Author's Notes

Hey guys, sorry the chapter took so long. I'll get to that at the end of the chapter, but first I have a bit of a news statement to make. We are now getting into the interesting meat of the story. I have been working on developing the characters up until this point (and honestly, probably I probably still should in regards to Sinon) so that they will be fully fleshed out by the time that I got into non-canon plotline stuff.

This story is planned to be seven story arcs long─roughly seven hundred thousand words or seventy chapters, for those who wish to know length. This chapter marks the end of the first one: the Exposition Arc. These are going to be called Arc Finales and at the beginning of these chapters I will explain what has happened in the last arc and what will happen in the next arc.

In the Exposition Arc, we started with Sinon. She met a boy named Jace, who taught her what she needed to know about the world of Galactic Warfare Online. Then Kayaba made the announcement that death in the game meant death in real life and Jace convinced her to team up with him.

In the next chapter, Jace battled a Major Boss and came across an item called the «Sky Coat» that maxed out his AGI stat. He spoke to Argo about this item and paid her to look into it. Then he and Sinon got an inn, shared some fluff, and woke up in the morning to get confronted by Kibaou and Spiegel. A character named Diabel saved them and they went on their way.

Chapter three saw the battle of «Illfang.» Pretty much everything in this chapter went as canon, with the exception of Jace and Sinon's interactions. Pretty average boss fight.

In chapter four, Sinon got a new outfit and they headed up to the «Ethereal Highlands» and down to the «Black Forest» to battle the «Slenderman.» Sinon started the «Ghillie of Babel» mission, and there was fluff throughout.

After that, Jace and Sinon went down to «Ashley's» and then to a park. There was a lot of fluff and then a flashback from Jace in regards to something that happened during the beta-test. Then they trained with the Clearers and talked to Argo about the «Sky Coat» and the news regarding it: that Kibaou had one as well.

Chapter six was a massive battle for most of the chapter. Sinon and Jace had to split up for a moment and Jace and Kirito began working closely together. At the end, there was a small party and the whole team partied. Then Kirito and Asuna partnered up and there was very minor fluff there.

Then chapter seven was like a Holy Grail of fluff. Jace and Sinon celebrated Christmas and it was pretty adorable. He gave her clothes, she gave him a watch, I wanted to give them each other's bodies… but I refrained, so they aren't together yet.

Finally we arrive at the last chapter; chapter eight. In the last chapter, we started off with Jace, who had to leave Sinon again so she could do a mission. Jace then had a flashback again to his time with Jackal. Then we joined Asuna for her brief backstory before heading into her main problem─getting a «Plasmid Sword» so she could work better with Kirito. Then we went to Sinon's point of view and watched her fight a dragon and kick ass, before wrapping up with Spiegel and his time being kidnapped by the «Laughing Coffin» on his vacation from the «Aincrad Liberation Force.»

I would like to apologize for wasting all this time. Enjoy the Arc Finale.

Disclaimer: I appreciate and honor the fact that you are taking the time to read my story. I thank you for any reviews, follows, and favorites. I do not own Sword Art Online, nor do I own any of its characters. Sword Art Online belongs to Reki Kawahara, ASCII Media Works, and the SAO Project. Please support the official release.

Character Ages

Kirito- 16 (October 7th, 2006)

Asuna- 17 (September 30th, 2005)

Sinon- 16/17 (January 17th, 2007)

Jace- 17 (February 13th, 2006)

ARC FINALE Chapter 9: The Ancient Tree

Monday, January 9th 2023. Continent: Ianides. Politik. User Kirito

Getting Asuna's weapon was taking Kirito much longer than he expected.

First they had begun training her how to use an «OHPS»–a «One-Handed Plasmid Sword»–and told her the basics of how to use it. It didn't work. Then they decided to start her on a «THPS»–«Two-Handed Plasmid Sword»–but she was even worse with it. Her slashes were wild and uncontrolled, as though the tip was too heavy for her to control.

"If you can't slash, that eliminates the most common types of «Plasmid Swords»–the swords," Kirito grumbled. He enjoyed Asuna's company, but the two were getting more and more frustrated. Asuna had only left the «SoS Headquarters» twice since they arrived the day after New Year's, and the Black Swordsman hadn't gone out much more than her. He hadn't killed a Xylote since last Thursday.

"Nobody asked you to be here," Asuna snapped back. "You're not helping anyway, you just bat the sword away before I can even raise it up!"

"Well I'm sorry that you're so slow," Kirito hissed.

"Ex-cuse me!" Katsuo interrupted loudly, stepping between the two just before they could pull up a duel. "Enough bickering! You are in a sacred place, the home of the «School of Swordsman!» Now is not the time for petty arguments and bitter words! I said it would not be easy, but I didn't know that you hadn't recognized that, Kirito."

"Why can't she just try her «Rapier Plasmid Sword?»" Kirito asked. "She can't slash at all, so why not give her something to stab with? Besides, she already has one of those laying around and gathering dust in her inventory."

"That is not the method we use," Katsuo answered. "You know that as well as I. The longer you are cooped up here, the tenser you both become. Kirito, why don't you and Asuna go out and grind for a day or two? Start a mission. Come back when you're stress-free, and then we'll take another hit at this."

Kirito and Asuna looked at each other with fire in their eyes, and then sighed as they realized Katsuo was right. Taking a break–though not at all what they wanted to do, as it would mean less time to get out to the frontlines–was their only real option. If they were to keep on fighting over which weapon Asuna should be using, it would weaken their bond. And then they'd have to take a break from each other, which would be much worse.

They walked out of the «SoS Headquarters» with limp arms, barely even moving at a pace that could be called walking. Kirito hadn't realized quite how tired he was, but he was sure that if he was tired, Asuna was downright exhausted. The thought that she had been training for fourteen hours a day with only miniscule breaks in between sessions was enough to make him look at her in awe. He could see now why she was so short tempered.

"Don't stress out," Kirito told his partner. "You haven't had time in the past week to really think about anything other than finding your weapon type."

Asuna sighed and looked down as they walked. "I'm just not used to not being good at things," she admitted. "Back in real life, I was in the top of my class at just about everything I did. Now that I'm learning how to use «Plasmid Swords,» I feel self-aware that I'm not the best at using them."

"We can't both be the best," Kirito teased. This earned a quiet giggle from Asuna, and it made the Black Swordsman happy that he could make her smile even at a time like now. "Don't worry about it. We'll be out of here before you know it."

Though he thought his statement was a reassuring one, Asuna's face held mixed emotions, but before Kirito could read her, she turned away, shutting him out while she put the mask on that she'd been donning for the past few days, the one of the hardworking woman training to be a swordswoman that leaked no emotion at all. With a sigh, the boy turned back to the front and they walked the rest of the way to the «Spatial Rift» in silence.

The jump through the «Spatial Rift» was no shock to Kirito by now, as he had played for months longer than Asuna and had therefor traveled through «Spatial Rift» much more frequently than her. He handled the loss of control in his body, his soul being taken away and sent flying through space, and the returning of his consciousness to a new and identical body with as much thought towards the event as tying his shoes back in Japan–just another day in the business of living in a videogame world. He touched down in «Donquix» without stumbling, though the same couldn't be said for Asuna.

"I don't know how you can stay still after those jumps," Asuna breathed as she barely managed to keep from stumbling.

"Practice," Kirito said absentmindedly as he looked around the city. It appeared to be modeled after a Dutch village, with white-walled buildings and thatch roves. "Argo said that there was a certain mission that I could do around here but it should be easy for the both of us," Kirito explained as he looked above the rooftops. "All we need to do is find a Hispanic looking knight-like NPC by a tall windmill."

"Doesn't that remind you of a story?" Asuna wondered thoughtfully as she followed the boy. "I could have sworn I read a book about a Spanish knight in English class."

"Doesn't ring a bell," Kirito mumbled as he searched the skyline. After a moment, he pointed into the horizon at a massive building with spinning blades. "That has to be where we're headed, though. It's the biggest building in the village."

Asuna nodded and they walked toward the windmill in comfortable silence. Normally, Kirito would have felt uncomfortable because of the lull in conversation, but he felt like Asuna needed a peaceful moment. Unfortunately, the streets of «Donquix» weren't quite quiet. Vendors hawked their goods to players on the street, groups of players were talking, a small Army was sitting by the fountain drinking an alcoholic beverage and enjoying it a bit too much for Kirito's personal taste.

"This is one rowdy village, isn't it?" Asuna asked, walking a bit quicker. "It's like the less tech there is, the more noise the city can produce."

"Yeah," Kirito nodded. "It shouldn't be much further though. Just over this hill."

As they reached the crest of the hill, they saw how massive the windmill was. It towered above them what must have been hundreds of feet in the air, and at the door was a man in a suit of black armor who was hacking at the door with a «Plasmid Sword» furiously. Kirito and Asuna looked at each other, unsure of what to do, but they knew there was no option other than talking to him.

"Excuse me," Asuna said sweetly, tapping the man on the shoulder.

As soon as her finger touched the cold metal of his shoulder plate, the man swung around and threw a wild slash in Asuna's direction. The strike missed horribly, but it was enough of a shock to send the girl back two meters and to draw her rifle and point it straight at the man's face. He was definitely Hispanic looking with dark grey hair and darker eyes. "Who art thou, are wherefore art thou here?" the man asked, dark eyes gleaming as he stared at Asuna.

"Um, we were wondering if you had a mission for us," Kirito said hopefully.

"A mission? No," the man scoffed. "A quest, on the other hand, I do have." Then he turned around and slashed into the wall a great many more times before turning around as if it was completely normal for Spanish soldiers dressed like knights to hack away at windmills. "I'm stuck her fighting this beast, but there's a rising terror in the grove just east of here. Some say that it looks like a cedar tree, but it's not. It's a monster, the likes of which haven't been seen near this humble village for years. Defeat the monster and you will be rewarded greatly."

As the knight turned around again to carve away at the windmill, which had «Immortal Object» markers popping up everywhere, a menu popped up in front of the pair, asking them if they wanted to accept the mission–called «Man of La Mancha.» Asuna and Kirito looked at each other, nodded in unison and tapped the accept button confidently.

"Be on your way!" the knight said with another slash backwards. "More monsters approach by the minute!"

Kirito couldn't believe his eyes. The windmill was a massive beast that towered stories upon stories over him. Its red skin gave off a hellish glow of pure demonic energy as its thin black lips curled back into a gruesome snarl, revealing teeth that looked sharper than razor blades. Its eyes, perhaps, were the scariest thing of all, yellow with white pupils.

It looked like something straight out of hell.

"How did that windmill turn into a monster?" Asuna shouted, taking a step back in shock.

"Go to the Cedar!" the knight called over his shoulder as he jumped over a swipe. "If you get there maybe we can reverse the effects!"

Kirito grabbed Asuna and ran down the street and away from the Spanish knight. He knew where Asuna remembered the story from–it was like the book, a next generation fanfiction of Don Quixote, with him and Asuna as the young knights. He wasn't nearly strong enough to take down that windmill, so they would have to trust the Spanish knight with keeping the destruction of the town at bay.

–o–

The «Gardenial Glade» wasn't that hard of a maze to get through. According to the in-game newspaper, «Aincradian Alerts,» a high ranking member of the «Aincrad Liberation Force» had led an expedition through the forest and had been brutally massacred. They had walked for hours before a Xylote had even crossed their paths, and it was dispatched easily by the two players.

"Hey Asuna," Kirito said to his companion as they walked through the forest, "doesn't it seem a bit weird that the «ALF» got wiped out in here?"

"I was thinking the same thing," she said with a nod. "We've literally seen only one Xylote in the whole time that we've been here, which is about the regular amount that spawn in any area. This is a dungeon, though, so the spawn-rate should be much higher."

"Then what's going on here?" Kirito asked.

"I'm not sure," Asuna said as she turned the corner just ahead of Kirito. "But I'm sure the answer can be found here."

Kirito rounded the corner as well and saw a brown and green monster sitting solemnly in the center of the clearing while he slept. The boy guessed that it was at least thirty feet tall. He took in all the information he could from looking at it. Argo had told him that the monster used physical attacks involving its slender blade like arms, but his left hand formed a cannon. When they stepped within fifty feet, the monster's eyes blinked open and it roared ferociously. A name popped up beside the beast: «Arborius, Lord of Illusion.»

"You ready, Kirito?" Asuna asked, equipping her light rifle.

"Ready," Kirito said with a smile. Then his eyes grew cold and he and Asuna began to engage in one of the most grueling battles of their time in GWO. It lasted for about four hours, and by the time the boss had only one meager percent of its HP left, they were facing an exhaustion the likes of which they had never imagined possible before.

"Just one more strike!" Asuna cried, raising her gun. "Do it together!"

Kirito nodded and dashed in with a shout, rolling under a blast from the boss's cannon arm and leaping over its arm blade. He drove his sword straight into the monster's heart at the same time his companion shot a bullet into the center of its forehead. The monster's HP slowly dropped to zero.

Then one of the top five most important events in the Death Game incident happened.

«Arborius» froze in his position, glitching physically. Holes littered its body that were patched almost instantly like sepia films. Then, parts of his body shifted horizontally from itself like an old TV before the beast finally glowed blue and shattered into millions upon millions of cyan polygons that spread in the breeze like dandelion seeds.

"What was that?" Asuna asked cautiously as the "Congratulations" message appeared.

"It looked like some sort of bug; no big deal since the game devs are probably watching the game these days." Kirito said scanning the spoils of the battle. "Did you get anything good?"

"I got the Last Attack Bonus, but I haven't looked at it yet," the girl said with a shrug.

Kirito looked at his screen and saw that he had a Last Attack Bonus as well. "Wait, you have the Last Attack Bonus?" he asked. "How is that possible?"

Asuna looked at Kirito out of the corner of her eyes, a sense of annoyance evident. "What, I can't be faster than you? I obviously hit it last."

"No, that's not what I mean," Kirito said, opening his Last Attack Bonus and looking over it. "I got the «Blackwyrm Coat» just now as the Last Attack Bonus."

"What?" Asuna gasped, a look of deep confusion in her eyes. "But I got the «Whitewyrm Coat» just now!"

"What does the description say?" Kirito asked.

"It says 'the nimblest of the Oblivia, Letratex, granted this long coat to his champion, Arborius, to make him faster. It also granted him immortality, so long as he was the quickest one in battle. Equip?'"

Kirito read through his description silently as Asuna read hers aloud. They were the same word for word, and equipping the items showed that they were the exact same, albeit Kirito's was black with white accents and Asuna's was white with red. "How can any of this be possible?" he asked with a groan.

"Maybe we both attacked at the exact same time," Asuna said. "But that wouldn't explain why the items match our current color schemes."

Kirito grabbed a fistful of his hair in frustration caused by the puzzle in front of him. "I guess all we can do is ask Argo if she can find out," he said after a moment with a deep breath. "Come on, we should get back to Politik.

)-0-(

Saturday, January 14th 2023. Continent: Ianides. Base Camp. User Kibaou

Kibaou was furious.

He'd been forced out of the «ALF» for a full two weeks due to his EXP grinding mission in the «Gardenial Glade» that some of the noobs died in. It honestly wasn't his fault; he'd told his men to retreat. If they hadn't stood there for those four seconds they could have made it out alive. Unfortunately, Thinker did not think the same, and had sent him out to "lose his adrenaline" on a "mandatory vacation."

He had gone to some stupid town near the frontlines and looked around for days for good quests that he could solo. Truth be told, it wasn't useless; he had managed to get his hands on some pretty good equipment–a new light machine gun, a new energy shield, a handful of «Photon Grenades»–and his level increased by about 3, which was starting to become impressive at his level.

Then he received a message from his Lieutenant Colonel, Kobatz.

In the message, Kobatz told him that Thinker was seriously considering demoting Kibaou to the rank of Major. Kibaou began to get increasingly mad with every day as the rumors looked like they were getting truer and truer. Finally, on his last day, Kibaou got word that Kobatz had been asked to step into the role of the Colonel for a few weeks until the former could cool down his jets.

Today was the day that he came back.

Kibaou stormed past the guards in front of the «Black Iron Palace» with rage, ignoring the cautious stutters of "Colonel, you're not supposed to arrive until 10 AM today!" and "Um, sir, you really shouldn't visit the General at this time." He was on the warpath with bloodlust unmatched by any monster in all of Aincrad as he climbed the spiral staircase to the twentieth floor.

"I hope you enjoyed your time without me," Kibaou growled furiously as he threw open the doors to his Commander, Thinker's office, a dozen guards in tow. "But it's over. I'm back, and I'll be returning to my post immediately."

"Ah, Kibaou," Thinker said as he poured himself a cup of tea without so much as a glance at the fuming man who stood before him. "I thought you were coming, I heard a ruckus that only you could make coming from the first floor."

"But we're on the twentieth floor, sir," one of the guards said.

"Yes, Jekyll," Thinker said looking up at the guard who spoke with a twinkle in his eyes. "Your Colonel makes quite a lot of noise." Kibaou flushed deeply as the soldiers did their best to stifle their laughter and a smirk pulled at the Commander's lips. "Get out. All of you," the Commander said lightly. "Your Colonel and I have things to discuss."

The guards filtered out of the room slowly, almost grunting as they attempted to close the door. As soon as the guards left, Thinker's smile left his lips. "We lost a lot of good men because of your carelessness."

"We already discussed this–"

"Obviously not enough," Thinker countered. "A duo named Kirito and Asuna took care of that dungeon by themselves five days ago, and they found the boss. They took it out by themselves. It was your lack of cautiousness that killed all of those people on that mission. You're demoted to the rank of Major. Kobatz will be taking your place as Colonel and Spiegel will be your superior until you can learn to handle power."

"You can't do that!" Kibaou yelled. "Kobatz doesn't know how to lead a troop; he's the reason the others stayed back and fought the monsters! He was fighting the monster after I called the order to retreat!"

"What formation were you in?" Thinker asked, taking a drink of tea.

"STOCO Flank, OV Mid," Kibaou told the General.

"Stormers and Commandos taking the left and right flanks respectively with Overlords taking potshots from a short distance?"

"Yes," Kibaou nodded.

"Why were the Overlords not flanking?" Thinker demanded.

"Thinker–"

"Just because you're an important leader doesn't mean you can weasel your way out of danger!" Thinker shouted, slamming his cup on the table, spilling some of the hot liquid on his hand. His jaw tightened, but other than that, he showed no signs of pain or discomfort from the accident. He went on at a more quiet volume. "There's a reason why Overlords and Stormers take Flank in this Army. Stormers can maneuver easier and Overlords are tanks. The Commandos and Riflemen are for Midrange because that's what they're designed for."

"LMG's are more effective at a distance–"

"This discussion is over," Thinker interrupted quietly. "Protest any more and you're fired."

In that moment, the tension was thick enough to cut with daggers–which was convenient, as that was what the two men's stares were made from.

"You're gonna regret this, Thinker," Kibaou said ominously, whipping around and throwing open the door. "One day, I'm gonna take you down."

"Is that a threat, Kibaou?" Thinker challenged, stopping Kibaou in the doorway. He set his cup down on the table before continuing. "I made you Colonel because you're useful in terms of recruitment. You aren't invaluable; I can get another person that's just as charismatic as you are to do a better job. You're only still here because I believe that you'll grow out of this childish phase. Don't destroy that belief."

Kibaou stopped for a moment, facing the hallway silently before walking out.

Thinker had a point. Kibaou was one of two Colonels in the «Army's» forces, but he could be replaced fairly easily. If he was to become irreplaceable, he would have to take over the Army. And in order to do that, he'd need two things: a following and power. He already had the following, and with power he would be able to overthrow that arrogant bastard. And if Thinker had managed to get both of those things, it couldn't be that hard to get them either, could it?

Just then he was stopped by a man as he attempted to head to his own office on the next floor down. The man was tall and looked like he was about 38, definitely one of the older players who was trapped in the game. His hair was short and darker than the night, with sharp eyes below his bushy eyebrows. He wore heavy armor with a strange castle-like crest and a red cape.

"Hey, Kibaou," the man said in an overly masculine voice, climbing up the stairs. "I heard you coming up the stairs from my office. I finished the paperwork I was working on real fast."

"Kobatz, your office is on the nineteenth floor," Kibaou mused.

"You make a lot of noise," the man responded, making Kibaou fume silently without realizing it. "Anyway, Spiegel and I have been looking for you. The kid's down in your office, says he has something to talk to you about. Some sort of deal some players he met on vacation want to make with you. He said it sounded really good."

Kibaou nodded, biting his tongue as he prevented all of the curses he wanted to unleash at Kobatz. He walked to the stairs and headed down, wondering who Spiegel could have met. He had opted to go to a small tourist town in the south of the continent that apparently had almost no one there.

Kibaou opened the door to his office, inwardly smiling as Spiegel turned around and looked at the boy. "Hey, Kibaou," the boy said with a smile. "It's been a while and–"

"Kobatz said something about a deal," the spiky haired man interrupted. "Give me the details."

Spiegel shut his mouth, his smile gone as he nodded solemnly at the Colonel. The boy waited for his supervisor to sit at his desk before beginning to speak. "So right after I finished messaging you that day about Thinker, I took a nap–"

"Is this story worth hearing?" Kibaou interrupted again.

"Yes," Spiegel groaned. "Keep listening. Like I was saying, I took a nap on the beach and when I woke up, I was in a dungeon–not like one with monsters, but an actual dungeon. I was chained to a table and there was nobody else around me. I called out for help and this guy came out and put a knife to my throat. His name is Johnny Black, and he brought in this guy named Xaxa–"

"Spiegel," Kibaou huffed as he poured himself some tea. "Get on with it."

The boy nodded as Kibaou took a sip. "Anyway, he was a red player."

Kibaou gasped, choking on his hot tea. The liquid scorched his throat as it struggled to trickle down his windpipe. "How the fuck did you survive?"

"He's my brother."

"You have family in-game?" Kibaou coughed, a bit shocked.

"Yeah, but we finished creating our avatars at different times," Spiegel explained. "I waited for him for a while, but I figured I would just meet up with him later. Then when we couldn't log out, I tried to send him a message, but he wasn't using the username he usually used for most games and–"

"Okay, you met some red players. The point?" Kibaou asked again as he slowly began to be able to breathe again.

"He's in a group of three, and the leader is named PoH," Spiegel explained. "PoH has an offer. He knows about your mission and he knows that Thinker planned to demote you last week. He has offered his services as a sort of personal hit squad in exchange for food, equipment, men, etc."

"I should report this," Kibaou thought to himself. "It would raise my credibility and I'd probably get some kind of recognition, which could increase my following. But for some reason I can't."

The next sentence Kibaou uttered would change the face of Aincrad as it was known.

"Tell me more."

–o–

Sunday, January 15th 2023. Continent: Ianides. Thieves' Pass. User Kibaou

Spiegel and Kibaou walked to the top of «Thieves' Pass» in silence that Monday. Kibaou was having second doubts. He could get in some serious trouble for accepting a deal like this, and all for the purpose of having a military police?

Oh, there were definitely advantages to him getting something akin to Nazi Gestapo from WWII. He could take out threats to his credibility easily, and anyone that was an upcoming threat could be easily destroyed. And all for what, a few of their items and maybe a man here or there? Even better, the troops he did give up would stay in the «Aincrad Liberation Force» since «Laughing Coffin» was technically a Squadron (only containing three members at the time, but it would grow, Kibaou knew) as opposed to an official Army.

On the downside, if he accepted, he'd be locked up in his own «Army Headquarters» jail.

Spiegel blindfolded his friend before tying a cloth around his own eyes. They waited for about three minutes before the sound of three people crunching snow under their boots came to their ears. The three men directed them into what Kibaou assumed was a cavern. They continued walking downhill for a long time before they heard a door sliding open and were sent into a room that was several degrees warmer than the previous tunnel.

"You may remove your blindfolds," came a deep voice at a quiet tone that sent chills up his spine.

Kibaou did as he was told and saw three men standing in front of him. Spiegel had described each of them to the spiky-haired man–he was dealing with Johnny Black, Xaxa, and their leader, PoH. The one who had spoken was PoH, and on his left and right were Xaxa and Johnny Black respectively.

"No going back now," Kibaou thought. "Spiegel told me what's up, as far as I know."

"Spiegel is not the one making the deal," Johnny Black said in his high, crazed voice. "We will be giving the terms–"

"I will be giving the terms," PoH corrected, putting a hand warningly in front Johnny, who looked down in what Kibaou had to guess was disappointment or restrained anger. "First thing is first. Each member of our Squadron must be given two large meals a day and equipment of equal quality to that of the «Aincrad Liberation Force.» Our Squadron will also receive at least one member every month, though more than one is preferable. If these things are provided, we will give you our services as a hit team."

"And what are your terms for the hit team?" Kibaou asked. "I'm not dumb, I know you won't go on missions that require more men than you have and such, but if this is gonna work, I need to know all the terms."

Xaxa growled quietly as PoH nodded slowly. "The first rule is that we will only carry out missions that we believe are possible with the members we have, which will exclude myself. Second, we will not enter any cities to do reconnaissance; that is up to you and your men. Third, we will not engage in straight out warfare. All missions will be ambushes and sneak attacks."

Kibaou frowned, thinking. The terms sounded good, but if he wanted to back out at any point, he would be killed–probably by Johnny, who seemed the most vicious of all of them, though PoH was the leader. Something about the man's eloquent speech didn't intimidate the spiky-haired man as much as the crazed sound in Johnny Black's voice. And so, it was with a hesitant voice that Kibaou spoke again.

"I'll do it."

)-0-(

Wednesday, January 18th 2023. Continent: Ianides. Lhuna. User Sinon

Sinon woke up late the next morning in her and Jace's inn room. It was a chilly morning, and she wrapped up tighter in her blanket with her eyes shut tighter. The night before, she and Jace had celebrated her birthday. He had bought her a new pistol–which she needed very much, as hers was beginning to get under-levelled and unusable–and some armor in case she wanted to hide her «Ghillie Suit.»

She rolled over on her back as she thought. The armor Jace had given her was much better than that… thing she had worn in the beginning of winter last year. Looking back on it, she couldn't imagine why she wanted the «Sexy Commando Suit» in the first place. She had chalked it up to Ashley being a fantastic spokesperson; if there was no way that she would wear something like that outside of Aincrad, why would she ever want to wear it inside a game of perverted boys?

She opened her eyes and opened up her menu, looking at the slowly rotating armor set. It was an olive drab similar in color to her… thing… but it was modest and made of metal with a comfortable interior. It was created by a smith named Lisbeth, who had been travelling through the lower towns for a while, selling quality equipment to Armies and players alike.

The sniper rolled over once more to look at Jace, who was sitting off the side of his bed. His elbows were planted firmly on his knees, his middle fingers meeting at the base of his skull on the back of his neck. He appeared to be concentrating heavily on something, thinking hard. His right thumb brushed gently over a thin scar on his chin.

Sinon had noticed before that the boy had scars on his chin and down the back of his neck, but she had never had the courage to ask where they had come from. It was odd, but although they had been travelling together for three months, she still found it hard to approach him at times.

Jace was enjoyable to be around most of the time, of course. They had fantastic conversations, and she could honestly consider him to be one of her two friends. But when he had that one look on his face, the one where he stared down as if determined to discover something about the ground, everything changed. He wouldn't even hear her at times, then, and she would have to walk near him or in front of him and scare him back into reality.

"Jace?" she asked cautiously, trying anyway.

Her attempt did not fail, and Jace looked towards her slowly before replying. "Hello, Sinon. Did you sleep well?"

Sinon paused for a moment, surprised that her attempt worked. "Oh," she sighed quietly. Then she nodded. "It was a bit cold, but it was definitely an okay night."

Jace cocked his head, getting up leisurely. "Are you still cold?"

Sinon shook her head. "No, I'm just a bit chilly. Nothing another blanket can't do," she answered. "How about you?"

"I'm always cold," Jace complained. "But that's not important. I have to go somewhere for a little while."

"Where are we going?" Sinon asked, sitting up and curling her blanket tighter around herself. "I have to get ready first, but that won't take more than five minutes."

"We'd have to go to «Wavecrest» all the way up north," Jace explained, opening his menu and moving to his equipment. He took off his shirt and scrolled through his menu, searching for the Sky Coat and a spare T-shirt. Sinon noticed that the scars were worse on his back, thick and winding like country roads down the hilly terrain of his flesh. Before she could notice anything else, Jace had re-equipped the rest of his clothes and was getting up. "It'll be more dangerous than usual, Sinon."

Sinon shrugged and began to get up, heading towards the bathroom. "Good thing you'll have me then," she said as she closed the door. She dropped the blanket, revealing her green V-neck and sweatpants, and opened her menu. "You'll be alright, don't worry."

"I'm worried about you, Sinon," Jace said through the door as the girl removed her pants and shirt, searching again for the olive drab armor. "I've been hired by the «Red Dragons of War» to stop a criminal guild, and there's no telling what they're capable of."

Sinon rolled her eyes. "Jace, I'll be fine," she huffed. "You can't just protect me by keeping me in safe-zones. I need to do things so that I can thrive in here. Some things I may even have to do by myself. I came out of the Cyclonic Crypt just fine. Just have some faith in me."

Jace sighed, leaning with his back against the door. Sinon imagined how awkward it would be if she had accidentally not closed the door all the way and he had accidentally opened the door, but shook off the thought with a blush. She quickly equipped the green armor and knocked against the door, signaling to Jace that she would be exiting. He leaned off of the door and Sinon stepped out.

"The armor looks good," the blonde said with a nod. "Practical and intimidating. You might have looked…" Jace paused and blushed as he went on honestly, "hotter… in the other one, but this one is much better. It suits you more."

Sinon looked down, the faintest hint of a red tinge appearing on her cheeks. "I couldn't stand the other one."

Jace hesitated for a moment before delicately reaching out a hand and rubbing the back of the girl's neck. She started for a moment, but she slowly stepped closer and held him in a soft embrace. "There were a lot of people looking at you, I know," he said quietly. "Don't worry about it anymore, though."

Sinon nodded into his chest and pulled away, looking directly at one of the boy's chin scars.

The blonde noticed and pulled away, walking to the nightstand by his bed and grabbing the key. "Come on," he said quietly. "General Akiyo will be waiting for us in «Wavecrest» now. We'll have to get to the «Spatial Rift» soon."

"Jace–"

Click.

Without as much as another word, he closed the door, walking out to the lobby.

"He's so aggravating," Sinon huffed, making a quick scan of the room to make sure they hadn't left anything. "How does he think this works, We both stay completely mysterious without learning anything about each other for the rest of our time in here?" She paused for a moment as she realized that that was exactly what many people in her situation would do, especially since she had only known the boy for a few months and she was sleeping in the same room as him most nights. That thought brought another one to her mind, one that she hadn't thought of before, but certainly wasn't ready for.

Just how well did she know Jace really?

She knew that he had scars in real life, which meant he probably had an accident as a child or something, and that he didn't speak of a family back home. Sometimes, he would say something about a "Silver" in his dreams, but it was said in a much higher pitched voice than usual. On top of that, he knew a lot about the literature that had been put in Galactic Warfare Online as readable Japanese books.

She didn't truly know anything else about him.

She shivered and stepped outside of the room, heading down to the lobby to meet Jace. He was drinking something, looking just as concentrated as he had in their room. "Ready to go?" the boy asked calmly. "It'll take us about ten minutes to find the «Spatial Rift» so I would suggest that we head out now."

"Alright," Sinon responded, looking down at her feet.

The walk there was quiet and rather uneventful. The two teammates tried as hard as they could to not engage in any conversation unless the silence was unbearable. Sinon continued looking at Jace's scars, and Jace would walk faster to avoid Sinon's questions. By the time they had reached the «Spatial Rift» Sinon had given up wondering about Jace's scars and Jace had given up trying to avoid talking to Sinon.

"Ladies first," Jace said with a small bow, not realizing that his companion was in a minor state of distress.

Sinon glanced into the dark abyss that was the «Spatial Rift.» She had ventured into the depths of these teleportation devices many times before, and it still unnerved her. She was unsure how she was unable to stand the turning after using them so many times, but somehow the ice-hearted sniper always felt a chill in her stomach when she stared into the darkness of the teleportation system. The blue-haired girl gulped and stepped closer. As the darkness swirled, she found her stomach beginning to churn as well. The longer she stood in front of the chasm, the more uneasy she felt. Finally, she realized that nothing would help but jumping in, and she did so just before Jace could ask if she was alright.

–o–

Wednesday, January 18th 2023. Continent: Ianides. Wavecrest. User Sinon

Sinon stood up slowly on the street, Jace's firm grip helping her back up after her black out. She chastised herself for fainting at a mere sensory issue, not allowing Jace to comfort her as she gritted her teeth to hold back her frustrations. How was she going to get stronger if she couldn't even use the damn fast travel system?

After about eight minutes of arguing and subconscious walking, they found themselves at the front door to the «RDoW Headquarters.» It was nothing like Jace had heard anyone describe before. It wasn't a large building like the «Black Iron Palace» or anything, but it certainly had a specific style. It was clearly a futuristic jail-like building, with bulletproof glass and walls made of a dull metal.

Jace walked ahead of the sniper that he had been idly bickering with and approached the front door. It opened easily and from behind a front desk, a young woman looked up. "Welcome to the «Lair of the Red Dragon!»" She said happily. "How can I help you today?"

"We're here to see General Akiyo," Sinon answered cautiously.

"You must be Jace and Sinon," the lady smiled, standing up and bowing. "My name is Corporal Blueblood; it's a pleasure to meet you both. My commanding officer, Sergeant XoloX, raves about you and a few other players in the Clearer group. He says that you two are the best pair there except for Asuna and Kirito. You're really smart too, and that's vital. Let me just call him over. Can I see your player card information?"

Sinon manipulated her menu and pulled out her player card, swinging the screen around so that the Corporal could see it. She looked at it and nodded before looking at Jace's as well. "Thank you!" the woman said, slapping the send button on her own menu. "The General should be down shortly."

"Thank you," Jace said with a smile. For some reason, the smile he gave her bothered Sinon. Something about the way it made her look down just got her blood boiling. She decided to fix this by stepping on Jace's foot who yelped. Blueblood looked at him curiously, and the blonde shook his head. "My shirt did a weird thing and it felt weird."

The officer squinted a bit and nodded slowly, lips parted slightly, before going back to doing paperwork.

"What was that all about?" Jace whispered angrily.

"Stop flirting with every girl you meet!" Sinon snapped quietly.

"Huh?" Jace grunted in confusion. "What do you even mean by that?"

"You can be such a man slut sometimes," she grumbled as the General walked closer. Sinon stormed straight past him as he was about to open his mouth and greet them. The only words she heard the man say until they reached his office were "Guess she likes to get down to business. You're lucky to have her."

"You have no idea," she heard Jace say as she headed up the stairs. When the other two caught up with her, Jace gently touched the sniper's back and began scratching it. Sinon felt her back shiver and arch by itself and was surprised to find that it made her feel good all over, though it made her angrier. She swatted his hand away discretely, resolving to make him scratch her back another day.

She sat down in one of two chairs in front of the desk and waited for Jace and the General to sit down as well. When they were seated, the general began to talk. "So I gave you a basic synopsis of the mission I need the both of you to undertake. Do you have any questions?"

"Well I need the details," Sinon said. "Jace must have forgotten to share them with me." She threw a pointed glance his way and then looked back at the General coldly, without emotion.

"There's been a few reports of people being threatened and stolen from near «Fort Kronos» in the southeast," the General said. "I need two high leveled players that can gather quality information without getting screwed if you get into trouble. There will be a lot of circumstances like that.

"The Army is called the «Black Skulls» and they have a base centered somewhere in the wilds around «Thieves' Pass,»" he continued. "All of our intel leads us to believe that they're there, at least. Every time we go, though, there's nothing there. We've stormed the entire cavern system of the «Ethereal Highlands,» and all for naught."

"So where do we start?" Jace asked.

"We'll have you set up in «Fort Kronos» for a while until you can get stolen from," Akiyo answered. "You'll have to mask your levels at all times and you'll have one hell of a time trying to find equipment that looks like it's low-quality but not. Try and attract thieves and then get information from them about things that they know. Then you follow the bread crumbs and end up at the top. Bring back the leader dead or alive."

Sinon felt a cold chill rushing down her back. She couldn't kill anyone, not again. Her breath quickened, but she forced herself to get a hold of herself. It wouldn't have to happen unless it was the only option. And then she could make Jace do it.

"We accept," Sinon said.

)-0-(

Wednesday, January 18th 2023. Continent: UNKNOWN. UNKNOWN. Admin Heathcliff

Kayaba stood in the black square room he called the Admin Box silently, watching over the world with caution. Sometimes he liked to watch the notable players going about their business. Other times he liked to check in on the sanity program. Other times he liked to join in the fights and help the players advance. Without him he knew that they wouldn't get very far. He had planned some of the bosses to fight mercilessly, and he was sure that the many Clearers would die in those battles.

For now, he was just watching.

"Kibaou and Xaxa, huh?" Kayaba wondered absentmindedly as he watched the footage from their deal. "I never would have guessed them as a team but it works."

Something about that duo made him feel slightly anxious though. The deal seemed like it would cause a large death toll, and despite popular belief, he didn't create Galactic Warfare Online as a means to kill people. He made it for another reason. It was fading from his memory these days. By the time they got out, it would be completely gone.

"Jace and Sinon and Kirito and Asuna seem to be progressing nicely," Kayaba mused aloud, absently stroking his chin. "It's a wonder they aren't leading the Clearing group. The current leader must be incredibly powerful." The man paused to grin devilishly. "Oh wait, that would be me. I'm so good at being right."

"Kayaba," called a soft female voice from behind the man. "Why can't I leave this room?"

Kayaba turned around to look at a young girl with ebony black hair down to her waist. She looked about eight years old, and something about her seemed off. "It isn't time for that yet," Heathcliff told her. "You know that."

"I just want to fulfill my purpose," the girl said with tears welling in her eyes. "It's my job to monitor the characters' emotional health and I can't even─"

"Enough, Yui," the man whispered harshly enough to stop any boss dead in its tracks. The girl looked down and frowned at the ground, hair hanging over her forehead. Tears dropped from unseen eyes that were covered by her hair. "Sometimes I think you forget that you're a program."

Yui flinched at the man's words, standing frozen in place for a moment. Then she sniffed and turned away, walking to the center of the room and sitting down, curled up and made to be as small as possible.

"Cardinal," Kayaba demanded. "Show dataset 42a v 1.2.1."

A menu popped up in front of the man and a line graph appeared. On the y axis were the amount of players left in the game, and on the x axis were the number of weeks the players had all been in the game. The likelihood of them making it all the way to the end seemed unlikely as it was─Kayaba figured that it wouldn't be that way for long, though; soon the players that were weak would be killed and 95% of those who were left would be still alive by the end.

Such as Kirito, Asuna, Jace, and Sinon.

Kayaba sighed. Those four were going to get into a lot of trouble if they didn't focus on clearing the game. Maybe he would have to fix that… "The «Black Skulls» aren't too big right now, nor are they much of a threat," he said idly as he clicked and flicked away at the array of screens that were popping up in front of him left and right. "But if we were to say increase the amount of good drops near their base, then they'd stay there and keep on hunting, getting a bit stronger. Then they could defeat Kirito and crew before they can find out about it and it would go on undiscovered; the «Black Skulls» really aren't the smartest."

"What are you talking about?" Yui asked cautiously.

"Nothing that concerns you, Yui," he responded calmly, flipping through more menus, sliders, and switches. "I really have to get another console base to keep her in," he thought. "I know she's just trying to do her job, but it's really bothersome."

"Confirm adjustments to rate: itemdrop in area: -23433.886, 9300472.731?"

Kayaba pressed the accept button and watched as the process began to load. A menu prompted him for the admin password, which he entered immediately. He needed to keep the secret safe, no matter what the costs. He would protect it even if it would be the last thing he did.

They could never know who he was, none of them could…

Author's Notes

Hey guys, so there's the ninth chapter. I know you guys might have questions about the chapter, but I'm going to get on with the news before I go over them.

Before you say anything, yes this chapter was way late. I got really strained trying to write this chapter due to massive amounts of writer's block. I've also been crazy busy and now I have a job where I work thirty-two hours a week. On top of that, we have to turn in the school computers in no less than a week, but I have a laptop of my own now.

That being said, this story is going on a hiatus.

I feel overwhelmed writing this story and I see three things that I can do: lower the word/chapter ratio, give up quality for words, or just put the story on hiatus until I get a fresh burst of energy. Each of these has its perks and drawbacks.

With lowering the ratio, it'll be easier to start, but all the work on the 10K chapters will go down the drain, which is one of the things I pride myself in. I am also very proud of the high (I think) quality of this fanfiction, so I wouldn't change that for anything. The hiatus would make it take a LONG time before the chapters are out again, but they'd come as frequently as they use to. That's what I want.

This is a good place to start a hiatus as well. This is the last chapter of the Exposition Arc, the season finale, the last chapter of boring exposition. The next arc will be the Crime and Companionship arc, and it will focus heavily on Jace and Sinon, but Jace in particular. Then we will move into the Cold War arc, before hitting the Super Soldiers arc, followed by the Final Battle arc, the Canon arc, and finally the Champion Arc. If you'd like to start creating fan theories about what is to come, I'm all for it. Message me your theories or leave them in a review.

Before I leave you with my last words for a few months, I'll explain what you in expect in the Arc Premiere: Sherlock. The next Arc, the Crime and Companionship Arc is going to be based heavily off of murder mystery type books and shows. Think of it as a mix of NCIS and the Robert Downy Jr. version of Sherlock Holmes.

One thing can make the hiatus quicker though: reviews. As an author, praise and criticism is what fuels me to write and lately I feel that I haven't had much of those. That could be because I haven't updated yet, but I need to feel that people are reading and waiting. If everyone that read this chapter on the first day it comes out left a review, there probably would be no hiatus to be needed. So if the more reviews, the shorter the hiatus will be.

During this time, I will be working on The Armada and a new work of original fantasy fiction on my fictionpress account called "Of Dreams and Dragons." The story is about a group of heroes on a quest to defeat an evil mage and save the world. The prologue is up right now, and it's about 1K words, but the next chapters will be longer. So if you're craving my writing, check The Armada and Of Dreams and Dragons.

Now onto the real meat: the story itself.

Normally I would address any questions I may think you'd have, but this time, I'm just not feeling it. I'm so close to getting this chapter out, I can't wait any longer than I have to. If you do have questions though, I would love to answer them! Just leave them in a review and I'll either respond directly to you or post a chapter later on with all the compiled questions and delete it about a week before I come back.

I love you all, and I promise I will be back before winter. I hibernate in reverse. ;)

-Artie Ross