"Kirito!" Asuna shrieked and ran to her boyfriend's side. Selka watched with apprehension as Eugeo's eyes slowly opened.
"Huh…?" he murmured. "What happened?"
Selka was momentarily delighted before Asuna grabbed her by the throat.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" she furiously shouted in her face. Kirito's unconscious body lay to the side.
"Gah! I'm sorry! It was the only way to save Eugeo!" she desperately pleaded.
"What's going on here?" Eugeo said. He glanced at Kazuto and gasped.
"Please don't hurt me! He's still alive, just sleeping, I think!" said Selka
"You think?!" Suguha joined Asuna and scrambled to feel around her brother's body. She then let out a sigh of relief. "Phew! He's still breathing."
Asuna released her grip. Eugeo seemed to understand what had transpired.
"Selka! Did you…" he paused. Selka nodded.
"I drained some of his life force, and my own, to save Eugeo's life," she said. "It was the only thing I could think of."
Eugeo let out a sigh.
"Well, I'm happy to see you again, Selka," he smiled at the girl. "Do you have any idea how you got here?"
"Sorry, I'm just as confused as you are. I just woke up right here in this strange place. Then I saw you and acted on impulse." Selka glanced at Kirito. "He should be fine. I'll have to do a couple favors for him to apologize once he wakes up."
"Then perhaps you could start with us?" Midori stepped forward and knelt down. "I still don't understand most of the things going on here, but I would be pleased if you could help me take my son back home."
"Of course!" said Eugeo.
As this transpired, Spiegel was suddenly struck with an idea. He whispered in Sinon's ear.
"Let's go back to my house. I bet Death Gun left a clue there as to where he's going next."
"Right."
As they teleported off, Kyouko cleared her throat.
"Alright, everyone! Everything seems to have cleared up over here, so let's get back to the house. I hope Yui's okay…" she said before putting on a more serious face. "Now!"
"Yes, ma'am!" Shouzou and Kouchirou replied attentively. Asuna glanced between her mother and her fiance's sleeping body.
"Uh… Mother, would it be okay if I-"
Kyouko smiled.
"It's alright. Go be with your hubby."
"Thank you!" Asuna quickly bowed before joining the Kirigayas in lifting her loved one onto their shoulders. Thinking back, she wasn't sure if this was an indication that her mother was softening up or if she just wanted some alone time with Yui. While her motivations were dubious, she wasn't going to argue with her actions.
Teleport Crystals didn't work on unconscious players, yet another instance where they were rendered inert for some odd reason, so they all walked back home, save for the Konno sisters, who guarded their surroundings against any hostile monsters. Frankly, none showed up, but they didn't want to take chances. Or, in Yuuki's case, she didn't want to pass up the opportunity to impress Asuna.
As they walked, Eugeo started to tell his story at Asuna's request.
"I guess it all started back when I was a little kid. I had a friend named Alice Zuberg, Selka's older sister. One day, we decided to head into the caves inside the End Mountains at the edge of our village to look for ice. We got lost, and Alice accidentally touched the edge of the Dark Territory on the other side of the mountain. The very next day, an Integrity Knight came along and took her away to be executed."
"Executed for touching a piece of land?" Suguha's eyes widened in horror. What kind of immigration policy is that?!
"She violated the Taboo Index," said Selka. "And that is unforgivable…"
"Oh right, that doesn't exist in this world," Eugeo recalled. Selka continued speaking.
"Onee-san was renowned throughout Rulid village as a great user of the Sacred Arts," said Selka. "When she was taken away, I started studying harder to be like her, and Eugeo kept doing his job."
Eugeo let out a sigh.
"I know it's a little strange, but I always had a feeling that Alice was still alive. Somewhere in the capital city of Centuria… she was waiting for me."
"I hate to be rude," Yuuki interjected. "But couldn't you have just… you know… head over there and had a look-see?"
"I wish. In my world, you have to stick to your Calling. For me, that was cut away at the Gigas Cedar. I couldn't leave the village even if I wanted to."
"I'm not sure I understand completely," said Asuna. "But it sounds like you think that you might find Alice in this world, right?"
"Exactly!" Eugeo excitedly said. "I'm sure of it! I'll find her in this world; I'd bet my ax on it!"
"Don't actually do that; you'll kill the whole village," Selka remarked.
"It's just an expression…" Eugeo chuckled while everyone gave them strange looks. Midori took that as a hint to change the subject."
"So… that's a nice sword you've got there," she said. "Where's it from?"
"Oh, this?" Eugeo took out his crystal blue blade. "This is the Blue Rose Sword. There's a story back in my village about it. In a nutshell, a great hero named Bercouli sought this sword a great many years ago, so he ventured into the End Mountain caves, the same ones that Alice and I went into, in fact. There, he found a cavern full of ice and a white dragon guarding this sword, along with a massive hoard of golden treasure. Bercouli tried to steal the sword, but the dragon chased him off. The story continues from there, but that's not the point. When Alice and I first entered the cave, we found the sword, but the dragon was dead. We never figured out why. A couple years later, I decided to bring it back to my house because… well, I wanted to become a swordsman someday."
"Wow…" said Suguha. "Your world sounds pretty exciting."
"Well, one could argue that I haven't really seen all that it has to offer." Eugeo chuckled. "But your world is just as, if not more amazing. There are so many pretty lights and amazing machines everywhere! Plus, there are these things everywhere that summon clean water for free! How do those work?"
Thus, a cross-cultural conversation spanning different worlds continued all the way back to the Kirigaya household.
The early morning sun pierced in through the curtains of Kirito's room. The young warrior's eyes slowly opened. Waking up to see his HUD plastered onto his vision, what once refreshed the looming dread of the death game, was now his daily reminder that this was indeed his new reality.
And almost as if to shine a new light on that very fact, Asuna's moonstone face came into view. She sat at the end of his bed, her gentle orange locks illuminated by the early morning sun. Her angelic visage was expressionless as if she'd been thinking of him for a while. Kirito smiled at the thought, his girlfriend's… no, his wife's obsession with him was a trait that he'd never asked for but found addictively attractive nonetheless.
Her expression sharpened as he began to stir. They locked eyes for a brief moment before he spoke.
"Good morning."
Asuna smiled, shedding a few tears as she leaned down to embrace her lover.
"I was so scared," she said. "Thank the heavens…"
Kazuto chuckled and sat up in bed, still holding her close.
"You know, at this point, we should be legally considered ghosts from all these near-death encounters we keep having."
"No, I don't want to think about that." Asuna said, a hint of terror in her voice. "I just want to be with you."
"Me too." Kazuto was silent for a good minute or so. When they finally parted, Kazuto recalled the traumatic events that had occurred. "Is everyone okay?" he nervously said.
"They're all safe. There haven't been any more monsters attacking but…" Her voice trailed off. She glanced at her feet and then back at Kirito's face. "You've been in a coma for a whole day."
"Eh?"
As if one cue, Eugeo walked into the room, alive and well. The orange-haired girl from the day before followed shortly. She was around twelve years old, her eyes were a striking blue color, and she wore a black and white habit, somewhat resembling a nun's outfit. She had a look of guilt plastered across her face as she promptly lowered herself in a deep bow.
She spoke before Kirito could get a word out.
"I'm very sorry for making you pass out! I had to perform a dangerous high-level Sacred Art to save Eugeo-san! Your life force was drained in the process, and you could've died! I'm REALLY sorry!"
"Woah, Woah, slow down a second. What happened?" Kirito said. Asuna glanced at Eugeo and Selka.
"It's… a long story. Come on, let's get some breakfast."
Asuna made a quick meal of scrambled eggs for the four of them. Kazuto was glad to have confirmation: her cooking in the real world was every bit as good as in the game.
As they ate, Eugeo and Selka recounted their story once again as Kirito listened attentively.
Yui arrived at the house just half an hour later, accompanied by Kyouko. The two seemed to have bonded quite a bit during the previous night. Asuna was glad that her mother had eased up after receiving a grandchild.
As Eugeo finished the recap, Kazuto spoke again.
"So your world is what we would refer to as a Fantasy world…" he stroked his chin. "By the way, what exactly are Sacred Arts?"
"You don't have them here?" Selka's eyes widened. Eugeo shrugged.
"Apparently not. Selka, can you demonstrate?"
"Sure." The young girl extended a hand. "System Call, Generate Luminous Element."
At once, a yellow sphere appeared on her hand, emitting a bright glow similar to that of a candle.
"Amazing…" said Suguha, who had also joined the table. "What does 'System Call' mean?"
"Nobody knows, apparently someone figured what the words did, but nobody knows what they mean," Eugeo said.
"So pretty!" Yui squealed with delight. The luminous ball faded as Kirito's mind resumed processing the information.
System Call… that's the kind of command line you would use in a virtual world. Could they really be NPCs? Or maybe in a similar class as Yui? In any case… there's one thing I can do to find out.
"Eugeo, there's something I'd like to test, but I need your help," he got up from his seat and walked up to the blonde-haired boy.
"Sure, what do you need to me to… uh, why are you so close?" Eugeo flushed slightly. Kazuto suddenly grasped his shoulder.
"Let me see your body!"
"Kirito-kun?!" Asuna shrieked.
"W-What?" Eugeo's face flushed red. Kazuto examined him. He was breathing heavy, starting to sweat, and he looked genuinely scared.
A-hah! There's no harassment warning! That means they're not NPCs or players. Does that mean that they're programs like Yui? But that still doesn't explain the other world.
"Uh, sorry about that." Kirito quickly took his hand away and chuckled. "I found out what I needed to know, so it's all good."
"I… don't mind helping you, but could you not do that without telling me first?" Eugeo's face was bright red with embarrassment.
"What on earth was that?" said Selka, a disturbed expression on her face.
"Onii-chan… do you swing that way?" said Suguha.
"Kazuto, don't lie to me!"
"Of course not, why would you think that?" Kazuto turned to them confused.
It then occurred to Kirito that he had severely overestimated his own social awareness skills. He quickly searched for a new subject.
"A-Anyways, I don't think I've introduced this one." Kazuto indicated to his progeny. "This is my and Asuna's daughter, Yui."
"It's nice to meet both of you." Yui gave her standard introduction.
"Oh, she's your daughter? She's pretty cute," said Eugeo.
"It's nice to meet you too." Selka shook her hand. "Wait…"
Her eyes turned to face Asuna. She looked the older girl up and down.
"Uh, what are you…"
"...You're a mother?!" Selka's eyes widened.
It occurred to Kirito that he really needed to get a better understanding of how his family must've looked to outsiders.