AN: Got a lot of replies last time. You guys couldn't really seem to agree on what the reason for the drop in reviews was, some of you even contradicting each other, but that's alright. I'm just glad that I'm not disappointing you guys or myself by my writing getting worse.
Review Responses:
Lissensjoeri- In that case, I'm sorry this took so long, and I hope you enjoy this chapter.
orion0905- Yeah, last chapter was pretty busy. It might be because it's in a lull. The problem is that I got mixed and even downright contradictory reviews on what people want (I've gotten a couple reviews over time asking for more HP stuff, but most people who answered my concerned question about my writing ability and more than one said they want less HP stuff and more SAO). So… I think I'm probably just going about it the way I've been doing everything and hope that appeases everyone enough.
Kilare T'suna- I'm glad to hear that. It was…. frustrating, to see the steadily decreasing amount of reviews and wondering if it's my writing degrading, to know I'd been moving forward in skill slowly but steadily, only to start questioning if it'd started backtracking. Just being picky with what you review on is entirely understandable though. Thanks for reviewing anyway to chime in on the question.
setokayba2n- Oh definitely. Mike wouldn't though, at least not now. Romilda Vane is more of a very minor annoyance to him and he's more stupid enough to accept anything from her (or the majority of girls for that matter). I don't know if I'll make a scene out of it, but all he'll do for now is confront her about it for now, warn her that if she does it again he will go to the DMLE etc, etc.
Aeona316- I… guess that kinda makes sense. Except they aren't really filler chapters. It was Marzanna working through stuff, then it was the two of the bonding and some training, both mental and physical, for Kazuto. It is important, in a way. There was some filler stuff thrown in there, but at the basics most of it was important to some degree.
JZuCuadra- That's understandable. In that case, unless you say otherwise, I'm going to assume you enjoyed this chapter!
Tziphora- I hope I don't end up disappointing then. And yeah, Kazuto's a little sweetheart to his sweetheart.
Slycutter- Yeah, that makes sense. I'm sorry if the last chapter was tedious for you, hopefully this one's better!
Kaye- I'm glad you've been enjoying it, but I don't think you have anything to worry about. The HP content will become more prominent, even getting at least one small fic arc to itself, maybe two, but it's certainly not going to be the focus from here on out, as I hope this chapter shows.
IgnisFelicis- See that's a totally understandable reason as well, and I don't mind that in the slightest, but I've got anxiety issues so my brain always makes the worst conclusions it can. I'm glad you've been enjoying it though.
TheTerrmites- No, they haven't been mentioned in a while, but that's alright. I know a lot of HP fics make the familiar(s) main characters, but in Nephilim Witch they're minor background characters. More there for when Marzanna needs them, rather than all the time. Thank you! I'm glad you've enjoyed my version of SAO!
Thanatos147- You know, I didn't even consider the possibility that the length might have something to do with it. That makes sense though. It's funny actually, when I first got the idea for this fic, I was thinking that it'd be a 100 thousand word fic at the most and now we're at 380 thousand and the end is in sight, but still a bit off. I wouldn't be surprised if we hit 500 thousand words before we finish.
*Shrugs* Marzanna isn't a lawyer or a historian, she was just giving her opinion on the matter, doesn't mean it was true. *Wide grin* That's part of what I was getting at with the Demon Hunters, yeah.
March 1st, 2025
After a brief but lovely tour of Hogsmeade wherein Marzanna finally realizes that Hermione and Mike had been speaking Japanese to her and Kazuto when they first portkeyed in and that though they were good they weren't quite fluent, which merely meant that they occasionally had to explain something in English so she could translate, they decide to head into The Three Broomsticks for a quick lunch.
Not even a minute after they walk in the entire room falls silent, staring at them with varying expressions of shock and disbelief. Her mate gives her a confused questioning look and she shrugs in response. She doesn't know why everyone's staring at them anymore than he does.
Mike expertly ignores it as he leads them up to the bar, and smiles warmly at the woman behind it, "Good afternoon Madam Rosmerta."
She smiles back unsurely, "Afternoon. Err, Mike dear… Did you uh… mess up some sort of spell?"
The way she glances at Marzanna at the end makes everything click and she barely resists twitching in annoyance. They didn't know Mike had a sister, which is why they were staring, and apparently making conclusions about exactly what she was. Mike stares for a moment in disbelief, then his lips twitch slightly, "No. This isn't the result of a faulty spell. This is my sister, Marzanna Sparda." After a moment he adds on, "Oh, and her soulmate, Kazuto Kirigaya."
If anything, the explanation just seems to dumbfound the crowd even more and Rosmerta blushes lightly in embarrassment, "Oh." She turns her gaze to her, "Sorry about that dear, I didn't know Mike had any siblings after the blood adoption."
She discreetly elbows both Mike and Hermione, who both seem to be struggling not to laugh, "It's quite alright Madame. I'm Mike's only sibling though, for the time being anyway. Can't guarantee anything with our parents." Then she shrugs, "Soulmates will do whatever they please when it comes to one another though, so I can't really blame them."
The woman smiles warmly, seemingly at ease at her lack of offense at being assumed to be the result of a faulty spell, "I suppose you'd know if this young man here is yours." Then she shakes her head, "Goodness me, where's my manners! Can I get you kids anything?"
Hermione smiles, "Just some butterbeers and lunch. We'll just all take the special. We only have so much time and we'd like to be able to show Marzanna and Kazuto around with more than the bare basics tour we've given them."
Rosmerta beams, "Of close dears. Find yourselves a seat and I'll bring it out in a moment."
As her brother and Hermione lead them off to find somewhere to sit, she switches back to Japanese to quickly answer Kazuto's question about the legality of them drinking butterbeer, "It technically has an alcohol content, but it's so small that it's literally impossible for most species to get even buzzed from it. In fact the only species I know of that can get drunk off it are house elves and fairies. In fact-"
She cuts herself off as a blonde man with green and silver trimmed robes furiously storms up to the table they'd taken residence at, "What in the name of Merlin do you think you're doing Sparda?!"
Her brother raises an eyebrow calmly, "Waiting to eat lunch? Honestly, what's it look like I'm doing, Malfoy?"
The blonde, Malfoy, glares furiously, "That's not what I'm talking about and you damn well know it. I'm talking about bringing him. He's clearly one of those disgusting fakes. How dare you bring him here?!"
Marzanna scowls, "The correct terminology is non-magical to magical Switch, or just Switch."
He sneers at her, "That disgusting beast is not a magical, and you're equally as foul for mating with it."
At that, her, her brother, and Hermione all start to shoot up from their chairs. It was one thing to insult them, it was another entirely to insult someone's soulmate bond. Before they're even halfway to their feet however, Kazuto's arm slips around her waist and tugs her back into her seat. From the way their chairs slide forward a bit before they abruptly sit with a slightly unnatural movement, she's fairly certain her mate had hooked a foot into both her brother and Hermione's chairs and yanked them back towards the table until the edge of their seat forced them to sit.
Before any of them can ask him what he's doing they get their answer. In the form of Rosmerta pushing past Malfoy enough to round on the little cretin, "How dare you! Insulting someone's bond like that, you should be ashamed of yourself! Out!"
Malfoy gives her a dumbfounded look, "What?"
She scowls, "You heard me, get out of my pub!"
Malfoy glares, "You can't kick me out! I'm a Malfoy! You can't-"
Rosmerta growls, "Like hell I can't! This is my pub and I don't care who you are! I've put up with you and your little friends nasty comments towards myself and my other customers for far too long, in fact, I should've kicked you all out years ago, but I ignored it. You've gone too far this time though Mr Malfoy, and I won't ignore this behavior any longer! Get outta my pub and don't you ever come back!"
Malfoy glares at her, then sticks his nose in the air and sniffs, "This dingy little pub isn't worthy of a Malfoy anyway. The only reason I've ever bothered coming here is because the only other options are Madam Puddifoot's and the Hog's Head."
With his parting shot Malfoy attempts to leave with as much dignity as he can muster. Doesn't have much luck with it though. Apparently just as fed up with his attitude as Rosmerta, a large portion of the pub sends little hexes at him. She sends only a tripping jinx to mess with his dignified nose in the air march, but he also gets hit with five different hair changing spells, one of which merely messes up his hair whereas the others combine to turn his hair a garish combination of obnoxiously bright orange, neon green, hot pink, and puke yellow.
His clothes get a similar garish treatment, along with suffering a few Transfigurations, one of which gives all the edges ridiculously ugly frills, whereas another turns his pants into an ugly skirt, his shirt gets turned into a ugly hot pink thing with a ridiculous amount of ruffles, ribbons, and lace and the words 'I'm an Uneducated, Racist, Troglodyte' written on the front courtesy of Hermione, and yet another turns his shoes into ballerina slippers. Someone else hits him with a spell that adds a tutu to go with his slippers, enticing someone else to conjure all sorts of ugly jewelry to go with it, including a tiara. As a final touch, someone causes his skin to break out in warts and pimples. All in all, by the time he rights himself from her tripping jinx he looks utterly ridiculous and is bright red in mortification.
Rosmerta had very purposely looked down at the tray she'd set on their table and slowly started putting their food in front of them when the hexes and jinxes started flying, but as soon as it's done she lifts her head to look at Malfoy, raising an eyebrow, "What are you still doing here? I told you to get out."
He gapes at her, "But-"
She huffs, "Out. Before I use a banishing spell."
He blanches, knowing he's lucky none of the spells had terrible reactions to each other but that at least one would probably react to the banishing spell, then hurries out of the pub with gritted teeth. Inside the pub, everyone remains silent for a moment, listening as the crowd outside falls quiet briefly before erupting into uncontrollable laughter.
Rosmerta shakes her head lightly, then sweeps her gaze over the inhabitants of the pub with narrowed eyes, "I won't be putting up with any more nasty comments about blood purity in any way, nor will I protect you from being hexed in my pub for saying such things, so I'm telling you all now. If you've got such opinions, I suggest you keep them to yourself or take your business elsewhere, because as you just saw, there are plenty of people who come here who will happily put you in your place if you can't keep your mouth shut."
She glares at a particular group of students who look distinctly uncomfortable and look like they want to protest, but apparently after the little show with Malfoy they're smart enough not to, as most of them simply give jerky nods, while the rest quietly get up and leave, though unlike Malfoy they're allowed to go peacefully. With a sharp nod of her own, she turns back around to collect her tray and smiles lightly at them, "Enjoy your meal, dears."
Once she's left and conversation has started back up again, Kazuto turns a worried look back to them and asks in Japanese, "Was that really necessary? Seemed kinda like bullying to me…"
Hermione snorts, "Normally I'd agree with you, but Malfoy is the local bully. It might not be right to respond by giving him a taste of his own medicine, it's definitely satisfying."
He nods lightly, not exactly in agreement, but in understanding. It doesn't take long for the lighthearted easy mood to return to both their table and The Three Broomsticks as a whole. So of course, it's as they're halfway through their lunch that Luna, a friend she'd seen in her brother's mind and memories many times, comes stumbling into The Three Broomsticks and over to their table, her entrance and appearance being pale as a vampire, clammy, and shaky halting all conversation almost instantly.
Her eyes are unfocused, but she manages to look vaguely in Mike's direction before rasping out, "Death Eaters are coming. Twenty-five minutes."
Gasps ring out at her proclamation and the way she faints immediately after. Marzanna, being closer, catches her before she can hit her head on the table then quickly but gently lowers her to the ground. As she does, she sees Rosmerta begin to hurry over with a worried expression, but ignores her to turn to her brother, "Mike… Didn't Grandmother identify Luna as a type of Seer?"
Her brother swallows thickly before answering in a shaky voice, "Yes. Her kind can rarely See more than an hour, as their gifts lie in Seeing the present and past for the most part. If she says Death Eaters are coming…"
Panicked whispers, quickly building in volume, break out at that.
With a quick mental conversation with Mike, she comes to the conclusion that Hogwarts is too far away to evacuate fast enough, especially considering the Death Eaters could apparate, and while the evacuating students would have numbers, they'd be far more likely to scatter than bind together in the face of danger. Not without leadership, and that would be nearly impossible to accomplish in a huge untrained group on an open road. It would be better to stay here and break them into smaller, more manageable groups.
There also, stupidly weren't any floos in Hogsmeade that Mike knew of, which meant no way to contact Aurors either, though even if they had someone Apparate out, they'd have to Apparate to someplace they could use a floo at, as the Ministry has anti-apparation wards, and call the Aurors, who would have to get ready, and by the time all of that was done, would likely be Apparating into an active battle.
And that was assuming everything worked out right. Most of the Ministry seems incompetent at best and would therefore undoubtedly just result in more chaos and casualties. And that's without taking into account the agents Voldemort undoubtedly has at the Ministry, who would warn him his little attack had been discovered, not only allowing him to send in fighters prepared for forewarned resistance, but even take away the element of surprise they currently have.
Decision made in a fraction of a second, she quickly turns to Rosmerta, who it's now kneeling next to her, "Look after her?" The woman nods firmly, so she quickly leaves the young blonde in her care and jumps onto a table while firing off a firecracker spell, immediately silencing the crowd, "Listen up! We have less than twenty minutes before the village comes under attack. You will not panic and flood the streets, thereby resulting in an even higher death rate in this attack. What you will do is listen to me." She'd always despised the sheep-like nature of British wizards, but in this case it and the fame of the Sparda name worked in her favor, "First of all, Madame Rosmerta, from the windows I saw I'm assuming there are rooms upstairs? Is there a back door? What about a basement? If you have one, how big and is there an outside entrance?"
Her respect for the woman shoots up considerably when the woman answers her without hesitation and takes her leadership without question despite the clear fear in her eyes, "Yes to all three, there are inn and private meeting rooms, but none of them are in use at the moment, use them however you wish. The basement is rather large, and no, it doesn't have an entrance directly leading outside."
She nods gratefully, "Then I suggest you take Luna to the basement, where I'll be sending non-combatants, Seeing what she did and forcing herself to stay conscious long enough to warn us undoubtedly took a toll on her."
Rosmerta nods and levitates Luna's body, but before she can even move, Marzanna begins barking orders, "Anyone who's any good at defensive magic, spread out to cover the windows and both doors when I tell you, I doubt anyone here is skilled enough to cast the sort of spells to protect this place from strong blasting curses, so our best bet is to place the best at the windows so they can hopefully take out anyone who tries before they can, and to stop anyone that tries to physically enter. Kazuto, please go get a count of the rooms now, so we can figure out how to distribute everyone. I apologize Madame Rosmerta, but your furniture is likely going to take one hell of a beating as our cover and we'll have to invade your own room as well I'm afraid."
The other woman shrugs, then heads off with Luna, "Next, I need a few volunteers that are fast on their feet. We're the only ones with any warning, so we need people to get to the other shops to tell them to barricade themselves in along with warning everyone on the streets to get inside. Since she no doubt has every single shop in the village memorized, I'll leave distributing you to Hermione, go to her if you're volunteering."
"If you're not particularly good at fighting or quick on your feet, separate to the back of the building, fighters to the front towards the bar, I don't care if it becomes packed, I need space in the middle so the runners can go to Hermione. Hermione, step off to the side and place a silencing bubble so we aren't trying to talk over each other. I'd suggest waiting until you know how many people you have before sending anyone off so you know if you're short and can send a few of the fastest to multiple locations. Once you're done, head over to the door and start sorting out combatants from noncombatants as they come in off the street from the runners' warnings."
Hermione nods, moving off to the side to deal with the twenty or so people that approach her with determined looks while the rest separate as told and Marzanna continues, "Those in the back of the building, you'll be barricading yourselves into the basement."
Taking a quick, if rough headcount of her willing combatants, she figures she has about forty people, a number that really shouldn't fit into the pub, especially since there are twenty runners and the numerous non-combatants, but it was a magical establishment.
Thinking quickly, she makes her next decision, knowing that the loss of strength could result in their defeat, but keenly aware that the majority of those who'd moved to the back of the pub were terrified thirteen and fourteen year olds, "Fighters, I need four volunteers that are good at defense to follow the non-combatants into the basement and try their damnedest to defend them if the rest of us fall."
More than a few of her fighters blanch, knowing that to fall against Death Eaters would likely mean death, but to their credit, it also seems to rally up even more determination from them. Once she has her four, she sends them and the non-combatants off to join Rosmerta and the unconscious Luna in the basement, and begins ordering them to make barricades to use for cover while she waits for her mate to come back.
She doesn't have to wait long, she's barely gotten them started, gotten the more accurate headcount of forty-three fighters still in the room discluding herself, her brother, and Hermione who has just sent the runners off and moved over to man the door when he returns to briskly inform her in Japanese, "Four meeting slash inn rooms on each of the two floors, Rosmerta's room upstairs, windows at the end of each hallway, and an attic, though it lacks any windows."
She shakes her head, "Doesn't matter if it doesn't have windows, if they have anyone on brooms a solid blasting spell will take the roof off. Exactly why we shouldn't put anyone in the room though. A pull down ladder I take it?" He nods quickly, and she hums, "Ten rooms to cover plus two hallways." She grimaces, "Not nearly enough people to cover everything well, but we'll have to work with what we've got."
She thinks it over quickly, then turns to her twin and mate, "We can afford to put three to every room and hallway and still have ten down here, but the lower hallway isn't as vulnerable as the upper, which will need to have both the hallway window and attic door covered. Mike, nineteen upstarts and spread them out, three to each room, four to the hallway, and make sure to tell the ones in the hallway to keep an eye on the attic door. In fact, just take one from the window and assign them to keep an eye on it. Kazuto I know you know enough English for this at least, so take fourteen to distribute amongst the other downstairs rooms, two in the hallway, three each to the meeting/inn rooms."
Two of the most important men in her life, though for vastly different reasons, walk away from her to gather the number of fighters they each need, and she can't help but bite her lip harshly at the knowledge that they would probably follow her into combat very soon. After all, the defenses she was setting up were unlikely to hold the Death Eaters off for long, perhaps not even long enough to wait for the Aurors to arrive if someone actually has a floo and called for them and the other shops likely had even less of a chance, even with the forewarning.
Which was why she had absolutely no intention of staying inside during the attack. The longer she could keep Death Eaters busy in the streets, the better the chances those in the shops had to hold out until reinforcements. She wasn't foolish enough to think she could convince either of them, or Hermione for that matter, to stay inside.
She's pulled from her thoughts as Hermione approaches with a small group and a grim look, "Only eight minutes left, but the streets have already cleared. Only thirteen more willing to fight came in, the other twenty-two have already gone down to the basement. Where do you want them?"
She weighs her options briefly, then sighs, "Two stay here, two in the lower hallway, and one to each of the other rooms. Any more in the upper hallway will likely make too much confusion in such a narrow space to be of help with it."
The new fighters split off on their own, two joining those quickly adding what they can to the barricades before their time runs out. As soon as they're out of earshot, Hermione throws a silencing spell around them, "We're going out to fight and buy time, aren't we?"
She smiles grimly at her friend, "Am I so obvious?"
Hermione shakes her head, "Not obvious, just predictable to those that know you. Besides, it's what I'd do. It's what Mike would do. And while I haven't known him personally for long, I'm rather confident that it's what Kazuto would do as well."
She sighs lightly, "Anyone that will make a good leader if they need orders?"
Hermione sighs, "I'd suggest Neville, but I doubt the others would listen to him."
"No, but they'll listen to Susan Bones. Her aunt has made sure she's got a good head on her shoulders, and she'll listen to anyone with a decent suggestion, including Neville. She's also part of the dueling club I've continued doing, so I can vouch for her." Her brother mentally sends her a burst of basic information about Susan Bones to back up his statement as he rejoins them along with her mate, "I assume we're discussing who to leave in charge while we're outside, yes? I'd suggest you tell her, and the rest for that matter, now so that we can head outside. We might be able to get the drop on the Death Eaters, especially if they're confused about the town being empty."
She nods, then turns to the fighters, "Bones!" The girl turns to her with wide eyes, but before she can say anything, she continues, "I understand you've got a good head on your shoulders courtesy of your aunt. Well, we're leaving you in charge while we head outside."
Susan's eyes widen, "What? Why?!"
She pins her with a look, "Your aunt is head of the DMLE and raised you, right? Surely you realize that while these defenses will hold the Death Eaters off, it won't stand for long, and the other shops likely have even less defenses. We're going outside to buy everyone more time. But we need to leave someone in charge."
The other girls widen further, before understanding and fierce determination, "You can count on me, so you just focus on your own task." Then her face grows solemn, "Good luck."
She merely nods, not bothering to waste time with anything else. Besides, being raised by the head of the DMLE, she likely knew better than anyone who wasn't in the law enforcement department how dangerous their task was.
They have no idea where the Death Eaters will appear from, so they simply break off into pairs and slip into alleys across from each other, Mike and Hermione on one side, her and Kazuto on the other. They've barely settled in when multiple 'CRACK's of apparation sound out, dropping thirty Death Eaters, half of which immediately throw an anti-apparation ward up and the other half already firing killing curses into the streets.
They pause in confusion at the empty street and lack of targets for their spells, and the four of them immediately capitalize on their confusion, Mike and Hermione immediately casting spells while she and Kazuto rush from their cover, Kazuto with both his swords out and her with her falcata in one hand and her wand in the other. She and Kazuto would handle close quarters combat to try and keep them off balance and they'd try to keep it non-lethal if they could, but despite how uncomfortable it makes both of them they'd use lethal force if necessary.
She hurdles spells as fast as she can from her wand to cover their approach while silently deflecting anything that manages to get through, but it really doesn't take long to close the distance to her first enemy. A quick swipe of Shuraba slices their wand in half, quickly switching to Osiris, she follows it up with a brutal slash to the Achilles tendon, going all the way down to the bone, and they go down screaming in pain.
She moves through the crowd of Death Eaters quickly in this manner, breaking wands and going for debilitating but non-lethal attacks, slashing at joints and tendons. In short time, she's dealt with four more.
Not long after the fight starts though, an explosion sounds, the front of one of the shops collapse and seconds later screaming and shouting people start pouring out onto the street. Of course, they quickly fall under attack from the Death Eaters. Snarling as she watches a girl that can't be older than thirteen drop to a nasty cutting curse impacting her back and very clearly severing her spine, she switches Osiris for one of Eryx's gauntlets and her wand for one of her guns and starts charging it with pure magic.
With a tiny flare of demonic energy, she punches the Death Eater that cast the spell in the face hard enough to shatter both his mask and his jaw. Ignoring his wordless screaming, she stomps on his wand, breaking both it and the hand still holding it. Twisting on instinct, she avoids a neon purple spell. Quickly shifting to Aquila, she throws her into the man's shoulder. Closing the distance, she shifts back to Eryx, then punches him in the face as well. She can't help but wince slightly when one of the shards from his mask stabs into his eye, but she ignores him as she breaks his wand too. He wasn't likely to be much of a problem with an injury like that.
The smell of burning flesh reaches her nose, but she ignores both it and the source already knowing the cause. A group of six Death Eaters get blasted apart, smashing into walls and getting violently thrown to the ground by a well placed Confringo courtesy of Hermione, who quickly summons and snaps their wands.
With that, twenty-three of the original thirty Death Eaters are down. Seeing one of the few remaining opponents begin to fire wildly in panic, even killing three of their own, she quickly rushes towards him. Ducking under the wild swing of a knife they'd pulled from their robes, she buries her first, still wearing Eryx, into their gut, then elbows them in the back of the head when they double over. Kicking away the knife when they try to swing at her legs then immediately stomping on their wand. Before the Death Eater can get up she punches them in the head, knocking them out cold.
Turning, she finds that the other three have already dealt with the remaining Death Eaters. She talks quickly as she makes her way over to the downed girl with the nasty cut in her back with equal speed to her speech, "Mike, Hermione, start collecting the Death Eaters. Make sure they're secure and wandless. Kazuto, go back into The Three Broomsticks, find someone that can apparate to the Ministry to notify the Aurors that we need them and some healers. Though I suggest you announce who it is before you open the door fully or step inside. The people holing up in there are likely to curse first and ask questions later."
The boys nod, but before they can move, Hermione tilts her head, "I'll admit that isn't a bad plan, but the anti-apparation wards are still up."
She tilts her head, "Ah, right. I knew I was forgetting something."
Lifting her hand, she brings her gun up so that it's pointing nearly straight up. By now she's pumped so much raw magic into it that it's glowing red from heat and smoking. Though the latter might just be her hand, seeing as the incredibly hot metal is scorching her hand. Pulling the trigger, a shot that sounds more like it came from a particularly loud cannon rather than a gun thunders out accompanied by a blast that smashes through the temporary wards the Death Eaters had thrown up with a sound similar to smashing glass.
Lowering her gun, she sighs as she looks over the smoking weapon, "Definitely going to need some serious repair work. Definitely needs to be modified to be able to handle a higher capacity of raw magic…"
Her mate rushes over to take a look at her hand, though he quickly realizes he can't even do that, given that the heat has fused the skin of her hand to the gun. Even without knowing the extent of the damage, he gives her a disapproving look just for that. Seeing as Kazuto's busy fussing over her, she shoots Hermione a look. Easily understanding her, Hermione quickly makes her way over to The Three Broomsticks to find someone that can apparate away with the message. It only takes a moment after she enters the establishment for the tell tale 'CRACK' of apparation to sound out, indicating someone leaving.
Turning her attention away from her mate and back to the girl, the first immediate relief is that the girl is alive, the second is that other than the back wound, she's perfectly fine. The wound is a problem though. Depending on the curse used, fixing her spine will either be relatively easy, or it will be impossible and she'll be disabled for the rest of her life.
It's not even five minutes later that Aurors and healers apparate in, lead by Madame Bones herself. She doesn't give anyone time to start barking orders or questioning anyone, "We need healers over here!"
As soon as they register her shout the group of healers rushes over to those that had been wounded while trying to run away. Two of them approach them and one of them kneels down on the other side of the girl, immediately frowning heavily at the damage, "Do you know what she was hit with?"
She shakes her head, "No, I'm afraid not. I saw her get hit with some kind of cutting spell, but I didn't hear the spell and I'm sure you could deduce that much yourself."
The healer purses his lips and begins casting, "I see. Don't worry, I've got her. Go to the Aurors, I'm sure they've got questions."
With a nod she straightens up from her crouch, but before she can do any more the other healer cuts in, "Are you two injured?"
She shakes her head again, "No." Seeing her mate's incredulous and annoyed look, she elaborates, "At least, it's nothing that can't wait. My hand was burned and heavily saturated with raw magic."
The healer nods, "Make sure you get that checked out."
Without another word, the healer moves off to deal with more pressing cases, and her mate stares after her in disbelief. Before her mate can say anything rude, she quickly explains, "There are people who need more immediate help than me, Kazuto. Not to mention, I informed her it was saturated with magic for a reason, namely if a wound gets imbued with too much magic, it can either deflect the healing magic, or worse, warp it and possibly worsen the damage. In such cases, the magic needs to either be allowed to dissipate, or drained away by a healer. Since it isn't a life threatening injury, the healer's time is better spent trying to save lives. I can be dealt with at a clinic later if necessary."
Her mate calms, though from the way he moves to be on her right to cover her weak spot, and keeps glancing at it, she knows he hasn't fully let it go. She approaches the Aurors, and Madame Bones briefly glances at Mike, quickly drawing the obvious conclusions before speaking, "Miss Sparda I presume?"
She nods, "Yup! Marzanna Sparda, Mike's sister. And you'd be Madame Bones?" The woman nods as they shake hands, "Pleasure to meet you, though I wish the circumstances were different. You're pretty much the only person in the British MoM that my family and I respect."
Madame Bones already has perfect posture, but she still somehow manages to straighten herself further in pride without looking stiff, "Thank you, that's quite a compliment coming from the Sparda family. And while I do wish we could've met under more peaceful circumstances I'm glad you were here today. This could've been far more disastrous than it was."
She shrugs, "I'm a Sparda. Our forte may be Demon Hunting, but we always do our best to help people when we can."
Then she clears her throat, "Please don't take this the wrong way, but perhaps you should try learning something from the Americans? Having to have someone floo or apparate to tip off the Aurors isn't exactly…. efficient. Not to mention, we got rather lucky this time, in that Voldemort didn't send any of his really good Death Eaters this time. I wouldn't be surprised if these ones were mostly new recruits given how easily they went down, despite the fact me and my mate still aren't in top shape and my mate, who's a Switch by the way, hasn't learned any offensive magic yet."
Madame Bones sighs, "I've tried multiple times to push the Wizengamot to allow us to experiment to find a better way, but they say it's impossible so they won't give us the funding. If you've got a suggestion though…"
She smiles at the older woman, "It isn't impossible at all. In fact, you already have the means in the Ministry, you just need to make more and repurpose them. You are aware, of course, of the magical tracker orbs that track the use of underage magic via the corresponding spells applied to the wands?"
"The Americans repurposed the idea a while ago, placing the tracking spell on orbs that can be placed in magical shops or centers. If they get hit with a spell, any spell, then a notice is sent to the corresponding orbs in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Perhaps you should merely ask the Americans for their notes on how to make them? And maybe some reports on how well they work. Possibly ask for the reports on a couple cases that would've become disastrous without the orbs."
"I'm sure they'd be happy to help, but if they give you any trouble just tell Mike. He can contact our grandfather who's good friends with the American Minister for Magic. With all that evidence, along with the evidence of what happened today, it should be relatively easy to push the Wizengamot to give you the funds to produce, enchant, and distribute them to all magical shops, or if you can't cover all of them, then at least some strategically selected shops in major magical centers."
She can practically see the wheels turning at breakneck speed in the woman's mind, "Thank you, I'll… look into it." After a moment, she shakes her head, then gestures to an Auror beside her, "Anyway, please go with Auror Shacklebolt and give him your witness statement."
She nods, moving off to speak with the tall Auror. She really does hope Madame Bones takes her advice and that she can convince the Wizengamot. Even without Voldemort around, the system they currently had just wasn't good enough when it came to the safety of their citizens.
It's almost a full hour later that the Aurors release them. She takes one look at her tired looking companions and hugs first Hermione then her brother, saying as she does so, "You three look exhausted, so I do believe this is the end of our little get together."
Hermione just nods tiredly as she returns the hug, but her brother responds when she moves onto him, "I'm definitely heading off to take a nap, but it was great seeing you two. Shame it got… interrupted."
Nodding in agreement, she waves as they turn to walk away, "See you guys later."
They give her tired waves over their shoulders as they leave. Turning to her mate, she awkwardly fishes the portkey out of her right pocket with her left hand, seeing as her right is still fused to her gun, then holds the plastic disc out to him, "Ready to head home? We're definitely curling up on my bed and taking a nap…. As soon as I get this thing unfused from my hand anyway."
Her mate nods, "Sounds like a fantastic plan." Then he eyes the little disc in her hand, "Minus the portkey part. Do we have to take that thing?"
She gives him a shrug, "Yes. Neither of us has an apparation license, and there aren't any floos nearby. Not that you want to try that method of travel. Trust me."
He grimaces, "... Do you suppose it would be possible to invent something like the teleport gates from Aincrad? Maybe even the crystals?"
She grins, "Maybe. It'd certainly be nice. Though you'd definitely have to change how it works a bit. One gate going both in and out per a city definitely wouldn't work. It wouldn't be able to connect to every single one made, but we might be able to modify my family's magic doors to be more like the gates… Doesn't help us now though. Gotta use the portkey to get back to even start looking into it…. After I get my grandmother and mom to take a look at my hand and we take a nice nap anyway."
He sighs, but reaches out to grab the portkey, "Have that to look forward to at least…"
Her light carefree laughter echoes in the minds of everyone in the village long after they've left.
May 16th, 2025
She blinks rapidly to clear her vision after the rush of color, moving away on reflex. Before she's even had time to take in her surroundings, a widely grinning male with spiky black hair steps up to her excitedly, "Hanna! It's beautiful isn't it?"
Her gaze drifts around, taking in the branches of the massive tree she's standing on, the beautiful city resting on top of it made of wood accents and crystal clear glass in the windows. The entire thing is lit up with the magical lights in blue and pink crystals of some kind.
Letting her gaze return to her mate she smiles, "It's gorgeous." Then she tilts her head, "Admittedly after Aincrad it's a bit strange to be in a game and not see you, but that's not important."
His own grin widens, "I knew you'd like it. You're lucky though, they only added the option to spawn in or teleport to Arun or the brand new Yggdrasil city recently when the new owners relaunched the servers, I had to get here manually last time. Admittedly it was fun playing with Leafa and the scenery was beautiful, but given the pressing circumstances, I definitely wouldn't have minded the option to teleport here."
Then he runs his hand through his spiky hair, "And yeah, it is a bit strange, and the developers of New Alfheim did give me the option to use my old avatar after they found all the player data like they gave the rest of you, but really, other than being unfamiliar with the concept of changing my face after all that time in Aincrad, the only real complaint I have is the spiky hair. And that's not even a complaint from me, that's from Yui. Apparently it's uncomfortable to lay on in her Pixie form."
Yui pops out of his pocket, immediately flying over to press a kiss to her cheek, "It is uncomfortable Papa." Then she smiles at her with a touch of sadness, "I'd change back into my regular form and hug you Mama, but Papa says I can't do that in such a crowded place, and I get why, I do, but…"
She loosely hugs her daughter's tiny Pixie form to her with one hand, "I understand sweetie, and I'm sorry it's so frustrating. Well undoubtedly have some time alone in an inn later though, so you can give me that hug then, alright."
Yui brightens considerably, "I missed you, Mama."
She smiles at the little Pixie that's now standing on her palm, "I missed you too, sweetheart."
Now settled, Yui flies up to sit on her shoulder. Looking up, she realizes her mate has been leading them along as she and their daughter talked, likely to the meeting place. Despite the fact that she knows it's too early, she can't help but lift her face towards the currently cloud covered moon in search of their home, but as she'd expected, it wasn't there yet.
She sighs in disappointment, despite logically knowing it was only a matter of time, and even the exact time it would come back to them. Instantly responding to her sigh, both her mate and daughter simultaneously lean over to press a kiss to each of her cheeks while saying, "Cheer up, it won't be long."
As soon as they register the echo of their words from the other side of her, they both lean forward to look at each other with the same surprised expression. She can't help but laugh at them, "I think our daughter might be spending too much time with you while you two try and figure out the Technomancy aspect of her body. Her learning algorithms seem to be picking up far more of your habits than anyone else's, even mine."
The two exchange sheepish looks and she shakes her head before switching gears, "Speaking of which, how has you two's part been coming along? It's been a couple weeks since you gave me an update."
They both give her excited looks, but it's her mate that speaks, "Oh it's been great! I did like you and your mom suggested and started looking into Technomancy tech rather than regular tech to see if it would be more suitable for our needs, and me and Yui think we might've already found stuff capable of transmitting and receiving the frankly monstrously large amount of data while still being small enough to fit in her body, we've also figured out how to get that data to and from Yui from anywhere in the world while she's stored on a completely separate computer your parents bought specifically for her and are currently storing in the basement of your house."
He shakes his head, "Though given your house's tendency to get attacked by demons, they're trying to find somewhere more secure. We have gotten a rather wide coverage of where she can go, and we've been having your mother apparate around with the device to check so we think the transfer of data is smooth where we do have coverage, but we can't really tell until we can run tests with her in her body. We still need to figure out how to hook the body and tech together and translate all that data being transferred between the two of course, but it's an exciting amount of progress. Especially since you already found a possible body, though you didn't give us details the last time we talked…"
She smiles widely, "That's because I didn't want to get you two's hopes up if the body I figured out doesn't work. I think it should though, and if it works like I think it should, it will allow her to physically age up to an adult and even switch to this Pixie form if she wants to. I've already started making it, but it's going to be another two weeks before it's ready for us to try and hook it and the tech up to each other and start testing it."
The two give her excited looks, and he opens his mouth to say something, but before he can someone calls out to him, "Kirito-kun! I was hoping we'd run into you here!"
Turning as one, she takes in the group approaching them, at least one from each race, which in and of itself was strange from the intense competition between the races that she'd heard of before the relaunch. They were definitely players that had been around long enough to have fully experienced the hostility as well, given that they were all wearing what looked like high end clothes and armor. Two of the females in the group were waving at them, or more accurately, Kirito.
One was rather tall, pale, with long straight dark green hair that was almost black hanging loosely down her back, green almond shaped eyes and thin lips. She was rather beautiful, and that was only accentuated by the golden jewelry she was wearing, along with her leaf green kimono. She was also wearing some sort of cape that only covered one side, crimson clogs, and had a katana slung horizontally across her back. Given the amount of green, she was fairly confident in saying the woman was a Sylph.
In comparison, the other woman was short. She was clearly a Cait Sith from the brown cat ears and tail. She was tan, her wavy blonde hair was parted in the front but otherwise loose whereas in the back it was in two small twintails. She's wearing a light brown one piece armor that exposes quite a bit of skin, along with long gloves going from halfway down her hand to halfway up her upper arms, a yellow cape much like the one the other woman was wearing, plain black boots, two claws hanging from either side of her waist, and golden jewelry as well, including a black leather collar with a golden bell.
Her mate smiles at them, "Sakuya! Alicia Rue! It's good to see you two! Here for the reveal of a new world to explore, or re-explore as is the case for Hanna and I?"
The Cait Sith grins while the Sylph sighs, then the Cait Sith glances at her friend with a smug look, "Told you he'd know. Doesn't matter that only the Lords are supposed to know what's going on tonight, I knew he'd somehow know. You owe me five hundred yen, Sakuya."
Five hundred yen? If she remembers right, that was about five dollars? No, more like 4.50 wasn't it? Whatever, the point was that they'd bet real money on her mate knowing something he shouldn't. Not much admittedly, but they'd still bet real money on it. Which also meant they were likely friends irl.
The other woman, now identified as Sakuya, sighs again, "Yes, I know. I'll give it to you tomorrow." Then she gives Kirito a calculating look, "More importantly, or perhaps simply more interesting, it's awfully convenient that only a couple hours after we helped you reach the top of the World Tree so you could 'find two people precious to you' is I believe how you put it? That only hours after we helped you up there, it's discovered that the still comatose player's minds were being held prisoner there and released. Interesting and convenient, isn't it Kirito?"
Her mate's gaze darts away then drifts around a bit as he tries to think of an excuse. Not coming up with any quickly, and knowing a silent stretch would basically be confirmation in and of itself, he sighs, "Alright, alright, you got me. I had reason to believe the still comatose SAO players were at the top of the World Tree and one of my friends was one of those players." Then he turns and gives her a loving look, "The other person I was talking about was Hanna here, my… girlfriend. Hanna, this is one of my sister's friends and the Lord of the Sylph, Sakuya, along with the Lord of the Cait Sith, Alicia Rue. My sister and I went to save them and as they said, they later helped me reach the top of the World Tree to save you and Asuna."
Without missing a beat, she corrects him, "I'm your wife, not your girlfriend. I don't give a flying fuck what any government official says, we were together for a year and three months in Aincrad and married for ten months in that death trap. We may not have bled for each other, but that's only because blood wasn't programmed into that game seeing as we fought for and with each other so many times with our lives on the line that I can't even make an estimation. You're my god damned husband and I don't give a fuck what anyone says about the validity of marriages in that world. I'll accept fianceé if it'll make you more comfortable, but I won't accept anything less just because of what some Malakas(1) say."
Sakuya gives her a weird look, "... What on earth is a Malaka?"
She shrugs, "Greek insult." Then she squints her eyes and tilts her head, "Well, technically it can also mean something along the lines of 'bro' or 'mate', but I meant it in the insulting sense."
Sakuya looks like she wants to question that, but Kirito quickly cuts across her, "She's a multilingual American. It's kinda her thing to insult specific people in other languages."
She shrugs, "Well, to be fair, while you guys see them as highly insulting, most of the insults you have in Japanese are just really rude ways of saying 'you'. Which there's nothing wrong with per say, but really what's the point in being fluent in fourteen languages if you can't dish out better insults than really rude ways of saying 'you' about the people you dislike with the scorching passion of a thousand quasars."
Her mate doesn't pause for a second, "Hate. The word you're looking for is hate."
She stares at him for a moment, "No. No it was not. There's a vast difference between those I dislike with such passion, such as Kibaou and Kayaba, and those I hate. It's likely a side effect of being hated and discriminated against for most of my life, but I rarely hate people. A good chunk of those that I do are dead."
Out of the corner of her eye she sees the group all start giving her looks like she's some sort of psycho that will snap at any moment, but she ignores that to return her mate's stare, "Dead?"
She nods, "Yes. To be fair, they were PKers that tried to kill you right in front of me in Aincrad. Like that kurafi Kuradeel. It was literally kill or be killed with most of the PKers in Aincrad."
She sees the group relax considerably at that apparently understandable reason for certain people she hates being dead. Her mate pauses, considers this, puts himself in her shoes, then nods firmly.
There's a brief awkward pause, then Kirito shifts the topic back to the original one, "Anyway, yes, I came here for them originally. Normally I can't stand any sort of cheating, but given the circumstances, I considered myself rather lucky that this world turned out to be an older copy of the Cardinal System that was used in Aincrad and that it therefore tried to read the save data from Aincrad that was on my NerveGear, which I was using at the time having been in too much of a rush in trying to confirm if the players were here to bother buying the AmuSphere. By the end of the Cardinal Systems conflict resolution between the new account and my old one from Aincrad, I had my old skill levels, one item from my inventory, my money, a new avatar, and my location data corrupted with my sister's, which ended up dropping me near her rather than the Spriggan capital."
One of members of the group, a pale man of average height with short black hair, black eyes, a well trimmed goatee, exquisite black and royal purple robes and cloak, whose hands were covered in black rings and bracelets, and with a staff strapped across his back suddenly straightens with an annoyed look, "Was this by chance the night of the twentieth of January?"
Her mate just blinks rapidly for a moment, taken back by the random question. Then he nods lightly, "It was actually. Why?"
The man gets a look of satisfaction, like he'd just figured out some huge mystery, "I thought as much. The Lord of any race is notified when a new player joins. Most of them simply dismiss the notifications, but as I'm sure you've realized by now, we Spriggans don't get many new members due to how," His mouth twists with distaste as he pauses briefly, searching for the right word, "unpopular our race is. For as long as I've been the Lord of the Spriggan I've made a point to go and greet anyone that joins the Spriggan while I'm online in person. I had a rather baffling and irritating night on the twentieth in which I was notified to a new member and went to greet them only for no one to drop into the landing zone, despite the fact the tutorial automatically started up and even occasionally seemed to randomly progress. It's merely… satisfying, to finally have answers. It's been bothering me for a while you see."
Kirito gives him a sheepish look, "I'm really sorry about that, but it really was out of my control."
The man nods, "Quite alright. You really should come by the Spriggan capital some time though."
Kirito glances at her, "That depends on whether or not anyone has problems with me bringing my wife."
The man shakes his head, "Of course not. Given that the grand quest was done away with, there really isn't much reason for race hostility any longer." Then he eyes the Sylph and what was likely two Salamanders, "Might not stop some people of course…" Then he smiles ruefully, "Then again, even if there was still as strong a reason for race hostility it wouldn't have been much of a problem. No one really bothered us lowly Spriggan, even to spy on."
Her mate, apparently having already suffered some of the ridicule for his chosen race, shares a frustrated grimace with the man. After a moment's pause, he turns to one of the two Salamanders, "I suppose I should apologize, Eugene. Given that I had my stats from Aincrad grafted onto my new avatar, our duel wasn't really fair. I'd be happy to have a rematch…. Once I grind up some serious skill levels. I told the new developers about the issue and though they offered to let me keep my previous stats and merely fix any bugs as they felt I had earned those levels, I chose to have them reset my avatar completely."
A tall, tan, bulky man that a regular person might consider intimidating with short red hair, a face reminiscent of a bird of prey, fully decked out in red and gold armor with a large two handed sword across his back nods lightly, "I look forward to our rematch." Then he smiles, "Not that I mind having fought you with your Aincrad stats. I quite agree with the developers. Given the circumstances in which you fought for them, I believe you more than earned your previous stats. If anything, I'm honored that I was able to fight that version of you in any way."
Her mate grins at the man, nodding lightly. Before anything else can be said, a young man's excited voice abruptly cuts into the conversation as someone rams into her back, "Hanna-nee-chan!"
She twists as much as she can without dislodging the boy, but she doesn't recognize the rather plain looking young Salamander in the slightest, "Err… I'm sorry, who are you?"
He doesn't seem the slightest bit offended at her not recognizing him though, "I'm Arakan. I'm not all that shocked you don't recognize me, I was just one of the bunch of kids Sasha-san(1) was looking after."
She smiles widely, "Oh! One of Sasha's rowdy little brats! I'm so glad to see you! You doing ok?"
The boy's grin widens, "Great!" Then he turns a bit sad, "I haven't seen Sasha-san since we all got logged out though. I've seen most of the others since the SAO school started, but not Sasha-san." Then he looks around a bit and frowns, "Where's Kirito-nii? I thought he was always with you. Attached at the hip as Sasha-san liked to say."
She laughs, "I'm happy to hear that. We were actually on our way to meet a bunch of the old SAO players, plus Kirito's sister, before we stopped to chat. Sasha will be there and you're more than welcome to come with us." She gestures to her mate, "And Kirito's right here, he just didn't use his old SAO avatar like the rest of us did."
The boy grows excited when he hears about Sasha, nodding emphatically to show he wanted to go, then he pauses at the last part to stare with wide eyes at Kirito before bursting out, "Is it true? It's true isn't it? That you saved everyone. 'Cause I heard from one of the other SAO players that I met in physical therapy that you figured out that Heathcliff was actually Kayaba in disguise and challenged him to a duel to the death to free everyone twenty-five floors early. It's true right? 'Cause if anyone could do it it'd be Kirito-nii!" Giving her an embarrassed apologetic look, he quickly tacks on, "Or Hanna-nee-chan! But everyone's been calling you Kirito the Hero instead of Kirito the Black Swordsman!"
Kirito flushes with embarrassment at the way the group, that she's beginning to believe is all the Lords of the races plus a few extras, gapes at him in astonishment. She chuckles lightly, "Basically. It would be more accurate to say that Kirito figured it out and confronted him and that Heathcliff, or rather, Kayaba told him that as a reward for deducting his identity he'd give Kirito the chance to fight him, the final boss of the game, right then and there and possibly free everyone if he won their death duel. An offer this crazy bastard accepted."
The boy grins, "I knew it! Yumena wanted to believe it, but she wasn't so sure, and I told her it was true, but she didn't believe me!"
She chuckles lightly, "Well, now you can tell her you know for sure." He nods happily, then she turns her gaze to the others, "We really should be going if we want to meet up with our friends before the unveiling, but you're more than welcome to come with us if you'd like, though I have no idea where we're going."
Her mate cuts in before anyone can reply to that, "It's not much further actually."
They all nod, but it's Sakuya who speaks following a light chuckle, "As I'm sure you've already surmised our little group is composed of all the Lords along with a few others. It was decided that meeting up for the unveiling might help sooth our old hostilities, but we don't really have any plans. We've really just been wandering around for the past few hours so as to be seen together prior to the 'mysterious event' that was announced. We've done more than enough of that though, and I believe I can speak for all of us when I say that it would be an enjoyable honor to meet former SAO players."
She smiles at the taller woman as their now much larger group begins following her mate to the meeting spot, which she only knows to be an out of the way plaza, "Not all of them were fighters you know. Most of them, sure, but not all. Lizbeth for instance was a blacksmith first and foremost, though I hear she was rather good with a mace, and Sasha, though she'd been willing to join the front lines, gave it up in favour of taking care of any kids she could find in the Town of Beginnings. That's what we were talking about earlier actually, Arakan was one of the kids she took care of in Aincrad."
Sakuya shakes her head, "I'll admit that I'll probably have a higher respect for fighters, but really, I respect anyone that survived that hell with their sanity intact. Except for maybe Sasha-san. Dedicating yourself to the care of children is a noble cause in my opinion."
She nods with a grin, "That it is. Not to mention, she could be rather fierce when it came to those kids. Not long after we met we found out that some scum were trying to extort money from some of the kids that left the town safe zone to get money to take care of the younger kids. Anyone who can and will stare down a dozen men in heavy plate mail armor with nothing more than a dagger and a regular dress and have the nerve to shout at them, regardless if it's all taking place in a town safe zone, has my respect in spades."
Sakuya smiles and nods in agreement, then tilts her head at Kazuto, "So, just out of curiosity, how did you find out what tonight's unveiling is about?"
He gives her a wary, vaguely amused smile, "I'm good friends with what was Aincrad's top info broker. She seems to have transferred her skill to real life, seeing as she still seems to know just about anything you could want to know. I honestly have no idea how she does it, but she was the one who told me. Hell, I know she isn't a hacker and doesn't attain any information illegally, but I wouldn't be surprised if she could track down anyone in Alfheim irl if she wanted to."
Sakuya looks wary, "Sounds like a... formidable woman."
Her mate grins lightly, "That's one way of putting it. Mildly creepy and annoying are the more common descriptions I've heard. It's likely a rather large chunk of the former SAO players know what's going on in Alfheim tonight, despite the fact they're not supposed to. Piece of advice if you ever find yourself dealing with Argo? She can find out just about anything you want to know if she doesn't happen to already know it, but never screw her over. Haggling over prices is ok so long as you don't push it, she even sometimes finds it enjoyable, but whatever you do, don't cheat her. She will make you pay."
Before Sakuya can respond, they reach the plaza that's already filled with their friends and acquaintances from SAO, all of which are mingling excitedly with one another. Arakan looks around briefly, then his face lights up, "Sasha-san!"
The loud cry halts all discussion and Sasha whirls around, away from Thinker and Yulier who she'd been talking to, automatically opening her arms to accept the excited boy into a hug as he barrels into her, "Arakan-kun! I'm so happy to see you! How are you? Have you seen any of the other kids? How are they doing?"
Arakan smiles widely, "I'm happy to see you too. I've been doing great, so have the others. How about you? The SAO school is set up so everyone's where they need to be rather than where they should be, but because they break up where the classes are by levels of education, we're all in the same area. I missed you Sasha-san, we all have." Then he frowns slightly, a lost, hurt expression on his face, "Why didn't you come looking for us?"
Sasha smiles, "I've been fine. Worried about and missing all of you, but perfectly fine otherwise. I'm glad you're all together at least. As for looking for you all…" She sighs, "I wanted to, but I didn't think your parents would appreciate a stranger hanging around with their kids."
Arakan frowns, "That's dumb. My mom keeps saying she wants to meet you to thank you for taking care of me. She always gets all teary when she says it, though I don't know why." Then he squints up at Sasha, "... Just like you're doing now. Why are you teary Sasha-san? Are you sad?"
Sasha shakes her head, "No, I'm happy. Happy and relieved."
Arakan gets that 'adults are frustrating and confusing and weird' look that only kids can pull off, "That's what my mom always says too!"
Thinker chuckles, "Don't worry about it so much Arakan. You'll understand when you're older."
Though he says it under his breath, in the quiet of the plaza Arakan's muttered words of annoyance carry easily, "That's what my dad always says when I ask mom."
There are chuckles all around the plaza before people return to their conversations, though many of them call out greetings or wave at her and her mate. Kirito looks around, then frowns lightly, "Do you see Leafa anywhere?"
She gives her mate an amused look, "In case you're forgetting, I don't know what your sister's avatar looks like. Though I don't see anyone I don't at least vaguely recognize from SAO either, seeing as everyone I'm not totally familiar with are one of Diabel's minions. Speaking of which, Diabel and a few of the others have suggested we start a guild and invite all our friends here. Seeing as they seem to have some sort of wordless unanimous agreement that one of us should be guild leader, or more accurately that we should co-lead, they wanted me to ask what you thought. They seem to think you'd drop your near solo style and be more accepting of the idea if it came from me. Personally, I wasn't really into guilds in the past, but I think it'd be fun."
Her mate stares at her blankly for a moment, "Those bastards. How dare they manipulate me by having you ask? The one person in the world I can't say no to without a very good reason." She laughs lightly and he gives a dramatic sigh, "Fine. I guess we could form one of the best guilds to ever be created with our friends. Though I am going to grumble and complain and pretend that I hate the idea the entire way."
Shaking her head with a smile she bumps his shoulder, "Yeah, yeah, alright Mr Grouch. Go find your sister, I'll start spreading the news."
True to his word he grumbles and glares briefly at the last part, then lifts his gaze to smile lightly at the clouds, "... I think I might actually know where she is." He gives her a loving look, "I'll see you later, alright? Yui, stay with Hanna for now."
Both her and their daughter give mock salutes, then watch him take off skywards until they lose track of him when he blends in with the night sky. Moving off, she begins spreading the word of Kirito's agreement, much to everyone else's excitement. It's not long before they start brainstorming ideas for guild names, though there's an unspoken unanimous agreement not to have it have anything to do with SAO or Survivor and definitely not together. It's as Klein is trying to convince her and a few of the others for the sixth time to name it Fuurinkazan that the clock strikes midnight, immediately being sounded out by large bells.
Instantly all talk stops as everyone turns excited gazes upwards. There, descending in front of the moon, was her home, or at least one of them. Aincrad had returned.