She stood there, just letting the breeze flow by.
Even if the breeze was just virtual, it felt real to her.
As petals rained down from the tree she stood under, she thought about all of the adventures she had been on lately. Everything they had been through together.
Honestly, she was surprised that they had come this far. Despite all the trials and all the tribulations, here they were. Standing firmly against the odds.
Speaking of which, where was he? It wasn't like him to be late.
As she gazed towards the great World Tree in the distance, she saw a flutter of wings approaching her spot.
Took him long enough, she thought.
As he touched down, already stammering apologies about being held up, she just smiled and waved to him, signaling she most likely knew what had held him up.
After all, the next raid was soon, and they were as enthusiastic as ever to kick some monster faces in.
He walked up to her and extended his hand, which she eagerly took into her own.
Together, they broke out into a run down the fields before leaping into the air, unfolding their wings, and taking off into the skies of ALfheim Online.
No matter where they flew, or how fast they went, no matter what monsters got in their way and were easily dispatched...
...she never let go of his hand.
She had promised, after all. He had, too.
They would never, ever, let go of each other. That was their oath.
And they had both promised to carry that oath until the end of their days.
(Never give up on your dreams, especially if you consider them to be worth fighting for.)
The Blue Time Ranger is proud to present...
Sword Art Online: Memory Rosario re:
Story Created: January 24th, 2018
Story Rated: T for Teen
Story Summary: What if the story went a little differently? Nick Kelly and Yuuki Konno are a rather interesting pair. With Yuuki hopefully on the road to recovery from AIDS, Nick knows to treasure the time they have left, as he knows it could run out at any second. One day while on an adventure, Nick realizes that someone seems to be after Yuuki, and this stalker appears to be connected to Nick's past somehow. Can Nick and Yuuki unravel this mystery before tragedy strikes?
Author's Note: Yep, once again, I'm "redoing" a story, but this time's a bit different. I liked what I did with the original Memory Rosario, even though there are a lot of things I wish I had done better, like how I incorporated Death Gun as the villains. We're gonna do that here, with a re-do that I don't intend to replace the original with.
Timeline Placement: Like before, it's a slight AU because my OC's involved, but this story takes place before the end of the Mother's Rosario arc (light novel volume 7 and episodes 18-24 of Sword Art Online II), specifically between Asuna reconciling with her mother and Yuuki's passing. The only change to canon that I'm making is that, like what the Gameverse seems to be doing, Yuuki's condition actually improved enough to be much better treatable.
Theme Song Notes: Since I can't post the opening and ending sequences anymore so I won't get my stuff axed, the opening theme is "Ashita no Kimi sae Ireba Ii" by ChouCho (the opening theme to Imouto sae Ireba Ii. [A Sister's All You Need]) and the ending theme is "Donna Hoshizora yori mo, Donna Omoide yori mo" by Aira Yuuki (the ending theme to Imouto sae Ireba Ii. [A Sister's All You Need]).
And Now, the Obligatory Disclaimer: I, The Blue Time Ranger, do not own anything related to Sword Art Online or any of its affiliations. It belongs solely to Reki Kawahara, A-1 Pictures, and Aniplex USA. Anything I do not own, I am just borrowing for the story with every intent of returning them when I'm done. The only things I DO own are any characters and places created by yours truly for the story. And, I do not intend to infringe on any copyrights, only to entertain my readers. Besides, if I did own Sword Art Online, which I don't, why would I be writing fiction on a fan site?
Episode 1: Link Start Into Adventure
March 16th, 2026, 4:55 PM...
It was a truly beautiful day.
Nick Kelly honestly wasn't used to having such great weather this early, especially back in America where he and his family had used to live. Usually, they were still shaking off the last call of winter before things began to warm up in March.
Nick occasionally stopped to simply watch the clouds go by as he made his way down the winding street, making his way through a route he had traveled on practically every day for the past year.
Every now and then, he would envision this same sky in ALfheim Online and map it against the storm he had fought through just to get to that next area.
"Yeah, never gonna brute-force my way through a weather effect again," Nick quipped. "I seriously thought I'd learned my lesson from the last time I did that..."
Just a few more turns and Nick found himself standing in front of Yokohama Kōhoku General Hospital. Nick brushed down his shirt before stepping through the large double doors and into the hospital's main lobby.
It seemed to be no busier than an average day, even though many of the recent patients were returning Sword Art Online survivors.
Two years and many of the survivors were still coming for treatment and therapy. I guess some scars just can't be healed, Nick thought, often wondering what his life would be like if he had been one of the survivors.
Regardless, Nick shook those thoughts off of his mind. That wasn't why he was here.
"Hey there," Nick stated to the nearby receptionist. "I'm here to visit patient 27-B again."
"Still keeping up your perfect record, huh, Kelly-san?" the receptionist teased. "I'm impressed."
"I promised her, after all," Nick replied, scribbling his name on the sign-in sheet. "How is she today?"
"Oh, the usual," the receptionist stated. "She's excited about the new quest you two said you were going to go on today."
"Yeah, she's the one who suggested we go explore the new mini-dungeon for my birthday," Nick quipped.
"All right, you're all set, Kelly-san," the receptionist proclaimed even as Nick was already walking towards the elevator that led to his friend's floor. "Have fun!"
"Oh, you know I will," Nick laughed.
About fifteen seconds later, Nick was on the fourth floor of the hospital, passing by myriad other doctors and nurses who were going about their normal business.
Nick always passed by that one room where some of the SAO survivors were undergoing virtual therapy. They had been some of the brave souls who had refused to let what had happened in Aincrad keep them down, and had actually thought of using virtual reality as a form of therapy.
Much like she had been doing for so long.
Nick often wondered if she had inspired this kind of treatment.
Still, time was of the essence. He did want to see that quest in action before fifty more players hogged it, as he had seen recently. What was up with them just crowding all over the spawn point for that particular quest? Nick thought. The reward wasn't even worth it, anyway.
After just a few more steps, Nick found himself in front of the door to the room of the friend he'd been visiting day after day for the past year.
Here goes nothing.
Not sure why he was so nervous now all of a sudden, Nick pushed his way through the door into the room, where the friend in question, a girl about his age of fifteen with short purple hair and red eyes reading a manga that he'd let her borrow.
Nick was surprised that she'd grown so engrossed with this series in particular, but he quickly righted his train of thought. This wasn't the time to be thinking about manga.
"Hey, Yuuki."
Yuuki Konno looked up from the book, her red eyes meeting Nick's brown eyes.
"Hi, Nick."
"You seemed pretty intrigued, you know," Nick teased as Yuuki put down the book. "Is that one getting good?"
"She seriously went back to him! After everything he did to her?!" Yuuki exclaimed. "She must be seriously whacked in the head. I definitely wouldn't go back to someone like that!"
"Well, remember, she's got some serious co-dependency issues after her father abandoned her as a kid," Nick stated. "She said she'd go through hell and back for that guy, even after everything he said. ...yeah, even after five years of reading this one, I still don't get it. Co-dependency issues or not, what he said to her should be all she needs to know that he's not right for her."
"No kidding," Yuuki stated, suddenly gasping when she realized something. "Oh, almost forgot... happy birthday, Nick!"
Yuuki had reached over to her personal table and snatched up a little gift-wrapped box (Nick wondered how the heck he'd missed it coming in) to hand it off to him.
"I just wanted to say I'm sorry I missed your last birthday," Yuuki apologized.
"Yuuki, we've been over this, silly," Nick teased. "You didn't even know my birthday last year. I didn't actually tell you until two months after we met, after all."
Nick and Yuuki had met a little over a year ago, when Nick had been visiting his injured father who had recently been in a car accident. On his way to the room, Nick had seen Doctor Kurahashi bringing Yuuki back to her room, and...
If Nick was being honest with himself, he had been entranced from moment one. After his father had encouraged him to find out more about her, Nick had asked Kurahashi about her.
After being honestly shocked by Yuuki's story and determination to keep fighting until the very end, Nick had decided to visit Yuuki herself. Surprisingly, at least to Kurahashi, the two of them had hit it off pretty well, with Nick promising to visit her every day that he was able.
His mother and father were supportive of the idea, happy that Nick had made a new friend so easily. Nick had gone on to say that he felt Yuuki needed a friend after everything she'd been through.
And so far, Nick had indeed visited Yuuki every day since then, even if it had only been for a short time. Nick never broke a promise, after all, and this was one he intended to keep.
Recently, Nick had realized he was seeing Yuuki in a different light, but those thoughts had conflicted with the fact that no one, not even the doctors here, knew how much time Yuuki had left. Even though she was doing much better than two years ago, even making strides towards a possible full recovery, Nick knew how cruel fate could be, even when things looked up.
And, to be fair, Nick wasn't even sure if Yuuki felt the same way or not.
So, he decided to play his cards close and wait for a prime moment to at least let her know, so he could get it off his chest with no regrets.
Rerailing his train of thought, Nick decided to finally open the box, given that Yuuki was expectantly staring at him. Inside the box was a cute, golden, star-shaped locket.
"Open it," Yuuki stated. Nick did so, and saw a picture within the confines of the locket, that of the two of them flashing a double peace sign on the day they'd officially cemented their friendship.
"It's been well over a year, hasn't it?" Yuuki giggled. "I wanted to do something nicer, but I couldn't exactly convince the doctors to spend that kind of money on little ol' me."
"It's perfect, Yuuki," Nick replied, slipping the locket around his neck. "Honestly, I'm pretty easy to please when it comes to stuff like this. I'm just happy to have something to remind me of my best friend."
Yuuki actually blushed at that comment even as Nick stepped over to give her a hug.
"Awww... that was cheesy, but so sweet," Yuuki giggled. "You always know just what to say, don't you?"
"I've been told I have a knack for that," Nick replied.
"And now, for the second half of today's adventure," Yuuki laughed. "We have a dungeon to explore, don't we?"
"Yeah, let's actually get there first this time," Nick quipped as he reached into his messenger bag to pull out his Amusphere. "I'm really not looking forward to another depraved horde swarming the place for a reward that wasn't even worth half of that effort."
Yuuki laid down on her bed, reaching up to pull the Medicuboid over her head and log in.
"See you on the other side, Yuuki," Nick stated.
"Same to you, buddy!" Yuuki laughed.
"LINK START!" they proclaimed together.
After the normal vortex of multi-colored light flooding their vision, Nick and Yuuki were in their ALO avatars, standing in front of the teleport gate of floor thirty, Dahngrest, the Den of Guilds.
Yuuki's avatar had lustrous and gorgeous, long, purplish-black hair, and red eyes. She wore obsidian chest armor, a bluebottle violet tunic and a windswept skirt of the same color beneath the armor, with a thin, black sheath hanging on her waist.
Nick's avatar wasn't much different from his normal self, except that his hair was a little spikier and he was wearing a light black-and-green chestplate, and matching outfit and shorts with the sheath for his sword strapped to another piece of armor around his waist, with his shield, the Dreamcloud, strapped to his back.
"So where is this new dungeon we're gonna look through?" Nick wondered.
"The quest log says it's just outside the city, in one of the fields around the labyrinth," Yuuki explained. Nick cast a cursory glance towards the large structure out in the distance, which he knew held floor thirty's labyrinth, the one that wouldn't be open until the next big game update in a few days. Soon, floors thirty-one to forty would be open for the game's players, and Nick expected to run into a raid party more than once in the next few days here in Dahngrest.
"Well, let's not keep 'em waiting," Nick proclaimed as he and Yuuki set off for the outskirts of Dahngrest, not noticing that they were being watched from the shadows.
After about ten minutes of searching through the fields outside the town, Nick had inadvertently found the entrance to the dungeon thanks to the explosion of a monster clearing away a patch of conspicuous ground to reveal the stairs that would lead down into the dungeon.
"Well, that's... expected," Yuuki laughed.
"It's always the place you least expect, right?" Nick quipped. "Let's head on in and see what's going on here."
Nick walked up to the doorway and touched the barrier surrounding it to bring up the menu for the quest this dungeon was associated with. It read QUEST: REVENGE OF THE NORTH WITCH, DIFFICULTY: 5/10.
"Wait, North Witch? Some actually lives in that dark place?" Yuuki wondered.
"If I remember correctly, it might have something to do with a quest from the original Sword Art Online," Nick stated. "I think it was one of those Wizard of Oz-related quests, like the one Kirito and Asuna went on before they purchased that house on floor twenty-two. Maybe they actually remembered that quest and decided to pay homage to it."
"Well, I guess we won't know until we give it a try, so let's do it!" Yuuki proclaimed as she walked up to Nick right as he pressed the ACCEPT QUEST button. The barrier surrounding the stairway vanished and the gateway slowly opened.
"After you," Nick stated. Yuuki just curtsied before making her way down the stairs.
Just as the gateway closed, someone in a large brown robe peeked out from a nearby structure, having observed the two players walking into the dungeon.
The figure adjusted its hood before deciding to wait until they came out to make a move. After all, they'd be constantly on their guard in a dungeon, what with all the monsters, right?
Nick swung his sword to quickly counter the Skeleton Knight's overhead slash, the two weapons clashing and resounding in the empty halls of the dungeon. Yuuki took advantage of this opportunity and rushed in to deliver a few good slashes to the Skeleton Knight's unprotected backside.
Nick pushed the enemy's sword away from him with Dreamcloud before deciding it was time to move in for the kill. He readied his own sword, the Crystallic Saber, the blade glowing a bright orange as he prepared his ultimate skill.
The Skeleton Knight seemed to recover and aimed a horizontal slice, but Yuuki was already over there to shut that down, catching the skeletal enemy across the back again, forcing it to turn and face her so Nick could unleash the beast, as he so often put it.
"Finish him off, Nick!" Yuuki exclaimed.
"Best idea I've heard all day," Nick quipped before adorning a serious expression. "Now say goodbye, skeleton freak!"
The Skeleton Knight only had time to glance back at Nick as he activated his attack, lashing out with a savage flurry of sword attacks.
A left-horizontal spiral slash, a right-horizontal flourish, a vertical uppercut, a downward spike, four left-to-right-to-left slashes, a diagonal uppercut, and a downward chop, Crystallic Saber's blade leaving orange light trails with each movement Nick made.
An outward stab, a right-hand slice, two diagonal slashes in an X formation, a quick slap with the flat of the blade, and finally, Nick gripped his weapon tightly, leaping into the air and slicing downward with all the force of a crashing airliner, the crystal blade tearing straight through the last of the Skeleton Knight's health bar, causing it to start glitching and wobbling before exploding into shards of light.
"VICTORY!" Yuuki exclaimed once the area was calm again. "Is it weird that I always love seeing that move in action?"
"You're the one who helped me design it, after all," Nick teased. That move had been Nick's personal Original Sword Skill, Ars Arcanum, a savage blur of unblockable slashes with a defense-piercing element. Though the attack was unblockable, Nick knew that an agile enough opponent could simply dodge the attack until it was over, so that's why Nick usually found a way to either stun or distract his opponent before he unleashed Ars Arcanum.
"I think that's the last of the mini-bosses," Yuuki stated. The door to the North Witch's arena had been blocked by a magical barrier that could only be dispelled by defeating four mini-boss knights that were found in this dungeon. "Let's head back to the center and take that witch down."
After a quick check of their stats, Nick and Yuuki raced back to the exact center of the dungeon just in time to see the magical barrier dissipate and open the way to the boss room.
As Yuuki went to open the gate, Nick chanted a spell to temporarily raise all of their stats. Nick played ALfheim Online as a Spriggan geared mostly towards physical combat with buff and debuff spells for flavor (and healing spells, because of course).
Black flames erupted into existence all around the boss room, giving it a shadowy light reminiscent of the void. Nick and Yuuki clutched the handle of their swords as the boss descended from the rafters, her information window identifying her as The North Witch, Embracer of Despair, with two health bars.
"I expected you fairy wretches would eventually find your way here," the North Witch bellowed, summoning her staff to her hands. "You will rue the day you stepped into my domain, especially after how your kind slaughtered my sister."
The North Witch raised her staff, electricity lancing from the jewel in its center. "Prepare to face despair unlike anything else you have ever felt in your miserable lives!"
"Looks like it's time to rumble!" Yuuki proclaimed. "You ready for this, Nick?"
Nick responded by unsheathing the Crystallic Saber and shifting into a fighting stance. "Oh, you'd better believe I am."
The North Witch decided to start the battle by firing a trio of lightning bolts towards them, but Yuuki quickly dodged around them and leaped upwards to attack, landing three clean slashes before backflipping to avoid a whack to the face from the boss' staff.
"Okay, chew on this!" Yuuki shouted, chanting her magic words as three circles of runes surrounded her. Nick slashed at the North Witch to draw her attention away from Yuuki until she was ready.
Sure enough, a few seconds later, the runes vanished and Yuuki aimed her hands for the North Witch before opening her palms and unleashing her spell, a barrage of amethyst, crescent-shaped energy blades. The North Witch only had time to notice the spell coming her way before she was battered by the barrage of blades, draining a good chunk of her first health bar away.
"Yeah, how'd ya like that?!" Yuuki challenged, only for the North Witch to fire off a comet-shaped blast at her while she was distracted.
This time, Nick was the one to leap to defense, planting himself firmly in front of Yuuki and raising the Dreamcloud to block the incoming blast, the force pushing him back a few feet, but doing no visible damage.
Before the North Witch could prepare another spell, Nick and Yuuki rushed forward together, intent on causing as much damage as possible.
"You know the drill, right, Yuuki?" Nick asked.
"Oh, you know I do!" Yuuki laughed.
They both leaped through the air towards the North Witch, their swords primed and ready.
"Switch Combination: Extreme Stars!" Nick and Yuuki shouted together. That wasn't actually its name, but it was a combo they liked to use, so they decided to name it.
Nick was the first to attack, slashing diagonally upwards and left, then diagonally downwards and right, then switching with Yuuki, who slashed straight horizontally, then diagonally down left and diagonally down right, their slashes forming the shape of a star. Finally, they both thrust their swords straight through the center of the star they'd created with their attacks, shattering the star and heavily damaging the North Witch, dropping her health into its second bar.
"I see I have underestimated you," the North Witch proclaimed, a powerful aura of darkness exploding to life around her body as Nick and Yuuki landed a few feet away. "Well, I will not be making that mistake again! Prepare to face utter oblivion!"
Nick and Yuuki stood their ground as the North Witch began changing her attack patterns. Nick was the first to notice circles of dark magic appearing underneath them and all over the arena floor.
"YUUKI, MOVE!" Nick shouted as the two of them began dodging around to avoid the geysers of dark energy that erupted from the magic circles on the floor.
Once the geysers had subsided, Yuuki decided to move in and prepare another Ethereal Blades spell, only for the North Witch to anticipate that move and create another explosion of dark energy under her. Despite darkness being her race's element and so not doing much damage, the attack did throw Yuuki back a few feet.
Regardless, Nick didn't take this too well.
"All right, little miss robe, you're gonna wish you never did that!" Nick shouted, rushing in to attack while weaving through the dark bolts that were being fired at him. As the North Witch prepared yet another spell, Nick took advantage of his chance to leap towards the boss and deliver three clean slashes to knock her to the ground.
Nick summarily wasted no time in unleashing another Ars Arcanum on the North Witch, making sure to land every hit he could before the boss could recover. And sure enough, just as he landed the final hit, the North Witch picked herself up and flew off to another corner of the boss room, only to get battered by another barrage of Ethereal Blades.
Nick glanced over to the side to see Yuuki back on her feet and casting a healing spell on both of them.
"We're almost done, right?" Yuuki quipped. "Because witch lady's looking a little sluggish right now."
Looking back at the North Witch confirmed that she was down to under half of her remaining health bar.
"All right, here's the plan," Nick proclaimed. "I'm gonna move in and do just a little more damage, and then I'm gonna stun her. When that happens, you move in and hit her with Mother's Rosario. That should be enough to finish the job."
"You got it!" Yuuki giggled, readying herself.
The instant the North Witch recovered, Nick was on the move, countering a swing from her staff, then backflipping over her to land a swift slash to her back, causing her to seize up and stop moving.
"Go for it, Yuuki!" Nick shouted.
"Oh, yeah, finisher time!" Yuuki exclaimed before charging in and raising her sword. Just as the North Witch looked up, Yuuki readied her weapon and stabbed outwards five times, creating a horizontal line down the North Witch's chest. Yuuki spun around and stabbed out five more times, creating another line going the opposite way, both lines forming a sort of X. Finally, Yuuki reared back and thrust her sword forward with a loud battle cry, driving the point of her blade straight into the center of the X she'd formed with her earlier sword stabs. Purple light exploded from the North Witch's wounds upon impact, and her health bar drained completely when the damage fully registered.
Completely defeated, the North Witch slumped to the ground, her last words being "Stronger... than I thought..." before she exploded into shards of light, the CONGRATULATIONS! QUEST CLEAR! text flashing above where she had just been.
"And victory for us!" Yuuki exclaimed, high-fiving Nick as the commotion settled down. "That was fun, huh?"
"Yeah, for a midboss with only two health bars, she actually put up quite a fight," Nick admitted. "The last one was honestly kinda pathetic, if you want my opinion."
Yuuki was about to respond when she noticed something around her neck that she hadn't had before the boss fight. She decided to check its information, and saw that it was a unique item, the Memento Pendant, a necklace and pendant similar to the one that the North Witch had worn that conferred a quite large +5 boost to all of her stats.
"Oh, that's cool!" Yuuki laughed.
"It looks good on you," Nick stated.
"Oh, you," Yuuki giggled, actually blushing again, though she was quickly shaken out of her reverie when the entire area began to rumble uncontrollably. "Oh, man, what's happening now?! Is the whole lair collapsing?!"
"Cliché, but it really does work," Nick quipped. "Let's hightail it outta here!"
"Don't have to tell me twice!" Yuuki exclaimed. And the two players quickly made themselves scarce as the walls began to fall down and pillars began to crack under the force of the quake that was tearing the lair apart.
By the time they escaped from the dungeon, the doorway closed behind them so the quest could officially reset itself for any other player that would come by.
"Well, that was fun, huh?" Yuuki quipped, just now noticing that it was nighttime on this floor. Despite the dark skies, Dahngrest could easily be seen in the distance, the city's lights shining like a beacon for anyone nearby. "Holy cow, how long were we in that dungeon?!"
"Long enough, I guess," Nick stated. "Well, how about we get back to Dahngrest and check up on the Sleeping Knights?"
"Yeah, they said they were gonna get ready for the boss raid!" Yuuki realized. "Just a couple more days and we can finally move on to the next floor!"
"No kidding, last time I saw Kirito, he couldn't stop himself from doing some level-grinding in the fields," Nick stated. "I swear, he's such a game nut sometimes."
"Ah, it's just the way he is," Yuuki admitted. "No joke, I've seen Asuna out there with him just as much. They probably just want to be ready, considering we're all worried about how hard the next boss is going to be."
"From what Kirito said, that giant enemy crab boss on floor twenty-eight was pathetic," Nick quipped. "Then you can imagine everyone's surprise when the floor twenty-nine boss showed up."
Yuuki couldn't help but smile teasingly when Nick mentioned Fafnir, the Lord of Lightning, boss of floor twenty-nine of New Aincrad. After all, both of them had been in the raid party to challenge the boss, and Nick honestly hadn't had an easy time against it.
"I'd really like to forget that disaster ever happened," Nick groaned.
"Oh, come on, it was funny!" Yuuki teased.
"Funny for you guys," Nick stated. "That freakin' thing manhandled me!"
"Well, that won't happen this time," Yuuki giggled. "We're all gonna work double-time and get as much info on the boss as we can, so you never have to worry about getting manhandled by a dragon again, 'kay?"
"I'm just hoping that..." Nick's statement was interrupted when a loud ping noise indicated that Nick had received a message. Quickly opening the menu to check it out, Nick was suddenly perplexed when he saw that the message in question didn't appear to have come from any player he personally knew.
The player's name was a jumbled mess of letters, numbers, and symbols, though Nick couldn't shake the feeling he'd seen that pattern somewhere before. The message read "JUST LISTEN" in perfect English. And finally, there was a sound file attached. His curiosity getting the better of him, Nick tapped the file to play the sound.
It was a song, apparently. Whoever it is, she can sing pretty well, Nick thought.
"What's going on?" Yuuki wondered.
"Someone's singing to me, apparently," Nick explained. "Something about ink puddles, infinite choices, and 'writing the way into his heart'. It isn't any song I've heard before, to be frank."
"She's got a good voice, at the very least," Yuuki admitted. "But who sent it to you?"
"Not a clue," Nick stated, closing the file. "The player name was a jumbled mess."
"Um, and now for our second strange sight of the day..." Yuuki quipped, pointing towards a figure who had just shown up a few feet away. The figure was completely obscured by a fashionable black cloak and hood, though the curves that could be seen at least meant she was a girl.
"Okay..." Nick noted. This wasn't something he'd been prepared for today, at all.
"Um, can you speak, miss?" Yuuki asked.
The girl simply raised her hand and swiped through her own menu a few times. To Nick's surprise, a menu opened in front of him, showing that the girl had just sent him a duel request.
And then came the third strange sight of their day: the girl's player name was the exact same jumbled mess of the one that had sent him that song.
"All right, then," Nick quipped, deciding that he'd ask once this was over and moved his finger to accept her duel request, setting the stage for a Half-Life duel, where the first one to be taken down to half their health or less would lose.
As the countdown began, the girl began to hum softly, and Nick recognized it as the opening bars of the song he'd been sent. That's four. What's going on here? Nick thought.
When the countdown reached ten seconds, the girl grasped her cloak tightly.
"What do you call love in your reality?" the girl proclaimed (another line from the song! That's five now! Nick thought) before dramatically throwing her cloak aside, revealing herself to be a Spriggan like Nick. She had long brown hair tied into a ponytail with a bright red ribbon, her face framed by bangs and two long strands of hair. She opened her emerald-green eyes and stared directly at Nick.
The girl, whose player name could now easily be read as Katelyn, summoned two bright green swords to her hand, shocking both Nick and Yuuki for the sixth time.
Though it wasn't that much of a shock, considering that a lot of players were trying to emulate Kirito's dual-wielding through Skill Connect.
"Yuuki, is this weird to you?" Nick asked as the duel countdown reached the final ten seconds.
"Six strange sights in barely even a minute," Yuuki stated. "I think we've already surpassed our 'weird limit' for today."
Katelyn clutched her swords tightly, making Nick remember to ready his own as the DUEL BEGIN text flared.
"Here I come!" Katelyn shouted before charging straight for Nick.
"Okay, game on!" Nick replied, charging in to meet Katelyn's dual strike before spinning around to avoid the retaliation he knew was coming. Sure enough, Katelyn chopped downward with both of her swords, just barely missing Nick as he spun away.
Nick moved in while Katelyn was recovering to deliver an X-slash to her torso, taking off about seven percent of her health. Katelyn didn't let this stop her, however, pushing herself back up to strike out at Nick with a scissor cut, taking the same amount of health off of him.
The two continued to clash swords for a few minutes, neither one of them giving any ground.
Deciding to try a new tactic, Nick grasped the Dreamcloud before throwing it like a frisbee. Though it missed Katelyn by a few feet, it did accomplish his intent: Katelyn's gaze instinctively turned to follow the flying shield, giving Nick the perfect opportunity to get close to Katelyn and unleash an Ars Arcanum before she could react.
Once the final strike sent her flying, Katelyn was down to forty-seven percent health, and the pop-up menu declared Nick the winner of the duel.
Nick was preparing himself for a lot of things, not knowing how Katelyn would react to losing a duel.
Instead, Katelyn simply sheathed her swords and retrieved her cloak before draping it back over her body. Oddly, this caused her player name to return to the jumbled mess it had been before.
"Maybe it's an effect of the cloak?" Yuuki wondered.
Katelyn turned around to leave, only to raise two fingers in an odd gesture before walking back towards Dahngrest.
And still, Nick kept thinking. What was it about that gesture that started dredging up odd fragments of memory?
"Hey, Nick! We're losing daylight here! Let's get back and tell the Sleeping Knights about our progress!" Yuuki exclaimed. She was already halfway down the path they'd taken to get here.
"Oh, crap, you're right!" Nick exclaimed, hurrying to catch up with Yuuki.
If he hadn't been preoccupied with thinking up battle plans and trying to keep up with his friend's amazing speed (they liked to make a game out of it at times), Nick would have noticed Katelyn watching them from the safety and shadows of a nearby tree.
"Yeah, he's exactly what I expected. Ooh, how fun."
Later that night, back in the real world...
"So, did that quest live up to expectations, Nick?" Yuuki giggled once the two of them found themselves back in the hospital room.
"Pretty much," Nick replied. "And here's hoping that our little training regiment helps us during the labyrinth raid, because I am not getting manhandled by another boss. I've had enough of that for my entire videogame career, thank you very much."
"Hey, I'm sure it won't be that bad," Yuuki laughed. "All of us are gonna be there, so we can fight together. I promised you, after all, didn't I?"
"Sure did," Nick stated as he reached into his messenger bag on the far table for his cell phone. Sure enough, a text from his mother awaited him. "Well, mom's home, so I guess my time's up for tonight."
"Hey, don't act like we won't see each other anymore," Yuuki teased. She did this a lot whenever Nick realized he had to go back home. "It's just for a night."
"Truer words," Nick stated. "I'll see you tomorrow, Yuuki."
"Hey, Nick?" Yuuki asked. "Come here before ya go. I've got a secret to tell you."
Curious as to what Yuuki wanted to say, Nick obeyed and moved closer to Yuuki, leaning in to receive this seemingly secret information.
And Nick didn't know how to react when he felt something on his cheek, like she had just...
Glancing towards Yuuki confirmed his thought. Yuuki had just kissed him on the cheek.
"I don't know how I could possibly thank you enough for being such a wonderful friend, Nick," Yuuki stated. "After all the fun we've had, I'm just... well, I'm happy you've been my friend for so long, especially when I really needed one."
Yuuki looked Nick square in the eyes. Despite her slight blush, she was positively beaming. "I count myself lucky to have so many amazing friends like you and the Sleeping Knights, and even Asuna, who's, well, practically my sister now."
Yuuki reached out to hug Nick tightly. "You're awesome, Nick. I just wanted you to know that."
And, needless to say, the words lingered even as Nick was finally on his way back home. His hand often lifted to touch the spot on his cheek where Yuuki had kissed him, his mind traveling in many different directions as he tried to interpret if there was any hidden meaning behind it.
But he knew one thing with complete certainty. That kiss had basically confirmed Yuuki liked him in some way. Was it just an extension of friendship, did she possibly feel something more? Nick wasn't sure, if his chaotic thought process was any indication.
After a few more quicker-than-normal steps, Nick shook his head, righting his thoughts for the moment. Okay, Nick, let's think this through. You've had a crush on Yuuki for a while, but didn't want to say anything because you're worried it might wreck what we've already got. Cliché, I know, but it happens. But now, she actually kissed you. On the cheek, mind, but it's still a kiss, damn it! What I'd like to know is... does that mean she feels the same way I do about her, or is it just a sign of friendship? Agh, why is this so confusing? Why couldn't this just be an anime where that's all we need to figure it out?!
Nick glanced up at the star-filled night sky. There wasn't a cloud in sight, which made it a perfect night for stargazers to come out. Nick smiled, remembering how he'd always wanted to take Yuuki stargazing once she was out of the hospital.
Okay, how about this? Nick decided. I'll tell her tomorrow. At least, that way, I can get it off my chest, and I won't have to spend the rest of my dang life wondering what could have been.
With this thought in mind, Nick happily continued his journey home, once again unaware that he was being watched from afar.
Katelyn simply watched Nick for a few more minutes before moving back towards her originally planned destination. Good. He had passed the first test.
Is he really the same person I knew? Katelyn thought. Eh, it doesn't matter. I'm well on my way to making him mine.
Katelyn snickered quietly to herself so as not to arouse any unneeded attention, then melting back into the shadows, almost as if she had never been there in the first place.
To be continued...
On the next episode...
Nick: Well, it's finally time isn't it?
Yuuki: Yep! The floor thirty labyrinth is open, and it's time to move on to the next ten floors!
Nick: I'm hearing some rather disturbing things about this boss, though. Wonderful, that probably means it's gonna be a rerun of the floor twenty-nine fight. Why does that stupid dragon keep coming back to haunt me?!
Yuuki: Well, we've got a gigantic raid party for this one, so hopefully it won't be too bad. ...hey, isn't that...? Nick, look, it's Katelyn!
Nick: Wait, what's she doing here? I don't remember seeing her in any of the strategy meetings...
Yuuki: It reeks of trouble, Nick. I'll keep an eye on her, 'kay?
Nick: Don't know what I'd do without ya, Yuuki. Next time on Sword Art Online: Memory Rosario re:, "The Laser-Sighted Showdown"!
Nick and Yuuki: This may be a game, but it's not something you play!