Disclaimer: I only own OC's. whoever owns SAO, it's not me.
Chapter 9: Something to pursue
Anyone watching Serena at that point would have seen a young girl leaning against a tree wearing a blindfold, absently clicking her tongue, and they probably would have wondered why someone so apparently unequipped was acting so casual in a floor 4 swamp dungeon. But fortunately, there was no one else nearby, so she wouldn't accidently shoot someone if they were the first thing her echolocation picked up. After a few minutes of waiting in the light snowfall common that season, she suddenly drew her bow and fired in one smooth movement, hitting a slug like creature emerging from a nearby pit. She smiled at the gold and exp she received, appreciating the perk she had: 'ease of recovery.' It allowed her to receive any monster drops without troubling to collect them from her sometimes distant targets. Moving further into the swamp, she once again marvelled at the ease of movement she felt in this game. She doubted she could replicate her current sense of awareness in real life. Back in England, she was blind. In Aincrad, she was practically omnipresent.
Serena was jolted out of her reverie by a crash somewhere ahead of her, and quickened her pace, suspecting what was going on, and having her suspicions confirmed when a player marker popped up in front of her. Reaching what sounded like a large, disgusting pond with a large island in the middle, she immediately noted the presence of what seemed to be a large male player facing down an even larger centipede. The mini boss was one of the most dangerous on the floor, but the player was fighting it with reckless abandon, expending flurries of sword skills with some sort of cleaver weapon before simply lifting his shield and weathering the onslaught of cuts from the monsters mandibles. He's going to get himself killed. She quickly notched an arrow and powered a 'combustion shot' skill. The glowing projectile flew towards the creature and exploded against its head, causing it to shriek and dig underground. The player, who was apparently called 'Gorgamith' turned towards her, and she could only assume that his face showed shock at a blindfolded girl nimbly leaping across gnarled branches sticking out from the lake. Jumping onto the island, she immediately detected the tremors of the centipede burrowing underneath them, and called out in warning "Move! It's underneath you!" to the startled player. Instead of leaping to the side, (You know, the normal thing to do when something big and nasty is beneath you) Gorgamith stood still, and when the head of the centipede emerged from the dirt, he used his cleaver like a golf club to strike the monster, sending it flying about five metres to the left. Appreciating the power of the strike, Serena fired three arrows in quick succession at the boss, and from the critical damage, hit the eyes each time. Screeching, the creature scuttled forwards, its mandibles glowing red with a sword skill. Gorgamith gave a yell of his own, and ran forwards, his cleaver emitting the high frequency sound of another sword skill. Rule 01 of SAO, you don't trade hit's with a boss like that. ever. Serena sprinted, overtaking the slower Gorgamith, and launching a skill of her own: 'focus break.' Slamming the wood of her bow into the mandibles, the interruption skill shattered the red energy of the mandibles and she leapt back, calling "Switch!" As her acquaintance struck the centipede between the eyes, disintegrating it. Serena rounded on him. "Are you insane? You don't solo a mini boss like that, not unless you're a beater, and even the-!" She gasped as she noticed the tiny sliver of health he had left. "What were you… gah, bigger priorities!" She muttered, fishing out teleport crystals.
Five minutes later, the Adamant Guard was assembled in the inn room they had rented, and gathered round the newcomer in their midst. "So let me get this straight." Stated Jade. "You haven't eaten or slept in… how long?" Gorgamith paused in between bites of bread. "Since the first day, when the game master said that we were trapped in here." There were muffled gasps from around the table. It had been brought up only when they described his appearance to Serena, tall, short brown hair, and eyes with more bags than a supermarket full of teenage girls. Serena rounded on him. "And why the heck have you been doing that? Have you even left the dungeons up until now?" Gorgamith turned towards her. "Food and sleep are not necessary for survival in-game. That time is better spent training. However I apologise that it was insufficient to keep you out of danger." Adamant's eyes widened at the person's blatant disregard for his own comfort, and gestured for Serena to join him in the kitchen. (Pleased that she could notice such things with her echolocation.) After she joined him, he immediately rounded on her, saying, "You need to get to know him." in a hurried but low voice. "What? Why?" "I know that look, that way of talking. It's happened to me before. You experience immense trauma, and your subconscious just blocks you from feeling it, or anything. You give yourself a primary objective, and you can't fully feel until you reach it, so you pursue it with single minded determination, no matter the cost to your wellbeing." Jade, who had been overhearing, spoke up. "You've been through that Adamant?" "Yes." He said irritably. "But I'm past it and that's beside the point. That point being that for some reason Gorgamith cares about you Serena. So in some way, you are linked to that objective. So you need to find out what he wants, find out how you are linked to it, get him to open up and convince him of a better way to reach it. Even better, convince him to stop. Otherwise, he'll either ruin the rest of his life to reach that one thing, or he'll die trying. Do you understand?" Biting her lip, Serena nodded. She didn't want to manipulate the poor guy, but if he really couldn't feel emotions… she would help him if she could.
Hearing a sudden commotion, she looked back to find Gorgamith rising from his chair and heading for the door. "Wait!" She called. "Are you really just going to leave?" He turned and nodded. "If you are clearers like you claim, you will see me when you challenge the boss. Until then, I will continue to train." He was halfway through the door and into the blizzard whirling outside when she grabbed his sleeve. "Then I'm going with you!" He frowned at her. "I do not intend for you to be harmed because of me." She tried to look as resolved as possible with a strip of cloth across her face. "I feel the same way. If I leave you you'll just go and get killed by a centipede again." Gorgamith stared at her in thought for a few moments. "If you consent to remain behind me when we confront hostiles, the situation is acceptable." Wow he is emotionless. That was a lot of fancy words. "Okay" She said, sending him a party invite. "Let's get training." And find out what is keeping you like this.
DaDaDAAAA Gorgamith joins the Battle! (super smash bros reference...)
the sixth party member is here, i doubt i'll be making any more OC's. (unless sequel, not that i know how this is gonna end)
Next chapter, 'something to protect' out tommorow, as per usual. Follow, fave and review fairly!