Heart Stitches ([SAO] Alice x [Female] Reader]

Chapter 4: Strategic balance

Alice's ears almost never lie to her.

But this is one of those moments where she wished it did. Up and gone was the hooded figure after leaving everyone speechless from his speech.

He was Kayaba Akihiko.

The creator of this fantasy game. And yet, he trapped them all here that turned it into their new reality. She too was as speechless as everyone else, not being able to find any words to express whatever she was feeling,

Silence echoed off the walls of the small town, ready to swallow her whole until a cry of almost emotional agony erupted somewhere in the crowd. Then followed an uproar of players, running towards the place he once technically stood.

They all shouted inaudible things. Many not wanting to accept his words, others going to curse him when he wasn't there to hear them. Alice could feel her chest tighten. This might be it.

This is how she could die without even starting her life yet. But how could she start her life when her everything wasn't there with her?

She mentally slapped herself.

Now isn't the time to think that negatively, she wouldn't have approved of it, holding her into this tight hug until she takes back her words. But that wasn't so effective, since Alice would be too busy hugging her back to even dawn on taking back her words.

But that memory was long gone from happening again. If losing her wasn't enough, having to fight in a now death game could be an even worse punishment ever in her life. If she were here by her side, she would've been up on her feet immediately and striving out to survive with something to fight for.

But she wasn't.

God she wished she was.

But that will only happen in her dreams.

And they've been crushed ever since that one stupid incident she wish she could take back as a dream.

She could feel her knees now falling numb, suddenly wanting to connect to the ground. But soon she felt two small arms wrap around her one arm, pulling her to a different direction out of the loud crowd.

Everything around her flashed by, until she finally was able to gather her senses and pull her arm away from her abductor. She quickly turned to look behind her as she stepped back, seeing the same girl she spoke with just a moment ago.

She looked at her with her body slightly facing sideways, turning fully at Alice before holding her cheek.

"She knew it would've had to come to this, but it was worth a try"

She had a awkward, tired like look on her face, her eyes closed while she leaned on the hand she placed on her right cheek. She opens her eyes back at Alice, pulling her hand down into her hood's coat.

Alice watches her pull out her clenched hand that held something small enough that she couldn't see peaking out her fingers, although seeing a bit of string dangling out a bit in the girl's fist.

She turns her fist in front of Alice, opening it to reveal her palm. It was a whistle- no, a flute, shaped and sized like a whistle with string passing through a small, individually custom made hole with it's own little stand or something.

"Here, you'll need this"

The girl pushed it closer to Alice, gesturing for her to take it. Alice still felt hesitant, but then again this could be her new reality, so having something she might need could mean balancing out life and death.