Level 100 - Sword Art Online [OC x Kirito]

Chapter Eight: A Tragic Means to an End

~from Author's POV 3rd person~
"Olivera...the level 100 boss...it's not...it can't be..." Kirito broke off, his eyes pleading with the tree Olivera had merged with, and he fell onto his knees, his eyes wide in disbelief. "No, it's not possible," he murmured to himself, but then his mind ran over the details of her, water droplets clinging to her hair, tears dripping from her eyes, regret and sadness etched into her face. "No way. Why...why?"
"I'm sorry...I'm sorry," he heard the wind whisper as it wove between tree branches. Kirito looked up, surprised to find that he was crying. He didn't bother wiping away the tears; he just stared at the tree that was Olivera. "Please, Olivera...tell me that this isn't true...please, just tell me..."
"I'm really sorry," she whispered from inside the tree, and Kirito reached his hand out as though to meet her hand on the other side. "I couldn't tell you. I wasn't allowed to. I didn't even understand what I was until Akihiko explained it to me, the very moment that you entered level 100. I got a message from him..." He heard the soft sound of crying. "Kirito, I'm sorry...I'm so sorry...I didn't...I never wanted to deceive you."
"It's okay, Olivera," Kirito said, but his tears still fell and his heart still ached. "I just..."
"I know," he heard her whisper. "I know what you have to do. In order to get back to the real world, to all the family and friends that await you, all the loved ones who have missed you...you have to-"
"No," Kirito denied, shaking his head, shellshocked. "I can't...I won't. You can't ask that of me." He looked up at the night sky, his face twisted in grief and anger. "Akihiko! That's not playing fair!" Kirito looked back down at the ground, staring at his hands as though he didn't recognize the callouses from using his swords so much. "That was the only consolation about SAO, that it was run on some sort of sense of fairness. It was supposed to be like real life..."
"But even in real life, situations happen that you can't predict," Olivera whispered softly. "You're forced to make decisions...sometimes awful ones, even if they're for the greater good. Kirito, this is for the greater good. You understand that more than anyone."
"You don't understand, Olivera," Kirito began, but she cut him off.
"You can't say that, Kirito. I do know what it's like to have one player kill another. That's how I died, remember? And even if you don't kill me and still manage to get out of SAO, there's no guarantee that I'll still be alive in the real world. You only have one choice, Kirito," she said, her voice soft and thin like the wind.
Kirito's jaw clenched and he stood up. "No. I- I need to think."
"Take your time," she whispered. "You still have two weeks to come to a decision. But, Kirito..."
"Yeah?"
"If you can't kill me, I'll find someone else."
Kirito inhaled quickly before turning and walking purposefully out of the clearing, but even as he walked, his strides seemed uneven, giving away just how shaken he was.
I have two weeks...Two weeks to decide if I kill an innocent person to save the lives of hundreds of others. I know I shouldn't hesitate...but one life matters. What if that had been Asuna?
His heart was pained, but he made his way back to the village.