October 18th, 2024

[Army Raid Wiped Out Again; Rescued By The Flash, Defeating Floor Boss With Twelve People!]

[Twin-Blade Swordsman Destroys 74th Floor Boss With Fifty-Hit Skill!]

[Ghosts In Aincrad? Spirit Of Dead Player Saves Raid!]

Kirito hadn't thought he could get any more tired than the battle with the Gleam Eyes had already left him. He'd come closer to dying in that fight than any before; still not the soul-deep weariness the Laughing Coffin Crusade had given him, but definitely in the top five worst battles he'd fought. All by itself, the raid had been just about enough to do him in.

That was why he and the rest of his party had teleported straight back to the Fifty-First Floor, with only Argo going… somewhere… and Asuna returning to Granzam to have a talk with Heathcliff. The rest of them just wanted to collapse, and not think of anything else for the rest of the day.

Then Argo had popped up again, not two hours after the Gleam Eyes' defeat. She'd only stayed long enough to drop off a couple of newsletters before heading right back out—to do what, he'd been afraid to ask—but what she'd brought had given whole new meaning to too tired for this garbage.

Sitting in a chair by the living room fire, Kirito had gotten a headache just reading the rumors that were spreading. How did they even get the news so fast? He knew it wasn't Argo herself; she had standards, and since even he didn't know how he'd gotten Dual Blades, she wouldn't have sold the info. Besides, she would've been accurate, not exaggerated what he and the impromptu raid had accomplished.

There was a sigh from the vicinity of his collarbone. "This does indeed appear an ideal time for our honeymoon, Kirito," Kizmel murmured wearily. "I fear, were we to show our faces now, we'd have scant peace. It's been some time since you were such a topic of gossip."

He nodded ruefully. Honestly, he wasn't sure he'd ever made such a splash. For all that he'd been at the center of more controversies than he cared to remember, the past two years, it was mostly the clearing group that knew the details. This was just about the first time he could remember ending up in the newsletters average Swordmasters read.

"You'd probably be fine, though," he mused. "None of these rumors seem to mention you at all." Which Kirito found perversely offensive. Not that he liked being in the news at all, but his elven partner had done at least as much against the Gleam Eyes as he had. If they were going to make a fuss, it wasn't right that she didn't get her share of the credit.

Though I'd hate to see the rumors if they saw us right now….

After so long, Kirito barely noticed that he was surrounded by girls, but he intellectually realized it was very uncommon on the frontlines. Those who still hated the original "Beater" would've been frothing at the mouth just from seeing Rain and Philia, who'd crashed in two of the other armchairs. Both of them were dozing now, a sight he had to—very privately—admit was cute. And Kizmel….

Bare, dusky legs and a hint of her shoulders were all that could be seen outside the blanket Kizmel had wrapped the two of them in, but Kirito could still feel the true extent well enough. When they'd gotten home after the boss fight, most of the team had quickly switched out of combat gear for something more comfortable. Kizmel had simply dismissed her scorched armor and slipped into his chair au naturel, only the fur blanket preserving a trace of modesty.

Why, he wasn't sure, and wasn't going to ask. For his part, the intimacy helped ground him, after coming terrifyingly close to dying in his last, desperate attack on the Gleam Eyes.

"I care not for credit in any case," she said, snuggling closer. "It's always been easier for me if most Swordmasters pay me no mind." The elf girl sighed into his chest. "I do hope Asuna is managing. It was surprising enough she received permission for a short break. I think it all too likely Heathcliff will revoke that, after such an unexpected breakthrough."

Kirito nodded unhappily, tossing the newsletter into the fireplace. Given how much the Knights of the Blood relied on their Vice-Commander over their official Guildmaster for strategy, he was afraid Asuna's vacation was going to turn into business.

If Kuradeel does anything stupid right now, he's going to end up in a lake. If he's lucky.

There wasn't really anything to say after that. Exhausted as he was, Kirito couldn't quite sleep, so for awhile he just let himself luxuriate in Kizmel's soft warmth. Gently stroking her smooth back, urging her to rest, he waited for news.

Deep in a kind of sleepless fugue by the time moonlight started shining in through the living room's west window, he at least had the comfort that the elf girl was drowsing, after the stress of the day. At least, until a blue flash overwhelmed the moon, heralding a new arrival.

He'd mostly managed to struggle upright—despite a groggy Kizmel's best efforts—when the front door opened, and Asuna trudged in. She looked as exhausted as any of them, but with a smile on her face; sometime before teleporting in, she'd changed from her KoB uniform to shorts and a cutoff shirt, and ditched her footwear entirely. "Hey, guys," she said quietly, heading over to the other couch. "Everyone okay?"

"More or less," Kirito told her. "How about you? Did everything work out with your guild? You took your time getting here."

She waved a hand. "Paperwork, mostly," she said, rolling her eyes, and flopped sideways onto the couch with none of her usual grace. "Believe it or not, the Commander agreed right away—something about needing his Vice-Commander rested before the next boss fight."

He couldn't help but wince at that, and felt Kizmel flinch against his side. Next would be the Seventy-Fifth Floor Boss, and none of them were looking forward to that.

Asuna didn't dwell on it, though. "After that, though, he wanted me to set up preliminary scouting plans for the next floor, so that he doesn't have to message me five times a day. Honestly, you'd think he'd learn to do some of that himself…. So that took a couple hours." She covered her face with one arm. "Then? I had to get out of Granzam without Kuradeel noticing, and met up with Argo at Agil's shop in Algade."

"The Rat, huh?" Rain stirred, squinting at the fencer. "What'd she have to say?"

Some day, I have got to find out why Argo bugs her so much.

"Well, first?" Asuna lifted her head enough to look at Kirito. "Kirito-kun, you and Kizmel might want to keep a low profile for a while. The Army survivors talked. News about Dual Blades is spreading like crazy, and Argo's being bombarded over it."

He sighed. "Yeah. Argo already brought us the bad news." And Argo didn't sell rumors, no matter how much Cor she was offered, so they'd be going straight for the source. Just then, he was really glad his team's cabana wasn't common knowledge, and wasn't easy to reach even if somebody did find it.

"I suppose," Kizmel murmured into his shoulder, "that we will need to go—what was the word—incognito, for our honeymoon." A weak shrug. "Well, that suits me. I'd not tolerate… interruptions… in any case."

There were a few different ways that could be taken. From the sudden red on Rain's face, Kirito suspected he wasn't the only one thinking of the less innocent ones.

"You and me both. Speaking of which…." With a sigh, Asuna swung herself upright. "Rain, Philia? I was thinking… Kirito-kun and Kizmel are going to be off by themselves for a bit. What do the two of you think about going on a quest with me?"

Philia visibly perked up, some of her usual energy returning. "What, like a girls' night out?"

Asuna nodded, smiling. "Something like that. I was talking to Argo—yes, I know," she said, smile turning wry at the sound Rain made. "But she found an NPC she said you guys knew wandering Algade's alleys earlier. Apparently he's got a quest that has 'rewards not to be passed up', or something like that, waiting for the right Swordmasters."

The first flicker of alarm crossed the treasure hunter's face, and Kirito couldn't help covering his face with his free hand. "Oh, no."

The fencer blinked. "So… you guys do know this 'Sahasra'?"

Kizmel shook against him, her low chuckle vibrating his chest. "Oh, indeed," she murmured. "And his quests are always valuable… but, my friend, I think I'm just as happy Kirito and I will be busy elsewhere."

October 19th, 2024

Walking the busy streets of Algade, current merchant capital for SAO players, Asuna found herself wishing she had an invisibility-granting cloak like Kizmel or Sachi. She was, at least, wearing a cloak, like in the old days, but that didn't let her outright disappear. Someone who looked closely enough might still recognize her as the KoB's Vice-Commander.

I'm not in the mood to be swarmed by fans, she thought, glancing warily at the other players wandering Algade, as her little party headed away from the Teleport Plaza. And I'm really not in the mood to run into Kuradeel right now. I know the Commander has him helping Daizen with logistics, but I don't trust him not to do something creepy anyway. There's something not right with him.

Not that she was really that worried. Not with the team accompanying her that fine morning. Starting with the girl in lacquered red armor, with a guild symbol no one who knew the frontlines would cross. "Thanks for letting me tag along, guys," Sachi said, turning a smile on the rest of the group. "Klein has the guild staying close to home right now—Lux took yesterday pretty hard—but I just can't sit still after big fights like that. I won't be able to relax until I've done something constructive, you know?"

"Don't thank us just yet," Philia said dryly. The treasure hunter—whose taste in armor still baffled Asuna; she had no idea where the other girl even found the skimpy outfits—had a look Asuna was more used to seeing when Kizmel was faced with tentacles. "You haven't been on a Sahasra quest yet."

As the party turned from the main street down a narrower one, leading in the general direction of Agil's shop, Asuna couldn't help raising one eyebrow. "I take it there's a reason Argo was laughing when she gave me the info?" Which, come to think of it, she should've realized, since the Rat had just given her the information. That really wasn't like her at all….

Rain sighed. "You have no idea." Hands tucked in her sailor's overcoat, the redhead's eyes were shadowed. "The first quest of his we took, I had nightmares after. The second one, we all wanted to strangle him. Did you know Kizmel makes us do homework now?"

"…Homework?" Asuna had the sudden, vivid mental image of Team Kirito sitting in a normal classroom—Kizmel included—and fought to stifle a giggle. "You're kidding!"

"No, she's not," Philia said flatly. "First it was just Kirito, but when she realized we were all about that age, she dragged Rain and me into it, too." She turned a glare down a random alley. "I blame Sahasra."

"Now, now, Swordmasters. That's hardly fair. I only pointed the way to the Library. What you do with it is not my affair."

Asuna jumped a full meter in the air, startled by the voice—coming from the opposite side of the street from where Philia had been looking. Landing in a crouch, one hand on Lambent Light's hilt, she turned an anxious stare on that shadowed path. "Who—?"

A hooded cloak, in royal purple. Features hidden deep in shadow, but with a skin tone she found very familiar, and teeth gleaming in a friendly smile. The very picture of either dark innocence, or a nasty trap.

Or, from the way Philia sighed and led the way over, something harmlessly annoying. Or annoyingly harmless? Asuna wondered, following the treasure hunter into the alley.

"All right, Sage," Philia said, when they were out of general view. "What do you have for us this time? It better be worth it!"

"When have I ever led you to anything without a purpose, My Lady?" the Dark Elf sage asked, chuckling. Steepling his fingers, he continued, "Just because it is not always the sort of treasure you value, does not mean it is not important."

"Says you," Rain said sourly. Brushing red hair out of her face, she scowled at Sahasra. "Just so you know, if this isn't really good, I say we walk away and find a better way to spend our vacation."

Asuna found herself wondering what in the world Sahasra had done to provoke the girls. Though if he's anything like the first Dark Elf sage I met, I can guess. That guy was important, too, but….

"Come now, Swordmasters," Sahasra said soothingly. "Do you truly think so little of me? Even when I bring word of… the Echo?"

When the azure sphere of the teleport faded, Kizmel's first, instinctive reaction was to pull her cloak tighter around herself. It didn't make her disappear, as it normally would have even in the mid-morning light, but it did keep the features that betrayed her nature as a Dark Elf hidden. More importantly, it served to make her feel that much more secure.

"I'm still surprised you wanted to come here," Kirito murmured in her ear. Like her, instead of his favored coat he was mostly concealed in a borrowed cloak. She could only barely see his face, hidden in the hood's shadows, as he gave the Teleport Plaza a careful scan. "I didn't think you had good memories of this place."

"I don't," she admitted softly. "I still need to see it properly, this once. Before we can do things properly, I need to see where it all began."

The first stop for their honeymoon, strange as it was, was the City of Beginnings itself, on Aincrad's First Floor. Kizmel had been there once before, the day she'd learned the shattering truth of her world. That day, though, she'd barely been able to take in her surroundings, as tormented as she'd been.

Not helped by Keita, she thought, wincing at the memory. The Black Cats' broken leader was exactly the reason she and Kirito were both in disguise, neither of them inclined to risk an encounter with him. But he is not the reason we're here today.

She and her husband stepped away from the Teleport Gate, into the milling crowds. Just as Kizmel remembered, it was a vast place, with a mixed collection of "NPCs" and Swordmasters. Just as back then, the Swordmasters seemed duller than the NPCs. This time, at least, she was able to put that aside, and see the plaza for what it had been intended to be. "So this is where the Swordmasters began their journeys?"

"Sure is," Kirito told her, leading her toward one of the myriad side streets leading out from the plaza. "This is where we first logged in, and this is where Kayaba brought us when he gave his 'tutorial' later in the day." Pausing on the edge, away from most of the crowd, he stopped to look back. "Ten thousand Swordmasters, all in this one plaza."

"I can scarcely imagine it," Kizmel admitted, following his gaze. This day, it was certainly crowded, yet nothing close to ten thousand people even with the NPCs added in. "It would be an event to see even a thousand of my people gathered together at once. Ten times that?" She shook her head, then glanced at him with a quirked eyebrow. "For you, that must've been quite the torment."

"If I'd had a chance to think about, I'm sure it would've been. As it was, I was kinda distracted." He pointed up, to the stone slab blocking the sky above the plaza. "There wasn't really time to worry about that before the underside of the Second Floor turned into a bunch of warnings, and Kayaba appeared." Her husband shook his head; a quick glance showed her shadows in his dark eyes. "Blood dripping from the sky, to form an empty robe… Kayaba knew how to make an impression, that's for sure."

Kizmel could imagine. It sounded, honestly, like something the Fallen Elves might've arranged. She doubted that was a coincidence.

"Just a game," Kirito murmured, looking back at that plaza. "Until suddenly it wasn't anymore. I don't think any of us really believed it, that first day. Not deep down. It was just… too unreal."

"I understand," she told him, gently slipped her arm around his. And she did. In hindsight, it was entirely too appropriate that she'd come to this very plaza, the day her world had been upended. Still…. "Ten thousand people. I cannot imagine that went peacefully."

He made a sound that was almost a short laugh. "No. There was a lot of screaming, after Kayaba's avatar disappeared. I made a run for it, taking Klein with me, but I heard later it turned into a riot. Lucky for everyone that the City is a Safe Haven, or things would've been… worse."

Kizmel could imagine that, too. She'd caught a glimpse of something like that, when the Necros had overrun entire cities on the Fifty-Seventh Floor. She realized, then, that the two events had very probably overlapped in Kirito's nightmares, in the months since.

Enough of this. Clearing her throat, she tugged on Kirito's arm. "Come. Show me where your journey took you from here, husband."

He twitched, startled out of whatever memory he'd been reliving. "Ah, right. Well… that'd be this way." He turned away from the plaza, leading her down the side street. "Though the rest of that day wasn't that great, either…."

Wow. This is a lot different from the last time I was here.

Stepping out of the Teleport Gate, the first thing Asuna noticed was that the City of Beginnings was quieter than she remembered. There was the usual bustle of NPCs, and the cheery undertone of the BGM, but none of the clamor she'd come to expect from towns with high player populations. Certainly nothing like it'd been the moment she'd first appeared in the city, two years before.

Has it really been two years? Wow, how times change. She looked down at her hand, flexing half-gloved fingers, and remembered her first moments in Sword Art Online. Back then, she'd been stunned by the sheer fidelity of the virtual world. Surrounded by thousands of other players just entering that world for the first time, it had been almost an hour before she'd done anything but wallow in the physics.

"Sure is quiet," Rain remarked, appearing in a blue flash behind her. Taking a couple of slow steps out of the way, she craned her neck, peering around at the milling NPCs and players. "This place was pretty noisy, last time I was here. …Where is everybody?"

"I think they're still around." Philia trotted out of the Gate, even her usual enthusiasm somehow dulled. "It's just not a riot this time. Dunno about you guys, but the last time I was in the Teleport Plaza itself was just after Kayaba's 'tutorial'. I, um, didn't really wanna be here after that."

"Tell me about it." Wrapped in her cloak, Sachi was a raised hood away from turning invisible the moment she exited the Gate, and from the look on her face she was seriously considering it. "I'm amazed anyone stuck around here after that."

"You and me both." Leading the way into the city at a slow walk, Asuna looked around the massive plaza, comparing its state to what she remembered from Launch Day. As of when she'd logged in, she estimated there'd been at least five thousand players still just taking in the sights in that one place. The excited chatter had been almost overwhelming.

Just a few hours later, she really had been overwhelmed—first by the confused babble, then by the oppressive silence of ten thousand people standing in shocked disbelief. As if somehow the entire game had been muted, except for Kayaba Akihiko's booming voice.

No. Not ten thousand, Asuna reminded herself. Her wandering gaze met that of a Swordmaster buying very cheap fruit from an NPC vendor; she shivered as the player flinched and looked away. Nine thousand, seven hundred and eighty-seven. Kayaba's trap had already killed over two hundred people.

Coming to the mouth of an alley leading away from the city center, she turned back, looking up at the underside of the Second Floor. Even two years later, the exact number Kayaba had cited when explaining that players had already died from well-meaning friends and family trying to remove the NerveGear still rang in her head. Probably, she thought with a chill, because of how easily she could've been one of them.

"I only tried out the game on a whim," she mused aloud. "If Kayaba hadn't trapped us, those few hours probably would've been it. I don't know if I would've had the courage to try VR again." Not with Mother around. If she knew I was playing around with pointless games… I don't even want to think about it.

"It sure wasn't what I had in mind." The other girls had stopped with her, and Rain was looking up as well. Asuna wondered if that far-away look was the redhead remembering the empty robe that had been Kayaba's avatar of choice that day. "I think you guys all know about my sister?"

Philia nodded, but Asuna was left exchanging a confused look with Sachi. Now that I think about it, as much as I've hung around Kirito-kun's team the last few months, I don't really know much about them, do I? Not that anybody here really talks about the other world much, but Team Kirito is so different….

Catching the blank looks, Rain bent her head, sheepishly brushing at her hair. "Um. Right. Short version, I've got a younger sister, a real genius. I haven't seen her since our parents divorced. She works in computer design, see? So… I guess I figured, if I got into the first VRMMORPG, I might… find her somehow. Or at least feel closer to her."

"Oh. I see." Family she actually wanted to be closer to? Asuna felt a pang of jealousy at that. If anything, she'd entered SAO to get at least a little break from her parents. Her brother hadn't been around much at all, and it was business taking him away unexpectedly that had given her the opportunity to try SAO in the first place.

Two years on, she still couldn't decide if that had been a good thing, or bad.

"That's probably why my build is the way it is," Rain mused, as the four of them resumed their trek toward the City's outskirts. "I wasn't much of a gamer before SAO, so I kinda tried everything, 'til I found a few things that worked together pretty well. Kept me alive in the early days, anyway, going solo."

"Is that why Kirito calls you a ninja?" Sachi asked. Glancing at the buildings on either side of the narrow alley, she suddenly winced. With a silent gesture, she urged them to take a left at the next side path.

Asuna wondered why, but kept her mouth shut. From what Kirito had told her, the blue-haired girl had had a pretty rough time even before Johnny Black's MPK trap. If Sachi had places she didn't want to see again, Asuna wasn't going to quibble.

Rain's sigh and eye-roll cut through the brief tension. "I'm not a ninja! I just found it smarter to hide a lot early on, and throwing spikes turned out to be good for kiting mobs into ambushes—"

"Ninja," Philia cut in with a snort, earning a pout from the redhead. "Seriously, Rain, get yourself a catsuit sometime and admit it. Anyway! If we're trading stories… I just went right into denial that day. Couldn't believe it. But I hated all the crowd noise, so I took off as soon as the barrier around the plaza went down. I'd gotten some early hints on where to find treasure, so off I went!"

"That explains a lot. You went with a Thief build to cope?" Rain quirked an eyebrow. "Well, it sure worked. How long were you just raiding tombs?"

"Treasure hunter," Philia insisted, sticking her tongue out at the redhead. "And it was about two months. I fell way behind on leveling, but the gear and money I got was enough to keep me going with just good equipment until my EXP caught up. Wasn't until the Thirty-Fifth Floor that I started clearing, though, and my first Floor Boss was the Thirty-Seventh."

"Amon," Asuna said, nodding. "I remember him." Mostly from Kirito showing off the Baneblade, and it being Kizmel's first fight with player privileges, admittedly. As a boss, the Phantom Tyrant had honestly been a wimp.

Though I could've done without the squids on the way there. Yuck.

"I have to say," she remarked, as they wended their way further into the City of Beginnings' backstreets, "you two probably coped with things better than I did. I mean, at least you were doing something. I just ran for the nearest inn and collapsed. For about two weeks."

She didn't really like to remember that time. For all that she'd seen dark times in the two years since, she couldn't remember anything in her life as bleak as those two weeks. Not even the zombie outbreak on the Fifty-Seventh Floor, really.

…And the other girls were giving her pointed looks, with smiles hidden with varying degrees of success. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Let met guess," Philia said, smirk slipped past all attempt at concealment. "After two weeks, you stumbled on Kirito? Or he stumbled on you, knowing him?"

She had to say that just as they stepped out of the alleys, onto a wider, brighter street. Asuna flushed, couldn't hide it, and turned away in a huff. They can't know about the farmhouse, she told herself firmly. That was just a wild guess! …Not a bad one, with Kirito-kun, but still….

"For your information," she said, picking up the pace down the street, "I didn't meet Kirito-kun until two weeks after that. I ran out of Cor to pay for the inn, that's all, and figured if I was going to die anyway I'd do it on my own terms. …He did have to rescue me from that, the busybody. But I rescued him just as much, after that!"

Sure, it'd taken a while to catch up. There had been times, in the months they'd been partners, that she'd wondered if she would ever be able to stand as Kirito's equal. But she had, in the end. They'd parted as equals, when she became the Vice-Commander of the Knights of the Blood. If there was one thing Asuna could truly say, it was that she had nothing left to prove.

"Enough about that!" she said loudly, over what had darn well better not have been snickering. "Sachi-chan, what about you? How did your early days go?"

Only in the silence that followed did Asuna remember that probably wasn't a good question to ask. Immediately she wished she'd been hit with Mute status, and she quickly turned around, opening her mouth to apologize.

Sachi held up a hand, though, a sad smile on her face. "It's okay, Asuna," she said quietly. "Honestly, I should probably tell you anyway. Rain and I are the only ones who've been where we're going, after all." She glanced around, at the handful of players that could seen of the thousands who remained in the City of Beginnings. Downtrodden, all of them, making Asuna think of videos she'd seen of slums IRL. "Believe it or not, it wasn't all bad, at the start…."

As they slipped away from that city of despair, Sachi began to tell her side of those first, horrible months. Asuna listened close, eager to learn more of another girl who'd climbed from terror to the forefront of the clearing.

Not many girls on the frontlines even now, after all. We have to stick together.

Talking about the past wasn't all that brought back memories for Sachi. Just walking along the road leading out from the City of Beginnings reminded her of those early days, less than two years but also a lifetime ago. Those just slightly-too-regular to be real cobblestones brought enough back to the forefront that she wanted to pull her cloak all the way up, and disappear.

She didn't, though. Too much of the first year, she'd spent hiding, until the moment she couldn't anymore. Facing reality head-on was the only way she'd survived.

"I was part of my high school's computer club, before SAO," she told her companions, as they jogged down the road to the next village. "We were all able to get copies thanks to our club adviser. Well," she corrected herself, smiling ruefully, "the others did. I was a beta tester, so my copy was guaranteed…."

"You were in the beta?" Philia whistled. "Oh, man, that must've been rough, the first month or so." The treasure hunter shook her head. "Gotta say, I envied the betas on Day One, but not for long."

"I kept my mouth shut about it," Sachi admitted. "Even after the hate ended up pointed away from 'regular' testers." Something she hadn't understood until months later, when she first met Kirito. That was, she supposed, the first time he'd saved her, even if neither of them had known the other existed at the time.

I needed saving a lot, back then, she mused, glancing back at the City. Things sure have changed.

"I kept it quiet," she continued, turning her attention back to the road ahead. "At first I didn't want the guys to be jealous, and then after Kayaba trapped us… well, we all pretty much hid in the City for the first few weeks. Too scared, you know?"

"Oh, yeah," Asuna agreed, giving a rueful smile of her own. "I'm still amazed anybody was brave enough at first. Like I said, I only came out when I ran out of money and decided I'd rather die on my own terms."

Sachi tried to reconcile that attitude with the Vice-Commander of the KoB, and found she really couldn't. Long before becoming a clearer herself, she'd heard of Asuna the Flash, the rising star who was basically the hope of the entire playerbase. When Kizmel had told her Asuna had started out like any other newbie, it'd been quite the shock. Hearing it directly from the girl's mouth wasn't much easier to accept.

"Honestly, though… I wasn't hiding. Not all the time." They were leaving the open hills of the City of Beginnings' immediate surroundings behind, then, their road leading them deep into the woods to the City's north. "Keita, Ducker, Sasamaru, Tetsuo… they stayed at the inn, that first month. Me, though? I started sneaking out at night, about a week in."

She tried not to think too hard about those friends of hers. It still hurt too much. Ducker, Sasamaru, and Tetsuo were all gone—and she had no intention at all of tracking down Keita, wherever he was in that first town. Months before, she'd finally dragged the truth out of Klein, about the time he'd gone looking for her old guildmaster.

Between how that meeting had gone, and what Klein had reluctantly admitted Keita had later done to Kizmel… no. Sachi wasn't ready to go see him again. She wasn't sure if she ever would be, at least as long as they were still trapped in SAO.

"I didn't really want to," she said, deliberately pushing thoughts of Keita away as they ran deeper into the forest. She wished a mob would attack them, if only to help distract her, but as high as their levels were, most basic mobs just ran away. "But someone told me that, as a beta tester, I knew enough to have an edge. And they were right. I did the basic quests around the City of Beginnings, and even went as far as Horunka Village. I gained levels, and money. And even if I didn't use it myself, I knew where to get a really good sword."

Letting someone else have that had helped her keep her adventures a secret from the others. As far as they'd known, she was getting levels and Cor just from the quests available in the City of Beginnings itself. None of them, Sachi remembered, had known the game well enough to realize she'd been getting way too much EXP for that to be the truth.

"Oh, I know this one," Rain piped up, nodding thoughtfully. "The Anneal Blade, right? That was my first good sword." She grinned, looking sheepish. "I still have that one in my collection, though it's really not good enough even for my personal skill."

Somehow, Sachi wasn't surprised. If Philia was Team Kirito's treasure hunter, Rain was definitely the collector. Philia kept the gear she needed, and sold pretty much everything else; Rain, she suspected, never got rid of a weapon unless it outright broke.

I don't want to come back here, she thought, even as they approached the quaint cottages of Horunka Village. This is about the last place I'd ever want to see again, except for that tower.

But the quest had said to start looking for answers here, and Sachi wasn't going to look away from it just because it hurt.

Closing in on one particular house, she slowed to a walk. "Rain and I should probably take point on this one," she said over her shoulder. "We're the ones who've done the quest. I don't know if it matters, but…."

"Right." Nodding quickly, Asuna dropped back a pace. "Even though this isn't an instanced map, it wouldn't be too surprising if things were different. Cardinal's pretty impressive, sometimes."

So Sachi had heard. Personally, she was glad she'd never run into the system's more creative efforts. As far as she knew, anyway.

Taking a deep breath, she walked up to the house's front door, hesitated, and gave a firm knock. There was no answer, but then she hadn't really expected one, so after a moment she pulled on the knob and walked right in.

It was just as Sachi remembered. An ordinary kitchen, a few centuries out of date, occupied by a lone housewife stirring a pot. The woman looked as tired and careworn as when Sachi had first seen her, almost two years before, just like she would for any player starting her quest.

She also had the yellow question mark of an active quest NPC over her head, which at least confirmed their interpretation of Sahasra's cryptic clue.

Nervously, Sachi cleared her throat. "Excuse me, ma'am…?"

The housewife turned, and in that moment her appearance shifted from careworn to youthful and warm, her state when her original quest was completed. "Why, hello there! I haven't seen you in a long time, Swordmaster-san. I hope you're doing well?" She glanced over at Sachi's companions; she didn't seem to recognize Rain, which Sachi figured meant the woman had specifically reacted to her own "version" of the quest. "I don't see your friend from back then. I do hope my family's sword is still serving her well."

Sachi swallowed against the lump in her throat, and forced a smile. "Sumika is… busy," she managed. "But your sword's helped her out a lot. Thank you."

"It was the least I could do, after the two of you helped my daughter." The housewife smiled warmly. "But I suppose this isn't a social call. Can I help you?"

"We've been hearing some rumors lately," Sachi told her, gratefully pushing on to the reason for their visit. "We were worried, so we came to make sure you were all right."

"Oh, don't worry. We're perfectly fine here." The woman turned back to the pot, quickly pulled out some bowls, and ladled out several helpings of stew. "I know what you're talking about, though," she continued, setting the bowls on the kitchen table and motioning for the players to sit. "The Echo, right?"

"That's right, ma'am," Asuna said, dipping a spoon into her share of the stew. "We don't know much about them, but we've heard they've been causing trouble."

"Mm. I know they've been stirring up people in the cities," the housewife said, turning back to the stove. "When a couple of them came to the village, though, we just told them to go away. All that talk about how bad Swordmasters are—hmph! We only manage as well as we do here because of Swordmaster help, when we really need it."

Anti-Swordmaster rhetoric. That fit eerily well with everything Sachi had heard about the nebulous NPC group, the last few months. It was a story that was starting to show up a little too frequently, and the main reason her little party had accepted the quest in the first place.

Rain and Philia hadn't wanted anything to do with it, pointing out Sahasra's quests were usually confusing, with little reward. When the Dark Elf sage had mentioned the Echo, though, Asuna had insisted, and Sachi couldn't disagree. Something was going on, something they hadn't really encountered in SAO before. They needed to know what.

"We're perfectly safe, I think," the housewife was saying. "Whoever those people are, they seem to think they're protecting the common folk. But if you want to know what they're up to… hm, I believe the ones who visited here said something about being busy with the Fourth Floor's canals?"

[Gather Information On The Echo's Movements Complete], said the notice in Sachi's quest log. [Investigate The Fourth Floor River Base] immediately came up as the next objective.

Asuna grimaced at that, but busied herself with the stew. The others followed her lead, collectively deciding a good meal was the thing to do before moving on to the next step.

When they'd finished, thanked the housewife, and left the house, Asuna did turn a worried look on Sachi. "Sumika?" she said softly, as the four of them headed back into the forest.

"Another friend of mine, from school," Sachi admitted. "She was the one who convinced me to use what I remembered from the beta to get a start on clearing. It worked, until… until one day, we ran into something that wasn't like the beta."

She didn't like to think about that. She wouldn't think about that. What happened to the Black Cats had been no one's fault except Johnny Black's. Sumika's death was on Sachi's own hands, and even two years later she couldn't stand to remember the details.

"It wasn't until the First Floor Boss was killed that I went outside again," she said, shoving those memories into a corner of her mind and mentally locking the door. "The news about Illfang got the guys all worked up. It took them almost a month to convince me to go with them, though…." She quickly shook her head, picking up the pace away from Horunka. "Anyway! The canals on the Fourth Floor?"

Asuna grimaced. "I think I know what she was talking about. There's a Forest Elf base way outside of the main town there… a place where they worked with the Fallen Elves. Can't say I like the sound of this one, but we'd better check it out anyway…."

October 20th, 2024

A lot of things had changed in two years. Some things, refreshingly, were the same as they'd always been. Pushing open the glass door, Kirito couldn't help a smile as he walked into the huge bath of Yofel Castle. Ivory tiles led to a polished ebony tub, so big it was closer to a pool. Just a little deeper, and he could easily have pictured the local Dark Elves swimming laps in it.

Of course, he thought, slipping down into it, this is way too warm to be a pool. More like the biggest hot tub ever. Good thing, too, in this weather. Though it was too early in the year for snow, even on the Fourth Floor, visible outside the glass forming western and southern walls was an energetic storm. Without that glass, and the tub's charmed heating, he would never have risked going in with just swim trunks.

But it was warm, and the impenetrable glass walls kept the rain at bay, allowing Kirito to sink into the water with a happy sigh. The Fourth Floor of Aincrad was home to some of the most relaxing moments in his time in the Steel Castle, and the bath had just been one of them.

Even with the Fallen Elf plot here, it wasn't so bad, Kirito mused, letting the warm water soothe muscles that never truly tired but still tensed under mental strain. The canals were fun, the bosses weren't too hard, and there wasn't even much drama with the clearing group. Not like the mess with the guild flag on the Fifth Floor… or Morte's plot on the Third.

Even the warm water couldn't chase off the chill or tension at that memory. Looking out at the storm-tossed lake, a flash of lightning brought Morte's face to his mind's eye. The man had nearly derailed the entire clearing effort by playing both sides, back then, only barely stopped by Kirito's own efforts and the timely arrival of Asuna and Kizmel.

And a year after that, I killed him. …It doesn't seem real, some days.

"You have the look of a man thinking all the wrong thoughts right now, Kirito-kun. This is not a night for serious matters, I'll remind you. You have more important things to contemplate than whatever has you frowning."

Kirito started, glanced back to the bath's entrance, and promptly forgot all about Morte. The first time he'd visited Yofel Castle's enormous bath, Asuna had enforced strict modesty rules. Tonight, with the brunette far away on her own quest, there was no such enforcement. Casually naked, Kizmel padded across the ivory tiles, paused to arch one eyebrow at him, and then carefully slid into the water next to him.

Feeling her smooth skin slide against his as she snuggled into the crook of his arm, Kirito found himself relaxing again. Arm slipping around her waist to pull her a little closer, he let himself revel in a sensation that was becoming comfortingly familiar.

He felt her low, throaty chuckle vibrate against his chest. "That's better. …We've always had pleasant times in this place, you and I. I'd rather keep it that way."

"Some of the best, even if we did almost have a last stand here." Thinking back to the Forest Elf attack, orchestrated by the Fallen Elves, Kirito couldn't help but chuckle himself. "Did I ever tell you how I talked the Viscount into helping out, that day?"

"Mm… no, I don't believe you did." The elf girl looked up at him, quirking one eyebrow again. "I suppose I had always assumed you simply convinced him of the gravity of the situation. Or," she added, expression darkening, "knowing what I do now, that you had more or less stumbled on the… keywords… to trigger his intervention."

He shook his head. "Tried that first, but it didn't work. No… when I was about to just give up and go back to the fight, Viscount Yofilis asked me why I was helping Lyusula, and not Kales'Oh." He smiled sheepishly. "I told him there wasn't any real reason, at first. But that by then… it was because Asuna and I loved you."

Kizmel blinked. After a moment's pause, she smiled slowly, pressed herself closer, and leaned up to press a kiss on his cheek. "For a man so easily tongue-tied, you really do know exactly what to say when it matters, don't you? …Another memory of this place for me to treasure."

Kirito flushed, though more at the compliment than the kiss. Seven months on, he was finally getting used to how demonstrative his wife was, at least in private. Compliments… those he still had trouble with.

"Well," he said, turning to look back at the storm, "this is a good place for making memories, isn't it? We'll have to come back here around Christmas, if we have the time…. Too bad we weren't able to drop by the baths last time around. I think we all could've used it, after Nicholas and what came after."

"Mm." Kizmel settled back into his arm; he was briefly distracted by the way her thigh brushed his, under the warm water. "Yes, Lind certainly left me with a great deal to ponder, even if I didn't understand much of it at the time. And Sachi… it's a testament to her strength that she weathered that as well as she did."

He nodded, remembering the former Black Cat's raw despair. Finding out that the Divine Stone of Returning Soul was real, but could only save someone within ten seconds of death? He didn't know if he could've handled that half as well as Sachi had, in the end.

I wonder whatever happened to the Stone? Not that I'm going to ask. I've got enough items like that in my inventory as it is. I'll let Klein and the others worry about that one.

"Of course," Kizmel said into his thoughts, nudging him with her shoulder, "it's not as if either of us could truly complain about how the next night went, in the end." She smiled up at him, a gentle, warm smile she reserved for moments like this. "That was a wonderful dance, after all. And, though Argo may have tricked us into it, I'm quite sure you enjoyed our first kiss as much as I did. Even if neither of us were ready to admit it so soon."

"Well… yeah. Yeah, I did." Smiling wryly, Kirito could still remember that moment with crystal clarity. He'd done a lot with girls by then that he'd never expected to, but that moment in Yofel Castle's garden, under the mistletoe Argo had snuck in, really had been his first kiss.

Even after seven months of marriage, he still rated that one pretty high, too. With the excuse of Christmas tradition, they'd both put their hearts into it.

"Honestly," he mused, hand drifting up to lightly stroke the edge of one long, pointed ear, "if you'd known the truth by then… well, you know me. My social stats are pretty low. But if that hadn't been between us, I might've gone for it sooner, after that night."

She leaned her head into his touch, sighing happily. "I certainly would've appreciated it. After such a first kiss, I admit I was quite impatient with you, in the months that followed."

"Yeah. I kinda noticed." The time Kizmel had barged in on him, naked, in the Fifty-First Floor's hot springs might've been about trust. It had still been obvious even to him that she was shamelessly flirting with him throughout that floor's clearing.

Without the barrier of her not knowing the truth, he didn't think he would've been able to resist for long. Especially after that hug….

Kirito quickly shook his head, putting the memory out of his mind. Pleasant thought, but that wasn't really what he wanted to focus on in a public bath, however small the chance of being walked in on. Clearing his throat, he turned his gaze back to her. "Speaking of that, though… I'm kinda surprised. That really was your first kiss? I know you're older than me…."

For a second, he thought he'd pushed too far; bringing up her age had always gone badly for him before, after all. This time, though, Kizmel only chuckled, looking up at him with an all too familiar expression of fond exasperation. "As a matter of fact, Kirito-kun, I'm forty-eight years old. Which, by the standards of my people, means I was only beginning to consider romance at all about when you first brought up the idea of marrying me, back on the Third Floor."

He blinked. "Uh…?"

"However I came to be, husband, I am not human," the elf girl reminded him, pointedly twitching her ears. "I've experience enough to have been a knight for nearly thirty years now. Emotionally? I could hardly be considered any more mature than you." Clearing her throat, she actually glanced away. "…That is to say, by my people's standards, I would still be considered an adolescent myself."

Kirito blinked again. Stared at her, for a long moment, as she flushed as much as her dusky skin would allow. Then finally, helpless, he started to laugh.

That brought her head around again, staring up at him in bemusement. "Dare I ask what, exactly, amuses you so, Kirito-kun?"

Free hand clutching at his side, for once too amused to even really notice the way his laughter rubbed their bodies together, he fought to answer her. "It's—it's just, that explains so much," he got out, gasping. "Like your—your sense of humor. You're evil sometimes, you know that?"

"And just what do you mean by that?" Kizmel slid away from him, far enough to cross her arms and give him an arch look. Which might've been more effective if the posture didn't emphasize her chest, and if lightning hadn't chosen to strike again at the moment, casting her face in a briefly sinister light.

"Hello?" Kirito gestured widely at the bath around them. "The first time we were here, Asuna explained human modesty to you. Then at Castle Galey, you tricked us into getting a bath together, no swimsuits. Don't tell me that wasn't on purpose!"

She lifted her chin with an ostentatious sniff. "As if it was my fault the two of you assumed that separate entrances led to separate baths? …Although, yes, the end result was amusing, especially when Asuna realized she couldn't blame you for it. Besides," she added, a smirk breaking through her poker face, "I had a suspicion Asuna had not been entirely truthful in her claim that humans normally bathed so modestly."

"Sure, and testing it nearly got me beaten up," he reminded her. "Asuna was so worked up, she forgot Castle Galey wasn't a Safe Haven."

"She remembered in time. And don't try to tell me you didn't enjoy the view." Kizmel shifted in the water, and didn't even try to hide the widening of her smirk at the way the motion drew his eyes back to her body. "Though in the end, what I wanted most was simply to relax with my friends, with no concerns for silly human taboos. Given that the next time we gathered there, neither of you even mentioned swimsuits, it was quite frustrating how you later went back to such trifles."

"You do remember Asuna made sure I couldn't see either of you, that next time?"

She leaned back against the side of the bath, stretching. "I also remember she sat in your lap." The elf girl chuckled. "Bold of her, for all her protests."

"By accident!" Kirito retorted, sputtering. "For about two seconds!" We've been married for seven months! How can she still get a rise out of me like this?!

"Bold of you, then, and in hindsight a shame that I was not the one to pick that spot." Kizmel grinned. "Ah, Kirito-kun, you are still far too easy, do you know that? No wonder it's been such an effort to get you all to relax. Perhaps I need to take a direct approach, as I did on the Fifty-First Floor?"

He wasn't sure exactly what she was suggesting. He was pretty sure he didn't want to find out, and that whatever it was would end in Asuna trying to murder him again. That wasn't something he'd worried about in ages.

Wrenching his eyes from the teasing Dark Elf with no small effort, Kirito focused again on the storm outside. The way the tub was set up, it usually looked like it was part of the surrounding lake, like an infinity edge pool. Tonight, it felt like he and Kizmel were in the only patch of calm, right out in the middle of it. It felt fitting, somehow, given how things had been just before their honeymoon.

"You know," he muttered, "you're not exactly proving me wrong, about your sense of humor."

"Ah, well. With the lives we lead, Kirito-kun, how can I not steal what moments like this that I can? Our travels are far too serious, most days."

Kirito found himself nodding at that. Which really got him thinking, about all the places they'd been in the two years they'd known each other, and how busy they'd always seemed to be while they were there. It's nice to see Yofel Castle again, nice and peaceful, but we really should visit some of the other places while we've got the time.

They'd already visited the Dark Elf camp on the Third Floor, to see Tilnel's grave. Now, he decided, he wanted to drop by Castle Galey again, see that mountain fortress without the specter of clearing or Laughing Coffin's plots. Visit the mountains of the Twenty-Sixth Floor, where he and Kizmel had reunited and begun what had ended up a permanent partnership.

Maybe go see the Thirty-Seventh Floor's forests again. Heck, even the Reliquary. That's where Kizmel became a Swordmaster, and I did want to see the art there again. And wasn't there a really great river canyon on the Sixtieth Floor? That cave we camped out in, when the thunderstorm made the river too dangerous to ford….

There were a lot of places Kirito wanted to see again, when he thought about it. For all the grief and pain the place he'd suffered in the past two years, he couldn't help but think the Steel Castle was just beautiful.

Kizmel hummed contentedly, breaking the companionable silence. Lifting her arms, she stretched again, a faint frown creasing her brow. "…For all that Swordmasters feel no pain, it's surprising how tense my muscles can be, some days. Is that some relic of having been born with no such privileges?"

"If it is, I get the same thing," Kirito told her, watching her closely. Just to marvel at how well the physics engine modeled muscles, of course. "I think the brain fills in what we expect to feel, sometimes. Like how we end up breathing hard, even when only Suffocation status should cause that." He hesitated. "…Want a back rub, Kizmel?"

Kizmel paused mid-stretch, only vaguely aware of how distracted her posture left her husband. "You've never mentioned that was among your talents, Kirito-kun." Settling back in the water, she favored him with a speculative look. "Have you been holding out on me?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise," he admitted, blushing. "You've been talking about a honeymoon for months, so… awhile back, I picked up the Massage skill."

The elf girl smiled slowly. "You really are better at this than you give yourself credit for, husband. By all means, then. Here?"

"If you're comfortable with it." Kirito glanced back at the glass doors. "It doesn't look like anyone's going to be wandering in here this late."

Fair point. In hindsight, Kizmel wasn't actually sure ordinary NPCs ever did use the bath. Thinking back on it, she couldn't recall anyone but herself, Kirito, and Asuna taking advantage of it, when she'd stayed there on official business. Which means it should be safe enough.

"I'm quite comfortable, thank you." She stood, climbed out of the tub, and turned to look at the storm-tossed lake. "The view appeals to me, if nothing else."

She wasn't oblivious to the effect that had on Kirito, as water dripped down her body. For a long moment, she let him look; only when she glanced back at him, a knowing smirk curling her lips, did he shake himself and wave a hand to open his menu. First he materialized a large, fluffy towel, spreading it on the ivory tiles. While Kizmel moved to lay across it on her stomach, he followed up by pulling a bottle out of storage.

"You do know, Kirito-kun," she murmured, as he knelt next to her, "you are in no position to laugh at Asuna for her Cooking skill any longer."

"As if you do. You like her food as much as I do." Kirito poured oil on his hands, set the bottle aside, and reached for her shoulders. "We'll see who's laughing in a minute."

"Heh. Fair enough… ooh." As his fingers began to knead her shoulders, Kizmel hummed happily. "No… I don't believe I will be laughing at this…."

How times had changed. The last time he'd done something like this, helping her apply Sunblock back on the Fifty-First Floor, he'd been obviously embarrassed. Now it seemed he'd had time to get used to being "hands-on" with her, and his quiet chuckle told her he was quite pleased with himself.

Not that she was going to complain. If he was going to make her feel so good, as his fingers kneaded her shoulders and his palms rubbed down to her back, she was going to let him have the satisfaction. I'm hardly losing anything myself… mmm. Between this and Asuna's cooking, I do believe I've underestimated domestic skills….

"You really are tense, though," Kirito mused, working his way down to her shoulder blades. "Huh. I didn't realize the physics engine modeled muscles this well."

Heh. I believe that's the first time he's spoken of this as a "game"in at least a week. Times change, indeed….

"It may be an effect of disabling the Ethics Code," Kizmel murmured, more than a little distracted. "…Ahh, yes, right there, please…. It does heighten sensation, after all. Though I wonder if Kayaba would call this a consequence, or a benefit…."

Pushing at another knot, Kirito made a thoughtful hum. "With him, it could be either way," he decided. "What do you think, Kizmel?"

Her first response was a low groan. "Personally," she said after that, voice low and husky, "at the moment I'd call it a benefit…. Hehe." She felt his hands twitch at her chuckle, and smiled to herself. "…Kirito-kun? Whatever world comes next, you are learning this skill there, as well."

It was his turn to chuckle, though it sounded oddly pained to her. "You like it, huh?" he said, rubbing oil into the small of her back.

"I believe you know the answer to that question." Propping her chin on crossed arms, Kizmel looked to the storm, the roiling lake, and the cliffs beyond. "…This is exactly what I was looking for, Kirito-kun. There are more battles ahead of us, but right now… right now, I can forget that."

Conversation lapsed after that, both of them distracted by the massage reaching lower and… softer… places.

When Kirito's hands moved on to her thighs, Kizmel let out a long, contented sigh. "Do you know, Kirito-kun," she breathed, barely above a whisper. "There were times, even after I joined you on the Twenty-Sixth Floor, I wondered if there would be anything left for me? Off the battlefield, that is."

"…I've had days like that," he said, and from the soft tone of his voice she could guess what he was thinking of. She remembered the bleak depression on his face, the day they'd reunited in Skirloft. She'd felt as keenly as he had the heavy guilt, when the Black Cats had died under their protection. The numb horror when the Fiftieth Floor's Vemacitrin had proven the quarter-mark Floor Bosses were all going to be brutal.

She could only imagine how he'd felt when the truth had finally come to her. She knew she had never felt such existential despair.

And I see the fear in his eyes, whenever someone speaks of what we both know is coming.

"I'm sure you have." Kizmel craned her head to look at him, violet eyes soft. "Your time as a warrior has been briefer than mine, yet these two years have had horrors I scarcely dreamed…. But after thirty years as a knight, Kirito-kun, and even these past two years… I don't wonder that. Not anymore."

Warm, gentle fingers never quite paused, kneading her calves even as they spoke. "No?"

"Of course not. Not when I know there is so much more to see." She smiled, turned back to the windows and the crashing waves. "Not when I have moments such as this to look forward to. …Kirito-kun. Someday, I want to do this with you again, under the stars of your world."

Kizmel still remembered the night they'd talked about that, on Black Cat's deck. Even before she'd known the truth of her world—her self—she'd wanted to go with him to his world. Even before knowing her world was a construct, she'd known his was so much bigger—just as she'd known, before Kirito ever responded to her feelings, that she wanted to see it with him. Even if it took a miracle.

From his long silence, she could tell he remembered it, too. Massaging her calves, down to her feet, he let out a long, slow breath. "I'd like that, Kizmel. Though, um, doing this under the stars might be a little hard to arrange…."

"Oh… I'm sure you'd find a way. You—we—always do." When he was finally done, Kizmel felt a pang of disappointment. She buried it in a stretch, before standing and walking over to the window. "…Thank you, Kirito-kun. That's much better."

"Any time." Kirito joined her in looking out at the storm, and whatever disappointment she'd felt vanished as his arms wrapped around her. "…Gi melin, Kizmel."

Chuckling, she turned in his embrace, and leaned in close. "I love you, Kirito-kun," she whispered. Eyes falling closed as their lips met, she allowed herself to dream of trysting under other stars.

October 21st, 2024

Stepping out of the Blink and Brink Tavern on the Fifth Floor, Philia couldn't help but smile. So far, the quest had been maybe a bit tedious, but not even close to dangerous for a group of veteran clearers. The location the current leg of it had brought them to gave her a serious blast of nostalgia. And to top it all off, she'd had an excuse to eat one of her favorite desserts in all of Aincrad.

Yep, this place is as sparkly as I remember, she thought, glancing from one end of the street to the other. Just like she remembered, Karluin was built from the ruins of a lost era, and after the meal she'd just had, there were shiny spots scattered randomly across streets and buildings both. Not as many people as back then, though. I guess, after this long, only the really hard-core are still here.

"This place sure hasn't changed," Asuna mused, coming out of the tavern behind her. Patting her stomach, she looked around the street with a wry smile. "The blue-blueberry tart tastes just as good…. Y'know, the first time I tried that out, I dragged Kirito-kun halfway across town looking for relics?"

"I think everybody did that." Rain was just closing her menu; Philia noticed the redhead had switched to one of her weakest blades, probably to avoid standing out too much. As far down as they were, clearers didn't want to look like they were poaching from low-level players, after all. "I mean, really. A dessert that gives you a buff to see loot just lying around? Who'd pass that up?" She quirked an eyebrow knowingly. "Right, Philia?"

Trying to remember exactly where the entrance to the catacombs beneath the city was, Philia threw a pout over her shoulder. "Why are you picking on me?"

"You're the treasure hunter," Sachi pointed out, closing the tavern door behind them. "Don't try telling us this wasn't a dream come true for you. …And it's this way, by the way."

Trust the former beta tester to remember even better than the treasure hunter. Philia obligingly let Sachi take the lead down the street, content to bask in the memories. She wasn't even that tempted to pick up any of the relics along the way; what was a huge help to a low-level player wasn't even pocket change for her now.

Well. Maybe a little tempted. But I'll leave it to the people who need it. Even if there weren't that many green cursors among the yellow of Karluin's NPCs, these days, just a handful scouring the streets.

"Okay, so everybody did it," Asuna said, shaking her head. "But how many of you went nuts over the surface, never realizing the real treasure was down below?"

Philia exchanged quick glances with Rain and Philia, and firmly kept her mouth shut.

"You don't even have to say it," Asuna said, sighing. "I blame Kirito-kun for not telling me…. After that, I was too embarrassed to try again. Besides, it would've been greedy."

"…Call me greedy, then," Philia said, scratching her head sheepishly. "I spent a whole month on this floor. Right to the Blink and Brink, first thing every morning." She chuckled ruefully, remembering those hectic days. Rushing from the inn to the tavern, and from the tavern right down into the city-wide dungeon, trying to get as much as she could as fast as she could. "That was about when I started to really get it that we were all stuck here—and that I'd wasted so much time, my levels were way behind."

Fancy equipment only went so far, of course; she could only equip the best gear her stats allowed. Being able to afford the best had done the trick long enough, though.

Sachi abruptly turned to the right, into a covered stairway. "That was more or less how it was for the Black Cats, too," she said quietly, leading them down to the first level below the city. "Ducker really got his 'thief' stuff going here; I think when somebody mentioned the Trap Disarm skill…."

Philia winced. "Sachi, you don't have to—"

"No, it's all right." The former Black Cat's voice was quiet, but steady, echoing off the stairwell's walls. "It… helps to talk about it sometimes, you know? Just stuffing it in the back of my head only makes it worse. If I do it too long." They reached a landing, with a doorway leading out to the first level of the catacombs; Sachi paused to peer through it. "We got a lot of good gear here. Probably the best we ever managed, before we ran into Kirito and Kizmel."

Philia followed her gaze, and felt a little chill. Back when she'd spent so much time on the Fifth Floor, the first level of the catacombs had been full of players; now, she didn't see any. Of course, that was probably because everybody still on the Fifth Floor knew the better stuff was lower down, but her spine didn't quite believe that.

"Of course," Sachi went on after a second, turning to continue down the next flight of stairs, "that didn't help us that long. The equipment we bought here got us through the next three or four floors, but that was it. We never found another good money-grinding spot, so we had to be more careful after that. None of us were good enough at fighting to make up for it."

"Except you," Rain pointed out.

Sachi was silent for a long, long moment. "…Not back then," she whispered.

Asuna winced. Philia didn't blame her; all the clearers probably had things that set them off like that, after two years. She and Rain had been luckier than most, but she was pretty sure Rain had nightmares about things like the Vemacitrin, the Fifty-Seventh Floor's zombies, and the Laughing Coffin Crusade.

I know I do.

"So," Asuna said, into a silence made all the more uncomfortable by the eerily-empty dungeon. "We're looking for the old Field Boss room, right? The one that had that giant golem?"

"That's the one," Rain confirmed. Now that they were in the dark, away from the surface, she made a show of opening her menu and switching to a much newer sword. "Wow, this place brings back memories," she added, as Sachi led them off the staircase and into the second level of the catacombs. "Didn't really do much treasure-hunting myself. Dabbled in it, then got serious about training my skills. Especially Hiding."

Philia nodded sagely. "From the Sly Shrewmen?" she said, keeping a weather eye out for the equipment-stealing little mobs as they went. "Or maybe the Astral-type monsters?"

Asuna flinched. "Yeah, that'd be a good reason," she muttered. "The Shrewmen, I mean!" she said hastily, abruptly drawing her rapier and whirling to stab at a small form skittering in the hallway's shadows.

Yeah, like that was going to go after clearers with levels in the eighties or nineties, Philia thought, rolling her eyes. "You can handle waves of zombies no problem, but one ghost and you—"

"Don't say it!"

Asuna pouted at the collective chuckles that got, and hurried ahead. Now that they were in the dungeon, it looked like the Flash remembered the way well enough to take the lead. Not 'cause she doesn't want us to see her blush or anything. Nope, nothing like that.

"Those, too," Rain said, her expression sobering. "Though some Astrals see through Hiding pretty well…. Actually, I was more worried about the rumors about orange players. I heard things got a little crazy here, during the clearing."

"I remember those rumors," Philia said with a nod. She started to say more; paused when she remembered a particular trap ahead, and dodged around a floor panel she knew was a trapdoor. "Never saw anything myself, though. Well, except maybe a redheaded shadow, once or twice…."

"Bluffing," the redhead declared loftily. "I didn't get a hair dye potion until the Seventh Floor. And I certainly didn't see the skimpiest armor of Aincrad while I was down here. Not even once."

"Right…."

With a sound like a stifled snort, Asuna glanced back at them. "Speaking of all that treasure-hunting—how is that still working, exactly? Kirito-kun told me during the beta it reset during server maintenance, but obviously that doesn't work now."

Philia shrugged. "Beats me. All I know is, every full moon the relics respawn. At least, that's when they did when I was down here, and Argo once mentioned it's been pretty regular."

"Huh. I wonder how that… works…." Asuna trailed off; paled, and hurried past a side tunnel.

Given the weird moaning sound coming from that direction, the treasure hunter followed suit. She wasn't that afraid of ghosts, but she had her limits. From the way Sachi clutched her cloak tighter, and Rain switched to an even better sword, the feeling was unanimous.

"Speaking of respawns," Sachi said, letting go of her cloak to put a hand on her sword hilt instead, "has anyone heard anything about the boss room down here? There must be some reason the Echo is after it, after all."

"Nothing from Argo," Asuna said, shrugging. "And from your question, I'm guessing Fuurinkazan hasn't heard anything either. Philia, Rain?"

"Not a thing," Philia said, with a shrug of her own. "But then, this business with the Echo has been rumors and chance encounters the whole time. I think the only real lead we've ever gotten before now was the crystals we found in that first quest."

"Right… including the ones that blow people's clothes off." Asuna giggled at Rain's blush. "Well," she added, pointing to the faint light at the end of the tunnel, "I think we're about to find out, one way or another. At least we've never seen a Field Boss respawn, right?"

One more staircase, leading to a twenty-meter stretch of tunnel in the lowest level below Karluin, later, the four of them stepped out into light. And kept on stepping, walking through blinding, unnatural light for several steps. "Hang on," Philia blurted, realizing what had to be happening. "Isn't this—?"

"An instanced map," Rain finished, just as the light faded enough to let them see again. She threw a dark look at Asuna. "You had to say it, didn't you?"

Philia nodded firmly, shooting her own irritated frown at the fencer. Not only was the old boss chamber now an instanced map—which was never a good sign, especially when an area used to be public—but she could plainly see that the giant throne at the far end was occupied. Though she'd never seen the giant golem with her own eyes before, its black armor and blackened gold crown were pretty distinctive.

Except… huh?

"Oh, like this never happens to you guys when you're with Kirito-kun?" Asuna drew her rapier, taking the lead. "I do buy Argo's stories about you…. Come on, let's get this over with."

"Wait," Philia said quickly, raising her hand. Eyes flaring green, she zoomed in with Search to take a closer look at the golem. "Guys? I don't think this is a boss fight."

"What do you mean, it's not a… oh." Asuna started, stared, and slowly lowered her sword. "Okay… that's different."

"There's a hole in its chest," Sachi breathed. "Where a heart would be. What in the world…?"

Cautiously, the four of them walked farther into the boss chamber, swords out and senses alert for any sign of enemies. It was way too quiet, and still, and just generally empty. Philia couldn't help but expect an ambush every step of the way, especially with how easy the quest had been so far.

I know Sahasra said this was something we could handle ourselves. Probably means this is a breather quest. I still don't like it one bit. His quests are never simple.

"Well, at least it doesn't look like the boss is going to get up and attack us," Rain said, as they neared the slumped golem. "Not sure that makes me feel any better, though. This reminds me of—"

"So, the Swordmasters have found us, even here! You will pay for your arrogance, and tell no one! This glorious sight will be your last!"

The girls whirled, just in time to see half a dozen black-armored warriors drop into the boss chamber. Over each lifebar—lifebars knocked down a few percent by the fall, Philia noticed—was the label [Echo Knight]. Nothing they hadn't seen, and fought, before, with the same over-the-top dialogue as ever.

"The ceiling," the treasure hunter said with a sigh. "I didn't even think to check the ceiling."

"Who would've expected mobs to hurt themselves coming in?" Asuna pointed out. "That's a new one, even for me."

"You underestimate us in your arrogance, Swordmasters," the apparent leader of the Echo Knights spat, brandishing a blackened scimitar. "We may not be as strong as you monsters, but our determination will not fail to yours!" He gestured sharply at the inactive golem. "And you will not live to tell anyone what you've seen here!"

Medium-red cursors. Not something they could just shrug off, but nothing too scary, either. Six of them, four of us…. Philia glanced at her companions, raising one eyebrow. She got a quick nod from Asuna, and a resigned sigh from Rain. Sachi winced—and promptly swept her cloak around herself, vanishing.

That apparently counted as an event flag, as the lead Echo Knight promptly snarled. "More Swordmaster trickery…. It matters not! We've sealed this place! Only with our deaths will you monsters escape!"

"Fine with us!" Rain shouted back. Then there was no more time to talk, the six Echo Knights lunging forward with synchronized Sonic Leaps. The light from six Sword Skills at once was blinding, making it hard to see exactly when the enemy would hit.

Philia grinned, swinging up her Swordbreaker. At least this'll work off some of the steam from this stupid quest!

A quick parry left a saber sliding—screeching—harmlessly off Lambent Light, its wielder over-extending himself in the process. Neither attack nor parry being a Sword Skill, it gave Asuna a perfect opening to step smoothly past the Echo Knight, whirl, and stab him in the joint of his left shoulder.

That got her a hiss, a venomous curse, and about five percent knocked off the mob's HP. She tsked, ducked under the warhammer Rain's current opponent was swinging with wild abandon, and drew her rapier back for a Linear. She was trying to avoid committing to skills too much, at least until they'd thinned out the enemies, but needs must.

The dodge and windup gave the Knight time to recover, and his saber glowed with the charge of his own skill. A simple Reaver, unleashed at the same moment as Asuna's Linear; they lunged at each other, blades passing without the clash that would've interrupted them both. The saber bit down into her left shoulder, slashing her HP by a small but irritating amount. The rapier thrust home against his breastplate, flinging him back across the room.

This is like fighting Fallen Elves, she thought, as the Echo Knight slammed into the far wall. Not half as dangerous, but that armor, the weapons—just what is the Echo, anyway?

They weren't actually Fallen Elves. In the various encounters Asuna had heard of over the past months, every time a member's face had been seen, they were easily identified as human. Even here, in the old Field Boss chamber beneath Karluin, that was clear; Philia had managed to knock the helmet off one, revealing rounded ears.

But they're using Fallen Elf equipment, or at least some of them are. How? And more importantly, why?

The Knight she'd blasted across the room was recovering, but before he could get far Sachi appeared from under her cloak, driving a perfect Vorpal Strike into his throat. Gurgling, the Echo Knight shattered, and Asuna spun back to the rest of the melee. One down!

An instant's glance at the fighting, and she was bringing her rapier back for another Linear. "Philia, Switch!"

The treasure hunter, stuck in a blade clash with a two-handed sword wielder, didn't hesitate. She whirled away, the serrations on the back of her Swordbreaker pulling her enemy's weapon along with; it left her in the path to take a glancing blow from the warhammer, but succeeded in giving Asuna the opening she wanted.

She couldn't help a grin as the point of her rapier shoved the Echo Knight back a good two meters. The grin widened when a flung sword chased after him, burying itself in his stomach. Clutching at it, he collapsed to his knees; not dead, but definitely out of the fight.

Another one out of commission, at least briefly. Asuna spun on the ball of her foot, zeroed in on the Knight with the warhammer, and drew Lambent Light back again.

Timing was a bit tricky. The hammer was heavy, and slow—and in motion, just about unstoppable. But I'm tired of this one. Steady, steady—now!

Roaring, the Echo Knight lifted the warhammer high over his head, and began to swing it down, hard. In the moment he was winding up, Asuna dashed forward, rapier flashing ahead of her. With a wordless yell of her own, she stabbed quickly at his groin, up to his stomach, finally jabbing him in the throat. Knocked out of his stance, the glow faded from his weapon; he started to rock back, unbalanced by the heft of his own hammer, only for Asuna's blade to keep right on going. Lambent Light pierced his right shoulder, thrust into his breastbone, and finally tore into his left shoulder.

The warhammer fell to the floor. The Echo Knight followed a breath later, the six-hit Crucifixion having done its job nicely.

Asuna paid for the high-level skill a moment later, caught as she was by the post-motion. A dagger buried itself in her ribs, taking off a good five percent of her HP. Worse, the Poisoned icon appeared under her lifebar, quickly chipping off another two percent.

"Asuna, Switch!"

Hissing, she jumped back, giving Rain room. The redhead had pulled out a second sword, settling into the improvised dual-wielding Asuna had seen a handful of times before. The left sword, she used to parry another thrust from the Echo Knight's poisoned dagger; with the right, she chopped at his hand. Spinning, she swung both of them at his chest, rebounding off his armor with a loud clang.

A scream of rage heralded yet another of the Knights charging her, spinning a giant two-handed axe over his head. Asuna, busy pulling an antidote to fend off the unexpectedly nasty poison, could only watch, too far way to help—

Rain let go of her left-hand sword, ending her irregular equipment state. She promptly flung her right-hand blade at the axeman; striking him full in the chest, it staggered but didn't stop the Knight. What it did do was delay him a crucial second, long enough for Sachi's sword to impale him from behind.

As he abruptly shattered, a head sailed through the space he'd just occupied. A quick glanced showed the farthest Echo Knight collapsing, Philia's Swordbreaker having just sawed through his neck.

Since Sachi had apparently taken out the incapacitated one somewhere in all the fuss, that left the poisoner. Before Asuna could try and get back into the fight, Rain had snatched up her dropped sword, brought it back to charge, and ripped the numeral four of a Savage Fulcrum into his chest.

The poisoner dropped to his knees, spraying red particles. "Damn you, Swordmasters…" he wheezed. "But you're… too late…. You won't stop… the Golems of Gabirol…."

With the telltale sound of shattering glass, he exploded into azure polygons. As suddenly as the fight had started, it was over.

Seeing with no small relief that her poisoned status had vanished, Asuna quickly chased the antidote down with a healing potion. "Okay," she said, when she'd swallowed the last of it. "That was… different. And way stronger than anything on the Fifth Floor should've been. It's a good thing this was an instanced map, or who knows what might've happened to anyone who stumbled in here."

"Yeah," Sachi agreed quietly, tossing back her cloak. "I haven't seen anything like this in awhile, not even when the Echo was involved. What was all this about, anyway?"

"Not treasure, I can tell you that," Philia said glumly. With the fight over, her eyes were glowing green as she looked over the inactive golem on the throne. "I'm not even finding a key item here."

"You probably won't." Rain picked up one of the swords she'd thrown earlier, shadows in her eyes. "I don't know what the Echo is up to, but…." She stalked over to another fallen blade, snatched it up, and tucked it back into her inventory. "I remember the Golems of Gabirol."

"You do?" Asuna thought back, digging through all the quests she could remember doing, or even hearing about. "…I don't think I've ever even heard of them. At least, I've never done a quest about them."

"I'm not surprised." Rain grimaced, turning to look up at the heartless golem. "For one thing, it takes five key items even to start—and it takes a full day for each one. And that's the easy part…."

October 28th, 2024

"Six days," Philia said, in the voice of someone who just wanted to go back to bed already. "We lost one day just gathering the mats for these stupid crystals, and then five getting them ready. Please tell me the loot from this is worth it."

Rain, sliding another crystal into its slot in the door, couldn't really blame the treasure hunter. The crystals for the Golems of Gabirol quest required materials with a low drop rate, and then had to be forged together by a Dark Elf hermit on the Eighth Floor. If it hadn't been all four of them working together, she was pretty sure it would've taken at least an extra day.

Then they'd had to charge them with direct sunlight, using charmed pedestals on the Sixteenth Floor that could only hold one crystal at a time. Worse, with the way Aincrad was built, they had to start the day on the floor's eastern edge, and finish up in the evening on the west. By the time they'd finished preparing the final crystal, it'd been way too late in the day to head for the dungeon.

"You, wondering if loot is actually worth it?" Asuna shook her head, chestnut hair waving as her wry voice echoed off the tunnel walls. "Philia, are you okay?"

Deep within a maze of catacombs on the Eighteenth Floor, a huge door blocked off the end of one tunnel. The only clue to opening it was the set of five slots, shaped like they were meant to hold oversized Teleport Crystals. Most players probably never had found the quest that led to the other side.

We only did 'cause a couple of us stumbled on clues on two different floors, and just happened to meet in that bar that one time. …Bet the others wish we never had.

"Asuna," Philia said with exaggerated patience, leaning against one wall of the tunnel, "I'm all for good treasure. Rare treasure is even better. But in a week, I could've made a hundred K Cor on easier quests. Probably two hundred. I know we're here 'cause of the Echo, but if there's not really great loot on the other side of that stupid door, I'm gonna be mad."

"The bigger quests usually do," Sachi pointed out. Her voice was steady, but Rain couldn't help noticing her outline was wavering, her cloak almost completely covering her. Not to mention she kept glancing at her sword, as if checking for a blue glow. "Kayaba's… usually… fair about this."

Yeah. Usually.

With a sigh, Rain set the last crystal into place. There was a sharp click, and then all five lit up with a golden glow. In the center of the door, an equally golden pattern started to trace itself into existence. "That's what we thought, too," she said quietly, remembering the last time she'd seen the pattern come to life. "Last April, we figured there just had be something great, after how much of a chore it was getting all this stuff."

"So… you have been here before, then." Asuna hesitated, then visibly steeled herself. The Vice-Commander in her, Rain figured. "Rain. I know you haven't wanted to talk about this, but…."

"I know. Can't put it off forever. And it's not really that bad. …Compared to what other people have been through, anyway." Rain turned away from the door, casually shoving her hands into her long coat's pockets with a forced smile. "Short version. A group of twelve players, including yours truly, met in a bar one day on the Nineteenth Floor. We got to talking—y'know, the usual chitchat—and after a bit realized some weird things one or another of us had run into were part of the same thing. Stuff that didn't mean anything by itself, scattered over three or four different floors."

"Oh, I hate those." Philia made a face. "That's why I always buy info off Argo, if something's too confusing. Just not worth it, even for really good loot."

"Well, this wasn't even enough to ask her about, until we put it together ourselves. You know the Rat doesn't deal in rumors." Rain gave Argo that much. She was a pain, but she was an honest pain. "Anyway, we put it all together, and figured this might be our big chance. We were all behind the curve on levels and gear, so a boring quest with a big payoff was a good chance. And no," she added wryly, "it wasn't any easier with twelve people. The quest didn't allow parties to team up for the key items. We just figured we'd try teaming up when the door finally opened."

That had been her first experience with something resembling a raid, now that she thought about it. At least I got something good out of it. I don't want to think about how bad Vemacitrin would've been if I'd gone in completely blind.

From the looks the other girls were giving her, they'd figured out things hadn't exactly gone as planned. "So… teaming up didn't work out?" Sachi asked, when the silence had run a bit long.

"Oh, it did," Rain told her. The light behind her flared, bright enough she'd have been half-blinded if she'd been looking, and there was a loud snap of a lock opening. "The system didn't have a problem with two parties linking up for the fight. …Too bad the quest thought it through better than we did."

The golden glow faded, and the door split in half. With a groan, the two pieces ponderously slid into the tunnel walls, revealing the larger chamber beyond.

"A sword can take you anywhere you want to go, in Aincrad," Rain said, squinting against the light coming through the opening doors. "But you really do have to have the talent for it. Levels, gear, guts… you need those, sure. Even then, though, you gotta have that spark with a sword. If you don't, you hit a wall you can't get through."

The inside was just like she remembered. Looking like a steampunk warehouse, the first ten meters or so was just open space, with a bare rock floor. Beyond that—rows and rows of what at first glance looked to be suits of black armor, set in metal racks. Bulky arms and legs, with thinner joints to allow movement, and sharply sloped "helmets", gave away the fact that no human could fit inside them.

"Okay…." Philia said slowly, craning her neck to peer uneasily at the suits. "I don't think I like the looks of those."

"Me, either." Sachi shivered, one hand toying with the hood of her cloak. "They're not Fallen Elf, but… they're close. Like they had a hand in making them, at least."

"The Golems of Gabirol." Rain slowly stepped into the warehouse, fingers resting on the hilt of her sword. "Back then, I didn't really know what they were. I checked my Chronicle the other night, though. Turns out they were supposed to be a human weapon, made to counter the elf kingdoms just before the Great Separation."

Asuna hummed thoughtfully, following her in. "That reminds me of the golem Field Boss on the Fifth Floor. I'm guessing that's not a coincidence."

"Not according to the Chronicle. Didn't really work out, though the book doesn't say why." Rain closed her eyes, remembering the last time she'd been in that room. "You wouldn't know it from how they did against us. They came at us five at a time, and they've got really high defense. It took us half an hour to kill the first five."

Not to mention trashed a lot of their gear. If they hadn't had spares, the raid would've ended right then. It probably should've.

"After all that, we figured it had to be the end of it." She grimaced. "Then the next five woke up. We should've just run then, but I think we were all just angry by then." She glanced back over her shoulder. "You can probably guess how that turned out."

Sachi swallowed, eyes shadowed. Rain had a pretty good idea what the red-armored girl was thinking. "…How many died?"

"Just one, believe it or not. After that… we all just ran." Rain shrugged, trying to push back the worst of the memories. "I haven't seen any of the others from the raid since; I don't think they stopped running 'til they hit the First Floor."

"You didn't," Asuna pointed out.

"I did well enough in the fight that I figured we'd missed something. And after seeing how the others handled everything… well, that's pretty much when I decided I had to keep going." She shifted uncomfortably. "Most players just don't have what it takes to even try and clear the game. I do, so I figure I have a responsibility. Somebody's gotta be the hero, right?"

Saying right out, even Rain had to admit it sounded corny. But that didn't make her wrong. If anything, the time she'd spent on the frontlines had just convinced her she was right. The Flash, the Paladin, the Black Swordsman and his Dark Elf partner—they were the heroes she believed Aincrad needed, if it was ever going to be cleared. And if she didn't measure up to that standard herself, she'd still darn well try.

I'm still alive. I must be doing something right.

At least the way Asuna and Sachi were nodding made Rain feel a little less silly. Philia, though—

"Um, Rain?" the treasure hunter began, looking past her with an uneasy frown. "Did you keep the quest going after that, or something?"

"No, I dropped it as soon as I was back in town. I wanted to keep going, but I figured this was a lost cause." Hairs starting to prickle on the back of her neck, Rain started to turn back to the inactive golems. "Why?"

"'Cause it looks like there should be a lot more of those things here."

With a start, she realized the blonde was right. There were gaps in the ranks of golems. Big ones. "…Even if this were the state I'd left this place in," she said slowly, "there's way too many missing. What the…?"

With startling suddenness, a light flared into life high above the golems, at the far end of the chamber. At the same time, a mocking laugh rang out. "Hah! Foolish Swordmasters—it's just as my brethren said!"

The armor was starting to get way too familiar. At this point, Rain wasn't even surprised to see the Echo Knight, standing on a platform overlooking the golems. If anything, she was surprised he hadn't shown himself earlier, the way the quest had been going.

"A week it took you to get here," the Echo Knight called out, deep voice echoing menacingly off the walls. "A week you could've been chasing my brethren, if you'd only bothered to look. Instead you've wasted your time, and fallen right into my trap!"

"Cliché bad guy dialogue, check," Philia muttered, drawing her Swordbreaker. "Edgy Fallen Elf armor, check. So, next would be—"

"We've already begun moving the Golems of Gabirol, advancing the plan," the Knight continued; he was too far away to see clearly, but the smirk was obvious in his voice. "You cannot stop us now. But! I will have vengeance for the brothers you've killed. A mere tithe of these Golems will deal with you easily!"

He held high an item that looked suspiciously like it would've fit in the chest of the golem boss from the Fifth Floor. It flared with an eerie, purplish light—and with a shout, he slammed it against the pedestal mounted on his platform.

"Now, Swordmasters!" he shouted, as red light suddenly flared from the golems' eyes. "So long as I stand, the Golems of Gabirol will keep coming for you! It matters not if you kill a few. You cannot stop them all before they kill you!"

Five golems stepped down from their storage racks. At the same time, steel rang as three more swords swept out to join Philia's. They took another step, and Sachi yanked her hood up, vanishing from sight.

The three girls still visible exchanged a quick look, and a quicker nod, and Rain bared her teeth. "Not this time!" she snarled. "This time—you lose!"

Even as the five golems drew obsidian two-handed swords and advanced toward her party, Asuna couldn't say she was worried. A little concerned, maybe, and definitely not happy. Especially after Rain's tale of just how implacable the things were. But worried?

I am Vice-Commander Asuna. We came here from a raid that killed the Seventy-Fourth Floor Boss with twenty people. We're not going to lose to a quest on the Eighteenth Floor!

Rain and Philia opened the fight by meeting the golems halfway, twin Sonic Leaps carrying them across the warehouse floor in an instant. Asuna chose her own tried-and-true Linear, putting her considerable AGI into rushing forward faster than the System Assist alone ever could. Her legs blurred, Lambent Light's tip blazing in a straight line toward the center golem's forehead.

The ear-piercing screech when three blades struck and careened off the golems' armor set her teeth on edge. It also nearly cost her a good chunk of HP; though the three that were hit did recoil—however little damage was inflicted—that still left two of them free to act. One of them took the moment she was recovering to swing an Avalanche straight down at her head.

It stumbled at the last instant, a Slant screaming off the back of its legs. Sachi flickered into view for an instant, glowing sword cutting a shallow crimson line across the golem's calves. Then she was gone again, ducking back under cover as the fifth golem swung around to face her.

That's a start! Now, gotta figure out their patterns….

The other girls had recovered a bit quicker, not having been attacked by the extras. Rain took advantage of that to slip past her original target and drop a Vertical on Sachi's would-be attacker, staggering it, while Philia kept up the pressure on hers with the inverted triangle of a Sharp Nail. That still left Rain's first free, though, and only the wide space that had opened up between kept them from being blown away by a spinning Cyclone.

Asuna winced, seeing it still clip their flanks and stagger them, but kept her eyes on her own foe. Okay, we're not doing nearly as much damage as we should be, with the level and gear advantage we've got. So there's a trick to this quest. Eyes narrowing, she darted back in, sidestepped a falling Cascade, and with a shout thrust her rapier into the left side of its chest. Weak points?

Ignoring the latest screech of metal-on-metal, she drove another stab in, more to the golem's right. Drawing back in a flash, one more piercing blow took it right in the forehead, the Triangular forcing it to stumble back.

She hissed as the "extra" golem slipped past her guard while she was caught in the post-motion, and carved a slice out of her left flank with an unassisted slash. A quick glance told her she'd only lost about two percent of her HP from the hit, though, so she paid it no heed; instead, as Sachi again appeared to deliver payback, she skipped back a step to take stock.

Heavy defense, at least in the chest, face, and limbs. Okay, let's try getting around behind. They can't be armored everywhere, right?

"Girls! Keep them busy for a second, okay?"

"You got it!" Barring her teeth, Rain brought her sword in close, blade glowing crimson as she prepared a skill. "Philia, Sachi, we're gonna focus on just one in a second! Get ready!"

A chorus of assent, and then the redhead whipped her sword out in the undulating circle of a Serration Wave. A weak attack, probably knocking off less than a hundred HP from the high-defense golems, it was still enough to shove them back. Heavy as they were, it also tangled them with each other. Two of them outright toppled over in a heap, while two others bounced and stumbled away.

One of those became the next target. Rain charged in from the left, slashing left to right and back in a Horizontal Arc; Philia hit it from the right, carving the "V" of a Vertical Arc. Right in front, several meters back, Sachi's cloak blew back, just as her sword speared forward. Crimson light lanced out, tripling her reach, and her Vorpal Strike struck the golem's chest dead-center.

The golem was blasted backward, a good quarter of its HP gone from the combined assault. It slammed back into the golem it had just bounced off of, taking them both to the floor.

That left one still standing. Asuna had a feeling they wouldn't be down as long as they should, but it would be long enough. Bracing herself, she charged forward. The golem brought its sword back, preparing to meet her with the back-and-forth slashes of a Cataract—too soon even for her to reach it, cutting across her path, right where she was going to be in a split second—

Asuna jumped, STR and AGI carrying her clear over its head and well above the plane of its Sword Skill. She had the satisfaction of hearing the Echo Knight curse along the way.

Twisting in the air, she landed right behind it. Knowing she only had moments before it reacted—or before one of its fellows did something unexpected—she just took the time for a very quick glance over its body, and swung Lambent Light up and across in a Streak.

A simple skill. One of the first a Rapier user learned. And one of the very few Rapier skills that wasn't a thrust, and so one of the few that hit more than a single point. It screeched from the lower left of the golem's back up and to the right, crossing its shoulder.

Okay, that's something—!

"Did you really think it would be that easy, Swordmaster?!"

That was the only warning Asuna had, before the golem suddenly pivoted, swinging around in a Back Rush that spun its heavy blade right into her stomach. This time it was her turn to be thrown back, careening toward the racks of inactive golems.

…Did the back of its head say "EMET"…?

The one good thing about being flung so far was that it bought Asuna some distance. It also slammed her uncomfortably into an inactive golem—which she was sure would've really hurt if SAO had pain simulation—and knocked off a few more HP just from the impact, but she could live with that. She was far enough away from the fighting, then, to pick herself up, pull out a healing potion, and think.

That Streak did more damage than a Linear, she mused, chugging down the potion and watching her friends dance around the golems. Hard to see, but from the look of it—yes, just like that! Rain had just scored another hit, a Vertical Arc that crossed a golem's waist; that one finally collapsed to its knees, there was a brief flare from the back of its head, and then it shattered into a thousand azure shards.

"Not enough, Swordmasters!" the Echo Knight shouted from above. "Kill one, kill two—kill even five! There's still more than enough here to outlast you!"

Oh, shut up already!

Whatever. One theory confirmed, and more weight to the other. That kind of mythology was more her old partner's area than hers, but Asuna still knew a thing or two. Now she had a plan. Even if it wasn't perfect—it didn't solve the problem of sheer numbers—it was still more than Rain's old party had had.

The others were just then wearing down another of the golems, while dodging around the other three. They'd all taken a few hits here and there, but not enough to be too dangerous, and Asuna's own potion had just done the trick. Okay. Let's do this!

She tossed aside the empty bottle, readied Lambent Light, and grinned fiercely. "Okay, girls!" she called out, bracing herself, drawing back her rapier. "Here's the plan! Sachi, try and get behind them, and hit the first 'E' on the back of their heads! Philia, go for the joints; your Swordbreaker should be perfect! And Rain, help them when you can, but try and find what's keeping them running—your Throwing should reach the Knight's platform!"

Three quick acknowledgments—and then, from Philia, "Why the 'E'?"

A blinding flare lit up around Lambent Light, and Asuna charged into motion. "Because they're golems!"

There was something really weird, Sachi thought, about the team's rapier user being the one to attack with brute force, right after spelling out the golems' weak spots. She couldn't deny, though, that Asuna's Flashing Penetrator hit like a truck, smashing into the golem they'd been fighting into a wall hard enough to shatter it to pieces. Too bad there isn't room to try that again!

Disappearing under her cloak, though, she realized Asuna's plan meant it shouldn't be necessary. If the joints were as much weaker as the brunette suggested, Philia's Swordbreaker would give them a serious edge. If Rain could find what activated them in the first place, they could stop the battle in its tracks.

And I think I understand what Asuna wants me to do.

From the look of things, the Golems of Gabirol weren't the kind of mob that could sniff or sense past her cloak's invisibility. That left her free to slip right around past two of the remaining enemies—just as Philia ripped the back of her Swordbreaker across one elbow, producing a hideous screech and an encouraging spray of sparks—and focus on the third. Or rather, to dart around behind it, too, and pick her target.

No point in using a multi-hit skill, if Asuna was right. She wasn't going to hit the same exact spot twice, so it was better to just use the quickest, hardest single-hit move she could. It's not quite slow enough for a Vorpal Strike, so—let's try this!

A simple Uppercut, one of the most basic One-Handed Sword Skills there was. It caught the golem just as it was trying to bring an Avalanche down on Rain, arcing up its back, and carving straight through the first letter inscribed on its head. That brought out a completely different sound—almost like the gong of a bell—and a bright flash.

It also got the golem's attention, and its sudden Back Rush almost blew Sachi across the room. She quickly sidestepped to the left, "only" taking a hit to the flank that spun her around instead. But she kept her footing, and most of her HP, and the golem's post-motion gave her a chance to yank her cloak back up and vanish.

Taking a couple of quick steps back while the golem flailed in confusion, Sachi couldn't help a quick smile at the way the golem Philia was attacking suddenly lost its right arm, completely severed by the treasure hunter's Swordbreaker. The sudden change in its balance made it stumble, giving Asuna a perfect opportunity to drive a Linear into its throat.

When the fencer pirouetted away, it was to let a flung sword replace the rapier. Chiming with the sound of a true critical, Rain's attack was enough to finish the armored automaton, and it burst in polygons.

That left just two of the first wave. Sachi left the other girls to one of them, while she maneuvered back behind her target, and finally got a good look at her own handiwork.

The "E" wasn't quite gone. But it was scarred deeply, half-erased in a way she'd never seen on a mob's model before. Which meant Asuna was right, and which meant Sachi knew exactly what to do next.

The golem—showing a predictability that now made a lot more sense—was trying for yet another Avalanche, aiming to catch Philia in the back. Before it could ever get that far, Sachi launched herself at it, a Sonic Leap carrying her the short distance to hit the same spot again.

Her sword carved a sharp red gash down. There was another bright flash, and another deep ringing. This time, though, the golem didn't even try to attack again, because the "E" had been scratched right off. The back of its head now simply said "MET", and it collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.

As it, too, broke apart, she let out a satisfied sigh and jumped away. Hebrew, isn't it? Sachi thought, pulling out a potion while the others ganged up on the remaining golem. "EMET" for "truth". Erase the first letter, it becomes "MET"… for "dead".

Sometimes Kayaba's attention to detail was a nightmare. Sometimes it saved the day.

Letting the potion do its thing, Sachi allowed herself the time to just rest. Who knew how much longer the battle would take, after all—even if the other girls were switching out so quickly and smoothly that the remaining golem from the first wave wasn't even getting in a token slash. From what Rain had said about the last time she'd tried this quest….

It wasn't long before the golem succumbed to the onslaught, exploding without Sachi having to lend even a single skill. There wasn't even a pause, though, before an irritated growl came from above. "I should've expected no less from the so-called 'heroes' of Aincrad," the Echo Knight ground out. "But how long can you last? Come, Golems! Destroy the false saviors!"

A year before, Sachi would've been terrified at the thought of just how long the battle looked to drag on. There were so many golems—like the five just then stepping down from their racks—that they'd surely outlast her party's supplies. Now… now, she had faith. That she could survive. That her friends would survive. And that somehow, one of them would find—

"Not. This. Time!"

A sword streaked up. There was a thunk.

Rain glared up at the Echo Knight, who now had one of her swords stuck in his chest. I should've thought of that before. He was collapsing to his knees, and the golems were hesitating. From the look of it, his defense wasn't nearly high enough to deal with a thrown sword from a Level 90 clearer; in just a few seconds, he'd be another dead mob. No wonder we couldn't beat this quest last year. This time, though… this time I get the last laugh.

Of course, that was when the dying Echo Knight let out a weak, burbling laugh. "Foolish Swordmasters… you think… killing me… will save you…?"

"Oh, now what?" Philia groaned, glancing between the Knight and the still-hesitating golems. "Why can't we get a simple quest for once?"

"Reap… what you sow… Swordmasters." The Echo Knight slumped, flat on his face. "By killing me… you've only doomed yourselves… and my brethren… will carry on…."

He shattered then—and every Golem of Gabirol in the room lit up at once. With a resounding thunk, every single one stepped down from their racks. With steady precision, they began to march around and forward, heading to swarm the players.

"…That's not good," Asuna got out, voice a strangely detached calm.

"It's not fair," Rain got out, gritting her teeth. "And I don't believe Kayaba would do this. There's gotta be another trick…!" Summoning up a fresh sword, she looked up to where the Echo Knight had been, frantically searching for something else to attack, while the others got ready to fend off the closest wave of golems.

Nothing on the platform, it doesn't look he dropped whatever item he used to activate the things, where, where, where… wait!

Just at the upper edge of her vision, she spotted something strange. Craning her neck a little more, she saw it: letters, written on the warehouse ceiling. Letters she'd just gotten a lesson on. Baring her teeth in a snarl, she pulled back her arm, and threw.

One sword wasn't enough to erase the huge "E" on the ceiling. Nor two, or even three. So Rain kept on pulling out swords, throwing them straight up, cycling through every one she had in a blur of flying steel. Sword after sword, going clear back to her old Anneal Blade, until only the word "MET" was left.

With a deafening gong, every Golem of Gabirol halted in place. Slowly collapsed. Shattered as one, in a single blinding flash of blue.

A quest completion notification popped up in Rain's vision, and she didn't even care. She didn't even care to pay attention to the parchment that wafted out of the fading light, caught by Asuna's lightning reflexes. All she cared about was that it was done.

I did it. I cleared that quest. The one that started everything. …I can't bring him back, and I can't get the old gang moving. But I did it…!

She wasn't the only one to sink to her knees after that. In a second, they were all on the floor, suddenly too tired to stand. "Okay," Philia said, with a long, heavy sigh. "I don't want to take on another Sahasra quest. Like, ever. Did we get anything out of that?"

Sachi wearily pulled up her menu. "A nice chunk of Cor, looks like. Some mats I've never seen before. And whatever that note Asuna got is. …Does anyone care right now?"

"No," Asuna said firmly, tucking away the note. "Not tonight. Tonight, I say we get some rest. …We should show those mats to Liz; she's been talking about needing new stuff for demon-class weapons. And," she added, brightening suddenly, "last month she said something to me about a sauna. I never had the time to look into it, but maybe we should ask her now…?"

"That," Rain said, as firmly as fatigue allowed, "is the best idea I've heard in weeks."

Asuna couldn't remember having been to the town of Erumo, on the Fifty-Fourth Floor, before. She supposed she'd likely passed through it briefly, but as focused as she would've been on the clearing at the time, she wouldn't have had reason to hang around it very long. After all, its main attraction had basically nothing to do with conquering the Steel Castle, and it had no quests of any note attached to it.

A small town on the floor's southern edge—more of a tiny village, really—Erumo consisted of just a handful of wood buildings, with a steaming pond in the middle. Or rather, the most visible part of the village's hot springs. Erumo had one thing going for it, and that was its baths.

Indoor, outdoor, regular, hot spring… the village had it all. The four weary Swordmasters chose the attraction at the farthest end of Erumo, away from the more popular hot springs, and were soon steaming away their troubles in a wooden room all to themselves. No monsters, no crazy gimmicks, and no sages.

Shut behind a door only system-registered friends could unlock, they could finally, finally relax.

"Haah," Asuna breathed out, stretching gratefully as she leaned back on one of the benches. Happy to be free of armor and stuffy KoB uniform both, it was a struggle to not fall asleep then and there. "I really must've been too wound up, when the clearing came through this floor. Can't believe I didn't know about a village full of baths…."

"A real hidden treasure," Philia agreed. Looking just as happy to be unequipped—not that Asuna thought there was much of a difference, given what the treasure hunter preferred when she was dressed—she yawned and sprawled face-down across an entire bench to herself. "And to think a blacksmith beat me to finding it."

"Lisbeth doesn't spend all her time grinding," Sachi pointed out. Eyes mostly closed, Fuurinkazan's first girl looked like she was going to fall asleep there. "She's probably got more time to find these things than we do. …I should tell the guys about this place sometime. Klein would love it here…."

He probably would, at that. Asuna didn't know the self-styled samurai that well, but she did know he took the persona seriously. A sauna would've been right up his alley.

And if I've got the time before I have to go back to the guild, I'm going to try every bath they've got here. Kirito-kun is right, I've really been too caught up in raids and mapping. …Should drag Kizmel here, too, she likes a good bath as much as I do.

Drawing in a warm breath, Asuna stifled a yawn. "So," she asked drowsily. "Did we actually get anything out of that quest, or did we just run around for a week chasing shadows for nothing?"

"We learned we shouldn't take a Sahasra quest," Philia groused, trailing her hand on the floor and idly drawing random patterns. "Seriously, I can't think of a single quest from that guy that hasn't turned into a pain, with practically no treasure."

"We did get some more hints about the Echo," Rain put in. The redhead was curled up next to Sachi, a distant look in her eyes. "It's starting to look like they're up to something big. This might be the biggest quest since the Elf War."

"…You may be right." Asuna thought back to that massive quest, which had taken her from the Third Floor clear to the Ninth, nearly killing her and her friends more than once in the process. Not to mention being used to try and break the whole clearing effort. PoH was crazy… and still out there somewhere. Brr.

She was grateful when Sachi cracked open one eye—looking for all the world like the cat her old guild had been named for—and contributed her own thoughts. "Serious stuff aside," the former Black Cat said, with a tired smile, "I think… it was fun. After pushing ahead on the frontlines for so long, it was kinda nice to just do a mid-level quest for once. Even if it was frustrating sometimes, it wasn't scary. That was refreshing."

"You got me there." Philia chuckled. "This was more like a regular game than anything I've seen in months." She turned her head enough to smirk at Sachi, before turning the expression on Asuna. "And hey, you two run with guilds full of guys all the time. Must've been nice to have a girls'-only quest for once, huh?"

Blinking, Asuna had to grant the point. Fuurinkazan was all-male aside from Sachi and the still-skittish Lux, and now that she thought about it the Knights of the Blood didn't have any other girls either. At least, not in the upper ranks… okay, if I'm not even sure about the rest of the guild, I really need to get my head out of the field for a bit….

So yeah. Philia definitely had a point there. One Asuna would've been happier to acknowledge, if she hadn't had the sudden conviction the treasure hunter had just tempted Fate, and Fate was laughing—

Click.

"Catch ya later, Kii-bou! Love ta stay, but ya know how it is—if Aa-chan an' the girls really did find somethin' new, I gotta chase it down!"

As the changing room door thumped closed behind Argo the Rat, Kirito couldn't help shaking his head. "I guess I should be glad she's not sticking around," he mused. "I've got the weirdest feeling she'd have gotten serious blackmail material if she had."

"Yes, I did get the sense she was up to something." When he turned to face her, he wasn't surprised to find Kizmel had already banished her clothing, and with Argo gone hadn't bothered with a towel. "Still," the elf girl added, padding over to the door leading into the sauna proper, "I can't complain that she pointed us here. This 'sauna' intrigues me; not something my people have."

"It's a first for me, too," Kirito admitted, unequipping his own gear and following her. "It's honestly not the sort of thing I would've thought to try, before Aincrad."

Come to think of it, most of the baths he'd tried in Aincrad were new to him. From the giant one in Yofel Castle, to Castle Galey's hot springs; and of course, he couldn't forget the one from just after Fifty-Seventh Floor's zombies. Chocolate, of all things, with….

Kizmel opened the door, and his musings came to a very abrupt end.

"Oh," the elf girl remarked casually. "Now I see why Argo was so amused."

Kirito found himself staring, frozen stiff. As much as he'd gotten used to Kizmel's habits, it was still a shock to come face to face with Asuna, Rain, Philia, and Sachi. In a sauna. Stark naked. And clearly just as stunned to see him.

For a small eternity, all he could do was stare. They stared right back at him, wide-eyed. Then Kizmel chuckled, breaking the silence, and the frozen tableau with it. Sachi let out a high-pitched "Eep!", curling in on herself; Rain's hand scrambled around, like she was reaching for a towel that wasn't there—

Kirito finally snapped out of it himself, hurriedly turning away. "Sorry!" he blurted, backing up. "I didn't know, this was Argo's idea, I'll just be—"

"Oh, forget it!"

Asuna's exasperated interruption involuntarily dragged his eyes back to the indecent scene, to find his old partner rolling her eyes. To his shock, she wasn't even trying to cover herself; just rubbing her forehead with one hand, as if kneading a headache.

"Honestly, I don't even care anymore," the fencer said with a sigh. "Why should we?" she added, when the other girls turned surprised looks on her. "Come on! We all know Kirito-kun isn't going to try anything. And after everything we've been through together… honestly, we really should be able to trust each other like this. Shouldn't we?"

Kirito couldn't quite believe his ears, but Sachi was already slowly nodding. "I guess you've got a point," she said quietly, timidly uncurling. "I mean, after everything else that's happened in SAO… I guess this isn't so bad?"

Having started to roll upright—ironically letting him see more than when the door had opened—Philia relaxed back on her bench. "Yeah… this is okay," the treasure hunter mused. "Weird, but… okay." She flashed a smirk, only slightly marred by a blush Kirito was pretty sure wasn't just because of the sauna's heat. "If it's just us, I could maybe get to like it."

"…If it's just us," Rain said, very slowly. She was blushing more than any of them, but as she slowly relaxed, she offered a smile of her own. "Yeah… it's okay, if it's Kirito."

"Finally." Shaking her head, Kizmel pulled Kirito into the sauna, practically dragging him to a bench. "How long have I been trying to tell all of you that this shouldn't matter, between friends? We trust each other with our lives every day. Why in the world should any of you be concerned by a little skin?"

Finding himself unexpectedly sitting right between Kizmel and Asuna, Kirito could barely comprehend what was happening. The dusky elf was clearly unconcerned by what anyone saw of her—or, he realized with a sudden, flaming blush, him—and didn't hesitate to lean against him, always warm skin almost burning in the sauna. Across from them, Rain and Sachi were blushing, but already starting to relax. On her own bench, Philia barely even seemed to care, just smirking at the whole thing, chin propped on her hand.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised about her, she's already practically the only girl in Aincrad who wears "classic" fantasy armor. But Sachi, and Rain—?

When he turned to look at Asuna, sitting close enough she was almost touching him herself, he got an eye-roll in return. "Don't stare too much," his old partner warned him, blushing almost as much as Rain or Sachi. "But… Kizmel's right. And," she added, turning a wry smile on the other girls, "now you all know why I figured Kirito-kun had already seen you like this before. These things happen around him."

Yeah, they did. This was still the first time anyone but Kizmel had just let it happen. If Kirito hadn't known better, he would've thought he'd been hit with some kind of hallucinatory status effect. He didn't know of any in Aincrad that could mess with the senses this badly, but it still would've made more sense to him.

Yet somehow… he felt warm. Warm in a way he didn't understand, but was already letting him just lean back and soak in the steam.

While he was trying to figure that out—and trying to figure out where to look; Kizmel would've seemed safest, except her smug smile scared him—Kirito awkwardly cleared his throat. "So, uh… you girls get anything interesting? In whatever quest you've been running?"

"Define 'interesting'," Asuna said wryly, crossing her arms. "I hear there's a Chinese proverb that fits pretty well."

"A trip down memory lane," Philia put in, rolling her eyes and kicking her feet. "With too many hairpin turns."

"…Closure," Sachi said softly, drawing her knees up to her chin.

"Yeah," Rain murmured. Looking at—yet somehow, he thought, through—Kirito, she'd already seemingly forgotten about the awkward situation. "Closure sounds about right. That… was a long time coming."

"Closure," Asuna repeated thoughtfully. "Huh. Closure, and memories… that fits pretty well."

Huh. Kirito wanted to ask just what, exactly, the girls had been doing, while he and Kizmel had enjoyed their long-delayed honeymoon. But somehow, he had the feeling it wasn't the right time. So long away from the frontlines seemed to have been good for all of them, and right then he'd just accept that.

He almost jumped, though, when Asuna's bare shoulder suddenly nudged his. "Hey, Kirito-kun," she said, turning a sleepy smile on him. "I guess this time you were the only one who didn't have something crazy happen. Jealous?"

No. Just wondering if you've lost your mind… is the sauna giving us all heat delirium, or something?

Before Kirito could even try to respond, Philia rolled onto her side, giving him a view he wasn't quite ready for and a catlike smile. "Yeah, sure, like he's got anything to be jealous about…. Hey, Kirito, if you found any good loot while you an' Kizmel were off alone, I'm gonna be jealous!"

"We hardly even went into the field, Philia," he told her, focusing firmly on her eyes. "Mostly we've just been trying to bleed off some of the stress."

Only after he spoke—and Kizmel gave a low, throaty chuckle—did he realize how else that might be taken. Fortunately for him, and probably everyone else, Asuna spoke up again before anyone could read too much into it.

"Well," she said, leaning a little more of her weight against Kirito's shoulder, "we had a 'girls' night out' for over a week now. There's still time before I have to go back to the KoB, so… how about we all find some nice, easy quest to on tomorrow? All six of us?"

That seemed to get everyone's attention, and while the girls turned to figuring out where they should all go next, Kirito found himself finally relaxing. Smiling, even, as he leaned back against the wall, Kizmel casually leaned into him, and Asuna gradually slouched against his other side.

They trust me, he realized, looking from one girl to another with a wonder that had little to do with their state of undress. They all… trust me. They trust me to see them like this, even. And I… trust that. …I've never felt like this before.

Letting his arm slide around Kizmel's waist, his other hand tentatively brushing his old partner's, Kirito breathed in the steam, and breathed out years of fear.

I'm home.

Author's Note:

2021 is like 2020, only drunk and on every psychoactive chemical you care to name, plus fever delirium. I won't go into the full details of the delay; suffice to say health problems and writer's block are a bad combination before tossing in external factors.

Anyway. Back, and I hope the extra-long word count is compensation for the extra-long delay, and not a detriment to the chapter. For what it's worth, the writer's block was mostly due to the usual "breather chapters fight me" issues; a lot of this was written by the seat of my pants. Can't promise the next couple of chapters won't be delayed by the Demon Murphy, but I can say I have a much better idea of what's supposed to happen in them.

Which, BTW, is part of why this chapter ended the way it did. I'll freely admit the amount of fan service was partly because I couldn't resist making a joke on the chapter number ("30" in Roman numerals being "XXX"…), but I also had a genuine plot reason for it. Believe it or not, this was important, as will be seen in the very next chapter.

And no, still not a harem fic. The point here was "trust", not romance. I don't think I'll bother giving that disclaimer after this, since if this event is platonic, nothing else should be mistaken for harem antics.

I suspect the quest feels cobbled together, and I do apologize for that. My main intention here was to explore the characters, with the quest being something of an afterthought; I did try to smooth it out, and it is not simply filler, but between the main focus and the exigencies of the chapter being written over the course of several months, I expect it's a tad rough.

Two specific notes about the conclusion of the quest, just so nobody thinks I didn't do at least cursory research. First, I realize the word on the golems should have slightly different spelling; I went with plain Latin alphabet because I was afraid FFnet's document manager would glitch out on me if I used special characters (a chapter of Oath of Rebellion had that problem, and it took me hours to debug the result). Second, I'm aware "EMET" should technically be on the forehead, not the back of the head; the change was for in-universe game balance reasons. Would've been too easy if Asuna could just Linear the first letter right off, yeah?

Oh, yes. I realize there's not much of the main couple in this (though I hope quality made up for relative lack of quantity), but I can promise the following chapters will make up for it. Kirito and Kizmel are going to be front-and-center in what's coming, of a certainty.

I think that about covers everything. At least it's everything I can remember, after taking months to put this together. I hope it managed to be at least somewhat worth the wait—and I hope you enjoyed the breather, 'cause we're about to head into the Skullreaper. Buckle up, comrades, and I'll see you next time. -Solid