Chapter 13
Authors Note: Hey, guys. It's been a while. I know I say that every time, but this time, I mean it. It's been too long. BUT! I wasn't doing nothing! I have planned out the ENTIRE series. As of this moment, Seth shall be journeying into ALO and GGO. But before you get excited, I will say…This story will get DARK. I'm not kidding. I told a friend of mine about my plans. This guy has gleefully led readers along for months, before abruptly killing everyone in the story. And his short stories? Modern Edgar Allen Poe. And he called me a heartless bastard for planning the things in store for our favorite reaper. Also, that Prototype x RWBY story I talked about. I'm putting it on hold. I'm waiting for the next season of RWBY to come out, so I don't make the wrong assumptions about where the story is going. But…yeah. Sorry for taking so long. This might be a bit disappointing, but I've included some forshadowing/set-up stuff, and I PROMISE the next chapter is WAY better.
I woke with a start, quickly sitting up half-way. I remembered…a dragon…then, a…fall? 'Where am I?' I thought glancing around. Walls all around me, in a circular tube. I looked up, the last lights of sunset streaming in from the top of the hole. I noticed a weight on my chest, and looked back down. Liz was unconscious, her arms still wrapped around my waist, and her head resting on my stomach as she breathed softly. I glanced around, and saw a man sized hole in the snow. 'Kirito…' I thought. I lightly loosened Liz's grip on me, slipping out and standing up. There was a black-clad figure, lying spread-eagled in the hole in the snow. Seems everyone had a little nap.
I unsheathed my scythe, hooking it into his belt, and pulled him up to the top of the snow, sitting him up against the wall of the hole before tapping the side of his face. He hummed, turning his face. So I slapped him. That woke him up.
"Ow!" he shouted, his eyes snapping open. "The hell was that for?"
"You were napping. Wouldn't wake up. We fell in the hole, any idea how to get out?"
"Gimme a minute, still waking up." I sighed, shaking my head, and going back to Liz. I shook her shoulder lightly, and her eyes flickered.
"We're still alive," she muttered.
"You say that like you're shocked. I am VERY good at what I do."
"And what is it you do?" she asked, rolling over onto her back and stretching.
"Oh, you know. Kick ass, keep you alive," I said, drawing out health potions and giving one to her. "You good on health, Kirito?" I called. He gave a slight nod. I glanced around, sipping on the bitter potion. "Thank god that dragon didn't follow us. Now, how do we get out…?"
"Can't we just teleport out?" Liz asked.
"If I thought we could do that, I would have teleported us as we fell. But my judgement isn't always right. Go ahead, try it." She took the crystal from her apron.
"Teleport! Lindas!" The shout echoed off the walls before dissipating. But nothing else happened. She dropped her head in despair, and I patted her head, ruffling her hair.
"If we can't use crystals, then we should be able to get out another way."
"Maybe not! Maybe this is an inescapable pit of death!"
"Maybe you're right."
"What kind of attitude is that?!" she shouted.
"That's the Liz I know and love." She blushed, and I grinned. "But as a game itself, SAO is pretty fair. Take away the whole 'Death Game' part, and it's mostly forgiving. It wouldn't kill you for falling in a hole. Alright…Anyone got ideas?"
"What about your Disguise form?" I shook my head.
"The cave is too narrow. If it tried it in here, I'd get pinned."
"We…could ask for help from someone?" she suggested, standing up.
"If I had to guess, this place is a dungeon." She tried anyway, and failed to contact one of her friends.
"We could shout at players that come to hunt the dragon!" she said.
"That's 80 meters," I said, pointing to the top. "At least. I'd bet we can't shout that far."
"Well…Wait! You come up with an idea!" she said. Kirito spoke up from his place at the wall, standing up.
"Run up along the wall."
"…Are you an idiot?" asked Liz.
"Maybe. Let's find out," I said, nodding to him. Kirito nodded back, then stepped back to the wall. He sprinted forward, and the snow blew off the floor behind him. Just as he was about to hit the wall, he jumped about 10 meters. He began running diagonally along the wall, and made it a good third of the way up. Then he fell.
"Ahhhhh!" He flailed in the air as he fell, landing in the snow with a soft 'crunch'. I handed him a health potion as he got up.
"I thought you were an idiot," said Liz. "But even I didn't think you'd do something that stupid."
"I would have succeeded if the run-up was longer," he replied.
"Not a chance," she said with a chuckle. Kirito stood, stretching his arms.
"It's getting dark," I said.
"Yeah, let's just camp here," he said, opening his menu. He materialized a camp stove, a pot, some small sacks, and three mugs.
"You carry all these around?" I asked as I put my scythe away. I usually only carried a small precooked lunch, when it came to food.
"I camp in the field a lot." I shrugged. I didn't, but why would you camp in the field when you have a bed and wife to come back to? He clicked on the stove. "I'm just going to make a soup, but it probably won't be very good. I haven't leveled up cooking at all."
"Then let me do it," I said. "I don't have much, but it's better than none." He nodded, stepping back from the stove.
"Ingredients are in the sacks." I nodded, scooping some snow into the pot, and setting it on high for a minute. When the water was bubbling, I added the ingredients and set the timer. Soon an herbal smell filled the air, and Liz's stomach audibly grumbled. She blushed and I chuckled. The timer disappeared with a ding, and I split the contents of the pot into the mugs. We drank silently.
The soup was finished quickly. Everyone was silent throughout the meal, and the awkwardness that hung in the air was so thick, you could cut it with a knife. Everyone knew a couple of things. It was freezing. There was a dragon out there, somewhere. We didn't know a way out. These made for very bad mealtime discussions, so everyone resigned to just not speak. Even afterwards, everyone put their cups onto the ground, Kirito put everything away, and we sat in silence.
"Well!" said Liz, slapping her knee and standing. "We can't sit here all night. Need our rest."
"R-right," said Kirito. He opened his inventory again, tapping a few things, and two sacks of fabric crumpled into existence. "Sorry, but I only have two-."
"That's alright," said Liz, scooping one up. "Seth and I can share, right?"
"Uh…sure." I stood, wiping the snow off my pants. "Night, Kirito. If you happen to come up with a plan to get out, wake us up."
"Will do." He grabbed his bag, twisted inside it, and a few seconds later, he was snoring. I turned my eyes off him, and saw that Liz had already rolled out the sleeping bag and gotten into it. She jostled around a bit, then looked up at me.
"You gonna get in?" I dropped onto my hip, sliding my legs into the bag. Another shift in weight, and I was able to slide myself into the rather spacious bag. "Pretty roomy, huh?"
"It doesn't look like it, but yeah." I tilted my head, resting it on the hood of the bag, and felt her fingers entwine with mine.
"This is pretty cool."
"Camping?"
"Adventure. Think about it. We just fought a DRAGON."
"Yeah, I was pretty cool doing that." She grinned, bumping me.
"You know what I mean. It's pretty fun to get out of the shop once in a while."
"We should do it more often. Come with me for all those ores you send me out to get."
"Maybe I will."
"Really? You'd like that?"
"Of course. I mean, what could go wrong?"
I chuckled. "You realize the entire point of having me go is that you're too busy to do it yourself."
"Oh. Yeah."
"And if you came with me, there'd be no one at the shop."
"There's that."
"And if there's no one at the shop, whose going to make all those wonderful weapons for the front-line players?"
"Well, it's not like I'm the only blacksmith."
"You're the only good blacksmith." She grinned and I leaned forward, kissing her on the nose. "Go to sleep."
"I love you."
"I love you, too."
(X)
That night…I had a weird fucking dream. Normally I don't dream, and when I do, it's really sporadic, and I don't remember much. But…I don't think I'll ever forget those few minutes.
I was running. I didn't know why, other than that if I stopped, I was dead. I barely registered my surroundings as I sprinted, but I managed to pick up a few details. It was day. I was running down a street, and a couple of things surrounded me. Decrepit buildings. Smashed walls. Bodies. Lots and lots of bodies.
Why do you keep fighting?
The voice echoed throughout my psyche, echoing to my very core, and I couldn't even tell what it sounded like.
You gave in. You let me do it. Are you backing out?
I glanced behind me, just in time to see a streetlight light up, spark, then go out. As it went out, darkness filled in. All behind me was darkness, a void. The only thing that broke it was a slightly lighter outline at the forefront. It was running. It was chasing me.
I told you what I was gonna do! You knew! And you let it happen!
I ran faster.
Can't you see it? I'm not some demon!
I felt something slam into me from behind, tackling me to the ground as the darkness caught up. The world was plunged into black as I was flipped over by the figure.
I'm what you try to be! I'm…
I could feel warm breath on my face, and I tried not to piss myself.
My eyes flew open. It was still the middle of the night. Liz was fast asleep, and I could still hear Kirito snoring. For a couple of minutes, the only thing I could concentrate on was my heavy breathing. I finally relaxed. I flipped onto my back, and stared at the stars. I wasn't sure I could get back to sleep.
(X)
Apparently, I could. I could barely hear it when the voice rocked my consciousness again.
Get up. Ugh…. Get the fuck up. Wha… I am not dying because you need a nap. Wake the fuck up!
I was pulled groggily out of my sleep. Liz was still asleep, but snow crunching showed that Kirito was up and about. I slipped out of the bag and onto my feet, opening my menu and slipping my scythe onto my back.
"Good," he said. "You're up."
"Somewhat. How's it going?"
"Good. I think I found the ore." As if on cue, Liz rustled.
"Did someone say ore?" she asked. I chuckled.
"It's like catnip for her. So, where'd you find it?"
"Dig in the snow." I scraped aside the snow with my foot as Liz got up and walked up beside me. Under the snow, there were a bunch of turquoise crystals. I crouched, picking one up, and I started to examine it, before Liz practically tore it from my hands. She'd appraised the stuff the second she was able, and was staring wide-eyed at the screen.
"Oh, yeah. This is gonna work. How'd you find it?"
"Well, I figured that since the dragon came out of here, this has to be its lair. And if the ore is in the dragon's stomach, but you don't get it when it's dead, it has to end up somewhere."
"Cool!" she said. "So, this is like…"
"The dragon's poop," replied Kirito. Liz yelped and tossed the ore, leaving Kirito to catch it. I scooped a couple more off the ground, before stowing them in my inventory.
"Did you figure out a way to leave?" I asked. Kirito shook his head.
The voice once again buzzed at the back of my skull. If the dragon stayed out of its lair all night, that means it's nocturnal. If it's nocturnal, and this is its lair, and it's daytime… Oh, fuck.
The dragon screeched as its massive figure filled the opening of the cave. I grabbed Liz's hand and ran to the other side of the tunnel. A quick glance showed me she'd dragged Kirito along for the ride. When the dragon hit the snow at the bottom, all three of us were behind it. I jumped for its back, unsheathing my scythe with my right hand, and dragging the others with my left. I slammed my wrist down, driving the blade deep into the back of its neck, then pulled back, dragging the neck (and obviously the dragon) with it. The beast took off again, in an effort to escape, unwittingly dragging the three of us to freedom.
It took about a minute after getting out of the cave for the dragon to figure out how to get me off, but that minute of bucking flight was definitely awesome. As we fell, Liz pulled the crystals out, and the three of us joined hands. "Teleport! Lindas!"
(X)
It didn't take long to turn one of the ores into a sword. And, DAMN, what a sword. It was light turquoise, just like the ore, and was the same length as the Elucidator. The handguards were sharp points on both sides of the blade, and the blade itself slowly narrowed, before tapering off into a wider point. Liz said the name was "Dark Repulsor", and Kirito approved it. After a few swings, of course.
He's hiding something, the voice whispered. Look at him. It's all over his face. Why would he need two swords of equal strength, when he could have asked for a better one? As much as I wanted to ignore it, it made a good point. But even though I wanted to ask…It was his business.
"So, that's all done. How much do I owe you?" Liz tilted her head as she thought.
"Let's say…200,000 Col, and you give out recommendations to the front-liners? I definitely can't count on this one to send people my way," she said, jerking a thumb at me. I would have protested, if she were wrong. Kirito had just opened his menu to complete the transaction, when the door to the forge was slammed open.
"Liz! I was so worried!" A mass of chestnut-colored hair slammed into Liz, wrapping her in a hug. Asuna. "I couldn't message you, and I couldn't trace you on the map! Your customers had no idea where you were, and I even went all the way to the Black Iron Castle to check! Where did you go?!"
"S-sorry," Liz stuttered. "I just got stuck in the dungeon for a bit."
"The dungeon? You went alone?!"
"No, they came with me…" She gestured behind her at Kirito and I, and Asuna's fierce gaze was turned onto me. I reached out next to me and nonchalantly took a fake sip from the cup there. But then she looked at Kirito, and her expression visibly changed. She froze, and her mouth hung open as her eyes widened.
"Ki-Kirito?!" Kirito, who seemed to have been ignoring the intrusion until now, shot straight up.
"Hey, Asuna," he said, giving a small cough. "It's been a while…or not, really. A couple of days."
"Y…Yeah. I'm kinda surprised. If I'd known you'd go immediately, I would have come along." Asuna was hiding her palms behind her, tapping the floor repeatedly with her heel as she blushed slightly. Kirito was standing straight up, and had coughed twice more since he finished talking. A slight grin formed on my face as the awkward situation played out.
Suddenly, Kirito blitzed through his menu as he rambled out a few sentences. "Right, well, Liz, here's your payment. I'll be sure to come back later for repairs and…yeah." He rushed out of the shop. I laughed out loud the second he left.
"What's so funny?" Asuna asked.
"That's the guy, isn't it?" I asked.
"Eh…?"
"The one you liked…?"
Asuna refused to answer, but her eyes shot to the floor, and her shoulders curled up. After a moment, she nodded, a deep red spreading across her cheeks.
Liz shot me a wide grin. "We've got a couple to get together." Almost immediately, Asuna protested.
"N-no! This is something I want to do on my own. If I can't get him to like me…"
"Oh, he likes you," I said. "He's just too afraid to say it."
She tilted her head. "How can you tell?"
"Because that's how I acted around Liz when I first liked her." That got a cute smile out of Liz, and a considering nod out of Asuna.
"Thanks, Seth. Hey, uh…If I need any advice from a guy's point of view…"
"I'd be honored."
"Thanks." Her eyes drifted to the corner of her display. "Oh, I really have to go. Bye, thanks!"
"Everyone's in a hurry today," said Liz.
"Seems like it."
"You wanna make a new scythe?"
"Well, if I made it, it'd be kinda crap."
"You know what I meant."
"Did you mean, 'Do you want to sit back and watch as I forge for you, a deadly weapon'? Sure, why not."
(X)
The scythe wasn't just beautiful, it was a work of art. The pole itself was a copper-color, and the places where the hands went were covered by black leather. Just before the pole connected to the blade, the pole split into rods, forming a chamber. Inside the chamber, there was a small turquoise gem. The blade itself was a simple silver one, and the bottom of the blade only curved a slight bit, leaving us with a mostly straight blade. And on the blade, carved into the metal, were three bone shaped objects, looking suspiciously like the three small bones contained in the finger. I lifted it off the table and gave it a few test swings. It was perfect. There was no other way to describe how it felt besides flawless. "'Death's Scalpel'," said Liz, quoting the item description. "Kinda fitting, isn't it?"
"It is," I said, slipping it into its sheath. "Time to finish this game."