~Posiden666: Hey, so I'm hoping temporal progression stopped… No? Darn. Then this is probably late.

So I don't like OC's, I've stated this before, that being said, I'm adding a new OC.

Happy new year! So I was gonna resolve to not post late… but I think we all know how long that'll last. So instead, I'm just going to try to post faster. Also, if you are REALLY annoyed at my posting 'schedule' I'm starting a twitter feed Posiden666

Reviews:

(guest)Guest: I'm not using the phrase with it's literal definition, per se. I translate more like 'Certainly' or 'Truthfully'

Ethan. lukkar: Authors must hate you. Just write what you think of the chapter, and that's what a review should be. There's nothing worse than empty praise.

Stormagedon69: Kirito was down a really deep hole, I think it she just decided it wasn't worth the climb.

~Symbiote2254: Cool, thanks. It's plotty.

Patient 0 Zero: B-but… Zeppelins… I needed suspense(ish) to make this chapter feel right. Here it is: the update.

Anonymos112: It is super cute. Usually this pairing is all angsty, so I decided to write a much cuter story, and that is this.

AfterlifeXD: Cool, have some.

~Antex-The Legendary Zoroark: Okay, wow, lots of 'em. (1): Yeah, it's definitely not my best.(Was that an Offspring reference?). (3): Idk, maybe, i didn't mean for it to come off that way. (4): I HAVE NO MALE OC's! If you mean Alex, yes THEY will be. (6): The magic of plot twists and Chaos Butterflies. (7): Thank you, cute is my goal in life. As well you should. (9): I think Ch 9 is my favorite. (11): I don't know, I'm trying to be better about that, thank you. (13): Read on and find out.

(guest)SexySinon: It wasn't thaaat long a wait.

Serafis: I don't like rushing things… Any things. Sorry about that, and thank you!

Alternet RedSkys: That's deep man. I think I'll take that as a compliment.

~Thepkrmgc: That's because that's when you show readers the butterfly ripples.

(guest)Sinoto Forever: Thank you, I go for cute. Cute should be the first thing to come to mind when you think of this fic.

~KirigayaKazutoisbadass: Thanks. I'm tryin to get better about that Don't worry, I won't abandon this fic.

AlexCaffri: Ikr, Argo's my second favorite character. Awwe, how'd you figure it out.

Okay, so the next review has some kinda useful info in it, so you should at least read the bold stuff.

(guest)Shirito: First off, thank you for your huge review, you're the best kind of reader (And you criticized too, yay!) Yes, the first two are terrible. I've tried to fix it, but short of doing a blind re-write, I haven't been able to find much in particular to fix (I'm working on re-writing it.) I'm glad to hear they get better. Well, for Sinon, I partly attribute that to the fact that for the first time in forever she has friends. Friends tend to make people happier. As for Asuna, she's intentionally OOC. And Kirito… Well, I don't know. Nope, Liz sends Kirito the swords after she recovered a little, and Kirito immediately pursues Sinon. Hmm, interesting idea, I think I'll poll it: Review Poll: who do you think I should pair Alex with, because I have no ideas. Actually, I'm not the only one In control of this fic, I've made a number of rather large plot decisions based on reader's criticism and suggestions. ^_^

BigBossFTW: No. And it never will be 'till it's marked as complete.

Yeah, let's just get to the cute parts… and the plot parts… and maybe the combat parts (haven't done that in a while.)


The Archery Skill

Chapter 14: "The Girl of Evening Stars"


Floor 56 was a death trap. Almost the entire floor was in constant night. It was said that falling asleep there would cause nightmare events that were supposed to be fatal; random [Meteor Strike] events happened quite often, dealing lethal damage without warning. There were no buildings, no NPC's, and ever since the floor had been cleared, almost no players. Currently, the population was one. In the center was the teleport gate, surrounded by large, imposing stone slabs. Lurking among these was a figure, dressed all in black. The lurker seemed to be waiting for something. The gate lit up, someone was approaching.

Sinon stepped through the gate; it was dark even though it was the middle of the day. The sky was filled with stars, millions of beautiful stars. From behind one of the stones surrounding the gate, she heard a voice say, "I've been waiting for you, Sinon."

"What do you want?" The girl hissed.

"We need to talk," said the voice.

"I don't think we need to talk," she said, "I know what I saw."

"Sinon," the voice started, its source stepping out of the shadows, "What you saw was a misunderstanding."

"Oh?" Sinon scoffed.

The voice's owner stepped out of the shadows and started walking towards the bluenette.

"Get away from me," she cried, "I-I…" her voice trailed off, a tear running down her cheek.

"What?" he asked.

"I hate you!" she screamed, drawing her bow and nocking an arrow.

"Sinon…" he whispered, before being impaled by the arrow, "Please…" Another, his health dropped to yellow. He continued to walk towards her. She fired a third arrow. Kirito made no attempt to dodge. It struck him in the stomach causing him to wince slightly; but he continued. "Stop!" she yelled, her hands fumbling for a fourth arrow.

"Or what?" He asked, cocking his head.

"I'll fire!"

"Go ahead," he encouraged, "This one's likely to kill me since I'm not wearing defensive gear." He started closing the distance between them again.

She released the arrow. It sailed over his right shoulder, leaving a faint red line on Kirito's cheek. He didn't even flinch.

"Sinon," the boy in black said, grasping the girl's shoulders. She struggled briefly, but surrendered at his embrace, "I love you…" He whispered, "And I would never intentionally do anything to cause you distress."

Her heart pounded, and her ears were ringing with the words he had had just spoken. Those three little words that warmed her very soul. She looked up at Kirito, her eyes red with tears, "Dummy," Sinon sighed, sinking into the boy's arms, "But if you ever sleep with another girl again. You will pay dearly."


"I'm so bored!" Sinon exclaimed.

"Maybe you shouldn't have shot me then," Kirito remarked.

"Shh."

"Well now we're stuck on this deadly and empty floor until your status goes back to green."

"That doesn't matter, this is all your-" she started to before noticing a bright streak appear in the sky. A deep rumble followed as the floor shook with the impact of a meteor. "C'mon!" the girl, commanded, "I bet whatever just landed is some kind of event or mini-dungeon."

"Whatever," the boy grumbled, following her lead.

They jogged for at least ten minutes, their agility stats leaving them not the slightest bit winded when they arrived at their destination.

Before them, lay a flaming crater roughly 40 meters in diameter.

Her eyes now adjusted to the flame's brightness, could just make out an object in the center of the impact site. "Kirito!" She yelled excitedly.

"Wha-"

"Let's go down there," she begged, pointing to the shape at the bottom, standing in the sea of fire that it had created through its impact.

He gawked at the girl for a moment before inspecting the object further. It appeared to be a meteor, yet it also had a strange translucency and luster to it. "I don't know, that's a lot of fire," he remarked.

"*Pfft* A little fire never hurt anyone." She slid down into the crater and started running towards the center; Kirito let out a sigh and slid after her.

As they approached, the object became more distinct. It was a large round boulder that appeared to be made of a vaguely blue, translucent crystal. Through the material, Kirito could just barely perceive two humanoid shapes.

The crystal began to fracture, the material rapidly filling with sharp refracting lines. Finally, it exploded into a shower of luminous polygons which diffused the surrounding orange glow of the fire beautifully. Lying where the monolith was once lodged were two young girls, one in a ghostly white dress with dark hair. She appeared to be unconscious and her skin had numerous red damage marks that appeared and faded at random. Her face was contorted and it was obvious that she was in pain. The other, looking slightly older and having snow-white hair, wore midnight black dress of the same fashion. She stirred, her eyes batting open. She bolted upright, her eyes full of panic and concern. She looked around desperately, noticing the couple, but her eyes came to rest on the girl beside her.

"Nee-chan!" She yelled, embracing her unconscious figure. She fixed her gaze on the adventurers and pleaded, "Please, you must help my sister, she's being corrupted…" A tear rolled down her cheek, hitting the ground and sparkling with a trail of polygons as it vanished from the air, "Here they come."

As if on cue, a number of yellow cursors appeared at the rim of the crater, completely surrounding them. A roar came from the monsters: they charged. Kirito slid the sword off his back and sighed; today was not supposed to go like this. Sinon readied her bow and nocked an arrow.

As the horde approached they began to be able to make out the shapes of their assailants: they were vaguely humanoid, but their bodies seemed to shift around and their skin was pitch black with no texturing. Radiating from these dark creatures, were polygons, similar to the ones known and hated by every SAO player, only these were an even more menacing color: a bloody crimson, the same ones that spurted from slash marks and stab wounds. The seemed like rips in the very code of Aincrad.

One was charging directly at Kirito, not five meters away. He prepared his sword and waited, spinning when it was within reach. His sword sliced cleanly through the monster, but it's sword continued after it's wielder's demise, striking him on the cheek. His health dropped only slightly. Ten more took the felled enemy's place. Behind him, he could hear Sinon firing arrows constantly, and shattering sounds could be heard after each one. Kirito took a deep breath, then became a whirlwind of death, cutting down any shade brave enough to enter his range. The number of enemies dwindled to almost none but then suddenly they all stopped charging, making a formation on either side of the couple, and standing motionless.

Sinon's attention returned to the girl and her sister, she knelt down beside the girl in black and began to rub her back. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"Don't worry about me; I'm fine…" the girl looked again to the unconscious figure, "It's her you should worry about," she sighed her gaze drifting to the rim of the crater. "But we have three problems now."

"What-" Sinon asked before a great rumbling cut her off.

The rumbling continued 'till two titanic heads could be seen coming up over opposite sides of the horizon. Their names read [The Greed of Kings] and [The Envy of Mortals]; the definite article indicating that they were floor bosses, which was odd given that they weren't in a Labyrinth, and that this floor's boss had already been defeated.

As the two giants came further into view, their huge proportions became more evident. They jumped into the crater, the ground below their feet fracturing and crumbling. The simultaneous impact left Sinon and Kirito's ears ringing.

They were now completely surrounded, the bosses opposite each other and the formations of voidlings covering the other directions. The giants now stood at full height and could be referenced against the smaller enemies. They were each about seven meters tall. One was dressed as a king: his sickening grin had holes and golden caps. His jeweled crown lay askew atop his head, but missing several precious stones that obviously belonged there. He wore robes that appeared to be fashioned out of fine silk, but they were faded and tattered with use, and his pockets were stuffed with valuables like golden coins and gems. He held a gold and ruby scepter which was also missing jewels.

The other was dressed in rags and had a bladed whip in hand. His hair was long and dirty, and his skin was covered in scars. The giant's tongue lolled out of his mouth, it was devilish and forked. Their eyes were demonic, and pitch black.

They each raised their respective weapons, letting out guttural roars, and charged.


Zoë sat in her office. The sun had nearly set, giving the penthouse a magnificent brass glow from the city and airships all around. Next to her stood Alex, who was pulling on her sleeve and whining about going home. The girl heard a ping, and looked to her HUD, opening the message she had received. Suddenly, she stood up, and Alex exclaimed, "Finally!"

"Alex," said Zoë, "Meet me outside the spire in ten minutes."

"But… What are you going to do? Can I help"

"No!" She scolded, making her sibling look hurt.

"Fine," Alex huffed, turning and storming out of the office. She looks forlornly after them, she almost makes a move to follow, but then remembers the important message she received. She sits back down in her chair, clasps her hands on the desk, and stares into the darkest of the now lengthening shadows in the room.

A voice resonates from nowhere, "Finally, alone."

She continues to stare into the shadow, "Most people start with 'hello,' Hinrich."

"I'm not most people, Ms. Heathcliff."

She sighs, "my name's not heathcliff, that's just-"

"The name I gave you, I know," says the mysterious voice.

"What do you want?" She re directs.

"Oh," he sighs, "Just to talk."

"About what?" Zoë inquires.

A vague outline of a man steps from the shadows, "Kirito."


A/N: Hey there, I hope this chapter was enough to whet your appetite for the plot-slaught (An onslaught or large amount of plot thrown into a story within a small amount of time and/or words) that's about to take place. I know I'm turning into one of those really out there, over the top plotlines, with big swinging dramatic unexpected arcs; when what I promised you was just a big pile of cute and an SAO re-write, but please, try to bear with me… It'll continue to be cute: I swear.

R&R please, you guys don't know how much this helps, and also, why not try to guess what's going on. If you're the first to guess the correct primary antagonist for this arc, I'll give you a shoutout in the next chapter, and even let you name the next OC when I introduce one

And while you do that, why not criticize me in your review, I mean, there's so many things you could tell me I don't do right it's almost silly.

Also, a poll: Who do you want Alex paired with, please leave suggestions in your comments.

Hey, and if you really like this fic, and haven't visited your favorite psychiatrist yet: DO SO IMMEDIATELY!

Also, If you're wondering what happened to the laughing coffin sub-arc, It's still going to happen, I'm just figuring out how to put it in.

I'd like to give a shout out to the beta testers who helped get this chapter mostly how I wanted It: ~Furballnerd, and ~Loading Error 404. Thanks, y'all are lifesavers (Not the candy).