The Tri-Blade Alliance
Chapter 16: The Nail in the Laughing Coffin
A/N: Alright, everybody. Here is another chapter of "The Tri-Blade Alliance" up!
Also, I got a review from one of you, remarking on how even though I said, "Escape with as little casualties as possible," yet the Moonlit Black Cats and one of my OC's still died. I want to let everyone know: In a war, the most one can do is minimize the number of casualties on their side; that applies here as well, and I still have to keep some things canon. And that OC died for a reason, one you will find out if you keep watching out for new installments for this story.
S/N: Disclaimer: We don't own SAO!
(x)
"Hey, Shadow. It's Solar. We need you to come down to the prison; we're interrogating the ones behind the Shadow Killings last week. Although, they refuse to talk to anyone other than you. Hence, the reason for this message. Come down when you can. Thanks."
(x)
April 17, 2024
Floor 1: Aincrad Prison
Shadow jumped down from his tree and walked towards the direction of the prison. When he walked through the door, everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at him. "Which room?" he asked the crowd. Simultaneously, they all pointed to the hallway on the left. He walked in said direction to a room where Solar and everyone else were waiting for him.
"Finally," Asuna stated upon seeing him enter the room. Everyone stood up to let him pass.
"They won't talk to anybody other than you," Kirito informed the mercenary as he stopped to open the door that led to the killers' cell.
"I know," Shadow responded before looking back to the crowd. "I'm talking to them alone."
"Alright," Solar said, holding his hands up.
Shadow opened the cell door. He got a good look at the killers.
They were young, no older than 13 or 14. They also looked like exact copies of each other. With the cloaks of their hoods down, Shadow noted that while their physical appearance is the same, their color scheme is anything but; both kids had the same hair, but one had black hair while the other had white hair, and their eyes were the same shade of red.
"I'll keep this short," Shadow said, sitting down in front of the two kids. They looked up at him. "I gotta say, I'm impressed. Not only did you manage to take the weapons I last used, but you also managed to copy my appearance and methods in nearly every way. I'd be proud…" The two kids looked at each other excitedly. "...If you hadn't chosen to kill green players." The harsh tone in Shadow's voice immediately burst the bubble between the boys, causing them to look down in shame. "I would have been okay with you killing orange players under my name. But killing green players, let alone in my name—that's where I draw the line." Before he could continue any further, he saw the nearly shattered look in their eyes, and he couldn't bring himself to say his next line.
They're just kids. They didn't know any better. They thought they were doing the right thing.
"However," he continued, "I can see that you didn't know what you were doing was wrong. You're kids, both of you. And I suppose I can let it slide…"
"Thank you, Mr. Shadow!" the kids both said.
"...If you promise me you won't ever do anything like this again. Regardless if you knew, what you did was bad, but can be forgivable because you're still young."
"We promise!" one kid said.
"On our lives!" the other said.
"Good. What are your names?"
"I'm Ghost," the white-clad kid said.
"And I'm Rider," the black-clad one said.
"I feel like there's a joke in there somewhere. Consider this your second chance at life. Your fate fell in my hands, and this isn't something I would normally do. I'll see to it that you leave with a very hard slap on the wrist.
"Now, I ask you: Now that you know what you did was bad, how do you feel?"
"...Guilty," they simultaneously said, looking down in shame.
"Good. Feeling guilt is normal."
"Do you feel guilt, Mr. Shadow?" Rider asked.
"No. That's why it's normal. Now, after you leave, see me outside."
After saying that, Shadow left the cell. When he exited the door that led to the main room, Solar asked, "Well?"
"Let them go free."
"WHAT?!" everyone shouted.
After Shadow recovered from the recoil from the shout, he said, "Haven't you looked at them? They're just kids—kids who didn't know better; kids who thought they were doing something right; kids who most likely came to this game alone, and had no one to help establish their sense of right and wrong.
"I talked to them, and judging by their body language when I entered the room, they look up to me, but they were terrified of me; they were terrified because their lives were in my hands. This doesn't make it to the news in any way, shape, or form."
With that, Shadow walked past everyone and left the prison.
(x)
"You made it," Shadow said. He was outside, leaning on a tree outside the prison's area. Ghost and Rider were standing just inside Shadow's peripheral vision. He turned to them. "Come here," he told the kids. Once they came close, he opened his inventory, and transferred two swords to the kids. "Broadswords," he told them. "A set meant for two people. And since I don't have a partner, these are of no use to me."
Ghost and Rider took the swords out of their inventories, and gasped in awe of their appearances.
The swords were the same in every way: both blades had a silver hilt with a bat wing motif, and double-edged blades. The only differences were the color, as one sword had a black bat wing motif and a bone white blade, while the other had white bat wings and a black blade.
"Saint/Sinner," Shadow told them. "Use them well." He opened his map to show them good hunting spots. "These places are the best for hunting. In a week, you can get to Level 75."
"Thank you!" Ghost said gratefully.
"Not to be rude, sir," Rider said uneasily, "but why are you doing this? We killed civilians."
"You're still young. You have your lives ahead of you, and you deserve a second chance, because you truly felt guilt. If you were any different, then I would have told them to kill you.
"And who knows?" Shadow pulled his scarf down so that they could see his smile. "One day, I might need your help. And I want you to be ready for that scenario." The two boys looked at each other excitedly. "And change your appearance. Wear something lighter, like blue and red."
"We won't let you down, Mr. Shadow!" When the kids ran off, Shadow pulled his scarf back up, and turned to see Kirito and Asuna.
"What do you want?" Shadow asked.
"Looking back," Kirito said, "we get now why you let them go."
"Not everyone deserves to die," Asuna put in her two bits, "and those kids are living proof of that."
"They'll get stronger. They look up to me, which I didn't ask for, but it makes for some nice motivation," Shadow said, crossing his arms and looking in the direction where Ghost and Rider ran off.
"I guess it does," Kirito said, smiling and walking so he could stand next to Shadow. "You are doing the most out of all of us, anyway."
"Who wouldn't want to be you?" Asuna asked.
"You two," Shadow answered. "Solar. Skye. Eros. Akira. Literally all of the K.O.B. and the Tri-Blade Alliance. Dare I go on?"
"Okay, smartass," Asuna said while smiling.
Shadow smirked. "I'll see you later, then," Shadow said, walking away. He was stopped, however, when Kirito grabbed his coat sleeve.
When the mercenary turned back, Kirito asked, "You all right? You haven't been the same since the Shadow Killings."
"I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"
"I dunno. You just seem...nicer than usual."
"That's because I know what I'm fighting for now."
"And what's that?" Asuna asked, a hand on her hip. Shadow sighed and took out his Black Star. This action confused Kirito and Asuna, until Shadow held his hand out to them. Then they realized: he wanted to show them something.
Cautiously, Kirito placed a hand on Shadow's shoulder, while Asuna took the hand Kirito offered her. "Close your eyes," he warned his two companions(?).
As soon as they closed their eyes, they felt a rush and their world went dark. Light was restored not even a second later, and they both opened their eyes and staggered a bit once they let go of the mercenary.
"Oh my god, that was a rush," Kirito said.
"You get used to it," Shadow replied, walking forward.
"Doubt it," Asuna replied, before looking around her. "Where are we?"
They had teleported to a field. The field itself was barren, like a desert, but there was no harsh sunlight to accompany said landscape; instead, the sun was covered by clouds, giving the already dark landscape an even more ominous feel (A/N: Think the landscape in the beginning of the second opening in Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works, without the blade works). In the center of the landscape they were in was a rock, and around them were a circle of swords; 12 swords, to be exact, in positions akin to a clock. "Shadow?" Asuna asked, slightly panicking. "Where are we?" While Kirito went to comfort Asuna, Shadow spoke.
"A Hero's End," Shadow replied. "The twelve swords are graves, and a barrier was set so that nobody can get to this place by teleporting with a normal crystal or by walking through the gaps in the swords; it's not marked on your map like a normal location. You have to have a special crystal-like my Black Star-to get through to the middle."
"Whose graves are these?" Kirito asked, shocked. Shadow spoke, but not with a direct answer.
"'Hey, Shadow. Before you joined our family, we all agreed to live and die together. And if one of us dies, then we would take our own lives, because we're all a family IRL. And we all agreed that our graves would be around a flat rock past a field in Floor 17.'" While he was talking, Shadow walked over to the blade on the northern side of the rock: a long, jagged blade. "'First, it'd be me, Zeus.'" He walked over to the next weapon, a black trident. "'Then Neptune; the quarter mark would be Hera; then Mars; Hermes; our youngest sister Minerva marked the halfway point; then Apollo; and his twin sister Diana; Aphrodite marked the three-quarters point. Then her husband, and our brother-in-law, Vulcan. And the circle ends with Dionysus.'" While listing the names of the fallen, Shadow walked over to the remaining weapons: a short sword; a giant, two-handed axe; a dagger; a spear; two bows, one gold, one silver; another short sword, but with a shield lying next to it in perfect condition; a hammer with a spear tip; and ending at a broadsword.
When Shadow finished talking, he looked back to see Asuna looking down, tears streaming down her face as she was wracked with silent sobs, and Kirito not much better off, although he wasn't crying like Asuna. Instead, and it did not go unnoticed by the mercenary, he was squeezing Asuna's hand in his own.
"I had to plant their weapons in the ground. I was the sole survivor of a field boss that we couldn't prepare for."
Asuna wiped her tears away, and then looked up at Shadow, despite the new ones welling in her eyes. "Who was the boss?" she asked in a tone that matched her current emotions.
"The God of War."
"We were planning on taking on that boss," Kirito said, looking down. "Until I convinced them otherwise."
"Kirito, are you referring to…?"
"Yeah. The Moonlit Black Cats. And like you, I was the only survivor."
"It was best you didn't. They would have died at their levels back then."
"Yeah. Which is why I didn't."
Shadow turned back to the "graves". "Before they died, I made a promise to them: That I would do everything in my power to get everyone out of SAO, even at the cost of my life. And just last week, after the Shadow Killings, I was given a brutal reminder of that promise."
"What did you do?" Asuna asked, the tears gone, but not the broken tone.
"I killed the boss myself. And once I did, I tried to heal them, but I didn't have enough-neither items nor time. But even then, Zeus stopped me. He told me what I told you, and in the end, he died with a smile on his face.
"Because I was the sole survivor, I not only had to oblige his last wish to die with his family; I also had to personally escort each and every one of them to where they all went."
"Oh my god," Kirito and Asuna both said in shock.
"Yeah. And when I'm not in my tree, I'm here, sitting on this rock. And I come here every chance I get, because it's a reminder. Of the promise I made."
"...It's like Greek mythology," Kirito said, coming to a somber realization. "Zeus and his family were like the 12 Olympians, but they alternated between the Greek and Roman forms, and when you said you 'escorted' them, you were like Hades. Or Pluto, following the pattern."
Shadow scoffed as he sat down on the rock. "Does it matter which aspect I am? My role was the same either way: I was the Shadowrider, and I escorted my 'family' into the Underworld.
"Now you know why I seemed different after last week's incident. I was reminded of this promise, and I don't regret any decisions I've made since then."
Kirito and Asuna dried their tears and nodded in respect and sympathy. "Can you get us out of here?" Asuna asked.
"Sure. Gather around."
(x)
"You wanted to talk?" Bella asked the mercenary.
They were at Shadow's tree, both sitting down at the lowest branch. "Yeah," the mercenary replied.
"About what?"
"Something that happened last week."
"Um, we all know what happened last week," Bella said with her trademark smile and laugh.
"After that. I was going through my items, marking off which ones I was going to sell to Agil. Once I had done so, I was about to close my menu until something in the back of my head told me to check out the space where the 'Logout' option was supposed to be."
"And?"
"...It was there."
"What was?" Bella asked, curious now.
"The 'Logout' option."
Bella froze, her features impossible to read. "Are you certain?"
"You heard me. It was there. I was about to press yes, too. Until…"
"Until what?"
"Until I thought of everyone who needed me. Of you. Eros. Skye. Solar. And the people who already accepted the possibility that they're stuck here forever. And of the promise I made."
Bella was silent as she contemplated her next line. "Who?" she asked the mercenary.
"...A group of mercenaries."
"Why don't you ever say 'mercs'?"
"I cannot disrespect my people by shortening the proper term to address them. Also, it would actually pain me to say 'merc.' Ow."
Bella laughed. "Right. And what was the group's name?"
"The Olympians."
"Of course you'd join a group with a name like that."
"Don't knock it till you try it. And besides, I inadvertently caused their deaths."
"How? What did you do that caused their deaths?"
"I neglected to stock up on at least 12 healing items. And before you ask, there were 12 of them; I made thirteen."
"Ah." Bella nodded. "How?"
"The God of War."
"Ooh, damn."
"Yep. And they had a rule where if one of them died, then they all die, because not only were they a family in game, they were an actual family IRL."
"Well, how do you feel now?"
"Better. Because I knew what I was doing. And I would only change that decision if anyone were to come to harm because of it."
Bella nodded. "A noble statement. And if we're getting stuff out here: am I your verbal outlet for all your problems?"
"Essentially."
"At least you're honest."
"Didn't we already establish that?"
Before Bella could answer, Shadow got a message. When he opened it, he was surprised, to say the least, when the ALF general's voice came out in a frantic tone.
"Shadow! Come quick! There's been a murder in the prison. It was one of the LC members you brought in."
Bella looked towards Shadow, who was already taking out his Star. "I do enjoy our chats," she told the ready-to-leave mercenary.
"Me too," Shadow replied. "Talk to you later, Bella."
Bella nodded and jumped down to the ground as Shadow warped away without a trace or sound.
(x)
"I came here as soon as I could," Shadow told the general. "Who was it?"
"Bloodborne."
Shadow ran to the LC member's cell and slammed the door open. Sure enough, Bloodborne's body was nowhere to be seen, a hooded figure was crouched on the open windowsill. The figure looked back towards the mercenary and smiled. Shadow's blood boiled when he recognized the malicious smile. "GET BACK HERE!" he all but screamed as the figure jumped down to the ground outside. Shadow followed suit, landing in a roll, and chasing without breaking his stride as the figure started to run. Shadow chased after him, eventually cutting him off by teleporting ahead, causing the retreating player to stop.
The player chuckled. "Took you long enough," he said with a smile.
"Jeffrey," Shadow growled.
"Shadow. How long has it been?"
"Four months, give or take a couple weeks."
"Too long then."
"Why did you kill Bloodborne?"
"He agreed to it. To send you a message."
"And that is?"
The leader of Laughing Coffin smiled. "You and me. We fight. Tomorrow at dusk. Floor 52: Apokolips. The safehouse."
"How do I know you won't use the weapons there?"
"I'll have an area set up for us with the weapons being out of reach, but still in the safehouse. I may lead a guild of murderers, but there is honor among thieves, Shadow."
"I'll be there."
Jeffrey smiled. "Great! Remember: we'll both be using the weapons on our backs. And only one of us leaves alive."
After he said that, Shadow curtly nodded and teleported away.
(x)
After informing the general and Bella of what Jeffrey told him, Shadow went to Liz to get his weapons repaired and to tell her as well.
"You know you can't trust him," Liz told Shadow while she was working.
"I know," Shadow sighed, running a hand through his hair. "But this could be my chance, Liz. To take down Laughing Coffin for good."
"I know, but I'm worried for you. What if I'm right, and he goes against his end on the deal?"
"I'll deal with it. After all, the best blacksmith in the Liz is helping me." Liz blushed and kept working, eventually finishing up repairing Shadow's weapons.
"Done!" Liz smiled, wiping away the VR sweat from her brow. She handed Shadow's weapons back to him and asked him, "Anything else?"
"Actually, yes. Can you make me a new weapon?"
"Finally replacing the longsword?"
"It's not for me. And I want it made from this." He took out his obsidian ore and placed it on the table in front of her.
Liz's eyes widened. "I'm sorry, Shadow," she sighed, "but I'm gonna have to charge you."
"Not a problem. Can you make a longsword out if this?"
"Can you come back tomorrow?"
"I'm also paying now."
"1.3 million Col."
"Wow. I'm worth more than obsidian," Shadow remarked as he paid Liz in full.
"Really? And here I thought you were priceless."
"Bite me." Liz smiled and waved goodbye to Shadow as he left, responding in kind.
(x)
April 18, 2024
Floor 52: Apokolips
Shadow teleported outside the safe house the next day at dusk. He entered the safehouse to find Jeffrey standing in the center. He turned to face the mercenary and smiled while spreading his arms wide. "You actually came!" he laughed.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world."
"Well," he said to the LC members in the room. "Remember what I told you: leave us."
When all of the members left, Jeffrey stopped one if them and whispered something to him. The member nodded and left. Jeffrey turned to Shadow, completely oblivious to the fact that the mercenary heard everything.
They unsheathed their weapons: Shadow using his longsword, and Jeffrey using a lance that looked like Guilty Thorn, but the "thorns" were absent, replace with serrated edges on both sides.
"My offer still stands, you know. Join Laughing Coffin, and we can avoid this."
Shadow scoffed, twirled his blade and let it rest on his shoulders. "Not interested," he responded.
The two players charged each other with their weapons charging sword skills. They clashed, and Shadow warped behind Jeffrey, hitting him with an uncharged slash. Jeffrey stumbled forward and turned to see Shadow warp. He charged a sword skill and spun around while sticking his lance out, striking the mercenary when he reappeared.
Shadow winced when the serrated blade cut into him. He caught himself before he hit the ground, and warped in front of Jeffrey, striking him with the hilt of his blade. When Jeffrey was stunned, Shadow equipped his knives and charged them, driving them into the leader's chest.
Jeffrey screamed, but was slashed by Shadow. The last thing he heard his assassin say before his head was cut off was: "Ha...Ha...Ha…"
Shadow watched with cold eyes as Jeffrey's headless body shattered. He got a message, saying he received an ultra rare drop: 'Silver Skull Ring.' The Laughing Coffin's symbol of leadership. Another murder-guild symbol to add to the collection. Shadow looked around, taking not of all of the weapons in the safehouse. Time to clear out this place.
Once Shadow had put every weapon in his inventory, he was about to teleport, when he remembered something.
"When the fight's over," Jeffrey had told the member, "the signal is three knocks like this," he finished, knocking in an even tempo.
Shadow walked to the door, knocked three times, and teleported.
(x)
Aincrad Prison
Everyone was waiting apprehensively. Shadow hasn't reported back yet, and everyone was nervous—nervous that he failed.
However, everyone let loose the breaths they were holding in when the door opened and the mercenary walked in.
His HP was in the red. He wasn't at 1 HP, but it was still below the halfway mark. He walked up to the desk the general was sitting at, and unequipped an item. He held his hand up, and a silver skull ring that was on his ring finger disappeared. He held his right hand out, and the ring appeared in his palm. "He's dead," the mercenary stated while placing the ring on the desk. He stood up straight. "I killed him," Shadow finished.
The general stood up, smiling widely. "Thank you, Shadow. Once again, the front lines are in your debt."
"Don't mention it," Shadow simply replied. He picked up the ring and placed it in his inventory. "It's what I do."
"Regardless." The general held his hand out to the mercenary, who just looked at it. Everyone had already expected Shadow to do nothing, and weren't surprised to see the general slowly retract his hand.
What nobody was expecting, however, was Shadow reaching out and shaking the general's hand. "Anytime," the mercenary said over the uproarious cheers of the crowd.
(x)
May 4, 2024
Shadow was sitting on the rock at A Hero's End. He breathed deeply to try to calm himself. Finally. Some peace of mind.
After some time, he received a message from Eros. "Are you available for a lesson?"
"Yeah. My tree."
Shadow stood up and teleported to his tree, where he climbed up to the tallest tree branch. He didn't even get a minute's rest before he heard two sets of feet approach his tree from different directions. "Shadow!" the two voices of Kirito and Bella overlapped. "I need to ask you something!"
"Before you say anything else," the mercenary replied, "look in front of you."
"What? Why?" The Black Swordsman and the Silver Shadow followed Shadow's instructions, both adopting shocked expressions after finally noticing the other.
"KIRITO?!"
"BELLA?!"
The two rushed and enveloped each other in a tight hug. "I thought you died!" Kirito said while laughing in joy.
"Me? I thought you died! When everyone else did, I…" By this point, Bella had broken the hug and placed her hands on Kirito's shoulders.
"I'm just glad you're alive. I haven't seen you since the Moonlit Black Cats died." Kirito looked down. "I couldn't lose someone else."
Bella smiled and ruffled his hair. "Don't worry about it. And look how far you got without me."
"Yeah, but it wasn't the same."
"Hey," the mercenary said from above them. They looked up. "If I wasn't mistaken, you had something to ask me."
"Oh, yeah!" Bella broke away from Kirito. "Everybody's saying you took down Laughing Coffin. That true?"
"Yep. Is that all?"
Bella looked towards Kirito, then back to Shadow. "I was only confirming, so yes, but I'll stay, if only to catch up with Kirito."
Kirito looked to Shadow. "I wanted to ask you something."
"If it's anything about joining the front lines, I already told Asuna my answer."
"I see. But―"
"I've given it some thought as of late."
"Oh?"
"And I decided: I'm joining the front lines."
"W-wait," Kirito said in shock. "Really?!"
"Yeah. But if you know me, there's a catch."
"And that is?"
"I work on my own agenda; I fight when I'm needed, not required to; I'm a mercenary first, bounty hunter second, assassin third, and front line fighter fourth, so you know my usual price; and everyone on the front lines should respect my privacy, at least."
"Honestly? That is more than a fair price for your joining the front lines."
"Glad we're on the same page. Now, what were you saying?"
"Huh? Oh, right. We need you for the floor boss."
"Which one?"
Kirito nervously adjusted the collar of his coat before he spoke, which prompted a raised eyebrow from Shadow. "Floor 67," Kirito replied.
Shadow nodded. "I'll meet you there. Now then…" He jumped down and put one hand on one of Kirito's shoulder and the other on Bella's shoulder. "Please leave. I'm training someone in two minutes, and you'll just serve to be a distraction. Catch up somewhere else."
When the mercenary removed his hands from their shoulders, Kirito looked towards Bella and smiled. "I know a good restaurant."
"Your treat."
"Isn't it always?" As soon as Kirito and Bella left, still chatting with each other, Eros walked down the short hill leading to Shadow's tree.
"Hey," the two said to each other. Shadow drew his longsword, as did Eros, and pointed his blade at her. "The lesson starts now!"
Eros smirked, and the two players charged each other, not quitting until the other does.
A/N: If any of you get the reference I made before the Shadow/Jeffrey fight, let me know and kudos if you get it right. Also, the Olympians aren't really OCs if they were created for only one purpose.
S/N: Also, the idea of Floor 67 being a deadly boss floor, if not the deadliest: that was an idea we drew inspiration from TheSib about. Stay tuned for the next chapter.
A/N: And as always, Read and Review!