A/N: yo! It's Monday on my side of the world and I am back with a new chapter! Hope it brightens anyone's first day of the week. Thank you for the encouraging reviews, they have certainly given me the inspiration to continue writing my little fic.
Before we begin, I should tell you guys that as much as I try to follow the original storyline as closely as I can, things like names of floors above the 75th have not been mentioned anywhere. In my search, I have stumbled upon the game Sword Art Online: Inifinity Moment but alas, I gained nothing from watching playthroughs (mainly cause I can't understand Japanese).
Thus, it could be said that there are many things left to my imagination in the creation of new towns and such.
I shouldn't rant anymore, so read on!
Tainted
The biggest town on the 76th floor was called Lahar. It was definitely not a place any player would decide to make their home, Asuna thought as she strolled into the city square after teleporting from her home floor.
The reason for her statement was a gloomy atmosphere that blanketed over the town, enhanced by the grey clouds overhead. Not to mention, the BGM was a hollow oboe tune that seemed to add to the overall gloominess of the town. Lahar was a moderate sized for a town, slightly smaller than Salemberg but instead of being on an island, it was located at the foot of a sleeping volcano. Asuna had heard some of her guild members who had been here mention that Lahar was also surrounded by several active volcanoes that occasionally erupted so, exploring anywhere outside the safe area would have to be correctly timed. Unless one would want to swim in hot, melting lava.
Despite what she thought, Asuna could see a fairly large number of players walking around in the city in a relaxed fashion. Asuna knew that some players liked to sight see at a new city that the clearers had opened up; but this time, it was more than the usual. A lot of people seemed to be going in and out of large, grey stone buildings that were plenty in Lahar.
"Is there an event going on?" she mused, interest piqued. "Maybe I should go check it out."
"Man, that was refreshing."
"You got that right. I didn't think this sort of thing existed in this game." Two men, one short and round, while another was tall and slim with a mushroom-like hairstyle exited one of the stone buildings, looking extremely pleased with themselves.
"What thing?" Asuna interrupted with a bright smile, making the two men stutter and back away in embarassment. "Come on, tell me."
The short one rubbed his neck nervously. "Well, the hot springs-"
"HOT SPRINGS?!"
Realising that her sudden outburst had stunned the men into silence, Asuna gave an embarassed cough before proceeding to talk as normally as she could. It was difficult to get the excitement out of her voice.
"I-It's not like I'm really into hot springs or anything," she muttered.
The men didn't buy her excuse but decided to play along anyway. "Yeah. Well, if you decided if you want to try, you could enter one of the grey buildings and talk to the NPC," he offered. "It's not really expensive. 400 col. But totally worth it."
400 col! For a good, hot bath that was hard to get in SAO, it was a bargain! Thanking the men, Asuna wasted no time in getting in line for entry to a hot spring.
"I'm sorry miss, but the hot springs are full," the NPC said when it was finally Asuna's turn. She glared at the average height NPC girl with bright blue hair, intending to terrify the NPC into letting her in. Obviously, it had no such effect. The girl simply smiled back at Asuna and said, "Please come again later!"
All the NPCs at all the hot springs outlets said the same thing and it pissed Asuna off. The only thing she wanted was a hot bath to ease her strained muscles (although it was purely psychological, everybody knows the hot springs in SAO could do no such thing). The dejected girl sat on a bench in the main square, cursing her luck.
A few of her guild members greeted her as they passed by, not really puzzled why she was in the town without an escort, and Asuna waved them off politely. Today was not a guild activity day, so it didn't bother her at all. Her current goal now, was to get into the hot springs.
An idea struck her and Asuna smirked, quickly getting to her feet. She was Lightning Flash Asuna. Who would be able to catch her if she decided to sneak in through the back door?
I leaned against the only tree that grew on top of the bluff that overlooked the city of Lahar. The somber atmosphere did nothing to lighten my mood. Dread had already made its home at the pit of my stomach and not even thinking of Asuna helped.
My heart constricted. In fact, it had made it worse.
I executed the motion needed to prompt the menu window and clicked on the inventory option with the title Kirito's Inventory. I stared hard at it, willing it to change back to Kirito and Asuna's Shared Inventory. It was no use. No matter how much I wished, it would not happen.
I scanned through the other options. Nothing left of Asuna remained.
The motive of my actions were still unclear, even to me. Heathcliff had said nothing about it, despite knowing that we were married. Marriage means that all information and items were shared, and both partners are able to know where the other is and their stats at all times. So why did I dissolve our marriage?
My tracking skills notified me of an approaching player and I sighed, closing the window. Both my swords were already equipped, I am simply waiting for the player himself to appear and challenge me.
Soon enough, my challenger appeared. He was not a player I knew, so the challanger is most likely not a clearer or particularly high leveled. Male, slightly taller than me with a lean build like Klein's. The man wore a full body armour that was bound to slow him down.
He stood a distance away from me for a moment, eyebrows knitted and the edges of his mouth pulled down in a frown. "A player?" he muttered. "I must have gotten the wrong place but you are wearing black so..."
I raised my face so that he could have a good look at me.
"Y-You? I'm supposed to fight you?" his sentence ended in a high, agitated note. "Aren't you the beater who betrayed us all? The Black Swordsman?"
A traitor now too huh? I nodded my confirmation. "You can choose to run if you want to. The challenge is to engage me in a duel for five minutes," I told him. It didn't matter if he accepted or flee. Either way, only one is going to walk away from this challenge.
And for Asuna's sake, it would be me.
I could tell that the player was weighing his options. He was not certain of his capability to fight, assuming that he is an average player and only took this quest because it looked like it promised good return. The challenge sounded easy enough. A five minute duel; not a duel to the death. Plus, if he was successful, he would have earned the bragging rights to say that he had outsmarted the dirty beater turned traitor and at the same time, obtain something rare. If I were him, I'd take the risk.
"I accept," he said finally. I was right after all.
The player quickly clicked accept on the challenge screen that popped up in front of him and the five minute timer materialized above us.
Maybe, this is the reason why I made the decision. So that Asuna could not track me down only to watch me do this.
As soon as the timer started, I unsheathed both my swords and launched myself at the player. He yelped, barely dodging me by a few inches. I smirked. So he does have some skill after all.
My challenger brandished his long sword and with a yell, charged at me with his full strength. A bold move; considering I was wearing minimal armor compared to him and that gave me more speed.
I parried his attack and jumped back, purposely giving him time to recover. Just as I expected, the player once again charged at me without a second thought. He must have thought the armor he wore was good enough as defense and focused all his strength on attacks.
Wrong move. With a swift motion, I executed one of the dual blades' lesser skill, double circular. My blades connected with his avatar once and I spun around with a second blow; dealing double the damage a one handed sword could.
Show no mercy.
The dreaded sounds of shattering reached my ears. This was it. My first intentional kill. Kuradeel was right. I am a murderer.
My swords connected with the ground with a loud clang and I dropped to my knees, clutching my heart. "What have I done?" I mumbled. Everything felt numb; my hands, my arms, my legs. The only present sensation was the ache in my heart.
Heathcliff's words rang in my head. "They will need proof of your betrayal. So for the first challenger, PK him." It was said in such a way that made it sound like a death sentence. Like he was God, able to control death and life at whim. "I don't care what happens to the rest, it's up to you."
I laughed bitterly. "Are you happy now Heathcliff?"
I collected my swords and sheathed them on my back before getting to my feet. There has never been a time in my life where I felt so... tainted. I glanced at the town of Lahar, contemplating whether it would be a good idea to go down there...
"What have I got to lose anyway?"
I equipped a simple grey hooded cloak, pulling the hood down over my head before making my way to the city. It was not like I did not realize there was another player who stayed out of sight ever since he arrived when the duel ended, rather, I was too distracted to care. I'll deal with that when I have to.
Asuna crouched near the back fence of the hot springs area, on alert for anyone coming her way. When she was sure no one would come, she grinned and readied to-
BEEP!
The sudden message startled Asuna and she stumbled, landing on her rear end painfully. "I was so close," she whined as her fingers clicked on the message. It was from Klein.
Subject: NEW QUEST
Sorry for the sudden message but I found something interesting you might want to know about. It's a quest that an NPC offered at the edge of Lahar. Something like 'A man in black is spotted somewhere North of the city and his presence is scaring all the other NPCs away'. I didn't get to hear what the reward was though, sorry.
Asuna held her breath. A man in black? What are the chances it could be Kirito? The girl immediately abandoned her current mission and quickly typed in a reply. She was only halfway through when another message popped up. Klein again?
Subject: KIRITO!
Found him!
"Stupid Klein," Asuna muttered. "At least tell me his location!"
BEEP!
Subject: PK
Frowning, Asuna glared at the screen. Klein's latest message didn't even have a body, just a subject. What kind of idiot is he? Wait, PK? The girl's blood ran cold. Did Kirito-kun PK someone? Or... Was he the one PK-ed?
The Commander of the Knights of Blood immediately typed in a message, telling Klein to meet her at the very edge of Lahar. Her heart beat fast. It was very probable that Kirito really did commit a PK, but she refrained from jumping to conclusions before she met up with Klein.
The thug-looking guild leader of the Fuurinkazan was already at the entrance gates of Lahar when she arrived. On his shoulder, was a knocked out player with his health bar only three dots away from zero.
Alarmed, Asuna pulled out a healing crystal from her pouch while Klein placed him gently on an empty bench. "What happened?" Asuna asked as she held the crystal to the player's mouth and let the liquid slide down his throat.
Klein rubbed his neck, an uncomfortable expression on his face. "Right after I messaged you about the quest, I followed this man here to a small bluff up North," he started. "He probably challenged Kirito to a duel and Kirito... "
He couldn't bring himself to say it. It was difficult to wrap his mind around the idea but it was true. "I saw the finishing blow myself. Kirito left right after," Klein said.
"But how is this man still alive?"
"Oh, that... Kirito gave me an item that could revive a player within 10 seconds of death a long time ago. I used it on this guy."
Asuna was silently grateful that due to Klein's quick thinking, the man who lay sprawled on the bench was still alive. He had no armor though, the equipment had probably disintergrated when he was defeated in the fight.
"I-I am speechless," Klein said slowly. "Why? No matter how you think about it, it's not possible! Kirito isn't that sort of person to do something like this... So, it couldn't be him. It must have been someone else who looked-"
His musings were interrupted by the unconscience player who now stirred. The man blinked, looking up blearily with unfocused eyes at Asuna, then at Klein.
"Am I dead?" It would be somewhat depressing if the afterlife is also something like this death game. Asuna liked to think it was not.
"No." she replied quickly.
The man's eyes widened before he checked his body and items. "I'm alive..." he mumbled in bewilderment."H-How?" A shiver wracked his body as he reminisced the events that had led up to his supposed death. Somehow, Asuna could relate to him.
It was terrifying to have the words : 'You Are Dead' appear in your vision in bold, red letters. What's more terrifying is the thought that there is nothing to look forward to. There is no 'what happens next'? Just... Nothingness.
Asuna smiled and tilted her head towards Klein's direction. "Long story short, he saved your life."
"Really? Thank you! Thank you!"
Without warning, Klein found himself caught in a death grip and pried the grateful man off him, accepting his thanks graciously. "You're welcome," he offered awkwardly.
"I owe my life to you! Let me join your guild!"
"My...guild?" After a moment's inaction, Klein grinned brightly. "You mean the Fuurinkazan? Of course! Here, let me introduce myself. I'm guild leader, Klein."
The man perked up and gave Klein a serious salute. "I'm Raika, sir!"
Asuna giggled. The whole situation looked comical, especially with Raika calling the thug-like Klein 'sir'. "And I'm Asuna," she said, extending her hand.
Raika sucked in a surprised breath. "Lightning Flash Asuna?"
Klein gave his newest recruit a thumbs up, "The one and only!"
"Wooaah." Raika stared at Asuna in amazement, making the girl feel self-conscious. Noticing her discomfort, he apologized but not before holding out a small card to her. "H-Have this if you want," he said, a fierce blush on his cheeks. "It's a free ticket to the hot springs. An NPC gave this to me when I bought some items at her shop."
Hot springs! Asuna shrieked in happiness inside, not believing her extreme luck. And it's a free ticket to boot. She accepted the ticket happily, already on cloud nine.
"You better be careful kiddo," said Klein with a wink. "Asuna-chan's married."
Married. That single word deflated her happiness in an instant and Asuna ever so slightly flinched. She maintained a bright smile, not wanting both men to know.
Klein clapped Raika's back heartily, sending the younger man into a fit of coughs. "Well, I'm gonna take Raika to the Fuurinkazan's headquarters now. Have fun at the hot springs Asuna-chan!" he waved her off and they disappeared among the throng of people in Lahar's busy steets.
...
Much to Asuna's delight, the ticket that Raika had so generously given her entitled her to a whole closed off area of the hot springs to herself. She sighed in pleasure as she sank into the hot water, enjoying the feel of heat against her skin. It has been too long since she felt this way.
The last time she felt so relieved from a bath was when she first discovered that hot tubs existed in SAO. She had begged Kirito to allow her to use his bathroom, not caring that she would literally be alone with a guy in his house.
The sensation she felt too, was almost like this one.
There was a sense of relief, calmness and satisfaction.
The girl held her left hand up, admiring the wedding band on her ring finger. She still hasn't taken it off, even after their marriage was dissolved. At first, she felt like totally giving up on everything. Luckily for Asuna, Lisbeth had been there with her and the blacksmith comforted her again throughout the night. It was because of her that Asuna had the courage to come up to the 76th floor to check out the city today.
If Kirito had been brave enough to turn against all of them just to save her life, then she would be brave too. Asuna decided that she would brave through anything -big or small- that stands between Kirito and herself. She'd fight her way to the 100th floor and face Heathcliff all by herself if that was what it takes to allow him to come back to her.
She absolutely, would not, become the girl she was two years ago. The girl whom had given up on the real world, thinking that death would come and it was only a matter of sooner or later.
"You have your reasons, don't you?" she asked no one in particular. "I trust you."
Smiling, Asuna was about to get out of the water to reach for a bottle of shampoo when the partition that separated her from other parts of the huge hot spring rumbled. It startled the girl and she quickly submerged into the water, with only her head sticking out.
It didn't sound like a pervert trying to get in, rather it sounded as if someone had crashed into the partition. Ouch.
"A-Are you okay?" Asuna asked loudly, concerned.
"Yeah!"
Asuna gasped. The voice that replied was definitely male but it... sounded awfully like Kirito's voice. She shook her head. I must really miss Kirito-kun.
"Be careful!" She didn't know why but there was an overwhelming urge to continue this awkward conversation with the person on the other side of the partition. Asuna smiled. It was probably the loneliness.
"Yeah, thanks. It's just slippery here," came the reply. Her imagination was surely going into overdrive today, making her think the voice really belonged to Kirito. But it was impossible. Kirito could be at any floor, doing god knows what. Of all the places, he wouldn't be here.
There was a splashing sound of someone entering the water from the other side. Asuna heard a sigh of pleasure.
"Nice, isn't it?" she closed her eyes.
A pause. "Very. It's very nice."
"It would be better if you brought a friend. I didn't, and I'm really regretting it now."
"Lonely?"
"You could say..."
"That explains your willingness to engage in a conversation with a total stranger."
"H-Hey! I'm just trying to be friendly!"
Funny, even his chuckle was somewhat similar to Kirito's.
"I'll be sure to bring someone with me next time. My most important person. She would love this place, definitely."
Asuna stared up at the grey clouds above. "I'm sure she would."
I sank deeper into the water. Whoever it was on the other side, she reminded me greatly of Asuna. Stupid brain, making up stuff that doesn't exist. Or maybe it was because I hit my head on the partition earlier? Stupid puddle.
Asuna is probably at home, feeling devastated and betrayed.
What right did I have to enjoy a hot spring bath after putting her through that amount of pain and sadness? In addition to that, I had also just recently committed a PK without even knowing the player's name...
I didn't even want to know why my cursor did not turn red after the deed. It would most likely be Heathcliff's doing.
My hands. I had thought that by dropping by the hot springs, I could somehow get rid of this imaginary taint on my hands. But no matter how hard I scrubbed, that feeling stayed stubbornly. The man's face flashed briefly in my mind and I gasped.
How long would this nameless face haunt me?
"Hey stranger?" the girl just couldn't keep quiet, could she? "Don't sound so tense. Relax."
The tension in my shoulders involuntarily left and I leaned against the edge of the hot spring, looking up at the ash coloured sky. A small smile pulled at the edges of my lips. "Hey stranger?"
"Hmm?"
I closed my eyes. "Thanks."
A/N: I don't know if I'm gonna keep this up but I can't resist adding some KiritoxAsuna moments in my chapters. I just love the cute couple. Should I continue this trend?
In case you guys wanna know, Raika's just someone I randomly created to fill the position of quester. He'll pop up now and then but won't be participating in anything major, don't worry.
For those worried that Kayaba is slightly out of character, let me explain. To me, Heathcliff is a sort of person who would always keep 'in character' to whatever he is portraying. And now that his identity is exposed, he has to play the role of a true 'Demon King' and will carry it out as so. The Kayaba we all know is still there somewhere.
I'll make up for the lack of plot progression in the next chapter, I promise! So bear with me a bit kay? My goal is to do weekly or fortnightly updates but since I'm a student and I have exams coming up, I might not have the time for it. Fear not. I'll make it up to you by updating twice a week before or after my busy periods.
As always, leave a review on your way out~
Sneak peek:
Kirito's pov
"I'm going to give all of you a choice," I told them in an emotionless tone. "Take your belongings and leave this place quietly. I suggest you take this first choice."
"We don't take orders from a dirty beater like you!" he snarled, baring his teeth at me. "Don't you see that you're outnumbered?"
"Or what?" this time it was Yulier who spoke up.
"Or I will have no choice but to get rid of anyone standing in my way."