Chapter 10 – Paths Intertwine
Authors' Notes: Not sure how well this chapter went out. Remember to tell me what you think!
Aincrad 40th Floor, August 16, 2023
The top of the cliff was beautiful through the eyes of Sachi. Standing there simply scanning the area below, she felt at ease for the moment. The thick trees rustled with the wind and the mountains beyond the forest reflected the shine of the sky. "Are you done exploring?" she asked, seemingly, there was no one there.
"Yea I guess" A voice said coming from behind her. It was Irina; she was holding her hat down from the blowing wind. "Didn't find anything"
"Ehhh?" Sachi responding getting disappointed. "I really wonder where that information broker is" Giving a hefty sigh, she turned around and started walking down the path.
"Beats me" Irina replied shrugging. Irina was a thief like character that specialized in throwing knives and infiltration. So she had exceptional hiding and tracking as well has possessing really good detection. On the other side, she played a lot of instruments. She played the lute and harp, but her favorite was the flute. Often times, she plays a tune when they were traveling around in search of the Ancient Ruins.
"Well I guess we should-"
"Shhhh…" Irina said covering Sachis' mouth and pulling her to a nearby brush and placing her hat on Sachis' head. Her hat gave additional Hiding "There's someone nearby" she whispered.
Sachi understood this and turned on her scanner, there was a red cursor going down the path they were on. She yelped a little bit, red players were very dangerous indeed. It signified that the player has committed murder. They waited a bit, and the player had reached them. He was a tall slender figure. His face gave him the impression that he was pretty stressed. His eyes were droopy and his expression was rather filled with smite. His brown hair was pulled back. He looked around fixing his gaze at where Sachi and Irina were for a bit. Sachi's heart froze for as he glared at them. She managed to breathe again as his gaze went away.
He scoffed. "Hmph, I'm in a good mood today, so I'll let you two go. Good to see you again… Irina…." he said loud enough for them to hear. He obviously knew they were there.
Irina gasped as he said that. "C'mon let's get out of here" She hastily grabbed Sachi's hand and ran as fast as she could. Sachi followed her frantically through the forest. Eventually, they made it back on the path closer to town.
"Ha…ha… Who was he anyway?" Sachi asked gulping for air. She hadn't run that fast for a long time.
"He's a red player" Irina replied running her fingers through the blade of one of her knives.
"Obviously. How did he know your name?" Sachi asked with a sense of fright in her voice. She had never seen one up until now.
Irina gave a light frown. "The one back then…..killed one of my friends"
ooo
"So what do you want to do today Irina?" A boy's voice asked.
"Well, I was thinking we could go down to the lake and enjoy the view. But we could go somewhere else if you want Aika" Irina replied.
"Nah, it's okay. We could go wherever you want" Aika replied gripping Irina's hand.
Maybe it was just Irina, but watching the sunset by the lake was a perfect honeymoon for her. "It's pretty… the sunset" Irina said resting her head on Aika's shoulder.
"It sure is" Aika replied pulling his arm over her shoulder bringing her closer. "Let's have lunch together sometime, in the real world"
"That would be nice" Irina replied.
"Awwww how cute!" Another voice butted in. "Ah love…. Such a beautiful thing. Too bad it ends so soon" There was a man standing behind them. Irina looked back at him, his he was fiddling with a knife. His face had a maniacal grin as his tall slender figure advanced slowly towards them. He jabbed both of them in the back with knives. There was an intense feeling in Irina's back as her HP dropped slightly, and then she stared feeling drowsy and knocked out. "Aika…" she muttered.
She awoke to find herself chained up; Aika was chained up next to her.
"Oh good! You're awake!" The man said.
"What do you want with us Tsurugi?!" Irina asked terrified. She shook around and around to try to get loose from the chains, but with no avail. She was in some sort of torture chamber. There were numerous classic torture contraptions in the room. The one that frightened her the most was the iron maiden. It made her sick at the thought of needles being struck inside you with not way of escape.
"Oh nothing. I just want to have some fun. It's good to see you've been doing well since our break up" Tsurugi said taking out an assortment of knives. He took one out and was stepping towards Irina.
"Stop!" Aika called out with anger. "Don't..touch her. Do it to me instead!"
"Playing knight are we?" Tsurugi replied giving an evil grin. "Tell me boy…" he said pulling Aika's chin up looking eye to eye with him. "Do you love this girl?"
Aika simply scoffed out of anger. "What does that matter to you?"
"Nothing…I'm just curious. I am a former lover of hers after all" He said playing with a knife. "You know, I've dabbed these knives with poison. Do you know how much it'll sting when it starts pulsing through your body?"
Aika was silent. Irina started breaking down. "Stop it…Why..why are you doing this? "
"What a drag" The man said gagging Irina. "I hate crying. It's too loud" he said before he jabbed the knife into Aika's leg. "I told you, I'm doing this for fun. It's soo boring around here in Aincrad."
"Gaaaahhh!" Aika screamed in pain as his HP dropped. There was an extreme pain emanating through his entire body.
"Mmmmmm!" Irina tried to scream, but her mouth was covered with cloth.
"And it saddens my heart to see a girl cry" Tsurugi muttered jabbing a knife into Aika's other leg. It sent a wave of numbness through Aika's entire body, but for some reason, he still felt all the pain as he screamed in agony.
"Just like when we broke up. I couldn't bear the sound of your sobbing" Tsurugi said licking his lips. Irina couldn't stop crying over Aika's suffering. Time seemed endless, hearing nothing but Aika's cries of agony and suffering. Eventually, his HP had hit the red and was dropping even faster from the poison. Aika simply looked at Irina with tears in his eyes.
"I wish we could have had that lunch. It's a shame, but I wish we could have spent more time together" he said before he smiled. His HP bar went empty. "I love you Irina…goodbye…." his voice rang as his avatar burst. Irina wailed in sorrow flinging herself around. She didn't believe what had happened.
"This is just a dream, this is just a dream, this is just a dream…." Her voice rang in her head as her crying wouldn't stop.
"How unfortunate. He said he loved you too. Doesn't that remind you about us?" Tsurugi said turning towards Irina squeezing her cheeks with his index finger and thumb. "Too bad that was the same thing I said to you. But instead, you shot me down"
Irina shook and shook trying to free herself. Only her muffled screams for help were heard before they were suddenly stopped. One jab from his knife and she was asleep again.
"Hahahaha!" Tsurugi laughed hysterically. "Oh… love is such a funny thing. It's a shame I've already had my fun. It would have been nice to hear her screams."
Irina found herself awake in the middle of the forest with her HP in the red. "Aika…. Aika?!" she said opening her menu only to see his name grayed out. At that moment, she realized that he was gone. "Why?" she muttered sobbing. "Why…. Would he do such a thing….why would he go through such lengths to get revenge…." She pounded her fist into the ground in pure rage. "Why!?" she yelled out one more time.
She didn't know how she got back to town without dying from monsters, but she did somehow. She was disappointed that no monsters attacked her; she wanted to die to be with Aika. Irina sat there until she received a delayed massage.
Here's my address if you ever want to meet –Aika
"Irina…." Sachi muttered.
"That's what happened" Irina said wiping the tears from her eyes.
Sachi felt really bad. It was starling for her to hear a story this sad. "Will you be okay?"
"I'll be fine. I won't let something like this get in my way" Irina replied breathing deep. After breathing out, she jumped off the fence and started walking towards town.
Sachi simply stared at Irina. Even though she said she was okay, she wasn't. Sachi could tell she was still crying over his death. Sachi felt the same with her guildmates. No matter how much time passes, she will still cry over them.
Sachi was returning from her bath. Taking one wasn't necessary in the game, but she still felt as if baths did make her clean again. Sitting down on her bed, she sighed and glared out the window. The rays of moonlight were shining through the window of their room. The door opened and Irina walked in lying down on her bed.
"Are you feeling any better?" Sachi asked hugging her knees.
"Yea" Irina replied equipping her flute and started to play a rather mellow tune. It filled the room with such sentimentality. Sachi liked this mood; it gave her the feeling of happiness despite all this sadness. A gentle smile crept across her face as she fell to the side on her pillow. Opening her eyes again, she saw Irina glaring at the moon from her bed still playing her flute.
Aincrad 44th Floor, August 27, 2023
"Are you ready with the guitar Keshiga?" Someone asked.
"Yea, I'm good" Keshiga replied tuning his guitar. "How about you Irina?"
"I'm fine here." Irina replied giving a thumbs-up.
"Enough chit chatter" The drummer said.
"Calm down Tsurugi, it's just practice." Keshiga replied plucking the strings of his guitar to warm up. After warm up, Tsurugi banged his drum sticks together as the band played their song.
"That went well didn't it?" Irina asked. Keshiga agreed.
"Hmm… there's still something that doesn't seem right" Tsurugi replied getting up and brushing his fingers through his brown hair.
"Saya isn't here, if that helps" Keshiga replied."So we have no singer"
"No it's something else…." Tsurugi stood there in thought for a moment. "Ah well, I guess its good enough. Practice is over guys, see you tomorrow!"
"Keshiga? Keshiga?" Someone was shaking Keshiga. "Wake up, " He opened his eyes to see Sakai over him. "Ahh…. Huh?"
"It's noon…" she said giggling. "You're going to miss lunch, so Futaro asked me to wake you up."
"Ack, it was a good sleep too" he replied stretching as he got up. "I'm starving nonetheless!"
Futaro's Mercenaries retained its usual routine of going out and training. Their goal was to be a top guild like the KoB. The guild was exploring some hidden areas of the Labyrinth on the 44th floor. Once they finished their business there, they would then proceed onto the next floor since it was cleared already.
"Guess we can take a break here" Futaro suggested sliding his back down against the wall. "Boy these monsters are hard" he muttered leaning on his axe.
"Well, good thing I made some snacks" Sakai responded as a basket appeared in her hands.
"Oh boy! Sakai's meals are always good!" Moto responded eagerly.
"Sakai's always so reliable isn't she?" Keshiga asked Hana.
"She's been like that her entire life." Hana replied. Sakai and Hana were good friends in real life. "But her cooking is always top notch" she added munching on a sandwich. "But that's what makes her such a good friend"
Keshiga was enjoying the meal that Sakai had prepared for them until he heard footsteps heading their way. "Who could that be?" He wondered. "A player?" Pretty soon, the figure of a player had formed from the rather dim light of the room. He appeared to be sulking; he was sagging his shoulders and his hands were in his pocket. Keshiga simply stared at him. He wore a black cloak with extremely plain clothing. He simply walked past them without any interaction.
"Ummm…" Sakai said a little hesitant. "Would you like to join us? There's still plenty of food left…"
The boy was a little baffled by this sudden invitation. "Erm, sure, but I have no interest in joining a guild so…"
"Ah don't worry, we're not recruiting anyone at the moment" Futaro shook off biting his sandwich.
"Uuu, okay." The boy replied sitting down next to the guild. "Sorry to intrude"
"Oh it's no problem" Sakai replied handing the boy a sandwich and bottle of tea from the basket. "You seemed a little troubled. I have the tendency to offer a meal to someone who seems troubled." She was blushing a little bit pushing her index fingers together. "My name is Sakai by the way"
"I'm Futaro, leader of this guild"
"Yo! Moto"
"Hana, pleased to meet you"
"My names Keshiga!"
The boy was a little overwhelmed at the sudden introductions. "Kirito.." he said before taking a bite of his sandwich. It had different kinds of lettuce and meat in the middle. "Hey this is good!"
"Thank you!" Sakai responded very positively when someone complimented her cooking.
"Might I ask you what you guys are doing here?" Kirito asked.
"We're training!" Futaro replied with a rather rowdy tone. "Someday, we're going to rise up to the ranks of the KoB! Right guys?"
"Yea!" The rest of the guild cheered.
"Huh…" Kirito replied. It made him smile to see such an enthusiastic guild. He hadn't been with a crowd like this since the Black Cats.
"Say Kirito, you wouldn't happen to know this place well do you? Since you were traveling alone" Keshiga blurted out.
"Ah, yea. I often come through here." Kirito replied.
"Uhh, can you help us out then?" Futaro asked him. "We're having a hard time fighting against the monsters here, so trainings been a bit slow"
"Well…." Kirito paused for a moment. "I don't see why not. Let's see what you guys got."
Kirito led them to an area where they could fight monsters. There, he examined each members fighting techniques.
"You guys seem pretty capable on your own. The only problem is letting Keshiga just run in there by himself. When you get to higher floors, it'll be extremely difficult for him to manage on his own since the monsters there are much stronger." Kirito explained.
"Got it" Futaro replied with a thumbs-up. "I'll go in and support Keshiga from now on. "
"You sure do know a lot about the higher floors don't you?" Moto noted.
"Yea, are you a clearer?" Sakai asked.
"Erm…. No I'm not" Kirito said with a nervous tone.
"Then what are you?" Keshiga responded with curiosity.
"I'm….I'm a soloer" Kirito shut his mouth as soon as he let it slip.
"A… soloer?" Futaro muttered a little suspicious. Kirito was prepared for scorning and hate, but instead, he got a light scoff followed by some laughter.
"Hahaha! If you're a solo, then you should be much higher leveled than us right?" He asked patting Kirito's shoulder.
Kirito only nodded nervously.
"So, what level are you?" Moto asked.
Now Kirito was in a crunch. He was scared he might get called a beater, but at the same time, he felt as if it was okay to share his true level with these people. "Don't make the same mistake twice Kirito" his voice rang in his head. "Le…level…sixty…one" he muttered.
"Sixty-one?" Futaro asked scratching his head. "Well, you hear that guys? That's our goal right now okay?" he hollered out pounding his fist into his palm. "Someday, we're going to be as strong as Kirito so we can rise to the level of the KoB! Right?"
"Yea! We definitely will!" Keshiga and the rest of Futaro's Mercenaries cheered.
Kirito chuckled at their enthusiasm. "You sure keep the mood fun don't you?" he whispered to Futaro.
"Ah, I think it's important to keep their confidence up. If they're confident in themselves, they'll go far with a little help from people like you" Futaro chuckled and patted Kirito on the back.
They were in front of the door that led to the next floor. "Well, I think this is where we'll go our separate ways." Hana said holding her hand up to signal an agreement. "I'll be looking forward to dueling you someday Kirito."
"You too Hana" Kirito grabbed her hand as their thumbs intertwined as sign of their dueling pact. After waving, Futaro patted his back.
"You're okay Kirito. I wish more people wouldn't scorn people like you and instead learn from your experience. See you in the future okay?"
"Got it" Kirito replied giving a thumbs up as the guild left for the next floor. He sighed bitter sweetly. Futaro's Mercenaries reminded him so much of the Black Cats of the Full Moon; it almost broke his heart thinking about it. "I wonder….what Sachi is doing up in heaven right now?" he asked looking at the black ceiling.
Aincrad 41st Floor
"Achoo!" Sachi sneezed rather loudly.
"You okay?" Irina asked looking out the window of their room.
"I'm fine" Sachi replied sniffling her nose.
"Someone's thinking about you, you know" Irina commented with a little chuckle. There was a saying that someone was talking about you when you sneezed.
"Hmph, maybe" Sachi said looking back at the ceiling. "When do I finally talk to him?"