Sword Art Online: Faithful Hymn

Chapter 7: Recollection

4 years before the SAO Incident

"Chase, come with me, we have to get out of here right now!" says Chase's mother, quite hastily. Chase's mind, filled with doubt and confusion, does not know what to do. Right next to him, he sees his own mother, and his father sitting in his car. He awaits the two of them to hop in and get out of here as soon as possible. In the short distance, he sees Aru and her father.

However, Chase was unable to spot his friend Wyatt anywhere.

"Mom I don't understand. Why do we have to go?" Chase softly asks his mother. "I can't leave Aru and Wyatt..." The more Chase mentions his friends, especially Wyatt, Chase's mother has to shed her tears away before tightening her grip in her son's hands. Aru can't stand the current situation, and she attempts to run towards Chase. That chance was short-lived though, due to her father grabbing her by her arm, preventing her from reaching her best friend.

"No dad! Explain why we can't live with each other!" Aru asks her father. Just like Chase's mother though, he doesn't respond. He just grabs her by her arm, preventing her from reaching her best friend. Out of a sudden, Chase's father gets out of his car, supporting his wife with dragging Chase to his own car. With both young children raising their arms to each other as they're both being prevented from moving, they look each other in the eyes as tears start to flow down both of their cheeks.

"Chase! Don't go... please..." Aru begs of the boy. While he is not able to move at all due to his parents dragging him to his car, he does not stop looking in Aru's eyes. The two of them won't know what will happen, but they are certain that they will meet again at some point in the future.

Such a great bond, those simply can't end. And Wyatt too, Chase will do anything he can to reach him as well.

"Aru... no... Seven, you'll always stay with me. Seven, I like you!" Chase shouts across the area to the girl. The girl seems shocked and heartbroken altogether as Chase's kind words resonate with Aru's heart. Seven, a nickname Aru came up with herself due to it being her lucky number, struggled harder to let go of her father's grip as her heart is beating immensely.

"We were born on the same day so we die on the same day, together!" Seven shouts back. With Chase just being tucked into his father's car, he looks through the back window of the car to see his beloved friend one last time. This is what his instinct tells him, even though he doesn't want to accept those.

"We'll find each other again, we always do!" Chase tells his friend as he presses his forehead against the back window. He would've loved to smash that window with his head, although he simply wouldn't be strong for that. Knowing that an expensive car like his father has has reinforced windows, he would only end up having a concussion.

The car Chase is in then drives away, away from his city of birth, from his friends, his best friend Wyatt, and Seven, too. He sees Seven crying and shouting in the distance, although he can't hear any of it anymore. Before he realizes it, his parents then drive him out of the street, out of Atlantic City, out of New Jersey, all the way to New York.

From there, the family took the plane that would lead them all the way to Japan. More precise, Tokyo. Chase still is not aware of everything that's happening around him, except that he had to abandon it all. He has seen himself in court, together with his family. His parents wanted their names changed, and their reasoning for this was quite dire.