A/N: And here we are. Our heroes have fought and struggled to the top of the floating castle, and now it's time for them to prepare for the final battle. This chapter will be one of preparation, with the climax to come in the next installment- and it will be one to remember, that I promise.

Read, review, and enjoy the final day in SAO as told by the Red Swordsman.

P.S. The poll has come to a close, so thank you all for your votes. The decision has been made to have the next part of the story as it's own crossover. For those that voted otherwise, I apologize, but it is what it is, and I promise to make it easy to find the next story when the time comes. I will also reveal the title of the next installment in the next chapter.

P.P.S. Enjoy this month's artwork, made by yours' truly, featuring Mataras and Rivka.

By the blood I've spilled
In the name of all I've killed
My heart cannot rest
Until my breath lies still

Sorting Affairs

The day was March 17, 2025, which many of us hoped would come to be known as our final full day in SAO. We had just cleared the ninety-ninth floor the day before, and the Assault Team had collectively agreed that one last day of rest was in order before we tackled the final boss. I had wanted to go today, ready for the game to finally be at an end, but I was vastly outvoted, and I couldn't well fight the boss on my own. In the end, I realized that we had been stuck in the game for nearly two-and-a-half years, now.

What was one more day in the floating castle compared to all that?

I woke up early that morning, knowing that if I had this last day in Aincrad, I should put it to good use, not only for my sake, but for the sake of others close to me. To my surprise, I found myself not alone at the breakfast table, despite the fact that the sun was just beginning to rise up over the horizon, casting its glow into our home.

"Good morning," I said to Rivka as I sat down with a plate of fruit and cold bread. "Sleep well?"

"No, I was too nervous," she admitted as she looked up from her own plate of eggs and toast. "Tomorrow is it, one way or another, right?"

"Yep," I nodded with a small grin. "It's time to go home." I could hardly contain the shiver of excitement that I felt at being able to say that.

"Is it also time to talk about what happened with Alberich?" she asked quietly, causing me to baulk.

She had been pressing the topic of my inadvertent confession of love for her during her kidnapping more than a month prior. During that time, I did everything I could to stall the conversation, as I had wanted to wait until I was certain that Saphira's escape method for me had worked, which would only be possible if I made it back to the real world without landing in prison shortly after. However, it seemed like I was finally being cornered, as there was no one around for me to escape into another conversation with.

"I wanted to wait until after we got out," I tried, but she was already shaking her head.

"I want a simple answer, Michael," she said firmly. "Do you love me, or was that just a stall tactic to keep Alberich distracted? And I swear, if you don't give me an honest answer right now, I will never speak to you again, in any world, real or virtual."

"Since when were you so demanding?" I asked, surprised at the level of conviction that she was projecting. When all she did was scowl at me, I raised up my hands and said, "Okay, okay. You win. I do love you, very much." Despite the rushed delivery, I still felt like the words were going to make my head explode as I uttered them.

Come on, I've fought red players and giant monsters for the last two years! I thought, feeling pathetic in light of my nervousness. Why is this so hard to do?!

Rivka just sat there, blinking at me for a few seconds before she murmured, "I didn't think that you'd actually say it."

"Wait, you were bluffing?" I sputtered.

"Michael, you're my oldest friend; of course I wouldn't cut you out of my life, just like that," she sighed. "I… love you too much to do something like that." As she spoke, her cheeks also turned crimson, which somehow amplified the heat in my face.

"So…" I said after an awkward pause. "Now that we have that out in the open, what happens next?"

"I dunno."

"Wait, you've been spending all this time trying to get a confession out of me, and now that you have, you don't know what comes next?" I asked her incredulously.

"Like I said, I didn't think you'd actually confess again," she admitted sheepishly. "I hadn't thought ahead of that. Besides, you're the one that's always thinking with the future in mind- what do you think that we should do?"

"I was going to ask you out after we got out of the game, but now that's shot, so I don't know what to do," I replied with a helpless shrug. "I wanted to go into battle tomorrow with our heads clear, you know? Now I'm wondering if we can't do that."

Rivka paused, an embarrassed look coming over her features. "Did I screw this up?" she asked in a small voice. "Did I rush you too much?"

"No," I sighed heavily as I folded my hands and laid them on top of my head. "The truth is that I've been dragging my feet for too long. This is on me, not you." Pausing for just a brief second, I then added, "But this can't change our battle plans tomorrow, okay? I need to be able to protect you the best way I know how, and that means we have to stay in our usual formations, got it? Much as I would love to relive our early days on the battlefield, I know that it's best if we stay in our usual parties."

"Michael, I'm not asking you to change the teams up because of this," Rivka assured me firmly. "But… it might be nice to finally go out on a date like normal people, you know? At least one before the last battle- before we head into a fight where one of us might not make it out."

"Reiko, we're not-"

"Michael, come on," she said seriously. "You know better than anyone the odds of us escaping a quarter-mark boss fight unscathed. The reality is that people will die tomorrow, and it could be one of us, just as much as the next person."

I wanted to argue with her, but I knew that she was right- one of us might not live to make it home. "Why not wait for a real date until after we get out of here?" I asked her. "I mean, if we commit to this now, instead of after, won't it hurt us all the more if one of us perishes tomorrow?"

"We just both admitted to loving one another," Rivka argued. "I don't know about you, but I can't imagine a worse hurt than losing you without making at least one more good memory together when we had the chance. Besides, we should celebrate before we go to fight."

"Celebrate?" I inquired. "What would we be celebrating? Us as a couple?"

"Geez, romantic much?" she muttered, causing me to make an apologetic gesture.

"Sorry, but like we both said, we're kind of being thrown in the deep end, here," I protested. "I'd be happy to take you to dinner- after all, I did ask you to do that before I got all my memories back, right?"

"You did," she nodded. "But it would be me treating you, goofball."

"Sorry, what?" I replied, confused. "You know I'm old-fashioned, and that means I take you out, not the other way around."

"Oh wow, you actually forgot," Rivka said as she looked at me, nearly dumbstruck.

Now I was really confused. "What'd I forget?" As I asked the question, I wracked my brain, trying desperately to recall the thing that should have probably been obvious to me.

"Michael, it's your birthday tomorrow," Rivka reminded me, causing my jaw to drop at my sheer stupidity.

"Oh," I said dumbly. "Right. That's a thing."

"Back in the real world, you couldn't shut up about your birthday coming as soon as it turned March," she reminded me with a little laugh. "I can't believe that you actually forgot- again!" She was right- I had forgotten during our first year in SAO, last year I was probably too busy with a red player hunt to care, and this time around, I was rushing to beat the game, which had led to me forgetting the event yet again.

"So, what do you want to do?" Rivka asked with a sweet smile that I hadn't seen in quite a while.

"I…" My mind went blank. "I dunno. Maybe just a dinner on floor eighty-seven? There was a restaurant there that I liked."

"You don't want to do anything earlier?" she asked me curiously. "We have the whole day off, you know."

"Yeah, but I had some things that I needed to take care of during the day," I answered with a shrug. "Kirito and I had originally planned on all of us having dinner together as a guild one last time, but maybe we can do something tomorrow morning, instead."

"Okay," Rivka nodded. "Would you mind if I came along on your errands?"

I hesitated before responding, but I did answer, "Sure, except for one." Before she could protest, I said, "Sorry, but it's something that I need to do on my own. And before you ask, no, not even Saphira knows what it is. This is just for me."

"Can you at least tell me what you plan to do?" she asked with a slightly hurt look. "It's not like I'll tell anyone."

"Like I said, this needs to be just for me," I said firmly. "Maybe when we get out of the game, I can tell you, but not today. It's nothing criminal or dangerous, I promise. Can you trust me with that much?"

"…Okay," she said reluctantly. "But I'm holding you to telling me what it is, someday."

"Thank you," I said gratefully, glad that we could move onto another subject. After a moment of thought, I dared to ask, "So, we've confessed to one another, and we want to start going out, assuming that we survive tomorrow… Does that make us a couple?"

Rivka seemed to think on it for a moment before she answered, "Why don't we survive the final boss fight tomorrow, and then we can put a label on what we're becoming. For tonight, we're gonna be two friends that have a good understanding of one another."

I frowned a little bit at that. "You put all this pressure on me to confess, and now you're reluctant to commit?" I asked, confused once again. "How does that make sense?"

"Girls don't make sense," she giggled at me. "I'd have thought that you understood that by now, given how many of us are in this guild."

"Got it. I need more guy friends when we get back to the real world." Despite my sarcastic comment, my heart did feel much lighter, as if a weight had been lifted off of me with the conversation that we had just concluded. At the very least, Rivka and I understood one another better now, and we didn't have to keep wondering what one thought of the other.

Now we just need to get out of here alive, and hopefully things can make more sense than that, I thought as I bit into an apple while Rivka moved to put away her dishes. She did, however, take the long way around the table to brush her fingers gently across my back as she passed, which made me feel a cold tingle that turned into warmth in my stomach. This drew a dopey smile out of me, and I secretly hoped that it wouldn't be the last one.

"Ugh, kiss already," a familiar voice said from the hallway; one that immediately served to set me on edge. "You two are worse than my brother and Sachi."

"Kiriha…!"

The first thing I set out to do that morning was to take Strea, Yui, Kirito, and Sachi to the Hollow Area control room. Rivka tagged along, of course, but I didn't tell them what the two AI's and I had planned until we got there.

"According to what Sinon and Yuuki have told us, other VR games have survived the issues that SAO has caused for the genre," I began as we gathered in front of the console. "With that in mind, Strea and I have come up with a solution regarding our MHCP friends, and how to help them escape SAO when it comes crashing down."

"Wait, you have?" Sachi gasped, with Kirito looking similarly stunned.

"We have," Strea said proudly. "It took some finagling, but we've managed to find a command that allows us MHCP's to turn our programs into objects that can be saved to a person's NerveGear. Tomorrow, before the final battle, Yui and I will initiate the program for the other five, and then we'll use it on ourselves to fit into your storage. I won't be able to help you through the final battle this way, but I know that you guys have got this!" Giving us another peppy smile, she added, "We're trusting you guys with our safety, so don't mess up, got it?"

"This all means that we can follow you into whichever virtual world you choose next!" Yui said excitedly before she was wrapped up in a tight hug by her adoptive parents. "Urk! Mama, Papa, you're squeezing me really tight!"

"We know," Sachi said as her tears fell into the little girl's hair. "But we've been so afraid that when we left, we would lose you, and now…"

"Thank you, guys," Kirito told us, though he stayed where he was with his family. "Thank you so much for this."

"Eh, seems like the least we could do after all the trouble we caused," I chuckled while Rivka drew closer to me. "Not to mention that I don't want to say goodbye to either of them."

"Aw, thanks!" Strea chirped happily.

"What about the other MHCP's?" Rivka asked me.

"We've found a few players willing to take them along," Yui managed to get out from within her parents' vice grips. "Miss Argo actually took on MHCP-005. He looks like a boy about my age, and his informal designation is 'Hibiki'. She also helped to find compatible players for the other four of us in SAO, so they'll be able to survive alongside us, even if it takes a while before we can be uploaded to another game."

"Uh oh, Kirito," I taunted my friend. "Sounds like you'd better keep an eye out for this Hibiki kid."

"Shut up," he said without looking at me.

"What about the Hollows?" Sachi asked me. "Can they come, too?"

Strea's face drooped a little bit as she sadly answered, "No, they can't. Their data is meant to be unique to SAO, unlike our programming. Unfortunately, they'll perish with the game."

Even I had felt a pang of sadness when I had first learned this fact. I wasn't close to any of the remaining Hollow AI that still worked for us, not like I had been with Crimson, but I didn't think that any of them deserved to die just because the virtual world no longer had a use for them. Only four of them remained in my employ that worked in the Hollow Area, plus the three stationed at our home, and among the former group was Hollow Asuna.

I had informed her of Alberich's demise after Saphira told us that they would no longer be a problem, and to my surprise, she actually seemed grateful for the fact, even if it was briefly. Apparently the trace memories that she possessed form her source were strong enough to evoke an emotional response to the news. Either that, or she had survived long enough that she was beginning to develop her own personality, but I suppose it didn't really matter anymore.

Even as these thoughts crossed my mind, I asked, "Strea, did you summon the Hollows?"

"Already done," she nodded. "They should be here any minute, now."

As if on cue, the teleport gate chimed, and out stepped the four Hollow players, all of them regarding us with passive expressions, just like always. Mentally bracing myself, I walked over to stand in front of them and said, "Good morning, all of you. I am here to alert you to the fact that you are hereby released of your duties to me and my guild. You may now do as you please for the remainder of your days in Sword Art Online."

"What is our replacement directive?" Hollow Asuna asked, a hint of puzzlement creasing her features.

I smiled sadly and said, "That is entirely up to you. If you so wish to return to your prime directive of wandering the Hollow Area, you are free to do so. Likewise, if you feel the need to accomplish another task entirely, you may choose to pursue it. You no longer need to await instructions in order to act."

The Hollows were perfectly still for a few moments before two of them turned around and walked toward the admin console without a word before one of them punched in coordinates for the Graceleaf Beach area. The blue light of teleportation swallowed them up, and they vanished, never to be seen by any of us again.

The third Hollow swiftly went over to the portal gate and triggered it, apparently feeling called to explore the icy regions of floor 57. Only Hollow Asuna remained, that same puzzled look on her face from when she had first made her inquiry.

"Are you okay?" Strea asked. "Do you not understand the situation?"

"I understand that I am being instructed to change my directive to one that I feel takes priority, but I am unable to think of a task that I should be completing instead of aiding the commander," she answered as she looked at me, causing my body to give a slight start of surprise. "I do not wish to change my directive. I feel the need to continue assisting Mataras and his allies."

I glanced at Rivka and Strea for a moment, each, before I shrugged and said, "If that is your wish, then report to base on floor 65 and await further instructions from Kiriha. I'll send a message to let her know that you're coming."

"Understood," Hollow Asuna said as she headed for the gate. Before she teleported away, she did say, "Thank you, commander." Then she was gone, leaving me feeling all sorts of confused.

"As if tomorrow wasn't going to be tough enough," I murmured under my breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," I sighed in response to Rivka's question. Drawing myself up, I said, "Okay, everyone. Strea and I have one last item of business to attend to before we head home. Off you go."

"And what if we decide to stay and watch?" Kirito asked as he and Sachi finally loosened their grip on their daughter.

I shrugged before saying, "You'll piss me off, and I'll spend the rest of the day leading you on a wild goose chase through the Hollow Area to get even with you." I made sure to keep my tone as level as possible, wanting them to understand that I was dead serious about this. "Go on, guys. We won't take long, okay? One hour, tops."

"You'd better," Rivka said with a warning tone. "If you're not home by then, I'm coming back, and I'm bringing your sister with me."

"Duly noted," I acknowledged. As soon as they were gone, I said to Strea, "I'm guessing that she's already there."

"Been there since breakfast," Strea confirmed as we walked toward the portal stone. "I can't believe it- this is gonna be our last meeting, just us, in SAO."

"Bittersweet, isn't it?" I chuckled before we triggered the warp function, which soon left us in a beautiful garden full of flowers, a crystal-clear pool, several pristine waterfalls that fed it, and a campsite that hadn't been used in quite a while. As Strea and I breathed in the scent of the flowers, I felt a tightening in my chest as I realized that this would be the last time that I would ever see this place. The base camp of the Fifth Commandment was just as we'd left it after we joined up with the Moonlit Black Cats. The beauty of the area was undiminished, and the sunlight lent just the right amount of warmth to the air while painting the flowers in the best possible luminance.

As we took in the sight, Sinon came walking up the stairs with a little smile on her face. "Hey, boss," she laughed softly. "I always had a feeling that you were a sucker for nostalgia."

"Even I couldn't resist coming back one more time," I shrugged as she came to stand beside us. "This place… We made a lot of memories here, together. It was a beautiful home."

"More so because it was our home," Strea murmured, her tone unusually quiet. "Part of me wishes that we didn't have to leave it behind, but that would mean keeping you two trapped here until your real bodies expired. I don't want that at all, so I'll say goodbye to it."

"Hey," I said in a gentle tone that I normally reserved for Saphira. "Home is where your family is, got it? It's not here, not on floor sixty-five, not anywhere in SAO. Your home is the Moonlit Black Cats." I then pulled Strea into a one-armed hug while I ruffled her hair, much to her surprise- after all, I'd never initiated physical contact between us before. For a second, it seemed like she didn't know what to do with it, but then she returned the embrace happily, joy in her ruby eyes.

"They may be our home right now, but I think it's worth mentioning…" Sinon said quietly as I released Strea. "The Fifth Commandment was our first real home, the both of us. I can't remember a time when I felt safe, either with people or a place, before we formed the Fifth Commandment. And Strea never would have been able to escape her prison if you hadn't given her a reason to break out. You gave us this, Mataras, and we'll never be able to thank you enough."

"Don't sell your part in making this a home so short," I laughed. "Without you two and Crimson, I would have never made it out here, much less learned to thrive again."

"Speaking of Crimson, I thought that we could lay these at the Wall of History tonight," Strea said as she produced a bouquet of red flowers from her inventory. "I picked them from here, and Yuuki helped me to make the wrapping." The stems were all bound together by a series of intricate ribbons that made them look even lovelier.

"I'm sure he'd like that," I nodded, remembering all the times that Crimson had brought her flowers from Aincrad, since I hadn't permitted her to leave the control room or base camp very often in those days. "I'll be there, but probably not until close to midnight."

"Why not?" Sinon asked me.

"Rivka wants to take me out to celebrate my birthday tonight," I answered, my face heating up a little bit as I did. "I'll still make it to the memorial, but I'll be late." In honor of all those that had fallen in the course of the war against Sword Art Online, the Assault Team had told the info brokers to pass on the word that there would be an informal memorial service for the dead at the Wall of History on floor one, starting at ten o' clock that evening.

Strea and Sinon exchanged a look before my partner spoke again. "So did you two finally clear things up?" she inquired with a curious grin.

"I think so," I nodded. "We talked about how we feel, but we're waiting until we get out of the game to make it official. She still wants to go on at least one date before we leave, though."

"Don't start jumping up and down for joy," Strea giggled at me as she put the flowers away. "You've been in love with her for how long? And now you're finally going to be with her!"

I allowed a sheepish smile to wrinkle my face as I answered, "I know, I know. I really am happy, but I'm also nervous about tomorrow, and what comes after that, you know? It's hard to tell how I should be feeling about it all."

"Take joy in what you can, and let your worries trouble themselves," Sinon replied as she squeezed my arm. "You're gonna go out tonight, have a good time, and then tomorrow, you're going to go home. Pretty solid birthday gift, right?"

"Wait, did I tell you my birthday?" I asked her, trying to remember when I had done so. We had discussed our real lives before, and I knew her birthday due to the events of our most recent Christmas, but I had avoided giving mine out at that time, since Rivka and I both knew that we were the eldest in the group.

"No, your sister did," Sinon laughed at me. "She has something planned for this afternoon, but I doubt she'll interfere with your dinner plans."

"If she does, I think Rivka might just kill her and me," I chuckled. "Either way, this isn't a bad way to spend my last day in this game."

"I can definitely think of worse ones," Strea agreed cheerily.

After that, we fell into a companionable silence, and simply enjoyed one another's presence in the atmosphere of a perfect Spring morning. It was one of the most peaceful ten minutes of my life, and I will always treasure that memory, for as long as I live.

However, like all good memories, there was a time for it to come to an end. "Okay, ladies," I said as I stirred myself and stepped away from them. "I told Rivka that I had something that I needed to do alone today- and I did mean all alone."

"You sure?" Sinon asked, apparently reluctant to leave. "You don't need any help?"

"I'm not going on a quest, and I'll be back in thirty minutes or so," I assured her. "Please, go back to the house without me. This is something just for me."

"We'll be waiting," Strea promised as she patted Sinon's back gently, forcing her to move a little bit. "Whatever it is that you're doing, good luck."

"Thanks," I acknowledged as I headed down the stairs, toward the water. "See you in a bit."

"…See you," Sinon answered. Soon after, I felt their presence depart the garden, leaving me alone with the flowers, running water, and my own thoughts.

Allowing myself one last breath of fresh air, I quickly found myself standing at the edge of the water, where I could see my distorted reflection staring up at me from within the spring. I stared at it for what seemed like an eternity before I finally felt that I was ready to do what should have been done a long time ago.

"You're withdrawing?!"

Kirito was stunned in a way that hadn't taken him aback since the day that Mataras had appeared to fight alongside them against the Gleam Eyes with his friends and sister, whom he had long thought to be dead by that point. He was simply unable to comprehend what the leader of the Fuumaningun guild was telling him and the other leaders of the front-line guilds that had gathered for an informal meeting in the halls of Grandzam at the request of Klein and Godfrey.

"You're not deaf, Black Swordsman," said Isuke, the acting leader of the guild. "My men and I simply see no point in escaping anymore. Therefore, we will not be joining what is sure to be a suicide mission tomorrow." His guild acted mostly as explorers for the Assault Team, though there were a few capable fighters among their number, all of them with swift reflexes- in fact, they all dressed in a manner similar to ninjas, as their fighting styles were most reminiscent of the shadowy figures.

"Hold on just a sec," Klein said with a deep frown before the man could leave. "You've never had any doubts about our ability to beat the bosses before, so what the hell happened? You forget your balls at home?"

Isuke scowled from behind his mask, but he kept his voice even while he made his reply. "If you'll recall, my guild is one of the only ones that has survived since the days of the beta- even before the leader of the Moonlit Black Cats formed a guild of his own, we have been present on the front lines of the game. We may have stuck to the shadows more when people like Kibaou wanted to make trouble for the 'beaters' of SAO, but we have always done our part to clear the game. We have fought hard and suffered much throughout the course of this war, but we have also gained great rewards for our efforts- and my men and I are simply unwilling to give them up on the chance that we will not live to see tomorrow's end."

"That's pretty damn selfish," Kirito scowled at the man. He had never liked Isuke much- during the days of the beta, he had first met the man while he and one of his friends were trying to run down Argo for some information that they weren't willing to pay for. It was also how he had met the spunky info broker, but ever since then, he had tried to avoid dealing with Fuumaningun whenever possible. He was also fairly certain that Mataras had killed one of their members during the early days of his crusade, but neither he nor Isuke would ever comment on the matter, so Kirito had dropped it, though he remained wary of the guild. Now he was finding that his dislike for the man could grow even more.

"We have worked hard to build a good life for ourselves here," Isuke replied calmly, though his voice was hard. "Why should we have to give it up now? Have any of you given thought to what lies on the other side for us, assuming that we do get out this time?"

"What are you talking about?" Godfrey demanded, looking just as mad as Klein did. "This is everything that we've been working for! You know what's at stake- you can't just back out now because you're getting cold feet!"

"It's not just me!" Isuke shot back. "When my men first brought the subject up to me, I thought as you do now! But the more they talked, the more I realized that their fears regarding our release were valid. If we get out now, we lose more than we will gain, don't you see?! If we get out, we will find ourselves trapped in weak, frail bodies that will only give us pain and frustration. What's more, many of us will find ourselves deprived of our livelihoods! We can't work to feed ourselves in bodies that won't even be able to walk, and whatever programs the outside world has in mind for us can't work forever. Eventually, we will find that we have traded the good lives that we have built here for nothing but pain and the pity of others. I for one, refuse to live like that. So my guild and I withdraw, here and now."

"What about the people waitin' for us on the other side?!" Agil's booming voice stopped Isuke in place. The man didn't get mad very often, but when he did, everyone was held captive by his rumbling tones that crashed like an avalanche. "I dunno about you, but I got a wife waiting for me to get back to her, and I don't believe for a second that you don't got someone at your bedside right now! What about them, huh?!"

"They don't know the hell that I've had to go through to get to where I am, now!" Isuke snarled as he turned around and stormed out of the room. "I like my life here, and I don't care if it's going to be a short one! Better that than a long life out there!" With that, he was gone, slamming the doors shut behind him, and leaving the rest of them in a stunned silence.

"Damn the man," Agil growled, and Kirito shared his sentiment. Still…

"It's not like we can force his guild to go with us," the Black Swordsman sighed. "We'll just have to make do with what we've got."

"About that…" Several more people felt their stomachs drop as the leader of the Holy Dragon Alliance stepped forward, a grim look on his face. "My men share sentiments with his. I was going to strong-arm them into fighting, too, but if this is the way it is, then I won't make them throw their lives away for this battle. After all, he had a point about this battle possibly not yielding the results that we want."

"You gotta be kidding me!" Klein yelped. The Holy Dragon Alliance was one of the biggest, most powerful front-line guilds in the game. If they quit, the Assault Team's strength would be severely diminished.

"Look, I want to go home just as much as the next guy, but what if we just can't?" the man in silver armor shrugged. "We were told that if we defeated Kayaba, we would get to go free, but look how that turned out. What if, when we fight tomorrow, and several us more than likely perish, we find out that we're still stuck in here? Those guys will have died for nothing, then."

"And what about all the people that have died to get us this far?!" Ion angrily demanded of the man. "What does that make their deaths worth?"

"I don't like this, I really don't," the man insisted firmly. "But if nothing else, those people died to make this world a better place for the rest of us to live in. I know it's not worth much, but it's better than nothing, and I say that having lost my cousin and several of my friends in this game."

"If the HDA is out, then I don't see us winning," said another of the smaller guild leaders as she walked toward the doors. "Isuke might've been right, you know. We should enjoy the time that we have left, while we can."

Much to Kirito's disappointment, those two were not the last ones to leave the meeting with declarations of resignation. One by one, more and more of the guild leaders departed from the room, until it was only Klein, Kirito, Godfrey, Agil, and Ion left.

"Is this it?" Klein asked in a hoarse voice. "Just when we were so close to gettin' out, we're beat by our own selfishness and lack of confidence?"

"Not all of us," Kirito declared as he clenched his fists. "Those of us that are still standing here can make a difference. We can make the final push and clear the game. We beat Kayaba, and we'll beat his final boss, too."

"The final boss isn't gonna be like anything we've seen before," Agil said with a deep frown, bitterness and disappointment etched into his brow. "Your intel says it's a Hollow player, most likely Heathcliff, and he's way stronger than Kayaba was when he died. We're gonna be hard-pressed to survive that, let alone win, especially with our numbers cut down so hard."

"Doesn't matter," Ion said as he planted his right fist into his other palm. "I got people waiting for me to get back, like you said, and I'm not letting anything hold me back when the end goal is in sight. Besides, I'm pretty sure Angel would take my head off if I gave up now." As of the clearing of floor seventy-seven, Ion's partner had become another one SAO's unique-skill wielders, having gained access to the weapon class of scythes. This had made her an invaluable asset on the battlefield, which meant that we would still have all of the players with unique skills on our side when the time came to battle.

"Kid's right," Klein said with a grin toward the younger player. "I don't have any friends besides the people in here, but I can't bear the thought of my poor old man and Mom having to set up my funeral, you know? I wanna get back and see 'em smile when I tell them all about what we accomplished in here."

"Same," Kirito agreed as he thought of his aunt and uncle- both of whom he knew had to be worried about him and Suguha. I won't let them worry any longer than they have to.

"I wish you all luck with that, then."

"Oh come on, not you too!" Klein groaned as Godfrey's shoulders slumped.

"Sorry, gentleman, but I'm no leader like Heathcliff, bastard though he was," he apologized sadly. "I wanna help, but I know that my men will throw me out on my ear if I suggest that we go into battle with so few people on our side. Besides, with the way things are, it'd be like askin' them to go on a suicide mission, and I can't stomach that thought. So, I'm sorry, but the Knights of the Blood-Oath are withdrawing, too."

There was a long, long silence after that. So it's just us, Fuurinkazan, Agil, and Ion's team, Kirito thought as despair washed over him. Is this really as far as we go?

He had expected some deserters toward the end- it would have been foolish not to. The higher up they got, the greater the chances were that someone could die in battle. Tensions had been mounting despite their success rate, due to the many close calls that various players had been through, and more than one guild had quit in the last few weeks. There were those that Kirito had known would falter in the face of their greatest challenge, but never had he imagined that the entire alliance would just disintegrate like it just had.

"Come on, guys," Klein said as he started walking toward the door, his shoulders slumped in resignation. "We'd better get some rest for the boss raid tomorrow."

"I'll be there at 10 a.m. sharp," Ion affirmed as he followed the man alongside Agil.

"We're gonna end this death trap, and I'ma go see my wife," the merchant vowed.

Kirito set his jaw and went after them, saying, "I know my guild will be there with us tomorrow- the day that we bring this castle crashing down." He still felt the heavy gloom of despair settling on his mind, but he could still take heart in knowing that they wouldn't be entirely alone. And no matter what it costs us, we will win.

"Of course they all quit," I groaned as I put my head into my hands. "Stuff like this is why I don't put faith in humanity." I had just returned from my secret errand in time for Kirito to deliver us the bad news about the alliance, and now I was trying decide whether I was mad or just plain disappointed.

"You've had people bail on you before the day of a life-and-death battle prior to this?" Sinon asked me sarcastically, prompting me to shoot her an annoyed look. "Hey, just saying."

"Does this change our plans?" Kiriha asked her brother impatiently, tapping the hilt of her katana as she did whenever she was nervous and/or irritated.

"Not as far as I'm concerned," he answered calmly. "But… I do understand where some of the other guild leaders are coming from. Tomorrow just got a whole lot worse, so if any of you want to sit it out, I won't stop you. I don't want anyone to join the battle if they feel like they're going to be throwing their lives away."

Several of us glanced at each other from around the room before Saphira stood up and declared, "I'm in. Screw the odds."

"Me too," said Yuuki with a grin. "My time's limited, anyway, so I'm gonna make it count toward something."

"Me three," Kiriha said as she gave Yuuki a hi-five.

"M-Me four!" Silica announced, surprising some of us, but it was clear that she was serious.

"I'm staying by your side," Sachi informed her husband as she hugged him from the side.

"I'd be a lousy friend if I let you guys go without me, and if there's one thing I hate more than dummy treasure, it's a bad friend," Philia added as she stood to match the others.

"I'm tired of living with death so close all the time," Rain asserted. "This ends tomorrow, one way or another."

Sinon, Strea, and I all looked at one another before I rose up, drew in a breath, and then said, "The Fifth Commandment was formed to keep the people of this world safe, and that doesn't really happen until we all get out of here. The odds have never mattered to us before, so why should they start to, now? Time to fulfill our mission, or die trying."

"If that's your guys' decision, then I only have one order that I need you to follow tomorrow," Kirito said as he locked eyes with me. "Don't die."

After our little pep talk, we all broke apart into smaller groups, and mine included Saphira and Rivka. "It's gonna be weird, after tomorrow," my sister said as we settled into the chairs in front of the fireplace. "We're gonna have to get used to having real bodies again, you know?"

"Not gonna lie, that's probably the bit I'm looking forward to the least," I admitted. "I mean, stuff hurts in here more than it used to, but I know that getting slashed in here is nothing like it is out there."

"You haven't been slashed, how would you know?"

"I can imagine," I grumbled as I leaned back in the seat in order to open my menu more easily. "By the way, I almost forgot…"

"Forget what?" Rivka asked as I sifted through my inventory.

"A promise that I made on the day of the launch," I answered as I found what I was looking for. "I'm way late in keeping it, but I figure better late than never, right?" As I finished speaking, I held up a slender necklace with a dark blue gem in it before holding it out to Saphira, who looked more confused than surprised.

"What's that for?" she asked as she reached for the piece.

"When we first logged in, before we made it out to the fields, you saw that necklace in one of the stalls," I reminded her, causing her eyes to widen with the surprise that I had been expecting. "I told you that I would get you one after we did some hunting, but then the whole 'death game' thing started, and I never got it for you. So now I'm keeping my word to the best of my ability."

Saphira's face lit up with a joyous smile as she slipped the necklace on over her head and then moved to hug me fiercely while I laughed and returned the embrace. "Best brother ever!" she giggled in my ear. I felt her turn her head slightly so that she could look at Rivka before she added, "You treat him right, or they'll never find your body."

"I'm starting to finally see the family resemblance," our friend answered dryly, which caused both my sister and I to laugh heartily.

We are going home tomorrow, I decided. We are.

That afternoon, about thirty minutes before it was time for Rivka and I to head out on our date, I got a knock at my door that preceded Saphira walking in with a big grin on her face. Seeing it, I raised an eyebrow and said, "I don't like that look. Why do you have that look?"

"Hey, I'm just here to make sure that you make a good first impression," she answered as she looked me up and down. "You're not gonna wear that, are you?"

I looked down at myself with a frown, miffed at her question. I was wearing my normal gear, minus my cloak, which is what I normally used while I was out of the field these days. "What's wrong with what I've got?" I asked.

"Ugh, you're an embarrassment to menfolk," she groaned as she moved closer to me while opening her menu. "Good thing I've got your back." Hitting a few commands on the hologram, she quickly produced a red, collared shirt and a comb. "Put that on and do your hair over to the side. A girl likes to be able to look a guy in the eyes when she's talking to him, not having to search for them behind your mop. This isn't an anime- the edgy look isn't gonna cut it right now."

"Hang on a-"

"No, shut up and listen to me," Saphira said as she grabbed my hand and yanked my fingers to bring up my menu. To my continual surprise, she manipulated my hand to accept the shirt she had offered me, and then equipped it in place of my usual attire. Before I could protest what was happening, she snatched up the comb, put me in a headlock, and then went to work with the piece, rearranging my hair so that it swept to the right instead of falling in place in front of my brow and eyes. "You should've gotten a haircut, dude."

"No."

"Well, you're lucky that we don't have time for me to drag you to a barber, or else you wouldn't have a choice in the matter." A few more swipes with the comb, and she let me go, satisfied with her work. "There. Now look in a mirror and thank me. And if you even think about undoing that hairdo, I'm gonna use Deathcalibur to give you a haircut."

"You know, I used to command a lot more respect from the people around me," I grumbled as I actively resisted the instinct that told me to put my hair back to normal. "What the heck happened?" As I spoke, I headed for the mirror that sat on my desk that I hardly ever used.

"People realized that I'm a lot scarier than you are."

"Hmph." As I stood in front of the reflective glass, I had to pause and admit that my sister had actually done a good job, all things considered. My face was completely unobscured by my hair, allowing my features to be seen clearly, and the shirt went well with the black pants and shoes that I was already wearing. I was never one to consider my own looks, but for the moment, I allowed myself to think, Not bad, man.

"Thanks," I finally said as I turned back to look at Saphira, who had a smug face. "But don't think this is how it's always gonna go."

"With how stubborn you are, I wouldn't dream of it," she snickered. "But in this case, I decided that you weren't allowed to win this round."

"Jerk."

"You're welcome. Now go get her."

When I met Rivka in the light of the setting sun outside our house, I was suddenly very glad that Saphira had wrestled me into wearing the nicer outfit. My date had changed into a light green shirt that came off her left shoulder, which was complimented by a brown skirt that fell just past her knees. Her hair was held back by the tiara that I had given her, but now it fell back in small ripples like one would find in a pond if they threw a pebble in. To put it succinctly, she looked beautiful, and I felt my heartrate accelerate at the sight of her.

"You look really nice," I told her as I held out my hand, which she eagerly took.

"You do, too," she replied as we started the walk off of our property. "I haven't seen your face like that in a long time."

"I'm glad you like it," I replied. "Cos I'll be honest, if you didn't, I was never gonna change it again."

From there, we made our way to the restaurant that I had requested, a place that specialized in Italian-style cuisine. As we sat down to our table, I commented, "I feel like on some level, Kayaba used food motivation on us."

"How's that?"

"Stuff on the lower floors is pretty bland, right?" I asked I scanned the menu. "But up here, it can be pretty tasty. Seems like a decent motivator for people like Kirito."

Rivka grinned at that. "I'd ask if it wasn't for you, too, but you've never liked stuff with a lot of flavor. Pretty sure you'd survive off of nothing but peanut butter and jelly sandwiches along with pancakes, if you could."

"Hey, don't leave out pizza," I said with mock hurt. "Love me some pizza."

"Do they have that here?"

"Why do you think I picked this place?"

We both shared in a laugh before the NPC waiter came to take our orders. Once she was gone, I resettled myself in the chair and asked, "So, when we get out of here, where do you want to go for our first real-life date?"

"Hospital cafeteria?" she giggled, which got another smile out of me.

"Probably the only place I'll be able to afford for a while, if we're being honest," I admitted. "Food will probably be crap, but I'm sure the company will more than compensate for the fact."

"Well, aren't you a smooth talker?" Rivka asked with a blush. "Where did that come from?"

"I've known you since we were little," I shrugged, doing my best to keep my own blush under control. "Think I can make a fair guess as to what I should say, now that initial shock has worn off. Though, I do have to wonder…"

"What's up?" she inquired as she met my eyes with her own.

"Why me?" I asked. "I'm not exactly the ideal boyfriend material, you know? We're almost total opposites of one another, and the last couple of years haven't exactly helped my case, either. I'm just trying to understand why you would want me, especially after everything that's happened."

Rivka was quiet for a few moments before she came up with an answer. "There's the old saying 'opposites attract', but that doesn't even come close to covering all of our bases." She drummed her fingers on the table a few times before she went on to say, "I've liked you for a long time, way before SAO, so there's that. Coming in here only highlighted the parts of you that were- are- attractive to me."

"Such as mass murder and manipulation?" I asked dryly.

"No, and stop bringing that up when we're trying to have a good conversation," she told me, causing me to raise my hands in a gesture of surrender. "What I was going to say is that I've always admired your self-confidence and your drive to accomplish any task that you set yourself. Your ingenuity and loyalty are also things that I admire about you, and I know I'm not the only one who thinks so."

"Loyalty?" I asked dubiously. "Seriously?" I didn't elaborate out loud- there was no need to.

"Yes, you left for a while, but what's important is that you came back, and you admitted that you were wrong, which I know isn't easy, especially for you," she acknowledged. "You're also not in the habit of lying- at least, not to your friends. I could keep going, but the truth is that there's a lot for me to like about you." She shrugged at the end, but she also smiled at me, which felt good. "Now, it's your turn. What brought you around to me?"

I should have expected the question, but it still took me a minute to formulate a response. "You're good at challenging the way that I think and the way that I see the world," I answered. "You've always stuck true to your principles, even if you aren't the most vocal person about it. You also believed that I would come back, in spite of everything, when nobody else did. Sure, they might have hoped for it, but I think you were the only that actually had faith in me. You've had my back since the day we met, even if I didn't want you to."

The waitress then returned with our food and drinks, which gave me an excuse to look down and attempt to hide my reddening features. Once the NPC was gone, Rivka said, "I'm glad that you do feel that way. I've never really been able to look at myself with much confidence, so it's nice to know that someone else sees something worthwhile in me."

"You're more than worth your while," I told her with a smile as I reached for my drink. "And you're way out of my league."

She blushed again, and we both laughed, feeling silly for acting like a couple of high schoolers on our first date, despite the fact that when we got back to the real world, we would both be recognized as adults. Then again, we do still look like we're in high school, I reasoned. I wonder what we'll look like once we manage to work off the effects of sleeping for over two years?

"So," I said out loud, ready to move the conversation along. "Other than a real date, what are you looking forward to when we get home?"

"Seeing Mom and Dad," she answered quickly, before she realized what she had said, to who she had said it.

Before she could panic, I held up a hand and said, "It's okay- I'd be excited in your position, too. My parents won't be there when I wake up, but there's nothing I can do about that. No point in making everyone around me miserable for wanting to feel happy, you know?"

She let out a sigh of relief before saying, "I'm still sorry that I didn't think before I spoke."

"Don't worry about it." I took another drink from my cup before saying, "I'm looking forward to meeting everyone in real life. I know Victoria and I are neighbors with the Kirigayas, but we haven't seen everyone else before."

"Are there any shows you wanted to see that we'll have missed out on?"

"Yeah, Mandalorian seasons three and four, assuming there was a fourth one," I nodded rapidly. "I'm also hoping that Disney finally got their crap together and made the Kenobi series."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that!" Rivka realized aloud. After we were silent for a couple of seconds, she asked, "Star Wars Marathon?"

"Star Wars Marathon."

Our final night in Aincrad was a bittersweet one. Rivka and I had a great time, and I left that restaurant feeling glad that we had made that memory together, come what may. Afterwards, however, it was time to pay our respects to the dead, which was a very somber affair at the Wall of History.

There were more than two thousand people in attendance at the Wall, and I had heard that there were also many informal vigils being held in people's homes. Upon arriving, we managed to find our way to the other Cats, who were in line to lay down an offering of flowers to the departed. Those of us that believed in God prayed quietly among ourselves, while the others stayed silent until we reached the massive stone slab at close to midnight, where many wreaths and other gifts had been set down.

Sachi and Kirito kneeled first, laying a wreath of many colors down on the floor. I heard them both murmuring the names of the founding members of our guild, but I declined to add my voice to their homage. Rivka and Kiriha both set down flowers in memory of Asuna, the first of our friends to die in the line of duty. Last to lay down an arrangement from our guild were Strea and Sinon, even though there was no name on the Wall associated with the person they were dedicated to.

"Tomorrow, we fight in your name," Strea whispered through a veil of tears.

"We'll finish what you and Mataras started, and make sure that everyone left in SAO goes home safely," Sinon added.

I knelt alongside them and bowed my head in remembrance of my other self; the AI Crimson, who had made the ultimate sacrifice to ensure that we would win the battle against our worst enemies. I remembered every hard fight, every cold night, every brush with death that we faced together, and how he never once complained about or questioned my methods, no matter how terrible they were, or hard they would be to enact. No matter how bad our day had been, he would always smile for Strea, be ready to head off for the next mission with me, and never had he looked at Sinon like a murderer. He was everything I should have been, and more.

It should be you standing here, not me, I thought as I raised my head and stood up with the others, knowing that it was time to make way for the next group of the mourning. But because you aren't- because you can't fight anymore- I will take the victory in your place.

Earlier in the day…

I stared down at my distorted reflection in the garden pool for a few moments before I muttered, "What an irony. I'm the distorted image of what God created, and yet I remain, instead of what should have been." Tearing my gaze away from the water, I walked briskly over to the tree that Sinon had told me about while reaching for a small vial in my pocket.

As I stood in front of said tree, I quickly found the markings that she and Strea had carved into it. They detailed the day of my 'death', and spelled out my avatar name, both in English and kanji. This is wrong, I thought as I held up the crystal container, which held a single drop of golden liquid. I had called in a favor with Argo for the details on the quest to get this rare item, the 'Tear of Phaunus', which was said to restore any plant it touched to the pristine appearance of its prime. Normally, players would want it in order to replicate rare fruits needed for difficult gathering quests, but I had something else entirely in mind.

"Let's see if you work…" I murmured as I let the single drop fall onto the roots of the tree. Immediately, the bark that had been carved into healed itself, and the leaves brightened up while the branches thickened and waved in the breeze, as if glad to receive the gift I had presented.

"As always, Argo delivers," I said with a little smile as I let the vial disintegrate in my hand. I then used the same hand to grab a sturdy knife and hold it in a reverse grip. "Now let's fix this…"

I spent about fifteen minutes carving into the newly-restored bark of the tree, making sure not to mess up the kanji that I was etching in- after all, Japanese wasn't my first language, and it had been a while since I did any writing at all, so it was slow going. When I finally finished carving the last mark, I stepped back and examined the results of my hard work.

I had re-done the date of the Laughing Coffin Raid in the tree at about head height. Below that, I had written, 'When a good man fell, so that another might find a second chance.' Last in the line of carvings was the kanji for 'Crimson.'

"This should have been yours' from the beginning," I said as I sat down next to the tree, staring at my reflection again. "I'm sorry that I didn't fix this mistake sooner, but I'm glad that I didn't forget it entirely. And when I get back, I'll make sure to put your name on the tree in our backyard… You remember that house, don't you?" I laughed a little bit as I recalled days spent playing in the shade of the tree on my parents' property. "Victoria always loved that tree in the Fall… I dunno if you remembered this part or not, but she actually called dibs on raking the yard the weekend that this game launched, just so she could make a giant pile and jump in, like a grade schooler. Too bad she didn't get the chance, then. Maybe she'll still want to do it when the next autumn comes around."

As the rest of the time I had allotted for myself in the garden began to run out, I kept speaking to my reflection, some absurd idea in my head telling me that maybe, just maybe, Crimson could still hear me, and finally share in the joy of our happier memories, instead of pushing them aside in place of the darker ones.

The Next Day…

It's time, I thought as I stood with Rivka's hand in mine, the Moonlit Black Cats around us, along with our allies standing on the walkway that led to the massive doors of the Ruby Palace. The name definitely lived up to the description of the place- the entire castle looked like it was made of a solid red gem that sparkled in the light of the morning sun. It looked very beautiful, but the red also gave off an aura of menace that was already setting us on edge.

Before coming up, the Cats had our breakfast together, and had made sure to take the time to remind each other of our real-life information in order to help us be on the lookout when we got home. Strea and Yui had left a little early in order to head to the Hollow Area and implement their plan to turn the other MHCP's into items so that they could escape the destruction of SAO after we beat the last boss. Yui had given her mother and father a tearful farewell, but they separated with the promise that they would see each other again, soon. Strea said her goodbye to Sinon and I in private, on the front door to the house.

"I'll miss you guys," she had sniffled as she wiped at her face. "I really will."

"We won't keep you waiting for long," I replied with a smile, though I could feel my own eyes stinging, even as Sinon dashed at hers'. "You'll see us soon, I promise."

"We won't let you sit in the dark any longer than we have to," my partner promised her.

"Thanks…" the purple-haired girl said before she wrapped us up in a group hug, which we both returned. "I love you, guys."

"We love you, too," I answered as I rubbed her back affectionately. As she pulled away with a smile, I added, "But don't tell anyone, I will deny it to the nail."

"Okay," she giggled, even as Yui had walked out of the house, looking like she had just finished crying, too. "Ready, Sis?"

"Uh-huh!" the girl said as brightly as she could. "Bye, Uncle!"

"Bye, kid," I had said with a roll of my eyes. "Hope we see you soon."

With that, they had gone, and the rest of us gathered inside to say goodbye to the house. We left all of our stuff where it was, but I made sure to release the three Hollows that had been serving us from their respective rooms, just as I had with the others from the previous day. However, much like Hollow Asuna, none of them seemed inclined to leave their posts, and so they opted to remain in the house, despite my insistence that they could do otherwise.

When we all made to leave, however, the three of them surprised us by seeing us to the door. "Good luck in your battle," Hollow Altman rumbled.

"Come home safe," Hollow Erika added.

"Make sure you use our work to kick some serious butt!" Hollow Liz finished.

Kirito and I had exchanged a look before he nodded and said, "We will. Thanks for everything, you guys." Then, we too left the house on floor sixty-five behind, ready to head to our homes in the real world.

Now we stood before the final hurdle, our numbers painfully small, but our spirits unbroken. Klein stood in front of all of us, putting himself between the castle and his allies, cleared his throat, and prepared to speak. "I know that there's not a lot of us here," he began. "This battle would've been tough enough without everyone else bailing, but that's just what we've been dealt. That doesn't change the face that we got people counting on us, both inside and outside the game, to win this fight. And I dunno about you guys, but I'm ready to go home, myself! Are you with me?!"

"YEAH!" we all shouted, our weapons held high, hungry for the final battle of Sword Art Online.

"Then let's show Kayaba that numbers aren't gonna decide this battle!" Klein shouted back as he brandished his katana.

Before he could make the final rallying cry, a familiar voice said from behind us, "They may not decide a fight, but they sure do help." We all whirled around to see the portal stone glowing brightly as Argo walked away from it, followed by what looked like was going to be a small army. "Hey, Kii-boy, kitties."

"Argo?!" I sputtered, stunned. I hadn't see her on the front lines of battle since the second boss fight. "What are you doing here?!"

"I'm a business woman, and I don' do secondhand deals if I can help it," she snickered as people from various guilds continued to step out of the gate. "I wanna know just who beats this game, and I ain't gonna rely on a secondhand account!"

"Did you call all these people?" Agil asked, looking stunned as more than fifty players gathered around us.

"Nah, they jus' tagged along," Argo grinned as she stepped aside to make room for a familiar face. "Ya might wanna thank him, though."

"Schmitt?" Sinon inquired, looking as surprised as I felt. "You did this?"

"I heard about my guild leader backing out," the lancer nodded. "Having played the part of a coward myself before, I decided to do something about it this time. So me and a few of my men are here to help, even if guild policy says to stay away from the final boss." He glanced over his shoulder before saying in a more subdued tone, "There's a few others here from outside of my guild, too. Make sure that you thank them- I don't deserve it, not after what happened with Griselda. I just hope that this can start to make up for it."

"We'll say 'thanks', anyway," Klein laughed as a boy probably about a year younger than Saphira stepped forward. "Hey there, you're with the Knights, right?"

"Yes, sir," the boy nodded, his messy brown hair waving a little bit with motion. "My name is Nautilus, and I'm a low-ranking member of the KOB. I… I'm not the best fighter around, but my friend wanted to come and help however she could, and… well, I couldn't let her come alone!" He turned slightly to look back at a girl his age with a kind face, white hair, and a guitar slung over her back.

"Hang on!" I said before I could stop myself. "Yuna?!"

Her eyes widened as she took a couple of steps closer before she said, "Wait, you're that guy that saved my party that one time! Good to see you again!"

"You're not gonna be playing that thing while the rest of us are fighting, are you?" I asked as I looked pointedly at the instrument.

"Huh? Oh, no," she answered with a quick shake of her head. "I learned that lesson pretty well back then- I just like having it on me, kind of like a good luck charm. I'll put it away for the fight, I promise."

"As long as you do," I said as I relaxed a little bit while her friend moved to join her, among a few other KOB members- including Godfrey, much to our surprise.

"I thought you weren't gonna fight with us?" Klein asked him, a little archly. "This is a suicide mission, remember?"

"I said I wouldn't make my men fight if they didn't want to," the rotund man answered as he unlimbered his axe. "But I also want to go home, and if there's a chance that I can make that happen, I'll do it myself."

"It looks like some of your boys agree with that," Kiriha said as she noticed the white-clad players behind the man. "Way to lead by example, Godfrey."

"Thanks, miss," he laughed lightly.

The rest of the players were all from miscellaneous guilds, but that didn't matter right now. What counted was that we were not alone in the final fight, and now we had a real chance at a victory that would not be pyrrhic in nature.

The crowd began to file past us, and I was about to let a smile break out on my face when one person stayed behind to level with me and the other Cats. I felt my stomach drop and my mouth go dry as Strea stood before us, armed and ready for battle.

"What are you doing here?!" I demanded before anyone could restrain me. "You're supposed to be helping the others!"

"The other MHCP's have already been converted and sent to their appropriate NerveGears," she answered calmly, fire in her ruby eyes. "I've decided to fight alongside you, one last time."

"Guys, I think we should go," Kirito said while I worked my jaw up and down, unable to think of what to say. Reluctantly, everyone but Saphira went to follow our leader toward the palace entrance.

"Strea, if you don't convert yourself while you can, you will die when the game is over," I said, panic building in my chest. "You won't be able to escape in time!"

"I was made to help others, Mataras," she reminded me with a peaceful smile as she unlimbered the massive sword from her back. "I've saved the others like me, and now, I'm going to help you the best way that I can. Against this boss, you'll need all the help that you can get, and you know it."

"Strea, I can't watch you die," I said with a trembling voice that betrayed just how close I was to crumbling in front of everyone.

"Just like I can't watch you die, especially if I could have done something about it," she said firmly. "This is one contest that you won't win, Mataras. I'm going to fight this boss, whether you want me to or not."

"Let her fight," Saphira said, much to my surprise. "She's the only one that knows how to convert her data into an object with the console, so there's no point in trying to make her go against what she has her heart set on. This is her decision, and we need to abide by it."

"No way," I said stubbornly, shaking my head in denial. "You guys wouldn't let me go when I wanted to kill myself, and I'm not gonna let her do the same thing!"

"Mataras, I'm not running toward my death to escape my life," Strea said gently. "I'm headed for the end so that you can all have a new beginning. Now, let's go. We don't want to be late for the fight."

I went to grab her arm, intent on dragging her back to the Hollow Area, willing or not, but Saphira smacked my hand away and shook her head in the negative. "She's her own person, Michael," she said softly, and I noticed tears in her eyes. "If she's ready to cast off the last of her chains like this, then you and I cannot stop her. It's not our place to take away this right to choose her fate."

"But…" I said in a broken voice. "This was supposed to be our victory- our last act of defiance against Kayaba's dictates. We can all get out of here, together."

"Maybe, but Strea seems to think that her life is worth all of ours'," Saphira said as she gripped my hand and led me after the others. "Greater love has no man that the one that lays down his life for his friends, right?"

"…Right."

"You taught her well, even if it wasn't intentional," my sister told me. "Now, let's go make the most of her choice, okay? And let's see her off with our heads held high, while we're at it."

I let out a long, shaky breath before I surrendered. "Okay," I murmured as I made an active effort to straighten my shoulders and lift my chin. "Let's do this."

At Klein's invitation, Kirito, Saphira, Rivka, and I all opened the doors to the Ruby Palace. "You guys beat the first boss, so it's only right that you kick off the battle against the last one," he grinned before we began to shove on the heavy doors.

We walked in a straight line toward the grand hall, where we were sure the boss would be. After all, despite the fact that there were doors leading to other rooms, they were all locked by the system, and it wasn't like we were really interested in anything else. We had come to finish business, and nothing was going to stop us, now.

When we finally reached the grand hall, once again, my friends and I shoved the doors open, though these ones swung in a lot easier than the main gate had. The inside of the room reminded me of Illfang's lair, except all of the colors were brighter and more varied, plus the stonework was all ruby, as opposed to gray marble. Even the throne that sat at the end of the long room was made of the red gem, and upon it sat a cloaked figure, whose face we could not see.

"Welcome, All," said the hooded person, and we all stopped in surprise just inside the entrance. The voice was not Kayaba's, but it still sounded familiar to us. "In acknowledgement of your strength and skill, I give you this chance to turn back and live out the rest of your lives amid the splendors of the floating castle, Aincrad. Forsake it, and I will have to kill you."

"You can try!" Klein shouted back. "None of us are giving up, not after all we've lost to get here!"

"All that you've lost?" the figure chuckled as he slowly stood up off the throne. "Forgive me, Klein, but I fail to see what you've lost." His use of the man's name startled us all, but the boss wasn't done talking, either. "All of your men have remained alive in spite of Aincrad's best efforts to kill you, and your quality of life is far above that of the general populace in this game- and that of your life out in the real world. So what is it that you have lost, other than time?"

Before the leader of Fuurinkazan could formulate a response, the hooded figure seemed to shift his gaze to look at the men from the Holy Dragon Alliance. "Schmitt, should you return to the real world, you may have to face prison for your part in the death of your guild leader, and her husband, as it were."

"How do you know about-?!"

"Godfrey, finally found your courage, have you?" the figure laughed mockingly, causing the leader of the Knights to tighten his grip on his weapon angrily. "You've finally come to a place where your men respect you; why give that up, hmm? For glory? For your own ego? Nothing is worth your death, I promise you that."

Something about all of this was familiar, but I wasn't sure how, and it was starting to get to me. Who is this guy?

"Hello, Agil," the boss said next, continuing to disturb us with his knowledge of our party. "I suppose it's too much to hope that you'd give up on seeing your wife again, but I advise you to consider that she might prefer a comatose husband to a dead one."

"All right, now I'm gonna kill him!" the bald man roared, only to be held back by the flat of Saphira's sword. "What the hell?!"

"Wait," she said in a dark tone that startled us almost as much as the boss. "He's not done, and something tells me that we're better off waiting for him to finish."

"Ah, Saphira, ever the rational one of the bunch," the boss nodded slowly. "Your ability to keep cool is what kept you alive in the Hollow Area for so long, not a unique skill. So I'm sure that your deductive reasoning will tell you that challenging me is futile, even with the Fifth Commandment and the Moonlit Black Cats backing you up."

"Maybe, but I had to pick up on at least one of my brother's stupid traits, and it seems like it was his inability to back down from a fight, even when I know I can't win," she growled. "But then, you already knew that, didn't you?"

Alone among the group, I felt my heart stop beating for a few seconds. There's no way… I thought. I prayed that she was wrong, that I wasn't about to see what I knew was coming.

"Like I said…" the boss replied as he reached up to throw back his hood, and finally revealing his handle simultaneously. Everyone took a step back in horror and dread as a pair of dark eyes burned at them from beneath a veil of raven-black hair, and the words, 'Mordred, The Red Swordsman of Aincrad.'

"You always were the rational one," said Mordred as his heavy cloak fell away, revealing maroon red clothing underneath, and an orange-red blade already in his hand. "So tell me… what are your chances of victory, Sister mine?" Shifting his gaze rest on me, his lips curled upwards slightly as he added, "Have you prepared for Avalon, Pendragon?"

Against every hope that I had left, I found myself looking into my own eyes- the eyes of Crimson.

Mataras: Hehe... Heheha! Ha! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Saphira: What's so funny?!

Mataras: Your face!

Saphira: Rrrrgh!

Kirito: You didn't! You did not!

Mataras: Oh, but I did! My biggest plot twist combined with the ultimate cliffhanger! I have been waiting so long for that to pay off! The best part was, only one of you guys saw it coming! Nice job in picking up the clues, Ethan!

Asuna: Clues?! What clues?! There were no clues!

Mataras: Au contraire. Go back and read the story again, closely. There were hints that I scattered about the narrative, I assure you.

Saphira: Okay, how long before we see the next chapter? It'd better be fast!

Mataras: One week, promise. I also promise to make somebody cry- not sure who, but I know it'll happen.

Kirito: You're a damn sadist.

Saphira: Next time- Death's Embrace.