~Posiden666: Hello, it's been awhile… A year you say? (Checks watch.) heh… I guess it has. I've been working on my other fic Heart of Lead, which you'll probably like if you enjoyed this one so far.
There will be combat in this chapter; I apologize in advance.
From now on I'll be trying to significantly cut down on the number of reviews I respond to in the A/N. From now on I'll be P.M. replying.
Anyways: reviews!
Reviews:
Alternet RedSkys: Now that I'm working on two fics, I'm willing to blow this plot up. I've decided not to pair Alex. They're too cool for that. Good decision.
~Patient 0 Zero: Why thank you. I took your last review into account when I was deciding how to end it. Close. So very close.
(~)Apathetic Plot Bunneh: Thanks, that means quite a bit. At the beginning of this fic I was an absolutely atrocious writer. Yeah… the transitions to Alex are a bit difficult, given that they're the only character written in first person. Sorry.
JhinAza: Thanks, I've gotten a lot better. Well, I think that since I've butterfly affected so much, that their characters are totally plausible. For instance, Shino got bullied at school for three fewer years; Kazuto isn't going through the game Lone-Wolf.
To all the people offering criticism: I thank you and I've tried to take your reviews into account.
To all the people asking for updates: here it is.
The Archery Skill
Chapter 15: The End?
As the giants drew closer, Sinon's mind raced, her body moving instinctively into a battle stance. "Kirito!" she yelled, "I'll focus Greed. You clear the creeps."
"Roger."
Sinon took a deep breath and ran to the right of the hulking boss, letting loose an arrow to draw its aggro. Greed let out an animalistic roar and turned his eyes to her; they gleamed with desire.
"Ugg," she growled under her breath. "Why did Kayaba have to make the bosses creepers too?" She nocked another arrow and rolled to the right, barely missing the devastating impact of the boss's scepter. She closed her eyes for a split second, hearing Kirito smashing mirrors into thousands of singing shards behind her, focused on the sound, and let the arrow fly. It soared towards the giant's bloodshot left eye, and just before impact, it exploded into thousands of tiny polygons that hurled themselves into the bloodshot orb. The boss screamed, and [Depth Perception [X] [1:00]] appeared over its head. Its health bar had barely moved, and it staggered back into place quickly, blood streaming down its gnarled face.
Sinon smiled, slinging her bow onto her back, and stopped kiting the boss, drawing her dagger and dashing towards it. Greed raised his scepter and brought it down with devastating force, missing her by an inch as she swerved, the shaking ground almost enough to make her trip.
Sinon readied her dagger for an attack as she ran, whipping three throwing picks from her thigh strap. The boss grinned and swept its leg at her as it raised the scepter to present a threat of counterattack. Sinon quickly calculated the situation and bit her lip. "[Sonic Leap]," she cried, rocketing out of the way of its leg and sending her straight for his neck.
Greed swung his free hand at the girl, appearing to have checkmated his stunned assailant. Sinon smirked; daggers had the lowest cooldowns for sword-skills in the game. It was said that if one's reactions were fast enough, a dagger user could activate a skill while using a different one. Sinon spun in mid air, throwing her picks at the giant's left shoulder, which caused the foe's attack to slow, and activated [Linear]. The girl changed directions in mid-air and shot into the chest of the hulking enemy to inflict only slight damage, but the maneuver had saved her from the lethal attack.
The penalty for using two skills at once kicked in and Sinon felt her body lock up on cooldown. The dagger slipped out of the boss's chest and she fell back to the ground with a dull thud. "Damn it," she cursed weakly, having not expected to fall. The king licked his lips and brought his scepter down heavily onto the earth where she lay, cratering the ground.
Kirito tore through the throngs of enemies with ease. He was a whirlwind of death, slashing, blocking, and dodging, but mostly slashing. The enemies were so weak. Most fell with only a single swing. They had no coordination, but despite all his efforts their numbers never seemed to decrease.
Kirito leapt back, far above the heads of his enemies, astonished; he had killed at least a hundred and yet they took up the same amount of space. As he landed, he caught five voidlings with their backs turned. He yelled [Horizontal], felling all of them in a single strike.
He felt pain, so he spun around to catch another with the edge of his blade, looking down to survey the damage. Two swords through his chest, and he paused, his head whirling. Suddenly, it was not two, but twenty. Paralyzed, Kirito's face was a mask of terror as he saw the last sliver of his health bar disappear.
"Hinrich!"
"Yes?" asked the man on the throne in the middle of the room. He was shrouded in darkness, save his circular glasses which gleamed gold with the reflection of the brass city surrounding them.
"They're dead."
A deafening pause. A faraway prick of red light on the city's skyline blinked lazily, once, twice.
"Well…" sighed the man, pushing himself from the throne and flipping open a gleaming brass pocket watch, "that simply won't do."
Kirito winced as the neon purple [You are dead] message appeared, dominating his darkened vision. He fell to his knees, wincing, and unconsciously let a tear fall from his eye. He wasn't ready to die. He couldn't do that to her.
A bright light engulfed the boy and the faint outline of the world disappeared. Kirito blinked, through his blurry vision he saw that he was surrounded by brilliant shades of pink and orange. It was as if he was part of the most beautiful sunset imaginable. His eyes adjusted to the blinding light. He was floating in the sky; beautiful clouds swirled around him so close he could touch them.
In the distance was a castle, a floating metal fortress, sides shining with the pastel light of the setting sun. It amazed Kirito that something so beautiful could claim so many innocent lives. Aincrad. That steel prison that had stolen the futures of so many of his comrades. That cold iron arena which had made him sacrifice his humanity just to survive. A tragedy that, to him, surpassed even that of the death of his parents. But it was more than any one of those things; it was also the familiar brass palace that held his most cherished memories.
And his most cherished person…
"What do you mean that 'won't do?'" Zoë yelled, the sound startling in the perfect silence, her hair falling in her face, "Two of my friends just died! What's your plan? What were those things that were attacking them? Who were those girls?"
"Heathcliff, dearest, please do try to calm down; it's unbecoming of you," the man with the pocket watch said. "What you have witnessed today is merely the tip of the iceberg; this game is rotten to its core."
"Hinrich, why must you always be so cryptic? You clearly know things no one else does," she took a step forward and stared him down, "I'm afraid I'll no longer be able to assist you if you continue to keep me in the dark, sir." It was said as a threat, her eyes in shadow, her posture tense.
"Fine, I suppose I've had my fun," Hinrich conceded. He stood, his presence monolithic.
"My true name is Akihiko Kayaba, and the world as you know it is a lie."
[5:00 until data dump complete], mocked a notification.
He had five minutes left to live. Five minutes that would serve no purpose but to taunt him for his utter uselessness. No purpose but to force him to remember his last vision of her over and over again. A vision of her leaping directly into an attack from The Greed of Kings. He had to remember how he had failed her. He was sobbing now, hunched over kneeling on some invisible platform in the sky, miles away from the metallic cathedral that had saved him from himself just over a year ago, doomed to spend his last moments alone and pathetic.
"No," he whispered. Kirito sat up and rubbed his eyes. "I'm not gonna die," he said, standing up.
[3:00 until data dump complete] the notification chimed in.
The boy took a breath, a new intensity in burning in his eyes, and stared at the floating mass of metal that he had grown so fond of. He had never felt so loved or needed before; he had never truly felt 'home' until being trapped in Aincrad. For the first time since he could remember, he had true friends. Agil, Diavel, Asuna, Zoë, Alex, Klein… No, they were more than friends; they were his family. Each of them would die for him, and he would do the same for them.
Looking to Aincrad again, he saw a figure looking out at the castle about seven meters away. It was a girl with medium length dark brown hair. She was wearing a pale blue sweater, a tan plaid skirt, and white socks. Her brown scarf fluttered lightly in the gentle breeze. She turned her head to the boy, her glasses sparkling in the light, and smiled.
[2:00 until data dump complete]
Kirito walked over beside the girl and silently gazed at the swirling clouds and colors.
"It's so beautiful isn't it?" The girl sighed.
"Yeah," Kirito said wistfully.
"I'm gonna miss it… I'm gonna miss you…" she whispered, almost to herself.
Kirito looked at the girl in mild confusion and realized she was crying. "Hey," Kirito started, "don't cry…"
"Why?" She asked. "We're dead, Kirito. How do you not cry?"
"I…" he stammered, "I need to be strong."
The girl looked up at him and shook her head, more tears beginning to well up in her eyes. "You don't have to be strong anymore. Not for me, not for anyone." She took his hand in hers and gave him a weak smile.
Kirito's heart raced; was this wrong? He blinked. "Sinon?"
[1:00 until data dump complete]
"Yes?" The girl replied without hesitation.
"Why do you look so different?"
"Huh?" The girl asked, wiping the virtual tears away with her sleeve.
"Yeah, you have brown hair and eyes instead of blue… Not that I don't like it…" he said. "I think it makes you look cuter actually."
"Thanks," Sinon said. "This is the other me. My name is Shino Asada; it's a pleasure to meet you…" She let go of his hand and offered a handshake.
"Kazuto Kirigaya," Kirito declared, completing the handshake.
Sinon giggled and hugged him.
[0:30 until data dump complete]
"Sinon, how much time do you have left?" Kirito asked urgently.
"Uhh, thirty seconds," she replied weakly.
"Same…" he said.
"Hey Kirito?" She hummed.
"Yes?"
"Could you call me Shino?"
"Of course, Shino-chi." He smiled, kissing her forehead.
[0:20 until data dump complete]
"I don't want to die, Kirito!" Shino cried, hugging him tighter.
"I don't want to die either, Shino," He whispered into her ear.
[0:15 until data dump complete]
"I love you, Shino," Kirito said, beginning to cry again.
"I love you too."
Kirito kissed her forehead and pulled slightly away from the girl, gazing into her warm brown eyes.
[0:10 until data dump complete]
"Shino, if it wasn't for you I probably would've died or lost my mind a long time ago," He stammered, [5] "Because we were here together [4] this past year is the only time [3] I've really felt alive [2] in my whole life."
[Data dump completion imminent]
Shino was sobbing now but it wasn't for her fear of death, "I LOVE YOU!" she yelled, and kissed him with all the passion of all the love they might have shared were they not about to die.
A/N: Yeah… I'll just let that sink in…
…
Okay, first off, the story will continue. Secondly, if you liked the fic up to this point you will probably like the next chapter as well. Thirdly, The Archery Skill is no longer on hiatus… (yay)
I'm going to make a point to update as soon as possible after I'm done with the next chapter of Heart of Lead (Shameless self-advertising)
I'd like to give a big thank you to my cool as heck beta readers ~Mauriot and ~Xyzantylzethyrioses
And hey, if you like something about this chapter… or dislike something about this chapter… or if this chapter makes you feel, like, literally anything (or even nothing at all) leave a review or P.M. me. It really does make a difference.
Okay, this is the last thing, I promise. To all of you who have checked out the Sinoto community: Thank You. It's because of awesome people like you that Sinon X Kirito is now, officially, the best pairing.
