Halkegenia Online v1 – Refactored – Chapter 4
Kirigaya Kazuto, Kirito, former Beater of SAO, and now a swordsman of the Spriggan race transported to the world of Halkegenia, floated silently above the city of Arrun. Translucent black wings trembled gently in the breeze, keeping him stationed directly over Arrun's central square.
He hadn't been able to sleep. He had to keep moving and thinking, anything to feel like was doing something. Helping the Sylph and Cait Syth leaders, taking care of Sugu, trying to make sense of what was happening around him, they were the only things keeping him sane.
Kirito breathed slowly and with his right hand reached up towards the summit of the World Tree, fingers spread out as if he could grab hold of the lowest branches.
Something pressed against the tips of his fingers and then inched its way down as he pressed his palm flat. It felt like glass, perfectly smooth and clear, and so insubstantial he could have broken it by accident. But the barrier wasn't a physical thing, and could not be broken through even with all of his strength. Even Yui could not cross its threshold.
From what could be determined, the barrier was probably a sphere centered on the top of the World Tree, which meant that no matter how he approached, he would never be able to get closer to Asuna than he was now. His left hand balled into a fist.
Whatever had put them in these bodies and given the World Tree physical form, had also interpreted the barrier as some sort of magic. It would have been fascinating to dissect. Now, however, it was just a bitter reminder of what stood between him and Asuna.
The Spriggan swordsman grit his teeth. "Yui," Kirito said quietly, "are you still able to detect Asuna?"
The little navigation pixie shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry Papa. I was able to detect Mama's player ID because Arrun's central plaza shared the same server as the World Tree, but now . . ."
"There aren't any servers," Kirito finished. No, Asuna was still there, he was certain of that. If the World Tree had been transported and Asuna had been there, then it stood to reason she had been transported to this world as well.
"Yui, you said you can still detect Cardinal, right?"
Yui looked troubled. "It's a weird feeling." The pixie scrunched up her face in thought, "I don't know if I can describe it properly."
Kirito nodded, he hadn't taken his eyes from the World Tree. The base of the tree was still out of bounds, protected by the same barrier, which made scaling the trunk impossible.
Kirito wasn't so naïve as to think that Lady Sakuya or Alicia Rue would be willing to risk their forces to assault the World Tree again, not when death had become a frightening possibility. Nor could he ask others to risk their lives for his goals.
His hand brushed against his shirt pocket and the dull silver card within. Lady Sakuya would want to see them soon, and he couldn't afford to keep the Sylph Leader waiting.
"Asuna, I'll be back soon," Kirito said. "Yui, say goodbye to your Mama."
The pixie girl nodded reluctantly, "We'll be there soon, stay safe Mama."
Yui pushed off from the barrier and flew back to Kirito's side. With one last look Kirito closed his eyes and folded his wings, letting himself plummet towards the city below.
Kirigaya Suguha woke slowly to the sounds of birds singing and distant didn't really want to get up, it was nice and warm in bed. The dojo was always so cold in the winter. Unfortunately, the world had other ideas, and the comfortable warmth gradually grew into a muggy heat. With a small groan she tossed the heavy blanket aside and sat up, blearily rubbing her eyes.
It was too bright, much too bright, she could barely see.
Slowly her vision cleared and her mind worked sluggishly. She was in a room that was not hers, in a bed that was not her own. To her left, an open window looked out upon a vibrant spring garden, and a cool morning breeze wafted in the scent of a fragrant olive tree.
She wanted to crawl back under the covers, pull them over her head, and hide until the world went away. But that wasn't going to happen. Instead, slowly, she climbed out of bed, feeling bare feet touch the cold hardwood floor.
There was a mirror on top of the dresser; with her hair down, Suguha almost didn't recognize her reflection. Kirigaya Suguha had traditional Japanese features, dark eyes, and wore her dark black hair cut short. The girl that looked back from the mirror had long blonde hair that fell past her shoulders to the small of her back, and her eyes were brilliant green. It was the face of Leafa, the other Suguha.
Slowly her hands fell to her sides and she took a breath, composing herself. She had to be strong right now. Suguha turned and saw her clothes lying where she had folded them the night before. Her fingers played with the hem of her nightshirt. She took another resigned breath and began to undress, carefully avoiding looking in the mirror. That would still be too much.
She heard something land gently on the windowsill, a bird? Smiling nervously, Leafa tilted her head to catch a look at her guest, then froze. A dark form crouched on the windowsill, holding perfectly still.
Suguha didn't hear her stuttered name or register the deer in the headlights look on his face. She couldn't quite remember the series of events that followed, nor could her brother for different reasons. But from the absent dew milk bottle and the sizable bruise forming on her brother's head, she'd been able to reconstruct them from the results.
Yui's testimony confirmed it.
Kirito tenderly probed his forehead on their way towards Arrun Tower. "Jeez Sugu, I didn't know your Thrown Weapons skill was so high," her brother mumbled.
"Knock on the door like a normal person," Leafa huffed.
"You should have closed the window if you were going to change," he insisted. "Someone might have seen you."
"That isn't the normal etiquette, Papa," Yui said sternly. "You should just admit you did a weird thing!"
Leafa paused in mid stride. "No, your Papa's not wrong. Sorry." In a world where everyone had wings, being on the second floor was no guarantee of privacy. She consoled herself with the fact that it could have been worse; at least it had been Kirito rather than some ambitious pervert. "Where did you go this morning?"
"We were visiting Asuna."
"Oh." Leafa's voice fell to a whisper. "Do you have any new ideas?"
Kirito shook his head, "The only way up is still through the Guardians."
Leafa shuddered at that thought. They'd almost made it last time, but it had been a matter of luck and skill, exploiting the lag generated by the gigantic army of Guardians running on a single server in order to punch through with speed. They had no way of knowing if that would work now.
It was also possible that the Guardian Knights had all disappeared along with the town NPCs. The only way to be sure was to have someone go and trigger the Quest and then run at the first sign of trouble.
Leafa couldn't imagine Lady Sakuya risking another attempt on the World Tree until they knew more, much less ordering her forces to their possible deaths. When she said as much her brother simply nodded.
"You're right. I can't ask Lady Sakuya for that." Her brother's hands clenched. "I can't endanger other people just for us."
"Just for us?"
"I can't be sure, but there could be something else at the crest of the tree that could be valuable if we can reach it."
"You mean the Castle of King Oberon?" Leafa asked, her eyes going wide as she imagined what treasures might have been made real in there.
"Mmm. Maybe that too," her brother agreed. "But even more important than that." He reached into his pocket and produced a small silver card.
"Thats -"
"The GM access card that fell from the World Tree." Her brother squeezed the slip of silver that much tighter. "If Asuna had this, then it should mean there's an Admin access terminal where she's being held."
"Do you think it would still work?" Leafa asked.
"I don't know. What would it even do? There's no underlying game engine to manipulate, but at the same time, maybe it can do anything. With the right authorization it would have had that power over the game. We can't tell until we try it out."
Kirito put the card back in his pocket and slowly began to lag behind. "But . . . Sugu . . . Do you think this would be worth fighting to the top of the World Tree? It's just, I can't be sure anymore."
Suguha reached out and squeezed her brother's hand. "I don't know either," she said gently. "But it might be worth a try."
They continued in silence. Arrun looked just as abandoned this morning as it had the day before, but in the early hours that seemed more natural. At least, until they reached the city square. When they saw the flocks of players buzzing like a nest of bees they both broke into a run to see what was happening.
Strong Gnomes hauled supplies on their broad shoulders while nimble Imps, Spriggans, and Leprechauns took inventory. Leafa spotted Puca players sitting on rooftops where they could use their sound based magic to project messages. Lady Sakuya stood center stage directing the chaos like a maestro. The players were hanging on her every word.
The Sylph Leader greeted them when they made it to her side. At some point Lady Sakuya must have found time to rest, she was looking much more refreshed, almost her normal self.
"Has something happened?" Leafa asked.
"Last night," Lady Sakuya nodded, "I had Alicia Rue use her Moonlight Mirror ability. We got through."
Kirito and Leafa both stood straight. "W-wait, then that means . . . did all of ALfheim get transported?!" Leafa asked.
"It would seem so," Lady Sakuya observed. "Hopefully our new friends can help make sense of this before things get any more out of hand. Our forces in Sylvain reported a nearby town and signs of mounted reconnaissance. Freelia made similar reports, and also claimed to have made contact with the captain of a ship."
"Then what about the other capitals?" Kirito wondered aloud.
"We were still trying last night," Sakuya said. "I suspect we will find that they have been transported as well. This could be a problem."
"It's way too many people," Kirito said.
Leafa understood. At that moment, Arrun contained just over four thousand players and enough food to feed them all for a limited time. The other settlements would have their own food supplies, but they would also need to be resupplied before too long. On a slow night, ALfheim's Japan based servers would have anywhere from forty to eighty thousand people logged in at once.
Also, each additional settlement that had been transported was another chance for conflict. They had been lucky that Professor Colbert had been a teacher, and willing to listen to their earnest words. Other places might not be so lucky, or so inclined to a peaceful resolution.
She couldn't imagine the Salamanders being very diplomatic at all. In fact, the lizards would probably start a war!
"That is why we must move quickly," Sakuya spoke decisively. "Things must be handled carefully before they come to a head. Kirito, Leafa, will you come with me to the meeting? I will be taking a small retinue but I'd like to avoid bringing any obvious guards."
"They already know us," Leafa reasoned.
The Sylph Leader nodded. "Exactly. At the moment I cannot think of anyone better to accompany me."
"We accept," her brother said automatically. "But before we go, there is something I want to discuss with you and Alicia Rue, in private."
The Sylph Leader nodded hesitantly when she saw the troubled look on his face."Novair, see to the final preparations."
The three Faeries departed for the top of Arrun Tower and the offices there. When they arrived they found the Cait Syth Leader lying drowsily on a couch.
The Sylph Leader shrugged. "We drew straws on who would take the night shift, Alicia lost."
"That's why Sakuya-chan gets to go play diplomat this morning," Alicia said and yawned sleepily, exposing needle like canines. "I'm bushed."
"What is it that you wanted to tell us?" Sakuya asked.
Kirito and Leafa looked at each other. Kirito took the GM card from his pocket and showed it to Lady Sakuya.
"What is this?" she asked, curious.
"A GM access card," Kirito said.
Lady Sakuya looked surprised and even the exhausted Alicia Rue sat bolt upright.
"Where did you get this?!" The Sylph Leader touched the card carefully, as if it would disappear if she wasn't careful.
"It's from Mama," Yui said.
"I don't understand," Lady Sakuya said. "Yui-chan, you said your mother is the person you're trying to find at the top of the World Tree."
Yui nodded swiftly. "Before this all started, I detected Mama's player ID. We couldn't reach her because of the altitude barrier around the World Tree, but she must have heard us because she dropped this."
Lady Sakuya shook her head in disbelief. "You two really are full of surprises."
"If Asuna was able to get this, then it probably means there's an Admin access terminal someplace within the World Tree."
Lady Sakuya exchanged glances with Alicia Rue. "Kirito-kun, you do realize how valuable, how dangerous this thing might be?"
Kirito nodded slowly. "That's why I brought it to you. An Admin terminal may be completely useless, but it may have been transformed into something capable of affecting the real world." He hesitated, "It might be worth risking another attempt on the World Tree."
Lady Sakuya took the card carefully and examined it. "Alicia, what do you think?"
The Cait Syth Leader seemed to uncharacteristically hesitate. "I don't think we can do it right away, even if we wanted to," Alicia said. "Right Sakuya-chan?"
Lady Sakuya nodded. "I understand what you're saying," Sakuya said. "But we will have to consider the welfare of every player. And if the game has become real," Lady Sakuya bit her lip. There was an unspoken acceptance that death was now an all too real possibility.
Kirito's head sank. "I understand. Just, please, consider it soon. If this world has become real, then there's no way to tell how long Asuna can wait."
Sakuya gave him a grave look but nodded. "I understand, Kirito-kun. But it isn't my decision to make alone, nor is it one we can make hastily. Please, I ask you for just a little time." She placed the card back in his hand and then folded her own hands around his. "Yui-chan told me about Asuna-san. She must mean a great deal to you. Until the day that we can stand at the top of the World Tree, please hold onto this."
Kirito put the card away once more. He closed his eyes. "Thank you," he said softly.
"Hmmm, does this look like anything to you Baku-san?"
Nishida addressed his question to a thin man with hair the color of straw, a former member of the gigantic guild known as the Army.
Baku rubbed at imaginary spectacles perched on the bridge of his nose. "It looks like . . . It actually doesn't look like anything to me. Maybe a language preset got scrambled?"
Nishida frowned. "It's definitely not Greek. Maybe Cyrillic or Arabic?" the old man sighed.
"Nishida-san, has there been any progress?" Asuna strode up to the group of gathered players.
She looked tired, impossibly tired, but carried on with the same bearing she had affected as the Sub-Commander of the Knights of Blood. The surety of purpose that she projected to keep the other players in line.
"I'm afraid we've run into a problem." Nishida gestured to the Admin terminal, a geometric block of engraved obsidian that floated above the floor of the emptied lab. The terminal looked a little different from the one she had seen Kirito manipulate in SAO but the interface, a holographic keyboard and projected display, were basically the same. Or at least, they had been.
"I've been out of the industry for almost three years but I should still be able to make some sense of this!" Nishida complained, crossing his arms.
In the monitor space above the terminal, where an option menu or a computer command prompt would normally have been displayed, there floated a strange string of flowing symbols. They moved and changed, revolving around one another in a mind bending arrangement. At the center of the space spun a series of spheres, layered matrioshka like, covered in endlessly rearranging glyphs.
"What is this?" Asuna asked.
"I wish I could tell you," Baku said. "That GM card you got from the slug opened the terminal alright, but this is all that it will display."
Asuna sighed softly. "We're going to have to talk to him about this." None of them felt safe around the slug type monster; even if it could speak, his resemblance to the hostile mobs that had been slain in SAO was just too much. "How is he?" she had asked.
"He's been cursing us for the last thirty minutes." The swordsman, the swordswoman, that had fought beside Arguile answererd. Asuna had learned the her namae was Caramella.
"He's an unpleasant creature," she'd agreed. "But we need information from him." The sooner the better. Their shot at freedom would last only until Sugou could reassert control.
"Might I suggest you leave the interrogation to me?" her guildmate had asked slowly.
"What, why?"
"At the moment you do not cut your most intimidating figure." His lips had quirked in the small start of a smile. "With all due respect, Asuna-sama."
"You might be right," Asuna admitted, looking at the state she was in. Arguile had leant her his cloak, but that was hardly better as it's too large bulk hung from her shoulders and swallowed her up.
She caught sight of a lone player, a young boy leaning against a nearby wall. He wore a knit cap atop light brown hair and a scarf wrapped tight, she guessed he'd frequented the colder floors of Aincrad.
"A-Asuna-sama!" the boy stuttered, his face going red. He bowed deeply, arms stiff at his sides. Asuna hid a small smile.
She had been forced to contend with the attention of many of Aincrad's male, and a few of its female, denizens. And she had become fairly good at determining what kind of 'fan' they were. This boy fell safely into the positive category.
"Excuse me, may I borrow that?" she had asked politely.
"O-of course!" The boy fumbled with the straps before offering the scabbard to her. "Anything for Asuna the Flash."
Asuna unsheathed the blade, it was a rapier, a familiar weapon. This one was more familiar than most, in fact it resembled one she had possessed for about half a year. She had traded up after maxing out the weapon's upgrade potential, but seeing its twin still filled her with nostalgia. "I'm sorry, but could I ask your name?"
"People call me Kino," the boy said. "It's not my real screen name though. I'm actually a little embarrassed of that."
"Oh? This is an excellent blade. I used to have one just like it."
"I know!" the boy brightened. "You used it up to level forty, I saw your picture with it in the Weekly Argo at the celebration after clearing the Floor Boss. They said you were amazing in that battle!"
"Really? I'm sorry, but I really can't remember much of that fight." Many of the old battles had blurred together. Though she could still remember the Boss and the general progression of the fight, she couldn't say for certain what she had done that would be considered incredible.
Kino's eyes widened, "No, don't get me wrong, I'm not a stalker or anything!" He waved his hands desperately. "I'm just . . . a lot of the players on the lower levels didn't seem to think much of it, but we all had faith in the clearing group. Everyone in my guild thought that you were really cool, Asuna-sama, you and the other members of the front line . . ." He shook his head quickly, "I'm sorry, I'm babbling."
Asuna smiled. "Thank you, Kino-san, it's very flattering of you."
"Asuna-sama?" Kino asked quietly.
"Yes?"
"We will get out of here, right?" He was refusing to look her in the eye. Judging by his appearance, she guessed he was one of the younger players, maybe thirteen or fourteen.
Asuna smiled. "Of course we will, all of our friends and family are waiting for us. Just stay strong for a little while longer, Kino-san."
Asuna turned from Kino and back to the looming bulk of the slug. Her expression grew far harder and much more sincere. The slug watched her, eyes rising over his body on long stalks. She would have been lying if she said she wasn't disgusted by his appearance.
"Do you know who I am?" Asuna's voice had fallen to a low chill.
Eyes rose and fell on slender stalks, spread wide and then back together. "You are . . . the girl from before," it said in a soft, disturbingly neutral voice that emanated from its whole body.
In the blink of an eye, Asuna drew her borrowed blade and gave a practiced thrust. The eye stalks recoiled fearfully. "Which one are you?"
"I - I am . . ."
With a flick of her wrist the rapier licked the right side of the slug's face. "And don't lie. Lying will be worse for you." The other players looked at each other nervously.
"I'm the one who restrained you. Please . . . Please don't hurt me."
"What is your name?" she asked. She didn't really care, not for his sake, but anything she could do to separate herself from this monster was essential.
"My name? Kimura," the slug said.
"I want to know what happened, Kimura-san. Why are all of the SAO survivors like this?"
The stubby tentacles around the slug's face twitched and waved. "I don't know," he said quickly.
"One moment we were examining response data and the next there was this blinding pain. When we came to, the test module avatars were gone. The test subjects were waking up. We tried to restrain them with console commands but nothing worked.
"Then they started attacking us. Look at what they did to Ishikawa! That all really hurt. The pain receptors were supposed to have been disabled, I specifically remembered doing so this time!
"It must have been a system crash. In which case Cardinal should have immediately rebooted from the most recent backup," Kimura said. "That must be how you got out of your cage this time, you were restored to the nearest backup spawn point. They're an artifact of the beta test. But the test subjects shouldn't have even been able to return to consciousness."
Asuna nodded slowly. "We need to log out, there's a terminal here but we need an access card to open it."
"No," Kimura said, his voice calm and void of life.
Asuna's eyes narrowed, "I can make this very unpleasant for you." She didn't like the idea of hurting someone, even someone like Kimura. But if it was a choice between the slug and the three hundred players, she knew which one would win out. She could hate herself later. "Help us and I'm sure the courts will look on you favorably."
"The same courts that wouldn't let us do our research?" Contempt tinged his voice. "Do as you like. When this body is destroyed you won't have anyone. It's just a matter of time before we have you all contained again."
"So you really don't care what happens to you?" Asuna asked idly, she began to circle, forcing Kimura to move his eye stalks to follow her.
"It hurts," Kimura agreed, "but the worst you can do is make me feel pain until my avatar HP reaches zero."
"That's very brave of you, Kimura-kun," Asuna said sweetly. She let the very tip of the blade follow the contours of his slimy flesh. He shuddered softly.
"It's just rational self interest," Kimura said. "Hopefully the pointlessness of torturing me should be clear by now."
Asuna smiled, "You've definitely given this a lot of thought. You must be really smart . . . Kimura-kun. But I think you're forgetting some things."
"Oh?"
"Mmm." Asuna nodded. "Like, why hasn't someone logged you off from the outside."
"That is . . . " Kimura paused. "The system must still be down on their end."
"But they could just pull the Nerve Gear off your head, right?" Asuna asked. "It just seems that, if your friend was on the other side he would want to save you from the same fate. You know what I think? I think Ishikawa-san is dead. He died when his avatar's HP hit zero."
The slug let out a rumbling laugh. "Do you know how ridiculous that is? There is no way for us to end up like the SAO players. It must be . . . it must be other technical difficulties," Kimura said, the joviality leaving his voice. "There are software blocks in the research Nerve Gears."
Asuna smiled. "Someone told me once that there were lots of safeties in the standard Nerve Gear too, but Kayaba Akihiko was able to bypass them. And then Sugou told me how he reused parts of SAO to create ALfheim. How can you be sure you didn't miss something."
Asuna tilted her head. "Do you want to know a secret, Kimura-kun?" Eye stalks twitched from side to side. "RETCO Progress, my father is its CEO." The eyes went far apart, examining her from all sides.
"Don't you think the father of a SAO victim in that position would closely follow any other incidents that occur? Especially if they happen inside his own company? I bet the reason you haven't been logged out is that something has happened. In which case there will definitely be a police investigation."
"Sugou-sama can cover it up, even if what you say is true . . ."
"I'm sure Sugou has the power to disguise the death of an employee. But it will look suspicious if you die too, won't it?"
"You can't be serious!" Arguile said, stepping forward from the players who had stood by silently.
"I don't see many other choices right now."
"You . . . You wouldn't dare to kill someone," Kimura trembled, the slime along his flanks thickening. "You're just a kid, aren't you? Just some little rich girl!"
For an instant Asuna paused. Would she kill him? She was sure she could. She would kill this person if she had no other choice, wouldn't she?
"You're right. She won't kill you." Arguile calmly placed a hand on Asuna's shoulder. "Because if it comes to that, I will be the one to end your life."
Asuna looked up, shocked.
The man smiled down at her, "He's right about one thing. You're too young to have to carry a burden like that. But I won't lose any sleep over taking a life for a worthy cause."
"But I haven't done anything!" Kimura whimpered. "Our research wasn't going to hurt anyone!"
"And what about now?" Asuna asked, "You should realize what Sugou is going to do to us to keep this covered up. What he'll do to me. There's nothing for me to lose if he starts to regain control."
Arguile looked to Asuna, concern apparent on his face. "Asuna-sama. This man you keep talking about, he hasn't . . ."
"He hasn't done anything." Asuna's voice dripped with loathing. "Not yet."
Arguile looked back to the slug. "It seems you have a choice to make, Kimura-san."
The slug looked back and forth between Asuna and Arguile before pleading to the others. "You . . . you would really let these people murder me?" Their faces grew hard, those that had volunteered to guard Kimura had all seen people die.
Kimura seemed to collapse in on himself.
The slug's foot pad rippled as he heaved himself off the floor. A tentacle slithered down and recovered something small and silver. Asuna accepted it, careful to touch only the corners of the slime covered card before handing it to Arguile. Before turning to leave she paused long enough to give the slug a small nod.
"Thank you for stepping in back there," Asuna said to her subordinate once they were out of earshot in the hall.
"It was nothing," Arguile said. "Asuna-sama, you weren't going to kill him, were you?"
Asuna looked away. "I don't know. If it had come to that . . ." She left the rest unsaid.
"Forgive me for asking this, Asuna-sama, but even in SAO, you never took a life, did you?" Arguile looked deeply concerned.
"No. I came close a few times. But I got lucky."
"I see." He sounded relieved.
They had parted ways, Arguile to speak with Nishida's group in the lab, and Asuna checking up on the others. She slipped into her persona as leader to comfort them, told them what was being done, but she couldn't bring herself to promise them anything, to lie.
Her wandering had eventually taken her to the lab entrance. She walked out along the branches until she reached the very edge of her confined world. A globe stretched away beneath her feet, blanketed in clouds. Her hand reached out and something offered resistance, pale ripples appeared before her. Even if they dared to climb down the trunk, they would be met by this impenetrable barrier.
She had stood there for a long time, thinking to herself, and expressing her doubts to the emptiness that expanded outward almost forever. "I'm sorry, Kirito-kun, but for now this is as close as I can get to you. I hope you're having better luck reaching me." She smiled to herself. "We'll see each other soon."
Asuna had returned to the labs not long after that and found a quiet corner to rest. It wasn't very comfortable, but weariness had made the floor soft enough. She had woken to find that she had slept into the afternoon, and that Nishida and the others were looking for her.
"We've tried everything we could think of after getting the card," Nishida explained. "But this is all it will display. I think you're right Asuna-san, we're going to need Kimura-san's expertise." The other players had grudgingly agreed, even Caramella who looked none to happy at the thought of letting the slug avatar anywhere near the terminal.
The slug looked both better and worse than when Asuna had last seen him. His wounds were almost completely healed, but he moved slowly, his eye stalks downcast, and he seemed somehow smaller.
"Kimura-san. We need your help again," Asuna said.
The slug looked up. "They told me. I already gave you my GM card, I'm not a System Admin or GM so I don't know much about the system controls."
"That's alright Kimura-san," Nishida said. "We were just hoping you could tell us what these symbols are."
The slug looked slowly to the terminal. "Those are words in the language of the Fae," Kimura said.
"Language of the Fae?" Nishida asked, frowning, "Hmm, is that European?"
"No, like Faeries," Caramella said, rolling her eyes. "Mound Dwellers and Shelties and stuff."
"Yes. It is a constructed language designed for the game of ALfheim, the logograms and script are used in many locations throughout the game world, and also in the spell system."
"Then what are they doing here?" Baku asked, gesturing to ever changing script.
"I don't know." The slug turned slowly to leave before finding himself confronted by Asuna's blade.
"The agreement was that you would help us log out," Asuna said. "You'll do that, or I'll try my hand at escargot."
"She's a very good cook," Arguile added. "Though I don't think even she would be able to do much with your carcass."
Kimura looked between the terminal and Asuna, eyes resting on the rapier in her hand. "If you're so sure that you will be rescued, why are you trying so hard?"
"Because I'm not sure we'll be rescued," Asuna said, looking Kimura in the eye. "But I know that there is at least one person trying. My offer still stands, Kimura-san, help us escape and I'll do everything I can for you."
"You don't know what Sugou will do to me." There was real fear in his voice.
"I have an idea," Asuna said quietly.
Kimura was silent for a long while, eye stalks slowly turned to examine the monitor. "These symbols look like logograms from ALfheim's magic effects. But there is no reason for them to appear here."
"So, does that mean the GM console is busted?" Caramella asked.
"I cannot say," Kimura admitted. "Perhaps the crash corrupted the font directory."
"We certainly can't use it to log out if that's the case," Nishida said with a grimace. The gathered players looked to each other, lost. The terminal had given them hope. But now that the hope was fading they were uncertain what to do.
Asuna thought quickly, she could not allow them to sink into despair. "Hold on for a second, Nishida-san," Asuna said. "Our goal is to log out. But there are a couple of ways we can do that."
"What do you mean?" Arguile asked.
"We don't necessarily need to log ourselves out. We just need to be sure that other people know that we're here."
"If we can alert other players it would certainly be investigated," Arguile realized, he stroked his chin thoughtfully. "That might work."
"But we're locked in here," Nishida said. "And there's a barrier outside. Without the GM console, we can't do anything."
"Actually." Kimura said softly. "You can do something." The slug seemed startled as all eyes turned on him.
"And why should we trust anything you tell us?" Caramella asked, face screwed up in a sour expression. "Last time I checked you were trying to eat us."
"I've doomed myself either way," Kimura continued. "The research that Sugou is having us do will allow him to access and interpret the memories of those wearing a Nerve Gear. He will see that I was willing to surrender my GM card. Sugou-sama is not a forgiving man."
"What a self interested little sea slug you are," Arguile said with a note of distaste. The top of Kimura's body rose and fell in an exaggerated shrug.
"Enough," Asuna said, silencing the murmurs of the other players. "What do you have in mind, Kimura-san?"
"A game exploit, more of a bug actually. Sugou-sama has a room here where he keeps his trophies, mostly unbalanced items and beta features. There is a reincarnation feature scheduled to be released in the upcoming 5.0 update."
"Reincarnation?" Asuna asked.
The slug's eye stalks bobbed in an approximation of a nod. "Yes. With the implementation of the 5.0 patch, players will be able to transfer their game avatar to a different race of their choosing."
"Yeah? How does that help us?" Caramella asked, the woman's temper was clearly growing short as she stood with her arms crossed.
"When the player is reincarnated, they are re-spawned in their new faction's capital. It is the only method of teleportation allowed in ALfheim," Kimura said.
Asuna's eyes widened, if such a thing could bypass the barrier they could contact the other players and plead for someone to take their message outside.
"There is a problem though," Kimura added, freezing Asuna's hopes. "In order to use the Chalice of Rebirth a player needs the permission of their new faction's leader."
"Then what use is it to us?" Caramella shouted. The woman reached for her sword. The other players piled onto the hot tempered swordswoman before she did something they'd all regret.
"It has to do with your avatars," Kimura said.
"Our avatars?" Asuna repeated. She glanced over her shoulder at the translucent wings that lay folded against her back. She loathed what Sugou had done to her, but if some peculiarity of this body could help her to free herself she'd gladly accept it.
The slug bobbed his eyes again. "There's a bug in the chalice's implementation. Someone who steps into it without the necessary permissions will be transported to their current faction's capital. With the exception of Asuna-sama's avatar, your avatars are all set to the default template."
"And what about my avatar?" Asuna asked.
"I checked your data when I was returning you to your cage. The racial description was given as Maeve. I believe it is a special beta version of the Alf race. It shouldn't be a problem. The thing that all of our avatars share is that they do not have a default spawn location. During testing the default template users respawned at the highest point in the mountains."
"It must have to do with how it references the re-spawn location," Baku suggested.
"That is most likely correct," Kimura agreed. "The programmers thought it was a flaw in the location data caused by the chalice being located here. It wasn't patched because players don't have access to the template. It wasn't regarded as a problem."
"If we use this. We can get down from the World Tree?" Asuna asked.
"It should be possible," Kimura replied. "You'll need the GM card to access it."
'This could be a trick,' Asuna thought. She'd be a fool not to consider that very real possibility. But how long could they stay up here? "Please show us to the Chalice of Rebirth, Kimura-san."
The room that Kimura led them to was on a lower level. It was easy to get turned around, but Asuna thought it was directly beneath Sugou's lab. The door wasn't any different from dozens of others, except for the fact that it did not open on its own to invite them in. Asuna pressed the GM card against its surface and watched as a tracery of light flowed from the card and then across the door. In seconds a pattern formed and intricately began to dismantle itself, taking the barricade with it.
It took a moment for Asuna's eyes to adjust after the lightshow. When they did she let out a small gasp. She heard Caramella let out a low whistle.
"Looks like we hit the jackpot," the former Army player said softly.
The chamber was about a quarter the size of the lab, but unlike that austere space, this room was packed to the brim. Weapons, armor, and more esoteric items appeared neatly arranged. Without an appraisal skill, Asuna couldn't really say much about any of the gear, but it all looked to be of top quality. Above each item was a small brass tag inscribed with a name and number.
Asuna had to fight to remain focused, her instinct as a player was to examine a windfall before moving on; it was a fight that some of the others were losing. Caramella had already rather irreverently picked up an impressive looking obsidian sword. "The Blade of Jenkins?" she read the inscription. "That's a stupid name."
"Kimura-san, where would the chalice be?" Asuna asked.
"This way," the slug said, slithering deeper into the chamber past the close-packed shelves. The room went back further than Asuna expected, eventually opening up into a domed space in the middle of which sat the Chalice of Rebirth.
The chalice wasn't really a cup like it's name implied. More of a large golden bowl filled with fire licking chaotically in riot of different colors. The light from the flame played against the walls, forming a flickering tapestry. Though the fire seemed fierce, Asuna felt only a faint warmth as she stood by its side. She reached out carefully, a blue flame caressed her hand; for a moment a sense of coolness and the long forgotten sensation of real water rushed across her skin.
"Asuna-sama!" Arguile shouted.
Asuna turned away from the chalice in surprise. "What is it?"
"For a moment, your wings and hair . . . they turned blue."
"Blue?" Asuna said.
"One of the effects of the chalice," Kimura said. "You simply saw what she would have looked like as an Undine."
Arguile looked unconvinced, but nodded.
"Arguile-san, bring everyone here. We need to make a decision," Asuna said.
It took time for the other players to be gathered and more time to make sure they hadn't missed anyone. Asuna had explained the situation, ending in the same concise fashion she had used when conducting raid meetings. With her plan outlined, she had asked for volunteers to accompany her.
The survivors of SAO had all been conditioned to consider risk. She was offering them a chance at freedom, but given their circumstances it was no guarantee, rather it was a risky proposition at best.
"You really think this is our best chance, Asuna-sama?" Kino asked from the front row.
Asuna nodded. "I think we've exhausted all of our other options. If this game exploit works, it may be our only hope of contacting the outside world. I won't ask anyone to take this risk with me."
The players were all quiet, each of them thinking about what Asuna had said. In the end,
Arguile was the one to break the silence. The Knight stepped forward, taking his place next to her. "I will stand beside Asuna-sama, and join her on this mission."
Caramella sighed loudly, "If the Knight of the Bloody Oath is going, the Army has to show its colors too, so I guess you have my sword?"
"I'm going too," Kino said suddenly. Other voices began to call out. Old man Nishida hefted his fishing rod over his head like a spear. The former Sub-Commander found herself once more surprised by the willingness to rally around her. She allowed the voices to quiet down before she began to speak again.
"Is the vote unanimous?" Asuna asked. "Anyone who does not wish to leave can stay here for now, Kimura-san says that the chalice will work for anyone."
"But wouldn't it be best if we all went together?" Kino asked. "After all, we'll be appearing on a mountain at the top of the game world. We might have to fight monsters on our way down."
"I think everyone here agrees with me when I say that we're done waiting," Nishida said. The elderly fisherman placed a hand on Kino's shoulder.
Asuna felt a faint heat building behind her eyes. When she looked into their faces, she didn't see blind faith. She had told them the risks and each person had accepted them. She pushed those feeling downs, deep within her own heart, and gave a resolute nod.
"If that's the case, the front line members will lead the way. Arguile-san, look over the equipment in this room, we may need some of it. Caramella-san, start organizing people into squads, we'll go through in groups. Kimura-san, you're coming too."
"M-me?" the slug asked.
"You said your avatar is like ours. It doesn't have a default spawn point, right. That means you can come to."
"Ah, but, that isn't necessary," the slug said quickly.
Asuna gave Kimura a dangerous little smile. "Oh? You aren't scared are you? After all, you'll be going first."
"W-what?!"
"It's your idea after all. Unless you think it won't work, in which case, we're back to plan escargot."
The slug's stubby tentacles curled up tightly. "If that is your wish, Asuna-sama." The words came out curtly.
It wasn't long before the players were able to organize themselves. The lead squads were arrayed near the chalice, followed closely by groups of escorted players. Hopefully this would ensure that the stronger players were in position to defend their weaker comrades.
The search of Sugou's vault turned up many interesting items, but in the end only a handful of healing potions and some of the lighter special equipment were taken. The players had no idea what the abilities of the other equipment was, and felt they were better off sticking with their own.
Asuna glanced over to Kino. "Are you sure you don't want your sword back?"
The boy shook his head. "I'd be honored if you kept it, Asuna-sama." He patted his vest where a quartet of small throwing blades were sheathed. "Besides, I'm actually better with these than I am with a rapier."
She bowed her head. "Kimura-san, are you ready?"
"Of course not," the slug muttered. He stood beside the Chalice of Rebirth, eyes examining the flame from every angle. "I don't have a choice in this, do I?" the slug asked.
"No," Arguile said, and gave the slug a solid kick to his hind quarters. With a resentful sound Kimura slid over the rim into the flame. Asuna half expected to hear the sizzling of his slime and screams of pain. Instead the flames brightened for a moment, swirling before swallowing him up.
"I'll see you on the other side, Asuna-sama," Arguile said before stepping into the flame and vanishing in another burst of fire. Caramella quickly followed suit.
It was now Asuna's turn. She looked back at the gathered players, all watching her with anticipation. She smiled encouragingly. "So that we can all meet on the other side." She nodded and stepped into the flame.
The feeling from before had been strange, but this . . . Asuna felt the colors with all of her senses, rushes of wind and cypress, a flash of heat and brimstone, the bite of a cold winter morning and the comfort of depths, the smells of Liz's furnace and the resounding clang of metal, the gentle trembling vibration of a perfect score, the warmth of the sun on a spring afternoon, the mysterious light of the moon, the wonder of a secret hidden and uncovered. They rushed over her, overwhelmed her, until they froze in a strange tableaux.
Then the world started again.
Asuna opened her eyes. Face whipped by the wind, the world was white around her, cold mist soaking her to the bone. She saw something dark and massive spread out above her, she twisted trying to get away. But the shape closed in. And then she realized, what was nearing was not above her, it was bellow.
Old instincts kicked in, Asuna stopped struggling wildly. In SAO her final stats had been blatantly superhuman, allowing her to run at incredible speeds and leap so far that she could approximate flight. More importantly, she had learned to safely control herself while performing those maneuvers.
Asuna's back arched as she twisted in the air like a cat, getting her arms and legs beneath her and outstretched to absorb the impact. If the fall was more than thirty or forty meters it wouldn't really matter . . . What would happen then?
Asuna didn't have time to come to a conclusion or even fully articulate these thoughts as the darkness closed in. Blackness surrounded her, racing past, then she hit the ground, or something that she thought was ground.
It was firm, and slippery, but also spongy. Whatever it was, Asuna sank to her hands and knees and then bounced back up. She landed again and found herself sliding swiftly down the side of whatever it was that had broken her fall. Finally Asuna felt damp earth beneath her feet as she was caught up by two strong arms.
"Are you alright, Asuna-sama?" Arguile asked quickly.
"I'm fine." Asuna caught her breath and looked about, there was another scream from high above.
"Get back over here and help me hold Kimura still!" Asuna looked over to see the Army player pushing against the flank of the struggling slug. She suddenly understood what had broken her fall.
"I am not . . . Oof!" Kino landed solidly on Kimura's back and bounced once, higher than Asuna, before coming down, landing like a startled cat. ". . . a cushion!"
"Shove it, Escargot-san!" Caramella grumbled. "You're the biggest pillow we've got, so man up and take it like a slug." Her admonishment was punctuated by another startled shout.
The players trickled through one after another. Kimura became increasingly indignant with each impact, but eventually he began to anticipate the falls, catching some of the heavier players with his tentacles while allowing the lighter ones to land on his back.
In all it must have taken the better part of an hour for them to all come through, arriving roughly every ten seconds. The last handful through consisted of a small group of front line players who had remained as rearguard.
"Three hundred," Asuna counted off. "That should be everyone."
Kimura groaned just as a pair of final screams came from directly overhead. Two players, one slim and one stocky, crashed as one into Kimura's back with a resounding thud. "You're too cruel, Asuna-sama," Kimura exhaled softly.
"Ah, sorry, I miscounted." Asuna apologized, wait, hadn't Caramella corrected her just a moment ago?
"Quit your whining," Arguile breathed as he looked around.
Now that the constant stream of indignant shouts and screams had halted, they had time to take stock of their situation. The chalice had deposited them on a gently sloping hillside in the middle of a lightly forested area. Asuna could make out the shapes of conifers thinning off into the distance towards open meadowlands. In the opposite direction, the peak of a low mountain loomed up, casting its shadow across the land. The air was filled with the smells of the forest, the soft rustling of the trees, and distant animal noises. If there were any mobs about, they hadn't made themselves known.
"Kimura-san, shouldn't we have ended up at the top of the mountain?" Asuna asked.
"I don't know," the slug admitted miserably. "I simply knew about the bug. I don't play ALO for fun. But these don't look like screen caps."
"Well, whatever happened, it got us out of the World Tree," Caramella said, "big thanks for small blessings."
"If this is in the mountains, there should be towns towards the lower elevations, below the flight limit," Kimura said.
Asuna nodded carefully and looked to the other players. "We'll start heading downwards then. front line forces, we'll create a perimeter around the low level players as we move. Everyone else get familiar with the people near you and stick close to them, we don't want to lose anyone."
"So is this a field trip now?" someone called. A soft chorus of laughter filled the air. Asuna smiled, at least now they were moving forward. Asuna and Arguile lead the way. Kino tagged along like a limpet at Asuna's side. The young knife user scanned to and fro with a strained look in his eyes.
"Kino-san, what are you doing?"
"Perception skill," the boy said.
Asuna blinked in surprise, but now that she thought about it, when she focused on something around her it became distinctly clearer. She was so used to using her Perception skill in SAO that she had taken it for granted.
"Is that working?" Caramella asked at his side. "Didn't Escargot-san say that these are new avatars? You shouldn't have your skills from SAO anymore."
Asuna wasn't so sure, she felt a lot like her old self right now; maybe she had just grown used to how weak Sugou had made her.
"What about you Caramella-san?" Kino asked. "You hit way harder than a newbie player when you attacked the other slug. And you were really good, even without using any sword skills. I don't think I could do anything like that without the auto assist."
"Ah, well, I'm just naturally that awesome," Caramella defended. "And really, my body just wanted to move that way, it's like the system assist moved inside my head, you know? But yeah, you're right, and our gear and everything is here. Maybe because ALO re-skins SAO's engine? That seems a bit lazy, doesn't it?"
"Kimura-san?" Asuna called to the slug following close behind, "What do you think?"
"Carmel-san is correct . . ."
"Caramella," Caramella said.
"As I said, Carmel-chan, is correct. The SAO engine was simply added to in the development of ALO. Some elements were altered, but common skills share the same mechanics and code. However, the system shouldn't be able to make sense of most of your inventory," Kimura explained as Kino and Arguile struggled to hold back an enraged Caramella.
"It's weird though, shouldn't Kino have to equip his Perception skill?" Arguile grunted as he let go of a resentful swordswoman. None of the players could even access their menus now.
"Passive skills in ALO were entirely streamlined and preempted by the system, that was actually one of my contributions," the slug said with a hint of pride.
"So you don't just poke around in our brains?" Caramella muttered.
"Sugou-sama had to justify our presence somehow." Another eye stalk shrug. "We performed odd tasks between test cycles."
The forest gave way to meadows and then the meadows changed into fields. Excitement filled Asuna's heart as she caught sight of a roughly hewn fence and a modest back road. If they could just meet a player and convince them to contact the authorities, this would all finally be over.
They were almost at the roadway as moonlight shone down ahead of them, marking the transition out of the shadow of the mountainside behind them. Something caused Kimura to pause.
"What is it?" Arguile asked the slug.
Kimura's eye stalks had swung around. "Odd, that doesn't look right."
"What doesn't look right?" Caramella asked, annoyed.
"The moon, there should only be one," Kimura said. Asuna looked up. Two moons were cresting the top of the mountain at their backs. That didn't seem too strange to her, Aincrad had only one moon, but there was no reason for ALfheim to be like the real world or Aincrad, was there?
Asuna felt suddenly anxious. "We should just keep following the roadway, we can find out what's happening when we get to a town. Arguile-san, Caramella-san, stay up front, Kino-san, help me do another headcount now that we're out of the forest."
The former SAO players had formed into a long column. Members of the front line group flanked the column on each side, offering a much needed sense of security. Nishida waved as he passed by along with Baku.
"Are you alright Nishida-san?" Asuna asked
"This is nothing," the old man laughed gently. "The aches I'm feeling now aren't nearly as bad as the ones my real body will be having when we get out."
Asuna smiled and nodded. That was probably true, no doubt their first months back would not be an easy experience for any of them, yet she was almost looking forward to it.
The night was quiet and calm now that they had left the forest behind. They entered the moonlight without a mob or soul in sight; at least, that was the way it seemed at first.
"Is that smoke?" Arguile asked, pointing ahead of them where the stars in the sky flickered and vanished from time to time.
"Where there's smoke there's fire," Caramella observed.
"And where there's fire, more than likely you'll find people," Kino chimed in.
"Wait." Arguile raised an arm. "This doesn't smell right."
"Smells like smoke to me," Caramella said, receiving a glare from Arguile.
"It's not like something burning," the Knight growled. "It's like some-place burning."
"Maybe it's a Quest event," Asuna suggested. "After all, if we're in ALfheim's game world now, it would make sense we would run into quests and mission flags."
"So we should check it out," Caramella said thoughtfully. "After all, even if it's just a quest flag it'll draw players, right?"
"Right." Asuna wasn't so sure. Her instincts told her that something was very wrong, but she couldn't quite place it. "But just in case, we should scout ahead."
"Good idea." Caramella glanced to Arguile. "Oh, she means us, doesn't she?"
Asuna nodded and gestured for their band to come to a halt, relaying the message down the line. The former SAO players seemed grateful for the rest. Fatigue was finally beginning to catch up with them. Asuna left Baku and Nishida in charge of overseeing the other players while taking Arguile, Caramella, and Kino with her.
They cut across some of the fields and back into a grove of trees that masked the source of the smoke. Emerging on the other side, they approached cautiously along the crest of a low hill. Kino tugged for Asuna to get down as they neared the top, gesturing for Arguile and Caramella to follow suit. They crawled the last few feet to the crest.
Asuna's heart fluttered when she saw the village, a wall-less collection of cottages built along a pair of intersecting roadways. At the far side of the village a small church sat before a town square, and a large building, perhaps a manor, overlooked all from the top of another low hill.
Smoke rose from the buildings while light guttered in the windows of the mansion. It wasn't the steady illumination of game lighting or even candles. When Asuna focused on the manor she felt her Perception skill kick in, the distant building becoming clearer, more distinct. It was an abandoned wreck, its windows shattered and its doors broken open.
"Damn," Caramella whispered.
"Should we get any closer?" Kino asked anxiously.
Asuna glanced at him and nodded, "I think we have to. Arguile-san, Caramella-san, we're going to skirt the edge of the town cautiously, both of you go counterclockwise, Kino and I will go clockwise, and we'll meet up behind that church. If you run into anyone, use your discretion."
The buildings were in even worse shape up close. Though the construction was obviously not of the highest quality to begin with, the houses and their surroundings looked to have been badly damaged in the recent past, as if this had been the site of a battle . . . no, a slaughter.
As they approached the smell of smoke mingled with something else. . . . It smelled like cooked meat and something repulsive, burned hair? Who would put something this tasteless in a VR game? Asuna's instincts screamed at her again that something was very wrong.
They were about halfway around the circumference of the village when the screaming started. Asuna froze. The indistinct, helpless chords were accompanied by muted voices, and then more screaming, accompanied this time by laughter.
"Asuna-sama?" Kino asked nervously, his eyes filled with fear, his right hand resting on one of his knives.
"Kino-san, stay back, I'm just going to take a closer look," Asuna whispered reassuringly. "If something happens, I want you to run back to the others."
Crouching low, Asuna unsheathed her rapier and crept into the confines of the village. Save for the two main roadways, there were only a few side streets, more like dirt paths and alleyways. Asuna noted chicken pens hanging open and trash scattered around open doors.
"Oy, are you done having a look or are you going to have your go around? 'Cause I'll busy myself if you don't mind," a nasally voice called in a strange accent.
"Shove it off and go keep watch, I'm not getting what you 'ave again you arse," A deeper voice gravelled.
The voices were followed by soft groans. A doorway hung open; sticking to the shadows Asuna crept closer. The inside of the next cottage was a mess, the few furnishings had been smashed or upturned. A pair of half used candlesticks lay broken on the floor along with wooden bowls and a few pieces of rotting fruit, wait, rotting?
The cries came again from outside. Asuna rushed across the room to the front doorway. Sliding up against the door frame, and careful to keep her unsheathed rapier out of the moonlight, she peeked around the corner.
In the moonlight two men squatted, squabbling over a third prone figure.
"Just 'urry it up!" the nasally one complained again. "We're falling far enough behind as it is!"
"And here I was thinking you was just fighting for coin. I thought you wanted something a bit more outa this!" the gravelly voice replied. It belonged to a square faced man with a thick mustache and course stubble along his jaw.
"Hah, more than this! We don't get stuck in it soon the others'll have picked the Isle clean all t'way to Newcastle."
"Quit yer barking then, and enjoy the bone we got for th'night." The man leaned back from the prone figure, and for the first time Asuna could see that it was a woman, soft faced and mousy haired. Blood trickled from her forehead and she seemed to be in a daze.
"Sides, I didn't lead you wrong with what was in that trunk she was carrying. That's a fair treasure for just the four of us."
"The real treasures is in the homes of those Royalists, not just family heirlooms and trinkets. Now get on with it!"
"Aye, aye," the man grumbled as he went to work pulling roughly at the woman's clothes.
Asuna's stomach churned. She couldn't stand idly by, VR or not, this certainly couldn't be a Quest. Were they like the murderer's guild? Were they exploiting some undiscovered loophole in the game? No, that couldn't be right, this didn't add up.
There was no time.
Asuna felt her Perception skill activating again. The first man, gravelly voice, had his hands full with the woman. At his side lay a sword, unsheathed and glinting with fresh blood. The second man, nasally voice, was much more alert, he was keeping watch. Wait, they'd said four . . .
Something moved in the moonlight up on the roof of the far building. Asuna grimaced, a man was standing on the rooftop with something in his hands. It was blunt and ugly and alien to SAO. It was a gun, a musket or an arquebus or some such thing, Asuna wasn't a military otaku, so she couldn't be sure what type. In any case, it was like the ones that they used in historical dramas.
A gun was a problem. She was confident in her speed and rapier skills, but she had no idea how that would hold up to a gun. Wait, weren't early guns really inaccurate? Now, where was the fourth . . .
Asuna's first and only warning came in the form of a motion at the corner of her eye. Something heavy and solid connected with her temple and drove her head against the door frame. Everything went white, and then briefly black.
The world snuck back into her vision. Blindness turned to swirling splotches and a distant, cotton headed throbbing pounded at her temple. The world spun around her, she was being carried, no, dragged. She heard voices as if submerged.
"What 'ave we here?" the gravelly voiced man asked.
"Dunno, found her in the cottage. Little thing, but she held that sword like she meant to use it," a voice, thicker this time, said. "How's she's still breathin'? I clocked 'err pretty good with a hammer."
"Oy, look at 'er!" Asuna blinked away the splotches in her vision. Three men, gravelly voice, thick voice, and nasally voice towered over her. All three were unkempt and dressed in mismatched pieces of armor that would have looked shabby on a level one player. Nasally voice squatted at her side, she felt a hand tug painfully at the point of her ear.
"Ha! An Elf! The Priest is right, Isle must be lousy with'm!"
"Half Elf by the looks of 'er, hair is all wrong," gravelly voice said.
"And how'd you know?" nasally voice asked.
"Elves are all gold haired, hers is tha' chestnut color, an right . . . y'know what, there was a noble who was put to death over consorting with an Elf. Explains things, don' it?. Probly others too. Oy, Cromwell will pay more than a pretty coin for this one!" gravelly voice started to chuckle deeply. "Looks like we got ourselves some 'eavy loot here!"
"S'not so tough, I thought they were supposed to have all sorts of mystical powers," thick voice sounded uncertain.
'Elf?' Asuna thought sluggishly, 'no, I'm not . . .'
"S'what do we with 'ere?" nasally voice asked.
"Take'r along with us maybe, Reconquista would pay a coin for 'er head."
"Just 'er head," nasally voice observed.
"What're you sayin?" thick voice asked.
"Oy you lot, he'll pay us more with're head still attached to 'er shoulders," gravelly voice grunted.
Asuna grit her teeth, fighting to regain control. Her arms and legs would barely move. She was rolled over onto her side and felt herself being lifted roughly. "Oy, look at this? She's got wings?" thick voice grunted.
"It's just part of that dress she's wearin, in'it?" nasally voice said.
"Nah, look." Asuna felt a faint tugging at her back, alien and unwelcome.
"Must be magic then," nasally voice decided. "Better make sure she's tied up good'n tight, might be able to fly away with those when she gets her wits 'bout her."
"What are you all on about down there!" a fourth, rasping voice called.
"Got ourselves an Elf, or an 'alf Elf! Can't be as powerful as the real thing or we'd all be dead, aye?" gravelly voice shouted back, chuckling darkly. "Jangler, tie her up and gag her, don't want her invoking her magics."
Asuna was hefted roughly into a fireman's carry, thick voice carrying her away from the cottage. Her arms hung down his back, fingertips brushing against the hilt of a knife. She tried to reach for it but it kept slipping from her fingers.
Thick voice realized she was coming to and with an easy motion threw her from his back. Asuna landed heavily as the man came down to pin her. "Alright Love, don't struggle." He grabbed hold of her left wrist with one hand and a length of rope with the other.
Behind him, cries from the woman rose once more along with the tearing of fabric. Asuna's whole body wound up like a spring. She would not stand by while this happened, move, move, MOVE!
Thick voice let out a shout of surprise as Asuna wrenched free from his grip. Quickly he reached down to try and pin her, but again underestimated the strength in the small body beneath him.
"Can't even tie up a girl," nasally voice sneered. "Why do we keep you 'round? I don't even . . ." nasally voice stopped mid sentence, eyes going wide before beginning to paw at his neck. In the moonlight, a bare inch of something bright and silver protruded.
"Davies, 'urry up!" thick voice shouted, turning back from Asuna. Gathering her legs she kicked off of the man's chest, curling her back, she felt an odd sensation of pressure and flexing as she rolled over her wings and came back up in a low crouch.
"What're you . . ."
"Davies! Someone else is 'ere!" Gravelly voice made for the sword lying on the ground. The man got his sword up into a clumsy block, which was batted aside by the two handed blade of his opponent.
Arguile let out a roar as he crashed out of the darkness, driving a shoulder brutally into the man's stomach before whipping around with his blade and cutting the man from left hip to right shoulder.
A sharp crack sounded from the rooftop. The earth at Arguile's feet geysered. The man on the roof discarded his long arm, grabbed for a pistol on his belt and leveled it at Arguile.
Another figure described an impossible arc before landing heavily on the rooftop beside rasping voice. The man turned, "Flight?!"
"No! Jump good!" Caramella slammed into him with her shield.
Thick voice tossed aside his knife and grabbed at his belt. "Stop or I kill this girl!" Asuna found herself staring down the pitiless barrel of a gun.
Arguile, standing beside the mortally wounded gravelly voiced man, and Caramella straddling raspy voice in the midst of pummeling him into submission, froze. "Good!" thick voice snarled. He glanced about, and seeing the body of nasally voice and the position of the blade through his neck. "And you, the one who threw the knife!"
Slowly, Kino emerged from his hiding place in the shadows and raised his hands wide. An angry expression crossing his face.
"How many more of you are out there?" thick voice shouted.
"A -a whole squad!" Kino shouted quickly. Even dazed, Asuna could have told it was a bluff.
Thick voice laughed once and turned one of his pistols on Kino. "Liar!" The man squeezed, and with only a split second delay the pistol cracked, a burst of smoke and a tongue of flame issuing from its barrel. The knife using boy fell back.
"Kino!" Asuna shrieked. Arguile was already moving, sprinting towards Asuna and the thick voiced man. Thick voice tossed the pistol aside and reached for another on his belt.
The world around Asuna slowed down, she had perhaps one second, one second to do something, anything. She felt something on the ground beneath her right hand, the hilt of thick voice's knife. Her hand closed as she roared in rage.
Thick voice spun his head around, Asuna saw his hand starting to tighten down on the gun leveling it on her chest. No armor, nothing between her and a bullet. She could see the man tensing up in anticipation as she pushed off from the ground, she could see the firing mechanism slowly winding down, she could feel her eyes sting at the jet of smoke, and her back burn as something barely grazed between her shoulders.
There was no glow of light, no rush as the system assist took control of her body, she just knew what to do. A cold familiarity taking hold, a thousand past battles flashing before her eyes and burning down her nerves.
And then all familiarity ceased as the blade plunged into the man's chest with a sickening wet crunch of cleaved bone. Asuna blinked once, twice, she felt something hot and wet running down her hand. The man looked at her confused for a moment, she could smell his rank breath, see the fine patchwork of scars that stitched through his beard.
"Haaaeeeeehaaaaaaaa" Air escaped from his mouth and nose but failed to shape into words, his hand dropped the empty pistol and reached weakly to grab at the knife, falling short. He began to sag, pressing against Asuna who recoiled in horror. His body didn't vanish into fragments and particle effects, he simply lay there, like a puppet cut from its strings.
Asuna looked from the still body of thick voice to her hands. This was . . .
"Asuna-sama!" The knight was beside her in an instant, shaking her by the shoulders.
"A-Arguile-san?" Asuna said weakly. She didn't look at him, she looked past him to the body still lying on the ground. It wasn't like the other slug, Ishikawa, in the lab, where she could think of the corpse as something not even human.
"Asuna-sama, are you alright? Are you hurt?" the two handed sword user asked.
Asuna looked up, eyes hollow. "Arguile-san? What is this horrible place?"