Sword Art Online - Volume 3 - Fairy Dance

by Reki Kawahara

  That time…

  When Aincrad collapsed, the world was shrouded in an explosion of light. Before disappearing, Asuna and Kirito had clung together and waited until the moment they lost consciousness.

  She had felt no fear. There was a conviction that she did what had to be done and had lived a life with nothing to regret. To disappear with him was a very gratifying ending, Asuna had thought.

  Wrapped in the light of their intertwined souls, it didn’t matter when their bodies disappeared.

  When his warmth disappeared, Asuna was instantly shrouded in darkness. She reached out her hand, desperately shouting his name. But she had become caught in a relentless torrent that dragged her further into the dark. Then there were intermittent flashes of light. Not knowing where she was being transported, Asuna had screamed. Finally, a rainbow-colored brilliance appeared before her. The iridescent light spread toward her, and she fell into this place.

  Hanging on a wall and supporting the Gothic-style bed was a gigantic mirror. Reflected there was a form subtly different from the one she knew. Her face, and her chestnut hair, were the same as before. But she was wearing a thin, one piece white dress that she thought was flimsy. Decorating the top of the dress, right above her chest was a blood-red ribbon. The cold piercing her bare feet told her the tiles were made of marble. She didn’t have a single weapon on her back, but a mysterious transparent substance extends from her back in the shape of wings. They are more like the wings of insects than birds.

  At first, she truly thought that she had come to the life after death. But now, she understood that this was not the case. Although she had tried waving her hand, she is unable to call up the menu window. This is not Aincrad but a new illusionary world, a computer-generated virtual prison. Asuna has been imprisoned here by a man’s malice.

  Since this is the case, she could not let herself be defeated. Her mind refused to be broken by his malice. By remembering this, Asuna endured loneliness and anxiety every passing day. But now, her determination has started to crumble. Despair has slowly seeped into her heart.

  Asuna sat on the cold chair with her hands folded on the table, and she felt a turmoil in her heart as she constantly thought of him.

  ‘Quickly…quickly come and save me, Kirito-kun…’

  “That is a most beautiful expression, Titania.”

  Suddenly a voice sounded inside the bird cage.

  “It is the face of someone about to cry. I’d like to freeze that expression, make a decoration out of it.”

  “Then go ahead and do it.”

  Asuna said, turning to face the direction the voice had come from.

  From the edge of the golden cage and in the direction of the giant tree known as the 《World Tree》 was a door. The door opened out onto a staircase carved from another branch that bridged the distance between her cage and the trunk of the tree.

  The door opened to reveal a tall man.

  His gold, wavy hair flowed out from under a round silver crown that sat at the top. He was dressed in a fine, green silk mantle that was decorated with silver embroidery. Like Asuna, he, too, had wings, but his were not transparent; they were more like those of a huge butterfly. The four parts of his wings shifted between a color of black velvet and emerald-green.

  His face had a beauty that could only be artificial. With a smooth forehead, a high slender nose, and eyes with irises in the same color and pattern as his wings, he was extremely handsome. However, his thin lips, twisted in an expression of utter contempt and distorted by a smile that despised everything, completely destroyed such beauty.

  When Asuna saw this man, she turned away as though she had seen something filthy. She said in a flat tone:

  “…You can do whatever you want as the system administrator. Do as you wish.”

  “Saying such a heartless thing again. Thus far, have I forced myself on you, Titania?”

  “You can still say that even after locking me in here? Stop with the strange names; I am Asuna, Oberon, no Sugou-san.”

  Asuna looked up at Sugou Nobuyuki’s current incarnation, 《Fairy King Oberon》. But this time, she didn’t avert her eyes and returned his gaze with a powerful glare.

  Twisting his lips in a disgusted expression, he mirthlessly said:

  “Wake up already. In this world, I am Oberon the Fairy King, and you’re the queen Titania. We are the players’ envy, ALfheim’s masters, and you shall eventually open up your heart to me.. as my partner.”

  “No matter how long you wait, it will be in vain. The only things I will ever give to you are my contempt and hatred.”

  “Well, how stubborn.”

  Oberon slowly extended his right hand to the side of Asuna’s face, laughing.

  “It is… I feel that these days…”

  He tries to make Asuna face him, but she turns away.

  “Then again, it’s okay to make you obey by force too. It might even be more fun that way.”

  Asuna`s face became caught in his vice-like grip, and the fingers of his left hand approached slowly, touching her cheek as he slowly moved his fingers toward her lips. A shiver ran down Asuna`s back from this disgusting feeling.

  Asuna’s eyes filled with disgust, and she clenched her teeth and tightened her lips to a thin line. Oberon`s fingers repeatedly slid over her lips before they moved slowly down her neck. When they finally reached her chest, his fingers tightened on the bright red ribbon. As he enjoyed Asuna’s shame and fear, his hands grasped the ribbon by one end, and slowly, slowly pulled…

  “Stop!”

  Unable to endure more of his touch, Asuna’s voice finally leaked from her mouth.

  Hearing her voice, Oberon cooed deep in his throat, but he still removed his fingers from the ribbon. He wagged his fingers before he said with a laugh:

  “Just kidding. Didn’t I already mention it? I will not force you. Anyway, when the times comes, you’ll beg me for it anyway. It’s only a matter of time.”

  “So foolish, do you really think that will happen?”

  “Are you certain I’m just ‘being foolish’? Soon you will accept my feelings, Titania.”

  Oberon placed both hands on the table and leaned forward suggestively. Revealing a shadowed grin, he looked outside of the birdcage.

  “You see tens of thousands of people dive into and enjoy playing a game in this vast world. But alas, they are unaware. The《FULLDIVE》 system was not developed just for the entertainment industry!”

  At these unexpected words, Asuna became silent. Oberon spread open his arms in a theatrical gesture.

  “I’m not joking! This game is merely a by-product. The FullDive machine interface, in other words the NERvGear and Amusphere, has a limited scope, so electronic signals focus the role of the brain’s sensory sphere in order to give the illusion of environmental signals. But what happens when that limiter is removed?”

  Oberon`s green eyes were full of hidden evil and ambition. Asuna instinctively flinched away in fear.

  “…That is, the functions of the brain outside the sensory processing include thought, emotion, and memory. Without the limiter, these can be controlled!”

  Such insanity from Oberon left Asuna speechless. After breathing a few times, she somehow managed to squeeze out her voice. “Such, such things will never be permitted…”

  “Who is it that ‘will not allow it’? This type of research is already being conducted in many countries. However, such a study needs human subjects to carry out the experiment. Also, what a person thinks about can only be described in words!”

  Oberon gave a shrill laugh and leapt away from the table, and, after adjusting his posture, walked around Asuna.

  “There are a lot of individual processes in higher-order brain function, so it is necessary to procure a large number of test-subjects. But, because this is recording the brain’s behavior, it requires repeated tests, and human experimentation is not allowed. That’s why this study has progressed so slowly. But one day, as I was watching the ne
ws, I found a way to get as many subjects as I would ever need, the ten thousand people!”

  The hair on the back of Asuna`s neck stood on end. Oberon didn’t have to say it; she could already imagine what he was going to say.

  “Kayaba-senpai… he was a genius, but he was also a fool. He obviously had the ability, but he was content with just creating a game world. Even then, his SAO server could not be touched. But the moment the players were liberated, I was able to take part of that world as mine by hacking into it through the router; it was that easy.”

  Making a movement like he was holding a goblet, the fairy king put out his hand and swirled it, as though he were going to drink an invisible wine.

  “Well, waiting for the game to be cleared took a long time. But even though I couldn’t get everyone, I managed to obtain 300 test subjects. In reality, there is no facility that could store that many people, but virtual reality has more than enough room!”

  Oberon continued rattling off his delusions. From the beginning, Asuna had hated this about his character.

  “Thanks to the 300 players from the old SAO server, our research has made great progress in just two months! Embedding new objects in memories, techniques for inducing emotion… this technology has largely taken shape. The manipulation of the soul – truly wonderful!”

  “This kind of study… do you think my father would allow it?”

  “That old man has no idea, of course. This study is being conducted by a very small team and in absolute secrecy. It would otherwise become quite the commodity.”

  “Commodity…!?”

  “A certain American company is practically drooling as it waits for this research to finish. I plan to sell technology at a very high price. Anyway, it will all be owned by RECTO, and RECTO will eventually become mine.”

  “…”

  “I will soon became a part of the Yuuki family. First, as an adopted son, I would qualify as the successor to RECTO. As your spouse, that is only fitting. I thought it was not a bad idea for us to have a rehearsal right here and now.”

  A sense of disgust caused a cold shudder down her back, and Asuna slowly but very firmly shook her head.

  “That is one thing I absolutely will not allow. On the day that I return to reality, I will shed light on these atrocities.”

  “Good grief, you still do not understand. I keep speaking freely only because you’ll soon forget it all! All that is left will be…”

  Oberon suddenly stopped; he tilted his head and fell silent. Then, shaking his left hand to open the window, he turned toward it and gave instructions.

  “I’m coming now; wait for instructions.”

  The window disappeared, and he turned back to Asuna with grin.

  “Be warned, for the day you fall blindly in love with me is fast approaching. Either you submit to me now, or I turn your brain into a stage for one of my experiments. So next time you see me, please be a little more submissive, Titania.”

  After stroking Asuna`s hair as though she were a cat, he turned away.

  With her head bowed down, Asuna did not watch Oberon leave. Her mind kept replaying Oberon’s last words and the horror they engendered.

  ‘Click!’ echoed through the room as the door locked itself, once again leaving only silence.

  Part 2

  After changing back into her uniform, Suguha left the kendo clubroom. A burst of refreshing wind caressed her cheeks as she walked between the school buildings with her bamboo sword held loosely in hand.

  It was half-past-one, but, because fifth period classes had already begun, the school was very quiet. At this time, first- and second-year students were in class, but third-year students could freely choose when to attend until they begun to focus on tutorial lectures for high school entrance examinations. Only people like Suguha, who already had a recommendation, were walking around.

  She had leisure time, but people who are in the same year would often say sarcastic words when they met. Suguha generally does not go to school without a reason. Her kendo teacher is a strict but warm-hearted instructor. He cares about his beloved disciple, who had been recommended admission to a top-ranking school. Still, Suguha continued coming to school every day to follow his strict training.

  According to him, Suguha had recently developed a subtle habit. After hearing this, Suguha thought about what might have caused it. It was probably because she enters the world of ALfheim and trains in aerial combat every day, albeit for a short time.

  However, he never said that it made her worse or that it gave her a harder time. And today, she was even able to get two points off the 30-year-old male advisor, who was also one of the highest-ranked kendo practitioners in the country.

  She didn’t know why, but she recently seemed to be able to read her opponents’ attacks more easily. Whenever she fought a strong enemy, her nerves would strain, and the flow of time seemed to slow and made everything seem much more intense.

  She remembered an incident a few days ago when she had sparred with Kazuto. At that time, he had dodged one of her best attacks, one that people can’t easily escape. That kind of superb responsiveness made it seem like he was experiencing it at a completely different rate than she was. Perhaps, Suguha suddenly considered, FullDive experiences affected the physical body.

  She became lost in thought as she made her way to the bike rack until someone suddenly called to her from the shadows.

  “Lyfa-chan.”

  “Wha..!”

  Suguha jumped forward a step in surprise. A somewhat-thin boy wearing glasses had appeared from in front of her. He and Recon shared the common characteristic of lowering the eyebrows when troubled, but, right now, the angle of the eyebrows was even more tilted.

  Suguha placed her right hand on her hip and spoke with a little sigh in her voice.

  “Do not call me that while at school!”

  “S…sorry, Suguha-chan!”

  “That’s…”

  Suguha used one hand to remove the cover of her bamboo sword case before stepping forward. The boy showed a helpless smile and quickly shook his head.

  “Right, I’m sorry, Kirigaya-san.”

  “What’s going on, Nagata-san?”

  “I need to speak with you; is there somewhere we can go to talk casually?”

  “Here is good.”

  Shinichi Nagata made a miserable face and dropped his shoulders.

  “Anyway, you already have a recommendation, so why did you still come to school?”

  “Ah, Sugu—, Kirigaya-san, I wanted to talk with you. I had waited here since early this morning.”

  “Gah! You sure have lots of time.”

  Suguha took a few steps back and kneeled down next to a relatively high flower bed.

  “What do you want to talk about?”

  Nagata Shinichi sat down and, maintaining a certain distance from Suguha, said:

  “Sigurd and the others want to go hunting tomorrow afternoon. There are some underwater caves, so Salamanders rarely go there.”

  “I told you, I prefer talking about hunting by e-mail. Anyway, I’m sorry, but I won’t be participating for a while.”

  “Eh.. eh!? Why?”

  “I’m going to Aarun.”

  Towering in the center of ALfheim is the world tree, and near its base lies the great neutral city, Aarun. Sylvian is a considerable distance from Aarun. It is a trip that would take several days, especially because there were areas where flight was not possible.

  Nagata Shinichi stiffened for a moment but then drew closer to her and asked:

  “Are you going with that Spriggan from yesterday?”

  “Ah, yeah. I promised I would show him around.”

  “You.. you’re not thinking right! I don’t know why you’re spending your nights with that strange guy!”

  “Why are you blushing? Don’t imagine weird things!”

  She took her shinai and pressed it against his chest. Nagata`s eyebrows painfully drooped to their limit, and he looked at Suguh
a with resentment.

  “I have asked you before if you wanted to go to Aarun with me, but you objected very firmly.”

  “That’s because we’d be wiped out, no matter how many times I go with you. Anyway, that’s my reason, so tell Sigurd for me.”

  Suguha stood up, bid him a “see you,” and went straight to the bike rack. Nagata’s pitiful expression, like that of a dog that was struck after a scolding, pained her a bit. Even so, rumors were already circulating around school. She doesn’t want to appear any closer to him.

  ‘I am just showing him the way, that’s all.’

  She told herself this to calm her beating heart. But when she thought of the teen named Kirito, his mysterious black eyes made it impossible for her to calm down.

  Quickly removing the lock on her bike, which was parked in a corner of the vast parking lot, she peddled away. The cold winter air blew across her cheeks, but Suguha simply ignored it. Leaving through the back gate of the school, she rode down a steep slope without worrying about using her breaks.

  ‘Fly fast,’ was what Suguha was thinking. Flying together with Kirito at top speed… she was getting excited just thinking about it.

  Suguha arrived home shortly before two.

  Kazuto’s bike wasn’t in the garden, he must not have returned from the gym yet.

  Recently, Kazuto seemed to have recovered the physical abilities he had had before the SAO incident. But he was not satisfied, feeling a disparity in physical cabilities between his body in reality and in the virtual world.

  This is definitely understandable, considering that it is impossible to replicate the abilities of a virtual character with a living body. Even Suguha understood that, as she had nearly fallen down once or twice when she had expected to catch herself with the 《Flight》 ability.

  Stepping into the house from the porch, Suguha went into the laundry room, put her clothes into the washing machine, and pressed the ON switch. She then entered her room, where she took off her gray sailor shirt and skirt and hung them on the wall hook.