Sword Art Online/ソードアート・オンライン 1. Dream Gone Nightmare

Chapter #1 (November 6th, 2022)

"Link start!" White flooded my vision, and my consciousness was pulled into a vortex of swirling colors. I could no longer feel my body sprawled out on my bed, nor the weight of the NerveGear pressing against my forehead. White nothingness. That's how I'd describe it. A virtual sign up screen appeared, and for a second, I panicked. How on earth was I going to type without a keyboard? It didn't take long before I realized the key was mind-control.

After I 'typed' in my username and password, the screen disappeared and a person took its place. I suddenly had a momentary brain freeze. It was me. _I_ was standing before myself (or before my mind, for those of you who have to be so _technical_). Frizzy brown hair, dull blue eyes, pale skin... right down to the very last freckle. This.. _identity thief_ was wearing a simple green tunic, leather chest-plate, dark brown pants, and a fanny pack around its waist. Two bold words then materialized in the white void: **Character Creation**. It made sense now. I was using myself as a building block. Alrighty then, time to set to work.

The finished piece was a work of art... in my opinion anyway. Long, beautiful brown hair pulled into high ponytail, with a curl hanging in front. Bright, shining blue eyes and a lean body with a sharp angled face, hinting gracefulness and cunning. She was practically my dream self, but was missing one little detail. I wondered... would it work? There was a long stillness, and then, nothing. Looks like pointy ears weren't part of the package.

Soon after, the program asked for my name. I mind-voodooed in, 'Gwendolyn'. Of course, this was not my real name. (I have learned the hard way to never use my real identity in a game. You never know when you might meet a slobbering, pervert psychopath who believes he's the slenderman.)

Now that my account and character had been created, I started over, only this time it was a log-in screen. After finishing that process, I selected the new character slot named 'Gwendolyn(F)', and was barely able to read the words, "Welcome to Sword Art Online!" before my world went spinning out of control into a bright blue mass of confusion.

Suddenly, I was on my own two feet, no longer floating around in my own little world like I was a god. My vision was blurry, and I could hear my heartbeat pounding in my ears. I blinked slowly, and when my sight cleared up, I couldn't help but drop my jaw. From what I could see, I stood in the middle of a huge square surrounded by columns. There was a large silver/metal type building in front of me that had perfect symmetry and five spires that stood taller the closer to the middle of the building they were placed. Behind me was a very wide road lined with perfectly clipped hedges. Halfway down, a body of water seemed to block further advancement, but I wasn't quite sure.

A sudden blue flash to my right made me jerk in surprise. A space which had just been recently vacant was now occupied by a person I did not recognize. Several more of those flashes occurred before I realized they were caused by new players entering the game. _Stop just standing there and staring, do something._ I took a few steps forward, preparing to leave the starting area, when I noticed that my body felt weird. I felt lighter than normal, a slight spring to my step. Looking downwards, I realized that I was now Gwendolyn, not my real self. I took a few more steps, relishing the feeling of the movement. Was this the feeling of virtual reality?

I knew the moment that I exited the spawn area, and into Floor 1: The Town of Beginnings, that I was going to love this new world. It had a complete medieval setup, and just by glancing at the buildings, I knew there was many secret passageways and alleys. Booths selling weapons, herbs, jewelry, and food lined the populated streets. There were all sorts of players around. Some were checking out the booths, others were trying to make parties, and I even caught a 'couple' making out in the darkness of two buildings. Many people were wandering around like I was, trying to figure out what to do first, but there were a few people who seemed to know where they were going. I would fall into that group soon enough.

There was a sudden whoosh of wind, and, almost in slow motion, I saw the streak of a dark blue figure rush past me. I froze in surprise. In the few moments that I could see the man's face, I noticed that he was smiling. And man was he CUTE! Time quickened once again, and him turning into another street left me stunned and staring. In my temporary stupor, I barely noticed a red-haired man, who wore a bandanna, seem to follow him.

The sensation that this smiling man was somehow very important brought me back into the world of the living, and I started to run in that direction.

"Jillian?" The call of my real name filled me with horror and stopped me in my tracks. No... NO! The slenderman finds me again! My terrifying days of running and hiding from a killer-clown maniac return!

I spin around. "Ahh! I can't take this anymore! Stalk someone else you pig-headed freak who can't even clean his own..!." I halt mid-sentence. The familiar face before me was twisted in laughter. "A...Al..Allison!?" I sputter her name.

"Oh no, don't stop now. Apparently, I'm a stalking freak who can't clean his own... what, exactly?" Allison smiles.

Blushing, I mutter, "I..I thought you were somebody else..." A realization pops into my head. "Hey, wait a sec! How did you know I was Jillian?" I knew that wasn't the name next to my health bar.

"Hmm, let's see. First of all, you told me you were going to make your name Gwen, and second, you are the only person I know who would make their character look like _that_." I scowl at Allison's attempted criticism.

The first detail I noticed about _her_ was that she looked exactly like she did in real life. Short blond hair, blue eyes, that tall, skinny demeanor. Second, "I see _your _name is Morgana. Heavy, much?" We both laugh. These were the names we always used in RPG games. This was definitely our first virtual reality world though. My friends and I had camped out in front the store for two whole days to buy five copies of this game. I tell you, we were extremely lucky to get that many. "Have you seen Lori, Renee, or Emma yet?"

"Nope. I think they changed their names and how they look, like you did. We will probably have to ask them when we logout and go to school tomorrow."

"Guess so. For now, Morgana... can I call you Mo?" She nods. "Let's check out the city, maybe we can buy ourselves a little gear."

"I know just where to start." Mo grabs my arm and starts leading me around, pointing out all of the buildings she had already checked out. My earlier interest in the man is tucked deeply into my mind, forgotten.

(A couple hours later)

"I still can't believe this is a game!" Mo exclaims while we were walking along a path in middle of a plain, searching for monsters to kill.

"I can."

"I don't understand you, it just feels so real."

"Mo, we're carrying swords and there are floating islands in the distance. What part of this seems real to you?" And there was the fact that we didn't feel any pain, which I kindly found out for Mo when we were fighting a mere boar. (Never attempt to be a badass and play chicken with a charging boar. The boar WILL win) I shivered from the thought.

"Are you cold, Gwen?" Mo asks.

"Can you even get cold in this game?"

"I guess not."

There was a long silence. "Am I the only one who thinks this is awe..?." An ear-breaking gong suddenly rang out, making me jump out of my boots. "What the?!"

"Is that a bell? What's going on?" Mo questioned, startled. My vision started to get fuzzy, and the landscape before me disappeared, only to be replaced with a familiar scene. We were back at the spawn, and based on the fact that I could smell the person's hair standing in front of me, every single other player was too. _Almond cream... with a hint of butterscotch._ THE HELL?

The bell, which had been constantly ringing, went silent. There was so much muttering and confusion that I couldn't pick out any individual voices. Although, I do believe I heard one person say, "A forced teleport?" _Forced_ teleport? What on aincrad would cause that?

I saw a few hands point into the sky, and others started to join them. Curious, I used my hand as a visor and looked up. There was a single flashing red hexagonal light in the sky, with the bolded words **WARNING** written upon it. Suddenly, originating from that single light, thousands more began to appear. In seconds, the once calm blue sky had turned blood-red. A strange crimson liquid started to seep from a section of lights... _was that blood? _The amount of blood quadrupled and separated into four waterfalls, which turned on one another and formed a writhing, bloody mass.

I wanted to close my eyes, to turn away, but I felt drawn to the figure beginning to take shape. First a hood, and then a large red cloak. Purple smoke started to seep from where the head should be, and pale, withered hands protruded from the cloak's sleeves. I recognized the figure, and mutters from the crowd confirmed it.

"A Game Master?", "Why doesn't he have a face?", "Is this an event?"

The echoing voice of the Game Master silenced the crowd. "Attention, players. Welcome to my world. My name is Kayaba Akihiko." Kayaba Akihiko? That name sounded very familiar...

"As of this moment, I am the sole person who can control this world." I remembered now. He was the very man who created SAO and the NerveGear. Was that really him? There was some gasps of astonishment from the crowd.

"I'm sure you've already noticed that the logout button is missing from the main menu." _What?!_ I quickly swiped my finger to open my menu. It was true. Maybe _that's _what this announcement is about...

"But this is not a defect in the game. I repeat, this is not a defect in the game." _Eh?_

_"_It is a feature of Sword Art Online. You can not log out of SAO yourselves. And no one on the outside can shut down or remove the NerveGear. Should this be attempted, the transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit a powerful microwave, destroying your brain and thus ending your life."

"What?" Mo exclaimed beside me. I looked around, trying to grasp the situation. There was movement on the other side of the square. It seemed a couple was attempting to leave, but were blocked by some sort of invisible wall. _Trapped? _Others in the crowd were thinking of it as a joke, saying, "Come on, enough already." But my intuition knew better. I wish I didn't, but I believed every word this GM said. This place was about to become a mad house, and fast.

"Gwen, this is crazy! Do you really think it would happen?" Mo seemed doubtful.

"Unfortunately, several players' friends and families have ignored this warning and attempted to remove the NerveGear. As a result, two hundred and thirteen players are gone forever, from both Aincrad and the real world." I glanced at Mo. Her eyes reflected the same rising hysteria I was feeling. Did I really believe this?

Several screens appeared and starting floating around the GM. "As you can see, news organizations across the world are reporting all of this, including the deaths. Thus, you can assume that the danger of a NerveGear being removed is now minimal.

"I hope you will relax and attempt to clear the game. But, I want you to remember this clearly. There is no longer any method to revive someone in the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will forever be lost. And simultaneously, the NerveGear will destroy your brain." Those last words rang out through the square, leaving everyone in a still silence. Realization hit me like a soccer ball to the face. _I could die here._ Simultaneously, Mo and I grabbed each other's arms for support.

"There is only one means of escape. To complete the game. You are presently on the lowest floor of Aincrad, Floor 1. If you make your way through the dungeon and defeat the Floor Boss, you may advance to the next level. Defeat the final boss on Floor 100, and you will clear the game."

There were shouts from the crowd. "Y-You're just making that up!", "The beta testers never made it anywhere near that high!" Mo poked my arm and I looked at her. To my surprise, her face was hardened into confidence, eyes glinting.

"Look at how many people there are here. There's got to be some insane gamers. It might take awhile, but I think we could do it." I wanted to tell her this wasn't a game anymore, that great gamers always required several tries. I couldn't. But, her quick change in behavior and positive forward insight was astonishing. Frankly, _I_ considered myself lucky to still be wearing a clean pair of pants.

"Finally, I've added a present from me to your item storage. Please see for yourselves." I swiped my finger in the air, and opened my item storage. Inside was a mirror. When I selected it, it materialized in my hands.

"Hmm... there's nothing here." I heard Mo mutter, confused.

"Look clos-" I was cut off. My body had suddenly become a glowing blue light. When it disappeared, I stumbled back in surprise. Everything around me suddenly looked slightly different. What was it? It was right off the tip of my tongue... did Allison seem taller? Another soccer ball hit my face. All around me, people's appearances were changing. Height differences, face differences, even gender differences. Quickly, I looked in the mirror. Dull blue eyes stared back at me. I had changed back into my real self.

"Jillian?" Allison seemed confused. I turned and looked up at her (now with a significant difference in height). I smirked.

"What?" She asks defensively.

"This world has just become slightly more realistic. Congrats."

"On what?"

"You are probably the only person who didn't get a mirror, since you've looked like yourself from the start."

"Oh.."

Yet again, the GM's voice rang out. "Right now, you're probably wondering, 'why?'. Why would Kayaba Akihiko, developer of Sword Art Online and the NerveGear, do all this?"

"My goal has already been achieved. I created SAO for one reason... To create this world and intervene in it. And now, it is complete. This ends the tutorial for the official SAO launch. Good luck, players." The GM dissolved in a cloud of red mist, which then proceeded to seep back into the cracks in the sky. All at once, the warning lights disappeared, leaving the world looking as if none of it had ever happened.

There was a long stillness, and I could feel the upcoming mad house in my bones. The slightest trigger could set it off. I glanced sideways at Allison. She did the same. We knew each other well enough to communicate without speaking.

_We should get out of here. I can smell crazy in the air._

_Are you sure that's not you?_

_If everything that was just said isn't a scam, we need to pull ourselves together and start right away. _

_How?_

_No idea. Let's just get out of the spawn for now._

_Agreed._

The sound of a mirror cracking on the ground resonated throughout the square. A small, "No!" followed. The trigger. It was almost as if a wave crashed through the mass of people. I could almost hear the sound of brains exploding. One word: madness.

"Time to go." I grabbed Allison's arm and we both made a mad dash for an 'exit'. Did we make it before we were trampled by the angry mob? Was the invisible wall gone? Did the streets stay empty for a few minutes? Answer: All of the above, thankfully.

"Wait a second, Jillian!" Allison suddenly exclaimed. She pulled my arm and we both halted in the middle of an alleyway. "What about Emma and the others? They must have been in there too! We have to go back and find them!" She started, but I pulled her back. I had already thought about this.

"Allison, we don't know if any of them logged on today. They could still be safe at home for all we know."

"We have to check."

"I'm sorry. We can't."

"Why?!" She sounded as pained as I felt.

"It's too crazy in there right now! Even if we could find three specific people, we wouldn't be able to get out without being followed by maniacs with their brains' fried!" My voice had risen to a shout. I took a deep breath, and continued calmly, "Anyway, we can look for them, but we should do it during daylight. Perhaps we can get better grasp on the whole situation first, OK?"

Allison nodded. A tear slipped out from underneath her eyelid. I could feel them coming, too. It was going to take a while to recover from this. We both stood there for what seemed like hours, restraining our emotions. When we were ready to move on, we straightened our shoulders and proceeded with a new confidence to our stride.

Just as we were about to step into the alleyway, there was a sudden whoosh of wind, and, almost in slow motion, a teenage boy with dark hair and a blue tunic dashed past. In the few moments that I could see his face, I noticed that his mouth was set in a hard line. His eyes looked fierce, but it seemed like there was some intense sadness residing behind that emotional wall.

Deep within me, something stirred. _Why,_ I wondered. I had never seen this boy before, so why... _did I recognize him? _Time quickened once again, and the last thing I saw was his back being swallowed up by the darkness.

**This is my first attempt at a FanFiction! Please R&R. If you have any ideas for a future plot, please share it with me. Any help in this regard would be fantastic. Look forward to my next chapter! Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online or any of its characters, only my OC's. **


	2. A New Quest And Old Friends

Chapter #2 (November 8th, 2022: 10:00am)

I woke to the stench of burning food. "Rise and shine, Gwen!" The warmth and comfort of my bed disappeared as the blankets were ripped away. Groaning, I opened my eyes. Mo was leaning over me, and the silly grin on her face was covered in soot.

With difficulty, I slowly sat up. Mo rushed away, and my eyes widened at the sight before me. _What happened here?_ The room was a disaster. Black stains plastered the walls of the mini-kitchen, and the way our gear was scattered around the room gave evidence of an explosion.

"I made us breakfast!" Came Mo's cheerful call from across the room.

"I can see," I mumbled. She suddenly appeared in front of me and yanked me to my feet. As Mo half carried-half dragged my limp body to the kitchen counter, I thought, _where the heck did all of __her__ energy come from? _Then I was plopped into a chair. A bowl was sitting in front of my face.

"I hope you're hungry," she whispered in my ear. I took one look at the fowl broth and gagged. _Not_ _anymore_. All you had to do to cook in this game was tap the food with a knife, right? I knew Mo's cooking skill wasn't very high, and truthfully, she wasn't a very good cook to begin with. But an explosion? Seriously? I wondered how the inn-keeper was going to react.

"You can have my serving," I offered when Mo finished wolfing down her share. She gratefully accepted. I leaned back in my chair and rested my eyes. Yesterday had completely drained me, and sleep hadn't helped much.

Even though I had planned to, we had never actually left the Town of Beginnings. Two days ago, when we learned that this was now our new world, Mo convinced me that our friends (Lori, Emma, and Renee) would probably stay in this town until they found us. That night, we had come across a really nice inn that we hadn't spotted during the day scout. We had decided to stay there until we could find our friends. In the morning, we had gotten up early and started giving their descriptions to other players, asking if they had seen them. No one was sure enough to give us any leads.

Not only had we been lost-player searching, we had also attempted to train by doing quests around the city. Most of them were just about delivering messages and what not; easy quests for low-level people. One did have us fight a couple pesky boars though. I gave them no chance. My previous gaming mood had left its marks.

"Gwen, you're snoring." I jerked forward in my chair.

"Heh? No I wasn't!" I glared at Mo. She was standing behind me, all her stuff already packed into her item storage.

"Well, then. Why don't you get a move on, sleepyhead?" There wasn't really much for me to do. I didn't have many belongings, and I only owned one pair of clothes, which I was wearing (I see shopping in my future). I stood up and walked around the room, stretching my legs and picking up my armor and sword along the way. After gearing up, I did a quick sight-check to see if we had everything we needed to move out, and cringed. We had everything, but it was a good thing we weren't going to check-out of the room yet. Anyone who looked in here before we cleaned it would freak.

"I'm all set. Let's see if we can get a little more luck today..." I strode over to the door and opened it. With Mo following, I stepped into the cramped hallway and then proceeded to lock it behind us. After I finished struggling with the key, Mo and I started to head toward the entrance room.

This inn kind of reminded me of a log cabin. The place smelled like nature, and the hallway's walls were wooden. Everything was kind of old fashioned, but I thought it looked cool that way. In total, there were about six rooms available for rent. I know, that's a small number, but it's an inn, not a hotel. Plus, the rooms were really high-quality (the mini-kitchen, for example). It kind of reminded me of my house... _ah! Don't think about that, you'll get depressed. _I shoved the thought away.

As we emerged from the hallway, and into the main room of the inn, I heard a soft, "Good morning, girls." An older man with a goatee was standing behind the counter. It strangely reminded me of a concession stand.

"Good morning, Mr. Taggert," we said in unison. Mr. Taggert was the inn-keeper (not a player, by the way; an NPC). He was always very kind to us when we were here, helping us with various things. In fact, he even lowered the cost on our room fee when we first checked in. It had really lighted our shoulders. I was very grateful to him.

"Do you girls want anything to eat?" My stomach growled. I hadn't eaten breakfast yet.

"That's okay, we already ate," Mo answered. I glared. _You mean _you _already ate, baka. _

"Oh, well, have a nice day out there. I hope you can complete whatever you're trying to do."

"Thanks again, Mr. Taggert," I said. I turned around and started to push open the barn-like doors.

"Ah, wait one moment, Gwen." Mr. Taggert's voice sounded concerned. Curious, I let go of the door and turned around.

"Be careful out there today. If you plan to travel out of the city, don't wander too far into the woods."

"Why?"

"There's rumors... people have been going missing."

"People? Do you mean players?" I suddenly got very worried. Mo tapped me on the shoulder. I'm pretty sure she was thinking, _what if it was our friends?_ Unlikely, but maybe.

"Sorry, that's all I know. I just wanted to tell you." He gave us a small smile. "You'll have to find out more yourselves if you're interested." There was a small ringing sound, and my quest screen appeared in front of me. I noticed that there was a new quest added to the list. 'Missing: Investigate the Woods: part I'_._ I looked over at Mo. She had gotten it too.

"Oh, and one more thing." Mr. Taggert gestured to a door that said, 'MAIDS ONLY', on it. "I was going to ask the maids to deep-clean the inn later today. Would you like them to re-stock your ro..?."

"NO!" My voice echoed throughout the lobby, and I realized I had yelled. Mr. Taggert looked startled.

"A-ah, I mean no, no thank you. We don't need anything like that yet," I quickly re-stated, grabbing Mo's arm and rushing out the doors and into the street. There was a short silence.

"Well, that makes me relieved," I said, thinking back to what just happened.

"How?" Mo questioned.

"We got a quest."

"And this makes you happy, because..?."

"If we got a quest, that means that the missing people aren't players. They're just NPCs." Mo's eyes widened, and then she sighed.

"I guess that does make me feel relieved, but doesn't that mean we're back to the no-clue-how-to-find-them-so-were-going-to-ask-rand om-people stage? This really makes me wish I read the manual..."

"No use brooding." I turned in a circle, taking in our surroundings. This inn was located in the least-populated part of town, but I still noticed that there were a lot less players than yesterday. It seemed that most of them had finally excepted their fate and decided to start their journey (unlike us: the people who stayed behind and were attempting to be extra joyful and funny so they didn't lose themselves).

"Let's start going from building to building again..." I sighed. How many days were we going to do this I wonder?

(5 hours later: 4:00pm)

"We aren't getting anywhere..." All this walking and talking was making me tired again. Did our friends already leave? As we continued to walk forward, I noticed a small boy crouching next to the entrance of an alley. _Was he eating something?_

**"********You there, the one ********with the moldy cracker!******** I have questions and DEMAND answers****!" **Morgana yelled. _Whoa, do I see a sudden change in personality?_

The boy turned slowly to face us, trembling at Morgana's tone, "Yes?"

"We're looking for three girls, one's tiny and thin with straight blond hair, another's short and pudgy with wavy black hair and a violent personality, and the last is-"

"You mean Zalibeeth?" _He reacted to Lori's description..._

Morgana stops, "**Zalibeeth? Where is this Zalibeeth? Tell me now, fool!**"

"Last I checked, slaying boars in the fields to vent over our current... predicament."

_That's the understatement of the century, _I say quietly in my head.

"She's probably moved onto the new quest though, she's quite unreasonable. She took off my friend's ear!"

"Well-"

"He complimented her dagger."

"Yep, that's Lori." Mo looks at me and we suddenly break into a giggling fit. We probably sounded insane, but hey, weren't we all? It seemed like several minutes before we came to a wheezing stop.

I turned to where the boy had been standing. "Hey, thanks kid." I put as much gratitude as I was able into those few words, but it was wasted on a wall. It seemed that the boy had vanished. He must have been terrified.

"By the way, what was with the creepy tone?" I had never seen her like that before.

"Asking nicely didn't seem to be working, and I was getting impatient. And look, it worked. Now we have a lead." Mo looked very proud of herself.

"You bet we do!" We both whooped in excitement and gave each other a high-five. My weariness had completely disappeared, and now Mo and I were dashing towards the town exit. Several players watched us as we ran past, most likely wondering why we were in such a rush. A few even tried to follow us (they probably thought we were on some well-paid quest or something...), but they were soon left behind in our dust.

After several minutes had passed, the two of us burst through the archway and then stopped to catch our breath. When my panting ceased, I turned to Mo. "Which plain do you think she's on?"

"My guess is as good as yours."

"Hmm... I have an idea." I narrowed my eyes and smirked.

"Oh no, this ain't gonna be good..." Mo rolled her eyes. "So what's this great idea of yours?"

I turned away from Mo and gazed at the plains before me. To my left, there was a grassy nothingness that continued for about two miles, cut off by a dirt the road, further to the left and slightly northwards, another plain continued for a fair distance before it came to a drop off. A floating island was located above this chasm. _A different floor, perhaps? _

Directly in front of me, there was a winding path that split around three tenths of a mile out. One path went directly left and the other traveled slightly north-east, then split again further up. I assumed the latter was the road that could take you to most of the villages on Floor 1.

To my right, there wasn't a single road. It was just a large, hilly plain that had slightly longer grass than normal (probably because not many people went that way). About one mile in, there was a forest. This forest was known for its haunting qualities during the night. It was commonly called the Korfec Woods. Mr. Taggert's words came back to me. '_Don't wander too far into the woods...'_

"Let's go right." I had this weird hunch that someone we knew was in that direction.

"Right? You think Lori is in Korfec?"

"Two reasons. One, there is a quest involving the Woods right now. And two, right is always right."

"Right is not always right! Remember the movie, "Journey to the Center of the Earth"? When the cave split, they went left!"

"And look where that got them." I turned and started trudging towards the Woods. Mo unwillingly followed.

(20 minutes later: 4:35pm)

The trees were much larger than they had seemed from the road. They covered the forest in shadows, and left enough room between each trunk for the wind to make eerie noises. "Haunting qualities during the _night_, huh?" I muttered to myself.

"Hey, Gwen?"

I turned to Mo, "Yeah?"

"You don't happen to have like a flashlight or something do you? It looks like it could get dark in there pretty fast, and..."

Good point. I swiped my finger in the air and checked my tools. No flashlights (Of course. There wouldn't be _flashlights _in this game), or lanterns. _Great, I just _love _the dark._ Just as I was about to close my menu, a small circular button in the bottom left corner caught my eye. Its icon was an envelope, and written below in tiny, cursive letters were the words: _Instant Messaging_.

Somewhere in the world, a light-bulb glowed. "Mo, we think Lori's game name is Zalibeeth, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

I pushed the messaging button, and my menu was replaced with a different screen. It seemed you were supposed to type in who will receive the message, the topic, and then the content.

"Let's send her a message."

"We can do that?" Mo peeks over my shoulder. "OMG! That would have made things so much easier!"

"Well, we have to know their game name, and we don't know anyone else's."

"Can't we guess?"

"What if it isn't them, though? How will we clear the misunderstanding?"

"Hmm... well, let's just send Lori a message, then. Maybe she knows something."

I started typing:

_To__: Zalibeeth_

_Topic: Meeting up_

_Hey, Lori! It's Jillian (Gwendolyn) and Allison (Morgana) here! We've been looking for you and the others, and we just met a little boy who told us that you were on a killing spree somewhere on the plains! If you get this message, please reply and tell us where you are. We are going to do a quest in the Korfec while we wait for you, so contact us soon!_

I pushed send. "Alright, Mo, let's go investigate the Wo-... Mo?" Mo was no longer standing next to me. I spun in circle, but she was no where to be seen. _Where did she go?_ Worried, I peered into the forest. No sign of her there, either. _'People have been going missing'... __but, wasn't __it __just __N__PC's? _Flashes of Mo's health bar draining, her eyes fading, and her body disappearing entered my mind.

"Morgana!"

"What?!" Mo's voice came from above me. Startled, I looked up. Mo was crouching on a tree branch, about twenty-five feet off the ground, unharmed. I gave a big sigh of relief.

"Don't scare me like that! I thought something had happened to you!"

"Oh... eh, sorry! I was just finding out if I could see something from a higher height!"

"Can you?"

Mo turned around and gazed over the treetops. Her eyes widened. "Actually... yeah! It looks like there are some oddly shaped roof-tops over there!" She lifted her hand and pointed across the treetops.

"I'm coming up to see!" I looked back down and walked up to the tree base, searching for the best way up. Except... there wasn't any. The trunk was straight and the first branch was so high that no one could possibly reach it. And all of the trees around it were exactly the same. _What the heck?_ I stared at Mo, who was now at the very top of the tree. _How did she..?. _"Eh... never mind! How about you just come down and lead us, kay?"

Mo looked down at me and nodded. In a few monkey-like moves, she scrambled down the tree and jumped into a bush.

"Since when have you been such a good tree climber?" I asked after she crawled out.

"What are you talking about?"

"I mean, how did you get up that tree? Or rather, how did you even reach the first branch?"

Mo smirked. "I played chicken with a boar."

Blood rose into my cheeks. "Hey, that's not even funny!"

Laughing, Mo turned toward the trees and beckoned for me to follow. "Come on, the buildings aren't very far away." Grumbling, I fell in behind Mo and we started to walk along a thin path leading into the forest. The moment we entered, the light darkened and a chill went up my spine.

"Hey, you said the roof-tops looked odd. What did you mean by that?"

"They were all light brown and pointy, like a tepee."

"Tepee? Heh, maybe they're like those grass and bamboo houses on Sumba Island." ******(*)**

"What?"

"Never mind."

While we walked, I constantly checked my inbox for any sign of Lori's reply, but it never showed up. Her mind was probably too occupied at the moment to notice a message icon appearing right in front of her face...

"Do you think we're close yet?" I wondered if the rooftops Mo saw were actually the homes of the missing people. But why would anyone be living out here? I usually love hiking through forests, but for some reason, this place gave me the creeps.

"Yeah. Actually, I think they're right up here." Mo sped up a little bit. The path began to get wider and I noticed the trees were getting farther apart. _I guess if this pattern continues, there might actually be room for some small houses to be built here. _

"Ah, I think I see one!" Mo exclaimed. She started running and passed between two extremely short, leafy trees, disappearing from sight.

"Hey, wait up!" I copied Mo and dashed through the two trees, pushing away branches so they didn't hit my face. When I emerged, I saw Mo standing a couple yards in front of me, staring upwards. I walked over to her. "Mo?" No answer. "Hello? You in there?" I waved a hand in front of her face. Still no reaction. "Oi, don't tell me Morpheus got to you _again_?"** (%)**

"They aren't houses, Gwen," Mo whispered.

"What?" I turned and looked in the direction Mo was staring. My eyes widened.

A familiar voice piped up behind me. "They're egg sacs."

******Ohhhhhhhhhh, what are in the eggs? Where********'********s the********ir******** mama? Who's this other person? All these questions and more will be answered in the next chapter (hopefully). I'll also add in more characters (BFF's). Now, don't you want to read it? You'll have to wait *********s********miles*. ********I'm going to be gone this coming week, and I won't have any time to write. But, I'll get you the next chapter as soon as possible! ****Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online or any of its characters, only my OC's. **

**(*) Sumba Island is an island located in Indonesia. Most of the houses there are made of different types of grasses. They also have large pointy roofs, in which they believe the gods live.**

**(%) Morpheus is the Greek god of dreams. In this case, his name was used because Mo seemed to be daydreaming.**


	3. Racing Hearts

Chapter 3 (November 8th, 2022: 4:50pm)

I spun around. A tall girl with short dirty-blond hair was standing in front of me, her hands rested on her hips. She wore a dark red tunic, and her mouth was pulled up into a smirk.

"Emma!" Mo and I cried in unison. We rushed her, and together, tumbled to the ground in a large heap of arms and legs. After a couple of seconds had passed, I heard the sharp intake of air.

"G-guys... guys, you're applying too much," Emma's voice sounded muffled, "pressure to my larynx." _What?_

"Seriously, too much. Trachea. Windpipe..." There was a short pause. "You're CHOKING me! Get off!"

"Ah! Sorry!" I reared back, pushing off the ground and landing on my feet. Mo grinned and stood up slowly, helping Emma to her feet. We stood in silence while brushing the dirt off our pants. After dusting myself off, I glanced at Emma's health bar. I had to squint to make out the words. _Ver... Veronica? Morgana and Veronica. Why does __this remind me of The Sorcerer's Apprentice?! _I thought for a moment. _HA! Did they plan this? It can't be coincidence... They're best buds, and yet they chose the names of sworn enemies. Or was it the fact that Morgana and Veronica were two souls in one?_

I breathed in, preparing to speak, but was stopped by a chill running up my spine. It felt like someone was watching me; my sensor was picking up evil vibes. I looked around wildly, searching for the owner. My eyes rested on a short, pudgy girl that was looming behind Veronica. Her arms were crossed and her eyes glinted, a permanent frown upon her lips.

"Lori!" I ran towards her, preparing to give her a hug. Lori's beady eyes jerked in my direction, and when I looked into them, I could see the ghetto warning she was giving off. _If you touch me, one less person will be seeing the sunrise tomorrow. _I laughed, and gave her a hug anyway.

Lori always had this killer aura about her. Her fists were constantly clenched, and she never seemed to relax. Sometimes, I wonder what kind of child-hood she had. But, for some reason, I always end up with this strange image of her being raised by dinosaurs... anyway, even though she had these qualities, everyone in this group knew she actually loved us.

I stepped away and turned to Veronica, ignoring Lori's death stare. "How did you find us? We've been looking for you guys."

"Well, it's kind of a long story..."

"Let's hear it." I folded my legs and sat on the ground. The other three copied me.

"Okay, so after the Game Master ceased to exist..." Veronica began. She went on to explain how her life had been these past two days.

It seemed that Emma hadn't been able to find any of us after 'the event', and so she had searched somewhere to stay on her own. While in her room, she had calculated her options, and chosen to train as much as she could. She thought she would run into us eventually. _I guess she was right. _Emma explained all of the quests that she had done, and how she had used her brain to personally wipe out any other contestants (mentally, she did NOT kill them).

I'm pretty sure I dozed off a bit during this part if the story, considering I didn't understand much of what Emma was saying... _what the heck did _idiosyncratic _mean? _I thought my head would explode from all of the confusing words she was using. Although, I guess this wasn't really any different from usual... _Here, I have a big word for you, Emma. _**_Sesquipedalian! _(*)**

What I did understand, though, was the last part of her story. She had overheard some players talking about this quest, and since it was the only one she hadn't perfected yet, she had an NPC give it to her. Then, as she arrived at the forest a couple hours ago, she spotted Lori slashing away further down the tree line. "It took me an hour to get her attention." Emma had stated, smirking. After that, Emma had tried to explain the quest to Zal, (It seemed that is what Emma decided to nickname her) and that Zal had responded, "Veri, (another nickname) what needs to die?" At this, I glanced at Zal. She was cracking her knuckles...

Supposedly, after that, Veri had noticed the message icon floating in front of Zal, and they read it. Learning that we were doing the same quest, Veri came to the conclusion that we would run into each other eventually (again), and started searching the forest for clues. When they came across the giant spheres hanging from the trees in brown mesh, Veri immediately knew that they were eggs belonging to an argiope aurantia (_what is that?_) **(%)**. But, why they were so big, she did not know.

Wanting a greater knowledge of these egg sacs, Veri, accompanied by Zal, had staked it out. She had hoped to discover the mother, but, instead, found two idiots.

"Hey!" Mo exclaimed, offended.

"Well, it's kind of true..." I muttered.

"Anyway, that's how we got here. What about you guys?" Veri placed her hands on her chin, and switched over to listening mode.

"Let's just say that I found Mo before the 'incident', and we spent these past few days looking for you guys and Renee. The inn-keeper gave us this quest, and we found a boy who said he saw Zal-"

"That little twerp!" Zal growled. "His friend thought my weapon was _cute_! I was just about ready to murder him!"

Mo and I glanced at each other. _Yeah, we heard..._I turned back to Veri. "Anyways, then I decided we should try Korfec and Mo climbed this tree-" A realization popped into my head, and I swiveled left to stare at Mo. "How on aincrad did you climb that freaking tree?!"

"Didn't I already tell you?" Mo said, smirking. I narrowed my eyes and did the 'I'm watching you' gesture. There was a short pause. Morgana stiffened, and her eyes suddenly had an evil glint to them.

"**Could you not even comprehend that it was a sword skill, you incompetent fool?!**"

"Eh?"

"Yeah, I just held my sword to my left side, it charged, and I jumped." _… __did I imagine it?_

"It was actually kind of cool. My body just automatically spun in the air and then pointed the sword straight up. It propelled me really high. I wonder if it's meant for flying enemies?"

"Maybe-"

"**The answer is yes!**" I jerked backwards, my eyes wide. There was a few moments of silence, and everyone stared, dumbfounded, at Morgana.

Mo's bubbly personality returned abruptly. "Why are you guys staring like that?" She suddenly gasped and jumped to her feet, spinning around to face the forest. "Did the dragons finally come?!" Mo began waving her arms around in flying motions, walking with high-knees toward a nearby tree. "Blarrrggg! Croooooo! Croooooo! Hiwaa!" _..._

I returned my attention to the sane members of our group. "So, after that, the deranged lunatic said she saw some tepees over here and we came to check it out." Story finished.

"I see why you would think they were tepees. Not many spiders lay eggs this size." Veri gestured to the egg sacs. Zal, who's head had started to droop, began to snore. A lock of her black hair fell in front of her face.

I shivered. "S-spiders? I thought these were the eggs of some sort of hybrid." I absolutely _despised _spiders. When they crawl with those hairy legs, and those black eyes... To all of you spider lovers out there! I know that spiders eat a lot of bugs, and that in some wickedly complex experiment somewhere out there in the world, they found out spiders are green!**(#) **But personally, I don't care! They are creepy and don't impress me in the slightest!

A sudden, small ringing sound made me jump. My quest screen appeared in front of me, and I noticed that my quest progress had moved forward. I was now on part II. Glancing at Veri, I noticed that her screen hadn't appeared. "Wait, why didn't you get part II? You did take part I, didn't you?"

Veri smirked. "Yes, in fact I did. But, unlike you, I knew immediately what these egg sacs were, and so my part II was triggered before yours." _Show off. _

I exited the screen and contemplated for a moment. "So the missing NPCs have something to do with a giant spider..." Now I kind of wished we could just cancel this quest right here and now. By the size of these eggs, the spider was probably huge. Even spider lovers would probably freak if they saw it. So, what about people who are scared silly just by normal ones?

"Whoa! It's a white one!" Mo yelled, her voice muffled by the trees separating us. "Sticky..."I sighed and stood up, brushing the leaves off my pants.

"Well, we probably shouldn't leave her alone."

"I totally agree." Veri rolled to her fee tand we started walking in Mo's direction, pushing branches out of the way as we went. After a couple of minutes, Veri spoke up. "We still haven't found her? We'd better pick up the pace. Who knows what she could be caught by in these woods?"

I laughed and wiggled my fingers. "A ghost."

Veri laughed with me. "Or maybe a babirusa!"**($)**

I smiled for Veri's sake and reached forward to push away the next branch, but instead I felt something sticky press into my palm. Startled, I returned my gaze to the front. My eyes widened. "Or a giant web."

Veri's hand flew to her mouth. "Now that's funny."

"No, seriously. She got caught by a giant web." It was quite the sight. Strands of spider silk stretched as far as I could see. Each piece was the size of a rope, and they were weaved into a pattern that displayed considerable technique and artistry. The outer edges of the web were connected to sturdy trees, and I noticed that the same pattern repeated for a ways in; except for the center, which was very dense. Animal-sized cocoons dotted several strands. _Okay, I give up. Maybe spiders were a _little _impressive. _And there, a couple yards to my upper right, was a struggling Mo.

"I don't think this is a dragon, Mo!" Veri yelled, and then started hacking away at the web with her sword. While Veri was helping Mo, I continued to stare. _A web and egg sacs. They're so close together, too. _A disturbing thought entered my mind. _Where's the mother? _The feeling of bumping into something erased the thought and made me focus. It seemed I had been unconsciously wading forward and I had run into one of the cocoons.

"Yuck." Now I was sticky all over. Attempting to forget that I was covered in spider web, I observed the cocoon in front of me. _What could be inside? A deer? _I kind of felt bad for whatever animal was in here. It had probably been eaten by the spider and died. _Speaking of which, we should probably leave soon, before the spider spots us. _I began to head back the way I came, but a movement from the cocoon stopped me in my tracks. _Holy cow poop! It's not dead?!_

"Is someone there?" A small, muffled voice came from the direction of the cocoon.

My voice caught in my throat. _Please tell me I just imagined that._

"Please, is there someone out there!? Help me! My hairstyle's coming out!" I could barely hear the voice, but it was unmistakable. There was a person trapped in there.

I ran back to the cocoon and placed my hand on it. "Yes, there's someone here! Can you hear me?"

"Yes! Oh, thank god! Please, help me out of here!" The voice got louder. I could feel the cocoon shifting.

"Don't worry! Wait a sec, I'm going to cut it open!" I hastily pulled my sword from its sheath and began sawing. _Man, this stuff was hard to cut! _It took me several tries, but I was finally able to create a large tear in the skin of the cocoon. I dropped my sword and placed my hands on the two halves, trying to make the gap larger.

"I need you to help rip it! Can you grab the edges from inside?"

There was gasp. "B-but, what if I scratch my nail polish?!" I froze. _Was this person serious?_

"What's going on over there, Gwen?" I turned to find that Veri had successfully freed Mo and was now slashing in my direction.

"There's a person in this cocoon!" I yelled back, resuming my work before I could see their reactions. _Time to act like Emma. _I began eying every single piece of matter surrounding me and calculated their usefulness. _Web: will only make matters worse. Web: will only make matters worse. Web: will only make ma-... screw this. I guess I'll have to resort to what I'm best at. Brute strength._

I flexed my hands and gripped the silk tightly. _1,2,3, NOW. _I growled and pulled with all my might, and the silk replied with a resounding ripping noise. I straightened my back and sighed, proud of myself. Turning back to Veri and Mo, I saw that they had almost arrived.

"Ah! The sparkles rubbed off!" The girl's voice sounded much louder. I took a breath and looked at the cocoon.

"What exactly happ-" Surprise made me pause. The girl was sitting up, and only her upper half was visible. Her hair was different, and her clothes were strange; but there was no way I wouldn't recognize that small figure. "Renee!"

Renee's head whipped toward me. We stared at each other for a moment, and her eyes widened. "Jillian!"

Footsteps sounded next to me. "OMG! IT'S RENEE!" Mo dashed toward her and crashed into the cocoon, causing it to flip. Renee spilled out, and with a squeak, landed right on top of Mo. I couldn't help but stare at Renee's appearance. Her hair was abnormally long and pink, and her face was covered in makeup. She was wearing a neon pink half-top, pink mini-skirt, and pink boots. _What's with the pink overload? And how did her hair get like that?_

Veri walked over to Renee and helped her up, ignoring the breathless Mo. "It's nice to see you, Renee. But, I have to ask, what happened to you?"

"Emma! And Allison! You're all here!" Renee looked so happy. I wondered what she had been through these past few days. It couldn't have been good, considering her apparel and that she had been trapped in a freaking cocoon.

Renee suddenly looked sick. "Is this a spider web? What was I wrapped in? Where are we? How did you get here? How did I get here? Ah! How did I get this sticky stuff all over me? My hair's ruined! I'm cold. Where's that stalker-" Renee's many questions stopped and she grabbed Veri's shoulders. "You have to help them!"

"Huh?"

"That guy! The townsfolk! They were all captured by-" Renee let go of Veri and stepped back, a confused look on her face. "By..."

"A giant spider?" I offered.

"SPIDER?! WHAT?!" Renee looked terrified. By the look of it, she probably wouldn't speak for the next two minutes.

Veri face hardened and she walked over to Mo, hauling her to her feet. "Come on, wimp. We gotta check the rest of the cocoons." While they did their thing, I picked up my sword and sat down, trying to connect the pieces. _I'm not sure exactly how Renee got here, but she can tell us when she isn't paralyzed. All I can figure out is that the missing NPCs must have been attacked by the spider, and that the ones that aren't already dead are stuck in the cocoons on this web. Renee mentioned a guy, but I'm not sure how he fits in. If Renee didn't know that a giant spider attacked her, then we can assume that it's extremely stealthy for its size... _I started to shake, and it wasn't because of the cold. There was still another question unanswered. _Where was the spider?_

Someone sat down next to me, and I realized that Renee had finally unfroze.

"I was so scared when I couldn't find any of you that day. I didn't know what to do, and there were so many guys after me..." _And the story begins._

"I was able to mooch some money off these teenagers who were following me, and this one guy was kind enough to recommend an inn. I didn't have any idea how to get quests, so I passed the time by getting my hair done and buying clothes." _I guess that explains the long pinkishness. _

"I spent all day doing that. Then, when it was getting dark out, I ran into this kid that was crying on the street. I asked him what was wrong, and he told me that his parents had left to go get firewood from Korfec, and that they hadn't come back. That's when I got the quest. I was so excited that I tried to complete it right away, even though it was dark out..."

"What about that guy you were talking about?"

"Oh, him? Yeah, well, he's a stalker."

"That's nice," I said sarcastically.

"I couldn't find a path into Korfec, so I just kinda wandered. After a while, I saw these things hanging from the trees, but I couldn't tell what they were because it was so dark. I was really scared, and it didn't help when Carlo stepped on a branch. It turned out that he had been following me since I met that kid."

"Carlo? Sounds like a stalker."

"Exactly my point. We talked, or he flirted, and tried to show off to me by telling me how much he had already figured out about this quest. But, he used so many confusing words... I had no idea what he was saying. Then I remember hearing this pattering noise, and the next thing I knew it was pitch black and I couldn't move."

"Wow, you really had a tough time, didn't you?"

"Yeah..." There was a long silence, and I looked around to see how Veri and Mo were doing. Surprisingly, they were heading back in this direction, several people following behind. When they got closer, I tried to figure out who they had saved. There were five NPCs: two men, and a woman with two children. And then there was one guy (player, I think) who was up front with Veri, having a nice chat. He looked like some Italian. His mustache was split into two parts, not under his nose but curling on the sides. The start of what looked like a goatee rested on his chin and a red bandanna covered his short hair. When they entered the little clearing Renee and I were sitting in, I picked up on their conversation.

"Blah blah, blah blah blah." Carlo's voice was high-pitched.

"Blah? Interesting." Veri replied.

"Yes, blah ble-blah blah arrived at blah blah."

"Finally, someone who understands English." _… _I cocked my head, utterly confused.

Carlo (I assume) spotted Renee and his face brightened. "My princess!" He dashed towards Renee, leaving Veri in his dust. "Are you hurt, Molly?" _Molly? _I looked at Renee's health-bar (which was yellow, I noticed...) and found the small letters of her game name. _Molly_Moppy._

The second Carlo got close, Molly stood up and jumped backwards, crossing her arms into an x. "I have a bubble. Not-cute-no-six-packs are: NOT ALLOWED." She emphasized the last two words. Carlo looked hurt.

Veri stepped in to change the topic. "I _would _recommend that we lead these people back to their homes, but after hearing what they told me, I'm not sure that's a very good option right now."

"Why?" I looked at the NPCs. The two children (boy and girl) were crying and hugging their mother's legs, and she was trying to comfort them. The two men were just standing there awkwardly. I noticed that they had axes clipped to their waists. "We should get them back as soon as possible."

"We can't!" The mother cried. The moment she spoke, part III appeared on my quest list. This time, it came with directions.

"Yeah, they won't let us!" A man added.

"Who won't let you?" I asked, wondering what they were talking about.

The mother looked terrified. "They won't let us leave. If we try, they'll kill us!"

"They'll?"

Veri piped up. "She's talking about the spiders, Gwen. There's a lot more egg sacs than we thought, and they've all hatched." It was deathly silent in the clearing as this information sunk in.

"Are you telling me there's more than one of these things?!" I exclaimed, my voice cracking. A hand suddenly gripped my shoulder, and it was shaking.

"T-they're here..." Molly's voice was just a whisper. A quiet pattering sound began to fill the clearing, and it was slowly growing louder. I stopped breathing. They were getting closer... A small wailing sound suddenly joined the pattering, and somehow, I knew that it was the children's screams.

**Spiders! Oh, Game Master, why? Get ready for spider action next chapter, it's going to be exciting (I hope). The friends are united, yeah! Type ya soon, right now I ****have to go get ready *grabs knife* bring on the spiders!**

**Please review!**

**(*) Sesquipedalian means 'one who uses big words'.**

**(%) The argiope aurantia are conspicuous spiders commonly found in gardens. They have long black legs with orange bases, and their large rear ends are black and yellow. An argiope's egg sacs are light brown.**

**(#) Not the color, of course. If handled right, a spider's venom can be useful to plants.**

**($) A babirusa is part of the '22 animals that you probably didn't know existed list'. It's head looks like a boar, except its got four tusks. Two sticking straight out of its mouth and two where a humans' nostrils would be. Its skin resembles an elephant's and its lower half looks like a pig's, but with a straight tail.**


	4. Decisions and Realizations

******Thank you for waiting so long my good fans! I will have to apologize for the length of time it took write this chapter! As you probably know, school season has begun, and the change in difficulty between middle school and high school has kept me on my toes! Marching band, cross country, and homework has kept me from writing a lengthy chapter this time around, so I hope you can still enjoy this adventure of 5 (mentally unstable... I think) friends in SAO!**

Chapter #4 (November 8th, 2022: 7:34pm)

I was frozen, my limbs paralyzed by the overwhelming panic that was building inside of me. There was an eerie stillness that had settled upon the ever-darkening clearing of webs, and the pattering of the oncoming swarm had begun to dim. It was almost dream-like.

That's it! I must be dreaming. Why else would I feel so slow and sluggish?It was a reasonable explanation. In real life, I'm the one who reacts the fastest. The one who can comprehend and move before others. A long-faded memory danced in the back of my mind.

_It was dark, the night completely overwhelming my vision. That smiling face, no where to be seen. Where was the police? Everyone had split up, slowly fading in the mist. The alley, the rope... it all made sense. "NOW!" The echoing cry escaped my lips just it time. A blinding light suddenly filled the clearing. "I got you!" A boy's voice yelled __from above. "Now surren-" His shout of triumph was cut short as he realized no one was there. He had played a cheap trick, and he had failed._

I was always known for being able to see the whole picture. A delayed start is not part of my program! A loud beeping noise suddenly disrupted my thoughts. _Look, there's my alarm clock. _I blinked, expecting my room to come into view. Nothing changed. I blinked again, this time keeping my eyes closed longer. Again, nothing happened. _The scenery wasn't changing. _Something clicked in my head, like some gear that was out of place suddenly shifting back in. I could see everyone's frozen bodies, their terrified looks. This was definitely real.

Part III was still up on my screen, and I noticed that there was a map. A red dot was flashing on and off on the far left, like a warning of some kind. An alarm accompanied it. Words were written underneath: _Reach the check point. _

I suddenly whipped around and smacked Molly. _Why did I do that? _Molly looked stunned, a pixel hand mark left across her cheek. After a moment of silence, a glint appeared in her eyes and her face contorted in anger. "What the stud was that for?!" _Good question. _In response to this, I gave a thumbs up and smirked. Then I dashed away toward the middle of the small clearing.

"SPAGHETTI NOODLES!" _What the hell was coming out of my mouth? _"EAR RINGS! BAD GRAMMAR! TORTURE!" My body was acting before my mind.

Several noises suddenly bombarded me at once.

"WHERE?"

"Are they pink?"

"Have you ever heard of _school?_"

(silence)

I smiled, my now understood objective seemingly complete. I had snapped them out of their stupors by yelling things that would get their attention. Now we just have to get out of her- _Wait, only three responses? _I spun around, searching for the missing person. _Veri's next to Carlo, Molly's behind me, Mo's... eating a stick..?._

"Guys, where's Z-" I was cut off as I noticed something long and black slide into the clearing behind Molly. _Crap. _

"Molly! Get over here! Everyone, group up and get your weapons out!" I ordered. Molly looked confused, and I gestured wildly. All eight legs of the spider had become visible now, and my eyes widened. Many glistening black eyes stared back. It was HUGE! What the heck? It reached Molly's waist! Was this some sort of Harry Potter reenactment?

There was some sharp intakes of breath around me, and Molly stiffened. Slowly, ever so slowly, she seemed to realize that we were staring behind her. She turned around. "_AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!_"

Two seconds later, she was whimpering by my side. "Pervert... it's a pervert..."

I smiled. _How did she come to that conclusion? _I pulled my sword out of its sheath and looked around to make sure everyone had their weapons ready. "Okay, guys, protect the villagers and let's finish this quest." I checked my map once more, trying to find a perfect route. Just then, two other spiders entered the clearing, surrounding us. _Screw that._

I pointed to the only unblocked spot. "Let's get the hell out of here! Go, go, go!" A short silence followed as everyone processed what I was doing; dashing as fast as I could in a random direction. Their reactions were priceless. Veri shoved Carlo (_the look on his face..._) behind the NPC's and they all followed me in a mass, with her running beside. Mo grinned (_think of the situation, Mo_) and sprinted forward to run next to me and Molly (who had her hands on her face screaming her head off).

In seconds we had entered the thickness of the woods. I glanced back to make sure we hadn't left anyone behind. They were all accounted for. Remembering our goal, I quickly opened my map and check the checkpoint one more time. We were actually heading in the right direction...

I took a big breath. "Guys, all we need to do is get back to where we entered Korfec! Run like your being chased by giant spiders!"

"WE ARE!"

Shortly after this civilized conversation, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. _Speak of the devils. _One spider was behind us, and the other two were next to us, a little bit further into the woods. They seemed to be matching our speed, and I was sure they weren't running as fast as they could. Our stamina would probably run out soon, though. _How are we going to lose the spiders? How much health do they have? Could we defeat them? _Many questions appeared in my head at every step I took.

After a little bit, I suddenly noticed, through my panting, that I was running lop-sided. I glanced side to side and realized that everyone had shifted to the right because of an upcoming (or starting, for me) hill, which just happened to drop off on the side where I was running; into a flat path. _How convenient. We might be able to lose the left spider this way. _I jumped off the small edge and quickly joined Veri in the front of the group.

Veri's head tilted towards the left and she suddenly made a gruff whisper-shout. "Molly, get over here!"

I also looked to the left and realized that Molly was running up the hill, eyes closed (_and still screaming_). Her path started to tilt to the right, and she was now getting closer and closer to the drop off on the side. Plus, she was pretty high up now. Then, to make it worse, she tripped. I stopped running, my mouth wide open, as Molly dropped right off the side of the slope. "RENEE!"

Time suddenly seemed to slow down. I saw Molly falling, falling, and falling more, even though there was really only like 10 feet to fall... I knew I would be too late to catch her if I tried, and all I could do was watch. I watched, and watched, and watched her fall right onto the grou-... gr... s-s? SPIDER?!

She fell onto a spider! It seemed to be struggling with her weight... _When did it get there?! Wait... isn't this kind of ironic..?._

I glanced behind me and saw that everyone had stopped running, and they were standing behind me, staring. The NPC's were panting, Veri was cocking her head, and Carlo and Mo were each carrying a kid on their backs, but they were so surprised that they were loosening their hold.

Molly started to shift, and then she lifted her head. "Wha-? Where..?." She paused. "What's this fuzzy stu-..." She looked down. "HOLY AERO #$%!"

The spider suddenly started running forward again as if Molly weighed nothing. Molly started to screech and hang on with all her might. I turned and faced the group. "Well, that was interesting..." _Wow, I fail..._

"Umm, Gwen?" Veri was pointing.

"Yes?"

"Considering there's a spider carrying Molly at 11 o'clock and the other two are at 6 o'clock, I suggest we run at 12 o'clock; now."

"Good plan." And we were off. Not seconds after, we were back to our original positions: Us running on the path in the middle, and the spiders surrounding us on three sides (and Molly...)

After what seemed like minutes (it was really seconds), a soft "weeee" came from our left. I looked, utterly confused to what would be making that sound in this situation. Molly was sitting up in her "seat", arms pumped in the air, and she was... wooing.

"It's just like riding a pony!"

Instant reaction from the group. "HOW?!"

_Okay... okay... just focus on getting to the checkpoint, Gwen... just, focus._

I returned my attention to the condition of my friends and the NPCs, and concentrated on the scenery around us. The men and woman seemed to be having a little trouble keeping up with us, but I think they're fine. Mo's stamina must be almost empty based on the way she's slowing up, with that girl on her back. I didn't really care about Carlo, but hey, he seemed terror struck, and I was sure he could keep going. My own stamina was down to a fourth. _We need to get to the checkpoint soon..._

We continued to run, and after about a minute, we came across a familiar landscape: the egg sacs. A realization dawned on me. _What are we doing? I thought in video games monsters were supposed to get enraged and have other qualities like that. Where are the item battles? The draining health bars and combat skills? Aren't monsters supposed to attack on sight? The spider isn't attacking Molly... the spiders haven't even attacked us. What's going on?_

My thoughts were disrupted as a hand gripped my shoulder and made me stop running. I was just about to turn and ask what the heck they were doing, but a movement in the trees at the end of the egg sac clearing made me freeze.

A spider that was three times larger than the ones chasing us was blocking our path out. A small white title rested above its head: QUEEN. We were surrounded on all sides.

Well, #$%.

(November 8th, 2022: 7:56pm)

"Any bright ideas?" I asked Veri.

"Plenty. But we are mentally incapable of applying them."

"Mo?"

"Weeellll, I think that "Queen" is the quest booossss, sooooooo, like, let's kill it?"

"Quest boss, huh?" _How does she know this stuff? Wait... _"Did you read the manual?"

"Manual? There's a manual?"

_Nope, guess not. _I unsheathed my sword and got into a fighting stance. "Alright guys, we should surround the villagers and kill one of the smaller spiders so we can escape through the opening."

Veri shook her head in disgust. "Ah, so simple..."

Mo jumped up and down excitedly with her hand raised, the girl still on her back. "Oo! Oo! I can kill the flying enemies!"

"There aren't any, Mo." I pointed out. She slumped in disappointment.

There was a hiss from our right, and one of the smaller spiders just suddenly charged us. I panicked, not really knowing what to do, and closed my eyes, swinging my sword randomly in front of me. There was a small pause, and I opened my eyes.

Veri's sword was stuck in the spider's side, and she was in some sort of lunge pose. The spider's health bar dropped a third. _Crap. _I was thinking it was going to attack Veri when Carlo jumped into the air and stabbed it from above. The spider flickered and then exploded into a bunch of green and blue pixels. I stared.

"Well, that was easier than I imagined." Veri smiled and stood up normally.

"It was just a minion," Mo threw out there. _Really... how does she know this stuff?_

"Yeah, well, now the Queen's angry." Carlo sounded excited.

I really didn't know how to react to this situation. "Umm..." Mo, Veri, and Carlo looked at me.

I pointed and laughed weakly. "Look, there's an opening now..."

They continued to stare.

_What did I do?... Are they expecting something? _"And I really don't think the spider's are going to wait for us much longer... actually, it doesn't really make much sense to why they've been waiting for us at all so far... hehehe."

_Sttaaaare._

"What the hell are you waiting for?! Lead the villagers and let's GO!"

The three players surrounded the villagers with their weapons out, and we began to run right, towards the opening the dead spider had created. There where some questions like, "What about Molly?", but I just said, "She's riding her pony, I'm sure she'll be just fine."

The villagers still hadn't said anything, so I'm sure they were okay with what we were doing, or maybe they were just scared silly; I didn't really know. As we continued to run, I started to think that the spiders were just going to ignore us and let us escape, but, of course, that makes no sense.

We halted, yet again, as Spider Molly charged in front of us, blocking our escape, again. Molly was still enjoying herself, and as it slid in front of us, she started hitting its head with her hands. "Go faster, Sir Fluffy the 1st! This isn't fun!" The spider was starting to look irritated, if that was possible. On the eleventh hit, Molly accidentally hit its eyes instead of its head, and before it could stop to block us, it careened right into a tree. The jolt knocked Molly off of the spider's back, and she flew into the bottom branch of the tree. The spider's health bar suddenly dropped a smidge. _Terrain damage?_

"I think they're trying to force us towards the Queen." Veri said, not fazed.

"Yea-" I was about to agree when Sir Fluffy I suddenly flew passed my face. I could swear it had been hissing in fear as it landed on the other side of the clearing. Veri, Mo, Carlo, and I stared as Sir Fluffy I twitched several times. _What... did that?_

"Fluffy!" Molly screamed in anguish.

A fuming, angry, and familiar voice made me slowly turn towards the tree the spider had flown from.

"SHOW YOURSELVES!"

My eyes widened as I took in the scene. An absurdly large, and wicked looking, hammer was slung over her shoulder. Her black clothes almost made her invisible in the dark, and her glinting eyes and someone's-going-to-die aura almost made me want to curl into a ball. She was deadly.

"Someone woke me up..." Her gravely voice had dropped to a whisper. "Someone. Woke. Me. Up."

A chill ran up my spine and I cringed. _I knew someone had been missing._

"Someone is GOING TO DIE!"

I grinned. "Zal!"

"**About time you showed yourself, my violence-loving ally!**" Morgana yelled.

An evaluation of the situation formed in my head:

_Team Monster: 0 debuffs, 4 members: - 1 dead - 1 stunned - 2 left fighting. _

_Team Player: 0 debuffs, 6 members: - 1 in a tree - 1 blood-thirsty - 5 left fighting._

I made a decision. "Let's kill the ! #$ things."

**MUAHAHAHAHA! I'm so sorry let I left you off on such a cliff hanger here (not really)! Expect a fight, more pasts revealed, and a surprising encounter in chapter 5! If you have any opinions, questions, or ideas for future plot (or humor :D) please PM me or give a review!  
**


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Sword Art Online/ソードアート・オンライン, Friendship, Humor