~from Kirito's POV 2nd person~
You woke up, rubbing your hair to make sure that none of that stupid glitter fell out, and once you were satisfied that you were un-sparkly, you set out to meet Olivera. However, when you arrived at the clearing, despite calling her name multiple times, you couldn't find her.
"Olivera? Olivera?" you asked, practically stumbling over tree roots until you came to the tree that you recognized as hers, but she wouldn't come out. "Olivera? Are you there? It's me, Kirito." After a moment, you asked, "Did I do something wrong last night? Listen, I'm really sorry if that's the case. If you want to, we can forget all about it." No! That's not what I want! your heart was screaming at you, but you couldn't stand being ignored by Olivera. "Please, please come out. Why won't you talk to me?"
Her only answer was a whisper of two words: "They're close."
"Olivera? Olivera? Is that you? Who's close? Olivera?" you asked, spinning around and trying to pinpoint her location, but her voice had seemingly floated to you on the wind, and you couldn't trace her location. Just then, you heard a twig snap on the other side of the clearing from which he'd entered, and you turned, jogging towards the sound. "Oli-" You stopped abruptly once he processed the figure before him. "Klein?"
Klein turned, surprised to the point of nearly falling over. "Kirito! Jeez man, you scared the crap outta me. Was that you that I heard earlier?"
You nodded. "But why are you out here?"
"I could ask you the same thing," Klein answered, tilting his head. "But who are you here with?"
You thought of Olivera. I can't let him know about who she really is. I can't let him know that she lives here. In fact, Klein had only seen Olivera and you together on a few separate occasions, but he'd had no reason to believe that Olivera wasn't a player, despite that fact that he had never seen her before. "I came alone," you finally answered.
"Are you talking to yourself now? You're insane, man," Klein said, laughing nervously. "Anyhow, I've got great news."
"Yeah? What is it?" you asked, shifting slightly to conceal the clearing through which you'd come.
"Some player on the front lines just completed a quest that gave us a tip about the boss of this level," Klein gushed, eyes bright, and you knew that he was imagining returning to his old life, about how great it would be to return to the real world.
"That's great," you said, but you enthusiasm was faked.
"Right?" Klein commented.
You nodded, forcing yourself to smile. "So, what's the tip?"
Klein leaned closer conspiratorially. "All we know right now is that the boss has something to do with something called a dryad," he whispered, and you froze, your breathing suddenly feeling unnatural. He leaned back, grinning. "Hey, wasn't that what you were asking me about a while ago?"
You forced yourself to shrug, but your mind was elsewhere.
"Maybe you did the same quest or something. Well, either way, you were right! The problem, though..." Klein faced the forest. "From all the research we could gather, dryads are like tree nymphs or fairies or something like that. And, well...there's a lot of trees." Klein frowned at the ground. "Unless the dryad comes out on its own terms, we may never find it." Abruptly, Klein looked up, grinning at you once again, but his hope made you feel sick. "But I promise you, my buddy Kirito, we'll find the dryad, kill it, and get back to the real world! We're so close!" he yelled, fist pumping the air. "Plus, if you're searching around here, I have a feeling that you're always pretty close!" He pulled up his messages and sent out a mass PM. "I'll tell all those useless guys to get their butts out here and begin the search."
You couldn't do anything. To deny him would be suspicious, but by just going along with him, you were endangering Olivera. "Just...don't go burning the entire forest, okay? It's really...beautiful here."
Klein gazed out at all the trees with mixed reverence and forlorn. "I can't make any promises, but we'll try to be nice to the trees." With a final grin, he was off, and you were left behind to stare at the spot where he had been.
How can I protect Olivera? you wondered, but the sad truth emerged to you. I can't. I'm not strong enough. I wasn't strong enough to save Asuna, and I can't save Olivera, either.