Chapter 14: Re:Awakening

Day 10 - Midnight

Kirito panted in exhaustion as he stared at the motionless figure that he had brought to the tool-shed beside the farmhouse. He had resisted the urge to use the wheelbarrow to carry her, even as her stiff, lifeless body weighed down on his arms, reminding him of too many painful memories that he would never want to relive.

Rika, Keiko, Asuna, Shino, he nonetheless recounted as he placed her against the wooden wall, ransacking the shed for tools he could use. Frozen in time, she stared wide-eyed as he rummaged desperately through racks and cabinets, as if they were in separate planes of reality within the STL with different factors of Acceleration.

"I'm ready, Alice," he finally declared, laying out hammers, cutters, pliers and screwdrivers, "Are you?"

Perhaps his girlfriend was right - no matter the reasons, intentions or circumstances, he had been a selfish idealist who had chosen to believe in the elusive hope of reviving the android over the precious lives of everyone else, including his own. He could barely contain his anguish as he remembered just how many lives it had cost to bring her this far - so many friends and comrades, old and new, with so many sacrifices and so much pain.

Afraid of hurting or damaging her, he had been putting off the repairs for as long as he could. But now that he had all the tools that he needed, he no longer had any reason or excuse to fail, not with all the blood on his hands.

Drawing in a deep breath, he slapped his cheeks to calm himself, knowing that he would have only one chance to succeed. He would never be able to forgive himself otherwise, not that he ever could to begin with.

After all, if there was anyone who deserved to be dead in this room, it would be him, not her, not the countless others who were lying at the bottom of crudely dug graves.

With trembling fingers, he connected the diesel generator to her charging port, observing for any reaction as he did, only to be met with a cold silence.

He exhaled, almost relieved that the task of reviving her had not turned out to be as simple as plugging her in, for if it had, he would have killed himself in guilt and shame for not trying earlier. At least Komachi could have been saved if they had an extra hand from the knight in the fight against the machete-wielding savages.

Focus, Kirito, he hissed at himself as he pushed the negative thoughts away for a later time, concentrating instead on searching for the restart button, if such a thing even existed on her body.

If so, where would it be? Perhaps a hidden spot that would be difficult for her to accidentally trigger or for anyone else to access?

Somewhere like–

No. Not there. Not to mention that she herself or someone else could still reach that place.

Does she even have–

Stop, bad thoughts, he slapped himself again to clear his mind.

In the cold silence, he found himself staring at the tools in front of him, wondering if the button would perhaps be closer to her brain, her core processor, or in an equally secluded area like inside the nose or the ears, under a tooth or behind the eyes.

Sorry, Alice, but I can't do this, he muttered, clenching his fists, unable to bring himself to dig around with the pair of rusty pliers, there must be a better way, I'm sure.

With that, he decided to have a second look at her charging port, hoping that it would offer some clues. Disengaging the generator, he inspected the socket and found some tiny screws, which he carefully removed to reveal a switch and what appeared to be a mini circuit breaker.

Excited by the discovery, he quickly reset the device, only to be disappointed as she remained motionless, even after he had reconnected the power, just to make sure.

It seemed that he could not avoid activating the small red button which was labelled not 'power' or 'restart' but 'RESET' in all caps, an ominous warning of the consequences of its use.

He stopped, unable to execute the final step. What would happen if he pressed the button? Would she lose her memories completely and return to the state of a baby? Time slowed as his mind raced, struggling to weigh the costs and the risks, but even as the minutes dragged on like centuries, he was truly stumped, unable to think of any other alternatives.

This was the real moment of truth, he realized. There was no way round and no turning back - it was time to face reality, to wake up from this hell of a nightmare.

Slowly but surely, his finger inched towards the button, hovering over the red piece of plastic, only to pause, surprised as he thought he saw a teardrop fall from her wide-open eyes, disappearing in the glow of her pale cheeks.

Sorry, Alice, but we've lost too much and sacrificed too many, he whispered as a teardrop made its way down his own cheek, I can't lose my little sister, I can't wait any longer.

More tears streamed down her face as he cried, and he was sure that she was in there somewhere, watching helplessly, unable to speak or move, unable to stop him from erasing her memories to reboot her physical body.

Please don't make this harder than it needs to be, he pleaded through gritted teeth as he prepared himself for the final sequence, we'll just have to make new memories together. You and me and the others. I'll take responsibility.

All you have to do is to wake up.

Shouting, he pressed the button.

In an instant, her chest jolted upwards as if a thousand-volt defibrillator had just been stuck on her. Her eyelids slammed shut, only to open again with renewed energy, readjusting to the darkness of the tool-shed as she sprung to her feet and reached for the wooden rod beside her as if it were a sword.

Somehow, against all odds, he had succeeded.

"Alice!" he screamed in joy as he lunged forward to embrace her, only to be flung back onto the floor with surprising force, knocking over the cluttered mess of tools and parts which clattered and clanged noisily around him. He coughed, stunned, and found himself staring at the makeshift weapon that was pointed at his face.

"Alice?" she questioned, her voice cold and stern, "I know not of the name you speak of. I am Darkness Synthesis Pendragon of the Servant Class Shielder, and I ask of you - are you my Master?

He froze, struggling to understand just what on earth was going on. This was certainly not what he had expected. Who was Darkness, and where was Alice? Was she temporarily confused or had her personality module been permanently corrupted?

So many questions buzzed around in his head, but he had more pressing matters to address.

"Y-Yes?" he stammered, deciding to play along for a while, if only to observe her reaction and buy himself some time.

"I-I see," she blushed, as if the simple acknowledgement that he was indeed her Master had made her strangely pleased, "T-Then I shall be the sheath of your sword, the Avalon of your Holy Sword Excalibur."

That was when he felt a sense of regret for feeding her delusions instead of fixing them. Yet, just as he was about to speak up and correct her misunderstanding, she abruptly turned at the door with her rod held high, as if ready to engage an unseen enemy.

At least her instincts and movements are intact, even if her cognitive functions are not.

"Master, stay here and take cover," she warned, "I sense a Servant approaching, a powerful Spirit."

Before he could stop her, she had dashed out into the open with a battle cry. Her blow was surprisingly parried, though she continued to press on the attack without so much as a stagger. Her posture and footwork seemed to differ from the Integrity Knight's, but was no less enthralling to watch, and under the naked sky, he could not help but stare, mesmerised and spellbound as she danced gracefully with her makeshift sword, her blonde hair fluttering in the wind and her fair skin gleaming in the night.

She was so beautiful.

"Onii-chan!" a cry of alarm jolted him back to reality, "I thought I heard some commotion coming from the tool-shed, but why is Alice awake and attacking me? What's wrong with her? Ask her to stop!"

In that very moment, he felt like slapping himself. What the hell was he doing, spectating as if it was a spontaneous kendo match? Sure, his little sister was holding up well, slightly better than her opponent in fact, but he had shirked his responsibilities as an older brother, no matter the excuse.

"Alice - I mean, Darkness, stop!" he called out, "She's my little sister, don't you remember?"

"Of course, Shirou - I mean, Shido," she snapped, as if it was a known fact that she needed no reminder of, "I recognise that sharp voice despite the strange appearance. She's the Flame Spirit Efreet, true name Itsuka Kotori, Servant Lancer of the Fifth Holy Grail War."

"Huh?"

"Yes, I know that she secretly loves you but don't be deceived by her wiles. Siblings can and will turn on each other, just like Rin and Sakura. I'll hold her back with my Sandalphon, but she's really strong. You'll need to kiss her to seal her powers, just like how you kissed me to seal mine."

"W-What?" Kirito and Suguha spluttered in collective surprise, "K-Kiss?"

"You k-kissed her, onii-chan?" she added a second later, "W-Was it to wake her up? You don't actually love her, right?"

"N-No I didn't! I'll explain later, but now's not the time. Unless you want to keep playing along, you'll have to defeat her, Sugu. I doubt she'll listen to us in her current state."

"I-If you say so, onii-chan, b-but I really wouldn't mind doing the k-kiss if it's going to help her in any way."

"Sorry, Sugu, I really think we should stop her now before she goes too far. I-I hope we won't need to hold her down to talk some sense into her muddled brain, but you'll have to beat her first before we can do anything."

"M-Master, how could you betray your own Servant!" the blonde knight cried, her blush turning into a brighter shade of crimson, "I-I won't ever let you r-restrain me or h-hold me down!"

"She's all yours, Sugu," he gave his final approval, and the kendoka proceeded to lash out at her friend with the full brunt of her frustration, still upset from the earlier episode with her brother. Growling, she batted away the wooden rod, which broke upon contact with her makeshift shinai, only for her unyielding opponent to attempt to finish the duel with a headbutt, as if guided by past experience.

Nonetheless, the kendoka was quicker, spinning around to smack the disarmed knight in the head with such force that her shinai seemed to let out a stomach-turning crack on impact with the metallic skull. She stopped, horrified by her own strength as the android fell to the floor, clutching her head and rolling in agony.

"Alice!" she saw her brother rushing over to the knight in a heartbeat, panicking as he pulled her into a tight hug. Suguha felt a deep pain well in her chest as she watched him inspect the wounded forehead with such tenderness and care, and she could not help but look away, unable to watch any longer, already tormented by the fact that she had hurt a dear friend.

In the unnerving silence, she could only wallow alone in her burning guilt, wondering if she could ever face Alice or her brother again if she had inflicted any irreversible damage in her vengeful rage.

"You're lucky to have a thick skull," he sighed in relief, "Is that why you're so headstrong?"

"D-Don't tease me, Kazuma," she wailed, massaging the bruise, "I-It really hurts."

"I'm just glad that you're fine," he assured as she nodded quietly in his embrace.

Who was he, and why was he being so nice to her? The blow to her head had shaken her memories and stirred her consciousness, and she found herself confused by the images flickering through her mind, fragments of countless precious moments that she had supposedly treasured but somehow forgotten. She tried to focus, to pick out the answers that she so desperately sought, but the pieces seemed to slip through her grasp, falling between her fingers like melting snow.

"What's going on here?" a voice called out as a young man with dead-fish eyes approached, someone whom she had never met before, not that she could be sure of herself anymore.

"Alice-chan, you're awake!" another voice exclaimed as a pink-haired girl came into sight, missing an ear with a bandage over her eye.

Her eye.

Eye.

A burst of light exploded in her mind.

She screamed.

Everyone froze, watching in muted horror as she clutched her eye in agony, her trembling fingers moving out of instinct to tear away at the source of her torment. Yet, amidst the unbearable suffering, the memories poured in like a tempest, as if a dreaded seal had been released, broken by the overwhelming pain surging through her system. Shockwaves of thoughts, experiences and emotions overloaded her circuits, and in that moment, she was flooded with memories of fighting him and fighting with him, of saving him and being saved by him. She was his partner, his caretaker, his beloved knight, and he was her hero, her saviour, her dear childhood friend, the young man she loved.

She was the Integrity Knight Alice Synthesis Thirty. He was the Black Swordsman Kirigaya Kazuto, whom she and many others called 'Kirito'.

Together, they had ended the rule of the tyrannical Administrator Quinella and saved Underworld from the evil forces behind Dark Territory.

"Kirito," she called his name as he reached out to grab her hand, stopping her before she could truly damage her eye, "I'm back."

"Alice," she watched as the worry on his face gave way to indescribable joy, and before she knew it, she was crying on his warm shoulder, relieved to have remembered, happy to be finally back by his side.

A/N: Alice's awakening marks the beginning of the third arc (Chapter 14 - 19).

Some moments of levity with references to:

Fate/Stay Night: Artoria Pendragon / Saber, Tohsaka Rin, Matou Sakura, Emiya Shirou

Konosuba: Darkness (same VA as Alice), Satou Kazuma

Date A Live: Itsuka Kotori (same VA as Suguha), Itsuka Shido