[F27-PP] Apparitions Walk The Earth

[NIGHT 0]

night's gaze remained on hirru, head turning from over her shoulder as he walked past her, until she could no longer keep her sights on his figure. she stayed quiet the entire time. then, loosening her fold, she followed after him, along the same path with steps just as silent; if her friend was thinking, she wasn't planning to interrupt it.

"another tale about the twenty-third"; she knew enough from their conversation last, when they were travelling through the isles on the twenty-second to reach the outskirts of that floor's labyrinth. and night considered again, how her original expectations, questions bridged the similarities between the two fights, the urge to show the floor bosses a sort of mercy. she thought twice about the pained visage of her friend, and the hung figure on the tree he'd seen.

– there was no connection. though, it was starting to grow on her that she'd kept her feelings about the fight under some lock and key.

night's steps wove into the clutter of the grass, away from the stone path in hesitance. doubt and conviction both bubbled to her surface, but she kept it silent – they were, for the most part, unnecessary for the time being. there was the involuntary twitch in her hand as it fell to her side, grasping for some familiar handle of a sword. night recognized that if she thought hard enough, she was certain it would appear.

she made her way around the tree, staying close to it, delicate footwork going over tangled roots, natural and slow. concentration. the player continued, only stopping when hirru had taken a seat on the stone path.

a tale adjacent, night reminded herself. she stayed behind, allowing her mind to away her worries, that underlying and burning demeanor. instead, she gave thought to her friend's description, and when she was ready, she paced over to hirru's side, and took her place beside him.

"the way you describe it sounds like a mobius strip," the player said, settling in, facing towards her other before her sights took to the drifting lightning bugs afar. she shrugged after she'd said it, however. the comparison sounded better in her head. "how does it go, then? the mid without beginning, nor end."

[Hirru 0]

He would look on to the dark sky.  If the hunter would actually check his clock, he would see what time it was, but the darkness here would make it seem like the night had taken its hold.  As would NIGHT have their attention on the hunter as he began to speak his tale.

"Most tales about this place would probably start where it all began for us all.  That fateful day where we all started and became trapped in this damned prison."

It was something that most people didn't need to be reminded of, as this was the one thing that everyone was fighting through the floors of Aincrad to begin with.  Everyone wanted to go home and be free of this digital tomb.  Hirru would find it funny yet odd that it was only recently that he was starting to feel that same thing.

"Their tales would talk of their strife and tribulations that they would go through to reach their goals.  Some would stay in the first floor to stay alive, either too scared or weary of the outside areas.  Wishing to live a peaceful enough life.  Then there were the players that would venture forth.  Many would form guilds and take on the floor bosses as the front lines.  Those are the players that we know of.  Our friends.  Our enemies.  Our loved ones."

There were so many people that had been a part of Hirru's life.  It was thanks to so many of them that he was the person that he was today, and they all started their stories on that first day.  No, it would be more fair to say that their stories were far vaster than that.

"Our story starts one year later..."

A scene plays in front of Hirru's eyes as he started to recall that day to vivid detail.  The bright blue sky hidden on several fronts by the sky islands and giant ceiling of the second floor above, looming over him as a giant about to crush them all.  The lush green plains would flow ever onwards towards the distance, nearly drowning the few forests visible from the main gates.  The heavily trodden path that would lead out to the next village out would lay before him as a start to his ever growing story. 

"..as a young man with strange green hair would walk out of the gates of the Town of Beginnings.  With blade in hand, the man wanted to get out and follow in the footsteps of those that came before.  He didn't understand why he was still on the first floor after all the time that had passed, but he did not want to stay there any longer.  He had a goal to find the 'outside world' and his first stop would be to kill some boars."

The first mob that everyone would have faced regardless of when they started their venture out into the towering Castle Aincrad, the infamous frenzied boar.  A rather simple and basic creature for anyone that looked at it normally, but for those that just started to those that cowered on that floor; those boars were symbols of fear and death.  Without using the system to their advantage, there were over a thousand deaths on first month of the death game starting.  This information was slowly gleaned off of players as he talked to them, but in the beginning, he didn't know that.  Hirru remembered that he faced the first boar that he saw.

"My first memory.."

He didn't have any sword arts known at that time though.  The boar seemed to overpower him, evade his strikes and deal heavy blows against the noobish player.  A strike would gore into Hirru and push him prone on the ground.  The boar had started to paw its hoof in the ground, a telltale sign of a charge.  It's blood red beady eyes would stare down the jade haired noob, before rushing at him.  His sword arm would hold the sword out while his other would shield his eyes.  He knew it would not work.  The boar was only a few inches away from dealing the klling blow.

"..was nearly dying to my first boar."

[NIGHT 0]

as hirru turned to the sky, so too did night. she shut her eyes as he spoke, before bringing it back to him midway through his preamble. her hands fidgeted as he spoke about the norms of the past, the non-adventurers, the ones still residing on the first.

"Many would form guilds and take on the floor bosses as the front lines.  Those are the players that we know of.  Our friends.  Our enemies.  Our loved ones."

night fumbled with her thumb, considering. if she could count them all, the ones she knew, perhaps it might take the edge off her present form. she'd seen so many, and they'd gone absent just the same. how long had it been since she'd ventured out, or even the start of the game?

hirru placed himself a year later, and night stared at the ground, trying to imagine the fields as outskirts once again. in her mind, they were flashes of familiarity, mapping out key transitioning points to different areas – the forests leading towards horunka, for example, or the change in scenery towards the stone valley.

then there was her friend, himself, amidst all of this, out past the gates for the first time. and the boar, and the struggle – night knew it all too well.

"... iconic."

her head had dipped, and so she righted herself, looking back at hirru. well, here he was, still present, alive, and much farther into the game than the very starting zone outside the town of beginnings. if this was his tale, ongoing, then they were firmly in the midst of it after all. "so who saved you? ... i'm assuming someone did."

night's fidgeting but continued. she remembered yukiro, and the chimera, and having set out into the field in the absence of light. no blue skies – in that, she differed – but her fortune was likely the same. no, it was possible that hirru's was likely better, if it had been that fine summer-esque day.

"someone... or a group of 'someone's, perhaps?"

[Hirru 0]

"Well, yes.  It was someone."

The fireflies seemed to fall back into their silent dance, flickering ever so calmly in the dark.  He felt it a strong contrast to that day.  The darkness of his eyelids as they shut in fear of the end to come, though it didn't seem to come.  A few moments later, he could hear the shattering that was evident of something dying.  Was it him?  Would he even be able to open his eyes if he was about to die?  There was only one way to find out as the man opened his eyes.  The shattered polygons surrounded him, but they didn't seem to come from him.  Looking from where he thought the boar was, there was someone standing over him.  Their sword was aglow in a bright red light which seemed to dull down.  There was a small trail of dim light that seemed to have trailed off of it that signaled the after effects of the art, <<Slant>>.  Although, he wouldn't know that until the man would turn to introduce himself.

"His name was Ignalo.  He was a player that was a little more seasoned than the green haired man.  He had dark brown hair and had the same new armor that most new players would have.  His armor was metal though, unlike the green horn's leather armor.  He had seen the guy struggle and stepped in to help.  It was that moment that set in motion so much more."

Helping the man up, Ignalo had thought that the jade player would be better off staying in the Town of Beginnings.  The green player would shake their head saying that they were going to start out on their way.  Just like those that have done so before.  The guy could only scold the player after seeing such a sad display.  It would be then that the knowledgeable player would teach the green player how to use sword arts, and how to survive.

"He taught me how to use to use sword arts, and fought many boars and wolves together until the next village.  He left after that, and I haven't seen that player since.."

Memories would flash by as he recalled the man dipping his head into the fountain of the first floor, and meeting the violet brawler, Jevi and silver haired tank, Xion.  The later would become his first friend as they would go onwards to make a goal.  The goal that so many others had so long ago, but to move through to the second floor, with their own two feet.  There was only one way to do that, and that was to venture through the first floor labyrinth.  The ones that went with him were the silver haired tank, Xion; the shady fighter, Beoreson; and the boisterous crimson haired axe wielder, Mack.  They would work alongside the green pioneer through the labyrinth and more.

"Quite a feat so long ago, but now that the floor boss was gone, the labyrinth was mostly just low level hunting grounds.  We tried to make it to the top, and we did.  Xion, Beoreson, Mack, and I were able to rush through the first floor at such low levels and appear on the second floor.  It was that group that brought me towards a future in the front lines."

There was the brief encounters of players and npcs, but none that made the man wonder about the outside world more than the interactions with his friends.  What made them want to rush through these labyrinths so much that they would risk ending their very lives over.  Everyone had one life to live, and it would be better for him to learn more of the inner world than the outer world.  Though, as time passed, the outer world kept creeping back into his mind.  He could not shake it, and would think that there was a connection somewhere in this world.  He became a scout, or more so a pioneer to blaze new trails through this forsaken castle.

"It was around when I started running dungeons on the 5th floor, that Mack would ask me to join him and a few others in a little get together.  It was more so to talk about forming a guild, The Crimson Blades."

Sitting in that little room, the seven players would come together come together for one reason.  Each would introduce themselves to the rest, although most already knew each other roughly.  It was when the leader of the group, Mack would introduce them into being in a guild that something seemed odd about the green pioneer.  He was uncomfortable here.  There were too many people here.  He knew them, but could he fight and die for them?

"Sorry if I'm spouting too much.  Telling the story seems to be getting longer and longer as time goes on.."

[NIGHT 0]

funny how, despite the differences in their level of experience and expertise, their stories tended to sound the same. and in that, there was something to appreciate, night thought. she brought her knees up to her neck in a shift, resting her cheek upon them as she continued to listen. metal armor in comparison to leather – she could only nod, considering.

but the unusual part was in realizing how he hadn't seen his tutor ever since. she'd been looking away, imagining the tale as hirru regaled her, but night faced him upon that revelation. the parting so soon? she couldn't have imagined. then past that, the player was equally surprised to hear about her friend's presence in the first floor's labyrinths. she'd neglected them as hunting grounds in the past, preferring to quests than a maze in the middle of nowhere.

the names he'd mentioned, night hadn't heard before. so she thought to have penned the information down, somewhere; granted, it felt rude to be doing so when listening as a friend. to have joined the front with a group of familiar individuals; how would that feel, she wondered? so they were close – she knew they had to be – the same way she'd had yuki's back and vice versa in their ascent towards eligibility for the twenty-fifth.

and then, of course, the fateful guild invitation.

she blinked at hirru's own interruption.

"no, you're not," night replied, becoming aware of how she might have been presenting herself. restless? she'd hoped not. even in that distant stare, she had a lot of thoughts on her mind; questions to ask. the crimson blades was one of them.

she straightened her back, leaving her lean and hunch. "i knew you were a veteran, but i didn't imagine your experience to extend so far... back. i'd barely heard a word of progress on the first after the twenty-fourth, so that's when i started – for context, i mean." night adjusted her position, so that she'd felt a little more comfortable in listening. "do go on."

[Hirru 0]

"Oh?  I figured you to have been venturing more during my early raiding days, not after my betrayal."

He could say that part lightly now, as it wasn't something that he took as a bad time anymore.  HThe fact that he wore both the insignia of the dark elf royal family of the 23rd floor, on his headband; and, the shield shaped ring that was the dormant form of the Fate's Armament, of the 26th floor would say something.  They were both floors that he had significant relation with and had the most trouble over.  He would smile softly at the notion that the ripples of it were both blessings and curses.

"Sorry, I'll continue.  I didn't join them."

His head would come down as this was where everything started to fall.  There were so many that left them.  Not in the guild having lost members, although it did happen, it was the loss of life.  The time he worked as a hunter for hire and the guilds that he worked alongside.  There were so many times that the hunter thought that there would be something that would drag him down.

"Looking back, I wish I did stay with them.  It would have probably made the next part of the story less tragic.  Though, the past is the past."

Mack was still receptive of his friend and had made the green haired pioneer their Liason with the solo players.  It wasn't much, but still kept him tied to the group in a way.  They would separate, but there were things that lurked in the darkness that wanted them gone.  One of the guild members had gone out to hunt some mobs.  The guild would find out later what happened.

"They lost one of them due to a hunting incident.  Lindow was his name, and he was probably one of the older players caught in our little world.  We only got the information about him from someone that he knew.  A silver haired girl whose outgoing personality seemed far too out there, and a significant character in our story; Opal."

The funeral service that they gave for the man was dark and heavy, but full of honor.  They had marched from the teleportation in full garb.  As the uniform was essentially a look alike to the Game Master's cloaks, it caused slightly alarm to the Town of Beginnings back then.  Five cloaked beings walking with hoods up, marching together towards the Monument of Life.  The green pioneer had rushed there to find it, just to see if they were lying to him.  The name of the man was crossed out in front of them, they would say their last goodbyes.  A set of robes, neatly folded, would be placed down to let the durability run out faster.  The shattering would be them sending their fallen brother off of this mortal coil.  The silver haired woman was crying so hard.

"I remember giving the last rites.  Sending him on, which was when we learned from the woman there that he was tailing some people and calling it a 'hunt' to dissuade us from leaking anything accidentally."

The hunter would shake his head.

"It turned out he died from a player getting the man stuck in a spider spawning lair.  It wasn't an incident.. but a murder."

[NIGHT 0]

"surely not," night returned, tilting her head slightly about the note of betrayal. she righted it once she realized what he was talking about. "otherwise, i'd be surprised if we hadn't met each other yet by now."

then she let him continue, resting close once again to her knees. her initial hunch was that he got involved, though she hadn't heard of the guild before – night was surprised to know he hadn't. why not? if they were close friends, surely it made sense to make sure they stayed safe.

but to be fair, she wasn't exactly interested in the idea of factions or guilds either, even if her own was more casual association than official regime. if hirru was anything like night, it was likely the freedom or independence was valued better – her eyes darted to the grass, past a passing firefly, as she focused on listening further.

a funeral march, after someone's death; she hadn't heard of lindow, nor opal, either. there was likely a ritual held in his honor – so surely he must've been someone of high standing – but hirru got into the details of what the association must've meant to other players not included in the guild.

"It wasn't an incident.. but a murder."

night could feel her guard immediately come up, even though she hadn't needed to. she had several questions, such as who would've done so, and why? the player saw not what the point of hunting others in a game such as this was, especially with the necessity for collaboration in order to achieve their goal. she swallowed, brows furrowing, before deciding on a final query. "you said he was hunted so that you don't leak anything."

(us? which individuals were included in the definition of us?)

"what was it?" and, cautiously, after asking, she raised a brow. "are you able to reveal it, or would you be hunted now, too, for doing so?"

[Hirru 0]

"Ah, that?  It happened so long ago that I nearly forgot."

It was a small group of people that were targeting players, beating them to inches of their life, and then extorting them of their belongings.  There wasn't much information about why Lindow was tailing these guys outside of his own word, but that had long since faded.  The only thing they had left to go on where the word of the silver haired vixen.  Though, she was part of the guild for a time, it seemed she had ulterior motives.

"The group was a smaller part of a greater whole, it would have seemed.  A guild that formed without full registration into the system.  It wouldn't be for a while that we would find more out about them.  Though, that didn't mean that the player wouldn't try to find anything out on his own."

The green haired pioneer had started to gain a reputation with his friends and other players.  He would go out on hunts for people that could not gather materials and col for themselves, and take a little off the top.  Taking on the role of a hunter, he would start running through dungeons with or for people.  Throughout this time, the player was looking out for those that were harming others.  It would come to now that the moniker Jade Hunter would come around.  Not by anyone specific, but by his own design.

"As the Jade Hunter, I searched throughout the lower floors to find anything or anyone that knew anything.  That's when I found a certain player, their crystal cursor tainted orange.  A player killer."

In that cave all on their own, the hunter had found the player just passing along.  If it wasn't for the hunter's rage, their first impression wouldn't have been such a disaster.  He nearly threw himself at the man to take care of him, but the man was easily able to evade him and neutralize the situation.  This man would be a well known name in the other guilds and the front lines.

"His name was Lowenthal.  A front liner and influential character.  He was the one to teach me that not everyone with that crystal was a blood thirsty killer, and some people just had.. situations that couldn't be fixed any other way.  I grew to judge more about ones character than for a simple crystal.  Even more so when one couldn't see the differences to begin with.  It would help out when I had to deal with another orange tainted player.  Though that is a bit later in the story.  Not to spoil it."

He would give a little chuckle before going on.  There wasn't much that would happen through out this time, as the hunter didn't have records going that far if it didn't have him in it.  Most of the records of the Crimson Blades and others were from Mack's and other's recorded information.  Though there was a point where the hunter sat in on a meeting for the twelfth floor boss.  He was nowhere near ready, but he was there helping his brothers.

"As time passed, the Crimson Blades were starting to grow more and find themselves in the front lines.  Though a small name within a story of bigger names, like the Azure Brigade, they made that name into something.  It wasn't until a Opal returned to them, after leaving for a time, that something significant happened."

She came back to them emblazon in white armor with red accents.  She had become stronger and had joined another guild, becoming their vice commander.  A up and coming guild that would be one of the biggest ones for a time, all due to a merger of the two guilds.  He could remember barging into the meeting of the two because a certain guild leader had disappeared for a time.  The resulting clamor slapped the scouting player in the hot seat of the Blades Vanguard of the merged guild.

"That's when I joined the Knights of the Blood Oath."

[NIGHT 0]

chekov's gun, one after another. night was failing to keep track of each of them, usually save the last – but that wasn't often tantamount to the story she was being told, she realized. so she set aside her inability to recall, riding through the story beats that hirru was narrating instead. a fragmented collective of players – on purpose, but what was it? and a run in with an orange player, though that didn't seem to phase her much.

it occurred to night, however, that she could only count the number of such individuals she'd encountered on one hand; mari being the most prominent, but she wouldn't go so far as to forget the boy of solitude that had slain bloodbane alongside her. she barely even remembered his name, after all this time. and then there was hidden, stuck in the past, whose motives for being undercover... she still wasn't able to decipher.

hirru said lowenthal was influential. night figured that, back in his day, amidst the chaos, scheming and complications hirru had to face, things were better cut black and white in a hurry – for safety. but people were often more than their cover; appearance, persona, facade. a tide of change prepared for the future, he was – another chekov's gun.

she wondered briefly how many orange players this tale was going to have.

the azure brigade presented itself as a new actor, and though it didn't seem to ring a bell to night, the last phrase that hirru dropped sounded awfully familiar. she'd mouthed its name, as though doing so would jog her memory, but it didn't. in her mind, it existed as sort of a vagueness she couldn't put aside.

but amidst the others, it must have had some connection to them, right?

night traced her failing memory, counting the prominent figures in the tale with her fingers, forwards and back.

opal, lowenthal, lindow's murder.

the crimson blades, the azure brigade, the knights of the blood oath.

and she was quiet for a moment, but when night was certain she hadn't missed out on anything, she spoke up with a nod. "i think i'm keeping up."

once night confirmed herself, however, she remembered that this meant whatever values she'd associated with her friend about 'freedom and independence' were firmly under scrutiny with regards to his enrolment into the new guild. perhaps her guess was wrong about him, she thought. that may be the case – but with no real way of knowing, it still wasn't the point of the story.

she pressed her knuckles into her other palm. night was fidgeting, thinking. "so then, the knights of the blood oath..." she considered, "what was their purpose amongst all of this?"

[Hirru 0]

"Heh heh..  Yeah, it's a bit much, and I only just mentioned some of the front line guilds from the golden age.  This is still from the 13th floor being the highest floor, if the records were correct."

He would give a little smirk before going on before NIGHT's question would make him think upon the purpose that KoB was to the story, or more so to him, as the story was about the Jade Hunter.  The guild was the first time that he felt that he needed to stand by his friends.  He could not play as an independent player, and hope that his friends were okay risking their lives in the front.  He chose to join them, to safeguard their dream of escape.

"The Knights of the Blood Oath's purpose is this story is to show the rise and fall of a group of players, that would lose everything to a decline in direction and betrayal.  How their example would reflect upon the hunter."

There that word was:  'betrayal'.  It had much more meaning in this story than just an unfortunate event that happened on a specific floor, but many different parts that happened along the way to that point.  The hunter sighed as he had to recall once more the burning brilliance, burning rage, and creeping loneliness that would be the only family he thought he had.

"After the merger of the two guilds, and a handful of other recruitments, like Macradon; KoB would become known as one of the largest guilds that were helping to burn through the front.  Mack was our Vanguard leader for the most part, as the Blades had become a vanguard team to head into the front.  The issue was that most of us weren't ready and needed plenty of training in leveling and teamwork.  We would all go out and complete quest after quest, dungeon after dungeon.  It was a grand time to be in such a well working guild, and we were doing well.  Even Vice Commander Opal would join in and show us what a front liner was all about.  Her power and elegance was incredible.  Then, at it's helm, was a great man and founder of the guild, Commander Heathcliff.  He was very insightful and would command the guild with wisdom and might.  Even more so being one of the few players to own an elusive unique skill.  It was these skills that seemed to permeate the front and showed the strength of the guild itself."

From the records, Hirru could recall several other unique skill users that belonged to the other front line guilds.  Zerius, the infamous dual blader; Ssendom, the bloodthirsty berserker; Tristan, the Phoenix tanker; Hikoru, the Shadowed assassin; and sis Teayre, the crimson maiden.  There was odd instance of Takao doing something odd, but the records didn't state that it had anything to do with unique skills, or his unique combat style.

"Unfortunately, those skills are lost to the void, I'm told.  Calrex and Sis have both claimed that their skills have long gone now.  It's probably for the best that they are gone too.  The power struggle that was accumulating due to them was tearing the front apart at times.  Especially after the 14th floor."

The reports of the raid previous stated that a player pulled from the first floor and a previous Vice Commander had died.  Why?  Was it negligence or arrogance?  He couldn't understand why the raid leader of that floor, Zelrius, would do such a thing, and not equip his teams properly?  Though, it is all in the past, but some people couldn't see that.  They saw his actions and all of his past actions as a tyrannical player to heart.  That and the Berserker Ssendom, whom was targeting players on the first floor and killing them without warning.

"The next raid came and went.  We were still not ready yet, but when we were about to greet our friends back.  Only the Commander, Mack and Macradon had returned, and had given news about the deaths of Zelrius and Ssendom.  They were killed by one of their 'friends' and.."

Hirru grit his teeth, as he knew that this part was meant for something, but he still couldn't see it as justified.  It wasn't right.

"..our former Vice Commander.. Opal."

Edited August 24, 2023 by Hirru

[NIGHT 0]

the golden age? the only frontline guild she was familiar with was firm anima, only because of their size. every other name she even thought to know – no matter how briefly – was smaller in scale. what are the implications of a golden age with regards to guilds, then? and – knowing hirru had mentioned the occurance of a murder – how many had they lost?

hirru mentioned 'a decline in direction and betrayal' – that last word was the second time he'd said it, though night wasn't too sure to tie it into his own interruption on the twenty-third. but she nodded, still, as the man sighed and steeped himself into memories once more.

her suspicions were quickly confirmed.

there were rarely large guilds present as they knew the scene now. perhaps, in name only, there was the aincrad trading post and the aforementioned pseudo-military, but if the knights of blood united these individuals hirru had mentioned and more, it was certainly sizable enough for night to find it difficult to believe. but night found it even more difficult to know hirru to be lying. he spoke of different sectors, with split, delegated responsibilities as the guild strived to work together as one unit. the player felt the familiar surge of wishing, wanting – or perhaps it was part of her imagination – to know what it must feel like, ingrained in a cohesive unit as her friend had been involved it, as mentioned.

hirru then briefly brought up their members' possession of unique skills, and night had found herself wanting to say something, but she closed her mouth, feigning surprise instead, as she continued to pay attention to his words.

she knew of them, and how they were rumored, but never knew the specifics. now she knew they were real – once, if not now – and hirru's recollection was historical proof of that. it was that, alongside the presence of a power struggle, that sent a familiar shiver down her spine.

which left night open to what he would reveal next. if she untangled herself a little from her seated position, it was in lieu of the suddenness of a different sort of 'betrayal' – enough for the fact that living legend and relic macradon had been a witness to the crime to have slipped her mind.

two deaths – at once?

"you mean, this was in addition to the floor boss being defeated?" night blinked twice, almost wanting to fire a barrage of questions if only to obtain more context. she barely knew of a player with an orange cursor to be currently present on the front – and perhaps, now, she might be able to guess the precedent of why. she stammered, searching for the best inquiry to start on. "who was the other friend? – what did opal have against them, the grudge against landon? ... so it was premeditated...?"

the player quickly realized how uncomfortable she felt – physically, and only due to the shift in her position. so she adjusted herself once more, curling inwards tighter. "i've not heard either of those names," she clarified. "do they happen to hold any weight?"

[Hirru 0]

"Yes, or at least that's what the records say.  This happened a month or two before I joined the front, so if you want more on it, you'll probably have to ask Mac, Bal or Cal.  Though, what I did glean was that it happened before anyone could react.  The two were killed without even knowing that they were a target, probably."

He could not picture it, as he was not there and did not know the two personally.  Though, he did know that Macradon took it pretty hard.  Hirru thought that Mac may have looked up to the Berserker, in some way, but would never actually know.  They didn't really talk too much about that time.. or any time other than questing.  Hirru looked a bit downcast as he realized that he still hadn't properly discussed things with Mac.  They really only scouted out the 26th floor for clues, but they didn't really get much.

"For the people themselves, I'm sure their names still ring a familiar tone to their old friends and acquaintances.  I've only heard rumor of their infamy, but that was well past their passing to be relevant, and I wish to honor any memories that others have of them.  No, they have no bearing towards this story except towards Opal and Oikawa, the friend in question.  Opal, in particular, as she was my Vice Commander until that time.  Can you understand how it feels to look up to a friend that has grown so powerful and skillful, to killing two of the front lines best players without a second thought?  *sigh*  She was part of that guild that was not registered.  They called themselves, Laughing Coffin, and they were the ones that I had been after since Lindow's death."

He shook his head at that last part.  There wasn't much else to talk about for them.  After Calrex and Mac took care of them from certain information leaked, they haven't been an issue since.  The hunter would continue the story as if that were the case.

"Our guild didn't fair to well after that.  Being called 'accomplices to murder' or 'the guild to stab you in the back', if I remember right.  Many members started to leave around then.  Even after Mack took up the Vice Commander role, we would gain a few to loss a few later on.  Mack may be a boisterous man whom can talk you into the oddest thing, he was also rather strict.  Military strict, I was told.  Some people didn't like that, either.  So we kept going down until one day, Mack didn't come back.  I don't know what he's doing, but I know the bastard is still alive.  His name is not crossed off on the Monument of Life, so I can only assume he's off on some venture without telling us.  Yet another Vice Commander gone.."

The Jade Hunter would open his menu real quick to check, and sure enough, Mack's name was still not there.  He couldn't understand why the man would unfriend everyone.  Maybe it was the tracking skill that could accurately find him through guild and friend relations?  Still, the hunter couldn't find him, even if he tried now.

"So, as things continued, we got a new Vice Commander and a familiar person from our story: the orange player turned green, Lowenthal.  He was my Vice Commander when I first joined the front.  That was an interesting first raid, too."

Hirru then got a smile from the next few memories that would play in his mind, as he remembered coming to that raid and being the absolute dumbass he could have ever been.  Why did he feel that it would be a good idea to imitate Mack's charismatic yet strict speech?  He didn't know that the Chaos Sister would spurn the malice of the raid leader and known red player, the Crimson Maiden.

"First time joining the front, and I mess up so hard that I was forced to lead that raid.  It turns out trying to get everyone together to form proper parties, outside of the meeting, is a bad move.  Especially when the actual raid leader was a known red player."

Edited September 1, 2023 by Hirru

[NIGHT 0]

"the records...?" night asked, but didn't linger on the term for too long. hell, she'd expected her query to be taken as a slip of the tongue, but she still remained interested in the presence of documentation from a historical period, especially if it contained information about events such as these.

but she allowed hirru to continue unhindered, nodding allowing with light sympathy – even if she didn't know these players, it still seemed sad, and a little beyond her, that they would be axed without notice – and potentially without grudge. night brushed at her scalp at the back of her neck, considering what her friend had put forward. a friend, to have killed others without a thought?

(she wasn't so sure which part caused her to be hesitant in answering his question – the friend as a criminal, or the act of killing itself.)

it took her a moment to return to his story, eyes brought up from the grass beside them. the mention of the guild unregistered was new, though yet another name she wasn't too sure about having remembered from somewhere else, or heard of from another player. and the guilt plastered upon the knights, which resulted in their demise afterwards sounded more like sabotage than unfortunate incident.

as hirru browsed through his friends list for this mysterious vice commander, she wondered if she, too, should've taken down this person's name. briefly, she tried recalling any others that might have been from the same shared past, but failed to come up with a matching answer.

with lowenthal reintroduced, night considered the state of the front at the time. likely tense, difficult and sparse for warriors. perhaps that was part of the reason why players on the first hadn't often heard news of progress in so long, from her perspective. there was that, and then...

"First time joining the front, and I mess up so hard that I was forced to lead that raid."

night thought to cover her snort with a hand. even though they were speaking about heavy events just a moment ago, there was still light to be found in hirru's retellings, it seemed. it made sense, given that he hadn't witnessed them firsthand, after all. the player set aside a brief feeling of conflict for the state of their conversation to speak instead. "i take it that lowenthal was part of getting everyone else together, then. or was it another player with a warm cursor whose order you intercepted instead?"

and there was part of her that wanted to ask if their influence, despite the rumors, had allowed them to organize for the raid even if it was for a few times, if not constantly, but the question remained lodged in night's throat instead.

[Hirru 0]

"Yeah, it's the only method I had to know about most of the things that happened on the front before I joined.  It was a system brought about by Mack.  Said that it was intelligence keeping, in case there was an issue later down the line that a previous fight's knowledge would help with.  I didn't get it, but it did help me understand what can happen during the raids, and how best to optimize it."

Hirru would think back about how much he had to read up on.  Bosses were all crazy with strange methods and techniques to their attacks, or as they're known as, Mechanics.  Even stranger was the player's methods to fighting them.  It was like everyone kind of knew something that would happen and some that would surprise even them.  It was probably the poor planning that killed off the players of the 14th raid, but it was different minds that planned the deaths of the 15th.  The hunter would have to sigh a bit in sadness, as the 16th floor also had deaths from a player too.  This one was the one he was talking about.

"No, it wasn't Lowe that lead that, he had his own issues.  No, the raid leader for the 18th floor was a member of an old guild called Spectrum Coalition.  Crimson hair cut short of the shoulders, a smile that could fool anyone, but those eyes screamed something darker.  She was the Crimson Maiden, killer of several players including a couple players from the 16th floor raid.  *sigh* Still more deaths that were needless."

The hunter would bring his hand up to point out this person in general, even though they were not here.

"This was the person I pissed off, and her name is Teayre.  I was trying to get some information about how the teams were set up, and how we needed to work a better way of organization.  Obviously overstepping my bounds.  That's when Ariel took notice, having a choice word with the crimson maiden about having another guild taking the reigns, or something along those lines.  She didn't take that well, and confronted me about it.  Teayre figured that if I was going to do all the 'hard work' that I should take responsibility and become the raid leader."

There was an initial issue with the situation, as the raid leader had just appointed someone that had no prior experience.  Even his own guild was going against him.  Macradon especially voiced his concern and used some choice wording about it too.

"I remember Macradon coming to tell me off, that I shouldn't be showing my 'newb', or whatever that means.  Telling me to stand down as I was trying to reason with Teayre, at the same time.  I didn't want it.  I wasn't ready for something like that.  Teayre reasoned otherwise, saying that the teams I was proposing were sound, and that Mac shouldn't talk about his own guildmate in such a manner.  It was mostly due to Opal, again being a thorn in peoples sides, having to be put into a team, and hardly anyone wanted to deal with her.  I decided to put her in the Knight's team, to keep an eye on her.  We compromised and after a bit of a talk, we got teams together, and took out the boss without any problems."

The fight wasn't that hard, nor that long.  He had set himself aside as a party that would deal with the torch mechanics of the raid, as the boss had caustic pools of poison that would probably heal the boss, or something.  The boss didn't last long enough for the pools to be relevant.

"I didn't even issue many orders.  I just told the veteran front liners to do what they do best, while roughly keeping the third party that I was in on task.  I was thankful for one of my hunting mentors helping me through that.  Even after, I didn't understand why Teayre would do that, until she asked me to meet her.  She told me that it was because of her status as a killer that she gave it to me.  That she figured no one would listen to her, until I came along."

Hirru would enter his inventory for something that he did not bring out ever before.  It was a soft green jewel nestled into a silver brooch.

"She told me she wanted to change herself.  That she didn't want to be the killer that everyone knew her as.  So far, she was doing just that.  That's why I call her Sis now."

[NIGHT 0]

night kept the note about old intel in mind. and then, she winced again, as hirru continued, because his recollection was full of surprises. she felt as though she didn't need to have asked further, ever, about why she never heard of what progress the players at the front were making, given what she'd heard. from what she'd heard, it sounded as though they were perpetually locked in confrontations and disarray, breaking up a much needed focus upon a central goal.

for a heartbeat, she thought back to raidou, and understood his motivations a little better. then, she wondered, too, if those documents would have anything to say about these politics at play. how many players would be still aware of such machinations going on behind the scenes of these high-levelled players? as new individuals joined the front, others would leave, slipping into darkness or out of history's eye; and she was uncertain if there were any others whose tale went back further than hirru's, now.

hirru spoke of the infighting, due to supremacy, and disgust sat on the base of her tongue. another name familiar, ariel, and night kept her in mind; then came teyre's confrontation with hirru, alongside macradon's sudden involvement with the hassle. a part of her wondered if they were all just little kids at the playground, with much more destructive fights and better looking gear. it'd certainly seemed like it, though she wondered to what end they were waging wars upon.

night considered the intel briefly. she never realized how much macradon nor ariel had those sides to them; to 'keep in line' and 'know of one's place'. it was the type of behaviour that she was only incidentally familiar with at the time yuki and herself appeared at the meeting leading up to shadow, and figured it was to happen once, rather than consistently.

the use of the word newb, too, was choice; because the way hirru's management had sounded, his efforts had been effective, especially with regards to his watch over opal. it was puzzling to recognize how many players with body counts had been active at the time of his arrival. and, having drawn teyre's attention afterwards, night was surprise to hear the player as the hero of hirru's story, rather than the others; because she wasn't around any more. the disrupter to fade out from limelight, and the others to stay on.

what kept players around long enough, as much as they did, to stand against a floor boss? night considered, calm, thoughts straying to wonder if, despite the act, the kills were for the greater good. or, even briefly, if the problem with the unity of players laid within those with green crystals instead, given the trouble that herself and others (hirru included) had faced. but the player knew that train of thought was a fallacy, so she set it aside, the image of her friend sharpening in her gaze from the blurred, twinkling mirage out into the garden.

"sis, huh..."

there was a consistent factor about most orange crystals, night believed. for them to want to move on past the reputation they'd garnered for having committed one of the gravest sins known to man – to move on from being a killer. and night wondered if, if there was a stigma that existed, who it was reinforced further by more – the shared past of their hierarchical players, or cardinal's forced rules itself.

"then i assume you two must've been close, past that," night said. "if you're close enough to have called teyre that, i mean. or is this traditionally a sibling thing...?" the player looked away briefly, humming, before acknowledging hirru again. "well, beyond that; would you say your experience as raid leader paid off a little? though, it's not like i'm familiar with most others to potentially be calling the shots. as far as i'm aware, that responsibility mostly lies on baldur's shoulders now, doesn't it?"

quietly, in her mind, she asked curiously too, if he were to play a role in the story soon.

[Hirru 0]

"It was more her idea.  She was gathering people that she could believe in and trust.  I guess I just earned it that day.  Though I will say that.. I didn't mind it."

He would twiddle with the little brooch before putting it away, it was far too precious to be put on his person unlike the other trinkets that he wore.  He was glad to have a family to fall back to whenever something happens, although he didn't want them to feel like that, nor did he want that.  That's why he didn't come to Teayre and Calrex about the 23rd floor.  He wanted to figure it out on his own, though Baldur did say he should speak with them some time.

"Being alone sucks, and I felt that more as the Knights started to dwindle.  After some time, we lost more members until.. it was just the Commander, Macradon, and I.  I had gained quite a bit of knowledge from running that raid, but not much to really keep things together in our guild.  We got another member, but they didn't like the heavy fighting of the front.  They were a pacifist, and only healed to keep us all alive.  Guess I took that mantle after all this time."

Hirru would give a little chuckle as his hand lit up a bit before fading once more.

"I wish I had this back then.  Maybe.. I could have saved Opal and Lowenthal."

He would shake his head before going on.

"No.. their deaths were outside of anything I could have done.  Opal had a plan all along, it seemed.  Her being apart of the killing guild, was just an.."

Hirru stopped himself from continuing that, as he had opened an old message that he saved in his message box.  It was from Opal with the attached map data of every single Laughing Coffin hideout.  She was doublec rossing them, and was doing it the entire time.  She had planned on destroying the guild from the inside out, but would die before succeeding.  This was her goodbye message to the only other person she knew that would carry on her story.  Unfortunately, all of that information was incredibly old now, and the guild had long since been taken care of by Macradon and Calrex, so it wasn't even needed anymore.  What was important was the message itself.  She did not care for her image of being a horrible killer to be overruled as a self sacrificing hero.  It was her last wish to him.

"..let's just say.  She had her reasons for the things that she did, which led to her untimely demise.  I'll leave that as that."

Thoughts would go back to the events that unfolded later on.  The news that would come up as an old friend would be found to be lost to their friends list, and their name scratched out from the Monument of Life, with a little reason why.

"For Lowenthal.. I still don't understand it.  Though, if you look at the Monument of Life, under his scratched name; you'll find his death was by Ariel.  Died in a death-match.  I.. still haven't talked to her about it, but Zandra seems to understand some things too.  The two of them have been the Chaos SIsters for some time, so I only assumed that they would confide in each other."

The hunter would not understand the madness that overtook the man that would be his reason to overlook the crystal system, and look towards the character themselves.  It led Hirru to so many friendships and understandings that he would not have known about.  Even if the hunter found out, he would never understand it.  It was something that would stay far from his mind as he would not look to seek issue with some of the stronger players out there.

"As things are now, I've known them enough to know that they wouldn't kill without reason.  Though, I still would like to know why, I wouldn't really get time to look into it.  I had my own issues as I too was losing my mind over the very quest that book now holds over me.  Looking and searching for something that eluded me, to the point of exhaustion."

"This is the point where the 23rd floor happens.. and I've already spent plenty of time talking about that to you."

He would say while poking at the little insignia on his headband.

"Sorry.. well Baldur is wise beyond his years.  He commands quite a bit of respect, not just in that, but his humanity as well.  I believe I met him long before I joined the front, but didn't really become good friends until some time after.  Especially after the events of the 23rd floor.  Confiding in him showed me that his guidance has set many towards their own proper paths, and mine is still out there, somewhere."

[NIGHT 0]

she pondered over that connection that he and teyre had. that, and the knights afterwards, given how they'd declined from their once-glory days of having taken the best of the fight to the floor bosses. her eyes snapped to the glow in his hand when hirru lit it up with cardinal magic. then, as it faded, he chuckled.

if night wasn't already leaning forward, now she would be.

between the players' spat and the pk guild, there was the downfall of the two people hirru had spoken of, and seemed to hold in high regards. they came, and they went. and he spoke of the same loneliness of being left alone, left behind -- the very same she felt, maybe worse, after the group she'd started her adventure with was never spoken of again. she wondered if there was something more behind the formation of the 'chaos sisters', but thought not much of it. perhaps, if there was more to their tale, it would've concluded and be made potentially irrelevant in this day and age.

the twenty-third couldn't have been that long ago, but to a player like night, it certainly felt like it.

she scooted over to read the message with him, if hirru had let her. hand wrapped to the back of her neck as he closed it. then the tale trickled down to the book, reminding night that she had nearly forgotten what they had meant to set out and accomplish in the first place.

... perhaps, now without clues, the ming garden's rumors weren't as much a deal as the puzzle hirru was working on. or, perhaps, were they connected? it wasn't as though she'd seen any visuals of a ghost nearby, whilst they were talking -- or it loomed over them, quiet, like a heavy burden to bear when they weren't looking sharp.

when her friend spoke of a past, he pointed to his headband. maybe once night remembered the meaning behind it. in the swirl of information from the story, maybe she'd forgotten. but she nodded to his explanations all the same.

"a path, you say."

the verbiage of it sounded a little off.

she tilted her head, curious, brows furrowed as she tried to decipher what exactly the words had meant. "when you say that, 'a path', what exactly does that mean? to baldur, maybe, but... also for you?"

the book, now that it was back in conversation, came back to her mind as well. so night considered it a little more, the curl of her index to her mouth. "i hadn't expected the book to haunt you so much," she then explained, especially in her recollection of events her friend had indulged her with earlier. "especially with so much going on at the time it did when you were looking into it. so for it to mean so much to you, and with the necessity of it being personal to you..."

night held her knees together, again. "they do say the path we walk is of our own, after all. if this book had ended up with others before, surely someone would know about it. but, if its yours... do you consider it as part of your path?"

[Hirru 0]

Path

A word that had more meaning than what Hirru really realized.  To find his own way without knowing exactly where he was going.  He had been doing so for such a long time that it barely felt like a path at all.  More like a labyrinth that he has scouted many times over, but keep finding new routes each and every time.  Though, those routes are always dead ends.  It's only when he starts over again that he finds anything new.

Seeing that NIGHT was leaning in to him, the message that had was hidden.  Not so much from he himself, but from the player menu's initial settings.  A menu and a player's stats were well hidden by the game itself, and to look upon anything that may be a menu would be just seen as a transparent grey screen.  That is until the user presses a button upon the side of the observed window.  Hirru would do so, allowing NIGHT to see the message.  It was time to let it all go..

Quote

To Hirru...

By the time you read this note. I would have passed away. I went to take my revenge out on Laughing Coffin. Many people believed my actions to be a traitortous act and in all intents and purposes, I suppose it came down to be just that. I have carried a weight on my shoulders since the start of my time in this game, while many have seen me as Vice Commander; a warm hearted woman, I had many dark days ahead of me and much of it planned was that of taking up the mantle of becoming a Player Killer Killer. I know it might sound ridiculous, but that is the truth. I killed Dom because he was a Orange Player, Zel died because he was previously a PKer. I needed to act like a Bitch to everyone so I could keep my disguise of being a traitor. That was my Scarlet Letter that I have been wearing for a long time. But to tell you this all now... I am sorry I had to do this alone. 

But I decided I would fight them all and kill as many as I could. Perhaps, I am too much of a Monster that was not necessary in this world. But I travel upon the road that I walk alone. No one will remember this deed and nor shall they ever. Opal was a Monster till the end who was selfish and greedy for power. That is the image that everyone needs to know me by. Not some self sacrificing Hero. 

Anyways. To this I gift you...the locations to all the remaining Laughing Coffin bases. However, I am not sure how much longer they will be active as I plan on destroying most of what I can tonight. Good luck with everything, Lindow and I will be watching over you. 

-Sincerely Opal

+Map Data

"It's not much anymore, but I keep it as remembrance.  The map data is useless now, and the problem probably settled for now."

Letting the message fall away with the menu, the hunter got back to the thought of the book and his future path.

"I.. don't think it's the book really.  I mean, how the heck would this book know anything about me?  It's a generated item of this world; this game.  What does it know that I don't?"

He threw out as a rhetorical question, but did he really think he knew his own answer?  Did the game know more about him than he did?  How could that happen, if it could?  Hirru didn't really know how games could really work.  He just remember what Shield and Baldur taught him about how games were.  Sword Art Online was a different experience than most have ever seen so far.  Could it.. know him?

"No, it's what the book his leading towards.  The cover of the book.. it's title.  ~What We Fight For~  It's the same for the quest that I am searching for.  That quest should give me an answer to the question I have."

Hirru would look back at the tree.  The pinkish red flowers flowing in the wind as they hang from the branches.  Their little petals twirling slightly.. slowly.  Somewhat like a dance.

"NIGHT..  In my story.  You remember how the story has no beginning?  Yet, I started the story where everyone else starts in this world:  on the first floor; fighting boars.  If that was not the start, then where is it?"

He would look to her, to her concern.  His breathing would start to get shallower, not that he needed to breath anyway.

"Where in my story did I ever mention a woman with long red hair?  Cause I will tell you now.  I never did.  Though that image of her was what made me react.. Why?"

 

[NIGHT 0]

past the email -- a letter, archived, like a memory enshrined, the haunting of a ghost. hirru had the book on his mind, and so too did night.

"I.. don't think it's the book really."

the objection came as a surprise to night. it wasn't the idea that the book itself wasn't important, but rather...

"I mean, how the heck would this book know anything about me? It's a generated item of this world; this game. What does it know that I don't?"

she blinked twice. awake as she was in the middle of the night, the thought of her own past dogging her steps, it took a lot in her to align the flood of memories into a concrete, half-hearted, almost joking answer, especially after the pause she might've needed to come up with it in the first place.

"you'd be surprised."

but hirru had a different perspective.

"No, it's what the book his leading towards..."

if it was the quest again, then in the same line of thinking, so too did night figure someone else would've recorded it down if it had been experienced before. she narrowed her eyes in thought, disconnected from hirru's movements.

then...

"NIGHT."

she turned to face him, and then naturally, her body shifted to follow his line of sight. again, there, the flowers they were examining earlier hung over them, having been isolated from their discussion entirely.

"In my story. You remember how the story has no beginning? Yet, I started the story where everyone else starts in this world: on the first floor; fighting boars. If that was not the start, then where is it?"

no corpses. a silhouette, maybe, if they were pushing its shapes in the dark. night listened to hirru carefully, picking out his words -- noticing, then, his breathing erratic.

"Where in my story did I ever mention a woman with long red hair?  Cause I will tell you now.  I never did.  Though that image of her was what made me react.. Why?"

red hair? she couldn't see it, couldn't project it in her mind as to what the image would look like as she traced back his gaze towards the hanging flowers. if she blurred her vision just enough, thought about it hard enough...

"... i wouldn't know," night said, busying her mind, but remained honest still with her words. "that sounds... really personal, but also border lining on an intrusive thought. no one else i've met had long red hair before... maybe someone you once knew did?"

she sat in silence for a good bit, tilting and playing with the fuzzy colours in her eyes. then, the memory struck her. something shared, that was akin to hanging, and red.

night said aloud, still, "the closest thing to that i would've remembered would be the game masters coming down from on high on the first day. ... but i assume the start of your story took place before that evening..."

she turned to face him, trying to discern his expression there after.

"— right?"