In the predawn light, on a hill top not far from the outskirts of Arrun, two Faeries had set down short of the summit, making it to the top just as the sun crested the horizon. Both were casually dressed with only a knife and sword to protect themselves. Thanks to the mob patrols, this area was relatively devoid of dangerous creatures and anything they couldn't fight, they could easily run away from using their wings.
The feeling of relative safety was kind of strange and not entirely welcome after their weeks of sneaking, running, and fighting for their lives across the isle of Albion. But they were getting use to it, slowly.
"Hurry up, Caramella." Kino called as he reached the top of the hill and carefully lowered the canvas wrapped pack that he'd been carrying.
Further down the hill, his partner trudged, eyes bleary. Dawn was too damn early to be awake. The combination of constantly traveling at night, and then spending several days awake and wired to fight, had completely wrecked her internal clock. That was why she'd spent the last week sleeping in until noon or Kino kicked her our of bed, whichever came first.
"I'll get there when I get there!" Caramella shouted back. It wasn't like she'd fallen that far behind. Besides, the guys they were here for wouldn't mind waiting a few more minutes.
Reaching the top, Caramella found that Kino had already gotten to work opening his pack and carefully setting the stone into place on the spot they had leveled the day before.
There had been an official announcement a few days ago that a sort of memorial was in planning to pay respects to those who had died or fallen since their arrival in Tristain, but it hadn't seemed right to wait. That was why, after getting permission, she and the others had settled on this.
Kino finished setting the stone marker in place before stepping back to let Caramella lay out the flowers and incense. Once she was finished, she too took a step back and bowed her head.
As the sun continued to rise, the engravings in the stone surface began to stand out. Small, carefully engraved rows of names. Twenty lines comprising the players handle, their real name if it was known, their occupation, and their guild status.
"Hey everyone. Aki-chan, Guile-kun." Caramella said softly. "I hope this is okay."
Asuna had officially disbanded the Knights of Blood in a small ceremony at the beginning of the week, but it had only really been symbolic. People couldn't go through what they had been through and then just walk away.
Caramella still saw Baku and Nishida everyday, and she still gave Ivan a hard time, although not as much as she'd used to, he'd taken Shio's death pretty hard . . .
The point was, that they still helped each other, and they still felt connected to one another. They might not call Asuna their leader anymore, but that was just semantics. Most importantly, they didn't forget their friends.
She took a breath, looking up into the sky. The Spherical crest of the World Tree filled half of her view, even this far from the trunk. "It's kind of funny you know. We're only a couple of kilometers from where we started from." She shook her head. "Hell of a detour wasn't it? I mean if I'd known, I would have just bought the damn map and . . ." She began to babble.
Kino put a hand on her shoulder. There was more than a little guilt. It had all come down to luck in the end. Who was where and when. Who was alive and who wasn't.
"I'm sorry you guys didn't make it." Caramella whispered. "I'm sorry we couldn't all go home. But I promise we're going to try to keep everyone else safe. We . . . we won't . . . won't let anyone else die without a fight. And I promise we won't forget you."
That was right, their deaths weren't meaningless as long as they gave Caramella and the others the resolve to keep fighting. A lot of the former players that had made up the KoB defense squads in Albion had already volunteered for mob patrol duty or even to serve in the Faerie volunteers forwarded to the Royal Army. The sacrifices had lit something in them that must hadn't even known they had.
Caramella had intended to jump on the opportunity to join the Army volunteers, but before she'd had the chance, something else had reared its head. The Faerie Lords, fancy name for the Players who'd ended up in charge, were head hunting to fill out some new group of fighters, and she and Kino's names had come up.
She hadn't been interested at first, that was, until she'd seen who the Undine Representative was. Caramella didn't believe in fate, or have a whole lot of faith in divine intervention, but when the Universe was shouting that loudly in her face, she figured it was probably a good idea to listen.
She owed Thinker a lot, not the least of which was an apology for being a huge ass right up to until Kibao had shown just how much a prick he could really be. She couldn't think of any better way to show her sincerity.
The only thing causing her to hesitate was, well, Kino. Her partner stood with his own head bowed solemnly, paying his respects. Cap off, eyes closed, he really looked like a kid. How old was he really? He looked twelve or thirteen, so really, he was probably fourteen or fifteen.
She didn't know when it had really happened, but at some point they'd started to lean on one another, and now they didn't know how to stop. So she knew without a doubt, that if she accepted the offer, Kino would be right behind her.
Arguile's words from all those weeks ago rang in her head. Adults couldn't just let kids fight for them. But she didn't know if she could stop him. Did they even have that luxury?
The Faerie Lords were putting a lot of effort into trying to screen out the youngest players, but there were only sixty thousand Fae, they needed every person who was able and willing to fight. And Kino had a knack for fighting IRL that bellied his skills from SAO. He was good, really good, scary good.
"Aki-chan. I'm sorry, I'm sorry that I didn't protect you, and I'm so sorry we didn't get to know each other better." Caramella said. "And I know you were only joking, but you were right . . . I did think that . . ."
"And Guile-kun . . . don't worry, I'm going to keep a good eye on Asuna. She has plenty of reliable people watching her now, so you can rest easy."
Kino nodded in agreement. "Thank you, for everything Arguile-san. You and Asuna gave me a chance, I just wish I could have done more."
"You will, Kino." Caramella said softly.
Both fell silent for a time, alone with their thoughts and prayers. There was nothing more to say except what they and the dead already knew. At last, the distant bells began to ring in Arrun tower, signaling the beginning of the day.
"We're going to head out now." Caramella said. "But don't worry, everyone else is going to come pay their respects later." A more formal meeting had already been arranged for everyone to say their farewells, but Caramella had wanted to be the first.
Turning slowly to leave, Caramella took in her surroundings and paused. Golden light shown off the pale bulk of the World Tree's trunk, and spilled down across the the roof tops and streets of Arrun.
The root created hills surrounding the World Tree gave way wide open fields spreading out in every direction, alternating with thick patches of forest that stretched towards mountains so far off that it made Aincrad's ten kilometer wide floors seem cramped in comparison.
The grass and trees rustled softly in the morning breeze, and for the first time, Caramella felt, really felt, that they were free. She blinked away the tears as something inside of her began to move once more, something that had been frozen still for a very long time.
"This is a good place." Kino said. "I think Guile-san would have like it here."
She nodded. "I think you're right."
"Come on let's get going, Caramella." Kino said. "You said you wanted to try the fried eggs at that new place by the gates."
"Naomi."
Kino stopped and looked back. "Did you say something?"
Caramella smiled as she reached out to mess her partners hair. "I said, you can call me Naomi."
The young knife users eyes went wide before smiling back. "Un. Then you can call my Hayato, if you want."
And then, Caramella did something she hadn't done intentionally in almost two years. She giggled. "I think I'll stick to Kino in public, Hayato sounds a little dorky to me."
"Hey!" Kino said indignantly. "Well then, maybe I'll just have to call you Caramel-chan from now on!"
"Ah." She smiled. "It's Ca-ra-mel-la!"
They were still bickering as they extended their pale white wings, Kino taking off a little more shakily than his partner, and head back towards Arrun.
The hilltop fell silent, the gentle breeze plucking loose a few flower petals and playing them across the smooth surface of the stone marker and the names engraved there, etched in stone and guarded by a spell of permanence.
Aki- Ozu Akari - Swordswoman of Aincrad - Guild Leader of the Violet Hearts.
Mizuki - Sanaya Hoshino - Ninja of Aincrad - Guild Member of the Hundred Shinobi Alliance.
Arguile - Hiraga Saito - Knight of Aincrad - Guild Member Knights of Blood
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