When we arrived at Alne, an announcement sounded throughout the game, warning us of a scheduled maintenance. Sighing/yawning, I had Cookie find us an inn with a great reputation. Once we logged out, I got out of my bed and wandered through the house, pausing to take a peek into the room my father had lived in for two full years. Sighing, I continued my walk and shrugged on a coat, walking outside as I did so.

Hearing the fresh snow crunch under my boots, which I had slipped into before walking out, I looked up to see snow softly falling. Blinking when a flake fell onto my open eye, I turned my sight downwards to see a woman silhouetted by the headlights of a parked car.

"Mother."

"Son."

"Like how I've kept the house?" I waved at the building behind me.

"Yes, you've kept it well. So, son, how have you been?" She moved further into the yard, her frosty exterior slowly thawing despite the snow that was slowly wrapping us up in its cocoon.

"Diving."

"Diving?"

"Yes, diving. With an Amusphere. I've been playing ALO for a while, now."

"ALO, huh? What draws you to it?" She was now standing mere feet before me.

"I guess the addiction of flying. When I have my wings, I feel I'm no longer shackled to those around me." My face darkened as I remembered what Sugu told me.

"Have you heard?"

"Hm?"

"Several players in ALO banded together to try and fly up the 'World Tree', whatever that is."

"Oh, yeah. I heard about that. That was the talk of the castle I own in ALO for quite a while."

Mom reached into her blouse for something. "Have you seen the screenshots they took?"

"They took screenshots? This is news to me."

"Well then, can you explain to me what this is? I'm a bit curious." She pulled out a set of photos and handed them to me.

I began to page through them. The first one was the normal screenshot which showed a birdcage on one of the branches of the World Tree. Confused and curious, I continued to page through them and on the last one, I audibly gasped.

"Hm? Do you recognize something?"

"That's-! It has to be-! It has to be the third-in-command, Asuna Yuuki!" I gazed at her in the photo. She looked so broken.

"What? How can you be sure?"

I looked up from the photos. "Mom, who took over the SAO servers when Ki-" I sighed. "When Kazuto and I cleared the game?"

"Well, that would be RECT, I suppose. What are you getting at?"

"Sugou Nobuyuki will be unofficially marrying Asuna Yuuki, even though she's still in a coma. RECT possesses the SAO servers rumored to be holding those 300 players hostage. Sugou... works for RECT's R&D."

Mom gasped. "That's-!"

I lowered my head even more and clenched so hard, my palms began to bleed a bit. "Mom, I ask you. Leave the virtual world to Kazuto and I. You track down evidence against Sugou and clear Dad's name, okay?"

"I-I'll try."

I smiled and raised my head. "Good. You can bet your life I'm not going to let Dad's name be tainted any further. Especially not by that scumbag."

Mom nodded. "Right. Well, I'm afraid I have to return to America soon, but I'll try my best to dig up evidence against Sugou." She then shook her head. "I can't believe he's fallen so much..."

Ignoring what Mom just said, I returned inside and hearing the soft drip-drip of my blood hitting the wood flooring, I simply grunted and grabbed some cloth to bind the wounds. Flopping down on my bed, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"Link start, mothafucka."

-----------------------------

Alne, the next day.

I was on before Kirito and Leafa and as such, I went ahead and got ready for a raid on the Tree. As I was having my equipment repaired by a blacksmith friend of mine (sadly not Liz, her work's the absolute best), I took a deep breath to calm myself.

"Daddy? You seem anxious."

"I am. I know where Aunt Asuna is and I plan on freeing her. Today. But I can't do it alone, nor should I. I need Kirito."

"Right, Uncle."

"There, all done. Say, do the Spriggans and Undines plan on trying the Tree?"

"No, just me and one friend." I handed him the money.

"Wait, what? That's suicide!" My friend took it reluctantly.

"Maybe. But we need to do it. The game isn't over 'till we do." I gazed at the fist that had clenched around Harmony.

"Game? What game?"

I shook my head. "Forget about it. Thanks, for everything."

"Uh, you're... welcome?"

I abruptly left the store and heard the barrier being hit in the distance. Looking up, I saw the wings of a Spriggan and the wings of a Sylph. Kirito and Leafa, no doubt. They paused for a moment before Kirito plummeted to the ground, landing right in front of me. I wasn't fazed.

"Kirito. Ready to save Asuna?"

He took a deep breath, then stood up. "Yes."

We took off for the Dome, our wills set. Once outside the doors I had dared to stand before once ago, I took a deep breath and kicked Leafa from the party. Stepping forwards, the doors were barred by the giant statues of Guardians on either side.

"Thou knowest not the heights of heaven above. Dost thou seek entry to the castle of the king?" A quest accept menu appeared before me and I instinctively tapped yes. "Go then. Prove thou art worthy of thy wings. Prove thou art worthy of flight."

The gates to hell opened and Kirito and I walked straight through them. Drawing our blades, We looked up into the maws of hell and saw the Guardians starting to spawn.

"Kirito, I've done this before. They infinitely respawn, and they spawn faster the higher up we go. We need to bust through with speed. Got that?"

"Yeah. I'm coming, Asuna. I'm coming!" Kirito glared at the foes above us.

Screaming at the top of our lungs, we began to slash aside any foe who dared got in our way as we were pushed on by our own individual memories of Asuna. To me, she was a younger sister, or maybe older. To Kirito, well, everyone knows that. Either way, I kept cutting and cutting and cutting while Kirito was going full-on berserk mode. Suddenly, an arrow hit me in the back of my hand and Kirito and I paused to gaze at all the archers who had spawned.

"What? Archers?"

Snapping out of my confusion, I resumed my accent and urged my wings on. Seeing my HP start to drop dangerously low alongside Kirito's, I held out a hand as I tried to fly my way to Asuna and her freedom.

YOU ARE DEAD.

Then, in a plume of black fire, my body was just that of an ember. As I floated there, gazing at the Guardians as they returned to their spawn points, I couldn't help but let an ethereal tear fall.

I tried. I tried so hard to reach Asuna. I tried so hard to reach her with these broken wings and yet I came up so short. Heh. How did the old story about a kid who flew on wings of wax go? He flew too high and his wings melted away? What a fitting end to the Savior of SAO.

Suddenly, the Guardians stopped despawning and instead resumed spawning.

What?

Turning around, I saw Kirito's Remain Light besides mine and under us, one persistent Sylph girl. Grabbing us, she turned around and headed straight for the exit, screaming as she did so. Once out, she used some Dew of the World Tree on us and we were revived in two plumes of black fire.

"Kirito! Eagle!" Leafa's eyes began to water.

I sighed and opened my menu, going to my friends list. I'm going to have to call in a huge favor for this one.

Kirito made a move to try the World Tree once more, but Leafa stopped him.

"Kirito, please. Stop this. Go back to your usual happy self."

Kirito simply gazed up the Tree, not bothering to give Leafa so much as a glance. "Leafa, thank you. For all you've done. But I have to do this, I have to see her again, else nothing will end."

"What are you talking about?! Just come back, please!"

"I'm sorry, but I have to see her. I have to see Asuna again."

Leafa's eyes widened. "What... did you just say?"

"Yeah, Asuna. She's the person I'm looking for."

"No, this can't be. This is so unfair!"

"Huh?" Kirito turned to look at Leafa, who was freaking out.

"B-. Brother?"

Kirito's eyes widened. "Sugu? Suguha?!"

Leafa shook her head, unable to take it. "This is so cruel..." She logged out before Kirito could do anything.

I stood there for a spell, with my menu open awaiting a reply before I spoke. "You'd better log out and comfort her."

"R-right."

And with that, I was the last one standing before the Dome. Turning my head, I got a good look at the wax wings that had carried me so far, but will they carry me any further?