Shattered: A SAO Tale (Sword Art Online)

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Oof, semester is finally over. Maybe I'll finally be able to stockpile a few chapters. I already have another one lined for Friday, so you can look forward to it!

//////// START OF THE CHAPTER ///////

Laughter was not an usual reaction to finishing a boss raid, especially that of a round floor. Relief, tiredness, exhaustion, sadness, pain, despair - all of the above. And some happiness too, sometimes. But not laughter. Never laughter.

And yet, that was exactly the sound that echoed throughout the boss room. Broken, hesitant at first. But gaining strength as the frontliners counted again, and then a third time, and the numbers matched.

They had done it. They had conquered the 30th floor, a round floor, one of SAO's most deadly challenges... Without losing anyone.

It wasn't a miracle. The Assault Team had worked themselves to the bone preparing for this fight. And they had their strongest line-up in probably all of SAO history, with just about a dozen titled players and nearly half as many Unique Skill holders.

And still, many of them had very nearly died. Vallerk was still staring at the stump of his right arm, torn at the shoulder by Prometheus.

But they had done it. Despite everything, miracle or not. They won. They survived.

Yuna kissed Drifter without a care in the world for all the eyes watching them. Asuna dragged Kirito into a shorter, but no less passionate, kiss. Ran was more discreet when she grabbed Nautilus, but Yuuki jumped on Sinon with a squeal, peppering her cheeks and lips with kisses alternatively.

There was a trend ongoing there which Drifter didn't mind at all.

Wolv had hoisted Silica onto his shoulders, and Pina nested on Agil's head as the big man clapped Shigio and Griselda on the back.

Klein had an arm around Kizmel's shoulder and was probably flirting with her - he was a lost cause. But everyone deserves a little cheer right now, and the dark elf seemed happy enough to entertain the red-haired player and his guild, even if Feredir kept growling and trying to get in-between them.

Shivata was clapping hands with Ambros and his guildmates. Lind and Liten were making the rounds with the DKB.

The Braves surrounded Heathcliff and his Knights of the Blood Oath and congratulated them on a battle well fought. This was the raid that cemented the KoB's position as a frontliner guild, and they were too happy to complain about being sidelined during the battle.

It was a party. Or it would be, once they got to the 31st floor and found an inn. Hopefully by then Vallerk's arm would have regrown - and that was still a strange sentence to think even if it was an unusual, but not uncommon, occurrence for frontliners.

Holding Yuna, Drifter thought of going over to the tank to impart some wisdom about missing limbs (read: tease him with dark humor), but someone beat him to the punch.

Liz had put her anvil and portable stove away - Volcano Forge would never not be a lifesaver - and approached Vallerk.

The spearmaster raised an eyebrow and hummed. That was not an expression he was used to seeing on Liz's face. Nor Vallerk's, although he hid it better.

Filling that tidbit of information for later, the Reaver just pulled his wife closer to him. Today was a good day. And it was only going to get better.

...

The 31st floor was pretty in an ephemeral kind of way. The ground was bare rock, spires rising and twisting into the shape of trees. Glowing red lines ran through all of it, like veins of magma coursing through the rock.

Here and there, natural vents spouted mist, like miniature volcanos. The mist never rose above their waist, and it pulsated faintly with the light of the ground beneath it.

Pretty, and potentially dangerous due to the low visibility. But nothing attacked them until they reached the main settlement, a sprawling city named Rheitergast, so the Assault Team was only too happy to put it out of their minds for a while.

Right now, they were only focused on one thing. Celebrating.

And it was a proper party. For once, the frontliners allowed themselves to let go. The inn they chose was full to bursting as the entire Assault Team crammed into it.

The revelry spilled out of the door as the clearer divisions and normal players of the larger guild's, like DKB and KoB, joined. And then it grew to encompass all of Rheitergast as other players teleported to the newest floor to explore, and unknowingly or willingly got drawn in.

Drifter could swear he even saw some of Akari's shadows around. Not wearing their - sometimes ridiculous - cosplay clothes, and skulking in the darkness, but with their faces out in the open, talking and laughing like any other player.

Keita and Tetsu and Sachi were there, obviously. As was Nezha, chatting with the Legend Braves and Argo.

Sasha and the kids had come up to see what all the fuss was about, and congratulate the frontliners. Kizmel and Silica were keeping them distracted with Pina and Feredir to make sure they didn't get lost or somehow left the safe zone.

It was a party. A huge one. Throughout all of Aincrad, people got into the mood and celebrated, even the ones who had stopped caring. Because, just maybe, they saw a little bit of it in the Assault Team's victory.

It was a party. Completely blown out of proportion. A waste of time and feelings. A surefire way to lower their guards and get killed later.

It should never have happened. Not like this. A few drinks and swapping stories? Sure. Taking the rest of the day off to visit the hot springs and go out on a dare with their partners? No problem. But not this. Drifter and Kirito and Lind and Shivata and Argo and all the other frontliners should have put a stop to it.

But they didn't. Instead, they enjoyed a party like Aincrad had never seen before, unknowing and uncaring of the disbelief of the outside world at how overly exaggerated it was.

Because they felt it. That same thing that made Sasha and the kids laugh. That got Shadow Blossom Akari and Fuumaningum to let go some. That had Argo the Rat for once stopping and enjoying, instead of running around.

That thing that had Broken Spear Drifter and Dragon Knight Lind beckoning Holy Sword Heathcliff for a drink. That pulled, against their will, the recluses who refused to leave their rooms since SAO's first day.

That little, kindling flame that the frontliners hadn't felt in months, now starting to burn again. Real, this time. Not the show they put on to soothe the rest of the players.

Hope.

What a dangerous emotion to have. Necessary, no doubt, because if you had no hope, were you truly living? But oh so dangerous.

Nothing killed more than hope. Hope in a better future. Hope in escaping. Hope in surviving just another floor. You always died with hope on your lips.

Drifter knew that. How many times had he seen that line crossed, almost stepped over it himself? Of course he knew.

But he let it happen, let the party go on, let the players cheer and boast and brag and hope.

Now, as the sun disappeared under the lower floors of Aincrad, the spearmaster sat on the edge of the 31st floor, feet dangling over the abyss. Like always, the sunset was beautiful, no matter where in Aincrad you were.

The party was winding down. Or, rather, it had broken up, each guild and group going their separate ways. To inns to rest and prepare for another day, for frontliners never stopped, or to lower floors, to their own homes or restaurants, bars, parks or plazas to continue the night.

Drifter stayed on the 31st floor. Reaver's Requiem still didn't have a headquarters, although they would have to find one soon. And he wasn't drunk nor trying, like many of his friends.

He was just watching the sunset. Until he felt her presence behind him, and allowed himself to melt into his lover's arms.

"You let everyone have fun, so why won't you give yourself a break too?"

"I am?"

He really thought he was. He had laughed and joked with Reaver's Requiem and Fuurinkazan, had drunk with Heathcliff of all people. He felt pretty relaxed. But Yuna breathed on the back of his neck in a sigh that was both exasperation and pity.

"You can lie to yourself, dummy, but not to me."

He still wasn't fully sure what she meant, but Drifter knew himself well enough to take a guess.

"I'm brooding?"

He worded it like a question, but it wasn't really. The spearmaster knew he was likely to brood, or fall into deep thought, whatever you wanted to call it. It happened whenever he thought about the future and the floors to come, which was pretty much all the time.

"I wouldn't say brooding... But you definitely have your 'I'm thinking, don't bother me' face on. And I can't even see your face."

Drifter rolled his eyes, even if, reiterating, Yuna couldn't see it. Then he turned around in her embrace, his back to the edge now, and put his forehead to hers.

"Better now?"

"Much."

She smiled, and he kissed her. Because he loved her, because she knew what he worried about, and she feared the same. Because she was a frontliner too, his songbird.

"I guess I'll only really relax when we are out. But for tonight-"

Drifter heaved, hauling Yuna up by her hips and turning his body at the same time. It would have sent both of them tumbling over the edge if his stats weren't so much higher than a normal human's.

As it was, Drifter was steady as a rock despite their position. And it wasn't really a free fall, he wasn't that stupid. There was a small ledge beneath them that you only saw if you got really close.

But ledge or not, the view was astounding. From there, nearly a third of the way up Aincrad, it was like the sun was sinking into an ocean of clouds right underneath their feet.

Yuna sighed, and leaned into his side. One of Drifter's arms automatically came around her back to secure her.

"70 more floors to go."

"30 down already. Think positive."

"I am. Only 70 more floors to go. It isn't close, not yet. But we are getting there. And nobody died this time."

"Don't get cocky. That's how we die."

"Never. Not anymore. But for the first time, it feels like I can see it. The top. The end."

Drifter gently tilted her head with his fingers and looked up himself. The ceiling - or the bottom of the next floor, whatever - was in the way. But he knew what Yuna meant. He could almost see it too.

"We'll get there. Not now, not soon. But we will."

He said it with the kind of confidence that shook Seijirou and Ogawa and Kenji to their cores, for different reasons. Because Drifter wasn't promising anything. He wasn't saying everyone would live starting now. He just believed.

And that was enough.

...

Truly, Sword Art Online brought forth the worst and the best of people. Because there obviously was something wrong with Drifter for him to be waking everyone up at 7 AM the morning after the largest party Aincrad had ever seen.

"Ugh... What the hell. Who hurt you, Drifter?"

"I'll hurt him if he doesn't stop smiling in the next five seconds. Asshole."

His Reavers were not happy with getting roused that early. Not because of the time itself, although that certainly played a part, but mainly because they had gone to bed just shy of 3 AM.

The spearmaster had no sympathy towards them. A new day, a new floor trying to kill them. That's how it went.

"Dunno whatcha talking about, Sinon. We wake up at this time everyday. And you should be happy! Argo got a few people out last night, and they found a whole heap of flying mobs for you to shoot down! We are gonna have a field day! Now get up before I get Feredir over here to lick your face."

As far as threats go, that was a pretty bad one. The archer gave Drifter the finger and buried her head on the crook of Yuuki's neck when her girlfriend plopped down in bed again after opening the door for their guild leader.

Drifter grinned widely as he skipped his way to the room Shigio and Vallerk shared. This was still payback for that hellish week of teasing his dear guildmates put him through after Kirito transferred Reaver's Requiem's leadership to him.

"You know Sin's gonna get revenge for that, right?"

Not everyone hated mornings, and a few were psychopaths like Drifter. Griselda walked together with the spearmaster, having happened on the scene of him knocking on people's doors when she came out of her room - she had very helpfully closed the door behind her before Drifter could think of waking poor Sachi.

"Course. I can't wait for it!"

"You are going to get stabbed. I realize that's not that harsh of a threat in SAO, but you are going to get stabbed."

"Heh. Shigio and Vallerk don't have knives."

"I'm sure they'll find something."

Griselda drawled, and Drifter laughed. But the woman also agreed it was time to get back in the swing of things. The party had been fun, but until they got out of SAO, it was bound to be a one-time thing.

...

Half an hour later, everyone was more-or-less awake and had finished breakfast. With a few last glares towards Drifter, the Reavers split up into parties to explore the floor. There were a lot of flying mobs in this floor, and the spearmaster was having fun shooting them all down with Serpentcoil Impale.

And down below, several floors underneath the Reavers, another group was still celebrating the Assault Team clearing the 30th floor with no casualties.

Cloaked figures laughed as they crouched around a sorry player crawling away from them, his legs cut off below the knees. The only sign of his party were the flickering shards quickly vanishing into nothing.

"N-No... P-Please don't! Please! No- Argh!"

The player sobbed and begged, but all the figures did was laugh. Then an oversized meat cleaver fell down, and severed his head.

Laughing Coffin celebrated the successful raid of the 30th floor too. Why wouldn't they? When also would they get all those hopeful idiots thinking they actually amounted to something and leaving the safety of the cities?

Such delicious prey.