Moments earlier, Jaymes

"Koharu's blood is running out, running out, running out. Koharu's blood is running out, oh how sad..."

At the fore side of the ship of the Decks 8 and 9 is the opera house. Big enough to seat at minimum 800 people, it is composed of two levels. The upper levels, connected to the ninth deck, are made of balconies protruding outward towards the stage. The lower level where I enter looks like a typical theater, with four downward sloping sections of seating bordering the half-curtained stage.

Between the red curtains, barely visible in the LED lighting of the theater, is a woman seated on her knees. Her black clothing is impractical for GGO's (I wouldn't consider a leotard suitable for gun warfare) but if she's going for the femme fatale look, she's nailed it. Her face is partially covered by a black mask over her eyes. Her lengthy black boots are held by red gloves. And speaking of red, her hair flows like a bloody river from her head, matching the surrounding drapes. If things were different, she'd be my type to a tea.

"The hero Jaymes broke Anni's neck, Anni's neck, Anni's neck. The hero Jaymes broke Anni's neck, and got away. Then he put Devesta in jail, Devesta in jail, Devesta in jail. Then he put Devesta in jail, threw the key away."

Stopping halfway down the center left aisle, I reach down for my right-sided pistol. What stops me is her eyes opening, crimson as my uniform, filled with the same emotion as mine - hatred. "Almost two years it has been...and not a day goes by that my hate for you wanes."

"That almost flutters my heart. Hate looks just as annoying beautiful on you as anything else." This is the conclusion I reached after talking to Kureha. I knew Annihilator was dead, but until moments ago I did not think "Annihilator" was Devesta with his name. Truth be told, I had forgotten about her and I make it known as I continue to the stage. "Sorry I can't say I thought much of you."

"Hmph. So you forgot about me as soon as you left Black Iron Palace. That was our opening act. I swore that I would find you, that you and I are held together by fate as enemies. My words have proven true."

"And I remember telling you not to cross my path again." Joining her on the stage, I notice that three camera markers float in the air around us. I shouldn't be surprised we have an audience; far as I know, this is the first round of fighting between the traitors and LPFM. "How did you find me?"

She glances away, facing the empty theater. "A stroke of luck. But is it too surprising? You haven't changed your name or likeness. It can be said you were asking to be found. Yet what made it easy was not how you looked, but how you acted. Any Jaymes-worthy moments in the past year that stand out to you?"

I don't know what she means by that, but if there was a moment that is "Jaymes-worthy" in the year I've played GGO... There was the Lievre incident last November, but that wasn't something that would identify me. Well, given my involvement, it could have, but the way she's mocking me says otherwise. Squad Jam 2 and Battle of Bullets 4 are other moments I shined, but she's implying I did something that I would've done in SAO. Devesta knows me as a Assault Team member and a constant thorn in Laughing Coffin's plans, so...

The gunman lowers his gun and faces us. "This is real power, real strength! Let your fear carve one name into your brains... The name I share with this weapon... Death Gun."

As Death Gun proceeds to leave and passes us, Kureha puts herself behind me. Holding her back, I step out behind, taking out my right pistol and pointing it at the player. "Death Gun! What the hell did you do?" He looks over his shoulder at me, letting his red eyes focus and flash. Kureha takes a step forward, but I hold my left arm out to stop her. He looks at her, then back at me. Those eyes flash a second time, but it is a different kind...like recognition. But I don't recognize him, his username is hidden, unlike mine.

"Still the protector of the innocent women? If only Annihilator could get his hands on her...but we both know what you did. Your judgement will come in time, Crimson Warrior."

"...XaXa." I didn't know it at the time that Death Gun - one of them - was XaXa, a former comrade of Devesta. I figured whoever was behind the mask knew who I was and joined the red guild off the spoken name of Annihilator. But neither he or his brother Speigel (another thorn in my back, given his treatment of Sinon) never came after the real me. Whatever reason Johnny Black came from the shadows after several months to attack Kazuto and Asuna, I wonder why he chose them and not me.

Well, I know why Johnny has a grudge against all of us, Kirito most of all, but I was found first. But that doesn't explain a couple of things. Why XaXa and Speigel avoided me, why Johnny Black only sought out Kazuto and Asuna, and why Devesta is here now instead of all those months ago?

Maybe there is a answer that sums it all up. "XaXa said my judgement would come. You're it, huh?"

"You could word it that way. I had to be sure that it was you, though, not some knockoff. It took a while, but after what happened to XaXa, I decided to back off for a while. Then when I started investigating, things fell into place. Squad Jam II, Battle of Bullets IV, you featured in each one and performed as expected. Let me offer my congratulations on those performances, Lucky Red. If only you performed as admirably when the knight sacrificed him. Or I struck down that poor girl's heart. Or when Anni's beat the hell out of you in place of killing the girls. Or when I chased your partner out of town right into Anni's hands."

My breath stops at the apex of exhalation. "...What?"

Devesta turns slightly in my direction, reveling in my puzzled expression. "Oh, right you wouldn't have known since I was gone by then, nor did you ask. But it was me, not Anni, who ran poor Koharu out of that town to the field. Well, I can't take full credit for it, there were some low-ranking people with me, but Anni's plan worked to perfection. I only wish I was the one who slayed her. But because of that, here we are. I get another chance. Today is that chance."

She stands up and properly faces me. "Despite the mystery behind the third Squad Jam, everything has gone to plan. Your entry into the Squad Jam, your survival of the alliance's attack, the arrival on the ship, and our confrontation. Down the most minute detail, you and I have met once again! It was worth duping the other teams with the signal flares and alliances, then joining with that bitch and the other traitors, and surviving her schemes. She sent me straight to you."

I have a suspicion Pitohui didn't do so out the kindness of her heart. If anything, she did it to get me out the way of whatever she's planning, or is using Devesta as part of her plan. I'm in too much shock to think. "All that to get to me?"

"No. To get to you and make you pay for everything. For killing Anni. For destroying Laughing Coffin. For locking me up. For living your life without a care despite you and I commiting the same crime. But most of all, I just want to devastate you. I can't kill you, so I want you to suffer humiliation as I have. And I'll start with eliminating you, then I'll hunt her down."

Instinctively, my hand tightens around the pistol. She's trying to get a rise out of me. I have no clue who "she" is, that could be girl, but if I had to choose, it's narrowed down to three. If Devesta has been watching me solely in GGO, that's narrowed to two. If she has only one person to target because the other girl is targeted by another, then there's only one left to choose. "You said it yourself; this isn't SAO. Kureha is safe."

"Sure... But is Momiji safe?"

On hearing her name, I snap. I draw and fire both SPB Night-Sky pistols without using Bullet Lines, hoping to end this showdown on the offset. But Devesta avoids the bullets; first by strafing to my left to the interior of the stage, then firing a luminescent line towards the top. Surprised yet again, I watch her swing over the attached metal platform just as the clip empties and descend back down to the stage.

In one fluid motion, she lands with a roll and leaps up to attack with a brillant yellow beam of light attached to a metal cylinder. I lean back to dodge the blade, then pivot on my heel with my own lightsword ignited. They collide, green sparks flying at the crossing of yellow and blue, and two pairs of reddish eyes glare at each other.

"There we go. That's the Jaymes I know."

I swipe her sword away, ending the lock. She steps back, her devilish grin not fading, and we pace around each other. I don't even care how she just used a Ultra Fiber Gun, for that answer's obvious. I know Zeliska has one, she just rarely uses it, if ever. All other cares I could give are gone from my mind except one, the woman in front of me.

"February 22nd, 2024. It was late afternoon on the Japanese-themed tenth floor of Aincrad, and there was a girl who was celebrating her sixteenth birthday."

"Shut up."

"But her partner left her alone. Where was he? Oh, right! He was with another girl, the blacksmith. Fucking around behind her back."

"I said shut up!" I bridge the gap and strike once again. Devesta, holding her sword like a thrusting weapon, blocks each slash with expert ease. I forget she was once a spear user. It's a style I'm used to fighting against, but not in GGO. Sword combat works the same as any other game with swords, but what I can do in GGO is limited in comparison to ALO.

For one, I have no shield strapped to my left hand, for they don't exist in GGO in physical form. M's shield is more or less a scrap piece of durable metal. But even if I had something similar, photon swords can cut through anything, so it wouldn't matter in the end.

Second, these swords are physically light in weight, being that the only solid matter is the cylinder. My Ameno Murakumo and its siblings are light in weight, giving it balanced stats across the board. Devesta's sword seems to be similar in weight, but based on the hilt's design, I can tell its a different brand, a Masamune blade like Kirito's. There's another difference there. Her hilt is almost double the length of a normal lightsword.

The last factor is the length of the blade. While barely anyone uses them because of their impracticality when being shot at, all photon swords have the same sword skills, based off the One-Handed Sword, Rapier, and similar sets, so there's no variety in abilities. To compensate, there's the variability in blade length and color, indicated by a letter and number. G9 is the denotation of a three-foot-long blue blade. I believe Devesta has the same length, but her blade is yellow, making it a G7.

In that case, the difference between us is our skills - my broad slashing as a swordsman versus her quick thrusts as a spearwoman.

"Now your Momiji is next. You'll fail to protect her as you did Koharu. You'll watch her eyes fade once again knowing that you let her die."

"Hrrrahhh!" I put all my weight into my next attack, a downward diagonal slash from the left, but she parries it with ease. I stumble pass her, finding my footing quickly. Her masked face spots me over her left shoulder, and I swear that grin is growing bigger by the second.

"I wonder if she knows the truth about us, that which binds us. Could you even tell her that you killed others?"

"I did."

"The whole story? No, of course you wouldn't tell her how you almost let Anni die the first time we met. So really, you made yourself look good. But then again, you let me kill that Mito by leaving her alone."

"Errragh!" I roar with fury as my blade's glow brightens momentarily, the telltale sign of a sword skill. Devesta evades again, leaping off the stage as the one-hit Vertical misses the mark. While locked in place, I lock eyes with the retreating enemy as she runs up the central right aisle with a laugh.

"I remember Asuna's screech when I showed her that scythe. As cold as it was, it warmed my heart to see how devestated she was."

"Get back here!" Motion returning to my body, I drop off the stage and follow after Devesta - then the boat lurches backward, causing me to lose balance momentarily. Bending down to stabilize myself, I look to the floor that has taken on a slight lean downward towards the prow - towards the front of the ship.

Turning the comms back on, I get the jist of what's happening from the single command voiced by Kureha. "Run! Don't get left behind!"

"How high are we going to go, M?!"

"As far up as we can!"

"But won't Pito be watching the scan and waiting for us?"

"Probably."

"Then—"

"You wanted to talk to her, didn't you?"

"Yeah, so it's perfect!"

"I know, but—! Arrgh! Shit!"

"Wait a moment, where's Jaymes, Kureha?"

"I'm fine," I say as I enter the unsteady stairwell, encountering Kureha, Fukaziroh, and M as they come up to the eighth deck. Joining them, I looks at M and Fukaziroh, motioning his head towards the upper levels. "Follow Llenn, you two. I don't know what Pitohui has planned, but this is definitely her craziness."

"And what of you two?" Fukaziroh asks, noticing I didn't mention Kureha's instructions.

"I have an old score to settle with someone from SAO. Whether or not I survive this match is of no consequence, as long as I take her down with me. But to do that," I turn to Kureha, locking eyes with her, "I need you, Kureha."

"Now you do?"

"Yes."

"Oooooh, this is just like that movie! A sinking ship, a spark of romance, and a dance of survival! Don't make me an auntie too soon."

"Don't make me drown you!"

"Godspeed with her, Captain. If anything, you take the door this time."

"Got it."

Kureha grumbles and takes a glance up towards the staircase's top. By now, we've passed into the teens. "Pito's on the seventeeth floor, but where are we going, Jaymes?"

An excellent question. It was instinct that took me to the eighth floor, as it bears no real significance to me and Devesta in relation to Aincrad. The fifth floor was already flooding, and the analogous floor on Aincrad is where we met. If I count the exceptional encounters between me and her, the next one I can think of that correlates to the number of decks is that one. The floor where I almost allowed Annihilator to kill me in exchange for protecting Koharu, Sanya, and Liten from Devesta and the other PKers. I would have died there if Klein's Furinkazan and Agil's Bro Squad had not appear in time.

Ejecting the nearly spent battery from the black tube in my hand and replacing it, I answer Kureha, "We're going to Deck 20. She'll be there."

"What makes you say that?"

"Because Devesta wants poetic justice."