Deadly angel on floor 58
"If you die in game, you die in real life."
"Ahhh", Klaire woke up screaming, she hated those words, they gave her nightmares. She was sweating from the fear. Even in the virtual world the touch and smells of her body were present. She had been stuck in Sword Art Online, along with the two thousand or so remaining players for almost a year. In that time they all had only managed to clear fifty-seven floors.
"Get going Klaire" she told herself. She rolled lazily out of bed and began equipping her armor. Soul crystal boots, equip, skyline greaves, equip, soul crystal cuirass, equip, skyline gauntlets, equip, skyline diadem, equip, Bāsākā no rongusōdo… "Berserker Longsword"…, why did this sword not agree with her? It was a long, single edged, electric blue blade with what appeared to be, bronze colored dragon-like scales around an amber spherical crystal that reminded Klaire of a dragon's eye, near the hilt. It was incredibly powerful but didn't quite suit her style, its bulk slowed her down not that she was much of a fighter anyway. Kaiyōchōseki… "Ocean Tide"…, equip.
"Alright everyone, let's get going", Shouted out their guild leader, Jensen.
"Ugh, glad to see at least someone is bright and cheery." The half-asleep Klaire moaned with excessive sarcasm.
"What are you talking about? You're the only sourpuss here" Noted Kamina, as he snuck up behind her. Kamina was probably the most infuriating person Klaire knew, but he was far from useless. He was the guild's go to spy and information broker. Physically he was slightly taller than she was but also thinner, he used a knife in combat although it was well known that he was crazy enough to use his bare fists. Klaire suspected that he was also a little overly fond of his armor that showcased his lithe, though still muscular upper body.
"Shut up Kamina" she said as she picked up a bun, shoved it in her mouth and headed towards the door.
/floor 58 dungeon; 2 hours later /
Kamina: "That's almost everywhere, just a few more areas and this map data is going to make us a killing!"
Jensen: "good to hear Kamina. Ok let's finish the dungeon up and find the boss room."
Klaire: "Brr, this place gives me the creeps."
Kamina: "what's the matter? Need a strong man keep you safe?" he asked as he caught up to her.
Klaire: "I don't need you if that's what you're suggesting."
Kamina: "Jeeeez. No need to be so harsh."
Klaire: "Whatever. Let's just finish the map and get back to a safe zone. I hate dungeons…"
Kamina: "It's not exactly the dungeons is it?"
Klaire: "No."
Vvvvvv Vvvvvvvvv Vvvvvvv. (Alarms ringing).
"Raghhhhhh!" (Skeletal golem x70 appear)
Klaire: "What's that?!"
Kamina: "EVERYONE, CHECK YOUR TELEPORT CRYSTALS!"
Guild member: "They're not working!?"
Kamina: "Damn it. IT'S A TRAP! EVERYONE STAY TOGETHER!"
Klaire: "I thought that traps in the middle of dungeons were impossible?"
Kamina: "Just because it has never happened doesn't mean it can't."
... Fighting ensues...
"Ugaahhhh" and "Ahaaaahhhh" was all Klaire heard from her dying friends as she continued to defend herself. It felt as if all she could do was watch while their virtual bodies broke apart into data. "If you die in game, you die in real life" were the only words that passed through her mind; reminding her of just how real the danger was.
'Thhhaaaafffffft', it took Klaire a second to realize that a golem had hit her, and rather hard at that. As she pulled herself off the earthen floor she glanced at her health gauge… when had it gotten so low?! The little bar was near empty; she didn't have time to use one of her healing crystals: one more hit would finish her. She called out "Kamina!" as she weakly raised Kaiyōchōseki to defend herself. With tears streaming from her eyes, she said to herself "This is it; I'm going to die…" but as her eyes squeezed shut a whisper in her head said "It's my turn, Give me control."
"Who are- who are you?" her inner voice trailing off.
"That's not important now, give me control."
"Control? Control of what?"
"Our body dumbass! If you haven't forgotten we're kind of about to get killed!" Klaire could feel the voice's intensity, like a pair of eyes staring daggers into her soul.
"Alright" not like Klaire had many other choices. "But tell me your name first." She quickly added.
"My name is Blake."
Klaire didn't know what Blake's story was nor did she have time to listen, she would just have to trust her.
For Blake shifting control over their body was like changing a pair of panties in a public bathroom: it was just a bit awkward. Sensations aside, as soon as Klaire's eyes completely squeezed shut, she opened them with full control over their body. As much as she would have liked to adjust to the world around her, the nearest golem was raising its arm for the finishing blow. "Rrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaah." She screamed while marking the golem's chest with a large 'X', to which it exploded into pixels and data. "OK let's trash the rest of these things!" the next ten minutes seemed to blur, Blake slashed down every nearby golem, trying her absolute hardest to save the remaining players. Everything was fine, her health had regenerated into yellow- near green levels, until the durability on Kaiyōchōseki hit zero and the sword suffered the same fate of the golems. From inside her head Klaire shouted "Watch out!"
'Whooooommm!' Blake knew that had she not dogged, she would have taken direct hit. 'Whooooommm!', 'Whooooommm!', 'Whooooommm!'
"There's another sword in my inventory, grab it!" Klaire's mental voice rang out.
Bāsākā no rongusōdo… equip.
"Now we're talking, this is a real sword!" said Blake who was grinning like a mad woman.
"It's too heavy for me" Klaire moaned.
"Sucks to be you then." Blake shot back. Blake couldn't have cared less if the sword was too heavy for Klaire; Klaire could kiss her ass, it was perfect for her and that was all that mattered. Slash, slash, swing, dodge, slash, and stab. Blake just kept going, there was nothing that could have stopped her, if a golem tried to attack then she would cut it down with a single swing of her blade. She was like a dancing angel, a deadly dancing angel. Within a few minutes there were no golem left to hurt any of the surviving members.
After sifting through the battle rewards and claiming her 'sword fragments', Blake called out: "is everyone alright?" She and Klaire could both see that everyone was shaken from the encounter.
"We're ok" someone shouted off to their left.
"Ok, let's forget about the map data and just get out of here." Naturally Blake didn't hear anyone argue.
/ Klaire's room at the Guild hall; 2 days later /
'Knock, Knock, Knock'.
Klaire: "Come in."
Kamina: "You o.k.? You've been clammed up for the last two days." His eyes looked at her with concerned expression.
Klaire: "I'm fine." She wished that were true though.
Kamina: "Ok, I'll take your word on that. Come on I'll buy the three of us dinner."
Klaire: "Three of us?" Kamina: "don't play dumb with me. I saw you the other day. You were like a completely different person."
Klaire: "How do you know that?"
Kamina: "One: you were smiling like a maniac in the middle of a battle."
Kamina: "Two: you switched suddenly switched from defending to attacking for no apparent reason."
Kamina: "And three: you used Bāsākā no rongusōdo when you always say that you hate that sword."
Klaire had to admit that he was right. Since they had returned to her room, Klaire had been trying to understand what had happened and trying to deny Blake's existence inside her mind. She could tell that Blake was a bit unstable sometimes. Blake had been arguing with her as well, which didn't make things much better. Klaire felt just a little overwhelmed.
Kamina: "Listen, I'm not trying to make you admit to anything, everyone is just concerned that's all."
Klaire: "I don't want to talk about it, but you're right I should stop making everyone worry."
Kamina: "Glad you see it my way, big tits."
Klaire: "KAMMIINAAAA!" the veins on her forehead with rage. Kamina just smiled with a mischievous grin on his face and bolted towards the stairs.
Blake: "Is he always like that?"
Klaire: "It's usually worse"
Blake: "In that case, do you want to punch his face in or can I?"
Klaire: "Oooohhh no, this one is all mine."
Klaire: "Blake."
Blake: "Yea?"
Klaire: "Glad you're always gonna be with me."
Blake: "Not like we can have it other way."
The two of them took off not knowing what else would happen. The only certainty in their future was that they were going to beat Kamina senseless.