"One meal." Underneath her hood, Bella smiled as the iron-hard Lightning Flash and vice-commander of the BOK let slip a tiny bit of humanity towards the Shadow's partner. The young woman had changed much since that day in Illfang's lair. Long gone was the unsure, newbie with surprisingly impressive skills, and in her place stood a tried and hardened warrior who had earned every bit of power she possessed. The fire of determination Bella and Kirito had both been witness to still burned bright, and even now the older girl, who was currently sitting in the tree above her partner and Asuna, could see it brightening just a bit as the Kirito accepted her offer of a meal. Granted, the Lightning Flash had no idea Bella was anywhere near at the time, let alone the one actually watching over their sleeping forms, but perhaps this could be a chance for Kirito to branch out. He had been very withdrawn after the… incident.
As her partner and his companion slipped away down the road, Bella leaned back against the tree, her eyes closing in bliss. She would allow the two their privacy, knowing full well that Asuna was more than capable of watching over Kirito for a few hours. She was just about to slip off into a restful sleep, when there was a slight shift in the wind caressing her hair, and the young woman's eyes snapped open. Not a moment too soon, her head shifted to the side, just barely allowing a knife to slide past her cheek without breaking the virtual skin. In an instant, her senses were all on high alert, and she slid up into a crouch, balancing on the branch with cat-like grace.
It took less than a second for the girl to realize she was surrounded, the twenty or so figures arranging themselves around the tree in a somewhat professional manner, and all dressed in ragged, dirty hoods and cloaks. She had a suspicion as to who exactly she was facing, but regardless of whether she was right or not, these people were most certainly hostile. Quicksilver eyes narrowed in curiosity as one of the hooded figures broke off from their position in the group and approached, not missing the lazily twirling knife in their hands, which glistened with poison in the sunlight.
"BellaLux, or should I say the Silver Shadow? You certainly live up ot your reputation. Not many can dodge my knives." One steel-gray eyebrow raised in tandem with a small smirk, despite none of the surrounding people being able to see it under her hood. At least they were in the same position for once. Whoever was coordinating these people was intelligent enough to have them cover their faces as well. Still, it would appear she was at a disadvantage, as they knew exactly who she was.
"Before you continue with your monologue, which I'm sure is quite interesting, I would ask your names. They'll be needed for the gravestones." As The speaker tensed, Bella's smirk grew. Professional as their coordinator was, the foot soldiers would almost invariably lack such precision. If such a simple insult could get to this man, then she probably wasn't dealing with someone high-up.
"That would be… unnecessary. All you need do is come with us." Bella's smirk stilled, and the orbs of quicksilver hardened underneath her hood.
"You haven't even bought me dinner yet. I'm afraid I must decline.." With a small whistling of air, another knife thunked into the wood behind Bella, and the girl let out a low whistle.
"Fancy. You've got decent accuracy at least, but my answer remains the same. Rude and raggedy isn't really my type."
"It was not a request." The response was a low, throaty growl, and Bella tensed as a ripple went through the ranks of those surrounding her. With little else for warning, a sudden rain of daggers and knifes were winging their way through the air towards her position, the paralysis poison lacing their blades shining in the sun. A moment later, however, each and every one thunked into empty wood, and the nearest enemy let out a sudden yelp as a silver dagger rested itself upon his throat. For a moment, the man was consumed with fear, certain he was about to meet his end. That was not the case, however. With a slight exhalation of breath at his ear, the blade tore through his virtual skin, but rather than seeing his health bar decline, each of his digital muscles locked instantaneously, and he collapsed with his screen darkening.
With ferocious speed, Bella spun through the ranks around her, a terrible grin stretched wide across her face. Her enemies couldn't risk throwing their weapons in such a friendly-thick field, and she had caught them by surprise with her speed. She slipped around their clumsily swung blades, kicking out legs and slashing small, but ultimately harmless wounds upon them. She had equipped her daggers with a rare poison, which negated all damage against player enemies, but in exchange would knock them out cold with a single strike. The fact that it had to be crafted by hand, and most of the ingredients were only located on floor forty only made it more uncommon, and Bella watched with vicious satisfaction as it did its work.
WIthout warning, the world suddenly upended, and Bella was forced to roll over her shoulder in order to prevent being caught flat on the ground. Coming up into a ready crouch, her eyes scanned the battlefield, her entire body buzzing like a live wire. She had cleaned out at least half of them, all of whom were now laid out on the ground. She must have tripped over one, and silently, the Shadow cursed her own inattention. The open field may have been littered with unconscious enemies, but there were still quite a few up and well, closing in on her with deadly intent. For a moment, the girl thought about running, then pushed the thought away. She could probably get away, sure, but despite being outnumbered heavily, these people likely weren't very skilled. Bella needed information, and the only way to get that was by capture and interrogation.
"Gentleman, as much as I appreciate your enthusiasm, I don't think this is going to work out between us. How about a compromise? You take the house, and I'll keep the kids." Her lips curled into a smirk at the ten bewildered faces looking back at her. It dropped a moment later, however, when the sound of shuffling movement from behind had Bella spinning. She barely had time to register a large form when something grasped her throat, cutting off her breath in a gurgled choke with its iron grip. A moment later, she felt her back and head slam into something hard, and a gasp escaped her as pain exploded between her eyes. Bella struggled to blink back the stars in her vision, but before she could, what little breathing she still remained capable of was blocked as some sort of cloth was shoved into her mouth. Mere seconds later, everything turned dark, just as a deep baritone voice, one that a tiny corner of her mind still functioning sparked in recognition of, spoke a series of words which would sear themselves into her brain for the rest of her days.
"You've already abandoned your children, Tenshi-chan. And now you shall pay the price."
XXX
As Bella felt herself floating up from the darkness that had consumed her, she groaned. Her head was pounding with pain, and she could feel hard stone underneath the tender skin, a sensation she was well-acquainted with. For a moment, before she opened her eyes, the young woman thought that perhaps she had finally escaped SAO, and was resting after a brawl in the streets. The heavy lids came up a second later, however, and with the resulting sight a rush of memories filled her. Shit, I was captured by Laughing Coffin.
The image of a stone ceiling prompted Bella to sit up, and she did so with a heavy grunt as her sight went blurry. She barely baught herself before tipping over the short distance back to the floor, her entire thought process, undeveloped as it was, scrambled by the simple motion.
"You're awake." Bella's head turned slowly at the monotone voice, struggling not to send more waves of pain and confusion through herself as she did so. Across the room, which she now saw was a stone cell, sparsely decorated, was a man. Dressed all in black with a hood over his head, Bella couldn't make much out about him, except the glowing red eyes shining from under his hood.
"So it would seem." Bella replied, pleased when her vision remained stable. With a sigh, she leaned against a nearby wall, and again she remained stable. Apparently whatever was wrong with her was slowly losing its grip. She expected the man to say something else, but after several minutes it became apparent that would not be the case. Finally, Bella deemed herself completely back to speed, and decided to figure out just what the hell was going on.
"Where exactly are we?"
'I don't know."
"Who are you?"
"No one important."
"Why are we here?"
"I don't care." Bella groaned in frustration as all she received were non-committal answers. She was locked up with a social mute. How lovely.
You're not going to answer anything I ask, are you?"
"If I don't know the answers, or they're personal, yeah. I'm not here to get to know you." Bella groaned again, leaning her head back and closing her eyes to listen to a nearby drip, drip, drip, of water.
"Of course not, you're here because Laughing Coffin abducted you as well. Any ideas why?"
"Perhaps they wish to recruit us." Bella chuckled at the thought and the hooded man sent her a confused look. "Did I say something funny?"
"Not really, but if that was really the reason, then they're doing a lousy job of it. Unless a stint in the dungeons is meant to be some kind of test. I'm probably bloody well failing it as well." The hooded man continued to look at her for a second, before returning to his previous position of staring at the wall. Bella, sensing an obvious wish for her to be silent, complied,
Bella wasn't sure how long it was until something changed, but it couldn't have been more than thirty minutes before there came a loud squeak of severely rusted hinges, and a dark form appeared at the end of the hall outside their cell. Bella's quicksilver eyes narrowed as she studied the man stalking down the rough-cut stone passageway. He wasn't particularly large, built more for speed and precision than strength, nor did she recognize him by build alone. The man stopped directly in front of their cell, and Bella sucked in a breath as she waited to see what he would do.
"Well, well, if it isn't the great Shadows. What a pleasure to meet you!" Bella winced as the high, cackling voice bounced around the walls, echoing painfully off the old stone.
"And I never expected to come across the Wicked Witch of the West. I'm honored." Bella bit out sarcastically, a light smirk crossing her face as the man's features twisted into an ugly expression under his hood.
"Lippy, too. I guess the boss was right about you." Bella's face went cold. Boss? The only people who knew anything about her in SAO were either in jail, dead, or good people who would never have anything to do with a murder guild. Who the hell could this guy be talking about.
"You know the boss of Laughing Coffin?" Asked the man in black from her side, and Bella whipped her head around to look at him.. He was staring at her in a manner she really didn't like, and Bella was forced to bite back an insult.
"No, I don't. Although I would love to make his acquaintance... preferably with my dagger in his gut." The last part she shot at their gaoler, a predatory smirk crossing her face. Again, the man's features grew angry, and he opened the door with a jerky motion.
"It' your lucky day, then. The boss wants to meet you as well." He giggled, and a moment of suspicion washed through her. As far as she knew, LC didn't take prisoners, ever. Why would they not only leave her alive, but even the big leader wanted to meet her? This was looking worse and worse by the second, but she had little choice. They had already taken her weapons, she knew. If she didn't want to become yet another victim of the murder guild, then she needed to cooperate, and maybe she'd figure out what this was all about.
The LC member's handling of both her and the other man was rough, but she just smiled dangerously at him. Bella had suffered far worse in her life, and his petty attempts at intimidation amused her. Her companion, however, only glared, which served just as well in terrifying their captor. Seemed he wasn't someone to screw around with, either. Other than that, they were led quietly, if disgracefully, through several winding tunnels and corridors, until the path suddenly broke off and the party entered a large room.
The room was dark, but Bella could still see enough to make out the general layout. It almost appeared to be a cave of sorts, with large, painfully sharp stone spikes jutting out of the floor and roof in a nonsensical patter. All around, there were other people, each dressed in the dirty and torn rags shared by the man leading them on,but what drew her eye was one particular person, lounging on a large rock formation shaped vaguely like a throne. He was a large man, with robes of only marginally better repair than his subordinates, and a mane of flaming red hair framing the bone white mask he wore on his was something familiar about him, Bella sensed, but for the life of her she couldn't place what.
"Ah, if it isn't The Silver Shadow and the Shadow of Aincrad. Welcome, both of you to the Court of Shadows!" Again, Bella was struck with a sense of familiarity by the deep, rumbling voice which carried across the stalactite field to them, and again, where she had heard it before remained a mystery. She shook the disorientation away, however, stepping forward with all the grace of an angel.
"Impressive, to be certain, but I prefer more… sophisticated venues. Tell me, why have you brought us here?" Underneath his mask, the obvious leader of Laughing Coffin smiled, before rising to his feet and stalking towards them. Bella narrowed her quicksilver eyes as she studied his movements, a smooth, predator-like gait. This man was powerful, and a warrior, despite how young he appeared to be. She would need to be very careful of him.
"Why,my lovely Bella, I have only sought to bring you home and to your family. Or should I say, Tenshi?" Bella's breath was gone in an instant at the name, one she hadn't heard in over a year. How? How does he know?
"Who the fuck are you?" She asked, ice in spilling into her voice. This man knew something that no one in SAO should ever have known, and she once again evaluated him with a quick sweep of her eyes. As she did so, thoughts and images began to swim up from a dark, hidden place within her mind, one she had buried deep on the day she first came to Aincrad. No, it can't be. Not him, he wouldn't do something like this.
"Have you already forgotten me, my Tenshi? Or perhaps it's the mask. Maybe if you see my face again, it will jog your memory." Bella's breath came faster and faster, her blood boiling as the large, redheaded man reached one hand up slowly towards his mask. With a smooth, hooking motion, the bone-white material came off, and everything inside Bella froze, as a single word escaped her lips with the tiniest breath.
"Adam."
XXX
Dum, dum, duuuuuuuuuum!
Okay, enough of that. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and Iwould love to hear what you thought of it. Who is Adam, and how does He know Bella? Why does he keep calling her Tenshi(which is japanese for angel, in case you didn't know)? And who the fuck is that weird dude in black and why is he here(Some of you can probably guess, especially if you've read the story I mentioned last time)? All that and more will be answered within the next couple of chapters, but you can feel free to guess. For now though, don't forget to review, and I will see ya!