Chapter Twenty-Three

The little girl had nothing. No friends, no family, not even a name. So I gave her one, Yui. It seemed fitting as she was all alone in this place. Of course, I couldn't leave her in the forest to fend for herself. So I took her back to my log cabin to live until we can either restore her memories or someone comes to find her.

Maybe we could help each other feel less alone in the meantime.

It only took a week to get into somewhat of a routine. In the mornings, after breakfast, I would teach Yui how to wield a sword. After lunch, I would take her out to Tolbana Plains to help her hone these skills, of course I was in my new disguise so I wasn't recognized. In the evenings, I would leave her at the cabin so I could fight the mid-level boss and keep my level high enough for the boss raid that I was sure would happen soon.

And happen, it did. It was only two and a half weeks after I found Yui that I got the message about the boss room being found. I hadn't expected it to take this long. Even with one less team, unless Charr and Stark were still helping look for the room with him.

It still hurt to talk about him, though sometimes I found myself telling Yui stories about my best friend turned ex-boyfriend. She looked so much like him that it sometimes brought tears to my eyes. I never showed it in front of Yui though, always making sure she was asleep in her bed before I let myself cry.

"Yui, it's that time. I don't know how long I will be gone, but I want you to stay here. Don't go out alone, you hear me? It's not safe out there, and no one can bother you inside." I bent over to bring myself down to her eye-level. "I've given you enough food for two days. If I am not back in that time, go look for a player named Charr, he's tall and has black hair with red and yellow in the front to look like fire. He also has a red dragon following him. He will take care of you if you tell him my name." I patted her head, affectionately.

"Okay, mama!" She jumped up from the sofa she was sitting on and hugged me around my waist.

I don't know why she started calling me that, but somehow it felt right. Even though I was only seventeen, it felt like this little girl was always meant to be my daughter. She fights as if she was my kid when we are training on the lower levels, with my temper too.

I donned my hot pink armor, cringing on the inside at the garish color, along with my silver helmet. On one arm I wore a silver kite shield with a pink flower design, cringe. On the opposite hip I was sporting a silver warhammer that periodically gave off a red glow from the fire ability it possessed. I finally managed to earn Phoenix's Wrath from the mid-level boss on floor twenty-five, Shandra the Phoenix Queen. It was the best warhammer known, so far, and is only dropped to players over level seventy.

Sprinting at my top speed saw me to the floor teleport in twenty minutes. Good timing, as I would just make it on time to the war meeting for the fifty-second floor boss. They were having this meeting right at the teleport platform as it was the only clear spot big enough for all of the front-liners to fit without monsters spawning.

As predicted, not even a minute after arriving, a familiar voice called from the front of the crowd.

"Can everyone hear me?" After murmurs and nods of affirmative Asuna continued. "Alright, this is the meeting for the boss raid on this floor. The creature's name is Yggdrasil of the Ash. It is an enormous tree that sprouts smaller, but still giant, saplings. They use a spore that paralyzes and Yggdrasil also uses a poison, so stock up on antidotes along with health potions.

"While slow, these guys are still quite powerful. What they lose in speed, they more than make up for in strength. I want each guild and party leader to come to me for their assignments." With that Asuna jumped down from the crate she was standing on and turned to the line of party leaders forming.

I saw Charr standing towards the back of the line. That must mean that Stark and Agil must be here. Thank gosh I decided to wear a helmet, I thought to myself. I quickly glanced around, but didn't see either male. Nor did I see him.

I waited until Charr left Asuna with his orders before I made my way over to her to get my own. "How many in your party?" She asked me without even a greeting. She seemed tired and stressed.

Oh crap! If I say anything she might recognize my voice! I gotta mime my answers! I held up one finger after a moment.

"You're going to take on a boss fight solo? Not on my watch. You either join a party or you don't fight at all. I've got a list of people that could use your help." Asuna crossed her arms, not about to back down.

Oh well. Guess miming is out of the question. "I fight alone," I said in the deepest voice I could manage, hopefully it was enough that she wouldn't recognize it. "With or without your permission, Lightning Flash." She tensed at her nickname being used in such a disrespectful manner.

"What level?" Asuna gritted her teeth and attempted to peer into my helmet. I turned away so she couldn't get a good look at my face between the slits in the mouth guard and held up my hands to flash the numbers eight and two on them. She sighed and mumbled under her breath, something about stubborn idiots. "Fine. But you will be fighting the small fry. Just don't get yourself killed. You will stay with Charr's party, until I can trust you enough to know you can hold your own, they are one player short. If you impress me, you can fight alone in the next boss fight, deal?" I nodded as an answer. I can team up for one fight. "What's your name?"

"Mauradin." I turned on my heel and made my way over in the direction I saw Charr walk off in. I sighed deeply in relief. I survived the conversation with Asuna without being detected, unfortunately I had to push my luck with Charr so I could join the boss fight tomorrow.

Good thing names don't hover above players heads like in other games.


Kirito:

"Hey, I'm back." Charr walked over to us with his menu opened up, his red dragon riding on his shoulder. "Looks like we will have a straggler joining our group, per Asuna's orders. Guess they came up to her wanting to fight alone."

"Could it be Sarasheem, you think?" Stark asked, looking between our party members.

"Nah. If it was, Asuna would have said so. She said a pink armored girl with a silver helmet should be joining us shortly to go over our plans." Charr closed his menu, deep in thought.

I'm surprised Sarasheem is missing out on the boss fight. I figured this would be the one place she would show up. I shook my head in defeat. This was our last chance to find her. We even went searching on every floor, and still haven't found where she had hidden herself.

"Looks like she's here." Agil said. My head shot up and I looked around hoping he was talking about Sarasheem, only to see the player Asuna had sent over. I sighed sadly and looked to the girl that would be joining our party.

She was wearing a hot pink breastplate that clung to her chest tightly, accentuating her curves. Her purple skirt hung halfway down her thighs, with the same hot pink, metal grieves to cover her shins and knees. Pink metal pauldrons covered her shoulders with more pink metal covering her forearms and hands. Hiding her face was a silver metal helmet with thin slits in the visor so she could see. Guess the girl really liked pink.

She was the complete opposite of Sarasheem, wearing a short skirt and tight-fitting armor. Sarasheem hated showing skin, hence why she always wore long shirts and pants. She even went as far as wearing pants from level one until she found a clothier that could make a higher level pair for females. This game preferred girls wearing skirts, it seemed.

On her left arm was a shield, rounded on the side closest to her elbow and came to a point far enough past her wrist to still protect her hand. If I remembered correctly, it was called a kite shield. It had a pretty pink and green flower design on the silver shield. On her right hip was a warhammer with a spike on one side opposite the flat of the head. It gave off an eerie red glow every few minutes, meaning it must have some kind of fire ability.

"Hi! Welcome to our team! I'm Stark! That's Charr, Kirito, and Agil!" Stark bounced over introducing each of us with a point of his finger. "What's your name?"

"Mauradin." She answered in a deep but still feminine voice, pronouncing it ma-rah-din, and crossed her arms. It almost seemed like she was irritated with having to party with us, which I guess she must be if Asuna demanded it. Knowing her, she probably threatened to prevent Mauradin from joining the boss raid if she didn't party with someone.

"Judging by your armor and weapon I would guess that you are a tank. Which is great because Kirito over there needs a tank. He drove off his last partner in a jealous fit." Charr glared at me. I just ignored him and continued to stare at the new girl. "So you will be stuck with him. I don't trust him on his own, he's too much of a stubborn idiot and without his ex-girlfriend to keep him in line, I can't rely on him not to die." I flinched when he mentioned my new relationship status.

Mauradin just shrugged her shoulders, preferring not to speak unless necessary, I suppose. She must be the silent type. I could tell she was a high level player by the way she walked in her armor and carried her shield like she could use it at any second. I wondered how she got this high up without us crossing paths with her before. We knew pretty much everyone on the assault team, along with most of the higher level players that sometimes joined. Plus not many people chose mono-colors unless they were part of a guild, with the exception of our group.

"We should add her to the party. Oh! And to our friends list, too!" Stark bounced on the balls of his feet in excitement.

"No." Everyone froze, stunned at the firmness of her tone.

"Why not? Being part of the party helps everyone keep each other's health points in check. It's just an added precaution during a fight." Charr narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the pink armored newcomer.

Her only response was a shake of her head.

"Come on. Don't give me that solo bull. I know we have the black swordsman with us but that's no excuse to be rude." Charr tried reasoning with her again, crossing his arms over his red jacket, mimicking her stance. He tended to only armor up right before going out to fight, never wearing it when he was in town due to it slowing him down too much. Or so he says. I think he just likes showing off his muscles.

"No!" She yelled in a higher pitched voice, crossing her arms. Her whole body tensed, preparing to either fight or walk away. Her voice sounded weirdly familiar, but the helmet was making it echo weirdly so I couldn't quite place the voice.

"Whatever then. Meet back here fifteen minutes before the raid group leaves at ten in the morning. If you're late, we leave without you." Charr said, waving his hand at Mauradin dismissively. She took that as her cue to leave, turning on her heel and stalking away towards the teleport platform, her armor clinking almost musically.

"I have a feeling that could have gone better." I spoke up for the first time since the pink clad player joined us. "Anyone else notice how her voice changed when she yelled?"

Everyone exchanged confused looks. They must not have noticed it. "You don't think…" Agil trailed off, afraid to finish his sentence. The whole party got quiet, lost in their thoughts.

"It can't be. She wouldn't be caught dead wearing that color, nor would she wear something so skimpy and form fitting. She wouldn't be able to walk around in that and be comfortable." I waved my hand in the direction Mauradin had walked off.

"I don't know. I'm not convinced. Either way, we should keep an eye on her. I don't exactly trust her." Charr said, grabbing his chin in thought.

"Well nothing we can do about it til tomorrow. Let's get dinner! I'm starving!" Stark piped up cheerily. Everyone laughed at his antics and headed to the previous floor to find an inn and some food.


Credit goes to Magic The Gathering card game for Shandra the Phoenix Queen as it's based off of Chandra Plainswalker. Fun card game! Definitely recommend playing!

Also credit to InuYasha for Blades of Blood as that was one of InuYasha's attacks in the anime and I liked how it sounded for a band of sword users. Forgot to put that credit in there earlier!