Alfheim Offline

Chapter One

"Link start!" Those were the words that Kazuto Kirigaya shouted as he launched himself into the world of ALfheim Online. He hadn't played in a few days as he was busy working on his Mechatronics project. He decided to take a break and regroup with his friends online. He spawned where they all promised to meet up, outside him and Asuna's log cabin. The group was still exhausted over the recent events that had occurred in their lives. Yuuki's death, the captures of the Death Gun group, the team was just tired.

"Kirito!" The sword master turned around to see Asuna greeting him.

"Hey! How have you been?" replied Kirito.

"I've been okay. I'm still a bit shocked over everything that's happened. I still really miss Yuuki"

"It's okay. It's all over. We have some well deserved time to relax."

"Thanks for the reassurance." she said with an awkward smile. "Come on! Everyone's inside." Kirito followed Asuna to the front of their beautiful cabin. It brought them back memories from the days of the original Aincrad. It was hard for Kirito to imagine such a nice thing from such a bleak time in his life. He entered the house to find all of his good friends that he had made along his adventures having a meal.

"Hey man! Come on grab a seat." Klein started. "The food's really good". He said gesturing towards the meal in the center of the table.

"That's no surprise seeing as Asuna made it" Kirito complimented.

"Oh stop it you." Asuna said as she blushed. "I swear all you keep me around for is the food."

"Well you can't really get mad at him when your cooking is this good." Klein added. They began their meal. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the food to much to talk, but Kirito ended up breaking the silence.

"Hey where's Sinon?" Kirito asked.

"Hmmm. I'm not sure." Asuna pondered. "I remember her say she might be running a little late but she never told me where she was going".

"I think she said she was doing some duel to practice her bow skills some more" Lizbeth recounted with her mouth full.

"Well it does kind of sound like her. Always wanting to get stronger." Kirito thought out loud. "Do you know where this duel is?"

"Mmmm. Not exactly but if I had to guess I'd say it's in the plaza near the world tree."

"Hmmm. Well then, anyone want to go see a show?" Kirito asked the group who were just finishing up their meals.

"Yeah sure!" Klein responded. "I'm always up to watch a good fight."

"Yeah it seems like it'll be fun." Silica chirped.

"Well then it's settled. Let's get going." Kirito said as he led the team out the front door. They proceeded to make there way down to where Lizbeth had told them the battle might be happening. As they moved further forward they began to hear a strange rustling noise followed by a projectile flying through the bushes.

"What was that!" Leafa exclaimed. Another projectile closely followed just barely sliding across Klein's cheek, sending a small gust of wind against the group.

"Phew." Klein exhaled. "I wasn't exactly planning on getting shot in the face today but I guess that's just a hint about how this day might be going."

"Aw, Klein don't worry." Lizbeth reassured him. "At least it wasn't a rock or something. But then again knowing your personality, you're probably the only one who'd make a big deal over getting hit by a rock."

"Thanks Liz. You always know how to brighten up someone's day." Klein replied sarcastically. Upon closer inspection of the projectile, they found it to be an arrow. One of Sinon's arrows.

"Well guys, I think were headed in the right direction." Kirito said with a smirk on his face. The group darted down the path, eager to see their friend's battle taking place. They then saw Sinon in battle against a player they've never seen before. They ran towards the small arena to see Sinon's breathtaking fight against this mystery swordsman.

"Wow. He seems pretty good." Kirito said while watching the sword wielder dodge Sinon's speedy arrows. "Sinon's good but I'm not sure if she's ready for this much of a challenge."

"Kirito, cut her some slack. She has experience with weapons of that kind." Asuna reasoned.

"Yeah, I guess so." The battle began to heat up as the two continued to throw attacks at each other. Just then the unknown man knocked Sinon's bow out of her hands. Shocked, she stumbled to pick it up, but it was too late. The mysterious duelist delivered the final slash of his sword. That was the moment Kirito noticed something strange. As Sinon lay defeated on the ground, she appeared to be in physical pain with a shocked expression on her face.

"Guys, what's up with Sinon?" Klein questioned.

"Yeah, something doesn't seem right about her." Leafa added. Sinon stared towards the group as she disintegrated into thousands of pixels. Above the spot where she once was appeared the disconnected message. Kirito fell back into his seat stunned as his friends rushed over to him.

"Guys, something's not right about this." Kirito muttered. He looked visibly shaken.

"What do you mean?" Asuna shouted. The fall wind blew leaving a chill in the air and leaves where Sinon was moments ago. Kirito continued to speak.

"It's...just….what just happened makes me think that it wasn't any normal disconnection."

"You don't think..."

"No it's not Shinkawa and his brother. They're locked up, but I feel like something strange is go-" Kirito was interrupted by the sound of a notification from his menu. It was from Sinon.

END of Chapter One