Disclaimer: Don't own SAO or any of it's characters.

Rating: T

A little something I wondered about, to see what it might have been like for Yui, that drove her to meet Kirito + Asuna


ALO

"Is she late?"

"Nah, she said it might take some time to choose her avatar's race before getting over here" mommy said to daddy. "Not to mention the whole 'getting-used-to-flying' angle."

"True, but did we have to have her welcoming party at the house?" he said, a little grumbling - mommy just gave him a teasing look

Yui giggled on top of his head, glad he'd recently changed it back to his SAO form at her request; now it's much easier to sit up there. "Everyone insisted, daddy" she said, hanging upside-down in his vision, smiling - he just chuckled a little, sheepish.

"Yeah we did" Klein agreed, holding onto his drink. "Right, Agil?"

"What are you asking me for?" he responded, also holding his drink next to Klein. "I wouldn't have minded where we held the party."

"What, like your dinky little smith shop?" Liz teased.

Agil waggled a finger. "Don't even go there" he warned, but they were all chuckling, which he eventually softened at with a grin.

Sitting on daddy's other side, Leafa leaned forward, still with a little smile from the jest. "Did Sinon give any clue is to what race she'd prefer, brother?"

"Yeah" daddy breathed, glancing up. "Sinon, being a sniper type, wanted a race that would support long-range and her eyesight - however, when I explained how magic worked, she seemed to dislike it; she prefers more physical weapons, I guess."

"Hmm" Silica breathed, her ears twitching. "I guess that would mean-"

She was interrupted when this woosh sound reached their ears, and a distinct thump as someone/thing went sliding outside the house.

"Okay, gotta work on my landing later... um, hello? Is this the right house? Looks like it, but-"

Klein was quick to open the door, big smile on his face (but not his 'too big' version). "Nah, you got the right place, miss" he said easily, stepping aside. "Any friend of Kirito's is a friend of ours!"

They all agreed, but there was a moment where they were surprised by her appearance; Sinon had chosen the Cat Sith fairy race, and sported long cat ears and a tail, with those/her hair a light-blue.

Daddy crossed his arms a little, and Yui could tell he was smirking. "Interesting choice, Sinon" he teased, to her irritation.

"I chose this race because of their superior eyesight" she said, in a small huff before drawing back. "I'm gonna need it for what I have in mind."

"Which is what, exactly?" Liz asked, stepping in front. "Kirito's already explained that you don't seem to like magic, but if you want to be a long-range type, then that's the best way to go."

Sinon didn't seem surprised, but shook her head. "I know magic has more range, but I want a different style" she said, confident in that much. "I'd prefer something like a bow, if that's okay."

"Hmm, not quite enough range for what you seem to have in mind" Liz considered, almost a little exasperated.

The other woman smiled. "I'm a sniper; hitting stuff out of my range is what I do" Sinon said mildly, to Liz's further exasperation. They all laughed at this too, even as daddy stepped forward.

"Anyway, since this is your first time meeting a few of us, I'll make introductions" he said easily. "Obviously, you know me, Asuna, and Liz already-"

Liz gave him a little glare at that, and mommy's emotions were definitely a little sheepish-

-uh oh, looks like daddy said something playful again.

"-now, onto the rest" he continued without fear. "This is Klein, who's a bit of a sucker for flirting and drinking a little, but he's a good guy at heart."

"Hey..." Klein breathed, a little annoyed.

Sinon just appeared a little amused, for a moment. "Nice to meet you, Klein."

"Likewise" he said with ease, before moving over to daddy (seeing where this was going, Yui flew off his head), before 'pressuring' his foot. "But don't worry, Kirito here's a little jokester, aren't you buddy."

"Yeah, sure, whatever."

Mommy smiled a little, before gesturing at Agil for Sinon's shake. "And this is Agil" she said gently. "A good friend of ours from our SAO days, who ran a blacksmith shop and did what he could to help players."

Agil crossed his arms, but friendly. "That's not all I do though; I also run a bar in the real world with my wife" he said easily, extending his hand, which Sinon shook. "These kids visit all the time now after our experience, though they seemed to forget to properly introduce us when you first came in."

"I'm sure" Sinon said, agreeing as she gave a 'look' to daddy, but also teasing (they were just sheepish). "Still, I'm glad."

Then daddy came back over, out of his predicament with Klein. "And this is Leafa, who's my cousin in real life" he said, Leafa bowing a little. "Though, due to our upbringing, we like to call each other brother and sister-"

"No you don't" Leafa argued, with a medley of emotions. "Only I do; you hardly call me that anymore!"

"What?" daddy asked, sheepish, rubbing his head. "I was just trying to make a joke of it."

"Grrr" Leafa breathed, shaking, before pinching the bridge of her nose.

Yui was glad that they weren't having trouble, but still she worried a bit; only she could feel the small tension underneath their actions, the awkwardness...

Sinon just laughed, before smirking.

"With such a 'brother' around, I can see how you'd be irritated, Leafa" she said, quite knowingly. "I'm sure we'll get along great."

At that, Leafa's irritation switched to sheepishness, where she rubbed a finger against her temple. "Yeah... sure, hehe."

"And then of course, there's Silica" mommy picked up, smiling as she watched the scene.

Silica also did a short bow, her cat ears twitching, which Sinon definitely noticed. "Glad to see another female player with us" she said, a little cheerful. "And it'll be interesting to have two Cat Sith members now."

"Yeah, certainly" Sinon agreed, before glancing over her back, where her tail wagged. "One question though; how exactly do you control this thing?"

"Oh well, that's easy-"

As Silica explained, Yui saw it as mommy went to stand by daddy, taking his hand - after a small gaze, they both just smiled at each other.

Liz straightened up a bit, arms crossed as she thought. "Well, I have to admit, bows aren't my usual selection of orders, so I might be a little rusty" she said to herself, glancing up.

"Need any help then?"

"For a little time, Agil, thanks."

"No problem."

Yui knew she'd make a great one for Sinon, considering her skills-

"Oh, and btw-"

She jolted, as did mommy and daddy, when Sinon addressed Kirito with a little smirk.

"Seems like you attract a lot of girls, don't you" she teased, with a grin.

The result was instant; daddy, mommy, Liz, Silica, Leafa all gave little gasps, with or without slight blushes. Over in the corner now, Klein just gave Agil a knowing smirk, while the other man simply shook his head with a smile.

"Don't you dare accuse him of being faithless!" Yui exclaimed, jolting everyone but especially Sinon, given that she flew up in her face. "Daddy loves mommy, and she loves him; there is no one else for them! You got that!?"

Sinon hastily backed away a step, her hands up instinctively. "L-Look, I was just joking, and I didn't know you'd feel so strongly about it" she said, a little unnerved - Yui just hmmp'd, floating there even as Sinon was very sheepish. Then Sinon blinked several times, "Wait... who are you?" she wondered, giving her pixie form a once-over. "What are you? ...Ack! 'Mommy'!? 'Daddy'!?"

"To answer your questions in order" Yui said proudly, fist to her chest. "My name is Yui, and I'm a Navigation Pixie AI, ma'am. And these two (she flew over to them) are my mommy and my daddy."

"Eheh yeah... Yui's our adopted daughter" mommy breathed, a little sheepish, but mostly soft as she looked at her; Yui smiled back as well.

"Completely by choice, on all sides, and not because we did anything to her settings" daddy added, but lightly tapping her head with his finger; Yui made several noises as she moved to get out from under it, but he merely chuckled.

"Daddy! Now's not the time to be playful!"

Sinon just continued to blink, looking stunned with a general 'what did I get myself into?' look - the rest of the group couldn't quite blame her, even despite their reactions to the tease.

/

ALO

Two weeks later

"We're back, guys! - Thanks for waiting!"

"We thought you were never coming back, hehe."

"What's up! You guys get lost or something?"

Yui just giggled, flying off mommy's shoulder toward daddy. "Not at all; we were gathering information while we shopped" she said gently, landing on the top of his head, settling there; so warm. "We talked to a whole lot of people daddy, and so far, not one person or party has reached that dungeon yet."

"Huh, really" daddy breathed, probably with a furrowed brow. "Then, how the heck do they know Excaliber's at?"

"That's the thing, daddy; no one really knows where it is. Apparently, they a different quest than the one Tonkii showed us" Yui continued, tapping her feet a little. "They met an NPC who told them if they finished this quest, they'd get Excaliber as a reward."

Mommy put down one of the bottles for their raid. "And from what we heard, the quest they're going on isn't very pleasant" she said, a little troubled. "Instead of delivery or escort quest, it's a kill quest; just... slaughtering monsters. Everyone in Jotenheim is out there killing as many as they can..."

"Yeah, that isn't anywhere close to pleasant" daddy agreed, faint.

"This whole thing sounds sketchy to me guys" Klein added, holding up a hand. "Here's what we know: A dungeon in the sky with Excaliber locked up there. To get to it, you gotta fight your way through a bunch of monsters and probably a few bosses, but now we've got an NPC offering it as a kill quest reward? That's bizarre."

"Now that you mention it, that is weird" Silica breathed, worried, stroking Pina's fur. "The NPC's not showing anyone to the dungeon, but that's where the sword is..."

Their group just made one of those 'thinking' noises, trying to figure out.

"Well, I'm sure we'll find out once we get there" Sinon said, looking at one bottle in her hand.

"Alrighty!" Liz announced, them turning - she stood there with a pile of their equipment. "Your weapons are all restored and ready for action!"

It didn't take that long, but somehow it seemed to be unconsciously a posing situation... except for Klein, who 'ruined' the moment.

"Even though our party's totally hot, we're still a bunch of gear-toting meat heads-" he said, grinning.

"If you wanna switch it up, boost your magic" Liz retorted, but teasing - and so followed a mini-argument on what constituted a samurai and their status with magic in a virtual game, and if Klein fit the bill as he stated it was to be. Klein was just beginning to freak out that Sword Skills were half-magic due to elements assigned to them in the May update, but before Liz could make him break his sword, he'd gone to daddy for help. And daddy being such a nice guy, said that if it doesn't use incantations, perhaps it shouldn't count - so easy of him to let people off the hook, hehe.

"All right everyone" daddy spoke, raising his hand. "Are you ready!?"

"Yeah!"

/

ALO

Jotenheim

"Dumbass! Do that again and I'll shove a fire arrow up your brain!"

"Heheheh... heh."

"You're not afraid of anything, man... must have balls of steel, no joke."

"Hmph" Yui breathed to herself; why did he always have to go and do such stuff?

Yes he's only being playful, but mommy's the only one he should be playful to!

Still, even her pouty feelings had to give way when confronted with the spectacular sight before them. So white, wild, and beautiful... but she also knew this wasn't how it normally looked, and wondered about that.

"Oss sér rauðr vind, burt hálka stórhrið / Ōsu sharu reizu vindo, bāto haruka storuzu ("Wrap us in shining wind, and keep away icy blizzards")" mommy cast, to protect their party from the cold. Still, Yui wished the developers would standardize the runes and the words themselves; this inconsistency always 'rubbed her the wrong way', even if it's nothing major.

Leafa whistled for Tonkii, and it took a few seconds, but he quickly appeared beneath them- boy was he as big as ever! Though he startled Klein, with daddy having to explain that they're herbivores, with the exception that they can eat fish; kinda weird creatures that way, it seemed.

Still, after a little delay, they were all on board:

"Alright, Tonkii" Leafa said, looking forward to this more than anyone else. "Everyone's onboard, so take us to that dungeon!"

And like that, he was off - she just giggled, enjoying the ride and the wind as it swept through her hair, something which mommy happened to be enjoying too. But that wasn't all mommy did; she held daddy's hand, who while surprised, accepted it with a little smile. That was well worth it too, and Yui loved how much they cared for each other; it wasn't obvious all the time, but they did, so much. They all made small talk on the trip, including what would happen if you fell, but they were interrupted by Tonkii suddenly doing a nose-dive, forcing them all to hang on tight, yelling (except for Leafa, who cheered the entire way)!

Well, least that was better than screaming in terror, she guessed!

However, not long after they recovered from that sudden experience, they were faced with a horrible sight; players and Tyrants working to slay Tonkii's friends as part of that kill quest. It made her sad, and she couldn't bear to watch after a moment, even as the others continued to discuss how this might be-

Yui jolted; something was coming!

The others were only a second behind her as a bright light appeared behind them, taking the form of a really really tall woman (Klein even said so).

"Greetings, I am Urd, Queen of the Lake" the NPC spoke, in a voice of sadness, but also hope - Yui strove to analyze what she could in that time while Urd was talking. "You have bonded with my kinsmen, and I am grateful. My two younger sisters and I have spoken at length, and have a request for you: If you would be so kind, please, save our land from the frost giants."

"Daddy, something's strange about this NPC" she spoke, flying to his shoulder. "Her speech pattern doesn't follow the same set response routine, like normal NPCs - her core program is connected to the language-engine module of the game."

He made a sound. "What are you saying? That she's some sort of AI?"

Yui slowly nodded. "Yes, daddy, she is. But a very limited sort."

Urd continued to speak as if they hadn't. "In the past, Jotenheim was similar to your Alfheim, blessed with plentiful water and greenry, basking in the glow of Yggdrasil, the World Tree. We, the hill giants, lived in peace and harmony with our kinfolk, the creatures... but far below Jotenheim is a land of ice and snow, Niflheim. Thrym, King of the Frost Giants, rules that land - he shattered our piece by piercing Excaliber, the 'sword which cuts all wood and iron', into the lake, the heart of our land. It severed the thickest root of the World Tree, and in an instant, Jotenheim lost all blessings of Yggdrasil."

So, Excaliber rested at the very bottom of the dungeon they were heading to - looks like their intel had been right.

"Under Thrym's command, the Frost Giants marched on Jotenheim and overwhelmed our defenses - their fortresses and castles soon blighted our land, and scores of our people were captured" Urd continued. "Once they seized control, they built Thrymheim, their largest castle, atop the massive ice that used to be the lake. In the chaos, my sisters and I escaped to the bottom of a frozen lake... however, we no longer have the power we once had. The Frost Giants are not satisfied with their spoils; they are are now trying to kill our kin, the creatures that populate our realm. If they succeed, my powers will be extinguished vanish, and Thrymheim will rise to the next world, your world. Alfheim."

Huh!?

"Wha- Hold the phone!" Klein exclaimed, in the same vein she just thought. "You're telling me that once they're done, they're gonna go up and destroy Arun!?"

Urd was more-or-less unfazed by the outburst. "Yes, that is their intention - King Thrym will cover Alfheim in ice and continue onward, till he reaches the top of Yggdrasil. Once he reaches it, he will take the golden apple said to grow there. Thrym and his generals have grown frustrated at the time it takes to slay my kinfolk, so they have turned to your people for assistance in their murderous plot. Your kind hunt them to extinction, lured by the offer of Excaliber, as a reward. However, King Thrym cannot bestow that sword to others, for if it ever leaves Thrymheim, the blessings of Yggdrasil will be returned to this land, and their castle will vanish."

"What- but-!" Liz breathed. "What kind of quest is it when the reward's a total lie!? How's he gonna get away with it?"

Urd just closed her eyes. "Most likely, he will reward the victor a sword called Caliburn, whose appearance is identical to Excaliber."

"But, that's cheating!" Leafa added. "If he's a king, doesn't he have a code of honor or something!?"

"Unfortunately, cheating and falsehoods are Thrym's most powerful weapons. However, he has made one grave mistake; in his eagerness to slaughter my kin, most of the giants are away from Thrymheim, to assist in the kill quests. The castle's defenses are weaker than they've ever been."

"So there's our shot" her daddy breathed, a little grim but determined.

Then Urd held her hand out, a little light coming toward them before forming a medallion of some sort. "Once the stone in the amulet turns black, it will mean all my kinfolk have been slain, and my powers have left me." she spoke, giving it to Leafa. "Good fairies, infiltrate Thrymheim, remove Excaliber from it's keystone dais, and save my realm."

Just as Urd finished, 'Quest Accepted' appeared over her head, while before them, the quest 'Holy Sword of the Frozen Palace' appeared.

"I am counting on you all."


Well, Sinon's gotten herself 'involved' with Kirito - of course things would be interesting, especially since he really isn't above teases like that XD

Still, cut off here to end the first part of three for this arc (kinda had to, due to length).