Chapter XXIV

„The Mask of Innocence"

The first thing I saw was trick grass, waving lazily among the darkness of the forest. There was a faint, shimmering mist wafting between the trees, muffling the undergrowth delicately.

I tried to get up, but immediately let a silent hiss escape my lips and fell back. Something was holding one of my wings in place in a rather uncomfortable way... I turned around as best as the pain allowed me to and saw Eugeo, lying right behind my back.

"Eugeo..." I managed to whine, trying not to move too much to avoid making things worse. "Eugeo, wake up will you...!"

Finally he stirred and opened his eyes after a few seconds. "Kirito...?"

"Congratulations, you guessed right, but please get off, I almost can't fell my wing anymore..."

He hastily got up and helped me to my feet, apologizing all the way. "I think it worked..." he then said, looking around. There was no sign of the waterfall, the brook, or the cliff.

"Or this is what the afterlife looks like... with all this mist you could feel like you're soaring above the clouds..."

"Well then try not to fly away too far. Come on, let's try to find Asuna."

We set off, cautious with every step. I briefly looked up. The tree tops formed what seemed to be an impenetrable ceiling of massive branches and a thicket of leaves. We couldn't even dream of flying above to make our search easier, and the space beneath seemed much darker than a forest should be, when there were still remnants of day flickering in the sky. The leaves and needles seemed to be more gray here than they were in the Silivren Forest I knew until now, like they were shrouded in some kind of shadow that touched only them alone... The curiosity that this place sparked within me at first slowly started to turn into mistrust, then to something akin to fear... Something in this part of the forest was different, even more mysterious than usual. There was a presence palpable in this mist around us, despite absolutely no one being in sight.

We just continued onward, listening to the speech of the trees. Sometimes I had the feeling, that the wind's whisper was guiding us through the semi-darkness and the shrubs. We weren't very eager to call Asuna, not knowing what was lurking in the shadows, and we didn't feel like drawing attention. She was nowhere to be seen, but in her case that didn't really have to mean anything.

Suddenly Eugeo stopped and I noticed what caught his attention even before I could open my mouth to ask a question. There was something small glistening among the moist grass, alive in the slight breeze. He crouched and picked up a fine chainlet, its end wrapped under the widening of a tiny crystal flacon's neck. The remnants of some bluish liquid swayed at the bottom of it.

"What's that?" I asked, watching the unusual find. Upon closer examination I noticed that the liquid didn't quite seem to be a liquid. Its color had a few undertones here and there, which created the impression that it was a very dense mist trapped within the crystal.

"Hard to say..." Eugeo carefully opened the vessel and sniffed the contents even more cautiously. "I have no idea."

"Let's take it with us. Maybe it's something that Asuna dropped or maybe... it has something to do with the Guardian."

Eugeo put the flacon into his pocket and took another step into the depths of the forest, when a noise came from the brush a few meters further to our left... We turned to face the sound, but saw nothing. I felt my wings twitch nervously, as I took that one step back again to put my back to Eugeo's, looking around and doubling my guard. He did the same. It was then that I noticed the lack of a weight at my waist to my left. My dagger was gone. I scanned the ground in the foolish hope that I dropped it somewhere nearby, but it was far too late for that, as well as for the thought that Lisbeth will probably kill me if she learns that I lost it so easily.

We expected some kind of danger, but definitely not in the way that it came.

Suddenly the air around us sparkled blinding gold and the next second we were surrounded by a wreath of enormous flames almost two meters high. We reflexively pressed our backs to eachother, wanting to back away, but there was nowhere to flee. We started to search for an opening in the sinisterly growling fire, but to no avail. And then a familiar sound reached our ears.

One small, cheerful jingle, almost lightening up the gloom of the forest in a different way than the flames did...

"Asuna stop it!" I yelled, shielding my eyes from the brightness of the fire. "It's us!"

The flames disappeared like they've never been there in the first place, leaving the undergrowth perfectly untouched. The brushes to my right moved and Asuna emerged from the greenery.

"Are you two insane?!" the greeting was angry but drenched in worry at the same time. "I told you not to follow me!" Her clothing was a little torn here and there and a long scratch marked the flawless skin of her neck. There were also a few leaves entangled in her hair.

"We wanted to help..." I started explaining, but she cut me off.

"How do you want to help me? How am I supposed to rely on you, when you can't even listen to a simple request? You can feel lucky that I'm the first creature you've come across in here!"

"If it is as dangerous as you claim," Eugeo didn't seem to want to owe any questions, "then what are you doing here? Alone, no less?"

"I'm trying to save the forest..."

"In this state?"

Asuna fell silent, frowning a little. Eugeo sighed. "Look, you don't need to be a clairvoyant to see that you are wounded." I raised my eyebrows, looking at Asuna cautiously. To me, Eugeo must have been a clairvoyant. And he continued calmly: "And you still don't want us to help? You want to risk your life further?"

There was something akin to rising anger in Asuna's eyes, but it didn't burst out. Probably due to a shadow of indecision dulling it. Eugeo faced this stare with admirable composure. "I admit that Kirito and me haven't developed our abilities as well as you yet, but if something happened to you, Sharish would crush us in less than a week, did you think about that? You ask how you're supposed to rely on us, but how are we supposed to rely on you, when you try to do everything alone and don't accept us as your support? Because that's what we are supposed to be as friends, aren't we? If we abandon you in time of peace, will you later be able to trust us on the battlefield? And what's most important... would you be able to sit still if you knew, that your friend is exposing himself to maybe mortal danger?"

Asuna closed her eyes and let out a silent, soft sigh. "I wouldn't... I'm sorry, I got carried away..."

Eugeo's expression became more gentle. "If you don't take yourself into consideration while saving someone, you won't be able to save anyone. If you won't be able to both say 'thank goodness' at the end, then no one has really been saved..."

A sad smile found a way to Asuna's lips, and she looked me in the eyes. "See, that's what I meant when I said that even I need a reprimand sometimes..."

"Didn't you also say that I should give anything that I'm unable to carry to you?" I said conciliatorily. "Why not let it work the other way as well?"

Her smile deepened a bit and Eugeo approached her and delicately put a hand on her shoulder. "We're already here, so just let us help, please... Is it something serious?"

Asuna shook her head, carefully reaching to her right side. "It's not even bleeding anymore..."

"But who did that to you?"

"One of the stags... I didn't want to hurt it, that's why I ended up like this. All animals are so confused, they treat everyone as their enemies. They sense that something has happened to the Guardian, but I just can't find him..."

"Could all of that have something to do with this?" Eugeo took the tiny flacon out of his pocket again.

"What's that?"

"I'm not sure, we just found it here, and well, if you don't recognize it..."

Asuna took the vial carefully and opened it. The way she frowned after a brief examination suggested, that she was already suspecting something. "It's poison..." she said quietly. "It's hirva, a poison made from plants that grow only in the mountains in the west. They can't be found here... I think I understand now."

"I don't," I complained. "Are you trying to say that someone has poisoned the Guardian?"

"That's very likely, but why? And even if someone did have a reason, then if they knew how to get in here, they must also have known that they wouldn't be able to kill the Guardian that way and that he will recover after some time. Besides, every druid is able to neutralize such poison, so what's the sense in that...?"

"Well, at least it would explain this whole situation."

"Yeah... come on, let's try to find him. This place isn't as big as it seems to be."

"Can you manage?" Eugeo still seemed concerned.

"She had enough strength to almost burn us alive, so I think she can," I didn't get to put a smile at the end of that sentence because of a smack on the back of my head from a graceful, but firm hand.

We continued deeper into the forest, still on guard and cautious. We were just hacking through some scrubs when a question came up in my mind, that should have been asked far earlier. "You know, I just realized that I don't really know what I'm looking for... what does this Guardian even look like?"

"Oh, you might not be able to see him."

"Sorry?"

"I'm not joking, it could happen. He is able to take on many forms, sometimes he's a lynx, sometimes an enormous tree, and sometimes a little bug that just settled down on your shirt."

I glanced to my shoulder and raised my eyebrows upon seeing a tiny beetle, moving its feelers curiously.

"That's not him, don't worry."

"Funny as ever..."

Suddenly all three of us abruptly stopped, when a strange, unclear noise spread among the trees, muffled by the thicket. It reminded me of a stag's bell, but that wasn't it. I've never heard something like that before.

"He's close," Asuna whispered, when the sound unexpectedly died out. She pressed forward with even more determination.

Soon the terrain started to dip and we saw a rather spacious, shallow depression, a clearing. At the border of it stood a mid-sized yew, spreading its branches towards the middle of the free space. It caught my attention among the dozens of other, similar trees because its bark seemed to be shrouded in a hazy, bluish glow and there were countless fresh, green needles lying around it, as if the tree lost many of them in a very short time due to some disease. It even looked like it was barely standing on its own.

"It's him..." I heard Asuna's whisper again and she came out into the clearing, approaching the tree.

"Are you sure this is safe?" I asked, following her watchfully.

"As long as you two are nearby, it is."

Eugeo just shook his head slightly. Meanwhile Asuna reached out and touched the trunk of the yew. She closed her eyes and stayed like this for a few moments, as if listening, and sometimes whispering something almost inaudibly. I wasn't really sure if she was talking to herself or to the tree. Finally she frowned and started to circle the trunk, examining its base. She kneeled down on the other side of it, so we followed her.

There was a rather big cut in the bark not very high above the ground, like from a single strike of an ax or maybe a big sword. Greenish, unhealthy looking resin was slowly seeping out of the wound.

"What happened...?" I asked, for some reason feeling an unpleasant sting in my chest upon seeing the beautiful tree in such a state.

"I don't know, he says, that he was alone the whole time, he has no idea how it came to this..."

I blinked. "Wait, you can talk to it?"

Asuna gave me a quiet giggle. "Yes, we communicate with our thoughts."

"I don't think I want to know more..."

"Well then, it's time to put an end to this chaos." Asuna ran her fingers down the trunk a little, stopped her hand right above the wound and pressed it more firmly to the bark. She closed her eyes. A few twisted words in the language of druids fell from her pale lips and her palm started to get surrounded by a faint shimmer, resembling the color of the found flacon's contents...

... and suddenly the forest around us brightened, the mist dispersed, taking the strange atmosphere of tension and hostility with it. Warmth and tranquility spread across the forest anew, like delicate ripples on water from a spot where someone's thrown a tiny stone in. Asuna smiled and retreated her hand. I wanted to ask something, when the tree suddenly moved its twigs a little, a faint rustle came from the upmost branches, and then... it disappeared. Leaving me gaping stupidly.

"What..."

Asuna laughed shortly. "Don't worry, he's still close," she looked over her shoulder, and we both followed her eyes.

In the center of the clearing stood a tremendous elk with a branchy antler, watching us with a gaze that was imperious but friendly and tired at the same time. Almost palpable strength emanated from it, along with a pleasant, gentle aura that awoke respect and affection in my heart. "Is that the Guardian?" I whispered.

"Yes," Asuna stood up from her kneeling position. "Come with me, I'll introduce you."

We approached the elk and it leaned its head down towards her. Asuna stroked the massive neck lovingly and allowed an affectionate lick to her cheek. When the Guardian turned his intelligent eyes to me and Eugeo, she just looked at him for a moment, as if listening to something again. "He wants to thank you for your help in saving the forest," she finally said. "And I want to thank you as well... with all my heart."

"We didn't really do much to be honest... are you really talking to him though?" I couldn't hold back.

"Yes, you unbeliever."

"And he really doesn't remember anyone being here?" Eugeo asked.

Asuna shook her head slightly. "There just suddenly was this," she pointed to the elk's rear left leg, where a cut could be seen, just below the powerful muscle of the thigh. It was neither deep nor long, but must have been enough with the use of poison.

"It's strange..." I trailed off, suddenly noticing something behind the massive animal. "What's that?" I asked, pointing to something that stuck out from the ground and looked like the remnants of a man-made well.

Asuna glanced in its direction. "Ah, this... that's the Well of Spirits, the most important thing the Guardian is protecting. The souls of all creatures that end their days in this forest come here. For us it's just a normal well, but the water in it supposedly has some special properties and the spirits quench their thirst here while they stay in the Guardian's domain. When their minds have calmed down and they accept their fate, they disappear. Some, who aren't able to cope with it, stay at the bottom of the well, sleeping, some are reborn in other creatures, and some become spirits, who protect the forest."

"I don't think anything else can surprise me today..." Eugeo sighed weakly.

"Then let's go back and rest a bit..." Asuna stroked the Guardian's neck again. "And let him rest too."

"But how do we get out of here?"

"Oh, that's simple. Put your hands to his side, or his back, doesn't matter which. Don't be afraid."

I looked at Eugeo hesitantly, he answered with an equally unsure glance. Finally, I took a step forward and raised my hand. He followed my example. As soon as my fingertips brushed the soft pelage, I felt some strange, probably magic impulse run through them to the rest of my body. Out of reflex I closed my eyes, sucking in a short breath, and when I opened them again... the Guardian was gone.

I blinked and looked around. Eugeo was still standing by my side with a similarly flabbergasted expression as the one I must have been wearing, and Asuna was smiling at us from the other side of the creek. We were back at the waterfall, and the forest, in which darkness already started to waft around, regained its warm, friendly feel. Its calmness cleansed the soul again, the last still awake birds called from above, as if wanting everyone to know that the danger has passed. I also felt the familiar weight of a weapon at my side again. I realized I should have known where it went from the very start. No harming intent was to be brought into that sacred place...

I didn't even ask anymore. I already saw enough to know, that anything was possible in this forest.

We returned to the camp, where the exhilarated druids were already waiting and started to cheer as soon as they noticed us between the trees. They wanted to snatch Asuna and throw her into the air in joy, but before she could protest herself, Eugeo stepped in saying that her wound needed to be tended to first.

The atmosphere became a bit disorganized when some of the druids rushed to get bandages, others decided to prepare the evening meal, and the rest started to take care of the overall chaos, that came into being in the camp that day. I was just about to offer my help, when I heard a noise from the opposite border of the clearing. A rustle, or maybe the sound of a twig snapping underneath a heel... or maybe both. I had no idea why something that simple stirred something unpleasantly in my mind. I turned around. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Asuna and Eugeo doing the same, as if sharing some instinct with me.

There, in the shadow of the lush tree branches, leaning its back against one of the trunks stood a tall figure of a man. A skinny man with long, black hair, clad in a deep-amethyst robe, trimmed with silver thread... For some reason Asuna paled more than Eugeo did when I told him we have to attempt suicide.

"You..." she whispered, before her voice shot through the calmness of the forest like a short, sharp thunder. "What are you doing here?!"

It drew the attention of the other druids, who also turned towards the stranger. Some of them immediately raised their bows.

The man just smiled kindly, visibly pleased with himself and with the effect his appearance brought upon our minds. "Oh, I traveled such a long way to see you, aren't you happy?" he asked, his tone completely carefree. There was something in it that ignited a fair amount of irritation within me.

"Why would I be happy about a visit from you?!"

There was a short silence, which Eugeo used to whisper, never turning his eyes away from the stranger: "Who is this?"

"This man..." every word seemed hard for Asuna to get out. It felt like even the forest was responding to her emotions. The trees whispered a little louder, the brushes and blades of grass moved, as if wanting to convey that they are ready to fight by her side. When she lifted her head after a few deep breaths, her eyes were burning with hazel fire. "This man is Sharish Caydranth..."

"What?!" that scream escaped my lips before I could think about it. "That is...?"

"Yes, dear Kirito, it's me," the man's voice dripped with cordiality, but I was getting chills from it. He looked up and watched the leaves rustling above his head for a moment. "I see you've managed to cure the Guardian. Well, I wasn't expecting anything else from you, to be honest."

"Don't tell me you poisoned him... and you still dare to show your face here?!"

"I'm almost sorry. But I didn't intend to kill him, believe me. I just wanted to draw your attention away from this," Sharish reached to his pocket and pulled out a pendant on a rather thin, worn leather band. It had the shape of a small tree made of brass, darkened with age, its tiny leaves glistening with green enamel. When Asuna just moved her lips a little, with no sound coming from them, he laughed. "It was so easy," he said, as if reading the unspoken question from her eyes. "Don't blame your enemy for your own mistakes. You were only chasing a shadow, which was supposed to divert your attention from what was casting it. And you gave the amulet such a weak protection..."

He snapped his fingers and another, kneeling figure appeared at his side. It was a girl, probably a little younger than Asuna, her hands bound behind her back.

"Ronye!" Asuna shouted, this time with genuine terror sounding in her voice.

"Yes, it was her who snuck into the Guardian's domain. I just told her, that by doing what I wanted she would save both her life and yours, and she was able to slip inside..."

"You monster..."

I made a step forward. "I've heard enough from you..." I said, eyeing him with disgust. "What do you want from Asuna?"

"Oh, it's not just about her, dear Kirito," he answered my challenging stare with a completely calm of his own. "It's about all three of you. I just wanted to offer the return of the amulet in exchange for an alliance... a second chance."

"A second chance?" Asuna seemed to have regained her composure again. "It's like I would give you a second arrow because you missed me the first time. I would rather die than join you..."

"Please, why kill such a gorgeous creature? Wouldn't it be easier to join forces and cleanse this world of any races, which don't deserve to walk upon it? You are but a shadow of the previous, magnificent era, but together we could bring dragons back and restore Earlindon to what it was before the last of them died..."

"Stop living in illusions, you know far too well that it's not possible. This land needs every race to keep its balance, even the humans, and your fantasy of a world conquered by magical beings only is completely unrealistic."

"Oh, I could argue with that, I'm already making progress in my strive towards it..."

"What progress?"

"You don't expect me to reveal anything when you insist to oppose me, do you? You should think about it, all three of you. Let's form an alliance and I shall show you a marvelous perspective of a new, beautiful world. I'll give you some time to consider. Until then... farewell."

He whispered a few more words and... disappeared. Just vanished into thin air.

We all looked in total silence at the place where he's been standing, and where we could only see trees, shrubs, and evening shadows now... If it weren't for the general bewilderment, one could think that the successor of the Caydranth lineage was just a hallucination from a deep dream.

The first to shake herself free was Asuna. She ran up to the girl, whom Sharish left at the border of the clearing and quickly freed her from her bonds. "Are you alright?" she asked quietly, helping her up.

"Yes..." the girl answered, wiping her eyes with a delicate hand.

It was then that I noticed a few strange features in her appearance. Instead of normal, human ears, this creature had big, cat-like ones, covered with black fur. I didn't notice them at first, because she had them down in fear, almost hidden within the dark cedar-brown of her hair. Scared, beautiful sapphire eyes looked up at Asuna from underneath the fringe and a fluffy tail with a black apex hung behind her back. She was just a little shorter than me.

Asuna hugged the girl reassuringly, while the younger one murmured teary words of apology into her shirt. "It's alright..." Asuna kept whispering, despite looking almost broken herself. "Don't worry about it..."

"Asuna..." Eugeo started in the most gentle tone I've ever heard from him, approaching the two girls.

"Please, don't ask..." Asuna interrupted, contrition already sounding in her voice. "I will explain everything at once..."

"You should rest first, that's more important..."

His ever warm kindness elicited a sad smile from her. "Just a little... I owe you a few answers, that should not have waited such a long time..."

„If people used their Heart

To decide quite simply what's right and what isn't..."

You might wonder why I didn't choose any of the SAO villains for the main bad guy here... I've been wondering about it quite a bit actually. I hate Oberon, and it would have been irritating to have him there for longer than two chapters. Kayaba was way too cool for this role, I needed someone with a spark of insanity. I seriously thought about Gabriel Miller, but decided against it because I feel like I know too little about him as of now (I didn't get to that point in the LNs yet) and I wouldn't want to bend his character too much and displease anyone... so yeah... I finally said "screw this" and took the original character I created XD It should be fine.

Very warm thanks to everyone who read, favorited and followed, see you next week :)