Yui, Kirigaya Yui, former Mental Health Councilor Prototype in the game world of SAO, an AI, and now a very real young girl in the world of Halkegenia, grimaced with concentration as she sat atop a pile of pillows in the parlor of the home she shared with her Mama, Papa, and Aunt Suguha.
    The object of her meditation was a small, silvered card that was just a little too big for her to get her hand around comfortably. Annoyingly she had experienced as little success today as she had any time in the past six and a half weeks. Logically, she had no reason to expect that things would be easier this time, but she had at least hoped to invoke a response. Still, every Interrogation of the GM access card returned nothing but random data, or so it appeared.
    "Maybe you should rest Yui-san." A sweetly honeyed voice said from beside her.
    Yui allowed herself to relax, putting the GM card down before turning her attention to the Pixie Shaman seated atop the coffee table.
    "It's alright, one hundred thousand milliseconds isn't that long at all!" Yui assured Hinagiku, but the Shaman remained unconvinced.
    "It might not seem that way." Hinagiku warned, flitting up from her place on the table. "But even Shamans rest often when we commune with Yggdrasil-sama. You certainly shouldn't push yourself to exhaustion when you don't even know what you're trying to accomplish." Her eyes naturally fell to the card beneath Yui's hand.
    It had not originally been Yui's intention to ask for Hinagiku's help. In fact, when she had learned that the Tarbes Pixies were in Arrun, she had only ever meant to introduce her new friends to her Mama.
    Meeting Hinagiku, Kigiku, and Ajisai had seemed like a pleasant diversion for Mama while she continued to recuperate. And the sooner she helped Mama, the sooner she could help Papa. Privately, Yui knew that Papa needed almost as much care, but that his own Healing Process would require seeing the results of Mama's recovery first.
    The Pixies were practically Walking Therapy in their own right, non threatening, childish, and inquisitive. She was sure that Mama would take an immediate liking to them. And the more that she relaxed, the more Yui could probe at some of the more sensitive Traumas that she was still carrying.
    Meeting with Hinagiku and the others had begun mostly as Yui had expected. The Pixies were being lodged within several spare rooms at the Governor's Mansion, a huge space for just the Shamans and their Knight escorts, but hardly anything at all to their Faerie hosts.
    The Sylph and Cait Syth Guards at the mansion had let Yui and her Mama in immediately. Almost all of Sakuya Ojisan's staff knew her by now and they had been greeted with warm welcomes as they walked the halls.
    That was where things had first started to err from her predictions.
    The very first Pixies they had seen had been a trio of Vespid Knights standing guard from the vantage of a wall mounted lamp fixture. The Knights had come to attention the instant Yui and Asuna had rounded the corner. Yui didn't recognize any of them, which meant they were probably from one of the other Gardens that had been discovered after Lady Sakuya had ordered a search of Tristain.
    As they grew nearer however, the trio of Knights had become suspicious and then openly guarded, two drawing their swords while the third retreated back down the hall and slipped beneath a doorway.
    "Halt!" The Lead Knight ordered as she held her sword at the ready. "Identify yourself!"
    Neither Yui nor her Mama knew quite how to respond. "I'm Yui and…"
    "Not you." The Knight said, her eyes had never left Mama. "You, identify yourself at once!"
    Asuna's confusion redoubled as she gestured to herself non threateningly. "My name is Asuna. Yui-chan and I are here to see the Shaman Hinagiku."
    "The Tarbes Garden Leader." The second of the two Knights observed.
    The first shook her head. "You don't smell like the others…"
    Mama blinked in surprise. "Smell?"
    "You're not right at all, not a like a Sylph, or a Salamander, not like a being either… I know this smell…"
    The comment about her Scent must have been Embarrassing for Mama, her face grew faintly red, and she lifted her wrist to her nose as if trying to identify what the Pixie was talking about.
    "They're not trying to be rude, Mama." Yui explained, pleased to show off what she had learned all by herself. "The Pixies have a very acute sense of smell, so they can identify humans and Faeries just by scent." The Knight must have been put on edge by Mama's unique scent as a Maeve type Faerie.
    After accepting that this had to be the case, Asuna waited patiently with Yui for the third Knight to return with several more Shamans and Vespid Knights. Thankfully, one of them was Hinagiku.
    "Yui-san?" The Priestess had questioned, flying out to meet her with a warm smile. She had stopped half way to Yui as if she had run into a glass wall. Her head spun about as she sniffed at the air curiously. Her attention came to rest entirely on Mama.
    A dozen pairs of Pixie eyes watched Asuna expectantly. By now, Mama was growing a little Nervous being the center of so much attention, smiling uncertainly at all of the strange looks.
    "Yui-san." Hinagiku looked between Yui and her Mama. "Who is this person?"
    Yui answered quickly, eager to prevent a Confrontation. "This is my Mama, remember, I told you about her."
    "Asuna?" Hinagiku whispered to herself and then looked to Asuna. "This is most strange." The Priestess raised a hand, gesturing for the Knights to lower their weapons. "Please, this person is no threat."
    The Pixie Shaman settled on Yui's shoulder to show her faith in this judgment. "Yui-san had told me a great deal about you. I'm very sorry for all of this. Your scent is strangely familiar and put the Knights ill at ease, they wanted to be sure it was safe."
    "Familiar?" Asuna tilted her head. "I'm sure I've never met any Pixies before."
    Not entirely true. Yui thought, Mama had met Suisen, Argo's Navigation Pixie, and Yui herself still technically counted.
    "I shouldn't think it would matter." Hinagiku concluded. "I'm certain this scent is something that every one of my Sisters was born knowing. But I can't say for certain why." She shook her head, warm smile returning. "In any case, it's obvious that we have nothing to fear. Sisters, please stand down, these two mean us no harm. Yui-san is a close friend."
    The others looked doubtful but were unwilling to speak out against a Shaman, and at Hinagiku's continued Gentle Urging began to stand down. The last straw had been the casual greetings exchanged between Mama and a pair of Lady Sakuya's staff who appeared totally unaware of the miniature standoff.
    Realizing that neither their revered Eldest Sister nor their hosts thought anything amiss, the remaining Knights had sheepishly re-sheathed their blades, looking about like children who had jumped to conclusions.
    "Again, I beg pardon for my Sisters." Hinagiku bowed apologetically. "They are simply very protective, and more than a little nervous. Lady Sakuya has been a most gracious host, but this place is still very strange for us."
    "No no, there's no need to apologize." Mama dipped her head back to the small priestess. "There was no harm done. Maybe we should start over."
    "Start over?" Hinagiku asked.
    "How do you do, my name is Asuna. I'm Yui's mother."