I do not own Sword Art Online

The Scarlet Angels

Chapter IX

Shadows

1st Floor, Town of Beginnings, March 20th, 2023. Front Line: 16th Floor

"Evangelion?"

The look of relief on the girl's face was astonishing as she turned to face us. Aragoth was nowhere in sight, and as Evangelion ran towards us, the pieces I had of the picture in front of me clicked into place.

First: The Black Iron Prison behind Evangelion, famous for holding criminals of Sword Art Online while their cursors reverted to green. Few people broke the law twice, after returning from beyond its walls, whether they had been a street pickpocket or a would-be master thief.

Second: Evangelion, pacing back and forth in front of the gates of the Black Iron Prison while she had a perfectly green cursor, and no indication of why she might be here.

Third: The lack of her scythe wielding brother being anywhere nearby as she paced in front of the prison.

Conclusion: Something had happened and Aragoth was inside the Black Iron Prison. Next to me, Silmaryl let out a soft curse as he came to the same conclusion. I stepped forward to meet Evangelion as she came up to us, "What happened?" I asked gently, setting a hand on the girl's shoulder.

Evangelion looked scared, "It's not his fault, we were out on a hunting trip and some girl asked for our help but it wasn't really her needing help she was a lure for a group of criminal players and we had to fight to get away and - "

"Hey, hey," I said, raising a hand to stop her, "Calm down, take a second to collect yourself, take a deep breath." Once she had done so, I let my hand fall, "Try that again, that made next to no sense."

She looked back at the prison, "Can explanations wait until I've got my brother back? There was a misunderstanding and the city guards threw him into the prison." She looked back at me, eyes pleading for my help, "Aragoth didn't do anything wrong, he was just protecting us both. Please, can you please help him? The Aincrad Liberation Army won't let me talk to anyone in charge."

I set a hand on her shoulder, "I'll see what I can do, I was going to have a chat with them anyway. You go with the others to an inn, or somewhere else to wait. It isn't doing any good for you to worry yourself to death out here. I'll see what I can do to help and then Aragoth and I will meet back up with you."

Evangelion looked like she wanted to argue, but Taylaria took her by the arm and muttered something in her ear. The two girls exchanged a look, and Evangelion slumped slightly, "Okay." She muttered, "But please hurry and help my brother."

The two girls lead the way back towards town, and I turned back to the prison after gesturing to Silmaryl and Rathion to follow them. Black walls rose hundreds of feet in front of me, the only way in an immense gate that supposedly took a dozen NPC's to open. I walked forward, waving to the guards as I stepped inside through a small door set into the gate. They nodded back before looking back out. Green players were allowed to come and go as they pleased, it was only criminals that couldn't leave once they were inside.

However, there were ways for criminal players to leave after they got in, they just couldn't leave on their own. I strode calmly down the narrow hallways through the prison. Black stone set with torches at regular intervals, and a guard NPC at each corner. At one point, I passed a pit. A quick glance down showed me everything I needed to know about how the prison avoided escapees. Rather than barred doors that anyone with a decent lockpicking skill could get out of, simple alcoves lined the wall of the pit, going about six feet back into the wall. Inside a few of the alcoves were players with orange cursors floating above their heads. As I passed by, a bridge extended to one of the alcoves, and a player stepped out onto it as their cursor finished fading from light orange to green. A moment later, I was around a corner and back in the hallways.

Eventually, I found the courtyard. The Black Iron Prison doubled as the Guild Hall for the Aincrad Liberation force. It made sense, thinking about it. They acted as guards, NPC's made their meals and there were plenty of bunks in the guard barracks. Not the most comfortable situation, but they prided themselves on their likeness to an army. Besides, compared to some of the places we had had to sleep over the past few months, a log of wood with six inches of cloth padding on it was downright luxurious.

One of the army members approached me, "Can I help you?" The man asked, "If you're looking to apply to the army, the boss' office is across the courtyard and up a few flights of stairs to the left. If you want to eat first, the mess hall is -"

I cut him off with a raised hand, "Sorry, but I'm not looking to apply to the ALF today. I've got a guild of my own to deal with." I glanced around, "Although, I am looking for someone. Black hair, green eyes, uses scythes, should have come in a few days ago, I'm guessing. Not as a member of the army, an orange player. I'd like to talk to him."

The man frowned, "I . . . can't help you with that. Our boss Thinker is busy with a meeting right now, but his second should be free at the moment."

"That's fine, can I find him in the place you mentioned earlier?"

He gave me slightly revised directions, then moved on towards the entrance. I continued across the courtyard and followed the instructions to an aged wooden door flanked by two guards. One of them knocked on the door and called through to the other side, then opened it a moment later. They waved me through and I stepped into what may have been the most organized office I had ever seen. A familiar boy with spiky orange hair was sitting at a desk on the opposite side of the room, filling out some paperwork before glancing up at me.

They looked back down at their form for a moment, then froze, and slowly looked back up at me, "Oh." Kibaou said, "You."

"Me." I agreed, "I'd like to talk to a prisoner, if you don't mind."

An eyebrow rose at my request, "If I don't mind? The last time we had a disagreement it took all of thirty seconds for you to have me at half health. Admittedly, I've gotten stronger since then, but I don't see much reason to give you permission to talk to a prisoner just because you'd 'like to.'"

"He's an acquaintance, I'd like to know what he's doing in here. His sister is very worried about him." I said calmly, "I just want to talk to him, hear his story, and maybe pull him out of here."

Kibaou's other eyebrow rose, "You waltz in here, expecting to walk over my authority in the army and pull a prisoner out of here? I can let you talk to him, letting him out is a different story." He looked back down at his paperwork.

I leaned forward, "I'm quite willing to take responsibility for him for a period of . . . let's say six hours. He can see his sister, they can let me know what happened on neutral ground, and I can bring him back here," I swiped my menu to check the time, "around dinnertime to either check him back in to this particular five-star hotel, or to renew my hold. If something happens, well, Heathcliff asked me to come down here to clean the place up anyway, so I'll knock him out and bring him straight back regardless of how much time has passed."

A long sigh escaped Kibaou, "You do realize what taking responsibility means, right? He steals something, you return it to its owner and bring him back here, conscious or not. The punishment has to fit the crime, and you have to stay here until his cursor goes green again.." The army commander leaned back and opened a file cabinet, "I've got a registry here somewhere, what's your dude's name?"

"Aragoth."

"Hmm . . ." Kibaou flicked through a folder and ran a finger down a list, "Okay, here we g - oh." He looked over at me, "I don't suppose his sister told you what he's in for, did she?"

The look on his face and his tone made my blood run cold for a moment before I got control of myself again, "No," I said, "She didn't. Personally, I'd rather you not tell me either, I intend to hear it from the two of them."

Kibaou sighed, "If you say so. Remember, he screws up, you both stay here until he's free to go. That includes the time he's got on his docket now." He snapped the folder shut and pulled a different trio of forms out from a separate cabinet, "Here you go, fill these out, sign them, I'll give you a stamp. Have him hold on to one and keep a hold of the other, or the system won't let him leave the prison. We'll hold onto one for the records, and to make sure you get him back here on time."

I accepted the forms, and the pencil he offered me, and quickly filled out the forms. I'd gotten plenty of practice from home. A minute later, I handed them back. He filed one away and stamped the other two, "Here you go. He's in cell 518, one of the guards outside will show you the way."

As I got up and turned to leave, he spoke again, "Oh, and Krathys?" I turned back, and he smirked at me, "I still want to fight you again. Not today, but when you bring the kid back. You can keep him without the paperwork if you win."

"Why is that?" I asked, "The goodness of your heart?"

He shrugged, "Look, when we met, I was a dick, I can see that. It was nothing personal, I was still freaking out over this being a death game. Thinker . . . he's been good to me. So when I tell you to be careful with this kid, trust me. I don't want to see your name crossed out on the Monument before we get a rematch. Besides, there are enough names knocked off of that list as it is."

My brow furrowed at the advice, "Uh, thanks. You . . . you do seem a lot cooler than when we met." I waved as I exited the room, "I'll see you around seven for that duel."

After some more twisting hallways, which the guard leading me navigated with practiced ease, we came out onto a narrow walkway, with two pits, similar to the one I'd seen earlier, on either side. Again, most of the alcoves were empty, though I spotted the black haired boy from Dragon's Den in one of them. I flashed him a smile, and he glared sullenly at me. The guard led me about halfway down the walkway before they stopped and swiped the air. A small screen popped up in front of them, and they hit the green button on it. There was a slight tremble in the walkway, and a bridge began to extend across the pit.

When it connected to the alcove across from us, there was a faint movement in the shadowy recess. I stepped onto the bridge, "Aragoth?" I called, "It's me, Krathys. Do you remember me? Evangelion sent me."

There was another brief movement, and then the boy stepped to the edge, "Krathys?"

He looked fairly similar to how he'd been when I last saw him. Black boots, grey leather pants with a black leather breastplate. A coat reached about his knees, and his scruffy black hair almost covered his bright green eyes. My eyes took him in, sweeping from his shoes to his face to try to judge his condition. When they reached just a little above his face, however, I froze.

"Do you know what he's in here for?" Kibaou had asked me.

Well, if the bright red marker floating above Aragoth's head was any indication, I knew now.

()()()()

"You have some explaining to do." Were the first words out of my mouth as I sat down across from Evangelion.

I had messaged the others and told them to find a private room overlooking a back street. When Taylaria replied with an inn, room number, and street, Aragoth and I had gone into stealth and slipped through the Town of Beginnings. Before he hid himself, I made sure to have a good grip on his coat, and didn't let go until we released our stealth to climb up into the room. There were two beds and a rectangular table with half a dozen chairs pulled up around it, likely pilfered from the common room. Evangelion had been sitting on one side, and upon our entrance, Aragoth joined her without saying a word while the other Angels moved their chairs to the other side of the table.

Which led to our situation.

"I just pulled a red player out of Cardinal's prison for you Evangelion, so I hope the two of you are ready with that explanation." I snapped. Okay, a little harsh, but considering what I had come down here to do, this was not on my expected 'to do' list. "So," I continued, in a much calmer voice, "you said there was a misunderstanding earlier. Here's the deal: The two of you tell us what happened. We'll make a decision. Based on that, this evening will go one of two ways."

I held up a finger, "You two can share a dinner together and then we'll escort Aragoth back to the Black Iron Prison. Eva, from there you're free to do as you wish. That's if we don't like your explanation." I raised a second finger, "If we do like your explanation, then this will go differently. We can all enjoy a meal together, Aragoth and I will go back to the Black Iron Prison the way we came here, and then I'll check him out of that particular hotel for good. From there, I unfortunately can't just let you go. I'll be responsible for him at that point, so you two will have to join The Scarlet Angels."

Evangelion frowned and opened her mouth, but Taylaria beat her to it, "I know you might not like it, Eva," the archer said, "but look at it this way. Cardinal won't let you take Aragoth out of prison yourself, you need a responsibility form for that. The army controls those, and they won't give it to the sister of a murderer. They just can't trust your judgement here." She reached over and touched Evangelion's hand, "But while we can get Aragoth out of prison, the only way for us to keep him out of it is if he stays with us. More accurately, with Krathys. It isn't great, but it's the only way that NPC guards won't attack him on sight."

Aragoth set his hand on Evangelion's shoulder, "She's right, Eva. Besides, we thought being on our own was the way to go, but if we'd had a group, we might not be in this mess in the first place." His eyes met mine, "It's my call, in the end. I trust them."

"Excellent!" I clapped my hands and set my elbows on the table, "So, who wants to start? Or should we order room service? I could eat."

Ten minutes later, there was a platter of pork and bread with a massive bowl of salad sitting on the table. We took a moment to dish up, and I waved at the siblings to begin, "whenever you're ready."

Aragoth had fallen on the food like a man possessed, so Evangelion decided to start, "We were on a hunting quest. Simple enough job, just retrieving an herb from the valley on the east side of the ninth floor. We weren't expecting any trouble, and we didn't run into anything we couldn't handle. Someone else had partied up with us for the quest, a lot like how we joined you guys - they told us that they needed the money and were decent fighters. We'd gotten the herb and were about halfway back to town when they got us lost. They'd bought mapping data from an info broker, so they were leading the way, but eventually we ended up pretty deep in the forest."

Aragoth suddenly pushed his plate away, catching our attention as he joined in, "They told us that they were going to climb up to try and find their bearings. But almost as soon as they were up the tree, a gang of orange players swarmed us. During the fight, we managed to knock a couple of them out, but then the player that had joined us for the quest came back down. At first it was kind of a relief, we thought they were going to help, but . . . then they attacked Eva." The boy glanced guiltily at his sister as she looked down into her lap, "Since he was green, she didn't really try to fight back, neither of us wanted an orange cursor. But they were actually trying to hurt her, and while she was trying to dodge one of his attacks, a root tripped her up, and the guy's sword was about to take her head off." He shook his head, "I only meant to take his legs out, Eva's life was worth a few days orange. But I panicked and triggered the wrong skill, and - and I," He glanced up towards the red crystal hanging above his head before looking back to his lap and finishing in a harsh whisper, "I cut him in two."

The two fell silent, and I stared across the table at Aragoth. He was rocking back and forth in his chair, and his shoulders were shaking. "Everyone wait outside," I said softly. "Eva, go with them. Aragoth, you stay."

"Krathys, are you-"

"Yes, Rathion. I'm sure. Aragoth and I need to have a talk." I looked at the boy before reaching over to ruffle his hair, "don't worry about it, we just need to have a private chat before I can make up my mind. While you guys are out there, you should come to a decision yourselves." I smiled at him, "Go on kiddo."

Grumbling about my messing up his hair, Rathion walked out with the rest of the group. Once the door shut, I raised my voice, "Taylaria, I know you have Listening as a skill. If you use it until I come out of here, I'm going to leave you in the Black Iron Prison when I go back and find a reason for them to keep you there."

There was no reply, and I went over what I had just said, winced, and looked at Aragoth, "That was a bit harsh, wasn't it?"

He nodded, "A bit, yeah."

I walked over to the door, opened it, saw Taylaria staring at me in shock, and smiled slightly, "Sorry, that was poorly said, I won't actually do that. But seriously, no listening in on this conversation, please."

Once the door was shut, and I was seated at the table across from Aragoth again, I simply sat there and watched him for several minutes, taking in his posture, looking for tells on his emotional state. What I saw told me a lot. Discomfort, shame, regret, undoubtedly from having to relive his own version of 'The Night.'

Eventually, he snapped. "Well?" He asked, "What are you going to do with me? That's all that happened, and that's how it happened, so either throw me back in prison or take me with you. Like Taylaria said, Eva can't keep me out of prison and I don't know anyone else here well enough for them to stick their neck out for me. I don't even know why you're sticking your neck out for me, we did one quest together on-"

I reached across the table and pressed a finger to his lips to shut him up. He looked astonished that I had actually done that, and I was slightly astonished that it had worked so well. With him thoroughly silent, I leaned back again, "You're right, we did do a quest together. At one point during that quest, we stopped in a clearing for fifteen minutes or so to rest, remember?"

Aragoth nodded slowly, "You and Taylaria went off to scout, and your taller blonde friend was eyeing me up like New Year's dinner."

A laugh escaped me at the description, "Yeah, Silmaryl does that when he likes a guy. But that's not why I brought it up." I laced my fingers together and leaned back, then looked out the window, "Taylaria and I didn't go scout. We ran off because I couldn't stay in that clearing without throwing up from the memory it has." Aragoth looked confused, so I elaborated, "I killed someone just outside that clearing, Aragoth. To keep them from killing Taylaria."

My eyes returned to him as his breath caught, and I watched his eyes flick up to my cursor, "He was a criminal player, so my cursor didn't change. But it was a lot like you. I was injured, Taylaria was pinned, and I just reacted. When I looked back, his hood had fallen down. He . . . couldn't have been any older than me, and his eyes just . . . stared." My eyes shut and my fingers tightened around my knuckles until both started to hurt. I released my hands and looked at him again, "I know what it's like to have a life on your conscience, Aragoth. Since we parted ways, Diavel helped lessen the weight on my shoulders to the point that I don't wake up screaming any longer. Now, I want to help you."

Tension eased out of his frame, "So . . ." he said softly, "you're not going to leave me in prison then?"

"No." I said, "I'm not. But I can't go easy on you, Aragoth. Not too easy, at least, I will do my best to help. The Scarlet Angels came off of the Front Lines to hunt down criminal players. You'll have to fight other people again, and you might have to kill again. I'll do my best to make sure you don't, but if it comes down to it, and you have to choose between one of our lives and the life of another person, can you make that choice without freezing?"

For a long moment, Aragoth was silent, staring at his lap. Then, his eyes rose to meet mine, "Yes." He said, "I can make that choice."

His eyes didn't waver as he spoke, and I nodded, "Good." I stood and extended a hand to him, "Well then, let's go speak to the others, shall we?"

Aragoth accepted the hand, "Yeah."

The others were waiting on the other side of the hall when we stepped out of the room. One by one, they nodded to me, and I turned around to look at Aragoth, "Congrats, looks like you pass. So, Aragoth, Evangelion, Welcome to The Scarlet Angels."

()()()()

The gates of the Black Iron Prison rose in front of us again, as imposing as they had been a few hours ago. Behind me, I heard Aragoth's breath catch. I glanced back and smiled as I saw Rathion set a hand on the boy's arm and murmur a few words of encouragement. Aragoth swallowed hard, and we continued into the prison. We had attracted a few looks on our way back, but a hand on our weapons and grouping around Aragoth had staved off any potential vigilantes.

Inside the prison, a group of guards escorted us back to the courtyard, where Kibaou was waiting in a sparring ring, with dark grey armor, a one handed longsword in one hand and a buckler on his other arm. I imagined how I looked in comparison, what with my scarlet trenchcoat and gold trimmed red leather armor. He was probably the crowd favorite, in his plate mail and shield. Oh well, I had taken down tanks on my own before.

The rest of the Angels stopped at the edge of the ring, and I continued until I was just across the ring from him, "Kibaou."

He nodded to me, "Krathys." His gaze moved behind me, probably to Aragoth, before returning to me, "I take it you intend to keep him?"

"I do." I replied evenly, "The green player Aragoth was forced to kill lured him and his sister into an ambush and was attacking her. If he hadn't intervened, she would have lost her head. He could have avenged her without going red, but that's little compensation for losing a sibling, wouldn't you say?"

Kibaou looked back at Aragoth, "And you believe them?"

"I like to think I can spot a liar, and . . . let's just say I understand him better than some. So yes, I believe him. Now then," my sword rasped against its sheath as I drew it, "I believe you wanted to duel me?"

He nodded and swiped at his menu. A moment later, the challenge screen appeared in front of me, and I selected half-loss. Kibaou's buckler rose and he brought his sword up at his side, bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet as he waited for the timer to finish. I dropped into my own stance, right leg extended, weight on my left leg, left hand near my head with my palm facing out and my sword arm extended over my leg, tip of my blade facing Kibaou.

When the timer hit zero, neither of us moved for the first moment. I remembered my own advice to him, letting an attacker come at him when he had a shield, and from the smirk on his face, he remembered it too. Well then, if he wasn't going to come at me, I would have to go to him.

My weight shifted for no more than a moment before I launched myself forward, kicking up a cloud of sand where I had previously been standing. I closed the distance between us in a heartbeat, and my sword cut the air, aiming for Kibaou's throat. For a moment it looked like it would actually make contact, before he shifted just barely, seeming to merely twitch before his shield was between him and my weapon. There was a gleam in the corner of my vision, and I jumped as his sword slashed through the space I had previously been occupying. I came down behind him and drove a fist into the space between his shoulder blades. There was a loud clang as the black gauntlet encasing my left hand collided with his armor, and Kibaou staggered forwards before twisting and hacking at me again.

I dropped to the ground and spun with a leg extended, kicking up a cloud of dust as I aimed an axe kick at his knee. He jumped over the kick and came down shield first, leaving a crater where my head had been as I rolled away. Before I could recover, Kibaou was on top of me, raising his sword to pin me to the ground.

Rather than let that happen, I continued the roll, my left hand closing into a fist as I kicked off of the ground to flip back into a standing position. As I righted myself, the first thing I saw was Kibaou's shield before I was thrown across the ring, only coming to a stop when I slammed against someone's legs. I didn't bother looking to see who I had knocked over, instead, I hopped back up, jumped to use their chest as a springboard, and literally launched myself back at Kibaou.

A last minute twist saw me shoot by my opponent, weapon throwing sparks from his shield. As I passed by, I gave him a momentary wink, enjoyed the look of confusion on his face, and opened my left hand.

Then I was past him, flipping midair before landing in a crouch and a spray of sand. Behind me, Kibaou cursed like a sailor with a creativity that I took notes on and wiped at his eyes in an attempt to dislodge the sand I had grabbed earlier. Okay, so it was underhanded, but whatever. I had a skill called Assassin's Blade, if that wasn't permission to be dastardly, I didn't know what was.

Before he had a chance to recover his sight, I reversed my grip on my sword, put my weight on my rear leg, and placed my left hand over the pommel. A dull red glow lit my weapon and the world turned grey as I selected the pattern of my attacks. The only color were the three red lines that traced over Kibaou, one around the bicep of his shield arm, the second and third making an X across his chest. As soon as I decided on the final strike, the world blurred as color returned and I rushed forwards, spun, and brought my sword down on Kibaou's left bicep.

The screech of metal shearing through metal was rather painful to my ears, but the bright red line traced through Kibaou's arm made it worth it, and his arm dropped to the ground. Blind and shieldless, Kibaou was wide open for the rest of my attack, and I made the strikes count, before he could jump away and interrupt the sword skill.

With my combo complete, I jumped away and sheathed my sword. When no bell sounded, I glanced over at the screen. Kibaou's health had dropped a lot, a little over three quarters of the way to half. My jaw dropped, and I looked back at Kibaou, "How absurd is your vitality? Three attacks like that would have probably killed me!"

Kibaou smirked, and before I realized my mistake, he was charging me. Pain flared in my side as I failed to move quite far enough, and Kibaou jumped back before he stabbed his sword in the ground to properly wipe at his eyes. When he opened them, he jumped back in surprise. I smiled at him and tapped his own sword against his collarbone, having tossed mine to Silmaryl before grabbing Kibaou's while the man cleared his vision, "Care to concede?"

Missing an arm and with his own sword pressed up against his neck, Kibaou sighed, "Man, I thought I would beat you that time. The sand was a cheap trick."

I shrugged, "Yeah, well, I don't like fighting fair. To be honest, I'm not sure I would have beaten you without that." I jerked a thumb towards the duel screen, "As you can see, I try to avoid being hit in the first place rather than tanking through hits."

He glanced over at the screen, and chuckled in amusement, "Clearly."

A glancing blow to my side had taken more than a quarter of my health. Had he hit me directly, I would likely have lost the duel. It put into perspective just how much he must have focused on his vitality stat, that three heavy blows to him had been matched by one near miss to me.

"So," I tapped his sword against his collar again, "Concede? Please? I'd hate to have to stab you with your own sword."

Kibaou chuckled slightly before raising his good hand above his head, "I concede."

The match bell dinged, and I reversed my grip on his sword as our health was refilled and his arm was restored. He snapped his fingers, and one of the players watching the fight hurried over with a single sheet of paper and a pen. Kibaou took both, and using the player's shield as a table, scrawled his name onto a line near the bottom. The player shifted to offer it to me, and Kibaou handed me the pencil, "Sign at the bottom and the kid is all yours, no strings attached."

I signed my name with a flourish and tossed the pen back to him before turning on my heel, "Nice fight there, Kibaou. You've gotten a lot better since I thrashed you before Ilfang. Give it a few more months and you might start winning. Maybe. I don't intend to get rusty."

Kibaou laughed, "Oh, I think I've been handed my rear enough by you, Krathys. But I'll keep it in mind."

()()()()

Aragoth safe from further imprisonment, we headed to meet Argo. We found the Rat lounging under a tree in the marketplace, scribbling in her notebook until she looked up as we drew near. She smiled lazily at me, "Well, Krathys, what brings you to me today?"

"What usually brings us together, Argo? I want information." I sat down in front of her and pulled a small table and tea set out of my inventory, "What have you heard about the Player Killers from January?"

A frown flickered across Argo's face as she accepted a cup, "Not nearly enough as you might want. Why do you ask?" She glanced around, "What a shame, you didn't properly introduce me to the rest of our guild. I didn't meet everyone when we were broken out of prison, people were too busy roping the robbers together."

I smiled, "My apologies. You know Rathion and Taylaria, I believe. The blonde one is Silmaryl, a friend from IRL."

She nodded, "I know him. Sent him your direction, remember?"

"Right," I nodded slightly, "Slipped my mind. The other two are Evangelion and Aragoth."

Argo nodded slightly as she looked over the two. Without even the slightest change in facial expression, she threw her tea over my shoulder and slipped around the tree she had been leaning against, claws in her hands, "I didn't realize that you were keeping the company of murderers, Krathys. Pick him up recently?"

"If you're that quick to jump to conclusions, Argo, we're going to have a problem." Silmaryl glared at the Rat, before giving a quick nod in Aragoth's direction, "We can't just judge people because of their cursor."

The Rat poked her head out from behind her tree, "Umm, actually, we can. That's . . . kind of the point of the different colors, isn't it? Forgive me for seeing a Red Player and assuming they've killed someone. I'll contact the system administrators and let them know that Cardinal is assigning red cursors for no reason."

I held out a hand to restrain Silmaryl, "Relax, Mary. It's going to happen regardless of whether we want it to or not. I think that a little explanation would be fine."

Evangelion stepped forward, "Aragoth was just protecting me. Ideally we could have waited until the player attacking me actually hit me, but the first attack that would have gotten through would have decapitated me. He didn't have a choice."

Argo eyed Aragoth suspiciously, "If you say so." She came back around the tree and sat down again, "I take it that's one of those bits of information that you don't want me selling?" After a final glance at him, she added, "Sorry about the teacup. I didn't mean to hit you in the eye."

I looked over at Aragoth, "It's your call."

Aragoth was busy pulling an ice cube from his inventory before setting it to his eye,, "I'd rather not have everyone in Aincrad know me for being a red player. It's nice to have a chance to explain myself before being judged."

The info broker rubbed the back of her head, "Sheesh, give a girl a break. Anyway," she took another cup from the table and poured herself a new drink, "I don't have any information that would help you hunt down criminal players, Krathys. I'm sorry to tell you that, but it's true, they've kept their heads down ever since you ganked one of them." I stiffened, and she glanced up from her drink, then around at the other Angels, "What, was that a secret? I hear about killer players, you guys go off into the woods, get attacked - that much is common knowledge by now - and when you leave the woods there's one less player killer and Krathys is acting weird? Am I the only one to have noticed that? I don't even travel with you guys!"

"Heathcliff." I muttered. Argo shrugged, but didn't answer, so I turned to look back at the Angels, "Yeah, it's true. Taylaria and Diavel knew about it, but I didn't want you guys to worry. I'm fine," I looked back at Argo, "by the way. So, do you have anything else or is that the extent of your information?"

She nodded, "I'm afraid that's about it. Yes, Heathcliff may have come to me about the attack a few days ago, but I didn't piece together who killed whom until after I joined you guys. He may suspect, but he doesn't have any proof. Regardless," she drained her drink and reached for the pot again, "it doesn't really matter. It is nice to know that I have reliable guards against any threat, should I need them." Either she didn't notice or simply didn't comment on my sudden tension at her implication. She leaned back, "Is there anything else I can help you with? I'd feel awfully sorry if the first time my new guild came to me I couldn't help them out."

Taylaria sat down next to me, "We were actually thinking about getting into the market for a guild hall. Know of any cheap ones that are decently sized?"

Argo rubbed her chin for a moment, "Well, NPC rumor has it that there's a quest on the fifteenth floor that has a castle reward somehow involved. Otherwise, there are a few houses around the Town of Beginnings and the other towns in Aincrad, but I don't know what our budget is, so I can't tell you what's in the right price range."

I swiped at my menu, "Where's the quest located? It's worth looking into if a free castle is involved."

The Rat waited until I sent 250 col her way before speaking, "I know I said you guys got discounts, but don't try to stiff me." She did accept the trade though, "Geradi Lake on the fifteenth floor. For another three hundred col I can tell you who the competition is and when the quest is supposed to open up." When I sent the money through, she smiled lazily, "Thank you for your patronage. The quest opens in two weeks. As for your competition, it's someone you're very familiar with. You made a Cardinal Agreement with him yesterday, Krathys. I know the terms, by the way thanks for not telling me yourself. Cardinal sent me a copy, which I assume everyone else has as well. Nice negotiation, though. Couldn't have gotten a much better deal myself."

Argo stood and brushed herself off, "Well then, it's been fun talking, but if you don't mind, I have appointments to keep. Any last minute requests before I leave, aside from leaving out the particulars of our new company?"

A slight growl sounded behind me, and Argo looked over at Silmaryl as he glared and dropped a hand to his whip, "Hmm. If you're going for intimidation, drop the glare, you look like someone stepped on your puppy more than you want to murder me. Also," she suddenly slipped into what definitely counted as a violation of personal space, and set one of her claws against his jugular, "the whip is less effective when it would be easy for me to stab you in such a close range. My advice, get some gauntlets and a different shirt, pale green doesn't suit you. Maybe a red shirt, like Krathys. Or Aragoth's black, he might be able to pass himself off as Kirito if he got a sword. But that green . . . sorry, not really making you scary."

She started to walk away, "Two weeks from tomorrow, Geradi Lake on the Fifteenth floor. Don't let the Knights of Blood have our house, will you?"

()()()()

15th Floor, Eastern shore of Geradi Lake, April 4th, 2023

The six of us lounged happily in the chairs provided to us by our gracious host, one Earl E. Roy. Argo's information had told us to be in the castle on this day, and the Earl had been happy to set us up in some spare rooms in exchange for dealing with an infestation of rodent mobs in his cellars. We had beaten Heathcliff here, thankfully, and so the Knights of Blood were camping out on the lake shore, waiting for a quest trigger. Servants were hurrying to and fro, murmuring between themselves about bandit activity that had been slowly moving around the lake, pirates on the lake moving towards the castle, and an alliance between these two forces and a mysterious figure who had a dark history with the Earl.

As soon as I had started hearing these rumors, it was fairly obvious what the likely quest was going to be. So, we needed to stick close to the Earl. Therefore, when he and his men gathered for a hunting trip in the main courtyard, the Angels came along. Diavel was still up on the front, Argo had made good on her word to give us some good PR, and a party of three had come in, expressed a desire to fight on the front lines, and so we sent them up to Diavel after helping them grind to an appropriate level for a week in the surrounding area. Our knight would do the rest.

Earl Roy grinned as we approached, "Ah, My Lord Krathys! My men and I were just about to go on a hunt, would you care to join us?"

I smiled. The Earl was a jovial fellow, slightly overweight, but decent with a sword and crossbow. Dull brown hair curled around his temple, as he made no attempt to cover the bald patch atop his head. He had no heirs, according to the NPC's his wife had died many years ago and he had never quite gotten over it. So, it was a solid strategy to stick close to him and make him like us - maybe him suffering an unfortunate accident would be what lead to whoever he liked inheriting the castle.

"Of course we will join you, My Lord." I replied smoothly, giving him a small bow, "You have been a most gracious host to us, it would be an honor to hunt with such a noble man."

"Laying it on a bit thick Krathys?" Taylaria muttered, "I know we need him to like us but you're kissing his ass a bit too thoroughly."

Earl Roy laughed, "Oh, it is nothing! It's been some time since we've had such pleasant company at the Castello di Osservatori! Your presence has been most welcome, are you sure that you won't reconsider signing on as knights in my service? You and your companions have shown that you are more than capable."

I laughed lightly, "Oh, you do us honor, Lord Roy. But I'm afraid our path will lead us away soon, we have our own quarry that has hidden from us long enough."

"Ah." The Earl looked genuinely disappointed, "Well, I can understand that. Still, it is not often that mercenaries of your caliber stay with us. If you find yourself in the area in the future, you are always welcome to stay and rest with us. Now then!" He turned to the gate, a formidable structure holding a wooden gate fifteen feet high at least, ten inches of solid wood with a portcullis made from a steel and quicksilver alloy just on the other side. Lord Roy gestured to a man at a window to the gatehouse, and a moment later, the gate shuddered and opened inward. The Earl turned back to us, "Now, today we're hunting an Organskyrey, a blind creature that has nasty habits of snatching up unfortunate passerby. We tracked it to its lair yesterday, and so today we'll take it down. No horses though, they're not trained to move quietly enough to avoid alerting the beast, so we'll all be on foot sadly enough."

He looked genuinely disappointed. Though, if I were used to carriages and horse rides everywhere, I would be too. A moment later, he stiffened, "Oh, dear me, I'm afraid that I have some other matters that slipped my mind until just now. Bryce!" He called to the captain of his guard, "I'll be unable to accompany you today, I'm afraid. However, this beast must be put down before it makes a meal of any more travellers! I'll not have it hunting on my land. Therefore, I put my faith in you that you will not fail to eradicate this threat to the people."

The captain saluted, "Yes My Lord!"

As the Earl made his way back into the castle, the hunting party headed out, weapons in hand. If this . . . thing - I'd been sorely tempted to tell the Earl 'gesundheit' when he'd said its name - wanted helpless travellers for dinner, we sure as Hell wouldn't give it any more.

We headed out with the hunting party, a total of fifteen fighters. The Angels all had high stealth, as a result of sitting hidden in player marketplaces and watching everyone go by and not noticing us. Evangelion and Aragoth's skills were a bit lower, as they were about five levels behind us, but given a few more weeks I was sure that they would be in good shape.

Outside of the castle was the town of Geradi, named after the lake behind the castle. Like the castle, the town had a large wall surrounding it, about ten yards high. The first few hundred yards out from the walls was clear cut, a field with grass trimmed to prevent any possibility of possible invaders sneaking up through a forest.

After the clear section however, the forest became dense and oppressive. The fifteenth floor was primarily composed of a single open valley, with powerful rivers and huge lakes marking the nearly 450 square mile area, it was one of the largest floors in all of Aincrad. Most of the floor was peaceful, mobs were relatively scarce everywhere and nonexistent within half a mile of the roads. However, that made people overlook the danger. While it was true that mobs were scarce and hunting trips were long, the mobs that were on this floor were composed almost entirely of elite monsters and dungeons that became labyrinths, twisting tunnels through the mountains that ringed the floor. Still, their scarcity did make Dialmar a good, safe floor to live on.

It was into one such dungeon to which we were planning to go today. Through the dense forest. Full of plants like stinging nettle and poison oak. And, as we learned about an hour into our hunt, bees. These weren't like the monstrous wasps that we fought on the first floor, oh no. They had all of one health and could only deal one damage each, but they stung like real bees, were the miniscule size of real bees, and came in swarms. Like real bees.

I swatted one away just before it reached my face, "I swear, Kayaba Akihiko must be trying to make us suffer. That was the fifth swarm we've found in this place, isn't there any way for us to get them to go away?"

The captain of the guard was swatting away bees of his own, "Not really. There are certain potions that we could use to drive them off, but the ingredients aren't found here, and it smells worse than these little things hurt. I'd say we're lucky actually, the bees make enough noise that we should be able to mask our approach from the Organskyrey if we're quiet enough."

"Gesundheit." I heard one of the other angels mutter, and allowed myself a brief smile.

My smile disappeared when another bee tried to fly in my mouth.

"Wait a moment."

The hunting party turned to look at Taylaria, who had her head cocked and a hand cupped around her ear. After a moment, she turned and pointed back down the trail we had cut through the underbrush, "I hear hoofbeats, maybe a hundred yards behind us. A lot of horses."

Bryce frowned, "That's odd, Lord Roy ordered us not to use horses. Who could it be?"

A moment later, we had our answer as a man wearing the colors of the Earl's household galloped into view, leading a small pack of horses. Bryce moved to meet him, and the two men conversed quietly. I exchanged looks with Taylaria, and we put our listening skills to good use as the color drained from Bryce's face.

The new arrival had obviously ridden hard to reach us, as he slumped in the saddle while delivering his message, "Captain Bryce. The Castello di Osservatorio is under attack by bandits from the land and pirates from the sea. Our lord's enemies have made their move, with you out of the castle. Earl Roy is ordering your return."

Taylaria and I relayed the message to the Angels as Bryce moved back to speak to the hunting party, "We're going back ahead of schedule." He said, his tone firm, "Everyone, grab a horse, we're riding hard back to the Castello. When we get back, be ready for battle."

As the quest marker in the corner of our vision changed, Bryce came to us, "Lord Krathys, I apologize, but I must ask for your help in protecting my Lord. Will you help us?"

Recognizing a quest hook when I saw one, I nodded immediately, "Of course Captain Bryce. You can count on us."

The ride back was bumpy, terrifying, and absolutely exhilarating. It also took us a mere fraction of the time to return to the Castle, which was a good thing, because when we got there, it was pretty clear that there were some pretty major problems. At a glance, there were almost a hundred bandits surrounding the walls of the castle, throwing up ladders and grappling hooks as a dozen or so figures clad in red and white dashed along the top of the walls throwing the attackers back down. I shaded my eyes to get a better look at the defenders and let out a series of fluent curses, "Heathcliff beat us here. Angels, let's go! Our house has a new infestation to take care of."

The messenger reined in next to us, "Captain Bryce plans to cut through the enemy's ranks on their eastern flank, where they are weakest. However, some of the enemy may have already made it into the castle, he would like you to get over the wall and accompany his lordship to a safe location as swiftly as you can."

I nodded, "We'll do our best."

We left our horses behind and made a beeline for the wall of the castle, slipping into stealth as we went and moving through the lines of bandits, careful not to touch one and alert the entire force. When we reached the wall, we skirted along it until we reached the western town, and didn't let our hiding drop until we were around the tower and out of sight of most of the attackers. Once we were all accounted for, I looked at Aragoth, "You were good at strategy when we needed to stop that horde of drakes from destroying the cottage. What do you suggest we do here? How can we get in?"

Aragoth frowned for a moment, surveying the wall, "The wall itself is too high to jump over, the guards at the top are unlikely to let us climb up, and if we got boosts to the top of the wall, they would knock us back down." He turned to the tower, "If we tried to get in through one of the tower windows, they would probably hear us break the window and we would have the same problem. So . . ." he looked down at the main building of the castle, and the numerous windows dotting its sides, "We'll have to head for the outer wall of the main keep and hope for the best when we pick a window. Eva, we'll have Rathion give you a boost up, find something to tie a rope onto and let the rest of us in. You've got enough?"

The girl grinned, "Of course! It's a sin to go adventuring without rope, who doesn't know that?"

I exchanged looks with Rathion and Taylaria. Then we looked down at the ground and mumbled something about not expecting to need it. Aragoth looked at us as if we'd grown several random appendages, "You guys went adventuring without rope? It's one of the single most important items you can have! Why do you think all of the NPC's sell it? All of them do. Even the apothecaries and restaurants have rope if you ask them for it! What's wrong with you people?!"

Evangelion pulled her brother away to calm him down - he did a lot of gesturing at us and she did a lot of nodding, so I assumed that he was calling us dumbasses of the highest order - while we moved down to the main castle. When we reached a window that Rathion was confident he could boost her to, the girl took a dozen steps away before sprinting at him. He crouched to use his shield as a springboard, and Eva was sent flying. There was a crash and the sound of breaking glass, and a minute later, the end of a rope came sailing out the window.

Once we were inside the castle, we headed for the main hall. It was at the center of the Keep, so it was a safe bet that Roy was hiding there. We weren't wrong, as we neared the door I could hear muted conversation coming from within. I balled a fist and pounded on the door, "Earl Roy! Sir, it's Krathys, Bryce sent me to ensure your protection!"

"H-how do I know that?" Came the Earl's panicked reply, "Forgive me for suspecting you Krathys, but just after you leave, my castle was attacked. All things considered you are a stranger, how can I-"

He was cut off by the sound of a massive explosion, and then there were shouts sounding through the hall. I slammed a shoulder against the door in an attempt to open it, and the heavy wood complied, giving us a chance to move into the main hall. We stopped short just over the threshold. What we saw made me gag, and Taylaria covered Rathion's eyes.

There was a tunnel blasted through the hall to the wall of the Keep facing the lake. On the far end of that tunnel was a ship that had no right to a cannon as large as the one it was pointing at us. On our end, was chaos. The bodies of several NPC's had been torn to shreds and scattered throughout the hall. My guess was that the cannon had fired a projectile that acted as a bunker missile, plowing through to its destination before exploding. In its wake had come a swarm of pirates led by one with a trenchcoat that rivalled my own and a hat that would have made the pirate captains of old weep with envy, standing on a pile of rubble as he directed his men to search for something. Their markers showed that aside from the captain, they were all around level twenty three, three levels below Eva and Aragoth, eight levels below the rest of us. The captain, on the other hand, was the same level as I was, though thankfully not an elite according to his healthbar. I drew my sword - I wasn't sure where Lord Roy was, but since the reward for this quest was theoretically his castle and the room he'd been in had just exploded, I chose not to think about it. A few of the pirates noticed us, and I issued orders.

"Taylaria, you know the drill. Find a high point and snipe them from it. If one takes aim at you with anything, you put it down. Aside from that, cover our backs. Rathion, you're with Silmaryl. Keep him covered while he keeps us healthy. Silmaryl, you have my permission to give the pirates a practical lesson in how to blow things up. Aragoth, Evangelion, work together to help Rathion and cover Taylaria. If a Pirate gets within ten feet of her, break them. If one gets past Rathion, same thing. I'll take care of their commander."

The party gave varying confirmations, and Taylaria ran for an as of yet intact statue on the edge of the hall. The rest of them grouped together behind me as I stepped forward, then raised my voice to call the captain.

"I take it you're the commander of these men?" I yelled, rolling my shoulders a bit, "Because I'm afraid that we're going to have to kill you all."

There was a moment's pause, and then the Pirate Captain threw his head back, laughing hard, "Ah, boy, ye be a little out of yer area o' expertise dealin' with us. Go home to yer mother and let the menfolk die at our hands."

I frowned, "Well that was plain discourteous. I challenge you to single combat. Anything goes as long as your men don't interfere. Your crew can fight my companions while we go at it, if they want. I have faith that they shouldn't be too seriously hurt."

He frowned as well, and came down from the pile of rubble he'd been standing on, drawing a cutlass as he did so, "You think this is a good idea, boy? Challenging a Pirate Captain and telling him that 'anything goes'? You may not have met many pirates lad, but any of us could tell ye, that's a bad idea." The captain didn't stop until he was only a few yards away, and I resisted the urge to wrinkle my nose at the smell of rum coming from him, "Well, lad, if it's a fight you want," he lunged forward without missing a beat, "it's a fight you're gonna get!"

Before his sword could come within a foot of me, I pivoted to the side and raised my own sword - a straight silver blade with a pair of golden wings forming the crossguard - in a parry. The captain's blade flashed past my face, but his free arm slammed into my throat as he went by. Around us, there was a roar as the dozen men he'd brought with him through the new tunnel charged my guild, and the players answered with a similar shout. I jumped back in an attempt to gain a moment to catch my breath, and the captain straightened from his lunge, "What's wrong, boy? Don't tell me that's all you have."

I cleared my throat and straightened as well, "Of course not." My sword came up in front of me as I saluted my opponent, "Don't worry. I'll give you a fight." I shifted slightly, my sword arm crossing my body and my right hand near my left hip with my sword pointed to the captain. As my sword moved, so did my left hand, encased in a dull steel gauntlet, coming to the center of my chest with pointer and middle fingers extended to the sky.

He raised an eyebrow, "A strange stance, I'll give you that. But a weird stance isn't gonna be enough to save you here, lad."

"I'm aware." I said as my sword turned blue, "but don't worry about me. All you need to worry about is yourself." Before he could register the remark, I had already sprinted forward, and past him, sword extended as three bright red lines appeared on his upper torso. He clutched his chest and stumbled for a moment before he turned and raised his blade, then brought it down at me.

For a moment, I thought the cooldown from my skill was going to get me killed. Just before impact however, movement returned to my limbs, and I rolled away, turning a blow that would have bisected me into one that glanced my back. It was painful, and I instantly regretted choosing to roll instead of sidestep, but it was better than dying. As I came up from my dodge, I twisted and slashed at the captain, tearing a long gash in his coat and leaving a wound on his arm.

We disengaged for a moment to catch our breath. I glanced first at my healthbar, then at his. I was in better condition than he was, having only taken glancing blows, but I had still lost 30% of my health. He was swaying slightly, his health just below 50% from my sword strike, but he showed no sign of surrendering. The two of us circled each other, occasionally darting out with quick strikes to test each others defenses, but stayed at arms length. He chuckled, "I'll admit lad, you're a wee bit better than I expected you to be. I suppose the world is still full o' surprises." His sword flickered out, and I shifted mine slightly to parry it, "You've convinced me, boy. When we leave here today, I'll sail the rest o' this world and investigate its every mystery. There won't be a single thing that I'll have left to learn from it by the time I lay on my deathbed."

"Your deathbed is pretty close." I said dryly, feinting for his left shoulder before I made a swipe at his right knee. My attack screeched off of his sword as I stepped back to avoid a counter, "Still, I expect that there are a couple of lessons that you can learn from your last fight." I lashed out with another feint. This time, he bought it, and my palm strike to his left elbow made contact with the sickening *crack* of breaking bone. He jumped back, and I raised my sword in a salute once more, "Luceo Non Uro."

With that, we closed the distance between us, and began our last dance. Sparks flew from our blades and our feet kicked up dust as we moved, surrounding us in a hazy cloud. He laughed loudly, "That's it boy! Give this old man the last fight you're offerin' him!"

His sword cut open my cheek, and I responded by stabbing the shoulder of his uninjured arm. We traded blows again and again, each time whittling down our health. His reflexes slowed slightly as the fight progressed, as did mine. We grew weary from the fight, but our eyes stayed sharp, looking for openings.

Gradually, it became clear that to win, I was going to have to take a gamble. I risked a glance at my healthbar - just above twenty five percent. He wasn't as strong as Kibaou, I had learned that already - I ducked underneath his latest attack and countered with a slash at his left knee - or as fast as I was, I had learned that too. But his health was high. A gamble in this fight would mean heavy damage, and if I didn't make the opportunity count, I was a dead man.

But, it was my best shot. The Pirate Captain came at me with an overhead strike, and I raised my left arm to deflect the blow off of my gauntlet. As the attack passed, my arm fell back into its prior position, except ever so slightly further from my body than it had been previously. Instantly, the Captain took advantage of the opening, and the tip of his sword closed the gap between it and me frighteningly quickly.

Just before impact, I shifted. Not enough to escape the attack, but enough so that the blade punched through my left shoulder instead of my neck. Immediately, I tightened the muscles around the blade. It hurt like Hell, but it kept his sword pinned for just a moment. That moment was all I needed to bring my sword up and slam it into his chest.

The Captain slowly released his sword and staggered back, "Aye . . . there's a good lad. Thank ye . . . for givin' me one last fight . . . that I could call a joy." He collapsed to the ground, and I fell to my knees before I yanked the sword from my shoulder and downed a couple of healing potions. From the roof, I could hear the sound of cannonfire as the castle's defenses were put into action, and at the far end of the tunnel the pirate ship began to collapse and sink into the lake.

Footsteps came up, and suddenly Taylaria was very much in my face, "Krathys? Are you okay? Talk to us!"

A hand caught her shoulder and dragged her back, "His HP bar says he's okay, he's okay." Aragoth said softly, "But grabbing his injuries isn't going to help him any." He released her shoulder and touched his upper arm where a bright red line revealed an injury of his own, "We'll need some healing potions, and then we should find Roy. If he's alive, fine. If not, finding him is still our objective." He twirled his scythe with a grace that belied its size before he slung it across his back, "Silmaryl, you're the alchemist. How many potions do you have?"

The blond opened his inventory and pulled out a bag roughly the size of his head, bulging with vials, "Not entirely sure. But plenty." He started passing them out, and we downed the bitter red liquid until we were all at full health.

I gave a groan of relief as my injuries closed up, "For an old guy, he was fast enough to try to give me death by a thousand cuts." I looked down at myself and winced, suddenly thankful that aside from my shoulder and the back wound I'd sustained early on, the other seven injuries were tiny, no longer than my finger and incredibly shallow. "Now then," I said, standing back up, "Let's find that Lord, shall we?"

()()()()

We eventually found Earl Roy laying under a slab of stone that in real life would have pulverized his ribcage and every vital organ within. Suffice to say, he was rather dead when we hauled him out from under the rock. As the stone crashed back down, Bryce came in through the door, one arm roughly bandaged, the other intact. When he saw Roy, and the devastation caused by the ship's bigger-than-fair cannon, he let out a long sigh, "I feared the worst when I heard that explosion, it sounded like it came from here." He turned away, "Well, this castle belonged to the Earl, not me. I do not wish to stay here any longer, and no one else is in a position to claim it. If you want it, as the people who avenged Lord Roy, it is yours to do with as you wish." With that, the captain of the guard stepped out of the hall, and a small screen appeared in front of us, with the words "Quest Completed" in bold across it.

"Damn it!" Came a new voice. Heathcliff led the Knights of Blood into the hall as Bryce exited. The outburst came from one of his subordinates, a man with dark hair slicked back into a ponytail, his tone incredibly irritated, "After all that we didn't even get the castle!"

I stretched my back out, "Sorry Heathcliff. I didn't mean to steal you castle, but . . . well, what will be will be and all that. There'll be more, and on the upside," I looked at the gaping hole blown through the Keep to the Great Hall, "you don't have to be the one to fix it up."

Heathcliff took a deep breath, and let it out slowly, "I . . . suppose." Then he fixed me with a glare, "However, I want to renegotiate our agreement. I was prepared to have Diavel on the front lines, but our deal was that The Scarlet Angels stayed off of the front and down below to deal with the PK'ers. Not to leave-" he did a headcount of our party and did a double take when he saw Aragoth, "I assume you have a reason for him?" A quick shake of his head set him back on topic, "I wasn't expecting you to leave almost half of your guild on the front lines. We're renegotiating."

"Aww, think about it Heathcliff." I said, walking over to him and slinging an arm around the man's shoulders, "Our agreement was fairly simple. Each member of your guild has a counterpart in my guild. Or, while you have more numbers than us, the counterpart to your extra members is considered the Guild Vault for Col and is ignored for items. While our members are below the frontline, their counterpart in the Knights of Blood send quest money and items to them, to compensate for our losses from leaving the front. While our members are on the front lines, their counterpart in the Knights of Blood send nothing to them." I shrugged and began to walk away, "Really, you should be grateful for me sending my players up. It means that your guild pays ours less."

"Or," I turned back to him, "we could annul the agreement and all of The Scarlet Angels could come up to the front, and we could start taking quest money and items from your guild by completing the quests ourselves. Honestly, your members sending down every other unique item you receive is probably a better deal. After all, each member gets to keep half of the unique items they earn, rather than us working our butts off to make sure that your guild doesn't earn any." A wry smile made its way onto my face, "So, Heathcliff? Are you willing to make an enemy of The Scarlet Angels? Think carefully before you do, of the amount of damage my guild could do to yours. Information brokers are worth twice their weight in Col for guilds, both for information and PR. What, I wonder, would happen if rumor began to spread that our guild was superior to yours, for players who wanted to go to the frontlines?"

Angry mutters began to spread among the Knights of Blood, and a heavy scowl made its way onto Heathcliff's face. A screen appeared in front of me, and I smiled before tapping it and manipulating a few options, "Oh, would you look at that." I said as an elegant S appeared next to our healthbars, "The game just finished registering the Castello di Osservatori to me, and I just finished confirming residency in my new home to make it a safe zone instead of a quest area." I smiled lazily at Heathcliff and the Knights of Blood as they added new shades of red to the color wheel, "Go back to the Front Lines you so desired me off of, Heathcliff. I'll come up for the next floor boss fight, and we can renegotiate the terms of our agreement then, is that acceptable? Diavel told me that most of the Labyrinth has been covered, it should only be another day or two, if that."

It occurred to me that I may have pushed just a little too hard, so I gave an ornate bow, "I recently flirted with Death, all of our tempers are running a little short I'm sure. Let's take the time between now and the next Floor Boss to let our heads cool, and we can rehash our agreement when everyone has had some time to let the adrenaline stop running their heads."

Heathcliff took another deep breath, and the color slowly leached from his face, "You may be on to something, Krathys. We will be discussing that agreement come the next Floor Boss though, count on it."

"I look forward to it." I promised, making a lazy X over my heart, "I'll answer any questions you might have about my personnel then too."

The leader of the Knights of Blood nodded, then turned on his heel and led his guild out of the Great Hall. A lot of angry looks were directed my way, but I pointedly ignored them, letting people think of me whatever they wanted. Once the last of the Knights had gone, I sank to the ground, "Oh, I can't believe that worked out without bloodshed. I was sure I was going to pay for having a smart mouth there for a minute."

Someone smacked the back of my head, hard. "I was pretty sure we were all going to get beaten up in our own new house!" Taylaria snapped, "I'm surprised Heathcliff bought your crap about going back to the front lines, after all you said about not being able to ignore the situation down here."

I shrugged, "Just because I told you guys, that doesn't mean I told him. For all Heathcliff knows, I want to be on the Front as badly as he wants me off of it. I have yet to give him reason to believe otherwise." I flopped onto my back and directed my eyes towards the gaping hole in the castle, "How hard do you guys think it's going to be to find an NPC who can fix that?"

()()()()

That night

After contacting the rest of the guild to inform them of our success, and finding some carpenters and masons in town to fix the castle, I bid the angels a good night and went to find my new bedroom. Once I closed the door, a freezing wind blew through the open window and snuffed out the candles.

Darkness

I refused to panic, it was far from the first time that I had been alone in the dark and it would be far from my last. Calmly, I moved to the window and latched it shut, then moved over to one of the candles on the table and scrolled through my inventory for a match. As I tried to light it, the window blew open again, snuffed out the match, and this time sent a far colder chill running down my spine. A dark laugh filled the room, and the elegant S marking the area as safe disappeared from my display. I swiped for my menu, but it came up blocky and meshed together, impossible to read. Turning quickly to face the room, I snatched the candlestick from the table and held it like a club, "Who's there?" I demanded of the shadowy room.

A pair of figures cloaked in darkness rose from the center of the room, "Oh Etsuo, don't you recognize us?" They asked, two voices overlapping as one. The two stepped forwards into a patch of moonlight, and my heart stopped as I recognized them. One was tall, straw-blond hair falling across bright blue eyes as he flipped a dagger in his hand, his body covered by a forest green cloak. The second one, a girl with gleaming crimson hair and eyes bluer than the sky, clad in a jacket of midnight blue and tight black pants. She smiled as Jericho stepped forwards, raising the dagger as ice filled my veins and my makeshift club clattered to the floor, "That makes me sad, Etsuo." She said, "I thought you would be happy to see me."

Jericho's dagger flashed in the moonlight, and the dark drowned my scream as it came down on my heart.

I sat bolt upright in my new bed, chest heaving as beads of sweat ran down my face. The door flew open and I dove for the nightstand where my sword lay unsheathed before Taylaria gently took my hands and pulled me into an embrace. I clung to her, shaking like a leaf in a storm as she whispered softly in my ear, her hand rubbing slow circles in my back as I slowly calmed down enough to separate myself from her and sit back against the headboard, hoping that the room was dark enough to hide the fact that I was crying.

Taylaria set her hand on mine, "Krathys? What's wrong?"

I didn't answer. I couldn't, after a nightmare like that. Her grip tightened on my hand, and she moved closer, "Krathys, please, talk to me. You said that you had stopped having bad dreams, not that they were getting worse. I could hear you from halfway across the castle."

A rueful grin cracked my features, "A downside to grinding your listening skill, I suppose. I should be thankful that you're the only one in the guild other than me who's got it." My voice was hoarse, "Might be better if you didn't though."

She didn't loosen her grip, "Krathys, please talk to me. I want to help, but you can't do that if you shut me out."

"There's nothing to talk about!" I snapped, causing her to recoil. Shame filled me at the outburst, and I looked down at my hands, clenched in my lap as she'd let me go, "There's . . . I can't talk about it, Taylaria. I just, I can't. Not with you."

Taylaria recoiled again like she'd been struck, "Why not? Why can't you talk to me Krathys? You saved my life, now please let me help you. I can't bear watching you tear yourself up like this - Rathion is too young and Evangelion and Aragoth are too new, but Silmaryl and I have seen it. You haven't been sleeping lately, you take the longest night watches because you say you're the leader but don't rest when it's another person's turn. You barely touch your food anymore. You can't carry on like this Krathys. We all need you too much." She reached out and brushed a stray lock of hair back from my face, "What hurts you, hurts us. So please Krathys, please. Let me know why you're hurting. Let me help."

Her hand was resting on my shoulder, and I brushed it away, "Taylaria, you can't help me. I'm grateful for the offer, and I almost wish you could, but you can't. I'll be fine, really. But please go back to bed. I'll be alright."

The empty words held absolutely no weight against her, and she placed a hand against my face, "Kra-"

"Go!" I yelled, and smacked her hand away, "Just go away Hana! Leave me alone!" As soon as I had spoken, I realized what I had said, and wished I hadn't. Not telling Taylaria to leave, but for slipping up, and using her name.

"Krathys," Taylaria breathed, "who is Hana?"

I flinched, "Ha-Hana isn't someone you need to be concerned about." My voice had dropped to a whisper, "Please. Leave."

"No." Taylaria shook her head, "No. I am not going to leave one of my last friends when they need my help. Krathys, for the last time, please. Tell me what's wrong. I won't tell anyone, but please, let me help you." Her voice was still soft, but this time, it didn't leave room for an argument. I couldn't avoid this conversation.

My head slowly fell and I laced my fingers together as I sat up straighter, even though my shoulders slumped, "I . . . I told you about Kayna, my younger sister, right?"

"A little." The girl said, "Not much though."

"Kayna . . . she'll be eleven now, her birthday was last month. She's almost the brightest little girl anyone could have as a little sister, and I'm glad to have her. Energetic, yeah, she always runs around like she's got caffeine for blood, but she's never been particularly clever, and while she's happy all the time, she's not so good at making other people feel good. That title used to belong to my other sister -" I braced myself for a moment, "Hana."

Taylaria sensed the shift in mood, but didn't interrupt as I continued to speak, "Hana would have been fourteen now, same as Rathion. She was smart, and the most beautiful little girl in the world. I had actually had to act like the scary big brother towards more than a few of her would-be boyfriends, and it drove her a little crazy. But she was always happy, it seemed like nothing could make her not smile. And her smile was wonderful, like clouds parting to show the sun after a monsoon. But . . . something happened."

My hands tightened until the hurt, "My family, in reality, is well off. But having a lot of money means that some people are going to try and steal it, target you. Several people tried, but none ever got into the house. That is, until one night. Some of the most despicable men I can imagine got into the house and dragged me and my little sisters out of bed three years ago. My parents were away and they had hired guards to watch us while they were gone, which would have been great if the guards weren't working with the robbers.

"They dragged us and the house staff out of bed, tied us up, and while the people that broke into the house searched the place for valuables, the men that were hired to protect us shot me in the leg, and Hana-" my voice broke, and fresh tears ran down my face, "They beat my little sister bloody and raped her, and made me and Kayna watch. When they were done with Hana, they were going to do the same to Kayna as well, but the police arrived before they could, Haru - Silmaryl - had gotten to a phone."

I drew in a shuddering breath, "When my parents returned from their trip, those men paid with far more than what their lives were worth, my father made sure of that. But Hana was never the same. That smile never made it into the world again. She shut herself up in her room for days at a time, and about six months before the beta test of Sword Art Online opened . . . she killed herself."

Taylaria's gasp barely registered to me, I was lost in the past. "My darling little sister, dead because some men put their greed over basic human decency. I couldn't protect her. And then when we encountered the player killers, when I killed Jericho, things only got worse. I haven't had a peaceful night's rest since, I'm too busy seeing them in my dreams, too busy seeing my failures. I couldn't protect her in the real world, and I took a life to protect myself here. I'm a failure, plain and simple." I looked up at her, not much more than a dark shadow in the moonlight, "So there you go, I talked to you, are you happy? Now, get out of my room."

I slipped back under the cover and listened as she left, heard the choked sobs that she was trying so very hard to conceal. It hadn't helped - I felt no better than I had before.

If anything, I felt far worse.

End of Chapter IX

Well . . . that, that was longer than I expected. And got a bit darker than I was thinking too, I wasn't going to give Hana's story out for another couple of chapters. So yes, Krathys is very broken inside, but the story will get happier. Eventually. Probably. Maybe. A little bit.

I'll be posting a picture of the Castello di Osservatori on Deviantart, feel free to take a look at it, my name there is the same as it is here.

Please, leave a review to let me know what you think!

Keep Writing, Keep Rocking!

Undeadmonkey8