KHNG: Dark Past, Bright Future

Ishine - Saitama

The next world we came to was a much less busy city than that of Shibuya, but it was much more troubled.  Immediately upon descending, we found a young girl being chased by some Unversed.  Naturally, we swooped in and saved her.  Her name was Suguha Kirigaya, a young girl with short black hair cut in a bob and dark eyes.  we introduced ourselves and asked her if she had been seeing things like the Unversed a lot lately.

"Well, yeah, actually," she explained, "ever since the incident, they started appearing.  Most of the time they're docile, but every once in a while, they target certain people."

"What is this 'incident' you speak of?" Kaijai asked.

"What, you haven't heard?  The 'Sword Art Online' incident!"

"I'm afraid we don't keep up with news much," I tried to cover.

"Surely you've heard it through word of mouth at least!?  'Sword Art Online', the Virtual Reality game for NerveGear that trapped thousands of people inside, including...including my brother."

"Oh...I...I'm sorry," I replied, "Well, we're here to help with those creatures you saw, the Unversed.  Usually they latch onto people with dark emotions--sadness, jealousy, anything like that really.  I can see why they were chasing you.  By the way, have you seen any suspicious-looking people lately, possibly someone in a black coat?"

"A black coat?" Suguha replied, "No, I can't say I've seen anyone like that around recently...does he have some sort of connection to those things?"

"That is what we believe," Kaijai said, "We're confident that he is the reason those creatures have appeared here."

"Well, you could always go ahead and ask around town.  Are you new to Saitama?"

"That's right, we are," Vanitas said, "Mind showing us around?"

"Sure!  I've gotta head into town for kendo anyway.  Come on, follow me!"

As we walked into town, we started seeing more and more Unversed, taking out as many as we could on our way along.  Without a doubt, they were showing up here because of all the family members and loved ones of those that got stuck inside of this 'Sword Art Online' game.

"Hey," Vanitas finally spoke up, "you know something?  The Unversed used to come from me, but I have no control over these guys whatsoever now.  What gives?"

"For some time after you disappeared," Kaijai began, "the Unversed slowly began to reappear throughout the worlds.  They began latching onto those with negative emotions, feeding off of them instead of you.  In short, they adapted to survive."

"Is that so?  Well, then I guess I'm kinda proud of my little fledgelings."

Immediately after he said that, he impaled three Floods, disintigrating them on the spot.

"But that's not gonna stop me from destroying them."

"Say, Kaijai," I asked, "how did you know all that?"

"I spent many years in the Aether, and all throughout that time, I have retained the ability to track the recusant's sigil.  Through others' eyes, I have learned much during my time alone."

"I see.  That sounds like it'll definitely come in handy!"

"Indeed.  I will always know where you and Vanitas are, since the belts around your waists bear the sigil themselves."

I looked down at my legs to see two belts making an X shape across my thighs.

"I guess you're right!" I laughed

"Okay, this is my stop," Suguha announced, "I've gotta go in for practice.  I'll see you guys later, okay?"

"Sure thing," I replied, "We'll be around."

Suguha headed inside as we took care of a few more Unversed scattered around.  Now that Suguha was gone, I spoke to my comrades.

"Hey, do you think there's anything we can do about this whole 'SAO incident'?"

"Doubt it," Vanitas replied, slicing up more of his former underlings, "I mean, they're stuck inside some video game, right?  How would we even go about trying to get them out?  I'd think we'd have to go inside the game ourselves."

"True," Kaijai replied, "that may yield a solution, however, I must advise against it.  Entering this 'Sword Art Online' may cause us to be trapped within as well, and we've got a job to do, so we cannot afford to be stuck inside some infernal computer."

"Yeah, I understand.  Still, I want to help in any way we can."

"That may not be possible right now," Kaijai went on, "Perhaps after the Council is rescued, we will return here to save them."

"WAAAAAAH!!"

From inside Suguha's dojo, we heard a scream.  The three of us stopped what we were doing and rushed inside.