From the depths of the Underworld, I rise yet again for another April Fools' yearly special!

All jokes aside, I'm honestly quite embarrassed...part of me didn't even wanna do the usual April Fool's update after not uploading anything for another whole year, but I felt that if I did I would be letting a lot of people down, so here it is!

To be fair, I did a lot of things this year, got my life straight and my goals set, and recently finished some college courses that will allow me to get a decent full-time job, so I like to think things have gone a lot better and I have grown as a person a lot even if that sadly has come at the cost of my time as a writer. While I still do have some fun ideas from time to time that I try to write down, the same drive as before is sadly not there anymore, and when I had free time from everything I have been doing I usually ended up mostly reading or gaming to try and relax instead of writing like I used to.

However, at the very least I wanna maintain this tradition, both 'cause part of me still enjoy writing down these fun and whacky things and because I always hope they may inspire others to write their own great stories just as others inspired me, and as I have known it has happened a few times, making me smile. Also, who knows, maybe after I'm fully settled on my job a miracle may happen and I may get back to try and write my full stories to finish them, which a part of me still hopes to do one day, but I gotta prioritize my future stability first XP

Now then, enough about my life and such drama, you're here to have some weird random SAO fun, aren't you? If so, enjoy this little not-quite-full-crossover of a very odd and niche game that I once played back when I was a dumb teenager with a brand-new PSVita, which may have been shitty in hindsight but which main plot certainly can be used for some very hilarious settings!

Disclaimer/Warning: Neither SAO nor its characters belong to me, they're Reki Kawahara's property. Neither do the idea/settings of 'Conception II: Children of the 7 Stars', they're from Spike Chunsoft and Atlus. Also, this particular one-shot/story takes place in the SAO Gameverse AU rather than Canon SAO, after the events of SAO Hollow Realization instead of Fatal Bullet, so apologies to the people who only know the anime about the characters/references to events they may not know!


[Conception Online]


Prologue: 'Babymaking' Online…?

The, by now, very familiar visage of multicolored light vanished from the boy's view, a gentle chime informing him that he had both Logged In successfully. A quick look at his hands and body, from what he could see at least, let him confirm that his account conversion had been apparently successful too.

Of course, the following familiar voice was what finished confirming it.

"Ah, Onii-chan!" happily called Leafa as she walked up to Kirito, the boy turning around to greet him with a smile. "We appeared just beside each other? Lucky!"

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting that either…" commented the gamer while looking at the mostly white uniform his adoptive sister was wearing, and how the usual 'flashy' ribbon that kept her ponytail up had been replaced by a 'normal' white one. "Maybe it's something related to us logging from the same IP?"

"I wouldn't know…this place looks nice enough, though." smiled the blonde while walking out of the small structure and looking up at the beautiful island they were on, the forests somehow mixing perfectly with the slightly futuristic-looking city in its center. "…is there really something fishy going on with this game?"

"That's what Kikuoka said…though honestly, I'm hoping he's wrong. One Beta Test ending up with something crazy and unbelievable happening in the last month is more than enough."

Leafa let out a nervous chuckle at that, though honestly, Kirito couldn't really be blamed for his words. After all, even if all the things they went through in 'Sword Art: Origin' made them closer and also resulted in Premiere and Tia becoming part of their strange group (Family? Could they be kinda called that at this point?), they could all honestly do without being involved in another virtual doomsday scenario anytime soon.

Or ever, if they could help it.

The only reason they were in that 'world', 'Star Warriors Online', at all was because Seijirou Kikuoka had asked Kazuto for help once again. Apparently, the company behind the Beta for this new game had appeared 'out of nowhere', and the information on them was extremely limited, plus some 'worrying anomalies' had been reported…

In the end, if only to get the man off his back, the black-haired boy had accepted, but not before talking it out with everyone else. All of them, after some effort, had managed to get into the Beta and were planning on meeting there that day very soon…well, except for Seven (Nanairo, that is). Girl was busy trying to find a way to subtly bring the Twin 'Goddesses' to that world without anyone noticing. Yui and Strea were luckier in that regard, as the latter had found out she could use her ALO account to transfer without issue if she used the Beta Invitation they had been given, and her 'big sister' was going to follow right behind hidden within their similar data (Reason why she currently wasn't there with her 'papa').

He and Suguha had actually Logged in a bit earlier because the nerves (And excitement) had been too much for him, and his cousin had found him just as he tried to subtly Log In by himself.

"Still…what's with these school uniforms?" asked the busty girl while looking down at her attire, pulling on one side of her blouse (Which did 'interesting' things to her noticeable assets) with a frown. "Wasn't this supposed to be an adventure/fantasy game?"

"The info was a bit limited, but yes, it's supposed to. I'm guessing these are more 'military' than school uniforms, though. And there is also supposed to be some kind of 'summoning mechanic' to get creatures that fight at your side or something…it truly sounds quite exciting…"

"…Onii-chan, you only agreed to help because you wanted to play this game for free, didn't you?"

"Wha…?! You wound me, Su…Leafa! I would never do something like that!"

"Hai, hai, whatever you say~"

Doing his best to ignore Leafa's chuckles as they walked to the center of the big plaza they had been heading towards (He was not pouting! Men didn't do that, much less those that had survived Death Games, out of control loli Geniuses and people-hating virtually-drugged lunatics!), Kirito blinked upon noticing how two figures in white robes were waiting near the center, welcoming the few players around and inciting them to walk towards the 'Ritual Hall' to start their adventure.

"Hmmm…what do you think that is?"

"Maybe…hey, excuse me?" walking up to one of the robed figures, the gamer felt a weird shiver go down his back as 'he' turned towards him, showing just endless darkness within the robe. "Uhm…what's this 'Ritual Hall' you are talking about…?"

"Ah, a newcomer? Oh, and I see you have a partner already, most delightful!" spoke the strange NPC upon looking at Leafa, who had followed after her adopted brother with curiosity. "If you walk together into the Ritual Hall, you can begin bringing about the Miracle of the Stars and saving this world from the claws of Darkness!"

A sudden virtual prompt appeared before both players, making them look in surprise, Kirito nodding in satisfaction while the blonde girl just read with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, just like I thought, this must be the tutorial for the game! Well, at least they made it quite obvious enough for anyone coming through…"

"Complete the Sacred Ritual with your partner and start your journey? Sounds fantasy-like enough, yeah…uh? Onii-chan…does it also say it requires the other person's confirmation before accepting for you?"

"Huh…that's right." mumbled the boy as he looked at the 'Mutual Acceptance Needed' line at the end of the floating screen, followed by an option to give his confirmation. "That's…the first time I see that in any VRMMO…maybe teamwork is actually a key thing in this world?"

"Heh, then you won't be able to simply run off to show off and leave us all worried here." joked the busty girl while elbowing her brother's side before looking back at the Quest prompt. "So…what do we do about his?"

"Well…Asuna and the rest will still take like half an hour or so before arriving, so why don't we see what this whole 'summoning mechanic' it's all about?" asked Kirito with an excited smile. "Then we can show whatever we get off to everyone!"

"Of course, that would be what you were thinking about…" sighed Leafa while shaking her head, though inwardly she was actually happy to get some extra 'Onii-chan Time' by herself.

After all, in a group where almost every girl had some romantic feelings for the boy (She included) who was already 'married', things could get pretty hectic when they were all together.

And so, the 'siblings' accepted the 'Quest', prompting the screens to vanish and the two robed figures to congratulate them before pointing towards the curious and almost sacred-looking building, both of them walking forward with cheerful excitement.

None of them noticed the red eyes and disturbing smiles that appeared within the dark hoods for a brief moment, staring at their backs.

A few minutes later, the pair was looking around curiously at the all-white and surprisingly big room they had ended in; mostly empty except for a bright light that came through a circular opening in the ceiling on the exact center of it.

"So…how more obvious they could have made the fact that we have to walk towards the bright light?" joked Leafa as they continued walking, idly noticing that the door locked itself behind them.

"Man, I wonder how this works…do we have to do some actual ritual like from a magical manga? Is it just one big process? Will this thing we summon be able to fight like a person or will it be just some tamed monster?" questioned Kirito to no one in special, his excitement now impossible to hide.

"Oh, Onii-chan, honestly, that side of you is way too obsessed with these things." commented the busty blonde while looking away with a small blush, wondering why she suddenly noticed how 'intimate' the feeling the room gave was. "Really, you should focus a bit more on…"

"Greetings, young Star Warriors." suddenly spoke a majestic voice coming straight from the light above them, just as the pair walked into it, making their eyes widen. "I'm the Star God, this world's protector Deity. You're among the many Chosen Ones who can wield my power and, as such, it falls on your hands to help save your land from the Darkness."

"Okay…cliché speech is actually nice, truly gets you pumped up for this." grinned Kirito while Leafa nodded along at his side.

"Thus, are you both prepared to engage in the Sacred Ritual and use your power to summon forth the most loyal protectors that shall aid you in this long battle?"

"Ye-yes!"

"Yes, we are!"

"Then the Ritual shall begin." continued the so-called Star God before the light around the 'siblings' intensified, making them feel a strange tingle on their skin. "Now, please…touch each other."

There was an instant of silence, even as both SAO Survivors (One full game and one only a quarter of it) stared at the ceiling with wide eyes.

Then, the expected reactions came.

"EEEHH?!"

"Wha-what?!"

"For your power to channel mine into a new vessel, it needs to flow from a Man into a Woman and take shape, so physical contact is required for it." nonchalantly continued the supposed deity, apparently uncaring of how the way in which he worded it made the pair blush. "Just holding each other's hands should be more than enough."

"O-oh, that's…that's all, eh?" chuckled Kirito before looking out towards his blushing adoptive sister, holding out his hand. "We-well, I suppose there had to be a reason we both had to come beyond just watching something together, right? Le-let's just get this over with."

Why was he so nervous all of a sudden?! It was just holding hands with Sugu! It wasn't as if he hadn't done more than that with her before, like dancing in Svartalfheim's skies, or piggyback-carried her back in SAO…aaaand he probably shouldn't have been thinking of those things because he now was remembering some of their less innocent 'accidents' and his nerves were just growing.

Leafa, for her part, stared at the boy's hands as if they were made of fire, an excited nervousness filling her core as she tried her best to not suddenly start taking deep breaths. It was just an innocent game mechanic, and also a good excuse to hold hands with Onii-chan, s-so it shouldn't be a problem, right?!

With that determination in mind, the blonde nodded to herself and, with no more hesitation, reached out.

The moment their hands touched, though…both teens gasped, their eyes widening as they felt the most bizarre sensations they had in their whole lives.

It was as if a pleasant fire was suddenly engulfing them, expanding from the point where their hands touched, their bodies starting to grow pink and blue respectively. All of a sudden, Kirito felt a strange and pleasant surge of 'energy', a strange urge to get closer and touch more of his beautiful 'sister' almost overwhelming him as he felt the energy flow through him and Leafa's hands.

Gasping, the busty blonde felt her knees growing weak as a wave of pleasure assaulted her, an all-consuming surge of 'something' flowing from her adopted brother and crush into her as she felt her pupils shrinking, her breathing going out of control and the urge to simply collapse into his arms and stop thinking almost consuming her…

Then, as soon as it had begun, it was over, the light and the glows vanishing suddenly as the now visible and swirling power flowed out of Leafa's body and hovered into the air over the two shaken players.

"Su-Sugu…are you oka…?"

The words died in Kirito's mouth as he STARED at the girl, her face flushed and her breath coming out in ragged gasps, her knees shaking as she all but leaned on him to continue standing, and a weirdly familiar shine in her eyes that reminded him a lot of Asuna during their most 'intimate' moments in Aincrad. Gulping, he also felt two hard nubs pressing against his chest from where she was leaning on him…wa-wait, there was no way the game would allow that to be felt just like that, right?!

And what the hell kind of 'Ritual' had that been?!

"O-Onii-chan…" mumbled the busty blonde as she steadied herself, idly noticing how close their faces were. "I-I…"

"It is done."

"BWAH?!"

As if it had been waiting for the Star God's words (Or for the two teens to squeak in fright at remembering they weren't 'alone' there), the 'power' that had come from both of them stopped its spinning motion and shot to the side, just a few meters beside them, where it suddenly coalesced in what the siblings recognized vaguely as Russian Doll…a matryoshka.

Except that this one was the size of a big dog…or a small person. And it was shining in all the colors of the rainbow…and then, it split in two, the two identical dolls shaking in place as their color settled into a deep emerald.

"Oh my, that's a surprise. Your Bond must truly be something else…Twins are very rare for first-timers."

"WHAT?!" shouted both players in unison, but they hadn't even begun tearing their eyes away from the matryoshkas before they…popped open.

Big and round eyes blinked several times, two identical faces staring at each other for a moment before they looked back to the paralyzed forms of Kirito and Leafa with wonder and happiness.

"Mommy, daddy!" shouted one of them as they all but shot forward, into the arms of the two teens, who screamed and caught them as if by reflex.

"Please, give us our names!" asked the second one with a radiant smile from where she hung at Kirito's neck.

"Congratulations. It's a beautiful pair of Star Children." continued the Star God in a voice the mentally-collapsing-boy could have sworn sounded almost smug. "I hope you fulfill your duty satisfactorily as both guardians of this world and…parents."

Leafa released a choked sound, even as the child (Star Child?) hanging from her neck asked what was wrong and called her his mother again.

The gamer considered it a miracle she hadn't fainted yet.


"Man, this place looks quite pretty, eh, mama?"

"Heh, yes, it does, Yui-chan…Strea, don't wander off!"

"Hai, hai, Asuna!" laughed the busty purplette as she looked all around with excitement in her eyes; her uniform seeming not quite big enough to hold her chest, attracting several stares. "I just can't help but be excited! It's a whole new world to have fun in, after all!"

"Yes, yes, but don't get lost before we have even found Kirito and Leafa." chuckled Lisbeth while also looking around with amusement. "Still, wonder where those 2 are? We agreed to meet around here 10 minutes ago…"

"Ma-maybe they got delayed by something unexpected?" ventured Silica while pulling at the side of her uniform, pouting at how it accentuated the curves of most of the other girls.

"Wouldn't Kirito have called us if that was the case?" wondered Sinon as she walked with her arms crossed. "Or he would at least have texted Asuna about it…"

"Yeah, he totally would have…" mumbled Philia while giving a discreet look towards the chestnut-haired girl walking at the head of the group. "And that Sugu…Leafa didn't tell us anything either is troubling."

"I'm sure they're fine, probably some small delay we shouldn't worry about!" spoke Rain with a nervous smile, clearly reflecting how none of them wanted to consider the possibility of something having happened to the Kirigaya siblings. "Tha-that said, I'm actually more interested in what happened to Yui-chan…anyone knows why her avatar is so…different?"

That comment caused everyone to once again focus on the youngest-looking AI of the group.

Effectively, unlike the 'uniforms' all of them were wearing, the little girl was now clad in some weird, and slightly revealing, 'bunny girl magician' outfit, except that she had actual bunny ears growing from her head (With fur the same shade as her hair), a comically small hat with a golden ring covering one of them. Also, she had an oversized 'tarot card' at her side, which she was apparently able to make float in her hands.

"I'm still unsure, but it seems this world's system recognized my data as something specific and 'converted' me when I transferred over together with Strea…kinda like how I'm also a Navigation Pixie in ALO?" tried to explain Yui while crossing her arms, an uncharacteristic (But very cute) frown on her face. "Uhhh…! This is frustrating, I can't access this game's database because of whatever this form is! Though…it seems it grants me some combat capabilities? Maybe it's related to the supposed 'summoning' mechanic of this game?"

"Eh? You mean we can summon cute little bunny people to fight with us?" asked Asuna with a small smile as the group arrived at the central plaza where 2 hooded figures were still calling for any 'partners' to come, all the girls chuckling as the thought passed through their minds. "That would certainly be…Oh! There they are!"

As one, the entire group turned towards the sacred-looking structure in the center of the plaza, effectively seeing how the doors opened and let two stiff-faced players out.

Immediately, the girls felt that something was 'wrong'. And it wasn't only because Kirito looked deadly pale to be muttering to himself as if the end of the world was coming, or from the blushing and…slightly dreamy (?) look on Leafa's face.

No, the main reason for that was because, on the siblings' backs, two figures just slightly smaller than Yui were all but riding on their shoulders.

Both of them were basically identical, extremely cute-looking, with dark hair and emerald eyes. In fact, if it wasn't because of their radically different outfits, the girls wouldn't have realized one was a girl and the other a boy.

The former was wearing what could only be called the fusion between a doctor's and a white mage's garb, while the latter proudly wore some sort of childish 'ninja garb', the hood of it currently off as she gushed something to the black-haired boy.

Yui suddenly felt oddly jealous upon seeing the scene, though she couldn't quite pinpoint why.

Every girl STARED, feeling something morbidly fascinating about the scene even as both teens kept walking until almost running into them.

"…Kirito-kun? Leafa-chan?" asked Asuna with a worried voice, noticing their clearly distressed states, even if she was also feeling an unknown anxiety within her. "Are you okay?"

As one, both players snapped out of their personal delirious, the little girl falling silent and the little boy stopping to look worriedly at the blonde before all four of them turned towards the group, faces morphing into horror, panic, and confused curiosity (In the children's case).

"A-Asuna!"

"A-A-A-Asuna-san!"

"…and we're here too, you know?" called out Lisbeth with amused annoyance, only to blink at how the siblings finally acknowledged her and the others' presence, their gazes seemingly growing more panicked. "Geez, what's wrong with you two? Anyone would say you saw a ghost! And where did you get those two little cuti…?"

"Mommy, Daddy, who are they?" asked the little girl while tilting her head to the side.

Time seemed to freeze itself for an instant, even as the words she had uttered made their way through the brains of every girl present. Then, slowly, they looked once again at the two children.

Their identical faces, extremely androgynous to the point it was hard to tell if they were male or female without their clothes. The black hair. The green eyes.

Once again, their gazes moved as one, to the two frozen teens that were looking increasingly as if they wanted to disappear.

"…what."

"Di-did she just…call them…?!"

"OMG, look at them! They totally look like the two!"

"N-no way…it can't…"

"Are they friends of yours, mommy, daddy?" asked the little boy amidst the increasing chaos forming in the female group, making a small bow with his head to them and speaking in an extremely polite tone. "Greetings! My name is Kai, and my sister here is Sakura. Hope we can get along!"

"…Kirito-kun."

That tone of voice. So sweet, yet hiding a deadly edge that was more dangerous than any of Aincrad's Bosses, filling a 'smile' that could send shivers down the souls of the bravest men…

It was that particular characteristic thing of Asuna that always reminded the other girls to never 'step out of bonds'…unless you were one of the AIs of the group, that is. They simply seemed to not care about that.

"Asuna, I-I can explain…I swear!"

"Well then, do so. I'm waiting." smiled the chestnut-haired girl while crossing her arms.

"We didn't know the tutorial would involve making children!" shouted Leafa with an extremely red face, her outburst drawing many stares and open-mouthed looks from every single girl.

Kirito wished she could have explained herself better the moment Asuna's (And…Yui's?!) frosty stare settled back on him.

Would it make him look too bad if he used little Sakura as a shield and whimpered for mercy? They WERE supposed to be made for fighting, right...?


Yuuki Asuna could be called many things, some she was proud of and…quite a few that she wasn't.

The Flash, the Berserk Healer, the Black Swordsman's Wife (She was quite proud of that last one, even if she wouldn't dare say it out loud in public)…

With all of that said, she also liked to think she was an amazing friend for the quite 'unique' group of friends her boyfriend/'husband' was always at the center of. To be fair, she would have had to be blind and be stupid to not notice how girls seemed to gather around Kirito like moths to a flame, more often than not because he had saved them one way or another. Or that they sometimes seemed to have more than a strictly 'friendly' interest in him (But again, to be fair, it had been all but impossible for that to be kept hidden once Strea had first shown up in their lives).

Despite this, though, she was sure that things were more than happy and civil between them all…hell, she all but considered the weird gathering of females around her most beloved person to be like a second family! (Not too hard, really, given she had never been that close with her own since her grandparents died…even if she and her mother had attempted to patch things up lately)

It was to the point where she was more than quite open and accepting of the girls' less 'subtle' moments. She pretended not to notice when sometimes they purposefully vanished off somewhere with Kirito, or when one of them didn't answer her messages at the same time as the boy. She had full confidence in her boyfriend AND her friends, after all, and she knew none of them would ever do anything that would 'get out of line'…even if she did visibly get 'serious' from time to time to scare them a bit into remembering who he was in a relationship with.

Sure, it never worked with Strea, but Kirito himself did his damned best to deny all advances from the bubbly AI that was the 'little sister' of their 'daughter', so it was all still good, right?

Because none of her friends would ever dare to go too far with him. They all loved and respected each other too much for that. This was something she had always been sure of…

"Oooh, this cake is delicious! Thanks for buying it for us, mommy, daddy!"

"I-it was nothing, heh…heh…"

"It's certainly an amazingly sweet delicacy…you're the best parents in the world!"

"Do-don't exaggerate, Kai-kun…se-seriously, don't…"

Which was why, right now, she was making a very clear effort to continue 'smiling' like a good person, her hands definitively not shaking as she clasped them together and stared at Kirito and Leafa sitting across the table, with two adorable-looking and borderline chibi-like 'children' sitting on their laps as they ate some cake.

Their children, that is.

…well, okay, not exactly that, they had been given the full explanation already, after all, but that sure as hell didn't make it any easier to see her boyfriend sitting there with what was all but impossible to not call a pair of twins he had had with his 'little sister'.

At least even a pouting Yui at her side and every other girl in their group seemed to firmly share that feeling, if the way they were all either sitting or standing at her side and totally-not-glaring at the pair and their 'Star Children' was anything to go by.

Except Strea, of course, who was just staring at them with stars in her eyes…and Asuna didn't even want to start thinking about what that implied. Also, Rain had gone off to send a message to Seven, but the look on her face as she had gazed at both children had been…a thing, really.

"A ga-game where the main mechanic is ma-making ba…babies…what the actual hell…? Wh-who has heard of such a thing…?" muttered Lisbeth anxiously from beside Asuna, her face red and her eyes firmly fixed on the little ones, totally not envious at all.

"Ki-Kirito-san and Le-Leafa-san…made babies…awawawawa…" Silica, meanwhile, seemed to be struggling to keep her mind straight, the poor thing…though who knew what exactly she was imagining that seemed to be making steam come out of her ears.

"…the one who created this game must be a hopeless pervert…like most people playing it willingly." was all that Sinon declared while glaring slightly towards Kirito, her eyes unusually cold.

"He-hey! We already explained we had no idea what that 'ritual' was about! And we o-only held hands, that's all!"

"Onii-chan i-is right! None of us knew the specifics of this game before coming, remember?! A-and he's right, we didn't do…anything weird…"

Honestly, Asuna would have felt more than inclined to believe them if they just didn't continue blushing and stuttering so badly whenever the 'ritual' was brought up, or if Leafa's face didn't continue to look distant and slightly dreamy too.

"Sho-should we like, Log Out and ask Kikuoka-san about this, then…? I don't know about what we had to investigate, but it's certainly WEIRD that such an…'unusual' game mechanic that seems to be the core of the game isn't more widely known…"

Philia's words sounded extremely logical and certainly like the kind of development Asuna wanted to follow. Now, if only the dandelion-haired girl hadn't said it while biting her lips and looking at the kids and Kirito with not-so-subtle longing, it would have been great.

"Yeah, Philia-san is right. It feels as if every second we're in this world is a risk for Papa cheating on Mama once again…"

"Yu-Yui-chan, for the last time, it's not like that!" vehemently denied Kirito while looking at his 'daughter' as if she had betrayed him…despite how hard it was to take her seriously with that 'magician bunny girl' outfit of hers.

"I have heard your excuses, papa, and I believe you…bu-but that doesn't change the fact that yo-you had…children with Leafa-san!" pouting mightily, the former MHCP stood up on her chair and pointed dramatically towards the black-haired boy. "And as your daughter with mama, I can't just overlook…!"

"Oh, you're another one of daddy's Star Children?!" out of all the things Yui was probably expecting to cause with her speech, Sakura's sudden interruption was most certainly not one of them, everyone's gazes turning in surprise as the small 'ninja' stood on her mother's lap and looked excitedly at her. "Who is your mommy?!"

"Eh…uhm…my mama is right here…?" answered the young AI while pointing at Asuna, who looked completely caught off-guard at the sudden 'conversation' between 'Star Children'.

"Uh, ye-yes…?"

"Oooh…and if you have been around since before us, that must mean you're our older sister!" deduced Kai with an awed look before 'bowing' slightly from his father's lap, making his 'medic cap' almost fall off. "Pleased to meet you, Onee-sama!"

"Yeah, it's a pleasure, Yui-oneesama!" agreed the boy's twin with a bright smile.

"Kuh?!" Yui squeaked while taking a step back, almost falling off the chair while one of her hands shot to her chest.

The words. The bright faces. The way they said it.

Sure, Strea had also called her 'big sister' a few times in the past, but with the bubbly MHCP-002 it was almost a matter of exasperation for the black-haired psychologist AI. Her fellow SAO program was always trying to do things with her papa that would clearly upset her mama and lead her papa down the terrible path of 'cheating', after all!

But the way those two had said it…the wonder and respect they had directed at her with those words, and the fact that she could actually SEE so much of her 'father' in them…it made her feel…amazing.

Despite knowing they should be nothing more than especially generated NPCs through some unknown process and random algorithm from that particular game, suddenly, Yui felt as if a 'switch' had been flipped inside her, every other problem she had with the current situation suddenly forgotten and pushed aside as inconsequential as she stared at the two children that looked around her apparent age (And that were, indeed, a lot younger than her) with an oddly trembling smile.

"…that's right…I'm your Onee-sama…"

"Yay! We're happy to fight against the darkness with you, Yui-oneesama!"

"Please, look after us well, Onee-sama! Sorry if we become a burden from our lack of experience!"

"Heh…you would never be a burden, my cute little siblings, eheheheh…"

"Yui-Yui-chan?!"

"A-Asuna…I think she broke…" mumbled Lisbeth with a sweatdrop as she looked at the 'magician bunny girl' giggling in place with a silly smile and rosy cheeks as she kept basking on the innocent praises of her 'siblings'.

"Uhm…is this a good or a bad thing, Onii-chan?" asked a very nervous Leafa while observing the exchange with a lot of mixed feelings…and totally not feeling giddy that Yui, of all people, seemed to acknowledge her and Kirito's 'children'.

Not at all.

"I…don't know…but I'm getting a very ominous feeling from this…" mumbled the Black Swordsman while trying and failing to ignore the chills of doom from seeing his girlfriend trying to shake their 'daughter' out of whatever strange 'mood' she had fallen into, even as every other girl watched in morbid fascination.

"Hey guys, I'm back! Nanai-that is, Seven-chan has been notified, but there is no answer yet as I assume she's still trying to get Premiere-chan and Tia-chan he…uh? Did I miss something?"

Whatever anyone would have answered Rain was lost as Strea finally spoke up from where, now that they noticed, she had been busy looking at something in her menu.

"Yay! I found where the nearest 'Dungeon' is! Let's go right away!"

"Eh?! Wha-what for?!" asked Kirito with a mix of panic and confusion, clearly not trusting the excited way in which the busty AI was looking at him and the 'Star Children'.

"What else?! To let our cute new family members show off what they can do! And for Yui to get used to her new powers too! Let's fight the 'darkness' together with the Star Children!"

Yes…it was official. Kirito had just the worst feeling about all of this…


In the end, it had been decided that most of the group would branch off to try and find as much information about that world as they could, given that it seemed they weren't leaving right away at least.

Despite everyone having been more than curious about the whole thing, in the end only Kirito, Leafa, Asuna, and Strea had headed off to the so-called 'first dungeon' (Which had the mouthful of a name 'Maze of the Lost Stars within the Darkness of the Cosmos'…who the hell named that?) with the 3 'Star Children' to see exactly how the main 'game mechanics' of that world worked.

Which was why now they were all standing before the entrance to what seemed like a gigantic cube-shaped blue structure, separated into endless segments that seemed to shift strangely under the light of the morning sun, the 'entrance' leading into seemingly endless darkness.

"It…looks very generic. Or, at least, it would if this was just a normal handheld game." commented Kirito while he and the others looked up at the 'Maze of Darkness' (No way they were saying that entire name, like, ever) with wide eyes. "Here in the virtual world, though…"

"Yeah, maybe because we have been in worlds that always had such detailed and overly detailed structures, but something so 'simple-looking' as this, of this size, is really ominous…" Asuna nodded even as Yui took a step forward and raised a fist.

"Worry not, mama, papa, everyone! Between me and my cute little siblings, we should have more than enough power to get through a starting dungeon! Let's go, Kai-kun, Sakura-chan!"

"We're right behind you, Yui-oneesama!"

"Ye-yes!"

"Hey, don't run off by yourselves, you three!" shouted Leafa as she darted after the trio of 'eager' Star Children, a laughing Strea quickly following after them.

After a few moments of hesitation and exchanging amused looks, the couple that had been together since Sword Art Online shrugged and followed cue, heading for the darkness that signaled the Dungeon's entrance.

What they weren't expecting, though…was the sudden shouts coming from their two friends as soon as they passed the 'door' and darkness engulfed them. They couldn't even start asking what was wrong when the obvious answer hit them head-on as their bodies 'glowed' and seemingly spun through the void, their school uniforms-like attires vanishing into particles as, in a sequence that reminded Kirito way too much of a magical girls' show, all-new clothing replaced it.

By the time the group 'landed', they were all clad in what the Black Swordsman could only suppose were meant to be their 'battle outfits' to actually participate in fights within the game (And he couldn't deny part of him was glad they hadn't been forced to fight in those uniforms as some cliché anime did). However, while his own mostly black and oddly tight attire (Which left his shoulders completely exposed, for some reason, and the two oversized 'sabers' in his hands looked impractically cool) wasn't really bad, given that it apparently had been completely randomly generated, the others' were a bit…

"Wha-what is this?!" squeaked Leafa out loud while lowering her new katana and looking with a blush at her, if not that exposing, then apparently highly embarrassing 'warrior fairy' outfit. "I-I look like some character from a battle harem anime!"

"Heheh, so you watch those, Leafa?" Strea giggled while bouncing in place, the attention drawing the only non-child male's eyes before he could stop himself at how exposed, even for her, she was in that extremely open and borderline indecent purple cloak. "I really like my own, though! It's quite easy to move in…do you like it, Kirito~?"

"Uh, I…"

"Yes, Kirito-kun, go ahead and answer her." 'happily' declared Asuna with that smile that terrified Kirito more than Aincrad's Bosses had ever been able to, clad in her own red and white…'princess knight armor'? "I would love to hear that answer."

"A-Asuna, I…"

"Everyone, watch out!" Sakura suddenly interrupted with a shout while drawing an oversized shuriken seemingly out of nowhere, the Star Child seemingly unaware or unfazed of the teenagers' shenanigans while pointing towards a corner of the strange and weirdly-colored labyrinth they now found themselves in. "Enemies are coming, I hear them! Mommy, daddy, aunties, get ready to fight!"

"A-aunties?!" the former vice-commander of the KoB half-shouted, any threats she had been about to use against her 'husband' forgotten at the unexpected 'title'.

"Hey, I like how that sounds!" happily informed Strea even as Kai quickly rushed to stand before the players yet behind his twin sister. "Huh? Watcha doing, little one?"

"I-I'm a Cleric! I will keep us safe and heal our wounds!" bravely declared the white-clad Star Child while raising a staff he also seemingly had materialized from nowhere. "Sakura, Yui-oneesama, I leave the front lines to you and our parents!"

"Heh, leave it to us, Kai-kun!" confidently declared Yui with a smile that was weird to see on her face as she jumped to stand alongside her ninja 'sister' as an oversized card appeared over her right hand and started spinning over it. "Woah…I think this will be the first time I have actually fought a battle since that one time under Black Iron Castle…I'm actually getting excited over this, I believe!"

Before anyone, especially Kirito and Asuna, could express their worried thoughts on that, what looked like the unholy cross between a bat and a leech turned around the corner screeching toward the group. Even as they stared in surprise at the dog-sized beast, two more joined it, charging towards them with the same mindless abandon any mob in an RPG would attack the player character rather than the usual more animal-like tactics they had come to expect from VRMMO enemies.

That's when Sakura moved, the little girl showing a nimbleness and speed that totally didn't befit her small body, practically running on the left wall of the hallways as she threw her shuriken at the first bat-like monster, making it scream as it pierced its left eye just as she jumped and easily tackled it down, starting to pummel it with what her 'father' had just started to notice were battle claws not unlike the ones Argo usually wore.

Giving himself a moment to remember that neither she nor Yuuki were there with them that day as they both had been busy (Tomo had a family dinner she, in her own words, regrettably couldn't ditch just to 'play videogames', and the bubbly Zekken had a complete medical check-up today), Kirito saw the other two monsters completely ignore their fallen brethren or even try to attack Sakura's exposed back to instead continue rushing towards them.

He was about to start raising his weapons when Yui hopped forward with unexpected confidence in her movements, far agiler than any of them had seen her outside her pixie form in ALO, and threw her oversized card at one of the remaining mobs.

"Chain Card!"

The magician bunny girl's declaration was followed by what could only be called as her card turning into a 'chain grenade', magical bindings of metal exploding from it just as it crashed against the bat-leech, causing it to fall when they tightly wrapped around its wings. Which left it completely at Sakura's mercy as she quite literally backstabbed it with her shuriken, having finished dispatching her previous opponent.

"Nice job, Onee-sama!"

"Heheh, thanks, Sakura-chan! Be more awed at me!"

Kirito was unable to stop a goofy smile from appearing on his face upon seeing his 'daughter' having so much fun, completely ignoring how the last enemy kept flying in that borderline suicidal straight line for him despite the fall of his comrades. Honestly, he never thought the day where Yui would look to be having so much fun in the middle of a fight, of all things, would come, but it filled him with an odd sense of pri-

"Die!" cheerfully declared Strea while beheading the last mob just before it could bite into the boy's head, making him blink and realize he had completely stopped paying attention to the fight to instead stare as his virtual daughter basked in Sakura's praises. "Woah, that was quite easy…but Yui and Sakura-chan were amazing!"

"Ye-yeah, I didn't know if it's just because the enemies were low-level ones or not, but we didn't need to do anything…hell, I'm pretty sure they would have killed that last one before it reached Onii-chan if they hadn't stopped to talk…" Leafa muttered while looking at the Star Children in surprise.

"I'm sorry I couldn't do anything as flashy as Sakura-nee and Onee-sama, everyone!" Kai quickly apologized with a small bow, making Asuna look at him with a troubled expression, not knowing how she should feel at finding the 'son' of her boyfriend and another girl so adorable. "I will do my best next time too!"

"He-hey, don't worry about that, Kai-kun, you're meant to be the Healer of the group, right?" finally surrendering at the adorableness, the chestnut-haired girl decided to comfort the little boy after hearing his self-deprecating words. "That means you gotta stay safely in the back and get ready to back up anyone who needs it first and foremost!"

"Heheh, it's kind of ironic to hear that from the famous Berserk Healer." laughed Strea while ignoring Asuna's embarrassed squeak and all-but-shouts to don't call her that again. "Still, this is quite fun! Let's keep going!"

"Hah! Race you to see who can kill more monsters, Strea-san!" grinned Yui while materializing another card and charging ahead down the hall. "Let's go, everyone! For victory!"

"Ah, wait, Onee-sama! Your Class isn't suited for fighting alone!" called out Sakura while ninja-running after her so-called 'older sister'.

"Heeey, no fair, Yui! Don't leave me behind!"

"Le-let's not let them go on their own, okay?"

"Yeah, let's not." chuckled Kirito while watching Asuna running after the overexcited children and Strea…though the difference between that last statement was just external appearance in this case, really. "Ready to go, Leafa?"

"Yep! I was just swinging this a bit to test it out, but I'm sure some actual fighting will help me out better for that." sheathing her new katana, the blonde girl nodded towards her adopted brother and both departed after the rest, casually killing any of the confused and shitty enemies that were left behind in the slightly mad charge of their 'children'…

So focused on catching up they were that they didn't notice how their movements were seemingly getting more and more in synch as they went.


"…there is something different about this room."

"Different in 'finally a room that doesn't look the same as the last 30 minutes of dungeon' or different in 'maybe it will actually have a challenge'?"

"…the former for now, but maybe it will have the latter?"

Trying his best to sound optimistic as the door to the overly large room finished opening, Kirito had to admit the girl's eye-rolls were more than justified, given what they had experienced for the last half hour.

Essentially, the so-called 'dungeon' was a terribly made mess: Countless hallways that looked the same, very basic and repetitive labyrinth-like pattern that clearly was generated using some outdated randomizer, and mobs with an AI that was barely varied to adapt to their unique shapes but clearly had not been optimized for actual combat with anyone half-competent at all.

All in all, it was a very off-putting and jarring experience for the group of SAO Survivors, in more ways than one. Sure, maybe they had gotten a bit 'used' to the superior quality of Cardinal System-run VRMMOs, but…this place honestly felt as if someone had just thrown a half-assed combat system and enemies together and slapped it on top of their world just because it was 'needed'.

And the only reason Kirito thought that was because, well…in contrast to everything else, the Star Children were…amazing.

It was not only because Kai and Sakura had such an amazing understanding of combat and abilities to match that most SAO Front Liners would have envied despite having existed for all of an hour at most, but also because of their sheer development and capacity for interaction.

Essentially, if anyone had told them the pair that was now once again their extremely smiling 'big sister' were actually real children, he would have believed it. Despite, as far as he knew, lacking the capacity and level of Resources and info that Yui used to have when she was first created, they both interacted and acted with them better than his and Asuna's 'daughter' had ever managed when they first found her…hell, they acted better than most of the NPCs he had found in Cardinal System-run worlds except for outliers like Kizmel.

Despite that, they were supposed to be the most basic 'mechanic' of this world, this game, and apparently, one was expected to have quite a few of them to go exploring around to 'save the world'.

There was no way this game could create such complex AIs by the hundreds, maybe thousands (Depending on the player base) just like that, right? Because that would be insa-

"Wait!" interrupting the train of thought of her 'father', Sakura raised a hand and adopted a guarded position before the group, the little ninja looking from left to right with a heavy frown. "…something isn't right."

"Saku-nee…?"

"What's wrong, Sakura-chan?" taking a step forward as he said so, Yui also started looking around the room, the four behind the Star Children blinking and looking at the empty area with confusion.

"…we're not alone!"

As soon as those words left the little ninja's mouth, a feeling of sheer WRONGNESS that the group hadn't felt since their days in Aincrad suddenly flooded the room, before something fell from the ceiling and slammed in front of them.

Standing up, the humanoid monster roared, everyone's eyes widening as they stared at the almost 3 meters-tall beast.

It was not only its aura…the very looks of the thing before them screamed wrongness in every way. Where the previous monsters had looked like weird and randomly thrown-together enemies, the thing before them looked positively…Demonic.

Eyes shooting up towards the SIX HP Bars that had suddenly appeared on top of it, Kirito immediately felt an even bigger chill upon reading the name of the Boss, even as several shadowy creatures with red eyes materialized around him, as if his very presence had birthed them into existence.

'Asmodeus'.

"Wha-what is that thing?!" screamed Leafa while taking a step back.

"I-it's…scary…" mumbled Yui while staring at it with a strange feeling of dread within herself, as if something inside her new body knew the abomination before them was something that shouldn't exist.

"E-everyone, we have to run!" Kai screamed while taking several steps back, looking at the still-open door through which they had come with clear urgency. "Tha-that's a Dusk Spawner! It's the creator of this dungeon and the origin of all its monsters! I-it shouldn't be down here, we're not strong enough to face such a thing yet!"

"Wait, you mean that the Final Boss came down to one of the first levels for some random reason?!" even as he shouted those words, Kirito had already put himself between the Boss and the Star Children, his mind moving fast to find a way out of the room even as the sinister-looking minions started surrounding them. "That's like the oldest cliché in the book!"

"Kirito-kun, less videogame talk and more dealing with this situation!" replied Asuna before moving faster than most people could follow and impaling one of the incoming shadowy monsters, which had lunged at them the moment it though they were distracted. "Incoming!"

"Woah, what's with these things?!" using her oversized blade to push one of the creatures back by smashing it against its open mouth, actually sliding back a few meters from the strain. "They're nothing like the ones we have fought so far!"

"Thi-this is not any kind of natural difficulty spike! What the hell?!" even as she managed to avoid being eaten whole in one go, Leafa was lucky to manage to sink her katana in one of the monsters' eyes, making it flinch back screaming in apparent pain. "It's as if they're from a completely different ga-!"

For the first time since the battle had begun, Asmodeus took a step forward.

The next second, it was just above Leafa, like it had teleported an arm raised as if it had teleported where the creature had just been slain by the blonde girl.

Eyes widening to the limit, the young kendoka tried to raise her weapon to defend herself, but the Boss monster was just too fast, the limb descending way beyond her currently low-level character could deal with and slamming against her with the strength of an elephant stampede.

Flying through the air, Leafa idly realized she had let go of her weapon and around 70% of her HP had just vanished before the abomination was there again, grabbing her body in midair and squeezing.

Suddenly, the blonde girl's mind felt wrong, as if something was looking within the deepest and most intimate parts of her soul and draining something that made her who she was, the uncanny horrible sensation of Asmodeus siphoning something from her making a scream of despair emerge from her mouth as she thrashed in place, unable to get free of-

"Chain Card!"

"Silent Killing!"

A quick and deadly slash to the back of the Boss' head barely would have been enough to affect it even in its distracted state, but the exploding cards that followed were just enough to make it flinch and growl.

Then, Kirito rushed by, his blades carving a deep gash in the arm that was holding Leafa and making Asmodeus drop the stunned girl even as Yui and Sakura landed at her sides.

"Leafa-chan, hang in there!" came Asuna's voice as she stopped at her side, Kai all but trailing after her while his small staff glowed. "Kirito-kun!"

"I will distract it! Heal her and retreat, now!" shouted the black-haired boy as he barely dodged a furious swipe from the Dusk Spawner. "Hya!"

"Mama, we will reinforce Papa! Take care of Leafa-san!" shouted Yui while rushing forward, her Ninja 'sister' following the little Gambler's lead without hesitation as all three engaged the creature while Strea carved another of its minions in the background.

"Okay, they're strong but not very smart outside wanting to kill us!" informed the busty girl while smashing another one. "We can open a path back to the door easily!"

"That's good…Kai-kun, how is…?"

"Heal!" interrupting Asuna's question by chanting his skill again, the small Cleric's distressed look softened upon seeing his 'mother' starting to stand up groggily. "Thank the Star God…your health is back to normal, mommy, but that Dusk Spawner drained quite a bit of your Star Power! You need to rest and recover it before you can fight properly again!"

"Star…power…?" mumbled Leafa while Asuna helped her to her feet. "The-there isn't any bar to measure that, though…"

"We can bother with this game's messed-up accuracy later, for now, let's get you out of here!" helping her boyfriend's adoptive sister towards the door they had entered while Strea covered them and Kai did his best to distract any straggled beast with his shields, Asuna did her best to ignore the sounds of battle behind her. "Good, we're almost-"

"ARGH!"

"Papa!"

"Daddy, no!"

Almost like in slow motion, the chestnut-haired girl's gaze snapped back towards the battle in time to see her 'husband' having one of his arms stopped by one of the Dusk Spawner's minions having bitten into it as he was mid-swing.

Just in time for Asmodeus, in a display of perfect coordination with his 'children' that no creature in the dungeon had exhibited even remotely, to crush the blade he had in that arm to pieces and sink his claws deep into his side.

At that moment, she didn't even think. The one known back in SAO as 'The Flash' let go of the paralyzed-in-shock Leafa and shot past the wide-eyed Kai, barely giving the Star Child a quick 'Protect her!' order as her rapier shot forward.

Meanwhile, Kirito looked at the monster before him with an unknown feeling of dread creeping inside him, a strange haze within his mind as he felt something being drained from him through the claws impaling him. For a second, he felt like he was back in Sword Art Online, facing a particularly tough Floor Boss and not knowing if he was going to survive the current fight…

And then, faster than even Sakura and Yui's attempts to separate Asmodeus from him, she was there, a flash of speed and chestnut hair, stabbing onto the Boss' head with a thunderous sound and saving his life like she had done more times he could remember.

"Asuna…!"

"Kirito-kun, let's go!" kicking deeply into the stunned Dusk Spawner's side, the former sub-commander of the Knights of Blood gestured to the side, the two Star Children present quickly hurrying the boy back outside the room. "Good, now we just-!"

A chilling roar. The feeling of wrongness growing suddenly.

Asuna barely had time to blink before a sudden beam of purple energy engulfed her whole body, shattering her sword and most of her armor to the point of almost indecency while also smashing her against the closest wall.

The feeling of her HP reduced to almost 0 was nothing compared with how she suddenly felt as if something dark and wrong had eaten away at her soul, whatever that beam had been summoning forth dark memories and half-forgotten fears that her mind had long-since gotten rid of.

Her breakdown at Floor 1, trying to die fighting in the Dungeon, the disaster of Floor 25, Kayaba and Kirito fighting at Floor 75 while she could only watch powerless from the ground, paralyzed alongside everyone else…

Asmodeus somehow seemed a lot bigger as it towered over her while those thoughts ran through her mind, the Dusk Spawner's jaw opening and showing its razor-sharp teeth like some hungry beast. Suddenly, the girl felt she was no longer facing a Boss within a videogame, but truly a demon from hell trying to destroy her.

She barely heard the screams of her name as she tried to stand, reaching for a blade that was no longer there, barely able to stare up as the abomination lunged unnaturally, ready to bite her head off in one-

"I won't let you! Sacred Aegis!"

A small shield materialized before Asmodeus' jaws. It barely even slowed it down, just causing a brief pause in its charge toward the girl as it shattered the obstacle.

Out of nowhere, a figure clad in white pushed Asuna aside with all the strength that his small body could muster. Surprise gave way to utter horror as she saw Kai's determined face morph into a relieved smile, aimed right at her.

Then, Asmodeus' jaws closed around his small body, shattering it into white light.

The whole room fell silent as everyone STARED, muted shock fixed upon the Dusk Spawner as it spat something to the side.

Like some macabre grave, a matryoshka identical to where the Star Child had been born not an hour before, but gray and lifeless, slammed down into the ground.

Kirito felt like hyperventilating for an instant, the horrible image of a certain group shattering into polygons as he was unable to do anything flooding his mind. Leafa's entire world seemed to collapse, her knees giving up as she looked at what had been her 'child' until a few moments ago.

Yui's arms fell, something she had never felt before constricting her chest from the inside out in a terribly unpleasant way, her eyes flooding with tears as she looked at the remains of her 'little brother'. She was barely aware enough to notice a horrified Strea suddenly standing between her and the creature, barely seeming to be holding herself together.

"N-no…NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

As if it had been waiting for that despair-filled scream to escape from Asuna's lips, Asmodeus roared in victory, turning to look at the horrified girl again and getting ready to-

Something slammed against the demon's back with unholy strength. Not even giving him time to acknowledge that, something else brutally tore into his side.

Head moving unnaturally, the Dusk Spawner looked in shock to see a teary-eyes Leafa staring at him with such hate and rage that it actually seemed to stun whatever passed for its mind for an instant before Kirito slashed into his back once again.

Finally catching sight of the boy's own face, Asmodeus finally reacted with something different from how it had acted for the whole fight.

In front of those eyes that promised nothing but his horrible and painful death, the Boss actually recoiled, almost swearing they turned golden for a second before quickly pushing the player off its back with something akin to panic, roaring in defiance as it charged another beam in his jaws…

Only for Leafa to come screaming and impale her blade from under its head, forcing its mouth shut and causing the beam to flicker out just in time for Kirito to charge forward and stab where his heart would be, so hard his only remaining blade almost shattered upon doing so.

Suddenly, Asmodeus wasn't facing two players trying to run from a superior foe, but two berserker forces of nature that seemed more than ready to die if it meant taking him down with them. For every attack the Dusk Spawner dodged or blocked, the other was there to take advantage of the opening, reckless abandon filling every attack and actually causing him to retreat several steps from where it had been standing before Asuna.

The Boss' first HP Bar vanished under the onslaught. Screaming an unholy sound, the monsters' horns shone before dark energy shot from them like electricity, sending both players flying back and finally giving him the space needed to-

[Enough. Star Power Data obtained. Unprecedented anomalies must be analyzed. Retreat to Boss Room.]

Stopping, Asmodeus looked to the side, as if considering the orders it had just received. Then, it growled and jumped toward the ceiling, ignoring the fallen players in favor of climbing back into the depths of the dungeon.

Silence reigned within the now empty room for several seconds, Strea herself seeming ready to grab Yui and Sakura and bolt it out of there if it seemed as if the abomination was coming back. When it didn't, she almost sagged in relief, only to quickly turn to where Kirito and Leafa were slowly standing, biting her lips even as she saw her 'big sister' walk forward almost like a zombie, to the same place Asuna now kneeled beside.

"It's my fault…it's my fault…" mumbled the chestnut-haired girl with tears in her eyes as she looked at the lifeless matryoshka. "I…I told him to stay back, bu-but he protected me…why did he-?"

"Be-because…he was mine and Onii-chan's child…" head snapping to the side, the girl saw how Leafa was now kneeling opposite of her, her arms moving to hug the shell that was her Star Child just a minute ago, horrible memories of when Yui shattered in her arms coming back to haunt her at the sight. "A-and none of us would have…done anything different…sob…"

"That thing…it wasn't natural…it was totally out of place from everything else in the Dungeon…" mumbling almost as if he was trying to deny the reality before his eyes, Kirito also kneeled beside the girls, though nothing could stop the tears from falling down his eyes, the boy seeming about to have a breakdown as he looked at the colorless effigy that the blonde girl was sobbing against, his hand subconsciously holding her shoulder. "We…we should…go back and…dammit…why…?!"

"Kai-kun…you dummy…" three pairs of eyes moved up at the words, having finally realized how Sakura and Yui (With Strea not far behind them) had arrived. "A Cleric is supposed to stay back and heal, not rush into the front lines like that…"

"Sakura-chan…I'm sorry…he was your twin, I can't imagine how much it must…uh?" stopping herself mid-sentence, Strea noticed how the little ninja looked more…simply upset than the despair-filled reaction everyone else, even Yui (If silently) was having, and that she was holding a shining sphere in her hands. "What…?"

"You're lucky one of those things dropped some 'Bond Powder' or we would have to haul you all the way out of the Dungeon like that!" snapped Sakura before releasing the small object and letting shining stardust fall atop the matryoshka.

Paralyzed, the 3 humans in the room stared in muted wonder as the doll-like carcass recovered color, then opened the same way it had before (Even if just two of them had seen it), shattering into starlight before a slightly disoriented Kai emerged, his HP in the red but looking completely fine otherwise.

"Uuuuh…sorry about that, Saku-nee, but I couldn't let it drain more of Auntie Asuna's Star Power, it was very low!" whined the little Cleric with an apologetic look, before blinking and finally noticing the looks everyone else was giving him. "U-uhm? Is something wrong? Mommy, da-?"

Leafa's arms suddenly all but crushing him interrupted the green-eyed child, causing the green-eyed child to let go of his staff and wheeze as he was all but compressed into his 'mother's chest.

"You're okay…you're okay! Kai-kun!" cried the young kendoka while feeling more relief than she had in her whole life, even back when Kazuto got her out of the pond where she almost drowned or when she found him again on Aincrad's 76th Floor.

"Mo-mom…air…!" wheezed out the Star Child before another pair of arms snapped around him and Leafa, making him feel even more squeezed. "Kuh?!"

"You're fine…thank God…thank God…" mumbled Kirito while smothering 'child and mother' as hard as he could, as if afraid Kai was going to vanish again any second.

"Ne-never scare us like that again!" cried Yui while joining the hug/crushing. "Yo-your big sister orders it, snif!"

"Uhm…why are they all acting like that?" asked Sakura to nobody in particular before shrugging and rushing forward to join in. "Oh well, family hug! Yay! Aunties, come, you too!"

Asuna took a few seconds to react to the words, a relief that was almost soul-lifting having consumed her since the moment she saw the Star Child rise again, before blinking and squeaking when an enthusiastic Strea demonstrated her specialty and dragged her into the impromptu group hug that was most likely to kill Kai than Asmodeus had.

Any thoughts of protesting about the current situation died on her lips as she felt Kirito unconsciously drag her closer and the sheer joy he and Leafa were feeling towards the little boy. Smiling, she fully joined in.

For some reason, this felt like the most right thing in the world…


"Well…that was a mess…what was the Spawner of Lust even doing down there?"

Nobody seemed to answer the oddly amused voice, who let out a tired sigh before walking from side to side of the oddly massive and overly decorated room.

"We're barely beginning and the gathering Star Power is still going slow, we can't afford to let any of the 7 run rampant at this stage, you know? But still…what the hell were those players? Their level of skill makes any of the randoms that have been here so far seem like children…"

Once again, no visible answer was given, though some unnatural movement could almost be detected from the darkest part of the room.

"And speaking of that, did you see the power of those Star Children?! Never mind the Anomaly one that seems to have appeared out of nowhere and isn't registered to anyone, those twins…I know we have only a few hundred players around and most of them are just goofing around, but they are the strongest ones in the whole Server by a crazy margin. They were tearing through the Dusks in the Dungeon like it was nothing…"

Finally, some strange 'response' was felt in the room, an unnatural sound seemingly echoing in answer to the voice, which was coming from a hooded form pacing back and forth, finally stopping upon hearing the strange noise.

"Yes…you may be right. We will have to keep an eye on that entire group, especially if the boy makes more Star Children with the mother of those two again or with any of the others. He seemed especially close with the one that was able to singlehandedly unbalance Asmodeus with one hit…the potential children that could come from that bunch is…"

Once again, the sound, deeper this time. Chuckling slightly, the hooded person bowed towards the darkness.

"Of course, just a small entertainment, nothing that will distract us from the main objective. In fact, they may even be what we need to speed up the whole process…thy will shall be done, Mother."

An approving noise made the figure lower its hood, to show…a childish form under it, with a scar in one eye and a silly hat on top.

"Indeed…after all, like the Star God once said…let them multiply and have lots of children~ For all the good it will do them."

Within the darkness, a vaguely humanoid shadow that seemed to be 'crucified' to nothing shone…


Author's Notes: And that's it! Hope you had fun with this little weird piece ;)

Okay, so, for those not in the know, Conception is a game series (Of only 2 games). Back when I first played it when I was a teen, only the second game was localized, and only for PSVita, but now there is also a Remake of the first game called 'Conception Plus: Maidens of the Twelve Stars' that WAS actually released worldwide back in 2019, and both games are available in steam nowadays.

As 'games' they're not very good, just a quite generic dungeon crawler, but the concept of them (Common in both games despite their lore and setting being completely different) was hilariously fun for me: MC, aka the chosen one, has to have 'children' with the main girls through a very suggestive ritual, and these children are the main 'fighting force' you use to save the world from evil. Also, the innuendos and obvious metaphors of everything about the game's mechanics are so blatant that's hilarious :P I completed Conception 2 (Got it for my Vita after finishing Persona 4: Golden and seeing it on a sale and that it was also made by Atlus) with a lot of enjoyment despite how much of a 'shitty' game most would say it was, and was also pleasantly surprised to see it was the first non-hentai game I had seen EVER where you could get an had an Actual Harem Ending! Obviously, writing and gameplay could have improved a lot, but I certainly had enough fun with it to justify what I paid for it, I like to believe :3

This idea goes off a slightly adapted version of the second game's setting, as it's easier to justify making it a VRMMO than the first one's, with some personal touches to make them more hilarious :3 I mean, the actual game's 'ritual' (Decided to just go with 'Sacred Ritual' because, as anyone who played the game should know, the name 'classmating' can't be taken seriously XP) it's not only a massive innuendo with suggestive animation, it even lets the girls almost looking as if they just had an orgasm or something in the few actual event-parts with them, so tweaking it to be 'noticeable' in written form wasn't that difficult. In this 'VR game', the ritual actually stimulates the player's senses with pleasure whenever they're doing the 'ritual', and the effects are clearly shown. Another detail-change of mine is that the Star Children actually LOOK like their 'parents' children (As in the games they don't, just default randomized chibi looks). Explanation in-universe, the 'system' analyzes both Avatars' data and creates the appearance of the children based on their parents' looks as if they were real ones, hence why Kai and Sakura have a child-Kirito's face and hair but Leafa's eyes.

Also, to make the 'plot' work, I HAD to make the first children 'conceived' be with someone other than Asuna, otherwise, well, she would probably have gotten everyone out of there really fast. As understanding as Gameverse Asuna is, much more than her Canon counterpart, there is a limit to it all XD Yes, the game's 'mechanics' were purposefully spread as vaguely as possible, and the actual 'threat' of the plot is kinda more towards the silly/fun side than actually serious, but I think it still works, Star Children ARE needed to progress and the group will 'believe' something serious is going on, so they're gonna NEED to make more. And what better way to make Asuna slowly give into the Harem than showing her how cute (And overpowered) these little ones are?

Oh, and Yui slowly realizing how much she loves having a bunch of little ones calling her 'Onee-sama' was a fun mental idea to write down too :D

Finally, for everyone who didn't know, Star Children obviously have 'classes' that fulfill the classic RPG 'jobs', most of the game's personalization and planning goes to them even if the 'parents' can also fight :3 To clarify doubts and 'outfits' for those that wanted so, Yui-chan is a Gambler, Kai a Cleric, and Sakura a Ninja (If you're bothered to look the game's classes up online you can better visualize how they were all dressed XD).

Anyway, that's all I have to say for now! Once again, hoping the best for everyone reading both online and in their personal lives, and won't make any promises this time but let's hope I can write more than just once a year next time, maybe XP? Either way, have a great day, happy April Fools, and best of luck with all you try to do, folks!

This is Saint, signing off!