[PP-F4] Zandra and Jomei (Part 3)-Complete-

[Zandra 0]

When he mentioned he was scared and hid behind drinking, she sligthly rembered one happening that she had almost completly forgot. It was pretty early in the game for her as well. She was chased by some mens and when she fled into a pub to try to escape, she saw a ginger in a corner, drinking ale. Their eyes only met for a few seconds, but she is sure that was him.''I actually met you when you was drinking. Or not realy met you. I looked at you for a few seconds. Thou I never forgot your face.'' she blushed a little at the cliche comment. But it was the truth. The young couple came to a T-cross. The cave look identical in each direction.''So, where do you wanna go? Right or left?'' she looked at the man she loved and waited for him to make their next choice of way to go.

 

Edited November 20, 2015 by Zandra Zvift

[Jomei 0]

Jomei nodded his head and smiled over at her, "Yeah actually. I remember that." looking forward again, he remembered even more, "That was actually.. the first time I ever decided to get up off my ass and do something. After that day was when I decided I needed to go out and actually play the game." He let a light chuckle pass his lips, "So I guess I have you to thank for that." The two came to a fork in the road, both directions looking just as promising as the other. Jomei scratched at his chin when Zandra asked him to decide. "I say we go left" he said, looking down the hallway. The two then turned to their left and walked down that path. "By the way Zandra, I noticed it from the metal on your gauntlets, aren't you cold?" The man was concerned for the girl, despite her heavy armor, metal could get rather cold in the icy weather.

[Zandra 0]

It made Zandra glad that she had made Jomei snap out of beeing a drunk and actually play the game. If he hadnt, they probably wouldnt have ever meet.''And I guess if you havent followed us back then and decided to stop slacking away the days in pubs, I wouldnt have met a woderful person that woke my love-feelings for the first time in my life.'' Jomei decided that they should go left. So they turned their footsteps and started to walk in the left tunnel. Zandra looked at him with raised eyebrows.''Didnt I told you that in the desert? Well, much have happened since then and its probably hard to rember something I just mentioned.'' she raised her free arm and held the under-arm closer to Jomeis face. On the surface you could see a faint mist.''Oikawa made this armour to me, its specially made for cold climate. This mist, it keeps me warm by absorbing the cold. Then when Im in hot climate, it uses the absorbed cold to make it cooler. Thou I cant be in warm climate for unlimited time compared to cold.''then she took his hand and placed it a bit down under her chestplate. There, both her body and the air between her and the armour had a warm and comfortable temprature.

This armour:

Spoiler

 

[Jomei 0]

Jomei felt his face warm up when Zandra called him a wonderful person, and because of him, she was able to know how it feels to love and be loved back. It had been a long time since Jomei had felt the same way, being loved at least. There were a few that he cared deeply for along the way, but they had all gone and abandoned him, making him feel resented rather than loved. But with Zandra by his side, he felt that none of that mattered anymore.. and he could not be any happier. 

After Jomei asked if the girl was cold, she explained the effects of her armor; it keeps her warm in the cold, and in the heat, it used the cold temperatures stored in previous environments to keep her cool for a limited time. Jomei nodded his head in understanding, "I remember you telling me about the heat.. I don't think you mentioned how it works in the cold." he smiled. "Thats good to know then, I would have given you my cloak to warm you up if you needed it." Jomei, on the other hand, did not have the heavy armor Zandra did. He had his leather armor on, which still left his shoulders and upper arms completely bare. Even the armor itself was not usually warm enough for these environments. However, it was thanks to Jomei's previous excursion out into the deserts of Floor Five where he obtained his Survival skill. With this skill, it allowed him to bear the extreme climates of Aincrad to an extent. He still felt the cold on his face, but it merely felt like a fall breeze to him, rather than a winter storm. "So, do you know where we are going?" 

[Zandra 0]

It seemed Zandra did told Jomei about her armours temprature, but only how it worked in the heat, since that was the thing that mattered at the moment when she told him about it. But now he knew how it worked in the cold as well.''Yeah, you dont have to borrow me your cloak. By the way, dosent you freeze?'' she looked at Jomei, the only thing he had that would warm him seemed to be his cloak, but when he walked it didnt covered that much of his body.

Then he wondered if she knew where they was going. She took a few seconds to think about what to answer.''Well, I did knew about this tiny pillar and platform right? And I said that I walked around the gap right? Then I must have found it from coming this way. This is a pretty huge cave system. It took me about a week to explore the complete caves. And I do remember most of the paths. So answer to your question is, yes, I know where we are going.'' she took a pause and smiled at him.''Then I have a question to you. Do you want me to tell you where we are going?''

[Jomei 0]

The man shook his head, "No actually. Not at all.. For once." he chuckled. He lifted his hand and opened up his stats menu, where all of his current and active skills were listed. He used two fingers to scroll down until he reached the Survival skill, "Here, the Survival skill. I protects me from extreme climates like the sand storms on Floor Five, or the extreme heat of Cerberus' lair on Floor Nine. And, of course, the cold does not bother me as much anymore." He closed his menu and looked down at the girl, taking into account her height. "Eh, my cloak would probably drag all on the floor anyway if I let you wear it." his mouth curved into a mischievous grin as he joked with Zandra about being shorter than him, despite the girl being somewhat taller than most women in Aincrad.

He brought his free hand up to his chin in thought as Zandra explained how she knew about the pillar, platform, and current cave systems. He was surprised to learn just how long it took her the first time to navigate through the icy labyrinth. Before he had the survival skill, he felt like he would probably freeze to death if he had to stay in this cave for more than a few days, let alone a week. He then smiled when the girl said she would reveal their destination if he so pleased, "Now what would be the fun in that? " 

[Zandra 0]

So, Jomei have gotten that extra skill, making you immune to environmental effects. That was a pretty good skill, that most players propably underestimated. She was gonna get it some time ago. But suddenly one of the participants disapeared and the quest broke. Then he said that she would drag the whole floor with her if she borrowed Jomeis cloak. Accidentaly, Zandras arm bent so her elbow hitted Jomei in the side at the waist. She glanced at him and smirked.''Oops, Im soooo sorry. I realy didnt meant to do that.'' She maybe was shorter then Jomei, but she have found out there was many players in Aincrad she was on par with, or even taller then some, both guys and girls. And she knew he was just joking with her so she didnt took it too serious.

"Now what would be the fun in that? ". ''Thats exactly what I thougth.'' Zandra replied. She knew alot of secret paths in here as well. She didnt knew where to lead her loved travel companion. Then she thougth about a place. It was kind of hard to get to, but since he had his skills it probably would go smooth.''Well, I have a question to you honey. Hows youre body skills back in real life? Like muscular, lith, good balance and so on?''

[Jomei 0]

The man got an elbow in his ribcage for making fun of Zandra's height compared to his. He laughed playfully, "Oy, watch it." he pulled his hand away from Zandra's and threw his arm around her. He then pulled the girl closer, hugging her... gently, but mostly around her neck.. to his body. He then let the girl go and took her hand in his own again, grinning warmly at his girlfriend. Jomei had to admit, he was mad at himself for never noticing the increasing feelings he had for Zandra over the months. Even though he met new people, even had crushes on other people during that time, he merely mistook his deeper feelings for Zandra as just friendly gestures. But when she came back, and after the boss fight, Jomei really began to realize just how much he cared for and loved Zandra. His cheeks flushed a slight pink as he looked at the girl out of the corner of his eyes, smiling. The girl then asked Jomei what his 'body skills' were like in the real world. Jomei's face almost turned a bright red when he heard this, thinking the girl was asking something different. But she quickly went into explanation of what she meant. Phew.. "Hm.. Well, how I look now is pretty much the body I had in the real world." Jomei moved his cloak off of his shoulders to reveal his upper arms, he flexed one of them gently to show he had a slightly athletic body.. nothing close to having large muscles or being very strong, but enough that he could be proud of. "I used to do track and field while I was in college back in Ireland.. so that has kept me mostly in shape. When it does not come to that though, I can actually be a pretty clumsy person." he laughed. "What about you?"

[Zandra 0]

Zandra watched Jomeis arm when she saw his athletic body. He was realy a hottie. Or that was she thougth at least.''Oh my, you have a realy hot body there. Havent watched it in more precisely, if you know what I mean.'' Jomei had placed his arm around her and she felt the warmth. Her armour kept her warm yes, but this was another kind of warmth.''I saw you blushed when I said body skill. I am a swede so dont understand all meanings you say, I also maybe gonna say weird comments. What does body skills mean?'' She didnt answered his question, yet, because she was getting closer to a pretty special place.

When the couple turned around a wall, they saw another gap. Thou much lower, only about two-three meter, and the ground was in an angle, so if you fell down you can easily walk back to where they stood now. But to get to the other side of the room, they either needed to climb a three meter tall ice wall, or walk on an ice-beam about a half feet wide.''Well, when back in the real world, I was trainging gymnastics, so didnt got any real muscles.''she looked up the beam.''This is to hard for me in this armour. Im gonna show you my latest thing Ive got.''she opened up her inventory and equiped the holy armour of the eagle instead of the half-plate she had always been using while beeing with Jomei before. This one was alot more revealing. It colour theme was wine-red and silver metal. There places with metal was over her chest, at her under arms, at her hips, some over her biceps and last a weird shaped wine-red metal on her head, like an eagles beak. On some places you can see feathers under the metal.''Well, this is my body like it looked back then.'' she held up her arm, flexing the biceps the same way Jomei did. You could see it raising about a milimeter or so.''Not as muscular as you thou. But it seems I still have my balance left.''she said and smiled at her boyfriend.''Well, see you up there.'' she said and pointed at the other side of the room, three meters up. She turned around and started to run up on the beam, her arms straigth out to better hold her balance.

[Jomei 0]

Jomei coughed when Zandra asked what he thought when she said body skills. "W-Well.. I dunno. I guess just the thought of you asking about my body got me blushing a bit is all." he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. Jomei's blush kept with him when Zandra admitted Jomei had an attractive body, "You think so?" he smiled down at her. "Thanks." He pulled his cloak forward again so his shoulders were not being revealed. Despite not feeling the cold as much, he still was not too fond of the cool breeze running along his bare skin. 

After turning a corner, they came upon another gap in the road. Before realizing that it was much less problematic to fall into, Jomei shot a glance over  at Zandra and grabbed her hand a little bit tighter, just in case she decided to run for it again. However, once he realized it was a mere hole that may have been a foot or two taller than him, he let out a sigh of relief. Zandra told Jomei that in the real world, she took gymnastics, "Well sounds like you were in good shape too then." he said with a smile. "Hm? Something new..?" Jomei crossed his arms and looked over at the girl, who said she was going to show Jomei something she had just gotten. After going into her inventory, Zandra's heavy metal armor lit up in a bright white flash and changed shape. When the white dissipated, she was clad in new armor. From the looks of it, it looked almost like a light-heavy armor, as in her whole body was not covered, but it made use of metal plates. Unlike the earlier armor, this one was much more revealing, showing off some of her skin as well as cloth parts and even feathers. Jomei's eyes widened and mouth hung agape for a moment, taking in the girl's new appearance. Jomei thought the girl looked beautiful before, but now being able to see just how her body looked out of the armor.. he thought she was simply stunning. "..Wow.." he said softly, as he looked at the girl, his open mouth turning into a smile,and his eyes looked at her lovingly. Jomei shook his head to get out of the trance he was in and followed after Zandra. He took a step on the beam and felt his body wobble. He did not have as much balance as the girl did, and needed to be more careful. With his arms slightly out to his sides and his knees bent, Jomei slowly made his way up the three meter beam to where the girl was standing. 

[Zandra 0]

When Zandra had reached the top she turned around to look at Jomei. He had chosen to take the beam as well. It didnt went as quick as for her. But he reached the top without falling."Nice. I thougth you would take the flar surface a grip the edge with your fingers, pulling yourself up." She embraced her boyfriend."Im so happy we finally are together." She knew it was kind of out of the blue, but she just had to say it."Sweetie." She added. When she said the last word her voice shaked a little. Not because she didnt had those fewlings she had confessed. Nor was she embarresed of it. It just felt so different. After all, this was the first time in her whole life she had said that to anothwr person.

[Jomei 0]

Jomei let out a huff as he reached the upper platform, being he was holding his breath the whole time as he walked the beam. "Well.. that would have been the easy route." he said with a chuckle, "and I couldn't have you showing me up, now could I?" he said with a wink. Zandra then stepped forward, wrapping her arms around Jomei in a tight embrace. Without the cold metal plates covering her entire body, Jomei could actually feel Zandra's body heat, similarly to how it felt when he woke up with her laying on his chest. She was happy the two were finally together as a couple. The man could not help but smile, and wrap his arms around the girl as well. Zandra then, hesitantly, called Jomei sweetie. Her words were shaky as she said it. Sounded as if it were something she had never said before. Jomei chuckled lightly at the girl. "Me too. For once.. in a long time.. I feel happy, and okay with the world, asthore." Jomei was more of a fan of using names for others, such as sweetie as Zandra called him, using the Irish-English words he heard from his family and friends back in Ireland. 

[Zandra 0]

Zandra hugged Jomei, with her ear on his chest. He agreed about they beeing together like a couple now, and that the world was okay. Then she said something that made Zandra open her eyes wide open, staring at the wall beside them. Then she backed away a step and let away of her hug.''Did you just called me a**hole?'' or that was what she thougth she herd. Thou she within herself she begged to the gods that she had herd wrong. It also seemed like she did herd wrong. When Jomei had described for her she let out a sigh of relief.''Phew, sorry to make that conclusion, I should know you'dnever all me that. Unless you have acted this whole time, but it dosent feel so.'' she gripped his hand and led him into the new opening. This was rely like those dungeons you do to find easter eggs in MMO's, and she loved those places. Thats one of the reasons she traveled Aincrad for several months alone. She looked up at Jomei.''I can give you a hint of where we are going. In other MMO's there is secret locations and such, also called easter eggs right? After my several months long exploring trip, I found alot of easter eggs in Aincrad.'' She said and then turned her attention to the cave that seemed to never end.

[Jomei 0]

Jomei felt the girl let go of the embrace suddenly and step back, a confused look in her eyes. Apparently, Jomei's use of Irish-English had confused her, and she thought he called her an asshole. Jomei's eyes widened and he waved his hands apologetically in front of his chest. "Nonono! Of course not! I said asthore.. it comes from the Gaelic word, a stór.. which is like calling you my dear, or more specifically my treasure." He let out a sigh of relief when Zandra seemed to calm down from the miscommunication, "Sorry, I usually don't throw old Irish words into conversation like that... I just like using those words more than using English endearments." He stepped forward towards Zandra and placed his hand on her cheek, and then leaning forward he gave her a kiss on the cheek. He stood up straight gave her a grin and a wink, "Come on asshole, lets keep going." he said playfully, just to tease the girl. 

She took his hand again and the two continued their journey through the ice cave. Jomei looked around with a smile on his face, "I guess theres something with us and caves, huh." he chuckled. Looking at the wall that ran along the path they walked. It was darker on the inside, so he was able to see the reflection of him and Zandra walking together. It was one feeling to be in the relationship, but to actually see yourself with the one you love was a complete different feeling that made him happier. Zandra brought his attention back to what they were doing, saying it was like an easter egg of Sword Art Online. Jomei's face lit up, in video games he played he always loved trying to find those little secrets the game developers threw in for players to find. "I can't wait to see it." 

[Zandra 0]

The couple continued thru the cave that have started to get a little darker. Making the walls reflecting the travelers. She saw that she still was wearing her holy armour of the eagle. But she didnt froze. Of course she got some warmth from her boyfrined, but that wasnt enough to make a person feel warm. She thougth her body has settled with the cold environment here on floor four. Those hours beeing inside without starting a fire in the fireplace had seemed to given results. She wasnt hardened enough for it to protect against seriously harsh cold, cold that would reduce your abilitys or health. She also saw the taller ginger walking by her side. Now the truth struck her even more. They realy was a couple. Zandra so much wanted them to reach the easter egg she have in thougth for Jomei. She hoped he would be surprised as well. She was the first time she found it. She recognised a special iceshape on the wall.''Well, you have to wait, thou not for very long. We starting to getting closer. Snygging.'' she leaned her head towards Jomeis shoulder.

[Jomei 0]

Jomei looked down at Zandra who had just teased him about having to wait a little bit longer, before calling him something. Jomei blinked at turned his head more towards her, "Was that something in Swedish?" he chuckled. That was the first time he ever heard Zandra speak her native tongue to Jomei, or at least.. he thought that was Swedish. He wondered if it was possibly a playful insult like he had said to her, or if she was just doing the same as Jomei and using endearments from another language. Either way, it was fun to hear her talk in this foreign language. He looked at the girl again and it hit him that she was not wearing the same armor as before, and this one was much more light and revealing. He could not tell if the girl had the same warming effects with this armor, or if she had just gotten used to the cold. Either way, Jomei's kindness took over instead of asking first. He gently pulled his hand away from hers and slipped the cloak off over his head. He then placed it over her shoulders so it fell in front of her, covering most of her arms. "As much as I love looking at you in that armor, I'd rather you be warm." He smiled softly before walking by her side again. 

[Zandra 0]

Jomei asked if her she had called him something in swedish.''Maaybee...'' she said and smiled towards him, letting out a small giggle. They had continued for just a few seconds when Zandra suddenly felt something warm covering the back of her body as well as most of the front. When she looked down to see what it was there was some green fabric. She looked up at Jomei and saw that he didnt had his cloak equiped any longer. Zandras whole face suddenly changed into a more redish colour and she looked away. That was a compliment she had wanted to hear from him for some time, but when she herd it 'in real' she didnt knew how to react.''Oh, thank you. Then you letting me see more of youre body better and Im as grateful for that like I am for you loaning me your cloak.'' she took a grip of the edges of the cloak and moved them so they covered her whole body, no opening in the front. Like a half cucumber with a human head on top.''So, now Im gonna bring the whole floor with us to the easter egg?'' she said, relating to what Jomei had said a few hours earlier.

[Jomei 0]

Jomei's cheeks flushed red when Zandra thanked Jomei not only for the cloak, but for revealing more of his body for her to see. Honestly, the man did not think he had anything attractive about himself, let alone his body. But Zandra's continuous compliments made Jomei happy, and even more confident. "So I guess It's a win win then." he said with a wink at the girl. He placed one of his hands on the wall next to him, which was cold and smooth. His fingers glided along the wall without any flaws or bumps. It truly was an amazing place. He turned his head back to Zandra, "So, how much longer until we get to this secret place?" 

[Zandra 0]

''Yeap, its realy a win win.'' she said. She didnt cared about answering his other question when they turned around a corner. Since this was gonna be the last challenge before they would reach the place they have went towards now for quite some time.''Now time to climb.'' She smiled at Jomei and pointed upwards. There you could see the sun shine down. They was in a fifty meters deep hole. With ice clad walls. But the walls was covered it small snowcovered platforms and spikes with even space between each others. It looked like one of those competition climbing walls back in the real world, except that this one was mostly made of ice, had about half as many places to grip as the hardest difficultys, and last but defintily not least, no safty line.''Youre ready?''

[Jomei 0]

The two turned one last corner to be met with a large wall blocking any further distance into the cave. Jomei figured they must have made a wrong turn somewhere.. maybe when Zandra asked him which direction he wanted to go in. He was about to apologize when Zandra said it was time to climb. Jomei looked at the girl, then up at the wall. He noticed small areas where they could grab on to to assist them in climbing up the wall, which was pretty damn high up. Jomei smirked and placed his hands on his waist, "Well, this is going to get interesting." Jomei was about to start climbing up the wall when he stopped and turned to Zandra, "You should go first and I'll follow right behind you. That way, in case you fall, I can catch you." he smiled.