|Sword Art Online, Floor 61, Overlook Inn|
|Feb. 23rd 07:01|
"Anything?" Mito asked
"No, he's completely dark, don't even know where," Artorias muttered quietly.
These two simple exchanges left a ton of lead in the air. Nagi's party had gathered early in the morning when Argo noticed he had left, which wouldn't be strange if not for the fact he had completely removed himself from the party and placed his status on 'Hidden' intentionally. Now, all of them sat around the same coffee table from yesterday, all with visible looks of anguish and worry.
Of course, once the word got around, Klein had shown up alongside Sachi and Kirito. Yuuki and Ran had quickly made an appearance, filling the room as they kept this news between their circle, less any of the higher-ups in the other guilds caught wind that a guild leader had purposefully gone MIA, the less trouble and attention the better.
"I should've said somethinG..." Out of everyone present, Argo looked the worst, and she didn't try to hide it. Her eyes were heavy, shadowed by her bangs as her right leg continued to bounce out of her urgency to find Nagi and drag him back from whatever stupid stunt he was pulling. "I saw it with instantly that he's still mulling over everything with Shira, but I... I..." For once, Argo couldn't think of anything to say, she had no leads, no workaround the Hidden system, she could track Nagi's footprints, but she'd need to check every floor to do it. She didn't know what to do.
"If we kept pushing, he'd only close himself off further," Ran dismayed, much as she hated to admit it, her own brow creased with worry. "I think... I know why he's spiralled like this,"
"Really? What do you know?" Klein perked up but Ran closed her eyes for a moment, reluctant to even speak.
"First, I want everyone's word that this doesn't leave the room, this concerns something in Nagi's personal life, so I'm only saying this because I feel its only right that everyone understands who my cousin is," Ran looked around the room, ensuring she had their attention.
Everyone else gave nods and one-word replies in agreement. Once certain, Ran gave Yuuki a knowing look before proceeding. "A few years ago, Nagi had lost his father to a terminal illness, and he was there when he passed away in hospital, he was only twelve when it happened," Aside from Argo and the Konno siblings, everyone's faces fell at the troubling news, Ran continued with a sorrowful expression. "I believe this is the root cause of his grief, the traumatic event of seeing his father die might be linked to this, but he's never told me the full details."
"I knew it..." All heads turned to Artorias who ruffled the back of his hair, frustration and shame intertwined on his face. "There was something always bothering him when we lost someone during raids, I... I tried asking him but he'd always find a way to divert the conversation, but it was there, something was eating him up inside and I couldn't even muster up the courage to ask what, 'it wasn't my place' or 'this doesn't concern me'... yeah, some friend I am..."
"I never understood how he kept such a positive attitude all this time, even when things turn hopeless, or a goal seemed impossibly far, he kept moving forward," Mito admired that greatly about Nagi, he played a part in pulling her out of her own despair, and has only continued to support her place in Misfits. So to see him despair the same way, to beat himself relentlessly over a person's death far out of his control, it tore her up inside, but also made her certain in one thing...
"I wonder how he felt when my friends died...?" Sachi wondered aloud, one hand squeezing Kirito's at her own painful memories cropping up. "How much was he hurting for me, for them and never saying anything? It's not fair, he should be allowed to express his grief to us too..."
"But he feels its his problem alone, likely due to how his father died, but I'm only speculating, there's a lot we don't know and he'd be tight-lipped about it too," Kirito knew what that was like, not minding the fact this was Nagi's personal life, even knowing this broke that taboo of the internet. Still, it didn't sit right with Kirito to grovel here about it.
Having sat completely still the whole time, Mito noticed how Daora began to tremble and grunt to himself. With a yell that shook the room, the dragon-scaled teen shot to his feet, waving his arms wide to vent his frustrations. "Stop grovelling about it already! This 'don't know' and 'I wish I knew better' crap is really pissing me off! Instead of crying over it, go tell him that crap yourselves! Beat it into him until he snaps out of it, that's the only way he'll listen!" His fists trembled, he felt it too, being useless and powerless to help Shirayuki, she was just an NPC but like Hotaru, she mattered, she saved their lives and helped them make it this far, he didn't want her to die either but sobbing about it wasn't going to change that, but Nagi could be reached. "Shirayuki already said she believe in all of us! So I'll search every damn floor and find him myself if I have to!"
No one expected Daora to say something so sincere, he would usually try to mask it under some attempt at inflating his ego, but instead, he was visibly agitated by Nagi's disappearance and their own tune of despair.
"That's great and all, but there's up to sixty other floors he could've gone too, and the longer we take, the more faded his tracks will get," Artorias pointed out with his head lowered. "Nagi left early to purposefully reduce the chances of being tracked."
"Then we'll just run across each floor instead!" Daora's abrupt response threw Artorias's head upright.
"HaAH!? Do you have a screw... well, more screws loose in that helmet of yours? Each floor is progressively larger than the one above, that wouldn't be an afternoon job, idiot!"
"Hah, that's what you think, I'll have half the floors cleared in one afternoon alone!" Daora proclaimed which only served to give Artorias a migraine, running a hand down his face.
"You have got to be the dumbest-smartest person I've ever met,"
During their back and forth, Mito's thoughts snagged on what Daora said about searching floor-by-floor; realistically, they couldn't search them all before Nagi's tracks would vanished, even now, Argo said his in town were starting to fade a little. But what if they already knew what floor to search? Her red eyes widened, raising her lips away from her fist. "That's it... Daora!"
"What?" Daora and Artorias turned away from one another to question the purplette to stood up, looking to Klein.
"Klein, bring up Shirayuki's questline, it never concluded, remember?" Mito asked, waving a hand for him to hurry.
"Ah, y-yeah, once sec," He flicked through his menu, and slowly, his furrowed brow shot up. "It's... it's still on-going, a-and one of its objective's is complete!"
Now, Argo's head shot up, moving from her spot to try and peek at his menu. "Show uS,"
"Gimmie a moment, I'll make it public," With a single press, he spun his menu around to show them the questline in bold.
Quest Updated!
-Path of Divine Sakura - Journey's End-
The Abyss has been silenced, leaving only the lingering corruption on the world that will wither and decay. However, Shirayuki has left a reward in the most unlikely of places...
*Find Shirayuki's Village [X]
*Discover the House Sun Stronghold [ ]
*Prove you are worthy [ ]
Floor Unknown Reward Blade of Divine Sakura
"The Blade of Divine Sakura... I heard her mention that before she died," Klein realized, a sad but hopeful smile forming on his cheeks. "Man, she still was looking out for us, even now... this gotta be the big pay-out for her questline!"
"And Nagi went to complete alone," Mito confirmed, but that had a pit form in her stomach. "If this is the final step, he's likely up against the toughest enemies to date," That feeling in her chest grew tenfold, regardless of how Nagi feels, Mito couldn't bear to let him face his grief alone, she wouldn't leave him behind. "All of us are going after him, just our group, any more and we might overwhelm him, but we can't let him face this alone either,"
"The 25th floor then, we're got our headin', I'll lead the waY," Argo's chest was burning up, she could still find him, she couldn't fail this time, not ever again. Then, she felt a firm hand on her shoulder from Kirito who smirked at her.
"Let's go knock some sense into him, like you guys did for me," Kirito remarked self-deprecatingly.
"He's family, so that's a given for us," Yuuki declared. "I know it's kinda already been decided, but please, please do everything you can to help him,"
"Same from me," Ran added, leaning against her sister's side. "All of you are important to Nagi, and its because of you guys that we were able to meet him at all,"
"Damn right we'll help, don't even need to question it, like you said, we'll do everything we can to reach out to him," Klein held a fist to his heart. "I give ya my word, Yuuki, Ran, nothing's gonna happen to him, he's my little buddy after all, hehe," Giving them a toothy grin, the room's mood began to shift, growing brighter and warmer, a newfound drive rekindling their spirits.
"...then let's get moving," Artorias equipped Red Death and Red Dawn, winking at Mito with a sly smirk. "Lead the way, Boss,"
She was still a moment, but instantly supressed her anxieties for the sake of the mission. "There's not much to say, only to find Nagi as quickly as possible!"
At Mito's declaration, the whole inn shook with their footsteps, possibly waking other players in the process of what sounded like a march of soldiers.
|Floor 25, Withered Village|
|Feb. 23rd 07:39|
"Hyaaaaah!" Ripple Thrust tore through the head of the next Shinobi, dragging its rotting bones across the road, burying its head into the dirt as it shattered underfoot.
Nagi spun right, tumbling to avoid the Samurai's blade splitting the cobblestone, the raven-brunette kicking to his knees, blade drenched in water, drawing it in an upward thrust, twisting sharply towards the sky, splitting its head in two. As the post motion quickly faded, Nagi's whole body was peppered in red slashes and holes where kunai had pierced. Pinching a new health pot, he refilled his HP to roughly 75%, the red cursors practically appearing out of thin air from around the corners of adjacent streets.
"They just keep spawning..." Maybe he should've stuck to the outer edges of the village to search, but cutting through was his most direct way to scouting the whole area. This hidden gate could be against the cliffsides or nestled in the village proper, he had no way of knowing, and with the constant horde on his tail, it kept him moving but conserving items was paramount.
With no time to catch his breath, Nagi kept running, scanning each street as kunai came sailing by his face, the Shinobi, despite their decaying forms, still retained that feather-like weight to their movements, if not for his nose, he'd have been caught off guard numerous times. Rounding a corner into a square plaza, more Samurai stood in his way, weapons already cast in various colours, their sword skills drawing their withered bodies toward him instantly.
Whipping into his own sword skill, Nagi spun around, his katana arching in a vicious dance, weaving a current through the small squad with ferocity and speed, slicing through each Samurai, their HP falling by a good margin, yet they turned after Conflagration to continue their advance. Readying himself, Nagi drew NightSky wide, parrying the first blade as his right foot struck out and kicked the second aside, allowing him to duck under the third, sword erupting with frothing waves.
Angling his body, the blade's movement cleaved through the Samurai at the waist, "Rising Sun!" The single strike skill shattering his foes as he tumbled from the spin. Some were like these mobs, their levels varied from 99 to 108, which gave Nagi some lulls in the battle, but their attack strength remained the same, too many missteps and he'd be reduced to shards too.
Nagi narrowed his eyes, blocking a rising slant that quickly began a nail-biting back and forth with the Shinobi, its bones creaking with each rapid swing that trembled against NightSky. Pushing back sharply, Nagi slammed its own ninjato against its face, pivoting behind it as it threw out three kunai, thrusting his katana through its midsection, the blade sloshing with a new skill, dragging the length of his blade through its torso only to spike the top of its head as it stumbled.
Ichimonji split the Shinobi in two, both halves bursting, the polygons crushed under his feet. The way was cleared, but Nagi knew he'd be pursued any second now, keeping NightSky drawn, he continued his advance through the village, even as a new batch of kunai dug into his back, drawing a frustrated grunt from between his teeth.
|Feb. 23rd 07:51|
Each footstep weighed him down, using NightSky to push himself up the last step, the endless armies of Withered soldiers thankfully steering clear of this particular area. It was as he guessed, against one of the cliff-faces, surrounded by two waterfalls that flowed into streams through the village.
The stone here was smooth, flora taking claim of the outer edges, a tree having sprouted above, the air damp from the plunge pools either side of the wide, semi-circle platform. The door was cracked and scarred, the bodies of fallen shinobi laid motionless at the river banks and along the stairs, and fixed into the middle of the stone door was another circular indent.
Taking out the crest, Nagi pushed it in with ease compared to the gate leading to the village, the door twisted the crest of its own accord, a grinding of stone and a low rumbling within alerted Nagi to the door's accepted key, the crest popping forward yet again, meaning, another keyhole laid beyond. The stone doors split and slid into the sides of the cliff-face, revealing a wide, sloped path forward, the light visible at the foot of the path.
Marching down, he finally sheathed NightSky, his right hand sore and tense from constant use, with it just being him, he had his work cut out for him. Daora would've drawn aggro, leaving them wide open to Mito and Nagi to attack from their blindspots, and Artorias could provide them potions for buffs and healing, not to mention, he could've cleared a horde on his own with ease. They really were amazing, but he couldn't risk them dying for this.
"You are so talented, never I have ever been more proud of you,"
Nagi leaned against the nearest wall, his breathing quickly shook by the distant memory, hearing that voice again made his stomach twist, but it was for him, for all of them, he wouldn't let anyone else down, no one had to die because of him, he won't let it happen again!
Pulling himself forward made him no different than the undead he fought to get here, making his way out into the light once more, only now, the scenery took on a mystical form. The sky was bright, only the far side of the enclosed space was met by a beach, the lake running up to the very wall that held the rest of Aincrad up above, the massive gaps peering out into the outside world.
At the shoreline, a large pagoda, a tiered tower with fiery red tiled roofs, now laying on its side, half of it collapsed and submerged by the lake. The backside looked the most ruined and distorted by the land, if Nagi had to speculate, this might've been from when Aincrad first formed, lore wise. The rest was overgrown in many places, old barracks crumbling or consumed by nature. Yet, the formation of the area was rounded, forming a gradual decline towards a sizable courtyard in the center, collapsing columns of marble lining the way towards a largeShōrō, or bell shrine.
The air was cold though, stale with the scent of ash from fires long-since extinguished, but this was the place, Nagi had found the House Sun stronghold. It was beautiful if not mysterious, but he hadn't the time to admire the scenery, keeping his hand firmly against NightSky's grip as he proceeded down the path leading to the bell shrine, a constant rainfall of cherry blossom leaves drifting in the wind.
Along the way, he saw that many of the once grand and tended to Torii archways bore the weathered remains of banners that Nagi didn't recognize, some were green, others pink, orange, he spotted House Flame, Winter, and Dusk among them. All other Houses, according to Shirayuki, splintered from House Sun, which led Nagi to believe they came around after Sun had fallen, but in reality, they were always a part of the original.
"What Shirayuki wouldn't have given to see this..." Nagi murmured, making to the plaza floor, from how the elevations around him formed, it looked more like an arena. The place he stood was rounded and clear of any obstacles, but then straightened into a wide strip towards the bell shrine.
It was eerily quiet, making his footsteps louder as he stepped over a collapsed pillar, his eyes flashing to every nook and cranny, but not a cursor in sight, which was all the more worrying, but by the time he arrived at the foot of the shrine, nothing triggered, no boss, no undead abominations, just an agonizing stillness in the air.
The wooden boards creaked underfoot when Nagi saw the decorate, ornate cabinet set front and center. Candles had long gone out, offerings hung from string above or dangling just above his head, wind chimes laid still as petals came to rest atop the cabinet, and inside, a single nodachi could be seen, bound in red silk.
Below the box, the stone podium it rested on bore the same hole as the two doors from before, the final resting place for the Crest of House Sun, fitting, Nagi thought as he brought it out. Slotting the crest inside, it merely sank in with a soft 'click', a mechanical lock twisting the golden accents on the outside of the cabinet, each curled and spun to form a large, blooming lotus around the bottom of the box as the locks came undone.
Almost with baited breath and a hint of excitement, Nagi opened the small doors, finding the wrapped weapon resting on a strangely clean, pink pillow, his hands flinched, and soon came together to pray; to Shirayuki. Opening his eyes, he cupped the underside of the fabric, hoisting the nodachi into both hands as he knelt on the ground to unravel the silk, and inside was something he didn't expect.
Bloodlust festered across a rugged, worn scabbard, like rust on metal, whatever regal form it once had now tainted by blood, and a single note wrapped to the tattered and worn handle. Plucking it off, it read as followed, filling Nagi's hope with a new wave of dread.
'He who wishes to draw this blade tainted by a million souls must endure its destined death'
'Destined death', it was flavour text but something made Nagi's fingers run cold, this wasn't just some colourful, lore-centric warning from warriors of the past, no, holding this weapon, the scent of death it exhumed, if Nagi drew this weapon, he would die on the spot without question.
Anguish began to build across his creased features, shaking his head. All of this struggle for a weapon he couldn't even use? No, there had to be more to this, something he wasn't seeing, a way to maybe purify or avoid dying? But then again, if SAO played out as it was intended, a player could die and simply respawn to claim the weapon, right, if SAO was a normal game.
~{-It is important that you remember the following. There is no longer any way to revive someone within the game. If your HP hits zero your avatar will be deleted from the system, forever}~
~{And the Nervegear will simultaneouslydestroy your brain}~
Kayaba's warning wasn't a lie, even for a quest step like this. Nagi set the nodachi down in defeat, he couldn't do it, he couldn't end this quest for Shirayuki after all.
A scent of death suddenly filled the air.
*Shing-Boosh!*
Nagi barely had the time to throw himself aside, Divine Sakura clattering to the ground beside him as the few steps leading up to the bell shrine were shattered under the weight of a single, large nodachi that dwarfed the bloodstained blade. The dust cleared with a sweep of the attacker's body, allowing Nagi to take in the foe that approached, its movements heavy yet it moved within the blink of an eye.
It was a samurai over seven feet tall in fiery armour, striking a bold that resembled a blazing sun with a pitch black Oni mask with white fangs. Its helmet had a crest resembling a blazing fire, the crimson helmet lined with golden engravings in the shape of flames. Its breastplate akin to the sun itself, layers of plating mimicking a solar corona, with jagged, flame-like edges that transitioned from a deep red at the edges to a bright gold at the center.
Everything from the shoulders overlapping, gold plating to the fiery fabric with the image of a flame rising from the black cuffs and gloves to the rest of his underarmour, protected by more, armour plating, the legs following the same patterns. Lastly, attached to his lower back were two scabbards, one of which had its weapon already drawn. Each hilt was wrapped in red and gold, the guards designed to resemble the sun, even the temper line of the polished blade had a deep red colouration that mimicked flickering fire.
Unlike any other foe Nagi had faced to date, this one was the wrath of the raging sun incarnate, its aura was hot and heavy, even now, it made Nagi sweat a little under those glowing, orange eyes behind the mask. And its name, in dark red stained into his eyes.
/Sköll the Last Sunblade - Lv. 110\
Without warning, Nagi had to throw himself onto his back, rolling upright whenSköll swung for his head, turning to charge Nagi yet again, its weapon swung wide, crashing against NightSky as brittle sparks stung at his face. The sheer force behindSköll's horizontal swing had Nagi sliding with the arc of its swing, flicking him backward a few paces. Righting himself, Nagi parried another two diagonal slants, his arms thrown wide with each swing, just barely keeping up with the one-armed strikes of the scorching samurai who drew his nodachi back to thrust, missing the teen's head as it shifted right.
Realizing something,Sköll grasped his weapon in both hands, taking a similar stance to Nagi's before advancing, his blows struck hard and fast, splitting the concrete below, Nagi kept on the defence, evading to slash forward with Striking Wave, his weapon caught the underside of the boss's arm when it attempted to sever both arms, the hits registered, yet, not even a single percent of its HP fell.
"Huh?" Nagi leapt back in time, evading the vertical slam lead into a thrust he rolled away from, slashingSköll's hip in passing, again, nothing changed, and it quickly sunk in that his attacks weren't damaging the boss at all. "It can't even be damaged normally? Is there a gimmick to it?" Nagi had to concentrate, if he let his momentum waver now, he was as good as dead. "Think, take in your surroundings and the boss!"
Looking around, this 'arena' had no decerning features, but the boss had cracks along its armour, like molten magma threatening to spill. Maybe if he struck those areas, he could weaken it? Regardless, it was worth a shot while it hadn't drawn its second sword. Pressing the attack, Nagi raised NightSky, blocking a diagonal slash from the right, then from above, forcing the oversized nodachi away from his head, Sköll then drew it on his right hip, intending to go for another horizontal arc.
Pushing closer, Nagi drew out a roar of water. "Ichimonji!" His weapon and the boss's collided-
-and NightSky snapped in two, the boss's nodachi drawing closer to Nagi's neck undeterred, his world slowing to a crawl, eyes fixated to the broken half of his katana.
All that Nagi could do was let out a hoarse, bewildered gasp.
[To Be Continued...]
[Author's Notes]
Cliff-hanger, hah! After all this time, every hard-fought battle, NightSky has been broken with a single slash, and there's no one there to help him this time. I hope you enjoyed, I appreciate the support as always; see ya in the next chapter, Misfits!
090 - Reflection
With a broken sword in his hand, Nagi stands alone against an overwhelming force of nature, his heart and spirit failing...