Chapter Text
Asuna twirled away from the vine as it whipped toward her. The end smashed into the ground where she just stood, leaving a crater lined with ice in its wake. The frostblight steadied itself and reeled the tendril back like a fishing line. The delay gave the fencer the opportunity she needed. Blue light enveloped her as she charged a sword skill. Charging forward, she fired off a pair of Linears, the attacks chained together with almost no cooldown between.
A quick pirouette and Asuna slid around the monster's defenses. She unleashed a Diagonal Sting against its exposed back, the twin strikes leaving deep red gashes. With a shrill cry, the monster exploded into a flutter of pixels.
When she first arrived in Sword Art Online, Asuna only understood the rudimentary aspects of combat. She equipped the strongest weapons, used the strongest Sword Skills, and focused her leveling up on pure damage. It was, from what she'd learned over the past few months, a rookie mistake.
With the newfound members of her guild, she learned the intricacies of forging weapons to play to her strengths. She mastered the ebb and flow of battle, when to use heavy strikes and when to take advantage of her natural speed. She leveled up her skills to compliment those abilities and began to analyze a new enemy on the fly to decide how best to fight it.
In short, she was learning the game.
A second frostblight charged at her, but a large blur of teal and silver leaped in the way, thrusting a spade-like axe down across what passed for the plant monster's head.
"For Shovelry!" she cried as the weapon hit its target. The plant monster split in two and exploded like the first. Asuna worried less about the monster and more about the battle cry.
"For what?"
"It's before your time," Hippolyta replied. "But once we get outta here? We've got to give you an education in the classics."
A third frostblight exploded a few feet away. Behind it stood a diminutive form in a hooded cloak with claws strapped to both hands. She dropped to one knee and panted.
"Tired already?" Hippolyta asked, striding over as she sheathed her axe.
"It's not like these things are tough, but there's been a lot of them." Argo folded her arms over her chest. "Would be nice if Morie would help out more."
The thin form of the de facto leader of Brave Phantasia floated in the air above them as if reclining on a pool float, held aloft by the strange translucent wings he and his brother possessed. Arms folded behind his head and one knee crooked, he peered down at them, the light catching in the lenses of his glasses.
"You guys have got this fine without my help, and y'all need the experience more than I do," Mortimer replied. "And could ya not call me Morie? Makes me sound like an old man."
"But Morie is an old man," Argo replied.
He spun in the air and floated down until his thin nose was inches from Argo's face.
"I'll have you know I'm not even thirty yet."
"Old." Argo tutted and wagged a finger at him. "Ancient. Decrepit."
"Better than looking like I'm eight."
"Morie is an old timer who's jealous of my youthful appearance."
"With age comes wisdom, little info broker. You should learn to respect it."
Asuna chuckled and turned to Hippolyta. "She's the first person I've seen who can keep up with Mortimer since we've met him."
"Ditto for Argo. And between you and me? I'm glad she has someone else to harass for a little while." She shook her head. "I love that kid, but she's a lot to deal with."
"I'm glad you're keeping an eye on her."
"Call it what it is. Babysitting."
"I heard that, 'Lyta!"
"You were supposed to. If someone wasn't always seeing how far she could push things, I wouldn't have to worry about it, now would I?"
Argo stuck out her tongue and then returned to the verbal sparring match with Mortimer.
"But we make a pretty good team. Argo knows the game and has speed for days, while I'm tanked up enough to protect her from the stronger monsters. And, for that matter, certain pain in the ass guild bosses."
"Kibaou hasn't let up, huh?"
"Argo's his Public Enemy Number One. He's convinced she's the mastermind behind the beta tester alliance, even though such a thing doesn't even exist. Damned fool's so convinced he's right that he's depriving himself of the best mind in the game. So now we gotta avoid them and the Charnel Hounds."
"You've been able to so far."
"Yeah, so far. Mortimer's made us invisible to any of Draven's tracking tools, and Argo's got a surprisingly huge number of hidey holes and supply caches." She stopped and adjusted a knee plate on her armor, flexing the joint. "Still, it'd be nice to settle down. We're pulling up stakes every few days to stay ahead of everyone."
"The two of you are always welcome at Mahlutah."
"Maybe one day Argo'll relent enough to let it happen. It'd be nice to see the rest of your crew again."
"I know Yuuki would be thrilled."
"Wouldn't have figured Doraku as a puroresu fan."
"She's full of surprises," Asuna said and brushed a hand through her long hair. She was happy to be off the subject of the Charnel Hounds and the harsh realities of the game world, but the subject of Yuuki invited butterflies to return to her stomach in droves. She missed the swordswoman desperately, despite her best efforts to tamp down those feelings. It was another battle Asuna wasn't ready to wage. Not yet.
And so she opted to steer the conversation in another direction. "I've never seen it myself, but my grandmother was a huge fan."
"It's a lot different in Japan than back home. Back in the States, it was all about politics and really dumb storylines. Not that you ever escape from politics, but it felt a lot milder. But... that's all in the past. I'm retired now."
"Is that why you got into gaming?"
"Lots of people in the business game, and I was doing little streams every so often." She chuckled. Hippolyta's laughter sounded like a warm hug, exactly what Asuna needed at the moment. "Damndest thing, though. I did all kinds of crazy stuff in the ring, and how'd I screw up my leg? Walking across the ring. Probably the toll of all the years, but one bad step, and bam! ACL, PCL, MCL. All of them in one go."
"That's awful!"
"Well, recovery and rehab meant lots of time to play games. And that's how I met Andrew."
Her whole tone shifted, a combination of softness and yearning wrapped around the name. Her posture changed, and for the first time, the armor couldn't completely shield her identity.
"Your husband?"
She nodded. "Started off when he was just some cocky guy I kept seeing in fighting game lobbies. After we started talking, I found out his parents moved from the States to Japan and we started talking more. Next thing you know, we're doing shared streams. That evolved into dates, then things got more serious and now we're married and run a business together." She paused. "Assuming he hasn't run the Cafe into the ground without my help."
"I'm kind of surprised he isn't here with you."
"Oh, that." She laughed once again. "We were only able to get our hands on one NerveGear and one copy of the game. For weeks we went back and forth on who got to play first. Became a running joke in some of our streams. So we finally decided to settle it with a game of Smash, since that's the first game we played together."
"You won?"
"He won," she replied, and even though she couldn't see it, she could imagine the smile on Hippolyta's face. "But I caught him cheating, so guess who got the first play after all?"
"The two of you are still that competitive, huh?"
"Only in good fun. Every relationship is different, but I don't think we'd be us if we didn't throw a little shit talking in there."
"Guess it is different for everyone." She fell silent a moment, her mind racing. Finally, she looked back at the knight and bit her lip before she spoke once again. "How did you know?"
"That he was cheating?"
"That you were in love with him."
"I imagine it's different for everyone. But we could spend the whole day together and I'd never got tired of his company. Figured that meant something. I felt safe around him, too. I could talk about anything and he'd never judge me. I could confide in him more than anyone I'd met before. And then, when he'd smile at me? Sounds like a cliche, but I got weak in the knees. It's all kinds of stuff."
Try as she might, Asuna couldn't dismiss that it all sounded familiar.
"The real thing, though? Trouble."
"Huh?"
"Folks talk about a honeymoon period, and believe me, that's a real thing. There's a time when you love everything about them, and you either ignore or don't notice anything that doesn't fit with the narrative. But you want to know if what you have is real? Trouble's the real litmus test. Get through tough times together and you know you've built something strong. Andrew and I weathered a lot of storms keeping that little cafe open, and he was by my side when I lost my mom."
She wondered what sort of storms her parents had weathered. They never showed affection in front of her or her brother, and at times they seemed to tolerate each other at best. Her thoughts drifted back to Yuuki and their first few months in the game. Trouble would be putting it mildly. They'd survived, grown stronger, and grown closer.
"It sounds like you were lucky to find each other."
"You never know when it'll happen. You just need to keep yourself open to it, and see where it takes you." She held up her axe and wrapped her gauntleted knuckles against the blade. "It's like a weapon. If it's forged right, it will hold fast and protect you. Rush through a step or leave something out during the process? The whole thing shatters."
Rush through a step or leave something out during the process? The whole thing shatters.
As Asuna considered those words, she rubbed at the base of her ring finger. As much as she cared for Yuuki, as much as she needed the other girl in her life, there was a critical weakness. One that, for everything they'd gone through, she couldn't overcome.
Her future was written. Yuuki's was full of possibility.
"Argo tells me you were kind of a newbie when you first showed up," Hippolyta said, mercifully yanking Asuna from her thoughts. "So how'd you end up here anyway?"
Asuna laughed, though there wasn't any humor in it.
"I took my brother's place."
-===-
When she remembered the day that changed her life forever, Asuna remembered the smile on Kouichirou's face. It transformed him from a serious businessman into a boy that she never actually knew. The expression suited him, yet she'd never seen one this radiant, this genuine on his face before. It came with a twinkle in his eyes and an infectious enthusiasm.
Only Asuna seemed immune to it as she stared at the item he'd thrust into her hands.
"What am I looking at here?"
"The future!"
For some reason, the future looked like something you'd find on a toy aisle. She held a nondescript plastic helmet in her hands, like a sentai helmet with its visor and faceplate removed. The surface was smooth plastic without any detail, save the logo in the center and three LEDs on one side. A cable snaked out from the back of the device and plugged into the PC. Asuna ran her fingers across it, incredulous. This was the innovation that her brother had raved about for the past few months?
"It's... for video games?"
"For now." He took the helmet back and cradled it in his arms in a way usually reserved for newborns and puppies. Excitement bubbled around each word he spoke. "But the possibilities are limitless. Imagine operating a search and rescue robot that feels like your own body. We could explore space without risking lives, control nanotech for intricate surgeries, repair the most delicate machines--"
"Or take part in seminars without getting on the train for two hours?"
He chuckled, a slight flush in his cheeks. "Well, we already have teleconferencing for that. But senior management in my department insists these things be done in person."
"So you're still upset?"
"Upset?" Kouichirou ran a hand through his hair, then set the helmet down on his desk. "It's just the most anticipated video game launch in history. A game that I helped test and bring to market. Instead, I'm going to be in a conference room with a bunch of middle-aged men discussing operating margins and growth potential. Why would I be upset?"
"I don't imagine they took the launch of the game into consideration when they planned it."
"Sometimes I wonder if the old timers did this just to try and put me in my place."
"Guess office politics are one of the things you have to accept when you become a rising star in the company." She tapped the helmet and glanced back at him. "Three whole days without this. Will you survive?"
"This business trip is going to be a desert, and by the time it's over I'll be a thirsty camel in need of the oasis." He sighed theatrically. "But yes, Asuna. I will survive."
Teasing aside, Asuna felt a strange sense of gratitude for the NerveGear. Before it came into their lives, she'd never been particularly close to her brother. They loved each other, as siblings often did, and she felt closer to him than either of their parents. But Kouichirou was seven years her senior and dedicated himself to nothing so much as being the dutiful son, following the path their mother laid out for him.
He was smart, too. Smart enough that almost no one questioned his meteoric rise through the ranks of RECT Inc, despite being the CEO's son. He developed an innate sense of which divisions of the company were primed for growth and who to form strategic alliances with. He approached the job with the meticulousness of a scientist and the focus of a surgeon, and more often than not he was right.
That success left behind it a potent wake, and Asuna feared it might one day overtake her completely. With each of her brother's successes came pressure to live up to his example. Her anxiety grew in lockstep with her mother's expectations. She somehow both doubted Asuna would live up to his example yet demanded her daughter try at every step. Though she was happy for him, each of his victories felt like confirmation she would never be good enough. The fear of failure made her keep her brother at arm's length.
Then one day he came to the dinner table after a long day in the office, more animated than she'd ever seen him. He'd just taken a meeting with a video game company. That hardly registered with either of their parents, beyond a disappointed tut from their mother. He mentioned a peripheral that would revolutionize technology, not just in games but in computer interfaces in general. That snagged her father's attention. When he mentioned the name Argus, none of them reacted.
Then she mentioned the name Akihiko Kayaba, and everyone in the family stood up and took notice. Even their mother showed surprise. Even if you'd never played a video game in your life, you knew that name.
A few developers transcended the gaming community and became known to people who'd never so much as picked up a controller. Miyamoto. Kojima. Kayaba. But thanks to Kouichirou's enthusiasm, Asuna learned the details of his story. It began as he toiled on mobile games to little fanfare. His first big splash came when he was plucked from obscurity and given the reins to a reboot of the long-dormant Suikoden franchise. His three games, known as The Kayaba Trilogy, pushed hardware to its very limits and firmly planted the series as a mainstay of the JRPG genre.
But Kayaba wanted more, and an ambitious billionaire bankrolled his new game studio. Well, at first the world assumed it was a game studio. However, Kayaba insisted he needed to design the hardware to run the game. He dreamed of a game more immersive than any that came before it. He buried himself in his work, only posting the occasional update. Some assumed the great designer overpromised, and would be the latest in a long line of forgotten developers, vanishing in a cloud of vaporware and broken promises.
Then he strode into the Tokyo Game Show two years ago and showed the prototype of what would become the NerveGear. No longer would players need a keyboard or controller, and no longer would they be bound by headphones and a monitor. Thanks to his unique neural link, they would truly become their characters. And with that came his game. The game. Sword Art Online.
Kouichirou had partnered with the man who many felt would launch the next revolution in technology.
"Still, it's just a game," their father said, though Asuna could hear the excitement in his voice. "Won't the NerveGear only appeal to gamers?"
"But who doesn't want to escape from an ordinary life, if only for a little while? Even if the player base is limited for SAO, the applications for the NerveGear are limitless.
But Kayaba hadn't abandoned the idea of bringing casual gamers into Sword Art Online. He recruited Kouichirou into the development process, where he became an alpha and then beta tester. His inexperience and disinterest in games would prove invaluable. That disinterest vanished quickly, and he became a passionate advocate from the first tech demo. The more he played, the more he spoke of the new technology with the fervor of an apostle.
And it brought more than just his interest in video games. Even from a young age, he'd adopted their mother's forthright, no-nonsense demeanor and closed himself off emotionally. But now he started long conversations with Asuna, not just about the game but about life in general. He wanted to talk about Asuna's plans for the future (as if she had any of her own), childhood memories of their grandparents, or even just the music she listened to. But it always came back to the game, and not just about the monsters and weapons it contained.
"It's not about all of that," he said one day. "It's the freedom. In Aincrad, you can become whatever you want. Go wherever you want. The decisions are yours to make, the only limit is how good you are with your sword."
Which explained why he stared longingly at the helmet now. It wasn't about the monotone speakers or the endless assault of charts and graphs. The seminar stole away that freedom from him, revealed its limitations.
"I'm tempted to take it with me."
"Why don't you?"
"Even if I wanted to haul all the computer gear to a hotel for three days, I'd never have time to play." He frowned. "It's a real shame, though. Apparently, Kayaba has something big planned for the opening ceremony."
"It'll be waiting for you when you get back," Asuna said with a smile. "Besides, you know there will be streamers and videos all over the internet once it goes live."
"Other people's VR streams make me motion sick. Besides, it wouldn't be the same." He stopped, then looked from the helmet to his sister, then back again.
"You have an idea?"
"You should try it."
"Huh?"
"You could create your own account, complete with your own character, then use it on opening day." For a moment, his face returned to the analytical mask she'd seen so often. "It would be the perfect marketing test. Have you ever really played games before?"
"A few," Asuna replied. There had been a few mobile games, but she'd never gotten hooked. She also had a friend at school who loved games and got her to try a few. But she'd never understood the appeal, and certainly never showed any aptitude for them. "I wouldn't know what I was doing."
"You and about nine thousand other people."
"But it's getting close to crunch time, and I need to--"
"Asuna, that's our mother talking." He picked up the helmet and offered it to her. "Just once, don't you want to see where your own path will take you?"
Her own path. Had she ever given that much thought in any capacity? She bit her lower lip, one hand inching upward toward the helmet. Sword Art Online was about fulfilling fantasies, and could there be any more out of reach than making her own choices about the future?
"You're not going to give up until I say yes, are you?"
"Nope."
"Well..." She put a finger to her chin. "IT would be interesting to see just what has you so excited. And it's just one night."
"You say that now," Kouichirou replied, "But I bet once you get logged in, you're going to have a hard time quitting."
-===-
The further the four pressed into the labyrinth, the fewer enemies they saw. The snow, barely flurries when they first entered, had intensified to near blizzard conditions. The digital sun overhead seemed to dim as well, casting deep shadows across the area. Even the background music faded out, leaving nothing but the sound of wind whipping through the corridors and their feet crunching through the snow.
Eeriest of all, Mortimer said less as time went on.
"Does this seem strange to either of you?" Argo finally asked.
Hippolyta shrugged. "Plenty of hidden areas in RPGs, aren't there?"
"But the entrance wasn't marked, not even in a hidden way," Argo countered. The usual confident edge to her voice had vanished. "And the trigger almost needed to be pixel perfect. Morie had to try a few times, and he knew it was here."
"So?" The terms Argo flung around meant very little to Asuna, but she noted that they seemed to trouble Hippolyta. "Couldn't it just be a glitch?"
"Maybe, though the beta test went through the game with a fine-toothed comb. Also, the enemies aren't hard yet they're dropping a ton of experience. I've gone up two levels since we got here."
"I figured it was just our upgraded gear," Hippolyta countered.
Mortimer circled in the air above them, then landed in front of them, wings vanishing into his back.
"The pipsqueak's got a good point." He swiped his finger to open his menu. "I've never seen frostblight before, and they're not even listed in the admin bestiary. Matter of fact, they look like they were cobbled together using recycled assets."
Asuna grimaced. "In Japanese for the non-gamer, please."
"This area's almost impossible to randomly stumble into, hidden from even the GM controls. There are a lot of super weak enemies that also happen to give out a ton of experience. This feels like a debug room." He stopped and looked at Asuna. "Developers will put places like this in games while they're working on them to test features. But why just the one enemy? And why would it still be accessible at all?"
"Speed leveling," Argo said.
"Bingo. This little place was tucked away in the game so someone could level up without having to grind in a harder area."
"So Draven is bringing the Charnel Hounds here to make them stronger?" Asuna asked.
"That's what I thought at first. But I double-checked the access history for the area. It's only been accessed once before."
"Some kind of weapon that only spawns once?" Hippolyta asked.
"Draven has a GM account, so he wouldn't need something like that."
"But couldn't he give it to his lieutenants?"
"Maybe. But then why not bring them back down here to level them up, like you said before?" Mortimer's voice took on a grim tone, more serious than she'd ever heard it before. "That leaves one possibility, then. He came down here to leave something."
"And what would that be?" Hippolyta asked.
"Something he didn't want to be found."
They pressed forward and soon found the end of the labyrinth. The path dumped out in front of a small cave with two small torches weakly illuminating the walls within. The pale light yielded to the darkness after only a few feet. It reminded Asuna more of a hall of mirrors in a carnival funhouse than a cave, and she wrapped her arms around herself.
"This tracks," Mortimer said, took a few steps forward, then stopped. He stared into the yawning shadows of the cave and grimaced.
Asuna walked beside him. "You know what's in there, don't you?"
"I have a suspicion."
"Then why won't you tell us?"
"Because there are certain things you should know about only if absolutely necessary."
He lifted a finger into the air and a series of words spun around him. He recited an incantation and a small ball of light appeared next to him. He thrust an arm out and glanced over his shoulder.
"The three of you stay behind me. If I give the word, run like hell."
"Moritmer, what--" Hippolyta began.
"If the three of you have ever trusted me, I beg you to do so now."
Asuna looked at the other two members of the party and nodded. They followed suit.
He pressed forward into the cave, each step deliberate. The space narrowed the longer they walked, tapering into a point at the end. Just before they reached the back of the cave, Mortimer stopped cold. One hand clenched into a fist while the other tightened around his wand.
The sphere cast just enough light for Asuna to see what lay ahead of them. The ice cave ended with the statue of a man. Its arms and legs were set into the ice itself, its body slumped forward and its head pointed at the ground. Emaciated and frail, Asuna couldn't help but wonder why anyone would make such a pathetic looking monument.
"Hell."
When he spoke, the statue moved.
He wore no armor but thin clothes that wouldn't protect against the elements. His arms and legs, frozen tight into the ice, were bare. He drew ragged breaths and struggled against his icy prison. But as he caught sight of the four, a smile crossed his face. There was no hint of mirth or pleasantness within it, instead only sadistic glee. It looked like a wild animal barring its fangs, and it marred his otherwise handsome face.
A green cursor appeared over his head, but even though Asuna waited, no marker for NPC appeared below. A breath caught in her throat. This was a player?
Mortimer stared at the pitiful sight in front of them with anger. He lifted the wand as though they were facing a monster. Despite the weapon and his opponent's immobile state, Mortimer's hand shook. He'd never shown anything approaching fear before, and now he could barely contain it.
"I'll be damned. You managed to get in after all."
"Don't recognize your face." His raspy voice was calm, almost conversational. "But I'd know that voice anywhere. Haruto. It's been a while, old friend." He spat the last two words.
"I wish it had been a lifetime longer."
"Mortimer," Hippolyta said, pressing closer. "Who is this man?"
Mortimer pushed her back with one hand, never turning the wand away from the imprisoned man's chest.
"His name," he said after a moment, "Is Vassago Casals. And he is the most dangerous man in Sword Art Online."