Calibrations Spill-Over Post

[thespaceopera]

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/slides in late with starbucks

[stefanged]

Or you could grab a snack. It's long enough to microwave something.

[For someone who doesn't need to eat, his mind sure thinks about food a lot. Stefan's gonna go ahead and snag that World Tree Dewdrop, then!]

/devours a nanaimo bar aggressively

[huaaaaagh]

[The item materializes in front of him once selected- a small bottle with a rose-coloured orb inside. It's only there for a few seconds before it vanishes.

A moment later, the doors on the far side of the room burst open, and a blonde girl flies through, dodging around the suddenly-aggressive angel warriors and rushing towards the flame currently representing Kirito. The enemies manage to wound her over and over, but she breaks through despite it all, grabbing the flame in both hands and racing back towards the door. Much like Kirito before her, the green bar above her head is depleting quickly due to the number of attacks she's enduring, especially with her hands too occupied to defend herself.

Luck is on her side, it seems, as she just barely makes it through the open doors, through which the winged soldiers can't follow. Stefan, however, is free to do so. You coming, buddy? Because the doors are slowly closing behind her...]

[stefanged]

[Oh. Wow, okay, that's something - he wasn't sure what he was expecting, considering that his choice of video game is either the Oregon Trail or the Sims, and well.

You don't get this kind of action without really trying. Stef stares at the blonde girl, before following her as fast as he can behind those doors. Might as well, because at this rate, his buddy's gonna take eight more minutes to respawn. Seven?

It's long enough.]

[huaaaaagh]

[The doors slam shut behind Stefan, closing off the room from all of them. Outside is a vast, beautiful city and an open sky, and above the door is the trunk of an enormous tree, bigger than a skyscraper. It seems that the room with the angels had existed within the tree itself.

On the ground a few feet away, the girl loads a window, summoning the same bottle that Stefan had used to activate the memory, and uses it on the little black cloud, which then manifests into Kirito's fairy form again. He smiles at her, crouching down to take her hand. "Thank you, Leafa. Promise me you won't do that again. I can do this on my own... but I don't wanna cause you more trouble."

She - Leafa - leans in, startled. "Trouble? But it's not! I was just..." He stands, not giving her a chance to finish. "Hold on. Where are you going? Wait! You can't do this alone, Kirito!"

"Yeah, maybe you're right. But I'm going anyway."

She runs over and holds him from behind, her voice faint. "Please... stop. Just go back to how you were... I just... you mean so much to me..."

He's startled momentarily, then takes her hand again. "Leafa... sorry. If I don't get up there, nothing will end. Nothing will begin. I have to see her again. Just once... I have to see Asuna."

The reaction is immediate. Leafa freezes, trembling, and slowly backs away. "...But... but, then... then you're... oh my god." She stares up at him, covering her mouth. "Is that you... Kazuto?"

"Huh?" It takes a moment to sink in, but after a long pause, Kirito's eyes widen. "Sugu? Suguha?"

The girl hunches over, the only confirmation needed to verify that he's right. "...I can't believe it... it's not fair... no..."

"Sugu- Sugu!!" Kirito starts forward, but the girl opens the menu, swiftly selecting the log-out option and disappearing from sight. All Kirito can do is watch.]

[stefanged]

[Kazuto??? Stefan's got a feeling that name's pretty important, especially considering how Kirito reacted to it.

Leafa took that rejection pretty hard too. (Poor girl.) Rubbing the back of his neck, Stefan turns back towards the tree, and presumably, the room where Kirito's black cloud was.]

Sounds like your life was just as tangled as mine.

[huaaaaagh]

[Kirito glances back at Stefan, then sighs faintly, sitting down on the steps leading up to the door. The memory is clearly over, but it isn't so easy to just shrug it off and carry on this time.

It's not like that fight can be won, anyway.]

You really don't know the half of it, man.

[stefanged]

Probably not.

[At this point, he can concede that much - and so he folds his arms, shaking his head a little.]

But as painful as those memories were, they're still important. Thank you for sharing them with me. [Whether it was by choice or not. As much as he'd like to erase the pain - he knows girl related pain a little too well - he's starting to understand why his old life wouldn't have traded any of them for the world. Each piece mattered too much in the context of a whole.]

[huaaaaagh]

Thank you for enduring them.

[He knows it wasn't fun. Nothing about it was a joy, which is a shame, because it paints a more brutal picture than it really is. His life has had hardships, sure, but joys as well. The night he'd fought with Sugou had ended with his reunion with Asuna. Waking up from SAO had been one of the most important days of his life. And his separation with Leafa had led to his redemption and ended the SAO incident at last.

There's always good with the bad. But he doesn't have the words to describe everything his memories hadn't shared, so instead, he just smiles and shakes his head.]

Are we good?