Sword Art Online: A Maiden's Voyage

L.T: sorry it's taken so long, but I'm finally able to get a chapter out! This one is gonna be epic! I'm going to skip ahead a little in the series, so don't worry if you think I've gone cuckoo! JA NE!

SAO-SAO-SAO-SAO-SAO-SAO-SAO-SAO-SAO-SAO

FIFTY-NINTH FLOOR

'It's been several months since I got trapped in SAO, and I've spent it all with Master Kirito. I'm a level 46 now, but I still get that shiver of fear every time I leave a safe zone, especially on the higher floors. We were stupid to join the Moonlit Black Cats… they're all…. Gone…. I don't want to write about it… Anyway, since we last saw Asuna, she's joined the Knights of the Blood Oath, but made it to Second-in Command! We met up with her and let her take a nap. To repay us, she bought us dinner. Gotta go!'

I put my journal away, the quill and ink vanishing as I adjusted my amour. It felt strange to wear this stuff, the new plate and chainmail lighter than full heavy armour, but stronger than my old leather. My sword was different too. I was using a Karakurenai, a semi-rare katana. Asuna raised an eyebrow. "You're still partied up with Kirito, huh? And you're quite strong." I blushed a little and swigged at my ale. Kirito nursed his own tankard and chatted with the older girl.

Suddenly, a loud, piercing scream made me drop my drink. Kirito grabbed my hand and Asuna followed us as we ran to the plaza. There were crowds of players there, all looking up. I raised my eyes, and froze. An armoured male was hanging from a balcony, a rope round his chest. A strange weapon protruded from his front. "Pull it out! Come on, man!" someone shouted. The boy tried, clearly suffering. I watched in horror as Asuna and Kirito worked to save him, but he dissolved before they could. The red metal blade fell, slicing into solid stone paving. I stepped over and picked it up. After a short call to look for a duel winner, we gave up trying to find the PKer. A girl named Yolko told us that the dead man was named Caynz, and was a former guildmate of hers.

I handed it to Master Kirito, and he sighed. "I can't appraise this… but I know someone who can…"

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FIFTIETH FLOOR

Master Kirito led the way to a shop. A familiar tall black man was running it. "Hey, Agil!" the man turned. "Kirito! Still runnin' around causing trouble, I see! And you got Collette with you!" I waved at the friendly conman, and then Asuna barged in. Agil's eyes widened and he pulled Kirito into a whispered talk for a minute.

I looked at Asuna, and then back at the boys. After a few more minutes, Agil agreed to appraise the strange weapon.

"It's a spear, called… Guilty Thorn. I can't tell you much more, but it was made by a player…" I gasped and looked at Asuna and Kirito. They were as shocked as I was. "His name…. is Grimlock." Agil said. "That's all I can tell you."

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FIFTY-NINTH FLOOR AGAIN

Yolko told us everything. The agility+20 ring. The vote. Griselda's death. Grimlock. She'd been in a guild called Golden Apple. They'd obtained a rare ring, and argued over what to do with it. Five voted to sell. Three to keep. Caynz had voted to keep it, as had Yolko and Schmitt. Griselda had gone to sell it, but had been murdered and the ring lost. Grimlock had gone missing, and the guild disbanded. Now Caynz was dead.

When we brought Schmitt to Yolko's room at the Yamathya lodge, he blamed that ring for all of this. Yolko agreed, that if they'd left the ring, none of this would have happened. When she went to stand by the open window, her back to it, she started to say something, then…

Thock.

All the colour drained from her face, her freckles standing out even more stark against her pale skin. She half-turned and we saw the handle of a throwing knife sticking out of her back. She tottered, and fell, crumpling below the window, and fizzing out of existence. I shivered in fear as I spotted a hooded, robed figure standing in easy range on a rooftop. They turned and ran after a moment.

"There!" I shouted, and Kirito ran out of the front door, hard in pursuit. I kept Schmitt under control, with Asuna helping. A few minutes later, Kirito returned, carrying the knife that had hit Yolko, the blade almost a miniature of the Guilty Thorn. "Grimlock made that too?" I asked, already knowing it had been him.

Schmitt kept babbling about Griselda's ghost hunting him down for revenge, and we decided to let him be. Whoever had killed Yolko, they wouldn't be back so soon. We all needed sleep. Asuna told us she would stay in the Yamathya lodge, while Kirito and I returned to our own inn. Neither of us slept well that night, not after what we'd seen…