Chapter XIII – Connections:

"Who was that?" Kirito asked, poking his head out of the hallway at the top of the stairs.

"It was Sinon actually," Asuna replied, looking up at Kirito, who was partially hiding behind a wall. "Why didn't you come down sooner? We were talking for at least five minutes."

"Yeah..." Kirito's cheeks almost seemed to blush slightly, something Asuna rarely got the pleasure of seeing. "I, uhh... couldn't find where you threw my shirt."

Asuna snorted, then burst into a loud belly laugh. Kirito looked down at her, trying to give off an aura of non-amusement, but couldn't keep a slight grin from creeping onto his own face. It was hard not to feel good, being properly reunited after having so little time to themselves during the past few weeks.

"Come on," she managed, through persistent remaining chuckles. "I'll help you find it."

She quickly rejoined him at the top of the stairs and, after giving his shirtless form a long look of appreciation, led him back to her room. "I'd hate to think what would happen if my mom stumbled across it."

"Yeah. For the moment, I'm perfectly happy sitting in the 'barely tolerated' zone."

Asuna's room was fairly spartan in terms of adornments. Aside from her bed draped in peach sheets and her computer desk, there was little more than a bulletin board of physical photos and an oddly shaped dresser/bookshelf hybrid. The shirt couldn't have gone far.

"So, what did Sinon want anyway?" Kirito asked.

"Oh right," Asuna said as she tried to recall the general direction in which she'd tossed the missing shirt. "She wanted my help tracking someone down, just like you had me do for Miss Oozawa."

"Did she find some kind of lead?"

"No, nothing like that. She wanted to know if I could find Riordan's parents for her. She also wanted to know if she could borrow Yui's shoulder cam for a day."

"Oh..." Kirito's eyes went wide with surprise for a moment. "I know they've been pared up pretty much since we met, but I didn't realize they'd gotten so close. You don't suppose they're-"

"I didn't ask, and you better not either," Asuna interrupted, poking him with her finger. "It's none of our business."

Kirito flopped onto the bed, leaving the search up to Asuna. "It's just... even if they are, what would that mean? Rinko's been saying since Alice was introduced to the world that one day she believes we'd be able to have real romantic relationships with artificial life, even marry them... but I'm not so sure the world is ready for such a big step yet."

"Well, IF" Asuna emphasized, "they are interested in each other, wouldn't they be the perfect bridge? Ah here it is." Asuna said pulling Kirito's black t-shirt out from behind her computer desk and tossing it to him. "I mean, he was human at one point; I'm not sure if the world would still classify him as such now, but I still think he is. What better way to show that there really is no existential difference between the Underworlders and us?"

"Yeah, I suppose you're right." Kirito said as he pulled his shirt back on. "I wonder if he even knows about Alice and what's been going on in the world, I haven't really had a chance to talk to him about much outside of ETO yet myself."

"We should probably check, if Rinko can have a body like Alice's made for him, maybe he really could come back to the real world?"

They sat in silence for a minute, thinking about the implications of what was going on when out of the blue, Kirito asked. "What was he like?"

"Hm?"

"Riordan. I never knew him that well back in SAO, just from the boss raids really. What was he like?"

Asuna's eyes seemed to glaze over slightly as she cast he mind back to her time in SAO. "If I had to describe Rio in one word, I would say stalwart. He never really got out of Heathcliff's shadow, being the same character build and all, but he was a fantastic player in his own right, and a good friend.

"He was never much of a go-getter normally, but whenever combat started, it was like he was a different person, always putting himself between the group and harm; almost as if he thought it was his personal mission to keep everyone safe. He seems... different now. Not crazy different, but it has been years, and he has been through a lot. I'd be surprised if he still was the person I remember."

Rolling over to her stomach and propping her head on a triangle made from her arms, Asuna regarded Kirito's pensive expression. "You're worried about her, aren't you?"

Kirito couldn't help but smile. As usual, Asuna hit the nail right on the head; she had always been able to see right to the heart of him. "Yeah, a little." he admitted. "I know it sounds silly, I mean, present company excluded, Sinon's probably the strongest person I know. On top of that, you vouched for Riordan, and that should be enough in and of itself. I don't know... something about this whole situation, not just them, is still bugging me."

"It's not a bad thing to worry about your friends." Asuna said with a smile. "But you and I both know that Sinon can handle herself. Honesly I find myself worrying more about the people that aren't in the loop finding out."

"Yeah, Alice is still knee deep in her work for Rinko, and Klein told me that he and Liz were going to go hang out with Silica today, so I think they're covered for now."

"What about Leafa?"

"Yeah... she gets back from the Kendo regional championships this evening. I honestly don't know how I'm going to keep this from her anymore. You know she's going to want in on it too, but we're in too deep at this point. Even if I wasn't worried about her, it would take her too long to catch up to us in level and gear to be much help."

"You're right," Asuna said leaning forward and resting her head on Kirito's chest. "Still, I certainly wouldn't want to be around when she finds out."

"I'll make sure to keep her Shinai out of reach," Kirito replied with a halfhearted chuckle.

Asuna giggled a little too before a comfortable silence fell between them. They simply laid there together, enjoying each other's company and wishing they had more time to do so.

It was a few minutes before Asuna remembered what had started their conversation in the first place. "Oh, right," she realized aloud, picking up her phone. "Yui, are you there?"

Her phone pinged a moment later and her daughter's voice came through. "Here Mommy," she cheerily replied.

"Can you run a check for me on the last player confirmed dead from SAO and find out if his family still lives anywhere nearby?"

"Sure thing Mommy. It might take a little while though; some of the SAO data is still restricted."

Once Yui had disconnected from Asuna's phone, Kirito rolled over and looked up. "So, when did you say your folks were coming back to town again?"

"Not until tomorrow evening."

Kirito leaned over and gently pulled Asuna into a deep, passionate kiss. "Good" he said with a smile, before being enveloped in the arms of the woman he loved.

"Tiyahh!"

A flash of dagger strikes brought the massive Dire Wolf to its knees. A blur of brown and blue vaulted over the beast before a follow up strike to its snout shattered the creature into hundreds of pixelated fragments. Watching the unusually impressive display of acrobatics and knife skills, Liz couldn't help but think that Silica was taking her frustrations at them out on the wolves.

"Easy there killer, save some for the rest of us." Klein joked as he caught up with the pair.

"No sweat Klein," Silica replied with a smile and a hop "I could do this all day."

"Silica..." Liz started awkwardly. She was glad to finally have a little time to spend with her friend, but Liz couldn't help but feel guilty that Silica wasn't able to help them on their current assignment. Silica's attitude the entire day hadn't made it easier on them either.

"You don't have to prove anything to us," Liz finally said. She'd seen this coming all day, hoping that they could avoid it, at least for now. Deep down though, she knew it was inevitable.

Silica stopped in her tracks with Pina coming to rest on her shoulder, before slowly turning around. Her fake smile was gone, replaced with a mask of clouds. "I didn't think so, but it seems I was wrong about that."

"Damn it Silica! You know we'd have you there with us if we could. These were the rules we had to agree to, and what were doing is important."

"Super important, but you can't even tell me about it, so how am I supposed to know? We've always shared secrets before, I'm sure the government wasn't happy about Asuna telling us all about the Underworld, but she did it anyway. I can help too, you know I can."

The pleading look in Silica's eyes broke Liz's heart. If she had been the only one left out, Liz was sure she'd feel much the same way. Even so, there wasn't anything she could do about it now. Even if they ignored Agent Nishyama's orders and brought her along secretly, she hadn't spent the weeks levelling up that they had.

"You know it wasn't up to us." Liz replied. "We'd always want you with us if it were possible."

Silica spun around in a huff, crossing her arms and refusing to look back. Though she had grown up a lot, sometimes she still acted like the child of the group. While Liz did want her to fight by their side, she couldn't exactly blame Agent Nishiyama for excluding her either.

"Hey," Klein said, gently putting his hand on Silica's shoulder. "Even if our employer let us bring you, the game is age locked, eighteen or older only. Your account would get flagged and you wouldn't be able to play anyway."

"I'm sure Yui could have figured something out. You guys didn't even try," Silica shot back.

"You know Yui's a secret," Liz countered. "We can't risk her getting found out by the government."

"I... yeah I know." Silica said, deflating as she sank to her knees. "It's not that I'm unhappy Kirito's getting help this time, it's just... before, we were at least stuck on the sidelines together; now I'm the only one being left out."

"Not entirely... Leafa and Alice haven't joined up with us."

Silica sighed, though she knew that was only a half truth. "That's only because Leafa's out of town at a Kendo tournament and Alice is busy with work. Otherwise, they would have helped too."

Liz winced as Silica's words rang true. Even so, that didn't mean they had intentionally abandoned her.

"Look, if there was another way, you know we would have taken it. I know it sucks that we've been away for so long, but we're here now. Come on, let's knock out a few more quests today."

Silica looked up at her friends, then around to the packs of wolves in the next clearing. Pina squawked softly and licked her cheek, as if trying to wash away her dour expression.

"Actually, I think that I'm going to call it a day early." Silica said.

"Are you sure, we-"

"I'm sure Liz. I'll catch you both another time." Silica said as she brought up her menu with a quick swipe and pressed the log out button. A moment later, her avatar, and her pet Pina both faded away.

Liz stared at the empty spot where her friend had stood a moment ago, unsure of what to do.

A reassuring hand gently settled on her right shoulder. "You did everything you could have." Klein said softly.

"Then why do I still feel like I was the bad guy?" she asked, reaching her left hand and gently resting on Klein's. "Thank you though."

"For what? It's not like I did much to help out."

"Just for being here. I knew she was pissed at us... I didn't want to face her alone."

"Hey," he said, walking around to look Liz in the eyes. "You know I've always got your back."

She stared up at his dopey grin as he gave her a thumbs up and a wink. He was a dork, but he was also right. If there was anyone Liz knew would always be ready to support someone in need, it was Klein.

"Yeah, I know," she replied softly.

"So, uhh... what do you want to do now that it's just the two of us?" Klein asked, awkwardly looking away.

"Well, I've been out of ALO for over two weeks, my shop's probably backlogged with orders like crazy. If you don't mind doing some legwork, I could sure use a hand getting things back on track."

"Yeah, no problem," Klein replied, his expression returning to normal. "What do you need?"

"Not sure yet, we'll have to head back to my shop and see. If there's anything I don't have the materials for on hand, it would save me a bunch of time if you'd be my pack mule and get them for me."

"I suppose I did say that I'd always have your back didn't I?"

"You did." she replied with a mischievous grin.

"Okay, okay, I'll be your pack mule for the day. Let's get going."

When the day had started, the last thing Klein had expected to be doing was running all over Alne on a shopping spree. Liz had taken one look at the mounting of requests at her shop's inbox before drawing him up a list longer than his arm and cheerily sending him on his way.

So far, he'd been to over half a dozen specialty shops and he'd still only gotten a third of what she wanted. The bill was climbing fast, but she had told him that price was no object so long as it was close to market value. While Klein was hardly an entrepreneur, he had least had at least been playing ALO long enough to tell what a fair price was. Even so, he couldn't help but wonder how much Yrd she had saved up from her Blacksmithing business over the years.

"Hey Klein!"

The sound of his name snapped his wandering mind back to the present. From across a sparsely populated street waved a woman with flowing light blue hair, pale blue robes, and a silver staff.

"Oh, Siune. It's been a long time." Klein replied, raising his hand in greeting.

Sinue was a close friend of Asuna's and although Klein had never gotten to know her that well personally, from what he had heard about her and what little he had seen himself, he had a lot of respect for the woman.

"It's good to see you," she said with a warm smile. "What have you all been up to? I haven't seen or heard from Asuna and the others in weeks."

"We've been playing another VRMMO; don't worry though, we'll be coming back to Alfhiem soon," he assured her.

"Ah, yeah, I know the feeling of wanting to get out and try something new. I just hope that whatever game you found is better than Insecticide." Siune visibly shivered at the memory of her least favourite game of all time. "So what brings you back here then?" she asked as the pair began to walk causally down the street together.

"Oh, Liz and I had the day off, so we decided to come back to ALO. She's in her shop hammering away at the mountain of backlogged orders, and I get to be her pack mule running around town and picking up everything she needs."

"Oh that's sweet. So how long have you two been together?"

Klein nearly tripped over his own feet at the comment, stumbling awkwardly and catching himself in a display that was anything but graceful. "Whoa, don't get the wrong idea, we're not together-together. We're just friends." Yet even as he said the words, thoughts of the other night behind the diner flashed into his mind, which he quickly dismissed.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have assumed," Siune immediately replied, stammering a bit herself at her faux pas. "It's just that you two are so close and the way you were talking, I just figured..."

"It's okay, no harm done." Klein assured her, trying to hide the embarrassed blush that was creeping onto his cheeks. "Honestly I wish I could be so lucky, but come on. Even if I was interested, there's no way she'd go for me."

"Why not?"

"Well... I mean... she's just... it's like..."

Siune couldn't help but giggle at Klein's floundering. "It sounds like the only thing holding you back is you."

"No, now wait just a second, I didn't even say that I was interested."

"True... but this entire time, you didn't say that you weren't either." she pointed out.

"I..." Klein didn't know what to say. She was technically right. He hadn't explicitly denied his interest, even though he hadn't really thought seriously about the subject either. It wasn't that he didn't find Liz attractive, quite the contrary in fact, but she was also... Liz. She was the implacable backbone of their group, always ready to arm them with a sturdy sword and a steady heart. What else could she be?

Siune smiled warmly, but also somewhat sorrowfully. "Take it from me Klein, life is sometimes much shorter than you'd expect. If you're really not interested in her, then I'm sorry for getting on your case... but if you are, then just go for it."

Klein couldn't find it within him to be annoyed with Siune for poking into his business after that. Most of the Sleeping Knights were gone now; she of all people understood the importance of the creed of living life in the moment. Even so, one thing still bugged him. "Why does my situation interest you so much anyway?" he asked.

"Just trying to live up to the people that have gone before me I suppose." she said with a slight shrug. "I feel like I would have regretted not saying something, and I couldn't have that."

Klein stopped walking and looked up into the blue sky which was dotted with flying faeries; as if somehow, some great answer or understanding was up there. "Despite my big talk, I've never been all that great with women, if you hadn't noticed. I don't even know what I feel. I'm certainly not going to risk messing up a good thing when I don't even have an answer for myself."

Siune patted Klein on the shoulder. "Don't take too long figuring it out, or life's going to pass you by." With those words, Siune activated her wings and flew off, waving goodbye to Klein as she left.

Klein stood there for a moment before shaking off the uncertain feeling the conversation had left him with. There was enough going on without adding more to the mix. Sure in the belief that he would be able to sort himself out once the current crisis had passed, Klein made his way back to the market to finish off his long list of materials.

As soon as Klein opened the front door, he could hear the furious clanging of metal on metal emanating from the back room of the shop.

Pushing aside thoughts of his conversation with Siune for the sixth time in the past hour, Klein made his way through the shelves lined with various arms and armour, to where Liz was no doubt eagerly awaiting the fruits of his labours.

He gently pushed the door to her workshop open, trying not to disturb her. However, he noticed a slight twitch of her head that signalled his failure to do so. Yet she didn't acknowledge him, and continued pounding away relentlessly, but precisely, against the sword upon her anvil.

After a few moments, the sword took its final shape; a gleaming longsword; and Liz let out a sigh of relief before turning to greet Klein.

A few stray beads of sweat dripped from her pink brow as a warm smile lit her glistening face. Hammer swung over her shoulder, and still bearing some of her armour from earlier, she looked every bit like a glorious Valkyrie, bestowing her blessings upon the arms of mortals.

"Earth to Klein, are you in there?" she asked, her free hand on her hip and a slightly perturbed look upon her face.

Had she been talking? Klein wondered just how long he had stood there staring.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. I got all the stuff you asked for," he said, shaking his head back to the present.

"No way! All of it?" she exclaimed with a little bounce. "You're the best!"

"Eh, I try," he replied, as nonchalantly as he could manage while trying to hide what he assumed were brightly blushing cheeks by materializing the whole lot right in front of him.

"Augh!" Liz yelped as a cavalcade of crafting materials fell into a small mountain before her. "What the hell Klein?!"

After numerous apologies and excuses, Klein found himself spending the next half hour sorting through the mess he had made of Liz's shop, while the blacksmith continued her work. All the while, Siune's comments played over and over in his head, to the point where he felt that he was destined to do something stupid again out of sheer distraction.

While he managed not to show it outwardly, Klein felt ready to grab his hair out of sheer frustration and pull for all he was worth. He had never been awkward around Liz like this before, and it was maddening. Was what Siune said really affecting him that much, or did what happened between them behind the diner just open a door to something he hadn't realized was always there?

"Hey, Klein..."

"Huh, yeah?" he asked, looking up from his nearly complete sorting task.

"I'm sorry that I got mad at you. It's clear you've got something on your mind."

Klein's internal alarm bells went straight to def-con two. She noticed that he'd been acting strange around her today, that it wasn't normal. Furiously his mind scrambled for something to say that would re-direct her line of thinking.

"I know that it won't be easy," she continued as Klein internally upgraded to def-con one, "but I'm sure that if you just talk to him about it, you'll see that he doesn't hold a grudge. He never struck me as that kind of person back when I knew him in Aincrad, and he doesn't seem to have changed too much to me."

"Huh?" Klein let slip, and immediately masked his puzzled look.

"I know that your history with Riordan's still bothering you, and I'm honoured that you felt comfortable enough to share it with me. I really think you need to talk to him about it though."

Klein was both relieved and concerned when the realization finally dawned on him. The truth was that up until that morning, he had still been worried about what Riordan would say to him if they ever spoke one on one. Yet between trying to cheer up Silica, and the things Siune had filled his head with, he'd been too preoccupied to give it much thought. Not Liz though; she'd been worrying about him this whole time. That was just the kind of person she was.

"I will..." Klein solemnly replied. "And thank you."

Liz cocked her head slightly, a vaguely perplexed look on her face. "Huh, what for?" she asked.

"For everything silly. For helping keep my mind off things today, and... for the other day at the diner. For just... being around in general, to be honest."

The blacksmith's cheeks flushed nearly as bright at her hair as her eyes quickly darted away. "Yeah well... you're welcome." She practically squeezed the words out before hurriedly grabbing the nearest crafting material and returning to her forge.

She raised her hammer high to strike, but hesitated before bringing it down.

"Klein... I know that I've never really told you this before but..." Liz spun around on her heel, eyes locked with Klein's in an odd calm intensity. "You may be a total hopeless dork, but you're also the most reliable person I've ever met. You're... the steady rock; in what is often the crazy whirlpool of my life."

Her serious look slowly began to falter as she started to fidget with her hammer. "Look, what I'm trying to say is that... if I was able to help you out, even a little... then I'm glad."

Now, Liz beamed with a nervous but warm and radiant smile. The light of the forge behind her illuminated her short frame in a soft glow. She carried herself with such a calm dignity that it was almost palpable, always sure of purpose even when she stumbled. It was why, so often, she would stand when no one else would.

Klein wasn't sure that his jaw hadn't physically hit the floor, but his heart had certainly done a number on the inside of his chest. Holy crap, he thought. Was Siune right... and I was just too dumb to see it?

Before he could fumble out anything approaching even a semi-coherent reply, Liz swung back around to her anvil and hurriedly resumed her work.

"Well... still lots to get done. Those orders aren't going to fill themselves," she said with an awkward forced chuckle.

Klein remained where he sat while she worked on through the afternoon and into the early evening. All the while the warmth he felt had nothing to do with the burning forge nearby.

The train station bustled with mid-day activity as Kirito and Asuna got out of the cab. They would have normally taken his motorcycle anywhere, but it could only fit two, and Asuna had agreed to come as his backup. Not that he imagined even she would be able to quell Suguha's rage once she found out even the broad strokes of what she was missing out on.

"Thanks for coming Asuna. I really mean it."

"It's not problem silly," she replied with a smile. "I haven't seen Leafa in a while either, and I get to spend more time with you, so it's a win-win as far as I'm concerned."

Kirito squeezed the hand of his love affectionately as the pair made their way up the stairs to a long concrete platform. There were several large overhangs to protect people from potential rainstorms and dozens of seats beneath them where various people waited for the next train.

"When does her train arrive?" Asuna asked, looking down the long track.

"She texted me that she was only a few stops away about five minute ago, so I'd say anytime now."

As if on cue, a chime rang through the station as the expected train rounded a corner and came into view. With it so close, the pair didn't bother to sit down and instead walked down the platform to meet up with Suguha as she got off.

Kirito's younger sister waved at them from a window as the train slid into the station. She wore her old maroon hoodie and had a massive duffle bag slung over her shoulder to carry all her kendo gear. As soon as the train ground to a halt, Sugha jumped onto the far end of the platform, sending them another energetic wave from the other side of the station.

Asuna and Kirito waved back before making their way down the platform.

"She seems excited to be back," Asuna remarked.

The siblings had made it almost halfway back to each other when something behind Leafa caught Kirito's eye. His heart skipped a beat at the sight. Behind her, Kirito noticed a hunched figure walking across the platform, hidden beneath a large black poncho.

No! He told himself instantly, PoH's gone... it's just a coincidence.

A moment later, a new fear came to fruition. The man raised his hand up to the sky, holding something clenched within that Kirito couldn't see. What he could see however, even at a fair distance and partially obscured by the hood, was the manic gleam in the man's eyes.

He threw his head back, causing the hood to fall away and shouted ""Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!" before dropping what was in his hand.

Kirito opened his mouth to call out to his sister, but it was too late. A thunderous sound smashed into Kirito's ears and a wall of force lifted him clean off his feet, tossing him across the platform. He hit the ground hard, rolling across the platform and crashing into something before darkness took him.

Kirito woke to a splitting headache and blurry vision. The thick scent of smoke assailed his nostrils and his mouth tasted of coppery blood. He forced his eyes to clear with several hard blinks and beheld a scene of utter devastation.

The train sat at an awkward angle, only partially still on the tracks. Two of the overhangs had collapsed, one of which was ablaze with a small fire. Sickly smoke clogged the air as a few people wandered about the ruined platform in a shock-induced haze. Most were on the ground though, some crying out for help, others unconscious, or worse.

Looking around in a daze, Kirito finally spotted Asuna. Her clothes were tattered and grime-soaked, her hair matted with blood; yet she was not on the ground or stunned like so many others. Asuna knelt over the body of a young man, performing chest compressions with all her might.

Another man ran over to her, and she looked up long enough to give him brief instructions before he ran off again, all the while continuing to work on the prone man before her. Kirito saw the man suddenly gasp for breath and flail about for a moment, before settling to; what Kirito assumed were; Asuna's calming words.

Just as he'd seen time and time again on the field of battle in Aincrad, Asuna had taken charge and was doing everything in her power to keep everyone around her alive. It was only then that he noticed the cloth tied tight around his shoulder. The secure tie still showed that a bit of blood had seeped through, but it did make him realize that she had already seen to him, likely before anyone else.

"Just how long was I out?" Kirito murmured. "The last thing I remember..."

Kirito's head snapped up at the thought, casing a spike of pain to drill into his temple. Pushing through the agonizing pain, he scanned the platform for his sister, but she was nowhere to be found.

Clumsily, Kirito pulled himself to his feet and stumbled across the ruined platform, towards the last place he had seen Suguha. He wasn't sure how long it took to find the location in the devastation, but he was totally exhausted by the time he got there. Yet still, there was no sign of his sister.

Frantically he searched the area, ignoring his screaming limbs. Finally he found her, laying limp next to the shattered remains of one of the overhangs. Kirito's heart plummeted and his legs felt like lead, yet still they managed to carry him to her before giving out.

Suguha's right leg was bent at a terrible angle, a large purpling lump below her knee showing where a bone had clearly broken. Her clothes were torn to ribbons and she had innumerable cuts and bruises all over her body. Kirito subconciously realized it must have come from her rolling across the concrete at who knew what speeds.

Suguha's eyes were closed and blood trailed from both her nose and forehead, dripping to the ground like a gruesome old faucet. Kirito's arm twitched as he tried to move, but his body refused to respond. Everything was numb; even words barely came to him.

"S... Suguha?" he stammered. "Suguha!"

Yeah... so, that just happened.

This chapter took me WAY longer to write that I expected it to. Between some personal medical issues that had me laid up for a while and realizing that I am just terrible at writing Silica (seriously that one scene took me a freaking month, I lost count of how many times I re-wrote it), it's certainly been a journey. Hopefully it turned out well in the end.

There are a few little things I think I could have done a bit more on, I felt like the scene between Siune and Klein could have been just a tiny bit longer, but with it being as late as it is for an update, I decided to declare victory and just move on. Hopefully there aren't too many errors that my quick editing missed, but I will update and fix any that I find; again, with it being so late, I just wanted to get it out to all of you.

So, as for the next chapter (Between Worlds), I've already done a rough draft of the first quarter... ish? So I'm starting out a bit further ahead than usual. Hopefully it pays off in when I can actually get it out.

That all being said, if you're looking for some other good dark SAO fics while you wait for my slow ass, there have been a couple really good ones to start up recently. For an even darker Lovecraftian take on the story, retelling original Aincrad as a veritable nightmare, check out Against The Darkness We Stand, by TwistedFilms; but beware, it's not for the faint of heart, it's rated M for MANY reasons. Or if you prefer the characters IRL, you might like A Wounded Heart by Schoolsenpai; it's basically what I'd imagine an IRL darkest SAO timeline to be like without you know... everyone dead. Hopefully that will tide you over until I can get the next one out.

As always, any constructive feedback is greatly appreciated, should you be so inclined.

Until next time,

- Tawnis