[SP-F1] Courageous Beyond Measure VIII (Complete)

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It occurred to him that he had only ever really learned the stories of a select few in all of Aincrad. The most obvious and recent of the bunch was, of course, McGonagall. But after that, he had trouble naming more a measly two additional players. There was Rebekah, the girl who seemed to think of Aincrad as a breath of fresh air- a welcome change from a reportedly oppressive family. He recalled her sharing that rumors of her brother's appearance in this world had been reported, although he had never learned if anything had come from them.

Edited October 1, 2015 by Azide

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Then there was also Raeyliff, a boy he had met long ago whom had even ended up joining him within the ranks of a fledgling Square One. Though their time together in the now-defunct guild had been fleeting, he had never forgotten the passion Joe had expressed for his freedom in this world. For Raeyliff, Aincrad was a place for exploration- the black-haired youth had hungered for knowledge of all sorts. For a brief while, he recalled a spirited rivalry which had arisen between them following Raeyliff's ascension to the profession of alchemist.

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It was a shame, he thought, that the boy had gone the way of so many others. How long had it been since he'd encountered players like him, Shinex or even Aeternum? It had been painfully long, and he had often wondered what their fates had been upon the departure of Square One from the frontlines. Even before the guild had disbanded, he had not heard from many of them in quite some time. Perhaps almost as regretfully, he had not even honored Raeyliff's enthusiasm for the alchemical arts; it had been ages since he'd last created even a single craft back at his shop.

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But both of those things aside, he had never really considered just how little he had known about all of those he'd met. He had never claimed to have been particularly close to many in this world. Out of everyone he had met, his closest companions had perhaps numbered less than six. It was a somber thing to consider- that he had not gotten to know more people after all of this time in Aincrad, but it certainly made sense. Admittedly, he had spent a good amount of his time in this world running off on his own adventures for no reason other than speed and efficiency.

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There was Oikawa, the first real friend he had ever made in this world. At the time, he hadn't been sure why they had hit it off so well, but the reason was quite simple and clear in hindsight. Oikawa had been level-headed by nature without crossing the thin line into coldness- in fact, he had always been a friendly face, even before they'd officially become guildmates. Perhaps he had admired the warmth that Oikawa had brought, even in spite of the abundance of logic and wit that the youth had been capable of bringing to the table.

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Once again, Rebekah was an answer- it was a pattern of sorts, he had noticed. Although many of their interactions had never come to a conclusive end, blurring many of his recollections in the process, he considered her and real friend through and through. Perhaps it was because he was not the type to open up very often, but they had talked about a good deal of things that night. He wondered sometimes if it had been a pleasant experience for her as well, in spite of the cold. But it must've been- surely? They had spent hours talking into the night, and that was more than he could say for the others on his mental list.

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After the first two, the rest would be somewhat more of a stretch- they were certainly his friends, there was no mistaking that. But had they really been his close friends? Somehow, he could not bring himself to answer yes, despite feeling as if he should. Of this bunch, he supposed that he could name Xanatos as the front runner; the self-proclaimed Squire of Minos had only stuck around for a brief while in the grand scheme of things, but he'd managed to leave a lasting impression.

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It was a shame the man had faded from public memory- nobody seemed to have a clue of his whereabouts. The two had seen eye to eye on many an issue, and he'd possessed a good heart, and even better shouting voice. He closed his eyes and pictured the many dramatic statements that had boomed out from the righteous man. If only he'd possessed the hindsight to properly record those speeches. When the last words faded from his mind, he felt a bitter sweetness which lingered in his heart like a sticky residue that could not simply be washed away.

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Yet another common pattern was abundantly obvious to him- that these three had each been a trusted member of Square One. It made plenty of sense, that his closest companions had been people he'd spent a good amount of time with. Being guildmates, they had run through many a quest together, and had even attended a lively camping trip on the forests of the second floor. So he was not surprised that the last three names which had come to mind consisted of a further two ex-members of Square One, along with its most trusted and (singular) ally.

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Of the remaining trio on his tremulous list of comrades, it was hard to rank them in any significant or tangible order. Of course, he had known X the longest- but there were a multitude of things which kept him from being an obvious top contender. On the other hand, he had easily interacted with Crozeph on a personal level the least out of the remaining group, although the young man had earned bonus points for his pleasant demeanor and respectful attitude. Then there was Ariel- his longtime tailor of choice, an old ally, and the only player on his list to have never joined Square One.

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Upon closer consideration, he supposed that the strongest case could perhaps be made for the last of his mentions. Ariel- the Crowned Lion; a feisty young lady, to say the least. On many an occasion, she had managed to (likely unwittingly) rub him the wrong way with one too many dismissive comments. He supposed that these could be chalked up as the result of a healthy amount of confidence, which in itself could be a most admirable trait- but perhaps it had often been just a tad too healthy to really clutch out a win in this particular race.

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But despite the cons he'd pointed out, it was true that the two were on quite the good terms, and he was sure that the girl also considered him to be a friend all the same. For starters, she'd possessed the distinction of being the sole attendee of Square One's camping trip to not actually hail from Square One, and the guild had welcome the girl all the same. Then there was the fact that almost everything he'd ever worn in this world had at one time passed through the nimble fingers of the Crowned Lion herself, due to the woman's unrivaled skill in the tailoring world.

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Crozeph was a name he hadn't seen in person in quite some time, although he held out on the hope that the raven-haired young man would turn up again someday. Although most of his experience with the man had been limited to excursions which had included the rest of the guild, the boy had also taken part in a raid upon a bandit camp in conjunction with himself and Oikawa. What he liked most about Crozeph was that though quiet, and seemingly a loner by nature, the youth had always been exceedingly polite and kind. He could only hope that his former guildmate would make a valiant return to the front-lines someday so that they might grab a few drinks and reminisce about old times.

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And finally, that left the issue of X. Ah yes, the infamous XWuzHeAR. What was there to say about X, exactly? If anybody were to ask, they would receive a rather long lecture's worth of information on the topic. But if he had to begin somewhere, he supposed that he could sum up X as a can of worms. Like a can of worms, dealing with X was often a messy business, and in fact was often something that he would have preferred not to deal with altogether. But in the same vein, both X and said can of worms could occasionally be funny as well, if you were into that sort of thing.

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True to his own humble beginnings, Square One had not possessed the luxury of being picky and choosy with its founding members. To form a guild, a total of four members were required- with himself as an obvious plus-one, he had relied on X in addition to Oikawa and Lucifer in order to establish the fledgling organization. While the last of these names belonged to a girl who had gone missing after about a month of activity (and had since been immortalized as the name of his very own familiar), Oikawa had disappeared much more recently.

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And once again, the last of Square One's founding council members had been none other than the mischievous X. Although he had regretted this historic moment several times throughout their guild's history, he had not exactly been able to screen any of the trio before their initial meeting- if he had met X before that day, he would be hard pressed to believe that their paths might have ever intentionally crossed. They were just that different, ultimately. But that wasn't to say that X was a bad guy at all.

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In fact, he reminded him in some ways of McGonagall... not that that was a good thing. He'd felt before as if McGonagall had reminded him of a certain someone, but the particular comparison had not dawned on him until that very moment. And yet in hindsight, it seemed so obvious. They were careless people, McGonagall and X- they smashed up things and retreated back into their vast careless, and let other people clean up their mess. And they even smiled while doing it- although this could be attributed to ignorance in one case and nerves of steel in the other.

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So while they two had never truly been destined to be anything more than acquaintances, guildmates and effectively co-workers, it had nevertheless been a sort of friendship-by-fire sort of deal. Out of the final three, he had to admit that they had spent the most time together, whether it was in guild-related shenanigans or in their many meetings in non guild-related business. X had definitely made of habit of getting out often, and he always seemed to run into the guy when he did the same. Perhaps he might even claim that his attitude towards X had softened just the slightest bit as the months had gone by.

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And yet after all of that time, what had he learned, really? He had already known just how little that he could really claim to know about his so-called friends. Not just the sort of armor they wore, or the weapons they used, or even the names of their familiars- but their honest-to-goodness stories. He could assume that Oikawa, Rebekah and Ariel were actually named these things- but what about Xanatos, Crozeph or X? Perhaps X's real name were something like Xavier, but it wasn't something he knew for certain. It unsettled him, the fact that he had never bothered to ask.

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Thinking back, had he ever even revealed his own name to anybody other than Raeyliff? He searched desperately through his memories, hoping to recall even a single other instance, but nothing came to mind. No matter how finely he combed through each and every encounter and adventure, he'd only ever introduced himself as Nouel to the aforementioned alchemist. Not even to Rebekah or Oikawa had his own name ever been mentioned. With that somber bit of trivia in mind, he made a mental note to never forget to ask about these things in the future. After all, how long did he have before his companions would escape him once again?