Ren walked into town, his coat wrapped around him as the cool November air whipped around him. He had spent the last few months training with his allies non-stop and now the rumoured December event was only one week away. He had organised a party of five to take on the event consisting of himself, Muko, Kotetsu, Arcadia and Vakross. He'd tried to get Hakuya to come too but apparently he had prior arrangements.

Now Ren was on his way to meet up with Tatsuya and Megumi to discuss the event. The three had all agreed to meet in a park not too far from Ren's place. Although he now wished he'd chosen somewhere inside, it was getting cold pretty early this year.

As Ren arrived at the park he immediately spotted Tatsuya sitting on a bench in jeans and a leather jacket, a pair of sunglasses pushed up into his hair. He gave Ren a small wave as the shorter boy approached. "Morning," Ren said, sitting down next to him. Tatsuya nodded in reply and the two boys waited until Megumi came into view.

"Sorry I'm late!" she called out, running up in a long dress, boots and a jumper.

"No problem, we weren't waiting too long, right?" Tatsuya asked, looking at Ren who nodded. The three had met up in real life a few times since Megumi had joined their online party. She was yet to meet Takiko however.

"So the event is only a week away now, what level are you guys?" Ren asked, looking between his two friends. "I'm at fifty-six."

"Fifty for me, I wish I could've gotten higher," Tatsuya said with a slight sigh.

"I'm at level forty-nine," Megumi said.

"Arcadia said she's at fifty-four and I think Vakross is at fifty-three so we're all pretty close together," Ren explained. A sliver of uncertainty ran through his mind. He still hadn't told the others about his dream and he'd really been hoping everyone would have been at least level fifty-five.

"Well those are pretty high levels, we should be able to do it right? I mean you guys cleared the siege event in Lindas when you were back in the lower levels," Megumi said.

"Yeah! We'll ace this as long as we work together. I kind of wish Hakuya was coming along though," Tatsuya said.

"Not much we can do about it, he had other things to do," Ren said with a slight shrug.

"Hey, Muko, that you?" a voice asked from behind the small group. Megumi turned her head and hesitantly rose as a young man approached her. He looked to be a college student.

"Oh… hello Odayuki," Megumi said in a meek voice.

"Who are these two?" Odayuki asked, looking between Ren and Tatsuya who curiously watched him.

"They're um… friends from school," Megumi said, looking away a little.

"Whatever. You heard about what's going on right? You'll be joining us won't you?"

"Oh um… I don't think so, sorry."

"What, why the heck not? You ain't got no reason not to so what's the problem?"

"I'll be busy."

"With these two kids?"

"Yes…"

"Fine, whatever. Don't blame me if you get in shit for not doing this."

With those last words, Odayuki gave Ren and Tatsuya a rather unimpressed looking scowl before turning and walking away.

"Who was that guy?" Ren asked, relaxing a little as the college student left.

"Oh, he was an acquaintance from ALO," Megumi said, sitting back down.

"He didn't seem too happy, what did he want you to do?" Tatsuya asked. He wondered why Megumi had said she knew them from school when she went to a completely different high school.

"Him and some of his friends are having some big gathering on the same day as the December quest and he wants me to go."

"Sorry, I guess we got you in trouble," Ren said, looking down at his legs. Megumi shook her head.

"No way, I'd much rather hang out with you guys. I don't really like him and his friends anyway," Megumi said with a smile. "So anyway, what's our strategy for this boss?"

"Well we don't really have any information on it so we'll have to play it safe to start with. I'm thinking you, me and Arcadia will start off at the front with Tatsuya and Vakross in the back switching in when we need breaks," Ren explained. Megumi's eyes went wide and she stared at Ren.

"What? Y-you want me at the front?" she asked.

"Yeah. You and I have shields so we can help block attacks while Arcadia dishes out massive damage."

"Oh… I see."

"Don't worry, I'm sure Ren will save you if you get into trouble," Tatsuya said with a huge grin. Megumi had told the others how her and Ren had met and Tatsuya had been constantly teasing them about it ever since.

"Note to self, use Tatsuya as bait when the enemy attacks," Ren remarked. Megumi laughed while Tatsuya stuck his tongue out.

"Seriously though, is that it? Just keeping switching around till it dies?" Tatsuya asked, a little surprise by the simple plan.

"Well there's not much else we can do. We know nothing about this boss," Ren replied. "Besides, I thought you'd like such a simple plan."

"You're confusing me with Arcadia, she's the one who likes to go in there and start smashing things," Tatsuya said.

"Oh yeah, did you make sure to get a spare weapon and shield in case the durability of your main ones run low during the battle?" Ren asked, looking at Megumi.

"Yep, I got them yesterday before I logged off. They're not quite as good as my normal equipment but they're still strong," Megumi replied.

"I managed to get a Crystallite Sword and Crystallite Shield. Same as you though, they're not quite as strong as my usual gear. Let's all just make sure we do our best next week."

"Dude we'll be fine. Quit being so on edge, it's just a game anyway, not like we'll really die if we screw up," Tatsuya said with a grin. He placed a hand on Ren's shoulder and the brown haired boy nodded.

The three sat for over an hour discussing various things from ALO to school. After they had spoken about everything interesting they could find, they each decided to head home. As soon as Ren got back home, he went straight to his room and put on his AmuSphere and laid down on his bed. He closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath. "Link start."

Chrome slid out of bed and walked into the lounge room of his house in a simple t-shirt and long pants. He sat down on his armchair and let out a long sigh. His dream weighed heavily on his mind and he wondered if it was wrong of him to keep it a secret from the others. He knew what Tatsuya had said was right, ALO was just a game. This wasn't SAO from a few years ago, it's not like they could die for real. Still, something just felt wrong.

He opened his menu and took out Amethyst Edge, drawing the purple bladed sword and holding it out before him. Even though he'd had the sword for a few months now, thanks to Lisbeth's upgrades, he hadn't needed to replace it yet. He was glad about that, he really liked the sword. He shook his head and smiled a little, he felt it pretty silly that he'd gotten so attached to a digital sword.

Chrome got to his feet and twirled the sword around a few times, feeling it glide through the air with each wave of his arm. He lowered the sword, the tip resting on the wooden floor. This sword would be the one he carried into battle a week from now he thought to himself, glancing down at the weapon. No matter what… he'd use it to protect everyone.

There was a knock on the door of Chrome's house and he returned Amethyst Edge to its grey sheath and headed for the door, holding said sheath in his hand. He opened the door and found a familiar face smiling at him from the other side.

"It's unusual to find you just sitting around," Muko said, keeping the gentle smile on her face.

"Really? I guess I just don't feel like levelling right now," Chrome replied, inviting the girl in. The two headed into the lounge room and sat down, Chrome on his usual armchair and Muko on the long couch. "So what brings you here?" Chrome asked, placing his sword on the coffee table.

"Well I logged in and saw you were online so I figured I'd come see what you were doing. None of the others are on so I had nobody else to hang out with."

"Oh, so I'm the one you come to when everyone else is offline?" Chrome had a slight grin as he asked the question. Muko's cheeks puffed up a little as she replied.

"You know what I meant."

"Yeah I do."

"So, is something wrong?"

"What do you mean?"

Muko seemed to think for a second, obviously trying to figure out how to explain what she was asking. "Well, you've seemed to be getting edgy the closer it gets to this event. I haven't known you very long but you always seem so calm and collected, this isn't like you," she explained.

"I see. Well, I guess I've just had some stuff on my mind. It's nothing you need to worry about though," Chrome said with a reassuring smile.

"That's not true. I may not have known you as long as Kotetsu and Arcadia, but I can tell something is wrong. When something is troubling you, it's better to talk about it," Muko said, a worried expression on her face as she looked at Chrome. He let out a slight sigh and leant back in his chair.

"For a while now, ever since I first heard about this event and decided to do it with Arcadia and Kotetsu, I've been having this weird dream. I get to the event area with Arcadia and someone else, I think it's maybe Vakross and instead of some monster, there's some guy there and he beats the three of us like it's nothing. I'm left lying on the ground, unable to move and watching as he kills the others. Then I get up for one last attack and he kills me. I usually wake up when I see the death screen but it just feels… different," Chrome explained, staring down at the sword the whole time he spoke.

"Wow. So you think it's like some sort of premonition thing?" Muko asked, slightly shocked by everything she had heard.

"I really don't know. It just feels so real. I mean I'm even using the Crystallite stuff I bought yesterday. I think what really gets me though is when I get killed… I don't know why but it scares the hell out of me, I've never felt like that when I've died in the game."

"It'll all be fine," Muko said with a warm smile. "You've protected me all this time so if your dream does come true, I'll do whatever it takes to protect you… even if it means I lose my life." Chrome looked up as Muko's voice went quiet and she seemed to shudder a little.

"You okay?" Chrome asked.

"Yep, I'm fine!" Muko replied with a big smile. "You don't have to worry about a thing okay, I swear I won't let you die." Muko stared into Chrome's eyes with her usual warm smile and he couldn't help but feel better.

"I guess we'll be protecting each other then, because I won't let you die either."

"Seems like it." The two smiled at each other and Muko got to her feet. "Well I guess I should probably get going," Muko said, blushing a little. As she turned to leave the room, Chrome got to his feet as well.

"Muko," he said. As the girl turned around, Chrome put his arms around her and held her against him. "Thank you," he whispered. Muko felt as though her brain may explode at any moment as she tried to speak.

"F-for what?" she managed to ask.

"For listening, and for being here," Chrome replied. He closed his eyes slowly and kept his arms around Muko. The two stood still for a long while, holding each other without another word being spoken.