[SP-F6] <<Calming the Soul>> Return of the Red Eye (Complete)

[Baldur 0]

Baldur couldn't sleep well the night he had gotten back from his quest on the 6th floor again the <<Gemini>>. He could still see that wicked smile in the shadows of that jungle forest. It had taught him a horrible and powerful lesson that resonated in parts of his soul that he didn't want to consider.

 

He could kill another player.

 

He hadn't, but he could. When Baldur had struck that blow, he had thought it was another player, one who had tricked him into a death match. He had nearly risked everything.

 

Baldur sat up in the bed, carefully sliding out to not disturb Tyger, and for a moment he stood there in the argent moonlight and looked down at her wrapped up in the blankets like a Tyger burrito. She seemed so peaceful laying there, and it brought an ease to the pain in his heart.

 

He softly walked over to the second story window. Their rooms were above her shop and the window let him look out into the city and down the street. The gentle glow of lights lit up the scenery like the stars which were laking from above where there was only the underside of the second floor.

 

Even at this hour, there were people out walking around. Gamers tended to be more nocturnal by nature, and that carried over into this this world to an extent, but tougher monster came out at night, so only the experienced or foolhardy went out in the evening. From their window he watched people mill about until a figure stopped and turned, looking directly up at him in the window, red eyes burning.

[Baldur 0]

Baldur sat up with a start, sweating as breathing heavily in his own bed.

 

It had been a dream?

 

Did they dream in this death game? If they did, this was his first one. That bloody quest had shaken him more than he had expected. He stood up and went to their small make shift kitchen. They didn't have much in the way of cooking, but he could still make some tea.

 

What could he do about this? He was still haunted.

 

"I need to go back there." He whispered to himself and he knew he was right. He needed to face his demon.

[Baldur 0]

Though he tried to sleep, he didn't get any rest. When finally the dawn's light came in through their window, Baldur got up. He helped Tyger get ready in the morning for a day of crafting, and then said his farewell as he left to go hunt for more materials.

 

Or at least, that's the impression he left her with. He needed time to think, to meditate on why he was so haunted.

 

Without really knowing where he was going, Baldur found himself at the teleportation gate. Holding out his right hand, he said the words he never thought he'd say again.

 

"Amazon."

 

Once again, white light washed over him as he left to confront his fears.

[Baldur 0]

He stood there for a long time, at the edge of the town facing out into the jungle. This was the path that took him to the clearing where the <<Gemini>> quest took place. Where he had discovered he was capable of murder.

 

It wasn't murder, it was self-defense.

 

That was true, but he had still taken a life. The purpose of skill was to avoid situations like that. If he had been better, he wouldn't be put into a situation like that.

 

He looked down at his right hand as it opened and closed.

 

He needed a Katana. He needed his sword back.

 

In the real world, he had studied many types of swordplay. The European longsword, fencing with both foil and saber - he had even competed collegiately very successfully - but his soul had connected with the Katana. The blade of the spirit. When he held a Katana in his hand, the world seemed to come into focus for him. Kendo was all well and good, but a shinai was not the same. SAO had been so exciting because it would give him the chance to truly wield that sword in combat. In a full dive, it was everything he had wanted in life. He needed that sword.

 

Suddenly Baldur realized he could hear the sound of falling water. He looked up from his hand and cocked his head to the side, listening, trying to figure out where that sound was coming from.

[Baldur 0]

Rather than taking the path, Baldur pushed out into the trees and vines of the jungle. It got thicker before he heard anything more. He couldn't even see the city from here, but the trees had also almost tripled in size. Much of the ground was just one root after another, and they were so large he had to crawl over them.

 

Eventually he reached a sight that took his breath away.

 

[Baldur 0]

The spot seemed so peaceful it almost called to him. He almost early hopped over the last few rocked and went to stand underneath the waterfall. As he stood beneath it, the sensation and pressure of the water beating down on him was glorious. He hadn't done this since he was a child. The water felt purifying.

 

After a minute of two of letting it wash over him, he decided to try meditating. Maybe then he could discover what it was that was deeply buried in his heart.

 

He turned around and sat beneath the waterfall, sitting in seiza with his sword held, sheathed, across his knees. The blade was the heat of the warrior, and he needed it to figure out what was going on.

[Baldur 0]

As Baldur closed his eyes and reached inward, slowing his breathing and focusing on that unease.

 

He saw the whole scene unfold before him as if he was still there. Perhaps a part of him never left that battle?

 

In his mind's eye, he watched it play out, and he killed his doppelganger over and over again. He felt that familiar wrenching sensation, but he had nothing he could throw up.

 

This was all just a game, after all.

 

"Yes... just a game... keep telling yourself that..."

 

Baldur eyes opened when he heard a voice speak to him audibly, but he hadn't said anything out loud for someone to respond to, had he?

[Baldur 0]

His crisp blue eyes scanned the small clearing's shoreline. There was no one there. Was he imagining things?

 

"You only wish you were imagining your dark side, but it's real."

 

At this fright, Baldur stood up and took hold of the scabbard of his blade with his left hand and held the hilt, ready to draw, with his right.

 

"You can't fight me with a sword... I am you..."

 

Baldur blinked, and thought he saw some fish in the water, so his eyes quickly glanced down, but what he saw was far more troublesome than some sort of fish monster.

 

He saw his face, but with that sickly twisted grin and red eyes.

[Baldur 0]

"You!" Baldur shouted out in fear, loud enough to fill the the area and reverberate off the trees and echo off the stones.

 

The face in the water continued to give him a wicked smile.

 

"Did you think you could get rid of me that easily? You may hide the darkness in your heart, but that doesn't make me less real."

 

Baldur shivered. It's words were sharp blades cutting straight to his heart.

 

"You tricked me, and still I defeated you. You aren't real! You were a quest!"

[Baldur 0]

The evil shade's laughter filled the area, causing ripples in the pond counter to those created by his waterfall. It filled the area with a palpable menace. Slowly the eyes rose to stand, though still in the plane of the water. The body began to float until it was in the center of the pond, and then it... shifted...? It revolved around its feet into a standing position on top of the water. As it's feet settled, the surface of the waterfall froze solid, even the waterfall was now a series of icicles, even though at the heart of it it seemed that perhaps some small bit of water continued to flow.

 

"Do not think that assuages your conscience of the truth."

[Baldur 0]

Baldur took a half step forward, as if the blade he held were a katana and he preparing to draw and strike with hit. His shade looked just as it had before, it was his face twisted with a sick, menacing, mad grin. It's red eyes burned, not with rage, but some sort of twisted mirth. It was glad in a gi, and wore hakama on its legs.

 

"I didn't do anything wrong. You were the aggressor, I was merely defending myself."

 

The shade took a few steps closer and Baldur white knuckled his sword.

 

"Some good person you were, executing his enemy as if his life had no meaning. Who are you to be judge, jury, and executioner?!"

[Baldur 0]

"That's not my fault! You attacked me!" Baldur shouted out powerfully at the shade.

 

"Yes, I'm sure that's what keeps you up at night, knowing you were justified."

 

The words were like a slap to Baldur's face.

 

As the shade got closer, it reached to its side and drew out a sickly looking katana. It was a perverted mess of his old sword he had in the real world.

 

How can that be here? How can that be in a game?

 

"You keep telling yourself its a game, but that's not what this is. This is reality, you live and die by the sword. You murder, by the sword."

[Baldur 0]

"NOOO!" Baldur cried out as he drew his sword and charged the shade. Their blades met with a metallic crash that reverberated off the ice and throughout the trees, scaring away what brave birds had remained until now.

 

"Give in to it, this is what you wanted. To kill with a sword."

 

The shade slashed at him, but Baldur beat the sword to the side. The two stood there, Baldur's blue eyes fighting the shade's red ones. And that sick smile, that ever present twisted mess.

 

---

 

[iD: 7520 BD: 1 MD: 2]

 

<<Baldur>> 15/15HP

<<Demon>> 15/15HP

[Baldur 0]

"ADMIT IT!" The shade roared back at Baldur, "YOU DON'T EVER WANT TO LEAVE! THIS IS WHAT YOU WERE MEANT FOR, TO LIVE AND KILL BY THE BLADE!"

 

The shade gripped the twisted katana in both hands and tried to overpower Baldur, but he turned the blade aside and slashed upwards. The shade almost managed to evade, but Baldur's blade... no, the one Tyger had made for him, caught the demon in the shoulder, but the darkness in his heart didn't relent.

 

The shade and Baldur circled one another on the frozen pond.

 

---

 

[iD: 7522 BD: 5 (+2 Acc = 7) MD: 2]

 

<<Baldur>> 15/15HP Hits his demon for 6 DMG

<<Demon>> 9/15HP

[Baldur 0]

"I couldn't make her cry! I couldn't leave her here alone!" Baldur cried out as he struck. The shade seemed surprised by the sudden, emotional counter attack and his blade caught the creature full in the chest, but it seemed nonplussed.

 

"You were having fun fighting me to the death." The demon taunted, as it struck at him and the words hurt more than the sword.

 

It was right, he had enjoyed the swordfight. It felt good to fight blade against blade.

 

---

 

[iD: 7523 BD: 10 MD: 9]

 

<<Baldur>> Hit his Demon for 8 DMG (1 base + 2 weapon + 3 skill + 2 Crit)

<<Demon>> Hit Baldur for 2 DMG (1 base + 1 weapon + 1 skill + 1 critical - 2 Mitigation)

 

<<Baldur>> 13/15 HP

<<Demon>> 1/15 HP

[Baldur 0]

But then he realized something. The demon didn't have what he had. It was the darkness reflected from  his heart, but he had the strength of an even greater light.

 

His blade shone a bright blue and Baldur threw himself into a counter-attack.

 

"That may be true, but I don't just fight for myself. I cannot let myself fall, both for her, and for all the people in the Town of Beginnings who are begging for someone to save them."

 

The demon's eyes went wide as Baldur's blade became a whirl of motion.

 

"You have my face, but what you don't have is the love that fills my heart and keeps the darkness at bay." Beads of sweat trickled down both Baldur and his demon's forehead as they fought.

 

"You don't have my sword, or my armor because they were forged by hands that love me and give me strength." His blade, <<Hell Fang>> beat against that sick perversion of a katana in his demon's hand until suddenly it shattered. Baldur brought his blade down without hesitation and split his inner darkness in two.

 

---

[iD: 7524 BD: 4+2=6 MD: 10 LD: 14]

 

<<Baldur>> Hits his demon for 6 DMG

<<Demon>> Dies and grants Baldur the Meditation extra skill, 70 Col, & 1 Material

 

<<Baldur>> 13/15 HP

<<Demon>> 0/15 HP

[Baldur 0]

The demon laughed at him, even as its HP bar sank to zero.

 

"You can never be rid of me. I am that blood lust. I am that joy you feel in killing..."

 

Baldur shook his head.

 

"I will never be rid of you." He admitted painfully, "But that does not mean I let you control me either."

 

He took a deep breath and flicked imaginary blood from his sword before sheathing it.

 

"I have far more light in my heart and my life, and neither you, nor this death game can put out that flame. All the darkness of the world cannot hold back the light of a single candle."

 

The demon's form slowly began fracture.

 

"I accept that you are a part of me, and that we will continue to battle, but it is a loosing battle for you. I will never give in to your darkness."

 

And with that, the demon shattered into hundreds of shards.

[Baldur 0]

This time Baldur was expecting it. The little window that popped up telling him he had completed the quest. He didn't know how they did it, but perhaps the brain scanning was everything they needed?

 

<<Calming the Soul>> The quest was called, and as a reward he was granted the skill: <<Meditation>>

 

"Well that certainly seems appropriate." He smirked. But his soul did feel calm.

 

Wait.. was that the sound of ice breaking?

[Baldur 0]

With the demon defeated, the ice broke and melted incredibly quick, which dumped Baldur into the middle of the pond. By the time he head poked back up through the water and gasped for air, all signs of the ice and battle were gone.

 

"Bwaaahhh." Baldur cried out, clearing his throat of water and gasping for air. He swam quickly to the shore and climbed up onto a rock. It would have bothered him more, but he was already wet from standing underneath the waterfall.

 

He looked around the beautiful grotto and smiled. He didn't see the red eyes anywhere, and that made his heart feel lighter. His soul was lighter. He had faced his demon, more literally than he had intended, and found peace.

[Baldur 0]

Jumping up and down on the solid ground a few times to try and shake off the last of the water like he was some kind of dog, Baldur pushed through the jungle foliage. He had expected to have a difficult time finding his way back to the path, let alone the town, but after climbing a few roots, he found that he could easily see one of the giant stone columns that ringed the settlement.

 

He trudged through the last of the trees, and then the town, and made a bee line straight to the teleport gate. He needed to get home. He needed to see her and tell her he loved her. He needed to hold her. It meant going home empty handed, but his heart was full to bursting.