She felt the warmth of the sun caressing her cheek and heating her chilled body. The sounds of rushing water came in slowly to her ears as her brain seemed to continue its work. The smell of the forest and the water she was near began to drift into her nose with every intake of air. Despite the fact that her senses and consciousness were returning, her pain did not. She no longer felt the burns and arrow wounds, the half healed tear in her shoulder, the bite wounds on her left forearm, none of it was noticeable anymore. Even her ribs seemed to have become better as she was easily able to breath with no shudder of pain accompanying the action. "Is she gonna be alright?" she heard Ru ask.
"How many times are you going to ask me that? Yes, I think she'll be okay. We just have to be patient, she overused her ability. Remember what happened last time I did that." "You were asleep for half a day." Ru said. "Exactly, we just have to wait." Luna stirred and her eyes slowly opened. She glanced up to see blue skies overhead with white clouds dancing in the wind to form random shapes as they passed by. Lily's face suddenly reached in and blocked the view that Luna was enjoying. "You're awake." she gasped. "I am." Luna said before attempting to sit up. As she did, she felt a headache gnawing at the back of her skull. She tried rubbing her temples in a hope to eliminate the encroaching migraine.
"Not gonna work I'm afraid." she heard her own voice say from beside her. Luna sighed at the sight of her own image sitting against a nearby tree. "Easy." Lily said, putting a hand on each of Luna's shoulders to steady her. "I'm fine, somewhat." "You should be, I spent the last day and a half healing you." Lily stated as she leaned back from Luna. She was resting atop her folded legs and proceeded to grab a canteen of water from her side. "Here, drink it." "Healed me?" Luna asked as she took the generous offer. Her eyes widened just before she sipped from it. "A day and a half? How long was I out?" "Drink." Lily said more calmly, helping Luna put the canteen to her lips.
"A day and a half, maybe a little longer. After you collapsed, Ru helped me bring you here. You used that lightning of yours a lot that night so I figured you were out because of the side effects. We rested you against a tree and I noticed blood trickling down your arm so I took your jacket off. Since you have a long sleeved shirt, I took that off as well to get to the wound. Your chest was swollen and was badly bruised so I assumed your ribs were probably messed up. Your shoulder was somewhat healed but the gashes had reopened again. My ability is to heal so I spent all of the time you were asleep healing your many injuries. You should be all better now." Lily explained.
"If you spent all of that time healing me, why aren't you passing out?" Luna asked. "I took enough breaks in between, you gave me plenty of time for that." Luna averted her eyes from Lily's and glanced out at the sparkling surface of the river. "Thank you. I don't deserve it so thank you." Luna said before forcing herself to stand up. While her pains were gone and injuries healed, her body was still stiff from lying still for almost two days. She stretched her limbs and body before noticing that she was still only in her bra and pants. "Sorry, your clothes are right there." Lily said to Luna's examining gaze. Luna turned to where she was pointing and saw her jacket and shirt draped on a rock, drying in the sun's rays. "I washed them the best I could. I would have washed the rest of your clothes too but I didn't think you would appreciate waking up naked." Lily added.
Luna stayed silent and moved to retrieve her clothes. She pulled the shirt over her head and then pushed her arms through the sleeves of the coat. She checked to make sure all of her weapons were still on her person and saw that they were left where she had put them. "Thanks again then." Luna said quietly. "I owe you after all, it's no big deal." Lily replied. "Owe me?" Luna turned and was suddenly grabbed around her waist. Ru had latched her arms in a tight embrace around Luna's body. "Thank you." Ru said. Lily smiled warmly. "You saved our lives. If you hadn't shown up then I would have been killed and Ru probably wouldn't have lived too long after."
"Even so, I killed them. I la… I laughed about it while killing them." Luna forced herself to admit. "How can you trust me enough to save me?" "It's true that you seemed like a different person while you were fighting them and I won't say that I wasn't scared of you. In the end, you still saved us so I had to let it go. I couldn't just leave you to possibly die after risking your life like that." Lily scratched her cheek after speaking and then smiled up at Luna. "Plus, Ru wanted to say her thanks so I couldn't refuse her that." Luna looked between the two girls and then sighed wearily. "I appreciate it but I have to leave now. I have a bounty on my head and being with me will only make you two targets. Plus, I'm not exactly stable right now, you saw that for yourself the other night.
I don't think I would hurt you but still, I don't know if I'm the best to have around. Especially if it's her that I'm near." Luna nodded to Ru who was still hugging her. "I won't hurt her but I might bring more danger her way. I would like to avoid that if possible." Luna lightly pushed the girl away and knelt down. She gave a smile and then thought for a second about what Clair would do in this situation. After a second of thought, she patted the girl's head and rustled her dark colored hair. "You're kind of weird." Ru said bluntly. "I'm not so great with kids." Luna admitted with an awkward smile before returning to her feet. "We'll keep following you either way." Lily said. "Keep?" "Yes, we have been following you since we found you on the river. That's how Ru knew where to find you when we were attacked. We stayed just far enough away to avoid you noticing."
"We're getting too comfortable then. We should have noticed." Luna's ghost said. "I should have." she agreed with a nod. "Why do you keep talking to yourself?" Ru questioned. Luna couldn't muster either a smile or an explanation that didn't make her seem too far out of her mind. "I'm just thinking out loud, it's a bad habit of mine." It wasn't a complete lie but still it didn't come out very persuasive sounding. "Why do you want to travel with me so badly?" Luna inquired, crossing her arms over her chest. "To keep us safe and maybe to help keep you safe. We both can be somewhat handy to have around." Lily replied. "Also, I've read a bunch about split personalities but I never met a person that has one. I think it would be interesting to observe you a bit." Luna saw a glimmer of excitement in Lily's dark orange eyes.
"I'm not a test subject and I don't have a split personality." "Then what do you have?" asked Lily. "I'm not entirely sure what is wrong with me but that doesn't change the fact that I'm not something to be studied. I'm dangerous and where I'm going, I don't think you two will want to follow me." "Still, we're not leaving." Lily protested. "Yep, we're staying with you now, zappy girl." Ru agreed. Luna glowered at the new nickname but wrote it off as childish limitations in terms of creativity. She looked more intently into Lily's eyes and saw no hint of fear or a willingness to back down from her stance. She was stuck with these two companions, she knew that. "I guess I can't stop you. I just hope you don't regret it." Luna reluctantly gave in and patted her dagger sheaths to confirm they were still there.
With a nod, Lily and Ru gathered they're limited amount of items and were ready to travel. Only after they started walking did Luna notice her hair was down. The ribbon she had tied it back with was gone and her wrist was free of anything other than the strap for the spool. The first thing she did was check for her necklace and found it where it always was. Then she swiftly turned on Lily and halted her steps. "Where's my ribbon?" she asked, more concerned than angry. "Ribbon? You didn't have one when we helped you away from that clearing. It might have disappeared at some point during that fight." Lily said. Luna closed her eyes and uttered a quiet curse. "Was it important?" asked Lily. Luna shook her head. "Not the ribbon itself. It doesn't matter."
Luna opened her map to check her current location. "I lost ground." she muttered. "What do you mean?" asked Lily, looking at Luna's map. Luna traced the river with her finger. "I started down here and followed the river north before running into the forest. I went back to the river further west and north to wind up at the cliff where I had fallen in. Between my own walking and the river itself carrying me, I'm further east than I was before. We're at the eastern most section where the river seems to meet the ocean. I need to go back west while heading north again." "Where are you trying to get to?" "The center of the island. I think the fox man will be there. I can't be certain but I have to try it." Luna thought for a moment as she scanned the map.
"We could cross and travel north before heading back west. If we gather enough water here, we should be fine as we travel through the forest. It will give us more cover from other people too." Luna nodded and closed the map. "Are you two sure about coming with me?" "Ha." she heard her other self snort out a laugh. Luna glared at her. "What? Last time you asked someone that, they stabbed us in the back. We're here right now because of the last group you trusted. Are you really going to make the same mistake again?" "We're sure." Lily responded. Luna looked to Ru before gazing back to Lily. "I'll trust you then. You could have left me to die so I suppose it shouldn't be a problem.
I need to let you know about one thing though. I did tell you that I'm not fully in my head right now, don't think that I'll attack you, I promise you that I won't. If I change at all then just try to put up with it or something." "Of course. As long as Ru is safe then I don't care what you act like." Luna forced a smile and then looked out at the river. "Alright, we have to cross this then. Maybe I can find a spot to cross at, like some rocks or something." Luna looked further down the river and saw some rocks sticking out but they seemed to be too far apart from each other. "Maybe that will work." she murmured as she walked towards the protruding stones. The two others followed close behind and the trio stopped by the rocks.
Luna hopped to the first one but the second was a bit far out of reach. She scowled while maintaining a balance on the platform. "We could swim it, the current doesn't seem too fast right now." Lily said. "You think?" Luna questioned, looking at Ru. "She can swim fine." Lily said. "Yep, I'm a great swimmer." Ru agreed with a wide innocent smile. "Then you two go ahead and I'll join you after you're across." Luna said. Luna glanced down at the water and felt herself sway a bit as her near drowning rushed back to her mind. She closed her eyes tight and took a calming breath. "Are you okay?" Lily questioned. "I can't swim." Luna answered nervously. "Then how will…" "I'll be fine. Just get across." Luna said before jumping back to the shore. Lily nodded and both of the girls waded out into the water.
Luna watched as they reached the opposite shore and Luna sighed with relief. "All because we can't swim doesn't mean everyone is in danger from the water. I'm surprised you're that worried about them to begin with." "They saved me, I would feel horrible if they got swept away and drowned." Luna took another breath and took several steps back from the rocks. She hopped in place for a second before breaking into a sprint. The second her foot touched the bank of the water, she leapt with as much momentum as she could generate. Her other foot landed on the first rock and she pushed herself through the air to land on the second. She kept the momentum as she kicked from that one to land on the third one.
As she kicked from that one, Lightning surrounded her and in a blue blinding flash, she was in the air again. She darted towards a tree and landed on the trunk with hands and feet pressed against it. As the lightning died out and she began to fall, she kicked into a backflip from the tree and landed on all fours. She was breathing heavily and had to rest her head against the ground for a second. "Wow, that was so cool!" yelled Ru as she ran and jumped onto Luna's back. Luna fell onto her stomach and the girl rolled off into the grass beside her. "Ru, that was rude." Lily said, scolding her sister. "Sorry, Lily." "Don't say sorry to me." Lily said in retort.
Ru nodded and then faced Luna before bowing her head. "Sorry, zappy girl." "It's fine." Luna grumbled as she rose to her hands and feet again. Lily held out her hand and Luna took it to accept the offered assistance. She swallowed a large gulp of air before slowly exhaling. "Okay, we have to keep moving." Luna said quietly as she continued walking. The sun had set and turned quickly to night around them. The tree filled forest was darker than the riverside due to the overhead leaves and branches blocking out the moon's light. "Can we rest yet? I'm getting sleepy." she heard Ru request after a long exhausted yawn. "Luna?" Lily asked. Luna turned her gaze from the direction she was traveling to look back at the sisters. Lily looked to be past her limit as well, though she tried to hide it.
Ru was wobbling as she rubbed her eyes and yawned. Her eyes seemed to be impossible to keep open and an old memory of herself came to mind. She was five and her family had gone camping in a forest that much resembled this one. She was walking with her father back to their campsite with a stack of sticks to use as kindling in her hands. "Come on, sweetie, keep up." Enji said. "I'm tired, dad. Are we almost there?" Luna rubbed her eyes with her free hand and almost dropped the sticks. "Almost, honey." he said in a reassuring tone. Luna nodded and forced as much strength as she could muster to help her legs carry her onward.
Despite her best efforts, her eyes began drooping on their own and twice she caught herself nodding off. Her eyes shut a final time and she felt her body sway before falling forward. Her sticks clattered on the ground but she didn't follow them like she had expected. Instead a pair of warm and strong arms caught her before hitting the dirt. "Come on, honey. Let's get you back, huh?" He lifted her up onto his back before bending down to cup some of Luna's sticks under his arm. He used his other arm to support her so she wouldn't fall and Luna wrapped her arms around his neck. She didn't remember anything else after that. The next memory was of her waking up the next morning with a dying fire in front of her sleeping bag.
"Luna?" Lily asked. Luna closed her eyes to blink away the tears forming in her eyes. "Yeah, we can rest for the night." she said softly. They didn't have a fire but that didn't stop Ru from curling up on the ground and falling instantly asleep. Lily removed her jacket and draped it over her younger sister. "How did you two get here?" Luna asked. Lily smiled at her sister and then looked at Luna. "I don't know. We were home and then we were at some strange hotel. It was completely empty but it wasn't all that bad. After a few days of staying there, we were called down to the lobby and then we were in the forest." "I'm going…" "Don't even say it." her own voice interjected. "Don't say that you'll save them. We're not heroes, remember? Don't make a promise that will inevitably be broken."
Luna forced a more determined look in her eyes as she ignored her ghost's words. "I will make sure you two get home. I can't forgive the man that dragged all of these people into this killing game, especially the children." "I appreciate the sentiment but try not to worry too much about us. You need to focus on yourself first and foremost. I don't think either me or Ru would be able to get over your death if it was for us." "Probably not. I have a friend that is still experiencing that. Her name is Piper, well it's actually Kaori but she likes Piper more when it comes to our circle of friends. We were trapped in that game SAO together and I had a really close friend at the time partied with me. The three of us were fighting a boss and my friend dove in front of an attack that would have killed Piper.
It cost my friend her life and while Piper tries to hide it, I know it still affects her. She doesn't fight in games anymore and I know that it's Clair's death that causes that. Sometimes when she stays at my place for the night, I hear her muttering in her sleep about the day Clair was killed. She tries to act like it doesn't hurt her but I know it's something she lives with everyday. I wouldn't want that on either of you two, especially her." Luna said, nodding at Ru. "I will watch after myself and get you two home, you have my word." Luna stated. "If you insist then I guess I can't really refuse. I would be ever grateful if you would keep us alive. If it ever comes down to me or her though, save her. She is the most important thing to me, more important than even my own life."
Luna smiled as she remembered her brother. "I know someone that feels the same way about me. It's a shame he can't be here right now. He always knows what to say when I need to hear it the most. I always feel so safe around him." "A lover of some kind?" Lily teased. "No." Luna denied with a laugh. "He's my brother. I think if I had to pick a person that cares about me the most, he would win hands down. Some of my other friends come close but the way he loves me is almost unhealthy sometimes. He always puts me before anything of his with no concern of what it costs him. I could ask him to drop whatever it is that he was doing to help me with something and he would do it in a heartbeat."
"He sounds like a great older sibling. I wish I could have been like that for her. I mess it up way too much and I can't ever seem to get it right." Lily sighed. "She seems to be close to you. I think you're doing a good enough job." Luna said. "You don't even know us. Even while in this place it's been nothing but mistakes. I keep putting her in danger and every time I make a decision it seems to end up being the wrong one. I don't know what I'm doing when it comes to looking after her." Luna flashed a curious expression which produced a faint sigh from Lily. "Before I was born, my mom took a job in America. She met a man and had me soon after. When I was five or six, she decided to go back to Japan.
She said she wasn't happy anymore in America and wanted to go back home. My father said that he was already home and didn't want to uproot his life to go to the other side of the world. They gave me the choice and I decided to stay with my father in California. When I turned eighteen last year, we got a message from my mother saying that she had a new daughter and her new husband had left the two of them. She also said that she was dying of cancer and needed help. I was stunned to find out that I had a younger sister, a girl that I never knew about for seven years. My father as well was confused and somewhat angry that it took her being on her deathbed to contact him. He and I talked for a long time and decided that when I turned nineteen, I would go to Japan on my own to see what was going on.
It was something that I wanted to do on my own. I didn't want him to leave his life to go and jump back into the old one that left him. I thought he deserved better than that so I flew to Japan with the goal of staying until my mother passed. When she did, I was going to convince Ru to come back with me to America. I wanted her to meet my father and for the three of us to be a family. I turned nineteen in February and flew here but things didn't go according to plan after that. I spent two months with them but they didn't seem to have the desire to get closer to me. Ru was too attached to mom and wouldn't listen to anything I tried to tell her. I started getting frustrated with her and yelled the truth at her. I told her about how our mother was dying and that my father wanted to take her in but I was a stranger to her.
It was hard for me to grasp that her parents weren't mine and mine weren't hers. We shared a mother but she was a different person with Ru than she was with me. Plus if having a sister came as a shock to me, then to a seven year old girl, it must have been confusing beyond belief. Then I just show up and talk about taking her from everything she ever knew and loved. I didn't know what to do, you know? I never had a sibling before and I didn't know how to talk to her or how to treat her. My mother died at the start of May and we were left alone in that empty apartment. My father was putting some money into his bank account for me to live off of but my stay was only supposed to be temporary so it wasn't much. I was left with bills, no mother, and a sister that thought of me as a cruel stranger." "She seems closer to you now." Luna said gently.
"That's only because I'm the only hope she has of surviving. I'm a failure at being an older sister, she just won't admit it right now. What kind of sibling gets their sister caught in this hell? Poor thing, she must be so lost and confused. Our mom died a week before getting stuck in this place and now the stranger that wanted to take her from her home is the one she has to rely on." "I think you don't give yourself enough credit. When she came to get me for help, she was crying and covered in scratches and bruises from trying to hurry towards me. She almost fell a few times leading me over to you also. She seemed pretty worried about you then so I think you should give the both of you more credit." Lily smiled warmly at Luna and nodded.
"I know it's not as easy to do it as it is to say it. I have that problem all of the time. Like you, I always think that I'm a failure of a younger sibling. Jin gives so much of himself up for me and sometimes I pay his kindness back with anger or rebellious attitudes. I hit him not too long ago. I don't think it hurt him physically but I know I hurt him inside. Even when I woke up from being in SAO for two years, I was cold and distant with him for a while. Despite all of that, we both still love each other. Siblings can love each other, even if one of them isn't as perfect as the other. Take my word for it." Lily's smile looked more genuine and she glanced over at Ru.
"Do you really think so?" "I do. Siblings have a bond that's much different than any other. It's closer than most and is nearly unbreakable. I have to hope that at least. The things I've done here might prove to be stronger than what our bond can withstand." Lily looked at her with curious eyes. "I'm afraid that my demons will scare everyone close to me away. I don't mean to sound weird but there is a monster inside of me, one that likes to hurt people and is willing to sacrifice people if it means my own safety. You saw her the other night. She worries me, the longer she's around, the more I feel like I'm becoming her. The more I have to kill or hurt people, the farther I fall away from myself." "You seem fine now. And that girl saved Ru's and my own life." "I'm fine now because I'm not fighting. If I get into a fight, she takes over nearly instantly. I used to be able to fight her back but every day I spend here, the stronger she gets.
I can't fight her off anymore. I think she likes you though so the two of you should be fine. She's just skeptical that you'll betray us… I mean me. Betray me. She's not real, I keep forgetting that." Luna put her face into her hands and sighed out a deep breath." "Either way, I trust both of you. Now, let's change the subject a bit. I told you a lot about myself so why don't you tell me some things about you?" "Aren't you tired?" Luna asked in hopes of avoiding the subject. "I am but I must admit, you make me curious. You have scars all over and you're kind of… unique. I've never met anyone like you and I want to know more about you." Luna glanced away from Lily and a hint of a smile appeared on her face. It was an expression of nervousness more than happiness.
"I don't even know where to begin. I've been through a lot but I don't think I'm that interesting personally. Sometimes I'm shy, other times I try to be a bit more social and upbeat, at least around my friends. Sometimes I can be cold to others but I don't alway mean to be. Ha, my friends seem to like my sarcastic nature, sometimes. Zin always says that I get on his nerves with it but I only act that way because all of them do." "Zin? That's an odd name." "I suppose it would be if it was his real name. It's the name he used in SAO so that's what I'm used to calling him. We don't normally use our real names in that circle, well, some of us do.
"Hmmm, if you need a place to start, how about you begin with SAO? Start at the beginning and tell me a bit about the place. Maybe some of your friends as well, I would like to hear about them." "Uh, sure, I guess I can." She placed a hand over the ring that was tucked under her shirt and took another slow breath. Luna rambled on about her time in the death game and Lily sat there, taken with every detail of the journey. Talking about it all actually felt like it was helping Luna. She began feeling slightly lighter, as if a weight was being lifted from her mind and was turning into the wind that surrounded them.
Lily stayed still and listened intently to every detail Luna had to share and at some point, Luna's nerves began to relax and even more memories began to flow from her lips. After her retelling of Sword Art was done, she moved onto the events that followed, starting with Red Eyes and his attack at her home. As the night slowly passed around them, Luna spoke and Lily listened without a word of interruption. She seemed to be absorbing the pain and love that Luna had for her old life. It all left her with increasing ease as it flowed into Lily. "So, this informant, Fox, is the one that put this whole thing together?" Lily asked after Luna's story. "Yeah, pretty much. I'm fairly sure it was all a way to get back at me for breaking our deal off.
I didn't know he was so petty at the time but it's not like I can go back and change my decisions." Luna yawned and stretched her arms high above her head. "I need to sleep a bit or Ru will be the only one with energy in the morning." Lily nodded in agreement. Lily curled up next to her sister and fell fast asleep. She had soft and quiet snores that reminded Luna a bit of Shu. Despite her exhaustion, she couldn't sleep that night. Luna decided that instead of rolling around in the dirt, she would rest up in the trees. She walked to the closest tree to them and decided it was good enough. She jumped and kicked from the trunk to a higher branch. She swung herself up and then leapt to another branch above that one.
She continued until she was at the top and had a beautiful view of the treetops that encircled them. Below her, was the camp, which she kept in sight to keep watch. She leaned her back against the base and let a leg dangle off of the branch. From here she had a perfect view of the full moon that was at its peak in the sky. When she lowered her gaze to look in front of her, she saw herself standing at the end of the branch she rested on. She was looking away from her as her tattered coat and scruffy brown hair billowed in the passing breeze. The light of the moonlight shone through the scattered holes in the black jacket, leaving several tiny columns of light to strike the branches and leaves behind her. Luna looked back up at the moon and began humming. It was a song that Clair had hummed on their anniversary in Aincrad.
Luna had rented a gondola to ride throughout the town on the fourth floor which was made up of canals and waterways. Clair hummed for a majority of the trip while Luna rested her head on Clair's shoulder. It was a soft and beautiful melody that seemed to ride with the wind blowing by. It was soothing but had a feeling of melancholy under the surface of it. For Luna, it also held nostalgia and a longing for the home she had left behind. "That's pretty." she heard Lily say. Luna turned around but didn't see her anywhere. "Down here." Lily said wearily. Luna looked at the branch just below hers and saw the blonde haired girl standing there. She looked up at Luna with her orange eyes. This time when looking in them, she saw hints of black darkening the iris.
"I learned it from Clair, the girl I told you about." Luna said. She saw Lily smile and sit down on her branch. "Keep going, I liked it." Lily urged Luna to continue. The smile that Luna flashed back wasn't one of happiness. It was full of pain and memories that she wished could be real again. That was close enough to what Luna had said to Clair when she was singing it. It brought back the night in clearer pictures and she felt a burning in the corner of her eyes. "Luna?" asked Lily. "It's nothing." Luna wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "What about Ru, should you be leaving her down there alone?" "I can see her from here so it's okay. Quit stalling and keep singing already." With the blonde's request, Luna continued her humming.
It didn't take long for Lily to fall back into slumber. Luna ceased her singing and looked to see her other self still standing where she had been for the last hour. She shook her head and closed her eyes while crossing her arms over her chest. A weird sensation began touching Luna's senses. It was like a light tingling or something that could be compared to a soft zap from an electrical outlet. It was like a jolt that ran through her and her hairs stood up on end as the feeling got stronger. A sudden blue spark cracked from her body, startling her awake. Something told her to move and to do it quickly. Luna rolled to the side, off of her branch, and caught herself to descend to the branch below.
Just as her boots touched down next to Lily, her previous resting spot exploded into splinters of wood and yellow light. It was a beam of lightning that had left a glowing trail in the brightening dawn sky. Lily jumped and Luna grabbed her arms to steady her. "Get down, now. Grab Ru and hide." Luna instructed. "What's going on?" Lily asked in a weary panic. "We're being attacked, go now." Luna nearly shoved Lily and then turned in the direction the beam had come from. She patted her dagger's sheaths and the holster to confirm her weapons were on her person. After a subtle nod, she let lightning engulf her as she leapt to a nearby tree. She left blue trails of static floating in the air as she kicked from one tree to another. After several seconds, she was near where the yellow light had come from.
Just as her foot touched the base of the next tree in her path, more static ran up her spine. She kicked back from the tree and went to another one behind her. Right after her foot left the first tree, it bursted into pieces as another yellow trail cut through it. Luna scowled and glared in the new direction. It was much closer and she felt another pulse of electricity pulling her towards it. Her eyes narrowed as she straightened her stance and reached for the dagger on the back of her waist. Luna pushed her way through the brush and hanging branches until she saw a girl standing several feet away.
She was wearing black denim shorts that were barely visible due to her yellow shirt with a pattern of black lightning bolts upon it. One sleeve was rolled up to her shoulder and the other was folded up to her elbow and the whole thing seemed to swallow her. Over the shirt was a sleeveless black hoodie with a yellow lightning bolt over her right breast. The hood was up but Luna saw strands of black and yellow hair draping from under it. On her mouth was a wide grin that stretched from ear to ear as she tossed a small stone in her gloved right hand. The gloves were fingerless and she had black and yellow nail polish alternating on each fingernail. "Hiya!" she yelled enthusiastically with a wave of her free hand.
Luna approached with a cautious curiosity written on her face. "Who are you?" Luna asked. The girl put a finger to her mouth. "You don't remember me, Lunasara?" Her name being spoken took her by surprise and her eyes grew more curious. "Ah, the hood. I forgot about that." The girl hit her head with her fist and then pulled the hood down. Her hair was level with her ears and was just as scruffy as Luna's own unruly hair. It was mainly black but multiple strands of yellow were mixed in with the spiky black mess. Her eyes glowed a bright and beautiful emerald as she stared happily at Luna. "Still nothing huh?" the girl asked with a growing puzzlement on her face.
"Erika!" Luna heard another voice yell from the tree's behind the girl. "I told you to not play with her, we have a job to do." "Erika?" Luna murmured to herself. She scanned the girl up and down as she turned to see the newly visible figure. Luna rummaged through her memories to see if the girl's likeness came back to her. "SAO." Luna said, louder this time as the realization struck her. "Ah!" the girl gasped as she shot back around to face Luna. She pointed a finger towards Luna and nearly jumped in place. "That's it, you got it. I can't believe you remember now!" "You were a frontliner, right?" Luna questioned. "We both were." the earlier voice answered before Erika had the chance. The newcomer was wearing a short dress, stopping just before her knees, with bubble shaped buttons clasped along the front of it.
Her hair was blue with white streaks mixed in with it. It was longer than the other girls, draping to the center of her back and tied into a long braid. A blue bubble shaped earring was hanging from her right ear and she had a dagger fixed to a white leather belt at her waist. Next to the dagger was what looked like a flute of some kind that was painted white and blue. Her expression was just as placid as her voice had been, giving her a more relaxed or uncaring demeanor, Luna could not tell which. "Silia, you want to play too?" asked Erika in a squeaky, excited tone of voice. "No." Silia answered coldly. "We're to kill her, not play with her. We have our orders." Silia walked until she was standing just beside Erika, crossing her arms over her chest.
Erika had to be about Luna's size in almost every way while the girl standing next to her stood nearly five and a half feet. Her figure was more well rounded than Luna's or Erika's and the added curves only added to her appeal. "Where are the others?" Erika asked. "Hunting. We are to deal with her, the others will deal with the boy." Silia replied while examining Luna from head to toe. Her look seemed as if she was disappointed in what she was seeing. Luna glowered back while tightening the grip on her dagger's hilt. "What are you two talking about?" Luna asked. "Who wanted you to kill…" Luna paused as the realization came to her "Fox." she stated. "Wow! You got another one right! You're really smart, Lunasara." Erika said with a friendly and jovial tone.
"You're just really stupid." Silia stated to her partner. "That's not really nice." Erika said with puffed out cheeks. Silia let out a sigh and seemed to struggle from hitting her companion. "Of course I get stuck with you. Why couldn't I get Ame or Futaba?" "Don't talk like that, we're best of friends, that's why." Erika said with a slap on the girl's back. "The bestest." Silia said with disdain and sarcasm. Luna growled quietly to herself. "Hahaha, I like these two." Luna turned to see her other self standing there. "What, they're funny?" Luna shook her head and turned back to the girls. "Why is he having you kill me? Why are you doing this if you were both clearers? I thought he would hire red players if anything." Luna inquired.
Silia shoved Erika away from her and sighed. "Because we were taken and trapped here. If we kill you, we get money and we get our freedom." "I just wanted to play with you, it's been too long since we've seen each other." Erika interjected. Silia put her own hand to her face and sighed again. "You need to relax, Sil, it's not good for your health to be so tightly wound." Silia snapped her finger and a bubble appeared in front of Erika's face. The girl dropped her rock as her eyes followed the bubble through the air. "Idiot." Silia murmured as she shook her head. "Let me play with them, I want to have some fun." Luna's other self requested. Luna scowled and shook her head. "Why would I let you take over? I'm trying to get rid of you." "Because you're boring and I don't think you'll win this fight if you try holding back."
Luna turned her gaze back to the pair in front of her. "True enough, that girl was highly regarded in Remi's circle of friends if I remember correctly. The other one, I've only heard of but she has to be strong, the frontliners weren't exactly pushovers." "So what he said was true." Silia stated. "You really are crazy." she added with more distaste directed towards Luna. "She isn't wrong." Luna's ghost said to her soured expression. "Either way, that should make it easier. Erika, I'm leaving her to you." The bubble that the girl was chasing popped suddenly and Erika turned to look at Silia. "Get to work." Silia demanded and Erika put her hand to her forehead in a salute. "Got it, sir." she said with a tilt of her head. Luna watched Silia climb atop a rock to sit before yawning.
A sudden bolt of electricity rode up Luna's spine causing her to glare at Erika. Yellow arcs ran around her body and were centering towards her hand. The girl tossed a rock into the air before catching it. She prepared to throw it and Luna's own body became covered in blue arcs of coursing light. Just as a blinding yellow beam left the girl's hand, Luna leapt to the right with a trail of blue following behind her. She bounced from one tree and launched herself towards the girl with her dagger drawn. The girl's body continued sparking and charged forward. Luna swung her blade but was met with another blade. A deafening clang of metal striking metal rang out and two beams flew in separate directions. Luna was deflected back towards the tree she had leapt from and slid across the ground as she landed.
She looked up to see Erika smiling and twirling her own dagger in her hand. "Wow, you're pretty quick." Erika said happily. "Do you want to race or something? I bet I can win without a problem." "Come on, let me play a bit." Luna glowered at her other self and then lowered her head. "Give me some time and we'll see." she said as a hesitant reply. "Fantastic, just don't die in the meanwhile." "I don't plan to." "Plans never go in our favor so that doesn't reassure me." Luna rolled her eyes and charged forward again. The area was illuminated by the glowing streaks of both blue and yellow while the pair of them darted around, clashing with each pass.
After another clash and deflection, Luna rolled through the fallen leaves among the forest floor. She skidded along the ground before leaping up onto all fours. Her breathing was heavy and she was beginning to feel the exhaustion from overusing her ability. The lightning around her was beginning to flicker and weaken. Erika however, was acting as if she wasn't using any kind of power at all. She was whistling and had a grin just as extravagant as it had been since the start of the fight. "Tired?" Erika asked with a concerned expression. Luna's chest was heaving breathlessly and her fingers were already beginning to feel numb and tingly.
"Kill her already so we can go home. She doesn't have an ability in the same way we do, she's at her limit." Silia stated coldly from her rock. "Does she not? That sucks." Erika said with a growing disappointment. "Same way?" Luna muttered. "The fox man gave us full use of our powers. No downside for us, I was hoping it was the same with you but I guess not. You look pretty beat." "Good, kill her then and be done with it." "Hahaha!" Luna suddenly burst out in laughter. She put a hand to her face and then grimaced while faint giggles escaped her lips. "Damn it, go away." she growled. "You said we were a team, I'm just being a good team player." This time the words left her own mouth instead of the reflection that followed her around.
Luna glanced left and right but saw no signs of the separate entity. "Ha, I'm not there this time. I'm right here so stop fighting me." Luna hit the ground with the fist clenched around her dagger and blue streaks of light erupted from the impact. "Hahaha! Ahhh!" Luna laughed and growled nearly simultaneously as she lowered her head to the earth. "Hey Sil, what's happening?" Erika asked her companion and Luna could hear the worry in it. "She's insane, Fox told us that already. Hurry up and kill her before she fully loses it. I don't need that kind of handful thrown in my lap." Silia's voice was level and showed no signs of caring for anything that was happening around her.
"Uh, sure thing, Sil." Erika said reluctantly. Luna stood up and swayed as she straightened. "Ha, come on girl and play with me. I'm ready to have some fun now." Luna said with a growing smirk on her face. She flipped her dagger around and pulled the other one free of the sheath on her left thigh. She twirled it in her hand to hold it in a reverse grip and lowered her stance while raising her hands slightly in front of her. "Lunasara? Are you okay?" Erika asked. "Perfectly fine. I'm just bored to all hell. Now, let's see who kills who, hmm?" "Well, I don't really want to kill you, I could have done it several times by now. I just want to play." "Several? Then I'm getting sloppy. No worries, this time I'll be serious enough to not let you have any openings."
"Good, grand, overwhelmingly amazing. I really hope you mean it this time." Erika cheered with an unwavering happiness. Luna turned her glance to see Silia observing her. Luna's eyes narrowed at the sight and then she smiled back to Erika. "You said we should race right, why don't we do that?" "Really? You sure?" Erika questioned with a child's giddiness. "Enough with the games and kill her." Silia said as she slid from her rock. She snapped her fingers and several large bubbles appeared in the air around her. "Not bubbles." Luna muttered. Silia smiled. "Balls of water, not bubbles." she agreed. Silia spread her hands and the balls turned to several sharpened spears made of water.
As Luna was watching Silia, Erika charged forward and was in Luna's face. She spun and kicked towards Luna's head but she was just barely able to dodge it. Erika then went for a sweep swiftly from the kick. Luna avoided it and then a sudden impact sent her into the air. Luna landed on her back hard enough to knock the wind from her lungs. She struggled to raise herself to see Erica still on both hands and a foot. Her other leg was raised into the air as her whole body coursed with yellow currents. Luna spit a glob of blood from her mouth before rubbing her bruising chin. "Damn, you're a quick one." The girl rolled forward and then leapt up to her feet before spreading her arms as if finishing a gymnastics routine.
Luna smirked and climbed back to her feet. "Okay then." She tightened the grip on her blades and then some sudden movement caught her eye. Luna's head turned swiftly to see a spear flying towards her. She swung her hand and a black cord shot forth to splatter the water. Then another flash of yellow and a painful strike to her chest sent her flying onto her back again. "Ahh." she gasped as she rolled onto her side. She took a second to catch her breath as she struggled to take in oxygen. She heard something flying towards her so she forced herself to roll. As she rolled, spear after spear struck the ground behind her. One then surprisingly hit the earth in her path and she stopped swiftly before rolling into the puddle. "Damn, I missed." Silia complained.
"I think those were great shots, Sil." Erika said, clapping hands accompanying the complimenting words. Luna forced herself to her feet. Her body was beginning to feel extremely heavy and sluggish as she swayed in place. "Hahaha." she laughed to herself while wiping more blood from her lips. "This is gonna be interesting, that's for sure." Luna said as she smiled. "Again I could have killed you." Erika said, chastising Luna with a pouting expression. "Good, then do it before she kills you. Fox said she was dangerous." Silia said. "She is, I saw her and the blonde girl fight before. She's pretty tough for someone so small." "You're just as small as her." Silia pointed out. "So I am." Erika agreed, rubbing the back of her head. "Are you ever serious?" Luna questioned as she tightened her grip on her daggers again.
"Only when I need to be. Frankly, you don't require it." Erika answered. "That hurts." Luna said playfully. Erika shrugged in an apologetic way before Silia smacked her in the head. "Enough, we're not friends. She's a target and we need to finish her off." "That hurt, Sil. Why do you always have to hit me?" "To keep you focused. Put that stupid hood up and kill her." "I don't want to. I'll put it up later." Erika pouted. Luna gave a curious glance and then began lowering her stance to prepare an attack. There was a sudden whip against Luna's back and she let out a gasp of pain. She swung back at what had attacked her and was met with a column of tentacle-like things made of flowing water. Another one struck out at her and Luna leapt backwards to leave it's range.
It pursued her but it was easy enough to dodge. She heard crackling currents of lightning and knew that Erika had activated her ability. To keep up, she activated hers too and just barely avoided another kick. The girl went from one kick to another repeatedly as Luna kept weaving and dodging to not receive any hits. When they're was a vague hint of an opening between the girl's flurry of kicks, Luna delivered one of her own. The girl saw the kick coming and sent another one to receive Luna's. They were standing still with both of their legs clashed together between them, blue and yellow sparks flickering around the connected limbs.
Luna smirked and then put her foot back to the ground. She swiftly delivered a kick to the girl's ribs and then spun to deliver another kick to her face. Erika easily dodged it but Luna was planning for that to be a distraction, nothing more. As Erika regained her balance, Luna leapt in the air and spun somewhat horizontally to slam a kick down at her head. There was a hard force that struck her side to interrupt her attack. Luna was thrown to the ground as water drenched her clothes. She laid in a puddle of the liquid that had attacked her and tendrils of water appeared before wrapping around her legs and arms. Luna was pinned helplessly to the ground and Erika approached with a grim expression on her face.
"Finish it." Silia demanded as she held both hands in front of her, clenched into fists. Luna could see the strain this was taking on Silia to keep her pinned down. While they had unlimited use of their powers, it didn't mean they weren't still straining in some ways. Erika's eyes glanced back to Luna's and then back to Silia's. "Gahhhh!" Luna screamed as she tried to pull herself free of the water's grips. She bared her teeth and began growling as she thrashed around in an attempt to break free. Erika nearly jumped back from Luna's animalistic squirming. "She's a beast, kill her now." Silia grunted through clenched jaws. Luna looked up at Erika who was now looking fearfully down at her. The yellow currents vanished from around Erika's body and she held her hands up to her chest.
"What? Scared?" Luna growled through gritted teeth. She tried to lunge but was forced back to the ground. "Ahhhhh!" she yelled again as she fought with the imprisoning force. Luna looked back up at Erika and snarled. "I will kill you all! Slowly and without mercy, I will kill you!" she hissed out as blue static illuminated in her mouth with every word. "Erika!" Silia bellowed in a forceful attempt to make the girl act. "I can't." she said quietly. "Luna's eyes glowed brightly as she swapped her gaze from Erika to Silia and then back again. "I can't kill her!" Erika yelled in rebellion to her partner. "I knew you were completely useless, it's why I wanted one of the others." Luna growled again before opening her mouth wide.
"Ahhhhhhhh!" she screamed as loud as she could while a blue beam of lightning shot from her jaws. Erika swiftly moved a hand to shield herself from it and the blue lightning coursed through her glowing yellow body. She clenched her teeth and then threw a hand into the air to guide the currents from herself. A massive beam of yellow and blue static shot through the heavy tree cover to act like a beacon in the night sky. Luna's own beam of blue stopped shortly after and her head hit the dirt below with a faint thud. Her whole body felt as if it wasn't hers. It was numb and seemed so far away as she could not move a single digit or limb.
Her head throbbed until it felt like a bomb had gone off in her skull. Her eyesight was blurring and darkness began to creep into her vision. "Damn you, Erika." Silia growled. Luna glanced ahead of her and saw Erika on her rear with a stunned expression in her eyes. Silia relaxed one of her closed fists and some of Luna's bindings vanished with it. "I'll do it myself then." Silia said with disgust in her voice. She closed her hand into another fist and rotated it slightly and Luna felt the puddle below her stir. Even her mind seemed to be vacant as she didn't feel a single hint of urgency or the need to run from the danger she knew was coming.
The next thing she felt was three sharp and sudden pains in different locations. Right below her left breast, her right arm, and her right leg all felt like a current of pain was flooding into her. She let out a squeak of pain but that was all she could muster. "Sil, stop it! She'll die if you keep going!" she heard Erika pleading with her companion. Luna saw Silia turn her other fist and then she felt her head become submerged in water. Everything in her darkening vision was wavy and when she let out a bit of breath, bubbles floated to the surface of whatever was encasing her head. "Don't!" she heard Erika call out in a distorted voice. Her hearing was beginning to weaken as well so she could not make out what Silia said in response, or if she even did.
From the corner of her eyes she saw a hint of blue light. It was bright and warm but she could not make out what was making it. It was coming from the tree line near them and it was growing brighter with every second. It suddenly shot forth and a loud distorted whistle met her drowning ears as it traveled past her. In a blink of an eye, it had struck a nearby tree and there was a deafening explosion that followed it. Luna's body was lifted from the ground and flung several feet away before rolling lifelessly on the ground. The water around her head splashed against the ground, freeing her from it's grasp. She was no longer bound but could not move despite her freedom. She was at her limit, that last attack of hers had every last bit of strength she could muster within it. There was nothing left of her to give towards the effort of moving.
She peered in the direction the shot had come from and saw eyes that glowed brightly in the night. They were a magnificent blue that resembled a midday sky and illuminated the face that they belonged to. Luna couldn't make it out through her failing vision but it felt familiar in some way. The shadow's cloak and long braided hair billowed in the gust that the shot had created. Dirt and brightly lit blue particles floated around the figure as the wind faded slowly from their proximity. "Silia!" Luna heard Erika cry out in worry. The shadow made the motion of drawing another arrow and the blue particles began to form around the arrow's tip. More and more began to gather until another massive ball of light was aiming in their direction.
She heard grunts of indecision coming from Erika before a crackling sound replaced them. Luna didn't need to look to know that she had fled. A flash of yellow light lingered for a moment's breath before allowing the dark of night to creep back into Luna's surroundings. The blue that had been aimed at her seemed to vanish as well and then even Luna's own consciousness seemed to flee her. Everything went black as pitch and there was no more sound entering her ears. I failed. I failed again. Those were her final thoughts before every remaining sensation abandoned her to solitude and darkness.