Overcoming Destiny

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Ch 2

Louise's mood was happy, no scratch that, she was ecstatic. It appeared to her that her natural elemental affinity was stunting her physical growth but since she had come to this world her body was catching up to where it was supposed to be at her current age. She didn't get much taller but she was ok with that because she was filling out in other areas that made it so she didn't look like a boy anymore.

OOooOO

Grunting Louise threw herself next to the human like mob she was fighting to dodge its strike. She stabbed it through the side with the black double edged sword in her off hand while slicing off its head with an identical sword in her dominant hand. Panting Louise looked through what she received from the horde that she had just decimated. "Getting better, not on par with Kirito but honestly who would be? I'm thinking of bring one of the bows tomorrow. Yeah that sounds good." Louise mumbled to herself as she exited the cave that served as her dungeon to clear tonight before flying off back toward Yggdrasil and her comfortable bed.

Louise was glad that at least in this world she was able break past normal physical limitations to accommodate her current training regime. Smiling she thought about how easy it would be to match her mother now. At least she hoped she could match her, oh well, it is what it is. Currently she was going over the different cities and towns within Alfhiem with Cardinal so that they could be modified to be livable seeing as at the moment most of them were just for aesthetic purposes. Her plan was because the way her recall summoning would happen theoretically she would bring the entirety of Alfhiem with her.

At the base of Yggdrasil was a large city that went by the name of Arrun, Louise decided to forgo an immediate return to her citadel to have some fun. After she landed she looked around there weren't many people out so forgoing her wings she leapt up to the roofs and began running across the roofs toward the trunk of Yggdrasil covering most of the of the city in half an hour. Not that she cared but she was positive that no less than a dozen players had seen her. So as an added bonus for them she decided to leave a not so subtle message at the entrance to Yggdrasil. With SAO so close to being beaten she felt Kirito needed all the help he could get.

"My people you needlessly fight amongst yourselves. Apart we fall. Apart it's impossible to succeed. But come together not as opposing factions but as the proud race of the Fae. For United we can stand. United we can succeed. United we can protect our people, Our culture, Our world from enemies outside and within. Come to me my people. Your Queen is waiting." Louise mumbled as she wrote her message into the stone of the door overriding the immortal object protocol to carve the one foot tall letters using said system. Hearing running footsteps behind her she turned and saw a young Imp girl with long flowing dark hair that she knew was a deep purple. With a smile she looked at the girl. "Good Morning Yuki." With that she rocketed straight up to her balcony leaving Yuki standing there gaping almost getting thrown down the stairs. Not because of the loud sonic boom from the person in front of her taking off. No it was because the person that could only be Titania knew who she was. After overcoming her shock she read and mulled over the words inscribed on the door before turning and bolting down the stairs toward the inn her guild was staying at.

"You know I do detest it when you do that?" Cardinal chastised when Louise landed and started removing her armor.

"What? The races need to get their acts together. This was the easiest way I could think to do it." Louise muttered as she worked at disrobing. "Besides I'm almost positive that Kirito is going to defeat Kayaba shortly so a few sightings of me in the cities is called for. No?"

"All you're worried about is a certain swordsman." Cardinal mumbled her personality generator getting more use.

"Ah don't be like that." Louise said pouting as she prepared to take a bath. "He is fiercely loyal he just needs to find the right girl to be with. I hope I'm adequate."

"And he'd say yes to any encouragement." Cardinal shot back as Louise dunked herself into the tub. "And she ignores me." She said sighing.

"Did you render what I asked for." Louise asked as she sat and soaked.

"Yes but I can't comprehend why you are so obsessed with those particular swords." Cardinal said flatly.

"Because they are so totally awesome." Louise said fangirling for a minute.

"Anyways I made them so that they should function reliably and be able to be reproduced when they become real." Cardinal continued.

"Ha-Chah." Louise shot back giving a fist pump.

OOooOO

After Louise fell asleep she found herself in her dreamscape recalling an earlier conversation with someone important.

"My Lord I know I'm improving but why would you bother with me? One who is a nobody. One who is nothing." Louise asked greatly humbled by the person before her.

Yeshua looked at her with kind patience as a massive unfinished rug appeared behind him depicting a beautiful work beyond comprehension that depicted the birth and death of galaxies and stars to the insatiable appetite of an amoeba. What caught her eye was the impossibly long thread that was a kaleidoscope of color intermixed with other long or short threads. "This thread is you. Within this tapestry the length and colors tell of your life and your interaction with others and myself. The Tapestry is complete yet not complete. Even if your thread is hard to make out in the vastness of all that is before you, it makes the work more beautiful than if you were not there at all. Everything is interconnected. The whole cannot be complete if one part is not present. For good or ill. For all falls were I will it. Never out of place. Your part in my plans is not small, so have patience. Partial understanding is reached after occurrences have come to pass."

"Thank you for your explanation my Lord." Louise said bowing as the dream faded and she fell into dreamless sleep as she contemplated what she had just learned.

OOooOO

It was less than a week after SAO was beaten before the first survivors entered into the Alfhiem. Honestly she was surprised that it was that fast but not altogether surprising considering the players that came or rather the guild. She'd say that their parents were being overprotective, but she could understand where they were coming from. Louise had to laugh though because it took exactly three minutes for Silica to lose her parents. Her being used to the ears and tail that went along with being a Catsy probably had something to do with it. Lisbeth's father was a little bit more understanding partly because she was a married woman after all, but he still wished to spend time with her so he followed his daughter into Alfhiem and probably to annoy the Spriggan that was his son-in-law more than anything he picked the same race as his daughter, a Leprechaun. Asuna made her main account an Undine and a secondary account that was a Sylph and if you talked to people that knew them they would say the sub account looked suspiciously like her mother. Her brother Kouichirou had made an account and talked their father into making one some months before but alas her mother Kyouko was steadfastly against it. Agil logged on with his wife because she wasn't about to let him go on another adventure without her. The big guy and his wife logged on as Gnomes. Argo apparently wasn't on good terms with her parents so Louise never saw them. Argo chose Imp as her race because it allowed for greater mobility especially in dungeons.

"Well I wonder how long it'll take your parents to get here?" Louise questioned the five year old spriggan next to her.

"Daddy will be doing his best to get up here. I know he will." Yui stated with conviction.

"Then how about I go down there and give him a little incentive." Louise said with a smile toward the little girl that was returned.

It had been five days since SAO was beaten and the particular person she was looking for had logged on a mere few moments prior.

About fifteen minutes later found Louise walking through the outskirts of the Salamander Capital Gadan where she found her target. "Klein?" She asked the man in front of her as if she wasn't positive that he was who she was seeking. The somewhat scruffy looking Salamander turned and gave a somewhat strangled reply as he spent a few seconds imitating a fish out of water. "Yes I'm the one that has appeared in your dreams for the last few months." Louise said with a smile. "Is that how you're going to treat your future wife." That snapped Klein out of his stupor more than anything.

"Pretty lady would you tell me your name so that I can ask you properly?" Klein asked as he knelt on one knee in front of her.

"I'm Louise." She answered with a slight smile.

"Then Fair Louise would you consent to marrying me?" Klein asked giddily.

"Absolutely." She answered as Klein shot up and embraced her. "Shall we go someplace less crowded?"

"Yes let's." Klein said happily as Louise manipulated her menu before they both vanished.

It was later that night after Klein left for the time being and Louise was on cloud nine when Cardinal decided that now was the appropriate time for her current rant. She'd presided over the marriage for Louise she'd used the internet and some of the account she had legal access too for funds to send a simple gold band to Klein's hospital room so that he had physical proof along with the paperwork she had changed in the national registry. "Louise can I speak with you?"

"Yes?" Louise asked with dopey look on her face from the afterglow.

"Never mind I'll ask tomorrow." Cardinal mumbled as she sighed in defeat leaving the isolated room knowing she might not actually talk to her about her concerns for some time.

The next day found Louise staring out the window contemplating things when Cardinal came into the room. "Cardinal is there a way to tell if I'm pregnant because I don't think that it would be a good thing when crossing over."

"It would take a week or two before the signs started showing but because this is actually real in this room not on any of the servers I can accelerate time here so that any children you might have will be a few months old in six months." Cardinal answered.

"Well then that means that at night real time Klein spends a few days with me." Louise said as she left the room to contact Klein about it.

"And there she goes again." Cardinal said as she changed a few parameters so that her rooms were traveling at five times normal speed it would take a few hours for it take full affect but it would be effective at pulling off the desired result.

The next three physical months went by at a slow pace for Louise because the way days fell she'd spend almost a week with Klein and then have to wait for the same period of time till he came back again as he and his friends prepared to defeat the tree's defenses. She wondered if all mothers to be felt this way their first time because she kept asking Klein if he thought she was beautiful because after the first three months she started to feel bloated and edgy. Klein would always be patient with her when she was feeling like that and just held her and assisted her when she needed it seeing as he could find nothing else he would rather be doing during his off time which was showing through actions rather than words what he thought of her.

Almost two physical months into this period of time she was glad it was in the middle of a night cycle that she went into labor. Without going into the details let's just say that Klein stayed with the three of them for the equivalent of a month to give Louise the time necessary to recover and for his children to grow enough that Cardinal was able to assist Louise in caring for them. Klein though was ecstatic about the whole thing. His oldest had almost a full head of silver hair when she was born prompting him to name her Yuki as Louise deferred to him for naming their daughter she also had six wings like her mother that were currently wrinkled and slightly yellow. Louise after having gone over names for their son found that she liked the name Saito citing that it would fit whatever race of fairy he turned out to be because at the time of his birth he had ash gray hair. It wasn't until he was a month old that his race mark appeared on his neck and his hair started to turn black which from what Cardinal told them signified that he would be a Spriggan like Kirito.

Then at the end of three months the big day for the fairies to tackle Yggdrasil's defenses came. Cardinal had returned all parts of the tree to real time a day or two before so that when the fairies made it to the top there wasn't confusion in time difference. With Louise's help Cardinal had changed the challenge for the tree some months ago so that it wasn't as insurmountable as it had been previously. But there was more than just the central part of the trunk that needed to be cleared.

The night before the storming of Yggdrasil Louise sighed when Klein came in. "Can I assume you're unable to grow a beard IRL?"

"Unfortunately Yes." Klein answered chuckling nervously.

"Well if you wished to we could fix that little problem before this body becomes real." Louise said laying her hand on Klein's cheek. "I like a beard on a guy. Makes you look more rugged." Needless to say before the night was done Klein had a full beard like he always wanted that also met with his wife's approval.

Louise for her part was unable to participate in the coming assault but that didn't mean she wasn't watching. Personally Kirito's speech made her want to join them all the more partly because a certain idiot always sat in his throne room when the tree was being attacked so that he could watch the players humiliation because he had had it programed to be unbeatable.

Louise was anxious as she watched the events unfold within the tree. She cringed as she watched players fall sighing in relief when the undines on hand resurrected them allowing them to fight longer. She had to laugh watching Asuna, Louise agreed with the new nickname for the now blue haired girl 'The Berserk Healer'.

After a group of players made it through the first door Louise began to relax as it wasn't going to be too difficult for the nine players to get to the throne room. After another three hours the group finally made it to Louise's relief and she left Yuki and Saito in Cardinal's capable hands while she made her way to the throne room. Much to her chagrin she had been to slow to arrive before Sugou had killed two of the players that had made it to the throne room. She was concentrating on holding off the summoning spell that she feeling to be much good in a fight so the best she could do was encourage Kirito to take care of Sugou. After he was taken care of she sent a question to 299 of the trapped SAO players and followed their wishes whether it was to allow them to awaken or stay in Alfhiem after telling them if they had family members within Alfhiem. She then asked Suguha after she had awakened within the game allowing her to see her brother and friends before making her decision. After everything was all said in done she released the spell that she was holding back allowing it to take her and everything connected to Alfhiem with her to Halkeginia.

OOooOOooOO

The last part will seem rushed because it'll be taken care of in more detail in ch 4.

As always please review.