It seemed to Jason that Alphard fought harder now than before Kenshin’s death. The two of them were locked in intense hand-to-hand combat with a group of marauding dungeon monsters reminiscent of a D&D campaign. The pair had actually even gone to an underground dungeon to, you know, dungeon crawl. The entrance had been hidden in Tarbinal’s catacombs, on the fourth level, behind a chrome and bloodstone sarcophagus. Not many others had been down into the monster-infested labyrinth yet, so the pair of warriors decided to be useful and map the dungeon while they were exploring. They hadn’t been in the dungeon twenty minutes before the first monsters came for them. A veritable horde of zombies surged from under a nearby arch and shambled menacingly towards them. Alphard drew her dragonbone shield and upgraded hand scythe and charged into the melee, calling out to Jason over her shoulder as she did so, “Cover me! I will take out the front lines, you clean up any that make it past me and protect my back.”

“Yes milady,” Jason responded and unlimbered his new weapon, a dragonbone maul topped with the neigh impenetrable ivory crown protecting Mordred’s head and with a grip made of the ebony flesh of the same beast. This new weapon was called <<Defiler>> and had a length and weight nearly equal to Jason’s old hammer. Indeed, the only real difference between the two tools was the overall look and stats. Moments later, Alphard purposely let an enemy past her whirling wall of blade and shield. The zombie seized the opportunity and opened its greasy maw wide to bite the woman. Imagine its dismay when all it got was a mouthful of maul. Later, Alphard tested Jason by unexpectedly calling for a switch whilst immersed in combat with a couple of particularly nasty wights. Jason complied, somersaulting over the first wight and braining it from behind before activating a sword art to brutally hammer the other into submission so that Alphard could deliver the coup de grace. Over and over Alphard set up difficult situations to test Jason’s ability to think on his feet and his willingness to dive into combat to help her. Over and over Jason unfailingly completed his duty; fighting where it was needed, healing at other times, and once even acting as a springboard so that Alphard could attack the enemies from above. He was the perfect picture of a loyal knight: loyal, brave, and true. And despite herself, Alphard began to feel for this man. Not in a romantic way. No, the wounds of Kenshin’s passing were too fresh for that. She felt for Jason as one feels for the great heroes of myth: Arthur, Diarmiud, Sun Wukong, and Sigurd. You always felt safer after you heard their stories, like they were there beside you, protecting you from harm. It was like having your very own Prince Charming looking over you. Quite touching when you stopped to think about it.

Several hours after setting out, Alphard called the mission off. She and Jason headed out of the dungeon, discussing their actions the whole way. Alphard informed Jason officially that she now trusted him and would accept his help as her personal knight and protector. Jason knelt before her and delivered unto her a solemn oath: “Ayano Nobunaga, I am now your personal knight. You will no longer fear evil, you will have no more need for anything in life, any problems that you have will be forgotten. I am yours as surely as if you had bought and paid for me. Do with me what you will.” He bowed his head and gave Ayano all of the loot that he had gained from their little excursion. She nodded and accepted his offer with the requisite solemnity. They walked the rest of the way to the shared inn in silence. When they got there, they noticed the mass amount of people at Suto’s room and decided to stop in for a visit. They showed up just in time to hear Suto greet Nero and a strange man with a dispassionate “That’s new, What’s up?”

Floor Twenty-Two, in the mountain range outside of Coral

---

Fitch gazed at the tiny village, made smaller by his distance atop the mountain. This world continued to amaze him with the beautifully membrane which hid the darkness beneath. He could still remember when he saw the true glow of it… When everything was new and fun. Even after being trapped here, he had his friends and they had him; everything was going to be fine and they could enjoy the world as though it were reality until they made it out. Without even trying, they’d been able to join the very strongest players amongst the world’s living denizens. One by one, it seemed, they were all disappearing.

“You weren’t there,” A voice hissed in his ear. He whipped his neck around, but there was nobody there. Before he turned back, it spoke again from the other side, “You could have been with them and helped Kenshin, but you weren’t.”

“Shut up,” He pleaded in a mumble, frustrated and lonely.

“Is this what you want? To sit here, wallowing in self-pity before returning to somebody you barely know, hmm? Or would you like to return to your friends?”

“I should get back…” He muttered to himself dejectedly, moving to rise.

“They’ll look at you as if it were your fault, you know,” It soothsaid to him. The boy didn’t grab his shield and he stopped halfway to getting off the ground.

“Maybe not… I mean… I’m only around them sometimes anyway, I’ll just be in the way,” He decided, sighing and sitting back down.

“Isn’t that… better?” The voice asked finally before disappearing. The demons one’s mind will manifest to make an excuse for their own choices are more powerful than any other.

“… Kyaa!” A voice called out from nearby. It was highly pitched and clearly young, but it held the confidence of a warrior who had been fighting for their entire lives. Fitch furrowed his brow, the monsters weren’t typically hostile around here unless you attacked them – then they all crowded. He was just looking for peace… so, who was interrupting that?

With more than a little bit of agitation, he rose and pulled out his blade, taking his shield from the ground and walking toward the source of the call. A small girl in a dark coat thrust a rapier forward with unparalleled speed as a monster burst from around it. She seemed to be barely a teenager. “Hey, do you mind going elsewhere?” He asked, only realizing after he said it that it was obscenely rude.

“Yes. I do. Do you mind not being so selfish?” She spat back venomously. She didn’t jump or seem surprised at all… Did she know he was there and intentionally choose to start training, or was she simply that stoic? His expression ushered forth an explanation from her, “Searching, Listening, and Detection. Any of those three would have given you away long before I got here, with the way you were muttering to yourself over there,” She pointed out flatly.

He blinked, “You know, for being so small, you’ve got quite the superiority complex. You might wanna watch your tongue, somebody less forgiving than me might catch wind of you and you’ll end up in a pretty bad way.”

She quirked an eyebrow and shook her head, “Not worried about it. Are you going to keep wasting my time, or will I be graced with your ego for the rest of my training session? I’ve a client to escort in… two hours… And I’d like to get as much done as I can before then.” The girl flicked her shoulder-length black hair out of her face in annoyance.

“Well, if you’d like, I can-“

She held up a hand to silence him, “Not interested. Guess I’ll go, then,” She sighed, muttering something about it being such a good training spot. Though she didn’t know him, she turned her head over her shoulder, “Oh, and… whatever it is – you should get there. They’ll want you, whoever ‘they’ are. That’s what friends and family are for,” She pointed out with a shrug before starting on after another training spot.

---

Two Hours Later, Present Time

---

Nero nodded, “Hey, Suto.” As everybody filed into the room, clearly perplexed. Yuna, however, arrived rather promptly and explained that there were plenty of spoils from the fight to go around, all crafted into some of the highest level gear they could have.

As they all looked to him for an explanation, he remained rather silent, deciding how best to share the information. They would all be aware of who Kazaro was, but he figured it would be best to formally introduce them all. “I’m sure you’ve all met on different occasions, but… Everybody, this is Kaz-“ He started before Kazaro rose a hand to stop him.

“Hold on, we’ve got one more coming. I figured it would be best to take care of everything at once,” He said, “She said she’d be here in a moment.”

“Don’t tell me you invited Sasayuka…” He groaned in agitation.

“Then I won’t tell you.” The Vice Commander rolled his eyes and moments later, the door opened. However, he and Nero were both surprised as Fitch entered instead of who they were expecting.

Nero cleared his throat, “Uh… Fitch, didn’t think you’d be here,” He sputtered slightly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Yeah, I… didn’t either… I kinda just decided to come back and see how everybody was doing… I… got the news,” He said, looking to Alphard empathetically. He knew where she was right this moment, though Jason was a new face. He didn’t introduce himself, he just found a seat. There was a subtle exchange as Nero looked to his new superior, who merely gave a small shake of his head without explanation. Nero simply shrugged as the final pair entered the room.

Sasayuka strode through the door with an air that made her appear as though she owned Aincrad itself. There was no end to her power, though it was far from physical. Behind her came Kimigami, who had recently made a name for herself both as one of the few trustworthy escorts in the virtual world and as one of the most powerful. It was clear that Sasayuka paid her quite a bit to be a simple guard.

As she and Fitch saw one another, they both called out in unison, “You!” And proceeded to nearly start bickering… Something about ego-centricity and intrustion. They were quickly silenced.

“Attention!” By Kazaro and their eyes darted to him in surprise. Nero cleared his throat and looked around the room.

“I’ve an announcement to make, guys. I suppose it’s a pretty big one, seeing as we’ve specifically invited the number one information broker in Aincrad along… This is Vice Commander Kazaro of the Knights of the Blood Oath,” He said as the man gave a small bow, “And… my new superior. Suto, Alphard, Jason, and Luna… You’ve all been cordially invited to join alongside me with nearly any condition you so desire so long as you aren’t asking to be hired on as any type of mercenary. You would officially become one of us and we want to stress that you’ve not obligation to join whatsoever. The choice is entirely yours and if any of you decline, there will be no hard feelings. In fact, you’ll still have plenty of time to yourselves and to devote to one another whether you join or not,” He explained. “The invitation comes from Commander Heathcliffe himself.”

Fitch looked down darkly. It was official… Even if none of them joined, his name was nowhere in the list. Although it was a rather surprising event in the first place and he wasn’t expected there, he had seen the exchange… He knew that Nero had to list their names rather than saying ‘except Fitch’ to avoid a conflict. It really didn’t work. He stood up, not letting his agitation show, and walked out of the room. As he passed Suto, he looked over stoically, “Good luck,” He said, leaving the room. Soon enough, he was shooting a message off to Doku. I’m ready.

Suto wasn't sure why his room ad suddenly became a conference room, but people began to pour in. Not that he minded terribly, it was nice having guests, but some forewarning would have been nice. One nice thing about the game is it was easy to change, which was good because he was still dressed up in his pajama when Nero had come knocking. Promptly he changed into his armor, which over the last few days had changed a little bit. In place of his simple padded leather jacket he now wore a golden cyclas, thick padding around the shoulders and around the waist with a black belt tying it together. He had on a set of leather trousers which also had light padding, affording him a bit of extra protection which was handy due to being lightly armored. He wore a thin pair of black woolen gloves, and a set of boots that matched. It was all lightweight gear and fairly comfortable, even in this virtual world. Taking a seat by the window he let others use his bed to relax, watching everyone come in one by one. Nero and this other guy had him very curious, he recognized their armor right away. Only just having learned of Nero's joining he wasn't quite sure why they had come to pay him a visit, or why everyone else was being asked to come as well. Exchanging a smile with Luna as she entered he crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for someone to begin speaking.

Whoever this last person was supposed to be it wasn't Fitch. Seeing him here of all places surprised his friends, both Suto and Luna were properly happy that he had come however. He seemed to be so distant as of late, anytime he was around too he was detached and quiet. Smiling in Fitch's direction he was a tad disappointed when the other boy just sat down, not really paying Suto any mind. Ah well... Knowing he was okay was good anyways, he had been worrying since his friend had left earlier. Now perhaps they could get on with whatever this meeting was supposed to be about, which the sooner they did the better. Again he didn't mind the company persay, but his personal room was just that, not a gathering hall. Before they could even begin any discussions two more people arrived, both of which Suto instantly recognized. One was that information broker, he couldn't recall her name, and the other was Kimigami, the young girl from before. It was nice to see she was doing fine as well, though he was curious why she was playing escort. And why she and Fitch started barking at one another suddenly. A quick and loud yell from Kazaro silenced them however, and at last Nero seemed prepared to speak.

Of all the things that could be said, an invitation to join the Knights of the Blood Oath was not what Suto had expected. They were a big name guild after all, perhaps THE big name guild. Everyone knew who they were, from regular players to PKers and even the people still back in Town of Beginnings. Their name was synonymous with Clearers and they called some of the greatest players in the game amongst their ranks. So to have a personal invitation from their Commander was no small honor, and it was one that Suto knew would be insane to reject. He had only just been telling himself to do more before this had happened, and now this opportunity had literally walked through his door. There was a wide smile on his face at the moment, he could hardly believe his fortune. And yet for all of his elation it was bittersweet, there was something wrong with it. Recounting all of the names that had been listed he realized that Fitch had not been among them. That didn't seem right, how could that even be remotely right? Fitch was among the best players without question, and he was a good friend. To exclude him from their ranks just seemed like a huge mistake. Getting up to say something over the matter Suto instead looked at Fitch as he too rose, getting a very brief few words before leaving. So that was that then? Much as he wanted to accept he couldn't just leave it be like that, it wasn't proper.

"Uh.. Excuse me for a moment." No way was he going to say yes without arguing Fitch's case. if the rest of them could join then he should be able to as well, that was only fair. When he left the room he didn't see his friend, so Suto hurried downstairs and then outside of the building. When he emerged he just found Fitch closing his menus. "Fitch! Hey, wait a minute!" he called, running over to his friend. The guy seemed pretty bummed, over what he assumed was not being counted among the potential recruits. With a hopeful smile then he pointed over his shoulder back towards the inn, trying to relay what he was thinking. "I'm sure they would let you join if you want. It's about time we get serious and join a guild anyways, right? Come back with me and we'll chat with Nero and Kazaro, I know they'll be happy to let you in." They were like one big package after all, their group. Either you took them all or none at all. Much as Suto did want to become a member he wouldn't do so if everyone wasn't given the same chance. And considering they were being asked personally it meant they were wanted, so he figured that gave them a little leeway with convincing the others. Worried over Fitch leaving again Suto walked around him, putting his hands up with a smile. "Or, you know... If you don't want to join them we can always form our own! Huh? Just us and our friends, that's more than enough to make a guild. What do you think about that?"

Wow... This was unexpected. To be asked to join the Knights of the Blood Oath, not something Luna had seen coming. To count herself in their ranks would be a massive step forward in terms of notoriety and resources. As a group they were considered some of the best players in the entire game, there were no better people to have as allies. While not the largest guild their power alone made them the top, and their feats were literally legendary. Though like Suto it bothered her that Fitch hadn't been invited as well, it was odd he was excluded. Just because he did his own thing fairly often didn't mean he wasn't part of their team anymore, and he was a friend to all of them, Nero included. It was kind of a stab in the back to not offer him the same opportunity. "Is there any reason you didn't extend the same offer to Fitch as you did us...?" Luna asked, getting right to the point. Seeing as he was the superior she was addressing Kazaro, getting to her feet and bowing her head politely. "It's quite the honor to be offered, but tell us, why isn't Fitch included? Has he done something wrong?" She knew that players with questionable ethics weren't allowed, it was to ensure the guild's integrity was well founded. But Fitch had never done anything to bring him under scrutiny, and his sulking as of late was perfectly understandable and not grounds for exemption. Changing her focus unto Nero she folded her arms across her chest, frowning as she gave him a staring at. "Surely you didn't forget him, did you? I know he'd want to join if you gave him the option."

One, two, and three. Three strokes to bring down a Gilded Hypogriff. Hardly as efficient as he would like, but at least it was an improvement. At this floor Doku knew he wasn't likely to level up any quicker than this, yet the pace at which he gained experience was painstaking. How was he supposed to power level when none of the floors above this one had been cleared yet? As confident as he was in himself he was also no fool, and he knew that a boss battle was no small undertaking. But with all of the guilds around now surely their progress should be quicker than what it was. Casually closing the loot menu he set his sights on another beast, but paused when a notification sound played. Upon seeing the name of the sender he smirked, truly pleased to be hearing from Fitch. Giving the brief message a read through he replied just as shortly, telling the younger boy in what town to meet him. After sending the message he closed his eyes, chuckling beneath his breath as he shook his head. This was too easy, the boy was coming back to him after only such a short time. He had been right in his assessment, Fitch was in desperate need of some kind of outlet, and he could provide just that. Feeling quite elated Doku returned his sight back onto the monster, dashing forward with a quick sword skill and knocking out a good chunk of its health. Following up his dash with a crescent slice he reduced its health to just beneath a third, and a final straight thrust finished off the monster. As the beast let out its death rattle and shattered Doku glanced up at the neon colored sky in satisfaction, a snide smile stretched across his lips. "Oh Fitch... I so do look forward to molding you into a weapon..."

Alphard was quite surprised when Kazaro announced that they were all formally invited to join the Knights of the Blood Oath. These guys were the elite, the best of the best, the cream of the crop. They had been at every Boss Fight from the Town of Beginnings. Alphard was rather conflicted over the whole thing, though. On one hand, to even be asked to join the Knights was a huge honor. An honor she normally would have jumped on in seconds. On the other hand, did she really need to join the guild? Alphard had a partner now, one who had already stated his willingness to die for her if need be. A partner who was looking rather confused right now. Alphard slunk over to Jason and asked him what was the matter.

“Well the whole thing is rather confusing I must say!” the speedster responded.

Alphard put her arm around Jason’s shoulders and grinned a wicked grin. “It’s the whole Knights of the Blood Oath thing innit? I mean come on! They’re practically Arthurian and they have the same ideals as you mentioned that you have. You must be giddier than a schoolgirl at the thought of joining these guys.”

Jason laughed and shook off Alphard’s arm, “Nah milady, I don’t wanna join these guys. They already asked me to join them anyway. Yeah, one of Kazaro’s compatriots found me about ten floors ago and gave me the whole spiel but… I dunno. They seem to share my ideals on paper, but in practice… things are quite different. No, what I’m confused about is what’s up with this Fitch guy?”

Alphard’s grin froze on her face. “WHAT? You’ve already been asked to join the Knights? No, don’t answer that. I’ll just explain about Fitch and just forget what you said. Fitch was a member of our group before you joined and a beta tester to beat. Just before you joined us, we lost someone else. Her name was Yari and she was married to Fitch. It was really hard on all of us though; she was really the glue that held our group together. Ever since she died, Fitch has been…distant. He disappears a lot. I don’t know why he wasn’t invited to the Knights, but it’s pretty clear that it hurt him.” Alphard paused for breath and considered Jason with a raised eyebrow. “Here’s the real question though: are we going to join?”

Jason paused slightly before reminding Alphard that he would follow her wherever she went, so if she joined the Knights, he would as well. Alphard could tell that he was conflicted, though. She thought back to what he had said earlier: that, in practice, their actions were less… well knightly than they at first seemed. Despite the part that Jason played in Kenshin’s death, he was still the most honest, true, and trustworthy man Alphard had ever met. If he believed that it would be a mistake to join, then she would trust his judgment. Alphard nodded, mind made up. She turned to Kazaro and loudly announced, “Jason and I will not be joining the Knights of the Blood Oath. We intend on seeking our own truths in this world, not those set forward by Heathcliffe.” She bowed to Kazaro, “We mean no disrespect, but we want to find our own path. We won’t work against you or your recruitment of others. Indeed, we most likely will fight alongside you in future Boss Fights! But we do not wish to join your guild.”

Jason caught Alphard’s eye and gave her the slightest of nods, signifying that he was in agreement with all that she had said. Then he stepped forward and addressed the group as well, “We would also like to extend an invitation to any of you who do not wish to join the Knights. You may join us in our travels if you so please, for milady informs me that we will continue on the same path that we have already begun. We will continue to work alongside the Clearers and to take side quests in order to increase our chances of survival. We WILL get out of this hellhole. And we will do it with the strength of our own arms!” The last bit was said nearly at a shout. Clearly this was something that Jason believed in very strongly. With one final glance about the room, Jason turned to Alphard and inclined his head deeply. She smirked at his outburst and led the way out of the room. The two left and went to their separate rooms, spending the rest of the night contemplating the ramifications of what they had just witnessed and said.

i

Fitch waved his hand to dismiss his menus as he heard Suto approaching from behind. He didn’t stop walking as the boy began to spout ideas, barely showing any indication that he heard until his friend zipped around in front of him, quirking an eyebrow slightly out of mere curiosity.

“What makes you think I want anything to do with those holier-than-thou shits that call themselves knights? There’s no justice there,” He said flatly, shaking his head. “With you? And Luna? And Alphard and… that other kid? Even if we meet the numbers, it’s not enough,” His voice grew cold as the quaint town lost its rather easy atmosphere in place of a brooding one around the leather-clad male. “You need to get your head out of the clouds, Suto. There’s nothing left of us. Things have changed since we were trapped here. I’m different and so are you, even if you don’t think so. The things we’ve seen and the people we’ve lost…” He sighed and put a hand up dismissively, “It’s not worth it anymore. You guys don’t need me.” His boots made a soft tapping sound as he started his stroll again, stuffing his hands into his jacket pockets tiredly before pausing, not looking back. The fear… The pain… the anger… It was still there, twisting his heart… Why couldn’t it just leave him alone..?
]
Suto had perhaps expected a little more willingness to accept his offer. Nay, he expected Fitch to outright accept it, he figured his friend would leap at a chance to stay together. Hearing the contrary then had dealt a blow to his hopefulness, but not shattered it entirely. Perhaps a gentle nudge in the right direction might help him make a decision?

“Surely if we went back and asked they’d reconsider. I can’t imagine why-”

Regardless, Fitch was having none of it. He sounded absolutely bitter towards the KoB, not that Suto understood why. It wasn’t an elitism thing, that guild didn’t exactly hold its standing over other players’ heads. Plus they were pretty darn talented in their own right; it wasn’t even as if there was a massive skill gap. The accusation of being “holier-than-thou” didn’t sound right either. Sure, they might make some guidelines for other players to follow, and they regulated things here and there, but it was all in the greater good. Frankly if someone didn’t step up and take charge like KoB was doing then Sword Art Online would be even more of a hellish chaos than it already was.

It was painful, to be frank, hearing Fitch talk like this. Suto knew he had been hit hard by the death of Yari, but to think he’d slipped so far into depression… Of course now he better understood the reasons behind it, Fitch’s anguish was more justified than theirs in some manners. Regardless, Suto wasn’t content with letting his friend walk away, he couldn’t allow it. If they began splitting up then what would they have left in this God-forsaken game?

“Fitch… Come on, you know that’s not true!” Suto retorted, smiling uneasily as he watched his friend turn to leave. “We do need you! You’re part of the team, and you help keep us going! You can’t just leave us…”

Feeling his chance slipping as Fitch began to move away further Suto opted to take a step into territory he perhaps shouldn’t be. If it would make his friend stay though then he’d open up the proverbial can of worms.

“You wouldn’t have left your wife like this… So why your friends…?”

Kazaro allowed Luna to say her piece and took over for Nero, sighing slightly. “Firstly, we didn’t expect him here. However, given the circumstance, I don’t believe that it would be…” The man paused, hunting down the right word, “Pragmatic… at this time to allow Fitch to join. While I understand that he has great skill, I do research on all potential candidates for recruitment, especially in situations where those recruits shall not be brought in as mere new members, but as fully-fledged Knights of the Blood. You’re all clearers, and he is too, as I well know. I’ve seen your group move from floor to floor and every boss fight you have all been indispensable. I am very sorry for your loss, but… During the last battle, it was clear that he lacked the resolve needed to turn such surprise into battle readiness, you’ve all shown the ability to cope with casualities. Even after the fight, you would have to be thick to not notice himself distancing from all of you, rather than growing stronger and aiding in your endeavours,” He pointed out logically, “He’s a liability. Not to mention, my money buys the best information that Sasayuka has to offer… I don’t where he’s been spending his time lately,” He shared rather darkly, looking to Nero who only averted his eyes to the floor in frustration.

“You’re denying him entry… Because of how he acted? That’s not fair!” Luna snapped, standing up from her seat and glaring at Kazaro. To her that was an attack on Fitch, her friend, and she wasn’t going to stand for it. The words may not have been spoken directly but it sounded like they were questioning his character and calling him a coward, when in reality he was anything but.

“He lost someone very close to him, he had a moment of shock. You can’t honestly hold that against him! Anyone with half a heart would react the way he did!” Unfortunately for her own plight Luna knew that wasn’t true. In the aftermath she had witnessed firsthand Suto go into a fury and slay a good many minions, and she had done the same to a lesser extent. Both of them hadn’t been rendered immobilized, but still…

There was that damn girl again, Sasayuka. Luna was really beginning to hate her, she had a way of complicating things and always inconveniencing them it seemed. Maybe it was unfounded, but she felt like that girl was way too self-serving and couldn’t care less what happened to them. “So because one girl couldn’t find Fitch that automatically gets him a rejection? He went somewhere for privacy, he didn’t want to be found! We didn’t look for him because we figured he needed it and we knew he’d be fine. You don’t see us doubting him now because of it!”

Fitch froze dead in his tracks, doing all he could to resist the trembling that found its way down his arm to his hand as he clenched his fist. The air felt thick and heavy, as though he was moving through water as he whipped around to face Suto, his eyes ablaze as his forearm met the other boy’s neck and he pushed him into the wall of the inn, met with the purple sign reading ‘Immortal Object.’

“Don’t you dare compare yourself to her,” He said slowly, his voice dripping with venom. “You’d better watch your tongue, Suto, because you have no idea what you’re getting yourself into. You don’t know anything about what happened between us or why… and don’t ever… don’t you ever fucking think you know what’s going on in that dense skull of yours, because you don’t know a damn thing,” He spat, grabbing the boy’s shirt and slamming him against the wall for good measure, “You got that?”

Suto knew full well he’d touched on a subject he full well shouldn’t have. Only recently had he learned of Fitch and Yari’s involvement with one another, he didn’t have any right to speak about it. And yet… In a way, he did. Grunting as he was slammed against the wall his hands shot up to grab Fitch’s, looking directly into the other boy’s furious gaze.

“You’re right… I don’t know what happened between you… Because you never told me!” Suto snapped back, frowning as he wrested his shirt free from Fitch’s grip. Getting himself back he pushed his friend back, not doing as well as he’d like in keeping his temper. “I only just found out about you two, and here I thought we were all best friends! Did I ever do something that made it so I couldn’t know? Did I not deserve to know what my best friends were doing?”

Giving a short, bitter laugh Suto threw his hands up, walking off slightly before coming right back, giving Fitch a pained look. “Seriously Fitch… I would have been happy for you two. I would have supported you all the way. I’m not trying to say we’re more important than her… But we’re your friends too, don’t we matter anymore? We’re all hurt by what happened, and we can’t be splitting up like this, not now. So come on dude… Stay, we’ll work this out.”

“You think you know how you would’ve reacted, Suto?” Fitch asked, narrowing his eyes and tilting his head slightly. “Have you ever noticed how up in arms you get about any kind of change? That was a big change. Two years we were dating before getting sucked into this hell hole and do you know why we didn’t tell you? Hm? You even think to consider that maybe it was for the safety of our friendship?” He asked, “Like we wanted it to be a secret? At first it was because we weren’t sure how it would work, but then… Well, after we were sure how secure we were together, it had been weeks… maybe even months - what were we supposed to say? Lies breed lies, Suto, and you know what’s funny?” The boy shook his head with an ironic laugh, though he didn’t think it was really all that humourous. Tears welled slightly in his eyes, “We were going to tell you… tell everybody… right after that boss. We’d decided just before the fight that at the celebration for the floor’s victory, you would be the first one to know that…” He stepped back and wiped his eyes on the back of his sleeve, “We were going to tell you how sorry we were for not saying anything sooner… And now it doesn’t even matter. Nothing. Ever. Matters,” He said, steeling himself once more as he turned the pain into fury, letting it burn away, “Not here. Not out there… You can try all you like, but the moment things seem to have gotten the way you like them, they’ll change. That’s something you simply don’t understand, Suto. See how hard you’re fighting to keep something together that clearly doesn’t want to stay intact? It’s not persistent… It’s not a strong will…”

Fitch sighed and began to step back farther, preparing to leave, “You’re pathetic,” he stated flatly, letting out one long, tired breath before walking away again. The final words he said to Suto before officially leaving them behind… Every one of the friends he’d made in the last several years… Every one of his last connections to the girl he once loved.

Kazaro looked at her curiously, “Couldn’t find him? Luna, it isn’t that she couldn’t… it’s that she did. She didn’t go out of her way to watch him, I didn’t ask her to. I asked her about him… She had been keeping an eye on another very important person and noticed the two of them together… a lot. If he wanted privacy, he could have easily acquired it. But he didn’t, he sought to abandon all of you, and as you can see, he has. Rather than appealing to me himself, he’s left, no doubt to officially join his new friend. It’s none of your business who or why… for now, but I can assure you that it was not without much thought that he was excluded. I promise you that; I wanted quite badly to have one of the lead clearers in my guild, but as I said… liability.”

Luna couldn’t believe the utter garbage that was spewing from Kazaro’s mouth. So he came here to recruit all of them, and outright deny Fitch in the process? Why? Because Fitch might be meeting with some questionable character? She was positive that if he was aware of this person’s supposed misdeeds he’d not be associating with the person at all, they couldn’t blame him for ignorance. Nor could they blame him for what happened in the battle. It was all just utter shit, none of it was fair in judging Fitch.

“He’s had bigger problems lately than appealing to you for approval, you know. Hell, none of us saw this coming, so why would he have ever gone out of his way to appeal if that’s the case?” Clenching her fists in anger Luna turned to Nero, glaring at him in spite of her anger being towards Kazaro. “Tell him he’s wrong, Nero! You know Fitch better than he does, tell him he should let Fitch join!”

Kazaro shook his head and looked down to Nero, “Well, Nero? Do you disagree?” He asked, knowing that Nero would be honest in his reply.

The white haired boy placed his index finger and thumb over the bridge of his nose, “Luna… he wasn’t just associating with some shady character. Nor was he unaware who the man was. I couldn’t believe it either and I don’t know what explanation he may have, but… He’s not a broken man, he’s a disconnected one. Look at the signs right in front of you; he hasn’t shown up for nearly anything in the last floor, he’s barely seen Suto… When he does come around, he’s sulking… He’s not just grieving, Luna, he’s changed. He’s not as safe as he used to be and… it’s time to let him go before you all put yourselves in danger too…”

Kazaro sighed, “I swear, I’m not trying to hurt any of you… I didn’t expect him to even be here… I hope you’ll still consider after everything… I’m going back to the headquarters, Nero is free for the night though - he speaks for me,” The redhead rose and ran a hand through his hair, looking down to the floor for a moment, as if there was more he wanted to say before letting it go and leaving the room, descending the flight of stairs, and leaving the inn, where he saw Fitch, walking away in what seemed to almost be a cloud of darkness. “You okay?” He asked Suto, looking over sympathetically.

Luna’s eyes stayed firmly on Kazaro’s back as he walked out, biting back the slurry of vicious words she had in mind for him. Who did he think he was, leaving out their friend like that? Bastard… When he left and only she and Nero remained her anger subsided, but only just so. Looking over at the white haired boy she scowled, stepping over and looking up at him angrily. “So you join their guild and you’re whipped, is that it?” she remarked, looking away as she moved towards the door herself. “I don’t know if we’re joining or not Nero, but I’d be careful who you want to be friends with. Because right now you’re awfully close to alienating some of them.” With that she slammed the door behind her, storming off back to her own bedroom.

It was no use and Suto knew it. Anger, anguish, desperation, everything was bubbling up inside of him, and try as he might he wasn’t getting anywhere with Fitch. He couldn’t be leaving, not like this, he just couldn’t. Fitch was the only friend he really had left, outside of this hell hole. If they were to part ways now then what was waiting for him back in the real world? Much as he wanted to continue to plead he felt himself unable to speak, or so much as move really. His felt like they were cemented to the ground and his lungs ached, even though he needn’t really to breath it felt like his chest was seizing up. Only after a familiar voice called to him from behind did he rouse from the trance. And when he did come to he was livid.

“You… You bastard!” Spinning around on his heels Suto glowered at Kazaro, gritting his teeth furiously. “It’s your fucking fault this happened! If you hadn’t excluded Fitch in the first place he wouldn’t be leaving right now!” Yari’s death, it was devastating, but there had been no clear indication that Fitch would leave them. This had to be the act that broke the camel’s back, he was certain of it. The one to blame, the one responsible for tearing his best friend from him, was standing right before him. And asking if he was alright, of all things. This jerk had some gall pulling a stunt like that then coming around and pretending to be concerned.

“Am I… Okay? You want to know if I’m okay?” Suto continued, near shouting as he walked over to Kazaro. “No I am NOT okay! Fitch just left us because you and your guild have asinine regulations and rejected my friend! You want us to join your precious little group after that? Kazaro… Fuck you…”

Good thing this was a safe zone, otherwise he’d probably be seconds from killing this guy right here and now. Of course he’d regret it later, but Suto’s anger was rising to dangerous heights. He didn’t get angry often, but when he did it was borderline berserk. There had been a brief glimpse of it after Yari’s death, and even then that hadn’t been the culmination of his fury. Even in his rage-fueled thoughts however Suto’s mind was ticking, and an idea occurred to him. True, he couldn’t kill Kazaro, nor did he truly want to. But, perhaps fighting him was the solution.

“You and me… Right here, right now!” A duel challenge out of the blue, surely that had to surprise the KoB member a bit. Bringing up his screen Suto went through the paces swiftly, sending Kazaro the challenge before glaring up at the taller man, a cynical smirk spreading across his lips.

“Fight me, we’ll wager Fitch’s chance to join. If I beat you then you have to accept him. No… When I beat you. You can go get him yourself, apologize and get him to join. I’m not letting him just walk away from this, and neither are you.”

Kazaro frowned at Suto’s outburst… They were all accusing him… Were they really so blind? He dejectedly sighed, “I’m never one to turn down a bet, though you should know this isn’t my fault… I would have loved to have him aboard… You wanna know who tore your friendship to bits? You should ask the person in this castle who knows just about anything. But if you want to blame it on me, then that’s fine too, but you should be careful when you wage something so heavy on your heart. You may regret to lose it entirely when it’s lost.” He crossed his arms, “What if I win? On the off-chance you can’t beat the Vice-Commander of the strongest clearing guild in Aincrad, what do you give me? Your membership was something I offered because I thought you were a good kid… A strong one. You have the will to be a warrior and an asset to the Knights. So of course I’d like you to join, but I don’t want it to be because I beat you in a duel, that’s entirely your choice and I’ll have nobody in my guild who doesn’t want to be there, got it? What do I get if I win?” He asked, opening his menu as he began to equip his combat gear.

His rather regal clothing was replaced with armour of red which was trimmed in white, a large cross upon the back. HIs finely crafted cloak flashed and appeared far more practical, showing the fur of some arctic creature with a red cross fashioned into it, as was customary of most of the Knights’ equipment. Finally, at his side appeared a menacing katana which was rather simple in appearance, yet exuded a sense of strength. His finger then hovered over the duel request as he awaited an answer.

“Off-chance? Oh don’t worry, it’s not even in question whether I can beat you or not.” Rationality was all but out the window right now. Suto was confident, perhaps overly so that he would emerge triumphant from this. Kazaro’s rank meant nothing to him, he was just another Clearer, just as the rest of them were. His rank in some guild had no value outside of his fellow members, it was nothing but a title. Both of them had fought the same bosses and each had emerged victorious, they were equally powerful in his mind. Yet Suto still remained confident he was better, he could move quicker and had disabling blows. All of that fancy armor would be no good against his kinds of attacks.

“If you win…? Feh… Well in the event you do, which isn’t going to happen, I’ll agree to be your personal assistant,” Suto said, half-joking and half-serious. Looking up at Kazaro with a taunting grin he waited for the duel to be accepted, stepping back a few meters once it was underway. Looking up at the clock as it ticked down he readied himself, trying to size up his opponent. High defense probably, and attack, but slow movement. Skills were probably swipes and thrusts, easy enough to avoid so long as he didn’t get caught out in a combo. Yeah, if he stayed light on his feet he’d have this in the bag. Hearing the counter begin to tick down his grin wavered slightly, replaced by a confident smirk. “I hope you’re ready to go crawling to Fitch…!”

Kazaro sighed, knowing that the boy was caught in the moment. He readied himself as the counter ticked down, holding his katana firmly, his eyes not paying attention to the counter as he met Suto’s. They were filled with pity and worry, almost apologetic as he watched the boy try to calculate the battle. One of the best unarmed players in the game, one of the only ones left, even, and he was wasting his talent by challenging an unnecessary duel.

“Sure,” He said, not wanting to further irritate the boy as the timer sounded to begin the match. With incredible speed, he lurched forward. His armour was lighter and slightly weaker than it seemed, but he blasted forth from his position, his blade alight in a hue of emerald. He had taken a couple of short steps before it charged and his momentum kicked in at an amazing power. A single-hit strike as he leapt a powerful four meters in just under half a second, as the system had configured it. The blade came hurtling downward from an overhead arc as the duel began.

Kazaro could have the first move, Suto would be a good sport about it. With that kind of gear he was going to need all the opportunity he could get. Once the timer completed its run and the signal to begin sounded the KoB member made his advance, and Suto instantly realized his folly. The speed with which Kazaro had immediately tipped him off to it, no regular heavy metal user had that kind of agility, it would be absurd. Then his eyes settled on the weapon in hand, now glowing with an ominous emerald hue. It wasn’t a broadsword, or even a straight sword, but a katana. Damn it all, he’d made the biggest novice mistake he possibly could have and now he was caught out because of it. Fighting a slow opponent was a game for him, he could evade them all day. But the middle ground, someone with armor and speed, he fell significantly behind.

There was nothing Suto could do about the first attack, much as he’d liked to have dodged it even his speed wouldn’t permit such a feat. Getting hit instead with the arc he grunted involuntarily, his eyes shooting to his health meter. Watching as it dropped down a good many pixels, stopping after draining nearly a quarter of the way, he scowled. Right, he had to be more careful, his armor hardly afforded him the protection that Kazaro’s did. Hoping to catch the katana-user off guard he immediately went in to try and offer a combo in rebuttal. His fists lit up in a light yellow hue, and he threw forward a straight jab first, aimed at Kazaro’s chest. Since this was a combo chain, as many MA skills were, he couldn’t well stop it once it began unless he was stunned or somehow otherwise interrupted. After the jab he would follow with a low kick, usually to destabilise the opponent, then a haymaker to knock them down. It was a simple combo, but he hoped to make Kazaro incapable of defending himself Kazaro turned with the momentum of his blade, readying the next strike as he took a jab to the chest, falling back a step. He didn’t even look to his health, he knew how much damage it would do… Not much - the boy needed to spend his money better on some kind of equipment, going on like this would get him killed. Not to mention, it almost made the duel feel exceptionally unbalanced. As the low kick was initiated, Kazaro was struck again, however, the powerful final strike would never make contact as he let the leg strike him. He fell, but on purpose as he tucked into his shoulder and fell over back into a kneeling position, taking a spin and starting his own three-hit combo. As he rose, his katana came with him in an upward-strike, followed smoothly by a downward one, and finally a thrust forward with a grunt of effort from the blade’s user.

Suto couldn’t help but bear a grin of satisfaction as the first blow landed. The game registered nicely when he hit things, and knowing he’d just caused damage to Kazaro made it all the sweeter. To his sheer delight the second strike connected as well, topping over the other playing and setting him up for the third and final hit. The combos were really quite nice, they were swift and hard to avoid… But not impossible. Kazaro had managed to do that, and Suto’s eyes widened in surprise as his fist connected with nothing but air, nearly losing his balance at having a lack of anything to strike. Soon as the combo had finished its course he looked down, knowing full well what he was in for. Sure enough his failed attempt was met with punishment, a swift upward and downward strike instantly hitting him and taking out yet another fair chunk of his health. This time he did manage to evade the third strike, only just, scampering away to the side as he watched the sword slice through the air.

“Damn it… Damn it!” He wasn’t going to lose this fight, not a chance! There had to be a combo that would work, something that would make Kazaro really reel. Maybe the Lotus combo, a higher leveled, five strike attack. It involved quickly closing the gap between your opponent and then immediately unleashing a barrage of strikes. It worked best from behind, but he didn’t think he could flank a seasoned fighter like this. Hardly waiting for Kazaro to get to his feet Suto dashed in, a blur as his speed helped him close the gap in a mere second. Once there his attacks began, starting once more with a straight jab. The jab would turn into a pair of forward strikes, one going high and the other low, with that followed in turn by a spinning strike that should slam his forearm into Kazaro’s side. After that he’d pivot on his feet and use the heel of his hand to strike the KoB’s chest, and the final bit was a backwards-flip kick that should connect to his chin and cause a temporary stun. If that panned out he could use another combo and probably close out the fight then and there.

Each and every of the following strikes made contact, though Kazaro did little to get out of their way. His health depleting at a very slow rate, and he even spoke with each connection, “You’re not using anything - unarmed combat is extremely useful in this world and you’re wasting it by not distributing your points right or getting anything to up your power. You wanna do something for your friend? To help the people of Aincrad, Suto? You’ll need to stop throwing your money at the air and hoping to be granted wishes,” He said bluntly, trying to help the boy face reality as he stumbled back, slightly stunned, his heatlh still glowing a faint green-yellow, even after a flurry of attacks. This time, before he countered with a new attack, his sword and fist glowed a vibrant yellow and the strike began with a swift backfist to Suto’s cheek and a swipe which sliced horizontally across his abdomen. Kazaro’s move linked with a second - a basic roundhouse kick to the hips which would do little damage, but his sword skill’s momentum would give him quite the bit of stopping power.

In spite of landing his entire Lotus combo Suto had still barely managed to do any damage. While his own health hovered just around half Kazaro had about three-quarters, maybe a little more. And that was after two solid, strong combos. What was he doing wrong? The jerk was of course rather quick to offer ideas, or rather point out apparent flaws with Suto’s spending habits. “Shut up! The hell do you know about me?!” he snapped, glaring at Kazaro. In a spurt of anger he threw a straight, basic jab, a very weak essentially auto-attack. It hit, but barely registered in terms of damage, and then he was as good as finished. When the backfist landed he knew he was in trouble, and sure enough the sword strike that followed en suit nearly brought him down to the red. Stunned by how large the discrepancy in power was between them he essentially just accepted his defeat then and there, taking the roundhouse kick and falling back as he was beaten. Sitting on his backside Suto stared wide eyed at his own health, stunned he’d been dispatched in a handful of strikes. When the banner rose up declaring Kazaro the victor he was still staring, dumbfounded.

That was it… He’d lost, fair and square. His hopes of bringing Fitch back had just died with that failure, and now he was pretty much a servant to this KoB dog. After regaining his senses Suto slowly turned his gaze up to Kazaro, having a fairly defeated and neutral expression on his face. What was he supposed to tell Luna? Was she part of the deal, or would she even join now that he was in? Not having any words for the situation he slowly sat upright, sitting cross legged as he stared down at the street. So that was that… Good-bye freedom, and good-bye Fitch.

Kazaro’s armour vanished and was replaced with his previous clothing quite quickly, his katana even becoming one that was decorative rather than powerful and he approached Suto, sitting on the ground, before offering his hand down to the boy. “You know… I don’t mean to be such a hard-ass… I’m sorry about Fitch, but I don’t think it’s fair for me to be the one taking all of the heat… he chose to leave a long time ago… I think you could do amazing things, Suto, and help a lot of people… But you can’t rely on Fitch or Alphard or Jason or anybody to give you the drive or support. It has to be something you want to do, yeah?” He asked lightly, knowing his victory was hollow and nothing short of a complete and utterly unfair fight.

“Luna?” Nero’s voice filtered through the door after he’d knocked on it a few times, “Can I come in? I think we should at least talk… It’s been a really long day, I understand, I just… kind of sprung this on you guys, and I don’t think that was very fair, but if you give me the chance, I’d like to explain…” He stated, placing a hand on the door frame to support himself.

What a fine day today had turned out to be. From losing Fitch to now losing his own freedom, nothing had panned out remotely as Suto would have hoped. How in the world had he been so utterly outmatched in that duel? It didn't make any sense to him, he thought he was stronger than that. He'd allocated plenty of points into his strength stat, he ought to be hitting nearly as hard as any swordman by now. Not to mention his speed... His evasion too, he should be untouchable. Yet he'd scarcely done anything against Kazaro, he had been effectively useless. Still in a slight state of shock Suto looked down at his hands silently, scowling as they trembled with nerves. Help people... Is that what Kazaro was trying to sell him now? Fat chance, he couldn't help his own friend, or himself, let alone strangers. Still... A bet was a bet, and like it or not he wasn't going to back out of it. All he had left at this point was his word anyways, what good would he be to anyone if he didn't even keep that?

"Tch... You're totting me like I'm going to be some big hero or something..." Suto mumbled, smiling bitterly as he shook his head. What a load of crap, he wasn't going to save anybody anytime soon. Finally getting up to his feet the boy glanced down the road behind him, seeing nothing but an empty street. Sighing softly he looked down again, tucking his hands away in his pockets. "I said I'll join and I meant it... I'm not going back on what I said, a deal is a deal. I'll join your guild." That didn't mean he was going to be happy or like it however, that hadn't been part of the agreement. Glancing up at Kazaro for a moment with a dejected look Suto went through the motions mechanically of opening up his menu, scrolling through and sending the other player a friend request. After that was done Suto moved past him, somberly returning to the inn and making a straight line for his room. There was probably going to be all sorts of business to take care of later now that he was joining, but that could wait. Right now all he wanted to do was go to bed, tomorrow he could worry about getting his stuff together. Relieved to find his room vacant at last he stepped inside, slamming and locking the door behind himself. Slumping down against the door he pulled up his knees, wrapping his arms around them while staring across the room at the wall blankly. He should probably tell Luna. Eh... She could wait.

This entire situation was just completely absurd. The Knights of the Blood wanted her and Suto, and even Alphard and Jason, but not Fitch. Because he was hitting a rough patch, did they think excluding him was going to help? It just seemed to ass-backwards, these people couldn't give a damn about their friend's well being, just bolstering their own strength and numbers. Was she supposed to believe then that if any of them ever had a tragic event the guild would support them?? Or like Fitch were they just going to be dismissed? Sitting on her bed trying to calm down a bit she was pretty annoyed hearing a knock on the door. Expecting that creep Kazaro she was a little surprised to hear Nero, figuring he'd have gone by now. That didn't mean she was any less pissed, he was as every bit responsible for what happened as the Vice-Commander had been. To be fair though they have been friends for a while now, it would be rude to refuse Nero a chance to speak. Sighing softly she got up from her bed, trudging over to the door and easing it open just enough to see who was there. Noting only Nero Luna pulled it open the entire way, stepping back to let him in. "You've got five minutes before I kick you out, make it worthwhile."

Everything was falling into place quite nicely, and he'd hardly had to put any effort into it. Just a little seed, a hint of doubt, and now that seed had sprouted and taken hold of Fitch. The boy was ready to come no doubt, and he was well on his way. After arriving in town promptly Doku had arranged a meeting through a message, set to join up with Fitch closer to the outskirts of town. With so many obnoxious KoB members about he had to be careful about it, no use in attracting unwarranted attention. The designated spot was to be a small shop tucked away along the outer rim of the town, just down a side street. One or two players passed along as he waited for Fitch but that was about it, obviously it was not a highly trafficked area. Sat in his seat with his black cloak pulled up Doku sipped from his honeyed mead, not even trying to make conversation with the bartender. It was a player owned store and he was positive this person knew him, judging by the glances he was getting. Best to get Fitch and get out of here, lest he end up having to fight his way out. Setting down the glass on the counter Doku smiled knowingly, turning his head to look just beyond the wall of the pub. "Hey there, Fitch..." he said, nodding to the boy just outside. "Glad you came."

The next morning, Alphard left her room quite early in the goal of finding a relatively empty restaurant to eat breakfast in before she and Jason continued to explore floor 26. Upon reaching the ground floor of the inn, however, Alphard found Jason sitting at a table off in the corner of the room nursing a wooden mug. Alphard sighed, realizing that she couldn’t just slip by and go off on her own, and approached her teammate. When she got closer, Alphard realized that something was amiss with Jason. He looked tired. As if he hadn’t gotten enough sleep. But it went deeper than that. He seemed… Weary. Not just in body or mind, but weary all the way down to his soul. Alphard dragged a chair over opposite of Jason and slouched down into it. “Sup, J-man? How’s it hanging?”

Jason looked up at her with bloodshot eyes and just glared. “Many things are up. First of all, I know that I have sworn myself to you, body and soul. You are my lady. My sole reason for existence is to serve you. But never, never try to do the American slang again. It brutalizes me to hear it from Americans, I can only hope that it hasn’t spread to infest this part of the world too. Also on the list of what exactly is up, did you know that you cannot get coffee in Tarbinal? Well, it just so happens that the one floor that I got it from is the ONLY KRIFFIN FLOOR THAT HAS COFFEE! I was so overjoyed at the time that I bought much more than I needed. I have just now run out of my supply. This mug of bitter tea is all that is keeping me together. Alphard,” at this, Jason gazed deep into her eyes. She felt a soft flutter in her chest at the sheer intensity of that one look; it was like he was staring straight through her into the deepest core of her being. “Alphard,” he repeated.

“Y-yes? What is it Jason?” Heart pounding, she took his extended hand tenderly in her own.

“Alphard. I need my coffee.”

She froze. Looked down at their clasped hands, and thought of the strange surge that had gone through her when he looked at her like that. “Baka!” she growled under her breath, cursing her own stupidity. She dropped Jason’s hand and glanced calmly at his disheveled appearance. Alphard let out a sudden peal of laughter, bell-like and pure, and drew him up out of his chair. “Well then, sir knight. As your Lady, I suppose it is my job to see that you are properly outfitted. Where might we find this great and powerful coffee?”

Jason’s face broke into a brilliant smile and he embraced Alphard wildly. “Floor 20, eastern side. Unlimited quest. Kill some scary birds for a vendor and he opens up his shop to you. Thank you Alphard, thank you.”

The two teleported out to the approximate area of the twentieth floor for the quest and began to walk the rest of the way to the vendor. As they walked, Jason told Alphard what he had heard of the previous night’s fight between Kazaro and Suto. Alphard shook her head sadly at the news. “Suto’s not a bad fighter, but he rushed headlong into a fight with a katana-user. I spent enough time training with my late husband, Kenshin, to know that katanas are unpredictable at best. I’m sorry to hear that Suto lost, but he’s not in our team anymore so we shouldn’t worry about it. It’s not like we can change anything now anyways. By the way,” Alphard glanced at Jason inquiringly, “What are we going to do now? After we get your coffee, I mean. What’s our goal?”

Jason’s normally carefree and open expression turned serious. “We’re going to do exactly what I said we were going to last night. We take on enough side quests that we are decently leveled in comparison to the monsters of each floor. And then we push. We fight alongside the clearers and help to be rid of this hellhole.” Then the goofy grin was back and Jason was quirking an eyebrow at Alphard. “That is, if the plan is ok with milady…” She chuckled and nodded her head in a courtly bow.

Shortly, the pair had arrived at the quest location. An old man sat cowering next to wooden cart. Above, three great rocs circled. Jason ran up to the man and began to converse with him, eventually sorting out what the quest was and accepting it. Scant moments later, the rocs dove down and set upon the two warriors. Alphard sprang up and hooked her scythe in one’s wing. Twisting, she threw the beast to Jason who activated the Sword Art <Skullcrusher>. His hammer lit up blue and drove the beast to the ground. Then he stomped his right foot down into its head before performing a standing front flip and smashing his hammer into it once more. Even as he finished the beast off, Alphard was bust beheading the next roc with a sword art of her own. As always when this quest was taken, the final roc attacked the first person to land a blow on one of its brethren. In this instance, the target was Alphard. She was unprepared for the attack, though, and the roc actually managed to land a series of powerful blows. Jason roared in outrage and sprang to her defense. He spun in a tight circle and activated the <thrown weapon> skill. His hammer lit up gold from within and flew forward to crash into the final roc, killing it. Jason left his weapon where it lay and instantly rushed to Alphard’s side. He whipped out a healing potion and held it to her lips. Forcing her to drink, he watched as her health slowly built back up to full. Alphard opened her eyes and saw genuine concern in those of her comrade. Her heart did that strange little flutter again. She wrapped her arms tight around him and whispered softly into his ear. “Thanks for the assistance, but it was unnecessary for you to waste such a valuable item on me.”

Jason smiled and lifted Alphard off her feet. “That’s what I’m here for milady. I will always be here to guard you. You needn’t fear.” He set Alphard down tenderly by the vendor’s cart and completed his purchase of as much coffee as the vendor would sell him. Then, as the rocs re-materialized in the air, he picked Alphard back up and carried her all the way back to town.

"Are you ever not completely full of yourself?" Kimi asked, wearing the same efficient, high-leveled gear she typically did as she looked the white-haired boy over.

Nero looked at her perplexedly, "Well, no... we're all full of ourselves... Isn't that..?"

"No... baka... I mean look at you! Geeze, you're always wearing some overly complicated get-up. Sometimes it makes you look like a prick."

He furrowed his brow, "That's quite the tone... Sheesh, judgey..." He said with a roll of his eyes. She had a point though. On the wasteland desert of the thirtieth floor, it wasn't entirely necessary, but his armor was entirely formed around the environment. It was still his normal, strong gear, but it was certainly customized to the floor. A red muffler was wrapped around his neck with a tan leather duster flapping slightly to the side as the breeze kicked the sands around. The muffler was fitted just right such that he could pull it up over his nose. Upon his head was a matching cowboy hat. He was given permission to dismiss the white of the KoB in favour of the brown-ish colouring for the desert floor, as many others were, so long as the red was there. Furthermore, a red cross adorned each shoulder of the duster and his back. At his side was a scimitar which he had only recently had made. He shrugged, "But I'm not going to change how I present myself simply because you lack the originality and it makes you feel inferior around me."

The small girl turned absolutely red with fury and she nearly snapped when she noticed the teasing smirk on his face. Ugh, he could push her buttons... She turned away from him and folded her arms, "Where are the others?" She asked without looking at him, still trying to calm her attitude.

"They'll be here. I imagine Suto is winding down from last night's party, he actually took the last hit bonus from me... Which works, he got a nice pair of gauntlets out of it. I don't know how I lapsed for the moment, but he's getting really impressive." He stretched and placed his hands behind his head as he waited on the outskirts of Solis, the first town on the floor. The buildings were of stone and most of them were one floor.

"I didn't ask for the long version. I didn't think I'd be early... Why are you here so soon anyway?"

"I'm always early."

She rolled her eyes at his blunt answer, "Fine. I need to talk to that... knight guy. And Alphard. They're getting to be a really strong pair and I'm thinking that it's about time that I should stop solo'ing so much."

Nero quirked an eyebrow, "Hmph. You could probably jo-" He started before she shook her head, cutting him off.

"No. Not joining your silly guild," She said, giving him daggers with a glare. He shrugged and she sighed - why didn't anything affect this guy and yet she got worked up over every little thing? Stupid. Moments passed in awkward silence, though Nero didn't seem to care at all as he took a seat beside the house of a useless NPC, leaning against the wall as he softly tapped a senseless beat against his legs. "Finally!" She sighed as she noticed red hair approaching at a rather slow pace and the others seemed to be nearing from their respective activities. Kazaro, as usual, took his time with his stride, leaving nothing but an aura of confidence in his wake.

Suto was perfectly content with going out on a mission for Knights of the Blood. He had agreed to join and also agreed to do his part, so therein were no issues. He did however have a problem with the man he was assigned to. When he said he would work as Kazaro's personal assistant he hadn't imagined he'd be dogging around with the guy so much, it was absurd. They had gone to goodness knows how many places over the last few months, from recruitment to dungeons and personal errands. Ugh... He never should have made that damned bet in the first place. It wasn't totally hopeless though, while annoying he had more than enough in the way of resources to locate Fitch. His friend was proving to be exceptionally elusive as of late, and with no means of finding him any longer through a guild or friend's list he couldn't well solve it himself. So in that regard he was grateful for KoB, they were the means to an end if nothing else. Plus... He supposed it would be unfair to say he loathed everyone in the guild, most people were okay. Just Kazaro, he was still being blamed for Fitch's seclusion, however unjustly so.

The current floor, 30, was awfully warm compared to the others. That was something that still baffled Suto, how the heck could they feel heat? He subconsciously wondered if his real self was sweating quite as much as he was at the moment, it must be disgusting if he was. It was certainly a little better now that he had changed out his attire, his wool clothing before had been much to heavy. Rather than the woolen coat he had worn before he now had a lighter cloth top, baggy and fastened around his waist with a black sash. The top itself was plain white with simple red trim along the inside, it being slightly open around his shoulders and coming to a point at his waist, leaving an open "V" on his torso. A similar colored set of baggy pants sat beneath the sash, the bottoms of which were held down by bandages. His feet were dressed in open toed sandals, which certainly felt rather nice at the moment. To keep the sun off of him, silly as it might be, Suto had picked up a long white robe with the KoB insignia printed on the back, and small flame patterns on the end of either sleeve and the bottom of the robe. This was left entirely open and flowed behind him as he walked. A face mask touched off his outfit, currently pulled down around his collar to make breathing more comfortable.

"I still say a desert is an absurd place to be taking a mission for..." Suto remarked, frowning as he looked over at Kazaro. "We're not even that close to the tower, what's the point in coming all the way out here...?"

Were there a clear objective to all of this he would not question it, but this mission sorely lacked just that. Aside from coming out here to slay some beast there was no evidence to suggest this would further their progression at all. He may be part of the guild now, but Suto still had his own agenda. Finding Fitch and clearing the game, those were his objectives, not wander around on each floor and slay random beasts. It was just a mindless task to be carried out, only because someone had requested it of them. As if it really took four people to accomplish this. From what he had been told this creature was supposedly akin to a field boss, which would be worrisome if they were incompetent. He may not like the guy, but Suto and Kazaro could probably handle things himself. Instead they were to meet Nero and someone else out here for the mission, it seemed a bit superfluous.

Speaking of Nero, there was the guy not too far ahead now. There was a girl with him too, and Suto was surprised to find Kimigami would be joining them today. He'd seen her maybe all of once since their first meeting, it was a bit random to suddenly run into her here. Odd too, she was a solo player as he understood it, so why throw in with KoB? Coming to a halt once they had reached the others Suto looked at Kimi curiously, crossing his arms over his chest. "Why are you here...? I thought you did your own thing?"

The Knights of the Blood weren't the only ones prowling about on Floor 30. With it being the newest front line plenty of players were about, and that included some unsavory figures as well. Rather quickly establishing themselves in the first city Doku had quickly found them a bit of work... Or rather himself. Competition was becoming rather fierce as the game went on, more and more players were becoming emboldened as they gained strength and numbers. In order to maintain his current style of work certain measures had to be taken, such as eliminating the competition. He couldn't well take on contracts and make money if he was losing out to other players like him, that simply wouldn't do. So, what better way to secure more work than to remove those who might get in his way? It was through this that he would give Fitch his first task with the guild, they were to take down an alleged PKer per request of an innocent player. It was the story given to the newest member anyways, he didn't need to know the finer details.

Hachi Kage, or "Seven Shadows" was the name of Doku's guild. As he had explained to Fitch it was a collective of players who didn't mind getting their hands dirty to make the game safer. Well, in a sense not a total lie, they didn't mind getting dirty. In some ways their actions actually did benefit the overall player population, some of the most notorious PKers had been slain by them. Of course, they couldn't care less about other PKers so long as they kept their mouths shut and their activities a secret. Generally it was known if someone killed another player, and Doku was known for at least two kills for certain himself, but others went about boasting. It was nigh impossible to keep their line of work out of the sight of those larger guilds, like KoB. They couldn't well afford confrontations, small as they were, so operating with discretion was a priority. And to achieve this, well, sometimes the more talkative of their peers had to be seen to.

"Fitch, I know you might have some reservations about this. But you'll need to understand why we're taking this assignment." They had been walking through the desert for a short while now, just the pair of them. It was Fitch's initiation of sorts, this was to see if he could truly handle this line of work. If not, well shame though it may be he would have to kill the boy. For now however he remained optimistic. Resting his hand casually on the hilt of his blade Doku looked straight ahead, staring out over the waves of sand before them. "People like this cannot be allowed to live. If it means we must become hated by others for being killers than so be it, it's what must be done to ensure the safety of others." These other players were supposed to be just a kilometer out of the town, resting by a small oasis. If they kept their pace they should catch them during lunch, and hopefully off guard. "You understand your part in this, correct? I'll take on the leader, you do your best to handle the others. Call for help if you become overwhelmed."

floor 20, eastern side

Jason had carried Alphard all the way to an inn and purchased a room for the day. Then, leading her upstairs, the urged her to rest for a while. Heart in her throat, she sat down on the room’s sole bed and stared over at her partner. What exactly is going on? she thought to herself as Jason returned her gaze, emotional fire burning deep within his eyes.

“Look Jason, I-” she began, but Jason stood up suddenly and cut her off. He crossed the few feet between them in a single burst of that unnatural speed of his. Before she could react, Jason had taken her face softly in his hands and planted a tender kiss lightly on her lips.

“Alphard. I know I have already sworn myself to you as a knight, but now I feel that that vow is meaningless. I renew my vow to you now: I promise myself completely to you; mind, body, and soul. Not as a knight, but as the man whose heart you have completely stolen. You will want for nothing whilst I still live. You will no longer have to fight in this twisted madman’s game. I will provide for you in all that you will ever need.” His clear, green eyes locked on hers intently and he leaned in for another kiss. Alphard would have none of it, though, and stopped him in his tracks with a short uppercut into his chin. Jason fell backwards, sprawling out across the floor in a tangled heap as Alphard towered over him, anger and sadness flashing across her features.

“Jason,” she said, tenderly but firmly, “I understand that you have apparently developed feelings for me. I am sorry that I have let this go on as long as I have without noticing, but I will certainly put a stop to it now. We can never be together. You and I will never work, in this world or any other. You’re a great guy and any girl should be overjoyed to have your affection, but I can’t. I need you to understand something. Kenshin and I had been in love with one another for years before coming to Aincrad. He was my first love and my only love. He helped me through many extremely difficult times in my life,” She thought back to her old fits of anger. When she would be set off by the smallest of things and instantly turn ugly and violent. Kenshin was the only one who was able to calm her down when she got like that. And even then, he wasn’t always successful. She could clearly remember times when he would just hold her and take the punishment she sent his way until she had eventually calmed down. He had more than once gone home bruised, bleeding, and stained with her tears. She shook herself back to the present and regarded Jason once more. “When he died while fighting that dragon, part of me died with him. It’s as if part of my soul had been ripped away. Do you understand? I don’t believe that I will ever be able to love again.”

Jason looked at her and, for possibly the first time yet, truly saw her. He saw all of the pain and sorrow and pure, unadulterated rage that she carried bottled up within her. And he realized in that moment that it might not have really been her that he was in love with at all. The woman that Jason had fallen so hard for was merely the image she put up for others. He had fallen in love with her shell, that was all. In recognizing this, Jason also became aware of just how badly he had just hurt her. She looked to him for stability, focusing on his moral code and sense of right and wrong. He was her guide. He recited his code back to himself: A knight is sworn to valor; His heart knows only virtue; His blade defends the helpless; His might upholds the weak; His word speaks only truth; His wrath undoes the wicked. Jason stood and laid his hand on Alphard’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Alphard, I didn’t realize how much of an idiot I was making of myself. I understand the state of things now, and will do my best to avoid another situation like this one. Will you still accept me as your knight and companion?”

Alphard looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding once. “I accept your services yet again. Now, let’s get back up to higher floors again and get hunting.”

Floor 30

Jason and Alphard strode purposefully across the great desert of Aincrad’s thirtieth floor. Both warriors had gotten fresh suits of armor to match the demands of this new harsh environment. Jason was bedecked in a thin, tan, button-down cotton shirt and a near perfect facsimile of blue jeans. A pair of sturdy leather boots came halfway up his shins. Additionally, he wore a wide, grey scarf around his neck, ready to be pulled up at a moment’s notice to protect against the blowing sand. Jason still carried his hammer <Defiler> and currently had it slung across his back in a black leather holster. The only metal on Jason’s body was the buckle of his belt and the knuckle guards of his fingerless gloves. He had designed the outfit, minus the gloves and hammer, after that of the famous American paleontologist Roy Chapman Andrews whose fossil-searching expeditions into the Gobi desert were legend.

Alphard was dressed in an entirely different form of desert combat armor. Her heavy plate mail had been replaced by armor forged of the chitinous plates of a massive, desert dwelling insect that the pair had happened across soon after arriving on the thirtieth floor. Alphard’s shield was a large, slightly convex sheet of bone gathered from a rather saurian beastie from a previous floor. The warrior woman also still carried her scythe upgraded using the dread dragon Mordred’s corpse. <Wyvern’s Talon> it was called, and she used it with the same devastating brutality that she always had.

The two had begun the long journey across the desert after a kind information broker named Crona had told them of rumors of a large monster lurking about by some sort of tower off in the desert. As always, Jason and Alphard had immediately pausing only to buy sufficient supplies to keep them safe in the desert. The two had quickly gained some small repute for taking on every major enemy that could be found on each floor, and they had even gained a couple of requests from acquaintances that they guild up. The two preferred to fight alone, however, and it was only with great reluctance that they had agreed to meet with a friend of Crona’s after their current self-appointed mission. Crona had insisted on the meeting, saying that she would refuse to give any information until they agreed to the meeting. It wasn’t until Crona had suggested the get-together be her payment that Alphard finally broke and accepted the terms. Jason was simply anxious to get out and make this new floor as safe as they could for its upcoming settlers. So here they were now, just having entered the desert from the town of Solis and continuing on to the mysterious tower off in the distance.

Fitch didn't say a word as they walked. As would be expected, he was extremely nervous, though he did a good job hiding it. He kept his blade drawn at his side, the steel straight sword was a dull grey with a topaz-coloured edge and a jagged cross-guard. His shield was not quite a tower, but it was no buckler either. It had a nice moderation of size in a kite shape with plenty of stopping power. Over his armour, he wore a long, white cloak with a leafless tree growing from the base all the way to the hood, which was drawn over his head. He wore a simple, silver headband that gently hugged his forehead from under the gold-trimmed hood and provided a much-needed speed boost. As Doku spoke, carefully outlining the plan, Fitch showed no sign of faltering, despite his heart rate, "Understood." He tried to distract himself, but his mind was truly void of thought. What does it feel like? He wanted desperately to ask, To take a life... Do you feel anything at all? Does it stay with you, even when it's as justified as this? Or does it feel relieving to expunge such bile from the world? However, rather than asking, he resolved to find out firsthand.

They grew close to the oasis and he opened his map; they were just up ahead. He could see the glimmer of the water tucked away in the desert. He pulled the shield from his back, preparing for the fight to come. As they were eyeshot, the small group all had their backs turned, likely enjoying a nice lunch before hitting the field again. Clearers who wasted their talents - Fitch had never seen them at the boss fights, but he knew that they were grinding on the highest floor open to the public. Once upon a time, he would approach these people and see him and all of his friends sitting there, talking and laughing. They would all join up together, maybe even take a swim, but today... He only saw a PK'er, for whatever reasons the man had, and his cronies. Was it truth? He thought so. Did it matter? No, not at all. The fight began and at that point, he was rather grateful that he had not been thinking at all, because his mind kicked in on instinct, and as Doku began his physical confrontation with the leader, all of his friends turned to see it in shock. Just as they began to mobilize, Fitch was at Doku's back, raising his shield just in time to directly catch a thrusted blade. Colours began to flash as Fitch pushed the underlings away from their occupied leader. He ducked, rolled, and bashed his way into the center of three. Strategically, it would, at first, be thought of as stupid. But from this angle, none of them would see how easily their leader was being taken down.

He smirked and flipped attitudes from hiding behind his shield to slashing away incoming attacks and returning their power with an equally powerful skill. A long spear narrowly missed his head and his shield dematerialized as he released the strap and swiftly thrust his hand up to grab it. This was where his leveling came in - he had been focusing his level-ups on strength rather than dexterity and relied on boosts to keep his speed on-par. With a grunt and a bit of exertion, he yanked the spear farther into the direction it had been thrust before he released it and brought the hilt of his sword down into the man's back, throwing him onto the floor. The spear was dropped and Fitch pulled his shield from his back once more, where it had returned to after being "dropped." His ears rang as the powerful 'thump... thump... thump...' of his blood pumped loudly in his head. He felt the thrill of the fight and had all but forgotten he was fighting real people. It just seemed like a duel, if even that. As the other two moved in on him, he deftly blocked each attack - one with his shield, the other with his blade - before moving on the offensive, his blade striking powerfully against each of their attacks, wearing each of them down. The spear user eventually recovered, rather worse for the wear, but each of them grew fatigued as Fitch only felt more and more power surging through him.

The strategic part of his mind lined it up perfectly - somehow he managed to get all three of them clustered, surrounded by... only him. His sword flashed as he started the skill 'Vertical Square' - however, rather than centering on one, he was able to actually hit each one. the final blow actually knocking all three to the ground as the square burst from its landing point. His breathing grew heavy as he stepped over the spear user - each of their health bars were now red, fractions of where they once were. Fitch's glowed a vibrant orange, nearing on red, and he glanced at it with a bright smile, High Score... Maybe next time I can do even better... He activated a Finishing Skill - a simple downward stab to be used on a downed opponent. He held the skill high above his head, a bright red emanating from the entirety of the blade as he met the spear user's eyes. They plead to him - why? Fitch needed not answer - in fact, he only grinned. The sword entered the boy's chest in a mere moment, twisting angrily. Thrice he repeated this action until each one was disintegrated, and as the last one's eyes lost life, he actually felt something swell in his chest.

As it took shape and formed, he made a noise, "Heh.... Heheh...." His downward gaze was clouded in shadow by his hood. Was he crying? Getting ready to puke? Breaking down? These were all normal things one would do after coldly murdering three human being. But no, it was a laugh. His shield disappeared and returned to his back as he sheathed his sword beneath it. He fell to his knees and turned his head to the sky, his hood falling back, his eyes wide. "I did it... I actually... fucking... did it..." His gaze turned toward Doku, "And it... felt... amazing," He hissed with a grin. His eyes were mad, but he felt free... He didn't have to think about anything, not really, he just knew that before the fight, his heart weighed heavily with everything that had recently happened, but with this... it all fell away. When he could not help others before, now he felt true power. The monsters in this game held only strength, they had no true intelligence. He did. And the other people in the game did. That was the real challenge - fighting something that could think, that could reason. And he easily resisted it.

Fitch rose to his feet, slowly, thoughtfully, before brushing himself off. The oasis was now empty, save for the two men standing before it. "Three," He held up a hand with his thumb, index, and middle finger up, "Piece. Of. Cake," He crossed his arms and rose a brow at his newest friend, despite the fact he had nearly forgotten his health until the very end. "What's next?"

Good, so Fitch understood and would follow through by his part. That made Doku's job much easier, he would focus on the only real threat, their leader. Good thing he was in front of the other player, a smile crept over the PKer's face that would have been a dead giveaway. He kept his tone calm though, not letting his voice betray anything that he was feeling. "Don't be reckless here. You're strong, but this is a numbers game. If you're not careful you could end up being the one to die here, make sure you keep that in mind." The group ought to be just up ahead, and sure enough four figures were spotted sitting at a small encampment by an oasis. Predictable, taking refuge in one of the few hospitable places here. If people really didn't want to be followed they'd take a bit more care into where they went, fools. None of them would be any the wiser, they'd be springing a trap. By chance Doku happened to look down at the sand, watching as a small lizard crawled along the grains. In a small flash a tail lunged out of the silt, a scorpion's sting rendering the small reptile promptly immobile. The scorpion moved out of its hiding spot, dragging the paralyzed lizard down with it. Hm, just like that, it's how he would see this through.

The approach on the group was anything but discreet, though that wasn't the aspect Doku was most concerned about. Trekking across the open it was only natural that they were spotted, which worked to his liking. The leader took notice of the pair first, and while not readily recognizing Fitch he certainly recognized the older boy. The leader himself was an older man, perhaps in his early thirties, and wore chainmail and carried a sword and shield with himself. An easy mark, Doku mused, he didn't stand a chance. Grinning as the leader drew his weapon he matched the movement, drawing his blade from its sheath and giving it a swing to warm up. In a blink of an eye the two each activated a skill, their swords clashing in a brilliant display of blue sparks. Where the leader used a horizontal slash Doku countered with a vertical, deflecting the blade easily and causing the leader to backpedal. A thrust on his part was blocked by the shield, ricocheting off and sending his arm to the side. Narrowly sidestepping a thrust in turn the PKer activated a third skill, rotation 180 degrees and making a horizontal cut, managing to catch the leader just under his arm and taking a bit of health. Chuckling triumphantly Doku skipped back a bit, evading a downward slice as he grinned teasingly. "Come on then, surely you can do better."

The pair of players went back into it promptly, again their swords clashing in a series of sparks. Skills were either matched or countered, the sound of metal clanging reverberated about the area loudly. While the leader had more defensive capabilities Doku was by far faster, and he was getting more openings which he could capitalize on. He was hit too of course, letting himself be damaged to give himself an opening in the process. After craning his neck to the right to avoid a slash the PKer smirked, seeing a very good opportunity to cause some serious damage. First using a simple thrust skill to make the leader back off Doku followed quickly with a crescent slash, twisting his arm to make the move just a split second quicker. At the top of the arc he brought it back down in a reversal of the same skill, getting a three hit combo that did a fair bit of damage. Comparatively in regards to health Doku was quite a ways ahead. He had roughly fifty percent of health whereas the leader had maybe thirty. What differed greatly was their composure during the fight. Doku lived this daily, he was used to being near death. Hell, he reveled in it. The leader on the other hand was clearly showing signs of stress, his eyes wide and his motions much more defensive. He had won, it was already clear, now to seal the deal.

To Doku's slight surprise the leader wasn't completely out of this battle, not just yet. Utilizing a shield bash technique he was forced back, stumbling as he groaned in pain. It didn't do much damage, but had a temporary stun that made him take a strong thrusting attack, losing another 5% of his health. He narrowly used his blade to deflect another, taking a chance with a slash himself only to have it bounce off of the shield. His smile disappeared for the first time in the battle, a bit annoyed the other man refused to just roll over and die. Activating a flurry skill quickly he made a series of slashes, five in all. The first two were blocked but the subsequent three hit, causing the leader's health to drop to fifteen percent. After the flurry however Doku found himself on the receiving end of a powerful, three pronged flurry himself. Two diagonal slashes mirroring one another cut through his character, dropping him a mighty 8% more health, before a final, vertical slice made him lose 10% altogether. Their health was dipping dangerously low, but Doku still kept his composure, for the most part. He wasn't frightened but rather angry, angry that he had allowed this to go on for this long.

Just as the leader raised his blade for another skill he abruptly froze up, his arm being stuck in mid air. An utter look of confusion spread over his face until he saw his own health, the confusion being replaced with terror. During the midst of the battle Doku had applied a stunning poison to his blade, a delayed kind that was only now taking hold. A sinister smile spread across the PKer's face, the moment he had been waiting for finally arrived. There was nothing like killing an utterly helpless opponent, the sheer terror they displayed was intoxicating. Chuckling softly he went into his inventory for a moment, taking out a healing crystal and casually using it, bringing his health back to the green. "You were better than I thought... I'll give you credit for that," Doku mused, looking at the leader smugly. "But I do this for a living..." There was a pause as he walked closer, lifting his blade up high. "You never had a chance." In a flash of blue light he activated another flurry, slicing through the leader's paralyzed character with ease. Health dropped to zero before it was even over, and once he was done the other man shattered, a crisp, satisfying sound. That was much too easy, he'd had fun with that. Glancing off to the side and seeing a triumphant Fitch as well it was pretty evident they had won the day, how nice.

Fitch's reaction to his deeds were, amusing. Ah... So malleable, this one was going to prove to be an excellent addition. Letting him have his brief moment of euphoric triumph Doku waited patiently, wordless until Fitch had composed himself again. Finally allowing himself a small smile the older boy shook his head, sheathing his own blade as well. "Don't be so hasty, we can't run around fighting constantly. It takes time to prepare and I don't think you're ready for another just yet." Walking over to Fitch he glanced at the health bar curiously, seeing how low it was. "You took a lot of damage, you know. Had you not been this lucky you'd be the one dead right now, and I'd have to contend with those three as well as their leader. But... I suppose credit is due, and you did your part. Congratulations." Yes, congratulations on taking three unwitting, innocent human lives. It was almost too easy, using Fitch, it's like he wanted to be putty. "If you must know what's next, we're heading back to the city. Time to get our reward."

Jason called for a momentary stop in his and Alphard’s march through the desert and sat down on the hot sand. Peeling his left boot off, he upended it and shook a decent amount of sand out. Alphard chuckled and continued on walking. “What’s this place we’re going to called again, Jason?” she called out behind her.

The American increased his pace and answered her, saying “The location is apparently known as the Tower of Lingering Regrets. I don’t really know what to expect from it, except for the rumors of some giant monster lingering at it’s top. If you were to ask me to guess, I would say that it’s probably a mini-dungeon.” Just then, what was previously only smudges on the horizon reached the Spot check rendering distance for the two adventurers and coalesced into the outlines of four figures. Jason and Alphard immediately drew their weapons and settled into battle stances with the armored woman leading slightly. “Jason, I’ll block the initial attack then you get around me as fast as you can and retaliate.” The woman’s Knight nodded in assent and readied a leaping Sword Art, intending for the attack to carry him over his Lady.

The four figures approached and became clearer, finally getting close enough that Jason and Alphard could make out exactly who they were. Jason carefully released his held Art and calmly strode up towards his erstwhile teammates, Suto and Nero. He also recognized Kazaro from the whole KoB incident. Alphard quietly informed him that the other person was named Kimiko and had run into them once before the battle with Mordred, though even she didn’t know the girl very well. The two parties finally met up and greeted each other.

An entire floor of desert, Suto wouldn’t have believed it existed were he not trudging through it right now. At least his attire was better suited for the environment, though the game still did a remarkable job at emulating heat. He felt sweaty, his mouth felt dry and his skin hot to the touch. Much as he loathed being trapped in a virtual prison this game did still surprise him not and again with its authenticity. Shame it had turned into a hell hole, this could have been a stellar game otherwise.

Were he out here on a cursory, casual training session he might have taken a more relaxed pace, but that wasn’t the case here. Rather than traveling alone as he might prefer he was with Kazaro. Being the man’s personal lap dog of sorts it wasn’t as though he could contest the orders much, he had agreed to the bet after all and would see it through. Joining KoB hadn’t been as bad as he’d imagined, though he did sort of miss the autonomy of being a free player. He hadn’t seen Luna in a while either, or Alphard for that matter. There was the American kid too, though he couldn’t remember his name right now. He was an odd one.

As they climbed over the peak of a sizable dune a pair of shadowy figures caught the group’s eye. From this distance it was nigh impossible to tell who it was, and the sun glaring in their direction didn’t help either. Placing a hand on his brow to shield his eyes he tried to make out precisely who the travelers were, still not able to make them out. The two groups began to converge, and Suto felt like a battle was about to begin. Flexing his fingers reflexively he waited for the order to strike, though quickly relished the fact it hadn’t been. The pair was visible now, and it was none other than Alphard and… Oh, the American, what was his name? Damn it, well this might be a little awkward.

“Hey, Alphard!” Suto shouted, smiling as he waved at the pair. Walking over to greet them he looked at the American boy, his smile waning slightly as a small nervous bead dripped down his forehead. “And uh… James… John… Jack… No, that’s not it…” Dammits, what was his name again? Furrowing his brow in concentration Suto gave his head a rubbing, then with a snap of his fingers he beamed at the pair. “Jason, I knew I knew it!” he declared, feeling rather triumphant. Adopting a more curious look he glanced over the pair, pondering what their reason for being out here was. “Uh… Any reason you’re wandering around in the desert?”

Alphard glanced at Jason and tried to gauge what he was feeling about having his name forgotten. It had happened rather often during their travels, probably due to how different it was in comparison to normal Japanese names, and Jason always seemed to be able to laugh it off. It might be slightly different this time, Alphard thought, because Suto was a pretty good friend. Jason just laughed, however, causing a small sigh of relief from Alphard, and answered Suto’s question.

“We received some information recently about some sort of large monster hanging about in this desert. Apparently, there’s an event area near here called the Tower of Lingering Regrets. We thought we ought to go and check out the monster and possibly take it out. There’s a pretty decent number of NPC settlers and Players scheduled to come up and live here in a couple of days, and we don’t want them to accidentally run into a huge monster that they can’t handle.”

Jason glanced around after his explanation, slightly embarrassed to have been rambling for so long and not quite sure what to say next. He hadn’t really seen Suto since they all split up back in Tarbinal. They had both been in the last couple of Boss fights, sure. But neither had had a chance to talk during those encounters. Alphard saved Jason from the situation, though, and spoke up.

“I see you’ve got the whole crew together, huh Suto? Kimiko, Kazaro, how are you doing? Nero, looking classy as usual. I assume that you all have some place to be, but you know what they say about when you assume so if you guys want to join us in our little Tower adventure, you’re welcome to it!” At the group’s curious expressions and glances, Alphard realized that they indeed did not know what they say about when you assume. Damn, Jason must be rubbing off on me more than I knew, she thought, and launched into an explanation that may actually have left everyone more confused than before.

Quickly abandoning the goal of getting them to understand the joke, Alphard repeated her offer to have them join Jason and herself, and then proceeded to ask them exactly why they were wandering the desert as well.

It was kind of embarrassing, not recalling the American’s name. It wasn’t even that he had a complicated name as it turned out, Suto just never had committed it to memory. Or maybe he had, but with everything that had gone on as of late it’d slipped his mind. Smiling bashfully as he was given a slight reminder he finally nailed it, alleviating the rather awkward moment they had found themselves in. Ah lovely, he probably looked like a total ignoramus right now. Trying to get a change of topic he hastily questioned Alphard and Jason, wondering what the pair was doing wandering out in these sands.

“You’re hunting an event monster, huh…?” Looking over at Kazaro in question Suto smiled, turning his attention back unto his friends. “That’s why we’re out here too, looks like our goal is the same. In that case, might as well join up. I can’t imagine having more able fighters is going to hurt our chances.” Plus he wasn’t overly fond of his current team anyways, it would be nice to have some friends among their ranks. Kazaro and him still clashed, or to be more exact he clashed with Kazaro. He and Nero weren’t exactly close, and he and Kimi spoke politely but rarely. So the addition of Alphard and Jason would be rather nice.

There was the question as to whether the pair of players knew exactly what they were getting into just yet. Considering they didn’t have near the resources that KoB had it was a safe bet they were in the dark. If they were going to be fighting side by side then it was only fair they be enlightened, lest they fall into some sort of trap or succumb to the boss. Before anyone had a chance to shed some light on their current task Alphard went onto some elaborate, overly-explanatory discussion of some joke she’d apparently tried to make. Even after she had told them of it everyone was still more or less lost, awkward.

“Right… Anyways, I suppose we should fill you two in,” Kimi interjected. “The monster we’re after is a boss-creature known as Ramuh. From what information I’ve gathered he’s supposed to be something like a giant sand worm. We’ve only got minimal details on the tower itself and essentially nothing on the fight, other than a few basic moves. Evidently the group I commissioned to gather intel either killed it too quickly or ran off, because the information I got was rather scarce…”

“Suffice to say we’re proceeding with caution,” Kazaro finished, surmising Kimi’s assessment in those few words. The data that they had going into this was minimal at best, hence the ranks they had. Best to send a group of capable players rather than some initiates who may not pull through.

Suto nodded in agreement, glancing back at his friends hopefully. “So there you have it. We’re sort of blind going into this, though I can’t imagine you two are much better off. Maybe if we pool together what we know we’ll have a better chance at this, yeah?”

Jason grinned at Suto’s joining the team and together, the six adventurers set off the Tower. On the way, there were two or three Monster encounters, but they were dealt with easily enough. These battles also served the purpose of getting the warriors reaquainted with each other’s fighting styles again. Jason in particular had a difficult time realigning his style with the DPS builds for Kimiko and Suto. Alphard had significantly less trouble, as she just charged into battle headlong as she always had.

Roundabout forty minutes later, the party had made it all the way to the Tower. It was an impressive structure, shaped like the floating castle of Aincrad itself- excepting the fact that it was anchored to the sandy floor beneath it. Stopping only briefly to prepare for the inevitable battles ahead, the party strode resolutely through the main gate of the lowest floor. The inside walls of the structure were tall sandstone blocks with iron torches bolted on every few feet. The first hallway of the lowest floor let out into a well-lit circular rotunda containing eight coffins. As Alphard led the way into the room, the coffins all sprang open and let loose a very startling variety of enemy: human analogs. The monsters were based on the standard builds for starting players, one with each of the main weapon types. All stood at normal height for a teen and had pale, slightly greyish skin. Jason’s HUD display denoted these monsters to be <<Dark Reflections>>.

The Reflection bearing a spear led the charge, attacking with a long forward thrust to Jason’s belly. Utilizing his great agility, Jason leapt up over the spear wielder and swept its legs out from behind it. Alphard stomped heavily down upon it’s throat with a purple-glowing boot, finishing it. She then raised her shield to eye level and blocked a wild sword slash from the next enemy, opening just enough time for the rest of the party to leave the entryway and counterattack. And now, the battle had begun in earnest.

The Tower was a rather impressive dungeon, even if only cut out from sand and stone. It had its own certain majesty to it, and reminded Suto quite a bit of the Egyptian pyramids he had studied before in history class. There were even hieroglyphs adorning the walls, albeit these were markings found in Sword Art and not actual writing in of itself. It had an eerie sense to it as well, with the torches casting long, ominous shadows over the expansive rooms. Overall the atmosphere of this place was both mesmerizing and unsettling, and this was only the first floor. With an estimated ten in all it was bound to be quite the long excursion.

Their first encounter with some of the dungeon’s creatures came rather swiftly, and in a manner right out of a horror movie. Eight grotesque figures dubbed <<Dark Reflections>> emerged from sarcophagi, resembling fallen players. They were perhaps the first creatures Suto had seen that donned gear much like their fellow players, and they were uncannily made to resemble teenagers no less. A reminder to themselves that they were naught but pixels and the battle began, courtesy of an overzealous opponent. Jason was the first to be turned on, and the creature’s folly of striking first would be its undoing. A combination of attacks between himself and Alphard sent the wallowing beast into oblivion in no short order.

Not to be outdone, and keen to share his new abilities Suto promptly moved in to engage another. This one was a two-handed sword user and wore some moderately heavy armor, definitely the tank of the group. Despite that fact the martial artist smiled excitedly, he loved fighting against opponents like this. The Reflection opened up with a wide cleave, which Suto readily ducked under to evade. Sidestepping a shoulder charge he used a quick, single jab to the monster’s side to chip away some health and push it back. In reply the enemy made a high, overhead arcing swing, trying to drop its heavy blade onto Suto. Using the flat of his hand to push the blade aside he grabbed the shoulder of the creature, using his agility to jump up and over the Reflection. Activating a skill immediately upon landing, <<32 Point Strike>>, his hands began to move in a flurry of blue attacks, totalling to 32 consecutive blows in all. While relatively weak even altogether they were too swift to counter, and immediately once done he finished with a hard kick, sending the beast tumbling into a wall before it shattered.

Business. Nero's face didn't so much as twitch as he spotted the approaching Alphard and her American charge. As the two groups gave their explanations, he was still running over the information he'd been given and had collected on his own. In fact, he had insisted to Kazaro that the expedition be run by the three strongest knights, save for Heathcliffe, and anybody else they felt a need to recruit. Kimi was more of an accidental invite; it was disgusting to him how close his information broker was to her sword-for-hire. It meant he was no longer the only one getting her outrageous player-based information. Kimi, however, got it for free merely because the girl called "whisper" couldn't keep her mouth shut around her new best friend. He still wasn't quite sure how she talked such a big circle around him, but somehow she tricked him into having Kimi along. She was certainly strong, but god was she a pain in his ass.

He pulled the scimitar from his hip, the back edge of it softly shimmering in jade. As the group began to move, as usual, it was impossible to tell whether Nero was focused or completely distracted. His mind was always working in a multitude of impossible-to-follow paths. Finally, after practicing their group dynamics a bit against the monsters on the way to the Tower, the entire party stood outside the menacing structure, breaking for a short bit to prepare. Nero swiped his free hand through the air passively, scrolled through his options, and selected... something. Moments later, it materialized in his hands and his eyes lit up for the first expression he'd shown since the group actually connected. In his hand was a mere sandwich, but he had been looking forward to eating it specifically. While his material hunting was what caused his amassed fortune, any new ingredient he got that was of high-level would go to him first, then he would sell any after it. This one held a particularly strange combination of ingredients... In all honesty, he had just handed over the stuff that he got from a job and Yuna looked at the details. Apparently, whatever it was that he had taken to her, it was going to make at least one extremely good meal. She sent it with him today, and a single bite later, he froze and stared into the Void. He could taste it in the very core of his tongue, the savory flavoring and delicate mixing of ingredients was spectacular. He didn't even care that several pairs of eyes looked at him as he involuntarily groaned; it was so delicious, he nearly swallowed the sandwich whole within the next several bites. He tried to taste every crumb, every succulent bite... But it was funny how things that tasted good never lasted very long...

Kazaro laughed and shook his head, "Oh dear god, how do you do that? Absolutely nothing outside of town - not even your smart-ass comments - and you pull out food and suddenly you're Enlightened. It's impressive," He teased with a sigh.

Kimi rolled her eyes, muttering under her breath, "You don't hear the smart-ass comments... But you were late," Her voice was full of pseudo-venom and Kazaro didn't hear a word of it.

Nero cleared his throat, letting out one final sigh of relief, wiping his mouth before looking to his Vice Commander, an eyebrow quirked. "Eh? Oh. I suppose so," He said, pretending as though he hadn't even done anything. "it was a good sandwich," He added flatly with a shrug.

Kimi interjected in irritation, "Can we get on with this?" Kazaro only laughed against as they pushed into the Tower.

The young solo-girl barely participated in any group-related combat. She zoned everybody else out while she focused on the opponent in front of her, her rapier swiftly driving through the AI and pulling back out. She struck with absolute precision, dancing around each <<Dark Reflection>> as though they were mere toys. She even appeared to be having fun, despite how they spawned almost-human. She spent less time with her feet on the ground than she did in air. Her jumping height was outrageous, giving her strong advantage. At one point, she sprung into the air over a reflection, using a single-strike sword skill to hit with efficiently before yanking her blade out, letting gravity carry her feet down into the Reflection's head, and kicking herself off of it. The moment her small feet hit the ground, kicking up a tiny cloud of dust, she was off again, her blade shining in pink as she struck the same opponent directly in the chest once, twice, thrice in the shape of a triangle. It exploded around her rapier and she elegantly landed just beyond the glimmering shards.

Kazaro's fighting style used less acrobatics and almost seemed to be more of an actual dance. There was a complicated number of circles in his movements as the momentum of his katana didn't stop for a moment, even when he fought the same enemy. It was clear to tell that he had spent countless hours since the start of the game learning how to connect any sword skill he could to provide the most fluid set of attacks. It wouldn't have taken Suto long after their duel to realize how lightly he had fought during the altercation, but he was happy to guide the young boy to what he was now. Suto had turned into a Grade A fighter since then, and it was stunning, even to Nero, the way that he took up his own growth. Blue, green, yellow, and nearly any other colour you could think of flashed around his blade as he moved from single-strike moves seamlessly into his strongest five-hit combos. It was almost humiliating to the AI the way that he would strike, carry to a sidestep, and let his blade hit yet again while slipping in a seamless sidestep and not stopping his blade. It was quite obvious that he unconsciously made the most noise, seeing as he had the most offensive blocks, striking away his enemy's weapon, the clangs echoing off of every wall with every connection.

Nero fought more efficiently than Kimi and Kazaro, every move clearly seeming planned out and with every ounce of force he could muster. It was simply a purposed way of combating his foes. When he drew his blade, just as when he raised his voice or did so much as take a step, every single movement held determination and certainty. As opposed to Kimi's constant jumping around and strike-dodge techniques, comparable almost to Jason, and Kazaro's constant motion, Nero would strike, block, strike, block in an extremely structured and clearly strategic method.

What they had been told to expect within the tower was vague at best, though that didn't stop them from venturing inside. With a group now number 6 in all there was plenty of reason to feel more confident. Each one of those 6 players were among the best in the game, they all knew how to handle themselves and could arguably run solo through some of the riskier areas. So putting them in a group, well, chances of survival were pretty damn good. It wasn't quite as big as your typical clearing group which wasn't a bad thing, it meant less people to keep track of and worry about. As the first battle could attest it seemed as though everyone was fine with fighting by themselves, albeit in a loose group nevertheless. These <<Dark Reflections>>, a humanoid AI monster, they weren't very imposing. Or perhaps they were just too leveled for this area. Whatever the case may be they were making short work of the beasts, cutting them down with minimal effort on the players' part. The monsters outranked the 6 players 2 to 1, but that didn't make them miss a beat for a second.

Having shattered his first foe Suto turned his focus onto another, finding it charging at him with a lance in hand. Another match up that worked very well in his favor, if he got in close then this monster was as good as done. Running ahead to close the gap he was made to swiftly stop himself as a skill was activated, leaning back slightly as the tip of the spear just breezed by his chest by mere inches. Immediately afterwards the martial artist was made to swing a leg back and pivot, stepping to the side to avoid a thrust, and then duck to avoid another swipe. Damn, so this one was a little on the quick side, he'd have to be careful about this. Activating his blocking skill he managed to knock away a second thrust, using the chance to head in and use an open hand palm attack, slamming the flat of his hand into the chest of the monster, knocking it away. As the beast's feet dragged and kicked up trails of dust Suto was quick to try and capitalize on his chance. In racing in he had made a mistake, forgetting that while it had knockback that skill did not stun whatsoever. He was moving far too quickly to dodge, and as such when the monster lunged forward all he could do was lean to the side, taking the spear in the side. Gritting his teeth angrily at his own folly Suto forged ahead regardless, taking another strike as he got close enough. Briefly his feet lit up with a blue glow, sending him up into the air over the dark reflection. As his whole right leg seemed to ignite next he flipped head over heels, slamming his calf and foot into the monster's back, knocking it to the ground. He finished it off by stretching out his fingers and driving his hand straight down, piercing the light armor and the monster in one go, watching as it shattered with a satisfied smirk.

Not too long after his second kill did the rest of the group finish up with their marks as well, they could take a reprieve before continuing on. Exhaling to settle himself down Suto made it a point to take a glimpse at everyone's health, a little upset he had lost the most in that. It was barely a tenth of his health overall, but still, he had been the most careless. Since joining KoB and seeing how capable other players were he had become increasingly hard on himself, pushing himself harder to be on equal terms with even the likes of Kazaro and Heathcliffe. Both of them as it stood were well out of his reach, and admittedly he wasn't even sure if he could touch Nero either. It was pretty frustrating, wanting to do so much and yet being so weak by comparison. If he was still living in their shadow then that just meant he had to train more, which wasn't all too easy considering he was stuck with Kazaro incessantly. Letting out a dismal sigh Suto moved his hand through the air, bringing up his inventory and taking a stock of his items. Two health crystals and one to heal poison, plus his teleportation crystal. He wouldn't use any until absolutely necessary, and missing 1/10th of his health hardly was considered that.

There were still a few floors to conquer before they were at the top and were able to fight the boss. Probably a few more rooms like this and a few different enemies to boot, they would be busy at the very least. Suto did wonder if they were going to break up into groups at some point, considering switching was a heavily used tactic most of the time. Who then would he end up with? Kazaro? He hoped not, he wanted to interact with him as little as possible. They didn't work too badly together, their styles sort of even complemented one another with how fluid their moves were. Just as a person he had trouble dealing with the Vice-Commander, and there was still bitterness between them on his end. Maybe Nero then, albeit he would sooner see Nero and Kazaro teaming up together. That only left Kimi then, as Alphard and Jason were most likely working together as usual. He had never fought with Kimi before, only having seen her in instances like this. She wasn't bad by any stretch, and he couldn't deny she was good. Hm... Any way he looked at it he wasn't thrilled with prospective partners, but they were bound to pair up sooner or later. "Kazaro? When are we splitting into groups...?"

Jason and Alphard heard Suto’s question, and promptly ignored it. It wasn’t that it was a bad question or that they were disrespecting him, it was simply a matter of the outcome not affecting them. They would continue on as a team whatever the outcome of Kazaro’s decision. They had fought through four floors away from the rest of the team, why would they separate now? As the last <Dark Reflection> was vanquished, a series of stone bricks along the back wall dematerialized, forming a stairway up to the next floor of the Tower. There, the party encountered another long hallway lined with glyphs and torches. This hallway also terminated in a rotunda bearing coffins. This time, the coffins were twelve in number and their occupants were far more lifelike and fluid in their movements. With Alphard leading the charge as always, these <Reflections> were also swiftly dealt with and the party moved down.

After finding the third floor to be nearly identical to the previous two, Jason began to feel a bit nervous. The feeling had no solid grounding, they were clearing the floors at tremendous speed and with little damage to the players. There was no reason that Jason should feel anything but relieved. At most, he might feel a little bored! Then why did he feel more and more uneasy with each passing second? When the coffins, sixteen this time, opened on the third floor, Jason hit on the cause of his distress. It was the Reflections. This time, they had skin tones matching those of the real players and moved with far more grace than any other monster encountered yet. The foes even screamed in pain when injured. It was far too realistic for Jason’s tastes and, glancing about, he noticed that the others clearly felt the same.

Six floors later, even Alphard with her eternal readiness for battle was tired of fighting the <Dark Reflections>. The monsters’ features had only become more and more lifelike as the floors went on. Now, as the adventurers approached the rotunda of the penultimate floor, Alphard thought that after this was all over she and Jason might just need to take a bit of a break from the front lines. This time, the rotunda was larger and more well-lit. And it only contained two coffins. These two coffins were carved from sheer obsidian and ornately decorated with gold and jewels. The party cautiously entered the room and, as always, the coffins slowly crept open.


Out of the two beautiful sarcophagi loomed two of the worst things ever seen by Jason or Alphard. Out of the rightmost coffin climbed a monster labelled <Kenshin Takami> by the player HUD. And indeed, the beast seemed to be Alphard’s husband. It even wore the wounds that cost Kenshin his life. First, the large, jagged hole in its abdomen oozing ichor onto its laquered wooden armor; second, were the terrible burns coating the entirety of its body. The other coffin’s inhabitant was titled <Mizuki Yukimura>. This being carried the body of the friends’ other lost comrade, Yari. Her armor was crushed and crumpled in many places, oozing blood from the joints. Her face also bore terrible bruising and tears, one side of her head being completely caved in. <Kenshin> bore a great scarlet and black katana. <Mizuki> bore her two handed spear. The horrible shadows of the warriors spoke in the voices of the lost companions and used them to casually taunt the party into fighting them. And drew steel to combat their erstwhile companions.

Alphard looked at the thing using her beloved’s body and felt something break inside. The thin veneer hiding her ever-present rage in check shattered, letting it all pour out into the surrounding world. She gripped her scythe tighter and raised her shield into position. Alphard looked to Jason and trusted that he knew what she needed; she was too deep into her rage now to speak. Luckily, her Knight understood and spoke aloud what she could not. “Kenshin is ours, stand back!” Alphard let loose a primal roar and dove into combat.

Kazaro easily sheathed his blade as they finished off the floor of the castle, his breathing had barely faltered once since they began. The discipline was incredible, but not surprising. He seemed almost bored in a business as usual sort of way as he looked to Suto and quirked an eyebrow. "Uh... Whenever you want, I guess. I figured we were all watching each other's backs, but you're right in a way... In case things do get out of hand, it'd be good to have somebody specific watching over you..." He trailed off slightly, finally seeing Suto's predicament. He would certainly be with Nero and Alphard with Jason... leaving Suto and Kimi, who, at this point, had slipped into the conversation. Being the only solo player there had made it obvious that very few of them even shot her a glance during the fighting, but if they were going to find a mini-boss on this floor she'd need somebody watching out.

The topic was barely up for debate before she cleared her throat and tapped Suto's shoulder from behind. "You're with me," She said matter-of-factly, her gaze daring him to argue. "Those two," She started, pointing to Alphard and Jason, "Clearly aren't going to be running with anybody but each other. And these two are so self-absorbed that they're unlikely to even watch anybody else. Leaves us. Was the question even necessary?" She asked with a roll of her eyes, knowing precisely why he had asked about partnering up; he didn't want to pair up with her. It was likely that he didn't want to pair up with anybody here, but having a partner was better than not having one. After that point, the three pairs seemed to split up, and Kimi was rather impressed with Suto's power - there were almost no unarmed fighters left in Aincrad by now, let alone clearers who used the skill. It didn't deal a lot of damage, but he definitely kept enemies busy and stunned enough for her. His combos lasted long enough too that she could get in with even two skills of her own before the opponent could retaliate. It took a little while, but they finally found their rhythm.

"I don't know if I ever got a chance..." She said a bit awkwardly as they made their way from one floor to another, "To thank you properly... Back when we first met, I was a bit out of sorts. It's no excuse for how I acted, but I just wanted to apologize seriously and say thanks - since then, I've been working really hard to get along on my own." The girl took a deep breath and let it out, "I was hoping to talk to those two over there... Uh... Jason? And Alphard? Might not be the best at pronouncing it, but I mean them... See if I could join 'em - I heard quite a bit about them over the past few weeks and I wanted to see how they worked in combat... Wondering if they'll let me join 'em," She muse, finding herself talking on without actually realizing it.

---

On the penultimate floor, they all watched with bated breath as the two sarcophogi opened, and Nero looked at the two emerging figures in absolute horror. Would it ever stop chasing him..? It could have been anybody... He was sure that these two weren't the only two lost for the few people around them... So why them? Why not any other figure but those two? They haunted him every night... every time he closed his eyes... And now here they were, physically facing him. The entire group mobilized, it seemed. Alphard was unexpectedly ready for the fight, but it wasn't something to question now. Kimi didn't know Yari at all, nor did Kazaro, and they both moved in simultaneously for her. Nero didn't see Suto at all, but that's because he started to spots. Of course, he was the one targeted... right away. The spear used slipped beyond the incoming attackers and made a move for Nero, who took the pointed staff straight through his heart as he met the dilapidated figure's eyes.

"I won't..." He growled, his brow furrowing violently through the tears as he let his blade fall to the floor and took a slash to the abdomen, his health dropping off significantly as blow after blow was delivered mercilessly to his non-resisting form. It wanted him to fight? The thing couldn't speak... couldn't feel... It was just a shadow of what he saw in it, but the feeling was so real. "I'm not... going to... kill you again," He gasped as his breathing grew more and more difficult. He was knocked to his ass as the reflection of Yari was attacked by multiple blades from different directions.

Kazaro shouted something to the boy who stared up at Yari without so much as a flinch, simply refusing to fight back. The boy blinked and glanced over to Kazaro... His lips were moving... But everything sounded like it was underwater and his ears rang. No... that wasn't ringing - itw as the warning sound for his quickly depleting health. Hmph... He always pictured his death more dramatic... The shattering sound filled the room and he looked around. No, it wasn't him... But Yari was gone. And Kazaro looked furious. Nero didn't sob or make a single sound... or even move for that matter. For some reason, however, he couldn't stop the tears that fell over his face as he tried his very best to shove the thoughts of guilt and blame from his head. He pinched the bridge of his nose silently, shut his eyes, and looked down, hiding his face... What the fuck just happened..?

Of course he was right, Suto mused, pairing was a staple of this game's mechanics. The fact that Kazaro had basically neglected to give him a partner hardly came as a surprise, he expected just as much out of the guy. Eh, well it wasn't a total bust at least, there was someone he could pair up with. It was slightly deterring since he had never fought with Kimi before though, and being a solo player he couldn't be certain how good her rotations were. She was an agreeable enough person he supposed, but they would have to basically work on their switching from the ground up, in live combat. Could be worse, even if they messed up along the lines both of them were more than capable of defending themselves, the whole switching was basically to reserve energy during fights. Being all the prompt that Kimi needed she approached the unarmed fighter, giving a bit of a sassy remark as she pointed out their obvious paring. Smiling tightly as he tried to be polite Suto gave a shake of his head, placing his hands on his hips as he exhaled deeply to settle himself down. "No, no I guess it wasn't necessary. Just figured I'd get it clarified though, to be certain." It would certainly be interesting, the two of them fighting together. They had such different styles and ways of fighting, hopefully they complemented one another. Otherwise this could kind of be messy. Either way he didn't mind too much, it would be a change of pace if nothing else.

Suto hadn't expected much conversation out of Kimi, let alone a show of gratitude from her. It took him a moment to recall exactly what the thanks was even for, the event having slipped his mind with all that was going on. When it finally occurred to him he gave her a sheepish smile, rubbing at the back of his neck with a laugh. "No hard feelings. I'm not going to hold it against you so don't even worry about it, alright? That's behind us now as far as I'm concerned." He wouldn't be one to cling to minor offenses like that, it was a little frivolous as far as he was concerned. Other, much more pressing matters demanded his focus and he'd give it to them over some small past transgression first. Hearing where Kimi intended to go Suto raised an eyebrow, glancing back at Alphard and Jason curiously. The scary girl and the American kid, huh? They were nice enough but Suto always found them a touch unusual. Then again coming from such a small town he found a lot of people unusual, so that was nothing on them. "So... That means you don't want to join KoB?" he asked, a hint of disappointment in his tone. "I can ask them for you... If you'd like. I guess I'm sort of friends with them so they might hear my request out." Shame Kimi wouldn't join him in KoB. Having capable players was always nice, and maybe they'd be able to work together. For a girl who he had met as a rather abrasive person he found he didn't mind being around her, and hearing that she wanted to go elsewhere was a bit of a letdown.

---

Clearing this dungeon had proven to be child's play up until the fourth floor. Suto earnestly worried they had prepared too heavily for it all, the rate they were sweeping through rooms suggested they were over-leveled. It was nice to be able to have some peace of mind knowing you were stronger than your foes, but it was that very peace of mind that could make you careless and get you killed. As they progressed he approached even the easiest of enemies with some caution, keeping a careful eye out for anything unusual. Ultimately it proved to be a pointless endeavor as there was nothing on the first three floors, just typical trash mobs and no traps to be spoken of. By now he had become accustomed to fighting the <<Dark Reflections>>, even if they had progressively become more unsettling as the group moved up. Hearing the enemies bellow in an almost human like way when they were struck and slain was... Disturbing, to say the least. It almost felt like player-killing at a few points, making Suto's stomach churn uncomfortably as he shattered one for into a thousand pieces. Unsettling as these foes might be nothing that they had encountered up until now could well prepare them for the fourth floor. It was to be literally a living hell for them.

The first indication something was wrong were the nature of the sarcophogi in the room. They were much more ornate then the cut-from-stone counterparts before, probably housing some higher tier enemies if Suto had to make a guess. While he expected a new foe what emerged from those tombs was anything but anticipated, and the sight made his stomach lurch uncomfortably. Before the group now were their two slain friends, both of them bearing the very wounds that had led to their demise. For a game that technically had no blood it did a wondrous job of rendering grotesque images. Nauseating as it may be however he knew they were just that, images. The real Yari and Kenshin were long gone sadly, lost to them forever now. These manifestations, whatever they were, were really only numbers and nothing more. And not numbers like he and the others were, they had the human element to them. These two may look like their friends, even sound like them, but realistically they weren't them. The fact the game had the audacity to taunt them with their deceased loved ones turned Suto's ailment into more of a rage, a rage towards the man who created this game and the game itself. He didn't want to kill anyone, but he sword if he ever found Kayaba he would pummel the man into dust, inside or outside of the game. That would have to wait however, they had to deal with this first.

Kimi and Alphard were quick to take on Kenshin, surprisingly enough. The older girl had no trepidations about striking down her former husband, probably having come to the same conclusion that Suto had earlier. Realistically with their 3 to 1 ratio dealing with these two shouldn't be an issue. The only problem, as Nero was displaying, would be the psychological aspect. Even with his realization and anger telling him this wasn't his friend he still couldn't charge right in like the others. He should have though as rather quickly Nero was being descended upon by Yari's doppelganger. In any other circumstance the fight should be an easy one, Nero would be leagues better than Yari was at this point so he would have a big advantage. It would be an easy one if the guy was even remotely trying to fight back. Suto watched with a stunned expression as his ally simply sat down, taking swipe after strike as the impostor swung her spear around relentlessly, chipping away at his health. Why, why was Nero reserving himself like that? The expression on his face was one that Suto didn't really understand, why was Nero just taking this? Dammit, if he didn't get off his ass and do something that thing was going to kill him, was that what he wanted?

"Nero you idiot, move!" Suto shouted, charging in at Yari's figure angrily. So they were going to use the image of their beloved friends to kill them? Like hell, not a chance he was going to stand for that. Though the figure had been intent on Nero up until now the sight of the charging martial artist bought its attention, and with a skill activated the spear lunged out, making a series of quick, sharp jabs at him. With his movement speed so high he was able to handily dodge them all, which was probably good considering that even now this impostor possessed some decent strength. Giving an angry shout Suto threw his first combo out, striking the monster repeatedly in the chest with punches. As soon as that combo ended he used another skill to deliver a powerful uppercut to the creature, knocking it off of its feet and stunning it briefly. The stun had barely lasted by the time it had landed again, but he had done his part. Soon as Yari's feet touched the ground Kazaro ran her clean through, taking a massive chunk of her health away in the process. Suto was still feeling rather angry though and wasn't about to stop there, intent on delivering the killing blow to this... This hellish image. Again letting out a shout of pain and anger he charged forward, throwing a heavy haymaker right into the side of the monster's head. The force of the blow made it drop its spear, and with a light clanging it fell, the creature flying off its feet and shattering in mid air, the weapon meeting the same fate not a second after.

It had only been two enemies, yet it felt like they had just fought a dozen. Maybe it was the coming down from the rage that made Suto feel so weary, but after the foes were dispatched the energy more or less drained completely from his body. His face showed the signs of weariness as he stood upright, letting out a somber sigh as he ran a hand through his hair. That was... Unexpected, to say the least. He hadn't expected to be fighting distorted images of their friends, and he certainly hadn't expected to have to kill Yari. Not that he had, he knew it wasn't her, but all the same he'd beaten down a semblance of her and that didn't go without the slightest pang of sadness. For every ounce of discomfort he felt right now Nero seemed to be experiencing that ten fold, the other boy was crumpled on the ground in a proper mess. Suto looked over with a frown, what was wrong with him? It had taken up until this point but he thought he finally knew what the issue was, he recognized that forlorn look Nero wore when Yari descended upon him. It was the very same look he bore so often after Fitch's departure and joining that Doku bastard. It was a look of tremendous guilt and even self loathing, something that had really haunted since that event. He did a better job of concealing it now but he had not given up on bringing his friend back, not just yet. If he still held this feeling then he couldn't imagine how powerful the feelings Nero harbored must be.

Walking across the room to the other boy Suto squatted down, looking at Nero sympathetically. With a gentle smile he reached out, placing a hand on the guy's shoulder and giving it a gentle pat to try and rouse him. "Hey... Nero, you can't blame yourself for what happened," he said softly, "None of us could have prevented those things from happening, its not any single persons fault, certainly not yours. We all miss them but we can't be blaming ourselves for what happened. If you want to place blame, blame this game and the man behind it." Seeing someone else crumple like this really sucked, even if he wasn't usually fond of Nero. Not that he disliked the guy in any way, saying he wasn't fond of him wasn't right. They just interacted very little and were two different beasts entirely, sometimes it felt like they weren't even in the same room together. Pulling his hand back Suto rested his arms over his knees, raising an eyebrow curiously. "Listen, none of us blame you for it, so you shouldn't either. You don't have to forget it, but do what I do, use it as a reason to clear this damn game. If you do feel guilty then don't wallow over this, that's not what they would want from you. They would want to see you get stronger and help other people," he added, sniffling a little. In part these were his own feelings he was expressing now, this was how he felt about their deaths. They were the reason hew as so adamant about getting stronger, he didn't want his friends' deaths to be in vain. "Doing what you just did is an insult to them, you know? Keep fighting instead of laying down like that."

Alphard’s initial charge was met with a whirling backhanded blow that knocked her to her knees. The crimson straight thrust that followed would have inflicted a bleed effect, effectively making a drawn-out fight impossible. Instead, Jason managed to interpose himself between the blow and its intended target, just barely managing to deflect his attacker’s blade with the head of <Defiler>. Alphard planted her shield in Jason’s back and launched him skyward in an oft-used pincer attack. Usually, the monster would track Jason’s movement, as he was the last one to have inspired any aggro. It was then that Alphard would charge up and release a powerful Sword Art to either kill or severely maim her opponent. This would then draw aggro to her, at which point Jason would descend from the sky like an avenging angel and finish the fight with <Gravity Smash>.

It went significantly differently this time.

As usual, Jason rocketed up and Alphard immediately began <Reave Slash>. Her blade glowed a startling pink and she settled into a low crouch. A savage grin split her face as she prepared to punish the bastard that had dared use her beloved’s body. The grin vanished immediately. Jason wasn’t receiving the aggro! Kenshin had ignored the airborne fighter and sunk his katana deep into Alphard’s thigh, pinning her to the ground. He then jumped back and sent a flurry of stunning picks flying into her chest. Once she was well and thoroughly stunned, the katana left her leg and she was blasted backwards by a brutal hilt smash. The whole ordeal lasted perhaps five seconds. Jason reached the apex of leap and began to fall back down… to the charged and waiting <Ikifune> of Kenshin’s Dark Reflection.

It was all over. Kenshin’s blood-hued blade neatly split Jason’s body in twain at the waist, dropping his health instantly into the red and then obliterating it entirely. The bisected corpse shattered into thousands of shining crystals and disappeared. Alphard recovered and charged mindlessly at Kenshin, roaring her despair and hate all the while. Kenshin ducked the first wild slash and spun into Alphard’s guard. The tip of the desiccated katana drove up under her helmet’s lip and through her lower jaw, destroying her brain and shattering her body. Kenshin then moved in and flanked the other group, methodically slaying them one-by-one. Nero’s prone form disintegrated under the first slash. Kenshin took the full brunt of Kimi’s first flurry of stabs and then cleanly beheaded her. Suto rushed in to avenge his fallen comrades but swiftly lost both arms to methodical cleaves. Unarmed, he was easy prey. Kazaro would have proven difficult, as he also wielded a katana, but he was outnumbered and swiftly fell as well. Their work done, the two corpses glided over to their sarcophagi and lay down to wait for their next victims.

This all flashed through Alphard’s mind as she prepared for the end. Just then, the other half of the party defeated Yari. As she dissolved into shimmering powder for the second time in this terrible madman’s game, Kenshin’s doppelganger twitched, as though caught in a spasm. <Ikifune> slashed wide, missing Jason entirely. A primal roar preceded Jason’s attack and he drove Kenshin to the ground under his flurry of heavy blows. Alphard was there in an instant, hooking her scythe into her opponent’s midsection and brutally gutting him. She spun with the momentum of her strike and sunk into a crouch, simultaneously slashing out and catching Kenshin in the legs with a backhanded blow of her pale blue glowing shield. At the same time, Jason wound up like a major league batter and hammered his maul into the back of Kenshin’s head. The simultaneous blows spun him in a complete end-O and killed him.

The glittering dust left over swirled in a hypnotic pattern and slowly dissipated. It was only then that Alphard let the surge of sorrow overtake her rage. She fell into Jason and quietly sobbed for a good while, letting him just hold her and whisper comforting words. When she was finally composed, she turned to the entire party, swiped the last of her tears away with the back of her hand, and spoke loudly and clearly, “Are you guys ready to go kill the sonofabitch that runs this Tower and get out of here? ‘Cause I sure am!”