Author Note

Yo, what's poppin' everybody? Betcha weren't expecting me to bust out an update to this fucker for a while, huh? As you could probably infer for yourself, this does mean that the hiatus is in effect, over.

That being said, a couple things need to be said before we get things rolling into Part Two.

First, that poll on my profile, right? Bunch of people have voted on it. I am taking those votes seriously. Part of the reason I'm ending the hiatus is because forcing myself NOT to work on this story seems to have killed my ability to work on other stories, when combined with a couple other things I have to deal with. Expect to see a new chapter to at least Like Mother Like Daughter in the general vicinity of "soon."

Second, if any of you readers out there want to talk to me, my betas, and our group of friends, we have a discord server we all talk on! Among the members included are myself, our tyrannical leader Yakosh (he's not so bad normally but we love to meme around about him), our one useful mod TheSilentSwordsman (*cough*), my beta One More Guy, my friend and collabing buddy Xera Stark, RStyle the community memeboi, my cover artist/beta ForteDragon/Asu, and a bunch of readers who are already there (one of which is my clone…)! If you wanna join, modify the following link by removing the spaces (and if necessary, add "dot gg" after the word discord, FFN link filtering is a fucking mess), and I'll see you all there! discord . gg / YU8A6Bp

Third, after a lot of pressure from my beta, One More Guy, this story no longer has the same endpoint of Part III that it did when it went on hiatus. There will now be an additional two parts after that due to the story no longer ending at checkpoint twenty-nine and instead continuing on until the final zone. Not gonna say much other than that, don't want to spoil anything.

Fourth and finally, literally every statement made thus far in the story regarding character speed has pretty much been pitifully inaccurate because I was making assumptions without actually calculating what it'd be. Part of the reason I got Kiriko the Valkyrie Set is because I actually gave stats and effects to them so I could correctly use it to first calculate Kiriko's speed and general abilities, then scale other characters in the story to her based on feats they pull off against her or people she's fought, etc etc. I have since calculated end of Part I Kiriko's stats and abilities, so as a result, I will be accurately representing her and them from here on out. This is going to make her, and by extension, other characters, seem much stronger, faster, more tanky, etc than they did in part one, because I actually calculate characters' stats now and they're a lot higher than I initially thought they were (Kiriko can break the sound barrier without Bursting or using skill combos, as an example of what I mean).

Anyway, now that you've read all that, go ahead and get reading!


Gun Gale Online: The Swordswoman

Part Two: Love and Loss – Era of the Valkyrie

Prologue: Shoulder to Cry On


"Come on in," I offered, holding the front door to my spacious log cabin open and stepping aside as Argo walked through. "Make yourself at home."

I smiled lightly, my hand pointing at my right. "The living room is down the hall. I can make some tea, if you want."

The leader of «Thousand Eyes» simply shook her head, stepping towards the living room. "It's fine. I'm imposing, and I didn't come here for refreshments, anyway."

Mirthless. Lifeless. Even if she wasn't crying anymore, the soulless tone with which she spoke stung like a slap to the face, renewed and redoubled with every new word. Reminding me of my hubris, of my complete failure to grasp what my course of action would do to those close to me. Hell, I couldn't even anticipate the effects my "death" would have on the general population, never mind the people whose lives I'd touched in my time here.

But even so… moping to myself about it solves nothing.

It was precisely because I'd fucked things up so badly and on such a scale that I needed to apply myself in the present. I needed to do what I could to fix everything I'd messed up. It was my duty to do what I could to make a difference. And the first couple of steps… would start right here, right now, in the conversation to come.

Argo and I continued to walk through the hall until we arrived at our destination. Directly across from the entrance was the closer armrest of my cream-colored leather corner sofa. Across from that was my flat screen TV so large it almost covered the entire wall from floor to ceiling, surrounded on both sides by the massive stereo speakers I got it with.

Across from the other armrest of my corner sofa were two things. First, closer to the opposite wall was a matching-colored leather reclining chair. Second, in between the two was an ottoman footrest which came with the corner sofa.

The info broker in front of me mumbled to herself in disbelief as she walked into the room and took it all in. "I've never even seen or heard of you before— how did you afford all this…?"

"Most solo players have their ways. Though I got most of my current stockpile of credits from winning high-stakes wagers…" I replied with a casual shrug. "Haven't even come close to spending all of my last one's winnings yet."

Just vague enough to give nothing away and still be mostly true. Though she'd have no way of knowing that the "wager" I spoke of was the one I made to Heathcliff about the proceeds of our duel. Winning that made me so filthy rich that this house didn't even cost one percent of what I had when I had it built and decorated.

"Anyway, go ahead and take a seat on the couch. I promised I'd tell you my story, and I don't go back on my word… but I wouldn't exactly expect to attain enlightenment from it if I were you," I told her with a rueful smile. "I hate to admit it, but… I think you're overestimating how helpful I'll be."

Her eyes fell to where I gestured and I noticed the hint of a response die quietly on her lips when she did. She looked like she went back on what she was going to say initially because she said something else instead.

"Even if you won't be, I can still pretend, can't I?" she asked.

I shrugged, walking up to the spot next to her. "I guess you can. But I'd rather you be honest, if only because I know how painful living a lie like that actually is."

She glanced back at me before taking her seat, and I fought the urge to look away when I saw the distant expression on her face attempt to look skeptical. "I'd rather put up a front than be honest with myself. I'm just looking for a good reason to convince me otherwise."

"Well… I guess it'd be painful for you either way, given the circumstances," I replied with a casual shrug to hide my guilt before taking a seat next to her. She hid it well, but I watched her stiffen when I did. "Now, where to begin…"

I sat back and sank into the soft leather cushion behind me a little, knowing this story would probably take a while to tell. "I guess I'll start with how I met my old friends. This goes way back to the first couple of zones in the game. I met them by chance. They were about to be killed by a field boss, and I swooped in and saved them in the nick of time.

"But at that point, we weren't exactly on the best of terms," I continued, my eyes dimming momentarily along with my smile. "See, the girl of the group had confessed to me back in the real before GGO's beta, and because I was scared of change, among other things, I ended up running away."

Her stiffness didn't go away as I talked, and she didn't voice anything either. When I stole a glance at Argo, her eyes were fixed in an unfocused gaze on the floor. It stung when I saw how she grew so numb to what I'd been saying, because I ended up running away from her too, in the end.

I looked away and refocused on continuing my story, a rueful smile playing on my lips. "But it didn't take long for me to make up with them, and I ended up joining their legion. I was strong enough to be a clearer, but they weren't, so for a long time, my goal was to help them get stronger and join the assault team. It's what most of them wanted, and it'd make it easier for me to help clear the game if I had a team with me, so it seemed like a no-brainer.

"But it was that same drive which spelled our downfall, in the end," I continued, closing my eyes to blink the beginnings of tears away. "By zone ten, they were strong enough to be on the frontlines, if not well above the average level. But as you know, zone ten… it had quite a lot of very dangerous traps in it. A lot of clearers died before even making it to the boss dungeon."

This time, I did get a reaction out of her, if also just a small glance my way before she went back to looking at the floor. "I devoted an entire segment of chapters to the details of those traps alone. I hoped it'd save more than it did by the end of that floor."

"I know… we read that guidebook. But unfortunately, one of us was a little bit too excitable," I replied with a nod, reopening my eyes. "Incidentally, the girl who confessed to me in the real? At that point, she was still in love with me. And I was also in love with her, even if I didn't realize it at the time. I'm pretty sure she was my soulmate, in hindsight. I've never loved anyone else quite as much since then.

"But when we triggered an anti-teleport boss summoning trap, she was the first of us to die. She saved me from getting hit by a powerful skill, only to get hit by it herself and get killed in one shot."

At this point, I was altering my real story because the truth would give away my identity. While it was true that they all died in what essentially amounted to a boss trap, that boss trap was Vice and the ensuing first Bullet of Bullets. But since only one player could walk out of that event alive, I couldn't tell the truth about it… because it'd give away the truth about who I was.

"You watched her die…" Argo's response fell into a whisper, but it was the first real emotional tone I'd heard her use since she first approached me.

I nodded. Her emotions provoked some of mine to resurface, for the briefest of moments, just long enough to make my voice crack. "Yeah… I couldn't do a thing about it. I felt powerless. Especially because the rest of my friends followed suit with similar speed until I was all alone with the boss."

When my gaze finally turned back to Argo, her lips were pressed in a thin line, and I watched her try to swallow a growing lump in her throat. If she wanted to say something, she looked like she wasn't going to be able to get it out.

"In the end, I beat that boss and walked away alive… but after the rage and adrenaline wore off, I was left with nothing but a gaping hole in my heart." I kept going, my voice returning to normal, if still fundamentally distraught in tone. "Everyone I'd ever cared about was dead. There was no getting them back. Or at least, that's what I thought… until news of the revival item broke."

Argo's eyes narrowed a little as she turned her face away from me again, but it looked like she wasn't trying to avoid my gaze, just hide a flash of guilt at hearing my words. "Sorry… if those rumors were misleading."

I figured she'd been selling people info about that item at the time, but… I'd never known for sure. Mainly because I'd actively avoided alerting her I was even searching for it at the time… not that it stopped her from finding out anyway.

"Not like I would know," I offered, shrugging my shoulders. "Because I never made it that far. Though I had no one left I really cared about… there were still people left who cared about me. One of them found out I was after it, and they managed to comfort and stop me. She would eventually become the new love I found, even if I didn't know it at the time."

Her gaze dropped again. "Wish I was able to do the same. But… nothing I could've said would've stopped her from trying."

"For a brief period, we were happy together. But now, she's gone, too," I continued, voice almost numb. All this lying and deception… it was really starting to get to me. "But at the very least… she went out on her own terms."

"I guess we can both say that," Argo said, and again, her voice matched the emotion starting to show itself on her face. A painful look of guilt turned her face away from me, and she was starting to look doubtful. All this was probably making her feel worse.

"Yeah… but though she's gone now, she did teach me one important lesson while she was still around," I replied, my voice becoming slightly less weighed down. "That no matter how much you've lost, you can always start again and find new things and people to fill the void left behind. It's not easy… but it's better than squandering the hopes of the ones who left you behind, at least."

A sad hum came from the info broker, and it didn't really hit me until I heard it. I'd never heard that sound from her, in all the time I'd known her. "I remember trying to preach the same message to her. But I guess I can't say much, if I can't live with the same lesson I was trying to get her to understand. It's kind of pathetic how hypocritical that is, really."

"Hypocrisy is nothing new. It's been human nature for as long as the human race has been around," I responded, almost on reflex. "But even so, you have to live your message… or it'll never be received. Not that telling you this will help you cope. Moving on from something as big as what you lost takes a lot of time and effort. You won't have a sudden epiphany on how to ease all that pain from a single conversation."

"Maybe I really was being hopeful thinking this would help," she replied, and for once, I heard her voice shake enough to fall into a quiet murmur as she went to stand. "Sorry I asked you to talk about this."

Instinctively, I reached out and clasped her hand in my own. I felt the tremors in her hand, clear as day. My heart nearly broke in two— I nearly told her the truth right then, but stopped myself just in time.

To fool your enemies, you have to fool your allies as well… I'm sorry, Argo.

"You don't have to leave when things get raw," I told her, gently pulling her back to her seat. "You have nothing to be ashamed of, getting upset over this. I'm no one to judge."

The quivering in her hand got worse. I don't know if it was instinct or reluctance, or fear of her trying to leave again, but I didn't let go. Not that I could, seeing her snap her face away from me.

"Can't a girl hide when she's about to break down?" Argo asked quietly, and the strain in her breath betrayed everything she was trying to hide. "H-Hypocritical, I know."

That word alone cracked her unsteady voice, which served to further crack the pieces of my breaking heart. Her hand… it felt cold. Once again, I moved instinctively, letting go of her hand to put my arm around her shoulder, reflexively embracing her to give her warmth.

"You can if you really want to…" I said, voice just above a whisper. "But I'd rather you stay here so I can at least be a shoulder to cry on, if nothing else."

The trembling I felt radiating through her turned to shaking, and what little defenses I had left almost crumbled away when she slowly turned her face to peer reluctantly at mine. Streams of tears fell in digital pixels from her chin, and the quivering in her lips looked like there wasn't anything more than a strand holding her back right now.

"Y-You shouldn't have to be…" she croaked out, voice overflowing with guilt she didn't deserve to be feeling right now.

Because the only one who should've been feeling guilty right now was me.

I wrapped my other arm around her too, burying her head into my chest without giving it a second thought. "Maybe… but I still want to be. If I can't help you move on, I at least want to help you grieve."

I felt her take fistfuls of my shirt as her tears soaked through it, and her back slouched into me. Her reluctance finally vanished when she stifled a sob against my chest, but after that… I guess she didn't want to hold back anymore.

We sat there like that for quite a while, her crying into my chest, and me holding her close, going through an internal rollercoaster of emotions which intensified more and more the longer she continued to weep. But through it all, I tried my damnedest to keep a calm exterior, so I could be her rock, something she could depend on without feeling like it was damaging me to do this.

Eventually, after what felt like hours, her sobs began to slow down, until she was just sniffling, and beyond that, the only giveaway of her raw heartbreak left was her labored breathing. She seemed to be calming down, little by little… for now, at least.

"Listen…" I whispered to her as her grip on me began to loosen. "If you ever need a shoulder again, or even just someone to talk to about anything at all… I'm here. My door will always be open to you."

She didn't lift her head up at all, but I heard her take a shallow breath and slowly drop her hands from where they held. A dry huff left her lips, attempting to sound lighthearted… but it didn't really work, in a position like this.

"You shouldn't make promises like that," Argo voiced in a quiet exhale. "I'll take advantage of you."

I smiled, squeezing her in my embrace for a moment. "I don't mind. I'm okay with that if it means I'll be someone you can depend on."

Her head sunk a little as I heard her regain a little more of her breath, that shakiness in her voice slowly but surely leaving her. Her next two words were several times quieter than a whisper, but I managed to hear them.

"Thank you…"

The weight she let sink into me eventually lifted, and she pushed lightly against my leg to help herself lean away. She didn't turn her face away from me this time. She just let it stare down at my lap as she reached a hand up, rubbing away a few lingering tears in the corners of her eyes.

Then she offered me a meek and ashamed smile. "I don't even know your name."

"It's Kamiko," I replied with a smile of my own, warm and accepting. "My late mother's name."

"Kamiko…" she echoed, and for a moment I realized I might've slipped up as her brow furrowed. But the moment passed when her eyes met mine again. "I'll… try my best not to sell that."

"That might get a little hard once I step into the spotlight," I replied with a slightly jovial tone. "But I appreciate the gesture."

"Yeah. Never stopped me before," she offered back. It was almost like the weighted blanket anchoring down the atmosphere between us was starting to dissolve away, which was as comforting of an outcome as I could imagine. "I'll leave you alone. I should've been somewhere thirty minutes ago, but…" she trailed off.

I smiled, giving my shoulders a casual shrug. "Hey, everyone's late sometimes. No big deal. Catch you later, then."

"Yeah…" she repeated, one of the few telling signs I could recognize that her mind still wasn't over what just happened. "I guess you will."

With that, she got up and left, walking through the room, then the hallway, until I finally heard my front door open and close behind her as she made her exit. And as soon as that door closed, I immediately turned my attention to the reclining chair across from me, speaking in a clear, confident voice.

"I didn't know you were capable of generating murderous intent when it suits you, Johnny," I called out to him with a smirk. "But it's a convenient way to get my attention. I've been feeling your presence in here for the past fifteen minutes or so."

Immediately after I finished talking, Johnny Black of «Laughing Coffin» seemed to appear out of thin air, making eye contact with a glower as he sat in my chair. But I knew better than to assume he just got here - in all likelihood, he'd been here since before I'd brought Argo into the house. He did mention having a report for me today, after all, and his «Hiding» skill was recently maxed out specifically for scenarios like these.

"For your information, the murderous impulses your «Presence Sense» picked up on didn't come from nowhere," he hissed at me, his glare intensifying. "I came into the house to deliver my report. What I got was to watch a soap opera for forty-six minutes straight, the vast majority of which consisted solely of ear-bleedingly repetitious sobbing. This is not what I signed up for when I came here!"

My smirk became insufferable as I listened to his words. "You reap what you sow~ faking my death was your idea, you earned having to watch me deal with the fallout for it at least a little bit."

"Bitch please, your grand plan was to do it for real and leave all your friends wide fucking open should my boss get annoyed with them in any way, shape or form," Johnny's retort was swift and severe, cutting through my teasing persona in a heartbeat and hitting me where it hurt. But he wasn't done. "And speaking of your hypothetical death, can I just go on record saying that giving a key to your house to me, the deadliest murderer in the game and ace of Laughing Coffin was retarded? What are you gonna do if, once my debt's been fully repaid, I come in here and off you in your damn sleep?"

Okay, that second part, at least, I had a clear answer to… since it was a pretty obvious non-issue to me. "That'd be way out of character for you, and we both know it. The thing that sets you apart from the company you keep, and the reason why I like you, Johnny, prevents that from even being a possibility."

"Oh, do tell," he barked right back. Though he was clearly still quite angry with me, his murderous intent had all but vanished without a trace.

"The reason you're nothing like them is, you may be an amoral piece of shit," I started, noting the distinct lack of reaction from him. "But you're a piece of shit with pride and honor, and you're also morally self-aware, even if you don't normally care. As opposed to PoH's blinded followers who take his rhetoric as gospel and almost completely abandon thinking for themselves."

Our eyes locked, confidence meeting seething anger, clashing in those few moments for what seemed like forever. But after interacting with him as much as I had recently, I knew the truth without him even having to say it.

He just didn't want to admit I was right about him.

But eventually, as I knew he would, he caved, closing his eyes and letting out a massive sigh. "Go fuck yourself, Kiriko. When the hell did you get time to psychoanalyze me, anyway…?"

"It didn't help you remain mysterious to keep coming around every few nights to give me reports on the current state of affairs in your boss's new territory," I replied with a casual shrug. "You talked with me too much, it was only a matter of time before I got a read on you. But speaking of reports, what's new since the last one?"

"Fuckin' whatever…" Johnny replied with a sigh, shaking his head with closed eyes. "I can't win against you like this. I'll get on with my report, then."

His fingers started drumming across the arm of the recliner as he began to speak in that serious voice I'd gotten so used to hearing recently. No fluctuations, no theatrics… a voice which made it clear he meant business.

"The average level of PKers in zone twenty-four has risen to fifty-five. Still fodder to most of the top tier players like us, Heathcliff, Agil, Asuna or Sinon, but now more of a threat to the general assault team, whose average level is only sixty," he began, his eyes narrowing. "Especially because most of the orange playerbase relies on some kind of hax ability to win fights and the clearers generally don't, your broken ass oneshot weapon aside."

"To be fair, I ditched that thing the moment I could oneshot things without it," I cut in the moment he brought my old weapon up. "I'd rather oneshot enemies with raw firepower, not RNG. Though since I got the perfect «Valkyrie Set», my ability to solo enemies has just gotten ridiculous."

"Kiriko, I'll be blunt with you…" he replied, seeming to ignore my remarks. "If you don't figure out a way to drive the PKers out within the next couple of weeks, you won't be able to, period."

"I've got a few ideas to get the ball rolling by now…" I replied with a pensive frown. "But I need an opening to not only get the attention of the clearers but also get them to take me seriously. As of right now, to them, I'm a nobody."

Johnny's eyes lit up, and then, ever so uncharacteristically of his serious side, he smiled. It quickly turned into an unsettling smirk before he began to speak. "I'm glad you asked. The perfect chance is coming up, and completely coincidentally, you made a key player for even just getting it started half an hour late."


Author's Note

Many thanks to both Xera for writing Argo in this scene and One More Guy for his fabulous work as my beta! Both were indispensable for getting this installment out. Can't thank them enough!

So anyway, this acts mostly as a direct continuation of the epilogue of Part I. Imagine, Kiriko having Johnny Black as an ally… I wonder how long that'll last, hmm?

For those of you thinking Kiriko's disguise personality kinda fell apart talking to Argo, that was sort of on purpose. I'm not gonna spoil why I did that, but expect the reason why to crop up fairly shortly.

Also, expect some stuff in third person Sinon's perspective next chapter. See you then!

Remember to check out the discord link! Anyone is welcome!

Later!