Monochrome Duet

by Solid Shark

After the brutal 25th Floor Boss Raid, Asuna has left Kirito's side to join the Knights of Blood. With his partner gone, Kirito resigns himself to returning to the life of a solo player-until a familiar face from the lower floors unexpectedly reenters his life. The strangely-human NPC Kizmel, despite her quest being over, has returned to his side... Kirito/Kizmel.

17. Chapter XVII: Dragon Jubilee

February 18th, 2024

---

"Please, you have to help me! You… you can't let them get away with this!"

Being accosted by a young Swordmaster in armor indicative of a "mid-level" wasn't exactly something Kizmel had expected, returning from buying supplies for her party. Toresta was the main settlement of the Fifty-Fourth Floor, an unremarkable town distinguished only by it being the current frontline of Aincrad; not a place likely to be visited by any but the strongest Swordmasters as of yet.

Despite that, as she crossed the Teleport Plaza on her way to the inn her party was currently using, the first thing she'd seen was the youth on his knees before a member of the Divine Dragons. At first she'd shrugged it off, assuming it was the DDA's business; but after being pushed away by the Dragon Knight, the mid-level had spotted her and come running.

Now Kizmel was left staring in confusion at the Swordmaster, who knelt at her feet with hands clasped in supplication. "Pardon me?" she managed at last. "I'm afraid I don't understand…"

"You're with the Black Swordsman's party, right?!" the youth blurted out, lifting his head to reveal he was crying. "The one with the Baneblade?! You'd understand, I know you would!"

"W-well, perhaps I would," she said, raising a hand in a calming gesture. "I'm afraid I don't know what it is you're speaking of, however. If you could explain?" Hopefully more quietly and coherently; Kizmel noticed they were creating something of a stir as it was.

Though oddly, only other Swordmasters even seemed to notice. As she'd begun to notice was disturbingly common, the native residents of Toresta hardly spared them a glance.

"Right, right… Sorry." The young Swordmaster choked back tears, wiped his eyes, and unsteadily came to his feet. "My friends… my friends are dead. I've been trying for days to get someone to do something, but no one even seems to care! But you guys—I've heard the stories, if anyone would listen to me, it'd be the Black Swordsman…!"

Dead friends. Kizmel winced. Not that it was an uncommon tale in Aincrad, among her people or his; it certainly struck home for her. It was that very commonality, though, that made her wonder what made the young man so certain her party would be able to do something for him. Unless he'd heard part of the story of the Divine Stone…?

By the Great Tree of Lyusula, I hope that's not what he means.

"I'm sorry," he said again, dragging a sleeve over his eyes again. "I'm the guildmaster of the Silver Flags… or I was." He heaved a deep, shuddering breath; at least half a sob, really. "F-four days ago, we… we were ambushed by an orange guild. I'm… I'm the only one who…"

Confusion was blown right out of Kizmel's mind, first by cold shock—then burning rage. An orange guild… A term only recently coined among the Swordmasters, referring to organized groups of those recognized by the human "Anti-Criminal Code". In theory, it might refer to mere thieves; in practice, the first time Kizmel had heard the expression had been after a traumatized survivor announced his party had been set upon by a group called "Laughing Coffin".

This young man's friends did not die to monsters, to Kayaba's cruel trap. They were murdered.

The elf girl took a long, deliberate breath of her own. Only when she was sure her voice would be quiet, gentle, did she speak again. "Tell me who did this—and what you wish for us to do about it."

---

Kirito slowly turned the indigo crystal in his hand, a part of him awed by it. As the original "Beater", teamed up with the only fully-allied NPC in the entire game, he'd seen more unique loot than practically anyone else, yet this one crystal was probably the single most expensive item he'd ever even seen. How its original owner had even managed to acquire it, he couldn't guess.

That awe was only a small part of the emotions roiling through him, though. The reason its prior owner had gone to the trouble of obtaining it, and then passed it to his party, stirred up things much darker than amazement. Horror, for one.

Let's not forget rage, Kirito thought, staring down into the crystal's facets. I've heard the stories, but this…

Seated sideways at the desk in the inn room he shared with his partner, he lifted his gaze to Kizmel, then swept it over to the other members of their group. The room was cramped with all of them in it, but this was one meeting he wanted strictly private. "PKers," he said flatly. "And not PoH's group?"

Kizmel, sitting on Kirito's bed, shook her head, violet eyes darker than usual. "No. From the Silver Flag guildmaster's descriptions, this was not Laughing Coffin. The woman was clearly their leader, and their intentions were more pragmatic than PoH."

"Stealing their stuff, then killing 'em right off? Yeah, Laughing Coffin would've had fun with them, first." On the other bed, next to Rain, Philia's face held none of her usual good humor. "Like bandits, not serial killers… I dunno if that's better or worse."

"I don't think I care. Those… ublyudki… are still just killers, whatever their reasons." Rain fingered the hilt of her sword, looking very much like she wanted to start attacking the furniture with it. "Well, Kirito? Are we going for it?"

Kirito blinked, both at the still-unaccustomed feeling of being "in charge" and at the redhead's unfamiliar epithet. I don't even recognize the language… No, that's not important right now. "…I'm uneasy about this, to be honest," he said aloud. "Because of what it is, and because it'll mean taking time off from clearing. But we've done 'sidequests' before, and… I don't like the thought of letting something like this slide. It's not a decision I'm going to make alone, though. This could be dangerous, guys."

Not just to life and limb, either. Maybe not even primarily; if this particular group of PKers had hit the Silver Flags, it was a good bet they—like most PKers—weren't up to fighting clearers straight on, and the odds were against them being as smart as PoH. Physical danger wasn't the only one, though.

Kirito had faced the dilemma before, several times; Kizmel had been with him for one of them. Even so, neither of them had ever quite had to make the choice, and he wasn't sure he wanted his newer companions to face it at all.

"They're killing people, Kirito. We've got a lead on who—and we're pretty much the only ones who paid any attention to the poor survivor." Rain's hands curled into fists, a grim look in her red eyes. "I know what you're worried about, but I can't let this pass."

"Me, either." Philia didn't look as certain as the redhead, her voice low and slow, but she looked Kirito straight in the eyes. "Kirito, we've all known someone who's been murdered, by now. I wish it wasn't up to us, but somebody has to do it, right?"

Reasoning Kirito himself had used all too many times, in the year he'd been trapped in Sword Art Online. He sometimes wondered where he might've ended up, if he hadn't decided he was the only one who could do something quite so much. Dead, maybe. Or wishing I was, after other people died because I didn't act.

Definitely alone.

Having heard the others' votes, he turned to Kizmel, someone he knew wouldn't have even been there if certain decisions hadn't been made in the past. Certainly not sitting on his bed, looking like she thought she belonged there…

He quickly strangled that train of thought, as he'd had to do more often than he liked since the Fifty-First Floor, and forced his attention back to the subject at hand. "Do I even need to ask?"

Kizmel smiled briefly, but quickly sobered. "As Rain and Philia said, we're the only ones even considering it, my friend," she said softly, shaking her head. "You and I both know all too well what the Silver Flags' guildmaster is going through—and he gave me that crystal simply because I was the only one who even took the time to listen to his story. The dead demand justice, Kirito."

Yeah. That's what I thought. Not that Kirito disagreed, in the end. Not after the trap that had killed most of the Moonlit Black Cats. There was a reason he still kept the Baneblade, after having once again acquired a sword that was statistically superior.

"Besides," Kizmel said then, one eyebrow raised pointedly. "I know you, Kirito. What you really wanted to hear was that we would stay out of it—and then you would try to steal away and deal with it by yourself, wouldn't you?"

He winced, but had no rebuttal. She knows me too well, doesn't she? After Joe's MPK-by-proxy with the Black Cats, and everything Laughing Coffin has done to hamper the clearing… No. I couldn't let this pass. I would've preferred not to get the others involved, but one way or another, these people have to be stopped.

Letting out a deep sigh, he stuffed the crystal into his inventory. "Okay, then. We'll do it. Carefully." Kirito turned his gaze then to the inn room's door, where one final person leaned casually, silent up to then. "Argo," he said, fishing a coin bag out of a belt pouch, "can you find us what we need?"

The Rat smirked. "Redhead, wields a spear, really smug? Ain't enough girls in Aincrad for that to be hard, Kii-bou." Catching the thrown bag of Cor, her smirk widened to show teeth. "Meet me in the bar downstairs tomorrow night, yeah? I'll have somethin' for ya by then."

"Just the info, Argo," Kirito said sharply. "If you can get us a name and a general location, we can handle the rest. Don't be taking any unnecessary risks, got it?"

He hated involving the info broker in the PKer crisis at all. Even if this was looking like much less of a threat than Laughing Coffin, he didn't want to find out the hard way if curiosity killed the Rat, too.

Hand on the doorknob, Argo turned a look on him over her shoulder that he wasn't quite used to. Not from her. "You really know how to talk to a lady, dontcha, Kii-bou? No wonder… Don't worry 'bout a thing. Argo-nee-chan is always careful."

Winking, the Rat slipped out the door. Following her out was a dour look from Rain, who for reasons Kirito had never quite understood never seemed to get along with Argo. "It never gets any easier dealing with her, does it?"

"No," Kizmel told her, laying back on Kirito's bed with a sigh. "It does not. If you ever think you're safe from Argo's humor… Well. Trust me, you will be proven wrong."

---

February 23rd, 2024

---

If she ever found her way out of the forest, Silica promised herself miserably, she was never going to let fame go to her head again. No matter how "special" her achievement might've been, it wasn't helping her find her way around the Lost Forest.

Not like it was all my fault, she thought stubbornly, grimly putting one foot in front of the other as she waited for the next random teleport. If Rosalia-san hadn't been so mean and pushy—!

"Kyuu?"

The inquisitive sound from the blue-feathered dragon riding Silica's shoulder brought the young girl up short. With a sigh, her shoulders slumped as she acknowledged the truth. "I know, Pina," she muttered, trudging through the brush of the darkened forest. "It's my own stupid fault…"

Yes, Rosalia had been a jerk to suggest she didn't need healing crystals when she had a Feathered Little Dragon as a tamed mob. Pina's Healing Breath couldn't be used that often, and didn't restore nearly as much HP as a crystal, and Rosalia knew it. That still hadn't justified Silica storming off in a fit of pique when the redhead had pushed the issue.

"I can join any party I want! Plenty of players would be glad to team up with me!"

In hindsight, even Silica cringed at that. Just a thirteen-year-old girl with a big head. The title "Dragon Tamer" had made her too proud, and now she knew it all too well. After all, as helpful as Pina was in a fight, the dragon didn't substitute for a map.

The Lost Forest wasn't called that for no reason. If a player didn't know exactly how to get around, and quickly, the place would randomly teleport them after a certain length of time in any given area. Even a teleport crystal would only send a player to a different section of the Forest, never letting them go directly to town.

Given that it had been the leader of the party she'd abandoned who had the map…

She thought it was about four in the afternoon that she'd left the others. Well after dark, she still hadn't found her way back to the Forest's entrance. She'd found plenty of enemies, though, and while she and Pina were more than strong enough for them, it still took a toll.

Just to rub it in, Silica was about out of both potions and healing crystals.

Two steps more, and blue light began to flare up around her. If I do get out of this, I'll remember it, she vowed, one section of dark forest trading itself for another. I'm not going to let words make me do something so stupid again!

If she got out. It was quickly plain to her that the new area to which she'd been teleported wasn't any closer to the edge of the Forest than any other she'd seen so far. The mess her own impulsiveness had landed her in wasn't over yet.

Well, sooner or later I've got to find the right way! I just have to keep going, and—

"Kyuu!"

Pina's more urgent call snapped Silica out of her depression. Whirling to see what the feathery dragon had spotted, her heart leapt into her throat at the discovery of what had crept up behind her: three humanoid monsters, tall and bulky, covered in fur. Carrying a heavy wooden club in one hand and a gourd of some kind in the other, Silica recognized them at once.

Drunk Apes. The highest-level mobs in the Lost Forest, which she'd managed to avoid encountering up to then. Individually, not that big of a threat to her; three at once was something else entirely.

Especially when she was out of healing items. For the first time since she'd set out from the City of Beginnings, Silica didn't find herself at all reassured by the light color of their cursors.

But I can do this. I know Pina and I can!

She was tired, and she was afraid. But she drew the dagger sheathed at her waist and launched into a charging Rapid Bite skill with no hesitation at all: initiative and speed were the keys to successful knife-fighting. Even if she was only a mid-level, that was a lesson she'd learned well.

Silica's decisive action paid off, taking her right up to the first Drunk Ape before any of them had a chance to engage. Her dagger bit deep into its chest, taking off a good chunk of its HP right there. It staggered back with a basso cry, giving her a chance to launch right into the three slashing hits of a Tri-Slice; she just had time to leap back after that ahead of its club.

The one advantage she had was that the Drunk Apes, while powerful, were slow and clumsy. They used low-level mace skills, and no multi-hit combos; for the start of the battle, Silica was able to take advantage of that to tear down her target's HP with near impunity.

Against one, that would've been enough. Against two, with Pina running interference, it might still have been enough.

With three, she was very abruptly forced to abort a Fad Edge before she could even launch it, and threw herself back in a roll to avoid the third Drunk Ape's club. The heavy wood whistled through the air right where her head had been—but it did miss, and Silica came out of her roll prepared to charge into another Rapid Bite to finish her original target.

Even as Pina blew deadly bubbles at the second, though, the third continued its attack on Silica. At the same time, she realized to her astonishment that the first had taken the respite to drink from the gourd in its left hand, and its HP was rapidly going back up.

She hadn't known they could do that. But then, she'd never really fought solo before. Fighting in a party, she'd never seen them live long to have a chance to try it.

I have to kill them quick, then. If I'm fast enough, I can still do it!

Silica didn't remember much of the next few minutes, after. It was a whirlwind of steel, clubs, and Pina's trilling cries as the dragon tried to help her kill the Drunk Apes before they could heal. A war of attrition, both sides coordinating, but only one side truly able to recover over the course of it.

Anxiety turned to fear, to panic as she grew more and more tired. As one of the Drunk Apes healed for the dozenth time, Silica began to truly understand that Death was an ever-present threat in Aincrad, a truth she hadn't had to face in months.

Stabbing, spinning, ducking; watching as her HP ticked down toward yellow, while her foes juggled her to keep their own in the blue. Just before her health bar reached that mark, Pina's breath washed over her, restoring maybe ten percent, but not enough.

Trying one more time to kill the first Drunk Ape, Silica finally tripped in the middle of a Sword Skill. Her dagger missed its mark completely, and before she could recover the second ape caught her with a heavy blow to the stomach.

Crying out as the virtual air was driven from her lungs, she hurtled back and slammed spine-first into a tree. With a choked gasp, she collapsed to the forest floor, dazed.

No. Worse than dazed, Silica realized. She couldn't move at all. Looking up at her health bar, she saw a single blinking icon above it: Tumble status. Next to Paralysis, the closest to a death sentence there was in Aincrad—especially to a player who was all alone.

Worse still, her HP was suddenly well into the yellow, close enough that one badly-timed critical could well be her end.

No chance to evade, no chance even to reach for a Teleport Crystal. Even as her wits returned, Silica could only look up in terror as the third Drunk Ape advanced on her, lifting its heavy club. It took on a deep crimson glow; she began to close her eyes as it started to come down, unable to watch—

"Kyuu!"

Flashing into the path, a winged shape. In the middle of its swing, the club's skill expended itself, smashing the intervening object to the ground.

Blue eyes looked up to Silica. Pina trilled weakly—and shattered, azure shards leaving only a single tail feather to mark their passing.

At the same moment, something inside Silica shattered, as well. In the loneliness of Sword Art Online, a young girl adrift, the dragon she'd named for the cat waiting for her back in the real world had been her one constant companion. As she flitted from one party to another at a whim, always confident there'd be another one glad to have her, she'd always had Pina.

When feathers turned to fragments, Silica's heart cracked. Her terror disappeared along with the Tumble status, and as her vision went red, she lunged to her feet with an incoherent howl of rage. Driven by fury as much as System Assist, her Rapid Bite struck deep into the heart of the Drunk Ape that had taken her friend from her.

Maybe their AI hadn't expected her ferocious assault. More likely, her reckless disregard for her own health was just letting her do things she wouldn't have dared just a minute before. Either way, the force of her attack drove the Drunk Ape clear down to the forest floor, inflicting a Tumble on it in turn.

Still screaming, Silica flailed at the ape again and again, dagger flashing back and forth, up and down, running through every Sword Skill she knew as quickly as the system would allow. The others began to attack her in turn, and her vision flashed when one of them struck a glancing blow, but she didn't care. Nothing mattered except killing Pina's murderer.

Cutting through her rage-filled haze was her target groaning out a death cry, shattering to pieces beneath her. Silica fell down through its scattering body, landing hard on her knees. At the moment of impact, though, she rebounded, twisting around to face her remaining tormentors.

There were still two of them, both at full health, and only one of her, HP clear down to red. But survival was no longer her concern, irrational as it was. She would avenge Pina, even if it meant throwing herself right into the club swinging toward her—!

Half a meter from Silica's face, the first Drunk Ape's club was abruptly sliced in half. An instant later, its head flew off to join the missing chunk of wood, and the murderous monster vanished in a cascade of polygons. Almost at the same moment, a curved blade burst out of the other ape's chest, sending it to meet its companion in death.

For a long moment, Silica could only stand there in stunned surprise. Surprise, at the abruptness of her enemies' deaths, and the fact that she was still alive. She couldn't even process what had happened, still clutching her dagger in a striking posture.

"Whew… We made it in time. Are you okay?"

A deep voice. Male—and human, the first human voice she'd heard in hours. Shuddering as the adrenaline began to drain away, Silica's dagger-arm went slack, and she finally took stock of the fact that she was no longer alone.

The speaker, standing where her near-killer had been, she could barely see. Between his dark clothes, hair, and sword—now being returned to a scabbard on his back, after a quick flourish—all she could really make out was light reflecting off equally dark eyes.

"I fear she's in shock, my friend. It seems we… may not have been as quick as we had hoped."

Silica's head whipped around to the source of the new voice: a girl who managed to be even darker than the boy, dusky skin hidden by armor and a hooded cloak shrouding her face. She had a sense of the unreal about her, something Silica couldn't quite pin down.

Then the girl's words registered, and grief came crashing down on Silica so hard she sank to her knees. "Pina..." she whispered, eyes filling with tears. With shaking hands, she picked up the feather that was all her companion had left behind, and held it close to her chest. "Pina… I'm so, so sorry… This is all my fault…"

She didn't know how long she knelt there, crying. There was a soft murmuring that might've been her rescuers whispering to each other, but she couldn't muster the will to care. Not when her own stupidity had brought her to this point, and cost her so dearly.

Eventually, though, she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Hey," the boy said softly. "I'm really sorry we didn't get here sooner. But, um… are you okay, at least?"

Sniffling, Silica finally looked up into dark eyes, and managed a weak nod. "Yeah," she whispered. "I… I'll be fine… Thank you… for doing what you could." A practical thought pierced the fog in her head. "Um… how did you even get here when you did? This place… I've been wandering here for hours, and I can't believe anybody was looking for me…"

"We've been here a time or two before," the hooded girl said, a wry note in her voice as she crouched next to the boy. "We were here on business of our own when we encountered your party leader, who said you might need help."

A few hours before, that would've been a boost to Silica's pride. After what had just happened, it was only another reminder of how badly she'd messed everything up. She was distantly grateful that the other party had at least cared that much, but the fact that they hadn't actually looked for her themselves was a blow to her ego.

"Thank you," she said again. "And, um, don't… don't apologize for not being quicker. That… that's all my fault…"

There was a long silence after that, her rescuers seeming to be caught up in their own concerns while she brooded in her grief. Silica was still alive—but she had no idea what she would do now. She'd lost not only one the one thing that got her so many party invites, not just the pet that helped her through fights she might never have challenged otherwise, but the one emotional lifeline she had in the game of death.

Pina… I… I…

"Excuse me," the hooded girl said gently, "forgive me for asking this, but… does that feather you're holding have a name?"

A name? It hadn't even occurred to Silica to examine the feather Pina had left behind. Now, with a trembling hand, she tapped it, and was surprised to see a name come up: Pina's Heart. "E-eh? What's… this…?" Pina's heart? Just seeing that her companion had left something like that started to make her break down all over again.

"Wait!" the boy said hurriedly, raising his hands. "There's still hope. That item—according to information clearers dug up recently, that means the pet can be revived."

Silica's head snapped up, eyes widening in sudden, terrifying hope. "It—it does?! How?!" she demanded, heart hammering in her chest. "Please, just tell me—!"

The hooded girl placed a hand over the one still clutching Pina's feather. "There is a story," she began, "among the elves that live in this castle. On the Forty-Seventh Floor, far to the north, there is a place called the Hill of Memories. A flower blooms there that can bring animal companions back to life, if brought together with the Heart."

Hope surged higher in Silica's heart—then plummeted, as the other girl's words fully registered. The Forty-Seventh Floor wasn't the frontline, but it was still ten levels above her own margin. Even if she'd still had Pina with her, attempting that would've been suicide.

"The Forty-Seventh Floor, huh," she whispered. "W-well, if I grind enough, then someday… maybe only a few weeks…"

The black-clad boy cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Um, the thing is… apparently you have to do it within four days, or the 'Heart' item turns into 'Remains'… B-but don't worry!" he said hastily, as despair rose in her again. "Look—oh, I'm no good at this… Here, take these."

A system window materialized in the air before Silica's eyes. Confused, she realized it was a trade offer, holding items she'd never seen before: Silver Thread Armor, Ebony Dagger… Names she didn't know, but could see were much stronger than anything she'd ever used.

Uncomprehending, she looked up into the boy's dark eyes. "U-um, what's this…?"

The hooded girl chuckled. "What my friend is trying to tell you is that we'll help you. That equipment should compensate some for any lack of strength on your part, and with the two of us by your side, there should be nothing on the Forty-Seventh Floor of any significant threat."

Confused, Silica looked from one stranger to the other, hope warring with suspicion. She'd never seen either of them before, and just from looking at them she couldn't tell much about them; the boy's longcoat and calm demeanor made it hard to gauge his age, while the girl's hooded cloak and exotic features if anything made her even more enigmatic.

"Why… why are you so willing to help…?"

She wanted to believe the offer was genuine. Truthfully, the boy's eyes seemed to have a kind of innocence to them, and the fact that one of SAO's rare female players was teamed with him probably meant that he wasn't out to win her heart, as some others had been. Yet without Pina—without the tamed dragon that made her "special"—she honestly couldn't think of any reason a couple of random strangers would take such a risk in a world where one misstep was lethal.

The long silence after her question didn't make her feel any better, but at last—after a Look from the hooded girl—the boy coughed. "W-well," he began, "I could say something trite about how you remind me of my sister, but the truth is…" He hesitated, flicking a quick glance at his partner. "The truth is… I know what it's like to be attached to something of this world. Or someone." The boy nodded at the feather she still clutched tightly.

Silica blinked. Took another look at the boy's eyes, and did a double-take. Innocent, maybe—but sad, too. It was a look, she thought, that she'd sometimes seen in the mirror, when she let herself think about what would happen when the game was finally cleared.

Glancing back at the boy's partner, she realized the smile the girl was favoring him with had a sad edge of its own.

Exactly what their story was, Silica didn't know, and didn't think she should ask. Still, she found herself believing the boy's words, and tension finally drained out of her. "Well, um, thank you, then," she said, letting herself finally start to hope. "Oh—I'm Silica! I'll be in your care."

"Kirito," the boy said, finalizing the trade with a shy smile. "This is my partner, Kizmel. Pleased to meet you."

Kirito…? Somehow, she thought the name ought to have meant something, though she wasn't sure what. And Kizmel… that sounds foreign. Come to think of it, she doesn't look Japanese, either.

Just then, though, she didn't care. These strangers were offering her hope, and as they began to lead her out of the Forest, Silica decided that was good enough for her.

---

At one time or another, Kirito figured he'd probably been through just about every town in the conquered floors of Aincrad, at least briefly. He couldn't say that anything about the Thirty-Fifth Floor's Mishe stood out to him, though; between its fairly bland architecture and how long it had been since the frontline had been centered there, anyway.

The pig-tailed young girl leading him and his partner through Mishe's streets seemed familiar enough with it, at least. And it with her, he mused, as Silica repeatedly greeted other players and begged off more than one party invite. I'm actually surprised I've never heard of the "Dragon Tamer" before, if she's this well-known in the mid-levels.

Kirito actually thought it was kind of funny, the dirty looks he and Kizmel were getting for "line-cutting" with the girl. He was wearing one of his older coats and a sturdy but unremarkable sword, while the elf had on a far plainer cloak than was her wont; as long as Kizmel kept her hood up, neither of them looked to be anything special.

For once, people are glaring at me without even knowing about the "Beater" stuff. That's kinda fun.

At least something in that night was lighthearted. When he and Kizmel had set out on their mission, rescuing a girl just after she'd lost a beloved pet wasn't quite what they'd expected to do. It looked like it would fit into their plan well enough, but Kirito really hadn't counted on the complication.

She's just a kid, he thought, glancing over at Silica as she led them around a corner. Damn, I think she's younger than Sugu… Didn't her parents pay any attention to the CERO rating? I mean, sure, nobody expected the whole death trap part, but this is still a pretty mature game.

Not a point Kirito intended to make to Kizmel, that. Seeing as she'd been his rather eye-opening introduction to just how "mature" SAO actually was. If he did say anything about it, she'd laugh at him. If he was lucky.

They were almost to the inn Silica had recommended, he thought, when a voice called out—one different from the myriad people trying to recruit the Dragon Tamer. "Oh? So you found her, I see! Good to see you made it out of that forest after all, Silica-chan."

Silica stopped dead, turning to face the owner of the voice. Kirito didn't blame her for the way her face visibly tightened; not when he saw exactly who was standing on a street corner, casually leaning against a long spear like a giant walking stick. A tall redhead in armor not quite as revealing as Philia's, wearing a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

No, it does. It's just not a friendly look.

"Hate to say it, though," the redhead went on, "but we already distributed the day's drops. Sorry about that."

Silica didn't seem to buy the sympathy any more than Kirito did. Drawing herself up to her full height, she retorted, "I told you before, Rosalia-san, I don't care anyway. It was about time I left, anyway."

"Hm. If you say so, Silica-chan." Rosalia rubbed her chin with her free hand, looking thoughtful. "Oh, but… something seems to be missing." She glanced over at Kirito and Kizmel, one eyebrow raised. "I guess our party leader's info wasn't good enough, eh, Blackie? Looks like you were a little late."

The mourning Dragon Tamer wasn't the only one who bristled at that. Even if he hadn't had very personal reasons for sympathizing with Silica's plight, the way Rosalia oozed false concern would've raised his hackles.

"Late, perhaps," Kizmel said softly, before Kirito could say anything he might have regretted. From beneath her hood, the elf girl gave the redhead a measuring gaze, continuing, "But not, I think, too late."

"That's right!" Silica said fiercely, glaring at her former teammate. "Pina's gone now, but I'm going to revive her!"

Rosalia's eyebrows went up at that, and she gave a low whistle. "So, that means you're headed for the Hill of Memories, hm? That's rather reckless of you, Silica-chan. With your level, I'm not sure you can manage that."

Enough. "The Hill of Memories isn't that hard a dungeon," Kirito said, stepping forward so he was partly between Silica and Rosalia. "With a little help, she won't have any trouble."

A few more levels, actually, and he suspected Silica would've been able to handle the Hill all by herself. There wasn't time for that, though—and monsters weren't what he was really worried about for this particular quest. At least, not Kayaba's monsters…

Now Rosalia's attention drifted to him and his partner. Judging from her expression, she wasn't exactly impressed. "Oh, another boy she's charmed? Greedy, aren't you, when you've already got a girl with you?" Her lips curved in another unfriendly smile. "With gear likes yours, I'd be careful, were I you. This world has surprises, you know."

Kirito managed to let that jab slide right off; in a way, it was easier knowing that the redhead had no idea just how right she was. Silica, on the other hand, he could see was a barely-restrained bundle of fury—not that he could blame her, considering how fresh her own wounds were.

To her credit, though, the pig-tailed girl held in her tears, and simply said in a tight voice, "Think whatever you want, Rosalia-san. I don't care. …The tavern is right over this way, Kirito-san, Kizmel-san."

Rosalia's sickly-sweet "Good luck," and low laughter followed them down the street.

---

Kizmel had met a wide variety of Swordmasters since first meeting her partner. Most of them, in her experience, had been doing their best to further their cause in their own way, however unpleasant their personalities could sometimes be; Kibaou and Lind came readily to mind as aggravating but well-intentioned. The likes of PoH were monstrous, yet straightforward about their nature.

Rosalia's particular kind of poisonous false-friendliness was something she'd never encountered before, and honestly hoped not to again. Lind at his worst merely thought too highly of his own wisdom; Rosalia hid a predator's fangs behind a smile.

Sitting at a table of the large Weathervane Tavern across from Silica, as close beside her partner as she dared, Kizmel could tell the older girl's words troubled the tamer deeply. From entering the tavern until Kirito produced a bottle and poured each of them a cup, Silica was silent, trembling; only after she'd taken several long sips did she begin to loosen up.

"This isn't something the tavern sells," she said, frowning. "It tastes like wine, but…"

"Moontear wine," Kizmel told her, savoring the sweet and sour burn of her sister's favored drink. "A specialty of the Dark Elves. They seldom come this far up the Steel Castle, but Kirito has contacts with them."

The exact nature of those contacts, she left unsaid for now; there was a reason she still wore her hood up even in the safety of the tavern. Kizmel regretted keeping secrets from Silica, but the encounter out in the street had proven the necessity of their precautions.

"It's good," Silica decided, nursing her glass. "But, um, this must be rare stuff. Are you sure it's okay for me to have some?"

"Not as rare as you might think, if you know where to look," Kirito said easily, leaning back in his chair with a small smile. "Besides, drinking is more fun with other people, right?" His expression sobered. "Especially after something like that. Are you okay, Silica?"

Staring down into her cup, she bit her lip. "…I will be," she muttered. "It's just… why do people have to be that mean? I know I was too full of myself, but what Rosalia-san said…"

Sighing, Kirito set his own cup on the table and leaned his elbows on either side of it. "I'm guessing this is your first MMO, Silica?" When the girl nodded, he continued, "Well, to be honest, this kind of thing is pretty normal for MMO players, not just in Aincrad."

Kizmel's interested was instantly piqued, though she refrained from glancing at her partner lest she break her cover. Human society in his world was still something she knew relatively little about, and the culture of "gamers" in particular was something she had knowledge of only in relation to Aincrad itself.

"There's always a thrill to being anonymous," Kirito said now, looking at yet somehow also past Silica. "When you're wearing the mask of a character, you can be kinder than your 'real' self… or crueler. They call it 'roleplaying', and as long as you're not a total griefer, it's all in good fun in a regular game. Honestly, I was into PvP myself before all this, and… Well. Let's say I might have done some kill-stealing here and there."

He looked a bit sheepish at that. Kizmel found herself wondering what it might've been like, meeting her partner in such times; from the sound of it, she would have found him either vexing, or a charming rogue, depending on what his attitude had been during such actions.

She chose to believe in the charming rogue. Certainly it fit better with how she did know him.

"That was before, though. Before the game turned real—and before Full-Dive." Kirito clasped his hands, fingers visibly tightening. "I don't understand how anyone can steal or kill for the fun of it when our real lives are at stake. And to be honest… I've been thinking about this for a long time now, and I've come to the conclusion that roleplaying a villain isn't healthy in Full-Dive at all."

Silica tilted her head. "Kirito-san?"

"Duels are one thing. PvP, so long as both sides agree, isn't any different from a kendo match in our world. Even in VR. But if you can look someone in the eye, someone weaker than you, threaten them—hurt them—and laugh?" Kizmel could hear tendons in his fingers creaking. "Anyone who can act like that is garbage in both worlds."

The heat in his voice was enough to make Kizmel jump almost as much as Silica did. She'd very occasionally heard Kirito complain about the behavior of certain of his fellow Swordmasters, but only occasionally, and never in such forceful terms.

Even some of our fellow clearers have fewer manners than they should, she reminded herself. Those who have turned to banditry, even were this world truly the game they believed it would be… Yes, I suppose it's no surprise my partner would feel this way.

Kirito seemed to realize, then, that he'd not only startled his companions but drawn the gaze of some of the other patrons. Forcing his fingers to relax, he hunched his shoulders and lowered his voice. "Sorry. It's… kind of personal for me." He cracked a smile; a bitter, humorless one. "Not that I'm one to talk, anyway. Being around me… isn't always healthy."

Alright, that's enough of that. Doubtless the loss of the girl's pet had brought old wounds back to the surface, but her patience for her partner's self-recrimination was wearing thin. Laying her hand on his thigh under cover of the table, Kizmel leaned in close to his ear. "You save far more than you have lost, my friend," she murmured. "Nor is the responsibility yours alone."

"T-that's right!" Silica said quickly, blushing faintly. "You did save me—and you're helping me bring Pina back. You're nothing like Rosalia-san!"

Apparently realizing at the same time the girl did exactly what position he'd ended up in with Kizmel, Kirito reddened and coughed lightly. "Ah. Well… maybe so. I do my best, anyway." Despite his clear embarrassment, the elf was pleased to see tension easing out of his shoulders. "So! How about we get some dinner, and work out the plan for tomorrow?"

Conversation after that, Kizmel was relieved to find, was much lighter. Kirito and Silica exchanged a few more cheerful stories of past adventures as they ate, the elf making a few quiet contributions of her own between bites of stew. A very good venison stew, that was; her own people had something similar, but human chefs had created something with their own unique touch.

Another sign, she had to admit, that the kitchen was one area where human variety was truly a marvel.

After the meal, which was capped off with the wonderful human dessert that was cheesecake, Kirito pushed back his chair. "Okay, then," he said. "Why don't we head upstairs? We can get tomorrow's schedule figured out behind closed doors, then get some sleep."

Kizmel stood, and with a puzzled frown Silica followed suit. "Um, sure," the girl said. "But, um, why behind closed doors…?"

"Ah, it's probably nothing," Kirito said easily, with a careless shrug. "But the walls have ears, y'know? In this world, it's better not to take chances."

Looking doubtful, Silica nodded and followed the swordsman to the staircase in the back of the tavern.

For a "mid-level", she seems innocent of the subtler dangers Aincrad holds, Kizmel mused, taking up the rear. I wonder, is it that she's simply been fortunate, or has her skill kept her away from such threats without her ever noticing? Or perhaps… perhaps others have protected her, whether they knew it or not.

In a way, I envy that innocence. I pray tomorrow will not hurt her too badly.

---

Silica was mildly surprised to find that Kirito and Kizmel had rented only a single room for themselves, when they reached the second floor. "Um… I'm not getting in the way or anything, am I?" She probably didn't have anything to worry about, SAO was only supposed to be rated fifteen and up, but there were those rumors she'd been hearing…

Leading the way inside, Kirito blinked. "Huh? …Oh." He coughed, coloring faintly, and waved a hand. "No, don't worry about it. Kizmel's… circumstances when we first teamed up meant it was easier for us to just share a room back then. Now it's just habit."

Something about the look on Kizmel's face then—something subtle enough Silica suspected Kirito didn't catch it—suggested to the Dragon Tamer that the two weren't quite in complete agreement about that. She decided to take it at face value, though, and entered the room with a muttered, "Excuse me."

Inside, Kizmel casually sat on the edge of one the beds and nodded for Silica to take the other, while Kirito pulled a chair away from the room's desk. The black-clad swordsman parked himself close to a low table in the center of the room, materialized a small box from his inventory, and set it down.

Silica peered at it curiously. Inside was a small crystal ball, reminding her of some magic crystals she'd seen. When Kirito clicked on it, a menu appeared in the air; a few quick touches later, and the whole thing began to glow with bright blue light.

A hologram quickly formed in the air above the item, a brilliant sphere displaying what looked like a floor map. Unlike the basic map any player could call up from their menu, though, this one showed locations in three-dimensional detail, even individual buildings and trees.

"Wow!" Silica breathed. "What's that? I've never seen an item like that before!"

"It's called a Mirage Sphere," Kirito told her, smiling. "They're still pretty rare, and expensive, but if you can find them they're pretty handy." He pointed at one of the villages floating in the display. "This is a map of the Forty-Seventh Floor, and we'll be starting right about here…"

She listened with rapt attention, soaking in every detail of the path that would lead her back to Pina. A part of her noticed Kizmel occasionally glancing at the door, making Silica worry just a little that she really was intruding; but the majority of the older girl's attention also seemed to be on the Mirage Sphere.

When Kirito had finished outlining their route and closed down the Sphere, Silica prepared to make a quick exit. After all, whatever the two were to each other, she was sure they'd want to get to sleep as soon as possible. She was in hurry to, for that matter, even if she didn't think it would be easy for her; the sooner she was asleep, the sooner she could start off to get Pina back.

Before she could stand, though, Kizmel leaned into the space between them. "Silica," she began, "I've been meaning to ask—if you don't mind, that is. How exactly did you come by such a dragon in the first place? I've never heard of such a creature being tamed."

Any other night, Silica might've answered that question proudly. Now, after realizing just how big she'd let her ego get, she ducked her head and blushed. "To be honest, it was kind of by accident," she said. "I was in a forest one day a few months ago, and I just kinda saw this little dragon wandering around the edge of the path. At first I was worried—the dragon was a mob, after all—and she even attacked me. Except, well… she turned out to be more interested in my snack."

"Your snack." Kirito's eyebrows went up. "Uh, what were you eating at the time?"

She shrugged. "Just ordinary peanuts."

"Peanuts." Kizmel nodded slowly, a solemn expression on her face. "Of course. I've heard some of the smaller dragon breeds are fond of them. It had not occurred to me to try using them to tame a dragon, but if anything would work, it would be that."

Unsure if she was being made fun of, Silica gave the older girl a sidelong look. Some people had mocked her for that, before she started getting a reputation. Kizmel, though, maintained such a perfectly straight face that she couldn't decide if it was genuine or not.

Giving up, she shrugged again. "That's really all there is to it. I gave her peanuts, her cursor turned yellow, and ever since she's always been with me. That's why I named her Pina: she reminded me a lot of my cat, back in the real world."

"A good name, then." Kizmel smiled, looking just a little sad; and so did Kirito, when Silica glanced his way. "We'll do our best to help you get back to both of them, then. I promise."

---

When Silica had gone, returning to her own room for the night, Kirito reclaimed his bed and flopped into it with a sigh. He was sure she hadn't meant to, but the girl had brought to mind things he'd done his best not to think about too much in a long time.

The "real world", huh? …How long has it been since I really thought of it that way? It's been more like a dream, after this long…

Pushing that thought aside, he turned his head toward his partner. "So. Eavesdropper, right?"

"Yes," Kizmel confirmed, doffing her hooded cloak now that they were alone. "They were very quiet, but I suspect they remain unaware of whom I am." She paused, glancing at something he couldn't see; a few finger strokes at empty air, and he realized she was checking a message. "Ah. They also failed to notice Rain."

"That's that, then." A bit over a month since they'd first met Rain, and Kirito still didn't quite know what made the redhead tick—or what all her skills were, for that matter. He'd bet on her skills at both Hiding and fighting over any PKer, though, so as far as he was concerned the plan was still on track.

"Yes, I think things are proceeding well." Kizmel stretched out on her bed; without her armor, the motion made Kirito reflexively begin to avert his eyes, before once again remembering her recent demands. "Kirito-kun. What's wrong?"

She could read him like an open book. Yet another reason he was ever more convinced she wasn't an ordinary NPC by any measure—and why he was careful never to outright lie to her, no matter how much it hurt.

"It's nothing big," he said, resting his head on his hands. "It's just… Well, you know how most Swordmasters don't like to think about home too much. I'm actually surprised Silica used a pet's name like that. For most of us, that would just hurt more."

"I would say everyone copes in their own way, Kirito-kun." Kizmel glanced at the door Silica had left through. "Perhaps Silica finds that a comfort? From what I've seen tonight, she has few, if any, people in this world she can truly count as friends." She quirked one of those teasing smiles he'd always thought she'd adapted from Argo in his direction. "Not everyone has an elf to keep them from going astray, after all."

"You and Asuna really do think I need a keeper, don't you?" Kirito complained. He made no attempt to deny it, though. Remembering how he'd felt the first night of the death game, when it had really sunk in how completely he was separated from his family, he wasn't sure if he could've stayed sane alone. Not after over a year trapped in Aincrad, anyway.

"Well, of course you do. With how much you take on yourself, someone needs to rescue you from your own occasionally excessive gallantry." The elf girl's smile turned warmer, losing its teasing edge. "Like Silica, you've precious few to call your friends, despite all the good you've done. I may be neither dragon nor cat, but I think saving my life and my people was a better enticement than mere peanuts."

He felt a pang of guilt at that, but he pushed aside the thought of what he knew that she didn't with the ease of entirely too much practice. Burying unease under good humor, he said, "You make it sound like I tamed you, Kizmel."

Her response was a low, throaty chuckle. One Kirito remembered from very different circumstances, and thoroughly distracted him from his depression. "Oh, I don't know that I would say tamed, Kirito-kun… after all, what would be the fun in that?"

---

February 24th, 2024

---

Silica had heard stories about the Forty-Seventh Floor, and how it was sometimes called by players the "Flower Garden". The reality, when she teleported with Kirito and Kizmel to the town of Floria, blew away her expectations.

There were flowers everywhere, of every color imaginable. Some she recognized from the real world, and others she thought might have been types she'd just never seen before; a few she was sure were only possible in VR, and all the more amazing for it. In small gardens, large parks, and even just boxes built into the buildings, they were easily the most eye-catching element around.

Ever since learning that SAO saved processing power by only giving objects full detail when focused on by a player, Silica had done her best not to stare too hard at anything out of a paranoid terror of causing system glitches. Even so, here, she couldn't help but give her full attention to everything around her, drinking in the sights.

This is what this world is supposed to be, isn't it? It's all so amazing…

A low chuckle took her out of her awestruck reverie. "Beautiful, isn't it?" Kizmel said, smiling softly. "A pity we've not the time to visit the Forest of Giant Flowers, on the northern edge of the floor. It truly is a sight that should not be missed. Dangerous, of course, but any rose has thorns; I expect many even of the lower-leveled players here will visit before they leave."

With a sheepish start, Silica remembered they were hardly the only players around. Glancing about, she realized that, for perhaps the first time since being trapped in Aincrad, there was actually a roughly equal balance of male and female players, something she was used to seeing only among the NPC population. For that matter, it was mostly pairs…

About the moment she understood why that probably was, Silica noticed Kizmel was also watching them—and though it was hard to tell with the older girl's face obscured by her hood, she looked somehow wistful, her gaze sliding from the groups of players to her own partner.

Kirito's face was oddly blank, with just the faintest trace of a blush.

Gripped by a sudden feeling like she was intruding on a date, Silica cleared her throat. "So, um—where is the Hill of Memories, exactly?"

"North of here," Kirito said promptly, looking distinctly relieved. "A bit over halfway to the Forest of Giant Flowers. That would be… this way."

On the heels of that statement, accompanied by Kizmel's low chuckle, they set off down Floria's streets, heading for the north exit.

Flowers continued to be the defining feature of both the town and the floor as a whole. Vines with countless white flowers twined around the silver arch that marked the border where Floria's street became a red brick highway, leading into green hills that stretched out into a morning haze. Along the edges of that brick road, a rainbow of flowers spread out as if pointing the way.

The contrast from the last "adventure" Silica had been on was stark. Bright flower fields with only the occasional tree for shade, instead of a dark forest; a single, gently-curving path to her destination, not a maze of teleport gates. She had only two companions on the journey, who gave her none of the special treatment she'd gotten used to as the "Dragon Tamer", yet were altogether more pleasant. Their stories of higher floors were more interesting than anything she'd ever heard in party chat before.

She did have a few questions she didn't quite dare to ask, though. Kirito had handed her a Teleport Crystal just as they left Floria, with stern instructions to use it if things went wrong—and she still didn't know just why he and Kizmel had been on the Thirty-Fifth Floor in the first place. She could understand, vaguely, why they'd found her plight important enough to delay their own business, but it almost seemed like the detour suited them beyond that.

Maybe they'd already finished whatever it was they'd wanted from the Lost Forest. That didn't explain what they'd wanted, though; the only significance Silica even knew of to the place was vague rumors about an event the previous Christmas. She hadn't heard of anything since then.

At least she found herself in complete agreement with Kizmel on one thing, though: for reasons the older girl also didn't explain, she had a pathological hatred of anything with tentacles. When giant plant monsters with long, limb-like vines appeared, Kizmel had instantly turned from friendly to merciless, striking at them with a ferocity Silica had seldom seen.

Considering what she knew of tentacle monsters from a few manga she totally had stumbled on by accident—and had wanted to burn afterward—Silica was glad to help the dusky girl turn them to mulch.

"Kizmel's had a grudge against tentacles since we fought some land-going squids in a dungeon on the Thirty-Seventh Floor," Kirito murmured after Kizmel killed a second Chlorofiend with righteous anger and an attack resembling a buzz saw. "At least these things don't have ink attacks."

What kind of pervert designed these mobs, anyway?!

---

Chlorofiends aside, it was only late morning when the three of them took the path up a gentle hill into gradually-deepening woods. The soft flutes of the BGM and brighter colors kept it from being half as oppressive as the Lost Forest, even as the trees grew denser around them; it was more like a fairytale wood, Silica thought, than a nightmare forest.

Then, finally, the trees opened up again in a large clearing, filled with another rainbow of flowers. Orchids, roses, lilies… A riot of colors that she thought gave it a feeling of life.

The Hill of Memories…

In the center of it all stood a shining white plinth, reaching up to about chest height for Silica. "And that would be our goal," Kizmel said quietly. "Atop that stone—"

Silica was off and running before the older girl finished speaking. So quick was her dash that she almost collided with the stone pillar; she had to flail her arms to keep her balance. She didn't even care about that, though, focusing her gaze firmly on the top of the pillar.

At first, there was nothing there, and ice began to fill her veins at the thought that it had all been for nothing. A hand fell on her shoulder, though, and a voice murmured in her ear, "Wait, and watch. …There it is."

Just as Kirito said, a shape began to rise from the stone: a white flower bud, rising like in a time-lapse video Silica remembered seeing in science class in those long-ago days in the real world. First simply lifting up on a green stalk, then blossoming and unfolding before her very eyes. Seven petals stretched out, holding in their center a shimmering drop.

"There it is," Kizmel said softly, stepping up behind Silica's other shoulder. "The Pneuma Flower. The drop of water inside will restore breath to your dragon, when touched to the Heart."

Pina…! With trembling hands, Silica touched the Pneuma Flower; as though waiting for her, its stem shattered cleanly away, leaving only the flower itself in her palm. "So then… now we can…!"

"Yep," Kirito agreed, smiling down at her. "But I think we should get back to town first. We don't want to be interrupted by monsters, do we? This is one thing we don't want to mess up, no matter what."

"Right!" Carefully tucking the Pneuma Flower away in her inventory, it was all Silica could do not to replace it in her hands with the Teleport Crystal she'd been given. Now that she had the flower, all she wanted was to return and revive her friend the moment she could.

She restrained herself, though, turning around to walk back to Floria with her companions. Teleport Crystals were rare and expensive as it was, used only in dire emergency; after everything Kirito and Kizmel had already done for her, she hoped to at least return it to them unused.

It would only take an hour or so to walk back to Floria anyway. That long, Silica could wait, knowing what was waiting for her. After everything she'd been through in just a day, she was willing to take the time to do things right.

They'd been quick enough, it seemed, that monsters hadn't yet had time to respawn for their return journey. Down the hill and back toward more open land, Silica felt she was floating more than walking; before she knew it, they had reached the bridge crossing a stream halfway back to town.

"Kirito."

Kizmel's quiet voice broke the silence they'd traveled in since leaving the Hill of Memories. At the same time, Kirito gripped Silica's shoulder, stopping her in her tracks with a startled gasp. "Kirito-san—?"

The black-clad swordsman was staring into the trees on the other side of the bridge, a hard edge in his eyes. "We know you're there," he called, his voice harsher than she'd yet heard from him. "You're not going to be able to ambush us, so why don't you come out where we can see you?"

Ambush? What? I don't see—

Then, after long moments of no sound but the BGM and wind whispering through the leaves, cursors began to emerge from the treeline. Green ones, which meant they were players, and not even criminals—but why would ordinary players be lying in wait for them…?

One stepped right up to the foot of the bridge, and Silica's eyes went wide. Flaming hair, revealing black armor, a long spear— "Rosalia-san?! What are you doing here?!"

Rosalia's lips curled in the kind of smile Silica had always hated. "Isn't it obvious, Silica-chan? I'm here for you, of course." Her gaze lifted. "I'm impressed, I admit. Which one of you was it who saw through my hiding? It takes a high Search skill to catch me."

"Not so high as you might believe," Kizmel said evenly. "And there are more ways to pierce it in this world than you may realize." Her hand moved to rest casually on the hilt of her saber. "I fear you don't understand the situation as well as you think you do."

"Oh, I think I understand it pretty well, actually. Don't you worry about that, girl." Rosalia turned her smile back on Silica, seeming to dismiss her companions. "If you're on your way back, you must have gotten the Pneuma Flower. Good for you, Silica-chan!" Her eyes narrowed, and her smile lost any trace of friendliness. "Now be a good girl, and hand it over."

…What? At first, Silica could only blink at her former teammate in confusion. Rosalia had been infuriatingly high-handed before—that was what had set off Silica's foolish flight in the first place—but she had no clue what the redhead could possibly want with a Pneuma Flower. It wasn't like Rosalia had any kind of pet.

But then… why does she have all those people with her? Ice crept into Silica's veins as she began to realize something was very, very wrong.

"Come now, Silica-chan," Rosalia said, when the silence began to drag on. "Even the mighty Dragon Tamer has to realize what's going on, right? So do the smart thing and give it to me. Now."

"That's not going to happen, Rosalia-san." Kirito stepped in front of Silica, one hand lifted to bring up his menu. "Or do you prefer Guildmaster Rosalia, of the orange guild Titan's Hand?"

Orange guild? Silica's eyes went wide again, even as Rosalia's gaze turned very sharp indeed. "But—she's green!" the pig-tailed girl protested. "They all are! She can't be—"

"Orange guilds have green players to run their scams," Kirito told her, eyes never turning from Rosalia and her companions; all the while, he smoothly nudged commands in his menu, out of her sight. "After all, they need a few people who can still enter towns. That's how you were able to track down and kill the Silver Flags ten days ago. Isn't it, Rosalia-san?"

If anything convinced Silica that something really, really wasn't right, it was that the redhead didn't even turn a hair at being accused of murder. Even if Kirito were mistaken, to not even care—

"Oh… I remember them," Rosalia mused, touching a finger to her chin in apparent thought. "Hardly even worth the trouble; they didn't have much. And it was so annoying, the way the one that got away kept crying like a baby as he ran like a wimp."

Kirito's finger jabbed one last time, banishing his menu. "You have no idea, do you," he said in a low, dangerous voice as his equipment flared blue. "You don't understand at all what you did to them. Is this just a game to you, Rosalia-san?"

When the light of the equipment change faded, his shabby longcoat had been replaced by a much sleeker one, and his sword by a weapon with a gleaming hilt and a guard resembling folded wings. Something about it nagged at Silica's memory—but if Rosalia even noticed, she didn't seem to care.

"Of course it's all a game," she said, flipping her hair in a dismissive gesture. "Oh, come on, don't tell me you're one of those idiots who actually believes the nonsense about how 'dying here is dying for real'? Tch." She rolled her eyes. "Like a game can really do that. And even if it did…" Rosalia licked her lips. "It's not like anyone but Kayaba's going to get the blame when this is all over."

Silica could feel the way Kirito bristled at that. For a moment, she thought SAO's emotional display system was actually making him burn with anger; and from the quiet rattle of a sword being loosened in its scabbard, the calmer Kizmel was no happier about it.

"I see," the black-clad swordsman said softly. "Then there's nothing else to say, is there?"

"Nope. I don't really care to hear your self-righteous babble, boy." Rosalia raised one hand, gesturing toward the woods from which she and her companions had emerged. "I've waited long enough for my prize, after the little idiot got lost. Take them out."

At first, Silica thought the green players were actually going to be insane enough to attack, branding the whole group as criminals. Then, out of the trees, came another group of about ten—and these players, brandishing weapons, one and all had orange cursors.

All, at least, except for one she saw behind the main group. As the others, dressed in flashy outfits with lots of silver accessories, advanced toward the bridge, one young girl in blue, with a cursor impossibly identifying her as an NPC, simply stayed back and watched.

There was no time to wonder about that, though. At Rosalia's order the others came on, and Kirito stepped forward as though to meet them halfway.

"Kirito-san!" Silica burst out, heart hammering. "Please, we have to run! They—they'll kill us if we stay—!"

"I'm not running from this, Silica," he replied calmly, a smile like a razor on his face as he drew the shining sword from his back. "Not from them."

"Be at ease, Silica," Kizmel murmured, when the girl opened her mouth to protest again. "Things are not as they seem." One hand remaining a comforting weight on Silica's shoulder, the other grasped the edge of her hood and pulled it back.

The sight of the pointed ears the hood had up to that moment kept concealed puzzled Silica—and made Rosalia's orange subordinates slow their advance. "Wait—did she say Kirito?" one of them blurted, hand tightening on the hilt of his scimitar. "A one-handed sword, no shield, all in black—and that's a Dark Elf!"

"Is that the Baneblade he's got?!" A man with a heavy axe stopped in his tracks, eyes wide. "Rosalia-san, it's the Black Swordsman! The Beater!"

The Black Swordsman? A… Dark Elf? Sucking in a sharp breath, Silica looked again at Kizmel, and understood what those long ears meant, despite the player-green cursor above her head. Understood why the dusky girl had kept her hood up at all times—and why the two of them had agreed to help a girl who'd lost a pet from her own stupidity.

"I know what it's like to be attached to something of this world. Or someone…"

"Who cares who they are?!" Rosalia snapped, glaring at her hesitant minions. "Even if they're clearers, there's two of them and ten of you! Kill 'em already!"

Silica didn't know exactly what was going on, but she could read the numbers as well as the redhead. Heart leaping into her throat as Rosalia's command urged the orange players into motion again, she shouted, "Kirito-san, please!" Why isn't Kizmel-san even trying to help him?!

Kirito ignored her, striding confidently ahead, and then it was too late. The man with the scimitar was the first to strike, his curved blade tearing right through Kirito's chest; the one with the enormous axe was next, landing a blow that by rights should've cut him clean in half.

A flurry of Sword Skills followed, buffeting Kirito's body again and again. Bizarrely, he didn't even raise his gleaming sword to defend himself, which only seemed to encourage his attackers. "Hah!" a dagger-wielder called out, cackling as he drove his blade into Kirito's kidney. "Easy money, guys!"

"Yeah! And we'll be the ones who bagged the Beater himself!"

She still had the Teleport Crystal Kirito had given her. Any moment, she could just leave, and save herself. But Silica's hand, trembling, edged toward the hilt of her own dagger instead. He's going to die! I—I can't let someone else die for me! Not after Pina—!

Kizmel's hand tightened on her shoulder. "Wait," the elf girl murmured. "Wait, and watch."

Silica almost broke away anyway, the sight of Rosalia licking her lips as if excited by the murder happening in front of her serving to urge her on even more. Then, just as she started to draw her dagger, she realized—why wasn't it already over?

Some of the bandits seemed to finally get a clue at about the same time. "What the hell?!" the axeman burst out. "Why won't you die, dammit?!"

"Is that really the best you have? I guess you are just gankers after all." With a look of pure disgust, Kirito suddenly swept out his shining sword in a Serration Wave, forcing all of them back in a single flash of blue light. "Four hundred HP in ten seconds. I'm Level Seventy-Eight, with fourteen thousand, five hundred HP. Battle Healing alone restores six hundred in the time it takes you to take four." He tsked. "I could take off my armor, and it'd still take you all day to kill me with scratch damage."

Silence, as the one they called "Beater" glared at them. Then, "Impossible," one of the bandits breathed. "Levels can't make you invincible!"

"You haven't played many MMOs if you think that. You're just too used to killing people too weak to fight back." Kirito looked past the stymied bandits to glare at their leader. "It's over, Rosalia-san. Give it up, and go quietly."

Rosalia shook, but rallied quickly. "Like you can catch us anyway, Black Swordsman? Half of us are green, you stupid boy—"

Several of the orange players took that as a signal and turned to run—at which point Kizmel finally moved, blurring into motion to smash her shield into the scimitar-wielder's back. Squawking, he tumbled to the bridge's stone roadway; cried out again, when Kizmel's knee landed on his back, and she drove a knife dripping a green liquid through his armor.

The elf girl stood, but the bandit made no effort to move, even as he spewed curses at her.

Paralyzed, Silica realized, shocked. She used a poisoned knife. But— "Kirito-san, Kizmel-san, the others are getting away!"

Kirito still didn't move. "We came here hunting you, Rosalia-san," he said, voice still dangerously calm. "We came prepared—and we didn't come alone."

Just as the other orange players reached the tree line, two more figures blurred into view from either side of the road. There was a flurry of light from Sword Skills, cries of shock, and outbursts of curses that made Silica want to cover her ears. Maybe five seconds, the "fight" lasted, and then only two remained standing: a blonde in armor more revealing than Rosalia's, and a redhead in a calf-length coat. Both of them had weapons dripping with the same poison as Kizmel's.

"Sorry 'bout that," the blonde said, voice dripping insincerity. "Oh, and if you're wondering about your eavesdropping friend, we already caught him. He's waiting for you in the Black Iron Castle's dungeon."

"He's lonely, too," the redhead said, her voice a whimsical tone that didn't match her expression at all. "You don't want to keep him waiting, do you?"

Rosalia swallowed hard, turning so she could see the two on the bridge at one side, and the two in the forest when she turned her head the other way. "There's nothing else you can do," she said, voice trembling despite her efforts. "The rest of us are green. And you 'good guys' wouldn't dare go orange just to take us out. Not when you preach about how evil murder is."

"Rosalia-san." Now Kirito did move, stalking toward the woman with slow, deliberate steps. "If death here wasn't real death, we'd all have been freed over a year ago. You can use whatever self-serving justifications let you look in the mirror, but all you're doing is fooling yourself. For what you've done? Oh, yes. I'd go orange in a heartbeat, if it saved even one life from you."

"Just try it, Blackie! Like you've got the guts!" Rosalia's free hand darted into a pouch at her belt, yanking free a Teleport Crystal. "Teleport—!"

Silica had never seen anyone move so fast. One moment he was striding on the bridge; the next, he was right in front of Rosalia, coat flaring high with the wind of his passage, and the dagger that had somehow replaced his sword was buried in her gut.

Silica stared in pure disbelief as Kirito's cursor flickered from green to orange. If anything, the now-paralyzed Rosalia was even more shocked, looking a breath from passing out from shock. "You… you actually…?"

"Think whatever lets you sleep at night, Rosalia," he said coldly, dropping the honorific at the same time he pulled the knife free. "People. Are. Dying. And because of you, there are four more people who will never go home to their families. No more."

Kirito let her fall to the forest floor with a graceless thump. A short gesture switched out the knife for the sword Titan's Hand had called the Baneblade, and for a long moment Silica was afraid he was going to turn it on the other green members of the guild.

From the looks on their faces, so did they.

Instead, he only sheathed the blade, while Kizmel and his other companions moved in to guard them. "Understand something," he said, raising his voice. "I'm the Beater. I know places I can go to wait out going green again. Doing what I have to to stop you won't even slow down my grinding." He swept his glare over the bandits who still stood. "But killing you isn't what I'm here for."

Digging into his own belt pouch, Kirito pulled out a crystal of a deeper blue than what Silica had been given, or Rosalia had tried to use. With a gasp, the girl recognized it as a Corridor Crystal: the rarest crystal there was, capable of taking an entire raid party to a chosen point.

"The leader of the Silver Flags didn't want revenge. He just wanted you stopped. He spent every Cor he had on this, and gave it to my party with the understanding it would be used to imprison you, not kill you." He jerked his head at the incapacitated Rosalia. "You can go willingly, or I can paralyze the rest of you and toss you in after. I don't really care which. Either way, this is over."

After Kirito's demonstration of just how far he was willing to go, there wasn't much question what would happen next. When he triggered the crystal, opening a blue whirlpool in the air, the green members of Titan's Hand trudged through with barely a curse. Kizmel and his other friends tossed in the paralyzed orange players, and soon only Rosalia was left.

Hoisting her up by her collar one-handed, a display that spoke volumes about his STR stat, Kirito stared hard into still-shocked eyes. "I pity you, Rosalia," he said quietly. "You can deceive yourself now, but when the Castle is cleared, you'll have to wake up to reality. Whoever the law ends up blaming, you'll have to live the rest of your life knowing you stole those people from their families. …Enjoy your delusion while you can."

Silica didn't know if Rosalia would've responded or not, or even if she could. Kirito only glared at her a moment longer, then flung her bodily into the corridor.

The silence that fell after the swirling azure gateway vanished was the most profound Silica had experienced since the moments after Kayaba Akihiko's "tutorial", before the rioting began on the day the nightmare started. Between the shock that Rosalia was a criminal, after her no less, and the bewildering violence that had followed, she didn't know what to think or say.

After a long, long pause, tension finally flowed out of Kirito's shoulders. "Sorry," he said to his companions. "That… wasn't quite what we planned, was it?"

The redhead—who thankfully shared no other quality with Rosalia—shrugged carelessly. "It worked out, didn't it? Not like those ublyudki didn't deserve it."

"So we went with Plan B." The blonde switched out her poisoned dagger in favor of a sword with a wicked-looking ridge along the back and sheathed it with practiced ease. "After catching that spy this morning, I kinda figured something like this would happen."

"Indeed," Kizmel said, swapping back to her own saber. "Rest easy, my friend. Such behavior is only to be expected from bandits, especially those who refuse to face reality."

"…Thanks, guys." Kirito turned back to Silica then, and bent his head. "I really do owe you an apology, Silica. We used you as bait. We did think about telling you, but, well, we figured you'd be scared, and… No. That's no excuse. I'm sorry."

As the adrenaline finally drained away, Silica found herself shaking her head. "It's… it's okay, Kirito-san," she said, voice wavering a little from lingering tension. "People like that—you had to stop them, right? And, um, Rosalia-san was after me anyway, so if you hadn't done that, she'd just have attacked me when I was alone."

He smiled; a bittersweet expression. "Well, I guess you have a point there. Though I like to think we could've caught her before that anyway."

That group might've been able to do it, Silica realized. Yet she also understood well enough why they'd gone with the scheme they had. Four clearers, one of them an NPC with player privileges? People like Rosalia, who preyed on the weak, would never have gone anywhere near Kirito's party as they were.

As it was… "Um, but, Kirito-san," she began anxiously, glancing above his head, "are you going to be okay? You can't go into a town as long as you're orange!"

Kizmel's lips twitched in a smile. "Don't worry about that, Silica. There are places few Swordmasters can reach, where such trivial matters are of no concern." She stretched out a hand to the younger girl. "Come, we still must revive your pet. If you're willing, we can take you with us to a very safe place indeed."

Hand still trembling, Silica accepted the elf's grip—and as Kirito raised another crystal high, she suddenly remembered another NPC. Glancing quickly about, she saw no sign at all of the girl in blue who'd accompanied Titan's Hand—

"Teleport: Royal Capital Lyusula!"

---

Thoughts of odd NPCs, and even the whirlwind of violence she'd just witnessed, were blown out of Silica's mind the moment the blue glow of the teleport faded.

Trees were the first things she noticed: pine trees, she thought, caught in an eternal winter. They were covered in snow, like dozens of Christmas trees; something she'd seen once in a remote corner of the Ninth Floor, she realized after a moment, yet somehow more dreamlike than the areas she'd seen of it before.

The smooth stone streets around them might've had something to do with the fantastical feeling, as well. Dark cobblestones, dusted in snow, offsetting bright stone buildings surrounding the plaza they'd appeared in; and in front of them…

The gleaming castle straight ahead looked like something out of a fairytale. Actually, it reminded Silica of pictures she'd seen of Neuschwanstein Castle, but with colors inverted. Despite the dark stone walls, it had the same sense of grandeur as Mad Ludwig's castle, as if it were larger than life. Like the trees around it, it wasn't something she'd seen in Aincrad before, either.

"…Where are we?" she asked, trying to take in everything at once. "I thought Teleport Crystals could only go to hub towns, and—wait, are those elves?!"

The NPCs walking the streets of the dreamlike city, she finally noticed, all had dusky skin and pointed ears, much like one of her companions. Not even a single "human" NPC was in sight, or even any other players.

"That was a special crystal," Kirito told her, tucking it back into his belt pouch. "Unlimited use, but you can't use it in dungeons, and it only goes to one place: right here."

"Welcome to the Royal Capital of the Kingdom of Lyusula, Silica," Kizmel said with a smile, sweeping her arm toward the castle as she bowed. "Allow us to guide you to Moongleam Castle. Few humans have ever been allowed here, but Kirito and Asuna's deeds granted them the honor—and any friend of theirs is most welcome here."

Silica could only nod dumbly, falling into dazed step as the elf and her partner headed toward the Castle with a confident stride. Distantly, she hoped this would be the last shock for the day; she wasn't sure she could take anymore, after everything that had already happened since her foolish actions in the Lost Forest.

"Kinda overwhelming, isn't it?" the blonde said with a chuckle, falling back to join the younger girl. "Oh, I'm Philia, by the way. Treasure hunting's the name of the game for me—and believe me, this kind of treasure is exactly why I hang around those two!"

"I, um, can see why," Silica said, giving herself a shake. "That's—is this an instanced map?"

"Actually, no." The redhead fell in on her other side. "I'm Rain. Kirito calls me the team ninja, but don't listen to that… Anyway. This is one of two Dark Elf maps that isn't instanced, but since not many players ever completed the Elf War quest, you probably won't see anyone else around; we couldn't get here either, if we weren't in Kirito's party. Actually, I'm not sure most players can get to Moongleam Castle at all, the run of the Elf War questline Kirito and Vice-Commander Asuna did went weird…"

Which reminded Silica of something else that had been bothering her, though she hadn't really had time to think about it yet. Between Kirito's willingness to go orange to stop Rosalia, and teleporting to a place even more like a fantasy than the rest of Aincrad…

"Is Kizmel-san really an NPC?" she blurted. Quietly; they were approaching the Castle gates, and while Kirito's orange cursor didn't seem to matter to the Dark Elves, she didn't want to push her luck. "I mean, she's—well—"

"A Turing-class AI," Rain said softly, glancing ahead to make sure they were far enough back. "Don't ask me how, Kirito doesn't know either and he knows this stuff way better than I do, but she is. …She doesn't know the truth, though, and we're all kind of afraid to try explaining it. So, if you could please keep it quiet…?"

"I won't say anything," Silica swore at once. As shocked as she was by the party's actions, she was convinced they were good people—and she owed them. Helping her fix her mistake by getting Pina back was enough to earn her gratitude by itself; realizing that Rosalia had been stalking her, maybe even planning to kill her?

She shivered. Maybe it wasn't so bad that the Royal Capital felt like a dream. She was pretty sure she was going to have nightmares, once she'd processed the day's events.

There was a brief pause as they reached the edge of a moat surrounding Moongleam Castle. A few soft words from Kirito and a flash of some kind of ring he wore, though, and a drawbridge was noisily lowered. He and his elven partner led them across, then into the Castle itself.

The inside was just as grand as the outside, leaving Silica certain she'd have gotten lost right away without Kirito's party to guide her. As it was, they walked confidently through the Castle's huge halls and up several staircases, occasionally greeted by passing Dark Elves; the pig-tailed girl couldn't help but stare at some of them, too, especially when she caught snippets of conversations in words that weren't any language she knew, but still seemed strangely familiar.

"You've probably heard some of that in movies," Rain whispered to her as they walked down a third-floor hallway. "From what Kirito's said, Kayaba cribbed some of the elf stuff from other sources; like he said, Kayaba's a genius programmer, but probably not so good with creating languages."

Oh. That made sense. Aincrad was an amazing achievement as it was; trying to create an entire language just for a side quest most players might never even see? Even Kayaba's perfectionism had to have had limits.

A series of dizzying turns and staircases later, and Kirito was showing them into a large sitting room in one of the Castle's towers. A sizable mahogany table stood in the middle of the room, with two huge fireplaces along one wall, soft chairs and couches arrayed in front of them, and a nook by one set of windows that looked perfect for watching a sunset.

"I figure we'll stay here for the day," Kirito announced, pulling out chairs at the table. "There's bedrooms through those doors—" he nodded to a set of three in the wall opposite the fireplaces "—and we can work out where we're all going next in the morning."

Kizmel slid into one of the chairs, offering her partner a smile that seemed equal parts fond and wry. "Our first priority we know, of course, my friend. We can hardly go about our business until we've cleared your 'criminal' status."

"Well, yeah…"

Accepting another of the chairs, Silica paused in the act of opening her menu. "Um… actually…" She bit her lip. "I've been thinking, Kirito-san. I know I need to build up my levels a lot first, but do you think, someday, maybe…?"

It wasn't something she'd considered before. She'd always been content as a mid-level, keeping herself alive, and—just maybe—helping out a few others at her own level. After seeing Rosalia and Titan's Hand, though, and how Kirito's party had gone out of their way to stop the orange guild…

Taking his own seat only after Rain and Philia had, Kirito gave her a small smile, as if he clearly heard the rest of her question. "I'm sorry, Silica," he said, shaking his head gently. "But you'll never be a clearer. Your skills are good, but you're so far behind the clearing group now you'd never catch up. Not enough to fight in a Floor Boss raid."

"Which is not to say you can't help, Silica," Kizmel told her, when her head sank at Kirito's words. "There are only forty-eight Swordmasters to a raid, and seldom are there shortages for those. What there are never enough of are those to chart the course. With a little time and effort, you may yet join those mapping each new floor, and that is an invaluable task itself."

Silica took a deep breath, and forced herself to nod. She wanted to do what she could—but getting too far ahead of herself was exactly what had gotten her into this whole mess. Overestimating herself again was something she refused to do.

"Enough about that stuff for now!" Philia said, reaching over to ruffle Silica's hair. "C'mon, you guys did all that for a reason, right? Let's do this!"

Right! Hands trembling as adrenaline filled her veins again, Silica brought up her menu, flipped to the Inventory, and carefully materialized the feather that Pina had left behind. Then, with even greater caution, she brought out the Pneuma Flower, with its drop of life-giving water.

Kizmel-san said to touch the drop to the Heart… Her own heart hammering in her throat, she slowly, precisely, tipped the flower to let the drop in its center slide onto the petals and fall onto Pina's Heart.

For an instant, Silica was convinced it wouldn't work, that she'd truly failed her companion. That everything she'd done, that Kirito going orange to stop Rosalia, had been for nothing—

Blue light flared, bright as any teleport, outshining the midday sun casting its rays through the tower's windows.

"Kyuu!"

Blue feathers swarmed into Silica's arms, her fears forgotten as her beloved dragon wrapped around her. "Pina!" Tears of relief starting to flow, Silica held the Feathery Dragon tight. It worked, she's back, she's alive… and I'm never going to be so stupid and lose her again!

---

After a day whose first half had involved mayhem of a kind to make his blood boil, and the second giving a deliriously happy mid-level advice on how and where to start serious grinding, Kirito found it a distinct relief to be able to curl up in a fireside chair.

Night had fallen, and after having dinner with some of the lesser nobles in Moongleam Castle, the party of players had returned to the room where Pina had been revived and gotten ready to turn in. None of them had been quite ready to go to bed right away, though. Silica was curled up with her dragon by the tower windows; having finally drifted off, Kizmel was just then tucking a blanket around them.

Rain and Philia had each taken half of a couch in front of one of the fireplaces, quietly chatting about the quest they'd be tackling once Kirito's cursor had gone green again. Their preparations for it had been just about done when the Silver Flags' guildmaster had encountered Kizmel, and after days of hunting orange players they were eager to get back to normal activity.

Kirito himself had claimed a large, soft chair by the other fireplace, and wrapped himself in a blanket as the day's events finally sank in. Between just how close to home Silica's plight had hit him, and his own actions against Titan's Hand, the warmth and crackle of the fire was a much-needed comfort.

"Kirito?"

He glanced away from the flames, gaze settling on the elf girl who'd called him. The sight proved to be a distraction in itself, as Kizmel had changed into her—very sheer—nightgown, and was looking down at him with a smile that made him tingle.

"I fear there's a chill this evening," she said, when it was clear she had his full attention. "May I…?"

Kirito considered, briefly, suggesting she could put on something warmer. Knowing she knew perfectly well he knew what she was doing, he instead lifted the edge of his blanket. The chair was, after all, just barely big enough for two people, if they were slim enough.

If they didn't mind sharing. He couldn't help a shiver from something totally unrelated to the cold as Kizmel curled up against him, settling into the crook of his arm so that she was almost in his lap. "Much better," she murmured, settling her head against his shoulder.

It felt… nice. Nice enough that he found his arm naturally curling around her, his hand come to rest against her flank. Nice enough to remind him exactly why he'd empathized so deeply with Silica's plight, even before the PKers had stomped on one of his berserk buttons.

"You're troubled, Kirito-kun," Kizmel whispered, violet eyes turning to look up at him. "Tell me."

I'm terrified of losing this. I'm terrified of how much that terrifies me. I… never expected anything like this, and I don't know how to deal with it.

Pushing aside the concerns he couldn't voice, Kirito focused on the other issue gnawing at him. "I… threatened to kill people today," he said in a low, halting voice. "Not just in the heat of the moment, like with PoH."

He wasn't sure she'd understand. After all, from her perspective, they'd both fought and killed plenty of "people" in the Elf War, even if most of those who'd fought to the bitter end had been the twisted Fallen Elves. For him, fighting players was something else entirely, but she had no particular reason to see it that way.

Kizmel slowly nodded, though. "Against the Forest and Fallen, it was as if you were still in the dream," she said softly. "Your own people have always been very real to you." She paused for a long breath. "You would've done it."

It wasn't a question, reminding Kirito again of just how well his partner had come to know him. "Yes," he said, voice a whisper only elven ears could catch. "If we hadn't been able to paralyze them… I would've killed them, rather than let them murder anyone else."

"That frightens you."

"Yes." His answer was soft, but curt. He didn't want to talk about it, didn't want to think about it—but his best friend, his partner, the girl he cared about more than he wanted to admit was asking him, and he knew he needed to say it to someone. If he kept it all bottled up, he was afraid he'd lose it. "Kizmel… what's happening to me?"

"You're adjusting to the world in which you have been imprisoned." A long, low sigh. "Which is exactly the problem, of course."

Staring into the crackling flames, Kirito nodded, feeling a trickle of relief at her quick understanding. "Someday, if I survive, I'm going to go back to my own world, Kizmel. And in the country I come from, most people don't fight. They don't even know how to use a sword, except for criminals. If you cross the kind of people who do, you're expected to let the authorities handle it. That's how we're all brought up."

Only there were no authorities in Aincrad. That had almost gotten Nezha of the Legend Braves killed, when the absence of rule of law let mob reaction come to the brink of murder. In the end the worst-case scenario had been averted… but orange players appeared after that, and something had had to be done.

Caught up in the middle of it when he first stumbled on PoH's conspiracies, Kirito had been forced to learn new habits, and quickly. Just how far that had taken him from being a law-abiding Japanese citizen, he'd never realized until that very morning.

"When I'm threatened," he said after a long silence, "I don't think about going to get help. If we hadn't planned the ambush this morning, where we could get the drop on them with paralysis, I would've gone right for the Baneblade, and…"

Visions of that "holy" sword embedded in Rosalia in place of a poisoned knife filled his mind. It didn't take much imagination to picture what its critical bonus would've done, had she been an orange-marked player herself.

"Someday," he whispered, "I'm going to have to make a choice… and when I go back, no one will understand what I've done. They'll expect me to just go back to being like everyone else. And I… don't know how anymore."

There would be therapy, Kirito was sure. Just as he was sure that the therapists would have no idea what they were really talking about. No one who hadn't lived in Aincrad could ever hope to understand what it was like to fight through the Steel Castle with their very lives on the line.

No one would understand what it was like to look in the mirror one day, see the Black Swordsman looking back at them, and realize it felt normal.

At length, Kizmel let out a long breath. "I wish I had an answer for you, my friend. In truth, I understand well how you feel; as deeply as I treasure what I've gained, I still feel cast adrift without the title of Pagoda Knight. I, too, am learning where it is I truly belong, and who it is I've become."

Yeah. I guess you are. Even if she still didn't understand the true precipice her very existence stood on, his partner had sacrificed the basis of her worldview in a bid to better understand the Swordmasters. Four months on, and she was still obviously adjusting to no longer being of the Knights of Lyusula, let alone the changes in her very body.

"There are still forty-five more floors to clear," she reminded him, "before there is any need to worry about what your society will think of you. If you must become a different person to survive… Well. You spoke to Rosalia of the families waiting in your world. Do you truly believe they would rather never see you again, than to see you changed but alive?"

Kirito started. "I…" If I hadn't taken up the Baneblade four months ago, PoH would've killed me. If I meet him again, and don't fight back, he'll kill me. And if he kills me, I'll… never make things right with Suguha, will I? If I make that choice, I don't know who I'll be, but if I don't…

"I don't know where I am going, either," Kizmel mused. "But I do know there is a place where I belong, within the storm my life has become. Wherever I may be going, I know I have people with whom I can rest my wings." She held Kirito's gaze for a long moment, then looked over at the couch by the other fireplace, where Philia and Rain had dozed off. "With my friends, I know I'll always have a place." Kizmel turned her head back to him, a smile playing at her lips again. "The future will always be uncertain, Kirito-kun. Should we not simply treasure these moments by the fire?"

Sitting by the fire, with friends… Well, this does feel pretty nice. Is that your way of telling me to let tomorrow worry about itself? …Or reminding me some things are worth turning orange for?

Gradually, some of the tension eased out of Kirito's shoulders. Kizmel hadn't answered his worries anymore than she'd answered her own, but he thought he might at least be able to keep going. Even if he had to do the unthinkable, even if the people in his homeland would never understand why…

He'd keep going. For those who Titan's Hand and Laughing Coffin might kill, and for the families waiting in the real world. If he had to become someone Japan would never recognize, well, he had friends to help him find a way through that, too.

"This is kinda nice, isn't it?" he said, idly raising one hand to brush Kizmel's hair. "We should do this more often. Actually…" Kirito paused, watching dancing flames as he considered again a thought he'd first considered when they'd been helping the Black Cats. "Maybe we should talk to Rain and Philia tomorrow, about buying a house. Someplace we can all call home, as long as we're here."

His fingers slipped from her hair to trace the tip of one long, pointed ear, and Kizmel made a soft, pleased sound. "I believe that's a wonderful idea, Kirito-kun." She shifted under their shared blanket, and suddenly there was the featherlight touch of lips on his cheek. "Gi melin," she whispered, settling back into the crook of his arm.

Kirito flushed. He didn't understand everything Kayaba had put into the Dark Elves' conlang, but he recognized that one perfectly well. It scared him, in more ways than he liked to think about—not least because if he hadn't been scared, he was pretty sure how he would've responded.

He couldn't say what something deep inside wanted to. Not then. But he didn't protest, either. Setting aside the future for one night, curled up by the fire, he pulled Kizmel a little closer, breathed in the scent of pine and sakura blossoms, and let the warmth of the flames lull him to sleep.

---

Author's Note:

---

Yes, Kayaba stole from Sindarin. The man's a genius, but he's first and foremost a programmer, not a philologist; I can see constructing languages not being his strong point.

…More to the point, it's not my strong point. Kudos to anyone who knows their Tolkien well enough to translate what Kizmel said!

Anyway. Didn't meant to leave this hanging so long; suffice to say this summer was not fun. A month-long headache was the worst but not only issue. That being said, while the next chapter is going to be unavoidably delayed slightly by further attempts to get Defiance moving again and a pressing need to properly outline said next chapter, I will do my utmost not to take another three and a half months. I'm looking forward to what comes next as much as anybody.

As usual, a couple of points to address here: I'm personally a little bit iffy on the chapter's structure, especially around the middle; don't be surprised if a later edit adds in an extra scene to bridge a gap. (Speaking of, I just realized I may not have pointed out before that I frequently make slight changes to earlier chapters; usually just correcting typos, but Chapter I got a few hundred words added a while back. For the curious or OCD, such edits usually go up an hour so before new chapters.)

The chapter also stuck a bit closer to canon than I would've liked for the first half or so; I hope the radical changes to the confrontation with Titan's Hand and subsequent denouement made up for it. I can assure you that issue isn't likely to crop up again any time soon, as even the canon plot points I do intend to address are going to have very different circumstances. (Example: part of the next chapter is based on Material Edition 2, but with very different instigating factors, to put it mildly.)

Pina, as far as I'm aware, has no canon gender, but "it" felt wrong in reference to a pet. "She" just seemed more appropriate.

I have not actually read the official translations of the main series, so I don't know what the canon name for the forest Silica was in is. The fan translation of Volume 2 seems to suggest that forest and the one Nicholas the Renegade was in are the same one, yet it uses "Lost Forest" in Red-Nosed Reindeer, and "Forest of Wandering" in Black Swordsman. I don't know if different translators had different translations, if the original text uses two different names, or what, so I simply defaulted to the name I used back in Chapter X. If anyone who has read the official translation can clear up the question for me, I'd be grateful.

So… last chapter made a big deal about Rain and Philia joining for the long haul, and then they barely appeared here. Sorry about that; the structure of the events mitigated against it (as noted in the text, it would've spoiled the trap). Later chapters should be better about that.

...Hm. Think that about covers things for this chapter. Buckle up for the next one, comrades, it's gonna be a bumpy ride; in the meantime, a big thanks for all the reviews so far, and you have my awe for the story having reached a full eight hundred Favorites and over nine hundred Follows. I had no clue this story would get so popular, and I'm deeply humbled. I hope this continues to live up to expectations. -Solid