A/N: Okay guys, time for the suspense to end! We will now get to see just who those mysterious teenagers were at the end of last chapter, and what they have to do with our friends from Ylisse and Aincrad! Have fun!

Warrior's Tomb

At the behest of Say'ri, the Ylisseans made their way to a place where the finest of Chon'sin's warriors were laid to rest in order to properly mourn their losses. It was said that if your prayers were uttered inside the ancient grounds, they would be heard by your loved ones in the afterlife. Say'ri also revealed that each continent had a similar location in which time itself seemed skewed. In Ferox, Robin knew, there was a place called the Ruins of Time, which covered Ylisse and Plegia, he imagined.

The warriors of Alfheim and Cordelia were nearly silent as the tomb that they had come to visit. The whole time since Klein's death had been announced, Kirito had yet to so much as speak a single word, and Cordelia's eyes had yet to run out of tears.

The black Swordsman's family and friends had done their best to console him, but to no avail. He simply walked around like a silent puppet with slack strings. Asuna tried to be strong for his sake, but the pain of Klein's death had touched her deeply as well, and it was all that she could do now to stay by her husband's silent side.

Yui had never seen her parents in such a state the whole time that they had been together. Once, she had seen such bleakness in her father after the death of Sachi, but back then he'd had Asuna to work his spirits back up. Now with her so down, neither one of them looked well: the sight broke her heart.

Cordelia was much the same, despite Sumia's best efforts. The red-head lacked all the previous vitality and fire that she was renowned for. The Shepherd's elite were all- quite simply- a broken mess.

Such was their state when they entered the tomb of Chon'sin. The place was dark and musty, as befitted a catacomb. As they walked through the halls, Say'ri began to recite the ancient prayers that she had been taught since childhood: "Naga, divine protector of mankind, please hear our pleas in this troubling hour. A great man has recently passed from our care and now we ask that you take into your own. This man was a valiant warrior, and a friend to many. Those that he has left behind are with us now, and I ask for your healing power to be cast over them as they mourn his passing…" The incantation continued for many minutes, and by the time it was done, they had reached the central chamber, where the kings and queens of old were laid to rest after their labors. "…I thank you for your protection on behalf of all those that stand with me now," Say'ri concluded. "Amen, Naga, Divine Dragon."

"Amen," several Shepherds echoed.

Before they could move to light the torches, however, an unearthly howl echoed through the catacombs, and every single person present stiffened in either fright or surprise. "Kazuto…" Suguha said fearfully. "What was that?"

In response, Kazuto's blank face hardened to an almost razor-sharp degree. "Risen," he stated, his voice still as dead as his attitude had been. He reached up and drew his swords as he faced one of the tunnels while more shrieks echoed around them. The others quickly followed suit and armed themselves for combat.

"Can we seriously not go for a walk without someone needing to be saved?!" Chrom asked no one in particular. "Alright, Robin- what's the plan?!"

"Whatever we do, don't split up," the tactician ordered. "But we're not staying here, either- we're too easy a target. And we need to find whoever made that scream- assuming that they're still alive." Another shout echoed throughout the tomb, as if to mark his point.

"Move, Shepherds!" Chrom ordered as he sent some of them to examine the eastern exit. They poured into the pass as soon as it was declared safe, but they soon found themselves being confronted by Risen monsters.

"Let me take care of them," Yui said as she leaped to the front with the help of her wings.

"Careful, child!" Say'ri warned. "Your power is not as great as it was on the Divine Grounds, where you last faced these monsters."

"Still, I can do my part," Yui said firmly, her small chin firming up. Stretching out her right hand, she unleashed a brilliant blast of light that incinerated several of the monsters simply by touching them. Since Yui's magic was divine in origin, demonic creatures like the Risen couldn't hope to stand against its power.

The little girl staggered back, tired from such massive use of magic. "Yui!" Asuna called out as she caught her daughter up before she could fall over.

"Sorry, Momma…" Yui gasped. "I just… didn't want anyone to get hurt… again..." And she passed out from the strain.

Before anyone could move to counter the oncoming Risen, two figures darted out from a side passage. "Aw, bollocks!" one of them, a boy, shouted. "How many of these things are there gonna be in here?!"

"Marth, calm down!" the other, a young girl said. "Just try to think about how dad would handle this?"

"Well, practically speaking, Morgan, you're better suited for his standard response to these freaks," he said as he drew a long sword. "I'll just have to do this my way!" And he moved with incredible swiftness to cut down the monsters. The girl rolled her eyes and pulled out an old yellow spell book from which she immediately cast Thoron to strike down two more Risen.

"Hey, Blue, we got more coming this way!" Gaius shouted from the rear.

"And over here, too!" Lon'qu shouted as he peered down a passageway.

"Back's not lookin' so hot, neither," Donnel said as he scanned the way that they had come from. "We're sittin' ducks, yer majesty."

"We'll be ducks that fight back then," Chrom declared. When Robin started sniggering despite the situation, Chrom muttered, "It sounded much better in my head…"

"Here they come!" Lon'qu shouted as the Risen stepped out from the shadows. Again, before the Shepherds could act, a pair of small people intervened.

"Outta the way!" One of them called cheerily as she performed a flip over the now-confused sword master. "Twin power, comin' atcha!" This time, it was two girls that attacked the Risen, using only swords to drive them back with incredible coordination. One was incredibly energetic in her approach, practically bouncing off the walls to attack the zombies while her companion took a more modulated, level approach. Something about the way that they fought seemed very familiar to Asuna and Kirito, but before they could think too hard on it, they were surprised yet again.

This time, a single girl interposed herself between the Risen and the Shepherds. Dark blue hair that almost seemed to match the first set of children's that covered her neck swished gently as she parried a sword blow with her quarterstaff. A counterstrike later, and a Risen lay dead at her feet.

"I gotta say," she murmured as she stepped back from its angry companions, "These things are way slower than even the mobs on floor twenty-seven." She looked back at the unfamiliar faces and grimaced slightly. "Oh, right," she said sheepishly. "You wouldn't know what I'm talking about…"

"Beg pardon, but who are you, Miss?" Frederick asked as he jabbed forward with his spear. "This is hardly a place for children to be."

"Well, believe me, I would just as soon as gone home, but that wasn't really an option for me," the girl replied quietly. "I'm here because I was told Kirito would be here, and he needs my help."

"You know Sir Kirito?" Lucina said as she approached the girl.

"Seriously, what did I say about-" Kirito shouldered his way to the front to fight the Risen, but as soon as he saw the newcomer, he dropped both of his swords in shock. His already-pale face went stark white. His jaw worked up and down, but no sound came out.

The girl smiled and said, "Hello, Kirito. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Asuna had managed to move Yui away from the front of the combat zone, and now she stood with her sword ready to defend her unconscious daughter at any cost. We've already lost too much here, she thought. No more.

"Wow, Asuna, you're looking just as serious as ever!" a bright, cheery voice said, followed by a girl that back flipped to land next to her. "This must be a real important fight, cos every other time I saw ya, you were just smilin' and laughin' away, ya know?"

Asuna felt like she was going to pass out when the young warrior stepped into better light. Slim body. Boundless energy. Long, flowing hair of a dark purple shade. Crimson eyes. And an irrepressible smile. "Y-You're…"

"Been a while, huh?" the girl giggled. "And I know, I kicked the bucket, so this must be pretty confusing for you, right? Sorry, but we'll have to put it off until we beat off these zombie mobs, 'kay? Later!" And back into action she sprang, leaving a dumbfounded Asuna behind.

"It… It couldn't have been…" she gasped, tears sliding down her face involuntarily. "Could it really be…?"

Despite getting lost twice, and three of their number taking serious wounds, the Shepherds managed to escape from the tomb that Say'ri had led them into. As soon as they were in the clear, Chrom shouted, "Robin! Bring down the entrance!" Robin and one of the twins with blue hair moved in perfect sync, casting bolts of lightning that smashed into the stone above the entrance, and bringing down a ton of masonry.

With the threat sealed away, the Shepherds broke into smaller group to tend to their wounds and talk among themselves.

Robin looked over at the child that had attacked in synchronization with him, impressed. "That was some fine spell casting," he said as the child hurriedly stuffed their tome in their oversized jacket. "Where'd you learn-"

Dad!" the girl shouted happily as she tackled into Robin, bowling him over and taking him completely by surprise. "I'm so glad to see you!"

"Dad…?" he muttered, shaking his head, not sure that he hadn't been hit too hard by the energetic teenager.

"Marth, Dad's here!" the girl shouted at her companion.

"Where?!" he said, his gaze locking on the prone man. "Oh for the love of Naga, Morgan, be careful with the old man! He's not as young as he used to be!"

"Hey!" Robin objected as he got to his feet. "I may not remember everything, but I can't be any older than twenty! Maybe twenty-three!" Then he stopped as he looked closely at Marth and Morgan together. "Wait… You're my…?"

"Hello, Father," Marth said as he hugged the blond man briefly. "It's very good to see you- things weren't looking so good back there. I should have known that you'd gather your friends to come save us."

"Er…" Robin said, unsure of how to respond. "I'm very confused…" He looked over at Lucina, who also seemed perplexed. "Lucina, why did you fail to mention that I have children in the future?"

"You didn't," she replied. "And I have no idea of who they are, either."

"Uh, the future?" the one called Morgan said. "Dad, are you feeling okay? You look kinda… Wait, no you look great, actually! Like you aged backwards or something!"

"I haven't aged backwards, but I think I know what's going on," Robin said after a moment of thought. "Like you, Lucina, they come from the future- just not the one that you are familiar with."

"Another ruined future?" Lucina gasped.

"Perhaps, but I have a sense that it was a happier future nonetheless," Robin said with a hint of a blush. "Tell me, kids, who is your mother?"

"We… don't know," Marth admitted, a little shamefaced. "For whatever reason, we can't remember what our mother looked like- just you, and not much else."

"Well then, let's see…" Robin pretended to think. "Who else around here do you see with blue hair? And I swear, if I see another Falchion other than Chrom's, he's going to have a conniption fit." He looked pointedly at Marth's sword as he said this.

Morgan and Marth looked over at Lucina, who flushed a deep red. Robin also blushed a bit as he placed a hand on both of the children's shoulders with a smile. "She's our mother?" Marth asked.

"Cool!" Morgan chirped. Lucina fainted.

Asuna was standing before two girl, both of which resembled a good friend from her past, though she had only ever met one of them. "Is that you…?" she said quietly. "Yuuki?"

"'Sup?" the girl grinned. "You look good, Asuna. This world's been good for ya."

"How…?"

"Allow me to explain," said the other girl, identical to Yuuki in every way, save that her hair was braided back. "My name is Aiko, as you may have already guessed, and I am Yuuki's twin sister. When I died back on Earth, a voice called to me, a voice that I had never heard before. At first I thought it was an angel, like my mother used to tell us about, because the voice was so soft and kind.

"It told me that I could have another chance at life in another world if I was patient and waited for Yuuki to come join me. At first I wanted to go join our family immediately, but eventually, the voice persuaded me to wait, saying that one day a group of brave warriors would need Yuuki and my help. So I waited, and eventually Yuuki came to the same place as me.

"When we first reunited, all she would talk about was you, Asuna. That's when the voice returned again. This time it told us that you would be part of the group that we were destined to help, and I was glad that I waited. Yuuki wanted so much to help you in any way she could after all that you did for her, and now I want to help the person that helped my sis so much."

Aiko bowed deeply to Asuna, who now had tears running down her face freely. "Thank you so much, Asuna," she finished. "My blade and I are now at your service."

Asuna couldn't even reply at this point. The day of Yuuki's death had been one of the most painful ones in her entire life, right up there with the moment she thought that she had lost Yui back in the old Aincrad. Yuuki had taught her so much about carrying true inner strength, and standing up for one's self. She had grown to love the younger girl like a sister.

"Hey, it's okay, Asuna," Yuuki said as she stepped closer. "I'm here now, and so is Aiko. I really wanted the chance for you two to meet, and now-" She got no further as Asuna flung her arms around Yuuki and cried.

Kazuto and Sachi were staring at one another in the eyes, neither one saying a word. The girl had not aged a day since he had last seen her five years ago- Kazuto was almost certain that the curse he'd undergone was still causing him to hallucinate all of this, but the small part of him that wanted to accept this as reality would not give up. At last, after so many minutes of silence, Kazuto said, "What was it… that you tried to tell me…?"

"I said so in my message," Sachi replied quietly with a slight smile. "Thank you, Kirito."

"What were you thanking me for?" he said hoarsely. His throat felt dryer than sand. "I'm the reason… you and the others…"

"If you really listened to my message, you know that none of that's true, Kirito," Sachi replied quietly. "I never blamed you- not even in the end."

"I…" Kazuto began to shake as he fell to his knees. "I broke my promise to you…" Tears began to fall from his eyes in streams.

"Everyone breaks a promise at some point in their life, Kirito," Sachi said gently as she knelt before him. "I forgive you."

That was it. Those were the words he had wanted to hear for so long, yet he never got the chance to hear them. He had often dreamed that she would say that to him, should they ever see one another again, but never had he really believed that it would actually happen. And now…

"I'm so sorry, Sachi!" he cried as he hugged her tightly, afraid to let her go. "I tried my best…! But I couldn't… And now you're…" he couldn't go on.

"I'm back, Kirito," she said in understanding as she hugged him back. "It's going to be okay now." As she held him, she began to hum a familiar tune, softly at first, but then forming into words after a little while.

"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Had a very shiny nose
And if you ever saw it
You would even say it glows
All of the other reindeer
Used to laugh and call him names
They never let poor Rudolph
Join in any reindeer games."

The Black Swordsman shuddered as he heard the words, echoing from the depths of his memory. Then he too, began to join her in song.

"Then one foggy Christmas Eve
Santa came to say,
Rudolph with your nose so bright,
Won't you guide my sleigh tonight

Then how all the reindeer loved him,
As they shouted out with glee,
Rudolph the red-nose Reindeer
You'll go down in history."

They pulled back, both with tears in their eyes, but with a smile on their lips. "I guess… you're here to stay?" the boy asked hopefully.

"I am," Sachi nodded. "And this time, I'll learn how to be strong like you, Kirito."

"The name's Kazuto," he corrected her with a slightly larger smile. "Kazuto Kirigaya. I'm glad to have you back, Sachi."

"Sayuri," she said. "My name is Sayuri Motodato. And I'm glad to be back, Kazuto. I can't wait to hear all about the things that I've missed while I was gone."

Up above, in a place untouched by mortals, a man with a katana and an ugly bandana nodded to himself with a grin. "Thanks, Naga," he said. "Hang in there, Kirito, ol' buddy. You're gonna need every friend you can get for what's comin' next."

Robin: Wow, so I have kids with Lucina in the future? That sounds like a dream come true...

Kirito: Yup, and I've got my friend back from the Moonlit Black Cats. It really is like a dream come true.

Robin: I'm sure if Mataras were here, he'd probably say that he's surprised nobody guessed who Yuuki and Aiko were.

Kirito: Speaking of which... Where is he?

Robin: Let's just say that Cordelia didn't take the news about Klein very well...

Kirito: That bad, huh?

Robin: Worse. Look at this photo.

Kirito: OW! Well, uh... Man... Remind me never to piss off Cordelia.

Robin: And thus, a certain Lord Destroyer may just be receiving an invitation that they have been morbidly interested in for some time...

Kirito: Okay, you need to go read the Red Swordsman before you draw any conclusions- sure, he's banged up, but he won't die from that. Besides, if he died, we'd never be able to finish the story!

Robin: Fair enough. But with that, I believe our time is up. Farewell, readers.

Kirito: Next time- Taking the Capital, Part One.