Chapter 3- The Change

The final chapter in this story. This answers the question of why did Mikael change sides and joined KOB when he was captured. At the end of this chapter I will leave a sneak peek into SAO: Redemption as a thank you to those who have been following my stories so far. Enjoy

This story take place only a month before the events of Chapter 2:1Year. I was sat in secret room eating a bowl of ramen when I was interrupted by two people entering. "I can't believe enough group was captured" the female known as Shadow said. "Yep the Blood Dragons have been on the rise recently, it won't be long until the inner circle would be forced to deal with this" the male known as Blade said. "Oh Black Sword we didn't realize anyone" Shadow told me. "It's okay I was almost done in here" I responded while slurping down the last of my ramen. "Oh is that Ramen where did you get that" Shadow asked me. "I made this, I was able to raise my cooking level to the max so I thought I would make some of the foods I missed in the real world" I told her. "Wow you maxed it out, hey next time you make some could you make me some as well since it's been so long since I last had ramen" She asked me politely. "Sure the next time I make some I will bring you some" I responded. I left the room and began to walk back to my room to get ready for my next mission. I was about halfway through the hallway when I began feeling the head pain. Suddenly he appeared again.

"What are you doing here?" I told my beta avatar. "I could ask you the exact same question" He said. This had been the third times this had happened since the massacre. "So what do you have to tell me this time" I asked him. "I'm telling you that being here is mistake, you are not a killer and you know" He told me. "You are wrong I have killed people if that doesn't make me a killer then what does" I asked him. "Yeah you have killed people but who hasn't in this game but you feel guilty about" he told me. "You're wrong I don't feel guilty" I told him. "You do and you know it" he said. "NO I'M NOT" I shouted at him. I was lucky that no one was around to hear me. My Beta self soon disappeared after I said that. I went into my room and changed into a new uniform. I was now wearing a white shirt and black trouser. I switched my coat of eclipse for a new red coat. I changed Blazing Hope for a common long sword. I cover my hair with a cowboy hat. 'Right this should hide me in plain sight for the time being' I told myself. The job went off without a hitch and I was able to get a new piece of equipment. As a means of celebration I decide to treat myself to some cheesecake in the local town. As I made my way to the restaurant I accidentally bumped into someone along the way.

Both fell to the floor due to the force of the impact. I got up and saw the person. I recognized the familiar purple hair. She got up as well. "Akuro, is that you" I said to her. She was dressed in a purple uniform that matched her hair. She looked at me with surprise in her eyes. "Mikael" she responded. I cover her mouth and told her "Don't say my name, for the time being just call me Mike." She nodded in response as I still had my hand over her mouth. "Thank you" I said to her while I removed hand from her mouth. We walk together when I reached the restaurant and asked her "Would you like to join me for some cheesecake." "Yeah I wouldn't mind some cheesecake myself and it will give us some time to catch up on what happen since then" She responded. We both enter the restaurant and sat down at a table near a window. We order two cheesecakes and two drinks. "So how have you been Mike since you know what know what" She asked me. "Well I joined a guild since the disbanding of The Holy Knights. Other than that I have been suffering from nightmares" I told her. I never told anyone about my nightmares since it was my way of getting rid of guilt but Akuro saw I side of me that didn't know still exist. "Yeah the disbanding of the Holy Knight" She said with sadness in her voice. It seemed that neither her or me told anyone about what happened to the Holy Knights. "So what happened to you?" I asked her. "Not much after you left me and I decide to try and train myself so that I might find you again. I partnered up with a girl who was about 15 called Nozomi. We were a good team, she would mostly talk about her brother and how he was able to join the Knight of the Blood Oath. She wished to join them as well but her level was too low so she and I trained a lot." She stopped for a minute as are cheesecake arrived. "Where is she now, I would like to meet her" I asked her. She looks at the floor with an expression of sadness on her face. "She is dead; we were clear a dungeon when we were ambushed by Laughing Coffin. We were able to fight most of them of until a member known as Johnny Black began fighting. He was able to capture both of us. He tortures us both physically and sexually. I was able to escape but Nozomi wasn't as lucky" she told me.

Tears began falling from her eyes. I was completely shocked to hear what Johnny Black did as we had talked a couple of times as well as worked together a few times and not once did he talk about that. I heard a voice in my head just like when I massacred those people except this time it sounded different. 'Do you still believe that you don't feel guilty as that could have been stopped if you weren't a part of Laughing Coffin. As I said before you are not a killer" it was beta self's voice that said it. I comforted her by saying "I'm sorry for your lost I wish I was there then maybe it would have been different." "Thanks Mike" she told me. After we ate I decide to walk Akuro to her house. When we reached her house she asked me "Would you like to come in for some tea as a way of saying thank you." "Yeah sure why not I'm need at the guild any time soon" I responded to her. I entered her apartment and saw it was quite bright. (Imagine Akuro apartment is similar to Asuna's but a bit smaller and is mostly blue) "Nice place you have here how much did it cost?" I asked her. "About 3 million cols plus 1 million cols for the furniture" she said

"Make yourself at home while I make the tea" I told her. "Wow 4 million col for this place, I have about 595 million cols on me but buying a place like this since my place at Laughing Coffin is free even through it just one room with a bathroom and kitchen in it" I told myself. Akuro came back with the tea and two cups. She then sat down and said "Hey do you think about the Holy Knight once in a while." "Nope" I lied as I had thought about them and wondered if thing could have been different. "Oh I have thought about them since they were my friends for a while but I got over them" She told me. "How did you do that" I asked her. "The same way you did I joined a guild. They are called the Blood Dragons; we are a small guild that been at work taking down orange and red guilds" She said. I recognized the name as the guild who has been attacking members of Laughing Coffin. "We had recently begun attacking Laughing Coffin after several players have reported several players have done mass killing. Those players are called Silent Dagger, Red eyed Zaza, Johnny Black, Shelia, Shadow and Black Sword" She told me. I recognized all of those name especially the last one as it was my own. "Hey Mikael why didn't you want me to call you Mike and not Mikael" She asked. "Oh there are still player out their hunting me" I told her. "That explain why your clothes are different" She said. "Yep that why my clothes are different" I said not telling her the truth. "Well I will be going now I have to get to a mission for my guild tomorrow" I told her before getting up and walking towards the door. "Wait Mikael" she said when my hand touched the door handle.

I turned around to be caught off guard by Akuro kissing me on the lips. She broke the kiss to say "Mikael please don't leave me this time, when I tried to follow you last time I want to tell you my feeling but I couldn't bring myself to do it so I let you leave without knowing I how I felt about you. But the time I spent apart from you the more I missed you but this time I won't let you leave without you hearing this. I love you Mikael" She told me. She began kiss me again and I was tempted to kiss her back but then something in my mind told me that is was wrong. I pushed her back gently. "What wrong Mikael, don't you love me too" she asked. "I do but we can't be together" I told her. "Why can't we be together Mikael" She said with tears in her eyes. "Because you don't know the truth about me" I said unable to look at her. "Yes I do, your Mikael the person who saved me" she said. "I haven't told you the whole truth" I said to her. I opened my inventory and located my cloak. I equipped it and turn towards her. "I am the Black Sword" I told her. She was surprised and shocked as she began stepping back with her hand over her mouth. "Akuro I am truly sorry" I said. "Get out" she said. "What" I responded. "GET OUT NOW" she screamed. I did exactly as she said and left the room. When I reached the forest near the headquarters I received a message. It said:

"Mikael It's hacker I'm sorry about not keeping in contact with you. I had a matter that I need to attend to. So how are you, are you putting my gifts to good use"

I respond to his message:

"Hacker I haven't been putting them to good use. I joined Laughing Coffin the murder Guild. And I don't know whether it was a good idea. I need help"

I instantly received a response from him:

"Mikael, I know that you joined them for a reason. But if you want my advice then try and redeem yourself if you feel guilty. If you don't know how to do that than just think like the Mikael in the real world not the Mikael in the real world. Do what you believe is the good thing to do"

I smiled and sent a message which said:

"Thank for the advice Hacker"

His response to this was:

"Your welcome, Mikael and Good luck with your redemption"

That was the end of our conversation. After what he said I knew that the only way to redeem myself was to leave Laughing Coffin and bring an end to them. I knew that to bring an end to them I would need the Blood Dragons help. So I planned to make thing up with Akuro tomorrow so I could get there help and to fix the bond between me and her. However, things did not go according to plan as I found out tomorrow morning.

I woke up to the sound of someone knocking on the door. It was Shadow who was at the door, she told me that he was going on a mission to take out a guild and he want me to go along with him as one of them was a Beta tester and she need my help dealing with this since most of the inner circle was Beta's but I was the only one with a unique skill. It took me a moment to get ready and into my gear. We soon arrived at the location where the Guild was located. There was about 10 of them that I could see. Shadow told me to stay while he took out most of them and would give me a signal when the beta appeared. I kept watch while she took them all out from the shadow. It was then that I got a look at the logo of the guild. My eyes widen when I saw it. It was the same logo Akuro was wearing last night. It was dragon drawing that was completely red. The guild that shadow was taking out was the Blood Dragons. That when it dawned on me that the Beta shadow want me to take out was Akuro. That was when I saw her and I got the signal to attack. I ran to where I had saw her to try and warn her but I was too late as the paralysis needle hit her. She fell to the floor as I reached. Luckily I was able to catch her. "Akuro, I'm sorry" I told her as I held her. "Mikael what are you doing here" she asked. That was when Shadow appeared dragging the leader. "Oh that is simple he is here to kill you" she said with a sadistic smile on her face. For the first time in a while I was disgusted by what had happened.

"Is that true, Mikael are you hear to kill me" she said still looking right at me. "No that is not true. I'm so sorry for last night" I said as tear began fall down my cheek. "Mikael you are crying. I knew you are not a killer like the rest of them" she said with a smile on her face. Shadow threw the leader who was still breathing near us and said "Oh but my dear he is a killer after all he has killed 110 players so far" she said before laughing like a maniac. "Mikael please explain these kills" Akuro asked. "The first 27 was the Holy knight incident, then I killed three people who attack this orphanage. The next kills up to 107 kills was because I had a rare item. The next three was this guild I was tracking" I said. "Mikael listen to me you are not a killer. The first two you mention were protecting something. The one after was in self-defense. Just because you killed three people without reason doesn't mean your killer. Mikael do you feel guilty" She told me. "I do and it tearing me apart" I told her. "Don't believe everything he said sweetheart" Shadow said. Akuro kissed me before saying "Do what you believe is right, Mikael." I put her on the floor and stood up. "So Mikael what is it going to be. Are going to kill her or shall I do it" she said with a grin on her face. I looked at her with a look of rage and said "you are not going to be killing any one anymore."

"Oh really and are you going to stop me" she said with that grin still on her. "Yep I am" I told her. "Very well it was nice knowing you Black Sword" she said before activating a skill by saying "Shadow Dash." She was quick but I was quicker as I was able to unsheathe Blazing Hope and use a skill before she made contact. I activate my skill by saying it name "Inferno Fire Blast." The force of the attack knocked her into a tree and knocked her out. The attack had taken half her health. I was about to finish her when I told myself. "No Killing won't redeem yourself. This one needs to go to jail." "Akuro where are your teleport crystals to Black Iron Palace" (Before you ask yes I may have called it something else in SAO: Tales from the Coffin) I asked her. "We keep them in a chest in the main tent" She told me. I enter the main tent and found the chest. I took out one of the crystal and kneeled down beside Shadow. I said "Teleport Black Iron Palace." She disappears into several crystals. I then turned back to Akuro and stay with her until the paralysis ran out.

When it ran out we talked for a while. "I'm sorry Akuro I shouldn't have joined them" I told her. She responded by kissing me. "Then leave them and join the Blood Dragon. We could use someone like you" She said to me. "I can't Akuro. If I leave Laughing Coffin almost immediately after one of the inner circle gets captured, then they will suspect something and you won't be safe" I told her. "I don't care if I am not safe if you are with. I love you Mikael don't you love me as well. And who is the inner circle" She said. "I do love you Akuro which is why I want to keep you safe. The inner circle are the best killers in the whole of Laughing Coffin. Which is why I will stay in Laughing Coffin until I am captured" I told her. She responded with a kiss and said "But if you are capture then both the Aincrad Liberation Army and the Knight of the Blood Oath will kill you. I don't want you to die." "Don't worry they won't kill me if I know the quickest way out of this game" I told her. "Wait you know how to get out of here. Then why don't you use it get people out of this game" She said with surprise in her voice. "I haven't used it because I don't know if it works. I believe that Akihiko is among us since the most boring thing about a game is to watch people playing the game" I told her my theory. "So if Akihiko among us then what does that mean for a quicker way out of here" She asked. "This is my theory so far. Akihiko said that we have to clear all 100 floors which means that we would have to kill the final boss. Now imagine the creator of the game is in the game. That would make him the strongest player. So if the there is a player who know every boss wouldn't it make sense that he himself would be the final boss. Since a game has a story to it." I told her. "So if this player is beat then everyone would be free since the last boss would have been beaten" She said with joy in her voice. "Yep but the problem is I don't have enough evidence to confirm that theory" I told her. "Okay so you are going to stay in Laughing Coffin and doing what with them" she asked me. "I will stay with them to stop them from going after you and finding out who is the strongest player" I told her. "Okay Mikael I will support your decision. But I want you to visit me while you are with them" She said. "Of course I will visit you. After all you are my girlfriend now" I told her. The leader of the Blood Dragon soon woke up. When he did I explained what happen as well as made him a deal that I would be a spy for them. After that I talk to him I began to walk back to the guild when the leader said "What are you going to do now." "I'm going to put an end to Laughing Coffin one way or another" I told them with a smile on my face. Akuro smiled back as I left. I explained to the inner circle that Shadow and I was ambushed by Aincrad Liberation Army when we killed all of Blood Dragon. I told them that shadow had been captured. After that I secretly visit Akuro when I was out on a mission. We date for most of the SAO incident. I took her out to nice restaurants and bought her nice gift and she did the same in return. We were happy that we had each other.

The End

This was one of the longest stories have written yet but the was some much to tell in this story especially with the whole MikaelXAkuro story. But want happened to them in the end well you going to have to read SAO: Redemption. Speaking of SAO: Redemption here is the sneak peek I promised you at the begin.

SAO: Redemption

My landing smooth due to the practise I did. The armour that I was wear made the landing even more simple with the AI known as Zeon guiding me like a tutorial. "Zeon are you sure this is where I can find the strongest player" I asked it. Zeon appeared on the visor of my helmet above my health and magic bars. "I'm positive that this is where the rumour said he or she would be" Zeon told me. "Oh Alfhiem you surprise me every minute I spend in this game" I told myself. Suddenly a figure appeared in the tree and jumped down. "So are you my new opponent" She asked. The figure was a girl dressed in purple. "That depends are you Zekken" I said to her. "Yes that is me so are you hear to fight or talk" she said to me. "Fight if you are who you say you are" I told her. "Of course I am. Nice armour by the way" she said as she drew her sword. "Thanks it brand new" I responded as I drew Lighting Blaze and Moonlight Sins. She sent me a fight request which I accepted. We both got into battle stances as the countdown. When it reached zero we both charged straight at each other.

To be continued in SAO: Redemption