Floor 9 - Chapter 2 - Fight For Your Lives

SHINK. PFFFPH. ''Gyyyaaa-''PFFFPHH.

If Mito's sudden appearance had caused the group to be on edge, then right about now... their nerves were currently leaning backwards off the side of a cliff. The rustling of the hedges began to increase in frequency, and the group all readied their weapons, unsure of what they were about to face...

The rustling, and the screaming came closer... until it didn't. What had sounded like the screams of someone running for their life had just ceased, and the bursting sound that they all knew oh so well.

Whatever, or whoever had been heading their way... was gone.

The group looked around the clearing they were stood in, looking at one another. No one dared break the status quo that was now the silence, for fear of what was actually lurking in the trees. Jet took a moment to look towards Koharu, and saw something he hadn't seen in her eyes since they'd been on the first floor, months ago... she looked helpless.

Even just breathing felt as if it might attract the wrath of whatever had been heading their way. It's often said that 'There are no atheists in foxholes', and for Jet... that was true at the moment, as he prayed to a god he really didn't believe in, that whatever it was had gone away...

As he did that, a familiar silhouette appeared from the treeline. The single handed axe, buckler and that stupid chainmail hood... ''Morte...'' Jet snarled, fighting every urge in his body to not cut the man down to size... literally.

''Well, if it isn't my lucky day! Not only do I get to see my old buddy again, but I find out the Grim Reaper of Aincrad is here too! I should've bought a lottery ticket, really!'' Behind him, Rain spotted a pair of eyes in the bushes, eyes that began moving rapidly, soon giving way to the back of the figure's head, before a pick slammed into them, dropping them straight to the ground... ''Now, now... we were just having a game of hide and seek, ya know?'' The figure became more evident as a boy, probably about the same age as Silica was dragged back into the clearing, and bought to his knees...

''Let him go, Morte!'' Koharu yelled, as Morte took heed of her objection, and walked over to her instead, the young boy collapsing back to the ground.

''I don't believe we've had the pleasure of introductions, have we?'' Koharu stared into the face of the psychopath who stood in front of her. She'd remembered how Jet had told her that Morte, despite being a complete bastard, was a very good fighter, easily on the level of their supposedly not an emo friend. She knew not to underestimate him then, but that grin on his face... it was sickening. She hadn't seen what he'd just done, but she had a good enough idea.

''Why would she introduce herself to a murderer like you!'' The young boy screamed at Morte, who chose simply to laugh.

''Oh, that is precious...'' Morte mocked, as he walked up to the boy, and pulled him from the ground by the scruff of his neck. ''What did you think to achieve by doing that, really? You watched your friends all die... for your own sake, and now, you throw your life away for this lot... who don't even care enough to know your name, and won't mourn you when you depart this world.''

''Be-because...'' Morte steadfastly refused to give him chance to answer, throwing him back to the ground.

''It doesn't matter.'' Morte spoke callously, before he swung his axe. Before the swing was finished, the young boy had disappeared from their view, with only small pixels still being left.

''Bastard! You didn't have to kill him! He was unarmed!'' Jet yelled, enraged and horrified at the execution he'd just witnessed.

''He didn't have to... he wanted to.'' Phillia, for all she'd seen in Aincrad, from mummies to the clutches of trees, she'd been fortunate enough to avoid seeing the spectre of death, and seeing it appear before anyone she knew. She'd hoped to go the entire game without seeing it, but the creature stood in front of her had just bought the crushing reality down onto all of them. The boy who's name they'd never known, and who'd stared a murderer down, with no care for his own safety, was now dead, and there was nothing they could do. He couldn't have been older than fourteen, she thought to herself. Just one more life snuffed out by this game, people would say naively. No, his life hadn't been taken by Sword Art Online... it had been taken by a monster, masquerading as a man!

''Gryaznny trus! You bully those who you perceive to have power over, and then call it some sick and perverted strength!'' Rain screamed, holding back the combined torrent of her tears and her rage at the sickening monster in front of them...

Morte, now fed up of savouring his kill turned towards Rain, and advanced on her... ''Oh? No, sweetheart...'' Rain felt her skin crawl as he approached her. ''You think I care about strength? Nah. I do this because it's fun! That's all it is, the thrill of the kill!'' That made him far worse in all of their estimations. He wasn't just a madman with deranged views of strength... he was an outright psychopath, getting off on taking other lives. ''Still though, now you all know about my little gig, so... you all have to die. I know, I know, I'd let you go if it were me-'' The word 'liar' went unspoken ''-but the boss insists on no witnesses...''

''Don't bet on it!'' Mito charged in first, her scythe projecting an arc ahead of her. Briefly, it looked as if she'd actually caught Morte off guard, but that wasn't the case. He responded by slamming his shield into her back, and throwing her off balance momentarily, before a tree branch appeared in her way, and she fell straight to the floor.

Jet took the next shot at Morte, and made sure to attempt to keep his attention focused on him, as Morte attempted to brute force his way through Jet's shield. ''Oh, ho oh, White Knight of the Wind, yet more girls with you, ay? Save some for the rest of us, will you...''

''They're my friends, you cretinous whet.'' Jet struggled to hold back Morte's attacks, his shield just barely staying where he needed it under the onslaught of attacks.

''You seem pretty fond of the black haired one...'' Morte grinned sadistically, ''she seems like the boss's type!''

''Touch her and I'll kill you!'' Jet committed one of the biggest sins in combat... he let his anger get the better of him, and before he had chance to correct... an axe strike slammed against his chest, throwing him back.

''Ooh, now that's new... you weren't that touchy before! I think I will actually...'' Morte smirked, as he changed his target, focusing on Koharu. His first strike was dodged quickly, and the fight changed pace rapidly, as Rain jumped into attack, her left hand blade slamming into Morte's axe, whilst a swift thrust from her right hand blade forced a retreat from Morte. ''And yet you couldn't do anything to stop me last time...'' he wheezed, winded from the thrusting strike.

Rain refused to rise to the obvious taunting, and continued to press her assaults, with Phillia and Koharu continuing their hit and run attacks as she did. Before too long, the obvious was occurring - Morte was running out of steam, a sign that he was about to pull some trick out to escape again...

''Rain!'' Jet yelled out, charging at full force towards Morte, notably missing his blade and shield...

''On it!'' Rain managed to force Morte's shield and axe down, and out of any sort of position for any effective defence, before a fist slammed into face, dazing him momentarily. That was all that was needed though, as Rain was able to stagger him further using a three hit skill. Bad luck was still yet to come, as Koharu and Phillia had circled around the back of Morte, and as he staggered, readied their daggers, and aimed for the back of his shins, an injury that would've knocked him straight to the floor IRL. Remarkably, Morte stayed upright, but badly hit, his HP dropping fast into the yellow.

''Damn it, the boss is gonna kill me... but at least I take one of you with me!'' Morte screamed, the affable, if not murderous, façade dropped in favour of just murderous, as he ran straight back at the main, and closest source of his woes... Rain. His axe screamed through the air, and with very little time to react, Rain raised one of her blades in the hope it could push the axe away, but there was no slowing it down. The axe made contact with her chest, and threw her onto her back, the worst possible place to be in a fight. ''Now DIE!'' Rain closed her eyes, as everything flashed before her...

Mito, having only just picked herself up from the ground, saw an opening. Morte was focused on targeting the redhead, so that meant he wasn't watching his six o'clock, and if she could hit him there... she could throw him off balance too... With very little else in her mind, she charged, her scythe picking up momentum as it swung... ''How about you!'' Mito's scythe hit true, and the swing impacted Morte's back with force. The unexpected action threw off Morte's aim, and the axe slammed into the dirt next to Rain, with less than a centimetre between it and her head.

Morte, now badly injured from the fight, pulled back and chose the wisest strategy he could... retreat. ''Teleport... Morphus.'' He spoke, as he disappeared, leaving the shell shocked group to recover.

''Everyone...'' Jet reconsidered his next choice of words, after what had just happened. There was no way they'd be okay after that. ''... alive?''

''Just barely. I, uhh, owe you an apology, Mito. Spasibo.'' Rain acknowledged that she may have been too fixed on her opinion that Mito wasn't to be trusted beforehand.

''Don't mention it.''

''That boy...'' Koharu looked on the verge of tears, as she remembered the boy's face. A mix of terror and acceptance on his face, as his life was callously snatched from him. She was no longer on the verge of tears, instead she was now sobbing, as Jet went over to comfort her.

''He won't be forgotten, and Morte was wrong. We'll find out who he was, and...'' Jet thought to himself about something. Without knowing anything about this kid, would revenge have been what he'd have wanted, or would he have settled for throwing Morte into a deep, dark pit, locking it, and throwing away the key? ''...we'll do what we have to make sure no one else has to deal with that again.''

Phillia, oddly quiet for once, had noted down the location he'd teleported to, Morphus. She was one of the people who'd helped Argo map the second, third and fourth floors for her guide, and she at least knew her way around the rest of the floors. Morphus, though? The name had never come up even once. ''We know where he's gone, so at least we aren't completely blind. But I've never heard of Morphus though...''

''Morphus?'' Mito asked, trying to piece together a map of the fifth floor. It certainly sounded like somewhere that a shady group of murderers would hang out, with the perpetual darkness, and myriad of tunnels.

''Well, least we've got a lead, so it's better than nothing.'' Jet rubbed his hands against his head, and re-equipped his sword and shield. ''Still though, we've already got a mission, and we know we're on a time limit with that.'' It felt absolutely awful to dismiss what happened just, and return to the quest, but if what was said was right, then time was of the essence...

''The Elf War Quest, right?'' Mito asked.

''Yeah, we're looking for... (sighs) god even knows what. Some form of signal.'' Jet admitted, the frustration that had been the battle with Morte still evident in his attitude.

''Err, guy and girls? I think we've found it...'' Phillia called, as she looked at the object in front of her. Small and hollow metal rods attached to a wooden cross shaped frame by string, giving it the appearance of a rudimentary wind chime. Before the group had gotten there, she'd started prodding at the chime, and the tinkling noise of a wind chime played throughout the forest. As they did, a faint mist began to gather around them, causing everyone to be on guard, and reach for their weapons...

Fortunately for them, only a Forest Elf appeared. The elf was as they'd come to expect from the Forest Elves at this point - blonde, tall and wearing a shining set of armour. The latter of these felt a little odd to them, as most of the Elves wore armour that had certainly seen some form of battle, as various scuffs and dents were obvious to a keen observer. This one, not so much. He began to speak, as he finished materialising, ''Humans. Why do you ring this device?''

''We come on a mission from Wendelin. He asked us to bring you this note.'' Koharu handed the Forest Elf the note, the elf opening the seal, and humming slightly as they read the note.

''I see. I thank you for saving our commander, and I apologise for my earlier boorishness. I know that one should give proper introductions, but I feel that unwise considering my job. For now however, you can call me Cal.'' To Jet, that explained the cleanliness of the armour - he was a spy. Generally, if your armour was a mess, and you were a spy, you probably weren't a very good one, he thought.

''Ah, uhh, do we use codenames then?'' Koharu asked, slightly forgetting they already did, at least in a fashion. Her head still wasn't in the best of places after earlier, and whilst the others had seemingly pushed it to the back of their minds, she really couldn't, no matter how hard she tried.

''I mean, we kind of already do, Ko.'' Jet looked towards his girlfriend, and saw from the look on her face that she wasn't her usual self at the moment, and so, making a joke at her expense was just a dick move.

''Oh, right.'' she answered, looking away in annoyance at herself, and just how stupid she'd just sounded.

''As you know, Fuirnith was defeated, and Wendelin is on the run, which makes those who can enter the castle freely, rather valuable to us.''

''Umm, we didn't actually read the note, so we don't really know what it says.''

''You didn't read it, yet you delivered it?''

''Well, no, it's a bit on the rude side to read notes that aren't for you.'' Jet shrugged, trying to hide the reasons why he thought that. Turns out secondary schoolers are a bunch of dicks. Who knew?

''I must admit, I'm surprised there are humans with such honour. Though, are you not guests of the Dark Elves? What would you have done if this were ordering an attack on them?'' Cal asked, each of the group looking for an answer... but finding none.

Koharu, despite still being slightly out of the loop, as it were, was the first to speak up, ''Wendelin wanted our help with saving the king. As long as we're helping him with that, I doubt he'd betray us like that.''

''I see... I suppose Wendelin has judged you capable of helping us, and from your answers, I can understand why he is quite fond of you. The note permitted you to join us, so I shall follow this order. Our mission is to save His Majesty.'' Mito looked slightly baffled at the Elf, wondering just why he was that highly strung. They were helping him, after all, not the other way round...

''Okay then, what do you need us to do?'' Jet asked, as Cal continued...

''Fuirnith believes that the King has fallen ill due to a poison, a method that the Fallen Elves are particularly competent at undertaking. Of course, with no concrete evidence, or knowledge, as to what poison was used... we are unable to produce an antidote that may not make the situation worse, rather than better. So I ask you for your help in gathering ingredients so we can create a potion to identify the poison used.''

''Could you use these?'' Koharu asked, handing Cal an antidote potion as she did.

The shaking head of the elf was a pretty clear answer, but he confirmed it, ''No, the poison inflicting the King is not like those you may find on the battlefield. If it were, then we wouldn't be here. Here is the list of items we need from the forest. You should be able to retrieve them from the Red Covetous Flowers in this forest.'' Cal passed them a list, before disappearing into the mist again.

''Guess we're on a milk run then...'' Jet rolled his eyes, as they set off deeper into the forest again...

As the group made short work of the hunting work, Jet had noticed that Koharu was lagging behind the rest of the group...

''Rain, can you take the lead for a bit?'' Rain nodded, and Jet went back to Koharu. ''I'm not gonna ask if you're alright, because well...''

''We saw someone... we saw a child die, Jet! How... how do we move on from that? What happens when we forget that we watched someone die, and couldn't do anything-'' Jet held a finger over Koharu's mouth as he spoke. He thought back to the worst day of his life, and winced, an action that everyone present noticed.

''We work harder, and we get stronger. We remember what happened, and we don't let it happen again on our watch. Koharu, I promise you, Morte won't get away with what he did, we'll make sure of that. But we need to put justice before revenge, and remember that mercy and kindness aren't the same thing. Locking Morte in a cold, dark hole, well maybe it isn't taking him outside, and lopping him to bits... but it's what he deserves. It's merciful, but it sure as hell isn't kind.'' Jet gave his best impression of the Tenth Doctor, but even he had to admit, he wasn't sure he'd convinced anyone, himself included. ''This'll be the only time I give this advice, but the best person to talk to about this stuff is my sister. She's... seen some stuff, and much of a womanchild as she is, she can be insightful at times.''

''Strea? You think that Strea is the best person to talk to about this?'' Phillia looked very confused at that statement, and Rain tried not to laugh. From what she knew of the purple haired woman, she was barely a person, more like a collection of character flaws.

''Uhh, who's Strea?'' Mito asked, very confused at the statement, but for a completely different reason.

''She's my sister, and uhh...''

''She's a character.'' Phillia explained as succinctly as she could. Jet simply nodded in agreement at the accurate psychological analysis of his sister.

Koharu looked up, and towards her friends. Phillia was busy explaining the simple concept of Strea to Mito, who looked halfway between horrified and curious, whilst Rain was rolling her eyes at just how theatrical she was being. Jet was still stood next to her, and checking his messages quickly. ''Jet?''

''Yup?'' He looked away quickly.

''We'll get him, right?''

''I promise we will... and Koharu, don't worry. That kid won't have died in vain, and we'll find out who he was. I know we can't give anyone a proper memorial, not really anyway, but...''

''What Morte said...'' she looked on, sadly.

''He was trying to get in our heads. He did that with me, and he was trying to do that with Rain too.'' Koharu pulled her boyfriend into a tight hug, which was soon reciprocated. ''Now, I think we should get back to the others...''

If he'd looked around, he'd have noticed Phillia with a record crystal, grinning, whilst both Rain and Mito looked as if they'd rather be anywhere else at that moment...

{Author's Comments}

Not much to say this week really, other than that this chapter is a considerable bit more dark than I usually write. Also, fight scenes which I'm still not great at, so...

As usual, if you enjoy the story, follow and/or favourite the story, or you have any comments for me, leave a review, or send me a PM.

Signing off, Midland 2541.