Athena was ready to part ways with her party and say her final goodbyes and was just about to turn around to leave the dungeon when a small dialog window popped into view in the corner of her vision. Tapping open the window revealed a Friend Request sent from Arina, causing Athena to pause momentarily at the unexpected request. Her outstretched finger still hovered over where the dialog window sat moments ago.
In all her time in ALfheim Online, Athena was never one to initiate friend requests with other players, all interactions with players were mostly for convenience purposes, such as grouping up for dungeon raids like the one she just fought in. Temporary partnerships that ended as quickly as they were formed. Her serious virtual personality usually succeeded in putting off other players from befriending her, but this Cait Sith player seemed to see something in her that other players didn't.
"We do seem to work very well together for a party that was formed at the last minute. I hope we may join together in battle someday." Athena said with a faint smile, as she turned back to face the group of players that she had just fought alongside. She called the Friend Request window with a motioning of her fingers, accepting Arina's friend request as well as sending requests to the other players. Her previously-empty friend list now included:
Arina: The Cait Sith archer that managed to save her from an untimely death from the boss monster's cleaver attack with a well-timed arrow.
T1m (or as he asked to be called, Alex): The unorthodox player who had the bright idea of attacking a boss monster with its own weapon. It was either a stunningly brilliant strategy or a stupidly reckless tactic. But it worked.
Shishirou: The midget Pooka player with the unusual ability to joke in the midst of a fierce battle. Athena didn't quite understand the joke she was trying to make. Perhaps it was an inside joke from an old game of some sort.
Kite: The only player in her party who had fallen in battle, however, he was the only player she had ever seen that hadn't shown any signs of fear despite knowing the inevitability of his death. Even if it was only a VRMMO, the mere sight of a giant cleaver swinging in one's direction was real enough to strike fear deep into anyone's heart.
Fuyuko: By far the smallest tank she had ever encountered in ALfheim Online. In retrospect, having a small-sized tank character seemed like a clever way to "cheat" the system, with easier evasion ability than a taller character. A smart idea in theory, an amusing sight in (virtual) reality.
With her Friend List no longer empty, Athena made her way through the twisting halls of the dungeon with the others, although some decided to rush ahead hastily. Athena noticed that the group of players leaving was noticeably smaller than what it was when they entered. Such a decrease usually only happened when the dungeon raid party was too low level or the battle coordination was very poor, but this group was well-equipped and properly leveled, and the group had proper coordination of tanks, DPS, and healers. The exception in this case lay in the sudden unusual intelligence of the boss monster's AI, something that had deeply troubled Athena during the battle. However, for the sake of the group's morale, she hid her fears underneath the fierce exterior of the Athena persona.
Athena unfolded her character's translucent wings and burst into flight as soon as she left the "non-flight" area of the dungeon, soaring effortlessly through the air towards Salamander territory. The sky had already greatly darkened by the time she left the dungeon, revealing just how much time has passed while the raid party was fighting the boss monster. Athena felt a slight sensation of hunger passing through her, further confirming that it was already late evening in the real world. Fortunately, the nearest Salamander territory was well within sight, along with the bright lights of the town buildings shining like miniature beacons. As she began passing over the outlying buildings of the town, Athena slowed down the speed of her flight, angling herself carefully so that her feet touched the ground as soon as her character's wings vanished. Normally, she would have went to the nearest merchant NPC and purchased some food to remove the feelings of hunger and continue playing for a few more hours, however, she felt completely exhausted and wanted nothing other than the comfort of a soft bed. A real bed.
Entering the nearest inn, Athena paid the ever-watchful innkeeper NPC a small fee for a room. Since she had always spent her earnings on weapons and equipment for her character, she had never saved up enough money for a house for herself. Not that a house would be any useful, as she spent most of her time in the game slaying monsters and occasionally players who were a nuisance.
Entering her rented room, Athena let the wooden door close by itself with a soft thud as she made her way to the lone bed in the room. Sitting herself down on the bed covers as she brought up the game's Log Off menu, she briefly thought about the new friends she had made. While they were all a bit strange in their own unique ways, they did have a remarkable ability to work well together despite not having met each other before. Not having made friends in the game before, Athena had no idea what to expect from them in the future. Lying down on the bed, Athena then used the open game window beside her to finally log herself out of the game.
---
As she felt the sensation of her body slowly returning to her, Natsuki kept her eyes closed, as if savoring her last few moments as Athena. It was the growing uncomfortable sensation of the Amusphere resting on her head that kept her from laying still and dozing off, and with a slow reluctance, she slid off the circular device and blindly placing it on the nighttable beside her, next to her glasses.
Carefully lifting herself up from the bed, Natsuki rubbed her eyes as if waking up from a long sleep, and involuntarily yawned as she stretched out her stiff arms. The blur that filled her vision disappeared as she picked up and slipped on her glasses.
Looking up to face the bookshelf that sat across from her, a photo frame sat on its surface. In the picture was Natsuki, several years younger, along with her mother and father. One other girl stood next to the younger Natsuki in the picture, noticeably taller and older, closely resembling the Athena of her ALO avatar, although with black hair instead of fiery red. Next to the photo frame rested an old and noticeably aged helmet-like electronic device.
"I tried to fight as hard as I could today, as hard as you would have. No, I fought as hard as you did... Thank you for protecting me, Oneesan. "
