Chapter 13 Yui's Heart
The next day after Yui passed out Sora, Kirito, Asuna and Yui met up with Sasha at the
Church on Floor One. When they got there, they noticed lots of children eating breakfast.
"I didn't realize this many kids logged into S.A.O." Sora said feeling bad these kids were
trapped in a death game.
"Yeah, there's so many of them." Kirito said.
"Yeah, there are." Asuna said.
"I know right? It's like this pretty much everyday. By the way is Yui feeling any better?"
Sasha asked.
"Well, she got a good night's sleep, so I think she's okay. I don't know you tell me." Kirito
said as they looked at Yui eating a piece of bread.
"She seems fine to me." Sora said cheerfully.
"Has this happened to her before?" Sasha asked.
"We don't know, you see Kirito and I found her on Floor 22 wandering in the forest. The poor
thing she's lost her memory, that's the reason we came here, we thought maybe someone
in the Town of Beginnings would know who she is." Asuna said.
"You live here have you seen her before?" Kirito asked.
"Sorry I haven't. I mean there are a lot of kids in town, but I've never seen her. When the
game started, a lot of children suffered severe psychological trauma. I couldn't stand by
and do nothing, so I moved to this Church and made it a safe place for them to live." Sasha
said.
"Well, I'm glad these children have someone nice and caring as you to look out for them."
Sora said.
"Thank you Sora, I walk through the town everyday looking for kids who might need my
help, but in all this time I've never seen her before." Sasha said.
"Back to square one." Asuna said sadly.
But then they heard a knock on the door, and they go to see who it is. They see a young
woman named Yulier who has long, silver hair tied up in a ponytail which give off an
impression of intelligence. She had sky-blue eyes that shine intensely and a sharp, well-
featured face. She wore an iron-gray cape on her body, under which she wears a dark green
coat with leggings well-fitted for her thighs - the uniform of the Aincrad Liberation
Force. She carried a short sword on the right side of her waist and a curled-up whip on her
left. She also wore gold earrings.
"Sorry to bother you I'm Yulier." She introduced herself.
"And you're with the army right? Hope you're not here to start trouble because of
yesterday." Asuna said.
"Oh no, in fact I'm actually here to thank you." Yulier said.
"You are?" Sora asked sounding very surprised.
"Yes, you did right by putting those men in their place. Actually, I came here to ask the the
three of you for you're help." Yulier said.
"Seriously?" Asuna asked surprised she came to her, Sora and Kirito for help.
So, everyone went back inside the church and Yulier told them what's going on.
"When the guild was formed, we well, actually it was our leader Thinker he never wanted it
to turn into the kind of dictatorial organization it's become. At first mission of the guild was
to share information and food equally among as many players as possible." Yulier
explained.
"Then what happened?" Sora asked.
"The guild grew to large, right?" Kirito asked.
"Right and after much infighting one man became very powerful his name was Kibaou.
Kibaou and his group became stronger and stronger, monopolizing all the best monster
spawn points. They're out of control now extorting other players under the pretext of
collecting taxes." Yulier said.
"Kibaou hated me and Kirito for "hiding information" but now he's become the same thing
that he hates." Sora said.
"Well it became obvious that he didn't care about clearing the game and it made a lot of
people mad, he had to do something to get back in their good graces. So he sent the
highest level players he had to the frontlines.
"That's why the Liberation Army was on Floor 74." Sora said sadly.
"Kibaou was denounced after spearheading that massacre. That's when we seriously
considered kicking him out of the guild for good. And now that he's scared and getting
desperate, he's decided to eliminate Thinker. I heard him say something about ' making his
authority permanent and taking over all of Aincrad.' He set up a trap and stranded Thinker
deep inside a dungeon." Yulier said in fear.
"(Gasp) Can't he teleport out?" Kirito asked.
"He can't." Yulier said.
"Did he have any weapons?" Asuna asked.
"He didn't take any weapons, Kibaou told him he wanted to talk unarmed, Thinker believed
him but that was two days ago. Now he's probably gonna use Thinkers absence as an
advantage for this crazy scheme of his." Yulier said.
"He's been gone that long? Can't he find his way out?" Asuna asked sounding very
concerned.
"The dungeon is the highest level we've seen so far he can't get out of there on his own. As
second in command this is my responsibility, but the problem is my level isn't high enough
to reach him, and because of Kibaou's influence the rest of the army refuse to help me.
When I heard three of the most powerful players were in town I thought this my chance! I
tracked you down because I need you're help. Sora, Kirito, Asuna I beg of you, please help
me rescue Thinker from that dungeon." Yulier said.
"If you think we can help get Thinker out of there we'd be glad to help you. But, all of this
sounds a little hard to believe. I just wanna make sure you're telling the truth." Asuna said.
"I'm sorry I know we just met and I'm asking a lot from you, but when… I think about him
trapped alone in there I feel… like I'm going insane!" Yulier said breaking down in tears.
"Don't worry, we'll help you." Sora said.
"But Sora, how do we know she's telling the truth?" Kirito asked.
"That's the same look I had when my friends were in danger, if there's a chance to save her
friends we should take it." Sora said.
"I don't know Sora, I mean what about what she said about Kibaou planning to take over
Aincrad. It does sound hard to believe." Asuna said with suspicion.
"She's not lying, Kibaou was able to learn how to interfere with the code in the entire game.
I saw one of the members of his faction control the heartless on this floor." Sora said, being
careful not to tell them about the System Sector.
"Wait, he was able to control the heartless?!" Asuna exclaimed.
"Then he has already begun his takeover…" Yulier said in fear.
"Don't worry, I was able to handle Kibaou and stop him from enacting his plan, he won't be
problem to the Liberation Army anymore." Sora said.
"Really… thank you Sora… now all that's left is the rescue Thinker, if you believe me that is."
Yulier said in tears happy that Kibaou will no longer be a menace to the Aincrad Liberation
Army.
"Well…" Asuna said, still feeling a little uneasy if they can trust her because of her being
with the Liberation Army.
"It's okay Mommy, everything she's you is the truth." Yui said.
"Y-Yui, you mean can tell?" Asuna asked.
"Mm hmm, I don't know how I know she is but she is." Yui said.
"Well, I know Sora to be a good judge of character and I can tell Yui is to, so let's go it'll all
work in the end." Kirito said cheerfully.
"What ever you say Mr easygoing. Okay we'll help, I just hope we're strong enough to do it."
Asuna said.
"Thank you so much." Yulier said.
"I know what it feels like to what to save someone, especially someone you care for." Asuna
said.
"Yui, you stay here and wait for us okay." Kirito said.
"No! I'm coming to!" Yui said.
"Aww come one Yui, don't you wanna stay here with me?" Sasha asked.
"No!" Yui said grabbing Kirito's arm.
"Great, now we get to see her rebellious side." Kirito said.
"She probably gets it from her father." Sora joked earning a kick in his leg from Kirito.
"Yui this is serious, it's to dangerous for you to come along with us this this time." Asuna
said.
"I'm going to!" Yui said as she squeezed Kirito's arm even tighter.
Knowing there's no changing her mind Sora, Asuna and Kirito decided to take her with
them. Then Yulier took Sora, Kirito, Asuna and Yui to the dungeon on Floor One in the Black
Iron Castle.
"I never knew this dungeon was under the Town of Beginnings." Asuna said.
"I know, there wasn't wasn't anything like this during the beta." Kirito said.
"Makes you wonder what else this Town has." Sora said.
"I think the dungeons open up to reveal more as the floors above are cleared. I bet Kibaou
was planning on keeping this place to himself." Yulier said.
"Exclusive access to spawns can be profitable." Kirito said.
"The thing is the monsters here are above level 60. He wouldn't be able to do much
hunting, this is the entrance. Yulier said as they approach steps that lead down to the
dungeon.
"You sure you want to go with us Yui?" Sora asked.
"Don't worry I'm not afraid." Yui said cheerfully.
"Uh…" Yulier said a little worried about bringing her.
"It's okay, believe it or not she's a heck of a lot tougher than she looks." Asuna said.
"Mm hmm she'll make a fine swordswoman someday." Kirito said.
Then all the players went downstairs and entered the dungeon. But when they did an army
of Scavenge Toads with huge green slimy frog-like creature with two glowing red eyes on
either side of its head. It has two short horns protruding from the top of its head and red
markings on its back, head and front legs. Sora equipped his Oathkeeper keyblade and
unlocked his Double Form (His clothes transformed into a fusion of Form and Dark Form,
with Light Form on his right side and Dark Form on his left. The coat largely resembles Light
Form, with the left sleeve being black. The sleeves have three heart symbols in a vertical
row, being black on the left sleeve and silver on the right sleeve. The hood also has a heart
symbol; the left half is black, while the right half is in silver. The pants have grey back
pockets; the left side is black with the kanji for "darkness" on the front in white, while the
right side is grey and has the kanji for "light" on the front in white. The shoes are a fusion of
Light Form and Dark Form's, with white collars, black toe boxes and heels outlined in white,
and grey vamps and quarters). since he can't use his Light or Dark Form in that world
because they mostly rely on magic. Then his Oblivion keyblade appeared on his back
surprising everyone that Kirito is not the only one who can dual wield.
"Hey, let's see who can kill the most of these frogs." Sora said.
"You're so on." Kirito said.
Then Sora and Kirito charged at the Scavenge Toads violently cutting them half and trying to
see who can the most of them. Asuna, Yui and Yulier watched as the two boys were
fighting, Yui was amazed watching her daddy and uncle fight side by side together. Asuna
smiled as she watched those two fight together knowing how close those two are. Yulier
watched in guilt knowing that she can't do anything to help them.
"I feel like I should apologize they're doing all the fighting." Yulier said.
"Oh no they're happy out there, believe it or not they love getting their battle on. Are we
almost there? Asuna asked.
Yulier opened her main menu to access the map where Thinker is. "Thinker hasn't moved
from this position for a while now. It could be a safe zone but I'm not sure, if we can reach
him maybe we can use a teleport crystal." Yulier said.
"Whew! Man, I fought my butt off!" Kirito said cheerfully.
"Same! And by the way I win!" Sora exclaimed with pride.
"No way bro, I took out a lot more." Kirito said.
"I should have you two." Yulier said sounding guilty.
"It's alright we had fun, plus we got lots of items from those things." Sora said.
"Really get anything good?" Asuna asked.
"Uh huh." Kirito said as he went through his main menu and pulled out a piece of red meat
in the shape of a frog leg. But Asuna had a disgusted look on her face when she saw it.
"Wha, what is that?" Asuna asked a little freaked out.
"It's scavenge toad meat." Kirito said.
"You mean those frogs?!" Asuna exclaimed freaking out.
"Hey, the weirder the meat the better the taste. Maybe you can cook it up later." Kirito said.
"NOT ON YOU'RE LIFE!" Asuna shouted as she grabbed the scavenge toad meat and threw
it away.
"Hey! Well, that's just great now what am I gonna do with these?!" Kirito asked.
"NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!" Asuna shouted trying to get rid of the meat.
"Asuna! It's good meat!" Kirito said.
"Get rid of it!" Asuna said.
"But it's delicious!" Kirito said.
"(Giggle) They even argue like a married couple." Sora quietly said. Even Yulier cracked a
smile when she saw those two arguing.
"You smiled! I don't think I've ever seen you smile before." Yui said looking at Yulier.
Everyone stopped what they were doing looking at Yui, who still had a smile on her face.
"Come on let's go." Asuna said, breaking the silence in the room.
So, everyone else started walking to get to where Thinker was. "Look it's a safe zone." Asuna
said.
"There's a player inside." Kirito said.
"(Gasp) It's Thinker!" Yulier said and she ran on over to see him.
"Wait! We should stick together!" Sora shouted but Yulier didn't listen.
As she got closer to the safe zone, she saw a man with umber-brown, wavy hair and brown
eyes, wearing a teal trench coat, white gloves and gray trousers, it was Thinker.
"Yulier!" Thinker shouted.
"Thinker!" Yulier responded sounding very reviled she found him.
"No stay away! The corridor's rigged!" Thinker shouted.
Sora, Kirito and Asuna saw the words The Fatal Scythe appear and new there was a
powerful boss hidden somewhere.
"Stop wait Yulier! Come back!" Asuna shouted, but Yulier didn't hear her.
Then a giant scythe came out of nowhere and was about to slice Yulier in half, but Kirito
rushed in and pushed her out of the way, and the whole room started glowing a bright light
blue. Sora and Kirito rushed to the giant scythe to hold it off giving the others a chance to
escape.
"Yulier, take Yui to the safe zone and wait for us there, okay?" Asuna asked.
"O-okay." Yulier responded.
So Yulier took Yui to the safe zone and Asuna caught up to Sora and Kirito. Then The Fatal
Scythe boss it had a massive, legless skeleton, clad in a tattered black robe (red inside). It's
a reaper-type boss monster that wields a giant black scythe. It has a sunken, darkened
face, with two bulging, bloodshot eyes.
"Asuna, use a teleport crystal and get Yui and the others out of here now. I can't see its data
with my ID skill it could be as strong as something from Floor 90. Sora and I can buy you
time just get everyone out of here." Kirito said.
"No way I'm not leaving you!" Asuna said.
"We'll catch up, move it!" Kirito exclaimed.
But Asuna didn't go with the others she had another idea in mind.
"Take care of Yui! Run while you still have the chance!" Asuna said.
"Asuna!" Kirito said worried that she could lose her log along with him and Sora.
"No, we can't leave…" Yulier said before Asuna interrupted.
"Hurry!" Asuna shouted.
So, Thinker and Yulier were ready to use their crystals so they and Yui could escape. Asuna
helped Sora and Kirito with The Fatal Scythe, but it didn't make a difference. With one
swipe from the boss's scythe, it sent the three players flying into a wall and they lost half of
their health, one more hit and its game over. But then right as Thinker, Yulier and Yui were
about to get teleported to safety Yui walked away from those two and in between the three
players and the boss.
"What are you doing? Get away from there!" Kirito shouted.
"Yui!" Asuna shouted.
"It's to dangerous move back to the safe zone!" Sora shouted.
"Daddy, mommy, uncle its okay." Yui said calmly.
Then the boss raised its giant scythe and was ready to attack Yui, but it was flung back by
an invisible barrier protecting her. Then a purple icon appeared above her head, and it had
the words "Immortal Object."
"An immortal object?" Asuna asked surprised.
"Immortal object? What are you?" Sora asked.
Then Yui floated up in the air and summoned a giant sword as long as the boss's scythe and
her clothes turned into a white one-piece dress. Then Yui made contact with the boss with
her sword, the boss was enveloped in a golden aura and disappeared and the room
returned back to normal.
"Yui…" Kirito and Asuna said at the same time surprised at what happened.
"How did?" Sora asked but was at loss of words still surprised at what happened.
"Daddy, mommy, uncle don't worry I remember everything." Yui said.
So, they all went into the safe zone and Yui told them everything about her.
"Yui, say something you remember who you are?" Asuna asked.
"Yes Kirito, Asuna, Sora. (Kirito, Asuna and Sora were surprised she could actually say their
actual names.") Everything in the world of Sword Art Online is controlled by a single
massive system. The system is called cardinal it was designed to operate entirely on it's
own without any human intervention. It's function is to regulate the balance of S.A.O
according to it's own discretion. The monsters and npc A.I to drop rates for items and
money, everything here is controlled by the processes the cardinal program executes. That
includes the phycological care of the players. Mental Health Counseling Program,
prototype one code name Yui, that is who I am." Yui said.
"(Gasp) You're a program? An A.I?" Asuna asked surprised at this information.
"I was designed to put players at ease with me. That's why I was given the ability to emulate
complex emotions. (Then Yui started crying) Nothing about me is real, nothing not even my
tears. I'm so sorry Asuna." Yui said.
"Don't say that Yui, you are real, you are you and nobody else, you have your own heart
inside you. Those feelings and memories you've experienced are yours and yours alone
their special." Sora said with a smile.
"He's right Yui, you're your own person, but what about your amnesia can that even happen
to an A.I?" Asuna asked.
"Two years ago, on the day of the official launch and for reasons I never understood, the
cardinal program banned me from interacting with any of the players. I wasn't allowed to
assist them; I couldn't do anything except continue monitoring their mental states. Their
situation, in a word was horrible." Yui said.
Sora, Kirito and Asuna knew she was right, everyone was horrified when the game was
declared a death game. Most people weren't in their best mental state, most players even
committed suicide to escape the game because they didn't believe there was a chance to
clear it.
"Terror, despair, rage people were overcome by negative feelings. Some of them couldn't
take it they went insane. Under normal circumstances my functions would have been to go
to such players immediately. But I wasn't permitted any contact with them. Little by little
errors began pulling up inside of me, and then the bugs corrupted the program, and I fell
apart.
Then one day I saw three players, their mental parameters were vastly different among the
others. There was joy and peace, but for two out of those three there was something more.
Sora, Kirito and Asuna knew they were the players she was looking for, they all experienced
heartfelt moments together and Kirito and Asuna fell in love in the game of death they were
in.
"I wandered through the playing field, hoping to get as close to you three as I could, without
being detected." Yui said.
"So, that's why you were in the forest." Asuna said.
"Yes, that's why. I've wanted to meet you three for the longest time, it's strange isn't it it
should be impossible for me to think things like that. I'm a program after all." Yui said
crying.
"Yui, it's like Sora said, you are you and no one else, these feelings you're experiencing are
real human emotions." Asuna said.
"I don't know I'm confused; I don't know what's happened to me." Yui said.
"You aren't just some program anymore, the system can't control you. Listen if you want
something all you have to do is say it. Go ahead tell us what you want." Kirito said.
"What I want…. I want… I want to stay with you forever! Daddy! Mommy! Uncle!" Yui
exclaimed reaching out to the three players. Asuna ran up to Yui and gave her a hug.
"You will, we'll be together forever Yui." Asuna said, then Kirito joins in on the hug.
"Yeah. Remember you're our child." Kirito said.
"There right Yui, and no matter what we're all a family." Sora said.
"It's too late." Yui said sadly.
"For what?" Kirito asked.
"Look, I'm actually sitting on a console the G.M can use to gain emergency access to the
system. I used it to delete the monster in the corridor. And because I disobeyed the
cardinal's directive, the system is running a check on my program. It thinks I'm a foreign
object now. I'll probably be deleted at once." Yui said.
"(Gasp) Oh no!" Asuna said.
"There's gotta be a way around it!" Kirito said.
"Yeah… maybe we can use the console to stop it!" Sora said.
"Daddy, mommy, uncle thank you. This is goodbye." Yui said sadly.
"No! I don't want that! Stay with us! Please stay! We just started living like a real family!"
Asuna exclaimed breaking down in tears hugging Yui. But Yui started to glow yellow as she
was fading away.
"Yui! Don't go!" Kirito said, he tried to grab her hand, but it disappeared.
"Please Yui, you can't leave!" Sora said.
"Whenever the three of you are around, you have a way of making people smile. From now
on and for me, please continue my work. Keep helping people, share your happiness with
all of them." Yui said.
"I can't! I won't! You have to stay with us! I can't be happy without you!" Asuna exclaimed
"Smile mommy." Yui said as she wiped Asuna's tears and disappeared.
Asuna then fell on her knees crying, watching her adopted daughter disappear right in front
of her.
"Yui…" Sora said, shocked at what just happened.
"Grr… Cardinal! No Kayaba! (Kirito remembers what Sora said about using the console to
save Yui and decides to use it.) You're gonna find out things don't always go the way you
want them to!" Kirito exclaimed, while he works on the console to save Yui.
"Kirito, what are you…" Asuna said.
"If I'm fast enough I might be able to the G.M's account to access the system." Kirito said.
But as he was doing so a strange picture appeared above the console, but it was all fuzzy.
Then a loading screen showed up on the screen, but when it finished a bright light
appeared on the screen and pushed Kirito away from the console.
"Kirito! Are you okay?" Asuna asked.
"What happened?" Sora asked.
But Kirito didn't answer and gave Asuna what looked like a tear drop.
"What's this?" Asuna asked.
"The system was about to reject Yui's admin credentials. The only thing I could do was take
her program and turn it into a game object." Kirito said.
"So, this is…" Asuna said.
"You're holding Yui's heart." Kirito said.
Asuna started to cry tears of joy knowing that there's a chance to save Yui. Then the three
players returned to the Town of Beginnings so say goodbye to their new friends. Sora
returned to his home on Floor 50 and Kirito and Asuna returned to their home on Floor 22.
Sora returned to his home on Floor 50 and decided to give his friends a call.
"Hey guys, the situation on Floor 1 has been solved." Sora said cheerfully.
"We know, we saw what happened through our computer. I still can't believe a player was
able to get into the System Sector and corrupt the system." Ienzo said.
"The only way Kibaou was able to get inside was because of that player in black, those two
were communicating with each other for awhile." Sora said.
"But it's clear he was just using Kibaou, he thought the player in black was giving him power
instead he was just becoming more and more corrupted. But what is this player up to?"
Even said.
"What ever it is, it can upset the balance of that entire world." Ansem said.
"Don't worry, if he strikes again, I'll stop him! But I also wanted to ask did you know about
Yui when you saw what happened?" Sora asked.
"We never learned about Yui's role in Aincrad until now. We've searched that entire world's
data, but we never learned about her." Ienzo said.
"Oh… we'll maybe Kirito has an idea to bring her back then." Sora said.
Meanwhile on Floor 22 Kirito and Asuna were walking back home.
"Hey Kirito." Asuna said.
"Hmmm." Kirito responded.
"If the game does get cleared and this world ends, what happens to Yui?" Asuna asked.
"Don't worry, I fixed it so her data will be saved to the local memory on my Nervegear. When
we get back, re-creating her isn't going to be easy. But if there's a way, we'll find it." Kirito
said.
"Okay, as long as we can be a family again. We'll see her when we get back our first child.
Asuna said.
"Yeah, we'll see her again. Asuna you, okay?" Kirito asked.
"I'm okay" Asuna responded.
So, the two players returned to their home, with hope that they'll be reunited with their
daughter once again.
Secret Ending
Back on the dungeon of Floor 1 the player in black walked into the safe zone and accessed
the console. He typed in a strange code in the console and a picture of a darkside heartless
appeared in front of him, with most of it being colored in red, only the head was covered in
black.
"Looks like Kibaou's methods were useful to me after all, even his death gives me one more
push for my plan. But it's a good thing Sora put him in his place, he was hogging this entire
dungeon if he learned there was a game console here, he'd be more of a nuisance." the
mysterious player said.
Then he pushed a button on the console and started talking to someone in the real world.
"Yes..." the strange voice said.
"Everything on my end is going perfectly, the massive bug that I planted in console is
almost finished, Sora and his friends have been a big help in our plans for this world and
the players. Once the picture of the darkside heartless is completely red, the bug will be as
powerful as a computer virus." the mysterious player said.
"Excellent, but we could have taken over that entire world by now, if that Sora kid was dead
already." The strange voice said, sounding very impatient.
"I told you before, Sora has a role to play for the plan to come full circle. The point of the
plan isn't to just take over the game by force. It's to cause as much chaos in the game as
possible, for the players to be filled with as much fear, despair, anger, as much as possible
so the heartless to show up. The bugs, heartless, monsters and players are defeated, the
more powerful the bug will be. Pretty soon it'll become so powerful it could even escape
into the real world." the mysterious player said.
"Impressive! Now I understand why you wanted me to gain the data of the monsters,
heartless and players in the game. So, I would collect the bits of data they had and re route
it to the bug you created." the mysterious voice said.
"Hmph, I see why you're the chief of research institute in RECT progress, you certainly are
ambiguous, not many people would think on using Kayaba's technology to control people's
minds. Two people I know of had the same idea; we used children as test subjects to
understand the hearts of humanity. In fact, one of them even learned how to make artificial
heartless because of it." the mysterious player said.
"That's why with you're help I'll be able to control the minds of the players in S.A.O." the
mysterious voice said.
"Yes, remember once the heartless causes trouble both here and the real world, that's
when you do, your part of the plan." the mysterious player said.
"Yes sir." The mysterious voice said, and he ended the call.
"Well, looks like the time has come for our plan to come full circle Sugou." the mysterious
player said.
There you have it, Sugou the character from the Alfheim arc is the mysterious player's
accomplice. Let's see what happens now that his master plan is almost complete.