Chapter 4: Visions

i luv niki4444

"You're planning to leave us behind." Diavel said quietly. Out of everyone, he seemed the most upset.
"Yup."

"You can't go off on your own. At least let one of us back you up!"

"You should go with her Dia." Kimiko told him. Immediately, he tried to protest, "I'll be fine. I'll stay out of the forest, and you guys already said wolves are the only aggressives in this area."

Diavel still seemed hesitant, but in the end he was more worried about the level five Giant Bees than he was about a field full of nothing. "Just promise me you'll stay out of the forest."
"I'll be fine, you need to stop worrying so much."

Kagome shifted a little as they began to walk into the forest, this time they weren't on the path. It would be more difficult for the wolves to attack them, but also harder to fight back.

They walked in silence for a few minutes before, "So what's the plan after you complete the quest?" she glanced at him, noticing that he'd bunched up his eyebrows. Then, she shrugged.

"I haven't really thought about it. I'll probably head back to the Town of Beginnings; I wouldn't mind hanging out there for a bit."

"Kagome," he paused, "look, I haven't exactly been myself the past few hours. Getting stuck here, Trin dying, all this racing the clock for EXP it's- well you get it."
"Yeah."

He sighed, "A nap sounds good after this. Maybe when I wake up, I'll be able to wrap my head around everything that's happened today." A wry smile tugged at his lips as he spoke.

Kagome nudged his shoulder, "I'm up for it, and I'm sure the kids can't wait to get home to their parents." Looking up, she saw the moon just barely peeking through the tree tops far above them.

He chuckled quietly, then, "So what's the plan?"
"I already told you-"

"You've never been one to just sit around K."

She didn't answer him, but she could feel his eyes boring holes into her skull. She shifted their pace and hoped that they would make it there faster. A chanced glance in his direction made her release an exasperated groan, "I don't know why I'm even thinking about having this conversation." She kicked up a rock, "There's a guy I'm hoping to catch up with."

Another moment of silence, and then her friend snorted. She shot him a glare, but he was grinning at her, "Well, well! I never thought I'd see the day!"
"It's not like tha-"

"My baby girl is growing up!" he slung an arm around her shoulders, and she fought valiantly to shrug him off.
"Would you stop it!"

"How long has this beacon of love been lit?"

Kagome had never felt more horrified, "Diavel you're so far off from the picture that you think it's a book!"

"So it's more than one guy?"

"It's one, but I lied to him!" she cried. Her face closely resembled a tomato.
"You didn't tell the poor guy you were pregnant did you?"

"D!"

"Alright alright, I'll bite. What'd you lie about?"

She looked down guiltily, "I pretended to be someone I'm not." The glum answer was probably the truest thing she'd spoken since returning to Sword Art Online.

Her friend fell silent, and they walked that way for a little while. A budding awkwardness was beginning to grow when, "I bet he'll forgive you." Diavel quietly told her, "So long as you tell him why."

Right, she'd walk up to Kirito and say 'Yo buddy! I'm only talking to you because my dad told me that you'd be successful in this game; he knows, 'cause he created it. No biggie – he also trapped you here. Also, just so ya know, I'm the 100th floor boss. If you kill me right now, I'm pretty sure the game end.'

Clearly, that would go over well.

"Or," he continued, "you could not bring it up and let him think that this death game's changed you. What were you pretending to be?"

"Quiet, shy, bashful, and retiring."

Diavel snorted.

"Don't laugh at me."
"He probably didn't buy it for a second – you aren't any of those things."

"Shut your face."

This time, he actually did laugh. It was the first she'd heard from him since learning of Trin's death. "Alright, alright! Whatever you say bashful."

She rolled her eyes, "Do you ever get tired of being so-" she stopped as the sound of hornet's rose loud and clear. Her guard went up immediately, "that doesn't sound like Giant Bees."

"No it doesn't." Diavel agreed as he swallowed hard.

A lump gathered in her throat as they carefully walked forward, passing three more trees, until they finally found what they were looking for. Giant Killer Wasps, level six. "… This is bullshit."

Diavel grabbed her waist and pinned her to a tree just before its gaze swept over where they had been standing.

"You need to go get Kimiko out of here." Kagome hissed into his ear.
"I'm not leaving you."

"They're free roaming aggressives."

He hesitated, "She'll teleport to the Town of Beginnings if anything happens. It'll be okay."

"It won't be okay." She let him know. She'd pulled up her quest information, "Breadwinner's changed. I need to kill five Killer Wasps."

At that, Diavel let out a heavy sigh, "Why does Akihiko keep messing with this quest so much? Do you think they'll all be like this?"

She shook her head, "I have no idea, but I think this is why the wolves gave us so much EXP."

The angry hum of the wasp grew louder as it approached them, filling the two gamers with dread.

"I'm only level three," Diavel cursed, "we're going to need a strategy."

"Stick em with the pointy end; how's that for a strategy?" She drew back from the tree, lurching around it until the wasp was in sight. It had drifted not ten feet from them, though fighting it in the thickage would be a problem.
"That's not a proper strategy."

Kagome equipped a sword skill and thrust her blade through the back of its head, then proceeded to back away as it whipped around with its stinger flailing wildly. She'd only done it twelve damage.

She darted away and its stinger found purchase in a tree close to where she had been standing.

After a moment of deliberation, she would amend that a proper strategy was needed, she lunged for it again, but had to jump to safety before she could be impaled. Her head slammed into a tree; the force knocked the wind out of her and made her see stars.

Consequently her head was spinning as the wasp made for her again. It's hissing buzz founded lethal to her ears, and only added to the queasy knot in her stomach.

She rolled out of the way, throwing her sword out at the last second for an easy strike. The bar barely went down, in fact, the creature's health was on green. It didn't help that the trees were too thick for the type of mobility she both needed and was used to.

In moments like these, she wished that she hadn't applied for the beta test – then she would have never picked up this stupid game. "People like a challenge – I get that. But a game shouldn't make me feel like I'm five hundred years in the past fighting demons," Her sword warmed as it lit up with a skill, she dodged the stinger, then slammed into its base with the skill. It lost another thirteen HP, "again."

She repeated the process and its health entered the very tip of yellow. After which it took another three dodges and skilled strikes to bring it to the bottom of that ugly neon color. Even then, red seemed like a far off dream.

When the creature finally shattered, she let out a relieved sigh.

"That went pretty well." Diavel told her, "Though that stinger did you forty damage in one hit – you might want to get that checked out."

She smiled a tinge, already pulling up a potion, "I got lucky."
"You just need to get lucky four more times and you're golden…"

Kagome rolled her eyes, the smile not quite gone, "I need a better strategy. And more room."

Her friend positively glowed, "Oh really? If only a dashing genius had told you that before you charged into battle! Maybe you wouldn't have-"

"If only," she interrupted teasingly, "instead I got stuck with you."
"You can't ruin this for me princess."

They continued to tease each other, stealing laughs in between searching eyes and batted breath. There was a type of tranquility in the air that Kagome hadn't felt around anyone in just over a month.

Despite the circumstances, she couldn't help but feel relaxed. It was wonderful to reconnect with an old friend, knowing that even though she wasn't in a position to truly help him, their friendship hadn't started out as a façade.

After another few minutes, they had yet to find a second wasp, and circled around. Time passed by and the grey sky progressively darkened; after a while, Kagome was unable to keep track of how long they'd been searching. Something felt wrong. The first wasp shouldn't have been very far from the rest, and it seemed strange that they hadn't even heard the whisper of a buzz in the soft winds that blew by.

"Well, that's a dungeon if I've ever seen one." Diavel muttered, breaking the stern silence that had long since encompassed them. She looked at where he was pointing and squinted.

Sure enough, to their east two stone columns covered in moss rose above they're heads. In the darkness, they looked like wide, dead trees –or perhaps they would have, if not for the lack of branches and grooves. She should have seen it a mile away, and she sheepishly told Diavel just that.

They passed the columns and headed down the dark stairway that lay in between cautiously. The steps were shaped unevenly, and some were longer than others; it was difficult to discern where the next step would be. It didn't help that they were covered in some sort of slime.

At the bottom, torches burst to life around them in neat sets. Their shadows danced across the wall, and the air was instantly filled with an unnatural hum as they passed the gateway where the dungeon began.

The walls looked like they were formed from grey mud, with holes the size of tennis balls lining them in an organized pattern. It was an underground hive, and the holes must have been where larva had hatched previously. "You know what, I think I'd prefer fighting in the trees…"

"Out of the frying pan and into the fire," sighed Diavel, "maybe we can lure them back here, one by one." The words, 'rather than try to fight the whole slew and die' went unsaid."
"We can hope."

Kagome crept forward, holding a hand out in warning for Diavel to wait. She turned a corner into another long corridor and waved him forward. She was so focused on silently walking down the next hall, that she missed him roll his eyes.

The end of the hall held a set of double doors, and, when she quietly opened them, she found a room filled to the brim with Killer Wasps. They were moving in perfect synchronization around a ginormous bee in the middle – the Queen. She was level ten; not something to trifle with at level four.

With that in mind she wandered back into the otherwise empty corridor and whispered to her friend, "I'm screwed."

Diavel rolled his eyes, "Don't be dramatic. I'm sure we can think of something."

"Nope. I'm done for. Might as well just give up now."

"Idiot."

If he hadn't said it so endearingly, she might have been offended. Instead, he seemed to think she was a puppy throwing a temper tantrum.

Spoil sport. "Well you go out there then."

He did, only to come back with a face devoid of blood flow, "They're circling the Queen rather aggressively."

"Yup."

"When you die," notice the when; this guy claimed to be her friend, "can I take your inventory?"

Kagome forced back a grin and replied deadpan, "Only if you promise it'll go towards keeping Kimiko breathing."

"You can feel assured for every penny."

She shook her head, knowing that if she died her inventory would disappear like everyone else's. The only problem being that she didn't actually believe she would die – he wouldn't let her. "I'd get back if I were you. I'm not sure how this is going to go."

Without another word, but knowing that the stubborn male very likely hadn't budged, she walked back into the active hive. She took a few cautious steps and practically glued herself to the wall.

Then, one deep breath after another she progressed closer to the swarm. Her plan was to equip her sword and catch the attention of one wasp, and then get the hell out of the room with it in hot pursuit.

And maybe that would have worked, if she hadn't caught the attention of two. She crept backwards as fast as possible without making a sudden movement –as difficult as it sounds, mind you- and opened the door without turning around. When the door had closed behind her, she dared to look at the predictably unmoved man and said, "I'd take those steps now if I were you. In fact, run. Run now!"

She grabbed his arm and tore down the corridor as the door burst open, now with three wasps tailing them. Apparently, a third had been angered just by the first two leaving. Great. No fantastic; life was as she'd always wanted.

It was easier to get up the steps with the torches still lit, and proper incentive; they reached the top in record time. Diavel forced her to a stop just beyond the threshold. "On the count of three we split." He told her, as the wasps rounded the corner and made for the stairs. "One, two - Fuck just go!"

Saintly Diavel didn't have to tell her twice.

She leapt over rocks and bushes, dodging trees, and trying her best not to trip on anything that she couldn't see in the dark. Two of the buggers had followed her – hopefully Diavel would find a tree somewhere to climb. Once upon a time, that had been their solution to situations like this.

Kagome jutted out to the right and continued in that direction for about a minute before making another right. The sound of buzzing wasn't quite so fierce after another few minutes as she went back the way she had come, and a swift glance back made her grin. She'd shaken one off. Now, for the plan to commence, "Hey booger brain! This way!" she called. The wasp focused on her angrily, and she took off running more desperate than ever.

When she reached the columns, the torches had died, but she tried not to mind that and ran down the steps despite the danger. Suffice to say, she tripped halfway down – not a good start for her back, or her health bar.

She stood and rubbed at her knee, mumbling, "Well that didn't go according to plan. Ow." A loud buzz alerted her to the wasp that was already sharing the corridor. She barely had time to dodge its sharp stinger.

It seemed impossible though, that one of them had already made it back, and the other was right behind her… the bee in question came down the stairway and she swallowed hard. "Okay Kagome, you got this."

The next few minutes were a blinding rush of rolling, sword skills, dodging, direct hit, health potion, sword skill. Sweat began to pool on her forehead when the first one shattered, but the other was still in yellow. "At least you're almost in red, huh little buddy?" she puffed. Her stamina bar was dangerously low.

"You're doing a little too well."

She stiffened, and the few seconds of distraction led to a stinger stabbing into her abdomen. She nearly screamed from the pain, rolling away and stumbling to get a health potion. Her health, like her stamina, was dangerously low.

She couldn't believe her eyes even with her father stood right in front of her. The wasp was still coming for her, but he was content to remain where he was.

He adjusted his glasses, "I didn't think you'd make it this far."

"Shut up."

Her sword skill successfully lurched into the wasp's head, dragging it into red. Finally.

"You've always been so brave." He told her smoothly, "and look at you now – fighting off creatures two levels higher than you for the good of all."

Kayaba Akihiko would have never said that.

"But you'd like him to, wouldn't you?" he replied scathingly, reading her thoughts. The harsh reflection of his glasses nearly made her miss her well placed roll. She tried to ignore him and the little dig at her pride.

"Shut up." She repeated. She took another vicious stab at the wasp, and felt a familiar wave of pleasure when it burst into pieces.

The silence as she did so was an added bonus, until, "Do you think he actually believed that you went to the Feudal Era?" Her fist clenched, "Do you actually believe…"

"Stop."

"... that he loves you?"

She stopped breathing, meeting his cold gaze. Her heart throbbed painfully in her chest, and her throat had went dry.

There wasn't anything malicious about his stare; in fact there was no emotion at all behind it. The illusion played its part well, putting words from her head into its mouth to fuel whatever it was that scared her the most.

"I'm not here for a psychoanalysis kid." It chuckled, using his mouth to do it, "And I'd watch out for that staircase if I was you."

He warned her just in time for her to leap to the side. Great, another wasp. It died some minutes later, just like all the others. At this moment, with her father's image taunting her from the sidelines, she imagined she could have killed just about anything.

So she was happy when the next came just seconds after it shattered. She launched herself at it, using a volley technique to attack it from each side and then proceeded to kick it –and its stinger- away.

"Why'd you show up?" she spit out bitterly, as 'Akihiko' sent out another barb. She was too busy trying to stay alive to hear his reply.

However, after the damn wasp had finally split into a million pieces, he thoughtfully replied, "I think you're right."

"About what?" she asked doubtfully, eyeing the message that cheerfully popped up on her screen.

Quest Completed!

*500 EXP

*Emerald Bow

*x3 Honey Comb

"I think he really did just forget about that damn tree."

When Diavel came back, she was a crumbled heap on the ground. Tears had long since dried on her face, and he noticed, disturbingly that her eyes were dull.

"Kagome?"

She frowned at him, a frightening difference from the good-natured smile that she'd worn not forty minutes before. "I need to go." Was all she said – and then she did.

i luv niki4444

I'M SO SORRY. I'M SO VERY VERY VERY SORRY. D:

I'm going to be completely honest. My computer cord broke a while back, but I had been using my brother's because I didn't want to pay for a new one... well he needed his cord this week. So, I completely messed up. :/ Rest assured that the new cord was ordered two days ago and it should be here by next week. :)

ALSO don't worry about the next chapter. It should come up Friday (it's half typed, and completely written.) but if it doesn't it will definitely be up on Saturday morning. :) It looks like the broski will be out all day tomorrow so I'll probably get free reign of his cord. ;P

Also thank you guys so much for the wonderful feedback! You guys are awesome :D

I hope you all like this chapter and, if you did, let me know! I'd love to hear what you're thinking!

Xx Niki