The Black Swordsman

Chapter 25: The Nightmare Fairy, Akumu Pt. 2

The unsettling sound of the enemy's scythe scratching against the floor of the castle continued to unnerve Lisbeth more and more, making her anxiety symptoms get more and more intolerable. Her mind was racing faster than it had ever been in her entire life. She had just watched all of her friends get cut down in the most violent ways imaginable and the same being that was responsible for this had its sights set on her, next. Even more disturbing was the fact that her friends' bodies didn't shatter into blue polygonal shards like the other bosses and Agil did. What did this mean? The only conclusion that Lisbeth could come to was that her friends were dead for real. At this point the scythe sounded like it was right next to her ear and the trembling in her body immediately stopped but Lisbeth found she could no longer move her body at all. She was paralyzed. Paralyzed and helpless.

I'm...going to die, thought Lisbeth. I'm...never going to see my dad again...or my friends...and Asuna is never going to wake up...and it's all my fault. Why can't I move? Damn it. I'm...I'm so sorry, Asuna. After everything you did for me in SAO, I couldn't do the same for you.

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"Lisbeth...Lisbeth, wake up, silly", a familiar voice called to her.

Lisbeth opened her eyes. She was no longer on the floor of the castle. Instead, she was riding on a bus...the same bus that she took to school every day...the school for the other SAO survivors. Lisbeth rubbed her eyes to make sure that she wasn't hallucinating and determined that she wasn't.

Was it all a dream? she thought to herself. Did I never go back into the Nerve Gear? I don't get it. The last thing I remember was...

"Lisbeth, are you listening to me?" asked the same voice that had woken her up.

Lisbeth turned to face the girl, who was sitting next to her on the bus. She had kind hazel eyes and chest-nut brown hair...features that she would recognize anywhere.

"A-Asuna?" asked Lisbeth, with her mouth agape.

Asuna chuckled.

"Why do you look so surprised to see me?" questioned Asuna in her normal sweet demeanor.

"H-how are...you here?"

Asuna stared at Lisbeth in confusion, for a moment, before responding with, "I...waited for the bus to arrive in front of my house and...got on it...same as you, I imagine."

"N-no, that's not what I meant. How are you here in the real world? I...thought you were still trapped in the Nerve Gear...we...were rescuing you. Kirito, Kirito's sister, Klein, Agil...all of us were—"

"You must have been having a really strange dream while you were asleep", Asuna interrupted. "I woke up from SAO the same day as everyone else, remember?"

What is she talking about? Lisbeth asked, internally. She woke up...the same day as everyone else did? None of this is making any sense.

"Yeah, I woke up in a hospital, after Kirito defeated the commander...the last thing that I remember before waking up was—"

Asuna stopped herself and smiled, bashfully.

"Well, that's actually a secret. Anyways, you were one of the first people that visited me in my hospital, Lisbeth. Actually, you, Kirito, Klein and Agil all visited me in the hospital. Although, I haven't gotten the chance to meet Kirito's sister, yet. I really want to, though."

I...don't think this a dream, concluded Lisbeth. It feels too real. Maybe, everything else...going back in the Nerve Gear...Asuna not waking up...maybe, that was the dream. Damn it. Why is my mind so fuzzy, right now?