|Sword Art Online, Floor 52, Shady Shores|
|Jan. 28th, 11:30|
Cramming everyone for the dungeon into the same room, a large, round table was stacked to the very edges with items, threatening to topple the furniture if even one item was moved in the slightest. Stacks of glass bottles with a pyramid-shaped body containing a light blue liquid were stacked in the form of a large pyramid. Vials of rich red healing potions set within racks in several rows. Crystals, such as teleport crystals, antidote and healing crystals too. Ever avenue of healing and antidote had been accumulated. Nagi stood at one side to address the group alongside Argo.
"Alright, now that we have everything we need thanks to Artorias-" Nagi gestured to the laid back alchemist.
"I'll send the bill to your inboxes later," The Red Warrior chimed in, leaning back on a chair before the mountain of supplies.
"-everyone should have an ample amount of healing items if more traps show up like last time. The boss chamber isn't far from our previous battle so we'll make our way there using the map Argo had cobbled together," Nagi concluded, hands to his hips. "Any questions?"
"Yeah-" The red-clad tank of the Sleeping Knights, Jun, raised his hand. "-haven't we gotten all the intel we need for the floor boss? Why do we need to go back down into that dungeon?"
"Translation; why do 'I' have to go back into a dungeon with traps that completely alter the layout of the hallways?" Nori added with a sly smirk, earning the boy's ire.
"Yeah, and? This the worst trap since the one made entirely of ice!" Jun exclaimed, making everyone grimace at the reminder.
"We swore never to speak of that again," Ran coughed into her fist. "Also, Siune and Talken are still busy with Klein's party mapping the labyrinth sorry,"
"Ain't a problem, all gotta play our partS," Argo shrugged, depositing her own share of items into her inventory. "As for yer concern over the dungeon's intel, I ain't cuttin' corners, don't like that then yer free to do whateveR," While not agitated, Argo's brow furrowed at Jun's complaint. Ever since floor 50, Argo's been far more critical of her information after the many unexpected turns thrown their way helping Bevel with her questline.
Nagi tapped her hand hidden below the table, feeling her fingers twitch before they curled around his, a subtle sigh of comfort escaping her lips. "I know it's a pain, usually people like Silent and Sakura would map out the dungeons ahead of us, but with newer ones opening up on previous floors, they've got their hands full,"
"Regardless, we've got a straight route to the dungeon boss, so long as you don't trigger any room altering traps, we ought to be there within the hour, roughly," Mito leaned her hand against the table, looking over the map projected before them. To the north side of the dungeon, a section was still shrouded in darkness where they cut off their expedition yesterday, meaning the boss room wasn't far. "I'd suggest trying to stick in pairs in the off-chance one of the traps is triggered again,"
"Smart, evens out the power level between everyone," Artorias concurred, eyeing Daora who was still stacking everything into intricate piles. "Got any complaints, Numbnuts? No? Good,"
"Huh?" He looked away from his work, oblivious to what Artorias had said.
"Then let's see..." Nagi, after learning from Argo what had transpired last night, had given some more thought to the broker's suggestion. But he also didn't want to see their friendship suffer as a result, so while Nagi was more comfortable to let people choose how to approach a situation on their own, spending a long time at Argo's side did teach him that sometimes a little push is needed.
"Myself and Argo. Ran and Nori. Daora and Mito. Jun and Tecchi, and Artorias and Yuuki. Try to stick close to each other whenever possible," Nagi matched quickly, seeing the group move around as Artorias sat up straight, eyeing Nagi critically before shrugging, Yuuki walking over with a lapse of conflict written on her face.
"Uh, Nagi, again for yesterday, sorry, I'll do my best to make up for it, to both of you," Yuuki gave a sweet smile, one that felt more genuine than last time, so it put the boys at ease.
"It's alright, we all got through in one piece, so just do your best," Nagi encouraged.
"Gotcha!" She pumped her fist with some vigour behind her voice again, much to her guild's relief too. "Well? Let's pack up and get going, that dungeon's not gonna clear itself!"
"Nyahaha, ya heard the lady, grab what ya need and move ouT!" Argo eagerly gestured to the piles of items, the group quickly demolishing all of Daora's hard work stacking them into their pyramids, much to his annoyance.
|Floor 52, The Pit|
|Jan. 28th, 12:05|
Another horde of Vikings charged down the water-logged hallway towards the group. Only for a glaring wave of deep blue water to rise like a wave through the air toward them. Three cyclones from Nagi swept through them, battering their rotten wood shields with the maw of a dragon behind the fourth strike, breaking their posture.
"Switch!" He cried out when a typhoon of silver wind came crashing down from above, blasting the water up every surface, Destroyer's impact throwing several of the Viking mobs into the air above Daora, straight into the sights of an amethyst moon that struck from below in a riptide of light, Mito's Soul Fang pulled back to sever three of them at the waist.
"Switch!" Mito hollered as the last two Vikings were skewered through the backs of the head by a pair of shimmering amber claws, burying them into the water once more as the green glow to their eyes faded away.
The path cleared, the four thanked one another and pressed on, using the ruins and debris to cross the water-logged corridor. Just behind them, the others had cleared up their own squabble with Artorias balancing himself across a fallen pillar as Yuuki walked on a lower elevation to his right.
Being partners through the remainder of the dungeon had been a little awkward for both parties, Artorias tried to ignore it, considering how to approach their last conversation knowing something was up with Yuuki. As for Zekken herself, she was trying to take Ran's advice and try to smooth things over, keeping focused on the task at hand until she felt it was right to try and ensure she hadn't messed up their friendship because of her awkwardness.
After crossing the water to head down the next turn, the area opened up to the familiar site of the field boss chamber, vacant of a single monster. Although, something to Nagi felt off, looking around at the damp walls lined with thick columns and archways, some that led into deeper, explored halls, an eerie chill kept him in place as the others spread themselves out.
"Something ain't right, HerO..." Argo herself felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, looking at the dark corners.
"Someone's tailed us," He speculated, having been so caught up in fighting off hordes of poisonous enemies left his nose numb, leaving him to rely on the Detection skill as some of the others felt it too. "Move for the path towards the boss chamber," Following his lead, the group marched across the open space, left exposed but with no other choice but to press forward.
However, Artorias felt his visible eye scan their environment, something about this felt familiar. "Dark setting for lots of cover, purposefully drawing your eyes... then there's the pathways, most explored but easy enough to ignore for the sake of our route forward. Meaning all eyes are off..." Coming to his conclusion, Artorias dug his heels in, Yuuki stumbling into his back. "Reaper, blade, six o'clock!"
Without hesitation she spun, throwing back her cloak to brandish a knife that sailed through the air between the others, forcing them to recoil away from the glowing blade that sank into something that leaked red particles right behind them, shrouded by the darkness. However, their foot pressed down on a specific tile outside the area, causing it to sink into the ground with a distinct 'clunk' of gears.
"Ah crap..." Nori grimaced as the hidden portcullis slammed shut, and the whole floor began to shift and tremble.
Most of the traps were pressure sensitive, had Argo not been with them for the dungeon, they'd have triggered almost all of them. Despite their careful footing at certain entrances, this player had mapped them out, leaving them trapped as some of the walls down the halls shifted whilst concrete barriers shot out from the earth, cutting off the parties into select groups, forcing them to take certain pathways. Unfortunately, Artorias and Yuuki were on their own path alone.
"Ran, Jun, Tecchi, Nori!" Yuuki called but with how thick the walls were, no one could hear them, forcing the usually calm girl to punch the wall in frustration. "Great..."
"That's my line, Cupcake," Artorias was lax about this, looking toward the only path before them. "Well, no use crying over spilled milk, however that asshole was will likely try to pick one of our groups off, I almost feel sorry for them..." He gave a defeated sigh though his wicked smile said otherwise.
"Why's that?" Yuuki asked as she saw him chuckle.
"Cause anyone that thinks fighting Numbnuts is a good idea is in for a rude awakening, even I'm not that desperate for a headache, hahaa..." Sighing at the end, Artorias ushered the purplette forward with his hand, pulling out Red Death as a precaution. "The nearby halls and chambers are likely switched up again so we'll need to back-track."
"I hope the others will be okay, that player clearly wanted this to happen," Yuuki was confident in her friends, but a pang of worry remained as she followed close behind Artorias through the dark corridor ahead, lit only by that sickly green light. Though curiocity struck, and she leaned forward to look at him from the side. "How'd you know someone was there? Even I couldn't detect anyone, it was pretty cool,"
"Oh it was all rather rudimentary, my purple-haired friend, for you see it was a simple process of elimination," The brunette waved his finger prominently. "If I were out to trap as many people as possible, use their senses against them. First off, we were aware someone was following us so we'll naturally look at the darkest corners of the room, even the corridors we've mapped while most of our actions will be to make it to what we assume is the safest spot and that's the path to the boss chamber,"
"So then that would mean the best place to hide is right behind us, because we'd never think someone would be so close!" Yuuki interrupted with a surprised gasp, smiling brighter. "That's some serious detective work, are you sure you're not an info broker?"
"Pfft, what like the Rat? Nah, I'll pry into every little insecurity some idiot has but selling it's not really in my skill set, I'll admit," He patted his coat with a modest smile that developed into a slight laugh. "God, we're so screwed if even Argo didn't detect this guy..."
"We'll find a way, always do," Yuuki waved her finger knowingly, now walking in step with him, shoulder-to-shoulder again. The air of awkwardness slowly began to dissipate, and her worries began to melt away just as quickly around him. "'You fall and I'll catch you and vice versa', right?" She giggled at him, seeing his face turn a little red as his eyes darted away.
"Oooh, so we're using my awful pep-talk lines against me now, perfect..." Artorias nodded along, shoving her lightly. "Shorty,"
"Dork," She shoved him back.
"Real original, aren't we?"
"Like you can do better than 'Cupcake', and I am not cute, and cool!"
"Says you with that adorable pout of yours~"
"Don't you start, I can still kick your butt, remember!"
Their quarrel went on for nearly the whole length of the oddly empty corridor, something that had Artorias pause, pressing his hand against Yuuki's face to keep her from retorting. "Hold on... the hell's with the lack of things trying to murder us?" She pulled his hand away to breathe, then looked around, even behind them.
"Yeah... what's with that?" The paths weren't designed to lead to dead ends as there was clearly something up ahead. "Maybe the chamber?" She pointed out, so the two quickly jogged the rest of the way into a small, rectangular room with two open hallways either side of them. While a good sign, their hopes quickly dwindled when they took note of what stood before them.
Two, black-iron doors covered in roots, grime and debris. Both large, ancient doors left wide open, spilling out a thin layer of water beneath their feet. Their path led straight to the boss chamber... and it laid wide open and empty. Both eyed one another, brandishing their swords as they stepped closer for a better look.
"If the doors start to close, bolt," Artorias suggested, seeing her head bob while they inched to the edges of the frame, a harrowing howl in the wind as the stench in the air became acrid and still. The goblets of cursed flames remained lit, giving the whole hexagonal arena an emerald tint. Only a number of broken pillars remained, some toppled over from a battle unseen.
"If the others got here before us, would the boss really be that easy to beat?" Yuuki asked aloud, eyes trying to scan more than just the shifty shadows but encompass the whole space like Artorias mentioned. "And where're the others?"
"Good question, door at the end's open, must lead to a teleport back to the start of the dungeon," Artorias noted, glancing behind them to see nothing, not even a cursor. "Was this that recent? There's no way someone could beat a boss on this floor that quickly... right?" The longer he questioned the logic of the situation, the worse that feeling in the back of his head grew.
Inside the boss chamber, the doors never shut nor did the room react in any way. Turning towards the doorway, Artorias didn't see anyone there but felt his ear twitch at the sound of something strange, it wasn't a footstep or the rustle of clothing, more akin to something astral shifting through the wall or floor. Pivoting sharply, Artorias threw his buckler forward in time to block the thin, black knife that pierced just above his forearm.
"A-Artorias...?" His heart sank, seeing Yuuki wince as her body locked up and she fell straight into his arms, a black needle digging into her bare shoulder, inflicting the highest level paralysis he's seen to date.
"Crap, hold on-" Reaching out with an antidote crystal, another knife stuck it from his hand, causing the shimmering crystal to clatter across the ground as he held up his shield to defend themselves.
"Sorry to crash your little dungeon raid, just couldn't help myself," From behind a pillar waltzed the orange player with his wicked smile and hunter attire fitting of a Bloodborne character, brandishing two curved sickles that clipped the uneven floor. "Ever since the previous floor I've been eager to meet again,"
"Arawn..." Artorias moved Yuuki behind him, drawing his blade forward to watch for another black needle. "Didn't think you cared so much about me, almost makes me blush,"
The hunter gave a throaty laugh, "Well, what can I say, I've been following you for a long time," Arawn's voice dripped with venom while Artorias stood up, placing Yuuki behind him as she could only watch helplessly, her teeth clenched, unable to move or speak aside from moving her facial features. "What? No quips? Run out of jokes now?"
Artorias kept his lips sealed, blade drawn forward. "You're just another asshole..." But that wasn't all, the last time Arawn knew something almost no one else knew. Artorias buried it, kept it pushed as far down as possible, and this guy saw through him immediately, and with Yuuki in the crossfire, Artorias felt a little anxious. "Let's get this over with,"
Not giving Arawn the chance to move first, Artorias lunged with a horizontal strike, the harsh glow from his blade turning the area around them red when his blade missed, skimming by Arawn's chest. Rolling his shoulders, Arawn evaded the follow-up slant. "Sluggish," Then the third over the left shoulder. "Rusty," And a final horizontal that grazed by his neck, grinning all the while. "Pathetic,"
Horizontal Square failed so Artorias swung his shield forward the moment the post-motion faded, only for it to ring out against two sickles drawn upward, throwing him backward by two steps, Arawn snickering under his breath. "You know, you're not living up to your reputation, Red Warrior," Suddenly, Artorias's vision hazed when Arawn... fell through the ground partially, his body jolting toward Artorias with the force of a freight train, slamming straight into his buckler.
Skidding back further, Artorias barely had a second to draw his blade up in time, countering one of the sickles as the right one curled and sliced his right wrist before a boot struck his stomach hard, causing the brunette to tumble, again, Arawn's body seemed to move exactly like an astral type monster, disappearing into the ground only to shoot up from behind, digging both sickles across his back.
Arawn closed in, his icy-cold fingers curling around Artorias's mouth, digging his nails into the boy's cheeks as he pulled him closer with a sickening smile. Though, his sly green eyes fell to Yuuki's worried gaze flickering between Artorias and Arawn. "Oh... you never told them, did you?" Artorias raised his buckler as it shimmered pink only to be flung off his arm with a single slash of a sickle that had curved to form a disk-like shape around Arawn's knuckle.
"Told us what? Did they know each other or something?" Yuuki questioned but from the chilling smile growing on Arawn's face, he knew exactly what she was thinking. "Come on body, move!" Yet all she could do was curl her fingers into the grimy stone.
Arawn's words rolled off his tongue with as much venom as possible, Artorias's eyes were the size of pins, sweeping his arm upward to force the orange player away, but the message sank in, a host of memories kept under lock and key came rushing forward like bile in Artorias's throat. The hairs on his body stood on end while his irises shrank.
"You're not just some orange player... you are..." He could barely finish his sentence as fear completely overridden his muscles, watching the grin stretch across Arawn's cheeks.
"OryxKing," He replied, voice bouncing off the walls of the vacant chamber. Twirling his sickles around to rest their curves over his shoulders, Arawn rolled his eyes. "And I don't mean that as like a copycat or follower, a member of his old teams, no-no, I'm Him to a 'T'. And I've waited so long to meet you again," He drew one sickle forward to gesture at Artorias, seeing the panic in his face.
"Why... the hell do want from me...?" Artorias murmured, unable to even look Yuuki in the eye as she absorbed all the information given.
She knew that name, 'OryxKing' but for the life of her the reason as to how wouldn't come up. But whoever he was knew Artorias outside of SAO, he was out for blood. That was reason enough for Yuuki to try and fight this debuff, even if that seemed entirely illogical, she couldn't let Artorias fight this alone.
Arawn chuckled, stalking around Artorias slowly like a wolf. "Why... everything really. You're such a hypocrite, did you think helping these people, saving lives, being a real team player would absolve you of what you've done? I find the idea of you getting away with ruining me... insulting!" He craned his sickle toward the brunette further, watching him wince. "You haven't changed a day, you're still the same little welp that thought he was untouchable... SilentNight,"
The name rang out hauntingly. One of the best players in competitive gaming, including every form of VRMMO, the same person that vanished off the face of the earth several months prior to SAO's launch. The very player that Yuuki admired all this time was the same person she had been friends with since floor 24. The cocky, egotistical, sarcastic teen Artorias. The revelation left her speechless, even if she hadn't been paralyzed, her mind couldn't keep up with her thoughts as dots and clues connected that never would've mattered until now.
However, Arawn wasn't about to let them mull this over for long. Almost immediately Artorias was on the ropes once more, his shield gone as each sickle lunged and struck down with a vicious, rampant assault of slashes and thrusts, forcing him to parry almost constantly. Each cut across parts of Artorias, his stance sloppy, his focus clouded and muddled as another boot launched him across the chamber only to gasp when he just barely avoided a crescent slash from below.
The strangest part about Arawn, OryxKing, was this ability to actively shift parts of himself through the ground, almost as if he was an astral type or no-clipping. Combining this with his vicious assault of attacks, and Artorias's lack of concentration, concocted an extremely dangerous foe. Artorias, in his panic, struck forward with Phantom Rave, the flurry of wide slants effortlessly parried by the trick-weapons in Arawn's grasp as he dropped and swept Artorias's legs out, cutting off the sword skill via skewering Artorias's arm, twisting to sever it, sending Red Death clattering across the stone.
Reeling, Artorias was on his knees, staring at his stump of an arm as it bled bright red polygons. His health steadily fell into the yellow all while Arawn approached him, dragging his sickles across the ground with an ear-raking shrill. "Well? We're not done," Kicking over Red Death, Artorias's eyes fell to his sword, seeing its blood-stained face reflect his petrified eyes. "Pick. It. Up..." Arawn's tone was cold, dripping with unyielding hatred.
All Artorias could muster was the ability to look between his blade and his killer, the awful stains of the past growing stronger, more defined in their appearance. He was a failure, he hurt people, ruined them, no one would ever care about his achievements, it meant nothing, Artorias... was made up of nothing that surmounted to anything in life worth living. He was a useless, a waste of space. He never should've been born...
"Aw, having some recollections?" Arawn hummed, barely a foot from Artorias who was hyperventilating, feeling the whole left side of his chest go cold as pain shot through his muscles, bypassing the system's pain inhibitor entirely.
"-Brilliance!" Arawn pivoted sharply to twirl his sickles into a harsh emerald haze, holding back against the four thrusts from NightSky, observing how Nagi curved his body to strike from his left with a riptide of water forming a horizontal line through the air, managing to land a blow on the orange player.
Giving pause, Arawn dove back, evading the blast of wind pressure and silver light emanating from Daora's slam, catching the thrust of Destroyer with the curve of his right sickle, throwing the dragon boy aside as his body fell through the ground, making Mito and Nori pause in their own attacks, seeing Arawn appear nearest the entrance now that everyone had piled in to assist Yuuki and Artorias.
"I'm sure we'll meet again, you and I!" Arawn waved his right sickle toward Artorias, then whistled before disappearing into the side of the doorway, vanishing like a ghost.
"The hell was that!?" Daora yelled, slamming Destroyer into the ground. "And where the heck's the boss?"
"Did Arawn defeat it? But how's that possible?" Mito murmured, a hand on her chin with a deep look of worry plastered to her face, Nori simply shrugged at her.
"Guy was dippin' through the ground like some ground mole," The ravenette replied, seeing the spot her hammer landed only to hit solid rock.
"Yuuki? Are you okay?" Ran, who knelt to prop up her sister, fed her an antidote to remove the lingering seconds left on the paralysis. Ran sighed with relief when Yuuki held up her thumb, but her smile disappeared instantly, turning her head in Ran's arm to Artorias.
"Help him, he... I..." What on earth could Yuuki say now? She still struggled to process everything herself.
"Artorias!" Nagi slid to the boy's side, holding out a healing crystal in time to instantly replace the missing arm and restore his friend's HP to full. "Hey, breathe, it's okay, we're all here," Seeing how Artorias was panicking made it abundantly clear he was in the middle of a panic attack, so Nagi held his arm around Artorias's back, trying to sooth his terror while Argo did the same, both keeping a firm hold on the paralyzed brunette.
"Yer alright, Arty, deep breaths noW," Argo reassured, rubbing his back. She had never seen him have such a horrible reaction before, it was almost frightening to imagine what Arawn had done to make him turn out this way.
His breathing steadied, enough for the dizziness and nausea to pass after about ten to fifteen minutes. No one said a word, letting him and Yuuki recover from the attack. Whenever Artorias raised his head, he was sickly pale, his hands couldn't stop trembling, even Daora was surprised by the state Artorias was in.
Looking between Argo's firm but concerned face to Nagi's much softer and kinder expression was enough to make Artorias's stomach turn with guilt as he pushed them back, managing to grasp Red Death and sprint straight for the hallway that contained the teleport obelisk to take him to the very entrance of the dungeon so he could flee, ignoring whatever was said to him as he jumped at every shadow he passed, feeling Arawn's eyes closing in around him, that taunting voice hooking into his ears the whole length of the corridor.
Back with Nagi's party, all of them looked Yuuki, her eyes glistening as she bit her lip, clutching Artorias's abandoned red and black grave shield.
To Be Continued...
And it's revealed, Artorias is the well-known competitive player SilentNight, though I sprinkled hints here and there, now its been properly said. Not only that, but Arawn knows him too, and is another, former high-ranking player who clearly went off the deep end. Tensions have certainly reached their breaking point now, wonder how this will end? I hope you enjoyed, I appreciate the support as always; see ya in the next chapter, Misfits!
071 - Reality
Faced with his past out in the open, Artorias tries to come with terms with his past, and Yuuki seeks to learn the truth...