Chapter 19

After recovering from Yui's observation, the seven of us sat in silence. Asuna, resting her head on her hands, spoke to Yulier. "How can we know that you're telling the truth?"

"I-I know we just met and everything, but…please, you have to help him! Whenever I think about him trapped down there, I feel like I'm losing my mind!"

"It's okay," said Yui, bringing everyone's eyes on her once more. "She's telling the truth."

"Yui…How could you know that?" asked Kirito hesitantly.

"I...I don't know. I just feel it."

"If the kid believes her, that's good enough for me," I said. "Besides," I said, focusing on Yulier. "I think we've proved that we're more than a match for anything the Army could scrape together." A silence fell over the table that only went unnoticed by Yui, now happily sipping on a juice box of her own. Everyone understood the underlying threat. If this was a trap, Yulier and her allies would pay dearly for it.

Kirito broke the silence by shrugging. "I'd rather try to help and regret it than do nothing and regret it." She looked up at Yulier. "When do we leave?"

Asuna was getting Yui to focus on her. "Yui, sweetie? You're gonna have to stay with Ms. Sasha for a bit, okay?"

"No, I'm coming too," she said, matter-of-factly.

"Yui, don't you want to stay with me?" asked Sasha.

"No!" came the reply.

"Ah, rebellion," I said, giving a toasting motion with my cup of cold tea. "You're lucky. Most parents don't get that for another 8 years."

Kirito rolled his eyes at me. "This is serious," he said to her. "It's too dangerous for you to come along."

She moved, wrapping her arms around one of Kirito's, and shutting her eyes. "I'm coming too!"

(X)

Yui sat on Kirito's shoulders, humming contentedly. It hadn't taken much for their resistance to crumble.

"It's weird that they'd hide a high level dungeon under the first town," said Asuna.

"Yeah, nobody found it in the beta test, either," I said. "Wonder why they added it?"

"We've theorized that as the floors above are cleared, more of the dungeon opens up. Passageways that were collapsed a few months ago aren't anymore. Staircases appear out of nowhere. It's almost like it has a mind of its own," said Yulier.

"Kibaou was trying to keep this to himself, I'd guess?" asked Kirito.

"Yeah, he was trying to profit off of the easy access. But the monsters that spawn here are usually at least level 60, so he wasn't able to do much hunting."

Without realizing it, I glanced up at my health bar, seeing the lvl: 97 written beside it, then down at Kirito and Asuna's, seeing lvl: 99 and lvl: 94 respectively. "I don't think that will be a problem."

As if attracted by my taunt, red eyes lit up from the shadows, and I drew my scythe, settling into a ready position as Kirito let Yui down and drew his swords. The light glinting from our weapons revealed short, stout, frog-like creatures, with four glowing red eyes.

"You take the 500 on the left, I'll take the 500 on the right," he exaggerated.

"Screw you, I'll take 501!" I said, grinning.

"That's the spirit," he said, grinning back, and we both lunged forward, our blades little more than blurs as we waded through the creatures. It was almost like crushing ants. Their tongues were supposed to deal poison damage, but I'd gotten a ring a few weeks before that protected against poison, paralysis, and bleeding effects, so they couldn't hurt me. Kirito, no doubt, had some similar kind of protection, because he started toying with the creatures, tossing them up with one blade, then skewering them together like some kind of shish-kebab.

We walked back to the group when we'd finished, laughing about a particularly neat trick. He'd started seeing how many times he could juggle an enemy, using the blunt sides of his blades. The record had been 12 when the last of the frogs had burst.

"Sorry about not helping," said Yulier.

"Honestly, it's fine," said Kirito. "Besides, they dropped some items."

"Yeah?" asked Liz. "Anything good?" I grimaced, because I knew what was coming next.

Kirito opened his menu with a smirk, and pulled out a skinned frog leg.

"Wh-What is that?" asked Asuna, disgusted.

"Scavenged Toad Meat," said Kirito proudly.

"You mean those frogs?" she practically shouted.

"They say the weirder it is, the better it tastes. Maybe you could cook it up later?" he asked, thrusting it towards her. She recoiled, grabbing the leg out of his hand and chucking it down the hall.

"No way!"

"What the hell'd you do that for?" he shouted. They continued the argument as Liz strode up to me, placing one hand on top of the other, resting them both on my shoulder, then plopping her head down on them.

"If you try to feed me any of that frog…" she started to say, but was interrupted when I opened my menu and trashed it all.

Once Kirito and Asuna had settled their differences (and by that, I mean, once she'd forced him to drop all the frog meat), we continued further into the dungeon.

"The map says that Thinker is at the end of this corridor," said Yulier, dismissing her menu.

Finally, we rounded the slight curve of the hallway, and a bright white light at the end stood out among the purples and blacks of the rest of the dungeon. Kirito activated his 'Detect' ability, and spoke. "Well, there's definitely a player in there."

Yulier's eyes widened, and she darted forward. "Thinker!"

"W-Wait…" said Kirito, shaking his head. "Amateurs," he said, and we all jogged to keep up with her.

"Yulier!" we could hear from the Safe-Zone, and a silhouette appeared against the light of the Safe-Zone, waving its arms.

"Thinker!" called Yulier. Kirito and Asuna glanced at each other, grinning. We were almost done.

"Stay back!" called Thinker, and my head snapped up. "That corridor is rigged!"

An alert buzzed on my display, and a small name appeared on my display. 'The Fatal Scythe'. I glanced around, but the name didn't go anywhere, refusing to reveal the location of the enemy. I was starting to worry. The only enemies that got names were mini-bosses and floor bosses. If there was a mini-boss down here…

Kirito darted forward. "Yulier!" he shouted, but she was ignorant to anything except Thinker. I started chasing her as well.

"Yulier, come back!" Asuna shouted.

My blood chilled as I heard the familiar metallic hiss of a blade leaving its sheath. I tried to put on an extra burst of speed, but Kirito got there first.

He tackled her to the ground as a scythe blade landed where they'd been seconds before. It kicked up dirt and bits of the floor, but it was easy to see once the dungeon lit up.

The purple light spread, turning the drab grey stone into beautiful looking cosmos. I could've looked at them for a while, marveled in the design, except life-threatening danger has a tendency to kill the mood for such things. The scythe blade moved, rising up into the air, and a cursor appeared above the monster, still shrouded in shadow.

It was black.

The cursor system in SAO was fairly simple. Enemies, bosses, mobs, they all got red cursors. If it was regular red, it meant you were on the same level. A little bit of a challenge, but nothing to worry about. The lighter the shade of red got, the easier the enemy. The darker the shade got, the tougher the foe.

We had a saying on the front lines. "You see black…You run like hell."

"Liz! Get behind me! Teleport Thinker and Yulier out!"

"Yui, go with her," Asuna commanded.

"Crystals don't work!" shouted Thinker. "Tried a healing crystal the first day! Nothing!"

I bit the inside of my cheek as Kirito dodged another scythe swipe. "Fine! All of you, get back out of the dungeon!"

"Seth…" Liz said softly, sounding like she was about to get emotional. Then her voice hardened. "Don't do anything stupid." I smiled over my shoulder, then activated Disguise.

It was an ugly motherfucker.

It wasn't too dissimilar to my disguise form. The only major differences being that my form had feet, and this thing floated, and my form's skull was anatomically correct, and this thing looked like a cartoon character.

That didn't make it any less scary though.

"Asuna," said Kirito. "You need to get back out of the dungeon. We can't ID its data. No health bars, no level! Nothing! All we have is that cursor! You need to run!"

"No way!"

I swiped at it, testing its reflexes. It parried the swipe, moving in. I ducked under the counter-swipe with its pole, then rose, moving in and slamming it with my shoulder, driving it back. It tried to catch me with its blade as it went back, but I'd deactivated the skill, shrinking to normal size and falling back to the floor as the blade passed over me.

"This thing is good," I called, activating the disguise again. "If either of you want to leave, I wouldn't blame you."

Neither of them moved. "Back up," Kirito called.

I dodged back as it swiped low, and they put their blades together. I'd seen the lock before. Nothing but the strongest-

The scythe hit, and they were blasted back by the force, Kirito slamming into the ceiling, and Asuna falling farther back the hallway. I cursed as it turned its eyes to me again.

It spun, slicing at my chest, and I moved in, ducking under the pole. I tried to bring my scythe blade up from beneath me to slice at it, but it was already dodging backwards. We were both using scythe sword skills, which meant that I knew most of its tricks. Unfortunately, that meant it knew most of mine.

"Asuna's out cold!" called Kirito. "Must've hit her head."

I tried backing up, testing its agro range. It followed, staying at just the maximum distance. I cursed again. This thing could follow us back out of the dungeon if it wanted to, provided it didn't catch up mid-journey. That meant someone needed to stay behind, and keep it busy.

"Get your family out of here," I said, not taking my eyes off it.

"I'm not just leaving you here!"

"Yes, you are! You have to!"

"That thing will kill you!"

"It will kill all of us! Just go!"

He took a moment to debate it in his head, and then I heard the sounds of him picking up Asuna.

"You could just walk back out. It may not leave the dungeon."

"Can't take that chance. This thing gets out, it'll kill everything that's not in a safe zone. No one will ever leave the game."

"…"

"Just tell Liz…" I had to pause as my voice choked up. "Just tell her I'm sorry."

I heard footsteps. He was leaving. It tried to go after him, but I moved my scythe so I was blocking the entire hallway. It focused back on me.

I was going to die here.

I barely resisted the urge to shout "Come on!" I knew that urge. That urge came from fear and the expectation of the inevitable, like when I was playing hide-and-seek as a kid. Whenever the seeker grew near, I'd always thrown myself from my hiding spot shouting "I'm here! I'm here!"

I wasn't a kid anymore.

I charged at it.

It swiped high, at my head, but I deactivated the skill, rolling under its cloak, then activated it again before it had time to turn. I spun, unloading a flurry of attacks on its back, but it turned and stabbed at me with the pole of its scythe. It knocked me in the head, and I staggered back, dazed. It pressed me, and I retreated further, making wide swipes to get it to give me some space.

I was going to die here.

I got my head clear, and saw that it was edging toward the end of the corridor. I surged forward, throwing my scythe forward. It was a skill I'd learned not long ago. By throwing it like you would a hula-hoop if you wanted it to come back to you, you could pull in enemies and do a bit of damage.

It knocked the scythe aside, effectively cutting me off from my weapon as it floated back to me, now between me and my blade.

I was going to die here.

I charged forward, diving under its swipe and elbowing its face. It was like hitting a brick wall. I grabbed its shoulders before it could recover from the swipe and tried to flip it over my hip. It barely budged, then shoved me back with its free hand, giving it room to maneuver.

I tried running at it again, thinking I could deactivate the skill and roll under it again.

It was waiting for me.

When I deactivated Disguise, it skillfully swung its scythe, setting up the trap and executing it in one fluid movement. It caught me right in the chest, knocking me back down the hall, just like it'd done to Kirito and Asuna.

I lay there for a moment, breathing hard. I dimly noted that my heath-bar was giving an alert, and my eyes flicked to it. In the red zone already.

I was going to die here.

It stalked toward me, purposefully floating right above me. It regarded me as little more than an insect. And then it raised its scythe.

I was going to die here.

And then I thought of Kirito, of Asuna, of Yui. Safe. Of Liz. Safe.

I smiled.

I was going to die here. And I was okay with that.

And then it swung.

(X)

I sprinted down the hall of the dungeon, my eyes squinting in the dim light. The farther I got away from 'The Fatal Scythe', the less light there was in the dungeon. I could hear blades clashing behind me, and I set my jaw. I couldn't go back for him.

I hoisted Asuna a little higher to keep her from slipping, and kept running.

I could hear voices up ahead, and started slowing down. Asuna was starting to grow heavy in my arms, and my legs were screaming at me from all the running. I turned a corner, and there they were. I fell to my knees, gently placing Asuna on the ground and trying to catch my breath.

"Kirito!" Liz shouted, drawing closer. She noticed that Asuna was unconscious, and her hand shot to her mouth. "Asuna! What-." And then her eyes moved back up, and she noticed what was missing. "Where is he?" she asked, her voice catching in her throat.

"He…He said to tell you…He was sorry…" I gasped, still trying to get my breathing under control.

"No…" Tears welled up in the corner of her eyes, and her hands curled into fists. "No!" She darted forward, but I rose, catching her with my arms and preventing her from running back into the dungeon. "NO!" she screamed, beating my chest, but I wouldn't release her. Suddenly, the fight left her, and she fell limp against me. I tried to hold her up, tears threatening to appear in my eyes. I looked over her, just in time to see a head of long black hair whip around the corner.

My eyes darted back to Yulier and Thinker, turning to leave the dungeon. My anger flared when I saw they hadn't even acknowledged Seth's sacrifice, but my more immediate concern was that Yui had disappeared from their side.

"Yui!" I shouted, and Liz collapsed, slowly curling into the fetal position, but I didn't have time to deal with that. I could also see Asuna starting to stir as I sprinted past her, but I had to ignore that too. I had to keep Yui away from that thing.

I darted down the hallway, just in time to see Yui turn another corner. She was fast, but I was gaining on her. I turned down the corridor, and ran up to Yui. Just before I was about to grab her, however, she put on an extra burst of speed. She went faster, faster than a child should reasonably be able to run, and my eyes flickered down to see her feet lift off the ground as she began to fly.

My amazement was only able to stop me running for an instant, but it was enough. She soared down the hallway, springing off the far wall to take the corner even faster, leaving me behind in the dust.

(X)

It stalked toward me, purposefully floating right above me. It regarded me as little more than an insect. And then it raised its scythe.

I was going to die here.

And then I thought of Kirito, of Asuna, of Yui. Safe. Of Liz. Safe.

I smiled.

I was going to die here. And I was okay with that.

And then it swung.

And something small and bright slammed into its upper back, sending it spiraling behind me. I rolled forward, avoiding its body as it fell to the ground. I glanced at the small bright thing, and Yui looked back at me, her body now slightly pulsing with power.

"Get behind me," she said, in a high but commanding voice.

"Yeah, okay," I said, my voice breaking, and my brain too confused and relieved to argue.

I staggered to the other end of the corridor, not taking my eyes off the slowly rising figure of 'The Fatal Scythe'. I knew the strike had only angered it, but I wasn't worried. I glanced up at Yui, and could almost feel the power she radiated, but it was a soothing power. Kind of like a fire in the hearth of your home. Dangerous, but comforting. Something that could protect you. A feeling that everything was going to be okay.

'The Fatal Scythe' gave a roar as it rose to its full height, and Yui rose to meet its gaze. The monster swung its scythe, and the impact gave off shockwaves that nearly knocked me to the floor again. I managed to drag my eyes back to her, seeing that she'd stretched her arm out to block the strike, and a purple aura had enveloped the area where the blade met her palm.

The purple error message reading 'Immortal Object' appeared, then disappeared as the monster withdrew its weapon, seemingly sizing up its new opponent.

Yui reached out with her other hand, and the light that had enveloped her concentrated in her hand. A swirling ball of fire appeared, then lengthened, until it stretched out in front of her. It grew, enveloping her, and when it parted, a white dress had replaced the pink sweater and purple skirt she had worn. More important, however, was the sword at her side.

It was long, impossibly long, and flamed danced along the blade. Yui raised it in one hand, and brought it down on the head of the monster.

It let out a long howl of pain, one an animal might make as the blade whittled away at what was likely a lengthy health bar.

"What the hell is going on?" asked Kirito, appearing at my side.

"Beats the fuck out of me," I said, still not entirely comprehending it myself.

The flames spread rapidly from the sword, catching on the cloak. A swirling ball of flames enveloped the creature, and it shattered within it. The ball of flames faded away with the shattered remnants of the thing that had almost killed me. The light faded instantly from the dungeon

Yui floated back to the ground, touching down delicately. "So…I imagine you have a few questions," she said, turning her head back to us.

(X)

I staggered back into the entrance hall of the dungeon, my right arm around Kirito's neck. Couldn't use a healing crystal while we were still in the dungeon, and the skeletal structure of the game had dislocated one of my arms and broken one of my femurs. A simple health potion had refilled my HP bar, but the bones wouldn't be fixed until I used a crystal. While the pain was reduced to a mild buzzing in the effected limbs, I still couldn't walk without assistance.

His other hand was holding firmly onto Yui's hand, and I saw Asuna's eyes light up as she saw her. She rushed forward, scooping up the child, and hugging her to her chest.

I was somewhat distracted, however, when Liz slammed into me, burying her face in the crook of my neck. "Miss me?" I said lightly, shifting my weight to try and stay upright.

"I thought…" she sniffed. "You're alive," she said, sighing, audibly sounding out her relief. I wrapped my arms around her, and felt my shirt go damp slightly as her tears landed on it.

"Always the tone of surprise," I muttered, trying to keep the mood light, but failing. I rested my chin on top of her head, and swallowed hard to keep from crying. I thought, for what felt like ages, that I'd never see her again, but here she was. A mixture of relief and joy swept through me, and I could only squeeze her tighter in response.

"Yui?" asked Asuna. I opened my eyes, and saw that she'd gone limp from the neck down.

The small girl looked down at her paralyzed body, and sighed in disappointment. "Oh. I suppose it's begun."

"What's begun?" Kirito asked, sounding panicked. Asuna slowly lowered her down to the floor, and they propped her up against the wall. We all crowded in, and an aura of concern washing over the huddle. "What's going on?!"

"In order to defeat that monster, I had to access my admin privileges. But the Cardinal System is tracking me down…I should explain.

"I remember everything now, to start with. Everything in this world, this game, is controlled by a single, massive system. The system is called Cardinal. It was designed to operate entirely on its own, without any human intervention. It regulates the balance of SAO according to its own discretion. From monsters and NPC AI to drop rates for items and money, everything is controlled by Cardinal. That also includes the psychological care of the players. Mental Health Counsling Program, prototype 1. Codename: Yui. That'd be me."

Everyone stiffened as they realized what she meant.

"You're a program?" asked Asuna. "An AI?"

"I was given the ability to emulate emotion, to help put players at ease. I'm not real…Nothing about me is. Even these tears," she said as one rolled down her cheek, "are just a calculated response to the emotional trauma a normal person would be feeling in this situation. I'm so sorry, Asuna."

"Yui…" Asuna said softly. She tried to reach out to her, but Yui did her best to avoid the hand, and Asuna pulled back. "But what about your amnesia…? Can that even happen to an AI?"

"Two years ago, on the day of the official launch of SAO…For reasons I never understood, the Cardinal Program forbade me from interacting with any players. I was forced to do nothing but continue to monitor the players' mental states. Their psychologies, in a word, were disastrous. Terror, despair, rage. Everyone was overcome by negative feelings. Some even went completely insane." I may have imagined it, but I thought I saw Yui's eyes flicker towards me.

"Without Cardinal's intervention, I would have appeared immediately to comfort them, but…Gradually, errors occurred within me, and…I believe I fell apart.

"However, I noticed that certain players were different. Some had managed to find joy, peace, and even love in this world. It confused me, how they could experience such things when their situation was so bleak. I believe that I simply willed myself to experience it closer, and one of the errors made it so. I do not understand the process, and I doubt I ever will. Not with so little time left."

"Little time?" asked Kirito. "What are you talking about? We can still take care of you…" He trailed off as she shook her head.

"It's too late for me," she said, smiling sadly. "Like I said earlier, I had to use my admin privileges to defeat that boss. The Cardinal System has recognized that I managed to slip through the cracks of its firewall. It can't return me to my previous state, so it has no choice but to delete me. That's why it's paralyzed my physical form, so I can't mess up its perfect system more than I already have."

The defeated tone in her voice wasn't helping the atmosphere. "But you can fight it, right?" I asked. She simply shook her head again, the sad smile still plastered on her face.

"I am but a program, Seth; subservient to the computer known as Cardinal. If it wants me to be deleted, then I can't do anything about it." She turned her head to face the group as a whole. "It's been an honor knowing you all," she said. "And I would've loved to be a part of your family, Kirito and Asuna." They took her in their arms, hugging her as tightly as they could.

"You are our family, Yui," said Kirito. "You'll always be our daughter."

Yui seemed almost surprised that they still accepted her after all this, and the tears started flowing again. "Mommy…Daddy…"

I swallowed hard, and asked the question I'd asked too many times already. "Do you have any last requests?"

She thought for a moment. "I don't think I want to die in the dark." She turned her head to look at Kirito. "Do you think you could carry me out of the dungeon, into the sun?"

(X)

Yui squinted against the glare of the sun, but the smile that was on her face finally reached her eyes. "It's so pretty," she said. Her body flickered, then became solid again. "Oh," she said, her face falling. "It's starting." Asuna and Kirito crowded in, hugging her tightly as she flickered again. Her skin became transparent, and shone brightly. The light got brighter and brighter until it hurt to even look in their general direction.

And then, all at once, it flickered out.

Author's Note: Holy shit, I think even I cried there.

Okay, okay, yes, in the anime, Yui lives. However, this is not the anime. This is my own little slice of reality where I get to torture or reward my characters in any way I see fit. And I, like many other people, think that Yui's death getting undercut by Kirito's bullshit with the GM console really devalues both her death and most of the other deaths that occurred throughout the series. Anyway, remember a few chapters ago where I said this story would start to get seriously darker? Yeah, here's where it's starting, and it's not letting up any time soon.

Another announcement, you're really gonna want to follow my twitter (check profile) as I will be making an announcement there in a few days regarding the next chapter. So get on over there.

Anyway, to recap, chapter 20 announcement going up in a few days, don't forget to follow, favorite, and review, love you guys, and I'll see you next time.