A/N: Hey everyone. Sorry it's taken so long to update this. Blazing Generations has taken up a lot of my time (if you haven't checked it out yet, it's based on the adventures of the kids of my SAO OCs). Hopefully the next chapter for this should be out sooner, but sadly no promises can be made.
Yui let out a yawn as she woke up, stretching out her arms as she did so. She was in-between Helios and Dagger as the three of them laid on the bed. The morning light was already beginning to shine through the curtains to the room.
Usually, most people would want to sleep in for a little bit longer. But that wasn't the case for Yui. She nudged Helios as he slept. "Papa, wake up. It's morning."
Helios groaned in mild annoyance at being woken up so early in the morning but any sense of anger immediately died upon seeing Yui's smiling face. He gave his daughter a hug to which she graciously returned. "Hey there kiddo, what's got you so excited this morning?"
"I wanna play with the other kids I saw at the one town you brought me to!" She said cheerfully. The constant bouncing on the bed stirred Dagger awake from her slumber to which faded away at seeing Yui so energetic.
Helios scratched his head a bit in thought at Yui's request. While it would be healthy for her to interact with kids her own age, the Town of Beginning was still a bit of a hot topic. But considering how bad of an ass kicking he gave to Kibao he doubted that the Army would be giving him any trouble anytime soon. He picked Yui up by her pits and lifted her high off the bed. "Of course Yui, let's get dressed so you can play with the kids at the church."
"Yay! Thanks papa!"
Dagger not wanting her daughter to go on a playdate on an empty stomach, cooked a simple breakfast for the girl and her boyfriend/pseudo-husband. Once they were all content with their meals, Helios picked up Yui and placed her on his shoulders and gave a wave to his girlfriend. "See ya in a bit Dagger!"
"Don't cause any trouble on your way down, I want Yui to be nice and safe on her playdate." She called after him.
He gave Dagger a thumbs up in confirmation. "As if I'd let any degenerate hurt Yui in any way."
The tank player had an easy time heading to the first floor with no hassle whatsoever. The players of the floor having long since gotten used to the sight of Helios and Yui as a father/daughter combination. But that didn't mean it got any less weird that Helios of all people in Aincrad was a parent to such a well mannered daughter.
Arriving at the Town of Beginnings the duo made their way to the church with any and all Army members cowering in fear of stepping out of line. Clearly the trauma of the beating was still strong in their minds from the other day. Arriving at their destination, Helios gave a hard knock to the door hoping for a quick response. Not even five seconds passed as a brown haired woman with glasses answered the door.
"Oh hello there. You're the one player who beat up those rude and terrible Army members aren't you? You have my thanks." The woman said with a bow.
"Yeah papa is super strong!" Yui agreed cheerfully.
Helios basked in the glow of both girl's praises for a bit before getting to the heart of the matter. "Are there kids around Yui's age here?"
The woman looked at the young girl on his shoulders estimating that she was about seven years old, eight tops. She nodded her head with a smile and moved aside to let the two of them in. "Indeed there are, please come in."
The axe user took up the invitation and moved inside to see a bunch of kids all playing with each other and having the time of their lives. Yui started to get excited at the sight of so many kids her own age and began to hop on her father's shoulders. Getting the message, Helios let her off his shoulders and let the black haired girl run off and play with the other kids.
"Out of curiosity, might I ask why that young girl calls you papa?" The woman asked. "You don't seem to be at the age to be a proper father."
"Listen uh…"
"Sasha."
"Right Sasha. Listen, I don't come over here and tell you how to do your job in being a babysitter so don't ask why Yui calls me her papa. She's my daughter, end all."
"I beg to differ. I think it's a very viable question to ask since you look no older than sixteen yourself."
He sighed in frustration at Sasha's insistence on the matter and would have said some rather choice words to tell her off if it wasn't for the fact that a message from Ren came in for him. "Ugh, one second."
'Helios, where are you? It's time for the next boss raid and the advance party is being set up. Get up here now, Asuna is getting impatient.' -Ren
'Of all the freaking times…' Helios groaned in frustration and quickly typed a response back to his friend saying he'd be there in a second. "Look Sasha I would love to sit around and play twenty questions with you but I have a boss raid to get to so listen up. I'm going to leave Yui in your care for the time being while I go and kill this boss. I want you to make sure she is safe and away from any sort of harm, can I trust you with that?"
Sasha looked taken aback at Helios's request and fixed him with a hard look. "What do you think this is? Some daycare where you can drop off your kid for the day? This is a sanctuary for kids who can't fight in this game."
"Okay clearly I made a mistake, I made that sound like a request." A serene smile was on Helios's face as he grabbed hold of Sasha's hands but the strength and pressure of the grip betrayed the kindness of his face. "I am going to a fight that will lead us one step closer to get us all out of this death game so I am TELLING you to watch after my sweet little daughter Yui. And by the time I come back, if there is so much as one little fluff of hair misplaced from that cute head of hers I will burn this entire city to the ground, okay?"
The woman nearly choked on the honey covering the sheer violence of the threat and simply nodded her head, not trusting her voice to say anything without leaking out her fear.
"Good. Yui! Come over here for a second!"
The girl looked away from the girls she was playing with and ran over to her dad with a questioning yet innocent gaze. "Yes papa?"
"Papa's gotta go in the front lines to help mama and uncle Ren okay? I'll be back in a little bit to pick you up so be good and make lots of friends, alright kiddo?" He smiled at seeing Yui nod her head enthusiastically. "Good, this nice lady Sasha will be looking after you for the time being, won't you Sasha?"
"Y-Yes of course! Leave it to m-me!" She stammered out.
"Excellent! Goodbye Yui I'll see you in a bit!" Helios gave his daughter a kiss on the cheek to which she returned in kind along with a goodbye hug. Both Sasha and Yui waved goodbye to the axe user as he departed, Sasha more out of fear more than anything.
Little did Helios know that someone was watching him from the shadows as he left for the teleport gate. Once he was out of sight, Liz peeked her head out of an alleyway and smirked to herself.
'This is my chance. Time to see just what kind of father you really are, Helios.'
Liz walked up towards the church and knocked on the door. Soon Sasha came and answered it. "Hello, can I help you?"
"Yes as a matter of fact you can." Liz said with an innocent smile. "Helios sent me here to play with Yui for a bit. Do you mind if I see her?"
Sasha gave a skeptical look at Liz. She wasn't sure how trusting she could be of this woman, especially with the threat of Helios's looming over her. "I'm not sure, miss. I wasn't told of anyone coming over to see her."
"Oh, okay then." Liz shrugged as she turned around to walk away. "I'll just go and tell Helios you said that. I'm sure he'll be THRILLED to hear that you were keeping Yui from seeing someone she adores."
"W-Wait!" Sasha exclaimed. A grin came to Liz's face, but she hid it as she turned around to face the owner of the church. "I'm sorry. I just didn't want to anger that axe fellow. But you seem harmless enough at least. As long as Yui's ok with it, I suppose you can play with her."
'Checkmate.' Liz thought to herself. "Of course, I understand. You were just trying to be a good caretaker. Nothing wrong with that."
Sasha led Liz into the church and pointed over to where Yui was. "She's over there."
"Thanks, I'll take it from here." Liz told her. She walked up to the young girl with the most innocent smile she could muster. Perhaps Yui wouldn't recognize her if she acted sweet and innocent. "Hey Yui. How's it-"
"Hey! You're that mean la-"
Liz quickly clasped her hand over Yui's mouth before she could finish her outburst. 'Ok, time for Plan B.' She continued her innocent smile at Yui. "Listen Yui, I'll give you all the candy you want later if you don't call me mean lady and just answer a few questions. Sound good?"
The mention of candy caused Yui to nod her head. "Okay."
Liz breathed a sigh of relief and patted Yui on the head. "Good girl."
Soon Liz and Yui were sitting across from each other at one of the tables. There was an awkward silence between them, or at least awkward for Liz. Yui was too busy eating the candy she had been bribed with to notice. But Liz couldn't help wonder how a seemingly sensible girl like Yui could have Helios as her father and not be corrupted in some sort of way. She had to find out his secrets.
"So…" Liz began. "Is Helios a good dad to you?"
Yui nodded her head. "Mhmm. He's the best papa ever!"
"In what way?" Liz asked. "I mean, from what I know he can barely take care of his axe, let alone another human being."
Yui tilted her head. "Papa always takes care of me. He and Mama make sure I'm always safe, and he plays with me lots and lots."
"Plays with you?" Liz questioned. "What kind of playing do you do?"
"He picks me up and lifts me in the air and I fly like a plane." Yui said with a smile. "And we'll play tag, and hide and seek, and all kinds of games!"
Liz had been half-expecting to hear some kind of demonic games that could be violent and a bad influence on little kids like Yui. Something that would show Helios's violent nature and Yui just wouldn't understand it. But for some reason, Helios lifting Yui in the air and flying her around like a plane was even more disturbing.
"Yui… has your Papa ever been… violent with you?"
Yui shook her head. "No. Papa would never hurt me. He only beats up bad guys."
'Bingo!' Liz thought. 'Bad guys huh? Let's expose who the real bad guy is.' "Yui, what were these 'bad guys' doing that caused Helios to beat them up?"
"They were really mean!" Yui said with a pout. "They were bullying people, and this one big meanie was beating up Papa. Then when he hit me, Papa got really mad and beat him silly."
Liz thought to herself. Based on what Yui was saying, the group he beat up was most likely the Army members. Based on the rumors she had heard, Helios was probably in the right when he attacked them as much as she hated to admit it.
'Damnit! Why can't I find any dirt on this guy?!' Liz asked herself. 'Alright, no more beating around the bush. Time to be straight and forward.'
"Yui" Liz asked. "Do you really think your Papa loves you and how much?"
"Papa loves me lots and lots." Yui said with a bright smile that Liz couldn't help but find adorable. "He'd do anything for me. He always makes sure I'm safe and happy."
Liz hated to admit it, she REALLY hated to admit it. But based on everything Yui was telling her, she couldn't find anything particularly wrong with the kind of father Helios was being. A few of Helios's lesser appealing traits could be seen in Yui's behavior, but Dagger was clearly working on that.
"Thanks for answering those questions Yui." Liz said as she got up from the table. "I'll leave you alone now."
"Wait!" Yui said. "Let's play."
"Huh?"
"I wanna play!" Yui said with a smile. "Can we? Please?"
A smile came to Liz's face as she looked down at the little girl. "Sure Yui. What do you wanna play?"
Liz and Yui spent the next hour playing together with the other little kids around. It had been a long time since Liz had ever felt so carefree. Having Yui around seemed to make her feel better about everything. It was as if she brought out the best in people. But eventually the fun had to come to an end. It was starting to get late and Liz couldn't risk staying any longer and running into Helios. That would turn into a worst-case-scenario.
"Alright Yui, thanks for today." Liz said with a smile. "And could you do me a favor and not tell your Papa I was here?"
"Mhm." Yui nodded. "Bye bye Ms. Lizbeth!"
A smile came to Liz's face. 'Well it's certainly an improvement from Mean Lady.' Liz walked out of the church and into the town. As she walked, a feeling of dread overtook her when she heard Helios's voice.
"Look all I'm saying is that if they can't tank properly, then they're asking to get insulted."
'Crap!' Liz thought as a nervous sweat rolled down the back of her neck. She quickly ran into one of the alleyways just as Helios and Dagger appeared. The blacksmith breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Helios hadn't noticed her.
Liz watched silently from the alleyway as Yui ran up and jumped into her father's arms. "Hey Yui. Were you a good girl?"
"Mhm."
Liz let out a sigh and walked away. Trying to find out some dark secrets of Helios as a father seemed to have been futile. But there was an interesting turn of events to all of this. Liz got to hear about a side of Helios that she had never thought could have existed.
'You really are one crazy person Helios.' Liz thought to herself.
"So Yui, did you have fun today?" Helios asked.
"Ugh…" Yui moaned.
Dagger looked down at her daughter. "Yui? Is something wrong?"
Yui held her stomach in pain. Helios kneeled down next to his daughter and looked at her worriedly. "Yui sweetie? Are you alright?"
"Too… much… candy…" Yui mumbled.
Dagger sighed as she shook her head. "Seems like you've got a bit of a tummyache Yui." She lifted her daughter up in her arms. "Come on. Let's go home so you can get some rest."
"Ok, Mama." Yui replied as she tiredly nodded her head.
A scowl appeared on Helios's face as he looked back towards the direction of the church. 'Looks like I'm gonna have to pay a visit tomorrow.'
A/N: Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. If you haven't already checked it out, be sure to take a look at Blazing Generations.