Swords of the Soul

Love

Appearing at the top of the World Tree, and having access to the system, I quickly learned everything.

Mind control.

A "small" handful of surviving players from SAO being used as guinea pigs.

What I want to know if how I got here after I got out. I want to know why I'm here, why I'm being tested on and what the main purposr of all this truly is.

Money? Power?

How sick is Sugou Nobuyuki really?

I just want to know how I can help everyone get out, help Kirito get Asuna back.

How I can get Dealan back to the real world with me, so we can be... happy.

"I thought you didn't want to be happy," a voice said.

I froze as soon as I heard it, midrun. "Why..." everything around me went white before ot cleared into something... soft.

And familiar.

A large field with grass and mountains stretching as far as the eye could see, blue skies holding smooth white clouds dotted about. Small flowers populated the vast area, petals flowing in the soft wind. It was warm, and felt like summer.

Everything was fuzzy, feeling soft and comforting. I'd never imagined I'd see this place - I'd only ever heard of it.

I'd never even been here before. Only on the day I was born.

"You remember it through your closed eyes, Shirali. Your mother and I... we used to live here." I looked around. "It may have been out in the country, and quiet and whatnot, but it was... peaceful. She would talk about you each day, waiting until the time you'd finally arrive. She was most likely scared deep down, but didn't want to admit it. She just put on a strong face and marched through it all."

I turned around to look at Akihiko Kayaba, standing in the field with me. A house was behind him, far off in the distance. "Dad," I said. "How do you know I didn't want to be happy? Why would you think that?" I clenched my fists.

He smiled, and I saw it filled with pain. "You are so much like your mother..."

"Dad!" I yelled.

"Filled with courage and determination... you do your best to shield yourself from those around you or through a screen. You rarely opened up to people..."

I took off my right clove and threw it at him. "Shut up!" I yelled, tears stinging my eyes. "I don't want to talk about this! Why tell me this now?! Why tell me what she was like now?! Why not before?! After all those times I asked!!" I leaned over, crying loudly. "What's so important about now?!"

Akihiko stared at my glove in the grass, having hit him on the chest. "... It's because you looked just like her. Right then as you confessed your love to the world, you got the same look in your eye as she did. The same look she always held... determination." He explained. His monochrome voice held the slightest amount of simpathy and emotion. "You looked just like her - young, beautiful, and courageous." He closed his eyes and moved his heas away from my direction, towards the ground. Upon staring at him for another moment, I noticed his eyebrows creased with worry, or maybe even regret. "And also..." he looked like he would cry. "... love."

The crack in his voice suprised me, and I caught myself staring at him in worry as well. "Dad, I..." I took a step towards him.

"I never meant to lose her. I never meant to not talk about her with you... I just didn't want to hurt you anymore than you already were. You already believed you killed her, but Shirali... I couldn't bring myself to say anything more detailed than I had. Sometimes... women die in childbirth - it's just the way things go. But that doesn't mean I don't think of her as your mother - I always will, and I know you will do the same." He took a deep breath and used his thumb to whipe his face. "It was... hard to lose her. Your mother was 18, and she died too young..." he put his right hand back in his pocket. "She had short black hair and big eyes... and always tried to hold a smile. When her father died and her mother was omitted to the hospital, I... I saw that happiness begin to break." He took a deep breath.