Death's Song (SAO Original Character Story)

Chapter 2 - Sword Art's Launch

For a minute I forgot what I was doing. I was just staring at the sky laying down, thinking in my mind 'I can't believe I'm in a game.'    "Zuduko!" A high pitch voiced yelled my name. I turned to see Senna and Jayce ready to get going. "I know, I'm getting up." I said back to her while slowly getting up.
We had loaded into the game as soon as we could and immediately went to leveling on the first floor. "Dude, I still can't believe how realistic the game feels!" Jayce said still sounding as thrilled as when we logged in. "Like I told you guys it's awesome, but the games not exactly like real life. It may feel real but there is a slight difference." I said in a lecturing tone while pointing up. "Ugh please don't lecture us again like when we first logged in, let's just get to it Zu!" Senna said annoyed but joking.
[Senna likes calling me Zu. It's a lot shorter than my full name Zuduko]
After a little bickering we headed off leveling. I personally loved using a single handed long sword. Senna used a dagger. Jayce used a sword with a shield. We worked together like a well oiled machine. We worked as one all the time.
After about an hour or two of mob grinding I started talking to them about heading to the next town. We had gotten some nice gear from the mobs which was way better than the starter gear. Meanwhile I'm sure some people hadn't thought of looting yet.
  "Okay so you two agree on heading to the next village, right?" I said to them. "I don't know man I mean it's getting pretty late, we're gonna have to log out soon dude." Jayce said in a warring tone. "Zu you know he's right, let's do it in the morning!" Senna said putting the debate at rest. "Okay well, we'll meet up in the main center in town at 9 tomorrow. Sound good?" I said thinking about it in my head. "Sure!" They said happily in unison. You know it was so weird looking at my friends and seeing their avatars instead of their real faces. I smiled and we all pulled up our menus.
  "WHAAAAATTT!!!!" We seemed to have all said it at once. "Th-the logout buttons not here?" Jayce said in a confused voice. "Zu this never happened in beta did it?" Senna said running to me looking scared. "No it didn't.. But don't worry I'm sure it's just a bug or glitch. We'll be fine guys!"
  Suddenly a loud bell started ringing from the center of town. We all started shimmering. "Don't freak guys it's just a-" I got cut off as the teleport sent us to the center of the town of beginnings. " Zu what happened!" Senna and Jayce ran towards me frightened. "Don't worry it's just a teleport." Maybe their gonna make an announcement about our bugged menus.
  To make things even freakier, the sky started getting red with error signs. Then suddenly blood started dripping from the ceiling of floor one. You could hear everyone talking, wondering what would happen next.
Suddenly the sky was all red and a really big man in a red robe was floating above us all. "Uh..what is that?" Jayce said. "Dunno, probably a game master getting ready to announce the bugged menus? At least that's what I assume." I answered back to Jayce, but I was even doubting my own explanation at this point.
"Lady's and Gentlemen, my name is Akihiko Kayaba." The giant avatar in the sky announced. I could hear as everyone started mumbling. "I am the creator of this world, and as of right now, this is SAO's official launch." He announced. I was so confused. What was he doing. This never happened in the beta. "Now I bet your all wondering about the little issue concerning the logout button. I assure you this is not a bug." He announced.
"What?!" Jayce yelled into the sky. "Zu how are we supposed to get out now?" Senna said to me, though I was still confused myself.
As Kayaba went on I zoned out while he said we couldn't get out or log out without dying, panicking about it all. Eventually he said, "There's a little present I put in everyone's inventory, go on take a look."
I opened up my inventory to find the strangest thing. "A mirror?" Senna said standing to the right of me. "What's this for?" I said confused. Suddenly we all started shimmering as we stared in the mirrors. Once the shimmering stopped we all were confused.
"Whoa.. Jayce, Senna. You two look like your real selves!" I said confused. I looked in the mirror to see my real face. My hair was a little longer, my eyes were still dark brown. But my facial features and body type changed. As did Senna and Jayce's. Senna still had her purple hair but it was longer than before and she had became her actual height. Jayce still had his red hair but instead it was shorter, to his ears. His eyes turned light grey like his real eyes.
Confused we all started examining how we had changed into our real selves. "Now then, I announce this the official launch of SAO. Good luck" Kayaba said. He then disappeared as silence swallowed the center of town.
I couldn't believe it. If we die here there's not returning to the real world. I was terrified, but I tried not to show it. I turned away from all the panic and yelling.
"Come on guys, we gotta move." I said as I grabbed Jayce and Senna's hands. "Zu. What do we do. If we die here then.." Senna said in tears. I could see a tear fall from Jayce's eyes as well. "Don't worry guys. So long as we stick together we'll be safe. I promise we'll get out. Together." I said doubting myself but wanting to give them hope. "Okay. Then we gotta move, so we can level quick and beat all 100 floors. When were together we can do anything." Jayce said adding to the inspiration. "There's the spirit!" I said cheerfully. "Now guys. Let's head off and get things going." I said as I ran off with my friends behind me.