From the corner of her eye, Willow could see Whitley looking at the various lovers with no small amount of envy.
She couldn't help but worry as both Rin and Asuna were both beautiful women in their own right.
She worried that her son's interaction with this bunch had made him believe that this was how most women looked when the truth was that the women that his friends had married were above average when it came to looks.
"Well since you all came back already and you found these things, let's go home." Asuna says to Kirito as several guards and knights arrive and quickly surround the crystals.
Willow couldn't help but close her eyes and hope that when the time came for her son to find a lover she would share these women's devotion towards the men that they loved.
Willow walked towards her son who hadn't given a single step from where he stood, she could tell that he wanted to say or do something only that he didn't know what to say or do.
With nothing else to do, she placed a comforting hand on his head and signaled to him, that they should follow the others.
The Knights and guards lifted their weapons as if preparing themselves to attack, yet the moment that they saw Asuna and Kazuma they nodded at the pair and immediately either lowered their guns or sheath their swords.
Today was a day for celebration, the crystals are the council's problem now.
][]][[][
Elsewhere[][][][]
Nicholas Schee tried to hold onto his sword but his illness was quickly eating away at him, not to mention the fact that ever since his fleet left Atlas and entered the Dark Lands his army has been in constant combat.
If it wasn't the Grimm then it was the various creatures in this hellish place.
Everything starts to quiet as his mind forces him to remember how furious and heartbroken Winter looked when he entered the airship, he could still remember their conversation.
He had to spend more than he ever imagined possible but he had managed to buy and arm over a dozen airships, unfortunately, more than half of them were outdated models or civilian airships that he had to modify so they could defend themselves.
If he was going to have a chance to bring his daughter and grandson back, then he was going to need every advantage he could get.
He took inspiration from his youth and remembered that he would need a lot of food, medicine, and water for the army that he had to gather, as back in those days he had been forced to go for weeks without them.
He had made sure that none of the men and women who joined him in this rescue mission had any illusions of coming back alive.
His army was made of people whose lives had become filled with one misfortune after another and who were now desperately trying to look for anything that would give them a reason to keep living.
This bunch was y far the least prepared, but he had seen the ferocity of the common man when he was pushed to either die or fight against impossible odds.
But these people weren't the only ones to join him.
Several mercenaries who looked at the reward that he was offering to those who would join him had chosen to sell their lives for it.
Finally, there were a few guards and Huntsmen who were loyal to him and his family.
He had brought with him the experimental weapons that he had to bribe or buy from people whose words were only trustworthy because they had a reputation to keep.
Yet he did not rely on these weapons alone, he had brought with him the weapons of old, the very same that he and his men had used when he was young.
Explosives of all kinds and unstable as well as stable dust crystals had been given to all of his men, all so that they could make fighting the Grimm easier for them.
It wasn't enough.
The fighting had started the moment they crossed the border.
The sky of this hellish place was a warzone as flying beasts and flying Grimm fought for dominion over them.
Both creatures attacked the airships as they saw them as competition, rather than any real threat.
The airships were forced to land as staying in the air would be too dangerous, but the ground was no better.
Even now as everything has become completely silent and his body moves on its own as it desperately tries to keep itself alive, he can see the rivers of dark ooze colliding with lava.
Yet it was where the two forces of nature met that he saw what shouldn't have been possible.
Grimm that were born from the black ooze, fought with the beasts that lived in the lava.
The land as far as the eye could see was being fought over, as the land was being torn open by Grimm and beast alike, it didn't matter where he turned as the fighting didn't seem to end.
The airships were forced to keep going as stopping now was certain death, but soon they had no choice but to land and so it was their turn to enter the war.
Nicholas felt something hit the side of his head and he found himself looking at Winter.
"Mom and Whitley are dead!" Winter shouted at him so that he could hear her over the old airship's engines.
Nicholas turned to look at his eldest granddaughter, the young woman's blue eyes, light peach skin, and long white hair reminded him of her mother and for a moment he thought that he was looking at his daughter.
"They are still alive Winter and I will find them and bring them home!" he shouted back.
He watched as his granddaughter signaled to her soldiers to force him back.
Nicholas couldn't help but smirk, The girl had risen to a high position in the military, but the men that he had hired immediately aimed their weapons at the soldier.
The two of them looked at each other and Nicholas felt no joy when he saw Winter close her eyes and order her men to lower their weapons.
"You may have given up hope but I haven't!" he said to Winter who weakly glared at him.
"This is madness, no one can even enter that place!" Winter begged.
"And yet I can see that your mother and brother are alive!" he said to Winter who looked at him with a confused expression.
"Winter how do you think I made my fortune, I can see the things that I'm looking for!" he said to his granddaughter before he closed the airship's doors and left her behind.
