SWORD ART ONLINE:
ソードアートオンライン
NOT OUT UNTIL IT'S OVER.
それが終わるまで外に出ない
A/N: Hey! *Salutes*
What's up guys? This is my first story in a while and definitely my first SAO story so no heat, please.
Follow Quil as she joins Kirito and Leafa on their journey to Aarun and the World Tree. Quil is a hardcore fighter and quite a complicated person in-game and IRL. Follow her as she sorts through her memories and encounters enemies to find out exactly who she is. All criticism is welcome as long as its said nicely as this story is kinda my baby.
Just to warn all you young readers, this story contains yuri moments, sexual content in later episodes AND SWEARING so if this doesn't float your boat then back is the only way to go. If not then I only one thing to say; LET'S READ!
And as always, ENJOY:
EPISODE ONE: THIS ISN'T THE REAL WORLD!
Sweat drenched my body and my teeth gritted almost painfully as I lunged through a large winged wolf demon, slicing it in half and sending it fluttering into tiny blue pieces of data. Sighing, I wiped my brow ns glanced to the perfectly blue sky My mind wandered to the guys who were fighting on the front lines right now, fighting the boss for Floor 76. A little bell noise alerted me that my menu had popped up.
I turned to see how much Col I had won when a haunting vice echoed around the entire floor, catching the attention of other players nearby. The voice seemed to be coming from everywhere all at once, I looked to the sky again and shaded my eyes. My wavy dark brown hair fell in front of my face as I tried to comprehend what absurdity was being announced.
On November seventh, at 2:55pm, the game has been cleared. Repeat. The game has been cleared.
My body went numb. W-what? My eyes widened and my pupils shrunk. I sunk to the floor and my sword slipped from my hand, hitting the group with a dull clang. It's over? Is it really over? My eyes swept across to the players a little ways away from me as they jumped for joy and hugged each other, even those who had been arguing over monster spawn points a few minutes ago.
The relief that had washed over me slowly gave way to confusion, I was part of the assault team so I knew that we were nowhere near Floor 100 yet. I had taken a small leave of absence from the Guild to boost my levels and stats. My boss and best friend, Asuna, hadn't really liked the idea but understood my motives. The Floor 74 boss was a total bitch to beat, so any Guild members who could boost their numbers were welcome to do so, then there had been the incident with Kirito, Godfree and Kuradeel, too.
Blinking rapidly, I looked at the sword that lay in front of my knees, it's blade was so dark purple that it looked black with a black and amethyst crystal hilt, it was called the Yahura no Tachi, the demon wielding sword. The only sword that was better than this from a monster drop was Kirito's Elucidator.
A sudden yell shattered my thoughts, my wide eyes quickly found the source of the scream as I jumped to my feet and replaced my sword onto its scabbard on my back. Players were disappearing in puffs of blue data. It was different from a normal SAO death, which was what made my hands hesitate as it grasped for my sword handle. Maybe this was the system logging out all of the players. My hand drifted to the red crescent moon crystal around my neck, I fiddled with it fondly.
I'll see you soon, Kazumi, I'll find a way to fix you and your sister.
A smile spread across my tanned face as I turned towards the sky, enjoying for one last time the feel of the virtual sun on my face and the realistic breeze that whipped at my hair, blowing my French braid out behind me. I watched the fluffy white clouds drift passed as the world I had come to know slowly faded away.
'Real world, here I come!'
I can't wait to see real people, with no cursors or health bars.
A thrill shot through my body like electricity as my eyes fluttered open to see the blinding white of a hospital room.
No.
Wait.
The room was black, like, pitch black.
I slowly waved my hand in front of my face, trying to work out if my eyes were open or not. They were, at least, I think they were. Where the hell am I?
'Hello?' I called out, maybe it was night-time and the curtains were closed or something. But, then that couldn't be it, I was standing up. If I were in the real world, I'd be waking up to a mega headache and a large bike helmet on my head as I lie in an uncomfortable hospital bed. I certainly wouldn't be standing in what felt like my Knights of the Blood Oath uniform, which was a somewhat mix between Asuna's and Kirito's Black Swordsman outfit. In the darkness, my hand drifted up to touch the necklace that hung loosely around my neck.
I gasped so loudly that it echoed all around the room, the crystal was still there! This couldn't be the real world. Not if she was still with me! Panic started to course through my veins, lighting them on fire, my breath hitched and excelled into fast, shallow breathing as I fell into a panic attack. I sunk to my knees as I cried, my shoulders heaved and my ribs hurt but I kept crying.
I hadn't woken up. I was still in Sword Art Online.
I was still in hell.
I gasped and my eyes that had been tightly shut shot open when Asuna swam in front of me. She was wearing her uniform and her shining chestnut hair rippled out behind her.
'As-Asuna?' I whispered, my tears stopped momentarily, leaving my cheeks stained. I reached gently out for her but grasped at nothing but darkness. Her hazel eyes were watery with her own tears as she gave me a small, sad smile.
'Asuna!' I called out again, a little louder than before. Her smile widened a little as she placed her hand against my cheek. At least, that's what it looked like, but there was no pressure, no warmth. My eyes followed the length of her slender arm until they reached her eyes as I leaned into her ghostly touch.
'I love you,' she said. My eyes widened in shock. Her voice, as velvety as it had always been didn't sound quite right. It sounded as if there was another voice layered underneath, a smaller, more timid voice but I couldn't think who it belonged to.
I sniffed loudly as the tears sprang from my eyes again and my vision went blurry, 'I love you, too,' I replied trying to grasp at her wrist but my hand phased right through it, like a heavy boulder through fog. Her thumb stroked at my cheek before she pulled back, getting smaller and smaller. My throat burned with fear of being left, left all alone again.
'Asuna! Don't leave me!' I shrieked at her retreating form, she gave me another small smile before disappearing completely, leaving me in the crushing darkness. I wrapped my arms around myself and screamed with grief, my ribs ached in protest, but allowed me to sob uncontrollably.
I didn't know how long I sat, crumpled on the floor of my new prison, but it felt like hours My voice had long been out of commission, replaced by a fire in my throat and lead in my eyes. I felt completely helpless. As I sat listening to nothing but my own pathetic sniffling, I couldn't help but see the irony of how weak I was now I was away from everyone.
The 'Bloody Swordswoman', known for her fearless attitude and aggressive fighting style was gone in an instant, and all it took was a memory.
A dream.
Suddenly, out of nowhere came a deafening and absolutely petrifying sound that exploded throughout the darkness. I clapped my hands over my ears as the loud sound of white noise got steadily louder and louder.
I screamed I fear as the floor suddenly gave way with a loud crash like shattering glass and I fell. My chest and throat hurt but I screamed anyway. What the hell was going on?!
I finally landed, rather painfully on my back. The wind was knocked out of me as I landed with an agonising thud onto another black floor. I groaned in pain and didn't open my eyes straight away but they flew open when I heard a familiar voice echo around the room I know found myself in.
Welcome to ALFheim Online.
I scrabbled to my feet and looked around. The room was much brighter than the previous one I had been in, though it was still black. The room was circular with large grey squares and four orange neon lights that came down from the ceiling, two on either side of the room to pool on circles that ran the circumference of the room. Large white lettering spelled out what the familiar female voice had just announced.
'What the fuck is this?' I muttered, walking up to the greeting and touched it with curious fingers. I could just about reach the bottom of the 'N'. ALFheim? Land of the fairies?
I tilted my head in confusion but jumped as the voice rang out again as an astral console materialised just behind me.
Please enter your gender and the name you wish to be identified as.
I couldn't help but wonder as I made my way to face the console, if I was the only person going through this or was the rest of Sword Art Online going through this as well? Was this a strange way of logging out of the death game or had a bug somehow thrown me into another game? Whatever it was, I was prepared to face it head on. The weight of the crystal that lay on my clavicle was giving me the courage to even stand at this point.
Clenching my left hand, I pumped in my in-game details; Quil, Female. And pressed enter.
I hadn't made it to the real world yet, so I could only put in that name. My real-world name wouldn't serve me as much as Quil did. I felt more like Quil than I did Asuka right now, despite spending nineteen years as Asuka Yuukihiko. My thoughts quickly drifted to a close friend I had made during my two years of the death game.
Asuna.
I wondered, with a blush heating my cheeks, if she was waking up to find her family all waiting patiently for her to come back to them. I envisioned Asuna throwing off the helmet and jumping into the arms of her real-life boyfriend and my heart ached. That had always been a fear, to get close to someone like Asuna only to find out she was engaged in real-life or something.
The menu changed to show a circular row of female avatars that all looked different. They were all different in height, weight, skin tone and hair colour. Scrolling through them, my attention was immediately drawn to two of them.
The first was an avatar completely dressed in black. Her skin tone was almost milky white with coal black hair and dressed in a black outfit, obscured mostly by an old black cloak. I deadpanned, she wore way too much black. I had spent most of my time in SAO dressed in black. So much so that it sparked a rumour that had spread like wild fire around Aincrad, that I was dating Kirito, the Black Swordsman. That was how I met Asuna. She was absolutely outraged at the rumours, but on my pointing out that it had been Lizbeth that had told her, she realised it was complete bullshit.
The second avatar was dressed in purple and black. Her hair was a stark Byzantium purple colour with wisps of hair that fell around her face, the rest of her hair had been pulled into a messy French braid. Her eyes were a mischievous violet colour. She wore a basic outfit of leather armour on her torso and a dark purple skirt with black knee-high boots.
That'll do, I shrugged, the avatars roguish grin drew me in and I hit accept.
The female voice bit through my thoughts and brought me back to reality, or as close to it as I could get right now.
You have selected IMP. Your characters appearance has been decided at random. Do you wish to continue?
I hit the circular blue accept button again and the black expanse disappeared.
You will now be teleported to your hometown in IMP territory. Good luck, player.
That was two months ago now.
I left my hometown in Imp territory a month ago determined to find an answer to why I still couldn't log out, despite being in a totally different game. I barely ate or slept when I first arrived, I had resigned myself to my fate. Even the beautiful view of the snow-capped mountains in which our homes were carved couldn't pull me from my depression. The greenery that we did have was greener than green. It was a beautiful place to live. But it had fallen on blind eyes. The dream that I had when I had been in limbo between games had plagued me every night since I began ALfheim. In fact, they became more and more real with each passing night. My feelings for Asuna had intensified until I could no longer bare just sitting about. It was driving me insane. I had to find a way to get out of the game. I needed to log out. So, I set about finding out as much as I could about the game. And what I found out amazed me to no end.
I had been told by numerous NPC's and players that there was legend in ALfheim stating that the race who made it to the top of the World Tree in Aarun, could be reborn as an Alf. A fairy race that had unlimited flying time. A stark and enticing contrast to the ten-minute limit all players had. The King of ALfheim, the Fairy King Oberon, sounded like a GM. It had all the right tell-tale signs of Game Master, and that was how I decided to leave my territory to roam the virtual world of ALfheim.
I left my hometown not long after and had battled my way through the desert of Salamander territory, facing dozens and dozens of Salamander's determined to PK me. My destination was Swilvane in Sylph territory, it was the capital of the Sylph's territory and the last settlement before the Legrue Corridor. I think I increased my one-handed sword skill by, like, 10 just going through Salamander territory. For some reason, the Salamanders seemed bent on hunting me down, I only just managed to out fly them by slipping into Sylph territory not too long ago.
I looked around at the trees, watching the leaves rustling in the late-night breeze as I traipsed through the Ancient Forest on my way to Swilvane. I hoped to gain more information on how to reach Aarun in the city, as well as stock up on some much needed antidote crystals and to have my gear looked at and probably upgraded. I sighed drearily and wished Liz was here. She always managed to get my gear looking awesome. A blush crept onto my cheeks at the memory of the master blacksmith. There had been quite a few times that I had accidentally pressed the wrong button when handing over my armour and weapons for repair and maintenance, and ended up totally naked in front of her. My blush darkened and my feet faltered.
A rustling came from inside my left coat pocket and a little head popped out. Her fiery red hair had been pulled up into a spiky ponytail and her arctic blue eyes were hazy with sleep. She yawned loudly and stretched before flying up on her dragonfly-esque wings and perched herself on my large purple French braid that hung over my left shoulder.
'Morning, mom,' her voice shuddered as she stretched again.
I chuckled, 'morning? It's night-time lazy bones.'
She pouted and crossed her arms in pretend anger, 'it's not my fault I had to fly so fast to keep up with you.'
'Well, excuse me for wanting to keep you safe,' I replied, poking my tongue out at her.
Kazumi was my Navigation Pixie in this world, but in SAO she was Mental Health Counselling Program 002 or rather Kazum-MHCP002. My friend, Sinon and I found her on Floor 33, the floor that emulated the Pacific Ocean region of the world where Asuna and I had bought a house. We had walking along the beach following a large sea turtle back into the water when we found her passed out in the surf. Turns out that Kirito had found the first version of the program on their floor; they were sisters that had no memory of anything.
After consulting with Asuna and Kirito, Sinon and I had decided to take Kazumi to Floor 1 to find the girls family. But it was never meant to be. The day after, we ventured into a dungeon to rescue the leader of the Aincrad Liberation Army and things happened. Asuna's sobs still echoed and reverberated in my head. I had to bite my lip to stop the tears from falling.
I hadn't come across anyone from Aincrad yet. Maybe I was hoping for something that would never happen. I shifted from day-to-day, hoping with all my heart that I would run into Liz or Sinon. I let out a little laugh, I wouldn't even mind if I bumped into Ali'i and she hated my guts.
I felt Kazumi place a hand on my cheek and realised that my attempts to stop the water works had failed.
'Ah! S-sorry, Kazumi.' I mumbled and quickly wiped away the hot tears that spilled down my cheeks, 'didn't mean to put a downer on everything.'
'S'OK, mom,' Kazumi patted my cheek, 'I miss them all, too.'
Laughing, I placed a finger on her head and messed up her hair.
'No, mommy, stop it,' se grunted but began giggling anyways and pushed my finger away, though not before giving it a hug. We looked to the sky, it's inky blackness seeped into the horizon only to be lightened by the thousands of twinkling stars that littered the sky. I couldn't help but think of my lonely nights in SAO before I met Asuna. I would unroll a futon and spend nights gazing aimlessly at the stars and thinking things over. I even managed to get rid of some PKer's who tried to jump me on more than one occasion. I had to message Liz or Asuna a couple of times asking them to bring me supplies from nearby towns because my cursor had gone orange for a few days afterwards.
'D'you reckon anyone from SAO is looking up at these stars, too?' Kazumi seemed startled at my question but she didn't say anything about it, thankfully, that would have set me off again.
A sudden rustling made me spin around and my stomach dropped. A party of around fifteen Sylph's were coming up behind me. My body began to shake with fear and adrenaline, coming across such a large party of Sylph's was not exactly part of the game plan. Even though in any Sylph town I can't protect myself from an attack, most of the time other races just left me alone.
'I hope Leafa and Recon will be alright,' a Sylph said, glancing to the tallest of the group. I activated my night vision and got a good look at him. He was a tall guy, easily six foot tall, with dark green hair pulled into a long, low ponytail. His eyes were narrow and so dark green they looked black. His heavy silver armour was obscured by a long green cloak.
I did not get a good vibe from this guy.
But before I could just out of their way, behind a bush, he spotted me freaking out in the middle of the only road into Swilvane.
He threw out an arm to halt his party, instantly quelling the chatter amongst them. My eyes travelled down to rest on the broad sword that hung at his waist. I placed a hand on the hilt of my own handed broad sword that was on my back strapped on top of a double bladed sword that I only used in dire circumstances. I was ready for a fight. The green eyes of the rest of the party were on me, drifting between me and their leader, waiting for orders. Some of them copied me, laying their hands on the hilts of their daggers, swords or spears.
'An Imp?' The leader smirked, 'I wonder what a lowly Imp is doing so far from her nest.' His voice was deep and cold. My grip tightened around the hilt of my sword and my stance shifted.
'I just wish to pass through, I won't be any trouble.'
'And yet, your stance says otherwise.'
My eyes widened in shock. Was this guy seriously trying to pick a fight with me?
'I swear,' I said, relaxing my stance and placing a hand on my shoulder, underneath Kazumi, for reassurance. I had turned into the biggest cry baby since I left Asuna.
'I haven't come to Swilvane to fight. I'm passing through on my way to Aarun.' I explained, my eyes never left his face. A murmur shot the party and some guy from the back came forward to whisper in his leaders ear.
His eyes widened momentarily, 'is that so?' He murmured to his subordinate, 'in that case.'
He lifted his head to face me, his expression deepened, 'I cannot allow you to enter Swilvane.'
In an instant and with no warning, he grabbed his sword and lashed out, lunging at me with a pretty strong attack. I just managed to unsheathe my sword and block it. I gritted my teeth at the sheer strength of his movements as we locked swords. Sparks flew at the clash of metal on metal. I grunted loudly and threw him from me, he skidded to a halt and I back-flipped out of range of his attacks with Kazumi holding onto a long wisp of purple hair that fell around my face.
We stilled for a moment, assessing each other's capabilities.
With a roar, he lunged at me again and we fell into a high speed battle, I did most of the attacking with fancy foot work and aggressive moves that knocked him back with each hard swing. When I finally had the upper hand, I heard a noise I had come to hate. A loud explosion, similar to canon fire but not quite. It seemed they had at least one magic user in their party. I just managed to duck a particularly large fireball that singed the end of my braid a little before exploding into a tree behind me. My temporary lapse in concentration must have been enough of an opportunity and my opponents sword sliced through my mid-section, depleting my HP by about half sending it yellow. I gritted my teeth and glared at the leader, he must have secretly called for magical help.
'Kazumi,' I muttered to the little fairy clutching desperately onto the shoulder flap of my coat, 'I need you to hide now.'
She looked at me with a determined glare and flew up out of reach of the battle, the flickering shadows of the trees hid her perfectly. I glared at the Sylph's and shot towards them, the leader's cloak whipped out behind him in the breeze as I flashed passed him. Their yells rang out into the night as I calved through half of them with one vicious swing of my sword, turning them to Remain Lights. The guys that were left whimpered with fear and began to break formation, they were probably deciding whether they should make a break for it or not. I doubted they would get very far, seeing as I had nearly maxed out my speed stats. I spun around to glare at their leader, my dark purple sword flashed at my side as I swiped it sideways.
'Back off man, I don't want to kill anymore of you. I just want to spend the night and pass through safely.' I said again, my voice rung through the trees, sending a couple of bats flying away in fright.
'I'm afraid I cannot allow that,' he said, his voice was once again deep and cold, 'now that you have so brazenly attack a member of the Sylph bureaucracy.'
My stomach dropped away, uh oh, I suddenly felt sick.
'Now,' he said, taking advantage of my lowered defence, 'you could either let me kill you or you could return to your home country and never show your face in Sylph territory again. It's your choice.'
I gritted my teeth in frustration, I could see Kazumi watching me with wide, frightened eyes up above me. I couldn't go back, I wouldn't allow myself to.
I shifted my stance and held my sword behind me in a reverse grip. I scowled at him and settle my expression.
I refused to back down.
'I have to get through, sorry,' I said apologetically.
He, too, sunk back into a fighting stance and we once again squared off at each other. I wasn't too worried about the party behind me that I hadn't managed to kill, having their leader engaged in battle meant they couldn't do a thing unless he told them to. I dug my feet into the ground, ready for a Step when a sudden rushing filled my ears. Whipping around, I saw that the rest of the Sylph party had been wiped out and amidst the smoke and Remain Lights stood a Spriggan. He was glancing up at the dark sky and rotating his shoulders.
'What is it with bad guys picking on girls today?' He asked, more to himself than anyone watching. My eyes narrowed, there was something familiar about this guy. Above me, Kazumi gasped, she was staring open mouthed at the newcomer.
'Oh well, time for me to be the hero agai—'
I shot forward and sliced the Sylph leader in half, his HP depleted and he exploded into tiny blue fragments. I turned my sword to the Spriggan, its dark purple blade glinted threateningly in the white moonlight.
'You here to get creamed too, Spriggan?' I growled at him, I gritted my teeth and flashed them at him aggressively.
The Spriggan replaced his sword in the scabbard on his back and laughed loudly. While he laughed I took in his appearance. His hair was a medium length and spiky, pitch black in colour. His outfit consisted of a black long-sleeved t-shirt underneath a silver lined waistcoat, simple black pants and dark grey beginners boots. The strap of his scabbard went from his right shoulder to the left side of his waist. His voice sounded so familiar.
'Mom,' called Kazumi from just below the leaves of a nearby tree, she was pointing to the Spriggan boy who was still laughing hard.
Is that who I think it is? I wondered as I stared at him.
'I don't think you'd be able to keep up with me, sweetheart,' he chuckled, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.
'K-Kirito?' I gasped, 'is-is that you?'
His head snapped to stare at me, his eyes narrowed in scrutiny as he looked me over. By now I was sure it was him, his face wasn't so different from his IRL face and his mannerisms were the same, even down to his annoying cocky smirk.
'It is you!' I cried, tears burst from my eyes as relief finally washed over me. I had finally found someone from SAO, someone I could ask about the real world and not question why I couldn't log out. I could finally tell someone that I was still trapped.
'What are you doing he—ack!' I was knocked backwards by another Sylph. We rolled backwards until she landed on top of me with her sword at my throat.
'Y'know, I always prefer to be the one on top of a cute girl.' I grunted, her blonde hair was tied into a high ponytail with long bangs that fell either side of her face. I couldn't help but get a whiff of her scent, night air and flowers. With a grin, I shifted my leg upwards, in between hers and revelled in the surprised squeal from her. My knee brushed something warm that made her blush deepen into a crimson haze across her cheeks. The blade of her sword let up a little, taking this chance, I flipped the Sylph girl off me and drew my sword. There was a loud clang as our swords met in a parry that sent sparks flying.
'What's an Imp doing in Sylph territory?' She snarled, pressing down on my sword harder, pushing both our swords into my chest.
'Sight-seeing,' I hissed shoving her away. Her feet skidded across the ground as the Spriggan dove between us with his arms out-stretched.
'Wait, Leafa,' the Spriggan yelled, 'I know her!'
The Sylph lowered her sword and blinked, tilting her head in confusion. Her green Sylph eyes flickered from me to Kirito.
'I thought you just started playing today?' She said, her eyes settling back on me, watching me closely. All I wanted to do was sort my gear out and go to sleep for the night.
'I have,' he said, 'I know Quil from a different game.' He turned to face me with his wide, toothy grin that I had come to know over the last two years, minus the past two months. The Sylph girl, Leafa, lowered her sword but didn't take her eyes from me as I sheathed my sword and pulled Kirito into a one-armed hug.
'Didn't think I'd find you playing ALfheim Online,' I said grinning just as broadly as he was. I could feel the muscular arm of his Avatar as it pressed against my back.
'I only heard about it from Agil the other day, I logged on as soon as I could. There's someone I'm trying to find here.' I wanted to ask more about who he was looking for but he suddenly turned to face the Sylph girl.
'Leafa, she's cool. She's a friend.' He turned back to face me.
'Hi, Leafa, I'm Quil.' I said smiling, holding out my hand to the blonde Sylph, her green eyes narrowed as she looked me over, from my black heeled boots and tight pants to my purple Night-Hawk coat. The dark purple tint of my demon-slaying sword glinted on my back in the moonlight. She was probably wondering why Kirito and I had our swords in the same place.
For the longest time, back in SAO it was just us against the game. Two solo players back to back against the fiercest of monsters and opponents. That was, until I met Sinon and decided to leave Kirito to form a party with the brunette archer.
'I was just taking Kirito to an inn for a drink as thanks for saving me from some Salamander's,' Leafa explained crossing her arms, her long sword flashed at her side, 'you're welcome to join us if you'd like.'
My eyes shone, 'really?'
Leafa gave a little smile, 'yeah, sure.' Her body shifted and her wings materialised behind her, 'we'll fly there. If that's OK?'
I nodded and glanced to Kirito, 'hey, idiot, you know how to fly?' I asked as my purple tinged bat wings flared out behind me and twitched eagerly.
I loved flying, it helped me forget all my problems and regrets. The memories of the friends I hadn't seen in just over two months. Asuna, Sinon, Lizbeth and everyone else. I loved how the wind whipped at my face and how free I truly felt despite the fact I was still stuck inside a game. I wasn't sure if I could respawn in ALfheim, but I was too cowardly to try it. Just in case.
'Course I can fly!' Kirito sulked folding his arms in front of him and glaring at the floor as he scuffed his shoe.
'Well, at any rate, it's good to see a familiar face,' I said punching him gently on the arm and grinning widely.
'I'm a familiar face too!' Came a squeaky excited voice from the front pocket of Kirito's short waistcoat. A tiny head popped out, she had milky white skin and jet-black hair with large light black eyes. They were wide and shone with unshed tears. She wore a typical navigation pixie dress in a light baby pink with a large bow just underneath her ribs and a periwinkle flower in her long hair.
'Yui!' I cried, tears welled up in my eyes, the last time I had seen Kazumi's older sister she had sacrificed herself, along with Kazumi, to save us from The Fatal Scythe under the Black Iron Palace. Asuna's distraught screams and sobs echoed in my mind and made my skin crawl.
'Quil!' Yui cried shooting out of Kirito's pocket and rocketed straight to me, she face-planted my cheek and squeezed it as tightly as she could.
'I haven't seen you in ages!' She squealed, I laughed and plucked her off my cheek.
'Kazumi!' Yui cried when she saw her younger sister floating down from her hiding place behind a large bright green leaf, her fiery red hair was messy from hiding in the trees.
'Yui!' Kazumi's large brown eyes swam with tears, the two sisters hugged and cried for a while before settling themselves in my pocket.
'Shall we go?' Asked Leafa, her eyes were narrowed and blazed with irritation, one of her eyebrows were twitching with annoyance.
'Of course, I am so hungry… and tired.' I said stretching my wings. I kicked off, glancing to Yui and Kazumi who had fallen into deep conversation, their little fingers intertwined in sisterly affection. My gaze, aided by my night vision, drifted to Kirito who wobbled into the air.
'Are you really a noob?' I asked him with a laugh.
He glared at me, 'yeah. I only joined about an hour ago. So, what?'
I smirked, 'that's so funny.' Teasing Kirito had always been fun and it felt good to speak to someone I had known for a while. It felt like I was home. It probably sounds crazy but I felt more at home in ALO and in the later levels of SAO than I ever did in the real world. Maybe it was because I could be whoever I wanted to be, do whatever I wanted to do. Life seemed so much simpler in-game than IRL.
'Head towards the central tower, we're gonna land at the base,' called Leafa once we were in the air. We had flown over the border of Swilvane a short while ago, my fight with the Sylph hunting party had taken place not that far from one of the few entrances into the city. I was surprised that none of the Sylph scouts hadn't heard the commotion and come running. I nodded to Leafa, and tried not to look up her skirt, she was flying just ahead of me so that was a little difficult. She turned to Kirito.
'Hey, we're gonna land at the base of the central tower, OK?' Leafa called to Kirito over the roaring of the wind in our ears, 'wait, Kirito. You do know how to land, right?'
Kirito's face fell and twitched with fear, 'no, not really.'
'Ah,' Leafa groaned, 'oh crap. Too late now.'
I laughed loudly, this was going to be fun to watch, I glanced to Leafa who wore a nervous smile of her own.
'You're on your own!' Leafa laughed as we sunk through the sky to land gracefully on the floor. We heard him yell out before he crashed loudly into the tower and tumbled painfully down to the ground.
I looked around. The buildings of the city seemed to glow with various shades of green. It truly was a beautiful city I had never been to such a city before. The capital in Imp territory wasn't as flashy, it was all underground with purple and blue crystals keeping it illuminated at all times. The tiled floor sparkled as if they had just been cleaned and everyone was alight with laughter and jest.
'So pretty,' I gasped as Kirito jumped to his feet grumbling to himself and glaring at both Leafa and I. In my pocket, Yui and Kazumi were giggling quietly.
Leafa giggled to herself as she leaned closer to Kirito, 'Stop whining already. I can heal you.' She held out a hand and chanted a basic healing spell. Kirito glowed green for a moment before the light faded and his HP bar had been fully restored. I sighed and dipped an eyebrow as I watched Kirito talk to Leafa. No matter where he went Kirito had an uncanny ability to draw girls close to him. Only Sinon and myself were immune to his charms. I listened quietly as Leafa explained the different types of magic skills that were available to the different races.
'What magic do Imp's have?'
'Huh?' I blinked a couple of times, I hadn't really been listening to their conversation as we walked through Swilvane, 'oh, Imp's have dark magic, night vision and underground flight.'
'Underground flight?' Asked Kirito, his eyebrows flew into his spiky bangs, 'what's that?'
I scoffed and rolled my eyes, 'it's exactly what it sounds like. Imp's can fly for a short amount of time in caves and tunnels because that's where we live.'
I went into my menu and pulled up a map of ALfheim and pointed out the terrain between the Salamander's desert and the Undine's seaside territory, 'Imp's live in the mountain terrain of ALfheim, so the race has evolved to counter this. Us Imp's also have better night vision than you Spriggan's, too. But that's only because we live in caves twenty four-seven rather than just every now and then.'
'This is a nice inn, you two can also rent a room here if you want,' said Leafa as she reached for the thick wooden door of the inn, a voice called out to her.
'Leafa!'
We glanced around to see a weedy looking Sylph boy running towards us and waving. He had short green hair and large green eyes to match, his pants were ridiculously baggy.
'Thank God your OK!' He called, geez, his voice is annoying. Leafa smiled at the newcomer as he came to a stop in front of us, he leaned over onto his knees catching his breath.
'Hey, Recon.'
'I knew you'd survive,' he said smiling when he finally straightened up, he noticed Kirito and I and jumped back, clutching at a dagger strapped horizontally across his lower back.
'A Spriggan! And an Imp!' He cried angrily, 'that Imp's the one who killed the hunting party! Sigurd and the others.'
Leafa glanced at me before glaring at Recon, 'they're cool, Recon. Kirito saved me from those Salamander's and Quil just wants to pass through. They're heading to Aarun.' Leafa turned to us as we watched in slight amusement, 'this is my friend, guys, his name is Recon.'
Kirito smiled and held out his hand for Recon to shake, 'hey there. My name's Kirito'
'Quil.' I had one hand behind my head and raised the other in a lazy wave that the Sylph boy quickly acknowledged before jumping back with his hand on his blade again.
'You sure about them? They could be spies or something. I mean, they're both renegades and she did take out Sigurd,' Recon complained pointing at me, my eyes widened at his accusatory finger as he nearly touched my nose, 'he said he had never seen such speed or strength before.'
Leafa glanced at me again, the colour in her face seemed to drain a little, 'she-she's still my friend.'
'Anyway, Sigurd and the others are waiting for you in the tavern.' Recon said nervously as he scratched the back of his head.
'Oh, that's right,' Leafa said patting her palm with a closed fist, 'on second thought, I can't go today.'
Recon's long ears drooped and he shifted his feet, 'Huh? You're not going?'
Leafa shook her head so violently I thought she was going to do herself some damage, 'nope. I sort of promised Kirito I'd buy him a drink for saving me. And I guess I could buy Quil one, too.'
I smiled at the Sylph but shook my head, 'nah, don't worry about me. I've got enough Yrd for dinner and a drink.'
Leafa smiled at me and lunged out for Kirito, she pulled at his shirt and shoved him towards the door to the inn, 'see you later.'
I followed awkwardly as we entered the small inn. It was circular in shape, like most of the buildings in Swilvane, the bar circled around a tree trunk that came in from the ceiling, the branches acted as shelves for various drinks and other such things. The lights glowed a dull gold and green.
We found a table and sat down. Small light green menu's materialised in front of us. I caught it and looked down the menu. Most of the food listed were Sylph specialities, like mint green tea and green tea flavoured cheesecakes and ice creams as well as a few green related main meals. It was a nice change from dark coloured food from Imp territory and spicy and dragon food from Salamander territory.
Next to each item was a blue circle, I pressed the OK button for an iced green tea and green tea ice cream. As soon as I pressed OK the menu disappeared to leave me staring at Kirito. I had sat with my back against the clay wall and Leafa had sat next to me. I wasn't sure, but I think she was grateful to have a female companion for once. I got the impression she didn't hang out with many girls. I rested my head on my hands and turned to look at Leafa who had already chosen her meal.
'So,' I grinned impishly, 'is that Recon guy your boyfriend?'
Her reaction was instant. Her pale cheeks turned a dark crimson and she waved her hands about like a crazy person.
'Yeah,' piped up Yui as she settled herself on the table near Kirito, 'are the two of you in love?'
Leafa stammered even harder, 'N-no! We're not in love… W-we're just in the same party is all!' Leafa leaned forward and began digging into her stew that had just appeared, steaming, in front of her. Everyone's food appeared not long after as well as a few crackers for Yui and Kazumi.
'I don't know,' leered Kirito, 'from where I was standing, you guys seemed pretty tight.' His grin grew widely.
'Oh, whatever. I know him IRL. We go to the same school and we're classmates, that's it!'
I smirked, 'Mm-hm…'
Leafa's blush grew as she picked up her drink, 'anyway, bottoms up! And thanks for saving me.'
She clinked her cup with Kirito. I sipped my drink quietly, I didn't think I was invited to their little moment. I looked away and sipped my drink, pouting as I did so. I shifted my leg onto the bench between Leafa and myself and rested my head against the wall.
'Those guys in the forest were playing pretty rough. Are gangs of PKer's normal for this game or what?' He looked from me to Leafa and back again.
Leafa nodded glumly, 'well, for one thing, the Salamander and Sylph races never got along. But those guys were organised, and that wasn't happening until recently.'
I sighed, 'yeah, when I was passing through their territory they seemed pretty wound up. They seemed to be gearing up to clear the World Tree. They were on my ass right until I slipped into Sylph territory a little while ago.'
'The World Tree, huh?' Murmured Leafa glancing down at what was left of her drink, clutched in her hands.
'Actually, I was hoping you guys could tell me what you know about the World Tree.' Kirito's eyes blazed, just like they used to in SAO. My eyes widened in shock, something must have happened in the real world to get him riled up like this. Leafa might think him weird or odd, but to someone who knows Kirito, only something to do with the death game could get him looking like that. My purple eyes flicked to Leafa, taking in her expression, it looked as if she didn't know what other game we knew each other from- which was good. I didn't want her knowing just yet, if at all.
'Oh yeah, you said something about that earlier, why d'you wanna know?' Her eyes drifted from Kirito to me, 'are you two going there for the same reason?'
My eyes widened again before I forced a laugh and waved her suggestion away, 'nah, how could we be going there for the same reason? We only bumped into each other a half hour ago. I'm just trying to get to Aarun to see the sights. That's all. Maybe afterward I'll check out each of the other territories.'
'I just wanna get there as soon as I can,' Kirito said, his voice was deep and his face was shadowed by his fringe. Yui sighed and placed a hand soothingly on Kirito's clenched hand.
'Join the club,' replied Leafa, oblivious to Kirito's blatant anger, 'every player wants to get to the top. You could say that's the Grand Quest of Alfheim Online.'
Kirito dipped an eyebrow and twitched an ear, 'what do you mean?'
Leafa twisted in her seat and looked directly at Kirito, this was all information I already knew so I busied myself with eating my delectable dessert.
'You know how you're limited in how high you can fly? Well, the fact is, none of the races can continuously fly for more than ten minutes at a time. However, at the top of the World Tree is a floating city, and in it lives Oberon the Fairy King.,' Leafa paused to take a bite of her food, 'the first race to reach him will be reborn as an advanced class of fairy known as an Alf. And what's cool about that is they'll be able to fly around for as long as they want.'
'That's cool,' relied Kirito placing a slice of cake in his mouth, 'it'd be sweet to fly as long as I want. So, how does someone get to the top of the tree?'
'At the base of the tree, there's a big dome. That's the gateway to the Floating City.' I explained putting down my empty glass dish on the table with a dull thunk, a small sigh near my ear told me that Kazumi was getting tired, 'but then, you have to get passed the NPC's that guard it and they are super powerful.'
We talked for a little while longer, about the Tree and how everyone is out looking for a missing quest that probably doesn't exist. After a while, the conversation came around to flying, a conversation I was more than willing to be a part of.
'Flying is pretty addictive though,' said Leafa, she looked as if she was reliving old memories and she seemed to space out for a little while, 'once you get a taste for it, you can't give it up.'
'I'll agree with you there,' I mumbled nodding. I had moved my hands from behind my head to cup them in my lap as I sat facing Leafa on the bench with my legs crossed and Kazumi asleep in my hands.
'You think, even if it takes years, some day—'
Kirito leapt to his feet, sending his drink spilling all over the table. Leafa and I stared at him. In the moments of confused silence that followed, an NPC waitress came along and cleared up the spill before disappearing behind the bar again.
'I can't wait that long!' He snapped, glaring at us. My ears drooped in surprise as I jerked back at his sudden movement. The NPC waitress glanced up with a gasp and stared at our table.
'Daddy,' whispered Yui, placing a hand gently on the Spriggan's cheek. His face was flushed pink and his jaw quivered as he clenched his teeth. His hands had been balled into fists and were shaking with anger and frustration. He let out a heavy breath and sat back down, the waitress quietly went back to cleaning glasses.
'Sorry,' Kirito mumbled, 'it's just that… I have to get to the top of the World Tree as soon as I can.'
'OK, why the rush though?' Leafa quirked an eyebrow and crossed her arms, clearly, she didn't think too highly of his touchy attitude.
'I'm sort of…' his eyes flickered to me briefly, 'looking for someone.'
My ears twitched and my breath stilled, just what did he mean by that? My blood ran cold, whatever he meant by it, it couldn't be anything good. My eyes narrowed as I glanced to Leafa who was staring at Kirito with an open mouth, and I couldn't speak openly about it because it was more than likely it was something to do with SAO. I had to wait until Leafa logged off.
'What d'you mean?' Gasped Leafa, her green eyes sparkled with curiosity.
'No offense, but… it's hard to explain,' Kirito's eyes flashed to me again and I was sure that it had something to do with Sword Art, 'thank you, Leafa. All the info is really gonna help.' He got up and began heading towards the door with Yui trailing behind him.
I jumped across the table and grabbed holding his scabbard, 'hold on, Kirito. He got up and began heading towards the door with Yui trailing behind him.
I jumped across the table and grabbed holding his scabbard, 'hold on, Kirito. You can't seriously be thinking of heading out right now?'
'R-right now?' Gasped Leafa quietly.
'Well, yeah,' Kirito replied turning on the spot to face me, 'I need to see for myself.'
'Alone!' Leafa cried as she also stood up, 'that's crazy. It's really far away and… you'll have to fight a bunch of monsters.'
'I'll go, too,' I said, clenching my teeth and gripping the material of his scabbard, 'I'm heading there myself. Seems only logical for us to go together.'
'That's still crazy!' Said Leafa, 'I know you two can handle yourselves but…'
Leafa's face shaded over and she slowly made her way over to us, 'If-if you want, I could show you guys the way.'
Her cheeks flared a ruby red and her eyes quivered with embarrassment and nerves, she stood so close to me that I could almost feel the heat from her cheeks radiating for me.
'We just met.' I said.
'Thanks, but we wouldn't feel right you going all the way with us,' explained Kirito.
Leafa's head snapped up to glare at us, her eyes blazed almost red. I stepped back, Leafa's anger looked lethal.
'Right' the Sylph girl snapped, 'then, I guess you already know how to get there. What're you gonna do about the guardians?'
We blanched and flinched at her words. I knew everything about where I had been to worry about where I was going, my purple eyes flashed to Kirito who was looking nervous at the Sylph's words.
He scowled at her, 'well, we'll think of something when we get there.'
Tears of anger welled in her eyes and she looked away, determined not to cry. She blinked and the tears were gone, her head whipped up to glare accusingly at us. My eyes widened and my ears drooped.
'Too late,' said Leafa, there was a decisiveness to her sharp voice, 'my minds made up.'
I huffed loudly and shut my eyes momentarily, 'fine.'
I opened my eyes to see Leafa beaming with joy. Her blonde hair shone beautifully in the orange glow of the aura lights around the place and her sword sparkled.
'So, d'you wanna meet up tomorrow?' She asked pulling up her main menu, thank God, she was logging out soon. Then I could really sit down and talk with Kirito like I had been wanting to do all evening.
Kirito nodded, 'yeah, sure.' His ears were lowered and his smile seemed to be a little bit strained as he turned to face us.
A dark blush lit up the whole of Leafa's face as she quickly poured through her menu to find the log out option, 'then I'll meet you here tomorrow, at 3:00pm sharp.' My stomach dropped away from me a little, I had forgotten that Leafa and Kirito were ordinary players that could log off, just what the hell was I supposed to do all of tomorrow until three o'clock?!
'Um, I have to log out now,' Leafa was saying while I mentally freaked out at how bored I was going to be until tomorrow afternoon, 'well, see you then.'
Kirito's hand shot out, 'uh, wait! Thank you, Leafa'
The Sylph girl flashed him a wide smile before her avatar was engulfed in blue and she disintegrated into tiny fragments and disappeared.
'You really have a way with girls, don't you Kirito?'
I narrowed my eyes at Kirito before I turned and sat back down to order more food. Most of what this Sylph inn had to offer were green salad options. I sighed again and just chose one at random as well as another drink. I had left Kirito standing by the door looking a little bemused, his brow furrowed as he watched me cheer loudly as my food materialised in front of me.
'Aren't you logging out, too?' He asked, sitting back down opposite me. I caught eye's with Kazumi, who had been unceremoniously flung from my lap when I had leapt up to stop Kirito leaving, and we both gulped.
I sighed and refused to meet his curious gaze, I shifted in my seat so I had my back to the wall and one leg resting on the bench.
'Can I ask you a question?' I asked, my low, crackled voice surprised even myself as I watched two Sylphs come in and sit at the bar, talking animatedly between themselves. Kirito nodded but stayed quiet, he leaned closer across the table, resting on his crossed arms.
'How is everyone? I mean, if you got out of the death game, everyone has, right?' I blinked back hot tears.
Kirito made a noise of surprise, 'can't you ask them yourself?'
I scoffed and laughed coldly, 'no.'
I pulled up my menu, ignoring the tinkle that reminded me so much of SAO and showed him my non-existent log out option.
'You-you can't log out?!' He cried, I yelped and smacked my hands over his mouth, the two Sylph's had momentarily stopped talking. My purple eyes flashed to look at them and realised they were just taking long gulps of their drink. I sighed and slowly pulled my hands away from Kirito's mouth.
'No, I don't know why. I remember getting logged out of SAO but when I opened my eyes, ready to see the real world, all I saw was darkness. Then I somehow ended up in the log-in sequence for Alfheim. I've been travelling the past month to make it to the Legrue Corridor. The tunnel comes out on the other side of the mountain range. I'm hoping to find a GM in Aarun.' I explained quietly, my grip on my wooden cup tightened.
'Can't you just call a GM?' Kirito asked, he looked completely gobsmacked and I couldn't blame him, it took me a whole month to get over the idea that I was stuck in another game.
I shook my head, sending my bangs fluttering around my face, 'no, it's like SAO all over again. Whenever I try to contact the GM it just keeps ringing and ringing. I spent a whole month trying to get through to the GM, but then I found out about the legend of the Alf's and decided that was my best bet to find help.' I laughed, 'no way in a million years was I expecting to run into the Black Swordsman. Maybe Liz or maybe even Silica, but not you.' I turned to face him, my expression as serious as I ever got, 'what are you doing in Alfheim?'
Instantly, Kirito tensed up. I could tell something was terribly wrong.
'Kirito?'
'It's Asuna.' My heart stopped, 'a few days ago, I received an email from Agil. He said that some players of Alfheim Online had managed to reach the lower branches of the World Tree by piggy backing on each other, bigger players on the bottom. They shot themselves up like a rocket.'
My ears dipped up and down, I remembered hearing something about that about a week ago, I was hiding out in a small Salamander town near the Sylph border.
'They snapped some pictures of what they saw. They zoomed in as far as they could and they saw a huge bird cage and in the cage, was an avatar that looked like Asuna, but the image was too blurry to properly see.'
I lowered the spoon from my mouth and placed it gently in my bowl, 'As-Asuna's stuck?'
Kirito nodded.
'That's why I need to get to the base of the World Tree as soon as possible,' Kirito said.
I watched Kirito for a while, his body was shaking with anger, he was biting his lip and his hands had balled into tight fists. I wondered if he was telling me everything, it felt as if he was still holding something back. I tilted my head, my braid fell from my shoulder.
'Well, there's no point in rushing out there tonight. Especially seeing as I attacked a high-ranking Sylph commander. I don't fancy meeting him in a dark alley. We might as well wait until tomorrow before going. I mean, in town having Leafa around is a huge advantage.' I said as I weighed up our options.
Kirito looked up, 'you're still coming with me?'
I glared at him feeling insulted, 'well of course I'm still going with you! Asuna means a lot to me y'know!' I could feel a small blush creep across my cheeks, 'if you don't remember I was Asuna's right hand girl!'
'Mom,' Kazumi whispered, 'your shouting at Kirito.'
I looked up from my daughter sitting on the back of my hand to the silent Spriggan, he shrunk away from my gaze as my eyes flashed.
'Sorry, I'm just tired. That's all, I've been flying and fighting all day.' I sighed relaxing back against the wall and looking at Kirito, 'the Salamaders were bent on chasing me all through their territory.'
'Salamanders?' He cocked his head, 'I ran into some of those losers earlier. Leafa said they were a lancer squad.'
My eyebrows shot up into my bangs, 'Kagemune?'
'Yeah, how did you know?'
I gave a little laugh, 'because they were who I was running away from. Normally, Salamanders hunt Sylph players but for some reason I was their main target. I only managed to get away from them when they spotted two Sylph's flying above the canopy.'
'That was Leafa and her friend, that guy, Recon.' Said Kirito, his voice sounded much lighter now.
'Really? Shit, maybe I should have help them out. But my HP was running low and so was my magic. I used most of it using my night vision.'
Kirito waved away my comment, 'it's fine. I wasn't too far away.'
'Hey,' I lifted my head off the wall to look at him, 'when you first ported in, did the system convert your SAO stats?'
'I can answer that,' said Yui who was sitting with her legs pulled up to her chest on the table, 'the system running Alfheim Online is the same system that created and ran Sword Art Online. The engine, programming and graphics format are exactly the same. Because of this the formatting for save-data is almost identical Whatever skills you have that were similar in both games were ported over and merged.' Yui smiled triumphantly.
'Huh,' I huffed looking at my lap as I processed the information, 'that explains why most of the neutral territory looks so much like the wild lands in Aincrad.'
Kazumi nodded sleepily, 'yeah, I noticed it, too.'
I gave her a small smile, 'so why didn't you say anything?'
The little red -headed pixie shrugged, 'I didn't think you needed to know,' she paused and looked at her older sister sadly, 'we had other things to worry about.'
I sat in silence for a while, I didn't know what to say. Even though I act all tough, that's only one part of me, that's Quil. Asuka, on the other hand, was always trying to burst through, always trying to make me cry and trying to get my heart to break over small, silly little things. So, what if I had to fight a little bit longer than the other SAO survivors? It's just more character building. In my mind, I laughed, character building? Is that what I put it down to nowadays? I had been stuck in VRMMORPG's for so long now that it was becoming reality for me, it was only when I hit rock bottom that Asuka appeared through the cracks in my mask and reminded me of the friends I had lost and the responsibilities that still waited for me in the real world.
It was weird how most days I didn't think of the real world most days or the family I had left behind. It was at moments like this that I felt as if I had been born in virtual reality. Is that strange? To not really remember my like as Asuka Yuukihiko? To believe that I have only ever been Quil the Bloody Swordswoman, Quil the Imp?
'Quil?' Kirito's voice, warm with concern and worry, broke through my melancholic thoughts.
'Ah! Sorry,' I said, 'musta spaced out again.'
He smiled, 'it's fine. I do it sometimes.'
I rested my head against the wall again and took a look at the time in the upper right of my vision, 7:00pm. My purple eyes rested on Kirito who was gently poking Yui.
'So, are you really gonna take Leafa up on her offer?'
He nodded slowly, 'yeah. She knows a lot about this game. I think she'll be handy to have around, plus she's a good fighter.'
At this I scoffed, 'yeah right. I bet her one-handed sword skill isn't that high.'
Kirito grinned, 'I dunno, that group of Salamanders that were chasing you, she took out half of them before I got to her.'
'Half?' I found that a little unbelievable, she didn't look that strong. And that katana looked pretty weak. I looked to my sword that I had placed between me and Leafa when we first sat down, it could really do with being enhanced right about now.
I gulped down the rest of my drink and turned to Kirito again, 'don't think you can get away with not telling me everything.'
The colour drained from his face and he gave a weird, nervous smile, 'I-I don't know what you mean.'
'Don't gimme that crap!' I yelled, 'there's got to be more as to why you want to find Asuna so badly. Has something happened? Are her family going to turn off her life support?'
Kirito tensed up again and eventually shook his head, 'no, it's nothing like that. I'd-I'd rather not talk about it.'
I growled and clenched my jaw in anger, 'I don't give a damn what you'd rather do!' I yelled even louder than before, catching the attention of the two Sylph's at the bar and the NPC waitress.
I sighed.
'Tell me, please,' I said in a much calmer voice, 'maybe I can help.'
Kirito stared at me for a good while, his eyes were flashing about everywhere, as if he were fighting an internal battle.
'Fine,' he said finally, 'I'll tell you. Two months ago, after most of the players from SAO were logged out, Argus the company who designed the game folded and all data and programs went to an electronics manufacturer called RCT Progress…'
I gasped, images of my real life flashed through my mind. An old guy with greying hair and strange voice, and another guy, tall with a slim build. I remember I didn't like this guy but I couldn't remember who they were or what they spoke to me about, all I could remember was the young, taller man had not liked me from the moment we were introduced.
'…Took over. That's why our stats stayed the same. Anyway, the other day I visited Asuna in her room at the hospital. Her father was there with another guy, he was RCT's director of R Nobuyuki Sugo. I don't know what it is about him, there's something off about him.' Kirito gritted his teeth at the memories that were clearly shooting through his mind, 'he-he's arranging a marriage between himself and Asuna for a week's time.'
Tears dripped from Kirito's nose and splashed onto the grained wood of the table. I didn't say anything, I couldn't. Just what do you say when your whole world falls away and your heart smashes into tiny thousands and thousands of pieces? My eyes widened and my pupils shrunk, my throat clogged up and all I could get out were weird choking noises.
'Are-are you sure?'
Kirito nodded, he leaned into Yui's small touch as she helped wipe away his tears.
In silence, I pulled up my menu.
Menu/ Contacts/ Friends/ Add new friend?
Kirito looked up when a menu popped up in front of him, he glanced over to me. I was watching him fondly, a small warm smile on my face. Only three people had ever seen my soft side; Asuna, Sinon and Kirito. He flashed me a smaller, half-hearted smile before pressing accept.
'Awesome.' I said, stretching, 'I guess we should hit the hay now. Well, I will. I can't wait to get out of the NerveGear.'
Leaving Kirito to sort himself out, I headed over to the NPC behind the bar who gave me an anxious look as I approached.
'Hi, could I rent two rooms for tonight please?'
The NPC smiled, 'of course. Is that with a town view or a forest view?'
'One of each, please.' I leaned on the table, watching the two Sylph guys out of the corner of my eye, they were giving me a weird look. It was possible that they had never seen an Imp before, but something about the flash of their dark green eyes made me think otherwise.
My eyes widened momentarily when a menu popped up in front of my face confirming my request.
Player has requested two rooms. One with FOREST VIEW and one with TOWN VIEW. Is this correct?
I pressed the blue circle button and pressed it again to confirm the price and purchase. The NPC waitress handed me two elaborately carved bronze keys and moved away to refill the tankards of the two Sylph guys. Heading back over to Kirito I threw him the key to the town view room.
'The rooms on me.' I said turning to head up the stairs that led to the rooms. Ordinarily I would sleep in one of the free rooms that had about twenty beds to a room, but tonight I fancied a quiet one bed room with a nice forest view. Kirito followed quickly after me, he really had no idea what he was doing. My eyes ran along the door numbers until we came across the two than matched the same numbers on our keys. They were right opposite each other.
'Well, g'night Kirito. Yui,' I said smiling widely and punching Kirito lightly on the arm.
'Night, Quil.' Kirito replied softly, 'doesn't this feel like old times?'
I nodded, 'yeah, except having wings and magic is way cooler.'
'True. Well, I'm gonna head in.' Kirito unlocked his door and took a step inside before I called him back.
'Yui, feel welcome to come in once your dad logs out, 'kay?' I smiled at my tiny niece.
Yui laughed and saluted, 'aye, aye Auntie Quil.'
Chuckling, I bade them good night and closed my door with a gentle click. I should probably lock my door just in case, I thought to myself. The look those two guys downstairs gave me gave me a bad feeling. I didn't fancy being caught in a fight in the middle of a Sylph town, especially since I couldn't fight back. Dying right now would take me back to Imp territory, and that would suck a whole lot.
I groaned and rotated my shoulder, revelling in the relief that washed through my upper body, I accessed my equipment and unequipped my outfit, leaving me in a black t-shirt and purple girls boxers. Sighing, I flopped down on the bed only to grunt in slight pain as Kazumi, now in her normal size, jumped across my stomach. She cuddled up to me as I played with her red hair that she had taken out of her ponytail, it fell to her shoulders and lined her face beautifully, her front bangs stopped at her chin and curved with her cheeks.
'Are you tired, mom?' She asked stifling a yawn.
I laughed, 'yeah, but probably not as tired as you.' I pecked her on the head, 'I bet it was good seeing Yui again, huh?'
Kazumi nodded, 'uh huh. And Uncle Kirito, too.' Her eyes fell from mine, 'I'm worried about Asuna.'
I chuckled, 'don't worry, Squirt. We'll get her out then we'll all be together again.'
We sat in silence for a while, I think Kazumi found comfort in the slow beating of my heart. She and her sister had been alone in the darkness of the Cardinal system for so long that she relished in any sign of a happy life. I supposed that because she was a mental health program, she and her sister always strived to make everyone they met happy. No matter how much those people's lives actually sucked.
At around 10:30pm, there was soft knock on the door throwing me from my doze. Kazumi had curled up in the bed beside me, her body parallel with the wall. I activated my eavesdrop skill and summoned my sword. I held it with my arm going across my body as I padded quietly to the door and peeked through the peep hole.
I heaved a loud sigh when I saw Yui's adorable face beaming up at me, she was leaning her hands against the door and she was bouncing on her tip-toes. I sent my sword back into my inventory and jarred the door open.
'Hello, Yui.' I smiled looking up and down the hall for any threats, 'has your daddy logged off?'
Yui nodded as she stepped into the room, 'yup. We talked for ages, but then he fell asleep and logged out.'
I shook my head with a smirk on my face, 'sounds about right. Kaz is already asleep.'
I pointed to her younger sister, her flame red hair glowing pale in the white moonlight that spilled in through the window from the moon that hung high in the sky above the Ancient Forest. Its trees swayed ominously in the light breeze. The forest looked foreboding, its trees a dark black against the glow of the moon.
'You should probably get to sleep, Yui, otherwise your dad'll kill me.' I said gently pushing her towards the bed and helping to tuck her up tight with her sister.
'He won't kill you. Otherwise you'd be gone for good. Then who would look after Kazumi,' Yui said as a violent yawn ripped through her and her light black eyes glazed over in exhaustion.
I chuckled and moved her bangs from her eyes and pecked her on the forehead, 'I guess you're right. Good night, kid. Sleep tight.'
I watched Yui fondly as she quickly fell asleep hugging Kazumi. Realising that there was now no more room in the bed, I sat on the wooden desk chair opposite the bed in the small room. I spun it around and sat down with a foot up on the seat and hugged my knee. I don't know how long I spent watching the moon and the trees and the nocturnal creatures that lived in the forest.
I smiled to myself.
Life here was pretty damn good.
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Stay tuned for Episode 2: The Beginning's of New Friendship's.