Sword Art Online: The Crystal Swordsman

The Prism

After that whole ordeal, I decided it would be best to take us home. We walked quietly thru the front door and the gang was gathered in the living room together. They greeted us with a smile. Leafa, Lizbeth, Silica, Asuna and Kirito. Yui had grown to full size and Athena did the same to meet her.

"Yui!" Athena was excited to see her.

"Athena!" Yui smiled adorably.

They hugged and I smiled with Sinon.

"What happened to your clothes?" Yui asked, pointing out the dirt that had gotten on it. 

Sinon and I joined everyone in the living room as the two spoke together.

"I fell out of my Daddy's pocket but he protected me from Salamander soldiers!" Athena was happy.

"You had a run in with the Salamanders?" Kirito looked to us.

"Yeah. It was sort of random actually. We were out for our usual flight when we ran into..." Sinon began explaining.

Part of me was glad Athena wasn't conscious when I went ballistic. At least then I don't look like a savage or psycho. I thought back to what Eugene said before we fought, the thing that set me off. I replayed it over and over.

"You know she's not really your daughter, right? She's an in-game program." Eugene's voice echoed.

"Like a system assist..." I said aloud under my breath.

"What was that, K?" Sinon asked me.

I jumped and snapped back to reality.

"Nothing, sorry." I shook my head.

"So, you guys in?" Kirito asked with his hand out.

"I don't know. K? What do you think?" Sinon looked to me.

"What? I'm sorry, I zoned out for a bit. Can you run me thru it again?" I held my hand to the side of my face.

"Sure. Sugu and I recently came across a dungeon that we believe your sword is the key for." Kirito began.

"How can that be?" I was confused.

"I wouldn't say it's certainly for you, but it contains many pure crystals that look just like your blade." Kirito peaked my interest.

"I'm in." I didn't need further explanation than that.

Crystals are somewhat of a forte of mine. They hold special meaning to me. I have taken the time to memorize each and every kind for moments just like these. I was excited to see what was in store.

"Alright! Let's get to it!" Leafa cheered.

"Right!" Kirito cheered back and we all readied to go.

"Athena." I called and she shrunk but instead of going in my pocket, she sat on my shoulder.

Kirito stood next to me and Yui waved from his shoulder. Athena giggled and waved back from mine. Kirito and I smiled at the thought of how cute they are. Out the door we went and to the skies a few went first. I took a moment to rotate my shoulders and wings to get a good stretch in before takeoff.

"Come on, Daddy! They're leaving us!" Athena pointed.

"They're not leaving us, little one. They're just eager, and so am I." I flapped my wings and jumped, propelling myself fast into the sky.