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GGO : The Wedding Update

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Another day, another time to put on her NerveGear once again to play online games. While this is usually Asada Shino's daily routine of her life, it didn't really do much to deteriorate her studies - Granted, she's not the best in her class, but her grades are kept in a reasonably good shape... at least, in her own eyes. It's not like anybody around would criticize her for it, but regardless it is a discipline that she firmly upholds for her future aspirations.

 "Hmm... nobody's online at the moment..." Shino quietly commented to herself as she checked her friend list before she officially login to a game of her choice. She has had her fair share of adventures with the NerveGear, in Gun Gale Online and Alfheim Online together with Kirito and Asuna, and everybody else... though those dangerous moments are already over not too long ago, it still felt like it was yesterday for Sinon. A strange mix of comfort and anger broiled within her... how in the world did she get herself involved in all that? Yet at the same time, she's secretly glad that something as exciting as that happened. Most importantly, she didn't go through all of that alone either... everything began when she met that man disguised as a female player.

"Kirito..." With a sigh, Shino checked the list of games available to her with the NerveGear. One particular title that caught her attention is Gun Gale Online as it has been recently updated while Shino is busy musing to herself. "The Wedding Update? Now why would a game like this need a marriage system?"

Shino hesitated for a moment, staring at the game's blinking title, seemingly begging her to log in and check out the update... It's been a while since she has logged on to GGO, not when she is investing most of her time into power-leveling in ALO.

Having let curiosity won her over, Sinon logged into GGO.


======


A minute later, Sinon finds herself standing and breathing in the world of Gun Gale Online, at the place where she was logged out last time. She had vague memories of this place, but nonetheless the first thing she did was to return to the capital city, the SBC Glocken. The city is as dark and gloomy as she remembered, but it's not as bad as one would imagine once they know their away around it; After she is safely within the city borders, the first thing she did is to bring up a search window and checked for anything related to the term 'wedding'.

Strangely enough, nothing came up. "Hmm?" The blur-haired sniper tried it again, with the same results. "Am I lagging? No, not possible - I logged in just fine."

She thought about it for a few seconds and searched for the term 'bride' instead. This time, a few choice selections popped up, and one of them is a clothing shop just a few blocks away from her current location. With the store's location saved into her in-game GPS, she had no trouble locating the shop... the problem is, when she arrived, there was nothing on display.

"Is the store still under renovations?" Sinon wondered. The update is only three days old, so maybe, just 'maybe' the items aren't being rolled out yet... which is strange, there are plenty of other players that are more devoted to this game than she is.

Still, it didn't stop her from entering the shop to see how it is doing. As the shop interior is mostly complete, if not empty, it wouldn't be right to think that the shop is still being renovated... or worse, abandoned and quickly forgotten. Maybe the shop simply had no stock available? That would make sense, as there's nothing placed on display.

"Hello? Is anybody here?"  The sniper decided to yell loudly in the attempt to call for the shop owner's attention. A few silent minutes later, Sinon decided that the owner of this premise is currently somewhere else out of range, or is simply AFK-ing.

Strange though, even if this shop has an owner, he/she didn't set the correct limitations for some of the doors here... these doors should naturally lead the authorized personnel to the staff quarters and the storage room, but as Sinon accidentally discovered when she went near the store counter, the clearance restrictions were not set. This would mean that if there are hidden surveillance devices installed here, the shop itself reminded Sinon of a dungeon trap...

The blue-haired sniper professionally surveyed the area again to see if someone was watching... but came up empty-handed. Was it an honest oversight by the shop owner? She thought. Sinon went near one of the automated doors again, and it lead her to the storage room at the back of the shop.

Much to her surprise, there 'is' stock available in the small, but comfortably tidy storage room. The shelves are neatly stacked with clear labels that suggests what is inside them, while some of the boxes are already open on the floor, the bridal dresses properly folded and packaged inside large, transparent plastic bags... so why didn't the owner put these on display? It couldn't have been lunch break or anything of that sort; if he was begging to be robbed, this was too easy for Sinon...

At first, she fought against the temptation and tried to walk away... but before the blue-haired sniper could leave, she turned around and looked at the open box again. The label on the side of the box read  "Flower Bride, Type-A (Light Blue)"... Sinon imagined that a bride's dress will be large and audaciously silky and frilly. In a way, it befits a lady to wear something like that on the day of her wedding, but Sinon found it difficult to imagine herself in a bridal dress; she was never fond of frilly things, it didn't do her style any good favors... but most importantly, it made her feel vulnerable.

Just the thought of wearing one already made her face turn as red as beetroot. "It... should be fine if I just try it on, right? ...Nobody's watching, right?"

Locking the door and claiming the shop for herself might sound selfish, so Sinon cleverly closed the door and changed the shop's operation status to 'Closed'. Unless a burglar or a hooligan decided to barge in, nobody should come inside... logically speaking. So without further adieu, Sinon sneaked back into the warehouse and picked a plastic bag from the box.

It's a coincidence that the first open box she saw contained a dress design that appealed to Sinon's color scheme. And the way the bridal dress is sewn, it looked like it won't be too much of a hassle for the blue-haired sniper to freely put it on and move around... even so, the design did come across Sinon as 'odd'; after Sinon went into a spacious dressing room, she took off all of her equipment, placed them in her inventory and cautiously tried the bridal dress on as carefully as she can, while being extra mindful as to not accidentally damage the colored flowers on the dress. 

The seemingly simple task is next to impossible, as Sinon had found out the hard way - though the dressing room's walls have mirrors that help the dresser to look at herself at all angles, the blue-haired sniper struggled to make the dress look as natural as possible without the obvious errors showing up. Once the dress is fully on and is acceptably presentable, Sinon gently spun around in the dressing room, allowing the bridal dress's silk fabric 'flow' through the air... just watching how smooth the dress is made Sinon felt giddy on the inside - through the tough hurdles in her life, she had forgotten how to be ladylike, like how a normal girl should. Her tomboyish behavior is more of a cover used to hide her fears and weaknesses... or rather, she is becoming the facade herself as time went on.

"I... wonder if I can still get married..." Sinon giggled a bit as she recomposed herself in the dressing room. After she is no longer dizzy, she gingerly sat down and wore the long, silver veil, the pair of immaculate high-heels and the pearlescent leg wraps that came with the dress. The blue-haired sniper exited the dressing room in the most princessly manner she could muster, her hands placed over her midriff while her steps are... awkward, as Sinon never walked using high heels before. Fortunately she got used to it relatively quickly... then, as if on cue, when the blue-haired sniper thought of flowers, she found a bouquet of tan flowers and several flower accessories on the table.

Without hesitation, Sinon placed a flower headband over her head and wore flower hairpins before she took the bouquet. She smiled widely as she walked down the store, the bouquet held firmly in her hands... even if she isn't the bride during the once-in-a-lifetime occasion, Sinon looked like a pretty flower girl that had just walked in here from a fairy tale...

"Hmm, hmmm hmmhmm~" Sinon then playfully hummed "Here Comes The Bride" to herself, the pretend bride imagining herself being in a wedding procession... walking down the middle of the church solemnly, but carefully, the holy priest patiently waiting to christen the marriage, and most importantly, the tall and handsome groom. "Oh, who will my future husband be?" Sinon wondered loudly to herself.

Unbeknownst to her, Sinon is already walking onto the platform behind the shop's display window... but that is the least of her concerns now - she needs to hurry up if she is to be officially wed to her groom! As nervous as she is, Sinon kept her breathing normal and bravely stepped forward; the bride subtly hastened her steps so as to reach the priest and her groom a little bit earlier... her heart might just burst out at any moment now, and breathing is becoming more and more difficult for the blue-haired bride. "I can't believe it, I'm going to be a wife soon...!"

Soon enough, Sinon rightfully stood by the groom's side. Together, they now face the priest and are ready to declare their vows and receive his blessing...

"We gather here to unite these two people in marriage.
Their decision 
to marry has not been entered into lightly,
and today they publicly 
declare their private devotion to each other."

The priest calmly recited the rites of Sinon's marriage with his smooth, baritone voice. The bride tried to look straight, and not give into the temptation of looking around during this holy moment... it'd be very unbecoming of a graceful lady like her!

"The essence of this 
commitment is the acceptance of each other,
in entirety, as lover, 
companion, and friend.
A good and balanced relationship is...
one in 
which neither person is overpowered nor absorbed by the other,
one 
in which neither person is possessive of the other,
one in which 
both give their love freely and without jealousy. 
Marriage, ideally, is a sharing of responsibilities, hopes, and dreams. 
It takes a special effort to grow together, survive hard times,
and be 
loving and unselfish."


The priest turned to the groom before he continued.

"Do you accept her, the bride, to be your lawfully wedded wife, to share your life openly, standing with her in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, in hardship and in ease, to cherish and love forever more?"

"
I do."

"W... wait a minute... was... was that... Kirito?" After Sinon barely heard the voice of her groom, her thoughts, as blurry as they are, raced like fireworks in her mind. It felt like the whole world is disappearing and her whole body frozen in place... the only focus here is the priest, her, and... her groom who is about to become her husband. Her breath is becoming long and shallow, it'd felt like she could pass out any moment... "No... I must... stay... strong..."

The priest then turned to her.

"Do you take her, the groom, to be the husband of your days, the companion of your heart and the friend of your life?  To stand united in the face of adversity and bask together in the light of good fortune?  With these words spoken, and all those as yet unspoken, do you wish to marry GROOM and join your life with his?"

After hearing the priest's question, the blue-haired bride made a hard gulp before finally giving her bold, committed answer.

"I... do."

The priest nodded and smiled, and then gestured for the couple to be together. "It is at this time that I now pronounce you husband and wife... you may now kiss."

Finally, Sinon's patience has paid off... the blue-haired bride looked to her left and, before everything faded to darkness, saw the face of her true lover in eternity. The words she wished to speak however, failed to escape her permanently closed mouth...

"I... love... you..."


=========


Darkness. It was the first thing Sinon saw in ages. It didn't occur to her that she had been in this state for quite some time now until recently. Who would've known? A marriage trap that actually kills her at the peak of what is probably the most wonderful dream she's ever had... absolutely cruel and sadistic.

"Is this how death feels like?" At first, the confused Shino tried to move her limbs around, only to realize that she can feel them moving, touching something as she wailed about... it then occurred to her again to simply take her NerveGear off and get off the chair. "Oh my God, my body..."

Shino commanded her feeble body to push her body off the floor, her hands placed on the table to provide her the support she needed now. "How long was I knocked out like this?" The girl said as she stretched her and exercised a bit to return her body to its rhythm. Thankfully, today is Saturday, so there are no classes... which is good, because the time now is 2PM; she had been in that state for roughly half a day, the apparent reason for her weakness is quite obvious to her now.

After she has fully regained her consciousness, the first thing in her mind is a breakfast.. a big one.




(Epilogue)

Kirito : "So what happened then?"

Shino ; "Like I said, I don't remember. I know I was in some kind of a shop the last time I was in GGO, but the next thing I know is that I had a dream, and then I was knocked out... that's it."

Kirito : "Hmm, okay... this is odd. Nothing particularly harmful, but I will investigate it when I have the time. I'm doing a bit of something with Asuna at the moment in ALO, so I can't get to it now."

Shino : "Don't worry, it's okay. Take your time with it... maybe I was just being tired and I passed out in real life. That might explain it."

With the private chat ended, Shino closed the conversation window and proceeded to log into Gun Gale Online again for today. It's Sunday today so tonight's visit will be a short one or she will risk oversleeping and be late for school tomorrow. Once she is logged in, she's back in SBC Glocken... except it's at the central area. It didn't take her a long time to retrace her way back to the shop she visited two days ago as she had its GPS location record. Once she is there however, Sinon couldn't believe the thing she is seeing behind the shop's display window.

It's Sinon, except... it's a mannequin, and she's wearing the exact same dress, same accessories, and even in the exact same posture during that one weird dream about her marrying to... someone.




"What the..." Not believing in the sight she had, Sinon pressed against the shop's display window and examined the mannequin more carefully... no doubt about it, the mannequin is her! Even with the plasticized eyes and its detachable limbs, there's no mistaking it - it 'was' her. "But how...?"

It was at this moment, Sinon received a private mail from an unknown user. It's from the owner of the bridal dress shop in front of her.


"Thank you for volunteering your avatar to become a model mannequin for item 
"Flower Bride, Type-A (Light Blue)"!
10% of the profits made from sales of this item will be deposited into your account at the end of each month.
We would like to extend our gratitude to you for your contribution. We hope you have a nice day!
P.S. : Next time, think before stealing."


After Sinon finished reading the mail, she looked at the bridal shop, and then at the mannequin of herself wearing a bridal dress.

What would Kirito think when he sees this?




The End


A mannequinization story that I've written, inspired from adi1625.deviantart.com/art/Sin…

I hope you enjoy!


::: DISCLAIMERS :::

Story is written by me. Manipped image is by :iconadi1625:.

Characters featured in this story are Shino Asada and Kazuto Kirigaya from the Sword Art Online series. I do not own the characters.

No character was harmed during the making of this story. (Confirmed Claim)
© 2017 - 2024 L-exander909
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MWSeraph's avatar
I like the happy ending and the fact that Sinon is still alive in the real world. Moreover, she's bound to get some pretty nice shares from volunteering as a model! XD