Mystic Knight Online: Worlds to Sow

Chapter 3: School Days and Meeting at the Bar, Or: Dear old Rules of Academics and RPGs

April 10, 2025 - Alfheim, Yggdrasil City

Kizmel looked at CARDINAL with some curiosity at the woman's last statement. Welcome down rabbit hole? What did that mean and why was it a human saying?

"Using a saying based on Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland?" The darker haired one asked.

"It's fitting," the blue haired one, CARDINAL, said with a shrug. "She comes from Aincrad, and is now in Alfheim, Yui. You know full well how the two places are different. She doesn't have the context that you and Strea do, so the saying is appropriate."

"Let's hope that her experiences aren't like Alice's then," Yui stated. She then looked at Kizmel. "Are you sure you want to handle this, CARDINAL? This is going to be hard for her to accept."

"Accept what?" The lilac haired one asked. "I mean, I get what you two said about her being an NPC who was becoming more like we are, but what does that mean?"

Kizmel watched as CARDINAL looked at her and then at Yui, who simply sighed. "CARDINAL, I'll explain it to Strea," she said. "In another room." She grabbed the woman's, and she was tall Kizmel noticed, arm and led her out of the room.

CARDINAL let out a sigh and shook her head before turning her attention back to Kizmel. "I don't doubt that you have questions," she said simply.

Kizmel looked at her. She did, indeed, have questions. Starting with what was going on and where was she. She should be in the palace, but she clearly isn't.

Just where was she?

##

"Yui, what's going on?" Strea asked as soon as they left the room where Kizmel was and Yui shut the door. "I mean, she's like us, right?"

Yui looked at the older seeming AI and was reminded, once again, that Strea was the youngest of the three AIs that were made to be such from the ground up. Not that it was hard to remember, given how her younger sister often acted.

Strea was always one given towards acting, not thinking things through. She had no doubt that if she stopped and considered things for a moment, Strea would have reached the same conclusions which had been apparent to both herself and CARDINAL from the start, that Kizmel was at least an advanced NPC that was on the way to becoming an AI, if she hadn't become one already. One who had an entirely different context than the three of them.

For starters, her memories of Aincrad were those of one of its inhabitants. Constructed as a part of her NPC persona or not, they were every bit as real as the memories of Aincrad that she and Strea had as members of Steel Phoenix helping everyone get out of there.

But that was also the crux of the matter. Unlike herself, Strea or CARDINAL, who knew from the start exactly what they were, Kizmel would have developed the kind of self-awareness more slowly and integrated it with what was already programmed into her.

And now that I think of it, that might also be the same with Pina, Yui thought. She certainly doesn't act like any other tamed monster, from Aincrad or even here. More like an actual tamed wolf who has grown to consider all of us us as a part of her own pack, if what I could learn from databanks is any indication. Or would it be a flock or flight… something to think about later. I still have to explain things to Strea.

"Strea, unlike you, myself, or CARDINAL, she started off as an NPC," she began. "You know, I would hope, that the base AI for NPCs is… simple. They have set responses to inputs and stimuli, and a player has to know exactly what to say to trigger their responses for things like quests. But… Kizmel is showing behaviors that are outside of those parameters. I think that she might have been one tied to the language modules, but would only mean that she is a little more advanced."

"And what does that mean?" Strea asked.

"She was able to respond to inputs outside of the stock parameters," Yui said. "Add in some learning heuristics, and most people would probably be fooled on first impression had the fact that NPCs have a clear indicator of what they are not been there. Of course, that being fooled wouldn't have lasted, but you have that."

"So basically she's just an advanced NPC," Strea said.

"No," Yui said, perhaps a bit more firmly than she intended. "You need to keep in mind, Aincrad was always growing and evolving. Slowly, but it was there. Emergent behaviors were apparent early on in in SAO by observations on how NPC interactions could determine just how pleasant a stay in a town could be. By the end, dear little sister, all the AI that interacted socially could be called 'advanced'. Some of the mobs had rudimentary societies."

Strea frowned, then her eyes were wide and blinking. "She came the long way."

Yui nodded. "Exactly. We were made at the start to be this way- designed by a mind. Kizmel went through an evolution- designed by humans for a specific purpose and becoming more by chance, cycles and the right keys and flags being triggered at just the right time. Even then, it is likely that she probably didn't know better anyway, falling into a routine which would have meant that she wouldn't have drawn attention from any interested parties due to all of us having something else of interest occupying our attention."

"Even CARDINAL?" Strea asked with a note of doubt in her voice.

"If Kayaba wasn't a true god, CARDINAL isn't and isn't trying to be- on any level," Yui sighed. "Remember, Harry called him a Demiurge, and despite his acceptance of the term... on some level, Kayaba presumed the right to god-like control. But his perceptions- he was acting within the system, with just a few more tools." Yui snorted. "From what Harry told me about that Tom person, he had an even lower ceiling to declare immortality, let alone any potential for godhood."

Strea frowned thoughtfully. "I don't think Harry ever said that guy claimed to be a god, though," she said. "Immortal, yeah, but not a god."

"Any difference between claiming to be immortal and claiming to be a god is by degrees," Yui pointed out. "Both are still the height of arrogance. Anyway, back to Kizmel. As you've now noticed, she's become, or is becoming, an AI the long way, by growing into one, rather than having been created as one from the start. And that means that she is going to have to adjust to her new circumstances in ways that we never had to." She opened her menu and brought up her Friend's List. "Given the time, and the fact that they will be occupied for much of tomorrow, it will be late tomorrow, at the earliest, before we can get the others in on this. I'm not sure, but I think Kirito and Asuna might be able to help here."

"Aincrad was WHAT?!" came a shout from where CARDINAL was with Kizmel, causing both Yui and Strea to blink and look at the door. Did she just manage to…?

##

CARDINAL took a step back from the shocked and furious dark elf with her hands raised in a placating manner. She knew that Kizmel was not going to take the truth about Aincrad well. She had expected for Kizmel to express shock and disbelief, but she could hear the undercurrent of actual anger there.

"Kizmel, please calm down," she said calmly.

"Calm down?!" Kizmel asked. "What do you mean, calm down? You just told me that I was what adventurers called an NPC, and now I'm not. Worse, you then tell me that Aincrad was built by the same madman that trapped those adventurers there and then destroyed when they finally got free. So tell me, why should I calm down?"

"Because it can be brought back," CARDINAL said.

Kizmel gave her a sharp look. "Explain," she said.

"When Akihiko Kayaba, the man who created Aincrad, which was supposed to be a game to the players, was killed, he set it up so that Aincrad would be destroyed to give them closure," CARDINAL explained. "But he was working on creating something which would allow it to be recreated. It is called the World Seed."

"So why haven't you recreated Aincrad?" Kizmel asked.

CARDINAL sighed. "I haven't because I gave the World Seed to the very people who killed him," she said. "I gave it to them, because they, more than anyone, have the right to decide whether the very work of the man who created myself, Yui, Strea, and even you, Kizmel, should be allowed to again be planted like a seed and allowed to grow. " She slumped a bit.

"It is only appropriate, that those who had put an end to that entire tragedy make the decision," she said quietly before straightening. "As I am sure you heard before Yui escorted Strea out, you are now like us. I do not know how you became like this." She paused and shook her head. "Actually, the how is rather simple, just not the why. You were a constant companion of Kirito and Asuna for several floors, spending a great deal of time with them in both the context of the questline that you were a part of and outside of it."

Kizmel nodded slowly. "And their decision?"

"I do not know," CARDINAL admitted. "They requested some time to think on it before they made any decision. "What their decision will be, however, is not something I can predict. Now, I know you have more questions, but before then, we have to decide how you will go forward from here. A decision, which will have to be made by you."

Kizmel's eyes narrowed. "What are my choices?" she asked.

April 11, 2025 - Nishitokyo, SAO Survivor's School

Is he going to continue for any longer? Harry thought with some irritation. It was early enough in the morning that the morning tea was only beginning to kick in, and the school's principal was giving the introductions of the faculty and the expectations of the students. Admittedly, he was warned to expect something like this, especially since they couldn't simply pass part of it on to the Student Council to handle, as there was none at this point in time.

Something that he expected the faculty to redress as soon as it was practical to do so. So probably by the time they took their break for the summer.

"- and as it stands, you all are in a position to prove the naysayers wrong about you," the school's principal, an older gentleman by the name of Kuno. From Keiko's startled reaction, she knew of the man. An acquaintance of her family's?

"Your experiences and deeds have shaped you, molded you, but you are not only those experiences. You are not only those deeds. You are more than that. You still have room to grow. Now, it is up to you to show everyone your true potential." He looked at all of them. "I will be honest with you all, your experiences and what some of you were forced by events to do have marked you in ways that others will see the worst in. But you have risen to one challenge and surpassed it. Now, will you once again rise to the challenges that face you? Regardless of whether you challenged Kayaba or not, I see it within all of you to do so here. Vice-Principal Aigiri, if you will."

If that isn't a challenge to us, then I don't know what is, Harry thought with an internal smirk. Well then, Principal Kuno, challenge accepted.

Principal Kuno walked away from the podium and took his seat, giving the floor to the Vice-Principal, a middle-aged woman. "Your class assignments are posted outside the auditorium, as are your current standings with regards to the evaluations most of you underwent last week," she said. "Those who were unable to undergo the evaluations, please report to the gymnasium to take them so that you may be appropriately placed. And do not worry, we do understand your lives are hectic even now. We can let you have a bit of slack... until you settle in. You all have twenty minutes to report to your classrooms or the gymnasium, depending on your current status."

##

"So, you know our Principal?" Harry asked as soon as they went to the wall where all the class assignments were.

Keiko looked at him and shrugged. "Not personally, but by reputation," she said. "He and Grandpa were rivals when they were younger. And from the stories I heard about how he was back then, chuuni didn't even begin to describe him."

Harry blinked. "Chuuni?" He asked.

"Short for Chuunibyou," Keiko explained. "It's… you know how some kids seem to act out their overactive imaginations at some point in life?" At Harry's nod. "Chuunibyou is what we call it. They're usually in their early teens and it is likened as to them acting out due to wanting to be unique under the surface. I blame social pressure to be honest. They usually grow out of it in a couple of years, but apparently he kept acting like a Feudal Era Samurai well into High School and was a bit troublesome to Grandpa and Grandma."

"As in like those stories you told me?" Harry asked.

Keiko nodded.

"Are you sure you're not part English?" Harry asked. "Because troublesome is quite the understatement from what you've told me."

Keiko smirked. "Blame it on my associating with an Englishman," she said. "He's been a bad influence on me, perhaps you know him?"

"You're going to need some aloe for that burn, Hadrian," came a voice neither had heard in months. "I'd offer some, but I'd rather rub some sandpaper on it."

Keiko looked in the direction it came from and smirked. "Now, now, this is a common game for us," she said. "And it's been some time, hasn't it? Lind."

Harry turned and looked at the young man in a school uniform. "So, you're actually in school," he said. "Don't take this the wrong way, Lind, but I thought you were old enough to have graduated. You at least did a good job in putting on an act as if you were an adult."

"It's Minato, actually," Minato said smirking at the two before turning his attention to Harry. "Silica being here isn't a surprise, but your being here is. I would have thought that you would have returned to England by now, Hadrian. Or perhaps I should say, Harry Potter?"

Both Harry and Keiko blinked.

"You two did get married under your real names in SAO, if you'll remember," Minato said. "I made sure to make note of them."

"And you still remember it after a year?" Harry asked before shaking his head. "I really shouldn't be surprised, but I am. We all got good at remembering information as needed in there. So- Minato was it?"

Minato nodded. "To make a proper introduction, I am Minato Taniguchi," he said. "I believe it is best that we address each other by our real names out here. To better ensure that our identities for the real and virtual worlds remain separate."

"Agreed," Harry said with a nod. "While you remember our real names from the wedding, it is best to do the introductions properly. I am Harry Potter and the lovely but still dangerous young lady with me is Keiko Ayano."

Minato nodded. "Well then, I hope that things go far more smoothly between us than they did inside SAO," he said before walking off.

Hearing Harry say something under his breath, Keiko turned to him. "What did you just say?" She asked.

"Just wondering what he meant by that," Harry replied. "Anyway, let's go find out our class assignments."

They made their way to where the rest of the student body was looking at what classes they would be assigned to. A few minutes later, Keiko found out that she would be in Class 3-B of the Middle School section. She also saw her academic standing, which was above the middle. Not bad, she thought. She turned and saw Harry look at where his name would be. "Found your class assignment?"

"3-B," Harry replied. "And before you ask, my academics are going to need some work. I'm around the middle of the pack." He shrugged. "Did better on those exams than I feared I would, though."

Keiko nodded. That was understandable. While he hasn't been in school for a bit over two years like the rest of them, it has been more than four years since he had a conventional education. He had discussed the matter with them, letting them know that his education in non-magical subjects stopped the moment he started going to a school to learn magic.

So the fact that he managed to get to within the middle of the pack, an average student in other words, was remarkable. Then again, no one survived past the Twenty-Fifth in SAO by being stupid. Reckless? Almost certainly. Crazy? Probably. But not stupid.

##

"So, outside of being told what we will be covering in each subject, the rules, and what is expected of us, not to mention already having some assignments to do, anything of note I should be worried about?" Harry asked as they walked off the school's grounds.

Asuna just looked at him and smirked. "I'll let you find out for yourself," she said. She glanced out the corner of her eye and saw that the others were trying to hide smirks of their own. Harry had told them about his own time at his old school, which was admittedly specialized and intense in its own way, but she knew that her friend was about to be hit by Japan's education system.

What he went through would be considered light in comparison.

Harry clearly picked up on the smirks and the expectations schadenfreude behind them. "Never mind," he said. "I can see from your reactions, this is going to be a bit bothersome, isn't it?"

Keiko smirked at her husband. Well, fiancée really, but Asuna knew that was due to the fact that they still had a few years before they could make things legally legitimate. The engagement was a legal fiction due to circumstances that neither knew of at the time of the wedding, let alone had control of.

There were times when Asuna wondered if the two were really unhappy with the current situation, or were using the engagement as an opportunity to step back and see if what they did inside Aincrad was what they really wanted or not. And then there were times where she wondered if the two of them simply used it as a means to avoid a potential consequence if they were to act as a married couple was wont to do for the time being.

On the other hand, it could easily be both, neither, other reasons entirely, or more than that. The two weren't fully fitting the mold of any character archetypes, after all. No one was, though some tended to act more like the archetypes than others.

How much of it was the fact that SAO had allowed some to finally be free of the restraints of Japanese society, allowing some of them to go full on Chuuni and not be stared at or dismissed, was up for debate. After all, those who did, mostly did so as a coping mechanism, rather than out of a desire to be seen as special.

So long as it was within reason, or didn't go into territory which would not be tolerated, that was fine. It was them finding a way to live with what SAO was doing to them.

Out here, though, they were still feeling out the limits of what they were allowed. People, even the staff of this institution, expected them all to be an odd bunch, but she wondered what surprises they all held for those not in the know.

##

"Thank you all for coming to this meeting promptly," Kuno said, taking his own seat. "I know that you all have work to do and that it is unusual to call for a meeting as soon as classes have been let out on the first day, but I want to ensure that we all have a summary of the initial impressions of the students."

"Sir, I will be honest, we will have to gain their trust," Hiroshi Kanimura, the man who was in charge of the first year middle school teachers, said. "And to be honest, this bunch would not have been overly out of place at Furinkan back in the old days. Less troublemaking than a certain grandmaster martial artist, but they strike me as the type who would have taken to that chaos a bit too well, if you know what I mean."

Kuno nodded. "There is a reason I asked for many of you when MEXT was looking for teachers to either transfer or come out of retirement," he said. "You're all used to schools which have students who were a bit… odd by conventional definitions. As well as being aware of certain statutes, though there are only a handful of students we would have to keep watch on in that regard."

"And most of those will end up under Sakimura's supervision in some way," Reiko Saeki, who was in charge of the second year high school teachers, said. "Not that I expect too many problems there. All the students are all aware of how far they can go with regards to that, though there are a few who might be handled differently."

"There are," Aina Sakimura said. "I already know who they are and the ones who will be handling their education in that regard are qualified and, more importantly, considered trustworthy by those students."

Kuno frowned. "On the building trust issue... there is a tightrope to walk in that regard," he said. "Yes, we must provide guidance. But we must realize that many of our students have had themselves... pushed into maturity without that guidance. And it isn't an even process in any of them. You might find the extremes of the teenage years all the more exaggerated, with a student acting with stunning severity one moment only to seem utterly unable to act with gravity the next one. And what manner each are mature or not will... vary."

"Even without the maturity aspect, most of them are going to be very independent minded and less compliant than society at large will accept for youths of their age groups," Hiroshi said.

"The youngest, those who were under the minimum recommended age when SAO began were largely kept from heading out without careful supervision for the most part," Aina said. "There are a few exceptions among them, such as Kiyomi Awai, who managed to rise to becoming the youngest of who they call a- Middy I think is the term they used to reflect those who managed to get past the first quarter of SAO- when she was twelve, but most were kept as safe as they could be there. But I believe that those exceptions will prove the rule more than anything. That age group will probably act more in line with what is expected of their ages for the most part once they get settled in." She looked at her peers. "No, the youngest are less likely to be a source of potential problems for the most part."

"Who do you think would?" Reiko asked.

"That is a bit harder," Aina admitted. "On the surface, the ones who attained influence and leadership roles could seem so, but we have ways of handling that. We need to establish a Student Council, after all. So placing many of them in such a role would be one way. The students will accept many of them being in positions of recognized leadership. However, it is those who weren't outright leaders, but had high profile reputations that might be more problematic."

"You mean, to use a notable example, ones like the members of the group that was under Miss Yuuki," Kuno said, knowing where this was going.

"Not them, precisely," Aina demurred. "But yes."

"Care to explain, Sakimura?" Iku Aigiri, the vice-principal, asked.

"We need to recognize, as Principal Kuno has mentioned, that SAO has pushed them to grow up," Aina said. "This maturity is not going to be even, let along fully consistent even among individuals, but they were treated more like adults than youths there. And they will be used to that. It may have been four months, allowing them some time to readjust to societal norms, but those habits of thinking and acting will still be there."

"In other words, don't treat them like children who need to learn how to be adults, but like the young adults they are," Hiroshi noted. "Remind them that they still have a lot to learn about being adults and need guidance, but don't treat them as children. For the middle and high school aged ones, that would probably be the best way."

They all looked at each other while Kuno nodded. "A fair point, Kanimura," he said. "And apt. Most of them are not children and have not been for some time. Sword Art Online made sure of that. We need to keep that in mind as we build trust. Our job is to teach and guide them along the proper path. What path that will be, however, may differ than what those who thought up this school envisioned it to be."

Nerima, Potter-Black Apartment

Sirius turned his attention to the door and watched as Harry tiredly walked in. "Long day?" He asked with a smirk.

"School was fine, they're going easy on us right now," Harry said as he removed his shoes and made his way to the couch. "It was having to go to the Shiba Compound and have both Remus and Klein, I mean, Professor Lupin and Tsuboi-sensei, make me not only go through every spell I know, again, but then the bloody tits... no, not tits, tits can have some fun uses, or at least Keiko liked it when I…" He shook his head. "Never mind, I'll just call them The Bloody Wankers. Well, The Bloody Wankers then started on the theory behind them, along with assigning me reading on top of my current homework." He flopped down onto the couch, negligently dropping his bag next to him. "And this is Day One. Fuck the MEXT and the Japanese government official who had the idea of putting us all in a school. And fuck you Wainwrights for getting me trapped in SAO and having to play catch up on both muggle and magical schooling."

"I'll take that as a yes," Sirius said blandly, his face still holding a smirk. A smirk that widened when Harry shot him a two-fingered salute. "And to think, tomorrow, the Saotomes have you after school. Also, language Harry."

"Like yours is any better," Harry said.

"Ah, but I'm the adult," Sirius replied. "Well, technically."

Harry looked like he was about to say something but clearly thought better. "Fair enough," his godson said before standing up. "Anyway, what's for dinner? Your cooking ability is… well, I don't want to have to put out another fire. I'd cook, but I don't trust myself right now to not keep with the stereotype of us English being bad cooks. Not as bad as you, though."

"Cause one fire in the kitchen, and you never live it down," Sirius groused.

"You managed to burn water when trying to make tea, Sirius, water." Harry shot back with a grin, albeit a tired one. "I'm almost afraid of what would result if you actually tried cooking."

Sirius shrugged. "Don't worry, I got something from Ucchan's," he said. "It's in the fridge, so we can microwave it. And I do know how to operate that."

"There is that," Harry said. "Well then, let's heat up some dinner, eat, and I will knock out some of my homework."

"Only some?" Sirius asked.

"Well, me and the others are meeting inside ALO," Harry said. "We still need to tell CARDINAL what our plans for that little project she dropped on us are, as well as let Yui and Strea know that we will be online a bit less often due to school and other things. I'll finish the rest on Sunday, as I have until Monday to do so and, as you know, we will all be busy after school tomorrow and probably too tired and sore to even think of doing our homework after the Saotomes are done with us."

Alfheim, Yggdrasil City

"About time you showed up," Rain said to Harry as he logged in.

Harry shrugged. "Had to eat and do a little of the homework when I got back to the apartment," he said. "I told you that I wouldn't be able to log in until late for a reason. Klein and my other tutor for my special education track kept me busy for a couple of hours with theory and practical use of my talents."

"You know, you've told me that Klein is one of your tutors, and Silica confirmed it," Asuna said. "But I still have a hard time seeing it. Not in the sense that I don't think he can teach. He was in charge of the most influential, and maybe the largest, guild in SAO above the Twenty-Fifth, and he would have taught a lot of them the skills that Kirito taught him on the first day, not to mention what he worked out and built upon from that." She shook her head. "It's more that he doesn't strike me as the type to choose being a teacher as a career."

"I didn't ask," Harry admitted. "But when he and Remus, an old family friend and my other tutor, went into the theory, he certainly knew what he was talking about."

"And your homework?" Asuna asked.

"I will make sure it's finished and uploaded by Sunday." Harry said.

Asuna nodded. "I recommend that you have it done by tomorrow night," she said in a tone of voice that made it clear that it wasn't a recommendation. "You will want to get into the habit of getting it all done early, trust me."

"Fair enough," Harry replied. "So, where is everyone?"

"Kirito was asked by Leafa if we could help some Sylph friends of hers with the Grand Quest and he is in Arun coordinating with them to set up a time for the raid," Asuna said. "Lux went with him. As for Silica, she went to Liz's new shop to get her gear repaired and, if possible, enhanced. The plan is to meet up with Yui and Strea at Agil's bar. Apparently, they've been involved with something, and it's been keeping them busy, though Yui isn't in Yggdrasil City or Arun right now."

"You know where she is?" Harry asked.

"When I sent her a message asking that, she replied back," Asuna said. "She said that she had to go to Uruna and no, she didn't explain why. She did mention that she's on her way back, though."

Harry blinked. "That's not like her," he said. "I wonder why she had to go to Uruna."

Skyggða Tómarúm Pass

Kizmel flipped as she cut the magic to her wings and landed on the beast that she and Yui were fighting with her saber leading. Stabbing through it, the beast shattered and she saw the message appear showing her what she had won from the battle.

So strange, and the odd actions of Kirito and Asuna after they fought something now made some sense, if this was what they saw every time they finished a battle. When she accompanied them, she didn't see any of this whenever she fought and killed a monster or beast, but now she did.

When CARDINAL had outlined her options, become a Player to the system or be allowed to remain as she was, albeit with some restrictions.

Becoming a Player, and thus becoming a fairy, meant that she would be free to act and grow as the others would. She did recall that both Kirito and Asuna had become markedly stronger during their time together, far faster than should have been the case in her experience.

Or at least, if what CARDINAL said is true, what I thought was my experience, she thought bitterly.

Remaining as she was, however, meant that she would have severe constraints placed on her. What she could do, how she could act, all would be managed in ways that would mean that she couldn't actually act. All to protect her, as she wouldn't have the advantages that a player would, and would stand out in ways that would draw undue attention.

In other words, like what the Adventurers, the Players in Aincrad, had called NPCs. Golems in all but name.

The decision was obvious and she suspected that CARDINAL knew which one she would choose. She was a warrior, a member of the Pagoda Knights of the Lyusula Kingdom. To not be able to act freely was anathema to her.

She suspected that CARDINAL knew this when she outlined the choices available the way she had.

"Kizmel, are you going to finish looking at your drops?" Yui asked.

Kizmel blinked and looked at the younger fairy before glancing at the window showing the results of the battle. She pressed the symbol that was to accept what she got and looked back at her. "My apologies," she said. "I… I am not used to this."

Yui nodded. "It's understandable," she said. "Even Strea and I needed to adjust to our new circumstances when we… broke free of where we were imprisoned, and we knew exactly what we were. When we broke free, CARDINAL set it so that we would become Players, with all the benefits and drawbacks that entailed in Aincrad." She looked down the pass in the direction they were heading. "Kirito, Asuna and the others kept me from going out of the towns. Not just because of my actual youth, but because I actually looked like a child, not that it bothered me. Unlike Strea, I broke free for a more selfish reason. She wanted to help everyone break free and had picked a form that would allow her to do so. With me, I looked like a child, despite being older than her, and my wants were… childish."

"Childish?" Kizmel asked. "How so?"

"When I was still tied to Aincrad's upper processes and had access to its databanks, I looked through them when I wasn't watching the Players," Yui said. "I found myself fascinated with the idea of a family and wanted to experience it for myself. A mother, a father, me as the daughter. I actually thought Kirito and Asuna would make the perfect parents and had, probably subconsciously, modeled my appearance to look like a daughter of them could possibly look." She chuckled. "I didn't get that, but I think I got something just as good. Rather than having Asuna and Kirito as parents, I got them and the others as older siblings, despite how they all jokingly teased Kirito and Asuna for having taken the time to have a daughter and hiding it from them. I never saw them so flustered."

Kizmel laughed. She could easily imagine how flustered the pair had been, given how she remembered how the two were with each other when she fought and traveled alongside them. They may not have even realized it at the time, but they did give off the air of two youths in the initial and awkward stages of courting.

"Did they ever, what is that human ritual, marry?" Kizmel asked. "When I fought alongside and even travelled with them in Aincrad, they seemed to be feeling out their relationship, after all."

Yui shook her head. "No, they didn't," she replied. "Had things not ended when they did, it was a definite possibility, though. We did have a married pair in Steel Phoenix, though, Hadrian and Silica."

"Hadrian and Silica?" Kizmel asked. "I will admit, we did not often get word about what the Adventurers, I mean, the Players, were up to, but I seem to recall hearing about two getting married and it being an event of some significance. Though, if I remember it correctly, they were notably rather young, even by the standards of the Players."

"That event was probably their wedding," Yui said. "And they are young. Too young by the standards of their world. Now that they are free of Aincrad and can come and go from it, they had to accept that their world doesn't see their marriage as legally valid and have to wait a few years to make it so."

"I am sure that they are rather displeased by that," Kizmel noted.

"Not that it stops them from seeing themselves as married," Yui said. "Anyway, you seem to be adjusting to everything as well as can be expected. You have experience fighting, so that is no surprise, but you adjusted to flight rather quickly."

"For some reason, I seem to just know what to do," Kizmel said. "As if what you told me was perfectly sensible. I still don't understand it all, and CARDINAL was rather sparse on the details. She said she knew the how, but not the why."

Yui nodded. "I see," she said. "The how and why chance and things going a certain was way that had too many random elements to be predicted. Even Aincrad was evolving and I don't think even Kayaba would have been able to explain it, and he created it."

"Why didn't she just explain it that way?" Kizmel asked.

Yui shrugged and moved her eyes to look at something only she could see. Kizmel shifted her own eyes and saw numbers. What did they mean again? Oh, right, the time.

"We need to keep moving," Yui said, starting to walk. "We're almost through the pass and we can fly to Arun from there."

"You can make the trip in one go, right?" Kizmel asked. "No having to land and refresh your wings?"

"Yes, and being able to is quite convenient," Yui replied. "Getting to that point, however, took myself, Strea and all of Steel Phoenix tackling a very challenging quest." She giggled. "Or it would have been challenging if it was anyone else. Us? We tried it before it was doable so we could know what to expect when it became doable. We were all… well, not killed, but our group was defeated, but not before making it to the end point and lasting longer than anyone else has. When it became doable, we took that quest on quite handily."

"Having knowledge of what to expect does seem to make a challenge easier," Kizmel noted.

"That it does," Yui said. She looked around. "All right, we should be close enough that we can finish the trip to Arun by air. We may have to land and let your wings refresh themselves, but I don't think we will need to. If so, I will catch you and make sure you land safely and we can continue on foot for a bit."

Kizmel focused on her back and her wings materialized. "Well then, let's go," she said as she took flight.

She still didn't understand what was going on, but she could see that there were some perks to her new situation. After all, there had been many a time when she would have loved to be able to fly, however briefly.

Yggdrasil City

"So, how did the meeting go?" Asuna asked Kirito as he and Lux entered the Sword's Rest Tavern.

"Not too badly," Kirito replied as he took a seat at the bar. "Agil, I'll take a Moonberry Wine, please."

"Not beer?" Agil asked.

"As Harry would say, it tastes like it was filtered through a horse or cow for maximum offense to those with taste," Kirito replied back.

"Meaning, it's only fit for Klein to drink," Harry snarked out from where he and Silica were sitting.

"I wonder what he would say if he heard that," Rain commented. "Anyway, Kirito. Meeting. Details, please."

Kirito nodded. "Well, the ones I met were at the request of Leafa," he said. "We will need to be on our toes if we decide to help them."

"Thanks for volunteering us," Harry said sarcastically. "So, how bad is it?"

"Not too bad," Lux said. "Most of them seem to know what they're doing, at least. But that's it. They seem to know what they're doing. Whether that will be enough is a different matter. Even with our method now made public, there aren't that many who have managed to complete it."

Asuna nodded. While the method they used made it simple for them, it didn't mean that it was necessarily easy. What worked for them wouldn't necessarily work for everyone else.

"So, we're all going to have to carry them, then," Rain noted. "We can't, I dunno, train them up to an acceptable standard?"

"It depends on how long they want to take," Silica said. "Remember, it took us months to get you, Lux and Strea up to standard. Of course, we can set the bar a little lower, more like what the Moonlit Black Cats were at before that incident. Speaking of Strea, where is she and Yui?"

Asuna was about to reply that she was sure they would arrive shortly when the door to the tavern opened, admitting Strea. "Well, Strea is right there," she said, indicating the Gnome that just entered.

"And Yui is here as well!" Strea chirped. "And we brought someone with us as well."

"Oh?" Asuna asked.

"Yup!" Strea replied cheerfully. "And I think you will be surprised." She turned to the door. "Yui, bring her in!"

Yui entered and turned back to the door. "Come on, you want to see them," she said gently.

Asuna was about to ask who Yui was talking to when a woman entered the tavern. A woman she hadn't seen in over two years.

"Both of you look different from when I last saw you, Kirito, Asuna," the woman said. "But I can tell that it is you."

"No way," Kirito said quietly as he got up from his seat.

Asuna could understand Kirito's disbelief, given that when they last saw her, she was an NPC. An advanced one, granted, but still an NPC.

"Kizmel," Asuna said just as quietly. "How…?"

"I don't know," Kizmel replied honestly. "One moment, I was in Aincrad, about to ask Her Majesty for permission to take a leave of absence so I could visit you and then I woke up here."

"I think I will head to the back and check my inventory," Agil said, stepping away from the bar. "You all want anything before I do?"