To Yggdrasil
~Third POV~
Suguha who was laying on her bed was thinking about the virtual world
Suguha: "I want to see the virtual world with my own eyes."
Suguha: "I wonder when I first thought that. Initially, I saw virtual reality games as detestable creations that had stolen my brother from me."
Suguha: "Still, I... ended up wanting to see the world that my brother loved so dearly for myself. I grew curious."
Suguha: "Eventually, I became completely absorbed by the world of Alfheim Online. The thrill of soaring freely through the skies with your own wings... If it meant that I could continue to fly as high and far as I desired, nothing would be too big of a sacrifice."
Suguha: "I think I understand now. The reason why my brother was so enchanted by this world."
Suguha's School
Sugu who finished her kendo meeting was just going back to her home when...
Nagata: "Leafa-chan!"
Suguha: "Woah... *Sigh* I told you not to call me that at school, Nagata-kun."
Nagata: "S-Sorry, Suguha-chan."
Suguha: "Why you..." She was going to grip her wooden sword
Nagata: "S-S-Sorry, Kirigaya-san!"
Suguha: "What do you want? And why are you here when you've already been accepted to a high school? Attendance is voluntary at this point."
Nagata: "Sugu-"
Suguha: "Grr..."
Nagata: "Kirigaya-san, I had something to tell you, so I waited here all morning. Haven't you been accepted already, too?"
Suguha: "I went to the kendo club because the advisor called for me. So, what is it that you wanted to tell me?"
Nagata: "Sigurd and the others want to go hunting again this afternoon."
Suguha: "Sorry, but I won't be able to join you guys for a while."
Nagata: "H-Huh? Why?"
Suguha: "I'm planning to go to Alne for a but."
Nagata: "Alne? At the base of Yggdrasil... W-Wait, are you going with those two Spriggans from yesterday?"
Suguha: "Well... Yeah, sort of. I'm just going show them the way there." She says with a bit of a flushed face
Nagata: "Wh-What are you thinking, Lea-"
Suguha: "Ngh..."
Nagata: "Ah... Ahem. Kirigaya-san, you're going to travel that far and sleep at inns with those shady people?" Once he said that Suguha was blushing and she grabbed her sword that is still in the bag
Suguha: "Get your mind out of the gutter!" She then hits Nagata in the stomach
*THUMP*
Nagata: "Gah!... Ack..."
Suguha: "Anyway, that's how it is, so let Sigurd and the others know, okay?"
She then proceeds to go out of the school
Suguha: "See ya!"
Kirigaya Residence
Suguha who off her school uniform and wore a white shirt was preparing to dive into the game
Suguha: "I'm just showing them the way there. That's all."
...
She then lays on her bed and puts on the AmuSphere
She then closes her eyes then smiles
...
Suguha: "Link Start!"
~Hikari POV~
January 21st, 2025 - Sylp Territory - Swilvane
After taking a shower and eating breakfast I dived into the game early than the others so I was pretty much drinking till I heard the door opened
It was Leafa and Kirito spawned in in front of me sitting
Kirito: "Oh hey, you two are early."
Leafa: "No, I just got here."
Kirito: "Wait so how long were you here Hikari?"
Hikari: "About an hour ago... I was bored."
Leafa: "I was doing a bit of shopping" The two of us realized something
Hikari: "Now that you mention it..."
Kirito: "We need to get prepared too. Our equipment isn't really reliable at the moment."
Leafa: "Okay. Then let's go to the weapon store."
Kirito then checked his menu to find his currency
KIrito: "Hm... It's this "Yrd" thing, right?"
Leafa: "Yeah."
Hikari: "Let me see." I then opened my menu and...
Kirito&Hikari: "Ack..."
Leafa: "Hm?"
Hikari: 'Oh my god...' When I checked how much money I have I was a bit surprised since I have ten-million Yrd
Kirito: "H-Hey, we're going, Yui." Yui who sleeping in his pocket woke up
Yui: "*Yawn* Okay..."
Hikari: "Welp time to do some shopping."
With Leafa leading us to buy our equipment the both of us bought what's best for us
My outfit had a dark blue armor for my upper body, leggings, and a hood
(PIC HERE)
For my sword, it was the Demonbane Blade and my dagger was the Ephemeral Edge
Demonbane Blade
Ephemeral Edge
Kirito's outfit was more of a similar outfit he had in SAO and his sword which was huge I think it was called the Black Plate
When Kirito put his sword on his back Leafa laughed a bit
Leafa: "Pft..."
We were being toured by Leafa since this is her territory she was pretty much telling us where the locations are like shops, inn, basic stuff
We then arrived at a large tower
Kirito: "Why are we at the tower?"
Leafa: "Oh, when you're making long-distance flights, you need to take off the top of here. It's for extra altitude."
Hikari: "Well that's really convenient." I then remembered something
Kirito: "W-Wait no you're kidding me!"
Hikari: "Oh right this is one of the towers you smashed into."
Kirito: "Y-Yeah..."
Leafa then pushed as forward
Leafa: "Come on, let's go. I want to get past the forest before nightfall."
Hikari: "You don't need to push us."
We were now inside the tower and there was a lot going on inside such as guilds, trading items, or just hanging out
Leafa then grabs our arms to lead us to the stairs
Leafa: "Here, it's this way!"
...
Sigurd: "Leafa!" The three of us turned around to find what seems like Leafa's party
Leafa: "Good afternoon, Sigurd."
Sigurd: "Are you leaving the party, Leafa?"
Leafa: "Yeah, pretty much."
Sigurd: "Didn't it occur to you that it would inconvenience the rest of us?"
Leafa: "We agreed that whether or not I participated in the party was completely up to me, remember?"
Sigurd: "But now, the fact that you're a member of my party is well-known. If you leave without a good reason, it'll reflect badly on us."
Leafa: "Huh?"
...
...
...
Hikari: "You know? Party members aren't tools you know?"
Leafa looks at me and I saw Kirito gave me a smile and nodded I then step forward
Sigurd: "What did you say?"
Hikari: "I said... You aren't her owner and she is not your tool for you to use."
Sigurd: "Why you..." He then grasps his sword
Sigurd: "Garbage-rummaging Spriggans like you two should know their place! I bet you two are just a renegade who was exiled from their own territory!"
Leafa: "Watch what you say. They're my new partners!"
Sigurd: "What? Leafa, do you intend to abandon your home territory and become a renegade too?!"
Hikari: 'When did she ever say that? I'm really thinking that guys like him are idiots.'
...
Leafa: "Yes, that's right. I'm leaving this place!"
Sigurd: "Tch." He then takes out his sword
Sigurd: "I was going to leave you two to crawl around like the little insect you guys are. But your thievery seems to be a death wish." He says while he points at me
Sigurd: "Seeing as you two nonchalantly waltzed into another race's territory, I'm assuming you two have no complaints if we-"
Hikari: "You're going to cut us down? Go ahead then."
Sigurd: "W-What?!" I crossed my arms
Hikari: "Look around you. We have done nothing wrong while we were on your territory we were only just asking for help which Leafa here agreed and we were just about to leave as well. And here you are trying to cut us down in front of all these people here... Won't that affect your reputation?" I smirked
Sylph Player 1: "She's right Sigurd-san now's not the good time. If you kill these defenseless player in front of all these people..." When he said that Sigurd's has realized what the situation they're in
Many bystanders were watching the situation and Sigurd saw it
Sigurd: "Damn." He then puts away his sword
Sigurd: "Run and hide as best as you can outside, Leafa. If you betray me now, you'll surely come to regret it in the near future." Sigurd and his party then walks away and Leafa sighs
Leafa: "Sorry for getting you two involved in that mess."
Hikari: "It's alright."
Kirito: "Yeah... But was that okay? Abandoning your home territory..."
Leafa: "Ahhh..."
Hikari: "Um Leafa?"
She said nothing and just pushed us to the stairs
Kirito: "H-Hey..."
When reach the top of the tower we were really high up
Kirito: "The views's incredible."
Hikari: "Yeah we're so high up everything seems so tiny..."
Leafa: "Right? Whenever I see this sky, so many things look small in comparison."
...
Leafa: "It was a good opportunity."
Hikari: "Opportunity?"
Leafa: "Yeah actually I've always been thinking of leaving this place someday."
Kirito: "I see."
Hikari: "But um Leafa? I kind of made it the result of a falling out between party members."
Leafa: "Either way, there wouldn't have been a peaceful alternative."
Hikari: "I can very well see that."
Kirito: "Say, what's a "renegade"?"
Hikari: "Kirito they are players who abandoned their territory."
Leafa: "Or in other words, they're scorned as deserters."
Kirito: "Are you fine with that?"
Leafa: "Yeah, I don't really mind, but... I wonder why people want to tie down themselves and others like that. Especially since we have these wings..."
Yui who came out of Kiritos pocket then flys on my shoulder
Yui: "Humans are really complicated. I don't understand the mentality that makes them express their longing for others in such a complicated way."
Hikari: "Huh?"
Leafa: "Longing?"
Yui: "If it were me..." She then kisses Kirito's cheek then mine after
Kirito: "Ah..."
Yui: "I'd do that. It's very simple and clear."
Leafa: "Th-That's an amazing AI. Are all Private Pixies like that?"
Hikari: "Um no sadly."
Kirito: "Yea she's just an especially odd one." He then picks Yu.i up and stuffs her into his pocket
Leafa: "I-I see. A longing for others, huh?"
Recon: "Leafa-chan!" We then turned around to see Recon
Leafa: "Oh, Recon."
Recon: "You're so mean!" He then comes to us
Recon: "You could've at least said something to me before you left."
Leafa: "Sorry, I forgot." He then sighs
Recon: "Leafa-chan, I heard you left the party."
Leafa: "It was kind of on the spur of the moment though. What are you going to do?"
Recon: "Isn't that obvious?" He then takes out his blade
Recon: "I wield this blase for none other than you, after all."
Leafa: "What? But I don't really need it."
Recon: "Eh..."
Hikari: "Oof..."
Recon: "R-Regardless, that's how it is, so naturally I'll be tagging along... is what I'd like to say, but there's something that I'm a little worried about."
Leafa: "What is it?"
Recon: "I don't have any real evidence yet... But I want to investigate a bit, so I'll stay in Sigurd's party for a while. Hikari-san, Kirito-san, she has a habit of getting into trouble, so please be careful."
Kirito: "O-Okay, we got it."
Hikari: "Mhm." I gave him a thumbs up
Recon: "Also, just so you two know, she's my-" Before he could finish Leafa stepped on Recon's foot... Hard
Recon: "Ouch!..." He then holds his foot in pain
Leafa: "We should be in the neutral region for a while, so message me if something comes up."
Leafa then flys off
Recon: "O-Ow... Ah..." The two of us waved goodbye and followed Leafa
Hikari: "Didn't you say you were his friend in real life too right?"
Leafa: "Yeah I guess I did say that."
Kirito: "Hm..."
Leafa: "What's with that thoughtful look for?"
Kirito: "Nothing really. I was just thinking that it seems nice."
Yui: "I understand how he feels. He likes you, doesn't he?"
Hikari: "Obviously."
Yui: "So what do you think of him?" Leafa then blushed
Leafa: "I-It's not like it matters!" She then flew faster
Hikari: "That just makes us more curious..." The three of us chuckles
We both saw that Leafa was looking sad when she looked back so we gave her a smile for her to cheer up and it worked
Leafa: "Come on, let's hurry! We'll reach that lake in one flight!"
Kirito: "Okay!"
Hikari: "Let's go!"
~Third POV~
January 21st, 2025 - Yggdrasil
Back to Asuna. Oberon was again touching her and she was feeling uncomfortable
Oberon: "Honestly... You're such an obstinate woman." It's just a fake body, you know. It won't hurt you. Don't you ever feel like having a little fun?"
Asuna: "You wouldn't understand. It doesn't matter whether or not this body is real. At least, not to me."
Oberon: "Are you trying to say it would defile your heart? Hehehe I think it'd be wise of you to learn how to have fun while you still can though."
Asuna: "I don't plan on staying here forever. I'm sure... Those two will come to save me."
Oberon: "Oh? And who are those two? Is it who I think the two will be?"
Oberon: "The hero, Kirito-kun and your friend Hikari-kun?"
When Asuna heard those two names she looked at him surprised
Oberon: "There... real names are Kirigaya-kun and Hikari-kun, isn't it? I met those two the other day in the real world." She was still surprised by this
Oberon: "Honestly, I couldn't believe the hero that cleared SAO was a mere child, Where do you think I met those two?" He sat on a chair
Oberon: "In your hospital room! The expression he made when I told him in front of your bed that I'd be marrying you next week was just priceless! I could barely contain my laughter!"
Oberon: "Hikari-kun didn't have the reaction I wanted but she's really feisty you know? Maybe I should take her as well as my servant." He then laughs a bit
Oberon: "Feel free to count on those two. But those two don't have the guts to put on the NerveGear ever again!"
Asuna just looks behind
Oberon: "Oh, right. I need to send those two an invitation to our wedding. They'll definitely come. To see you in a wedding dress, that is. I guess it's only fair to let Hero Bot have that much and maybe I can do something to that girl as well." He continues to laugh but stops
Oberon: "Now then, I have to leave you for a bit, Titania. I'm sure it'll be lonely, but please be patient." He then goes to unlock the door
Asuna: 'Kirito-kun is... alive!'
Oberon then types the password but Asuna watches the mirror to see the passcode
The gates open and Oberon leaves
...
...
...
Asuna: "8... 11... 3... 2... 9."
...
...
...
~Hikari POV~
January 21st, 2025 - Neutral Region - Elder Forest
Kirito: "HUAGGH!"
*SLASH*
*SHATTER* *SHATTER
Kirito: "There's two over there Hikari!"
Hikari: "Got it!" While flying to our destination we encountered five Evil Glancers
Hikari "Take this!"
*SLASH*
Evil Glancers: "*CRYS*"
*SHATTER* *SHATTER*
There was one more we couldn't kill so I was going to chase after it when
Leafa: "Sea surita fimu guron vindo!" After that five shaped boomerang-like blades then hits the Evil Glancer
*SHATTER*
After the battle was over we got our rewards
Hikari: "Nice!"
Leafa: "Good work you two!"
Kirito: "Thanks for the backup." We then high five each other
Just then we noticed our wings were being more transparent than usual
Leafa: "Our wings are just about at their limit. Let's head down for a bit."
Kirito: "Okay." We then landed on the ground and stretched ourselves
Leafa: "Tired you two?"
Hikari: "Nope. No, not really."
Kirito: "Yeah I can keep going."
Leafa: "Oh well aren't you two such hard workers. But still, we'll have to put flying on hold for a while."
Kirito: "What? Why?"
Leafa: "You guys can see that mountain, right?"
Hikari: "Yeah so?"
Leafa: "Well it's taller than the height limit, so we need to go through the saves to get past. It's the roughest part of the trip from Sylph territory to Alne, or so I've heard."
Hikari: "That's a bummer."
Leafa: "It's also going to be my first time going beyond here too."
Kirito: "I see. Caves, huh? Are they long?"
Leafa: "Considerably. There's supposedly a neutral mining town partway through that we can rest at though. Hey Kirito-kun, Hikari, do you two have to leave soon?"
Hikari: "Well it is 7 PM in the real world but I can still keep going."
Kirito: "Yeah I'll be fine for a while longer."
Leafa: "Really? Then let's continue for a bit longer. Why don't we rotate out here?"
Kirito: "R-Rotate?"
Hikari: "Can you please explain it?"
Leafa: "Oh, it means to take turns logging out and resting. We're in a neutral region, so we can't log off immediately. Instead, people take turns protecting each other's avatar while they're off."
Kirito: "I see. Sounds good. Leafa, you can go first. while we go second."
Leafa: "Okay, I'll take you two up on that. Give me twenty minutes or so." She then went to her menu and logged off while we stay behind and protect her
...
The two of us were alone and Kirito asked me something
Kirito: "Hey Hikari?"
Hikari: "What is it?"
Kirito: "Remember back in SAO when we were searching for Yui's parents in the Starting Town?"
Hikari: "What about it?"
Kirito: "Back when we met Sasha and the kids and the Army was there."
Hikari: "So?"
Kirito: "Your eyes were red when you talked back at the Army... What was that?" I flinched
Hikari: 'Oh... That.'
Hikari: "It's not something you should be worrying about Kirito."
Kirito: "Are you sure? You've been helping me many times before and I just want to make sure your okay."
Hikari: "I'm fine Kirito there's no need to worry about me and besides I helped you because I wanted to you don't need to repay me anything alright?"
Kirito: "Yeah sorry..."
Hikari: "It's fine Kirito let's just get back to guard Leafa."
After we had our talk and we went back to guard Leafa Yui popped her head out of Kirito's pocket
She then looked at me with sadness written on her face after that she went back to his pocket
~20 Minutes~
We were just laying around since it was peaceful and there were no monsters around I was just looking at the sky with the weird stick Kirito gave me in my mouth
Apparently, it's kind of like smoking but it does nothing to your body and it's kinda good
Leafa: "Thanks for waiting. Did you two see any monster?"
When Leafa came back we were just laying the grass
Hikari: "Nope. Oh and welcome back."
Kirito: "Yep things were pretty uneventful."
Leafa: "What's that thing on both of your mouths?"
Hikari: "Ask Kirito."
Kirito: "Oh it's just something I bought at the general store before we left. The NPC there said it's a Swilvane specialty."
Leafa: "I've never heard of that before." He then threw the stick to Leafa and she caught it
She then tasted it and Kirito smirked
Leafa: "FUAAAAGH!" She then blew puffs of smoke and she coughs
Kirito: "Well then, guess it's our turn to log off now. We'll be counting on you."
Leafa: "Yeah, you two go on ahead." She says while coughing
We then logged off
~Back in the Real World~
Once I logged out I opened my eyes to see my room I then took off the AmuSphere and got off my bed
I stretched my body a bit and took a shower
After I took a shower I then cooked some scrambled eggs and ate for a while
Rin: "Red eyes huh?" I then sighed
Rin: "Is this the power the system was talking about? How is that even average?"
Rin: "If I'm in that mode I just relentlessly kill people... Regardless I forgot how many players I killed in that game..."
Rin: "Somewhere in the one-hundreds? No maybe more than that..." I drank my glass of water
Rin: "It's no use anyway... What's done is done I've killed plenty of people whether they were green, orange, or red and none of my friends know this and I hope nobody does..."
Rin: "Although those green players deserved to die as they were leading players to an ambush and most of them tried to kill me."
Rin: "They still were killed by me when I was in that mode and I loved it... I loved killing them." My eyes glow red but I shook it off and sighed
Rin: "At least in ALO nobody dies so my eyes won't turn to red that much so that's a relief. Although I know for one fact in one specific episode I'm definitely going to break..."
I then remembered something
Rin: "Oh right Kirito should be logged back in now... Eh, I'm sure they can wait for a while longer."
I sighed then just continue eating my dinner
~Back in ALO~
~Third POV~
Back when Hikari and Kirito logged out Leafa who is left alone was guarding the two
When she was guarding Yui who came out of Kirito's pocket surprised her
Leafa: "W-Wait you can move even while your masters are offline?"
Yui who came out was now sitting on Kirito's shoulder
Yui: "Well of course I can. I'm me, after all. And these two aren't my masters, they're my Papa and Onee-chan."
Leafa: "That reminds me... Why do you call Kirito-kun and Hikari, "Papa" and "Onee-chan"? Don't tell me they... asked you to do that?"
Yui: "I owe my life to these two. He told me, "You're my child." And she always took care of me and played with me. That's why these two are my Papa and Onee-chan."
Leafa: "I-I see. Do you like... Papa and Onee-chan?"
Yui was confused as she never really knows these types of things
Yui: "Leafa-san, what does it mean to like someone?"
Leafa: "W-Well... Always wanting to be with them, and feeling giddy and excited when you're together... I guess it's that sort of feeling."
She then blushed because she remembered two certain people
She then shook her head while her face was red as a tomato
Yui: "What's wrong, Leafa-san?"
Leafa: "I-I-It's nothing!"
Kirito: "What's nothing exactly?" Kirito who came back was asking Leafa a question and she jumped back
Kirito: "I'm back. Did something happen?"
Yui: "Welcome back, Papa. I was just talking with Leafa-san. About wh-"
She was cut off by Leafa to drop the subject
Leafa: "I'm telling you, it's nothing! Th-That was pretty quick. Did you eat and everything?"
Kirito: "Yeah, my family left me something to eat."
Leafa: "Oh."
Kirito: "It looks like Hikari still hasn't come back." Leafa and Kirito were looking at Hikari who was laying down on the grass
Yui then sits on top of her chest
Leafa: "Say Kirito-kun?"
Kirito: "Yeah?"
Leafa: "Are you two... together?"
Kirito flinched and waved his hands
Kirito: "No! We're just best friends." He then looks at Hikari
Kirito: "She helped me a bunch of times and I never got to repay her but she says it's fine."
Kirito: "However... I feel like she's hiding something from me but I don't know what it is. I want to help her because she was there for me."
Leafa: "Is that so?" Leafa then looks at her face and flushed a bit
Leafa: 'She looks like Rin...'
Kirito: "Hopefully I can help her one day just like how he helped me."
Hikari: "Kirito like I said I'm fine there's no need to worry about me."
Kirito: "Oh your back."
~Hikari POV~
After eating dinner I logged back in and I heard Kirito saying about helping me or something
Yui: "Welcome back Onee-chan." She then hugged my cheek and I pat her head
Hikari: "Hello Yui. So anyway back to the subject I'm not in need of any help Kirito I'm fine."
Kirito: "If you're sure." I then looked at Leafa whose face was flushed
Hikari: "Uhh Leafa you okay?" She was staring at my face for a few seconds then shook her head
Leafa: "N-Nothing! Well then let's get going!"
Hikari: "Okay?"
Kirito: "Off we go then
We then stood up and activated our wings but not before noticing something around us
Leafa: "Is there something wrong?"
Hikari: "Kind of."
Kirito: "We get the feeling someone's watching us. Yui are there any players nearby?
Yui: "No, I don't detect anyone."
Hikari: "Well that's odd..."
Leafa: "Hmm, it might be a Tracer following us."
Kirito: "What's that?"
Leafa: "It's tracking magic. It generally appears as a small familiar and reports the location of a target to its caster."
Hikari: "Can we kill it?"
Leafa: "It's possible if we manage to find it, but the higher the caster's magic, the greater the Tracer's area of effect. So in a field like this, it'll be practically impossible to locate."
Kirito: "I see. Well, it could just be our imagination right Hikari?"
Hikari: "Yeah... Maybe."
Kirito: "Anyway, let's get a move one."
Leafa: "Okay."
We then took off the ground and went to our destination
...
...
...
Hikari: '*Sigh* This is going to be annoying...' I looked back to see a bat with red eyes following the three of us
Kirito: "Come on Hikari let's go."
Hikari: "Yeah, yeah I'm coming."