SAO: Council of Blood

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Catching up to him, Mya didn't know what she would say to him or even feel. She wasn't happy, but she did feel somewhat relieved. There was so much she wanted to ask him. Why did he leave? Who were the PKers? Why did he show up all of a sudden? Not to mention he also felt...different. His presence seemed different than the one she knew a while back, but whether it was a good thing or bad thing she didn't know. She frowned at his response. "Dangerous out here? Is that what you say to someone you haven't seen for some time? If you didn't care about me, I would've let it slide, but I know you aren't like that. Masamune...there's a lot I want to know. I have so many questions to ask...but I know you'll just leave me being more confused than before. Why did you come back all of a sudden? Is it because of me? Or is it something PoH said?" ​

 

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So many questions...it was just like Mya. The familiarity of it made him smile. "Would you even believe me if I told you it was a little of both?" Tossing his one rule not to look at her out the window, Masamune slowly turned on his heel and set red-brown eyes on the woman he'd been following around in secret since the day he vanished. "I told you...you wouldn't see me for a long while. I'm back now..." Saying things that he knew she wanted to hear weren't natural for him. "PoH...so you remember that name, huh? Good...I was worried you wouldn't remember." pfft...he wanted her to forget everything that had ever happened. His fingers twitched and he lifted his hand to comb through his hair, "I'm sorry, M..." her name caught in his throat, "I'm just sorry.... For disappearing...for the insanity before I disappeared. For everything. I shouldn't have come here today but...if I hadn't...I...I just couldn't see something you've worked hard for be burned down by some hack." A hack he wanted for himself. Sighing heavily, Masamune lifted his face to the sky, "These are PoH's orders..."

 

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Mya smiled, even letting out a small laugh. "You're still the same like back then. Worrying about small things like my shop and stuff. Apologizing like that. Making excuses. You don't have to say all these things. You're always in something when stuff like this happens, but I know better than to ask." She stared back with her deep, blue eyes. "No matter how frustrated I get with you doing all these kinds of crap, I know you'll pull through with that cocky smile of yous and giving me your usual 'By the way, I won't be seeing you for a while.' talk. It's just...I'm glad to see you're fine. Orders or not, you would've come back anyways. Speaking of orders, when did lil' old PoH started to care about my business? I don't remember him wanting to buy some flashy new clothes." The game did put a toll on Mya, giving her a more carefree attitude than before, some would even say dangerously ignorant as well as deathly protective of her friends.​

 

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Easing into a smile, Masamune leaned on his left leg and set a hand on his hip, "Hmph...and here I thought I was hiding it so well." On the note of PoH, Masamune groaned inwardly and flicked open a new message and typed out a reply for his so-called important leader. "PoH isn't into flashy clothes. But he is into the weapons dealer that sets up shop behind yours. Fortunately, by putting out the fire around your shop...I kill two birds with one stone." He took a step towards Mya, feeling the slow ailment finally release him and the tax of using his skill let up. "Listen...since you're friends with Ms. Beater and Mr. Super-Annoying-Knight, I think it's better if you didn't mention my involvement in this. I'd rather not have more players on my tail. Unless..." grinning, Masamune danced around Mya, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and leaning down to whisper in her ear, "You'd like to chase me?"
"Masamune!"
He was hallucinating...how utterly annoying. "I'm joking of course," releasing her, his smile faded as quickly as it came. "You...still have it right? That thing I gave you? I'd hate to think you pawned something like that. Though it was rather valuable..."

 

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Mya shrugged. "Figures. He wasn't the type that would be into clothes. Meh whatever. Everyone is going in a panic after that move here." She yelped softly as he spun around her and whispered into her ear. "Look at you, being all cheeky with me..." She was about to respond until he responded to his own question, his face making Mya question his position as of now, but his other comment perked her up. "Yea I still have it..." She pulled out the dagger. It seemed like a long time ago since she was given this dagger my Masamune. It was the last time she saw him before today. "I don't throwaway things like this if they hold such a value within them. I'm not talking about money. I'm talking about memories." She stared at the dagger with hazy eyes before shaking her head and smiling. "Why bring this up all of a sudden? You want it back?"​

 

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As much as he disliked everything about his current situation... "Huh? Oh, no, I'd rather still leave it in your care." Gazing fondly at the dagger, he couldn't help but smile, "That was given to me...by someone very important. I'd tell you his name...but I think I've forgotten it...along with his face. He was the very first person to actually try to kill me." His smile didn't fit his words, but to Masamune the memory was a good one. "I couldn't bring myself to actually kill him...so our duel consisted of if he won...I'd let him kill me and if I won...I'd get his dagger." Remembering it now...he should've just killed him and saved him the trouble of this entire game. But then...the fantasy of seeing him again would disappear. "Well, how've you been, M..." Again, her name stuck in his throat. Exhaling, he gave up the notion of being able to say her name fully for a while, "I bet working the shop has been difficult. After all your materials aren't exactly common. You've probably got a lot of guys trailing after you like dogs too. I'm almost tempted just to show up one day and scare the coding right out of them." Laughing to himself, Masamune actually felt good for once. 'I have to do this more often....'

 

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Mya nodded and placed it back into her inventory, a small hint of sadness as she noticed him not saying her name as if it would get him into trouble should he say it. "Oh it's fine. Not a lot of people, but I don't really mind. And the guys part isn't true. I got a lot of hype just from you being with me in the tournament. That's enough for the guys to stay away from me. They believe you'd kill them if they gotten within 20 feet." She gave a small laugh. "Ahh...people are so gullible. Believing every rumor and story...but is it really a rumor though Masamune?" She looked up at him closely. "Is it?"​

 

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She ran through town seeing the fire burning further inland towards them instead of towards Mya's shop. In fact, several of the buildings seemed destroyed. Star rushed fasted hoping that her friend would be alright. She didn't expect to come across smoke in a town, it was a lot more realistic then the time her and Masaru journeyed into the volcanic floor. How could this have happened, she thought.

They then reached the shop where they encountered Mya... and Masamune. Star unsheathed her sword ready for the PKer. "What are you doing here Masamune!" She turned toward Mya who seemed to be awefullu close to him. "Mya, get out of here, this man is a killer." She turned back to him. "Is this all your doing you murderer!?"

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The two warped back to their organisation. It was a floor unseen by any player in the game, Floor 0. A floor that could only be accessed once the first 99 floors had been completely won. It was meant as a place for players to grind and be prepared for the upcoming final battle. Alpha had found a way in through without that primary objective. Floor 0: The Pitch Black Wastelands

Alpha sat down in his seat that centered a large rounded table. All the members at this time were with them. "My mission was a success thanks to Inferna and her beasts."
"Lets see Silica beat me now. No one can tame better than I."
"My mission on the 30th floor had also gone my way. These 'cheats' you call them have come quite in handy with my PKing abilities. My next target will surely be The Black Swordsman." A man said in a black robe.
"Glad to hear that, PoH. Fear will soon be able to spread and all of SAO can rage in fear." He laughed at the idea of pure chaos raging down. "Ah yes, PoH, I ran into your little second helper."
"You mean Masamune?"
"Yeah. He seemed quite interested in going along with our plans. However, if he does come along, he will be given limited power. He relation to that tailor Mya has proven in the past to be a weakness."
"Understood. All I can do is say he is in. I have no power to grant him such abilities."
"Yeah, Alpha, when are we going to be given that option?"
"I am afraid that I cannot give that ability to any of you. This plan must be thought through carefully. Now, everyone return to your normal lives. I will call you all later once Chaos has engulfed the world. Oh, don't be afraid to kill someone every now and again either." He then stood up and bowed as Inferna and PoH left.

 

Masaru saw the carnage ocuring and he was surprised such a attack could of occured in a Safe Zone, he thought buildings were immortal object, soemhow, it was achieved and he was concerned, could Kayaba be behind this? "No, he wouldn't ruin his world like this, especially with that complex he shown on Day One, but if so, how woudl anyone be able to bypass the coding? A developer of the game?" he thought to hismelf, ti wasn't entirely possible but fi the game's coding were manpluated, that would mean they would probably bypass the Safe Zone limitations and commence Pking without a Duel Argeement.

"I doubt that, Kayaba wouldn't just let it all run wild, knowing our minds would be stressed out from such a ordeal, plus there are children in this world, who never even played such a game like this, he wouldn't dare let them die within a village." he stopped his train of thought as Star's words brought him back to reality, she drawn her sword and declared Masamune the title he was known for, of course, she'd react that way, no-one really liked Masamune after what he did when the first dungeon was being cleared and killing a Player that could fo been stopped if Star didn't drag him away and the others in the group found his tactics and stratgies very thoughtful and a leader at best.

"I highly doubt it Star." he said as he stood beside her, arms crossed. "I'm sure as you know, the towns are Safe Zones and buildings are Immortal objects as well, ony yway you'd bypass the coding is if you're a developer of the game, you're free to command the code, like a GM or change the game's data in the Real World, which he cannot do cause he cannot Log Out, if he had the abilty to do this, he'd need to Log Out or become a GM, which Kayaba Akihiko never declared there was any GM's other than himself as he watches over us all." he said, his reasoning actually having good points.

"Even if he did occur this damage which is unlikely, why is Mya's store untouched even though the burning buildings are relatively close to her store? Wouldn't he have let that burn to the ground too if his intentions were this? " he asked.

 

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Unnerved by Mya's question, Masamune hesitated to answer and suddenly found Star shrieking at him like an old cat who'd gotten her tail stepped on. Masamune let them talk amongst themselves for a while, listening to Masaru for a moment before adopting a malicious grin, "I'm so glad you know all that, Mr. Knight. And it's very nice to see you too, Ms. Beater. Oh, I'm sorry...MRS. Beater." Laughing a bit as he fixed his address of Star. "I haven't seen you two in such a long time...I'm very happy to know you both missed me so much that you'd actually come out and accuse me of such damage." A not so cheery idea popped into his head and he took a threatening step towards the pair, "IF it were me who did this...which unfortunately it isn't...I'd have chosen a much bigger town to burn. Like maybe...the Town of Beginnings." Flicking his blade out of it's sheath and catching it in his right hand, Masamune tucked his left hand behind his back and pulled out a warp crystal out of his inventory. "You miss one little thing, Mr. Knight... I....can't tell you." Shifting his stance, he laughed and hopped back and cradled Mya's chin in his hand along with the warp crystal, whispering down to her, "You know the answer to your own question. ...I'll see you soon....Mya." With that, he squeezed the crystal and warped away from the floor and back to the Laughing Coffin's guild headquarters.

 

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Waiting for a response, her thoughts were interrupted by Masaru and Star walking in. She completely forgot they saw Masamune as a heartless killer. Damn...I completely forgot. If only they know the complexity of the whole thing...She nodded, deciding not to complicate this anymore. Him and his threats again. Besides the killng during the first week, he never really kept his word on his threats. It sorta made her smile on the inside. She knew he wouldn't cause that much trouble. Until his little act interrupted her thoughts. The answer huh? I guess I do...After seeing him teleport out, she turned back to Star and Masaru with a smile, though it didn't feel right since the town was somewhat burned down. "Anyways my friends, it's nice to see you guys again."​

 

Judging by all the sounds that could be heard something was definitely going on outside the store. Fang waited until some of the noise to die out before poking his head outside the door. Whatever had made caused this seemed to be gone, but he still manage to just see the owner of the store run out. He was curious as to what was going on he left after her, though by the time he'd gotten there, the man had already left. "Well that was interesting." He said, making his presence known to the trio.

 

Star rushed over to Mya, hugging her tightly. "It is good to see you too. I am so happy you are safe. With that PKer running around I get so worried." Star and Mya had a past together. It all started before the 1st floor had been cleared. They even had to fight against each other in a tournament that Masaru and her won. Mya had paired up with Masamune, the second in command of the Laughing Coffin guild. She released her tight grip and went back to clutching Masaru's arm.

"I know its a bad time to ask, but are my clothes do-"

EVERYONE HAD WARPED FROM WHAT THEY WERE DOING AND MET AT THE FIRST FLOOR. THE EXACT LOCATION WHERE EVERYONE HAD MET THE FIRST TIME AROUND


The same events occurred. A blob of blood like matter came into the center. Kayaba would have a new message for them.
"Attention all players. It has come to my attention that a hack has occurred in my world. There have been a total of 20 players killed in safe zones within the past 10 minutes. I however am being blocked from locating any of these players. I have summonded you all here to alert you: Watch your backs. Only trust the ones you have known for the past year. I will try all I can to stop this terrorist attack in my world. Until the end, I bid you all farewell."


WITH THAT, EVERYONE RETURNED TO THE LOCATIONS OF WHERE THEY LEFT OFF.

Star looked at Masaru then back to Mya. "This is bad if the GM himself has to pull the string to get is all together once again."

 

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Mya smiled and hugged Star back. "It's good to see you too. You shouldn't worry about me too much. I know how to handle myself. Especially around him." She then let go and gave Ari a hard look. "There is nothing between me and him. Even if I did, it's none of your business." She was about to listen to Star until they were all suddenly teleported to the Town of Beginnings. The only person capable of doing this is Kayaba, the maker of this game. Sure enough, he came up.​

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"Attention all players. It has come to my attention that a hack has occurred in my world. There have been a total of 20 players killed in safe zones within the past 10 minutes. I however am being blocked from locating any of these players. I have summoned you all here to alert you: Watch your backs. Only trust the ones you have known for the past year. I will try all I can to stop this terrorist attack in my world. Until the end, I bid you all farewell."​

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Being teleported back, Mya grew worried. If even the game creator doesn't know why this is happening, it could be a very dangerous situation. "Yea...I have a very bad feeling." She then realized Star tried asking her a question with a clear intention of knowing what she wanted. After all, isn't that why she was here with Masaru? "Ah right Star! I have your clothes ready. Please come back in and I'll hand them over to you."​

 

Fang was a little surprised by the GM's actions. "So, he was aware of the situation." I made sense that he was, he was in charge of the game after all. Well, there was nothing he could do about it now. Going back to some less stressful matters he figured that the topic of that PK was a touchy one since she did answer. Fang did know how to take a hint and wasn't planning on mentioning it again for the moment. Still he decided to head back to her shop. Not as a act of stalking, more like trying too see if he could find something to get there.

 

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Being transported around annoyed the hell out of Masamune. He enjoyed Kayaba's discomfort at the sign of a hack. "It'll be a lot more trouble for you if I get my hands on that thing. With a hack like that...I can get rid of little Miss Beater and her self-rightous Knight in-not-so-shining-armor with ease." He should've done it the second he had the chance. Instead...he'd grown soft.
Back in the field he was standing in before Kayaba had chosen to bother him, he glared at the Bandit Job Class Players as they were placed exactly back where they deserved to be...in front of his sword. "Unfortunately for you...I was in a good mood earlier...but not anymore."

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Spoiler

Running through the last city that stood in his way, a blonde haired man still wearing a kimono bumped past several people on their way back to Mya's shop. "Sorry...excuse me!" Kayaba's words worried him and despite the repeated attempts to get in touch with the misguided creator, Minato had failed. Akihiko...why won't you let me help?! Why does everything have to be done on your own!? Almost on purpose, he bumped into and probably knocked over Star, the young female who'd he'd kept one of his many watchful eyes on.

 

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Star nodded at Mya. She glanced over to Fang. His question wasn't something she intended on answering. Her ties with that man was something of distaste. "Thank you Mya, Let us go-" Before she could finish her statement, a man ran into her. A familliar one too. She had recently sold this man some weaponry from her blacksmith shop. Falling onto the floor, she moaned in pain from the landing. "That wasn't very nice. You should watch where you are going.


-The Council Hall-

Alpha chuckled at the disturbance. Kayaba achieved something that he was planning to take months. Kayaba spread fear into the unaware players of his abilities. "Well done Master Kayaba. You have made my preparations go sooner than expected. Phase two is in order." He pulled up his messenger to send Inferna and Louvel a message.

To Inferna:

The time has come for recruitment. Bring Masamune to me. His help may be needed now sooner than expected.

To Louve:

I have a special mission for you. There is a group of people in front of the player known as Mya's shop. I want you to track them. Pretend to be their friend. When I give the order, show no mercy then. They show a sign of being a threat.

He closed the messenger and folded his hands. "There are two girls that are not among them that also show signs of being a threat. Lisbeth and Sllica. I will have to watch you two especially. I just hope they don't run into this group. It is also a good think that Kirito and Asuna are less interested in fighting now. This leads to our advantage." He sat up and opened up the portal. His destination, to kill Silica the Dragon Tamer.

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-Near Masamune-

Inferna waved her hair and grit her teeth. She hated how Alpha always got her involved with Masamune. It couldn't be helped. He enjoyed to torment anyone even his colleges. She jumped down from a tree with her spear in hand flinging down to the man Masamune was threatening. "Hey handsome. The boss of the council has some interest in you. I personally don't see why. Maybe he wishes the Laughing Coffin guild to be the blame of his work. PoH seemed to like the idea too."