Kirito
"So...what do we do n...," Kirito started but stopped just as suddenly. After Argo departed, so did Mito, claiming the last two of the previous three nights still had worn her out, and a nap was due. That leaves Koharu, Jaymes, Kirito, and Asuna alone at the restaurant for the first time in two days. The previous conversation (Kirito and Jaymes being exempt from the Christmas party the DKB and ALS are hosting, while Koharu and Asuna were invited) has left an awkward space between the group's four original members, one Kirito single-handedly. "Er, I mean...if you want to go, I'm not going to hold either of you back. I mean...if you got formally invited to the Christmas send-off party and you're refusing because of us, you don't need to-"
"Oh, that?" Asuna snorts in response. "No, don't bother yourself. I had no intention of going from the start. I'm not the one for flashy parties."
Jaymes snorts after that. "I think we agree for the third time, Asuna. Besides, those two guilds grind my gears. But you can still go, Koharu."
Koharu shakes her head, clearly upset. "I'd be honest, if Asuna were going, maybe I'd go too, but...it's unfair that both of you didn't get invited despite doing almost more than both guilds combined for the front. Hell, the four of us are majorly the reason we've survived without a casualty so far!"
"Okay, Koharu, someone's a little out of character. It's not that deep... Actually, it is. Kirito, how about we go invite ourselves to the party?"
"Maybe another time," Kirito chuckles. He almost suggests they clear up a few quests and get the few experience points to advance a level, but the prior conversation still has bad taste in Kirito's mouth. Not the party, no, but the season itself. He has no attachment to Christmas itself, and he's sure Jaymes could care less about the day too, but Koharu and Asuna are girls. His experience with girls, solely being his little sister before Asuna and Koharu, makes him believe the holiday may mean something to them.
"Do you...want to try it here?"
"Try what?"
"Having our own...Christmassy thing."
Jaymes seems to pick up on what Kirito is trying to do before. "Yeah. I know this isn't the best world to celebrate Christmas in, but Christmas is Christmas."
Koharu sighs and drops her head. "I appreciate the sentiment, but... To be fair, thinking about Christmas makes me think of home..."
Asuna, at the same time, turns her head away. "N-no, that's not necessary. I don't have anything prepared...and it just doesn't feel like Christmas in this tropical island village." As if the Cardinal System heard Asuna's plea and decided to work in her favor, the bright, mostly clear sky greys, and the tropical warmth drops several degrees in temperature as wind passes them.
And call it a coincidence, but from the cloudy blanket falls tiny white dots.
"N-no way."
"It's snow." Kirito looks as one of those crystals land in his hand. It is snow, unbelievable as it is. For one, SAO's weather system would match the outside world on several floors, but given its beta and official designs, the fourth floor couldn't have been one of them. And it's been December since they left the first floor, and snow had not appeared all month. Yet here it is on Christmas Eve as if it is a special event for this day.
"Why did it have to do this?" Kirito's eyes move to Asuna, the chestnut-haired girl looking at the falling crystals wide-eyed. She eventually notices Kirito, Jaymes, and Koharu staring and explains what she means. "Just when we escaped the main city and came here, I could avoid thinking about Christmas. It's not fair."
"...I see," Jaymes says just as softly. "That's why you two didn't go to the send-off party. You didn't want to think about Christmas."
"Y-yeah," Koharu barely whispers.
"But Asuna... Didn't you say it might snow on Christmas when we were tackling the second-floor labyrinth?"
"I'm surprised you remember that. Maybe I did say that, but I'm in no mood to enjoy the holiday given the circumstances. We should be pushing farther than throwing parties. Besides, you didn't even bring it up until just minutes ago."
"Huh? Bring...what up?"
Asuna scowls at Kirito. "If you wanted to have a Christmas event, you should have told me a few days earlier so I could have prepared. And if you're not going to bring it up until the day, it's only natural to assume you weren't interested in that." Kirito partially counters but doesn't finish the question of what Asuna would need to prepare. Three things make up a Japanese Christmas; fried chicken, cake, and presents. The food items could be found in NPC shops, but presents would be harder to come by. If Kirito was to check his inventory now, the only person he may have a gift for is Jaymes, and that's a reach.
"Sorry," Jaymes speaks up again while looking at the lake, though it seems he's apologizing more to his partner more than both girls. Kirito does feel guilty, and Jaymes must feel horrible that he forgot about Christmas. If he and Koharu were alone right now, he might be kicking himself in the gut. Koharu picks up that he's directly speaking to her and faces him.
"It's fine, really. I'm sure we could have done something if we had said something. I...just thought no one would agree."
"No," Kirito interrupts, "I brought up Christmas on the second floor and then forgot all about it by the time we got here-it's messed up. If we can't take our mind off the game for this day, at the very least..."
"This is...kinda throwing me off," Asuna says awkwardly. "But Koharu is right. We should have spoken about it if we wanted to have a Christmas thing. But we didn't, so you don't need to apologize to us. I'm happy just seeing all of this."
"Yes, so am I. A white Christmas is better than nothing."
"...Ah." Jaymes seems to have a lightbulb moment but doesn't say anything else. Kirito sees the swipe motion for his system window, but he does nothing except a typing motion in the air. In the meantime, Kirito sought to rectify the situation with the girls. If they were fine with seeing snow, they ought to have a more picture-perfect view. They could go to the lower floors, but that means they'll have to cross three of the six miles that make up this floor back to Rovia, and encounter the DKB and ALS that host their party at the teleport gate.
Ding! A yellow indicator flashes in Kirito's HUD, indicating a message from the boy sitting across the table. He opens the message, reads it quickly, and is glad both boys are in synergy with their thoughts. He looks in Jaymes direction and nods his approval. It is about that time, anyway, now that they're on this side of Rovia. "Hey, Asuna, Koharu."
"What?"
"It's not something physical Jaymes and I can give you, but there is something we'd like to give you to make up for it."
Asuna looks at Koharu, who nods to her. "Well, you're free to offer it. Just don't expect anything in return."
An hour after leaving Usco, the crew of the Tilnel sail through a thick fog. The girls were previously apprehensive about going through the thick barrier, but Kirito assured them they were fine, even if the mist wasn't normal.
"Huh…?! Wait, is this mist actually—" Asuna never finishes that statement as the fog gives way to a gigantic lake, several times smaller than the caldera lake they fought the Biceps Archelon hours ago. Snow cakes the surface of the dark water. The lake is the destination Kirito has in mind, but the endpoint of their journey is not the lake itself. As he releases the oar and lets the boat guide itself, his onyx eyes catch sight of the dark structure looming over the lake.
It has the shape of a grand palace in the middle of the lake. Four towers poke upward to the sky, each of different heights, coated with snow and a triangular flag at each peak. The black flag themselves are designed with a crossed horn and a scimitar.
"Is that…the Dark Elf flag?!"
"Woah... It's so beautiful."
"More beautiful than any castle I've seen in real life."
"Are you talking about...so and so's castle at the theme park? Or the real thing in Europe?" Asuna doesn't answer with words but with a smile. Kirito drops the subject there and looks to Jaymes, still seated at the front of the boat, and with him is Koharu. The partners look at the white-stoned palace silently together. He's sure Jaymes is just as amazed as the girls, but being a hardcore gamer himself, it is on a lower level than theirs. If anything, his eyes are more on Koharu than the castle.
Kirito smiles and returns to sailing, steering the gondola to the dock. Jaymes hops off first, grabbing the rope and placing it around a bronze bitt. Kirito disembarks second, and they help the girls to the shore. So far, no alarms have rung, and potential guards haven't spotted them. Kirito looks to the other boy, tapping his mouth to signal him to stay silent. Jaymes nods and nonchalantly takes point, waving his right hand in the air.
"Kirito, Jaymes... Thank you. It's a wonderful present."
It's Asuna who thanks the boys, but Kirito can see it comes from Koharu and Mito as well. He smiles in response. "Well...as long as you think so, it was worth rowing across the entire floor to see. But that's only half of the present."
"Oh?" Asuna and Koharu look clueless, but Kirito knows Asuna will pick it up sooner than later. Based on the glint in her eye, Mito already has, yet keeps quiet as the quintet marches along the pier to a massive, dark gate. There, two guards with lengthy halberds stand on both sides. Once Jaymes steps twenty feet in front of them, the guard on the right speaks up.
"Halt!"
"This place is not for humankind!"
Jaymes lifts his right hand and approaches the guards alone. "My name is Jaymes. I request an audience with K-the lord or lady of the castle." He displays the scroll the commander of the dark elves gave them on the prior floor, showing the seal on it. It's the same design as the flag, and once they see that, their crossed halberds return to a neutral position, and the gates open.
The first sight within the gates is the front garden, and its beauty did not escape the girls' notice, but they did not stop walking along the path to the castle's grand hall. If things stay the same as when Kirito was here in the beta, the five will have full access to the castle now that they have passed the gate. There's much to explore, but their destination was set in stone when Jaymes and Kirito planned this trip.
Inside the main hall, Asuna steps beside Kirito, gazing around. "I don't see any players... But of course there aren't. That wall of mist we passed through to get to the lake was switching us to an instance map, wasn't it?"
"Good answer. We will never run across another player, so we're free to laugh, scream, and sing all we want."
"I-I wasn't going to do any of that. Anyways, let's take a look around."
"Sure thing, but I already know our first destination. Everyone, this way."
They took the hallway to the right of the main hall, following it until they returned to the outside world. They came upon a maze-like garden and took a few minutes to traverse it, following remnants of footsteps as a guide. Eventually, they came to the trail's end, where the footsteps disappeared, yet they didn't need it anymore. Beyond them is a wonderful garden around an eye-catching coniferous tree, with planter boxes and bronze benches directly around the conifer.
Kirito's eyes land on a figure seated on one of the benches. Not wasting time waiting for a color cursor to appear, Kirito steps forward. That gains the figure's attention, and it abruptly stands up and leaps over the adjacent planter. With only a purple dress covering its form, it lands in front of Kirito and Asuna, embracing them with their arms. "Kirito! Asuna! And you too, Koharu and Jaymes!"
"Good to see you again, Kizmel." Kirito steps back to allow Koharu to get in on the hug and stands beside Jaymes. Looking at the taller boy, Kirito notices (and expects) he's unhappy to be in the presence of Kizmel for whatever reason, but he's also keeping that demeanor to himself. Maybe it's for his partner's sake. Maybe he doesn't want to ruin the happy atmosphere on Christmas Eve. He was the one who asked Kirito about coming to wherever Kizmel was as a gift to the girls.
The girls release each other after a few seconds. Asuna wipes the side of her face with a finger and says, "I always believed we'd see you before long…but I'm still so happy to see you."
"So am I. Even after coming here through the spirit tree, I found that I was always thinking of you four. I'm surprised that you knew to find me here. Isn't this your first visit to this castle?"
"Y-yeah. Just a…lucky guess." Of course, he'd been here during the beta, albeit on a different fourth floor. Back then, the maze was filled with thorns, the floor made of stone, and the large tree was dead.
Kizmel smiles at his answer anyway and looks to the large tree. "My sister loved the oil refined from this juniper. Perhaps that's why I found myself here."
"Ahh."
"So this is a juniper tree," Asuna takes note. "In the world we come from, it's also used as a flavoring for alcohol."
"Is that so? I shall have to try it sometime... At any rate, thank you for coming. I suppose you vanquished the guardian beast in the Pillar of the Heavens without trouble."
"Yeah. It helped that the base commander warned us about its poison attacks."
"Yes, he is a trustworthy man. I wish to rejoin the advance party down on the third floor as soon as I can, but... Oh." Kizmel finally takes notice of the third girl and newest member of the group. She quietly analyzes Mito, probably wondering who she is, then bows slightly at the waist. "Excuse my manners, I did not realize you had another friend in your presence."
Mito clears her throat and waves. "You are Kizmel. I heard plenty about you from Koharu and Asuna. I'm a friend, Mito."
"Meetow, correct?"
"Um, no. Mito."
"Mito."
"Yes! There you go!"
Kizmel smiles proudly and then look at her dress. She squints for a moment, then looks back up and pats Asuna and Koharu on their backs. "Let's go back inside. You must be hungry after rowing all this way, yes?"
"Very hungry."
"I can't wait to see what food we can eat here."
"Elven food sounds delicious."
As the girls follow Kizmel back to the door, Kirito sighs and pat his forehead. "You know, I was the one doing all the rowing," he says to himself and Jaymes.
"Let them have it for now..."
"Oooh, what a lovely place!" After a hearty meal, Kizmel offered to take the five to their rooms. They were taken to the east wing on the fourth floor, to the officers' rooms. The first one was given to Kirito and Asuna. While Kirito realized what was happening, Asuna raced into the large living room towards the enormous window at the other end. While glancing around, she noticed the two doors on the side walls.
"Um..." She lost the heart to ask for another room, but while it wasn't verbally said to be Kirito and Asuna's space, Kizmel had looked at them both before opening the door. She looks at Mito, hoping she'll say something, but the scythe-wielder smirks and leads Koharu and Jaymes out of the room while Kizmel speaks.
"In that case, I will be in the adjacent room to the left. Knock on the door if you need anything. Enjoy your rest tonight; you must be tired." The door is closed behind Kizmel, and a momentary silence is left between Kirito and Asuna as they stare at each other.
"...Well, hey, at least it's not the first time for this," Asuna starts. Kirito responds with a nod. "It's pretty much unavoidable if we want to prioritize beating this game." Kirito nods twice. "But... I will say just one thing. Your Christmas present was reuniting us with Kizmel, right? That was a wonderful present. Thank you."
Kirito nods one more time and mumbles, "Um, yeah, uh, you're welcome... But in all honesty, I'm glad we saw her again. She seems a little subdued, though."
"Yeah..."
"The dress looked very nice on her, but I don't think she was wearing it out of choice. I wonder why she wasn't in her armor?"
"Didn't have her sword, either... Perhaps there's some state of affairs forcing her to stay here. Wonder if she'll tell us, if we ask..."