“Impressive. I salute your strength. Now come, young swordsman, I shall bestow upon you my mark.”
Koharu picks herself up from her knees, exhaling heavily as she sees the fourth treasure chest appear close to the entrance to the Gradeen Floating Arena, far in the northern regions of the Stalvatos Ruins. Philia happily saunters over and receives whatever “sigil” the chest contains, which prompts another voice to speak in the arena, though it is not that of the opponent she just faced.
“You who have gathered four sigils of strength, thy final trial is upon thee…”
“Another…” Koharu groans and sheathes her dagger on the back of her waist. Checking her map, the final arena is to the southwest, indicated by a giant broken circle if one was to get a satellite view of the region. She counts six arenas, four previously visited and marked by their teleport terminal colored blue, while the one next to be visited and the one in the very center have the terminals colored gray. Several other regions have yet to be explored too, all between Koharu’s current position and the next. To get there… Looks like they’ll have to go back through the Labyrinth of the Abyss but through a different exit. Great.
“Got the next step worked out, Koharu?”
Koharu closes the map and nods to Leafa. “Mhm. We’ll return to the Labyrinth of the Abyss and head for a different exit. I think we should stick to the southern routes… Leafa?”
Leafa places a hand on Koharu’s shoulder. “If you’re tired, you can say so. You’ve fought four of these Blue Dragon guys, there’s nothing wrong with tagging yourself out.”
“But...”
“Hey, I’m a fighter too. This might serve as good kendo practice. Rain and Strea are good too. Sure, we don’t all have your ability level, but we can’t let you do everything.”
True, Koharu’s tired. Each knight has been tougher than the last, and even at her most careful, she’s being roughed up. Part of her wants to take Leafa’s offer and rest up, yet every time she thinks of doing so, the thought that convinces her otherwise swallows her.
“Then maybe I’ll kill the pink-haired girl who, heh, he replaced you with. He found love with a lowly blacksmith. Oh, even better, he saved her from the one who killed you. How does that make you feel, to be cast aside so easily… Or them… To learn that the same hero of SAO is the captain of the squadron who has been on us in GGO, the same one that saved the game itself, and even encountered poor XaXa and almost died thinking he was calling them out… New friends, new guild, new partner...and you come back expecting he’ll bring you back into the fold? You’re no better than this boy on the ground, a relic of someone’s past. Nothing more of a reminder to him of a hell filled with death… Now tell me, how does all of it make you feel? Who do you think you are to him?"
It has been a month, but PoH’s words to her in their duel continue to sting. They’re beyond hurtful, they’re statements of truth. In a few days, exactly two and a half years will have passed since Koharu’s avatar fell in SAO, her real self suffering damage from the impaired pulse of her slightly damaged NerveGear. If only she woke up sooner, maybe… No, things would have still changed. PoH knew this, Jaymes knows this, she knows this.
Everything that used to be “is” about her is now “was,” and there’s nothing she can do about it except move forward and find the answer to PoH’s question. She didn’t have a direct answer back then, but now she seeks it the only way she knows possible. If she lets Leafa or someone else fight, she hinders her own path to realization.
“Thank you Leafa, but this… I have to do this.”
Leafa opens her mouth to protest but closes it and smiles. For a moment, Koharu believes she sees understanding in the girl’s green eyes, the same as hers. “All right. You say to the south, right? Hey, Strea, didn’t you say there was something weird about the south side of the Labyrinth of the Abyss area earlier?”
“Mhm. Something felt like it was being sealed off or something.”
“Is that our next destination, Koharu?”
Koharu answers Sinon with a nod. “Let’s head back and see what’s over there. Strea, lead the way.”
“All right! Follow me!”
xxxxxxx
“There!”
Koharu walks up to the blue seal preventing passage out the southern exit of the area, placing her hand on it. Barriers in the path of a quest are no stranger to the girl, but...back then, she usually followed the more experienced gamers’ lead. This is the first time she’s been in a position of leadership, yet the girls with her clearly having more knowledge of things of this nature. Seeking such knowledge, she faces the eight behind her. “Any ideas?”
Philia crosses her arms. “Let’s see… In the past, we had to defeat monsters of some other annoying distractions. This might be the same way.”
“Did the quest not give any clues,” Silica asks.
“Clues…” That’s right, quests always give clues on how to progress, even something as big as a floor quest. Okay, Koharu, put your experience to the test. Clues… Each part of the quest required Koharu to face a knight, beat it and was rewarded with proof of victory in a chest. That’s right, there were four sigils, which happened to be pieces of armor. Koharu opens her equipment menu and finds three pieces of a Sapphire Lindworm set for chest, leg, and waist slots. Maybe… “Philia, can you give me the loot you got from the last battle?”
“Oh, sure.” Philia trades the loot over to Koharu. It’s headgear. This must be it. She switches out her set with the quest-required one. With the blue and grey armor on, Koharu places her hand on the floating seal again, this time breaking it.
“Ah…”
“Nice work, Koharu!”
“That made sense.”
Koharu nods as she re-equips her standard set. “Yeah… Let’s press on.”
xxxxxxx
The girls have hit another roadblock.
Upon entering the Athenalogia Arena, there was no greeting from a dragon knight, not any indication the quest had progressed. The destination marker indicates this is the place, but as the girls searched the arena, there has been no way to trigger the quest. Having pushed themselves quite far since their last break, they decide to return to the Town of Beginnings to seek information.
An hour later, as nighttime comes to the world of Ainground, Koharu and company regroup at the Market Square’s inn to discuss their findings. “So, find anything out about that trial yet?”
Lisbeth groans and leans back in her chair. “Sadly, Sil and I found nothing of note.”
“From what we gathered, it seems that we might have to do something before we go to the coliseum.”
“Maybe the person we need to find is out taking a walk or something,” Rain suggests.
“Hmm, actually… You might be on to something.” Sinon explains her thoughts to the group. “There are a lot of quests in games where you have to find a missing person, right? So if Rain’s guess was right and we do need to find this person, the question is...where do we look?”
Leafa raises her hand. “You know, I heard that there’s a monster near the arena that eats people’s SOULS! Everyone seems pretty scared of it. I assumed it was some sort of one-shot monster hunting quest, but…”
Koharu strokes her chin. “A monster that eats souls… It might just be related to our coliseum problem after all. Nice find, Leafa.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Well, we’ve never seen these Blue Dragon Warriors, right? We’ve only heard their voices and I fought...well, not something human, so to speak. What if they aren’t physical beings, but spirits?”
“Oh, I get it,” Philia exclaims. “If this monster eats souls, maybe it chowed down on our missing disembodied voice!”
“Right. So taking out that monster might free the Blue Dragon Warrior’s soul and let us take the next trial. So where is it?”
Leafa sighs. “Well, actually, I have no clue where to find this monster. All I know is that it’s supposed to be somewhere dark and gloomy.”
“Dark and gloomy, huh? Well, in that case, let’s check out the underground and misty areas…” The mood of the group suddenly shifts. As brave as she is, Koharu is not thrilled about exploring such places for a soul-stealing monster. If only the guys were here… “Actually, is there anything else anyone’s learned?”
“You’re just in luck.” The girls turn their heads as Klein and Agil join their table.
“Klein, Agil, you’re here!”
“Sorry we couldn’t help earlier, though it seems you girls are doing just fine. So, what’s with this floor quest everyone’s talking about?” Koharu and the girls explain the previous seven of the last ten hours online spent exclusively on Aincrad.
“A soul-sucking monster, eh? Yeah, we heard of something like that too. Oh, and there’s something not related to the quest, but it's way better!”
“It’s about that NPC we’re looking for,” Agil announces.
Koharu and the girls gasp. She completely forgot about the mysterious NPC, though not for lack of trying. The floor quest just took over her mind. “Really? You found something?”
“Apparently, she was spotted in an area you get to after beating the coliseum we’re stuck at now. And I bet this will shock you! The party who saw her thought she was part of the trial and tried to fight her.”
“And they got their butts kicked.”
“They were beaten...by an NPC?” Koharu is aware of the special nature and rules of SA:O’s NPCs, but exempting her friends fight against Tia, she’s never seen or heard players and NPCs fight while the system allows it.
“But think about it! The only players out here are crazy strong, and she whooped them. She must be ridiculously tough! When I heard that, it reminded me of Tia. Genesis’ training really buffed her up.”
“The weird thing is, she didn’t finish them off. She let them eating dirt and then just walked away. So anyway, we know that this NPC girl is definitely somewhere here in Aincrad.”
“Hmm… I wonder how we can find her.”
“I believe our best bet is to continue playing through this quest and unlocking new areas.”
Koharu agrees with her niece’s assessment. “You’re right, Yui. We don’t know where to find her, so we’ll just have to check everywhere.”
“I will put a great deal of effort into this endeavor,” Premiere says.
Koharu nods and smiles at Premiere. “And we’ll be there to help every step of the way. So how about Klein and Agil start by finding this soul-eating monster Leafa heard about. We’re bound to find this NPC eventually if we keep exploring Aincrad.”
Klein throws his fist in the air. “All right, let’s… Wait a minute, why me and Agil?”
“Klein, Agil.” Silica places her elbows on the table, hands together, and chin on the joined hands while making an irresistibly cute expression towards the men. “You wouldn’t let us girls fight such a deadly monster all by ourselves, would you? What if it’s scary?” Following Silica’s example, every girl at the table looks at the older men.
“Um… Well… Agil…”
“I… I suddenly feel sorry for Jaymes and Kirito…”
xxxxxxxx
Back at the Athenalogia Arena, Koharu and the girls wait for Klein and Agil to complete the hunt. Thanks to the guys joining the party, the girls cheer when they receive confirmation of the monster’s defeat and progression of the question.
It takes a few minutes, but after fighting the arena’s duel against the Colossal Clipper in the rainy conditions, Koharu claims another victory. Her break waiting for the men restored her energy, so she isn’t as tired as she was earlier, but the fights are still progressively tougher. However, by her count, only one more remains, at the Blue Dragon’s Sanctum.
The entire group convenes at the Sanctum Antechamber, at the heart of the Stalvatos Ruins. Wearing the complete armor set of the order, Koharu approaches the sanctum’s gates, watching them rise in recognition of her prior accomplishments. The final part of the quest before them, the eleven warriors march inside to the final arena’s battleground.
"Welcome, swordsman. I applaud you for making it this far. I am the Blue Dragon Luminary, leader of our order. If you have the might to defeat me in battle, I shall grant you the power of the Blue Dragons. If you wish to claim our power as your own, you must show your blade to be the stronger!”
“This is gonna be really hard, isn’t it,” Strea says with worry.
“But no matter how difficult it may be, we can’t back down.” Koharu steps forward, her fingers on the confirmation button to start the duel. This is it, she will win this time. She confirms her acceptance and steps to the arena’s center as previously, watching the golden projections that serve as barriers surround her. As she gazes around, she hears something large land in front of her, kicking up a cloud of dust and wind. Once it passes, Koharu is greeted with the sight of a large blue dragon. Divine Dragon Neo... They’re taking this story quite literally, huh?
She hasn’t fought something this large alone by normal VRMMORPG standards, but if she counts her first instance as Lunaria days when she woke up in the Underworld, this would be the second time. Preparing herself, she gets into a bent position and holds on to her sheathed dagger as the duel countdown begins.
“3...2...1… Duel!” Koharu leaps back as part of a red circle appears under her feet. Several more appear between her and the dragon, leading to multiple explosions around the dragon. As the attack wears off, Koharu doesn’t waste the opportunity to attack. The dragon may have power, she may not be able to use the barrier to stun it, but it is slow compared to her. As soon as she’s in attack range of her first skill, she activates it and quickly fires as many as she can before the dragon initiates its next attack. When she notices a red cone underneath her, she opts to guard instead of dodging, mitigating some of the damage from a fiery blast for some health loss. But her loss is insignificant to her success, she wore out about a quarter of the dragon’s health in less than a minute of dueling. Her friends’ cheers echo in the arena, spurring her on.
Koharu retreats again as the dragon bites at her then replicates the same attack pattern. This time, however, she’s caught in the middle of a combo-skill when the cone returns, suffering the full impact of the dragon’s breath. Landing on the ground on her side. She glances at her health, surprised to see it has changed to yellow. Half her health gone from two attacks? Wow. Meanwhile, she’s launched multiple skills just to get the dragon's health down to the lower yellow, somewhere between 25-30%.
One more try.
Gritting her teeth, she rises back to her feet and circles the dragon. It shoots off more of those explosions, then Koharu sprints towards her enemy, but stops halfway. She assumes a guarded position, but not activating the blocking mechanic every weapon has. Instead, she activates a skill, one she heard Jaymes heavily favors. “Trojan Horse! Now attack me, beast!” The beast obliges Koharu, striking her again with the fire blast, taking out another chunk of her health, but Koharu without worry. She heard the stories of the Crimson Warrior using this skill since SAO, where he took a near-death hit from Heathcliff. In return, he struck the commander with a strong strike, depleting Heathcliff’s health down to yellow for the first time. Koharu sees the added attack up buff on her status bar and calls out another skill. “Integral Existence!” Koharu’s dagger turns purple and launches her forward.
Five quick, powerful strikes later, Koharu is the only being left standing. She doesn’t get a moment to relish in her victory as mental exhaustion catches up to her. Maybe she did overdo this battle, but she wanted to test the Trojan skill out. Just like the object it is named after, a seemingly surrender leads to a sudden, quick victory. Picking herself up but staying knelt on the ground, she looks to the dark sky.
“Very well, young swordsman. You have truly earned the right to wield our power. I welcome you into the ranks of the Blue Dragon Order, and I bestow upon you this power.” She sees a title and a belt item has been given to her. Nothing probably extraordinary, but it is cool nonetheless. She smiles to herself and places her hands on her chest. Four years ago, just out of the SAO beta, she couldn’t have imagined her being this skilled with VRMMOs. She couldn’t imagine being trapped in a game for a year and three months, barely surviving a brain wave that killed thousands by that point, and missing another two years due to the effects of that wave. She has gotten stronger since that day of the beta.
Feeling a hand grab her shoulder, she tenses up in surprise and looks up. Words fail to escape her as she’s met with dark brown eyes staring down at her, a half-grin on a young man’s face. “Hey.”
“J-Jaymes? Then… Y...Y-You saw…”
“I think that means you beat the quest, Ko.”
“You’re amazing, Koharu,” she hears Silica exclaim as the rest of the group, including three newcomers, approach her and the boy.
“Yeah, good work. Same to all of you,” Kirito comments to the girls. “Sorry we couldn’t make it in time to assist.”
Asuna nods. “Mission accomplished, and in just a few hours. I remember the days when floor quests did not take so long. Granted, it doesn’t seem we fight floor bosses like in SAO or New Aincrad.”
“But we never found the NPC who might be Tia,” Lisbeth reminds the gang.
‘True, but now we can go everywhere up here. Let’s take one last look around and see if we can find her.” Kirito says all that, but then he looks at the time and bites his lips. “But it’s getting late, and you all look beat. How about we call it a day, and head back to town. We can search tomorrow.”
The suggestion is unanimously accepted, and Koharu is glad for it. She takes Jaymes’ hand and rises on her feet. Silently thanking him, she catches sight of Premiere, her back to the rest of the gang, her head directed towards the top of the arena. Did something catch her eye? “Premiere?”
“There’s someone watching us.” Everyone looks in the indicated direction, and in the light of the arena, they can make out a figure in a dark cloak standing on top of the arena.
“But…”
“Is that the NPC girl Argo and everyone’s been talking about?”
“It’s...not Tia.”
“Hey!” Kirito’s shout is futile as the girl vanishes from sight. Unable to do anything else, the group decides to not go after her and return to the Town of Beginnings...
xxxxxxx
As customary for the gang, a celebration ensued for beating the new fifteenth floor of Sword Art: Origin’s Aincrad. Among topics discussed amongst the friends was the mysterious NPC, who even Argo was still lacking in information, and Premiere’s missing twin, Tia. Everyone restated their determination to search for Tia, but if Koharu is honest with herself, it is the NPC that intrigues her. Of course, she never met Tia.
After the party went on for a while, Koharu stepped out of the inn and found herself taking a stroll towards the eastern side of town to Lakeside Park. She sits on one of the benches overlooking the lake and stares out to the enormous body of water.
Maybe it is her exhaustion, but she’s not up to being around other people right now. Part of her wants to log-off, eat real food, bathe, and sleep, yet the other half keeps her here. That part, the one that has called the virtual world home for most of her conscious time the last four years, wins and is content to focus on the deep, dark lake alone.
Or so she thought. Minutes later, another body joins her, and she doesn’t have to turn her head to guess who it is. Who else would just sit there and not say anything other than the one guy who knows to just sit down and not say anything? He joins her in staring at the lake, waiting for her to tell him what is bothering her.
Eventually, she decides to speak. “The night is beautiful here, just like it was in SAO. How would Lueur describe it? ‘This night, it sings to my heart! The moon at her prime, alone in a sea of darkness, lets her mellow voice cry… An aria of a starless night.’”
Jaymes laughs. “Oh, and you get on me for messing around all the time? I thought someone has to be the mature one between us, and I continuously failed to be so? Hmm… But it’s just us now, so does it matter?”
“You’re right… It is just us.” Koharu then drops her head, the words repeating in her head. Long ago, it made her happy, but now, it’s like taking her own dagger and twisting it in her heart. “You didn’t have to come after me. You can go back to the others.”
“And leave you alone? Not happening.”
“But I left you alone. In some ways, I deserve it from you.”
“Is that what’s bothering you or is that you beating around the bush?”
“...Jaymes… I’m sorry for leaving you on Aincrad.”
“Yeah, you should be. I cried for a month. You missed out on it.”
“I’m being serious!”
“I know. And I told you, it’s fine. If you’re going to keep apologizing for that, I’m going to keep apologizing for not being there, and that’s an annoying cycle. And… I wasn’t alone if you think about it. There was Kirito, Asuna, Liz, Argo, everyone back at the inn, Sanya, Liten, Shivata… I wasn’t happy to be truly solo, but I was never without friends. And even saying that… You never left me alone. The day you died, you became stronger than I could ever imagine. Not as a person, but as an ideal. If I lost any other motivation in that game, beating it for you was the sole purpose I kept going. If I had no other reason to live, doing it for you was enough. And every day, until we met again, you were always with me, keeping me moving forward.”
“But… Fine. You win.”
Jaymes smirks and pats Koharu on the head. “Finally won an argument against you. That calls for a celebration in itself.”
Koharu removes his hand and glares at him with a pouty face. “Don’t push your luck. I'm just sad and vulnerable right now, and you’re taking advantage of that.”
Jaymes relents. “Alright… Hey, do me a favor, Ko. Don’t overdo it as you did today. No need to rush to get strong, even in a game we can’t die in.”
Koharu closes her lips tightly and turns away. So he heard everything. Yes, she definitely overdid it, even by Kirito’s standards. But to tell her she doesn’t need to be strong, that goes against everything he has said to her in the past. No, that’s not the issue she has with that statement. It’s the significance of it, what it meant to her when he said she can be strong… “But…”
“But?”
“But if… But if I’m not strong, what purpose do I have? All I’ve known is that if I’m to be by your side, I have to be as strong as you are. That’s all I’ve told myself in SAO, that as long as I’m strong, I can protect you as you do for me, and together we can escape. And when I faced PoH, when he said all those things about you not needing me, about me being just a relic of your past, that I’m nothing to you… All I said was that it didn’t matter, you believed in my strength. But that was a lie. It does matter to me that I’m not something to remind you of SAO, that I do matter to you even today. But now you say that I don’t need to be strong… So tell me, Jaymes, what purpose do I serve?”
She heard Jaymes’ armor clink and a shadow comes over her. Looking up, she watches as Jaymes kneels in front of her, one hand brushing her dark hair back and exposing her face to the moonlight. “Koharu… I didn’t mean not to get stronger. You do not need to be strong as fast as you can just to be with me. Whether you’re ready in a month or not, worry not. You, Koharu, are always with me. As many partners I have, whether it’s Kirito, Asuna, Sinon, or anyone else, you are irreplaceable to me on this side.”
“On this side...” Koharu mentally tightens her fist and gets even a little annoyed by the statement. She doesn’t think Jaymes knows what he said, or even meant it as she’s taking it, yet it means something to her. Neither of them has said anything since their reunification. Asuna and Lisbeth are the only ones to directly speak anything of it to her. "Hey, Jaymes…"
"Oh, I forgot about this. Here." As he sits closer beside her, Jaymes presses something in his menu, resulting in a trade prompt appearing before Koharu. She accepts the trade and searches for it in her inventory. She finds it and materializes the item. As soon as it takes shape in her hands, Koharu finds her breath pausing in her throat. In her hands is a flower-shaped brooch, the exact one she bought back in SAO in the beta and official release, When she started Origin, she was disappointed to find the brooch being sold out, and she couldn’t find the alternative, the one Jaymes gave her after winning a fishing tourney in SAO, she was dejected. Now she knows why it was gone.
“You… You bought this brooch?”
“Yeah. First thing I did when I logged on during the beta, which thankfully carried over the testers’ progress to the official release this time. Never wore it though. It just...didn’t feel right with me letting someone else--Koharu?” She drops her head on his shoulder, arms around his neck. She's so elated it's embarrassing to show her face to him. Even when he didn't know she was alive, he still thought of her to that degree to buy her most cherished purchase...and that’s enough to make her heart nearly burst.
Rising off of him, Koharu equips the brooch on her avatar. It appears on the left side of her chest, bringing a swell of happiness to Koharu. Now she's fully back to how she remembers herself in Sword Art Online. She looks up to her companion. He smiles his characteristic side grin, possibly happy with himself for giving the brooch to its rightful owner. “Jaymes...Thank you."
"Yeah… Well, it's been a long day, hasn't it? I don't know about everyone else, but I'm beat, so I'm going offline. Oh, just to remind you, we're on Kazuto homework duty tomorrow, so I will meet you outside your apartment and we'll meet Asuna at the station. Hopefully he doesn't try to distract all of us. Or Sugu and Alice, they're very interested in you...for various reasons."
Koharu raises her head. Because of the events during the summer, Kirito hadn’t completed his homework packet. While they suffered a similar situation, Jaymes and Asuna were already done, and even Koharu, who spent most of the previous month in a special summer course plus homework thanks to Lieutenant Colonel Kikuoka’s influence, finished her work for the upcoming semester. "Okay, sounds good. And Sugu, I understand, but why Alice?"
Jaymes rubs his head sheepishly. "Let's just say… To her, being around other girls is me cheating on someone she cares for. To some degree, she isn't wrong, but... I'll explain one day if I'm not forced to tomorrow." For some reason, Koharu doesn't fully accept that excuse, but she'll find out soon enough.