A Fairy In a World of Swords

Chapter 19

Lucy POV:

We stare wide eyed as the symbol vanishes from above Yui, she floats up into the air and then holds her hand out creating a sword made from flames. With one hit she strikes down Fatal scythe and he vanishes in a ball of flames, Yui then floats back down to the ground and turns to face us.

"Mommy, daddy I remember everything..." She says.

Standing up I pull out some healing crystals, I toss them to the others who crack them in their hands. I do the same and then look at Yui, her outfit has changed so it's back to the white dress I first saw her in. We follow Yui into the safe zone and she sits down on a big black cube, she then begins to speak.

"I remember everything." She says.

"So you remember who you are?" I ask as Asuna walks and kneels in front of her.

"Mental Health Counseling Program, code name Yui." She says and Kirito gasps.

"You're an AI?" He asks.

"What's an AI?" I ask, since I'm unfamiliar with the terms since we don't have computers in Fiore.

"Artificial Intelligence.." Asuna says and tear begin to fall down her cheeks.

I walk and stand next to Loke, placing a hand on my heart I think I know what she means. If Yui is an AI then she's not real, she's not a real girl...

"And now that I deleted the boss from that dungeon the Cardinal system is beginning to check my programming. And this, is a system access point and it's what's checking my code. I was designed to comfort players who's emotions were unstable, but when the game began something blocked me from going to the players. I watched them, felt their pain and soon I began to malfunction." Yui said and then looked at Asuna, then Kirito and then me. "But then, I saw people who despite everything still managed to stay strong. They found light in the darkest hours, and they brought that light to all that they knew."

I felt a tear fall down my cheek as I watched Asuna begin to break down, in the short space of time they had known Yui she had become their child. My mind drifts to Kiko wondering if she's ok, and how she'll cope with Yui being an AI and also knowing that she'll never see her in the real world.

"And right now the system thinks that I'm a virus, it's beginning to delete my program and in a couple of minutes I'll be erased completely." Yui explains with tears filling her eyes. "It's strange really, I feel human but everything about me is fake. Even my tears are just numbers and code..." She says as a tear falls from her cheek and vanishes into crystals.

"But you're real to us Yui." Asuna says playing with a strand of her hair. "Your our daughter."

"She's right Yui, your our child." Kirito says sitting next to her. "Tell us what you want Yui...maybe there is something we can do?" Kirito asks.

"I want you, mommy and daddy. I don't want to leave you..." Yui says and Asuna pulls her into her arms as she sobs, Yui places a hand on Asuna's back and smiles softly. "But it's ok mommy, because you'll always remember me right?"

"Of course I'll always remember you!" Asuna cries holding Yui tightly, but then something begins to happen to her. Her body begins to glow a soft golden colour, she begins to go translucent and the tears that fall from her cheeks solidify falling in delicate drops onto the computer access point.

"Promise me one thing, all of you..Everyone smiles when they are with you. Please..from now on help people in my place, and share your happiness with them.." Yui says and begins to vanish more, small crystals begin to float from her body as she vanishes piece by piece.