Edit: While I've been cleaning up tenses and stuff and switching the constant use of Marzanna/Hanna's name even though it's from her perspective, I left it alone while Mike is watching her memories of the fight, since even though he's seeing through her eyes, it's technically from his perspective.
AN: I love how the reviews have been lately. Don't get me wrong, people just asking for updates aren't necessarily bad, it shows they're interested, but it's really nice to get little comments about what people liked and are wondering about. It shows me what I'm doing right, and what questions you guys want answers for, it even gives me little ideas sometimes! Also, Haha! Authoress has been sticking to the schedule she gave herself! Let's just hope I can keep it up!
Review Responses:
angel2u- Personally, I don't really see Hanna as a 'diabolical mastermind', seeing as that implies that I, who write her and thus come up with her 'diabolical' ideas, am a 'diabolical mastermind' as well, and that's simply not true. That said, I can't help but grin like a maniac at some of those ideas.
Tenzo51- I contemplated it, but since it was just straight up deleted, there are no drops to be had.
Tempestae Night- Sorry for how emotionally charged the recent chapters have been…. I wish I could say it'll get better soon, but…. Well, you'll see.
AnimeA55Kicker- Dude! I haven't heard from you in a while! Kinda ironic that someone who's name is that is 'crying' (you said *sniff sniff* so I'm just assuming here). Then again, the emotions in some of the recent chapters have been like a sucker punch to the feels dick, so… Sorry?
DA Exodus- Thank you! I've really been fucking with you guy's emotions lately haven't I? Sorry about that… Sorry to say, you'll be a bit disappointed when it comes to Kibaou… This is the last SAO arc chapter actually…
- Ehheh! I'm glad you like it so much!
Shinoki- That's because Kibaou's a dick. He's a greedy asshole. Of course everyone hates him.
harlequin320- Hate to disappoint, but….
Merlenyn- (Ch 25)- Marzanna's power are... Not out of control, precisely, but acting up. She went almost two years without using them in the slightest, then used almost everything she possessed in a flood all at once against Kuradeel, so now, while they're not precisely not under her control, they are... 'malfunctioning', I suppose you could say...
Never occurred to them that the reason she was lacking player stuff was because she wasn't a player. Hanna was really struggling to keep in mind that they'd have to 'give her back to her parents'... Now that she knows that's not the case though, you can bet your ass Hanna won't ever correct those thoughts again. That's her mate and child and if you fuck with them, she'll fuck you up!
Cooking is just the first part of Asuna's silence that I've thought of, but I'm sure I'll think of some more to add later. As for Kirito and kisses... They aren't his payment exactly, no, it's more along the lines that he uses them in an attempt to make Hanna forget about the blackmail he still owes her wherever the conversion comes up. Hanna knows exactly what he's trying to do of course, but let's him get away with it because, 'mmm, kisses'.
(Ch 26)- Yeah, I noticed a couple mistakes myself in the first Yui chapter when I was going back over the chapters to check something... Primary, that when Hanna is giving the Army a beat down, two of the times she charged a skill is says she changed the skill instead! So frustrating! I was checking it on AO3, so I couldn't change it at the time, and then I forgot until I saw you saw you'd noticed some more errors... I'll update them at some point...
No. No she is not. Frog legs and escargo and shit are disgusting... That's my opinion, but I'm sorry, I just can't write a character who would actually... Urgh, gross. It's gross. And Asuna made it clear in canon that she has a similar opinion on the matter. Makes for a funny scene though!
Like I said, I was giggling and grinning like a freaking maniac when I was writing that bit! Diabel is definitely one of my favorite Nephilim Witch characters to play around with... Which is why it's such a freaking shame I keep forgetting about him! I don't even know how it happens! He's awesome, so how do I keep forgetting him?!
It's a canon thing that Yulier and Thinker end up together. I just couldn't see Hanna saying no to her, especially considering her recent experience with Kirito and Kuradeel. Hanna's reaction to the situation itself and Kibaou's part in it seemed obvious to me. She hates Kibaou, and Thinker was unbelievably stupid for trusting anything that came out of that guy's mouth.
Like I said, I did think of an alternate way for that conversation to go, it was just needlessly complicated to work out considering there were only a few days left in SAO at that point.
November 7th, 2024- 733 days since SAO launch:
It was 2:20 in the afternoon, and Lily is in the living room, curled into Dante's side on the couch when the doorbell from the shop located in Japan rings. Reluctant to have her cuddling with her mate interrupted, she waits a moment in the hopes someone else will go see who was in the shop. To her relief, Kyrie passes by the doorway, giving her a small understanding smile as she goes by to answer the door leading into the house itself from the shop. Kyrie understands why she wouldn't get the door though she was closer, the only reason she doesn't have that problem was because Nero was out on a job.
Satisfied that she won't have to move, she lets out a content sigh, there was nothing better than curling up with your mate and a good book. However, as she tries to return to her book, she hears Kyrie's warm greeting get cut off by Kikuoka's hurried voice asking for them. Sharing a worried look with her mate, they stand up and go to the door.
Rounding the corner, she sees Kyrie closing the door behind Kikuoka. As soon as he spots them, he gives them a grim look, "I need your son to come to the hospital with me."
Lily shares an alarmed look with Dante, then nods firmly, "I'll floo Severus. He should be in class, but Hogwarts can't say no if I say it's a family emergency."
With that, she hurries off to collect her son, praying to every deity she can think of that her daughter and Kazuto will be ok at the very least. She knows it's selfish of her to only really be worrying about them, but at the moment, she can't bring herself to care.
Mike stumbles and has to hold onto the door frame when he tries to enter Marzanna's room. He's reminded of the first time he'd come to see his sister, but it isn't pain that nearly drives him to his knees this time. It's the sheer amount of emotion flooding their bond now that he's close enough to feel such things through it.
Not that it's surprising. On the way over, Kikuoka had filled them in. From Marzanna, they'd learned the identities of the front liners, as they're called, and had taken to monitoring them in particular. What little data they can see allows them to see what floor they've reached, so they know they haven't lost anyone to a floor boss since floor 67, but multiple of them had suddenly died practically back-to-back. Something which hasn't happened since Laughing Coffin.
And hadn't that been a sucker punch to the gut for basically all of them, because yes, obviously they knew murders are a real thing, but to find out that a whole group of players were giving into their darkest desires enmass… Marzanna had been tense and hadn't really given them much in the way of details. Just told them that they'd become enough of a problem for the front liners to attempt capture, but some of them had chosen to fight to the death, and some of the front liners had frozen up when their opponents had only a few hit points left and had died as a result.
His mother's eyes dart between him and his sister with worry, so he forces himself under control to reassure her as best he can, managing to gasp out, "Emotions. She's-... scared…." It doesn't really ease his mother's worry, "Not- Not for herself…. But… She's terrified."
Kikuoka frowns, "... Then whatever it is, it's still going on. Which means I can't find out what's happening right now…."
Mike finally gets himself under control to a degree, and stumbles over to the chair he usually sits in, tiredly flopping into it, "... Not necessarily. I don't know if the device can be tweaked like that, but theoretically, if you set it to see what I see instead of hovering over my shoulder, it sees what I'm seeing, and I look at her most recent memories…. Theoretically, you could see for yourself what's going on, from Marzanna's point of view. Though, unlike me, you won't be privy to what she's thinking and feeling, you'll just see and hear what she does. Assuming it works of course."
Kikuoka glances at the technician that maintains and runs the equipment in question and receives a shrug, "Changing where we get the data from, in this case to Mike instead of the 'diamond' is easy, it would only take a couple minutes, but I don't know if that'll let us see the memories."
Kikuoka nods, "Do it. There's no reason not to try, and if it doesn't work, Mike can simply tell me himself."
Once the device has been modified and Mike is hooked up, he takes a deep breath, then enters his sister's mind. Stepping out of the 'mirror portal' is like stepping into a tornado, and Mike's eyes snap open in alarm. Sure enough, before him is a massive twisting column of turbulent air with scraps of paper being violently thrown around inside, and multiple colors of what looks like lightning dancing through it, coming from it. He has to quickly duck as a bolt of lightning that's dual colored, a sickly yellow and the same exact shade of the killing curse, tries to strike him, as though in warning.
Without the 'diamond' Kikuoka's incredulous voice seems to come from everywhere at once, though it doesn't echo, "What the hell is that?!"
Mike eyes it in worry, despite the fact they can hear everything he does, he has to shout just to hear himself over the wind as he explains, "Usually for an Occlumency user as skilled and practiced as my sister, they don't have to manually sort memories, as they'll be sorted by their mind automatically. However, my sister's…. rather obviously turbulent emotions are inhibiting that skill!"
There's a brief pause, then Mike begins to make his way towards the tornado, causing Kikuoka to sputter in shock, "What are you doing?!"
Mike gives an aggravated growl, "Are you stupid? Or do you just not listen when people actually answer your questions. I just told you what that is! Since you don't seem to understand though, allow me to spell it out. You see those scraps of paper in that thing? They're there for a reason. Some people organize thoughts and memories with orbs, some with crystals, my sister? My sister is a bookworm, she organizes it all into books. Those scraps of paper are the memories associated with whatever the hell is going on, and the lightning is her emotions. Getting it now Kikuoka? That thing is what we came here to know!"
Though he hasn't been far, the wind makes it difficult to approach, seeming to try and keep him away, but he pushes through to the edge of the tornado. However, he quickly finds that while the violent wind doesn't harm him, it makes a wall of wind as solid as stone. Pressing his hands to it, he stares in confusion before understanding washes over him.
His sister knows he's here. She was trying to protect him from the knowledge. Somehow, though his voice is barely a whisper, he hears it better than even the shouting he'd done earlier, "Marzanna… Stop it. Stop trying to protect me…. You seem to be forgetting that I'm being dragged into a war against my will. I'll see people die in front of me eventually, and I've seen people die in your memories before, when our bond resynchronized…"
For a moment, nothing happens, the wind continuing to stubbornly make a solid barrier. Then, the wind seems to shudder beneath his palms, and becomes as much of an obstacle as a light breeze. Stepping through the storm with an ease that hadn't existed when he approached it, he finds himself in the eye of the storm, immediately getting swept away into her memories.
November 6th, 2024- 732 days since SAO launch:
If there was one thing that her mother had told her numerous times over the years that she hadn't understood until recently but wholeheartedly agreed with, it was that there was nothing better than curling up with your mate and a good book. She sighs happily as she snuggles deeper into her mate's side before turning the page on the rather good in game lore book she'd found.
She was smugly happy at how the last few days had turned out. Fuurinkazan and the Moonlit Black Cats had been drawn into the Army hunting, and with the enthusiastic determination of the three guilds, herself, and her mate, the Army had been successfully crushed into non-existence within the past three days. Kirito and herself had even managed to get their agreement with Lizbeth taken care of, which meant Hanna now had a fantastic new Falcata. Not as good as Shuraba of course, but definitely better than what she'd been using recently. Honestly the only thing that hadn't worked out as she'd hoped was the fact Kibaou realized what was happening quick enough to teleport to an upper floor and get away, other than that though, the past few days had been fantastic. Even right now was great. She and her mate had gotten back from finishing off the Army early enough to have dinner at a decent time and were now curled up on the couch together. Life was good.
Of course, it was at that moment that someone knocks on their door. Figuring it had to be one of their friends dropping by for a visit, Hanna leaves her mate's side with some reluctance and answers the door with a cheerful smile, "Asuna! What..."
Her happy greeting trails off as she notices the grim look on her friend's face. She heaves a sigh as her shoulders slump. This was Aincrad, of course things couldn't just stay fantastic for a bit.
Opening the door wider with a sudden wary fatigue she nods behind her, "Come on in. Kirito's in the living room, let's go back in there before you deliver the bad news, as I'm sure I want to hear it twice over about as much as you'd like to talk about it more than once. Besides, Kirito's probably getting worried at this point."
Asuna nods solemnly, giving her shoulder a brief squeeze in understanding and comfort as she slips past Hanna. Seating herself on the couch across from them, Asuna waits until Hanna has settled back down next to Kirito before beginning grimly, "I was contacted by Heathcliff a short while ago…" Hanna scowls angrily, but before she can say anything, Asuna holds up a hand to stop her, "About the 75th floor boss. As per our agreement, I'm under their jurisdiction, to a degree, when it comes to bosses."
Kirito frowns, "I would assume that would mean you're here to inform us of the next raid… But you're…. way too upset, for it to be just that."
Asuna sighs tiredly, "... As I'm sure you know, with how the 25th and 50th floor went, the lead guilds that are large enough to do it have been sending out larger scouting parties than usual for labyrinth mapping… Today, a group of twenty from the KOB found the boss room…. However, when they opened the door to get a look at the boss so we have an idea of what to expect…. nothing happened. They waited for ten minutes, but the boss didn't show itself. Eventually, half the group went in, hoping to trigger the boss' appearance…." Asuna pauses to collect herself, before continuing, "The doors closed and sealed behind them, then opened five minutes later, but there was no sign of the first group that had entered, nor the boss. The second group came back with the mapping data, and someone was sent down to check the Memorial of Life. All ten players in the first group have been confirmed dead."
Hanna squeezes her eyes shut, and Kirito tightens his hold on her waist. For a moment, all three of them silently mourn the loss of ten more lives to Aincrad, then Kirito sighs, "An Anti-Crystal trap. I suppose it's to be expected, the last boss room was like that...So basically, the boss raid is soon, but we have no idea what to expect other than that we won't be able to retreat no matter how badly the fight goes."
Asuna nods grimly, "I was instructed that we'll be meeting at the Teleport Gate in Yurinia tomorrow, and heading out at two."
Hanna shares a worried glance with her mate, then nods at Asuna, "We'll be there."
The pull into Marzanna's memories had been sudden and rough, lacking the usual smooth transition akin to a good movie that Marzanna's memories usually had, as had the shift from one memory to the next. So it was with a mental sensation that felt like a stumble that Mike finds himself in the next memory. Seeing nothing interesting going on immediately, she'd just teleported into Yurinia, and the other front liners are staring at her and her mate as they move away from the gate, he turns his attention inwards with a mental shake of his head.
He can't actually talk, seeing as he has absolutely zero control over Marzanna's body in the memory, so he sincerely hopes the others will hear him through the device as they normally would if he calls out to them mentally, 'Kikuoka? Can you hear me? Is it working?'
Kikuoka's voice once again seems to come from all around him at the same time, "Yes. We're seeing her memories just like you."
At that moment, a grim sounding voice comes from behind Hanna, "Never had so many front liners participating in one raid before. Though, I suppose it's to be expected. Right Hanna?"
Hanna turns with a tense smile, "Diabel. You guys are participating in this one, huh?"
He gives her a tight smile of his own, "Well, we only stayed out of the last few because my guild's levels were falling a bit too low to continue going on boss raids safely. I got my members caught up, and we were going to help out with the last one, but… Well, Kibaou tried to pull that moronic stunt and you guys had to save their sorry asses, though you know that better than I."
Hanna opens her mouth to say something, but another familiar voice interrupts, "Yo!"
Turning, she finds Klein and Agil standing behind herself and Kirito, Klein giving them his usual carefree grin as he raises his hand in greeting. Kirito smiles lightly and he gives Agil his usual fist bump in greeting, "What? You guys are coming too?"
Agil grins slightly in a joking manner, "You should be happy to see me. I shut my shop down to come help out. You don't even understand my selfless desire to help?"
Kirito grins in mischief, "Is that so? In that case, we'll remove you from the item drop list."
Agil holds his hands up in front of him, "No need to be hasty! I wouldn't take it that far…"
That draws laughter from Hanna, Klein, and Diabel, and a grin from her mate. Hanna is aware people are staring at them like they're crazy, most of them are tense with worry, and here their little group of friends is joking, but she honestly doesn't care. Surprisingly though, the laughter spreads to the other front liners, easing the nearly physical anxiety in the air. Their laughter trails off quickly as the Teleport Gate activates and everyone turns to see who it is that's arriving, as just about everyone else was already there. The Gate glows its usual blue for a moment before Heathcliff and a small group of KOB members come through.
Heathcliff looks around, then nods firmly, most likely realizing that they'd simply been waiting on him. Moving away from the Gate, he makes his way to the front of the assembled players.
Mike, having been focusing entirely on the memory, is a bit disoriented when his mother's voice surrounds him, "Why did they call Marzanna Hanna earlier?"
Kikuoka is quick with his answer, likely not wanting to miss anything, "It's Marzanna's screen name. I imagine everyone in there except her soulmate knows her as Hanna. Now please, I don't want to risk missing anything important."
They hadn't though, the players had simply been watching Heathcliff make his way forward, who now stopped just a few feet from a large Roman looking archway before turning to look them over, "I'm sure you all already know the situation we're in, and the difficulty of what we're setting out to do, so I won't bother going over the details again. As such, we'll be heading out immediately."
He turns back around towards the archway, before holding up a Corridor Crystal, "Corridor: Open." The Crystal glows briefly, then shatters as a portal opens, and Heathcliff sweeps his gaze over the players, "Now, let's go."
Without another word, he turns and heads through the portal. The players glance between each other, then begin to go through the portal. Stepping through the portal is like stepping through a wall of water, but without getting wet. Hanna ignores the strange sensation as she walks through next to Kirito, the last to go through, and looks around to study their surroundings.
She frowns, "I've got a really bad feeling about this… This place… It's really elaborate looking…"
Kirito nods grimly, "Yeah…"
After taking part in all previous seventy-five floor boss raids up to to this point, they could roughly gage the bosses strength by its' lair, and while it wasn't unexpected, given that this was the seventy-fifth boss fight, the final quarter milestone before the end up itself, Hanna was genuinely worried upon laying eyes on the dark but elegant lair.
Kirito seems to try to gather his thoughts, murmuring too low for anyone to hear, "Marzanna…"
But she understands, knows what he's trying to say, and she'll protect him too, "Yeah."
Heathcliff stands in front of the boss door, then pulls his shield from his back, resting the end on the ground in front of him, "Is everyone ready? The Knights of the Blood will take charge of holding the boss' attacks back. While we do, the rest of you will study the it's attack patterns, and prepare to change tactics as necessary. It will be a difficult battle, but I have faith that we can prevail. For our liberation!"
The front liners roar in agreement at that, but Hanna just rolls her eyes, "He sure likes to make grandiose speeches, doesn't he?"
Kirito chuckles lightly. After a moment, Hanna drops her gaze to the ground, only to notice Kirito clutching his hand into a fist so tightly that it trembles, immediately she closes her own around it, "Don't worry so much."
His breath leaves him in a rush, "We know nothing about this boss. So many things could go wrong, it's ridiculous."
Hanna sighs, and squeezes his hand tighter in reassurance, and lifts her gaze to his face with a slight smile, "Worrywart."
He huffs, "I am not. I just-" He cuts off the by now incredibly familiar argument, then sighs, "Yeah. I'm worried."
Hanna gives him a reassuring smile, "It'll be ok."
He smiles slightly at her, but their attention is pulled away from each other by the sound of the boss room doors slowly opening, and they let go of each other's hands to draw their weapons. Hanna follows as Kirito steps up to be next to Klein, who has Agil on his other side, and he simply tells them, "Don't die."
Klein doesn't even glance at them, "Heh! Same to you two!"
Agil doesn't shift his focus either, "I'm gonna make a fortune off today's drops. I have no intention of dying."
Shooting the boys a fond smile, Hanna is startled by a voice from her other side, "Hanna. You and Kirito better not die either. It isn't made with any S-Class ingredients, but I discovered a recipe almost as delicious as Ragout Rabbit stew. So you two better make it and come over for dinner tonight."
Turning to the determined but smiling Asuna, she grins, "Hah! Kirito thinks with his stomach, so after saying something like that, there's no way we could die here."
Asuna's smile widens momentarily, then she shifts her gaze back to the almost fully open door. On Asuna's other side, Diabel gives her a mischievous wink, then shifts his focus as well. Hanna shares a smile with her mate, then turns to the door. She and her mate are surrounded by their friends, and despite the previous worry Hanna finds her confidence swelling as a warm feeling of comradery washes over her. She takes a deep breath and turns serious as the door finally finishes opening with a low 'boom'.
When the door is open, there's a sight pause, then Heathcliff leads the charge into the room, the players spreading out as they enter. The room is simply a massive circular platform, and it's too dark to see the end of the room. Once everyone is in the room, there's a far louder resounding 'boom' as the door closes, much quicker than it had opened, then disappears entirely. There are a few tense moments of silence as everyone waits for the boss to show itself.
From near them, a player mutters, "Nothing's happening…."
There was another tense beat, then Asuna gasps in astonishment, before shouting in warning as her gaze snaps upwards, "Above us!"
Looking up, Hanna's eyes land on a strange skeletal centipede looking thing. It was staring at them, but hasn't moved just yet, as its name and five health bars appear. Klein's voice was a touch incredulous, "The Skull…"
It was a tense Kirito that finishes reading it, "-Reaper?!"
She can understand her mate's sudden apprehension. The last time they'd met a boss related in any way to Reapers…. It suddenly shrieks at them and starts to drop from the ceiling, causing Heathcliff to start barking out orders, "Don't group together! Stay away from it!"
However there were a couple players standing directly beneath it frozen in fear, and her mate calls out to them frantically, "This way! Run!"
They finally seem to gather themselves a bit, and begin to run over, the boss landing a few feet behind them. As soon as it lands, the rooms color changes to an orange-red as the boss fight was officially initiated, and the Skull Reaper swings one of its large scythe-like arms at the backs of the two players, throwing them with considerable force. Asuna darts forward a couple steps in an attempt to catch at least one of them to prevent them taking further damage, but they both burst into polygons just before they reach her, the blue fragments drifting through their stunned group.
For the first time in her memory since this death game started, Klein's voice is tinged with terror, "W-With one hit?!"
Agil's voice trembles slightly, "That's insane…"
The boss observes them for a minute, then moves forward with terrifying speed, as it rushes a group of players, who understandably run away. One player is frozen with fear though, and the Skull Reaper rushes him. Just before it reaches the man, Heathcliff runs past him and stops the creature's scythe arm dead in its tracks with his shield. For a brief second, the boss and Heathcliff stare each other down, but then the Skull Reaper simply sides around the KOB guild leader and cuts the player in half effortlessly.
The boss rushes around the room ridiculously quickly, given its size, and next to them Agil murmurs, "We can't even get close to it!"
The Skull Reaper rushes two more players, bringing one of its scythes up for an overhead attack, and Kirito dashes forwards as fast as his agility stat will allow, barely making it in time to block the blow with a cross guard, "Get back!"
Her mate is driven down to a knee, but manages to hold the attack off, just barely. The Skull Reaper attempts to hit him with a sweeping attack with the other scythe, but Heathcliff stops it with his shield. Hanna hits one of its glowing eyes, likely it's weak point considering there was nothing else but bone, with her highest damage one hit claw skill to push it back, as her claw tends to do more damage than her Falcata at this point, though she usually tries to hide it.
The shriek it gives as its forced back a fair distance proves her assumption on its weak points correct, "If we all do it together, we can take it on. We can do it!"
Kirito glances at her with a slight smile, nodding lightly, "Yeah …." The Skull Reaper lunges for them again, and the three of them burst into action as her mate calls out to the other players, "We'll keep its attention and deal with the scythes! Everyone else, attack from the sides!"
Hanna eyes the Skull Reaper's tail, a bit too similar to the dragon boss that had been in the Catacombs of the Damned oh so long ago for her liking, seeing Agil lead a small group around towards its back, she shouts at them, "Stay away from the back! Attack near the middle!'
The small group halts immediately, and Agil shoots her a worried look, "Why?!"
Hanna shakes her head, "A hunch! This thing's tail… It looks too much like the tail of a sub-dungeon boss Kirito and I fought for my comfort, and that thing could use its tail for jabbing attacks!"
Agil nods then glances at his group, "You heard the lady! Stay away from the back and attack the middle!"
Hanna and Kirito stare at the boss' health bars, which have barely been touched at all. They haven't even been fighting for five minutes and there are already three players dead. She feels despair, terror for the other players, for her friends and her mate, because she's honestly beginning to wonder how they're supposed to pull this off, and she can't force the emotions to disappear, so she pushes the torrent of emotions away to grab onto the just one. Her burning determination. If she can't forcibly dispel them, she'll just ignore them. Turning to her mate in determination, she can tell he's not faring any better, but they have a job to do, they can't afford to let these things get to them, "Kirito!"
Kirito's gaze turns from incredulous to a sort of furious fortitude, "Yeah."
Without another word they rush forward, Kirito to help Heathcliff with the scythes, and Hanna to keep its attention or distract it should Heathcliff or Kirito need help. As Agil and his group are joined by others wailing on it, the Skull Reaper starts to shift its attention away from Heathcliff and Kirito, so Hanna jumps in to do her job. Namely, purposely aggroing it by hitting its weak spot, one of its eyes, then when it focuses on her, jumping behind Kirito and Heathcliff.
That was the plan anyway, but after slamming a Skill into its eyes, she's a bit slow in jumping back and a scythe arm cuts straight through her, throwing her back thirty feet.
Kirito blocks its next attack, this one actually meant for him, and looks over his shoulder at her in horror as her health bar begins to drain at an astonishing rate, "Marzanna!"
Hanna ignores both him and the astonished glances from the other players, because almost no one trusts anyone with their real name and her mate had just shouted hers in panic, to yank a Healing Crystal out of her pocket as her gaze shoots up to her health bar. Bringing the Crystal up to be level with her face, she pauses. Her health has stabilized with a measly sixteenth of her bar left. Sighing, she quickly puts the Crystal back into her pocket, tosses her blade to the other hand, and yanks a health potion from her other pocket, downing it without hesitation. The vial shatters after the potions use, and her health bar refills over the customary ten seconds.
Standing up, she shifts her sword back to her other hand and darts back to the fight, "You know, it's considered rude to use someone's real name around other people."
Her tone is casual with just a hint of teasing, because she really doesn't mind, can't blame him for the slip up considering the circumstances. Then, she refocuses on the boss, she can't afford to be distracted, not when she's got the most dangerous job by far. Kirito and Heathcliff may have the perilous job of blocking its attacks, but at least they could block, she couldn't, and yet, she was the one with the job to continuously piss it off and let it chase her.
She sighs as she readies her weapon when she realizes it's attention is starting to shift again, "My work is never done, is it?"
For fifty minutes, Mike, and everyone else for that matter, watch the incredibly dangerous fight through Marzanna's eyes anxiously. Listening through her ears as the grim sound effect of players shattering cut through the air with terrifyingly regular frequency. Then finally, the boss seems to stagger, falling to the ground. Hanna's eyes dart up immediately to see that only a tiny sliver of health from its last bar is left.
Heathcliff notices as well, and calls out, "It's staggered! Everyone attack!"
The players all rush the boss and begin to attack it in frenzy, unable to retaliate, the boss seems to glare at them in fury. Then, finally after almost a full minute of the frantic attacking, the boss rears back with one final shriek as the last of its health drains away, then freezes for a second before bursting into millions of blue 's a deafening silence as the usual fanfare and 'Congratulations!' pop up appears. The usual roar of excitement from the front liners at the fact they're one step closer to freedom is noticeably absent after the terrifying fight. Instead people begin to just collapse, flop to the ground, or outright lay down after the mentally and emotionally exhausting fight.
Kirito looks at her unsurely, asking with his eyes if it was really over, if they'd actually managed to scrape a victory together. She gives him a sad reassuring smile, and with a sigh, he flops to the ground, and Hanna quickly seats herself so they're back to back.
From his spot sitting near them, Klein grimly asks the question on so many of the players' minds, but that no one wants to voice, "How many died?"
She hears her mate open his menu, likely to count the dots on the map, but she already knows the answer, so she gives it tiredly, "12." There's a slight pause, and she can all but feel the questioning looks drilling into her, but she doesn't lift her gaze from the ground, "I was counting the sound effects. Nine over the course of 50 minutes, plus the three at the start."
Agil gasps lightly, "No way…"
In the deathly silence that had reigned since the boss had died, everyone hears her words, and there's a sudden tense disbelief in the air.
Klein's voice is an incredulous whisper, "We still have twenty five floors left…"
Agil is equally quiet, "Will we really be able to reach the top?"
Murmuring breaks out, and Klein punches the ground, "12 people…. God, I don't think we've had casualties like that since…"
Hanna nods, "The fiftieth floor boss. And except for the two Army members on the last floor, which you can't really count for our record since they aren't front liners, we haven't lost anyone since the 67th floor." She sighs, "I hate to say it, given that people just died, but…. it could've been a lot worse."
She can all but feel Klein's incredulous anger, "Worse?! 12 people just died! You-"
Kirito cuts across him harshly, "Klein!" There's a brief pause, then Kirito sighs, "She's right. With how strong that boss was, if Heathcliff, Hanna, and myself weren't so over leveled compared to the rest of you, if we hadn't been able to keep it occupied-"
"I know that!" There's a brief pause, and Hanna finally lifts her gaze to look over her shoulder at them. Klein and Kirito are glaring at each other, but then Klein sees her. She honestly doesn't know what he sees in her eyes or face, but whatever it is, it causes him to slump in defeat and look away before sighing, "... Sorry. It just… Seems wrong to say something like that, when…."
Hanna returns her gaze to the ground, "I know…. But it's the truth."
There's a heavy silence following that. Then, black begins to close in. Mike stumbles out of the memory. In the time since that he was otherwise occupied, the tornado had disappeared, leaving a mess of paper in its wake. Electricity, now blue, reddish black, and a green similar to the shade of their eyes, still violently ran across the floor between the scraps of paper representing the memories he'd just left, but things had calmed down considerably. Likely because the fight had still been in progress when he arrived, but had finished during the time they'd been viewing the memories.
Kikuoka's confused voice surrounds him, "What happened? The memories-"
Mike eyes the electricity in worry, not for being shocked but for his sister as he cuts Kikuoka off, "Are back to being automatically 'filed', as it were, now that my sister has calmed down some. She'll have to come in and manually sort this," He gestures to the mess on the floor, "but everything after that didn't appear here in the storm because they were placed wherever my sister's mind automatically thought that should. Besides, you learned what we came here for. You don't need to see anything more."
Kikuoka sighs, but before anyone can say anything, another tornado appears from nowhere as more scraps of paper begin to pop into existence inside it, and Mike is violently thrown away from it.
He hears a chair clatter to the ground before his dad's alarmed voice rings out, "What the hell?! I thought the fight was over! What-"
Mike climbs to his feet, shielding his face as best he can while still looking at the monstrosity before him, "I don't know! But I can already tell you Marzanna isn't going to let me see! She isn't even letting me near it, considering the way I was thrown back!"
Kikuoka's voice is tense, "Then how are we supposed to know what's going on?'
Mike doesn't say anything for a minute or so, "We don't. We'll have to wait until whatever's going on is over and talk to Marzanna…"
Hanna is resting her forearms on her knees, and her head on her arms, trying to distance herself from the oppressive atmosphere. It doesn't work, but she's not ready to get up, so she doesn't know what else to do. She's startled when her mate suddenly gasps in realization. She lifts her head and looks over her shoulder at him to ask about it when he shifts behind her, but before she can say anything Kirito finishes shifting into a crouch, grabs Elucidator from the ground next to him, and takes off as fast as he can, rushing Heathcliff.
She shoots to her feet and whirls around, "Kirito?!"
Kirito doesn't respond as he reaches Heathcliff and lunges at him with a Skill. Only to ricochet off of a small purple window. «Immortal Object» all but blares it's message to the astonished front liners. She rushes over to stand behind her mate and provide backup if necessary as incredulous murmuring breaks out amongst the players.
She glances at her mate's back, "What… What's going on?"
Kirito and Heathcliff stare each other down, then Kirito sheaths his sword, but continues to glare at Heathcliff as he begins to slowly speak, "The game ensures that his HP will never fall into the yellow zone. Something has always bothered me, ever since I arrived here." He tilts his head back to look at the ceiling in thought, "It's been bothering me this whole time. 'Where does he hide while he watches us and adjusts the world?' But I'd forgotten a simple piece of psychology. Something any kid knows. There's nothing as boring as watching someone else play an RPG." He finally returns his gaze to Heathcliff, "Isn't that right, Kayaba Akihiko?"
That draws gasps from their enraptured crowd, and Hanna suddenly feels like her chest is in a vice as everything clicks into place, her hand reflexively grabbing her sword's hilt.
Heathcliff, Kayaba, is silent for a few seconds before he tilts his head at Kirito, "Would you be so kind as to tell me how you figured it out?"
Kirito is silent for a moment, then continues, "During our duel at the tournament… In that last instant, you were far too fast…. It must've looked normal enough to the crowd, seeing as no one seemed to notice except Hanna and myself."
Heathcliff's gaze drifts to her at the mention of her name, but Kirito steps in front of her with a fierce protective glare. It only seems to amuse Kayaba though, as he nods with a small smile, "I suspected that's what it was, though I'm surprised your wife noticed. That was an unfortunate mistake. You overpowered me to the point that I needed to engage the system's over-assist mode to prevent the Immortal Object pop up" The other players gasp as it finally sinks in that Kirito is correct, causing Kayaba glance around at them with an amused smile, before he returns his gaze to Kirito, looking him straight in the eyes, "I originally expected to reach the 90th floor before this would be revealed. Yes, I am Kayaba Akihiko. And if I may add, I am the game's final boss, who would have awaited you on the top floor."
There are noises of disbelief from the rest of the players, but Kirito doesn't seem startled in the slightest, "What a cliché. The strongest player betrays us to become the last boss?"
Kayaba tilts his head, still smiling pleasantly, "Perhaps. It makes for an interesting scenario though, doesn't it? I had originally expected this revelation to cause a wave of shock to go throughout Aincrad, but I never expected to be found out only three quarters of the way through. I knew you two were the game's most unpredictable factor, but I never imagined you had such potential."
Kayaba gazes at them thoughtfully, "... I've thought for quite a while that it would be you to challenge me at the end, and my belief was all but confirmed when Kirito received the Dual Wield skill. I instructed the system to reward it to the player with the fastest reaction time."
Briefly she feels a flair of confusion, since if that's the criteria then as much as she loves her mate, given how superior she is, it should've gone to her, before dismissing the idea. Even if the NerveGear had been fast enough to keep up, given that it was designed with humans in mind, her literally inhuman reaction speed was likely brushed off.
It darts through her mind in a moment before she's pulled back to the present by Kayaba, "It was my intention that such a player would act the part of the Hero that challenges the Demon King. In fact, I'd originally intended to recruit you to the KOB so that you could take over when it was time for me to reveal myself, but your wife is rather tricky to deal with, and your power exceeded my expectations. Well, these unexpected events are part of the fun of an MMORPG."
She steps forward to pull her mate back against her protectively, not liking the 'plans' Kayaba had for her mate. Sure, they'd have helped out in the final boss fight when they got there, of course they would've, but it doesn't sit well with her that Kayaba had been planning to engage her mate in a fight to the death.
There's a brief silence before one of the KOB leaders stands up shakily with a furious expression, clearly fed up with the calm conversation, "Our loyalty… Our hope…. How dare you… How dare you? How dare you?!"
He brings his two handed sword above his head and launches himself at Kayaba with a jump. Hanna can't help but think he's an idiot though, given that Kirito had already attempted to attack Kayaba, and they'd all seen how that worked out. It was even dumber when you took into account that Kayaba could likely just kill them with a simple system command.
There's no time to stop him however, and they can only watch as he tries to attack Kayaba. Kayaba is much faster though, opening and manipulating a window in seconds, the player drops his weapon before falling to the ground roughly, a paralysis icon appearing above him at the end of his health bar. She doesn't feel an ounce of pity for the man, despite now being stuck at the feet of the man who led them around and had played them all for fools for two years. As far as Hanna is concerned, the idiot is lucky Kayaba didn't just kill him.
Kirito's voice is a breathy whisper, "Paralysis?"
But Kayaba isn't done, clicking at his menu rapidly, causing paralysis icons to appear over player after player. It isn't long before Hanna herself suddenly feels her body go slack, her grip on her mate slipping as she falls, "Kirito!"
He catches her instinctively, the only player except Kayaba left unparalyzed, and eases her to the ground but doesn't let her go as he glares at Kayaba furiously, "What are you going to do? Kill us all and cover it up?"
Kayaba shakes his head with a faint smile. "Of course not. I wouldn't do anything so unfair. Well, then…" His gaze drifts over the players thoughtfully, "I shall await you on the top floor, within the Ruby Palace. I've put a lot of time into developing the Knights of the Blood and the other front line players, so it's a shame I have to leave them part way. However, I'm sure that with your power, you'll reach me eventually. But first…" He turns back to Kirito with a smile, then plants his shield into the ground, "Kirito, I must reward you for deducing my identity early. I shall give you a chance."
Kirito narrows his eyes at him in suspicion, "A chance?"
Kayaba nods, "The chance to fight me one-on-one. Naturally, I'll deactivate my immortal status. Defeat me, and you beat the game. Do so, and all the players will be automatically logged out. How about it?"
Kirito gasps lightly at the prospect, but she glares at him, "Don't you dare! You heard what he said earlier, he had to use the system assist because you overpowered him! He's just trying to get rid of you!"
But for once, her mate doesn't seem to hear her, focusing entirely on Kayaba. His breathing turns harsh as he bows his head and grits his teeth, "Don't insult me." Kayaba raises an eyebrow, clearly wondering what her mate is mumbling about, but Kirito shakes whatever thoughts had been running through his mind off, before meeting Kayaba's gaze with a steely glare, "That's fine. We'll finish this now."
She glares at her mate, "Kazuto!"
That gets his attention, but he simply smiles at her, "I'm sorry. But I can't run away here."
She shakes her head, "And what am I supposed to do if you die, huh?"
Kazuto just continues to smile at her, "I won't. I'm going to win "
"But-"
Kazuto shakes his head this time, "But nothing…. When Kuradeel nearly killed me, you cried, but… We wouldn't have been in that situation if it wasn't for him. And that's all the motivation I need. Besides, there's Silica, and Lizbeth, and everyone else to take into consideration as well. There's my sister that I need to get back to, to apologize to. I will win, and we'll go home. I promise."
She stares at him for another moment, then nods lightly, "Fine… I'll believe in you Kazuto. Like I have since the day this death game started."
Kazuto gently places her on the ground, then slowly stands up, drawing his swords and starts to make his way over to Kayaba. Apparently, she wasn't the only one adverse to his decision though, as Agil shouts, "Kirito, don't!"
Klein also calls out in protest, "Kirito!"
Kazuto stops at the usual distance to stand at the beginning of a duel before speaking, "Agil… Thanks for helping to support the swordsman class." He turns to smile at him, "I know you spent nearly all the money you made helping the players during the middle zones to level." She doesn't like this, it's beginning to sound a lot like a goodbye, but her mate continues as his gaze shifts a few feet, "Klein… I really am sorry," He looks away shamefully, "for leaving you behind that day."
Despite the anger in his tone, Klein's voice sounds as though he's crying, "D-Damn it, Kirito! Don't apologize… Don't you dare apologize to me now! I won't forgive you… I won't forgive you until you buy me a meal on the other side!"
Her lips twitch slightly, that of course, was Klein's emotional way of telling Kazuto not to die. Something her mate seems to realize as his gaze returns to their friend and smiles lightly, "Got it." He lifts his right hand and without letting go of Elucidator, gives Klein a thumbs up, "See you on the other side."
His gaze finally returns to her, and she gives him a fiercely intense look, conveying how furious she'll be if he dies without words. He smiles at her in a loving manner, then his expression becomes serious as he turns back to Kayaba, who seems content to patiently wait as Kazuto makes what could be his goodbyes, "I'm sorry, but I have a request."
Kayaba tilts his head in question, "What is it?"
Kazuto's grip on his swords tighten, "I don't plan on losing. But if I die here, I want you to make sure that Hanna can't kill herself, just for a little while."
She… can't say it wasn't an accurate assumption. Kazuto was her mate. If he died…. She wasn't entirely sure she could resist the usual response soulmates had of committing suicide. And even if she did, she'd simply go insane like Uncle Vergil had. Which is to say homicidally 'you should be in a straight jacket' crazy.
Kazuto's request seems to surprise Kayaba, but he nods in agreement, "Very well."
She doesn't want him to die, but if he does, she'd rather die than go crazy like Vergil had, especially here where her family can't pull her back like grandparents had Vergil, "Kazuto, no! You can't… You can't do that!"
However, her mate ignores her, readying his blades as Kayaba manipulates his menu, setting his health to match Kazuto's, then clicks another button, which causes a notification, similar to the one that declares things immortal to appear, though it's red and says, «Changed into Mortal Object». Then he closes his menu and slowly draws his sword.
They stare each other down for a moment, then Kazuto rushes Kayaba, engaging him in a deadly dance, without using Skills, likely because Kayaba would undoubtedly know them all, and be able to defend against them with ease.
Their battle rages on with insane speed considering they're both strength types, but then Kayaba manages to nick Kazuto on the cheek, causing him to instinctively use the highest level Dual Wield skill, «The Eclipse». From his expression, Kazuto seems to understand that he's made a colossal mistake almost instantly, but it's impossible to stop a Skill once you've started. Seeing the dangerous situation her mate has gotten himself in, she immediately begins to struggle under the effects of the paralysis, forcing herself to her hands and knees and crawling forward as quickly as she can. As expected though, Kayaba knows every move to the attack, blocking effortlessly until, with the final stab, Dark Repulser's tip snaps off.
As Kazuto freezes under the Skills cooldown, Kayaba raises his sword above his head, "Farewell, Kirito."
As Kayaba's sword begins to glow with his Skill, she desperately forces herself to her feet and stumbles forward as fast as she can without falling back down, 'Almost there! Please!'
Calling up every ounce of her magic, demonic energy, and angelic energy, hoping against all hope it can help like it did with Kuradeel, she manages to throw herself in between her mate and the Skill just in time as Shuraba once again manifests in her hand. Given that Shuraba doesn't exist to the system, she doesn't bother trying to block with it, instead stabbing Kayaba just as his Skill tears through her. However… To her, and everyone else's shock, it's not the red particles of an attack that spew from the wound, but a gushing stream of blood.
Kayaba falls to his knees, staring and clutching at Shuraba in shock, gasping out, "It- hurts!"
She reaches across her chest to grab her shoulder, pressing her arm against the still bleeding wound as best she can, "You're telling me…"
Kayaba looks up at her, "How…"
She bares her teeth in a mockery of a smile, "Call it a Unique Skill."
Then she stumbles back, and Kazuto's weapons drop with loud 'CLANG's as he catches her, then eases her down to a kneeling position with panicked desperation, "Marzanna!"
She shifts her gaze to him, panting due to the pain, which while it was nothing compared to the pain of some of the injuries she'd gotten as a Demon Hunter, after two years without experiencing any physical pain whatsoever feels monstrously bad, "Don't… you know it's… rude to call someone… by their actual name… in front of others?" Then her gaze shifts up to her health bar, "Besides…. It seems... all that nighttime… labyrinth grinding…. paid off…. I still…. have a few… hit points left."
Kazuto breathes out a shaky sigh of relief, then turns his furious gaze to Kayaba, who had been slowly, painfully, removing Shuraba but now stumbles to his feet as he drops the weapon. Before it can hit the ground she releases her hold on it and it disappears without a trace.
Kazuto lets go of her, never once removing his furious gaze from Kayaba as he all but growls, "Sorry Marzanna. I'll be right back."
Without further ado, he lunges at Kayaba, chaining a seemingly endless amount of Martial Art and One Handed sword skills together. Kayaba seems to have slowed down a bit, likely due to echoes of phantom pain, and only manages to last a minute under the bombardment before a punch staggers him, leaving him wide open for his head to get cleaved off
The moment Kayaba bursts into particles, Kazuto whirls around and rushes back to her side. He immediately drops to his knees in front of her, gently grabbing onto her shoulders as he gazes at her in worry. She simply smiles at him reassuringly, then leans forwards to press her forehead into his chest.
However, a moment later, the familiar feeling of teleporting washes over them. After the light dies down, they find themselves on a glass platform overlooking Aincrad, which was breaking apart before their eyes.
Kazuto's breath hitched at the sight, "W-What's going on? The other players-"
A voice cuts him off, "Are perfectly fine. In fact, the remaining 7,392(1) players have already been logged out. It's just us here now."
Turning, they find none other than Kayaba Akihiko himself, looking as he does in real life rather than like Heathcliff, watching the crumbling world with certain sadness that she can understand to an extent. Even though she misses the real world and her family, that place that was falling apart had been her's and Kazuto's home for nearly two years.
Kazuto breathes a sigh of relief, "Then… they're all safe.. What's happening to Aincrad? For that matter, why are we still here."
Kayaba doesn't look away from the collapsing structure, "The SAO mainframe, within the fifth-level basement at my corporate headquarters, is deleting all data on its storage devices. In ten minutes or so, this entire world will vanish, though this platform will be the last to go." He finally looks at them, or more actually, her, "Which is why I brought you here. I have… questions."
The pointed look he gives to the arm she was still clutching to her chest, tells her exactly what those questions are. She sighs, "Would you believe me if I said it was magic?"
Kayaba hesitates, "Ordinarily, no, but…. You somehow received a wound that bleeds in a game without blood programmed in, and stabbed me with a ghostly sword that caused actual pain despite the pain absorption system being turned on to maximum. So, I… Have an open mind."
Her lips twitch slightly as she returns her gaze to Aincrad, "Good, because it's the truth… The world, the real world that is, is…. much larger than you know. Dragons, mermaids, unicorns, phoenixes, vampires, werewolves…. Magic. It's all real in one form or another."
Out of the corner of her eye, she can see she has Kazuto's full attention, and from the other side she sees Kayaba turn to her fully, "I…. may have a more open mind, but I find that difficult to believe. Wouldn't it be common knowledge?"
She nods, "It is…. For those of us part of that world in some way or another. Ever heard of the Witch Trials? Unless you're a phoenix or dabble in the foulest of black arts, any sort of magical is mortal. Sure, some of them have longer life spans than non-magical people, hell the magic witches and wizards have slows the aging process after they reach their prime by about half making it about as unheard of for them to live to 200 as it is for someone without magic to live to 100, but they're still mortal, and their magic doesn't come from hell or anything of the sort. It's something we're born with, just as you were born with brown eyes. Furthermore, most of those poor girls back then weren't even magicals, but nevertheless, it sent a very clear message to us magicals. That being that while there'd always been people who thought we were unnatural, they were now becoming the majority, and thus, the world was no longer safe for our kind to live in the open."
She sighs, "We already had people who created international laws at that point, so it wasn't long before they passed one because of that shift. The Statute of Secrecy. According to it, no non-magicals who are not either related to a magical or in a high government position are allowed to know of our existence. So, things that were more difficult to hide, such as dragons and giants were gathered up and forced to live away from people, places they won't ever be found by those without magic, others, such as vampires and werewolves, were forced under strict regulations. Vampires may need blood to survive, and werewolves may be literally unable to stop themselves from changing, but feeding on or changing near regular people is a crime punishable by death. Our society as a whole hid itself away, allowing the once common knowledge of its existence to fade into myth. No longer anything more than fairy tales meant to induce wonder… or terror. Within time, we began to break away further and further, and it wasn't long before each country had its own magical government, still answering to their non-magical counterparts to an extent, but almost entirely separate."
Kayaba huffs, "I'm beginning to find your explanation more and more unbelievable." Wordlessly, Hanna releases her shoulder and holds her hand in front of her, palm up, very clearly covered in her blood. There was a brief pause from Kayaba, "... Touché… But, if this is supposed to be some sort of secret, why are you telling me?"
She lowers her head, "You may be here, and you may have been the one asking questions, but I'm not explaining for your benefit."
Kazuto jolts in shock, then grabs her hand, the one not converted in blood, and gives it a light squeeze. Kayaba stares at them in contemplation for a moment, then nods, "I see…. However…. If you have magic, something that can apparently defy the laws of this world to an extent, then why…"
Shebfinally looks at him, staring him down blankly, "... There are enchantments and runes that one can place on technology to shield it, but without those, magic and technology…. Don't mix all that well. Specifically, magic tends to fry electronics when in proximity, either from casting or being in a place steeped in magic. You'll have to forgive me, but without a damn good reason, I didn't particularly feel up to rolling the dice and using magic while your murder machine is stuck to my fucking face."
Kayaba tilts his head, "Ah… Yes, I can see the issue there." His brow furrows, before his eyes widen, "But then… Even if you had survived that blow, there was still a chance... " She simply nods, and Kazuto's grip on her hand becomes so strong it would be crushing to a normal person in the real world. Kayaba stares at her blankly, "Why? Why would you…"
She tilts her head at him thoughtfully, "Have you ever been in love, Kayaba?"
His answer is immediate and blunt, "No."
She smiles at him sadly, "Then you couldn't possibly even hope to understand."
Kayaba nods slowly, then his gaze drifts to her bloody hand, which is now simply dangling at her side, "I know you said it was magic, but I still don't understand… And the sword…."
She glances down at her limb, watching the blood drip down, "Ah, well, the sword belongs to me in real life. Shuraba, the sword, is bound by and was created with my magic. I was just trying to summon it here because I found out with Kuradeel that it causes actual pain, despite not being able to affect hit points…. As for the wound…. I honestly don't know, but my best guess? I suppose…. It's possible that my magic acted as a…. bridge, of sorts. Linking my virtual body and real body… So, when you struck me…. My magic transferred that… 'data', as it were, to my real body. A bridge goes both ways though… So while the injury was transferred to my real body… The blood, my actual blood mind you, was transferred here. Given that they probably put all the magicals in the game in the same hospital, and likely brought in a Healer with a non-magical medical degree, I've probably already been healed in the real world." By which she meant her Nephilim healing had likely taken care of it immediately, "And the connection between my Avatar and body was likely severed as soon as I stopped using my magic, but… Aincrad doesn't even… 'see' the blood or wound. They don't exist to the system. Which is why they aren't disappearing."
There's a beat of silence as her listeners absorb all of that, then she sighs again, "I probably freaked out the healers, and possibly my family if they were there when a gash spontaneously appeared on my real body."
Kazuto huffs, "Can't blame them. You freaked me out when you started bleeding…" Then he sighs, looking past her to Kayaba, "There's something I've been wanting to know since this all started two years ago, and I'm not the only one…. Why? Why did you do it?"
Kayaba's gaze returns to Aincrad, "I suppose that's fair. Your wife answered my questions after all... Why, huh? To be honest… I forgot a long time ago…" He looks to the sky, as though searching for answers, "I wonder why… When I began developing the full-dive environment system… No, long before that, I dreamed of nothing but creating that castle, a world that surpassed all our laws and all our reactions…. And now I have seen someone who surpasses even my own world's laws… The world… truly is much larger than I knew… How old must I have been, when I was obsessed with the fantasy of a steel castle that floated in the sky? I wanted to leave the ground, to fly to that castle. For a long, long time, that was my only desire… You know, Kirito, Hanna, I still believe that in some other world, that castle truly exists."
There's a beat of silence, then Kazuto nods lightly, "Yeah, I hope it does."
She smiles lightly as she turns back to watch Aincrad finish crumbling, "Well…. It's certainly possible. With the right wards for environment control and flight…. It could even be done in the real world. Our real world."
Kayaba smiles at her lightly, then seems to remember something, "I forgot to say this. Congratulations on winning the game, Kirito, Hanna. Now then, I must be going."
He turns and starts to walk away, but Hanna calls out to him, "Wait!" He pauses and tilts his head, so she continues, "What about us? You said everyone else was already logged out, but…"
He nods, "Don't worry. You can log out at any time, and if you're still here when Aincrad finishes deleting, it'll automatically happen." He glances over his shoulder at them, "I simply figured you would be the only players to truly appreciate the sorrow of Aincrad's destruction. You two…. you're the only other people who truly called it home for the past two years."
Hanna nods. So without further ado, he turns back around, walking a few more steps before he seems to turn into smoke and disappear. There's a few moments of silence, in which they move over and sit on the ledge of the platform, then Kazuto takes a breath, "So… Magic? Is it really…"
He seems hesitant to finish the sentence, likely not wanting to sound foolish, so she turns to him with a smile, "Yeah... " She looks down at Aincrad again, "I'm…. sorry I never told you… I just…. didn't know how to explain.. Especially since I had no way to prove it… But, even if you still don't quite believe me despite what happened, I can prove it on the other side. There I'll be able to use my magic freely, for the first time in two years. I'd understand if you're mad though…"
In her peripheral vision, she sees Kazuto shake his head slowly, "No… I believe you. I mean, it's crazy, to think all that's real, but… I believe you. I'm not mad either… Without what just happened… It… would've been difficult to believe…"
She smiles lightly at him, "In other words, you would've thought I was lying or crazy, but you don't want to put it that way because you love me."
His sheepish smile speaks for itself. Then he looks away with a sad expression, "So… Is this… Goodbye? I… I don't want…"
She smiles lightly at him, "Stupid. Are you forgetting what I said after we helped Silica? This, us, it's real to me. Both here and in the real world. We'll definitely meet up on the other side."
Kazuto looks down, "But… What if we can't find each other…"
Hanna bites her lip unsurely, then sighs as she looks away, "There's… something else I haven't told you, that might make you mad… I…. Through magic…. I've been in contact with the real world since January of last year… There was a government official who wanted to know what was going on in SAO by the name of Kikuoka. In return for taking the risk of the magic frying my NerveGear, and therefore possibly my brain, and for giving him information, the device he used to get updates would remain available to my family, to talk to me when I was asleep here. It's… too complicated to explain with so little time, but you have more of a right to know about magic then you realize and it's causing something to happen to your body. They had to transfer you to be as close to me as possible without actually putting us in the same room… So, from my understanding… You're in the room right next to mine in the hospital…."
Kazuto stares at her for a moment in shock, then smiles lightly and tucks some of her bangs behind her ear before cupping her cheek, "I'm not mad. You couldn't have explained that without explaining magic, and we've already gone over that…. I'm glad though. This'll make it easy to get to each other once we're back in the real world."
She smiles at him, then closes her eyes and leans into his hand. A moment later she feels lips press against her own, and happily returns the kiss. Less than a minute later a bright white light pierces through her eyelids, and all sensation disappears.
(1): Edit note: I actually meant to increase the amount of SAO survivors from canon, since Marzanna's directly gave Argo information of increasing actual sword fighting capacity and Kirito discovered the Skill Chain in SAO instead if Aincrad here since having backup meant he could clear the Catacombs of the Damned, which while not canon, one can imagine existed there and just wasn't cleared. Anyway, both of those undoubtedly make a difference, but I was in the middle of bouncing between watching the relevant episode and writing and forgot to up it. Number doesn't really mean anything, was just pulled at random of upping it from the canonical 6,147.