Kurahashi couldn't help but smile at the adorable sight when he walked into Yuuki's room the next morning.
Nick and Yuuki were both in the same bed, fast asleep and holding hands with each other.
All he really knew about the situation was that the two of them had been in ALfheim for quite a chunk of time. He wondered if it had something to do with the glitch that had hit the other day.
After a couple seconds of thought, he decided he'd let them have their moment, slowly walking out of the room to let them sleep.
Kurahashi went back to checking his charts, but was quickly interrupted when one of his fellow doctors rushed to him, looking like she was out of breath.
"What is it, Hana?" Kurahashi wondered.
"Kurahashi, you need to come with me," Hana proclaimed, sounding extremely urgent.
Still unsure what was happening, Kurahashi nonetheless decided to follow Hana and see what was up.
Eventually, Hana led them into a very familiar room, the very room where they were conducting experiments in hopes of finding a cure for Yuuki's condition.
"Doctor, you're not going to believe this," Hana stated, answering Kurahashi's unasked question. "But I believe... that we have been successful in our experiments."
Kurahashi's expression brightened considerably. "Are you serious, Hana?"
"The tests just came back from the lab mice," Hana answered. "There is no sign of the virus within them."
"Oh, Yuuki will be so happy to hear that," Kurahashi exclaimed. "Is it ready to be given to humans?"
"It may take a few more days to finalize everything," Hana replied, "but yes, we believe so."
Kurahashi could just imagine the look on Yuuki's face when she heard the news.
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(Never give up on your dreams, especially if you consider them to be worth fighting for.)
The Blue Time Ranger presents...
Sword Art Online: Memory Rosario
Story Created: September 14th, 2015
Today's Episode: September 26th, 2015
Rated: T for Teen
Summary: Nick Kelly and Yuuki Konno have had a rather odd life. With Yuuki constantly in the hospital, Nick has taken it upon himself to care for her, knowing that he may not have much time left with his best friend. However, a series of strange events begin to plague them. Between ALfheim Online where Nick and Yuuki are being stalked by a strange guild, and the real world where rumors are spreading about the return of Death Gun, Nick and Yuuki will have to protect each other with their lives if they hope to survive...
On Today's Episode: With the Hollow Area fixed up and PoH put down permanently, ALfheim Online seems to be returning to normal. Once again, Nick and Yuuki decide to join the raid party to explore floor 31's labyrinth for real this time, but this boss may be a good bit tougher than what they've seen before. Meanwhile, Johnny Black, the only survivor of the new Death Gun, decides to plan out his next move...
Timeline Placement: Though a slight AU to accomodate my OC, this story takes place before the end of the Mother's Rosario arc (Volume 7 of the novels and most of the second half of anime season 2), basically inbetween the time when Asuna reconciled with her mother and... *sniff* no spoilers. *sob* (even though you probably know already).
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Sword Art Online. That's Reki Kawahara, not me. Anything I don't own, I am just borrowing. The character of Nick Kelly belongs to me, and he many only be used in your stuff with my permission. (I'll probably always say yes, as long as you don't make him look bad.)
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Episode 7: The Fated March to Oblivion
Yuuki was the first to wake up, noticing that Nick was still holding her hands.
"He's so cute," Yuuki giggled. "Hey. Hey, wake up, sleeping beauty."
Yuuki gently nudged Nick's forehead with her own, since they were still holding hands. This caused Nick to stir pretty quickly.
"Wouldn't you be a sleeping beauty, since I'd probably be the prince?" Nick quipped. "Besides, that joke's been beaten into the dirt way too many times for me to count."
"Hey, I thought it was fun," Yuuki replied. "So, what do you think is gonna happen in ALfheim today?"
"Hopefully things are calming down there," Nick replied. "From what I heard, they had to shut down Aincrad for a lot longer than they said they would. PoH really must have screwed things up."
"Well, hacker attacks are pretty tricky to fix sometimes," Yuuki noted. "They probably had to add some kind of new security measure to make sure it can't happen again."
"Let's just pray that this is the last we'll see of Death Gun for a while," Nick answered. "That message hopefully sent them running."
Yuuki knew, however, that this most likely wasn't the last they'd see of Death Gun. Kirito's government contact, one Seijuro Kikouka, had informed them that Johnny Black was still on the run. Much to their relief, however, he'd also stated that the real world identity of PoH had been found dead due to his Amusphere short-circuiting from an overcharge. Hoist by his own petard, as Nick so eloquently put it.
"Well, let's not think about that for right now," Yuuki replied. "I heard there's something going on at the coliseum in Dahngrest today."
"Wait, there's a coliseum in Dahngrest?!" Nick exclaimed. "This is the the first I'm hearing of it."
"Ooh, wouldn't that be fun?" Yuuki giggled.
"It probably wouldn't be for whatever poor sap goes up against you," Nick replied. "They probably know you'd destroy them if you got a chance."
"Let's enter anyway!" Yuuki answered. "We need some fun anyway, after last night."
"Yeah, we definitely need to unwind," Nick stated. "Ah, why not? I'm itching to test my skills anyway."
"Yes! Coliseum, here we come!" Yuuki exclaimed.
Indeed, once Nick and Yuuki reached Dahngrest, the first sight they saw was thousands of players lined up to enter the coliseum at the very center of the city.
"Whoa, this place is PACKED!" Yuuki shouted.
"Guess they weren't kidding about there being an event today," Nick noted. "But what's the stakes?"
Nick took a few steps closer to investigate the large banner advertising the tournament.
"It looks like the winner gets an ultra-rare item," Nick stated. "They're not saying what it is, though."
"Well, of course!" Yuuki replied. "That would spoil the surprise! Come on, let's go enter!"
"Yuuki."
"Yeah?"
Nick took Yuuki's hands. "If you and I have to fight... don't hold back, okay? I want to see you at your full fighting spirit."
"I was just about to say the same to you," Yuuki giggled. "If we meet up, we're giving it our all. That's a promise!"
Nick and Yuuki kissed to seal the promise, then moved hand in hand to enter the coliseum.
It was quite the festive event, indeed. The city of Dahngrest was holding a commemorative tournament to celebrate the anniversary of ALfheim Online's launch.
"Nice to see such a packed stadium!" the announcer proclaimed. "Welcome to the ALfheim Online Commemorative Battle, where we'll see how skilled you all have gotten! Standard duel rules apply to today's battles, so let's not waste any more time and get this party started!"
It was a sixteen-person tournament, single-elimination type, and Nick actually noticed that some of Kirito's friends were in the tournament.
But where's Kirito, then? Nick thought. Oh, wait, he's probably off trying to find some more info about Death Gun. We just have to take down Johnny, and that should be the end of it.
After a lot of flying blades and spells being flung everywhere, the competition was reduced to four participants.
"All right, we're almost there, everybody," the announcer exclaimed. "Now, for the first of our semifinal matches, we have..."
The crowd was silent, waiting to hear who was going first.
"...Yuuki, the Absolute Sword!"
Yuuki stepped through the coliseum gates, waving to the crowd who seemed to be going crazy at the mere mention of her. Yuuki realized that she should have seen it coming; after all, she was the strongest swordsman in ALfheim.
"Always wonderful to see our strongest sword-wielder in the field," the announcer stated. "And now, for her opponent..."
Yuuki tensed up, already having a pretty good idea who she would be facing.
"...Makoto, the Whirlwind Knight!"
Sure enough, Nick came through the opposite gates, smiling towards Yuuki.
"Two outstanding swordsmen, coming together for the semifinal match!" the announcer proclaimed. "Let's hope they put on a good show for us! Players, step up to the field!"
Nick and Yuuki walked onto the field, stopping only a couple steps from each other.
"Well, then," Nick quipped. "You ready to go all out?"
"Oh, yeah," Yuuki giggled, sending Nick the duel request. "Let's give 'em one heck of a show."
Once the duel was prompted, Nick and Yuuki drew their weapons.
"On your marks... get set... FIGHT!" the announcer exclaimed, timing himself with the last three seconds of the countdown.
Once the bell sounded, Nick and Yuuki were already rushing at each other, their swords clashing with loud clangs and flying sparks.
Yuuki quickly lashed out with an overhead swing, but Nick brought up Dreamcloud to block before striking back with his newest sword skill, Hurricane Fall, a quick series of spins before leaping into the air and coming down with an overhead chop to put space between himself and his opponent.
Yuuki didn't let this faze her, however, quickly striking back with a Quadruple Pain that actually broke through Nick's defenses and brought his health down to eighty-five percent.
"Nice one, Yuuki, but I'm just getting started!" Nick shouted, dashing in and knocking Yuuki into the sky with an uppercut slash, following this by leaping into the air and unleashing Ragnarok Orbit, spiking Yuuki back to the ground and dropping her health to eighty percent.
"Okay, guess it's time to step it up!" Yuuki proclaimed, dashing forward just as Nick touched down onto the ground and unleashing her Ethereal Blades spell, forcing Nick to hop back to avoid getting skewered by the blades.
Nick chanted a spell of his own, then swung Freedom Striker upwards, sending a lightning bolt into the air. This eventually created a storm cloud over the arena that began to drop wicked lightning bolts all over the arena, forcing Yuuki to stay on the move. This gave Nick all the time he needed to rush in and unleash Ars Arcanum.
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, Freedom Striker's blade leaving orange light trails with each strike.
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 the blade tightly, leaping into the air and slicing downward with all the force of a crashing airliner, dropping Yuuki's health to fifty-two percent when it was over.
Ack, so close! Nick thought. Just need one more blow to...
"Gotcha."
Nick looked up to see Yuuki tanking the final hit of Ars Arcanum and bringing her sword back, the blade glowing a bright purple.
Nick didn't even have time to shout the "oh, crap" he was thinking as Yuuki let out a loud bellow before stabbing outwards five times, creating a horizontal line down Nick'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.
Nick was sent flying by the attack, his health now down to forty percent.
The crowd erupted in thunderous applause, with the status window above the battlefield proclaiming Yuuki the winner of the duel.
"And what a finish!" the announcer proclaimed. "Yuuki will be advancing to the final round!"
"So, how was that for fighting spirit?" Yuuki giggled, helping Nick to his feet.
"I should have realized that once Mother's Rosario comes out, whoever's on the receiving end is pretty screwed," Nick replied, brushing the dust off of his outfit. "I guess I'm no exception."
"Hey, your OSS is pretty strong, too," Yuuki quipped. "I'm pretty sure the only reason I got you there was because I decided to tank that last hit."
"Learning some new tactics, huh?" Nick teased.
"Whatever works," Yuuki stated, mirroring a statement Nick liked to use.
"All right, so you're moving on to the finals," Nick noted. "Go on and kick some butt."
"You got it!" Yuuki proclaimed.
As the final match went underway, being Yuuki against a very muscular-looking Spriggan, Nick saw something in the audience.
A strange, hooded figure.
Nick immediately tensed, recognizing the hood as belonging to Death Gun.
What is he doing here? Nick thought, pushing his way through the crowd to tail the hooded figure. I thought Death Gun scattered after we killed PoH.
Nick finally caught up to the hooded figure just outside the coliseum. "Hey, asshole! You've got five seconds to explain yourself," Nick growled, drawing Freedom Striker. "You want a taste of what I did to PoH?!"
"So you're the one who killed our leader?!" the hooded figure shouted. "Oh, I'm going to have a fun time finding you and presenting your head to Johnny Black."
"Well, good luck with that," Nick shot back. "The police are crawling all over the city looking for you and the rest of your goons. And it won't be long before I find Johnny Black and take him out of the picture, too."
"Over my dead body!" the figure shouted.
Nick smirked. "That can be arranged."
The hooded figure discarded his cloak, revealing himself to be an Imp, before waving his hand and firing off a salvo of dark energy spears straight for Nick.
Nick simply brought up his Dreamcloud to block the spears before charging in.
"Big mistake, boy," the Imp growled.
"Your mistake was pissing me off!" Nick shot right back. "Yuuki might try to find the good in everyone, but you freaks gave that all up!"
Nick swung Freedom Striker, countering the Imp's longsword.
"And, to be sure you understand, I owe you some lumps for killing my parents, you murderers," Nick growled, swinging and catching the Imp across the chest. "If you see Johnny Black, give him this message."
Nick raised Freedom Striker above his head.
"I'm coming for him very soon."
With that said, Nick brought his blade down, slicing through the Imp and causing his body to explode into light fragments, leaving only the Remain Light, which faded after about a minute.
"Hey, Nick!" Yuuki exclaimed, rushing up to him. "I took down that last guy, but then I noticed you weren't there. What exactly happened?"
"I was trailing one of Death Gun's mooks," Nick replied. "I saw him in the stadium and I figured I'd see what he's up to. Like a good little mook, he accosted me, so I decided to take him down. And, just to be frank, I told him to pass Johnny a message."
Nick then noticed that Yuuki was holding another pendant similar to the one she'd won in the Lair of the North Witch.
"So, you got another pendant, huh?" Nick quipped, shifting the conversation away from Death Gun.
"Yep!" Yuuki giggled. "Apparently, these Memento Pendants are extremely rare in ALfheim. Now, that makes two!"
Yuuki thought for a second. "Actually..."
Yuuki swiped her right hand, opening a status window and trading her second pendant over to Nick. "There. Now we match!" Yuuki proclaimed.
"What exactly do they do?" Nick wondered.
"Apparently, they confer a big +7 to all our stats," Yuuki noted, reviewing the item description. "Pretty cool, if you ask me!"
"That could definitely be useful in the future," Nick quipped. "And, like I said, it looks good on you."
"Oh, stop it," Yuuki giggled, blushing slightly. Just then, she noticed a large group of people right outside the coliseum. Most of them were pretty heavily armored.
"Hey, what's with the armor brigade?" Yuuki wondered.
"I think that's the raid party," Nick replied. He knew that a raid party was getting ready to challenge the floor 31 boss, but he was still a little wary. After all, the previous "raid trip" had turned out to be a trap by Death Gun.
"Well, let's go see what's up," Yuuki stated, and the two walked up to the crowd.
"Okay, everyone, is our plan clear?" the raid leader proclaimed. A chorus of affirmations came. "Good. Let us set out for the labyrinth!"
"Um, excuse me?" Yuuki asked. "Could you guys hold on just a second?"
Yuuki didn't waste time, scanning the information of the raid team to make sure none of them were in disguise. After all, there weren't any Spriggans in this raid party this time.
"All right, you're all good," Yuuki proclaimed, just then noticing the weird look on an Undine's face. "Hey, the last raid party was actually a Death Gun ambush, so I just wanted to be sure."
"Wait, Death Gun?" a Cait Sith gasped. "You mean they're the black hoods that have been running around lately?"
"Hey, if Nick or I find any of them, we'll personally take 'em down," Yuuki stated. "We've got beef with those losers anyway."
"Dude, if the Absolute Sword is our security, that's good enough for me," a Salamander proclaimed.
"Let's not waste any more time, people," the raid leader shouted. "We have a labyrinth to conquer. Let's move out!"
And as the group set off for the floor labyrinth, Yuuki realized something.
"So, none of these guys are Death Gun in disguise," Yuuki quipped. "But what's stopping them from jumping us while we're in the labyrinth?"
"We just watch our backs, is all," Nick replied. "Even so, I don't think Death Gun would be stupid enough to attack a fully-trained raid party, especially one that has the Absolute Sword as its Death Gun repellent."
"Got that right," Yuuki giggled. She and Nick held hands as they approached the gate to the labyrinth. The great marble doors opened to reveal...
...something very strange indeed.
"Um, okay?" Yuuki quipped. "This is definitely the strangest labyrinth yet."
"You're telling me," Nick replied. The labyrinth was, for all effects and purposes, a swirling void of multi-colored light, the void itself slowly spinning and undulating in a way that made it resemble a hyperspace tunnel. The ground of the labyrinth was almost invisible, just opaque enough for players to know it was there, and resembled stained glass.
"All right, everyone, let us defeat this boss!" the raid leader proclaimed. With that, the raid party set out through the labyrinth.
It was a strange trip, almost as strange as the labyrinth itself. The path ahead seemed to fork off into multiple routes seemingly at random, as if the labyrinth had a will of its own. And every now and then, the raid team were set upon by strange monsters that looked like they'd jumped right out of a nightmare.
"Oh, god, what is that thing?!" a Sylph exclaimed, dodging through the monster's multiple energy whips.
"I'm not sticking around to find out!" an Undine shot back, backing away from the monster to provide buffs and healing to his allies.
The monster lashed out at the Undine, only for Yuuki to hop in and slash at the tentacle, forcing it to back off.
"No touchy-feely on my watch!" Yuuki proclaimed. "Nick, your turn!"
"Got it!" Nick shouted, rushing in and attacking the monster with a Savage Fulcrum, knocking it on its back.
Yuuki took the time to unleash her Ethereal Blades spell, only to get a nasty surprise when the monster simply absorbed the blades and fired them right back.
"Whoa!" Yuuki shouted, ducking and weaving to avoid her own spell. "No one told me those things could do that!"
"Guess that means we stick to sword skills for now," Nick stated, hopping off of Yuuki's shoulders so he could leap above the monster and finish it off with an elemental sword skill, Bulletdive Drop, where he charged up his weapon with lightning and dropped straight downward, driving his blade right through the monster's body, destroying it with ease.
"Well, that was... weird," Nick quipped. "These monsters are getting really strange."
"And we're only halfway through the labyrinth," Yuuki noted. "And I hope we finish it soon. This refracting light tunnel is starting to hurt my eyes."
Thankfully for the group, the monsters the raid party encountered later were no stranger than the recent ones, and the entire group made it to the boss gate without much trouble.
"Hey, Nick?" Yuuki asked, finally vocalizing something that weirded her out. "Wasn't this labyrinth completely different the last time we were in it?"
"Kirito confirmed that where we were wasn't really the labyrinth," Nick answered. "Just more illusion magic so Death Gun could fool us."
"Those sneaky little..." Yuuki growled.
"All right, raid party," the raid leader proclaimed. "Is everyone ready?"
"Do we have any information on this boss?" a Salamander asked.
"All we know is that it likes to use sleep spells before attacking, so if anyone has any spells that raise resistance to sleep, get them ready," the raid leader.
The boss door opened, and the raid party stepped in.
"Oh, man, more of this kaleidoscopic madness?!" Yuuki growled. The boss room was a swirling, black hole-like void of what appeared to be every color in existence, with Yuuki noting the void seemed similar to the one where she had fought the Hell Dragon back in the Hollow Area.
"My question is, where's the boss?" Nick wondered. His question was quickly answered when something descended from the ceiling, appearing to be a large armored knight with decorative swirly patterns adorning its armor. Its info window confirmed it as the boss, Aquarius the Trance Lord.
"Well, ask a silly question..." Yuuki giggled.
"Spellcasters, activate your resistance spells!" the raid leader shouted, and the group's spellcasters did so, casting a status spell across the whole party that increased their resistance to all status effects by fifty percent.
"All right, if we're all buffed out, let's get to work!" Yuuki shouted, drawing her sword. The raid leader agreed, guiding his party into the thick of battle. Nick and Yuuki weren't far behind, their swords brandished and ready.
Aquarius turned to the raid party and swung its sword so that a wave of energy thundered out towards them. Some of the more defensive members of the raid party moved ahead of the charge so they could tank the attack and allow the others to strike.
Suddenly, a blue wind bolted through the crowd and struck at Aquarius' knee, causing it to drop to its other knee.
Yuuki looked up and saw that the blue wind was actually Asuna, having charged in from behind and struck with a Flashing Penetrator.
"Thanks for the assist, Asuna!" Yuuki exclaimed. She hadn't seen Asuna in the raid party, but figured she must have arrived as fast as she possibly could have to assist the group in the boss fight. She wasn't known as the "Lightning Flash" for nothing, after all.
"No problem, Yuuki!" Asuna replied before unleashing Starry Tear, draining Aquarius' health by a significant chunk.
"I think that's our cue," Yuuki proclaimed, dashing in after Asuna and attacking with Lightning Fall, which made the health bar drain faster that it had earlier.
"Hey, it went down fast!" Yuuki noted.
"I wonder if it has something to do with the boss' attributes," Nick noted, coming in after Yuuki to slash at the boss a few times. "It relies mostly on sleep-based attacks, and lightning is a jolt to the system, as it were, so maybe lightning is its elemental weakness."
"Good thinking!" Yuuki exclaimed, turning back to the rest of the raid party. "Hey, guys! Lightning attacks are the way to go on this one!"
The raid party's spellcasters seemed to get the message, many of them staying back by the gate to safely unleash various lightning attacks while Nick, Yuuki, Asuna, and many other sword-wielders kept to hacking away at close range.
After about fifteen minutes of this, the first health bar (of two, surprisingly) was finally depleted, and Aquarius kneeled down and placed its shield in front of itself. Almost immediately after, the shield began to emit a strange sound.
To the raid team, it seemed to have the effect of putting most of them to sleep, despite the status buff.
"Hypnosis!" Yuuki exclaimed. "That thing's trying to keep us away by using a hypnosis spell!"
"And it looks like the shield has its own health bar," Asuna noted. "So, we have to destroy it before we can move on to the next phase."
"Oh, that's just cheap!" Nick shouted. "Well, let's see how this shield thing stacks up."
Nick dashed over, unleashing an Ars Arcanum on the shield once its spell abated, doing some pretty severe damage with each slash.
"Yeah, how's that on ya?!" Nick challenged, only to hop backwards when the hypnosis spell started up again.
"We need some covering fire here!" Asuna exclaimed.
"I'll take care of this," Yuuki proclaimed, turning back to the raid party, most of whom were still sleeping.
"WAKE UP, YOU LAZY BUMS!" Yuuki shouted, so loudly it echoed throughout the entire boss room, snapping most of the sleeping raid party to attention. "We need covering fire so we can take this shield thing out!"
The spellcasters didn't waste a second, firing off more lightning spells while the healers mended up everyone who had taken significant damage.
Sure enough, after a few more barrages, the shield exploded into light and Aquarius stood up, brandishing its curved blade.
"All right, the final stand! Let's take 'em down!" Yuuki shouted, charging right into the fray and easily dodging around Aquarius' swings before leaping off of Asuna's shoulders to reach Aquarius' chest and unleash Mother's Rosario, dropping the last health bar to about half.
The constant lightning barrage from the raid party didn't let up, battering the boss and slowly but surely chipping away its health.
"Okay, guys, stand back! This one's all mine!" Nick proclaimed, rushing in and unleashing Ragnarok Orbit on Aquarius, delivering the final blow.
Aquarius planted its sword into the 'ground' before kneeling in defeat, exploding into shards of light.
"And another boss goes down!" Yuuki exclaimed, hugging both Nick and Asuna. "We're unstoppable today!"
As the gate to floor thirty-two opened, a message flashed across Yuuki's information window.
"Hey, it's from Kurahashi," Yuuki noted. "Wonder what he wants?"
"Let's go to floor 32's teleport gate and log out, then," Nick replied.
Inwardly, Yuuki wondered what was happening. Kurahashi usually never messaged her while she was inside a game, always waiting until she was back in reality to deliver news.
Back in the real world...
"All right, Kurahashi, what's the scoop?" Yuuki asked once she and Nick returned. "It sounded important, so spill."
"Very well," Kurahashi replied. "This morning, right after you two logged on to ALfheim, I received word from one of our doctors that a probable cure we have been experimenting with has been successful in the labs. We may need a few more days to finalize everything, but we believe the cure to be a resounding success."
Yuuki just stared at Kurahashi, her mouth hanging open in shock.
"You... you found a cure?!" Yuuki exclaimed.
"Yes, Yuuki, we did," Kurahashi replied, noting that Yuuki looked like she was about to cry. "In just a few days, we can most likely administer it to you."
Yuuki didn't know what to say, so Nick said it for her.
"That's amazing, doctor! That means Yuuki will finally be free of this nonsense!" Nick exclaimed, hugging Yuuki tightly.
Yuuki let out a bright smile, tears falling rapidly now.
"Oh, god, I never thought it would happen..." Yuuki sobbed, holding Nick as if her life depended on it. "I never thought I'd live to see this day!"
"See, Yuuki? I knew it was only a matter of time!" Nick replied. "Our motto worked, didn't it?"
Yuuki nodded, drying a few of her tears.
"Oh, wow, I can't wait to tell the Sleeping Knights," Yuuki stated. "This'll definitely help them out, too!"
"Mind you, we'll still need to make sure it works for Yuuki before we can administer the cure to other Medicuboid patients," Kurahashi admitted. "And then there's the matter of mass-producing the cure. But, we believe this will push our research by leaps and bounds."
"I'm just happy that Yuuki's gonna live after all," Nick stated. "She's fought this for so long, and it looks like all that fighting paid off."
"Aiko taught me to never give up, no matter what the situation," Yuuki admitted. "It wasn't in vain, sis... it wasn't in vain after all..."
Nick and Yuuki just held each other for a while, relishing in the wonderful news.
"Well, I'll leave you two alone for a bit," Kurahashi quipped. "No doubt you'd like time to let this sink in."
And so, Kurahashi excused himself from the room, leaving Nick and Yuuki by themselves.
"Oh, Nick, I seriously can't believe it," Yuuki cried. "It all feels like a dream."
"But we're not dreaming, are we?" Nick replied.
"I can't believe god finally answered me," Yuuki noted. Nick remembered that Yuuki's mother had been brought up as a Christian, and had taught Yuuki many of the phrases she used to keep going in life.
"Hey, miracles can happen, right?" Nick responded.
Yuuki leaned over and kissed Nick. "Thank you for being there for me, Nick. I really appreciate everything you've done for me."
"Hey, remember what I said?" Nick stated. "I'll always be by your side, Yuuki, no matter what."
Unable to stop crying, Yuuki simply hugged Nick again.
Meanwhile, a few blocks away from the hospital, who else but Johnny Black could be seen in the shadows of a nearby alley, plotting out his next move.
"Okay, which one do I go after?" Johnny wondered. "Either one of them would be suitable for what I have planned, but the question becomes which one of them would better draw Kirito out?"
A wicked smirk came over Johnny as he sank back into the shadows. Just a little longer, and his revenge against the Black Swordsman would finally be complete.
To be continued...
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On the next episode...
Yuuki: Just a few more days, and this nightmare will finally be over. I hope mom and dad and Aiko can see how hard I've been fighting.
Nick: I'm sure they'd be extremely proud of you, Yuuki.
Asuna: Hey, guys!
Yuuki: What's up, Asuna?
Asuna: ...I found this note. I'm pretty sure it's addressed to you.
Nick: Wait a minute. That's not a note, is it?
Yuuki: It's worse than I thought, Nick. We have to go stop these nutballs!
Nick: Next time on Sword Art Online: Memory Rosario, "The Winds of Change"!
Yuuki: This might be a game, but it's not something you play!
