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

Chapter 14: Brass and 'Lead'

Months fly by, and now they await at Floor 56 with Asuna now second in command on this floor boss battle.

The thought if it with the fact that they were talking about the Asuna Eugeo has met at Floor 1 that was someone a bit conservative was a bit unbelievable at first until they met up again.

Ever since they split with her at Floor 25 due to their encouragement for her to join the now top guild, Knights of the Blood Oath, they've barely heard from her until just recently. Eugeo felt glad to see her again, ignoring all that flashy armored uniform when seeing her face again.

She didn't change a bit, her chestnut-brown hair tied in that signature hairstyle they have grown accustomed to when it was first revealed to them at the Floor 1 boss. He could still remember that day vividly, still seeing her run by in his mind with the details of her still fresh in his mind.

He didn't have the reason why she has made such a huge toll on him, possibly because he could see himself in her. Not only was she too fighting for her life, she was then fighting for other people's lives.

Even with all these mentally noted down, he almost didn't even recognize her, her face being in an unfamiliar stern expression when he spotted her from afar that turned into a soft smile once they were close enough in her hearing distance.

But he spotted someone else as well, a taller man, who was standing behind her in the same flashy armor.

Eugeo felt a bite uneasy with him standing this close to Asuna with the type of aura he was somehow emitting, but he saw Asuna wave at them while holding her soft smile in place even when she looked a bit uncomfortable.

He reluctantly waves back, trying his best to ignore the stare pointing right at him and possibly even at Alice and Kirito behind him that came from the man. Eugeo then tries to call out to Asuna, but the tension he swears he could suffocate from only made him moan out slightly with his smile.

So he just kept his mouth shut, continuing to walk in the same, hastened pace, that he was doing along with Kirito and Alice. The closer they got, the more nervous he became, because not only they were getting closer to Asuna, but they were getting closer to a man that looks like he committed murder and is hiding out as an escort.

Especially a suspicious escort for Asuna.

"Oi! Asuna!"

He hears Alice call out to her, seeing her braided hair flash by him when she appeared in front of him with her right arm raised up, waving towards Asuna. Asuna's smile noticeably widens, turning fully towards her as she too continued to wave.

They both did a side hug once they were close enough for one, seeing Kirito's head pop up beside him once he stops just a few feet away from them. They lock eyes for a moment, sharing the same thoughts, then both stare back at the two giggling girls.

Asuna's wardrobe wasn't the only one that changed, Alice's too. After hearing about (Y/N)'s incident and what she has left for them, Alice took her message to heart. She swore to stay alive even when she felt like she no longer had any reason.

She could somehow feel (Y/N) was watching her whenever she would do something, anything, and it made her feel ashamed of herself for , to the point where she fought and protected many others in a blue and gold color combination knightly armor she has received as a rare drop at one specific floor.

With all this combined, she has earned the title "Integrity Knight", along with Eugeo's own title similar to Kirito's "Black Swordsman", "Azure Swordsman" that makes sense just a bit.