Well, it certainly has been a long time for this chapter.

Apologies right away. Between married life, new and old games, not to mention the recent Unital Ring volume coming out, I've been a little preoccupied with things. That, and this chapter was just being a pain to get through one way or another.

But now, we are back! Following after Asuna gets taken by Yuuki, what do Kirito and the others do? And what will they soon face? Read on to find out.

Disclaimer: Reki Kawahara is the author and creator of SAO. All rights and ownership go to him. Now then...

LINK START!

Chapter 39:

Phantoms

"Asuna!" Kirito shouted as said swordswoman was yanked away by the mysterious Yuuki. Not even thinking twice, Kirito conjured his wings and raced after them, with his friends lagging a bit behind. Despite his efforts, the two were getting further and further away. He was still unaccustomed to flying like the fairies in Alfheim, so even the burst of speed he was putting on was nothing compared to those two.

"Damn it!" he cursed. "I can't lose her again."

"Kirito, wait up," he heard Leafa call from behind. But he wasn't heeding her or anyone else. Asuna was beginning to shrink into the distance. And as she did, Alice's words came back to him. He berated himself for not listening to her. They shouldn't have split up like they did. They should have stayed together. With his friends' help, maybe they could have—

"Black Swordsman, stop!" shouted Eiji right before he and Tatsumaki barred the way.

Halting in the air, Kirito snapped at him, "Get out of my way Eiji!"

"Don't tell me what to do," Eiji returned in a cold tone. "We won't catch them like this."

"I'm not letting Asuna go off with someone we don't know!" the Black Swordsman argued. "Now get out of my way!"

"Kirito, knock it off," came Leafa as she finally caught up to them. As he rounded on her, she told him, "Look, that swordswoman seemed to be testing anyone she fought. I don't think she means any harm. And we will find Asuna. I'll let Lady Sakuya know so they can search for her while we handle our own mission."

Resting a hand on his shoulder, she finished, "Please, just trust that Asuna will be alright. You both have your oath. I know she'll hold onto that."

That caused Kirito to slow down. She was right. They had their oath all this time. And so far, everything that had happened hadn't stopped it from coming true. Asuna held to it just the same as he, Eugeo, and Alice did.

Letting out a breath to steady his nerves, he told his sister, "Thanks Leafa. Guess I must have seemed pretty foolish back there."

"Charging into Oberon's trial alone was foolish," Leafa pointed out, making her brother cringe in embarrassment. But then she added, "But going after her… That's been one of the things you did right."

Then Sinon piped up, "Not to ruin the mood between you siblings, but we should consider how we'll find Asuna. Not to mention these murderers that are supposedly running rampant around Alfheim."

Brought back to the bigger matters, Kirito replied, "Asuna can take care of herself. As for these murderers, I'd like to get an idea about where all the victims were and how they died. We figure that out, I might be able to hone in and what we can do to go after them."

"Let's confer with some of the people back in Swilvane," suggested Leafa. "Some of them survived being attacked and could give us some answers."

Just then, they heard someone yell, "Leafa!" And looking down they spotted Recon jetting up to them from the direction of the city of the Sylphs. But just as everyone was getting comfortable, a net shot from out of nowhere ad snagged the boy, dragging him into the canopy.

"Recon!" Leafa called out to him. As she did, two more nets shot out to snag both Leafa and Sinon. But Tatsumaki made quick work, shredding through them with his tail and claws.

"Down there!" Kirito shouted. "I see people in the treetops." Before anything else was said, he and Eiji darted down. Said individuals were hard to make out, but Kirito could see the cloaks they wore to hide themselves shifting as they learned they had been spotted. But they didn't get too far before both warriors drew their swords and dealt grievous wounds to them, causing them to tumble to the ground in a heap.

As he landed, rather roughly, Kirito spotted the one holding the net Recon was in. Without a moment to lose, Kirito drew back his sword on instinct to activate Sonic Leap. Just like when he saw Yuuki duel, the ringing of his sword indicated the skill had been triggered. And with a roar, he descended on the captor and managed to take his arm, cutting clean through. The man screamed in agony as he dropped his crossbow and tried to clamp onto the stump to halt the bleeding. Eiji followed right behind, using a jumping Horizontal to cut the Sylph free without injuring the captive.

Leafa and Sinon quickly joined and held their weapons out at the two victims that tried to catch them. While they dealt with them, Kirito turned to the man seething and moaning as his shoulder ran red. When he looked at his hand, his blood ran cold. On the back of the man's hand was the most infamous emblem in all of Aincrad. One he had not seen since the raid where he claimed those two lives and ran away. A guild that had been a nightmare for everyone for so long.

A coffin with a smiling face and an arm holding the lid open. The symbol of Laughing Coffin.

At that, Kirito dropped his sword as his mind raced. His vision became distorted and his head felt heavy. He felt his heart race as memories of that time came back to him. Voices of those members he killed came into his mind, blotting out his surroundings. Leafa could have been calling out to him, or even Sinon, but he didn't hear them. His mind just fixated on that time of his life.

He didn't notice the knife coming to stab him until someone darted in front of him and slashed across. Looking up, he saw the back of Eiji with his sword out at the end of a diagonal slash. The Laughing Coffin member fell back as a spurt of red came from the slash through his chest. Kirito's head cleared a bit after seeing that, but it was still heavy and pounding despite such relief.

As the man fell, Leafa gasped his shoulders and called to him, "Kirito! What's wrong?" But he was still in shock, unable to offer any explanation to his comrades.

Except for Eiji, who voiced, "Laughing Coffin. So that was them."

"Who?" Sinon questioned, her eyes scrutinizing the Integrity Knight.

But there wasn't much time to answer when the bushes rustled and four more men in cloaks appeared from the shadows. Each of them holding a different weapon which included a scimitar, a pair of curved swords, knives, and a cleaver. Sinon trained her arrows on these new enemies, ready to let loose once they made their move. Leafa stood in front of Kirito protectively with her sword out. And Eiji swiped his sword to the side as a show of skill and power. But the Laughing Coffin members were chuckling at the display, gleeful at seeing such youths hoping to stand against them. Recon was near them too, but his dagger shook in his hand as he faced these men down.

"What do we do?" he asked the others. "Should we run?"

But then, Kirito gently pushed Leafa to the side as he scooped the Night Sky Blade. At his showing himself, the Laughing Coffin members went from gleeful to anxious. They saw the Black Swordsman step forward, and were unsure what to make of him stepping forward. Even Eiji and Sinon gave him weird looks. He stopped just in front of the group, his eyes covered by his bangs.

And suddenly, as the tension reached its peak, Kirito cried out as he surged forward. The first member found his swords knocked out of his hands before he was cleaved in half. The next one tried to stab him with a knife, but Kirito whirled around and stabbed straight through his skull before wrenching it out with a sickening squelch. The one with the cleaver tried to go for a low sweep at Kirito, but the Black Swordsman turned around and darted over to kick him in the solar plexus. As the man reeled, Kirito relieved him of his head.

"Wha-What the hell-?" Sinon exclaimed softly, horrified by what she saw.

"Kirito," Leafa said, horrified by seeing her brother being so merciless.

All that was left was the one with the scimitar. He was shaking as he saw the dark look in Kirito's eyes. It was far more terrifying than anything before.

Dropping his sword, he cried out, "Screw this! No one told me about the Black—" But as he ran, Eiji had come over and cut him down with his back turned to them. He was still alive, but only just.

Yanking his cowl off, Eiji pulled the black-blue hair of the member so his head was lifted, and he demanded in a low voice, "Talk. What are you doing here?"

"We… won't tell… you," the Laughing Coffin member grunted out as blood seeped from his mouth.

Seeming unaffected, Eiji warned, "How would you like to die? Would you like me to slowly boil your brains with fire? Maybe stab you until you bleed out?" His expression hardening, he added, "Or feed you to the monsters out here?" At that, the guy's eyes went wide. "Yes, just like her. I'll feed you to what's out here. It wouldn't wipe away your filth, but it'd be a start."

Before the torture could go on, Leafa called, "Eiji, cut it out! This isn't right."

"Let's patch him up and get him back to Lady Sakuya," Sinon suggested, keeping an arrow on her bowstring. "Then we can figure out what they are doing here and how they got here."

Eiji's hard look didn't seem to go away. If anything, his eyes looked over the two fairies with a similar hostility to the Laughing Coffin grunt in their hands. It made Sinon tense up and Leafa kept her sword up.

But all of them were stopped when Kirito came over. He still had his own dark look, but it was more subdued than before. He merely looked at the guy, no empathy or anything for a man from a group bent solely on killing anyone and everyone they could. Ones who treated death like a commodity or a plaything.

Bending down, Kirito told him, "You are about to die. No goddess is going to spare you the purgatory you will enter. But you are going to tell us how you got to Alfheim."

"Why… should…?" he let out, though his voice was starting to sound hoarse now.

To which Kirito answered, "Because I have another way to get the answers. But it'll involve your boss. And no matter how good you think he is, I was part of the frontlines back in Aincrad. Killing another Laughing Coffin member will just be another thing I've accomplished."

The two seemed to enter a brief staring match, before the guy revealed, "Ve…cta…" And he let out one exhalation before his body went cold. Eiji dropped his head and kicked the body away, earning more chastisement from Leafa.

But his last word confused Kirito. According to legend about the goddesses, Vecta had been sealed away by Stacia and the others way back before man ever walked into Underworld. The only evidence of his influence had been the nobles back in Centoria, according to Yui and Cardinal. IT didn't make sense how such a dark god could still be involved.

Then again, being mentioned brought back a story Eugeo used to tell him and the girls back in Rulid.

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The week before they were to be given their Callings, the group were hanging out by the bakery as Asuna and Alice came out to give Kirito and Eugeo some sweets to help celebrate their getting Callings soon. At a nearby hill, Alice spoke up to break the silence of them eating their treats.

"Sister Azalia has told us about the creation of Underworld again," she mentioned to her friends. "It was mostly for the orphans and those training to be sisters of the church. I practically know it by heart."

"Then why don't you recite the story to us, oh wondrous one," Kirito teased. This earned him a small jab from Asuna as well as a glare from Alice, but he laughed it off like they didn't bother him.

"Kirito, that story is really important," Eugeo tried to explain. "It explains how the goddesses came to be. And it warns us about Vecta."

"Yeah, that part I don't get," Kirito brought up. "Like we know Stacia is the mother of all creation, Terrerria is the goddess of the earth and stuff, and Solus is the sun in the sky. But then why is Vecta even a part of it all? Aren't three goddesses enough?"

"Stacia created Terrerria an Solus to help subdue Vecta after he appeared," Asuna reminded him. "Didn't you pay attention during Sister Azalia's lessons when we were younger?"

Unabashed, Kirito replied, "Nope!"

Stunned, Eugeo asked, "Not even of the Children of Vecta?"

To that, Kirito didn't have a ready answer for. Even Asuna raised an eyebrow in confusion about such a topic.

Seeing this, Alice questioned, "You two have never heard about the Children of Vecta?"

"My parents mentioned the name, but never told me who they were," Asuna admitted. "They said it wasn't necessary to know about it for my training."

"No one's mentioned them to me," Kirito revealed. "I doubt even Sugu knows."

The two looked to Eugeo, but they became rather anxious when they saw how he looked. Alice turned to face her friend and saw something that made her gasp. Their friend was white as a sheet, eyes wide with terror. They looked around to see if some kind of monster from the Dark Territory had appeared behind them, but there was nothing but the Gigas Cedar on the hill.

Concerned, Kirito went over and asked, "Hey Eugeo, what's wrong? Why are you so white?"

This snapped Eugeo out of whatever stupor he was in, and he rambled out, "No, if it happened then… But they should have been warned. We all were."

"Eugeo?" Alice spoke up, worried.

"Eugeo, calm down. What should we have been warned about?" Asuna inquired, taking his hand.

Gathering himself a bit, Eugeo explained, "My parents and some villagers told me the stories. About how Vecta would kidnap people and take them somewhere far away. But they would have no memory of who they were or where they came from. They would just wander, lost and confused. It was Vecta's way of playing tricks on the people of Stacia. Almost like his revenge for being sealed."

Then he muttered, "But then, he might do it to get rid of her children. And he would go for the ones Stacia can't protect." That thought seemed to make him even more terrified, gripping his head.

"Don't be stupid," Kirito berated, snapping the flaxen-haired youth out of his panic. Coming in front of the boy, he told him, "Who cares about all that. There's no way the four of us are gonna be separated like that. And even if Vecta somehow gets us, we'll always come back together. We have our oath, remember?"

As Eugeo lifted his head, Alice came in and recited, "We were born on the same year. And we'll be together to our last. That's our oath Eugeo. And oaths made in the Sacred Tongue will always be fulfilled."

"Besides Eugeo, if anything did happen to anyone, we would fight to make sure we remembered each other," Asuna added. "No dark god is going to tear us apart."

Looking at his friends, Eugeo uttered out, "Kirito, Asuna, Alice." And his eyes started to water, making Kirito fuss, apologizing about making his friend cry while the girls got on his case over it.

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Coming out of the memory, Kirito pondered more over the whole concept of Children of Vecta. Maybe the villagers had it wrong the whole time. They had things wrong about the Integrity Knights for over 300 years, while Quinella did propagate her own myth to feed the people. Maybe the Children of Vecta were something else entirely. It was something to consider.

He was pulled out of his thoughts even further when Leafa called, "Kirito, are you even listening to me?"

Blinking, Kirito saw his sister looking up at him with a scrutinizing face, her brow furrowed intensely. Eiji was off to the side, his sword sheathed and just looking out into the distance. Sinon was discussing something with Recon, though the Sylph didn't look too enthusiastic to be talking to the Cait Sith as compared to Leafa.

Coming back to the world, Kirito replied, "Sorry Sugu. I mean, Leafa. I was just thinking about what that guy said."

Letting out a small huff, Leafa assured, "You can call me Sugu when it's just us. I do kinda miss being your little sister." Then her tone got more serious, and she brought up, "More to the point, what the heck happened to you? You just snapped and mutilated those guys. What was the deal there?"

Kirito thought for a moment before explaining, "Honestly, I don't remember too much. Sometimes when I get caught up in the heat of a battle, I tend to just black out. I think I only remember…" He trailed off as he recalled seeing the Laughing Coffin emblem on one of the hooded grunts. He recalled the surge of terror and guilt that swept over him when he saw something from a guild that shouldn't exist anymore.

"Remember what?" Leafa asked, wondering why he stopped.

"Never mind," Kirito finally told her. "I don't really remember all that much."

"Don't pull that kind of stunt with me," she chided. "You're hiding something. You knew who those guys were. Why else would you not even bat an eye at killing them."

Kirito was reminded of Alice with how Leafa saw right through him. It made him think there was no privacy with his thoughts around the girls in his life. And that worried him in so many ways. Was he always that transparent with Ronie and Sortiliena?

Then Leafa surprised him by giving him a soft hug, whispering, "I don't know what your history is with those guys, but I know it's not a good one. You have bad blood with them. And if that's the case, I want to help you. Reincarnated or not, you're my brother."

Kirito had to use a lot of willpower to not just break down and admit everything right then and there. Leafa's words were like an oasis in the Southercrois deserts. He wanted to tell her everything. About Laughing Coffin and the raid on their home base. It was one of the few things from his time in Aincrad that he omitted to her. At least in greater detail than he had said before. But he couldn't do that to her, not after everything. That nightmare would be with him and the others. Especially with Suguha having a new lease on life here as Leafa.

So, he told her, "When it becomes important, I'll let you know. Until then, we need to focus on finding who is leading these guys on a killing spree."

Grunting, Leafa returned, "Yeah, I guess these guys were just grunts. But why would they mention the dark god? Something's not adding up."

"They're Laughing Coffin," Eiji spoke up suddenly, drawing everyone's attention. He had rolled one of the bodies over to reveal the insignia of the murder guild on his neck.

"Laughing Coffin?" Sinon muttered.

"Who are they? And what are they doing in Alfheim?" Recon questioned.

Before Kirito could stop her, Leafa explained, "They're a group of murderers from Aincrad. My brother and his friends fought them some time ago. Though, I don't know why there are these guys here."

"They mentioned Vecta," Eiji recalled. "Maybe whoever leads this guild has a connection to the dark god."

"So, they could be from the Dark Territory?" Leafa surmised. "Maybe a worshiper or something?"

The Integrity Knight proposed, "Perhaps from a long time ago. But it still doesn't add up. Vecta shouldn't be able to do anything, being sealed up by the goddesses."

"We'll figure that out once we find who has been directing them here in Alfheim," Kirito redirected firmly. "Now that we know who has been killing all the fairies here, we shouldn't go alone while we search for them. We'll split up for now. Leafa, you and Eiji get Recon back to Swilvane. Maybe ask those survivors what they know as well."

"Sure, but what about you and Sinon?" Leafa asked.

"We'll patrol nearby and look for clues as to where they might still be," he answered calmly.

Both Eiji and Sinon didn't seem to mind the arrangements being made, though they mostly stayed stone-faced anyway. However, he could tell Leafa wanted to argue. After how she stated he fought, it shouldn't have surprised him.

But he assured, "I'll be careful. And Sinon can keep me in check. You don't need to worry."

Giving him one last worried look, Leafa told him, "That just worries me more. Be careful brother." And she summoned her wings and flew off with Recon following. Eiji got on Tatsumaki and trailed after them.

With the others having taken off, Kirito looked back to Sinon and suggested, "We better look for them on foot. They might try another surprise attack if we go flying around looking for them."

"Not that I disagree with that, but why stay on the ground?" she inquired. "If they are scattered about while hunting fairies, we'll need to be fast to get them."

"Not with how these guys operate," Kirito reasoned. "If they are hunting people, they'll have someplace close by that they make their camp. Knowing them, they won't be too far from here."

Following that line of thought, the two trekked in the direction the three they just fought came from. Kirito could tell Sinon was less than convinced this was a good plan, but she didn't voice any opposition this time. Besides, when he and the others encountered their members before, it was generally because they had been in the area. At least from what Eugeo once said after their skirmish. Either way, there had to be more nearby after they saw Recon get ambushed.

As they walked, Sinon piped up and asked, "What was that back there? You acted almost like some wild beast tearing into those guys."

Tapping his chin in thought, Kirito answered, "Sorry about that. It's happened before, but sometimes I get so engrossed in a fight I black out. I don't really remember much after seeing those guys were members of Laughing Coffin. I just remember after the fight and that's about it."

"Seriously? You don't remember anything else?" Sinon questioned dubiously. "How the hell are you even still alive?"

Kirito didn't answer, mostly because he didn't even know himself. Most fights back in Aincrad should have spelt his end. The fight with the Gleam Eyes being a prime example. Yet in all those instances, he had been rather chastised by Alice regarding his performance. But as far as recalling what happened in them, some were muddy or he only really remembered bits of them, or he remembered nothing and had to have the others fill in the big blank he had.

Although, it wasn't always true. The one other time he recalled his fight with something was the raid on Laughing Coffin's base. It's how he remembered the two lives he claimed, as well as when he decided to isolate himself until Asuna came after him in the mountains. And it was when that train of thought entered that Kirito's mind suddenly sprung to mind the deaths at his hands.

Just before a stream, Kirito was forced to bend down when he felt his head burst with pain. He ended up staring at his reflection, but then saw the faces of the two Laughing Coffin members in the water along with Raios.

"Murderer," he heard them whisper to him. "You can't deny it. Your hands are coated in blood."

Kirito tried ignoring them, trying to fight off this headache. But their voices echoed in his mind, not letting him go. Until Sinon put a hand on his shoulder, which made them vanish as he returned to reality.

"Hey, is something wrong?" she asked, having noticed his little fit just then.

Shaking his head, Kirito replied, "Yeah. Just some phantoms." He then pulled out his water skin and began refilling it in the stream. As he did so, the two heard a branch snap behind them.

Without missing a beat, Sinon had an arrow ready and fired as another cloaked figure descended upon her. The shot nailed his heart, and he collapsed just behind the two. Kirito put away the water skin while drawing his Night Sky Blade, in which he spotted three more figures in tattered cloaks. All of them wielding daggers and with their faces covered in shadow.

"I'll keep them at bay," he said softly to Sinon. "Pick them off whenever you get a shot."

Pulling three arrows into her left hand, Sinon returned, "You don't need to tell me twice. Just don't lose your head."

Kirito said nothing in reply, merely twirling his sword and getting ready to face the murderers before them. Two of them rushed at him, which he met by kicking one away while jamming his blade into the other's knives. He then shoved the guy back, opening him up for an arrow to take him out, striking his temple. The other guy he kicked came back, going for a low sweep at his legs. Kirito saw this out of the corner of his eye and just barely pulled his leg up and out of the way.

As he put his sword between them, he made sure to keep himself calm. He couldn't afford to lose control like he did earlier. He drew upon the lessons he learned from Sortiliena and fell back on what he learned. When facing tricky opponents, always be prepared for any surprises they might throw your way. It was this lesson that helped, as Kirito felt something amiss behind him. He jumped aside just as the third murderer was about to get the jump on him. Keeping both foes in view, he made sure he always had both in sight.

The one he originally exchanged blows with came after him, throwing one of his daggers to try and rattle Kirito. But he was well-versed in the tactic, the move seeming similar to Liena using her whip. He knocked the dagger aside and delivered a left hook to the guy's face when he reared up to stab. He then brought his blade around to counter the other guy's attempt at a stab, swinging up to open him up for a follow-up. Thankfully, Sinon didn't disappoint, nailing another shot right at the heart. With two down, Kirito focused back on the final one.

This one seemed enraged, just wildly lashing out at Kirito without any strategy or tactic. Kirito fluidly dodged his attempts, only bringing his blade up to block maybe once or twice in the exchange. When the murderer went for an overhead strike, Kirito swung up and knocked the knife out of his hand and sent it flying.

"Now, Sinon!" he cried out. And not a second later, her arrow sliced through the last guy's throat. He let out a gurgle while clutching the wound before collapsing and succumbing to his death. With this last foe dealt with, Kirito swung his sword across his body before sheathing it behind him.

Sinon approached him once he finished, checking her bowstring from the different shots she took. She didn't seem to have any trepidation considering his last engagement made him go ballistic, but she did seem wary. He didn't blame her in that regard. Still, they needed to keep looking. No doubt there were more Laughing Coffin members still running loose in this forest.

As they looked down at the three corpses before them, Sinon inquired, "Any chance you know how to find the rest?"

"No. Usually, these guys find me," he told her simply.

"Oh great, so you're just a walking beacon to them," Sinon quipped, annoyed at what they would have to do.

Kirito didn't give a remark back. Instead, he suggested, "Let's go into the denser part of the forest. That has several places perfect for them to hide in. Makes it easy to set up for an ambush."

"For us or for them?" Sinon questioned. But Kirito was already going ahead, forcing her to follow along.

They didn't encounter any more grunts as they went into the thicker parts of the forest, but that didn't alleviate the fear that something was about to jump out at them. With how Laughing Coffin had operated so far, they expected some kind of sneak attack to spring up from all around them. Kirito kept his senses alert for any disturbances, recalling when the guild ambushed them at their hideout.

The Black Swordsman looked back at his Cait Sith companion, seeing her ears twitch and twist as she tried to pick up on anything creeping around. Considering she was reincarnated, he had to wonder how much of a change Sinon had to make to adjust to her new body with those ears and tail. But he shook himself away from those thoughts before he got carried away. What mattered right now was finding the leader. They never did find him back in Aincrad, and there was no way the guy wasn't going to show up here in Alfheim with such a promising hunt. Someone that sick could never turn down such an opportunity.

But they needed to proceed carefully. Kirito paused for a sec and spoke to Sinon, "We need to give them a better target. I'll go ahead by myself. You get into one of the trees and keep me in view. If they only see one of us, they might come out."

"Yeah, and you'll be a sitting duck," Sinon countered.

"While they go after me, you can snipe them from where you're hiding," Kirito finished explaining his plan. "That way, you can keep me safe and we can take out this group."

It was a good plan, Sinon had to admit. Still,

"I'm not a fan of you just offering yourself to these freaks," she told him. "They want revenge on you after destroying their base and taking down their members. And do I need to remind you about that little oath you and your friends have? Not to mention Leafa—" She was interrupted when Kirito gave her a stern look. There was almost a cold fire under that gaze, one that caught Sinon off-guard. Unlike back in Arun at the World Tree, this one had a focus to it. A will that seemed stronger than that time. With a purpose that would not be stopped.

Something was different this time. She could tell. Kirito had grown in the short time he had been away. He had a strength she had never seen before. And if she was honest, it was something she had been striving for.

"We can't let them terrorize you people any longer," Kirito reasoned. "Back me up, and I'll see to their destruction."

Sinon could only nod at this. And he took off shortly after. When he left, she started going to a nearby tree to start her part of the plan. But suddenly, she seized.

Collapsed on the ground, Sinon wondered what happened and why she was frozen like she was. A paralysis poison here? She didn't think it was possible. Glancing at her shoulder, she saw the tip of a dart in her shoulder. Someone got the jump on her after Kirito took off. She should have known. These guys were nothing she had faced before.

She heard grass being stepped on before a boot appeared in her limited vision. She glanced up to see a man with a skull mask with red eyes, his cloak covering most of his body and even whatever weapons he had. He was smirking at her, which enraged her. This cocky idiot was going to find she wasn't taking this lying down. She wrestled against her own muscles to grab a knife from her belt to try and stab this guy. But while she tried, he moved to draw something from under his cloak. It was the sound of a sword being drawn, so Sinon put more effort into retaliating.

But then, her blood ran cold. The man drew a broadsword from under his cloak, which wasn't anything special normally. But this one was black steel, with chips missing along the edge, making it rough-looking. The hilt had no guard or pommel, just a handle wrapped in coarse hide. When she saw it, her heart raced.

It was the exact same sword she took from that bandit in her village and killed him with.

But how?! That had been a lifetime ago. That sword had to have been discarded after she fled. And no way anyone else would carry a sword like that. But seeing it again, reminded of her life before, Sinon's past came flooding back. She remembered the guilt and fear associated with that one act, that weapon she never should have lifted. The face of the bandit as his Life seeped out of him onto her stained hands.

The man allowed the steel to touch her neck, and Sinon froze. Her body went limp as she found whatever strength she possessed evaporated, abandoning her in this very moment. She was going to die. She would be snuffed out.

As the man raised the sword to take her head, she begged, I don't want to die! Kirito, where are you? Finding herself needing him, she cried for him to come back. But she believed it was a moot wish, as she shut her eyes and braced for death.