AN: The story's coming to an end soon. Just letting you guys know.
I know that the chapter had a HUGE delay, and I'm really sorry for that.
I'm predicting that the story isn't going to hit 20 chapters. I might be wrong.
Chapter 14: The Army
"She's Yui." Dale explained. "She came out of the woods, chased by this wolf, and we killed it. Now she's clingy." Kirito facepalmed.
"Get her out."
"Hey, woah!" Klein interrupted, "What, we're gonna abandon her?!" Yui started to hug Klein instead. "Thank you!" she squealed, and Klein started to push her away. "Gotta admit though, she should stop the hugging thing."
"She's a more advanced AI than the other NPCs. I still don't know her actual purpose." Issin said.
"Did she hint anything?" Kirito responded, but Issin shook his head. "Nope. Just that her home was destroyed by a creature and her parents died, and we saved her or whatever."
"Well, we have to find her a new home then,"
"But I thought I was staying with you," Yui started to look at Kirito, tearing up. The teenager scratched his head and groaned nervously. "Okay, you're staying!" Kunimittz ran up to him.
"You're letting her stay here?!" he whispered furiously, through gritted teeth.
"I'm not made of stone! Go ahead, kick her out!" Kunimittz looked back at her, currently playing with Silica's dragon.
"Yeah, you're right." he confessed. Someone then came in from the porch. Suguha rubbed her eyes from her nap, and noticed the white girl.
"Who's she?"
"An AI that imprinted on us," Issin said, much to Dynamm's dismay.
"Dude, that just sounded… No." he stuttered, visibly embarrassed.
"Hello, who's this?" Kirito turned at the source of the sound. Asuna.
"It's an NPC. For some reason, she won't leave. No attached side quests I can think of." Kirito explained.
"Well, alright, I guess." She stared at Yui weirdly, then went on to her business. Recon opened the sliding door quietly, and took a seat, disregarding the NPC, having heard the previous conversations.
"Alright, could everyone sit down?" His guild sat down before him, and Kirito did a quick head count.
"Everyone's here. Now, sorry for the small house, but we have to hide. I don't think there's anyone in this floor, but still don't go outside a lot. At least, not in the main towns."
"How are we going to solve this?" Issin asked. Kirito looked at him bleakly.
"I don't know. I really don't know." He said solemnly. A moment passed. Yui looked around at the silent group, frowning.
"All of you should lighten up!" she declared, shocking Kirito up from his
tress. "What do you mean?" he replied, looking at the slightly enraged child.
"You're acting like it's the end of the world. It's not. Can't you do something?"
"The second-largest guild wants our head! It's not like we can do a lot right now!" Kunimittz responded. She shook her head.
"Maybe you can get support!"
"That's ridiculous!" Dynamm facepalmed.
"Hold up." Issin interrupted. Kirito followed the exchange, interested.
"Maybe we could. I'm not even kidding, perhaps we could get the support of-"
"Let me guess, the guilds I brought in the 74th boss?" Kirito interjected, but Issin waved him off.
"No, those guilds won't make a dent. No, I meant the ALF. The Army. We saved their men, right? Maybe we can return the favour-"
"I'd be weird just walking up to them and be like: Bro, DDA's poundin' on me, back me up!" Harry Two added. Kirito nodded.
"Yeah, you're right." Issin was going to dismiss his idea completely, when Asuna spoke up.
"You're missing something. After Keita defended us, what would the DDA do? After trying to kill us, how would you think they would react when the Black Cats interfered with their 'justice'?" Kirito's eyes widened.
"Oh, crap."
"We have to find out where the DDA imprisoned captured people." Dale said, "That would lead us to them."
"The Black Iron Castle, right? That's where orange players are imprisoned."
"Wait, you guys are ignoring something." Issin spoke. "What if the Black Cats are-" "Dude, don't do this," Dynamm groaned, but his pleas are ignored.
"Dead?" he finished. Asuna hardened.
"They are not dead!" she said loudly, glaring at Issin. "They can't be." Her voice lowered. Issin nodded.
"Alright."
"I guess all we have to do is teleport there, right?" Klein asked.
"Yeah, pretty much. But…" he looked at the window. No sign of the sun anymore, only the black night. "We have to rest first."
Yui looked at Recon. He stayed in one spot, and has said nothing at the recent conversation. Everyone else retired to bed, but he just went outside and faced the nearby lake and stayed awake, hood up. She walked and sat beside him.
"Hello, I'm Yui. What's wrong?" she said, following her basic guidelines for cheering someone up.
"Hi. And, nothing's wrong." He quickly shifted focus to the lake again.
Press the subject harder.
"Something's keeping you up." She responded.
"I guess I could, you're an NPC. Well, do you know why we're in this problem?"
"No…"
"It's because of me. I'm responsible. Ever since I threw one of my knives, we spiralled down into this mess!"
"Knives?"
"It was coated with a poison. That can help you kill."
"It can't be that bad," Yui replied. Recon faced her with a surprised look. "When people die, they die. The poison makes victims helpless from murderers! You don't understand that?" Yui paused.
The people screaming and crying from the start... Is this what they were afraid of? Dying? Yui thought. She assumed they were just extremely sad.
She was designed to be almost human, to communicate with other humans fluidly. The pinnacle of artificial intelligence. Able to react realistically to a human. But she wasn't completely sentient. Every emotion was in some degree, simulated.
She was created to mingle and cheer up players from their woes. She took their fears into account.
"You're sad because you don't want to die?" she asked bluntly. "Well, yes, it's pretty
obvious. And it's Akihiko Kayaba's fault." Recon said. With disgust. Yui tried searching him up on Cardinal, but was denied.
"Must be scary."
"You wouldn't know. You're a program."
Klein sniffed, and opened his eyes. Light beamed from the windows, little dust particles floating in the sunlight. Kirito slept pretty deeply, thankfully not snoring. He sat up and walked around half awake, almost accidentally stepping on Silica's face. She moved from the living room to sleep in the bedroom floor. Klein left the bedroom and looked at the living room, crowded by the forwards, producing a significant amount of noise pollution, with Yui at the centre of it all, sleeping in a bedroll presumably placed by one of them. He carefully navigated around Dynamm and Dale, who took the hallway.
He went to the bathroom, to find Kirito's sister slumped in the bathtub. No bedroll or anything, just slept on the bathtub with full armor. He washed his face, then proceeded to go outside to the porch. Curiously, only Recon was there, and awake too. A bedroll was set up, but he only lied down, staring at the sky.
"Good morning," Klein said casually, and Recon looked at him, and back to the sky.
"Hi,"
"What's wrong?"
Recon sighed. "Yui asked me that last night. For some reason, she got off topic, I dunno."
"There's something wrong. You're sorta like Kirito. Every time you two get stressed out, you guys escape social interaction."
"Wait, really?"
"Kirito needed time after he pretty much raged at you and his sister. As in, a couple months."
"Oh, right."
"Just tell me," Klein chuckled. Recon shrugged.
"Well, everything's my fault. We're in this mess is because I know how to paralyze. It links me to murderers!" he vented. Klein nodded. "Grow up." Recon's mouth dropped. "What?"
"Grow up. I'm pretty sure sulking isn't the solution."
"Um… Okay," he saw the brown haired teen's sullen look.
"Look, I know you're sad and all, but if you don't want to be part of the problem, be part of the solution." Klein started to walk back to the cabin. Recon put the bedroll back in his inventory, and looked around. The lake reflected the sun, already a considerable distance up from the horizon, a soft breeze slowly swaying the trees around. Some guild members started to wake up, and walk around, looking for food, and talking softly. Kirito was looking around at cupboards, for something to eat. Recon turned his back from the lake, heading indoors.
"Silica?" Kirito approached the small dragon girl. Pina was nibbling on a biscuit.
"Yeah?"
"I need you to see whether the Black Cats are on the prison or not,"
"I don't know about this…" Silica responded nervously.
"Just don't wear anything with our logo, be inconspicuous, then sneak in. All you gotta do is get in, find them, and teleport out."
"Look, it's not like I can just go out and do that!" Silica paused. "What if I get caught?" Harry Two overheard this, and yelled.
"Wait, caught?!" Everyone looked at Kirito.
Well, I tried being discreet… he thought.
"Yeah, I'm trying to get Silica to see if the Black Cats are actually there."
"But it's not just scouting out a trail!" Dynamm reacted, and Klein stepped in. "So you're saying, she can't handle it?" Klein threw an accusing look at Dynamm. Silica pushed both of then away from each other, sensing the tension.
"Hey! I'll do it. If it helps us, I'll do it." She resolved. Kirito nodded, and saw that everyone in the guild was up after Harry Two's yelp..
He then projected map data of Floor One, as a hologram.
"Alright, the Teleport Gate is right in front of the Black Iron Castle, where the Black Cats are probably in. The Army occupies the fort, and we're gonna assume the DDA would be here too."
"Why?" Recon asked. Kirito was rather surprised he was here, but didn't show it.
"They saw the Black Cats defend us. They know we have some kind of relationship with them. Besides, nothing wrong with being careful anyways."
"Aren't we friends with the ALF?" Issin asked.
"Really?"
"You seriously forgot Gleam Eyes?"
"Oh, right!" Kirito facepalmed. "Forgot that."
"Maybe we can convince them to release the Cats,"
"The ALF isn't exactly lenient," Suguha added, "Their sub-leaders force 'taxes' on the people there who are really behind in levels. And the leader controls all the spawn points there, so some players are trapped there, too weak to got to Floor 2."
"How do you know this? And who's the leader?"
"Me and Recon have been in the Starting City longer than you think. Oh, and I think to leader's name is Kibaou."
"Oh, crap," Klein groaned, leaning against a wall. "Kirito, do you remember the first boss battle? The dude I punched."
"It was the ALF leader, wasn't it? Yeah, we can't ask him."
"Illfang was two years ago. Surely he wouldn't hold a grudge?" Dale said. "Yeah, he will. I defended Kirito, a beta tester. And he really doesn't like them."
"You shouldn't have stood up for me, Klein."
"Nah, it was still worth it."
"Okay, so Silica actually has to sneak in."
"Only way in's front door. I'm pretty sure there's guards." Issin added.
"We create a distraction." Asuna offered. "Maybe we can cause some chaos."
"I have the perfect solution." Recon said.
"Alright. Now when we get to the Starting City, we go in shifts. Not the whole group at once. And we have to wear starting equipment, starting weapons. And Silica, hide your dragon somehow. And tell Yui to stay here." Issin laid out the plan, and menu chimes filled the room.
And Yui was nowhere to be seen. Not that anyone noticed.
"And we probably have to disband the guild too. They can tell what guild we're in just by looking at us. And DDA probably told them to keep a lookout."
Kirito saw everybody's uncertain looks. "It's just gonna be a little while. We'll still be in parties." Klein, now clad in a red shirt and basic armor, walked out of the cabin and went to the town with the Teleport Gate.
"I'll take first shift."
Kirito saw the last of the members come through the inn door, escorted by Klein, who was watching the Teleport Gate. They stayed at a inn nearby the Black Iron Castle, a glass window showing the front. Sure enough, a guard is there at the entrance.
"Okay, Silica,when the guard is distracted, put on your cloak and sneak in. Avoid people, and move slowly. Don't rush." Kirito advised. Silica nodded. Her dragon was under the table.
"Recon, what's your plan?"
"I'm actually just going to stare at him while walking by. It'll distract him, even for a little while."
"Good enough then."
The plan went to action. Silica put on her black cloak, the guild patch cut out, and went outside, approaching the castle's side, and went into hiding mode.
Hiding mode is activated by selecting the skill in the menu. A number appears in the HUD, from 1, hidden, to 10, visible. The number sinks depending on some factors, like how close a person is to you, gear, colour of the gear, a player's searching skill, and so on. Kirito saw Silica disappear.
"Recon, go." He walked towards the guard, glaring. The guard stared back, and Recon started to walk away, but still held the guard's attention. Kirito barely saw Silica's outline get into the castle.
"She's in."
Silica snuck in the entrance, and saw a giant room, with tables, and food, with a giant domed ceiling. Army players walked around, eating. A giant table was in the centre, and Kibaou and some other players, probably Sub-Leaders.
Her Hiding rate alternated between 1 and 2 as she sneaked towards a steel door. She stopped, and opened it a bit. She checked if anyone was watching, then quickly entered. There was some stairs and torches, and she slowly went down. Two other entrances, on each side, presented itself. She heard talking in one room, and she quickly went in. Two rows of jail cells were built on the walls, and a mix of orange players and Laughing Coffin members were present.
And so was the Moonlit Black Cats.
Silica started to get out of the castle, but a light suddenly appeared in front of her. Her dragon teleported to her.
"Pina… What?!"
A dozen soldiers opened the door.
"Apparently new sections keep appearing at least once a month..." The player in front said, and suddenly stopped.
"Who are you?!"
Silica jumped over the soldiers, and busted through the doors, alerting everyone. Kirito ran past the guard, and his suspicions are correct; the dragon teleports to it's master when separated too much. The rest followed. Army players started to cover the entrance. A Sub Leader stood up.
"What the hell are you doing here?! Get out!" The Army players started to step aside from the entrance.
"Wait."
Kirito froze, and slowly turned around.
"When the DDA dropped off prisoners, they said to keep a lookout. They told me, what you did. And what your guild held." Kibaou said slowly.
"Give it to me, or else."
"Give what?" Kirito tried to lie. Kibaou slammed the table.
"You know what!"
"No!" Recon shouted. Soldiers started to mutter, speculating the secret. The brownish-haired leader walked up to them.
"It's this, or imprisonment."
"You know we're Clearers right? Otherwise, how would you have recognized us? Throw us to the dungeons, and you're only slowing this game's progress." Issin shot back to Kibaou, but he seemed unfazed.
"Please. When the ALF returns to the front lines, you'll be replaced." Kibaou scoffed. "You'll be forgotten pretty quickly."
"We won't give it to you, but we'll trade places with a guild you're keeping captive for the wrong reasons." Asuna said. Kibaou shook his head. "No."
"You can't imprison us."
"I can't damage you. But I can certainly grab you."
"Then we surrender." Kirito called. Kibaou frowned. "Are you sure?" Klein nodded, accepting his fate.
"Yes."
Kibaou then took out a Corridor Crystal. Issin noticed it.
"What are you doing?" Kibaou raised it. A giant gate appeared inside the room, with a bluish energy-like veil in between sides.
"Nevermind. Not the dungeon. In here."
"Wait, what's on the other side?!" Kirito shouted, then was grabbed by two players, each with an iron grip. The Fūrin Kazan members were forced to go closer to the portal.
"Are you seriously going to toss me there?!" Dynamm fruitlessly tried to shake his way out.
"I'm sorry."
"Give me the recipe!" Kibaou demanded again. "No!" Kirito saw that the Sub Leaders weren't reacting. Like they did this before.
All the more reason to restrict the paralytic poison.
"We saved your men, and this is how you repay us?!" He desperately played that card.
"You humiliated the ALF. Showing that we can't handle bosses now." Kibaou hardened. The players started to question their orders. But followed Kibaou anyway.
"Throw them in!"
They were pushed in at the same time, teleported.
Yui watched from afar, and teleported.