A/N: The Metal Horde. Sounds pretty tough wouldn't you say? Not tough enough to withstand team Lightning or team Espeon I should say since Hope was the party leader. That's just how it is.
NOVEMBER 3RD, 2022. FLOOR 1, DAWN'S BLOSSOM
We appeared in the town, Dawn's Blossom. I'll admit, it was nice to be able to teleport out of the dungeon. Leafa stretches her arms up in the air.
"Boy. That dungeon wore me out." Leafa drops her arms, she notices something on the board in front of us. "What's this...Oh, look at this."
Me and Hope stand beside Leafa, reading the news on one of the posters. 'The Assault Team is prepared to take out the first-floor boss at November 4th, 7:00 AM. Be prepared and don't die.'
"They're about to clear the floor boss," Hope says. I look at him for I notice there's scarce hiding behind that.
"Well, it's about time. I was getting tired of this first floor." Leafa says. "Well, I'm gonna go rest up. I'll see you two tomorrow for the raid."
Leafa accesses her menu and leaves the party. Her bar leaves the corner of my vision, then she walks off. "I, uh...I think I'm gonna rest up too." Hope turns to me. "What about you, Light?"
I stroke my chin, thinking about what to do. "Hmm..." I look at the clock on the corner of my vision, it's 9:10 PM. "I think I'm gonna do a few kills around the city before turning in."
"Oh...okay then. Be careful." Hope accesses his menu and leaves the party. Now it's just me.
I start walking out of the city at the night. On the field, there are hardly any trash mobs around. I take a walk around the fields until I find a small group of players fighting the Feral Wolf's and a large panda bear known as Yin Yang.
I recognize one of the players. "Klein," I say.
Klein throws a few strikes on the Yin Yang. Yin Yang strikes, but Klein parries and dodges, then his weapon charges and he does a powerful strike, destroying the monster.
Klein takes a moment to rest, that's when he notices me. "Lightning!" Klein looks at the other players he's working with. "Clear up the rest of the trash mobs here!" The players responded with a 'got it' or 'roger that'. Klein approaches me. "So, you're still alive. I guess you made it through the dungeon. Did you find your friend?"
I give a slow nod. "Yeah, I found him. In the nick of time too."
Klein laughs. "Yeah...So, what are you doing out here?"
"I uh...just thought I could do some leveling before heading to bed," I say.
"Oh, I see. I'm guessing you're setting up for the Elite Dungeon." I nod. "Well, now, perhaps I can lend you a hand."
Klein opens his menu. He goes to his friend's list. A window in front of me opens saying 'Klein invited you to join his party'. I'm not too fond of this guy after playing his little Mr. charm on me, but he has helped me in this world. I accept his invite.
Klein is a level 10 with 534 HP.
We spent the next hour together fighting off the field monsters. I've only made one level, but every little bit helps as they say. At the last mob, I kill, I earned my results. Only large red letters appear in front of it that says. 'Inventory is full! Sell or Delete an item to make room' then a window of my list of items appears on the side.
I'm confused about it. Klein stands at my side looking at this. "Well, looks like someone forgot to make room after running a dungeon."
I look at Klein. "What's that suppose to mean?" I say with an offended tone.
"I guess you don't know. In this game, you can only care about so many items. You can't expect to hold on to everything at once. There's always a limit." Klein explains.
"Huh...you got a point there." I turn my attention to the list. "What should I do?"
"Well, delete an item." Klein hovers over my shoulder, looking at my list. "Uh...scroll through the list for me." Normally I'd be irritated taking an order from some random guy I can't stand...and Snow too, but I just do what he says.
I stopped my list on my Red Vest and Broadsword items. "I want to know. What's with these letters next to my old equipment?" Next to my old sword is 'Class: B' and the old chest is 'Class: C'.
"These are rankings. In armor and weapons, they will make a rank that'll judge whether it's a good piece or not." Klein explains. "Class A means it's a very good piece. B is all right. C, average, D poor, and E is useless. The rankings will change and be judged by every armor and weapon you have in your equipment or inventory. Like for instance, your broadsword is a Class B cause of your current weapon: Fencer. If you didn't have Fencer, Broadsword will be a Class A. There are also rankings in cooking ingredients, but they're mostly ranked in ratings. The higher the rank is, the rarer the item is, and the tastiest the food or drink you can make with them will be."
"Hmph. There's so much to learn, all in some silly game." I say.
"There's always a lot to learn in every game. You seriously should start playing some." Klein says.
I roll my eyes hearing that. I continue scrolling my list until I've gone through all 150 of my items. Klein suggests I'd delete the Severed Fang cause it doesn't sell that much, so I delete it and I receive the Broken Bamboo.
"So...I have to delete everything to make an inventory?" I ask.
Klein just laughs like I said something stupid. I have a feeling I did. "Of course not. You go to a vendor in a town and sell your items. That's how you make Krystals in this game."
"I thought I only make them through quests and kills," I ask.
"Man, you really do have a lot to learn," Klein says. He's not wrong.
"Right. How do I find a vendor in town?" I ask.
"Well, if you look in your town map, there are markings. The one that looks like a sack means a vendor."
"Got it. Thanks." I leave Klein's party then head back to town.
I do what Klein says, looking at my town map. It shows the whole town with the markings labeled on them: Inn, Blacksmith shop, Repair, Vendors, Restaurants, Armor stores, Accessories. I go to the Vendor's stores. They only sell food, drink, and market goods. But that doesn't matter cause I just want to sell my stuff.
I only sold 60% of my inventory, the other 40% I kept. I'm not trying to hoard, but I do have a lot to learn in this game. I'd like to know what items will be useful or useless before making serious marketing. In the end, I earned 762 Krystal's.
I leave the store where a message icon appears in front of me beeping. I'm guessing that means I have a message. I push the icon and a window appears with a message.
'Hey, Lightning. This is Leafa. I was on my way to the armor shop for some equipment when I found Espeon under a bridge by the town river. He seems pretty upset. I asked what's the matter but he claims everything's fine. Maybe you could talk to him.'
The window closes. I look ahead a bit concern. "Hope," I whispered.
I look at the town map in my menu. I spot the river bridge on the map and look at my current location, then I head towards my destination.
I arrived at the bridge by the river, only I'm on the sidewalk underneath. There, I find Hope sitting down, knees up against his chest, arms wrapped around his legs, resting his head on his knees. He's looking down in the river. I can tell from that sorrowful look on his face he's depressed.
"Hope." Hope raises his head, looking directly at me.
"Lightning? I told you not to call me my real name." I don't say anything, but I know he's right. We are in a public area in this game. "How did you find me?"
"Leafa messaged me saying where you were." I walk towards Hope. "Are you okay?"
Hope returns to the same position he was in when I arrived. "I'm...fine."
"You're not fooling me, Espeon. I know something's up." I stand right next to Hope. "What's wrong?" Hope still doesn't say anything. Just tightens his wrap on his legs. I kneel down, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Listen. You can tell me anything. If you're afraid I'll get mad or I'll think you're being childish, I won't."
I'm hoping that manage to open the gates to his wall. He says nothing for a while then he speaks. "I'm...I'm scared." A moment of silence happens. I don't even make a reaction of any kind. Hope continues. "What's the point of all this? Why do we have to die if it's all just a game? Why can't we leave this place?" Hope looks up at me. I can see tears in his eyes, barely trying to escape. "When I was little, I always did wish I could live inside a game. When I heard about Warlords Wrath Online, I was excited but...to die in the game...being trapped in here...I never asked for any of that."
Hope looks back down and forward. I honestly don't know what to tell him. I don't know why this is happening to all of us, and I certainly don't see the whole point of it. "I'm afraid of dying," Hope admits.
"You won't die." Hope looks at me hearing that. "You're not going to die. That's something that'll never happen." Hope doesn't seem convinced. "Do you remember what I promised you?"
When Hope joined the family, I told him that I would keep him safe. He nods a little. "I still mean it. I will always protect you, Hope. That's the reason I came to this world."
"You mean...I don't really have to die? ...I will return to reality someday?" Hope asks.
I smile a little, nodding. "Absolutely. We'll return to the real world. I'll make sure of it."
Hope seems a bit surprised, then he ends up smiling. Tears finally escape from his eyes. As they slide down his face, he leans in and hugs me. I hug him as well. My talk seems to have helped him.
After our moment, we head for an inn to sleep for the night. I take Hope to his room and tucked him in, then I go into a room of my own. It's now 10:27 PM. Normally, this is the time when I read a book before going to sleep, but since I'm trapped in his virtual world, I can't read a book.
I remove all of my equipment, put on 'Nightdress' which is a simple violet sleeveless nightgown. It's nice we'll still have some comfortable clothes to sleep in. I scroll through my items menu. I stop on the item: DSCF0001. I put it and a photo appears on my hand.
The photo is a picture of me, Serah and Hope, in Nautilus when we were young. Nautilus is an amusement park...no, the park is too small of a word. It's an amusement city.
It was five years ago when I found Hope in a car accident. I was a trainee in the Guardian Corps back then. His father died in the accident. I thought I could still save him and his mother, but I was only half right. I was there when the mother died. Her final words were: "Take care of Hope...please." Even though she could no longer hear me through her death, I told her that I would.
When I told Hope the news about his mothers' death, he was devastated. I took him into my home. For the next few days, Hope's done nothing but drown in his sorrow. He barely eats, does nearly nothing all day, never even spoke a word. Me and Serah did everything we could to make him feel welcome and at home. One night, Hope came into my room. He admits that he was scared and feeling lonely, so I told him that it's okay to be scared and he's not alone, that Serah and I are here for him.
"Please don't leave me." His child voice echoes in my head.
"I won't. I'm right here. I'll keep you safe, Hope...I promise." My voice says.
Hope got a good night's sleep that night, then on the next day, we all went to Nautilus for some fun. It sure made him happy. I smile looking down at the photo, it sure brings back a lot of memories. I'm glad I was able to bring this photo to the game, so I can hold on to what's most important to me: My family.
There's a knock on the door. I became astonished by the knock, guess I was deep within thought. I put away the photo, which just floats and vanishes from my hand.
"Come in," I say.
The door opens. Hope comes in with a pillow. He's only wearing a black long sleeve and some gray shorts. I'm surprised to see him here. "I'm sorry. I just couldn't sleep. Can I...?"
I can tell what he wants, so I give him a nod for an answer. Hope crawls right into bed. I move to the lamps and turn them off, but just pushing the button with a circle icon on it. When the lights are off, I get into bed, pulling the covers over us.
We lay on our sides, facing each other. I can see Hope's still upset. He just looks down in depression. "Hey." He looks at me as I put my hand on his cheek. "You're going to be okay. We'll return to the real world one day, and Serah will be waiting for us there."
Hope smiles and gives a nod. "Yeah." Hope gets a little comfortable then falls asleep. I just watch him sleeping, then I lay on my bed and fall asleep.
I was nearly asleep until I was awakened by a pair of arms wrapped around me. I was startled, then I look to see it's only Hope. He's curled up close to me, laying his head on my shoulder. He's still asleep.
"Mom..." He mutters.
That caught me by surprise, he never called me his mother in his sleep. Not even that one night when he slept with me when he moved into my home.
"I'm not your mother," I tell him, even though I know he can't hear me. I wrap my arms around him, pulling him close. "But I am here. I'll keep you safe, Hope..." I give him a kiss on the forehead. "I promise."
[Flashback - Day 11]
Lightning has been busy for the past week. On the fifth day of the release in Warlords Wrath Online, she hands in her resignation to Lieutenant Amodar. Amodar is surprised and is wondering why she's turning in, but all she told is she has some business to take care of.
Lightning spent her time visiting Hope at the hospital. During her off time from that, she does some research on Warlords Wrath Online and the Argus company that created the game. The company was being sued by all the family members of the players trapped in the game. Lightning had a long conversation with the remaining employees of the company.
From what she learned, trapped players in the game weren't their ideal for Warlords Wrath Online. In fact, they knew nothing about it, being trapped in the game and dying in the real world wasn't even part of the Beta Tests. One thing's for certain: Kayaba Akihiko wasn't around for the release of the game. He was reported missing weeks before the release, leaving his assistant: Sugou Nobuyuki, to the project. But Sugou is now reported missing, for he disappeared the day before the game was released. Argus admits they don't know anything about trapping and killing the players with the helmets was in any way of Sugou's interest. Lightning's pretty suspicious with all that, but she doesn't have the time to figure this out.
Lightning got all the information she could get out of them. All of them has nothing helpful to release Hope from the death game, which leaves Lightning with only one other choice:
She has to go into the game and rescue him and the trapped players.
Presently, Lightning is in an illegal underground combat arena known as Dreadzone in the deadly underground city known as Doomstone. She is in the finals against a Manasvin Warmech. A large robotic scorpion with razor blades for claws.
The Manasvin Warmech makes the first strike, but Lightning avoids it by jumping back, shooting at it with her Gunblade. While the machine is recovering, Lightning charges in and attacks, striking at it with her weapon in sword mode. She manages to cut one of the arms off.
The Manasvin Warmech shoots its lasers at Lightning. She suffers damage from it, staggered back even, but she still stands her ground. The monster strikes at Lightning with its razor blades, but Lightning avoids the attack...just barely. She gets a cut on her cheek, then she starts attacking viciously at the Manasvin Warmech, up until the machine is no more and the entire thing collapses.
The crowd roars in cheer for Lightning's victory. Lightning puts away her Gunblade and leaves the arena.
Lightning walks on the streets of this dark criminal town, this time wearing a black hooded cape, passing all the trash fires and the graffiti walls. Lightning walks into this one ally, where a man with a glass eye, gold tooth, and in Russian winter clothing awaits. Xever, with Fang by his side.
"I heard how you did in arena. I've von millions from bets! Tonight! I eat like king!" Xever says.
"All right, I've done what you asked. Now it's time for you to upon your end of the bargain." Lightning says.
Xever gives a small 'hmm' and looks at Lightning for any signs of any bluff, then he turns to Fang and nods. Fang walks up to Lightning with a box and shoves it into her arms.
"Here you go, love," Fang says.
Fang steps back. Lightning takes a peek at what's inside. She's satisfied with the deal. "Thank you for your cooperation." She says as she turns and walks away.
"I don't get why you so interested in this," Xever says.
Lightning stops and answers without looking back. "Let's just say...I made a promise to someone close to me, and I attend to keep that promise...no matter what." Lightning continues on walking.
Fang looks at Xever, arms crossed. "You do realize that girl is signing her death warrant?"
