The Tri-Blade Alliance

Chapter 28: Calm Before the Storm

A/N: Finally, an original chapter!

S/N: About time!

Disclaimer: We don't own SAO.

(x)

"The first scout party's dead?!" Solar asked in shock as many others gasped at the news. Heathcliff calmly tapped his shield on the ground to put an end to the commotion.

"I'm afraid so," he said calmly. "They were ordered to scout and map the Floor 75th boss room. However, when they reached the middle of the room, the doors closed. 5 minutes later, they reopened—and there was no trace of the soldiers; our best explanation is that they encountered the boss all by their lonesome, and died as a result."

Arctic growled and walked out of the room, with no one questioning or stopping him; this kind of thing has been more common as of late, and everyone thought it best for their health not to pry into his business.

"Right. Now, we just need to come up with a strategy," Ren said as he held his chin in his hand in thought.

"But how are we going to do that without a map?" A soldier questioned.

"That's the thing," Solar said, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb. "We can't. We'll just have to improvise."

(x)

Some Time Later...

All the guild commanders and vice commanders looked up from the round table as the doors to the K.O.B.'s war room opened, and Arctic entered. He kept his gaze straight as he walked up to the table and stood in front of Heathcliff. "Ah, Arctic," the K.O.B. commander said with an amused smile. "Have you concluded your business yet?" The mercenary said nothing as he opened his menu and transferred some data over to Solar and Heathcliff.

After opening the newly acquired data, Heathcliff's eyes noticeably widened as Solar asked, "I-Is this—?!"

"Yup," Arctic said with a triumphant look adorning his face. "I made a party and managed to create a map of the entire dungeon and the boss room."

"Impressive," Heathcliff smiled. "Did you, perhaps, manage to get a look at the boss?"

"Unfortunately, no. I instructed all my members to stay away from the middle of the room, so as to avoid a potentially fatal encounter. Sorry about that." The mercenary bowed his head in apology as he stated, "I can go get a look now, if you want."

"No!" Solar and Skye both shouted, causing Arctic to flinch. When noticing all eyes on them, the pair blushed. "Sorry, but I can't afford to lose another brother," Solar said sheepishly.

"And I'm not too keen on losing my boyfriend," Skye said after her leader.

"Right. Anyways, after analyzing the room myself, I think I have a strategy." All eyes immediately went to Arctic after he had spoken.

"Well?" Ren said after a few moments of silence. "Aren't you going to finish?"

(x)

"Good news, everyone!" Solar jovially shouted to the front-line fighters outside of Granzam. "We have a strategy!" Once the uproarious cheers died down, Solar cleared his throat and said, "I'm not the one who came up with it, but one of my elites did. Arctic, your turn in the spotlight." The aforementioned player stood up and walked over so that he was in front of the other players. He cleared his throat and began to speak.

"Alright, listen up! I'm happy to answer any questions. But—" he said as several hands came up, "—if you ask any dumbass questions about the strategy or how I came up with it, I will personally send you to the Shadow Realm! Got that?" All hands went down, except for one. "You. What's your question?"

"Is the Shadow Realm what you call your torture room or sex dungeon?"

"Yes, now sit down and shut up." Arctic pulled up the map of the boss room that he and his scout party made. "This map is authentic, to all you nonbelievers. Now, as you can see, the room has multiple platforms, so I've devised a strategy. Here's how we're gonna do this.

"We'll have to take advantage of the other platforms, so we need to place all our archers on them. Make sure to leave room to move around, 'cause the last thing we need is players falling off and dying. Pearce, Cupid—you two will lead the archers and get to the platforms by circling around the main arena down here," Arctic traced the floor arena for emphasis, "so the doors won't close just yet. From what I've seen, the doors shut only after the majority of the party is in the center, so we can avoid that easily. Got it?"

"Got it," the archer and the lancer confirmed simultaneously.

"Ren, Riku, and Helios." The three males of Wyvern's Inferno payed attention to the mercenary. "You guy lead the AGI- and STR-based fighters, and if you ask me who's leading who, Helios—"

"Shadow Realm, got it," Helios casually waved the threat away.

"I was gonna say 'I'll dropkick you into next Tuesday', but Shadow Realm's fine, too. The STR-based fighters—not the tanks—will receive special shields that I'll provide, so they can attack the boss with said shields. You guys get as much DPS in on the boss before letting the tanks parry or blocking and switching out to the AGI-based fighters. Speedies, you guys dodge back and let the big boys block the hit. Got it?"

"Got it."

"Akira, you're going to lead the tanks. You guys will have the most dangerous job; blocking and parrying. The reason this is so dangerous is because we have no idea of the boss' STR and AGI parameters, so we're dealing with wild cards here. I'll give your tanks stronger shields and better weapons."

"Fine by me," Akira responded. "I just want to get this hell over with."

"Alright. Now here comes the fun part: Kirito, Asuna, Heathcliff, Solar, Skye, Eros, and I will aggro the boss and attack it from all sides. Ren, Helios, Riku, you guys join us when you can."

"What about us?" Pearce asked as he motioned to himself and Cupid.

"You guys shouldn't leave your spots. Find the boss' weak points and exploit them as much as you can."

"Are you sure?"

"Have I ever been wrong before?"

Yes! All of Arctic's friends wanted to shout, but didn't because he was on a roll. "Yes. You have," Pearce stated.

"Not the point! Now, I'll provide all of you with equipment that I'm sure will take better care of you than your current gear."

"What about items?!" A different soldier called out.

"Buy 'em off Dagger or something, I don't give a fuck."

"Don't you know how much she charges?!"

"Hey Dagger!" Arctic called.

"Yeah?!" Dagger called back.

"Shadow!"

"FUCK!"

"There you go. Everyone gets half-off. Last question, make it count!"

"How are you going to give us all the equipment? I assume you'll be giving the gear to all those who weren't able to attend this meeting."

"Tomorrow, 3 pm. Tell everyone in every floor-clearing guild to be outside the Tri-Blade Alliance's base ops."

"Yessir!"

"Don't call me sir. I hate that. Now then, last piece of info: we talked it over prior to this meeting, and we have decided to give everyone a week to do whatever—train, be with whatever family you have here, et cetera. Make sure you're prepared; this'll be our hardest battle yet."

(x)

"So," Solar said as he, his guild, and all of the other front-liners were following Arctic up to Floor 52, "I take it you're not gonna tell us anything about where we're going?"

"Nope," Arctic said as he marched on. "Just know that you'll all get treats if you don't ask questions."

"I...don't know what to say to that."

"Fine by me. We're here anyway." Arctic stopped in front of a doorway that had a large rock covering its entrance, forcing the others to stop as well. Without a sound, Arctic walked towards the rock and lifted it up with some effort; while carrying the rock, he shuffled slowly to the side and set it down.

Sighing and wiping his brow clean of sweat, he turned to the others and smiled. "Just beyond here. And stay behind me." Once they all entered, they came face-to-face with another door.

Going up and placing his hand on it, the mercenary turned back to his fellow front-liners. "Warning: every single item in there is precious to me. If I find out any of them go missing after I show you them, you'll all pay," he finished as his eyes blackened for a second. Everyone audibly gulped after Arctic's eyes visibly changed, and nodded to show their understanding. Immediately, his eyes returned to normal and he gave a closed-eyes smile. "Great! Prepared to be amazed!" And with that, Arctic opened the door to his safehouse.

"What..." Solar started as he looked around in amazement.

"The..." Pearce continued as he looked around in awe.

"Fuck?" Skye finished as she looked around in wonder.

"When?" Klein asked as he picked up a nearby A-class katana.

"How?" Kirito inquired as he picked up some gauntlets and inspected them.

"Why'd you keep this a secret from us?" Agil asked as he and Dagger stared in awe at the mounds of weapons and equipment that Arctic kept in his warehouse.

"The 'when' and 'how' was back when I was still Shadow, and Kutthroat gave me the location to this warehouse when I interrogated him before his escape. As for why I never told the two of you about this—well, what kind of customer would I be if I sold you every weapon I had?" Arctic responded to the questions.

"Our best?" Dagger asked as she picked up a sword and inspected it, widening her eyes when she saw that it was primarily composed of gold with some iron for increased durability.

"No, I'd be stupid. If I had sold you all of these weapons, then we wouldn't be here."

"It's still not fair," Agil complained.

"Tell you what—when we're done with the boss fight, I'll sell you duplicates of three weapons of your choice. Sound good?"

"I guess," the two merchants said glumly.

"Good. Now go crazy, everyone!" After that, everyone snapped out of their stupor and rushed to build their arsenal.

(x)

Countdown to the Crash: Day One...

Floor One: Town of Beginnings...

"You're home!" Jacob shouted in glee as Rose entered their house, running up to her and wrapping his arms around her neck while she bent down to hug back.

"I told you I wouldn't be long," the older woman laughed as she picked up her ridiculously tiny son. "The meeting wasn't as long as I thought it would be, too."

"Ah, you're back," Yin said with a wide smile as he walked into the living room from the kitchen, kissing his wife on the cheek. "How long are you staying?" He inquired, going back to the kitchen to prepare a meal for Rose.

"Let's see..." Rose said playfully as she "calculated" her free time. "A whole week, starting today." Yin nearly dropped his wife's drink before setting it on the table, him and Jacob staring at the woman in shock.

"Seriously?!" The two most important men in her life damn near shouted as they crowded around her.

"Yeah. Commander Heathcliff and the others were gracious enough to give all the front-liners an entire week of free time." She smiled as she bounced Jacob on her knee, making him laugh and smile. "I chose to be with my two favorite boys."

"Well, we're very happy you did, sweetie," Yin said as he sat down. Rose gently set Jacob down so she could go to town on her meal, as she hadn't eaten since breakfast.

"I never did understand how you could make food so good," she said with a mouth full of chicken.

"Don't talk with a full mouth. That's rude," Yin playfully scolded her. Rose simply rolled her eyes and swallowed her food. "And I've grown up wanting to learn how to cook. I never liked the stereotype that women are always in the kitchen."

"That must've earned you a lot of ridicule."

"Like you wouldn't believe. But now I have a beautiful and strong wife, a handsome and exceptional son," Yin continued as he kissed Rose, who kissed him back. "So who wins in the end?"

"You do, Dad!" Jacob said happily as he popped up in between the couple.

Yin chuckled and ruffled his son's hair, eliciting a giggle from the boy. "Exactly."

"So what's planned for tonight?" Rose asked as she dabbed at her mouth with a napkin, having finished her food.

"Well," Yin started as he stood up and collected his wife's dishes, "I was thinking that we could go out on a date tonight."

"We'll need a sitter, then," Rose stated.

"I've got someone in mind."

Later that night...

"Dad!" Jacob groaned. "I don't want a babysitter!"

"You'll want this one," Yin ignored his son's pleas. He and Rose were waiting, and were formally dressed for their date night, for the sitter. He heard a knock on the door and went up to open it. "Ah, good. You're here."

"Pleasure to be here again, sir," the player at the door said as he smiled at the father. "Where's the kid?"

"He's in the main room with my wife. Thanks for coming in this late."

"It's fine. I, of all people, should know how important maintaining a relationship is."

"Rose!" Yin called. "Let's go, darling."

"Coming, sweetie!" Rose called back before turning and kneeling to Jacob's level. "Behave and listen, ok, baby?"

"Yes, mom," Jacob said glumly.

"All right." Rose kissed Jacob on the head. "I love you."

"Love you too."

After Rose greeted the sitter and left with Yin, the sitter stepped in. "Wow. You haven't gotten taller, huh?"

"Mr. Shadow?!" Jacob asked as he stood up in shock. "You're my sitter?!"

"It's Mr. Arctic to you," Arctic jokingly said as he ruffled Jacob's hair. "I haven't been Shadow in months."

"R-Right! Man, this is gonna be so much fun!"

"Hell yeah!"

(x)

"We're home!" Yin said as he and Rose entered the house.

"Oh, hey!" Arctic smiled when he heard Yin and Rose enter, turning to face them from the couch. "Shh," he said quietly when Rose opened her mouth to speak. "He's asleep," the mercenary mouthed while motioning to the couch to where Jacob was fast asleep with his treasured coat wrapped around him like a blanket.

"H-How'd you get to sleep so fast?!" Rose whispered in amazement.

"You'd be amazed at how much Metal Gear teaches you."

"Wait, what?"

"This is free of charge, so don't worry about payment," Arctic waved off Yin's attempt to pay him as the mercenary left the house. "This is one job I'm happy to do for free."

(x)

Countdown to the Crash: Day 2...

"Wassup?" Kirito said as he walked over to Arctic's tree, fist-bumping the mercenary and leaning back on the tree.

"Nothin' much. Everyone's here now." Arctic nodded towards a branch on the tree.

"Oh, so Bella gets to climb your tree, but I can't even touch a twig without your permission?"

"Problem?" Arctic and Bella both said, the latter popping out from one of the lower branches.

"And besides, I can trust her not to try and sneak up on my personal favorite branch."

"That's fair. Now, what are we doing here?"

"We're gonna try to see if we can implement Bella in the strategy without having to actually change the strategy." Arctic leaned forward, and Kirito leaned in as well. "Here's what I think we should do..."

Later...

"And there," Arctic said with a clap of his hands. "To recap, Bella will be one of the fighters to attack the boss up front, alongside me, you, Asuna, Solar, Skye, Heathcliff, and Eros."

"Yup," Kirito said, while Bella simply smiled and remained silent.

"You need any weapons or armor, Bella?"

"I'm fine," the Silver Shadow said.

"Really? If you say so."

"There you are!" The trio turned to see Skye walking up to them, dressed in new clothes. She was wearing a high-class variant of her "Peacock Coat", now having black outlines around the coat, and having golden details adorning the bottom half while retaining the same white-yellow-gray color scheme, with a breastplate over her yellow top, a black miniskirt with stockings of the same color, and white steel-toed boots. "We need you for something."

"Hey, babe," Arctic said.

"Hey, sweetie," Skye replied.

"Who's 'we'?"

"The STR-based fighters. I was going by when I saw Helios training them, but you haven't taught them how to attack with shields."

"Ah, right. Thanks for reminding me. Take me to them."

"This way," Skye motioned for the mercenary to follow her. Arctic looked back towards Kirito and Bella, waving back as they said goodbye (Kirito with a wave of his hand, Bella with a nod of her head) before following his girlfriend. The two walked around the courtyard, where numerous other front-liners were either practicing their roles in the strategy or simply relaxing and chatting with each other. Finally, the couple reached the area where the STR-based fighters were training. "Here he is, guys!" Skye called to the players while motioning to Arctic.

"Skye brought it to my attention that I didn't teach you guys how to properly attack with a shield," Arctic spoke. The players nodded. "Take out your shields." The players did so. "You," Arctic pointed at a player in front of him, "let me see the shield." The player gave him the shield. Arctic equipped the shield and pointed to a scratched-up tree that was frequently used for training due to its durability. "Watch me." The players kept their eyes on Arctic as he got a running start, then bashed the tree with all of his might, shaking it. "That's the first way. Now I need a partner." One of the players walked forward when Arctic pointed to him. "Kneel and cover yourself with your shield." The player followed the instructions. Arctic walked back a couple of meters, then ran forward and jumped on the player's shield. "Launch me up!" The player gave Arctic a massive boost by pushing his shield upwards. Arctic held the shield with both hands and propelled himself downwards with the shield facing down. He slammed the shield down on the tree, causing a massive scratch dent in the bark. "Do that also," Arctic said as he stood up and brushed himself off. "Now, there's one more way: just fight like Heathcliff if you want to. Just practice. A lot."

"Umm," a player said before falling silent.

"What's up?"

"Can you show us how you'd fight with a shield?"

"Gladly. Help me out?" He asked Skye, who smiled and nodded. She walked to the front of her tree and drew her sword. She rushed forward and started slashing at the damaged bark of the tree before jumping back and calling for a switch. Arctic simply walked forward and pulled her back. He looked back and smiled at her, which she returned, before he turned forward and slammed the ground in front of the tree with all his might, using his shield. When he looked up, he inhaled sharply when he saw the tree fall over and shatter. "You...might need to find a new tree."

"Yes, sir!"

"Don't call me that!"

(x)

Countdown to the Crash: Day 3...

"It won't be long, sweetie," Solar promised Akira as she met him at the door. "Just an hour or so."

"I don't see why I can't go with you," Akira huffed.

"Who's gonna watch Arctic? Everyone else is out, and you're his friend. Better you than Pearce."

"Arctic is a bit..."

"Well, he's Arctic."

"I'll make sure he doesn't leave his tree."

"Thanks, baby. I love you," Solar said before he kissed Akira.

Akira kissed him back and smiled. "I love you too. Be careful."

"It'll just be an hour, tops."

"If you're not back in an hour, I'm sending a search party after you."

"Got it. Pearce!" Solar shouted to behind Akira. "C'mon! We don't have all day!"

"Yes, boss!" Pearce called back as he picked up his bow and slung it over his shoulder, and made sure all of the arrows were in his quiver. Satisfied, Pearce ran out, bidding goodbye to Akira a he exited. "So where're we going?" Pearce questioned Solar as the two walked out. In response, once they were a good distance away, Solar held out his teleport crystal and glanced at Pearce. The archer took the cue and brought out his own crystal. He held his crystal up after Solar and, once the leader shouted his destination and disappeared, Pearce repeated, "Teleport: Iridescent Lake!"

(x)

Floor 1: Iridescent Lake...

"You know why we're here now, right?" Solar asked Pearce as the archer appeared.

"I think so," Pearce responded as he dusted himself off.

"Great. Let's go." The two began walking towards the lake, and, once they reached it, began walking west along the riverbank. After some time, they arrived at stone with a sword impaled through it.

"Why're we here, boss?"

"It's simple, really. Lisbeth managed to craft me a belt that'll let me hold two weapons, but only allow me to use one. I want to have Caliburn at my side just in case something happens to Infinity Blazer."

"Ah. If you want, I could—"

"It's fine. Just let me go grab it." Solar walked up to Caliburn and grabbed its hilt. With all of his might, Solar yanked the sword out of its stony scabbard, and sheathed it at his side. Once it was placed there, the sword disappeared, its appearance invisible to the outside. Solar began feeling tears in his eyes after remembering what happened at his area, and quickly wiped his eyes. Before he was able to let any tears flow, he turned and walked back to Pearce. "Let's go," the leader instructed, prompting a nod from the archer. The two exited the area (as normal teleport crystals wouldn't work near the rock Caliburn was trapped in), and teleported back to their base.

"So what now, boss?" Pearce questioned Solar.

"First, this is between you and me. Got it?" Solar said. Pearce nodded. "Secondly, I'm going to train with this in secret, and you're going to help me. Got it?" Pearce nodded. "And finally, let's go back and check in with Akira. I don't know if she was serious about the search party, and I don't intend on finding out."

(x)

Countdown to the Crash: Day 4...

"You...wanna duel?"

"Yep."

"Are you sure about that? I won't go all out, y'know."

"So? It'd be a great way to test our skills."

"I don't see why not," Arctic shrugged as he hopped off of his favored branch. He looked around and smiled as he saw all of his allies training with each other. "You seeing this?"

"Yeah," the beater remarked as he crossed his arms and smiled when he saw what Arctic saw. "They could be using this time to relax, but they're training their hearts out."

"That's how you can tell they're bona-fide Tri-Bladers." Arctic shook his head. "Anyway, you wanted to duel me?"

"Yep." Kirito turned his attention back to Arctic. "The last time we had a duel was in the beta test, so I want to see how far we both came since then."

"Sure. The mercenary and the beater." Arctic smiled. "Dagger's going to have a field day with this."

(x)

"Once-in-a-lifetime match here, folks!" Dagger called to the back of the ever-growing line. "Normal tickets—only 25,000 Col! Front row seats—100,000 Col! Get your tickets now before they're gone!"

"Thank God we know both fighters," Solar muttered to Asuna as the two stood watching the match, the rest of the Tri-Bladers behind him and waiting for the match to begin.

"I'm just hoping no one gets killed," Asuna muttered back.

"You want me to hold back, Ki-buddy?" Arctic asked as he stretched.

"What fun would that be?" Kirito asked with a smile. He slowly drew his blades and pointed Dark Repulsor in Arctic's direction. "I can't tell how far we came if you don't go at me all out."

"Is it me, or does this sound super sexual right now?"

"Only you would notice that." Both fighters got into battle positions: Kirito held one blade in front of him and the other close to his side, while Arctic kept his hand on his sword's handle without unsheathing it and kept his Grey Star clutched in his right hand.

The two players stared each other down for a good while, before disappearing and meeting blades in the middle of the battlefield. They struggled against each other for a while, grinning like madmen, before Arctic broke the clash and swung his sword down with two hands. Kirito swiftly dodged the attack, and retaliated with a double sword swing of his own. Arctic warped out of the strike, but strangely didn't reappear. Kirito readied his blades and cautiously looked around. The wind got knocked out of him as Arctic shoulder-tackled the Black Swordsman from behind, prompting Kirito to roll back to his feet. Arctic chased after Kirito and was preparing to slam the blade down on the beater, but instead had his feet swept out from under him. Kirito did a kip-up at the same time Arctic did. At this point, the two realized that they were breathing heavily, but they noticed that the other was grinning like an idiot.

The two roared as they charged at the other and clashed blades in the middle of the temporary arena, staring each other down past the blades. Arctic smirked as he piled on the pressure. "I don't know about you," the mercenary said over the sound of clashing metal, "but I'm having the time of my life!"

Kirito smirked and increased the pressure, forcing Arctic to drop his guard as he dashed back. "Starburst Stream!" Kirito shouted as he began to put the hurt on his opponent. Arctic blocked against most of the hits, but had his guard broken when the beater slammed his swords down. Capitalizing on this, Kirito executed the rest of the combo, slowly draining Arctic of his HP. Before he could get the last hit, however, Arctic warped out.

Kirito looked around for his opponent, confused as to where he would retreat. The foot driven into the beater's back left him winded as saliva flew out of his mouth. He lurched forward slightly, turning and slashing...at nothing. A slice to his side forced him to turn and attack, with the same result. Soon, he was being assaulted from all sides, and he couldn't do anything about it except take the hits. "Systematic Eclipse!" Arctic shouted as he attacked Kirito with his own combo, teleporting so that he was above Kirito. He roared as he sent himself crashing down towards the beater, sword extended to the ground. Kirito narrowly dodged the final hit, and covered himself as dust settled from the force of the impact. Arctic pulled his sword of the ground and ran his hand along it, wiping away all the dust on it. "Damn. I was hoping that'd hit."

"I get the feeling you're low-key trying to kill me," Kirito replied as he dusted himself off.

"Hey, I'm restraining myself."

"Try harder!" Kirito readied both of his swords.

"Shut up!" Arctic readied his sword.

Meanwhile, in the stands...

"Hm?" Pearce said softly as he saw Arctic's sword. His eyes widened when he saw some very faint darkness erupt from the hilt of the sword, as well as a brief blackening of Arctic's eyes. "Boss!" Pearce whispered to Solar.

"What is it, Pearce?" Solar whispered back, his eyes still on the duel.

"Arctic—his eyes and sword—I see some darkness!"

"Tell me you're joking," Solar said a little bit louder as he turned his head to look at Pearce.

"Would I lie to you?"

"…" Solar turned back to duel and shouted, "Stop the duel!"

"What? Why?" Kirito lowered his swords and stared at Solar.

Arctic's eyes completely blackened as he yelled, "DIE!", charging at Kirito with his sword thrusted outwards. Kirito barely turned back to Arctic with eyes widened and mouth opened wide in shock as he brought his sword up to block the hit. Thankfully, the killing blow never landed as Arctic's sword was blocked by Solar's sword.

"Snap out of it!" Solar commanded as he piled on the pressure, forcing the mercenary to his knees.

"Can't...tell me...what to do!" Arctic shouted back.

"SNAP! OUT! OF! IT!" Solar yelled louder.

Arctic's eyes returned to normal and he yelled, "Okay, okay!"

"Good." Solar drew back and sheathed his sword before helping Arctic up. "Now apologize."

"Yes, dad." Arctic turned around and smiled apologetically at the beater. "Sorry for trying to kill you. You ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Kirito smiled back. "And thanks for the apology."

"Yeah, yeah. You want the W, or should I have it?"

"Oh hell no. I almost died, so I should get it."

"And the winner is, by interference...ARCTIC!" The referee shouted as everyone who bet on the mercenary cheered.

"...If it helps, you won in my book."

"Gee, thanks."

(x)

Countdown to the Crash: Day 5...

Eros whistled merrily as she walked around the grounds of the Tri-Blade Alliance's headquarters. As it was a rather nice day out, she decided to go for a walk. She was planning on asking Cupid to join her, but thought better when she saw her..."hanging out" with Pearce. As she was walking around and enjoying the weather, before being pulled into an alleyway. A gloved hand covered her mouth before she could scream. When she looked up at her mugger, she rolled her eyes and pushed them away. "You're so extra. You know that?" She asked Arctic in annoyance, dusting herself off and staring at him, hands on her hips.

"Loud and proud," Arctic said slyly. "Anyway, I wanted to give you something."

"You couldn't do that in public why, exactly?"

"You kidding? The press would go nuts over this."

"Wait, what press?"

"Oh. And here I thought you were someone famous."

"Just give me the damn object."

"Fine. First off, have you been keeping up with your training?"

"I mastered the One-Handed Sword category long ago," the dancer said proudly.

"Perfect," Arctic said with a smile. He opened his menu and took out a sword. With a dramatic flair, he knelt before his friend and held his hands out, a jet-black sword laid out on them horizontally. "Your sword, milady," the mercenary said in an English tone.

"Why, thank you," Eros said in the same tone as she took the sword from his hands. "Hold up, is this obsidian?" She asked, stopping the joke.

"Yup. I had Liz make it while I was Shadow. Y'know, in case I ever decided to replace my Sword of Shadows. I didn't, so I chose to pass it off to you. If you want it, that is."

"You kidding? Of course I want it!"

"Sometimes I feel like you keep me around so you can have nice things."

"Don't say that. You're a decent bodyguard."

"Decent?"

"You were a little rough with me."

"Don't pretend you didn't enjoy it."

(x)

Later...

"Thanks for agreeing to meet me."

"Anything for you," Akira said as she crossed her arms, leaning on Arctic's tree. "What's up?"

"First off, why does everyone automatically assume I want to meet by my tree?"

"Umm...I think's because it's conventional?"

"It's annoying, that's what it is."

"We can go somewhere else if you want."

"What's the point? We're already here and talkin'."

"O...kay..."

"Okay, back on track." Arctic turned away and took a deep, shaky breath as he closed his eyes.

"You okay?" Akira asked in concern as she put a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, just...give me a minute." Arctic took one last breath, and opened his menu. He took an item out of his inventory, and turned back to his friend once it formed. In the mercenary's hands was a stainless-steel axe with a black blade that looked sharp enough to cut cleanly through flesh and bone, and it had a polished rosewood handle that reflected the evening sun's light.

"I-is this...?" Akira asked quietly, hands over her mouth as tears welled in her eyes.

"'Takano's Love' is what I named it," Arctic said softly, yet loud enough so that Akira could hear him. "It's an S-class weapon now. In Shadow's hands, it nearly killed a fellow player during a training session, so imagine the hell you could raise with this." He fell silent and looked down as he extended the axe to his friend. "I'm sorry..." Arctic said quietly once the axe left his hands and went into Akira's. "I'm sorry that I couldn't stop my blade, and I killed her." He started shaking as tears started streaming down his face. "I understand if you hate me," he continued in a shaky voice before he started sobbing uncontrollably.

Akira immediately pulled the mercenary into a comforting hug, letting him cry on her shoulder as tears began streaming down her face. "I-I don't hate you," she whispered in a shaky voice. "It wasn't your fault."

"Yes, it was," he sobbed. "I killed her!" Arctic softly exclaimed.

"Hey," Akira said as she drew back. She looked the vulnerable mercenary right in the eyes, her hands firmly grasped on his shoulders. "Stay strong." Akira wiped away her tears. "She'd want for us to fight for her, not cry."

"Y-You're right." Arctic sniffled as he wiped away his tears with his sleeve. "Damn, I must've looked pathetic..."

"Don't say that." Akira pulled him into another hug, which was gladly returned. "You looked human. Everyone has their moments; you and I are no different."

"Thanks, Akira." Arctic broke the hug and smiled. "I had the ax named and upgraded with you in mind. Go nuts with it at the boss fight."

"I think I will." Akira smiled back. "Thanks for this, Arctic."

"Anytime, my friend."

(x)

Countdown to the Crash: Day 6...

"And now," the emcee spoke loudly onstage, "please welcome our star performer—Eros!" The crowd went wild as the songstress took to the stage, waving and smiling at everyone as she went. Her eyes lit up when she saw that her guildmates—her friends—were cheering for her the loudest.

"Thank you all for coming here tonight," the performer said as they all cheered in response. "Don't lose your voices yet—I haven't even started singing!" Laughter ensued from the audience, and Eros patiently waited for it to die down before resuming. "I've gotta say, it was very difficult choosing the right song for this occasion. As most of the front-liners may know, tomorrow is the day we tackle the boss of Floor 75." At this point, all of the audience was silent. "Finally, I decided that I should go for a motivational song. And I found the perfect one." Eros cleared her throat.

"Nigitta MESSEEJI, that's rising hope!"

(This message I held, that's rising hope!)

"Yuruganai sekai hijou na genjou tsuzuku kabe wa nanjuusou?

(This world that isn't shaking is an abnormal situation, how multilayered is that wall that keeps on continuing?)
IMEEJI toori nanka ja nai shizuka ni sawagi dashita honnou

(This isn't what I had in mind, creating a nuisance quietly is an instinct)

Meiro mitai ikitomari nanda mou shikou wa DISUTOOSHON

(Like a maze, my life that has come to a standstill is an distortion when you further think about it)

Youshanai ne itsunomani miushinatta RUUTO, abaredasu

(I can't pardon this. Somehow, the route I've lost sight of starts to act violently)

"pay attention! Hey what is it?
watch your step now! Joushiki nanka iranai (watch your step now! I don't really need common sense here)

Are you serious!? no no no, don't worry 1,2,3
Fukikaesu shinzou no RIZUMU
(The rhythm of my heart is coming back to life)

Shikai mada kuranderu soredemo ikanakucha
(My vision is still blurry. Even so I have to go.)
Kimi ga shinjiteru boku wo uragiru wake ni ikanai tsuyoku KURAKUSHON ga naru
(I can't possibly betray myself when you've trusted me so much, the strong Klaxon sounds rings)

Kodoku na mama toki ga tattatte nigeru koto oboetatte(My lonely days have passed, and I've learned from my cowardice)
Atarashii kyou ga kichau kedo

(Though a new day has already arrived)
Kono negai tatoe mahou ga nakutatte kanaenakya, chikatta(Even if this wish must come true without using magic, I've made a wow.)
Boku wa kimi to mada mitai mirai arunda yo
(Here is still a future you and me wants to see)
Nakisou demo kuyashikute mo tomatte irarenai
(Filled with regrets, I feel like crying but I can't stop now)
Nigitta MESSEEJI that's rising hope
(This message I held, that's rising hope)

Once Eros gave a curtsy, signifying the end of her performance, everyone went wild—they gave Eros a standing ovation, whooping, whistling and clapping for her. Eros blushed and smiled at all the attention she was receiving, making the audience go even wild. Eros left the stage, and the emcee took it back. "All right, thank you Eros! We would ask for an encore," the emcee spoke loudly over the applause, "but we don't have much time left in the night!"

"Awww!" The crowd booed.

"Tomorrow is the day of the boss raid, and all of the front liners here tonight need to get their sleep!"

"Awww!"

"However!"

"What?!"

"We DO have an influential figure with us tonight! Solar!" The emcee pointed at the leader (whose table Eros had joined). "Why don't you come up here?!"

"Wait, what?" Solar looked around in surprise at everyone's sudden applause and whistling. With a pat on his back from Arctic, Kirito, and Pearce, along with reassuring smiles from Cupid, Eros, Skye, Asuna, and Eros, Solar got up and walked up to the stage, waving at everyone and even giving a few of them a fist-bump. He walked up onto the stage and shook the emcee's hand.

"SPEECH! SPEECH!" Arctic began shouting and pounding his fists on the table. Soon after, everyone else began following his example (Arctic was forced to stop as he was slowly lowering the table's durability, but he made up for it by shouting louder than the rest.)

"Oh. Um..." Solar scratched the back of his head nervously. "I didn't think that I would be doing this, so forgive me if I'm a bit unprepared." The leader cleared his throat and took a deep breath.

"It's been two years since we all logged into SAO, for whatever reason. It could have been to make new friends, to escape our lives, or just for the hell of it. Two years since the game's creator, Akihiko Kayaba, decided to trap us in this game." Solar paused. "And two years of loved ones lost. I can guarantee that all of us," he gestured to the audience with both arms, "lost at least one person we got close to in this game. I know I have.

"In the course of the last two years, we've cleared damn near 3/4 of Castle Aincrad, and I can gladly say that I am proud of this progress. I can also say that I am glad to have made the bonds that I did, especially with my guild and friends, all of whom I see as my family. I want to make it known," Solar continued while now looking at the table with his friends—the Tri-Blade Alliance's elites, Kirito, Asuna, Klein, Agil, Lisbeth, and Silica, with Wyvern's Inferno sitting at a nearby table—"that I would go to hell and back for my family.

"I don't have much else to say, other than: Thank you all. Thank you for choosing not to sit idle and go crazy, and for fighting alongside one another. Walk tall, my friends. And remember to always look out for each other. That's what family does, after all." Solar walked off the stage and back to his table, all the while surrounded by up-roaring applause and cheers.

Arctic patted Solar on the back and smiled proudly. "Couldn't have said it better myself."

"You wouldn't even have said. You'd probably say 'Go kick some ass'."

"You know it."

(x)

Later that night...

"That was an amazing performance," Arctic said as he stepped out of the bathroom, dressed in a white undershirt and pajama bottoms. Skye, who was sitting on the middle of the bed with her knees drawn close to her chest, nodded without making a noise. She was also dressed for bed, wearing a dark pink slip with matching knee-high socks.

"She never ceases to amaze," Skye said quietly. Her boyfriend sat down next to her and stared at her in concern.

"You doin' okay, babe?" He finally asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him with a start after he performed the action.

"I'm fine," she said in the same tone, looking back down.

"If you don't want to tell me, that's fine. I won't press any further," he said after a couple minutes of waiting. He sat on the edge of the bed, facing the window to stare out of it. Eventually, he heard Skye move, and felt her press herself against his back.

"We're almost three-quarters close to beating the game," she said, her voice muffled because of her lips pressing against Arctic's body.

"Oh yeah, didn't really notice that," Arctic said as he looked up. Almost as if in response to his action, Skye wrapped her arms around Arctic's neck while still pressing against him.

"Sweetie..."

"Hm?"

"If I'm being honest..." Skye fell quiet immediately after speaking.

"You can tell me. I won't judge, you know that." Arctic turned back to smile at her, only to drop that smile when he heard her sniffle.

"I don't want to leave SAO."

"Wha—? Why?" Skye lifted her head up and smiled sadly at him.

"Because my life in the real world is total shit. My dad left my mom after getting her pregnant with me, and she raises me all on her own; my only connection to him is a ridiculously expensive gift every year on my birthday, and an annual visit from my younger brother. I have no friends and..." Skye buried her head in her boyfriend's neck again, tears now soaking the fabric of his shirt. "I don't want to lose you," she finished, now openly crying.

After Skye had finished speaking, Arctic sat in silence as she cried. I didn't know that's how she felt. I'm scared of losing her too. I don't want to lose anybody, especially my family. Not after...He grit his teeth and said nothing still, a teardrop slowly making its way down his cheek. Slowly, Arctic turned to face Skye, and wrapped his arms gently around her. "I feel the same way." The words that had left his mouth prompted Skye to look up at him, her eyes still brimming with tears. "I can't say I know how your real life feels, but I can say my life hurt me too. I lost people I thought were always gonna stick with me. It's no different here, either." A small chuckle escaped Arctic's lips as he continued, "The only real difference was that I was able to hide behind my pain; no one I knew in the real world was here, so you guys couldn't tell if I was hurting or not." Smiling warmly, Arctic kissed Skye's forehead and tightened his grip, pulling her closer to him. "I promise I won't die until we clear the game and we live out the rest of our lives together IRL. I'll do everything I can to find you and the others."

"R-Really?" Skye asked as she stared into his eyes.

Arctic smiled. "Really."

Skye held up her pinkie. "Pinkie promise?"

Arctic rolled his eyes. "You're lucky that you're adorable when you're being childish." Arctic wrapped his pinkie around hers. "Yeah. Pinkie promise." They both held each other tightly and smiled. "Whaddya say to dinner and a movie after this?"

"That sounds amazing."

(x)

A/N: I'm so sorry that this took so long to upload. I wanted to finish this ASAP, but school and college classes kept me busy and I was watching My Hero Academia. Rest assured, we'll try our best to upload more chapters more frequently. And as always, Read and Review!

S/N: Till next time!