A/N: Hello my pretties to the next chapter of my favorite what if ship in Blazing Revolution; Heated Metal (HeliosxLiz). I think you all are going to love this one by the first paragraph alone. Without anymore stalling on my part, enjoy this new chapter that DIDN'T take me an asinine amount of time to make!
Chapter 6: Heated Metal (Helios x Liz) Part Four
Sometimes Liz had to wonder how she got into these sorts of situations when it came to her and Helios. Cuddled up together in a sleeping bag in the coldness of an arctic tundra, holding each other close for warmth while exchanging a hot passionate open mouthed kiss with him.
Well she supposed she should start from the beginning in order for this to make any sense in her mind.
-Twelve hours earlier-
"... Am I hearing you right?" God, she could never understand why Helios had such a hearing problem. Why did she have to spell things out for someone like him?
"It's like I said you idiot! I want to thank you for lending me your jacket the other day so I need your help getting material for a special axe." Liz groaned out for the second time.
This was not making any sense in Helios's head in any way, shape or form. He thought he was done with Liz after she had kissed him which he was still sure was a delusion of the mind but here she was. "So to thank me for giving you my jacket, you're putting me to work to get my reward? I'm pretty sure that's counterproductive to the act of giving a gift."
Liz scowled at the ash haired jackass and smacked him on the shoulder to which he audibly complained. "Look either you help me make your 'dragon destroying axe' or not. Your call buddy."
He growled at the blacksmith in a threatening manner to try and get her to back off but she stood her ground either out of stubbornness or bravery. However in the end Helios relented and sighed. "Fine, where are we going?"
"To the western mountain on floor 55 to get some special material. I thought I had a good amount to just give you the weapon and go but… I'm short just a bit."
"So you want me to play bodyguard while you frolic along the mountain looking for anything shiny?"
"... Well when you say it like that you make it seem like I'm the bad gu-"
"You are the bad guy in this situation." Helios interrupted.
Liz rolled her eyes and carried on. "But if you want the axe of your dreams then you gotta sweat for it."
Once again a sigh escaped Helios's lips filled with annoyance which didn't go unnoticed by the blacksmith. "Fine, you want me to protect you? I'll do it only for the axe alone!" He pulled up his inventory, glad to see his coat was still in it since he was going to need it for what was to come. "God I hate escort missions…"
He felt a sharp finger point at his back rather roughly which made him stumble forward a bit. Liz's current expression did not look even remotely pleased in the slightest. "Don't talk to me like I'm some burdensome NPC! I'm getting you a gift so be grateful asshole!"
"Oh yeah my bad, I'm sorry! I forgot that NPCs actually have interesting dialogue and can be memorable unlike you!"
"What did you just say!?"
Numerous onlookers were very much treated to the experience of Helios and Lizbeth literally butting heads with each other and pushing their hands against each other while yelling all sorts of obscenities at each other. To some players it looked like the two were seconds away from making out with each other to relieve the sexual tension between them but once Helios took notice of the crowd and what they were saying, they didn't stick around for his rage. It took around nearly thirty minutes of screaming at each other but the two players found themselves at the gate with the appropriate winter apparel.
"Teleport, Granzam west mountains!" Liz shouted. The two of them were bathed in a aura of blue light that teleported them to their destination. Within seconds of arriving, a cold wind blew past the both of them, making the blacksmith shiver despite her fixed jacket helping her keep warm. "Why is it even colder than last time!?"
"Just spit balling here but I'm pretty sure it has to do with the fact that you're wearing a freaking hoop skirt!? Ever hear of this amazing thing called pants? Quite the modern revolution if I do say so myself."
Not wanting to deal with his crap, Liz simply decided to march onwards to the mountain and not give anything to say to the asshole in company.
And so the duo traveled together up the mountain range, fighting off hordes of enemies and getting useful drops overall. Soon the blacksmith and the tank found themselves at the top of the mountain that held hundreds of gem like crystals sprouting out from the ground. This site brought as wave of nostalgia to Liz's heart as she remembered her time with Kirito in the dragon's den.
'Note to self; keep away from dragon this time around.' She thought to herself. "Alright Helios it looks like the dragon that guards the material isn't around for right now so it's the perfect time to go and collect."
"Wait, dragon!? When the hell were you going to let me in on that huge detail!?" He snarled at the blacksmith. "I don't appreciate being a meat shield for you from the claws of a dragon!"
"Shut up! I didn't mention it because I knew the dragon was going to be gone during this time of the day!" Going into her inventory Liz pulled out some rock scaling gear and began to attach it to herself. "I need you to hold the gear secure while I go down into the lair to retrieve the metal. It only spawns when a high level blacksmith is around the area."
The ash haired player begrudgingly nodded his head and held the gear firmly in place as Liz made her descent downwards into the chasm. Once she hit the floor, the blacksmith immediately began digging around the area in search of the unique metal. Almost instantly she struck metaphorical gold as two large chunks found their way into her hands. She giggled to herself remembering what Kirito told her about what the metal was made out of.
'Wait til he finds out his axe is made out of dragon poo.' Liz thought with a snicker.
"Hey you done there yet!" Helios called down into the chasm. "The wind is getting fierce and my arms are chafing!"
"Just hold out for a few more seconds you big baby! Just need a few more ingots!"
Really those two would've been good enough to finish the axe but who said being overstocked was a bad thing by any means? True one might see it as being greedy but hey, this was her livelihood and she did her homework. She supposed that twenty ingots were good enough for the day and tugged at the rope to signal Helios. The axe-wielder used his strength to yank her up rather quick and rough much to her dismay. However just as she was almost there he stopped lifting which made a lump of caution enter her throat as he peeked over the edge with as teasing grin.
"So how badly do you want to come up?"
"Oh no, do not do this right now!"
"Oh yes, I will do this right now as I feel I am deserved this. After being your bodyguard, rock climbing buddy and muscle power for the better part of two hours I am much in the need to hear how much you need to be on solid land again." He said while shaking the rope which made Liz freak out to try and cling to the icy wall. "So how badly do you want to come up!?"
"Stop screwing around jackass!" She yelled at the laughing teen. "The dragon will be back any second now so we have to get moving!"
This clearly put a rain on Helios's parade as he lost his expression of joy and continued to pull her upwards. "You know you really know how to kill a mood."
She didn't even have the energy to waste on the asshole after she was brought up on solid land again. She knew that being a nice person would come back to bite her in the end so she couldn't blame anyone but herself for being too nice. The duo walked in silence down the mountain range back to the teleport gate so they could get the crafting over and done with. Turns out Helios wasn't lying about the wind picking up as the slashing force of the icy cold wind made her stop on multiple accounts to shield her face as did Helios. They clung close to the wall of the mountain side while scaling downwards as to prevent any accidents but it seemed that the wind was amplified in this carved tunnel. The force of the wind was enough to push even Helios back a bit which raised many concerns to Liz. Even more so when snow began to get mixed into the wind.
"Shit! We're getting caught in a blizzard!" Helios yelled over the howling winds. Liz yelped in surprise as the teen grabbed her arm and pulled her close to him, her face being pressed against his broad chest. "Stick close alright!? We can't get blown away and separated!"
The coldness of the wind seemed like less of a bother as the growing heat in her face overtook the numbness of the cutting wind. Not trusting her voice to not sound like a stuttering mess Liz nodded her head against his chest and continued moving in tandem with him.
A huge burst of wind made both players shrink into each other for warmth as the freezing gust nearly cut their faces. Once it died down both Helios and Liz realized how close they were to each other the two of them separated almost instantly with bright glowing faces that could be seen despite the surrounding white of snow. Regardless of this the blacksmith still stood close to the axe wielder's chest to prevent being blown out the side of the mountain. Soon they made it down to the west side of the mountain, only halfway there to the gate. But for them it was a nightmare as the wind was blowing from the west side so they were taking the brunt of it in spades.
"Helios! I can't see!" Liz yelled over the screaming winds in her ears.
He brought her in closer against him and brought out his axe to slam it into the side of the wall to keep their ground. "Just hold tight! It'll die down soon and then we make a break for it!"
However in spite of his saying that, mother nature seemed to be on her period today as the spinning winds formed a shuttle loop of sorts that lifted both players off their feet and hung them midair. Liz holding for dear life on Helios and Helios holding for dear life on his axe. As hard as they both tried to hang on, in the end their futility proved to be their undoing. Bigger than any before, a near tornado like gust of wind knocked his grip away from his axe making the both of them spiral downwards into the ravine next to the mountain. Liz screamed for her life while latching herself onto Helios like a vice while he struggled to look at where they were falling. Soon enough he saw ground fast approaching absolutely covered in snow. Knowing that Liz didn't have the defense to survive a full on crash, Helios grabbed hold of her and made his back face the incoming snow. There were no questions raised by the blacksmith as only a few seconds later she fell unconscious at the impact the both of them made on the snow.
-An hour later-
Liz slowly groaned awake, surrounded by a field of white and nothing but white. Looking around once the fog in her vision ceased, she made note of what was a ravine like road stretching in front of her and back. She briefly wondered where she was at before remembering who came with her.
"Helios!? Helios where are you!?"
"-Nder her-!" A muffled voice came from under her.
Looking down, Liz 'eep'ed in embarrassment as she got off her savior and helped him out of the ice cold ground. The ash haired teen groaned in massive relief and pain once he sat down on his rear. "Geez, next time warn me when you're going to rest your butt on my head woman!"
It took some time to process what he had just said but once the information went through her face went volcanic in heat. Her scream pierced Helios's sensitive eardrums as she covered her face with her hood.
"Okay, ouch! Scream louder why don't you?"
"Shut up you pervert! I'll kill you for looking up my skirt!"
"Don't flatter yourself! My head was buried face first in the snow after saving your ass! Why don't you have some appreciation for me saving your damn life!?"
"What are you…" In a flash, the memories of the fall came back. The tunnel of wind that pushed them off, her holding onto him for dear life, him shifting them around. It was only then she noticed their HP bars were vastly different. Hers was at half while Helios was in the red. "Oh geez… Here let me help you."
Usually a smart aleck remark would follow anything Liz said but the fact that he could hardly move allowed silence to reign supreme. He felt a huge burden leave his back as the soothing feeling of a healing crystal washed over his tired body. "Thanks…"
"Where are we anyways? I don't remember any sort of ravine nearby the place."
"Maybe because you were too busy eye humping Kirito." He ignored her indignant face and brought up the map of the area. "Looks like this place was made for people who fell off the mountain and survived. It's a safe zone but we're quite a ways away from the teleport gate."
Liz looked to the sky that was already dusk. She had no idea how long they were out for but now it was clear that night had fallen on them. And judging by the map Helios brought up, they were several miles away from the gate. The wind pushed them back much farther than she had thought.
"Anyways let's just keep on going. We don't have to worry about monsters coming to kill us and the blizzard is gone." He tried to get up to lead the way to the gate but grunted in pain as his leg buckled down. "Shit…"
Liz gasped at the twisted shape of Helios's leg. He must've landed on it at a bad angle during the crash for his knee to be bent like that. Regardless that this was just a game, the pain he was feeling was dull but real. He wasn't getting back up anytime soon in that condition.
"Oh no you don't!" Liz yelled as she watched him attempt to stand again. She pulled him back down on his rear and took off her backpack. "We are setting up camp here for the night."
"The hell are you talking about!? I'm-"
"Ready to fall over the second you stand up on that foot. Now sit down and let me see your leg." Even though she asked, she didn't give him any choice and the cry of pain from him told the blacksmith everything she needed to know about his condition. "Why are you trying to make this seem like no big deal and walk it off? Clearly that isn't working and it'll only make the pain worse."
"In case you forgot, I'm a tank. I can't cry and complain every time I get an injury." He said, watching Liz dig through her backpack. "People depend on me to take the DPS and take aggro so bitching at every cut is meaningless."
Helios once again bit his lip and winced at Liz grabbing his injured leg and began wrapping a gauze like strap on him. "This is different you stubborn idiot. What use are you as a tank if you can't even walk straight? Good thing I'm here to fix your broken leg." She was glad that she remembered to bring some emergency items. Given her level it wasn't safe to be off spelunking for materials but when she needed to get her hands dirty, some first aid supplies never hurt anyone. "Now this might hurt a bit but I'm doing it because it'll help in the long run."
She expected screaming when she bent his leg back into place but the sound that came out of his mouth sounded like a dying coyote. Normally, Liz would've reveled in his suffering as usually the jackass deserved it for being a general dick. But now at this point, all she could do is profusely apologize for her actions while he made agonizing sounds.
Soon once the pain had faded and his leg was properly put back into place and wrapped up according, Helios felt a cold shiver run across his spine which prompted Liz to start with lighting a fire to keep them warm.
"Heh, looks like you aren't as useless as I thought you were blacksmith." A swift flick was his punishment for his smartass statement. "Is this how you treat injured people?"
"Is this how you treat the girl who fixed your leg?"
"Is this how you treat the guy who saved your life?"
She knew there was no winning this argument in this condition because as much as she hated to admit it, he was right. He did save her life from dying in that crash landing. Grumbling to herself, Liz busied her mind by unpacking some food for them to eat.
Helios grabbed the sandwich thrown to him and immediately took a solid bite out of it. To his surprise it was rather delicious which made him scarf down the rest with ease. "Did you make this?"
"Why do you sound so surprised? It's just a sandwich. I can make so much more than that one little thing." Liz said nonchalantly as she ate her meal by the fire.
A sigh of contentment escaped his lips while staring at the warm fire. "Man, if I had a girl who made me food like this every day, I'd hold her and never let go."
"Then why don't you get Dagger to do it? Since she loves to be at your side all the time, might as well make it official."
She couldn't figure out why but mentioning the red haired merchant brought on a sour taste in her mouth. In the earlier days of SAO every merchant in the game feared her due to her reputation of undercutting prices and stealing customers from them. But what terrified and confused Liz to no end was the thought of her and Helios in a relationship together.
Thankfully for her, Helios didn't notice and just threw the paper wrapping of the sandwich into the fire. "You'd think that but no. We couldn't take the full step into that territory."
Now Liz felt even more concerned at the feeling of relief fluttering in her heart at hearing his denial of a relationship. "Why not?" Mentally, she cursed herself for continuing the conversation.
He frowned as he looked up into the sky. "I don't know what it was. I mean I tried to really like her romantically but I couldn't feel that way about her. In the end the only thing we could see each other as were close friends but I'm still glad I decided to talk to her that day. She really likes being around the others."
"Then you aren't dating anyone…?" Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!
"Not really. No one is meeting my standards."
"And what are those standards?" STOP IT!
"Why do you want to know so badly?"
"... Because-"
Don't!
"-I just might-"
Don't say it!
"-know someone who might be interested in you."
… Whew, dodged a bullet there.
The ash haired teen raised a suspicious eyebrow at this weird behavior from Liz. Maybe it was her feeling sorry for causing his broken leg or something stranger but she was acting way too nice to him. It was setting off alarm bells in his head that this wasn't to be trusted. "Well sorry to say I don't do blind dates. Leaves a bad taste in my mouth."
A sullen silence fell upon the both of them leaving a heavy air on Liz who didn't like it in the slightest. She poked around in her inventory to pull out her sleeping bag and just sleep the rest of the awkward night away. "Well I'm headed off to bed. Don't stay up too long."
"Hmm… Think I'll do the same."
She was perplexed to see him just lie down on the cold snowy ground and not bring out anything to keep him warm. "Uh aren't you going to bring out a sleeping bag?"
"I would if I owned one. But yeah… I don't."
"Oh my… Get over here!"
Helios was confused but that emotion turned into surprise when Liz grabbed him by his arm, ignoring his yelps of pain and put him into the sleeping bag that she brought out. "The hell did you do that for!?"
She sighed at his stubbornness to accept an act of goodwill from her and poked him hard on the nose. "Because you big stupid! I'm not gonna let you freeze to death out here after saving my life. Take the sleeping bag and sleep peacefully for the night."
"And what about you smartass? Do you have an extra sleeping bag or are you gonna freeze yourself into a block of ice waiting for me to get up?"
And so, Liz's bulletproof plan was shot through by the most powerful force in the universe. Common sense. Why would she bring two sleeping bags when she often traveled solo to get her stuff done? She had no answer for the ash haired teen and just opened and closed her mouth like a gaping fish looking for an answer.
Now it was Helios's turn to yank Liz by the arm causing a scuffle with him forcing her into the sleeping bag with him. She tried to fight it by yelling and shoving but that made him all the more determined to make her go in. Soon enough the two of them were face to face with each other, both fitting snugly inside the sleeping bag.
"Okay so we just go to sleep and leave once my leg is healed in the morning, okay?"
"Fine by me. Gonna be hard for me to sleep with you all over me though."
"Your preaching to the choir sister."
And so the staring contest began between the two with both of them never feeling more awake in their lives. So close they were to each other that they could feel each other's breath on their faces. This made it all the more uncomfortable between them as, while they were warm, the closeness made things much more awkward than they should've been. Helios had only himself to blame on this however but he couldn't stand an act of charity just for the giver to suffer.
He stared deep into Liz's eyes with nowhere else to stare and found himself unblinking at her gaze and noticing some curious details about her. She had the same determined look on her face that he was holding, she had cute little freckles on her cheeks. Now that he thought about it, Liz herself looked pretty cute all things considered.
'Wait what!? No! Stop that! I know that I don't find her cute! I am one hundred percent sure of it!'
Liz on the other hand was going through a similar train of thought.
'Stop! Thinking! That! He's! Handsome! Stop it brain!'
Now it was clear by now that the both of them were in clear denial of their feelings for each other. Liz wanted to deny that things changed between them ever since he saved her from those thugs. Helios wanted to deny that his heart skipped a beat when she kissed him a few days ago. But no matter how hard they fought to shake these thoughts away, they kept coming back stronger than ever.
Out of his control of emotions and actions, Helios found his face moving towards Liz ever so slowly. Not only was he shocked of his actions by also by the fact that the blacksmith was reciprocating the action and began to move glacially to him as well. The two of them cried hard in their minds to stop what they were doing but their hearts had long since taken over.
And in that moment, the two of them kissed each other full on the lips.
Now we have reached the beginning of our tale with the insane axe player and the headstrong blacksmith making out with each other and holding each other as close as can be. The feelings they had long since denied have come up full force and was currently being expressed in their passion.
Once the two of them finally broke for air, nothing could be said between them catching their breath. As much as they hated to admit it, that kiss just felt right by all means. The silence between the two was comfortable and peaceful with nothing needing to be said. The two teens soon fell asleep in each other's arms with smiles blessing their faces at letting their hearts go to finally sort their confused feelings.
-The next morning-
The two of them woke up to a bright warm sun and the warm feeling of their embrace upon each other. Helios was the first to get out of the sleeping bag to test his leg. Both him and Liz were relieved to see that there was no complications to speak of and he had full control of his leg once more.
They then packed up their belongings and cleaned up the fire before beginning their trek back to the blacksmith's home with no real problems arising. The two of them walking awfully close to each other. Once they had made their way to the smithy, Liz knew what Helios wanted and how he wanted it so she simply began her work on the weapon with the ingots she obtained yesterday.
Helios felt an unbidden thought of her cuteness creep up on him as he saw the determined and focused way she struck her hammer down on the heated metal. Soon enough with a bit of hard strikes, the metal formed into a brilliant and beautifully colored aquamarine axe. The handle was long and engraved with a dragon wrapping around the pole while the blade of the axe itself was a double edge side that shone like a diamond with a red marking of a dragon's claw on both blades. He grabbed his new weapon and gave it a few test swings just to make sure it fit the bill in everything he had wanted from the axe.
It did, right down to the T.
"You know, that item doesn't have a name Helios." Liz said from her side of the smithy. "Maybe give it something people will remember."
"I already had the perfect name in mind once I had gotten it." He said while pulling up the axe's info and pressed on its name box.
'Dragon Destroyer -Helios-'
Liz felt a smile make its way on her lips from seeing Helios's dorky name for the weapon and his giddiness at seeing the name officially be engraved upon its kind. She was happy that she followed through with her decision to make Helios happy with a new weapon, especially since he lost his beloved Executioner when they fell off the mountain.
"Well this has certainly been an adventure hasn't it?"
Liz nodded her head and gave a playful slug to his shoulder. "You got that right big guy. Bet you're as happy as could be."
"Damn straight I am! Gonna rub this in the faces of everyone and not gonna tell them where I got it!" He put his weapon away before surprising Liz by bringing her in close and giving a peck on the cheek. "And it's thanks to you."
"... Helios… Just what are we right now?"
"Eh?"
She held his right hand in her own and brought it up to their eye levels. "I mean we kissed each other in such a passionate way and ever since then I can't get you out of my head. It was consensual, it was emotionally liberating and just felt right to kiss you but I don't know where we go from here."
Helios stared at the pink haired girl as she expressed her worries. It was true that while they clearly loved each other, neither of them had outsight said their feelings on the matter nor shown interest in having a relationship. While he knew that their love didn't need to be said, between them it was needed to define what exactly their relationship was. "It's a weird one isn't it? Our relationship. We kissed yet nothing needed to be said so why bother trying to complicate it with words."
"But don't you think we should have an answer if someone asks about us?"
"Then let's make this simple. Do you want to be my girlfriend."
"Yes!"
"No hesitation. Nice." He said with a smile as he pulled Liz into his arms. "Well congrats then, you're my girl."
She enjoyed every second of the blissful feeling of the embrace and held on as close as she could. When the two finally separated, Helios took notice of Liz twirling her fingers around each other. "You know… I really don't have anything to do today and well… I'd really like to get to know the real Helios…"
A smile tugged at his lips as he patted his new girlfriend on the head. "Well then I guess as a good boyfriend, I should listen to what my girl wants."
And so Liz jumped back to the front of the store and put the closed sign on the front door and locked the guest entryway so no one could interrupt their talk.
One of Aincrad's most infamous rivalries had come to an end. And with its end sprung up one of the most infamous and unbelievable romantic couples to ever show itself in all 100 floors of the game.
A/N: And behold! The ship is born like a crying baby! I hope you all enjoyed this new chapter that is by far the longest I've written in a while. And trust me when I say this is by no means the end of the road for these two. No the rest of Wyvern's Inferno and Kirito's friends need to see what comes of this ship so that means more of this! So happy! Anyway. Me being a nerdy butt about ships aside I hope you all have a good day or night and I will see you next chapter!