Leafa had tried to laugh off the suggestion, but Recon persisted. In a hard-core skill-oriented MMO like ALO, female players were a rarity, which made their in-game value based more on their pop-star status than their abilities. According to Recon, a girl as talented and, more importantly, attractive as Leafa was rarer than a legendary weapon, making her a desired piece of eye candy, not to mention the target of less savory desires, which of course he did not share, being a true friend who only wanted a real, platonic relationship and none of those other benefits, you can be assured.
Leafa had given him a solid blow to the liver with all of her weight to stop him from elaborating on that particular train of thought. Once that was taken care of, she considered his point. First of all, she didn’t get the sense that she was inspiring any kind of celebrity treatment. On top of that, there were enough things to keep track of in an MMORPG that she didn’t feel like complicating matters further. She’d decided to keep taking part in Sigurd’s group, and there hadn’t been any major problems…until now.
Faced with a furious Sigurd, Leafa felt the heavy, clinging web of hassles descending upon her. The only thing she wanted from ALO was the feeling of flight, of escape from pressure. To cast aside her troubles and fly as far as she desired. Nothing more.
But it seemed that was a naiveté born of ignorance. Perhaps it was just a fantasy of hers, that this virtual world where everyone had wings would be enough to help her forget the gravity of real life.
She thought back to the older boy from the kendo dojo who had picked on her in elementary school. He’d been invincible since joining the dojo, until he could no longer beat Suguha—younger and, even worse, a girl. So he’d gathered his friends to play a mean prank on her on the way home. That boy’s mouth had been arched in the same arrogant smile that Sigurd wore now.
So this place is just the same…
Leafa cast her head down, devastated by frustration and disappointment. Suddenly, Kirito, who had silently melted like a shadow behind her, spoke up.
“Companions aren’t items.”
“Huh…?”
Leafa spun around, wide-eyed. In the moment, she didn’t understand what he meant. Sigurd growled in surprise.
“What did you say?”
Kirito stepped forward between Leafa and Sigurd, staring down the imposing figure who stood a full head taller than him. “Your fellow players aren’t swords or pieces of armor. You can’t just lock them down in equipment slots.”
“H-how dare you—!” Sigurd’s face went an instant red at Kirito’s direct challenge. He swiped his long cape back and placed a threatening hand on his sword hilt.
“Miserable, trash-digging spriggan! Quit wasting your time with scum like him, Leafa! He’s likely just another renegade exiled from his home territory!”
His insult was so furious that he seemed on the verge of drawing his blade at any moment. But Leafa had lost her composure and shouted back.
“Watch your mouth! I’ll have you know Kirito is my new partner!”
“What…?” A blue vein was pulsing on Sigurd’s forehead as he grunted in shock. “Leafa…are you abandoning our territory?”
Those words caused her eyes to go wide.
Players in ALO were widely separated into two groups, based on their play style.
One of those groups was made of people like Leafa and Sigurd, who used their race’s territory as a home base, worked with others of their own kind, and paid yrd tithes to their race’s government to increase the group’s power within the game. The other kind of player left the territory for neutral ground and worked with parties of mixed races. The former looked down on the latter for being aimless, calling them renegades—either for leaving home of their own accord or being exiled by the lord of the territory.
Leafa felt little affiliation to the general collective of sylphs; she stuck around because she liked Swilvane and didn’t want the disruption of pulling up her roots and leaving. But Sigurd’s accusations accelerated her desire to be free of this nonsense, forcing her to confront her inner conflict.
“Yes…that’s right. I’m leaving,” she said simply.
Sigurd’s lips twisted to expose his clenched teeth, and he drew his broadsword. He glared at Kirito with eyes aflame.
“I had no intention of bothering myself with the buzzing of insignificant flies, but your brazen attempt at thievery cannot be overlooked. Surely you are prepared for the possibility of being cut down where you stand in another race’s territory…”
Kirito answered Sigurd’s theatrical menace with only a shrug of his shoulders. Leafa nearly rolled her eyes at his sheer nerve, but she put her hand on her katana anyway, just in case she had to attack Sigurd. The air was tense.
Suddenly, one of Sigurd’s fellows piped up quietly from behind him.
“Now’s not a good time, Sig. You can’t just kill an unresisting player in public like this…”
Perhaps sensing that trouble was about to erupt, a ring of observers had formed around them. Proper duels or accusations of spying aside, Kirito was nothing more than a simple tourist, and an act of open aggression from Sigurd would not reflect well on him.
Sigurd glared at Kirito, teeth gnashing, but reluctantly returned his sword to its sheath.
“Make sure you stay well out of sight out there,” he shot at Kirito, before turning his attention to Leafa. “If you betray me now, you’ll rue your choice later.”
“Much better than regretting my choice to stay.”
“Then you ought to practice begging on your hands and knees for when you want to come back to the fold,” Sigurd menaced, then spun around and headed for the tower’s exit. His two party members looked at Leafa as though they wanted to say something, but ultimately they gave up and ran after Sigurd.
Only when they were out of sight did Leafa let out a heavy sigh. “I’m sorry for getting you involved in that…”
“No, I shouldn’t have fanned the flames the way I did. Are you sure about this, though? You’re really leaving your territory?”
“Uhh…”
Leafa struggled to find something to say at first, then pushed Kirito on the back without any elaboration. They made their way through the circle of observers and hopped onto the elevator. She hit the button for the top floor, and the large stone circle that served as the elevator platform glowed green and shot up through the clear glass tube.
Less than a minute later, the elevator came to a stop, and the glass wall opened without a sound, letting in the white morning sun and a pleasant breeze.
Leafa quickly paced out onto the observation deck on the tower’s top level. She’d been to this landing countless times, but the open panorama in all directions never failed to make her heart spring to life.
The sylph territory was in the southwest region of Alfheim. To the west was a stretch of plains that abruptly met the sea, an infinite expanse of blue water. To the east was an endless forest bordered by the purple haze of a mountain range. Beyond them, looming even larger and virtually the same shade as the sky above, was one enormous shadow—the World Tree.
“Wow…what a view,” Kirito marveled, squinting as he scanned the horizon. “The sky’s so close, I feel like I could reach out and grab it…”
He stared out at the blue with eyes full of longing. Leafa extended her hand into the air and said, “Right? When you gaze out at this sky, it makes everything else seem insignificant in comparison.”
“…”
Kirito gave her a concerned look. She smiled back to reassure him. “It’s for the best, really. I was looking for the chance to leave anyway. I was just too afraid to make the plunge on my own…”
“I see. But now you really burned your bridges on the way out…”
“After his reaction, I doubt there was any peaceful way to leave the party. I wonder,” she started to mumble, mostly to herself. “Why does everything have to come down to control-or-be-controlled? I mean, we have these wonderful wings…”
It
wasn’t Kirito who answered her but the pixie named Yui, whose face was propped up on his wide jacket collar. “Humans are very complicated things.”
She spun into the air with a jingle and landed on Kirito’s other shoulder, crossing her arms and muttering, “I do not understand the nature of humanity to make the search for the hearts of others such a complicated process.”
Leafa stared at Yui, briefly forgetting that she was only a program.
“The search for…?”
“I understand that the root cause of much human behavior is the desire to interact with the hearts of other people. This is the foundation of my understanding. In my case…” Yui suddenly put a hand on Kirito’s cheek and gave him a dainty kiss. “I do this. It is a very simple and clear way to demonstrate that desire.”
Leafa’s eyes went wide with surprise, but Kirito laughed uneasily and flicked Yui’s head.
“The human world is a bit more complex than that. If everyone tried it, they’d cross the harassment code and get banned.”
“It’s a matter of sequence and style, right?”
“Please don’t pick up nonsense like that, Yui.”
Leafa finally found her voice and butted into the conversation. “Th-that’s quite a remarkable AI. Are all private pixies like her?”
“No, she’s especially weird,” Kirito remarked, picking up Yui by the lapel and depositing her back into his shirt pocket.
“I…see. Searching for the hearts of others, huh?” she repeated, then stretched her back out.
Leafa’s personal desire was to fly as far as she could across this world. Did this mean that underneath that exterior, she simply needed to connect with another person? Kazuto’s face suddenly flashed through her head, and she felt her heart leap within her chest.
Perhaps what she really wanted…was to use these fairy wings to fly over all those obstacles in real life, until she finally reached Kazuto’s heart.
“Yeah, right…”
I’m overthinking, she told herself. I just want to fly. That’s all.
“Hmm? You say something?”
“N-nothing…Let’s get going, shall we?”
She cast a smile toward Kirito and looked up into the sky. The clouds that had been glowing gold during the sunrise had dissipated by now, leaving only unbroken blue. It was going to be a lovely day.
There was a monument on the platform called a Locator Stone that Leafa instructed Kirito to use—it would bookmark his location so that he could return later. Once that was done, she stretched and beat her four wings.
“All ready?”
“Yeah.”
Kirito checked with the pixie in his pocket to confirm she was ready as well, but before they could start flying…
“Leafa!”
A figure behind them was practically falling out of the elevator, he was in such a rush. Leafa lowered herself back onto the platform.
“Oh…Recon.”
“Th-this isn’t right! You could have told me before you left.”
“Sorry, Recon! I forgot.”
He tried to pull himself together, and when he looked up at her, it was with a serious expression on his face.
“I heard…you’re leaving the party?”
“Half out of impulse, really. What are you going to do now?”
“Isn’t that obvious? My sword exists only for you, Leafa…”
“Ugh, I didn’t ask for that.”
Recon slumped his shoulders again, but this wasn’t enough to stop him.
“Well, I’d like to go with you, of course…but there’s something weighing on my mind.”
“…What’s that?”
“I’m not certain of it yet…but I need to be sure. So I’m going to stay in Sigurd’s party for a bit longer. Kirito?” Now he fixed Kirito with his most serious gaze. “She has a bad habit of jumping into trouble. So watch out.”
“Um, yeah…got it,” Kirito nodded, seemingly entertained.
“And just so you know, she’s my—Gack!” Leafa’s boot landing on the bridge of his foot, hard, cut him short.
“Enough out of you! I’ll be in neutral for a good while, so send me a message if anything happens!” she chattered hastily, then spread her wings and took to the air. Leafa waved down at Recon, who was looking up unhappily. “And make sure to keep practicing your Voluntary Flight, even while I’m gone. Also, stay away from salamander territory! ’Bye!”
“S-stay safe, Leafa! I’ll catch up to you soon!” he wailed, tears in his eyes. I’m going to see you at school tomorrow, you dip, Leafa thought, but she was surprised to find a touch of emotion at the parting, and she turned away before it could develop into anything. She set her sights to the northeast and spread her wings for a glide.
Kirito pulled up to her side within moments, clearly struggling to hide a grin.
“Is he a real-life friend of yours?”
“…You could say that.”
“Ohh?”
“…What? Is that interesting to you?”
“Just thinking that it’s…nice.”
Yui spoke up from Kirito’s pocket. “I can understand his emotions. He likes you, Leafa. What do you think of that?”
“I-I don’t care!!” she shouted, increasing her speed to hide her embarrassment. She was used to Recon’s open attitude about his feelings, but she felt strangely self-conscious when he did it with Kirito around.
In quick order, they had left the town and were surrounded by the green of the forest. Leafa flipped around onto her back and looked at the shrinking jade city.
Something like wistful longing pricked her heart when she thought of leaving Swilvane, her in-game home for the past year, but that pain was washed away by the excitement of a journey to new, unfamiliar surroundings. She said a silent good-bye and turned back over.
“Let’s hurry! We can make it to that lake in a single flight!”
She pointed at the sparkling water far in the distance and beat her wings.
Asuna simply closed her eyes and shut out the sensation of the clinging, clammy fingertip sliding along the underside of her arm.
They were on the enormous bed in the middle of the birdcage. Oberon was stretched out on his side, long green toga in a disheveled state around his body as he held Asuna’s hand and rubbed her skin. His handsome face was even creepier and more loathsome than usual—he was clearly enjoying toying with her, knowing she would be at his mercy if he chose to take her.
When Oberon had entered the cage and sprawled out on the bed, she initially resisted his command to join him. When he started fiddling with her arm, she nearly punched his lights out.
The only reason she swallowed her disgust and obeyed him was the knowledge of his mercurial temper: She was afraid of him stealing what little freedom she still possessed. In fact, it was almost as though he was waiting for her to resist. He would wait until he’d drunk his fill of her displeasure, then use his system privileges to have his way with her. At least for the moment, she was free to walk around the inside of the cage. She had to keep it that way…if she wanted any chance of escape.
But there were limits to what she could stand. If he touched her body, she would put her right fist smack in the middle of his face. Until then, she remained as still as stone, until Oberon gave up on getting any reaction from stroking her arm. He let go and sat up.
“Why do you have to be so headstrong?” he pouted. That voice was the one thing about Oberon that perfectly matched her memory of Sugou, and it made her sick all over again. “It’s not even your real body. There’s no lasting harm. Isn’t it boring spending all your time in here? Haven’t you ever thought about just enjoying it?”
“You don’t understand. Real or virtual makes no difference. At least to me.”
“Why? Because it will ruin the purity of your heart?” He chuckled deep in his throat. “Well, I’m certainly not letting you out of here until I’ve solidified my position a bit more. I think it would be smarter of you to learn how to enjoy it while yo
u can. The system here is really quite deep in its simulation, didn’t you know?”
“I have no interest in that. Besides, I’m not going to be in here forever. I have faith that he’ll come for me.”
“Oh? Who will? Kirito the Hero, you mean?”
Asuna’s body trembled unconsciously at the name. Oberon’s leer widened as he sat up straighter. He began speaking faster now, satisfied that he’d finally found her button and knew how to push it.
“What was his actual name…? Kirigaya? I met him the other day. On the other side.”
“…!!”
The moment she heard that, Asuna lifted her head and looked straight at him.
“I tell you, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw that the hero who beat SAO was that scrawny little boy! Or is that just what all hard-core gamers look like?” He egged her on, delight plastered over his face. “Where do you suppose I saw him? In your hospital room, right next to your body. I wish you could have seen his face when I told him I was going to marry you next month, as you lay in your bed next to us! I’ve seen dogs with their favorite bones taken away who looked less pitiful than he did. I nearly burst out laughing!”
His body shook and gyrated with mirth as he let out odd little gasping giggles.
“So you actually believe that little kid’s going to come save you! I’d bet good money that he doesn’t have the guts to even put a NerveGear on his head ever again! To say nothing of him ever actually finding you here. Hey, that reminds me, I still need to send him a wedding invitation. I’m sure he’ll be there—he’ll want to see you in your wedding dress. I mean, we have to give our precious hero something to hang on to, don’t we?”
Asuna lowered her head once more, turned her back on Oberon, and faced the large mirror that hung from the bed’s canopy frame. The strength drained from her shoulders, and she squeezed the cushions tight.
“Alas, the security cameras were off, so I didn’t get a recording of his utter disappointment. I could have brought you a video souvenir. Maybe I’ll try that next time. But for now, I’m afraid I must take my leave, Titania. Do try to fight the loneliness until I visit you in two days’ time.”