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...

9. Chapter IX: Though the Heavens Fall

Chapter IX: "Though the Heavens Fall"

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December 10th, 2032

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The first thing that registered to Kirito was a high, ethereal choir of female voices. Or maybe just one voice overlapping on itself. He couldn't make out the language, but it felt somehow… unreal. Or maybe too real.

The next thing he noticed was that he was flat on his back, having hit a wood surface so hard he almost felt pain despite being in VR. Which led just about directly to the realization there was something soft on top of him. More than one something, he thought muzzily. And they were trapping his arms, too.

Cracking open one eye, he saw a mass of chestnut strands on his right shoulder. His other eye snapped open, to find lilac on his left.

Adrenaline flooding his system, Kirito suddenly wasn't sure what worried him more: that he couldn't remember the moment Moondancer must've crashed, or what Asuna and Kizmel were going to do when they came to. Somehow, the three of them had gotten tangled up, and while he thought Asuna would probably forgive that, he wasn't going to move a muscle and risk something that might really be his fault.

Maybe now they'll let me install a chair for the helm, he thought, clinging to the practical thought. And seat belts…. What happened, anyway?

The girls were starting to stir, Kizmel dragging herself back to consciousness first. "…That is the second time I've been in an airship crash," she muttered, blinking blearily as she lifted her head. "It was softer than the first, but still not an experience I wanted to repeat… hm?" Pushing herself into a sitting position against her console, the elf girl quirked one eyebrow. "Ah, Kirito. Thank you for cushioning the impact. Are you and Asuna all right?"

"I am," Kirito told her, inwardly relieved that she was neither offended nor teasing him. "Asuna?"

The fan of chestnut hair on his shoulder uttered an indistinct noise. Then, "Too early for this, Mother… huh…?" Asuna looked up, eyelids fluttering. "Kirito-kun…?" Her eyes shot wide open, and she pushed herself away, flushing bright red. "Um, yes! I'm okay! Just—just a little in shock from… from whatever just happened." Glancing around quickly, she added, "What did happen, anyway?"

Shaking off the relief that Asuna, though obviously embarrassed, wasn't going to take it out on him, Kirito managed a shrug. "I don't know," he admitted, carefully climbing to his feet. "Last thing I remember, we were on a collision course with a castle that appeared out of nowhere. I don't know how we even survived the crash."

From what he could see, they'd come out of it a lot better than they had any right to. The pilothouse was completely intact, as far as he could tell; looking out the viewports, the upper deck was still in one piece, too. There was no way to see the flanks or keel from there, but if he knew anything about SAO's airship physics, they should've been smashed to pieces on impact.

Kizmel levered herself into her chair, and frowned down at her console. "We will need to check for ourselves to see the details," she said after a moment, "but it appears the starboard wing-sail is jammed, yet still attached. Likewise the propeller on that side is showing damaged, not destroyed." She clicked her tongue. "…I think. I'm still unused to mechanical matters. If what I've been told is correct, Moondancer ought to be able to heal some of the damage herself, given time."

Oh, right, Dark Elf airships are alive. Moonshadow didn't heal, but then she took a lot more damage than I'm seeing here, and her core crystal needed to be replaced completely.

Asuna dropped heavily into her own seat. "If she can heal, it's going to take time," she reported, wincing. "Output was down before we crashed. Now, the core crystal is running on empty. …I think we're stuck here for at least a day or two, guys."

That wasn't good. Especially not with the Forest Elves clearly on the move. Kirito wasn't sure which possibility was worse: that they'd crashed, too, and were potentially on the lookout for Moondancer, or that they'd moved on to whatever their next objective was. One was dangerous for him and his companions directly, the other could well have longer-reaching consequences.

Kizmel sighed. "Not ideal, that. But, my comrades, we are still alive, and indeed in far better shape than we had any right to expect. I suggest we secure Moondancer as best we can, and explore our surroundings. Given the timing of this strange castle's appearance, this may well have been the patrol ship's destination. If it was, I'd rather we found their goal first; if not, I would still prefer we found them before they find us."

"Sounds like a good idea," Kirito agreed. Bringing up his menu, he quickly checked the map. As he'd feared, it gave no particular hints about their location—not even the castle's name—but it did tell him the ship counted as "landed" well enough to have Safe Haven status.

"I want to know, anyway," Asuna said softly. "This place… there's something about it…." Leaving her station, she walked over to the starboard viewport, a strange look on her face. "Kirito-kun? You hear that music, too, right?"

"Yeah." He closed his menu and walked to the forward viewport himself. "Even if the Forest Elves weren't involved, I'd want to take a look around just from the music. It just screams 'important, mysterious location', don't you think?"

A cleared throat made him glance back at Kizmel, who wore a puzzled frown. "Music? I don't hear anything. Is this something else unique to Swordmasters?"

She must not have full player privileges, even if she does have something resembling our menu system, Kirito realized, exchanging a quick look with Asuna. "Yeah," he said aloud. "To us, this was supposed to be a game, right? Music is part of the atmosphere…. Honestly, SAO's hasn't been that memorable for me so far. This is… different." He nodded toward the hatch. "Come on. Let's check the damage, then see what this place is, and we'll tell you about it on the way."

---

Asuna left the gaming explanations to the expert, focusing on their surroundings and their airship after they disembarked. Improbably, they'd come to a rest in an airship cradle, on a platform attached to a tower. It hadn't been a controlled landing, both ship and cradle bore scars from the impact, yet the damage wasn't nearly as bad as it should've been.

"It's too bad you can't hear the music, Kizmel," she heard Kirito say, as she inspected a gash in the bow planking. "Eerie, but I think I like it… maybe we can find a recording crystal sometime, that might capture it…."

Minor damage to the hull, she judged, walking a full circuit around Moondancer. Along with a tear in the starboard wing-sail, which had been forcibly folded by the crash. If she was any judge, they'd need to manually dislodge it from the mount. After that, if Kizmel was right, the ship would probably fix—heal—hull and sail both.

Guess we got lucky, getting a Dark Elf ship. This wouldn't be so easy if we had something like Liberator. Then we'd have to hope we found spares. And come to think of it, we'd probably need the right skills—I should ask Kirito-kun if there's Engineering-type skills in the game. Grr, why didn't I think of that earlier?

Coming to the stern, Asuna was relieved to see the port propeller was intact. Starboard was another thing, though. Two blades were noticeably bent; being made of metal instead of wood or the oddly strong silk of the wing-sails, she suspected the ship couldn't just heal from that. She figured there was a good chance the ship could fly on just one, but given they'd arrived after being chased by a hostile ship, she really didn't want to try it.

Still, we came out of that a lot better than we had any right to expect, she mused, coming back around to the bow. Give the core crystal a day or so to recharge, and we can probably fly right out of here, where "here" is. And….

Pausing by the bow, one hand idly tracing one of the gashes in the hull, Asuna took a moment just to watch Kirito talk with Kizmel. The veteran gamer was describing how Aincrad's music varied, the elven knight plainly fascinated—and if Kirito's face was still tinged with red, Kizmel showed no sign of noticing beyond a faintly coy edge to her smile.

I got really lucky, Asuna thought, remembering the tangle the three of them had been in after the crash. Kirito-kun… he really isn't a creep, is he? In a world where nothing was what it seemed, he's just what I thought when we first met: a gaming nerd who doesn't know what to do with girls, but knows how to keep his hands to himself.

He'd even been perfectly respectful when she'd had to strip off most of her gear in the cave. Incredibly awkward, but respectful. Asuna could name certain people who might've talked the talk, but at the same time would've barely hidden the leering. She shuddered at the very thought of certain people being involved in Moondancer's crash.

We're stuck for a bit, but we're stuck with good people, she decided, walking over to join them. …This isn't so bad.

"I've only seen recording crystals used for official business," Kizmel was saying, smiling wistfully. "They're quite rare, in Lyusula. Perhaps I should've ventured into human territory sooner… ah, Asuna! How is the ship?"

"About what you figured from the diagnostic," Asuna reported, glancing back at Moondancer. "I think we can free the wing-sail ourselves, and from what you said let the ship handle the rest. The propeller might be a problem, though, a couple of the blades are bent. Kirito-kun?"

"Huh." He frowned pensively. "Airships aren't my specialty—remind me to buy a guide from Argo next time we see her, even if she'll probably charge an arm and a leg—but I know there's a couple of skill sets related to them…. If it's just a couple of bent parts, I think we've got high enough STR between us to bend them back into shape. Though we'll probably want to find a complete replacement when we can, it should be enough to get us mobile."

"Mobile enough to escape pursuit?" Kizmel asked pointedly.

Kirito grimaced. "I hope we don't have to find out. We don't know they came here, too. If they did, they haven't managed a flyby yet. We've got a little time." He gestured back to Moondancer. "Come on. She counts as a safe zone, 'docked' like this, but I'd still rather we got the Mistmoon cloth over her. No sense inviting trouble."

A quick trip back aboard and into the hold, then the now-familiar process of hiding the ship under the camouflaging cloth, and then they were back at the dock. This time with their attention free to take stock of their surroundings.

As Asuna had thought at first, it seemed to be a single-ship dock attached to a tower right out of a fairy tale. An isolated tower, at that, far on the northeastern end of the castle; she had the feeling it was meant for the private use of a court wizard, or something like that. Or maybe… nope, not going there. Don't even think about it!

After her conclusions about Kirito, she did not need to remember Kizmel's insinuations about Moondancer's likely original use. Not at all.

"Well," Kizmel remarked at length, peering around the curve of the tower at the rest of the fantastical castle, "I can't say I have any idea what this place is. Speaking as a knight, it—and the way it appeared out of nowhere, in that inexplicable storm—I cannot even hazard a guess what might be going on." She hesitated, before turning back and lifting one eyebrow. "You see this world as a game, and it certainly seems Kayaba designed it around those rules. As players, what would this mean to you?"

Asuna, in turn, raised an eyebrow at Kirito. He was the gamer of their crew, after all. Though she could make some guesses based on storytelling conventions, he would be the one to pick up any game-specific nuances.

He scratched his cheek, clearly uncomfortable with the attention, and lightly cleared his throat. "Um. Well… as a gamer? If this were just a game, I'd say we tripped a quest flag—the timing just feels too convenient. Which would mean this is part of one of our quests; either Ganryu's—" he absently rubbed one of the whisker marks "—or the Elf War. …Or both." He shrugged. "That's if this was just a game. After how the first day went, all bets are off."

"Maybe, but you're right about the timing," Asuna pointed out. "That was way too convenient. I'd say we should treat this as part of the quest, just in case, and take a look around. Moondancer will be safe, and we can't take off for at least a day, anyway."

"Agreed." Kizmel took one more look at the castle's main structure, eyes narrow. "And… I feel strange. As if we're being watched, yet that's only part of it. I feel as if… as if we need to find something here."

Asuna started, realizing she'd been feeling something weird, too. Like the elf said, it was partly like something was watching them, but also…. I don't know. It doesn't even feel physical. But… I think I've felt something like it….

"You guys, too, huh?" Kirito gave the general area a wary look. "I hoped I was imagining that. Okay, exploration it is. Besides," he added, flashing a grin Asuna could tell was a little forced but found reassuring anyway, "who knows what loot we might find? Quest-specific hidden dungeons always have good stuff!"

---

For the first time since meeting a certain pair of refreshingly odd Swordmasters, Kizmel felt lost. Even in the Aincrad Archipelago, a land of islands floating high in the sky, there was a certain logic the world followed. Magic, beyond the most basic charms, was a thing of ancient tales even for her people, greater spells only witnessed by those unfortunate enough to meet the Integrity Knights.

A strange castle appearing out of a storm… that was beyond her experience. That it had seemingly appeared specifically for them—as if some greater force were at work, as if it were meant to appear there and then, before them—set her very bones tingling. Her sixth sense was crawling, a sensation made worse as she opened the door to the tower, and led the way into the white castle's interior.

Kizmel was wary, stepping inside. Kirito, by contrast, looked as if he was very much in his element, following her in with nothing more than a cursory glance to make sure nothing was about to attack them. For him, this appeared to be the most normal thing he'd done in some time.

Then as with Illfang, I will follow his lead, she decided, grateful for his aplomb. Kayaba may have created this transitory world through magic, a thing I understand better than they, yet he created it according to rules that Kirito knows far better than I.

"Not a safe zone," Kirito remarked, glancing around the room. "But it doesn't seem to be a dungeon, either. Exactly. That's something… is this a bedroom?"

"So it would appear," Kizmel agreed. Bookshelves lined most of the walls, bearing tomes that looked even to her eyes like those of a wizard of ancient tales. A locked chest, an ornate writing desk; a closet, which she fancifully mused probably held elaborate robes. And a large bed, dominating the east side of the tower—

A bright flash from behind startled her. She and Kirito both whirled, only to relax when they saw it was swirling around Asuna as she stepped inside. Accompanied as it was by a cheerful chime, Kizmel realized it was simply the odd announcement that the fencer had "leveled-up".

Asuna blinked, pausing halfway through the door. "O...kay…. That was kind of random. All I did was walk inside. Um, Kirito-kun, is there ever, I don't know, delayed-reaction XP?"

"Only if there's really bad lag," he replied, already turning back to search the room. Unsurprisingly, he went quickly to the chest; Kizmel might've been disturbed by the looting, if she hadn't begun to understand the rules of Kayaba's "game". "That kind of lag would probably have killed us, though," he continued, examining the lock. "If I had to guess? Exploration XP probably put you over the top, when you entered the castle interior."

"I never even noticed we got XP from that," Asuna said, frowning, and brought up her Mystic Scribing. "And we've been here for over a month now."

"Next to the quest XP we've been getting, it probably hasn't been enough to matter," he said, gingerly tapping the lock. "Huh. I don't have Lock-Picking, but I might be able to break this…. That this place does give that much XP just makes it even more likely it's important. We should be thorough." The swordsman glanced back over his shoulder. "You might wanna take a second to allocate skills, though. Never know when we'll get busy again."

"He has a point," Kizmel noted. "I will stand watch while you do, and while Kirito attempts to pillage, Asuna."

Smirking to herself at Kirito's low grumble about "treasure hunting", she walked over to a rug in the center of the floor. Between how blatantly it stood out, and the seeming lack of any exit besides the one to the airship dock, she was not surprised to find it covered a trap door. Which is hardly an ideal ambush point. With that and flight the only realistic ways to reach this tower, we should be safe enough. For now.

"Skill points, skill points," Asuna murmured, finger flipping through ethereal pages. "Let's see… definitely putting another point in AGI. I may still be a noob, but I know I'll never be a tank, and I like my rapier, so that's probably better than STR, right?"

"For your build, yeah," Kirito confirmed. Still focused on the lock, he pulled it back and slammed it against the chest; whatever he was trying to accomplish, he gave a satisfied nod. "Depending on sub-weapon, even a fencer might want a bit more STR, but that pistol of yours doesn't rely on the player's stats except to hold it. That one's obviously light enough not to be a problem." Abruptly standing, he drew his Anneal Blade. "Don't forget to check your slotted skills, too. You might have a mod option."

"Ooh, good point. There was one thing I really wanted to try for, if it was available…."

Listening to the two of them toss back and forth terms she was only barely beginning to grasp herself, Kizmel couldn't help but smile. For all that Kirito was the only one who lived and breathed the rules of a "game", it was still something that tied into their world. In moments such as these, they were not quite the lost souls she all too often saw them as in other quiet times.

Yet it's a world I must learn for myself, she reminded herself, idly bringing up her own "menu". Even if I have but a fraction of a Swordmaster's full Mystic Scribing. Her "Skill" page was much more limited than the one her Swordmaster comrades had shown her. It displayed her physical abilities, and a locked set of skills; there was no option to add or change anything.

A pity, yet even the Storage is an immeasurable advantage. One the Forest Elves… probably don't have. Certainly others of my own people do not, if I am right about how my Mystic Scribing evolved. Kizmel found herself grimacing. I hope that does not cause as much strife as I fear it might. My own people are no more immune to envy than Swordmasters such as Kibaou.

"A-ha!" Asuna proclaimed, breaking into the elf Knight's gloomy thoughts. "A mod's available for Searching—I'm going for Night Vision. No more not seeing where I'm going in caves! No more tripping over stalagmites, no more wondering if something is about to eat me—"

"No more tripping into underground rivers?" Kirito said—and struck out with his sword, a simple Vertical that cut into the chest's lock with a screech of metal-on-metal.

Asuna hastily ducked the ricocheting pieces of lock, and shot a glare at the swordsman. "You? Are evil. And impossible. Warn me before you do something like that!"

"Sorry, sorry…." From the poorly-hidden grin, Kizmel could tell Kirito wasn't truly that apologetic. At first, anyway; a moment later, he seemed to realize something, and he coughed. "Um. Okay, this isn't a safe zone, that could've been bad… Not doing that again, promise." Quickly sheathing his sword, he levered open the chest. "Huh. Not much in here, except a rolled-up scroll… wait a second. That looks familiar." Seemingly having already forgotten the tiff with Asuna, he straightened, triumphantly holding the scroll aloft. "And here we have a map of the castle! Now we just need the compass, right?"

"I have no idea what you're babbling about… c'mon, let's see it." Asuna stalked over to him, pulling on one end of the scroll to unroll it. "Wow. Not as much detail as I'd like, but it looks like it does give most of the layout. And… does that say 'Wolkenfelder'?"

"Cloudscape. I think." Kirito frowned. "I heard about Wolkenfelder Castle in the beta, but the NPC chatter implied it was a lot closer in toward the center of the Archipelago. What's it doing here….?"

"An excellent question," Kizmel agreed, moving to join them. "Though as secretive as the Wolkenritter were, and as long as they've been gone, I suspect this might be an embellishment by Kayaba. Whether that's good or bad, I could not guess, yet at least he has made sure we have a map. Perhaps we should move on? Unless," she added, lips curling in a teasing smile, "you would rather rest first? It has been a trying day already, and the bed here appears more than large enough for all of us."

The two Swordmasters blinked. Glanced back at the bed, which did indeed appear as if made in expectation that its owner would not be sleeping alone. Or even with just one for company.

Blushing as bright as only the transitory world could make her face, Asuna snatched the map and stalked to the trap door. "It's barely noon," she said sharply, flinging open the door. "We've got plenty of time to explore, and let's not forget we may not be alone here!"

Kirito said nothing, only coughing awkwardly, as he followed her down into the spiral stairwell below. From the red on his own cheeks, Kizmel judged she'd achieved her intention of breaking the tension Wolkenfelder Castle's very walls seemed intent on creating.

Though as she took up the rear down the stairs, and into the high-ceiling hallway three floors below, she couldn't help but cast a wary glance at its tall, stained-glass windows. Perhaps it was just the eeriness of otherworldly white stone, or the strange patterns of color cast by sunlight streaming in those windows, but she could not help but feel as if they were being watched.

My senses, or Kirito's Swordmaster skills, ought to warn us of any watchers here. And yet… and yet….

---

One thing Kirito hadn't quite appreciated from the outside was just how big Wolkenfelder Castle was. The one tower they'd landed at had included all the amenities of a good-sized apartment, or at least the medieval equivalent of one. The hall below led into a fortress with a bigger footprint than a Skywall Tower.

This place is the size of some towns, he thought, as his and his companions' footsteps echoed eerily in the empty halls. Bigger than some. The Wolkenritter were supposed to be really secretive, yet they hung out in a place like this? …Maybe they compensated for not having many outposts by making this one really big instead.

He couldn't deny it had been well hidden. There'd been no sign of it in Niian's skies at all until the blizzard. Had it been invisible, he wondered, or in some kind of in-universe instanced map?

From what Kirito could tell, they'd ended up in the Castle's residential wing. Besides the initial tower, the first few rooms they checked were all personal chambers, and well-appointed ones at that. Beds that he'd have killed to spend even one night in, after so many tucked into a tiny cot on Moondancer, ornate wood furniture… they even came standard with a suit of armor each. Good armor, if he was any judge.

Too bad none of us wear full plate.

Halfway down that first hall, though, they found a door that opened on something completely different. A much larger, two-level room, lit with massive windows on the north wall and no few skylights, its center held a number of desks and tables. Lining all the walls, and standing in row after row on either side, were shelves. Lots of shelves.

"Books," Asuna breathed to his right, eyes lighting up. "Lots of books… have we found the Castle's library?"

"I believe we have," Kizmel said reverently. Her gaze, as she walked into the room, was downright hungry. "And I don't believe I've seen this many books in one place in my life, outside the Royal Library in Moongleam Castle. The Wolkenritter were clearly Knights of taste." At the looks the two players gave her, she chuckled, smiling wryly. "I believe I mentioned I have my own difficulties socializing? Hours spent in places such as this are why I've a better appreciation for humans than some of my people."

"And we're really grateful for that," Kirito said under his breath. Not quite as quietly as he thought, though, given that Kizmel wasn't the only one favoring him with a lifted eyebrow. Flushing, he hastily tried to change the subject. "It is awesome, isn't it? I wonder how many of the books here have anything in them."

"Why wouldn't they…? Oh." Asuna's shoulders slumped. "Right. Constructed world. Kayaba couldn't have fit that much in, could he?"

She sounded so let down Kirito couldn't help but hurry to reassure her. "I mean, there should still be plenty of interest in here! If nothing else, I bet Kayaba stuffed this place full of lore. Anything that wouldn't break game progression is probably in here." He paused, reconsidering. "…And maybe a few things that would, come to think of it."

Because he still wasn't sure why Wolkenfelder Castle had appeared in the first place. He'd have thought it was related to Kizmel's quest, or Master Ganryu challenging them to find traces of the Wolkenritter, except there'd been no quest notifications since their crash landing. He'd even checked to see if any had come up while they were recovering from the impact, and found nothing.

Either they were sequence-breaking, or they'd stumbled into something sneaky Kayaba had slipped in. Kirito wasn't sure which possibility had scarier implications.

Either way, Asuna perked up, as he'd hoped. "From what you've said about the Axiom Church and the old chivalric orders, and Kizmel's talk of the elves, even that would be interesting! Too bad," she mused, "that there's no catalog." Her eyes roamed the stacks of books, lips curling in a rueful smile. "Trying to find anything in particular without one would take days."

"Days we do not have, with the Fuuma and the Forest Elves potentially on the loose," Kizmel agreed wistfully. "A pity."

The hunger for knowledge emanating from both of them was palpable. Not that Kirito could disagree. For any RPG player, the lore was at least half the fun, and this place looked like an absolute treasure trove of it. Not to mention, the more I learn, the more I can find out how similar this really is to my dreams. And maybe I can figure out why… and what happened to Alice.

He forced that thought away, focusing on the present. It helped to see that the girls were just as interested in the place as he was; he couldn't help a smile, and had the sudden mental image of the three of them perched by an upper level window, just… reading.

It was a cozy thought. After everything in the past month, Kirito realized he wanted a little cozy.

"Well," he offered, as the other two reluctantly turned to leave the room, "we may not have time now, but there's no way this will be the last time we're here. We can't spend all our time clearing or following Kizmel's mission, so… how about the next time we're taking a break, we come back here and give the library a real search?"

The twin smiles he got from that, making elf and human look like sisters, made the suggestion worth the self-consciousness it brought with.

---

I do not like this. I do not like this at all. Something is very, very wrong.

Ghosting along the very narrow sills linking stained-glass windows, passing in front of them only in the barest moments she was sure those whom she was tracking were not watching, stopping occasionally behind one or another of the suits of armor lining the sills, Kumari couldn't quell her rising unease. Her fellow shinobi might not have any second thoughts about their alliance; she was beginning to think that was another sign she'd misjudged them, as well.

As the only member of the Fuumaningun with both a high level of Hiding and a white catsuit to make it work in Wolkenfelder Castle, Kumari had been assigned to shadow the other Swordmasters that had come. Supposedly, their allies from Kales'Oh were simply concerned that the Lyusulan Knight would reach their prize first. After her guild had been kept belowdecks during what she was fairly sure had been an airship chase, she was not so sanguine.

I fear we may have made a fool's bargain. And I may be the greater fool, for believing Koutaro and Isuke truly knew what they were doing. The signs have been there for weeks, had I only the wit to see it.

Kumari had heard of the leader of the Swordmasters she shadowed, the one they called the "Beater". The most famous beta tester, among those who dared venture beyond Aincrad's safest city, there was no question he knew more than most—and what he did not know, the Rat surely did. Yet from the conversation she overheard, he was ignorant of Wolkenfelder's presence, and very nearly of its existence.

If he did not know, I find it unlikely Koutaro or Isuke did. Something is wrong here.

The Beater and his comrades came to a door near the end of the hallway, paused to discuss it, and slipped inside. Kumari took precious moments to follow, needing to find another way that would not instantly reveal herself to them. Fortunate that she'd already discovered Wolkenfelder Castle had an impressive array of hidden passages, but her Searching was low enough to make finding them difficult.

Soon, though, she was climbing into a cramped ceiling passage, leading into the next room. Part of an elaborate ventilation system, she suspected, with openings into the room below frequent enough to let her keep track of her potential prey. Openings small enough that, so long as she didn't move at the wrong moment, it was unlikely they would pick out her white catsuit from the surrounding stone.

"Man, the Wolkenritter liked their ornamental armor," the Beater commented. "You could outfit three raids with what we've seen so far. Even some here, in… what is this room, anyway?"

"A dining hall, I think," she heard the Lyusulan Knight reply thoughtfully. "Pity any food remaining here would surely have spoiled ages ago; doubtless the Wolkenritter ate on better than field rations. …Even rotting food sometimes seems preferable."

"Definitely something we need to work on," the fencer—no, Kumari thought, seeing the pistol; musketeer—agreed gloomily. "Kirito-kun, are you sure you don't know of any way to cook decent meals on an airship?"

The Beater, who was frowning down at a map, shrugged. "Sorry, but like I've said, I didn't have much to do with airships during the beta, let alone Dark Elf ships. And I know their ships work differently from human-built ones like Liberator. We'll have to ask Captain Emlas next time we see him."

They moved on quickly after that, Kumari crawling as quickly and quietly as she could after them. Hugging windows again in the next hallway, and then slipping carefully into a genuine hidden passage leading into the walls of what she thought was a barracks, she listened closely to their conversation. Some of it relevant, some of it inane banter….

All of it, she quickly discovered, genuine, open, and including the elf without a second thought.

Peering through a concealed slit in the wall, Kumari watched the trio examine the weapons held by yet another set of mounted armor. "This is pretty good stuff," the Beater remarked, whistling. "Better than my Anneal Blade, or your Wind Fleuret, Asuna. Maybe even your saber, Kizmel. Too bad none of us use lances."

"I could not use any of these in any case, Kirito," the Lyusulan Knight told, chuckling. "These are made from steel. I may not have mentioned this before, but my people are burned by the touch of Cold Iron. All those descended from the Sindar endure that weakness; I've often thought it part of the price we pay for our longer lives. Though some would argue it's more to do with our greater affinity for magic." She turned a wry smile on the two Swordmasters. "Fortunately, the creation of our cities left us with a surplus of alternatives that lasts to this very day."

The beta tester freely admits ignorance, Kumari thought, grimacing behind the cloth mask that hid her mouth. Koutaro or Isuke would prevaricate and feign knowledge, until someone helpfully provided the answer. The elf does not hesitate to reveal a weakness, when the armsmen of Kales'Oh barely tell us what we need to know at any given moment.

At first, she'd thought the Forest Elves thin explanations and general evasiveness had simply been their nature as NPCs. Certainly the other Fuuma had dismissed it as such, when she'd asked. The flight to Wolkenfelder Castle—which she strongly suspected had been a matter of pure chance—and evident battle with the other Swordmasters' ship had shaken that assumption, badly. Seeing how readily the Lyusulan Knight engaged with her hired sellswords—who seemed to be in it for far more than mere money—effectively proved to her that it was no limitation of AI.

Which means Koutaro, Isuke, and the others truly are far less informed than they'd have me believe. I should have realized that weeks ago.

She had joined the Fuumaningun on launch day as part of the character she'd developed for her avatar, Kumari. Their dedication to role-play had fit her like a glove. After Kayaba revealed his deadly game, she'd clung to the elaborate persona she'd created, embracing the shinobi for the sake of her survival, and sanity. She'd stayed with the Fuuma out of a belief that their beta knowledge would help them all survive.

On Einsla, that had seemed a wise choice. Since arriving at Niian, Kumari had had her doubts. Especially when the other Fuuma insisted on continuing on their quest despite Argo the Rat uncharacteristically refusing to sell needed information.

Koutaro and Isuke had insisted afterward that they deliberately sought out the Forest Elves for help. Having since heard the tale of them running from a Trembling Ox, Kumari increasingly suspected it had been pure accident, and that her fellow shinobi were simply unwilling to ever admit error.

But it is what it is, she told herself, dropping down to squeeze into a crawlspace beneath the next hallway. I made my choice; now I simply must survive it. For now, that means following these three—and hoping they have a better idea of what they're doing than do my comrades.

A chime in her ear distracted her, and she stopped dead. "I am here," she breathed, touching two fingers to her ear.

"Where?" Koutaro asked her. "We have found the first vault, but it is empty. Our friends are patient, but concerned. Have the Iga dogs stumbled on anything they should not?"

Only the intense discipline of her carefully-constructed persona kept Kumari from rolling her eyes. The other Fuuma seemed to genuinely believe the Beater and his companions were Iga ninja. "Still in the upper levels," she reported quietly. "They seem to have no idea where they are, and are exploring more than seeking." She paused to slide to a vertical space, closer to an exterior wall. "…We are close to the Castle's port. The Lyusulan and her allies are investigating."

"Good! The more they are distracted, the longer it will take them to wander into the lower chambers. Watch them closely, and delay them further if you can!"

"That may be difficult, without exposing myself," Kumari muttered. "But I will do what I can, Koutaro." The Beater's group had just found the door leading outside; she quickly climbed up a concealed ladder, finding—as she'd suspected—a hidden exit. Opening it, she prepared to break the connection with Koutaro—only to stop herself short. "Koutaro. We are not alone."

"We know that," the other shinobi said impatiently, "that is the point—"

"Not the Iga." Kumari stared down at the small skiff docked in a tiny corner of the Castle's port. "If I am right… this is worse."

After all, who else would paint whiskers on the bow of an airship?

---

Most of Wolkenfelder Castle hadn't been too bad, all things considered. Though the layout was a lot more sensible and functional than Kirito was used to from a video game castle—Kayaba's meticulous attention to detail at work, he figured—it was otherwise a pretty standard game location. They'd even found some decent loot along the way, which he estimated could finance the repairs their gear and ship were likely to need when they got back to a town. Though he could wish the suits of armor scattered everywhere weren't Immortal Objects, he thought they'd probably fetch a good price, too….

What bothered him was the indefinable sense of difference that pervaded the castle. That, and the fact that there were absolutely no mobs to be found.

A vast castle, obviously intended as a major quest location, yet not a Safe Haven. And no mobs. Kirito was getting twitchier by the minute, just from nothing at all. Not even a single trace of the Forest Elves or the Fuuma.

Stepping out Wolkenfelder Castle's front gate onto what was plainly the fortress' port was honestly a relief. There, he had clear line-of-sight, so he could at least be sure nothing was sneaking up on them.

It was there, seeing the sheltered pit that served as the port, that Kirito realized the Castle was built into a floating mountain. Craning his neck back the way they'd come, he could even see the broken-off peak, which hadn't been visible from where they'd landed, and he'd been too busy trying not to crash to notice on the way in. Backed by that, Wolkenfelder Castle was vulnerable only from above and in front.

"We should check some of the other towers, if we have time," he mused, descending the steps from the Castle gate toward the docks. "This place is eye candy for sure, but the makers were serious about defense. Any bets some of the towers have anti-air guns?"

"I… honestly wouldn't know," Kizmel admitted. Her ears were twitching in a way Kirito had come to recognize was her feeling the local flow of magic. "As I've said before, I knew little of airships before Moonshadow's crash, and my people mostly live underground. Fixed defenses of that nature are not something we've often needed."

"One way to find out," Asuna said. She'd relaxed a lot over the course of their castle exploration, and she was looking around the port with an expression of open wonder. "I really hope we have time to explore the Castle properly. This place… it's amazing. Yet… sad."

"I know what you mean." Beyond the subliminal itch that didn't quite match any normal sense, beyond even the lack of mobs making him expect an ambush at every turn, Kirito could feel a sense of loss. Wolkenfelder Castle had obviously been home for some people, for proud knights like the ones Asuna so admired.

Home to people who fought the Axiom Church, and lost. Kirito fought down the mix of remembered fear, despair, and fury that stirred in his heart, and hoped it wasn't too obvious on his face. Dammit. The therapy didn't prepare me for Kayaba throwing it all in my face like this. Or… if he was involved, back then, did he do this on purpose?

He tried to push that all away. There was no way to know, and it wouldn't help to dwell on it. Any more than it would help to dwell on the memories of….

Stepping up to the very edge of the empty docks, Kirito's eyes went wide. He'd been too far away to see it at first, but this close, and with the sun hitting just the right angle to light it up— "Can't be," he whispered. "Guys… do you see what I see?"

"Uh-huh," Asuna said quietly. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"It would certainly explain a great deal," Kizmel agreed, eyes narrowing. "And yet it raises just as many questions as answers."

Kirito had learned a few things about judging airship sizes, the last couple weeks. If he was right—and the girls clearly agreed with him—one of the docks would have just about fit a light cruiser, nice and snug. And at the far end of the sunken port was a tarnished gold ring, large enough for something even bigger than a light cruiser to pass through with room to spare.

"A World Gate," Kizmel murmured. "I suppose it might be coincidence, but with the rules of this world…. Do you suppose we've found where Sir Diavel discovered Liberator?"

"That's what I think," he confirmed, shivering at dreamlike memories. "I bet if we looked hard enough, we'd find another gate somewhere in the Castle. How he got Liberator back to Einsla without a connecting gate, I don't know, but he definitely didn't find her there. If she was here, that's half the puzzle solved."

"More than half," Asuna put in. "Think about it," she added, when they looked at her. "Even you heard of the Wolkenritter in the beta, right? Diavel probably heard more than you did about this place."

That… made a lot of sense, when she put it that way. Kirito felt his shoulders ease, just a little. The mystery of how Diavel had gotten Liberator had been nagging at him, another eerie question tacked onto his existing uncertainties about Aincrad's nature. If that had a normal explanation…. I think we're still missing something, and it doesn't explain my past. I'll take what I can get.

"We may be fortunate the World Gate appears to have been shut down," Kizmel remarked, as they headed toward the east side of the port. The gangway for a larger ship blocked the view just enough to potentially obscure any smaller ships that might have been docked beyond it. "The last thing we need is to attract notice from the Integrity Knights again. I don't know about you two, but I do not believe I've gotten that much stronger since Illfang."

Kirito shuddered. "No. We definitely don't want that yet." Someday, he told himself. When I am stronger, I'll face Alice again. Until then—nope, I don't want to run into one. They'd eat us for breakfast, with room left over to finish off the guilds if they really wanted to.

"You know," Asuna said casually, climbing the stairs of the larger dock, "glad as I am that we've probably cleared up the mystery of Liberator, there's one thing here that kind of bothers me."

He nodded. "If Liberator was in the smaller dock—what used to be docked here? And where'd it go?"

Because this dock was definitely meant for something bigger than Liberator, and while Kirito didn't know his airships very well, he knew "bigger" usually meant "more guns". If there had been another ship at Wolkenfelder Castle's port, and it was gone now, the possibilities were ugly.

"This may be a time to place our hopes in Kayaba crafting this spell within the framework of a game," Kizmel said wryly. "Perhaps, if we are fortunate, the larger dock is meant as… what's the term you sometimes use, 'flavor'? Or perhaps for 'player' use."

Kirito paused mid-step, thinking about that. "You might be right," he said slowly. "I do remember there weren't airship battles this early, in the beta; I think because players weren't expected to have much in the way of combat-ready airships yet, either. It wouldn't make sense to throw a heavy cruiser or something at us now, in terms of gameplay balance."

That thought cheered him up. Oddities like Alice appearing after Illfang aside—and in gameplay terms, his ad-lib about Kayaba sending Integrity Knights to punish exploits might well have been true—Kayaba seemed genuinely dedicated to making the game "fair".

Reaching the top of the dock left him with more mixed feelings. On the one hand, there was no sign of the Forest Elf patrol ship, so they weren't right about to be attacked by homicidal NPCs. On the other hand, he would've been very surprised if they hadn't landed at the Castle somewhere. If they weren't at the main port, who knew where they were.

Back into the Castle, then. We're here for a reason, and we haven't found it yet.

Kirito started to turn back to the Castle gate, only to pause as something caught his eye at the very edge of the port. Just as he turned to take a closer look—

"Oi, Kii-bou! There you are!"

At least he had the satisfaction of seeing even Kizmel about jump out of her skin at the unexpected shout. He didn't feel so bad, then, when only then did he see a familiar hooded figure, leaning against the hull of the smallest airship he'd yet seen in SAO, grinning ear to ear.

"Argo," Kirito said, sighing. Sternly ordering his heart to slow down again—and trying to ignore the phantom "extra" beats he was feeling again—he led the way to where the Rat stood waiting. "Where have you been?" he demanded, when they got close. "I tried to call you a couple hours ago, and got an error message about 'Interference', or something like that."

"Sorry 'bout that," Argo said cheerfully, pushing away from her little ship. "That woulda been right before this place showed up outta nowhere, right? That was prolly the magic messin' with the chat. Guess ya didn't notice, in the beta, big magic an' long-distance chat don't mix. I was flying in the area, when…." She trailed off, peering closely at his face. Then at Asuna's, and finally Kizmel's. "Oh…?"

Kirito blinked, then froze; in his peripheral vision, he could see the girls coming to the same horrified conclusion. Oh, no. Please tell me she doesn't have a recording crystal—!

The Rat burst out laughing. Full-on, doubled-over, clutching her stomach laughing. "Oh, ya—ya poor guys!" she wheezed. "Ya met Master Ganryu! Now ya know the secret of Argo-nee-chan's whiskers!"

"Yes," Kizmel said, with a restraint Kirito honestly admired. He could barely see the weary, rueful twist of her mouth. "Yes, Argo, now we know. And I presume, since you didn't have the chance to charge us for the information, your prices will be higher than usual for—"

Flash!

"Nope!" Argo told her, grinning. "Changin' my prices over a grudge wouldn't be ethical, Kii-chan. 'Sides!" She held up the softly-glowing diamond that had just half-blinded them. "A pic o' you three, lookin' like that? That's all the payment I need!"

Oh, hell, no!

"How much, Argo?" Asuna demanded, advancing on the info broker. "How much do you want, to never show anyone that picture?"

"Aw, c'mon, Aa-chan! It's all good fun!" Argo skipped backward, slipping the recording crystal under her cloak. "You know Argo-nee-chan never sells anything unless people ask. 'Long as none o' you talk, it's safe with me!"

Kirito didn't find that very reassuring. Argo never did something like that without intending to use it for something later. If only blackmail material.

"Forget th' whiskers for now, anyway." Argo jerked a thumb toward the Castle's east wing, and the huge, ornate double-doors that led inside. "Y'all should be able ta finish the quest an' get 'em off anyway, since ye're here…. Right now I gotta show ya something."

Moondancer's crew exchanged resigned looks, and Kizmel took the initiative in following the Rat. "You've already been inside, Argo?"

"Yep. Checked out a few rooms, found some interestin' stuff. Then I spotted yer ship at the Magician's Tower, an' figured I'd wait for ya guys at the docks." The Rat's grin faded, and her stride lost some of its bounce. "Fer what it's worth, the Forest Elf ship's docked at the west wing. Didn't wanna get too close, th' gunners looked ready to fry on sight…. An' what's in here, I figure Kii-chan knows more about than little ol' me."

That got a raised eyebrow out of the elven Knight. Before she could ask, though, Argo reached the doors, stopped, and turned back to look at them with a flourish.

"Welcome," she said grandly, "to Wolkenfelder Cathedral—and a question that's stumped even the Magnificent Rat!" Spinning back around in a whirl of brown cloak, she pulled open the doors.

---

All of Wolkenfelder Castle had an otherworldly air to it, even for SAO. Every step Asuna had taken throughout had felt like she was walking through a dream, or a fairytale. Old legends of knights brought to life, but only as echoes. So many suits of armor, as if the Wolkenritter had been frozen in time—it all made her feel like a dream, or a snapshot.

Wolkenfelder Cathedral took her breath away. The floor was stone, polished to a mirror sheen that reflected the slowly swaying chandeliers that hung from the arched ceiling, as well as the intricately-carved wooden pews that stood in two columns. Statues of heraldic beasts lined both walls, each one so detailed that Asuna thought they might come to life at any moment.

Stained glass windows stood between those statues. Unlike the more generic, random patterns she'd seen throughout the rest of the castle, these seemed to depict specific people and events. Knights in armor like ash, battling some of the creatures seen in statue form—and at the far end, behind where she'd have expected to see an altar, a window depicted those knights alongside elves, fighting dark beings.

What really drew her eye, and startled a gasp from Kizmel, was what stood exactly where an altar would've been. A tree, its bark pure black, branches and metallic silver leaves swaying in a breeze Asuna couldn't feel. Its roots sank deep into the cathedral's floor, and it seemed to drink in the light from the window behind it. Despite that, Asuna didn't find it at all ominous; rather, she felt a strange warmth from it.

"Impossible," Kizmel whispered. Armored heels oddly muted on the mirror-polished stone, she slowly walked down the cathedral's center aisle, gauntleted hand outstretched. "A Spirit Tree, here…?"

"Spirit Tree?" Asuna repeated; softly, unwilling to break the ethereal air that pervaded the place.

"Saplings of the Holy Tree of Lyusula," the elven Knight said reverently. "Pale shadows of our patron, and all we have left in the Archipelago. They sustain my people, and core crystals are born of their condensed magic, gathered over years." She turned wide violet eyes on the humans. "Why would one be here?"

"That, Kii-chan, is a really good question." For once, even Argo was quiet, settling into one of the pews with uncharacteristic grace. "Now, I've prolly heard a bit more o' the lore 'bout the Wolkenritter than Kii-bou. I can tell ya they worked with the Dark Elves in the backstory—somethin' to do with the World Gates. But this?" The Rat shook her head. "I'll give ya guys this one for free: even I never heard about a Spirit Tree outside places run by the elves."

"Um." Kirito's gaze, flickering between the Tree and Argo, was wary. "Argo… am I the only one starting to feel like we've stumbled into something that really shouldn't be here this early in the game? I feel like we're sequence-breaking. Like, a lot."

"Crossed my mind, too, Kii-bou." The Rat's eyes were unusually serious. "Master Ganryu talked 'bout this in the beta, too, but I figured I was s'posed to come back a lot later. Even I didn't find much about the Wolkenritter 'til the beta was almost over. This Castle? Not sure it's s'posed to be here right now."

Asuna kind of lost track of the conversation after that, following Kizmel up to the Spirit Tree. "It's beautiful," she whispered. "I've never seen anything like this, in my world or even here in Aincrad…."

"These trees are the pride of my people," Kizmel murmured, reaching out to touch ebony bark with armored fingers. "It's said that, before the Great Separation, the Old Kingdom of Lyusula had entire forests of them. Today, the Spirit Trees are few and far between, and precious. They are the source of what little magic we have left, carefully gathered from their leaves and sap. On the rare occasions a branch falls, the wood is sometimes forged into the strongest swords Lyusula's smiths can make." With her free hand, the Knight beckoned the musketeer closer. "Come, Asuna. See for yourself."

Swallowing, feeling ever more like she was walking into a dream, Asuna stepped up the Spirit Tree. She pressed her own hand on it, eyes falling closed. Kizmel was right, she quickly realized. Even through her glove, she could feel a pulse within the tree, a flow of power. It reminded her of the unreal experience of Moondancer's core crystal awakening, a feeling that registered on a sense she couldn't even name.

"Awesome" was a word thrown around all too casually. Yet whether it was magic, or the creation of programming virtuosos, it truly did inspire awe in her.

Something this amazing, left here alone, unseen, she thought. The Dark Elves must've thought it was important to give the Wolkenritter this, and yet… here it is, doing nothing. Everything the Wolkenritter did… did any of it even matter?

This was wrong. This was all wrong. This had been the castle of knights who might actually have been worthy of the name, and it was all for nothing, because the Axiom Church had destroyed it all. The Integrity Knights were the only human knights left, and Kirito's one-time friend aside, they were a mockery.

Looking up at the silvery leaves, Asuna felt her hands curl into fists. Wolkenfelder Castle and its Cathedral didn't even bear scars from honorable battle, as if the knights that had once walked the halls had been wiped away without a fight. Empty, useless….

She had to look away, gaze turning down to the polished floor. This feels like my life, she thought bitterly. So much effort, and for what? They faded away, just like I would've faded away if I'd followed the life Mother wanted for me. Just like I will, if I can't….

"This is wrong," she whispered. "This is all wrong."

Kirito broke off in the middle of asking Argo something; a part of Asuna was warmed by the concerned look he sent her way. "Asuna?"

"This is wrong," she repeated. "If this is a story Kayaba created, it's just as wrong as if it were real. This is empty," she added, with a heat that surprised herself. "The Axiom Church has had its way again, and again, and everyone either knuckled under, or was crushed. There's just Swordmasters to pick up the slack, and most of us aren't even doing anything, except the raiders, and even some of them are—" She shook her head, chestnut hair flying. "This is wrong. It feels—"

Asuna broke off, suddenly enough to get concerned looks from humans and elf both. "Asuna?" Kizmel said, laying a hand on her shoulder. "What…?"

The musketeer barely noticed, staring at the floor. At the reflections of chandeliers, pews, and statues—and what wasn't reflected. "We're not casting reflections," she said slowly. "Neither is the Spirit Tree…. I just realized what feels so strange here." She raised her head, looking to her partner and the info broker. "Kirito-kun. Argo. This place, this whole castle… it feels real. Or, not quite real, but a lot closer than anything else in SAO."

Kirito started. Blinked. Rested a hand on one of the pews, and ran his fingers over polished wood. "…You're right. Wood is rendered pretty well in SAO, but if you pay attention there's a stock texture. It might look different, but two pieces of the same type of wood will feel the same, all over. This… this feels more detailed. Varied. It feels… more."

"The whole Castle is like that," Asuna said, nodding. "Everything just feels 'more'." She swallowed. "Why? …How?"

Because Aincrad was already spooky enough, with Kirito's dreams and Alice. If there wasn't a logical explanation for this, Asuna was going to… well, she didn't know what she was going to do or feel, but she knew it wasn't going to be good.

"It… could be localized settings for the NerveGear," Kirito said, frowning. "We all know the usual NerveGear output is lower than the max, that's how Kayaba's trap works…. I've heard that under certain conditions, it is supposed to increase fidelity."

Argo, incongruously, snorted at that, a wicked grin flashing across her face and gone. Even had Asuna not been distracted, she didn't think she wanted to know.

"Why the whole Castle would trigger that, I don't know," Kirito continued. He took a wary look around the cathedral, especially at the floor that reflected almost everything. "I think this place really is important. And I'm not at all sure we should be here yet."

"Perhaps not, but we have little choice but to continue." Kizmel abruptly turned away from the Spirit Tree, a grim look on her face. "If there is a Spirit Tree here, my people trusted the Wolkenritter very deeply, in ages past. Which means there may be something very important here—and the Sigils of Lyusula may not have been the Forest Elves' objective at the port."

Unease beginning to chill her blood, Asuna's hand slipped to the comforting hilt of her Wind Fleuret. "What is it, Kizmel?"

"The Portmaster was the highest-ranking Dark Elf on Niian, and his adjutant was high-born. I am but a Knight, I know little of the affairs of those in such high positions, but I know they have keys others would not." The Pagoda Knight's mouth was flat, tense line. "If the Fuuma stole what I fear they may have, the situation may be just as dire for them as for my people. Argo, you know more of the Wolkenritter than Kirito. My people have a legend about their motto. That it may be more than just empty words."

"'Let justice be done'," Argo recited, a puzzled frown on her face, "'though the—'uh-oh."

Asuna shot a glance at Kirito. Argo the Rat did not just say "uh-oh". Argo the Rat didn't panic. If Argo the Rat was suddenly looking like a deer in headlights—

Argo leapt from the pew, running full-tilt for the doors. "C'mon, guys, we gotta hurry! Those Fuuma mighta just done the dumbest thing ever, and we gotta save 'em!"

---

It had honestly been weeks since Kizmel paid much mind to Kayaba Akihiko's monstrous act of betrayal. On a day to day basis, she simply had more immediate things to worry about. Much as she'd have liked to meet the sorcerer with sword in hand, he was nowhere to be found. Lesser menaces were not so elusive.

Running along yet another hallway, near where the Castle met the mountainside, she was starting to acquire a dislike for the profession by which her companions knew Kayaba. "Keys scattered all over the Castle, with no rhyme or reason," she said, aggrieved. "And you find this normal?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Kirito said absently. He slowed, nearing one particular door. "It'd explain why there's no mobs here; looks like the place is more about lore and puzzles than fighting."

"Unless, o' course," Argo put in dryly, "there's a flag for settin' off mobs. Wouldn't be surprised, the way this place is set up." She raised a hand before Kirito could open the door, and her eyes took on a green glow. "Just a sec, lemme make sure this ain't trapped…."

"For what it's worth," Asuna said, giving the Knight a wry look, "I'm just as clueless as you are on this, Kizmel. Games really weren't my thing, before… you know."

It was worth something to Kizmel, actually. She felt something of a kinship with Kirito, with his uneasy affinity with Aincrad. With Asuna, she'd found a shared bemusement in the rules of the transitory world. As well as our situations otherwise. She's not said much, yet I have the strange feeling we are not so different in our social difficulties. And, of course, her clear respect for chivalry.

"Okay, it's clear," Argo announced. "Here's hoping this place has what we need."

The info broker and Kirito led the way into the room, which Kizmel recognized as an office for a high-ranking officer. Broad wood desk, shelves with books and papers, a window with a view of the mountain; the long sword cradled in a mount on the desk was plainly a noble's weapon.

Neat and orderly, befitting the station of whoever had once occupied it. Kizmel would've been more perturbed by the way Kirito and Argo promptly started throwing it all into disorder, had the circumstances been less dire.

But they needed to catch the Fuuma and their Forest Elf allies, and quickly. Which was proving more difficult than it should have been, as the doors into Wolkenfelder Castle's deeper levels had been locked tight. How their foes had gotten through themselves, and secured it behind them, Kizmel couldn't guess, but neither Kirito nor Argo had seemed surprised.

As with the tunnel to Master Ganryu's Hermitage, the elf thought ruefully, crossing her arms as she watched the more experienced "gamers" ransack the office. The dichotomy of the hazards I would expect of Aincrad, and those added by Kayaba to fit his "game", is truly baffling.

"So… what is the problem here?" Asuna asked quietly, leaning in close. "You and Argo seem pretty worried about the Fuuma, even after… what they did."

"I know little of the Wolkenritter, Asuna," Kizmel murmured in return, so as not to distract the two searchers. "They are not, however, thought to have been… 'knights in shining armor', as I believe you've put it. They did have a strict code of honor, and legend tells they would rather have died than break it. Within that code? …You might compare them to the ninja you say the Fuuma emulate. And one thing the tales say they could not abide was betrayal."

"But the Fuuma didn't…."

Argo burst up out of the chest she'd been looting, a scroll grasped in a triumphant grip. "Got a map, guys! Shows where the other keys are. We need three more!"

Kirito slammed a desk drawer shut, shining metal twirling between his fingers. "And I found the one in here. Let's move!"

Back into the hall they went, Argo muttering that even for a game, the locations were weird. While she and Kirito led the way, Asuna matched her stride with Kizmel. "The Fuuma didn't betray anyone, though, did they? I know it's bad!" she added hastily. "But, I mean, they're working with Kales'Oh, not Lyusula, so…."

"All other things being equal, you would probably be right," Kizmel agreed. Her ears twitched; she once again felt like they were being watched, but a quick look at the walls as they ran by showed no obvious hiding places. "By the Wolkenritter's view, however, it could be argued the Fuuma had no right to what they took from the Portmaster and the adjutant."

"More than that, Kii-chan," Argo called back, having seemingly overheard. "Some might say the Fuuma are workin' against the rest of the Swordmasters, with some o' what they've pulled. 'Specially when the Forest Elf ship tried to shoot ya down. The Wolkenritter's little curse might not like that very much."

"…Karma meter," Asuna muttered, grimacing. "So that's what that means…."

Kizmel only had the vaguest grasp of the terms, but context filled in most of it. I see. This world is a construct, and all magic in it is ultimately bound to the greater spell. I doubt the Wolkenritter's "curse" could make such a distinction in the real Aincrad, but in this transitory world? Yes… the Fuuma may have done something truly foolish, indeed.

Which made the next few minutes an exercise in pure, tense frustration. The first of the remaining keys was on the highest floor of the Castle, in a vast room overlooking—and part built into—the mountain. Odd enough for the key to be so far away from its lock; odder still to discover it was locked in a chest in a hot spring, of all places.

Argo made short work of the chest; Kizmel somehow wasn't surprised to learn the information broker had lock-picking skills. She also couldn't entirely blame Asuna for looking disappointed, casting a longing gaze at the spring. Were there time, the elf girl would've happily partaken in a soak, herself.

Perhaps if we have a chance to return later. When this chase is over, I suspect we'll all need a chance to unwind. She couldn't quite suppress a brief smirk. If I can just convince those two there's no harm in Kirito joining us.

Cross-referencing the key map with the one Kirito had found when they first arrived, they were all more than a little chagrined at having to rush right back to Wolkenfelder Cathedral. There, Kizmel was forced to very carefully climb the Spirit Tree, feeling among its branches for something that didn't quite belong.

She had to admit it was clever, either of Kayaba or of the Wolkenritter, to have hidden a silver key among the silver leaves. Only by focusing her sixth sense in a way she'd never had to before was she able to discern the one thing that disturbed the natural flow of the Spirit Tree's magic.

I should be grateful it is silver, not Cold Iron, she thought ruefully, dropping down into a waiting Kirito's arms. Pretending not to notice his blush, she thanked him, and they hurried off toward the Castle's central keep once more. But then, if the Wolkenritter were so trusted by Lyusula of old, they would never have committed such an offense.

"A cathedral, opulent towers, a hot spring…." Pushing open the doors leading down into underground levels of the Castle, Kirito shook his head. "This is the most elaborate place I've seen in SAO. This can't just have been meant for this quest, can it? Whatever this quest is?"

"Pretty sure it wasn't, Kii-bou." Down two flights of stairs, Argo took the lead toward the northern halls, where the locked door blocked the way under the mountain. "Kinda long story, an' if you want the whole thing I'm gonna have ta charge ya. But just as a free sample…."

She stopped at the door that had stymied them. White stone, broad enough for the four of them to pass through abreast, engraved with images Kizmel presumed were of Wolkenritter. It was flanked by two more of the ubiquitous sets of decorative armor, their swords crossed in front of it. Under those crossed blades were three keyholes, their simplicity belying the ostentation that surrounded them.

"I think this is s'posed to be a hub, eventually," Argo said, as Moondancer's crew each pulled out one of the keys. "Big, an' empty, an' no mobs? This ain't s'posed to stay empty… here we go!"

Three keys slipped in, and turned with a collective, resounding click. For a moment, absolutely nothing happened; then, the two suits of armor creaked, their swords lifting away from the door. They rotated on their stands, blades rising in salute. The door split in the middle, the two halves swinging ponderously open.

An arrow sailed through the gap, almost taking Kizmel's left ear off.

---

Kirito had his Anneal Blade out and launching him into a Sonic Leap before the arrow crashed into the wall behind them. Which meant he was also in motion before his brain could catch up with exactly what the opposition was.

His opening Sword Skill successfully carried him into the Forest Elf Archer who'd attacked Kizmel, cutting a crimson gash down the elf's torso. It also carried him right into the waiting swords of two Forest Elf Armsmen, who didn't hesitate to hit him with twin Horizontals as he went by. Only his momentum kept the two skills from hitting in full, and he had a moment of crystal-clear awareness that a slightly different angle would've cost him his head.

"Kirito-kun!"

"Kirito!"

"Kii-bou!"

No time to pay attention to his companions' alarm. Kirito rode the Archer right down to the floor, rolled right over him, and rebounded to his feet—which was when he discovered the third Armsman, a couple of meters behind the Archer. With no time to bring his sword in line, he desperately shoulder-checked the elf; the Armsman grunted, but grappled with him, trying to spin and slam him into the stone wall.

The Armsman succeeded, leaving Kirito seeing stars, and giving him a perfect moment to realize he'd already lost a tenth of his HP.

He was sure the elf was going to take advantage of the momentary stun; instead, he heard a loud crack, and the whistle of a bullet flying by. Asuna missed, but it was enough to startle the Armsman, and give Kirito a crucial second to recover his sword, and with a yell ram it into the elf's gut.

At the same time, Argo blurred by, the claws on her gloves raking the Armsman's back. "Sorry, Kii-bou!" she called out, not even slowing down. "I'm going on ahead"

That bought him a second to take stock. Back by the doors, Asuna was exchanging a rapid series of thrusts with one of the other Armsmen, smoking pistol in her left hand. Kizmel was a bit further along, in the process of smacking the remaining Armsman in the face with her shield, a positively thunderous look on her face.

The Archer, he noticed, was scrabbling away, just tossing away an empty potion bottle. I hate mobs that heal themselves, Kirito groused to himself, already yanking his blade free. But he's an archer, he can wait—

His current target tried to stab him in the face, snarling incoherently. Kirito shoved himself sideways, letting the elf's sword screech against the wall instead; snarling right back, he hacked at the Armsman's shoulder. This close, there was no time or space for proper Sword Skills, and for a moment he found himself wishing for Tengu's talents.

Then he and the elf were both shoving away from the wall, gaining the greater freedom of movement of the middle of the hallway. The Armsman drew his sword back, parallel to the floor at shoulder height; Kirito didn't recognize the stance, but the crimson glow and sudden roar like a jet engine told him it wouldn't be good—

"Kirito, switch!"

He didn't hesitate, jumping to the right to let Kizmel sail past. The elf girl's Rage Spike slashed her saber up the Armsman's torso, right hip to left shoulder, knocking off a good chunk of his HP and totally disrupting whatever skill he'd been trying to unleash.

Leaving that one to her, Kirito spun back the way she'd come. The Armsman she'd been fighting was rolling across the floor, clearly caught in a Tumble; Asuna was still tangling with the other, determination blazing in her eyes as she danced around a Vertical Arc to unleash a Parallel Sting that stabbed right through his breastplate.

For just a second, Kirito waffled on which to engage. But Asuna clearly had her opponent under control, so…. It may not be chivalrous, he thought coldly, darting forward, Anneal Blade glowing blue. But this is life or death. And they attacked us.

His Slant blazed down, just as the Armsman got back to his knees. The perfect height, the perfect angle, for the Anneal Blade to cleave through the Forest Elf's neck, sending his head flying without even a scream.

The ethereal choir of Wolkenfelder Castle's BGM seemed oddly appropriate, in the frozen moment that followed. It also helped remind Kirito that it was only an NPC he'd just "killed", and not even one of the higher-level AI like Kizmel. Right then, he needed that reminder.

His moment of introspection was shattered by Asuna's opponent rebounding off the wall and exploding into polygons. She, at least, wasn't bothered—or maybe it was just that she'd defeated her foe in honorable combat. Either way, she immediately turned her attention down the hall. "Kirito-kun!" she called sharply. "He's going after Argo!"

Not the Armsman Kizmel had been fighting, Kirito saw, snapping his own gaze back that way. He'd just fallen to pieces around the Knight's saber, never having taken off more than about five percent of her HP. The Archer, though, had gotten past even her, and was aiming his bow directly at Argo's shrinking back.

I don't think so!

Snapping up his left arm, Kirito triggered his grapnel. Zipping down the hall, it slammed into the Archer's back just as he loosed; the arrow went high, sailing well beyond the info broker. Before the Archer could do much more than yell—in pain or anger, Kirito couldn't tell—Asuna shot toward him in a blue glow, her Linear lancing into his spine like a shooting star.

Then Kizmel was there, her saber glowing in a Horizontal that took his head clean off.

No time to consider what had just happened. With all four Forest Elves down, Kirito paused only to pull out and down a healing potion before breaking into a run. He wasn't sure how long the hall was, but it clearly led deep under the mountain. The Fuuma and the other Forest Elves were clearly way ahead, and he had the unpleasant feeling they were running out of time.

Though Asuna and Kizmel fell right into step with him, the urgency didn't stop the musketeer from shooting him an exasperated look. "Next time, Kirito-kun," she panted, "look before you leap, will you?"

"Sorry," he said, with an awkward running shrug. "He tried to shoot Kizmel, and I just… reacted, I guess?"

"Flattering as I find your concern," Kizmel said dryly (though not, he thought, without a trace of warmth), "having to save you somewhat spoiled the effect. You do remember most archers cannot fire a second shot very quickly, don't you?"

"That's what he told me," Asuna grumbled.

Remembering their conversation the very day SAO launched, about the relative merits of the game's ranged weapon options, Kirito could only manage a rueful, sheepish chuckle. He had no defense, really. His instinctive response to someone he cared about being threatened just wasn't very rational.

…Someone I… care about…?

No time to ponder that mildly unsettling thought, either. Somewhat to his surprise, they were already catching up with Argo—surprise that didn't last long, when he saw her furiously slashing around with her claws. Though her HP didn't seem to be dropping much, and shredded bits of green were flying in all directions, there was something frantic about her motions.

Asuna clearly recognized the situation at the same time he did. "You have got to be kidding me," she groaned, already lowering her stance to set up for a Linear. "They brought those with them? Here?"

"It could be worse," Kizmel pointed out wryly, lifting her shield in preparation for a charge. "At least here, none of them should be able to call for reinforcements."

"Yeah, but it'll be harder to dodge the acid, too." Shaking his head, Kirito swung his sword up behind his shoulder, readying another Sonic Leap. "We'd better find the Castle's armory, after this; there might be something we can use."

With a collective snarl that was much irritation as battle cry, they flung themselves into the mass of Little Nepenthes the Forest Elves had left guarding their rear.

---

The last of the Nepenthes exploded, green root-tentacles turning to blue shards. Asuna lowered her Wind Fleuret, pulling back into an upright posture, and thought unkind things about Kayaba Akihiko. She'd escaped serious complications this time, but she could see all too easily what the combination of tentacles and armor-melting acid could've led to.

Seriously, she thought, pulling out a potion with her free hand to deal with what damage the plant monsters had inflicted. The CERO rating for this game was not high enough for these things!

The others were likewise healing up, as quickly as they could. Then, as they jumped back into a run down the hall, Asuna caught Kizmel looking at her oddly. Her and Kirito. "Kizmel…?"

The elf girl quickly shook her head, smiling faintly. "Oh, it's nothing," she said. "Merely an idle thought. This place seems to suit you, Asuna."

"O...kay?" Asuna didn't quite know what the Knight was getting at, but it sounded like a compliment. "I do think it's nice to see a knights' stronghold that isn't a total ruin. If we have time, I really want to look around more later." Sure, Kizmel said the Wolkenritter weren't really knights as she knew them, but their Castle certainly looked the part….

The idle thought was cut off by Argo's sudden, sharp interjection. "There it is! We gotta—uh-oh!"

The four of them skidded to an abrupt halt, finding the way blocked by two Forest Elves. Asuna's heart jumped into her throat at the sight of armor she knew all too well, if only from nightmares. These weren't Armsmen, or Archers, or Sailors. These wore the full, proud golden armor of Forest Elf Knights. Standing with shining swords drawn, they were ready and watching, fierce glares on their faces.

They also looked much more intelligent than the minor mobs they'd dealt with a few minutes before. On top of which….

"Do not move," Kizmel breathed, saber held low and to the side, carefully nowhere close to the pre-motion for a Sword Skill. "Do not attack. I assume I'm not mistaken in interpreting their 'cursors'."

"Looks pretty near black to me," Kirito said slowly. Asuna was pretty sure most people would've thought he was perfectly calm. She recognized it as the same front he'd put up when facing an Integrity Knight. "No sudden moves, guys."

Gulping, Asuna could only nod. The way Argo seemed to have just frozen in place only underscored it. The three of them knew their stuff; she wasn't going to argue.

"Wise, Swordmasters, dog of Lyusula," the left-hand Forest Knight said, mouth twisting in a cruel smile. "You should be running. But watch, if you like, and see what comes of the alliance you've chosen."

Running sounded like a pretty good idea right then. But Asuna could never have forgiven herself for such a cowardly action, not with what she was starting to think might be at stake. Not with the hints Kizmel and Argo had been dropping. I don't want to watch. I want to do… something. But….

Kizmel caught her eye, and gave a tiny shake of her head. Wait, she seemed to say silently. Find your moment.

So Asuna stood there, rapier drawn but not brandished, and looked past the Forest Knights. Looked past to the door that lay at the end of the hall, which she only then realized was more a crypt than a vault. Flanked by polished, silent armor, it had an indefinable air of gloom about it; even the BGM had taken on an oddly somber quality.

Two members of the Fuumaningun were approaching that door—Koutaro and Isuke, she thought, the two they'd run into the first day on Niian. One of them was carrying a ring in one hand, and an odd key in the other—it looked like it was made of some kind of odd wood, rather than metal.

Like it was made from a Spirit Tree, Asuna realized. But why…?

"Stop!" Kizmel called out suddenly; looking at her, Asuna saw the elf girl's eyes were wide, even anguished. "If you do this—!"

"Pay no attention to the Lyusulan dog," one of the Forest Knights interrupted, snorting derisively. "She only seeks to stop you from receiving what you've earned. Don't tell me proud Fuuma ninja have come so far, only to be swayed by the enemy's lies at the last moment?"

Kirito groaned, and Asuna found herself closing her eyes for a moment, hardly wanting to see what happened next. With an argument like that, she wasn't at all surprised that the Fuuma barely hesitated. She thought she heard Argo mutter something, low and disgusted, and couldn't help agreeing.

"No, you deluded…." Even Kizmel's voice seemed to fail her. When Asuna opened her eyes again, she saw that her companion clearly wanted to look away, and just as clearly couldn't.

"We are the Fuumaningun!" one of the ninja—Isuke, she thought—pronounced. Stopping at the door, he gently pressed the ring into an indent. "We come to claim our reward!" He reverently held up the wooden key, and slid it into the keyhole beside the ring's slot. With an oddly loud click, he turned it.

For a long moment, nothing seemed to happen. Asuna allowed herself a moment's hope that that would be it, that it would turn out all of it was a wild goose chase. Then, with a groan of stone and disused hinges, the crypt yawned open. The ninja raised a fist in triumph—

With a groan of long-neglected metal, the suit of armor to Isuke's left swung away from the wall, raising its heavy sword. "Let justice be done," a voice boomed from its empty helmet, "though the heavens fall!"

Before Asuna's horrified eyes, heedless of Isuke's sudden scream of terror, the armor brought the sword down in a powerful, cleaving blow. It caught Isuke right at the top of his head, carving a line straight down between his legs. His scream cut off with horrifying suddenness. He felt away, in two halves.

For the first time in her life, Asuna watched someone die, shattering into the cruelly unreal azure polygons of Sword Art Online.

No… no… no… no…!

She could only stand there, frozen stiff by the greatest shock of her life. For an endless moment, no one moved, not even the surviving Koutaro. Even Kirito, who'd feigned calm in the worst situations she'd seen, was caught in wide-eyed stillness.

That stillness was broken by one of the Forest Knights abruptly bursting into motion, charging into the crypt past the paralyzed Koutaro. The other turned, that cruel smile turning mocking. "This is your own fault entirely," he told the surviving ninja, voice dripping contempt. "Had you been smarter, you might've been useful allies. But no, every step of the way, you showed you still thought this was all a game… and now you've paid the price."

You… you used them. You're supposed to be knights, and yet you…!

"A pity," the Forest Knight said, with obvious insincerity. "But now you all must die, before you can tell those who are useful to us—"

Asuna's rapier snapped up. From rage, from fear, or from simple offended sensibilities, she drew her Wind Fleuret back for a Linear—only for Koutaro's broken, enraged scream to preempt her. Yanking the sword from his back, he flung himself into a berserk charge.

The Forest Knight caught the wild slashes with contemptuous ease, his heavier sword swatting Koutaro right into the wall. He drew back the sword, its blade beginning to glow a bright crimson, but never unleashed the skill.

Out of absolutely nowhere Asuna could see, a white-clad figure slammed into the Forest Knight's back, plunging a slim dagger into his neck. Roaring in surprised fury, he broke away from his attack on Koutaro, taking one hand off his sword to grip the woman trying to cut his throat, and flung her clear across the hall.

With a scream, Asuna hurled herself into the fray, her Linear driving into the Forest Knight's exposed flank. We defeated one a month ago, weak as we were then; we'll win today!

The thrust, driven by the system, by the musketeer's stats, and by her sheer, frightened rage, knocked him off balance. With his heavier armor and two-handed weapon, it took him precious instants to recover; in that time, Asuna drove another three stabs into him, backed only by her own strength.

"You dare—?!" The Forest Knight did recover his poise, then, and swung his blade in a glowing arc—

"Asuna, switch!"

She jumped sideways, letting Kirito's Sonic Leap carry him past. His skill and the Forest Knight's clashed in a bright flash and a loud bang, and threw both of them back, HP draining away from the impact. Kirito flipped from the force of it, landing on his feet in a skidding crouch; the Forest Elf was shoved back, almost losing his grip on his sword.

"Switch!" Kizmel called out, already diving in. Her Rage Spike drew a crimson line across the Forest Knight's stomach. A followup slash cut across his chest; the whirling Sword Skill he sent her way impacted partly on her hastily-raised shield, shoving her back with five percent of her HP shaved off.

Into that brief gap, the other Forest Knight came hurtling back out of the crypt. He didn't even try to aid his fellow, though, simply racing back down the hall. He was clutching something in one hand, something that glowed a bright blue; Kizmel shouted a wordless cry of anger at the sight.

Asuna didn't know what he'd taken, or why. She just knew that he'd been complicit in murdering a player, and he had something that upset Kizmel. Drawing her pistol with her free hand, she fired off a hasty shot.

Too hasty. Her first bullet missed completely. The second took him in the left shoulder, taking his arm right off but doing nothing to stop his escape. "Good try, Aa-chan!" Argo called out, suddenly speeding off in pursuit. "I'll go after 'im!"

No choice but to leave it to the info broker. Asuna turned back to the fight just in time to see Koutaro lose an arm and fly back into the arms of the woman in the white catsuit. "Stay back, idiots!" she snarled, already raising her rapier for another Linear. "Kirito-kun, switch!"

She thought she saw the two of them stagger into the crypt. She didn't really have time to make sure, busy as she was darting between a retreating Kirito and a flanking Kizmel. At the last moment, she had to duck under a blazing slash, but she was able to get in untouched and thrust her glowing Wind Fleuret into his chest.

It was easier than the last time she'd fought a Forest Knight. In the brief moments she had to think, she was pretty sure it was because there was less room for the elf to maneuver his heavier sword, because she and Kirito were at higher levels, and maybe just because they had a better idea of what they were doing.

Either way, in the next minute or two of frenzied combat, the battle of attrition was going to her and hers. Kirito took a glancing blow to his flank, taking off a couple of precious percent of HP, only to carve considerably more off in return with a Vertical Arc. Kizmel's shield stopped cold a slash that would've taken her head, and responded with a cut that would've gutted a man IRL.

Asuna danced, ducking and bobbing around a three-hit skill that would've cut her to pieces, and responded with a Parallel Sting that stabbed him in the heart and left shoulder.

One more spinning slash threw them all back, and the Forest Knight glared at them, face twisted in rage. "You… you dare to drive me to this… but I will have my revenge! You'll not have a victory this day, Lyusula! You have lost—and you will never tell your masters how!"

Uh-oh.

"Holy Tree of Kales'Oh!" the Forest Knight screamed, pointing his sword straight up, even as Moondancer's crew scrabbled away. "Grant me the final sacrament!"

Two human Swordmasters and one Dark Elf Royal Guard hurled themselves into the crypt. Yellow-green light erupted behind them, and the shockwave threw them the rest of the way into the darkness.

---

…That… that almost hurt. For real….

Groggy, Kirito hauled himself out of the Shellshock status, forcing himself back to full consciousness. Three times he'd fought through the start of the Elf War quest in the beta, and once in the retail version, and he'd never been on the receiving end of the full effect of the "final sacrament" before. Now he was sure that if he and Asuna hadn't killed the Forest Knight on Einsla fast enough, the self-destructive attack would've killed them.

Even protected by the depths of the Wolkenritter crypt, it'd knocked all of them for a loop. As he came to, Kirito found himself in a heap with Asuna and Kizmel for the second time that day. This time, he didn't even feel embarrassed, just grateful that the two girls were alive and well. Their HP, like his, was down into the yellow, but they were alive.

He was too relieved for his usual social anxiety. Lying there on the crypt floor, he shamelessly hugged them both. We're alive, he thought, even as the two of them stirred against him. We're alive, despite everything. …I think I'm in shock.

The three of them had crashed into the base of a coffin ornate enough to be called a sarcophagus. Made of a metal he wasn't quite sure was silver, what he could see of it was covered in intricate inlaid patterns—as were the half-dozen other ornate sarcophagi visible from his position. The crypt itself was lit by torches bearing a strange, silvery light; there also seemed to be an odd green glow coming from somewhere in the chamber.

Leaning against another sarcophagus, the Fuuma ninja Koutaro and his missing arm were being tended by the kunoichi in white who'd appeared during the battle. Both of them were quietly crying.

Kirito thought back to that hideous moment when Isuke was cut down, and shivered. I knew people were dying in this game. Thousands have died already. But… that's the first time I've ever seen someone die. One second he was here, and then… and it wasn't even in a fight. He was tricked, and a curse killed him for it.

He couldn't help tightening his hold on the girls tangled with him. Both of them for still being alive, and Kizmel for not being like the Forest Elves who'd so cruelly used the Fuuma. He still didn't understand what she was, how she could be a Turing-class AI, but he knew, in the core of his being, that she was on their side.

I trust her. I trust them both. …I missed that, so much.

Asuna was the first to lift her head, blinking up at Kirito. When she realized the position they were in, he expected her to do something drastic; instead, though she flushed a bright, steaming red, she made no move to escape. She looked at him, at Kizmel, and then at a spot in the air he was sure was their HP gauges—and hugged him and the elf girl both, burying her face in his shoulder.

"That ninja… he's really dead, isn't he?" she whispered against his coat. "That… armor… it really killed him… right in front of us…."

Kirito wanted to deny it. To tell her it was all a game after all. He found it as hard to process as she did. But he knew the truth, and knew he couldn't lie to her. Not even to make her feel better. Somehow, he knew she'd hate that more than hearing the most brutal truth.

Kizmel's arm snaked out to complete the three-way hug. "He is," she murmured, stroking Asuna's hair. "I am sorry. This… this is the first time the two of you have truly had to confront death this way, isn't it? With one of your own falling, instead of a denizen of this world."

He felt Asuna flinch, and couldn't help his own wince. "Sorry," he got out. "After what you've been through, this must be really insensitive to you—"

"I'm not offended. Truly." The elven Knight lifted her head to meet his gaze, a glint of something he couldn't quite interpret in her violet eyes. Compassion, he thought, and… something else. "I understand how you see this world. That it will take time for you to truly comprehend it. …I'm not sure I want you to have to."

There was a depth of feeling in those eyes, of emotion, that took Kirito aback, and made him wonder again what she really was. He'd known humans IRL who couldn't have conveyed that.

"We… we have to learn," Asuna said; and if there were silent tears falling into his coat, Kirito had no intention of saying anything. "Whatever this world is, VR or magic… we have to understand it. To know that, deep down… that we can die here."

He found himself wordlessly nodding. He'd barely known who Isuke was. The Fuuma had even been—well, maybe not an enemy, but definitely an antagonist. His death had been so sudden, Kirito thought he could easily have forgotten it, if he chose to. I want to. I want to forget, how horribly sudden that was. Here, and then… gone.

But he wouldn't. He held onto the memory of Isuke's scream, and his abrupt death, because Asuna was right. The only way to survive was to viscerally understand that death could come at any moment, if they weren't careful. And it would be wrong to forget. As wrong as what happened six years ago. I won't just look away when something like this happens! This wasn't "justice", this was murder.

Kirito could hear Koutaro and the woman in white talking in hushed, broken voices. It was quiet footsteps, though, that took his attention away from his companions, and he raised his head to see Argo the Rat stalking into the crypt. Only then did he abruptly realize he had a hand tangled in each girl's hair, and had a brief spike of purely mundane panic.

For once, though, Argo didn't look to be in a teasing mood. She only looked at the three of them, flashed a strangely warm smile, and then sighed. "Sorry, guys," she said heavily. "That Knight got away. He got to the surface, an' then the Forest Elf ship put a shot right through the Castle gate. Couldn't get past that."

"No," Kizmel said, with a sigh of her own. "I suppose you couldn't. Once the Forest Elf got that far, you would've risked engaging more than just him. We couldn't ask you to throw your life away like that."

Asuna flinched again, and Kirito didn't blame her a bit. The idea of Argo facing something like that, so soon after they'd come face to face with the reality of the death game, just wasn't something he wanted to think about at all. As annoying as the info broker sometimes got, he liked her.

Even so, Argo bowed her head. "I'm sorry," she said again. "Kii-chan. I know what that guy stole is important to ya…."

"It is." Kizmel rolled onto her back, not quite off of Kirito's arm. "It is, but it's not worth your life, Argo. More, securing it is my mission, not yours. You have no obligation here."

"Maybe not. But if I'd been faster…." The Rat lifted her hands, shrugging. "Let's say I owe ya one, Kii-chan. An' the Rat pays her debts." She turned, then, mouth flattening as she took in the surviving Fuuma. "Speakin' o' payin' debts."

Argo stalked over to the pair. The woman shifted protectively in front, slim knife appearing in her hand. Koutaro looked up, eyes red, and glared fiercely. "What do you want, Iga dog?" he spat. "Isuke is dead. Leave us to grieve in peace—"

"Iga?" The Rat snorted. "You. Are. Idiots," she snapped, voice filled with a contempt Kirito had never heard from her before. "Iga? This ain't a game! Your little role-play got Isuke killed, ya understand that? You were so hot to 'play the role' that ya didn't take two seconds ta think the Forest Elves mighta been playin' ya like damned fiddles!"

Koutaro recoiled; his head promptly bounced off the sarcophagus. Rubbing it with his remaining hand, his glare redoubled, but before he could speak the woman in white gripped his shoulder. She silently shook her head, and lowered her knife.

"So. 'Least one of ya knows what ya did." Argo folded her arms, fixing them with an imperious stare. "Isuke died 'cause of his idiocy, and yours. An' you, girl, if you had the brains to see the disaster comin'? Ya shoulda said something. You're smarter than yer buddy, but not smart enough."

"I… have no defense, Argo-dono," the woman whispered.

"That's 'Grandmaster' ta you," the Rat said sharply. When the two Fuuma blinked up at her, she raised her chin haughtily. "Like I said. You're idiots. But. Ya got skill, if ya just had the brains to use it. You want revenge for Isuke, right?"

"More than anything!" Koutaro snapped, only to subside when his companion squeezed his arm. "Yes, Argo-dono," he said more quietly. "But… I do not have the strength."

"Me either. But ya got skills, and I got brains enough for all of us." There was a strange air about Argo, something Kirito had never seen around her. He had the odd feeling she wasn't as confident as she looked, yet this was important enough to her to push through anyway. "I found a couple more o' your guys topside; they got away from the Forest Elves somehow. So ya ain't all dead, and ya got some skills. As of right now, you're mine. Any objections?"

Argo? Leading a guild? Kirito looked at her, eyes wide, then at the two girls still sprawled across him. From their own startled blinks, neither of them had expected it, either.

Koutaro and the woman looked too shocked themselves to even argue. The woman only stared for a long moment, and then bowed her head. "No objections, Argo—that is, Grandmaster," she said. "I am Kumari, of the Fuumaningun. This is Koutaro."

"Good!" Argo nodded decisively. "Awright, then. Kumari, you're the only one with more than two braincells, so you're my second. Take Koutaro outta here, link up with yer guys upstairs, an' get to my skiff at the port. Be a tight fit, but it'll get us all back to Urbus."

Kumari nodded. Slinging Koutaro's remaining arm over her shoulders, she pulled him to his feet, and walked him out of the crypt.

Kirito wondered what would happen with them next. The Fuumaningun had more than reinforced their reputation from the beta, and paid for it in blood. As much damage as they'd done along the way, he hoped they could come back from it. He didn't want to see anyone else die.

Argo watched them go, then turned to the tangle still on the floor. "I'd like ta tease ya fer this," she said, with a fleeting grin. "But today, I'll let ya off easy." She turned completely sober then, bowing her head again. "Hate ta say it, but I'm prolly not gonna have much info for ya fer a couple days. Gonna take me at least that long to get the Fuuma in shape. But when I do, I'll have an even better network. We'll be worth every Cor, I promise."

"I never doubted you for a second," Kirito assured her, trying for a reassuring smile.

"Your word's always good, no matter how crazy," Asuna agreed. Seeming to remember just then where she was, she blushed, gently extricated herself, and stood up, holding out a hand. "See you around, Argo."

"You bet, Aa-chan." The Rat shook the offered hand, smiled, and turned her attention elsewhere. "Oi, Kii-chan," she said, digging into a pocket. "Take this. A little gift—or a down payment on what I owe ya."

Kizmel caught the crystal Argo tossed with ease, despite her awkward position. Pulling away from Kirito, she looked down at it with a raised eyebrow. "This is… from earlier? Why me, Argo?"

"'Cause you're the one I most trust not to just delete it," the Rat said shamelessly. "'Sides. Still room on that crystal fer more, and I kinda get the feeling you might want it sometime."

Kirito wasn't sure what she meant by that. By the horrified look in Asuna's eyes, he suspected he wasn't the only one afraid to find out. Kizmel, he knew, was very friendly, unfailingly loyal—and at times could be as much of a troll as Argo. I think. I really can't tell when she's being a troll, and when it's just culture clash. Either way—

"See ya around, guys," Argo said, waving as she turned on her heel. "An' good luck with yer mission, Kii-chan! I find anything out, I'll let ya know. I pay my debts!"

Watching the Rat go, finally accepting Kizmel's help to climb to his feet, Kirito couldn't help but shake his head. Whatever else he might've said about Argo, she'd definitely succeeded in breaking him out of the shock from watching Isuke die. Even if she'd also left him afraid of both what she intended to do with the surviving Fuuma, and what she expected Kizmel to do with a recording crystal.

At that particular moment, the elf girl was looking at the sarcophagus that had been their cushion. Its lid had been shoved roughly off the other side, revealing a padded interior, a gleaming sword, and a skeleton wearing armored robes, hands posed as if holding something.

The sword called to Kirito, a one-handed blade clearly better than his Anneal Blade. He was not insane enough to try and grab it. Not after what happened to Isuke. Besides, what's more important right now is what the dead guy's holding.

Or had been holding, rather.. The Forest Knight hadn't been gentle, prying the hands apart to claim whatever they'd held. From the quiet Sindarin curse he heard to his left, it had been important.

"The Lapis Key," Kizmel whispered, bowing her head. "I had no idea it was even here. Why was it here? Why would Viscount Yofilis' family have entrusted it to the Wolkenritter…?" She sighed, shaking her head. "Or perhaps this is a mere invention of Kayaba's. Even he should not know where the Keys are…. Regardless, I must pursue them."

"We'll help," Kirito promised, impulsively reaching out to grip her shoulder. "Whatever it takes, Kizmel, we'll help."

It was help he'd have given anyway, if the Elf War quest had gone as he'd originally expected. Now… now, it was personal. Regardless of XP rewards, or Cor, or special items, he couldn't see the worry in Kizmel's eyes and not act.

He knew Asuna felt the same, even without her saying a word. If only because she didn't complain about him committing her to something without asking her.

The grateful smile Kizmel turned his way made it worth it right then. "I appreciate that, Kirito. Very much. Although…." Her face fell again. "How we are to pursue is a question. Their ship is armed, and ours is not. Though I've a vague idea where we might find a deck gun, Moondancer's core crystal is clearly not up to the strain."

Kirito winced. That was a problem. The quest was completely off the rails, and he flat-out didn't know enough about airships to fix the issue. He was pretty sure Urbus' aerodrome couldn't do anything for a Dark Elf ship, and with the port gone, there were no other Dark Elves who might be able to. At least not until Sandoria—

"Maybe it's not that grim, guys," Asuna said, breaking into his thoughts. She'd been poking around the rest of the crypt, Kirito realized, and now she'd come to the source of the green glow he'd noticed earlier. "Think this might help?"

Hovering above another sarcophagus, bearing a few more facets than the emerald that rested in Moondancer's engine room, was a core crystal. Inert, it gave only the faintest glow, yet Kirito could somehow sense it was exactly the boost their ship needed.

"Yes, Asuna," Kizmel breathed, stepping over to join the musketeer with a slow smile. "Yes… I believe that will help us a great deal. …If we are willing to risk the consequences."

---

December 11th, 2032

---

"Haah…." Leather, weapons, and armor banished to her inventory, Asuna slid down into the steaming water with a happy sigh. After a day and a half of scouring Wolkenfelder Castle for everything they needed for Moondancer's upgrade, an evening soak in the Castle's hot spring was a wonderful relief. Sure, water didn't feel quite right in Full-Dive, but warmth and the steam made it a lot harder to notice than usual.

She needed it, after the last few days. Between the massacre at the Dark Elf port, the clash with the Forest Elves, and her first time watching someone die, she was about as stressed as she'd yet been in Aincrad. At least since the first, terrible night. The warm, smooth rocks and water of the hot spring, with its view of Wolkenfelder Mountain and the stars above, was already working wonders on her virtual muscles. Though pain wasn't a thing in VR, she'd found that tense muscles were.

Knowing she was safe helped. While Wolkenfelder wasn't a Safe Haven, they'd discussed and dismissed the risks. The Forest Elves were unlikely to be back, Liberator seemed unwilling to come anywhere near, and NPC ferries weren't going to come up. And if all else failed, Kirito was guarding the entrance to the hot spring, with a stack of books to keep him company.

It was a relief, knowing she could trust him that way. After everything, Asuna truly believed he wouldn't try to peek. Besides, she thought, breathing in steam, he's probably too busy trying to find out anything he can about the Integrity Knights and how they're made. Does he think we don't know that's eating at him? …Not that I'm one to talk, I guess.

Nor, she suspected, was Kizmel. The equally-bare elf was sprawled languidly at the other side of the spring, arms stretched out to either side on the stone lip, enough of her chest above water to momentarily make Asuna envious. From the way her eyes drifted closed, steam swirling from her slow, deep breaths, the Knight was as stressed as any of them.

"I'm not sure how much I like the Wolkenritter's idea of justice," Asuna mused lazily, "but their baths are top-notch. I feel like I'm being re-energized just sitting here."

"You probably are," Kizmel said, one eye cracking open over a small smile. "As with the Spirit Tree, this is a Lyusulan bath, Asuna, and I assure you, my people consider a good bath to be an art form unto itself. Though our grasp of magic is slight in this age, we do try to soothe the spirit as well as the body."

Asuna could well believe it. She still wasn't sure what was going on with some sensations within SAO—she'd suggested to Kirito that the NerveGear might've been invoking some degree of synesthesia, which he'd conceded was at least possible—but the spring was definitely working on whatever the "extra" feelings were. It reminded her, now that she thought about it, of what she'd felt from the Spirit Tree in the Cathedral.

An idle thought struck her. "How do hot springs even exist in Aincrad? I mean, in our world, they're geothermal, and none of the islands are anywhere near deep enough to have that kind of thing… um." Remembering who she was talking to, Asuna clarified, "Geothermal is—"

"Something to do with molten rock beneath the earth, if I grasp the context correctly," Kizmel interrupted, nodding. "From my studies, that was probably the traditional source of these springs, before the Great Separation. Here in Aincrad?" She leaned her head back, taking a deep breath of the healing steam. "Every hot spring is built over a nexus of old magic. You'll seldom see them outside Lyusulan territory, I suspect. Here? The Wolkenritter were clearly steeped in what remained of the old magicks. It does not surprise me that visiting Dark Elves might've taught them to make baths such as this."

Magic. Huh. Okay, I can accept that. As overused as "it's magic" was as an explanation in fantasy stories, Asuna did find it logical enough that a "nexus" of it, under the right conditions, could heat a spring like this. And it explains the "soothing the spirit" part, too. Although….

"It is a pity that Kirito cannot share it with us, though," Kizmel said thoughtfully. Eyeing Asuna with a look the musketeer wasn't sure was teasing, she went on, "You trust him enough to keep watch for us. Are you sure you wouldn't rather he join us here?"

Asuna flushed, reminded that the only thing between her naked body and Kirito was a thin wooden door, without even the locks a bath might have in a Safe Haven. "T-trusting him not to peek while he's guarding the door is one thing," she stammered. "Having him in with us is something else! Even if he's a gentleman, he's still a guy!"

"Hm… perhaps." The elf girl sighed, and for once Asuna thought her disappointment was genuine. "I only thought, after what we've been through, it would be pleasant to relax together. All three of us."

Well…. Asuna opened her mouth to reply, then closed it on her reflexive response. It wasn't like she disagreed with the sentiment. Though she still didn't really know much about Kirito, she had come to trust him with her life, and she certainly enjoyed his company. There was no question he'd earned a good soak, himself. It was just….

"I've seen you have… issues, where such matters are concerned," Kizmel said quietly, fixing her with a sober gaze. "I will not press," she added, when Asuna opened her mouth again. "I would hope that, someday, you'll be comfortable sharing it with me, but for now I can accept there are things not easily spoken of. That being said… as you say, Kirito is a gentleman. Is there no compromise that might be made?"

"…I've been thinking about it," Asuna said finally, looking down into the water, drawing her knees up to her chest. "If there's anywhere we can find that sells swimsuits—anywhere that Argo won't find out we were looking—I could live with that."

Kizmel tilted her head, genuinely confused for the first time Asuna could remember since early in their partnership. "'Swimsuits'?" she repeated. "I admit, that human concept is not one of which I've heard."

…She's never heard of swimsuits. Well, given Dark Elf ideas of modesty, I guess that shouldn't surprise me very much. Torn between resignation and amusement, Asuna explained the concept to the elf girl, whose expression grew more bemused by the moment.

"An odd idea," Kizmel said finally, shaking her head. "And with such designs, I wonder why Kirito seeing us in nightgowns bothers you. But yes, I would consider that an acceptable compromise. I will even wear one myself, if you insist."

Asuna choked. It hadn't occurred to her that the elf girl might've seen it just as something to protect the players' modesty. Then she noticed the gleam in the Knight's eyes, and the playful smile. "Now you're just teasing me!"

"Oh… perhaps a little," Kizmel conceded, still smiling. "Sometimes, the two of you clearly need it."

She supposed she couldn't deny that. It also put a fair few of Kizmel's odder comments over the past month in another context. Some of it was obviously her culture, but the timing—and occasional inexplicable obliviousness—made a lot more sense if she was actively trying to break dark moods.

Asuna could appreciate that. She also didn't want to think about the implications any more. "Anyway! About this spring, and the Spirit Tree… not to mention that Key the Forest Elves stole, and the core crystal." She idly stirred the spring water with one hand, biting her lip. "Do you have any idea why the Dark Elves would've given any of that to the Wolkenritter?"

Kizmel shook her head, leaning back against the spring's stone rim. "I have no more idea of that now than when we arrived," she admitted. "Though knowing the Lapis Key was here, I may be able to find out from Viscount Yofilis. I was told the Key was in his custody, in Yofel Castle on the Fifth Island. Of course, asking may be a difficult matter…." She lifted her head, catching Asuna with a piercing stare. "But that is not your real question at all, is it?"

If anything convinced Asuna that whatever Kizmel was, she was real, it was that insight. Honestly, it was a question that had been bothering her from the moment she began to accept Kizmel was real. Hugging her knees, she whispered, "Why would humans even matter to elves? You live so much longer… why would anything we do matter?"

Because she wanted to believe Kizmel really cared. That the arms that had hugged her and Kirito that first night had real emotion behind them. She wanted it to be real, but she didn't understand why.

"Of course it matters," Kizmel told her, matter of fact. When Asuna looked back at her, she found the elf girl smiling gently. "Asuna. Humans live such short lives, yet that very brevity means you race through life, trying to achieve as much as you can, as quickly as you can. You sometimes stumble in your haste, but what you accomplish when you don't…."

She stood suddenly, bare, dusky skin seeming to glow in the silvery light of Aincrad's strange, starry sky. In that moment, looking so ethereal and otherworldly, Asuna thought the elf girl looked more real than anything else she'd seen in Aincrad.

For a brief, insane moment, she even wished she could share the sight with Kirito. She thought he would've looked past Kizmel's allure as a woman, in that moment, and seen what Asuna saw. This sight, the elven girl bathing in the strange light of twin moons, wet skin glistening as though covered in stars, represented everything she'd ever hoped to see in Aincrad. Everything she'd ever dreamed of, from a world away from the one that had trapped her long before Kayaba ever began his scheme.

Fantasy made real….

Looking up to Aincrad's moons, bathed in that light, Kizmel murmured, "Humans live such short lives, yet those lives burn so brightly…. You don't know, Asuna, how deeply some of my people envy your passion. We elves have all the time in the world… and sometimes that leads us to act too late." She smiled, seeing something in the moonlight that escaped Asuna. "Oh, yes, Asuna. Those of us of wit… we care about the doings of humans very much indeed."

---

December 12th, 2032

---

Two days of waiting for Moondancer's core crystal to recover enough for tinkering, and to find the parts needed to modify the airship's most crucial systems, had been tedious. Even with the books—what random assortment they picked out, blindly searching Wolkenfelder's library—to alleviate the boredom, Moondancer's crew had still chafed at the wait. With no news from Argo or Agil, they'd been completely cut off from the goings-on of Niian and the frontline raiders.

They'd glimpsed Liberator, once or twice. What Captain Coper was up to, even beta tester Kirito couldn't guess.

Finally, though, they were gathered in Moondancer's engine room, putting the finishing touches on the new core crystal mount. Larger than the old, it mounted the ship's original crystal and the one they'd taken from Wolkenfelder's crypt in tandem. From the manuals they'd found in the Castle's machine shop, the arrangement was supposed to give an airship more power than the sum of the crystals by themselves.

"Good thing SAO simplifies this stuff," Kirito commented, brushing off his hands. "I can't say I would've wanted to try this manually."

"Nor I," Kizmel agreed, eyeing the mount with obvious unease. "I'm told an improperly handled core crystal may… well. Explode."

"And I'm so glad you didn't tell us that until we finished," Asuna muttered. She meant it, too. This was something they had to do, if Moondancer was going to hold her own in a fight. Two chases had shown them all the ship's original crystal just couldn't handle the strain, and they hadn't even gotten a deck gun yet.

Though I think Kizmel has some ideas about that. I know she can't really talk about her mission, but I hope she explains that soon!

"All right," Kizmel said finally, approaching the still-inactive crystal they'd found in the crypt. "Kirito. Asuna. …Are you certain you're prepared for this?"

"You asked us that last time," Kirito pointed out, before Asuna could. She was kind of proud of him for taking the initiative. "My answer hasn't changed. I don't think Asuna's has, either." He hesitated. "Probably?"

"At least you didn't commit me without asking first, this time," she said, amused. "And no," she told the elf girl. "My answer hasn't changed, either. We have to do this."

For some reason, that didn't seem to reassure the Knight. "This may not be like last time," she warned. "You've awakened one crystal with me already, and not two weeks ago. Another may have more of an impact, especially if the two cores do indeed reinforce each other." She hesitated, biting her lip. "As I see this world, this may be drawing you deeper into Kayaba's spell. By your view, the machines connecting you to this world may alter you—if they can destroy your brains as well as show you another world, who can say what else they might do?"

Well…. Asuna couldn't quite shrug off that possibility. Neuroscience wasn't her area, and even Kirito didn't seem to know all the ins and outs of it. But Kirito had already said the NerveGears had done a few things he hadn't believed possible, so Kizmel might well have been right.

Even so. I can't just….

Kirito shook his head, firm and calm. "Doesn't matter," he said flatly. "I can't go back to the real world without knowing what's going on with Alice. Why this world is like my dreams. I barely recovered last time. I have to know. Whatever the risks."

Asuna suspected he wasn't as calm as he looked, but she didn't doubt his conviction. She envied that, as much as she'd envied his confidence the moment she first met him. Which is why I still have to do this, she reminded herself. I can't go back unless I can stand up for myself, like Kirito-kun. I need them.

Kizmel couldn't seem to find a counter to Kirito's reasoning. Clearly conflicted, she turned to Asuna—who spoke before the elf Knight could. "Kizmel," she said gently. "Do you want us to leave?"

The question clearly caught the other girl off guard. For a long moment, the Knight only looked at her, eyes wide, and Asuna knew she'd hit the mark. It was something she'd gradually come to see, especially since they'd left Einsla. The same thing she saw in Kirito, and in herself.

"No," Kizmel said at last, looking away. "No, I don't."

Asuna reached past the crystal to grasp the elf girl's hand in hers; it took only a brief, pointed look for Kirito to do the same. "Then we're doing this, Kizmel," she said firmly. "We all have our reasons for this. Sometimes, we have to take risks to move forward. Don't you think?"

"…Yes. Yes, I suppose we do." Finally breaking into a small smile, Kizmel squeezed their hands in return. "Very well, then. You remember the awakening ritual, I trust?"

Asuna traded a wry look with Kirito. Like either of them were going to forget that experience? Releasing Kizmel, she placed her hands on one facet of the new crystal, as Kirito did the same.

Then Kizmel's hands, bare of her usual gauntlets, pressed against the core crystal. "Dost thou desire the power?" she began, in words Asuna recognized this time as archaic Sindarin. "Then share thine strength and soul."

The crystal's dull glow began to brighten, and Asuna felt the strange pull she remembered from the last awakening, of something being drawn from her, leaving her cold. Yet not as cold as last time, somehow.

"Awaken the Wood, the power of Life itself, with the spark of thine soul. With thine strength, awaken the sleeping power of Lyusula."

Asuna felt the crystal stirring. Felt heat spiral into it, circulating with heat from her companions. This time, amid the cycle of heat and cold, she discerned that some of what Kirito and Kizmel gave it mixed with the growing energy of the crystal itself, flowing back into her, as hers mixed with theirs.

"Sacrifice to gain, magic for magic, power for power…."

She closed her eyes, feeling again the phantom heartbeats from her companions. Felt the cycle of power, in and out and circulating, into and out of and through the core crystal as it brightened.

"If thee are of accord with Holy Lyusula, a covenant shall be born."

Emerald light blazed, pulsating, burning through Asuna's eyelids. She could feel the new core linking with the old, warmth from the twinned power racing back into her, setting her veins on fire. The heat, well beyond what she'd felt last time, threatened to burn her out, yet she knew instinctively it was strengthening her—them—not destroying. Again, her heart synchronized with the others', beating stronger and deeper than ever before.

She felt Kirito's wonder—and no small alarm—and a strange sense of longing. A longing she realized she could feel from Kizmel, as well. A longing that felt like her own.

"Thou must live, die, and know…."

Kizmel's voice trailed off, and the emerald glow settled. Asuna opened her eyes, and as her hands and theirs fell away, the two crystals began to slowly rotate, orbiting each other. The flows of energy into the pipelines feeding Moondancer's systems brightened; she thought she could somehow feel it herself, without even checking the gauges in the pilothouse.

She was sure she still felt Kizmel and Kirito's heartbeats. The sensation had faded, but this time it hadn't completely vanished. From the wide, shocked look in his eyes, the swordsman felt it, too.

"Your hearts," Kirito said hoarsely. "I… can feel your heartbeats." He clutched at his breastbone, where he clearly felt the same phantom beats Asuna did. "I thought… I was imagining it, before. But now…."

Kizmel nodded, slow and somber. "Yes," she whispered. "I wasn't sure myself, the first time. Dark Elf I may be, but I'm no scholar of ancient magicks. Though I can invoke the spell, I do not know how it works, or what it does." She swallowed, and Asuna realized she was as unsettled by the experience as they were. "When we woke the first crystal, I couldn't say for certain. Even now, I don't know what may happen from here, if you continue to steep yourselves in this magic…."

A heavy thought, made heavier by the fact that Asuna could no longer confidently say this was all the NerveGear playing with her neurons. If anyone could do it with a machine, it would've been Kayaba, and any other idea was just crazy. But part of her couldn't help but wonder….

"…It doesn't matter anyway," Kirito said softly, breaking into her thoughts. "We have no choice. Magic, the NerveGear, whatever it is… we need every advantage we can get. Better to risk leaving Aincrad changed, than to never escape."

Asuna saw the strange look on his face, wonder warring with something else, and brought her hand to her chest. Feeling the phantom beats there, in tune with her own, she took a deep breath, and looked to Kizmel. To the elf girl's drawn, uncertain face. "And for some of us," she whispered, "change… might not be so bad."

Kizmel swallowed, for once looking as vulnerable as any player trapped in the role of Swordmaster. "Do you think so?"

"Of course." Asuna squared her shoulders, rested her other hand on her Wind Fleuret, and smiled fiercely. "The Wolkenritter, the Integrity Knights… they're doing it all wrong." She turned that smile on Kirito. "I'll have to show Alice that myself."

---

Author's Note:

---

So… update in barely two weeks, but absolutely ginormous. Oops? Still, I think the pacing is a lot better this time. Instead of taking eighteen thousand words to tell ten thousand words' worth of plot, this one was just plain busy, with tons of stuff going on. Honestly, I couldn't even quite fit everything I wanted to—this was the bare essentials!

(This chapter brought to you by the mood influenced by Dot Hack GU's version of the BGM of Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground. That's basically what Kirito and Asuna are hearing in Wolkenfelder Castle.)

For once, not really much to say here. This is just the start of the Second Island arc's climax—next chapter will have rather more explosions, plus some additional serious character bonding (that's part of why this got so big; I had to fit in a bunch of character bonding to justify what's coming next). I'm also going to try to fit in at least a few details of what the other clearers are up to; Kirito and comrades might be doing stuff significant to them, but the clearing still matters to what's coming soon, too.

Kumari, readers of Monochrome Duet should recognize. I originally created her as a throwaway bit character for that fic; when I found a need for her later, the backstory I created for her turned out to be perfect for some plans I had for Rebellion. So, here she is.

I think that's really about everything this time? Big thanks to everyone who gave suggestions for cooking; got that under control now. And I hope all the action, twists, and characters-building-toward-friendship (we know they've already got it, they just haven't admitted it yet!) was worth it. So, you guys tell me: too big, just right, die in a fire? Lemme know. In the meantime, I'm already well into planning Chapter 10; fingers crossed that goes as smoothly as Chapter 9 did. 'Til next time. -Solid