The Tri-Blade Alliance
Chapter 15: The Shadow Killings Part 3: Case Closed
S/N: And here, we have the ending of the Shadow Killings arc! Hope you guys enjoyed this arc. We made this for Friday the 13th.
A/N: Disclaimer: We don't own SAO.
(x)
Floor 48: Lindas
"It wasn't him, Asuna!"
"Why are you defending him? He's a killer!" This is what several onlookers observed as Solar argued with Asuna about Shadow's role in the killings.
"Agil told us that Shadow sold those weapons a while back. And all of a sudden those weapons are used in the murders? That can't be a coincidence!"
"Maybe it is, Solar! Maybe he bought the weapons back and Agil is covering for him!"
"How could you accuse Agil of being an accomplice?!"
"You never know!"
"What's the real reason, Asuna?" Solar crossed his arms across his chest. "Why are you so adamant about catching Shadow? I don't see this kind of thing with Laughing Coffin, and they killed a hell of a lot more people than Shadow ever did."
"My only reason for wanting to bring him in is because he killed innocents!"
"Think about that! So far, Shadow has only killed murderers, and there is no record of him ever targeting an innocent civilian. And the fact that Shadow happened to walk into the places of the murders doesn't seem fishy to you at all?! From what we've seen, and from what Eros told us, Shadow teleports using a special crystal he got from Nightshade!"
"Again, why the hell are you so adamant on seeing him walk free?!"
"Because he's doing a hell of a lot more than what the front lines could ever do in terms of clearing this game!"
"Bullshit. There has to be another reason!"
"There isn't, so deal with it!"
Asuna was silent for a moment, with a look of rage contorting her face. Finally, she said, "How would you have felt it it was Akira who was next? And the weapon used to kill her was a weapon that Shadow used?"
"Don't you dare bring her into this!"
"Answer the question."
"I wouldn't have to feel that way, because I'm going to be there for her, unlike you with Kirito!"
Silence reigned for a minute. Asuna looked down, shadows covering her eyes. "That was uncalled for, and you know it."
Solar looked away in partial shame. "I'm not proud of what I said, but I stand by it." He turned to face Asuna fully. "The Tri-Blade Alliance will help you locate Shadow, but we will not engage him." He turned around left, waving behind him. "Later, Su-Su."
(x)
Floor 35: Castle
"Thank you for your service, Shadow," his client said cheerfully.
"No problem," Shadow curtly replied back. He brought out his Black Star and prepared to leave when he remembered something. "You might want to be careful, with all these killings."
"I'll keep that in mind, Shadow. I know it wasn't you."
"Yeah. It's not my M.O." With that, the mercenary left.
The client sighed in relief when the mercenary left. Truth be told, he was honestly terrified during his entire meeting with Shadow, and not just because of his appearance. Shadow was right. He had to be careful with all the killings going on. He turned to head back to his room when he heard something behind him. The client turned only to be met with a knife to his chest. "Scream. As loud as you can. Make a scene," the mystery man demanded.
So he did.
And before he died, he discerned one thing about that voice.
It wasn't Shadow's.
(x)
"You've got to be kidding me!" Skye groaned. "Another one?!"
"It seems so, ma'am," the Tri-Blader respectfully told Skye.
"He's innocent, Skye. I know it," Kirito told her. The two were investigating the most recent murder. The weapon in question was a throwing knife, last used by Shadow. "I don't know about you, Skye, but this is looking more and more like someone is trying to frame Shadow."
"Who would, though? Laughing Coffin?"
"That's a good start."
"...Hey, have you heard about that little blowout that Solar and Asuna had?"
"Yeah. From what I heard, it was brutal."
"Ma'am." The two conversing players turned around to see the Tri-Blader that Skye had talked to earlier. "We have reports of another murder."
"When did this happen?!"
"A couple of minutes ago. Solar and Asuna are at the scene now."
(x)
Floor 35: Cicada
"Still believe that Shadow's innocent, Solar?" Asuna sarcastically asked the leader.
Solar sighed in annoyance. "As a matter of fact, I do. Besides, the real killer fucked up."
"How so?" Now Asuna was genuinely curious.
Solar showed her a dagger. Asuna grabbed it and opened up her appraisal menu. She went down to the 'Last Used' section, and gasped when she saw something. "It says here that the last known user is someone named 'Ghost'."
"Yeah. Meaning not Shadow."
"So, you said he was being framed. This proves it. And…"
"Don't apologize to me. If we find Shadow, apologize to him. And if anything, I'm sorry about what I said at the square."
"Don't worry about it."
"Solar!"
"Asuna!"
The two commanders looked to see their comrades run up to them. "What is it, Skye?" Solar asked.
"There's a possibility that Shadow's being framed."
"We just came to that before you got here," Asuna said.
"There's more," Kirito said instead of Skye. "We also have reason to believe that Laughing Coffin is framing him. I mean, they tried it before on New Year's."
"But if that failed, then they won't try a second time," Solar said while in thought. Everyone was snapped out of their thoughts when Solar received a message. He looked towards the three, who nodded, giving him the signal to open it. He opened it to see that it was from Shadow. When he opened it, Shadow's dark voice was heard to everyone.
"Solar. I know Skye, Kirito, and Asuna are there. I also know about the killings. Three out of four of you know I didn't do those murders.
I have reason to believe that the next target is Eros. She sent me a message saying she was alright, but I don't want to take any chances. Meet me at her hotel. I'm positive you know where that is.
"Another thing―I found out the link between each victim so far. Each of them were my clients, and they all gave me a bonus when I completed their missions. Eros falls into that category.
"Get there, fast. I'll be heading there, too."
(x)
Floor 47: Terra
Eros sighed as she sat down on the couch in her suite. She changed back into her normal outfit after a long day of performances, and she was beat. Earlier, she got a message from Shadow asking her if she was alright. He was adamant about making sure she was alright, so she invited him over. She had already set up some food and drinks for when he got here. She leaned back, and closed her eyes.
She opened them again when she heard a knock on the door. She looked towards the door in surprise. That was fast, even for him. She opened the door a little and looked through to see who it was. It certainly looked like Shadow, but she couldn't be too sure. "Who is it?"
"Open the door," the mystery man growled. Eros' eyes widened. Not Shadow. Definitely not Shadow.
"Sorry, but I don't open doors for strangers."
"I wasn't asking." Suddenly, the killer attempted to force the door open, but was being held back behind the door when Eros, in a surprising display of strength, pushed back.
This proved to have no effect, as the killer's strength seemingly doubled, and the door was forced open. Eros drew her sword and got ready for if the killer would attack her. Surely, he did. But what put Eros off her guard was the second person entering after. TWO KILLERS?!
She tried to fight back, but she was overpowered. One of the killers pulled out a white sword that seemed to be a complete palette swap of Shadow's sword.
Eros struggled, but did not scream. She struggled even more when she saw the sword coming down. She closed her eyes as it did, but she opened them again when she heard another sword clash with the killers'.
(x)
2 Minutes Earlier...
Shadow teleported outside the hotel. He put away his crystal, but not his sword as he needed to stay on guard. He was about to enter when he heard a noise in the upper levels of the hotel. Fearing the worst, he jumped up into an open window on the third floor. His eyes narrowed when he saw Eros being held down by one person, and about to be decapitated by another.
Not on my watch, the mercenary thought as he jumped in and dashed forward with his sword out. He blocked the incoming strike that surely would have killed Eros. He knocked the down the wielder and dodged the incoming punch from the other player. He grabbed the attacking player and brought him in for a head-butt. While the killer was stunned, he kicked him down. While they were down, he stabbed them with his knives, effectively paralyzing them.
After Shadow took down the killers, he went over to Eros' side. "Are you okay?"
Eros nodded, still shaken by the whole ordeal. "Yeah. I'm fine."
The two were sitting still, waiting for the others to arrive. During that time, Shadow told Eros, "It's just us. If you want to cry, do it now. I'll understand if you do."
"I'm fine." Shadow waited for a second. "I'm not fine."
"Just use the shoulder." After he said that, Eros leaned into his shoulder and cried.
He rubbed her back gently and whispered, "I understand. Just let it all out." When Eros stopped crying, Shadow asked her, "You want to know something?"
"What?" Eros asked, wiping away the tears.
"I was scared. Scared that I was too late, and I lost another person I cared about. And that's happened too many times―for me and for everyone in this game."
"So you care, then?"
"For women and children, at least."
"That's fair, I guess." Eros sat up straight and looked at her hands in her lap. "I have something I want to ask you."
"Let me train you."
"...What?" Eros asked as she looked back to Shadow.
"Every Friday, at the tree where you would normally find me, whatever time is fine. Meet me there, and I'll teach you how to fight better with a sword."
"O-Okay." Eros smiled and said, "I use a shortsword, by the way."
"Still a sword."
"I guess. Smartass." Eros looked back at Shadow, who was lost in thought. "What'cha thinkin' about now?"
"About how I'm going teach you how to use a real sword."
"You mean it?!"
"Yep. Broadsword or Longsword?"
"Longsword."
"I would've been fine either way, honestly. And if you want to start using a longsword―"he paused to pick up the late F. Shadow's sword and held it out to her―"This is a good start."
Eros smiled gratefully and took the sword. When it appeared in place of her shortsword, Solar, Asuna, Skye, and Kirito ran in the room. When the two looked up at them, Shadow motioned to the paralyzed bodies and said, "They were about to kill her when I came in."
"Oh my god, are you okay?" Solar asked Eros in concern.
Eros nodded. "I'm fine now." She looked towards Shadow. "I'm just lucky I'm on his okay list."
When Solar, Skye and Kirito went to bring in the two killers, Asuna stood at the doorway, thinking of something to say. Finally, she cleared her throat. "I'm sorry," she said, "for accusing you of committing the murders."
"It's all right. And I get it―everything looked convincing to you and everyone on the front lines."
"Okay," Asuna said, relieved she didn't make it on Shadow's shit list. "Speaking of, are you ever going to join the front lines?"
"I'm doing fine on my own, so not anytime soon." Asuna nodded, finding his response satisfactory. When she turned to leave the door, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Shadow. "If you're still even a little bit suspicious of me, then talk to Heathcliff about it."
"Right," Asuna said, nodding. Eventually, after she left, Shadow turned to Eros.
"This one's on me," he said.
Eros smiled and replied, "I wasn't gonna pay you anyway."
"Next time, I'll just leave you."
"You don't mean that."
(x)
Lizbeth just finished closing her shop when, without looking behind her, said, "You're the only person to ever visit me after hours." She turned to face her friend, the mercenary.
"I know," Shadow said. "But this time, I wanted to talk to you about something."
"About what?" Shadow sighed and motioned to the back room. Knowing no harm will come to her, she opened the door and pulled up a barrel to sit on. "I'm listening."
And so, Shadow talked. And talked. And talked. Throughout this, he expressed his sorrows, regrets, guilt, and hopes. And through it all, Liz gave her undivided attention towards him. She cried at the emotional parts, and nodded in understanding and sympathy at the rest.
When Shadow finished talking, Liz reached out and put a hand on his. "Feel better?" she asked soothingly.
"Honestly? Yeah. A lot. Guess I really needed to talk to somebody. Thanks for listening, Liz."
"No problem, buddy."
Shadow smiled at her and looked to the door. "I'll see myself out."
"No, let me," Liz said, opening the door. When Shadow walked through, Liz asked, "Do you have any siblings?"
Shadow looked back and answered, "Two. One older and one younger."
"Give them my regards when we get out of here."
"Won't have to. You'll be there, along with everyone else."
Liz smiled. "Thank you for choosing Lizbeth's Blacksmith Shop! Tell all your friends!" she said, giving a closed-eye smile and a two-finger salute.
(x)
Shadow let out a heavy breath as he sat down on the bed of the room he's staying in. Now that his name was cleared, he could go into a town without any worries. He performed his usual round of going through his items, marking the ones he wanted to keep and the ones he would sell to Agil tomorrow.
When he finished, he was about to close his menu, when something in the back of his head told him to go to the main menu. He decided to humor the idea and went to the main menu.
He was beyond shocked to see the 'Logout' option present on his screen. To convince himself he wasn't hallucinating, he closed and opened his menu again.
It's still there!
He actually had the ''Logout' option! Seeing nothing better to do, he pressed the option.
'Would you like to Log out?'
'YES'
'NO'
Shadow was about to press 'YES' when he realized:
If I log out…He looked outside the window. Then everyone else would still be stuck in SAO. That shouldn't be my problem, but…
He looked back to his menu. He imagined the faces of his family in the real world, waiting, hoping, and praying he would return to them soon.
Then he imagined the faces of Solar…
Kirito…
Asuna…
Liz and Agil…
Bella…
Eros…
Skye…
The thousands of players in SAO...
And the weak and helpless players―no, victims―of Sword Art Online. And how they're stuck here. Because of him.
Because of Kayaba.
So, did he really want to log out?
After sitting there and thinking for a long time, he finally came to his decision.
"No," he said out loud in the empty room. "I made a promise―that I would help everyone leave SAO, through any means. And if I choose yes, then I'll be literally taking the easy way out.
"And I won't be able to live with myself if I'm the only one who gets out of the game, especially when everyone still needs me." Shadow ultimately moved his finger and pressed, 'NO.' Immediately after he pressed the option, his menu automatically closed. He opened it again…
To find the 'Logout' option was gone once more.
A/N: What an ending! To find out a man who cares for himself said no to logging out for the sake of others makes you happy to know how even the most solitary of players can change.
I also want to give a shout-out and a HUGE thanks to ericwinter for letting me use his SAO OC, Bella, in this arc. If you haven't done so already, go check out his story "The Silver Shadow." It's a really good story that's still in the making. And reading it was what inspired me to ask him to use Bella in The Dance in the Shadows.
S/N: And as always, Read and Review!