Oath of Rebellion

by Solid Shark

Tired of spending a life studying to reach an empty future, Asuna enters Sword Art Online, a world of swords and airships, to gain some measure of freedom. When she is trapped, she throws herself into building a new life for herself, as far from what her parents intended as she can. Meeting a dark swordsman sets her on a new course, in Aincrad's skies...

8. Chapter VIII: Let Justice Be Done

Chapter VIII: "Let Justice Be Done"

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December 9th, 2032

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"Every time I see you guys, I feel like I'm going farther down the rabbit hole. I'm not sure if that should spook me or not." Agil took a deep swallow of coffee, set the mug on the table, and rested his elbows to either side. "Okay," he said, sobering. "I can see something happened when you guys went haring off yesterday. Gimme the lowdown."

Asuna exchanged a quick, silent glance with Kirito, and they both looked to Kizmel. This one was the Dark Elf's responsibility, after all; while they needed information, it was really up to her how much they dared tell Agil of the situation. Especially given exactly what had prompted the meeting in the first place.

After the destruction of the port the Dark Elves had maintained on Niian, Kizmel had naturally been in a hurry to track down those responsible. That late, though, and after the Field Boss fight, they'd reluctantly holed up aboard Moondancer for the night, only in the morning messaging Agil to ask for a meeting. He and Argo were the best—only, really—sources they had within the clearing group as a whole.

Now, less than a day after the massacre at the port, Moondancer's crew sat with Agil in a cafe in Urbus. The big axeman had been willing enough to meet them, fortunately… even if he was still giving Kizmel odd glances. Though the elf girl's hood was up, maintaining her usual disguise as a Swordmaster, he clearly hadn't forgotten the previous day's reveal.

Well, he's not wrong about the rabbit hole, Asuna thought ruefully. I started falling down it the moment I said "Link Start", and Kirito-kun dragged me into a deeper hole than I could've imagined. Not that he expected it either, but… it's still his fault. Somehow.

But it was what it was. Wary as they were of possible unfriendly ears—the cafe was mostly populated by NPCs, but there were a few players scattered on some of the farther tables—they told Agil what they could. About Kizmel being a human-level NPC—and boy, did it help that the Knight didn't take offense at being thought of that way—and about the Elf War quest to date. About the Fuumaningun's reckless antics, which had culminated in them outright massacring the Dark Elf port, to no apparent gain.

"Normally I'd say, it's up to each player to decide how to handle a quest," Kirito said at length, staring pensively into his coffee. "But the Fuuma's quest is interacting directly with ours. Crazy as it is, I'm not sure there is an individual version of this one, Agil. The Fuuma could ruin this for everybody—and right now, we don't know how that might affect clearing in the long run. Especially if Kayaba implemented a karma meter mechanic. Something like that, affecting the entire playerbase?"

Asuna had only the vaguest idea what a "karma meter" was, but she got the gist well enough to shiver right along with Agil. If, somehow, the quests with the two elf factions were completely open to all, thousands of players could be in danger from what just a few idiots did.

"And then there are the Legend Braves." Kizmel grimaced. "I saw their performance against the Bullbous Bow, and it pains me to potentially divide the Swordmasters when they've barely begun to unite. But they bear mythril armor, and there are few ways to obtain it this far out in the Archipelago." Raising a hand, she extended one finger. "In theory, they could have been granted it as a reward by my people. I can tell you that is not the case." A second finger came out. "They might have found an ancient Dark Elf stockpile. Which is… technically possible, even on Niian, but I know of no way they could reach such without an airship, and we know they did not use Liberator or Moondancer." She raised a final finger. "Or they could, like the Fuuma, be collaborating with the Forest Elves."

Practically speaking, though she didn't say it, the latter two possibilities were the same, Asuna knew. If the Legend Braves were raiding ancient sources, it would've had to have been with the help of the Forest Elves. Probably, she amended to herself. I guess it's possible they got an airship of their own without anybody else noticing. I guess that's something else we should ask Argo, when she gets here.

"Huh." Agil leaned back in his chair, folding his arms thoughtfully. "Well, I'm gonna assume you're the expert, and take your word for it. If this were any other game, I'd just say, 'so what?' I mean, the three of you are doin' your own thing, not sharing the goodies with everybody else."

Asuna winced, and didn't miss Kirito's flinch. "I… can't deny that," her dark partner admitted quietly. "Still, it's…."

"It's different. Believe it or not, I agree." When they looked at him in surprise, Agil cracked a grin. "See, here's the thing: after whatever Diavel did to get the Integrity Knights after him, I can see a few people digging where they shouldn't could get all of us in trouble. Difference between you guys and Diavel, Fuuma, and the Braves? You're not pretending everything's normal. I think I can trust you to let people know if you stumble into something you really shouldn't. What those guys are up to…."

She sagged in relief. Just a little. A month into being trapped in SAO, she still didn't know who she could trust besides Kirito, Kizmel, and—mostly—Argo. If Agil was willing to give them that much benefit of the doubt, that gave her just a little more security.

"Wish I could tell you more about the Braves," Agil went on, sobering again. "But I don't really know anything you don't. What I can do is put out some feelers. I mentioned I want to get in the merchant life with a couple buddies of mine, right? If these guys do any trafficking in unusual materials—and sooner or later, they've gotta at least hit a blacksmith—I should be able to get at least a little info."

Kizmel smiled under her hood. "That would be a great help, Agil. It may not be much, but at this point, I believe we will take what we can get."

"Don't get your hopes up," he warned. "But if half of what you said is true, I'll do my very best. What the hell is Kayaba playing at, that that's even possible…?"

"I dunno about what or why he's up to, but I can take a guess at the Fuuma." Argo sashayed out of nowhere, swinging into the chair next to Agil. "Hey, big guy. Where's yer shadow? Thought you an' Tengu were a solid team. Or is he playin' up the 'masked man of mystery' thing, an' running his own scheme?"

Sternly ordering her heart not to leap out of her throat—Argo did "ninja" much better than the Fuuma—Asuna cleared her throat, shooting the info broker a Look. "Hello to you, too, Argo. Would it kill you to make some noise when you walk? Never mind, I don't care about the answer enough to pay for it." Pointedly ignoring Argo's cackle, she glanced back at Agil. "She makes a good point, though. I was wondering about that myself."

She also hadn't missed the way Kirito twitched at the mention of Tengu. She didn't know why the self-styled Shinsengumi bothered him—she didn't think he knew—but it was one of the mysteries of Aincrad that kind of made her hair stand on end. After Alice, she paid attention when something bothered Kirito.

"Eh, he's off training," Agil said, with a casual wave of his hand. "Dunno if he's a serious swordsman, or if he just takes the Swordmaster role-play to the next level, but I can't deny he's good. After Illfang, I'm not gonna say 'boo' to him making sure he's up for the next boss." He motioned for the NPC waitress, and turned a sidelong glance at Argo. "So? What's the Rat got for us today?"

Before Argo could answer, the waitress arrived. As Asuna's team and Agil ordered fresh drinks, and Argo called for a plate of pancakes, the fencer couldn't help but scrutinize the NPC's behavior. Perfectly smooth, perfectly polite—and blatantly running through scripted motions, her every movement as precise as a player caught in a Sword Skill's system assist.

Not at all like Kizmel. Or Alice, for that matter… or even Captain Emlas, now that I think about it. Just what is going on with this game…?

Oblivious to Asuna's musings, Argo grinned, leaning back in her chair with her head resting on folded hands. "Two things, first. Kii-bou?" She pulled one hand free to rub her fingers together; with a sigh and rolled eyes, Kirito pulled out a pouch full of Cor and lightly tossed it. The info broker didn't even look as she snatched it out of the air. "Thankee! And second… Kii-chan." Her grin faded, and she turned a narrow, calculating look on the Dark Elf. "How much do you wanna hear with company?"

At first Asuna thought she was talking about the other cafe patrons. Some of them had glanced in their direction, only to quickly look away when Kirito pulled out the same expression he'd used on the clearers after Alice took Diavel. Then she saw Kizmel glance at Agil, and understood. Right… we're in the quest, but he isn't. Even if we are asking him for information.

"It's fine," the elf girl said after a moment, with a smile edged with bitterness. "My foes already know whatever you have to say. And whatever some of my people may think, sooner or later we will need to establish connections among the Swordmasters. Agil seems an excellent place to start."

"Off the record, Kii-chan, I gotta say you're prolly right. Won't even charge ya for that." Argo snickered, but anything else she might've said was delayed by drinks and food arriving. As the waitress gave a precisely-calculated bow, the Rat dug into her pancakes with obvious relish. "Awright," she said, around a mouthful of fluff and syrup, "I had to pull an all-nighter on this one, but I got some juicy stuff. Those rings ya told me about in your PM?"

"The Sigils of Lyusula." Asuna wasn't going to forget the rings any time soon. The first one had been found easily enough, in a box in a ruined tower. Fighting past a giant, fire-magic-throwing rat to get the other ranked pretty high on her "hair-raising experiences" list. "The Portmaster's adjutant… he said the Fuuma were after them…."

She tried not to think too hard about that, and saw Kizmel flinching from the memory, too. The adjutant's death hadn't been a peaceful one. Even knowing this is just a game… that was horrible.

"Right. Those. Well, so happens I tracked down an old geezer at a place a way's northeast o' here." Argo stabbed another chunk of pancake, and bit into it with relish. "Place called 'Theseus' Retreat'; prolly some more good stuff there, but I didn't have time to dig much…. Anyway, this old guy NPC? Turns out he's descended from one of th' last Crimson Knights. An' he knows a little somethin' about why Lyusula gave the Knights those rings."

Kizmel eagerly leaned forward. "And?"

"Would ya believe there's somethin' even I didn't find in the beta?" Argo swallowed, and pointed her fork at the elf girl. "Turns out there's a passage through the Minos Mountains that bypasses the dungeon boss blocking the 'normal' route to Master Ganryu's hermitage. Hidden door, which th' good Master Crimm told yours truly leads into a twisty little tunnel that'll take ya right ta Ganryu. If ya got the rings ta open it." She shook her head, and washed down another bite of pancake with a swig of coffee—Agil's, Asuna realized, which earned the info broker a wary look from the axeman. "Still dunno much 'bout Ganryu 'imself, but it looks like the Dark Elves like the guy a lot. You know anything 'bout that, Kii-chan?"

"I cannot say that I do," Kizmel admitted, frowning thoughtfully. "I knew my people had some dealings with him, but nothing specific. Only that even among our greatest warriors, Master Ganryu is considered something of a legend. The one human even the most effete Lyusulan noble respects."

"Pretty weird, though," Kirito pointed out with a frown. "I mean, a tunnel that lets players outright skip the boss? Those rings weren't even that hard to find, Argo. There has to be a catch." He leaned forward, gripping his mug in both hands. "I know things have changed since the beta, and Kayaba was supposed to be big on 'fair', but this… this doesn't sound right."

"On top of that," Asuna put it, thinking back to the discussion the three of them had had in the very room where they'd found the rings, "don't I remember that key items are supposed to respawn after a day or so? The Fuuma wouldn't need the rings we found, then. …Unless they really are just that stupid."

She wouldn't have been that surprised. If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she never would've believed that people could be so stupid and yet get so far.

"Two points, Kii-bou, Aa-chan." Argo waved her fork, an unusually serious look on her face. "First, ya gotta do more than find the keys. You gotta know what they're for, an' fer that you need to find Master Crimm, and realize you gotta show 'im the rings. That's three preconditions right there. Then ya gotta find out where the tunnel is—which Master Crimm doesn't know, but lucky fer you guys, I do. As fer the rings respawning? …Not too sure they're gonna. They've already whacked a public map, 'member."

Which meant the quest really might not have been playing by the rules Asuna was only just starting to understand. She could see Kirito's grip tighten on his mug, and thought she knew why. Bad enough all the other mysteries he was dealing with; game mechanics not following the rules he knew had to make things even worse.

There was silence for a few moments, as Argo finished her breakfast. When she had, and had chased it down with the dregs of her coffee, she let out a long sigh. "Not much more I can tell you guys, I'm 'fraid. Except that without the rings, I've already started hearing whispers 'bout the Fuuma recruiting to take on the dungeon boss. Not tellin' anybody what they're really after, o' course…. So you might wanna hurry. If you're right about the Legend Braves, they might be in cahoots with the Fuuma, an' who knows what they might manage together."

Kizmel sighed in turn. "Knowing their benefactors as I do, it is unlikely to be good. I still have yet to understand what, exactly, the Forest Elves are attempting to do here. I expected them to try and obstruct my mission, yet this seems… random." She set down her own empty mug. "Well, my comrades. With respect to Master Agil and Argo, we should make haste."

"Wait," Asuna blurted. Pulling out a pouch full of Cor, she looked to Argo. "We know how the clearing is going here on Niian, more or less. But what about back on Einsla? The Illfang raiders are only a fraction of the playerbase. Is anything happening back there?"

Because she didn't want to believe that over sixteen thousand people were just huddling in the first city, too terrified to so much as fight a single Wild Fang. As good as the raiders who'd defeated Illfang were, they couldn't keep going all by themselves forever. Even without the Fuuma or the Legend Braves making dark deals.

We killed Illfang with forty-three people. We can't clear another ninety-nine islands with that. She remembered Alice, and the casual ease with which she'd smashed aside Kibaou's party. Especially with the Integrity Knights waiting for us, down the line.

Argo pocketed the Cor, leaned back in her chair, and propped her feet up on the table with a thoughtful frown. "Truth b' told," she said slowly, "I dunno there's much ta tell ya 'bout that, yet. Think most Swordmasters are still waitin' to see how things go for the next island or so. Been seeing tourists comin' over to Niian on th' ferries, so there's at least some movement, but…."

Asuna tried not to slump. She supposed she should've expected it—it had been less than a week since Illfang, after all—but it was still disappointing.

"Hey, now," Agil cut in suddenly, setting down his mug with a thump. "It ain't all bad. 'Least it wasn't when I was last over there. What about the Fuurinkazan School? Don't tell me they shut down. Their boss was pretty gung-ho when I went through."

Argo slapped her forehead. "Oh, yeah! Sorry, guess ya guys never heard about 'em? You were doing yer own thing with Kii-chan when they started up."

"I did hear Agil mention them," Kizmel said thoughtfully, "when he gave his rebuttal to Kibaou last week." One lilac eyebrow went up, barely visible within her hood. "I assume, from context, someone is attempting to train less-prepared Swordmasters?"

"Yep." The info broker frowned pensively. "Actually, they're some o' my best customers—or they were, before I pretty much sold everythin' there was ta sell 'bout Einsla. Yeah, it's a little guild, 'bout six people, showin' noobs the ropes. Gotta say, I haven't heard of anybody who went through their little training course gettin' killed yet. Master Klein did say he got his start from a beta, that might have something to do with it."

"Klein?" Kirito blurted, wide-eyed, before Asuna could. "He's still okay?"

"Ya know him…? Oh!" Argo laughed, high and mirthful. "So you're the beta who 'taught Klein everythin' he knows'? I shoulda known, Kii-bou. An' I bet that's how ya met Aa-chan in the first place." Her laugh died to a low chuckle. "I wondered how you coulda gotten a partner like that, with yer lone swordsman shtick."

Now Asuna did slump, but in relief. She'd known, from her Friends List, that Klein was still alive, but that was it. She hadn't known if he'd managed to find his friends, or even if he'd done anything but locked himself in an inn somewhere. Determined as he'd seemed that first day, for all she knew it could've been a front he'd put up.

She hadn't had the guts to send him a message to find out, either. From the look on his face, Kirito hadn't, either.

"Well, that's good," she said, pushing herself back up and squaring her shoulders. "I'm glad he's doing well. And if he's helping other people get ready, that's even better."

"He does good work," Agil said, nodding. "You three may have made the difference at the end of that boss fight, but I never would've lasted that long without the stuff Klein and his buddies taught me." He flashed a grin. "'Course, if you're the one who taught him, I guess I owe you two, Kirito. I'll have to step up my game."

Kirito hunched into his coat, looking like he suddenly wanted to be somewhere—anywhere—else. "Nobody owes me anything," he muttered, so softly Asuna wasn't sure anybody but her—and probably Kizmel—heard it.

Going to have to do something about that self-esteem problem of his sometime, she decided, sharing a quick glance with the elf girl. Though after what happened six years ago, I guess I can't blame him….

"Welp," Argo said, dropping her feet back to the floor, "there ain't much I can add to that. Some people are startin' ta look, but Fuurinkazan's the only bunch doing much, yet. Oh, wait!" She snapped her fingers. "It's only one guy, and I dunno yet exactly what he's got in mind, but I've been hearing another name the last few days. Guy called 'Alberich' is recruiting. Says he's got the funds to outfit anybody skilled enough to join 'im."

Asuna exchanged skeptical looks with her comrades, and wasn't too surprised to see Agil frowning, too. "…That's weird, this early," she said slowly. "Unless all he's done himself is grind for Cor…? But if he hasn't done much leveling himself, who is he to be judging if anybody is 'skilled enough'?"

"That's a real good question, Aa-chan, an' it's one reason I haven't paid much attention yet. But after what you guys tell me about the Fuuma an' the Braves…." Argo grimaced, and pushed herself out of her chair. "I'll keep an eye out. Usual fee, o' course."

"I'll put out some feelers about him, and those two guilds," Agil promised, also standing. He started for the door, then paused. "Look… I'm not gonna pretend to know what's going on with you guys. But it sounds important, so you do your thing. The rest of us will handle regular clearing, 'til you're back." He flashed another grin. "And Kizmel? If those 'connections' you were talking about ever involve trade, look me up!"

---

Kizmel accompanied her human comrades back onto the Urbus street with some relief. Not that she disliked Agil or Argo; it was more the small crowd of other patrons in the cafe, be they human Swordmasters or the mostly-lifeless dolls of the transitory Aincrad. Her emotions were still in turmoil, after the previous day's events, and being around that many humans was more taxing than she'd counted on.

Though it serves as a good reminder that Kirito and Asuna are not the only Swordmasters who have nothing to do with the Forest's plots, or Kayaba's. The majority of them know nothing of my people's plight, and are just as much victims of the sorcerer as we are.

"So, Kirito," she remarked, as they set off for Urbus' aerodrome. "That first day, before Kayaba's treachery was revealed, you were giving aid to another Swordmaster?" She allowed herself a teasing grin, indulging herself to push away darker thoughts. "And here I thought you a lone rogue."

Kirito flushed, as Asuna tried—poorly—to stifle a laugh. "Hey, Klein came to me, okay? He brought Asuna with him, and kind of put me on the spot… and, okay, I figured maybe it was a chance to put some points in my social stats, my sister always says I need to get out more…."

If nothing else told her that that statement sounded as silly to humans as to her, it was the fact that Asuna didn't flinch at the reference to the families they'd left behind. "If you're still talking about social skills as 'stats'," she said dryly, "it's not working, Kirito-kun. But I'll give you points for effort."

"Oh, thanks…."

And this would be half the reason I am so grateful they've come with me so far, Kizmel thought, chuckling to herself. Dodging easily around a knot of chattering Swordmasters—tourists, she thought, visiting from Einsla, not raiders—she couldn't help but reflect on their infectious cheer. I need this. With the others on my mission gone, I could hardly have stood continuing on alone. And their humor… heh. I've seldom seen such among the Knights.

She would've trusted any Pagoda Knight with her life. She would also have been the first to admit not many of her fellows really knew how to unbend.

Kirito and Asuna were lightly bickering, and Kizmel was content to be a bystander and occasionally add a little fuel to the fire. Otherwise, as they continued toward the edge of the city, she indulged herself by watching the passersby. As Argo had said, there still seemed to be few Swordmasters coming to join the battle to bring down Niian's Skywall; if she knew her armor, few of the Swordmasters milling around Urbus were equipped to fight the local monsters. Many of them, she thought, would've been hard-pressed to survive much of the hazards of Einsla.

Yet there were more of them than she'd seen in prior days. Ill-equipped, perhaps, but willing to come to Niian, and see what was happening. Perhaps when we've conquered Niian's Skywall Tower, proven Illfang was not a fluke, then we might see more… hm?

A cluster of Swordmasters, this one all geared for battle, was just emerging from an inn on the other side of the street. Kizmel almost dismissed them entirely, but one of them took notice of her little group, and began walking across the street to them.

Or perhaps better said, swaggering. Dressed head to toe in brightly-polished armor, a heavy sword slung at his waist—the very picture of a knight from the Swordmasters' world, to hear Asuna describe them—he made his way over with obvious confidence and purpose. "Well, hello, ladies!" he called out. "What brings you to the Second Island this fine day?"

Kirito and Asuna, evidently only just noticing him, stopped in their tracks. "…Can we help you?" Kirito asked warily, posture shifting subtly to let his long coat better catch the breeze.

Somewhat to Kizmel's surprise, the armored knight ignored the so-called "Beater" completely, focusing his attention entirely on her and Asuna. "My name is Kuradeel," he said, sketching a quick, clanking bow. "My friends and I are just about to head out to begin grinding in the nearby fields. Surely such lovely ladies as yourselves would be feel safer with us than with that rogue? He's not even wearing proper armor, after all, and there's only one of him…."

Kirito flinched.

For her part, Kizmel found herself torn from one emotion to another. First amused disbelief—she could certainly see perfectly well that the man was attempting, however poorly, to court her and Asuna both—then annoyance at his blunt dismissal of their companion. Then, finally, amused anticipation, sensing the rising emotion behind the other girl's hood.

Oh, this could be entertaining.

"Are you serious?" Asuna demanded, when Kuradeel paused for breath. "First of all, you don't even know what we look like, so 'lovely ladies' doesn't impress." This time it was Kuradeel's turn to flinch; the fencer didn't give him time to reply, raising one finger to point at his face. "Second, that helmet you're wearing? We don't know what you look like, either. Though that big sword of yours looks like it might be compensating for something."

Kirito choked. Kizmel stifled a laugh behind one armored hand, and she was pretty sure she heard a laugh from another passing Swordmaster; she could see, across the street, Kuradeel's own friends were giving him strange looks. They probably can't hear us, but they can certainly see this is not going as Kuradeel expected. And for good reason.

"Third," Kizmel said dryly, raising a skeptical eyebrow even though she knew he couldn't see it, "your armor, pretty as it is, is quite basic. All three of the raiding guilds have much better, even if it may not look as much. Our comrade here?" She laid a gauntleted hand on Kirito's shoulder, making him jump. "His leather coat would survive blows that would shatter your iron armor in an instant."

"That, too." Asuna shook her head. "Excuse me, but I think we'll take our chances." Turning on her heel, she started off again, striding toward the aerodrome with a confidence Kizmel rather thought more genuine than Kuradeel's.

Leaving the imitation knight behind—the elf's ears twitching as she caught the garbled sounds that weren't quite coherent words behind his helmet—Kizmel and Kirito hurried to catch up. "Ouch," the black-clad Swordmaster muttered. "You weren't that rough with Klein, were you?"

"Klein's goofy," Asuna said with a sniff. "That Kuradeel guy? He's sleazy." Kizmel could hear a deep frown in the fencer's suddenly grimmer voice. "Believe me, I know the difference."

There's a story there, I'm sure. …Which is only my business if she chooses to tell me. Instead of pressing the issue, Kizmel chose to divert the topic. Clearing her throat, she said, "You really must tell me about this 'Klein'. Between his school, and the attitude you describe, he sounds like a fascinating man…."

---

The sound of Moondancer's props spinning up, and the subliminal hum of her lift field, were music to Kirito's ears. The polished ebony of the ship's wheel was comfortingly familiar already, after days of being helmsman. Certainly more comforting than the noise of the city.

Best of all, he thought to himself, as Kizmel lifted Moondancer free of her cradle in Urbus' aerodrome, it's just us. He spared a glance around the pilothouse, occupied just by himself, Kizmel at the engine controls, and Asuna at operations. Just the three of them, without the boisterous Agil, subtly creepy Tengu, or even Argo. No crowds, no passengers. Way better this way.

It wasn't just that something about Tengu bothered him, he'd realized when they'd all turned in that night. Having anyone else aboard just made him uncomfortable. After the weeks they'd spent restoring the ship, and days living aboard, Moondancer was theirs. Anyone else coming aboard, it felt like a stranger paying a visit to his house.

Kirito hadn't liked that back in Kawagoe, either.

When Moondancer was high enough out of her cradle, Kizmel eased power to the engines, Asuna pulled in the landing skids, and Kirito lightly spun the wheel to bring the airship around to starboard. The aerodrome was on the southwest edge of Urbus, and their destination was far to the north. A fairly short flight, even with early-game engines, and there was unlikely to be much traffic to dodge.

Though he did have to take care as they left the aerodrome itself. There was no sign of Coper's Liberator, which as far as he knew was still the only other player airship, but there was a surprising amount of ferry traffic coming in from the south. Colliding with an NPC ship wouldn't be good for anyone. And come to think of it, the Safe Haven doesn't extend that high. …Not to mention how close we are to the edge.

Soon, though, they were free of the aerodrome's minor chaos, and sailing over the city toward more open skies. Then, finally, Kirito allowed himself to relax. Just a little.

A soft chuckle prompted him to glance over at Kizmel. The elf girl had lowered her hood, and was smiling softly. "Pardon me," she said, noticing the look he was giving her. "You did mention, the other day, that you were 'not the type to make friends easily'. I begin to understand what you meant."

"Crowds get to me these days, too," Asuna groused. She'd also dropped her hood, giving Kirito a clear view of the grumpy look on her face. "Back home, at least I didn't have to deal with guys like that… not on the street, anyway."

The last part, Kirito barely heard, and wasn't sure he was supposed to. Turning his attention back to piloting the ship, he tried to decide if Kizmel's comment was meant as a jibe, and if so, if he ought to feel insulted by it.

"Well, yes, that Kuradeel fellow was… hm, lacking in delicacy," Kizmel acknowledged with another chuckle. "And the crowds were a bit much for me as well, accustomed as I am to my people's quieter cities. That's not quite what I meant, however—and I meant no offense to you, Kirito. Indeed, I believe I understand your feelings quite well."

Outside Urbus, cruising out over the plains, they dropped Moondancer down as low as they could risk. None of them expected many other players to see where they were going, but Liberator was still something of an unknown, and they knew the Forest Elves had at least one airship somewhere around Niian. None of them wanted to risk the Fuuma making another try at the "shortcut" to Master Ganryu.

As tricky as that made the piloting, Kirito could only risk another very brief glance back at the Dark Elf. "What do you mean?"

"Truth be told, Kirito, given my duties, I've lived something of a solitary life myself. We Pagoda Knights," she explained, when his next glance was plainly quizzical, "are those most often sent away from our own domains. I have even more experience in the field than most—thus my being chosen for this mission—and so it's been some years since I spent much time in a city. I had not quite appreciated what that meant until these last few days."

"You, too, huh?" Another careful glance back gave him a glimpse of Asuna nodding thoughtfully. "Spend long enough by yourself, and other people are just… a bit much, aren't they?" Though he had to focus on piloting again—they were coming up on the cliffs that dropped down to Niian's central plains—he could plainly hear the wry smile in her voice. "You guys didn't like having Agil and Tengu aboard, either."

"Not really, no," Kirito acknowledged, surprising himself with just how easy it was to admit that to them. "You know Tengu bugs me, but more than that, it was like…." He groped for the right words. "Like they were invaders, I guess?"

"That, exactly," Kizmel agreed. He didn't have to look to know she was edging the throttle forward; he could feel it in how the ship responded to the wheel, almost in his very bones. "I've always known my people are… territorial. There are many reasons we keep so much to our own cities and fortresses. I had not realized we could so easily come to feel that way about a small ship."

So it wasn't just him. Something about that made Kirito feel warm inside. If even the experienced elven Knight and high-class fencer felt that way, maybe it wasn't so wrong of him to. After everything that had happened in his life, he was never sure when what he felt was normal, and when it just made him a freak.

"That sums it up pretty well, yeah." A quiet snort from Asuna. "Good thing we can all stand each other, at least. We kinda need each other, right now."

Between Kizmel being the last survivor of her mission, Asuna needing help learning the ropes of SAO, and me being… me… she's not wrong. That was equal parts terrifying and comforting. The thought of being responsible for other lives still gave Kirito the shakes, some nights, but his companions had made it clear it was a mutual responsibility. Someday, I might even believe that.

"Speaking of needing each other," Asuna went on after a moment, as Moondancer skimmed past the field where the Bullbous Bow had once roamed. "You're the one who knows this stuff, Kirito-kun. What was Niian like in the beta, anyway? You've said before that the Elf War stuff didn't start until the Third Island, and you didn't know anything about Master Ganryu, so…."

Noting with some bemusement that the former boss area now had a few bones sticking out of the ground, visible even from their height, Kirito shrugged. "Honestly, there wasn't anything special about it at all. Just lots of bovine monsters, and the first skyrifts to make first-time airship navigation complicated."

That, he knew from unpleasant experience. He'd been hitching a ride on an airship that ran into one of Niian's skyrifts. The result had been death by impalement from a dozen splinters of the ship, compounded by hitting the ground at high speed. His heart rate had triggered a forced log-out, and he'd spent the next five minutes dry-heaving in his bed, as his inner ear caught up with the fact that he wasn't really spinning.

"It took about three days to clear Niian in the beta," he went on, pushing aside that memory for several different reasons. "Most of that was leveling and gearing. You saw how simple the Bullbous Bow was, and the Skywall Tower Guardian wasn't much trickier."

"Huh. So… you don't know much about where we're headed, then."

"Not really," Kirito admitted. The mountains of Niian's northern edge were coming into view, and he had to split his attention between not crashing and keeping an eye on the sky above. "Argo's info says it should be pretty simple, though. We're bypassing the boss, and the Fuuma shouldn't be able to get through just yet. Not if they were trying for the Sigil Rings just yesterday."

He caught a flash of silver out of the corner of his eye, and glanced up to see Liberator idling far above them, only a couple of dozen meters below the golden honeycomb of the Skywall. Now, what is Coper up to? We're almost at the Minos Mountains' skyrift.

So close, in fact, that it was about time he turned the ship and started looking for a landing spot. That skyrift blocked flight over pretty much the entire mountain range, which was why they had to take one tunnel or another to find Master Ganryu's Hermitage.

"Simple," Asuna repeated skeptically. "'Should be' simple, and the Fuuma 'shouldn't' be able to get there ahead of us." Kirito heard her tap her fingers on her console. "Kirito-kun. You know we never get the 'simple' quests."

"That we don't," Kizmel agreed cheerfully, before Kirito could even try for a rebuttal. She pulled back on the throttle, pulling in the wing-sails as Moondancer swooped toward a sheltered cleft at the base of the mountains. "But if this transitory world is bound to Kayaba's rules, at this point it should not be anything we can't handle, between the three of us. Otherwise, the 'Master Crimm' Argo spoke of would have given warning, I should think."

Moondancer gently sank to the ground, and the fencer dropped the landing skids. Then she turned a Look on Kizmel. "You said 'should', too. Twice. If the two of you jinxed us, I'm not going to be happy!"

---

The tunnel through the Minos Mountains started well enough, at least. The trail up the specific mountain was guarded by nothing worse than Windwasps; Kirito noted they could've been a problem for an unprepared team, but his grapnel, Kizmel's shield, and Asuna's sheer speed made them little more than a bump in the road. If Asuna took some small satisfaction in taking out the last of them with a quick pistol shot, well, she dared Kirito to say something snarky.

Almost to her disappointment, all he did was grin at her, and bump his knuckles against hers. Kizmel, on the other hand, appeared to find the silent byplay hilarious.

A ways up the mountain, in a cleft in the rocks, they found their destination. Then Asuna understood why Argo was so confident that no one would beat them to the hidden passage. If it hadn't been marked on the map by the Rat's information, she didn't think her team would've noticed the cleft at all, and even when they got to it, it took a few moments to realize there was a faint outline of a door leading into the mountainside. From there, it still took some diligent searching to find the two small indentations meant for the Sigils of Lyusula.

By the standards of what they always seemed to get caught up in, Asuna thought it wasn't so bad. Even if it did leave her wondering just how insanely determined the average gamer had to be, given that Kirito didn't seem to think the setup was at all unusual. I've had it all wrong, all these years. Gamers don't have problems in school because they're lazy; they're just spending crazy amounts of effort in their games instead of their schoolwork.

…If Kirito-kun were in my school, he could've been at the top of the class. Easily. I better step up my game!

At least she'd stepped up her combat a little. Before their meeting with Agil that morning, Asuna had finally gotten a proper holster for the pistol she'd claimed from Diavel, a light chestguard, and a bandolier. The extra bullets wouldn't do her much good in the middle of a fight, but they did mean she didn't have to wait out the several hours it took for the pistol to auto-reload.

Getting into the Minos Mountains passageway was simple, thanks to Argo's fieldwork and Kirito's experience. It was the inside that quickly drove Asuna to distraction. "I told you," she groused, ducking under a flutter of dark wings. "I told you—eep!" Her duck turned into an awkward, sideways hop, just in time to let a falling stalactite crash into the ground she'd just been occupying. "I told you two not to jinx us!"

Regaining her poise a breath later, her Wind Fleuret lit up, and her Linear stabbed up and into the Cave Bat that had dive-bombed her. The skill itself didn't quite kill the squeaking mob, but the force of it flung it high into the ceiling, where it rebounded and broke into dazzling shards. Allowing herself a brief, fierce grin, she quickly turned her attention to the next of the swarming creeps.

"Please, Asuna," Kizmel said, her saber glowing crimson as she slashed at another bat. "You can hardly blame us for this. As I'm sure Kirito could tell you, Aincrad simply is not a safe place outside of the Haven charms. Encountering—"

She broke off for a moment, swinging her shield to ward off a Greater Cave Bat; the mob was big enough it was able to carry a flaming branch in its claws, and was trying very hard to set the elf on fire with it. The shield stopped that attack cold, and if some embers managed to set her tunic smoldering, the effect was even worse on the bat. Screeching at a pitch Asuna could barely even register, it dropped the branch and began flapping its wings furiously, trying to put out its own ignited fur.

Kizmel put it out of its misery a moment later, saber whirling out to cut off its head. "Encountering such difficulties in a place like this," she continued, as if nothing had happened, "is honestly to be expected."

"She's right," Kirito called out from a bit ahead, Anneal Blade flashing blue in a Horizontal that sent two more Cave Bats tumbling away. "This passage bypasses a dungeon boss, Asuna. It'd be a lot more surprising if it didn't have mobs and traps." His grapnel abruptly shot out, flying down the tunnel at something she couldn't even see. When it recoiled, it was with yet another bat impaled on it, yanked right onto the point of his outstretched sword.

"Traps and mobs, sure. But does it have to be this dark, too?"

Asuna wasn't used to darkness in Aincrad. Even in the darkest night or the deepest cave tunnel, there was always enough of the sourceless blue light to at least show a player where to put their feet, even if it wasn't enough to see what might be lurking beyond. The tunnel through the Minos Mountains… not so much.

There were torches—every couple of dozen meters. Close enough together to see which way the winding tunnel went, far enough apart that Asuna couldn't see a thing in between. Including the oversized, carnivorous bats, and the occasional falling stalactite. Not to mention stalagmites, which she'd already almost impaled herself on while dodging bats.

The majority of light between the torches came from their own swords, lit up by skills. Asuna was Not Amused by the realization that fighting the mobs had kept her from being run through by falling rock at least twice.

Not that any of this is that hard, she thought, as the three of them finished off the last of the Cave Bats. The dark I could handle. The falling stalactites I could handle. I could even live with the bats; I'll take them over the sexual harassment monsters. It's all of it at once that's driving me crazy!

"Any idea how far we've come?" she asked after a moment, when it seemed certain no more bats were coming. "It's hard to tell, between the mobs and the dark."

"Um… about a hundred meters, maybe?" Kirito said, a frown barely visible on his face in the light of the nearest torch. "I've kinda lost track, too…."

"About one hundred and fifteen meters," Kizmel put in. Patting out the small fire that had started on her tunic, she gave the ceiling a wary glance. "My people largely live underground," she added, when both humans gave her questioning looks. "You should not be so surprised that we're quite good at keeping track of ourselves even in dark tunnels."

Okay, that was a fair point. Even if Asuna had to remind herself that was probably just an in-character way of explaining information an NPC likely took directly from the game code, it made a lot of sense. And maybe I should stop reminding myself of that. This world may be fake, but it can still kill us. As long as I remember the gameplay stuff, it's better to just go with the flow, right?

The surprising comfort she drew from that thought, as they started down the tunnel again, was quickly marred by Kizmel's next words. "Ah. I do believe I see a door ahead of us. We are definitely making progress—though given the size of this mountain, it seems unlikely Master Ganryu's home is beyond it…."

"Please stop saying things like that," Asuna pleaded. "Now I've got a bad feeling about this." Every time one of you says something like that, something completely crazy happens. I'm done with crazy today—

The door slammed open with a noise Asuna could only describe as a gashunk. In the torchlight, she could just barely see the webbed foot responsible, and a flash of gold scales as the creature charged in. It was followed by several more—exactly how many, she couldn't count, though they seemed to light up the tunnel just from reflections on their scales.

It was just as well Kirito was closer. Asuna was so taken aback by what, exactly, was attacking that she would've fallen to the huge jaws before she had a chance to recover. Even he was obviously surprised, from the way the first one in managed to nip his left arm without even a token sword swipe in return.

Then he was lashing out with a Horizontal to send his attacker flying back, Kizmel was charging into the oncoming horde with a yell, and Asuna suddenly had to confront the threat directly. One of the toothy monsters had leapt clear over her companions' heads, landed in a crouch, and launched itself right at her.

She met snapping teeth with a Linear, and pressed the advantage. With the shock quickly wearing off, sheer irritation lent speed and power to her Wind Fleuret, following up the skill with a series of ordinary stabs. After all, for all the beast's apparent leg strength, its general body shape meant it couldn't effectively bring its feet to bear in the middle of the melee. So long as she kept its teeth busy….

"Seriously?!" she called out, as she shoved the thing back into the mass, just incidentally tripping another in the process. "Are we seriously fighting walking goldfish?!"

Metallic gold scales, far too many very sharp teeth, and two legs aside, that really was the only way she could describe them. Like goldfish that had outgrown the tank, sprouted legs, and gone hunting. She'd seen some absurd things in Aincrad since Kayaba set off his trap, but this was definitely one of the most outlandish.

Definitely more dangerous than their absurd nature would suggest, though. In the next few moments, Kirito and Kizmel were nearly pulled under by gnashing teeth, and Asuna abruptly discovered their tails were more capable than their feet when a slap slammed her in the tunnel wall.

She wasn't exactly sure what happened for the next couple of seconds. There was a blunt smack as if Kizmel had just bashed something with her shield, and then a whirring that suggested Kirito had triggered his grapnel. Caught in a Tumble status on the floor, Asuna had no room to properly use her rapier, and was left scrabbling with her free hand even as a maw filled her vision with nothing but descending teeth.

The sharp crack when she discharged her pistol's second shot into the overgrown goldfish's mouth did as much as the bullet to clear some breathing room. The fish that wanted to make a meal out of her exploded, and three others staggered back from the noise alone. That gave Asuna space to shove herself back to her feet and dart over to Kizmel; the elf girl had also regained her footing, and in a moment they were fighting side by side.

Somewhere in the middle, the lighting flickered. When Asuna had a chance to look, she saw it was because Kirito had used his grapnel to slam the door into one of the homicidal fish, at the same time pulling himself upright. Then he was charging in to join them, Anneal Blade gleaming in the flickering torchlight with every slash.

It seemed like there was at least a dozen of them. By the time synchronized Sword Skills had shattered the last, Asuna realized there'd only been six; it was just harder to tell in the dark, with that many teeth snapping around. Not to mention the falling stalactite that had almost impaled her—again—in the last ten seconds of the fight.

When it was over, she turned an arched eyebrow on Kirito, who sheepishly scratched his head with his free hand. "So, yeah," he said, turning to lead the way toward the door that had admitted the monsters. "Some games, the carp can get pretty hardcore. Didn't expect to run into them in a cave, mind you."

"It is unusual," Kizmel agreed, before Asuna could say something someone else might've regretted. Following in Kirito's wake, she gave the floor ahead a very wary look. "Landcarp are capable enough on land to be a hazard to the unwary—as you just saw—yet they cannot stray far from water. Somewhere, this tunnel must intersect with an underground river." She frowned. "…Even then, it is very odd for them to come out into a cave like this. Something must have disturbed them."

Asuna sighed. "Of course. Didn't I say we never get the simple ones?" Taking up the rear through the door into the next stretch of tunnel, she sheathed her rapier and shifted her pistol to her right hand. Thanking the missing Diavel for having the sense or good fortune to pick up a breach loader, she snapped it open, replacing the spent rounds with two bullets from her bandolier.

She still preferred her rapier. She'd also found out the hard way that even the two shots her pistol had could make the difference in a pinch. Just so long as I don't rely on it too much, she reminded herself, holstering it and drawing her rapier again. Reloading in a fight just is not happening.

Not that there seemed to be much of anything to fight, for a surprisingly long stretch after the fish. The tunnel's next trick, it seemed, was to drive them to distraction with sheer paranoia. Nothing to fight, no stalactites to stab them from above, barely even any stalagmites to trip them up. Just darkness, flickering torchlight, and faint sounds in the distance that Asuna wasn't even sure weren't just her imagination.

After what was probably ten minutes but felt like ten hours, there was a long patch of darkness that set her hair seriously on end—and a light at the end of the tunnel. Moving with as much haste as they could risk in the dark, the three of them headed for the light.

They stopped a few meters short of it, seeing that it was a pair of torches bracketing a heavy wooden door. "Well," Kirito said in a low voice, as they gave it a collective wary look, "after that long without a single mob, I think it's safe to say there's a fight on the other side of that door."

"Probably," Kizmel agreed. "But no 'boss', I should think, if the entire purpose of this tunnel is to bypass Master Ganryu's guardian. What we've fought so far is only the natural hazards of such a place." Her eyes narrowed. "Perhaps beyond, we'll find the source of the Landcarp." She nodded to Kirito, and glanced back at Asuna. "Shall we proceed? Carefully?"

The fencer nodded back. "Very carefully," she said, edging to one side as they neared the door. "For once, I want to surprise the monsters—"

In the dark near the tunnel's wall, her next step went farther down than she expected. And kept going down, nothing but air beneath her foot. With a yelp, Asuna flailed for balance, lost the battle, and tumbled. Reaching futilely for a wall that was farther away than she'd thought, she fell.

"Asuna!"

Cold!

With a splash, she hit water, and sank. Unable to see a thing in the dark, she thrashed, trying to push herself back to the surface—but she couldn't tell which way was up, her clothes were taking on water fast, and she felt heavy, heavier than she thought she should have.

I can't breathe!

Asuna fought panic, even as an unfamiliar crossed-through bubble icon appeared beneath her suddenly-dwindling lifebar. It was a game, not the real world; on the one hand, water didn't behave like it should, on the other she ought to still have been able to swim, but nothing was working—

"Asuna!" she heard, wavering and distorted by the water. "Unequip as much as you can!"

Her menu, she could see, when she frantically waved a hand to open it. Fumbling against the water and her own fear, she banished her weapons, bandolier, boots, and armor. Instantly, half the weight holding her down was gone, and while she still couldn't see, she could hear more shouting. That was enough for her to push off toward the surface.

Moments later, strong arms caught hers, and Kizmel was pulling her up out of the water. "Asuna! Are you all right?"

Letting the elf girl haul her onto more solid ground, Asuna managed a nod. "I—I'll live," she got out, coughing out water. "Thanks, Kizmel. That… that was…." She shivered, from cold and from the last vestiges of panic. "I've never tried to swim in Aincrad before. Didn't know… it would be that hard…."

"Water doesn't work quite right in VR," Kirito said, from over by the door. "Even if you're not carrying anything heavy, it takes some getting used to. And if you are, the water adds a weight penalty that stacks really fast. If you hadn't ditched your gear that quick…."

He didn't have to finish, and she was just as glad he didn't. Though his words abruptly reminded her of her condition, and she realized she was still wearing nothing more than very waterlogged tights and tunic. Flushing, she snapped her head up to warn him not to stare—only to discover he wasn't looking her way at all.

Easing open the door, Kirito peered through the crack, eyes glowing with the Searching skill. "…The next room is clear," he reported after a moment. "Huh. It's a safe zone, not a trap. How about we take a break here? I even see a fire pit, so Asuna can warm up and dry off."

…Sometimes, Kirito-kun is a lot better with the whole "people" thing than he thinks he is. Gratefully, Asuna let Kizmel pull her to her feet, and padded barefoot in Kirito's wake. Even a few minutes by a fire sounded really good just then, and she wasn't too proud to admit it.

Nor was she too proud to groan, when the door abruptly slammed shut behind them, with the loud click of a lock.

---

The fact that Kirito seemed more resigned than anything else, and even Asuna was more annoyed than frightened, kept Kizmel from being too alarmed herself by the new situation. This world is based on mine, she thought, prowling the edges of the cave chamber, yet even with Kayaba's betrayal, it still seems largely bound to the rules of a game. If Kirito believes this is not an inescapable trap, I will assume he knows better than I.

A decided relief, when Asuna was still in no condition to fight. Which didn't stop Kizmel from quickly taking stock of the situation. The improvements to her Mystic Scribing she'd recently received confirmed to her that the chamber was indeed a "safe zone"; that was also all the ethereal writing could tell her about it. So, as Kirito kindled a fire and Asuna huddled next to it to warm up, she examined every centimeter she could.

Roughly circular, about ten meters across, with a two opposing doors, a few torches ringing the walls, and the fire pit in the center. Very little of any note, save an opening in the eastern wall to a shaft that led clear to the outside—too small to escape through, just large enough to let in some natural light. The door opposite the one through which they'd entered was shut just as firmly as the first, and neither had any trace of keyhole or indentation for the Sigils.

"Any luck?" Kirito called, after making sure Asuna was settled; he'd pulled a blanket from his storage, wrapping it around the fencer in a display that proved he was not quite as socially inept as he claimed. "This is a safe zone, so there's gotta be a way out somehow."

"If there is, I cannot see it," Kizmel admitted unhappily. "I can sense some magic around the doors, and a trace of it on the west wall, but what it is, I can't say. That being said…." She peered closer at the wall, and raised one gloved finger to trace it. "There's something written on the walls."

Giving Asuna one last concerned glance—getting in return a look Kizmel thought was a mix of gratitude for the concern and irritation at being coddled—Kirito moved to join her. "…Yeah," he said after a moment, frowning. "I've got no idea what it says, though. It's not Japanese, or English, or any human writing I know of. I don't think that's even Sindarin."

"It is not," Kizmel confirmed, her own frown deepening. "It's Ancient Dwarf. Which is interesting, since the dwarves were left behind on the surface in the Great Separation. This place must've been theirs in ages long over even then."

Why the dwarves had been spared the Great Separation, she didn't know. As far as she knew, no one in Lyusula knew, not even in the generation that had been taken up into the sky in the first place. Legend suggested the goddesses had chosen them as stewards of the Old World, as the least guilty of the mortal races, yet legend was all they had.

"Fortunately," she continued after a moment, "I do know some Dwarfish. I was fascinated by stories of the Old World, growing up," she explained with a sheepish smile, when Kirito raised his eyebrows. "My parents were often busy… it is, as you might say, a long story. But I can read this… I think."

Dredging up decades-old studying, the Knight bent to the task. Dwarfish was, to her eyes, an untidy script; not as simple as the "Roman" lettering of Mystic Scribing, nor as elegant as the characters of her companions' language, and certainly rougher than Sindarin. It was, however, at least distinctive.

Distinctive, yet… what?

Blinking, Kizmel pulled back, shook her head, and leaned in again. "My Dwarfish must be rusty," she declared after a moment. "Or else, this writing is even rougher than I'd thought. This makes no sense at all."

"Um." Asuna glanced up from the fire. "Is that… bad?"

"Only in that it is completely useless; I don't see how it could be anything harmful." The elven Knight shook her head again. "Though it's also possible whoever wrote this had simply gone mad. At least, I cannot think of what sense might be derived from something 'menacing with spikes of bread'."

Kizmel did consider the possibility it was something Kayaba had added—the man had definitely added his own touches to the transitory Aincrad—but if so, it was nothing her companions recognized. Both of them looked just as confused as she felt.

"There's more," Kirito said abruptly, leaning in close to the wall; Kizmel could tell he was distracted from the way he didn't seem to notice he was also leaning very close to her. "This part is in Sindarin. I think it says something about… 'The dwarf has gone mad, but his observations before he lost his mind were accurate. His madness is now at least… pragmatic'?"

"Productive," Kizmel corrected, pleased at how well he'd understood most of it. Turning a smile on him, she added, "Your Sindarin is better by the day, Kirito. I'm impressed."

While he flushed and stuttered, she exchanged an amused look with Asuna, and turned back to the writing. If the dwarf made useful observations before, perhaps there's a record here. Hm… no, mad rambling about lava and rampaging elephants is of no use… elephants? I've not heard of elephants being seen beyond the Sixtieth Island…. Wait.

"'The elf is as infuriatingly cryptic as ever,'" she read aloud, tracing the crude letters with one finger. "'But at least he's found the trick to this cursed place. Little good it does us now, but if ever we get out, I'm digging a shaft to let the light in. Dawn is the only release.'"

The three of them looked at each other, then at the conspicuous shaft in the eastern wall. The meaning of that was obvious, to Swordmaster and Dark Elf alike, and just as annoying either way.

"Don't tell me," Asuna said heavily, the first to risk saying it aloud. "The doors will only open again when direct sunlight shines through that hole in the wall. Right?"

"It does fit the traces of magic I sensed on the west wall," Kizmel said wearily. "Right about where the light of dawn would strike it, through the shaft to the east. I could not hazard a guess as to why this chamber even exists—it may be something the mad sorcerer added for his 'game'—but it is what it is." She raised her hands in a shrug. "I fear, my comrades, we are trapped here until morning. Unless you might summon Argo's assistance, with a large mirror?"

She meant it mostly in jest. Mostly. As crafty—and downright odd—as the Rat was, Kizmel would not have been entirely surprised if Argo could manage such a feat.

Kirito gave a dry laugh. "Bribing Coper to fly Liberator in close might work, that ship's shiny enough. Except there's a skyrift over pretty much the whole mountain range, and we've got no way to reach Argo anyway. PMs don't work in dungeons, not even voice chat."

She'd been afraid of that. Though she was still learning the limitations of Swordmasters' abilities, she'd suspected their remarkable communications could not be quite as great an advantage as it appeared. Kayaba was supposedly dedicated to fairness, and that meant not giving his "players" too much of an edge any more than too little.

After a long, gloomy silence, Kizmel noticed Asuna glancing at something only she could see. "It's barely three in the afternoon," she said, with a long, deep sigh. "It's going to be a long day, isn't it."

---

Afternoon wore into evening, and evening closed in on true night. The only visible sign of it, in that closed cave chamber, was the gradual dimming of the light from the hole in the eastern wall. Which wasn't very visible at all, given the much brighter light from the torches and the fire pit. For the three stuck waiting inside, only the numbers on their HUD clocks served as evidence time hadn't stopped altogether.

Sprawled on his back, head pillowed on his hands and his own folded up Coat of Midnight, Kirito was bemused to realize he was bored. A month he'd been trapped in SAO, and this was the first time he'd had a chance to be bored. Previously, he and his companions had either been on the go, resting from the latest crazy event, or doing basic logistic tasks. There'd always been something to do.

I can't believe I'm even thinking this, but I wish I had a Switch with me right now. I'm stuck inside a game, and I'm wishing I had a portable game system. Though a book would do, too. Just… something to take my mind off the nothing. …And the worse than nothing.

As the hours passed, the tension was creeping up Kirito's back, with nothing but the crackling of the fire and the occasional comments from his companions to distract him. For a couple of hours, Kizmel had kept them all occupied with some Sindarin lessons, yet even that had tapered off by the late evening. That left him alone with a fear he hadn't even realized he had.

He was grateful, then, when Asuna sighed into the silence, and swiped open her menu. Her outer gear long since dried, she was fully dressed again, and safe to look at; he was free to watch idly as she materialized a small basket. "At least we have food," she said ruefully. Taking out a chunk of hardtack, she made a face. "Even if I kinda think this is worse than not having any."

Kirito pushed himself upright, and followed her example. "We really should look into better field rations sometime," he agreed, giving a piece of salted meat a baleful look. "Too bad elves in this world don't seem to have lembas."

Kizmel, who'd been staring silently into the fire for some time, arms wrapped around her knees, glanced up at that. "As a matter of fact, we do know of lembas," she said. "A nutritious bread, which keeps for a long time and can seemingly sustain a traveler on only a few bites a day?" The elf girl gave a dry laugh. "Would that my people knew the secret of it. Alas, the Forest devised the recipe long after our peoples became opposed, and they guard it as zealously as the secrets of their hidden cities."

"That's too bad." Asuna sighed, and with an effort took a bite of the hardtack. "If we ever catch up with the ship the Fuuma are working with, we should raid the galley first… Kirito-kun? Are you okay?"

Damn. I thought I was hiding it better than that. It was a sign, he thought, of just how long he'd spent in close confines with the girls that they'd noticed his discomfort at all. He hadn't realized he was going to have a problem until they'd been trapped for a couple hours. I've never been stuck in a cave this long since then. No reason I should've noticed, I guess.

Realizing from their stares that they weren't going to let it go, Kirito shrugged, as casually as he could. "Nothing major," he said, keeping his voice as level as he could manage. "I just… have bad memories of caves. This place is a bit too much like the cave under Rulid. I'll be fine once we get out of here."

He wasn't sure they believed him, from the twin Looks they gave him through narrowed eyes. He was being honest, though. If the problem hadn't turned up before, he doubted it would last much beyond getting to the other side of the mountain.

Okay, enough of that. I'm not the only one with a problem here, anyway.

"What about you, Kizmel?" Kirito said, only partly trying to deflect attention from himself. "You were pretty upbeat most of the day, but since we got stuck in here, you've been brooding more than I have." He saw her flinch, and realized he'd been a bit too flippant. Softening his voice, he continued, "How are you doing? After yesterday, I mean."

That hit the mark, from the way she flinched again and drew her legs closer to her chest. "…Truthfully, I've been trying not to think about it," the elf girl admitted quietly. "I am… angry. At the Forest, and at the Fuumaningun, for attacking my people for seemingly no reason. And, if I'm to be completely honest, with—" She cut off abruptly, mouth flattening. "No, never mind."

Kirito hesitated, wondering if he should really leave it at that. He had no idea what the right words were, but something about that… it just didn't seem right to let it go. Not when the girls wouldn't let his trauma go unspoken. Not when we're part of this, too. We're not responsible for the Fuuma, but they're still Swordmasters. This is about us, too.

Asuna had no such reservations. Setting aside her dinner, she gave the Knight a shrewd look. "Angry… at the adjutant, too? That's it, isn't it?"

Kizmel stiffened. Looked away, and finally sighed. "…Yes," she said softly. "It's unworthy of me as a knight, but I cannot help but resent his insinuations, even to the end. I understand that he had reason, that he didn't have the time I've spent with you, nor my knowledge of history, but I still resent the suggestion that what happened is in any your responsibility."

Still completely unused to someone defending him that way, Kirito felt a rush of warmth. He didn't let it distract him, though, and he exchanged a quick look with Asuna. The fencer, tight-lipped, nodded slightly; she'd caught the same thing he had.

Emboldened by Asuna's example, he cleared his throat. "That's not all, though, is it?" he said gently. "Right when we arrived, the adjutant was… kinda prickly, wasn't he? And it wasn't just about Asuna and me. The tension between you two was pretty thick."

For a long moment, Kizmel simply stared at him through the campfire's flames. Then, finally, she laughed, low and wry. "You know, Kirito, sometimes you truly are more observant with people than you give yourself credit for." She smiled, giving him that odd warm feeling again; the expression was short-lived, though, and soon faded. "Yes, I suspect the adjutant disapproved of me at least as much as he did of the two of you."

Asuna's brow furrowed in confusion. "But… why? I know you've said sailors and knights don't get along that well, but is it really that bad?"

"Sometimes, yes," Kizmel said frankly. "This, however, was probably unrelated. Mostly." She sighed. "Your society is very different, so you may not understand…. Did you notice the braid on his uniform? Gold would've marked him merely as the Portmaster's aide. His, however, was silver, which marked him as nobility." She gestured at herself. "I am not. Exactly."

Kirito blinked at the qualifier, and opened his mouth to ask. Before he could, Asuna's mouth formed a silent "Oh," and she nodded slowly. Glancing at him, she said, "I don't know how it is with Dark Elves, Kirito-kun, but traditionally, European knights were minor nobility in their own right, even if that was their only title. I'm guessing that means Kizmel isn't from a noble family, but is technically one herself as a Knight."

Oh. That… makes sense. I think? Wow, I wish I'd hit the books more about Europe. If I ever get out of this, I'm doing some serious studying.

Kizmel was nodding, turning a quick smile on Asuna. "That, exactly. My family is not of noble blood, and even now my sister is not considered such herself. As a Knight of the Pagoda Knights Brigade, so dubbed by Queen Idhrendis herself, I am the lowest rank of nobility, without a hereditary title." She grimaced, turning her gaze back to the fire. "As I suspect you expect, nobles of established families often look down on such 'upstarts'."

Oof. That, Kirito definitely understood. The ins and outs of nobility and orders of chivalry, he was a bit fuzzy on. Class division? That, he got. Given what he suspected of his own impromptu partner, he had a feeling that the nature of SAO was the only reason he was even breathing the same air as Asuna. He could only imagine how much worse it was for Kizmel, in her position.

He tried, belatedly, to remind himself it was just a backstory invented for a game. At this point, though, he wasn't sure there was any point—or if it was possible to hold on to that detachment. Invented or not, it defined the world he had to survive in. If Kayaba was as thorough as it was starting to appear, he needed to make this world his own.

Even if it means throwing away all the progress I made, getting over what happened six years ago.

"So yes," Kizmel said quietly, jarring him out of his own brooding. "I'm trying not to think too hard about yesterday. On top of its own pain, it reminds me too much of what happened the day Kayaba sprung his trap. My fellow Pagoda Knights were among the few people who understood me."

On the one hand, Kirito wasn't sure if they should push the issue, if she was that bothered by it. On the other, he was really intrigued by the depth of lore she was implying. Before he could stop himself, he said, "So… what's the deal with the Pagoda Knights, anyway? I never learned that much about the 'Knight Brigades' during the beta—"

Asuna elbowed him, having shifted over to sit right next to him when he wasn't looking. But Kizmel only laughed, tight grip on her legs loosening. "Now, now, Asuna. I don't mind. Indeed, this reminds me of older times… only better, in some ways. The Pagoda Knights, Kirito," she continued, "are the Brigade most apt to take in commoners. We are those most likely to be sent out on missions for the Queen—especially secret ones—so the Brigade is much more… hm, flexible, you might say, than the others."

From there, the elf girl launched into a description of Lyusula's three Knight Brigades, growing more animated by the minute. From what she said, Kirito gathered her own Pagoda Knights were the Dark Elves' special forces, elites sent on missions that absolutely had to be kept a secret, or needed to be done quickly with as few people as possible. Listening to that, his intellectual understanding from the beta of just how important her current mission was turned to surprise that she'd trusted him and Asuna with any of it at all.

The Trifoliate Knights were the closest Lyusula had to a proper army. To Kirito, they sounded like an entire brigade of tanks. Hearing the comparison, Kizmel laughed, saying, "Yes, I suspect Agil would fit in with them quite well. Though he is… calmer… than most of them." She snorted. "Kibaou, for all that he is not a 'tank', might fit better still."

Kirito exchanged a look with Asuna at that, and saw she was thinking the same thing he was. Definitely some rivalry between the brigades. No wonder the way Lind and Kibaou keep butting heads doesn't surprise her.

Though from what she said—grudgingly—the Trifoliate Knights weren't entirely wrong to think highly of themselves. In times of open warfare, they had kept the Forest Elves from invading any of the Dark Elves' cities directly. Which was apparently a really good thing, considering the third brigade.

All three brigades were technically considered Royal Guards. The Sandalwood Knights, Kizmel explained with no small derision, were the ones who most directly filled that role. They were issued the very best equipment, and given the very best training. As their job was to protect the very homes of the Dark Elves, including the Royal Capital and Queen Idhrendis herself, they got the best of everything.

As the home guard, of a kingdom whose other brigades had kept direct invasion at bay for a thousand years, most of them had also never seen combat. With a mix of scorn and pride, Kizmel noted that the majority of Sandalwood Knights she'd met had egos that were not remotely backed up by their skills. She'd trounced several in tournaments.

Kirito kind of suspected that hadn't helped tensions between inherited nobles and "Commoner-Knights".

"Honestly, that Kuradeel fellow from this morning would fit right in with some of the Sandalwood Knights. That said," Kizmel went on, idly tossing a piece of hardtack she'd given up on trying to eat into the fire, "those chosen to protect Her Majesty are genuinely skilled. They are drawn from the few Sandalwood Knights sent into the field, and sometimes recruited directly from the other brigades. So I will not impugn their honor." She coughed. "Their commanders… well, as a mere Knight myself, I've probably said too much as it is. I trust the two of you will be… discreet."

Asuna snorted, before Kirito could say anything. "Like Kirito-kun ever talks to anybody but us and the Rat?" She paused, clearly thinking about what she'd just said. "Um. I think Argo would be discreet, too, if it came to it. She's greedy, but she seems to be careful when lives are on the line…."

That got a real, hearty laugh out of the elf girl. "If Argo wanted to know any of that, I'm sure she would simply slip into the right tavern and listen to the drunken swordsmen for an hour. No, I've no fear of her."

"That's… good?" Kirito said uncertainly, not quite sure if he'd just been insulted. Better, he decided, not to even ask.

"Very good," Kizmel assured him. "I certainly have no concern that either of you would stoop to such." Before he could decide whether or not to ask what that meant, she sighed, smiling wistfully. "Thank you, both of you. For talking me out of my brooding," she clarified, when the two Swordmasters looked at her. "I was beginning to find this place as oppressive as you do, Kirito. Now… now, it feels like old times. Many is the night I would camp in places such as this, with my fellow Knights, and with Tilnel. It's good to be with warriors who understand."

Yeah. Yeah, it definitely was. Trapped as they still were by one of the most annoying video game mechanics ever, Kirito was still feeling more relaxed than he had in awhile. Huh. And all that, from… talking to people. That's weird. I haven't gotten relaxed from chatting since… a long time ago.

Abruptly, Asuna stood up. "Speaking of camping," she said, "it really is getting late. Since we don't have anything better to do, it's probably about time we got some sleep." Bringing up her menu, she materialized a sleeping bag. "I don't know what meeting Master Ganryu is going to be like, but I'm sure we'll need our rest first. If today was just what getting to him is like…."

Kirito started to nod ruefully, opening his own menu. Then he yelped in surprise, as Asuna pulled him to his feet. "Huh—wha—Asuna—?"

She dragged him around the fire, dropping him to Kizmel's left, before settling in at the elf's right. "We all need company tonight," the fencer declared, slipping into her sleeping bag. A flash a moment later, leaving her shoulders bare except for thin straps, told Kirito she'd changed into her nightgown. "Especially Kizmel. Don't you think?"

He could only mumble a response, hoping his blush wasn't too visible as he settled into his own bag. Closing his eyes and turning his head to face the wall, he tried to ignore the fact that he was only centimeters away from the bedroll Kizmel had set out. He tried even harder to ignore the flash and chime that said she'd changed into her own sleepwear.

Kirito couldn't ignore a hand brushing his shoulder, and a soft whisper. "Thank you… thank you both, so much…."

---

December 10th, 2032

---

Emerging from the tunnel mid-stretch, Asuna had to quickly move one arm to shade her eyes. "Oh, wow. After spending all night in that cave, I didn't realize how much I'd gotten used to the dark…." She squinted, wishing her eyes would adjust faster. "…And we're still in a cave. Please tell me that's what we've been looking for."

Technically, she realized as she looked around their new surroundings, they seemed to have stepped out into a caldera. A long-extinct one, fortunately, but still the hollow core of a volcano. Which she supposed explained the skyrift above, at least in gameplay terms; if she was any judge, the mouth was more than large enough to admit at least smaller airships.

Which would've brought them right to their destination, from the look of it. At the center of the caldera, a well-tended garden alongside it, was a small cottage. Very Japanese in styling, weathered but obviously well-maintained.

"Can't imagine who else would be living here," Kirito agreed. "I wonder…." He brought up his menu, tabbed through to something Asuna couldn't see, and tsked. "Nope, still counts as a dungeon, so I can't ask Argo. But I'm betting that's Master Ganryu's Hermitage, all right." He frowned, eyeing the cottage uneasily. "I just hope the Fuuma didn't beat us here. We didn't count on being stuck in the tunnel overnight."

"Unlikely," Kizmel told him, laying a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "While the Fuumaningun would undoubtedly be willing to bypass normal clearing at this point, they could not have defeated the guardian blocking the main pass alone. Even if the Legend Braves are indeed also dealing with Kales'Oh, I doubt that would be enough."

Asuna hoped the elf girl was right. Still, there was nothing they could do about it either way, so she and her companions headed over to the cottage at a brisk jog. It wasn't likely that they could stop the Fuuma from reaching Ganryu, in the end, but there was still a chance they could head the idiot ninja off elsewhere. If they could just find out what the Fuumaningun—and by extension, the Forrest Elves—were really after.

Coming to a halt at the door, it was Kizmel who raised a gauntleted hand to rap her knuckles against it. Two quick, sharp knocks—and before she'd even had a chance to lower her hand, a voice called out from the other side. "It's not locked. Don't really see the need, here. Besides, anyone strong enough or smart enough to reach this place is worth my time."

The three exchanged a quick look, and then the elf girl opened the door and led the way inside.

The interior was just as traditional as the outside, with a simple table in the center of the room, surrounded by cushions. Hanging on the walls were woodcuts—a couple of which Asuna recognized as copies of real-world art—as well as a couple of banners, and a surprising variety of swords and spears. She thought she even spotted a set of claws sitting on a side table, next to a metal-reinforced paper fan.

With a start, she realized two of the banners had very familiar emblems: one the crossed scimitar and horn of Lyusula, the other the golden shield and sword of Kales'Oh. I know Kizmel said Master Ganryu's had dealings with the Dark Elves, but why is the Forest Elf symbol here…?

Sitting cross-legged at the table was a gray-haired man in the formal gi of a martial artist, who watched the three of them come in with evident amusement. "So," he said, giving each of them a long, considering look. "You must be Moondancer's crew. He was right, then, when he predicted you'd be coming soon."

Asuna stiffened, exchanging a quick, surprised look with Kizmel and Kirito. "You, um, knew we were coming?" she stammered. But who could've told him? Even if the Fuuma did get here ahead of us, they don't know our ship's name. …Do they?

"Sit down, sit down," the old man said, chuckling. "As I'm sure you know, or you wouldn't have come, I'm Master Ganryu. Have some tea. I made sure to have it ready when Tengu warned me I'd be having more guests soon. Should've known a fellow master would know what he was talking about."

"Tengu?" Kirito blurted, eyes wide. "He was here?"

"Yes, he was—and I'll tell you all about it, if the three of you will just sit down. You're making an old man tired." Ganryu laughed, obviously aware he looked like he had more energy than his visitors. "Trust me, whatever you're in a hurry about—and I can guess—you can take the time to have a little tea and unwind. If you came through the secret tunnel, I expect you need it. Not as hazardous as the front door, but I know it has tricks of its own."

Definitely one of the higher-level NPCs, Asuna decided, cautiously settling down at the table. Which should make this easier… I hope.

Only after the three of them had settled, and taken courteous sips of the—quite good, the fencer quickly realized—tea, did Kirito fix Ganryu with a wary look. "You said Tengu was here," he said cautiously. "Older guy with a katana and a mask?"

"And very good with his blade, indeed," the old master confirmed with an amiable nod. "Though his inexperience with Sword Skills leave him ill-equipped to handle many of the dangers of this world. I sent him on a different journey from those of his companions. Or perhaps I should say employers, since he clearly wasn't of one mind with them."

Asuna felt her heart drop, and Kizmel winced. "Then the Fuumaningun came here before us," she said, lowering her eyes to stare into her tea. "And hired Tengu to assist them in defeating the guardian? I had thought better of the man."

"Tengu was here for his own reasons, Knight of Lyusula," Ganryu told her, voice taking on a sudden edge. "The Fuuma, inept as they may be, would have reached me eventually with or without his help. They were also aided by a group of knights—the Legend Braves, I believe they called themselves—and another sellsword by the name of Pitohui."

Great. That was more evidence in favor of the theory that the Braves were also in league with the Forest Elves. Pitohui… her actions didn't surprise Asuna that much; the manic girl was a wild card if she'd ever seen one. But it means we underestimated the Fuuma. They're insanely reckless, but clever, too.

Kizmel took a careful sip of her tea, clearly taking the time to collect herself. Then she said, "May I ask, Master Ganryu, what they wanted with you?"

Ganryu took a hearty swig of his own drink, which Asuna realized belatedly was not tea. "What else does anyone seek an old man like me for? Strength. I couldn't do anything for Tengu except point him elsewhere, but the Fuuma and Pitohui wanted my martial art skills. Of course, I could hardly teach them how to fight with their own bodies so soon, but the charmed skills… that I can teach them soon enough. If they pass my tests." He rolled his eyes. "Pitohui I expect I'll see again. Maybe the Legend Braves. The Fuumaningun… heh. They remind me of Argo, except their affectations hide none of her genuine cunning."

Argo? Wide-eyed, Asuna tried not to jump. Okay, think it through… Argo said she knew about this from the beta. That probably just carried over somehow… right?

"Tengu mentioned Argo was probably the one setting you three on my trail, now that I think about it." Ganryu smiled, looking downright nostalgic. "I wonder if that clever girl ever completed my first test? Ah, I can see you young people are curious. The test? To find trace of the Wolkenritter. Let justice be done."

Neither the word "Wolkenritter" nor the phrase that came after rang any bells for Asuna. Kizmel, though, blinked—and Kirito let out a relieved sigh. "The Wolkenritter?" he repeated, tension flowing out of his shoulders. "Well, no wonder you don't think the Fuuma will be back. There won't be anything about the Wolkenritter this far out. I only ever heard rumors about them on the Tenth Island."

Before Asuna could take any comfort from the resident beta tester's assurance, Ganryu's laugh blew it away. "You know less than you think, young Swordmaster," he said. Pausing to take a long drink from his sake, he languidly set it aside. "That, however, is the most I will tell you. To you, Knight of Lyusula?" He turned his attention to Kizmel, an odd glint in his eye. "In memory of favors past, I will tell you this: the Fuuma, in addition to the skill I offer them, seek to fulfill their bargain with Kales'Oh. To that end, they seek an artifact of Lyusula, which they at least believe the Wolkenritter will lead them to."

Maddeningly vague hints. Asuna supposed she shouldn't have been surprised. Ganryu was clearly a martial arts master in the classic mold; being cryptic went with the territory. If anything, that was so cliché that it reassured her—it was finally the kind of thing she expected from a setting like SAO's.

But one thing does bother me, she thought, seeing how tight-lipped Kizmel had become. "Master Ganryu?" she ventured, before the elf could say something they might regret. "If you knew the Fuuma were helping the Forest Elves, why did you give them any information at all? I've heard you've worked with the Dark Elves before…."

Ganryu gave her a considering look. "Young Swordmaster," he said slowly. "I have indeed had dealings with Lyusula, in years past. Just as I've done Kales'Oh a favor or two. On the balance, I believe I've come out of those dealings well." He raised a hand to brush back hair that had fallen over his left eye, and Asuna realized with a start that his ears were faintly, ever so slightly pointed. Not the long ears of an elf, but not quite human, either. "I do not take sides. My time in war is done, young lady. I will deal with the Fuuma as I do anyone else, just as I will with you."

She didn't like that. She could see the logic, but somehow, she just didn't like it. But in the end, he was being fair, she supposed, and if he had friends on both sides, she couldn't really blame him for staying out of it.

At length, Kizmel took a deep breath, and set down her cup. "Your… warning is well taken, Master Ganryu," she said carefully. "I appreciate it." She looked to her human companions. "Well. It seems we arrived too late to intercept the Fuuma, yet we have something of a lead now. Shall we be off? Perhaps Argo will have learned something since yesterday."

"Well, she had more of the day to get things done than we did," Kirito said, sighing. "If we're lucky, Agil will have heard something, too…. Excuse us, Master Ganryu," he added, pushing himself to his feet. "Thank you for your time. We'll be on our way."

It seemed kind of rude, to just drink tea, interrogate the man, and leave. But Asuna supposed that was the way of this world, so she gave the old master a respectful nod and stood herself. "Thank you for the tea, Master Ganryu," she said. Mostly honestly. What I tasted of it was good, anyway.

"No trouble, Swordmasters." Ganryu also stood, an exclamation mark appearing over his head. "Before you go. You've come this far, and shown yourselves smarter than those Fuuma whelps. Since you're chasing after them anyway… would you care to receive my teaching, as well?"

That brought them all up short. It hadn't even occurred to Asuna, when they'd set off to find Ganryu, to take on his quest themselves. Now that he mentioned it, though…. We live and die in this world by our swords. Being able to fight without them, if something went wrong… that's not a bad idea, is it?

When Kirito turned a questioning look on her and Kizmel, the two girls nodded, Kizmel clearing thinking along much the same lines. "That sounds like a good idea, Master Ganryu. We would be grateful to receive your instruction."

Asuna had to stifle a chuckle. Kirito could do formal when he had to, but from him it always sounded really weird.

As she thought that, a notice popped up on her HUD: [Learn From The Master]. And at the same time, Ganryu suddenly moved, blurring right in front of her. Before she could do more than squeak in surprise, his hand darted over her face, and then he was moving to Kirito, and finally to Kizmel.

She'd never seen anyone move so fast, and even after he'd returned to the other side of the table, she couldn't quite figure out what he'd done. Only when she looked to the equally-stunned Kirito and Kizmel did she understand.

Both of them had whiskers painted on their faces, in black ink vivid enough to stand out even against the Dark Elf's dusky skin. Reaching up to her own cheeks, Asuna found her fingers smudged with quickly-drying ink as well. Wait. This is…? Wide-eyed, she looked back at Ganryu.

The old master grinned, twirling a brush between his fingers, looking suddenly like a little boy playing a prank. "Do give my regards to Argo, will you? I still hope to see her finish her test someday, too!"

---

Kirito was disgruntled, standing at the helm, waiting for Kizmel and Asuna to get Moondancer back in the air. Getting back to the airship had been easy enough—which was itself part of why he was annoyed. With the Fuuma, Legend Braves, and their two hired helpers having dealt with the dungeon boss, the "hard" way in was the easier way out. It was downright infuriating to have to be grateful for anything that group had done.

Worse, in some ways, was the side quest they'd picked up. One thing to stay away from other players from preference, keeping away out of sheer embarrassment was something else entirely. And much as he wanted to blame Argo for not warning them, it wasn't exactly her fault that none of them had expected Ganryu to offer the quest out of the blue.

"Well," Kizmel said to his left, feeding power to the lift field, "now we have an answer to one question, at least." Though Kirito couldn't see it, focused as he was on the view outside the pilothouse windows, he could just hear the smile in her voice. "How frustrated do you think Argo will be, to learn we discovered the reason for her whiskers, without even paying her a single Cor?"

"Probably enough to charge us extra for the next piece of info we buy from her," Asuna grumbled, tapping at her console as she waited for the ship to lift off her skids. "And we're going to have to talk to her soon, aren't we? We've got a lead, but we don't even know what it means." A pause, as Moondancer slowly rose, and the fencer retracted the landing skids. "Whiskers, of all things… and they're not coming off, are they?"

"Probably not." Kirito remembered the final week of the beta, when he'd first seen Argo with her now-distinctive marks. She'd named a price for the explanation that he was pretty sure was above what was physically possible to earn during the beta period, with a grouchy air he'd never seen from her before. Or since, for that matter.

Now he knew she'd found Master Ganryu's quest, and never finished it. Why she started painting the whiskers on herself in the retail version is another question. Not sure I'm willing to risk asking just yet. If ever.

As Moondancer lifted away from the concealing rocks at the base of the Minos Mountains, Kirito spun the wheel hard to port. No sense risking flying into the skyrift. Without needing to be prompted, Kizmel pushed the throttle forward and spread the wing-sails, taking them back inland.

Taking a quick look around, making sure nothing bigger than some Gullwings was in the immediate airspace, he wondered idly where Liberator had gotten to. The cruiser was no longer hovering around the Minos range, at least. What was Coper doing here, anyway? And come to think of it, where's Moonshadow? With the Dark Elf port gone, I have no idea where Captain Emlas might go to ground.

Asuna cleared her throat, and he glanced back to see her giving him a pointed look. He wasn't going to risk telling her the whiskers kind of spoiled the effect. "So… either of you going to tell me what the Wolkenritter are? My German isn't that good."

Kirito shrugged. "To be honest, I don't know much," he admitted. "Like I told Master Ganryu, I only even heard of them on the Tenth Island. I know they were supposed to be another human order of knights, but details were really sketchy. I had the impression they were going to be important later in the game, though."

"Very likely." Kizmel, when he turned his attention to her, had a thoughtful frown on her face; one only slightly marred by her own whiskers. "The Wolkenritter—Cloud Knights—are very nearly legendary even among my people. Supposedly an ancient order, unbound to any one lord, in ages past they apparently did have deep ties to Lyusula. Now…." She slowly shook her head. "Now, it is said they had very nearly the strength of the Integrity Knights, but a century ago or more the Administrator succeeded in destroying them. If any remnants remain, they're in hiding."

He winced. In my dreams or in the game, the Axiom Church ruins everything, don't they? The lore does make them sound like the Church's natural enemy, though. That motto of theirs, "Let justice be done"—

A sigh brought his attention back to Asuna, who was looking downright depressed. "You know, I had this dream that chivalry actually meant something in this world," she grumbled, glaring down at her—still only partly comprehensible—readouts. "Now I know most knights are gone, and they were killed by the ones who are left. Way to crush a girl's dreams, Kayaba."

Well. Kirito couldn't say much to that. Kayaba had done a number on everybody, as far as he could tell, in-game and out.

"Now, now, Asuna," Kizmel said, turning a smile on the fencer. "While I won't claim we are any better than the Crimson Knights or the Wolkenritter were at their height, the Royal Guards of Lyusula still lay claim to honor. It could well be that someday you might be sponsored as a squire."

That brought both players up short. "But… I'm human," Asuna pointed out, a wistful look in her eyes. "And not even from Aincrad. The Dark Elves do that?"

"Rare, but not unheard of," Kizmel told her. Pausing for a moment to trim the wing-sails against an unexpected cross-wind, the knight continued, "Though many of my people may have forgotten, we do have deep historical ties to humans. Though I expect only the Pagoda Knights would be willing, and not for just any human, those who have performed great deeds for Lyusula have been taken in, from time to time."

Literal stars shone in Asuna's eyes, as SAO's emotional expression system interpreted for her. Kirito was honestly glad to see it, given how things had been lately. And now I'm really wishing I'd paid more attention to the lore when I did the Elf War quest in the beta. I must've missed a lot, rushing to get as far as I could before the beta ended.

As Asuna dreamed of knighthood, though, something else nagged at him. "Wait a second. Kizmel… Master Ganryu's ears. Do you know anything about…?"

"Ah." The elf girl's face went carefully blank—though if he was any judge, there was a glint of mischief in her eyes. "Suffice to say, Master Ganryu has done things for my people worthy of reward. Beyond that, I can only guess myself, and what I suspect, I cannot share. Not now, at any rate."

Huh. Well, Kirito supposed that was fair enough. She had never told them what her mission was, either, despite working with them for a month. He knew anyway—mostly—but he respected her need for discretion. They all had secrets, for one reason or another.

Mentally shrugging, he turned his attention back to guiding Moondancer back toward Niian's more populated areas. "Well," he said, changing the subject, "I guess I'd better get in touch with Argo. We'll probably have to pay through the nose this time, but no help for it."

As he took one hand off the wheel to open his menu, tabbing over to his Friends List, he heard Asuna speak up again. "You'll have to tell me more about that history later, Kizmel. Ooh, that sounds cool…. Speaking of that, though, do you know what artifact the Forest Elves would be looking for?"

"Not specifically, no. I suspect it's connected with the Dark Elf outpost I was intending to seek out here on Niian. That is, after all, the only chance I would have to continue my mission without your aid, and would be quite an asset even with our current arrangement."

Kirito wondered what she meant by that, realizing that the mess with the Fuuma had completely derailed their original intentions on Niian. That, though, he figured could wait a bit longer. Right then they needed information, and so he tapped the Voice Call option next to Argo's name.

[Connection Failed. Interference.]

He blinked. What the—? I've never seen that error message before. If she was in a dungeon, it would say so. "Interference"? From what?

A yelp from Asuna distracted him before he could figure anything out. "Guys! Forest Elf airship, coming up over the eastern rim! I think it's that patrol ship from before!"

"What?!" Kirito's gaze snapped to the port viewports, the glasswood's magnification showing him plainly what she'd already spotted. It was at least the same class as the one that had carried the Fuuma the other day—but something looked different about it. Something on the bow….

A flash of green light briefly blinded him, blazing past just over Moondancer's bow. He heard Kizmel swear in Sindarin, and immediately felt her feed more power to the engines. "They've armed!" she snapped. "Wherever they've been, they acquired a deck gun!"

"That's not good," Asuna said faintly. "That's really not good."

"No argument here!" Kirito grunted, spinning the wheel in a hard turn to starboard. "I've never been in an airship battle before—and we don't have a deck gun!"

Bad enough when Moondancer had done the chasing. They could've broken off the pursuit any time, if they had to. Running away was worse. A lot worse.

Another emerald bolt flashed by, narrowly missing them again. Kirito started to call out to Kizmel, but she was already doing it, pulling in the wing-sails and angling them to begin a desperate climb. He was relieved she was on the same page. In a situation like this, he wanted room to maneuver.

I just hope we don't take an engine hit. Crashing would make this the wrong move.

Turning Moondancer into a spiraling climb, Kirito could see the Forest Elf patrol ship wasn't just shooting at them in passing. It was actively chasing them, and he was pretty sure those weren't warning shots. Not sure if it's better or worse that they don't use cannonballs. Damn, I don't even know which cannon type is more powerful—!

A third blast, a strangled yelp from Asuna, and as Kizmel redlined the engines, Kirito frantically wracked his brains for a solution. Most obstacles he knew stood at least as much chance of wrecking Moondancer as the Forest Elf ship, and he was willing to bet they knew the local skyrifts better than he did.

They'd see it coming if we tried to pull the Skyfalls trick, he thought, as he and Kizmel leveled Moondancer. Damn, damn, I don't know airship combat, I should've asked Captain Emlas for tips when I had the chance—Captain Emlas!

One more shot from the patrol ship zipped past, close enough this time scorch Moondancer's keel. He barely noticed, between hanging onto the wheel and casting a quick, urgent glance at the third member of the crew. "Asuna! The comm—!"

"Already on it!" Asuna replied, fingers dancing across her console. "Ooh, I'm still having trouble reading some of this… there!" A click, and Kirito thought he could feel a low hum under the thrum of the engines. "This is Moondancer, calling Moonshadow—or Liberator, if you can hear me! We're under attack, requesting assistance!"

The patrol ship's gunner was getting better. If Kirito hadn't abruptly twitched the wheel to port, and Kizmel hadn't hauled in one lever, they'd have lost a wing-sail. The only thing that saved them after that, he thought, was that they couldn't seem to fire more than once every five seconds or so.

He'd had an idea, though. Turning Moondancer into the hardest curve to starboard he could, he called out to Kizmel, "Give me everything! I'm going to try for the Skyfalls—they'd expect us going under, but if we try for a fast landing in the lake—!"

It was a desperate plan, and he had no idea what step two was going to be. He also never found out, as Asuna suddenly uttered a word he'd never expected to hear from the high-class fencer, followed by, "Something's jamming us! And—I think that's a barometer, Kirito-kun, and it's dropping fast! Really fast!"

Meteorology wasn't Kirito's strong point. Even he knew what a pressure drop that fast meant, though, and he found himself borrowing some of Kizmel's choicer Sindarin epithets. "It's getting cold, too," he muttered, and wondered just what the hell was going on. Some islands followed the real-world seasons, but Niian wasn't one of them.

There was already a hint of frost appearing on the glasswood, and he was suddenly having to fight the wheel against a gale that was coming up out of absolutely nowhere. The only consolation was that it seemed to be hitting the Forest Elf ship, too—a shot he was pretty sure would've taken one of their propellers right off only glanced off the hull, instead.

Something about that hit made Kirito's flesh crawl anyway, an indescribable tingling over his whole body. He still tried to aim for the Skyfalls, but between that, the rapidly-growing storm, and the frosting viewports, he could barely see where the bow was pointing.

"The core crystal's output is dropping," Asuna called out, voice taut with controlled panic. "Kirito-kun, we have to take her down!"

He almost demanded where, but he knew she was right. And in just a moment, they had bigger problems.

The cold gale turned in the blink of an eye to a full-on blizzard, whiting out all the viewports. The wheel locked under Kirito's hands, and Kizmel shouted wordlessly as the lift field and wing-sail levers froze. Whatever was happening, it had just taken out Moondancer's controls completely.

At least the shooting's stopped, Kirito thought with detached, dissonant calm. That patrol ship must be as bad off as we are. …Oh, hell, I don't want to die like this, not with Kizmel and Asuna going down with me—!

The whiteout cleared as suddenly as it had started. Though snow still whirled around them in the unnatural blizzard, the glasswood was defrosting—the ship herself fighting it, he thought—and they could see again. But not the Skyfalls that he'd been aiming for.

"Oh, no," Asuna said faintly. "Kirito-kun… the core crystal is tapped out. We… we can't…."

A castle, made of gleaming, almost ethereal white stone, had materialized in front of them. As grand as anything Kirito had ever seen—grander than anything he'd even seen picture of, IRL—it was huge. It was eerie, on a bone-deep level.

Moondancer, power drained too low to keep flying, was on a collision course.

---

Author's Note:

---

So… yeah. First chapter since last July, and I end it on a cliffhanger. Well, it was that, or make this at least a 25K-word chapter, and that I will not do. …Besides, you guys have to know by now I love this kind of drama.

Sorry for the really long delay. As most of you know by now, my health has been crazy the last couple years, and the start of this year was a real doozy. That said, this latest problem I actually have under control now (wonders never cease!), and I've got the rest of this arc more or less outlined. Specific scenes still need to be worked out, but the remaining set-pieces have been determined. It's just a matter of working out the moment-to-moment details now.

This chapter was a lot slower than I hoped, in several places, and I especially wince at the 3500-word opening scene. Believe it or not, that's the trimmed-down version. …Hopefully the number of plot and character developments and little gags here and there still made it an interesting read. I promise, the climax of this arc—which will be beginning next chapter; even I can't possibly drag things out that badly—will be explosive, and will be starting soon. Next up will be the start of one of the driving mysteries of the fic, and then things will get very busy. For at least two chapters straight, because there is no way all the action I have planned to cap this arc will fit in one.

Side note: no, the references to the Wolkenritter do not mean the TSAB are mixed up in this. The name just happened to be the best I could think of for the role the group is supposed to have.

Second side note: pretty sure I got the emblem of the Forest Elves wrong. Going to have to dig into the novels again to find it, and that's going to take long enough I just used the first thing that came to mind for now. I'll edit it if/when I find the canon info.

…I keep trying to make this more of a lighthearted adventure than Monochrome Duet. My muse keeps dropping more drama on me instead. Thus the humor, where I could fit it, even if some of that is also plot-relevant.

Oh, yes, open question to readers: any suggestion for cooking methods aboard Dark Elf airships? Wood stove is out, given elven taboos making useful amounts of firewood darn near impossible to obtain, and me layman's knowledge suggests natural gas would be… dicey. Ideas welcome. (And in case I never got around to it, thanks to everyone who gave me suggestions when I was looking for alternatives to glass for Dark Elf windows. You were a big help.)

Um. Think that's everything this time? I hope everyone enjoyed the little gags—and I'll be interested to see if anyone noticed the genuine foreshadowing tucked in there. A couple things, you'd need to know more than just the anime or even the LNs to catch. So… worth the wait, bad, dumpster fire? Let me know how it was, and I'll see you guys in the next chapter (hopefully in less than ten months this time!). -Solid