Chapter 10 - Where We Stand

December/17th/2022

Alshep

"Would you please stop moving so much?"

"Oh shut it, fatso. It's your fault that we are stuck here anyways."

"What is it with you and my appearance? I'm seriously not that fat."

"Well, Daath is skinnier than you, so that by default makes you the fat one of the group."

"Screw yo- god dammit stop moving!"

"No, You sto- ahhh!"

We make a loud thud as we reach the bottom of the crevasse. The game's system does not allow us to feel pain, but I can't help to grunt and complain as my back hits the ground and then Aeri falls right on my stomach. Aeri rolls off of me also complaining as if the fall really had hurt her.

Ever since we fell into the opening, I knew this wasn't going to end well. The fall at first was wide, we fell for about five meters before it started to get narrow. To the point we got stuck between the walls. All the tossing and nudging around must've made what was left of the wall loose and then made us fall into some sort of cave.

"I'm almost down to half of my HP," Aeri mutters. "This is all your damn fault!"

"Yeah, of course it is. You were totally watching where you were going and you totally did not pull me along with you when you started falling," I mumble.

She hisses at me and turns her head away as she stands up. I get on my feet as well and look around. A thick darkness surrounds me and Aeri. A long beam of light pierces through the crevasse all the way down making it the only source of light within what I can only assume is a cave.

Aeri fumbles a bit around her pockets and takes out a lantern. She lights it up and holds it a little in front of her making the darkness go away as the light burns through it.

"Well, at the very least you have increased your usefulness." I tease.

"Har har, at the very least you've toned down your insults," she replies.

"It's more like I am censoring myself. I still meant the insult."

She changes her expression to a blank one and starts walking around the area. I stay in the same spot where I stood up and look directly above me. I can see the sun shining and I see an eagle flying by through the narrow space in the fissure.

"Hey, look. It looks like a path," Aeri says.

I turn around and see her pointing down a tunnel a few feet away from me.

"Is that safe?" I ponder.

"Well, there's no other way out of this place."

"That doesn't answer my question at all," I reply.

"I wasn't trying to answer your question," she says with a smile.

"Fine, fine, but don't go whining if it isn't the right wa-"

I interrupt myself as I hear the scream of a girl followed by a loud thud behind me. I turn around quickly unsheathe my rapier and Aeri quickly moves next to me with her sword at hand.

"Oh dear, that was a horrible idea," says the girl sitting on the floor.

Aeri and I both stand at ease a little but keep our weapons ready, just in case. She stands up and dusts off her skirt and shoulders. She breathes in deeply and looks directly at us. Her hair is almost golden, a pretty strong tone of blonde and is tied up in a fancy way as it hangs from behind her head. She wears a white skirt and a grayish top with a shoulder plate. It looks somewhat odd but it somehow fits. A rapier hangs from her side, but hers is unbelievably thin almost resembles a fencing sword.

"Excuse me," she says with a soft voice, "did you two fall down here as well?"

"Well, that is pretty darn obvi-"

Aeri places her free hand over my mouth, stopping me from completing my sentence. She frowns at me, but I know exactly what she is trying to say. Shut the hell up.

"Yeah, we did," Aeri replies.

"I was not looking where I was headed and in a horrible twist of fate, I stumbled into this horrendous pit," she responds.

"Crevasse…" I mutter to myself.

"Where are my manners, my name is Kayla. It is nice to make your acquaintance uhm…"

"Aeri, and this big guy here is Al," she says while patting my back.

"You are serious mess of mood swings, you know that, right?" I mutter.

"Splendid," Kayla says. "Do you happen to know the way out of here?"

She says this and holds her hands close to her chest. Her mannerisms strike me as a little odd, somewhat princess-like. Almost as if she was raised like one, which is kind of funny since I only expect to see this kind of behavior in a tv show or some work of fiction. It is entertaining for some reason.

"We were just about to head down that path," I say while pointing to the tunnel.

Kayla presses her index finger against her lips and seems to think for a bit.

"Why are you two pointing at me with your weapons?" she says. "Am I an unwanted presence?"

I just notice I am indeed pointing my rapier at her. Aeri seems to notice as well and sheathes her sword rather quickly. I do the same and clear my throat.

"Just a precaution," I say.

"You mustn't judge a book by its cover," she says.

"Safer to always do the opposite," I whisper to myself.

I nod slowly and scratch my head a little. Kayla approaches me and Aeri slowly, I notice Aeri reaching for the back of her head and see her open her hand as it gets closer to the grip of her sword. I guess she is just nervous.

Kayla is soon enough in front of us and Aeri slowly relaxes her hand and lets it drop to her side.

"Your friend doesn't seem to trust me much," Kayla comments.

"Well, I don't either. After all, we just introduced ourselves," I say.

"My my, you are rather harsh."

"That's just the way he is, stick around long enough and you might even get to know the uneducated animal he is," Aeri mocks.

"Oh goodness, do you speak like that often?" Kayla mumbles.

I chuckle a bit and turn my back on Aeri and Kayla.

"I like you," I say as I walk to the tunnel.

Just as I approach the tunnel I notice something that feels really off. There is an eerie lack of background music in this area. Complete and utter silence aside from my steps and the voices of Aeri and Kayla discussing something not far from me is all I can hear.

"Hey Aeri, mind if I borrow that lantern of yours?"

"Be my guest," she says as she tosses it my way.

I catch and smile to myself because I'm sure I looked pretty cool doing so. I rest my right arm just above the opening of the tunnel and bend over to peek in with the lantern on my left hand. The light doesn't help me much, I can only see a few feet into the damn thing. My whole body is screaming that it is a bad idea to even think of going in, but a quick look around reminds me that it is the only path available.

Kayla and Aeri catch up to me and they giggle as I turn to face them.

"You two besties already or what?"

"None of your business Al," Aeri snaps.

"It's rude to keep someone out of the loop. Just throwing that out there," I huff.

"Is this the tunnel you spoke of?" Kayla asks as she leans to see down the tunnel.

I nod and she straightens up. Something about her is just attracting, I don't know if it is the strong yellow tone of her hair or just her figure. She is rather good looking, maybe even prettier than Aeri. My mind is going off track.

"We gain nothing if we stand here like idiots," Aeri says as she slips in between me and Kayla.

She crouches and starts making her way inside the tunnel.

"Shit," she shouts.

"Lantern?" I say smugly

"Just give it to me," she demands.

She sticks her hand out of the tunnel and I put the lantern on her palm. She proceeds to go back inside and goes in a little farther. Kayla looks at me and chuckles a bit.

"She isn't the brightest tool in the shed," I joke.

Kayla laughs a bit and crouches as well to start making her way into the tunnel.

"It gets a little narrow farther ahead," Aeri shouts.

Her voice echoes as it comes out on my end.

"Good luck, Al," she says laughing.

I sigh and bend my knees to get a view of the tunnel. I can see a faint light in-front of Kayla. Aeri really worked her way in fast. I start making little steps, little by little treading my hand on the left wall to keep my balance. Kayla suddenly stops and gets on her knees and hands. Giving me a rather lovely view of her bottom, I can't help but to smile. This smile is quickly erased as she kicks me hard in the face.

"What the hell was that for?!" I yell.

"I guess your partner was right," she mutters.

"Hey look, it isn't my fault you just bent over."

"You could be a gentleman and look the other way," she replies.

"Forget it, I'm sorry. Just keep moving alright? I'll mind my own business."

She "hmph"s me just like Aeri does and keeps crawling in. I'm a man of my word so I get on my knees and hands and look down to my hands as I place one in-front of the other to make my way through the narrow path.

"It widens a little over here," I hear Aeri say.

We keep crawling for a bit and I finally reach the part Aeri said. I get on my toes and press my hands on the wall as I keep moving.

"Do you mind if I ask a few questions about you two?" Kayla says.

"I don't see why not," Aeri says.

"Shoot," I reply.

"How long have you been together?" Kayla says as she moves around in-front of me.

"Woah, woah! We are not together," Aeri says quickly.

"She means as in a group idiot, not a couple," I comment.

"Oh, ok, how long has it been? A few weeks, right?"

"Yeah. Kind of hard to pinpoint though," I say.

"We are party members with another two," Aeri replies.

"A guy named Daath and another girl, Elina," I say.

Aeri starts laughing a little.

"Girl is a harsh way to refer to your girlfriend, don't you think?" she chuckles.

"Oh, you have a girlfriend Al?" Kayla curiously asks.

"She is not my girlfriend…we…we just enjoy each other's company."

"Call it whatever you want, you know it to be true," Aeri teases.

"Just shut up and keep moving," I grunt.

She and Kayla laugh a bit as they pick up the pace. I wouldn't exactly call the relationship me and Elina have as boyfriend and girlfriend. I mean, sure. We care about each other a lot and spend a ton of time together. The more I think about it, the more I feel embarrassed and decide to drop the topic myself.

"Woohoo! An exit," Aeri shouts

"Finally," Kayla sighs.

It's not long before Kayla exits the tunnel with me behind her and we find ourselves on another large room with no light at all, but a little more scanning around reveals an exit. I stand up and stretch, a yawn slowly escapes me as well. I stare at the exit for a little and ponder in my thoughts.

"This is definitely a trap," Kayla mutters.

"Yup," I agree quickly.

"Why would this be a trap? We can leave now. The exit is right there!" Aeri complains.

Kayla chuckles a bit and takes out her sword and swipes it down as she rests her free hand on her hip.

"Exactly my dear, it is just right there. This is obviously a trap," she answers.

I look up and notice something moving, a sharp goose bump goes through my spine and I extend my hand to Aeri.

"Lantern, please."

She quickly hands it over and I get ready to throw it upwards but stop myself.

"By any chance do you happen to have an extra one of these?" I ask Aeri.

She shakes her head and shrugs.

"I have a lantern," Kayla quickly adds.

"Good," I say and throw the lantern upwards.

Another goose bump goes through me as the lantern lights its way up and reveals the biggest snake I had ever seen in my life. Its eyes shine red and it hisses at us loudly.

"Let's have some fun then," Aeri says as she takes out her sword.

"You two are honestly an odd pair," Kayla says softly.

"Stick around, you'll have some fun," I say.

I take out my sword and the lantern crashes against the floor. To my surprise it doesn't go out but instead lights up different trails of something flammable on the ground. Fire rises from the ground separating me from Kayla and Aeri. I can feel the warmth and suddenly feel motivated as some background music kicks in. I hear Aeri laugh loudly and see the snake slither its way down the wall closest to Kayla's and Aeri's side.

I see Aeri jump high and attack the snake from where I'm standing. It slithers away quickly and heads towards me at full speed. I ready my sword as it shines bright blue. Just as its a few feet away from me I attack it while shouting out of the top of my lungs. I manage to connect and do some damage, but it quickly cowers away and turns around to head towards the girls again.

"It's going your way again!" I shout.

Through the fire I manage to see Kayla attacking the side of the massive slithering creature as it passes next to her. The snake shakes its tail and manages to hit Kayla pushing her close to the fire. She loses her balance and is about to fall right in the fire but I move quickly and push her away as I dive through the flames. I roll once I'm on the other side and stand up quickly.

My vest catches fire, but I quickly swat it away and help Kayla on her feet.

"It's on the ceiling again!" Aeri yells.

I glance up and see it moving right over me and it then quickly descends the wall behind me. Aeri and Kayla both ready a sword skill. Aeri's sword shines yellow and Kayla's a weird pink-ish color.

"Al! Launch me up!"Aeri orders.

"What?"

"Just do it!"

I bend one knee and hold my hands together as Aeri starts running towards me. She makes a small jump and places one foot on my hands. I lift her up and send her into the air as she holds her sword with both of her hands. She moves the tip of her sword downwards and begins her drop into the snakes back. I roll forwards just barely avoiding the snake's head and see Aeri drive her sword on the snake's body. She holds on tight and rides the snake while hanging on to her sword.

"She is fearless," Kayla comments.

"Haha, and a little crazy," I add.

The snake goes around the room as Aeri pulls and pushes her sword on its back making great amounts of damage.

"Hey…do the same with me, please," Kayla mumbles.

"You sure?" I come back.

She nods steadily and I nod back.

"Ok, but wait till it turns around."

She gets ready by making some distance between me and her and I look back trying to position myself for her to jump on the snake. Aeri keeps attacking the thing like a savage and I can hear her laugh from across the room. The snake jerks its body towards us and starts moving. I bend one knee again and make the little platform with my hands. I nod at Kayla and she starts running towards me. She jumps into my hands and I throw her up. She lands closer to the head and pushes her sword through the reptile.

I find myself surprised as I haven't dealt much damage to the beast like my companions have. I start running alongside its body and jump on it sword first. My sword gets stuck right on the last section of the snake's tail and it pulls on me violently as I try to hang on. I begin to lose my grip and it suddenly shakes me off its body with my sword still impaled on the tail.

"Shit," I grunt as I roll near one of the walls of fire.

The snake turns around quickly and sees me. I can see it on its eyes. It's coming for me. It hisses violently and moves quickly to me. Just as it's about to reach me Kayla reaches the head and stabs it hard. This makes the snake close its eyes and shake in pain. With the tip of its mouth it knocks me to the ground and depletes a bit of my health. With its eyes closed it crashes against the wall and stops moving.

"Pummel it! Hit it with everything!" I shout.

Not a second passes and I hear the damage effects along with Kayla's and Aeri's swords whirr. I get up and run to the snake's tail. I find my sword exactly where I left it and run over the tail. Just as I'm passing by I grab my sword's grip and start dragging it with me without letting it go out of the snake. I start going faster and my sword just glides over the snake's skin. We are close to killing it, its HP barely has ten percent left. Like cutting butter my sword finally reaches to where Kayla is stabbing the beast. I pull it out and Kayla's sword flashes. She drives her sword in and the snake's body turns into light.

We drop a couple of feet and I land on my feet, so does Aeri but Kayla stumbles a bit. I sheathe my sword along with everyone. The fire slowly disappears and the result screens pop up.

"Well, that was a crappy enemy," Aeri says.

"Yeah, it barely attacked us," I say.

Kayla stands up and the thin rapier on her hand turns into a green two handed sword. The weight makes her body move forwards and she struggles to lift it up again.

"You got that cause of the last hit?" I ask.

"I would assume so. It is not my kind of weapon though," she replies.

"If you don't want it, can I keep it?" I request.

She nods and hands the weapon over to me and accepts the trade. I equip it instead of my rapier and lift it with one hand up in the air. Now this feels nice, while it's incredibly heavy. It feels much better than that flimsy rapier. Thankfully its sheath is still set on my hip so I can still maintain my usual sheathing and unsheathing style. A little picky to be honest but I am pleased nonetheless.

"Well time to get out of here," Aeri says as she slaps the back of my head.

"What was that for?!" I scream. "Geez, I hope you two don't become fond of hitting me."

Kayla quickly hides her face and blushes a bit. I think she is reminiscing of the thing that went on inside the tunnel.

"I'm sorry for kicking you, but I had to do it. I know you were staring," she says.

"For god's sake Al! You have a girlfriend and you are staring at other women's butts. Shame on you!" Aeri says.

"She is not my girlfriend!"

Both of the girls start laughing at me and I just walk towards the exit trying to get away from them. The sun shines brightly over the second floor of Aincrad. Just a few days ago the clearing party managed to beat the floor boss. That's an amazing record time to be honest, compared to the time it took us to beat the first one that is. Very few people stayed in Urbus, all the others ventured forth to the third floor. I've heard so far it's like a big forest, but I rather see it myself.

I take a small step forward and the floor collapses under my foot. The exit seems to be located just on the side of the mountain we were trying to go up to before falling in the crevasse. Quickly regaining my balance I manage to stay where I'm standing. Looking down makes it look like a long drop, but the fall isn't vertical. It's more like a big and long slope. I definitely wouldn't want to go rolling down this thing.

"Well, that's odd. You can see Urbus from here," Aeri says as she stands next to me.

"Are you two staying in Urbus right now?" Kayla asks.

"As of now, yes, but we'll be moving to the next floor tomorrow," I add.

She presses her finger against her lip again. Aeri stretches and yawns loudly as she tests the edge of the exit as well. Some dirt loosens up and falls too so she stands back a little.

"Can I request something?" Kayla mumbles.

I peek down again and scan around a little for a way down of the mountain.

"Well…go ahead," I reply.

"Would you be so kind as to let me join your group?"

Aeri stares quickly at me with a face I know means no. I know that both she and Daath agree to disagree in this topic. They both say it would be a burden to have more people along. That our group like it is right now is ok, but while they are right when saying it could burden us, I don't see why a girl that knows her way around with a sword could harm us.

"We'll have to discuss that with everyone else. I don't see why you can't join," I say.

Aeri slowly walks behind me and takes out her sword. She stabs the ground behind me and an unnerving sensation brews under my feet. The ground breaks under me and I start sliding down the mountain. I hit more than a few rocks on my way down and finally land on my face when reaching the bottom. Soon enough Aeri comes down gracefully sliding on her feet and kicks me over.

"Are you stupid?! We don't need another person!" she yells at me.

"Aren't ya the hypocritical bitch?" I yell back. "We took you in remember?!"

She kicks me again and I stand up. I grab her hand tightly as she is about to slap me.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"You are just going to complicate things!" she replies.

I hold her other hand as it flies to my face and stop it too.

"If anything, it'll make things easier. What are you talking about?"

"You'll just make things harder on Daa-" she stops herself.

"Huh?" I mutter.

She stops struggling and returns her hands to her side. She looks down and starts walking away in the general direction of Urbus.

"Did I upset her?" says Kayla as she comes down sliding from behind me.

"No, she is just weird…" I sigh, "Anyway, are you coming along?"

She nods and I start walking with her.

"Sorry to pry on this, but I'm rather curious. Do you really have a girlfriend?"

"Well…I don't know to be honest. I like what I have with her right now, but I don't know if I want anything more…"

"Hmm, I see," she mutters.

"Was that all?"

"Yeah, it is just that your partner mentioned quite a bit. So naturally, I became curious," she says.

The walk takes a while, but we reach Urbus' main road before sundown. The whole way here I wasn't able to spot Aeri, she must've hauled ass here. The inn we are staying at isn't far from the main plaza. These streets used to be crowded just a few weeks ago, now they lie almost empty. It is just like they did when this floor was first opened, and before all the people came in to celebrate that is. It feels odd but good at the same time. We are moving on, this game isn't unbeatable. It will take time yes, but it isn't impossible. There is a way out of this death game and we are going to fight our way through it.

I'm about to open the door to then inn when Kayla stops me.

"Are you sure it's ok? I don't want to be a nuisance," she says.

"It'll be fine, you are good with your sword. If anything we need more people willing to engage in combat," I assure her.

I open the door slowly and see Aeri and Daath staring at me from a table close to the door. I walk over slowly and sit down. Kayla treads behind me slowly and sits beside me.

"You know where I stand in this Al," Daath says.

"What harm could one person do to us?"

"It's not about the harm, it's about the responsibility," he grunts. "I know you don't exactly care too much, but the simple fact of having to watch another back. It's mind breaking, man."

"Ok, the fact that I'm an ass most of the time doesn't mean I don't care. I care about you, I care about Elina, and as hard as this might be to believe I care about Aeri. We are a team, we are in this together," I answer.

Aeri looks at me and stares away quickly. Daath breathes in slowly and then exhales.

"Fine, I'm not exactly fond to the idea but…dammit fine," he huffs. "Ok, so what can you tell me about yourself?" he asks Kayla.

She flusters up all of the sudden and struggles to find words. I pat her back and tell her to calm down.

"My name is Kayla, I've been solo-ing since day one. To be honest it has been rather lonely and excruciatingly hard. I use light swords and consider myself very agile, although compared to your partner Aeri I would think I'm slow," she says, "It would really be an honor if you took me in. I'll try to help in anything I can and am able."

Daath smiles a bit and chuckles.

"I see you are a little nervous. Calm down, ok?" he comments. "I have my reasons for not being too eager with you joining, but I think I'll have to deal with it. We are partners now, I guess."

Kayla smiles and giggles a bit. I smile as well and lean back a little. Our group has a one plus again. Daath words suddenly make sense in my head, but the only thought that comes to mind is that perhaps he doesn't want to get too attached to more people. After all death is looming in every corner and the death of one of us wouldn't only lower morale but it could even break some of us down. I look at him and he is giving me the look he used to give me whenever I understood something he was teaching me. I guess he can read minds as well

I stand up from the table and start heading to the stairs of the inn.

"She is in her room, she said she was very tired," Daath says.

I freeze and can already hear Aeri giggling a bit.

"Alright, thanks," I say.

I make my way up and turn into the long hallway. I bring up my inventory to take my armor off and switch to some cotton pants and a gray shirt. It feels smooth and nice. Elina's door is just next to mine so it's easy for me to locate it. I knock on it a couple of times with no response. I stand in the hallway awkwardly waiting but nothing happens.

I try the knob and it slowly turns, a little surprised I creek the door in and see Elina curled up in her bed. As I'm closing the door to head to my room I hear her voice.

"Is that you?" she mumbles half asleep.

"Sorry, sorry, you go back to sleep."

"No…wait...come in," she says.

I go into the room and close the door behind me.

"Are you ok?" she asks.

I smile and nod. She smiles as well and sits up in bed.

"We have a new partner, see?" I say as I point upwards.

She looks up at her HUD and her expression appears bothered.

"Who is he?"

"She," I correct.

"Oh, I though Daath didn't want more people," she says.

"I kind of twisted his hand," I say while chuckling, "You didn't have any nightmares, right?"

She shakes her head slowly as I sit on the edge of the bed.

"Well that's good," I say while smiling.

Later that night

Aeri

"Are you really ok with the new girl?" I mumble while bending over the table.

Our leader sits across from me in the table as he finishes his drink.

"Aeri, you more than anyone knows exactly why I'm against it."

"Yeah…because you don't want to be responsible for more people…but…maybe if you didn't take the role of boss that often may-" Daath slams the table before I'm able to finish.

"What then, huh? Let Eli take the role? Al?" he raises his voice. "As cocky as this may sound, they aren't fit for the responsibilities. Al is too much of an impulsive animal and Eli is a frightened little girl."

"But what about me?" I mutter.

"You…you…shit. I'm sorry…" he says.

I look away and feel very sad for some reason.

"I just want to help you…the burden is not yours alone to carry," I say softly before standing up from my seat.

I start walking away from the table. Tears for some dumb reason start filling my eyes. I brush them away from my face. Since when am I so sentimental?

"Aeri, wait," he says while grabbing my shoulder from behind.

"You are right…but I've been thinking this way because no one ever offered help. I thought myself to be the only one able to keep us safe," he says, "but I am not… It is something we gotta work on together, it is something I'll need help with."

"What are you trying to say?" I answer trying to keep my voice from breaking.

"Help me," he whispers.

I can feel myself smiling and walk away from him a bit as I head to the stairs.

"Is that a yes?" he asks from afar.

I turn and nod at him with a smile.

"It's an effort we'll have to make together. As a team, no?" I say.

He smiles at me gently.

"As a team."

Crysina here!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

This chapter has been updated as of July/29/2016

A big thank you to Donna Hufflepuff for Betareading this chapter!

Meet Kayla she will be another vital part of our little team. FUN FACT: In the first draft of this chapter Kayla was going to be a big burly man. It's funny how things change.

If you would like to see some sketches of our characters please visit my profile. If you've made it this far it means you have read about 50,000 words of my story, yay!

As always, if you like what you read please leave a review!

Thank you for reading!

Next Chapter: "Reminiscing"