Hello there! I know that I went the first two chapters have been uncharacteristically short for me but I am hoping that this one will be more satisfying for you guys. Well, let's not waste any more time. Here is the next chapter!

Chapter 2

The Revival Item.

Kirito looked at the circular crystal in disbelief. Now was not the time to dwell on this, though. He would have time to question Klein later but, now, he had business to take care of once and for all.

Turning back to Kiyaba, he saw the look of shock on his former guild leader's face. The hate he felt for this man was overwhelming and it made the admiration he once had for him to pale in comparison. He had killed the person who had meant most to him in a world where he kept himself isolated. Kirito grasped the blade of Kiyaba's sword and began to pull it from his abdomen, the rage building in his newly resurrected body.

Once the sword was completely out of his body, he took one step closer to Kiyaba while Kiyaba took one step back, jaw still dropped. Kirito began to lift his swords as his enemy started backing away frantically as he pulled up his menu. Before Kirito could bring his weapon down on him, Kiyaba had used a teleport crystal to vanish.

"KIYABA!" Kirito cried out. As his breathing became normal again, he looked over at Klein. "Why didn't you revive Asuna!"

Klein's head hung in anguish as he spoke. "I was going to but then you had been stabbed."

"You still should have revived her over me!" Kirito screamed. "She needed to live!"

"SO DID YOU!" Klein shouted back. Kirito's face fell. "You don't get it, do you? You are the only one strong enough to beat him! Even if the rest of us trained for another year, we would never be as good as you, Kirito." Tears began flowing down his face. "Whether you like it or not, you are the savior of this world. Not me. Not Agil. Not…Asuna." He looked at the young man in front of him as he saw tears falling from Kirito's hidden eyes as they disappeared under his long bangs. "I was going to bring back Asuna, Kirito. Honestly. But once you died, I had a choice to make and it was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. And let me tell you something," Klein stood up, the paralysis gone along with the man who cast it. "I would do it again. Saving you will give us another chance of ending this world."

"I don't care." whispered Kirito. "I have nothing to live for without her now."

"Look," said Agil, standing up as well. "Kirito, I know how you feel-"

"No, you don't!" shouted Kirito looking at Agil for the first time.

Agil took a deep breath before speaking. "Yes, I do." Kirito looked at him as if he had said something insulting but listened, nonetheless. "There is something you guys don't know about me." Everyone around was now listening to Agil with rapt attention. "A year before this game started, my wife died." Kirito's expression softened slightly. "One night, we woke up to the sound of our house being robbed. At the time, we had just bought our new house and we were making renovations so I snuck into the hall closet where there was a sledgehammer. I crept down the stairs to see two robbers rummaging through the boxes that we hadn't gotten to unpack. I took another step on the stairs but this time, the stair creaked. Both robbers spun around but only one of them was holding a gun." Agil paused to clear his throat to keep himself from tearing up. "I had closed by eyes, waiting for the impact of the bullet but it never came. I opened my eyes again to see the robbers looking in shock passed me. I turned around to see my wife leaning against the wall a step above me on the staircase, covered in blood. She must've snuck up behind me to see what was going on. The robbers fled, not believing what they had done and I took her in my arms telling her everything would be okay." Agil bowed his head, as if in prayer. "But it wasn't. She died after a couple of minutes from loss of blood. Her last words to me were that she loved me and that it wasn't my fault." Taking another deep breath, he looked back up at Kirito with a small flash of anger. "I know what you are feeling, man. You feel responsible. Like if you had acted a second sooner, that you could have prevented something. Take it from me, there is nothing you could have done. Don't make her sacrifice be in vein and turn against the friends in your life. Let us help you take Heathcliff down."

Kirito felt ashamed but could not help but feel his heart sink further into his stomach as he thought of Asuna during Agil's story. He sighed. "Alright. I'm sorry but I can't think right now. We need to regroup. You guys open the gate to the next floor and I'm going to go back to start planning."

"No, man, come with us and-" started Klein but Agil stopped him with a shake of his head. "I mean, that sounds fine. Just make sure you meet up with us later."

"Yeah, okay."

Kirito picked his swords up from the ground and put them back in their scabbards when he saw Asuna's rapier lying on the ground a few feet away. He picked up his inherited weapon and with a painful sigh, returned it to his inventory.

As he started walking towards the door back to the seventy-fourth floor he heard something.

"Kirito." Looking around, Kirito noticed a member of The Knights of the Blood Oath running towards him. "Hey, Kirito! I need to talk to you before you go."

"What's up?" asked Kirito, flatly.

"I'm really sorry about what happened," said the knight. "but I think I know a way to get her back."

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I know it is full of emotions but I will make sure the next ones have more action. I'm going to be spending some time on the next few chapters so that I can upload multiple chapters at once. The crossover will be coming up soon. Thanks for reading!

-ASL-