Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online.

Chapter 13: The Mask of Nytokris

It was midmorning as Asuna sat at the table in her favorite café drinking a cup of tea. Later that afternoon, she planned to log back into ALO to watch the Bracket B fights of the Clash of Queens tournament. At that moment though, Asuna felt like she needed some time to gather her thoughts. Under normal circumstances, another player would've used her day off from the tournament to prepare for the next round, but Asuna was going to be up against two friends; two friends that she was sure that she was not on good terms with. Asuna knew that Rika had an axe to grind with her in the game, and she felt certain that she was going to have a major problem with Sugu as well. While it was true that Sugu acted friendly towards her, Asuna couldn't help but think that her boyfriend's sister was harboring some massive hostility towards her. After all, Asuna had stolen away Sugu's first love, and had helped to destroy her second one.

"Excuse me." A high-pitched voice spoke, shaking Asuna from her thoughts. "This may seem like an inappropriate question, but you wouldn't happen to be an ALfheim Online player called Asuna, would you?"

Asuna looked, and standing next to her table was a woman who stood at only a little over four feet tall and had shoulder-length straight dark-brown hair. She was very scrawny, and though the woman was very short Asuna could tell that she was in her late twenties or early thirties. The woman had on a large pair of glasses with thick black round frames, along with a black blazer over a buttoned white shirt and a short black skirt that only went up just a little past the knee. On the woman's feet was a pair of black high-heeled shoes that did not do much at all to boost her height.

"Um… do I know you?" Asuna asked with a raised eyebrow.

"If you are the Asuna I think you are, then yes." The woman answered. "We have meet before. I have to say that this is my first time encountering someone whose avatar looks almost exactly like their real selves."

"Oh! So you play ALO too." Asuna realized. "Well then, I guess I'm the Asuna you're talking about. My real name is Asuna Yuuki."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Asuna." The woman replied. "My name's Midori Kawakita. You would know me in the game as Iron Lurga."

Asuna saw nearly dropped to the floor. She was totally stunned that the nine-foot tall colossus was mousy-looking woman who was now standing before her.

"You're… you're really Lurga?" Asuna asked. "I… I hardly recognized you."

"I know. My online appearance is radically different from how I really look." Midori replied as she adjusted her glasses. "Mind if I sit down?"

"Um, not at all!" Asuna replied.

"I have to say, it really is strange seeing someone from an online game look exactly as they do in the real world." Midori remarked as she sat down. "Did you use some special code to make your avatar match how you really look?"

"Actually, my avatar in ALO was originally from a game you might know called Sword Art Online." Asuna revealed. "Not long after the game had started, everyone playing the game had their avatars reset to match how we look in the real world."

"Oh my! You're really a survivor from that death game?" an amazed Midori asked. "And so young too. And despite living through that horror, you continue to dive into another VRMMO like ALO. You really are tough. Certainly nothing like me."

"Hey. You gave me a pretty hard time in our tournament battle." Asuna pointed out. "Of course I never expected that your avatar would be so different from how you really look."

"Yes, well… that was by design." Midori admitted. "I've always been a little bit sensitive about my height, and the fact that I've never been very athletic never helped matters either. In school, gym class was always a nightmare for me. I always wished I could be bigger and stronger. Then when I started reading about these VRMMOS and how a person's virtual avatar could be totally different from their real world body, I decided to try it out for myself. When it came time to make my character, I picked the fairy race that had the toughest-looking model. Later after I set down in ALO, I found that for the very first time I was tall.

"I was absolutely thrilled! In that world, I didn't have to look up at people to look them in the eye. Of course being tall simply wasn't enough. I wanted to be strong too. So I put myself through intense physical training in the game to get as strong as I possibly could. You've seen the results for yourself. In this world all I am is a tiny little reference librarian, but in that virtual world I'm a titan. I hope you don't think less of me now that you've seen behind my mask."

"Not at all. I totally understand your reasons." Asuna told her. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Kawakita."

"Please. Call me Midori." The spectacled woman told her. "There's no need to be so formal, Asuna. In fact, I'm actually honored to have been able to meet such a strong player in real life."

"Well this is a surprise." A familiar voice interrupted. Asuna and Midori looked to see Shino suddenly standing next to the table. "Guess you like this café too, huh Asuna?"

"Hi Shino." The redhead responded. "Um, I'd like you to meet a new friend of mine, Midori. I actually know her from ALO. Midori, this one of my friends, Shino Asada."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Shino." Midori responded. "Do you play ALO as well?"

"Actually I do." Shino confirmed. "So just how do you and Asuna know each other?"

"I was her very first opponent in the Clash of Queens tournament." Midori answered.

Shino blinked in surprise. "You're Iron Lurga? One of the strongest tank players in the game?"

"I prefer to think of myself as the strongest, but yes." Midori confirmed. "So, since we're all being transparent here, care to tell me about your online alter ego?"

"Um, I'm the one they call the Phantom Arrow." Shino answered. "I'm sorry, but are you really Iron Lurga?"

"What's going on here?" another voice cut in. Asuna and the others looked to see Nakuru approaching. "Shino, these more friends of yours?"

"Uh, yeah. Mostly." Shino confirmed. "Asuna, this is a friend of mine from school, Nakuru Kitamori."

"It's nice to meet you." Asuna responded.

"Likewise." Nakuru replied. "It's rare for me to run into Shino's friends outside of school."

Asuna couldn't help but find something familiar about Nakuru's voice. "Say, have we met before somewhere?"

"No. I don't think so." Nakuru answered. "Anyway, I gottan run Shino. We still on for dinner later tonight?"

"You bet." Shino answered. "I'll try not to be late."

"Good. There's actually something I want to talk to you about then." Nakuru replied. "Well, later."

With that, Nakuru exited the café, leaving Shino with Asuna and Midori.

"Hey Asuna, what was with that question you asked Nakuru?" Shinon asked. "Do you really think you know her from somewhere?"

"I don't know. Her voice just sounded familiar to me somehow." Asuna answered. "I feel like I've heard it before, but I just can't place it."

"I think I can." Midori spoke. "I have a talent for recognizing voices, and I can tell you that Ms. Nakuru sounds almost exactly like that loathsome Nytokris woman from ALO."

Asuna gasped at the realization. "You're right! How could I ever forget that voice?"

"Forgive me for sounding harsh, but I'm rather disappointed that you're friends with someone like that, Ms. Shino." Midori told her. "I've encountered Nytokris a few times myself, and I can tell you that she really is a loathsome woman. There are even some nasty rumors floating around about her in the game, like how she likes to conduct orgies with the raiding parties she goes on after defeating a boss."

"I don't know about any of that, but I do know Nytokris is a bitch." Asuna remarked. "The whole reason I entered this tournament was to take her down."

"Hey! You two don't know what the hell you're talking about." Shino told them. "For one thing, I don't think Nakuru even plays ALO. And even if she does, she's nothing like the person you're talking about."

"Don't be so sure." Midori told her. "We all put on masks when we enter these online games. I'm living proof of that. The Nakuru that you know could be a very different person from how she is online."

"Shino, I think you should be careful." Asuna told her. "If your friend really is the person we think she is, than she could be dangerous."

"I don't give a rat's ass what you think right now!" Shino shot back. "You can take whatever else you think about Nakuru and shove it! Because I'm not at all interested!"

With that, Shino stormed out of the café. As she left, Asuna let out a heavy sigh.

"I'm sorry Asuna. Perhaps I shouldn't have said anything to her." Midori assumed.

"Don't worry about it." Asuna replied. "Well… I guess I've got one more friend who's mad at me now."

The tournament battles were about to start up again as Asuna arrived back at the crystal stadium with Lurga. When the duo arrived, Asuna quickly spotted Silica and went over to see them. The blunette noticed that Sinon was there too, but the archer made no attempt to come over and greet them.

"Hi Silica!" Asuna spoke as she came over.

"Oh hey!" the young dragon tamer responded. "I wasn't expecting to see you here today, Asuna. I mean your next battle isn't until tomorrow."

"I know, but I still wanted to come and give you support." Asuna replied. "By the way, you remember my opponent from the first round, Lurga, right? She and I have kinda hit it off."

"What's hanging, squirt?" Lurga spoke.

"Hi." Silica responded with a somewhat displeased expression as Lurga's greeting. "Anyway Asuna, I'm probably not going to do real well in this tournament. This'll probably be my only battle."

"Don't sell yourself short, Silica." Asuna told her. "After all, you were able to survive SAO. This tournament shouldn't be any problem."

"This kid survived SAO too?" an amazed Lurga asked. "Damn! You must be an amazing player, Silica."

"Well, I do okay." Silica replied. "But I really don't think I'm going to get very far in this tournament. I mean… look at who my opponent in this first round is."

Asuna looked up at the holographic screen showing the brackets for the tournament. It didn't take her long to see that Nytokris was slated as Silica's first opponent.

Soon after this revelation, Lydia appeared in the large chamber with a dazzling flash of blue light. "Good afternoon, everyone! Welcome to the second day of our first ever Clash of Queens tournament! For today, we'll be holding the first and second round battles for the Bracket B players. Just like before, all the battles will be held simultaneously. Those of you watching from around ALO or at home can pick and stream the specific battle you want to watch. Now then, all Bracket B players please head over to the teleport pads."

"Well, wish me luck." Silica told the others.

"Be careful, Silica." Asuna told her.

With that, Silica headed over to one of the blue teleport pads with Pina flying close behind. As soon as the dragon tamer and her pet stepped onto the pad, a beam of blue light shot up from around Silica's feet and sent them out of the stadium.

The blue beam of light from the teleport pad set Silica and Pina down in a lush dense forest in sylph territory that the dragon tamer knew as the Deep Emerald Woods. The leaves from the trees were so thick that they practically blocked out the sun. Silica always felt uneasy traveling through those woods because of the high monster encounter rate. Of course there was no chance of encountering any monsters this time around, but Silica had a feeling that her opponent was going to be worse than any monster the game could throw at her. After a few moments, another beam of blue light hit the ground a few feet away from where Silica was standing and faded to reveal Nytokris.

"Oh great. So I'm up against you in the first round, eh?" Nytokris observed with a bored expression. "I was hoping that my first opponent would at least be an amusing diversion. Ah well. I guess this means that at least I won't be here long."

"You better not sell me short!" Silica warned as she took out her dagger. "I may be small and just a little unskilled, but I'm no pushover!"

"Is that a fact?" Nytokris replied as she pulled out a dagger of her own. "Then show me what you're made of, little girl."

Soon after, a holographic timer appeared in the air above the two fighters and began to tick away the seconds. When the clock hit zero, Silica charged across the battlefield to stab Nytokris with her knife. The young dragon tamer had only gotten half way across the field though when Nytokris threw her own blade at her opponent. The flying dagger struck Silica in her upper left arm and took off a good chunk of her HP. Just as Silica was about to pull her opponent's knife from her arm, Nytokris dashed over with incredible speed and kicked her in the stomach, knocking her into the side of a tree several feet behind her.

The impact from hitting the tree had taken Silica's HP close to the yellow zone. Pina quickly flew over and breathed a blue mist over her master's body, recovering some of Silica's lost HP. Meanwhile, Nytokris had dashed off into the woods.

"Thanks Pina." Silica spoke as she got back up. "I totally wasn't expecting her to attack like that."

"The knife throwing skill I just used against you isn't exactly my greatest strength, but it is more than affective against an opponent of your caliber." Nytokris spoke from somewhere in the woods. Silica looked around to try and figure out where the silver-haired imp's voice was coming from but couldn't pinpoint the source. "There are also some pretty useful trick that knife throwing is good for, but I doubt that I'll need any of them here."

"Where are you?" Silica asked as she continued to look around. "Show yourself!"

Suddenly a fast-moving object came out from behind the tree and Silica heard Pina squeal. When the dragon tamer looked up, she saw Nytokris holding Pina by the neck. The imp woman produced another dagger as Pina frantically tried to squirm free.

"So this little thing also helps you recover your HP." Nytokris observed as she held the blade of her knife close to the dragon's stomach. "That could get a little annoying. I think I'll finish this vermin off before I deal with you."

"Wait!" Silica called just as Nytokris was about to stab the little dragon in the stomach. "Please… I don't want you to hurt Pina."

With that, Silica brought up her menu screen and clicked on a single command. Soon after, the timer vanished and was replace by a message showing that Silica had surrendered the match. Another message declaring Nytokris the winner appeared a split second afterward.

Nytokris let out a cold laugh as she threw Pina back down towards Silica. "Now that was pitiful! Getting so worked up over something so small that you'd throw the match."

"How could you be so cruel?" Silica asked as she cradled a frightened Pina in her arms.

"I was just doing what I thought I needed to win." Nytokris told her. "If you can't handle that sort of thing, than you should just stay out of these fights, little girl."

Before Silica could try to respond, a beam of blue light came down from above through the trees and teleported Silica and Pina out of the woods.

Sinon returned to the stadium after completing her first fight in the tournament. Her opponent was a tough axe-wielding leprechaun called Chromia, but in the end the leprechaun was no match of Sinon's invisibility and her power to shoot arrows through phantom portals. As Sinon stepped off the teleport pad, she noticed Asuna sitting on a bench next to Silica, with Lurga standing right by them with her arms crossed. Silica had fresh tears on her eyes and was cradling a tense Pina in her arms. Out of concern, Sinon went over to see what had happened.

"What's going on here?" Sinon asked. "Is everything okay?"

"Silica was forced to surrender her battle." Asuna told the archer.

"She was going to hurt Pina." Silica spoke. "I… I just couldn't let that happen!"

"The kid was up against Nytokris." Lurga revealed. "Well Arrow? What do you think of that friend of yours now?"

Silica looked at Sinon with an expression of shock. "Sinon. Are… are you really friends with that woman?"

"Hey! We don't know who Nytokris is IRL!" Sinon pointed out.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Lurga told her. "We could hear Nytokris talking in that joke of a battle, and there's no doubt in my mind. Her voice is exactly the same as the woman Asuna and I saw with you at that café."

"She's right, Sinon." Asuna told her as she stood from the bench. "There's no doubt in my mind that your friend and Nytokris are the same person."

"Sinon! How could you possibly be friends with a woman like that?" Silica asked. "She's evil!"

"What the hell are all of you talking about?" Sinon asked. "I'm not saying one way or another that Nakuru is Nytokris, but just what did she do in that battle that was so bad?"

"She grabbed Pina as was about to kill her right in front of Silica's eyes." Asuna coldly answered. "Pina may be just an NPC, but that kind of move was way over the line! It would've been like if Nytokris had threatened to kill Yui!"

"Okay! Now I'm more convinced than ever that Nakuru isn't this woman you're talking about." Sinon told them. "There's no way she'd ever do something that cruel!"

"You sure about that, Arrow?" Lurga asked. "Like I told you before, we all wear masks inside games like these. But there are also some people who wear those masks in the real world. The Nakuru you know may not be the friend you think she is."

"I still don't buy that Nakuru and Nytokris are the same person." Sinon declared.

"Well… you'll be able to find out for yourself soon enough." Lurga told her. "Just check out who you're up against in the next round."

Sinon looked up at the giant screen showing the tournament brackets and saw what Lurga was talking about. She was up against Nytokris in the next round. A few minutes later, all of the remaining fights in the first round had wrapped up. Once all of the surviving players had returned, Lydia reappeared with a flash of blue light.

"Congrats to all of you ladies who made it past the first round!" Lydia praised. "The round to fights for the Bracket B players will begin in five minutes, so you better get ready."

"Well Sinon, now you're going to get a chance to see just what your friend is really like in this game." Asuna told her.

"We'll see about that." Sinon told her. "I'm going to use this battle to prove that Nakuru isn't the woman you think she is!"

Please review and let me know what you think.