Level 100 - Sword Art Online [OC x Kirito]

Chapter Six: Drawn Back Yet Again

~from Author's POV 3rd person~
Kirito woke up from a cold sweat that could only be related to the rapidly decreasing time that he had to find the level 100 boss, assemble the Assault Force (minus the Knights of the Blood Oath), and beat SAO once and for all.
He sat up, disoriented and stressed, but only one thought was able to make the tension flow out of him. I know. I'll go talk to her.
So Kirito got up and made his way to the clearing, telling himself the whole time not to piss of...what was her name?
Holy crap. I actually don't know her name? Kirito mentally face palmed as he reached the clearing and descended, already moving towards the tree that he knew was half of her existence.
Once there, he paused, scratching his hair as he realized that without a name, he didn't really know how to summon her. "Hello? Anyone home?" he finally asked, wincing as he realized that he was talking a tree. He was about to die of awkwardness when a head poked out.
"Oh. It's you," the dryad said, sounding neither excited nor disappointed, but Kirito still cringed at the blankness in her tone.
"I..." he began, but he realized that he didn't know how to talk to her. Finally, the words came out on their own. "I want to know who you are."
She gave him a half-smile that was distinctly sad, although he couldn't tell quite why. "So you're done interrogating me about my eating habits, niche, and behavior specific to my species?"
Kirito frowned. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to treat you like-"
She sighed before smiling at him. "All is forgiven." She slipped out of the tree as though flowing out of water, and Kirito stood, transfixed as she gave him another smile. "So you want to know who I am, right?"
Kirito blinked and nodded.
"He told me that I'm not allowed to withhold that information if it's asked," she said, sighing again.
Who is he? Kirito wondered. Akihiko?
"So I guess I have to tell you. It was one of his stipulations, anyway." She paused. "First, follow me."
Kirito did as asked and trailed a few steps behind the light-footed, graceful dryad as she navigated through the thick forest, stopping only when she'd reached a second clearing, this one carpeted in purple flowers that emitted a soft glow. Fairies flew all around, zipping back and forth, and it almost appeared as though they recognized the dryad. Kirito supposed that it made sense; even NPC's interacted with each other. It was just odd how much this AI seemed...almost human.
The dryad laid down in the flowers and motioned for Kirito to lay down beside her. She stared up at the early dawn sky as it yawned away all traces of the night, leaving only a few courageous stars as they fought to remain visible. "If you want to know who I am, I will answer, but I'm only allowed to reply to specific questions. Ask away."
Kirito's first question immediately popped into mind. "What's your name?" he asked, and he thought he saw a trace of a smile pass fleetingly over her lips.
"In this game, I am Olivera the dryad."
Kirito wanted to ask if she was an AI since it appeared that she couldn't refuse an answer, but he knew that she would view such a question as insensitive. Instead, he asked, "'In this game?' Do you have another name elsewhere?"
Olivera closed her eyes. "I used to be called Aiko."
"Used to?" Kirito asked in surprise. "What changed?"
Olivera exhaled. "It's simple, really. I was chosen as a beta tester for SAO, and I logged in when it came out. Olivera is my handle in all the VR games I used to play."
Kirito didn't dare to breathe for a moment. "Olivera...are you saying that...you're a human?"
Olivera's eyes opened slowly. "No. I'm saying that I used to be."
"What do you mean?" Kirito asked, but Olivera shook her head.
"You're not being specific so I can't answer."
Kirito grit his teeth in frustration. "I don't understand, Olivera. How can you be human at one point, and then become something that resembles an AI?"
She rolled over to face the opposite direction. "Because I died."
"What?" Kirito asked, his voice soft and shocked. "You can't have died, though, or you'd be gone from the game."
Even without seeing her face, he knew the sad look that she was no doubt wearing. "Those are the rules that the GM put in place, but there was a loophole. The first player to die in cemetery grounds would be resurrected and transported to level 100 immediately."
Kirito's face was pale. "But...that's impossible." Olivera was silent until Kirito moved on to his next question. "Olivera, is that...is that how you became a dryad?"
She nodded. "I died, and when I woke up, I was lying on the ground of the clearing where you found my tree. I went to check my inventory, but everything was gone or locked. The only thing I could see was my handle - Olivera - and underneath it, where it used to show the player icon in green, orange, or red, all I saw was the word dryad. That's what I am now."
Kirito was curious about little things, like if Olivera still needed to eat and stuff like that, but he kept quiet. Finally, "Olivera...if it's not too much to ask...how did you die?"
She was quiet for a moment, and when Kirito sat up to make sure that she was all right, he saw silent tears spilling down her cheeks.
"Olivera, you don't-"
"It was pretty early in the game, about a week or two after you beat the first level. After Diabel's death and the stunt that you pulled, not to mention all of the unnecessary deaths early on of all the inexperienced players, everybody was on a witch hunt for other beta testers. A few riled-up players managed to track me down while I was in the cemetery looking for an item that I'd noticed in the beta test, and they..." She paused, her arms wrapping around herself protectively. "They teamed up and killed me, right then and there. It wasn't long until everyone calmed down and the craze ended, but I was just one of countless victims."
Kirito wasn't sure how to respond, so he asked another question to divert her attention from the past. "How did you...know that I was there, that I defeated the first level boss and everything?"
She rolled over so she was facing him, her eyes sad and mystical. "Some of it, I heard about. Other things...later things...I saw."
"But how could you be watching me if you were up here?"
She nodded towards the way they came. "The small lake by my tree is a reflection pond. I can view anywhere in the game in the pond." She paused. "I've been here, alone, for almost two years, Kirito, and even though I've been isolated, I know everything that's happened."
"But why were you watching me?" Kirito asked almost desperately.
Her eyes darkened. "Because he told me to."
"Who?" Kirito asked, slightly alarmed.
She shook her head. "You already know who. Kayaba Akihiko."