A/N: Here is the duel that you've all been waiting for! Sachi vs. Godfree! Kirito vs. Heathcliff! Mataras vs. Raphael! Will Asuna be set free? Or will the Moonlit Black Cats be absorbed into the Knights of the Blood-Oath?
This is the longest chapter that I have ever written for anything, including my IRL novel, Dragon Roar. I hope you all enjoy it!
Legends of Aincrad
"Are you guys stupid?!" Asuna shouted, frustrated. "How could you agree to a duel like that?!" She was within an ace of slapping Kirito, who tried to calm her down before she actually did slap him.
"Sorry, sorry!" he said as he held his hands up in front of him. "It just kind of happened!"
"Ugh…" Asuna groaned.
"What are you so worked up about?" Mataras snorted disdainfully. "You have to know that we'll beat your number three and four guys. Even if Kirito doesn't beat Heathcliff, I wager that you'll be a free woman by sundown."
"I know, but…" Asuna groaned again sat down heavily.
Sachi moved to sit beside her and said, "Don't worry, Asuna. We've got this one in hand. Kirito can probably even beat Heathcliff by the second round, and we can go home early."
"I hope so," Kirito muttered, his chin now in both his hands. "Nobody's ever seen his health bar drop below yellow, though. That's not a great stat for me to face."
"Well, even if you do lose, I've got you covered," Mataras said as he swung his red blade. "I am not letting some second-rate nerd beat me in a swordfight."
"I can't imagine you losing to anyone, Mataras," Sachi chuckled softly. "I'm still confused why you're not fighting Heathcliff?"
"It's an honor thing," Mataras smirked. "I couldn't very well deprive our leader the honor of facing the living legend himself." Before any of the others could utter retorts against him, the horn sounding for the first match went off, and Sachi stood.
"That's my cue," she said as she drew her sword.
"Are you sure you don't want to take the Dark Repulser?" Kirito offered.
"Kirito, we've been over this," Sachi sighed as she started walking towards the gate. "I like the defense boost that the Tsunami Crest gives me. I'll be fine."
"Good luck out there," Mataras said with a genuine smile as his sister walked out onto the arena. "Take him down!"
"You know I will," Sachi returned the smile as she looked back over her shoulder. The three teenagers moved to watch, one with an orange dragon on his shoulder. Litrosh would not be a part of the battle, should Mataras need to fight, but his master insisted on him coming to watch anyways.
Sachi stared down her opponent, a rather rounded man named Godfree. He was in charge of the assault team on the KOB, she knew from what Asuna had told her. He was wearing the traditional white-and-red of the guild, and he also had a silver axe on his back, and she eyed it warily. According to his Vice-Commander, he was big on his strength points, but not so much on his speed.
The man sent her a duel request, to which she agreed immediately. And the countdown began. The two duelists stood about twenty paces apart from one another.
If he hits me, even once, I might be done for, she thought as she closed her eyes in concentration. She strove to block out everything around her, from the screams of the crowds to the hot sand beneath her feet. She shut it all out, just like Mataras had taught her to do, were she to ever end up in a duel. The only thing that existed was her body, and the sword she wielded in her hand. Nothing else carried any significance to her senses until she was ready to begin the fight with fire in her eyes.
If I can get inside the range of his axe… She took her stance, twirling her blade on either side of her body before crossing her arms over her chest with her blade pointed flat at Godfree.
"You sure you want to do this, girlie?" The man grinned in a friendly manner as he spoke. "If you wanna throw in the towel now, I won't hold it against you."
"Maybe you wouldn't," she replied tersely. "But I know that I would hold it against myself."
"You've got spunk, kid," Godfree grinned as the countdown neared its end. "We'll be glad to have you in the guild."
"In your dreams!" Sachi cried even as the timer went off. Not wasting even half a second, she darted forward at top speed. She wasn't as fast as Mataras or Kirito, but Godfree was definitely taken by the speedy thrust. He barely managed to dodge being impaled as the girl struck him with a skill that caused her sword to glow light green and allowed her to leap such a great distance.
He moved to strike her in the back with his massive weapon, his axe glowing orange as he did. Sachi whirled around, aided by the system's auto-assist. Her single attack smoothly transferred into a whirling attack that got her inside the range of his weapon and allowed her to strike him three times with a glowing yellow sword.
He leaped backwards, shocked at her speed. Looking at his health bar, he go a sinking feeling as he realized that his health was more than a quarter gone, while she remained completely unscathed. Using every point that he had invested into his strength stat, he leaped high and backwards.
Sachi watched him go, waiting patiently. Something Mataras had drilled into her during their training sessions was, Let them second-guess you. Lead with your second best, and if that's all it takes, good. But always keep an ace up your sleeve. Never let them see what you're made of right away. Setting her jaw, she readied her leaping thrust once again, prepared to attack Godfree the instant that the came in range.
"Is that all that the KOB's vanguard commander can offer?" she taunted with a cheeky smile, another tip of Mataras'. "I thought that you guys were the top guild or something like that?"
"Hey, there's no need to make this personal," Godfree said, cocking his head with a slight frown. "You guys want something, we wanted something else, and this is the way that we decided to settle it. Why you gotta try and compare which guild is better in the middle of everything?"
Sachi sighed heavily in response. That wasn't the response that she'd been hoping for. She had assumed that he would react like most men do when their pride is threatened- lash out with reckless abandon. Apparently Godfree was too relaxed to even get that out of him. Looks like this is going to have to be done the hard way, she decided.
Leaping forward again, she scored another hit on the man, much to his shock and discomfort. This time, he tried for a weaker-yet-faster attack that made his axe glow royal blue. The first time Sachi had attacked him, he had wanted to end things quickly before they really got started. Now he realized that her superior speed stat was going to be his loss unless he could somehow retaliate.
His attack missed her by a hand's breadth. She actually felt the wind of the axe pass her by as it stuck into the sand. The girl's eyes widened as she realized that she now had a very welcome opportunity to finish things off even without having to drain his health down to yellow.
Spinning around with a sword that glowed white, she aimed straight at his axe handle. Just like Mataras had told her, humans often let go of the object they hold in an attempt to escape the impending attacks that they are faced with. Godfree was no different, and in trying to escape the blow, he sealed the fate of the duel.
As he jerked backwards involuntarily, he moved his left hand directly into the path of the glowing blade. A second later, he let out a startled cry as he realized that he was now missing a hand. Which meant that the axe he carried, a two-handed weapon, could not be used until the hand grew back.
Sachi grinned at him and said, "What's it gonna be? You can try and dodge my attacks for the three minutes that it takes for you to regrow the hand, which we both know won't happen. Or you can call it quits, and I'll be the winner of this round."
"Never!" Godfree roared heartily. "I never back down from a fight for the sake of my guild and the players of Aincrad!" His words echoed in Sachi's mind, eerily similar to Corvatz's before he died.
Sighing sadly, she raised her sword into attack position. "If that's what you really want," she said. "I promise to make this fast." Godfree began to sweat lightly as he saw Sachi's sword light up again.
The duel screen showed Sachi's victory within two minutes, thirteen seconds. Mataras smiled and hugged her as she walked off the stadium, accompanied by the massive crowd's cheers. "Good work out there!" he laughed as she returned the hug.
"I had the best teacher," she said. "Thank you."
"Eh, don't thank me," he said as he rubbed her head affectionately. "That victory was under your own power, not mine. Be proud of that, Sachi."
"I will, Big Brother," she said as she tightened the embrace again. Turning to Kirito, she said, "Good luck out there, Kirito. Show the KOB what we've really got."
He grinned and said, "I think they already know." Then the horn sounded and he snapped his gaze over to Asuna, who nodded her approval.
"Go get him, Kirito," she encouraged her friend. "Just promise me you'll be careful, okay?"
"I will," he grinned. "You'll be free to take off as many days as you want once this is over, Asuna." He added a small wink as he stepped out the gate, to which Asuna blushed furiously, much to the amusement of Mataras and Sachi.
Looking around, Kirito could tell that the crowd was even more riled up than they had been for Sachi and Godfree's fight. And really, he couldn't blame them- they were about to see two unique skill-users go toe-to-toe, not to mention that they were both leaders of the top guilds in Aincrad. Still, the reclusive part of Kirito that still existed wished that they could have done the duel in a less public setting, even if it did mean that there were more witnesses to assure Asuna's freedom when the whole thing was over.
Heathcliff seemed to be having some similar thoughts as he looked around and said, "I honestly didn't expect this to become such a big event. It's crazy." He added a wry smile at the end as he looked at his black-coated opponent.
"Maybe my guild can get a cut of the tickets, then," Kirito smirked.
"No," Heathcliff said, all business. "But since your guild has put up more of a fight than I expected them to, I'll make sure to forgo the normal initiation procedure once you're all part of the Knights of the Blood-Oath. You will even be free to make your own party if you wish."
"Heh," Kirito snorted as Heathcliff sent him a duel invite, which he accepted. "You've got a thing or two to learn if you think that Mataras is going down even if you beat me. He's the Red Swordsman, remember? Known for hunting down dangerous players specifically?"
"I'm well aware of that," Heathcliff replied evenly as he drew his straight sword out of his crucifix shield and gripped each one tightly. His red armor gleamed brightly, though not overtly so in the noontime sun. "Honestly, I had expected Sachi to lose to Godfree, which is why I insisted on us fighting second. I wanted to have this whole ordeal over by the end of this fight, but it seems that we will have to proceed to round three once our battle is finished. We might as well give the audience a show, right? Although, I doubt that Mataras can last very long against Raphael, despite his obvious skill."
Kirito's eyes narrowed and his teeth became bared in a soundless snarl. "That's crossing the line, Heathcliff," he growled as the counter hit five.
"Hmm?" Heathcliff seemed honestly confused.
"Don't ever mock my guild members!" Kirito roared, launching himself at Heathcliff at top speed even as the battle began. "Starburst Stream!" The sixteen-hit combo was on its way, and even the living legend himself was surprised at the ferocity behind the blows.
The Black Swordsman could almost imagine the conversation that his guild would be having right now. "He just used his best move!" Sachi would exclaim in shock. "That's dangerous, isn't it?"
Mataras, of course, would give off his trademark smirk and answer, "Starburst Stream is a strong combination, but it's not the best that dual-wielding has to offer. Trust Kirito- he knows what he is doing."
I won't let them down, he vowed. More than just Asuna's freedom depended on this fight- Mataras and Sachi's lives were involved now, too. When his attack ended and Heathcliff came out from behind the shield, Kirito stabbed at his exposed ribs. The man parried and then slammed Kirito with his shield, sending him reeling.
The black Swordsman glared at the armored paladin as he thought, So the system recognizes the shield as an attack, even if it's a basic move. He might as well be dual-wielding himself. This did nothing to deter him from aiming towards victory, though. Both swords glowing yellow, he unleashed another combo attack against Heathcliff's seemingly impenetrable defense, landing a few hits, but being stabbed himself twice with heavier attacks.
When the two combatants separated for a moment's respite, Heathcliff nodded approvingly at his younger opponent. "Your reflexes are incredible," he said with a slight smile.
"Heh, and your defense is impenetrable," Kirito replied in the same manner. Then the two of them collided again, with the teenager unleashing Starburst Stream one last time, determined to knock the shield out of the way and land one last blow on the leader of Asuna's guild, for he could see that his health was nearing the yellow zone. The time was now.
As soon as his left sword beat the shield out of the way, the black sword in his right hand came up and began its downward arc to finish the duel. Then, in a much different manner than he had expected, the duel was over.
In the second before- no, rather in the time between the seconds- Heathcliff moved his shield back just in time to block Kirito's attack. The paladin then stabbed the Black Swordsman in the arm and brought his health down to yellow. Thus his perfect record was maintained, and Kirito looked up at him, stunned.
Although, far from looking smug as he had moments before, Heathcliff looked almost angry, which puzzled Kirito. He had just won the second round, so shouldn't he be happy? And how in the world had he moved that fast?
"Are you all right?" Mataras asked Kirito as he sat down heavily, exhausted.
"Yeah," he said with a tired frown. "I just don't understand."
"I told you that fighting the commander was suicide," Asuna said.
Mataras snapped his glare up to fix on her as he growled, "This is not the time, Asuna." Turning back to Kirito, he said in a lower tone, "Tell me I'm not the only one that noticed how fast he moved."
"I was right there, of course I noticed," Kirito replied with a deeper frown. "I just don't understand how that could have happened. I mean, if I had been lagging, maybe that would explain it, but you saw it too, so that can't be it."
"Hmm…" Mataras scowled, deep in thought. "Does he maybe have another unique skill? Something that boosts his speed?" Before anyone could answer him, the signal for the next duel sounded into the room, and Mataras filed the thought away for later. "Let me know if something like that happens and I don't notice this time," he said as he walked out.
"Good luck, Brother!" Sachi called out, to which he gave a thumbs-up.
"Go get this guy!" Kirito encouraged.
"I believe in you!" Asuna added.
Mataras kept walking until he was twenty paces away from another sword-and-shield user. His name was Raphael, and he was the third-in-command, only under Asuna and Heathcliff in terms of authority, although according to Asuna, they were almost completely matched in skill. Sometimes she had even wondered if Raphael was actually better than her, and Heathcliff just had her as the Vice Commander not only because of her skill with a rapier, but because of her natural beauty. It would certainly explain why so many top-level players would be eager to join up with the KOB.
Well, maybe more people will be eager to join the Moonlit Black Cats once this is over, Mataras grinned to himself. Too bad our acceptance rate is only about one in a thousand.
"What are you smiling about, Red Swordsman?" the young man facing him asked with a trace of hostility.
"The thought of your imminent defeat," Mataras replied, his smile changing from thoughtful to smug. "You might be skilled, but not even Asuna would be able to best me in a duel. Don't get cocky on me- it makes for overconfident, easy opponents."
"Hmph," Raphael snorted as he sent his opponent a duel request. "I could say the same to you. Just don't ask me for any favors once this duel is over."
Mataras snorted with contempt and watched as his opponent drew his sword and heft his shield into position. When he failed to draw his own blade, Raphael cocked his head. "Do you plan on fighting me with your bare hands?"
"Not exactly," Mataras smiled wider, like a wolf preparing to devour its prey. "Although I must admit, the thought of beating you so easily is rather tempting."
"You dare address me like that, you bastard?!" Raphael shouted, his eye twitching slightly. The movement reminded Mataras a bit of Kuradeel, although he doubted that Raphael was that level of mental.
"I'll address anyone anyway I choose," Mataras replied as he settled into a fighting stance, still unarmed. "I'm a free man, and I'll be blasted before I let any man tell me how to speak or not speak." The timer went off, and Raphael charged with his shield forward and sword coming up with a blue glow. Exactly as Mataras had hoped he would.
As soon as Raphael came in for an overhand attack, Mataras darted forward and grabbed his shield with both hands, much to the shock of the knight and the crowd. He then used the tightly strapped shield to his own advantage, heaving mightily, using Raphael's momentum to his advantage and throwing him a number of meters with his own shield to sprawl in the dust.
Raphael looked up in shock to see Mataras draw his own blade with great speed and charge at him. Since he had managed to interrupt Raphael's attack, which meant that the Blood-Oath knight was paralyzed for five seconds- more than enough time for Mataras to cross the distance and get in a good stab on Raphael's leg. The attack drained his health by about one-sixth and shocked the young man.
But he was far from being out of the fight. Sword glowing ice-blue this time, he unleashed a rapid-paced attack, much like the one that Asuna favored in combat. It hit Mataras a couple of times, despite his lightning reflexes. It also forced him to retreat, allowing Raphael to scramble to his feet.
"Well, you are no slouch, I'll give you that," Mataras nodded with a trace of respect.
"And I admit that I expected slower reflexes from you," Raphael replied. Mataras chose not to reveal that he had invested a good number of his experience points gained from defeating the Gleam Eyes into his agility stat. He already had a very high attack stat, and he believed that speed was always the most decisive of the three stats in a battle. Attack was a good one to have, and defense wasn't really necessary for him because of his reflexes, though he didn't completely neglect to invest in it. He wasn't so arrogant to believe that his abilities were infallible, as Raphael had just demonstrated.
The two young men clashed again, Raphael's attacks swift and accurate, Mataras' speedy and unpredictable. Of the two of them, it was clear that Mataras was the better fighter, but Raphael was quite skilled at using the auto-assist function to chain his attacks together whenever he could.
The biggest drawback was, Mataras was able to see a pattern emerge after a couple of minutes of combat. Their duel had lasted the longest so far, which meant that they were both capable attackers and defenders. However, Mataras would not be denied his victory, nor his freedom. Both of them were at about two-thirds of their health when Mataras made his final play.
Eyes blazing silver, he let out a wordless bellow and renewed his own attacks as soon as Raphael let loose with another rapid-pace combo. Pushing his renowned skill to the limit, he deflected the long sword with his own thicker blade to the side and immediately whirled his sword to sever Raphael's shield arm at the elbow, and bringing them face-to-face much to the shock of the white-armored duelist. His forearm and hand shattered, though the shield remained.
Even worse, his health was now near the yellow zone, and Mataras still had three seconds left on the clock before his paralysis would wear off. His eyes locked on Mataras' normally dark-colored orbs, looking for any sign of mercy that might grant him a respite and another chance.
But Mataras wasn't known to show mercy, and he wasn't about to start, either. He was known for exploiting any available weaknesses that he could find, and doing it effectively. With a cold smile, he brought his red sword up in reverse to slash Raphael across the chest. Even though his health dropped down into the yellow, he stepped backwards and used the extra space to lash out with a reverse kick to send Raphael reeling. The white-and-red armored knight fell back into the dust, whereupon Mataras moved fast to stomp on his chest and flick his blade to his throat.
Looking up Raphael could see that his eyes were back to their normal color, but no less chilling for it. Dark like thunderclouds that promised a furious storm, his eyes drilled into Raphael's, and the message in them read, You could be dead. He gulped nervously and didn't move until Mataras turned around and walked off, the duel over.
As the Red Swordsman walked away, he ignored the cheers of the crowd and instead looked across the field to see Heathcliff manipulating his menu. When he looked up, his grey eyes met Mataras' with a slight frown. Mataras responded with another wolfish smile that said, Challenge us again, and you'll be facing me next time.
Heathcliff held the gaze for a moment before giving him a dry smile in return. Perhaps someday, he seemed to be saying. They both nodded, looking forward to it. Then Mataras looked over to see his teammates charging out onto the field, all smiling.
He smiled broadly at them in return as he saw that Asuna's health bar no longer displayed the KOB symbol on it. He realized that Heathcliff must have released Asuna from the guild just before they had issued their challenges to one another. The first ones to reach him were Kirito and Litrosh, with the latter perching atop his head, and the former grasping forearms with his friend as he said, "That was the best fight I've ever seen!"
"Are you serious?" Mataras replied with sincerity. "I thought that your fight with Heathcliff was amazing up until he got lucky."
"Oh, stop being modest," Sachi laughed as she shouldered Kirito aside to give Mataras a big hug. "It doesn't really suit you." He returned the embrace in addition to twirling her around.
The last one to reach him, interestingly enough, was Asuna. He reasoned it was because she wanted his guild mates to be able to express their congratulations to him first. Putting his adopted sister down, he faced Asuna with a raised eyebrow and a slight smile, waiting for her to speak first.
"Thank you, Mataras," she said with a smile and an extended hand.
In response, he grasped her hand with both of his and returned his eyebrow down to its natural level and smiled with a small light in his eyes. "I was glad to help," he said. Then he guided her hand to rest on Kirito's arm, much to both of their surprise. "But Kirito is the guy to thank. Without his knowledge, Sachi and I never would have been able to become this strong, and then who knows? He might have ended up having to fight Heathcliff on his own."
"That's not a comforting thought," Kirito admitted with a rueful grin. "But…" He placed his own hand on Asuna's as Mataras' left hers resting there and smiled warmly. "Since you're out of a job now, would you like to join our guild, Asuna?"
"Kirito…" Asuna smiled happily with a film of tears in her eyes. "After everything we've been through together, I can't think of many things that would make me happier. Of course I'll join you guys!" And she threw her arms around Kirito, much to the displeasure of many male players in the stands, who shouted angrily with jealousy.
"Uh…" Sachi looked around nervously at some of the angry faces. "Maybe we should finalize this somewhere else?" Even Kirito, who was normally oblivious, could understand why she would feel that way.
"Yeah, he said. "Let's get moving to the gate and get to Agil's. He said we could hide there for a day or so if we needed to."
"Probably because he knows that if words gets out as to where we are, it'll be good for his business," Mataras remarked dryly. Nonetheless, none of the others had a better plan, so they raced to the gate as fast as they could, barely managing to escape a group of crowd-hyped fans.
"Well, selling the house wasn't that hard," Mataras said sourly. "It was getting out of there that was hard. I had to use a teleport crystal again, and now I need to restock. Stupid crowds…" He scowled as he sat down on one of the chairs. Litrosh looked up at him from the table, and he rubbed the little dragon's head.
"Well, it coulda been worse, I guess," Sachi sighed. "We managed to keep all of our furniture, right?"
"Yes, but I'm just about to run out of inventory space," Mataras replied, his mood not lifted. "Everyone wants to know how to get the skill that rivals Heathcliff's, or that lets you beat a KOB member silly."
"Yeah, well it's your own fault for being a bunch of show-offs," Liz smirked at the Red Swordsman, who gave her a smoldering look in return. The two of them had been at odds ever since she agreed to help Agil manage the shop with all the extra customers he was getting as a result of his temporary guests.
"Get back to work before I decide to give myself a refund on the Dark Repulser," he growled. "And don't think I won't- I'm the Red Swordsman Dragon Master." Lisbeth immediately headed downstairs. As she left, Mataras growled, "Crazed fans, and a rejected girl with obsession issues? It must be my birthday!" He leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes tightly, trying to ward off a headache.
Sachi gave Mataras a disapproving look. "I thought that you were making progress," she said, slightly disappointed with his attitude, even if he had been dealing with a lot.
"Baby steps," he muttered. "Where are Asuna and Kirito?"
"Up on the roof," Sachi replied. "I decided to wait for you until you were done with the sale so we could all eat lunch together up there and decide where we should have the new home base." She stood up and opened the window.
Litrosh looked up again, and leaped out the window right after Sachi did. Mataras sighed and followed the, muttering to himself, "Knowing Kirito's stomach, he probably suckered Asuna into giving him his sandwich already." Nonetheless, his stomach also rumbled in anticipation of eating one Asuna's meals.
Lucky kid, he thought as he leaped onto the roof to see Sachi, Litrsoh, and the other two teenagers, sitting so that their shoulders nearly brushed. If this keeps up, he's going to end up married to her.
Later that day, after lunch, the guild- Asuna had officially joined the afternoon following the duel- decided to go for a little excursion on floor sixty, a favorite hunting ground for the Cats. It was set in a forest plateau, with tall trees everywhere on the rocky pathways. There weren't many monsters on the floor, but they often had good drop items. Not to mention the scenery was almost out of a storybook, although Mataras insisted that there was a similar set of mountains in the eastern region of the United States.
When they stopped for a break on their way back to town in the early evening, Sachi passed out some cookies that she had made that morning with Agil's stove. "I know my skill isn't as high as Asuna's," Sachi admitted sheepishly as she handed out the snacks, "But I hope they're good enough."
"You sell yourself short," Mataras smiled as he bit into one. "This is very good, Sachi."
"I'll say!" Kirito agreed heartily as he tore into a chocolate chip cookie.
"They're both right," Asuna nodded. "This is pretty good. Maybe you could show me how to make them sometime?"
Before Sachi could reply, a high-pitched voice said, "I'm afraid that won't be happening, dearie!" A small dart suddenly flashed out of the trees to strike Sachi, who stiffened and dropped to the ground, stunned.
"What the- ugh!" Kirito was hit the next instant, followed immediately by Asuna. Only Mataras managed to doge being hit the first time, since he was now aware of what was happening, but another dart suddenly stuck him from another direction, locking his virtual muscles and making him slouch against the tree he had been resting against a moment ago.
"Four down!" A voice sang out from the trees. From that direction stepped out a man whose face was hidden by a black cloth that only showed red eyes from under his hood. His walked over to the downed team, giggling and swaying. On one of his gloves that he waved at them was the mark of the murder guild, Laughing Coffin.
"Is that who I think it is?" Kirito growled. "Johnny Black?"
"Hmm?" the man said with a cocked head as he reached Kirito, crouching beside him. "Oh no, I'm not Jon Jon, but I can understand why you'd think that- we do share a family resemblance after all. You know, how sometimes cousins look alike so that sometimes they're mistaken for siblings?" Kirito knew exactly how that was, but he wasn't going to tell this member of Laughing Coffin that.
"No no, I'm not Johnny," the man giggled again. "I'm Knife-finger Ned, and the new right-hand to Poh." Mataras' eyes narrowed in anger at the mention of Laughing Coffin's leader. He had hoped to kill that man during the raid, but as fate would have it, one the Dragon Alliance's men had been killed trying to prevent his and another man's escape- Ned's escape now that he thought about it.
Ned twirled one of his knives with obvious skill and said "And while you're all just lying around, I'd like you to meet the man that made this all possible." He pointed to where the first knives had come from.
And out from them stepped an all-too familiar figure, despite his new uniform. Where there had once been clean white and red armor, Kuradeel now wore black, dirty garments that aided stealth abilities. In his right hand, though, was a replica of the sword that Kirito had destroyed during their duel.
"You bastard…" Kirito snarled, trying in vain to move past the effects of the poison. "You joined a murder guild, huh? Makes sense, actually…"
"Yes, that's how I got the skills to paralyze you bastards, and how I'm going to kill you," Kuradeel giggled, his eyes wide with dark pleasure. "I think we'll kill the boys first, so that way we can hear the girls scream longer- sound good, Ned?"
"I like that idea!" Ned said cheerfully, as though someone had asked a little boy if he wanted some pizza or ice cream. "It might actually be better than my game where they all kill each other to try and survive! Oh, but we'd better get this done soon, or the poison will wear off. We can't have that!"
And he moved closer to Mataras, even as Kuradeel moved to kill Kirito. They both giggled even louder as Asuna and Sachi shouted in vain for them to stop. Kuradeel stabbed Kirito in the leg first, causing the Black Swordsman to grunt in pain. Giggling, Ned went to do the same to Mataras, only to see Mataras smiling at him.
The next instant, Sachi moved and tore the knife out of her shoulder before she proceeded to stab Ned with it. Even though the poison was one-time use, the madman shrieked in shock and went down, even as she used an antidote crystal on Mataras. He leapt to his feet, sword instantly in hand. "Get the others," he said to his sister. "I've got this in hand."
"Oh you do, now do you?" Ned giggled as he rose, suddenly back in control of himself. "Let's see how well you do when I hit you with this baby?" He pulled out a sword tinted green with poison. "Dance, shall we?"
"Hmph," Mataras whirled his sword to deflect the blade with ease as soon as Ned stabbed at him. He was almost taken by Kuradeel's surprise attack from behind, though he managed to deflect it by flipping the blade behind his back. "Too slow," he taunted.
"Die, damn you!" Kuradeel screamed.
"You first," Kirito growled, now on his feet. Black blade in hand, he attacked Kuradeel with a weak-but-fast attack called Rage Spike. The blow took him in the arm, causing him to shriek and turn to face the Black Swordsman.
As Kirito dueled the former KOB knight, Mataras unleashed his own style on Ned, an unpredictable form of swordplay invented entirely on his own. Both the Black and Red Swordsmen were clearly the better fighters, and when Sachi and Asuna rejoined the fray, they didn't stand a chance.
It seemed to end for Kuradeel when Asuna had him on his knees. He begged pitifully for her not to end his life, and at the last moment, she hesitated. Sensing this, Kuradeel let out a wild swipe and beat her rapier from her hand and prepared to remove her head from her shoulders. But Kirito was even faster, shoving her out of the way and blocking with his left hand, which caused it to be cut off and shatter into sparks. But his right hand still held his elucidator and it stabbed Kuradeel through the chest, draining the last of his health points.
"Damn you…" he groaned. "You… murdered me…" Then he shattered, much to Kirito's satisfaction. The pair turned just in time to see Mataras slash Ned across the chest and kill him with a stoic face.
"Rot in hellfire," he growled. Whirling his sword in reverse as he always did when a battle was over, he sheathed his blade. Turning to his guild mates, he said, "That should be the last time Laughing Coffin bothers us. I doubt Poh would want to come after us himself, and he's probably the only one that could actually hurt any of us other than those two." He opened his menu and passed out health potions to everyone.
To his surprise, when he handed one to Asuna, she began to sob uncontrollably. "Asuna…?" Kirito asked softly as she broke down in his arms.
"I'm so sorry…" she cried. "This is all my fault… If I hadn't joined you guys, Kuradeel wouldn't have…" She began to hiccup in addition to her tears. "I… should… stay away from all of you… For your sakes."
"Asuna," Mataras shook his head firmly. "You're part of our family now. We're not going to just let you walk away like that. You mean too much to us."
"But-" Her words were cut off as Kirito raised her chin and kissed her right on the mouth. She seemed to resist for a moment, then she melted into the tender embrace. Mataras and Sachi looked on with raised eyebrows and open mouths. They both knew that there was chemistry between the two of them, but this was something that neither of them had expected for a while longer. Then again, Mataras thought, it wasn't a surprise that their emotions would come to the fore like this with their lives having been in serious danger a moment ago.
When they finally separated, Kirito bowed his head against Asuna's and he said, "My life belongs to you… Until the end. I'll make sure that you get home, no matter what."
New tears spilled from her eyes, but now they were tears of joy instead of pain. "And I… will be there to protect you," she said as she wrapped her arms around him in return.
"Asuna… Can I stay the night with you?" Kirito looked at her with utter sincerity. But before she could muster a response, another voice broke in.
"Oh no, you don't!" Mataras objected, causing the young couple to flush furiously as they suddenly remembered that there were others present. "There is no way that you two are spending the night together unless you're married first!"
"Why not?!" Asuna shot back, her face still bright red. "Couples do that kind of thing all the time! Why shouldn't we?!"
"Wait, what?" Kirito gasped. Then it hit him. "Oh, wait… No, Mataras, I swear I didn't mean it like that! I just wanted to sleep next to her…"
"Oh yes, like it would stop there!" Mataras snorted. "You are teenagers with a ridiculous surplus of hormones running through your bodies right now. Oh sure, you may be fine here and now, but when it comes to it? Would you really say no if she came on to you?"
"Yes…" Kirito replied slowly. Mataras raised his eyebrow and Kirito relented. "Okay, no, probably not. Still, what do you have against it?"
"Okay, let me ask you this," Mataras snapped. "If you sleep together now, out of wedlock, how will you ever be able to trust each other that you won't sleep with another person out of wedlock?!" His eyes were silver, indicating his intense passion on the subject, which surprised the others. Even Sachi seemed surprised at the level of vehemence that he was displaying now.
"Uh… Maybe he has a point?" Kirito said uncertainly.
"You're seriously taking his side?" Asuna asked, surprised.
"Well, that tells you that he's different than most men," Mataras said dryly, his eyes fading back to normal. "Most men would have jumped at the chance to get in your pants. But not him. Why? Because he cares about you."
Asuna's mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. Then she looked up at Kirito, who stirred uncomfortably. "Is that why?" she asked.
"Well, yeah," he said, sweating lightly. "I mean, I wouldn't want to put in you in a position where you had to do something because you felt like it was the normal thing to do. I mean, I want it, but I wanted you to want it too, and not just try to 'please me."
Before she could answer, Sachi finally found her voice to say, "Oh would you two just get married already?"
"Hunh?!" Both of them flushed bright red again.
"Why not?" Mataras grinned. "I mean, if you're willing to go 'until death do us part', then I don't have a problem with you engaging in, ahem, marital activities. And I think that you'll find Kirito a lot more eager, too. I mean, he gets to spend his life with a beautiful warrior like you, right?" His eyes drilled into theirs, and they realized that he didn't just mean in-game marriage. He meant actually promising to tie the knot in the real world when they could.
They looked at one another, and involuntarily, their minds wandered back over all the adventures that they had shared together in world of swords. And right then and there, they knew the answer to the question.
Kirito got down on one knee, and Mataras broke out into a huge smile as his friend uttered the immortal words, "Asuna, will you marry me?"
"Yes, Kirito, I will marry you," was the equally immortal reply. "With everything I am, I will stay by your side."
"And I will be the sword and shield that you deserve, even in the real world," he said as he rose to face her, his obsidian eyes hard as rocks, and conveying utter sincerity. He opened his menu and sent her a marriage invite, which she immediately accepted. Rings immediately appeared on their ring fingers, sealing the sacred pact.
"I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Kirito Black Swordsman!" Mataras laughed, causing the newlyweds to redden brightly again, but they both smiled again. "Now, for the matter of finding you two a house…" Mataras said with his hand on his chin.
"There's a little secluded village on floor twenty-two," Sachi suggested. "The chances of them being disturbed there are minimal."
"What do you think?" Kirito asked his wife.
"That sounds perfect," she giggled.
Mataras nodded and said, "We'll help you get moved in since I've got all the furniture in storage. But what should we do with Asuna's apartment?"
"Um…" Kirito hadn't thought that far ahead.
Fortunately, Asuna quickly came up with a solution. "Why don't Mataras and Sachi live there? I mean, it'd be a shame to get rid of such a nice place, and not many people know that I live in Selmburg anyway. You two should be able to dodge the crowds that way."
"That's very generous of you," Mataras nodded. "Thank you for the offer. Unless Sachi objects, I think that we will take you up on that."
"Hey, wait," Kirito said suspiciously. "What was that you were just saying about spending the night with a-" The kick that he received sent him sprawling by a very red-faced Mataras.
"Sachi's my sister, and that's it!" he snapped. "And you know that we spend the night together all the time when you're there, and nothing happens!"
"Okay…" the Black Swordsman groaned. "That's fair… Sorry I said that."
"You should be," Sachi said, her face also red.
Asuna burst out laughing at the whole thing. At last the Legends of Aincrad were united as a family, and nothing could have made her happier.
Later, on their way home, Asuna turned to Sachi and asked, "So how did you manage to negate the paralysis like that?"
"Well, Kirito has dual-wielding, and Mataras has dragon blood," Sachi grinned sheepishly. "So..."
"Don't tell me," Asuna sighed. "You have a unique skill that lets you negate poisons?"
"Actually, Pure Heart makes me immune to recoil effects, burns, paralysis, and any other stat reductions," Sachi replied. "As you can imagine, it comes in handy quite a bit."
"I imagine," Asuna agreed. "But I have to wonder, maybe the Moonlit Black Cats just get unique skills for being a part of the guild."
"Maybe," Kirito grinned. "Who knows, Asuna? Maybe you'll get a unique skill, too."
Wouldn't that be something, Mataras thought to himself.
Well, there you have it! That's who else escaped the Laughing Coffin massacre (he's related to the guy from the Illusionary Avenger episode that likes playing games with his victims). And now even Sachi has a unique skill! Be sure to let me know what you think of the skill I invented for her! Also,in case I wasn't clear enough, her starting stance is like Lucina/Marth's from Fire Emblem: Awakening.
Kirisuna fans, sorry if you were expecting a lemon, but as stated on my profile, I refuse to do those. Also, Mataras/I am very much against premarital sex. Why? Diseases, broken hearts, pregnancies that kids don't know how to handle, etc. Seriously, it's a bad idea, but hey, it's your life. The only thing I can do is offer advice, not issue decrees.
In any case, the next chapter will not have Asuna or Kirito as they will be on their honeymoon, but we will get to see a flashback concerning how Mataras met and won the loyalty of Litrosh. Sound good? Let me know with reviews and PM's!