"There are currently four thousand and sixty seven players within the bounds of Arrun. Of them, there are seven hundred and sixteen sylphs, six hundred and ninety Cait Syth, six hundred and eighty eight Salamanders, five hundred and seventeen Undine, four hundred and three Gnomes, three hundred and fifty five Leprechauns, three hundred and eight Spriggans, two hundred and thirty three Imps, and one hundred and fifty seven Puca."
"Wow! Yui-chan is so smart!" Alicia Rue praised the pixie sitting in her lap. The tiny girl's smile at the compliment lifted even Lady Sakuya's troubled spirits.
It had seemed like a strange request when Kirito had asked them to watch over the navigation pixie while he joined the scouting party, and stranger still when the pixie, a simple player support program, had loudly protested. However, Sakuya was growing to understand the young Spriggans fierce attachment to his tiny companion. What's more, she had proven invaluable in Sakuya's efforts to organize Arrun and its inhabitants.
Without access to the menu, Sakuya and her subordinates were reduced to tallying by hand and writing down the results on whatever scraps of paper could be found. Under those circumstances, taking stock of all of Arrun would have been a tedious task. While by no means large in comparisons to a real world city, Arrun's environs covered several square kilometers and included hundreds of buildings, homes, shops, and stalls.
The little navigation pixie's ability to flawlessly record, recall, and collate the reports that continued to stream in was a boon for the two leaders as they attempted to keep the other players from tipping over the abyss and into a full panic. Cait Syth and Sylph players were stationed across the residential areas to enforce Sakuya's request that no players engage in PvP within Arrun and also to keep an eye out for the telltale sign of a player log in or log out. Fortunately, for the time being, most of the players were heeding the advice to stay inside and were waiting out this crises with their friends and party members.
"What about injury reports?" Sakuya asked.
"So far, a total of one hundred and fifty seven players have reported minor scrapes or bruises and fifteen players have reported more serious injuries." Yui said. "At this time the more serious injuries have been successfully treated with healing magic."
"I guess it's a good thing that healing magic still works." Alicia Rue said as she gently stroked Yui's head. The leaders had commandeered the Arrun town hall as their temporary headquarters and taken the private offices on the third floor as their inner sanctum. Sakuya sat behind a large desk while the Cait Syth leader, true to her race's theme, lounged casually on a sofa.
There was a knock at the door. A male Sylph with short, spiked blonde hair, and wearing the ensemble of a mid level ranger entered and bowed his head to his leader.
"Lady Sakuya."
"What have you to report Novair?"
Novair handed Sakuya a folded piece of paper. As Sakuya unfolded it she noted the rough edges where it had been torn from a blank book and quickly scanned the contents as he began his report.
"Inventory of Arrun is still proceeding at this time Lady Sakuya. Guards have been assigned to the commercial district while we take stock of our current supplies. The storage areas of the shops we've examined so far have revealed that they contain varying quantities of the particular shop's standard inventory."
"You were able to pick the locks on the inventory rooms?" Alicia asked.
The man shook his head and grinned, "Actually, we broke in. It seems this new damage modeling is good for something."
Sakuya scanned the incomplete list. Loss of the player menu meant, among other things, that there was no way to access player inventories, which meant most players possessed only their equipped clothing and whatever items had been readied for quick use. "Very well. Novair, I'd like you to focus on securing food and pharmaceutical supplies for now. Return when you have a complete inventory and we will devise a rationing scheme." The man nodded and quickly departed.
"Rationing scheme? Seems pretty draconian to me." Alicia commented.
"Ideally, we'd also confiscate food stuffs in homes and inns for the duration of the crises, but that might cause a panic." Sakuya said idly as she rested her cheek against her hand.
"Wait, don't tell me we're taking Kirito-kun's crazy ideas seriously now?" Alicia perked up.
"Of course not." Sakuya said. The Sylph leader steept her fingers. "But suppose that Kirito-kun's wild theories are close to the truth."
Alicia Rue's ears folded back against her head as she frowned. "Hey now Sakuya-chan, don't be joking about something like that!"
"I'm not joking." Sakuya said, her lips were pressed into a thin line. "Think about it. Thus far nobody has been or has seen anyone log in or log out since we woke up. Nor have we been able to contact or been contacted by the system Admins. In addition to that, many phenomena are being observed that exceed the ability of the AMUsphere to render."
"Until we know more, we should proceed with caution. Players have already been injured and realized that the pain they are feeling is real and far above the games threshold. Unless we can prove otherwise we'll have to assume that what we are experiencing now is real to us. That means we cannot afford to take risks with the well being of the people of Arrun. That is our responsibility as faction leaders. If nothing else we have to create the impression that someone is in control so that we can keep order."
"Sakuya-san is correct." Yui said suddenly. "Right now the players in Arrun are confused and afraid. For the time being they are willing to believe that this is simply a technical glitch and things will go back to normal soon. But if nothing is done soon, they're fear will begin to overwhelm them. They will fall into panic and despair." The pixies wings flattened against her back and she clenched her hands in front of her. Alicia gently cupped the pixie in her hands receiving a small smile of thanks from the tiny girl.
Sakuya would not have believed until that day that a mere navigation pixie could express such emotion. Then she recalled what Kirito had said to Leafa earlier that day. "Yui-chan, Kirito-kun said that you've been with him since the SAO incident. How is that possible?"
The navigation pixie stood up in Alicia's lap and clasped her hands together. "Sakuya-san, how much do you know about ALfheim?"
The sylph leader was surprised to hear the pixie answer a question with another question. Sakuya tilted her head thoughtfully. "I know that's it was one of the first VRMMO's to come onto the market after the SAO incident and that the game engine was derived from SAO."
Yui nodded. "SAO and ALfheim share the same formats for graphics encoding and character stats. ALFheim also uses a simplified version of the SAO's central Game Master AI, the Cardinal System, to manage the play environment. My original designation is Player Support Mental Health Artificial Intelligence Prototype 001, I was originally created to see to the emotional health of players in the game world of SAO."
"But the SAO servers were wiped clean when the players were logged out." Sakuya said.
Yui smiled. "You're right Sakuya-san. I should have died when SAO's Cardinal system was erased." Sakuya looked startled. "But poppa rescued me by saving my core data to his Nerve Gear. Because SAO and ALFheim use the same game engine and AI base, when Poppa first logged into ALFheim he was able to wake me up. The ALFheim servers detected me and classified me as a navigation pixie which is why I take this appearance." The pixie gestured to herself.
"So if you were originally part of the central control system, does that mean you have admin access?" Alicia asked.
Yui shook her head. "No. My administrative privileges only extended to the confines of SAO. My ALfheim privileges are no different than any other navigation pixies. And now, even those don't seem to be working. It's like I'm not connected to any external network, but I can still sense Cardinal."
"If Yui-chan is here with us it brings up some interesting questions." Sakuya said. "Why are Yui and the other navigation pixies still here when all of the other humanoid NPCs have disappeared? Yui-chan is also a different sort of intelligence than us humans but she seems to be sharing in the same experience as the rest of us."
"But what could that mean?" Alicia asked.
Sakuya shook her head. "I don't know. We'll have to wait until the scouting parties return." The Sylph leader turned her head to gaze out the window and across the cityscape of Arrun. For someone born in the information age and used to having the full resources of the Net at their fingertips, this business with couriers and scouts hand delivering notes felt like pulling teeth. 'Hurry back Leafa-chan, Kirito-kun.' She thought.
Leafa felt the cool kiss of the wind against her cheeks and the heart shaking sensation of overcoming inertia as she smoothly banked along the side of the World Tree. Kirito had been right, this did feel more real, and Leafa was enjoying every second of it. Suguha had always had a knack for the flight controls in ALFheim which let players take to the skies, she had fallen in love with this world from the moment she had experienced the sensation of soaring on her own wings, now she was falling in love all over again. She felt like she was born to the wind.
At Leafa's side flew five others players. Closest to her flew her brother Kirito and the Salamander tank named Carmond. Above and to her rear was a Cait Syth hunter called KoKo, and two representative of Lady Sakuya, a pair of Sylphs name Clyde and Emshael who had been part of the World Tree raid party.
Leafa gave her brother a concerned look. Kirito had remained quiet since they had left Arrun. Leafa knew that deep down, as much as he might say he was alright, her brother was being eaten away by this moratorium in his quest to rescue Asuna. Suguha was beginning to feel the same way. Until Asuna was safe, her brother could not really return from that world that had stolen him away from her.
They had set out from Arrun less than an hour ago with strict instructions to reconnoiter the surroundings. For most of that time they had flown low and slow to get a closer look at the terrain before rising to a higher altitude to see the overall topography. Just as the Undine had told Lady Sakuya, the lay of the land had indeed changed. It was as if the world tree had been cut right out of ALFheim and deposited elsewhere. No, that wasn't quite right, there were definite signs of ALFheim's influence on the geography, the lake at the base of the world tree was still there but now was fed by a different river and Leafa could see several of the slender towers that the various Faerie races used for long distance flight dotting the land. It wasn't like someone had just moved the world tree so much as mashed together the terrain in an effort to make everything fit.
That wasn't the only thing that was wrong. As they had traveled, Leafa had noted that the sun was rising rather than setting, which meant that wherever they were, it was morning and not afternoon as it had been before the change. They had either all been unconscious for longer than they thought or else something had happened to change the day night cycle.
"Commander, look!" Carmond called and pointed ahead around the curve of the World Tree's trunk.
Leafa's eyes widened as she caught sight of a castle in the far distance. Five thin towers speared into the sky around a thicker central tower. Though it lacked the flowing organic lines or soft green motif it reminded her somewhat of the towers of the Sylph Capital of Sylvain.
"Kirito-kun, that definitely wasn't there yesterday." Leafa said. "And where there's a castle . . ."
"Right." Kirito nodded. "There should be players, or at least NPCs inhabiting it."
So far, no one had been able to come up with a satisfactory answer for the disappearance of all of Arrun's NPCs, though it seemed almost certain that it was linked to whatever had happened to the players.
"Lady Sakuya ordered us not to travel too far." Clyde warned as he noted the black haired Spriggan beginning to drift off course and towards the castle in the distance. "We should come back and explore it with a large party."
Kirito seemed unhappy about the reminder but nodded. "Roger."
As they continued their flight Leafa caught something out of the corner of her eye. Looking down she saw a road winding away towards the castle in the distance and also . . . There it was again! A glint of light, a reflection! Sylph's were known to be sharp of vision, and with some squinting, she spotted movement along the side of the road.
"Kirito-kun, look!" She pointed down towards the road way. The Spriggan had no trouble picking out just what Leafa was pointing to. The group came slowly to a stop, wings extending to tread the air.
"Are those players or NPCs?" Koko asked.
"I can't tell without a HUD." Emshel replied.
"They're human." Carmond said.
"How can you tell?" Emshel asked.
"The way they're moving around. Hiding in a ditch isn't scripted NPC behavior."
"It could be a special event." Leafa suggested.
"No." Carmond said. "I noticed this earlier, along with the user menus, all of the side quests within Arrun have disappeared. I even checked when we arrived on the field, there's a convoy escort mission right outside of Arrun, the NPCs were missing."
Kirito nodded. "We haven't seen any other NPCs so the conclusion is that they must be players. Let's take a closer look." He said to Leafa. "If they're out here in the field hiding, then something might have happened."
The group proceeded, gliding downwards towards the small gathering. Leafa made it to be four players with . . . were those horses? ALFheim had land bound mounts but they weren't very popular and terrestrial horses weren't among them. As they grew closer other things were wrong as well. The clothing worn by the group was like nothing that Leafa had ever seen. Nothing in ALFheim anyway. The clothes looked to Suguha like some sort of school uniform, white blouses and dark skirts and pants. In the real world, they would have looked almost like conventional summer uniforms save for the dark cloaks. Only in ALFheim did they look strange.
As they neared further, one of the figures rose, an older man displaying none of the characteristics of any of the fairy races. He took a low stance brandishing a staff as if ready to fight. A caster? Leafa wondered. The others, teenagers, probably around Suguha's age, followed the man's lead and took defensive stances. One other player, a young girl with the pale blue hair of an undine, wielded another staff, the remaining two were equipped with what looked like a wand and . . . was that rose? Leafa and Kirito slowed their descent and spread their arms out slowly to telegraph their peaceful intent. The rest of the party quickly followed suit.
The man made no moves as they descended, but watched closely until they had settled onto the ground.
"They don't look happy to see us." Carmond observed slowly, the big salamander rested his hand gently on the hilt of his sword but made no other threatening gestures.
"They don't look like players." KoKo said.
"Or NPCs for that matter" Clyde added.
"Kirito-kun?" Leafa whispered.
"I know. They're stances. The blue haired girl and the old man probably have the most experience fighting."
"You can tell that much?" KoKo asked.
"It's a fighting posture." Carmond explained.
Kirito nodded. "Koko, hunters have illusion magic to confuse monsters right?"
"Y-yeah." The Cait Syth player said. "But dazzle's my only AoE spell. I can only cast sleep on one person at a
time and my success rate isn't very high."
"That's fine. I'm going to go talk to them. I'll be leaving myself exposed, so if they attack I want you to cast
dazzle and then fly as fast as you can back to Arrun and tell Lady Sakuya. I'll be right behind you."
"Are you sure about this Commander?" Carmond grunted.
The Spriggan smiled, "It'll probably be okay. And please, just call me Kirito." With that the former Beater
started forward across the space separating them from the strange players. Leafa followed cautiously at his side,
noticing the way that older man and the small blue haired girl shifted their stances as they approached.
They stopped a good fifteen or twenty feet from the older man. Either of them could cover the gap in the space of a heartbeat but it still gave the impression of respectful distance.
"Hello?" Kirito called.
The man didn't lower his guard but his expression softened with curiosity.
"My name is Kirito of the Spriggans and this is Leafa of the Sylphs. We've been sent from Arrun by Lady
Sakuya of the Sylphs to reconnoiter this area." Kirito cocked his head to the side. "Uhm, we come in peace?"
Leafa sighed. "Jeez Kirito-kun, you're not any better at this stuff than you are in real life."
The Spriggan frowned. "When you say it like that you make it sound bad."
"Stay back!" The man suddenly shouted.
Colbert and his students had departed from the Academy almost two hours prior, riding along the road that headed due South from the Academy's main gate. Colbert had remained cautious as they approached the base of the immense tree still some miles away. The old soldier in him had been on guard as soon as he saw how the terrain had changed. Low hills rose and fell where before there had been flat plains and several strange towers rose from the forests ahead.
"Not native." Tabitha had said.
"Hmm?" Kirche had asked
"Local flora. Not native." Tabitha said again, she frowned a little. "Transported along with the tree?"
Indeed the flora that they had seen along the road was certainly alien to Tristain, perhaps to all of Halkegenia. Under less pressing circumstances Colbert would have loved the opportunity to spend a day studying the groves and the grassy meadows. But for the moment, his attention was fixed solely upon the tree that stood before them and dominated the landscape for mile around, if something so immense could even be called a tree. In the far distance, its trunk was the color of weathered granite, and the roots at its base rose like foothills.
"That's very likely, Miss Tabitha." Professor Colbert had said. "The root structure alone must by massive to support the tree's weight. It no doubt penetrates through the very bedrock, which might explain the earthquakes and the change in the local topography."
"I can only imagine how strong the wood must be to support such a tremendous mass. Perhaps it utilizes some inherent magic to lighten or strengthen itself. It almost certainly must in order to support the weight." Colbert spoke, partly to himself, and partly for the benefit of his students.
"If it must root itself in solid bedrock, then surely the tree would have an Earth affinity." Guiche mentioned.
"Does that mean the Zero's affinities lays with Earth?"
"What's this now?" Professor Colbert had said, startled by the sudden change of topic. "What do you think this has to do with Miss Valliere?"
"Miss Zerbst and Miss Tabitha mentioned it earlier." The blonde boy defended. "The Zero collapsed just before the summoning of that tree began."
Colbert relaxed a little in his saddle. Of course, nothing but childish speculation. "I see, so that's what this is about. Let me reassure you all that Miss Valliere being responsible for this is completely impossible."
"B-but . . ." Kirche began.
"Miss Zerbst." Colbert interrupted. "As you know, the power that a Mage draws upon to summon their
familiar is proportional to its size, magical power, and the distance of the summons. If this tree is the work of
Louise' summoning she would not have collapsed from exhaustion, she would have simply died. It simply is not a possibility."
"Then how else do you explain a giant TREE suddenly appearing in the middle of Tristain." Kirche asked.
"That is what we will endeavor to find out." Colbert said. "But first we must rule out the impossible. We know that Miss Valliere would have died if she summoned something of this size yet she lives. Your theory has sound correlation but it lacks a mechanism of causation Miss Zerbst."
They road on silently before Tabitha spoke again. "Why was she exhausted?"
"Well, there could be a number of causes. Sickness and anxiety can greatly weaken a mage's reserves of willpower." Colbert explained. "For some mages the combination of summon and contract familiar is an exhausting ordeal."
"But Louise didn't cast anything." Kirche said. "Not successfully anyways."
"Not that we are aware of." Colbert corrected. "You concern for your class mate does you credit miss Zerbst, but no, these events must simply be coincidence."
"I'm not concerned for Valliere." Kirche said quickly.
"It's hardly something to . . . " Colbert trailed off. He raised a hand to shield his eyes and squinted into the sky. That was when he saw them.
"What is it?" Kirche asked.
"I don't know. It appears to be . . . mages?"
"I don't see any mounts?" Kirche said, squinting into the sky.
"No, they aren't mounted. They're levitating, to your left, they're about to pass in front of the tree."
Colbert watched as the half dozen figures neared, nothing more than black specks at this distance, skimming through the sky. It was hard to judge size at this distance but they did indeed appear to be mages flying without the aid of a mount. There were of course simple spells that could allow a mage to take flight and travel at reasonable speeds, but they were willpower intensive and left the mage exposed, unable to divert their attention to casting any other spell. Yet these figures moved at great lateral speed and with a natural grace closer to that of a wind dragon than a mage. He knew of no group of mages in Tristain or greater Halkegenia who could boast such talents with flight.
Colbert turned to his students, the long dormant instincts of a soldier taking hold. "Quickly everyone, let us get off of the road. They'll have trouble seeing us from the air if we break up our outlines. Dismount and stay low."
The students obeyed their instructor, leading their mounts down into a ditch that ran beside the road and then laying low themselves as the strange mages approached. As they did, Colbet began to make out details.
There were six of them flying in a V formation like migrating birds. The one at the lead was garbed in jet black. The three to his left wore vibrant green, and of the two to his right, one appeared in tan and yellow and the other in sullen red. Each was born aloft by translucent wings like those of a dragonfly, no doubt some form of flight spell.
"They look like no mages I've ever seen before." Colbert said. "No, perhaps combat mages . . ." Stupid not to think of that first, too much time spent forgetting. " . . . That would explain their armor."
"Where did they come from?" Guiche asked.
"The tree." Tabitha suggested.
"Should we hail them?" Guiche asked nervously.
"No, we should let them pass for now." Colbert said.
"Miss Tabitha, there should be a spy glass in my saddle, would you retrieve it please." Colbert requested.
The small girl handed the instrument to him and he peered through it to examine the passing mages. Under magnification he could make out the details of their clothing and faces and . . . Colbert's heart skipped a beat as he squinted closer. Four of the mages wore full helms, obscuring their faces from view. But the lead two, the one garbed in black and the one in green, flew unencumbered by armor, Colbert's gaze fixed on their faces, and their delicately pointed ears.
"Elves." He whispered.
"What!" Guiche shouted. "E-Elves? Here!"
Kirche and Tabitha each put a hand over the boys mouth and gave him a death stare.
"This isn't good." Kiched whispered. "What are elves doing here?"
"Transported." Tabitha said.
"It's the only explanation. The tree must be from the Elven Territories." Colbert grimaced, if the elves had transported something so large by magic, if it was intentional . . . This could be the beginnings of a full invasion. They had to get back to the academy and dispatch a warning to the Palace.
"Seen us." Tabitha said and Colbert's blood ran cold as he saw the elves wheel in their direction.
"What should we do Professor?" Miss Zerbst asked, her normal playfulness had all but vanished as realization of the grave danger quickly sank in.
Colbert glanced over his students. Tabitha gave him a solemn nod and raised her staff. Miss Tabitha was certainly the most capable of his young charges, a gifted mage of both wind and water with obvious experience in wielding both. Miss Zerbst had great skill and talent, as many of her line did, but little experience to speak of in wielding her magic in anger. As for young Guiche, well, he was a General's son, of him nothing more could really be said.
Colbert cursed himself for not insisting on bringing along even one more instructor. Elves were uniformly powerful mages to begin with, on top of that they had the advantage of both numbers and the high ground. His former Superior would have had his head for letting this happen.
Colbert turned back to Kirche. "There's only one thing we can do. Prepare to defend ourselves and pray to the Founder that they are in a good mood." With that, Colbert stood up and stepped out onto the roadway brandishing his staff and preparing to place himself between the oncoming Elves and his students.
"If this becomes a fight I will try to hold them off while you escape." Colbert told his students. It was likely a hollow promise, but the by the Founder, he would try.
The Elves were almost upon them, their strange gossamer wings, surely too delicate to support their weight, altered their configuration as they descended, first extending to slow their descent before folding flush with their backs moments before landing and then fading away as the Elves settled onto the ground.
Colbert eyed them warily. At this distance he could make out fine details of the armor they wore. Three were dressed in a motif of green, two in armor, and one, shorter, a blonde haired girl garbed in a form fitting green coat and short pants. Another was garbed in tan and yellow and wore a helm in the shape of a cat's head. The one at the rear of the group was clad in heavy red armor and looked to be as large and broad as a commoner pikeman. Finally Colbert's attention turned to the one dressed in black.
The man, no, boy, even for an elf her seemed young, wore a long black coat bound across the chest and waste. His skin had an ashen hue. His eyes were dark and serious and his hair jet black and swept back as if by long days facing into the wind. Colbert felt himself stiffen, he could tell that this one was the greatest threat. It wasn't his size, he was no taller than the young woman beside him, nor was it his visage which was still that of a child not yet grown into a man. It was his eyes, his stance, the way his gaze came to rest on himself and Tabitha, the calm way he moved without any youthful swagger, confidence tempered by caution.
The elves conversed amongst themselves just out of earshot. They came to a decision and the dark haired
boy and the blonde girl walked slowly forward, holding their hands out as they approached and came to a halt about twelve mails distant.
Colbert expected threats, an ultimatum, or even a sudden attack. He was caught off guard for what happened next.
"Hello?" The boy elf said with a strange lilting accent. "My name is Kirito of the Spriggans and this is Leafa of the Sylphs." He gestured to himself and his companion. "We've been sent from Arrun by Lady Sakuya of the Sylphs to reconnaissance this area . . . Uhm, we come in peace?"
Spriggan? Sylph? Colbert found himself wondering at the terms. There were stories of nature spirits that went by such names, but these two resembled none of those creatures. Were they some form of military rank? Perhaps like the different orders of knights? It would explain their varying equipment. And there were more of them? Colbert thought. But how many more? A small troop? A whole army? His train of thought was broken as the blonde elf sighed and looked to her companion.
"Kirito-kun, you're not any better at this stuff than you are in real life."
Colbert blinked quickly as he watched the woman admonish her companion as if totally unaware of Colbert's presence. And what did that strange turn of phrase mean? Had he misheard? Some heathen term?
The boy frowned. "When you say it like that you make it sound bad."
"Stay back!" Colbert finally said, shaking off his confusion, he put every ounce of authority he could muster into his words. "Stay back. We don't want to fight, but we'll defend ourselves."
The boy raised his hand cautiously but it was the girl at his side who replied. "We don't want to fight either. We're just trying to understand what's happened." For the sake of himself and his student Colbert wanted to believe that he heard sincerity in her voice.
"What are elves doing in Halkegenia?" He asked slowly. "You arrived with that tree, didn't you? Is it some form of Firstborn magic?"
"Elves?" The boy cocked his head.
"Do not play games." Colbert said. "You haven't even bothered to come under guise."
"We're not elves." The girl said. "We're faeries. And that doesn't matter right now. Something has gone wrong with the server and we're trying to find out what." She shook her head, "It shouldn't matter what we are here? We're all humans in real life."
In real life? Colbert was mystified by what the girl had said. Was it a turn of phrase? "Is that supposed to be some Elvish trick?" He asked.
Before the girl could respond the boy raised a hand across her chest to stop her. "Excuse me, but I have to ask . . ." The boy began. "Does the term AMUsphere mean anything to you?"
"Am You Sphere?" Colbert parroted, he shook his head. "No."
"What about . . . " What the boy said sounded distinctly like 'Elfheim', no, he pronounced it with a distinctive A at the beginning. Again Colbert shook his head.
The boy crossed his arms and hunched his head as if in thought. He turned to his companion and spoke with her quietly. The girl stood straight and then backed away "What?! That can't be right!" She shouted.
The boy nodded. "I can't think of anything else. But I don't want to believe it either. It doesn't make any sense at all."
The girl's hands fell to her sides and her head sunk down. "That's not possible. What you're saying is definitely impossible brother."
Colbert watched as the boy placed a hand on the girls shoulder and squeezed gently. Then he looked to Colbert. "I think you should come with us. Our Leaders will want to talk with you."
"There's no chance we'll do that! You just want us to be your hostages!" Miss Zerbst shouted accusingly.
"That's right. We all know what elves do to their prisoners." Guiche added. "A son of the Grammond family will never allow himself to be taken prisoner by Elves!" The boy trembled and clutched his rose wand close to himself.
Tabitha simply sank into a lower guard and glanced quickly to the blonde girl. If it became a fight they might be able to even the odds by neutralizing these two first.
"I told you we're not elves!" The girl cried.
"Excuse me." The boy interrupted once again. "But, these elves, they have ears like this?" He asked, indicating his own.
"Y-yes." Colbert said not sure what the boy was getting at.
The boy turned and called to one of his companions. "KoKo could you take off your helmet?" The figure wearing the cat like armor stepped forward and removed its helm.
Colbert's eyes widened. The face beneath the helm was that of a woman. Young with deeply tanned skin and large golden eyes. Her hair was short cropped and while it first appeared a dirty blonde he soon began to distinguish a spotted pattern that shot through it. But most striking were the ears, like those of a cat, that emerged from the sides of her head. They twitched up and down as the woman turned her head to show them off from all angles.
"Do elves have ears like this too?" The boy asked.
"I've got a cute tail too." The woman added with a grin.
"Not an Elf." Tabitha said, Colbert glanced at the girl, was she . . . blushing?
"Perhaps she is some other form of demihuman. But it could just as easily be a disguise." Colbert reasoned
aloud. In which case, he thought, the Elves would have used it to begin with. It made no sense to cast an illusion only after they had been discovered. Colbert at last lowered his staff, much to the relief of those gathered.
"What are you doing professor." Kirche said with surprise. "This has to be a trick."
Colbert sighed. "Nothing is served here by doing violence. Be they human or firstborns, we're all seeking the same thing here, answers." He turned back to the black haired boy. "You said you were faeries, I hardly believe that. You certainly look like no spirits I have ever heard of."
"Faeries are what we call ourselves." The boy explained. "You might not have a name for us. Though what did you just call us? Demihumans?" He grinned. "I kind of like the sound of that." The boy walked forward slowly and offered Colbert a hand, the Professor accepted it cautiously and felt the boy grip down firmly and shake. "Like I said, my name is Kirito."
"I am Professor Jean Colbert of the Tristain Academy of Magic." Colbert said, he felt strangely faint, how was it that he was now shaking hands with an elf?
"Tristain? Is that the name of this land?" The boy asked.
"Have you no knowledge of the Brimiric Kingdoms?" Colbert asked. "Surely you must as you speak passable Tristanian"
The boy shook his head. "When we awoke, we found that we were transported here. We were hoping you could tell us something about this land."
If the boy was lying, it was an extraordinarily bold lie. That alone helped Colbert to believe it. "You are not far from the Tristain Academy of Magic in the heart of Tristain." He said. "If I may ask, what lands do you hail from?"
The boy's eyes softened and he glanced to his companions. "A land that is far away from this place, I can tell." He said. "I have never heard of Tristain or the Brimiric Kingdoms. We were transported here against our will, we just want to learn what has happened so we can go home."
Colbert nodded. "I believe that you are sincere. Certainly you must speak to Old Osmond. If anyone can shed light on these events it is the Headmaster."
"You can't mean to bring them back to the Academy." Kirche protested.
"I agree with Miss Zerbst. We can't just let a pack of heathen Elves into one of Tristain's highest institutions." Guiche added.
"Well you could also meet with our leaders in Arrun. It's the town at the base of the World Tree." Kirito said.
"A town? You mean there's a whole town of your people?" Colbert asked. It shouldn't have surprised him of course, if something as large as this "World Tree" could be transported a town could easily be lost in the base of its roots.
"We won't be hostages." Tabitha shook her head.
The boy seemed to consider the situation. "Then, what if I become your hostage?"
"K-Kirito-kun!" The girl at his side shouted.
"Our hostage?" Colbert asked.
"Mmm. You can take me as your hostage while one of you goes back to Arrun to meet with our Leaders. Then we come back here once you're done and switch back." He seemed to be lost in thought for a moment. "Mmm. That would probably be fastest." He nodded to himself.
Colbert considered the offer. Be they "Elf" or "Fairy", would they trade one of their own simply to gain a prisoner? He doubted it. A part of him that had been dormant for a long time rose to the surface, a part that he had thought buried when he became a teacher, it asked him to consider if the boy was really worth anything as a hostage. He appeared to be the leader of this party, but that was all that could be said for this "Kirito", and even that may be a deception. At the same time, other than knowing that he was a teacher, the boy had no way of knowing if Colbert was of any value as a prisoner, so the exchange was equitable in that regard. But . . .
"You're offer seems generous." Colbert said. "But how do I know that you would not attempt to escape after we part ways."
The boy smiled confidently. "You'll have my word that I won't try anything." Colbert frowned, in his experience, people who talked the most about words of honor were usually the ones that valued them the least. "And," the boy added, "I'll even let you bind me."
"B-bind you?" Colbert stuttered. Was this boy that confident? He certainly couldn't be so foolish.
"K-kirito!" The large man barked. "Isn't that a bit risky?"
The boy's smile didn't waver as he answered. "Its fine, its like a handicap."
Colbert weighed the offer. He did not expect any binding that he or his students could cast would restrain a skilled Elf for long. Not without resorting to serious injury. Though it would likely buy enough time that he could not act with the element of surprise. This was either an attempt at appeasement or a ruse and given the groups behavior thus far, Colbert was inclined to believe it was the former. Weighing his options carefully, though he was loath to place his students at needless risk, Colbert came to a decision. "That would be acceptable." Colbert said finally.
"Professor!" Kirche and Guiche shouted together.
Kirito unsheathed his sword and offered it to one of his companions, the large man in red armor, who took the weapon hesitantly. "Are you sure about this Kirito?" The man asked.
Kirito smiled. "It'll probably be alright . . . Leafa?" The boy asked, startled. The blonde girl was already offering her own sword to the cat eared woman.
"Do you think I'd let you go alone?" She asked, giving the boy a stern expression as he looked like he was about to protest. She turned to Colbert, "Please allow me to accompany my foolish brother."
Colbert shook his head, two Elves was no worse than one in this case. Grudgingly he agreed, "But only the two of you."
The girl bowed her head graciously. "Carmond-san, tell Lady Sakuya what's happening for us."
Colbert turned to his students. "Mister Grammond, if you would please?"
Guiche looked nervously at the "Elves" and nodded slowly. "R-right." He said and raised his rose wand. With a short enchantment, two plugs of earth rose from the roadway and then flowed like water around the outstretched hands of the boy and the girl. The earth began to constrict, drawing their hands together and taking a bronzed finish. "N-now, you listen here." Guiche said. "These bindings are magically enhanced, d-don't try to struggle!"
Colbert sighed inwardly, the Grammond boy looked ready to wet himself.
"Is that so?" Kirito examined the bindings curiously, wriggling his fingers.
"One more thing." Tabitha stepped forward and produced a pair of handkerchiefs from her pocket before standing before the Elf girl.
"H-hey, wait." The girl protested as Tabitha reached up around her head as if to tie a gag of blindfold. The other Elves grew tense until Tabitha's intent became clear. When she was finished, Tabitha stepped away. The young mage had tied the handkerchief around the Elf girl's head in a fashion not unlike that of the commoners and petty mages who's work took them into the forests and fields. More importantly, it covered the girl's ears.
"Extra precaution. Students might panic." Tabitha explained simply before turning to Kirito and repeating her work, this time tying the handkerchief in the fashion preferred by male laborers to keep the sweat from their eyes.
Tabitha inspected her handiwork and gave a small nod of approval.
"Now listen to me all of you." Colbert spoke to his students. "See to it that these two are taken safely to the Academy and then report directly to Old Osmond on these events. You may use force if they attempt to escape or to protect yourselves, but under no circumstances are you to do them lasting harm unless your life is in danger. My own safety will depend on it."
The students nodded solemnly and Colbert took a slow breath. "Very well. If you are ready?"
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