A/N: Happy December 2nd, 2022, everyone! For those of you who don't know the significance of this date, it's the date when Kirito met Asuna for the first time in SAO and the seeds of romance between them were planted. Today, the power couple of the Sword Art Online was born!
Anyway, sorry for the lateness of this chapter. I was originally planning to post it on November 30th, but some IRL stuff came up unexpectedly and interfered with my schedule. In addition, I wound up doing some major revisions to the latter half of the chapter. I really wanted it to turn out in a meticulously organic, memorable fashion, and you'll see why as you read along. But let's just say that yet another significant development occurs in this chapter. More significant than Asuna escaping the World Tree unlike in canon, actually! Once again, you'll see as you keep on reading... ;D
Either way, that's why this chapter was a couple of days late. As I was doing the revisions, I thought I might as well time it to the anniversary of Kirito and Asuna's first meeting. For the sake of symbolism. :D
Alright, enough rambling! On with the long-awaited chapter. ENJOY!
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P.S. #3: Due to the slowly improving situation regarding the coronavirus outbreak, I am going to have to remind you all about the basic steps you should take if you want to stay healthy, courtesy of my university's reminder emails:
-Wash hands often with soap and water for 20-30 seconds at a time, and/or use hand sanitizer
-Avoid close contact with people who are sick
-Keep your hands away from nose, eyes, and mouth (I can't imagine how difficult this part is probably going to be)
-Eat well, get adequate rest, and exercise regularly
-Get a flu shot if you haven't already and are able to
-Stay informed on the COVID-19 vaccines, get shots if you're able to, and try to get a booster shot if you're eligible
And if you ARE sick (I hope you get better if you are), please be a good sport and save other folks the trouble of getting sick. You can do this by:
-Covering your mouth and nose with your sleeve, elbow, or a tissue whenever you sneeze or cough
-Not sharing food and drinks with others
-Avoiding touching your mouth, nose, and eyes (Again, I understand this is probably going to be difficult)
-Avoiding close contact with others
-Cleaning and disinfecting surfaces and objects
-Staying at home if you're unwell (PRIORITY NUMBER ONE!)
-Staying calm and keeping yourself well-informed (My personal advice)
If you already know this, then great! If you didn't know any of this beforehand, please keep that information in mind as we all go through this trying time. It's a realm of unknowns at this point, and I wish myself and all of humanity well.
– June 23, 2015 –
Real World, Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture
Nine-and-a-half years ago
What should've been a quiet, ordinary day in Hachinohe was broken by faint crying. It was coming right from a suburban playground tucked neatly between an apartment complex and a row of quaint houses. In this playground, a little boy was hunched over, clutching his arm and stomach while tears started to leak through his closed eyelids. A girl around his age clung to him and fearfully looked up at the tormentors responsible: three older boys, all of them clad in slightly torn and ragged clothing befitting street gangsters.
Eventually, the girl took a deep breath and mustered all the courage she could to utter her next sentences.
"Why're you being so mean?! Leave us alone, or I'll tell on the grownups!"
The trio of bullies stared on emptily in confusion, right before their confident smirks returned. One cracked his knuckles, another snapped his head from side to side in order to pop his neck, and the third lazily put a hand on his hip.
"Awwwww," the third boy said tauntingly. "Is the poor lil' baby gonna go crying to her mommy?"
"How would she?" the first boy asked mockingly.
"I hear her mommy's as much of a scaredy-cat as she is!" exclaimed the second boy in a derisive tone.
"And her daddy's not even her real daddy!"
The girl's legs started to buckle under her own weight from those words, but she tried her best to maintain her resolve.
"I-I will go tell them!" she stammered. "I-I swear! I will!"
"Heh."
The third boy promptly slammed his clenched right fist into his outstretched left palm. The sound of flesh smacking flesh sent a cold shiver up the girl's spine.
"Looks like the baby needs to learn what it feels when someone brings on the pain!" the boy declared.
The girl's resolve broke the moment the three bullies charged at her and her friend. She could do nothing, not even close her eyes, as she awaited the inevitable-
"AAAUUUGGGHHH!"
A new fist abruptly slammed into the lead bully's cheek, knocking him face-first to the ground. His accomplices stopped upon hearing their leader's grunt and turned to their left. They, plus their two victims, instantly spotted the newcomer to their playground conflict.
It was a boy around the same age as the bullies, who looked somewhat like the victimized boy but more mature-looking. And right now, there was a fiery look in his eyes, a look that made the bullies hesitate for the briefest second.
"You don't pick on people who can't defend themselves!" the newcomer shouted defiantly. "It's not right!" He swiftly went into his own fighting pose, which worked due to his unbreakable mask of determination. "If you are gonna be big bullies, then why don't you pick on someone your own size, huh?!"
"Ko-Kota-nii..." the girl said in awe.
The two bullies stared with shock. Then, their leader lifted his head from the ground, revealing a face caked with a film of dirt...and eyes full of rage one would never see on a child his age.
"You're..." He leapt onto his feet and charged at the boy with a raised fist. "YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT!"
"HI-YAAAH!"
The boy raised his hand, positioned it into a knifehand strike, and swung at the bully's exposed kneecaps with astounding strength. This move knocked him back down to the ground, once again face-first.
"BOSS!" the bully's companions shouted.
The lead bully quickly got back up and charged again. "RAAAGH!"
"HI-YAH!"
The new boy effortlessly swatted his fists away with his own hands, but this only served to agitate the boy even more.
"RRRRRAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!"
He tried slamming into his opponent face-first, but the boy quickly sidestepped him and then took advantage of his new leverage. Before the hapless bully could fully pass him and trip in his own haste, the new boy wrapped his arms around his opponent's body, barring him from moving a muscle. The bully angrily struggled, but the boy resisted his movements and hurled him away with freakish strength, sending him rolling along the playground before he settled at the feet of his perplexed compatriots.
"DON'T JUST STAND THERE!" the lead bully roared furiously with an upward whip of his head. "GET 'IM!"
"Nuh-uh!" one of the cronies cried, shaking his head. "No way, man!"
"Th-Tha-That's Shibazaki!" exclaimed the other crony with a pointed finger. "He knows bōjutsu! He'll beat us up for sure! We're lucky he doesn't have a stick with him!"
"Come on, boss!" The first crony helped his friend up to his feet. "Let's get somethin' at the store!"
It was useless for their once-powerful leader to argue, for they started fleeing the playground already. The boy watched his friends go at first, before glaring hatefully at the bōjutsu practitioner. His anger only increased exponentially when he saw the boy's triumphant face.
"I'm not gonna forget this!" he shouted while wiping some of the dirt from his face. "I'll...I'll getcha back! I will!"
"And I'll win again!" the other boy replied defiantly. "So I'll be waiting!"
The bully growled savagely before following his friends out of the playground. Once the three were gone, the newcomer let out a relieved sigh, and he flexed his fingers, as if he was feeling the phantom sensation of a stick in them. Then, he approached the two younger children she had just defended, his warm and confident smile quickly replacing his original valiant demeanor.
"Are you two okay?! Keita-chan?! Sachi-chan?!"
Sachi could only nod wordlessly. However, Keita was still weeping and clutching his stomach with agony, prompting the older boy to help him on his feet.
"Come on, Keita-chan," he said optimistically. "Let's get you home and put an ice-pack on that."
Keita sniffled and whimpered, "O-Onii-chan...Mommy's...gonna be...mad...at me..."
Kotaro shook his head. "No, she won't. You did nothing wrong, Keita-chan! You were just protectin' Sachi! That's all there is to it." When Keita merely quivered his lip, the older boy widened his smile even further. "Ehhhh, it doesn't even matter. Whatever happens, whether or not Mom gets mad at you, I'll have your back, Keita-chan! I've always got your back, and I always will!"
The young boy looked up at his brother and eventually nodded with a weak but hopeful smile. "Thank you...Onii-chan..."
As Kotaro carefully escorted his younger brother out of the playground, Sachi could only stand still and watch them make their departure. The look of terror had completely faded from her face, and in its place was a look of awe and admiration. Her lower jaw dropped open, and a quiet, girlish chuckle escaped her lips.
"Kota-nii..." she thought fondly. "You're...You're so awesome... So brave... And so cool too... I...I..."
"Hey, Sachi-chan!"
Kotaro's call brought the girl out of her reverie. She emitted a tiny squeak and straightened up in response, but this only elicited an amused smile from the older boy.
"You coming or what?!" he called.
"C-Coming!" Sachi replied.
With that, she ran after the two boys, all the while wearing a faint blush on her cheeks. The ghost of a fond smile graced her lips...
– January 21, 2025 –
Ayano Residence, Asaka, Saitama Prefecture
Present day
Sachi jerked her eyes open with a gasp. The fresh winter air filled her nostrils again, and she looked out of the bedroom window. The adolescent girl could see nothing but silver clouds rolling endlessly outside, blocking out the blue sky in its entirety. Then, the chilly air caught up with her, and she remembered that she was naked, wrapped around only a body-sized pillow for warmth. The fabric was damp around her pelvic region, a reminder of what she had been engaged in for the past half-hour.
With a shudder and a prickling sense of shame, Sachi covered herself up with her thick blanket and shoved the pillow out of her sight. Her mind swam with thoughts of self-loathing over what she had done and memories of the people she had been visualizing during the carnal madness she indulged herself in.
Of course, it was mostly Kirito in all of his glory in both SAO and ALO. The mere thoughts of him and his confident smile and the way he swung his sword made the dark fire bloom within her mind and her gut yet again.
Then, there was Kotaro. It had been a while since he was the subject in her more intimate thoughts, she noted. But now, his presence didn't feel welcome in the afterglow of her euphoria, and the memory of his accusatory words and the way he called her an outlier shattered that euphoria.
And for some reason, Mari popped up, not as much as Kotaro and certainly not as much as Kirito, but for a few times. It made her feel all the more ashamed, knowing that she perverted the special bond she had with the nurse.
"I truly am pathetic..." she thought grimly. "So, so, so pathetic..."
"Well, could I blame myself? I'm an outlier, as Kota-niisan and Suguha say I am... Here, I'm nothing..."
"But...I'm somebody in ALO. I'm the Sapphire Shielder! That should count for something...right...?"
"Heh, yeah. I'm pretty sure Mari had something else in mind when she wanted me to live my life."
Sachi closed her eyes, and a single tear leaked through her eyelid.
"Which is why the only thing I want you to do as part of your thanks to me is to keep living your life, Sachi. Live your life. Live it the way you want to live. And that, I think, will be enough gratitude to last me a lifetime. Remember, you are the one in two-fifty, after all."
Sachi pursed her lips uncomfortably at the memory of Mari's words. "So much for being the one in two-fifty..."
The girl kept her teary eyes closed and was ready to fall back into her slumber when her attention was suddenly diverted by the noise of a vibration somewhere nearby. With her drowsiness disrupted, she sighed in frustration, reached a hand out of her blanket, and started groping around the cold surface of her bedside table. Eventually, she found her phone and retrieved it. With a somber sigh, Sachi opened it and checked her messages.
What she saw next made her shoot up from her bed.
"I think Asuna's shown up. In Alne."
CHAPTER 15: INITIATOR
Real World, RECT Progress Laboratories, Saitama Prefecture
"You have a big problem on your hands, Sugou."
Despite the vastness and the regality that his coveted RECT office carried, Nobuyuki Sugou felt his entire being shrink in the luxury armchair that he was sitting in. Rasmussen coldly stood at the opposite side of the polished wooden desk, his cold, soulless gray eyes staring down at him with a terrifying emptiness that made Sugou shudder. And finally, before the helpless, bespectacled businessman was a laptop that bore the shadowed face of his benefactor.
"I..." Sugou gulped audibly, and he could feel that single motion trigger a droplet of sweat into dripping down his temple to the side of his chin. "I don't understand how this coulda happened, Mr. West. I-I mean, I installed the best se-security measures one could imagine-"
"And yet," Mr. West's electronically modulated voice interrupted harshly, "a child bested those security measures, Mr. Sugou. A child. Who you just so happen to be obsessed over."
"It's obvious that your ephebophilic lust for this girl has clouded your better judgment," Rasmussen added, and the cold, distasteful judgment was obvious in the tone of his voice.
"M-My judgment is NOT clouded!" Sugou protested, his English impulsively slipping away into his Japanese dialect. Then, he cleared his throat and adjusted his tie in a blatant attempt to remain composed. "No matter. I will retrieve the girl and put her back in her cage. And this time, I will fortify that cage with ten times the original security measures. I will-"
"Good luck with that, Sugou," interrupted Rasmussen. "She is with the group that I infiltrated. The ones who spotted her and leaked those photos of her in the first place. Not only will it be difficult for me, or anyone else for that matter, to take with without arousing suspicion, but the chances of the operation being exposed has just gone up significantly. Mr. West."
Sugou could barely see any movement on Mr. West's end of the encrypted communication. The enigmatic benefactor was silent in his contemplation, and yet, the silence was profoundly resonant.
"Mr. Sugou," he said, after what seemed like an eternity of waiting; his voice was a deathly whisper.
The businessman fearfully straightened up in attention. "Y-Yes, Mr. West?!"
"I have entertained your fantasies for long enough. Once you or your associates have the girl isolated in the game, you are to kill her on the spot in real life. No hesitation. No last words. Not even one last act of sexual role-play. This must all be perfectly coordinated. And the same goes for anyone who you suspect has heard even a single syllable come out of her mouth ever since her escape. We cannot have anyone bearing witness to what we are doing. Do you understand, Mr. Sugou?"
Mr. West then leaned forward on his chair, and the outline of his body became a little more distinct through the shadows. Though he could not see his benefactor's eyes, Sugou could sense the piercing, judgmental, powerful gaze coming from them.
"Or perhaps do you need another reminder on the lack of leverage you truly hold over this transaction?"
Sugou's skin had paled long before Mr. West had even put forth his instructions. All of the control that he worked so hard to impose upon Asuna for the past two months was slipping away from his fingers, and there was nothing he could do to change his situation. But then, he thought about his revolutionary experiments, and all of the money that he would gain from it, money that would also come at the cost of Asuna's father losing his company...
"Yes, Mr. West..." the businessman replied meekly.
He could vaguely see Mr. West nod in approval.
"Good. I'm glad that your priorities haven't been entirely skewed. However, to make sure that you don't go off-script, I'm putting Rasmussen in charge of the mission to take out that Yuuki girl."
"Yes, sir," Rasmussen replied loyally, while Sugou felt another cold shudder travel up his body.
"Mr. Sugou, get in contact with all your assistants. Inform them that the experiments are being temporarily suspended, and that they are to report to Rasmussen and not you until the girl is taken out."
"W-Wait!" Sugou cried. "I'm...I'm not even allowed to lead the mission to k-kill her?!"
"That's correct. You are subservient to Rasmussen in the meantime."
The bespectacled man looked at Rasmussen, who salaciously licked his lips. Clenching his teeth in anger, he glared back at the laptop.
"But I know the girl the best! Her mannerisms, her patterns, her weaknesses, her-"
"No," Mr. West interrupted. "You're compromised, Mr. Sugou. You are to follow Rasmussen's orders at all times without exception. Do you understand?"
Sugou bit his lower lip in fury, and he had to steady his trembling hands. Then, with a sharp grunt of defeat, he planted his palms upon the surface of the desk, beside each side of the laptop, and reluctantly bowed his head.
"Yes... I understand..."
"Good. Very good. Now then, Rasmussen, I'll leave it to you."
Rasmussen nodded once. "With pleasure. I've made some inroads on the locations of more of those so-called Launchers. I'll see to it that they're all quietly dispatched by the end of the week. No one will know a thing."
"Excellent. Just the way I like it..."
– X-Y-X –
– January 22, 2025 –
Kirigaya Residence, Kawagoe, Saitama Prefecture
"We'll just make it clear to them that we're just friends and nothing more! Alright?!"
Kazuto swallowed loudly and put the last of the freshly cleaned dishes away in the cupboard. After checking the sink, the black-haired adolescent ventured to the living room and collapsed against the sofa. He vaguely felt the remote bounce by his side, but he didn't bother to pick it up and use it to turn on the TV in front of him. He already bored himself out going through every channel that his family's set could've possibly had, without the worries of school to plague him.
So instead, he delved into his thoughts, like he'd been doing ever since Andrew sent him that photo of Asuna trapped in the large birdcage.
"I'm at a fork in the road," Kazuto thought. "There are two paths in front of me. Asuna's at the end of one, while Sachi's at the end of the other one. And it's gotta be one or the other. There's no third option. Unless...I opt for a three-way...?"
The corners of the boy's lips twitched pleasantly, driven by his smoldering hormones.
"I...I don't think...I can bear loving you...knowing that you'd do this to me, Kirito-kun..."
"No. No, you loved me before you loved her, Kirito, and now you're prioritizing her over me?"
Upon recalling his nightmare, Kazuto's tiny smile faltered and faded away, just as quickly as it had arrived. The boy had to resist the urge to slap himself in both anger and shame.
"What the hell are you thinking, Kirito? There's no way that's gonna work. Asuna and I have already made our vows. And there's no way I can get them to agree to something like that, something that they'd likely be uncomfortable with. In the end, sharing lovers always becomes messy. When it comes to matters of the heart, things will always get complicated.
"I mean, hell, I can't even force myself into something like that. Like, dating two girls at the exact same time?! It may be the dream of every straight guy out there, but this is reality, for crying out loud! Asuna's already given me quite a hard time back in Aincrad; I can't even begin to imagine that sort of thing amplified for me twofold!"
He growled in extreme exasperation and rubbed his face with his palms. "It's gonna have to be one or the other... Maybe I'll be able to make my decision once we find and save Asuna. Maybe then I'll finally have some-"
Kazuto suddenly felt a soft but commanding vibration in his pocket. With an arched eyebrow, he reached into his pocket, pulled out his cellphone, and checked his messages.
"Hm? A new text from Agil? At this time of day, while the bar's busy? What could it be about?"
He opened up the new text and stared at its contents. Less than two seconds later, the boy shot up on his feet so quickly that he bumped his shins against the decorative table in front of him.
"AUGH!"
Kazuto fell over on his side, but he stubbornly held onto his phone. While curling up into a fetal position and clutching his aching shins in one arm, he kept his wide, quivering eyes transfixed on the text. He didn't want to believe the words that were right there, in his face, but no amount of blinking could wipe them from existence, reduce them all to nothing more than a fictitious memory.
"I think Asuna's shown up. In Alne."
– X-Y-X –
Alfheim, Alne, Neutral Territory, Base of the World Tree
Asuna sat on one side of the table, gazing at the cup of warm tea, the rising steam partially concealing her rosy blush of embarrassment. On the other side, Eiji stared at her with narrowed eyes of suspicion and concern. Close to the edge of her peripheral vision, Asuna could see an assortment of people, players and NPCs alike, lounging around and passing by on the other side of the shining, logo-embroidered glass panel.
"I...didn't expect to see you here..." Asuna finally said, in an attempt to break the tension standing between her and Eiji like a barrier. "Nautilus."
Eiji's eyelid softly twitched in displeasure. "Hm. I'm surprised you actually remember me, vice-commander."
"I may have been your superior, but I'd never forget the face of any of my soldiers."
He narrowed his eyes. "Even if they were useless?"
Asuna's own eyes softened. "Even so."
The corners of Eiji's lips twitched next, and they soon twisted into a sardonic sneer. "Funny. You've always been so strict and no-nonsense. All throughout my time with the KoB, I never, ever pegged you to be a softie."
The chestnut-haired girl closed her eyes and sighed. "Look, I can tell that you've got some unfinished business. Whether or not it's with me or in regards to your time with the KoB in general, I don't care. We've got an even bigger problem on our hands."
"I noticed." Eiji raised his hands and used them to keep his chin propped up. "Last I heard, you were one of 300 players who still haven't woken up, even after SAO was cleared. So you can imagine my surprise when I first saw the photos that my fellow party member took of you."
"Yes, those. Thank you for showing those to me, Nautilus."
"Eiji."
The boy's voice was filled with iron, surprising Asuna.
"Come again?" she asked.
"I'm no longer the weak soldier who froze up in the middle of the battlefield..." Eiji said in a near-growl. "Not anymore. I go by a different name in this game. Eiji. And I prefer it stay that way. Vice-commander."
Asuna blinked at him in surprise at first. She clearly recalled how determined he would look whenever the Knights of the Blood would march into battle, only for that determination to vanish in an instant once he froze up, a total betrayal of the drive that he'd show just moments before. Even then, his determination would be increasingly forced and artificial, as the boy surrendered to the realization that he was going to be useless in such a formidable guild.
Now, there was none of that self-doubt present in Eiji's eyes. His confidence and self-assuredness were unwavering and genuine. He looked nothing like the soldier that she knew as Nautilus.
"Okay then, Eiji," she said with a sympathetic nod. "Now tell me, what do you know about the tree that I was being held captive in? I recognize the branches and the leaves in the photos you PMed to me."
"It's called the World Tree," Eiji explained. "It's the highest point in the game that you're in, ALfheim Online. Everyone in the game strives to reach the top of the World Tree, but the game's mechanics render such a feat nigh-impossible."
"Nigh-impossible..." Asuna narrowed her hazel eyes. "That it explains why Sugou chose to keep me up there. There'd be few places for me to go if I were to ever escape."
"And yet you escaped, all the same." The Imp leaned forward slightly with interest. "How?"
"I exploited a flaw in his security system..." Asuna couldn't help but deliver a mocking smirk over Sugou's incompetence, before she looked around and lowered her voice. "Anyway, I found out what happened to the other 299 players."
Eiji's forehead became a little more wrinkled. "You did?"
"Yes. Eiji, their brains, their minds, are being experimented on, somewhere inside the World Tree. There's a lab in there, a lab where they're conducting all sorts of illegal and unethical experiments. It was..."
The memory of the experiment hangar returned to the forefront of her mind, and it almost made Asuna retch in horror.
"It was horrible..."
Though Eiji's face didn't change in the slightest, the horror gleaming in his own eyes was unmistakable. "They're...being experimented on...in the World Tree?"
She nodded determinedly. "This game is nothing more than a cover for Sugou's twisted operation. An awful façade."
"Wait, you keep mentioning this Sugou person. Who is he? And what does he have to do with Kayaba?"
"Ka-Kayaba?" Asuna's eyes widened slightly. "I...I don't know what you've been told, Eiji, but Kayaba's got nothing to do with this. Nobuyuki Sugou is half the man Akihiko Kayaba is, and twice as despicable. He thinks he's a god in this game. And as soon as he finds out I'm gone, he'll stop at nothing to get me back. He's dangerous."
"Then we gotta get you out of here right away," Eiji replied urgently. "Are you sure you don't have access to your menu?"
"No." With pursed lips, Asuna swiped at the air a few times to confirm her point. "Sugou's the GM of this game. He took away all my menu capabilities as soon as he trapped me in that damn cage."
"Yet you somehow teleported in front of me and my party. How'd that happen?"
"I was able to use the access keycard of one of Sugou's assistants. There's at least one main system console up there in the World Tree. I stole the keycard and used it to gain access to the assistant's menu, but I was spotted, so I pressed the button that looked the most appealing to my chances of escape."
"And it was that button that took you all the way down here, in Alne..." Suddenly, something within Eiji's eyes darkened. "So...if that button was a part of the assistant's menu all along, then that means-"
Asuna came to the same realization as well. "The assistant's capable of teleporting himself here too."
Eiji's posture became more rigid in alarm. "Were you able to take the keycard with you, vice-commander?"
The girl produced the black keycard from her pocket. "Yeah, but Sugou's got at least three people helping him. The other two must have cards of their own."
"So it's not safe here. These assistants could be here now. They could be anyone..."
Eiji started looking around, surveying his surroundings. Right now, he and Asuna were seated near the storefront window of a bustling café in Alne. Players of all nine Fairy races were patronizing the establishment, numbering in the dozens. No eyes appeared to be on them, especially since Asuna was wearing a brown cloak with a large hood, meant to conceal her unique and scanty outfit, unlike anything that each of the nine races would wear.
"We should go," he concluded.
"But where can I go?" Asuna asked, fear and uncertainty tinged in her voice.
"I've got a place where you can lay low at until we figure something out. It's at Helmstok, a five-minute flight from here. We can-"
"Wait, flight?" The girl's pupils became slightly dilated in concern. "I...don't know how to do that..."
"Okaaaaay..." Eiji rubbed his chin. "I just remembered, you don't even have a gamer-tag. The game might not recognize you as a player, but rather as an NPC. If you're not able to summon your menu, then you're probably not able to use any of the game's usual functions such as flight."
"That's true... And that also means I'll be at a disadvantage when I'm in a pinch." Asuna sadly looked down at the table's surface. "We have to walk, then."
"It's alright, vice-commander. On foot, it's a fifteen to twenty-minute walk. But once we get to where I'm staying at, we-" The Imp briefly hesitated. "We gotta come up with a story for my, uh, r-roommate."
Asuna's head perked up in caution. "Wait a minute, you've got a roommate?"
"Don't worry, you can trust her. But...I'd prefer it if you didn't fill her in on the details. I don't want her to get involved in anything dangerous." Eiji respectfully bowed his head at her. "Please, vice-commander. It'd mean quite a lot to me."
The chestnut-haired girl blinked in surprise. Finally, the vulnerability that she was more accustomed to from Nautilus had returned in Eiji's eyes. But for once, that vulnerability was in regards to someone else...
"Alright, Eiji," she replied honestly. "I promise to keep her out of it."
She could tell that Eiji was barely able to suppress a sigh of relief.
"Thank you, vice-commander."
Asuna couldn't help but crack a smile. "Please, Eiji. We're no longer in SAO, and in all essentials, you are now my equal. So, if you're going to be Eiji to me, then...just 'Asuna' is fine with me."
Eiji blinked in awe at the acknowledgment. Then, he cracked a soft smile and nodded at her.
"Alright then...Asuna."
– X-Y-X –
Unbeknownst to Asuna and Eiji, someone had been eavesdropping on their conversation, but it wasn't who they would've expected. She sat a couple of tables away from them, near the same storefront window, her identity concealed with the aid of a hooded white cloak.
"We gotta come up with a story for my, uh, r-roommate."
"Wait, you've got a roommate?"
"Don't worry, you can trust her. But...I'd prefer it if you didn't fill her in on the details. I don't want her to get involved in anything dangerous."
The girl turned away from the conversing duo with pursed lips and clenched fists. A lock of white hair fell into plain view from the shelter of her drawn hood.
"I'm so sorry, Eiji-kun..." Yuna whispered with softening eyes, "but...it looks like I'm already involved now..."
– X-Y-X –
Scionus Castle, Scionus, Imp Territory
"Agil! Where's-?!"
"Is it true, man?"
"Where'd you learn this?!"
Kirito stopped and looked around the leisure room in surprise. In addition to Agil, Klein and Liz were also standing there, having apparently spawned in at the same time as them, much to Kirito's surprise. Their eyes were wide with alert and their postures were stiff in suspended disbelief. But his two fellow SAO survivors didn't pay him any heed, for they were staring down Agil with such a fiery intensity that it took the Gnome aback.
"L-Look, fellas," Agil said with his palms raised, "we dunno if this is even legit or not-"
"Agil!" Kirito interrupted, more forcefully this time. "Where'd. You. Learn. THIS?!"
The Gnome reluctantly acquiesced to his friend's demand. "Found a thread on an online forum talkin' 'bout a strange girl that spawned in the middle of Alne. Most players thought it's part of a brand-new quest, probably one that has to do with the Grand Quest. But I read that no one really had a chance to interact with her because some group snatched her away-"
"S-Snatched her away?!" Kirito clenched his fists and marched up to Agil, a manic terror shining from his dark eyes. "You didn't bother to bring that up earlier, Agil?!"
"R-Relax, Kirito!" Liz exclaimed. To her surprise, she ran in front of the Spriggan and patted his shoulders in consolation, before her hands wound up staying on them. "It's probably just a group of players who came to the conclusion that Agil raised! They're probably getting disappointed or confused right about now."
"Not to mention she's probably kickin' their asses right about now," Agil added encouragingly.
"Da...Daddy...?"
Kirito, Agil, Klein, and Liz all tensed up and looked at one of the sofas. There, they spotted Yui, back in her original form; she was sitting up on the sofa, her simple beige blanket falling away to reveal her equally simple white dress. She let out a yawn and cutely rubbed her eyes to try and stave off her ebbing drowsiness.
"Y-You're back...earlier than anticipated..." Yui yawned again. "Wha...What happened...?"
Kirito's paternal senses kicked in instantly. Tearing himself away from Liz's grasp, he walked up to the sofa and knelt over to Yui's height. Noticing this, the AI girl perked up her head and stared at her father, taking in his conflicted expression of pain and relief.
"Daddy...?" she asked in confusion.
"We found her, Yui," Kirito replied resolutely. "We found Mommy."
The girl's eyes widened, and a glimmer of hope passed through her bright pupils. "Mommy..." Then, tears of joy started to form. "Mommy! We found her?! We...We found her!"
"Now, now," Agil warned, "let's not get our hopes up just yet, everyone-"
"Yo, you're the one who sent us that group text, Agil," interrupted Klein. "So you're telling me that was a false alarm?"
Yui gasped at the sound of Klein's accusation, and the Gnome started to wave his hands in response.
"No, no, th-that's not what I meant! Remember, I said, 'I think Asuna's shown up.' Not simply 'Asuna's shown up'!"
"Well, then what made you think it might be Asuna in the first place?"
"'Cause the description of the person who spawned into Alne seemed to match her! But look, now that I look at it, w-we don't even have photos of the gal-"
"What was the description of this person you're talking about?!" Liz snapped.
"Chestnut hair, hazel eyes, breathtakingly beautiful in the least-" began Agil.
"Then that's her," Kirito interrupted. His eyes narrowed to slits while his focus returned to Asuna and the memories that he shared with her in Aincrad. "There's no way that can't be her. Asuna's a fighter. She wouldn't have let herself be held captive, not for that long."
"I agree with Daddy's assessment!" Yui chirped determinedly.
"Well, if you insist..." Agil hesitated. "But I didn't mean to get anyone's hopes up."
"It doesn't matter, Agil," Kirito replied earnestly. "Either way, I'm headed for Alne, first thing. I gotta know if that's her."
"Then I'm coming with!" Klein cried loudly.
"Same here!" added Liz.
"That makes three of us," Agil completed.
Kirito looked at them in awe. "You guys... But...don't any of you have stuff to do IRL?"
"Well, my something-hundredth job application just got turned down," Klein explained, "so I've literally got nothing to do, unless you think job-searching is a more productive use of my time."
"And I am still trying to find a school to apply to," Liz added somberly. "With all the stuff that I missed out on these past two years, it's one problem after another on that end..." Then, after a few seconds of rumination, her face lit up, and she gave the boys a chipper smile. "So, I might as well do something positive for once and save Asuna!"
"The missus is handlin' the café as we speak," Agil said with a nod. "I've got a lotta time on my hands now, so I'm good to go, Kirito."
"O...Okay..." But Kirito remained hesitant. "B-But you guys don't have to. If you've got more important stuff to do IRL, t-then-"
"Tell me, Kirito," Liz interrupted abruptly, "do you have anything to do IRL?"
"M-Me?"
The Spriggan thought about it for a moment. At that time, his mind settled on his impending visit to Asuna's room at the hospital with Suguha. But all of a sudden, that visit seemed more and more insignificant and inconsequential, and he let out a sigh of defeat.
"No..." he reluctantly replied.
Liz put her hands on her hips. "Well, as you just heard, neither do we. Listen here, Kirito, you are not the only one who's been invested in Asuna's safety all this time. You may be her hu..." Her voice briefly choked. "Husband and all, but we're her close friends, just as we're yours as well. And we've been running circles at home thinking about her, ever since she did not wake up with the rest of us. Now, this isn't your show, and you shouldn't have to shoulder the burden of looking out for Asuna all by yourself. Do you understand me?"
Kirito took a deep breath and exhaled deeply, letting the weight of Liz's words squeeze the cathartic realization out of his soul. Then, he gently smiled at the Leprechaun.
"Yeah, I understand, Liz," he said. "You're right. I'm sorry for doubting you guys. I'm...I'm so, so sorry..." He lowered his face, allowing locks of his black hair to cover his eyes, even as his smile remained in place. "I...can be such a...a frigging dumbass sometimes..."
"Heh, that you are," Klein replied jokingly. "But hey, we all survived SAO together. So I suppose we're all dumbasses, and if we are, then we'll be dumbasses with you."
Kirito's smile widened by a centimeter at that remark. Then, he wiped his eyes with his forearm and lifted his face to his friends, revealing shining dark eyes.
"Alright," the Spriggan said. "Let's get going to Alne, then, you guys. We need to put an end to this. Once and for all."
"Hold up, what about Sachi and the others?" Klein asked. He looked around, expecting to see the rest of their party, but they were nowhere in sight. "Shouldn't we wait up on them?"
"I included Sachi in the group text," Agil replied. "If she doesn't know now, she definitely will know soon. You wanna wait for 'em? We can probably-"
"No."
The single word, uttered from Kirito's mouth, surprised everyone, even himself.
A confused Yui nudged the Spriggan's shoulder. "Why not, Daddy...?"
But Kirito ignored her question. "You said that Asuna's in Alne, right Agil?" he asked stiffly.
"Well...yeah, Kirito," replied a confused Agil, "but shouldn't we-?"
"Then Sachi will know where to go. She knows this game better than any of us."
Klein crossed his arms. "Yeah, Kirito, which is exactly why we should wait for her. We don't even know where Alne is."
"Actually, we do," Agil said. "I've played ALO for a while longer than the rest of y'all, so I know for a fact that you cannot go a week in here without hearin' somethin' about Alne. And as a shopkeeper in Nisseus, I'm well aware of the stuff that gets shipped to and out of Alne. I have an idea on where to go. Plus, it's at the base of the World Tree. Ya can't miss it."
"Well, then I guess it's settled!" Kirito eagerly shot up on his feet and smiled at his friends. "Let's get going, right away! We can have someone here leave a message for Sachi and the others if they log in. They'll be fine."
"Uh, o-okay..." But Klein blinked at him in befuddlement. "You sure seem enthusi- Ugh!"
Liz lowered her elbow from the Salamander's ribs and smiled at Kirito. "Of course! I'll go find Lync-kun and tell him of the news!"
Klein looked down at her with a furrowed brow of suspicion. "Lync-kun...?"
"Yeah! The captain of the Imp guard! Did you forget all about him already?"
As the Leprechaun and the Salamander proceeded to engage in their banter while the Gnome watched, Kirito released a heavy, bated breath and looked out of the dimly-lit window of the leisure room. For the first time in his life ever since he learned that Asuna was one of the 300 SAO players still comatose, the black-haired adolescent boy felt like a tremendous weight had finally been lifted off his shoulders.
And for once, his mind wasn't filled with conflicting thoughts about Sachi and his relationship with her. Instead, he could easily recall the last time the two of them were truly together, a recollection that seemed to have finally reached his mind after a long journey.
He still felt her wrapped around him, in the warmest, most loving embrace one could possibly imagine.
Her smooth, silky forehead against his rough, protective own.
Her, even if everything else around them no longer mattered, rendered meaningless by the codes and algorithms.
Just her. A tender feeling. There was nothing else in this world that he wanted to feel again.
– X-Y-X –
As soon as she found the opportunity to do so, Liz looked away from the bantering Klein for a brief moment. Once again, the Leprechaun found herself looking at her crush from behind, unable to read the young face that had captivated her so. However, she could tell, to her fortune, that Kirito's confidence and hope had been restored, judging by his confident and hopeful posture. And for that, her lips turned upward into a small smile of relief.
"Don't worry, Kirito," she thought. "Asuna or no Asuna, I'll be there for you in your time of need, just like when you were there for me when I was in my time of need... Because...that's just how much I truly love you..."
– X-Y-X –
Alne, Neutral Territory, Base of the World Tree
"Now...are you sure your party members can be trusted, Eiji?"
"They're harmless, vice- er, Asuna. They're just your average ALO player. They helped me get a hang of the game when I started out."
Eiji led Asuna out of the café and into the busy walkway of Alne. Standing under the shade of a tree directly outside were Pyre and Orceus. Even with Eiji's assurance, however, the chestnut-haired girl eyed the Salamander and the Gnome with hesitancy.
"And that is exactly the point." Asuna stared ahead, her eyes narrowed with concern. "If they're your average ALO player like you say, they've got a lot of incentive to betray us if it's in their best interests. They know nothing about SAO or the illegal experiments going on above us. And if Sugou and his goons were to get to them first, then-"
"They may not know about all of that," Eiji interrupted, "but they know this: their friend died in front of them recently. In the game and in real life."
Memories flooded back into Asuna's mind, memories of all the SAO players that died in front of her. Shaking her head in terror, she then looked at him, stunned.
"In the game...and in real life?"
Eiji nodded. "Yeah... So there's no way they'd sell us out."
"Yeah, yeah, I know, but the boss is cranking up the schedule, and we gotta move. After that wacky murder at the Toto Institute, the potential of cops breathing down our necks just went up."
Asuna narrowed her eyes. "I heard Sugou's assistants talking about a murder at the Toto Institute. Was that-?"
"No." Eiji too narrowed his own eyes. "But I have heard of it. And then Umbra – that's their friend – he dies a short time later, under very suspicious circumstances. It hasn't been reported in the news yet, but, given the AmuSphere's excellent safety record..."
He trailed off, prompting Asuna to say, "You think those two deaths are related."
Eiji nodded again. "All because we managed to snap a few photos of you while trying to cheat on the Grand Quest..."
"The Grand Quest...?" She looked at him. "I thought I heard a few of the other players talk about that around here. What exactly is the Grand Quest?"
The Imp simply pointed off to the World Tree. "That. That is the Grand Quest."
Asuna followed the direction of his finger. "The World Tree...?"
"Yes. According to the game's lore, the first of Alfheim's nine Fairy races to reach the top of the World Tree completes the Grand Quest and is turned into a new race of Fairies. To reach the top of the World Tree. That is the Grand Quest."
"But..." Asuna's forehead became slightly wrinkled in confusion. "That doesn't make any sense. I was being held captive up there. Why would Sugou take such a risk in keeping me in a place that is meant to be accessible to players sometime in the future?"
"Probably because he was keeping you captive on the Tree's branches. According to the game's lore, those who complete the Grand Quest must reach the top from within the trunk of the World Tree."
"From within...the trunk of the Tree..."
"Yes, and doing it that way is just as difficult as trying to cheat the quest."
"Damn straight."
By that point, Asuna and Eiji had reached Pyre and Orceus. Having overheard their conversation, Pyre lowered his arms from the back of his head and walked up to the duo first.
"But at least we don't get killed IRL as punishment," the Salamander completed. "Speaking of which, tell me it ain't true, man. Tell me she's some hot-ass NPC that we have to protect as part of the Grand Quest or something!"
Eiji shook his head. "You guys...I think the less you know, the better."
Pyre looked back and forth between his fellow party member and Asuna. His eyes were slowly widening with alarm, even as he remained deathly silent. As for Orceus, he stepped forward and nodded firmly at Eiji.
"Point taken," the Gnome replied.
"And..." Eiji looked around. "We should be on the lookout for anything suspicious."
"Ohhh, great!" Pyre snapped in a panic. "Just great! First we see her at the top of the World Tree while Launching, then I learn that Umbra got his brains cooked, then she shows up here, right in front of us! It's like coming across a black cat or something! This is a bad omen, I tell you! A bad omen!"
Eiji sighed and held his forehead in his palm with exasperation. "Look, you gotta trust me on this, Pyre. We've stumbled onto something dangerous, and if we don't help her, we're just gonna pay the price for it. So I'm gonna help her, whether you like it or not."
Pyre scoffed and started marching away. "Well, it's your funeral! But I ain't getting involved in this shit! I don't have ANY interest in dying today!"
Eiji lowered his hand from his forehead, revealing an expression of irritation and concern. "No, no it's not my funeral. It's yours too. This is serious, Pyre. We saw what we shouldn't have seen, so we're gonna die either way, unless we decide to be proactive and do something about it. So, unless you wanna die, I suggest you shut your trap, stop worrying, and start helping!"
"Well, I'm in," Orceus said while stepping forward. "I don't know exactly what kind of situation we got ourselves into, but Umbra's dead, and we gotta make it right by him!" He turned to Pyre. "Isn't that right, man?"
Pyre frantically shook his head. "No! No way, man! There's no way I'm gonna get my head fried for this! I've got a life in the real world, you know! And I am not gonna risk it all for some...some..." He twirled around and pointed an accusatory finger at Asuna. "CHICK! No matter how hot she is!"
Asuna narrowed her eyes into a deathly glare. "You have no idea what's gonna happen to you if the people who held me captive know that I'm even talking to you. You don't even know what I've seen. Your brain, it might not even be fried like you said." Memories of the experiment hangar flashed through her mind again. "They might just take you alive and do all sorts of horrible experiments on you."
The Salamander's eyes grew wide in horror. "Sa...Say what?"
"You heard me." Asuna's eyes narrowed even further, sending a chill up Pyre's spine. "Look, I'm the only one with the full picture of your situation, so you have to listen to me if you want to live."
Pyre took a step backward in fear, which took Asuna slightly aback.
"Is this what Kirito-kun's always experienced when people thought of him as a Beater...?" she thought offhandedly.
"You...You think you can talk to me like...like that?!" Pyre snapped. He clutched his head in distress. "I-It just makes me not trust you even more! It makes me wanna...wanna... Ugh..."
He suddenly recoiled and lowered his head while keeping his hands clasped over his scalp. The dark look in Asuna's eyes faded into concern, while Eiji narrowed his own eyes and Orceus took a step forward.
"Dude, you alright?" Orceus asked.
"Aaaaaggggghhhhh..." the Salamander groaned. "I've got a...major...headache... Headache... Agh! Guh!"
He looked back up at the others with some sort of horrified realization, and Asuna gasped at how bloodshot his eyes had suddenly become.
"NO! No, no, no! HELP ME! HELP M- AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!"
Pyre fell to the ground and started writhing violently, startling everyone within eyeshot. His hands remained latched onto his own head while his skin became increasingly pale by the second. Then, as his convulsions became more frenzied, he started tearing his own hair out, like he was trying to remove an invisible object from his head, to no avail. Asuna gasped again and covered her mouth while Eiji and Orceus sprung forward to tend to their fallen party member.
"Pyre!" Eiji cried harshly. "Pyre!"
"Hang in there, man!" Orceus yelled in desperation. "Hang in there! I'll...I'll-"
But it was too late. The AmuSphere's forcible logout function activated, causing Pyre's body to disappear in a flash as red as blood. For a moment, everyone on the walkway was frozen, with many of the other players awkwardly standing there and beholding what had just happened. Then, activity slowly resumed in the corner of Alne, with the players returning to their business as usual, believing that what they had just witnessed was a nonlethal fluke.
But Asuna, Eiji, and Orceus remained frozen, staring in horror on the place where Pyre had vanished while remembering his screaming and his convulsions. Asuna immediately recalled all of the SAO players that she saw die in front of her, and she briefly looked at Eiji, only to see just how rigid and horrified the boy was.
"Eiji..." she whispered before hesitating. It was so difficult for her to find the right words to say, especially in the midst of her own horror over what transpired in front of her. "I'm...I'm so, so sorry-"
Asuna was cut off by the Imp quickly shooting up to his feet with a speed that reminded her of Kirito's. He looked around the walkway with a grim face, his eyes sifting through the many players and NPCs present in search of someone.
"Orceus, where the hell is Squiggle?" he asked. "I haven't seen him since we got here."
"H-He logged out after you and that girl went into the café," Orceus replied hesitantly. "He said he'd be back after a few minutes..." Then, his eyes grew wide with alarm. "You...Y-You don't think-"
"Send him a PM. Tell him about Pyre." Eiji ominously narrowed his eyes. "It's not safe." Then, he turned his gaze towards Asuna, who was stunned by its intensity. "Now do you think my party members can't be trusted, Asuna?"
– X-Y-X –
Real World, Ayano Residence, Asaka, Saitama Prefecture
"I think Asuna's shown up. In Alne."
The words in Andrew's abrupt text message echoed in Sachi's mind over and over again, like a cursed mantra. She could feel her entire world, her whole reality, accelerating its downward spiral. But she could do nothing but helplessly cling to her bed-sheets and stare intensely at the text message, her pupils magnetized to every word in it. Not even the fact that she was naked in the frigid, wintry cold, a potentially lethal combination of an environment, did nothing to pull her out of her emotionally compromised haze.
"They found Asuna," she thought. "They found Asuna... They found Asuna... But...But how...?"
"How could this even be possible?! I thought she'd be lost forever!"
"She must've escaped somehow. If she showed up in Alne, then that must be where she's been this entire time..."
"Well, who knows if that's even Asuna in Alne? Agil did say, 'I think.' Not 'I know'. Who knows where he got that info?"
"Even so...it's something worth checking out..."
Sachi finally tore her blue eyes away from her phone and towards her bedside table. The first thing that she saw was the AmuSphere set, sitting on the table's surface. She could vaguely see the dim glint of the NerveGear helmet resting at the topmost level of the shelf above said table.
"They found Asuna," she thought once again. "And in Alne, no less. Kirito wanted to go there and check it out for himself. He thought Asuna could be there..." She pursed her lips, forming an uncomfortable expression of bitterness. "I...suppose he's got a good intuition...whenever Asuna's concerned..."
With that, Sachi took the AmuSphere set and began setting it up. Once the game was inserted into the device and she'd placed the AmuSphere unit over her face, the black-haired girl laid herself down on the bed, as straight as a board. She stared up at the empty, boring ceiling, momentarily imagining the blue, sparsely clouded skies of Alfheim in its place.
"If Asuna's indeed there, in Alne, then...I have to put all of this to an end. My feelings, my love for Kirito, everything. No matter what happens, it all must come to an end. I've been dancing around the issue for way too long. Agil's message is a sign, without a doubt."
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. As she did, she could vaguely hear the tinkling of Pina's bell at her doorway.
"I need to tell Kirito how I feel, once and for all. There's nothing else I can do, beyond that."
"And maybe, just maybe, Kirito could..."
With a grimace and a tone of finality, the girl yelled, "LINK START!"
A gateway of three-dimensional colors and sounds...
touch – OK
sight – OK
hearing – OK
taste – OK
smell – OK
Language – Japanese
[Welcome to ALfheim Online, Sachi!]
When she opened them, she didn't find herself staring at Alfheim's blue, sparsely clouded skies. Instead, she was staring at a dimly lit, purple-hued ceiling.
Alfheim, Scionus Castle, Scionus, Imp Territory
Sachi quickly sat up, expecting to see Kirito and the others standing there, waiting for her. Instead, she found the leisure room empty. Not even Yui was present.
"Kirito..." she whispered tenderly.
It was silent for a few long moments. Then, the Undine sighed, stood up, and ventured toward the door with a fluctuant gait. As soon as she approached the door and clasped its handle, she froze and began diving deep into her thoughts.
"But before you delude yourself any further, just think about what Sachi would feel in the midst of all of this. Unless that's all Sachi ever was to you. A way to apologize to Keiko-chan for being so hard on her."
"I am just a means to an end for the Ayanos. I'm just there to be a sister for Keiko-chan. And if she doesn't make it out, then I'm just a replacement. I've got nobody in the real world. Just Kirito, Sinonon, and Mari. No one else. But Mari's so, so far away from me, Sinonon's been acting very weird around me, and Kirito...Kirito..."
She finally turned the handle and opened the door by a crack. As soon as she did, the Undine heard voices.
"So, Lync-kun, tell me all about that cutie Leprechaun."
"Look, there's not a lot to talk about, 'kay? So...c-can we just drop the subject?"
Sachi peered out of the door and saw Lync approaching, followed by Grem and Wacket. Lync's face was flushed, while his inferiors were smirking up at him despite the vast distance between their rankings.
"There's not a lot to talk about?" Grem or Wacket asked.
"So there is something to talk about-" began Wacket or Grem.
Lync flitted his head at them in a nervous sweat. "Look, I didn't say that-"
"You pretty much implied it! Not a lot to talk about?"
"The man's got a good point!"
"Ever heard of privacy?" Lync asked while shooting his inferiors an offended glare.
"Awwwww, come ooooon, Cap! We know the two of you hit it off pretty good! What was it about her negotiations? Come on, spill all the juicy deets!"
Sachi couldn't take it anymore and slammed the door open.
"Look, you guys!"
Her holler caught the attention of the three Imp guards. They stared up the staircase and were quickly taken aback after noticing her presence.
"Wh-Whoa!" Grem or Wacket cried. "Th-The Sapphire Shielder!"
"Wh-When'd you log in?!" Wacket or Gram asked.
Sachi ignored her and just glowered down at the pair. "If he doesn't wanna talk, then he doesn't have to talk. You're just prying into matters that he wishes to keep to himself in private. When he's ready to talk about, then you'll know! But, in the meantime, do him a favor and give him some space and time to settle in."
Grem and Wacket gawked at the Undine in disbelief at her passionate reprimand; their lower jaws hung open stupidly, as if they were broken valves. Even the normally serious and stern Lync stared up at Sachi with total surprise at her ability to speak up like that. The Undine didn't react at the attention she got and just stared back down at them with a straight, determined face. Then, Grem or Wacket spoke up after an awkward pause.
"Ye-Yeah, y-you're right..." The Imp guard bowed his head before his superior. "We're sorry, Captain. We really shouldn't have pried like that."
"Yeah," Wacket or Grem replied, now humbled. "He's right." He too bowed his head at Lync. "Sorry about that, Lync. We just couldn't help ourselves."
"It's just that you showed a side of yourself that we've never seen before, every time the Leprechaun is brought up. It's like some rare phenomenon, so we got ahead of ourselves."
"If you wanna reprimand us or punish us in any way, we'll take it. No questions asked."
"I-It's okay," Lync replied, uncharacteristically startled by the earnest apologies that he got from his underlings. Then, he cleared his throat and stood firm at attention. "We'll talk about reprimands and punishments later. We need to get to the point here."
"Hm? Point?" Sachi asked. "What point?"
Lync looked back up at her. "Three points, actually. First off, Lord Mauve is having difficulty locating that friend of yours. The Imp you call Umbra."
"Really? That's odd. I thought Lords could locate any player belonging to their race?"
"Lord Mauve is confident that she's never heard of such a Lord-exclusive ability. Either way, Sapphire Shielder, she's still continuing the search, rest assured. As for the second point, she has successfully established contact with Mortimer and has gotten him to agree to being the fifth vote calling for the Convention of the Nine."
Sachi's eyes widened in surprise. "She...She did?!"
Lync nodded. "I saw it myself. She revealed her knowledge of Nicander's deceitful infiltration and Mortimer's role in that operation, and she threatened to throw the weight of the Imp race behind the Undine-Sylph-Cait Sith alliance unless he agreed to become the fifth vote."
"Well, that's certainly one way to convince Lord Mortimer..." The Undine rubbed her chin in surprise. "I guess Fjord's plan to call the Convention worked after all..."
"As for the third point," Lync continued, bringing Sachi out of her private musings, "some of your friends have made their leave from the Castle already."
Sachi straightened up in surprise. "What?! They did?!"
"Yes. It was the Salamander, the Gnome, the-" The captain faintly blushed. "The bartering Leprechaun, and the Spriggan. The guy Spriggan, the one with the attitude."
"O-Oh..." The Undine felt her heart constrict, but she kept a straight face and innocuously asked, "I-If I may...d-did they say where they were heading off to?"
"Oh, they said they were flying to Alne. As soon as we broke the news of the Convention's commencement to them, they told us that they hoped to catch some front-row seats to the Convention."
"Front-row seats?" Sachi's eyes widened in surprise. "Wait a minute, the Convention of the Nine is happening today?"
Lync blinked in confusion. "Well...yeah. As soon as five out of nine 'Yes' votes are guaranteed, they're automatically cast, and the call to hold the Convention is PMed to the remaining four Lords. Some preparations do still need to be made, but once the votes are cast, Alfheim lore dictates that the Convention is to start on the same day. Lord Mauve is prepping for her departure as we speak."
Sachi absentmindedly gazed downward at the stairs. She knew the truth. She could easily imagine Kirito, Agil, Klein, and Liz hurriedly flying out of Scionus and rushing over to Alne to verify Agil's discovery. And then, she could easily imagine a grinning, beaming Kirito embracing an ivory-white figure of beauty, a literal goddess with chestnut hair, while leaning his lips in towards hers...
His lips... Lips that belonged to he-
"Uhhhhh, are you alright there? S-Sapphire Shielder?"
Lync's voice snapped Sachi back to reality. With a gasp, she realized that her entire body had been trembling severely. A foreign sensation rushed away from her body, like a lion retreating back into the shadowy night after being caught in the middle of its hunt.
"Is...everything alright there?" Lync asked, his tone hesitant yet prodding.
Sachi recomposed herself and calmly replied, "I'm just fine, Captain Lync. And if you don't mind, I request permission to join Lord Mauve's entourage to Alne."
The captain didn't appear to be assured of her initial response. Regardless, he nodded up at her.
"Permission granted."
– X-Y-X –
Skies of Alfheim
Liz's mind swam with conflicted emotions as she flew between Klein and Agil, and right behind Kirito. She stared ahead at the gargantuan but ever-distant, cloud-shrouded World Tree right ahead of her, reflecting on what was ahead of them all with both dread and bubbling anticipation.
"A lot is changing really quick," she thought. "We found Asuna, and quicker than I honestly would've expected. And there will be a big meeting between the nine big guns at the same place where we'll find Asuna. There's a lot of personal and in-game investment in what's happening at this Alne place...so much, in fact, that it makes me worried..."
She suddenly felt a stab of terrible uncertainty in her heart, and she held a hand over it.
"There's a lot riding on whatever's happening in Alne that...I can't help but wonder... No, wait...wait for the other shoe to drop..."
With that, Liz picked up the pace and was able to joined Kirito's side. As they flew closer and closer to Alne and the base of the World Tree, the Leprechaun noticed, in the corner of her eye, Kirito staring straight at the gigantic, cloud-shrouded tree with an unmatched intensity, an intensity so fiery that she was almost afraid that he would spontaneously combust. For the first time since she'd first logged into ALO and reunited with her crush, the one who got away, Liz saw something seeping onto his roguish yet handsome face...and it stunned her to realize that she had never noticed it in a long time.
Kirito looked genuinely happy.
And that made her extremely worried.
– X-Y-X –
Alne, Neutral Territory, Base of the World Tree
"Okay, where the hell were you?!"
Eiji watched as Squiggle stepped out of the crowd of nameless, faceless players and NPCs. His fellow party member had an expression of muted concern etched on his face. That concern wavered for an infinitesimal moment when his eyes laid upon Asuna, who blinked at him in confusion. Then, Squiggle refocused on the speaker, Orceus, with a striking amount of calmness that Eiji would've never expected from the Leprechaun player.
"My parents had to call me over for something," Squiggle replied.
Eiji's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Yeah?!" Orceus snapped. "Well, while you were busy with whatever your folks needed, the same thing that happened to Umbra has now happened to Pyre!"
Squiggle's eyes slowly grew wide. "Wh...What?"
"Yeah! He...He might be dead too, man!" By this point, sweat was now dripping from Orceus's forehead and staining the fabric of his uniform. "Ohhhhh maaaaan, I was trying so hard to keep my calm and-and keep my head on straight, b-but now I'm starting to freak out! Pyre may have been right about the whole thing! It stinks to high heaven! And...t-to think it all started with...with..."
He shot an accusing glare at Asuna, who recoiled under his gaze. Eiji narrowed his eyes at Orceus and prepared to speak up on her behalf, but the Gnome quickly tore his eyes away from them, too absorbed in his spiking panic to even notice their reactions.
"I...I think I gotta logout and double-check my locks!"
"Wait, Orceus," Squiggle said. "I think we should do a real-life meet-up."
Orceus looked at him. "A...A real-life meet-up...?"
"You mean an IRL meeting?" Eiji asked.
Squiggle nodded. "Yes." He looked at Asuna. "Obviously, she will be unable to participate, but if whatever's happening to our avatars is also happening to us in real life, then we should seek safety in numbers, both in-person and in the game. I think it's the best course of action until we-"
"Stop yapping, man!" Orceus interrupted exasperatedly. "I thought I told you I was all the way up in Chiba?!"
"Did you?" The Leprechaun looked at his party member with a certain twinkle in his eye. "I'm sorry, I must've forgotten. In the heat of the moment."
"Yeah, well, you gotta get your head out of the gutter and focus up, my man! Because it's not just any AmuSphere that's malfunctioning, it's all the AmuSpheres belonging to US!"
Squiggle slightly narrowed his eyes, appearing to be offended. "It hasn't escaped my mind at all, Orceus."
"Well, you sure are acting like it has!" Then, Orceus sighed sharply and raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright, we gotta calm down. We gotta take a breather and focus on what is really important." With that, the Gnome summoned his menu and started scrolling through it. "I'm logging out now. Gotta check on the locks...and the windows... Maybe I need to consider one of those mobile food delivery apps?"
Asuna, Eiji, and Squiggle watched while Orceus disappeared in a shower of bright polygons. Once the Gnome was gone, a collected Squiggle summoned his menu as well.
"Maybe I should do the same thing," he said in a matter-of-fact tone.
Then, as he scrolled through the menu, the Leprechaun moved his pupils upward toward Asuna and Eiji. However, Asuna couldn't help but feel like he was primarily focused on her.
And then, after a brief moment of silence, he asked, "Will you be taking her anywhere, Eiji?"
"She doesn't want to stay in Alne, that's for sure," Eiji replied. "I'm going to take her to my place."
"Your place?" Squiggle arched an eyebrow at him. "And that is...?"
"...The hotel. ...In Helmstok?"
"...Yes. Yes, yes, that's right."
Eiji blinked, and then he creased his brow at Squiggle. "Are...you alright, Squiggle...?"
"Yes... Y-Yes, yes, I-I'm fine..." The Leprechaun sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "It's just...been a long and weird day. So much has happened, and I can barely keep up... N-Not to mention Pyre. I should check around, see if he's okay. Hopefully whatever happened to him was just a weird-ass glitch. Unlike with Umbra."
Eiji blinked again. "Yeah... You do that..."
Squiggle narrowed his eyes at the Imp in suspicion, and Eiji returned the minuscule reaction in turn. After a tense, chilly stare-down that sent a shiver through Asuna's spine, Squiggle finally logged out, leaving her and Eiji as the only ones of the group. She slowly, carefully approached her new companion, all the while eyeing the spot where Squiggle had been standing seconds ago.
"What was that about?" she asked.
"I don't know..." Eiji replied. He narrowed his eyes even further upon the same spot. "But Squiggle doesn't normally act that way."
"How does he normally act?"
"...To tell you the truth..." Eiji took a deep breath of acceptance. "I don't really know."
"Wait a minute, you don't know?" Asuna glared at him with disbelief. "H-How do you not know?! You're a member of their party, are you not?!"
Eiji took another deep breath and looked down at his outstretched palm. "Well, Asuna, let's just say I view their party as more of a convenience. A convenience...for my personal goals in this game. And let's leave it at that."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "So you don't even fully know if they can be trusted or not."
"What I do know in that regard is that I wouldn't trust a small jar of «Yrd» to them even if my life depended on it."
Asuna scowled disapprovingly at him, and a new instinct filled her heart. "I, your vice-commander, never forgot you even after all this time, regardless of the role you played in the KoB, but you...you don't even know the basic thing about your fellow soldiers? I don't know what goals you had in mind for this game, but your lack of knowledge about who you battle alongside makes your association with them a dangerous gamble to play with, Eiji."
"Fellow soldiers? Battle alongside? Heh." Eiji shot a withering stare at her. "And to think, I thought the «Flash» had been totally reduced to a damsel in distress. Guess you still have a bit of that spunk left in you."
"And for good reason."
The Imp suddenly scowled. "Unfortunately, that kind of spunk can get you into trouble."
"And it can get me out of trouble too, Eiji. It's the only reason why I'm here and not up there." Then, Asuna relaxed her posture and took a deep breath to cool herself down. "Look...we'll...we'll talk about party ethics another time. Let's just go to your place. I don't know how safe it is to keep lounging around here-"
"Asuna..."
"Mommy..."
The voices spoke to her in such a low tone, but nevertheless, they defied all the odds and reached her eardrums like they came from such a shorter distance. As soon as she heard those voices, her brain screamed at her, warning her that those were just auditory hallucinations, something to be dismissed as nothing more than artificial, self-manufactured glimmers of hope that she could hold onto in her time of need.
But her heart told her otherwise. For the past two months, months spent in unspeakable captivity, she'd always imagine their voices talking to her, calming her and encouraging her to the very end, acting as her improvisational therapy tools when there was nothing else that could help her. She'd since gotten used to her perception of the voices belonging to the ones she loved. Especially the voice of the boy that she loved from the bottom of her heart.
Thus, she knew that there was nothing in the world that could replicate Kirito's and Yui's voice with one-hundred percent accuracy.
Asuna turned around, and her heart started beating faster than it ever did before. It took a lot of effort, but her fair lips moved upward and radiated a gentle, loving smile that they had not used in a long time.
"Kirito-kun..." she whispered in a fond voice.
She held a hand out, and so...
Kirito walked forward, feeling as if the reality of Alne and all of ALO had become entirely distant from him, his grip upon it tenuous and slipping away. Fate itself seemed to stubbornly fight against his ability to take a smooth step forward, but he didn't care. He took one step, and then another, and then another, all the while thinking about everything that he had to go through to get to this point in time. Everything, which had now been rendered trivial all of a sudden, now that he'd finally achieved his goal.
Everything, even Sachi, who was now thrust to the back of his mind like yesterday's newspaper. His feelings for Sachi, no matter how real or how strong, seemed infinitesimal and inconsequential compared to what he felt for Asuna.
Once he got close enough, Kirito reached a hand out. A voice in his brain started to yell at him, warning him to refrain, to perceive what was happening as too good to be true and therefore a trap. But his heart told him to keep going, that this was reality and that this was truly happening.
"Asuna..." he whispered again, the tone of his voice shaky while he struggled to hold back tears of relief.
And then, his heart rejoiced and leapt many boundaries when his hand became entwined with hers, and so...
And so, it was just like it was when they last met.
They were wrapped around each other, in the warmest, most loving embrace one could possibly imagine.
Their foreheads touching together, smooth silk against protective roughness.
Their lips united in a feeling of indescribable euphoria, considered unreachable and coveted by many.
It was only them and nothing else; everything else around them no longer mattered, rendered meaningless by the codes and algorithms.
Just them. A tender feeling. There was nothing else in this world that they wanted to feel again.
– X-Y-X –
Skies of Alfheim
"Hold on a moment, slow down!"
"Wait up, Sapphire Shielder!"
"Seriously, what's her rush?!"
But Sachi disregarded the voices calling out to her as she continued flying toward the World Tree. She narrowed her blue eyes at the gargantuan but ever-distant, cloud-shrouded tree trunk, her pupils alone exhibiting a wild, chaotic variety of emotions while the pace of her breathing started to quicken at a perilous pace. She could feel her heart clench up within her chest at the image of the one boy she loved, the one who she worked hard for, embracing a partially featureless girl with striking chestnut hair. She hadn't felt so miserably, hopelessly heartbroken since that night in the canal.
Only this time, she didn't have Kirito himself to come find her and assure her that everything was alright, that she would survive.
Eventually, Mauve's voice pulled her from the brink of despair. "Sapphire Shielder."
The Undine whipped her face towards her and saw that the Imp Lord was now flying beside her.
"Y-Yes, Lord Mauve?!" she squeaked.
The dark-skinned woman narrowed her eyes. "Look, I don't know what's gotten you in such a big rush, but if you'd mind, my men and I need to catch up with you. If your timer runs out, you're going to need somebody to catch you when you fall." She crooked an eyebrow at Sachi. "Am I right?"
Sachi looked away. Normally, she would've felt shame at her sudden and uncharacteristic behavior. But her mind was still elsewhere, still absorbed in the increasingly terrible images of Kirito running to Asuna, embracing her, stroking her cheek like it was a precious jewel, leaning his face in towards hers-
"Sorry, Lord Mauve," the Undine replied in a slightly absentminded voice. "I understand."
She could feel the «Trident of Protection», equipped to her back, getting heavier and heavier as she got closer and closer.
Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, Sachi could see the majestic, marble buildings of Alne getting within close reach of her. It was the first time she had ever visited the city, Alfheim's largest and most elegant, and for a moment, the Undine was astounded by the sight of it. The city was partially wrapped in unique spiraling structures, all originating from the World Tree. Its buildings stood upon carefully carved terraces, the next one higher in elevation than the last, and the design culminated in a pyramid-shaped castle that towered above all the other buildings. With the spiraling tendrils from the World Tree wrapped around it, Alne partially resembled a uniquely triangular cocoon.
"It's been a while, Alne..." Mauve said nostalgically.
"Dayum," Grem or Wacket commented.
"Never been here before!" Wacket or Grem exclaimed. "Gotta remember to take some pics!"
"Wow..." a breath-taken Sachi thought. "I...I wish Sinonon was here to see this..."
Her heart ached for her friend for a millisecond, but the yearning was swiftly drowned out by her thoughts of Kirito.
"Alright, men!" Lync barked. "It's time to land! Get into descending formation!"
Indeed, Sachi could feel her wings start to weaken and fade away, and she knew the others in Mauve's party were feeling the same sensations. The group immediately set its sights on a noisy, bustling town square near the gateway and made their descent.
As soon as they landed, Sachi started running immediately, ignoring Mauve's and Lync's surprised cries for her. No longer did the feeling of physically being in Alne, the crowning jewel of ALfheim Online, take her breath away. Now, the Undine wanted to see the boy that she loved again. She needed to be there if and when he found Asuna again. Just in case.
But even as her brain screamed angrily, desperately at her to find Kirito and indulge in the baser impulses that had been festering for a long time now, her heart ached again in a feeling one could only describe as foreknowledge.
Foreknowledge that it was already too late.
Next Time: The Pigeonhole Principle
A/N: And that marks the end of this chapter! Yes, your eyes don't deceive you, and yes, this was not some hallucination. Kirito and Asuna are finally reunited, and it's all sunshine and rainbows from here for our power couple!
...OR IS IT?
And in other news, Sugou gets put into his place for once, and Rasmussen's plan to track down everyone in Eiji's party is continuing to unfold. It's only going to get worse for our heroes from here, I can tell you that!
PHEW! After reviewing and revisions, the chapter is finally done and out for all of you to read and enjoy. I hope it was all worth the wait! Personally, I feel like some parts could be better, but hey, what can I do? I've now gotten us to the point where the story takes a really interesting turn, and I'm very enthusiastic on writing the rest of Act II out. Trust me, it will be a frigging rollercoaster of emotions. :O
Now, I'd like to thank the following people for reviewing:
-Naruto Sakura Uzumaki:
1) Yes, I'm most certainly going to try and give Asuna the role she should've played during the Fairy Dance Arc. There is nothing better than seeing her about to kick some ass!
2) Glad to see you're happy to see Eiji and Yuna again! And don't worry, you will be seeing more of them, as you can tell from this chapter. :D
3) And a happy November 6th to you too!
-Tertius711:
1) It's alright. A review that's at least 4-5 sentences should be fine. (I originally had a set minimum of 3 sentences, but I didn't want any particularly lazy reviewers to exploit that minimum.)
2) Yep! Asuna's escape is definitely going to be a true tipping point in the story's divergent timeline. Now that another lil' domino has been tipped, it's going to cascade into something big. ;D ;D ;D
3) In case you didn't know, the Yuna in this story isn't the AI seen in the Ordinal Scale movie. This is the real Yuna who was trapped in SAO. In this story, she has become an Outlier like Sachi. That's why she's here.
4) Yes, yes she is truly horny for Kirito, but in the bad way. And as we've all seen from how this chapter ended, it's only going to get worse for her from here. Will her better self prevail?
-HRRaiders023:
1) Hey there! I'm glad you're enjoying this so far, and I hope you're still reading! :D :D :D
2) Yes, Sachi is so underutilized in fanfiction that it's almost criminal.
3) I'm not sure if you've gotten that far yet, but there IS a brief scene that implicitly shows EXACTLY what Silica is going through right now. But just because she's now one of Sugou's 299 unlucky guinea pigs, don't assume that her problems are strictly limited to that situation... As for screentime, we'll actually get to see her a little further down the road. Don't worry! :D
4) Well, as soon as I decided that Sachi would be staying with Silica's family in the story, the idea of Silica's predicament just sort of wrote itself from there. So I'm glad you're enjoying this unique deviation from the usual storyline! :D :D :D
-The Dark Dragen:
1) I'm not sure what exactly you mean by "SAO was finished", but the official SAO Wikia has an article on the franchise's timeline. In that article, it explicitly says that ALO was launched in November 2023, and that Suguha had been playing it since January 2024, while Kazuto was still under.
2) Sorry, but in the Author's Notes, I do specifically say several times that there will not be a threesome pairing between Kirito, Asuna, and Sachi. It'll be one girl or the other for Kirito.
Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter! TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. PEACE!
