Sunday, March 9th, 2025

[The game has been cleared. The game has been cleared. The game has been cleared….]

Under a sky fading from unnatural night back into a melancholy sunset, Kirito felt… numb. As the system calmly uttered words part of him thought he'd never live to hear, as the last fragments of Kayaba Akihiko's Heathcliff avatar spun away into the distance, he was numb. Revelator and Dark Repulser dropped from his nerveless fingers, and he started to follow them to the ground, all strength gone from his knees.

He was caught before he fell far, Kizmel's arms wrapping around him in a tight embrace. Face marred with soot, her cape burned away, Adamantine Honor Guard armor scorched, she held him, gently lowering the two of them to the stone floor. He returned the embrace with shaking arms, hardly able to believe she was still alive to be in his arms at all.

It had been terrifying, seeing her vanish in the flames of the Inferno Crystal. Only memory of her promise not to carelessly sacrifice herself had kept him sane enough to check her status in his HUD, rather than just lose himself in grief and rage. But she's alive, and she's here. We're both… alive….

Kizmel was whispering Sindarin in his ear, some words Kirito didn't recognize. He wasn't sure which of them started crying first, but soon tears were running down both their faces. Somewhere in the middle, he heard her murmur, "We won, my love. It's over. At long last… it is over."

So it was. There, in the smashed ruins of what had been the Ruby Palace, they had ended it. Them, and the forty-six other members of the Black Beaters. Only… not so many, anymore.

Reluctantly, Kirito pulled far enough from Kizmel to shift so that they were leaning shoulder to shoulder, to see what had become of the rest of the raid. Every Swordmaster he could see looked to be in the same state of numb shock as the two of them, or worse. Asuna had fallen to lean her back against Rain's, most of the latter's party collapsed around them. Nezha had joined the rest of his old guild; all the surviving Legend Braves looked gaunt and shell-shocked, having lost Orlando.

Shivata and Liten were in a tangled heap together, openly crying. Not too far from them, Orochi was quietly but bitterly cursing, while Schmitt simply sat on the ground, shaking violently.

You died a real hero, Lind, Kirito thought, feeling a sharp pang at the memory, burned into his mind, of the Divine Dragons' guildmaster taking a blow meant for Kizmel. You did it, you know. You really were Diavel's heir, in the end. …Thank you.

Agil and his old crew were wearily slapping each other on the back, having come out of the last battle having avenged Wolfgang without losing anyone else. Kirito felt an almost unbearable surge of relief at that. Agil was the only one of them he really knew well, but they'd all been a huge help in the early days. The Twelve-Man Raid on the Fifth Floor wouldn't have been possible without them.

Kibaou sat by himself, away from everyone else. His shoulders were shaking with sobs; only then did Kirito realize, with distant horror, that no other member of the ALF faction of the Beaters remained on the field, nor did Okotan. At the very end, Aincrad had dealt the proud, bullheaded, valiant man one last blow.

Finally, he turned his gaze toward the group that worried him most. The relief he felt at seeing all nine members of Fuurinkazan alive and well, collapsed in one big dogpile, drove a gasp and a choked sob from his lungs. After everything, after over two years since he left the guild's leader behind on the day it all began, they were all alive.

Tears streamed down Sachi's face. "I'm alive," she whispered, voice carried by the Hundredth Floor's winds. "I… I'm still alive." She turned to look toward him and Kizmel. "Thank you," she called, choking out the words. "I didn't die… thank you…."

Kirito could only nod jerkily, unable to force words out. Kizmel could, but it was something Sindarin he couldn't quite make out in the moment. Whatever it was, it drew a smile from Sachi, before the girl collapsed into open sobbing.

"Ya did good, Kii-bou, Kii-chan." Argo staggered over to them, the Rat and Philia supporting each other against the post-battle fatigue. "Ya scared me half to death at the end there, but ya did it. This is your victory."

"We just took out Kayaba," Kirito replied, only managing a rasp. "Asuna and the rest handled the Incarnation, and Fuurinkazan finished off the dragon. It wasn't… just us."

"You always say that." Philia dropped down to lean against his left shoulder, while Argo just flopped gracelessly on her back. "But we all know Kayaba was the real final boss. The Incarnation was just there to keep everybody else busy so he could have his 'hero against villain' duel. You guys had the real fight."

Humility—or maybe self-deprecation—tried to force Kirito to deny that. Honesty, and understanding of Kayaba, left him silent. From what the mad gamemaster had said when he was unmasked, the treasure hunter probably wasn't exactly wrong about it. Kayaba had gone to insane lengths to make his world as "real" as possible, but at the same time he'd wanted spectacle. Arranging the most dramatic possible finale was entirely in his character.

Except the hero would've lost, if it had been just me. Kizmel was the one who finished him off. Without her, I would've died here. In the end, Kayaba's own world defeated him. …He probably liked it that way.

[The game has been cleared.]

With that repetition of the system message, one Swordmaster finally stood up. Red armor battered and acid-scorched, he swept two fingers through the air, paused one, eternal moment, and finally let out a weary whoop. "Here it is!" Klein called out, voice cracking. "The log-out button! It's back!"

Quiet cheers rang out. Kirito didn't join them, but that was as much due to surprise as anything else. In all the stress of the battle, and the numb realization that he and Kizmel had both survived it, he'd honestly forgotten the whole point was to bring that back.

"Finally," Sachi breathed. "Finally…!" Wiping away tears, she cleared her throat, and began to sing. "Rest, O weary souls, no more tales to tell… bid the world a farewell, as it sinks into twilight…."

As The Song of Mourning drifted across the Hundredth Floor of the Steel Castle in the Sky, Kirito felt himself choking up all over again. Kizmel's fingers twined with his own, and the two of them clung to each other. It was over. After over two years, it was over, and they'd survived it.

"Ride upon the wind, eternity waits, for you gently to close your eyes, as you dream of the morning light…."

"Dream, hell! I'm out of here!" Surging to his feet, Orochi dragged open his menu, viciously jabbed an option—and vanished, disappearing in a simple blue flash that Kirito hadn't seen in over two years.

The prickly DDA Swordmaster was the first to finally log out of Sword Art Online. With him gone, others quickly began to follow suit. Gunther and Ral saluted Rain and disappeared together; Strida patted Jaeger on the head, muttered something Kirito didn't think was Japanese, and vanished as well. Nezha mouthed a thank you to Kirito, bowed to Rain, and together with the other Legend Braves left the Steel Castle behind.

Kibaou clambered to his feet. Straightened defiantly, and saluted the Flag of Valor. Then turned to Kirito, bowed stiffly but deeply, and disappeared.

"O noble souls, your sacrifices will be told, songs of love and pain…. Till my dying day I'll sing your refrain…."

Agil smoothly stood, put a fist to his heart, and called out, "Oi, Kirito! Time for me to go. Look up the Dicey Cafe, ya hear me? And bring the missus—my wife'll want to meet both of you!"

Kirito managed a grin. "You know it, Agil. See you on the other side."

Kizmel returned the salute with a weary smile. "You have my word, as a Knight of Lyusula, and as a Swordmaster, Agil. We will happily be your customers in your world, as we were in mine."

The big axeman grinned. "I'll hold you to that!"

Then he, too, was gone, along with Lowbacca and Naijan. The Bro Squad stood in Aincrad no more.

"In the evening sky, one more star tonight, blinks its dying light, burning brave as it fades down into ashes…."

Soon, most of the Black Beaters, the final guild that had carried out SAO's final raid, had left that world behind. Kirito could imagine much the same was happening throughout the Steel Castle, as the six thousand survivors found the log-out button active once again. Thinker and Yulier, Lisbeth, Silica, even Keita… he wondered how they felt, as the death game ended at last.

I'll have to see who I can find, on the other side. They'll be the only people who understand. No one who didn't see the Steel Castle with their own eyes will ever understand what we did. What we survived.

"…Let your weary bones return to the land… may your dreams be of peace and light…."

Sachi's voice trailed off, and Fuurinkazan gathered together one last time. Gathered together, around Klein… and Griselda. "Well, Klein," the once-murdered guildmaster of Golden Apple said, with a light tone and a smile that didn't quite match the look in her eyes, "I guess it's time."

"I guess it is." In that moment, there was none of Klein's goofy side. At the same time, Kirito didn't quite see him as the reliable guildmaster, either. Not as the man who'd gotten his entire guild, plus three latecomers, through the entire death game alive. "Griselda, I…."

"I know." She rested a hand on his chest. "But we knew this was how it had to end. Whatever happens, Klein, you have to go back. And… thank you. For everything." Her smile turned bittersweet. "See you on the other side."

"…Yeah. On the other side." Visibly swallowing hard, Klein rested his own hand on hers. Then, clearly forcing himself to look away, he turned toward Kirito. "Oi, Kirito. Any debt you might be stupid enough to still think you've got? Paid. Or it will be, when you show me your face in the real world. You got me?"

"We'll meet at the Dicey Cafe," Kirito promised, managing a crooked smile. "I'm sure Agil will give us a discount on drinks."

"Ha! Yeah, right." Summoning up a grin of his own, Klein shook his head. "Whatever. You be there, too, Kizmel! We went through too much for you not to come with."

"I have every intention of it, Guildmaster Klein." Kizmel finally stood, pulling Kirito up with her. "I, too, have promises to keep. And things to see." She smiled, a small, sad smile. "So many things…."

Sachi broke from the rest of her guild then, running over to them and pulling both of them into a tight hug. "You better, Kizmel! Both of you… you saved me. It won't be right until we all see each other in the real world. It… it won't really be over until then."

No. No, it won't. Kirito awkwardly returned the hug, and when the former Black Cat returned to Fuurinkazan, he joined Kizmel in saluting them. As the nine of them, Griselda included, vanished in a quiet blue flash, he fought back a lump in his throat. …I really hope I was right about Griselda's condition.

A few moments later, Rain disappeared as well, leaving behind only an enigmatic smile. Kirito was left wondering, as he had for most of the time he'd known her, what was really going on with her. Hopefully, he'd have a chance to find out someday.

Finally, only his team, Asuna, and Argo were left, there in the ruins of the Ruby Palace, under the setting sun. His old partner, the Flash, the Commander of the Knights of the Blood, walked slowly over to join them, tattered cape rippling in the breeze. "So, this is it, huh?" she whispered. "Hard to believe it's been two years… hard to believe it's only been two years."

"Yeah." Chest tightening, Kirito smiled at her, blinking back the blurring in his eyes. "We've sure come a long way, haven't we? Since the day I met you in that dungeon. Back then, you were just looking for a place to die on your own terms, and now…."

"Now, here I am, at the end of it all. Yeah." Asuna took a deep breath, and then leaned in to capture Kizmel in a tight hug. "You were both there for me, when I needed it most. I can't thank you enough. For everything."

"You saved my life, the day we met," Kizmel retorted, returning the embrace. "I owe you and Kirito everything. You are my sister, here in this world, and in the next. Whatever happens, wherever our journeys take us, we're family, Asuna. Always and forever, my sister-knight."

"Always." Asuna held the elf girl a moment longer, before pulling away—and nearly tackling Kirito off his feet. "You, too, y'know," she whispered in his ear. "We had to go our separate ways for a while, but… but you're my friend, Kirito-kun." She drew a deep, shuddering breath; Kirito could feel her heartbeat, she was pressed so close. "There's so many things I wish I'd told you over the years, things I should've told you…. We'll still be friends, right? On the other side?"

"Of course," he got out, voice rough. "Always, Asuna. Whatever you need… I'll be there."

"Thank you. On the other side, I…." She trailed off uncertainly, and finally shook her head. "Later. In the real world. …You're my family, too, Kirito-kun. So come find me, on the other side. Both of you. I'll be waiting… no matter what anyone tries to say about it."

Kirito wanted to ask what she meant by that, and why she seemed so desperate to reaffirm their bonds. She only shook her head again, though—and gently kissed him on the cheek. Whispering words too low for him to hear, she reluctantly pulled away, exchanged a quick hug with Argo, and brought up her menu.

Then Asuna the Flash was gone, vanishing like a shooting star in the night.

All of a sudden, the world felt much emptier. It had been a long time since their partnership had ended, longer than the partnership had lasted, yet those few months had set the tone for all Kirito's time in Aincrad. Knowing she was in another world hurt him more than any sword, even with the prospect for reunion.

He didn't know how to define what his relationship was with Asuna, exactly. Whatever it was, he swore to himself that he would find her on the other side. It sounded like she needed him, and he refused to fail her.

"Don't worry, Kii-bou." Argo the Rat grinned at him, showing fangs. "I got connections. Worst case, I can get us all together again on the other side." The grin faded, turning into her rare, perfectly sincere smile. "We made a promise, too, right? Ta find each other again, and to get Kii-chan her own body. I may be a Rat, but I never break a promise."

"…That's for sure." One of the surest things in Aincrad. Argo the Rat couldn't be trusted with secrets—usually—but her word was unbreakable. She made her living by being scrupulously honest, even if that honesty had a price attached. If she said she was going to make sure friends made in Aincrad could find each other in the next world, Kirito had no doubt in his mind that she meant it, and would pull it off.

Knowing that, remembering her promise to help him bring Kizmel properly into that world, Kirito reached out and pulled Argo into a hug, startling a squeak out of her. "Take care of yourself, Argo," he murmured into her mousy hair. "Life wouldn't be the same without you."

"…Right back at ya, Kii-bou. Charmer." The Rat managed to pull back far enough to toss a wry look at Kizmel. "Oi, Kii-chan. Ya gonna let yer husband cheat like this?"

"It's hardly cheating if I'm helping him," the elf girl replied, joining in on the hug with a grin. "And turnabout, as they say, is fair play, is it not?"

"…You two are dangerous, ya know that?" But Argo didn't struggle, seeming to bask in the affection. "Welp," she said at length, pulling out of the embrace, "guess it's time for me ta go, too. Don't stay out too long!"

For a Rat, Kirito thought, she did a remarkable imitation of the Cheshire Cat. He could've sworn her grin lingered in the air long after the rest of her disappeared into light.

With Argo gone, Philia awkwardly cleared her throat. "Y'know, Kirito, it's a good thing Kizmel's not the jealous type. How many girls didn't you charm, the last couple years? There weren't that many of us in Aincrad in the first place!"

Kirito had steam coming out of his ears, he was sure of it. The worst of it was, he couldn't entirely deny it. "Charmed" was putting it a little strongly, he thought, but otherwise…. About the only girls I never got little, well, cuddly with would probably the ones from Golden Apple and Yulier. He blanched, remembering a certain tailor. Whether I wanted to or not.

"I'm kidding, Kirito," Philia said, patting him on the shoulder and rolling her eyes. "…Though now I'm wondering if it's safe to introduce you to my sister." She tapped her chin, looking mock-thoughtful. "Well, as long as Kizmel's with you, it should be fine. Unless you have to, say, rescue her from a dark dungeon."

"…I think I should be insulted."

"Maaybe," she said, sticking out her tongue. Then she sighed, a wistful look supplanting the humor. "I'd better go, too. My sister's waiting for me." She stepped forward to hug Kizmel tight, then Kirito. "See you later… Bro."

He was still trying to figure out how to react to that last jab when she disappeared.

Then it was just Kirito and Kizmel, standing on the blasted ruins of the One Hundredth Floor of Aincrad. Of the forty-eight Swordmasters who'd fought Sword Art Online's final raid, only the two of them remained in that world. Of the six thousand who'd survived to the very end, they might well have been the very last; he doubted many had hesitated to log out. In a world that had once held ten thousand souls, perhaps only two still breathed its air.

They had to go, too, he knew. After everything, even they couldn't stay in Aincrad forever. With Kayaba dead, the world would doubtless end soon as well, and for all he knew it might still kill them if they were logged in at the final moment. He turned to Kizmel, opening his mouth to say as much—

The world vanished in an azure flash.

One moment, Kizmel was preparing to say… well, she wasn't quite sure what. She didn't know what to say, at the very end of the world in which she'd lived all her life. She'd opened her mouth to at least utter something, even as Kirito had, but she never had a chance. In the next moment, that world vanished in a flash of blue.

Only for a moment. Faster than a normal teleport, the world resolved itself around them again. Shaking off brief disorientation, Kizmel looked around wildly, to find herself standing in the very sky itself. On a sheet of glass, suspended in the sunset sky of Aincrad, supported by absolutely nothing. Fighting a wave of vertigo, she clutched at Kirito's arm. "…Where are we?"

Her husband inhaled sharply, and pointed toward something down below them. Following his gesture, it was her turn to gasp.

Kizmel had never seen it from the outside. Her entire life, entire generations of her people's lives, had been spent within its confines, with only faded illustrations to suggest what its true form was. Now, after so many years, she finally saw it with her own eyes: the tapered cylinder of rock and iron, composed of one hundred floors, hanging in the endless sky. The Steel Castle itself, Aincrad.

Seen from a distance, from the outside, Kizmel finally understood what her world was like for those who came from another world. A fantastic edifice, beyond comprehension. Yet at the same time, she felt a deep sense of longing, and homesickness. This was it, she knew in her bones. This was the last sight she would ever have of the world that had given her birth, that had been her home for half a century. She looked forward to what came next, yet her heart ached.

"I'd forgotten what it looked like," Kirito breathed. Glancing at his face, she wasn't surprised to see him looking as melancholy as she felt. "I only ever saw it in screenshots—pictures—in pre-release material. I… never saw it in person before. Not like this."

"Indeed. Magnificent, isn't it?" A quiet chuckle. "I suppose that may sound arrogant, coming from me, yet it's not as if I brought this world into being all by myself."

Somehow, Kizmel wasn't really surprised by the voice. It had been decades since last she'd heard it, but she still knew it. Mere minutes before, she'd have been shocked and furious. Now, she only turned with Kirito, feeling strangely calm, to look at the owner of the voice that had interrupted them. "Hello, Father."

"…Can't believe I didn't recognize his zombie," Kirito muttered. "Take away the dark skin and the pointed ears, and it's you."

Short brown hair. A young, sharp-lined face. White shirt and tie, and a long white coat. He shared Heathcliff's metallic eyes, yet otherwise was very nearly the perfect image of the Dark Elf Regius. Kizmel's father, or so she had long believed. Now she knew him for who he truly was: the mad gamemaster, Kayaba Akihiko. The man who had created Aincrad, created Sword Art Online, and trapped ten thousand souls in it.

Kizmel felt no rage now. No hate. All of that, she supposed, had been left behind in the ruins of the Ruby Palace, when she struck down his Heathcliff avatar. Kayaba had a slightly transparent appearance now, giving her the impression that she truly had killed him in that moment. What use is there in hating a dead man?

A distant rumble caught her attention, and she glanced back down at Aincrad. The Steel Castle was shuddering in the air, and before her very eyes the lowest floor fell away. The pillars connecting it to the floor above shattered, their remains tumbling into the abyss; the floor itself began to slowly sink into the clouds below. As it vanished from sight, the next floor followed it, going down into the clouds at a subtly different angle.

"…What's happening?" Kirito asked at length, when three more floors had fallen away.

"You might call it a visual metaphor," Kayaba responded, slipping his hands into the pockets of his coat. "Do you know, I once planned for this world to be destroyed, when the story reached its conclusion? Yet after seeing so many twists I had never imagined, I came to believe that was… arrogant. Short-sighted." He shrugged, eyes locked on the disassembling of his work. "Somehow, I feel as if the Steel Castle's story isn't over yet. So for now, I will let it sleep, and leave its fate to those who come after. Perhaps nothing. Perhaps the government will simply destroy SAO's servers. But perhaps, perhaps… something more may come, someday."

Now, finally, Kizmel understood. They had defeated the sorcerer who controlled the Steel Castle. At long last, it was returning to the ground far below, as it had been before the Great Separation. Or so, at least, is the tale within this world. …It's not a bad ending. And yet….

"What about all the Swordmasters?" Kirito asked abruptly, without looking away from Aincrad's fall. "And all the people who died here?"

"You need not worry, Kirito-kun," Kayaba told him, his own eyes still locked on the Steel Castle. "Six thousand forty players have logged out of this world. The two of you are the only ones who remain. As to the dead…." He gave a short, slow shake of his head. "You of all people know the answer to that. You know the weight of life."

Kirito winced, but said no more. Nothing more needed saying. The simple fact was that if death was not death, Kayaba's world would not have been what it was.

Yet other things do need to be said now. Kizmel turned back to Kayaba, and simply said, "Why?"

Kayaba took a long, deep breath, and turned to meet her eyes. "'Why', indeed. Well, Kizmel-kun, Kirito-kun, you've won, and won fairly. You deserve answers. Though even I forgot, for a time, immersed as I was in the realization of this world. For you see, Kizmel-kun, for a very long time, long before I ever learned of the development of Full-Dive, all I wished was to create that Steel Castle. To create a world unbound by the laws and logic of reality. And in the end, the truest realization of this was the surpassing even of the laws I created for this world. Those whose minds strove against the system, and made it obey them."

So it was true. Kizmel had thought, sometimes, that she'd seen people exceed the limits of what should've been possible for Swordmasters. Especially after learning the artificial nature of her world, it had puzzled her. She wondered, in that moment, if even Kayaba knew how it had come to pass. Yet that wasn't the question truly burning in her heart.

Before she could ask it, Kayaba smiled wistfully and continued, "You see, ever since I was a child, I dreamed of this place. As years passed, those dreams not only didn't fade, they grew sharper, ever more distinct. The older I became, the more obsessed I grew with setting foot in that castle of steel in the sky. In the end, I crafted it with my own hands, in this virtual world… yet, Kirito-kun, Kizmel-kun, part of me still believes that it truly exists somewhere. Some other place… some other world…."

"…Yeah," Kirito got out, voice husky, as Kizmel simply nodded. "Yeah… I hope it does…."

To Kizmel, Aincrad had always been real. Yet in that moment, she could only imagine what it could've been, in another reality. Doing her duty as a Knight of Lyusula among others truly as alive as she was, setting forth into the wider world… meeting a young human born of that world, a swordsman born and true, fighting at her side for their world. Living together, always, in that world.

Her heart yearned for that, even though she knew it could never be. Because she knew it couldn't. All she could do was whisper a prayer for that other self, in some other world, that she, too, would find her beloved, and live the life that might have been.

"…Why?" Kizmel asked again, pushing aside dreams of other lives for the secrets of the one she had. "Why… me?"

For the first time, Kayaba looked genuinely pained; Kirito started at the sight, and even she was taken aback. "'Why', indeed," he said again, slow and quiet. "Why…. The two of you may find this difficult to believe, but even I fell in love, once. Our relationship was, perhaps, odd, but it was genuine. And when our child was born, I was elated. Someday, I could share my dream with my daughter, and our little family could make the dream realer still. But… it wasn't to be."

Kizmel's breath hitched, at the pain in Kayaba's voice and at the implications. There had been a real child. "…What happened?"

"Our daughter died," Kayaba said simply, eyes closing at the memory. "In infancy. And I… couldn't accept it. So I took a machine I was experimenting with, one that would read the brain more deeply than NerveGear yet couldn't do so safely, and scanned her before her brain could completely fail."

She didn't understand what that meant. Not really. She didn't think Kirito did, either, but he apparently grasped more than she did, because his hands clenched, and his face turned a few shades paler. "You… you did something like that… to your own daughter…?"

"She was dying anyway," Kayaba said, opening his eyes to show an eerie calm again. "Nothing could change that. Rinko, her mother, was against it, but it was the only chance I saw. I took that chance, and completed a project I had believed could never be. I could only try twice, in the time I had and with the resources I'd been able to acquire, but it worked. Or so I thought."

"Me," Kizmel whispered. "Tilnel… and me. We were born from the death of your real daughter." She felt numb, only distantly noticing yet more floors of Aincrad falling below the clouds in the distance. "We were… copies…."

"Ask Kirito-kun to explain the concept of cloning, when time allows," he replied, shaking his head. "For now, suffice to say that the result is not a mere duplicate. The two of you were always your own, unique selves."

The building tension that had almost fought through the numbness faded. One thing Kizmel had always known was that Kayaba Akihiko was many things, but a liar was not among them. That, though, only left her with another question, the one that had been burning in her soul since the day she realized who "Heathcliff" truly was. "Then why?" she demanded. "Why did you give us life, why did you spend so many years bringing us up, only to leave us to die as mere quest NPCs? Why go to so much effort for so little?" She swallowed hard; when Kirito pulled her closer against his shoulder, she leaned into him gratefully. "Why would you do that to your own daughters?"

"Because, in the end, I thought I had failed. That all I had done was create slightly above-average NPCs." Kayaba smiled ruefully, seeing the baffled expression on her face. "I'll be the first to admit, Kizmel-kun, that I'm a programmer and a neurologist, not a psychologist. And that I'm well aware my brain doesn't work like most people. As it turns out, I had no idea how to rear children, nor did I understand the importance of socialization in the development of social skills."

Kizmel started to reply, then realized she had no idea what to say. She hadn't even understood half of what he'd just said. Helplessly, she glanced at Kirito, hoping he'd grasped it better.

"Growing up, you only had ordinary NPCs and Kayaba as role models," her husband explained, after a moment's thought. "Your only examples of living would've been a bunch of people following scripts and one mad genius."

"Succinctly put," Kayaba said dryly, lips quirking in a wry smile. "But essentially correct. Not that I knew that at the time, nor did Rinko. Yes," he added, seeing the sudden shadow in Kizmel's eyes, "Klaris truly was your mother, Rinko. She never agreed with what I'd done, and when it became too painful to see what she thought of as a mockery of her child, she left the simulation behind, never to return."

So my mother was real. And… she abandoned me. Yet I can hardly blame her. Looking back, I didn't truly come alive until Kirito and Asuna came into my life.

"So there you have it," Kayaba said, with a casual shrug that didn't quite match his demeanor. "I held on longer than Rinko, but in the end I could only conclude that I had, indeed, failed, and so I set in motion the events that would place you where you would do the most good for my world. A world that required the possibility of death to be real, yet also required a reason for people to live. I… washed my hands of my mistake, and did my best to make sure that mistake didn't go completely to waste." He gave another rueful smile. "Imagine my surprise when, months later, you walked into a strategy meeting with Kirito-kun. It's as well that I left most guild affairs to Asuna-kun, as I was quite distracted trying to figure out where I'd miscalculated for some time afterward."

Kizmel felt a spike of resentment at his words, yet at the same time couldn't help a small smile of her own. It was amusing to think of how shocked he must've been, as confident and in control as he was, when she so thoroughly destroyed his conclusions. "I suppose that explains the Reliquary quest, among others," she found herself murmuring. "In hindsight, that was unusually heavy-handed, for you. …Kayaba. Why did I remember Kirito in my dreams, with a face he never had in the beta test? Why would you have arranged that?"

The man who'd played at being—who was—her father chuckled. "I had nothing whatsoever to do with that, Kizmel-kun. To remember someone who caught your attention… that is purely human."

Oddly, she found some peace in that. In all of it. Finally, she knew the truth. All of it. And the truth is… that I am myself. No more, and no less. What I am is real. What I have, I've claimed with my own hands. With my own sword. I believe that's enough.

As she glanced back to the Steel Castle, now over half gone below the endless clouds, she heard Kirito speak up. "So what now, Kayaba? Now that it's all over… what happens to her now?"

Tension flooded back into her, and Kizmel looked back at Kayaba, heart beginning to race as she waited for his reply. This, in the end, was the final question. The one that would determine her fate.

Completely serious, Kayaba faced them fully. "You have won your freedom, by your own hands," he said quietly. "Kizmel-kun as much as the Swordmasters. I've made arrangements. You may hate me, Kizmel-kun, for the means by which I intend to distract authorities from you, but believe me when I say it's the only option I had. Apart from that, I've made certain your lightcube will reach Kirito-kun's hands. It may take some time, but you will be together in the real world, as well. You have my word."

Kizmel let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding. That promise was all she needed. From the man who never lied, who held to fairness above all else, it was the final thing she needed. If it took time, so be it. Knowing she would be reunited with the man she loved, even after Aincrad was gone forever, was all she needed.

Kayaba had been gradually fading throughout the conversation, she realized abruptly, and in that moment he turned away. "Well, it seems as if it's time for me to go. I will not apologize for creating the death game; you wouldn't believe me, and it wouldn't be honest. But… I will apologize for failing as a father. Kirito-kun," he said over his shoulder, "I have no right to ask anything of you, but I don't believe I need to. I'm sure you'll take care of my daughter for me, and for that, I thank you." He began to walk away, coat billowing in the last winds of Aincrad. "Perhaps we'll see each other again, in another world. Farewell, Kizmel-kun, Kirito-kun."

Kizmel watched him go, a confused tumult of emotions swirling through her. As Kayaba Akihiko, as Heathcliff, as Regius faded into the wind, she could only call out after him, "Goodbye… Father."

It was time to go. Kirito knew that. It was all finished, and there were people waiting for him. Yet after twenty-eight months with Aincrad, with Sword Art Online, as his only world, he felt he had one last duty to perform. Something only he could do. Him, and Kizmel.

Sitting on the edge of the sheet of glass, feet dangling in the endless sky, the two of them sat side by side and watched as the Steel Castle came apart. Floor by floor, the Great Separation that had been nothing but background fluff to him and ancient myth to her reversed itself. From their distance, only the largest details could be seen, yet that was enough to stir wistful memories.

The mountains and towers of the Twenty-Sixth Floor, where they'd begun the partnership that had led to their marriage. The Thirty-Fifth Floor and its forests, where they'd fought Nicholas the Renegade and later saved Silica. The Fifty-First Floor, with its vast sea and scattered islands….

Seeing the floor that had held the home they'd spent so much time in fall into the clouds made Kirito's heart clench, and he tightened the arm he had around Kizmel as she leaned into his shoulder. She murmured a few words in Sindarin—a lament, he thought—and then, after a pause, continued in Japanese. "Where do you think he went, in the end?"

He didn't have to ask who she meant. "Back to the real world, maybe… no, probably not," he amended, watching the Fifty-Second Floor fall away. "I don't think there's anything left for him there. No… I think he probably abided by the rules of his own world. Kayaba Akihiko is gone, now. Heathcliff… he's probably off to find the real Aincrad, in another world."

In the real world, Kayaba would've faced nothing but a swift trial and probably execution. Kirito doubted that really mattered to the man, though. He would've freed himself from his body to continue pursuing his dream, not out of any concern for society's judgment.

"Yes," Kizmel whispered in his ear. "You're probably right." She was silent for a long moment, only watching as more floors gently slipped from view. "…In a way, I envy him. Much as I look forward to seeing the world from which you came, if ever there was a chance to see a living Lyusula…."

"Yeah." The moment Kayaba had expressed his belief that Aincrad was real, somewhere, Kirito had been struck by the thought of growing up in it, and joining hands with Kizmel as a true Swordmaster. It was a dream that could never be, yet it felt more real to him than his own reality.

For a few endless minutes, they watched Aincrad split apart. As the final survivors, it was their duty to watch the world that had taken so much from them, yet given them so much more, fall into the slumber Kayaba had spoken of. To see it through to the very end. They had been there at the world's beginning, they would be there for its end.

Finally, though, the last few floors were descending, and as the One Hundredth Floor began its fall, the two of them stood by unspoken assent. As the remains of the Ruby Palace fell out of sight, human and Dark Elf faced each other, knowing the time had finally come. Kirito, in that moment, couldn't find the words he needed, mouth working soundlessly; he cursed himself for choking at such an important time.

Kizmel rescued him from it. Giving him a small, bittersweet smile, she began, "Kirito-kun. There's one last thing I should ask you, before we leave this world behind forever. What is your name?" When he blinked, confused by the apparent non sequitur, she chuckled, shook her head, and clarified, "Your real name."

At first, Kirito simply didn't understand the question. It made no sense in the context of the life he'd lived for over two years. It took him several moments, the elf girl simply watching patiently, before it hit him. Oh… that's right. "Kirito" isn't my name, is it? It's been so long since I let myself think about it….

Jogged by his wife's question, a name floated from the depths of his consciousness, where he'd long buried most thoughts of the real world. "It's… Kazuto," he got out, fumbling over the name he'd never once spoken in this world. "Kirigaya Kazuto."

"Kirigaya… Kazuto…." Kizmel said slowly, as if savoring the words. "Kirigaya Kazuto." Once, he might've thought she was just following a subroutine to clarify the pronunciation; he'd long since learned better, and the way she suddenly smirked told him pronunciation wasn't remotely what she'd been thinking about. "Kiri-to." She laughed suddenly. "Ah, so that's why you looked embarrassed, two years ago, when Argo spoke of the way Swordmasters chose their aliases!"

"So I've got no naming sense," Kirito muttered, blushing, scratching the back of his head. "It was simple and it worked, what can I say?"

"Oh, it absolutely suits you," she assured him, reaching out to take his hand. "Now that I think about it, if I recall my studies of your language correctly, 'Kiri' can be read as 'cut'. Whether you intended to or not, you took the part of your name that most suited the man you would become here." There was no teasing in her smile now, only warmth. "Well. Whatever happens from here, my love, to me you will always be Kirito. No matter the world, you will forever be the Swordmaster Kirito, who saved my life in this world."

He swallowed hard. "Kizmel… I…."

"I know. It's time for us to leave this world now, and we know not when we will meet again. But." Kizmel gripped his hand tighter, her violet eyes locked on his, violet ponytail swaying in the wind. "Be at ease, Kirito-kun. I swear to you, my blade shall not be broken. Not before it returns to your side."

Kirito believed her. Just as he'd never lied to her, she had never lied to him. He held tight to that bond, to the trust between them, and to her hand. "I'll find you," he said thickly, as his vision began to blur. "I swear to you, I'll find you, Kizmel. No matter what happens."

They couldn't put it off any longer. He knew that. With a trembling hand, he brought up his menu, as she did the same. His finger shook over the crucial option, the one that had been grayed out for so long—and then he pulled her into a tight hug. "Gi melin, Kizmel," he whispered.

"I love you, Kirito-kun," she murmured into his ear, clutching him tight in turn.

Kirito kissed Kizmel then, hard and deep. Her soft body against his, her lips meeting his with equal passion and need, he engraved the feel of her into his mind and soul.

He pushed the button.

[Log Out].

The world of the Steel Castle in the Sky, of Aincrad, of Sword Art Online, went away. Kirito fell into nothingness, Kizmel in his arms to the very last moment. …Kizmel…!

Beep…. Beep…. Beep….

The soft, rhythmic sound, not quite like any system alert in Sword Art Online, was the first thing to fill the void. A distant babble, and clattering like running feet and wheels. No context to clear the fog in his brain, but everything seemed painfully sharp.

A deep breath—itself harder than it should've been—brought him smells like a brick wall to the nose. The pungent aroma of disinfectant, and an odd, fruity smell, both more intense than anything he'd smelled in years.

His head felt stuffed full of cotton, and he couldn't quite remember what he'd been doing, nor where he was. Alarmed, yet inexplicably weary, he cracked his eyes open—only to quickly squeeze them mostly shut against the laser-like intensity of the light around him. Pain…. That actually… hurt….

"What is going on around here?" he heard, distantly, like through a tube. "Is there some kind of emergency?"

The voice sounded familiar, yet not one he'd heard recently. As soon as his eyes had adjusted enough, he opened them again, only to find his vision still blurred. It took him a second to realize… he was crying. Something in his chest hurt, and he was crying, and he didn't know why—

"Be at ease, Kirito-kun…."

Kirito gasped, and tried to bolt upright, only to find he couldn't. His head was weighed down, his left arm partly immobilized, and his right was painfully weak, weaker than he could ever remember. Distracted from the increasing hubbub, he finally took a look at his surroundings. He was in a bed, some kind of gel bed, with only a sheet covering his skin. Turning his head with agonizing effort, he found an IV plugged into his left arm, and an array of sensors taped to that arm and to his chest.

Trembling, he raised his right hand, and was shocked to find it painfully thin. Emaciated. In no condition whatsoever to hold a sword. Visibly crisscrossed with veins, and covered in a multitude of fine hairs, the kind of detail he hadn't seen in over two years.

He looked from the horribly thin, bony hand to the sensors on his left side, tracing them up to a device mounted beside the bed. A physical device, the likes of which he'd only ever seen in Aincrad in the Hollow Area. Except this was utterly mundane. Practical. Real.

Kirito was in a bed. There was a machine next to him, displaying his vitals. The room was small, with off-white walls, and an open curtain surrounded the bed. His body was thin and weak, as it had never been in the Steel Castle in the Sky. Which means… I'm….

Breath hitching, he swept down two fingers. Nothing happened, and he moved his hand to the weight holding down his head. Touching smooth metal, he traced his fingers along it until he found a chin strap, and awkwardly unsnapped it. Mustering all the strength he could, he lifted the weight off his head, and found a faded blue helmet in his hands. Though cables still trailed from it to the wall, the three status lights on it were darkened, and the blue paint was beginning to flake off to reveal the alloy beneath.

NerveGear. This was NerveGear. The device that had held him in another world for so long, yet had never been modeled within it.

I'm… in the real world…?

"Seriously, what's going on out there?!" the voice he'd heard before said plaintively, and only then did Kirito realize there was someone else in the room. A bag—a purse—had been left by a chair next to the bed, while its owner stood at the door of what he finally recognized as a hospital room. Looking out and away from him, he could only tell that it was a woman—a girl—about his age, black hair neatly cut in a short bob.

"Su...gu...ha…?"

She jumped at his voice, rough and quiet as it was. It was hard for him to get out even those syllables; painful, even. But it was enough for the black-haired girl to hear, and she whirled from the door to stare at him, black eyes wide. "Onii-chan…?" she whispered. "Onii-chan, you… you're awake…!"

"Hi," Kirito croaked out, trying to muster a smile with long-disused muscles. "Sorry… I took so long…."

With a wail, Kirigaya Suguha threw herself at him. Falling to her knees by his bed, she buried her face against his chest and cried. Awkwardly, he began stroking her hair, appalled by how much effort even that simple act took. He did his best to comfort the sister he hadn't seen in over two years, the sister he was afraid he'd never see again, the sister he was terrified hated him.

Kirito comforted her as best he could as she cried, and didn't even try to hold back his own tears. The tears from having survived over two years in another world, the tears from having been torn away from that world. The tears from finally seeing Suguha again.

The tears from knowing that even as he'd woken in this world, someone else still slumbered, someone he couldn't find. When the hospital staff finally burst into the room, having realized the last of their long-term patients had finally awoken, he barely noticed. He cooperated as well as he could, in his condition, as they fussed and bustled around him, but he registered almost none of it.

Even with Suguha babbling half-coherently somewhere in the background, Kirito could only think of a knight with violet hair, dusky skin, and long, pointed ears. A knight with a brilliant smile, who always smelled of pine and sakura.

Kizmel… I'll find you… I promise…!

The soft susurrus of waves was the first thing to fill the void. Distant bird calls followed, some familiar, some like nothing she'd ever heard. Gradually, she became aware of a grainy sensation under her head, and water lapping at her feet. All of it was strangely, almost painfully sharp. Sharper than anything she'd felt in her life, even with the Ethics Code disabled.

Kizmel's eyes fluttered open, quickly squinting mostly shut again against the bright afternoon light. When they'd adjusted enough, she carefully cracked them open once more, trying to take in her surroundings. Last she remembered, she'd been on a sheet of glass in the sky above Aincrad, so where…?

A beach. She was lying on a beach, much like the one surrounding her Kirito's cabana on the Fifty-First Floor. Except here, the sea—the ocean, she thought, eyes widening in wonder—stretched out as far as the eye could see, not hemmed in by the Steel Castle's walls. Looking up above, there was no stone ceiling to the world, just the open blue sky.

"Where… am I…?"

Shakily rising to her feet, Kizmel found she was still wearing the battered armor that had served her so well in the final battle against Kayaba. Already falling to pieces from the abuse it had suffered in the fighting, it was also uncomfortably warm for the tropical environment in which she found herself. She reflexively opened her menu to do something about it, and discovered to her surprise and mild unease that it still worked. There seemed to be a couple of new options she didn't recognize, but it worked.

As if prompted by the action, a voice suddenly spoke up. "If you're hearing this, Kizmel-kun, then you've won. I sincerely applaud you, my daughter."

The voice seemed to be speaking right in her ear; when she hurriedly looked around, expecting to see the red-armored Paladin entirely too close, she found nothing. Nothing except a trail leading up from the beach, toward a mountain that seemed to be the centerpiece of the island on which she now stood, passing through a small forest along the way.

"I regret that I cannot provide you with direct access to a wider world immediately," the voice continued, and Kizmel berated herself for not immediately realizing it was a recording. "Arrangements have been made, with the one person I truly trust. In the meantime, I've done my best to leave you a comfortable residence." Kayaba chuckled. "One thing I will say for you and Kirito-kun exposing me early: I had plenty of time to devote to other pursuits, as I waited for you to reach the Hundredth Floor."

Relaxing some, Kizmel returned to the task for which she'd originally opened her menu, putting aside her damaged armor. In its place, she donned her bikini, and took a moment to revel in the feel of damp sand between her toes. After the long battle, it was a tremendous relief.

If only… I was not alone here….

"While I did my best not to interfere too much, after the first month or two after you joined the clearers," Kayaba said in her ear, as she began to make her way up from the beach, "I did keep something of an eye on you. Having seen that you and Kirito-kun made your home on the Fifty-First Floor for the final year in Aincrad, I chose to use that as the basis for your private digital world here. That said, I'm very well aware that my people skills are… not the most perceptive. You will find in your menu in-depth options to alter this environment, should you so choose."

She couldn't help a small snort at that. At least her father was aware of his own limitations. That he was able to compensate somewhat with his sheer attention to detail somehow didn't surprise her. And he clearly had been as meticulous with this "private digital world" as he had been with everything else. If anything, the ferns and trees lining the path up toward the mountain were even more detailed than most of Aincrad, reminding her of things she'd seen in the Silver Moon Castle within the Hollow Area. Brightly-colored birds chirped at her as she went; small, furred creatures rustled through the undergrowth, occasionally pausing to look at her.

"I failed you as a father. As the gamemaster of Sword Art Online, it was not in my nature to show you favoritism in your role as a Swordmaster. The most I can do now is make your stay in this limbo as comfortable as possible. I do not know where you will go from here, though I suspect Kirito-kun will take good care of you. That, at least, is my hope, as a father."

It was honestly strange, hearing Kayaba speak so. Kizmel was used to him as the detached, fearless Paladin Heathcliff, and as the inhuman master of the death game. For him to speak hesitantly, as a regretful father, felt quite unreal. And yet also, she mused, emerging from the forest onto a long set of wooden stairs, it sounds… genuine. Perhaps the most genuine that man ever was.

The stairs led up the mountainside, circling around it. Midway up, facing the ocean, the stairs came to a halt at a wooden deck. Built into the side of the mountain itself, it was shaded by an overhang, and open windows led into a cabin. A bedroom, she thought, looking inside—there was a bed easily wide enough for two, a log table and chairs, and numerous bookshelves. Closer inspection revealed several doors, including one marked with an odd triangle-of-triangles symbol.

"I fear I can do little to alleviate your isolation for now," Kayaba's voice said, after a long pause. "But I've done what I can to combat boredom. You will find an extensive library here… and I've spent much of the past months polishing up a side project of mine. SAO may be the largest VR game in existence, but hardly the only, and it was a relatively simple matter to emulate older titles in that format."

Having just entered the bedroom, bending to examine an odd uniform lying on the bed—she thought it looked like the school uniforms she'd seen in some books—Kizmel paused. With a feeling of mixed bafflement and exasperation she'd not experienced in months, she turned a pointed look on the world at large. Not that the recipient of her annoyance was in any position to see it, but the principle remained.

The quiet chuckle in her ear suggested Kayaba might have anticipated the reaction. "But of course, that means nothing to you. Suffice to say, I included in this world versions of other games such as what SAO was meant to mimic—though of course, with no chance of true death. Access them via the Triforce-marked door, should you so choose. Which I might advise, as they could give you more insight on the world awaiting you.

"Anything more I would have to say to you, I imagine I already did, after our battle. Therefore, Kizmel-kun, I bid you a final farewell. Live well, my daughter."

The voice faded away, and Kizmel was alone at last. Alone to face the reality she'd held at bay, so long as Kayaba's final message was playing. Chest tightening, vision blurring, she stepped back out of the bedroom, onto the deck. Going to the railing, looking out over an ocean vaster than anything she'd ever seen in her life, she didn't even try to fight the tears. No, she clung to them, embracing the pain.

In that moment, she hardly registered the world around her. All she could think of was a dark-eyed young man in black, with unparalleled skill with a blade, a smile that never failed to melt her heart, and a touch that could hold off even the worst nightmares.

Kirito… I'll be with you again… I promise…!

"I wanna always be with you.

"I wanna hold you tight right now.

"I swear that I will wipe your tears.

"I'll give you everything I have…."

Author's Note:

So here we are. After eight years and one month, here we are at the very end of the Aincrad arc. I view this with mixed feelings, in no small part because I'm dissatisfied with the very end of it—I intended to carry on far enough after the awakening to show a little more of how it went for others, to drop one last big reveal, and in general to end the arc on a more upbeat note.

I tried. I wrote almost six thousand words past this point. But it just… wasn't working. The abrupt mid-chapter time jump was bad enough; what really did it in was the simple fact that there's a lot of nuance to cover with how characters adjust to being back in the real world, and I simply could not do it justice as the "back half" of a chapter. It needs a clean slate. On the bright side, that does mean that at least part of Chapter 43 is already written; I believe around half of the scenes deleted from this chapter should be salvageable.

Which is fortunate, because here Monochrome Duet unavoidably goes on hiatus for a bit. As I've occasionally mentioned in replies, the Fairy Dance arc is going to differ from canon not merely in terms of plot, but also mechanics. I have a fair bit of world-building to do before I can even start writing it properly. From here on, I can no longer just coast on canon mechanics and timeline.

So my next major updates will be for Oath of Rebellion, hopefully punctuated by some side projects I've been working on—Reliable Girl was more of a hit than I anticipated, the follow-up to Liminality is long overdue, and I've got a little episodic project I've been planning about ready to start. As I do—I think—finally have some idea of how to fix the first draft of Rebellion Chapter 13, hopefully you guys won't have to wait too long for something more from me in the world of Sword Art Online.

With that said, I'm also going to be taking the time to fix some long-standing issues in the existing Duet chapters. Rain's segment in Chapter 26 has always been a bit of a mess, for example; I hope to straighten it, now that I know exactly where her character arc went from there. Chapter 30's big boss fight is… problematic—it both uses elements from Progressive Volume 4 and manages to directly conflict with it. Not entirely sure if I can fix it, given how deeply baked-in the problems are, but I intend to try.

So on that note, if anyone knows of any major plot holes lingering earlier in the story, this is the time to bring them to my attention. Once all those touch-ups are done, my intent is to put together a PDF version of Duet's Aincrad arc—in several volumes; trust me when I say the full story thus far is a tad unwieldy in collected format—with various extras like a glossary of the many (sometimes rather obscure) shout-outs and various background details that never made it into the prose itself. Also a chapter-by-chapter retrospective on the writing of the fic. Once it's all put together, I intend to put it out there for those interested. …Not exactly sure how to distribute it, as of yet, but I imagine I will find a way by the time it's ready.

I suppose that about covers things for now? I thank everyone who's followed this story from its beginnings as a "small side project" to its mammoth current existence. This is merely a pause, not an ending; even as I work on my other projects, I will be busy preparing for the first dance of the next arc. I hope this chapter, as much as it fell short of my intentions, is at least something of a satisfying conclusion to the story so far. See you all in… whatever SAO work I update next. Thank you all, comrades! -Solid