Asuna's P.O.V.
Asuna hugged Kirito, putting her face into his shoulder. Suddenly, she felt a tug on her coat. She released Kirito and turned to see Yui, who had changed back to her full size. She was grinning ear to ear. Asuna picked her up and sandwiched her between her and Kirito. Yui squealed with laughter.
Kirito looked down at his daughter and kissed her head. Asuna had seen this gesture many times, but it still gave her butterflies, knowing she had found the one. Asuna put Yui down.
"Momma, I've located the treasure! Just follow this chamber to the end and a staircase appears. IT leads down to the treasury. The others are about to go.", she said. Asuna looked up to see that the group, including Thea, who was sheepishly standing off into the corner, had gathered near the staircase.
Asuna and Kirito took Yui's hand and started running to join them. They caught up and Yui tripped, falling on her face. Everybody looked, causing Yui's face to turn red with embarrassment. When she got up and dusted off her skirt, everybody laughed. Asuna bent down, checking for bruises or cuts. She had none, so Asuna stood back up.
Kirito, Asuna, and Yui walked a few steps, still hand in hand, to rejoin the group. Thea came up to stand behind them, close to Asuna. Absent mindedly, Asuna reached a hand out and stroked Thea's head, pulling her in for a hug. Surprisingly, she didn't protest or hesitate. She just went with it.
Asuna continued stroking Thea's little head as the group spoke amongst themselves. Klein suddenly asked a question.
"How do we decide who gets what?", he said.
Kirito looked at him. He looked a little surprised. She guessed that they hadn't thought that far ahead. He pondered this for a moment.
"Why don't we just collect everything and then divide it up evenly when we get back to the cottage. That way we have a place to sit and talk and sort through everything. Any money you pick up, you keep, but weapons or items, you will put in a pile when we get there. ", he finally said.
Everybody seemed to agree on this. They went down the staircase all at once. Some seemed to be walking a little faster *cough cough*Klein*cough.
Asuna just laughed internally. When they got to the bottom of the stair case, Asuna expected to see a room full of gold and weapons, like when they fought Thrymm, but there were only nine large chests overflowing with gold, items and weapons. Everybody looked around, debating on which one they should choose. Kirito spoke up.
"Ok, how about we each just choose a chest and keep all of its contents. they seem to be about even."
Nobody objected to that. They each ran to a chest. Sinon went straight to the chest that had a bow sticking out of the top. Asuna waited until everyone had chosen a chest, then walked to the only one that was left. It had more gold than it did items, it seemed. Asuna didn't mind. Now she could get Kirito something to repay him for the wonderful things he had given her earlier, which she had taken such care not to damage.
Asuna tapped the chest. A notification came up, alerting her that she had just added items and money to her inventory. Asuna clicked the little blue circle to accept the contents of the chest. The notification went away, but immediately, another popped up.
This notification congratulated her on getting a legendary weapon, but not just any legendary weapon. Durendal, the brother sword of Excalibur. Asuna stood there, holding Thea's hand, dumbstruck at what had just popped up on her screen.
Durendal was not meant to be in this legend, was it? Was this a glitch or something? Why was it here? Kirito noticed her confusion and looked at the notification over her shoulder. He froze, also confused, but also impressed and astonished.
Asuna snapped out of her trance and clicked the acceptance button, which snapped Kirito out of his. He looked at her. They shared a confused look. Asuna didn't know why it was here. She couldn't possibly have gotten Durendal. It wasn't right. How did this happen?
Asuna decided to save all her questions for a later time. People were starting to notice them just standing there. Liz tended to jump to conclusions. They turned away from the now empty chest and rejoined the group.
Klein was holding up a battle hammer. It was nothing like Mjolnir, but it was still cool. Sinon was practically cuddling her new bow. She was obviously anxious to test it. Asuna could count on her doing so as soon as they were outside.
Silica had a dagger that had jewels on the hilt. She was admiring it in the light, letting it reflect off the gems. Emma was holding a long curved sickle. She looked a little confused on how it worked. Agil had a huge battle hammer, which suited him well. Kathy, who was next to him, was brandishing a sword that shone silver and red.
Asuna didn't know what Kirito and Liz had, but they seemed happy. They all were admiring items, weapons, or showing off how much money they had collected from this. Asuna suddenly noticed that Thea had disappeared. She looked around in search of the little brown haired girl, but she didn't see her anywhere.
Suddenly, she saw her, cowering behind a chest. Asuna walked over to the girl, who was afraid of all the sharp weapons being brandished so nonchalantly. There was nothing to fight, so why did they have them out? What were they going to do with them?
"I'm sorry. I'll take care of this.", she said. Asuna turned to the group and said in a loud enough voice that everybody heard her,
"Hey guys, we can admire the weapons and items later. Right now, let's go home."
Everyone put their weapons away, realizing what was happening. Thea stood up again, obviously feeling better. Asuna held out her hand for Thea to take. Thea accepted her hand and stood slightly behind her. Kirito came to stand next to Asuna on the other side of Thea. Thea tried to move away, but Kirito flashed her a smile and offered her his hand, also.
Thea stood there holding both Kirito's and Asuna's hands. the group started to clamber back up the staircase. the followed him, with Yui bringing u the rear. Yui was trying to comfort Thea. She had done well, so far. Thea wasn't afraid of Yui.
They got up to the top of the stairs where the big "CONGRADULATIONS! YOU COMPLETED THE QUEST!" sign hovered in front of them all. Silica jumped, punching the air with her fist. Klein stretched and yawned.
Asuna looked at the clock. It was already 3:00. Asuna knew her mother wouldn't be happy about this. She took out her teleportation crystal and handed one to Yui and Thea. Kirito took his out and they all teleported to the cottage. Once everybody was back, they all logged out to go eat. Asuna stayed in the game with Thea, Yui, and Kirito.
They sat Thea down on the couch next to Yui and sat on the opposite loveseat. Thea looked at Asuna, who smiled at her.
"Thea, we would like to help you any way we can. Do you know what you want to do?", Asuna asked. Thea looked like she wanted something, but didn't want to ask for it.
"You can even live here with us if you want. We'll take you in.", Kirito chimed in. Thea smiled sheepishly and looked down at her hands, which were clasped in her lap.
"Well, I guess it's settled. You will live here with us.", Asuna said, smiling happily.
"You can be like my sister!", Yui said excitedly.
Asuna and Kirito laughed. Yui gave Thea a hug. Thea looked surprised, but happier than Asuna had ever seen her. Thea laughed as Yui hugged her and then hugged her back. Asuna got up and joined in the hug, followed by Kirito.
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WHOAH! Thea finally has a family. I thought that it was cute, if I do say so myself. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry it's so much shorter than all my other chapters, but I was really tired when I wrote this up and this just seemed like the best place to end it. Please send in suggestions or something. I need help. I am drawing ablank. If you want something specific to happen in the next chapter, leave a comment or message me. I will take them all under consideration.
Stay spicy! I loves you all! Talk to you in the next chapter!
-Scarlet
