Persona: HEAVEN (Persona/Sword Art Online/Isekai Multicross)

THURSDAY - April 10th, 2025
Evening

Your body stretched like mochi and then pounded into a new form. A sense of wrongness that soon gives way to the opposite feeling. That you've had this body your whole life and it's the real world that felt wrong.

That was your first impression of SAO. When you first rolled a character you had chosen a hulking male avatar, mostly out of morbid curiosity. It was a hotly discussed topic in magazine interviews, there was even an option to model genitalia which could be freely toggled, a frequent talking point of Kayaba Akihiko who claimed he made his breakthrough in VR technology while pondering the problem.

You left it off. I mean... you weren't that curious.

Not an hour into SAO that process occurred in reverse. Your arms, legs, even the equipment you were wearing shrinking down to your diminutive self. Your head was crushed by a virtual vice and your bald avatar was suddenly flowing with unruly hair. Seconds ago you were heads and shoulders above the crowd, now you were struggling to peek out from between the legs of your neighbors.

You don't care to go through the process again.

Don't think of it as becoming «Lux» again. She wasn't anything more than Hiyori placed in the death trap of Sword Art Online. Think of it like... staying yourself.

As a two-year veteran of VRMMOs, albeit involuntarily, you doubt you'll have any issues with VR compatibility and tolerance. But the prospect of actually logging into a virtual world, well, you've only done it once before.

It just didn't let you log out.

The final confirmations were accepted.
You were going back in. This time to do... some good.

Gwen. She was your first target. Your first lead.

The only person among all the «Orange Players» that you truly missed. The girl who you abandoned that day to be arrested by the Clearers. The friend you left behind. Your only real friend.

She was still here. In SAO, in Alfheim, somewhere that wasn't the waking world.

You... were hoping to never see her again. To separate Hiyori from «Lux» once and for all.
But Argo had to show you. She had to show you something you never wanted to know.

Meimi Tsurusaki. Her real name.

You remember your victims:
Rossa. The one who died to save your life.
The countless slain of Laughing Coffin.
And Gwen. Of the people you betrayed...

She was the only one left alive. The only one you could apologize to.
With that thought in your heart, you dive into «Alfheim Online».

---

Þórsdagr - 10th of Einmánuður
Evening

It was like you never left.

You slip back into the avatar like an old jacket. The aching in your undeveloped muscles. The feeling of poor-quality soda sitting in your stomach. The lingering odor of spilled beer. The itchy fabric of Agil's upstairs' couch. All gone.

As the world streams before you, you feel almost free. Like everything is new and fresh. The promise of an adventure. You almost feel like you could fly, why, it's almost as if you were...

...

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!"
Did this game dropped out of chargen in the middle of freefall!?

FLY! GODDAMN IT FLY! OR BETTER YET LOGOUT!
You take your right hand and start pawing at the air, struggling to not collapse into a tailspin but the menu refuses to show.

You were connected to your stupid goddamn NerveGear. You're pretty sure if you die from overwhelming fall damage it wouldn't fry your brain... you think. I mean... hopefully? This was based on the SEED which was based on SAO and perhaps the devs never considered a player actually stupid enough to login with the NerveGear...

I AM NOT DYING FROM FALL DAMAGE! DO SOMETHING!
There has to be a reason for this. Maybe so that players can enjoy the view. You idly note the spiraling «World Tree» looks beautiful up here, a streak of thick alabaster that got larger the higher it went, melding into the very clouds itself. Or maybe it's a lore reason? Maybe the fairies were descended from the Alfs after a falling from grace, plummeting to the ground from the world tree as punishment for breaking the laws of thei-

LESS THINKING AND MORE FLYING.

Okay, great.
Uh... how do you do that?

"Deploy wings!"

IT'S NOT WORKING.

"Uh... fly? Up! Up, UP!"

WE HAVE A TOWN PORTAL! OPEN IT!
But you don't know how to open the menu!

JUST FALL INTO SOME TREES!


You see a dense forest stretching out endlessly before you, the heart of Sylph territory, though the game happened to spawn you far from the starting city. Or so you think, you have no idea where «Swilvane», the capital city of the system told you it would spawn you in, even was.

Maybe a controlled fall? You calm down, this isn't anything you're not used to. A sudden spike trap, a surprise ambush... keep your head and don't panic. React but with purpose.

The uncontrolled tumble changes to a controlled dive. You spread your arms and legs to maximize your surface area and feel the resistance of the rushing air buffet your face. You suck in a lungful of virtual air- a sweet, earthy smell unlike anything in Tokyo - as you fall down to a particularly thick grove. Ironically the only thing about this place that reminded you Tokyo was the white structure in the background.

...A thought strikes you as the ground rapidly approaches.
Even in this facsimile of your real body, you weren't a cachectic high school girl who was bedbound for two years. You were strong, healthy... and you weren't human. You were a Sylph, a fairy of air...

So you had to have them. Wings. You didn't have to consciously think to use your fingers, your legs, your body. You just acted.
Close your eyes. Feel the wind. You were trying to equip a weapon, summon forth a menu... trying to play SAO again.

Meet the game, the world, halfway. You were a fairy.

And fairies flew.

The tips of the cedars brush against your feet. You turn your dive into an upwards curl, translucent wings flaring out behind you. You can't see them, you can't feel them, but you know they're there nonetheless. They belong to you. It feels right.
With a rush, you ascend, shooting over the canopy and gaining height until you clear a dozen trees at once and sail into the skies.

You glide across the sky, looking down on the land below. The vast forest spreads out beneath you, rivers snaking through the valleys, Swilvane shining in the distance like a beacon. There was no sound aside from the beating of your wings, no sensation except for the gentle breeze. The sunless night was encompassed with a blanket of stars that you can truly appreciate for the first time.

Your wings flapped rhythmically as if driven by a second set of muscles hidden within your back, propelling you forward. The scenery passes by you in a flash, and you notice that in Alfheim your vision was sharper, more suited for a flying avatar. You flew faster still, the distant city growing closer as your flight grew swift and purposeful.

...this is amazing. Go faster! This is so...much fun.

You felt alive in ways you hadn't since escaping from the death trap of Sword Art Online. Your chest tightens as the wind blows against your bare skin; every fiber of your existence screams to go farther, further away. The horizon drew nearer with frightening speed, and your wings pumped furiously to keep pace.

...now that you think about it, you have been slowly losing altitude. There's a pressure building up in your core, a burning sensation akin to spending too long on a treadmill.

You realize your mistake just before you slam into the treetops.

The sensation of floating, that magic of flight, cuts off like a switch being thrown.

The sharp bark of shattered wood echoes out as your body collides with the trunk of a massive oak. You try to scream, but your voice is muffled by a mouthful of leaves.

---

You lay in silence, staring at the sky, spread eagle on the ground.

I guess for a VRMMO about flying a strict fall damage system would be a little harsh. You didn't take any damage at all. You were also suffering from a «Flight Exhaustion» debuff for the next 15 minutes. Lovely. Now how the hell do you even open the menu!?


It hits you suddenly. If you can't open the menu then you cannot log out.

Your mind races as the fear begins to settle in, irrational terror striking you like a thunderbolt. Did Agil notice on the outside? Would he just pull the NerveGear off you? Wouldn't that kill you?

Okay, calm... this isn't anything you haven't dealt with before. This is just SAO again.
Just SAO again.
Damn it...

What the hell are you so worried about? As if we'd be lucky enough to be trapped in another world again, nah, probably something stupid we're overlooking like only letting us log out in town.
Right... you have a mission. Take stock of the mission, it was simple...

Log in with your NerveGear, and transfer your character data including your friend list into an Alfheim account.

See if Gwen was currently in Alfheim Online and confirm Argo's rumored sightings of the unawakened amongst the players of Alfheim. Make contact with Argo in Alfheim and compare notes.

Figure out how Alfheim was connected to the unawakened.

And find a way up to the «World Tree» to find «The Flash». Of all the players she was sighted in the center tree. The same tree that was showing up in your wakening dreams like a mirage piercing the Tokyo sky.

Just... nice, easy, simple digestible tasks. Not all a quagmire of mysteries that you couldn't even begin to penetrate.

"I heard it from over here..." A voice echoes through the forest. There were other players here? You quickly take stock, you were wearing default equipment with nothing even remotely valuable. A quintessential noob. Wouldn't the logical thing to do here be to ask for help?

We certainly wouldn't be able to PK them.

"Might've been a newbie or something... Sigurd can't we just leave it alone? Could be the Lizards."

"Keeping searching Recon. The only way to know for sure is to confirm."

Hey, maybe we can ask them how to log out. You know, simple questions. The only cost is that we look like idiots.
As you climb out of the Sylph shaped hole in the ground you realize that ship has long since sailed.

---

"Oh, you won't believe how relieved I am to see another Sylph! We've heard sightings of Lizards in this area but we haven't seen them in ages and half of the team already left. If we actually found who we were looking for we'd be burnt toast." The Sylph boy, a short green-haired one named Recon, gave you a toothy grin as he helped you out of the hole. He and the small party of three went from suspicious to welcoming the moment they confirmed your race.

This kid is the poster child for why random avatar generation is a bad idea. He should just pay to access the character creator. I mean, who would choose to look like this? I wanna shake him down for lunch money.
The group introduced themselves as a warrior party on a hunt for reports of Salamanders who frequently went on PvP hunting parties into Sylph territory. They were rounded out by a tall stoic man and an annoyed-looking girl.

And this girl is the poster child for why customized avatar generation is a bad idea. She cranked that slider ALL the way up.
Their names were «Leafa» a slender female with a... flattering design and a long blonde ponytail, a rather anachronistic katana hanging by her waist.

The leader was «Sigurd» who at least appeared to look like a generic elf lord, complete with flowing green robes covering some expensive-looking armor.

"I was just getting used to flying..." you complain.

"Haha, it's hard to manage even with the flight stick!" reassures Recon to Leafa's growing annoyance. Kid's getting awfully close. "It's amazing that you got this far without any assistance, this isn't exactly solo territory here! Want to join our party, we're heading straight back to—"

"Recon, leave the poor girl alone!" Leafa pulls Recon away from you by the cheek. That looks painful. Thank god for the Pain Absorber, without it your encounter with the tree would've been harsher.

"It's no problem... but flight stick?" There was an assist system?

Leafa looks at you with some skepticism. "Flight stick? Not sure what you're talking about, but you fly by moving your wings, and it's clear you overdid it. You can only sustain about 5 minutes of uninterrupted flight. Shouldn't you have learned when you were born?"

Recon chimes in, "Uh... well, there is a flight stick, jus—"
"Ahem, I'm sorry to interrupt. I do wish to ask what you were doing so far out of the starting town," says Sigurd, the apparent leader. His voice is polite but friendly, the fact you were a Sylph has clearly already eliminated the worst-case scenario for him. Seems he was defaulting to simple curiosity, though you see his face is locked into a near-perpetual scowl.

He looks the part, even if he's wearing a tiara...

"Ah... I just logged in for the first time and it kind of spawned me outside of the city in mid-air..."

"That's odd, it just spawned me in the starter city..." says Recon.

"All Sylphs are born from the seeds of the «World Tree» in the heart of «Swilvane». It's unthinkable that you would simply appear in midair," Leafa unhelpfully adds.

Honestly considering how long you were falling and thinking back to the initial scenery you seemed to spawn not far from the «World Tree»... only in midair instead of among the branches, hence your prolonged fall.

"Regardless it's quite an impressive first outing to make it this far," says Sigurd. "Our mission was to hunt down the Salamanders in this forest and I see no Salamanders. Perhaps we should head back to town together?"

---

You decide to tag along with the adventurers on a trek back towards town.

Recon, as befits his name, was the party's scout and was sent ahead to ensure no monsters or enemy players were nearby. Turns out this entire expedition was for his benefit, Recon was going to find the Salamanders and bring down the Sylph hunting party at their location.

From how Sigurd explains it the Salamanders and Sylphs were in a territory battle over the forest. The game used a nebulous 'territory' system that took into account outpost occupation as well as PvP results in order to assign ownership of territory for resource generation purposes. It was a big driver of conflict. The man was sizing you up, evidently being found this far out in default gear was impressive to him.

"Those dirty lizards are out there murdering poor innocent Sylphs like you and I! Purging them is an act of JUSTICE!"

"Okay Leafa, so long as we protect the territory," sighs Sigurd as you all walk through the forest. Nobody was expecting much progress, you were essentially wasting time until your flight gauges recovered.

"I'm sorry to impose," you say with a bow that Sigurd waves off.

"No, who hasn't overused their Flight Gauge? Unassisted flight just staring out is quite the feat, it took me weeks to figure out the trick... perhaps you're a natural? Or a racial alt?"

"No, I'm just a transfer from another game. Flight was fun but it wore off so fast..."

Sigurd nods knowingly, "I suppose the best advice is to use sparingly. It makes logistics extremely annoying when you have to manage the cooldowns of entire armies."

"Yeah. And don't go too fast, at least until you learn how to read the wind. What you can do is conserve the strength of your blessing for ascensions, only the Alfs we descend from can fly carelessly without limit," Leafa offers.

"...What my friend is trying to say is that if you pulse the deployment of the wings you can extend the flight time. The gauge only recovers when your feet are on the ground so even with that trick you can't stay aloft indefinitely."

You nod as you eye the flight debuff. Just a few minutes left. Lucky you that the first people you encountered were so friendly.
Before anything else, this was just a game. A game people played for fun, friendliness was just expected. Nobody was forced into this.

Except for you.

And possibly 300 other souls, if Argo's guess was correct.

Hey, don't forget about logging out!
"Oh.... right, I'm sorry this is out of left field, but do you know how to logout?"

Sigurd stops walking and looks at you in mild shock. "What? This isn't some SAO-style death game. Just take off the Amusphere or speak your safephrase, every game also lets you access the device menu by closing your eyes for 5 seconds."

Right, you weren't wearing an Amusphere, now how do you communicate that...

Leafa shares his confusion. "If you mean to go to sleep just access Oberon's Menu and choose the option. Your soul will remain free for miscreants to defile if you're in the wilderness, so I suggest you do so in a town."

You try Sigurd's trick but after 5 seconds of closing your eyes, nothing happens. You blink up at your fellow Sylphs in visible disappointment.

Leafa suggests you just go sleep in an inn but Sigurd is legitimately shaken by your failure. "Hold on, this isn't normal. I think your system must be glitching out..." you see him attempt the menu swiping maneuver that didn't work when you tried earlier.

"Leafa, please protect my «Remain Light». I'm going to try logging off myself," he says with a hint of panic growing in his voice.

"Your soul is safe with me Sigurd."

Before you can respond Sigurd's avatar seems to vaporize before your eyes, leaving behind a glowing orb behind. Was this some system penalty for logging out? It seemed like Sigurd didn't have any issues leaving.

Ooh, wonder if we can loot it?

The... «Remain Light» as Sigurd called it flashes with a burst of light as the now familiar avatar is reconstructed from the glowing orb. He turns towards you with a frown. "I was able to log out with no problem. If you give me your CharacterID I can go contact a GM IRL, I doubt they want Alfheim compared to SAO. Are you really unable to log out?"

"Yes, I can't open my menu or anything..." you say as you uselessly paw at the air with your right hand.

Sigurd looks at your motion with clear befuddlement. "Lux? What are you doing? You're using the wrong hand."

Oh you've got to be kidding me.
In SAO menus were opened with the right hand. Furthermore, by default they were visible, you got a lot of mileage by spying on people scrolling through their inventories and generally engaging in poor information hygiene.

...oh thank god.
It's there. Sitting at the very bottom. «System», a menu familiar to you from SAO, with one key difference. A new option.

«LOGOUT»

"Wait, you don't plan on logging out here, do you? We need to get back to town, not protect your soul until you return!" Leafa brings up.

"Leafa, it's fine. I doubt Lux has much beyond her starter gear anyways. Why don't you log out and log back in just to prove you can? It would help your peace of mind."


A message from your friend list. Gwen took you off her friends list back in SAO but you never deleted her entry, and here it was, reactivated. The sole entry that you kept in your list after Laughing Coffin was rounded up.

"Leafa, look alive. Somebody just shot down Recon," warns Sigurd.

"Damn it, Recon, aren't you supposed to be good at hiding?! Who was it?"

"The Salamander Lancers, I presume. He didn't manage to get a message out."

"Tch, his soul will resurrect back in Town."

The message opens as you hear your compatriots start muttering strange phrases in preparation for combat. You can scarcely pay attention.

LUX,
I can't believe it! You actually came!
OBERON's given me special permission to seek you out.
I haven't forgotten what you did. But let's let bygones be bygones.
Let's paint the world red, just the two of us! Like old times!

"Lux, if you're going to log out, do it now! If you reject the «Remain Light» prompt it'll immediately spawn you in the city once you log back in. Default gear is exempt from looting so you have nothing to lose," suggests Sigurd as the light from his buff spells fades. An ornate steel longsword is drawn as he motions for you all to put a tree to your back.

...

"But that means I have nothing to lose, right?" you say.

After all... Gwen. She added you back to her friend list, a miracle that it carried over from SAO.
And that included friend tracking. You know where she is.
And she knows where you are.

Leafa gives a grin full of teeth. "That's the attitude new-wing! Tonight let's feast on roast Lizard!"

"Please don't give me that image, Leafa. Alfheim isn't a stat-based game so a newbie isn't completely helpless..." a cheap iron sword is thrown to your feet alongside a magic wand topped with a plain, unadorned red orb. "Take it. Just some low-level drops that's vendor trash tier but it'll at least be better than your default. Salamanders favor spears and fire magic, but you can never be sure what builds you'll face."

Oh, you're not going to be facing any Salamanders.
The glowing dot on the map represents your location. The labeled markers for PCs that you're aware of.
And one light blue light. A friend.

Gwen.

---

She descends into the clearing on wings of white, shaking off a discarded cloak. She's tall, slender, with twin tails trailing halfway down her body. She didn't look this glamorous in SAO. She looked... older. Wrong. The only thing that looked the same was her smile.

Of course, all this was made harder to notice compared to the large feathered angel wings retracting into her back.

Wow, fetish ninja gear does not look good on you. What happened to you Gwen? I can't even head pat you now!
Was this person even Gwen? Would she recognize you? What should you say to her...

"Heya, Luxie! Long time no see!"

Gwen tosses you something, a casual backhand you've seen thousands of time before. You catch it and hold it up in disbelief: a sour candy. The same variety they sold in Aincrad that Gwen favored.

"Like it? Oberon let me keep some items from Aincrad. The taste's a bit nostalgic isn't it?"

You'd eaten them so often when you and Gwen were hanging out. It was the first gift she gave you when she was trying to needle you into socializing. You bite and recall the flavor... sour enough to make tears come to your eyes.

"Gwen. I'm sorry..." you begin as the Sylphs look on with confused trepidation.

Gwen giggles, a sweet sound. "Why would I ever be angry at you Lux? Oh, right. When you abandoned me to be arrested by the «Army»? When you didn't stop them from locking me up in a lightless room and throwing away the key?"

"What could I have done Gwen!?" The Clearers had caught the two of you along with the rest of the Coffins in one of your hideouts. The only reason they let you go was a lack of evidence, a green cursor and the silence of all the captured Coffins let you pass yourself off as a kidnapping victim. It wasn't too far from the truth.

"I dunno Lux, maybe not sell us out? Laughing Coffin is running for a whole year and then suddenly the Clearers learn the location of everything, all at once! Every Coffin hideout, every support guild rounded up in one afternoon. Don't worry Lux, I'm not even mad, I admire the chutzpa!"

You notice Sigurd jump as Laughing Coffin is brought up.

"That's... that's insane! PoH would've killed me, I didn't..." You never mustered up the nerve to betray Laughing Coffin. You don't know how the Clearers learned of all the Coffin operations but it wasn't through you. What you did do was escape justice. You lied, you rejected, you tricked your captors into thinking you were innocent. You left Gwen to go to jail by herself.

"Well, whatever the case may be I'm glad our friendship survived. In fact, I think we can get even closer!" Gwen says as her smile widens beneath the pale moon of Alfheim's simulated night sky.

You feel yourself tense. There is still something missing. Something important...

"Gwen, please, tell me what's going on, you haven't awoken yet..." you murmur.

"Awoken? You mean you're asking how I escaped? OBERON rescued me from that hell and brought me to his court!" Gwen answers cheerfully without skipping a beat as she twirls in midair. Even without the wings emerging from her back she's never touched the ground even once, seemingly levitating in place. She flaunts her body as she shoots her audience a wink. "You like it? OBERON let me make a figure to my tastes."

"Silence you harlot! I will seek vengeance for Recon!" screams Leafa as her katana is drawn.

"Leafa, please stop roleplaying for one second," hisses Sigurd as he glances between the growing chaos with clear disdain. "All I want is to return to town with my items and skill points intact. I have no idea what's going on here and I want no part of it."

"Sigurd! We can't just leave our fellow Sylph behind!" Leafa protests as she shoves her katana in the direction of Gwen.

Gwen laughs, a wicked little chuckle. "Little Sylph I am that which you aspire to, the true lord of the skies. I am an Alf of OBEORN's Court, one of his consorts. You could say I'm a god to you! And you dare raise your blade against me?"

At that her wings reappear, two glowing white feathered angel wings spreading out in all their splendor. Now that you notice, Gwen's appearance doesn't seem to correspond to any of the races in Alfheim's character creator.

"Are you mad?" screams Sigurd, impatience writ large on his face. "I'm not sure what event you got those wings from but you're definitely not on the list of GMs. You're not even a slime monster. But what you clearly are is crazy. Leafa, let's please just leave! Now!"

"Hear that? Lord Sigurd the Wise has exposed you for the charlatan you are! Don't you dare insult the gods of Alf with your blasphemy, as if lord OBERON would choose someone like you to be his consort! Leafa the champion flier of «Swilvane» challenges you to single combat!"

Can these two zip it?
No. This isn't what you came here for. These two aren't important.

"GWEN!" You scream, drawing attention back to yourself. You couldn't care less about Sigurd's items and Leafa's... sanity? Whatever the hell was going on with her.

You were here for Gwen.

"Sword Art Online is over. We're all free."

"SAO?" Sigurd looks at you in shock. "You're a Sword Art Online player? It would make sens-"

"Can you shut up for one second!?"

Sigurd mouth opens like a dead fish as he wisely chooses to retreat behind a tree.

"Haha, there's the Lux I remember! You know you can be quite fiery when you get flustered!"

"SAO IS OVER!" You shout. "You can come home now!"

"S...AO? Sword... what... stop speaking gibberish, Luxie!" Gwen stumbles. Her expression shifts from surprise to confusion. Your mind goes blank, overwhelmed by memories of being trapped inside Aincrad, unable to log out. A lifetime at the brink of death, Gwen being one of the few lights in your life. You would not leave her there.

You realize you're gripping your sword tight and release it slowly. "It's over Gwen! I'll apologize as much as you want. You can hate me if you want! But don't do it here! Come back with me to the real world!"

"...Luxie, you've lost me. Real world? What, you mean Aincrad? Why the hell would I want to go back there to a criminal while your lying ass prances around free as a bird!?"

You hear the words hit you like a punch. Whatever was going on with Gwen she didn't forgive you. But that didn't matter.
"There are people that miss you Gwen! Even if you never talk to me again, you have to go back for them. And do you really want to let Kayaba win?"

Gwen riles in anger as you see knives materialize in her hands. "Stop talking out your ass Lux! We were just criminals in Aincrad, now we have the chance to be greater! OBERON is generous, he shares his love amongst all the Alfs, I'm offering you a chance to join him, to join ME! Are you going to turn your back on me again!?"

You shake your head. This isn't happening. You aren't going to lose her twice. Not after everything she went through.

"Gwen, listen to me carefully," you plead. You try to put your hand out toward her, your recharged wings responding to your unspoken command. "Please. You're still alive, you have people that miss you. I miss you. I want to laugh, to smile, to eat candy with you... I want to meet you in the real world."

"No, you're not fooling me! You're just trying to bring me back to that lightless cell, to Aincrad! I knew it, you were just using me back in the old world, if we really were friends you'd come with me. I'm offering an eternal paradise with me in this new world Lux!"

No... not criminals.
You tell yourself that every night. Some nights you believe it.

"We were Laughing Coffin! But we can be better than that Lux!" pleads Gwen. "We can be gods here Lux! Together!"

You look at your friend. You remember Gwen. How much of a complex she had about being practically the shortest player in SAO. The way she hated it when you tried to head pat her. The way she never let her status as a pariah upset her, that she always found a way to enjoy her life. To make sure that you enjoyed life.

Was that Gwen her real self? Was this Gwen in front of you, in her idealized body offering you some virtual divinity her real self? Or was it the comatose teenager laying in a hospital bed?

"We're not... assassins. Criminals. We're none of those things. We're just stupid teenagers who had the bad luck to buy a video game."

Gwen is hyperventilating, her wings flickering as she heaves in agitation. "A.... what?"

"And you're wrong about one thing. My name isn't Lux. And you're not Gwen."

"Y... you're not making any sense!"

You feel a virtual sweat breaking out on your brow as you look at your best friend.

"My name is Hiyori. Kashiwazaka Hiyori. I'm a survivor of SAO."

"Wha... stop... don't you dare..."

"And you're still a victim. Please wake up."

"Stop it, stopstop, don't say it. DON'T SAY IT!"

"Meimi Tsurusaki. Please come home."

And the world explodes.

---

"Did you really have to Dox her!? That is literally the rudest thing you can do!" says Sigurd, dodging the explosions blanketing the sky.

You're flying at top speed away from the epicenter of the magical explosion, an extremely pissed off Gwen hot on your heels throwing Kunai that seemed to explode in midair. Sigurd and Leafa are trailing you as you all try to dodge exploding bullets that fill the sky.

"I have no idea what gibberish you keep talking about, but this Gwen is clearly an imposter of the gods! Let us slay her and bring her head before Lady Sakuya! What say you, lord Sigurd?" says Leafa as she joins your impromptu flight wing with clear delight on her face.

"Fuck, I guess I'm not finishing that essay tonight, damn AI quest generation is getting way too Avant-Garde. I have many questions but I think that can wait until - ARGH!"

Sigurd's armor takes the blow as an explosive Kunai clips his wing, the man listing in midair before righting himself to face Gwen a growl on his face. "You know what? I've been holding this in but Ninja equipment in a Norse fantasy setting!? If you're gonna fucking roleplay at least get the damn time period right!" At that pronouncement, he screams out gibberish as glowing glyphs surround his body, a sign of the game's magic system deploying. A giant blade of wind materializes at the tip of his sword, going careening towards Gwen.

She doesn't even slow down, another thrown object visibly dispelling the spell.

"How is that fair!?"

"It's cause you suck at fighting Lord Sigurd!" laughs Leafa as she does an about-face. "The imposter seems to enjoy her little tricks. But if there's one thing I know is that if someone wants to fight at range the best thing to do is CHARGE!"

You're going to wake Gwen up. It's clear to you now that something has her bewitched. Even if you have to destroy her avatar, knock her down to a Remain Light just so you can properly have a conversation with her....

Leafa flies high while you go low, your earlier success with flight making the aerial maneuver feel fluid, as you let your natural instincts guide you along the flitting wind.

" 面( Men) !" screams Leafa as she practically falls onto Gwen, an overhead strike poised to smash right into her head. With your borrowed sword you eye her unprotected side as you try to catch her in a crossing blow.


As if sensing your approach a bracer of thrown weapons flies towards you. Expecting an incoming explosion you juke down, away from the path of Leafa's incoming strike as the Kunai explode harmlessly above you. You know Gwen's build, a rare thrown weapons specialist, and even though she was higher level than you she wasn't a top-tier player by any means. During friendly duels, you usually won if you managed to close in.

Clearly, she had been training, or her new body possessed some preternatural strength. Your telegraphed, obvious sneak attack is contemptuously dodged with a midair twirl as you struggle to maintain altitude. Leafa's lighting strike is more successful but Gwen pulls out a short blade, an ornate tanto superficially similar to the «Silver Tanto» she used in SAO in size if not in appearance and parries it away.

"Annoying little Sylph. Should've done this to start!" Gwen giggles as she snaps her fingers. "Know my name! I am Gwendolyn of the Court of Consorts, and I command thee! The skies here belong only to me and Lux! Obey the Law of Oberon!"


What was that voice? Your Shadow? No, you haven't heard your Shadow in a while. What was going on?

In a scream of surprise, Leafa plummets towards the ground. You knew from experience that fall damage wasn't THAT bad, but it wasn't exactly a pleasant experience. You vaguely hear a second crash as Sigurd too falls below the Canopy. At least you won't have to hear his annoying questions anymore.

"Don't be so cross Luxie. Sylphs, as with all the children of Alfs are effectively immortal, they'll simply have their souls resurrected," laughs Gwen.

"I wouldn't exactly call them friends... but listen to yourself Gwen! There's something wrong with you! Did you really forget all about the real world? Do you remember first logging into SAO!?"

"S... stop trying to confuse me! There's only one world I want to live in, and it's here! Here, I'm free, I'm not trapped in that cell! Don't you want the same thing Lux? Oberon can give it to you, unlimited flight, whatever you desire! You can go anywhere, even up to the «World Tree»."

It's true that you were curious about what really was going on. Why was «The Flash» trapped there? But you weren't Argo. Asuna was just a name on a page to you. Right now you wanted to save only one person. And you weren't going to let her go.

But you can't win. Gwen was stronger than you, faster than you, hell, minutes ago you couldn't even figure out how to log out and even now you have no idea how the magic system worked.

But you'll keep trying. You'll keep talking to her, no matter how long it takes, no matter how painful it is. No matter how impossible it is.

"Meimi. Please come home."

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!"

She screams and she's on you in a second, the Tanto outstretched as she rages in berserk fury. "I AM GWENDOLYN! I AM A CONSORT OF A GOD! AND I AM FREE, YOU WON'T BRING ME BACK THERE!"


You try to dodge, but the strike clips you along your side. She's not done yet as her speed becomes blinding, juking from position to position like a razor caught in a tornado.

You dodge again and again but she keeps coming. You feel the blade cut through your body as you struggle to keep up with her speed.

"SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!"

You raise your sword to the center of your mass as you take blow after blow, falling down through the sky.

"MY NAME IS GWENDOLYN!"

"Wake up! Meimi!"

"Shut up shut up SHUT UP! Know my name! I am Gwendolyn of the Court of Consorts, and I command thee! These skies are MINE ALONE! Obey the Law of Oberon!"


You fall in a descending corkscrew, the disorientation from Meimi's strikes substituting the pain you should be feeling as she encircles you, blade outstretched to shred you while your wings uselessly flap, unable to catch any lift.

This was it. Your avatar was going to disintegrate, you'll either respawn in your starting city or end up as some unintentional victim of Kayaba Akihiko.

Will you let it end like this?
Her power is not her own.
Can you sense it? Your Shadow isn't speaking to you.
That's because she is you. You are her. My separation was only meant to be temporary.
Your soul, split in twain, is ready. You both want the same thing.

What did you need? Your words weren't enough. You couldn't get through to her. She was in the thrall of OBERON, in the thrall of this world, in the thrall of SAO. You were not important enough by yourself.

How do your words compare to this wonderful world? To the feeling of wind in your hair, of mastery through the air? How could life as a god compare to the dull existence of a malnourished, bed-bound teenager she had to look forward to in the waking world?

How could you compare yourself to a new world?

"I HATE YOU LUX! YOU TRAPPED ME IN THAT JAIL! YOU BETRAYED ME! AND NOW YOU'RE LEAVING ME AGAIN!"

"Meimi..."

"NOO! Know my name! I am Gwendolyn of the Court of Consorts, and I command thee! Let blades touch our very souls! Obey the Law of OBERON!"


You repeat it in your mind. The words you hear echoing in your head as Meimi fought you. The ones she used to control your flight. She called it the Law of OBERON but somehow you know that all she was doing was commanding the AI architect of the world.

That's right... you weren't in a new world at all. This is a game. Just a game. A program, an AI landscape created for the purposes of entertainment.

You can see her now, tears streaming down her eyes as the sword is poised for a death blow. Did Meimi even realize right now that even if she killed you nothing would happen? You would likely just wake up in town.

You could let it happen. You could die, log out, go find out another way. But you won't make Meimi a murderer. If she believed you would die... you want to spare her that pain. You won't die. You won't let her kill you.

You'll bring her back even if you have to tear this world down around her.
But feel the world fighting back, pushing away your SOUL. Was your soul this weak?

Rip her from HEAVEN. Call it forth.

You poor unfortunate soul.
I shall take your voice as payment.
The voice that cries for aid.
The voice that laments your suffering.
The voice that screams in agony.
Your every step shall be as knives.
But you will no longer care.
Let us dance the night away, little one.

...

The words alight in your mind, in your soul. A contract is formed as the devil within you calls forth power.

6 millennia of human civilization. Of dreams and hopes, of death and suffering. Of winners and losers, heroes and witches, gods and devils. Was this world the best world? The ideal world? Even a just world? It was none of those. It was a world of suffering. A world where two school kids could spend two years trapped in Kayaba's personal torture. A world where two kids decided the only way to survive was to cheat, lie and betray.


The virtual world fights back against the weight of your soul. But your chaotic world? The real world? It was grander than this one. It was crueler than this one. It was heavier than this one.

"SYSTEM CALL!"

A black butterfly swirls around the edges of your vision and seemingly dissolves before you, bleeding into the fabric of the world itself.

"PERSONA!"



She appears as bubbles, seafoam forming in mid-air as your soul materializes before you. A maiden cloaked in finery, in the very seafoam she materialized out of. Rather than legs her lower body is a lithe fish's tail, the scales glistening off the moonlight as a cloak of seafoam surrounds you.

That's right. You cannot fly anymore. But you can swim.


It's a dance. One without a ball, without a floor. It's a waltz in the sky, no, in the sea. Without wings you can't generate lift, but as you slide along clouds of foam carried by your soul. You can't help but laugh. You're sure many players in Alfheim Online have flew, but who could truly say they swam through the sky?

But a dance required a partner.

Meimi recoils in surprise as suddenly her blitzkrieg slows... no, that's not true. She's not slower, you're just faster. With a growl of panic and frustration, she retrieves another handful of explosive Kunai. It was what Gwen used in SAO after all, her choosing to fight in melee at all was simply nothing more than a lark to her.

But two could play at that game. You played SAO as a close-range melee fighter because everyone, barring rare exceptions, played that way. You remember the «Black Swordsman» wielding twin blades, the furious berserker who never gave in. But you know what? You were sick of swords. It's a new world. A new opportunity. A new... magic.

You don't know the words to summon this world's magic. When you saw Sigurd cast spells you noted a flash of glyphs surrounding his body, the system's way of declaring his intended spell for all to see. But you didn't need that system. You know the word that calls forth wind from your soul.

"Garu!"



The wind shears forth into a roiling tempest billowing from your outstretched hands. The Kunai explode uselessly against the wind which slams into the airborne Meimi. In a scream of fury, she tumbles out of the air.

You realize with surprise that at no point did you actually see Meimi's HP bar, even when it was clear that you were already locked in combat. Could she even take damage as determined by the system or did she have some permanent god mode enabled?

Whatever the case the attack did something. Rather than flakes of data that accompanied damage in SAO a new effect is demonstrated as inky black darkness peels off Gwen, the winds gouging gaping wounds in Meimi's avatar which bleeds a putrid black sludge. That drops to the distant ground in a hiss of sizzles and smoke.

"Why? WHY LUX!? I DON'T WANT TO RETURN! I'M HAPPY HERE! DON'T TAKE THIS AWAY FROM ME!"
The voice... Meimi's voice wasn't coming from the Avatar before you, bleeding black sludge into the sky. Through the wounds in the body, in the face, you see something underneath. A flash of Gwen as you remember her. Short, precocious, wearing her short hair in tiny pigtails. You vaguely recall her mentioning her mom liked styling it that way.

Just a child caught up, just like you, in an impossible situation. Now she resorts to wearing a new avatar like a skin around her. A mask over her own soul.

All sense of decorum and sanity is loss from her. Her smile, melted into a desperate snarl of hatred and fear so anathema to the optimistic, teasing girl from your memories. Now she, or whatever she became, wants nothing more than to see you impaled at the end of her blade.

"I WON'T GO BACK! NOT BACK THERE! I WON'T BE A PAWN! I WON'T BE A BROODMARE!"

She's charging you, moving so fast you see the inky mass of her Avatar struggle to keep up. Guided by hatred or desperation she bursts forth from the coffin of her own delusion— the hollow avatar floating in midair as you see your friend for the first time, for the small girl she is and always was.


You don't try to dodge. The tanto slides through your Avatar, dealing another blow as your HP bar dips down. It burns in searing agony, an indescribable, incandescent pain. But you don't care. Rehab was more painful than this. SAO was more painful than this. Your weapons lie discarded, falling rapidly into the ground as you wrap your arms around Gwen even as her sword sticks through you.

"I don't know your home. I don't know anything about you before SAO, Meimi. But I want to learn. I want to start over."
You feel her struggle in your arms but you don't let go. You bury her head into your shoulder, like you did so many times in SAO, as you whisper in her ears.

"S... shut up... you betrayed me... you left me behind... Lux..."

"Hiyori. Please call me Hiyori. Do you know the first thing I did after waking up was beg mom to get me a slice of cake? It was a carrot cake from the hospital cafeteria. I threw it up all over the gurney. It was the best thing I tasted in years."

You feel her struggle. The knife twists in you. She whispers, more to herself than to you. "My parents... anything I wanted they would give it to me. Toys, playmates, even the NerveGear. I know what they're trying to do. They admitted as much. Meimi, all you need to do is focus on enjoying life. We'll take care of everything for you. We'll find you a proper husband, a proper role. "

You smile and hold her tighter. "I made a new friend the other day. She's a glutton and a tomboy but she's sweet. Yesterday I spent all afternoon gossiping with an upper classmate. She's got this weird obsession with my neighbor."

You feel the blade fall out of your avatar as you hear Meimi mutter into your shoulder, "What could I do? I realized I was just a pet to them..."

"You know I've been hearing voices in my head? She says she's my true self, but I think she's just a selfish asshole. It makes things less lonely though."

"...that's cause you are..."

"Meimi?"

"You're the most selfish person I know. After everything you have the nerve to..."

"Yes. I want to start over. As friends."

"Is it really... just..."

"That simple? Haha, probably not. Rehab's quite the chore, and I'm still not sure what's going on... but it starts with this..."

As you hold her in your arms you feel the power of your wings return and the pain in your body dull as whatever hold Meimi had on the world ceases. Your Persona is also slowly dissolving as you bring the two of you back down to ground, cradling Meimi sobbing into your sleeves.

...well, your peace didn't last for long.

"See! I knew she was an imposter. An Alf, please. Just wearing the skin of one! I told you changelings were real!" Leafa's boisterous voice welcomes your return to ground.

"I have many questions." Sigurd steps into the clearing, his composure returned but unmistakable tension in every word.

"I think... I've had a bit too long of a day," you say, feeling as tired as you sounded. "Me and Meimi are going to log out now."

"No, no, I know you won't give me a straight answer but is this some crazy event? Did the Alfheim AI start creating fake players or something when I wasn't looking? Flight doesn't just shut off, and who the hell was that Undine player that just materialized in midair!?" If Sigurd initially fashioned himself as a wise Sylph lord he was now the picture of an overwhelmed and out-of-his-element office worker trying to make his world sane again.

Leafa, for her part, is just striking the puddles of black flesh that peeled off Meimi in open glee.

You ignore him as you look at your friend, adorned in her SAO Avatar self, trying to dry her tears on your sleeve.

"Hey Meimi. You alright?"
"Ugh, I can't do this. I've been Gwen for two years now, would it kill you to call me that? H-I-Y-O-R-I... honestly can I still call you Lux?"
"Only here. When we meet up IRL you have to call me Hiyori."
"Lovely. How long does it suck for?"
"My doctor says the new gel beds stop muscle decay... took me a month to walk though... going to the bathroom is also... well..."
"Great. I forgot we had to do that."
"Are... are you able to log out? Uh, the menu's with your left hand, not your right hand."

Meimi idly paws at the air. You can't see the menu but from her look of surprise she's noticing the log-out button. "I'm still so confused, my mind is so foggy. What was I doing here, where am I? Is this one of the higher floors in SAO? How come the log out button is there? I vaguely remember hearing about the game being cleared..."

You can get your questions answered later. "...Gwen. Let's leave. We can figure out the rest later, I won't rest easy until I can see your real face."

"I'm gonna look like a skeleton midget. Fine Lux, you're real pushy when you want to be... but I... I'd like to see you there. On the other side."

She presses a phantom button and looks at you with surprise as some internal indicator sends her a message. Gwen gives you one last smile as her SAO avatar dissolves in your arms.

...it's over.

You take a deep breathe as you nearly collapse on the spot. God now that you can think that last sword strike felt almost real, even now a strange phantom sensation lingers over the stomach where Gwen skewered you.

"I'm serious. I'll call a GM, there is clearly something going extremely wrong here."
Right... you have to deal with Sigurd now.

---

THURSDAY - April 10th, 2025
Evening

"You were in there for a while. Can't blame you, I spent an hour trying to figure out which race to be. I wanted to be a crafter so Leprechaun seemed like a good fit but everyone warns me the leader's a real slavedriver. I get enough of that from my wife."

You're back. For a second you were afraid you wouldn't actually be able to wake up, but it really was as simple as Sigurd made it out to be. Just select an option from the menu and after a brief second of disorientation the only sign you were ever in Alfheim was the crick in your neck and an overwhelming urge to pee.

"You get any useful information?"

Whoa, I'm glad Gwen's sane again but that was one trippy Dive.
The voices is back again? Where was she this whole time when you were saving Gwen?

What? I saved Gwen! The moment the fighting started you gave up control to me! I figured out that badass Persona while you just sat there and watch— I mean, we, ugh. You know what I mean! Or we know what we mean!

Control? I had control the whole time, you just started shutting up the minute I started fighting.
You are delusional. More delusional!

My hallucinations are now having hallucinations. This is great.

"Uh... Hiyori-san? Hello? Why didn't you just log out?"

Right... Agil was waiting for an answer. "Meimi. Where was her hospital?"

"Meimi? Um, that's the Gwen girl, right? Not sure, you'll have to ask Argo for the specifics."

That was exactly the last thing you wanted to hear. Right now, for better or worse, you had some valuable information. Meimi's awakening would soon be obvious to all, but you have so many questions, ones you'd prefer to ask without Argo poking around. But right now the only person who had immediate access to Meimi's hospital information was the damn Rat...

---