A/N: Time for the three-part battle against this Orange Party, how will Nagi's team fare? Review Time.
To Isshion: This is a peculiar interaction but I don't mind.
[Daora]: Hahaha! Finally, a worthy challenge!
[Artorias]: Yeah, being in this body is... an episode and a half, but hey, watching this idiot being buried six feet under sure make me feel alot better.
[Nagi]: Can't wait!
Enjoy.
|Feb. 4th, 17:02|
|Sword Art Online, Floor 16, Town of Hollowsprings|
There was a knock at the door to Argo's room at a local inn used by most frontrunners of SAO, The Nightstand, pretty dumb name but good quality for the price. The knock had a rythem to it that let her know the last of their party had arrived later than expected.
"Yer latE," The Rat crossed her arms, one hand poking out to sway in exchange for Col. Grumbling, a small sack of Col now sat in her hand as she kicked the door wider for Artorias and Daora to enter, himself passing a small coin purse without complaint, so did the newest member, Fynch. "Happy doin' businesS,"
"Yeah, well, helping this tagalong with a stupid Karma Quest was annoying as hell, plus, how am I supposed to tell what time of day it is?" Artorias swung the blinds back briefly, jabbing a finger up at the sky. "It's night every night!"
"Oh, w-wow, Argo the Rat, huh? It is an honor to be meeting you, truly is, I swear," Fynch smiled, closing the door behind him with a quick bow.
Argo smirked, patting his arm with the back of her hand. "I like this guy, who's hE?"
"Meet Fynch, former orange player for the same assholes that nearly killed you three," Artorias' finger wagged between the Rat, her 'boyfriend', and the treasure hunter. The air within the cozy room grew jarringly colder. "Let that digest a moment."
"Okay-okay, I know that sounds bad but hear me out, huh?" Fynch quickly cleared his throat, hand to his heart, the other raised. "I'm done with those guys, null and void, nada, say the word, and I'll tell ya everything I know, scout's honor."
"You ever actually been in the scoutS?" Argo raised a suspicious brow at him, and Fynch dropped his hands.
"Nah, not really, online world's a breeze compared to outdoorsy stuff," He shrugged, leaning back on the furthest bit of furniture away from the various looks thrown his way, that being a desk. Then the greenette's smile returned nervously. "Really though, woah, some of the top dogs of the frontlines, the best broker this side of Aincrad, and a treasure hunter, hehe, swear, Harriet and Arawn really bit off more than they can chew, I tell ya."
"We trust him," Nagi smiled with genuine pleasantness, even stumping the overly talkative Fynch. "Not just because his cursor's changed, I can tell he's an honest person wanting to do better, am I wrong?"
"No... no-no, I swear I'm done with those guys," He waved his hands sharply with a frown. "At first it was just to get ahead of the best, build ourselves up, y'know? Sure, hurt a few people, but hey, no one died, then that cleaver-swinging nutjob PoH rears his stupidly handsome face and tells ya everything you want to hear, then before long, people do start disappearing, and... that ain't right, no matter the reason."
There was a pause to break the conversation, they gauged the words themselves, Argo being the first to smile as she sat down on the bed's edge next to Nagi. "If Hero's trustin' ya, I'll throw my hat on the pile too, just don't make me regret iT."
"Boss' instincts are better than mine, I don't like people period so..." Artorias shrugged by the windowsil.
"I still want to throw him off a ledge... but fine, I guess a new underling won't be so bad," Daora pointed at Fynch. "You hear that!? From now on, I'm your new leader until this mess it through!"
"Dunno how I feel about that..." Fynch chuckled slightly, then Philia sighed, pushing her head up to meet his eyes evenly, but a strong will was burning behind her eyes, making him gulp.
"...if they trust you, I will too," Then she narrowed her eyes. "But that's thin ice, got it?"
"Hahaha... crystal," He held up an 'OK' sign as the ginger smiled more comfortably. The sight caught Fynch off his usual game, she had just stared at him like he was the scum of the earth, rightfully so, he figured. Now, she was understanding and considerate of what he had to offer them. It was... different than when he worked with Arawn and Harriet.
She nodded, "Good, then what now, Argo?" Philia asked.
The informant snapped her fingers, drawing the eyes to her now visible holographic board with notes and bullet points connected by white lines, it wouldn't look out of place in a crime movie if they were honest. "Well, if what Fynch here says has merit, then all our facts check out, welL?"
He jumped to his feet to get a closer look, "U-um, well, lemme see here..." He muttered to himself, analyzing her work with an admirable whistle. "Your work's outstanding, organized, lined out perfectly by subject, wow, ya live up to your name, really something."
Argo leaned against Nagi's side, a glow of pride around her head. "I aim to please, consider this a free-of-charge bit for the complimentS,"
There was another lapse of the ex-orange player murmuring to himself, comparing his memories to Argo's long list of names, connections, and recent events concerning the two other members. "...huh, color me impressed, you guys really nailed all points but the fact of why we're gathering all the resources for ourselves,"
"And that was to get stronger, right?" Nagi remembered him saying as Fynch see-sawed his hand.
"That's how it started, reason we needed those copies of powerful weapons was to infuse them into an even heftier item, get me? That PoH guy wants to be as strong as he can, using us as his tools while he worms himself and his friends into the cracks," He shivered. "Just remembering the guy gives me the shivers, if ya ever confront him, trust nothing outta his mouth, right?"
"Noted," Artorias shrugged. "So, your hideout, where is it?"
"Oh, actually on this floor," He tapped his menu, bringing up his map of the floor. He then drew a line from Hollowsprings to near the center of the floor, just west of it with the labyrinth to the northeast. "There's this old castle in the middle of a mire, Darkdrinker Keep, did a quest not long before Arawn stumbled onto Philia here, really bothers him, y'know? Guy's a sore loser if I ever saw one."
"He did look annoyed when you guys saved us," Nagi pointed out, seeing him retreat quickly with a glare. "So... what now?" Nagi asked the important question. "Do Lind and Kibaou know?"
"I asked for Kii-bou and A-Chan to pass along the word, buT..." Argo cocked her head, not entirely sure but almost not unexpected by the answer she got prior to this meeting. "They'd help, got a few folks from both guilds on standby in town, we just gotta holler and they'll come runnin' but not much elsE."
"More focused on clearing floors and actually helping people..." Philia shook her head. "Guess that means were on our own against two, possibly three vicious PKers."
"Nooot exactly," Fynch droned, smirking. "PoH and his goons keep in touch with Harriet but trades happen privately, keeps it all hush-hush, so we can cross him off the list of 'super dangerous players', really, just my two old partners,"
Fynch's eyes fell to the ground suddenly, "There's, ah, one more thing," He zoomed his map to highlight the Keep, bringing it at an angle where the backside of the Keep could be seen. "Down there's where... some players are kept locked up, have been for nearly a week,"
"What?" The group chimed with various levels of shock and disgust.
"Like I said, not my style, these guys didn't deserve this, now they're bargainin' chips to keep players in line and gather stuff to fuel those PKers rampage, if anything, they need help breaking free first and foremost," He stated firmly, patting his chest. "I can lead someone down there, a few traps were placed but luckily for all of you, I'm the one they got to place 'em, pretty handy, am I right?"
"So we need to defeat two strong orange players with trick weapons, and free hostages," Philia held out both hands as she spoke. "I guess with our group it's possible..."
"Well, then-" Artorias nodded to Daora. "-Boss, come with me, I got someone you'll want to meet, Numbnuts, give 'em the rundown."
"Hmph, only because you asked," He replied, it was the best they could afford as Nagi looked to Argo, squeezing her hand once before taking off with Artorias to... wherever she planned to take him.
"Happy travels!" Fynch waved, and the door shut behind them.
To say Nagi was expecting Artorias' latest 'connection' to be an NPC was a turnabout. To learn she was as self-aware as the likes of Shirayuki and Kizmel, perhaps even more so, was almost unbelievable. Hotaru stared at Nagi for the longest time, and he found himself feeling as though they'd met elsewhere. Perhaps she was on a previous floor and she was a quest NPC? It can be a blur sometimes.
"I'll stay back, you know, insurance," They were outside the town border, so if Hotaru wanted, she could easily draw her rapier and attack Artorias, instead, she stared at the ravenette with a neutral face.
"My companion will meet with you just over this hill, there is a gazebo beyond it facing the Wolfsbane Thicket," She explained, then glanced at the redhead beside her. "I shan't lay a finger on your ally."
"Isn't she the sweetest thing," Artorias cooed, earning an elbow from Hotaru. "Hah, knew it!"
"Please don't fight..." Nagi sweatdropped, anxious to leave them but waved regardless. "I'll not be long."
Jogging up the dark green hill, he did indeed spot the gazebo. It was like the town itself, with dark grey wood for the rounded structure, a bench with candles stuck to the banisters, and a dark-blue tiled roof that was shaped into a cone. There was a green cursor sitting on the right side of the long bench.
"Um, hi?" Nagi began but the player said nothing, his hood down to reveal his raven hair. Taking the spot on the left, the gap between them was good enough for it not to be awkward. When Nagi sat down is when the scent struck his nose like a hammer. "!"
Dark blue eyes that pierced a person's gaze, raven hair that curled and fell in long strands, those sharp features without the hood to obscure them. And a black and purple katana was placed neatly against the armrest. It was Him, the orange player from floor five's catacombs!
"We meet again, Shinobi," He spoke in that cool, disinterested tone. Nagi tensed up, instinct told him to reach for his sword before his arm could be severed again, or worse, his ally, Hotaru distracting him long enough to go in for the kill this time. "I'm not surprised you accepted, rather, when Hotaru came to me about this talk... I was skeptical."
"Y-yeah... you and me both," Nagi gulped, unable to take his eyes away from the fierce swordsman. "So, it was you, the one she works with."
"Wrong, a partnership," He corrected, then turned his head to the forest beyond. "I am to be expected later tonight at the Keep, they believe I am not prepared to face them both."
"Can you beat them?" Nagi fought him once, he was almost as, if not better, skilled as Nagi. That combination of a katana and a weapon and skills no one ever knew existed in Aincrad left much to be seen.
He didn't speak immediately, drawing a long breath. "...no, if what I've learned is true, hostages have been taken, meaning I will be alone in a fight against two equally vicious fighters," He admitted. "I cannot say how this night will fare."
Now Nagi understood what Artorias and Hotaru meant about them talking. Steeling himself, Nagi inhaled slowly, holding it to collect his thoughts, then exhaled. "Then, let's do this together," That drew the man's eye. "We both have no idea what they're capable of, and with innocent people on the line we'll need the biggest safety net possible, no exceptions,"
"If we do this, I can assure you no one will have to die, and this plot of theirs will be stamped out," PoH would not be allowed any more strength, it was the least Nagi could do to bleed the PKers. "Well?"
"You are a foolish one, relying on your enemy," He worded coldly, but instead, Nagi found himself sitting perfectly still, his earlier fears of being possibly beheaded or impaled suppressed but no less fueling his senses.
"I'm told I can be naive," Nagi replied. "But if you're anything like Hotaru, then right now, we're not enemies, but those two orange players are, and they've hurt too many people to just slip away, even if they've suffered like us, what they've done cannot be condoned,"
The archer remembered his battle with the shinobi within the catacombs, he used every trick in his arsenal to protect someone, the info broker whom he came to acquire information from. To the outside world, his cursor blinded people like Nagi to a black and white view. And yet now, he's looking beyond that faded line of chalk, not with ignorance but acceptance.
Without a sound, the archer craned his head forward. "Evet," Upon saying this word, his name appeared for Nagi. "For this moment, I shall accept the terms of your truce, Nagi, and when it is through, we shall part ways without a blade to our backs," He stood up, turning to face the fellow ravenette, hand risen down to Nagi's slow blinking eyes.
Once the words lit the match in his head, Nagi's hand clapped to Evet's, and an agreement was finalized. "Well then-" Nagi stood up, meeting the archer's steady gaze with a determined one. "-let me explain the plan."
|Feb. 4th, 19:49|
|Sword Art Online, Floor 16, Darkdrinker Keep|
The land gradually sloped toward a dark mire surrounded by dead trees and a putrid stench that rose from the bog. The water was black and thick as it bubbled. All sides of the Keep were lined with jagged rocks, making it a tricky climb for most, forcing anyone to take the collapsing grey-brick road that sunk into the mire, rising from the sludge toward a single gatehouse.
Torches lit the pathway, an odd source of light propped up across the dry-white castle walls and towers. Past the gatehouse was to be a wide, octagon-shaped courtyard left barren with wagons, barrels, and crates. Three buildings were present, to the left, next to the barracks was a stairwell that ran underneath the grounds, to the dungeons.
The barracks themselves had collapsed around the back, the insides stripped of all valuables. As for the right-side building, a church connected to one of the three towers was the quarters of the now-deceased soldiers. The largest of the structures, placed in the back was the Keep itself, many rooms and stairways transformed the interior into a labyrinth filled with traps and treasures of old.
A wide, eight-sided tower overlooked the Keep and its surrounding area, the roof was torn off, bricks piercing the buildings below like meteors from a battle long before SAO began, the wide claw marks and blackened bricks painted a frightening story. Lastly, hidden from view, the third spire was to the backside of the Keep, connected to the land over the mire via a bridge, with two more bridges connecting the other towers to the main complex. The right-hand one collapsed long ago.
"This place was once a bastion when this floor was first lost to darkness," Along the rising pathway from the mire, Artorias was accompanied by Hotaru, herself carrying a lit torch to avoid any potholes. "Kuorari the Decaying Light saw to this Keep's desolation,"
"Probably the floor boss then," Artorias took away from this, thinking of pawning the name for her Col back from the scheming Rat. "And now the mire inflicts Toxin if we bathe in it, what a lovely addition to the property, the ominous lighting really gives it that 'oomph'," She swung her arms out, forming a picture frame with her fingers.
Hotaru was now dressed in her combat attire. Something Artorias noted was how similarly her appearance was to the abnormal shinobi of House Winter, Shirayuki. The kanji on the girl's back, however, was stitched over with a red slash akin to a mark left by a sword. The red warrior decided not to open that can of worms until a better opportunity presented itself.
Getting to the Keep was unsettlingly easy, no traps, no monsters. They entered through the main gate, the thick steel portcullis was lifted, only two torches lighting the way inside past another portcullis. Inside the courtyard was as Fynch said, littered with props, say for a well between the right and central buildings, and what used to be a fountain or statue, the centerpiece still somewhat discernable. A Knight with two shields forming a literal wall of wood and steel.
"It's quiet..." Hotaru murmured, drawing her rapier in the moonlight, the shadows cast by the lanterns inside the Keep's buildings flickering.
"Y'know, usually when someone pops out for an ambush or the gate behind us slams shut," Artorias waved a finger pointedly.
A grinding slam of gears brought the inside portcullis down, dust kicked up by the force. Artorias clicked her tongue. "Aye, like that - now que the villain entry..." She wound up until someone groaned from behind the statue.
"You are determined to ruin this for me," Appearing from darkness, Arawn hopped down onto the dirt and cobblestone grounds, drawing Bone Marrow. His eyes portrayed no sense of kindness aside from his own twisted idea of it. "Mm, I wanted Fynch to be here... but I suppose his warning of you backstage characters interfering was insightful,"
"What?" Hotaru gasped, looking between Arawn and Artorias with a mix of anger and betrayal.
"Ohohoho, never gets old!" Arawn chuckled, wiping a fake tear. "You hero types are so full of yourselves, going on-and-on about 'protecting the weak' this, and 'we will save them all' that - bah! Perish the thought!" He jabbed his saw-spear toward them with a wave. "All you fight for is acceptance, identity, but at least people like me handle out demons with honesty,"
"And what is that to you? Needless death? Feeding on the pain of others?" Hotaru glowered, the air around her becoming a terrible chill.
"Well.. yeah, actually," Arawn nodded in agreement. "The guy was right, where's the proof we die in both worlds when our HP's gone? And even then, if you die here then you really are pathetic, a bland piece that never belonged on the center stage,"
"Okay, that's it," Artorias grunted, raising her blade to the now green cursor hunter. "I'm gonna chop off your arms, then cut out your tongue so I don't need to keep listening to all the crap coming out of your mouth," With her blade against her shield, she sliced it, activating Metal Noise, though it did little to affect the trio present.
"Hehe... hahahaha!" Arawn doubled back in a chesty laugh, shaking his head at the girls. "You know as well as I do what happens when you-"
*Shiing!*
"Gahah!" Arawn recoiled with quite the noise escaping his bandana, the skin around his nose and eyes creased with fury from the thin red line across his right cheek. Artorias stood back, cursor bled orange as she giggled, face stretched into a toothy smile as her eyes illuminated in the dark.
"Aye, but so long as I don't kill you, I get to break, slice, and mutilate your body to my heart's desires, get me, asshole?" Artorias approached slowly, blade cast in a deep pink shade. "I'll stoop down to any level to win, and with all my strength, I'll crush all of yours,"
Arawn, on reflex, threw back his coat, his left hand discarding three Spines of Shmargor with precise aim. Then came forth a sky blue glare that reflected off the picks, discarding them between the cobblestone with a hiss of smoke left behind by the sword skill. "That's for ruining my own hunt," Philia huffed, mouth obscured by her hood's collar, but expression no less pissed. "Guess it worked."
"Like a charm, hunter," Artorias spoke with an Irish twang before the treasure hunter retreated behind the two stronger girls, Arawn's glare shifting between the two. "Now then; Lights, Camera, Action." She clicked her tongue as if to snap a photo.
From the right-hand building, the door to the bridge groaned as it was pushed slowly as to not raise any suspicion. "Okay, let's move," Nagi said in a hushed tone, his body cloaked by the Hiding skill with Evet using his dark cloak to mask his own movements, keeping low to hide his cursor behind the merlons lining the crumbling bridge. "The first step's complete,"
"Now, we focus on ours," Evet concluded, sprinting with a light foot to clear the wide gap, sliding across the rough stone to hide once more, Nagi copying him with little care for his own detection due to his skill. From this distance, Arawn would be troubled to spot him, his own focus on the players in front of him.
Atop the gatehouse, Argo was hidden too, using a small blue crystal in her hands to spy on the battle below, keeping herself out of view as she caught a glimpse of a black cloak leaping across the fallen walkway between the right building and Keep itself. She exhaled softly. "Be careful, HerO..."
Down in the murky depths of the sunken dungeon, undead knights shambled down the halls, some banging their rotten bodies against the cell bars where three players were sat, either bored or flicking through their menus. The area was treated like a dungeon, so no messages could be sent or received. Hopelessness filled their eyes, even the banging of the weak monsters did little to phase them anymore.
But something else banged on the outer wall, a shift of dust and gravel trickling down from the cement. Little did they realize, the great battle told in the lore of Aincrad would start anew.
To Be Continued...
What fun this next batch of chapters will be! The siege has begun, oh, and the name mentioned in Hotaru's story combines the words Kuroi 'Black' and Hari 'Needle', so 'Black Needle', I'm quite literally an ape when it comes to understanding kanji and mixing words together so for all I know it'll mean something else.
That aside, I hope you enjoyed, I appreciate the support as always; seeya in the next chapter, Players!
031 - Seige of Darkdrinker Keep Act II
The plan to dismantle the PKers supply line has begun, but against two vicious orange players, can a band of misfits prevail...?