Far From Home
June 2023, Floor 25
Fitch clapped his friend on the back with a somber smile, "You know, Suto... Despite everything, your attitude's always refreshing," He said honestly as they moved through the dungeon. The mobs were scarce and very easily dispatched as the group of forty-nine pushed onward.
Heathcliffe's speech at the start was enough to bolster the moods of most around, but about halfway through the walk to the boss room, Yari had pulled Fitch away from the rest of their group, her voice low, "Alex..? What's wrong?"
He paused for a moment before realizing she had used his actual name; a name he hadn't heard much since the start of the game, before sighing, "It's nothing. Just... something feels off," He muttered, looking around as they kept pace with the raid-party.
No matter how he blew it off, Yari's look of concern would be equally genuine, "Maybe we should sit this one out, then? With Heathcliffe, I'm sure everybody will be fine... It is the twenty-fifth floor... Or maybe it's just nerves. We can fall back if you want to," She offered with a small smile, wanting nothing more than to ease his mind. Fitch just shook his head and rejected the thought adamantly; perhaps it was nothing more than an eerieness about the dungeon - his intuition had been wrong before.
Everybody froze at the door to the boss room, Heathcliffe standing directly before it, giving the entire party a break in order to prepare themselves and their nerves for the other side of the door. Fitch found himself standing in the center of the crowd, as the others moved about, making sure their groups were all together and their equipment was battle-ready. He smiled tiredly as he spotted Kenshin consoling Alphard... They were such a fine pair; it was a wonder they weren't married yet, even in the game. "Are you sure you're okay?" A voice rang out near him and he shook his head, blinking.
"Of course," He said with a small nod as he looked at Yari, taking her hand. "Let's tell everybody at the party tonight," He suggested briskly.
The girl seemed entirely surprised at the suddenness of his proposal, "Oh... Uhm... W-well... Are you sure?" She asked, lowering her voice with a blush and a broad smile. "I mean... what about Suto?"
"I think it's worse not telling them... And... I want them to know..." He said positively.
Yari's face lit up as she nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck, "Then we'll tell them..." A few moments passed like that, the two holding one another as Fitch took a deep breath and let it out. They were going to be okay. All of them. "I'm so happy..."
The sword-and-shield user smiled, finally shaking that terrible feeling he'd had only minutes ago, "Me too... I love you, Mizuki," He stated, embracing her for several more seconds.
She blushed and nodded into his shoulder, "I love you too..."
Finally, they parted - Fitch was to join the other shield users toward the front and Yari was going to join the rest of the squads which came in after a blocked attack and small groups that focused on minions. The doors opened to a new, ornate room - it seemed to be full of black marble, but it was lit to the perfect degree of vision. Fitch looked around, scanning the others in the room, but Yari was well-concealed amongst the drove of other players. He sighed and pulled up his shield, ready as the entire force charged in and took up their positions.
First came the skeletons; they were a fairly basic minion, but they would occupy a fair number of players and Kenshin and Alphard took off with one another, a team of two tearing through the beasts one by one. However, mere moments after the group had entered, two massive flames burst forth at the base of the stairs leading ot the next floor and showed an absolutely massive two-headed giant. It's mouths seemed far too large for the heads; it appeared slow and a bit challenged, but there was no way to dispute that it would be formidable. Fitch swallowed hard and braced himself as the command was issued and the entire front line bolted forward, only to be met with powerful stomp. They were all thrown back and stunned, rendering them useless for several moments - including Fitch - which left only a select few shield-users and heavily armored players to take the swipe of the giant's blade. It was already absolute chaos and two players had been killed from the initial slash. The front line recovered as quickly as the system would allow and had prepared to avoid any kind of knock-back attack again. The battle seemed to go smoothly for the first two of five health bars. The monster was incredibly powerful, but it seemed to be rather lacking in abilities - it wasn't very dynamic, so the party was easily gaining confidence with each sliver of health they stole.
"Switch!!" Heathcliffe called out as the monster was stunned by a combined block. Yari and Nero had both charged forward together, Nero unleashing a six-hit Sword Skill before Yari followed. Close behind her was a group of five more players ready to hit with everything they had. Just as she finished her three-hit skill, the third health bar vanished and the weapons of her comrades flashed. Nero was gone moments after his attack was finished and Yari was just about able to move away when the beat materialized a second weapon in his free hand - which had originally been used for his knock-back attack. It was a massive hammer which, even at the boss' great size, should have required two hands to use. It came from over his head and slammed into the ground; had it been waiting for such a concentrated force to come before it, or was it a result of the health bar dropping? The game was usually so fair... So it was merely coincidence that they had all moved in to attack at the same time as he gained the weapon... In fact, everything lined up so perfectly in its favour that four players would watch as their health turned from green to yellow and nearly red... Two of them would be thrown back by the Area of Effect from the pound and any who saw them would see the health drain straight to empty.
Fitch cried out and threw himself forward, only to be grabbed by something and thrown to the ground, narrowly avoiding a slash from the giant's blade. Nero quickly scrambled off of the boy whose life he had just saved, though Fitch hadn't truly realized it as he forced himself up and forward. He pivoted as his feet kicked up dust for a couple of short feet before he fell to his knees, surrounded by shimmering crystals which were once Yari. His blade clattered to the ground and Fitch was halted no more than a couple of feet from the mighty creature. What would happen to him without her..? He watched as his mind's eye showed him a behemoth dragon fighting a small party of players... He recognized them as his friends, but he wasn't there... Kenshin was murdered. Then he was watching, in first person, as his own hands took lives... life after life... and he enjoyed it. The embrace of and desire for his own death as he dealt it out to others. Nero donned in red and white... Suto and himself toe-to-toe, staring defiantly at each other before lunging forth, each with their own attack... What was he watching?
"You idiot! Get the hell out of there!!" Nero's voice called, now coming from the side. The boy seemed to teleport at times, it was ridiculous...
Three... Four... Five...Nero's feet beat against the ground, one in front of the other. His hands desperately fished in his coat pockets, "where did I put it..? God dammit!"
Six... Seven..."FITCH, MOVE!" Finally, he pulled it out, a small, blue crystal which he had been keeping for months... He didn't want to have the burden of deciding when to use it, but it took only a moment of thought to realize what kind of harm could come from this group losing somebody so important...
Eight...Under his breath, Nero muttered, "Revive... Yari." The crystal dissolved in his hand and every shard in the air around Fitch slowly turned direction, gradually forming a recognizable kneeling figure. In a flash, its armour and spear appeared in its hands and it rose to its feet. Within only a second of life reaching Yari, Nero dove into both of them, throwing all three of them to the floor, a large cloud of dust trailing behind them as they slid forward. Despite some dumbfounded fighters, the entire force regrouped and doubled their efforts to take down the boss.
Nero muttered under his breath, "Shut up. Don't let it happen again," His words sounded harsher than they were meant as he hopped to his feet. "No time for questions, get up and
fight." He ordered, leaping into the fray once more.
Fitch stared at the girl before him, finally snapped from his reverie as he noticed that she wasn't gone. She was right here and he pushed himself up, beaming excitedly at her confused expression. "Stay out of the fight, baby... Please." She seemed to obey, clambering to her feet without a word as she ran to the far side of the room, unnoticed by most of the other players who were now either concentrated on the boss, or skeptical of Nero himself. Fitch sprinted into battle after his friend, shield ready as he scooped up his sword with an upward swing to get the boss's attention. At the end of his swing, Fitch sprung with the momentum, rising powerfully straight into the air, facing the monster threatening all of their lives.
"
Don't fuck with me!" He shouted, following through with a powerful three-strike combo, interrupting another overhead swing that could have taken more lives.
The battle was sweaty and hard-won, but by the end, those who had lost nobody were simply relieved and those that did were both somber and infuriated, staring daggers at Nero. Fitch panted, staring at his last-hit spoils. A new straight sword labelled
Giant-Forged Sword appeared in his inventory and he equipped it. The style was quite simple, but the blade itself was a brilliant gold-and-red fiery mix, flavour-texted with a small description of being forged in the fires of ancient giants and cyclopes, as a knife with a heated enchantment; however, so much time has passed that any magical effect of the blade has since worn off. It was a hand and a half hilt, but of course Fitch would only wield in one. He sheathed it to his back and his shield joined it.
His gaze moved to Suto and they seemed to have the same thought as they dashed for Yari. He made it first, wrapping his arms around her dazed form in a tight hug. Once Suto joined them, she would take a step back and shake her head, "I'm... sorry... Uhm... Thank you for being so kind, but..." She rubbed her neck awkwardly as their small crowd of friends grew into their extended Aincradian family, all smiling at her with relief. "But uh... Who... are all of you?"
Fitch tilted his head slightly, giving a small laugh, "Yari... That's not funny, c'mon..." He looked to Suto uneasily.
She shrugged and solemnly shook her head, "I'm sorry, but there's no joke here. What's going on?" The girl was clearly trying to remain calm, but she began to fidget a bit worriedly, growing afraid.
Meanwhile, Nero was trying to get to Yari before several people formed a line in front of him. "Move," He commanded firmly.
"No," Their impromptu leader stated defiantly. Suddenly, Nero was surrounded, "What the hell did you do back there? I know what I saw... That girl was
dead. She was crystals in the air, and then she was fine?"
Nero shook his head, "I saw it too, that doesn't mean I caused it! I don't know who did it, but I'd be willing to bet it was a glitch. You think a short month and only a thousand people can find all the bugs in a game? No. Maybe her NerveGear reversed or malfunctioned, or even had no toxins
in it. How the hell should I know?"
"Oh cut the crap. You're rich, you hunt alone, and you obviously knew what was going to happen when you went in there and threw them out of the way! Ho ware we supposed to know you didn't find some secret item and keep it to yourself, hm? You had some kind of revival item, and you're going to tell us where you got it and how. Fourteen people died today! And you chose to save some random one? She wasn't the first one..." The man's voice choked slightly before he could put his strong face back on, "And she died at the same time as
my best friend. What gave you that right? WHY DIDN'T YO-"
Nero launched forward and grabbed the man by the throat, tackling him. The sound of blades leaving their sheaths sounded all around him as he snarled at the man, "I can't save you all you stupid bastard! I saved her because she would give her life for you in an instant. She would do it and not regret it, even though she doesn't know you. Would your friend do that? No. He wouldn't. Do you know how I know? Because I remember you guys at the boss raid meeting... You sat in the back muttering about how stupid the plan was. But you didn't tell anybody your brilliant ideas to improve it. She did. She weighed in. She thought about it and wanted to help everybody get out alive. But we couldn't do that because the boss wouldn't appear without the door closing behind us. We weren't prepared for this! I DIDN'T EVEN WANT THAT FUCKING THING!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. Somebody grabbed him from behind and threw him to his back away from the other man.
A voice called out, "So he did have it! It was him! How long did you have it? Where'd you get it? Why didn't you tell anybody?!" The questions came from every side over and over again. The boy crumpled.
"I don't know... I don't know, there was one... It was all luck... I didn't even mean to get it! We barely made it past the first floor... I just... stumbled on a package and it had that inside... I-I-I didn't know when I was going to use it... I don't know why... I didn't want it... I wanted to give it to somebody else... but..."
Questions turned to tears from the small crowd. Angry shouts, the sound of blades scraping... It was all too much. Then it started. First, a boot met his rib. Then swords began to sing as they powered up. After the boss died, the zone became safe, but each strike caused a jolt to Nero's entire being as he mind was thrown about. "Stop!" He pleaded as they violently continued attacking, though his health bar didn't budge.
A booming voice finally rang out, "Everybody freeze!" It was Heathcliffe, his figure standing tall over the other players. Nero stared up as he pushed through them, "How many of you can say you'd instantly know when to use an item like that? If you ever found one? If that's even what actually happened?! Sure, you'd use it on your friend... Of course! But if there were other people around who saw it happen outside of your party? They'd have the same reaction - where to get one, why didn't you tell anybody... He found it, it wasn't even a drop, so let it go. If it were a drop, somebody else would have found it. He was afraid of your reactions, let him go," He said commandingly.
"You're not the boss of us!"
He shrugged, uncaring and passive, "Yeah, so torment one of the best fighters you have. Look at him... Pathetic. If you guys found him anywhere else, he'd probably
let you kill him. He wouldn't do anything to intentionally hurt you. Why don't you guys go open the new teleport? Those who need to grieve should grieve, not waste time pummeling some weakling." Nero watched the man walk away... Weak? WEAK? The mob began to disperse and Nero rose to his feet... He felt like he needed to defend himself, but could he really say anything at this point? He turned around and saw the close-knit group, but they didn't seem quite as excited as he thought they'd be.
He started for them, "What's going on?" He asked Kenshin from the edge of the semi-circle. The dark-haired boy looked at him, "She... Doesn't seem to remember any of us.
When Yari saw Nero, she looked over and smiled, "Hey! You're the one that saved me, aren't you? I thought for sure I was a goner there... What's your name?" She asked.
"I-It's Nero... You know that," He stated, only to watch her shake her head in frustration.
Yari scowled and stamped one of her feet, "Stop... Stop saying that, no I don't. Who the hell are you?" She asked, taking a fearful step back. She didn't know any of them... Why did they all insist she did? Did they expect her to know all of them personally just because they'd planned the boss fight together? It wasn't like she spent a lot of time with them...
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