Disclaimer: I don't own Sword Art Online or any of Rick Riordan's works.

Warning: angst, murder…

Enjoy!

Kirito smiled at his new friends in the Moonlit Black Cats guild.

They had been so welcoming to him, despite the fact that they had known each other for years, and he was an outsider.

Granted, the fact that he had saved their lives helped.

"Eh, Kirito?" the leader asked. "If you don't mind me asking, what level are you?"

"Um…I'm level 20." He answered awkwardly, glancing to the side. In his peripheral vision, he could see his stats, including his current level, which was 40.

"Woah!" another guy said. "And you've been playing solo! Sweet! Think you could help us out a bit...?"

Kirito nearly fell out of his chair in shock at the sudden onslaught of pleas as nearly everyone in the group jumped towards him.

He agreed within moments, feeling slightly claustrophobic.

What had he just gotten himself into?

He glanced at the pretty girl, Sachi, who was trying to hold in her giggles at her friends' antics.

Well…maybe it wasn't all bad.

Kirito sighed in relief as the group managed to kill off a monster, despite the fact that they had had a hard time doing so.

A moment later, he felt someone's presence nearby and glanced around, only to see a familiar figure leaning against a tree, covered in shade.

He grinned at his friend, before jogging towards him. He knew the other boy well enough to know that he wasn't comfortable with strangers, so bringing the Cats' attention towards him might not be the best idea.

"Who was that?" Sachi asked shyly as Kirito came back.

She had been the first to notice his absence, and had to stop the others from interrupting the two boys.

If Kirito wanted them to know what that was all about, he would tell them.

But that didn't mean that she wasn't curious.

"A friend." Kirito answered with a grin, soothing Sachi's fears that he would think that she was nosy.

In the end, when the group decided to go to the dungeons to earn more Col and experience, Kirito asked Nyx to tag along. He had faith in his friends, but he wasn't so sure that they would have as easy a time in the dungeons as they seemed to think that they would.

This turned out to be a very good decision on his part.

Nyx held up his sword in front of the door, blocking their way so that they couldn't enter.

"This one is a trap." He intoned calmly.

Kirito's eyes widened, suspicions confirmed, before he nodded. There was no way the Midnight Black Cats would survive a trap on this level.

"How do you know?" one of the guys whined, upset at the situation. The treasure chest was right there!

"Besides fighting on the front lines, Nyx is also an information dealer." Kirito explained, before taking ahold of Sachi's shoulders and guiding the girl away from the door. "He works closely with Argo."

The group froze in surprise. Argo was well-known for being the best information dealer in Sword Art Online, and she was almost never wrong.

Meaning…this guy probably knew what he was talking about.

As one, the boys let out a depressed sigh.

Sachi, on the other hand, smiled at the strange boy gratefully. She knew that she wouldn't survive to the end, but she didn't want her friends to die with her.

Kirito sighed as he teleported himself to Floor 9, where they were working on finding the boss.

He had been away from the front lines for too long. Nyx had already gone back days ago.

His friends in the guild were sad to see him go, but they understood. He was one of the brave few who were fighting for their (eventual) freedom, and he couldn't do that with him.

They were holding him back, and they knew it. Not that Kirito had ever told them as much.

Still, if they trained hard, then maybe they would become strong enough to join him!

Three weeks later, a woman with brilliant red hair joined the Moonlit Black Cats guild. Within two days, the original members were dead.

*One week later*

Argo sighed, resigned, as Kirito walked off to go defeat the Christmas event boss Nicholas the Renegade, in the hopes of earning the reward rumored to bring one person back to life in the game.

Why must he be so stubborn?

His recklessness was going to get him killed one of these days.

Three hours later, Klein perked up as a portal appeared and Kirito walked out.

He didn't like the blank look on his friend's face, much less the emptiness in his eyes.

Kirito tossed him the rare item that he'd earned, and though surprised, Klein read the description.

The item must be used…within ten seconds.

"It's yours." Kirito said stoically, causing Klein to look up in shock. "If someone ever dies in front of you, use it."

"Wait, Kirito!" the redhead shouted after his friend, who ignored him and walked away.

He took a shuddering breath. "Damn it."

The kid was already a loner, and getting his hopes up only to find out that he couldn't save whoever he was trying to save wasn't going to help.

Kirito listened to the message crystal that Sachi had apparently arranged to be sent to him on Christmas before she had died.

What would she say? Did she hate him for giving her an empty promise, telling her that she would be able to go back to the real world?

No.

She knew that he had lied to them about his level, but didn't blame him for it. She thanked him for his help, and for making her happy even though she had known that her death was coming.

Then she had started to hum Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in honor of the holiday.

Kirito cried himself to sleep that night, but oddly enough, when he woke up the next morning it almost felt like a weight had been lifted off of him.

Please review!

I'm sorry! I have nothing against Sachi, but according to the wiki, she was Kirito's first love, not Asuna. How was Kirito supposed to fall out of love with Sachi, in love with Asuna, and still be determined to play solo because he's afraid of seeing his friends killed for teaming up with him like he is in canon? Until he later teamed up with Asuna, I mean, but he didn't really have a choice at first. It was Sachi's death (and those of the rest of the guild) that made him who he was.

Regardless of my reasons, my sister is going to kill me for doing it. Sorry, Violet!

Yes, Nico is an information dealer as well as being a combat specialist. In Rick Riordan's world, from the time Nico went off on his own after Bianca's death, he always seemed to know interesting and useful information that none of the other half-bloods had access to. I think it fits. Anyway, I'll focus on him next chapter.