"There we go.. does that feel okay..?" Yuuki rubbed a soothing oil onto the bullet wound in Mikoto's leg before replacing some fresh bandages over the wound.

"Y-yeah.." Mikoto muttered. "It feels a whole lot better actually."

"That's good." said Yuuki, putting the blanket back on and rubbing Mikoto's head again with the cloth. "This VR has the capability of producing such realistic and injuries and living conditions.. even disease.. take now for example.. you're running high with a fever."

"I-I am?" Mikoto stammered. "But.. my Sempai is expecting me back... and.."

"Where is she?" Yuuki asked. "I'll go get her.. I can fly there."

"You can!?"

"Yep." said Yuuki, as a pair of fairy wings glittered to life on her back. "I've got everything from ALO.. my stats.. my weapons, my armor.. and my wings. Don't worry, just tell me where to search, and I'll be back before you know it."

"Th-the waterfall.. there's a hidden campsite behind it upstream.. it's a hard place to find.. but if you can spot it from the air..."

Yuuki nodded and kissed Mikoto's forehead. "Now just stay there and hang tight."

"C-careful.." Mikoto said. "The guy I fought is still out there.."

"Hmm.. you mean the smokey raven guy?" said Yuuki.

"You.. saw our fight?"

"I saw it just as you fell into the river." said Yuuki. "The current was fast, so I had to follow it quickly before I could catch up in time to pull you ashore. Quite an interesting Armament Full Control art you had there."

"Y-yeah." said Mikoto. "The Master Sword summons up bosses from the old Zelda games. But.. that guy used to be an enemy of mine from back in SAO.. he's got a serious grudge with me."

"But he doesn't know me." said Yuuki. "I don't think he'll come after me for no reason when he's hunting around so much for you.

"Maybe so.. but still you-"

"Misaka-sempai.." Yuuki gave Mikoto a soft look. "Don't worry.. I'm not going to die.."

Mikoto opened her mouth, and closed it. "Y-yeah.. I know.. just.. try not to almost die at least.."

Yuuki smiled and exited the front door of the small house.

Mikoto waited for 3 minutes in the silent house. She let her fingers slide across her skin under her blanket. She felt the bandages.. and how many they were.. the fact that one could gain such realistic injuries within this world of data.. it was frightening how real the Underworld felt.. besides how perfect everything looked in comparison to IRL, it was impossible to distinguish this world from the real one..

And the question of why she was in here.. Yuuki had told her that she was in here because she retained brain damage.. and Chrysheight had used his government connections to input her Fluctlight in this world while her brain underwent repairs.. was that also why Kirito and Sinon were here? And how had they ended up needing brain repairs in the first place?

Yuuki's reason for being in here was simple enough.. her Fluctlight was in here while they found out what to do with her cancer ridden body...

"Asuna.." Mikoto whispered to herself. "She's alive.. just wait till you hear she's still alive.."

"WHAM!!!" The door suddenly slammed open.. making Mikoto jump out of the bed in fright and fall painfully onto the ground.

"MISAAAAAKAAAAAA-CHAN!!!!!" Ashley jumped in.. wearing her usual uniform, she grabbed Mikoto off the floor and began squeezing the life out of her.. much to Mikoto's pain.

"WWWAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!" Mikoto screamed.

"OHHHHHHHH!!! IS MY WITTLE MISAKA OKAY!!?" Ashley cried out, shaking Mikoto around like a rag doll and pinching her cheeks. "MY MISAAAKAAA!!! IF I KNEW THIS WERE GOING TO HAPPEN!!! WHAAAAAA!!!!"

"S-Sempai.." Mikoto wheezed. "You're killing me.. S-Sempai.."

"Wow!! You really missed her!" said Yuuki cheerfully as she ran right in.

"OH IT'S SO GOOD THIS NICE GIRL FOUND YOU MY WITTLE MISAKA!!" Ashley sobbled. "OR I DON'T KNOW WHAT I WOULD HAVE DONE!!!!!"

"It wasn't easy getting back." said Yuuki. "I had to fly pretty quick.. there were a lot of weird people in hoods and cloaks converging on the camp.. I think they might know the rough location.."

"It's obviously those Laughing Coffin members.. a bunch of hooligans.." said Ashley darkly as she loosened up on her hug.

"L-Laughing Coffin." Mikoto muttered. "That can't be right.."

"Oh.. yes you haven't heard of them have you Misaka-chan." said Ashley. "They're a cult that's been recently growing in influence.. and they primarily excel in-"

"Murder." Mikoto finished. "Yeah.. I know what they are.."

Mikoto looked at Yuuki meaningfully, knowing that she at least would know what SAO was exactly. "They were a murder guild in that game I played.. you know.. way back."

"I see." said Yuuki, frowning. "So even in that game we've got people like them.. but how did they get access to the Soul Translator?"

"Hmm?" said Ashley. "Are you two discussing some inside knowledge I'm not aware of?"

"Senpai.." said Mikoto. "Remember when you looked into the Master Sword's memories? Where I got it.. do you remember a giant floating castle?"

"Why yes.. quite extraordinary.."

"It's a place called Aincrad." said Mikoto. "I used to.. erm.. live there. But before I left.. Laughing Coffin was there too, they murdered thousands  of people on Aincrad.. "

"Which explains your blade's great hatred of this Red-Eyed XaXa person's Estoc.." said Ashley cheerfully. "No need to explain too much Misaka-chan.. the question is... what we're going to do about it.."

"Well.. we go back to Zattaria right?" said Mikoto.

"Nope!!" said Yuuki. "Your master told me all about how she wants to teach you Ocean Storm!! And I don't think we should let this bozos ruin all that!! No way are they going to discover that campsite no way!!"

"Th-then what do we do..?"

"Well.." said Ashley.. mischievous gleams sparkling in her eyes ominously. "I have a plan.. heheheheh.."

Mikoto gulped.. if there was anything she knew about her extremely unorthodox mentor.. it was probably a very dangerous and crazy plan.. and knowing Yuuki.. she'd probably go along with it..

______________________

A party of 12 Laughing Coffin Members snuck along the river.. heading opposite to that of the river's flow.. according to a theory by Sterben and PoH.. the place where the two targets were hiding was most likely along the waterfalls..

"Careful runts." said one man. "This girl was strong enough to go toe to toe with PoH's right hand guy and survive..  there's no telling what they might throw at us.."

"D-do you hear something?" said another member. "Is that?.. rolling?"

"WHAAAAA!!!!!!!!" A giant rolling log burst out of the undergrowth.. and on top of the log.. rolling it with their feet, were Yuuki, Mikoto, and Ashley.

Yuuki and Ashley were laughing with glee as they rolled on the giant log.. Mikoto on the other hand, was in between her crazy mentor and her crazy friend, screaming for dear life.

Music Starts

"WHAT KIND OF PLAN IS THIS!?" Mikoto screamed as the log continued to roll down.

"THE BEST KIND!!!" Yuuki and Ashley both squealed with delight.

"AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!" The Laughing Coffin members tried to run.. but ended up being flattened and smashed into the ground by the rolling log.

"WHOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!!!" Ashley screamed. "ROLL ROLL ROLLL ROOOOOLLLLLLLLL!!!!"

"ROOOLLLL ROOOOOLLLLL ROOOOOOOLLLLL!" Yuuki screamed.

"HELLLP HELLLP HEEEEELLLLLLPPPPP!!!" Mikoto screamed.

The log bounced around and richotcheted around the trees.. rolling and plowing through bushes, shrubbery, and unsuspecting parties of Laughing Coffin members.

"COULDN'T WE HAVE JUST TAKEN OUR SWORDS AND WENT AROUND WITH SOME SYSTEMATIC ATTACKS!!?" Mikoto screamed.

"And ruin all the fun!?" said Ashley. "COME ON MISAKA-CHAN!!! Stop thinking and start having fun!! Heeheeheeheehee!!!"

"SPRING BREAK SPRING BREAK!!" Yuuki roared, drawing her sword and twirling it around for fun.

"What does ANY of this have to do with spring break!?" Mikoto cried out weakly as she struggled to keep her footing.

"By the way Misaka-chan! That's a nice old uniform you're wearing." said Ashley, suddenly noticing the new black and gold clothes Mikoto was wearing.

"We're talking about that NOW!?" Mikoto said.

"Ooooooh!" said Yuuki pointing ahead. "Cliff."

"OH NO!!" Mikoto said, as she noticed the cliff that dropped off into a canyon where the river ran below. "WE HAVE TO STOP!!"

"No!" said Ashley, looking at Mikoto, her eyes sparkling. "We can make it!!"

"YOU'RE JOKING!!!"

"No!" said Yuuki. "She's right.. FULL SPEED AHEAD!!!

"WE'RE GOING TO DIE!!!!" Mikoto screamed as the log barreled of the cliff.

"Almost.. there.." said Ashley.

The log made to where it was only an inch from the other side.. before it fell right through the canyon.

"Whoopsie.. so close." said Ashley snapping her fingers.

The log spiraled down through the air.. with Mikoto sobbing and holding onto the log with both arms and legs.. while Ashley and Yuuki jumped around the spiraling log, giggling and having fun.

The log splashed down into the water and bobbed out.. with the three friends standing on the log again and rolling it with their feet...

"We're going to need a boost if we're going to make it upstream!!" Ashley cried out. "Misaka-chan?! Could you please?"

"Th-this is a death trap!!"

"Wait.. it works better if you motivate her!" said Yuuki. "Hey Misaka-sempai! Guess what I have!"

Yuuki held out a Gekota plushy. "Hey there Misaka-sama! I'm Gekota.. and it would mean so much to me if you got my friends Kono-chan and Rowena-san up the river."

"HEELLLL YEAAAAHHHHH!!!" Mikoto roared her legs suddenly exploded with electricity, supercharging her own muscles as she rolled the leg at light speed. The log shot up the stream, leaving an exploding trail of water.

Wind raced through the girl's hair as they shot out of the river.. and right into another group of Laughing Coffin members.

"TO THE NEXT LEVEL JACK ASSES!!!" Mikoto roared as they plowed over the murder guild. "BOOOOOMMMM!!!"

"You're right!" Ashley said with a laugh. "Motivation is the key!"

__________________________

Sterben appeared in a flock of crows.. walking over to join PoH as they stared around the forest.

"Hmmm.." said PoH, observing a large piece of paper. "This area right here is uncharted.. and Railgun came through the river.. it stands to reason that the camp must at least be on the edge of the water where resources are easy to obtain.

"PoH.. you know I want to be the one to kill her.." said Sterben.

"Indeed.." said PoH. "I won't begrudge you that chance.. but do not forget our true purpose in this world.. Laughing Coffin.. will now longer just be the relic of a virtual world."

A particularly large crow, big enough to be mistaken for a raven soared down from the sky. Sterben held out his hand.. and the bird landed on his finger.

"It appears there is a waterfall several miles down.." said Sterben after observing the crow's eyes.

"Perfect.. it might be the campsite." said PoH. "We shall definitely have the element of surprise.."

As if on cue.. an entire hoard of Laughing Coffin members came out of the trees, running and screaming. "AAAAHHHHHHH!!! GET OUT OF THE WAY!!!! "

The men stampeded past PoH and Sterben.. and right after, Mikoto, Yuuki, and Ashley came barreling past on their giant log.. leaving behind a trail of dust..

"The element of surprise?" said Sterben.

PoH ripped his map in half and threw it into the wind. "Damn monkeys.."

After about a few more minutes of rolling and knocking out the last few grunts of Laughing Coffin, the three friends finally reached end of their roll.. the log spiraled off another cliff ledge, and Mikoto, Yuuki, and Ashley came flying off the log and splashed right into the giant lake in front of the waterfall that held the secret campsite.

The threesome dragged themselves ashore and lay on the pebbles, laughing.

"Oh man!" Mikoto said, barely containing her glee and laughter. "That.. hahahaha.. was...haha.. awesome!!"

"See!?" said Yuuki. "It was completely fine Misaka-Sempai!"

"More then fine!" said Ashley. "That was my best plan since the Spinning Windmill dasher plan I made to get that freshly baked bread to the Academy director!"

"That wasn't a plan!" said Mikoto. "You destroyed half the town!"

"I know!! Wasn't that fun!?" said Ashley.

"The director threatened to suspend us if it wasn't for the fact that we got his bread there in time!"

"Pfffft!! We still made it!" said Ashley. "Now.. to business!!"

Ashley stood up and dusted herself off, smiling. "Now.. the only ones left to deal with.. are probably the main leaders of Laughing Coffin correct? Well this is just wonderful... We're going to deal with Laughing Coffin.. once and for all.. Mikoto.."

"Y-yes Sempai!?" Mikoto stammered, stunned that Ashley had just started using her first name.

"Who are the main leaders we're dealing with..? I know among them.. the three main foes is your enemy Red-Eyed XaXa.. and that man with a dark bag over his head as a mask.. then that strange dangerous looking one with the large cleaver."

"The one with the bag is Johny Black most likely, he uses a poisoned dagger." said Mikoto. "And.. the tall one is PoH.. their leader.. and he's got a powerful weapon called Mate Chopper."

"Well.. this will be smooth sailing then." said Ashley. "Three of them.. three of us.. one of them has supernatural skills.. and one of us also has supernatural skills.. however.. there's one difference.."

"What would that be?" Mikoto asked.

Yuuki smiled.. knowing what Ashley was getting at just by the look in her eyes. "We have more skills of course..."

_____________________________

The lake was silent.. all except for the crashing water of the waterfall as PoH walked forward.. leading Sterben and Johny Black with him..

PoH chuckled when he saw the broken log nearby and drew Mate Chopper from under his cloak. "It's Showtime boys.. "

Sterben and Black chuckled as well. Sterben pulled out Guilty Wing while Black took out his dagger and spun it around his finger.

"We know you're here!" PoH shouted. "Come out come out.. wherever you are... come now.. if you don't step forward Blurred Blade... who will protect your dear friend, the Black Swordsman when we come to Zattaria to cut his throat?"

However.. despite what PoH expected.. Mikoto didn't come out roaring with rage like she usually would have at the mention of a threat to hurt her precious friend..

"You think they moved on?" said Johny Black. "Awwww... come on!! I really was looking forward to a nice friggin' murder!!"

"They're here somewhere." said PoH. "When she's thinking straight, Railgun was always a crafty fighter.. I still remember that ambush she planned on floor 68, nearly caught me off guard.."

"Heh.. but she doesn't have several guilds of high level clearers to back her up this time." said Sterben. "We'll find her.."

Sterben sheathed his blade and pulled out his Silent Assassin, cocking it and aiming around the stones through his scope. "Where are you hiding?"

"BOOOOM!!!!" The water suddenly exploded as Yuki shout out of the bottom of the lake, her sword raised. "Surprise!!!"

She jumped right in between the group, separating PoH and Johny Black from Sterben by using a whirling full body strike to send Sterben flying back.. as she dashed towards Sterben.. suddenly the wall of the cliff turned distorted, as the Sacred Art: Camouflage Unit wore off and Ashley blocked Johny Black and PoH's way.

"Heh!" said PoH. "Nice.. but you can't expect that to sway us.."

"HOW ABOUT THIS!?"

Mikoto burst out from behind the waterfall, both her blades drawn, exploding with electric fury.. she screamed and slammed her blades down at the lake below her.. and the power of the electricity that resulted was so great.. that massive amounts of steam billowed out from the waters, covering the place in an extremely dense and thick fog..

When the fog cleared.. Ashley had already lured PoH and Black away into the woods.. while Mikoto burst out of the water to face Sterben alongside Yuuki.

"So the two of you gang up on me while you leave your teacher to fight alone against my compatriots?" said Sterben as flocks of Ravens flew around him, cawing. "You've either got plenty of faith in her.. or you've gotten stupid over the years in the Underworld."

"Oh trust me.." said Mikoto. "It's you that should be worried.."

"That's right!" said Yuuki. "After all.. though Asuna-chan isn't here.. you're still looking at two members of ALfheim's smallest and strongest temporary guild, The Fleeting Musketeers!"

The untold Mother's Rosario arch: Tale of the Fleeting Musketeers.

Okay, I'll tell the truth. The reason I didn't write Mother's Rosario, was because it would have slightly ruined the way Mikoto's memories of Yuuki were meant to be read in this book. As people read on.. people would slowly find out who Yuuki was through Mikoto's memories and her meeting Yuuki upon finding out she was still alive.

After the Sleeping Knights disbanded upon clearing one of the Boss Floors with Asuna, Mikoto managed to find Yuuki and battle her for one last time before she was supposed to log out and move on to another game. (that's when you see the first memories of Yuuki as Mikoto battled Hei-Long during the Zattaria Sword Arts Tournament.)

After repeated questions, Yuuki finally revealed her condition of having AIDs and that she was going to die soon, much to Mikoto's heartbroken dismay, as she had grown fond of Yuuki. Yuuki, touched by Mikoto's concern, teaches her the Mother's Rosario Skill.. and the two, along with Asuna, form a temporary "Bucket List Guild" called the Fleeting Musketeers, alluding to the fact that there were only three of them in the guild, and that the guild would be disbanded after Yuuki breathed her last.

They quickly became the strongest guild in all of ALfheim,  even managing to scare Eugene, Sakuya, and other high level players with their teamwork and skill. PK players would steer clear of them whenever they saw them coming, and highly skilled players would challenge them, just so they could tell their friends they actually did it..

Together, the three friends fully explored the 26th floor of New Aincrad and defeated the Floor Boss there, Thousand Year Arachnid: Molderach,  without any help from other players on their first try.

Finally, on Yuuki's final day before her death, Asuna held Yuuki in her arms as Mikoto held her hand, while Yuuki closed her eyes and died.. Together, as Yuuki breathed their last, they disbanded the Fleeting Musketeers.

Chrysheight, who had met Yuuki through passing, had already called his research division on Soul Translation however, to use the medical Full Dive device Medicuboid to transfer Yuuki's Fluctlight to the Underworld during it's early testing phases so that they could devise a way to keep her alive..

While Yuuki's soul remains alive, her body is gone, being unfit for habitation. However.. using Viros DNA.. Chrysheight has begun working on creating an artificial body for Yuuki, much to Seyat's discomfort when he discovered it during the Prologue of this story, along with Chrysheight's other research into the use of Viros genetics and technology.

Meanwhile, the Fleeting Musketeers turned out to be not so fleeting after all, as in honor of Yuuki, the Game Masters created a large memorial plaque in the center of Granzam with the guild and it's member's names emblazoned upon it. In front of the plaque, a sculpture of the Master Sword, Asuna's rapier and Yuuki's sword are stabbed into a pleasantly carved stone, crossing together.