Author's Note: Geeze, we're here already!? It feels like I wrote these chapters yesterday! The Gondor bits really came up quick! We left off with Klint revealing himself as the GM and true player behind "Sauron", and Asuna refuses to fight in the war to come.
Also, I do not own Sword Art Online or the Lord of the Rings.
Chapter Thirty Seven
The Battle for Minas Tirith
"I do not know what strength is in my blood, but I swear to you I will not let the White City fall, nor our people fail."
—Aragorn, The Fellowship of the Ring.
It was the early afternoon on the next day. One could hardly tell though just by looking at the sky, for it was now covered in a thick veil of black and grey fog. The servants of Mordor do not appreciate the light of day, and for that their Dark Lord sent them with a covering shroud to block out the tasteless sunlight, leaving them to perform well in battle.
The Men of Gondor did not possess strong wills either. Most were NPCs programmed to recite the tales of grief and sorrow that poison this lowly realm of men, while the others were scared players who transferred over from ALfheim Online, only now they were missing one of their greatest commanders.
No one knows exactly what happened to Eugene, but there has not been a single sound of his voice or presence since he left to defend Osgiliath. Now the hordes of hell and flame were well passed the Anduin, and had recently breached the Rammas Echor only to completely envelope the Pelennor Fields and march their hosts right to the outer walls of the previously shining White City.
And Asuna Yuuki, the once proud commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath, is left sitting alone in the empty throne room of Minas Tirith. Her head hangs low as she sits at the foot of a black column in the center of the hall, and her eyes are only met with the scuffed white brick and tile at the floor of the palace.
No guard is joining her, no friends surround her. The last bit of light left in the natural sky that pours through the windows of the great hall is the width of a pencil, and it is quickly replaced with blackened shadow. The torches illuminate the sides of the room, but not much can be said beyond the situation other than it is miserable and grey.
She's thinking. Asuna's mind has been racing for the entire morning, but words have yet to come out of her mouth. She had enough strength to get to her bedroom the night before, and somehow convinced herself to enter the throne room for a war council this morning.
However, after the quick break from the group, Asuna never followed the others out through the doors and into the defense of the city. Instead she stayed back, alone, sitting and thinking about everything that she could.
In part this was all because she blamed herself for being such a fool. She had no business letting Klint near the Ring until she got to know him better. She also had doubt in her heart for the victory of this war to side with her friends and allies. She also had fear, fear that she might actually have to join the war, and in part fight against her beloved Kirito.
For all she knew, Asuna was done with crying. She had released so many tears before falling asleep, and even more the moment she was left alone this morning she just assumed her tear ducts were dry. The pain still stung deep inside her heart though, and she really had no idea how to fix it.
She was too distracted for a second, she almost didn't hear the throne room doors open up to reveal Chrysheight the Blue Wizard, who was slowly walking towards her.
"Asuna…you're still here. "He looked sorry to walk in on her, but to be honest he half expected her to be back in her room by now.
The white knight of Gondor never really moved once the wizard walked in, which left him to carry on. "The Armies of Mordor will soon be in attacking range, heck they've practically covered up the entire Pelennor Field with their troops. It's getting pretty gloomy for our guys…"
Silence followed the trail of his remark, and left Asuna with long gap to respond.
"I'm not fighting him, Seijirō…I know Kirito is supposed to lead them, and I'm not going to fight him."
Chrysheight sighed, and turned back towards the door. "Ah, I see…"
He then removed his hat and scratched his head of long blue hair, and followed by replacing his hat back to where it was and then turned for the door to make his exit.
However, just before he passed through the threshold to re-join the guard on the outside, he swiped open his inventory, and drew a very long and impressive Gondor sword with a matte black scabbard.
"In case you change your mind." He set the weapon down by the door and propped it up on a wall. He then left the throne room and allowed two guards on the outside to shut the doors.
Asuna never turned to look at the sword, because not an ounce of temptation was left in her body. No amount of motivation, thrill, determination, conviction, or hope remained as she continued to sit with her arms wrapped around her knees and her forehead pressed against them.
Then it came, the tears re-joined their old acquaintance as Asuna started crying into her arms once more. She thought she was done, but apparently as long as pain existed in her chest, they would not leave.
Then she heard another voice from right beside her. "Mommy…why are you still crying?"
Asuna looked up with red and puffy eyes as she turned to find a very sad Yui standing right over her.
"Oh Yui…" She took a minute to wipe her eyes clean. "W-Wha…w-where did you come from?"
Yui lowered to her knees and put her hands around one of Asuna's arms. "I just came out of the necklace like I always do…I was hoping you were done being sad, but you're not…"
Asuna smiled, but then turned her head. "I'm sorry Yui…I just needed a little time away from it all…then I kind of just fell right here and the time ran away from me…"
Yui could almost feel herself begin to cry, because if there was anything in this world she hated seeing, it was her mommy or daddy looking disheartened.
"Are you upset about losing that Ring?" She asked in a soft voice as she began to sit down right next to her. "Cause if so…we won't need it."
Asuna shrugged. "I'm not even sure why I'm crying at this point." She wiped away the majority of the tears left and took a deep breath. "It was pretty stupid of me to let him see the Ring, but it's just that and…everything else."
She then looked down past her feet to the dusty floor of white and tan rock. "I don't think I can keep this up, Yui…I don't think I can keep playing inside this horrible world any longer."
Asuna enjoyed her sight seeing of the spectacular Middle-Earth scenery when she first began playing, and even after she knew Kirito was confirmed to be in danger, she tried to make the best of it by enjoying the world around her, but now it was too hard to keep convincing herself that any of it was still beautiful.
"I know…" Yui nodded with a low hanging head. "It's all just like SAO, or ALO. You shouldn't have to be here fighting to save daddy, or anyone else, and neither should I, or any of our friends…But we are."
She then tugged tighter on her virtual mother's arm and began resting her head on her shoulder. "Did daddy ever tell you about the first time he played ALO, when he went to save you from the World Tree?"
Asuna tried to gather all the mental comfort she could from having Yui right beside her, but cautiously shook her head in response.
Yui continued. "It was just like this for him. We both had a hard time ever wondering how we'd ever get up there and find you. The whole game fought him the entire way…all the players told him it was impossible to climb the tree…it was really dangerous, and really hard for daddy. While I was with him, I tried to never stop believing, but sometimes it was hard…I wanted to get you back so badly, but the world kept fighting us…But in the end, that doubt was only a passing phase, and in the end daddy finally saved you."
She then looked up right in Asuna's eyes. "And that's the same for this game too. Even darkness, and all these nasty bad guys, they're gonna pass. A new day will come, and when the sun shine after the battle, it'll be us and daddy enjoying it together back at our home in Aincrad."
Asuna's heart felt whole and heavy for a moment there, and just then newer, more pleasant tears started forming around her eyes.
Yui wasn't done though. "But I don't know, it's hard for me to explain…I think I do understand though. Daddy had lots of chances of turning back too, and even still he almost died trying to save you, only he didn't. He kept moving, he kept going, because in the end he was…we were all holding on to something."
Asuna tried biting her lip to hold the tears, but she needed to make room for a reply. "W-What Yui… what were you and daddy holding onto?"
Yui turned back to Asuna and gave her a great big smile. "That there is hope in this world...and it's always worth fighting for."
Asuna had no more strength left in her facial muscles to hold back the tears, and just then she took both her arms and wrapped Yui up in the biggest hug she had ever received. Yui smiled back and gave her a hug in return, and as they tried embracing the moment for the short amount of time, they finally released.
"Okay…" Asuna wiped away her final tear and held up a fist. "I'm going out there to help Seijirō and the others…" She then turned her head towards the large royal sword sitting at the throne room door.
"And we're all gonna save Kirito together."
Now we find Chrysheight the Blue and several hundred Gondor city guardsmen standing on top of the outer wall of Minas Tirith as they look out to the shadowy view of the Pelennor Fields, and the view that was witnessed below the clouds could only be described as frightful.
The forces of Mordor had originally made their encampments far off away from the city, even out of range from its defenses, and while it also put the White City out of their own range, the Gondor soldiers did not use this as a time to laugh and mock their enemy.
The orcs and terrible creatures of Mordor began digging into the earth to create low standing trenches on the back lines of the field, and in a quick instant several masses of soldiers advanced forward to give the Gondor defense a nice fright. The artillery readied their ammo and quickly hurled long and high ammunition into the foggy air, and by some stroke of dark magic the will of Sauron was not contested, and the orc's fire made it all the way well passed the lower edge of Minas Tirith and into the city.
Chrysheight held up his staff to create his own shield of blue energy, which also protected several men around him. However, as he let the debris trickle off his magic, he quickly noticed the ammunition was no ordinary rock or explosive.
"THEY'RE PLAYER HEADS!" One Gondor soldier cried out in utter fear, and Chrysheight made sure to confirm this theory before he gave them any cause for concern.
"No, they are just NPC heads. Players' bodies disappear once they've been slain…" Still, even though he could prove these were not player deaths, he had to realize that the defensemen of Osgiliath did not make it out of their patrol alive.
In any case the outer walls and inner city guard began to quickly panic as the orcs and dark creatures continued to approach the city. Most tried abandoning their posts, but a good lot just froze in fear right on their feet. Chrysheight had a hard time figuring out why most of the NPCs were choosing to run away, because they of all people should have AI pre-set to help defend the city.
"This is bad…" He told himself. "Without a sturdy host of NPC guards, the regular players won't remain here to fight…and they're our best warriors." He then saw great balls of fire and smoke fly over head and into several large buildings on the second and third levels of the city, and even with all the cries of terror taking the air, the Blue Wizard needed to act.
"STAND YOUR GROUND!" He cried out, and quickly whipped his staff around to point over the railing. "Archers! Send your shots to the front lines. Swordsman, prepare yourselves for any attempts of a breach. Men at the catapults…!"
The soldiers in the guard who could hear his echoing cry all turned to collect every word he had to say.
"Send the rest of these monsters back to Klint."
The soldiers of Gondor nodded and let loose their catapult ammunition into the army of the enemy, and large boulders that were flung from the city walls smashed into great swarms of orcs and other beasts. Most could pivot along an axis, which allowed for better aim and accuracy, but a lot of the finer shots from inside the defense were usually granted to the archers on the front lines.
Still, while he seemed to successfully rally the players from ALfheim to help the defense, the NPCs leaving in slow but noticeable bulk seemed to bother him. He tried thinking of any commands or issues Eugene would have given them, but then dropped his jaw as soon as it hit his mind.
"Oh no…Klint pre-programmed them to abandon the fight."
Chrysheight then noticed as more and more orcs made way for the city walls, more and more Gondor soldiers labeled as NPCs were fleeing for the southern ring of the city to try and retreat to the river. He tried running their way to collect a few before they made any jumps over the wall, but several large fiery boulders flew though and wiped out the railing and several defending men behind it.
He also looked through the now gaping hole and saw tall and menacing siege towers being rolled closer to the front wall by trolls, or powerful Mordor creatures known as Olog-hai.
Chrysheight had to turn up his shields and stay put, but he was running out of ideas as the great host of Mordor was ever approaching his walls and gates. He was known to be an intelligent man, but Seijirō Kikuoka was no military man by any means or definition.
However, he did have a very knowledgeable ally who was well-versed in this sort of art, and little did he know she was quickly joining his cuase.
"Return to the walls! Get up there and defend the city NOW!"
Chrysheight and all the back line Gondor players turned to look towards the stairs and noticed impressive lines of NPC guards were returning to the fight after their attemptive flee, and just before any of them grew too confused, a white horse with a well-armored rider rode up the steps and into the center of the wall.
She wore shining white plate armor with black steel chain mail underneath. She also wore well padded boots and a flowing black cape that held a White Tree of Gondor right at center to match the marking on her breastplate.
Finally, a tiny silver tiara seemed to adorn her head over her regular flowing brown hair, and latched to her horse's saddle was the great sword of Gondor re-forged from the Shards of Narsil, Andúril—The Flame of the West.
Asuna Yuuki steadied her mount and road right beside Chrysheight with a determined expression. "You don't mind if I take it from here do you?"
The wizard laughed and gave her a quick bow after looking at her new headpiece. "Not at all…my Queen?"
Asuna rolled her eyes. "It came after I equipped the sword to my character…apparently it gives me full control over Gondor NPCs also!"
"Great to hear…" Chrysheight awkwardly smiled and tried dodging flaming debris coming off a tower beside them. "But right now we…"
"Right." She continued. "Hold on."
Asuna rode up to the archers and drew Andúril. She then pointed its great tip at the bottom of the war machines and siege towers. "Aim at the trolls and orcs moving the machines. We can't take destroy them, but we can at least slow them down."
Her men nodded and shot all their arrows right for the trolls and driver orcs, and as all the shots collected, they all realized the towers were all slowing down at one slow spead. This was great progress for the defenders, and just then Asuna coud ride over and give the center wall some advising.
"Aim under their helmets, right at their necks." She commanded the men who were currently shooting down at orcs ramming the gate. "They don't have armor there, and it's the only part of their body without plates."
The men of Gondor were stacking up a vast amount of enemy deaths with the help of Asuna, and as she continued to aid the men up front, she never neglected the artillery either.
"Turn all catapults to aim at the tops of every tower! Their construction is faulty the higher they go, and if we scrape the tops off they'll be too short to latch on!"
All the turrets in the central vicinity nodded and obeyed, and the others used visual cues to follow as well. They launched stone and some times fiery ammo right for the war machines to make sure they made no direct advancement into the city, which left a bright sign of positive light for all the defenders.
Victory was now looking like more than a tiny speck of light, but as the shadowy sky above turned to true night, real darkness would sprout out of the enemy host eventually.
Now, just north of the great Realm of Gondor, we come to find a large host of united forces meeting near the River Anduin. Here several thousand Riders of Rohan make their approach to their allies in the south, and with them they are accompanied by swarms of elves both from Lothlórien and the Woodland Realm. Finally, while the host alone is impressive, it is also joined in the back guard by slow but powerful huorns and ents from the great Fanghorn Forest.
At the center of several hills just beside the Anduin we find the leaders of Silica, Leafa, and Recon waiting for their next move. Instead of continuing straight south for the Pelennor Roads, this great army has decided to veer straight east and wait by the river.
"What are we doing?" Recon yelled impatiently as he tried to gather the rationale for this plan. "We need to keep going south to get to Minas Tirith! At leas that's what my map says."
Leafa rolled her eyes. "Recon calm down, or shut up…either way Silica knows what we're doing here."
Leafa then calmly lookd to her short friend. "You do know why we're here, right?"
Silica took a deep breath. "I mean it was mainly Sinon's word to stay here, but I have a feeling I know…"
"The scouts have returned!"
The three leaders looked to find Sinon riding from the southern vanguard of their army to bring word from several scouts around Gondor. "It is night time, but they said the field was pretty well-lit."
"And?" Leafa asked impatiently. "What are they saying?"
Sinon took off her hood and flipped it behind her head. "The orcs have the plains swarmed. They're lighting the lower levels of the city on fire, and they're getting closer to the gate."
"We're losing time…" Silica said with a sad expression. "I know we need to stay for a little bit, but we're wasting too much time."
"Hold on. "Sinon sighed. "I know the report sounds bad, but we do need a bigger army if we want to take them on. The follow up has the orcs at like 20,000, and right now we don't even have half that."
"20,000!?" Leafa yelled out. "How the hell do they keep breading those nasty things!? And how are we supposed to take on an army like that!?"
"Wait…" Silica ignored the bulk of the conversation as her eyes were still glued to the upstream end of the river, and just then a great line of brown and grey transports could be seen riding their way, followed by several large groups of mounted warriors on their side of the banks.
"Yanâd Durinul!" One great warrior yelled this from atop a tiny but fierce boar as he and hundreds of well-armored soldiers marched to join the great host of the west.
It was the Sons of Durin, and the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains. The great army that defeated Gundabad had rallied back at Erebor and taken their men down the river and into the battle of Gondor, and just as the great dwarves came into the encampment, two familiar faces road in on the only available horses in the entire army.
"We-hello gang!" A smiley and sarcastic Lisbeth chimed off with a wave of her hand. "How's everyone doing?"
Silica jumped up from her rock and ran over to greet them, and Leafa, Sinon, and Recon quickly followed. Agil road in behind Lisbeth and held up a hand.
"Y'all might wanna relax around Lis. The guards might not like you being so close to the Iron Hammer."
"The Iron Hammer?" Leafa covered her mouth to conceal a giggle, but Lisbeth seemed to take no offense.
"What? I don't see your little elves giving you a fancy nickname. Must mean they don't like you very much…"
Sinon rolled her eyes and jumped in. "Well, we're glad you guys are here. Now we need to get everyone together and make way for Gondor."
"Good idea. "Agil said as he looked up to the night's sky. "Well I guess we'll be riding by moonlight tonight. Better hope we don't get ambushed."
"Eh." Lisbeth said with a crafty swing of her mace. "We have like 10,000 combined soldiers…I like our chances."
Eveyrone continued to march southward except for Silica who sat back with a nervous expression. "Um guys…how exactly do we expect to move all these…"
"OY! There ain't NO WAY I'll be letting some damned woodland sprites beat my hogs to Gondor! Son's of Durin! March with haste!"
The dwarves started out at the back of the group but quickly left their barges and charged southward to the vanguard position. Th elves seemed to roll their eyes, but they were not shying away from the competition as they too began to sprint and ride faster and faster.
Silica then watched all her friends and the two combined armies ride south like mad men until her army of 5,000 or so Rohirrim road up behind her. "Lady Silica, shall we join?"
"The argument?" Silica replied. "O-Oh the ride…erm…yea I guess we outta…"
And so Silica jumped utop her pale blue riding mare and quickly rallied the remaining troops, making way for the capital of Gondor, and the greatest fight of their lives.
Well the battle is pretty epic so far!
Also, Did anyone recognize that touchy scene between Yui and Asuna...? I took a ton of inspiration from the Two Towers when Sam gives the speech of his life to Frodo in the end. It really helped me bring down the family moment hard, and I got to use a lot of soundtrack to help me write it. (The scene where Asuna is sitting alone in the throne room might be my favorite moment from the whole story.)
That's another reason why this story might have been my favorite writing process so far from any of my stories. I had to listen to SOOOOO much Lord of the Rings music to write the story (and also some SAO songs too), and I really cannot express how much I love the soundtrack for these films. The first bit of this chapter I used the intro section from "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring CR - 08. The Great Eye." (Available on Youtube, I only used like the first minute.) It really helped me capture just how alone Asuna was in the throne room before Yui showed up, and how sad of a moment it was for Gondor. I also used the theme "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers CR - 13. The Tales That Really Matter (Part 1/2)" for the scene with Yui and Asuna, because it's the same soundtrack they used in the Two Towers for the Sam speech to Frodo. It helped capture the warmth. However, if you find this like "unofficial medley" video on Youtube called "The Realm of Gondor" it really put all of it into a nutshell for this big Minas Tirith scene. Agh! So much good music!
ANYWAY! The northern host is on its way, but I have a feeling they may be arriving a little too late...we'll find out tomorrow!