Abyss of the Shrine Maiden

The Cold Past And Present

Whitebell Tundra, Northazrod Tundra

“I hate the cold… I hate the cold… Asuna, you don’t have anything hot with you?”

Asuna tries to laugh, but her teeth clatter against each other instead. “N-No, Koharu, I don’t. I wish I did. When we get back...well, I guess there’d be no point in having a hot drink then, huh? We should look for coats back in town, since Kirito won’t share his.”

Kirito sighs, having heard Asuna’s remark a couple of times now. He ceases movement and looks around at the scattered group, all still searching for Tia in the wintery wonderland. “You weren’t this bothersome on the twenty-fifth floor of Old Aincrad or while we were in Jotunheim.”

“Because we made it to Stilla’s cabin on the twenty-fifth by this time, and...well, I was too focused on Tonky to worry about the cold.”

“Well, even if I could share my coat, why would I? I’m warm. It’s not fair to anyone else.”

“Why should it be fair?” Asuna pouts. “I’m your girlfriend.”

“Leafa’s my sister. Cousin. Blood.”

“Hey, I’m the reason you’re still alive a good number of times to be with her, ‘Big Brother.’”

“She’s got you there, Kirito.”

Kirito grumbles and crosses his arms. “I don’t like this, you two ganging up on me like old times. Where’s Jaymes when I need backup… In any case, it doesn’t seem like we’re getting anywhere with finding Tia. How long has it been?”

Koharu checks the time display and grumbles out, “Two hours. I hate to sound like Jaymes, but we’re unprepared to continue any longer. The monsters alone are tough, but the weather, mostly the weather, is driving me crazy. We have no idea if she’s actually on this floor or how far she is.”

“Well, she does kind of appear at random.”

“An NPC that hides among players and explores on her own is pretty unique, all things considered. In SAO, it was just the latter for some NPCs. Not many interacted with us on the scale Premiere and Tia has. Which is why all those rumors about getting a rare item for defeating her are spreading like wildfire.”

“Yeah, and I’m pretty sure they started as a ‘wouldn’t it be nice’ kind of thing.”

“Basically, people mistaking wishful thinking for reality.” Asuna stands closer to Kirito, sharing in whatever warmth may be provided. If anything’s unfair right now, it’s that display right in front of her while her partner is offline and in a different city in the other world. Now she understands why Jaymes and everyone mess with them so much. It must be aggravating. If he were here, Jaymes would be complaining on a grander scale. He’s fine with the heat (and she’s always found it weird, but he did choose to be a fire fairy in ALO), but the cold is his bane. Sinon told her earlier how the last time she and Jaymes were in GGO’s White Frontier about a week and a half ago, and he cursed Sinon’s existence.

“Premiere?” Drawn back to the present, Koharu snaps her head in Lisbeth’s direction. Last she remembered, Premiere was with Lisbeth, but now…

“That doesn’t sound good! Kirito, Koharu!”

“Right with you!” The trio (and everyone else) rushes over to Lisbeth, seeing Premiere hunched over in the snow, gripping her forehead. Lisbeth holds her, distressed by Premiere’s condition.