I had fun with this one! It's odd, writing different stuff to Watchman, so I always enjoy the challenge that is presented.

Either way, I only own my OCs, TheSib owns his, SAO belongs to my boi Reki Kawahara.

Enjoy!


Chapter 9: Loose Ends

Title Song: The Humbling River by Puscifier (Awesome song)


Angel yawned as she, Ion and Silica stepped off the teleport gate onto Floor Seventy-Five.

Ion led the two girls towards the arena, where Asuna had promised to meet them. There was a humungous queue, stretching back at least halfway between the plaza and the coliseum, all wanting to access seats to witness what was going to be a great fight.

"Over here!" Their heads turned, seeing Asuna herself waving from a tunnel entrance. She guided them down to where Kirito was sat by the entry to the arena, going over his stats and making sure they were absolutely spotless for today's event.

"What did I say?" Ion asked, as he approached the Black Swordsman.

"Don't do anything I'll regret, I know. But he approached me for this. I couldn't exactly back down, could I?" Kirito shrugged.

"I suppose so, but if you end up in white, I'm not handing over my moniker to you," Ion chuckled.

"Kirito in white… Asuna! When he loses, you have to snap a picture of him in the polar opposite to this," Angel giggled, pulling on Kirito's sleeve.

"Blackmail material is good fun, but don't count Kirito down yet," Silica said. They all stopped the banter when they saw she looked worried.

"When you two unleashed your unique skills yesterday… I had never seen anything like it… apart from Ren's Crimson Flash. Regardless, the Commander has his own unique skill," Asuna said.

"I know, I've seen it. The Divine Blade," Kirito said. "It maximizes his offence and defense capability. His attack is strong, but his guard is almost untouchable."

"No one has ever seen Heathcliff's HP drop into the yellow zone before," Angel spoke up. "Not a good stat to meet, Mr-on-one-HP-after-solo-ing-a-floor-boss!"

Trumpets were heard from the gate, "That's my cue," Kirito said, and stood up.

"Be careful out there," Ion called. Kirito waved a hand back before heading into the light.

Angel turned to Angel, "Got the best seats in the house?" she asked.

"I saved you some seats between Wyvern's Inferno and Furinkazan, Dagger's set up a betting stand, and from what I heard, she's got quite a collection of customers," She said. "On the face right above us."


"There they are!" Helios' voice was heard, as Ion, Angel and Silica slotted in between Mai and Dale.

"We miss anything yet?" Silica asked, her hand automatically going into Mai's popcorn bucket and grabbing a handful.

"Only the painful calm before the storm," Issin, one of Klein's guys, said.

Klein himself was being rather quiet, his eyes focusing on Kirito below, "You got this buddy," he murmured.

Ren too had gone quiet, his eyes also not letting Kirito out of his sight, "Don't hold back," He muttered.

Angel glanced back and forth from the two, she already knew that Klein and Ren had been taught how to play SAO back on day one by Kirito. And from then, they had forged a great bond. However, Kirito always felt guilty about leaving the two rookies behind and setting out as a solo player.

Finally, the countdown began, and everyone waited to see who would strike first. Kirito drew his twin swords, while Heathcliff drew a longsword from behind his shield.

When the countdown hit zero, Kirito rushed forward with a flurry of strikes. Heathcliff nimbly moved his shield to block each one, then swung it forward, catching Kirito in the chest and sending him sprawling.

He was quickly back in the fight, activating a sword skill and pushing past the shield.

"Your reaction times are very impressive," Heathcliff said.

"And your defense is impregnable!" Kirito casually shot back. Then he rushed back in again, his two swords glowing a bright blue as he activated Starburst Stream, his blades becoming a frenzy of motion as he did everything he could to break Heathcliff's defense.

Angel felt her hand squeeze, and turned her head to see Ion gripping it tightly. Glancing up at his face, she saw him with a steady gaze, but there was clearly worry in his eyes.

Looking down, Heathcliff and Kirito were going at it at full speed now, their blades and shield not stopping for more than a couple of seconds. Kirito then dropped another Starburst into the picture, and Angel took note of Heathcliff's arm starting to slack just the slightest.

Kirito's twin blades came up, and completely knocked aside the massive shield, and he then wasted no time in moving for the winning blow.

But to the shock of everyone along Angel's row of seats, it was over, and not in the way they had expected.

Angel blinked, she had seen it herself. In the seconds before- no… the time between the seconds, Heathcliff's shield was coming back up to an angle where it deflected Kirito's sword. Then his own blade stabbed out, knocking Kirito to the ground.

Then the stats were in, and the fight ended, with Heathcliff as the victor. Angel then registered that Ion had stood up in shock, and he wasn't the only one, several of Furinkazan and Wyvern's Inferno had also stood up at the sudden end to the fight.

"How…?" Ren asked.

"That's impossible!" Klein equally was dumbstruck.

"It could have been the divine blade…" Silica spoke up.

"That's the only explanation," Alice said.

Angel silently agreed, unable to come up with any alternate solution, she had never seen speed like that from anyone.


"What shall we do now?" Ion asked, as they walked out of the arena.

"Should we explore Colonia? We haven't done that yet, have we?" Silica asked.

"That sounds pretty good, Angel?" Ion asked his girlfriend.

Angel shook her head, and looked away, "Maybe another time, I have someone I was going to meet with today," she said with a smile.

"Ok… Hey, you let me know if something's bugging you," Ion said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I'll see you guys later," she said, and headed to the Teleport gate.

"Teleport: Grandzam," she said, and vanished in a veil of blue light.


Floor 55: Grandzam


Kirito walked calmly towards the western gate, to meet up with the KoB frontline commander, Godfrey. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his new white coat, and sighed.

Kirito did not like white.

He spotted the joyful Knights officer ahead, waving cheerfully. "Hey kid!" He called, and pulled another person out from out of sight.

Kirito frowned when he saw who it was. Kuradeel.

"Ok, what the hell is this? Didn't Asuna have him kicked out of the guild?" He asked.

"The Commander removed him from bodyguard duties completely, knowing that Lady Asuna can take care of herself. However, he believes in second chances, and decided to put Kuradeel under my direct command," Godfrey said.

"Seriously?" Kirito sighed.

"Commander Heathcliff also told me about your little scuffle a few days ago, and I thought that if we're gonna be in the same guild, we should bury the old hatchet and work together," Godfrey went on.

Kuradeel looked down at Kirito, "I would like to apologize for my actions the other day. It was wrong of me and I shouldn't have acted as I did," he said, bowing low.

Inwardly, Kirito knew there was something up with this guy, he was acting too… nice. Outwardly, he just nodded.

"Cool." Godfrey grinned. "Now today I'll be examining how you react to situations in the field, so I'll need you to hand over all the crystals in your storage."

Kirito frowned again, "Even my HP crystals?" He asked.

"Yep, come on," Godfrey nodded. Kuradeel didn't complain, handing over his crystals.

Kirito sighed, and complied, putting his own crystals on top of the pile. Godfrey looked down at them, then grinned. "Awesome! Let's go clear a dungeon!" He laughed.

"Yay…!" Kirito and Kuradeel both cheered, voices dripping with sarcasm.

As they set out for the exit gate for the fields, Kirito's maxed out detection skill pinged, and he glanced around, spotting a tiny flash of gold disappearing back into the bushes.

"Something wrong kid?" Godfrey asked.

Kirito hid a shadow of a smirk, "It's nothing, let's go," He said.

Behind the bush, Angel gave a snarl. What the actual hell?! Kuradeel!? She asked. Asuna had told her about his track record before their meeting at the teleport gate on seventy-four. He was a slippery character, that was for sure.

Watching the three retreating backs, she equipped a hood, which had the blessing of hiding her long golden hair. Then, she stealthily took off after them, making sure not to get too close.


Floor 55: Dungeon


Kirito repressed a yawn, he could have better hunts in his sleep. Floor fifty-five was far too easy for him, but he kept up with Godfrey and Kuradeel, who were also doing rather well.

"Alright, this looks like a good spot to take a break," Godfrey said, as they entered a clearing. "I'll distribute the rations."

Kirito caught a small brown bag tossed his way with ease, and sat down to open it. When he saw the most basic meal of a bread roll and a bottle of water, he sighed. If he had been with Asuna, this would be one of her legendary sandwiches.

He pulled out the water, and took a swig, as he did, he noticed something weird.

Kuradeel was watching him with a strange look, like he was waiting for something.

It was at that moment, that Kirito finally figured it out, but it was too late. He tossed the bottle away, but fell backwards as a poison icon appeared next to his HP.

Godfrey too collapsed. And Kuradeel gave a crazy laugh. "Poor old Godfrey! I always thought you were a complete idiot, but this is just too much!" He smirked.

"You packed the water Kuradeel, what the hell!" Godfrey growled.

"Antidote crystals!" Kirito grunted. This was why he was hesitant to hand them over back at the HQ.

Kuradeel lunged out, and kicked the green crystals out of his hand.

Kirito noticed his detection skill ping again, and his eyes instantly followed the alert to where he spotted a shadow at the top of the cliff.

"Here's my plan," Kuradeel caught his attention again, drawing his sword. "We were walking along, when a bunch of red players ambushed us," He brought the blade down, hitting the back of Godfrey.

"You both perished, but I valiantly fought them off-!" Kuradeel was suddenly floored, and Kirito's eyes widened as he saw a spear sticking out of the madman's shoulder.

"You should have left the KoB, retired and found a nice little home," A female voice echoed through the canyon.

"Who's there?!" Kuradeel snarled, ripping the spear out of his shoulder and standing up.

"But no. You had to go for revenge against the swordsman who humiliated you in front of an audience," the voice called out.

"Show yourself!" Kuradeel yelled, his head snapping around, trying to find the source of the attack.

"And by doing so, you have signed your ticket for a trip to either the slammer, or oblivion," the voice finished.

"Stop hiding coward!" The madman snapped.

"As you wish…" the voice sounded disappointed, but amused. Kirito's eyes widened at the sight of a player sliding down the side of the cliff face, riding on a metal pole before kicking off it and landing in a silent crouch, the pole landing in their hand.

"Who are you…!" Kuradeel demanded, his sword pointed at the new appearance.

"I am known by a few names, The Spear Hunter, The Shadow Stalker, but my favorite, is The Daughter of Darkness," the figure spoke. She was wearing a tight black jacket with purple straps in a cross across the front and back, her arms were covered in black cloth and she was wearing a pair of leather gauntlets. She was also wearing a pair of black, tight pants, which went down into a pair of black boots.

In her hand was a spear that was black all over, with red details on the blade and the polearm, and her head was covered by a black hood, which had a cowl which hid her mouth and nose, only showing her piercing amethyst colored eyes.

"… Angel?" Kirito gasped out.

"Yep, sorry for stalking you fellas, but ever since that fight with this guy on floor seventy-four, I've been keeping my ears open regarding him, and I discovered a nasty little truth about him," Angel said, pulling down her cowl and her hood.

"This guy is actually a member of Laughing Coffin," she spoke clearly. "Isn't that right, scum?"

"Guess there's no hiding the secret now," Kuradeel smirked, and tapped his gauntlets, revealing a small little cosmetic on his skin.

It was a black coffin, with a face in it. Behind the face was a strange shape, like the tip of a sword and off to the right of the face was a skeleton arm. Everyone shivered at the sight of the mark for Laughing Coffin.

"They're the reason I learnt to poison these two idiots," Kuradeel grinned.

Angel pulled a small glowing crystal out of her pocket, and gave a grin of her own. "Smile for the camera doofus," she grinned, taking a picture of the man with the emblem exposed.

"You won't be able to talk your way out anymore," she said, putting the item in her inventory. "And even if you do manage to kill me, my boyfriend will still have it in his inventory, since we share storage."

Nice bluff, Kirito thought. Ion and Angel would have told their closest friends if they had married yet.

"You have two options now," Angel said. "You either surrender and I haul you back to Heathcliff on your knees, or you die here."

"I'll take the third option," Kuradeel growled. "Attack!"

With that, he ran forward, sword glowing yellow and coming down vertically.

Angel rolled her eyes, and activated her own skill, her spear lighting up green, horizontally coming up to slam into the sword from the side.

"You didn't learn at all did you?" She asked. Kuradeel glared at her. "That was the exact same move you made the other day."

They broke away, Angel casually closing her eyes, hearing a clatter behind her. Turning around, she gave a smirk when she saw Kuradeel on his knees, and pixels drifting away from his body.

"Got you," she said, walking towards him, going into her menu to pull out some rope. She therefore only saw Kuradeel's dagger slashing at her chest at the last second, and that was all he needed, getting a hit on her breast.

Angel dropped to the ground with surprise, and her eyes widened as she saw a paralysis icon next to her HP. Damn it! She growled.

"One of the oldest tricks in the book!" Kuradeel laughed. "Oh, I'm going to enjoy play time with you after I'm done with these two," he gave a creepy grin.

Angel shivered at his expression, at that moment, a white, red and chestnut blur slammed into him, with a green explosion of energy.

"Perfect timing Asuna," Angel grunted. "Toss us some antidote crystals, will you?"

Asuna fished three green crystals from her pouch, and tossed them to the three players.

"Hang back you guys," She said, drawing her rapier with a dark look on her face. "I'll take care of the traitor here."

"Be careful! He's a slippery bastard!" Angel warned her.

"A-Asuna! This isn't what it looks like! I-!" Kuradeel's attempt at talking his way out failed as Asuna's rapier shot past his cheek, drawing HP.

She then became a blur as she activated Quadruple Pain multiple times, rapidly draining the traitor's HP to a dangerous red.

"Wait!" Kuradeel yelped. "I'll leave the guild! You'll never see me again! Please don't kill me!"

Angel rolled her eyes at the pathetic behavior, Asuna ceased her attack, backing up.

Kuradeel laughed, grabbing her arm and yanking Lambent Light from her grip.

"The oldest trick in the book! And you fell for it bitch!" Kuradeel screeched with delight, the rapier swinging down towards her.

A black blur shot forward, and the sound of metal against flesh was heard. Angel's eyes widened as Kirito stood before Asuna, arm raised. Then she saw the hand that was falling from his side, then shattered.

Kirito gave out a war cry, activating a martial arts skill and jabbing his remaining hand through Kuradeel's avatar, taking out the last of his HP.

"God damn you bastard… you murdered me…" Kuradeel gave a smirk, before shattering into pixels.

"Good riddance," Angel said, glad to see the vile man vanish.

Godfrey walked up next to her, "I owe you some thanks, if you haven't tailed us, we'd both probably be dead," He said, holding out an arm.

"Think nothing of it big man, it's all in a day's work for the Daughter of Darkness," Angel smirked, taking the arm for a handshake.

Her eyes widened as she spotted the kiss that was being shared by the other two players, "Let's leave them for some privacy, I ask that you bring me before your leader," Angel said.

"Sure thing," Godfrey nodded. Both pulled out teleport crystals.

"Teleport: Grandzam," they both called out.


"I see," Heathcliff sighed. "Angel, you have my most sincere gratitude for helping Kirito and Godfrey." He said.

"And…?" Angel pressed.

"And I apologize for allowing Kuradeel a second chance, Asuna was right all along. He was a wildcard," Heathcliff added.

"Thank you," Angel smiled. She pulled an item out of her inventory. "Here, this is photographic evidence of Kuradeel's involvement in the foul deeds." She opened the photo she took of the man caught in the act.

"I ask that you hand it over to me, I must make sure to put it into the minds of the troops that this must never happen again," Heathcliff said.

"Sure thing, I want nothing to do with him ever again," Angel nodded, tossing the camera crystal to the commander, who caught it with ease.

"And with that, I take my leave," she bowed, and headed for the door. "See you around, commander."


Floor 61: Selmburg


Angel stretched her arms as she returned to her shared player home in Selmburg, shrugging off her coat and putting it on the coat stand with Ion's white coat and Silica's blue jacket.

It's late… wonder if the others are in bed? She thought.

"You were gone a while," her head turned to see Ion sat in the armchair.

At least he's up… she sighed.

"Asuna messaged me. You said you had given up that work for good!" He told her, standing up.

"I did! But something struck out as weird to me, I knew Kuradeel was trouble, and I had to make sure that Kirito would be safe," Angel shot back.

"What does that mean?" Ion asked.

"You've made it pretty clear from your interactions with him, that you know each other IRL," Angel folded her arms. "I wanted to make sure your friend was unharmed, and because of me, he and Godfrey are safe, and Kuradeel is gone for good."

"You didn't kill him, did you?" Ion's expression softened.

"No. Kirito did… I'm sorry for making you worry," Angel sighed.

"No. I'm sorry for yelling and worrying, I know you can take care of yourself…" Ion pulled her in to an embrace.

"Glad to see you two are ok," both turned to see Silica on the bottom step of the stairs in a green nightie and matching nightcap. "Now could you keep the noise down? Some of us are trying to sleep now."

"Sorry Silica, go on back to bed," Angel smiled at her.

The girl didn't need telling twice, walking back up the stairs while yawning. Ion turned to Angel.

"Shall we head up as well?" He asked.

"Sure, it's been a long day. I'm ready for bed," Angel yawned.

Hand in hand, the couple headed up the stairs, and went into Ion's room. Aurora was sleeping in her basket at the end of their bed, but looked up blearily at the intruders.

Both players walked up to the bed, Ion on one side and Angel in the other. They turned around and opened their inventories, changing outfits around for bed.

Then with a brief goodnight to their other half, the two fell asleep without another word.


Ion: So?

Kirito: Not bad at all.

Angel: I won't argue, and Kuradeel almost sounded scary in that moment.

Emma: She's right.

Silica: What's next?

All: Next time: The Girl of Morning Dew!