Author's Note: About Griselda, please see my note about her and Golden Apple on my forum page.
Chapter 12
Argo – Floor 50 – January 30, 2024 – 11:23
'You know, that cloak really suits you.'
Argo glanced down at the message again, probably for the hundredth time that morning. It was only two hours old, and had yawned wide at her after she left from her meeting with him. The event had been unplanned and nearly conflicted with what she had planned to do that morning.
Kirito was still disheveled when they'd met up, but he was looking much better than he had in December. He'd started regularly bathing again – something Argo had to fight tooth and nail for – and he was much more relaxed and at-ease around her now. What had prompted the gradual change over the month since they'd started working together was beyond her; Argo liked to think she was the one exerting a positive influence over him, but she couldn't help but feel it was something deeper.
And he was still humming Christmas tunes. Weirdo.
He told her of the results of his investigation on the 49th floor. The «Whitewood Watch» had lost an entire patrol of people who were guarding a caravan for an odd once-only quest in Myujen. It had been time-activated, only appearing once Floor 50 had been cleared, and only accepted one person to complete it.
The task? Deliver a stone.
Argo couldn't make sense of it. It was currently likely «Laughing Coffin» had something to do with the raid, but that probability was becoming less every day. Copy-cat guilds had already begun to spring up on the lower floors seeking to emulate and build upon the terror everyone had felt at the beginning of the year.
Kirito had given up on the 49th floor, unable to find any leads on the murderer's guild or make sense of the odd quest that wouldn't start over for any other players. However, Argo had more than noticed how animated he'd been when they met. When he spoke, it was with anger at the heinous acts of «Laughing Coffin», or joy from some trivial enjoyment he had found during his week away, or sadness when he discovered the fates of the «Whitewood Watch» members. Argo had smiled even at the tragic parts. Kirito had his emotions back.
They'd separated again – this time only for the morning – while he went shopping to restock and Argo ran her one errand for the day.
Argo turned the corner, keeping her target in sight as she did. Her brown cloak fluttered behind her, but the crowd of people on the street hid her from the broad-backed young man she was tailing. She kept a good distance – 30, maybe 40, feet back – and held her head down and eyes up. The man hadn't noticed her, but he was looking around occasionally as if worried about being followed.
Lind pulled off the main road of «Algade», heading towards one of the peripherals of the town. Argo stopped at the street corner, considering her options. There weren't as many people on this new road, but there were still enough. She followed, pulling herself back another 20 feet.
Ling stopped at a roadside take-out stand – one of the ones manned by adventurous non-players willing to bring their chosen craft to the front lines – ordering a hot plate for himself and someone else. Argo raised an eyebrow at that as he opened his menu and dematerialized the food. It was possible he was merely saving it for later, but buying food to share with an informant was quite unusual.
The leader of the «DDA» spun quickly, his attention grabbed by some skirting player running down the road. Argo flinched, turning sharply to the side and darting down a nearby alleyway. Her heart thundered, driven by the now-passed fear of being caught. She swore, catching a glimpse around the alley corner. Lind was staring at the spectacle of two young players running in the street. If Argo stepped out now, she'd be sighted instantly.
She sighed, preparing to wait until Lind moved on.
A glint of light on metal touched her eye, and she looked over at a pile of trash bins and scrap deposited near the backdoor of a blacksmith. It was mostly decoration for the side of the one-story building and was likely not usable, otherwise the place would have been picked clean by scavenging merchants already. She looked up towards the roof. It started only a few feet above the topmost point of the scrap pile.
Argo smiled, getting an idea.
Hopping up onto the bins of scrap was easy enough. The problem came when she tried to scale the small mountain of metal piled on top of that. She placed one hand uneasily on top of a slab of thick steel. It didn't budge. She leaned against it, testing her full weight and smiling when it didn't move. She moved gingerly upwards, only pressing her weight onto tested segments.
Though it was only a five foot climb, her heart was pounding and her head spinning by the time she made it to the gently sloped roof of the blacksmith. Thick black smoke billowed from a nearby brick chimney.
"Shit," Argo mumbled to herself, skirting over to the edge of the building. In her efforts to get onto the roof, she'd fallen behind Lind by quite a way. Luckily, the roofs were clear and private. Argo moved towards the center of the roof to prevent being seen from the streets below.
She picked up speed, moving faster than she ever could in real life – thanks to her «Acrobatics» skill – and considered the wall of the two-story building coming up in front of her. She didn't slow down, instead gaining speed as she ran towards the gap between the two stone and brick buildings. Moments before the edge, she planted her feet and sprung upwards, using every bit of momentum she had accumulated.
It was just under enough, Argo could already tell. Her hand would miss the edge of the building. She planted her feet against the wall of the building as she touched down and forced herself upward. The small bit of friction was just enough to get her hand around the ledge.
Argo pulled herself up slowly, gasping and sputtering for breath. Her exhaustion was more due to exhilaration than fear, and she felt the excitement reverberate through her limbs. She'd ran along rooftops! She'd leapt from a building!
The broker stood quickly, a wide smirk spreading across her face that she just couldn't ignore. She shook her head, bobbing up and down on the balls of her feet, her muscles itching to run more. The thrill of the experience filled her, and she eagerly ran to the next edge – this time with a building of equal height – and cleared it with a single bound.
In this manner she chased down Lind, moving from rooftop to rooftop. Glass panes and ceilings passed beneath her feet alongside solid stone and dull red brick. Her footsteps silenced by her «Stealth» skill, few, if any, people even noticed her pass by overhead. Argo found herself smiling as she ran.
When she finally caught up to Lind, he had turned off the secondary street and into an alleyway. Now she hung closer to the edge of the buildings, watching him carefully and following at as great a distance as she dared. She drew her cloak tight around her as she tailed the guild leader, hopping from building to buildings, onto porches and balconies and up into window frames. Propelled by her impossible gymnastic ability, she kept pace with the man.
All the while she had to stop herself from shouting with joy.
When Lind finally stopped, it was in a small clearing in no particularly special quarter of the large town of «Algade». To her right were the blackened skies above the smithies and the forges. To her left – though it was some ways distant – rose the massive city hall building. Lind himself took a seat at a small, unadorned fountain gushing clear blue water. A few NPCs strolled past, but there wasn't a player in sight for quite a way.
Argo felt her stomach knot. It was the perfect place for anything clandestine. Nobody would be around to witness a suspicious meeting. She thought back to that morning, when she'd marched straight down to the «DDA» barracks to demand that Lind told her everything and that he come clean about any involvement with «Laughing Coffin» he might have. She had rehearsed everything on the way over, perfecting every little nuance of speech, every little inflection and criticism. And then she saw him and her words fell away.
He said he was leaving the barracks to go for a walk. He insisted he be alone, and that anything Argo had to say would have to wait until later. Following him was all Argo could do. Argo sighed, ducking against a chimney so that Lind couldn't see her. All she could do now was hide and wait until Lind's informant came, if indeed that's what he was out here to do.
She shifted through her menu, pulling up her exchange of messages with Kirito. She smiled at them despite herself, sorting through the continuous conversation. Ever since she had demanded that he helped her out back in December, he'd finally started replying to her messages. They talked nearly every day now, and she saw him most days of the week.
Usually he was trading her small bits of information in exchange for a meal or trying to worm important details about spawning grounds from her without having to pay her standard rate. She thumbed over their most recent conversation, a report that he had reiterated this morning when he'd returned from the 49th floor.
'You're right. I've started to look forward to your cooking. Despite your appearances, you're actually pretty handy in the kitchen. It's tough not having that to rely on.' She had sent to him.
'Despite my appearance? What exactly do I look like, a barbarian? I can cook plenty well. Maybe not as good as some, but it gets me by.'
'Does it come from your long and lustrous career as a soloer? Those lonely campfires at night must make great motivation to up your cooking stats.'
'Well, when I don't sit comfortably in towns every day. I'm forced to make myself food.'
Argo smirked as she read that message, imagining Kirito sitting out in the cold rain of a dreary day while she herself was wrapped up tight in and warm and dry in an inn room. There had been a day like that at one point, and she had laughed at him for his misery. Argo knew he'd probably respond the same way if she was ever in the same situation.
'Poor baby.'
'You know, that cloak really suits you. It's nice.'
'I didn't think you noticed it. It's new – I figured the old one had gotten a bit too raggedy and it was time for a change. Since when do you notice clothes?'
'I usually don't, but I notice when you're dressed a bit different since we've been around each other pretty constantly this last month.'
Argo smiled at that. She'd been so afraid Kirito was going to vanish from her life once her investigation into «Laughing Coffin» began, but he'd stuck around. He had even taken to helping her – searching for information and keeping an ear out for interesting rumors while he was out training. Beyond that, he'd even partied with Argo a few times to help keep her levels up.
She looked over the rest of her messages, noticing with more than a little bit of annoyance how Sophie hadn't yet responded to her messages despite the urgency Argo put into them. Whatever the woman was doing couldn't be more important than stopping «Laughing Coffin».
Briefly she wondered if Sophie had fallen victim to the murder guild, but she pushed the thought away. As much as she disliked the rest of her party, they were competent fighters. Except maybe that new guy, but he wasn't important. The rest would take care of Sophie.
'You're a lot more talkative now than you used to be, you know?' Argo smiled at the message she'd sent Kirito. It had taken her a whole lot of courage to say it.
'I guess I enjoy talking to you.' And Kirito's response had made it all worth it.
Argo knew, deep down, that her crush was probably one-sided. She'd done a bit of digging into Kirito's past. When she discovered that Kirito had joined the «Moonlit Black Cats» and later left the guild for reasons unknown, it had been an incredible shock. The infamous solo player had joined a guild.
It wasn't until she'd heard the rumors of Kirito being seen with another member of the guild – a girl, and a rather pretty one at that – that she realized why Kirito must have left. The relationship probably hadn't worked out in the end, and left Kirito desolate and emotionally depressed for a long time.
One of these days she'd ask him more about it – about the exact reasons he left the guild – but that day was not now. Even so, it was rather odd that she hadn't been able to use any of her contacts to get in touch with any members of the «Moonlit Black Cats». It was almost as if they had disappeared. Since they were a small guild with very few members, nobody had paid much attention to them. If Argo at least had their names, she could track them down, though.
'Take care of yourself Argo. Ultimately, finding «Laughing Coffin» isn't a good enough reason to drive yourself into sickness.'
"Hey!" Argo snapped out of it, turning around quickly. Lind had raised an arm, gesturing at a nearby alleyway. She narrowed her eyes, feeling her heart begin to race when she thought of who the person could possibly be. It had to be an informant if Lind was meeting in secret.
Argo watched as the cloaked figure entered into the small courtyard. Lind stood, brushing himself down as if self-consciously. The informant was very slender, likely indicating a woman underneath the cloak. Argo shifted uneasily as the two drew near to each other, and every moment brought a gripping fear into her stomach of her that one of the two would see her.
The two walked up to each other, the newcomer saying something to Lind. He responded in kind and the newcomer laughed – a light and feminine sound. So the newcomer was definitely a girl. And the informant was on very good terms with the leader of the «DDA». Argo struggled with her «Listening» skill, only picking up fragments of speech.
Lind was concerned about something. Something about lilies?
Lind leaned towards the newcomer, his lips brushing hers. Argo felt her stomach twist into a knot, the sudden realization sinking in as Lind wrapped his arms tight around the newcomer. Argo stood quickly, blushing and feeling very, very foolish.
She'd followed him on a secret date.
Argo swore to herself, preparing to leave, when a swift motion in the corner of her eye drew her attention. The newcomer swept her hood back, revealing long brown hair and a soft, familiar expression. Argo stared, standing clear on the rooftop of the building – in plain sight if either of the lovebirds had bothered to look – and went numb.
The girl smiled at him, punching Lind playfully in the arm and interlocking hers with his. Together they strolled away from Argo towards one of the far alleyways. As they walked, the girl leaned her head on Lind's shoulder and they continued to talk softly. Rather than a secret information for «Laughing Coffin», she accidentally discovered Lind's secret girlfriend.
Ran, the leader of the «Sleeping Knights».
Lyra – Floor 50 – January 29, 2024 – 13:37
She glanced over her messages, keeping one finger alighted over David's name. The last message was from December, a mundane little message about dinner than she had never responded to. She sighed, closing the menu and staring across the table.
Hikari glowered into her pasta bowl, absently pushing the virtual meatballs back and forth with her fork. A strand of hair fell over the girl's ear and Hikari ignored it. Around them, the empty restaurant seemed to mock their awkward silence.
It was a dirty, small place with very little in the way of ornamentation. Occasionally she saw the owner – a short and fat NPC with a bad attitude – moving around near the back of the restaurant, near the kitchen. Wooden stools and tables sat on bare dirt floors, and the rafters hadn't even been concealed. Spider webs hung freely from them, and there seemed to be a permanent layer of dust on everything in sight.
"You ever gonna eat?" Lyra leaned back in her rickety chair, listening to it creak. This particular restaurant was a shallow dive compared to where she'd prefer to eat, but the bigger-name places were filled with players. The chances of someone recognizing them were much higher, especially now that Klein and Yuuki knew the two of them were on the floor.
"Well?" Lyra pressed, but the woman said nothing. "For god's sake, if you don't eat your food, Hikari, I'm gonna feed it to you."
Hikari glanced up at her briefly before pushing the bowl to the side and laying her head on the table. Lyra bit her lip, suddenly ashamed of her outburst. It was already usual of Hikari to eat very little and say even less. Sometimes she found herself wondering why the woman stuck with Lyra.
"Hikari," Lyra started. A thought worked through her head; it was something she'd put off talking about for a long time now. "You're thinking about the people in the main courtyard, aren't you?"
Hikari nodded, and Lyra felt her stomach lurch. They were a group of «Whitewood Watch» members who had been waving signs and calling for volunteers for the past few days. Rumors had been crawling in lately about their guild suffering losses at the hands of «Laughing Coffin», and Lyra held little doubts they were looking for people to bring the fight to them.
"Well, you know how I feel about you running off to join them," Lyra said with more than a slight concerned inflection. "Bounty hunters are murderers. Just because their cursors are green doesn't make them good people. I know we've been trying a bit to track down «Laughing Coffin» on our own, but that doesn't mean we need–"
"They're being led by Pollux," Hikari said, sliding her head down into her hands again.
Lyra paused from hearing the name. He was the other survivor, Hikari's former guildmate who helped popularize «Laughing Coffin» after his guild had been destroyed. The two had never met up since then, though Hikari had been aware of his survival for a while.
"Even so…"
"Is it murder if it's retribution, Lyra?" Hikari glared up at her. "Is it criminal if they exact justice?"
Lyra opened her mouth to retort, but fell silent. After a long moment, she finally responded.
"I don't know."
"I don't really know either," Hikari shrugged. "There's a lot of things I don't know how to feel about." She paused, then mumbled, "You remind me of her."
"I'm not Sierra," Lyra said, wary of the way the conversation might turn. It wasn't the first time Hikari had mentioned it, and Lyra had never been sure how to handle it.
"No, you aren't," Hikari lifted her head, staring at Lyra for a long moment. She swallowed as if holding back some upwelling of emotion but said nothing more.
"Hikari," Lyra said. "This isn't right. I don't want you to run off to join some bounty hunting gang, especially not–"
"–especially not if you're afraid I'm gonna off myself if you look away for a moment?" Hikari smirked, her face a mask of empty sarcasm.
"That's not what I meant," Lyra said, and Hikari sighed, looking away.
"I'm sorry. You've done a lot for me," Hikari shook her head. "You shouldn't feel obligated to hang around me simply because you're worried about me. If you want to leave me, then leave me."
"I'm not going to do that to you," Lyra insisted, surprised by how quickly and easily she said. "I can't just leave a friend who needs help."
"You don't need to care," Hikari laid her head down again.
Lyra sighed, leaning back in her chair. They were silent for a long while.
"Eat your pasta, Hikari," Lyra finally said again. "Or I swear to god, I'm gonna force-feed you."
It was about an hour later that they were back on the city streets again. Lyra ran through a list in her head of things they had to do for the day while Hikari trudged on along beside her, staring at the ground. They had to repair their weapons, visit a «Monster Hunter Association», and find a few repeatable quests to work on while they grinded levels and run a number of other small errands Lyra wasn't exactly thrilled about doing. Their hoods were up to prevent anyone recognizing them, but Lyra kept her head down anyway.
They were walking through the town center when Hikari grabbed her sleeve. It was a wide circle with the floor teleporter in the direct center, and there were many people walking in and out of the popular shops that lined the edges of the town center. Players set up stalls to peddle their goods and NPCs wandered about giving quests. It was the place with the largest amount of traffic in the town, and the bustle was expected.
"Look, Lyra," Hikari pointed towards the edge of the central square of «Algade». Several men dressed in armor the colors of white, silver and gold were shouting and waving their arms. A few waved signs saying things like 'Down with Laughing Coffin' or 'Take Action Now!' "That's them."
The bounty hunters.
One particularly large member was holding up a painted sign saying 'Join the Fight!' in bright bold letters. Hikari was already pulling away from her, weaving through the crowd towards the clearers. Lyra felt a surge of uncertainty and rushed after her. Why was she going to them now? Lyra grimaced.
Hikari was being rash.
"Hello," A wide, grim face stared down at Hikari as Lyra rushed to her side. "Looking to join up?"
Lyra froze up next to Hikari and looked around the group of people slowly. The crowds of the central courtyard had made a conscious decision to avoid the clearers, and there was a small, clear bubble in front of the four or so people standing around with their signs.
"Dunno yet," Hikari said. "Depends on what you're looking for."
"Good fighters with level heads and a need for justice to be done," the big man said, folding his arms. "We're going to do what the rest of the clearers won't: exact bloody revenge on «Laughing Coffin»."
"You think you guys are up to the task, huh?" Hikari looked at them, mentally working through something. Lyra clenched her fists. "Any of you actually fight «Laughing Coffin» before?"
"All of us, at some point or another," the big man said. "The one who put this group together when our guild leader refused to act was there when «Laughing Coffin» slaughtered the «Eternal Brotherhood». He was one of only two survivors."
"Why recruit people on the street?" Hikari asked.
"We've all got dead friends or family we want to see avenged," the man explained. "But our guild leader, Surrey, decided that bringing the fight to the murderers was unwise. While most of the «Whitewood Watch» agreed, we begged to differ. We're taking… unauthorized action."
"You're pretty much creating a big 'look at me' sign for «Laughing Coffin»."
"We need more people on our side," the big man replied, shrugging as he did so. Hikari stared at him for a while considering it. Lyra could tell what was going through Hikari's head at the moment. The bounty hunters were both brave and fool-hearty, but that was exactly how a mind twisted around revenge worked. Lyra knew Hikari would sympathize.
"Do you know of the «Sunset Swordsman», one of the «Laughing Coffin» members?" Hikari asked, her eyes narrowing. Lyra felt her throat tighten. David. "Katana swordsman with blood red armor."
"Can't say I do," the man shook his head. "You got a grudge that needs repaid? We get a lot of sympathetic remarks and not a lot of helping hands. We've spent three days standing out in the Algade courtyard all day and few have joined our cause."
"When you say 'bringing the fight to «Laughing Coffin»'," Hikari's voice felt darker, "what precisely do you mean? Beating a few of them up or writing strongly worded letters isn't going to change anything."
"Of course not," the man shook his head. "We're going to kill as many of the bastards we get our hands on."
Lyra felt the hairs on the back of her neck bristle as the man's empty expression locked with Hikari's. Both people stared at each other, and Lyra could feel a sense of kindred pass between them both. Two people who had lived through loss. It was all the more odd that the two wore the same expression – empty yet determined – despite one being a massive European man with a thick beard and the other a petite Asian woman barely past the five-foot mark.
"I think you need to take me to see your leader," Hikari said. Lyra grabbed her wrist, opening her mouth to say something, but Hikari started first. "Lyra, I'm not joining up for sure. I just figured I should talk to the man and see what the full deal is. I'm not gonna do anything off-handed."
"These men are bounty hunters," Lyra as she pulled Hikari to the side. "We've talked about this. They can't be sane, or stable, or…"
Hikari coughed a raspy laugh.
"Sounds like I'll fit right in."
It was a long while of waiting while the big man – who later introduced himself as Maximus – confirmed with their leader about letting Hikari meet him. Since she was apparently one of only a handful of people who expressed interest in joining, it was allowed relatively easily. Lyra kept a tight grip on Hikari's hand as they were led through winding alleyways and the close quarters of the maze-like town. Their guide was woman who looked to be in her early thirties whose expression was distant and unfocused half of the time, like she was walking through a dream.
Surprisingly, Hikari's hand gripped Lyra's as well, and she felt the woman shaking slightly as the alleyways became darker and narrower as they were led into the outer reaches of the town.
The small building they finally arrived at didn't look like much in passing – if Lyra and Hikari had walked by it before, there was no way they'd remember it. Bland clay walls and unornamented windows opened up into the narrow walkway in front of it. No players or NPCs passed by, and Lyra was certain they were fairly close to the city walls.
Once there, the woman rapped sharply on the door and a thin NPC opened it. Lyra and Hikari entered into a fairly bare entryway, where a couple of bland and ancient-looking decorations hung on the walls. Their guide disappeared past the doorway, leaving the two women alone in the hall.
"You're seriously considering joining up with them?" Lyra asked as she began to pace along the far wall. Hikari didn't say anything. "Hikari, these people want blood. Have you heard the news lately about the «Whitewood Watch»? These bounty hunters–" she spat the words, "–are looking to murder members of «Laughing Coffin». You can't–"
"I can do whatever I want, Lyra," Hikari snapped at her, but then stopped herself, sighing. "I'm grateful for everything you've done for me in the past month, but I am seriously considering this. There've been many nights I've dreamed the many ways I can kill that damn red-soaked swordsman, and uncountably more where I've woken up in a cold panic, reimagining what happened or seeing him coming for me next."
"Throwing yourself into a group like this isn't going to help you," Lyra pressed. "I–"
The door swung open and the mid-thirties woman presented herself again to the two players. She motioned for them to follow and they did. The interior of the house was as equally drab as the exterior and the entryway, but it was a bit brighter, illuminated by many different candles that hung from cold grey sconces along the walls. The floors, while wooden, may as well have been cold cement or dirt from how little light they added to the rooms.
Their destination was an office room that was tucked near the back of the building. They were led into the room only for their guide to duck out and away, closing the door softly behind her. Lyra tensed up as she heard the door click shut.
A man sat in a chair in front of them, tilted so that she could only see the sides of his face. He stared into the fireplace, a long scimitar laid across his lap. Medium length blonde hair fell over his half-obscured face as he turned to look at them.
The month had not been kind to Pollux. Lyra recalled the early pictures of him put out in the various newspapers in early January. Sometime since then, his cheeks had become sunken and his face pallid and weak. Large bags hung under his eyes and his expression was cold and empty.
He stood slowly and turned towards them, his cold expression falling away into shock as he saw Hikari. The young woman stared back, but Lyra could see her face was a mask of false strength. Her lower lip quivered as Pollux and Hikari stared at each other.
"So it was you that survived, Hikari," Pollux said finally, his voice cautious and uncertain. "I knew there was another survivor, but there was no way of knowing for sure if it was you. I–" He choked up, stepping forward, "–I'm so sorry, Hikari. Sierra, she…"
Pollux stepped forward, the big blonde man wrapped Hikari into a bear hug. Hikari's eyes widened with surprise for just a moment, but only just. She closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around Pollux as well. For a long moment, the two old friends stood there, embracing each other. Lyra looked around the room awkwardly, unsure what to do with herself. Finally, Pollux pulled away.
"Why didn't you respond to any of my messages?" Pollux asked, his hands on Hikari's shoulders. "I sent so many, hoping and praying that I would get a response. And now you show up, and I don't even know what to say."
Hikari shrugged, her voice quaking as her eyes watering. "I never knew how to answer."
Pollux hugged her again, and when they pulled away, Pollux had tears in his eyes as well.
"It's okay now," he said, smiling. "It's okay."
Hikari shook her head, and when she responded, her voice had dropped, becoming hard. Lyra folded her arms subconsciously, feeling the decision that had already been made. A decision that had been made the moment Hikari had spotted Maximus, but one that had only been realized at this very moment. She felt her heart hurt more than it should have, watching the girl stare up at Pollux with fire in her expression.
"You formed a band of vengeance-seekers, huh?" Hikari said, her voice on the edge of breaking. "Well, I've got a bone to pick with «Laughing Coffin», so I hope you've got room for one more."
"Aye," Pollux nodded. "There's always room for one more."
David – Floor 50 – January 30, 2024 – 15:52
"There," Lux pointed out across the vibrant field of flowers. "Do you see her? Light metal armor and a sword? Cropped hair?"
"Yeah, I see her," David grumbled. The woman had decided to make the ring trade-off in one of the very few locations of the floor that wasn't covered in deep forest. The «Meadow of Memories», it was called. Algade was only a short distance away. The kill would have to be quick, lest they attract unwanted attention.
"And him?"
"Our shill," David pointed at the small-framed and handsome man walking over to the target. He brushed some blonde hair out of his face as he extended his hand towards the woman their target. They shook briefly, chatting about nothing David could make out.
"Really? Him?" Lux was unimpressed. "He's so… puny."
"Lyle is probably one of the best, actually," David smirked at her, bemused by her lack of knowledge. "And he's considerably more motivated by money than many of the other information brokers. Probably why he's working with PoH."
"So he's crooked."
"As much as any of us are."
For a while they were silent, observing the scene. A thousand scenarios moved through David's mind, but the plan shone above it all.
"Here, take this," Lux nudged him, holding out a sheathed dagger. One of hers.
"Why?" David cocked an eyebrow.
"In case things get personal for you," Lux shrugged. David took the weapon, strapping the dagger to his belt.
David motioned towards the far edge of the meadow and Lux moved off, snaking through the trees and underbrush of the meadow's border easily. Her orange cursor disappeared as her «Stealth» skill activated and David lost sight of her.
Keeping his eyes on the ongoing exchange between Lyle and the swordswoman. PoH's description of the job had included the woman's name, but he could barely remember it. He had stated that she was in possession of a very powerful ring and that they'd been hired to kill her by someone close to the woman.
As her discussion with Lyle continued – haggling over price, from what he could tell – David slipped his skull-mask over his head. The soon-to-be victim was young – probably mid-twenties, making her only a bit older than David was himself. She had a mature charm that came with that age that spoke of youth tempered with experience, of a life only just beginning to blossom.
He drew his sword.
David kept himself creeping along the edge of the clearing, moving in the opposite direction as Lux was. His «Stealth» skill wasn't the highest skill, but it was enough to get around most players not actively searching for assailants.
"Griselda, please, you're being unreasonable." He overheard a snippet of their conversation. Lyle had his hands out, pleading in a very un-businesslike way. David found himself smirking at that – the man was faking being a worse negotiator than he was.
"«Golden Apple» worked hard for this ring," Griselda had her hands on her hips, staring at Lyle with a calm weight. "I simply cannot sell it for that low."
David shook his head. Lyle had likely set an initial price extremely low to make his next price seem more reasonable. What did it even matter? His only job was to get the ring off the woman to make Lux's execution easier.
Lux's execution.
David felt himself clench his fists unconsciously. He willed the disgusted impulse away. This was his life now.
He moved out of earshot of the two, his footsteps barely making a sound as he moved through short green shrubs and bright, vibrant flowers. The oak forest towered around him, but the trees here were of a reasonable, manageable size. There were no giant trees here.
David found a decent spot nearest to the two main paths out of the meadow and hopped into the low-hanging branches of a nearby oak. With Lux on the other side of the clearing, Griselda wouldn't be able to slip away in time before at least one of them getting to her. He climbed.
The upper branches of the oak were oddly comforting. He was surrounded on all sides by greenery and the soft sounds of birds and insects. If he closed his eyes, he could almost imagine himself back home, sitting in that tall monkeypod tree his father never wanted him to climb. They would have built a treehouse, but the damn species of tree had a tendency to break off its own branches when under stress.
The wind brushing his face was almost like the real world.
He found his mind beginning to wander. What would Lyra have thought of his mother, his father? What would his family have thought of her? They were questions that might never be answered, but David found himself asking them regardless. His thoughts turned more to the real world.
All of the mundane facets of his life were now cast in light – how it would feel again to turn a key in the door to his apartment, or order a pizza, or sit in a lecture hall and fall asleep? The struggle to pay the bills each month, to keep himself ahead in school, to make something of himself – now that it had been torn from him, what did it all really mean?
"Where is Heaven, David?" He asked himself, stretching his arm up in front of him, his eyes still closed.
A hand locked around his.
"I'm glad you're still asking that question."
David's eyes shot open. Lux crouched on the branch in front of him, smiling up at him. Her expression was mixed between mischief and joy. Creases formed at the corners of her eyes, and the sight was almost radiant.
No, it wasn't Lux. Lux wouldn't smile like that. Then…
"Emilia?" The girl cocked her head. Briefly David's eyes shot up above her head. No cursor, even though cursors were set to display. Not an NPC and not a player.
"Is that the long version of Emi?" the girl asked, a quizzical expression on her face. She grinned. "We met before like this, but in the courtyard full of people. You didn't seem so tired then, and the darkness under your eyes wasn't quite so deep."
"What do you want?" David drew his legs back in, slowly moving to a crouching position. Behind Emi he could see Griselda and Lyle in the meadow through the break in the trees, still haggling. It looked like they might be wrapping up soon, but he couldn't be sure.
"Just thought I'd stop by," the girl said, shrugging.
"I'm busy, girl. Go away." David couldn't explain why, but looking into her bright blue eyes made his skin crawl. He wanted her gone, but he found he had no power to remove her. Instead her presence bored into him, more and more painful after each moment.
"Oh, you're not any fun."
"I'm not in the mood to entertain a little girl," David folded his arms.
"The others I appeared before," the girl spoke, her voice distant, "are all dead now. Yūta was scared, begging and pleading and crying and screaming. Then the Griffon took him and he was silent. Sierra was tall and proud, powerful and kind, but you ended that quite handily. And now you–"
"What?" David felt a numbness he couldn't describe. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"I just get a feeling – as much as I can, at least – that you and I are very similar," Emilia said, her expression suddenly sad. "You are in pain, and I can see where that path will lead you, much as it has led PoH and so many others."
"PoH?"
"Few intend to fall," Emi stood as David did, and for a while they both stared at each other.
"Well?" David grumbled. "What did you want?"
"David," Emi stared at him. "I… There is a memory. In a bath of blood and fire, in the land of whiteness and long nights, you defended someone. I want to understand why I see it, the memory that isn't mine. David, you need to tell me. Who did you save?"
"I don't know what the hell you're talking about," David said slowly, the hair on the back of his neck rising at the weirdness of her. She stood alight on the thin portion of the tree branch in front of her, a brown dress fluttering in the light breeze. Her expression was both empty and not, as if she could not begin to decide between feeling nothing and feeling everything.
"I am mistaken, then," the girl said. "Perhaps XaXa will prove more fruitful."
"XaXa?" David shook a growing unease away. "Enough," David looked past her, to where Griselda was leaving Lyle behind. The man was shrugging, a light smile on his face. Did he fail to obtain the ring? "I'm not here to have some girl play games with me. Go away."
He jumped from the tree, landing silently among the underbrush. When he looked back up into the trees, the girl was already gone. He stared overlong at the spot where she was standing before, struggling to make sense of the odd conversation.
He pushed aside the feelings of uncertainty, moving towards the road he saw Griselda walking to. He had a job to do, and it wouldn't do if Lux got there first.
It was David's job to make the kill.
A few moments later, he stepped out of the forest and onto the thin path back to the city limits. He felt Griselda freeze up more than he saw it – it was the instinctual reaction people had when confronted by an orange player. David drew his katana, staring down Griselda. The woman's shock faded quickly, and she placed a firm hand on her short sword.
"And now it all makes sense," Griselda chuckled. "This whole arrangement had been suspect. Lyle insisting on meeting me out in the field for fear of robbers in town, and his obscenely high bidding for this ring right after a stupidly low price. Good thing I didn't sell it, or I might have been in trouble."
Davd shrugged. "I'll keep that in mind next time. I had thought the man was at least capable at playing the part of the merchant."
Now that Griselda was in front of him, David suddenly found himself caught in a sudden bout of emotion. She had shoulder-length brown hair and very Japanese features. Reinforced leather armor clung to her – it wasn't top-tier stuff, but it would stop a blade if it needed to. Though she was certainly no twin, her resemblance to Lyra was uncanny.
Then again, maybe he just saw her in everyone.
"So?" Griselda's sword was half drawn as she spoke. "What do we do now?"
"Hand over the ring and I'll let you go," David lied.
"We both know that isn't going to happen." Griselda drew her sword.
Her first strike was almost too fast for him to follow, her blade driving him back a step. He twisted with the impact, moving out of range of a second strike. Griselda's face twisted in a satisfied smirk when she noticed David's temporary panic.
"That's a damn good ring," David shrugged. "And you're not a pushover, which is nice."
"Used to killing weaklings?"
"A bit."
David lunged, slashing upwards. Griselda easily danced about the blade. She half-twisted, knocking his blade away and jumping in before David could pull the katana back. Griselda slammed her shield into David's chest, knocking him heavily in the chest. A crossed out symbol of lungs appeared in the top left corner of his screen, indicating that he was winded. David growled, pulling back as Griselda straightened herself.
David pointed his katana at her, searching for an opening in her stance. She leaned slightly to left, he noticed, but he wasn't sure how to use that just yet. Years of sword-fighting practice had taught him how to read his opponent's movements, and the past year of playing in SAO had taught him everything his practice had avoided. How to maim. How to kill. But Griselda's form was rough yet effective. Before the game, she – like most people – had probably never lifted a weapon of any kind. Even so, she was confident and effective.
The second ring on her left hand glinted in the filtered sunlight of the tree-covered road. David hazarded a glance backwards, checking for anyone coming down the road. Nobody. Good. But he didn't know how long that would last. He had to kill this woman quickly.
"You're hesitating, swordsman," Griselda called. "Didn't your band of thieves and murderers teach you not to stall in a mortal struggle?"
"You're quite the confident one," David said through his skull mask, still searching for an opening. She leaned slightly to the right, and all of her movements so far had her spinning to her right. Why was she avoiding planting her weight on her left side? "Your husband must be ecstatic he married a lively woman."
'Not really," Griselda barked a laugh, and she glanced towards the side of the road. "Actually, he–"
David didn't wait for her to finish. He raced in, his katana slashing in from his left. At the moment before their swords clashed, he feinted, spinning around to Griselda's left. She turned, struggling to block his real strike, but she wasn't fast enough. David's blade wrapped under hers, forcing it up and to the side with a sweeping motion. He stepped in, his free hand striking her just under her ribs. The blow landed solid and heavy, and Griselda grunted as she bolted forward, escaping him.
She would have been able to avoid that with her high-AGI ring, David thought.
"Y-You didn't–" Griselda coughed heavily, eyeing David as she winced, "–let me finish, you bastard."
"Very well," David had a clear vantage of the road behind Griselda now that they'd switch positions. He relaxed, confident no one was coming down the road just yet. "What did you have to say?"
"Oh, now you're being courteous?"
"Felt I should be polite." David shrugged. He smiled under his skull mask, but stopped when he realized the woman likely couldn't see it.
"As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted," Griselda started, and they began to circle each other – to her right, David couldn't help but notice – slowly, "I'm on rather poor terms with my husband at the moment. I love him dearly, but he's quite controlling. You call me lively as a compliment, and I thank you for that, but he doesn't quite enjoy that."
"More's the pity," David shrugged, and lunged. His katana locked with her shortsword near the base of the blades, and for a moment the two struggled mere inches apart. David released himself from the parry, sweeping one foot out. Griselda stumbled, but kept her footing.
"I know!" Griselda complained as she straightened herself. "He just doesn't understand why I'm not content running a bakery or keeping a house in this game."
She swung her blade overhead at him, then spun as David lifted his katana to parry. The side of her shield slammed into his ribs heavily, and David fell back in surprise. The blunt attack left a bright yellow warning indicating she'd broken ribs.
"If he's so mad," David sidestepped a second strike, twisting around to her left, "why doesn't he keep house or run a bakery? Obviously it's important to him to do so."
"He didn't quite like it when I told him that very thing," Griselda grinned as they locked blades again. "Yelled at me for hours, and eventually I just told him to fuck off."
"Damn." They broke, and David paused, examining the woman for a second before throwing back his head, laughing. Griselda cocked her head for a moment, not quite understanding David's burst of joviality. David slowly wound down and tore off his skull mask, looking straight at Griselda with more than a bit of a smile.
"You're an interesting woman, Griselda," David smiled at her. "I'm not sure if I expected someone in your position to open up to me about her marital problems."
"Oh, it's not the weirdest thing I could do," Griselda smiled back at him, but she kept her sword leveled at David even though his katana had dropped to the ground. "You're a lot younger than I had originally assumed."
"Barely younger than you," David said, shrugging.
"Exactly my point," Griselda said, her expression hardening. "You don't seem like that unpleasant of a guy. Why are you doing this? Robbery; it doesn't suit you."
David shrugged.
"When does your bounty wear off?" Griselda asked.
"Few more days," David felt the words flow from him almost without intending. There was no harm in telling her, he thought.
"Tell you what," Griselda lowered her sword, just slightly. "You put your sword away and I'll make you a deal. My guild is always looking for competent people, and though we're only mid-level right now, our aim is to become clearers. Given time, if you can prove yourself to be trustworthy, you would be a valuable asset to our guild."
"And how would this benefit me?" David asked. To his surprise, he asked the question seriously.
"I'll try my best to protect you until your bounty wears off and I'll help reintegrate you into society if you've been gone too long," Griselda smiled at him, warm and genuine. "I can also keep your past a secret – to the rest of the guildmates, you'll just be a stray cat I picked up off the side of the road. Nobody will know what you've done and nobody will ask, provided you can turn your back to it."
"I–"
"But please don't assume I'm doing this out of the kindness of my heart," Griselda continued. "You're a strong player and I fully intend to use you as such. That you seem to possess an agreeable disposition and the fact that I like you is merely icing on the cake. If you can handle that, you're more than welcome into my guild."
David opened his mouth, struggling to speak, but found he had nothing coherent to say. Instead of a clever response or a mean-spirited retort, more simple words rolled off his tongue. "You… like me?"
"Woah, woah," Griselda raised a hand, still smiling. "Easy, loverboy. I'm a married woman, and I just mean that I get the feeling you're a half-way decent individual despite your cursor."
"Ah," David sheathed his katana, his heart suddenly beating fast, the blood rushing in his head.
"So," Griselda smiled and extended a hand. "How about it, partner?"
David stepped forward, hesitantly reaching a hand out. A guild to accept him. A home to go back to. Griselda was easily six inches shorter than he was, but she seemed to tower over his life at that moment, both threatening and welcoming. Warm and accepting. He didn't so much recoil from his fear of her as he reveled in it.
His hand grasped hers, and she smiled.
To his right, a flash of blonde hair in the underbrush. A leveled crossbow.
David sighed, knowing what that meant.
His free hand shot out, grabbing the left side of her torso and swinging one foot behind hers, taking advantage of how she'd refused to put weight on that side this entire time. With the woman letting out a strangled cry, he forced the guild leader to the ground. He straddled her, the weight of his upper body pinning her arms above her head.
With his free hand he drew Lux's dagger.
"Wait," Griselda let out a panicked cry, her eyes wide. "You can't do this, I–"
"That's enough," David shook his head. "You've been favoring your left side. The only time people feel pain in this game is when they're hurt outside of combat. Tell me, Griselda," He narrowed his eyes, "How long has your husband been beating you?"
"I–" Griselda stopped, biting her lip and looking away.
"Nobody is as they appear," David shook his head. "Your own desire of seeing the good in horrible people has made you mistake me as someone looking for redemption, and now you're going to pay the price. You try your hardest to present yourself as strong and confident, because deep down, you really aren't. Your husband had stripped that of you a long time ago."
Tears wet the edges of Griselda's eyes, but she didn't cry out or sob. She merely stared.
"And Griselda," David felt his own eyes water. "This isn't about the ring. Your husband hired us to kill you."
"Why?"
David shrugged.
He drove dagger Lux gave him up under her ribcage, the point of the blade directed towards her heart. Griselda arced her back and opened her mouth at the surprising pain – a side-effect of the poison. He twisted the blade and watched as Lux's poisons took effect. Griselda's eyes grew blank and dull as the hallucinogenic poison entered her system.
"You're not a bad person, Griselda," David said, bringing the dagger up for the final strike. "It was the world that was wrong for doing this to you. I am at fault. Your husband is at fault. But not you.
"Never you."
He drove the blade into her chest, just above the heart, and Griselda cried out. A brief moment before she shattered, they stared at each other, saying nothing. Griselda's expression hardened just before the end, but she didn't speak. The woman sat in judgment of him and David had no response.
A notice popped up in front of him, showing him what items he had earned from killing her.
When it was all over, David found himself on all fours on the paved road, staring at the gap between two stones. Lux walked over to him, her footsteps clacking on the ground as she moved towards him.
"Good work, David," she said simply. "I was honestly worried I was going to have to kill you there." David stood slowly, staring at the girl. He said nothing, and she continued, shouldering her crossbow. "You were going to take her offer, and we both know how that would have worked out for you."
"So that's how you keep me wrapped around your little finger?" David growled. "Threaten me from the shadows in case I do something wrong?"
"You belong in «Laughing Coffin» now," Lux shrugged. "There is no escape."
David stared at her, but said nothing.