Me: So my friend just registered for Archive of Our Own and hopefully his invitation will come in on monday so we can start our crossover. Anyway, here's the next chapter! Review and Enjoy!
November 5, 2024
I was playing with a small flame in my hand as I waited for Kirito to come back with dinner. Every time he goes fishing, however, he usually fails...My poor husband…Soon, however, my husband enters the house with an older guy following, "Mars! I got dinner and a guest!"
"Eh?!"
~Skippy!~
"That was an amazing meal!" The man, who I found out is called Nishida, praised. Apparently he's been depressed that he couldn't have fish with soy sauce, so Kirito said we'd let him have some if he shared the fish he caught. "I had no idea you can get soy sauce in this world!"
"Actually, it's my friend's recipe. She spent the last year figuring out combinations for sauces, and she shared them with me. You can take some home if you'd like."
"Really?! Ma'am, my tastebuds bow down before you!"
"Well, I'm glad you liked it and I'll pass the praise to my friend. By the way, how high is your fishing skill? I'm asking because Kirito is a failure at it."
Kirito growled at me while Nishida laughed, "Well, maybe the lakes around here are just too hard, ever think about that?!"
"Actually that's not true" Nishida stated, so I give my husband a smug look and he huffed with a pout. "As far as fishing goes, the only lake that's tough to catch anything in, is the big one you were fishing in today."
"What?!" I laugh at my husband's misfortune, "Why would someone design it like that?!"
"Yes good question!" Nishida exclaimed, making both of us pause, "That lake is actually the home of, the King of all Fish!"
"Seriously?!" Me and Kirito ask, only he was disbelieving and I was excited. How awesome would it be to catch and fight that thing! It must be huge!
"Yep. Old pals. I've had him on the end of my hook quite a few times. But he's so strong, he yanks the pole out of my hands every time." I let out a small squeal. Now I really wanna fight it! "I was wondering. Do you have any plans for tomorrow?"
~Skippy!~
Kirito was laying in our bed practicing his 'fishing pole switch' as I put on my nightgown. "I don't mind helping the guy out, but how am I supposed to do a switch move with a fishing pole."
"If anyone can do it, it's you" I wave him off, leaning over and turning the light off before crawling over and laying on him. His chest is now my pillow. Mwahaha! "What are you going to do with it if you catch it?"
"Can we even keep something like that?" I hum and snuggle into him happily, "He was pretty cool though."
"I was surprised when you brought him home with no warning," I tell him, "Isn't it funny? How people are living normal lives in this world? And since we're the ones on the front lines, they've become our responsibility, haven't they?"
"Before we teamed up, my main focus was only my own survival."
"And now everyone is counting on you. Talk about pressure huh?" I grin jokingly.
"Yeah," He agreed, before fingering Yui's Heart, which I had made into a necklace so I can keep her with me all the time. "I promised to save everyone. That's something to live up to."
"They'll understand if we take off for tonight" I say, resting my head in the crook of his neck.
~Skippy!~
I was covered up so no one would recognize me, while Kirito was looking rather annoyed at my side. He still didn't understand the whole 'King of the Fish' thing. "Can you believe how many people showed up?" The place was crowded and there were banners being held up cheering Nishida on.
"Well, here we go! Thanks for your patience everyone! Here comes today's main event!" Cheers sounded from everyone, while Nishida turned his attention to my husband, "Kirito, let's catch us a fish!"
"Sure…"
"Well aren't you excited" I remark sarcastically, and he just brushed me off. Nishida takes out what looks like a baby lizard, much to my horror. I've always been an animal person and, is it crying?! NO!
"How big is this thing supposed to be anyway?" My husband asked boredly, while I sneakily try to take the lizard away. Nishida attaches it to his pole and throws it out to the lake, as I failed to get it.
"That poor baby!" I cry, much to my husband's confusion. The entire crowd was silent as we waited. And waited. Until Nishida's pole bends slightly. My husband walks forward curiously.
"Uh, shouldn't you reel it in?" He asked.
"Not yet" Nishida told him. And we continued to wait once more. Until the pole bends more noticeably. "Now!" Nishida quickly places the pole in Kirito's hand and moves back.
"Uh, switch?" He muttered, before being pulled forward. He was about to go over the edge, but got a grip before that happened. "Damn it! You little…" Kirito starts to run back off the dock, pulling the fish with him, and I notice a large shadow moving towards the surface.
"Hey, it's coming up!" I exclaim happily, following the crowd to the edge as we watch. However, we all start running further inland as we realize that the monstrous fish was about to flash forward.
"W-where are you going?! Hey!" My husband cried in a panic, before the line snapped and he fell onto his back. He raced forward on the dock, obviously not realizing the same as us.
"Kirito! Watch out!" I call after him worriedly.
He stops and looks back at us, "For what?!" But then the large orange fish bursts to the surface and destroys the dock, standing perfectly fine on land. And my poor husband was laying underneath it, staring up in shock. it wasn't until the fish's eyes glow red and it screeches that he rushes back to us, hiding behind me as he glares, making me sweatdrop, "You ran away! You left me there to die!"
"Here it comes!" Nishida cried, and I move my attention to the beast, which was making it's way towards us. So it can walk on land. Interesting.
"Woah! It can run? It's like a crazy lungfish" my husband remarked.
"Kirito! This is serious! That thing's coming for us!" Nishida scolded, as I take notice of the horrified looks of the villagers. It was obvious none of them could fight it. "Hurry! Do something!"
"Yeah, I'm still thinking…."
"Should I take care of this?" I ask him, and he grin up at me.
"If you wouldn't mind, babe."
I sigh and walk forward, "Well, you're lucky I wanted to fight it anyway." I throw my cover-up off of my body and grab Dark Repulsor, which was tied against my side.
"Run while you still can!" Nishida called after me, but I ignore his warning as I unsheath Repulsor.
"Nah, she'll be fine" I heard Kirito wave him off. I listen to Nishida freak out as I wait for the fish to come closer. Once he is, I light Repulsor on fire and my blue fire-sword, which I gleefully named Blazefury, appears in my hand, before racing forward and cross-slicing it. I safely land on the ground by the lake as the giant fish shatters. And next thing I know, I'm surround by a group of men praising me.
"Nice job, honey!" I hear my husband call out as I try to wave the fans off.
~Skippy!~
Kirito was sulking on our bed as I put on my uniform. Heathcliff had sent a message for us to return. "Come on. You've moped long enough already." He just moaned in response, "He did say he expected us back in two weeks. He's only a day off. Besides, if he needs us on the front lines now then something must've happened. At least hear what he has to say." Kirito gave another moan and I sigh with a shake of my head, before crawling over to him, "Come on mister sulky. We gotta go!" He rolled over and wrapped his arm around my waist, moaning into my lap. "What is up with you?"
"Nothing" he groaned, getting off of me.
I sigh, "Geez. If I didn't know any better, I'd say your were a woman PMSing."
"No funny" he groaned.
"You at least acting like it" I mutter, moving off the bed. But I squeak when I feel something on my backside. I flush red and gape at Kirito, who gave me a perverse grin.
"Have I ever mentioned how much I love your outfit?" I responded with a punch to his face.
"PERVERT!"
November 7, 2024
"The recon team was wiped out?!" Kirito exclaimed after Heathcliff explained why he called us back.
"They were scouting for the upcoming boss fight. It was a party of 20 members taken from 5 different guilds. 10 of them reached the center of the room, then the boss appeared. And that's when the entrance closed, cutting them off from the rest of the party."
"It was an anti-crystal zone" I mutter.
"Precisely. And it couldn't have been more than five minutes or so when the door finally opened. The room was empty, there wasn't any trace left behind of the 10 soldiers. Or the boss" Heathcliff explained, much to our horror, "Now more than ever, everyone's top priority is to beat the boss. We'll launch an attack with the largest group we can assemble."
"You can count on us to fight with you" My husband stated determinedly, "But, one thing needs to be clear. Mars' safety is my priority. If things start to get risky in there, I'm gonna to protect her over the others. That's not negotiable."
"A person with something to protect is a strong ally to have. I'm expecting a good fight from you."
~Skippy!~
"So we gotta wait for three more hours, huh? What'cha wanna do till then?" I ask my husband while we wait in an empty room. I was sitting on the table while Kirito leaned against the wall. I look over at him curiously. "Now what's wrong?"
"I want to ask you something. But I don't want you to get mad at me" He said. Well that's never a good start…. "Instead of going to the boss fight, could you please stay here?"
Called it. "Why the heck would you even think of asking that?"
"We can't use teleport crystals in the room. So there's no telling what could happen. I'm scared. If anything happened to you, I-"
"So you want me to just stand by and let you put yourself at risk?" I mutter, hoping off the table and stalking up to the idiot, "Do you have any idea what I'd do if you died? Huh? I'd never forgive myself for staying back! I already lost Sachi, and the rest of our old guild! I can't lose you too! I might just go insane if you leave me here alone!"
"I'm sorry...All I really want to do is just grab you and run away." He took my hands and looks at me with desperate eyes, "I don't care if we make it back to the real world. I just want to live with you, in our little cottage in the woods."
"That'd be nice. But we have family and friends back in the real world waiting for us to wake up. Just like everyone else in this game. We can't just forget them and leave, ya know?"
"And us?"
"We'll find each other. We'll go on real dates. And we'll even get married in the real world too!" I hug my poor husband tightly, "Is this why you were upset earlier?"
"Maybe…."
"Idiot," "Hey!" "You could've told me before. You could've gotten this off your chest much earlier. Virtual or not, I'm still your wife. We don't keep quiet about things like that." Kirito just responded by pulling me closer to him.
~Skippy!~
Me and Kirito arrive at the gate point where everyone was to meet for the boss fight, and we make our way through. "How much you wanna bet all the stares are because you're a beater?"
"How much you wanna bet all the stares are because I'm walking with the popular Flame Queen, who also happens to be my wife?"
"Touche."
"Mars!" A familiar call sounded, as arms wrap around me.
"Asuna!"
"Don't forget about us!" Klein and Agil walk over.
"No way! You guys are coming too?" Kirito asked curiously.
"Is that the best you got?" Agil retorted, "'No way!' Man, I shut my shop down to come up here and help get this done! Player you're looking at a player who is as philanthropic as they come."
"Well, seeing as you're so 'philanthropic', you're not gonna mind if we take you off the drop list" Kirito responded.
"Hey now! Let's not be too hasty, man!" Me, Klein, and Asuna all start laughing until the teleport platform glows once more, revealing Heathcliff and some other KOB members. It was as though the place went silent (then again, it was quiet when me and Kirito arrived until our friends came over) as we watch them walk towards the gateway. Heathcliff help up a crystal and commanded the corridor to open, before we all followed after his lead. The moment we passed the gate, I instantly felt shivers go up my spine.
"Such a bad vibe" I mutter, rubbing my arms a bit. Kirito nodded in agreement as everyone prepared to fight the boss, equipping different items.
"Is everyone ready?" Heathcliff called out, taking lead as always. "The Knights of the Blood Oath will be up front, distracting the boss and blocking its attacks. In the meantime, the rest of you have to stay sharp and figure out it's attack patterns. I won't lie, this battle will be hard. But I have faith that we can and will prevail. For our day of liberation!" The crowd let out a cheer and I glanced at my husband, who was very tense. I gently take ahold of his clenched hand with a soft smile.
"Everything is going to be fine. I'll make sure nothing bad happens to you. Just be sure to protect me too, ok?" I tease.
"Yeah" he replied, with a small peck to my cheek, "You know I will." The door slowly starts to open as everyone gets into a battle stance. My husband takes out his two sword, while I take Dark Repulsor and Blazefury out, "Don't die on me guys."
"Same to you" Klein retorted.
"I'm gonna make a fortune off today's drops. No way I'm gonna die and miss out on that" Agil proclaimed proudly. Aw, we all know he's just a big softie and uses his money to help low leveled players.
"Forward to battle!" Heathcliff commanded as the doors rested open. We all run inside, ready to fight, but the doors close and everything was still quiet.
"Nothing's happening. Where is it?" I hear one player mutter. However, Asuna soon calls out to everyone, having used her hearing skill.
"It's on the ceiling!" Everyone look up to see a large skeletal monster that resembled a centipede-spider mix.
"Skull…"
"Reaper?" My husband finished for Klein. The damned thing had five health bars too!
"Stay away from it! Spread out!" I hear Heathcliff order as the monster makes it way down. We all hurry away and Kirito called out to two players who were frozen in fear. They tried to run towards us, but Skull Reaper just swung at them, making both shatter. I stare at the monster in horror as the room glows bright red. Just...Just one hit?! I barely took notice of Klein voicing my thoughts.
"Man, we are so dead!" Agil exclaimed.
The monster raced towards one group and almost got one player, but Heathcliff beat it in time to block the hit. However, Skull Reaper just used its other claw to kill the player. Kirito ran ahead towards one player the monster was aiming for and blocked it. Heathcliff hurried after him and blocked the other claw, while I slammed my two weapons onto the monster. "If we block it together we have a chance."
"Yeah" My husband nodded, before the three of us ran forwards, Kirito shouting out orders, "Me and Mars will take care of the scythe arms, everyone else flank it and attack!" That got people moving, and everyone started attack, with me, Heathcliff, and Kirito blocking the arms. But even if we all were fighting, the thing barely took any damage!
I follow Klein's example and attack from underneath with both flamed weapons. I was glad to see that the monster gained a burn status, but even that didn't hurt it much.
Heathcliff wasn't kidding when he said this fight was going to be hard.