Come To Life: Into The Outerworld: SAO After Alicization

8: Berlin

"Huh?" Eugeo tossed his head to the side.

"Wake up, silly!"

"What?" Scrunching his nose and turning away Eugeo yanked the blankets around his head.

"You've become lazy," the voice beside him sounded clearer.

"Alice?"

"I'm surprised at you, Eugeo!" Opening his eyes, he was met with a fierce blue stare just beyond the blankets he had pulled up to his face.

"Alice?" He reached out, his entire form begging to touch her soft hair.

The girl next to him laughed. "Lazy, silly, Eugeo!"

"Alice...stop teasing me...Alice!" Eugeo reached out but couldn't touch her. "Alice...come...back...come BACK!"

"AH!"

Lurching forward, Eugeo let out a sharp gasp. The scene before him had changed. He was lying in a narrow bed next to a little window. All around him a strange roar and vibration filled the air. As he tried to sit up, he felt a slight tug of something restraining him at the waist.

"What the hell?"

"Hey," Kirito's voice echoed from beside him. "Eugeo, you're awake!"

"Yeah," the blonde rubbed his eyes and then shook his head. "What the hell happened? Where are we? What happened to that Kikuoka guy and the doctors and nurses?" As his vision cleared he could make out the form of his dark haired friend sitting next to him.

"Eugeo, don't you remember? You convinced him to take you to Alice." Kirito leaned forward and placed his hand on Eugeo's shoulder. "You stood up against him! Then you fainted, but Rath let us go and put us on a direct flight to Berlin, Germany."

"Flight?" Eugeo shook his head again as the strange roar echoed in his ears.

"Oh," Kirito had moved from his seat and was now sitting on the edge of Eugeo's small bed. "Sorry, I forgot you don't know. So, in the real world we have these things called planes...they can fly us all the way around the world. It's a pretty convenient way to travel."

"Fly?" Eugeo tugged at the restraint around his waist then reached up towards Kirito. "What the hell do you mean...fly?"

"Airplanes," Kirito tried to explain again. "They're these big machines that can fly us through the sky to wherever we want to go." Reaching down he undid the belt restraining his friend so Eugeo could sit up. The blond boy reached up and grabbed the collar of his friend's shirt and in a panicked tone continued.

"You mean we're in the sky?"

"Yeah, they're taking us to the Zuberg Facility in Germany, I guess. This is the fastest way to get there. Honestly, Eugeo, after you passed out they took us to the deck of the Ocean Turtle and loaded us on this plane. I can't believe you've been out this long! The nurses must have given you some sedatives or something. We've been traveling for nearly seventeen hours!"

Eugeo gripped the collar of Kirito's shirt even tighter, his face growing white. "What? They're going to take us to...Alice?" Swaying a little under the panic that had risen up in his chest, Eugeo's head went numb and he wilted against Kirito's shoulder.

Kirito gave a small sigh and swung his feet up onto the narrow bed beside the unconscious Eugeo. After a few moments, he shook him slightly.

"Hey Eugeo, wake up!"

The color had returned to the blond's face and he gave a small grunt and pushed his head against Kirito's arm.

"Wha?"