“…They’re gone.”
“Yep. It’s over now…”
The schism with Sigurd that had kicked the entire string of events into motion seemed like ancient history now. She could hardly believe that it had all happened in the last seven or eight hours.
“Somehow…”
Being here with Kirito made this world feel real, as though the version of herself with wings was her real body, Leafa/Suguha thought, but she couldn’t put it into words to speak aloud. Instead, she leaned against Kirito’s chest, hoping to hear his heartbeat.
“I told you not to cheat on her, Papa!”
“Ah!”
Leafa leaped away as a furious Yui shot out of Kirito’s chest pocket.
“Wh-what’s the big idea?” Kirito moaned, as Yui circled around his head. She landed on his shoulder and puffed out her cheeks adorably.
“Your heart was racing when the royal ladies were touching you!”
“I-I can’t help that; I’m a guy!!”
Leafa was momentarily relieved when she realized she wasn’t the root of the problem, but a new question popped into her head, which she asked Yui.
“Um, Yui, am I allowed to…?”
“You seem to be safe, Leafa.”
“W-why is that?”
“I dunno, you just don’t seem all that girly to me,” Kirito admitted.
“Wha—I—What’s that supposed to mean?!” Leafa put her hand on her sword hilt at this unforgivable affront.
“I-I just meant you’re easy to get along with…in a good way.” Kirito laughed awkwardly, rising into the air. “C-c’mon, let’s get flying to Alne! The sun’s almost down!”
“Hey! Get back here!” Leafa spread her wings and leaped.
As she buzzed her wings to chase after Kirito, speeding toward the World Tree at top velocity, Leafa glanced over her shoulder. The Ancient Forest and her sylph homeland were out of sight, beyond the looming mountains, but she did catch a glimpse of a large star, twinkling in the deepening gloom of the navy sky.
The sun, seemingly frozen in place at the very apex of the sky, did eventually fall to Earth, dyeing the curve of the horizon a brilliant red.
Asuna quietly got to her feet, calculating that at least five hours had passed in real time since Oberon’s last visit. It was probably past midnight. She rolled off the bed and stepped onto the tile, praying that no one was monitoring her.
Just ten steps took her to the golden door. It was appalling to think that she’d been trapped in this cramped space for more than two months.
But that ends today, she told herself, reaching a thumb out to the ID pad next to the door. Five hours earlier, she’d watched Oberon enter the code through the mirror. She spoke each number aloud as she punched them in. The buttons had a tactile click to them, each push agitating her strained nerves.
“…3…2…9.”
As she hit the last button, silently praying, there was a louder metallic sound, and the door opened just a crack. She pulled her arm back and pumped her fist in triumph, then laughed when she realized she’d picked that up from Kirito.
“Kirito…I’ll do my best,” she murmured, and then pushed open the door. On the other side was a winding walkway carved into the branch, which connected to the enormous trunk of the tree in the far distance. She took a step outside the cage, then another, and heard the door close automatically behind her. Asuna shook her hair back, puffed out her chest in resolution, and strode forward purposefully, the way she had once done in a different world.
A few minutes later, she turned back and saw that the golden birdcage was already lost behind the thick green foliage of the tree’s branches.
She stopped about halfway down the enormous branch and caught her breath. She’d walked at least a few hundred yards by now. Its size eclipsed her imagination.
Asuna had figured, knowing Oberon’s punctual, impatient nature, that he’d have set up a system console not far from the cage for the purpose of logging out. But this was not the case. If he was using an SAO-style holo-window or voice operations, her escape would be much more difficult.
She wasn’t turning back, of course. She just had to go as far as she could.
I won’t stop. I’m getting back to the real world, alive. I have to see him again, she swore to herself, and then resumed her march.
(to be continued)
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Reki Kawahara, Fairy Dance 1
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