a good idea! We need to stick together right now. Before anyone leaves, we should have a meeting and decide what to do with the information we got yesterday. Please wait!" Kevin pleaded. He was still extremely scared about what they had been told the night before. He still tried his best to not show any fear. He had a feeling that he would be the one to hold their group together.

"Kevin..." Henry said quietly. He looked down at the floor in a slightly irritated manner. "The only way to get out of this is to beat the stupid game. We need to train so that we can save everyone. I won't sit here while others are risking their lives!"

"Henry!" Kevin shouted. "How can you be so naïve? Be smart about this! Just wait for us to talk about this! You'd have to be extremely dense to go out alone anyways. Who knows what kind of monsters might ambush you! This isn't just a game. You're putting your life on the line with every move you make."

Henry fell to his knees and put his face in his hands. "I'm sorry," he sobbed. "I'm just... I'm scared I guess. I don't want anyone to die, and I don't want to die."

Kevin let out a sigh of relief. Henry wouldn't be going anywhere. "It'll be okay. We'll figure a way out of this. It's okay to cry, you know? Everyone is emotional. Especially right now. I'm gonna go next door and wake the girls."

Kevin exited the room and took a single stride across the hall where he knocked on the door. A moment later, the door was swiftly opened by Stephie. She quickly put a finger to her lips and pointed to a sleeping Lisa inside. She stepped out to the hallway and silently closed the door.

"We're holding a meeting to decide what to do. Go wake Lisa and we'll meet back up in my room." Kevin whispered.

I have to wake her up?" Stephie complained. "I don't really know her that well. How about you wake her, and I'll be waiting in your room?"

Before Kevin had time to object, his sister was in the other room, leaving him alone in the hallway. Kevin silently went into the girls' room and sat on the bed across from Lisa. How am I supposed to wake her up? She already doesn't like me, and she was really shaken last night. More than the others. Kevin mused. She'll probably hurt me if I wake her up... Ugh, Stephie, you're going to pay for this. He took a step towards Lisa's bed and just as he was about to nudge her shoulder, she rolled over, facing the dark haired boy.

Her blond hair was in a disaster of tangles and knots, probably from all her restless sleeping. But in the dimly lit room, Kevin could still see her pretty face. He stood there and just watched her breathe. She's so peaceful... He thought to himself. He was pulled out of his thoughts when Lisa fluttered open her big brown eyes.

"Huh?" She murmured sleepily. "Oh, Kevin... It's you..." She spoke in a sad tone, rather than a degrading one as though she had just woken up from a bad dream to see that she was living a nightmare. "So this is all real then." Tears began to dribble down her cheeks as she sat up. "We're really... Stuck here."

Kevin was bewildered and wasn't sure what to do. He wasn't expecting her to act like this. He gently put his hand on Lisa's shoulder and said, "Everything will be okay. We're gonna figure this out. We're all going to get out alive."

Lisa openly weeped. She dove into Kevin, her head bashing his collar bone. "Promise me! You have to promise me we'll make it back! I don't want to die here! Please!" she squeaked in between her sobs. Kevin stood there, speechless, as Lisa continued to cry on him, holding him in a tight embrace. He tried to hug her back, but only succeeded in making the situation more awkward by patting her back. "I promise." He said. The promise was not only for Lisa, but also for himself. At that moment, he vowed to take care of his sister, and his friends. He'd make sure they all stayed alive.

"Hey! What's taking so long?" Henry shouted through the closed door.

Kevin pulled away from Lisa and shouted back, "We'll be there in a second!" Kevin was hapy there wasn't too much light. The darkness hid his red cheeks.

Lisa looked up at him and asked, "Where are we going?"

Kevin saw the shine in her beautiful eyes and smiled. "Just a quick guild meeting to decide what we're going to do.

*A Couple Hours Later*

After a meeting of much debate, the guild came up with a plan that satisfied all members. They wouldn't be on the front lines, like Henry wanted, but the would go up floors every few weeks. In the meantime, they would just survive and take quests. Kevin had changed is mind about having a famous guild. Who knows what would happen if word got out that they had the best guild.

"Okay, so first, I will go around the city and get information on about whether or not any of this is even true, seeing as we still have no proof," Kevin said at the end of the meeting. "Henry, you can go book us another night at this inn. We'll meet back up in an hour or so, and then we can train."

"I'm going with you, Kevin," Lisa sad. She had been clinging to his arm throughout the whole morning.

"All right. Let's move out," Kevin said as he ushered everyone out to do their jobs.

A few minutes of walking, and Kevin and Lisa were passing over a bridge. Lisa stepped over to the side and looked out at the dried up river that ran through the City of Beginnings. "You know, know that I have had some time to calm down," she said in a serene attitude. "I really don't think it would be so bad to live here. I mean, I don't want to... but it wouldn't be the worst thing."

"Hey, that's the spirit. You're righ-" Kevin was cut off by a scream.

"Help! Is someone there? Hel-" the voice hollered.

"Shut up!" a different, deeper voice yelled.

Kevin exchanged a glance with Lisa. "Under the bridge!" he said as he finally realized where the voices came from. They both jumped over the side of the short bridge. It wasn't a very high bridge, which was good for Kevin and Lisa. Directly under the bridge, there was a woman in tattered clothes. Her hands were tied behind her back and her mouth was gagged. The brunette tried to scream for help, but couldn't manage anything save for some muffled noises. The large man in front of her pulled back his short hair and turned to face Kevin and Lisa.

"W-what's going on here?" Kevin yelled at the scary man. It was almost unnatural how large he was.

Kevin's question seemed to only anger him. "You've interrupted my play time. I have to kill you now!" He drew his two-handed sword from the sheath on his back. The blade shimmered a golden color in the sunlight. It was practically glowing.

"Lisa," Kevin hastily whispered. "You have to go help that girl. I'll take on this guy." There was no fear in his voice; however, Lisa could tell by looking into his dark eyes that he was frightened. Lisa was also scared, but she said nothing. She ran around the large man, staying as far away as possible. She quickly helped the woman get untied. Kevin ran forward, drawing his own two-handed sword. The huge weapons clashed immediately. The man easily over-powered Kevin, pushing him to the ground. Kevin cursed and thought to himself, Fine then. If I can't over-power him... I'll just have to be too fast for him. Kevin rose to his feet and began his second assault. This time, he used quick swings and jabs. Just as he thought he was getting somewhere, that he might win this, he realized the large man was blocking every single swing of his blade. Kevin leaped back, panting. Damn it! I am weaker than him, I'm slower than him, his sword is so much better than mine! How am I supposed to defeat him!

The next few seconds happened quickly. First, the man's gleaming sword dove forward, piercing Kevin's stomach. Not even a second went by before he noticed his HP bar wasn't going down. That's when he remembered something he had read in the manual. He took the man's confusion to his advantage. Kevin wildly swung his sword at the man's sword arm, slicing right through it. The hand let go of the sword in Kevin's stomach, and he pulled it out, pointing it at the one armed man.

"No one can be hurt inside a town or city," Kevin said with a faint smile. "Leave now, and I won't pluck you clean of everything you have and leave you outside to die!"

Much to Kevin's relief, the man obeyed and ran for his life, still not understanding what had happened.

"Kevin!" Lisa screamed. "Are you okay?"

Kevin replied with a simple chuckle.

"Sweetheart," a woman's voice said. Lisa turned around to look at the brunette they had just saved. "This is a game. There is no pain. And his HP is fine too... Anyways, thank you so much for saving me. Is there anything I can do to repay you?"

Kevin and Lisa looked at each other. "Yeah," Kevin said. "About what that guy last night said... The creator guy... Was it all true? I mean, I know we can't log out, but we still don't have proof that we die or anything."

"That's not true. I have proof. I saw someone get killed this morning by a small monster. He never respawned. And I doubt that he would lie about this anyways. We might as well just do as he says. All he wants is for us to beat the game."

"Oh... I see," Kevin relied with sorrow.

"We still haven't introduced ourselves," Lisa broke the silence. "I'm Lisa and this is Kevin."

"Howdy," She said with a smile. "I'm Alison. Hey, how about you meet me at Stella's Spectacular Restaurant this evening. I'll treat you guys to the best meal you'll ever have!"

Kevin happily agreed to the idea of having a meal. Not to mention a tasty one.

"Well, we better get going. We have to meet up with the other members of our guild," Lisa said.

"You're in a guild? How exciting! Bring the other members to dinner tonight! I'd love to meet them."

Lisa looked at her with a frown. "Are you sure? That place is expensive enough as it is. Do you really have the money for five people to eat there?"

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that. I have... my own means of affording to do expensive things." she replied before walking back to town.

*Later*

Kevin was gleefully inspecting his new sword as he and Lisa passed through the main part of the city. It was heavier than his other one, but much fancier. It's strength was off the charts too! "This must've been a rare drop from a high level monster!"

"Who cares about that! I don't think Alison will be able to pay for all five of us. We should get some money in case she needs it."

"Lisa, don't judge people by their looks! Have faith in her. She did say that she had her own means of getting the money."

*That Night*

"Here we are," Stephie said as the group approached the fancy restaurant. When they walked in they saw chandeliers over every table, glowing with a dull blue light. There weren't many people in the place. In fact, Kevin couldn't see anyone other than them.

"Oh good!" Alison appeared as if from no where. "You all made it in one piece!" She smiled at Kevin. Stephie automatically felt a strong dislike towards this woman. She wore a bright red dress that was adorned with shining gems of different shades of red. Around her neck was a ruby necklace. Her eyes were shadowed in a dark red. All the blue lights contrasted wonderfully with Alison's red outfit.

"Wow! How could you affor-" Lisa was cut off when Kevin jabbed her in the side with is elbow.

"Well, we're all here." Kevin said. "Let's eat."

They found a place to sit, which was very easy, and ate the food in peace. In SAO eating food wasn't really a necessity. However, sometimes people got hungry and felt the need to ate. Most food tasted bland, yet if someone had a high enough cooking skill, the food they made could taste splendid. After the meal an NPC came to collect the Col (Money in SAO pretend you didn't read gold in the previous chapter). 1,000 Col for the meal. Lisa got very nervous now. That was a ton of money... There's no way anyone could afford this! Alison took out five bags from her storage and left them on the table. Lisa curiously looked inside one of them to find a load of Col.

"Where'd you get all this money!?" Lisa blurted out.

"Oh, you know..." Alison replied. "I steal it."

"You're a thief?" Kevin asked in surprise. "We could use a thief in the AHU. Hey, do you wanna join us?"

"Kevin! I really don't think-"

Alison interrupted Stephie when she said, "That would be awesome!"

Kevin and the group led Alison to the inn they were staying at as Kevin explained everything about their guild. Stephie pouted as they walked. She clearly didn't want this woman in the guild, yet Kevin ignored that fact. When they got back to the inn, Alison checked into her own room and the group all went to sleep. Tomorrow should be fun, Kevin thought. We're going to move out and head to the next city. I hope we don't run into any trouble...

A/N: Firstly, I'd like to thank the people that read and liked my story, especially the ones who left reviews. Please follow their lead and let me know what you think of my story so far! I probably won't be posting Chapter 3 for a while. I just started reading the light novels and I'm learning a lot of little facts that are contradicting what I've written already, so please bear with me. I haven't exactly brainstormed what's gonna happen yet either. Also, please tell me how you felt about the fight scene. Because it was hard to write, and if it wasn't good I won't waste anymore time on those :P. Thanks again, and enjoy your morning/day/evening.