I stared, watching the ceiling, silently clutching to the sheet covers. A shiver shot down my spine, a feeling of pure fear. Lying now would be pointless – I was scared - scared of what was to become of those who passed on in this dreadful world.

I was certain that to my left, in the room next door, Kuma would be in the exact situation – unable to sleep – lying awake endlessly pondering the truth. In the room to my right, Zephyr, emotionally shattered by the loss of his friends.

Takita never came back to the inn with us; I don't know where she went, to be truly honest. I started walking and the others followed nonchalantly, like they had nothing else to do. I spent the night alone, without a friend, without anyone but myself, this bed, and an eternity to do nothing but think.

And think I did.

I thought about what we were fighting for, whether it was truly worth it – the same thing I thought the moment the boss had fallen. I thought about my friends, my family, what was happening in reality. I thought about Takita, I thought about Griffith, Kuma, Zephyr. I thought about Regret, Fenyx and Curtis, and what their sacrifice meant for and to the rest of us, and slowly but steadily, answers began to form themselves in my brain.

We weren't fighting for survival; we were fighting for each other. When Fenyx's life was on the line, he didn't give it to survive, he gave it to protect. I still couldn't answer if it was worth it or not, that question would be left until the very end. What would I have done in his position?

My friends and family were likely waiting outside the game for us to return, I was certain. But more than that, they believed in us. They believed we would overcome this game, that we would win… Otherwise… We wouldn't, no; we couldn't be here right now.

Takita… I knew the answer to what I thought, but I didn't know the question. Why did I tell her I loved her? Is that how I really felt, even after all this? No, that wasn't the question. She just drifted idly through my mind, there, but not there. Maybe there wasn't a question to even ask; maybe my feelings were already resolved. Griffith… I promised I'd make it my responsibility to protect him, even if I never said it aloud. He was stronger than I, perhaps not in strength, physique or speed, but in heart and soul. He was there for her when I wasn't.

The others, Fenyx, Regret, Zephyr, Kuma, Curtis. Fenyx, the one who gave his life. Regret-

Regret? I'd never considered it until this very moment, but his cause of death was still a mystery to me. I sat up in my bed, shivering against the cold of Aincrad's quick-coming winter. In a few days, snow would hit the town, and levelling would become incredibly difficult. Shuffling out of my covers, I flung my legs out of the bed and onto the warm carpet. It was a nice feeling, but short lived as the cold crept up my ankles and up to my knees. Freezing, I walked over to the door, switched on the light, and stepped out into the corridor.

I peered left and right, before heading down to the left and over to Kuma's room. A shrouded chill passed through my body like wind. Shaking it off, knowing well and true there was no wind indoors; I clasped the door knob and twisted it, stepping into the dark room that belonged to Kuma and…

"Regret?" A voice whispered from the bed across the room. "Regret is that you? You came back!" It muttered, giddy yet sleepy. I felt a pang in my heart. It must have been dreadful for him - although I didn't know the two well, they were close enough friends to be living together. Regret would have been the only one who helped Kuma on that first day.

I bit my lip, choosing my next words carefully as I closed the door with as much effort to stay silent as possible.

"Kuma." I began. There was a rustling sound coming from the bed, and two eyes appeared in the moonlight, accompanied by a disappointed face. He was speechless at first, but quickly stammered a response.

"Oh, it's you." Kuma replied, now awake and aware of the situation. "What do you want, Terallian?"

"I want to talk."

"I don't." He replied, rolling back over.

"It's about regret." I pushed. He paused for a moment, the sheets stopped rustling. After a few moments, he sat up in his bed, his pillow against the backboard.

"…What is it?" He questioned, looking uncomfortable as well as… Guilty?

"Back then when he…" I averted my eyes. "Was killed… What exactly happened?"

Kuma continued to sit, motionless, looking more and more uncomfortable as the seconds ticked by. He was staring at the floor, but nothing in particular; perspiration could be seen around his forehead despite the chilling temperatures, making it clear he was distressed.

He finally lifted his head, making direct eye contact with me.

"It was my fault." He whispered. I moved a bit further into the room, having already grabbed a spare chair and a blanket, before sitting down and snuggling in for what was likely to be a long explanation.

"It was my fault he was killed. No… No, you could say that I killed him." He spoke, pausing and stuttering at every word, trying to get a foothold on what he wanted to say. I was surprised by how quickly he opened up, as I had been expecting a battle with the gates of his emotions to get through to how he truly felt about it. I didn't know why, exactly, he was the first person I'd asked, whether or not I was curious about Regret's untimely fate. He carried on.

"Back there, you saw how powerful yet weak the boss and his minions were… It was almost like a real fight. Sure, they didn't take much damage before dying, but they dealt ridiculous amounts in return." He said, staring back to the ground once more. "They were going to kill me, Terallian." He said, eyes darting across the carpet.

"If I hadn't done what I did, it would have been me. Me." He continued, becoming more and more frantic.

I stood up, removing the blanket I had on my lap for a short time, and sat on the edge of his bed. After he noticed I'd moved, I put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

"I'm here to listen." I said. I gave no advice as to what he'd said so far, needing to know a bit more in detail.

"I used him like a shield. A shield. What kind of a person does that? What the hell am I?" He cried. Despite my attempts to reassure him, he was still losing control, fast.

"Now he's gone, because of me. Fenyx died protecting us… Terallian… What happened to Curtis?" He asked, once again making direct, uncomfortable eye contact. There was something in his eyes, no longer a burning fire for survival, but a dying flame for hope. For reassurance. For forgiveness.

I uneasily broke the eye contact, not sure whether or not what I was about to say was a wise decision, but I said it anyway.

"He died protecting Takita." I said in a low voice. The bed shook for a moment as Kuma gasped.

"Then only Regret…" He stuttered, eyes darting once more. I simply nodded, before he finally hit his limit.

"Regret… Regret… Come back to me, Regret. Regret. REGRET!"

He was screaming at this point. I didn't even think about my next move, I just did what I believed was best, and I hugged him. I hugged him, mentally telling him it was okay, that it wasn't his fault. What I failed to portray in words, I'd made up for in actions. What I did was the only thing I could. He was breathing heavily, and I was freezing, but I pushed aside all else for just that brief moment.

"It's not your fault." Spoke a voice.

It wasn't mine, it wasn't Kuma's.

"It's not your fault." It said once more. It was Regret's.

That was the voice he had heard. Whether it was his delusion of my speech, or a ghost was in the room, that was what he had heard.

I didn't hear a single sound, but to this day, he still swore the essence of his friend was with us in that room, on that night – the night we made amends. A lot has happened these past few days, and a lot more was ahead of us. Many a question was answered, but many more still remained.

I'd decided afterwards that going back to sleep was pointless. I'd never be able to achieve even a moment of shut eye with so many questions floating around my brain. After heading down the hall and talking to both Griffith and Zephyr, I took a hold of my coat from my room, equipped my usual gear, and headed outside. I trudged along the wet pathway and slowly but steadily it began to snow. I'd expected it was a still a little while before snow was due, but I was apparently wrong. What surprised me even more, however, was who I met along the way.

Takita.

I jogged up a bit further down the path, covering my head from the harsh climate that was assaulting me. My fingers felt brittle, about to snap off at any moment. It took me a short few seconds to realise, but this was the first time in my life I'd seen snow. Where I lived before, in Australia, snow was an occurrence that we never experienced. It was fascinating to finally see it.

"Takita!" I yelled, coming up behind the unmistakable girl. She turned on the spot, almost slipping on the wet ground before regaining her balance.

"Careful." I warned, stepping forward to make sure she didn't fall over. "Aren't you used to the snow by now?" I asked.

"Yes, but…" She began, before pausing and almost laughing. "Whoever designed the snow in this game was an idiot." She said, referring to the AoA Developers – something very taboo in the game.

I smiled to show I didn't mind.

We walked down the street, at first in pure, bliss silence, before we started talking. We didn't speak about anything in particular; neither of us mentioned the others or the boss fight. We just walked and talked, enjoying the change of atmosphere for the first time since we began playing, which was surprisingly a little over a week.

"Hey, Tera…" She started off sounding a bit shaky, biting her lip in the process, slowing down just enough for it to be noticeable. "There's something I've been meaning to ask you." She finished, coming to a complete stop as I walked a few steps ahead. She paused behind me as I turned around, clutching her hands together in front of her.

"Back in the dungeon, when you said that you-"

"I meant it." I said firmly, knowing all too well what she was going to ask. Despite her change In personality since we first met, she still had a few habits that she'd use that made it noticeable – primarily the way she spoke.

She glanced up at me, and then smiled. She smiled the warmest smile I thought I'd ever see in such a cold place. Maybe not just the temperature, but the world we now lived in. She smiled a smile that told me "It'll be okay." – a smile that made me feel like anything was possible.

But it wasn't the smile that changed everything, it was the words. The three, perfect words I feared I might never hear.

And as she spoke them, those three words, time stopped.

The whole world felt like we weren't in a game anymore, that we weren't trapped, fighting for our life. It felt like for the first time, we were together. It felt like I had something to protect, truly protect, something to grab a hold of and clutch onto for dear life. A life I would spend together with the girl I loved, no matter how brief that life may be.

At least now, in a cruel world, we had each other.

ACT I END