Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter I: “I Died Today”

November 6th, 2032

There was a kind of forbidden thrill to running her fingers over the smooth, blue polymer. The helmet, with its blocky logo and simple trio of system lights, represented something completely outside her experience. Something she absolutely wasn't allowed to do—but was doing anyway.

Sitting in the desk chair in her bedroom, Yuuki Asuna felt a confused rush of worry, guilt, and excitement. The NerveGear she held in her hands was something of which her mother would never have approved, and she knew it. Yet it represented a kind of freedom she'd never known in her life, one just moments away.

“Okay, Asuna,” her brother Kouichirou said, backing out from under her desk. “It's connected to the house network. I doubt Mother will even notice, if you're careful… Here.” He picked up the case sitting on the desk, pulled out the ROM unit, and held it out to her. “All you need to do now is put it in, and put the NerveGear on.”

“Thanks, Nii-san.” Taking the ROM, Asuna carefully inserted the game into the appropriate port. She'd never handled a NerveGear before at all, but she'd done her research well, since the day Kouichirou's talk with their father had gotten her attention. From the moment she'd learned of Full-Dive, it had been eating at her, and if she still didn't understand all the little details, she thought she knew enough to get started.

Dusting off his knees, her brother smiled ruefully. “I never thought you'd get to try it before I did, Asuna. I guess that's the breaks of business… Be careful, okay? If Mother finds out…”

“I know, Nii-san.” She knew all too well how Yuuki Kyouko was likely to react, if she knew what Asuna was planning. Fortunately, their mother kept herself to as rigid a schedule as her children, giving Asuna at least something of a safety margin. “Don't worry. There's supposed to be an alarm function in-game, right? I'll set it as soon as I'm in.”

“Good.” Kouichirou patted her on the shoulder. “In that case, I'd better get going. Stupid day for a business meeting… Have fun, Asuna.” Heading for her door, he paused just before opening it. “Try not to get too far ahead of me, okay? I want to party with you in-game when I do have time!”

Asuna giggled. “No promises! …Though you'll catch up to me quick, anyway.” Settling the blue helmet over her head, she turned a more serious look on her brother. “Nii-san? Thank you.”

He gave her a serious smile in return. “'Least I could do, Asuna. I could tell you needed it. …See you soon.”

When Kouichirou had gone—and safely closed the door behind him—Asuna leaned back in her chair. From what she'd read, it was best to be in a reclining position, going into Full-Dive. She wasn't going to take any chances on her first time. Which, if she wasn't mistaken, was going to be in just a few moments.

As she fastened the NerveGear's chinstrap, the clock on its thin visor was crawling forward. Just when she'd settled in, it ticked over to [13:00], and Asuna took a deep breath to steady herself against the adrenaline flooding her veins. This was it, her first little act of rebellion.

“Link Start!”

Pure darkness. Absolute silence. If she hadn't still been able to feel the chair beneath her and the NerveGear on her head, Asuna would've panicked. Even knowing from her brother's comments that it was coming, the sudden sensory deprivation was still a shock.

It only lasted a second, even if it felt longer. A rainbow appeared in her vision, first fuzzy then gradually growing sharper. Against that backdrop, a [NERVEGEAR] logo formed out of nothingness. A few moments more, and [Visual Connection OK] appeared below the logo.

A strange pattern of sounds followed, some recognizable as a simple scale, others completely alien. All of them were fuzzy and distorted. Gradually, though, they settled into a harmonious melody, and another line of text appeared in her vision: [Auditory Nerve Connection OK].

The sensation of her chair disappeared right after that, leaving Asuna feeling as if she were floating. The music, logo, and status messages kept her grounded—but if anyone had asked, she would've readily admitted it was unsettling.

After touch and the genuinely disturbing taste connection checks, not to mention the indescribable smell test, all sensory connections were apparently [OK]. Then Asuna was falling forward, into that rainbow, in one of the most dizzying experiences of her life.

She landed in a white room, with a display that reminded her for all the world of a clothes shopping app. The variety of sliders for determining the body type of her avatar was frankly bewildering, and after some quick poking she gave up, settling for setting the body's height to match her real body. That and a quick change of hair and eye color, whimsically choosing a deep blue, was good enough for her. The face wasn't too bad, she thought, and if she changed her mind she was sure she'd be able to edit it when she understood the system better.

Asuna found herself frowning at the limited clothing options available. She knew she'd seen more of a variety in screenshots… Only with difficulty did she stop herself from facepalming, remembering belatedly that in a game like this, most options were probably obtained through actively playing it.

Fine, then. A simple hooded cloak was all she bothered to add to the default, reasoning that like the body she could change it later. She didn't want to spend too long building her character, anyway, not if she wanted time to experience the game the first day.

The last step, she found puzzling. A Romanji keyboard and text field replaced the avatar, with a simple prompt. A name? Shouldn't it already have that from my account registration? Well, whatever.

Shrugging, she simply typed in [Asuna], and hit enter. She'd ask Kouichirou about it later.

The entire menu disappeared, leaving her standing alone in that empty white room. Then, before she could start to worry, an artificial voice rang out. “Thank you for playing. Welcome… to Sword Art Online."

The world fell away.

A chatter of excited voices reached her ears, and Asuna opened her eyes to sheer wonder.

She stood in a vast plaza of a grand city, surrounded by majestic stone buildings. Out beyond the tallest towers, she caught a glimpse of mountains reaching higher still, surrounding the city; within the plaza, she was presented with a bewildering sea of people. Some of them dressed plainly, others in all manner of flamboyant colors, with hair dyed to match.

Instantly overwhelmed, Asuna turned in place, one way and then the other, just trying to take it all in. A bubbling fountain was the centerpiece of the plaza, pouring into a huge pool surrounding it. Well beyond it, a bell tower caught her eye among the towers surrounding the plaza. Streets ran out in all directions, disappearing between those grand buildings.

What really got her attention, though, and spurred her into motion, was the huge platform on one side. Dozens of people—players, she thought, realizing belatedly the more ordinary people were probably “NPCs”—were already there, looking at the same thing she wanted to see.

Running up to the railing, cloak billowing gently in the breeze, she skidded to a halt right against it. Beyond that railing, the city—and the land—simply ended. All that there was, before her amazed eyes, was open sky. Open sky, a faint golden shimmer, and myriad islands floating in the air, a collection stretching out as far as she could see.

This was it, Asuna realized giddily. This was the place that had captured her imagination, when she'd first seen her brother looking at previews. Even as her body lay motionless in her bedroom, here she stood at the very edge of Origia, the first city players saw in the Aincrad Archipelago. A city on an island sailing through the endless sky, a whole new world.

“Just look at it all!” she heard another player exclaim in awe. “I was so jealous of the beta testers, and now here I am… Can you believe this?”

“Yeah! The first VRMMORPG. Man, I was sure it was too good to be true. I mean, previews always exaggerate, right? But this—wow! I didn't think you could do this with VR!”

Asuna couldn't disagree with the sentiment. On a moment's reflection, she noticed a few things were off—she didn't have any hair except on her head, as far as she could tell, and her skin looked just a bit smoother than it should've been. But otherwise? Her clothes felt so real. She could see so clearly, much better than she could with her own body. She'd smelled the fountain in the air when she passed it, and the breeze brought her the faint scent of baking bread. The cacophony of excited voices reached her ears more clearly than even her latest smartphone.

Wheeling away from that amazing—and dizzying—view of the open sky, Asuna trotted back to the city proper. She marveled at the smooth cobblestones under her feet, at the weathered stone of the buildings. If she hadn't known better, she would've believed she'd really been transported to a whole new world. Between players chatting about the same things she was taking in, she saw ordinary people going about their lives. Street merchants selling food and goods, like something out of any real city.

It's a good thing I do have an alarm, she thought. Quickly dragging two fingers down, as the pre-release material had said, to bring up her in-game menu. I'd never remember to get out in time otherwise!

After awkwardly navigating that menu and setting it to alert her at 17:30, she took off into the city. She didn't know what she wanted to see first, she just knew she wanted to see it all.

Asuna was in a strange city in a strange world, with no family or chaperones around. She didn't think she'd ever felt so free in her life.

“I'm Klein, samurai, twenty-four years old, looking for a girlfriend!”

The thing about being in a strange city in a strange world, when Asuna had never touched a game in her life, was that once she'd seen the obvious sights she had no idea what to do next. She knew she needed to buy a weapon, but she didn't know where to look for one, and for all that she'd read all the preview material she could get her hands on, she had only the vaguest idea how fighting worked. She was eager to learn, yet had no idea whatsoever where to start.

Having quickly gotten lost, she'd begun heading vaguely back in the direction of the plaza. Not long after she thought she'd gotten onto a street going more or less that way, she'd run into the man who'd just given her the bizarrely blunt introduction. “You're a noob, too, right?” he'd said at first. “Man, I don't even know where to go first! Isn't that awesome?”

Then he'd said… that.

Tall, rakishly handsome, with flaming hair tied back in a samurai's topknot with an outfit that looked like a vague attempt to match. If she hadn't been reasonably sure he looked nothing like that in the real world, Asuna might've been impressed. Well, that, and his ridiculous greeting.

That straightforward self-introduction—made all the weirder by the fact that she was pretty sure he couldn't even see what she looked like under her hood—left Asuna utterly flabbergasted. She could only blink rapidly, staring at the formal bow he had to have lifted right from a Jidai Geki movie, and wonder if he could possibly be for real.

And he kept holding that bow, as if his honor depended on letting her make the next move.

She did, finally. Unable to help herself, Asuna broke down in a fit of giggles, clutching at her stomach. In the real world, she would've found the proposition creepy. Here, in a world of wonders, in a city full of people who looked just as inhumanly good as the self-proclaimed samurai, it came across as just ridiculous.

The giggling, finally, broke Klein's formal bow, and he straightened up with an aggrieved look. “Aw, c'mon, I didn't think it was that bad a line…” That only set her off more, and then he rallied with a sheepish grin. “Okay, okay, maybe it was that bad.”

“S-sorry,” she got out, gradually shoving the giggles down behind a smile of her own. “It's just, here I am in a whole new world, and the first time somebody even talks to me, it's with that?” Choking off the last of the giggles, Asuna took the edge of her cloak in hand and swept it around in a formal bow of her own. “Asuna, knight errant,” she proclaimed, in the spirit of Klein's introduction. “Not looking for a boyfriend.”

“Fair enough!” He gave her another bow, this one less stiff and formal, and followed up with another grin. “Okay. Now that we've broken the ice… maybe we can help each other out? I really don't know where to start!”

Another time, another place, Asuna would've said no. She'd been taught from an early age to avoid strangers, after all, especially weird strangers. But here, in the islands in the sky of Aincrad, well, doing the unusual was the whole point. It wasn't like her real body was at risk—even her avatar wasn't supposed to be, inside a town—so as long as she was careful not to give out personal information, she thought it ought to fine.

“Okay, then,” she agreed, smiling. “Tell me where you've been, I'll tell you where I have, and between us maybe we can at least figure out where to buy weapons.”

“Sounds like a plan. And maybe we'll find somebody who does know what they're doing!”

It didn't take long for Asuna to decide that Klein was probably harmless. He kept up a cheerful stream of chatter as they made their way through Origia's streets, weaving through the NPC traffic and the odd group of players who seemed as lost as they were. He also looked very carefully at anything vaguely female along the way, but since he made no further comment or action like his introduction, she was inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt.

It was also a good sign, she thought, that he didn't ask any questions about her real self, not even her age. She might not have known gaming, but she did know basic 'net safety. Heck, I'm surprised he doesn't think I'm really a guy. I bet he isn't as young as he looks…

Well. As long as things stayed as they were, Asuna wasn't going to worry about it too much. She was just going to enjoy the casual chat with someone who was absolutely nothing like anyone in her social circles, enjoy the scenery of a city right out of The Lord of the Rings, and keep a sharp eye out for something like a commercial district.

Their ambling circle of the city eventually took them higher up the side of one of the mountains. There, they found a huge, flat platform, which Asuna at first mistook for an airport tarmac. After a second look, she realized she wasn't that far off.

Lining one edge of the platform was a long line of wooden hulls, the larger ones resting in cradles, some of the smaller ones on skids built right into them. Some of them, especially the bigger ones, had visible masts; all of them had at least two pods mounted on their flanks, resembling nothing so much as fantastical jet engines.

It was hard to tell from ground level, but Asuna thought there were ominous barrels mounted on at least some of them.

Klein whistled. “Will you look at that. Airships, huh? I remember seeing screenshots, but it's something else to see them in person!”

“For sure,” Asuna agreed, admiring the ships that could never have existed in the world she knew. “Too bad we probably won't be seeing much of them for awhile. Don't I remember from the previews that players only get access to them a little ways into the game?”

“Once the first Skywall is cleared, yeah. Or something like that. Gotta admit, I only read the basics before logging in.” He grinned sheepishly. “Kinda wanted things to be a surprise, y'know? I mean, this is the killer app for NerveGear! Who wants spoilers?”

She only had the vaguest notion what a “killer app” was, but nodded anyway. “Must be nice,” she said wistfully, turning back to the grounded airships. “I don't expect to have much time to play most days, so I read everything I could find before the game came out. Not that I understood most of the information about gameplay, but…”

A hand landed on her shoulder, light enough to be more reassuring than creepy. “Hey,” Klein said seriously. “It's just the first day, right? Don't go getting depressed on me so soon! This is a big game, there's lots to see that wouldn't have been in the previews!”

Shaking herself, Asuna turned a smile on the samurai. “You're right, of course. Anyway, not much of the story was in the previews at all; Kayaba said it'd spoil the twists. I'm looking forward to finding out what he meant.”

“That's the spirit!” Grinning, Klein let go of her shoulder and gestured toward the city. “So. Much as I'd love to give these ladies a closer look, we'd better get back down into the city. I don't think we'll find the shops we're after up here.”

Too true. And she was on a tight schedule. She'd have hated to have wasted the chance to get into the meat of the game on her first day, after all. Giving the airships one more wistful look, she turned her back and joined Klein on the path back down into Origia proper.

Asuna had to hand it the programmers at Argus, the company behind Sword Art Online. This was only the first city on the first of a full one hundred islands, yet it was insanely detailed. Not to mention huge, with a stunning number of NPCs populating it. If it weren't for the few tiny details left out—and, now that she thought about it, something just slightly off about gravity—she would've thought she'd genuinely been transported to another planet, instead of wandering through data projected into her brain.

And this is only the beginning, from what the previews said. Weren't there even supposed to be other races here? I wonder if any of them are friendly. I know lots of fantasy stories have elves, but if Kayaba was thinking more Fae in the classic sense than Tolkien… well, I'll just have to see for myself, won't I?

If I can ever get a sword, anyway!

“Hey,” Klein said suddenly, just as the plaza from before finally came into view again. “That guy looks like he knows where he's going. Hey!” he called out, waving. “You got a minute, buddy?”

Asuna turned to look, rolling her eyes at her companion's latest antics—and stopped.

It wasn't his looks that got her attention. He was tall, around Klein's height, with vaguely handsome features and short, dark blue hair. As with the samurai, that was just a face sculpted by computer modeling, probably hiding a much older—or pudgier—man. It certainly wasn't his outfit, which was just a variation of the same plain adventuring garb she and Klein wore, if a bit darker.

It was his confidence that really stopped Asuna in her tracks. Here they were, in a city so far removed from reality in general, let alone Japan, and yet he looked like he knew exactly what he was doing, where, and why. Before Klein called out to him, the youthful man was running down the street as if he was following a dotted line, ducking around the crowds like they weren't even there.

Now he stopped in his tracks, turning to look at Klein—and Asuna—with a cool, casual demeanor. “…Can I help you?”

…What's it like, to be that confident in a place like this…?

The one thing Kirigaya Kazuto hadn't counted on, returning to SAO after an excruciating two-month wait since the beta test ended, was crowding. The beta had had a grand total of two thousand players log in at the start, and even all at once they were a drop in the bucket for Origia's starting plaza. Twenty thousand, dropped into that space?

Forget the physical issues trying to get around so many people. The shell-shock alone had disoriented him enough that his first priority had been a simple, blind need to get out. Somewhere, anywhere, he didn't care, just so long as he got away from that noisy, busy crowd. He didn't think he'd ever been around so many people in one place in his entire life, let alone the last six years.

Then, after finally getting his head on straight from that, reorienting himself, and taking off for Origia's commercial district to gear up, naturally he had to be waylaid by someone.

Actually, he thought, turning to face the player who'd called out to him, this is… kind of weird. Who bothers talking to me? “…Can I help you?” he said, trying to project the kind of cool confidence his carefully-crafted avatar ought to have.

Two players, he saw then. One a flamboyant man who seemed to be trying to copy Himura Kenshin, the other… He wasn't quite sure, really. Close to his own height, in starter gear not too different from his own—except for a hooded cloak, which kept him from seeing any other features except a few long locks of blue hair.

“Sorry to bother you,” the samurai-wannabe said with a grin. “But we're, y'know, pretty much noobs, and you look like a guy who knows what he's doing.” He bowed sharply. “Could you have pity on a couple of noobs and show us the ropes, please?!”

Taken aback, he blinked. Really going overboard with the samurai thing. Except louder. Hoping for a saner response, he looked over at the cloaked figure.

“…Loudmouth aside, he seems like a nice enough man,” the hooded player said quietly. “He's Klein. I'm Asuna.” The player—a girl, he realized to his surprise; though who knew if she really was a “she” behind the avatar—gave a shrug. “If we're bothering you, we'll find our own way around.”

He hesitated, glancing between the wary girl and the still-bowing samurai. Normally, he would've just made up an excuse and left. He wasn't rude enough to outright run, but he wasn't exactly keen on being accosted out of nowhere. Not to mention, he wanted to get geared up and started on quests as soon as he could.

But it's not like I'm in that big a hurry… and Suguha is always telling me I need to talk to people more. He felt a pang at the thought. Besides… if not here, in Aincrad again, where else? Back then, I…

“…The name's Kirito,” he said at last, giving a cool nod. “I was a beta tester, so I… guess I can give you some pointers, at least. If you want.”

Klein immediately straightened up, with a grin that had Kirito wishing sunglasses were available this early in the game. “Thanks much! I promise you won't regret it!”

Kirito had his doubts about that, somehow. Oddly enough, the way the girl was more reserved was much easier on his nerves. “I'd appreciate it,” she said quietly, face still hidden by her hood. “I'm pretty new to the whole gaming thing, so I don't even know where to start.”

A gaming newbie, in SAO? Huh. He felt an odd flicker of interest. Maybe giving a couple of noobs a hand would be the kind of social activity he could handle. If I can keep my foot out of my mouth. I don't remember the last time I even talked to a girl besides Suguha.

Or Argo. Eeep. Let's hope I don't run into her until after I've got these two on their way. I don't want to know what kind of rumors she'd spread. I can't imagine anybody else would care, but I would.

“Okay, then,” Kirito said, deliberately banishing the thought of his one notable acquaintance from the beta test. “First, let's hit the weapons shops. Starting armor isn't too bad, at least for the first few quests, but unless you study martial arts IRL you're not going to get far without a sword…”

Asuna's first impression of Kirito had been that he had far more self-confidence than she did. Her second was that he might just have some problem with his social skills. He hid it well, but she'd spent her life learning how to put up a mask. In her schools, the dark loner would've been eaten alive.

Which, of course, was half the reason she followed him down Origia's backstreets with only a brief hesitation. It hadn't been Kirito's idea for her and Klein to go with him, he obviously wasn't entirely comfortable with it—and he was about as far from the kind of person her mother would've approved of her going into a dark alley with as could be without being an obvious creep. Right then, that made him exactly the kind of person she wanted to associate with.

Worst came to it, after all, she could just log out. Being in SAO was all about doing the things and taking the risks she wasn't allowed to in real life.

She wasn't entirely surprised when Kirito led them into a small shop in a back alley, rather than someplace more obviously mercantile. “First rule of SAO,” he said quietly, opening the door of the oddly-named Left-Handed Lizard. “Never settle for the obvious. You'll get better deals in back alleys. When they're not the cheapest, the stuff will be worth the price.”

Asuna nodded thoughtfully. “And they won't be as crowded.”

“Well… yeah.” Kirito scratched the back of his head. “That's a side benefit… Okay,” he amended, seeming to feel the look she gave him from under her hood. “Maybe I prefer it this way. But there's still practical reasons.” He waved a hand. “See anything you like? Just about anything here should be within your starting budget.”

Klein eagerly bounded in, ponytail whipping around as he looked around enthusiastically. Asuna followed at a more sedate pace, taking in the shop. Surprisingly well-lit for what Kirito implied was a black market shop, with just a single counter toward the back. And weapons. Lots of weapons.

At first she could only goggle at the sight. In Japan, weapons of any kind were a rarity; if there were any shops like this one in Tokyo, they were definitely black market, catering to Yakuza. Seeing all manner of blades, bows, shields, and less familiar items filling every available space on three walls was something of a shock to her system.

But not a bad one, she reminded herself. This was why she was here, after all.

“You won't find many players using bows,” Kirito remarked, heading straight for the east wall. “They're more for hunting; they don't fire fast enough to keep the range open against other players.”

“They're better in large units,” Asuna said, thinking back to some reading she'd done on her own time. “Barrage fire might be good, I guess?”

“Theoretically,” he acknowledged, with a nod and a hesitant smile. “There was talk of trying just that in the beta, but they could never get enough people interested in archery. This is a world of swords, first and foremost.”

“What about guns?” Klein asked, eagerly examining the wares on the opposite wall. “I heard SAO has stuff like cannons, right?”

“Shipboard, yeah. Airship battles can be pretty impressive, at that. Player weapons?” Kirito shrugged. “Flintlock pistols, and one weird wrist-thing I ran into once. They've got the same problem as bows—reload time—plus they're not very accurate. You'll probably see some people using them to get in cheap shots in the middle of a melee, but not much else.”

Asuna nodded thoughtfully. She wasn't going to complain, really. Honestly, the focus on swords had been part of what drew her in, too. She knew, intellectually, that blades were no more elegant than guns. But in the kind of world SAO was supposed to represent, they did have the grace and nobility legend ascribed to samurai and Medieval knights.

“Well, that's just fine by me!” Klein announced, lifting a blade off the wall with a reverent air. “I'm a samurai! Samurai are supposed to use katana!”

As the “samurai” proudly carried his long, curved blade to the counter, Kirito gave a nod. “A slash-type weapon, by SAO's rules. Good reach, about mid-range speed. Agility can be a bit of a problem, with both hands tied up, but no worse than any two-handed weapon and better than some. Katana are more focused on critical hits than, say, two-handed longswords.”

Which pretty much fit with what Asuna knew of real swordplay. Well, Kayaba and his team are supposed to be big on research… “What are you using, Kirito-san?”

He blinked. “Well, first, honorifics aren't used much in VR, most people think it sounds weird with character names… Anyway.” Kirito lifted a simple sword off the wall. “Basic one-handed sword. Mostly slashing, with a couple of good thrust-type moves. Good speed, and it leaves the other hand free. Not really the best at anything, but a good all-around type.”

Character names? …Oops. Did I do something stupid with my name? Oh, well. Just the given name shouldn't be a problem. Deciding to worry about possible privacy issues later, Asuna turned her attention back to the weapons in front of her. Some she recognized easily enough, variations on Kirito's basic sword or Klein's katana. Sabers she knew well enough, along with the basic polearm types like axes, spears, and naginata. Others were more fantastic, like a nodachi at least two meters long and a… thing, that seemed to be a slab of metal, sharpened on one side and angling to an abrupt point near the end.

Forget avatars being stronger than real bodies. Simple geometry meant you'd have to be a giant just to swing the things.

Some, she only had the vaguest idea about, and one or two curved blades escaped her completely. But nestled among them was something that struck an odd chord with her. There was something similar to it hanging on a wall in her family's house, and if that was an association she didn't entirely like, there was still a certain appeal.

I did call myself a “knight errant” a little bit ago. This would be straight out of… what was that Western story called? The Three Musketeers? I should read that again…

When Asuna took the slim, plain rapier off the wall, she turned a questioning look on her impromptu teacher. “Thrusting weapon,” he said, answering her unspoken question. “Some slashing ability, but mostly you'd be stabbing things a lot. High agility, so you'll be faster than practically anybody else, and while individual hits might be weaker they'll be adding up fast.” He looked her up and down, and she started to bristle—then, remembering he couldn't even see her figure under her cloak, she realized he was probably checking something else entirely. “It should suit your avatar's build pretty well.”

Oh. Right. …Wasn't I just thinking about how that matters for bigger weapons? Beginning to smile, Asuna took hold of the hilt, let her hand wrap around it—and pulled.

The thin blade was simple, unadorned, and frankly looked a bit cheap. She loved it already.

Shing!

A blinding white flash. A sound like the chiming of a bell—and then, as Asuna's Iron Rapier pierced cleanly through the wolf-like Wild Fang's side, the crash of shattering glass. The enemy—mob, Kirito had called it—broke into a thousand azure polygons, scattering into the wind.

She skidded to a stop, feeling the strange tug of “System Assist” let go, and turned to watch those blue triangles fade away. At first, she'd thought it would be hard to attack such life-like creatures, but the nature of SAO's combat had eased those fears. Red particle sprays and streaks of wireframe, followed by breaking into pieces? That, she could handle.

“Sword Skills are the basis of combat in this world,” Kirito said. Off to one side, on the hill he'd led them to outside Origia, he was nimbly dancing between a pair of bird-type mobs. “Very few players are likely to know going in how to use a weapon, so the game was designed to compensate.”

“I can see why,” Klein grunted, ineffectually swinging his katana at the Wild Fang he'd attracted. It casually jumped to one side, then leapt for his arm with open jaws. Only at the last moment did he manage to find the right position for a Sword Skill of his own, the flat, backhand slash catching those open jaws and continuing straight through the beast's head. “This is tough enough as it is!”

“You get used to it. It's easier once you've built up your skill level high enough, and have access to more Sword Skills.” Kirito ducked away from a diving beak, then with barely a flicker of motion brought his sword down in a blue flash. The simple, vertical slice cut through the other Grassbird's neck, dropping it right to the ground.

“So we only have one or two to start?” Asuna was already heading for her next target, giddy at having defeated her first. She found another Wild Fang only a few meters away, and quickly lined up for a repeat of her first successful skill.

“Three,” Kirito answered, casually rapping the remaining Grassbird across the beak. It broke away, squawking indignantly, and climbed up to start circling him. “Asuna, besides that Linear you should have Streak and Oblique, that's a slash and a downward thrust…”

Blinking, Asuna quickly changed her stance, feeling around for the right position. She found it a moment before the Wild Fang noticed her, and she was inordinately pleased to see and feel her blade slash across its nose. With a whimper that almost made her feel sorry for it, it fell back, almost half its HP already gone.

Not as much as the Linear did. Grr.

“Not every skill is meant to finish things right off,” Kirito called, glancing back from instructing Klein in the proper “pre-motion” for another of his skills. “Sometimes you're better off using it to set up for unassisted attacks.”

Skipping to one side, she let the Fang sail past her in its next leap, and obligingly stabbed at it with nothing but her avatar's strength. “I thought you said Sword Skills were the 'basis of combat',” she said, even as she met the Fang with one more thrust.

“Oh, they are. But there's a lot more to SAO than Sword Skills. Kayaba Akihiko—the lead developer—said in an interview that they're really meant more as a teaching method. Players are called Swordmasters for a reason. Sword Skills do have power boosts—”

Jumping to the left as the Grassbird tried to dive bomb him, Kirito swept his blade out in a backhand not too different from what Klein had done earlier. Again flashing blue, his sword cut through the bird and sent it flying away—then he was spinning around, slashing at another bird that tried to ambush him.

“—But a 'true' Swordmaster is supposed to use them strategically. Once you know what you're doing, you should be able to fight with your own skill, not relying on the system to move for you.”

“Ooh.” Bringing his katana down in a vicious chop, cutting deep into the flank of his current Wild Fang, Klein grinned. “Now that is cool. You can already do that, huh? Being a beta tester and all.”

“Me? No way.” Kirito laughed, shaking his head. “The beta only lasted two months, remember? We only reached Siehn—that's the tenth island—in that time, and nobody got good enough to skip system assist that fast. But,” he added, grinning in a way Asuna would've found deeply unnerving in the real world, “I did learn some other tricks. Like… this.”

Unleashing another horizontal slash against his most recent opponent, Kirito promptly whirled. There was another trio of Grassbirds circling not far away, looking for all the world like buzzards wondering if there was about to be a fresh meal. They were also well out of reach—or so Asuna had thought.

She'd wondered about the odd, wrist-mounted… thing… the youth had bought at the Left-Handed Lizard. Looking like nothing so much as an anchor on a spring, she hadn't had the least idea what it was for. Now she found out.

The moment Kirito's left arm was aligned with the circling birds, the “anchor” launched into the air, dragging a cable. It buried itself in the chest of one of the Grassbirds—prompting another, sharper squawk—and with a tug of his wrist it was yanked back, right out of the air.

The bird slammed down against the hill, hard, and shattered. Another, casual flick of the wrist, and the cable retracted neatly into its launcher.

“…Okay,” Asuna said after a moment. “I'll bite. What is that?”

Kirito grinned again, a much friendlier expression this time. “Oh, this?” He tapped the blade and its cable. “Wrist-grapnel. SAO has a variety of subweapons available, mostly for people using one-handed main weapons. Shields are probably the most common, though I've seen rapier and saber wielders with parrying daggers. And I think I mentioned that weird wrist-gun from the beta, I think that was a rare drop the guy had gotten somewhere… But I prefer this.”

“I can see why,” Klein said, giving the grapnel an admiring look. Probably lamenting his own weapon made it impractical, Asuna thought. “That was a cool trick.”

“That's one use,” Kirito said with a nod. “There's more to it than that, though. You know there's airships a little ways into the game, right? You can't land those just anywhere. The most obvious solution is to find the nearest place you can, and go the rest of the way on foot. With one of these?” He grinned. “Hook it on your ship, and you can lower yourself down just about anywhere. A little trick to stay ahead of the pack.”

That got Asuna's attention, and she found herself listening very closely as he explained the other ways a grapnel could be used to navigate or attack. I'm not a gamer. I'm starting a step behind everybody else. Any advantage that lets me catch up, I need to know.

And I want to get ahead of Nii-san. This time, I'm going to be the one with the head start!

She was sure she could do it. The studying habits that had kept her right by the top of her class in school all her life, turned on learning the rules of a game? She could do it. She would do it.

“Of course,” Kirito was saying then, “most of that doesn't matter for a while yet, anyway. The Skywall blocks airship travel, so the NPCs at the Aerodrome won't even talk to players until the first Barrier Guardian is killed.” He paused. “Oh, and guys? Maybe you should pay a little closer attention to your surroundings.”

“To my—yipe!”

Caught up in the beta tester's exposition, Asuna had honestly kind of forgotten they were still outside a safe zone. She had to abruptly throw herself aside before a dive-bombing bird could hit her in the back of the head—and had to put up with indignity of a laughing Kirito swatting the mob aside.

Klein wasn't quite as lucky. With a squawk fit to compete with the Grassbirds, he batted at the Wild Fang that had taken the opportunity to bite into his backside. It resisted, growling; with another, angrier yelp, the samurai spun as hard as he could, and the moment the Fang was clear slashed down with his katana. “Youch! Take this, you son of a—!”

“Take it easy, Klein.” Kirito shook his head, chuckling. “You do remember you can't feel pain here, right?”

“Oh, sure, I can't,” Klein groused, viciously stabbing the mob to finish it off. “My pride, now, that's something else! What kind of samurai lets himself get bit in the—?”

“Someone who's been samurai for about an hour,” the younger—Asuna thought, anyway—man said dryly. “You've got a ways to go before you're a master.”

Oooh, I'm not taking that lying down. Recovering her poise, Asuna lifted her chin and fixed Kirito with a hard stare. She wasn't sure he could even see it, past her hood, but it was the principle of the thing. “Fine, then. How about you show us what we're doing wrong?”

Kirito raised one eyebrow. “Well, I suppose I can give you a few more pointers… if you're paying attention, that is.”

…I don't know if I want to pick his brains, or strangle him…

It was exhilarating, losing herself in the fantasy that she was a musketeer training to help save a world from evil. Asuna had never so much as touched a video game before, having thought them needless distractions from her studying. Now that the pressure of all that studying had driven her right to that distraction, she realized she'd been missing something incredible.

Though maybe it was just as well. She honestly wasn't sure she would've been so taken with a game less immersive, less alive, than Sword Art Online. Aincrad, where she found herself stabbing wolves with an awkward loner and a goofy would-be samurai, was like stepping into another life, not just playing a game.

It must've been around five o'clock, four hours after she'd first logged in, when the three of them climbed another hill outside Origia's walls. This one was free of any enemies, and held some kind of observation tower, provided a breathtaking view of both Origia and the endless sky.

“This? Has got to be the best game ever,” Klein declared, when they'd all dropped onto the tower's stone roof. “Man, I didn't know they could do something like this!”

Kirito chuckled, again scratching his head awkwardly. “Is this your first time in Full-Dive?”

“Hell, yeah! Saved up for months to get my NerveGear and a copy of the game.” Klein flopped onto his back, resting his head on his hands. “Only twenty thousand copies, right? I had to make sure I pre-ordered it! …Come to think of it, isn't that kind of a tiny number for a game like this?”

“Usually,” Kirito agreed, resting an arm on his knee. “But this is the first Full-Dive MMO. Even the NerveGear's only been out for a couple years, and this is the biggest game ever. I heard the small initial release is a server load-test; word is there'll be more copies when they're sure the servers can handle it. And when they're sure there'll be enough players to justify more servers.”

“I think there will be,” Asuna said honestly. “This is… this place is incredible.”

Just from where she sat, she could see the mountains into which Origia was nestled, along with the vast stone towers of the city itself. Off to the south, the hills rolled down into a deep forest, with the glint of lakes beyond. She thought she could glimpse the roofs of a smaller town, somewhere farther out.

Beyond the edge of Einsla Island, she could see more of the Archipelago in the distance. Between Einsla and the next island, though, she still saw that golden shimmer. In the afternoon light, she could more clearly see it was a honeycomb wall, stretching high into the sky and vanishing into the deep clouds below.

It really did remind her of a beehive, at that. Perspective made it hard to tell, given its grand scale, but she thought it wrapped around Einsla and the other islands like a hive, individual cells separate but linked…

“The Skywall,” Kirito said, breaking into her thoughts. “The barrier that wraps around the spiral of the Archipelago, and keeps each island apart. Sections can be lowered by defeating Barrier Guardians, but only one at a time, until Centoria is finally reached.”

“Centoria,” Asuna whispered, tasting the word. “The center of Aincrad… Who put up the Skywall, anyway? And why?” She knew it was just a game, but surely there was some in-universe explanation. A world this intricate wouldn't just have walls for the sake of walls, right?

Of course, he did say the beta testers didn't get very far, but still…

“It was the Axiom Church,” Kirito said softly. He was looking out at the Skywall himself, a distant look in his dark eyes. “Centuries ago, the Highest Administrator began to gradually assert power over the Archipelago, until finally, in a grand ritual, she raised the Skywall. Only at her whim can the islands contact each other, and her will is enforced by the Barrier Guardians… and the Integrity Knights.”

“Integrity Knights?” Klein repeated, before Asuna could. “What're they?”

“No one knows for sure,” Kirito told him, shrugging. His eyes were still on the Skywall. “Like heroes out of old stories, supposedly. They say the Knights can use magic, even though it's lost to everyone else. Supposedly, the Swordmasters are part of a ritual to summon heroes that can stand against the Integrity Knights on even footing, reclaim the Archipelago.”

It was only the story of a game. It was only there to provide context for the actions of players having fun playing at being swordsmen. But in that moment, hearing Kirito's wistful tone, Asuna couldn't help but believe in it. Just a little. He sounded less like someone playing a game than someone telling a story about something real.

He sounds… sad, she realized. Why? Is he one of those hardcore gamers I've heard about? A… what's the word, a roleplayer?

Kirito visibly shook himself, turning away from that golden wall. “I don't think any beta tester ever actually ran into an Integrity Knight,” he said, tone suddenly lighter. “During that time, I think I saw one, riding a dragon beyond Siehn. From what somebody I know dug up, trying to fight one that early would be suicide.”

“Elite bosses for later in the game, huh?” Klein said. “Cool! Ahh, I can see it now: a lone samurai, standing between a dark knight and the helpless villagers, grimly determined to win even if it costs him his life—”

“It probably would,” Kirito said wryly. “Lore aside, I'm guessing they're raid-level bosses. One player, against that?” He chuckled. “Well, you might get plenty of views on Nico-Nico. For being the new Leeroy Jenkins.”

Leeroy Jenkins? Not a name Asuna had ever heard before, but Klein reacted as if Kirito had struck him a physical blow. Oookay… Only four hours or so she'd been in SAO, and she was already realizing she had a lot to learn. Gamers spoke a completely different language, with their own stories and history. She hadn't felt so lost since she'd started middle school, if then.

Well, she thought, turning to look at the Skywall again, if there's one thing I know, it's studying. I'll learn. A musical tone in her ear startled her, bringing her eyes up to the clock display hovering in one corner of her vision. And speaking of studying… I guess I'd better go soon.

She didn't want to. In four short hours, she'd had more fun than she had in longer than she could remember. She'd even found two people to chat with, however weird they might've been. Because of how weird they were, really. Klein's sheer goofiness was oddly endearing, and if she was honest, Kirito's strange wistfulness and social awkwardness struck an odd chord with her.

It's not like this will be the last time I log in, anyway, Asuna reminded herself. So long as I'm careful, I can come back tomorrow. And she would be careful. There was no way she was losing this chance from slipping up around her mother.

“Man, this is just too cool,” Klein said, apparently recovered from whatever insult Kirito had delivered with that unfamiliar name. “So real… I wish I could just stay in all night!”

Kirito turned back from the Skywall. “You have to log out soon?”

“Yeah, 'fraid so.” The samurai stretched, red ponytail looking like fire in the light of the setting sun. “I'm gonna be back in later to meet some buddies, but probably not for long. I've got a pizza set to be delivered in just a few minutes… and then I've got work in the morning. Bleh.”

“I should be going, too,” Asuna said regretfully, pushing herself to her feet. “I've got an early start tomorrow, too.” She decided it was best not to say what. The two had left a surprisingly good impression on her, but making it clear she was a teenage girl didn't seem like a good idea. Not yet, anyway. “Thank you for the help, Kirito...kun.”

There, that sounds about right. It doesn't feel right to skip it altogether.

Kirito smiled, looking just a bit shy. “It was no problem, really. It was… kinda fun, actually.”

“What am I, chopped liver?” Klein said plaintively; but he was smiling, too. “Thanks, buddy. Both of you. I would've been totally lost today without you. So…” He swept two fingers down, bringing up his menu. “Up for some friend requests?”

Asuna blinked. Hesitated. Exchanged a quick, wary glance with Kirito, and found herself oddly reassured by his own hesitation. Honestly, she'd expected to go it completely alone in SAO, at least until her brother was able to log in. The idea of making in-game friends hadn't even crossed her mind until Klein had given his hilariously awkward introduction, and she still had no idea what either of them was really like behind the avatar.

But online games wouldn't be so popular in the first place if it was that dangerous. This is normal, right? As long as I'm careful…

“Okay,” she said finally, smiling just a little. “I'm up for it. Kirito-kun?”

She wondered about his hesitation. He was obviously a veteran gamer, so he had to be used to this kind of thing. Right?

Eventually, though, he seemed to come to a decision, and with another shy smile he nodded. “…Why not?”

Grinning, Klein sent first Kirito, then Asuna friend requests, both of them quickly accepting. She couldn't help but feel a bit of a thrill, seeing the first name fill in the top of her Friends List—then had to stifle a giggle as she and Kirito just looked at each other for a long moment. In the end, she took the initiative to send the request to him, and after another tiny pause, his name appeared in her menu, too.

Friends, she thought. …Maybe we really can be. Even if it's just here, in Aincrad.

Klein looked like he was about to say something else, then seemed to think better of it. “Well, it's been a blast, guys,” he said. “If you guys are logged in tomorrow, maybe I'll introduce you to my friends. But for tonight,” he proclaimed dramatically, “pizza awaits!”

Asuna couldn't help but giggle again at his antics. But she really was starting to push her luck, so after inclining her head respectfully to Kirito, she brought her menu back up. It was, she thought regretfully, time for her to go back to being a student, and hang up her new sword.

For tonight, anyway. If I just time things carefully… enough… huh? What the—?

With the faintest thrill of alarm creeping up her spine, she stared at the log-out option. The grayed-out option, which had just given her an indignant “Beep!” when she pressed it. Pressing it again, slowly and carefully, got her the same reaction, this time accompanied by a red circle-and-slash symbol appearing over the floating button.

“…Guys?” Asuna said slowly. “Are either of you able to log out?”

“You, too?” Klein's words immediately dashed her hopes. “Nope.” He was stabbing at his own menu, with the same amount of success. “Not doing a damn thing. Hey, Kirito, the 'Log-Out' button is supposed to, y'know, log us out, right?”

Glancing up from whatever menu work he'd been doing, Kirito frowned. “Well… yeah, that is kinda the point. Maybe you're pushing… the wrong… one…?” As he spoke, he visibly shifted through submenus, and his frown deepened. “Okay… that's weird.”

Asuna's blood was getting colder by the moment. “Weird?” she blurted. “It's a disaster!” If I don't get out quick, Mother will find out what I'm doing, and then—!

“Easy,” Kirito told her, flicking over to another menu. “This is too big a glitch for the GMs to just ignore. Forget emergency patching, as soon as they realize there's an issue, they'll probably force-eject everybody. If we all send reports, that should get things moving faster.”

She forced herself to stay calm. “And how long will that take?”

“A few minutes, if we're lucky. Maybe half an hour, tops?” He shrugged. “If nothing else, if you've got anybody living with you, they can just take the NerveGear off and cut the connection that way. It's not fun, but it works.”

Her blood froze at that. No, no, no, that's bad! That's as bad as it gets! If Mother has to do that, she'll never let me out of her sight again! I'll—I'll be stuck with that—!

“I live alone, though,” Klein said slowly. The samurai was frowning, the first trace of concern crossing his face. “What about you guys?”

Asuna was too petrified to answer. Kirito shrugged, giving an oddly sad smile. “Oh, my sister should notice. Eventually, anyway…”

If she'd been a tiny bit less frightened, she would've kicked Klein for the way his expression suddenly lit up. “You have a sister?! What's she like?! Is she going to be playing—”

She would never forget the sound that interrupted him. The sound of a bell ringing, somewhere in the distance. Deep, and booming. She'd never heard anything like it, and she was suddenly sure she never wanted to hear it again. The ringing went deep into her bones, bringing with it an indefinable, yet inescapable, feeling of dread.

“Hear it not,” the quote from Macbeth whispered through Asuna's mind. “For it is a knell that summons thee to heaven, or to hell…”

Blue light washed over the three of them, and the tower was swept away beneath their feet.

Bad enough for the log out function to be glitched out on launch day, when Suguha was all too likely to assume he was just playing late and not try to help. Worse to hear again a bell that had haunted his nightmares for years. It was almost a relief when the blue light of a forced teleport followed, instead of the wrath Kirito had instinctively anticipated.

Being dropped right back in the Summoning Plaza, surrounded by twenty thousand very confused—and loud—players still wasn't quite as bad. Almost, though. What the hell is going on?

Dropped in right next to him, Klein was looking around wildly, his ridiculous ponytail hitting Kirito in the neck. “What the—is this something to do with the 'force-eject' you mentioned, Kirito?”

Asuna, he noticed, was standing on his other side, frozen stiff. He didn't know exactly what was wrong, and for once found himself really wishing he'd leveled-up his social skills before. Not having the least idea how to reassure her was just plain painful.

At least he could answer Klein's question. Kind of. “I don't see how it could be,” he said, pitching his voice to carry through the babble of so many other players. “If anything, gathering all the players first would just make things worse, what with the lag. …Actually, we ought to have seen plenty of lag just from the VFX of all the teleports…”

Kirito was still chewing on that technical oddity when Asuna inhaled sharply. “What… what's going on up there?”

He followed her pointing finger, just in time to see the entire sky turn from sunset orange to stark, glaring red. The Skywall that encased Einsla had changed from a warm gold to crimson, the hexagons that formed it now proclaiming [System Alert].

A lot of the other players in the plaza were audibly scared. Kirito, though, felt his shoulders slump in relief. “It's okay,” he said. “I think I know what's going on now. They brought everybody here to explain what's going on all at once.”

Asuna didn't seem reassured. “Well,” she said, through gritted teeth to judge from her tone, “I wish they'd hurry up. Some of us need to log out now!”

…Sounds serious. Guess it's not my business, though. But she's right, too, they ought to be quicker about this—

The alert message was reassuring. The bright, crimson flash from beyond the Summoning Plaza's observation platform, not quite so much. If only because Kirito couldn't remember anything like it happening during the beta. None of what was going on fit with the beta, and when he turned with the rest of the players to see what was going on, something in him expected to see a dragon. Maybe several dragons.

Or worse, a pale face in the sky, pronouncing judgment…

No dragons. No faces out of nightmares. Just a wireframe in the shape of a flying battleship, out beyond the Skywall. Approaching that wall, the wireframe filled out, layer by layer, as if being rendered from the ground up. Just as its bow touched the Skywall, a gleaming hull settled into place—and as it pushed through, the crimson alert messages seemed to bleed over it.

Soon, the blood-red airship was through, gliding to an easy halt a dozen meters from the observation platform. There was no sound, except for the drone from the ship's massive propellers. No movement, except the restless stirring of twenty thousand players. And then—

Light, from the airship's superstructure. Bright lines flickering out, tracing a figure in the air in the same way the ship itself had appeared. Layer by layer, until there stood on the airship's deck a giant, translucent figure. An ordinary man, at first glance, notable only for his long, white labcoat.

“W-what is that?!” he heard someone nearby—a girl, he thought, though not one he knew—exclaim. “What's going on here?!”

“Don't worry,” a deeper voice assured her confidently. “He never showed up in the beta, but that's the lead developer. He must be here to tell us what's going on, or maybe he's part of an event. Cool airship, don't you think?”

No. I don't think that's what's happening at all. Something's not right here…

“Greetings, Swordmasters,” a deep, booming voice said from that hologram. “I am Kayaba Akihiko. Allow me to welcome you to Sword Art Online, and to the Islands of the Aincrad Archipelago. To your new home. To the beginning of your new lives.”

“Kayaba… Akihiko…?” Asuna whispered. “Isn't he… the creator of SAO…?”

“And what the hell does he mean, 'new home'?” Klein demanded. “Is this some kind of joke?”

“What you've all no doubt noticed by now is no prank or system error,” Kayaba said, as if answering the samurai directly. “The final version of Sword Art Online never possessed a log out option at all, nor was it intended to. You have been called here to complete this world, and the moment you logged in, the circle was closed. Your new journey, to open the skies of Aincrad, has begun. Until that journey is complete, this is your world.”

Asuna had thought, for so much of her life, that a failed test was about the worst thing that would happen to her. The possibility of her mother's displeasure, should she stumble in her studies, had been the most frightening in her life. That was why she'd been so careful, scheming with her brother for this simple respite.

We can't… log out…? We're trapped here…?

Sheer, howling terror at how her mother would react distracted her from even the hubbub around her, as other players yelled at the apparition of Kayaba. She barely noticed Kirito tersely explaining to Klein just how real the possibility was, that Kayaba was telling the truth. She was too busy picturing her mother's frown.

Not fair. It's not fair! I was finally having fun, you can't do this to me…!

“Perhaps I've been unclear… so let me speak plainly. You cannot exit SAO. Until you have cleared the game, you will remain within Aincrad. Any attempt by those on the outside to remove the NerveGear, disconnect it from external power, or from the SAO servers, will result in the NerveGear's signal sensors overloading, destroying the player's brain.”

Those words yanked her attention back to that huge, impassive figure. “W-what…?” He couldn't possibly have said what it sounded like. Being trapped was one thing, horrible as it was. He couldn't really have just said…”Did—did he just say we'll… die?” she whispered. “That's… that isn't possible… is it…?”

From the disbelieving yells and curses, Asuna wasn't the only one doubting that casual statement. But when she looked at Kirito, that cool, collected youth, he'd gone deathly pale. “The transmitters in the NerveGear redirect nerve impulses, Asuna,” he said, sounding more numb than terrified. “That's… pretty delicate work. And deep. Overloading the system…”

Asuna didn't really hear what he said after that. The details of how it worked, what precautions Kayaba could've taken—none of that mattered. Not next to the simple fact.

I'm dead. Whatever happens now… I'm dead.

“Let me assure you, you will not die merely by an act of God. So long as the NerveGear itself is not tampered with, there is a grace period of ten minutes disconnected external power and two hours disconnected from the SAO servers before the overload is triggered. Provided outside support is careful, you may have no fear in that respect.”

What did that matter? She had an important test coming up soon. Fail it, and it didn't even really matter if she was still alive. Everything in her life was crumbling anyway, with every moment she stood in that plaza.

“This can't… it can't be real…”

“Be assured, also, that the relevant government authorities have already been informed, and measures are being prepared to take care of your bodies on the other side. I would advise all of you to find safe places by midnight, lest you be caught in the field during your transfer to medical facilities. Regretfully,” Kayaba added—and bizarrely, there did seem to be a note of regret in his voice—“not everyone believed the reports. Four hundred thirty Swordmasters have exited this world and the other.”

Sick horror washed over her, mixed with a distant bitterness. Obviously, her careful timing to avoid her mother discovering what she was up to had worked. Otherwise, Asuna was absolutely certain, she would have already died. Yuuki Kyouko, she thought sickly, was unlikely to believe such a ridiculous tale without evidence.

Her knees finally buckled, and she collapsed to the stone pavement. Dead… they're dead, and I… I was almost…

Kirito didn't blame Asuna for falling, any more than he did the many other players succumbing to shock. He was surprised he was able to stay on his feet, as Kayaba Akihiko coolly and dispassionately explained their doom. Explained how they'd all be fine now, showed them all proof in windows hovering over his grand crimson airship depicting news reports.

The family he caught a glimpse of in one of those windows wasn't his. He knew that. Small comfort to those he suspected were seeing family, and small comfort to him, knowing how he'd left his own behind.

He had the sudden, nauseating feeling he was inflicting on them exactly what had driven him to Aincrad in the first place. The reversal was enough to make him want to either vomit, or run screaming from the Summoning Plaza.

“As I say, you have little to fear from the world in which your bodies remain,” Kayaba continued in a calm, conversational tone. “You are free to focus on the task ahead: tearing down the Skywall, and claiming Bifrost. The bridge between worlds at the heart of the Archipelago is the key to your release, if you can but reach it.”

“Are… are you serious?!” Kirito was surprised to realize the voice now shouting to the sky was his own, as was the first raised against the crimson airship and the man who stood upon it. “You've trapped us in here! How the hell can you expect us to just keep on like it was still a game…!”

Kayaba's avatar didn't really turn to look at him directly. There was no no reason whatsoever for the game master who controlled the world to look at Kirito specifically, to address one lone player. But when that mild-looking face turned, he couldn't help but think the gamemaster really was staring right at him.

“There is one final condition,” that booming voice said. “If your HP should reach zero, your avatars will still be destroyed. Now, however, that destruction will be final. The NerveGear's termination protocol will activate. Death, after all, is death, no matter the world in which you reside.”

Kirito's eyes were drawn at once to the lifebar hovering in the upper-left of his vision. Bright blue, it was completely full, reading 342/342. As of that moment, that number represented how long he could survive, in the very combat he'd been teaching Asuna and Klein only minutes before.

He'd seen that number fall to zero dozens of times, in the beta test. Not one Barrier Guardian had ever been defeated without total party wipes, and even successes had always had casualties. He'd died there, again and again. He'd learned, but he'd died, even as late as the final day of the beta.

Who in their right mind would even try to beat the game when a single mistake will kill you…? If any of this is true, nobody will ever even leave Origia!

“Remember,” Kayaba said. “Nothing is eternal. No matter what, this world will not last forever. If you wish to ever leave it, your only choice is to reach Centoria Cathedral, and claim Bifrost for yourselves. Only then will you ever escape this simulacrum. That is your choice, Swordmasters: stay in safety, until your real bodies give out or the system is shut down, or fight your way to freedom.”

For a moment, Kirito's vision swam. It had been years since he'd been confronted with such a contradiction in the world, since he'd seen something else as just as “real” as the world he lived in with his parents and Suguha. He'd escaped that contradiction the hard way, and had never fully shaken the nightmares from it. Now, in the same way as before, having to do the opposite, focus on the unreal—

How can I do that? How can I just push aside the real world? How can anybody? This is just…

“To those who still doubt the world before their eyes, I give you a gift. A way to keep in mind the stakes of the game, while keeping in sight your final goal. Please, open your inventories and see the item I've placed there.”

A sinking feeling in his stomach, Kirito obeyed Kayaba's instruction. Everyone did, as far as he could tell; maybe they were all too numb to do anything else. Soon, a mirror was falling into his hand. A perfectly ordinary hand mirror, to his confusion. All it showed, when he looked into it, was his carefully-crafted avatar, wearing an expression of pure puzzlement.

And then—

White light, all around her. Asuna heard yells of confusion, fear, even anger. She was too numb to feel any of those things, only blinking against the bright light—but when it faded, she found herself as confused as anyone.

The red samurai had vanished, replaced by a bandit. His clothes were still there, along with his bandana, but the face was completely different, bearing a scruffy goatee. The flaming ponytail was gone, replaced by much shorter hair of a much duller shade of red. Beside him, the handsome youth had also changed, build turning leaner, face losing some of the sharpness. His deep blue hair had turned an ordinary black.

She stared at them. They stared at each other. Then, eyes wide, they glanced back at their mirrors.

Chestnut hair. Brown eyes. My hair. My eyes. …My body…

“You really are a teenager?!” Asuna blurted, in time with the bandit.

“You really are a girl?!” Kirito yelped.

“Klein?!”

“How?!” Klein demanded. “How the hell does the game know what we really look like?! It's not like the thing has a webcam or anything!”

Kirito's dark eyes took on a distant look. She could practically see him reading manuals in his head. “Sensors in the NerveGear,” he muttered, with the air of someone focusing on the familiar to escape the frightening. “It can scan our faces as well as our brains… and the calibration test…”

Oh. Right. That one, Asuna remembered. It had been embarrassing, giving herself a pat down, but it had made some sense at the time. Now it made more terrifying sense, realizing what the point of it all had been.

From the babble of the players around them, others had realized it, too. The reminder that they weren't alone drew Asuna's attention from the realization that Kirito couldn't have been any older than her, back to the programmer and his crimson airship hovering in the sky above.

“I am sure you have one last question,” Kayaba said then, as if deciding enough people were paying attention again. “'Why?' Why would I, Kayaba Akihiko, be doing such a thing? Am I holding you for ransom, you ask yourselves? Am I a psychotic mass murderer? …No. SAO itself was my goal all along. As I told you before, with your summoning the circle was closed. The developer's role is ended. What you do with the world before you is my goal.

“Your destiny is yours alone now. In this world of swords and open sky, your choices are limited only by your own will. Fight alone, or together. Press on, or hide in safety. Perhaps…” Kayaba seemed to smile then, incongruously. “Perhaps you will even find allies within this world. Your destination is blocked by the Skywall. There is no single path beyond it.

“Rejoice, Swordmasters! From now until you reach Centoria Cathedral, you cannot return to your world—but in exchange, you have ahead of you a journey none on Earth have ever seen. Your trials and tribulations as you conquer Aincrad's skies will be experiences to be treasured. And once you wrest Bifrost from the Highest Administrator, from Quinella's grasp, you will have gained freedom to leave this world by your own hands!

“Rejoice, Swordmasters. Welcome once more to the Aincrad Archipelago. Rejoice, and shape your Fate!”

There was silence, on the heels of Kayaba Akihiko's final proclamation. Silence… and then Kayaba's avatar collapsed, the lights on his airship's bridge cutting out. Its engines roared, propellers revving up to push it forward. The ship accelerated, swinging in a wide arc to cast its shadow over the city and the players, and soared back to the Skywall. It pierced that wall again, dissolving as it went—and then it was gone.

A frozen stillness. Then, in the blink of an eye, the Skywall's hexagons snapped back to shimmering, ethereal gold, with no trace of the alert message.

Asuna could only stare up at that barrier, feeling the foundations of her world come tumbling down. She'd logged into SAO, come to the world of Aincrad, for a chance at something different from the life she'd always lived. She hadn't counted on then being unable to leave it.

Einsla, Origia, the Skywall, and all that lay beyond… that that was now her world was something she just couldn't process. Not right away. Even after Kayaba's speech, it was just too unreal—

Then the screaming began. The screaming, the panic, the begging, as twenty thousand players reacted at once. “Stop joking! Get back here, you bastard, and let us out!”

“This can't be real… this can't be real…!”

“Are you nuts?! I have an important dinner meeting! Quit playing around, dammit!”

“But… but I have an exam tomorrow, I need to study…!”

That last brought Asuna back to herself with a gasp. Glancing around wildly, she recognized for the first time that she and her companions weren't the only ones who had changed. Every face was different, and so many of them were suddenly younger, with completely different bodies. So few girls…

She had to resist a hysterical giggle, in the middle of that horror, at seeing so many guys in female outfits. It was like one last, cruel joke from Kayaba—but if she gave in to the humor, she wasn't sure she'd ever come out of it.

A flicker of motion, beyond the Skywall, distracted her from that. Not Kayaba's grand ship this time, but something much smaller. Asuna squinted, too numb now even to be frightened of what could be coming next. Is that… a bird…? No… it's too big. But it has wings, and… and it's coming this way—

“Come on!”

A hand grabbed hers, tugging insistently. Any other time, Asuna would've snapped; now, in the daze, in the middle of twenty thousand panicked players, she allowed Kirito to drag her and Klein off to an alleyway, away from the crowds. Away from the scene where Kayaba had pronounced their doom.

Down the stone streets of Origia, through back alleys she'd gotten lost in with a kind of giddy amazement only hours before. As with the first time she'd seen him, Kirito seemed to know exactly where he was going, and why. That time she'd found it oddly inspiring. Now she was only grateful someone seemed able to keep a clear head in the middle of the madness.

Even if I have no idea how he's doing it. Who can think straight… after that…?

Kirito brought them to a halt at the mouth of an alley, leading out of Origia's walls into the deepening night. “Listen,” he said, low and urgent. “Right now, everyone is panicking. Nobody knows what to do. But when the panic wears off, people are going to realize they need resources. Levels, money, materials—and in an MMO, there's always competition for that.” His dark eyes met hers and Klein's in turn. “If we're going to survive, we need to stay ahead.”

“And… how do we do that?” Asuna got out, past a throat that wasn't really dry, however much it felt like it should have been. “I… I don't know where to go…”

“I do. The area around Origia will be chaos for days, maybe weeks—but I know how to reach the next town safely. With three of us, we can fight the mobs in that area safely, without running out.” He paused, suddenly looking much less certain. “I mean… if you'll trust me.”

He didn't expect them to. Asuna could see that in Kirito's eyes and stance, hear it in his voice. He didn't really expect either of them to trust him. Not that much.

Is it because this is a game? Asuna wondered. You never know who anyone really is, even if we're all using our real faces now. But… it feels like it's more than that. Not like me, but… not that different, either.

Kirito was patient, she'd give him that. He only stood there, visibly keeping himself from fidgeting, and waited.

“…You've helped me out a ton already, Kirito,” Klein said slowly, a troubled frown on his face. “I'd trust you to lead us anywhere. But… remember I said I was going to meet some friends?” He pointed a thumb back the way they'd come; Asuna could hear the shouts and screams even from where they were. “They're back there, somewhere. I can't just leave 'em.”

Kirito opened his mouth, then closed it, looking suddenly anxious. After a moment, she realized why: whatever idea he had for keeping three people going probably wasn't going to work as well for many more. Someone like him, who'd probably mostly played alone, wouldn't likely know how to handle a larger group.

“Well,” he began finally, “I might be able to find—”

Klein abruptly held up a hand. “Nope. Don't even offer, Kirito. Whatever it is, it's not gonna be easy on you. You've already done plenty, just showing me the ropes. I'm not gonna ask for more.” Despite the situation, he actually grinned. “I was a guildmaster in our last game. I can take care of my guys, don't you worry.”

Kirito swallowed. “Klein… I…”

“Nope! Not a word about it, buddy.” The samurai shook his head firmly, still smiling. “You've done all a guy can ask. The only thing I want from you now?” He dropped a hand on Asuna's shoulder, startling her. “Take care of her. I think she'll do better with you than with my guys.”

Klein's real face was scruffy-looking. The bandana and the red of his starter gear made him look like he was doing a bad cosplay of a samurai. He'd only barely gotten a start on learning to use a katana, however enthusiastic he may have been.

Tired, dazed, and scared out of her wits, Asuna had the strangest feeling Klein was handling the situation better than anyone.

Watching Kirito's face from under the cover of her hood, she saw Kirito hesitate, visibly torn. “I…” He stopped. Took a deep breath. Straightened his shoulders, and gave a slow nod. “All right, Klein. Take care of yourself—and if you have any questions, well…”

“You're on my list,” Klein said, with a nod of his own. “I'll remember. You be careful, too, you hear me? I owe you.” He turned to Asuna, then, and grabbed her other shoulder. “And you? Kirito might not look the part, but I think you can trust him. He's got that vibe, right?”

Mutely, Asuna nodded. The youth had the build of an otaku, but he obviously knew what he was doing. And if anything, his awkwardness reassured her. He'd hesitated, when she and Klein first approached him. And he had gotten them both out of the Summoning Plaza, before the situation could get any worse.

Not a judgment she would've made in the real world. In Aincrad, she thought she had no choice. Surviving the game of death Kayaba Akihiko had trapped them in would mean throwing the dice one way or another.

“Good.” Klein gave a firm nod, let go of her shoulders, and moved to jog back down the alley. Halfway down, though, he paused. “Oi, Kirito!” he called over his shoulder. “Just so you know—you look a lot better when you're not trying too hard to be cool!”

Kirito laughed, shaky and strained. “And you're better off not pretending you aren't a bandit, Klein!” he shouted back. “Just make sure you only rob the right people!”

“Hah! Fine, then. Just like Goemon!”

Then he was gone, and Asuna was left alone in that alleyway with Kirito. Alone, with a boy she'd never met before, in a dark alley, in a world terrifyingly far from home. Turning back to face him, she met his eyes. Took a deep breath. Nodded.

After Klein had left, leaving Kirito with a terrible mix of relief and crushing guilt, he was left alone with a girl. In his sixteen years of life, it was a startlingly novel experience. He didn't think he'd been alone with a girl in at least six years, and even he knew there was a difference between that situation at ten, and at sixteen.

Asuna only followed him silently, though, when he turned to head out into the field. As the sun dipped out of sight beyond the horizon, she followed him down the stone-paved road out of Origia. Followed him even when he turned away from the road, running up onto the hills along Einsla's edge.

He was glad. If he'd seen what he thought he'd seen, coming toward Einsla in the wake of Kayaba's speech, he didn't want to be anywhere near Origia when it arrived. If he—if the playerbase as a whole—was lucky, it was just there to find out what the fuss was about.

If not… We can't be there for it. Not now.

Only when they'd crested one of the taller hills, half a kilometer out from Origia, did Kirito slow down and stop, turning to face his unlikely companion. “Are you sure about this?” he asked. His voice was low, despite the nearest players being much too far away to hear. “I mean, I…”

She stopped, too, turning her still-hooded face toward the island's edge. Toward the rising night sky of Aincrad, so different from Earth. “…I died today.”

He blinked, taken aback by the morbid statement. “Asuna…?”

“Kirito-kun,” she said, still looking at the stars. At the first of Aincrad's moons, lifting above the horizon, far bigger than Earth's moon. “If I go with you, will you teach me how to fight?”

“Well, yeah.” People, he didn't know very well at all. Aincrad's physics and gameplay were far more familiar. “I'll teach you everything I can about the game. But, Asuna…” Kirito swallowed. Klein had relieved him of the terrifying possibility of being responsible for an entire guild. That didn't make the burden the wannabe-samurai had entrusted him with much easier. “I can't guarantee your safety. If you leave the Safe Havens, you might really die.”

That, more than his own death, scared him. One thing to risk his own life. In his nightmares, he'd done it before, and he was grimly prepared to do so in a waking dream. For escape, and to find the truth, he'd make that gamble. Someone else trusting him with that? He was feeling weak in the knees already.

“If this game kills me,” Asuna said, low but firm, “at least it'll be on my own terms. I have to move forward, grow stronger here. One stumble, and I've lost everything in our world. The moment Kayaba trapped us, I died. If I'm going to live again, I need to be stronger. If I can be part of taking Bifrost, of freeing everyone, I'll have done something that my m… that no one can deny.” She turned to face him, eyes just barely visible in the light as Aincrad's second moon began to rise. “If I can do that, I'll have the strength to stand on my own two feet.”

Kirito had no idea what she meant by most of that. Even less of an idea what circumstances led her to the conviction that whatever life she had IRL was already over, just from being trapped a matter of hours. He didn't know what conviction kept her standing, staring at him, when she was plainly as frightened as anyone.

But I've got my own reasons for moving forward, even knowing this world can kill me now. Hers probably make a lot more sense than just chasing dreams, too. And… well, it's not like I won't be safer myself, with someone to watch my back.

“Aincrad is a world of swords and airships,” Kirito said quietly, glancing away from her to the Skywall, shimmering like white gold under the twin moons. “In this world, those two things are all that matter. With them, you can go anywhere you want. Be anyone you want.” Hesitantly, he held out one gloved hand. “If you're willing to trust me, I'll teach you everything I can.”

Asuna looked down at that hand. Very slowly, she reached out to take it with her own—and with her free hand, she threw back her hood.

Chestnut hair flew free, gleaming almost black in the moonlight. Golden eyes met his black, and her hand gripped his with surprising firmness. “Then I'll be in your care, Kirito-kun.”

Transfixed, Kirito could only nod. “Likewise, Asuna. …We won't lose to this world.”

The entire world had gone completely mad. Under the light of unfamiliar constellations and two enormous moons, Asuna was running along a hill that bordered open sky with a boy she'd met less than twelve hours before. Instead of a school uniform and a book bag, she had a hooded cloak and a rapier.

Instead of worrying about her latest test scores, she had the prospect of death hanging over her like the Sword of Damocles.

There was something dizzyingly exhilarating about it. She was terrified, she was trapped—and yet she was free. The wind was in her hair, her path was lit by moon and starlight, and her companion was someone she never would've dreamed of associating with IRL. She'd chosen to follow Kirito's course, even when every ingrained instinct screamed for her to hide in Origia until rescue came.

Though, speaking of…

“Kirito-kun,” Asuna said, as the dark-haired boy turned to start them down the hill, into the island's interior. “Why can't we just wait for rescue? I know what Kayaba said, but… there must be some way the authorities can break his trap.”

“…There won't be rescue,” Kirito said, almost too low to hear over the sound of their own passage. “If there were going to be, we'd already be out.”

The gloomy certainty in his voice earned him a sharp look. So did the fact that their course was now leading them directly toward a forest. She knew he'd said there was another town that would give them better chances, but right into the woods in the middle of the night wasn't quite what she'd expected. Especially not with what she'd seen on the edges of that forest, while they were still on the hilltops.

“You're going to explain yourself when we're somewhere safer,” she said, eyeing him warily. “And why are we going into the forest, when there's a village on the outskirts? Wouldn't that be safer?”

“In the short term, in theory,” Kirito replied. He slowed down as they reached the edge of the treeline, sweeping down two fingers to bring up his menu. “For long-term survival, though, we need to take a few risks. …And that village isn't a risk worth taking.”

…I'm starting to wonder if this was a good idea already. That didn't even make sense. Asuna forced herself to stand and wait anyway, because like it or not, he knew more about the game in general than she did. She'd thrown the dice, now she had to live with them.

He'd set his menu to visible, allowing her to see his map. Though it had just as much empty, unexplored space as hers, he'd made several annotations of his own. Probably based on his knowledge from the beta test, she thought.

“Anyway,” Kirito said, lifting the map so she could see it more easily, “that village wouldn't do us much good for grinding. Farming village, not many mobs, pretty much nowhere to get new gear.” He tapped a spot further into the blank area of the forest. “Here's where we're going: Horunka Village. There's a couple of quests there for better weapons, the shop has tougher armor than Origia's markets. If we're careful—and with two of us, that shouldn't be hard—the mobs will be good for EXP, too.”

Asuna considered that for a moment, then nodded. “Okay, that makes sense. Let's get started.”

He dismissed his map, started toward the trees—then paused. “You're okay with going through the night?”

She huffed, hands on her hips. “And you're not?” she said pointedly. “You were the one who said we'll be competing with other players for stuff. Besides…” She looked away, back up at those eerie moons. “I don't think I'll be able to sleep for awhile yet, anyway.”

If at all. If I go to sleep here, and wake up here… that'll make everything real. I'm… I'm not ready for that. Not yet.

Kirito looked back at her. She wondered, meeting those dark eyes, how much of that thought he could sense. Wondered, too, how much of it he was feeling himself. She'd seen him, during Kayaba's speech. He couldn't be nearly as calm as he looked, after that.

Whatever he may have been thinking, though, Kirito only nodded slowly. “All right. Then let's go.” He started into a trot, going into the trees, and Asuna followed right behind. “For one thing, one of the quests I'm thinking of has a really low drop rate for the key item. If we don't get started now, we really will be at this all night.”

Asuna wasn't sure that would be entirely a bad thing, if it kept her from having to face sleep.

Originally, Kirito had been glad to become a beta tester simply for the chance to get a head start on exploring SAO. Now he was guiltily grateful he had the knowledge that experience gave him to, just maybe, help keep himself and his impromptu partner alive.

First, the Anneal Blade quest, he thought, leading Asuna into the forest. I can't help her if I'm not at my best. Then… I guess I'll have to track down Argo, she should have some idea where to get a good rapier this early.

Although just then, the thing he was most grateful for about having been in the beta was that he was already used to the eerie blue light that lit the dark places of Aincrad. While the stars and the two moons lit the fields well enough, this deep in the forest that concession to gameplay was the only reason they could see at all. Without it, even he would've been tripping over tree roots and running into branches, at the pace they were maintaining.

At least Asuna was keeping up surprisingly well. Newbie she might've been, but she was a quick study. That was probably the only reason he wasn't completely freaking out at being responsible for her.

Though the deeper they got into the forest, the more something else was starting to bother Kirito. “…That's weird,” he muttered, as much for his own benefit as for Asuna's. “We should've run into some mobs by now. This place should be crawling with Little Nepenthes, if nothing else…”

Certainly the hills had had their fair share of mobs, weak as they were so close to Origia. And if there aren't any Nepenthes around, that's going to make the quest kinda difficult. What…?

“Could someone have gotten here ahead of us?” Asuna asked, low and tense.

“Maybe,” he said, dubious. “I'm not sure how, though. Even if they got out of the city before we did, we should've seen them on the way. Not even Argo the Rat should've been fast enough to get here without us even noticing.” If they'd been further into the game, he might've suspected someone of using Hiding, but there was no way anybody would have strong enough Hiding yet to stay invisible in broad moonlight.

Worry about it later, Kirito told himself. We're halfway to Horunka. Take care of business there, then figure out where all the mobs… went… Eh?

A sound had finally broken the silence, as they sprinted through the forest. A distinctive clang, over and over again, varying in pitch. Not one Kirito had ever heard IRL—but in Aincrad, he'd learned it very well. It was the sound that defined the world, after all.

And there was no reason at all he should've been hearing it right then, right there.

“What's that sound?” Asuna whispered. “It sounds almost like—”

If Kirito hadn't been so distracted, he never would've stumbled right into the clearing that way. As it was, he had to stifle a curse at his carelessness—and then a shocked exclamation, seeing what was already in that clearing. Whatever he might've expected to see, it absolutely wasn't what greeted his eyes.

Any more than he and Asuna were what they expected.

Fallen swords and a couple of shields lay on the ground. Right in the middle, a leafy bag. On one side, a tall, handsome man, pale-skinned and wearing golden armor. He was swinging a heavy two-handed sword, and had apparently been in mid-attack when the two players blundered in. Standing opposite him…

A lithe, beautiful young woman, with dusky skin, dark armor, and a billowing cloak. A saber in one hand and kite shield in the other. Short lilac hair, violet eyes, and ruby earrings. And like her opponent—long, pointed ears.

Over both their heads, the golden exclamation points of Quest NPCs.

In the middle of what was obviously a vicious battle, which from the look of it had killed several on either side already, the two elves now stared at the two players. The two players stared back, just as startled.

“No way…” Kirito breathed. “This… can't be right…”

He knew this scene. He'd been through it before, after all. Part of him was even glad to see the Dark Elf; he'd always hated how the encounter ended, in the beta. But the implications were both startling, and more than a little terrifying. No, not now! This isn't supposed to be here, not yet, we're not ready—!

“Kirito-kun…?”

He needed to grab Asuna, and retreat. Whatever mad whim of Kayaba's had changed things, getting involved right then and there was nothing short of suicidal. Kirito could already see the scripted event playing out just as it had in the beta, the Forest Elf's face twisting in a snarl. “Humans, here?! This is no affair of yours! Begone—or I'll kill you, the same as these Dark Elves!”

Just like in the beta. He could see in his mind's eye what the Dark Elf would do next, hear what she'd say, and if they didn't leave right now he wasn't sure they could—

The Dark Elf wasn't angry. Instead of a glare and a quick, sharp bark in the same vein as her opponent, she was looking right at him, eyes wide. Surprise, he thought—and, impossibly, recognition. Then her eyes narrowed, and she lifted her chin in defiance.

“Swordmasters!” she called out, even as her cursor abruptly changed from a golden exclamation point to the yellow inverted triangle of an allied NPC. “In the name of the Last Alliance, for the sake of both our peoples—lend me your swords!”

…What the hell…?!

Chapter Text

Chapter II: "Then We Shall Be Comrades"

November 6th, 2032

“Swordmasters! In the name of the Last Alliance, for the sake of both our peoples—lend me your swords!”

Later, Asuna was going to hurt Kirito for not warning her there was a quest to stumble on right in the middle of the forest. She'd signed on with him to learn how to stay alive, not to be thrown right into a fight without so much as a hint about what to do.

Later. First, she had a fight to win. Why Kirito was simply staring like an idiot at the darker-skinned elf—it was not the time to be distracted by a pretty face, for goodness' sake—she didn't know, but she wasn't going to waste time worrying about it.

She called for help. That's a quest NPC cursor. And that other elf—is coming this way—!

“Foolish humans!” the lighter elf snarled, turning to face the players. “If you'd side with Lyusula, prepare to pay the price. Don't say I didn't warn you, girl!”

Girl?! Ooh…!

Asuna thought she heard Kirito start to say something. She didn't have time to listen, the fair-skinned elf—a [Forest Elf Knight], according to the text above his HP bar—already coming for her. His heavy, two-handed sword was coming up as he strode toward her, beginning to glow with crimson light.

I did this before. I know what to do. This time, I have to get it perfect, though. I just—have to be faster!

Her arm came up, slipping easily into the posture of the first Sword Skill Kirito had taught her. Her rapier came up, she took a step forward, feeling the system tug at her—and she moved, adding her own motion to the skill. A flicker of motion and intent, and suddenly she was on the other side of the Forest Elf and several steps beyond.

In the instant of immobility in the wake of her Linear, she turned her head enough to see the Forest Elf stumble back, light fading from his sword. She couldn't see his expression from that angle… but she could see the sudden smile from the other elf.

The dusky woman—a [Dark Elf Royal Guard]—didn't give the Forest Elf a chance to recover. The saber in her hand blurred forward, taking advantage of his stumble to bury itself in his back. “'Girl'?” she taunted, yanking the blade back out. “I didn't think even those of Kales'Oh were so dimwitted as to underestimate a woman.” The Dark Elf turned her smile on Asuna. “Well-struck, Swordmaster!”

Asuna felt a rush of pride, and started to raise her rapier in salute—only to yelp and hastily duck, as the Forest Elf unleashed a flashing spin with his heavy sword. It missed her by a hair, and though the Dark Elf took it on her shield, she was still pushed back.

“Mock me at your peril,” the Forest Elf growled, already pulling his sword back and up to his shoulder. “One Dark Elf, and two humans? Absurd!” His sword lit up, bright crimson, and this time he wasted no time trying to close the gap on foot. With a roar, he leapt forward, sword swinging down in a wide, diagonal slice.

Not as fast as her attack had been. Her heart still leapt into her throat as she threw herself sideways, convinced she wouldn't be fast enough—

Whether she would've been or not, she never found out. Another battlecry split the air, and an instant before impact something struck the Forest Elf from behind. He hit the ground face-first instead of finishing his Sword Skill, tumbling away with a spray of red particles from his back.

Kirito landed in a crouch, the tip of his sword scraping the ground. “Elite mob,” he muttered, quickly straightening. “This is such a bad idea, no time to worry about that now… Asuna, Lady Knight! We'll have to work together for this!”

“Right!” Asuna still had no idea what was going on, but she could see at a glance that the Forest Elf's HP hadn't gone down nearly as much as she liked. And he was already rolling back to his feet, an ugly gleam in his eyes.

“But of course!” The Dark Elf stepped up to Kirito's right, as Asuna moved to his left. “He is strong, but against three of us—Knight of the Forest, if you have any sense, you will withdraw!”

“I told you, do not mock me!” The Forest Elf broke into a fast walk, sword held low and to his right. “I'll have the Key, and your lives!”

If she hadn't still been in shock from the night's events, Asuna wasn't sure she would've survived the next few moments. She'd never fought for her life, had never even picked up a sword before that afternoon. If she'd had time to think about it, sheer terror would've held her in place. Instead—

“Bigot!” she found herself snarling. “You'll pay for mocking us!” Drawing back her rapier, she attacked.

It was the first real battle of Asuna's life. Afterward, she could only remember scattered moments; here her rapier drove into the Forest Elf's flank in a flash of white light, there she was ducking away from his heavy sword before it could lop off her head. He was grunting then, the Dark Elf's shield bashing into his side, and Kirito was using the stumble to carve a Horizontal across his chest.

Another brutal slash knocked Asuna off her feet and across the clearing, a deep, red gash across her chest. Even as she glimpsed ten percent of her HP falling from the hit, Kirito and the Dark Elf were slashing the Forest Knight from both sides.

One vicious spin knocked her allies off their feet, and it was her turn to charge in with a yell, stabbing the Forest Knight in the leg. She ducked the backhand that came at her in response, and had the satisfaction of seeing his HP lose five percent from the sword point that suddenly emerged from his heart.

Thrust and slash, duck, sidestep; a whirl of steel and bodies like nothing Asuna had ever imagined. The Forest Knight was strong, but there were three of them and only one of him. Over the course of minutes that felt like hours, his health was ground down—until the moment his HP bar turned red.

Then the Forest Knight was using hi whirling slash again, forcing all three of his opponents back. “That two humans and a Dark Elf could bring me to this,” he growled. “That treacherous sorcerer… Fine! At least my death will steal your victory! Holy Tree of Kales'Oh!” he cried, pointing his sword toward the night sky. “Grant me the final sacrament!”

Asuna had no idea what that meant. Or why his body suddenly started glowing, a yellow-green aura enveloping him. But Kirito's eyes had suddenly gone wide, his face paling—

“Stop him!”

She didn't think. Didn't hesitate. She only obeyed the Dark Elf's command, feet in motion before the dusky girl's words had finished. I won't let you—!

Her rapier stabbed deep into the Forest Knight's heart. Kirito's sword cut through his neck, sending his head flying into the dark forest.

The concussion when the Knight's body erupted in yellow-green light and blue shards still blasted the both of them off their feet. Dazzled by the flash, Asuna couldn't even try to reorient before her back slammed hard into a tree, and she fell to the forest floor with a heavy thud.

It was a good thing avatars in Full-Dive really couldn't feel pain. The dying attack from the Forest Elf, Kirito was quite sure, would've hurt like hell. And that was before he hit the ground hard enough to knock another five percent off his HP, inducing a Tumble status in the process.

I should be counting my blessings, he thought muzzily, waiting for the world to stop spinning. That attack should've killed us outright. I didn't know it was even possible to interrupt it.

…Not that any of this should be happening at all….

“…Asuna?” he got out, as his inner ear began to reluctantly settle down. “You okay?”

The answer he got at first was a low groan. “Define 'okay',” his erstwhile partner said, sounding as off-balance as he felt. “I'm still alive… that counts for something, right…?”

“Indeed it does. I fear I'd underestimated humans.” A soft chuckle, as footsteps approached Kirito. “Fortunately, so did that Forest Elf…” The Dark Elf's face came into view, looking down at him with a smile. “Here, let me help you. Can you stand?”

Still dazed, Kirito let the elf girl haul him to his feet, and watched as she did the same for Asuna a moment later. After giving the two of them a quick once-over, as if to make sure they really were able to stay on their feet, she walked over to the leafy bag that had been at the center of the fight. With obvious care, she picked it up, checked its contents, and with a sigh of relief tucked it under her arm.

“What's going on here?” Asuna whispered. “Just what kind of quest did you just drag me into, Kirito-kun?”

“…I wish I knew,” he murmured back. “This is… not exactly the same as it was in the beta test.”

Understatement, that. He'd seen the battle they'd just fought during that period, but it hadn't been in this clearing, and the ending had been a lot worse. The last time he'd seen that particular Dark Elf NPC, she'd been giving his pick-up group a sad smile, just before shattering.

It had haunted Kirito, honestly. He knew she was just an NPC, but SAO made things feel so real, he couldn't help but be sad when the scripted battle had ended in her death.

But now I have no idea what happens next. Back then, she entrusted us with that bag, and sent us on to a Dark Elf camp. A camp that shouldn't even be on Einsla, and this time she's not dead. Kayaba… did you change everything, on top of trapping us here?

The Dark Elf was looking around the clearing even as Kirito tried to figure out what was going on, and now she sighed heavily. “So, I was the only one to survive, after all…” She turned to face the two players, and lifted her right hand to her chest in salute. “Thank you, Swordmasters, for your aid. Without your timely arrival, I'm sure I, too, would've fallen. I am Kizmel, Royal Guard and member of the Pagoda Knights. May I have the honor of your names?”

Ah, something familiar. That helped stabilize Kirito, just a little. “My name is Kirito,” he said with a bow, carefully enunciating his name for the benefit of the system. “A Swordmaster.” Which she'd already know, of course, but it never hurt to observe the formalities when dealing with NPCs. Their dialogue trees could be finicky.

“I'm Asuna,” his partner replied, bowing in turn. “Also a Swordmaster.”

“Ki-ri-to,” Kizmel repeated, as if to herself. The system making sure it had the pronunciation down, he figured. “A-su-na… Pardon me,” she added with a wry smile, at the look Asuna was giving her. “Human names are as exotic to me as mine must be to you. I'll not forget them.” She tilted her head curiously. “I had heard the ritual to summon the Swordmasters was to be performed today, but with everything else that went wrong, I admit I was skeptical. Even so, I must say I'm surprised to see any of you so far from Origia already. May I ask what brings you here? Not that I'm complaining, by any means.”

Uh. Kirito blinked, caught flatfooted. Bizarrely changed circumstances or not, he'd expected her to jump right into the quest dialogue, and get them moving to whatever the current equivalent of the Dark Elf camp was. A personal question was just plain weird.

And… “everything else” that went wrong? Just what is going on in this version of the quest?

“Origia isn't a really good place to be right now,” Asuna told her, while he was still trying to work out what appropriate response to continue the quest might be. “After what… what Kayaba did….” She looked away, trembling. “It's still chaos back there.”

He quickly turned to her, shaking his head. “Asuna,” he hissed, “she's not going to be able to understand that. NPC AI isn't that good—”

“Kayaba?” Kizmel said sharply, drawing Kirito's attention back to her. “The human sorcerer, Kayaba Akihiko?” Her eyes had narrowed, not quite a glare but definitely not an expression he wanted directed at him. “Treacherous mage… did he betray the Swordmasters, as well?”

…What?

“I'd call trapping us all here when it was supposed to be a game 'betraying us', yeah,” Asuna said tightly. Then she started, as if abruptly remembering who—or what—she was talking to, and looked back at the elf. “Um, that is…”

Kizmel looked at the two of them for a long, silent moment. Kirito was left wondering just what was going on with the NPC's AI, and if Asuna's obviously-indecipherable words had just screwed up the quest even more than it already was. Not her fault. She's new to this, and if I'm trying not to freak out about the situation she must have it ten times worse. I just hope we didn't break anything. The last thing I want now is to be locked out of a big quest like this by accident.

“I think,” the Dark Elf said at last, “we have much to discuss.” She tapped the bag still tucked under her arm. “At the least, I owe you sanctuary for the night, after you saved my life. And my mission; allowing the Jade Key to fall into the hands of the Forest Elves would be disastrous.” Gesturing deeper into the forest, she continued, “Please, let us talk along the way. You said this was supposed to be a game…?”

The course Kizmel led them on was well away from Horunka. That much, at least, made perfect sense to Kirito, given that in the beta elves of any race tended to stay away from human settlements. It did have him more than a little worried, given that it meant going into what was for all intents and purposes uncharted territory, but he didn't see much choice. Whatever was happening now, he had the feeling it would be more dangerous to break away from the questline.

“Of course, I knew about the coming Swordmasters,” Kizmel said, as they left the moonlit clearing behind. In the sourceless blue light of the deep forest, she looked even more otherworldly than she had before. “Like as not, even the Axiom Church knew. Little escapes the 'Highest Administrator's' notice in Aincrad, in this age. …Assuming Kayaba did not simply inform her himself, of course.”

The way she said “Highest Administrator”, like it was a curse, got Kirito's attention. As far as he recalled from the beta, the Elf War quest had been a largely self-contained storyline. He definitely didn't remember any particular connection to the Axiom Church plot. Certainly not enough to get that kind of a personal reaction.

Though that wasn't what really bothered him, and with a glance at Asuna he was sure she felt the same. “So… you know about Kayaba, then?” the fencer said cautiously, ducking under a tree branch.

“Oh, indeed,” Kizmel said dryly. “After all, he promised us the Swordmasters' aid in reclaiming Aincrad from the Axiom Church's talons.” She shook her head. “I wasn't there, but I am told there was quite the stir when his image appeared before Queen Idhrendis and her councilors. Magic had faded so far since the Great Separation, the Administrator twisted what remained, and here came a man from another world breaching the walls that had been sealed so tightly? We had thought it impossible. And then… he made Her Majesty a bargain.”

Kirito listened close, sparing only enough attention for his surroundings to not trip and to—hopefully—spot any mobs before they got too close. So… Kayaba wrote himself into the game's plot. Why? He said himself his “role” was over… unless he wanted to account for players like us. Maybe he just thought it'd work better if the AI recognized players ranting about him.

“Help arrange the conditions for the Swordmaster summoning ritual, and he would provide us with thousands of warriors with strength akin to the Integrity Knights themselves,” Kizmel went on. “Of course we were suspicious, but it did seem reasonable enough for a human to want to free the Archipelago. After all, there are more of your people under the Administrator's heel than mine. When all Kayaba asked from us was a group of volunteers to enter his spell, the risk seemed… acceptable.”

What? “Volunteers?” he blurted, almost tripping over a tree root in the process. “The spell? You mean… you know this isn't real?”

“Oh, of course. After all, the purpose of this world is merely a transitory medium between yours and mine.” She scowled then. “Or so we were told. Only days ago, when the full ritual began, did we learn how thorough he'd been. To our cost.” The elf girl glanced back at them, a sardonic, humorless smile on her face. “Tell me, then. You say he betrayed you, as well. Does that mean you, too, wager your lives even in this world between?”

Kirito could hear Asuna swallow. “…Yes,” she whispered. “He… he told us, death is death, no matter the… the world….”

He couldn't help but shiver. The need to simply get out of Origia, with the knowledge of exactly where he had to go for his first objective, had allowed him to avoid thinking about the reality of their situation for a little while. Having Asuna remind him of it, so soon after unexpectedly fighting a battle that should've been well beyond them….

I think I'm going to be sick.

“Feh. Kayaba is more a monster than even we realized, then.” Kizmel sighed. “Though for what it's worth, that very betrayal will make my people more likely to trust you. Truthfully, my comrades had largely concluded the Swordmasters would be just as much our enemy as the Forest Elves.”

“Why?” Kirito couldn't help but ask. He almost walked into a low-hanging tree branch a moment later, and gave the tree in question a suspicious glance. He was almost sure that branch hadn't been there before he moved, and while there weren't supposed to be Treants on Einsla, he had ample evidence already of how much things had changed.

For one thing, if players supported Kizmel in the beta, relations with the Dark Elves were just fine. …And why is Asuna looking at me like I'm an idiot?

Kizmel raised one lilac eyebrow in his direction. “After the Administrator's treachery, and Kayaba's betrayal? I fear, Kirito, most of my people are likely to regard humans in general as prone to such behavior.”

“But you don't?” Asuna asked, pulling her cloak more tightly around her.

“Of course not. You did just save my life, after all.” The elf girl smiled ruefully. “And truth be told, I'm more a student of history than many of my comrades. I know better than to believe elves any less capable of treachery than humans. Our greatest betrayal was long before the rise of the Axiom Church.”

Kirito wanted to ask more about that. If only to put off thinking about the situation the players had fallen into. Before he could, though, the trees seemed to thin out ahead, heralding another clearing.

No, he realized, looking at the snapped and broken trees at the very edge of the opening. Not a clearing. Something hit these. Something big. Back in the beta, I only ever saw things like this when—

“Allow me to make the introductions, please,” Kizmel said, leading them into the rough-cleared trench in the middle of the forest. “Between Kayaba's betrayal and our encounter with the Forest Elves, I fear the Captain is… unsettled. I promise you, on my honor as Knight, that you will be safe.”

—An airship crashed, Kirito finished his thought, looking at the end of that trench. …I didn't see that coming.

Asuna had given the airships at the Origia Aerodrome a longing look, when she and Klein had been wandering the city a few hours and a lifetime before. It hadn't really been that close a look, though, given that she'd been in a hurry and knew they wouldn't be relevant for awhile yet.

She hadn't expected her first close-up with one to be a veritable wreck. Her bow nestled between the trees that had finally stopped her skid through the forest, there was still a faint smell of smoke hanging around her. Between that and the buckled timbers in her hull, it was obvious the airship wasn't going anywhere any time soon.

Before the damage, though—even with it, really—Asuna could tell the ship would've been quite a sight, sailing in the sky. About thirty meters long, she was built of dark, ebony-like wood, with a sleek shape that looked like she would've been just as much at home in the ocean as in the air. No masts adorned her deck, though; only a single structure at the stern—a “sterncastle”, if she remembered right—and a few small shapes she couldn't identify in the dark closer to the bow.

From the landing skids that were mangled and twisted—one of them torn off, lying about a dozen meters behind the ship—the crew had at least known what was coming in time to try and prepare. “Try” being the operative word, she supposed.

“We were intending to scout the island,” Kizmel said softly, as they drew closer to the airship. “Up until today, we had our own means of bypassing the Skywall. In addition to my mission, our ship—Moonshadow—was sent to find out if the Swordmasters were truly going to be summoned, or if Kayaba had lied about that, as well.”

“…What happened?” Asuna asked softly. She knew none of what she was seeing was real, that the airship had probably been generated already crashed. Even so, she couldn't help but respond to the Dark Elf's somber tone. If only because focusing on that kept her from thinking too much about her own situation.

Kizmel grimaced. “About noon, the Skywall was suddenly strengthened, defeating even our charms. Shortly after that, we came under attack by a Forest Elf airship. Though Moonshadow was the better ship, I fear her crew was distracted by the change in the Skywall, and in the end both ships were brought down.” She lifted the leafy bag she and the Forest Elf had been fighting over. “I left Moonshadow with my party of Knights, and we did succeed in retrieving the Jade Key, but during our return journey we were set upon by survivors from the Forest Elf ship. After that, well….”

She didn't finish the sentence. Asuna didn't think she really needed to, given what she and Kirito had found. Clearly, the two groups had mostly wiped each other out, and the two players had simply stumbled on the tail end of the fight.

Or the start of it, technically, she reminded herself, shooting another sharp look at Kirito. As soon as we're alone, I'm so getting the details out of him. If this is how he's going to treat me, maybe I'm better off going my own way after all!

Before Asuna could go too far down that train of thought, though, a harsh voice rang out from the airship ahead of them. “Halt!”

Two figures suddenly stood from the shadow cast by the airship's hull, both of them wearing armor similar to Kizmel's but with no cloaks. They also each held a long, curved sword—cutlasses, Asuna thought, as opposed to Kizmel's saber—and from what little she could see at that distance, both of them looked perfectly willing to use them.

“Better do as they say,” Kirito whispered, stock-still and with hands carefully away from the hilt of his sword. “Dark Elves tend to be… pretty strong.”

No, really? Like she had any intention of doing anything reckless. She was a newbie, not stupid.

Even as she groused to herself, another figure came into sight on the airship's deck. He wore no armor at all, instead a simple but elegant uniform in the same black and purple as the other Dark Elves. Nor did he appear to be armed, though as far as Asuna was concerned his expression was weapon enough.

“Dame Kizmel,” the uniformed elf said gruffly, striding down a plank from the deck. “You went out with four other Pagoda Knights, and come back with two humans instead? Explain yourself.”

Maybe it was Asuna's imagination, but Kizmel seemed to bristle. “We were not the only ones searching for the Jade Key, Captain Emlas,” she said evenly. “We were ambushed by Forest Elf knights. Six of them. They were… quite skilled.” She swallowed, but her stare at the airship's captain never wavered. “Though they killed five of the Forest Knights, my comrades fell, as well.”

Emlas' mouth twitched in what might've been a brief sympathetic look. “If they were after the Key as well, doubtless they sent only their best. Clearly they had forewarning of today's events…. But what of the humans?” The look he turned on the players was disdainful, bordering on hateful. “You know as well as I the treachery they've committed against us. Better, after what happened to your—”

“These two humans,” Kizmel said sharply, “are the only reason I am here bearing the Jade Key. If they had not stumbled upon my battle with the last Forest Knight, I would be dead and the Key would be in the hands of the Forest.” She shook her head. “If what these two Swordmasters tell me is true, Captain, we are not the only ones Kayaba betrayed.”

He turned his attention back to her, frown easing into a skeptical, measuring look. “And you believe them?”

Asuna shot a quick glance at Kirito, and was left wondering what was going on behind his dark eyes. He'd been putting up a good front, yet from the moment she'd met him there'd been moments his mask had slipped. Now, she couldn't tell if he was really as calm as he looked, or if he was just still in as much shock as she was.

I wish he'd say something, she fumed, trying to stifle her own anxiety at the argument the two elves were having. Should we just be trying to run? Is this some scripted event? Just give me a clue!

Kizmel was just starting to open her mouth again, her own expression harsh, when a low growl cut her off.

The fact that Kirito noticeably jumped at the sound was not good for Asuna's piece of mind, but after only an instant she was distracted from him completely. At the top of the plank Emlas was still only halfway down, a furred shape appeared. Low and broad-shouldered, as it emerged into the moonlight she quickly realized it was some kind of large dog.

No, she thought, anxiety going up another notch. That's a wolf. And it's—coming down—

Leaping down, more like, reaching the ground from the deck in one casual jump. Then the wolf was running right up to her and Kirito, teeth bared.

“Hold!” Kizmel said quickly, raising one hand. “It's all right, just hold still a moment….”

Asuna had absolutely no intention of doing anything else. No time to run, or even draw a weapon—and besides, a few hours in VR did nothing to erase the instinctive fear any sane human had of a wolf. Her fight-or-flight instincts were aiming toward flight, but her virtual knees had locked up just as well as the real ones would have.

At least she had the satisfaction of seeing Kirito just as plainly anxious, as the wolf stalked over to them. Gait stiff, teeth still bared, it stopped a meter away and sniffed. Stared at the two of them, as if judging them by some standard known only to wolves.

“…Is this a bad time to mention Dark Elves have trained wolves?” Kirito whispered.

“Yes.” If it hadn't been for the scrutiny from the elves and the wolf—and a faint recollection of some kind of criminal code programmed into the system—Asuna would've smacked him for that. She had half a mind to do it anyway, the next time they were in a town. If she deigned to put up with him that long.

That thought was driven completely out of her head, though, when the wolf suddenly yipped, sat down, and started wagging its tail. In the blink of an eye, the animal went from fierce predator to dog asking for a bone.

Asuna did blink at that, in fact, and glanced at Kizmel—who was smiling. “I did say they saved my life,” she said dryly. “And made no move to take the Key. Also, as you can see, Cavall approves, and you know as well as I he does not trust lightly, either.”

Emlas stared at her. Looked at the wolf. Glanced over at the players. This time, his frown was speculative. “I see,” he said slowly. Then, “Stand down!” he called out, and immediately the two armored elves straightened and lowered their swords. “I suppose you intend to offer them sanctuary, Dame Kizmel?”

“On my honor as a Knight, I owe them that much,” Kizmel said firmly. “Moonshadow is your ship, of course, but I believe you'll agree that, at the least, we need any information they can give us about what's transpired today. Surely between that and the aid they provided me, shelter for one night is not unreasonable.”

“Fair enough,” the captain said gruffly. “Come aboard then, all of you,” he went on, gesturing toward the deck. “Just do not give me cause to regret this. I've heard of the Swordmasters' supposed strength, but while Moonshadow's taken losses, I assure you we are more than capable of dealing with two of you.”

Ominous. But while Asuna might not have known games very well, she'd done enough research to understand the threat was either empty detail to fit with the story, or a basic caution not to antagonize the NPCs. Either way, she thought, not something she needed to really worry about.

At least I'll have a safe bed tonight, she told herself, walking up the plank with Kirito and Kizmel. I thought I wasn't ready for that, but after that fight… I'm just so tired. I'll worry about everything else in the morning.

Sitting on the lowest of three bunks on one side of the cramped cabin, Asuna folded her arms and fixed Kirito with a hard stare. “One reason,” she said evenly. “Give me one reason not to kick you out of here. This is not what I signed up for.”

Kirito swallowed. From the look on his face, and the way he'd stuffed himself as far back on the opposite bunk as he could, she'd have almost thought he wanted her to carry out the threat. “…Because the elves might not like it if you kicked up a fuss on their ship, after they gave us sanctuary?”

She opened her mouth to retort, furrowed her brow—and stopped. “Give me one good reason I shouldn't just walk out of here on my own, and go back to Origia.”

“Panicked mob, rioting in the streets?” he replied, looking a bit more sure of himself this time. “The Anti-Criminal Code prevents direct damage in a town, but I can think of a few ways right off the top of my head that things could go bad anyway. Starting with the fact that the panicking started right by the edge of the island.”

“…Urk.” It took only a moment for Asuna to follow that suggestion to its conclusion, and her head fell. No, going back to a city with twenty thousand players having a collective freak out probably wasn't a good idea. Even if she'd been able to find an inn, getting to it would've been just too risky.

Which, lack of alternatives aside, didn't change her current situation. They'd been given sanctuary, all right—in the form of Kizmel leading them to a small cabin down narrow corridors, before heading somewhere else to have a meeting with the captain. A cabin with six bunks stacked three high, maybe a meter between stacks, made of the same dark wood as the rest of the ship. On top of the cramped confines, it was dark, the sourceless blue glow of SAO's night seeming oddly muted, almost flickering.

Which meant Asuna was stuck in a small cabin, a long way from any other real people, in the dark. With a guy about her own age, whom she'd only met a handful of hours before. If the situation hadn't been so horrible otherwise, she would have gone somewhere else.

Well, I threw the dice, she reminded herself. I'll just have to trust he really isn't a creep. …And speaking of trust….

She lifted her head again, looking back at Kirito. He flinched, almost making her laugh. Almost. “Fine. So we're stuck here. At least tell me why? You said we were going to a small village, not that we were about to run right into a fight with a—a—”

“An elite mob,” he finished for her. And winced, seeing the look on her face.

“Yeah. That.” Asuna made a mental note to grill him on gamer terminology when they had time. If their partnership lasted the night. “I'm pretty sure that last attack could've killed us, Kirito-kun. That is not what I had in mind for a first quest!”

“That would be because it shouldn't have been.” Kirito quickly raised his hands. “No, really! I honestly had no idea that was going to happen. I mean, okay, I knew the basic scenario, but that shouldn't have been here. In the beta, the Elf War campaign quest didn't even start until Third Island, Sandoria. I was expecting to fight Little Nepenthes for a minor quest ingredient, not run into an elite mob and a campaign quest.”

…She was really starting to hate the position she was in. It had been a kind of forbidden thrill, going around with a guy she didn't know. Now her life depended on it, and she couldn't know if he was telling the truth. Not yet.

If he's not, it's too late to worry about it anyway, she told herself firmly. Assume he is. We're both trapped in here anyway. Just… watch, and listen. Taking a deep breath, trying in vain to calm herself, she forced herself to nod. “Okay. So you weren't expecting the fight. Why didn't you tell me to just run for it?”

The look Kirito gave her for that suggested he was wondering if she was crazy, and too afraid to say so. “…You did kind of rush in first,” he pointed out cautiously. “I've never seen anybody move so fast. Between that and how surprised I was, I didn't exactly have a chance to pull us out.”

Urk. Even more annoying than wondering if she could trust him was realizing she had no defense against that one. Hunching her shoulders, Asuna had to look away.

“Either way,” he said then, “I'm… not really sure we could have retreated, by that point.” Something about his tone forced her to look at him again, and she was met with a deep, troubled frown. “Asuna. It's not just that there shouldn't have been elves on Einsla. Like I said, I knew the basic scenario from the beta—and what we got wasn't it.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, we were supposed to be able to choose a side,” he said quietly. “In the beta, Kizmel reacted the same way the Forest Knight did, by telling players to get lost. Whichever elf the player decided to help anyway would turn friendly, but only once a decision had been clearly made.” Kirito slowly shook his head, clasping his hands under his chin. “Kizmel shouldn't have just asked us for help on her own, and the system definitely shouldn't have automatically accepted the quest without our input.”

“Oh.” Now that she thought about it, that had been kind of weird. “…You're sure it's not something carried over from the beta? You said you did the quest—and I'm assuming,” she added, sending another sharp glance his way, “you picked the pretty girl.”

Practically the first genuine satisfaction Asuna had had since Kayaba's terrifying announcement was the look on his face when that jab went home. Even in the dark, she could see the sudden wide eyes, and the way his mouth moved as if he was trying to defend himself but couldn't get any words out.

“W-well,” Kirito said finally, looking away as if the wooden wall—bulkhead?—were suddenly more interesting, “I did choose Kizmel, yeah…. But because she's a Dark Elf, not because she's a girl! I like dark colors!”

Probably true, from the color of his gear. And also, if she was any judge, completely and totally irrelevant to the point. Ha! Got you! Boys….

“…It's not like it mattered that much anyway,” he muttered, breaking into Asuna's moment of smug vindication. “In the beta, that was an unwinnable fight, ended when Kizmel sacrificed herself to save the player party.”

Just like that, the wind was taken right out of her sails, and she was suddenly very aware that even belowdecks on the Dark Elf airship, November was cold. Clutching her cloak tighter, she tried to remind herself that Kizmel was just an NPC, however lifelike. It didn't make any sense to suddenly be spooked by the idea that if things had gone “normally”, the elf that had given them sanctuary would've been dead.

“So no,” Kirito continued, shaking himself, “I don't think it's anything to do with the beta. I think Kayaba just changed things around. Besides, my beta test character data didn't carry over to the retail version… and do you have any idea how annoying it was, trying to reconstruct my avatar? I was twenty minutes late getting in thanks to that…”

Oof. Asuna could almost sympathize on that one. She hadn't bothered with much avatar customization, but she'd been in a hurry. If she'd had the time, she absolutely would've tried to figure out the options available, daunting as they were. Even knowing the system, she could imagine it had been a pain for him.

All of it pointless anyway, after what Kayaba did. Why did he give us our own faces here? Why…? And that reminds me.

She didn't really want to be reminded of it. She never wanted to think about it again. But she had to, and deep in an airship that wasn't supposed to be there and thus probably wouldn't be found by other players, this was probably the best opportunity she was going to get.

So, taking a deep breath, Asuna gave Kirito another level stare. “Earlier, you said there would be no rescue. Why not?”

For a long moment, he was silent, just staring down at the wooden deck. When the moment stretched on to almost a minute, she took in a breath to snap at him—then abruptly closed her mouth again. It was hard to see, in the oddly dim light, but she was pretty sure his still-clasped hands were shaking.

Of course they are, stupid, she thought, mentally slapping herself. He's just as stuck as I am. He's probably… just as scared as I am.

Finally, Kirito swung his legs up onto the bunk and stared up at the one above him. “If Kayaba was telling the truth—and if he wasn't, I think we'd be out already—the authorities can't take the chance. No matter what their computer experts come up with. There's about ten different ways a rescue attempt could go, and only in two of them do the players get out alive.”

Blunt, and honest. Another time Asuna might've thanked him. “…Explain,” she said, when she was sure her voice wouldn't shake too badly. “Please.”

Still staring up, Kirito began counting off on his fingers. “Say they try it on one person. Maybe nothing happens, and Kayaba doesn't notice or care. Maybe nothing happens, but he decides to hit the kill switch just because they tried. Maybe they accidentally set it off themselves. Maybe they get one person out, and Kayaba doesn't notice before they do it for everybody else at once. Or maybe he does notice, and… well. One chance in five we don't all die. Try it on everybody at once—”

“Stop!” Shuddering, she tried to fight back the tears. “I get it. If it doesn't work perfectly, the first time, then…”

Asuna was top of her class. She could do the math. Twenty thousand people. They… they can't risk killing us all at once. Which means… which means Kayaba was right. The only way out… is to fight for ourselves. Across a hundred islands, with hazards even the beta testers don't know.

I'm going to be sick.

This wasn't what she'd wanted, when she found out about Sword Art Online. This wasn't at all what she'd wanted. She was freer than she'd ever been—and all it had cost her was the chance to die if she made the slightest slip.

Probably the only thing that kept her from breaking down then and there, despite a near-total stranger as a witness, was the cabin hatch creaking open. “I'm sorry I took so long,” Kizmel said, slipping in. “Captain Emlas is not technically my superior, but he does have a vested interest here—no, you do not come in here,” she added, nudging a furred snout out the hatch so she could close it. “There is barely room for us, let alone a wolf… oh, I have no idea how he ever put up with you.”

Kirito quickly sat up again, and if he wiped his sleeve across his eyes before facing the girls again, well, Asuna wasn't going to tell anyone. “The captain wasn't happy?”

Sighing, Kizmel shook her head. “Truthfully, I suspect Captain Emlas is seldom happy about anything. In his defense, he does have a point today…. Ah, my apologies for the darkness. I fear Moonshadow's core crystal was cracked in the crash. Low light is the only ship's function working at all.”

So, there's an in-game explanation for the light? Eagerly jumping on the distraction, Asuna cleared her throat. “Core crystal?”

“Power source for airships,” Kirito explained, looking just as grateful for the change in topic. “How much they do depends on the airship, but they all handle the lift field that keeps the ship up.” He frowned thoughtfully. “I think on a Dark Elf airship they're tied right into the hull somehow, though I never knew why.”

“They are,” Kizmel confirmed. She tapped her belt, letting it fall away, and moved to put both the saber it held and her shield on a rack on the far bulkhead. “Crystallized magic from the Holy Trees, it powers the lift field, engines, and cannons. And the lighting,” she added with a rueful smile. “More importantly, it sustains the ship herself, away from wood and water.”

Asuna blinked. “…You mean the ship is alive?”

“Oh, indeed. We elves, Dark and Forest alike, are forbidden to cut living wood, and we cannot live long without it.” The elf girl chuckled, reaching up to the leaf-shaped clasp that fastened her cloak. “Humans may try their hands at making ships of steel, but we elves are bound to the Wood, always.”

That was really a fascinating bit of lore. Asuna wanted to pursue it—anything to hold off the nightmares a little longer—but that train of thought was immediately and completely derailed by the result of the elf's seemingly innocuous action. First a quick flash of light, dazzling in the dark. Then—

Dark Elves seemed to be eminently practical where warfare was concerned. Their armor, Asuna had already noticed, had none of the gratuitous form-fitting or cut-outs she'd always associated with fantasy stories. Their sleepwear, she learned abruptly, not so much. Especially considering it was November, and Aincrad's weather seemed to reflect that.

A surprisingly sheer, decidedly low-cut black nightgown was not what she'd expected out of the Dark Elves. Nor had she realized, with the modest and practical armor, just how generous a figure Kizmel actually had.

Not the sort of thing she likely would've paid any attention to even then, other than how cold the nightgown looked, were it not for Kirito's presence.

Truthfully, Asuna was torn. On the one hand, the poor guy arguably deserved the distraction, after the day they'd had. On the other hand, the way he'd gone stock-still, staring in something akin to shock at Kizmel, set off her “pervert” instincts pretty thoroughly. It wasn't Kizmel's fault they were in this, after all. She didn't deserve to be stared at like that.

…He gets to live. For now. Instead of snapping, Asuna only sharply rapped her knee and cleared her throat. When Kirito jumped, turning wide eyes on her, she gave him the best imitation of her mother's You Know Better Than That stare she could manage.

His “Eep!” and quick look toward the bulkhead satisfied her. More or less. It also got Kizmel's attention. Pausing in her move toward the bunk above Asuna, she glanced quizzically at Kirito. Over at Asuna, and the look still on her face. Then briefly down at herself.

The elf girl's lips quirked in small smile. Her eyes darted back to Asuna for a second, before she turned to give Kirito what Asuna would've sworn was a thorough checking out in turn.

When Kizmel looked back at her, raising one eyebrow, it was all Asuna could do not to drop her jaw. Did… did an NPC just troll me?

At least Kirito hadn't actually seen it. He was still staring fixedly at the bulkhead, ears visibly glowing, and hadn't caught any of the strange byplay. Which, really, was probably the only reason Asuna didn't start flaring up herself. In desperation to keep it that way, she reached for the first distraction she could think of. “So, about that wolf!” she said quickly. “Dark Elves train them?”

“Ah. Yes, we do. Or at least,” Kizmel said wryly, “so the wolf handlers claim. Half the time I think they lie about the training, the other half I think the 'wolves' are dogs with delusions of grandeur. Cavall certainly behaves like one, often as not…” She turned to sit on Asuna's bunk, the player scooting over a few centimeters to give her room. “I suppose it's as well, now, with his master gone.”

Asuna felt a pang, even knowing the wolf's master had been just another NPC. “He died…?”

“Mm.” Kizmel nodded somberly. “In Moonshadow's crash. …Truthfully, I'm still in shock. He was my brother-in-law.” She sighed. “I admit I never liked him, but he was my sister's husband after all. I don't know what to say to her, when we finally return to Sandoria…”

Kirito let out a choked sound, and both girls turned to look at him. No longer staring at the wall, his eyes were shining suspiciously. “You… have a sister, Kizmel?” he said, voice hoarse.

“I do. My twin, Tilnel. She's an herbalist, so she remained safely at our encampment on Sandoria…” She trailed off, glancing from one player to the other. “Kirito? Asuna? Is something wrong?”

Clenching her hands, Asuna couldn't hold back the tears. “M-my brother,” she got out. “He—he helped me come here, and now—I can't even see him, and I may never again, and—and—!”

She thought she heard Kirito choke out something similar. She wasn't sure, though, caught up in the rush of fear and grief from which she could no longer look away. Her brother—the only one in her family who'd understood—was just on the other side of a polymer helmet, and a world so far away she could barely imagine seeing it again.

She wasn't even sure what hurt more. That she couldn't see him—or the guilt she was terrified he'd feel, for having helped her get into SAO in the first place.

An arm suddenly wrapped around her, pulling her close against against soft warmth. Her shoulder bumped into another at the same time, and Asuna realized Kizmel had pulled her and Kirito into a tight hug. “I'm sorry,” the elf girl whispered. “I am so, so very sorry. I know what it is to be away from family, and it is never easy.” Kizmel pulled them closer, so their heads were all touching. “I know not what the future may hold, but I promise you this: tonight, you will not be alone.

“For such brave warriors, I can do no less.”

Abandoning herself to that warmth, that promise, Asuna buried her face in Kizmel's shoulder, and let herself cry.

So. Kayaba is a crueler man even than we had imagined. At least our people were volunteers who knew this was no game, even if we never guessed the trap.

Sitting on Moonshadow's deck, Kizmel pulled her cloak closer around herself as she looked up at the stars. The two human warriors who had so unexpectedly come to her rescue had fallen asleep, finally. She found herself unable to do the same, in the wake of their grief and terror.

I'm fortunate to have Tilnel here with me, however separated we may be at this moment. Those two—and who knows how many like them, in Origia—have no such comfort.

Three years. That was the best estimate for how long it would take the Swordmasters to fight their way through the Archipelago, and reach Centoria. A brief span for the Dark Elves, an agonizing eternity for humans of their age. If they survived, and Kizmel was sadly certain many of them would not.

“Still worried about those Swordmasters?” Quiet footsteps on the oak deck accompanied the gruff voice, and in a moment Captain Emlas stood beside her. “I hardly see why those human children have your attention, Dame Kizmel.”

“They did save my life, and my mission along with,” Kizmel reminded him dryly. “And I would hardly call them children. By our people's measure, perhaps, but by their own they'd be judged old enough to stand on their own.” She shook her head. “Young, yes. But not children.”

Young, and awkward. She'd found their byplay when Kirito saw her dressed for sleep endearing, truthfully. She only wished it had not so soon led to tears.

Emlas grunted. “Perhaps not children,” he allowed, looking over the few other Dark Elves still about so late, keeping watch with smooth precision. “But not warriors, either, despite what Kayaba promised. They saved your life by chance, Dame Kizmel, and whatever your 'honor' might demand, it would be kinder to send them back to Origia come dawn.”

“Is that what you see? You're a sailor, Captain, not a warrior—and you were not there to see the battle.” Kizmel looked back up to the twin moons, crawling across the night sky beyond the Skywall. “They may well be new to battle, but I tell you this: only souls born to the blade could have so defeated a Forest Knight who had slain so many of our own. They may not be warriors now, but given them only a little time, and that one knight will be only the beginning.”

Indeed, Kirito already moved with the confidence of someone who knew the blade. He still relied upon the charms humans called Sword Skills, yes, yet Kizmel knew many of her own order—herself included—who had hardly abandoned them. And Asuna….

Like a shooting star in the night, she thought, remembering the moment the hooded girl entered the battle. Never have I seen a sword move so fast. If she can but muster the confidence, Asuna will be one of those leading the Swordmasters to freedom.

“Potential they may have,” Emlas said then, grudgingly. “But can they be trusted? Betrayal by one human sorceress led us to turn to another for aid, and then that sorcerer betrayed us in turn.” He shook his head. “Fools we'd be to place our trust in humans now, Dame Kizmel. Your own brother-in-law died this very day to that betrayal.”

That barb struck deep, and Kizmel winced. Though she'd never approved of the man, she knew too well how her sister would be hurt by the news.

But that is still not their fault.

Standing, Kizmel turned to the dour captain. “You would judge all humanity by the actions of a few?” Again she shook her head, feeling an incongruous smile tugging at her lips. “You don't know much of what led to the Last Alliance, do you, Captain?”

“You said yourself, I'm a sailor, not a warrior.” Emlas snorted. “I know there was no call for such as me in those days—and that its outcome is what led to my calling in the first place. Such was the 'reward' the last time we allied with Men.”

“When we return to the Capital, I suggest you visit the Royal Library,” she said dryly. “Men were the least of our problems then. In the meantime?” She turned to the hatch leading down into the ship. “Give these two a chance, Captain. They may surprise you.”

Leaving Emlas to grunt again, Kizmel slipped below, heading back for the cabin she now shared with the two humans. The captain could make his own decisions in the morning; for now, she would keep her own promises.

He may trust or not as he will. Whether he sees it or not, we have no choice but to risk trust in the Swordmasters. We cannot defeat Quinella ourselves, and with the Forest's mad plans we may never have the chance to face her at all without them.

And I would know the truth of my dreams. Why did I already know Kirito's face…?

November 7th, 2032

“So that's where all the Little Nepenthes were,” Kirito murmured, keeping his voice as low as possible as he peered through the undergrowth. “I thought the fight last night had just scared them away or something. Or that they'd been caught up in it and killed…”

“Would that had been the case,” Kizmel replied, just as quietly. “Clever of the Forest Elves… though I wonder if they realize they've tipped their hand. Now we know their crystal is still intact.”

“Yeah, great,” Asuna groused. “But first we have to get through these things to reach the ship. Kirito-kun, didn't you say they hunt by smell?”

“Yeah. And I think I see the ones that can summon more, too. I didn't think there'd be this many of them. Maybe somebody else has been farming around here…?”

The three of them were crouched in the brush, about a kilometer from Moonshadow's crash site. From what the Dark Elves had been able to determine during the previous day's fighting, the Forest Elf airship they'd engaged had gone down somewhere in that general area. In what condition, they hadn't been able to say, but they had to take the chance it was reasonably intact.

“Dame Kizmel granted you sanctuary for the night,” Captain Emlas had said, that morning in his cramped cabin. “That much was her right as a Pagoda Knight. As captain of the ship, however, it is my decision whether you stay. To be blunt, I do not trust Swordmasters—but Dame Kizmel tells me you are victims as well. Or claim to be,” he'd added pointedly. “So if you wish to earn continued safe harbor, I will give you the chance.”

There hadn't been an exclamation point over his head, but Kirito had seen well enough that that had been a quest prompt. “What do you need done, Captain?”

“My ship is dying,” Emlas had said bluntly. Laying a piece of parchment on his desk, he'd begun quickly scribbling with a fountain pen. “The core crystal will last perhaps three more days, at best, and is not sufficient to lift Moonshadow. As the crystal is Wood-aligned, one from a human ship is unlikely to work; your people favor Cold Iron. Therefore….”

“The Forest Elf ship,” Asuna had finished, before Kirito could. “You want us to steal their core crystal.”

“Indeed. Do that, and I will allow you to remain with Moonshadow.” He'd handed Kirito the parchment, and with a quiet chime his quest log had dutifully updated itself. “At least until the first Skywall falls, and we're able to begin our return journey.”

Not much of a choice, really. As long as the elves were feuding in the area, it just wasn't safe to go back to the original plan of working on Horunka quests. Kirito was just relieved that Kizmel had immediately volunteered to go with them. Even if the Forest Knight they'd defeated the night before had been the strongest of the surviving Forest Elves, the idea of taking the fight to their ship with just Asuna—a newbie, however talented—for backup had given him the shivers.

Which was how the three of them had come to their current predicament. After returning to the site of the previous night's battle, Kizmel had led them back along the Forest Knight's trail. According to her, the Forest Elves had been in such a hurry that they hadn't even covered their tracks.

Sloppy of them, she'd noted with some derision, and Kirito didn't exactly disagree. He'd have thought himself that “Forest” Elves would've been more careful in their element.

Yet not so sloppy they hadn't left a trap. He remembered farming Little Nepenthes in the beta test, and that had been by taking on groups of about three at a time. There must've been a couple of dozen ahead of them now, at least four of them the rare—supposedly—type that, if not attacked very carefully, summoned reinforcements.

“Well,” Kizmel said, after about five minutes of observing the situation and hoping the Nepenthes would wander off on more normal mob patterns. “We'll hardly make any progress simply staring at them…. Kirito, Asuna, I trust you know how to fight these creatures?”

“Yeah,” Kirito said immediately. Well, I do, and I can explain to Asuna. That rapier of hers will be good for this kind of work, and she's certainly fast enough. He tried to ignore the sudden feeling of a glare on the side of his head, focusing on the elf girl. “You have an idea?” She was a quest NPC, after all. It wouldn't be surprising if she had info for getting past a tricky spot.

“I do.” Kizmel lifted the hood of her cloak, pulling it up over her head. “My Mistmoon Cloak can conceal me from the eye. It works best at dawn and dusk, but the day is still young enough to give me some measure of effect.” She nodded toward the Nepenthes. “I will swing wide around them. Even if the Forest Elves are influencing them with their ship's core crystal, they will have guards beyond. If I distract them, they're likely to try to call the Nepenthes to them.”

“Then we hit them from behind,” Asuna said slowly. “Pick them off while they're confused…?” She frowned, the expression barely visible under her own hood. “Will you be okay, Kizmel?”

Kizmel smiled. “The Forest Elves sent their best yesterday, to their cost. Those that remain… well. The day I cannot lead a few sailors on a merry chase through the forest is the day I give up my knighthood.” She pulled her cloak close and turned away, her outline wavering. “Wait for them to move, then strike. Carefully—I'd not lose more comrades to the Forest.”

Even her voice seemed to disappear under her cloak, and with it her footsteps. After just a couple of seconds, the only thing to mark her passage was a light rustling of leaves, then even that was gone.

“…Okay. I guess we're committed now.” The tone of Asuna's voice forced Kirito to look, and as he'd feared she was glaring at him. Not as badly as the previous night, but still enough to make him flinch. “Now that you've volunteered me for something else—and we're going to talk about that later—what's the plan here, Kirito-kun?”

Trying to ignore the sharp edges of her gaze, he quickly gestured toward the Nepenthes. “Short version? They hunt by smell. They don't hear very well, and I don't think they can see at all. They spit acid, so try to dodge when you can, that eats armor pretty fast…. Otherwise, basically, just hit them as hard and fast as you can. But make sure it's the body.” He pointed to the round fruit at the end of the stalk on one particular Nepenthe. “Hit that, and it'll burst. The gas from it doesn't hurt, but it does attract more Nepenthes.”

Which would be bad. Something he hoped Asuna wouldn't have to experience directly. He remembered he'd gotten swarmed under by them, the first time he'd attempted the quest that rewarded the Anneal Blade in the beta. Even without pain sensation, having his avatar melted by corrosive attacks had been very disturbing. Now it still wouldn't hurt, but that wouldn't be much consolation when respawning was no longer possible.

Asuna was silent for a moment, crouched there in the bushes. Then she nodded once, firmly. “Dodge the acid, hit the body, don't hit the fruit. Got it.”

Whew. Kirito still wasn't at all sure about being partly responsible for someone else's safety, but at least she seemed to be a quick study. He'd known players during the beta who hadn't been nearly so quick to understand. Huh… I wonder how many of them got the retail version?

He quickly shied away from that thought, and its implications. Instead he brought his attention back to his partner, opened his mouth to make an inane comment to break the silence—and paused, seeing the troubled frown on her face.

“Kirito-kun,” Asuna said softly. “About… last night.” She hesitated, then seemed to push herself to go on. “Is that… normal, for an NPC?”

For a second, Kirito thought she was talking about the fight with the Forest Knight. Then he remembered, much later, Kizmel's behavior aboard Moonshadow, when the two of them had finally broken down from the day's events. When the realization that he was completely cut from Suguha had really sunk in, with everything it meant.

Honestly, her question wasn't anything he hadn't thought of himself, since waking up that morning. Being hugged by an NPC was an experience he definitely hadn't had in the beta, and for that matter he'd been pretty sure the system's anti-harassment code would prevent it entirely. That, on top of Kizmel's behavior on first seeing them….

“No,” he said finally. “It isn't. But….” He frowned, thinking back to some of the articles Argus had released between the end of the beta and opening day of the retail version. “I remember Kayaba commented in an interview that they were going to tweak the NPC AI based on feedback from the beta. And the system is supposed to pick up on emotion to some degree.”

“So it was just… some kind of automated response?” Asuna looked away. “…I see.”

Yeah. It can be hard to accept NPCs aren't really people. Must be even worse for somebody who's new to gaming in general. Kirito wanted to say something, anything, to cheer her up. Unfortunately he really didn't have enough points invested in his social skills, and—

A rustle beyond the bushes interrupted his musings, and both of them looked up in time to see the Little Nepenthes beginning to move away. “Kizmel must've gotten their attention. Let's go!”

It was going to take him awhile to get used to just how fast Asuna was, when she put her mind to it. He'd barely even spoken before she was in motion, first in a low run, then blazing like a meteor as she triggered a Linear halfway there. Before any of the Nepenthes could begin to react to the sudden attack from behind, her rapier was already plunging into the rearmost of them.

Not that Kirito was much slower. His own Rage Spike carried him across the gap a breath behind Asuna, carving a deep line up the back of a Nepenthe. Not as deep a strike as hers, but he judged it about equal in damage just from surface area.

That got the plant monsters' attention pretty thoroughly, and in a moment he and Asuna were both dodging back and away from the tentacle-like vines suddenly flailing their way—not to mention a sudden spray of acid from the one Kirito had hit.

Trained reflexes from the beta let him sidestep that without too much trouble, and a quick glance to his right showed him Asuna gracefully pirouetting away from another. Mid-spin, she slashed at the vines; though her rapier wasn't at its best with such attacks, it worked well enough against fragile targets.

The trick, Kirito reflected as he hit his own target with a quick Horizontal, was to not aggro too many at once. The Nepenthes were only two levels above them, with fairly predictable attacks. From what he could tell, the mass they were dealing with was really several groups of three or four; if Kizmel's guess were correct, and the Forest Elves were somehow influencing them, it ought to be possible to kite them.

So long as Kizmel keeps the Forest Elves distracted, he reminded himself, ducking a vine that tried to slap him in the face. If she doesn't, this could get ugly really quick—there!

He had to hop over an attempt by another Nepenthe to trip him, but it gave him just the opening he needed to whip another Horizontal right across his current target's mouth. With a hiss that defied exact description, the plant monster recoiled, shuddered, and shattered to azure pieces.

That gave him just a moment of breathing space, enough time to check on Asuna. Who was doing just fine, he quickly found, her rapier stabbing deep into her own foe's main body. “Yuck!” she said, as it exploded. “Plant monsters with vines… what kind of pervert designed this game?! There'd better not be tentacle monsters later!”

Kirito almost mentioned the Ignition Squids he'd seen mentioned in a dev blog. Almost. The look Asuna gave him when he opened his mouth stopped him in his tracks—and the sudden sizzle as another Nepenthe took advantage of his distraction to spray his left sleeve with acid derailed anything else he might've said anyway.

Yelping, he shook his arm and spun to attack the offending monster. Yelped again, hastily lowering the angle of his strike, when he spotted the fruit hanging from the Nepenthe's stalk. The resulting blow was clumsy and weak, though it did do the job of making the mob recoil.

Besides, he thought, bouncing on his feet to regain his balance, she probably already knows about those anyway. Didn't she say she'd read all the pre-release info? Even if she hadn't understood the technical details, she should've at least grasped the basics of the monster designs well enough.

Come to think of it, maybe that was half of why she was mad. If the Nepenthes were that bad, the cephalopod monsters were likely to be worse.

Well. If they were, Kirito was at least fairly confident Asuna would be able to handle them by the time the players reached the islands that had them. As the two of them tore into the Nepenthes, ducked around and jumped over thrashing vines, and dodged acid sprays, the fencer was doing at least as much damage as he was. Her movements might not have been as practiced as a beta tester's would've been, but her sheer speed meant every strike that hit, hit hard.

Alone, it would've taken him twenty minutes to thin out that crowd of mobs. Though they weren't that strong, he'd have had to draw them out as far away from each other as possible. With Asuna's help, they had the original group cut down by at least half in five minutes, without having once triggered reinforcements.

More like, I wouldn't have risked taking on this many at all. Batting aside a vine that tried to whip his face with his free arm, Kirito buried his sword in the Nepenthe's body before it could bring any other vines into play. Too bad Horunka ended up a no-go. With her help, finishing the Anneal Blade quest would've been a cinch. As it is, I haven't even seen—wait. Is that…?

With a quiet snarl, Asuna stabbed another Nepenthe through the mouth, and yanked her blade back through the resulting fragments. “It looks like the rest are going for Kizmel's diversion,” she said, after a quick glanced around. “Do you think—wait, what are you doing?”

He didn't answer, too focused on lining up his left arm on one of the retreating Nepenthes. Never tried this in the beta, but I don't see any reason this shouldn't work….

“Excuse me? I asked what you're doing. Kirito-kun? Hey, isn't that one of the special kind? Hey, listen when someone's talking to you—Are you crazy—?!”

With a twitch of his wrist, Kirito's grapnel shot out at the Nepenthe. It caught on the object hanging from the end of its stalk, cable wrapping tight. A quick tug proved it was secure, and with a yank he started the grapnel retracting—ripping the end of the Nepenthe's stalk right off with it.

He caught it as the grapnel clicked back into place on his wrist, and grinned. “Gotcha!”

“…Have you completely lost your mind?” Asuna hissed, glaring at him. “You told me not to hit that!”

“This isn't one of those fruits.” Triumphantly, Kirito held the scarlet fruit he'd snagged where she could see it more clearly. “This is the key item for one of the quests I wanted to do around here. After how last night turned out, I didn't think I'd have a chance to get one, especially with how low the drop rate is. This'll be a big help.”

For a long moment, she just stared at him, unblinking. Then, slowly, she shook her head. “Yeah. Great. Good for you. You do realize you've just—what's the word—'aggroed' that entire group of them? Meaning we have more work to do for this quest?”

Blinking, Kirito turned to look. Sure enough, the Nepenthe he'd just hurt was running their way, leg-like roots churning, and three of its friends were coming right along with. “…Oops?”

Asuna sighed, raising her rapier again. “You? Are impossible.”

Being the one leading the Forest Elves on a chase through the woods, as opposed to being the one being chased, was a satisfying role reversal indeed. Doing so against mere sailors, rather than the skilled knights of the previous day, made it all the better.

Clearly, they sent their best against us yesterday, Kizmel thought, ghosting through the trees toward the crashed Forest Elf airship. Had they any Knights left, doubtless they'd have come searching for me by now. …At least our own sacrifices were not in vain.

Sacrifices repaid in blood. On top of the battle from which two humans had saved her, she'd now eliminated three of Forest Elves' remaining men-at-arms, in a fashion that was almost painfully easy. Skilled as those of the Forest were at influencing the denizens of the wood to do their bidding, they had nothing akin to a Dark Elf's Mistmoon Cloak.

Ambush tactics were not Kizmel's preference. Under the circumstances, however, she few qualms hunting down her foes. Not after what they'd done.

Hopefully the chase gave Kirito and Asuna the advantage they needed against those Little Nepenthes. Not that such measures would've been required, if Captain Emlas had released some of his men to aid us….

Unfair to the captain, that. Probably. Technically, securing the Jade Key was Kizmel's mission, not his, and he did need to consider his ship's welfare over all else. Nonetheless, it had been hard for her not to point out to him the mission she now pursued was critical to said welfare.

Well. There's naught to be gained from sulking now, is there. Kirito and Asuna should be along soon, and in the meantime… let us see about that ship.

Sleeker and smaller than Moonshadow, Kizmel noticed when the ship came into her view. Something she hadn't had a chance to notice during the air battle, though in hindsight it explained some things. Such as why the Forest Elves were relying on monsters for defense. Clearly, they had fewer trained to fight afoot than Moonshadow.

The ship was also in noticeably worse shape. Moonshadow would be fit to fly again in perhaps a couple of days, if the core crystal could be replaced and enough fallen wood gathered to patch the hull. The Forest Elven ship's keel was broken, her bow splintered by a direct impact with a rather large boulder. Clearly, that was one airship that would never again bother the Kingdom of Lyusula.

Kizmel wasn't terribly surprised. Given that evidence suggested the ship's core crystal was intact—and this close, she could feel the crystal's power, warm and steady—she'd known there had to be another reason the Forest Elves hadn't lifted again.

That they would have if they could, she was sure. Between sheer bad luck in crash locations and the path of the crash itself, the Forest Elf airship had much less in the way of cover than Moonshadow. Even if she and her new companions hadn't tracked them down, it was obvious some Swordmaster or group thereof would've stumbled across them soon enough.

Which might have had interesting consequences. I'd like to think those two are representative of their people, but even the best might make unwise judgments under such duress. …Speaking of, I hope they are not in trouble. With how long it took me to finish those chasing me, I would've expected them to be here by now.

To her relief, she'd only been watching the Forest Elf ship for perhaps five minutes when her ears caught the faint sound of bodies moving through the brush. Turning back the way she'd come, she soon saw Kirito and Asuna creeping up. Their clothing was perhaps a bit torn—Kizmel recognized acid burns well enough—but they were both well enough to her eyes.

They did well, to receive so little injury, she thought, glancing briefly at the still-disorienting bars hanging in one corner of her vision. Though Asuna appears a bit exasperated. I wonder what happened?

When the two were close, Kizmel drew back her hood. “There you are,” she said, pitching her voice to reach their ears alone. “I was beginning to worry, but you both look well enough. Were the Nepenthes more difficult than expected?”

“Not really,” Kirito said, doing an admirable job of masking his surprise at her appearance. “We just didn't kite them quite well enough toward the end, that's all.”

“He means, he accidentally drew the stragglers right at us,” Asuna said dryly, giving the youth a brief, mild glare. “Which we're going to talk about… later.” She nodded at the crashed ship. “What's the plan?”

Accidentally? I wonder what he did…. Well. Regardless, they're performing admirably for those new to the battlefield. Aloud, Kizmel said, “It seems we did indeed finish off their skilled fighters last night.” Pointing toward the ship, she continued, “After the four I dealt with on the way here, and considering the condition of the wreck, I suspect we'll not face serious opposition even inside. Most likely, perhaps a dozen remain aboard a ship that size.”

“A dozen.” Kirito frowned for a moment, then nodded. “If we don't have to fight them all at once, we should be able to handle that. If I remember right, the core crystal should be toward the stern, close to the keel?”

Making a mental note to ask just what knowledge the Swordmasters had been given about the world to which they'd been called—and why Kirito seemed to know more than Asuna did—Kizmel nodded. “On a ship of this size, yes. Of course, that's also most likely where most of the survivors are, but between the three of us, that should not be a problem.”

“Of course.” Asuna still looked dubious—which Kizmel thought was fair enough, all things considered; she was surprised the two were fit to fight at all—but she made no protest. “So where do we go in? The deck?”

“We could. But why take the obvious route?” Kizmel allowed herself a small smile, and gestured toward the ship's splintered bow. “It would be a shame to waste the efforts Moonshadow's made, would it not?”

Fighting Forest Elf Sailors was much easier than the Knight Asuna had first encountered. With Kirito and Kizmel, fighting through to the deepest reaches of the airship proved a lot easier than she'd expected. Seeing what waiting for them there, she wasn't at all sure the quest would stay so easy.

It was a rectangular compartment, larger than anything Asuna had yet seen aboard either elven airship. Strange devices, most of them dark and battered, were set into the bulkheads, a few of them connected to glowing lines in the deck. Those, Asuna saw, led to a cylinder in the center of the compartment, made of some kind of transparent material that didn't quite seem to be glass.

Floating in the center of that cylinder was an emerald crystal, with spikes protruding in every direction. Those spikes, she noticed, pulsed in time with the lines in the deck. “So… that must be the core crystal.”

“It is, Swordmaster.” From the shadows behind one of the larger devices, a tall Forest Elf stepped into view. Much like Moonshadow's Captain Emlas, he wore a uniform rather than proper armor, though he did have some kind of light breastplate over it. “You've not seen one before? Be glad your last new sight bears the power of Kales'Oh. It is an honor few humans have ever been granted.” His lips curled in a bitter smile. “It's the reward you've earned, for killing so many of my men.”

“It is hardly your right to complain,” Kizmel told him, moving half a step ahead of Asuna. “You attacked us. You've none to blame but yourselves.”

“Bah. This, after what the people of Lyusula have done? It was we who were provoked, girl.” The Forest Elven Captain snorted, and smoothly drew a cutlass from his waist. “It matters not. You'll not have my ship's core crystal—nor will any of you leave here alive!”

“Scripted event, adds coming,” Kirito whispered quickly in her ear. “Look out!”

He didn't have to tell her twice. Or even the first time, really. The Captain was already throwing himself across the room, cutlass blazing in a skill Asuna didn't yet recognize, to clash swords with Kizmel. At the same time, hatches to either side crashed open, letting in four Sailors.

Outnumbered, and no time to retreat. Kirito opened by firing his grapnel to tangle one Sailor's legs, tripping him into another. Asuna darted in the other direction, rapier already blazing into a Linear. The tip pierced deep into the first Sailor's chest, staggering him—but unlike Kirito's pair, the second was quick enough to jump to one side rather than be tangled.

The cutlass blow that came down on her shoulder, in the instant she was held by the Linear's backlash, prompted an instinctive flinch. VR or not, she still hadn't had a chance to get used to the lack of pain, and just anticipating it made her hesitate. That hesitation almost cost her badly, her first target recovering enough to slash at her side.

Somehow, she managed to twist aside and push between them. Then, whirling, she ducked the second Sailor's next blazing slash to stab the first in the right shoulder. That elf's sword, coming down toward her, was thrown wide by the blow, giving her time to ready another skill.

Asuna wasn't a gamer. That didn't mean she didn't understand the idea of focusing on one enemy at a time, in the hopes of cutting down the attacks coming back at her. That in mind, she slashed her Streak across that first Sailor's nose, and did her best to dodge the second rather than engage him directly.

Kirito, she noticed, was having a bit of an easier time of things. In a brief glimpse she got while sidestepping a cutlass slash aimed at taking off her hand, she saw he'd managed to drop one of his enemies to the deck again, his grapnel just then pulling back to his wrist, leaving him free to clash blades with the other. In that quick moment, he countered a Sword Skill with one of his own, the impact triggering a rebound that pushed them both back.

It was hard to tell, in the heat of the moment, but she was fairly sure the impact had done a tiny bit more damage to the elf's HP than to Kirito's.

“You've found skilled allies, I'll give you that,” Asuna heard the Captain grind out. Risking a glance that way, in between shoving one Sailor's arm wide and stabbing the other in the stomach, she saw the Captain and Kizmel circling the core crystal, swords shining. “Even after the loss of the Knights yesterday, I did not expect you to so easily slaughter my men.”

“Oh, I've confidence in my companions, to be sure,” Kizmel retorted, stepping quickly around the cylinder to pursue the Captain. “Though sending sailors to do the job of knights and men-at-arms was your own mistake. Even sending monsters to do your bidding was a tactic only as good as their handlers.”

“True enough. But!” The Captain suddenly lunged to meet her, cutlass arcing down toward Kizmel's sword arm in a blaze of red light. “My ship may be hampered by the Betrayer's strictures. You'll find me not so easily struck down, dog of Lyusula!”

Kizmel caught the blow on her shield and shoved back. “Boast as you will, 'Captain',” she said, her saber already lancing in. “You may not be bound as your men, but you're hardly a knight yourself!”

Asuna had the strangest feeling she was only getting about half the conversation. She didn't really have time to worry about it, though, as in her moment of distraction both her enemies had positioned themselves to attack again. One cutlass was coming for her shoulder—again—while the other was heading for her flank, and there was only time to even try to disrupt one.

She settled for an Oblique, stabbing one of the Sailors in the thigh. The blade that would've bitten into her ribs instead went on past, the Sailor collapsing to one knee, and her own motion carried her down below the other sword. The overhand blow still bit into her shoulder, but not hard or as deep.

Somewhere off on the other side of the compartment, there was a shattering sound. Emboldened, Asuna chose to ignore the still-standing Sailor, instead kicking out with one boot to strike the fallen one's uninjured leg. His hands went to the deck to catch himself, and in that moment she drove another Oblique into the back of his neck.

A breath, while he shattered and she recovered from the Oblique's post-motion. A breath that let a cutlass carve into her side, taking a good ten percent of her HP in one blow. Just a breath—and then Asuna was whirling, putting the momentum of that and a quick step into a Linear, blasting the Sailor right into the bulkhead.

Down to the one foe, she didn't let up. In the time it took the Forest Elf to hit the wall and bounce back, she'd recovered and set up for another Linear. Then another, with the same result. She was left wondering if that was normal, but this time didn't allow any distractions. This time, she only pressed the attack, and on one final rebound drove a simple thrust into the Sailor's throat.

The standard shattered-glass sound seemed oddly staccato that time, and it took Asuna a moment to realize it was because there'd been a second one behind her. Quickly turning, she found Kirito lowering his sword, and giving her a thumbs-up with his free hand. “Nice stun-lock!”

Stun-lock? Argh, later!

“So. All my men, dead.” The Captain's words came out through gritted teeth, his sword grating against Kizmel's. “Perhaps—I underestimated you—after all. But in that case—I will not let you have your prize!”

He suddenly pulled back and spun, the abrupt lack of resistance making Kizmel stagger forward. His cutlass was already glowing, crimson edge crashing into the cylinder. It shrieked, cracked, shattered; the sword kept on going, blazing toward the core crystal—

Kirito's Vertical took his left arm off just below the shoulder, staggering him. Asuna's Linear drove into his right wrist, forcing him to drop the cutlass a few centimeters from the crystal. The gleam of a skill Asuna didn't yet know took Kizmel's saber into the Captain's spine.

With a choked gasp, the Captain slumped against the broken cylinder. As Kizmel's blade came back out, he slumped to the deck, and awkwardly turned to face them. His head came up, and he stared straight at the tip of that Dark Elf saber.

No fear in his eyes, Asuna saw. No regret. Even as the last traces of red drained from his lifebar, he only looked at Kizmel in pure defiance.

The Dark Elf stared back, pitiless. “So,” she said evenly. “Bested by one Pagoda Knight, and two humans who'd scarcely touched a blade before. Tell me, 'Captain', would you rather say it was their strength, or your men's weakness? After all, your people and mine are bound by the same ropes.”

There was a bitterness there, one so at odds with Kizmel's caring and friendly demeanor with them that Asuna wondered if there was something personal involved. Only with difficulty did she remember the elf girl was only an NPC following a script.

…Which still doesn't really answer my question, does it? A good story has a reason for this kind of thing, right?

“Boast as you will, 'Knight',” the Captain said bitterly, eyes falling closed. “Your victory here means little. Lyusula's chosen to ally themselves with dwellers in the dark? Well… Kales'Oh has allies, too. In the end, neither of us may see which dark bargain prevails….”

He fell still, then. A moment later, he shattered, scattering into fading blue shards like his men.

Asuna stared at the spot where the Captain had been for a long, long moment. So this… is a VRMMO? It… feels so real. Too real….

Shuddering, she looked up at Kirito. Seeing the strange look on his face, she forced her thoughts away from the Captain's last words, and said, “I thought you said the Captain would be harder?”

“He was,” Kizmel said dryly, sheathing her saber. “Without your aid, I would never have prevailed here…. You might look to your own wounds, Asuna. You fought very well, and I am impressed, but I think you'd best not fight again in your condition.”

Asuna blinked, glanced up at her HP, and blanched. She was still in the yellow, but only barely; another solid hit from one of the Sailors would've dropped her right into the red. If there'd been more of them—or if the ones we fought on the way had waited to fight us in here instead—

At least she had the satisfaction of seeing Kirito also scrambling to pull a potion from a belt pouch, face noticeably red.

Kizmel chuckled. “Don't be too ashamed. I admit, when Kayaba's spell took hold even my fellow Knights and I made grave missteps before we became used to the lack of pain. If you're willing, I can at least help you with that. In the meantime….”

She reached into the shattered cylinder, gripped the crystal still floating in the center, and pulled it free. As she did, the glowing lines on the deck dimmed, and the ambient light within the ship soon died away.

Lit only by the core crystal's inner glow, Kizmel gestured back the way they'd come. “Now that we have our prize, shall we return?” She smiled wryly. “Perhaps Captain Emlas' mood will be improved, with this in hand. …Perhaps.”

When the three of them returned to Moonshadow—after fighting through several groups of respawned Little Nepenthes, to Asuna's annoyance—they found the Dark Elves had been busy in their absence. Several piles of deadwood lay next to the crashed ship's hull, and some of the crew were busily sawing individual pieces into shape.

Asuna wasn't sure which gave her a greater feeling of unreality: the unnaturally smooth way the NPCs went about their tasks, or the way generic sawing motions were turning chunks of wood into perfectly-shaped planks. Even more than the way injuries were represented by red particles and wireframes and the dead shattered into polygons, it clashed with the overall sense of reality SAO had.

She only had a moment to think about that, though, before Captain Emlas came down the plank from Moonshadow's deck. The wolf—Cavall, she recalled—followed close behind, sniffing at the air. “So, you've returned,” he began. “Did you succeed, or did the Forest Elves send you back with your tails between your legs?”

There might've been a trace of exasperation on Kizmel's face, just for a moment. Then it was gone, replaced with cool professionalism. “There were a dozen or so sailors left to the Forest Elf ship, and they'd turned their core crystal to influencing the local monsters.” Her lips quirked in a small smile. “With the aid of two Swordmasters, it was a simple enough task.”

Simple, she says. Well, it was definitely easier than I thought it'd be, at least. At the elven knight's nod, Asuna brought up her menu, tapped through to the inventory, and materialized the emerald crystal. “One core crystal,” she said coolly, taking some satisfaction in the way Emlas' eyes widened. “As requested.”

With obvious care, Emlas took the crystal from her hands. “Fully intact,” he murmured. “A minor miracle… and one that may yet save us all.” The captain looked up from the crystal and gave the two players each a nod, looking much less dismissive than he had before. “It seems we're in your debt, Swordmasters. As agreed, you've sanctuary with Moonshadow, at least until we're able to return to our own territory.”

There was a chime in her ear, and a quick flash; realizing it was the quest completion—and, she thought, her first level-up—Asuna felt tension she hadn't noticed was there flow out of her shoulders. “Thank you, Captain,” she said sincerely. “…Is there anything else we can help with?”

“Ha!” There might almost have been a ghost of a smile on Emlas' face. Just for a second, before his gruff frown returned, and he shook his head. “Repairing Moonshadow is elven work, Dame Asuna, and replacing a core crystal without killing the ship is delicate work indeed. Though if you are determined to make yourself useful, I suppose we could stand having another sword to keep off the local monsters.”

She blinked at that, wondering what two players could contribute on top of the dozen or so Dark Elves clustered around the ship. Then, looking closer, she realized most—if not all—of them were lacking armor, with only a couple of them even armed. The night before, Emlas had stated confidently that his crew could easily take two Swordmasters, but after those two had just helped fight through a ship's worth of Forest Elf sailors….

Kizmel's slow nod seemed to confirm her thoughts. “I would certainly welcome the help,” she said. “Even with Cavall's aid, I can only fight what I can see, and nothing more than what comes within reach of my sword.” The wolf gave a low yip at that, though Asuna couldn't guess if he was agreeing or not.

“Then I'm up for it.” She turned to her partner, whom she now realized had been oddly silent since their return. “Shall we, Kirito-kun?”

“…Actually,” he said, shaking his head, “if you don't mind, there's something I need to take care of first. I should be back by sundown.”

Asuna frowned. “What? What could you possibly need to do right now? We got the crystal.” If there's something else he hasn't told me, I swear, I'm going to tie him up with his grapnel and sit on him….

Kirito raised his hands defensively. “No, really, it's not that big a deal. It's just, you remember that quest item I got from the Little Nepenthes?” Clearly seeing the way her eyebrows twitched at that, he hurried on, “I just want to go and turn in the quest. Don't worry, you'll get your share of EXP just from being in my party—and I promise, as soon as I can I'll find you a quest with an equivalent equipment reward!”

…That does not reassure me. “And there's a reason you want to go alone?”

“It's more efficient if you stay here and help guard the ship,” he said. “This way we'll both be getting EXP, if only from the quest rewards. Besides, it'll be faster for me to get there and back by myself. Easier to get around any mobs on the way, if nothing else.”

She still wasn't convinced. At all. And if she was any judge, Kizmel wasn't either—and if the NPC could tell something was up, Asuna was sure it wasn't her imagination. Even so, she couldn't entirely argue with his logic, and he was the expert. So far.

“…Fine. Just make sure you really don't stay out too late. If I have to go looking for you, you won't like it!”

Kirito felt bad for ditching Asuna, even for just a couple of hours. Really, he did. But he'd told her the truth about it being more efficient, this once, to do two quests at once. And he was kind of hoping to remember some quest or other that might give out a good rapier before she saw what he was getting from this quest.

What was most on his mind as he dashed through the forest toward Horunka Village, though, was the nature of the particular quest. The details of it, and Asuna's breakdown the previous night when Kizmel had mentioned being cut off from her sister.

He didn't know the details of her family situation, and he wasn't going to ask. He was going to try to spare her from having it thrown in her face again, if he possibly could.

When Kirito reached Horunka, he slipped in through a back road, rather than the main street. Though he and Asuna had been the first players to leave Origia the previous night, he strongly suspected other beta testers had followed suit not too long after. Right then, he wasn't ready to confront any of them.

Alleys it was, taking him between rows of classic European-style houses. Keeping to the shadows—wishing idly as he did that he'd had the chance to pick up the Hiding skill, just to minimize chances of encounters—he quickly made his way toward the center of the village. That far in, he glimpsed a few other players; luckily for him, they seemed caught up in their own business.

Reaching one small house in particular, Kirito paused at its door. I hope nobody else is doing this right now. Bumping into another player here, of all places, would be beyond awkward. Steeling himself, he rapped sharply on the door.

“…Come in.”

Opening it, he found himself in a small kitchen, where a tired-looking woman stood over a stove. She was stirring a pot, and a golden exclamation point hung over her head. She glanced at him, a look of mild curiosity barely easing the worried frown.

Kirito had never tried to complete this particular quest without technically starting it first, but he'd known other quests that could be completed at once. He just hoped he'd guessed right on the key phrases. “Excuse me,” he said quietly. “I was passing through the village, and happened to hear your daughter was sick.” Bringing up his menu, he produced the Little Nepenthe's Ovule he'd claimed in battle earlier. “I thought this might help…?”

The woman's eyes brightened, and she quickly took the proffered fruit. “Thank you, kind Swordmaster,” she said, turning to add it the pot. “This was just what I needed, but I knew I couldn't go looking for it myself….”

He watched, then, as the quest continued on. This one, at least, played out as he remembered from the beta. The young mother poured the contents of the pot into a bowl, and carefully carried it into another room. She gave it to the sickly girl lying in the bed, just as in the beta test. There was no dramatic change, when the girl drank the soup; maybe just a little color returning to her cheeks. But it was enough for the quest to register as completed in his log, and he let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Then the girl turned him, looked him right in the eye, and smiled. “Thank you… Onii-chan.”

If that dam hadn't already broken the previous night, Kirito would've lost it just then. It was too much like Suguha, the last time he'd nursed her through a bad cold. Even after the previous night's breakdown, he still felt himself begin to choke up, and he could only give a silent bow.

He was deeply relieved when the mother led him back into the kitchen. “I can't thank you enough for your help, Swordmaster,” she said, crossing to a large chest against the room's southern wall. “This is just a small token, but I think it will serve you more than my family.” Opening the chest, she took out a long sword, sheathed in a red scabbard, and handed it to him.

Kirito took it gratefully. Normally the simple sword he'd bought in Origia would've at least lasted him a few days, but after fighting so many Little Nepenthes and the totally unexpected Forest Elves, it was already nicked, battered, and even a bit melted. The Anneal Blade was a fine replacement, which he thought ought to last him the rest of the first island.

After murmuring his thanks, he turned to go—only to pause, hearing the mother speak again. “I know you, don't I? You're that boy from Rulid Village.”

Heart suddenly hammering in his ears, a chill running down his veins, Kirito turned to face the woman again. “…I'm sorry…?”

She peered closely at his face, then nodded firmly. “Yes, I remember. It's been years, but I can still see the boy from back then in you.” She smiled. “I always thought you'd grow up to be a fine swordsman one day. I'm glad to see I was right. I knew the stories couldn't be true…. Thank you, Kirito. And good luck.”

Blinking rapidly, Kirito stammered out an incoherent acknowledgment—and fled, running out into the reddening light.

November 9th, 2032

It took another two days after taking the Forest Elf core crystal for Moonshadow's repairs to be completed. During that time, Asuna found herself and Kirito pressed into scavenging deadwood to supplement what the crew had already gathered, as well as helping Kizmel fend off occasional monster attacks. In between, Kirito took her through some simple nearby quests, to gain experience and a few useful quest rewards.

Kizmel, to Kirito's evident confusion, accompanied them for most of those. The NPC waved it off as merely the honorable thing to do, but it was clear to Asuna that he found it very strange. For her part, though, she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth; not when she was still so new to VR.

Besides which, the elf girl's presence helped keep Asuna's mind off the truth of their situation. So far, it still didn't quite feel real, and she was dreading the moment it all sank in.

Finally, after those two days, Moonshadow was hale and whole again. That afternoon, Captain Emlas gruffly invited the two Swordmasters to the ship's bridge. “Without the two of you, my ship would've died,” he said, when Kizmel led them in. “You've the right to see her sail again.”

“Thank you, Captain,” Asuna said, giving a shallow bow. “We appreciate it.” Glancing quickly to her left, she discretely elbowed Kirito. “Don't we?”

He jumped. “Eh? Oh, yeah! Of course we do, Captain. You've helped us out a lot.”

There might've been just a flicker of amusement in Emlas' eye. “Have we, now? Well. Stay out of the way, and in a few moments you'll see the real fruit of your labors.”

If there was one benefit to Asuna's upbringing, it was knowing how to stay out of the way. With a chuckling Kizmel, she pulled Kirito off to one side, and took a moment to take in the bridge. Set at the top of Moonshadow's sterncastle, it was furnished of the same dark oak as the rest of the ship, with windows that didn't quite look like glass ringing it. Consoles of a gleaming metal she was pretty sure wasn't steel were placed at intervals, each of them occupied by one of the ship's—fairly generic-looking, if she was honest—sailors.

At the center was what she presumed was the captain's chair. Hard to say for sure just then, though, as Emlas was standing at the wheel a meter or so ahead of it, gently turning it one way and then the other. There was a small smile on the gruff captain's face now, giving him a gentler cast than Asuna had so far seen from him.

“All right, men,” Emlas said then. “Let's be about it.” He touched the panel standing beside the wheel, and a tone like wind chimes sounded. “Engine room. Is the crystal stable?”

“Aye, Captain,” came a voice from, as far as Asuna could tell, nowhere. “Lift field ready at your order. Just… please be careful, Sir. Core crystals are always touchy, settling in with new ships.”

The captain grunted. “As I know all too well… Very well, Engineer. Under the circumstances, I'd rather keep things slow and gentle anyway. I'd not alarm anyone who might be watching.” He tapped the panel again, and nodded to one of the elves standing at the front of the bridge. “Power to the lift field. Get us off the ground, nice and easy.”

“Power to the lift field, aye. Lifting.”

As Moonshadow began to thrum around them, Asuna leaned in close to Kirito. “Do you find it as weird as I do,” she whispered, “hearing elves talk like that?”

“Kinda, yeah,” he murmured back. “I didn't deal much with their ships back in the beta—not intact ones, anyway… and don't look at me like that. It's a war, remember?” He shrugged, too casually. “And it's not like I spent that much of my time on this one quest, anyway.”

“Hm….” She narrowed her eyes at him, and glanced suspiciously at the sword hilt over his right shoulder. He didn't meet her gaze, instead turning to watch the ship's liftoff preparations. Innocently, as if there was nothing strange at all.

Asuna didn't believe his act for a moment. Though he'd since taken her through a quest to get her a set of light but sturdy armor, as compensation for having snuck off to get himself a new sword, she still hadn't forgotten Kirito's behavior that night. She hadn't even really cared about the sword, so much as how quiet and unsettled he'd been.

Kirito claimed the Anneal Blade quest had gone as normal, and that if he seemed at all off it was just because of the whole “trapped in a death game” mess. He might even have been telling the truth; it wasn't like she'd known him for more than three days. But she was sure something had happened, when he'd been out of her sight. While she might not have known him, personally, she knew masks all too well.

“Truthfully,” Kizmel said softly, interrupting Asuna's scrutiny, “I've often thought airship crews are almost as odd as wolf handlers.” She smiled wryly, when Asuna turned to look. “The ways of a knight have changed little in a thousand generations, Asuna. The traditions of sailors seem to change too fast to keep up, by the standards of my people.”

Moonshadow's thrumming increased as the elf girl spoke, and the ship shivered. There was a pause, like the ship herself taking a breath—and with a feeling like pulling free from mud, she moved, the view beyond the bridge windows lifting from the downward slant the crash had left the ship in.

“Lift field holding, Captain.”

“Very good. When we're somewhere less conspicuous, we can repair the balancers…. Pull in the landing skids.”

“Pulling in landing skids, Captain.”

“You know,” Kizmel mused, as Moonshadow began to rise, “I've been wondering. Though the two of you answered my appeal to the Last Alliance quickly enough, plainly you did not expect to find me there at all.” She quirked one curious eyebrow. “If you'd not heard of my mission, may I ask why you were there at all?”

Asuna exchanged a quick look with Kirito. In theory, the answer to that should've been simply that they were Swordmasters, and running around slaying monsters was just what they did. By rights, even by Asuna's vague knowledge of AI, that should've been the only answer Kizmel could understand at all.

But in three days, the elf girl had never fallen back on the generic, obviously-scripted dialogue of ordinary NPCs. Maybe it was just that she'd been given a wider script than usual. Maybe it was just that Kirito knew exactly what to say. Yet Asuna thought there was something different—and somehow, she didn't want to lie to the person who'd given them sanctuary, that first, terrible night.

“We were looking for quests,” Kirito said finally, seeming to pick up on Asuna's unspoken sentiment. “We were dropped into this without knowing what was really going on, so the first thing we wanted to do was get stronger. Strong enough to… to survive.”

Asuna shivered. So far, even with the quest to take the core crystal, she hadn't really felt like she'd faced death in this world. The idea still gave her the chills when she did think about it. I wonder if I'd feel better getting used to it… or worse.

“I see,” Kizmel said, nodding slowly. “My people would never send scarcely-trained warriors out by themselves, but I suppose you've little choice. …And what do you plan to do, when you've the strength to face this world's dangers?”

Beyond the windows, the sun was beginning to set, golden light casting strange patterns through those not-glass panes. The ship had almost reached the height of the treetops, ascending slowly but steadily.

“We're going to fight,” Asuna said, fingers tracing the hilt of her rapier. “It's the only way we're ever going to go home.” She swallowed, thinking back on the speech they'd heard, three days and a lifetime ago. The speech, and what she'd left behind.

There's so much I wanted to get away from. Things that I may have already lost. But I miss Nii-san, and Father. …And Mother, even.

But I can't get back, the way I am now. Mother's way won't help me here. I can't just find a secure place, and let someone else do the work. I can't, and I don't want to.

“Kayaba said we'd have to take Bifrost from the Administrator,” she said, past a lump in her throat. “And that's what I'm going to do.” She glanced at her partner. “What we're going to do.” I don't know you yet. But I think… I think I won't mind this, for as long as it lasts.

Kizmel smiled. “It seems we've a mutual enemy, then.” She gave them a speculative look. “Hm… you say you need to be stronger. Did you have any plans in mind?”

Asuna looked to Kirito. It was his knowledge she'd been relying on, so far. He'd spoken of quests around Horunka Village, but they'd mostly completed those over the last couple of days. When they'd discussed things that morning, he'd admitted he'd need a little time to figure out what to try next. He was a solo, after all, and in the beta had only worked with parties briefly and infrequently.

“…We're still working on that,” he admitted. “I, um, had some advance knowledge of Aincrad, but some of it wasn't quite right, and….” He shrugged uncomfortably. “I was thinking of trying to find an information broker I know. I don't know for sure if she's even here, though.”

She? Asuna had to resist the urge to demand further details then and there. She was dying to know what kind of girl Kirito might've been acquainted with—just to get another measure of his character, of course.

“I see,” Kizmel said thoughtfully. “Well, I'd defer to your judgment about your own people, of course. That being said—”

“That's high enough,” Captain Emlas said, as Moonshadow cleared the trees. “Our guests aside, who knows how the Swordmasters are taking things right now. We will keep low, for now…. Give me power to the engines. Half thrust.”

“Power to engines, half thrust….”

With another shiver, Moonshadow began to move forward, slowly at first but soon gaining speed. Emlas spun the wheel, the ship soared ahead—and Asuna had her first real look at Aincrad's first island, Einsla, from above.

Sweeping forests. Rolling hills, and green plains. A lake, glittering under the light of the setting sun. Off to starboard, as Moonshadow swung around, the mountains of Einsla's northern edge reached for the sky. Nestled among them, Origia's towers gleamed.

Above and around it all, the golden honeycomb of the Skywall shimmered. To Asuna's eyes, it was both a beautiful sight, and a challenge. That wall was the barrier she needed to overcome, if she was ever going to see her family again—just as inside herself, she needed to overcome herself, to be someone who could defeat that wall.

“You've been dependable allies to my people so far,” Kizmel said in her ear. Both players turned to look at her again, to find the elf girl smiling. “My own people must see the Skywall brought low, as well, and right now, Moonshadow is sorely pressed for swords. Would the two of you care to accompany us a little longer?”

This time, as Moonshadow swept into Aincrad's sky, Asuna had little trouble reading Kirito at all. There was relief in those dark eyes—relief, and some of the longing she was feeling herself, she thought. “That sounds like a plan,” he said, and extended one fist. “If it's okay with you, anyway.”

“I'd like that, Kizmel,” Asuna said sincerely, remembering the Dark Elf knight's sisterly warmth in one terrible night. She reached out her own fist to meet Kirito's, not quite getting the gesture but feeling it was somehow just right. “I'd like that a lot, actually.”

Kizmel looked down at their hands, brow furrowing. Then, with another small smile, her knuckles came out to join theirs. “Then we shall be comrades. For as long as our paths are crossed.”

In the fading orange light of a strange sun, with a youth she'd known three days and an AI who seemed more alive than many people she'd known in her normal life, for the first time since Kayaba Akihiko's horrible speech, Asuna felt something resembling hope.

It's begun. I don't know where I'm going… but with Kirito-kun, and Kizmel, I'll find out. …I want to find out….

Chapter Text

Chapter III: “The Symbol of Our Victory”

November 20th, 2032

A quiet medley of woodwind instruments played inside Asuna's head, abruptly rousing her from the visions her sleeping brain had inflicted on her. So different from any alarm she'd had in the normal world, it pulled her back to her current world quite easily.

For a few long, quiet moments, she just let herself lie there, taking in the soft sheets and narrow mattress. Breathing in the scent of oak, listening to the last traces of her alarm, she waited for her heart to slow down. Another dream of her mother, that had been, Yuuki Kyouko harshly scolding her for falling behind in her studies for the sake of a mere game.

It said something, Asuna thought, that her new reality was less frightening than some of her nightmares. Two weeks to the day since Kayaba Akihiko had trapped her and twenty thousand others under the threat of death, and that was still comforting compared to the thought of what her mother would say when it was all over.

But she's not here, she reminded herself, letting her eyes open at last. She isn't. Even if what I do have to put up with is even weirder.

Her first sight was the underside of the bunk above her. As she turned her head to the right, she saw a dusky hand casually hanging from above—and then, across the cabin's too-narrow aisle, the much paler youth who occupied the opposite bunk. Already awake, unsurprisingly, and from the look of it skimming through his menu. When he'd woken up—or for that matter gone to sleep—Asuna wasn't sure. Though she was sure he wasn't sleeping as much as she was.

She was still getting used to that. To having a guy sleeping in the same room as her. But over the course of two weeks in Moonshadow's cramped cabin, she'd at least come to the conclusion Kirito wasn't a perverted creep. An awkward, insufferable know-it-all, maybe, but safe to be around.

A lot safer than the alternative, that's for sure. Asuna shivered, remembering all too vividly some of her nightmares. There were reasons she was so quick in her judgment of Kirito's character. She knew creeps.

There was barely a whisper of sound as she sat up, just her sheets sliding down. It was still enough for Kirito to glance up from his menu and offer a tentative smile, and a second later a face joined the hand hanging from the upper bunk. “Maer arduil, Asuna,” the Dark Elf Kizmel said, giving her an upside-smile. “I hope you slept… well enough, at least?”

“Maer arduil, Kizmel,” Asuna said, mustering up a smile of her own. “I'm… getting there, anyway.” She was, too. She wasn't spending all night in the grip of terror anymore. Which was also kind of frightening, but probably better for her chances of survival.

The greeting helped, in its own way. Kirito had picked it up the first morning, and his pronunciation was better than hers—weird, given his English needed a lot of work—but Asuna had latched onto the Sindarin “good morning” quickly herself. It was one of the little details that helped ground her in Aincrad, making it easier to start each new day.

“Anyway,” she said then, shaking off the fading nightmares. “What's on the agenda today? More quests?” Since getting the core crystal, and especially since Moonshadow's repairs had been completed, she and Kirito had been working through the quests closest to the ship's former crash site. They'd been taking it slowly, between Asuna's own neophyte status and having to work around Captain Emlas' patrols, but progress had been steady.

By now, Asuna thought she was really starting to get the hang of things, to the extent that the quests around Horunka Village were honestly feeling too easy. Not that she really disagreed with Kirito's plan to work through all of them anyway, nor was she going to object to Kizmel helping them out.

“We need to talk about that, actually,” Kirito said, swiping his menu closed. “We finished the last Horunka quest last night, so we're going to need to go a bit farther afield soon…. But first, Kizmel and I raided the galley earlier.”

Asuna made a face at that. It wasn't the continued wariness of Moonshadow's crew that bothered her—most of them were easier to see as NPCs than Kizmel, they had darn good reason to be suspicious, and they really had been easing up lately anyway. No, that wasn't her problem at all—and as Kizmel's wry grimace showed, it wasn't a human problem at all.

Their Royal Guard companion swung down nimbly to the deck then—Kirito quickly glancing away as her thin nightgown rode up—and held up a plate for Asuna. Two bars that resembled thick granola bars, and a round lump. “I'd like to claim the ship's cook was one of the casualties of the crash,” Kizmel said, “but truthfully it would take a much better chef than most ships ever have to make something tasteful of airship rations.”

Gazing mournfully at the two sticks of alleged bread and serving of what might have once been meat before someone had salted and cooked it into a form of rock, Asuna reflected there was one thing she did miss about reality. The day Kayaba locked them all in, she'd had no idea what would soon be inflicted upon her poor taste buds.

With only a sigh, though, she dug in. According to Kirito, avatars hadn't had to worry about hunger in the beta—though apparently the sensation had still gotten through—but that was yet another of Kayaba's little changes to the release version. And if there was one thing Asuna refused to do, it was die of something as stupidly simple as starvation.

At least teeth are considered Immortal Objects. My real ones would break on this… stuff.

Stomach appeased, however poorly, the three of them turned to preparing for the day. Kizmel had it easiest, simply tapping a spot on her shoulder to trade her nightgown for tights and tunic in a flash of blue light. Kirito, whom as far as Asuna could tell just slept in the under layer of his adventuring gear, only had to bring up his menu and call up a pair of pants and a gray leather jacket.

Asuna didn't even have to give him a pointed look for him to roll to face the bulkhead after that. They'd established boundaries the second morning they'd been aboard; she had to give him credit for being a complete gentleman from the moment she'd first brought it up. She was uncomfortable enough as it was, wearing the not-overly-modest Dark Elf nightgown Kizmel had lent her. Letting a guy watch the very immodest transition from that to her own day wear just wasn't happening.

Kizmel watched the process with clear amusement. “Had I needed further proof of your story, this would certainly have convinced me,” she said, shaking her head with a chuckle. “Clearly the two of you have never lived in barracks conditions before.”

“Even in the military, this wouldn't be normal for us,” Asuna muttered, blushing. “Humans don't usually… oh, never mind.” Two weeks she'd known the elven knight, and she still wasn't sure how much was the limitations of an NPC, and how much was the culture Kayaba had put together for the Dark Elves. She knew Kizmel wasn't above trolling. “Anyway! What are we doing today?”

Kirito rolled upright, letting his legs dangle from the bunk. “Well,” he said, bringing up his map, “like I said, we've pretty much run out of Horunka quests. I mean, there's a couple of repeatable ones, but we've just about hit the point of diminishing returns on those….”

Asuna nodded. Newbie she might have been, she'd at least gotten a handle on how experience gains worked. Though she couldn't help but wonder how Kizmel took it all. She and Kirito had made an effort at first not to talk about things like that in her hearing for the first few days, but it just hadn't been practical to keep it up for long.

So far, Kizmel seemed to just write it off as Swordmaster weirdness. Asuna only hoped it stayed that way, and they didn't confuse her program somehow. NPC or not, she liked the knight.

“So where to, then?” she asked, pushing her worries away for now. “That other village—Rulid, wasn't it? Or do we take a chance and head back to Origia for now?”

“Rulid wouldn't do us any good now,” Kirito answered, quickly shaking his head. “And Captain Emlas still doesn't want to get too close to a big city like that, so we'd have to cross about half Einsla on foot.” He frowned, tracing the map with one finger. “…We might have to, though. At least to find out what the situation is. It's been two weeks, we can't just avoid other Swordmasters forever.”

Too true. If only for Kizmel's sake, and Moonshadow's, they'd kept their distance from the few other players who'd trickled into the Horunka area. Unfortunately, that meant they still didn't know how the playerbase as a whole was doing, half a month after Kayaba's “tutorial”.

And it's not like we can break through the Skywall all by ourselves, let alone reach Centoria….

Kizmel cleared her throat. “Actually,” she said, “I spoke with Captain Emlas before the two of you woke this morning. It seems he has a proposal. According to the lookouts, there's been a good deal more movement by Swordmasters outside Origia since last night.”

This seems to be a time for impulsive decisions on my part, Kizmel thought, as she and her Swordmaster companions walked along the road to the human town of Tolbana. Heh. And I thought Tilnel was the reckless sister. I only hope I've not made a grave error.

Captain Emlas had been forced to concede the Swordmasters might well have been as innocent as Kirito and Asuna claimed, after two weeks of them largely hiding away in Origia. As he'd put it, such was not the behavior one would've expected of warriors knowingly summoned for a purpose. Kizmel was sure the gruff captain was not completely convinced, but it was still a step in what she personally believed was the right direction.

Swordmasters had, however, begun to venture out from Origia, and with so many of those bold ones making for Tolbana, Emlas wanted confirmation of the human champions' intentions. Preferably without involving his ship.

Between exhausting the “quests” in the Horunka region and having their own reasons to gauge their fellows' intentions, Kirito and Asuna had volunteered for the task readily enough. Sooner or later, they would have had no choice regardless; Moonshadow was a sanctuary for them, yet in the long run that mattered little if the Skywall was not brought down.

Kizmel wasn't sure if it had been a whim or some deep-seated feeling even she didn't yet understand that prompted her to volunteer to join them. She was certain, though, that she'd promised to fight with them as long as their paths were crossed, and she intended to keep that promise. The smiles she'd gotten in return—bright from Asuna, hesitant but warm from Kirito—had only reminded her why she'd made that promise to begin with.

The question is, will I regret this? With the hood up, the charms of her Mistmoon Cloak both hid her betraying ears and masked her “cursor”—that strange, ethereal symbol that distinguished those in the world between worlds—with the same color as an ally's, so long as she remained in the same “party”. It was unlikely any Swordmaster would notice anything amiss. I must hope magic may also fool magic, however, or this could prove an unpleasant mission indeed.

“How well do you remember Tolbana, Kirito-kun?” Asuna asked, as the road beneath their feet turned from bare earth to stone pavement. “We're almost as far south as you can get on Einsla, so this must be close to the Skywall Tower, right?”

“Just about the closest town,” Kirito said, nodding. “Technically there's another village even closer to the catacombs leading to the Tower, but this one's better for staging a raid. There'll be blacksmiths and better shops here, not to mention more places to stay.”

“Then the Swordmasters may finally be making a push for the Tower,” Kizmel mused. They were rounding a bend in the road, and suddenly the town was in sight. “That's welcome news.”

“Hopefully, yeah. Though we shouldn't get out hopes up just yet. The Captain said his lookouts confirmed around a hundred Swordmasters around here, and that's barely enough for a good clearing effort….”

Asuna's hood shifted, the fencer probably nodding beneath it. “I suppose you're right…. Well, it looks like we're about to see for ourselves.”

They had reached Tolbana's gates, guarded on either side by a local human guardsman. Neither of them paid any heed to the three travelers, to Kizmel's relief—but the real test came moments later. As the three of them approached the gates themselves, she could feel a buzz, unlike anything she'd quite felt before.

Though neither Swordmaster seemed to notice, to her the sensation of magic was unmistakable. She'd grown up in a world where few strong magicks had been seen since generations before her birth. Approaching the “Safe Haven” barriers that protected human settlements from monsters and other interlopers was, to her, akin to walking into bright sunlight after years in near-total darkness.

Kizmel gritted her teeth, hoping her companions didn't notice anything. She had no wish to distress them over what was—hopefully—nothing. I will adjust soon enough—so long as I can pass through at all.

Another step, the feeling was pressing against her skin—and then she was through, the barrier accepting either the deception of her cloak or her mystical alliance with two Swordmasters. The buzz eased to a background hum, and she was free.

To a Swordmaster, Kizmel suspected Tolbana was unremarkable. She'd seen human cities from a distance, in her time as a knight; on Einsla alone, Origia's towers dwarfed the town. In times past, she'd glimpsed the greater cities closer to the heart of the Aincrad Archipelago—and who knew how great the enclaves of the Swordmasters' homeland might be.

Compared to those, Tolbana was surely quaint. Yet to her, brought up in the great underground forests of Lyusula, stepping through the gates of an open-air town was a new and fresh experience. Before coming to this waking dream, she'd not had cause to venture within a human settlement. This was her first chance to mingle among that people.

Even had there not been cursors distinguishing friend from foe, local from summoned Swordmaster, it would still have been easy enough for Kizmel to tell resident from Swordmaster. If nothing else, there were far more of the former, milling through the streets on their own business, with the dull air of routine. Leaving aside the more drab wardrobe of the average local, they had little of the vibrancy she'd come to expect from Swordmasters.

Admittedly, I've known only two so far, yet I cannot imagine any would venture out in Kayaba's trap without a burning will. Not this soon, at any rate.

“Looks like Captain Emlas was right,” Kirito mused, a few streets into Tolbana. “Swordmasters must've only just come here in the last day or so.” He was looking around with as much interest as Kizmel, though she suspected for a different reason. “It looks like just about everybody who made it is still working out what's here, and what's different from the beta test.”

While Kizmel still wasn't entirely clear on what the “beta test” even was, she grasped his point well enough. The closer they got to the center of Tolbana, the more Swordmasters they saw—enough that she was fairly sure most of those who'd ventured out of Origia were in town, rather than adventuring outside it.

“It makes sense,” Asuna said quietly. Like Kizmel, she wore her hood up. The knight wasn't really surprised, having gotten the impression over the past two weeks that her new comrades were outsiders of a sort even among their own people. “With the situation as it is, everyone needs to know exactly where they stand. …I'm more surprised players have come this far this soon at all.”

“Something had to give,” Kirito said, with a too-casual shrug. “Besides, there's twenty thousand Swordmasters. There's bound to be people crazy enough to be having fun here.”

“Mad, or bold?” Kizmel put in, raising an eyebrow in his direction. “After all, the two of you ventured out at once.”

“Mad,” Kirito said at once, turning to give her a wry smile. “And I hate crowds. Risking death from monsters wasn't the scarier option for me.”

“For once, I have to agree with you,” Asuna said. It was hard to tell with her own hood, but Kizmel thought the fencer was smirking.

“Guess I shouldn't be surprised you don't like crowds, either—hey, wait!” Kirito interrupted himself, looking suddenly affronted. “Just which part were you really agreeing with?!”

“Take a guess, Kirito-kun. Even you should be able to figure that one out.”

Kizmel couldn't help but chuckle, hiding her smile with her hand. It was good to see the two of them in high spirits, rather than the melancholy into which they both tended to slip when allowed time to think. Not that I can blame either of them, all things considered. I may be as trapped as they, but at least I've the training of a knight.

Though in this case, she admitted to herself that her knowledge was somewhat lacking. Glancing around the ordinary humans, and small clusters of Swordmasters exploring Tolbana's streets, she said, “Kirito. You know both your people and the area best. Where should we begin our scouting?”

They were just entering what seemed to be Tolbana's central square. Kirito paused there, giving the vendors and buildings a slow, careful look. “To be honest, I'm not the best at talking to people,” he said. “There is someone I can look up, though… but first, I think we should look into food, and a place to stay.”

“Food?” Asuna grimaced. “I hate to say it, but we've got plenty of rations from Moonshadow—and from what I saw back in Origia on launch day, we're not going to find much better here.”

“Not in the shops, no. But if things haven't changed too much from the beta….” He closed his eyes in obvious thought. “There's a quest here, [The Heifer Strikes Back], that rewards a cream that can turn basic bread into a real treat.”

“Oh?” Kizmel's eyes narrowed with interest. She hadn't had a meal she could call enjoyable since before leaving Sandoria, weeks earlier. “By all means, let us begin with that. I expect we'll all focus on our task much better with sated stomachs.”

“…Well, I can't say I disagree.” Though Asuna tried to hide it, it was obvious she was excited by the prospect herself. “What about an inn? I'm guessing you know a good place.”

“You could say that.” Glancing quickly around the square, Kirito's gaze settled on one particular street, and he set off again. “This way for the cow quest…. There's four different inns in Tolbana, but they're all pretty basic. I just happen to know of a farmhouse on the southern end of town, where you can rent the entire second floor. I doubt anybody will have noticed it yet, you really have to know to look for it.”

An entire floor to themselves, away from the crowds? Kizmel liked the idea already. As intriguing as she found the human town, she was hardly comfortable there so soon. Nor am I going to complain at having a little room to stretch, she thought, feeling a bit more of a spring in her step as she and Asuna followed Kirito away from Tolbana's center. After weeks in a ship's cabin, that will be a relief indeed.

“The space is only one of the perks, though,” Kirito continued, noticeably more animated himself. “The place has fresh milk, which goes great with the cream. There's even a nice, hot bath included in the—urk!”

Quick as her sword thrusts, Asuna's hand had snapped out and grabbed his collar, choking him mid-sentence. “What did you just say?” she demanded. “Fresh milk, and—?”

“A bath?” Kirito got out, gasping for breath. “It's not something you'll find in an inn until at least the Second Island, so it's definitely one of the farmhouse's selling points, but—gah! Would you take it easy?!”

Having let go as suddenly as she'd taken hold of him, Asuna marched on ahead, fast walk quickly turning to a trot. “Well, what are we waiting for?!” she demanded, casting an impatient look over her shoulder. “I haven't had a bath in two weeks! Where is this farmhouse, anyway?”

Shaking her head, Kizmel took a moment to make sure Kirito was all right, and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “Never underestimate a girl's appreciation for a good soak, Kirito,” she advised him. “Asuna! The quest first! The bath will be the better if we've finished our business for the day, don't you think?”

“…Fine.” Asuna's shoulders drooped for a moment, but her pace never slowed. After a few moments, once Kizmel and Kirito had caught up with her, she glanced over at the youth again, eyes narrow. “While we're at it—who's this contact of yours, anyway? And why haven't you looked them up already? The PM system works if you know the player name, right?”

“Well, yeah,” Kirito said, tugging at his collar with a wince. “But… well, I kinda didn't want to have to explain to Argo the Rat where I was. Now that we're in a town, it should be safer… I think….”

In the end, they took on just about every quest from Tolbana that Kirito could remember off the top of his head. Asuna had to concede it was more efficient to do things that way, and as mind-numbing as the fetch and monster-hunting quests were, they did give a good payout of experience and Cor. As eager as she was to indulge herself, she couldn't just think short-term.

With several of the quests done, another character level under her belt, and a jar of the cream Kirito promised was so good in her inventory, the sky was turning orange. Together with Kizmel, Asuna followed her partner to a farmhouse a bit outside Tolbana's streets, just barely inside the town's safe zone. Absolutely nothing remarkable about it, to her eye; it probably wouldn't have looked out of place in Europe any time in the last three or four hundred years.

Which was probably why her world seemed to tilt, as they approached the two-story, wooden building. She'd spent the first two weeks since Kayaba's horrifying announcement aboard a Dark Elf airship, about as far from “normal” as anything in her life had ever been. It had, in a way, kept the whole situation from feeling real to her.

Spending the night in a perfectly normal human house… suddenly she felt like she wasn't ready for that.

Asuna let Kirito do the talking, when they walked into the house's kitchen. He knew how to talk to the farm wife NPC, and as long as they were in the same party, rental privileges would apply to all of them anyway. She was too busy trying to squash the panic rising for the first time in two weeks.

“What's wrong, Asuna?” Kizmel asked, voice barely a whisper as she leaned in close. “I would think this place would be more comfortable for you than Moonshadow, it being of your own people. Or,” the elf girl added thoughtfully, “is it different from what you're accustomed to? I suppose humans of your world might have a culture as different from this as from mine.”

“Actually, it's not very different at all,” Asuna said, gratefully latching on to the distraction of explaining for the elf. “Which is the problem, honestly. It's… too familiar. Too real.”

“…Ah.” Following Kirito up the stairs to the floor that would be their home for a little while, Kizmel gave a thoughtful nod. “I'd not thought of that. This is a mirage of the world I know, and I was already a swordswoman when this began. I can scarcely imagine how disorienting it must be, finding the familiar among the strange.”

Yeah. That was a good way of putting it. Though Asuna thought there was more to it than that, something she couldn't quite put her finger on.
At the door at the top of the stairs, Kirito turned the knob and pushed it open, leading the way in. The way locks rely on permissions instead of keys just makes the whole thing weirder. It's like this is real, except when it isn't. She shivered. …I wonder how many people have gotten—hurt—because of that.

“Well, here we are,” Kirito said, when they were in. “It might be a bit cramped with three of us, but it's still better than an airship cabin, right?”

“…Mostly, yeah.” There were windows on three walls, letting in the evening sunlight. The floor was mostly bare wood, with a couple of throw rugs by the door on the fourth wall and the beds. A couch sat beneath one window, and a simple desk by another. A low table, with another couch and two chairs, occupied the middle of the room, a pitcher of milk sitting in the center. “But, um….”

“I believe I like it,” Kizmel said, pulling back her hood and giving the room an approving look. “It suits me more than anything in Origia would, I suspect. My people may build mostly from stone, but our homes are among the forests.” Her gaze flicked to the beds, and she gave a short nod. “Certainly the beds ought to be more comfortable than Moonshadow's bunks.”

“Well, yes, but—” Asuna shot Kirito a hard look; at least he had the good grace to redden and look away. “There's only two of them!”

“I'll take one of the couches,” he said quickly. “I've slept in worse places, don't worry about me.”

On the one hand, at least he recognized the problem. Though she did wonder just how crazy his sleeping habits were, sometimes. On the other hand, Kirito's immediate concession made her bristle. If there was one thing she'd come to hate from growing up—and would get her killed where she was now—it was the idea of special treatment.

Asuna opened her mouth to argue they should at least draw straws or something, but Kizmel beat her to it. Arching one eyebrow, she said, “Why would you need to do that?” She glanced between them, then at the beds. “The beds are clearly large enough for two.”

Oh. I hadn't thought of that. Huh. I guess it'll be like a sleepover. I wonder if Dark Elf girls do things like that—

“I've no preference in arrangement,” the elf girl continued. “My sister and I have shared often enough, in Her Majesty's service. All the same, Asuna,” she added thoughtfully, “as unsettled as you are, perhaps you'd prefer Kirito's company for the night, as you're both human? Or if you'd rather be alone, I have no objection to sharing with him.”

Kirito choked, and Asuna goggled. Sharing a cabin with a guy was one thing, there really hadn't been much choice, and by now she was pretty sure he was nothing like—that man. Sharing his bed? I've only known him two weeks! Even if he's not a creep, that's still—that's just—!

Kizmel's blasé attitude toward sharing with him herself only added to the heat rising in Asuna's face. She was sure the elf girl meant it perfectly platonically, but with the way she dressed for the night, in such a cramped bed—did Kizmel have no sense of personal space at all?

If it hadn't been for the slightest trace of a smile playing at the dusky girl's lips, Asuna would've thought she was oblivious to the redness and sputtering of the two players. As it was, she simply shrugged, and turned toward the door leading into the other room. “Well, we can decide that later. For now, I believe I'd welcome a warm bath myself. This way, I take it, Kirito?”

“Uh. Yeah.” Kirito visibly shook himself. His face was still glowing, but he managed to haul himself back to a level of composure Asuna honestly envied. “Yeah, it's right through there. Um, I should probably warn you there's no lock, though….”

“No matter.” Kizmel touched the clasp of her cloak, banishing it and her armor in a quick flash of light. “As long as the stairway door locks, that's good enough.” She pushed open the door, reaching up to tap the corner of her tunic. “You'll be joining us anyway, won't you, Kirito?”

“What?!?”

The farmhouse was proof positive, to Asuna's eyes, of what Kirito had told her the very first day: the best deals in Aincrad were the ones you went and looked for, not the obvious ones. The bedroom was palatial enough. The bathroom left her amazed at what could be found on the budget of a single player just a couple weeks in.

Hardwood for the walls, just like the bedroom, with more than adequate shelf space. Thick, cushy carpeting covered the changing area at the northern side, perfect for bare feet right out of the bath. The southern side had polished tile, dominated by a tub even bigger than the one in the Yuuki household, with a gargoyle head for a spout. Easily big enough for three, and more than comfortable for two.

Asuna desperately tried to focus her attention on the lavishness of the place, as she unequipped all her gear and slipped into the steaming water. She'd already been concerned enough about bathing with a guy just in the other room. What had happened in the moments before she'd fled to the bathroom….

At least I'm pretty sure Kirito-kun won't be coming in, she thought, remembering the expression on her partner's face. I didn't know the game could literally make steam come out of your ears, but I'm glad it does. If it had been him… ugh, I don't even want to think about it.

“Ahh… now this is wonderful, after so long aboard Moonshadow.” Kizmel, having quite inappropriately stripped before safely closing the door behind her, slid into the other end of the tub with a sigh and a smile. “I'd no idea humans valued their baths so much. Between that and all the wood, this would be quite the luxury indeed for my people.”

“Pretty luxurious for us, too,” Asuna told her, breathing in the warmth of the steam and reveling in the feel of the hot water over her skin. It didn't feel quite right, something was just indefinably off about the texture and the way light reflected off it, but it was still a bath, and it was still warm. “Though the wood's normal enough, at least for a farmhouse.”

“Something for which I envy your people, then.” The elf girl stretched, the motion making Asuna momentarily envious of her—not to mention convincing a corner of her mind that the designer for Dark Elf character models had definitely been a guy. “Elves, Forest and Dark alike, are forbidden to cut down living trees. Wooden homes are the province of the nobility and the very rich.”

“Oh, really? Huh.” Asuna made a mental note to ask Kirito—later—if there were any Dark Elf towns in SAO. The more she heard about their culture, the more interested she became. “I guess airships must be tricky for you to build, then. I remember you mentioning you need to be around living wood, too….”

“Indeed. Truthfully, I know little of the craft myself. A closely-guarded secret of the shipwrights,” Kizmel noted dryly. “Rumors say the ships are somehow grown, though how that might work even I couldn't venture to guess.”

“Interesting.” Sinking deeper into the water, letting it wash over her shoulder, Asuna turned to look at the setting sun dipping into view through the west window. As alien as Aincrad's night sky was, at least the sun rose and set like the real one. “I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Even in the stories back home, different groups of elves often had their own cultures.”

“You have stories of my people? I'd like to hear more about that… later.” Kizmel arched one eyebrow in her direction. “Speaking of cultural differences, Asuna. Should I take it that in yours, men and women don't usually bathe together?”

The composure Asuna had struggled to regain vanished in an instant, and with an eep she slipped and dropped completely beneath the water. She choked, scrambled to push herself up, and got her head back into the air in a coughing fit. “N-no!” she got out, through a mouthful of water. “No, they don't!”

“Hm. That's a shame.” Turning over in the water, revealing a toned back that made for a surprising contrast with her figure, the elf girl draped her arms over the lip of the tub. Resting her chin on her hands, she looked over at the door to the bedroom. “I had thought it would be nice to relax and talk here, just the three of us.”

Just for a second, Asuna found herself contemplating the idea. It was true, this was the most comfortable she'd been physically in two weeks, and without armor the whole atmosphere felt more relaxed. A chat in the bath, followed by a good night's sleep in a soft bed—

With a guy?! I mean, sure, Kirito-kun seems like a good guy, but—I've only even known him for two weeks, and—!

She quickly shook her head, long hair dragging through the water. “That's just—it's not done, Kizmel! I mean, that would be completely indecent, and, well—!”

Kizmel rolled over to look at her again, raising a placating hand. “My apologies. Far be it from me to criticize your taboos, especially when I know so little about them. And it's true, such a thing would not be done so casually with total strangers among my people, either. Battlefield standards, however, are more pragmatic. After all, why be so concerned by the presence of those with whom you already trust your life?”

Asuna started to reply sharply, only to bring herself up short. There was, she had to admit, a kind of logic to the NPC's words. If the Dark Elves had a completely integrated military, they probably did have to make concessions. And it was true, whatever doubts she might still have had about Kirito, she did trust him at her back in a fight. He'd had plenty of chances to betray her, and for that matter obviously could've handled himself alone just fine. Still….

Sharing a bath with him—that's just too far! Even the bed wouldn't be this bad! And it's not like we have to be so pragmatic! That's just—no. No, I'm not ready for that yet!

…Yet?

Before she could examine that bizarre slip of the mental tongue, Kizmel sat up in the bath. “Well, that's a discussion we can have another time,” she said. Reaching for a low shelf Asuna hadn't noticed hung over one edge of the tub, the elven knight picked up a brush and bottle of soap. “Could I ask you to scrub my back, Asuna? Normally I would ask my sister, but….”

“Huh? Oh, sure!”

The reference to family made Asuna's heart twinge. Still, as she set to work helping Kizmel wash up, it finally made one thing click in her mind. Oh, that's right… how could I have forgotten? Even if it's been years…. Well. With the way Mother is, maybe it isn't so surprising.

“Something on your mind, Asuna?”

She started, only then realizing her scrubbing had slowed. Meeting the concerned gaze Kizmel turned over her shoulder, she said, “Sorry. It's just… I realized why this place feels so familiar to me. My grandparents are farmers, and their house is a lot like this. The bath isn't as nice, but still… it's close.”

“Ah.” Kizmel turned to look out the window, leaving only half her face in view. “Family… yes, I can understand why you would be bothered. My parents are long gone now, and so long as the Skywall stands between us, I cannot even see my sister.” She leaned back into the brush; Asuna noticed with a start that the elf girl's muscles were taut with a tension her manner hadn't shown. “…Perhaps that's part of why I was so quick to join your questing, even when it has little to do with my mission.”

“I know the feeling.”

There were a lot of reasons Asuna had accepted Klein's suggestion that she go with Kirito, that first night. As she'd told the awkward youth, she needed help learning how to survive SAO. Right then, she'd needed help just figuring out where to spend the night—even if that had ended up very different from what even he'd expected.

But even more than that… I don't think I could've handled being alone. There's no one I know in this world, after all. Maybe I could've gone with Klein, but….

“Kizmel?” she asked, when they'd traded places and it was the elf scrubbing the human's back. “Can I ask you why… you asked us for help, that first night?”

There was a good chance Kizmel couldn't even answer that question. If anything, it had probably been nothing more than a system glitch, which an NPC wouldn't be able to comprehend. But then, an NPC wouldn't normally have been able to make small talk, Asuna was pretty sure. It's worth a shot.

The long pause that followed seemed to confirm that fear. Then, though, it was Kizmel's turn to slow her brushing, and the elf girl sighed. “…Months ago,” she said slowly, “before your people or mine came to this world, I had dreams. Dreams of a battle against Forest Elves, in which my comrades fell, and I stood alone. Until a group of Swordmasters came, interfering in the battle.”

Asuna drew in a soft breath. “You mean…?”

“Yes. The very battle in which I first met the two of you.” When she looked over her shoulder, Kizmel's gaze was distant, looking at something only she could see. “In the dreams, I told the Swordmasters to leave, as my mission was not their business. They always intervened anyway, but too late—and in the end, I always fell, sacrificing myself to repay their kindness.”

That sounds like what Kirito said happened in the beta, when he encountered Kizmel. She remembers…?

“I thought those nothing but dreams,” the elf girl continued softly, brush slow and steady as it moved up and down Asuna's back. “Until I was given the task of retrieving the Jade Key, and found myself exactly in the straits my dreams had shown.” She smiled, a small, sad smile. “Kirito's face, I knew from the dreams. Always the first to come to my aid, and the one whose face I saw as I fell…. When the two of you appeared, I chose to place my trust in you.”

There was a lot more Asuna wanted to ask. Like how Kizmel knew Kirito's face, when he would've been using a custom avatar back then, or how she could've had those dreams at all. But even if she'd been as real as she felt in that moment, not an NPC with only programmed knowledge to draw on, it was clear the elf didn't understand it any better than Asuna did.

So, instead, she only reached back, placed her hand on Kizmel's, and smiled. “I'm glad you took the chance, Kizmel. For your sake, and ours.”

Kizmel's own smile widened, losing that edge of sadness. “As do I, Asuna.”

Oh, man. Forget the monsters. Working with two girls all the time is really going to be what kills me. Asuna won't have to hurt me for being a pervert. Kizmel's just going to make me die of shock.

Having very deliberately turned the desk chair to face the wall directly opposite the bathroom door, Kirito waited for his face to cool off. And hoped Asuna would, somehow, forget what had happened by the time she came out. He knew he wasn't going to forget any time soon. The sight of Kizmel's completely bare back, short though the glimpse had been before Asuna had ushered her behind a closed door….

He quickly shook his head, trying to push the screenshot-clear image out of his mind. They were comrades, maybe edging toward friends, and it was just plain rude to think of either of them like that. He absolutely wasn't going to think about what was going on in the other room, even when he heard Asuna's voice rise in shrill surprise.

Not looking at a door was not supposed to require a dice roll on his Willpower stat.

Besides, I'm supposed to be thinking of what we're going to do next. From the look of it, players have only started doing the Tolbana quests, so even with how long we spent with Moonshadow we've got time to catch up. At this rate it'll be a week before anybody even thinks of tackling the Skywall Tower.

Which meant, for the moment, it was probably best to just do what they'd already started: work through the local quests. The trick being that Kirito had pretty much raced through them as fast as he could during the beta, and gotten distracted by the bigger quests on later islands. His memory of the area was a bit fuzzier than he really wanted to admit to his comrades.

So… I'd better try and find out if Argo got the full version. Kirito brought up his menu, navigated to the messaging tab—and paused, fingers poised over the ethereal keyboard. Um. Maybe I should wait until morning? A quick glance out the window showed the sun was falling fast, so it wouldn't be long before Aincrad's twin moons rose. Then I can make sure to meet her somewhere else, maybe without the chance of blackmail material—

There was a knock at the door. Two sharp knocks, a pause, and one heavier.

…No. No way. The timing—that can't possibly be—

The pattern repeated itself. Then again, quicker and harder. Then, “Oi! I know you're in there, Kii-bou! Mind opening up, and not leavin' a girl out in the cold?”

Kirito was torn between two reactions. She really is a girl?! …Oh, no, I am so doomed!

Nowhere to run. Even if tried going out one of the windows, he'd never get away before she noticed. His next thought was to just ignore her, pretend he wasn't there. Except—it was obvious someone was renting the farmhouse, and knowing her she'd track down who easily enough. The questions she'd raise just from that might be even worse than just letting her in.

No time to think of a better option. He'd just have to hope his comrades stayed quiet in the other room, and didn't come out at an awkward moment.

Just as the knocking pattern began again, Kirito steeled himself and pulled open the door. On the other side—well. He didn't recognize the face beneath the hooded cloak, but the height looked about right. And there was absolutely no mistaking the trio of whisker marks on either cheek. “Um… hi?”

The girl didn't even blink. Just peered up at him for a second, grinned, and pushed past him into the bedroom. “Kii-bou! 'Bout time I tracked ya down. Nice digs, by th' way, knew you'd be coming here sooner or later.”

Nonplussed, he stared as she dropped into a chair and casually swung her feet up onto the table. “…You recognized me, Argo? Just like that?”

“'Course I did. Kii-bou's Kii-bou, I'd know ya no matter what face you're wearing.” She shot him an appraising look. “…Not a bad face, I'll say. Too bad you'd never even notice a girl…. Anyway! What's been up, Kii-bou? I figured you'd be first one outta Origia, but I didn't think you'd disappear completely!”

If there was one thing that convinced him this was really Argo the Rat, it was her whirlwind of an attitude. Buffeted like he'd been in a tornado, Kirito dropped into the couch opposite her chair. “Launch day was kind of crazy, Argo,” he pointed out. “And I was barely out of town before I found out the hard way that content's changed from the beta, on top of the death penalty.”

“Oh ho?” Argo's eyes narrowed; he thought it was too much to hope for that it was a sign she was getting serious. “Just what did ya run into, Kii-bou, that's kept ya off the grid for two weeks?”

Oh, no. Not that easy, Argo. “You're an info broker, Argo,” he said, sparring for time. “Nothing's free with you, give or take.” He folded his hands, affecting a narrow-eyed gaze of his own. “How about you tell me how things have been with the other players, and I tell you know what I know in exchange?”

“Hm.” She looked at him in silence for a moment, then smiled, showing teeth. “Clever, clever, Kii-bou! Awright, deal. From the rumors I've been hearing, you've prolly got some juicy info yerself, so—”

Click.

That soft sound was the only warning Kirito had, the sound of a doorknob turning, before Doom was upon him. Out of the bathroom came first Asuna, chestnut hair hanging limp over her elven nightgown. “Honestly,” she was saying over her shoulder, “just a towel is not enough when you're sharing a room with a guy—eek!”

Kizmel, long legs and far too much of her chest on full display, was indeed wearing only a towel as she followed the fencer out. “I will be glad to make concessions to human customs, Asuna, but I really do not see your problem here. This is hardly any more immodest than my nightgown…. Oh.” Long ears twitching, she looked at Argo curiously. “I see we have a guest.”

The elf was the picture of calm. Asuna's face was already beginning to steam, and Kirito could feel his own face reaching its ignition point. Argo… Argo was looking from one face to another, eyes wide with what Kirito thought was uncharacteristic surprise.

That surprise turned quickly to a grin, and a low whistle. “Well, well! Kii-bou, I take back what I said earlier. But ya gotta tell me, when'd you get so good with the ladies? Inquiring minds need to know!”

Steam erupted from Asuna's ears, every visible centimeter of skin turned bright red, and her hair frizzed in an emotional expression Kirito had never before seen in-game. “It's not like that!” she burst out, shaking her head fast enough to make her hair even wilder. “I'm—he's just—we're just in the same party to survive! That's all!”

“Kirito is a fine young man,” Kizmel said, favoring him with a nod and a small smile. “But to my people, two weeks is a bit soon to begin a courtship.” A beat, as her smile took on an edge Kirito didn't trust one bit. “…Perhaps another month, and we might consider it?”

“Kizmel!” Asuna shouted, voice rising into a plaintive wail. “Not! Helping!”

Kirito's resolve broke, and before he could think he was up and running for the door—only to immediately trip as Argo sent a chair skidding into his legs. Before he could hit the floor, Asuna's hand seized his collar, and Kizmel caught his arm. “Now, now,” the elf girl murmured, under the fencer's incoherent sputtering. “I believe explanations are owed all around, Kirito.”

“Oh, I have got to get this story!” Argo was showing fangs now, in the most dangerous smile he'd ever seen from her. “Kii-bou. Ya two-timin' these nice girls?”

“It's not like that!”

“So,” Argo said a few minutes later, moonlight streaming in through the east window. “Lemme see if I got this right.” She pointed at Asuna, sitting stiffly upright on the couch, as far from Kirito as she could manage. “You met 'im on launch day, a total noob, an' when the samurai-wannabe left, you stuck with Kii-bou to learn the ropes.”

“That's exactly it.” Asuna's face had resumed something approaching normal color, and her hair had settled, but she still spoke stiffly, and hid her mouth behind a glass of milk. “There was a riot starting, and Kirito-kun was the only one besides Klein I knew.”

“Good choice. Kii-bou knows SAO like nobody else—an' unlike yours truly, he won't charge ya for it.” The Rat's serious look lasted maybe three seconds, before lapsing back into mock-solemnity. “Then he tried to lead you to Horunka, only to stumble on a Dark Elf fightin' a Forest Elf?”

“Indeed they did, and for that I owe them my life.” How Kizmel managed such poise, sitting in that chair while still in a towel, Kirito couldn't fathom. She only gave Argo a calm nod, with another smile at the much more embarrassed humans. “I'm truly fortunate that they appeared when they did, and were so quick to honor the Last Alliance.”

“Got that right. Can't imagine many would even remember it, 'specially now.” Argo shook her head. “Figured the elves might show up quick, but there was some real luck here… anyway. So you two have been workin' with the Dark Elves for two weeks, huh? Well, that explains some things.”

After the pandemonium had settled—a little—Kirito had found himself forced to give his story first after all. If only to keep Argo from selling stories even more compromising than the truth. He counted himself lucky she was quick to accept that truth.

Though he doubted it was going to keep her from teasing him about it. For the rest of his life.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised she's taking Kizmel's weirdly high AI so easily. Argo probably cares more about trolling than logic, here.

Kirito loudly cleared his throat, determinedly focusing on Argo and not the inappropriately-clad elf. “Explains what, Argo? Just what's been going on, while Asuna and I have been out of touch?”

“Well, first? That airship's been raising a lot o' questions, Kii-bou.” The info broker shrugged, pausing to take a bite out of the cream-covered piece of bread Kirito had handed over in an open bribe to try and keep the teasing down. “Remember, Kayaba did his little speech with a big airship, an' no player's gonna have one 'til we take down the first Skywall. Then you've got the odd beta player recognizing it as a Dark Elf ship, an' wondering what the heck was goin' on. Honestly? Prolly one of the reasons enough people got together to push through to Tolbana was to find out what was going on.”

“Interesting.” Kizmel frowned thoughtfully. “Captain Emlas had hoped we would keep a lower profile than that, but I for one can't gainsay the idea that we helped galvanize the Swordmasters…. Pity there are not more of them.”

“Give 'em time, Kii-chan. 'Tis a miracle this many are ready to push.” Before the elf girl could react to Argo's nickname, the Rat's face turned deadly seriously. “We oughtta be thanking you, Kii-chan. We need the push.” She pushed herself to her feet, padding over to look out the west window. After a long pause, staring out at Aincrad's alien sky, she turned to look straight at Kirito and Asuna, and the former felt a sudden, fast-growing dread. “Kii-bou. Aa-chan. Two thousand players are dead.”

The numbers were like a punch to the gut. Kirito found himself clutching the couch cushions as the room swayed around him. Asuna slumped against him; a quick glance at her revealed her face had gone a pale gray. Even Kizmel's eyes had gone wide, despite the Knight's backstory of a long war. They'd known there were some deaths, of course—Kayaba had said as much in his “tutorial” that first day, and he'd figured some people would've died fighting mobs before they learned the caution the death game demanded. But….

“Two thousand?” he got out, voice cracking. “H-how…?”

“Don't think you quite know what it was like in Origia, right after Kayaba's announcement, Kii-bou.” Argo looked grim—haunted, even. Kirito suddenly wondered how much of her trolling had been her way of coping. “Chaos in the streets. Everybody trapped, the only way out to fight, over four hundred people dead just from people tryin' to help on the outside?

“Some people, the brave or the stupid, snapped and went out to try an' be 'heroes'. Without makin' sure they knew what they were doing. And others….” She closed her eyes. “Kii-bou. I think the cruelest thing Kayaba did was leave so many ledges. It's a long way down—an' you know the Cloud Sea swallows all.”

“…They jumped,” Asuna whispered, trembling against Kirito's shoulder. “Why? Why would they just…?”

Kirito didn't trust himself to speak. He knew from stories about “trapped in a game” scenarios that dying to exit was sometimes a thing. His own belief, as he'd told Asuna weeks before, was that they'd have been out the first night if that had been true, but he understood the logic. That was probably what some of them had been thinking.

Some. Dammit. Six years ago, I cursed them all for not doing something, but at least that wasn't real. …I thought it wasn't real. But that's how people really are, isn't it? Throw most people into a situation they can't handle, and they just… break.

Never thought I'd consider myself lucky.

“Well.” Kizmel's quiet, calm, weary voice dragged Kirito's attention back to her. “If anything is likely to convince Captain Emlas of the truth, I suppose this is it. Not even he will be so suspicious as to think so many of you came here only to kill yourselves.”

“If there's any silver lining to come outta this, Kii-chan, I'll take it,” Argo told her. “Kii-bou,” she continued, looking back at him. “This is kinda why I was lookin' for ya. Right now, we need everybody we can get clearing the dungeons. I know, I know, you're not a leader. Ain't the point. You're doing something. An' you've even got a girl with you.”

Asuna pushed herself up, seeming to notice only then where she'd been leaning. “We're just battle partners,” she said, indignation bringing some color back to her face. “That's all there is to it!”

Argo raised both hands, some of the familiar humor coming back to her expression. “Didn't say a word otherwise, did I? Point is, Aa-chan, you're a girl, an' you're fighting. That'll get the macho guys going, and might just get some of the other girls moving. Might not be many of us here, but we all count!” She grinned, then sobered again. Mostly. “Better yet, ya got a Dark Elf with ya. I didn't dare to hope you'd run into any of them yet.”

“There is little my people can do to help right now, Argo,” Kizmel said, somehow managing to look martial in a bath towel. “We have only one ship here, and Captain Emlas looks to his own first. Even when we can regroup with others, Her Majesty Queen Idhrendis would be the one to make any decisions of formal alliance.

“That being said.” She sat up in her chair, squaring her shoulders. “For now, our immediate interests align, and I owe much to these two Swordmasters. For as long as our paths are met, they may count on my sword.”

Kirito knew she was just an NPC. He knew that even if she wasn't, that was at least half pure pragmatism, her questline blocked as much as the Swordmasters' progress by the Skywall. He tried to hold to that knowledge, to keep his detachment. To keep safe.

But it still felt warm. That declaration, and the smile the elf girl turned on him and his impromptu partner. I… haven't felt like this since….

Hurriedly pushing that memory away, he glanced at Asuna. She had her own demons, he knew, even if he'd never dared ask. The way she'd proclaimed her life over that first night had said volumes, whether he knew the details or not. So really, he wasn't at all surprised to see her smile in response to the elven knight's words.

“Even one sword's a big help, Kii-chan,” Argo said, giving Kizmel a nod and fangy smile, and walked back to the table. “An' it sounds like we can count on ya to put a good word in fer us, when the time comes. Right now, I'll take it.” She brought up her menu then, flipped through it, and materialized a small book. “Remind me later to ask you how much of our menu stuff—I think elves call it 'Mystic Scribing'?—you can use. In the meantime… here ya go, Kii-bou. Story fer a story, an' everything I got so far 'bout the Tolbana area.”

She slid it across the table, and Kirito picked it up with some trepidation. He wasn't sure the local quest info had been part of the initial deal, and it always made him nervous when Argo the Rat seemed generous. “Anything I should know right off?” he asked warily.

“Maybe a couple things.” Argo dropped back into her chair and leaned forward to rest her elbows on the table, bracing her chin on her hands. “First? I'm not the only one who's been lookin' for ya. They've been usin' cut-outs, I think, so the middleman's name prolly won't help ya. Though I'll sell it if ya really want,” she added, with another grin. “Second? …There's been an Integrity Knight nosing around. They never get real close to land, an' I don't think anybody but beta testers even know what they are, but they're checking things out. Might wanna keep an eye out.”

That put Kirito's hairs right on end. He had no idea why someone would be looking for him, of all people. He hadn't exactly been unknown during the beta, but he couldn't imagine anyone would be that interested in reconnecting with him.

That was more confusing than anything else. The confirmation that he'd really seen an Integrity Knight that first evening was beyond ominous. It was just as likely to mean nothing but Kayaba goading the players on, true. His instincts—his memories—insisted it couldn't be that simple.

Before he could follow that thought very far, though, Argo pushed herself to her feet. “Welp, that's all I really got to tell ya tonight, guys,” she said, heading for the door. “Stay safe. And Kii-bou?” she added over her shoulder, grinning. “Have fun tonight—but try to get some sleep, 'kay?”

“Argo!”

Asuna had expected to sleep better, in a full-on bed in a human-style farmhouse. The soft mattress was certainly much more comfortable than Moonshadow's bunks, and there was more than room enough for her to stretch. It was, really, not that different from the guest room she'd sometimes slept in at her grandparents' house.

That was probably part of why she wasn't sleeping, just past midnight. Staring up at the hardwood ceiling, she realized this was the first time she'd slept in a proper bed since becoming trapped inside SAO, and it was enough to make her homesick. Even for the home she'd been trying to escape, for just a little while.

But that's not the worst of it. Not really.

“Sleep eludes you, Asuna?”

She tried not to jump. For all she knew, Kirito had managed to get to sleep, and she didn't want to wake him. Taking a steadying breath, Asuna turned to look at her bedmate. “It's a little hard tonight, yeah,” she admitted, voice pitched so only elven ears could hear. “I've got a lot to think about, Kizmel.”

Kizmel had, in the end, ended up sharing Asuna's bed for the night, Kirito having assured her—with more than a little red in his face—that he'd be fine by himself. Fortunately for the comfort of all involved, or at least the two players, the beds were indeed large enough for two, with a little breathing space between. For all Kizmel's blithe unconcern, the knight was sticking solidly to her own side.

Now the elf girl nodded slowly, plainly unsurprised by Asuna's insomnia. “It is a great deal to take in,” she said, voice as soft as the player's. “My own people's losses have been dear enough, since this waking dream began, yet in the end they're but the latest in a war that has lasted a lifetime. For your people….”

“Two thousand dead,” Asuna got out, looking back up at the ceiling. “In just two weeks…. My people haven't fought a real war in almost a century, Kizmel. And we're not soldiers.” She swallowed. “It… honestly, it doesn't quite feel real.”

Some of that sense of unreality, she was sure, was because of SAO's nature. Those two thousand dead wouldn't even have left bodies, even those who hadn't fallen into the Cloud Sea. None of them would've felt any pain, any more than she had when fighting Forest Elves and monsters. There was never blood, just polygons and particle effects.

Even changing clothes was done by menu selections, making for a surreal clash with the intense realism of the world itself. And I'm sharing a bed with a Dark Elf.

“So it always is, with war,” Kizmel told her, drawing her gaze back to the elf. There was a sadness in those violet eyes, making it hard to remember in that moment she was only a program. “No one steps onto the battlefield prepared. Not the first time. Those who can adapt learn to live with it, but it's never easy.” She paused, a flicker of a darker shadow passing through her eyes. “At least, it should not be. We all must be able to move forward under that burden, but it is a terrible thing to accept it.”

Wise words. Asuna didn't really want to think what kind of person she'd be, if she could shrug off so many deaths. She knew she had to change, to survive in this world—but not like that. Not even for the abstract. Those numbers aren't just statistics, to the people who knew them.

At a stray thought, she glanced over at the other bed. To all appearances, under the light of Aincrad's moons, Kirito was sound asleep. Whether that was true, she didn't know. She suspected, though, that he wasn't. He'd taken the news as hard as she had. Besides which….

“I wonder,” she found herself murmuring, “if Kirito-kun knew any of them.”

“Ah.” Kizmel followed her gaze. “He participated in what you call the 'beta test', did he not? It does seem possible. …Certainly, something wounded him deeply, once.” The elf girl paused, a frown creasing lilac brows. “And the news of an Integrity Knight clearly troubles him. Has he encountered the Axiom Church's knights before?”

“I don't see how. He told me no one in the beta got far enough to meet one.” Still, Asuna found herself frowning, too. “You're right, though. That's really got him spooked, doesn't it? And… whatever it was that happened when he got the Anneal Blade. He still won't give me a straight answer about that….”

“Indeed. Nonetheless….” There was a rustling of sheets, and a hand clasped Asuna's. Startled, she turned to look back at Kizmel, and found the elf girl giving her a gentle smile. “Kirito is hardly the only one bearing a hidden burden, now is he?”

Asuna flinched. I… haven't told either of them, have I? Not about her mother, about her family's expectations. About how stifled she'd felt, before her brother finally introduced her to the concept of the NerveGear, and to Sword Art Online. Not about why her life as she knew it had ended, come what may in Kayaba's death game.

Not why she woke sometimes from nightmares of home, to the comfort of Aincrad.

“Kizmel, I….”

Kizmel shook her head. “You need not say anything, Asuna,” she said. “We've known each other a fortnight. Far too soon for any of us to so readily share our secret worries. Whether your fears be great or small, I'll not pry. I believe Kirito deserves the same courtesy.”

“…You're right. Thank you, Kizmel.” Asuna took a deep breath, letting tension out with it, and turned a small smile on the elf girl. “Still. You have secrets, Kizmel? I'm surprised, with how, um, open you've been.”

“Heh. I simply see little reason to hide from comrades, in such privacy. You'd hardly see me walk the streets so indecently.” Kizmel squeezed Asuna's hand, turned her face back to the ceiling, and let her eyes fall closed. “Oh, yes, Asuna. Even I have my burdens.” A sigh, so quiet Asuna wasn't even sure she'd heard it. “Someday, I hope to share them….”

Two thousand dead, in only two weeks.

Kirito had known the moment it became clear that Kayaba was telling the truth that things would be bad. That very, very few players would be remotely prepared to fight for their lives, assuming they could even come to grips with the reality of the situation. He hadn't been sure he'd survive, even with his foreknowledge. Without Kizmel, he wasn't convinced he and Asuna would have made it through those two weeks at all.

But two thousand… in his worst nightmares, he hadn't believed it would be so bad. Hadn't been able to picture so many would snap so hard that they leapt off into the Cloud Sea.

I'm not good with people. That doesn't mean it doesn't make me sick to think of so many dying. …We need to push through. If we can open the sky, even a little, maybe that'll give people hope. If we can bring enough people together, maybe we can even hold off the Integrity Knights.

Kirito kept that thought close, as he and his partners worked their way through Tolbana's quests. He was no leader, but if he could be part of the example that brought someone to the front of the efforts to break through the Skywall, well, he'd do his best.

Out of respect for Kizmel, they abstained from a few quests involving cutting down trees. Otherwise, the three of them took on everything they could find, from gathering small plants to thinning out one type of monster or another. At Asuna's insistence, they repeated [The Heifer Strikes Back] once a day, building up a reserve of cream to make their rations tolerable.

How Kizmel interpreted that quest resetting itself every day, Kirito wasn't quite sure. She'd only muttered once about the oddities of Swordmasters and Kayaba's illusions, and otherwise simply enjoyed the fruits of the quest. Even when it ought to have been clear to her that the other players they encountered from time to time were somehow going through the non-repeatable quests they already had.

Probably, he supposed, it was factored into the way she viewed Aincrad as a magic simulacrum. He found it more than a little disturbing that she was programmed to recognize SAO as fake, while still considering herself real, but it did make it easier to talk with her.

Day by day, they grew stronger—even Kizmel, whom Kirito was surprised to discover didn't have as much of a level advantage over players as her counterpart in the beta. Before long, he and Asuna had caught up to her level of ten.

They also ran out of quests that same day. Fortunately, that night Argo brought news that the Skywall Tower's entrance had been found—and the next morning, Captain Emlas set them on their next task.

November 28th, 2032

Aincrad's moons had barely set, dawn only beginning to break, when Moonshadow eased down into the hollow of Einsla's southern mountains. So early, chances were good no one had seen the dark ship make the flight from her crash site. Surrounded by tall peaks, only another airship or a particularly dedicated mountaineer could possibly have spied on the ship now.

That was Captain Emlas' preference, and Kirito couldn't say he disagreed. He was expecting enough problems if more players got wind of what he and Asuna had been up to the last few weeks. This, he was more than a little worried could set off another riot.

Which is the last thing any of us need, he thought, crouched along the port railing on Moonshadow's deck. People are just starting to recover from the launch day riot as it is. If any of us are ever going to get out of here, we can't afford any more setbacks.

So far, though, there really was no sign anyone had noticed them, or had the means to follow. That left Kirito's attention free to gauge distances as Moonshadow descended toward the crack in the rocky ground. Too high, and this wouldn't work. Too low, and the ship would crash—again—destroying the goodwill they'd built up with the Dark Elf captain.

After a few moments, he turned to the ship's sterncastle and gave a sharp nod. The helmsman nodded back, and with only the faintest jolt the ship halted in midair, her engines quieting to a whisper.

“So.” Captain Emlas offered a nod of his own, with maybe the barest hint of a smile. “At least you've a good grasp of distances, Swordmaster. Perhaps you'll be up to the task ahead of you after all.” He turned to the hatch leading back into the ship, adding over his shoulder, “We'll leave as soon as the three of you are down, and return at dusk. Do make good use of your time.”

“Can't he ever just say 'good job'?” Asuna muttered, walking to join Kirito by the rail. “I mean, honestly….”

Kizmel chuckled, following her over. “I fear my people's airship captains—and engineers, at that—tend to be a rather stern lot, at least where their ships are concerned. Though given the risks of sailing, they do perhaps have reason.” She lifted one eyebrow. “Speaking of risks. You have done this before, I trust, Kirito?”

He really didn't think he deserved the pointed look Asuna was giving him. Still, Kirito's smile was honestly confident. “We made it to the Tenth Island in the beta test. There's a few places even tighter than this out there.” Though I never partied with girls for this kind of thing before. Well, except Argo, but she's… different.

Forcing thoughts of the Rat out of his mind, he carefully triggered his wrist-grapnel, just enough to let it swing free. Ramming it into Moonshadow's deck wouldn't be half as bad as a crash, but he was still pretty sure Emlas wouldn't appreciate it. Hooking it onto the rail by hand was much safer for all concerned.

With it ready, he gestured to Asuna, who came closer with a dubious expression. “Don't even think of taking advantage of this, Kirito-kun,” she warned. “I'll tell Argo.”

Eep. That was probably an empty threat—she couldn't possibly be any more eager to give the Rat incriminating info than he was—but Kirito had no intention of testing that. He was, therefore, very careful of where his hand went as he wrapped his free arm around Asuna's waist. Well, at least this'll be over quickly.

With her arms securely around his back, he stepped up onto the rail. “I'll be right back,” he told Kizmel. “This shouldn't take long.”

She nodded. “Be careful. …It really should be me going first, however. As strong as you both already are, I am a Knight….”

“And your duty is get that Key to safety,” Asuna reminded her. “We'll be fine, Kizmel, I promise.” She glanced past the elf girl. “If anything, I'm surprised you're not sending him down first.”

“Yip!”

Kizmel glanced back at the wolf sitting behind her, currently acting more like an eager hound, and rolled her eyes. “Leaving aside the fact that it's also my duty to bring Cavall safely home to my sister, I'd not saddle Kirito with trying to carry him. For a hunter, Cavall has considerable difficulty sitting still.” She waved a hand. “Go, before I change my mind.”

Deciding he didn't really want to know which part she was considering, Kirito let go of the rail, and let himself fall. Asuna managed to mostly stifle her yelp, and only in the second before the grapnel's line went taut did she cling tight enough to make things awkward.

Then they were descending at a more steady pace, down through the crack into the cavern below. “Okay,” Asuna said, a few meters down, “this may be the weirdest thing I've done since we've been here. …Is it odd that that makes it easier to take, somehow?”

“Most of the fun of being here is doing things we couldn't back home, right?” Kirito flexed his left hand carefully, adjusting their rate of descent. He had done this before, but it'd been a while, and the grapnel could be tricky with fine motion. Especially when doing down. “Right now, I think we need that more than ever.”

“I won't argue with you on that.”

Her tone made him wonder, not for the first time, what kind of nightmares Asuna had, especially on the nights when they hadn't worked themselves to exhaustion. He knew he had all too many of his own.

Soon enough, their feet touched the stone ground, and Asuna quickly stepped away. “Dark in here,” she said after a moment. “There'd better be some torches around here somewhere.”

“There usually are, in places like this. Though I prefer the Nightvision skill, when it becomes available, torches make it too hard to see anything coming outside their radius—shutting up now.” Shying away from the glare she sent his way, he coughed and glanced upward. “So, uh, you good here for a minute?”

“Probably. If nothing in the dark tries to eat me.” She waved a hand, drawing her rapier with the other and pointedly turning to face the tunnel. “Go.”

Kirito went, ascending at a rate just a bit faster than was probably safe. At least it was easier with just his own weight to worry about—and he even managed to avoid bashing his head on Moonshadow's hull, successfully using his momentum to flip up and over.

Kizmel's eyebrows went up at his abrupt arrival. “Did something happen? I heard no sounds of battle….”

“Just fine,” he said quickly. “Just, um, I figured we should get moving as quick as we can, so Captain Emlas can get the ship under cover.”

“Ah. You irritated Asuna.” Shaking her head with a small smile, she stepped in close. “No matter. It's good to see how well the two of you get along.”

If provoking Asuna's sharp tongue was “getting along”, Kirito hated to think how Kizmel defined arguments. …Which was still safer to think about than the fact that she'd unequipped her metal armor to lighten the load, and unlike Asuna seemed to have no problem at all pressing herself tightly against him the whole way down.

This has got to violate the anti-harassment code. I thought the whole idea was to protect the NPCs from perverted players?

Either that was something else Kayaba had changed, or an NPC initiating the contact wasn't a possibility the system had expected. Either way, Kirito got much more of an idea of Kizmel's figure than he was comfortable with by the time they reached the tunnel floor, and he found himself very grateful Asuna was still facing the other way.

Kizmel unhurriedly untangled herself from him when their feet were on solid ground, and with a flick of his wrist Kirito pulled his grapnel loose. “Well, we're all here,” he said, hoping the darkness hid his blush. “Let's go see what the Key to the Lost Grave opens.”

There was a flash, and suddenly Asuna was holding a lit torch in her free hand. “Found one!” she said triumphantly. “…So, you don't know what's in here either, Kirito-kun?”

“I don't even know if this was here in the beta test,” he said, following in the fencer's wake. “I never noticed it back then—though honestly, once the first Skywall was down and airships became available, there wasn't much reason for me to explore the rest of Einsla.” He shrugged. “If it was here, I doubt it had anything to do with the Dark Elves.”

Personally, though, Kirito was leaning toward this particular tunnel not having existed in the beta at all. Dark Elven tunnels and caverns had a particular look to them, and this one was no different. Black stone, gleaming in the torchlight, and smoother than any natural cavern. Not quite the disturbing, light-drinking obsidian of another NPC faction he remembered, this darkness somehow felt comforting, in an odd way.

I suppose they could've reskinned this part of the map since the beta, but… somehow it doesn't feel like it.

A few meters down the tunnel, with nothing but more onyx walls yet in sight, Kizmel quietly cleared her throat. “I've been meaning to ask. Just what exactly is this 'beta test' you keep mentioning? I gather it gave you advance knowledge of Aincrad, such that most Swordmasters lack, but so far the context has escaped me.”

“Um.” Kirito's feet slipped on the smooth stone at that question; he hoped his quick scrabble for balance wasn't too obvious. How in the world do I explain that, anyway? Kizmel was astonishingly intelligent for an NPC, to the point that even he—maybe especially he—sometimes had trouble remembering that was exactly what she was. Kayaba had even written into the lore an explanation for the world—and himself—that allowed NPCs to react naturally to explanations of the Swordmasters in general, and the trap they'd fallen into in particular.

But how to fit the idea of a “preview” of the “transitory world” Kizmel believed SAO to be….

“I'm pretty new to this stuff myself,” Asuna said, into the awkward silence. “And I wasn't part of the beta myself. But, um… think of it this way, Kizmel: it was basically a test of the spell that brought us here for real. It wasn't complete, but it gave the people involved at least something of an idea of what the real thing would be like.” She glanced back. “Is that about right, Kirito-kun?”

“Y-yeah. More or less.” Kirito relaxed, the sudden tension in his shoulders leaving as quick as it had come. It wasn't an exact metaphor—as far as he'd been able to tell, the full archipelago had been in the beta, there just hadn't been time to see all of it—but it was close enough. “It looks like it missed some details, though.”

“Ah, I see.” Kizmel nodded, looking thoughtful. “Which is why you knew of my people, yet did not expect to encounter us here.” She chuckled, the sound echoing off the stone walls around them. “Not surprising, really. Kayaba may have used information gained from us for your 'beta test', but Lyusula does prefer her secrets. Even I knew of neither the Jade Key's resting place nor our current destination before I was given my current mission.”

Huh. That's… pretty clever, actually. That was one of the galling things about Kayaba Akihiko, and the death game in which he'd trapped twenty thousand players: his attention to detail was almost impossible not to admire. At least for a gamer. Which still doesn't explain that one NPC in Horunka. Kayaba couldn't have known about that. There's just no way—

“So, you do know what's up ahead, Kizmel?” Asuna looked back again, torchlight dancing over her questioning look. “What is it?”

The elf girl chuckled again. “Oh, now that would be spoiling the surprise, Asuna. Let me just say, it may not be as impressive as it should, but I believe you'll be pleased nonetheless.”

Kirito blinked. “…Does it always sound like that when I'm giving out beta info?”

“Yes,” Asuna said firmly, turning back to face the path ahead. “Yes, it does. You're impossible. And you, Kizmel, had better not be picking up his bad habits!”

Kizmel's laughter, bright and cheering, was somehow worth the taste of his own medicine. “Asuna, I believe his habits will be the least of your worries, before long… and in any case, you needn't wait much longer for answers.”

If he hadn't already gotten used to the light from Asuna's torch, the sudden brightness ahead would've—well, come as close to hurting as SAO ever allowed. Deep blue flames, flanking an onyx door that just barely stood out from the surrounding stone. Almost featureless, except for a keyhole and a carved handle.

It didn't take a beta tester to know what to do from there. Stepping in front, Kirito slipped in the key Captain Emlas had given him, turned it till it clicked, and pulled the door open. On the other side—

“Wow….” Asuna tossed the torch back into the tunnel, letting it crash to the stone and go out, and ran into the cavern beyond. Wide and tall, it must've been two hundred meters across, and fifty high; Kirito realized it was dug up into one of the mountains above. Compared to the tunnel, it was also surprisingly bright, lit by a vast opening on the far side that led out into the sky. So low beneath Einsla's surface, the roiling Cloud Sea lent its own light from below.

Following Asuna in, Kirito found his boots sinking into dried, crumbling soil, not ringing against solid rock. The walls and ceiling were as smooth as the access tunnel, but oddly gray and mottled instead of pure black. And around them, scattered throughout the cavern….

“I suppose this is to be expected,” Kizmel mused, looking around at the petrified, long-dead trees that still stood in the dry soil. “None of my people have been been in here since the Sealing, like as not. Hardly a shadow of the grandeur it would once have had. Nonetheless….” She smiled. “It's good to see a little of home. May we soon see this as it would be alive, on the next island.”

“Can we use that?” Asuna pointed to the long, lean shape cradled by the cavern's outer edge, battered and wrapped in vines—the only sign of life Kirito had yet seen in the cavern. “She looks to be in bad shape, but….”

Kizmel nodded, walking up to a wooden flank. “Oh, yes,” she murmured, laying her fingers against it. “It will take time, time we might otherwise spend charting the Skywall Tower. But there's life here yet.” She turned a warm smile on the two players. “Come, my comrades. When the Skywall falls, we shall be ready.”

December 2nd, 2032

Kizmel hadn't seen nearly as much of Tolbana as she'd expected, in the two weeks since first passing through the town's Safe Haven wards. At the time, even after two weeks of sharing a cabin with two humans, she had not quite realized the two of them were nearly as uncomfortable with other Swordmasters as were her people.

Between staying in a house on the very edge of town and spending most of every day dealing with tasks in the surrounding wilderness, she thought she'd seen no more than half of Tolbana. Until the day Argo the Rat brought word that someone had called a meeting, she'd no idea what the far end of the town held.

Certainly she'd not known of the amphitheater dominating the northwest side. Not until she walked through the crumbling gate, Kirito to her right and Asuna beyond him. She found herself immediately wondering what purpose it had originally served, given that its state of disrepair suggested the current residents of Tolbana had no use for it.

Stone, it was, battered and weathered, with seven levels of bench-like tiers descending to a hollow. Dominating that low center was a fountain, at least as dilapidated as the rest of the amphitheater yet still bubbling with fresh water.

At the least, Tolbana's disinterest was apparently convenient for the Swordmasters. When the three of them walked in and found seats on one of the highest tiers, there were already dozens present, all of them with the arms and armor of the summoned warriors.

“So many,” Asuna murmured, face hidden in the shadow of her hood. “I'm glad to see it. After everything, I didn't think so many would show up for this, knowing how dangerous it is.”

Kizmel nodded, still carefully concealed by her own enchanted hood. Though over one hundred Swordmasters had ventured as far as Tolbana, from what she'd observed—and Argo had, for a price, reported—most of them were still cautiously building up their strength and resources. She could only remember seeing a few parties wandering into the Skywall Tower, while she and her comrades had been exploring it.

Their group had mostly avoided those others, and indeed the Swordmasters in general seemed unfortunately wary of one another. Nonetheless, she recognized a few of the faces now ringing the amphitheater, and a few others stood out from the crowd. A very tall axeman, skin darker than any other Swordmaster she'd seen—were it not for his ears, she might've thought him one of her own people—was the first she noticed, sitting straight and confident a couple of tiers down. He was also bald, the first such she'd seen among the Swordmasters.

Not too far from him sat a swordsman who might've been made as his antithesis: short, pale, and with the oddest hair Kizmel had seen in her entire life. That reminds me of—what was the plant near Castle Galey? A cactus? How very strange. Though it was hard to tell from behind and at a distance, he seemed quite tense.

By contrast, the man who caught her eye on the opposite end of the amphitheater might've been made of stone. Gray-haired, face hidden by a peculiar white mask, he wore a blue robe edged in white triangles. He also carried a curved sword Kirito had once told her was a katana, and he sat with the utter stillness that told Kizmel he knew exactly what he was doing with it.

Down close to the fountain that lay at the center of the amphitheater, her gaze was drawn to someone who could hardly seem to sit still. A girl, looking somewhat younger than Kirito or Asuna, with dark hair and what looked suspiciously like an Anneal Blade slung over her back. In stark contrast to every other Swordmaster Kizmel could see, she was the picture of excited anticipation.

“You think this is a lot?” Kirito said, breaking into her observations. When she looked his way, he was shaking his head. “There's only forty-four people here, counting us and Argo—and don't expect to see Argo in the boss fight. That's four short of a full raid party.”

Kizmel perked up, interested. “Forty-eight, for a single foe? You'd hardly so many Knights in one place for anything less than a pitched battle, of a kind my people haven't fought in centuries.”

“We're not Knights,” he reminded her. “There are some players—Swordmasters—who could do it with fewer, but not many. And that was when this was a game to us. Now, when our lives are really on the line? None of us are that good yet.”

“…Ah. Of course.” It was too easy to forget, sometimes, just how ill-prepared the Swordmasters had been. Her companions came across as inexperienced, yes, but hardly complete novices. “Put that way, however, I'm more surprised. If the Guardian is expected to be so strong, one would expect few to be so brave.”

“Not brave. Scared.” When the two girls fixed him with questioning looks, Kirito looked down at the stone bench, frowning. “How do I put it… I'd expect people to be afraid of being left behind. In this world, victory in battle is all that matters. Miss out on a fight this big, and everyone will leave you behind.”

It was Kizmel's turn to frown, wondering what nuance of the Swordmasters' newborn society she was missing. Asuna, though, slowly nodded. “…I think I get it,” she said softly. “Like falling out of the top ten in class, or below the seventieth percentile on a test?”

He blinked. “Y-yeah. That's… not a bad comparison, really.”

Kizmel cleared her throat. “And this means…?”

The two of them looked over at her—Kirito sheepish, Asuna with a shadowed look in her eyes her hood couldn't quite explain. “Where we come from,” the fencer said slowly, “education is… well, pretty much everything. If you don't do well enough in school, you might never catch up. Your entire adult life rides on it.”

There was a deeper, more personal story there, the elf was sure. But Kirito was nodding, and picked up where Asuna left off. “She's right. Here in Aincrad? With the stat system that governs Swordmaster strength, missing out on the experience and gear from even one boss fight might be crippling. We have to keep up, or the other players will leave us behind—and we might never be strong enough to keep fighting on the front line.” He smiled, with little humor. “And you can bet it won't be long before that starts killing a Swordmaster's social life, too.”

For a moment, she just turned that over in her mind. “I see.” She'd known about the basic concept, she herself was bound to it in this world, after all, but she realized now she'd never properly appreciated the implications. In a real war, after all, the enemy did not adhere to a linear progression.

Which means this is not a war as I know it, she realized. Kirito may be inexperienced, but he may understand this world, and its battles, better than I. She made a mental note to discuss the issue with him later, in much greater detail. And to point it out to Captain Emlas, as well.

This is why my comrades died to the Forest Elf, while two novice humans were enough to save my life.

There was no time to ruminate on her realization just then, though. One more Swordmaster had arrived, walking confidently into the arena, and without breaking stride he leapt onto the lip of the fountain at the amphitheater's center. “Hello, everyone!” he called out, standing straight and tall, one hand resting on the hilt of the sword slung at his side. “Thank you all for coming!”

Tall, this one. Handsome—at least for a human. Shining blue armor, which Kizmel judged to be of about the highest quality to be found on Einsla. With that, his eye-catching blue hair—odd color for a Swordmaster, that—the shield on his back, and the Anneal Blade at his waist, the man was as close to the living ideal of a human knight as she could imagine.

Perhaps some true knights were among the Swordmasters trapped here?

“My name is Diavel,” the man continued, smiling at the assembled crowd. “And I like to think my class is 'Knight'!”

She was surprised when Kirito snorted at the introduction; the more so when other Swordmasters outright laughed. “Aw, c'mon!” one of them called out. “SAO doesn't even use a class system! Might as well just call yourself 'Hero', right?”

Kizmel didn't understand the derision, but in any case Diavel didn't seem bothered. “Fair enough—but I'm not so arrogant as to claim a title like that when I haven't done anything yet! But,” he added, raising a hand to his chest, “the time is coming that we might all be the heroes Aincrad needs. This morning, my party and I found the way to the final floor of the Skywall Tower!”

The hubbub that provoked, she understood perfectly. Though they'd been busy with their own “sidequest”, as Kirito had put it, she and her companions had done their fair share of scouting the Tower. They'd even reached the nineteenth floor, just below the top, but she'd had no idea anyone had explored so much of it. From all appearances, neither had anyone else.

Diavel raised his hand again, quieting the murmurers. It was a measure of his sheer presence that as fractious a group as the Swordmasters seemed to be obeying so readily. “The top floor is smaller than those below,” he said. “Therefore, I expect we'll find the boss room early tomorrow. And with it, the key to lowering the first Skywall, and opening the sky itself.”

The hush that followed, Kizmel also understood. Though she suspected she didn't grasp the full meaning it had to a people who came from a world without airships, she was just as trapped on Einsla as any of them.

“It's been a long month,” Diavel said then, solemnly. “Over two thousand people have died, and only now are we reaching the first milestone in our quest to free ourselves. But!” He swung out his arm, gesturing sharply at the shimmering gold above and behind him, blocking off the sky. “That's because so few have come forward to fight. If we win this, my friends, we'll be an example to every player trapped on this island, in this world! We'll show everyone that it can be done, that we can challenge this world and live! And with every Swordmaster we inspire, every one that joins the fight, we'll be that much stronger, that much quicker to clear the way to Bifrost, and home!”

That brought a cheer, and Kizmel herself wasn't unmoved by the self-proclaimed knight's words. Even so, there was a shadow of melancholy to her feelings—and she couldn't help but notice neither of her companions joined the cheering, either.

To me, it's the understanding that the Swordmasters only seek freedom, not the aid Kayaba promised they'd bring my people. I wonder why Kirito and Asuna might have mixed feelings here?

“Hold on just one second!”

The shout cut right through the cheers. All eyes, including Kizmel's, were suddenly on the source of it: the short, cactus-haired man she'd noticed earlier, who now jumped to his feet. Stalking into the amphitheater's center, he whirled to direct a glare at the assembled Swordmasters.

“Diavel-han's talkin' about 'inspiring' people. Well, y'know what 'inspiration' needs?” The man didn't wait for a reply. “Trust, that's what! An' I'd say there's at least five or ten of ya right here who can't be trusted one bit!”

That started the crowd muttering again, and left Kizmel blinking in confusion. A glance to her right, though, showed her Kirito wincing, hand twitching as if he wanted to cover his face. “I knew this would happen,” he muttered, almost too low for even her to hear. “…It's not like he's all wrong….”

“Excuse me, good sir,” Diavel broke in, still the picture of a knight. “By all means, let's hear out your grievance. But could you please first introduce yourself?”

“Hmph! Fair 'nough. The name's Kibaou.” His voice was much rougher than Diavel's, and if Kizmel wasn't mistaken he wasn't even speaking quite the same dialect as other Swordmasters. Kibaou's indignation, however, came through perfectly clear. “Now, then! I've got the guts to say who I am, so how 'bout the rest of ya show some spine? Own up to who ya are! You know who I mean!”

He thrust out one arm then, jabbing a pointing finger at the gathered Swordmasters. He cannot possibly mean elves, can he? Glancing around as unobtrusively as she could, Kizmel could only see two others wearing hoods at all like hers, and they were Asuna and—almost hidden behind a pillar—Argo. There is also that masked man over there, but his ears are plainly visible.

Diavel cleared his throat. “By 'them', Kibaou-san, I assume you mean the beta testers?”

Oh. Flicking her gaze to her right, she saw Kirito's hands begin to clench. The two thousand “players” who had advance knowledge of this world. …Why should Kibaou distrust them?

“You're damn right!” Kibaou gave Diavel a jerky nod, before turning the full force of his glare back on the audience. Beginning to pace, he said, “The first day we were here, right after Kayaba's damn speech, the beta testers ran right outta town! They knew where to go to find money, gear, the best grindin' spots, an' they didn't share any of it with the rest of us!” He spun on his heel, stalking back the other way. “They coulda stayed in town, told everybody where to find the good stuff, but no! They only cared 'bout themselves, an' by the time the rest of us started goin' out, they'd already taken the best of it!”

There was context Kizmel was sorely missing. She certainly understood the concept of limited hunting grounds, but the rest of it—the emphasis Swordmasters placed on “rare” equipment and “grinding” for experience—she was rapidly realizing was more complex than it seemed.

Whatever the exact implications were, she could see Kibaou's words were striking a nerve with Kirito. Asuna's eyes were narrowing in indignation, but Kirito—

“We're s'posed ta set an example?” Kibaou returned to the center, planted his feet, and glared up at the Swordmasters. “Then start with trust! Start with payin' up! If you want me to even think of trustin' ya in a fight, split your goods with the rest of us who're gonna be fightin' that boss!”

An outrageous demand. Kizmel didn't entirely understand Kibaou's complaint, nor why Kirito seemed to think there was merit to it, but she did understand one thing: the uncouth man's entire argument rested on the assumption that the “beta testers” had not been at risk themselves, and that everything they'd done had been for only their own benefit.

She couldn't speak to most “beta testers”. As far as she knew, the only ones she'd met were Kirito and Argo. But she'd first met Kirito doing his best to help Asuna—a complete newcomer to Aincrad—survive and stand on her own. A first meeting that had also saved Kizmel herself, nearly at the cost of Kirito's own life.

And my own sins are blacker than his by far, she thought, and gathered herself to stand. I'll not see him so cruelly slandered—

“Hold up just a minute there, bud.”

Only when Kirito abruptly slumped back did Kizmel realize he'd been about to stand and say something himself. Instead, the two of them turned to look at the source of the new voice: the tall, dark axeman she'd noticed earlier. He was raising a hand for attention, and when Diavel nodded to him he stood.

“My name is Agil,” he said, walking to stand opposite Kibaou. “For the record, I'm a newbie. Got my start with one of those classes the Fuurinkazan School's running in Origia. I didn't know anything more about this game than anybody else, when I started. So.” He turned to Kibaou. “Let me make sure I got this right. You think the three thousand players who've died, died because the beta testers just ran out and took all the good stuff, instead of staying in Origia to train everybody up?”

Kizmel had to give Kibaou some measure of credit. Though he was clearly intimidated by Agil's sheer size, he quickly rallied, spine stiffening. “That's right!” he snapped. “I heard they got all the way to the Tenth Island during the beta! How many more players would still be alive if the betas told us everything they knew, huh?”

In a way, she had to admit that was a fair point. If the illusion those Swordmasters had gone through before Kayaba's true spell had been so accurate, the intelligence gained from it would doubtless have been invaluable. Information, she knew all too well, won more wars than force of arms.

From the murmurs among the other Swordmasters in the amphitheater, she wasn't the only one thinking of that. From the set of his jaw, Kirito was, as well. But Asuna only sat very still, watching. Kizmel wondered if the fencer had realized the same flaws in the argument that she had.

“Well, Kibaou, I'll admit you've got a reasonable point,” Agil said, giving the shorter man a nod. “All things being equal, I might even say you're right to want reparations.” That drew more murmurs, and a surprised look from Kibaou—one that quickly turned suspicious, even before the axeman continued. “Thing is, Kibaou, things are a whole lot messier than you think.”

“And what's that supposed to mean?!”

“Well, first? You ask me, the death rate's got nothing to do with knowing or not knowing. Speaking for myself, I didn't realize at first just what it meant that we can die here. Tactics are a lot different when you can't eat the death penalty and respawn.” Agil shook his head, and even from where she was Kizmel could see a darkness in his eyes. “My bet is, people raced right out, thinking they just had to be a little more careful—and never thought it through, or bothered to learn SAO's rules. Full-dive VR's different, man, and SAO's the biggest game it's got.

“And the word is, an awful lot of the betas who got stuck here with us are dead, too. Supposed to be around twelve hundred of them got the retail version, and supposedly at least five hundred of 'em aren't here anymore.”

Kirito let out a breath, like he'd been punched. A quick glance his way showed Kizmel her comrade's face had gone pale, and though he was obviously trying to control himself, his shoulders were shivering. Asuna wondered if he knew any of the dead. I would be surprised, now, if he did not.

As unobtrusively as she could, she rested her hand on his, and was glad to see Asuna subtly shift to bump his shoulder. It was perhaps too soon to say the three of them were friends, but they were at least comrades. Comrades saw to their own.

A hush had come over the amphitheater again, and even Kibaou seemed to have been brought up short. Then his face twisted in a scowl again, and he gestured dismissively. “Big words, if you're right. But how do ya know that, huh? Any betas tell ya that to your face?”

“Head of the Fuurinkazan School did some digging,” Agil told him, folding his arms. “Seems he got his start from a beta, and he wanted to know how they were doing. Do I know for sure it's true? No. But I believe it, for the same reason I don't blame the betas for not coming right out and spilling their guts.”

“May I ask why you're so forgiving, Agil-san?” Diavel put in, rejoining the conversation. He looked as cool and calm as ever, but there was curiosity in his expression now. “Not that I disagree, by any means, but before I give my reasons I'd like to hear yours in full.”

“Why I stood up, Sir Knight.” Agil reached into a belt pouch, and pulled out a small, hardbound book. “This here? It's a strategy guide, sold for zero Cor at a shop in town. In every town, I've found one of these waiting. Basic info on local quests and monsters, already there when players arrive. For free.”

“Free?” Kizmel heard Kirito mutter. “You made me pay full price, Rat….”

“I've seen those, too,” Kibaou said, rolling his eyes. “So?”

“So, who do you think wrote these little books, Kibaou?” Agil shook his head again. “That fast? The author had to have it from the betas. Which gets you wondering, why give it to us in bite-size chunks, not all at once? My bet is, 'cause not everything in the retail version matches the beta test. That's how it is in gaming. So people are out there checking every little detail, make sure it checks out.” He paused. “And anybody who didn't, probably isn't here to warn us.”

Kizmel nodded, under the cover of her hood. It was a treasure beyond gold to know the paths and the enemy—and a trap deadlier than any sword to blindly trust that information, when some of it was wrong.

Though my life was saved by exactly that, she thought, blackly amused by the irony.

Whether Kibaou had any answer to that, she didn't know. Diavel chose that moment to clap his hands, bringing attention back to him. “Well said, Agil-san!” he said loudly. “Yes, better to be sure, than to walk into what we think is a snake's den only to find a dragon. I did that once myself,” he added, smiling ruefully. “Though the information was just from an NPC, and really, it was only a small dragon….”

He's still lucky to be alive. Even small dragons are vicious when their hoards are trespassed…. Hm? Kizmel frowned, a strange feeling tickling the edge of her sixth sense. What is that…?

“That being said, the information is indeed available, my friends,” Diavel went on. “And indeed, through the efforts of the beta testers, my party has made strides we never could have otherwise.”

The feeling intensified. It was almost familiar, yet—not. She'd felt something akin to it before, but this sense had a peculiar flavor of its own. To be sure, most true magic was gone long before my time, but this—I ought to know this, yet I don't. And what I do recognize—surely it can't be?

There was a humming in the air then, growing stronger. First low enough that only Kizmel's ears could hear it, but soon even the Swordmasters were glancing around, wondering what it was.

“My friends,” Diavel said, raising his voice over the sound, “our first task is to defeat the first Barrier Guardian, and bring down the first Skywall. Then we will be free to sail the skies—and this, my friends, is my promise that we'll reach that sky!”

The hum intensified, right along with the sense of strange magic brushing Kizmel's skin—and from the west, above the amphitheater, a hull suddenly leapt into view: the long, lean hull of an airship, keel clad in steel and two great engines mounted on her flanks. Rows of gunports lined those flanks, and as she swung around to port, a young man could seen standing on the deck, waving a sword.

“This, my friends, is the symbol of our coming victory!” Diavel called out. “When the Skywall falls, Liberator shall lead the way!”

Chapter Text

Chapter IV: “Remember That Name”

December 2nd, 2032

In the streets of Tolbana, player morale was probably the highest it had yet been since Kayaba's announcement. Between the word that the first boss would soon be found, and Diavel's surprise reveal of a tangible sign of hope, the players with the courage to leave Origia were feeling optimistic.

Kirito doubted they were outright throwing parties over it. That might just be coming soon, if and when the first Barrier Guardian really was taken down, but for the time being it was more a buzz of conversations and a taut air of anticipation.

None of that reached his small team. Even had sound carried through closed windows, their rented farmhouse was too far away from the center of town—and inside, as he looked out the west window at the night sky, there was a different kind of tension in the air.

“All right,” Asuna said, setting her glass of milk on the table. “Talk to me. Something's bothering both of you about that airship Diavel brought in. I can kind of guess what Kirito-kun's thinking, but what about you, Kizmel?”

Sitting on the couch across from the fencer, hands folded in her lap, Kizmel frowned pensively. “I doubt either of you could feel it,” she began, “but there is something… off, about Liberator. You both know I'm no airship engineer, yet I've traveled enough in my time to know core crystals.” The elf girl shook her head. “It is not Wood, nor the Iron favored by humans. It is not even the twisted darkness of—an enemy whose very name I cannot speak here.”

Well. That wasn't ominous at all. Kirito had a pretty good idea who she was talking about with that last, and normally he would've been relieved to know they weren't involved so early. But if she's implying it's somehow even worse than that….

“Truthfully, I have no idea what alignment that ship's core holds,” Kizmel continued. “I don't believe I've ever encountered such magic at all. I can tell that it is a core crystal, but nothing more.” She looked to Kirito. “You know more of human ships and magicks than I. Do you know of an element other than Iron used in your people's ships?”

He shook his head, still looking out at Aincrad's alien constellations. “Airship mechanics weren't really something I worried about much in the beta,” he admitted. “The crystals you just listed are the only ones I ever heard about, though. The Axiom Church might have something different, but they usually prefer dragons over ships. More to the point—”

“There weren't airships available this early, during the beta,” Asuna finished. “Am I right?” When he finally turned and gave a silent nod, she sighed. “So, just like what we've run into, this is something Kayaba changed. Only this isn't anything to do with the elves at all, so you don't even have a rough idea.”

“Pretty much.”

That spooked Kirito more than he really wanted to admit. Everything to do with Kizmel and the airship Moonshadow had been completely off the rails compared to his beta experience, but at least it was a familiar off the rails. As different as the events were proceeding, the lore was so far about what he knew from the beta test. Just as, so far, everything else on Einsla was more or less as he'd expected it to be.

“We do know one thing, however,” Kizmel looked down at the table, clearly not happy with her own insight. “Sir Diavel is lying about having found his airship via the beta testers' information.”

Yeah. That was gnawing at him, too. Even if he couldn't help feeling warm that the two of them were taking his word for it all. Although…. “Technically, Diavel just said they helped,” he pointed out, leaving the window in favor of the chair next to Asuna's. “Which could just mean some testers were involved in finding it, not that they gave him inside information. And even if he was lying? He might have been trying to head off Kibaou's witch hunt.”

If he was, Kirito couldn't help but be grateful. He felt hideously guilty, but grateful.

“It's still lying,” Asuna said. She picked up her milk again, took a long sip, and grimaced. “Sooner or later, if the truth comes out, that could backfire. Badly.”

“I know.” He brought up his menu, materialized a chunk of bread and a jar of cream, and set to work making his abbreviated dinner. “If we're lucky, though, it won't come out until we're farther along in the Archipelago, when any beta info doesn't matter anymore anyway.”

There was a good chance of that, he figured. After the Tenth Island, nobody knew what was out there. Not even him.

“If we are lucky,” Kizmel said dubiously. She paused to put together her own meal, and dug in with obvious satisfaction. She hadn't liked Moonshadow's rations any more than the two players had. “Which still, unfortunately, leaves us with the question of where and how he obtained the ship. And, of course, the other issues clearly bothering you, Kirito.”

Damn. I hoped they hadn't noticed that. The Royal Guard's pointed look, and Asuna's near-glare, told him he hadn't been that lucky. Affecting a casual shrug, he took a bite of creamy bread and said, “I'm just wondering about his hair, that's all.”

If looks were Sword Skills, Asuna's Linear gaze would've been a critical hit. “His hair,” she repeated flatly.

“Basic hair for players is what we have IRL,” Kirito reminded her around another bite. “We can change style via the default menu settings, but color? That takes dye potions. NPCs don't sell those until at least the next island, and no way does anybody have Alchemy that high yet. So, quest reward or monster drop—and the only ones I know about on Einsla are about the highest-level quests here. Not the kind of thing you'd go for casually, this early.”

“Hm.” Kizmel gave a thoughtful nod. “That, then, might simple be 'beta information'.” Then she fixed him with another pointed stare. “And the other problem?”

He sighed. “…It might just be my imagination. But… I think he knows me. Somehow.”

December 3rd, 2032

Asuna hadn't even known Tolbana had an aerodrome. Not until self-proclaimed “knight” Diavel had announced the next meeting would be there, the afternoon after his announcement that the boss room would soon be found. Now, she found herself accompanying Kirito and Kizmel onto the flat, paved expanse on the town's western edge, waiting to hear the news Diavel brought.

It wasn't as big as Origia's aerodrome, nor were there as many airships. Those it did have were mostly smaller vessels, covered over by protective tarps; most of them seemingly abandoned, though a few did have NPC mechanics checking on them. One thing it did have in common with Origia was the sense of waiting, the airships still kept grounded by the Skywall.

There was one ship that stood apart from others, though. Nestled in a landing cradle, the steel-clad hull of Diavel's Liberator was shiny and pristine, ready to take off at a moment's notice. At thirty meters long, about the length of Moonshadow, Kirito had identified the ship as a “light cruiser” by the game's classification. With ten cannons on either side, Asuna had to wonder what counted as “heavy”.

Someday, I'm sure I'll find out. For now, I'm just as happy with something smaller.

A platform had been set up beside the ship's starboard flank. The Swordmasters who'd attended the previous meeting were already gathering around it when her small party showed up, taking places on benches that had been brought in. Standing on the platform was the blue-haired knight himself, along with a young player Asuna didn't recognize.

When everyone who'd come before had found seats, Diavel clapped once for attention. “Thank you for coming, everyone!” he called out, smiling. “Very good to see everyone from yesterday is back…. Ahem! Before I begin, I'd like to introduce you all to Liberator's commander, Captain Coper!”

That drew a round of applause, which Asuna found herself joining. There were a lot of questions about exactly how Diavel had acquired an airship in the first place, but it was true that Liberator was a symbol of what they could do. Besides, she thought, watching the brown-haired youth make an awkward motion as if adjusting invisible glasses, the poor guy probably needs the vote of confidence. First airship captain and all that.

Though given the Anneal Blade he was wearing at his waist, he probably wasn't exactly a newbie in general….

“Thank you,” Coper said, giving a bow and a sheepish smile. “Diavel-san's the one who'll be doing the leading on the ground, but I'll do my best in the air, when the time comes.”

“Which will be this time tomorrow!” Diavel proclaimed, clapping Coper on the shoulder. “The Skywalls come down when the Guardian assigned to one is defeated, and an airship makes contact with the weakened Wall. And it so happens, my friends, that my party located the boss room this morning!”

That didn't provoke quite the stir reaching the top floor had. They'd all expected it, after all, to the point that Asuna and her comrades had chosen to spend the morning preparing rather than redundant exploring. But it's still big news. It's about time, huh?

“I realize there's still hard feelings to be sorted out here,” Diavel continued, nodding at a particular cactus-haired player in the crowd. “For right now, though, I can tell you that the information provided by the beta testers is correct: we now know the nature of the first Barrier Guardian.”

“Illfang,” Kirito muttered to her left, his first words since they'd reached the aerodrome. “Big wolfman, single attack pattern change, pretty simple adds….”

Gah. More jargon they hadn't covered yet. Asuna made a mental note to corner him about boss info as soon as the meeting was over.

Diavel was materializing a small book from his inventory, and he held it up for the crowd to see. The cover read Argo's First Guardian Strategy Guide—with, she noticed, a disclaimer written below: Warning: Information is based on the beta test, and may not be consistent with the retail version.

“Illfang the Kobold Lord,” Diavel said, opening the book. “If you've been in the Skywall Tower, you'll have fought lesser kobolds. Illfang is a big one, carrying a bone axe and a shield. He's accompanied by a set of Ruin Kobold Sentinels, with more spawning at set intervals. When he's down to his final lifebar, he replaces the axe and shield with a tulwar.” He tapped the page. “Timing for the respawns is included here, along with descriptions of Illfang's Sword Skills. If we pay attention, we can—no, we will get through this with no casualties!”

On Kirito's opposite side, still disguised by her Mistmoon Cloak's hood, Kizmel softly cleared her throat. “I hesitate to ask this,” she murmured, “but in your 'beta test', did you succeed without losses?”

Kirito gave a short shake of his head. “We got total raid wipes twice,” he admitted quietly. “Even the successful run had a few deaths. But,” he added, when Asuna turned to him in alarm, “we didn't have the benefit of a strategy guide. And I'm willing to bet the average level is higher than in the beta—I know we're higher than I was then. Diavel's right, if we're careful, we might just pull this off.”

“Might.” Asuna took a deep, shuddering breath, and forced herself to nod. “We will, then.” We have to.

“I suggest we begin the raid at 10:00 tomorrow,” Diavel said, when everyone had had a chance to digest his comments about the boss. “That'll give us time to navigate the Tower, fight the boss, and reach the Second Island by the afternoon. For tonight? Everyone form up into parties, get to know each other, and gear up. Tomorrow, we claim our first victory!” He rapped a gauntleted fist on his chestplate. “And when we do, we'll celebrate on Liberator's deck, as we cross the first Skywall together!”

That brought a cheer and another round of applause. When it died down, players immediately started splitting off into smaller groups, party invitations going back and forth. Asuna noticed the girl with the Anneal Blade from the day before chattering enthusiastically with a bemused Agil, while the masked man stood more quietly to one side.

That's one party I wouldn't have expected. But then, who am I to talk?

“That's our cue to go,” Kirito said under his breath, pushing away from the bench. “I don't know about you two, but I'd rather stick with our half-size party than invite people we haven't practiced with.”

“Good plan,” Asuna agreed, following him away from the crowd. “I know we'll have to deal more with other players eventually, but… not yet.”

“You'll hear no objection from me,” Kizmel said, casting a narrow glance back toward the other players. “Humans, I believe, are going to be something of an acquired taste.” She turned a quick smile on Asuna. “Present company excluded, of course.”

They slipped into the shadow of one of the grounded airships, and out of sight—yet Asuna had the oddest feeling of being glared at, just before the three of them cleared the aerodrome completely.

December 4th, 2032

Kizmel found herself surprisingly tense, traveling with a group of forty-three Swordmasters. Though not one of them gave her a second glance, as they made their way through the forest outside Tolbana toward the nearby tunnel system, the knowledge that only the Mistmoon Cloak's protection stood between her and exposure was… unsettling. Something as simple as a strong wind might reveal her for what she was.

I know better than to think humans the root of all Aincrad's evil, she thought, keeping close to her two young allies. Nonetheless, these are humans who have been betrayed. They're as apt to mistrust me as Captain Emlas does them, and with at least as good reason.

More, really. She tried not to think about that too hard.

Instead, Kizmel focused determinedly on how the Swordmasters around her moved, knowing she'd need to know when the battle began. Most of them crashed through the brush as noisily as angry boars. Some, like Diavel and Asuna, managed something approaching subtlety, while Kirito was almost as quiet as her. The energetic girl with the Anneal Blade was somewhere in between—and the masked man was like a ghost, so close to silent she thought hers were the only ears to catch even a whisper of his steps.

As if I needed more proof the Swordmasters were not hand-picked warriors. Glancing again at Diavel, leading the way into the tunnels to the Skywall Tower, she leaned closer still to her comrades. “I've been meaning to ask,” she murmured. “Why were the other Swordmasters so amused by Sir Diavel's claim of knighthood? I realize few of you are trained fighters, but still….”

Kirito shrugged. “Mostly? It's just kind of silly to say something like that in a game that doesn't have a class system. Er,” he added, when she gave him a blank look, “how do I explain that…. Well, you know how Swordmasters' abilities are based on numerical statistics?”

She nodded. It was not as if her own strength was any different, in this world. Difficult as it was to get used to.

“Okay, then. In some games, you pick 'classes', which bias your stats toward defined roles. Strength for warriors, Agility for thieves and assassins, that kind of thing. Here?” He gestured at his sword and wrist-grapnel, then to the variety of weapons carried by other Swordmasters. “What you equip, and how you allocate bonus points on level-up, is what defines what you can do.”

“…I see. I think.” Though Kizmel thought it was sad, for a role as honorable as knighthood to be broken down into mere numbers.

“Class systems also define story roles, in some games,” Kirito was continuing. “Sword Art Online was supposed to be more about players choosing for themselves exactly how to tackle the Skywalls and the Axiom Church, with nobody having any specific role in the plot. …I guess Diavel could be considered a knight, though, if you think about it that way.”

“Hm.”

Conversation lapsed as the raid group proceeded through the tunnels, and the first monsters they'd encountered since leaving Tolbana appeared. Those in the forests, Kizmel surmised, had fled from such a large group. The Kobold Guards were apparently made of sterner stuff.

Stern enough to fight, but not to stand up to such a force. Diavel led the raid capably, both with strategy and with blade, proving his worth as leader. Of the other Swordmasters, though she was particularly impressed with her own companions, the masked man, and the enthusiastic girl, Kizmel was pleased to see even the least knew what they were about.

She knew little, so far, of the Barrier Guardians, or how they would be fought in this world. If any group could defeat them, however, she was sure it was this one.

Only an hour after setting out from Tolbana, the raid group emerged from the tunnels at the base of the Skywall Tower. Standing at the very edge of Einsla, the stone edifice reached one hundred meters into the sky, topped by a platform walled in by the same charmed glass the elves used in their airships.

Up there, Kizmel knew, was Illfang. The first obstacle between her and continuing her mission—between her, and her sister.

As Diavel raised his sword in salute, exhorting the raid group to follow him into that tower, Kizmel watched him closely. “Do you suppose,” she murmured to her companions, “that Sir Diavel might be a knight, in your world?”

Kirito only shook his head. “Kinda doubt that.”

Asuna huffed, clearly exasperated. “She doesn't know, Kirito-kun,” she said, rapping her knuckles on his shoulder. “We don't have knights in our world, Kizmel,” she continued, turning to the elf. “The kind of knight Diavel's role-playing hasn't existed in centuries, and never in our homeland. The closest thing we had—the samurai—are more recent, but, well… let's say they didn't really live up to that kind of ideal.” She sighed, shaking her head. “Well, I suppose few knights ever did….”

Kizmel vowed to ask for more details, when there was time. Because that was, quite simply, a travesty. Not that Lyusula's orders are without those who fall short, but at least as a whole we may claim to uphold honor. If Asuna has never known true knighthood, I will have to show her that chivalry still lives with us.

Following Diavel and the rest of the raid into the Skywall Tower, she only hoped that the self-proclaimed knight would stand as an example himself. She wanted to believe that some of the Swordmasters, at least, might be the people whose aid her kingdom had been promised.

At least the Skywall Tower was pretty much as Kirito remembered it from the beta. Twenty floors high, with fairly straightforward stone corridors and no traps to speak of. The admittedly plentiful mobs, mostly variations of Kobold, were about the only real complication the dungeon had.

A warm-up, all in all. What was just about the right level of challenge to keep solos or small parties on their toes was nothing for a group of forty-three players and one Dark Elf to worry about. It had taken his little team about an hour to safely climb to the nineteenth floor. The raid group managed it in half that.

Later towers won't be this easy. But right now, I won't complain about an easy start.

Before long, they stood in the corridor that ended in the stairway to the top floor. There, Diavel climbed halfway up, turned to face the raid group, and drew his sword. “Here we are,” he said, raising the Anneal Blade toward the ceiling. “Just beyond this door is Illfang the Kobold Lord. Keep together and remember your roles, and we'll all make it through this.”

Which, for Kirito, Asuna, and Kizmel meant staying back and handling the adds. Though Asuna had bristled at the job, when Diavel had laid out the plan, and even Kizmel had seemed to think it an affront, Kirito understood the logic. They were a team of just three, barely enough for proper Switching tactics. Trying to stand at the front would've been sheer recklessness.

So he joined in with the cheer along with the rest of the raid, when Diavel swung around to face the doors at the top of the stairs. Keeping the adds away from the forwards was just as important, and in the death trap SAO had become, survival trumped ego.

The doors swung open with a ponderous groan, the sound one expected from a boss door, and Diavel led the raid up onto the final floor.

As the smallest party, Team H, Kirito's group was at the very back—so he was surprised when Kibaou dropped back, almost matching pace with him. “Hey,” the cactus-haired player muttered, looking at him with a narrow gaze. “Don't forget yer place, got it? Y'all have gotten the good stuff so far, but you're playin' second fiddle here. Be happy with the scraps, an' don't even think 'bout stealing the LA.”

What?

Kibaou didn't wait for any kind of response, only clicking his teeth and speeding up to rejoin his own team. Kirito was left staring in confusion. Okay, seriously, what? I mean, sure, I probably got the Last Attack bonus more than most in the beta, but how would he even know—?

Argo said someone was looking for me. And if I know Argo, whatever she sold him didn't come cheap. Except Kibaou's gear looked pretty standard for a new player, nothing suggesting he had the kind of Cor to throw at the Rat's prices. Which means either he blew all his savings trying to find out about me, for some weird reason… or he was only the middleman.

Who was Kibaou working for? And why?

“Is something amiss, Kirito?”

Kirito shook himself. This was no time to be worrying about mysterious plots. It wasn't like he hadn't been intending to do exactly what Kibaou had demanded anyway. “It's nothing,” he said, deliberately ignoring both Kizmel's skeptical look and Asuna's mild glare. “C'mon, let's go.”

Last of the raid group, they climbed the stairs to final floor, and stepped out onto the top of the Skywall Tower.

Asuna had seen screenshots of the first Skywall Tower, before she even got her NerveGear. She'd thought even from those that the boss room at its top, walled in by not-quite-glass, looked impressive, with its clear view of the golden hexagons of the Skywall itself. In person, it was breathtaking.

Just a flat stone floor, with a few platforms rising a couple meters above, and at the far end what looked like the back of a grand throne. No ornamentation to speak of, except some vague patterns in the floor—but the level of detail in the stone textures, and the amazing view out the walls and ceiling, made it something more than the sum of its parts.

She could hear other players expressing appreciation for it, even under the circumstances. Beside her, she heard Kizmel mutter, “The Axiom Church has artisans of such skill, and yet they waste them on this monument to the Administrator's arrogance….”

There was no time to ponder the still-surprising genuineness of the elf girl's disgust. Diavel was raising his sword, silently motioning the raid to halt—and behind them, the doors swung closed with a deep boom.

Don't panic, Kirito-kun said they'll still open just fine if we need to make a run for it—oh, wow….

The intricate patterns on the floor blazed into bright light, a kaleidoscope of colors tracing abstract curves and sharp turns. Bright blue flares on the platforms heralded the appearance of Ruin Kobold Sentinels, and at the far end of the chamber, the throne turned to face the raid. Two bright red lights—eyes, Asuna realized—appeared, and with a roar, the creature in the throne leapt halfway across the room.

Three meters tall, it was. Covered in reddish fur and light armor, with a wolf-like muzzle, it carried a bone axe in one hand and a shield in the other, just as the pre-boss meeting had said. Even as Asuna watched, four HP bars appeared over its head.

At another roar, the Sentinels leapt down from their perches, and [Illfang the Kobold Lord] brandished its axe directly at the raid.

At the front of the raid group, Diavel watched the Sentinels come, and swung his sword down to point straight ahead. “Team G, take the vanguard! Team H, take any Sentinels that get through! B, D, F, wait for the signal to switch in! A, C, E—charge!”

Team G, with Agil, the masked swordsman, and the girl with the Anneal Blade, was the first to make contact. Three Sentinels went straight for them; Agil's long-handled axe and the two-handed sword of another member stopped one short, but the other two got in close, swinging heavy, rock-headed maces in the bright arcs of Sword Skills.

The masked man—whose robe Asuna belated realized bore Shinsengumi colors—sidestepped with casual ease, letting the rock-mace whistle past. Before the Sentinel could recover from the post-motion, his katana blurred free of its scabbard in a quick slash, cutting a red wireframe gash across its flank. As it stumbled, he pulled the blade back, parallel to the floor, and drove a thrust into the kobold's back.

No Sword Skills, Asuna thought, eyes wide. He's good.

The girl wasn't quite as good, or as lucky. Though she took a quick step to one side, the other Sentinel's mace got in a glancing blow to her side, almost knocking her off her feet. To Asuna's surprise, the girl's response was a grin—and in the instant she regained her footing, a vicious Slant. Grin widening, she pressed the attack with a basic thrust, uncaring that it pushed the Sentinel toward the knot where her teammates were engaging the first.

Asuna was distracted from the sight by a louder clash, and her head whipped around to watch Team A meet Illfang itself. It had started the fight with a brutal overhand Sword Skill of some kind; the mixed team of swordsmen and lancers scattered around it, and unleashed a flurry of skills. She didn't know enough about the weapons involved to pin down exactly what they were doing, but the thrusts and spins, lit by red and blue flashes, certainly looked impressive.

The combined assault even made Illfang stagger back, roaring in apparent pain. She felt a surge of hope at the sight—only for reality to chase it back down, noticing the first of the Kobold Lord's HP bars had barely flinched under the barrage. Then it was recovering its poise, and with a deeper snarl it rammed its shield forward, sending one of Team A's swordsmen tumbling back. Its right arm swung back, then forward again in a broad sweep with its axe, catching three other players.

The cries as they were hurled back made Asuna's heart jump into her throat. Her feet started to move—to try and help or to run, she wasn't sure—but then a hand landed on her shoulder. “They'll be fine,” Kirito said into her ear, low and calm. “Those weren't bad hits, and Team C is already going in. Right now, it's our turn!”

Taking only a second to confirm the next group of forwards really was charging in to stop Illfang from following up, Asuna spun to follow Kirito's warning. Two Ruin Kobold Sentinels had gotten past Team G, heading right for the reserve teams.

Okay. Let's do this!

Kizmel was already in motion, rushing to block the first Sentinel. Her shield crashed into it from the side, and her saber licked out to trace a deep crimson line in its helmet. It fell back with a squeal, and its companion turned to see what was going on. Red flared in the eyeholes of its helmet, catching sight of Asuna charging in, and its rock-mace whirled up and around to intercept.

She saw it coming, and was already starting to dodge when Kirito shouted a wordless warning. It probably would've hit her anyway, except at that moment his grapnel zipped past, wrapped around the mace's shaft, and yanked.

Asuna wasted no time taking advantage of how the move pulled the Sentinel forward and off-balance. With a shout of her own, she drove the fastest Linear she could right into its gut. Between the thrust and the pull from the grapnel, her rapier punched through and clear out its back, taking out around twenty percent of its HP with just the one blow.

It also left her suddenly stuck. For an instant, she was left with the decision of trying to pull her blade free—leaving her vulnerable for precious seconds—or abandoning it, leaving her completely defenseless. I so have to look into a sub-weapon—!

Kirito's Anneal Blade flashed over her head in a Horizontal, catching the Sentinel in the throat even as his grapnel snapped free from its mace. He followed up with a knee to the kobold's gut, forcing it off her rapier. “Nice one!” he said, flashing a grin. “I got this one, give Kizmel a hand!”

Asuna felt a flash of pride, quickly stifled—she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction—and spun on her heel to dash toward the other Sentinel. Kizmel's saber was clashing against the handle of its mace, the two of them stuck in a deadlock. But it was a deadlock that had put the elf between the mob and the reserve force, more or less in line with their job.

“Kizmel, Switch!”

The NPC pulled back in a flash, spinning away to the left. The sudden loss of resistance left the Sentinel stumbling forward, in a perfect position for the Linear Asuna was already charging up. I can do this!

The Sentinel caught itself, and in the moment before the fencer's glowing blade could connect, its mace flashed and whirled, catching her in the side. She still connected, but it was a glancing blow that only scratched a few centimeters deep across its chest armor. Asuna, by contrast, lost about five percent of her HP and was left tumbling and rolling across the floor.

On the bright side, she had time to see Illfang had lost around ten percent off its first lifebar. Team C was retreating, but E was already tearing into the Kobold Lord.

“Team B, D, F, you're up next!” Diavel called out, pointing from one to another with his sword. “Keep it up, everyone, you're doing fine!”

They were, Asuna realized, rolling back to her feet. The Shinsengumi had just calmly beheaded one of the Sentinels, the grinning girl was gutting another with an unnerving laugh, and Agil and the others in his team had smashed the third to the floor. Another set of Sentinels were heading their way, but the first batch would be dead in plenty of time for them to switch targets.

Closer in, Kirito had tangled his target's legs with his grapnel, and was just then slashing another Horizontal across its neck. Though somewhere along the way he'd lost about five percent HP himself, his foe wasn't going to last much longer.

We can do this, Asuna thought, readying her rapier. I can do this! We're going to beat this thing!

Kizmel had just whacked her Sentinel in the snout with her shield. As it reared back, shaking its head, she unleashed a vicious slash across its stomach—and even as it pulled back its rock-mace to retaliate, Asuna launched herself into motion. Yelling a wordless battle cry, she drove a shining Linear right at its throat.

With two of Illfang's “lifebars” down, the raid group had settled into an efficient rhythm. Teams A, C, and E were gathered in a semi-circle in front of the Kobold Lord, hammering it with every Sword Skill they could muster. The Barrier Guardian was fighting back furiously, roaring and swinging its axe with abandon, but with so many foes, it could not possibly repel them all.

Here and there, two or even three Swordmasters were knocked away, spraying crimson that wasn't quite like blood. Even as one lone Knight watched, Illfang smashed its axe into the stone floor with such force that half of Team C was thrown away—yet even there, members of the teams currently standing back to recover were quick to help them to their feet. “HP” falling but not yet dangerously so, they charged right back into the fight.

Team G remained focused on the Sentinels, keeping most of them away from the main fighting with admirable skill. Agil's axe whirled with a proficiency that seemed to increase even as the battle continued, aided by two of the others; a kobold squealed as it fell to the cold floor, axe embedded in its skull. With an all-too-lifelike twitch, it shattered into the still-unnerving blue shards that was death in Sword Art Online.

The masked swordsman spun around another, evading its rock-mace with the casual economy of a master. His katana came up in a backhand blow just as practiced, cutting through the Sentinel's spine. A quick twist of his wrist, the blade flashed in a flat forehand strike, and its head sailed free, shattering several meters away.

Team G's lone girl had, if anything, grown ever more excited as the battle progressed. She'd taken more injury than anyone not facing Illfang, to the point of having once had to retreat to down a healing potion, yet her enthusiasm was undiminished. Skipping back as if it were all a game, she braced herself, swung her Anneal Blade up behind her shoulder, and launched herself forward in a flashing Sonic Leap. Laughing all the while, her sword came down on a Sentinel's shoulder with enough force to drive the kobold from its feet. Riding it down, she reversed her grip, viciously stabbing the Sentinel in the chest.

Kirito, perhaps the youngest Swordmaster present, battled one of the Sentinels that had slipped past Team G with a style and flair all his own. Light on his feet, wearing no armor heavier than a leather jacket, and carrying no shield, he relied on pure agility to keep him safe. His Anneal Blade carved a Slant from the Sentinel's left shoulder down to its right hip; when it tried to retaliate with a brutal mace strike to his flank while the skill's recoil stilled his sword, he launched his grapnel at its right leg.

It stumbled, shrieking—and into the gap, Asuna charged. “Number Three!” she called out, her rapier flashing in a Linear almost too fast to see. Wreathed in crimson light, its tip struck the staggering kobold's chest, knocking it completely off-balance.

Kizmel struck then, her saber slashing a Reaver from left to right, the Sentinel's own momentum carrying it deeper into the blow. It howled, a sound like and yet unlike what she might've expected—too similar to the death cries of its brethren, she thought, to seem real—and broke apart before it ever struck the floor.

“Good work, G, H!” Diavel called out, somehow sparing a moment from directing the assault on Illfang to nod in their direction. “That's all the Sentinels for now—pull back and recover, so you're ready for the next wave!”

Only then, with a start, did Kizmel realize she and her companions had all taken injury enough to be in the “yellow”. Though they were still safely above the red, she quibbled not at all before trotting back to the edge of the battlefield. Indeed, only the laughing girl seemed at all bothered, incongruously pouting before following her teammates back.

So this is battle, to the Swordmasters, Kizmel thought, watching one of the forward teams switch with a reserve while she drank a healing potion. Like and yet unlike fighting as I know it. The threat of true death may be new to the Swordmasters, but they clearly understand the rules that govern this world far better than I.

A sobering thought, on many levels. Between this and the battle her party of Pagoda Knights had fought against the Forest Elf expedition a month before, she was quite sure her own people would've suffered heavy casualties by this point. If nothing else, gauging injury by strange symbols in the air instead of blood and pain would've led them to fatally miscalculate their wounds.

On the other hand, in the battles I know, fighting for so long wouldn't be possible at all. On a normal battlefield, one cannot so easily gauge the moment an injury is lethal, and fight until that moment is reached. In a “real” battle, these tactics would be suicidal.

Watching Illfang suddenly break away from the teams fighting it, jumping back to gain distance, it was hard not to dwell on that. Even as Diavel directed the Swordmasters under his command to charge after the Kobold Lord, denying it the breathing space it needed to unleash a more powerful attack, she could see the dichotomy all too clearly.

On this battlefield, the Swordmasters dominate. As powerful as Illfang is, numbers and tactics will bring it down. Sir Diavel knows those tactics well enough to be the general they need.

Illfang had been trying to gain enough space for a broad, sweeping slash that might've caught the entire group attacking it. Diavel's quick thinking kept most of them inside its reach instead, and the brutal slash knocked only a third of them over and away—a crushing blow according to the rules Kizmel knew, but a survivable one here. Diavel was already barking out orders to send in one of the reserve teams, and in a moment Kibaou was leading the charge to pull out the wounded, while the other Swordmasters still on their feet stabbed and slashed Illfang to buy time.

In a world not governed by numbers and strange magic, Sir Diavel would have already lost. Even my people, strong and skilled as they are, could hardly shrug off the wounds the Swordmasters treat as inevitable.

Glancing at a nervous but increasingly confident Asuna, and a tense yet calm Kirito, Kizmel forced herself to relax. Enough. The rules of a flesh and blood battle will only ever matter to any of us if and when the Swordmasters break through to Centoria Cathedral, and defeat Quinella. If I cannot remember that, I'll be the one to die here.

Bright flares of azure light caught her eye, just as her HP rose back to blue. “Get ready, G, H!” Diavel shouted, gesturing toward them with his own Anneal Blade. “More Sentinels incoming—last set before the final lifebar! Keep them off us!”

Team G's girl was the first in motion, leaving her team to catch up. As they followed, Kizmel exchanged rueful looks with her own companions. “What are the chances we have more work, despite her enthusiasm?” she asked, already knowing the answer.

“After the fighting we've had so far?” Kirito shook his head, tossing away an empty potion bottle. “Well, at least we're getting the pattern down.”

“They'd better be grateful,” Asuna muttered, readying her rapier again. “'Be happy with the scraps,' Kibaou said. Hmph! Without us, the rest of the raid would be too busy fending off those 'scraps' to get anything done to Illfang at all!”

Kizmel surprised herself with a chuckle. “Then let's be sure to remind him, when all is said and done. Unseemly it may be for a knight to gloat—but demanding the respect we've earned is only fair.”

And as Illfang's health was chipped away, and the latest group of Ruin Kobold Sentinels leapt down to attack, she found herself wondering. Kayaba betrayed us, yet his magic, at least, has been as he promised. Then, perhaps… is this truly what the Swordmasters of legend are capable of?

Win, Sir Diavel. I must know. Is this a game—or a vision of the future you may yet bring us?

Kirito swore under his breath, as a Ruin Kobold Sentinel's rock-mace clipped his arm. His heart wasn't really in it, though, even before the monster squealed, the point of Asuna's rapier emerging from its chest. It hadn't done that much damage, and between the fencer's attack and what he'd already done to it, the kobold shattered on her sword.

Besides, he thought, risking a glance back toward the main event, this is going better than I ever dared expect it could. Nobody's even really come close to dying, yet.

Between his own beta experience, and the huge change that was the Elf War questline beginning so early, Kirito had more than half-expected the battle to go horribly wrong within the first five minutes. That Diavel had, somehow, led the raid down almost to Illfang's last lifebar without a single fatality was a tremendous relief.

Maybe, he thought, spinning to face the Sentinel Kizmel was currently dancing around, Kayaba decided to be fair, and let us have an easy first boss. Catching a quick nod from the elven knight, he fired off his grapnel, its cable wrapping tight around the kobold's left leg. Yanked back, it began to fall forward; Kizmel's saber flashed across its neck, finishing it before it hit the floor. After all, if we lose here—or even win too narrowly—who's going to risk playing along with his game?

Kirito hoped that was it, anyway. Even as he exchanged a smile with Kizmel and turned to rush at Asuna's latest opponent, he had to marvel at something else that had gone far better than he'd imagined. Half an hour into the fight, and Kizmel was still keeping up so smoothly he doubted anyone even suspected she was anything but another human player.

Asuna whipped a Streak across her Sentinel's chest, chipping off a few percent of its HP. She moved to follow up with a basic thrust—Kirito couldn't help but feel a rush of pride at how well she'd learned from his awkward lessons, that first day—only to suddenly abort and step quickly to one side. “Switch, Kirito-kun!” she called hastily, even as a glowing rock-mace careened toward her face.

“I don't think so!”

It was close, but Kirito's Horizontal got there in time. The two skills collided with a boom, throwing player and mob alike off-balance. In a race to recover from the recoil, even he couldn't have guessed which of them would manage the next strike—but it didn't matter, as a charging Royal Guard buried her sword in the kobold's gut.

The Sentinel survived even Kizmel's strike. It was flung back, but it landed on clawed feet, screeching across the stone floor. It gathered itself, snarled from beneath its helmet, and with tail lashing furiously it took a lunging step forward.

A sword-wielding arm wrapped around its neck before it finished even that one step. Another arm swung up, palm aiming for the Sentinel's throat. Steel flashed unexpectedly, with a loud sound Kirito associated with a critical hit, and the kobold went limp.

When it shattered, Kirito found himself staring at the girl who'd taken it down. At her wide grin, and at the narrow blade just then retracting into its mount under her left wrist. “Thanks for the set-up, beta!” she called. “GJ!”

“GJ,” he replied automatically, even as she turned to rejoin the rest of Team G. An assassin's blade? I didn't even know you could find those on Einsla. Much less be crazy enough to use one in a boss fight!

“Alright, that's got it! We're about to hit the state change—everyone but Team A, pull back!”

Diavel's call distracted Kirito from the mystery, and he whipped his head around in time to see what the self-styled knight was talking about. Illfang's third lifebar was just emptying completely, and it had fallen to one knee in apparent pain. If everything was still as it was in the beta test, it was about to switch weapons.

But why is Diavel pulling everyone but his own team back? It's not that close to dead—

Just as Team A got into position, the other forward teams well behind them, Illfang roared. Stood back up to its full height, and threw bone axe and shield away. Three members of Diavel's party were hit in the process, tumbling away with shouts of surprise—something Kirito did not remember happening in the beta, but then the formation had been different then.

And Illfang reached behind its back, clawed hand closing on a hilt that was only then materializing. It whipped the blade out, spun it, and leveled it straight at Team A.
Long. Narrow. Gently curving up to a fine point. To Kirito's practiced eye, the steel with which it was made bore the marks of having been forged, metal folded over hundreds of times. An amazing level of detail to put into the weapon of a boss who would only be seen once.

…Oh, no….

“Get ready!” Diavel shouted, swinging his Anneal Blade back over his shoulder, the pre-motion for a Sonic Leap. “It's almost over!”

“No!” Kirito screamed. His own companions looked at him like he'd gone crazy, Agil was frowning, Kibaou looked like he was ready to kill something, and Kirito didn't care, because— “That's not a tulwar! It's a nodachi! Get away!”

A nodachi was longer than a tulwar. By SAO's mechanics, sharper. Most important of all, not using the skills someone relying on beta knowledge was expecting.

He tried to run, to get close enough to do something in time. Long before he got there, before anyone could process his warning, Illfang's nodachi was whirling in the crimson half-circle of a Phantom Moon. Those of Team A who hadn't already been knocked away were caught full in the chest, HP plummeting, and flew screaming toward the far wall.

Diavel was flung hardest, sailing straight back among the other teams. Illfang leapt after him, and Kirito's heart leapt into his throat right along with. “No, get away! Don't surround him, it'll just make things worse—!”

Who knew if anyone would've listened to him. If they'd even heard him. The players panicked, some of them running in random directions, and some of them striking blindly with whatever Sword Skill came to mind. From the front, carving red lines in Illfang's stomach. From the sides, scoring his flanks. From behind, leaving fine scratches in the Kobold Lord's tail.

In the panic, few of them did much damage at all. It didn't matter anyway. With a roar, Illfang's sword blazed in crimson light again, and it spun in place in the devastating full-circle Revolving Wheel.

More screams followed, players scattered in all directions, HP dropping. Illfang didn't even seem to notice, its scarlet eyes locked on just one target. Maybe it had picked at random, maybe it was programmed for follow-up attacks. Or maybe some algorithm had recognized who was directing the raid.

Somewhere along the way, Diavel had lost Anneal Blade and shield both. As Illfang's nodachi began to glow one more time, his face was painted in stark terror—but rather than run or collapse, he made two quick gestures with his right hand, and his fingers closed on a rounded grip.

Kirito barely had time to be surprised before the pistol Diavel had conjured went off with a loud crack. There was no time at all to see if the single bullet did any good, before Illfang's sword blurred up from near the floor, catching the raid leader and flinging him bodily toward the not-glass ceiling of the boss room.

Diavel's legs and right arm sailed away, lopped right off his body. He was falling, and Illfang's nodachi was coming down along with for the second strike of the Scarlet Fan—

The grapnel cable whirled out, wrapping tightly around Illfang's right arm. Kirito was yanked off his feet, carried forward as the Kobold Lord stubbornly continued the cleaving blow anyway, but it was still slowed. Just a little. Just a fraction of a second.

Long enough for a Linear, like a meteor flashing through the sky, to bury itself in Illfang's flank. Long enough for a saber to come down in a two-handed chop through Illfang's tail.

Roaring at a pitch that would've hurt physical ears, Illfang staggered sideways and fell over, half a meter of its tail dropping to the stone floor to shatter.

Kirito ignored it, trusting the two girls who'd become his unlikely companions to watch his back, just for a few moments. He rolled back to his feet, dashed and skidded to Diavel's side, and yanked out a healing potion. “What the hell were you thinking?!” he demanded, none-to-gently forcing the potion to the knight's mouth, even as chaos grew among the other players. “Even if that had been a tulwar, the risk—!”

Diavel gulped down the potion, coughed, and looked up with a weak, sheepish smile. “You have to ask?” he said hoarsely; only then did Kirito notice a wireframe gash in his throat, which seemed to have triggered a voice debuff. “You had a rep in the beta, you know. The LA bonus….”

So he'd found the man behind Kibaou's odd interest. Kirito wished it had been someone, anyone else. “It was still stupid,” he said fiercely, ignoring that for now. “It nearly killed you.”

“Thought I knew tulwar skills well enough.” Diavel shrugged his good shoulder. “Guess we'll never know. Kirito….” He reached up with his remaining hand, gripped Kirito's arm. “You know Limb Loss. Be an hour before I can fight again. Can't shout with this debuff—and it looks like you know katana-type skills. Please….”

Kirito's blood ran cold. The man couldn't possibly be asking him what it sounded like. Looking around, he could see sheer pandemonium, players trying desperately to run for the doors, heal, or just deny reality. Only the Shinsengumi swordsman and the gleeful girl seemed at all effective, finishing off the last of the Ruin Kobold Sentinels. And soon enough, Illfang would recover from its own Limb Loss well enough to fight.

“What do you expect me to do?” he hissed. “The raid's broken—”

Diavel's grip tightened. “You can't let it end like this, Kirito. We have to win. We… might not get another chance….”

There was a shadow, sudden and terrifying. Kirito whirled, swinging his sword up, knowing Illfang's attack would come too soon.

Darkness struck, once, twice, three times, a deadly spin with a glowing saber. Illfang stumbled, caught in the backlash of an interrupted skill. Kizmel snarled, bashing it with her shield, before forcing it back another step with a vicious thrust. “I will not allow it!”

She was still fighting. As an entire raid group of human players panicked, as Kirito felt the terror of being asked to take responsibility, an NPC held the line. Illfang retaliated, scoring a glancing blow that still knocked off ten percent of her health, and she held the line.

“Kirito. Win.”

Kirito took a deep, shuddering breath. Took one last look at the panicking, disorganized raid, and opened his mouth. He didn't know what he was going to say, didn't know what he could say, to bring order back, but—

Crack-boom!

The sound of a second gunshot, so alien to a battle of swords, drew even the most panicked eyes to the source. To the sight of Asuna, pointing Diavel's pistol at the sky, barrel smoking. She'd thrown back her hood, letting chestnut hair billow free.

Hair gleaming in the light of midday sun filtered through the golden Skywall, Asuna's brown eyes were still and calm, her face cool and collected. A stern, confident warrior, whose gaze refused all doubt or fear.

…She's beautiful….

“This battle isn't over!” Asuna called out, strong and steady. “We can still win this! We will win this!” She strode to Kirito, still kneeling over Diavel; at the same time, Kizmel skidded back to join them, driven by the recoil of clashing Sword Skills. “We have a responsibility, for the hopes and future of every Swordmaster! Now get a hold of yourselves, all of you! Fight!”

In a moment of crisis, humans rallied to a strong center. Panicked players pulled themselves together, people trying to flee began to drift back toward the fight. Slowly, surely, a core began to form again.

Kirito wanted to cry. If only she'd been there, six years ago….

Even as Illfang began to recover from the skill rebound, Asuna thrust the pistol into her belt, and placed a hand on the elven knight's shoulder. “Kizmel and I will lead the next attack! Kirito-kun—you know the pattern. Just give the word.”

Asuna trusted him. People were waiting for the next word, a word that would make or break the entire raid. A raid which, itself, could determine the future of seventeen thousand lives. Diavel, the man who'd brought them to this point, was asking him.

Cold fear filled his veins, at the responsibility facing him. Illfang was roaring, charging again, and he couldn't even see to predict the attack and give warning. He was going to fail, just like back then—

“Seiyaa!” A flat thrust rammed under Illfang's ribs, from an unerring katana. With a gleeful laugh, a Sonic Leap crashed into Illfang's back, buying a few more precious seconds with its stumble.

“Kirito.” The voice was soft, so soft he almost thought he was imaging it. “If there's something you want to say, now is the time to do it. While you still can. Your ability to do so makes you very fortunate….”

Kirito looked up into Kizmel's eyes, at the smile she was giving him. She trusts me. I know she's an NPC, but… I didn't think they were real, either….

He looked up at his companions. Around at the tense, waiting faces. Down at Diavel, and the self-styled knight's firm nod.

Kirito stood. “All right,” he heard himself say. “Let's finish this boss, and break through. Teams B, D, F, you're up first. Just remember not to surround it, and when pay attention. There's a trick to canceling skills….”

Asuna could only assume that the loss of part of its tail was the reason Illfang had been so easily held off, in the time it took to put the raid back together. That, or the panic hadn't lasted nearly as long as it had seemed. Or maybe both. Either way….

The Kobold Lord was no longer slowed and stumbling. Now its nodachi was striking lightning-quick, somehow faster than its axe had been and taking full advantage of its reach. Illfang's footwork was just as quick, and it was all the forward teams could do to keep up with it. Even as Asuna rushed in, Kizmel at her side, the nodachi was flaring with crimson light as Illfang drew it back toward its shoulder.

“Team B, use upward skills, now!”

Illfang's sword raced straight out in a flat thrust—and was met with two Uppercuts and an axeman's Whirlwind. The rebound from colliding skills knocked all three players to the floor, but the remaining three were given a free opening to pummel it with spear thrusts, an axe chop, and a Vertical.

The boss was quicker to recover than it had been before, even as Sword Skills tore into its stomach. Snarling, it whirled back on one clawed foot, its nodachi spinning right along with it. The new attack started with the blade near the floor, edge turned toward the ceiling—

“Downward!”

Asuna thought that command might've been obvious, but with a still-brittle raid, it might not've been. Either way, a pair of two-handed sword-wielders from Team D brought their heavy blades down in simultaneous Avalanches, short-stopping what she was pretty sure would've been a launcher skill. Though the backlash still sent both of them flying back, it was with much less damage than a successful attack would've caused.

It also finally gave her and Kizmel an opening, and with twin shouts a Linear and a Rage Spike buried into Illfang's side. Still barely scratching the huge kobold's final lifebar, but every scratch was still that much closer to victory.

It was still hard. A moment's inattention would still get someone killed. Just a tiny opening had let Illfang dismember Diavel and follow up by completely disorganizing the raid. But we've regrouped—and with Kirito-kun calling out the shots, we can outmaneuver it!

It was kind of funny, really. Asuna could see perfectly well that Kirito was scared out of his wits, but she doubted anyone else could. He knew what he was doing, and in that moment even Kibaou was obeying his orders without a second thought.

Though if Diavel-san had been paying attention, Kirito-kun wouldn't be in this position….

She forced the thought away, for now. Diavel's feet of clay could wait. Even with Kirito's directions, some of Illfang's attacks were still coming through, and when another half-circle Phantom Moon threw Team F back, it was up to her and Kizmel to fill the gap until Team A could move in.

A month of working together with the elven knight was paying off, at least. Asuna didn't even have to look to know Kizmel was going to deflect Illfang's nascent Scarlet Fan with the diagonal backhand of a Rising Shadow. Just as she knew the elf girl would position herself just right for a Linear to angle up into Illfang's chestplate.

Sooner or later, I need to learn to mix things up a little. But right now, why mess with what works?

Her growing confidence, boosted when Team A charged in to take advantage of her strike to drive Illfang further away, took a sudden hit just an instant later. With the Kobold Lord pushed aside, she found herself very abruptly facing a pair of Ruin Kobold Sentinels—while she and Kizmel were both still gripped by post-motion.

Before Asuna could feel more than a spike of adrenaline, one of the Sentinels was suddenly tackled out of the way by a Sonic Leap. “I got this, sister!” Team G's girl called, already rolling away with a bloodthirsty grin.

The tip of a katana emerged from the other Sentinel's chest in almost the same moment. “Leave the small ones to us,” the Shinsengumi swordsman told her, coolly withdrawing his blade and spinning around between the kobold and the fencer. “My skills are ill-suited to the boss, in any case.”

Asuna nodded. She hadn't seen the man use even a single Sword Skill, and from the look of it basic swordplay just wasn't going to cut it against something as big as Illfang. “Thank you, um….”

“Tengu. Call me Tengu. The girl is Pitohui.” Face still hidden by his mask, Tengu gave her a nod, then turned to focus his full attention on the Sentinel trying to bash his head in with a rock. “Go.”

“He's very skilled,” Kizmel remarked, as the two of them hurried off to rejoin the assault on Illfang. “Though I find that girl—Pitohui?—somewhat… unsettling.”

“Yeah. Me, too.” While Asuna hadn't quite panicked—yet—in this battle, she'd hardly say she was enjoying it. Pitohui's sheer enthusiasm was bizarre. “Right now, though, I'll take that over panic. I think….”

Not that there was time to dwell on it. Kirito's orders were keeping the battle organized, and away from the still-limbless Diavel. Her job, and Kizmel's, was to help keep things that way. If they lost the battle, the players counting on them would be demoralized, maybe fatally.

If anyone dies while Kirito-kun's giving orders, he might break.

Asuna didn't know how long the battle went on from there. Time was measured in skills—nodachi skills countered, skills from half a dozen player weapons connecting in a dazzling kaleidoscope. It was measured in the moment Illfang broke free to leap high in the air, spin head over tail, and bring down its sword in a blow so heavy Kirito's only order was to run. Measured by the long, loping steps it took later, running to the far end of the boss room to gain distance, while four teams chased after it.

It seemed to take longer to whittle down the last lifebar than it had the first three. As she drove a leaping Linear into Illfang's jaw, Asuna had to wonder if it had some kind of defense buff to go with the change of weaponry. Flying back a moment later from a clawed roundhouse kick, a furious Kizmel rushing in to try and hack off the offending leg, she considered the possibility that her time sense had simply failed her completely.

Finally, though… finally, it was down to the last five percent. Victory was in sight, and nothing like Diavel's near-death had happened again.

Asuna supposed she should've expected people to get sloppy, then. Not that it was entirely the fault of the player teams. They were just switching places, one set moving in so the other could fall back to heal, when Illfang suddenly jumped again—and landed right between the two teams.

Leaving them surrounding it.

Asuna had just started another run-up for a Linear. She just barely had time to realize how bad it was going to be, to hear Kirito give a desperate shout, before Illfang's Revolving Wheel flashed out again. Teams A through E were flung away and scattered, Kizmel was flung back into her, and all she could see was a tangle of limbs and merciless stone.

When the world stopped spinning, she couldn't move, gripped as she was by Tumble status. She could only hear Illfang's snarl, and the high-pitched keening of another Sword Skill charging up.

Somewhere closer, there was a roar, and the flash of another sword lighting up.

Normally, one player couldn't possibly fend off a Barrier Guardian. Couldn't even hope to stagger it. Even when Illfang had still been off-balance from Limb Loss, it had taken two people at a time to sort of keep it away. One? Simply wasn't possible.

Except right now.

When Illfang launched itself into the air, preparing to come down in a Flying Crane to finish off the players it had scattered, Kirito launched his grapnel at it, screaming a wordless battle cry, Anneal Blade held over his shoulder. Because midair, Illfang's strength and size meant nothing against pure physics and momentum. Gripped by the automatic movement of a Sword Skill, it was as helpless to change course as anyone else.

Before the first strike of the Flying Crane could come out enough to hit, Kirito's grapnel slammed home in Illfang's back. It pulled him in, his Sonic Leap coming down on Illfang's shoulder, backed by System Assist and pure mass times acceleration, faithfully rendered by SAO's physics engine. The giant kobold's snarl changed to a yelp, and it was driven straight down into the floor.

The impact was enough to stun even a Barrier Guardian. Not long enough for Kirito to properly capitalize on it, not recovering as he was from his own landing—but long enough for Asuna and Kizmel, somehow already back on their feet, to charge in.

A month fighting together paid off. Asuna's rapier drove a Linear into the prone boss' thick flank, piercing deep into its flesh; a calculated half-second later, Kizmel's saber ripped a Rising Shadow's backhand through almost the same spot. Another second after that, and Kirito dragged a Slant down through a leg.

Illfang snapped back upright, snarling, but they'd timed their attacks carefully. Asuna was ready again, yet another Linear blazing in to shove it back a step. Kizmel leapt to slash a midair Reaver across its snout, making it squeal and blink.

That deadly nodachi came flashing out then, trying to throw them away with a Phantom Moon. Kirito's Slant caught it before it could strike home, bouncing them both back.

The deadly dance couldn't have lasted more than fifteen, twenty seconds. But for that time, Asuna's rapier stabbed, Kizmel's saber slashed and thrust, and Kirito's Anneal Blade cut off three different nodachi skills stillborn. One percent drained away from that last lifebar. Then two.

Kirito had studied katana skills extensively, the last few days of the beta test. They'd killed him enough times, after all, in the last dungeon he'd reached. But they had been in only that last dungeon, in the last three days of the beta test. His memory wasn't perfect.

The moment his reflexes thought Illfang was starting a Scarlet Fan's first strike, only to be a Phantom Moon's half-circle, was almost the end.

He and his companions were thrown back, sudden and hard, bleeding red particle sprays and losing HP fast. They landed in a tangle of limbs, and even as a part of Kirito's mind realized Asuna would never forgive where his left hand had ended up, he knew there was no chance they'd get untangled before Illfang's next attack.

Looking up past Kizmel's chest, he saw Illfang's teeth bared in a malicious canine grin. Saw it wind up for a Scarlet Fan, this time for certain. Knew that at the rate his and his companions' HP was dropping, none of them would survive the full three hits.

The nodachi flashed out—

A deep boom filled the air, as an axe whirled in a glowing blue wheel and intercepted the skill. The axeman was tossed back, skidding on his heels, but the lancer and two-handed swordsman with him rushed past, hitting Illfang with a Straight Thrust and an Avalanche.

Recovering his footing, Agil flashed a grin. “Hey, you guys! Can't let you have all the fun. Heal up, we'll hold 'im off!”

“Thanks!”

First order of business, as Team G pressed the attack, was to get his hands and face out of where they were. Then, along with a faintly blushing Asuna and a perfectly calm Kizmel, Kirito hurried to down a potion. He wasn't in the red, none of them quite were, but it was a near thing.

Somehow, it's still not as frightening as the responsibility. He stared at the lifebars hanging in the upper-left of his vision, willing them to go up faster, faster. I can't let anyone die. I can't screw this up!

Near the doors, he could see Diavel still lying there, three of his limbs still gone. He was alive, and his HP had long since gone back to the blue, but in his state he was still helpless. Worse, the debuff that had nearly cut off his voice seemed to have knocked him out, or at least disabled his avatar. He hadn't done more than breathe since Kirito took over command of the raid.

“Kirito-kun!”

Asuna's shout dragged his attention back to the battle—just in time to see one more Phantom Moon scatter Team G again. Their HP was still high enough, they weren't in any danger, but they were out of the fight for a few precious seconds.

And Illfang, Kirito realized with a sudden chill, was apparently set to prioritize injured players.

Illfang was already running. Kirito was back on his feet before he could even think, uncaring that his own HP was still recovering. “Let's go!” he shouted to his companions, already knowing the answers he'd get.

“Right behind you!”

“But of course!”

It was a race, to reach the Lord of the Kobolds before the monster could finish off Diavel. The other teams were back in the fight, but on the wrong side of the room; they'd never make it in time. It was up to Team H, the team assigned to the “scraps”.

Asuna was first, shouting wordlessly, rapier blurring into one last Linear. The meteoric skill caught Illfang in the side, slowing it; Kizmel's bodily charge, smashing her shield into its gut, made it stumble. Then Kirito was there, leaping right onto that shield, sword glowing deep red. “It's over!”

The Anneal Blade slammed down into Illfang's left shoulder, carving deep into its chest, down to the top of its stomach. Even as it roared its last defiance, the sword twisted, and ripped back up through the right shoulder, the Vertical Arc leaving a deep, red “V”.

Silence, for a long moment, even the monster's last howl stilled. No motion, except the drifting red polygons from the wound.

Then there was a great crack of shattering glass, and Illfang the Kobold Lord broke into thousands of azure shards.

Is it… over…?

[Congratulations!]

Between that huge notice floating in the middle of the boss room, and the accompanying musical fanfare, Kirito barely noticed the smaller pop-up telling him his rewards. He was distracted by the sudden burst of cheers and back-slapping among the players, Asuna's wide, bright-eyed smile, and Kizmel's formal salute.

All of that, and the realization that, against all odds, they'd survived. A full-on Barrier Guardian battle, and every single player had lived through it.

“We won,” Asuna whispered. “We really won.” She glanced over at Diavel. “Will he be okay?”

“Limb Loss wears off in about an hour,” Kirito assured her. Raising his hand, he exchanged a quick high-five with the fencer, along with a tired smile. “I don't know what the other debuff is, but it's not killing him… maybe he's just exhausted.” He knew he was. Avatars didn't get fatigue, exactly, but the mental effort was catching up with him.

“Like as not. My own people are still learning exactly how deeply this world affects the mind.” Kizmel was smiling, barely visible beneath her hood. “Regardless. We will live to find out. Good work, Kirito, Asuna.” She hesitated a moment, then lifted her hand, much as Kirito had done moments before.

“We couldn't have done it without you,” he told her sincerely, slapping her hand in turn. “You might be what made the difference, compared to how things went back in the beta test.”

She chuckled. “You flatter me.”

“Nah, I think he's got it right.” Agil sauntered over, axe resting on his shoulder. “The three of you? Kept this whole crazy thing together. Me, I thought we were done for, when Diavel got chopped up. If you three hadn't gotten our freaked-out carcasses moving again….” He shook his head, grinning. “This victory's yours. Congratulations.”

Another time, he might've found it interesting that the last word was in perfect English, when Agil otherwise spoke in just as perfect Japanese. As it was, Kirito shifted uncomfortably. “If it weren't for them, I wouldn't have—”

CRASH!

There was absolutely no warning. Just the high-pitched sound of the Skywall Tower's transparent roof shattering to pieces, sending players scattering in all directions. Kirito whipped around, instinctively bringing up his Anneal Blade again, trying to find the source—and froze, almost dropping his sword.

A great dragon, like something out of a Western legend, landed its taloned feet on the stone floor with an ear-splitting screech. Its deep blue scales were covered in places by plates of armor strapped over its hide, making it plain this was no feral beast.

The mere sight of it made Kirito's knees buckle. He knew exactly what the dragon was, even six years on. He knew what had just appeared before the raid group. No. Not here. Now now. We can't handle this so soon! We have to run—!

“Swordmasters!” rang out a voice, clear and pure as a crystal bell. “Remain where you are. Raise a weapon against me, and I will be forced to respond in kind.”

Then the rider dropped lightly to the floor, coming into plain view, and every muscle in Kirito's virtual body froze stiff from pure shock. A tall woman, wearing blue-trimmed gold armor over blue cloth, with a matching blue cape. Deep blue eyes, examining the scene with cold dispassion. Blonde hair, tied in a long braid reaching all the way down her back.

The armor of the knights he feared the most. A face he still saw in his nightmares, even after all these years.

“…Alice…?”

Kizmel had no idea why Kirito, summoned warrior from another world, reacted so strongly to the enemy that now appeared before them. She had no idea the significance of the name he'd just uttered. But she did not blame him at all for his sudden fear. No, if anything, she felt the same urge to flee she could see in his eyes.

An Integrity Knight. Here. Why…?

“What the hell is this?!”

Kibaou was the first Swordmaster to react, brandishing his sword with belligerence to match his words. Only then did Kizmel realize, to her horror, that most of the humans around her had no idea what had just come onto the scene.

There was no time to try and warn the rude Swordmaster, even were he inclined to listen. The Integrity Knight turned her cold gaze on him, and took two measured steps away from her dragon. “Keep a civil tongue, Swordmaster,” she said. “Or be prepared to lose it.”

“Is this another boss?” Asuna whispered, edging closer to the frozen Kirito. “…Kirito-kun? What's going on…?”

“Don't move,” Kizmel hissed, when the youth made no reply. “We're in greater danger than you know.”

“I am Alice Synthesis Thirty, an Integrity Knight,” the armored woman proclaimed then, raising her chin to look over the raid group. “Your actions here have drawn the eye of the Highest Administrator.” Another step. “Be glad I've not been sent here to punish you all for this. Only one among you has committed a sin grave enough to merit intervention.”

With a start, Kizmel realized the Integrity Knight—Alice—had landed close to the fallen Diavel. And that, in the chaos of Illfang's final moments, not a single Swordmaster had remained to guard him.

She wasn't the only one to notice. “Stay away from Diavel-han!” Kibaou snarled, stepping toward her. “Get any closer, an' I'll—!”

Alice's gaze locked on him again, turning from dispassion to a fierce glare. “Do not presume to command me, knave,” she said sharply. “Be silent. I won't warn you again.”

Her dragon added a roar, clearly a warning of its own, as she stalked over to Diavel. The saner Swordmasters, like Asuna and Agil, flinched from the sound—recognizing, Kizmel hoped, that the Knight was by no means the only threat. Kirito certainly did, knees suddenly giving way.

“I said, stay the hell away from him!”

Kibaou's snarl roused the rest of his team, and to Kizmel's horror they rushed forward, yelling and readying their weapons to unleash skills. “Stop!” she screamed, uncaring then if her own nature was revealed. “You can't defeat her, don't even try!”

Alice was only a step away from Diavel, when six Swordmasters set upon her. Too far away for her dragon to intervene with anything short of the fire breath Kizmel knew it possessed, which would have harmed her as well.

It didn't matter. Her eyes only narrowed, and her hand flashed to the golden hilt hanging at her left hip. There was a blur of motion, almost too fast for elven eyes to see. A streak of golden light, flashing in a wide arc.

Enraged battle cries turned to frightened screams, as one blow flung Kibaou and his cohorts away in sprays of red, their lifebars draining fast. To a man, they hit the floor hard, rolling so far Kibaou himself almost tumbled out through the shattered wall before he came to a stop.

In the space of a moment, their lifebars had turned a deep, warning red.

“Hmph.” Alice slid her golden sword away, and eyed the fallen with disdain—tempered by a faint respect, Kizmel thought. “Though I held back, I honestly expected that to kill you all. You're made of sterner stuff than I supposed.” She turned away, cape fluttering in the breeze allowed in by the broken walls. “Don't test me again. I have your measure now.”

To Kizmel's relief, none of the other Swordmasters seemed inclined to make another try. Not even when Alice picked up Diavel's dismembered body and slung him over her shoulder. Most only cowered; only Agil and Tengu moved to help Kibaou's team.

Though the gleam in Pitohui's eye, as the girl watched the Integrity Knight, gave Kizmel considerable pause.

She wanted to stop Alice herself. It went against every fiber of her knight's soul to allow a minion of the Axiom Church to take away a comrade, even a human. But alone—even with Asuna, or Kirito—I could hope for nothing but an “honorable” death. And my duty is too important to throw away my life, even for this.

So Kizmel stayed her hand, and only watched as Alice walked back to her dragon, carrying Diavel like a sack. Watched, and promised herself that when the Swordmasters had grown into the power Kayaba Akihiko had promised, there would be a reckoning.

“Why?”

The voice startled Kizmel, and drew Alice up short. The Integrity Knight paused, one step away from her dragon's saddle, and turned back to look. “What?”

Kirito, back on his feet, squared his shoulders. “Why are you doing this?” he said, voice harsh and grating. “What's Diavel done that we haven't? We killed one of the Barrier Guardians! We're one step away from bringing down the first Skywall! Why single him out?” He stepped toward her, hands clenching—to hide their trembling, Kizmel thought. “I haven't seen any sign of the Senate, either. If he's broken a taboo, why haven't they responded?”

What?

Alice turned to face him fully, free hand near—but not on—the hilt of her golden sword. “The Swordmasters are beyond the Senate's power,” she said, watching him carefully. “And this Swordmaster reached a place no one is permitted to touch. The rest of you will doubtless be dealt with one day, if your rebellion continues, but Her Excellency is willing to be patient with you. Diavel's crime is beyond that.”

Kizmel frowned, confusion edging past her fear. Puzzling as the Integrity Knight's vague statement was, odder still was the fact that Kirito's face tightened, as if he knew exactly of what the woman spoke.

“So, history repeats, huh? …And I'm just as helpless this time.” Taking a long, deep breath, Kirito closed his eyes. When they opened, he fixed Alice with a hard stare. “This isn't over. Someday, we'll come for him. We'll take Diavel back, even if we have to go through every Integrity Knight to do it.”

“He's right!” Asuna declared, stepping up to his right. Leveling a defiant stare at the Integrity Knight, she continued, “We've already struck the first blow today. This won't be the last.”

Audacious. Kizmel might've called it foolhardy—she was sure most of her fellow Pagoda Knights would've called the pair of them insane. But Kirito seems to know what he's doing. I will not let the two of them take this risk alone. Boldly, she moved to Kirito's left, mirroring Asuna. “You may find, Dame Alice, that this rebellion is not such a simple matter to crush,” she said, with a calm confidence she didn't quite feel. “The Swordmasters are not your only foes.”

And now to see if the bluff stands, a corner of her mind thought, bleakly amused. Truthfully, none of us have the strength to stop her now….

But instead of drawing her sword, as Kizmel expected, Alice ignored elf and fencer alike, and looked Kirito over, head to toe. “…Who are you?”

“You don't know?”

A hard-edged question—yet Kizmel thought there was pain buried in the words.

“The Swordmasters have been here a bare month,” Alice said, shaking her head. “How would I know one of you from another so soon?”

“Heh. Guess so.” Kirito raised his right hand, invoking the Swordmasters' Mystic Scribing. A few short gestures, and suddenly his gray jacket was gone, replaced by a long, black leather coat. “I'm Kirito. The one who's going to take you, one day.”

“…Kirito….” Alice said slowly. Just as slowly, she nodded. “I'll remember that name, Swordmaster. You will wish I did not.”

She swung herself up on her dragon, then, Diavel still slung across her shoulders. A shouted command, and the beast turned to the shattered wall, took two quick steps, and flung itself into the sky. Wings beating against the air, the dragon flew up to the now-flickering light of the Skywall, and was gone.

Kirito collapsed to one knee, head bowed.

Asuna felt like following her partner to the stone floor, and if she'd gotten any measure yet of Kizmel, the elf girl wasn't much better off. I have no idea what just happened, but I think we just dodged a bullet.

Kirito had made several offhand comments about Integrity Knights before. Never any detail, but enough for Asuna to know that one showing up here and now could've killed them. If she'd had any doubt of that, the way “Alice” had so casually swatted Kibaou's entire team away certainly chased it away.

And it's not fair. Not now! She stared out the shattered walls, at the Skywall through which the dragon had already disappeared. We beat the boss, and we didn't lose anyone, and then some crazy boss from way later shows up and kidnaps Diavel?! That's not how this was supposed to go!

Only Asuna was pretty sure that it was even worse than that. Her partner had recognized the Integrity Knight. There was a lot more going on than she could see, and he had some explaining to do.

Later. When he didn't look like he was going to collapse. “Kirito-kun?” she said, bending to lay a hand on his shoulder. “Are you—?”

“Why?!”

The shout—almost a scream—made Asuna flinch, and she and Kizmel both turned to look at the source. Kibaou, it was, himself on his knees, face twisted in anguish and fury.

“Look at me!” the man demanded, shoving himself to his feet. “Answer me, dammit! Why the hell'd ya let her take Diavel-han?!” He took a step forward, fists clenched. “And what the hell's she gonna do with him?! C'mon, ya damn beta, say something!”

“Hey, now, Kibaou!” At the other side of the boss room, Agil heaved himself upright, propping himself up on the haft of his axe. “In case you didn't notice, your team got blasted half to death when you tried it. What the hell do you think one guy was gonna do against that?”

For a second, that seemed to bring Kibaou up short, and Asuna let out a breath of relief. The rude player had a temper and a grudge, but it looked like he wasn't completely unreasonable. Which was good, because if her experience at school had taught her anything, it was how to see social blood in the water. Push too hard, after what just happened, and—

“Like Kibaou said, he's a beta!” another player shouted—screeched, really. Asuna couldn't quite see his face, half-hidden behind Kibaou, but she didn't think she'd seen him before the raid. “All that stuff he knew when the boss switched weapons, what he said to the other boss—he could've stopped Diavel from getting hurt in the first place!”

Asuna opened her mouth to make a quick, angry response. Kizmel beat her to it, stepping between Kirito and the other players, cloak swaying in the wind from the broken windows. “What, exactly, are you insinuating?” the elf girl said coldly, eyes narrow in the depths of her hood.

“What do you think, lady?!” the screechy player demanded. “He let Diavel take that hit, he got the damn Last Attack bonus—of course he'd let Diavel get kidnapped! He wants all the good stuff, just like Kibaou's been saying!”

“What?!” Asuna demanded, taken aback. Kirito had done everything he could to stop the hit that had almost killed Diavel. If it hadn't been for Kirito's grapnel, the raid leader would have died. “You can't possibly be serious—!”

But there was a murmur starting, in the shell-shocked raid. They'd all just barely survived the first boss fight of the game, only to have something they knew nothing about suddenly appear and snatch away their leader. They were scared—and Asuna knew all too well what scared people were like.

“Yeah, how did he know all that?”

“Even the Rat's guide didn't have half of that, and nobody said anything about 'Integrity Knights' or whatever!”

“…Didn't even look scared when she showed up—”

This is just like launch day, she thought, chilled. Only worse. We just won a fight, and then that happened, and right now we're all trapped here….

She shot a quick glance at Kizmel, getting a subtle nod in return. If this kept up, they'd grab Kirito and—well, she wasn't sure what. But they'd get him out, and figure out the next step from there.

“Now hold on a damn minute!” Agil roared. “What the hell do you think he could've done against that?! Beta, hell, he's hurt as bad as the rest of us!”

“And that other boss talked to him!” the screechy player shot back. “You think he didn't know a way out of this?!” He started to push forward, gesticulating wildly. “Like those guides from Argo! The betas, they're just out for themselves, and now we've got proof!”

It was crazy. But witch hunts always were, and now Asuna felt a spike of fear for the information broker. She didn't know her very well, and the girl was a troll, but she was honest. And if a mob decided beta testers in general were at fault—were the enemy—

A laugh cut through Agil's angry, incredulous retort. High, echoing in the shattered boss room—and mocking. A laugh that shut down the yelling and the muttering in an instant, and made Asuna's hair stand on end.

Kirito rose to his feet, still laughing, and turned to face the rest of the raid. New coat billowing in the wind from the shattered walls, he stepped past Asuna and Kizmel, boots ringing loudly on the stone. His laughter trailed off, leaving a wide, disturbing grin. “Oh, you guys don't get it at all, do you?” he called out, voice pitched to carry without quite shouting. “You think this was my fault? That the betas are somehow going to get super loot from gaming the system? Get real!”

“What?” Another player—Asuna thought he'd been in Diavel's own party—pushed forward, glaring at Kirito. “What's that supposed to mean?”

“Weren't you paying attention? Diavel found something he shouldn't have.” Kirito shrugged leather-clad shoulders, a casual, careless gesture. “Normally you'd never see an Integrity Knight this early, but on top of being bosses, they're Kayaba's moderators. When somebody finds a system exploit, they're sent in after. Which means us beta testers are the ones most in danger, not you noobs.”

What?

“And y'know,” Kirito continued, still grinning that unnerving grin, “we do know some good exploits. But now most of us can't use 'em, or… well, that.” Another shrug, as he tossed a quick glance out the shattered walls. “I don't know what'll happen to Diavel now, the system can't just ban us, but… whatever it is, us betas will have to look over our shoulders from now on.”

“Wait… just wait a second.” The player from Diavel's team stared at Kirito, frown deepening. “If this is about exploits—then the betas really did do this to Diavel-san!”

“Oh, yeah, pretty much. Not Argo, though, she's never had the guts to dig into anything that might've gotten her banned. Nah, it would've been somebody more guts—but less brains.” Kirito tsked. “Me, I learned back in the beta when to push, and when to get the hell out.” His grin narrowed to a smug smile. “But you know what? A beta got Diavel into this—but you guys are why she got away with him.”

Asuna shivered. She knew he was lying through his teeth, that for whatever reason he was putting up an act—but it was a good one. She almost bought it herself, and from the murmurs and glances among most of the raid, it was doing exactly what he wanted with most of them.

Which, with that last sentence, seemed to be to make some people really mad. “What the hell're you talking about?!” Kibaou demanded, fury back up to full steam. “We tried—!”

“Oh, sure, you did. It was dumb,” Kirito added with a chuckle, “but you had the right idea.” He swept out an arm, gesturing at the raid at large. “C'mon! She was only here for Diavel, sure, but after Kibaou attacked, you really think she wouldn't have aggroed?” He snorted. “Over forty people still here. Integrity Knights are powerful, but they're not invincible. If you cowards had gotten your act together, all gone for her at once, you think you couldn't have driven her off?”

An uneasy silence fell at that. Most of the raid didn't seem to know if they were being insulted or complimented—or both. Asuna only shivered, having a pretty good idea that Kirito would never have suggested such a thing during the event. No way we could've have taken her on. Not yet.

“…How the hell d'you know all that, anyway?” Kibaou demanded, fury warring with a wariness that Asuna hoped was a good sign.

“How else?” Kirito turned to point at the Skywall, still glimmering beyond the tower walls. “I got farther than anybody else, during the beta test. I fought clear to the Tenth Island, saw things nobody else did. Even ran into an Integrity Knight or two. And the truth is, you guys are better than just about any tester was. Of course you are,” he added, smirking at the looks that claim got him. “Two thousand people, chosen at random, in the beta test? Most of them weren't hardcore gamers. You guys… you're the ones who know what you're doing. If you'd kept it together after the fight, you'd still have Diavel.” He raised his hands in another shrug, and turned away. “Remember that name, Diavel. I will. And while you guys are figuring out if you're gamers or wimps, I'm going to do what I do best.”

“Which is?” For the first time since Illfang's defeat, Tengu spoke up. Face unreadable behind his mask, the only hint to his feelings was a slight tilt of his head. “Where are you going?”

“Where else?” Kirito set off toward Illfang's throne at a calm, steady pace, coat billowing in his wake. “We unlock the Skywall in this room. It goes down when the first airship crosses the border. I'm going to go on ahead, farther and faster than anyone else. I'm going to beat this game, even if I have to do it myself.”

Asuna shared a quick look with Kizmel, and then the two of them were following after. They matched his measured pace, cloaks swaying as dramatically as Kirito's longcoat. If the situation had been any less serious, she would've giggled; as it was, she did her best to keep up the act.

Diavel was right, after all, she thought, as the three of them mounted the low dais on which Illfang's throne stood. The players need a symbol. Now, more than ever.

Later, she was going to freak out about what had happened. Later, when there was time. Right then, Asuna only watched as Kirito sat in the too-large seat that had been Illfang's, and as Kizmel moved to stand by the left armrest. Doing her best to imitate the Knight's poise, she took a spot to the right.

Somehow, she wasn't surprised by the golden light that lanced up to the Skywall Tower's ceiling, the moment Kirito was settled into the throne. Just as she wasn't surprised when, with a low rumble of stone-on-stone, the throne and its dais began to sink into the floor.

Asuna wondered, as they began to descend, how many of the faces now sliding out of view she'd see again. Was this enough? Did we get the victory we needed?

And… what's really going on here?

It was a really, really good thing that the switch to unlock the Skywall was Illfang's throne. After everything, Kirito was pretty sure he wouldn't have been able to keep up his act any longer. Not without collapsing. I can't believe I just did that. Any of that.

…I am so going to have nightmares tonight.

“I must commend you, Kirito,” Kizmel said, leaning against the throne's armrest. “That was quite the tale you wove for the other Swordmasters.”

Her voice echoed in the shaft the throne descended; not surprising, considering the dais was big enough for an entire raid to ride down. The elf girl's wry comment, and subsequent chuckle, bounced off the walls in a way that only emphasized the emptiness that was three people in a space meant for almost fifty.

“Which is going to fall apart the minute they have a chance to think,” Asuna pointed out, sitting on the opposite armrest with a shake of her head. “It better, anyway. I don't know half of what just happened, but I'm sure you were lying through your teeth about the raid being able to beat that Integrity Knight.”

“I had to keep them believing,” Kirito said wearily, slumping in the throne. His eyes were locked on the stone walls scrolling up as they descended the Skywall Tower, but he wasn't really seeing it. “The truth is, the raid really did go better than it ever did in the beta. If they just don't lose hope, we've got a real chance here.”

In the beta, the raid against that first Barrier Guardian had wiped completely twice, and even the successful run had lost people. To defeat Illfang the Kobold Lord, after it had unexpectedly revealed a change in attack pattern, with no casualties? As far as he was concerned, it was an out-and-out miracle.

“The Swordmasters certainly exceeded my expectations today,” Kizmel mused, lightly tapping her fingers on the throne. “…And when they inevitably do encounter an Integrity Knight again? I admire your courage standing up to her, Kirito, but you clearly know as well as I how badly that would have gone had she pressed the matter.”

Oh, yeah. “I do,” he admitted. “But one thing I wasn't lying about is that I don't think most players are going to be in danger any time soon. Eventually the Axiom Church will start sending them after players just clearing the Skywalls, but by then we should be strong enough to treat them as high-level bosses, not unwinnable ones.”

“And how do you know that, exactly?” As the throne-turned-elevator began to slow, Asuna turned a hard look on him. Much as he wanted to look away from that amber stare, he found he couldn't. “Kirito-kun. You recognized her—and you expected her to recognize you. Why?”

With a dull thud, the throne and its dais came to a halt. A low groan of stone-on-stone, and the wall behind them opened up, leading out to the ground at the Skywall Tower's base.

Kirito could feel Asuna's impatience, and within her hood he could see Kizmel was waiting with a very un-NPC-like intensity herself. Even so, they gave him time, as they left Illfang's throne and walked out into the afternoon sun. The Skywall still glimmered above, but there was a sense of waiting, like the world itself was holding its breath.

I wonder how they're going to handle Liberator? With Diavel gone, they're going to have to pick a successor. Can't imagine that's going to be smooth. I said I'd go on ahead to goad them, but I'll be kind of surprised if we don't get our ship up and running first. We'd better, anyway, Captain Emlas must be getting pretty impatient by now….

“Kirito,” Kizmel finally prompted, when they began to approach the tunnels leading away from the Tower. “Why are you so sure we'll not be pursued, as Sir Diavel was?”

“And what do you know about that Integrity Knight?” Asuna demanded, eyes narrow. “You told me, on launch day, no beta tester ever encountered one. But you knew her.” She folded her arms. “Was she a member of the game's staff or something? A moderator working with Kayaba?”

Kirito sighed. Stopped in his tracks, and turned to look up at the golden wall above. As scary as it would be for Kayaba to have allies, I wish that was it. …At least then, maybe this would make some kind of sense. As it is… this shouldn't be possible. She can't be here….

“I think I know what Diavel found,” he said finally, remembering a dark cave, a pale face, and years worth of nightmares. “And no. In the beta test, even I never actually met an Integrity Knight.

“But six years ago, she wasn't an Integrity Knight.” He shivered, thinking back to the cold blue eyes he'd face not so long before, so different from the warmth he remembered. “Six years ago, she was still Alice Zuberg, of Rulid Village. …My friend.”

Chapter Text

Chapter V: "We're Breaking New Ground"

December 4th, 2032

“Out with it, Kirito-kun.”

“I believe you did promise us an explanation, Kirito. We certainly seem to have plenty of time for it now.”

The intensity of Asuna's stare didn't surprise Kirito in the least. He'd been annoying her every hour or so from the day they met. That Kizmel, hood thrown back now that they were safely away from the raid, was gazing at him through narrowed eyes… that, he hadn't quite expected.

No NPC should care that much about a player's past. It's not part of her quest, it shouldn't even occur to her to ask. …But Alice shouldn't even exist, let alone here. Who am I to say what an “NPC” is really like?

Looking away from those hard stares, to the surrounding forest as Moonshadow lifted from her hiding place, Kirito knew he was just avoiding the question. Out here on the deck, he didn't even have the luxury of putting it off any longer.

Finally, he dropped down to sprawl on the deck, pulling his new longcoat close. “The beta test wasn't the first time I visited Aincrad,” he said, staring down at the dark wood of Moonshadow's deck. “In fact, I… don't remember when the first time was. Growing up, Aincrad was just… part of my life.”

Asuna sat down hard, drawing her knees up to her chest as she stared at him. “What? But—Full-Dive technology didn't even exist until a couple years ago! Um,” she added, glancing at Kizmel, “Full-Dive is—”

“The machinery you use to connect with Aincrad's spell,” the elf girl said, nodding. “That much, I've come to understand since I met you.” Settling more gracefully to the deck, she waved a hand at Kirito. “Please, go on.”

Thank you, Kayaba, for being thorough…. “As long as I can remember,” he said slowly, “when I went to sleep at night, at home, I'd wake up somewhere else. Rulid Village, on Einsla Island.” He glanced out over the starboard railing, where forest was giving way to mountains. “Or rather, in a cave, down beneath an old well. So long ago I don't even remember, I found my way to the surface, and, well… I'd hang out there, when I was 'sleeping'.”

The fencer was looking at him like he was crazy. Kizmel, though, took a sharp breath, eyes widening. “You're a Lost Child of Vector?”

“A what?” Asuna said sharply.

“People cast adrift from another world,” the elf girl explained, still staring at Kirito. “Said to be toyed with by the dark god, Vector. No one knows why, though some among my people believe he is using them to test the Gates beyond which he was banished.” She visibly shivered. “Those who remain in Aincrad seldom remember much of their old lives. Others, who recall themselves, are often pulled back to their own world eventually.”

Okay, this is getting spookier every minute. “That's what they called me,” Kirito said, nodding. “And every morning, I'd wake up back in my own bed in Tokyo. Even when it felt like more than just eight hours had gone by for me.”

He could still remember it. Vividly, despite his best efforts to bury it. Just as he'd known every path through Einsla's woods, in the dark, the very first night of the beta test. Just as he could remember his grandfather's reaction, when he was finally old enough to figure out there was something strange.

“That, um….” For once, Asuna looked genuinely lost for words. “That sounds, well… weird. And confusing.”

“Normal enough for a Lost Child,” Kizmel put in quietly. “My people have dealt with them only seldom, but because of what they represent, we've been thorough in investigating when they do appear. Oddities with time are believed to be related to crossing the gulf between worlds.”

Definitely spooky. “It's also normal for human REM sleep—um, dreaming, I mean,” Kirito corrected himself, when Kizmel looked blank. “You can have a dream that feels like hours, and it really was all over in seconds. I did my research,” he added, when Asuna blinked at him. “Let's say, when I finally thought to ask somebody about it, I was told in no uncertain terms I was dreaming. When I was old enough to understand the words, I did a lot of research on sleeping and dreams.”

Moonshadow eased into a turn to port, slipping between two of Einsla's taller mountains. The gust as the ship's bow turned briefly into the wind ruffled his hair, and sent both his coat and the girls' cloaks flapping; the time it took to get them under control gave him precious moments to gather his thoughts.

“So… when you were talking about the Axiom Church, the Integrity Knights, all of that, on the first day….” Asuna looked up at the Skywall, dimmed and flickering as it had been since Illfang's defeat. “That wasn't beta knowledge at all, was it?”

“No,” Kirito admitted reluctantly. “They were stories I heard in Rulid Village, growing up. They told me a lot… once they decided I wasn't a demon child from the Dark Territory or something.”

Kizmel twitched at that. Instead of remarking on that, though, she said, “'I begin to understand why you've always avoided Rulid Village. The Integrity Knight we met today—she was someone you knew there, wasn't she?”

He didn't want to remember that. Not the people, not the one he'd—mistakenly—counted on to help him, not Alice. And definitely not how it had all ended. But they deserve to know—and I need to know what's going on here.

The girls gave him time to gather his courage, at least. He appreciated that. Finally, though, Kirito faced them squarely. “Alice Zuberg, her little sister Selka, and a local boy,” he said, folding his hands together. “Alice was an apprentice herbalist, a prodigy…. We spent a lot of time together, in those years. Exchanging stories, playing around, getting into trouble…. Y'know, the usual kid stuff.”

“…I wish I did….”

Kirito wasn't sure he'd really heard Asuna. He was pretty sure if he had, she hadn't meant him to. He pretended he hadn't either way; she hadn't confided him much about her real life, and unlike his past, it wasn't relevant. He'd mind his own business.

We're not friends, after all. Just partners. He glanced at Kizmel, and hid a flinch. None of us are. Just travelers on the same road, for a little while.

“We were good friends,” he said, when the silence began to drag on. “I didn't understand what was going on, everything I knew said they couldn't be real—but it was fun. Even if I did think I was just dreaming.” He surprised himself by chuckling. “My sister even liked the stories I'd tell her about Aincrad, even if she thought I was just making it all up. Until….”

“Six years ago,” Kizmel prompted, when Kirito fell silent. Her gaze was gentle, but firm—a knight, he thought, demanding a painful but important answer. “You said Alice was your friend six years ago. What happened then?”

He swallowed. Six years, he'd tried to forget. Told himself it wasn't happening any more, so obviously none of it had ever been real at all. It was the only way he'd been able to cope, between that and his discovery in the waking world. “Six years ago,” he said, forcing the words out, “we finally decided to find out how I was coming to Aincrad. So… the three of us went down into the old well—”

A soft footfall, and a cleared throat, interrupted him. “I'm very sorry to interrupt,” Captain Emlas said, emerging from Moonshadow's sterncastle. “But we'll soon be at your destination, and I believe we have business to conclude.”

The three of them scrambled to their feet, Asuna slipping over to join Kirito, Kizmel going to the Dark Elf captain's side. From the look on the fencer's face, the discussion wasn't over, but for now there really was other business.

Especially since we took down the first Barrier Guardian. We've got a job to do, and Diavel's not around to do it.

Emlas stared at Kirito and his partner for a long moment, as if measuring them. “So. I believe this fulfills our bargain, Swordmasters. I had my doubts, when Dame Kizmel first brought you to my ship, but you have proven those doubts groundless. Though I will admit I'm not so sure about some of your fellows.” A shrug. “The actions of other Swordmasters are of no consequence here regardless. You've acted in good faith, and I shall repay in kind.”

Kirito hardly paid attention to Captain Emlas' words. It was pure formula, no different from any other quest completion he'd experienced. Almost no different, he corrected himself. This one… is going to hurt.

“Thank you, Captain,” Asuna said, taking the lead with only a quick, sharp glance at her partner. Bowing, she added, “We couldn't have done this without you.”

Too true. He and Asuna would've had a much harder time, over that month, without the support of the Dark Elves. Maybe more importantly, who knew when the players would sort out who was going to take over from Diavel, and get Liberator into the sky.

Someone needs to bring down the Skywall, and soon. We can't afford to lose momentum. But that means we'll have to…. Kirito tried to hide his wince. He knew how stupid it was. He'd tried to keep his distance even so, and thought he'd succeeded.

“Would that we could finish bringing down the Skywall ourselves,” Emlas said then, with a rueful shake of his head. “But the Administrator's magic is clever, if nothing else. A purely elven ship will not pierce it, even with the Guardian defeated. Though our bargain ends here, I must trust you with this last task, as well.”

“Of course, Captain,” Asuna said, with a respectful nod. “That's what we're here for, anyway.” She smiled sheepishly. “I'm glad we helped you and Kizmel, but this is our problem, too.” The fencer turned another smile on the other Dark Elf. “We should be thanking you for helping us.”

“It's been an honor,” Kizmel told, returning the smile. “And I would like to think our travels together may soothe the fears of others among my people.”

Kirito swallowed, when the dusky girl's smile turned to him. She's just an NPC. She can't be anything more than programming. She can't be real. …That's what I thought about Alice.

I don't understand anything anymore.

“Hm.” Emlas' ears twitched, and he turned a sidelong look on Kizmel, but Kirito thought there might've been the smallest glint in his eye. “Perhaps so. Today does speak well for the Swordmasters, yet this is only the beginning…. Regardless.” He lifted a case that had been sitting by his feet, and handed it over to Kirito. “As I said, our bargain is concluded. Here is your reward for your aid. I fear we've not much to spare, after the crash, but the jewels here should stand you in good stead when you reach Niian. I'm sure you, at least, are aware that you will be facing greater dangers than you have here.”

Kirito shook himself, grateful for the distraction. “I remember, Captain.” He took the case, brought up his menu, and tucked it into his inventory; he'd check its contents later. Right then, there was a chime in his ear, and a quick check of the Quest Log confirmed his assumption.

[Aid Dark Elf Forces on the First Island Complete].

That was it, then. It'd been… fun, if he was going to be honest with himself. She'd made it all too easy to forget she was an NPC, and if her—different—view of things could make sharing accommodations with her and Asuna awkward, well, at least it helped him forget the danger they were in.

Well, she is an NPC, he reminded himself firmly. Even if she wasn't, she's got her own job to do. And this was why I wanted to be alone in the first place, right? So that I'd never have this happen again. …Asuna will still be here, but at least with our own airship, I won't… risk any more.

Besides. I don't want to drag anyone else into what I'm going to have to do. Alice, this whole impossible mess—it's my problem.

As Moonshadow's engines began to quiet, the ship slowing as she approached a certain crevice in Einsla's mountains, Asuna shot him a quick, indecipherable look. He wasn't sure what it meant; after a month traveling with her, Kirito still didn't really understand his partner at all.

Then she was facing the elves again, giving a deep and formal bow. “Thank you for everything, Kizmel,” she said softly. “I'm glad I met you.”

Kirito didn't need the flicker of a glare she sent his way. Affecting a more Western bow—trying to hide his own feelings behind a rakish grin—he said, “Me, too, Kizmel. It's been fun.” He hesitated. “…Maybe we'll meet again, on Niian or Sandoria.”

It was possible, after all. The Elf War quest had gone completely off the rails, but though he'd never asked, he was pretty sure Kizmel's mission was still the same as in the beta. If it was, then sooner or later the other Keys would come up in the plot. With her still alive, maybe it won't be generic elves this time around.

“Given that you saved my life, the night we met, I ought to be thanking you,” Kizmel said, smiling warmly. “I had never known humans before that night. It is my honor to name the both of you as trusted comrades. That being the case….” She turned to Emlas. “Captain? If you would?”

Huh?

“Gladly. No offense to you, Dame Kizmel, but this voyage has been rather more than I bargained for.” Moonshadow's captain reached into his coat, his hand coming back out with an envelope. “Swordmasters. My ship's damage has not yet been made entirely good, and even when it has, my crew is shorthanded. Secret missions for the Queen are a bit beyond us now. I have here a letter vouching for you to the commander of our outpost on Niian. It's yours, if you will take on the task of ferrying Dame Kizmel on the next leg of her mission.”

“Of course we will!” Asuna said instantly, almost bouncing in sudden excitement. “We'd be happy to!”

The Look she gave him was totally not fair. Especially since it was completely unnecessary. Numbly, eyes wide, Kirito accepted the envelope, and with it the quest update. Part of him really didn't want to do this, he knew it was just going to hurt more in the end, but—

[Escort Royal Guard to Niian Port].

“…We can do that, yeah,” he said quietly. Turning to Kizmel, he couldn't help but smile shyly. “I guess it's not goodbye yet after all, huh?”

It was too late. After everything, he'd take the chance to stretch things out a little longer. To hold off the old hurt.

“Indeed not,” the elf girl replied, returning the smile. “I'll be in your care a little longer—and I have no doubt I am in good hands.” She turned to Emlas, raising one fist to her chest in salute. “Captain Emlas, it has been an honor. I am sorry for the difficulties my mission caused you and your ship—”

A loud yip interrupted her, and a furry blur rushed onto the deck. The wolf Cavall, whom Kirito had almost forgotten about in the weeks his party had been working from Tolbana, darted over to them, tail wagging like an oversized dog.

Kizmel sighed, shaking her head, and knelt to rest a hand on Cavall's head. “You are as incorrigible as your former master, did you know that?” She looked back at Emlas. “My apologies, Captain, but as I believe your journey will be safer than ours from here, might I impose on you to take this beast with you? I'd not risk him before he can be returned to my sister, if it at all possible.”

“That, I can do, Dame Kizmel.” Kirito might almost have thought Emlas was chuckling, if she hadn't known him to be so stoic. “Even if he does eat more of the meat ration than half my crew…. I assure you, that obligation I will carry out without fail.”

Kirito couldn't help but be relieved by that. Whatever oddities there were about Kizmel, Cavall was definitely just a program—but he was still like a big, friendly dog. Even in a game, worrying about the wolf's safety would've been one more stress he really didn't need.

Not to mention it'll be cramped enough on that airship just… with the three… of us…. He glanced quickly at Kizmel, who was still smiling in fond exasperation. Then at Asuna, whose wide-eyed expression said she'd just come to the same realization he had. Oh, man, that is going to be so awkward. And I thought Moonshadow's bunks were bad.

They'd work it out, though. And they were running behind schedule anyway. In moments, Asuna and Kizmel had gotten away from Cavall, joining Kirito at the deck's rail. He was already fastening his grapnel to it, preparatory to lowering the three of them into the tunnel below—anxious to not think about what might be coming soon.

As Asuna gingerly took hold of his arm, obviously as uncomfortable as he was, Kirito turned back to Emlas. “No in elenath hîlar nan hâd gîn,” he said, enunciating the foreign syllables as carefully as he could.

From the looks on both Emlas and Kizmel's faces, they hadn't expected that one, but they did recognize it. “The same to you, Swordmaster Kirito,” Emlas said, after the barest hesitation. He gave a respectful nod. “Clear skies, Swordmasters. May we meet again one day.”

Kirito nodded back, and stepped off Moonshadow's rail. Here we go, he thought, descending into the darkness, Asuna's nervous but firm hold reminding him he wasn't alone. We're about to start the real game.

And then… I have to find out what's really going on. This can't be real….

I still cannot figure out what's going on in that head of his. How can I have spent this long as his partner and still be this clueless?

Walking with Kirito and Kizmel down the tunnel leading to what had been their little secret for the past couple of weeks, Asuna was torn between excitement about what they were about to do, and a burning need to grab Kirito by the collar of his fancy new coat. Grab him by the neck, and drag answers out of him. He'd dropped such a bombshell on them, and then…!

But there wasn't time, darn it. The first thing they needed to do was finish taking down the Skywall, preferably before word spread of just how the raid had ended. Morale was too important, when it was still the players' first victory.

Get into the air, take down the Skywall, then interrogate him. …Besides, I can tell this isn't easy for him.

“This is where Aincrad really gets started,” Kirito said, as they neared the entrance to cave at tunnel's end. His jocular tone belied what Asuna knew he had to still be feeling; still, she was pretty sure it wasn't completely fake, either. “There's a lot to see on the islands, but the airships are a Swordmaster's other half. Next to a sword, nothing matters more in this world.”

“I admit, I'm looking forward to this myself,” Kizmel mused. She and Asuna were barely a step behind the swordsman, walking into the light at the end of the tunnel. The elf girl promptly—carelessly, really—dropped the torch she'd been carrying onto the stone floor, its blue flame no longer needed. “As a member of the Pagoda Knights, the sky has never been my purview. Airships have never been more than a means to an end, for me. Even if it's only a little while, I'll be looking at it through different eyes, this time.”

“At least you're used to airships being around, Kizmel,” Asuna said absently, taking in the sight before them. “We do have flying machines where we come from, but… nothing like this.” The zeppelins of a century before came close, maybe. She doubted they were anything like what sat in the cavern deep under Einsla's mountains. “And she's all ours, huh?”

“You've certainly earned it,” Kizmel told her, smiling. “After all your help, this was the least we could do for you.”

As with every visit they'd made, the strange, mottled gray stone of the walls and ceiling stood out, and there were still plenty of petrified trees strewn throughout the cavern. Now, though, the shape by the far edge was in far better shape than when they'd first come. The vines had been cleared away, the hull carefully patched, the gossamer webbing made whole.

Built of the same dark wood as Moonshadow, not the steel of Liberator, the airship was much smaller than Captain Emlas' pride and joy. Small, lean, with nothing atop the deck save a pilothouse at the stern; rather than the magical thrusters of most ships Asuna had so far seen, this one had two propellers on the stern, and wide, web-like “wing-sails” on the flanks.

Kizmel had told them the ship was an ancient Dark Elf design. It was probably just as well, making her easier to repair from the poor shape in which they'd found her. Even that first day, though, before she knew anything about the practicalities, Asuna had thought the airship beautiful.

And she's all ours. We don't have to rely on anyone else now, not even Captain Emlas. Today, we're free….

Only when Kirito cleared his throat did Asuna realize she'd been standing there staring for at least a couple of minutes. When she turned a sheepish look on him, though, he only smiled shyly. “How about we get aboard? Kizmel, if you could help us with the core crystal….”

“But of course.” The elf girl started to lead the way, only to pause, suddenly chuckling. “Ah, forgive me,” she said, when the humans gave her confused looks. “It's just, even were it not for Captain Emlas asking you to ferry me, goodbyes would have been premature. After all, you still would've needed me for this, so at the least I could've seen you off.” She turned to look back at the ship, an odd smile on her face. “This is better, though, I think….”

She didn't explain herself, instead making for the handholds set into the airship's hull and quickly climbing aboard. Asuna and Kirito quickly followed after—Asuna motioning Kirito to go first with a pointed look—and soon they were all atop the deck. Then they were into the pilothouse, and down the steep stairs into the airship's interior.

Oh, this is going to be so awkward. If we hadn't spent so long in Moonshadow's bunks and then that farmhouse… and even those had a little more space!

This airship's interior had exactly three compartments: a cargo hold in the bow, a tiny engine room in the stern, and sandwiched between them a cramped sleeping compartment. It didn't even have proper bunks, just places to hang glorified hammocks. Asuna thought they'd probably be pretty comfortable, but there definitely wasn't much privacy.

“What was this ship even for?” she muttered, as they passed through to the engine room. “This is way too small to have been military, but that deck mount doesn't look civilian to me, either.”

Kizmel chuckled, opening the engine room hatch. “I doubt even my own people know for sure, after all this time. I would suspect, personally, that this was once the private fishing vessel of a nobleman.”

Asuna stared at her. Kirito blinked, looking torn between disbelief and laughter. “You think this was a fishing boat?” he said carefully. “With that cannon mount?”

“Oh, indeed.” Kizmel smiled ruefully. “I believe the nobility has an important place in our society, but in my time as a knight I've certainly seen their… eccentricities. A nobleman who wishes to indulge his hobbies privately—perhaps with, ah, 'company' he should not strictly be keeping? This would not be the first small, fast ship with teeth I've seen so employed.” She coughed. “Please do not ask for details, I know rather more about that particular scandal than I would like.”

Kirito stared at her, before suddenly coughing, face turning bright red. The fencer put together “company”, “private”, and “scandal”, and choked. “You—you don't mean—”

“At any rate, whatever this ship might once have hosted is no concern of ours,” the elven knight said quickly, and stepped into the engine room. “Shall we?”

Though Kizmel and her human comrades had carefully restored the airship's hull and rigging in the two weeks since Emlas had first taken them to her, not everything had quite been made ready. The cannon mount on the deck remained empty, with no means on Einsla to replace the long-vanished weapon—and the core crystal remained dormant, capable of little more than keeping the ship, just barely, alive.

Even had Kirito or Asuna known how to awaken a crystal to begin with, a Dark Elf would've been needed for the Wood-aligned crystal at the center of this ship's engine room. Never having done so herself, nor having encountered such an archaic crystal, Kizmel hadn't wanted to take the chance before battling the first Barrier Guardian.

Not when I suspect we will all be distracted at odd moments by the side effects. Minor they may likely be, but this would not have been a good time for any distraction.

The engine room was small and simple, bearing little more than the core crystal's mounting, access hatches to the ship's propellers, and pipelines from the crystal mount to the ship's systems. The crystal itself was oddly simple to Kizmel's eyes, looking more akin to a large, dark emerald diamond than the many-spiked shapes of more modern airship cores. That, at least, made it simpler to lay hands upon it.

Even so, as Kirito and Asuna placed their hands on two sides, the way Kizmel had instructed the last time they'd come to the ship, she found herself hesitating. Do I… really have the right to do this? Betrayed as we were by Kayaba, they're innocent of his crimes. If I continue on this path, am I any better than he?

“Kizmel?” Asuna said softly. “Is something wrong?”

The elf girl started, looking up to find her comrades both looking at her in concern. “It's nothing, Asuna,” she said, shaking her head. “Merely a passing thought—”

Kirito cleared his throat, interrupting her. “I'm not really good with people, Kizmel,” he said. “But even I know when somebody says, 'It's nothing', it's not nothing.”

She looked back at him a moment, before letting her shoulders slump. “Heh. Something our peoples have in common, then. And if even you can see it….” Taking a deep breath, Kizmel faced the two young humans squarely. “I realize that the two of you believe this world to be a simple construct, not a medium between worlds. That you are not even certain that I am real.” And that, she was beginning to find, caused her no small pang, however understandable it was. “But I feel I must warn you nonetheless. By joining me in this, you will be drawn that much deeper in this world's spell. It may be a small thing, yet someday you may find it makes it that much harder for you to return to your own world.”

Neither of them believed in magic. Not really. Her warning would probably fall on deaf ears. But she still had to try—however little she truly wanted to. Kirito may even believe me. Whatever strange tie he has to an Integrity Knight, this is not his first experience with Aincrad.

There was a long pause, Kirito and Asuna looking back at Kizmel, and then at each other. Finally, though, Asuna smiled. “Kizmel,” she said gently. “Even if that's true, do you think we really have a choice? If we're ever going to escape at all, we have to move on from Einsla. We need an airship.”

“You could buy a human ship, though,” Kizmel pointed out. “Those in Origia doubtless already have awakened core crystals.”

“I dunno, I think this one suits us better,” Kirito retorted. “If we're going to use what I know of Aincrad, we're better off with a Dark Elf ship anyway.” He shrugged. “Maybe it's a risk, but doing it the other way is risking our lives that much more.”

That was an incredibly flimsy argument. She almost pointed it out, too, but he continued before she could.

“Besides… I have something I need to do here, anyway. This won't be any riskier than that.”

“You're going to explain that later,” Asuna said sharply, before turning back to Kizmel. “But he's still right. Whatever happens, we won't regret it.” She reached over to touch the elf girl's hand. “Come on. Let's do this.”

Brave humans. Or perhaps foolish—but in their position, who can say what is wise, and what is foolish? “Very well, then,” Kizmel said, shaking her head with a chuckle that surprised even herself. “Let's begin. I warn you, though, this is likely to feel… strange. And don't be alarmed if you feel things not of your own body.”

Ah. That got a wary look from them. But they'd made their choice clear, so she saw no more reason to hesitate. Much. With another deep breath, she gripped the core crystal, felt for the faint sense of magic that remained sleeping within it, and focused.

For all his beta knowledge, Kirito had no idea what to expect from “awakening” a core crystal. As Kizmel had pointed out, airships for sale in Origia were already fully functional. Considering how expensive they were, he'd never taken the time to buy one of his own anyway, preferring to cadge rides and move ahead as quickly as possible.

He'd guessed the process would be just a light show, possibly with—given Kizmel's warning—a brief hit to his HP. Since SAO didn't have magic or attendant MP mechanics, that seemed the most logical way it would handle player involvement in awakening the crystal.

Kirito had no idea how to even describe what happened instead. As Kizmel murmured words beyond his knowledge of Sindarin, and the darkened crystal began to light up, he felt… something. Like something was being pulled out of him, leaving him strangely cold—while at the same time, something warm flowed back from the crystal, filling the chill void. Along with the sensation of flowing heat and cold, there was the oddest tickle at the edges of his mind, and a subliminal beat.

No, he realized, closing his eyes to focus on the sensation. Two beats. …Heartbeats. His own was strangely loud his ears as it was; he could tell these were separate. One beat in a rhythm not too different from his own, fast and anxious. The other, slow, calm, and deep.

Asuna, Kirito realized, opening his eyes again to find his partner staring at him, face tinted shades of green by the coruscating glow flaring up from the crystal. One of those is Asuna's. The other—

Kizmel's eyes were still closed, the elf girl still lost in awakening the airship's core. Somehow, though, he felt like he could see straight through her armor to her heart, and knew the other pulse was hers.

He knew SAO emulated the players' real heartbeats, the only sensation that made it through from the real world. It wasn't too surprising it could share that feeling between players, or even that it could simulate and share an NPC's pulse the same way. He'd never imagined there would be any reason for the system to do so, but it certainly made technical sense.

What really spooked Kirito was that he could feel his pulse, and Asuna's, deepen and slow to match Kizmel's. I know the NerveGear has control over nerve impulses, but this—what is it doing?!

Before he could fully panic, the core crystal's glow steadied. As emerald light began to flow out from it into the pipelines leading out of the room, the strange feeling of warmth and cold flowing in and out of him subsided. The unnerving awareness he'd had of both his comrades—and their heartbeats—faded along with it.

Kirito felt strangely lonely in its wake.

“What… what just happened?” Asuna got out, hands falling away from the crystal. “I—that was—I don't even know what I just felt….”

Letting out a deep sigh, Kizmel seemed to slump back from the crystal herself. “There is… an exchange of energies,” she said, slowly and softly. “Crystals of Iron and Steel, as favored by human shipwrights, are given strength by external sources, or so I'm told. Those of the Dark Elves, which sustain the very lives of their ships, require something more.” The elf girl seemed to gather herself, eyes finally opening. “Forgive me. I've little idea how it would affect humans, and even among my people, even with newer crystals, it is said to be a very personal experience. With one as old as this—truthfully, I was afraid it would take more out of us than this.”

Meaning it could've knocked them flat right before the boss fight. Oof. No wonder she didn't want to risk it until after Illfang. But… what was that? Even in the dreams, I never felt anything like that. Well… except once. And that was dark. This was….

Kirito shivered, and tried not to notice Asuna's faint blush. He didn't really want to think that what they'd just done had felt good. “Will there be any lasting effects?” he asked, trying to keep his mind—and the subject—on the practical.

Kizmel hesitated. “With a modern crystal, in the true Aincrad, among other elves? I would say not. With an ancient core, awakened within the spell of this transitory world, with humans? I fear we're breaking new ground.” She coughed into one hand. “If we've recovered this well, however, I believe it's safe to say we'll not be harmed by it. And I believe we still have a job to do. Shall we?”

Without waiting for an answer, she turned in a swish of her cloak to leave the engine room. As she made for the stairs, Asuna leaned in close to Kirito. “Are you sure there was nothing like this in the beta?” she hissed.

“Not that I ever ran into,” he whispered back. “I could ask Argo, though, if anyone would know it'd be her.”

“Urk. …Later.” The fencer pulled away, following after Kizmel. “First, you owe us answers, anyway!”

“…Yeah. I guess I do.” Shaking his head, Kirito brought up the rear, and deliberately pushed what had just happened out of his mind. One impossibility at a time—and in the meantime, he had to admit he was just dying to see Asuna's reaction when they got the ship airborne.

Asuna supposed it made sense that their new ship's pilothouse was a lot smaller and simpler than Moonshadow's bridge. The not-glass windows set in all four bulkheads were similar, as was the ship's wheel, but that was about it. To the left of the wheel, there was a pedestal with controls for the throttle and wing-sails; to the right, one that governed the ship's more esoteric functions, some of which even Kizmel hadn't been able to identify.

If she had to guess, they were positioned to be reachable from the helm, but intended for a crew of three. Not that she knew much about airship design—yet.

For now, Asuna sat in the right-hand chair, keeping an eye on the one part she did fully understand—a status display for the core crystal. Kizmel took the other chair, ready to bring the lift field and engines to life. Kirito stood between them, hands on the wheel, and not looking quite as confident as he probably wanted them to think.

“So… why am I the only one who doesn't get a chair?” the swordsman asked plaintively, giving the wheel a quick spin.

“Probably so that the person in charge of steering does not fall asleep on the job,” Kizmel said dryly, smiling to soften the dig. “Come now. Isn't it time we began?”

“…Right.” He cleared his throat, clearly doing his best Emlas imitation. “Power to the lift field. Pull in the skids as soon as we're up.”

“Power to the lift field,” Kizmel repeated, easing forward one of the levers. With a thrum, quieter than Moonshadow's but still enough to be felt through the deck, the ship lifted from the stone floor—for the first time in centuries, Asuna supposed. “Everything seems steady.”

“If I'm reading this right, the core is holding.” That had taken a crash course in technical Sindarin, something Asuna had never supposed existed. Kayaba was thorough, she'd give him that much. “Pulling in the landing skids,” she added, touching one of the other controls she more or less understood. “We're good to go, Kirito-kun.”

“Okay, then.” Kirito spun the wheel, turning the airship's bow toward the cavern's exit. “Easy on the throttle… launch Moondancer!”

Their very own airship, named partly in honor of the one that had helped them reach this point. With Kizmel gently pushing the throttle, the ship was out and into the sky at last.

We're free. These are our wings, now. With a sword and a ship, we can go anywhere…. Awe building inside her, Asuna pushed herself out of her chair to get a better look, at the sky before and above, at the clouds below. “Wow….” she breathed. “We're really doing it… we're really flying….”

“Yeah, we are.” Despite the mood that had gripped him since the Integrity Knight appeared, Kirito was grinning. “Never had a ship of my own in the beta. Flying on our own like this is kinda cool—but we'd better get a bit higher, or we'll hit the Cloud Sea. That'd be a real short flight.”

“Too true.” Kizmel adjusted the wing-sails, and Moondancer's bow arced up toward the faded gold still shimmering above. “That would be an embarrassing end.”

Asuna glanced down at the roiling clouds. They never quite blanketed the sky below, leaving plenty of gaps—but she didn't think she was imagining the way they seemed to be gathered right underneath their ship. “The previews never talked about that much. I take it going too low is, um, bad?”

“The Cloud Sea is a barrier meant to prevent anyone in the Archipelago from reaching the surface world,” Kirito said, turning Moondancer to spiral up around Einsla. “Anything that gets caught in it? Poof. Those clouds basically dissolve anything they touch. …It's kinda cruel, honestly,” he added, voice turning thoughtful. “It lets people see the ground is still there, but never lets anyone through. Even the Skywall is just a wall.”

“Aincrad was not raised to the heavens by choice,” Kizmel said quietly. “Like as not, giving glimpses of what once was, was itself intended as punishment.” She shook her head. “But that is a dark tale of old. Today—Asuna, watch what lies above. I believe you'll enjoy what comes next.”

The fencer obediently returned her attention to the sky, and to the island they were still circling. Moondancer was just coming up over the Skywall Tower, close enough to see the shattered top. They were past too fast for her to see much, but it looked like the rest of the raid had left at some point. No sign of Liberator, though, she thought. Probably still fighting over her… oh, here we go.

Kirito was bringing Moondancer around to the north, angling toward the place it had all begun. Before long they were passing over Origia, giving the players still huddled there a deliberate look. There was no way to talk to them from the air, no way to see how those scared players might react—but Asuna understood why Kirito did it anyway. Everyone needed to see them, at least for a moment: even if the rest of the raid was still squabbling, people would know the Skywall was about to come down.

It's time.

Kizmel had opened the throttle further, and leveled the wing-sails. Now they were soaring straight toward the next island, Moondancer's bow closing in on the Skywall itself. Closer and closer, the faded honeycomb wall came, until it was on them, and the ship touched it—

The Skywall shattered, golden shards scattering like a dying monster as Moondancer broke through. The sky that had always been tinted was suddenly clear, and Asuna had her first sight of Aincrad's true sky.

Aincrad's sun was low in the sky, yet still high enough for her to see it was just a little off from the real one. Seeing that subtle difference was enough to pull her out her chair, out onto the deck, to see more. To see everything with her own eyes, everything she'd entered Sword Art Online to see.

In the distance, the Skywall still covered most of the Aincrad Archipelago in a golden cage. Nearer, though, Niian was as free as Einsla—and above, Asuna could see some smaller islands, glowing in the evening sun. One of them even had a grand waterfall, cascading down to a lake on the western edge of the Second Island.

“The Skyfalls,” Kizmel said softly, stepping out onto the deck herself. Asuna glanced quickly back at the elf girl, to see a small, bittersweet smile on her face. “Tilnel and I visited there once, long ago, when we were but children.”

“…How does it not run out of water?”

Kizmel chuckled. “Would you believe me if I said 'magic'? …Perhaps, if we've the time to spare, I can show you. It's quite the sight up close, I can assure you. Even for those of us born to Aincrad's skies, seeing salmon ascending the Skyfalls is quite remarkable to watch.”

Asuna could believe it. And somehow, she was sure there really was an explanation besides just “magic”; Kayaba was nothing if not thorough. Thorough enough that she could see flocks of odd birds in the distance—and not so distant, as a flock of what looked for all the world like turquoise seagulls suddenly flew past Moondancer, arcing ahead of the ship toward Niian.

“Gullwings.” She started, only then realizing Kirito had walked up to her other side. “They're migratory. Usually the Skywall lets birds through, but if the Administrator strengthened it when we arrived, they were probably stuck, too.” He chuckled, scratching the back of his head. “I guess they're in a hurry?”

“And we aren't?” Asuna raised an eyebrow, pointedly glancing back at the pilothouse. “Shouldn't you be steering the ship?” And… now that I think about it, we're not really moving anymore, are we?

“We're parked,” he assured her. “Well, as parked as we can get out here, if we have to spend the night between islands we're better off mooring at one of the rogues…. Anyway! Do you want a couple of guides, or not?”

Half of her bristled at the suggestion she was a tourist. The other half couldn't really argue the point, and as overwhelmed as she was by the view, that half won out. “Well, fine,” she huffed. She pointed toward the north, and a winged shape that was just coming into view from beyond Niian. “What the heck is that?”

Big, that was for sure, if she could see it at all from so far out. It was hard to tell by the light of the setting sun, but Asuna thought it was long, bulbous, and with great big, shimmering wings to match. In fact, it almost looked like—

“Doomwhale,” Kizmel mused, stepping farther forward to get a better view. “Oh, my. They don't usually come this far out in the Archipelago. I wonder if the Administrator disturbed this one?”

“Doomwhale,” Asuna repeated flatly. Resisting a sudden urge to hurry belowdecks—or to drag Kirito to the pilothouse and get them moving again—she turned a sharp look on her companions instead. “Why do I not like the sound of that?”

“We should be fine,” Kirito said absently, shading his eyes and squinting at the huge flyer. “A lot of people think doomwhales are bad luck, but the older stories say that's only if you kill one. Kind of like an albatross—don't look at me like that,” he added, aggrieved, when she gave him a Look. “I may not have read the poem, but games and stuff reference things like that.”

“A poem? I'd like to hear more about it later.” Kizmel drifted back to them. “That said, Kirito is right. Doomwhales are often assumed to prey on ships, given their large size and lack of obvious food sources. In truth, however, they seem to have some connection with the Cloud Sea…. Though they can be hazardous to simple navigation. We'd best moor at one of the rogues for tonight, and make for Niian in the morning. This one will likely have moved on by then.”

Asuna found it more than a little disturbing how the two of them were practically calling a giant flying whale—with the adjective “doom” as part of its name, at that—harmless. But they're the experts, I guess… and what in the world could that be?

Far out above the northern edge of Niian, on another detached island—one of the “rogues”, she supposed—was what looked for all the world to be a castle. Old, crumbling, and smallish, but even from that distance pretty obviously a castle. “Is that a dungeon?” she asked, squinting at the structure.

Kirito followed her gaze. “Eh? Oh… yeah, it is. There's a few on rogue islands. At least one small town sits on one, somewhere out around the Ninth Island. And there's a few rogues that have player residences. I remember in the beta those were supposed to be better for players with their own airships.”

Huh. That's something to think about… probably not anytime soon, though. We got the airship for free; I doubt we'll be so lucky with a port. In the meantime… what's that?

Most things in Aincrad's sky were growing dimmer as the sun sank below the horizon. Even the doomwhale's wings were getting harder to see. Out beyond Niian, though, something seemed to be getting brighter, taking on more definite form. It was hard to make out from that distance—Asuna made a mental note to find out if SAO had telescopes, like old sailing ships—but she thought it was starting to look somehow familiar.

No. Not “it”. They. Those… they're ships. At least a dozen. They can't be players, not this soon, and Kizmel would've said if her people were likely to be out here right now—especially with so many.

“Guys?” Asuna finally said, lifting one arm to point. “What's that fleet out there?”

Kizmel, who'd still been carefully watching the doomwhale, raised her head to look. Kept looking, for several moments, the twitching of her long ears the only sign she hadn't suffered some kind of glitch. “That would be the Wild Hunt,” she said finally, her level tone speaking to sudden, controlled tension. “I hardly expected to see them out this way, either. They must have noticed the fall of the first Skywall.”

To Asuna's left, Kirito had gone pale. “The Wild Hunt? That's real?”

“Oh, very. And with our luck, this is not merely a phantasm of Kayaba's, but the truth.” Kizmel turned toward the pilothouse, suddenly all brisk motion. “I believe I spotted a Mistmoon cloth in the cargo hold. Kirito, I suggest you get the ship moving to the largest rogue island you can find, while Asuna and I prepare the cloth.”

Kirito nodded quickly. “I'm on it. We don't want to get caught out in the open.” He shuddered. “I'd rather face an Integrity Knight.”

Asuna had heard of the Wild Hunt, but as she followed her companions back inside Moondancer, she suspected this one wasn't the same as what she'd read about. Though it looks like someone knows more than the rest of us. I am so going to sit on him and Kizmel one of these days, and find out what's what here. Speaking of….

Trailing Kizmel down belowdecks, she turned to look back at their helmsman. “Speaking of Integrity Knights, Kirito-kun—as soon as we're set for the night, you have a story to finish.”

It was fortunate, Kizmel reflected, that the Great Separation eons before had lifted more than just the one hundred great islands that had become the Aincrad Archipelago. Had they not been able to find one of the much smaller rogue islands so close, she was much afraid the night would've gone badly.

As it was, between mooring in the shadow of that rogue and draping a Mistmoon cloth—not so different from her own cloak—over Moondancer's top, the still-odd but reassuring [Safe Haven] message had appeared in her vision. Even if the Wild Hunt scouring the nearby skies was real and not a figment of the world spell, she was fairly sure they would be as bound to the rules as she.

That was enough to let Kizmel relax, reclining on a blanket on Moondancer's deck. Her two companions were likewise resting on bedding found in the airship's cargo hold, looking up to the night sky. The Mistmoon cloth guarded them from prying eyes, yet left both their mooring and the stars above in clear view from their side.

I wonder what the two of them think of that sky? I can scarce imagine how I might feel, looking at constellations not of my own world. For that one surety of life to be so changed….

It was also all too possible to see the ethereal airships of the Wild Hunt passing by, far closer than was comfortable. Not close enough to see the crews—for which Kizmel counted herself and her companions fortunate—but too close, all the same. She saw Kirito and Asuna both staring uneasily off to starboard, and realized they were probably even more unnerved than she.

Well. We've other matters anyway. “Kirito,” Kizmel said, into the anxious silence that had fallen. “I believe you have a story to finish.”

The youth jumped, jerking his gaze back to their own ship. “Eh?! Oh… right.” For a moment, Kirito looked as if he wasn't sure that was really any better than the Wild Hunt. “Okay, then… where was I?”

“Alice Zuberg,” Asuna said quietly, dragging her own eyes away from the spectral fleet. “Who she was, and what happened six years ago.”

“Right.” Kirito gathered his coat tighter against himself, against a chill that was likely in the mind as much as the sky. “So… like I told you, she was an herbalist. She was really, really good at it—but not as good as she wanted to be. What she really wanted was to rediscover some of the magic that was lost in the Great Separation. To be able to heal people with that.”

“I can see how that would get attention,” Kizmel mused, nodding slowly. “My sister is quite an accomplished herbalist herself, but she's never approached the abilities of an alchemist or mage of old… Asuna? Is something wrong?”

The fencer had paled, and was staring at Kirito with wide eyes. “In our world, that would be… um, bad,” she said. “Kirito-kun… was she…?”

“No, no,” he said, shaking his head. “No witch hunts or anything like that. The village was proud of what Alice could do, what she was trying to do. What happened… didn't have anything to do with that.” He looked up to the sky, at the two moons clearly visibly through the cloth. “I told you we played together, back then. And she knew so much…. So, one day, she decided it was time to find out the truth. About me, I mean.” Kirito's hands clenched on his coat, as he turned his gaze down to the oak deck. “It wasn't worth it. Not for me….”

Ah. Well, that certainly explained some of her human comrade's distress. Whatever had happened, he clearly blamed himself for it to some degree. Kizmel knew all too well how that felt, just as she knew the look in his eyes. She saw it in the mirror, often as not, since Kayaba's spell had ensnared them all.

“The well had been sealed up for years,” Kirito was continuing, looking at the deck yet not seeming to really see it. “But we'd found another way into the caves, just outside the village. Alice led us back there that day, trying to find exactly where I'd come from. It took us most of the day, but we finally made it to the deepest cavern—and the gate.”

Kizmel inhaled sharply. Could that have been—?

“Gate?” Asuna repeated, brows furrowing. “You… don't mean like a fence gate or anything, do you.”

He snorted, a humorless smile flitting across his face. “No. This was a big circle set into the cave wall, inscribed with Sindarin text along the rim—I didn't know the language back then, so I can't tell you what it said. But within the circle, instead of another tunnel, there was a… a kind of blue cloud. Kind of like the Cloud Sea, but it didn't destroy things that touched it.”

A gate filled with clouds, bordered with writings in the language of my people. A golden circle, perhaps long-tarnished, yet somehow still functioning. Kizmel could picture it in her mind's eye, Kirito's description filling in the details illustrations she'd seen had lacked. Well. I suppose that would explain a great deal.

Kirito seemed to be hesitating again. She was beginning to suspect why. “A World Gate,” she said aloud. “I'd no idea any still functioned in this era. This far out, on the farthest edge of the Archipelago, it must have slipped the Administrator's notice.”

Kirito winced. Sighed. Seemed to gather himself—or perhaps he was just tired of the look Asuna was giving him. “Not anymore,” he said bluntly. “Six years ago, Alice touched the gate. That's all she did. She touched it, and the clouds started to clear—and then there were bells.” He shivered, casting a look back toward Einsla. “The same bells we heard on launch day, just before Kayaba yanked us back to Origia and broke everything.” The youth swallowed. “I've heard those bells in my nightmares ever since. Just like, no matter how hard I try to forget, I still see the face that appeared in the ceiling, staring at us. Pronouncing that a taboo had been broken, and to prepare for judgment.”

Asuna stared at him, face pale. “Judgment…?”

“The Senate,” Kizmel murmured, nodding to herself. “So that's how you knew to ask, when the Integrity Knight appeared.”

“It left an impression,” he said, with a flickering ghost of a smile. It vanished quickly. “The three of us ran for it. Away from the gate, away from the face, hoping to get away from the scene of whatever crime we'd committed. …Not that it helped any. I don't know how, but by the time we got back to Rulid, he was already there. An Integrity Knight, in shining armor—demanding the village hand over Alice.”

And that would be how Kirito knows so much about the Integrity Knights, and the threat they pose. The elf girl shivered. The first time I caught sight of one, I was already a Knight. I can scarce imagine how someone so young might've felt, seeing their power—

“I tried to stop it.” Kirito was trembling; with a start, Kizmel realized it was as much remembered rage as fear. “I was just a kid without even a wooden sword, but I tried to stop it.” He bared teeth in a snarl. “No one else did. Not the villagers, not Alice's father, not even him—! They knocked me down, held me down, while that so-called 'Knight' took Alice away for nothing—!”

“Kirito-kun, that's enough!” Asuna lunged across the short distance, gripping his right arm with both hands. Kizmel found herself at his left, placing a more hesitant hand on his shoulder. This close, she could easily feel his hammering heart, echoing in her own chest.

Don't let him linger on it. “He took her,” Kizmel said softly, pushing away her own anger at the Axiom Church's arrogance. “And then?”

For a long moment, Kirito was still, tense. Angry. Then, finally, he slumped, leaning against the railing—though neither girl quite let go of him. “The last thing I saw there was Alice's father—he was the village chief—telling me it was my fault, and I wasn't welcome in Rulid again. Ever.

“Next thing I knew, I was in my bed in Japan. And I never had the 'dreams' again.”

They closed the World Gate. Kirito's connection to the other world was stronger, so he was pulled back. That must've been the last Gate left, after Quinella's long hunt. Kizmel slid closer to the youth—not crowding him, but close enough he might feel her. It was not the custom of her people, but after over a month trapped far from her own, she had some inkling of how much worse it must've been for him.

It was Asuna who broke the silence after that, long moments later. “I can't even imagine what that must've been like,” she whispered, letting herself lean just a little closer. “…How did you not go crazy after that, Kirito-kun?”

“It, um, wasn't easy.” Kirito coughed out a bitter chuckle. “Let's say the 'real' world hit me with something pretty bad at about the same time. The result, well… it was bad enough my family hauled me out to get checked out.”

Kizmel let out a low breath of relief, hearing that her companion had at least gotten the help he'd obviously needed. Well, clearly he did. The man I met a month ago was hardly broken. Frightened, confused, but not broken—Asuna?

The fencer was wide-eyed, torn between surprise and horror. “How bad…? No, never mind. It's not my business.” Noticing the look the elf was giving her, Asuna said, “Um, where we come from? Trauma's a really personal thing. You don't look for help outside the family unless it's really bad.”

“Eh, it was and it wasn't,” Kirito put in, something resembling genuine—if rueful—humor on his face now. “I probably would've been left to work through it on my own—might even have pulled it off—but my parents got word of a program looking for volunteers, with promises of being very discreet, and…. Well, the details don't matter. I got help, and that was pretty much the end of it.” The humor vanished again, and he looked back up to the twin moons. “Until the first previews of Sword Art Online went public.”

“And the world you had come to believe was a dream was right before your eyes.” Kizmel nodded, ears twitching thoughtfully. “That explains much.”

“Which makes no sense,” Asuna countered, shaking her head. Seeming confident Kirito wasn't going to lose control again, she scooted away, and stared down at the deck with a frown. “How would Kayaba even have known? I mean, even if he somehow found out about your therapy, to copy it this closely—” She broke off abruptly, face flushing, and cast a look at Kizmel. “Um—I mean—”

Kizmel waved a hand, taking her own cue to give their comrade a little space. “You believe this world to be pure illusion, hopefully with the caveat that I at least am a more complex illusion. I hope to convince you there is more going on, but I can hardly expect you to accept that this soon. For now, I believe it will be easier for all of us if you accept I understand your worldview, and am not offended if you discuss matters in those terms.” She couldn't help a smile, at the looks that brought her. “Please, continue.”

“Um. Okay, then….” Kirito shook himself, his fingers finally letting his coat slip a little. “Honestly, I don't know either. That's one of the reasons I tried out for the beta. The only thing I can think of… and this still shouldn't be quite possible, but then SAO is kind of more advanced than I thought it could be, too… is that it had something to do with my therapy.”

“Which Asuna said should not have provided this level of detail,” Kizmel reminded him.

“Yes… and no. I gave a pretty detailed description of the dreams, and the therapist was pretty good at asking just the right questions. Besides, in the dreams I never went much beyond Rulid, and I haven't been there in SAO.” He hesitated. “And it wasn't just talking it over with someone. The program was a test of a prototype Full-dive device. This was practically the earliest trials of the NerveGear's predecessor. I don't remember the details, I was kind of messed up back then, but I think they were billing it as potential therapy for certain conditions, probably partly as another funding source.”

“NerveGear doesn't scan dreams,” Asuna said—but she was frowning. “…Does it?”

“No, but this wasn't NerveGear. Look, as much of a computer otaku as I was, even I couldn't get at the specs on those.” Kirito sighed. “What I was told was that it would show a virtual environment, with just enough flaws to help a user with 'disassociation issues' more properly recognize the difference between reality and hallucination. At the same time, it was supposed to be scanning the user's subconscious brain activity to better tailor the simulation. Or something like that.” He shrugged. “I don't know exactly how it worked, NerveGear isn't quite the same thing. But it did its job, it sorted out the problems I was having, and that was all I cared about.”

Oftentimes, in the past month, Kizmel had asked for clarification of one Swordmaster term or another. This time, she decided it was not worth the headache. The important thing, she thought, was that it had done for her comrade what it needed to. And that it provides them with a possible answer. Now, I suppose, is too early for them to face the truth.

In any case, she had no desire to force Kirito to dwell on what were clearly painful memories. Better to move on, as quickly as they could.

Quietly clearing her throat, Kizmel said, “On the matter of Alice—I take it you have no idea, then, how she's come to be an Integrity Knight herself.”

Kirito sighed. Pushing himself to his feet, he started pacing toward Moondancer's bow. “No, I don't. I never knew that much about Integrity Knights, just that they were powerful 'heroes'. I don't know what goes into becoming one… and I don't know why she didn't recognize me.” He turned on his heel, raising both hands in a shrug. “Maybe they did something to her. Maybe it's proof that this whole thing is one big coincidence. I… just don't know.”

“Mm.” More or less what she'd expected. Even the Royal Guard knew little of how Quinella's enforcers were chosen, and they doubtless had better sources than a small village on the farthest edge of the Archipelago. “I expect you'll be trying to find out, however.”

“Well, yeah. Speaking of….” Kirito hesitated, looking away. “Guys. Digging into the Axiom Church's business, into the Integrity Knights themselves, is going to provoke them. Neither of you have anything to do with this, so when we get to Niian, we should probably—”

“Denied,” Asuna said flatly, standing abruptly. Hands on her hips, directing a piercing amber glare at the black-clad youth, she went on, “You are not going on a one-man crusade, Kirito-kun. You promised you'd teach me how to survive in this world, remember? You're not leaving me behind now.”

“Indeed not.” Kizmel rose as well, and though she contented herself with a single arched brow instead of a full glare, she was no less firm. “I know not how long our paths may run together, but we have a foe in common in the Axiom Church. As long as we travel together, your quest is mine, as well.”

That was what it meant to be a Knight, after all. The safety of the Keys was her priority, yes, but she owed these two humans much. Her honor could not stand the thought of abandoning them to face such a perilous task alone, not when she had the leeway to lend her sword.

Not that it's only a matter of honor, she thought, watching the silent struggle Kirito's face showed her. These are two lonely souls—and I believe I like them.

Finally, Kirito slumped, smiling ruefully. “I'm not going to be able to talk either of you out of this, am I?”

“No, so don't waste time trying,” Asuna told him bluntly, glare softening into a wry smile of her own. “Kirito-kun, you run a good game, but you're really not any match for girls, you know that?”

“Indeed he's not,” Kizmel agreed, allowing herself a smirk. “And now that that is out of the way… well, there's perhaps one more issue we should address, before we put aside weighty matters for the night.”

“Diavel, right? Don't look at me like that,” Kirito added, exasperated. “It's the only thing we haven't talked about yet…. Yeah, I'm pretty sure he found SAO's version of the gate beneath Rulid Village. I don't know how he found out about it, but if he did, he probably thought it might work as some kind of log-out exploit.”

“I'm guessing you don't,” Asuna put in, “if you didn't look for it yourself.”

Kizmel didn't really blame him for the disbelieving look he directed at the fencer. “After what happened in my dreams? I never went near Rulid in the beta, let alone now. I figured it'd trigger something like, well, what happened to Diavel.” He turned to look off to port; the rogue to which they were moored blocked the view, but clearly he was thinking of Centoria Cathedral, at the Archipelago's center. “I can't tell you what's going to happen to him now, though. A player, kidnapped by the system? I can tell you nothing like that ever happened in the beta, and it's not like there's any precedent for the death game at all.”

More or less what the Knight had thought, then. She did have one dark suspicion herself, one which she thought her companions were simply choosing not to face—yet without evidence, she decided it wasn't worth it to trouble them now. There would, she was sure, be quite enough disquiet for them both, when sleep finally came.

Heh. Not that I am likely to be spared, either. I never even crossed blades with her, and Alice's power was still enough to rattle my nerves. I doubt there's a single Knight in all the Kingdom who could face her alone.

“Well, then!” Kizmel said, deliberately raising her voice. “I believe that is enough gloom for the night. Whatever else may have happened today, we claimed a great victory. The first Barrier Guardian has fallen, and the Skywall with it. The Swordmasters have hope that they may someday escape this trap.” She bent down, retrieving a bottle she'd found in Moondancer's hold, and three cups along with. “Illfang fell to our blades, and whatever may have come after, not one life was lost.”

Her companions each took a cup, and watched with some wariness as she poured. Asuna sniffed the result, clearly surprised. “…Is this wine?”

“Moontear wine, yes,” Kizmel confirmed, setting the bottle back on the deck. “A specialty of the Dark Elves, and given how long this ship lay half-wrecked, probably centuries old.” She smiled, with a deliberate edge of mischief. “Though it may, perhaps, be a bit strong for humans….”

The two glanced at each other, then at the wine, before determinedly lifting their glasses. “We'll see about that,” Kirito told her, with the smile of one accepting a challenge.

Much better. Kizmel clinked her glass with theirs, and lifted it high. “To our victory, then—and to the victory we'll wrest from the Axiom Church, when we take back Sir Diavel. Cheers!”

“Cheers!”

Together, they drank—and if Kirito and Asuna were left coughing after the first glass, Kizmel was pleased that it didn't stop them from asking for more.

The question, of course, remains: how well can they hold their liquor?

“So, this is it,” the blonde girl whispered, staring up in awe at the roiling surface of the gate. “This must be how you come here, Kirito.” She glanced over her shoulder at him. “But it doesn't look like it's working right.” A quick smile. “Maybe, if we….”

For an instant, he saw someone else standing there, reaching up to the gate. A blue-haired knight, fingers almost touching the clouds—then in a flicker like static, it was the girl again, making contact with the stuff of the World Gate.

The bells rang, deep and horrible, tolling the end of his world.

“You have broken the taboo,” the pale face in the cave ceiling intoned, voice reverberating throughout the whole cavern. “Judgment will be rendered….”

The girl was being wrapped in a chain, held tight to a dragon. Or maybe it was Diavel. Or Asuna. For a moment, it even looked like Kizmel, and he was struggling, screaming, demanding they stop—

“You don't belong here,” the Knight said bluntly. “Leave, boy. This is not your affair….”

“Don't worry, Kirito. Someday, I know, we'll be….”

The girl was gone. Her father was staring down at him, bitter and angry. “None of this would've happened if you hadn't been here. If you hadn't given up,” and his face shifted, becoming an old man with a shinai, looking at him in pure disappointment, “if you'd kept up your training, this would not have happened. Can you truly lay this burden on her…?”

“You don't belong here.”

They're right, he thought, cringing away from the one face, reaching futilely to strike at the other. I never did, I failed them all—!

“Wake up. Kirito. It is not real. Kirito, wake up.”

Heart hammering in his chest, Kirito lunged upright—only to be held back by a soft, heavy weight, pressing him back down into his cot. “Wha—?! Umf!”

Only when the hand over his mouth kept him from crying out did he realize what was holding him down. Blinking, he found himself staring into violet eyes, glimmering strangely in the darkness. “Shh,” Kizmel whispered, pulling her hand away. “It's all right… let's not wake Asuna, shall we? She needs her sleep—as do you.”

Sinking back into his cot, muscles slowly relaxing, Kirito looked up at the elf girl in total confusion. She was stretched out on top of him, making him realize for the first time she was about as tall as he was. She was also wearing her usual nightgown, and the angle gave him a very good idea of what Dark Elves did—or didn't—wear to bed.

“Kizmel?” he blurted, pitching his voice for elven ears only, trying desperately not to stare down her gown. “Why are you in my bed?” He abruptly realized the fuzzy feeling in his head wasn't just from his nightmare, and blanched. “How much did I drink last night?”

Because only after a couple of glasses of Moontear wine had he and Asuna discovered that, unlike the beta test, the retail version of SAO was somehow able to apply an intoxication debuff to players. Kirito thought they'd stopped before it got worse than a light buzz. Loosened up, in a better mood than they'd been since Illfang's defeat, they'd gone belowdecks for the night. Asuna had taken one look at the bed occupying one corner of the cargo hold—very nice, and conspicuously big enough for three—and rejected it, so they'd hung cots in the sleeping cabin.

That had, Kirito thought, been the end of it. A quick glance to his left showed Asuna still bundled up in her cot, to all appearances sound asleep. But he was definitely still buzzed, and Kizmel was all the way under his blankets, wearing less than he thought was decent. He didn't think it was even possible to go any further in SAO, but then in the beta it hadn't been possible to get drunk, either….

The elf girl only chuckled, though, a melodious sound that helped break him away from his nightmares. “I assure you, you were a perfect gentleman,” she told him—though her smile had a playful edge he didn't quite trust. “No, the blame is all mine. I… had some suspicion your sleep would not peaceful tonight.” Her voice softened. “Forgive me. Counseling is not my strong suit. Company was the only comfort I could think to give you.”

Um. Kirito had no idea what to say to that. Outside of Alice and his sister, he'd had basically no experience with girls in his life. Definitely none under life or death conditions. And absolutely none with a beautiful knight whose idea of breaking someone out of a nightmare was to sneak into their bed.

Even so, he could feel his racing heart slowing; he almost thought he could feel hers beating in time with it, despite the distance, as he had when they'd woken Moondancer's core. “Thanks, Kizmel,” he said finally, managing a smile. “I should be able to get back to sleep now.” Not that he didn't like the position they were in, exactly, but that was kind of the problem. And he didn't want to think how Asuna would react if she woke up and noticed.

Instead of accepting his answer and returning to her own cot, though, Kizmel lightly shook her head, lilac hair swaying in the dim blue light. “Sleep, perhaps,” she murmured. “But sleep well?” She gently lowered herself down, settling into the crook of his left arm. “That, Kirito, I frankly doubt.”

Kirito's brain suffered an internal error, feeling the elf girl pressing soft curves against him. Rebooting didn't help much, seeing as she didn't seem interested in moving. Frantically, he tried to find a workaround. His social stats weren't specced for human girls; NPC elf girl behavior wasn't even mentioned in his bestiary.

Kizmel huffed, her breath brushing his neck and making his virtual skin tingle. One dusky hand snaked out from under the blankets, gripped his free arm, and pulled it over her back. “Humans,” she muttered, so low he wasn't sure he heard anything at all. “…Do you want to talk about it?”

No. But he hadn't really been allowed to not talk about it that day. He was still buzzed from the wine. Still coming down off the nightmares. And, darn it, just having her cuddling like an overgrown house cat—an image he desperately latched onto, for his own sanity—made it hard to keep his mouth shut.

“There's not much to tell,” he said softly, doing his best to relax despite his embarrassment. “I was just… remembering the day it all went wrong. That was about the same time something else went crazy on me in the 'real' world, so I tend to get those kinda mixed together in my nightmares.” He shrugged, at least the one shoulder not pinned down. “After today, it's not surprising I'd be having those again.”

“I should think not.” Kizmel nodded into his shoulder. “Certainly I was tormented by old battles, the night the two of you met me.” A long pause; he could hear her slow, even breathing, and wondered briefly if she was falling asleep. Then, “But there was more than merely old fears for you, wasn't there.”

If he ever got out of SAO alive, Kirito promised himself he was going to find some way to crack into the game's source code. There was no way he was talking to just a glorified dialogue tree. Somehow Kayaba had obviously made the breakthrough all AI researchers sought, and he wanted to know how.

…He was also stalling, and he knew it. “I saw Diavel's face in my nightmares,” he said, as casually as he could. “…And Asuna,” he added reluctantly, when Kizmel raised her head enough to arch one brow at him. “And… well, you.”

“Oh?” For the first time, the elf girl seemed genuinely taken aback. Then, slowly, she smiled, and let her head fall back. “I see…. Well, Kirito. If you fear for us so much, then I suggest you keep your promise to Asuna, and teach her everything you can. And me as well, as long as our paths are crossed.”

“Eh?”

“A battle such as what the Swordmasters fought with the Kobold Lord is very different from war as my people know it. Had it been the Pagoda Knights, the Barrier Guardian would have been victorious.” Kizmel's hand strayed up, resting over his heart. “The Integrity Knights are doubtless in the same position, Kirito. Use that advantage. Teach us to fight by this world's rules, and when next we meet, it will be the Axiom Church's minions who fall.”

Kirito blinked. Wait. She's saying…? Oh, man. If Kayaba was so thorough with his world-building, and the high-level AI are designed around real tactics, then….

Ugh. He was too sleepy, and still too buzzed. But he was sure the answer was in there.

“Later, Kirito,” Kizmel whispered to him, settling deeper into the cot. “Sleep now. Whatever the morning brings, I doubt it will be peaceful.”

“Heh. Probably not….” Kirito stopped fighting his increasingly-heavy eyelids, sank into the cot, and shifted the arm still lying across to elf to rest lightly on her shoulder. “…Thanks, Kizmel.”

Sleep came easy, this time, carrying him off even as he heard a soft chuckle. “My pleasure….”

Even with the ability to bypass the Skywalls, it was a long trip back to the center of the Aincrad Archipelago. If she did not wish to overstress her dragon—and she would never do that, not unless the straits were truly dire—she had to let her rest from time to time. Especially carrying double, and having to take the time to properly incapacitate her unwilling passenger when his limbs returned.

It was, thus, long after the twin moons had risen that Alice Synthesis Thirty finally swooped down toward Centoria Cathedral. An edifice rising high above the old Imperial Capital, it was a sight for sore eyes. Even the feel of the dormant Bifrost, its chained power rubbing against her sixth sense from the top of the Cathedral, was at least a familiar sensation.

Even in this world, its sense remains the same. Everything else is close, yet never quite as it should be.

As Alice swept in close, one wall halfway up the Cathedral yawned open, forming into a perch onto which her dragon neatly landed. “Well done, Amayori,” she whispered, patting her loyal steed's flank. “I know it was a long journey. Rest, for now.”

Amayori crooned, bending low to let her dismount. She maintained the pose a moment longer, allowing Alice to also retrieve the comatose man she'd tied to the dragon's saddle.

This man presumed to call himself a knight? Alice stared down at the blue-haired and -armored man in disdain. He plays at war, nothing more. Even the warriors of the elves have more claim to the title than these “Swordmasters”. She'd gone all the way to the First Island expecting something resembling a fight, when she'd received her orders. Finding a triple-amputee who wasn't even conscious had not exactly impressed her.

The fact that she'd been able to paralyze him after his limbs regenerated, without even a token fight, hadn't improved her assessment.

“Ah, you're back, Lady Alice! I trust the 'Swordmasters' gave you no trouble?”

She turned to see a tall young man with light purple hair, silver armor, and purple cape approaching. “Eldrie,” she acknowledged, nodding to her fellow Knight. “You didn't have to wait for me.”

“Someone needed to be here to wait for you,” Eldrie Synthesis Thirty-One replied, shaking his head. “Others had more important duties. I was tending Takiguri, so it was no trouble for me to remain.” He nodded to his own dragon, nearly twin to hers.

As they were, the two being siblings. “In that case, thank you,” she said, as the door on which she'd landed rumbled to a close. “I trust you've alerted others? I was given to understand the mission was of utmost importance.”

“I sent word the moment I saw you coming in,” he assured her. “The Commander himself should be here shortly.” Eldrie looked down at the captured Swordmaster—“Diavel”, Alice thought the others had called him. “Hmph. I would never question Her Excellency's orders, but was this truly worth sending an Integrity Knight?”

Paralyzed, comatose, weaponless, and trussed up like an animal meant for slaughter, if anything Diavel looked less impressive than when Alice had found him. “He did break a taboo,” she reminded Eldrie. “Even if his skills are no threat, he's clearly delved into forbidden knowledge.”

“That he has—and I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss a Swordmaster's skill, young one.”

Both Knights turned to look down the polished stone hall, leading deeper into the Cathedral. After the voice, what was first obvious was the clopping of sandals, muffled by the carpet. Then their owner came into view, an older, scarred man with short, gray-blue hair. Unlike them, he was wearing a simple robe of a style Alice thought similar to that of some Swordmasters.

“Uncle,” she said, bowing respectfully. “I've returned, with the criminal.” She glanced again at the bound Diavel, frowning. “But… I don't understand. If they are such a danger, why take only him? As weakened as they were, I could have defeated them all.”

“Probably—though they did kill Illfang without losing a single man.” The man stopped next to the captive Swordmaster, looking down at him curiously. “You're very good, Alice, but I don't think you should be taking on so many Swordmasters until we've more a measure of what they can really do.” He shrugged. “Besides, Her Excellency has a plan. It's not our business yet what it is.”

“Of course, Uncle.”

Though Alice couldn't help but be curious herself. The Human Empire had been stable since long before she'd been called as an Integrity Knight. With the shakeup caused by the sorcerer Kayaba Akihiko, and the invocation of the ancient summoning spell, she couldn't imagine why the Highest Administrator would choose to leave the Swordmasters at large unmolested.

More, what plan could there possibly be that might be kept even from Bercouli Synthesis One, Commander of the Integrity Knights?

It's not my place to question Her Excellency's decisions, Alice reminded herself sternly. And I have other matters to dwell on.

“What's to be done with him, Uncle?” she asked, shaking off her ruminations.

“Her Excellency wants to see this one right away. You, though, have earned your rest for tonight.” Bercouli smiled, clapping a hand on her shoulder. Then he turned his attention to the other Knight. “Eldrie, give me a hand. Let's get this fellow where he's going.”

“Of course, Lord Bercouli! Excuse me, Lady Alice.” Eldrie quickly bowed to Alice, hoisted Diavel onto his shoulder like a sack, and headed off into the Cathedral.

“Heh. You taught him well, Alice.” Bercouli patted her shoulder again, before walking leisurely in Eldrie's wake. “Now, get some rest! I mean it!”

An order she had every intention of obeying, after the long flight. First, though, she took the time to make sure Amayori was settled in comfortably, with plenty of fresh meat. The elves, even humanity at large, might favor airships. To an Integrity Knight, their dragon was their other half. She would not neglect hers, not even in this strange spell-world in which they were both but ghosts.

That gave Alice time to think, hopefully enough to work through everything before she tried to sleep. A month, she'd spent observing the Swordmasters, from the very day they'd been summoned to the transitory Aincrad. She'd seen their panic, when the sorcerer Kayaba gave his final instructions. A disorderly mob, killing some of their own in their rioting. Strange behavior, from a people who had supposedly been summoned as an army; perhaps Kayaba had revealed to them his treachery, but that hardly excused such wanton chaos.

A month, in which they'd done nothing to improve her opinion of them. Honestly, she wondered what the concern was, that twenty thousand idiots were being drawn to Aincrad from another realm. It was plain Kayaba was up to something, and not dealing in good faith with the Axiom Church, yet what it was she could scarcely imagine.

Alice had assumed, when word came that a forbidden place beneath Rulid had been touched, that it had been a mere accident. Though orders to wait a few days more before acting had puzzled her, she hadn't thought it of any concern.

Finding Illfang, weak yet still a Barrier Guardian, defeated with no losses? In hindsight, she had to concede her “uncle” had something of a point. Perhaps not all Swordmasters were as weak as those she'd observed in Origia. Even Diavel had at least been alive, however crippled, when she arrived.

Also….

“Ah, you've returned. Did your mission go well, Alice?”

Startled from her thoughts, Alice realized she'd been brushing the same spot on Amayori's head for several minutes. Looking up, she met the new arrival's gaze coolly. “Well enough,” she said. “A few foolhardy Swordmasters did try to intervene, but they were hardly a match for me.”

“I'm sure they weren't.” The blonde Integrity Knight, clad in blue armor, frowned. “How many of them survived?”

“None of them were killed,” she said calmly, standing from where she'd crouched perhaps a bit too long. “I held back—and they proved a little more resilient than I expected.” She waved a hand dismissively. “None of them were foolish enough to try again. Except….”

“Except?” he repeated, frowning. “Did something happen?”

“No, not really.” Alice shook her head, long braid waving. “Just one Swordmaster brave enough to make a few rather bold statements. Empty bluster; he obviously knew better than to act.” She turned to leave the dragon port. “Pardon me, Sir Eugeo. It's been a long day.”

“Of course, Alice. Sleep well.”

She didn't bother to look back. Eugeo Synthesis Thirty-Two had always been friendly to her since his calling—too friendly, really. He acted uncomfortably familiar with her, yet he always had a strange edge about him she'd never liked. The combination always made her uneasy around him, at best.

Certainly she was disinclined to discuss with him what was really on her mind. That one Swordmaster… his companions had been bold as well, yet his answer to her asking his identity had made him stand out. “You don't know?”

Of course I don't. Why would I? And yet… something about that bothers me. Walking the Cathedral's halls on her way to her quarters, Alice paused to look out a window at the stars. The Cathedral was the one place where the Skywall didn't color the view. Diavel will lead them no more, and that man seemed too much the outcast to take up the mantle. Yet I can't help but think that wasn't the last I'll see of him.

Kirito… I told you I'd remember the name, and I will. When next you catch Her Excellency's eye, I'll find your secret.

December 5th, 2032

Moondancer skimmed a scant few meters above the Cloud Sea, close enough to make Asuna's stomach clench. Only with an effort did she stop herself from reminding Kirito to be careful; as new to piloting as he might've been, well, it wasn't like she knew much better.

Still. This is not good for my nerves. She glanced past the helm, where Kirito was turning the wheel with maybe a bit less confidence than he tried to project, to the young woman on the other side. “Are all Dark Elf ports down this low, Kizmel? Because I'm not sure my heart can take this.”

Kizmel chuckled, easing back the throttle and adjusting the wing-sails a few degrees. “Oh, not all, Asuna. Einsla and Niian are quite unusual in that respect, honestly. Probably because we don't have much of a presence this far out, so what we do have is best kept hidden.”

Somehow, that didn't reassure Asuna much. And there was no point in asking Kirito; if he hadn't known about any Dark Elf quests before the Third Island, he was going to be as a clueless here as he was at Einsla. Just in and out here, she told herself, even as Moondancer climbed toward a narrow gap in Niian's rocky underside. We drop Kizmel off here, get our quest rewards, and head up to see what's going on with the rest of the raid group.

She hoped delivering Kizmel wouldn't be the end of things. She'd seen how Kirito had felt, when it looked like their partnership was over the day before, and felt much the same way.

In a world away from home, away from everything and everyone she'd ever known, Asuna wanted to hold onto the new bonds she'd begun to form. Even if those bonds were with a weird loner and lifelike NPC.

“Okay,” Kirito announced, “we're here… almost. Kizmel, is there any signal you should be sending? I'd hate to be, y'know, shot down or something because they don't realize we're here on official business.”

“Fair point,” the elf girl granted. “Just a moment. Hold the ship here beyond the docks, and I will handle introductions.” Kizmel stood, slipped out of the pilothouse, and went to the starboard railing. Taking off one gauntlet, she raised a hand high.

Asuna couldn't figure what that was supposed to accomplish. At least, not until she noticed a ring on Kizmel's finger, shining unnaturally bright. A light from within the cavern promptly blinked in response, and then Kizmel was coming back inside.

“That should suffice,” she announced, pulling her gauntlet back on and settling back in at the throttle. “Take us in, Kirito. There is an empty cradle waiting for us.”

“On it.”

Seated at what she'd determined to be more or less a miscellaneous functions console, there wasn't much for Asuna to do on the way in. The core crystal was fine, and they were landing in a cradle, so there was no need for the skids. That left her free to watch, and see what a living Dark Elf port was like.

In basic form, it wasn't so different from the cavern where they'd found Moondancer to begin with. Except instead of blank, mottled stone, the walls and ceiling were dark, oddly twinkling. Instead of the petrified remains of trees, there was an entire grove, weaving among the airship cradles and short stone buildings.

Instead of being completely abandoned, there were a handful of Dark Elves wandering about. Most of them were patrolling in what were obviously set patterns, while a couple were checking over a ship parked in the cradle next to the one they were approaching. Two of them, though—wearing uniforms similar to Captain Emlas', but more elaborate—stood by one of the stone buildings, watching Moondancer cruise in. One of them had the distinctive gold question mark of an active quest over his head.

“The Portmaster,” Kizmel remarked, following Asuna's gaze. “And his adjutant, if I'm not mistaken. They're likely expecting me, though I imagine they were anticipating Moonshadow instead.” She pulled the throttle back to idle, just as Kirito slid the ship into the cradle. “I believe our first priority should be to speak with them… hm? Where are they going?”

Now that Moondancer was down, Asuna would've expected quest NPCs to wait for them. Instead, as Kizmel had noted, they were suddenly turning toward the far edge of the cavern, walking at a measured but brisk pace.

She exchanged a troubled look with Kirito. Great. Another thing going off the rails. “Should we follow them?”

“Probably,” he said, sighing. “Sooner we find out what's going on, the better.” He led the way out onto the deck—and stumbled, mid-step, at an odd ringing sound. “What the—oh, you pick now, Argo?”

“Is something wrong?” Kizmel asked, beating Asuna to it.

“If you've got someone on your Friends List, you can do voice chat,” he replied absently. He was on the move again, but reaching out to a menu interface at the same time. “I knew Argo would be getting in contact soon—surprised she didn't call last night, honestly—but man, this isn't a good time. …Yeah, Argo, I'm here. We just docked at Niian….”

It was probably just as well, Asuna thought, that the Rat hadn't tried to call the previous night. They'd all needed the sleep, and she suspected they'd all had nightmares. She knew she had—and she'd noticed Kizmel sneaking into Kirito's bed.

She hadn't really heard them, but she'd seen enough to recognize nothing indecent had happened. Still, she wasn't quite sure she felt about it. On the one hand, it was something she never would've dared do herself, for any number of reasons. On the other, she was glad Kirito had gotten the comfort he'd obviously needed, which she just wasn't equipped to provide.

On the gripping hand, to use an expression she'd once heard out of Argo, she'd felt an odd sense of longing. What exactly that meant, she wasn't too sure she was ready to look at.

“Kirito may not care for the timing,” Kizmel commented, as the two of them followed their comrade down to the port's stone floor, “but I for one think it's just as well. I'd rather the two of you not begin the liberation of this island without some idea of how the other Swordmasters are handling matters. If any have reached Niian at all.”

Asuna found herself nodding, sparing a glance at Kirito. He was trying to keep his voice low, but his expressions spoke volumes. “You don't think the, um, Portmaster knows much?”

The Portmaster who was still heading for the far end of the port, she noticed—along with the guards she'd seen on the way in. Something was definitely up.

“I have my doubts how much the Portmaster cares about my mission,” Kizmel said ruefully. “I'd be much surprised if he was watching the local human towns at all. Much as it pains me to admit, Captain Emlas is far from alone in his assumptions about Men…. Truthfully, we'll be fortunate if the Portmaster even speaks your tongue.”

“Oh.” Asuna blinked. It hadn't even occurred to her that any NPCs might only speak Sindarin. That'd be just like Kayaba, though, wouldn't it? Set up a quest so players would need a translator…. Kirito-kun might know the language, but I only ever read The Hobbit and the trilogy. So not my area.

The elven knight seemed to catch her concern, and smiled quickly. “Fear not, Asuna. I'll be here long enough to translate, if need be—and perhaps, if time allows, I might teach you some of our language.”

“I think I'd like that,” Asuna said honestly. “If we're going to be here for so long, that's something else I should know…. Kirito-kun?” The other player had lowered his hand from his ear, and was shaking his head. “What did Argo have to say?”

“Not much of use,” Kirito said ruefully. “You know how she is—and something interrupted her before we were done, so she had to hang up. She does want to meet later, sell us the latest 'dirt'. And she wants to know where we've been.” He shuddered. “I'm kind of not looking forward to that meeting.” Glancing ahead, to where the Dark Elves were gathering at the port's entrance, he frowned. “Looks like we might have a complication here. Better equip, Asuna.”

“Right.” While he brought up his menu to equip his Anneal Blade, Asuna swiped two fingers to bring up her own. First her Iron Rapier—she made a mental note to ask Kirito, and if necessary Argo, where she might get something better on the new island—and then, with a couple of extra strokes, the newer addition to her arsenal.

Firearms weren't something she knew much about. She'd only picked up Diavel's flintlock out of a desperate need to get the rest of the raid to pay attention. She'd held onto it, though, on the theory that it was stupid to pass up a potential advantage. Ammunition would be a problem until they got to a town with a proper shop—it seemed to reload automatically after a few hours, maybe as a mercy mechanic, but that was just two rounds—but it was still better than nothing.

I did call myself a musketeer, the first day, Asuna thought, as the pistol materialized on her right hip. I guess now I'll live up to it.

They were halfway across the port, through most of the trees, by the time they were all ready for whatever was coming. Kizmel glanced over at them, hearing the sound of equipped appearing, and shook her head with a slight smile. “The Swordmasters' base 'stats' seem to be about on par with a Dark Elf knight,” she mused, “but I must say, your Mystic Scribing is clearly quite the advantage.” She lifted her right hand, two fingers together. “To be able to carry so much, even communicate at long distances, just by such a simple action—”

Her fingers came down, and a menu sprang into existence into existence.

Humans and Dark Elf alike stared, nonplussed. “…I did not expect that,” Kizmel said, after a long moment. “Kirito, Asuna? If I might ask your input—”

“To arms! The Minotaurs are massing for an attack!”

Impossible menu suddenly an afterthought, three swords were drawn in a massed scraping of metal on wood. “Minotaurs?” Asuna repeated sharply, even as the three of them rushed to join the Dark Elf defense of the port entrance. “Do I want to know what that means here?”

Kirito chuckled weakly. “Is this a bad time to mention the beta testers' nickname for Niian was the 'Hidden Cow Island'?”

“I can tell that's a reference to something, and I will know what it is when this is over,” she told him, eyes narrowing. “It also doesn't answer my question. What kind of monsters are 'Minotaurs' in SAO?”

“Well—”

A loud roar, and out of the tunnel ahead burst half a dozen tall, bull-headed monsters. The first one through came out swinging, and with a deep yelp two Dark Elf guards were sent flying in a single mace strike. Three other guards rallied to the defense, but in that time more of the burly mobs swarmed out and around.

That gave Asuna her first clear view of Aincrad's definition of “Minotaur”. Tall, with bull heads crowned by huge horns. Legs that looked human, except with backward knees, and hooves for feet. Perfectly human torsos—very muscular chests, at that. She could tell, because all that SAO Minotaurs wore was a simple loincloth and a pair of leather straps across the torso, leaving that impressive musculature in full view.

Face starting to burn, Asuna snapped her rapier into position for a Linear. “You?” she hissed at Kirito. “Are impossible. Warn me sooner, next time! And these things—!”

She rushed forward, rapier blazing ahead of her companions, and struck the nearest Minotaur right in the ring holding its chest straps together. With a bellow that was half-roar, half a deep, lowing moo, it staggered back, tripping up one behind it.

“These things are pure sexual harassment!”

Chapter Text

Chapter VI: “True Ninja Would've Been More Aware”

December 5th, 2032

A month on, and Kirito still didn't quite get how Asuna ticked. He wasn't going to deny her ferocity against the Minotaurs was impressive, and he was pretty sure they were going to stop the attack a lot faster than they would have otherwise, but he was definitely confused.

Sexual harassment? If he hadn't been in the middle of dodging a Hammerblow aimed at his head while simultaneously stabbing the mace's wielder in the gut, he would've shaken his head. They're just ordinary mobs. Is it really so weird to see a monster shirtless?

The Streak Asuna promptly delivered just below her current target's belt made him wince despite himself. Yes, to her, apparently it was that weird.

Kirito just wished he knew what was going on in general. Between the Dark Elf port's guards, the two players, and their faithful ally Kizmel, they were already driving back the Minotaurs. Even as he took a grazing hit from a headbutt—which made him wince again, those horns were nasty—the Pagoda Knight was helping one of those guards cut one of the overgrown bulls to pieces. The other guards were handling three more, and Asuna had gotten another in a perfect stun-lock against the cavern wall. These were definitely the most basic of the Second Island's bull-man mobs.

The question is, did they just wander in here, or is this some kind of scripted event? I can't imagine any players got ahead of us to do anything crazy like kite the things, but—there weren't any Dark Elves here in the beta. I have no idea what's going on!

In the melee, it was hard for Kirito to tell exactly how many Minotaurs there were. His estimate was about fifteen, though; even with the assistance of the port's guards, it took ten minutes before they were all dead and scattering into azure polygons. By the end of it, he and Asuna had taken enough hits to be down a good twenty percent of their HP, and Kizmel wasn't much better off.

Drinking a healing potion in the aftermath, he couldn't help but grimace. They hadn't had a chance to restock since the battle with Illfang, and while he didn't know about Asuna, his supplies were running uncomfortably low. We'll have to hit a town soon… though really we'd have to anyway. Can't stay away from other players forever, and we really do need to know how things went after we left.

“Well,” Kizmel said, when it was all over, and they'd healed up from the fight. “I can't say that was the welcome I expected here.” Tilting her head, she looked to the Dark Elf in the fanciest uniform. “Do Minotaur attacks happen here often, Portmaster?”

“More often lately, Dame Kizmel,” he replied, sheathing his saber with a grimace. “Ever since….” The Portmaster frowned, glancing at the two players. “Perhaps we should continue this discussion privately.”

Great. What do I say to that? I can't tell yet if this guy is one of the higher-level NPCs, like Kizmel or Captain Emlas—

Asuna didn't seem as concerned. From the look on her face, her fury at the Minotaurs' design hadn't quite subsided, and she thought the Portmaster was a perfectly good target for a little more venting. Before she could do more than glare and open her mouth, though, Kizmel gave a faint shake of her head, raising one hand. “I don't know if you've yet heard from Captain Emlas, Portmaster, but without the aid of these two Swordmasters, I would not be here. Please, they need to know the situation as well.”

“Hmph.” The Portmaster gave the two of them a measuring look, not unlike Captain Emlas that first night, before shrugging. “Feh. They've seen the port already, I suppose…. Let's continue this indoors, shall we?”

Kirito had never been much for tea. A lifelong gamer, he usually preferred to get his caffeine in larger packages, and just generally didn't have the patience to take the time to get it right. Sitting at a conference table in one of the port's stone buildings, he had to admit the herbal tea the Portmaster's adjutant provided was bidding fair to change his opinion.

Asuna tested hers cautiously, before smiling in approval. Kizmel, on the other hand, gave the sigh of someone enjoying an old favorite—though with just the faintest air of caution—and nodded at the adjutant. “Much appreciated. After so long on field rations, this is delightful. …Portmaster. You were saying about the Minotaur attacks?”

“So I was.” Seated at the head of the table, the Portmaster steepled his fingers, ignoring his own cup. “They've been stirred up for nearly a month, now, since shortly after the Swordmasters' summoning.” At this, he gave the two players a narrow look. “To be blunt, there was suspicion of human involvement, before it became plain the Swordmasters could not yet reach Niian. Since then, we have investigated, very carefully, and while we've yet to determine exactly what they are scheming, it seems plain the Forest Elves are responsible.”

Uh-oh. Kirito exchanged a quick look with Asuna at that. They hadn't encountered any Forest Elves since capturing a core crystal from them back on Einsla, barely a day after Kayaba sprang his trap. He'd had some hope they might not again until they reached Sandoria, where his beta knowledge might help.

So much for that.

Well, I still know a little… maybe. He cleared his throat. “Could this have anything to do with Kizmel's mission, Portmaster?”

“Possible,” the Portmaster allowed. Leaning back in his chair, he favored Kirito with an even sharper look. “They would've had no reason to expect Dame Kizmel to come here, all things being equal—they appear to have more information about her mission than they ought. With the Skywall strengthened beyond our ability to slip past, however, they may have anticipated her arrival. In which case the attacks here may have been intended to catch her—and they will likely be planning something more elsewhere.”

It didn't take someone well-versed in MMO quests to figure there was more to it than that, and that the Portmaster wasn't going to tell them without the right prompts. Normally Kirito would've expected to have to go complete another quest or something to earn his trust. This time, though, we've got a wild card. Maybe…?

“So what does that mean for Kizmel's mission, Portmaster?” Asuna asked, setting aside her teacup to lean forward. “How bad is it?”

…Not quite the wild card I was thinking of. On the bright side, she probably hadn't broken the scripting. On the other hand, Kirito wasn't sure she hadn't just done something worse.

For a long moment, he was afraid she'd done just that. The Portmaster stared at Asuna for a long moment, completely silent—and though it might've been his imagination, Kirito thought the adjutant's hand was edging a little too close to his saber. Which was a fine time to remember they weren't in a Safe Haven.

“I am not at liberty to discuss specifics,” the Portmaster said finally. “But Dame Kizmel's mission requires her to continue to Sandoria, and my port lacks a ship fit for the task. Though there may be a solution elsewhere on Niian, the Forest Elves likely know of it as well. Once they become aware that the attacks here have not stopped her….”

He didn't elaborate. Not that he really needed to; it wasn't hard to fill in the blanks. Whatever means Kizmel might have to continue her journey, the Forest Elves knew about it, and would be trying to stop her.

Kizmel looked troubled, but before Kirito or Asuna could question it, the Portmaster abruptly stood. “At any rate, Swordmasters, I believe your part in this is over. You've delivered Dame Kizmel, and now I suggest you attend to your own.” He reached under the table, lifted a long, thin case, and set it before the two players. “You've earned this much. Hopefully it will aid you in your own journey.”

[Escort Royal Guard to Niian Port Complete].

With a happy sigh, Asuna settled her new sword on her hip. The Wind Fleuret, with its keen edge and curved, green hilt still wasn't quite as good as Kirito's Anneal Blade, but it was definitely a step up from the Iron Rapier she'd been using. As soon as they reached a town with a blacksmith, she intended to give it the attention it deserved, too.

Standing with her and Kirito at the Dark Elf port's dock, Kizmel smiled. “A fine blade, Asuna,” she said, nodding approvingly at the sword. “Truth be told, I doubt the Portmaster thought he was doing you much of a favor—as poorly as my people react to cold iron, like as not he was relieving himself of useless spoils—yet I believe it will serve you well.” She toyed with the envelope in her hand, also given to her by the Portmaster, and her smile faded. “Well enough, I hope….”

Asuna exchanged a quick look with Kirito. Though they hadn't discussed it, she was pretty sure he was on the same page with her where Kizmel was concerned. She was also pretty sure he wasn't dense enough to miss their NPC companion's attitude. This was the guy who'd talked an entire raid out of a witch hunt, after all.

Not that he knows what to do about it, she thought, exasperated by the uneasy silence that followed his subtle shrug. Oh, well. I'll beat social skills into his head sooner or later—fair exchange for him teaching me Sword Skills.

Kizmel still hadn't moved, despite the silence, so Asuna gently cleared her throat. “Kizmel, what's wrong?”

The elf girl started, only proving the fencer's point. “Hm? Oh….” She managed a smile—forced, this one. “Was it so obvious?”

“Yes,” Kirito said bluntly, leaning against Moondancer's cradle.

Okay, so sometimes blunt works. “When Kirito-kun sees it, yes,” Asuna said wryly, and folded her arms. “Out with it, Kizmel. What's bothering you?”

Kizmel tried to hold the smile, only to quickly lose the fight and sigh. “I suppose I couldn't hide it anyway…. Honestly, I was originally intending to ask the two of you to accompany me through this leg of my journey, as well. After all, this port is the only holding my people have on Niian, and Captain Emlas was certainly right that his ship is no longer up to the task….”

“That's a wonderful idea, Kizmel!” Asuna smiled warmly, and was pleased to see Kirito giving a silent, if hesitant, nod of his own. “Of course we'd be glad to help you again. So what's the problem?”

“The situation is more dire than I thought,” Kizmel said softly, glancing toward the tunnel leading out of the port, where not even an hour before they'd fought off a minotaur attack. “According to my briefing, before I set out on my mission, there is somewhere on Niian an ancient Dark Elf outpost, similar to the one where we found Moondancer. Getting there under normal circumstances would be difficult, but hardly an overwhelming challenge for the two of you. If, however, the Forest Elves are aware of it, predict my presence, and make serious efforts to interfere….

“Well. They have a sizable enclave here on Niian, and my people do not.” She shook her head, frowning deeply. “How could I ask you to risk such danger? I've already taken too great a liberty with Moondancer's core crystal.”

Asuna shivered, remembering that unnerving awareness of both Kizmel and Kirito, which she sometimes wasn't sure had entirely gone away. She still had no idea how that had even worked, and she was pretty sure from Kirito's comments that it wasn't normal.

Even so, she couldn't help but roll her eyes, and point silently at Kirito. Who pushed himself upright, blinking. “What?”

“Kizmel,” she said, looking at the elf but still pointing at the oblivious guy, “we're already committed to helping this idiot chase down an Integrity Knight. Which will probably mean fighting other Integrity Knights, regardless of how it turns out.” It was her turn to shake her head. “You and Kirito-kun know Forest Elves better than I do, but are you really going to tell me this is going to be more dangerous than his quest?”

There was something oddly satisfying about seeing their self-possessed comrade caught flat-footed for once, eyes wide and blinking. “Ah… that is….”

“Speaking as someone who has met Integrity Knights and fought Forest Elves? She's not wrong.” Kirito visibly hesitated, struggling with himself—this time, at least, Asuna was pretty sure she understood why—before reaching out to clasp Kizmel's shoulder. “Besides. If I am going to find Alice—and if the two of you are serious about helping me—Asuna and I need to get stronger. We're not going to do that without taking risks.”

“That's right,” Asuna agreed, nodding firmly. “Kizmel. I know we're not warriors—but we're going to have to become that, if we're ever going to get out of here.”

And I need the self-confidence, she reminded herself, watching Kizmel digest that. It doesn't matter if I get out of Aincrad, if I can't stand up to what my parents will try to do afterward. …That scares me more than fighting monsters. Monsters I can stab until they stop moving.

I died the day Kayaba trapped us. I have to be born again, as something—someone—different.

Finally, after staring at them for a solid minute, Kizmel raised her hands in surrender. “You do know, Asuna, it's supposed to be the two of us overwhelming Kirito? …Clearly, I've lost this argument.” She finally smiled again, genuinely, and held up the envelope. “Together it is, then, for another island.”

“I'd like that,” Kirito said, taking the envelope as Asuna nodded vigorously. His smile was shy, nervous, but real. Opening the envelope, he added, “I hope you don't mind a few detours, though. We do kinda need to clear this island.”

The only surprise, when [Escort Royal Guard Across Niian] popped up in the quest log, was the source. Given how the Portmaster had behaved, Asuna hadn't expected something from him to start the new quest. Well, as real as this feels sometimes—and as weird as Kirito-kun's story is—ordinary gameplay is still a thing. Can't expect everything to fit perfectly.

“That's a given,” Kizmel said, answering Kirito. “After all, finding another route to Sandoria would still require the next Skywall to be brought down. In that case, I propose a trade: I will assist the liberation of Niian, and teach the two of you more of my language and people. In exchange, I would ask your aid in my mission here—and that you teach me how to use this.”

She swept two fingers down, bringing up the menu Asuna had briefly seen just before the Minotaur attack. From what the fencer could see, it was very close to a player's menu, if a deep purple instead of a Swordmaster's light blue.

“I expect it will be quite useful,” Kizmel said, poking gingerly at the ethereal page. “The problem is….” She smiled sheepishly. “Perhaps a sailor on one of our airships might puzzle it out alone. I have no idea what any of this means!”

Kirito was glad to see the skies were—at least as far as he could see—clear of hazards, as he guided Moondancer back out of the Dark Elf port and into open air. His attention was only half on the job, with everything that was going on; the last thing he wanted was to run into a doomwhale while he was distracted.

“See, this page? It looks a little different from what we have, but from here you can directly change what you've got equipped. Tap here—yeah, like that. Anything in your inventory that fits that slot will be in this list, and you can just pick one.”

“I see…. Hm. This seems less efficient than the means my people were given in this world—at least when one has only one set of equipment. For as much as I gather Swordmasters can carry, this does appear much faster than changing by hand.” A chuckle. “Of course, without this 'inventory', it simply wouldn't be possible to carry so much weaponry and armor at one time anyway.”

Clear skies beyond the pilothouse's windows, as Kirito gently turned the ship into a spiral up toward the surface of Niian. That gave him enough attention to spare to toss over his shoulder, “We couldn't do half of what we do without being able to stuff items and gear into thin air, Kizmel. Just remember, there's a limit to how much fits even in that, and there's eventually a weight penalty, too.”

He could just feel the look Kizmel gave him at that, and the way Asuna rolled her eyes. “He means even stuff in the inventory will start to feel heavy, if you've got too much in there.”

“Ah, of course. …Asuna, I've been meaning to ask. Do the two of you speak different dialects? Clearly that unpleasant fellow in the Illfang battle—Kibaou, I believe?—does, but Kirito also speaks… differently, at times.”

Kirito was not going to pout. He was entirely too mature for that.

Not even when Asuna made a choked noise he was pretty sure was stifled laughter. “Heh—um. No, not exactly. Think of it like sailors. He knows the technical terms for this stuff, that's all.”

“That explains much. I've always suspected half of what sailors say is… deliberately eccentric, let's say?” He could just hear the smirk. “We Knights, of course, prefer to keep things simple…. So, these numbers represent what our bodies are capable of in this world? I'm afraid I don't quite understand some of these abbreviations.”

“Yeah, those are a little confusing at first, aren't they? First of all….”

Honestly, Kirito didn't even mind the cheap shots in his direction. It was kinda fun listening to Asuna explain the menu systems to Kizmel—and it certainly beat the alternative. The quiet talk behind him kept him from dwelling too much on… other things.

I'd like to go after Alice, he thought, gently turning the wheel so that Niian's rocky side drifted past Moondancer's bow again. For Diavel, and so that I can find out what in the world is really going on. But Integrity Knights can bypass the Skywall, and I can't. There's no sense brooding about it when I should be worrying about the first step on Niian.

Well, the first step was obviously to just reach the first town. His beta knowledge was a bit rusty, but he remembered enough for a start. Kizmel's questline complicated things some, though. He had no idea where that would take them, before Sandoria.

Not that he regretted taking on the new mission. Both because he was more attached than he really wanted to admit to Kizmel's company, and because of her inexplicable acquisition of the menu system. He had a feeling he knew what the event flag for that had been, and if he was right, they needed to know what else might've come of that—

A high, musical chime disrupted Kirito's thoughts, just as Moondancer swept up over the lip of Niian's upper edge. At the same time, a long shape, shining with almost blinding light in the sun, soared into view from port.

The chime was coming from Asuna's usual post. As she scrambled into her chair, he recognized the new arrival as Liberator, the airship Diavel had unveiled only days before. From the trajectory, the ship had probably only left Einsla that very morning, arriving just as Moondancer was.

Liberator clearly noticed their own little ship, the cruiser adjusting course to parallel theirs a respectful distance out. The chiming repeated itself—insistently, to Kirito's ears—every couple of seconds, until Asuna's scrabbling fingers touched just the right control.

A click, and then there was a voice, despite there being no sign of a speaker on the console. “Ahoy there! This is Captain Coper, of Liberator. I'm going to take a wild guess and figure you're Kirito, right? I'm carrying the raid group to Niian. If you're interested, there's going to be a meeting soon, to discuss the aftermath of yesterday's raid. …If I were you, I'd be there.”

“We're agreed, then. Whichever of our guilds reaches the Skywall Tower first, will gain the allegiance of Captain Coper and Liberator.”

“Hmph! Shouldn't even be a question here, but better that than us fightin' over it. A week or two, an' everybody'll know who Diavel-han's real successor is!”

“My crew and I will be waiting eagerly for that. …In the meantime, I'd suggest both guilds invest in individual airships. Even when my ship's allegiance is settled, well, Liberator can only carry so many people. And, of course, there's supposed to be fleet action battles later in the game….”

I do not believe this. We've opened the way forward, and they waste their time on games like this? Ugh, Diavel's biggest mistake wasn't trying for that bonus, it was not making sure he had a second-in-command. Are these people really this stupid?!

Urbus was the settlement closest to Niian's outer edge, coming from Einsla, and so the first place airships landed. Though the city's aerodrome wasn't as big as Origia's, it was bigger than Tolbana's, with a wide open landing field between its airship cradles. There was probably room for a thousand players; even with Liberator's gleaming hull backing them, the few dozen occupying it at that particular moment were almost lost in it.

Almost. Standing with Kirito and Kizmel at the very edge of the gathering, it was all Asuna could do not to facepalm at the antics of the leaders of the gathering—or rather, the leaders of the two distinct groups that stood with a very noticeable gap between, while those without a bone to pick hung toward the back.

The loud, brash behavior of the green faction leader didn't surprise her a bit, admittedly. Kibaou's scale mail was higher quality than what he'd worn just the previous day, but otherwise he was the same as ever. He was loud, he was angry, and he'd plainly staked out his claim to taking over leadership of the players Diavel had gathered to clear Sword Art Online.

Really, the only surprising thing about the leader of the so-called “Aincrad Liberation Front” was that he'd so far ignored Moondancer and her crew entirely. After the mess with the Integrity Knight, Asuna had expected him to blow up at them on sight.

The other faction leader, of the gray-armored “Dragon Knights Brigade”, was more surprising. Lind, as she now knew him to be, had been in Diavel's own party in the battle with Illfang, which probably explained why he'd dyed his hair blue since the previous day. He was also, she distinctly recalled, one of those who'd directly attacked Kirito for letting Alice take Diavel away.

Lind was calmer than Kibaou. That was about all Asuna was willing to say for him. In the argument that had ensued the moment the raid group had gathered at the aerodrome, he'd countered Kibaou's loud belligerence with cool confidence—and, to Asuna's ear, a certain entitlement.

Condescension, she thought, staring from under her hood as the two faction leaders took turns shaking hands with Coper—who'd largely stayed out of the argument—and then, very grudgingly, each other. Kibaou's got a chip on his shoulder, but Lind think he's in the right and that everyone should know it.

Ugh. I hoped I'd escape that in this world, at least.

Well. The arguing seemed to be over, however stupid it might've been. Though Asuna wasn't at all sure that was a good thing. The ALF were going toward one side of the aerodrome, the DKB to the other, and while she supposed buying airships was at least productive, the “competition” they'd just agreed to was still going to make clearing the way forward that much harder.

“Hey, Beater!”

Asuna jumped, startled by the shout—but Kibaou, now a good ways off, wasn't looking at her at all. His glare was fixed on Kirito, as was his rudely pointing finger. “Ya got yerself a ship already, but don't think we're gonna let ya get too far ahead! We'll be blastin' right past ya if ya don't watch out!”

Plainly as baffled as she was, it took Kirito a second to school his expression into the cool arrogance he'd affected after Diavel's kidnapping. “Go ahead and try!” he called back, mouth twisting in a smug grin. “It wouldn't be any fun if I didn't have competition!”

“Why, you…! Grr, whatever!” Spinning back around, Kibaou stomped back to the front of his group, hands clenched into fists. “C'mon, guys! Forget the beater, we got work ta do!”

Asuna almost snapped back at them—as irritating as she sometimes found Kirito, Kibaou was way worse—only for a hand to gently grip her shoulder. “He's not worth it,” Kizmel told her, shaking her head. Though she was grimacing herself, eyes narrow. “I begin to see the truth of your words yesterday, that your world has no true knights. Sir Diavel at least made an effort, whatever ulterior motives he may have had. His would-be successors….” She tsked. “And I thought the rivalry between the Royal Guard's Knight Brigades was bad.”

“It's just not right,” Asuna muttered, turning away so she didn't have to look at either “guild”. “We did as much as they did, yesterday, and if it weren't for Kirito-kun we might've lost the battle. Now they're just treating him—us—like dirt, because of something Diavel did.”

Not that she thought there was any chance Kirito would've been a contender for leading the clearing efforts. She did think he'd do a good job, if he put his mind to it. She was also sure he'd run screaming in horror at the very idea. She'd seen perfectly well how terrified he'd been just taking over command during the raid.

She could also tell he wasn't as calm about Kibaou's parting shot as he tried to pretend. Probably, Asuna thought, remembering how he'd been treated in his “dreams” after Alice's kidnapping.

Now, though, Kirito only shrugged his shoulders, as if trying to settle his new coat. “In their defense, they were just gamers before all this happened,” he reminded them. “This is really guild politics as usual, for an MMO. It's going to be awhile before anybody really gets a handle on how different SAO is.” He started to turn away, but paused, frowning. “I do kinda want to know what the heck a 'beater' is, though. Usually I at least know what someone means, when they insult me.”

“That's what you get for acting cool and skipping out on the epilogue, buddy.” A dark-skinned hand landed on Kirito's shoulder, startling him and Asuna both. “D'you guys know how crazy things were after you left?”

Sternly, Asuna ordered her heart to slow down. She had no idea how Agil, the big axeman from the Illfang battle, had snuck up on them, but at least he was grinning. That was about as friendly as any player had been with them since the quest to finally clear the First Island had begun. “Did something happen that we need to know about, Agil-san?”

“Eh, Argo will probably want to sell most of it—and who am I to mess with a girl's money?” He lifted his hand from Kirito's shoulder, suddenly defensive, when she started to glare. “Hey, hey, stay cool! I'll tell you this one myself, promise.” Agil coughed into his hand, sobering. “So, there was kind of a lot of yelling after your grand exit, about betas and cheaters. Somewhere in there, it got kinda mixed up, and one or another of those lunkheads mashed it up into 'Beater'.”

Ugh. The more time she spent in SAO, the more Asuna thought it felt like the frontline players were just like students at one of the girls' schools she'd attended, growing up. “Why do I feel like I'm right back in class…? I thought I'd at least left the gossips behind…!”

“I fear, Asuna, that you will find such people anywhere—especially among groups searching for a scapegoat.” Kizmel gave her a sympathetic smile from under her hood, before turning a raised eyebrow on the axeman. “Agil, I believe it was? Just how bad is it?”

Agil peered closely at her, as if only really noticing her then. Asuna wondered if the elf girl's hood would stand up to the scrutiny—and worried about what would happen if he realized Kizmel was not, in fact, another player—but after a moment he crossed his arms and shrugged. “To be honest? It's hard to say. I mean, look at it from their point of view—hell, look at it from mine. No offense, guys, but nobody really saw any of you before the lead-up to the raid. You all pretty much came out of nowhere to begin with, and then you saved the raid when just about everybody thought it was over.” He paused, very deliberately. “And then after the fight, when a freakin' Integrity Knight showed up, Kirito here talked to her like a native, and she talked back. After all that, I don't think most people know what to think. Of any of you.”

Asuna was almost afraid to ask for more detail. “Any leading theories?”

“Me, I'm just gonna assume you guys found some beta stuff most people didn't, and not ask questions,” he told her, cracking a quick smile. “You saved lives, that's good enough for me.” The smile disappeared, though, as the big axeman looked back toward the competing clearing factions. “Hard to say what Kibaou thinks, really. He's a jerk about the beta testers, but he's an honest one. Lind… I don't like what he's been saying. Not one bit.”

Kirito slumped. “I was afraid of that,” he muttered. “It should've just been me—”

Asuna was pleased that Kizmel matched her, in lightly socking their gloomy companion in the side. “That was our choice,” she said firmly, turning a glare on him. “Don't you dare take that away from me. From either of us.”

Because seriously. The right to make her own mistakes, and not be treated as a disgrace to her ancestors? That was one of the things Aincrad gave her, which Asuna was not willing to give up. With the freedom she craved came personal responsibility. She wasn't going to let him take that from her, even if he was just trying to protect her.

Especially if he's trying to protect me.

Agil guffawed at the byplay. “Piece of advice, Kirito? Never try that with your girlfriend. Believe me, I met my wife in an MMO, and I learned that lesson quick.” He unfolded his arms, reaching up to thoughtfully stroke his chin instead. “Speaking of. Which of you girls is…?”

“We're just party members!” Asuna said quickly, face heating up. “Kizmel and I met him on the first day, and we've been working together because it's practical! That's all!”

Kirito nodded vigorously, clearly at a loss for words. He wasn't even looking at any of them, his attention suddenly focused on Liberator, and the small crew gathered around the ship.

“And the two of them saved my life.” Kizmel, to Asuna's frustration, chuckled, more amused than embarrassed. “We've not really had time to discuss anything more, given the circumstances.”

“You're not helping!” Barely keeping her voice below a yelp, Asuna's hands clenched. “Anyway,” she said, through gritted teeth. “Agil-san, just how bad is it?”

“It could be worse,” Agil told her, sober now but still holding onto his grin. “Mind you, it's only been a day, so who knows what'll happen when the story spreads out of the raid group. Kibaou and Lind, they hate your guts right now. Sorry to say, Kirito, I wouldn't expect you to be getting many party invites for while.”

Kirito shrugged, doing a decent job of looking like he didn't care. “Eh, I was usually solo back in the beta anyway. I'm not the kind of guy to really make friends.”

That… was pretty sad, really. But Asuna could relate, and a quick glance at Kizmel showed an odd understanding on the elf girl's face, as well.

Agil raised on eyebrow, but let the byplay pass. “Well, be careful. On the other hand, there's a few people who don't even seem to care—”

“Hey, guys!” A dark-haired bundle of pure energy suddenly appeared right in the middle of the gathering, grinning and grabbing Kirito's hand. “Great fight yesterday! Too bad we couldn't take on that Integrity Knight, but wow, I can already tell that's going to be an awesome boss when we're strong enough!” Pitohui released Kirito, patted a startled Kizmel on the shoulder, and quickly shook Asuna's hand. “See you around! Try not to die before things get really good!”

Just like that, Pitohui was gone again, racing away from the aerodrome and into Urbus proper. Asuna stared after her, shell-shocked from the girl's sheer enthusiasm. She couldn't remember encountering anyone so enthusiastic about fighting to the death in—well, ever. Not even since getting trapped in SAO.

Before any of them could recover their wits, Tengu walked up to them. Still wearing his Shinsengumi-patterned robe and white mask, he was much calmer than Pitohui. “Good to see the three of you made it here,” he said, as unflappable as the last time Asuna had seen him. He looked over all of them—or she thought he did, his mask made it hard to tell—before his gaze seemed to focus on Kirito. “Your charade at the end was well done, indeed.”

“Uh… thank you…?” Kirito said uncertainly. He was looking at Tengu as if expecting the man to suddenly turn into a snake mob. After the last couple of days, Asuna didn't really blame him. “Thanks for helping out in the boss fight. We wouldn't have lasted without you.”

“Mm. Perhaps.” Tengu looked at him for a long, unnerving moment, before giving a shallow nod. “Be prepared to take command next time, should something like that happen again. Keep up your training, and you will go far, Kirito.” He started to turn away, then paused. “Be wary. In this world, there is no justice but what we Swordmasters make for ourselves. Someday, some will turn to baser methods to survive. You're not ready to kill. Others will be.” He glanced toward the road into Urbus, where Pitohui could still be seen happily running along. “Beware. Be ready.”

Then he was off, walking toward the town at a more measured pace than the battle-hungry girl.

A few moments of silence followed, as Asuna and her party exchanged baffled looks with Agil. “Okay… that was a thing,” the axeman finally said. “You know either of 'em?”

Kirito shook his head, frowning. “…I don't think so,” he said slowly. “Though I might've met Pitohui in the beta. Tengu….” His frown deepened. “No. Never mind. What's next for you, Agil?”

“Looking for a blacksmith to get my axe sharpened,” Agil replied, hefting his heavy weapon. “New island, we just had a boss fight… I wanna get started real careful, y'know? No player blacksmiths yet, but there ought to be a decent NPC or two around.” He rested the axe on his shoulder, waved, and headed off in the other players' wake. “Take care of yourselves, guys! See you around!”

Then it was just the three of them again, and the distant sounds of the DKB and ALF trying to figure out how to buy airships. The quiet was almost deafening, after the last few minutes. Asuna wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing, but she was already starting to miss just hanging out on their own ship.

Too long by ourselves, she thought. I never knew how hard it could be to deal with people after being away for so long.

“Well,” Kizmel said finally, breaking the silence. She nodded toward Urbus. “I believe we have a meeting? It wouldn't be polite to keep Argo waiting.”

“Or safe,” Kirito muttered, shaking himself. He led the way, his new coat billowing in the gentle breeze that cut through the aerodrome. “It's going to be bad enough as it is, when she finds out we've got an airship to ourselves. If we take our time now, who knows what weird stories she'll make up….”

Remembering her first meeting with the info broker, Asuna shuddered. She was pretty sure the Rat wouldn't spread “weird stories” around—her reputation depended on honesty—but trolling the three of them? That, she was sure Argo would be all too ready to do. And then she might get some real details from us we don't want her to have, and that she would sell.

Shaking herself, she pulled her cloak tight, picking up the pace toward Urbus. “Where is Argo, anyway?” she asked. “Our ship and Liberator were the first to get here, and I didn't see her in the crowd here.”

“NPC passenger airships were supposed to start up once the Skywall was cleared,” Kirito told her, gesturing back toward the aerodrome. “When she called earlier, Argo said nobody wanted to risk it until the raid group gave the all-clear, but they headed out this morning. In fact….”

While Kizmel was the first to turn back, Asuna picked up the sound of approaching engines almost as fast. Just coming in to land in one of the aerodrome's cradles was another airship, larger than Moondancer yet smaller than Liberator, and quite plainly not meant for combat. Wooden-hulled, her engines were smaller than the ships Asuna had seen so far, instead seeming to rely more on the traditional sails mounted above her deck.

And that would be a passenger ship, I guess. Which means Argo should be—

The ship had barely settled into the cradle when a brown shape suddenly exploded off the deck, slammed hard into the ground, and took off running to the northwest. As Asuna's team watched, collectively nonplussed, two figures in gray leapt down, paused a split second, and raced off in pursuit.

Asuna blinked. “What the…?”

“I believe that was Argo,” Kizmel said, peering after them. “Being chased by… I couldn't venture a guess, but I doubt they have her best interests in mind.” She glanced at the two players. “Shall we?”

Kirito was already moving, and Asuna was quick to follow. “Half the reason I made that speech yesterday was to stop this,” he said grimly. “And where they're heading—it's not safe territory.” He glanced back over his shoulder. “Let's hurry!”

No argument from the girls. Though Asuna couldn't help rolling her eyes. First half-dressed Minotaurs, now this. This really isn't my day….

Following a trail was a somewhat different experience in the transitory world, so real in many ways yet oddly unreal in others. The tracks left by their running quarry, though faint compared to most humans, were certainly no harder to spot than Kizmel was used to, yet they were also oddly uniform. That fact alone almost threw her off, as she and her comrades ran deeper into the wilderness beyond Urbus.

Almost. Though it appeared that even if she had somehow lost the trail, Kirito would've kept them on the trail himself. “Your skills as a tracker are impressive, Kirito,” she commented, as the grass around Urbus gave way to more barren ground.

“Can't claim credit for it,” he replied, leading them off the rough road and up one of the ridges that rose up on either side, forming a narrow canyon. “I picked up a modifier to my Search skill last week; it lets me follow people on my Friends list. Only tracks less than a minute old, though.”

“Ah.” A month into their partnership, with the more specific lessons the two Swordmasters had begun giving her that morning, Kizmel thought she at least grasped the essential points. “Well, at least you can claim credit for foresight?”

“Yeah, sure—but if these tracks are less than a minute old, how fast are these guys?” Asuna's hood, caught by the wind, flew back; with a huff, she yanked it back into place without losing stride. “And who the heck would be chasing Argo like that, anyway?”

That was certainly a good question. Kizmel had hoped Kirito's gambit had headed off any kind of witch hunt; if it had not, and his sacrificing his own good name had been for nothing, she was going to be… unhappy.

Although, she reflected, as they reached the top of the ridge and moved to follow the edge, that sacrifice was likely inevitable anyway. I doubt he could have talked his way out entirely, after his confrontation with Alice.

“I think I may have an idea,” Kirito said, crouching down as if to avoid being seen from the canyon floor. To Kizmel's surprise, he sounded more annoyed than anything else. “If they're who I think they are—well, I don't know what they're up to now, but they were feared during the beta test.”

“Feared?” Asuna repeated, voice rising. “What are they—player-killers, is that the term?”

“Not exactly, but—wait!” He skidded to an abrupt halt, at the very edge of the ridge.

Kizmel quickly dropped to the ground herself, already recognizing what Kirito had: the trail went straight over the edge, down to the ground some meters below. A farther drop than she would've cared to make, but she could see how a Swordmaster—or three—might've slid down, rather than jumping.

And someone definitely managed, she thought, ears twitching. I do believe I know that voice.

“I told ya already,” the high, nasally voice snapped. “I don't care how much you're offerin', I ain't selling! Buzz off!”

“You do not intend to hoard the information, yet you do not intend to sell it? How can we conclude anything but that you are trying to inflate the price?” Kizmel blinked; not even the self-styled Knight Diavel had spoken so formally. “Your business depends on fair exchange; name your price, and we will pay it!”

Peering carefully over the lip of the ridge, the elf girl spotted Argo easily enough. Though her brown cloak did blend in with the terrain surprisingly well—certainly better than the pair confronting her, whose gray jackets, masks, and hoods made them stand out against the barren ground. They looked as if they were dressed for concealment, but for entirely the wrong surroundings.

Kirito groaned. “Them? Seriously? Didn't think they'd pull this kind of stunt now that our lives are on the line….”

“It's got nothin' to do with price!” Argo spat out, glaring at her pursuers. “I don't sell anything that gets me in trouble, and there's nothin' but trouble from this!”

“Who are they?” Asuna whispered, glancing from the scene below to Kirito. “They're not threatening her, but….”

“Wannabe-ninja, back in the beta,” he answer, pressing a hand to his forehead. “What did they call themselves… Fu-something? Food…? Fugue?”
She rolled her eyes. “Fuuma?”

“That was it!”

“What possible quarrel would we have with you?” one of the—Fuuma?—said plaintively. “All we ask is the location of the Martial Arts teacher, you see! Sell us that, and we will be on our way!”

“Martial Arts teacher?” Kizmel repeated, as the argument continued below. Frowning, she looked to Kirito. “You were here in the 'beta', Kirito. Do you know what they're talking about?”

He shrugged. “I know there were rumors about an Extra Skill here on Niian. There were never any details, though—not that I ever heard, anyway.” The dark youth frowned. “Sounds like Argo found something out—if she didn't know anything, she'd say so. But why won't she sell it?”

Interesting question. Though Kizmel could hardly claim to know the information broker well, she'd certainly already come to know how quick Argo was to make a profit on any information she could get her hands on.

To be this stubborn—and outside the Safe Haven charms, at that…. She frowned, as the argument reached a new pitch. They've not drawn blades, but that may change all too quickly—

Kirito sighed. “No help for it, I guess.”

Before Kizmel or Asuna could ask him what he meant by that, he abruptly stood, pushed his coat back, and jumped off the ridge, sliding down to the bottom.

For a moment, the girls could only stare at each other. “…What is he doing?” Asuna said blankly.

Torn between exasperation and a near-irresistible urge to laugh, Kizmel shrugged. “We'll interrogate him later,” she said, and leapt down herself.

The three of them half-slid, half-jumped squarely between Argo and the pair of Swordmasters accosting her. The Rat, oddly, didn't seem at all surprised; the ruffians, by contrast, started sharply, jumping back a full meter. By the time Kizmel and her companions had recovered their footing, the two had both reached for the swords slung at their backs, drawing a few centimeters of steel from their scabbards. “Who goes there?!”

“Interlopers from an enemy province?!”

Kizmel blinked, torn before concern over the nearly-drawn weapons—single-edged blades, she noticed, similar in style to Illfang's nodachi—and bemusement. An enemy province? Her hand went to the hilt of her own sword, though she didn't—quite—draw it. Well… in a manner of speaking, perhaps….

For the moment, she chose to follow Kirito's lead. He himself raised not a sword, but the grapnel on his left wrist, aiming it vaguely toward the two “ninja”. “Something like that,” he said, moving to stand directly between the ninja and Argo. “You're Fuuma, am I right?”

“We are Koutaro and Isuke, of the Fuumaningun!” one of them declared, brandishing his short sword in a pose Kizmel didn't think belonged to any Sword Skill. “Name yourself, interloper! This is not your concern!”

Beside Kizmel, Asuna bristled, and she sensed as much as saw the girl reach for her rapier. Before she could draw, however, Kirito gestured sharply with his free hand. “Of course it's my concern! Do you think that we, agents of the shogun, could overlook the Fuuma harassing an innocent?”

Kizmel's ears twitched. Agents of the shogun…?

Steel rasped on wood, and suddenly both ninja had swords in hand. “Iga dogs! We should have known you would be here soon!”

Her ears straightened with interest. Something was definitely going on that she was missing, but whatever it was, even with swords drawn, neither of her companions seemed to think it was dangerous. Kirito was putting on a show, much as he had with the raid group the day before, And Asuna….

“That's right, we're with Iga,” Kirito proclaimed, making a pointed motion with his grapnel. “This is our territory, and this girl is under our protection!”

“He's impossible,” Asuna muttered, so low only elven ears could hear. “All of this is impossible….” But her hand had left her rapier's hilt, and she shifted to stand straight, arms folded. Though her face was hidden by her hood, Kizmel knew the fencer was giving the ninja a hard stare.

“Her secrets are ours to learn,” Kirito continued boldly. “And if you know what's good for you, you'll leave now. This place is not safe for outsiders to linger!”

Behind them, she heard a stifled snicker from Argo; from Asuna, an aggrieved sigh. For her part, Kizmel was beginning to think the Rat had the right of it. Between the four of them, two rogue Swordmasters were hardly a threat—and she was beginning to realize what Kirito's real gambit was.

Of what tale he was spinning, she was less certain, but she supposed there was no harm in playing along. While it was the wrong time of day for her to be able to vanish from sight entirely, with a quick tightening of her cloak, Kizmel turned translucent.

That, or Kirito's words, brought a scoff from one of the Fuuma, who took a menacing step forward. “You believe you can intimidate us, Iga dog? Your numbers mean nothing before our skill!”

Somehow, I doubt that.

“Before our numbers, perhaps.” Kirito smirked, and pointed behind the two ninja. “But we are not what you should be worried about, Fuuma amateurs!”

“Bah! We'll not fall for such trickery!”

“What trick?” Asuna said dryly, wry resignation plain in her voice. She shifted her stance, getting ready to move; Kizmel did likewise, realizing what was about to happen. “True ninja would've been more aware of their surroundings.”

That brought both ninja up short. That, and perhaps the large shadow suddenly cast over them. Eyes wide above their masks, they turned—and their stiff, formal speech vanished into undignified shrieks.

“Moo…?”

Kirito abruptly turned, snatched up Argo, and launched the two of them back toward the ridge with his grapnel, the Rat laughing all the way. Kizmel and Asuna had no such option, but still flung themselves as far to one side as they could. Far enough, barely, to not be overrun by the panicking, fleeing, screaming Fuumaningun.

More importantly, not by the enormous Trembling Ox chasing after them. Over two meters tall at the shoulder, with bulk to match, it was a notoriously territorial denizen of the Second Island, and as the two ninja were now discovering, very fast. Kizmel doubted the two of them would lose it without reaching a Safe Haven.

Joining Asuna in a far more sedate climb up to the top of the ridge, Kizmel supposed she ought to have been worried. The two were Swordmasters, after all, and for all their belligerence, they had only attempted to bargain with Argo. They hardly seemed to deserve death.

Still, they seemed light on their feet. I expect they'll survive well enough—and perhaps with a greater appreciation for caution.

“You!” Asuna said, when they'd reached the summit once more. Flinging back her hood, she pointed sharply at Kirito. “You are absolutely impossible! Ninja?!?”

Kirito shrank back. “W-well, it distracted them long enough, didn't it…?”

“At least warn us next time, you…!”

Argo broke into the incipient rant with a cackle, flopping back on the barren ground. “Ahh, but Aa-chan, that was priceless! The three o' ya really looked the part, y'know?”

The glare the fencer turned on her subdued her not at all. “And you!” Asuna snapped. “What was all that about?!”

“Now, now, Asuna,” Kizmel said, unable to stifle a grin of her own as she laid a placating hand on the other girl's shoulder. “I'm sure there is a perfectly good explanation.” She turned an arched eyebrow in Argo's direction. “Right?”

“O' course!” Cackle dying down to a snicker, the Rat flipped back to her feet. “An' it's true, I owe ya guys one. So… how 'bout you show me your shiny new airship, an' Argo-nee-chan will give ya a discount on the latest gossip?”

So much for exploring the new town, Asuna thought, climbing up the handholds set into Moondancer's hull in Kirito's wake. Is this going to be a pattern? Not that I really want to hang around other players that much myself, but still…. I could do with one day not being weird!

As soon as she was on deck, before Kirito could disappear into the pilothouse, she cleared her throat. “Ninja?” she said pointedly, when he froze mid-step. “We've talked about you committing me to things without asking me first, Kirito-kun.”

She thought, from how his shoulders shifted, that he swallowed nervously. If so, the only sign of it when he turned to look at her was a slight paling of his face—not as much as usual, when she snapped at him. She hoped that didn't mean she was losing her touch.

“I was trying to defuse things,” he said, spreading his hands in a helpless shrug. “Putting on an act they'd understand seemed safest—I was hoping to wrap it up before anything bad happened. The Fuumaningun had a pretty fearsome rep during the beta.”

“Fearsome?” Kizmel repeated. Swinging her feet up on the deck behind Asuna, she lifted a quizzical eyebrow. “Pardon me, Kirito, but those—ninja?—hardly seemed 'fearsome' to me. They appeared, to be honest, rather… comical.”

“Nya ha! Not that kinda fearsome, Kii-chan!” Argo nimbly flipped up and over Moondancer's rail, in a move Asuna was sure was showing off. Throwing back her hood, she grinned, showing fangs. “The way that Trembling Ox turned up? Those jokers had that happen a lot in the beta. Then they'd run like idiots, an' usually lead the big nasty monsters right at other Swordmasters who were just mindin' their own business.”

“And those others would have to clean up the mess,” Kirito agreed. Clearly taking advantage of the distraction, he ducked through the hatch into the pilothouse. “I didn't think they'd be so stupid as to keep up their act in the death game. Here's hoping this will teach them to be a little more careful.”

“As my people say, moments of danger teach lessons decades of safety never will.” As the girls followed Kirito inside, Kizmel took her place at the engine panel, then turned her pointed look on the Rat. “So, Argo. Might we have an explanation now?”

“Gimme a minute, Kii-chan. I wanna see this.” Argo's tone was almost—but not quite—serious, watching Kirito and Kizmel prepare Moondancer for launch. “Ya guys were holdin' out on me, weren't ya? This is a Dark Elf ship, an' if I know my ships, ya didn't just get her as a quest reward, did ya?”

Sitting opposite Kizmel, Asuna waited for the drive field to lift the ship from her cradle, and pulled in the skids. At the same time, she cast a wary look at the info broker. “…Are you implying something, Argo?”

“Ah, just that I know a thing or two 'bout core crystals.” Pausing for obvious effect, Argo leaned against the starboard bulkhead, folded her arms, and let teeth show. “So… how was it, waking up the crystal? Kii-bou, with two girls?”

Kirito twitched, turning the wheel just a moment too soon and almost scraping Moondancer's keel on the cradle. “W-what's that supposed to mean, Argo?!”

Nice going, Kirito-kun. That totally sounded innocent. Not that Asuna could talk, feeling her face heat up. “It-it wasn't like that!” she protested. “It was just—well—I don't even know how to describe it—”

Kizmel cleared her throat. “I believe, Argo, that the experience could only be properly discussed with someone who had felt it themselves.” She deftly adjusted the wing-sails, allowing Kirito to guide Moondancer up and over Urbus. Only the faintest hint of a deeper darkness on her dusky cheeks suggested she might not have been as calm as she appeared. “But you know that. Don't you, Argo?” Her eyes narrowed, glancing from her controls to the Rat. “Or you would not have asked at all.”

That was a good point, Asuna realized with a start. Even Kirito hadn't known anything about awakening a core crystal, and he'd been a beta tester himself. One who'd gone all the way through the Elf War quest, at that. Of course, he also said he didn't have much to do with airships in general during the beta. I suppose an info broker would probably have looked into that more. It is one of the main selling points of the game, after all.

Though she didn't trust the whimsical expression on Argo's face one bit. The Rat had turned her attention—apparently—to the view outside the windows, as Moondancer eased out over Urbus. Another NPC airship was just coming in, taking a scenic turn over the city itself; Argo seemed to be studying that ship's deck when she spoke. “Maybe I know a thing or two,” she allowed, just a hint of fang poking out the near side of her mouth. “An' I'm kinda curious how you'll handle the… long-term effects.”

“Long-term effects?” Kirito jumped in, before Asuna could get past the adrenaline surge enough to say something coherent. “What do you know, Argo?” When the whiskered girl shook her head, he gritted his teeth. “How. Much?”

“Sorry. Not selling that one, Kii-bou.”

Asuna exchanged an incredulous look with Kizmel. They'd only known Argo a couple of weeks, and only met her infrequently during that time, but still. The only thing Argo had ever even hinted she wouldn't sell was a beta tester's identity. A poorly-chosen comeback from Asuna had even brought out the Rat's willingness to sell very personal information about herself.

Still half-facing the window, Argo flicked a sidelong glance at her surprised audience. “Got sources to protect, guys. This is one of those things where anything I say might put certain people at risk, 'kay?” For a moment, she looked genuinely serious. “I can tell ya this, though: ya shouldn't have anything to worry about from it.” Her mouth quirked, sobriety breaking. “Well. Nothin' 'bout your health. Yer social lives—heh. I'll let ya figure that one out yerselves.”

“Oh, great.” Kirito uttered what Asuna thought was the general sentiment of their little team, shaking his head. “I can't wait…. Will you at least tell us what the mess with those ninja was all about?”

“Naturally! I owe ya one, fer that an'… well, for yesterday.” Argo turned to look right at him, and this time her smile startlingly warm. “That coulda been real bad, Kii-bou. I know it hurt ya, but… thanks.”

Asuna stifled a snicker at the look on Kirito's face. “Uh… you're welcome, Argo,” he said awkwardly. Clearing his throat, he added, “So! Any suggestions for a course, while Argo gets us up to speed?”

“Perhaps a simple pass over the island might be in order,” Kizmel suggested. The smile playing at her lips betrayed her amusement at Kirito's shyness, but she seemed willing to let it go without comment. “Though you may be familiar with Niian, Asuna obviously is not, and while I was given some information, I've not had a chance to see much for myself.”

“Overview it is,” Kirito agreed, turning the wheel to bring Moondancer in a gentle sweep east along Niian's southern edge. “Carefully, though, there's a few places you don't want to fly directly over—or under—around here….”

Asuna wanted to ask about that right away. On the other hand, if there was one thing she'd learned about the Aincrad Archipelago just from the First Island, it was that sometimes it was better to see things for herself first. Kirito's story about how strong Integrity Knights are didn't sink in until Alice crashed in on us, that's for sure. Seeing really is believing.

That still left the question of Argo's story, though. She turned to look at the Rat, opened her mouth to prompt the other girl to talk—and paused.

Argo was still leaning against that starboard bulkhead, and her gaze was still directed outside. Her eyes were half-closed, though, as if her attention was mostly elsewhere; she was tracing one hand over the wood of the bulkhead, and her lips were moving. What, if anything, she was actually saying, Asuna couldn't hear.

What is she doing…?

“An old, old ship.” That low murmur, Asuna did catch. “Kii-bou, ya sure know how to pick 'em, don't ya?”

What?

The Rat shook herself, though, before Asuna could ask what she was doing. “Right! I promised ya guys an explanation, didn't I?”

“You did.” Kizmel had only half her attention on helping Kirito guide the ship. The other half was directed at Argo, and if Asuna was any judge, the elf girl was also wondering what the info broker had been doing. “Perhaps you could start by explaining who—or what—the 'Fuumaningun' are?”

“Fair 'nough,” Argo said equitably. “Ninja, where we come from, are… well, kinda a mix of spy an' assassin, an' a few other things besides. The kind of people ya send in when ya want work done quiet, an' not traced back to yer leaders.”

The elven Knight nodded. “I understand that much. Indeed, Pagoda Knights are sent on similar missions—as you obviously know—although outright assassination is no task for a Knight.” She paused, glanced out the bow window as Kirito brought Moondancer inward from Niian's edge, and nudged the wing-sails. “Though I must say, those two hardly seemed as if they were blending in. Disguised, certainly, but not what I would call subtle.”

“That's 'cause the Fuuma are basically playin' pretend, Kii-chan. Ninja in stories are a bit different from the real deal.” Argo shook her head, snickering. “An' the Fuuma? Are idiots. Which is half the reason I wasn't gonna sell 'em what they wanted.”

“It's that bad, Argo?” Asuna asked, feeling a chill. Not that she was entirely surprised, “idiot” did seem to describe the two would-be ninja pretty well, and it was obvious there were a lot of ways for even smart players to die in Aincrad. But still.

“Lemme put it this way, Aa-chan: back in the beta, I never finished the quest they were buggin' me about.” Argo wasn't snickering anymore. “An' I don't think those two woulda gotten anywhere near startin' it. What really gets me is… I dunno how they even knew to look.”

“If it was in the beta, anybody could've found it,” Kirito pointed out. Most of his attention was on Moondancer's course—Asuna noticed he was continuing the turn to the north—but he spared a bit to give Argo an arch look. “I hate to break it to you, but you're not the only info broker, Argo. Even I heard rumors. Never anything solid, but obviously somebody else did find the Extra Skill.”

“No, they didn't. The start, maybe, but not the end.” Argo pushed away from the bulkhead, looking about as serious as Asuna had yet seen from her. “Took me ta the last day o' the beta to reach what I think was the last step before meetin' the skill trainer. Ta get that far, I found a lead I never saw anybody talk about on the SAO forums—an' it killed me a dozen times.”

“Which is why you didn't want to sell the information,” Asuna thought aloud. “If you thought it was that risky—”

“Hang on,” Kirito interrupted. “I think we need to get this one from the top. But first—Asuna, I think you'll want to see this.” He motioned for Kizmel to lower the bow, and pointed toward the ground brought into view. “You and Kizmel have been talking about knights, right? Take a look at that.”

Curious, Asuna stood and walked to the bow window. They were cruising over the canyon where they'd rescued Argo, she noticed. Or rather, the mouth of it, a good kilometer and a half north of where they'd dealt with the Fuuma. Beyond it was a vast plan—and sitting almost directly on the canyon mouth was an irregular mound of rock, one broken spire reaching for the sky.

No, not rock. Not just rock. That's a castle!

“One of the early dungeons of Niian,” Kirito told her, confirming her deduction. “Just a nameless ruin now, but the lore says it used to belong to the Crimson Knights. Back when the Human Empire made an effort to keep the peace, after the Great Separation destroyed the Nine Kingdoms of Man.”

Used to. Asuna could see that plainly. The castle was still recognizable, and parts of it still seemed reasonably intact, but it was obvious it hadn't been used in a long, long time. The gates were broken down, the outer walls had gaping holes, and in several places she could see that the roof had caved in.

The tower that dominated the castle's north side looked particularly bad. Even from Moondancer's height—Asuna realized belatedly she was seeing way too clearly for their distance, and made a note to ask Kirito or Kizmel about it later—she could see faded scorch marks around the tower's upper floors. Scorch marks, and deep scores, like from the claws of a great beast….

“In the beta there was pretty good treasure up in the tower, if you could reach it,” Kirito commented behind her. “Tricky, though, the footing tended to break really easily…. Most of the quest-related stuff was down in the catacombs. Three levels deep, and stretching way out beyond the castle walls. I never did find out how far they went, personally. I was in a hurry to see everything I could, so one-hundred percent completion wasn't my style.”

Fair enough. Two months, Asuna had known from the moment she logged into Sword Art Online, wasn't nearly enough to see even a fraction of the game. Which still left her with questions she suspected he could answer. “What happened to it? Where are the Crimson Knights?”

“Long gone, Asuna,” Kizmel said sadly. When Asuna glanced back at her, the elf's long ears were noticeably drooping. “Once, a very long time ago, my people thought the chivalric orders of the nascent Human Empire might be our allies. In the end, however, the Administrator rose to power in the Axiom Church, and she did not tolerate rivals. The Integrity Knights were sent against any who resisted.”

Integrity Knights… oh. Looking back at the ruined castle, she understood. Dragons had assaulted that tower, with claws and fire. Having seen firsthand the barest hint of an Integrity Knight's power, she had no trouble imaging just one or two could've cut through any resistance inside the castle.

Shivering, she tried to picture what that castle would've looked like in its prime, and compared the mental image with the reality before her. Even knowing all of what she saw was the product of Kayaba Akihiko and Argus' development staff's imaginations, it made her feel strangely sad.

“Look upon my works, ye mighty,” Asuna heard herself murmuring, looking down at the wrecked fortress. “And despair….”

“Ozymandias,” Argo remarked, stepping up to join her. The smile on the Rat's face was whimsical, but with an edge that suggested even she wasn't unaffected by the sight. “Yeah, that fits. Ya won't hear 'bout the Human Empire's knights much 'round here, Aa-chan. Not after the Axiom Church got through with 'em.”

“The old orders still exist, in name,” Kizmel said quietly. “But only as the personal guards of human nobility, and nowhere near this far out in the Archipelago. The Administrator does not permit mere aristocracy to have more than token strength.”

No wonder the Swordmasters had been summoned in the lore, then. The common people of Aincrad had no one to protect them except the Integrity Knights, and it was plain even they weren't sent out for anything less than extreme circumstances.

The towns might've been protected by magic to keep out monsters. That did nothing for travel between them, and Asuna couldn't imagine what society was like without being able to go freely from town to town. Even leaving aside the Skywall.

It's not right. It's just… not right. They had to call for us—and here we are, with only a few dozen people even trying, and those squabbling like children. Even if we're really just here to survive, and everything else is flavor—it's wrong.

Feeling suddenly just depressed, Asuna started to turn away from the window—only to pause, as a flicker of movement caught her eye. Something down below, in the ruined castle's courtyard. “…Hey, guys? Isn't that…?”

Up and out of the courtyard, flinging off a cloth not too different from one in Moondancer's own hold, a long, lean shape leapt into the air. Wing-sails spread open, and a broader sail unfurled from a mast.

“An airship?!” Kirito blurted, leaning forward over the wheel. “Where'd that come from—?”

“Forest Elf!” Kizmel said sharply, ears stiffening. “A patrol ship!”

Argo pressed her face close against the bow window, and hissed a word Asuna didn't even recognize. “Those Fuuma idiots are on the deck! Damn, they really are that stupid…!”

“After them, Kirito,” Kizmel said, already pushing the throttle forward. “Would that we were armed, but—regardless, we must find out what they're doing here!”

“Don't have to tell me twice.” Kirito spun the wheel, turning Moondancer onto a pursuit course. “I just hope they aren't armed, either.”

That makes two of us, Asuna thought, awkwardly getting back into her chair as the ship accelerated. Today is not getting any better!

Kizmel had been in an airship battle exactly once. It had been brief, vicious, and honestly terrifying. As a swordswoman, not a sailor, she'd had little idea of what was going on until Moonshadow was already going down. That she was herself urging a chase was an irony not lost on her.

At least Moondancer's old enough—and clearly expensive enough—for glasswood windows, she thought, staring ahead at the Forest Elf ship. Doubtless the original owner had intended them for proper sightseeing; for a crew of warriors on an urgent mission, the clear wood's tendency to magnify allowed them to keep their target in sight.

Where they were going, Kizmel couldn't guess. After lifting off from the ruined human fortress, the Forest Elf airship had headed north, veering toward Niian's western edge. If there was anything there at all, she didn't know about it; she'd only ever been to the Second Island at all as a child, and when she'd left on her mission, the assumption had been that she would be skipping the island entirely.

No one expected Quinella to strengthen the Skywall, and leave us reliant on the Swordmasters even for this, she thought, nudging the wing-sails to match Kirito's turn of the wheel as Moondancer arced up and around in pursuit. Just as none of us suspected any Swordmasters might choose to ally with the Forest. What is going on here?

“All right, here's the short version,” she heard Argo say, off to one side. The information broker was braced in the aft-starboard corner, though Kizmel could only spare a glance. “Last night, those Fuuma idiots dropped by in Tolbana, where yours truly was takin' care of some last minute requests 'fore everybody got ready to head to Niian.”

The Forest Elf ship, to Kizmel's confusion, was heading toward the Skyfalls. The rogue island that was the source of the falls had absolutely nothing of any significance. She knew that well. Unless…?

The other ship's course was taking her under the island. Which meant either they were heading for some kind of hidden hollow—not so different from the Dark Elf port on Niian itself—or that they were hoping to use the Skyfalls themselves to lose Moondancer. Kizmel was afraid that might even work, as inexperienced as they all were with airships.

“I didn't want anything ta do with 'em, mind—I knew their rep as well as Kii-bou—but hey, Cor's Cor, right? I figured they wanted some quest or other to get ninja-style gear or something. Not that they'd have much luck until 'round the Tenth Island, but there's a thing or two on Niian they could maybe substitute fer now.” Argo clicked her tongue. “Wasn't anything that easy. First thing they asked was how ta find Master Ganryu.”

They were getting closer now—close enough for Moondancer to startle an entire flock of Gullwings, one coming so near to hitting the ship that Kizmel could see its surprised expression in the glasswood. If the Forest Elf ship didn't turn in the next few moments, they really were going to go right through the Skyfalls. And indeed, she could see the Fuuma scrambling belowdecks, along with a pair of Forest Elf Knights.

No sign of guns, at least. If there's to be an air battle here, it will be small arms. Forest Elves care for those no more than we do.

Only then did Argo's words really register, and Kizmel sent a quick, surprised glance her way. “Master Ganryu? Even Lyusula has heard of him. But that old hermit's not been seen in decades—a century, perhaps!”

Ahead, the Forest Elf ship was still stubbornly on course. Which meant they were either suicidal, or knew something she didn't. She turned to look at Kirito, opening her mouth to warn him—and at that moment, their prey suddenly accelerated, driving even faster toward the falls.

They thought they could make it. The patrol ship, larger than Moondancer, might even have been right. Kizmel was not so sure about their own.

“Hold on!” Kirito barked, hunching over the wheel. “Kizmel, give me full throttle, and trim the wing-sails all the way back!”

No time to second-guess. She obeyed, and Moondancer leapt ahead. The Forest Elf ship drove into the Skyfalls, vanishing under the pounding spray of water. Lesser ships would've been driven from the sky by the torrent; the Forest Elves clearly believed they could survive.

“Ganryu's still around, all right,” Argo said, startlingly calm as Moondancer hurtled toward the rushing water. “But almost nobody knows that. The clues he left are buried in a dungeon those clowns couldn't last two minutes in. An' gettin' to him when ya do you know where ta look?”

Moondancer's prow hit the Skyfalls, and the windows were suddenly totally obscured by the raging waters. The loud roar would've made Kizmel's ears hurt if the transitory world had pain, and she had a strange, phantom feeling of water beating against her.

Barely two heartbeats, that lasted. Then Moondancer burst through the other side—and almost struck the Forest Elf airship dead on, that ship having made a radical turn to starboard. Kirito yelped, throwing Moondancer into a hard turn to port, while Kizmel yanked the throttle back and flared the wing-sails.

“You're impossible!” Asuna shouted over the chaos. “Through the waterfall?!”

“It worked, didn't it?” Kirito retorted—though the tremble in his voice belied his words. “Come on, we're going after them!”

“Ganryu's way off in the northern Niian mountains,” Argo said, as calm as if they hadn't just gone through a waterfall which by rights should've battered their ship to scrap wood. “An' blockin' the way? A full-on dungeon boss. Nobody's getting to Ganryu without a raid.”

“Then there are only the two of them?” Kizmel asked, even as she helped Kirito bring Moondancer around and back onto the Forest Elf ship's tail. “You don't think they could recruit others to their cause?”

“I think there are more than two, but not enough fer a raid. An' they're way too big on their ninja act to want ta let any outsiders in on their little secret.” Argo huffed. “I thought even those idiots would give up if I told 'em that. But no, this mornin' they came after me again, and wouldn't take no fer an answer. Had to jump the first ship to Niian, and even that didn't stop 'em. …Guess now I know why.”

“You think they made a deal with the Forest Elves?” Asuna asked; and if her voice was still a bit high, well, Kizmel wasn't in a position to criticize.

“That's my guess.” A pause, and Kizmel was sure Argo was looking right at her. “But I don't think that's gonna end well. Am I right?”

“Probably.”

Out and away from the Skyfalls, the Forest Elf ship turned back inland, diving toward the ground. After the trick with the falls, Kizmel was fairly sure now they were simply trying to evade Moondancer, which if anything made it even harder to predict their course. She hoped Kirito had a better idea of Niian's airborne hazards than she did.

Glancing back at Argo, she continued, “The Forest Elves are, if anything, less trusting of humans than many of my people. If they've agreed to aid the Fuumaningun, it is only in exchange for something they believe will benefit them more. Or, possibly, some form of trap for the Fuuma themselves.”

“That's not good,” Asuna said faintly. “This whole death game is bad enough without worrying about players making deals that could hurt other players….”

“Like Kii-bou and I told ya, Aa-chan: the Fuuma ain't that bright.”

The Forest Elf ship flew lower, and lower still, to the point that Kizmel began to wonder if they were trying to lure Moondancer into crashing. Then, abruptly, they pulled up, clawing for the sky faster than she'd thought the ship could manage.

Kirito suddenly cursed, spinning the wheel hard to starboard. “Kizmel, pull in the wings! Asuna, Argo, hold on tight! Skyrift!”

“Skyrift?” Asuna repeated, dutifully bracing herself on the arms of her chair. “What's a sky—”

Had Kirito been a moment slower in turning them away, Kizmel was fairly sure they all would have died. Moondancer had powered through a waterfall well enough, but that had just been a force pummeling them straight down. The winds that caught the airship's aft were a turbulent free-for-all, pushing and tugging in all directions in the short span it had them; so brief a battering was enough to send the ship rolling.

Kizmel didn't blame Asuna a bit for screaming, not quite able to suppress a yelp of her own. Argo went rolling by somewhere in the middle, snarling something she couldn't quite catch but didn't sound complimentary. Throughout, Kirito was roaring wordlessly, honestly surprising Kizmel with just how deep his voice could get.

How Kirito kept his place at the wheel through it all, she couldn't even begin to guess. But after a few moments of tumbling, his firm hand on the wheel and Kizmel's hurried adjustments of the wing-sails straightened them out, leveling Moondancer's keel and pulling her back up before she could hit the—altogether too close now—ground.

Hair completely disheveled, coat tangled, Kirito gave the wheel a vicious spin. “Oh, it's on, now,” he growled. “Argo, Asuna—find me that ship!”

The two Swordmaster girls hurried to the windows, now that their footing was stable again. “We are so looking into seat belts,” Asuna muttered, face pale. “That was just… just…. Kirito-kun! They're heading back south!”

“Ariadne's Catacombs, a ways east o' Urbus,” Argo said sourly, clinging to the bulkhead as Kirito turned Moondancer in a tight arc to the southeast. “That's where the first key ta reaching Ganryu is. Prolly where they were goin' in th' first place, before we spooked 'em.”

“Which begs the question of why they were at the ruined Crimson Knights' citadel first,” Kizmel mused, pulling the wing-sails back in.

“Yeah. Here's a freebie for ya, guys: I dunno.” Argo grimaced. “But I better find out. Forget what those idiots are gonna do with it, my rep'll never take bein' late to the party on that. Soon as ya put down again, I'm gonna go look.”

It looked like Kirito was going to protest, but he closed his mouth and focused on the chase instead. Sensibly, Kizmel thought. Risky though it might've been, it was clear that Argo knew what she was doing. Like as not, we face the greater danger here. I doubt any Forest Elves will have lingered at that citadel.

They certainly weren't lingering now. Having almost led Moondancer to her destruction in a skyrift, the Forest Elf patrol ship had gained a considerable lead. Though Moondancer was faster, it seemed as if that wouldn't be enough to make up the difference.

It didn't help that it felt as if Moondancer was straining, just a little. Though she couldn't quantify exactly how—or how she knew—Kizmel could tell the ship hadn't come out of the brush with the skyrift completely unscathed. She shot a quick glance at Asuna, raised one eyebrow, and nodded toward the brunette's console. A moment's inspection, and Asuna grimaced.

“The core crystal's output is down,” she announced. “Not much, but if I'm reading this right, getting away from that—skyrift?—drained it pretty bad. It's coming back up, but….”

“We're slower until it has time to recover,” Kirito finished. “Got it. …We'll just have to make do.”

And that was just from straining the engines, Kizmel thought, frowning at the still too-distant Forest Elf ship. A deck gun would clearly be too much for the ship, as she is now. We'll have to look into that, soon. Perhaps Captain Emlas might know something.

There would be time for that later. Gradually, they gained on the Forest Elf ship, and soon enough their prey was slowing down, flying low over a forest near Niian's southeast edge. Barely visible, sticking up from a tiny clearing, a stone tower rose into view.

The entrance to the catacombs Argo mentioned. We have them now—wait. What are they doing?

The Forest Elf airship slowed, but didn't stop, as it approached the tower. Clearly visible through the glasswood, two figures in gray climbed out on deck, perched themselves on the ship's railing—and jumped down into the trees.

“What the—?!” Asuna blurted. “Did—did those idiot ninja just—?”

“Climbing claws,” Argo groused. “They're idiots, but they got the ninja shtick down pat. Drat.”

“The Forest Elves are getting away,” Kizmel interjected, pointing out and up. The patrol ship, having delivered its passengers, was accelerating again, climbing back for the open sky. “Kirito, Asuna. Do we pursue them, or chase the Fuuma?”

Her own instinct was to find out what her people's enemies were up to. Her mission depended on thwarting them, after all. On the other hand….

After only a moment's thought, Kirito grimaced and shook his head. “I know it's important to you, Kizmel, but I think we'd better let the ship go for now. We don't know how many elves are aboard, and I don't think any of us want to provoke a fight we can't win.”

“Kirito-kun's right. And we do know the ninja are in over their heads.” It was Asuna's turn to grimace. “They may be idiots, but I don't want to just let them get themselves killed.”

“Agreed.” Kizmel pulled back on the throttle and trimmed the wing-sails, as Kirito eased the ship off to one side of the stone tower. “As important as my mission is, running blindly into a fight will hardly advance it. And though these 'ninja' may be your people, not mine, I'm indebted to the Swordmasters at large for bringing down the first Skywall.” She smiled, when they turned to look at her. “Besides, I am a Knight. What kind of knight allows even the foolish to run to their deaths?”

“Ha! Ya got yerselves a keeper, Kii-bou, Aa-chan. Stick with this girl, an' ya might be better off than the rest of us.” Argo pushed away from the bulkhead, and stepped to the hatch. “So. I didn't see any place to land close enough to be safe; the plains outside the forest have got too many big cows. Yer ship gonna be all right anchored here?”

“Safe enough, I think.” Kirito stepped back from the wheel, flexing fingers that had been clenched far too tightly for far too long. “Asuna, if you could anchor us to one of the bigger trees? Then Kizmel and I—and you, too, Argo, if you're feeling friendly—can get the Mistmoon cloth out. The ship won't be cloaked from below, but she'll be hard to see through the trees anyway.”

It had been a long day already. Kirito had a bad feeling that it wasn't going to get any better. He remembered Ariadne's Catacombs from the beta well enough, and hadn't liked the dungeon then. That time, he'd gone in solo, reaching it on foot through the forest, and had gotten himself thoroughly lost on his first visit.

Only after a night of internet research had he realized the gimmick. Blindingly obvious in retrospect; he'd even read the story to Suguha, when she was younger, and kicked himself for forgetting. He'd spent the next week boning up on Classical mythology, just to be safe. He hadn't regretted that research, but it hadn't made the whole thing any more fun.

At least Argo is heading out, he thought, watching the Rat test her own climbing claws by Moondancer's railing. Somehow he wasn't surprised to find she had a set of those, too. I'm a bit worried about her going to a dungeon all by herself, but she can take care of herself. I'm a lot more worried about her sticking around us too long.

“Awright,” Argo announced, giving her claws on last flick. “I'll see ya guys later.” She hopped up on the railing, just under the concealing Mistmoon cloth, and shot a fangy grin over her shoulder. “Ya better be ready to sell me some juicy info next time!”

Without waiting for a reply, she leapt nimbly into the trees below, and vanished from sight.

“There is something strange about that girl,” Kizmel remarked, watching her go. “Though to be sure, every Swordmaster I've yet met has been… unique.”

“Unique. Yeah, that's one way of putting it.” Asuna shook her head, and turned a hard stare on Kirito. “By the way, we're going to talk about your piloting tonight, Kirito-kun. Through a waterfall? And I'm going to need to know exactly what a 'skyrift' is. That nearly killed us.” She huffed in annoyance before he could even try to defend himself. “Tonight. Right now, we're in a hurry to catch up with those idiots, so let's just get this over with.”

“This” needed no explanation, as with an obvious blush she followed him over to the railing. Once he'd secured his grapnel, she stepped in close, wrapped her arms around his back, and allowed him to put his free arm around her waist in turn.

Trying to ignore Kizmel's smirk—seriously, one of the reasons he had trouble remembering the elf was an NPC was her wicked sense of humor—Kirito dropped them both over the side. Someday we'll get used to this, and we won't think anything of it at all. Right?

If their partnership lasted long enough, enough. Asuna was learning fast, and who knew how the Elf War quest would turn out once they reached the “normal” beginning on Sandoria. Kirito was trying very, very hard not to think about what would happen then.

Nothing lasts forever. Right now, I'll just be glad things have gone this well. …I won't let things turn out the way they did six years ago, anyway.

In moments, their feet were on the ground, and Asuna was stepping away to survey the area. Even as Kirito reeled himself back up to the deck, she drew her rapier and started a careful search around the tower's entrance. She didn't even snark at him, the way she had the first time they'd used the technique. Admittedly, it probably helped that he wasn't leaving her alone in a dark cavern, this time.

Kizmel, as he'd expected, didn't hesitate to grab onto him the moment he was in reach again. If anything, she was less restrained than the last time, which honestly puzzled him. Not that he'd exactly socialized with Dark Elves, during the beta test—he'd had no idea at the time that any of SAO's NPCs were Turing-class—but he'd definitely gotten the impression they were a reserved people, like most fantasy elves.

Kizmel wasn't reserved. Not with him and Asuna, anyway.

Maybe I just don't get people in general. Not like I understand Asuna much better, after all. “Unique”… yeah, you said it, Kizmel.

Then they were all together on solid ground, and he was able to put thoughts of social situations out of his head again. They were in a tiny clearing now, so small that Kirito didn't think any airship could've landed. There was barely enough room for the three of them, plus the weathered stone tower.

“Well,” Kizmel said, kneeling to look at the short path leading to the tower's entrance, “I can see that the Fuuma did indeed go into the dungeon. Not that there was much doubt, I suppose, but the possibility did exist they were trying to throw us off.”

“I kinda wish that was what they were up to.” Asuna walked over to the yawning gap in the tower's base, which opened into a steep staircase. “Kirito-kun? Does this place have the gimmick I think it does?”

“'Fraid so.” At Kizmel's curious, perked-ear glance, Kirito waved a hand. “You'll see in a minute, Kizmel. We'd better get started, if we want to catch those guys—and get out again before dark.”

The Knight blinked, eyes flicking up in a way that suggested she was checking the time. “The dungeon is a maze, then?”

“Oh, you don't know the half of it.” He sighed, drew his Anneal Blade, and led the way into the tower. “Worse, I don't think the Fuuma do, either. They should, they were in the beta test, but they really weren't that good at anything except looking like ninja….”

Ariadne's Catacombs. Asuna's education had been more than thorough enough to cover Classical Mythology, and with the Second Island's population of minotaurs, it wasn't hard to guess what the dungeon's theme had to be. That was pretty much confirmed by what they found at the bottom of the stairs, after a stairway lit only by strange, red torches.

A four-way hall awaited them, and right by the foot of the stairs was a large spool of thread. More ominously, the walls were lined every couple of meters with shelves, occupied by stone boxes of a suspicious shape. Well, these are called Catacombs. …There'd better not be any ghosts here.

“Yep, they don't know what they're getting into,” Kirito said, picking up the spool with a sigh. “They're not far ahead of us, not nearly enough for this to have respawned.” He clipped the spool onto his grapnel, then tied the loose end around the base of one of the torches.

That was pretty much what Asuna had expected. Kizmel, though, watched their companion's actions with obvious curiosity. “That thread… I take it the idea is to keep track of our progress with it?”

“That's it,” he confirmed with a nod, and set off down the hall, spool unwinding in his wake. “See, the trick to this dungeon is that your map doesn't work without using the thread. That'd be enough to get players lost really easy as it is—trust me, I know. If the rumors are true, that's not even the worst.”

“I'm afraid to ask,” Asuna said. While Kirito led the way, she and Kizmel hung back and checked the side corridors as they went by. No way would a dungeon called “Ariadne's Catacombs” not have monsters, after all. “But I will anyway. What's worse?”

“Well, like I said, it's only a rumor, but… some players claimed the dungeon actually rearranged its own layout if you didn't use the thread.” He shrugged. “I don't know how that would even work, this isn't an instanced map, but I'm starting to realize a lot about SAO doesn't really make sense anyway.”

“'Instanced map'?” Kizmel asked, before Asuna could.

“Um.” For once, Kirito looked lost for words about something that wasn't social or about his weird past. It was only after they reached another intersection, and he turned left after a moment's careful inspection, that he spoke again. “…Think of it this way: an instanced map is a location separate from the world the players as a whole are in. Like a separate little dimension for every player that goes to a particular area. There aren't any of those for the first two islands—as far as I know—but we should be running into them on Sandoria.”

Great. Another thing I'm finding out about late. Why can I never find the time to squeeze a glossary out of him?

Scuffling distracted Asuna from thoughts of grilling her companion, and she spun just in time to dodge an axe that otherwise would've caught her in the back of the head. On pure reflex, she drove a Linear right into the offender's kidney, and had the satisfaction of hearing a mooing grunt of pain in response.

Then she, Kirito, and Kizmel were very busy for a couple minutes, as two more Minotaurs followed the first out of the side passage. One of them had another axe, the other a mace, and there was not nearly enough space to maneuver around them.

On the bright side, dodging, stabbing, and occasionally slashing distracted her nicely from the fact that none of this batch had shirts, either.

Three on three was at least a reasonable match-up, especially when the pale red cursors made it plain the Minotaurs were a bit below their party's levels. Asuna took a rough hit to the side that shoved her into the wall, but Kizmel retaliated swiftly with a Reaver that took the Minotaur's bull-head right off its too-manly torso. She returned the favor when the elf's opponent tried to smash her skull with its mace, thrusting another Linear into its throat.

For a brief moment, after Kirito cut down the last with the back-and-forth of a Horizontal Arc across the chest, Asuna thought they could relax. Which, of course, was when another trio charged at them from deeper in the dungeon.

Once they really were all gone, Asuna took a second to pull out and down a potion. Ten percent off her HP wasn't that bad… yet. If she didn't keep on top of it—well. She had no intention of finding out firsthand if Kayaba had indeed been telling the truth about the death penalty.

This had really better be the last thing we do before we hit town, though. I'm running low on potions as it is.

When she—and her companions, she noticed belatedly—had finished drinking, she cast a baleful look down the hall. “Great. Are there always this many mobs at once in here, Kirito-kun?”

“Not usually,” Kirito replied, advancing cautiously again. “Which means I think we're probably on the right track. To find the Fuuma, I mean, not necessarily the core of the dungeon. Which is probably just as well, we didn't have a chance to get any quests going before we left town, so we can just focus on figuring out what those two are up to….”

“Indeed.” Kizmel cleared her throat, and favored them both with a smile when they turned to look at her. “Since all we're doing for now is searching, and we're clearly more than a match for the monsters in this place—perhaps this would be a good time for me to begin teaching you my language?”

That, if nothing else, sounded like a great way to keep at bay the oppressive atmosphere that the Catacombs' stone walls seemed to ooze. As the three of them wandered deeper into the dungeon, Asuna listened with rapt attention to the elven Knight's words.

Language, fortunately, had always come fairly easily to her. It would take a lot more than one day's trip through a dungeon to begin getting a handle on Sindarin, but she clung to every word, filing as much into her memory as she could. Between, of course, pauses at each intersection to discuss which path to take, and occasionally fighting off more Minotaurs.

Somewhat to Asuna's surprise, Kirito seemed to pick it up as quickly as she did. Though she quickly realized she should've expected it; while his English was definitely rough, he had clearly known some of the elvish language beforehand. And “otaku” most definitely didn't mean “dumb”. If SAO is the kind of game Kirito-kun likes to play, he must study a lot just for his gaming. …Huh. Is this what it's like to study for fun, instead of obligation?

Honestly, Asuna found that she didn't really mind when it became clear the Catacombs were far bigger than she'd expected. The impromptu language lesson, and the insight she was getting into her companions, made it surprisingly fun.

An hour into their exploration of the dungeon, she was genuinely just a bit angry, as much as startled, when the screaming started. Somewhere deeper still in the dungeon, but getting closer by the moment.

“Fuuma?” she wondered aloud, when her heartbeat—and the phantom sensations in the other side of her chest—had slowed down.

“Probably,” Kirito agreed, shaking his head. “We'd better go save them,” he added, breaking into a trot down the hall.

“And then interrogate them,” Kizmel concurred grimly, ears twitching in what Asuna was beginning to recognize as annoyance—or maybe outright anger. “I want to know exactly what kind of deal Swordmasters might have made with the Forest.”

Kirito had heard from Argo just how many beta testers had died since the retail version of Sword Art Online had gone live. All too many of them, as the axeman Agil had pointed out in that first pre-boss meeting, had fallen from assuming their beta knowledge was still valid.

As he led his little team into the very heart of Ariadne's Catacombs, toward the increasingly-loud screaming, he couldn't help but shake his head. If this goes bad, this'll be the first time beta testers died to something that is the same as the beta. I knew the Fuumaningun were idiots, but come on!

Even with the map he'd been able to put together along the way, it was hard to say exactly where they were. He estimated, though, that they really were near the center now. Which meant, if he remembered right, they were just about to run right into—

“Aaaiiieeee!!!”

Just as the three of them reached a widening in the hall, two figures in gray burst into view, running as fast as their legs could carry them. Which was really, really fast. Kirito barely even had time to blink before the two Fuuma were not just right on top of his group, but past and running away. “What the—?”

“Hey!” Asuna shouted angrily, turning to follow them. “Get back here! What do you think you—?!”

“No time!” Kizmel snapped, even as pounding footsteps approached, growing louder by the second. “It's coming! Defend yourselves!”

Emerging from the darkness ahead, the figure was at least twice the size of the Minotaurs they'd faced before. It still had the distinctive backward knees, hooves, and bull-head, along with the biggest axe Kirito had seen short of Illfang itself. It was also snorting fire, which he hoped was just for effect.

Great, he thought, staring at the [Grand Minotaur]. They aggroed a mini-boss. And kited it right at us.

“That's not good,” Asuna said faintly. “Is this the part where we start running, too?”

“No time!” Kizmel repeated, raising her shield. “It's much too fast—”

When she started speaking, the Grand Minotaur was a good ten meters away. By the time she finished, it had launched into a lunging Sword Skill, crossing those meters in an eyeblink. Its axe came down, right at Asuna's head; only Kizmel's lightning-quick sidestep saved the fencer, her shield narrowly catching the first blow. It knocked to her knees, though, and the second, sweeping strike of the Bone Crush sent her sprawling.

The elf girl's tumble took Asuna down with her, and Kirito saw red.

A twitch of his wrist dropped the spool of thread from his grapnel. At the same time, the Anneal Blade swung up over his shoulder, and with a wordless yell he launched himself into a Sonic Leap. Fast as the Grand Minotaur was, at that range the skill carried Kirito at it before it could react; his blade came down a bare instant after he took off, carving a deep, red gash from left shoulder to right hip.

Post-motion gripped him on landing, almost too long. The Grand Minotaur's axe came down again, in the simple but all-too-fast Pursuit. Only the blazing line of a Linear, catching the boss in the arm, saved him from a survivable but punishing hit.

“Switch, Asuna!”

As quickly as she'd lunged in, Asuna jumped back out, leaving Kizmel room to deliver a Reaver across the Grand Minotaur's stomach. It roared in response, and surprised Kirito by ramming its free hand down in a brutal punch. Though she caught it on her shield, it sent her skidding back, boots raising a spray of sparks on the stone floor.

Hand-to-hand? It didn't do that in the beta. In the second the boss was the one caught in post-motion, Kirito risked a glance above its head. Two lifebars, light red cursor—okay, new tricks or not, we can do this. I think.

Then he was charging back in, bringing the Anneal Blade down by his left hip. “Switch, Kizmel!” She hopped to the side in response, allowing him in to drag an Uppercut in a reverse of his earlier Sonic Leap.

The fractional post-motion from that gave him a personal taste of the boss' changed tactics. He couldn't quite stifle a yelp when its empty hand suddenly swung in, grabbed his shirt, and used the grip to slam him into the wall.

As his back smashed into one of the stone caskets lining the wall and cracked it, Kirito saw white, the impact hitting him with a brief Stun. For a couple of seconds he mostly lost track of what was going on. He did hear two yells of outrage, though, and his senses were further abused by a loud crack that echoed against the Catacomb walls.

When the world was in full view—and proper focus—again, he saw Kizmel stepping in to stab the Grand Minotaur in a place that made him wince. Asuna was just then falling back, one barrel of her pistol smoking; a brief pause to holster it, and she was lunging into the opening the elf girl had made to drive the quick double-thrust of a Parallel Sting into the bull-man's chest.

Kirito promptly threw himself back into the fray with another Sonic Leap, going right over Asuna's head to slash the Grand Minotaur right between the horns. That, at least, staggered it long enough for him to both land and recover.

The quarters were closer than he'd have liked—he was pretty sure the mini-boss was supposed to be encountered in a much wider room—but the advantage was overall to the players and the Knight. Over the next few minutes, they whittled it down bit by bit, and if Asuna seemed to be getting angrier by the moment, the three of them nonetheless took fewer and fewer hits as they adjusted to its attack patterns.

At least, until the Grand Minotaur's HP was deep in the red. With just a few percent remaining, it let out an enraged roar, and flung its axe at them. Asuna ducked under it, Kirito and Kizmel jumped—and in that moment of distraction, it seized swordsman and elf in either hand, and slammed them together.

Woozily, dropping hard to the floor, Kirito was glad SAO didn't simulate pain. He was pretty sure cracking his skull together with Kizmel's would've hurt a lot.

“Enough!” he heard Asuna snarl. Caught in a Tumble, he could at least move his head—mostly—and looked up in time to see the fencer thrust one more brutal Linear into the boss' chest. It staggered back, uttering a sound somewhere between a moo and a human's cry of pain, and she yanked her pistol out again. “I said—you're—sexual—harassment!”

Darting in close, she put the pistol to the Grand Minotaur's chin, and in the same motion pulled the trigger.

Positively seething, Asuna watched the Grand Minotaur shatter to pieces with grim satisfaction. Shoving her pistol back into her belt—making a note to look for a proper holster and more ammunition as soon as they got back to town, she turned to her companions. “You two okay?”

“Nothing a potion or two cannot cure,” Kizmel said, rising to her feet with a wince. “…It truly is surprising how unpleasant battle can be, even without pain.”

“I've had worse,” Kirito groaned. Rolling over, he sheathed his Anneal Blade and slowly pushed himself up. “But hey, we just killed a mini-boss with no prep. I'd call that a win…. You got the Last Attack, Asuna. Anything good?”

Blinking, only then did Asuna think to look at the pop-up that had accompanied the bull-man's death. “Hm… decent EXP, some Cor—that's good, I need some supplies when we get back to Urbus—and… oh, that looks useful. It dropped some armor as a bonus. 'Mighty Straps of Leather'….”

“Um. Asuna, that's—”

“At least we got something good out of this,” she groused, bringing up her inventory. “After that stupid airship chase, those idiots had to sick a minotaur on us?”

“Asuna, you should perhaps check that before you make any rash decisions….”

“That's what I'm doing,” she told Kizmel absently, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. She wasn't that much of a noob anymore. “And… yes, the stats are better than what I've got.” Smiling tightly, she switched to her Equipment tab. “I am so going to rub this in their faces, when we finally catch them!”

A final jab of her finger, like the Linear she so wanted to inflict on the Fuuma, and she replaced her tunic with the armor the Grand Minotaur had had the good grace to drop—as an apology, as far as she was concerned.

“Asuna—urk!”

“What?” Asuna demanded, looking up from her menu. Kirito was staring at her, open-mouthed, eyes wide. After his brief outburst, he couldn't seem to get any other words out, and he was starting to blush. “Okay, Kirito-kun, what's gotten into you all of a sudden?”

“In his defense, Asuna, I think he can hardly be blamed for being tongue-tied.” Kizmel was covering her mouth with one hand, yet from the twinkle in her eyes, Asuna thought the elf girl was smiling. “I must say, it does suit you, but I never imagined you might be so bold.”

“Bold?” Asuna looked from speechless swordsman to amused Dark Elf, and frowned in utter consternation. “What are you… talking… about…?”

Wait. Was it always this cold down here? Suddenly it feels really drafty….

Eyes widening, Asuna looked down. Instantly, her own face flared red, SAO's systems exaggerating it to the point she could see the glow herself. She couldn't help it, when she realized that apart from her cloak, all that covered her upper body was a pair of leather straps.

They covered the essentials. Barely. She was still showing off her entire stomach and a truly indecent proportion of her breasts. In full view of Kirito, who clearly couldn't look away and whose face looked about ready to burst into flames.

“Eep!”

Hurriedly, Asuna turned away, painfully aware that the motion swished her cloak enough to show her basically bare back in the process. Bringing her menu back up, she stumbled through switching back to her old armor, fumbling it so badly she almost accidentally unequipped the “Mighty Straps” instead of replacing them.

“Um, Asuna,” Kirito got out. “I—that wasn't—I didn't mean to—”

“I know you didn't!” she snapped. “But still—here!” She materialized the armor as an object, spun to face him again, and flung the leather straps at him. “You take it!”

Maybe he was too flustered to think straight. Maybe he was just carried away by her own forcefulness. Either way, Kirito caught the “armor”, and dutifully fumbled through his own menu. First accepting the equipment into his inventory, then tabbing over to switch.

Only when Kizmel lowered her hand to reveal a full-on grin did Asuna realize she might just have made another mistake. The elf kept her own counsel, though, and then it was too late anyway.

Kirito's shirt disappeared, replaced by those all-too-thin straps. He was still wearing his longcoat, of course, but all of a sudden Asuna didn't even really see that anymore.

Uh…. I thought he said he was just a gamer…? And why was her heart going so funny? Not to mention the phantom “extra” feeling was back….

“Well, well,” Kizmel murmured. Out of the corner of her eye, Asuna dimly registered the grin still curling the elf girl's lips, long ears perked. “I see all your practice of late, and real battles, have been good for you, Kirito.”

That was one way of putting it. Though Kirito wouldn't be winning any competitions, Asuna couldn't but notice a lot more definition in his abs and pectorals than she'd expected, from what little he'd said about himself. She couldn't help but wonder about his biceps, too, hidden as they were by his coat….

Face just short of igniting, Kirito quickly glanced down at himself. “What are you talking about—huh?” Now he staring, though Asuna barely noticed. “Okay, I was never a twig, but this isn't…. Does the retail version have a system that modifies avatars based on player stats….?”

“It would seem so.” Kizmel was unabashedly watching, and not at all tongue-tied as Asuna was. “I can tell you Asuna has visibly strengthened since first we met, just as you have.” She chuckled. “A month or so, perhaps, and you might not have any trouble attracting allies, Kirito.”

Something about that bothered Asuna, enough to snap her out of her daze. “W-whatever! Kirito-kun, put your shirt back on! And give that to Kizmel! We can trust her to hold onto it safely until we find a merchant to sell it to!”

Hastily, Kirito obeyed, and within moments he was properly decent again. So-called armor returned to a harmless state, he handed it off to the Knight, who—after a moment's fumbling with her still-unfamiliar menu—safely tucked it away.

“And you!” Asuna said, rounding on the elf. “Don't make things worse! What would you even care about a human's muscles, anyway?”

Kizmel quirked one eyebrow, grin turning to an amused smile. “Why should I not? Simply because we're of different races?” She glanced at the still-flustered swordsman. “Kirito. Would you like to see me wearing the armor?”

Kirito's face somehow flared even brighter, and he choked. “I—um—wha—that's—well—I—!”

The elf girl nodded, and looked back at Asuna with a smirk. “There, you see?” At the look on the fencer's face, Kizmel chuckled. “Asuna, has it not occurred to you that to my people, humans are just as… exotic… as Dark Elves are to you?”

Asuna stared, unable to think of any retort.

Kizmel chuckled again, and turned to look down the hall from which the late Grand Minotaur had emerged. “Come, my comrades. The Fuuma are doubtless long gone, but we may as well see what they hoped to find here. I'd not have this adventure be for nothing.”

After a long, speechless pause, Asuna shook herself, and broke into a trot to catch up. Behind her, she could hear Kirito doing the same. What just happened? The last couple of minutes felt so unreal, she wasn't quite sure they'd even happened. Except she couldn't quite get the image out of her mind, no matter how hard she tried.

Just… think about the technical part, she told herself, resolutely refusing to look back. The system is changing avatars now? At least the overweight players should like that. I know I saw a couple on launch day. And… wait. Wait a second.

“Kizmel? How do you know what Kirito's muscles were like a month ago?”

Looking back over her shoulder, as Kirito made a choking sound behind them, Kizmel only laughed.

Chapter Text

Chapter VII: “A Lie of Omission”

December 8th, 2032

It's been four days now, since the Swordmasters killed Illfang. Since their fake “knight” was brought here. What are we waiting for?

Sitting on the grass, leaning against the Osmanthus tree, Alice tried not to think those thoughts. She was here, in the Cloudtop Garden, to relax. To let go of tension, to prepare herself for when orders finally did come to her. Not to brood, and certainly not to second-guess the Highest Administrator's decisions.

Even so, it was difficult. In the light streaming in from the windows set high in the walls, her sword resting with the tree from which it had been forged, Alice was usually comforted by Centoria Cathedral's garden. It was where she'd descended, when the Axiom Church's Pontifex had called her from on high, and remained as close to “home” as she ever felt. Yet today, all she could think about was the invasion, and how little had been done about it.

The Swordmasters seemed little threat, on the surface. Two thousand of them had died already, on the First Island. It had taken them a month to even assail one Barrier Guardian, and the word was that it had taken them a day after that to make for the Second Island. Doubtless they were still fumbling around Niian's coast at best—and Niian possessed dangers Einsla had not. At that rate, the Swordmasters would all be dead long before they came anywhere near the core of the Aincrad Archipelago.

But Uncle Bercouli is right. They killed Illfang with no deaths, and fewer fighters than Kayaba had estimated would be needed. And that man….

“Is something wrong, Alice?”

Alice closed her eyes for a moment, stifling a sigh. She was sure he meant well, at least. “I'm simply feeling a little restless, Sir Eugeo,” she said, opening her eyes and looking up at the newcomer. “The current situation is unusual, after all. I'm sure Her Excellency has everything under control, however.”

“Things have been unsettled since the Swordmasters were summoned,” Eugeo agreed, walking over to lean against the tree. Unlike her the blonde Integrity Knight wore no armor, just his blue coat, the picture of unconcern. “I was called more recently than you, but from what I understand the Human Empire hasn't faced a threat like this in centuries. It's only natural to wonder what they're doing.”

“Indeed.” She hesitated. Eugeo was hardly her preferred company, but it was true that he saw the Pontifex more often than most Integrity Knights. Perhaps he had heard something she hadn't. “Have you any word about the Swordmaster I captured?”

He lifted his hands in a shrug, shaking his head. “Her Excellency's been occupied with him since you returned. Questioning him, I'd guess. Or maybe… no, never mind.” Eugeo turned his gaze to the Garden's small stream, and the fish darting through it. “As far as I know, she hasn't come out since. The Commander did say he thinks she's waiting until she knows more before acting against the Swordmasters again.”

“Ah. That makes sense.”

It was oddly reassuring sometimes, to know that even the Highest Administrator needed to think before she acted. If nothing else, it made Alice's own mistakes easier to bear, knowing her master didn't expect perfection.

Which doesn't make the waiting any easier. Kayaba, our old foes in the elven races, even the machinations of Vector… there are too many plots in the darkness these days. That man—Kirito—was probably just one more. His question meant nothing.

…Though his blade may be something else. He did strike down Illfang, in the end.

Perhaps she was silent too long. Eugeo turned to look down at her again, brow furrowing in a frown. “Alice, are you sure there's nothing else…?”

Alice was spared the need to answer—or prevaricate—by another voice cutting in. “Ah, there you are, young lady!” Stepping out of the door at the Garden's far end, hands tucked into his robe's sleeves, Bercouli grinned at her. “Alice, you've been far too tense lately. It's time to fix that.”

She pushed herself to her feet at once. “Are there orders, Uncle?” Just barely, she kept herself from adding “finally”.

From the twinkle in his eye, Bercouli heard it anyway. “That there are, little one. Get your sword and come with me. Her Excellency isn't finished with Diavel, but she's heard enough to want to test the waters.”

Trying not to look too eager, Alice pulled her Osmanthus Blade free of the tree. Before sheathing it, she ran one armored hand over the blade, and nodded to herself in satisfaction. Not that she'd expected differently, but it was still reassuring to feel her sword restored to its full strength. “Where are we going, Uncle?”

“And will you be needing me, as well, Commander?” Eugeo put in, stepping away from the tree.

Bercouli waved a hand. “Her Excellency still wants the rest of us on standby for now,” he said, shaking his head. “At least until we know for sure just what Diavel was able to do with that World Gate. Kayaba's magic… well. There's still too much we don't know, and the last thing we need is to find out the Swordmasters can somehow waltz right into the Cathedral.”

Alice winced. That was an ugly thought. Unlikely in the extreme, but then just a few days ago she wouldn't have thought the Swordmasters could have even killed Illfang, much less that Diavel had the means—or knowledge—to do what they already knew he had.

“I see,” Eugeo said, inclining his head respectfully. “Then I'll see to it that nothing happens here while Alice is gone.”

“You do that.” Bercouli turned away, leading Alice toward the stairs leading higher into the Cathedral. “Come, young lady, let's burn off some of that nervous energy. You've been more restless than Amayori since you brought Diavel here, and don't think I haven't noticed….”

Alice would have expected to be led down to the Dragon Landing Field, on the Cathedral's thirtieth floor. Instead Bercouli took her up, clear to the Morning Star Lookout, only five floors below the Pontifex's own chambers. “Uncle?” she asked, when they stepped out into the Lookout's mostly-open space. “What are we doing?”

“Testing the waters, young lady. Testing the Swordmasters, and testing Kayaba. One thing Her Excellency and I have both noticed: he never lied to us.” He laughed at the look on her face. “Well, he didn't! He warned us someone was planning to invoke the Swordmaster summoning, and that all the races of elves were involved. It's not his fault we didn't think to ask if he was the one setting it all off.”

“Well, that's still—” She broke off, frowning. “It's still a lie of omission, Uncle.”

“True enough, Alice. But every word actually spoken was true, and Her Excellency wants to see just how far that goes.” Chuckling ruefully, Bercouli led her toward the eastern edge of the Lookout, and what hung there just beyond Centoria Cathedral's outer wall.

Long, and lean. Built of strong timbers, painted a bright white, with what Alice thought were the broadest wing-sails she'd ever seen tucked in close. One great engine—a “thruster”, she thought, not the propellers she'd seen on most ships—was built into the stern, just behind a low, sleek pilothouse. About fifty meters long, bristling with hatches over gunports, the airship was bigger and better armed than the Swordmasters' Liberator.

The ship also made Alice very uneasy. Integrity Knights preferred to travel by dragon, and she was no exception. Worse, this one had been a “gift” from Kayaba himself, built of mechanisms and for purposes that only heightened her tension.

“I know,” Bercouli said quietly, reaching down to squeeze her shoulder. “I don't trust Kayaba either, and the idea of a disposable 'boss' ship doesn't do wonders for my nerves. And naming it Icarus' Lament? I don't know the story behind that, but it certainly doesn't sound good. But.” He turned to face her directly. “We have to know, Alice. And Her Excellency believes you're the right Knight for the job.”

Alice took a long, slow breath. The vote of confidence was certainly flattering, given that she was one of the newest Integrity Knights. It was also a level of responsibility for which she wasn't certain she was ready, and all the objections Bercouli cited were ones she'd already thought of herself.

But I am a Knight, and I will do my duty.

Squaring her shoulders, Alice nodded. “Of course, Uncle. But… will I be enough, all alone? That ship—Swordmasters would call her a 'heavy cruiser', I think. Surely such a large airship needs a large crew.”

“According to Kayaba, not so much. Call it spells, call it programming… bah.” Bercouli scratched the back of his head. “I've never had a head for magic or machinery. But supposedly, this thing is set up to run itself. Point her in the right direction, the 'Cardinal System' will handle the rest. Sorry to say, though, you'll have to leave Amayori behind for this mission. Icarus' Lament can push through the Skywalls, but it drains the core enough you can't go through too many too soon. Or so Kayaba said, anyway. So you'll have to take the long way.”

She sighed. “I was afraid of that.” If she couldn't go straight through the Skywalls, she'd need to take the Air Gates. As infrequent as those were, it was going to take days to get from Centoria all the way to Niian. Days without her dragon, and apparently without even other Integrity Knights for company. “…Do I at least get to bring books?”

He grinned, and clapped her on the shoulder. “Don't you worry, little one. Everything you need for the trip is already aboard.” Sobering, he released her and stepped back. “On your way, Alice. We'll send another Knight to pick you up when the time comes. Keep in touch, and you'll be fine.”

“…Understood.” Taking a deep breath, Alice walked up Icarus' Lament's boarding plank. Stopping at the top, she turned, and brought her fist to her chest in salute. “I'll be going then, Commander. I will return victorious.”

Bercouli Synthesis One, Commander of the Integrity Knights, returned the salute. Then he was turning away, walking back to the stairs leading deeper into the Cathedral, and she was heading for the airship's pilothouse. They each had their duties.

I don't know what “victory” will even mean, on this mission, Alice thought, settling into the sole chair in the pilothouse. If this ship runs herself, all I am is an observer. But I will observe everything. A short inspection of the control console's surprisingly simple layout, and she found the button to activate Lament's “autopilot”. Are the Swordmasters truly a threat?

Engines set in vents along Lament's bow—“balancers”, if Alice remembered her airship terminology correctly—lit up, turning the ship away from Centoria Cathedral. Then the main engine came to life with a roar, strangely muted by the pilothouse's bulkheads, and Lament began her journey. Cruising out over the city of Centoria, above so many of the people—or facsimiles thereof—Alice was sworn to protect, the ship aimed for the Central Island's Air Gate.

One thing I'm sure of, she thought, even as Lament's wing-sails unfurled, boosting the ship further. However far the Swordmasters may have reached, that man will be on the frontline. Ahead, the great, slowly-spinning ring yawned open, revealing an unnerving void. He alone stood there, knowing what I was, and dared to challenge me.

Kirito… this time, I'll have answers from you, by my own hand.

Icarus' Lament slipped into the Air Gate, and the world disappeared in a kaleidoscope of light.

“Well,” Asuna said, sighing, “I'm not having any luck here. What about you guys?” She flipped through a few more pages of the musty book in her hand, before dropping it on the battered desk in disgust. “All I'm finding here is logistics. I'm sure how much flour the kitchens used in a day was important a couple hundred years ago, but it's pretty useless to us.”

“Rations for dragonhorses,” Kizmel said, setting another tome back on a shelf. “I'd forgotten the Crimson Knights even had Dragonhorse Cavalry. The Axiom Church rounded up the beasts even as they humbled the Order. I doubt you'd see any farther out than the Seventieth Island, now.”

“Explains why I never heard of them at all,” Kirito said absently, poking at a strongbox in one corner. “I knew about the Knights, but just old stories. I guess that side of them didn't do much heroic.”

“And still no sign of what the Fuuma—or the Forest Elves—wanted with this place.” Asuna walked over to the north window, carefully stepping around the gaping hole in the floor, and leaned against the sill. “I hate to say it, but we might have to go into the catacombs after all.”

Three days after arriving on Niian, the three of them were investigating the Crimson Knights' Citadel, searching for clues. As far as even Argo the Rat knew, the place had nothing to do with the quest leading to the reclusive martial artist Master Ganryu. Kizmel had no idea what the Forest Elves might hope to gain from it. That made all of them quite nervous.

Argo had checked the place the day they'd arrived, only to find it harder to navigate than she'd remembered. The most she'd been able to do was scour the outbuildings and the lower floors of the main castle. The tower had been beyond her equipment, and the catacombs dark and complicated enough for her to have been unwilling to risk it solo.

The latter had been enough to make Moondancer's crew more than a little uneasy, leading them to take a day and a half to do ordinary quests around Urbus to prepare. None of them were willing to take chances.

Now, finally, with the assistance of Kirito's grapnel, they were at the top of the Citadel's tower. One big room, with a big hole in the floor where a spiral stairwell should've been, a couple of desks, and two beds under the east and west windows. Bookcases lined most of the walls; Asuna wasn't really surprised, in light of what had supposedly conquered the place, that many of the books were burnt and falling apart.

And none of the ones that survived, as far as any of them could tell, were at all useful. Well, one of them had turned out to be the key item in a quest given by a historian in Urbus, which Asuna supposed was something, but not nearly enough.

Not after how things went down in Ariadne's Catacombs the other day, she thought sourly. Forget the Fuumaningun accidentally kiting a mini-boss at them. Forget even the tremendous embarrassment with the so-called “armor” afterward. All of that was annoying, and enough to make her want to toss the Fuuma off a cliff.

What really got to her was that, according to what Argo had sniffed out the following day, the Fuuma had snuck back in after. Before the Grand Minotaur the three of them had taken down at no small effort could respawn. And snagged the item they were after anyway.

Asuna did not like being used. At all.

“Something I probably should've asked before, Kirito-kun,” she said, looking out over Niian's plains. “How is treasure handled on public maps? And key items, for that matter? Are they one-time things, where the first player to find them is the only who gets them? That doesn't sound very fair to me, but I don't really know this stuff….”

“No, it's not that crazy. At least it wasn't as far as anyone got in the beta.” There was a clank, a choice word in Sindarin, and then scuffling noises; Kirito searching for a key, Asuna thought. “Though supposedly Kayaba was pushing for at least a few, word is the devs had a couple of big fights about that…. Anyway. It varies depending on item rarity, but treasure chests and key items are supposed to respawn after a set period of time—somewhere around a day at most, I think.”

“Strange, but fair enough, for something intended as a game,” Kizmel remarked, brushing off another charred book. Her nose wrinkled at the artificially-regular but still obviously unpleasant cloud of dust. “And I suppose, in the conditions Kayaba truly intended, it gives a fair chance for those he trapped, as well.”

“That's the idea, yeah. Of course, they don't always give the same treasure when they respawn; I know Argo made a fair bit of Cor in the beta from people wanting to predict the drop rotation… ah, here we go.” More scuffling, then a click, followed by a groan of rusty hinges. “Key items respawn at weird times, some of them, but those are at least always the same thing—or part of the same thing, if there's a set.”

Asuna turned away from the window, where she'd been briefly grabbed by the sight of the Skyfalls glittering in the midday light. “So? What've you got?”

“…I'm not sure.” She couldn't see his face, as he rummaged in the strongbox, but she could hear the frown in his voice. “Some old papers—not even charred, I guess the box is dragonfire-proof—and… another box?” He grunted, fumbling briefly, and there was a quieter click. “Huh. A ring? Hey, Kizmel, is this what I think it is?”

Kirito held up a silver ring, and Kizmel turned away from her fruitless shelf search to take a look. With only a glance, the elf girl's eyebrows went up, long ears perking with interest. “Crossed horn and scimitar… yes, Kirito. This is a sigil ring of Lyusula. But why would such a thing be here…?” Frowning, she squeezed in next to him, diving into the strongbox herself.

Asuna supposed she couldn't blame Kirito for the faint blush on his face. Kizmel's seeming lack of regard for personal space took her aback sometimes, and she wasn't a teenage guy. At least she's wearing full armor this time.

A moment later, the Knight emerged, holding up a piece of parchment. From clear across the room, Asuna couldn't tell what it said; walking over for a closer look turned out not to help, either. She was only a beginner in her Sindarin studies, and all she yet knew of the script was the little she needed to handle her post on Moondancer.

Kizmel clearly understood it well enough, though, her violet eyes rapidly scanning it. “Hm…. Very interesting. It appears the Crimson Knights invoked the Last Alliance, when the Axiom Church moved against them. According to this, Lyusula was unwilling to take the chance of direct involvement, but did offer them what aid they could.”

The Last Alliance. Asuna remembered Kizmel herself invoking that, the night they'd met. She also remembered it from The Lord of the Rings, and found herself wondering if the reference was deliberate on Kayaba's part. “What kind of aid?” she said aloud.

“That, this message does not specify, save that two Sigil Rings of Lyusula were sent as part of the arrangement. As keys of some kind, apparently.” With a few hesitant gestures, Kizmel brought up her menu, then tucked the parchment into her inventory. Bending down again, she pulled out another piece of paper. Blinked at it. Handed it off to Kirito, along with a rueful smile. “This is more your area than mine. Your phonetic script, I can read well enough; your 'kanji', I grasp perhaps as well as Asuna does written Sindarin.”

Kirito frowned down at the parchment. “…This is old,” he said after a moment. “Give me a minute; they don't even teach some of these in school anymore. Good thing I've played some Bakumatsu games, or I'd never figure this out….”

Let's hear it for otaku, Asuna thought wryly. Her awkward companion's schoolwork might've needed work, but it was genuinely impressive what kind of odd trivia he knew from his hobbies. Though the talk of languages reminded her of something else that had been puzzling her. “Hey, Kizmel? I know where Kayaba might've gotten the name 'Sindarin', but what does it mean for you? I mean, I've heard of the Dark Elves and the Forest Elves, but….”

“Ah.” Kizmel nodded, moving to sit on the east bed while Kirito puzzled over the paper. “That, Asuna, is ancient history, even by the standards of the elves. Once, a very, very long time ago, it is said that we were all one people. Before even the Holy Trees as we knew them, and before… well. Things of which I am not yet permitted to speak. Not,” she added with a wry smile, “that you would find many elves of any race willing to admit that now. But the name of the Sindar lives on to this day, in the name of our language, however much it may have diverged into different dialects between us.”

“I see.” It was Asuna's turn to nod, thoughtfully, as she chewed on the explanation. “You sound like quite the historian, Kizmel.”

“It is something of a hobby of mine, I must confess.” The elf girl's smile took on a bitter edge. “Sometimes, knowing more is itself a weapon, in battles where no blade may help.”

Asuna wanted to ask what that was supposed to mean, but she wasn't honestly sure she should. And then Kirito was clearing his throat, breaking the strange tension before she could even try. “The good news,” he announced, “is that I know where the second Sigil is now.”

“And the bad?” Kizmel asked, instantly losing the melancholy air in favor of a resigned one.

“According to this? It's in the catacombs.” Shaking his head, Kirito tucked the parchment away into his own inventory. “And it's guarded by something.”

“Something,” Asuna repeated, already covering her face with one hand. “Does it say what?” Please don't be more Minotaurs, please don't be more Minotaurs….

He shrugged helplessly. “Does 'the Giant Fire-Rat of Niian' mean anything to you?”

An hour of wandering through dark catacombs later, Asuna was wishing with every fiber of her being that Kayaba hadn't been so imaginative. Or at least that he hadn't read as many classics as he obviously had. On the one hand, at least the Citadel's catacombs didn't seem to have any Minotaurs, just a lot of darkness and spiders the size of dinner plates.

On the other, now she knew what Kayaba Akihiko had come up with from Arthur Conan Doyle's offhand reference to a “giant rat of Sumatra”.

Rolling away from claws that dripped with green goo she'd already found out the hard way was poison, Asuna almost slammed into a stone wall before she could recover. Coming back to her feet, she very nearly ended up with a scorched face from a torch instead, and had to use her free hand to shove herself back and away—toward the rat.

The rat which, fortunately, was just then recoiling from having Kizmel's shield slammed into its nose. At least I have good allies! Asuna thought, already turning her rebound into a lunge, rapier glowing bright white. The Linear caught the beast in its red-furred throat, driving it even further back.

“Monsters and traitors,” the Fire-Rat hissed, its voice an appropriately rodent-like chattering. “Come back again, yes? Not again! Won't be trapped again! Not by Men, not by Elves!” Gathering itself, it jumped forward, sharp teeth open wide.

It missed Kizmel's shoulder, jaws snapping shut on air as the elven Knight twisted aside. Its claw swipe, on the other hand, did scrape her flank; though three claws screeched harmlessly on her armor, the fourth nicked her left thigh. Kizmel hissed, the crimson scratch quickly turning a sickly, neon green.

The Fire-Rat clicked its teeth, muzzle twisting in an ugly parody of a grin—which was when Kirito, snarling wordlessly, dropped a Sonic Leap on its left flank, dragging a deep slash clear down through its stomach.

“Get away!” the Fire-Rat snarl-squeaked, spinning to snap its razor-edged tail at him. “Mine! All mine! Get away!”

What, exactly, the Fire-Rat claimed as its own, Asuna wasn't sure. They'd found it in a huge, semi-circular chamber buried deep beneath the Citadel; some kind of arcane lab, she thought, from the benches, tables, flasks, and strange tubes scattered around. There hadn't been time to give anything a closer look, though, because the Giant Fire-Rat of Niian had exploded out of a cell set in the far wall the moment she and her companions had crossed the chamber's threshold.

She was pretty sure the lab would've been spooky enough on its own. Dealing with a poisonous rat that stood the better part of two meters ought to have been the finishing touch.

Said poisonous rat ranting incoherently at them in squeaky but perfectly understandable Japanese? That broke Asuna's spooky meter completely, and made her want to turn around and go home.

But to go home, I have to keep going through, she told herself grimly, dodging around another flurry of claws. She responded with a quick series of basic stabs herself, forcing the Fire-Rat back just before it could sink its teeth into her arm. I'll just have to get used to things like this!

At least there was plenty of room to maneuver. Kizmel had taken a moment to retreat, leaping onto one of the tables while the ring on her right hand glowed. At the same time, Kirito took advantage of the gap Asuna had created, chopping at the Fire-Rat's tail with a Vertical and provoking another squeak of outrage. From the way it whirled on him, that struck a nerve—it was faster, this time, and succeeded in taking a bite out of his left arm before he could recover.

Asuna winced, seeing the distinctive poison icon appear below Kirito's HP bar in her HUD. Even as it did, though, the one marking Kizmel's disappeared in time with a flash from her right hand. “Back off!” the elf girl snapped; snatching up a flask from the table she was standing on, she hurled it in the Fire-Rat's face.

What was in the flask, Asuna couldn't guess. She just knew that when it shattered on the oversized rodent's nose, there was a bright cloud of yellow smoke, a lot of coughing, a squeaked Sindarin expletive, and a noticeable drop in the Fire-Rat's HP.

There was also a perfect opening, as the rodent tried to escape the smoke. Asuna took it, darting in to slice a Streak across the base of its tail. At the same moment, Kirito rushed in from the other side, and the instant her rapier was out of the way his sword came across in a Slant.

The shriek when that razor-edged tail fell away would've hurt, if SAO simulated pain.

The Fire-Rat leapt backwards, out of the smoke, and landed in a crouch by the far wall. “You dare?!?” it snarl-squeaked. “Just like before, you—you…! Not again! This time, you suffer!” Its eyes glowed a brilliant, eerie crimson, and it reared back on its haunches, clawed forepaws raised. “Burn, demons! Burn! Vak Rom!”

Asuna had barely a moment to blink, wondering what the heck the last two words meant, before Kirito slammed into her from the side. “Kirito-kun!” she gasped out, even as they fell together. “What do you think you're—?!”

Fire erupted, a flaming tornado whirling into existence right in front of the Fire-Rat. A small tornado, but in a confined space, deadly. Debris was flung away, a dust cloud that was promptly eaten by fire. The whirlwind of flame rushed across the room, igniting a table along the way, setting off a couple of small explosions from chemical flasks, and burning away ancient parchment.

Asuna and Kirito were rolling away, still riding the momentum of his lunge—and the fire-whirl was following them.

Then Kizmel was there, between them and the fire, shield raised defiantly. “I think not!” she snarled. Flame hit her shield, licking around it to burn her, yet it spent itself before it could take off more than five percent of her HP. “Kirito, Asuna, be ready!”

“Die, monsters!” the Fire-Rat shrieked. “Vak Rom!”

Another fire-whirl, this one seemingly aimed directly at Kizmel. The elf girl gritted her teeth, standing her ground as it raced for her.

In that moment, while the Fire-Rat was distracted, Asuna and Kirito were back on their feet, lunging for the rodent. Kirito went high, launching into another Sonic Leap; Asuna opted to put everything she had into her legs, skirting one edge of the conjured fire. Running in a low crouch, she waited until the last moment to bring her rapier back for one more Linear.

The Fire-Rat seemed to notice them, a split second before steel met fur. Focusing those fiery eyes on them, it opened its mouth one more time. “BiVak—!”

Kirito's blade came down between the giant rat's eyes. Asuna's drove deep into its heart.

Flame guttered out, and with a final, mournful squeak, the Giant Fire-Rat of Niian collapsed into a thousand glittering polygons.

Asuna barely noticed. As soon as she was sure it was dead, she was spinning back, sheathing her rapier, and running. “Kizmel! Are you alright?!”

Sheathing her own sword, Kizmel gave her a smile in response. “A bit charred, but nothing serious,” the Knight assured her. “Though if the two of you had not killed it when you did, I fear we all would've been much worse off. Are you alright?”

A quick check of her gear, then her HP, and Asuna nodded. “Mostly. I should probably drink a potion before we go anywhere else…. Kirito-kun?”

A gulping noise was his first response; she looked back in time to see him downing a poison antidote. “Nothing a basic antidote couldn't cure,” he said a moment later, tossing the empty bottle aside. “Though I should drink a healing potion, too…. Kizmel's right, it could've been worse.” He glanced down at where the Fire-Rat had just been, frowning. “…I didn't expect to run into anything this early that used magic. I thought only the Integrity Knights could do that.”

Yeah. Asuna remembered him talking about that, the first day they'd been in SAO. Before everything went so horribly wrong. She'd almost forgotten, with everything that had happened since; even Alice hadn't used magic, when she'd kidnapped Diavel.

“Most things cannot, this far out in the Archipelago,” Kizmel said, giving the chamber as a whole a wary once-over. “But Fire-Rats…. Well. Part of them is fire. Though Aincrad may be out of reach of the old sources of magic, there are some creatures who never needed them.” Ears twitching, she shook her head. “Few Fire-Rats even came up with the Archipelago. I'd honestly thought them extinct. Why did the Crimson Knights have one here…?”

She trailed, at the same time Kirito suddenly stiffened, face paling. Startled, Asuna turned to look at chamber's east wall—

It was like stepping back into his nightmares. The circle set into the stone wall was empty, showing nothing but more stone in its center, but the glowing lettering along its edge was still enough to make Kirito's head swim. For a second, he could've sworn he could see the whirling clouds from his childhood there.

He didn't even realize he'd started to rush toward the Gate, hyperventilating, until hands suddenly closed on his arms, dragging him back to the present. “Kirito-kun!” Asuna said sharply, right into his left ear. “Get a hold of yourself!”

“This is not six years ago, Kirito,” Kizmel murmured more gently, from the right. “Calm down, please. Whatever it may look like, that is not a World Gate. Breathe.”

That brought him up short, and the world started to come back into focus. I'm having a panic attack, Kirito realized. Wow. That hasn't happened in a while. He forced his breathing to even out, trying to push away the irrational tightness in his chest. I thought I came to grips with this years ago… I guess everything that's happened the last few days dragged it all back up.

Taking a couple of deep, ragged breaths, Kirito turned to look at Kizmel. “…What do you mean, that's not a World Gate?”

Exchanging a quick look with Asuna, the elf girl carefully released his arm. “Well,” she began, stepping toward the mystical circle, “for one thing, the Axiom Church would doubtless have come after it once they became aware that the Einsla Gate had been used. There would be nothing here but rubble. More importantly… I'm hardly fluent in ancient Sindarin. I can nonetheless tell you that the grammar on this gate is atrocious.”

“The grammar.” Though she still kept a tight hold on Kirito's left arm, from the sound of it Asuna couldn't decide whether to facepalm or laugh. “Bad grammar… on a gateway between worlds. Okay, sure, everything else has been crazy lately…. Does that mean this is a fake?”

“Mm… I wouldn't call it a fake, exactly. More an imitation.” Kizmel touched the circle; winced, when it sparked, knocking off a tiny fraction of her HP. “The World Gates date back to the ancient world, long before the Great Separation. I doubt anyone has known exactly how to construct one for thousands of years. Were I to guess?” She traced a finger over the glowing letters, not quite touching them again. “The Crimson Knights were desperate, when the Integrity Knights began to bring them low. I would suspect that they attempted to construct a Gate of their own.”

“Attempted.” Kirito started toward the gate himself, only to pause when he realized his arm was still trapped. Shooting a glance back at Asuna, she blinked, looked down at their linked arms, and with a sudden blush let him go. “Does this thing actually, well, do anything?” Stepping in close to it, he reached out to lightly tap it himself.

When he recoiled from the resulting jolt, he heard Asuna snort behind him. “Besides zap people, you mean?”

Kirito thought about trying to point out he was still rattled by flashbacks. Knowing she already thought he didn't pay enough attention to what was right in front of him, he decided he was better off keeping his mouth shut.

“As a matter of fact, no, I don't believe so,” Kizmel said, a faint smile playing at her lips. Peering closely at the Sindarin lettering, she soundlessly mouthed the etched words, and shook her head. “Mind you, I know little of the ancient magicks, but it appears to me that the Crimson Knights were groping in the dark, trying to create something they didn't truly understand.”

“Might explain the Fire-Rat, though,” Asuna mused, walking over to where the enormous rodent had fallen. “You said those things are partly made of magic, right? Maybe they were trying to figure out how that worked. Or maybe….” She winced. “Maybe they wanted to use it to power the gate.”

Even a week before, Kirito might've rolled his eyes at how seriously the fencer was taking the game lore. Even with NPCs as vivid and lifelike as Kizmel, he'd have thought it silly to get that worked up about something that hadn't really happened.

“I should hope not,” Kizmel said softly. “The Crimson Knights arose long after the Last Alliance, yet I'd always heard they were an honorable order, in their own way. That they might've stooped so low, even in their desperation…. I would hate to think knights could fall so far.”

Yeah. I hear ya. After the past week, Kirito couldn't be so detached himself. After Alice had ridden in right out of his old dreams, he didn't have a clue what was going on anymore. For six years, he'd promised himself he'd never be the kind of gamer who lost track of what was real and what was just a story. Now, he wasn't sure he could afford to keep that detachment.

Shivering against a chill that had almost nothing to do with old nightmares, he tried to shake that off. Instead he focused on the gate right in front of him, and wondered what it was for. Knowing Kayaba, it could have just been for flavor, but somehow, he didn't think so. There had to be a purpose to the room. And they still hadn't found that Sigil….

Frowning at a sensation he couldn't quite pin down—not a feeling on his skin, not quite a sound, but something somehow in between—Kirito reached up to the blank center of the gate. Fingers a bare centimeter from the wall behind it, he abruptly stopped, eyes widening. “What the—? Hey, Kizmel. Are you sure this isn't doing anything?”

“Hm?” Kizmel blinked. “Well, it's certainly channeling something, if only enough to shock, but….” She trailed off, reaching out to the center herself. “You're right, Kirito. This may not function as a World Gate, but there is magic here.” The elf girl shot him a quick, puzzled glance. “I am surprised a human could even feel it.”

So am I. Great, something else that doesn't make sense. …Or maybe Kayaba just figured out some trick with synesthesia; can't forget the NerveGear only even works because he's a genius with neuroscience as well as programming.

“I've always had pretty sharp senses,” he said aloud, putting it out of his mind. “Do you know what it's doing, Kizmel?”

“Concealing something, I believe.” Eyes narrow, Kizmel peered close, seeming to see something he couldn't. Her hand followed her gaze—and her fingers suddenly closed, seemingly on empty air.

When she pulled her hand back, there was a ring sitting in her palm. The strange not-tingle Kirito had been feeling vanished with an odd snap; and at the same time, the Sindarin letters ringing the gate faded. In a moment, the entire circle lost its luster, looking as worn and tarnished as everything else in the lab.

A quick patter of footsteps, and Asuna joined them. “Is that—?”

“Indeed, I believe it is, Asuna.” Smiling, Kizmel held up the ring, with its distinctive crossed horn and scimitar emblem. “The second Sigil of Lyusula. It seems we've found what we came for.” Her smile turned wry. “Of course, there remains a question.”

“Yeah,” Kirito said sourly. “What the heck are they for?”

On the one hand, the fact that they were going to have to find Argo the Rat, and pay her whatever extortionate price she'd charge, didn't exactly make Asuna's day. Even if they were completely out of leads, and none of them were really in the mood to go spelunking in musty catacombs again if there was a chance someone else had already done it.

On the other, she had to admit it was kind of nice, just cruising low over Niian. They weren't really in a tearing hurry, so Moondancer's engine was at a low, comforting thrum. They also weren't trying to chase a Forest Elf ship, dodge a skyrift, or even hide from the Wild Hunt, so there was plenty of time to take in the Second Island's sights.

Speaking of the Wild Hunt, I really need to remember to ask Kirito-kun and Kizmel about them. I know what they are in IRL legends, but who knows about Aincrad. …And thinking about that Forest Elf ship the other day….

Leaning against the starboard bulkhead, where she'd been looking out through the glasswood at the rogue islands above and old ruins dotting the island below, Asuna glanced back at her companions. “What do you guys think the others from the raid are up to now? Kinda weird that the only ones we've seen much away from Urbus are those ninja, isn't it?”

Nudging the wheel to turn Moondancer into a shallow arc toward the canyon leading to Niian's outermost town, Kirito shrugged. “Leveling up and getting ready to cross the island on foot, I'd guess. Remember, the only other player airship right now is Liberator, and Coper's supposed to be neutral until one group or the other wins their bet.”

“Oh, right. That.” She couldn't help but roll her eyes. “Ugh. Y'know, I thought Diavel was really going to be the leader we all needed. Lind and Kibaou… honestly, I can't decide which of them annoys me more. They're going to be insufferable until they get this worked out.”

“I can relate, believe me,” Kizmel said ruefully, giving the wing-sails a featherlight adjustment to help Kirito's turn. “You may have noticed the friction I had with Captain Emlas? And, for that matter, the Portmaster?”

“Kinda, yeah,” Asuna admitted. She'd mostly written off Emlas' prickliness as a mix of distrust of humans and the beating his ship and crew had taken. The Portmaster… he'd been more subtle, yet stood out more, somehow. The fact that Kizmel had looked like she half-expected the tea to be poisoned had been a pretty big clue, too. “Knights and sailors don't get along, huh?”

“Not very well, no,” the elf girl said, with a wry smile. “Worse, however, is the rivalry between Lyusula's Chivalric Orders. At least sailors and Knights can mostly leave each other alone, with our very different responsibilities. The Orders… heh. Some fine evening, remind me to tell you the tale of how the Pagoda Knights succeeded in claiming my mission.”

Asuna's eyebrows went up at that. There were multiple orders of Knights among the Dark Elves? Come to think of it, Kizmel hasn't talked much about her Knighthood at all, has she? I wonder what they're like. They must be more widespread than a lot of fantasy elves, if they've got more than one group of knights.

She was just opening her mouth to ask, when another voice boomed out. “Ahoy the ship!”

At least she wasn't the only one who nearly hit the deckhead at the shout. Kirito twitched so violently he nearly threw Moondancer into a spin, with only Kizmel's quick work with the wing-sails keeping her upright. “What the—?!”

As Asuna threw herself into her own chair, Kizmel quickly pulled the throttle back to full-stop, while Kirito spun the ship into a quick turn to starboard. That brought the bow around to point toward one of the canyon ridges, and the source of the shout.

Standing on the ridge, the glasswood giving them all a clear look at his broad grin, the axeman Agil gave them a cheerful wave. Standing half a pace behind him and to his left, the masked Shinsengumi Tengu bowed in formal greeting. “Hey, there!” Agil called. “Sorry, didn't mean to freak you guys! Mind if we talk?”

It was fortunate, Kizmel thought, that the magnifying properties of glasswood were only one-way. That gave her time to get her hood up before Agil and Tengu came aboard, preserving her secret. Not that she had any particular reason to distrust either of them—indeed, they were among the sanest Swordmasters she'd yet met—but it was not an issue she wanted dealt with at that moment.

Sooner or later, she thought, as she and her human companions went out on deck, if I continue to travel with Kirito and Asuna, I will have to reveal myself to other Swordmasters. This day does not seem ideal.

“You two are still working together?” Kirito asked, as their visitors came aboard. “I thought you were just a PUG, like us, for the Illfang fight.”

“Eh, it's been convenient,” Agil said, giving a well-muscled shrug. “Truth is, I want to open a shop later, get some trading going with a couple buddies of mine. This early, though? Doesn't look like it's gonna happen. Better to stick with another fighter, 'least until we get another island cleared.”

“Agil-dono is quite a reliable tank,” Tengu said quietly, inclining his head. He gave Moondancer's deck a quick once-over; though what he was thinking, Kizmel couldn't even guess. The man's mask hid his expression well. “I confess I'm still learning how SAO works. My own kenjutsu will only take me so far.”

And this man truly is a swordsman, Kizmel thought, taking in the man's stance. Kirito has traces of it, signs that he once trained for true battle. This Tengu… he is a master.

“Well, good for you two,” Asuna said, leaning back against Moondancer's port railing. “I don't think of any us really want to be alone just yet. Though I admit, I'm just as glad you don't have Pitohui with you right now, honestly, she gave me the creeps…. But what do you want with us?”

“Indeed,” Kizmel put in quietly, eyeing them cautiously. “We've been away from the rest of the—what should we call them, raiders? Scouts, perhaps?—since we arrived at the Second Island. If it's information you seek, I fear we have little that would matter to you.”

She hoped, anyway. She was still unnerved by the Fuumaningun's apparent alliance with the Forest Elves. So far, what she and her human companions had been doing on Niian had mostly pertained to tracking the amateur ninja down.

“Heh. You guys don't give yourselves enough credit.” Grinning, Agil lounged against the starboard railing, arms stretched out across it. “You made quite an impression at the first Skywall Tower, y'know. Dunno what you've been up to since, but, well, lemme put it this way. I'm a merchant—I run a cafe IRL, believe it or not—so I know a little something about making connections. Think of this as me getting an early start scoping out suppliers—or customers—for my shop.”

Ah. Now that was a motive Kizmel could trust. She saw her companions relaxing as well—though Kirito did give Tengu a wary glance, and subtly shifted away from the masked swordsman. Something about Tengu disturbs him. Why?

“Well, you sound like you'll be easier to work with than the Rat, anyway,” Asuna said wryly. “So… what's up, Agil-san?”

“Probably be easier to show you, but we'll give you the basics on the way.” Agil gave a wide wave toward the ground below. “You mind taking us about three kilometers north of Urbus? Trust me, you can't miss it.”

Kirito glanced first at Asuna, then at Kizmel. Receiving nods in return, he headed back into the pilothouse, the others following in behind.

“Gotta say, you've got a nice ship here,” Agil said, whistling appreciatively as he took in the pilothouse. “She looks like ebony, but… not quite. Specially treated, maybe?” Even Kizmel had to shrug at that one, airships not being her area. The big axeman took it with amiable nod. “Well, whatever. I'm impressed. …Beta stuff?”

“Not as far as I know,” Kirito told him, easing Moondancer around, even as Kizmel nudged the throttle forward. “We got her from a quest that I wasn't expecting. Pretty sure she's one-of-a-kind, too, so don't expect Argo's guides to talk about it.”

“Hey, no worries, man.” Agil leaned into one corner, apparently interested in the view the glasswood provided of the surrounding sky. “I get my shop going, I'll probably want something bigger, anyway. Can't imagine this girl would be much good for cargo-hauling.”

Kizmel gently pushed at the wing-sails, setting them about half-open. They were a great help for maneuvering, especially as Moondancer lacked a proper set of balancers, but spreading them too wide at high speed risked them tearing off completely. At least we've had a chance to map out the local skies. I'd rather not chance another rift. Had Kirito's reflexes been even a little slower….

“So, then,” she said, forcing her thoughts away from that near-miss, and the crash it had reminded her of, “what does bring you to our deck, Agil? What makes today a good day to, as you put it, make connections?”

“Well….” The would-be merchant dragged out the word, still gazing pensively out the bow window. “Does the name 'Bullbous Bow' mean anything to any of you?”

Asuna frowned. “Besides being part of a ship?”

“Two ls, in the Romanji,” Kirito corrected her. “It's a pun on 'bull' and 'bulbous'… it's also the Field Boss for Niian, or at least it was in the beta.” He glanced away from Moondancer's course long enough to direct a frown of his own at Agil. “Don't tell me someone's already going after it?” He started, as if struck by a sudden thought. “Or has Liberator…?”

“Captain Coper's ship has not acted. Exactly,” Tengu informed him. It was Kizmel's turn to almost jump out of her seat; the swordsman had been so quiet, she'd forgotten he was there, still standing by the hatch. “However, a force of Swordmasters did set out this morning, intending to take down the beast.”

“Without a full raid?” Asuna shook her head, frowning down at the core crystal monitor as if it held answers. “I admit I was a complete newbie when all this started, but even I know we took on Illfang with an undersized group as it was. Without us, or Diavel—or you two, for that matter—”

“They've scrounged up some extras,” Agil told her, half his attention on the flock of Gullwings Moondancer brushed through in her flight north. He grinned at the outraged squawks, then sobered, turning to look at Asuna directly. “That's kinda part of why I wanted to touch base with you guys. Something about this whole thing smells funny to me.”

Ominous, that. Kizmel suddenly wished she'd spent more time around humans, that she might have some idea just how ominous. Any situation that included both Lind and Kibaou was concerning enough as it was; she found herself pushing the throttle and pulling in the wing-sails a hair, urging a little more speed out of Moondancer.

“Surprised you didn't just go to Argo,” Kirito said, adjusting course to compensate for the sudden extra speed. “Or was she too expensive for you?”

“We did ask her,” Agil told him flatly. “She didn't charge us a thing, 'cause she didn't know. But she said you might.” He settled more firmly into his corner. “You'll see when we get there. Maybe it's nothing. …Maybe.”

Moondancer flew low over Niian, just high enough not to risk hitting any trees or overly large rocks—low enough, hopefully, not be noticed from too far out. As small and quiet as she was, it was just barely possible she and her crew could avoid attracting attention, at least for a little bit.

Kirito, for one, very much wanted to stay out of the spotlight. His nerves were prickling at him, from Agil's news, from the odd sense that he was doing too well handling Moondancer, and even from the passengers his little party had picked up.

Agil's one thing, he thought, giving the wheel a gentle turn to port as they neared the edge of the rough terrain that was Niian's southern half. Tengu… maybe it's just that mask, but something about him is really giving me the creeps.

At least he had the job of piloting Moondancer to keep him from thinking about it too much. Flying so close to the ground was in a way trickier than chasing a Forest Elf patrol ship had been; at least that time, aside from a badly-timed skyrift, he'd been able to see any hazards from far enough off to plan around them. For this flight, he could only be grateful Kizmel was there to help.

“If I remember right,” Kirito murmured, more to himself than to anyone else, “the Field Boss area should be coming up right about… now.” Rocks and ridges gave way to a flat plain below, an expansive grassland springing up before his eyes.

He immediately turned Moondancer into a sharp turn to starboard, angling toward a forest on the eastern edge of the Grazing Plains. Lowering the bow, he brought the ship down to just a few meters above the ground, and only turned away from the treeline with a few seconds to spare.

Kizmel, acting with the initiative that still left him wondering just what—or who—she really was, pulled the throttle to idle, and folded the wing-sails close to the hull. That left Moondancer hovering almost soundlessly, tucked in by the trees; not invisible, but definitely not obvious.

With the airship more or less “parked”, the four humans and single Dark Elf crowded by the pilothouse's port window, where the glasswood gave them a startlingly clear view of what was about to be a battlefield.

The first thing to catch Kirito's eye was the Field Boss itself. It looked like a bull—except for being about four meters tall, with four horns, breath that literally steamed, and a bony forehead ridge that looked like it belonged on some kind of dinosaur. He had the unpleasant feeling it could ram an airship down if it really wanted to. That its name was partly a pun on part of a ship made him even more glad he'd parked Moondancer so far away.

“At least it's not a Minotaur,” he heard Asuna mutter. “One that big, the CERO board should've shut this game down before it left beta….”

He stifled a chuckle, and did his best to ignore the glare she sent his way anyway. He was more interested in the group of Swordmasters that was marching across the plain, nearing aggro range of the Bullbous Bow. Twenty-nine of them, by his count, with a noticeable split about halfway through. Judging from the gap, he suspected they were intending keep about half in reserve.

Makes sense, if they intend to rotate the parties. Gotta give people a chance to pull back and heal every so often, after all. But something doesn't look right. The forwards aren't balanced, and they're kinda split, too. Which probably means….

“Short version,” Agil said, pointing to the undersized raid. “As you can probably tell from the cactus-hair out in front, the guys in green are Kibaou's faction. Call themselves the Aincrad Liberation Front, first guild in the Archipelago. The boys in blue led by the blue ponytail are Lind's Dragon Knight Brigade. Also the first guild in the Archipelago.”

Kirito face-palmed. Kizmel sighed. Asuna rolled her eyes. “They're still at it, huh?” the fencer groaned. “I guess that explains the split in the forwards.” She pointed to a clear third sub-faction in the forwards. “And them?”

Frowning, Kirito peered as close as the glasswood allowed at the group of five Asuna had singled out. It wasn't hard to tell them apart from the rest: their gear was noticeably shinier than the others, each of them decked out in full plate. Which was… not impossible, he supposed, even as early as the Second Island. But it was definitely unusual. “Beta testers…?”

“I dunno about that,” Agil told him, shrugging. “After your little stunt the other day, nobody really wants to ask. For what it's worth, though, they're called the Legend Braves. Supposed to be 'heroes leading the way forward', or somethin' like that. Guildmaster's a guy who calls himself Orlando.”

“Orlando? Seriously?” Kirito shook his head. “A name like that, and those ambitions, they might as well have called themselves the Paladins. …Um.” Seeing Asuna's blank look, he searched his mental documents for the old legends he'd read to Suguha, once upon a time. “Orlando was one of Charlemagne's knights. I think he's better known as Roland…?”

“Oh, him! Okay, I know that one. A paladin for a great king,” she explained, when Kizmel's hood turned toward her. “These 'Legend Braves' must really mean the 'hero' thing.”

“Looks like it. And that gear….” Kirito glanced back at Agil. “Is this what you said smelled funny, Agil?”

“Half of it,” Tengu answered instead. Hands tucked into the sleeves of his Shinsengumi coat, he nodded at something higher up. “That would be the other half.”

Kirito followed the gesture, and blinked. Hovering well above the battlefield, steel hull gleaming in the afternoon sun, Liberator was doing a slow, gentle circle over the boss. Above, quite thoroughly out of reach, and seemingly with no intention of participating in the coming battle.

“Are those people on the deck?” he heard Asuna ask. “What are they doing up there?”

“Word is, Lind and Kibaou are looking for recruits,” Agil told her. “They sent messengers back to Einsla, inviting anybody who was up to risking the frontlines to come watch the Field Boss fight. I guess the guilds are gonna show off.”

“Which is fair enough,” Tengu put in quietly. “Illfang proved we can fight this game. An impressive victory here, with witnesses, will show the entire playerbase. If those two young hotheads don't trip each other up.”

It made sense, all of it. Still, Kirito couldn't help but zero in on another detail entirely.

That's a light cruiser. I don't know where Diavel got her, but Liberator is balanced for at least the Fourth Island, maybe later. Coper could probably alpha-strike the Bullbous Bow into ground beef. Sure, a good show from the new guilds could get new recruits for the raids. And yeah, Coper's got that deal that whoever reaches the Skywall Tower first will get the ship. But lives are still at stake here, and he could end the fight without risking even one.

What are you playing at, Coper?

“Well, if it is a show they want, they're about to get one,” Kizmel said. Her voice, and the light touch of her hand on his shoulder, brought Kirito back to the battle that was about to begin. “I've heard tales of the Bullbous Bow. It will be very unhappy, starting right about… now.”

The three guilds crossed the invisible line that marked the edge of the giant bull's aggro range. With a deep, bellowing snort that rattled Moondancer's windows, it spun around. Glared at the approaching Swordmasters, pawing at the ground. Lowered its head, with its four horns and bony forehead, and charged.

Asuna had plenty of combat experience, after a month trapped in SAO. Almost all of that was in a half-size party, though; her only direct knowledge of a raid was from the battle with Illfang. What was going down on the Grazing Plains, she only vaguely understood.

She understood well enough the fear that had to be going through the raid members' minds, as the Bullbous Bow galloped toward them. It was one thing to know they were all more durable than any real-world human, and that there was no pain in SAO. It was still something else to see a bull that big charging right at them, with obvious intent to kill. The raiders who hadn't been there for Illfang, she suspected, were the ones who faltered first.

Give Lind and Kibaou a little credit, though, Asuna thought, watching the two guild leaders call a halt and wave a single member from each party forward. They must've been paying attention to Diavel's commands against Illfang. Or Kirito-kun's, if they were ever likely to admit it…. Wait. That doesn't look right….

The two Swordmasters, wearing some of the heaviest armor Asuna had seen on players, planted tall shields on the ground. Opened their mouths, and roared, so loud she caught just the faintest edge of it from where she stood aboard Moondancer.

That was normal enough. None of her little party had it, but she'd seen from a distance as other players used the Howl skill to draw aggro, when she and her companions had skirted the edges of the First Island's towns. As she understood it, that kept a monster's attention on the players who could take a beating and survive, distracting from the more offensive-focused players who could then attack from the sides.

Which would've made the tanks the matadors to the Bullbous Bow's bull—if both guilds hadn't done it simultaneously.

“What in the world are they thinking?” Kirito breathed. “Both of them in one spot, right in front of the DPSers, while the boss is already heading straight for them? That's just going to—”

Asuna flinched, unable to turn away as the inevitable happened. The Bullbous Bow, successfully taunted, picked up more speed, and barreled straight into the pair of tanks.

The two of them went flying, with screams she really could hear even at that distance. The boss ignored them, its momentum hardly slowed by the tanks' shields, and crashed into the ranks of DPS players, scattering them like bowling pins in turn.

Part of her was angry, seeing how Lind and Kibaou both scrambled to avoid their subordinates' fates. More of her was frightened, her heart leaping into her throat, watching as the players' who'd been tossed crashed back to the ground. Fall damage, she knew, could be just as bad as being rammed by the bull's oversized forehead.

A dozen bodies hit the ground—and bounced, once, then twice. With the third impact, they stayed down—and intact, none of them shattering.

The Bullbous Bow was still going, but this time a coordinated effort was suddenly in its way. Led by a man with a helmet resembling an onion—Orlando, Asuna recalled—they moved with a steady teamwork the others had lacked. Orlando, holding a round shield in his left arm, stabbed a black sword forward; at once, two of his fellows stepped up to plant shields in the Bow's path. At the same time, a man with a two-handed sword darted ahead, and to his right a lancer charged right along with him.

Maybe it was their heavier armor, or maybe their shields were better; either way, the Legend Braves' tanks held their ground. The enormous bull crashed into them, shoving them back a meter, but it was stopped dead in its tracks. That left the swordsman and lancer free to attack it from the sides, while it was still recovering. The swordsman went for a hamstringing blow to the right foreleg; the lancer drove his spear into the boss' chest, trying for a heart strike.

“Guy with the big sword is Beowulf,” Agil said, his dark hand coming into Asuna's view as he pointed. “The lancer's Cuchulain.” He snorted. “And it looks like they've got a better idea of what they're doing than the ALF or DKB guys.”

“That's for sure,” Kirito muttered. “That's not a raid, that's a competition.” It was his turn to point, this time at the players just recovering from the Bullbous Bow's initial charge. “Look at the setup. The two guilds together have the players to do a proper tank/DPS mix, but instead of dividing the roles, they're mirroring each other.”

“Power plays between knights,” Kizmel sighed. “Or would-be knights, at any rate…. Are they truly so determined to win Captain Coper's favor that they would risk themselves this way?”

“Evidently,” Tengu put in. “They both have the potential to be leaders, but neither can stand to allow the other an advantage.” The masked swordsman shook his head. “Their priorities will get them killed. Or worse, others will pay the price in their place.”

“Probably not. Not quite yet.” Kirito pointed again, drawing Asuna's attention back to the boss. “Watch.”

As the players had recovered, so had the Bullbous Bow. Letting out a bellow, it reared up on its hind legs, and brought its forelegs down in a brutal slam that sent a visible shockwave rippling across the ground. Asuna flinched again, fully expecting to see players tumbling away—this time, though, the tanks planted themselves in front of their respective groups, shields taking the brunt of the effect.

They still staggered, but the shields seemed to have blunted the impact. With quick gestures and shouted commands from the two competing guildmasters, they promptly fanned out to either side.

“That's right,” Kirito murmured. “Flank it, but don't surround it… there!”

The oversized bull charged again. Instead of scattering players all over the place, though, it ran smack into the DKB and ALF tanks before it could build up much speed. While they tripped and fell back, the Legend Braves' tanks immediately stepped in to take up the slack.

Abruptly shortstopped again, the Bullbous Bow was at the mercy of three guilds' worth of players. Orlando, Beowulf, and Cuchulain slashed and stabbed at its head between their tanks' shields, the DKB hacked at it from its left flank, and the ALF ripped into it from the right.

Still. Asuna couldn't help but shake her head, seeing how the attack went down. “They're still not coordinating,” she noted, seeing how staggered and irregular the attacks were. “It all worked out this time, but completely by accident. If the Legend Braves hadn't helped out in front, I don't think it would've worked at all. And I don't think Lind or Kibaou asked them to.”

“No, this is a pretty classic PUG,” Kirito agreed. “Pick-Up Group,” he added, when she turned an exasperated look on him. “They should've planned all this ahead of time—they had to know from Argo, if nothing else, what was coming—but they obviously just agreed on a meeting time and nothing else. Lucky them, they should be able to handle it anyway.”

Agil turned an evaluating look on him. “Breather boss?”

“Something like that. Balanced for less than a Skywall Tower raid, anyway. If they're careful with healing rotation, they'll make it.” Kirito hesitated, leaned closer to the glasswood; sighed. “Though it looks like they're going to need to stock up after this….”

The Bullbous Bow was pawing the ground again, head lowered—and body beginning to twist. The Legend Braves seemed to recognize the warning signs, and began to pull back; the DKB and ALF didn't. Diavel's would-be successors kept their groups hacking at the boss, apparently assuming its lack of forward movement meant it was still stunned.

When it suddenly spun in place, sending players flying in all directions, Asuna could only cover her eyes and echo Kirito's sigh. And these are the people we're supposed to work with to get out of here? …We are so doomed.

Watching the raid unfold on the Grazing Plains, Kirito found himself shaking his head. Once again, the Legend Braves had pulled things together when the ALF and DKB fell for the obvious AoE, giving the two guilds time to get themselves back off the ground, but it plainly hadn't been pre-arranged. From the look of it, Orlando had just been a bit more observant than Lind or Kibaou, at just the right time.

Reminds me of just about every PUG I've ever been in, he thought. Except the PUGs I used to do didn't usually have two competing prima donnas tripping over each other. …Well, at least this is starting to feel like a game again. This is the most normal thing I've seen in awhile.

At least the two competing guilds were showing some sense. Rather than dive straight back into the fight, they left the Braves to keep the Bullbous Bow busy, and began rotating their forwards out in favor of the reserve groups. Only Lind and Kibaou themselves stayed close, taking the time to drink potions on the spot instead of pulling back.

Kirito supposed that was fair enough. As fractious as things were down there, the two leaders were probably needed on the spot to keep even a semblance of cohesion.

What there is of it. Part of him was amused to see Kizmel shaking her head at what happened next. The rest of him won out, joining Asuna in a facepalm as, the moment the fresh players were in position, the two groups unleashed simultaneous Howls. Again. Forget being lonely, I want to stick with Asuna and Kizmel because they're not stupid.

This time they were at least far enough apart not to provoke the boss into doubling-down on a rushing attack. Instead, it stood in place, glancing from one tank to the other in evident confusion. Which, yes, did give the two guilds a chance to send their DPSers to attack its flanks with impunity.

Well, they weren't in the beta. They're going to trip the boss' Annoyance threshold—yep, there they go.

A deep, angry bellow. A puff of steam so hot it left the tanks reeling, HP knocked down a good ten percent from scalding. Then the Bullbous Bow gathered itself, bent all four knees, and jumped straight up.

“…Did they just make that thing mad?” Asuna asked, with the morbidly curious tone of someone watching a multi-car pile-up.

“Bulls don't like being confused,” Kizmel said dryly. The elf girl had moved to casually lean against the window frame, apparently totally unconcerned about the whole thing. “I've only heard stories of the Bullbous Bow, but it is said its temper is fully as outsized as the rest of it.”

The shockwave from the Bow's impact scattered everyone that time, including the Legend Braves. Kirito couldn't help but wince, even knowing how simple the boss was still likely to be. “…We should be down there, too.”

“No,” Tengu said flatly, shaking his head.

“Probably not a good idea,” Agil agreed. Crossing his arms, the big axeman pointedly quirked one eyebrow. “Look, I'm not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth, after all you did against Illfang. But even I think what happened after was weird, man. Those guys? They still half-think you're in league with Kayaba or something. It'll die down,” he added, when Asuna turned a glare on him, and Kizmel's hood shifted. “But right now, were I you, I'd give 'em some space. Let everything settle down. 'Least until the next big event.”

Kirito wasn't so sure, about any of it. Still… I'll be the first to admit I don't know people. He turned his attention back to the boss fight, where the raiders were getting themselves back to their feet. Sounds like Agil does.

“If it looks like they're going to start losing people, we're going in,” he said finally. “Until then, we'll hold position. Is that okay with everybody?”

“Works for me,” Asuna agreed, after a second's thought. She ostentatiously lifted her chin, the picture of aloof dignity. “We wouldn't want to hurt their pride by saving them too soon, would we?”

“Knights are fickle, and justly so,” Kizmel said, a faint gleam of teeth from within her hood betraying her smile. “If knights they may be called, at any rate.”

Personally, Kirito wouldn't have. Down below, the battle had resumed, but now it was a tangled mess. Though the Bullbous Bow didn't have enough room to build up for another charge, it was just as agile in close-quarters as he remembered from the beta. It was jumping around, stamping its feet, and just generally swinging its massive horns around.

He couldn't tell from there just what the raiders' HP levels were, even through the glasswood. He could take a guess, though, from how often they were cycling players in and out of the reserves, and winced at what their resupply expenses were likely to be after the battle.

“Well, some of them seem to be passable knights, at least,” Asuna said. Pointing to the group led by the onion-helmeted Orlando, she added, “If Diavel really wanted to call himself that, he should've joined up with the Legend Braves.”

Kirito focused on them again, and the way they alone were managing to stay coordinated even as the Bullbous Bow wheeled and bounced in its attempts to trample people. More, he focused on their armor, which really was a lot better than anything the DKB or ALF had. “I'm not sure he didn't,” he said slowly. “I mean, it's not impossible for newbies to have gotten a party's worth of plate this early, but it's kinda improbable. If they had Diavel's beta knowledge—”

“No,” Kizmel interrupted, abruptly straightening from her casual slouch. “Kirito,” she continued, when all eyes turned to her, “I believe you said the beta had nothing to do with the elves prior to the Third Island, correct?”

“Yes…?”

She pointed out the glasswood, at the shiny armor of Orlando and his comrades. “That's not steel, nor any other form of cold iron. That is mythril—the lowest grade, perhaps, but mythril nonetheless.”

Agil cocked his head, brow furrowed. “Meaning…?”

Kirito's eyes widened, and Asuna outright gasped. “Wait,” the fencer breathed. “Wait a second… I recognize that now. From the airship we raided back on Einsla. That's…?”

“The armor of Forest Elf men-at-arms,” Kizmel confirmed, her earlier amusement gone. “Knights or paladins they may play at being, Asuna, but these 'Legend Braves', like the Fuumaningun, have clearly made a pact with Kales'Oh.”

Across Liberator's deck, the colorful assembly of visiting players watched the battle against the Bullbous Bow with rapt attention. There were collective gasps as the raiders took damage, and cheers when they gave back as good as they got. When one of member of the Aincrad Liberation Force was caught up on one of the massive bull's horns, only to be thrown high into the air, some in the crowd screamed. When his fall was broken by the swift action of two of his fellows with grappling hooks, there was a loud cheer.

After about forty-five minutes of intense battle, the Bullbous Bow let out one last, anguished bellow, and exploded into azure fragments. Liberator's passengers went wild, clapping, yelling, and shouting—and ignoring the way two of the players below immediately launched into a shouting match.

“Did you see those guys from the ALF? They're really not kidding about getting us out of here! Nothing kept 'em down, no matter what the bull did to them!”

“They were good, sure, but it looked to me like they aggroed that thing way too soon. Lind's people were more careful. Besides, wasn't Lind a good friend of Diavel? He should be a shoe-in for the new raid leader. You watch, the DKB will reach the Skywall Tower first.”

“Ha! Wanna bet on it? Three hundred Cor on Kibaou!”

“Forget them. Both guilds were too busy trying to one-up each other. My money is on the Legend Braves. Those guys had it together, even when the DKB and ALF were tripping over their own feet.”

“Who cares which of them was the best, anyway? They beat the boss! That's two down now, and no deaths. Maybe the raiders are right, and we really can get out of here!”

Standing on the observation deck atop Liberator's bridge, a short-haired brunette only sighed, closing her eyes sadly. “None of them understand,” she muttered. “Not one. …Thousands are already dead, Aki—Heathcliff.” Slipping her hands into the white coat she wore over simple leather armor, she turned to one of the men who stood with her. “How can you think this will ever work out?”

The man brushed a hand through the gray hair tied back at the nape of his neck and shrugged, his crimson cape billowing in the light breeze. “I think you do them a disservice. True, their performance here was perhaps… a bit uninspired. In the beta, however, it took several total party wipes of the best players to even reach this point. These raiders have only lost one man, and that to kidnapping by an outside-context problem.” He turned his eerie, metallic-silver eyes on her. “You knew this when it started, Rico. You could have stopped me, if you truly wanted to.”

“I tried,” Rico said sourly, refusing to meet his gaze. “As you know perfectly well, Heathcliff. Just as you know how that turned out.” She turned to the third player who watched from the observation deck. “Well, Colonel? Do you still think this is worth it?”

The brown-haired man adjusted his glasses, shoulders shifting as if he still found a samurai lord's haori a strange fit. “I'm still unfamiliar with VR game tactics, Rico-san. Truthfully, even Heathcliff has me beat, at least for now, even if he's more a developer than a player. That said….” He peered down at the battlefield. “I think it's too early to say. It's true they were quite clumsy here, yet Heathcliff is correct: they've survived so far. And from the look of things, some of them have already learned the value of alliances.”

“Alliances which could hurt them more than help, in the long run,” Rico pointed out. “You've heard the feelers the Rat put out about the Fuumaningun. And I've seen Heathcliff's notes. This could be a catastrophe.”

“Could be, Rico,” Heathcliff said calmly. “Could. But that's what makes this so interesting, isn't it? Even a normal MMO has surprises. I cannot even begin to predict where this might lead. And of course, the Fuuma and the Braves are not the only ones in the midst of interesting schemes.” He pointed to a spot beyond the battlefield, at the edge of one of the forests bordering the Grazing Plains. “What do you make of that, hm?”

Rico looked, easily picking out the dark airship that hovered so near the ground. Heathcliff, she recalled, had been positively gleeful when he first saw the ship, proclaiming it to be utterly outside his expectations. What, exactly, the ship's crew was up to, neither she nor her companions knew.

Just like Liberator, and Coper, Rico thought. Every other frontline Swordmaster is just working through the quests as they find them. That ship—Moondancer, was it?—always seems to be on the move, following a course even Akihiko doesn't understand.

“I have no idea,” she said finally, shaking her head. “What do you make of it, Heathcliff?”

“I've no idea either,” Heathcliff replied, smiling. “Except that Moondancer's pilot was one of the Project Vector patients. All of those who entered SAO have been quite unpredictable. Diavel—well, you certainly know what he achieved, before circumstances intervened. And aren't the rumors of what happened after Illfang's defeat interesting?” He chuckled. “The fate of the players rests with the likes of Lind and Kibaou, and their ability to rally others to the cause of clearing the game. The fate of the Swordmasters? That, I believe, rests with Kirito, Diavel, and others like them.”

It was marginally reassuring that the Colonel joined Rico in looking askance at that one. “You're much more of a storyteller than you are a strategist, Heathcliff,” the Colonel remarked ruefully. “As a soldier, the lack of solid intel on what those unpredictable elements are up to makes me very nervous. I'll stick with trying to put together an effective raid group, thank you.”

Rico sympathized with him on that, at least. She was still horrified that the Colonel had chosen the path he had, but at least he was looking at it rationally, if callously. He was judging the situation by the cold equations, not looking forward to every twist like it was all still a game.

This wasn't what she'd had in mind, when she attempted to warn the authorities what was going to happen. At the least, though, it appeared she had something of an ally in trying to mitigate the tragedy in progress.

“Ah,” Heathcliff said, interrupting her musings. “Isn't that interesting?” He stepped toward the railing, pointing toward Niian's southern edge. “What are they up to, do you think?”

Rico looked, and found herself blinking. Another airship was coming up—not the plain wood of the local NPC ferries, nor the steel she'd have expected of a player-owned ship, but rather an ebony she'd only seen on one other. “Is that…?”

“Oh, I believe it is. The same ship sighted a few times at Einsla, before the Skywall fell.” Heathcliff's smile broadened. “It would appear Kirito's benefactors are coming. I wonder what could've brought them to show themselves openly?”

She couldn't begin to guess. Though the sudden pinched look on the Colonel's face, as he judged it all from a soldier's perspective, made her suspect it wasn't good.

“Okay,” Agil said, leaning back against the pilothouse bulkhead now that the boss fight was over. “I said before I wasn't gonna ask questions. So I'm gonna keep my mouth shut about how weird you guys are.” He looked pointedly at Kizmel, whose betraying ears were still hidden by her hood. “But I gotta ask one thing: what's this talk about Forest Elves, exactly?”

Kirito hesitated, glancing at his companions. Kizmel gave him a small shrug, seemingly trusting his discretion; Asuna rolled her eyes, flicking her hand toward their guests. “You're the expert, Kirito-kun,” the fencer pointed out.

Great. Some “expert”. You do remember I don't know what the elves are doing this far out either, right?

Sighing, Kirito stepped back to the wheel, busying himself with judging position and wind speed to get back underway. “Okay. Short version, Kayaba added some new quests in the retail version—extra stuff about the Elf War questline. We're still figuring out exactly what; even Argo hasn't had much luck yet. We've stumbled through some of it ourselves, and it looks like two guilds are approaching it from the other side.”

“One of them being the Legend Braves,” Tengu said thoughtfully. Arms tucked into the sleeves of his Shinsengumi coat, he turned his gaze out the glasswood windows, where the raiders could still be seen pulling back. “They're running quests with the Forest Elves? Forgive me, but I don't see the issue.”

Kirito had to bite his tongue before he could bring up the most personal reason, and he shot Asuna a warning look just as she irritably opened her own mouth. Visibly annoyed, she kept quiet, shook her head, and dropped back into her chair.

Thank goodness. Bad as I am about speaking up when I really need to, her temper worries me sometimes.

Shaking that off, he turned his attention back to Tengu. “There might not be any,” he admitted. “On the other hand, we already know another guild's quests with them are a problem. Ever hear of Fuumaningun?”

“The Rat asked me about 'em the other day,” Agil said, frowning thoughtfully. “Never seen 'em myself, though, and she didn't push it. So?”

Of course she didn't. Kirito gave them a quick rundown of the guild's history during the beta, finishing with, “And that's just how they were then. Now? They were chasing Argo for information she didn't want to sell a couple days ago, and after that took off on a Forest Elf airship.”

“Which led us on a merry chase over Niian,” Kizmel said dryly. “Almost into a skyrift, among other things. I believe we have some reason to be… concerned, where Swordmasters and deals with the Kingdom of Kales'Oh are concerned.”

“Okay,” Agil said after a beat. “I can see your point. Still….” His frown deepened. “Hey. What's this stuff about 'Kales'Oh', anyway? Never heard the name—”

“Incoming,” Tengu interrupted—just as the ship-to-ship chime rang out from Asuna's console. “Friends of yours, perhaps?”

Kirito blinked at the sight of the black airship swinging in from high above their port side, even as Asuna quickly clicked the comm system on. “What's Moonshadow doing here…?”

“Relaying a message, Swordmaster,” Captain Emlas' gruff voice rang out. “Moonshadow was just coming up on Niian when we received a call from the port. It was brief, unpleasant, and suggested trouble.”

“What kind of trouble?” Kizmel demanded, throwing herself back into her chair.

“That, I don't know, Dame Kizmel.” His voice was as rough as ever, but Kirito thought he heard more concern in it than usual—which only made his own blood run colder. “Nor, unfortunately, was I in a position to find out. You know we've not the men left to risk a fight on the ground, and to be frank, Moonshadow is not yet up to a battle herself.” He paused, as his ship arced over Moondancer and began to sail away. “You have your own mission, and this is not the concern of the Swordmasters. Nonetheless, I must ask you to go in our stead.”

“Of course, Captain,” Asuna said at once, shooting a quick, sharp glance at Kirito. “We'll be right there!”

It wasn't fair of her to give him that look. He was already spinning the wheel, even as Kizmel eased the throttle forward and spread the wing-sails. Even if he was starting to get very, very nervous. “We're on our way, Captain,” he said, trying to sound more confident than he felt.

Kirito had never had a quest come looking for him, not even when he and Asuna bumped into Kizmel that first night. Even Alice had turned up at a moment that was appropriate for a game's plot twist, however bizarre the encounter had otherwise been.

This? This, I don't understand. …Especially since the Dark Elf port isn't an instanced map.

A gruff sigh over the comm. “Again, I'm in your debt, Swordmasters. For now, we will find a place to lay low. …Good hunting, Moondancer.”

A quiet click, and the channel was closed. For a few moments, the only sound was from Moondancer's engine, spinning up as Kirito and Kizmel brought the ship around to sail south. That left Kirito free to focus his attention on their course, sparing only a glance at Liberator; he noted absently that the bigger ship seemed to be moving in recover the raid group.

As they cruised low and fast over the Grazing Plains, though, Agil cleared his throat. “Uh. Guys. I know I said I wasn't gonna ask, but… I mean, c'mon. Just a hint? 'Cause I'm totally lost here.”

“I'm sorry, Agil,” Kizmel said, before Kirito or Asuna could reply. “There is no time to explain. We'll let you off at Urbus, but we must go on. I have my duty.”

“Your duty,” Tengu repeated flatly, his blank gaze settling on her. “Forgive me, Kizmel-san, but… who are you, exactly?”

Kirito cursed under his breath. That was a question he hadn't wanted to answer yet, not to any other player. And definitely not to Tengu, who may have seemed aboveboard but still gave him the creeps. Not now! “Look,” he said, gritting his teeth, “we really don't have time for this—”

Kizmel muttered something Sindarin under her breath, too low for him to quite make out. Taking one hand off the wing-sails' control, she flung back her hood, revealing her long, pointed ears. At the same time, her cursor flickered from player green to NPC yellow, completely breaking her disguise.

Giving the startled Agil an unusually irritated look, she raised her chin. “I am Kizmel, Pagoda Knight and Royal Guard of the Kingdom of Lyusula. As you might say, an 'NPC'.” She arched one eyebrow. “Do you have a problem with that?”

One day, Kizmel was sure, her impulsiveness was going to get her into trouble. But having to deal with Tengu's questioning—and Kirito's evident unease with him—on top of the sudden report of trouble had just been a little too much for her temper. She only hoped it wouldn't get her companions in any trouble later.

Still, that is a matter for “later”, she reminded herself, as Moondancer dove toward the Cloud Sea. At least they agreed to leave at Urbus. Whatever is happening here, bringing in other Swordmasters doesn't seem wise….

She felt a brief flicker of amusement at Asuna's anxious, irritated mutter when the ship dropped below Niian, leveling off only meters above the deadly Cloud Sea. It wasn't as if Kizmel could blame the fencer for being uneasy, even if she and Kirito grew ever more deft at ship-handling by the day.

That amusement vanished as they climbed up to the mouth of the Dark Elf port. When Moondancer's bow swung around to slip inside, humor was suddenly the last thing on Kizmel's mind.

“Is that smoke?” Asuna breathed, whisper as loud as a shout to Kizmel's ears.

“Yes,” the Knight said shortly. She yanked the throttle back to just above idle, and pulled the wing-sails all the way in. “Asuna, lower the skids. The cradles are burning.”

Not just the cradles. As a silent, white-faced Kirito brought Moondancer down to the nearest clear spot beside the torched airship cradles, Kizmel could see that the port's grove of carefully-tended trees was also engulfed. Two of the buildings were outright shattered, and flames roared in the windows of the Portmaster's office.

She couldn't see a single Dark Elf. Not even any attempting to fight the fires.

The instant Moondancer was solidly on the ground, Kizmel was out the pilothouse hatch and leaping off the deck, heedless of the minor fall injury she took from the landing. Barely registering her companions following her, she dashed toward the Portmaster's office, saber drawn. “Is anyone there?!” she called out. “Portmaster! Anyone! Please, answer me!”

Only the sound of flames replied. Worse, there was a deeper silence, one she felt in her bones. She tried to deny it, reaching out desperately, yet the truth could not be defied.

No magic here. Not even the faintest traces of the few charms we have. I know the port had some of them, I felt them when last we were here…!

By the time Kizmel came around to the front of the Portmaster's office, she still hadn't seen anyone. She wanted to believe they'd simply fled, since there were no bodies; knowing the dead left no such traces in the transitory Aincrad robbed that hope of any strength.

Then, just before she could rush into the office, a single figure stumbled out, coughing. The Portmaster's adjutant, she abruptly realized—just before he collapsed to his knees.

“Adjutant!” she called out. Realizing to her shame she didn't even know his name, she rushed to his side. “Adjutant, what happened here?”

The adjutant looked up, only then seeming to notice her; at the same time, she spotted the deep red gash in his neck, and the deeper crimson that marked intense burns over his right side. “…You…” he wheezed, looking up at her through eyes narrowed by pain—or something else. “What are… you doing here…?”

“Captain Emlas sent us word,” Asuna said, hurrying over. She was already pulling a healing potion from her belt. “Here, we can help—”

“Stay back!” he snapped. “I… need no help… from you, human… even were it not… too late….”

She recoiled. “What…?”

“And you….” The adjutant glared at Kizmel again. “You… did this. You involved… humans. And now we… pay the price. Betrayed us, to Kales'Oh….”

“What?!” Kizmel demanded, courtesy for a wounded man forgotten for an instant. “What are you talking about?”

“Bah…. You… you are the reason… they knew this place. Those humans… and the Forest… they wanted… whatever it is… you found.” The adjutant coughed, a horrible, wracking sound, and slumped onto his side. “Betrayers, all… our deaths are… on your hands, as much as theirs, Dame Kizmel….”

That final insult, a jab at her title she'd not heard openly in years, came with the adjutant's last breath. Light faded from his eyes, and he fell on his face. Barely a moment later, he shattered, just as the Bullbous Bow had not an hour before.

Numb, Kizmel could only stare at the place on which, just a moment before, a fellow warrior of Lyusula had lain. She'd thought she had been coming to terms with the nature of the transitory Aincrad. She was beginning to adjust to the lack of pain, to the odd symbols that hovered in her vision. She'd even seen death, of her own people, in the minutes after Moonshadow's crash.

Now she was learning the difference between losing a comrade in the heat of battle, and watching one slowly succumb, and vanish. It shouldn't have been a shock, not to a Knight who'd fought across a hundred battlefields, but it was. The suddenness, the emptiness of death in Aincrad… no, that she had not been prepared for.

Footsteps approached, stopping a few paces away. “I'm sorry,” Kirito said quietly. “There… aren't any survivors, Kizmel.”

Blinking back tears, Kizmel nodded jerkily. “I… I know. I could tell. Thank you.” Drawing a deep, shuddering breath, she turned to look at her other companion—and stopped, seeing her slumped on her knees, eyes wide with horror. “Asuna…?”

“…I'm sorry,” Asuna whispered. “This… players did this?” She swallowed. “But… who…?”

“Not the Legend Braves, if that's what you're wondering.” Kirito walked into view, expression tight but composed; Kizmel supposed his own past made it easier for him. “The timing is wrong. But the Fuuma?” He held up a slim, pointed shard of metal. “Throwing spike. This has 'ninja' written all over it.”

“But why here?” Asuna shuddered. “This had nothing to do with them, or whatever stupid quest they're running!”

“I doubt they're smart enough to know that.” He winced. “Kizmel. I'm sorry. This may have been about us after all.”

Closing her eyes, Kizmel took a few long, deliberate breaths. Squared her shoulders, and stood. “'About' us, perhaps,” she said softly. “But the fault is not yours. I will not blame you for what other Swordmasters have done. Not when I know well by now that you are not all of a piece.”

That was something she'd promised herself long ago, before it had ever occurred to her she might have cause to work with humans. Too often, in her life, she'd seen people treated that way, by their origin, not on their own merits. She knew the histories, of her own people's misdeeds, and of the Last Alliance.

All the same, she knew what the razing of the Dark Elf port by Forest Elves and Swordmasters meant. Painful as it was. “You are not of a piece,” she repeated, turning away. “Which is why… I should go.” She couldn't look back, not hearing the gasps from the comrades whose company she'd come to enjoy. “Misled or not, they must be after the sigil rings. If that's so, sooner or later, I will come to blows with the Fuumaningun. You can't fight your own, so I….”

Kizmel couldn't finish the sentence. Shaking her head, unable to say what she knew they'd earned, she started walking—

Only to be brought up short when hands took hold of both her arms. “And where do you think you're going?” Asuna demanded.

“You agreed to help me track down an Integrity Knight,” Kirito said dryly. “How could I look myself in the mirror if I ran away from some idiot wannabe-ninja?”

Kizmel blinked, glancing from one to the other in confusion. She'd known them barely a month, but she knew Asuna was still trying to find her own way; surely it couldn't be so easy for her to risk fighting her own people. And Kirito—that he'd gone so far as to grasp her of his own volition, as skittish as he was?

“But—”

“You said yourself, we're not 'of a piece',” Asuna told her, her chiding look spoiled by her smile. “The Fuuma are Swordmasters. They're not 'our own'.”

“And we're part of this.” Kirito's gaze was much more serious. “If the Fuuma are after the rings we found, this is our responsibility, too. I won't run from that.” His grip on her arm tightened. “I can't.”

She still could've denied them. Some in her own Knighthood, she was sure, would've done so in an instant, just as the Portmaster's adjutant had. Certainly, even with the strength of Swordmasters, they couldn't have held her.

But I'm not so different from Kirito, am I? If I left them now, I would be alone, at least until the next Skywall is breached. I… don't want that. Not when I've finally found people besides Tilnel who make me feel… warm.

Closing her eyes, Kizmel raised a gauntleted hand to her chest, where she still felt ghostly echoes from the awakening of Moondancer's core. That feeling, she still didn't understand. She just knew that it was warm, and comforting. Something she desperately needed, so far from her own.

“…You too are quite mad, you know,” she whispered. “To be willing to confront other Swordmasters… and you must know, when word of this reaches my people, there will be those who blame you.”

“Trust me, Kizmel. I know all about that.” There was a darkness in Asuna's eyes—and burning embers, like an old grudge that had never quite died. “Here, I can at least defend myself.”

“What she said. And… this is wrong.” Kirito looked back, at the flaming, wrecked port. “This is wrong, and I don't think you can do anything about it alone, any more than I can reach Alice by myself.” He suddenly grinned, a crooked, rakish look. “Besides. Did you forget? You don't exactly have a ride without us, Kizmel.”

“Er.” Kizmel blinked, glanced back at the empty—and still burning—airship cradles. Lowered her head, sighing. “That really should teach me to think before I act…. Very well, my comrades.” She straightened, but made no move to shake off the hands on her arms. “You've won this argument. Where do we go now, to bring justice for this atrocity?”

“Back to our original plan, I'd say,” Kirito said, as he and Asuna turned to lead her back to Moondancer. “First, we go see if Argo's dug up anything. The news about the Legend Braves might give her a new lead….”

Chapter Text

Chapter VIII: “Let Justice Be Done”

December 9^th , 2032

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kizmel eagerly leaned forward. “And?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Oh, thanks….”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kirito flinched.

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

Oh, this could be entertaining.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Asuna!”

Cold!

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

I can't breathe!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Distinctive, yet… what?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

December 10^th, 2032

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Tengu?” Kirito blurted, eyes wide. “He was here?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[Connection Failed. Interference.]

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

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