|Sword Art Online, Floor 52, The Pits|
|Jan. 27th, 19:42|
"I won't try and sugar coat your condition. I'm afraid your immune system has been severely damaged, so unfortunately, you can't leave this sterile room..."
Buried in a half-sunken tomb in the middle of a marshland, a dungeon was shadowed by the labyrinth spire nearby, its higher floors broken up into the skies themselves, though this distortion was shared with its neighbouring dungeon. Down in The Pits, the damp corridors and chambers were lit with sickly green gemstone lanterns, the walls a murky green and patterned with strange symbols like hieroglyphics. Dark furniture matching the colour scheme was befitting of a gothic castle.
Within a hexagonal chamber deep within the dungeon, another heavy slam of a halberd sent a poisonous shockwave through the ground, forcing everyone to dive over the venomous wave, a secondary and third close behind. The Rotted Warden named monster looked like an old Viking that had been swallowed by the marshlands, covered in rusted, wet armour as its half-rotten corpse revealed green flesh and pale bones. A single red eye following the crowd it fought with.
Over all three waves of poison, a silver gleam of light streaked through the air, connecting to its right shoulder with a blast of silver air, throwing the halberd backward as its new target drew the aggro. Landing with a heavy grind of metal against stone, Daora raised his weapon high. "Grand Destruction!" With an overhead sweep, the blast shook the chamber, the silver eruption flinching the boss mid-skill activation.
Daora brandished into the ground a two-handed ax with a black staff and pointed end. The head was dual-sided, made from two long curved talons that gleamed a navy tint in the light, Destroyer was its new name. As for his new apparel, gone was his wolf pelts and instead, Daora wore a pair of baggy pants layered with the scales of a dragon coloured a navy-silver colour with a snow-white fur trim, his bare feet covered by a layer of scales.
His waist was wrapped with a pelt of scales transition from silver, to navy, to black downwards. His chest remained exposed but each shoulder bore a fur pauldron with three thick fangs curving towards his biceps. Both forearms were covered with silver gauntlets, his fingers given the claws of a dragon as fur ran up each side. The centerpiece was the dragon medallion hung around his neck with the shrunken skull of Railaan the Great Wave covering his whole head, the eyes blood red. It's name, 'Dragonheart'.
The Rotted recovered in time to bring down its halberd with a devastating skill, but a gleam of violet threw it back toward the ceiling, Mito's vermillion eyes burning through the splash of green. "Switch!"
"Your sister's in a similar condition, both of you will be given the utmost care for the foreseeable future, especially yourself..."
From the side, a wave of water stretched across the dark floor, coiling into a winding serpent, the glint behind the skill reflecting in Nagi's eyes. "Fifth Form-Conflagration!" Twisting his body, Nagi's feet tore his blade into a dance, slashing each of the Rotted Warden's sweeping slashes, sparks of ocean blue bouncing off their blades while the jaws of the dragon crashed against its hands, pinning the arms for Nagi to dive overhead, his breastplate shimmering. "Renewal!"
Again, fight whirlwind-like slashes shredded the undead's armour, leaving deep, red gashes through its gnarled body. From the side, Nagi's eye caught the girl with purple hair staring back at him. "Yuuki, Switch!" Only her body never moved, her eyes weren't just staring at him, rather, they shot right through Nagi. "Yuuki!"
Her head twitched and she recovered in time to see a blur of brown and green dive overhead and tackle Nagi out of the arc of venom sprung from the halberd. Argo landing atop Nagi across the chamber. The named boss turned to Zekken and thrust its weapon toward her like a deadly lance had her obsidian blade not quickly rise to divert it, the metal ringing in her ears. Two shields connected to the weapon, throwing the Rotted Warden backward and into a slam of a greatsword from Jun, himself ducking away moments later.
"The hell's up with, get your head in gear, Cupcake!" Artorias announced as he and Tecchi stood guard when the giant's weapon took on a venomous glow, suddenly sweeping in a massive halo that covered the whole arena, splashing puddles of poison as its blade connected with their shields or missed the others entirely.
After the third spin, the Warden paused as every player lunged. "Now!" Nagi screamed, he and Argo rushing in headlong.
Being the fastest, Argo brandished her claws in a serrated cartwheel between the legs, injuring the left to lower the monster. Artorias lunged with Vorpal Strike, the burning rosy-tint to Red Death bleeding through the beast's right thigh when Nagi did the same with Ripple Thrust to the left, a brilliant flash of pink and blue intersecting.
Recovered, the undead Viking howled/moaned, slamming the ground to unleash another three waves of deadly poison to splash across the stone. Tecchi held strong, granting Ran the chance to move closer to the boss as her head whipped around to her sister. "Ready?"
"Ye-yeah, right behind you," Yuuki managed to quickly hide her expression behind a smirk, and the two sisters pivoted out either side of Tecchi after the last wave.
Again, the boss unleashed another series of slams, its health dark orange and likely in an enraged state. Both dove over the trio of venom waves like dancers, weaving their bodies with their sword skills, a burning red and purple. Together, their swords connected at the undead's stomach, slashing in a twin Snake Bite that forced it back a few inches.
"Switch!" The siblings cried out, Nori and Jun closing in.
"Hit 'em-/Where it hurts!" Nori and Jun roared, the upswing of both a hammer and greatsword releasing a satisfying 'clang', splitting the chin open. But their confidence faltered when the beast caught itself and swung down in a slant, slashing both and inflicting a high level poison. The wind pressure from the attack forcing most of them to anchor themselves for a moment.
Jun raised his hand, and Mito slapped it, zipping past at blaring speeds, dragging Soul Fang behind her. Watching the halberd fall, she twisting her grip, sweeping upward to block the first blow, then down in the same motion straight into a jumping twirl, Harvest knocking the monster back once more as she landed on one knee. Without needing to call, Daora vaulted straight off her back, Destroyer erupting into a roaring silver light.
"Hyrraaaaah!" Digging both feet against the Rotted Warden, Daora spared it little warning before slamming his ax repeatedly atop its head, spiking the skull as it broke apart further with each hammered strike. With a final twist of his ax, Daora brought it through the skull, obliterating it as his ax caught within the neck, combined with his own weight, pulled the named monster down, dragging it to the floor with a heavy crash, the halberd clattering next to it.
A moment later, and the creature erupted into polygons, resulting in a collective cheer over the demise of the mid-dungeon boss. Daora chuckled to himself, high-fiving Mito while Siune provided Jun and Nori with an antidote each, being the 'field medic' of sorts given her skill-set. "Good work everyone-Argo, what's our progress now?" Nagi asked afterward.
"Lookin' good, only the southern section left, ought to have it mapped by tomorroW," She replied, much to the relief of those present. "Givin' our speed I'd say we'd be set to continue mappin' the labyrinth later that afternoon toO,"
"Yay, more mapping..." Jun didn't withhold his enthusiasm, slumping to the floor. "What a pain, these dungeons have multiple bosses now..."
"Welcome to the upper fifty floors, where all hopes and dreams go to die," Artorias remarked, then raised a hand. "Also, important note, very minor in the grand scheme of things, really but uh... what the hell was that, Yuuki?"
"Huh?" She blinked, looking around at some of the stares she was getting.
"You blanked out during the battle, again very minor given our set-up, but my point stands, you've been acting weird-well, weirder," Artorias wasn't blind, ever since floor 51 Yuuki's been very withdrawn and always goes on about how she's 'fine' when even that was a bull-faced lie that Artorias didn't need Nagi to see through.
"Yuuki..." Ran wore a similar face but the girl grinned through it, bowing her head with a sheepish expression.
"Yeah, I know, I know, that was my bad, I'll be set for tomorrow, promise, just feeling weird today," She put on a brave face, most buying her story. Those, bar Artorias, didn't pester her further.
"Bullshit..." The brunette whispered, taking out a teleport crystal as everyone else did, preparing to return to town.
|Floor 52, Shady Shores|
|Jan. 27th, 20:02|
Shady Shores was the closest town to the labyrinth and small all things considered compared to the main town further north of the floor. It was surrounded by redwood forests that bordered the marshlands, the skies a murky green constantly, only now it was dark out. The town itself was fairly open with ponds leading out into rivers. Most buildings were made from timber from said woods with dark green tiled rooftops, their structures akin to old European towns in the countryside.
All the roads were dirt say for where the teleport obelisk could be found. Two inns were present here, one to the north, the other the southeast, the group milling around the latter. Outside on the porch that overlooked a pond with fireflies dancing over the surface, Yuuki swung her legs over the edge, staring towards the flickering bugs as one landed on her outstretched finger, admiring the glow it gave off.
"So then-" A voice scared the firefly off, Yuuki turning her head to see Artorias leaned against the corner of the inn with that aloof expression of his. "-now that the adoring crowds are distracted, want to cut the crap and tell me what's been going on-and no, not just today, but the last few days since all that community event chaos,"
Yuuki turned her head back with a faint smile, feeling her chest twist. "It's nothing, really, not like you to worry so much, Arty, hehe..." He sat down with a gap between them, staring at the same view. "I'm just not at a hundred percent yet, sorry,"
"That's not all," She inwardly winced, trying to keep up her façade. His light blue eyes flickering between her and the pond, ruffling his hair to try and curb his frustrations. "Look I... hah... I'm worried, alright? I know I'm not exactly the greatest at talking to, but this isn't like you," Now his eyes were on her only, seeing her bangs shift to hide her eyes. "Did I... make you mad or...?"
It took a lot for her not to say anything, biting her lip. "I'm sorry, Artorias..." Her hands creased against her windswept skirt.
"Okay... it's all good," Artorias raised his hands a little to ease her stress. "Personal stuff, duly noted. Well... in other news, should be a good fight tomorrow, if that mid-dungeon boss is anything to go by, we got quite the vexed venomous foe waiting for us. Hm, could go for an Infinity Moment, maybe toss Numbnuts at it first for that added satisfaction," He waved his hands out with some needed flair, getting a quiet laugh from her, much to his amusement. "See? I knew you'd love it,"
"You're so terrible," She shook her head, then was surprised when he held out his fist to her, smiling genuinely.
"Fight's not over yet, try to keep your head on next time, alright? What's something the Boss would say...? Ah, 'you fall and I'll catch you and vice versa', not a good proverb but it gets my point across," He winked, giving Yuuki a painful flutter in her chest.
"Yeah," Bumping her fist to his, she got up but Artorias didn't follow, letting her leave. "Thanks, Artorias," She meant that, even if her voice sounded tense.
Once out of sight, his frown returned, followed by a heavy sigh as he leant back until he was staring up at the underside of the building's second floor. Whatever was going on, Yuuki wasn't about to spill, even if she made it obvious it was tearing her up on the inside. It was a frustrating position to be in, and Artorias was completely lost in how to approach it.
"...well that went swimmingly, A for Effort, am I right?"
|Jan. 27th, 20:15|
Retiring to her room, Yuuki shared a place with all the girls currently with their two parties. Argo sat in a rocking chair as she answered messages and made exchanges for her work ethic. Nori, Mito, and Siune were playing cards to pass the time after fighting for hours against hordes of enemies. All the while Ran sat behind Yuuki, brushing her hair as the youngest sibling had gotten a bath to try and relax her nerves, even though stuff like water dried fairly quickly in SAO, it was a normal activity that was therapeutic.
"Hey, what's with the slate face, Yuuki?" To snap the co-leader back to reality was Nori, the ravenette placing down her hand as she won the current round of blackjack.
"Nothing, just thinking..." Yuuki answered vaguely, leaning her chin onto the pillow, everything lately had been bugging her, and no matter how hard she tried to supress it, the thoughts continued to persist.
"Oh? Anything in particular? A quest? Tomorrow's dungeon? Or maybe someone special?" Nori wiggled her brows as Yuuki shot her head toward her.
"Eh? Who?" She asked as Nori rolled her eyes at her young leader.
"Duh, Arty, who else?" She just stared at Yuuki incredulously.
"'Someone'..." That's about as far as Yuuki got before she realized why Nori was giving her that sly look. It took far less time for the blood in the purplette's digital body to flare hotly, cheeks burning up. "W-w-wait, what!? N-n-no, not like that!"
"Not like what?" Yuuki's luck worsened when Mito asked curiously. Yuuki shot a glare at Nori, seeing that stupid grin of hers stretching.
"Don't you dare!" Yuuki yelled but Nori shoved her hand in Yuuki's face to stop her pawing at hers in time to chuckle. Ran sighed, giving up on brushing for the time being.
"Yuuki's becoming a blushing mess about her totally obvious crush on Art-" Finally breaking Nori's hold, Yuuki clamped her hands around the ravenette's mouth, feeling her laughter vibrate into her palms while Yuuki's whole face felt like it was melting, making her ears twitch.
"Shut up, shut up, shut up! I don't like-like that idiot!" Yuuki denied until she was completely red in the face up to the tips of her ears. But Siune and Argo were grinning too, drawing a whine from Yuuki as she fell backward into Ran's chest, ruffling her hair while tryiing to clear her head of all these intrusive thoughts. "I hate you, now I-"
"Can't stop thinking about him?" Nori smugly remarked.
"No!" Yuuki snapped, throwing a pillow that Nori took to the face with little damage to be seen. "Stop making me think, it hurts my brain!"
"You two are always spending so much time together, I've never seen you laugh so much!" Siune didn't make it better by saying that. It was true too! Artorias's stupid sarcastic drawls on almost anything get a small snort or chuckle from Yuuki; she just found his humour funny.
"H-he's funny, what's wrong with that!?" Yuuki yelled, pointing at Siune objectively. "You all laugh with him too!"
"Yeah, but alone, you can't take your eyes off 'im," Then, Nori leaned over to the girls with an impish grin. "I swore I saw Yuyu blushing when she caught a glimpse of his torso~"
"Oooh!?" Siune, Argo, and Mito were hooked further, and Yuuki's whole face was steaming up.
"Yuuki, I didn't know you were so... brazen?" Siune blushed a bit behind her hand, and Yuuki waved her hands frantically to stop this before it got even worse.
"N-n-not like that, d-definitely not like that!" Stop thinking about his toned body, stop it brain, stop it, stop it~! Yuuki felt like crying now, this was the worst, wishing she could log-off to save herself.
"So basically you like a dude's body, anD?" Argo quipped, waving her hand nonchalantly. "Ain't nothin' wrong with thaT,"
"E-everything is wrong with that!" Came Yuuki's shriek until her voice cracked, and she hid my face with her pillow. "Please, stop it... my head's getting dizzy..."
"There's nothing wrong with liking Artorias, he's really nice behind that 'egotistical' persona he's made, at first it wasn't entirely obvious but he has his own way of showing compassion," Mito gave a reasonable response, waving a hand. "While it's true he isn't seen fondly by others outside our guild, you two are often inseparable,"
"It's nothing," Yuuki kept protesting, even as her heart was starting to twist again.
"Yuuki, come ooon, it's obvious to... okay, obvious to us, guys are clueless," Nori snorted a shrug, and Yuuki tucked my legs up.
"Please..." "This doesn't matter, it doesn't, just shrug off their teasing and move on, Yuuki." She repeated to herself to no avail.
Argo sighed a bit, "Yuyu, we ain't askin' for yer deepest secrets, I ain't gonna sell personal intel anyway, not my style, it's yer private life, but ya can't tell us that in all yer interactions, how you two have simply clicked so well, even your reactions just now... is there really nothing ya feel is between you twO? Can ya look at me and give me an honest answeR? If so, we'll drop th-"
That wall Yuuki had spent careful months building brick-by-brick finally crumbled.
"I... I like him, okay!" She said it... Yuuki couldn't take this anymore, lowering her head out of sheer embarrassment, hugging a pillow closer. "...I do... I can't stop it and..." Now, she felt so much pain in her beating chest, tears creeping into her eyes. "...I'm terrified of it..."
No one was laughing, just staring at the distraught girl, silently awaiting an answer as to why. That was until Nori reached over to tap Yuuki's shoulder. "...C'mon, Yuyu, talk to us," Her voice was tender, a rarity for her brash antics.
"You don't need to say it," Now, Ran had listened to the antics quietly, picking up the brush to continue her work, drawing the brush through her sister's hair tenderly with a matching expression. "I'm aware Nagi's told you Argo, but Mito, it's your choice to sit here and listen to what might be said, but if you do, promise me nothing you hear will leave this room?"
The reaper was surprised by how serious things had gotten, sitting up straighter with a quick nod. "S-sure, though if it's serious I can leave,"
Ran smiled, "Thank you,"
"Sure thing, just buzz me to lemme know when it's safe to come back," Mito nodded, getting up to give the group privacy. "Your call to make in who knows whatever's going on,"
"I appreciate that," Ran thanked again, and once Mito had left the room, Ran peeked to the side to see Yuuki's misty eyes behind the pillow. "Yuuki, you know this can't go on forever," Ran spoke gently.
"...I'm dying, even if I had extra time, I-I... I'm going to disappear; like Mom, Dad, Clover, Merida... and I'm so scared to, b-because it'll hurt him s-so much if he knew I did like him..." Yuuki kept her head bowed, trying to supress these painful, warm feelings that kept getting hotter. Sniffling, Yuuki tried to dry her eyes. "That's why... I can't tell him, I-I don't want to put him through t-this too."
"But Yuyu..." Nori tried to interject but Ran shook her head solemnly, turning her sister to look at her, using her pyjama sleeve to help rid Yuuki of her tears. Ran had an answer for Yuuki but right now as she was wouldn't improve her mood, nothing would, instead, she just held onto her sister to help her calm down, all these emotions, maybe a hint of expectation from those around her, had overwhelmed her.
"I-I wish I didn't feel like t-this..." Yuuki muttered, even saying that hurt considerably.
"Time isn't a luxury we have, but for this, take your time, you don't need to rush into this like a battle. Love isn't sweet and simple, it's complicated and messy at times, no one's expecting you to go and declare your feelings abruptly, but you need to understand that being antisocial the way you have been will only damage your current relationship with Artorias, and I don't want you to ruin that," Ran explained, stroking her sister's hair.
"Take tomorrow to focus on what you can do, okay? Treat each day as a careful dance if that helps," That gained a small, light-hearted huff, making Ran giggle as she felt Yuuki's arms around her waist. "It's okay, we'll work through this together,"
"Sure, anything you need, Yuyu just say the word," Nori immediately replied, feeling bad for bringing this up.
"We'll support you in whatever you choose to do," Siune agreed, clearing her own eyes.
"Ya got my word this ain't leavin' the rooM," Argo swore, feeling bad for the girl having these conflicted emotions, trying to balance a normal life with the threat of your own mortality wasn't fair on Yuuki. Argo knew Nagi would want to hear this but that'll wait until tomorrow.
"...t-thank you... so much," Yuuki managed to croak out, snuggling into her sister to try and calm down for the night. One step at a time, she can try that. "Why can't this ever be sweet and simple...?" A girl could wish, right?
|Jan. 27th, 21:02|
Vacating to her private room with her boyfriend, Argo sat on the bed with her back against Nagi's chest while a public menu was opened before them, Nagi reading through her work before she made the list of new information about the 52nd floor public. Throughout their talk, she explained everything Yuuki had let out in her emotional state, listing off every little detail and hint given by the distraught purplette.
"I see-misspelt 'Mud Crawler'-guess you were right, Yuuki's ended up being attracted to Artorias," It was sweet to learn but Nagi frowned, shaking his head. "I understand why she feels so torn up about her feelings, with her condition, even Aiko's it's... I couldn't imagine anyone wants to put the person they deeply care about through that same situation,"
"Little Yuyu's willin' to break her own heart just to keep Arty's safE," Argo couldn't agree more, fixing the issues Nagi pointed to, her back leaning further against his chest. "But it ain't gonna do much more than cause further issues for 'em, Arty's not dense, he's gonna figure she hates 'em genuinelY,"
"Missed a comma after, 'So in conclusion'-I don't think it's a good idea to stick our noses in unless we need to, like offering advice to either side," Nagi suggested, wrapping one arm around Argo's waist as she snuggled in, nearly finishing her report. "What about you?"
"Private lives ain't somethin' I sell, but given the situation, I'd say a little shovin' does some good herE," Argo raised her knuckle to tap it off Nagi's nose. "The nose knows, so I say ya gotta give a little push, get the ball rollin' for them to talk it ouT," Argo then shrugged, finally closing her menu with a stretch, flopping against Nagi with a sigh. "I ain't expectin' there to be kissin' or anythin', but if they keep on walkin' over eggshellS..."
He nodded, "Yeah, okay, after the dungeon tomorrow, I'll have a chat with Artorias, maybe you can talk with Yuuki? She didn't mind you being there tonight," Nagi suggested, earning a smile from the beautiful girl resting her head under his chin.
"Gotcha, HerO~" She teased, leaning up to peck his cheek. "Now then, I've got a few other lists to compile, up for a little more revisioN?" She wiggled her brows, tempting him to help her with the boring side of work.
Though, he only exhaled slowly, smiling as he tired to put the issues at hand aside for the time being. "Like you have to ask," Leaning his chin against her head, the two dug back into their work, both mulling over what to do to aid Yuuki in her dilemma.
To Be Continued...
What an action-packed and downright depressing chapter, really giving the duality of emotions here. So Yuuki's trying to come to terms with her feelings toward Artorias as he struggles to even get through to her. Just how will this problem be resolved? What lovely torment have I got planned? I hope you enjoyed, I appreciate the support as always; see ya in the next chapter, Misfits!
070 - Divulge
The next day, everyone returns to The Pits to finish up their exploration before anyone else. All the while, Yuuki tries her best to supress her feelings...