A fast update, I had this ready to post so I figured why not. Here's chapter 12, enjoy.

I opened my eyes to see the ceiling of the Administration Area, I sat up and looked at my clock, 11:30, a lot later than normal for me to wake up.

"I see you're awake now." Philia was sitting in front of the console.

"Yeah... You could have woken me up you know." I replied.

"I didn't want to disturb you." The thought of that supposed dream I had scared me. We returned to the Driogeer SkyCaves to continue our exploration. Looking at the Hollow Map, there was a section of the Skycaves that were disconnected from the area we were in. That usually means it's accessed by teleporter. The first new area in Driogeer, called Shrine of the Pursuer, had the look of an abandoned temple than it did a cave. The deeper we went the more of a maze the area was. It still beats those damn warp pads. Several doors had lead to nothing but an empty room. Eventually we made some progress when we reached the Central Rim. I activated a teleport device that we can use to get from this point to the Administration Area and back. Eventually we made it to the area where a teleporter could high likely be in the Ruined Steps of Driogeer 1F, because at that point we had checked everywhere we could currently have checked. Like I suspected we found the teleporter but it wouldn't work.

"You've got to be kidding me." I pounded the the device in frustration. "Got any ideas Philia?"

"No Lukas..."

"Damn it... want to head back? We covered quite a bit of ground today."

"Sure." As we made our way back, things started to get weirder. I saw several visions as we walked, many of them were of players I never met before. I saw what they experienced. Nothing but anger, frustration, despair, agony, pain, and so many suicides. It was starting to freak me out.

Administration Area

"Hey Philia, I feel like I should check on things back in Aincrad." I said,

"Okay... Lukas... When you get back do you want to explore the Skycaves just for some treasure?" she asked. I haven't gone treasure hunting with her since I had to help defeat that giant golem.

"Yeah, I'd love to, see you soon Philia."

Town of Beginnings

Although I lied when I wanted to check on things I figured I may as well do so. In truth I needed to clear my head. Too much kept nagging me from within. First Philia not acting like herself and the visions. Why me is all I can ask, why put me through all this? I remember one of the things I learned from the bible was everything happens for a reason. But whatever reason God is making go through this hell is beyond me. Was I being punished for all the fights I got into in school, or snitching on my mother? Or perhaps trying to help me in a very rugged fashion? Usually the slower I walked the easier it is clear my mind.

Laughing Coffin Base

I came up here to find any trace of activity from the guild or PoH. On the trail up here I spotted a dagger lodged in the ground. This must have been the one that killed me. After a long while of scanning I got nothing. I made my way back to the teleport gate at a slow pace. By the time I got back it was already pretty late. I decided to crash just outside the town.

Administration Area - Next day

"Sorry I took longer than I hoped for." I apologized since I hadn't informed her I'd be staying overnight.

"It's okay, so do you still want to explore with me?"

"Of course I do. I'm ready when you are.

Driogeer Caves

Everytime I looked at Philia, she seemed out of it, more so than she was earlier. She didn't really seem to be paying much attention to her surroundings.

"Let's take break if you're not feeling well." I said stopping.

"Okay... I'm sorry I'm such a pain to-"

"Don't even talk like that." I interrupted her."You're not a pain Philia, you never have been." Someone close to me once said those same words to me, and they died the next day. It left a wound that still bleeds.

"But I..." She couldn't find the words to respond.

"Tell me the truth Philia, something is bothering you isn't there." I had get answers.

"I'm fine, really."

"No you're not, you've been acting off since we got to the Skycaves."

"I...-" she was interrupted when an injured played staggered by.

"Must keep going... almost there!" I recognized this player, but not by name. Like me , he first got his cursor turned orange from self defense. From the looks of things, he's lost it.

"Hey, are you alright?" I asked

"I'm fine...Just a little more..."

"Are you stupid, your HP is critically low!"

"Hey are you listening?! Grr... Din javla idiot!" I ran after him.

"Don't go off on your own Lukas, it's dangerous!" Philia called out to me, I halted.

"You don't let the wounded suffer. I'm not letting that happen."

"Why are you going through so much trouble?! It could be a trap from an orange guild for all we know!"

"Then I'll deal with it then... Hey asshole!" I shouted as I ran after the player, leaving Philia where she was. I caught up to him, and blocked his way.

"I must keep-" He said as he had no intention of stopping.

"You're gonna wind up dead before you get to where you're going from the looks of you!" he walked right by me. I grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around. "You moron!" I gave him a left hook and floored him. I pinned him down and forced a potion down his throat. I knew he was a condemned player, he will respawn in here because of that, just for the cycle of pain to start over again. Better remedy the pain in the current cycle opposed to restarting it. I can only imagine what the other condemned players are experiencing. They keep on living but of from Aincrad in a virtual limbo, while clearing the game for those still in Aincrad means freedom, it spells the end for those down here.

I made my way back to Philia, I didn't go too far. On the way back, I saw another vision. This one was of me and Kirito. What was different about this one was that I saw it as if I was right behind us. I saw the dagger that killed me be thrown at my back.

"What the hell... was that vision from the person who killed me?" Now I'm starting wonder, if I wasn't brought here by just happenstance I'm starting to think whoever killed me did so for a very specific reason. Was there something here that only I could accomplish? I eventually regrouped with Philia.

"Sorry about that, did anything happen when I was gone."

"No nothing happened... what about that man?"

"I had to force him to take a potion, should ease his suffering for the time being."

"Right... you really are someone special Lukas."

"I don't feel like I am. Every player here seems to be on the verge or already has broken down, hard to imagine what's going through their minds." I thought out loud. "They don't seem to have any sense of caution or sense of danger."

"...It's because every player here are Hollows, they're just shadows."

"...Excuse me?" I never told her anything about the players here, neither the copies or the condemned.

"That man, he can't get out of here... And neither can I, I'm going to be here forever and ever..."

"No you're not, you will be freed, God be my witness." Was that what was bugging her, it had to be. "Hey, you look kind of pale, are you okay?"

"I'm okay, we can keep moving now."

"Okay, just don't push yourself too much." We went down a path that was different than when we first went down here, I hoped we could find a way to get the teleporter working while we were at it. Eventually We came to what I originally thought was a dead end.

"Take a good look at this wall Lukas." Philia pointed to the wall to our left.

"Wow, a hidden door, I'll be damned." I replied, Philia opened the door low and behold, treasure chest.

"I'm going to go open it, watch my back Lukas."

"You got it." One thing was certain, she's doing a terrible job at hiding that something is bothering her. I had my hand on my dagger, ready to defend. Philia was about to open the chest before she stopped.

"Lukas... There's something I wanted to ask."

"What would that be?"

"You never asked me how I got my orange cursor. I was wondering why."

"It never mattered to me, cursor doesn't make character, only their actions. After all we've been through, I trust you." I answered honestly.

"I... I'm not worthy of such praise."

"What do you mean? You've had my back since we first started."

"That's not what I mean... I mean... I killed someone, worse actually...I killed myself..."

"...What?" I was left speechless. Clearly there was some things Mei didn't tell me.

"When I was in the forest suddenly someone appeared in front of me...it was me. Can you believe that? The battle we had was intense... So frantic... I lost myself completely. When I finally came to my senses, the other me, who'd been right there in front of me...was gone."

"Philia..."

"My cursors always been orange ever since. I...I killed myself."

"..." I didn't know what to say

"What I did was so bad Lukas... Even if I change the color of my cursor, it won't make my guilt go away, which is why I'm going to be here in this shadow world forever." Philia couldn't hold back her tears anymore.

"You know that's not true, you're not gonna be damned to this place, I'm going to get you out of here!" That was why I didn't tell her everything, because I feared she would have lost hope, but it looked like it happened regardless.

"I wish... I wish I'd never met you. I wish I'd never have to feel this way..."

"Philia you can't give up, I know there is a way to fix this!"

"Thanks Lukas... And forgive me for this. Just hang in there..." Sensing someone behind me, I drew my dagger and turned around, only to get decked in the face, I stumbled backwards, but it wasn't the ground I met, it was a pitfall. I don't remember if I even made it to the bottom before I blacked out.

I regained consciousness in a darker part of the Skycaves. The fall was high enough to damage me, I used my last potion, which got my HP to 66% I tried to teleport out, but I couldn't, it was a no crystal zone.

"Wait a minute... No crystal zone, pitfall trap... This a PK setup." I had seen several of these in action before. Drop a player or two into a no crystal zone with tough monsters. "She fucking set me up... DAMN IT!" I threw the crystal in my hand at the wall in anger. The first vision must have been a warning I was foolish not to heed. After some deep breathing, I was able to get my priorities straight, first was get out of the dungeon. I proceeded forward into the next room, only to see the the glowing red eyes of the monsters. the dark red cursors spelled trouble. I went to pull out my dagger, only to discover I was unarmed.

Well there's chapter 12, I have Lukas in quite a doozy now. Remember to review and tell me what you think.