Sword Art Online III: Asgard

Girls Ops Five (And Others.)

"YOU," Kirito yelped.

Tetsuo of the Black Cats smiled wryly, the mace weilder not looking much different from when Kirito saw him... when he DIED in Sword Art Online in Aincrad.

"You know him?" Asuna asked warily.

"Tetsuo. We adventured together but... he died in Aincrad," Kirito said flatly.

"Yup," Tetsuo agreed cheerfully.

"... zombies?" Argo guessed.

"Ha. No," Tetsuo shook his head, "We are the heroic dead, trapped in Valhalla until the final battle of Ragnarok comes."

Argo and Asuna exchanged a look, wondering what this might mean.

"Welcome to the Hall of the Noble Dead," one of the NPC attendants smiled.

"So, what do the Dead do here?" Kirito asked.

"Eat, drink and make merry. And some fight bouts with each other," the attendant smiled, then moved on to deliver drinks.

"huh," Kirito grunted.

They talked to the 'honored dead' and made several discoveries. They all thought they were their SAO characters, they seemed to have no memory before the game, and the longer they had been in SAO before dying, the more personality they had.

Asuna shook her head, "This is so weird."

Kirito nodded, "It looks like Cardinal used archived player data from SAO to create these people. And the longer they lived, the more data she could use."

"But I thought all the data was erased when we beat SAO?" Asuna asked.

"Kayaba lied?" Kirito guessed.

"Well, we know the programmers had to access off-site data archives to import Aincrad into AOL," Argo noted. "Maybe the character data was recovered there," she added.

"This is just so creepy," Asuna added with a sigh.

"And unnerving," Kirito agreed.

"You notice there's no women here?" Argo added.

A odd look passed on Kirito's face.

"What?" Asuna wondered.

Argo blinked then blurted out, "THE VALKYRIES."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Kyaaa!" Silica threw a knife, getting a lucky shot and burying it into the renegade elf's neck.

"Nice!" Sinon complimented, "But now you're unarmed."

"Ha!" Silica smiled and gestured, "RETURN."

On command the magic knife disappeared, then reappeared in her hand.

"Okay, that is cool," Leafa conceded.

Lux parried a attack, then swept in to kill another fighter. Liz, beside her, was using her heavier armor to draw attacks to protect the others. Behind them, Sinon used her bow to winnow down the attackers before they reached the front line.

They were advancing through the caverns, following the NPC Tilnel, trying to find the headquarters of the renegade Dark Elves. Moving through the darkness they searched warily, even as they fought more skirmishes.

'I think Youko is... tense,' Leafa mused. She had been keeping an eye on the woman due to a comment from her brother, and yeah, she seemed off today. Mind you, she still was doing her job and being VERY competent...

"You were injured!" Tilnel rushed over. "Let me help."

"You don't need to," Leafa started.

"It's no trouble," the healer reassured her.

"Anyone else hurt?" Leafa called.

Liz waved a hand, "As usual."

As Tilnel was finishing healing her, Leafa used a healing spell on Liz.

"We REALLY need another tank," Sinon sighed.

"Maybe I should switch," Lux admitted.

(Lux had started out her character build trying to copy Kirito, due to her randomly generated avatar resembling him. And due to issues from her time in SAO, long story. She had decided to remake her character after, but was still a speed, strength build.)

"No pressure, we'll manage," Silica reassured her.

"All right, everyone recovered?" Liz asked. "I think these guys were guards..."

"So what were they guarding?" Sinon wondered.

"Right, advance quietly," Leafa ordered.

Sinon and Silica lead the way, both having the highest stealth of the group. They moved down the dark tunnel, then saw a eerie glow up ahead. They advanced a bit farther, then carefully peered around a corner.

"Holy...," Youko muttered softly.

There was a MASSIVE underground lake, and a dark elf fortress was sitting at the center. There was also nearly a army of elves scattered around.

"The fabled Dark Fortress," Tilnel breathed out, "maybe my sister is there?"

The adventurers exchanged glances. "We're gonna need more help," Leafa mused, "this is a Level Boss event."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"TILNEL?!" Kirito yelped.

Leafa looked at her brother curiously, "Yes?"

Asuna looked over at Kirito, "You didn't tell her?"

"No," Kirito admitted, "I mean..."

Argo looked over at the other women, "Yeah, it WAS a long while ago, relatively speaking. Plus, Kirito probably doesn';t want to dwell on Asuna's girlfriend."

"GIRLFRIEND?!" Liz, Silica and Leafa chorused.

"My, my," Youko smirked.

"She was not my girlfriend!" Asuna yelped, blushing.

"So spill," Lux asked eagerly.

Argo, smirking, explained about the Dark Elf Kizmel, who had been a companion NPC for them on the lower floors of Aincrad.

"This CAN'T be a coincidence," Sinon observed.

"Could be the Cardinal System reusing assets from Sword Art Online," Kirito mused.

"In SAO the elves were supposedly from another realm that became part of Aincrad," Argo remembered, "maybe Cardinal decided to make it Svartalfheim of the Norse Nine Worlds?"

Asuna made a face, "They BETTER NOT make Kizmel a bad guy."

"Bet you they will," Leafa said, "it's a common trope."

"Ugh," Asuna sighed.

Changing the subject Kirito asked Liz, "So you think the castle is a multi party raid event?"

"I can't see any way to handle it solo," Liz noted.

"I'd like to see the castle myself," Argo jumped in, "and I want to meet this Tilnel."

"Me too," Asuna agreed.

"I have to skip," Argo admitted, "I want to get a revised Guide out on the Valhalla thing. But I can put the word out you need help?"

"Please," Leafa agreed. "I'm hoping Log Horizon might join in, at least."

"They're reliable," Asuna agreed.

"Let's just hope we don't get some of those crazy players who joined once word got out that Big Brother is here," Leafa teased Kirito.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Pitohui suddenly sneezed.

"Bless you," Llenn noted.

"Someone talking about you?" M suggested.

"Wouldn't she be sneezing all the time?" Clarence teased.

"Very funny," Pito scolded. "Damn it, where is that emo twink?!"

"There's a notice on the AOL bulliten board, there's a raid on the Dark ElF Castle that needs players," Fuka moted. "Maybe he'll join in?"

"Worth a try," Llenn offered.

"Let's do it," Pito agreed. "VENGEANCE WILL BE MINE!"

"Yes, yes," Shirley rolled her eyes.

To Be Continued...

Notes: I originally thought 'the dead' should have their full memories, but I decided it might be more interesting if they were just the 'in game' versions.

I don't recall Kirito ever talking about what SAO was like with his sister.