Katelyn honestly had no clue how long she'd spent at that spot in the Field of Dunes after Hanmyo had called her out, threatening to slice her to ribbons if she ever went after anyone else.
She'd stopped crying a few hours ago, but she was still conflicted.
Why can't I get these voices out of my head? Katelyn thought. Why?!
Katelyn stared at her reflection in one of her swords.
"I'm in this deep, aren't I?" Katelyn sighed. "I'm too far gone to back down now."
Steeling her resolve, Katelyn finally stood up, drawing her other sword and moving back into the dunes, slashing at scorpions and other monsters as they tried to accost her.
If I'm going to keep doing this, I'll have to do it in secret, Katelyn thought. Nick and Yuuki can't ever know that I was the one who killed those two players because they tried to hurt him. I don't even want to imagine what he would think of me...
Pushing those traitorous thoughts out of her head, Katelyn jumped back when a much larger scorpion burrowed its way up from the sands, most likely a mini-boss of sorts.
No, they can never know, Katelyn thought as the Emperor Scorpion rushed her with its gigantic pincers. I'm not putting them through that.
Katelyn charged in to the fray, slashing wildly at the Emperor Scorpion's body. I wish I could just end this madness right here, but... I'm too far gone to be saved, after all. Nick would tell me that's nonsense, but he doesn't suffer from these jarring voices that tell me to do these despicable things.
After dodging another poison-tipped stinger attack, Katelyn decided she'd had enough, and rushed in to finish the fight with Full Lunar Eclipse.
And here I thought ALO would stop these voices, Katelyn thought. So much for that plan.
Once the final blow had been struck, Katelyn sheathed her swords and dashed full-tilt for Jerado, not even sparing the exploding Emperor Scorpion a second thought.
It's too late for me.
(Never give up on your dreams, especially if you consider them to be worth fighting for.)
The Blue Time Ranger is proud to present...
Sword Art Online: Memory Rosario re:
Story Created: January 24th, 2018
Story Rated: T for Teen
Story Summary: What if the story went a little differently? Nick Kelly and Yuuki Konno are a rather interesting pair. With Yuuki hopefully on the road to recovery from AIDS, Nick knows to treasure the time they have left, as he knows it could run out at any second. One day while on an adventure, Nick realizes that someone seems to be after Yuuki, and this stalker appears to be connected to Nick's past somehow. Can Nick and Yuuki unravel this mystery before tragedy strikes?
On Today's Episode: Nick and Yuuki are excited to check out the coliseum in Dahngrest, added in a recent game update, that allows players of all skill levels to test their might against other players for a chance to win fabulous prizes in tournament-style battles. However, it seems that events are about to come to a boil over Katelyn's motives, Hanmyo's promise, and Nick and Yuuki's continued ignorance of Katelyn's actions as of late. Who will still be standing if and when the dust finally settles?
And Now, the Obligatory Disclaimer: I, The Blue Time Ranger, do not own anything related to Sword Art Online or any of its affiliations. It belongs solely to Reki Kawahara, A-1 Pictures, and Aniplex USA. Anything I do not own, I am just borrowing for the story with every intent of returning them when I'm done. The only things I DO own are any characters and places created by yours truly for the story. And, I do not intend to infringe on any copyrights, only to entertain my readers. Besides, if I did own Sword Art Online, which I don't, why would I be writing fiction on a fan site?
Episode 4: Through the Curtains
"Wooooooow, that was delicious," Yuuki sighed happily once she and Nick had left the restaurant, Dahngrest's own Fortune's Market. "I'm definitely going to have to thank Silica for the recommendation next time I see her, because that was some of the most delicious food I've ever tasted, virtual or not!"
"No kidding," Nick admitted. "Makes me glad that cooking is actually still a skill in this game, because that meal rocked."
"I almost wish I could have shown Asuna this place," Yuuki stated. "With her maxed cooking skill, she'd make a killing here!"
"I would have killed those prices, though, because holy crap, I was not expecting it to be that expensive," Nick proclaimed.
"I didn't think you had so much Yuld," Yuuki stated. "Was it because of all the power-leveling we did before the floor thirty raid?"
"That and a couple extra quests," Nick answered. "I wanted to make double-triple sure I had enough for this place. After all, you deserve the best, Yuuki."
"Awww, you are such a flatterer, Nick," Yuuki giggled.
"Hey, just speaking the honest truth," Nick replied.
"Well, don't ever think I don't appreciate it," Yuuki proclaimed, leaning over to kiss Nick. "I love you, Nick."
"I love you, too, Yuuki. I'm glad you liked it," Nick answered.
"Did you two have fun?" Hanmyo asked, having just turned the nearby corner as Nick and Yuuki had left Fortune's Market behind.
"Oh, it was glorious!" Yuuki exclaimed. "You really have to check it out sometime, Hanmyo!"
"I'll keep that in mind," Hanmyo stated.
"Hey, where's Katelyn?" Nick wondered. Katelyn had left with Hanmyo to do some power-leveling in the Field of Dunes.
"She had to log out for the night," Hanmyo responded instantly, hoping that Nick wouldn't catch the odd inflection in her voice.
From what Katelyn had said, she had been one of Nick's first friends as children, only for them to be separated when they were about four.
For a friendship like that to still be strong despite everything...
Hanmyo, despite her earlier threats to Katelyn, honestly hoped she would never have to divulge Katelyn's secret to Nick and Yuuki. At the same time, though, Hanmyo had promised herself that she'd monitor Katelyn closely over the next few days and make sure she didn't try anything funny.
If she was being honest with herself, Hanmyo was conflicted.
After all, Katelyn had killed two random players over them just being not nice to Nick, seemingly with no remorse, but when she tried to do the same to Yuuki, she'd gotten cold feet and couldn't do it.
Hanmyo had seen far too many anime to know what a yandere could do when pushed far enough, but at the same time, it seemed like Katelyn still had a conscience.
The one sentence that had stuck out in her mind was "what's wrong with me?".
Does she know what she's doing is wrong? Hanmyo thought. If she does, maybe she thinks she's too far gone or something like that. ...ugh, let's not think about it for now. All these different lines of thought are giving me a headache.
"Is there anything else you two want to do for tonight?" Hanmyo asked.
"Hmmmm... I heard there's something they actually added to Dahngrest in the recent game update," Nick quipped. "Do you girls wanna check it out?"
"Sure, I'm game," Hanmyo answered.
"I'm up for anything!" Yuuki laughed.
And so, the trio began to search around Dahngrest for whatever had been added to the game, unaware that Katelyn was once again trailing them from the shadows.
It wasn't long before they found it. After all, how hard was it to miss a gigantic coliseum that looked like it had jumped straight out of the ancient Roman Empire?
"Holy crapbaskets, that place is enormous!" Nick exclaimed.
"No kidding," Hanmyo replied, dually impressed. "I wasn't expecting an arena, of all places."
"Come on, let's check it out!" Yuuki giggled.
Ooh, a coliseum? Katelyn thought. Wasn't expecting that. Let's see if someone wants to challenge me, huh?
Nick, Yuuki, and Hanmyo walked through the large wooden doors, through a long tunnel, and finally came out inside the coliseum's main arena, where, as expected, many players were dueling each other.
"Looks like fun," Yuuki giggled. "I wonder if they'll be hosting tournaments sometime soon? I'm itching to test my mettle again!"
"Yeah, you haven't taken any challengers in a while, huh?" Hanmyo noted.
"To be fair, that particular challenge was to find someone who could help us against the floor twenty-seven boss," Yuuki admitted.
Nick stopped in his tracks when he noticed that Katelyn was off on the opposite edge of the arena, dueling a rather aerodynamic Sylph woman.
Nick couldn't help but admire Katelyn's dual-bladed fighting style. Whereas Kirito in dual-wield mode tended to, as Yuuki liked to joke, "hit it until it dies", Katelyn actually fought gracefully, only swinging when she felt like she had to.
Katelyn was a firm believer in no wasted energy when it came to her fighting style. Nick had seen that as early as his first duel with her all those weeks ago.
"Wow, look at Katelyn go!" Yuuki proclaimed, watching the duel in awe. "She's really strutting her stuff!"
Hanmyo smiled as well, still keeping a close eye on Katelyn's movements and ready to pounce if anything seemed out of line.
"You're pretty skilled for your age, you know," the Sylph laughed, attempting an uppercut with her rapier that Katelyn easily dodged.
"Well, you can improve incredibly quickly when you're trying to impress someone," Katelyn giggled.
As the Sylph leaped into the air to divebomb Katelyn, the dual-wielding Spriggan crossed both of her swords in front of her in a defensive stance, ready to parry and strike back.
But, just as the Sylph charged for Katelyn, she froze in the middle of her dash, an oddly pained expression on her face, before her avatar exploded into shards of light and angled polygons.
"Wait, again?!" Yuuki exclaimed.
"What's going on here?" Nick quipped. "That's the third time! Is there really a wacko on the loose?"
Katelyn took a few steps back, wondering why the Sylph had exploded. Hold on here, I wasn't going to go after her! What is this?! Katelyn thought.
Hanmyo, however, had seen enough. She quickly drew her daggers and charged for Katelyn, much to Nick and Yuuki's confusion.
"H-Hey, Hanmyo, what's the deal?" Nick stammered.
Katelyn turned around to see if anyone else had seen what had just happened, only to have to dodge away from Hanmyo's daggers as they sliced through the air, just barely missing her neck.
"H-Hanmyo, what was that for?!" Katelyn exclaimed.
"What did I tell you, you little bitch?!" Hanmyo growled, gripping her daggers tightly. "I told you, didn't I? I freaking told you that if you dared to slaughter someone like that again, I'd tear you to ribbons!"
"Hanmyo, seriously, if I ever did that, how exactly would I do something like that while I'm still in the game?!" Katelyn shot back, trying to save face since she knew Nick and Yuuki were watching. And she was telling the truth on this one, after all. She hadn't had any plans to off that Sylph girl. She was only going after people who tried to hurt Nick, and she could only "take care" of her victims back in reality, after all.
"Don't feed me your lies!" Hanmyo exclaimed. "I warned you. I freakin' warned you, but you just refuse to listen, apparently! Kemi! Mata! Let's end this!"
Kemi and Mata responded by roaring loudly as Hanmyo charged towards Katelyn, slashing horizontally, vertically, diagonally left, diagonally right, slanted upwards, slanted downwards, and overhead with her daggers before leaping back to where Kemi and Mata were standing. Once their roars were completed, four elemental daggers exploded to life around Hanmyo.
"Now you die!" Hanmyo challenged as she leapt back into the fray, slashing her daggers like crazy. While she did this, the four elemental daggers began flying around Katelyn and attacking on their own. This combination made it look like Hanmyo had become a furious maelstrom of blades and slashes with how fast she was striking with her twin daggers.
Finally, Hanmyo performed an uppercut slash to send Katelyn into the air, followed by her leaping backwards and Kemi and Mata rushing under her to catch her. When Hanmyo landed on Kemi and Mata's backs, she used the momentum to propel herself high into the air, even as Kemi and Mata jumped after her.
Hanmyo prepared her daggers, joining them together to form a great dagger of light in her hands as she shot down towards Katelyn's prone form with Kemi and Mata beside her.
"This... is the final strike!" Hanmyo exclaimed as she drove the dagger of light downwards, straight into Katelyn's body and sending her sprawling with the final explosion.
"Hanmyo, stop it! What's gotten into you?!" Katelyn gasped, picking herself up and balancing on her left sword.
"Just stand still so I can slit your throat, you damn devil!" Hanmyo shouted, dashing in to deliver the finishing blow only to be driven back by a barrage of Ethereal Blades from Yuuki.
"Knock it off," Yuuki growled. "Both of you."
"Seriously, what the hell got into you two?!" Nick exclaimed. "Shouldn't you be more concerned with the fact that another player apparently just died?!"
Hanmyo just scoffed. "You wanna know the truth? Your little Spriggan friend here is responsible for all three of the killings."
"W-what?" Nick gasped. "Don't be silly, Hanmyo. Katelyn would never do something like that."
"Then why else was she in your hospital room when you woke up the other day?!" Hanmyo growled. "Answer me that."
"Well, maybe she just found out where I was hospitalized, since she knows Nick always comes to visit," Yuuki stated. "Seriously, Hanmyo, do you really think Katelyn would dare try to murder people?"
Hanmyo just sighed. Looks like she was going to have to present the hard evidence.
"Okay, then. Nick, Yuuki, here's the truth..."
"HANMYO, YOU BITCH!" Katelyn screamed, re-drawing her swords and slashing them both across Hanmyo's chest, dropping her health by a large chunk. "You promised you wouldn't say anything! I told you, I don't want Nick to hate me for what I've done!"
"Well, then you should have thought your stupid yandere mindset through a little better before you decided to blatantly ignore my advice!" Hanmyo shot right back.
"Seriously, if I could only do it while I'm not in the game, how the blazes do you think I'd be able to do it while I'm in the middle of fighting someone?!" Katelyn countered, tears beginning to fall from her eyes.
"You could have an accomplice for all I know!" Hanmyo growled, dodging away from Katelyn as she attempted another attack.
"Okay, here's an idea, then!" Katelyn exclaimed, lashing out and slicing into Hanmyo's shoulder. With each word she emphasized, Katelyn sliced at another part of Hanmyo's body. "How about you try living your life with these constant voices in your head mumbling to you to do despicable things, and no matter what you try, no matter what you do, you can never make the voices go away, you can never ignore them, and just have to sit there and let them drive you goddamn crazy!"
Katelyn moved in to chop downwards with both swords, severing both of Hanmyo's arms.
"How dare you act like you know what's going through my head?!" Katelyn shrieked, her tears falling freely now. "How dare you assume what I'm feeling?! HOW DARE YOU JUDGE ME FOR SOMETHING I CAN'T CONTROL?!"
Katelyn had finally reached her limit, dashing in to finish off Hanmyo's remaining health with a Full Lunar Eclipse.
"You have no right to judge me," Katelyn growled.
"But... what would they think?" Hanmyo gasped before her avatar exploded into shards of light, leaving only a purple Remain Light.
Katelyn's anger quickly shifted to fear as she slowly turned around. Sure enough, both Nick and Yuuki were staring at Katelyn with expressions of confusion and shock on their faces.
And seeing that look on Nick's face... Katelyn realized she was about to start crying all over again.
"K-Katie?" Nick asked, causing Katelyn to flinch. He hadn't called her that in twelve years. "Is what she said true?"
Realizing there was no way out now, Katelyn sighed heavily before explaining herself, not bothering to look Nick in the eye. She didn't want to imagine his expression.
"Recently... ever since I found out you were playing ALfheim Online..." Katelyn explained. "I've had these... let's call them 'voices', swimming in my mind. I don't know where they came from or why they're assaulting me now... but... they tell me to do these... despicable things to anyone who tries to hurt you or take you from me. The truth is, Nick... I'm in love with you. These voices are trying to make me get rid of anyone who gets too close to you for any reason. And... if I'm being honest, I may as well confess to this one, too. I... I was in Yuuki's hospital room the other day."
Nick and Yuuki just listened to Katelyn's confession, still not sure what to make of anything. Nick instinctively reached out to hold Yuuki's hand, and she reacted without thought, squeezing her boyfriend's hand gently.
"I was going to short-circuit Yuuki's Medicuboid... that's how I killed those other two players, by fiddling with the Amusphere's battery enough to short-circuit it..." Katelyn stated. "But... I couldn't go through with it. I thought I had beaten the voices for once... but they kept assailing my brain, demanding that I put an end to you. But, I eventually realized that... if I killed you, Yuuki, then Nick would be sad. And... despite the voices and their demands... that is the one thing I promised myself I would never do to you, Nick, no matter what."
Katelyn chanced a glance up at Nick, expecting him to be angry.
He was still confused as all get out, but his expression hadn't really changed.
"I don't know what's wrong with me," Katelyn admitted. "This is exactly what I feared was going to happen."
Katelyn looked back down at the ground of the arena, then back at Nick, who was looking at Yuuki. They appeared to be having a silent conversation of sorts, but about what, Katelyn wasn't sure.
After a few more seconds, Katelyn couldn't hold it in any longer and just started crying loudly, her tortured wails catching the attention of everyone in the arena.
Nick took a step forward, hoping he could say something to calm Katelyn down, but she simply threw herself into Nick's arms and continued to cry.
"There's no way you could forgive me, Nick," Katelyn sobbed. "I was stupid to think you could ever love someone like me."
"Katelyn, what are you talking about?" Nick wondered.
"When I asked you 'what do you call love in your reality', I guess I was asking myself more than anything," Katelyn sighed. "I guess I don't know what love is, after all."
Katelyn released Nick and took a few steps away from him. "I guess... I'll leave you be now, Nick. Sorry for everything. Like I said, I can't expect you to forgive me, but I understand."
Before Nick could get a word in edgewise, Katelyn opened her menu and logged out, the last thing Nick and Yuuki saw was Katelyn's tear-streaked face, silently begging for a forgiveness she believed she didn't deserve.
The arena was silent for a time, as everyone there was still trying to digest everything that had just occurred.
After a minute, Nick and Yuuki looked back at each other, nodding in assent before opening their own menus to log out.
They both had silently agreed that they needed to find Katelyn before she did something to hurt herself.
Back in the real world, Nick was the first to lift his Amusphere off of his head.
"Yuuki, if Kurahashi asks where I am..."
"Stow it. I'm coming with you, Nick," Yuuki proclaimed.
"A-are you sure, Yuuki?" Nick asked.
"Katie needs us right now," Yuuki answered, firm in her conviction. "And we need to find her before something happens."
"Right," Nick replied. "I've got an extra pair of shoes in my bag. You might need them."
Yuuki nodded, hopping out of her bed to do so.
Once they were both ready, Nick and Yuuki reached out to hold hands as they rushed towards the exit to go search for Katelyn.
"Y-Yuuki, what are you doing out of..." Kurahashi gasped as Nick and Yuuki nearly bowled him over.
"Sorry, doc, but it's an emergency," Yuuki responded. "Someone needs our help."
"We can handle it," Nick continued. "I'll look after Yuuki. That's a promise."
Deciding that they couldn't afford to waste any time, Nick and Yuuki made their way to the elevators, Nick reaching into his pocket to pull out his cell phone.
"Mom?" Nick asked. "We might need your help. Katie just ran off somewhere, and I'm really worried about her mindset at the moment."
"Where are you?" Rhea answered instantly upon hearing the distress in her son's voice.
"Yuuki and I just left the hospital," Nick answered.
"I'll be right over," Rhea responded. "We'll look for Katie together."
"Roger that," Nick replied.
Nick and his parents didn't live too far from the hospital, but those four minutes felt like an eternity to Nick. Despite everything Katelyn had admitted to, Nick still wanted to find her and help her before...
Nick shook his head, not wanting to go down that line of thought.
Nick breathed a sigh of relief he hadn't known he'd been holding when his mother's car pulled up so he and Yuuki could get in and go search the city for Katelyn.
"So you're the girl Nick fell in love with, huh?" Rhea teased, hoping to keep tensions low.
"Nice to meet ya, Kelly-san!" Yuuki giggled. "I really wish it was under better circumstances, though..."
"Let's get moving," Nick proclaimed. "I don't want Katie to be alone any more than she already has."
And so, the three of them drove around the city, through many of the familiar landmarks, just hoping that Katelyn was somewhere they could find her easily. Nick at least knew that Katelyn lived somewhere in this city, as she had mentioned it being a short walk to the hospital from her own house. However, they had struck out at most of the locations they knew around the city, even Katelyn's own house. Her mother was currently at work, which Nick considered a blessing in disguise, as he didn't want to drag her into this mess.
"I really hope she's okay..." Nick sighed.
Yuuki leaned over and rested her head on Nick's shoulder, knowing he was under a lot of stress at the moment. She figured the least she could do was be a good girlfriend and help her boyfriend out.
"Thanks, Yuuki," Nick sighed, draping his arm around Yuuki's shoulders.
"Anytime, Nick," Yuuki replied, leaning up to kiss him on the cheek.
"Is that her?" Rhea asked, and Nick just now noticed that they'd driven back by his own house on their way to the local park. And sure enough, Katelyn was standing there, gazing distantly at the Kelly house.
Nick wasted no time in practically leaping out of the car once it had stopped, with Yuuki right behind him. Nick moved slowly, not wanting to do or say anything that might set Katelyn off.
Nick glanced at Yuuki, who just nodded to him, before moving a few steps closer.
"Katie?" Nick asked.
"Why did you come after me?" Katelyn responded, her voice low and cracking, as if she was about to start crying again. "I told you, there's no way you can forgive me for what I've done, Nick. I'm not worth that forgiveness."
"Katie, listen to yourself," Nick stated. "Don't say you're not worth it. Everyone deserves a second chance. Wasn't it you who taught me that?"
"Don't you get it, Nick?!" Katelyn shouted, causing Nick and Yuuki to back away a step or two from fear of retaliation. "How can you honestly say that, knowing what I did?! I thought playing ALO would be enough to silence these accursed voices, but I still couldn't resist them! I'm weak! How can you possibly love someone as weak as me?! How can you even stand to be in the same space as someone like me?!"
"I don't know who or what made you think that you're weak, Katie, but you're not," Yuuki continued. "Not everyone can conquer everything on their own. That's why we want to help you."
"Help? Yuuki, I tried to kill you," Katelyn proclaimed. "On what planet do I deserve help?!"
"Are you even listening to us, Katie?" Nick asked, moving closer, only to hear a strange whisper coming from somewhere nearby.
He didn't have any time to investigate, as Nick suddenly felt a flash of steel against his neck as Katelyn leaped to her feet and pulled a knife on him.
"Don't come any closer," Katelyn warned.
"Katie, get that knife away from my boyfriend. Now," Yuuki proclaimed.
"I don't know what I have to do to get it into your heads," Katelyn growled. "I don't deserve forgiveness. Please don't make me do something we'll all regret..."
"Katie, seriously, if you don't get that knife away from Nick, I'm really gonna drop the hammer," Yuuki warned. "You don't want to make me angry."
Despite the knife at his neck, Nick looked around his surroundings, trying to find where that strange whisper had come from. It was only after that whisper that Katie tried to knife me, Nick thought. Whoever that was probably has something to do with this.
"Last chance, Katie," Yuuki proclaimed, shifting into a fighting stance.
"All right, whoever's out there, you might as well show yourself," Nick announced. "I'm not in any mood for your games."
In response to Nick's proclamation, a figure stepped out from the nearby shadows. He was a tall, kind of lanky figure, not much older than Nick was, with slicked-back black hair and dark brown eyes.
"Okay, pardon the cliché entrance, but who the heck are you?!" Yuuki exclaimed.
"Oh, names of are no importance to you right now," the figure laughed. "But, for the sake of convenience, you may call me Phantom."
"All right, mister unoriginal name, I'm only going to ask you this once," Nick growled. "Was that you I heard earlier? Are you the one putting these diabolical voices in Katie's head?!"
"Precisely," Phantom laughed. "Isn't it wonderful what a few hypnotic suggestions can do to a person?"
"You monster! What's your sick little game?!" Rhea challenged.
"I won't spend too much time going on a monologue about my plans, since that is far too cliché for its own good," Phantom explained. "All you need to know is that this is good old-fashioned revenge for what Sword Art Online and other games of its ilk did to me. I found an exploit in the Amusphere so that if I short-circuit the battery, it'll overload and fry the person's brain along with it. Did the general public even care about what Sword Art Online was capable of?! It killed over four thousand people and they just sweep it under the rug?!"
"So what the heck does Katie have to do with your sick plans?!" Yuuki shouted. "And you're just adding more casualties to that list! Do you even listen to yourself?!"
"I don't expect you to understand my plans," Phantom laughed. "Regardless, despite how skilled I am in the game, I figured I'd have someone else commit the deed for me. The perfect crime deserves a perfect accomplice, after all."
Phantom was so wrapped up in his twisted proclamations that he didn't expect Nick to practically waltz up to him and throw a right hook into his face. Yuuki followed this up with a jumping scissor kick that sent Phantom sprawling to the ground.
"That's what I think of your perfect crime, asshole," Nick growled.
"It's already begun," Phantom laughed. "You can't stop me now. Even without my precious Katelyn, I can still move ahead with my plan. Just try and stop me, fools!"
As Phantom tried to pick himself up, Nick lashed out with a sweep kick that knocked him right back to the concrete.
"Get those dumb hypnotic suggestions out of Katie's mind right now," Nick growled. "I know you can. Otherwise, you're gonna regret it, and don't think I won't do it."
Despite struggling against Nick's grip, Phantom still knew he was in no position to refuse, and snapped his fingers while mumbling a strange word Nick didn't quite understand. Katelyn gasped in shock for a second before settling down.
Before Nick could say anything else, though, Phantom picked himself up, then shoved Nick away and dashed back into the shadows, disappearing before Nick or Yuuki could make another move.
"H-Hey, get back here, you jerk! I'm not done kicking your teeth in yet!" Yuuki exclaimed, only to be stopped in her tracks by a very loud sob from Katelyn, who had fallen to her knees after Phantom had vanished.
"O-Oh, god..." Katelyn gasped. "What have I done?!"
"Katie, calm down, please," Nick proclaimed.
Nick's heart just about stopped when he saw Katelyn flip the knife in her hands so that she was holding it in reverse grip, making it very obvious what she planned to do.
"I was right," Katelyn cried. "I am weak. There's no way I can live with this, Nick. I know you'll be sad when I'm gone, but... just tell Hanmyo I'm sorry, okay?"
The instant Katelyn raised the knife, Nick was already on the move, begging his feet to carry him forward as fast as they possibly could.
"I'm so sorry, Nick..."
Katelyn brought the knife down...
...and Nick swung his hand with all the speed he could muster, slapping the knife out of Katelyn's hands just in time.
As the knife clattered to the ground a few feet away, Nick fell to his knees so he could embrace Katelyn with all of his strength.
"Katie, you're not weak," Nick proclaimed. "Please don't call yourself weak."
"N-Nick..." Katelyn sobbed. "I couldn't stop myself from succumbing to those suggestions..."
"And he's going to pay for that, I promise you," Nick replied. "But I don't want you thinking you're weak because Phantom's a psycho. I just found you, Katie. I don't want to lose you again. It hurts me when I lose any of my friends..."
Katelyn looked up at Nick in surprise at that last, despite the tears that were still falling.
"F-Friend?" Katelyn repeated. "You still consider me your friend? Even after everything I've done?"
"Hey, now we know who's responsible," Yuuki answered. "We know who made you do it, Katie. We know you're not really a murderer."
Yuuki walked up so she could give Katelyn a hug as well. In spite of herself, Katelyn found herself accepting Nick and Yuuki's warmth, cuddling up to both of them.
Rhea couldn't help but smile at the exchange. It honestly looked like Nick and Katelyn hadn't changed at all, despite everything that had just occurred. Nick's always been good at that, Rhea thought.
Katelyn started crying again, much to Nick and Yuuki's shock. However, this time around, they were tears of relief. Now she knew that Nick and Yuuki forgave her, knowing the true culprit in all of this madness.
"I'm... I'm so sorry, you guys," Katelyn cried. "I never meant to put you through all of this..."
"Like we said, Katie, it's not your fault," Yuuki replied. "We'll find that Phantom wingnut, and we'll kick his butt up and down the city for what he did to you, we promise you that."
"I'm... I'm just so happy that you actually found it in your hearts to forgive me..." Katelyn responded.
"Katie, you were one of my first friends, and that's never going to change," Nick stated. "Yuuki and I, we'll help you when you can't. That's kinda what we do."
Katelyn just continued to cry and hold Nick and Yuuki for dear life, inwardly relieved that the voices had vanished completely.
The three of them just stayed there, locked in their group hug, for a while, happy that everything was mostly settled.
"I imagine your doctor's probably worried about you, Yuuki," Rhea stated after a few minutes.
"Oh, man, you're right!" Yuuki gasped. "Doc's probably worried sick! I did kinda rush out of there without telling him much..."
"I'm sure he'll understand that we just saved a life today, Yuuki," Nick replied. "I'll make sure he's not too hard on you when we get back."
"I think I need to apologize to Hanmyo, too," Katelyn realized. "I kinda let her have it before all of this happened..."
"We'll work on it when we get back to ALO," Nick answered. "Let's just get you back home first, okay, Katie?"
Surprising everyone present, Katelyn leaned forward and kissed Nick for a few seconds.
"I love you, Nick," Katelyn stated quite clearly. "But... I know you've already got Yuuki, so I've decided that I won't intrude on that. I just want you to be happy, Nick, even if it's not with me. Now that those voices aren't compelling me to do these bad things anymore, I wanted to say it while I still had a chance."
Nick just smiled and, after an approving glance from Yuuki, kissed Katelyn on the cheek in response. "I'm just glad to have one of my best friends back."
Katelyn hugged Nick, just letting her tears fall freely even as the entire four-person group made their way back to Rhea's car so she could drive them all back to where they had to be.
On the way back, Nick couldn't help but mentally comment on the fact that Yuuki was resting her head on his left shoulder and Katelyn was happily clinging to his right arm.
This is definitely a situation I never thought I'd find myself in, Nick thought. Even though Katie explicitly stated she wouldn't butt in on me and Yuuki... eh, what can you do? Katie's always been affectionate around people she loves. Might as well enjoy it while it lasts, right?
Nick looked out of his side window, towards the setting sun that was beginning to disappear over the horizon.
Gotta appreciate moments like this, right? Because you never know when we might lose them, Nick thought.
Looking back at his friends, Nick was surprised to see that Katelyn had fallen asleep. Must be because of everything that's happened today, Nick thought.
He knew that she'd probably wake up once she was back home. After all, they still needed to clear the air with Hanmyo.
Back in ALO, somewhere in Dahngrest...
Sure enough, once Nick and Yuuki had found themselves back in Dahngrest, they both noticed they had a missed message from Hanmyo.
Waiting for you at the Sleeping Knights HQ. They're very accommodating. I hope you two are all right. ~ Hanmyo
"Well, let's go see what's up," Nick quipped.
"Hey, wait!" Katelyn exclaimed, having just appeared from the teleport gate. "You guys are taking me along, right?"
"We promised, right?" Yuuki stated. "Let's go straighten things out."
With that, the trio made their way through Dahngrest towards the building that now officially served as the Sleeping Knights' headquarters for the foreseeable future. A lot of players had set up their own abodes here as well, due to how large of a city Dahngrest was, many people even comparing it to Selmburg, floor sixty-one of Aincrad.
"Hey, guys, glad you could make it!" Nori exclaimed. "Our guest was waiting for a while for you."
"We heard some things happened," Siune stated.
"Honestly, it's a long story," Yuuki giggled.
Nick quickly picked up on Hanmyo's expression when she saw Katelyn standing right behind them, and quickly made a move to pacify Hanmyo before she started attacking again.
"Hanmyo, we've got a lot of things to explain, so please don't go cutting Katie down again, all right?" Nick proclaimed.
"After what she did?!" Hanmyo growled.
"It wasn't my fault," Katelyn admitted. "Someone was compelling me to do it."
"We found the person responsible for planting those voices into Katie's mind," Nick proclaimed, surprising Hanmyo into silence.
"Wait, so you weren't pulling my leg, Katelyn?" Hanmyo asked.
"No," Katelyn answered. "We actually ran into the culprit when Nick and Yuuki came to find me."
"It was actually this guy about my age with slicked-back hair, like he was a yakuza or something. Honestly, he's some delusional wingnut who calls himself 'Phantom'," Nick explained. "He admitted to planting hypnotic suggestions into Katie's mind as some sort of revenge scheme against Sword Art Online and other VR games of its kind. I don't have a single damn clue why he tried to use Katie for his schemes, but it was probably convenience over anything else."
"Basically, Phantom was using Katie to short-circuit players' Amuspheres and kill them in both worlds," Yuuki continued. "He admitted he's not really the fighter type like us. But, in the end, we kicked his butt and made him get the voices out of Katie's head. Sadly, he chickened out before we could stomp on him anymore, but I have a feeling it's not the last we're gonna see of him."
"I seriously didn't mean to hurt you, Hanmyo," Katelyn admitted. "I just wanted the voices to stop, and I was growing really frustrated with the fact that I couldn't stop them. But, the voices are gone now! Nick made Phantom stop putting things in my mind!"
"Seriously? I didn't think inception was still a thing in this day and age," Hanmyo noted.
"I know it's probably going to take a lot for you to trust me again, Hanmyo," Katelyn admitted. "There are times when I didn't even trust myself..."
To Katelyn's honest shock, Hanmyo simply stood up, walked over to Katelyn, and flicked her on the forehead.
"O-ow! What was that for?" Katelyn gasped.
"There. Now we're even," Hanmyo laughed. "I know you probably think you don't deserve my trust after... that little episode, but now that I know who was really behind it, I'm willing to bury the hatchet and... well, try again. So, what do you say?"
Katelyn giggled lightly before extending a hand to Hanmyo. "I'm Katelyn. My friends call me Katie."
Hanmyo smiled, taking Katelyn's hand and shaking it. "I'm Hanmyo. Nice to meet you."
"Thank you for trusting me," Katelyn stated.
"Thank you for showing me that there is still good in you," Hanmyo responded. "I honestly had no clue you were being inception'd by some numbnut with yakuza hair."
Now that Hanmyo thought about it, the description Nick had given reminded Hanmyo of someone, but she couldn't quite place it. Who did she know that had used that name?
Just outside the headquarters, staring at the building from his perch, the avatar of Phantom, a rather muscular Gnome that clearly contrasted his real-world appearance, could be seen observing Katelyn and Hanmyo's reconciliation.
"Oh, fools, this game's merely begun," Phantom laughed to himself. "Even if I can't use her, I can still hypnotize someone else to do my bidding. They can't stop me anyway. My skill is unparalleled, after all. And this wretched virtual world will pay the price for what it took from me."
Phantom slipped back into the shadows, ready to continue his plans.
To be continued...
On the next episode...
Yuuki: Well, brave viewers, next time, we're headed to the Jerado labyrinth!
Nick: Let's hope we don't get surprised on this one. We missed the last raid meeting because of all the drama.
Hanmyo: Wow, I think we're going even deeper underground now. This looks nothing like that pyramid dungeon.
Katelyn: Agh, would someone get these stupid locusts to leave me alone?! I can't stand them biting me over and over!
Nick: Wait, locusts? Of all the bugs they decided to use, why locusts?!
Hanmyo: Well, Jerado is based on ancient Egypt, so a lot of enemies and obstacles here seem to be based on the Plagues of Egypt.
Yuuki: Oof, that's gonna be freaky if and when we get to the later ones.
Katelyn: I'm not looking forward to some of the later ones. That's just sick.
Nick: Just hold your nose and we shouldn't have a problem. I hope... Next time on Sword Art Online: Memory Rosario re:, "Lost in the Labyrinth"!
Nick, Yuuki, Katelyn, and Hanmyo: This may be a game, but it's not something you play!
