Hello everyone, Naintarlow here with the first chapter of the new year.
Hopefully everyone is safe, having fun and 2021 will be a much better year than the one we will never speak of again.
This is the last chapter to set up my Laughing Coffin raid and the next chapter will be quite interesting. Not gonna lie I'm a bit nervous as I realized how large of an attack I am planning to write and all the side-threads I decided to include in it. Hopefully I would be able to write it in a way to do it justice.
I recently joined a discord server of SAO author's, it's a really fun group so feel free to join us and talk about SAO or anything that comes to mind. Author or reader, everyone is welcome. Here is the link, just delete the spaces: discord . gg / z9Pz3Jzc7y
Thank you for the reviews, favorites and follows. SAOverV has gotten over 500 favs and 600 follows and I couldn't be happier for it. Thank you for sticking with my story for so long and hope you continue to do so. I'll try to keep up the sort of monthly update I tried to stick to but with my final exams coming close, we will have to see how much I can write.
Well then, let's just jump into the newest chapter.
Level 15 Emergency meeting
"I hate to say but you are right. If the information you got is accurate, then the whole clearing team is in danger and with that, any hope of clearing the game." the man, known to most as Heathcliff noted as he leaned back on the lavish chair he was seating, regarding the people sitting opposite of him.
Though he refrained from overly affecting the process of clearing the game, after all, what good was a game without any difficulty, he couldn't help but find an almost unusual interest in a particular group of players who made a habit of surprising him or simply succeeding his exceptions. And no matter what anyone thought of his mental state, Kayaba Akihiko was a genius without a doubt and it was rare that people could surprise him at all.
Next to him sat Asuna, his vice-Commander and guild leader in all but name. She was a brave and interesting young woman whose skills were shining brighter and brighter every day. When he first made note of her presence, during the 1st boss fight, he already noticed how she could be a great player, an example, and hope for others to follow. Her potential was being polished bit by bit by responsibility and the sight of a clear goal in front of her eyes.
He left the managing of the guild and most duties relating to the frontlines to her since as the sole game master of the game, he didn't have as much time to 'play' as much as he would like to. Also, he could observe players of particular interest much easier using the cardinal systems tracking functions than using his Heathcliff persons, especially lone wolves like Kirito or groups operating mostly by themselves, like Natsu's group.
Another reason was that he hoped to make her into a capable leader, one who could hopefully pick up and guide the players after he revealed himself as the final boss, something that bound to make them lose their will to fight temporarily.
Ideally, he would reveal himself after the 99th boss fight, inviting players to face him as the final boss. Of course, he was not so naive to believe that everything and everyone would fall in line and follow his plan to the letter. Nor was he arrogant enough to think that no one would figure out his real identity before he revealed it himself. But this was part of the game, one he couldn't help but enjoy because of the challenge and surprises it offered to him.
Speaking of surprises, he looked at the young teen sitting confidently in front of him and observed the famous Orange Blaze of the frontlines. He had to admit, even he found himself amazed at the insane guts, luck, and skill the otherwise unassuming Natsu showed, making him one of the best players of the game, one who Heathcliff could see picking up and making the mantle of the Hero of this story his own.
What he found most fascinating about the young teen was how he was able to gather so many different people around him almost effortlessly. Most noticeably the core of his guild, the fuurinkazan guild, even his own sub-leader Asuna and the loner Kirito. It also raised questions of how he was able to command them so easily, none of the more strong personalities among that group questioning him in and out of the battlefield.
Not to mention the unique way he fought on the field. He was understandably proud of his creation, the Cardinal system that controlled SAO. He made sure to make the enemies and their movements as lifelike as possible, with the hidden ability to learn over time, increasing the difficulty in front of the players as they neared closer to the final floor. The mobs were harder to anticipate, each with a unique pattern of attacking, ensuring that every step to their goal would be hard-fought.
Yet, when he took time to observe Natsu, he found the young man was able to predict the movements of his enemies with almost unbelievable accuracy. It was a skill especially useful for him at boss battles where they tended to act out of pattern to make it harder for players to adapt but he was able to react with such speed, if he didn't know better, Kayaba would have thought he had access to the system itself.
His eyes went to Natsu's right where the tall form of Buzz stood with a frown on his face. It was another interesting case, Buzz, he knew that even before the official launch was one of the most talented beta testers and he was sure he would rise up in the ranks of players in no time. Yet, the man was a loner at heart so it was quite a great surprise to see him in a group, much less in a frontline guild, acting as a pseudo advisor to Natsu. He always took great care when interacting with the man, he was far from an idiot and feared any slip up in front of him could cost him dearly.
At Natsu's other side stood silently the mysterious information broker, Argo. She was another who seemed to fall under the young man's influence, despite her supposed neutrality among players and placing money before anything else. Her occasional help and clear fondness for their group, along with the skilled individuals among them are what made the Keepers of the Seven Rings into one of the most relevant frontline guilds despite their smaller size.
Heathcliff subtly shook his head, redirecting his errant thoughts back in order. It wouldn't do to get lost in them right now. It was only the five of them meeting right now, Asuna got a message from Natsu of an emergency and since he was specifically asked to attend, Heathcliff had no choice but to accompany her, his curiosity piqued.
They met at the guild building of the KotSR and were quickly brought up to speed what Ken and the Fuurinkazaan group ran into on the 14th floor, along with the information they obtained from the two players they rescued from the Laughing Coffin. Safe to say he was quite a little intrigued and even a little worried by the ambitious plans of PoH, the leader of the player killer group.
"I assume it was intentional that you disclosed no information on the two deserters?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, though he was well aware of the answer, well before he got it.
"This was one of their conditions for providing us with this information and further insights into how the group functions." Argo replied to him, her mouth set to a frown as she constantly perused a menu opened in front of her. No doubt she put most of the informants working under here to work to verify all the information they got.
"Assuming they are telling the truth." he cautioned and Asuna nodded next to him, arriving to the same concern. After all, it was a useful tactic, to deceive your enemies with false information.
He also wondered why wasn't the third large guild, the Divine Dragon Alliance invited to this meeting but he got his answer through sheer logic. Their leader, Lind was stubborn and untrusting to a fault. He would have rejected the information, no matter the arguments brought up, while he, even in his player persona, was someone who could be reasoned in. And with him and the KoB behind them, it would be easier to convince the others to follow their lead. It was a sound decision on their part.
From the frown on Buzz's face, he knew they had similar reservations about the info, which would explain why Argo was so busy that she barely paid attention to their conversation.
Natsu on the other hand remained resolute, not even a hint of his usual shyness and uncertainty showing.
"The truth is, whether the information they gave us is real or not, we can't afford to ignore it." he explained quietly, a troubled look in his eyes at the implications of what would happen if Laughing Coffin emerges victoriously.
"G-Guess you are right." Asuna said with an uncertain frown on her face as she looked away from them to think.
"And what do YOU think Natsu-kun?" Heathcliff spoke up, his gaze not wavering from the brown-haired teen."I agree that we can't afford to ignore it but I'm curious about your opinion on this whole situation."
It was a subtle thing but very noticeable if you pay attention. Natsu was a great leader, able to bring together people and command them effectively in a battle. But if you looked at him outside the battle you could see a different person in his place. During most of their guild meetings, he may have been the one who spoke up and represented his guild but he had no doubt that a lot of decisions came from the influence of Buzz, Agil, and Argo. He was honestly curious about Natsu's own opinion.
The young teen closed his eyes and took a big breath as he thought about how to answer. Next to him, Buzz put a hand on his shoulder, to show his support and remind him that he was not alone. A moment later his eyes opened and Heathcliff was surprised to see that instead of their usual brown, there was an orange shade to them.
"As strange as it sounds, I trust their word. They may not be innocent in player killings, they may not even offer this information because they feel bad about what they did but deep inside, I'm sure they are telling the truth, and if we ignore this chance, I don't want to imagine what could happen." he explained sincerely but Heathcliff kept his face blank, his mind running furiously on a different topic.
He would chalk it up to an optical illusion or something similar but the truth was they were in a virtual world that he created and he knew most if not all of its secrets and quirks and he was well aware that changing the eye color with the appearances put to default was simply not possible. Yet as if taunting him that the rules of Cardinal could be ignored, Natsu sat in front of him with his almost orange eyes.
To summarize the young teen, he could be called a glitch in the game, something that managed to alter the game in a way that shouldn't be possible. Along with his almost unnatural ability to predict the enemies' movements, it was no wonder that Kayaba decided to keep a close eye on him. Similarly, he found interest in the leader of Laughing Coffin, the infamous PoH. He pulled together a bunch of different people who probably wouldn't have worked together without him just like the young guild leader and had access to items that weren't designed either by him or Cardinal, items that were made for him and his men to PK easier.
Neither Natsu nor PoH hacked into the game in the traditional sense, he was sure of that much. The best minds of Japan and probably the world are constantly trying to hack into SAO but his own contingencies along with Cardinal's learning algorithm, all of those attacks were repelled with minimum difficulty. It just made it all the more curious who these two players were and how they were able to do what they did under the System's nose.
One would think, not illogically, that he would be angry at his game being ruined by cheaters. It couldn't be further from the truth. For Kayaba he felt fascination, childlike wonder at the development in front of him. After all, a game where you know every move the others will make well before they make them can be a very boring game.
Also, seeing the Cardinal system outplayed by whatever means, just showed that despite how proud he was of his creation, it still had room to grow and it was perfect. Since the entire premise of Cardinal worked on bettering itself, day by day until it could evolve into an entirely different system than what he initially designed.
It was hard, to hold back the smile that threatened to break out as he thought about just how his initial plan would change after he realized the full extent of these changes. Something like that would frustrate someone else to no end but he was different. That was why he showed such a large interest in the two of them, going so far as to try to personally look into this whole Laughing Coffin debacle.
But he was getting lost in thought. He refocused on Natsu, a serious stare on his face as he considered his options. While many would think him heartless for imprisoning ten thousand people and killing many of them through the game, he still wanted to keep a part of players from dying so they could reach him on the 100th floor. Add to that, his current position needed him to think of the players first and foremost.
"Knowing that, the most sensible thing would be to postpone the boss battle until we can think of how to deal with this dilemma." he spoke up calmly, putting his hands together in front of him as he stared at the other guild leader.
"You can't." was the soft but still urgent answer from Natsu as he adopted a pained expression.
"What are you saying Natsu?" Asuna asked with furrowed brows. A quick look at her body language showed she was also really shaken by the information and was uncertain what to do. "If we walk into their trap willingly, a lot of good people could die."
"And if we let the fear of them intimidate us, then we lose all hope of ever leaving this game." the young teen snapped back, a first that Heathcliff knew of, at least in a public setting. Natsu sighed as he tried to rein himself in a little before continuing in a calmer voice. "Just because we postpone the boss fight, the threat of Laughing Coffin won't go away. It looks like from their actions that they intend to stay in the game, to sabotage our efforts to reach the top and get out. If we don't act now and deal with them then we are basically abandoning the idea of ever beating the game. This, this is a unique opportunity, our chance to deal with them before they grew larger." he explained passionately, and it certainly worked as Asuna's frown deepened, clearly thinking about his proposal.
"The idea has merit, I admit it." Heathcliff spoke up after thinking through the situation, raising an eyebrow at Natsu."But even if we beat them back, they could easily escape and it will be once again a waiting game for their next attack. And we may not have an early warning then."
The teen nodded, accepting his point before looking up at Argo who with a soft smile stopped working and brought a map forward, showing it to the others. With a quick look, the leader of KoB recognized the steampunk-themed 20th floor's map though he did not know what the X placed near the edge of the map meant.
"Among other things, our deserters revealed the current base of the Laughing Coffin on the 20th floor." she revealed and Asuna let out a soft sound of surprise before she leaned forward to study the map. "It is a cave system far away enough from most dungeons that it has a relatively little monster population, out of the way for any of the players enough that no one would notice the place without looking but close enough that they could move easily to ambush players." she explained as she manipulated her menu, the floor map replaced by a series of caves connected with tunnels, making a very confusing layout. "This is the map data we recovered, the place is very defensible but not impossible to navigate once you study it a little."
"No doubt they also realize sooner or later we know this, so the more we wait, the more time they have to abandon the place and for us to lose any trail that we have of them." Buzz took over, in his usual gruff manner. "I doubt they will call off tomorrow's attack but they will be more cautious. Regardless, this is our best chance of catching that guild."
"I see. So what you propose is to attack their base with a group of players while the raid party springs the trap they so eloquently set and fight the Laughing Coffin members sent there." Heathcliff said, analyzing the plan. It was not bad per se, though he could see a few holes and a few possible problems with it. Still, it was feasible.
"It's risky." Asuna cut in, sending a frown to Argo and Buzz who she believed were the masterminds behind this plan. From the guilty expression on Natsu's face, Heathcliff guessed that most of the plan came from him."They will probably send the majority of their players to the boss raid so they could catch the weakened party off-guard. Even if we tell them ahead what to expect, no doubt that the red players will wait to the best possible time to strike when our guards are down. I think it's too risky of a plan."
"You are right, this is very risky." Natsu surprisingly agreed with a small smile on his face."That's why what I propose is a three-way attack."
"Three?" Asuna asked back, blinking owlishly at him as he leaned back on his seat, looking older than his actual age with that serious expression.
"You are right, that after the boss battle or even during it, our players will be too vulnerable to an attack. That's why I think we should split our players into 3 groups. One, to engage the boss and sprung the trap. The second one will launch an attack on their headquarters while the third one will be on standby to aid the first group the moment Laughing Coffin attacks. It will cover most of our bases while making it hard for our enemies to retreat."
"If we are planning to halt their attack without inducing casualties, wouldn't it be better to concentrate on the attack they plan on us?" Heathcliff asked, clearly intrigued. It was far from a foolproof plan but it already had more thought put into it than Lind or Kibaou would have contributed. It made sense, why the leader of DDA wasn't here, he would have simply demanded them to march forward and face their enemy head-on, headless of the dangers. "Why are you so intent on attacking their headquarters, Natsu-kun?" he asked, deciding that it would serve no one to beat around the bush.
The three in front of him, looked at each other, silently communicating. It amused him how well they could read each other with a few simple looks, something that Asuna on the other hand found annoying, mostly because she felt like she was being excluded. After a nod from Argo, Natsu turned back to them.
"From what we learned, the leader, PoH is the whole cornerstone of this whole movement. He was the one who brought them together, who gave them direction, and the one who provided them the items that gave them an edge. If we want to deal with the red guild once and for all we have to capture him."
"And while his so-called inner circle will be amongst the attackers, he will stay in their base." Argo took over from Natsu with her mouth set in a grim line."We also know that teleport item that the player killers have are all lead back to PoH, so with him staying back they have an available escape route, an escape route we can cut off if we time our attack on the base around the same time the fighting at the boss turns to serious. If, and I stretch the if, we can end this whole Laughing Coffin thing before it could go on any longer."
"It's not like I don't realize that nothing could go wrong." Natsu admitted as he sighed and a hand reached out to massage the side of his head, obviously fighting off a headache."A lot of things could go wrong and it's incredibly risky. But we are here, we are risking our lives in the frontline every day because we want to go home, to give others hope that this nightmare can end. Laughing Coffin currently is in the way of that dream and we have a chance to deal with them. Isn't that worth it?" he asked them, passionate eyes looking into Heathcliff's steel-like, impassive eyes.
The older man had to admit, despite clearly coming up with it on the spot, Natsu's speech wasn't without its own piece of truth or effectiveness. Kayaba may not have been a very talkative person and giving a speech to others was one of the furthest things from him, he couldn't ignore the effects a well-delivered speech could have on morale. In his player persona, he had to give out one or two speeches to gather the core members of his guild and could appreciate the raw honesty in Natsu's voice.
"When you put it into like that...'' Asuna trailed off uncertainty, her gaze not able to remain at Natsu's. Unlike the Keepers of the Seven Rings who seemed to walk into the Laughing Coffin at every corner, she did not have a run-in with them, so did not realize just how much damage they could cause.
Heathcliff on the other hand was very much aware of how much damage they could cause, thanks to his authority over Cardinal and able to monitor the whole game. With only one exception and that was the reason why he decided to become more involved with this situation.
Despite himself going over the system, somehow PoH became invisible for a lack of a better word. He still got information from his character, even knew which floor he was in, but whenever he tried to look into his precise position, all he got was a blank screen much to his growing interest. Hacking the game was out and he was honestly stumped how the man was able to block himself from the system's notice so completely.
"It's certainly an ambitious plan." he said, nodding subtly in acknowledgment. With what little they knew for sure and the danger they knew their enemies represented, it was not a bad plan at all. "Though pulling together 3 whole parties will be difficult, and it would be hard to hide such large movements of players." he added thoughtfully.
"We will probably have to mobilize most of the frontline players and all that without tipping off whatever spies they have in our group." Asuna said, rolling her eyes when Buzz sent her an incredulous look. "It's not that hard to figure out, we already knew there are green players in Laughing Coffin and for them to know precisely how and when we plan to fight the boss, they need an inside man." she huffed as she reached up to smooth her frazzled hair. "I miss the times when we only had to worry about finding and dealing on the current floor's boss."
"You and me both." Natsu said to her with a sympathetic smile, gaining a small smile in return.
"Unfortunately, even if we have higher levels, better gears, and more experience, we will need the numbers on our side as well to face them." Buzz spoke up, bringing down the slightly positive atmosphere with an unapologetic shrug. Across from him, Heathcliff nodded, already figuring out what he was talking about. "These guys are fanatics, plain, and simple. They have no qualms about taking a life and worse, they have no survival instinct. While a sane person would stop when their health hits red, these people will simply throw themselves at you, not caring if they die or not. If we are not prepared enough, it will be a massacre on our side."
"Our best course of action would be to subdue them and get them to a designated prison as soon as we could without taking away a portion of our forces to guard them." Heathcliff said out loud, looking at Argo curiously. "The perfect place would be the Black Iron Palace, though I know that Kibaou seems to drag his feet agreeing to our terms. I am curious, however, do you have a plan for how to get defeated members away from the battlefield?"
At the mere mention of Kibaou, both Natsu and Asuna grumbled to themselves, prompting Buzz to shake his head in a slight disappointment while Argo giggled to herself before she spoke up, deciding to answer.
"Kibaou aside, Thinker could be reasoned with, it's just a matter of talking to him without that idiot. As for how to take people to prison, we think of using a couple of corridor crystals to provide an extraction point at both the boss room and the Laughing Coffin base." she explained, earning a surprised blink from the sub-leader of KoB.
Corridor crystals are a special type of teleport crystals that instead of teleporting said person to a specific city, literally opens a corridor to a specified point. Because of this function, they were a lot rarer and a whole more valuable. Especially since they were only able to get these by getting lucky with specific mob drops as they were currently unable to purchase them from stores.
"That's not a bad idea, if not a little expensive. Even if we could find someone willing to part with one, it would be cheap." Heathcliff said, diplomatically. Truth be told, a corridor crystal was worth more than most guild buildings, with a few exceptions, like his and Natsu's guild's headquarters.
"I know that but we really need them if we want to make sure to limit casualties." Natsu added with a weary sigh. "I already sent Ken, Basil, Biggs, Wedge, and one of the deserters with our only corridor crystal to get as close to Laughing Coffin's base as they could without being spotted and set the opening corridors for the crystal. Meanwhile, I have Argo go through those we know have corridor crystals and bidding for them with aliases, so no one would realize we are gathering corridor crystals."
"We are willing to put most of our funds to that endeavor but it would help if we weren't the only ones contributing." Buzz said the pointed look he sent Heathcliff was not hard to miss.
The game master had to hold back a smirk at that. While Natsu simply felt wary around him but tried to act cordially, the older man never tried to hide the fact that he disliked his attitude and didn't trust him. He wasn't sure he was like that because Buzz suspected something about him, simply a gut feeling or something else entirely but it prompted him to keep his distance from them. After all, it wouldn't be fun at all if his little game of leading the clearing party was put to a stop so soon.
"Of course, we will be more than willing to assist you." he said in the end with a completely impassive face before turning to Asuna, letting the slightest of fondness color his tone. It was important that he trusted his subordinates after all."Asuna, could you work in Argo to pool over our resources? I will clear it with Daizen later, you have completely free hand to use it as you see fit."
"U-understood." the girl answered, a little flushed at the trust he showed in her. That or the Cheshire grin on the information broker's face, even he was not sure which one.
"If I understand correctly, we have to present the whole idea that no possible spy would be able to warn the Laughing Coffin, am I right?" Heathcliff asked, receiving a nod from both Natsu and Buzz. "I think it would work, if you say to all three teams that they are the raid party so they would be ready for the right, only not the one they were expecting."
"That's not a bad idea at all." Buzz had to admit it, even if he grumbled about it."If we tell the gathering points at a short notice, we can even avoid others learning there are multiple groups in the first place. What I'm worried about is that stunt will need the majority of the frontliners to work and it's not an easy thing to mobilize them, especially without making it obvious that we know something is off."
"Thankfully our guild and fuurinkazaan are keeping contact with the smaller guilds and a few solo players. We can send word to them and have them prepare easily enough without raising attention. It's also to our advantage that everyone is wary of this boss since it's the return of the 25th boss so it would be natural for everyone to prepare for an inevitable battle." Natsu said, placing a hand on his chin as he thought out loud. "What would be harder is to talk with the semi-large guilds who try to be 'independent' as possible as we have next to no direct contact with them and it would be too obvious to have Argo contact them."
"Then it's only appropriate that I shoulder the task of readying the larger guilds." the leader of KoB said as he stood up, gathering the others' attention. "Our guild is usually overseeing most other medium guilds and I can use this connection to have them and the Divine Dragon Alliance as well, ready as soon as we have an idea who goes to which group."
"That's awfully generous of you:" Buzz commented with a frown on his face, naturally suspicious of him so quickly agreeing to this. Understandable if not a little annoying.
"Buzz, be nice." Natsu admonished him softly as he followed suit and stood up while Argo walked over to Asuna to be able to talk without needing to shout and still able to pay attention to the other conversation going on in the room. "Thank you for the support, Heathcliff, it means a lot. Though, you seem to be in a bit of hurry?" he added with uncertainty. Heathcliff for his part was certainly surprised that he was able to notice that on him, despite doing his best to give nothing away, either with his face or body language.
"Despite what the rumors may want to paint me as some kind of master tactician, while I may be a quite proficient fighter and maybe somewhat charismatic, this strategic debate is a bit too much for me. Other than that, I should be going, inform my guild as well speak with Lind and the other larger guild leaders to have them ready themselves. First things though, I will head to a meeting with Thinker and inform him of the bare necessities and ready the Black Iron Palace to serve as a prison." he told him with the barest hint of a smile as he stepped away from the table but made no motion to leave just yet."I leave Asuna with you to serve as the representative of the KoB, I hope it's not too much to ask.
"Of-Of course not, Guild Master. I will do my best." Asuna stuttered out with red cheeks as she tried to look dignified, despite the other occupants of the room not so subtly snickering at her.
It served well to put less attention on the leaving Heathcliff but he was stopped by a young voice just as he was about to leave through the door.
"Thank you for all the help, Heathcliff." Natsu said to him with an honest smile before giving him a low bow. "We couldn't do as well without the assistance of you and your guild. So thank you for the help."
"It's not like we couldn't have done it without him." Buzz grumbled to himself but shot up when Argo appeared behind him and cuffed him on the head. Glaring at the Rat, he turned back to the older man."Yeah, yeah thanks for the help."
For some reason that was unknown to him, he couldn't hold back the small chuckle that suddenly escaped him. He was not one to chuckle, especially not in his player persona, as shown by Asuna's audible shock, though even in the real world as Kayaba Akihiko he tended not to do such a thing. Still, something about the earnestness and honesty of Natsu seemed to affect him as well.
"Of course Natsu-kun. I, just as any of you want to defeat this game more than anything. If there is anything in my power to help, please don't hold back. Until tomorrow, may our plans work as intended." with that, he bid them farewell and stepped out of the room.
As the door closed behind him, he stayed in place for a moment, to think through all that was revealed to him and how it could affect his plans for the frontline players but after that he began to walk away, intent on doing his part before retiring to the cardinal system and make a few preparations of his own.
After all, what fun would be a game without players in it?
-0-
"Isn't that a bit too much?" Natsu asked with a raised eyebrow as he almost literally felt a sweatdrop form on his head.
Around them, in the main hall of their guild mansion, a party was going on a full-swing. Large tables were brought out from storage, filled to the brim of various drinks as well mouth-watering food made by the combined efforts of Basil, Agil, and Asuna. There were several other tables at the sides, filled with members of the Keepers of the Seven Rings plus a few acquaintances, like most of Fuurinkazaan, having a big large party before tomorrow's boss battle, a chance to cut loose before they once again put their lives at risk.
Someone, probably Agil if he had to guess, even had music going on, a couple of more free-spirited people dancing in the middle of the large room, much to the amusement of the rest. It was chaotic, with people yelling encouragement to each other, busy boasting the stories they were telling more and more, and quietly speaking reassurances to their closest friends.
It felt like people were determined to party themselves out as if their life depended on it and even if he felt tired just from watching them, Natsu couldn't find it in himself to begrudge them. It didn't mean he wouldn't have liked it if they were a little more restrained, he thought as he saw someone trying to jump off a table for some incomprehensible reason before they were stopped by their friends.
"Well, people need to unwind from time to time and in a game where death means literal death, you tend to grab every little opportunity to have fun with friends." a voice sounded from his right as Argo took a seat next to him, giving him a soft smile. She had foregone her usual cloak and wore a pretty, violet sundress which for some reason made him blush slightly and look away. "As much as Kirito would disagree with the sentiment, there's more to successfully living through this game than constant training.
"Hear, hear. You are preaching to the choir, sister." Klein agreed with a loud voice as he raised his glass from the other end of the table before returning to his talk with Agil, Buzz, and Asuna, wildly gesticulating much to the others' amusement.
All of the core members of their guild as well as their closest acquaintances gathered at one of the larger tables but none of them could hide the tension that they all felt at what was coming after this night.
Dave and Dylan were talking with Biggs and Wedge, both pairs trying to outdo each other with less and less believable stories they were telling of their adventures. Natsu stopped paying attention when he heard Wedge single-handedly taking on a boss while dual-wielding two axes, the teen shook his head in mirth before turning to his left. Next to him, Liz sat in his usual get-up, chatting with Ken and Basil, mostly about different weapons, which ones work best for which stat, and similar things. Much to his amusement it mostly consisted of the girl talking while the boys were nodding at the appropriate times to show they were listening.
The only one that was missing from their group was Kirito, which was not much of a surprise, the black swordsman was a loner even at the best of days. Still, Natsu wouldn't lie and say he wasn't a bit sad about his absence.
"I can't help but voice that the transition from serious strategy meeting to this feast was a bit sudden for me." he told the information broker who began to snicker at him before she dug into her food with vigor.
They were wrapping up their discussions on who to put in which groups for tomorrow's fight when Basil came in to ask about what food they wanted for dinner. That led to Asuna insisting on her growing cooking skills which led to a literal cooking war between the two of them. Before Natsu could comprehend what was going on, Agil pulled out various beverages, Wedge was sending invitations to everyone and Biggs was busy with Ken to transform the main hall to accommodate a sudden party.
It's not that he didn't like the idea of a party to let go of their worries a little but the others were so quick to go from serious to party animals that he felt the whole room was spinning around him.
"Well, we would have had a big party similar to that after the 25th boss fight but with how that one turned out, nobody felt like doing anything." Buzz commented from where he sat, leisurely sipping from a sake cup."Plus everyone had been working hard for a while and with how Laughing Coffin began to move and the upcoming boss fight, these guys only needed an excuse to kick back and party themselves out. So whatever happens tomorrow, they won't have any regrets." he added solemnly, giving the brown-haired boy a significant look before with a nod he turned back to Agil.
Argo placed a comforting hand on Natsu's shoulder when he frowned and looked morosely at the food in front of him. It was easy to see that the attack on tomorrow weighed heavily on his mind. While all of them worked together to think of an effective strategy it was clear to both her and Buzz that Natsu already viewed himself as responsible. It was not a responsibility that a twelve-year-old should have but it was not a fair world, where ten thousand people were locked into a literal death game.
All they could do is to stand with him as his friends and whether through the oncoming storm together.
"And anyway, we didn't have a large gathering of friends since the celebration after the 5th-floor boss fight, so worry later and have a little fun." changing the subject, Argo cheerily grabbed a nearby pitcher and poured him a glass of orange juice. Well, they and the system called it orange juice but according to Basil, the juice was created using frog legs and powdered bull horns but it was better not to think about how their foods and drinks came to be. The system was weird when it came to cooking.
"Yeah, it's been a while since the main hall has been this lively." Natsu commented, finally showing a small smile. While he and his friends weren't ones to keep silent for long, it was rare for most of the guild and their friends to gather around at one place at the same time. And no matter how morose his thoughts were, the mood of this whole party was starting to affect him positively. "It's a shame that Kirito-san isn't here, then everyone would have gathered." he said, turning toward Asuna and the empty seat next to her that was reserved to Kirito in case the black swordsman changed his mind at the last second.
"It's a real shame because I looked forward to finally meeting the illustrious black swordsman." Lisbeth said as she turned to Natsu with a smirk that screamed mischievousness."I still wonder if he is really real or you just made him up to tease me. After all, the guys never here when I came to hang with you, never bring him with you to my shop. You guys don't even have a screenshot of him. How come?"
"Of course Kirito is here. He is just really shy you know?" Ken said with a grin while next to Natsu Argo almost choked on her food, despite not being possible because of the virtual bodies, at the mention of Kirito being shy. It was true for those who knew the teen really well but he came off simply as aloof and disinterested to most people.
Natsu discreetly elbowed the snickering information broker who only stuck her tongue childishly at him. shaking his head at her antics Natsu turned back to Liz and didn't notice as her face soured as something popped up in front of her and she began to work on an appearing window in front of her.
"Anyway, Kirito is a solo player, Liz, he prefers working alone. And the few times we work together, we had much larger concerns than making screenshots of each other." he said to her, trying to placate her with a soft smile."He isn't very sociable either so don't take it personally."
"I get it, I get it. It just really irks me that Asuna talks about him so much, mostly when she is worked up by him doing something and when you guys sing your praises of him." she added with an easy-going chuckle before doing a sudden turn-around as she poked Natsu on his chest with an angry pout on her face."Anyway, don't distract me because I have a beef with you, mister."
"M-me?" he asked back fearfully as he leaned back so much that his back touched Argo who did nothing to acknowledge his try at escaping Liz's wrath. No matter how much he racked his brain, he couldn't come up with an explanation of what he did to upset the smith.
"Yes, you. How can I call myself Aincrad's best smith if the oh so famous Orange Blaze doesn't deign to come to my smith for a new weapon to replace that old, dusty weapon of his?"
Natsu would have sweatdropped at the fast transition of a friend who was a girl to a saleswoman after more profits but one thing, in particular, stood out like a sore thumb.
"Wait, what's wrong with Benevolent?" he asked with a high-pitched tone as his hand instinctively raised to his sword before remembering he did not have neither his weapon nor armor equipped at the moment.
The weapon he found back then on the 5th floor as a quest reward served him well, even now when they were fighting much stronger enemies. It took a lot of effort and farming but he was able to max the weapon to its absolute best, putting it at a level where he reckoned he could use it for 3 more floors, 5 if he pushed it.
Despite some heathens saying it outlived its usefulness, the Benevolent was a beautiful piece of rare equipment that you would be hard-pressed to find a comparison among currently available longswords. And those who could best it, the hassle of getting it wasn't really worth it when he had an almost as good at the ready and he could focus on other things. Not to mention it looked cool, making Natsu very reluctant to part with it.
"Natsu, you have had that sword since the 5th floor. It's about time to use a newer sword that you can use and wield to the best of your ability." Ken said, joining the conversation but Natsu's finely honed senses couldn't be deceived so easily. He was obviously jealous of Benevolent, such a fine sword he was and since he couldn't get his hands on it, decided if not him then that neither Natsu could use it. It made perfect sense.
"That's coming from the guy who wrecks a katana about once a week." Basil, his loyal friend, and comrade dryly spoke up, taking away their attention from poor Benevolent. Ken in response only laughed sheepishly.
"Don't remind me. I feel like crying every time he shows up at my doorstep with that 'I did nothing wrong' smile on his face and I know just another of my babies ended up being sacrificed to the wiles of that idiot." Lisbeth suddenly slumped down in her seat depressed, mumbling to herself something about her precious babies. Natsu was wondering if he should be concerned by the rapid change in emotions.
"There, there Liz-chan." he patted her back giving her a consoling smile. "I promise to think about replacing Benevolent after tomorrow's battle okay?" he asked, earning a small nod as the girl turned to look at him with her hair shadowing her eyes. "But even if I keep my sword a little longer, you know you are the only smith that I trust to make good gear for me, right?" another nod and his smile widened as he handed her his glass of orange juice that remained untouched after he took a single sip from it earlier, offering it to her as a tribute. "Let's enjoy this fun while it lasts."
"Okay." she agreed with a much brighter smile as she took the glass from him, gulping it down almost greedily. Putting down the empty glass she looked at Natsu's smiling face before something seemed to click in her brain because suddenly her face became bright red and she turned away, unable to face him. "It was, really good, yeah. Let's, let's have some fun. I'm hungry, I'm gonna go look for some food." she mumbled in a low voice before storming away in an embarrassed, fast walk, despite the table still full of various foods. A moment later Asuna sighed, stood up, and followed after her friend.
Natsu could only scratch his head, completely lost on what happened. A look to Ken and Basil yielded helpless shrugs, they were just as clueless as him, prompting him to huff and try to forget about this whole thing. Girls were weird.
Ken and Basil went back to talking to each other and Natsu looked around him with a small smile. It was true he was very worried about tomorrow and felt a little out of place at a party like this, knowing what his decisions may result in but he couldn't help but love seeing everyone together, having fun. It was something they were rarely afforded in this death game and he agreed they needed to grasp every chance they got to have fun with their friends.
Shaking his head, resolving inside to keep the morose thought away and have a little fun to himself, he turned to his right, finding it strange that Argo didn't jump in to tease him earlier or made any comment after Lisbeth ran off. Seeing her with a small frown on her face and busy typing away at the window opened in front of her, he knew he shouldn't have been surprised. Despite her usual attitude, if there was anyone more workaholic than him then it was the infamous Rat herself.
Feeling a little daring, he reached out and grabbed her and grabbed her left hand in the middle of typing. Shocked, she looked at him, a little disgruntled at being disturbed, even if he knew that if he was anyone else, they would have been running for the hills in hopes of being spared of Argo's wrath. Thankfully, for one reason or another, he had a lot more leeway with her than most people.
"What is it, Natsu?" she asked with the slightest bit of impatience but it was telling that she wasn't calling him by the nickname she gave him. Natsu tried to hold back a wince, trying his hardest not to let his resolve crumble.
Not an easy thing, since a lot of people could testify that angering Argo was never good for one's health, finances or sanity. Still, sacrifices had to be made.
"This is a party, Argo-as-" his face reddened as he forced himself to use the endearing term Argo insisted whenever he addressed her. "A-Argo-ch-chan. That means you can't be doing work at a time like this. After all, you said yourself, tomorrow will be very dangerous and everyone will need this chance to wind down a little. That includes you. Even if you won't be doing any actual fighting tomorrow, we will rely on you and I want you to be on your very best. So please, have fun some tonight and no work." he told her his feelings honestly, only stumbling over his words a little but carried on.
As he watched her for her reaction, his face was red, usually, he wasn't one to outright tell others, even his friends his opinions like that, especially to girls so he was understandably embarrassed. His face tried to impersonate a tomato that caught on fire when he realized he didn't let go of her hand after getting her attention.
"I'm sorry." he squeaked out as he let go of her.
Argo's head was lowered, her hair hiding her face as Natsu anxiously waited for her reaction. He thought he caught a little red on her cheeks but he wasn't sure thanks to her whiskers and the fact that he couldn't see her face properly.
He was obviously nervous and when he was this nervous, he did what he did naturally: he began to babble without a filter or a solid idea of what he was saying.
"I mean, you always work so hard, even more than most frontliners, while also keeping your level close to our average so you could join or scout the newest floors yourself and, and your information saved our lives many times but more than that you are a very good friend. And I don't want to see my friends unhappy, or overworked so I just want you to, you know, just let things for once, or something like that. We have awesome food, good mood, so no reason for you to work alone, right?" he babbled before forcefully shutting himself up with his hands, his face feeling as if it caught on fire.
"This is so unfair Na-kun. Playing with a maiden's heart like that." she mumbled too soft for him to properly hear, only catching a few words from it. He opened his mouth, though he didn't know if he wanted to apologize or try to encourage her when he was caught completely off-guard as she grabbed his hand, pulling him up and after her as Argo began to walk toward the middle of the hall where a few people were dancing or at least tapping their legs to the rhythm.
"Argo-chan, where are you doing?" he asked, doing his best to refrain from outright panicking as she got closer and closer to the large group of people who looked at them curiously and her grip not letting up even a bit.
"It's your fault you know, a maiden's heart is really delicate." she said as she turned to him with a bright smile that honestly floored him. Her brown eyes sparkled with joy as she dragged him after her, and probably for the first time, it hit Natsu that his friend who was incidentally a girl was very pretty. "You promised me a good time so you better keep your word, mister. Let's dance."
"Dance?" his voice turned an octave or two higher as he entered full panic mode as she finally reached the middle of the dance floor, the others obediently parting for her.
He was about to refuse and try to escape when he caught the slightly hopeful expression on her face and in his mind, Natsu already knew he lost. He too wanted to have a little fun with his friends but more importantly, he wanted his friends to have fun too. And Argo was one of his closest friends, discounting Ken and Basil, someone who helped him numerous times and it was only natural that he wanted to help her too. And while he couldn't help her in her information network, the least he could do to help her relax for one night.
"Ok, I'll try." he said in a low voice as his face tried to reach a new level of redness and he was fearful that it was working. "But I don't know how to dance." he admitted embarrassedly. In response, Argo grinned at him, and instead of mischievous, her grin was much more gentle than usual.
"Don't worry, I'll teach you." she promised him as she drew him closer to her, uncaring of the mounting panic at the younger teen's face.
There was a kind of upbeat song going and it wouldn't have been so bad as Argo began to direct him how to dance if it wasn't for the fact that they weren't alone and the others soon began to notice their usually shy and reserved guild leader dancing with a pretty girl and as was the law of the universe, it was time for them to embarrass him even more.
If he could have, Natsu would have sunk into the floor and merged with it, in hopes to avoid this whole incident as whistles and encouraging shouts filled the hall as his guildmates tried to support him. Natsu would have preferred if they stayed silent though.
"Nice going, boss. Show her a good time"
"Show us your moves Natsu!"
"Why can't I find such a cute girl to dance with myself?"
"That's our guild leader. Ahead of the curve with a pretty girl at his side."
Unfortunately for Natsu, it seemed the rest of his guild and fuurinkazaan too and soon he had almost everyone shouting encouragement to him or simply lamenting the ratio of male and female players in the game.
He was momentarily distracted when Argo grabbed him once again and spun him around, laughing merrily as he tried to stay on his feet and Natsu couldn't find it in himself to say he disliked the whole experience.
"Don't worry about them." she whispered to him as she hugged him close to her and rested her head on his shoulder. Despite Natsu being quite short, Argo was only a little taller than him so the position was relatively comfortable for both of them, save for the embarrassment Natsu felt. "They are just joking around. Relax and have a little fun tonight."
"I'll try." he mumbled into her hair as they followed the rhythm of the music but a large group of people made him look up and around in curiosity.
"Thank you, Na-kun." she whispered while he was distracted with a heartfelt smile on her face as red dusted her cheeks, thankful the young teen seemed to miss her words."Thank you for being you."
Instead of simply watching, most of the guild decided to get off their chairs and join them at the improvised dance floor. Soon, the dance floor was full of people, laughing, making full of themselves, and simply having a good time. As a side effect of this, most stopped paying attention to their guild leader and the infamous Rat dancing together, which made most of the tension go away.
He caught the sight of Liz, dragging Ken and Basil by their hands, laughing while the two boys tried not to fall on their faces and he couldn't help but quietly laugh at that. It was much funnier when it wasn't happening to him. He also saw Wedge and Biggs with a few of their buddies from Klein's guild dancing around and loudly singing some songs though they were horribly out of sync and off-key.
It was chaotic, it was a little suffocating but it was exactly what made the Keepers of the Seven Rings what they truly were. In the end, they were friends, family before anything else and Natsu couldn't have found a better group to surround himself in this digital world.
He couldn't help but laugh at them, Argo joining in a moment later. Tomorrow will be very hard, that was indeed true. Tomorrow he will worry about his friends, about the comrades who will walk with him into battle but for tonight, he was a twelve-year-old kid having the time of life surrounded by his friends.
Back at their table Agil, Buzz and Klein were watching the rest of their group begin partying in earnest, sharing smiles as they watched Liz dumping her boys and dragging Asuna with her, to have the usually standoffish girl join the festivities. The three were sharing drinks, while not alcoholic, it had a nostalgic taste that all of them appreciated.
Agil looked at Natsu who was dancing around with Argo, none of his earlier nervousness present and couldn't help but grin at the two of them. Following his light of sight, Klein looked their way and snorted into his drink before looking at the ax wielder with a wide grin.
"Looks like our little casanova is picking up girls left and right. If he is going to keep up, I have to ask for lessons from him. When will Argo finally join your guild? She is hanging around you more than enough that it shouldn't be anything more than a formality." he asked curiously.
"It's better for Argo to remain neutral, at least for an outside observer." Buzz said, joining the conversation as he put down his sake cup."The value and trust factor of her information would decrease greatly if she joined any guild, no matter which. For the sake of the clearing party, it's best that she is considered a neutral party."
"Not to mention, she cares little for things like joining a guild and would come and go as she sees fit either way." Agil agreed with a chuckle as watched the kids be kids for once.
"Guess you are right. Then what about Lisbeth? I mean you guys did hear her demanding to make Natsu's next sword." Klein said, his grin getting wider as he drank from his beer."Man, Natsu's living this virtual life to the fullest.
"Her business would suffer a lot more if she turned out to be our guilds, exclusive smith. And she is far too independent, preferring to work on her own." Agil calmly replied before raising an eyebrow at Klein. "Why are you so interested in pairing Natsu with somebody?"
"No reason, just funny to see the normally so focused kid acting shy around the ladies. I didn't see him squirm this much even before boss battles so it's entertaining." he answered with a shrug before raising his mug to his mouth.
"Or rather, to compensate for your rather lacking success with the ladies, you are trying to live through Natsu." Buzz butted in with a straight face, only cracking a grin when Klein took a spit take, almost spraying his drink on Agil who quickly took a seat away from the red-haired man. "Anyway, whatever happens, I bet two thousand cols that Natsu would sooner get a girlfriend than Kirito and Asuna finally getting together."
"That was a low blow. But I'll take that bet." Klein enthusiastically replied as he shook the spear user's hand."Wonder If I can get a whole new set of armor from that two thousand, it's only a question of time until my man Kirito comes through for me."
"Must you act so childish all the time?" Agil asked them with a sigh though there was a fond smile on her face.
In response Buzz shrugged, his face turning more serious as he leaned back in his seat.
"It's not doing any harm and better get it out of our system now. Tomorrow will be hard enough as it is." he told them solemnly, the two men nodding in agreement.
"You got a point. Still, are you sure you are going with that group?" Agil asked, sending his old friend a worried frown.
"You are talking about as if I would be in any less danger in any of the other groups. Either way, those guys will be done for once they face me. Relax I will be fine." Buzz tried to calm his friend with a cocky smirk. "Besides, someone has to look after the kid before he gets way over his head." he said, nodding toward Natsu who was busy laughing and dancing around to notice their serious talk.
"Even so, I can't help but have this bad feeling. It doesn't help that we send people out to fight for their lives." Agil said, his frown growing. He never liked Natsu's and the others' participation in boss battles all that much but let it go. This situation was much more different, they were going to fight humans who were prepared to kill them.
"As much as we love to say differently, they are not kids, not here." it was not Buzz who answered him in a solemn tone but Klein, none of his earlier cheer present."They are risking their life when grown men quiver in fear. We can't treat them like kids, they are our equals, no matter how much of a bitter taste this leaves in our mouth. All we can do is to watch over them and help them to the best of our abilities."
"Enough talking." Buzz spoke up, raising his cup, the others quickly understanding what he meant, and followed suit. "Tomorrow will be a long and hard day but we will survive. We will win, and strive forward so we can end this game. For the kids and their future. So the death game can end one day. For a better tomorrow."
"For a better tomorrow." the other two chorused before all three of them drank their choice of beverage before Agil grabbed a nearby bottle and poured another round.
Most of the guild partied away merrily until it was time to sleep, Natsu and the others utterly exhausted by all that dancing and laughing, while the three men kept a watch over them all, savoring this last bit of peace as long as they could.
It would be the last party they had for a long while.
-0-
While the Keepers of the Seven Rings spent the night before the attack, others similarly spent either with their loved ones or in solidarity, reflecting on their thoughts or getting ready for tomorrow in their own way.
Kirito was in an inn on a lower level, surrounded by five people who were in the middle of their celebrations. They were unaware of what would go down tomorrow, they were simply celebrating their newest member and the success they had in leveling up their lower-level members. They were a small, mid-player guild known as Moonlit Black Cats.
The former beta-player had a small smile on his face as he tried to blend into the background as much as he could despite the others frequently trying to include him. He didn't really dislike this whole situation but by nature, he was much more reserved, which usually resulted in people mistaking his attitude for either apathetic or arrogant. Few people made the effort to see through it, especially with his status as a beater hanging over his head, something these guys were not aware of.
His smile slowly turned to a frown as he looked away, out a nearby window, reminded of the letter he got earlier the day from Argo, explaining what was going on while he was busy helping his new guild level up.
While he didn't encounter them yet, he, as most of the frontliners, heard of Laughing Coffin. He didn't know what to expect from people who chose to PvP in a death game but the idea of attacking the raid party while they were exhausted after a boss battle was just too horrific. What would they gain from this, what reason could there be to kill people who were working to find a way out of here?
Of course, the counter-attack Natsu and the others weren't any less insane even if he admitted that considering the circumstances they had very few options if they wanted to avoid indefinitely stopping their progress toward the upper floors. That didn't mean he had to be enthusiastic about the coming fight.
He would be there, there's no doubt about it. While he enjoyed this piece of normalcy he found with the Moonlit Black Cats, and the time away from the frontlines, he still had friends among the Cleaners, friends he wouldn't leave to fight this battle alone. Not to mention, Asuna would have his hide if he bailed out on them in one of their most important fights to come. And that wasn't even mentioning the others, starting from Natsu's disappointed silent frown, to Klein's complaining.
Kirito let out a silent groan at thinking what would the famously workaholic Asuna the Flash would do to him if she learned that he was lying about his level, hanging around a low-level guild instead of grinding at the frontline and working his butt off because he simply felt like he belonged to somewhere for once. The results wouldn't be pretty, that's for sure.
"Is everything alright, Kirito-kun?" a soft, shy voice asked him, prompting him to turn away from his morose thoughts.
In front of him stood a short girl with short blue hair in a slightly better version of the starting basic armor. She was nervously playing with her hands as she looked at him from the corner of her eyes, face lit up in a blush as if she was embarrassed just by speaking up.
It may not have been so far from the truth. She was one of the other guild members, a spear user who he was tasked to help out and train to overcome her reflexive fear of monsters and fighting. But most of all, she was a sweet, caring young girl who tried her best even if it looked like she wanted to be as far away from any battlefield as possible, so Kirito forced a small smile on his face, determined not to ruin the good mood or worry her unnecessarily.
"Don't worry about it Sachi, I was just lost in thought." he told her, silently letting out a sigh of relief as she seemed to nod and drop the issue.
What surprised him was that instead of going back and joining the others, she shyly took a seat next to him with an equally shy smile. He tensed for a moment but when the girl didn't initiate the continuation of their conversation, instead simply enjoyed the relative silence.
Humming to himself, Kirito closed his eyes as he leaned back on his chair, trying to relax as much as he could. He already told them he will have to go away for tomorrow, though refrained from mentioning anything about the upcoming fight. It's better not to worry about them. But for tonight, he could relax a little. He had a feeling he would need it.
Elsewhere, at the guild building of the Knight of the Blood-Oath, Heathcliff sat in a large room that was dubbed by most members as Heathcliff's Office. It contained a large, ornate desk in the middle with a couple of bookshelves, full of various books around as decoratives. Aside from that the room was left bare, not even a banner of their guild present as Heathcliff rarely cared about things like that.
The man just finished his 'conversation' with the Cardinal System and was done looking into a few things to make sure that tomorrow goes according to his plans. He let out a rare smile at the thought of whatever the outcome of the battle will be, at the very least he would be able to find answers to a few of his questions regarding both Natsu and PoH.
After all, even if most of the clearing group was lost, in time there would be others who would take up the mantle and a new clearing group would be born. This is just human nature, the will to adapt and survive. They may never reach the 100th floor but a journey was much more important than the destination, at least for Kayaba Akihiko, who dreamed of that floating castle and all the heroes that lived in it.
Back at the mansion of the Keepers of the Seven Rings, Byakuran sat in a window, looking up at the ceiling of the floor, small lights imitating various stars blinking around, a satisfied smile on his face.
They were given a room by Natsu and told to avoid leaving, for the time being, especially Bluebell, who would create a commotion if she suddenly appeared in front of the others. Of course, both of them knew that instead of a suggestion as it was worded, it was an order. After all, there was a chance they could warn their former companions of their counter-attack, even if the possibility was very small.
"Byakuran, are you, are you sure that was wise?" Bluebell softly asked him, as if she was afraid she would anger him with her questioning.
She sat on one of the two beds in the room, knees drawn up to her chest. She looked small and oh so vulnerable, nothing like the stubborn, foul-mouthed girl most saw her. It was not that surprising, once someone knew how the two of them ever ended up together.
She simply latched into him a few days after the death game started and Byakuran allowed her to follow him as long as she remained useful. He gave her a few compliments, a few hugs, and like an attention-starved puppy she followed his every command. Even joining Laughing Coffin and their eventual defection was his idea but Bluebell's tsundere personality and sheer determination to make him happy made it easier to hide in the background.
She didn't make it a habit to question him and he quickly quashed that little bit of irritation that he felt at being questioned, instead of closing his smile, giving her a large smile to put her at ease. It seemed to work because a moment later, she relaxed a little, still looking at him, waiting for an answer.
He took a moment to think of an appropriate answer, humming to himself. It wasn't a question without merit, since this idea was a little last-minute even by him, forced by PoH becoming suspicious of him.
"Maybe it wasn't." he admitted a moment later before a cold smile took its place on his face. "Still, I can't help but get excited. Sooner or later, Natsu-kun and the one behind PoH will clash blades and I can't wait to be there to see it." he turned away from the girl back to the window. "If thanks to all that commotion, everyone forgets about us, all the better. After all, I'm not done exploring the possibilities of this world. So until then, please do entertain me, Natsu-kun." he whispered into the quiet night before retiring to his bed.
Tomorrow, everything will change.