Hey everyone, Slade here.
Welcome once again to [Our Bond]! On this episode, our main focus won't be our main "couple" —more like sworn enemies after last chapter finale, but eh, nothing's perfect—, and instead we are going to take a peek at what Eugeo and Alice are up to after Kirito accidentally left them hanging.
Without further ado… enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online nor the characters; heavens forbid that destiny.
Chapter 2: [Broken Souls, Broken Chains]
95th Floor, the Morning Star Lookout. Central Cathedral.
24th day of the 5th month ~ 21:30 hrs.
Eugeo.
"And… here… we… finally… are!" panted an exhausted Eugeo, reaching the floor just above him with his tired hand, making an inhuman last effort to push himself up and the slightly annoyed —but way too calmer than before— blonde knight.
With a grunt, Eugeo sat on the edge of the lookout, pulling an embarrassed Alice up with the strength that was left in his own body. His childhood friend was finally able to grasp the onto the edge and pull herself up back again to the Cathedral. When both were in the safety of a surface beneath them, Eugeo let himself fall onto the lookout with a tired yet relieved smile.
"We did it, Alice!" he said, turning towards her. "We finally did it."
"Yeah…" was the only reply of the Integrity Knight.
Damn that she was going to die of embarrassment. First was the fact she actually thought it was better to die instead of being helped by someone she labeled as a criminal, even if said person tried his best to convince her otherwise. Then was the fact he had to carry her entire weight (not that she was willing to say it) all the way to floor 95. Also, there was the little rest both had after they fought against the Minions of the Dark Territory, and the conversation that followed…
Exterior wall of the Central Cathedral.
20:00 hrs.
Eugeo and Alice sat at the edge of the exterior wall where the Minions statues were placed. Though the space was limited, they managed to get somewhat comfortable and take a proper rest after all the stress they were submitted to in the last five hours.
The blond boy fidgeted in his place, uncomfortable due to the awkward silence between both of them. Since the battle against the Minions, Alice had yet to speak at Eugeo directly and he was still trying to figure out how to approach the irascible Integrity Knight.
Where would I even begin?! What am I supposed to tell her? The poor boy thought in distress. Am I supposed to claim that I am her childhood friend even if she had no memories about it? Or that she was abducted from Rulid by the Church she serves?
Those were his troubled thoughts when a small rumble was heard at his right. Eugeo turned his head to Alice, noticing a healthy blush on her cheeks.
Eugeo, now presented with a golden opportunity to engage in a conversation, asked: "Are you hungry, Alice?"
"None of your business!" she replied harshly, making the poor boy flinch at her outburst. Still, a second rumble broke the silence, turning Alice's face as red as a tomato.
Eugeo sighed. Even now, after all this time and her change of personality, Alice was just as stubborn as he remembered. I am hungry too… lamented the boy, resting his back on the exterior wall. Wait a second… didn't Kirito…?
Alice, who refused to meet Eugeo's gaze until now, perked up when she saw said blond searching frantically for something in his pockets. "What are you doing?"
"Now that I remember, my partner gave me something before we… aha!" finally, he found what he was looking for. "Here it is!" In his hand there were two buns.
"W-why are you even carrying those in your pockets?"
"Well, it was actually Kirito who forced me to take these…" he chuckled, preparing a Sacred Art to cook them. "Since I met him, he always drilled me the idea of never starve before an important battle, nor to fill my belly too much," he applied the Art on the buns, cooking them slowly. "He gave me these before we even began to climb the Cathedral arguing that we were going to be really hungry before getting at the top; and, if something happened, it was better to keep our bellies focused on digesting something small than just distracting us from a fight."
Though his words sounded quite wise in Alice's opinion, it was mostly because Eugeo changed a little bit the words Kirito used to explain him his reasoning: "There is no fucking way I will climb a hundred floors, battling against all odds inside and ultimately facing the goddess of this world with an empty stomach! Grab two of these, because I won't let you do something like that either! Now let's go and get done with this. I already feel a headache just by thinking about stairs…"
Yeah, Kirito being Kirito, isn't it?
Eugeo had to suppress a chuckle. His best friend was odd as only he could be. However, his oddness proved countless times to be more than just another endearing trait that somehow made Ronye want him as her mentor.
Ending that thought of process, the boy simply gave Alice one of the buns and focused on eating his.
"They are quite good~" muttered him.
"Indeed," said Alice, surprising herself of talking out loud.
"Still, they are a far from being as good as the ones your sister makes back home…" he went silent after noticing his slip of tongue. Before he could correct himself or make an excuse, the girl beside him grabbed him by the collar with menacing eyes.
"What did you just said?" she asked slowly, forgetting her hunger for a second.
Though her grimace was fierce, there was doubt in her eyes that didn't go unnoticed by Eugeo. The boy hesitated to answer for a second, remembering the warnings that both Cardinal and Kirito gave him. Insisting to awake the Knights memories might be dangerous for them; after all, they already witnessed what could happen with Eldrie. And even then, would Alice truly believe his words? This far, she always kept wary and quite hostile with him. Would she even listen?
"I…" he stammered, but nothing coherent went out of his mouth.
Eugeo's turmoil was brief, barely a couple of seconds, but he quickly made up his own mind. Alice needed to know, whether she wanted to hear it or not.
"You have a sister."
Instinctively, Eugeo readied himself to receive any sort of aggression from the young knight, be it another whole minute of her bursting in anger and insults, or a more physical approach such as her chopping him into little pieces or throwing him into the abyss. However, to Eugeo's surprise, none of those dreadful things happened. Instead, Alice went silent while staring at him with an unusual expression on her: curiosity.
"S-sister?" she wondered out loud, giving the blue clad swordsman an astonished look. "But t-that's impossible! I… I have…"
"No sisters? All because you came from the heavens, summoned by the High Pontifex to serve the Human Empire?" he interrupted, surprising Alice even further. He made a mental reminder to thank Kirito for telling him all that Cardinal knew about the Integrity Knights while in the library. "That is what the pontifex told you, isn't it?"
"How do you know?"
"Is complicated… but I can explain you everything… only if you want to hear it," Eugeo turned to face her directly. "I know you won't trust me fully, Alice. And there is no way I can prove my words true right now. However, if you truly want to know the truth… that is your choice only."
Alice went silent for a whole minute, pondering about Eugeo's proposal while the blond swordsman simply waited, hopeful yet afraid of what was about to happen next.
"I will listen," she finally answered, her expression grim. "But if I find deception in your words, I will kill you right on the spot."
Eugeo gulped silently, aware that he should thread carefully.
"Before I begin, I know you can't remember anything of what I am about to say. However, I implore you, Alice, listen until the end of my tale," he waited with bated breath for Alice's response. The girl narrowed her eyes, apparently debating internally whether trusting him or not.
In the end, she gave him a short and reluctant nod.
"Your real name is Alice Zuberg…"
Alice sat in silence while Eugeo spoke. The boy told her about every single detail he could recall: her father, her mother, her sister, Rulid and even Eugeo himself was described with the greatest detail the young boy could.
"We were friends back then, Alice," he gave her a sad smile, taking the knight by surprise. "You don't remember it either, but we were born the same year in Rulid. We grew together, ate together, laughed together, and played together. In fact, you used to come by to the Gigas Cedar and bring delicious food for us to share…"
As time passed by, Alice seemed to be more and more interested with everything Eugeo had to say despite how mundane most of events were. The boy was only encouraged by this, and thus half an hour flew by without them noticing.
However, at some point Eugeo fell silent. There was something else he needed to tell Alice… something that he wasn't ready to recall.
His hesitation must have lasted longer than he expected, because Alice brought him back to the present by asking: "Why did you stopped?"
"…" Eugeo took another deep breath. This is for Alice… for her own sake…
Finally, Eugeo found himself able to talk once more, and this time he did so without a second pause.
He recalled the incident just as it was yesterday. The ice, the cave, the battle at the edge of the mountains… the moment Alice's hand accidentally touched the soil of the Dark Territory, the return to Rulid, the day right after, Deusolbert, her apprehension… he let it all go after bottling it for six whole years.
Not even once had he spoke about this with such detail, not even with Kirito. Tears fell at some point in his tale, though he didn't notice when. Despite his weeps and sobs, his words came clear and comprehensible, though tainted with the young man's grief and sorrow.
Alice fell completely silent, her heart clenching every time Eugeo's voice failed due to the raw feelings the memories carried. Not even once she questioned if the tale was true or not, not after such raw display of emotions.
"That was the last time we met each other… until yesterday that is," Eugeo chuckled bitterly, calmer now that the worst part of the tale was done. "When we escaped, we met a woman, Cardinal, who told us that the Pontifex, Administrator, took your memories and implanted fake ones. She does this with every Integrity Knight… from the first to the last."
The following silence was deafening. Eugeo stared at the sky, waiting patiently for Alice to… to say anything.
"S-she would never do such a thing…" Alice whispered. "The Pontifex… she would never…"
"You saw the Minions up here, didn't you?" Eugeo pointed out. "She can and has lied to you before."
"Even so, the High Pontifex… she…" Alice hesitated, unsure of her words. "She only wants the best for the Human Empire."
"I don't think so," he replied, his eyes taking a sad look before pointing at the city before them. "Down there, in Centoria, there are people that live the most comfortable lives without any worry. They have grown to believe they are above all else, even going as far as to twist the Taboo Index to their convenience… and no one else cares if such a thing happens.
"People suffer because there is no true justice in the Taboo or in the Church, but they are forced to believe it is the only justice," he clenched his fist. "Just as I did… before meeting Kirito… before meeting Tiese…
"Before the incident that brought me here in the first place."
"You mean, why were you imprisoned in the Cathedral?" Alice frowned. "Don't lie to me. I know both of you murdered two men."
"Two rapists you mean," Eugeo felt close to spit, but he restrained himself. The blonde girl faced him with an incredulous stare, but he went on. "Raios and Humbert, the men Kirito and I harmed and killed, tried to rape Tiese and Ronye, our valets. They claimed they had the law by their side, so there was no way we could stop them…" he cursed beneath his breath. "We didn't want to kill them… but there was no way we would just sit there with resignation. We had to do something!"
"Yet that is no excuse to attack both Integrity Knights and the Pontifex," she argued back, her words with some conviction left. "If you kill the High Pontifex and injure the Knights, who would be left to fend the Dark Territory army?"
"And keep everything else the same?!" he blurted out, passion taking a hold of him. "And make everyone else suffer just for the sake of a 'Greater Good'?! The people that you protect doesn't know better. They are just stupid carvers stuck with a ridiculous Sacred Task until their death arrives! Their lives mean nothing for her or themselves, can't you see it?!
"Even if we are defeated today, what makes you so sure you can defend the empire from the Dark Territory? You might win, at the cost of lives, but Administrator won't care at all! She will just find more Knights, as a child buys a new toy when another breaks!"
If it wasn't for the fact that both he and Alice were in a really thin edge, he would have stood up in a single jump. Instead, he just smashed his fist on the wall.
"Administrator will rule forever and her will is for everything to remain the same. Winning against the Dark Territory with her still at her throne is no victory. No, the only hope left for the empire… for everyone… is to remove the Administrator from her throne!"
The fire in his eyes faded, leaving him with a tired expression.
"I never wanted this," he mourned. "I just wanted to recover the Alice I knew… Alice Zuberg. Not even in my wildest dreams I ever imagined to be entangled in such a complicated situation, nor I wished to," he paused, staring at the sky. "But now is our duty, isn't it? Is our duty to sort this out, since we are the only ones here…" hugging his legs, Eugeo focused on the stars and their faint glow.
The night is gorgeous despite what is going on within this building. He thought with some melancholy. I remember those days when Alice and I found solace on the starry night's embrace. Despite my awful Sacred Task, and the awful duties I had to do, there was always the stars to watch at night, soothing me.
But, when she was taken away, I forgot to stare at the sky, feeling lonely… empty. It wasn't until Kirito…
An idea popped up in his head, making him smile.
"Night Sky. The Night Sky Sword," he mumbled, his smile widening.
All the while Alice sat there with a complicated expression. After having heard Eugeo, her entire mind was in conflict, unsure of what to think or do anymore.
The passion and honesty behind each word of the young swordsman washed away all the possibilities of it being a deception. It was clear he talked with the truth.
Moreover, everything else he said about her "old self" somehow felt right to Alice. Maybe she couldn't recall the memories, but the names and feelings behind were an entirely different story. She repeated the name of her sister; "Selka". Her mouth seemed to recognize the name, pronouncing it with ease. When the last syllable left her tongue, Alice's heart raced and clenched, a mix of happiness and sadness sprouting.
Before she knew, Alice was crying. Right then and there, she realized everything she needed to understand in that narrow edge of the exterior wall. Maybe destiny was the reason she fell from the Cathedral, the reason she was saved by Eugeo and the reason why they both were risking their lives to get to floor 95.
Perhaps, their fate was to reunite here.
"Eugeo…" turning, she felt how more tears were running free. "I might no longer remember. But, somehow, deep down my heart… I know it is true… I have a family!" the boy widened his eyes. "A father, a mother, and a little sister, somewhere under this starred sky… waiting for me" Alice wept while talking. "I stole away the body of Alice Zuberg from them from six long years… obeying Administrator's orders without hesitation all the while she just lied to the Integrity Knights without any remorse and excuse.
"The Pontifex… I can no longer trust her. Uncle… commander Bercouli already had his own doubts about her choices and actions in regard of the safety of the empire," she gave a disdainful stare to the Minion's statues around them. "She poisoned our minds with lies and false memories, for what?! We have sworn our loyalty to her! To the people! Why she had the need to deceive us?!"
Alice took a deep breath, her emotions in check for a while.
"Eugeo, I have one thing to ask you," she turned to the boy, who nodded slightly. He was speechless after hearing Alice. "Two things in fact. As fellow swordsmen, if you and your partner defeat Administrator… would you help us protect the empire?"
He thought for a minute, pondering his options. However, when he answered, his voice was filled with resolve.
"I can't exactly speak for Kirito since he's quite unpredictable sometimes… but I can assure you that I will do my best to defend everyone from the Dark Territory" smiling, he reassured her. "And I guess Kirito would do the same."
Alice returned the smile, pleased by his answer.
"The second thing I must ask you is more… complicated," Eugeo frowned, feeling uneasy about the way she said those words. "As your childhood friend… or rather, what is left of her in this fake persona, I want you to return this body to Alice Zuberg… but after taking me with… my sister," he gasped, a reaction Alice expected. "It doesn't have to be face to face. Even if I just watch from afar, it will be fine for me."
"I…" he gulped, his own conflict returning. However, right now, he wasn't able to say no to her. "I will, Alice."
The Integrity Knight smiled sadly, standing on the narrow edge.
"I made up my mind," she stared fiercely at the land beyond, a solemn tone in her voice. "To protect the Human Empire, and its citizens… I, Alice Synthesis Thirty, quit from my duty as Integrity…"
Then the pain began. A sharp, hazardous pain that stung as a thousand needles in her right eye. Eugeo, who watched her closely when she stood up, realized quickly what was going on when she screamed in agony while holding her eye. He was standing before he even noticed, holding her by her shoulders.
"Alice!" he shrieked.
"E-Eugeo…" she replied, taking her hand away and reveling a bloody red iris, with words written in the Sacred Language. "Wha-what is this?!"
"Alice don't think about it! Your eye will pop out!"
"What is this, Eugeo?!" she began to panic, breathing harshly.
"It's… a seal. Every time you try to oppose the Taboo Index, the seal in the eye forces you to obey," he explained the best he could, given his experience. "It must have activated when you tried to desert!"
"T-the p-pontifex… she a-also did this to u-us?! WE WHO GAVE OUR HEARTS TO HER AND HER WORLD?!"
"I don't know for sure… but it most likely is."
The poor girl frowned, gritting her teeth.
"She not only took away our memories… but our will too!" she cried in utter rage and indignation. "Unforgivable! UNFORGIVABLE!
"I want to protect this world, its citizens! That is the sole reason of my existence! AND I WON'T LET HER TAKE IT AWAY FROM ME!
"I, Alice Synthesis Thirty…" the pain became greater, forcing her onto her knees. "I, ALICE SYNTHESIS THIRTY…" she cried in pain once more, the seal taking her resolve to its limit.
However, it wasn't enough to stop her.
"I…" she took Eugeo by his shoulders, hugging him tightly. "ALICE… SYNTHESIS… THIRTY…" she grasped air, staring fiercely at the sky. "I WILL FIGHT ADMINISTRATOR TO SAVE MY WORLD!"
Then, the seal broke.
Blood came out the moment her eye exploded. Alice, tired and overwhelmed by the pain, collapsed in Eugeo's arms. The boy, who watched the whole ordeal with morbid fascination, couldn't help but stare in shock at the unconscious Alice. The determination, the passion, the love, the conviction, and the resolve on Alice moved his heart as few things did before.
In front of him was a broken puppet, a tool who got tired of being used and abused. Someone who was lied over and over again about her origins and the reality itself that she no longer knew what was true anymore.
This Alice might not be the one he cherished. She might not be the person from his memories. It no longer mattered for him. Alice Synthesis Thirty was a person, a warrior… a true human.
After she fell unconscious, he made a promise to himself. He might have come to the Cathedral to save his childhood friend, Alice Zuberg, from the clutches of the Axiom Church. Now he realized doing so would destroy Alice Synthesis Thirty, the noble Integrity Knight that would surrender everything in order to protect humanity, even from the Administrator herself.
Therefore, he promised himself… that he would reach the 100th floor of the Cathedral with both Kirito and Alice. There, they would fight and defeat Administrator and once the fight was done… he would find a way to talk with Alice Zuberg. He wanted to say so many things to her, he wanted to tell her how much he missed her and how he would love to be with her…
And then, he would find a way to carry Alice with him. It would be unfair to wipe out Alice Synthesis Thirty from existence just because of his selfishness, but it would also be unfair to simply 'forget' his childhood friend and leave her alone after everything he and Kirito went through.
No, he would save both.
Eugeo chuckled slightly, his eyes once more fixed at the starry night. What is another impossibility for both of us, right Kirito? The blue swordsman smiled.
Underground Prison. Central Cathedral.
24th day of the 5th month ~ 03:00 hrs.
"They sure know how to make proper shackles…" Kirito said with a frown, moving his wrist from one side to another with mild interest on said task. "I thought that there was no need for these things given the Taboo Index. Hum, perhaps we were the first ones to ever use them. Though they keep this place rather clean, even the beds are better than the ones at the apprentice dorms…"
He kept prodding the metal around for a while, ignoring the quite annoying sound of metal against metal.
"Will you stop that?" Eugeo said from his bed. He was sitting above it, holding his legs with both arms tightly.
"Bear it with me another couple of minutes, Eugeo," Kirito dismissed him with a wave of his hand. "I know is annoying, but this is important."
"No, it isn't," his complains fell on deaf ears, his friend insisting on his actions. Eugeo tightened his grip, his nails almost digging through his clothes. "Stop it…" there was no response. "It's futile…" the sound still reached his ears. "STOP IT KIRITO!"
This time the clanking ceased. Eugeo had turned to face his best friend with a desperate frown, his hands shaking uncontrollably. The black-haired boy just stared patiently, his gaze demanding an explanation.
Hearing none, he asked: "Okay, Eugeo. What is the problem?"
"THE PROBLEM?!" Eugeo roared. "You are wasting time, doing pointless things, just as you always do whenever you don't have an idea on what to do!"
He normally wasn't like this. He normally wouldn't talk like this.
But what was normality anymore?
"Eugeo, I know these last hours have been the worst, but you must keep it together, now more than ever," Kirito replied patiently. "We technically achieved our objective, did we not? The only thing left is to escape this damn prison."
"And then what?"
"…"
"I knew it. You always say you have a plan, but those plans never have more than two steps, do they?" he pulled his shackles. "The battle against those goblins, the Zakkaria's tournament, even your damn training regime and battle against Volo… all of those have been nothing but lucky shots one after another!
"Even if we do get out and your 'plan' succeed, what can we do? We are criminals. We will never be Integrity Knights. Hell, we most likely will not see the next rise of Solus!" tears threatened to fall from his face, impotence sinking in. "Even if by a miracle we wake up absolved of all crime… what about Alice?"
A deafening silence settled on the small cell. Eugeo did his best to hold his emotions, but it was too hard, too difficult.
"She didn't recognize me… she brushed me away, almost as we never met before…" his shaky hands returned. "She saw me as the lowest of trash, as the greatest scum on history…" he no longer could hold back his tears. It was too much to take in a short time. Ronye, Tiese… murderers, criminals… strangers, scum…
His words flowed through the weeps, as he felt too small for everything that went on in less than a single day. "What am I supposed to do? There is nothing outside this prison for me. I have been stripped from my Sacred Task, labeled as murderer, and Alice no longer remembers. Perhaps she doesn't even remember Rulid anymore… why bother to escape?"
Kirito held his head low, his bangs obscuring his eyes. Eugeo was finally calming down, wiping his face clean from the tears.
"Liar," was the only word that left Kirito's lips.
"What?" Eugeo raised his head in surprise.
"What about Ronye and Tiese?" Kirito raised his voice, his hand clenching on the chains that bound him. "What about Liena and Golgorosso? Or what about Selka?"
"They… they will never want to see us again…" his sadness returned, threatening to break him down once more. "After what have we become… how could they?"
"That's not what I meant," Eugeo perked up in surprise, staring at his friend. "Didn't you make a promise to return with Alice? Didn't you promised to become a knight? Didn't you promised to return to your valet?"
Eugeo's mouth turned dry, unable to even think about answering.
"It is true, we have become murderers," Kirito continued, "but is that reason enough to drop your promises?" his grasp on the chains tightened. "Surrendering not only means to be labeled as a criminal, but a failure… a disappointment… a damn liar!"
"What can we do then?!" Eugeo asked in desperation. "I don't want to let them down… I don't want to die here… but what can we do to keep such promises?"
"Isn't that obvious?" suddenly, Kirito exploded into chuckles. For a moment, the bangs on his face moved away, giving Eugeo a clear sight of his friend's eyes.
He lost his breath for a moment.
Instead of his black irises, Kirito's eyes were flaring with golden light. The impossibility of such thing almost leads Eugeo to think he was imagining things. But no, the light was too bright and too real for an illusion.
Wait… it wasn't too dark a minute ago… Eugeo realized that the light on the cell dimmed. His surprise was only greater when he realized that it only affected the room around Kirito, his eyes the only source of light left on that side.
Baffled, he tried to articulate a sentence, unsure to what even do of the situation.
Then snap echoed through the whole underground facilities.
"When our promises are at stake, we fight," Kirito opened his palm, revealing the chains shattered into several pieces. "Despair won't help you Eugeo, ever. I thought I taught you better," his hand then reached for the base of the chains that held his other arm. "Answer me, Eugeo… are you a carver? Or are you a swordsman?"
To remark his words, he broke the other chains with the same ease.
"We are criminals. We might not see a new day. Alice might not remember who you are. So what?" he stood up, crossing his arms. "We cut a massive tree, something impossible. We, a pair of peasant novices, became top students of the Academy, something impossible. You broke the Taboo Index, something impossible. What is another one or two impossibilities against us, Eugeo?" he frowned deeply. "Show me the strength I saw at the cave. The strength I saw at Zakkaria's tournament. The strength I saw last night. Show me the strength you used to break the seal on your eye," he pointed at Eugeo's handcuffs, "and break those pathetic chains."
Eugeo stared at his friend… nay, his brother.
He is right… how could I just give up? His hands steadied themselves; they were not going to shake anymore. Tiese is worried, and I must return with her. Just as Kirito, his hand grabbed the chain. Golgorosso would be disappointed if I just surrendered without a fight. His hands closed in a death grip. Selka might blame herself I we never return to Rulid, I can't let that happen ever again. A faint blue aura surrounded the blond swordsman, his green eyes shining with light of its own. I promised to myself that Alice would return to Rulid with me, so we can all smile together once again!
*Snap*!
Eugeo blinked, incredulous. Raising his hand, he saw the fragments of the chains that soon exploded in a blue light. "I made it…"
"Of course you did," Kirito chuckled, reaching for the other chain that still held him. "I did warn you to practice Incarnation more often. Here, let me help you," he cut loose the chain from its spot in the wall. "There, we can use them as improvised whips now."
"Whips?"
"Of course. Incarnation is cool and all, but it is tiring and should be used as an Ace in the Hole," the aura around Kirito vanished, his eyes returning to normal. He then dropped himself on the bed, his breath a little agitated while some beads of sweat ran down his forehead. "Ugh, I might have exaggerated there…"
As Kirito sat against the wall catching his breath, Eugeo couldn't restrain himself anymore... and he laughed. "Oi, do you find my exhaustion hilarious?" asked the dark-haired boy with a frown.
"A little," Eugeo chuckled, rubbing a hand on his eyes.
"Cheeky asshole," Kirito shook his head sideways. "Anyway, we should not expect anyone to be around here, so I can catch my breath for a while."
"How are you so sure?"
"The sound I made with the chains from before," the blue-clad swordsman widened his eyes in realization. "They are not used to prisoners, so I presumed that if there was anyone around, they would be annoyed of me just messing around pointlessly. And, since no one came, even after our discussion and the broken metal, I think I was right on the spot.
"That was a risky gamble," sighed Eugeo. "What if they were too patient?"
"No one is patient enough," huffed Kirito. "Besides, if they came to investigate, I would have just cut them down."
"How? You have no sword."
"I have my ways," the black-haired boy replied with a grin, "and once we are out of here, I will make my priority to teach you how to do it. I promise."
"Heh, of course you do," after a couple of minutes, Eugeo added. "I am sorry of lashing at you like that… and… thank you… for everything."
"It's alright," once again, Kirito dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "I have been there before. Besides, you had the strength to overcome this, it's just that you have a hard time to ignite that passion of yours."
"Still, thank you. I really needed that," his eyes darted to the door that led outside. "Since when you are good with words?"
"I have never been," the boy admitted. "Those weren't my words; someone else told me the same thing a long time ago."
"From your time before becoming a child of Vecta?" Eugeo asked, alluding to his 'lost memories'. "Who were they?"
Kirito did not answer.
95th Floor, the Morning Star Lookout. Central Cathedral.
24th day of the 5th month ~ 21:35 hrs.
Back at the Morning Star Lookout, the two childhood friends were still trying to recover their breaths and energies, unaware that they weren't only ones who were at that hour on that same floor.
A woman sat at the opposite side of the floor, her armored feet hanging from the edge. She wore the same armor as the others Integrity Knights, but hers was light gray and dark in color. Judging by her content expression and sparking red eyes, the girl was enjoying the chilly night and the amazing view from such heights. Her gray hair waved slightly by the wind despite it was held in a ponytail by a dark ribbon.
This was none other than Edith Synthesis Ten, one of the oldest —and strongest— Integrity Knights despite her youthful appearance of a twenty-year-old woman. Just as her comrades, she was supposed to take vigilance of one of the main floors in order to apprehend or kill the two boys that escaped the underground prison.
However, since the commander Bercouli hogged for himself the Giant Bath, which was five floors below, Edith thought it was impossible for any of those two to even arrive at this floor.
Sure they are taking their sweet time… the girl yawned loudly. Should I go and check on them?
The day was uneventful thus far. Not that Edith expected something different truly, but it had been almost a whole day in which the Cathedral was on high alert due to two invaders of unknown capabilities.
A whole day that she spent waiting at the 95th floor.
However, she was quite used to these bothersome tasks. Due to her duty guarding the border, Edith had learned to be patient while carrying out dull tasks such as this. Once again, she had no reason to believe that any of the two invaders would even defeat Alice, let alone Bercouli, so she could afford to fool around and let down her guard until the emergency was solved.
Nothing noteworthy happened save from that one time when she heard Chudelkin passing by. Now, it was no secret that the relationship between the tenth Integrity Knight and the Prime Senator was quite… shaky. Therefore, when she heard his goofy voice complaining about something (not new nor surprising at all) and his footsteps moving towards the stairs that lead to the Senate, she didn't even bother to look his way. Afterall, if Chudelkin wanted something from her, he would undoubtedly do it without hesitation. Otherwise…
"None of your business, Synthesis Ten! Now go elsewhere and do not make me lose any of my precious time!"
Luckily, the senator ignored her too, so there was no harm.
Just as Edith was wondering whether or not visit Bercouli, her sharp ears picked up voices that, apparently, came from the other side of the floor. Immediately, the tenth Integrity Knight stood up and turned to the general direction of the voices. However, due to the stairs at the middle of the floor, she couldn't see clearly.
Strange… Edith frowned. I heard no footsteps coming from the stairs. Could someone had sneaked without me noticing? No, not even the Commander can sneak that easily from me. Was I too distracted then?
Regardless, Edith began to walk warily at towards the voices. The closer she got, the louder and clearer she could hear them. One was unfamiliar, probably of a young male as far as she could assume. The other however…
Isn't that…? Edith eyes lightened up, her cautious stance fading entirely.
There were just two things under the sky that could possibly cause this shift on Edith's demeanor. The first one was a hot bath, while the second one was the mere presence of a blonde knight that she quickly grew fond of.
"Alice? Is that you?" she asked aloud with some excitement.
For a brief second, there was no answer; both voices had gone silent. But, just a moment later, a flustered exclamation could be heard. "E-eh?! E-Edith?!"
"Alice! It's you~!" the ash-haired girl exclaimed cheerfully, dropping all caution of the window. "It's good to have you here, I didn't even hear when you arrived!" She hummed happily, practically skipping her way towards her 'little sister'. "So, the two attackers of the Cathedral are already detained? Or did you simply wanted to come here and talk to your lovely and beautiful…" she stopped right in her tracks when she finally had a clear sight of Alice. "Big… sister…"
The first thing Edith noticed was that, for some reason, Alice was laying in the ground while panting heavily as several beads of sweat ran down her brow. The second thing she noticed was the suspicious dark piece of cloth that covered Alice's right eye. The third thing that caught her attention was the dirt and grime that clung to the 30th Integrity Knight's armor and clothes, clear telltales of a fight or a violent incident.
However, the real problem here was… that there was someone else besides Alice.
Edith stared dumbfounded at the stranger, a blue-clad swordsman —if the sword he was carrying was any clue. Judging by the current situation on the Cathedral, Edith had no doubts that this teenager was one of the two invaders that were meant to be captured…
Needless to say, the poor knight froze in her place as her brain tried to process what her eyes were seeing.
"L-lady E-Edith!" Alice stuttered, her cheeks gaining a crimson shade that clearly demonstrated her embarrassment. "U-uh… F-fancy to s-see you here…?"
The tenth Integrity Knight blinked once, twice. Her eyes shifted from Alice to the boy beside her for full ten seconds before returning back to Alice.
After those tense seconds of silence, Edith finally arrived at a terrible conclusion given the present evidence… a very terrible and nasty conclusion.
Her hands began to shake in wrath and indignation. How could this have happened so close to her without noticing? How could she allow such filthy act to happen to the most precious person for her?
Edith's eyes ignited in rage, staring daggers at the boy, something that wasn't ignored by Alice:
"This is not what it looks like, Lady Edith!" the blonde knight said hastily, but it was already too late. Edith saw her "little sister" with an unknown man, both dirty, sweaty, tired and Alice missing an eye…
How could this have another explanation other than this man… this swine assaulted his cute "little sister" right behind her back!
"You…" Edith usual cheery voice was dark and ferocious, one that would even chill the bones of Bercouli and Fanatio at the same time. "You… bastard…" she brought Dark Slash Sword from its scabbard, pointing the blade straight to the blond man. "YOU WILL REGRET TOUCHING MY DEAR LITTLE SISTER ALICE!"
"What?!" Eugeo finally was able to react, trying to find some footing. "W-wait! I didn't do a-anything to Alice!" he stammered, trying to bring the Blue Rose Sword up to face this Integrity Knight that, for some reason, called herself Alice's big sister.
"Save your breath, pig," Edith replied coldly, her dark katana being right in front his throat. "Save it for your last seconds of existence…"
"Lady Edith!" Alice pleaded, trying to reach to her comrade and prevent her for making a terrible mistake. "He's not a foe, Lady Edith! He saved me! HE SAVED ME! Please, hear me out!"
The ash-haired knight paid no attention to her cries. All she saw was a monster that needed punishment. The worst kind of punishment.
"Alice…" Eugeo said, holding firmly Blue Rose. Her childhood friend turned her gaze at him, noticing how he pushed discreetly the tip of his weapon against the floor. "I am sorry for your friend…" he added before screaming at the top of his lungs: "Bloom, Blue Rose!"
A barrage of ice sprouted from the floor, startling both Integrity Knights. Edith was too slow to react, being frosted from head to toes before even noticing.
All the while, Eugeo raised himself from the ground, albeit painfully, moving away of the angry woman that just tried to execute him. He stumbled, still too tired of climbing the exterior wall of the Cathedral.
Unsurprisingly, the ice that kept Edith in her place broke easily, the female Integrity Knight blazing in cold anger as a dark halo came from her sword. Eugeo could swear that her mere gaze could be enough to kill a thousand men in an instant.
"You will regret that," she snarled, drawing her katana once more. "Enhance…"
"Lady Edith, that's enough!" cried Alice, pushing herself to her feet. Stumbling, she caught her fellow knight, holding her tightly. "Stop! This is a misunderstanding…" no reaction. "Please, he saved me, Lady Edith! He's not our enemy!" Dark Slash was slowly drawn from its scabbard.
"…Armament…"
"EDITH!" was Alice's last cry, her voice reverberating through the entire floor as if magnified twenty times. The ash-haired knight finally heard that last plea, Edith coming into a sudden stop, her sword nearly free from the scabbard.
"A-Alice?" she asked, now aware that the blonde was hugging her tightly from her back and, for some reason, trying to protect that man. "W-what a-are y-…?"
"Edith… he's not our enemy."
"B-but…!"
"He saved my life!"
"B-but…!"
"Edith!"
The insistence of her "little sister" didn't give her more options, forcing her to return Dark Slash to its scabbard, even if she was still doubtful.
Eugeo, having been close to death for the hundredth time that same day, simply dropped himself to the closest pillar, resting his sore back in order to calm his shaking body and to ease his nerves. This was the most terrifying experience in his whole life.
When Edith finally calmed herself, Alice freed her from the embrace, but lost balance while doing so. Her comrade reacted fast, catching her before she loosened her footing.
"Are you alright, Alice?" Edith asked worriedly, her cold persona being replaced by the more familiar 'big sister' one. She scanned the golden-clad warrior, seeking any sort of injuries beside her lost eye. "What happened to your eye?"
"It's a long story…" replied the girl, wiping some sweat form her forehead. "But I owe my life to the… Blue Swordsman," she nodded to Eugeo's direction, the boy groaning after hearing the nickname. "We sort of… fell from the Cathedral, and he caught me before… before I…" she paused, not actually ready to finish that sentence. "He helped me climb up to here, and we both are under a truce."
"Is that so…?" the ash-haired girl now turned to Eugeo, making a doubletake in his appearance. "Then you have my dearest thanks, Blue Swordsman. I don't know what I would do if I lost my cute little sister!"
"Lady Edith!" cried Alice in protest, but the gray-clad knight didn't even pay heed.
"Uh, you're welcome?" he couldn't help himself, now there were two knights of the Axiom Church that used that ridiculous nickname.
Edith helped both Alice and Eugeo to get to the stairs, where the three sat. Then, of course, came the questions. Who was he? How did he meet Alice? How did both fall from the Cathedral? How did they climb up? Why they came to a truce? But most importantly, how did Alice lost her own eye and why was she so determined to save Eugeo?
It took them about ten minutes of really summarized information, but finally both of them were able to convince her that Eugeo wasn't a sexual assailant that had brainwashed her "little sister". As for the rest of information, Edith barely paid mind.
"I am grateful with what you did to save my sister, kid, I really am…" Edith sighed heavily. "But I find it rather strange that you chose to save an enemy under such circumstances. Were you not supposed to be… you know, evil?"
Eugeo scratched his cheek sheepishly. "I don't understand where you are heading with that…"
"I mean, you attacked the Axiom Church with that partner of yours, something that only an enemy of the Human Empire would do. However, if your words are true, not only you saved Alice, but also Lady Fanatio," she frowned. "I find hard to believe that you are evil, and yet I find no reason why someone like you would infiltrate the Cathedral and fight Integrity Knights. Rather you have a death wish… or…"
"That is… complicated…" the boy deviated his gaze. "Sadly, I have not much time to explain. I must find my partner quickly."
"Hold your horses!" Edith pointed a finger at him. "I might be grateful enough to not attack you, boy, but that doesn't mean that I will allow you to wander around the Cathedral. I have my orders."
Eugeo frowned, deeply; his hand reaching tentatively to Blue Rose. He was tired, but if he had to defeat Edith in a duel to proceed with his mission, he wouldn't hesitate to attack.
Fortunately for him, there was no need to resort to such desperate measures.
"I am going with him, Lady Edith," surprise reached the ash-haired girl when Alice boldly proclaimed. "I owe to this young man more than just my life…" her hand reached to her eye-patch. "And I am willing to help him in his endeavor."
"B-but… A-Alice… that would mean t-that…"
"If you want to stop us, go ahead. But I won't be persuaded easily."
Edith bit her lip in apprehension, clearly in conflict. After some asphyxiating seconds of waiting for a reply, the tenth Integrity Knight growled loudly while pulling some strands of her hair.
"Agh, fine, fine! Fine Alice! I won't stop you both!" she accepted rather begrudgingly. "Whatever you have to do with him, I won't interfere. BUT…!" she jabbed a finger at the blonde girl. "I am coming with you!"
""H-huh?!""
"You heard me!" Edith frowned. "It is still my duty to catch and detain the attackers of the Cathedral. But if, let's say, I go with you… I am technically doing my duty. And if that pig of Chudelkin tries to question me, all I could say is that he is under arrest, and I am planning to use him as a hostage to force his partner to surrender," she turned to Eugeo. "Nothing personal, kid."
"Uh… o-okay?"
"Besides, it's also my duty and my priority to keep my little sister safe from any harm," she added, surprising Alice with a pat on her head, leaving the poor girl flustered. "I might not understand why you are doing this or what do you want to do. But if it's really important for you, Alice…" she sighed. "I will help you."
Well, that went better than what I expected, Eugeo sighed, letting go of Blue Rose's hilt with relief. This might be a rather… strange situation… but I think we can manage with this… arrangement.
"I… I appreciate it, Lady Edith," Alice blinked, quite surprised by her senior's offer.
"Good. What now then?" the ask-haired woman turned at Eugeo with a raised eyebrow. "What is your next move?"
"Seek my partner, Kirito. He was lucky enough to remain at the 80th floor, but we don't know what he did next."
"Well, he never arrived up here, that's for sure."
"Is Uncle still at floor 95?" Alice questioned, making Eugeo stare at her in confusion.
"Uncle?"
"She refers to Commander Bercouli," Edith supplied, crossing her arms. "Yes, as far as I know. No one but that stupidly dressed Prime Senator had come up here. I was just thinking about going to check on Bercouli before I found you two.
"But that's strange. If you are right about the time in which you fell from the Cathedral, it has been more six hours since then. That partner of yours, Kirito, must have faced Commander Bercouli a long time ago…" Edith hummed, closing her eyes. "But, regardless of the victor, one of them should have come here at some point."
"Wait, you said that Chudelkin passed through this floor, right?"
"Yeah, four hours ago or so, but I didn't even bother to give him a side look…" she winced, coming into one realization. "Wait… do you think he could be carrying that boy Kirito to the Senate?"
"Is possible," Eugeo nodded; nonetheless, he frowned. "But it wouldn't make any sense, your commander should have told you about it."
"Unless he went to seek for me and you," Alice added.
"For four hours?" supplied Edith with a frown.
Eugeo fell silent, not sure if he agreed or not with that possibility. When he was going to let the matter drop and simply go to find Kirito by himself, he remembered something.
"Give me a second…" the young swordsman said, using a system command in a whisper while Edith watched him carefully. "Discharge!"
Less than a second later, the position of Kirito's sword was displayed for him to see. The revelation shocking the elite trainee swordsman.
"Mind telling us what you are looking for with that art?" the tenth Integrity Knight demanded.
"I sought for the location of Kirito's sword, Night Sky," —turns out, he really liked the name—, "and according to this… it is some floors below us".
"Could he be hiding?"
"No, Kirito is too short of patience for that…"
The three fell silent.
"I must go to find Uncle," the blonde knight finally said, her strength returning to her legs to push herself upwards.
"Wait, do you think Kirito faced him?" Eugeo said with worry. "Because even if he won or lose it doesn't make any sense that his sword was just left right there…"
"Hah! There is no way a boy can defeat commander Bercouli," Edith smiled proudly.
"It doesn't matter… I must go with Uncle," Alice pressed stubbornly.
Edith sighed, standing. "Very well, let's us not lose any more time. But, before we part…" she pointed her arm at Alice's wounded eye. "Let me heal your right…"
"No."
"-eye… E-eh?!"
"Lady Edith, there is no need on using what little Sacred Power is left on this floor for me and my eye," she replied, moving her comrade's arm away. "I thank you for the offer, but we don't have an idea on what is going on down below, so we must be careful and not use that energy for something as unnecessary as an eye."
"You are kidding me!" Edith blurted out loud, making Eugeo's ears hurt a little. "Of course is a big deal, Alice! IS YOUR DAMN EYE! There is no way I would let you…!"
"Edith!" she cut the ash-haired knight mid-sentence. "Right now it is not the time, nor I am in mood of arguing. We will go and find Uncle and Kirito. Then you can worry all you want about my eye. I can still fight, so that is not an issue we must attend right now. Understood?!"
Eugeo was at loss of words, staring in surprise and fear at his childhood friend. Even Edith seemed affected, as if this was the first time she heard Alice talking like this to her.
"U-understood…" she replied quietly. "But I will watch you closely, sister. If you feel any pain or need something…"
"I will keep it in mind," Alice turned to Eugeo. "Let's move on!"
90th Floor, the Big Bath. Central Cathedral.
22:00 hrs.
The three went downstairs in awkward silence. Alice led them through stairs and corridors without turning around to face them directly at any time. Edith and Eugeo walked side by side, every now and then exchanging worried glances. Although they met under particular circumstances, and although they were complete strangers, both cared deeply for the blonde knight before them.
However, none of them broke the silence.
Finally, after a couple of minutes, they arrived in front of a great set of doors that, Eugeo supposed, led to the Big Bath.
Alice wordlessly reached for the door, her fingers brushing the handles. But, for some reason, she froze in her place while staring ahead intently.
Something doesn't feel right…" for the first time since leaving the Lookout, Alice spoke. Her voice was barely above a whisper, but it reached her two companions loud and clear. "I don't know what it is… but ready your weapons," at the same time, Alice released Osmanthus. "Both of you."
They did as instruct, confused but trustful. If an Integrity Knight such as Alice was this worried, sure there was a good reason to be cautious.
Then, with a violent push that almost sent the door flinging out of its hinges, Alice stepped in.
What she found inside made her heart skip an entire beat, her good eye widening.
"U-uncle?" she whispered, taking some steps forward only to try and get a better look on the figure that laid petrified at the middle of the room. When she got closer, there was no doubt about it…
Right in front of her, Alice saw the closest thing to a father figure she ever had among the Integrity Knights kneeling at the center of the Great Bath with his skin turned into stone.
"Uncle!" shrieked the poor girl, unintentionally dropping Osmanthus to the ground as she ran to Bercouli.
Eugeo and Edith followed suit, both confused and alarmed on what did their friend saw inside the room. When they got closer, they slowed their pace when the silhouette of the petrified Integrity Knight was visible. The Blue Swordsman closed the distance until he was two mels away of Alice and Bercouli. He stood there, incapable of believing what his eyes were seeing. However, Edith (who was close to him) had an even worse reaction: her entire body began trembling in confusion and utter shock at what happened to her commander. She even lost Dark Slash too, dropping the weapon with her mouth wide open in a silent scream of horror.
"C-commander…" was the only word that came out of her.
"What happened to you, Uncle?" Alice mourned, hugging tightly the petrified Bercouli as if her entire life depended on it. "What happened to you…?"
Her sobs resonated through the enormous bath, Eugeo's heart clenching tightly at this. Not even outside, after hearing about her lost past, Alice reacted this badly.
After some seconds of lament, the girl was finally able to leave her father figure for a second, turning to Eugeo with a fierce expression.
"Your partner… Kirito… did he do this?"
"Of course not!" he replied immediately, denying with his hands. "He wouldn't do something like this to a defeated opponent, nor he has the enough control on Sacred Arts to cast such advanced Art!"
"Ch-Chudelkin…" Edith mumbled, catching the attention of the other two. She was still shaking, her mind painfully trying to understand what was going on. "T-that's the Sacred A-art 'Deep Freeze'… one that only the P-Prime Senator and the Pontifex c-can use…"
"The Prime Senator?!" the blonde knight repeated, turning to see Bercouli's immobile face. "He did this to Uncle?!"
To her surprise, Edith didn't answer, falling onto her knees.
"It can't be! Why would the commander be frozen?" she talked to herself, a great bolt of pain worse than any migraine shooting from her brain. "Why did that bastard use that Sacred Art on him?!"
"Oh, no…" Eugeo muttered, already knowing what was happening. "Edith! Stop thinking about it! You will harm yourself!"
"Is that the right eye seal?" Alice shrieked, but the young man denied with his head.
"No…" he closed the distance between them. "Edith, listen to me! You must empty your mind, now!" he shook the poor girl, trying to bring her back. "Focus on anything else, Edith!"
Some seconds went by, the tenth Integrity Knight still way too affected to even talk. Luckily, Eugeo's pleas did manage to pass through her, and she made a mighty effort to distract herself. Despite her attempts, every time a memory of the Pontifex, the Prime Senator or the commander passed through her mind, her fluctlight kept collapsing.
Eugeo and Alice did their best to not lose Edith, but to almost no avail. It wasn't until an unexpected voice interrupted that she was able to free herself.
"Y-young lady? Is that you?" miraculously, Bercouli's voice sounded in the entire bath, startling the three warriors within.
Alice was the first one to turn, finding that the petrified form of his mentor moved slightly from his last position, now his gaze fixed on them.
"Commander?" Edith asked, her surprise overriding her fluctlight's collapse.
"Uncle?!"
Bercouli smiled sadly, trying to nod as much as he could while under the Deep Freeze effect. "Hey, don't cry. You are less pretty when crying."
"Uncle! Don't move! You will break yourself!" Alice gasped in alarm, briefly leaving Edith's side. When she noticed what she was doing, she felt slightly crossed, unsure to what to do.
"I… I'm fine, Alice…" said the ash-haired knight when she noticed the reluctance in her 'little sister'. "Go with him…"
"Heh… she always cared about you, almost like sisters…" Bercouli went on, his smile widening slightly. "I always found it cute… if a little bit noisy and troublesome…" he chuckled. "I just remember how excited she was when she heard it was a girl joining our ranks… good times those were," the merriness in his voice disappeared, being replaced with a solemn tone. "I can see you broke that seal, young lady… not even I, in my entire three hundred years, managed to even get close to it.
"If only I had the strength… I could have tried to change things between the Knights, the Senate, and that smug princess…" he laughed, but his movements begun to get slower each second that went by. "Young lady… I know I ask too much… but, please, achieve what I couldn't…" a sound similar to pebbles raining down a hill came from Bercouli's petrified body. "I have nothing else… to teach you…"
"Don't say that! Uncle!" she pleaded, crying once more. "Don't leave me!"
"Please don't cry, young lady… you look prettier when you smile," Bercouli's eyes now were centered on both Eugeo and Edith. "I trust you the wellbeing of your little sister, Edith."
"I…" she tried to protest but found no strength to do so. "O-of course… Commander."
"And… kiddo… your partner was taken to the Administrator's quarters by the Prime Senator… there is still the chance you can save him…" having said those words, Bercouli's body went stiff once more.
"Uncle…"
The three fell in silence, no one daring to break it in honor of the determined Commander of the Integrity Knights.
Eugeo felt great respect towards the man. He not only resisted a powerful Sacred Art that only two people in the whole Human Empire were able to use, not only he displayed a massive love for Alice and Edith, just as if he was some kind of father to them… but he also defied in his way the Axiom Church, the Taboo Index, and the Administrator by giving them information to were Kirito was.
Bercouli… he thought with a sad smile. He might not be as how stories depict the legendary hero back in Rulid… but he is way greater than in those stories.
Once the silent tears of Alice were dry, and once Edith felt fine, Eugeo took the change to look around the Great Bath, looking for an item he supposed must have been here.
He stood up, moving from one pool of thermal water to another, searching within them. It wasn't until the fourth attempt he found Night Sky Sword inside, he retrieving it using Blue Rose to catch the hilt of the still unnamed weapon.
A shame it doesn't fits on Blue Rose's scabbard… he thought, being forced to store his own blade away and wield Kirito's. It is slightly heavier than mine…
Then, he moved towards the exit of the Great Bath.
"Alice, if you want to stay here, I will understand… but I must face Administrator as soon as I can."
"No," denying, she gave one last hug to Bercouli before moving away. "It was Uncle's desire that I joined you in your crusade against her. I will not insult him by simply staying here, mourning all night long."
"I see…" now he turned to Edith, was oddly silent with a queer expression in her lowered face. "We are not going to force you either to follow us…"
"I would love nothing more to accompany you…" she answered in a low whisper, something uncharacteristic of her. "I promised I would protect my little sister after all…
"Then why…?" she clenched her first tightly, some tears falling to the ground. "Why can't I help you?!" she cried out loud, turning to the childhood friends. Both had to stiff a gasp when, in her right eye, was visible the right eye seal.
Alice and Eugeo shared troubled looks, unable to think what to do next.
"Edith…" the blue-eyed girl soothed her, pressing both of her hands in Edith's shoulders. "You have done many things for me since I joined the Knights, and I am grateful of each and every single way you tried to cheer me up. But I beg you, trust me on this one… I will be fine, Edith… I swear."
"Sister…" the poor girl cried, embracing Alice in a tight hug. "I take your word…"
With some last words, Eugeo and Alice left Edith in floor ninety, the two of them heading towards the Senate.
98th Floor, Prime Senator Chudelkin's quarters. Central Cathedral.
22:30 hrs.
Chudelkin groaned in annoyance and frustration, not understanding why the High Pontifex was taking so long in scanning the irregular unit's memories. Usually, the process would take half the time of what already went by, and it should be easier to convince that little brat to be part of the Integrity Knights thanks to the inhuman beauty of her Eminence. Not to mention that, due to the new devotion unit, his conversion into another useless puppet of her Eminence was supposed to be faster.
Then why on Stacia's name she was taking too long?!
Not that he questioned her! O no, he would never dare! He loved her Eminence and admired her! There was no motive in the entire world to doubt her for a single second!
It should be that pest, he thought, he's wasting Her Eminence's time!
He wanted so badly to give a tiny look at the 100th floor just to make sure that Her Eminence was fine and, if possible, to watch the brat crumble, just like that little pest of Synthesis Thirty did when she went under the ritual!
But he couldn't do it. Her Eminence banned him from spying on the 100th floor after she found out he secretly peeked through a Sacred Art.
"Damn you, pest!" he screamed in rage, jumping in his own place. "I knew you were an issue! If only the mercy of the High Pontifex didn't save your sorry ass, I would have deleted you from existence!"
"I can actually say the same, Prime Senator," a cold voice called from the hallway, startling the little pig named Chudelkin.
"YOU! Thirty!" he quickly turned to receive the blonde knight and, to his not much surprise, the other rebel beside her. "What does this transgression even mean, Thirty?! The Senate is restricted to all knights, including you, nosy brat! And you brought the rebel along you, no less! Shameful! Disgraceful! Disrespect… -urk!"
He didn't get to finish his sentence before Alice's hand was clenching his throat with the strength of a Giant of the Dark Territory.
"Save your nonsense, pig," she said coldly, the grip tightening around his fat neck. "I am done with you and your stupid attitude, Chudelkin. Moreover, I would never, ever, forgive nor forget what you did to Uncle!
"You will pay for your crimes along with the High Pontifex…" she shuddered slightly, thinking of the grotesque scene she and Eugeo went through while in the Senate. "I, Alice Synthesis Thirty, would be the judge, jury, and executioner of your actions…"
Was this ridiculous puppet serious?! Judge him?! Execute him?!
Impossible!
Against all logic, Chudelkin laughed hard, his wicked and miserable voice reverberating through that floor and many others below.
"HAHAHA! HOW NAÏVE YOU ARE, PUPPET! HAHAHA!" without any advice, his body inflated like a balloon, freeing him from Alice's grasp. Then he landed some mels away, returning to his normal size. "You are a fool, Synthesis Thirty! No one but her Eminence is the judgeof this world! And even if she wasn't the only one, what a disgusting, poor, pathetic, and miserable broken puppet have to do with all of this?!"
She took a step forward, her expression fierce. "So you knew too?"
"Pff-hahaha! Of course I damned knew," grinned wickedly the chubby being, enjoying the look in the young knight's eyes. "I, myself, presented you to the Senate to force the Synthesis Ritual on you!"
"What you did to her? You bastard!" Eugeo asked, wielding slightly awkwardly Kirito's sword.
"Hoh, the rat hasn't bitten his tongue yet?" he laughed to himself, before exploding into a rage outburst. "I DID WHAT HAD TO BE DONE TO A PROBLEMATIC BRAT!
"Since she came to the Cathedral, she has been nothing but a burden! A silly girl from a nasty village that defied everything I said or imposed! The nerve she had to actually disobey my orders!" then, he giggled somberly. "Oh, but it was so euphoric to see her at the nights studying Sacred Arts until she lost consciousness… all because she BELIEVED she would return to that PATHETIC village in the north!
"She struggled, all day and all night, reading book after book and practicing from dusk 'till dawn… JUST BECAUSE SHE WANTED TO BE WITH HER FRIENDS!"
"SHUT UP!" the Integrity Knight screamed while painful fragments of memories assaulted her mind as the Prime Senator went on. "SHUT UP!"
"OHOHO! But the most pleasant one was when you finally became an Integrity Knight! You were tired of studying and her Eminence called you to an audience. Then she tried to convince you to become a Knight, but you dared to refuse the Sacred Art that initiates the ritual! And, as a fitting punishment, the Senate and I were in charge on breaking your mind to finally turn you into a MINDLESS PUPPET.
"Ah, how beautiful those memories are~" he chuckled nefariously. "No matter how much time passes by, I would never forget the last pitiful words that child said while I forced the Synthesis Ritual on her. Those were… 'EUGEO! KIRITO! PLEASE SAVE ME!'"
That last part froze in their places the two rebels. Alice because of the impact of the last words of her old self, and Eugeo because Chudelkin mentioned Kirito.
The Prime Senator smiled wickedly, preparing a Sacred Art so powerful that he would finally banish these two from the Cathedral. However, before he could even say 'Discharge', another voice broke the silence.
"Unforgivable…" a quite familiar voice came from the hallway, the figure of an ash-haired girl making appearance. "Prime Senator Chudelkin…" a stumbling Edith came into view, one hand covering one of her eyes. "I always thought of you as a lowlife… but never I had imagined that you would do such a monstruous act.
"You dared to lie to us, the knights… you dared to froze Commander Bercouli…but, above all…you DARED to harm my sister and ridicule her…" she dropped her hand, her right eye blazing red with the 'Code 471'. "I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR IT, YOU LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT!"
Then, the seal broke, as well as all respect Edith ever had for the Axiom Church.
And that's a wrap! At least for today that is.
Sorry if you expected to see what happened with Kirito and Quinella on this chapter, but I personally felt neccesary to address Eugeo and Alice before moving on. However, I am already working with the next chapter where we will definetely find out the aftermath of that "small blackout". If things go my way, then I think it will be ready in a couple of weeks.
And, won't you look at that, Edith has joined the party! I am going to be honest with you guys, I love Edith's character so much that it isn't funny. She is a lovable dork around Alice, and at the same time she is one of the most badass Knight in the order. I simply can't have enough of her.
Besides, someone has to help those two against Chudelkin, am I right?
But now, on with the reviews!
inphernalmenace: Thanks for reading! I'll try my best to keep things interesting!
Cosmiz: Glad you liked the chapter! I hope this one was also of your liking!
guest: Thank you for giving it a chance. I know the pairing is weird (though I have seen worse…), but I will try my best to write a good story. As for Quinella and Kirito's relationship… yeah, it won't be a healthy one at all in the first arcs. But who knows? Everything is possible. As for Asuna… hum...
Storm: Alicization is, by far, my favorite arc in SAO, so I am happy to supply a story around this setting. As for the current relationship of our "pair"… yeah, they have a long road ahead before actually tolerating each other. As for angry Kirito… this version of our protagonist is more prone to aggressiveness, so expect him to be quite moody sometimes. As for Edith… well, I presume this chapter was answer enough. As for the harem route… is plausible, but I can at the very least say that our main focus won't divert from Kirito and Quinella (besides, I don't exactly see her willing to share… or do I? Hum…). As for Asuna… hum…
Anyway… what are your thoughts about this new chapter? Loved it? Hated it? Regardless of your thoughts, thank you once again for taking some of your precious time to read this story.
(Yeah, this is going to be my end-notes format from now on, so…)
On a final note… yes, Edith walked all the way up to the Senator's room while under the Right Eye Seal's sharp induced pain… I swear, that girl is plain up badass.
See you next chapter!