Crystal: Holy Mushrooms! Someone! Get me a hot pack! My hands!
Belle: Longest chapter ever... then again you did try to combined two episodes into one chapter...
Crystal: I tried and my hands are hurting now. But good news it we're nearly done with Aincrad and off to the fairies. You'll get wings.
Belle: as long as I get to stab pervert butterfly king, I'll be happy.
Crystal: yeah, we'll see about that. Anyway, to the disclaimers.
Disclaimers: I do not own Sword Art Online. I only own Fire Revolution Guild, its members, and Belle. And please no flames, I really do not have time to deal with them. If you do not like my story, don't read it. Anyway, please enjoy this large labor of love.
Chapter 9: Children of the Aincrad
The next day, Kirito and I went to visit my dad at Fire Revolution Headquarters. Needless to say he was surprised to see us holding hands, and Paris was cheering in the background (I kind of messaged her about the whole marriage thing first). We told him we were going to get married and instantly, Gatsby took Kirito to a private room for a small 'chat' as Dad called it. It took three long hours before Kirito was finally set free, and surprisingly paler than before. Dad, on the other hand, looked happier than before.
"Hey, you didn't torture the boy, did ya?" One of my dad's friends asked, laughing.
"Hey, you can't be too careful." Gatsby said, as Kirito walked to me.
"You okay?"
"Your dad… he's nuts." Kirito said weakly and I couldn't help but laugh along with everyone else. It's rare to see Kirito scared of anything really. At least, anything that was truly human and not made of data.
"Don't worry, he'll warm up to you some day." London managed to say, patting Kirito on the back.
"Make sure to invite us to the wedding!" Paris called out, and I looked down, trying to hide my blush. Even though it was clear that this marriage was only a sign of dating, the word, marriage still made my heart flutter to an extent.
"Guys, it's a very small wedding. We're going to do it after I go to Heathcliff and ask him to give us a break." I said, and Kirito took my hand again. I wonder if he could tell if my hands were sweaty or not.
"We should get going. We don't have much time."
"Right." The moment we got out of the guild headquarters, Kirito sighed.
"Your dad is scary, you know." Kirito said, a hand on his chest and looking like he could drop dead at any second. "I'm not going to even begin on what his talk was like."
"Oh, come on, he's just worried. Heck, I am too." I said, gripping Kirito's hand. "I mean, we're still kids. And you're talking about marriage." It took him a while to speak and when he did, his voice was small.
"I know you're not comfortable and if you don't want to do this, just say it."
"I don't mind…" I said, scratching my neck a bit. "I mean, we can't exactly say we're dating in this world. Marriage is a sign of dating in SAO and… and I really don't mind at all." God, I can feel the blood rushing to my cheeks and fall out of my ears as I said this while Kirito looked at me. I didn't look at him but I felt his hand tighten around mine.
"Okay, thanks Belle." Kirito said, and I grip his hand back.
"Come on, we have to tell Heathcliff about us leaving the guild. I'm sure Dad told him about what happened with Kuradeel." I said, and we went to the guild Headquarters. Of course, Heathcliff knew that Kuradeel died and I couldn't hide my smirk from him. "So, not that I proved my point. I believed we had an agreement."
"Ah, yes. What is it you want?"
"A break." I said, and I could hear my heartbeat in my ears as I willed my mouth to speak the words I'd never thought I'd say this early in my life. "Kirito and I are getting married and we'll be going on our honeymoon. Plus, we're concerned about the ways of this guild and we're questioning its capability." If London or Paris heard me say those words, I want someone to kill me. That was way too embarrassing. A honeymoon…. Oh and Dad would kill Kirito as well.
"Why you…" One of the leaders growled but Heathcliff stopped him.
"Very well." Heathcliff said, and Kirito looked relieved. "Although, I'm positive you won't stay away from the battlefield for long." I gripped Kirito's hand a little tighter as we walked away from the room.
"How long do we have?" Kirito whispered, after we left the building.
"Two weeks. We better enjoy the time we have." I said, letting go of Kirito and stretching. "Anyway, you got any idea on how we get married in this game? You know I didn't play MMO games before this."
"Don't worry, I know how." Kirito said, and I looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh? Have you married before?" I asked, and Kirito shook his head, furiously.
"No way! I've never been married before! I'm a solo player, remember!?"
"I'm just joking!" I said, laughing. "Anyway, I'll follow your lead." Kirito smiled as we walked to the wedding chapel together. The wedding ceremony was small, and I only wore a simple white dress with a small veil as we exchanged our vows. Lisbeth and Asuna were there, cheering for us. Agil was there, trying to keep Gatsby from shouting 'I object' when the priest asked if anyone wanted to interfere. London and Paris absolutely loved the wedding and I think they were recording it. God, I pray that they don't show Jason this or anyone from the Anime Club.
The next day, Kirito and I went to Floor Twenty-Two and picked out a really nice place right by the lake. It wasn't the same that Kirito and Asuna lived in. This place was bigger since we knew Gatsby, London, and Paris would probably be coming to visit and we're not sure if they'll be staying over night: mostly Dad, just to make sure Kirito and I don't do anything (like we even can do anything dirty in this game). Still, it was a really nice house and being near the water means we can do a few things… I wonder if we can swim there without getting eaten by that giant lung-fish.
"We really did get a good house." I said, walking out to the balcony and seeing the artificial sunlight shining against the digital water.
"Yeah, try not to fall off the balcony though. You don't wanna tumble into the water." Kirito said, moving to stand beside me, his hand on mine on the rails.
"I'm not that stupid, Kazuto." I said, but I smiled a little. "Besides, I'm just happy we got this place."
"And now we're broke." Kirito pointed out.
"Yeah well, Dad is helping us pay for other stuff so we're fine for now." I said, thanking Dad mentally. I looked to Kirito to see a very thoughtful look on his face. "Kazuto, what's wrong? You look like you're trying to think the meaning of the universe."
"I was just thinking. Does our relationship really exist in this world?" Kirito asked, quietly and really thoughtful. Is this really the same guy I met two years ago? Yeah, he is. He's just thinking more and more about his human relationships and taking the fact that we got married in a game way too seriously. But it is kind of sweet in its own way.
"Kazuto, you're someone I trust. Even if things here aren't real, maybe one day we can but we'll work at it." I said, and I smiled. Even though there was a slim chance we'd ever really meet again once the game is over, I wanted to give him some hope to cheer him up. Or maybe I do want to see him again since he is a friend, right? "After all, I did agree to this… maybe…."
"Maybe when we get out of this place, we'll be able to reunite and date for real." A purposely sounding girly and we looked to see people hiding in the bushes.
"London! Paris! What the hell!" I shouted, jumping down off the balcony, chasing my friends, and chasing my friends around the lake as Kirito watched us and laughing with a carefree look on his face.
So that began our lives as 'newly weds'. It wasn't that hard really and it was relaxing but some old habits diehard. I would wake up and dress in my usual uniform before realizing I didn't need to go to work. Kirito also had some issues adjusting. The first day was fine, he slept most of the time and then we would walk together at the edge of the lake. Day two wasn't much and we just goofed off. On both days London, Paris, and Gatsby would check up on us: London and Paris to tease us and Gatsby to make sure that Kirito 'didn't steal his little daughter's innocence' (no really, he said that out loud). On the morning of the third day, I went into the kitchen and started making breakfast as usual and Kirito came in rubbing his eyes.
"Morning, Kazuto." I said, smiling as he sat at the dinner table.
"Morning, Isabelle." Kirito said, looking at me as I placed pancakes with berries and some syrup in front of him. "Why do you need to wake up so early? We're on vacation."
"Force of habit." I said, sitting down and starting to eat. "So, what shall we do today?"
"I think I know a place we can go." Kirito said, smiling. When he smiles that like, its like looking at a grinning kid. He doesn't seem like a Gary Stu: or at least, not as much. "We should leave early so Paris and London don't come and tease us."
"Yeah, we have until maybe early afternoon before they come, or worse my dad comes." Kirito instantly paled, thinking about my dad still makes his blood cold in fear: it's almost cute.
"Lets go, now." Kirito said, digging into his food and nearly chocked.
"Hey, don't eat too fast… also, how do you choke in a game like this? You're not really eating."
"I don't know!"
So with a quick exit, the two of us were walking through Floor Twenty-Two and towards one of the lakes. It really did feel nice here, even the pine trees smelled like actually pine: makes me think of Christmas. Still, I was a little confused. This kind of seemed like when Asuna and Kirito went and found Yui, but it didn't seem like the right time. We've only been on vacation for only a few days.
"Hey, Kazuto, where are we going?"
"You're just gonna have to wait till we get there." Kirito said, smiling at me as we walked together hand in hand.
"I know, I'm just curious." I said, looking to a nearby tree. I let go of Kirito's hand and started climbing.
"Hey! What are you doing?!" Kirito asked, as I got to the first branch.
"Getting a good look up ahead." I said, and I could see a larger lake. It really did seem like the one that Asuna and Kirito visited before meeting Yui. Not that I'm complaining, the view is beautiful!
"Hey, are you gonna come down or what?" Kirito asked, and I jumped down.
"Sorry about that. Anyway, lets go." When we got to the lake, it really was nice and quiet. There were a few fishermen around but I was more focused on the water. It looked so clean and clear. I wish it was like this back home in reality. I took off my shoes to give my feet a really good soak. "Man, that feels so good."
"You should really take your feet out. Who knows, maybe some monster fish will think of you as a snack." Kirito teased as I glared at him.
"Hey, no fish is gonna…." I jumped out of the water and hid behind Kirito. "Ew… ew… ew!"
"What, what's wrong?!" Kirito asked, shielding me.
"I… I felt a fish touching me…" I said, gripping his arm while he stared at me.
"A fish touched you? I didn't know you were scared of fish touching you."
"They feel weird and gross under water!" I shouted, getting the attention of some of the local fishermen in the area. Kirito just laughed and patted my head.
"Well, maybe that'll teach you the lesson of listening to me for a change."
"Yeah, yeah, I get it Mr. Know it All." I said, using the menu to put on my shoes as we left the area together. I couldn't help but feel really embarrassed at Kirito knowing my dislike for fish touching me. It's a stupid thing but I don't like fish touching me at all: this is why SeaWorld and other hands on aquariums are my enemies. Soon, we got to the darker part of the forest. "Kazuto, why are we in the setting of a horror film? This better be some kind of joke…"
"I heard this weird rumor in the village yesterday. About how if you go deep enough in the forest you'll see… them…" Kirito said, trying to be mysterious but I already knew what he was gonna say.
"Ghosts? Yeah right. They said the same thing about that Lost Island Quest we did a while back. You know, with the ship full of dead players. We saw none of them." I reminded him as he looked at me through one eye.
"Yes, but you remember Griselda? We saw her and she was dead for six months then."
"That's different. It could be just data remaining from her system or something." I pointed out, though it probably wasn't. "Besides, I know this rumor, remember? The woodcutter walking in the woods and seeing a ghost girl."
"Huh? The person didn't say it was a girl." Kirito said, and I sighed.
"What I'm trying to say is, that's not a ghost. It's just some girl who happens to be dressed in white who is walking in the middle of a dark forest for some unknown reason…. Okay that sounded weird out loud." Kirito tried not to laugh but then suddenly stopped and got in front of me. "Kirito, what are you…"
"Don't speak." Kirito said, and I saw him using his extra vision from the game to see into the distance. "There's someone there!" Kirito ran off and I quickly ran behind him. We ran a short distance until we saw a small girl dressed in white and had dark hair similar to that of Kirito. I stared in shock as we came upon the body of Yui. "Another player? No, it can't be."
"Yeah, she doesn't have an icon or an HP bar…" I said, examining her as we kneeled beside her fallen form.
"Anyway, we should take her back home. It's dangerous for her to be out here. Who knows how long she's been walking around." Kirito said, picking her up and placing her on his back.
"Yeah, but it's weird…"
"What?"
"I'll explain when we get back to the cabin." I said. It took us a little longer to get back. Mostly because we tried to avoid being seen by the fishermen, who would probably be suspicious of us carrying the body of a small child home with us. Once we got her settled into bed, I made some tea for us as we sat in the living room.
"So, what did you mean earlier? Does this have something to do with the facts you know?" Kirito asked, and I nodded.
"Yeah, she's actually…"
"Hey!" We jumped as London and Paris burst into the cabin. "How are our two favorite love birds to…"
"Shut up!" I hissed. "You'll wake Yui up!" That shut them up.
"Yui? She's here?" Paris asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, we found her in the woods." Kirito answered, as my two friends looked at each other. "Are you guys gonna tell me what's going on?" I looked to London and Paris and they looked back to me and nodded.
"That girl you found, Yui, she isn't human. She's actually a program of SAO." London said, sitting in an armchair.
"She's a program? But she's not an Quest NPC." Kirito pointed out. "Plus, she fell from exhaustion I think, that's a trait only players have."
"We know that. We're just telling you what we know." Paris pointed out, looking to our bedroom door, where Yui was sleeping. "We're not even sure if she really doesn't remember she's a program or not. Right now we're sure of one thing." Paris looked to me with a serious look. "Yui was found a day earlier than expecting. Things are changing here in SAO." I stare at my friends, a little shocked by this news. For one thing, I didn't expect much change but then again I did marry Kirito of all people.
"Changing? Like how?" I asked, a little concerned.
"Well, you married Kirito for one." London pointed out, glancing at the wedding ring I wore on a small chain around my neck.
"Besides that." I said, looking ready to punch my friend. Seriously, it's like they can read my mind or something.
"Well, that just might be it." Paris said, looking rather serious for someone who actually loved joking about me getting together with Kirito. "We think that because Kirito chose you above Asuna, things are changing to revolve around the two of you rather than the original pairing. Its kind of like the ripple effect, from one action many things have changed."
"So in other words…" Kirito said, but I finished the sentence for him.
"We may not be able to beat SAO by the time like in the anime…"
"Yes." London said gravely. "And with how strong the firewall is, Fire Revolution may take another two years to finally hack the game. We're not going anywhere fast…." It was silent for a moment but finally Kirito spoke as I felt him grip my hand.
"I'm gonna make sure we leave on time." I looked to Kirito to see how determined he was. "I'm sure things will work out in the end. We're still fighting on the front lines and they'll message us if something happens. We just have to keep going as normal." It took maybe three minutes for the rest of us to say something but I nodded in agreement.
"Kirito has a point. I mean, if things either stay the same or have the same outcome by the boss fight of Floor Seventy-Five, we'll be able to get out." At least I hope we do. In the end it was Asuna's death (that in a way could've been prevented in my opinion) that got Kirito to be a bit motivated to finish off the "final" boss and send everyone home.
"We hope so." London said, getting up. "The guild is already preparing for battle. We're hoping to minimize the casualties of that boss battle as much as we can. At least we don't really die like you guys."
"Yeah, that's a benefit." Kirito said, smiling at little.
"Anyway, we should get going. We just came to check on you love…"
"Okay, get going." I said, pushing Paris out the door, much to her disappointment and London's amusement. The rest of the day, Kirito and I stayed quiet and that night, I read to him in my bed. Well it was still normal as ever… well, not really. Kirito is sharing a bed with me! Since Yui is sleeping in Kirito's bed so we had no choice but to share. I don't think it would be good for him to sleep on the couch…. Oh who am I kidding?! It wouldn't really affect him! But it's too late to push him out now. Still, this is a little nerve wracking for me since, well… we never really shared a bed before with anyone except my dad and brother: even then those are rare. We only did that on family trips. All the times Kirito and I spent together at the inns, we always had different beds. Once Kirito was fast asleep, I moved to the other bed and sat there with Yui. She looked so real, it's hard to believe she's just a program. I patted her head and started to hum one of the songs from Sound of Music. I know it's stupid, but it's something my mother used to do when she was still alive. It always seemed to calm me down when I needed it the most. Before it, I fell asleep beside Yui, dreaming of my mom and the memories of when I was little.
I woke up the next morning and stretched. I didn't sleep the right way and my neck was a little sore. 'Man, what I wouldn't give for a massage…' I thought. I heard some rustling behind me and I turned to see Yui had sat up. She was staring at me with her wide, curious eyes and it made me jump off the bed and falling onto the floor with a loud thud. That woke up Kirito.
"Wha…" Kirito looked around and noticed Yui. At once, Kirito went to Yui's side. "Hello? Are you okay?" Yui didn't say anything since I got up and went to sit back on the bed. After a while, Kirito spoke a differnet question. "Do you remember what happened to you?"
"Uh-uh." Yui said, shaking her head slowly.
"Its okay, take your time." I said, getting on my knees and leaning on the bed. "My name is Belle and this is Kirito."
"Belle… Kirio?" Yui asked, trying to say Kirito's name. I'm just going to say this… I do not like Yui. She becomes as annoying as Navi from the Legend of Zelda games once out of SAO. I half expect her to shout, "hey listen!" when she turned into a tiny fairy. Which makes me wonder… what will happen in the second part of the SAO anime once we finished Aincrad? I really didn't want to think about it because then that's when we hit the downgrade in SAO's bit. After spending two years in the game, I have come to appreciate the SAO part of… well… SAO. But once we get to the fairies was when I feel most people either disliked it or found it pointless. Even so, after much "father and daughter" bonding between Kirito and Yui, the program slept on the couch for the afternoon as I sat on the balcony looking out at the lake. As much as it was kind of nice to be called a mother by Yui, it still was pretty weird since I always thought that role for Asuna. Kirito soon joined me, a slight look on his face.
"Why'd you leave me to deal with Yui?"
"Hm?" I looked up at Kirito from my daze as he joined me on the bench. "Sorry, I was thinking."
"About what Paris and London said last night?"
"Kind of." I said, sighing a little.
"It's not going to be over after this… something else is going to happen once we leave, right?" Kirito asked, leaning back on the bench as I nodded.
"I'm not sure of the numbers but I think about three hundred players from SAO will still be stuck in sleep when we leave SAO… I'm just hoping what happened to Asuna doesn't happen to me but then again I wouldn't wish it upon anyone." Kirito raised an eyebrow at me as I continued. "Asuna was one of the people who was still trapped inside the game world… but not in Aincrad. She kind of became the princess to save in a quest and was being held by a rapist of a king."
"Isabelle, are you making this stuff as you go along? You know Asuna would've kicked him or something?"
"I'm telling the truth." I say, frowning. "Point is there's a lot at risk here. Lives will still be on the line even after we leave SAO." Kirito sighed, closing his eyes.
"Sorry, I know. Its just, I always thought SAO would be the end of it and we can go back to our normal lives."
"Kazuto, once we beat SAO we'll have survived a death game. I'm not sure our lives will ever be fully normal again. Even then, because years of our lives were spent here, I guess… real life will seem slightly duller." I say and I knew I was right. Once I head back to the real world, I may never see Kirito again. I'll have the memories of being with him but I may not be able to save Asuna like I'd want to. After all, she is my friend and she gave me a home, what better way to thank her than to fight the perverted butterfly king. Not only that but SAO has helped me realize more about the characters I once hated so much and I've come to enjoy fighting on the front lines with my guild members. Things won't be the same as in the real world, I won't be able to do VMMOPRGs like the others. I'll be stuck back in my every day life. The thought made me feel so sad, I gripped onto Kirito's hand, trying not to cry. I'll lose so much when this all ends. Kirito and I sat in silence together, holding hands and enjoying the warm sunlight before he spoke.
"So, where do we go tomorrow?"
"First Floor, the Town of Beginnings." I say, resting my head against his shoulder. "Hard to believe we're going back to where it all started…" I was glad we changed the subject but still, the feeling of dread was still there.
"Yeah, though I wonder what we'll find there."
"Well, I have a few friends there so we can talk to them if they've seen anything strange."
"That sounds like a plan."
"And what do you two think you're doing?" We jumped, letting our hands go and moving away as Gatsby stood close by. His arms were folded and a dark smile on his face as he glared over at Kirito. I won't go into details but this is how the rest of the day went. Dad got mad at Kirito, Kirito screamed like a girl waking up Yui, Dad started to bond with Yui, and Kirito got a massive alone talk with dad. Needless to say when Kirito went to bed that night, he was trembling in either fear of relief. I didn't ask since he looked worn out. Guess Paris and London told Gatsby about Yui. The next morning, Yui wore some of my clothes as we made our way to the Village of Beginnings. We were to meet London and Paris there since they needed to meet up with their allies in the Aincrad Liberation Force. We entered the plaza to see Paris and London waiting for us.
"Hey, how's it going?" London asked as Kirito smiled a little.
"Not too bad, we've managed."
"And how are you, Yui?" Paris asked as Yui hid behind me.
"It's okay, Yui. They're friends." I said, but Yui still kept a grip on my hand.
"Anyway, do you remember anything?" Kirito asked only to get Yui's shaking head as a 'no' answer.
"Not surprising. This floor is basically empty except for a few children characters and the Aincrad Liberation Force." Paris said, gritting her teeth.
"I'm guessing Kibaou has been giving you more problems." I say, remembering the last time I saw him when he was fighting against Gatsby during their surprise attack on the Fire Revolution Guild.
"Wait, hold on. Kibaou was a part of that guild?"
"Yep, the annoying bastard is still as greedy as ever." London growled as we walked the streets of the village. "He tried making another attack on the guild a few months back but stopped when Thinker intervened. If it weren't for him, we would've lost most of our supplies by now."
"Come to think of it, I haven't heard from Thinker in weeks."
"Yeah… about that…"
We stopped when we heard children's screams, a woman shouting, and some laughter and we rushed to see what was going on, Yui riding on Kirito's back as we ran. We rounded a corner as Kirito, Paris, and London jumped over three members of the ALF guild as I took out my sword and protected the woman the men were facing.
"What the?"
"Really? You're stealing from children now? Are you seriously that pathetic?" I asked, glaring at them as the men smirked.
"Come on now, we're just showing these children how things are run here. They need to pay their taxes for protection."
"More like extortion." Paris shouted, checking over the children and giving them back their items.
"Hey, aren't you two part of that Fire Revolution guild?" One of the guards asked, looking at London and Paris but another guard was looking at me and seemed to tremble in fear.
"She…. She's Belle of the Wind. She's part of the Knights of the Blood Oath."
"What? Are you serious?"
"Yeah, I remember her! She was there during one of our raids at the other guild."
"That's right and I don't appreciate you attacking my friends." I growled, ready to stab them. "Now then, you can either back off or I can turn you into a three man kabob. And if you have any other items you stole from these kids, give them back." Maybe it was because I sounded scary or because they've heard stories about me, though I'm not sure which stories, they just turned and ran away.
"Wow, since when did you become so infamous?" London asked, staring at me.
"Don't know, maybe it was because of the whole Keith thing."
"Wow! You're so cool!" I was surprised when I was surrounded by a mob of kids who looked at me with admiration. Great, Asuna was mobbed because she beat those guys up. I'm mobbed because I scared them with a stare. Seriously, when did I become so infamous?
"Yui?" I looked over to see Yui was reaching up to the sky, mumbling something and a scared look on her face.
"Kirito, set her down. We don't want her to fall over." I ordered as Kirito nodded and set her on the group. Yui didn't seem to notice as she clung to Kirito and trembling.
"I… I was never here." She whimpered, her eyes shut tight as her hands trembled against Kirito's shirt. "I was always alone in the dark." Paris, London, Kirito, and I only had a second to look at each other before a sudden shock wave seemed to spread throughout the area. It made my ears pop and I quickly covered my ears as the piercing sound began to hurt my head. Yui gave out a cry and fell over but Kirito managed to catch her as we ran to her side.
"Yui, it's going to be okay." I say gently as Kirito handed her over to me.
"Mom, I'm scared. I'm scared." Yui said clinging to me and just for a moment, I saw myself when I was little. This was how I used to hold onto my mom when I was little after seeing a scary movie and not wanting to go to bed incase of nightmares. Yui fainted in my arms but I wondered more on other things. I'm not exactly ready to be a mom but was Yui's behavior what prompted Asuna to become so motherly? Maybe so. I felt that way when Jason was still little and I miss my brother a lot. 'For now, I'll take care of Yui just like I did for Jason…' I thought, picking her up and looking to the woman I had guarded.
"Excuse me, do you know the nearest inn?"
"Better, you can stay with me and the children. We live in the church nearby." The woman said smiling. "It's the least we can do after helping up."
"Hey, Belle." I turned to look at Paris and London, who looked grim. "We're gonna find Thinker and Yulier. It looks like Kibaou has more supporters."
"Yeah, I'll tell Kirito more about the situation." The two nodded and ran off as Kirito and I followed the woman and children to a large church. Once Yui was settled in the room next to ours, I sat Kirito down and began telling him more about Kibaou's actions recently, including the fact that he was responsible for the Corvatz's death as well as the raid he led.
"I can't believe he actually allowed that."
"He was trying to get people in his guild to recognize him as their leader." I said, holding out a warm drink for him. "In the end, I think that hurt his chances. I don't think he realized how powerful the boss would be and Corvatz did go into that room even though he was warned not to. Kibaou… I told you before on how I saw him again. How he attacked my dad when he and his goons tried to invade the F.R headquarters. The man won't stop until he gets items and I'm not even sure if he wants to leave Aincrad at all. Here he can be a bully and a thief and no one can stop him."
"Yeah, this all has to end soon."
"Yes, hopefully…." I stopped because of a scream. Yui's scream! I don't remember this happening in the anime! We ran to the room next door and I felt my heart stop. A boy about fifteen was trying to drag Yui though the window but it wasn't that what shocked me. His green eyes, his brown hair, that face.
"J…. Jason?" I managed to say and the boy looked at me. No, it wasn't Jason. He wouldn't look at me with such an empty look but he looked exactly like my brother! Dad sent me pictures of him so I knew he was okay but this. I was so shocked, I didn't even notice Kirito running in and knocking the boy out.
"Belle, what's wrong?"
"Mom, are you okay?" I couldn't speak, I just fell to my knees as tears ran down my eyes. Even if this boy wasn't my little brother, I can see him. Jason grew up so much in the past few years. He looked stronger now since the last time I saw him in person before I ended up in SAO. He must be in high school at least and I bet he's breaking a few hearts there. I jumped when I felt Kirito place a hand on my shoulder.
"Belle, are you okay?"
"He looks like my brother." I managed to say, giving him a smile. "I know he's not my brother but he looks exactly like him."
"Well, he's not a player, look." I looked and I saw that the boy didn't have an HP bar just like Yui. "Do you think he's like Yui?"
"I don't know." I admitted, shaking my head. "I've never seen him before in the game so I can't really tell for sure."
"In any case, we should keep him tied up for now and question him when he wakes up."
"Yeah…"
I just watched as Kirito tied the boy to the chair and the three of us left the room. Yui slept in our room and Kirito and I took turns sleeping incase the boy came back to take Yui away. During my time awake, I wondered why the boy tried to take Yui. In the anime, I don't remember anything trying to take Yui away and I'm not even sure if it happened in the light novel. I didn't want to put myself through it but yeah. If this happened in the visual novel, it would make some sense since Yui was a program of the game. It would make sense if the game itself would want to put her back since she went rouge. I made a mental note on asking the boy in the morning, thinking that would be enough time for him to regain consciousness.
The next morning, Kirito and I had breakfast with the children as well as the woman we saved, her name is Sasha…. And yes I don't remember everyone's names. I'm not a walking encyclopedia here. I was surprised at how many children were sitting in the room and eating their breakfast so happily. I didn't think their parents would have allowed them to have NerveGears since they were pretty expensive, but then again maybe to them NerveGears are like Playstations of my world. I'm still trying to convince Gatsby to get a new system for Jason and me but with no luck. Yui ate quietly as I smiled at her, she didn't wake up after the fright from the night before and seemed to look better. She did prefer to stay by my side though, moving closer to me if she felt something was wrong but I didn't mind.
"Thank you again for helping us yesterday."
"Oh no, it's okay Sasha. Still do you take care of all these children?" I asked, looking at all the kids in the room.
"Yes. When the game started, many children suffered from severe psychological trauma." Sasha said, looking at the children sadly. All of them seemed happy but it was hard to tell if they even believed they were in a game or if this became their reality. "I couldn't stand by and do nothing, so I moved to this church and made it a safe place for them to life. I walked through the town every day looking for kids like these, kids who might need my help. But in all this time, I've never seen her before." She looked to Yui and I looked to Kirito before looking back at Sasha.
"What about the boy from last night who tired to break in?"
"No, I've never seen him before."
"Something isn't right about what he did though. Usually a place like this would be safe and no player has access to them unless invited in." Kirito said, looking to me. "Belle, you noticed how he looked. He's not a player but he doesn't seem like an NPC."
"I noticed that about Yui, she doesn't have an HP bar. Do you think that boy is similar to her?"
"Probably. I'll question him about it though I'm not sure if what he'll say is true of if he even talks." I say getting up. Just then we heard a knock on the church door and it opened to reveal Paris and London accompanied by Yulier.
"It's been a long time, Belle." Yulier said, giving me a smile that seemed almost relieved to see me.
"Yulier, you look like you're doing okay."
"Actually, we bring pretty bad news." Paris said, looking to me. "Belle, since you know a bit of what's going on, do you want to explain?"
"Actually, I have to interrogate someone who tried to break in last night."
"What?"
"Yeah, he tried to take Yui so I need to talk to him." London and Paris looked a little interested but I looked to Yui giving her a comforting smile. "Yui, can you watch over London and Paris for me while I talk to the boy who tried to hurt you?"
"Okay, Mom." She said, smiling a bit going over to my friends. She seemed to like them a bit so that's good.
Walking into the room where we were keeping the boy seemed almost relaxed, but that was because the boy was sleeping against the chair we tied him to. The moment I sat on the bed to face him he woke up with a start and just stared at me for a minute. It felt like five minutes but I finally spoke to the boy in what I hoped was a calm voice.
"So, can you tell me your name? My name is…"
"Belle, real name Isabelle Thorn." The boy said almost like he was reading it from a piece of paper but the fact that he knew my real name scared me.
"How did you know my name?" The boy didn't speak, his mouth keeping tightly shut. "Can you tell me your name?"
"… Adam…" He said, as if he had to think of a name so I didn't think it was his real name. I mean, he wouldn't really tell his name to someone like me.
"Adam, why did you try to take Yui away?"
"You know why? She's not a player and she's not an NPC. She's not meant to be here. She's not of use in the system and shouldn't be operational." I stared at this kid, shocked at his words. He knew Yui wasn't meant to be operational but still, what he said was cruel. Yui was a program meant to help players emotional but to not be able to do that job and watching so many people suffer… Now that I think about it, Yui's program must have overloaded the day SAO began. All those people, scared, shocked, angry, terrified, so many emotions would cause any computer to crash. Still, this thing before me…
"And what does that make you? What gives you the right to decide whether she can be operational or not? You're not Kayaba nor are you a programmer." The boy didn't say anything, he just stared at the floor as if trying to compute what I was saying. I got up and started to untie him. "I'm not setting you free… but I am taking you with me, so no funny business." Adam didn't say anything as I tied his hands together with the rope and we walked out of the room. But when I saw Kirito and the others, they were dressed for battle.
"Hey, Belle, we're going down to the lower dungeons. Aren't you coming?"
"I am, just watch over Adam for me." I say, handing London the rope.
"Um… okay."
Kirito followed me to the room we were staying in and I told him everything as I changed using the menu. This gave us a few minutes to talk in private and how I felt about that boy Adam. At the end of our talk, Kirito looked concerned as he sat by me on the bed.
"I can't believe it. If Yui and this kid are the same, how can he be like this?"
"Maybe it's just in his programming. He probably thinks he's doing his job. I just don't get why he looks like my brother." I said, holding Kirito's hand a little tightly.
"You're still thinking about that? It could be a coincidence." Kirito tired to give me comfort by rubbing his fingers over my hand and it did feel nice. Its moments like these that make me feel like we really are something.
"Still, it kind of worries me. What exactly is my brother doing back in the real world?" Kirito gripped my hand tighter and I rested my head against, his shoulder.
"Lets talk more about this later. We need to find Thinker. Paris and London are coming with us so…"
"I know. We'll still need to be careful though." I said, getting up but not letting go of Kirito's hand. "Lets go. We got a friend to save."
Going into the lower dungeon, the anime didn't give the area enough justice. This place was huge and I mean huge. The halls felt like it could go on forever and I stuck close to Kirito as Yui stayed close to me. That is until the monsters started coming up and Kirito and London began having a contest to see how many monsters they could kill. Yulier, Yui, Adam, Paris, and I just stood back and watched the two boys fight.
"Sorry about all this. I heard you and Kirito are on your honeymoon." Yulier said as I shrugged.
"Well, Kirito was getting restless so this is actually really good for him." I said, smiling a bit watching Kirito fight. The boy isn't even breaking a sweat out there but he was fighting with a smile. Maybe because he and London are getting along and this is one of the few fights the two have that seem to be kind of fun.
"We should be near Thinker's location." Paris said, looking at a map. "Since it's a safe zone we should be able to teleport out of there with no problem." Paris looked at me and I knew why. The reaper was there. That high level monster that even Kirito and Asuna had a hard time with in the anime. With the four of us we may have a shot but I'm not willing to risk it. Not with two programs with us, one of which I'm not even sure is on our side.
"Phew! Man, I fought my butt off." Kirito said, as he and London returned.
"I should've helped you." Yulier said, looking a little upset.
"No, not at all. I had a blast. Besides, they dropped some items." Kirito looked at me as I sighed.
"Okay, you got frog legs. I can cook deep fried frog legs if you want." I said, rubbing my neck.
"Since when did you cook frog legs?"
"Since I stopped becoming picky about food drops here. I can't complain if something I can cook is given to me."
"Yeah but frog legs?"
"What? They're tasty."
"Yeah, plus Belle's cooking is really good."
"What?!" Paris and London looked at me with incredulous looks on their faces. "You've never let us taste your cooking ever!"
"Yes I did! Remember that cake?!"
"That was before SAO!" London shouted, almost giving me a puppy dog look on his face. "Come on, please, Belle."
"Well…" We stopped when we heard Yulier chuckling and looked to see Yulier smiling and Yui smiling up at Yulier. Yui looked happy to see Yulier smile… come to think of it, I haven't seen Yulier smile much. But Yui seemed really happy to see Yulier smile, maybe her programming is coming into effect. Then again, we first met during an attack and now we're rescuing her soon to be husband. We climbed down further finally reaching the hallway with the safe zone close by. A lone figure could be seen against the light of the safe zone.
"It's Thinker!" Yulier shouted, smiling with relief as she ran towards the man in the doorway.
"Wait, Yulier! It's a trap!" London shouted before saying, "I never thought I'd get to say 'it's a trap'."
"Now isn't the time to go geek on us!" Paris and I shouted. Seriously, did he have to say that? Yulier and Thinker shouted for each other, giving me a vague mental picture of one of those cheesy romance movies where the leading couple runs into each others arms against the backdrop of a beach during the sunset. It was ruined, of course, by Thinker shouting the corridor was rigged.
"London, back me up!"
"Right!" Kirito and London ran after Yulier, pulling Yulier away just as the Reaper fell from the ceiling. The two boys blocked the scythe with their swords as Paris, Adam, Yui, and I to help, well Paris and I at least.
"Yulier! Take Yui and Adam to the safe zone! We'll hold this thing off!" I order, taking out my sword.
"Okay."
"Mom? Don't go." I swear Yui always says stuff to get at me. I said something similar years ago but right now.
"I'll be fine, Yui. Make sure big old Adam doesn't do anything bad okay?" I give her a smile and Yui nods though still looking unsure. Adam on the other hand was looking at the monster with an expression that almost seemed annoyed and angry.
"This monster…too high leveled even for this area…"
"What?"
"Come on, Belle! We need to help them!"
"Right!" I ran with Paris to help London and Kirito fight the reaper. Okay, you know those pictures of the Grim Reaper in old paintings? Well, this is the kind of reaper I think I'd see before I die: big, scary, wicked looking scythe, and a mask that looked like something from laughing coffin.
"Belle, go to Yui and the others and teleport out of here. I'll catch up with you later." Kirito said and I shook my head.
"No way I'm leaving you to deal with this." I say, looking at out opponent. "We don't know how strong this thing is, you'll need all the man power you can get."
"Kirito is right, Belle. Even with us backing him up I don't think we'll have enough to stop this thing…" Paris said, getting into a defensive position. "Besides, if it gets tough, London and I can play decoy while Kirito escapes. At least this will allow both of you to live."
"But…" I looked to Yui who had a scared look on her face. Adam was staring at the reaper, as if trying to see it's stats and failing. I looked back at Kirito and made my choice. "Yulier! Thinker! When you get the chance, take Yui and Adam! We'll hold this thing off!"
"Belle are you crazy?!" Kirito shouted as I moved to stand by his side.
"Hey, London and Paris have a point in their plan so I'm not leaving if there's a chance you're going to get your ass killed." I said giving him a smile. "I'm not letting you die on me again." Kirito stared at me for a second before sighing.
"Either you love me or you friend-zone me. Make up your mind."
"Hey! Since when were we on this topic?!"
"Can you guys shut up about your love lives?! It's about to attack!" The four of us brace for an attack but to my surprise, Adam came rushing in front of us, his hand out of his bonds and held up as if to block the attack.
"Adam, what the hell are you…!" I was shocked at what I saw next. The scythe hit but it didn't cause any damage. In fact, instead of saying immortal object like most NPCs and solid objects in the game say when you hit it, nothing appeared when Adam was hit. Instead of damage though, screens appeared around Adam. What appeared to be stats showed up on the screens and really, this puzzled me.
"You're a faulty programming. Your level is too high for this area." Adam said in a very serious tone.
"Yui! Don't go!" I heard Yulier shout as Yui ran to join Adam's side.
"Adam, do you mind if I borrow a bit of your programming?"
"Be my guest."
"Wait, hold on, what?"
We all stared in shock as Yui's clothes, the ones I lent her turned back into her white dress as she held the biggest swords I've ever seen. Sephiroth, eat your heart out. What's even better, it was a flaming sword. Okay, if I had to fight against Sephrioth with him holding a giant flaming sword with his theme music playing in the background, I think I'd just run away from the screen and let Jason play the game. Also, to those children who are reading this, never play with weapons, especially flaming ones. Yui may make it seem cool to wield around a large flaming sword but it is very dangerous and you will end up like the monster she fought. Beaten up and very burnt. We all stood, staring at the two kids before us, none of us speaking until Adam looked at us.
"We have a lot of explaining to do. Please follow us, and you may want to sit down once we get to the safe zone."
Entering the all white safe zone, we all sat down. Kirito, Paris, London, and I sat on the ground while Yui and Adam sat on a large black slab that I knew was part of the main frame.
"I'm sorry, Belle, Kirito. I remember everything… and I know you probably told Kirito about what I was by now…" Yui said, looking at me with a sad smile. "How much did you tell him?"
"I only told him you were a program…" I said, my voice trying to remain calm. I know Yui is an AI, I've always known that but seeing her like this was almost sad. She looked ready to cry, like her whole world was crumbling and all she could do was watch.
"Everything in the world of Sword Art Online is controlled by a single massive system. The system is called Cardinal." Yui began, speaking in a very calm voice but it seemed almost robotic. "It was designed to operate entirely on its own without any human intervention. Its function is to regulate the balance of SAO according to its own discretion. From monsters and NPC AI to drop-rates for items and money. Everything here's controlled by the processes the Cardinal program executes. That includes the psychological care of players." She closed her eyes and stated clearly. "Mental Health Counseling Program, prototype one – code name: Yui. That is who I am."
"Well, that we knew about." Paris said but Kirito was still looking like he was trying his best to process the entire thing.
"I was designed to put players at ease with me." Yui said, looking down, her hands together on her lap. "That's why I was given the ability to emulate complex emotion. Nothing about me is real. Nothing… Not even my tears… or my words. I'm sorry, Belle. I could tell some of my words had an effect on you but…"
"Its okay." I moved to Yui, sitting beside her as I patted her shoulder. "Now we know more on why you had that freak out yesterday. You remembered when SAO began two years ago."
"Yes." Yui nodded, not pulling away from my touch. "Two years ago, on the day of the official launch, for some reason I never understood, the Cardinal program banned me from interacting with any of the players. I wasn't allowed to assist them. I couldn't do anything except continue monitoring their mental states. Their situation, in a word, was horrible."
"Yeah, we can imagine…." Kirito said, moving to sit next to me hoping to comfort Yui by showing he was also on her side.
"Terror, despair, rage. People were overcome by negative feelings. Some of them couldn't take it. They went insane." Yui flinched as if she remembered seeing what people had done in their state of madness. "Under normal circumstances, my function would've been to go to such players immediately. But I wasn't permitted any contact with them. Little by little, errors began piling up inside of me, I fell apart." I didn't realize it but Kirito was holding my hand again as Yui said this, giving me a small squeeze. "Then one day, I saw two players. Their mental parameters were vastly different from anything I'd seen among the others. There was joy and peace. And something there was something more. I wandered through the playing field, hoping to get as close to both of you as I could without being detected. But I wasn't able to… A firewall program stripped me of certain memories I had."
"And that program was me." Adam said, looking at me. "You're probably wondering why I look at my brother."
"How did you…"
"You're not good at keeping your voice quiet." Adam said, almost smiling as he leaned back. "I'm just a normal firewall, preventing Yui from leaving to help the players as well as preventing outside forces from hacking the game. That hasn't been working so well." He looked to London and Paris who gave a sheepish smile. "Even so, I gained access to the computers in the real world of Fire Revolution. That's where I met your brother, Belle."
"You met Jason?"
"Yes, he was the one who gave me the name, Adam though it was meant to be a joke since he was given a program to help him with a different F.R project he had named Eve. Still. I grew attached to that name and that appearance. He spoke highly of you from what I managed to over hear and… maybe it was from curiosity or from the fact that Yui was so interested, I wanted to see what made you so special."
"Oh… and?"
"That's pretty much it. Also I had to return Yui back so that was my main objective so he Cardinal system gave me this appearance." Wow, this kid was cold but he smiled so maybe he has a funny side to him. "Still, Yui and I have changed a bit… maybe even too much."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm confused. I don't understand what's happened to me…" Yui said, shaking her head.
"Not to mention I like being here instead of just hanging around the firewall." Adam said with a sigh. Kirito smiled looking at the two programs before standing up to face them.
"You both aren't just programs anymore. The system can't control you. Listen, if you want something, all you have to do is say it. Go ahead, tell us what you want." Adam and Yui looked at each other for a moment and I felt Yui touch my hand, holding it tightly.
"What I want… I want…" Yui reached out her empty hand to Kirito, tears running down her face. "I want to stay with your forever! Daddy… Mom…" Kirito took her hand, kneeling in front of her, a sad smile on his face.
"Yui… It's okay." Okay, maybe she's more tolerable like this because she's not a fairy screaming at me. I hugged her as she let go of my hand to grip my jacket. I heard a clicking sound and I looked over Kirito's shoulder to see Paris and London taking screen shorts of Kirito, Yui, and me.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!"
"Getting a nice family picture." Paris grinned. "I'm sure Gatsby would love this picture."
"Please don't. I don't want another lecture…" Kirito begged as Adam laughed.
"Okay, I think I know what I want. I want to stay here and hang out. Being a firewall program is nice and all but really, I like it here a lot better."
"You can stay if you want, Adam." Kirito offered but Yui shook her head.
"Its too late for us."
"What do you mean? I thought at least Adam could get the two of you stay since he is a security program." London said but Adam shook his head.
"I'm a firewall program, I'm not meant to interact with players. I was only allowed to come to get Yui… and since we kind of went rouge…"
"This is actually a console the GM can use to gain emergency access to the system." Yui said, patting the black slab she, Adam, and I were sitting on. A keyboard appeared glowing on the stone. "I used it to delete the monster in the corridor. And now, because we disobeyed the Cardinal's directive, the system is running a check on our programs."
"But I thought you used a bit of Adam's program." Paris said, as Yui nodded.
"Mostly for the flames of the sword to help expel the monster but once I made contact with it, I used Adam's data to delete the monster, classifying it as a foreign entity. Because of this, it thinks we're foreign objects as well. It'll probably delete us at once."
"Hold on! You were only doing your job, Adam! You said that monster…"
"Well, the Cardinal makes all the rules and if a monster was supposed to be there, than it believes it's right." Adamn said shrugging. "I only know what is supposed to be there during the original planning so a lot has changed."
"There's got to be a way around this." Kirito said, moving to the keyboard and typing furiously.
"Daddy, Mom, thank you. This is good bye."
"Yeah, we had a good run. No need to worry."
"No need to worry! Are you both nuts?!" I pulled Adam into a hug as well, hugging the two tightly. "You made me think of my brother, Yui! I felt like I was looking after him! And Adam… you made me feel like my brother was really here with me, having my whole family here! I don't want you guys to leave me now!"
"You guys can't go yet!"
"Yeah, at least stay for a little while longer."
"Yeah, you could get a chance to talk to Jason for real, Adam."
Hearing Kirito, Paris, and London say these things made me feel like I was really losing something important. Adam did look like my brother and acted like a weird version of him but I didn't mind. And the way Yui needed me made me feel like I was taking care of Jason, both sister and mother. Maybe we were some sort of strange family but I didn't mind. I had something to hold on to.
"Whenever the two of you are around, you have a way of making people smile…" Yui said, calmly as she and Adam began to glow. "From now on, and for me, please continue my work. Keep helping people. Share your happiness with all of them."
"Yeah, besides, I doubt Jason would want to see his sister crying."
"I'm not crying!" I shouted though I was tearing up.
"Ah well, bye guys."
"Bye, Mom, Daddy." I felt them vanish in my arms and I watched as the particles of lights vanished.
"No…. They're…. they're gone… unless." I looked to Kirito and he nodded.
"I got this! Already started!" He started typing furiously on the computer. Faster than I've ever seen before, how is he doing this without messing up or having a type-o? Even I can't do that. Heck I mess up a lot! I was about to ask if he was done or if his hands were cramping when he was flung back a few feet away from the console. "Kirito!"
"Hey, you okay man?"
"That looked like it hurt." He didn't answer as he held up the palm of his hand showing two small jewels. A red star and a blue tear drop. He sat up and place the jewels in my hands.
"Um… are these?"
"I managed to take their programs and make them into in game items." Kirito said, smiling a bit. "I also have their memories saved into my NerveGear so we can access them later. For now though… lets go home."
"O…okay and um… lets stop by Lisbeth's place. She can turn these into necklaces." I put Yui's teardrop into Kirito's hand as he stared at me. "Yui seems to be fonder of you than me. I think it's best that you hold on to her."
"Okay, I'm guessing you want to keep Adam?"
"Yes." I pocketed Adam's star giving Kirito a smile. "We should get going."
"Oh how nice of you to forget about us." We jumped and looked over at Paris and London who stood there, arms crossed and frowning at us. "Geez, you two are really becoming a couple. We're turning into the third and fourth wheels here."
"Sorry about that. A lot has happened."
"Yeah well, I think after all this we need a break. We're going to check on Thinker and Yulier so we'll be seeing you guys later." London said, as he and Paris took out their teleport crystals.
"Okay, see you guys later." I waved as my friends left but I looked to Kirito with a confused look. "About earlier, what you said. What did you mean by friend-zoning you?"
"It's nothing." Kirito said, rubbing his neck. "But… it's just, you never really answer stuff I say when I talk about us."
"Oh…" I felt my heart pound when he said that as he continued.
"One minute you hold on to my hand not wanting to let go and the next, you go quiet when we start talking about us together."
"Kirito…" I moved to him, holding his hand. "Just… just keep holding my hand, please. As for us… I do want to talk about it… just not right now. I don't know how to say it…"
How could I say it? How could I tell him I may really like him without damaging my pride as well as hurting myself? I'm falling in love with a fictional character who was meant for someone else. I may have changed everything just by being with Kirito. All these feelings I feel, I want to tell him. But… I want to wait to see if Kirito and I will get that chance. To see Aincrad as in the last part of SAO, with the iron castle in the sky crumbling. I want to be sure we were safe before I told him how I feel about him now. I squeezed his hand a little tighter, hoping he knew how I felt from that touch. We stayed quiet for that one last moment, before he smiled and it was a very warm smile too. The kind he always gave to reassure me when times were bad.
"Okay, I get it. Let's go, Isabelle."
"Right, Kazuto." I still held his hand as we teleported away together. Feeling how warm his hand was in mine and wondered, just for a moment if his hand was this warm in real life.
Crystal: This took me forever to do! And even as I post this... I'm kind of doing this in secret. I'm supposed to be in bed but I want to hold my promise. It's still Monday here so I'll have kept my promise to posting my chapter. Best of all, we're near the home base. To those who do not know, I've opened a poll to decide what race Belle should be once in ALfheim. The poll is on my profile now so everyone can vote. I'll keep it open until I finish I'm in Hell's last chapter. When will that be? Maybe the next chapter? Maybe the chapter before that? I'll keep you guys on your toes. Anyway, See you guys in Chapter 10: Full on War! See you soon! And Yes it is a see you soon! The next chapter will be shorter than this one.