Chapter 8

Asuna felt something prickle the back of her neck and stopped short.

She turned and saw the great stairs, lined with thick red carpet, but nothing

out of the ordinary. There was a feeling of disquiet in her chest when she faced

forward again and saw that Alice had also stopped and was looking strangely at

her.

"…Asuna, did something just…?"

"You felt it, too…?" she whispered back.

They peered around again, but the marble walls that made up Central

Cathedral completely separated the inside and outside of the structure, leaving

only a centuries-old silence to fill the dim stairway.

"Asuna, Alice, what's the matter?" asked a voice from farther up the stairs.

Stica and Laurannei were waiting at the next landing, looking curiously down at

them. Airy stood beyond them, holding Natsu, but none of them seemed to

have felt anything amiss.

"Sorry, it's nothing!" Asuna replied, and the two hurried up the steps.

After seeing off Kirito and Eolyne in their dragoncraft, the girls had gone to

the Great Bath on the ninetieth floor to wash off the sweat of the day, then put

on thin bathrobes in the changing room lounge nearby, drank cold beverages,

and ate fruit as they talked.

When the one-thirty bells rang, they decided to change back into their clothes

and left the bath. Their next destination was the kitchen on the ninety-fourth

floor, to prepare a big feast for when Kirito and Eolyne returned. The current

topic of discussion was what to make.

The men wouldn't come back until at least four o'clock, so there was plenty of

time to work with. According to Airy, Asuna had spent lots of time in this

kitchen as the Star Queen, developing new dishes. It was unfortunate that she

couldn't remember this period for herself, but all the recipes had been recorded

in exacting detail, so it wouldn't be too hard to re-create them.

If anything, the problem was whether the people to eat it would have enough

time for the meal. The trio was going to be yanked out at five o'clock, whether

they liked it or not, so if Kirito got back at 4:55, he was going to have to pack

that feast into a five-minute span.

Just make sure you get back with thirty minutes to spare, Asuna thought,

speaking to the former Star King, certainly safe and sound on Admina by now.

She skipped up the last few steps.