Sword Art Online: A New Beginning

[Mega90]

Yamen saw the young girl gesture to him, and sighing, worked his way across the busy guild hall over to her.

“Hey, Amara. What’s up?”  

[Zarkon90]

Amara frowned slightly.

"You were gone quite awhile. Where were you?"  

[Mega90]

Yamen gave a noncommittal shrug.

“Nowhere special. I just took a walk around town. Did you need something?”  

[Zarkon90]

Amara sighed softly, glancing out at the other guild members. As she speaks, her voice drops to almost a whisper.

"I know this may not be the best time but, I was hoping to find out what exactly happened with the last princess we had."  

[Mega90]

Yamen sighed slightly and again ran his hands through his hair. He knew that this conversation was coming eventually, and he was honestly surprised it had taken this long. The hesitation was clear on his face, and Amara could tell that he was not even attempting to disguise it.

“Yeah, I figured you would. My guess is that you went to Rimaru first –am I right?” He gave little time for a response, as he apparently read his answer off her face immediately. “If you really want to know, I’ll tell you. But let’s not talk about it here. It’s not exactly your average run of the mill gossip.” He gestured to the door, and together they headed back to the office where they had spoken earlier that morning. Yamen allowed Amara to enter first before stepping in behind her and closing the door.

He walked up to a small couch that was positioned against the back wall and sunk into it, making himself reasonably comfortable. He gestured for Amara to take a seat before he began to speak.

“As I’m sure you know by now, a few years ago, we held a competition where the female players of Crestfallen did battle in a massive tournament that decided who the strongest among them was. This event was held in conjunction with the developers of the game, and they actually sponsored it by allowing the winner to design their own custom item. It would be one of a kind and would be the symbol of the guild in which it was held. That’s the Princess of Crestfallen item that you’ve heard about.” He paused for a moment and opened a menu, sending a small screen shot to Amara. It was an image of a white dress with pink and black accents. The picture was taken of a player who was wearing it, but the face was cut off, hiding the head from view. All that was visible was light blond hair trailing until just below the shoulders. “Of all of the members that competed, one stood out as champion, and was thus crowned the Princess of Crestfallen. She became the symbol of our guild, and the soul of it as well. All the other members loved her, and she was one of our most popular faces, both in the guild and out of it. Rumors of the competition got out, and before long, she was being challenged every day by people who wanted to take down the Princess. Surprisingly, she was never bothered by it. In fact, she actually found it kind of funny.” Yamen lay his head back against the top of the couch, looking up at the ceiling in fond remembrance. “None of them even came close to beating her.” His voice was quiet as he spoke this last sentence, as though lost in reminiscence. He paused for a moment in thought before the smile faded from his face and he leaned forward again, resting his elbows on his knees, his hands hanging limp between his legs. “I won’t go into exact detail about what happened from there, as it’s not my place to besmirch someone else’s name, and there’s no reason you need to know, right now. But, suffice it to say that some crap went down involving the Princess of Crestfallen, and she eventually departed from the guild as response. The exodus wasn’t the smoothest transition, and she didn’t exactly leave on the best of terms. Regardless, when she left, she took the Princess of Crestfallen item with her. It was technically the property of the guild, and was as much of symbol of it as our emblem is. We tried to track her down for a while, but she stopped responding to all communications, and she eventually pawned the dress. It made its way around the slums of the game for a while before it somehow eventually ended up with Rin.”  

[Zarkon90]

Amara let out a soft sigh and leaned forward, folding her hands.

"I don't mean any disrespect but you only repeated what everyone already knows. I was more interested in what it was that caused her to leave. However, as you clearly have no desire to tell me and, as you stated, I don't need to know, I will respect that. I apologize for making you think back about this all." She said softly, her gaze softening slightly as she looked at Yamen.  

[Mega90]

Yamen looked down at Amara and shook his head.

“There’s no reason to apologize, it’s just dredging up a dark part in the guilds past unnecessarily. It’s already going to be hard enough on the guild with Rin joining, we don’t need to start conversations about the former Princess any more than she is already going to be talked about. Don’t worry about the guild. It’s not like this will kill it or anything, it just might cause some arguments for a little while. People will get used to the change soon enough.”  

[Zarkon90]

Amara closed her eyes, and nodded as she rose to her feet.

"I understand. I will do what I can to keep them in line and allow her a chance to prove herself. However Yamen, we only get one shot at this. The guild won't allow you to pull this stunt again if she fails to fill the role. You know that right?"

Amara's tone was soft, almost caring, which wasn't something many in the guild, or the game for that matter had experienced.  

[Mega90]

Yamen nodded.

“Thanks for being so open minded about this. I know that it must be a difficult thing to accept, but please trust that it is for the good of the guild. Still, I don’t expect you to take my word on face value. Feel free to design some tests or challenges for Rin, if you’d like. Give her the tools to succeed, but let her prove herself to you and the others. If you are willing to do that, I’ll personally train her to be ready.”  

[Zarkon90]

Amara smiled softly.

"Not sure giving her special treatment in terms of personally training her is your best idea Yamen. But I will keep that in mind. What are you planning to do for the meeting tonight? I am sure that people will have read your mail by then and have worked themselves up quite well."  

[Mega90]

Yamen placed his hands lazily in his pockets and gave a light shrug.

“Every member of this guild knows that if they want to train with me, they only need to ask. Rin will be afforded the same treatment that they would get. Besides, if their issue is that she is not strong enough, I will take steps to make sure that she is strong enough.” He paused and allowed a soft sigh to escape his throat. “As for the guild meeting, I suppose that I’ll just be honest with them. There will be a lot of questions, I’m sure of that. Still, I made my decision and now I have to stand behind it.”  

[Zarkon90]

Amara nodded, long white hair bouncing slightly as she did.

"Well I will be there as well so you won't have to face them alone. I trust you and if you think this girl deserves the title of princess then I will stand behind your decision and defend it with you."  

[Mega90]

Yamen shook his head, leaning against the wall near where they were talking.

“It was my decision. I don’t expect you to take the heat for a choice you didn’t make.”  

[Zarkon90]

"I know you don't and that is why I am willing to do just that. You helped me a lot when I first started here, Rin should be no different."

Amara said with a smile, readjusting her blade.  

[Mega90]

Yamen nodded his thanks, and turning, left the room.