Hello readers and reviewers. Thank you, really, for your support!
Here some answers to your reviews (thanks again).
miachi13 : To be honest, I like Yui's pixie form and I like to see her more active to free one of her parent. In the anime, she let Kirito do a large part of the work. In my story, both Kirito and Asuna could count on her. :)
Snow : thx for your review.
PhantomGirl1223 : I hope you'll like this chapter too. :)
InvisableTarget : Thank you for your advise. I'll keep it in mind! XD
SKY blue : My point. Princes also need to be saved once in a while. :D Thank you.
Thelastsoldier21477 : So far, you are the only one who points out the reference to Shakespeare. It makes me really happy! :) Thank you very much.
Kikre : I won't kill him, I promise (for now). :)
i : thx for your review.
Here is the second chapter. By the way, I wrote half of this chapter instead of sleeping, so there must be a lot of mistakes in it. I tried to fix a few things but I probably forgot a lot. I apologize in advance for that.
Disclaimer : I don't own SAO. The original story and the characters are property of Reki Kawahara.
To save him
Chapter 2 : Pain
XxXxX
"You're crazy!" yelled Kirito.
At that, Oberon laughed.
"Maybe, but here, I'm the one with the power. Now, come here and I promised to make it quick."
"In your dreams!"
"Well then, suit yourself. But remember that you ask for it."
XxXxX
While flying to her father's cage, Yui couldn't help herself but be overjoyed.
'Finally, she thought, finally one of them acknowledge me!'.
Unfortunately, the player had to disconnect right after she helped him, but he promised to return the favor sometime in the future. Of course, he could have been lying, Yui knew that. But he was the first one to thank her, just when she was starting to lose hope. That's why she wanted to believe that he would help her, or rather, help her father. He had to be someone worthy of her trust, otherwise...
Yui preferred not to think about it. He acknowledged her and it was a good news, that was all that mattered right now.
She continued her flight and had almost reached the cage when she heard a cry of pain and sounds of a fight.
"Papa!" she shouted while speeding up.
XxXxX
"What will you do now my little Puck?" asked Oberon. His voice was calm but he was obviously mad. His eyes, his face, everything in him spoke of madness. And the reason for this madness lay down on the floor, a few feet away.
Kirito had landed there after having managed to knock Oberon's sword out of his grasp. And, so far, the young prisoner was the one who won this little brawl, even if the sword almost stabbed him in the shoulder. But thanks to Lady Luck, and to Oberon's poor skills, it was just a scratch.
Carefully, Kirito get up and glared daggers at the so-called king of fairies.
"Stop that. The name's Kirito, you foolish man!"
"Foolish? Me? I'm only trying to help you getting back to the real world."
"By trying to stab me?! You're the one who trapped me here in the first place!" roared Kirito "And for what? Just because you can't take 'no' for an answer? What kind of adult are you?"
Kirito was so mad that he totally forgot to be cautious with his words, and it was his only mistake. Just after his outburst, he felt heavy, as if the gravity had increased. Every second that passed by, he felt heavier until he finally collapsed on his stomach, unable to stand up any longer.
He heard, more than he saw, Oberon walking toward him, stopping nearby.
The madman took Kirito by his shoulders and flipped him over so that he was now on his back. Then, he straddled the young man waist, a little knife in his right hand and a crazy smile on his face.
He bent forward and whispered in his left ear : "You're right, kid. I can't take 'no' for an answer".
Suddenly, Kirito felt an excruciating pain coming from his left hand and he couldn't help but scream.
XxXxX
Yui watched in horror as her father's left hand was stabbed by the GM. She knew, even if she couldn't do anything about it, that Kirito's pain absorber was turned off. She knew he must suffer a lot. But she couldn't help him. Kirito forbade her to enter the cage when Oberon was there.
She could only watch as her father tried to regain his breath while the madman got up, took a screenshot, and left the cage, satisfied.
XxXxX
Asuna was in her room, seated on her bed. It had been two days since her encounter with Sugô in Kirito's room and she was wondering if it was a good idea to incite Sugô to prove himself. If her beloved was really in the man's grasp, he would pay the price of her skepticism. Why did she have to ask him for a proof? Since then, she was anxious. Anxious to discover that what he said is the truth. Anxious to discover what he might have done to prove it.
She dropped herself on the soft mattress of her bed, exhausted.
"Kirito..." she whispered before falling asleep.
When she woke up the next morning, she saw on her phone that she received a mail during the night: it was from Sugô and was titled 'Hope it won't scar'.
Feverishly, she opened it. To her surprise, there was only a picture of a young man laying on his back with what seemed to be a big gash on his left hand. But what shocked Asuna the most was the guy's face: it was definitely Kirito. She recognized him despite of his elves' ears.
With this picture, she didn't know what to do : cry, because he seemed to be in a really bad situation, or be happy, because he was alive and she could save him?
Of course, she wouldn't marry Sugô for that but with the picture, she was now pretty sure that Kirito was locked in a game, she just needed to find which one. And, by the look of it, she had to find it quickly before Sugô really wounded her boyfriend.
While she was thinking about all of that, Asuna suddenly felt uneasy about something.
She watched the picture all over again but, despite Kirito, there wasn't much she could use. Everything around him was white : white floor, white walls... There was just a little tinge of blue, probably from the sky but nothing more.
Sighing, she closed the mail and was about to close her phone when she found out what was wrong. The message title 'Hope it won't scar'. Why would Sugô write that? With this picture, it was obvious that Kirito was trapped in a game, and game's characters didn't scar. Their wounds disappeared after some time. So why?
"It couldn't be..." she realized.
Asuna jumped out of bed, get dressed as quickly as she can, and exited her room, then her house as if someone was after her. She run up to the bus stop and dialed her brother's phone number.
After a few minutes, a tired voice answered : "Yeah?"
"Hello nii-san. Can I ask you something please?" asked the red-haired urgently.
"Asuna? What do you want?"
"Do you think it is possible that a wound inflicted in a game can affect the real body of the player too?"
"Huh? Why did you ask something like that?" replied her brother, surprised.
"Don't bother with 'why', just answer : is it possible or not?"
The bus arrived and she grew impatient.
"In theory, with all security removed, it might be possible, but no one will do it just to see if..." But Asuna didn't give him time to finish.
"Thank you nii-san. I'll call you later, bye." And with that, she hung up.
XxXxX
Once she was in Kazuto's hospital room, Asuna rushed to his side. To her relief, nothing seemed to have changed. Everything remained in its right place and she saw no sign of blood loss.
However, just to be sure, she took his left hand, the one which was supposed to be injured. And then, she saw it. It was faint, but it was there : a fine white scar on the back on the hand and in the center of his palm.
This man really went this far to prove her that he was the one in power. But if Sugô thought he won, he would really be disappointed : even if she had to sacrifice herself, Asuna will continue to fight.
One day, Sugô will pay.
XxXxX
And this is the end of chapter two. I'll correct mistakes and rewrite a few things later, since I'm still not totally satisfied (mostly because I'm pretty sure there is big mistakes everywhere).
Nonetheless, I hope you'll like it. If so, don't forget to review!
Thx you for reading.
Edit (June 2015) : This chapter is now revised thanks to Moshita's help. :)