"Asuna!" Lyra called out in shock.
Her saber, having been deflected from Cassim by Asuna's rapier, was stabbed into the ground beside the Red's neck.
"What are you doing?" Lyra demanded.
"What are you doing?" Asuna shouted back. "You've beaten him. You don't have to kill him."
"Says you," Lyra retorted pulling her saber free and slashing with it.
Asuna deflected it with her rapier as she stepped back, stunned at the sneer in her voice. She knew she didn't have to block it with the safe zone in place but kept her rapier raised anyway. Cassim rolled and scrambled to his feet though gave a start when the tip of Lyra's saber found itself in front of his nose.
"Raiku," she called out.
Kobi shrieked and Cassim's eyes cut to his brother. Raiku had a hold of him now, his rapier tip on the side of Kobi's neck. Skye lay sprawled on the bridge, stunned from where Raiku must have struck him. Cassim took half a step forward but found the saber now under his chin. Asuna froze in place, unsure what to do.
"Idiot," Lyra sighed.
Asuna tensed when she realized the Hunter was speaking to her.
"You shouldn't hesitate," Lyra growled softly. "I have a hostage, but he's just a Red. He's killed and killed and killed. He's had to in order to make his cursor permanently orange. Idiot. It's no wonder the Reds were running the show before I brought my guild together."
"He's human," Asuna retorted.
"Then maybe he should act like a human instead of a murdering animal," Lyra dismissed out of hand.
"Disarm red," she addressed Cassim, tuning Asuna out entirely, "or we'll kill your brother."
Asuna's eyes widened at her casually she spoke the threat. She looked between the red Lyra had pinned to the younger one on the bridge. The older one's brother only looked twelve or thirteen. He was one of the youngest age tier trapped within Aincrad.
"You," Cassim snarled.
"Do it," Lyra repeated in a sharper tone.
Raiku's rapier altered its angle and came down. Kobi gasped as the rapier went through his upper chest, embedding far enough that it came out of his back. Red pixels laced the air around him.
"Stop it!" Cassim shouted.
Lyra's saber cut a line from Cassim's chin to his shoulder and the Red put his empty hand to his neck to stem the pixels as his HP went deeper into the red.
"Disarm," Lyra repeated.
Behind her, Raiku yanked his rapier free. Cassim clenched his teeth together in frustration, eyes on his brother, before slowly raising his hands in surrender.
"Hey," Asuna frowned, "you don't have to do it like this."
Lyra's saber cut through the air and Asuna jumped back a step.
"Stay out of this Knight," Lyra warned Asuna. "This is Hunter business."
Asuna disagreed. "He's just a child-"
"He's a Red," Lyra cut in flatly. "If you had stayed objectified the Reds wouldn't have taken control of Aincrad like they did. You're incapable of doing that so why don't you just stick to clearing levels. The sooner you beat the game the sooner we can all get out of here."
"You Betas are something else," Asuna muttered darkly. "Your arrogance knows no bounds."
"Arrogance?" Lyra bristled. "You call us arrogant? We are fighting to keep Aincrad safe while you beat the game and players are much harder to defeat then computer-generated bosses."
Asuna was fairly certain she'd just insulted her.
"Besides," Lyra continued before Asuna could say anything. "As Betas, we Hunters know what this game is supposed to be like. We spent a month immersed in it before Death Game protocol was activated. To see such a wonderful world twisted into what it is now is harder for us then it is for the rest of you."
Asuna didn't let herself feel sympathy, recognizing another hint of arrogance. Lyra was getting carried away on the power of being Captain of the most famous guild in Aincrad.
Behind her, Asuna heard boots striking the wooden plank bridge and warily looked over her shoulder. Two Red Hunters had appeared and Asuna could see the remaining members of the guild not far behind them. She wasn't the only one to have seen Raiku's flare.
"Captain!" Merrik called as he drew near. When he saw the orange cursors he drew his sword.
Lyra glanced at Cassim and saw the Red hang his head. He'd recognized his defeat was at hand. He didn't look like he was thinking of ways to turn this around and escape anymore. Hands still raised above his head, he knelt and dropped to his knees, not raising his eyes.
"Brother," Kobi whispered.
Cassim gave no indication he had heard. Hesitantly, hearing the other Hunters approaching, Kobi shakily raised his hands above his head and fell to his knees, eyes on the ground. Skye regained his senses but remained sitting. Even he recognized the motion of surrender.
Merrik slowed to a halt a few feet from Kobi near Raiku's side, sword pointing to the ground. Alto stood behind him, holding her double-bladed spear in her hands instead of across her back.
"What's going on Captain?" Merrik asked.
"An attempted escape," Lyra stared at Asuna as she sheathed her saber, "no aftereffects."
Returning her stare, Asuna sheathed her rapier in a sharp motion. She couldn't believe how readily she'd used the boy as a hostage to make his brother behave. Would she really have killed that twelve year old if his brother hadn't surrendered? Asuna didn't know, but couldn't shake the feeling Lyra would have.
"I see," Merrik replied slowly, glancing at Asuna curiously.
Behind him, Aden and Xavian caught up and also halted at the end of the bridge. Aden went to stand by Raiku's side, concerned for his twin.
"Twins," Lyra called out, getting their attention. "Secure the Reds. Xavian, help them. You still haven't disarmed. Transfer your weapons to Raiku."
Glaring at him, Cassim lowered his right hand long enough to swipe and activate his menu. He unequipped Soulshard and selected everything under the weapon category for the trade, then hit send. Without the weight of his claws, his left arm felt too light.
"Better," Lyra admitted.
Raiku motioned for Kobi to walk, which he did, and Cassim also closed his menu and stood. He allowed himself to be escorted inside, Raiku holding the small dragon in one arm. Alto and Merrik, having not received orders, remained in the front yard with Lyra and Asuna. At a nod from her, they bowed and entered the building, leaving the Hunter and Knight alone.
They respected her, Asuna noted, enough to follow her orders without hesitation. But there were some orders they should hesitate to carry out.
"Why are you here?" Lyra asked her once her guildmates closed the door. "Have the other guilds changed their mind about a crusade?"
Asuna watched her, having thought she had heard a fragile note in her voice. Hadn't she been friends with Jan since before Aincrad? His death couldn't be easy for her.
"No," Asuna told her. "It will cause too many casualties on both sides."
"There are already casualties on both sides," Lyra responded flatly. "Don't you know this problem won't go away by itself? If we can hit the Laughing Coffin, the first and largest PK guild, we can eliminate them and discourage the rest. If the reds are hiding from us they can't hunt players."
"Under normal circumstances-" Asuna began.
"These aren't normal circumstances," Lyra interrupted again. "Gods, why can't you Clearers understand that?"
Lyra hesitated, remembering Raiku telling her of his conversation with Kobi. Kobi was right, she admitted to herself.
"This is our life until we can get out of here," Lyra told Asuna strongly. "If we don't do something, nothing will get done. Aincrad isn't too different from the real world. Like there, we only have one life. What matters is what we do with it. I intend to come out of this alive and save as many other lives as possible. The Crusade is a step in that direction."
One life, Asuna thought. Lyra was right. This was supposed to be a game and the fact was it had become real life. It was scary. No one wanted to think that they could die. She didn't need to say it so self-righteously though.
"The Knights of Blood don't want to do it," Asuna sighed, "and Heathcliff respects that. I just came by to see if you were alright. I know you and Jan were old friends."
"And you call me arrogant," Lyra glared. "You come to pretend to be my friend, sugar-coating the news that you're guild isn't brave enough to fight the Laughing Coffin. That you are willing to let more greens die because you are scared to combat a guild that specializes in hunting players."
"That's not it at all," Asuna disagreed.
"Then why won't you help my guild?" Lyra asked coldly. "I'd be willing to lead it myself but my guild simply doesn't have enough members to handle the Laughing Coffin's numbers. So I have to ask for outside help. You know what, forget it. I'm out of patience for you damn Clearers. Get off my island before I have you escorted off."
"But-"
"Now!" Lyra shouted.
Asuna hesitated and then turned and walked away without a word. She could argue with Lyra, but knew that wouldn't achieve anything. Lyra was grieving for the loss of her friend and Asuna could have worded her sentence better.
Once Asuna began to walk across the floating bridge back to Panareze, Lyra turned on her heel and stalked inside, slamming the door shut after herself. She dropped into one of the chairs in the entrance room and stared at a wall, bright blue eyes distant.
Merrik was sitting on the sofa nearby looking at his menu, but closed it when Lyra sat. There was no sign of Alto, Merrik having sent her to help the others with Cassim so he could speak to his captain alone.
"I think I understand why you didn't just finish Cassim off," Merrik said thoughtfully. "You wanted both him and Kobi as hostages because they can't do anything. If one brother intends to cause trouble, you can threaten the other to keep them in line. I just wonder why you bothered and didn't execute both of them. I suppose since Cassim's older he probably has more information on the Laughing Coffin, so he'd probably be worth the effort as long as we had Kobi to keep him in line."
"Let me think," Lyra said shortly, voice flat.
Merrik raised an eyebrow as he closed his mouth. He knew that tone. He stood and bowed to her before walking upstairs. Lyra stayed in that position for the better part of an hour, until Raiku came downstairs, Merrik trailing behind him. While Merrik remained by the base of the stairs, Raiku walked to stand near his captain.
"I've secured Cassim's menu," Raiku informed her. "He can't summon it anymore. Nor can the other PoH track his location."
"Good," Lyra said distantly. "I intend to speak to Heathcliff shortly."
Raiku was surprised to hear the name of the KnightsOfBlood captain. He remembered his conversation with his uncle Kayaba. He was in the game. There were only two non-Red players who had Unique Skills and Heathcliff was one of them. It would be like Kayaba to put himself in a position of high power, politically and physically. Should he tell Lyra his suspicion about Heathcliff?
"I want to see if I can convince him to enforce us," Lyra continued. "The KoB is the second most popular guild next to ours. If I can convince them to help the others should fall in line."
"What if you can't?" Raiku asked cautiously.
There was a moment's pause before Lyra asked. "Where are Alto and Xavian?"
"In their rooms," Merrik frowned, "they're thinking about things. I told them I'd stand a better chance of coaxing you to say something."
"Is Scarlett ready?" Lyra asked, almost before Merrik finished speaking.
Raiku swallowed, suddenly understanding her earlier question. Alto and Xavian didn't know about Scarlett and might not take it well should they learn of it. If activated, it would disable the safe zones inside the towns for everyone except the Red Hunters. The Red Hunters could kill the Clearers who refused to surrender to their leadership, but they could not be killed. It was meant to be a last resort to unite the various guilds under Lyra's leadership, as she knew how to handle Reds the best.
"Yes," Raiku said, the word sticking in his throat.
If it was activated a lot of greens would die, though once Aincrad was under control she could easily eliminate the Reds without interference, now possessing the combined resources and players of all Aincrad. Raiku wished she hadn't asked him to make it, though he was the only one who could, having both a knowledge in coding and administrator access as a Game Manage of Sword Art Online. He just wished he had high enough access to log everyone out.
Did she really intent to activate it if Heathcliff didn't agree?
"That's supposed to be a last resort," Raiku said softly.
"You didn't have to listen to Asuna's arrogance after you went inside," Lyra pointed out, a slight growl in her voice. "She said the KoB wouldn't help and then started to go on about how sorry she was Jan was dead, trying to divert my attention from their cowardice. I'm certain I could get other guilds to help, but the KoB has skill as well as popularity. If I created a Crusade from weaker guilds, most of them would probably be killed. I need KoB's help, one way or another."
"What about Alto and Xavian?" Merrik asked thoughtfully. "They might not take Scarlett well."
"We'll worry about that if we have to use it," Lyra dismissed. "Merrik, will you serve as my Vice-Captain until we either log out or get Jan back?"
"Of course," Merrik smiled.
"Raiku," Lyra continued. "Make sure Scarlett's ready in case I can't convince Heathcliff to help."
"Sure," Raiku said softly.
Lyra stood and walked into the kitchen to get something to eat, the conversation evidently over. Merrik went back upstairs, leaving Raiku sitting on the sofa. He clenched the fabric of his pants, eyes facing the floor. If Scarlett was activated, a lot of greens would die. The whole of Aincrad would become Lyra's hostages. Even if it was to bring peace, was it really okay?
I recently watched Babylon 5, an epic sci-fi series. In the series, Earth declares martial law. On the surface, everything was peaceful and the humans welcomed it - it cut crime down to nothing. But it was the peace of the gun. If Lyra activates Scarlett, she will be declaring martial law in Aincrad. How far is too far in the name of peace?
Worse, what happens next depends on Heathcliff who (spoiler) is Kayaba, the guy who made the Death Game. Will he say no, which will cause Scarlett to activate? I'll give you a hint and tell you that he, monitoring the game and all, knows about Scarlett.