The Survival Logs || Sword Art Online Fanfic

PK Pandemonia Arc: Chapter 69 - Locked Promise

19 February 2024

Katalysis, 43rd Floor

POV: Rakuno

I needed.....answers.

Just answers to questions that I really needed answered from that guy who seemed to know stuff that me--or even the others in the party--didn't.

It was just too much to take in; Krieg's capture, a player with a weapon that I had never ever seen being used before, and a player that THAT guy said he had 'found'.

Well.....that guy..... should I call him Zena or Xana? I guess they both sound the same anyway.

After Kira went off, along with her torch, which left us in the dark for a while, he turned and simply headed back to the city area. My eyes still followed Kira's torch as it moved along the wall borders, which would then disappear in the other side of the city.

I went after Zena's dark figure, my footsteps clearly ringing around me. I wanted to ask him, but I figured I should choose when, just not now. Whatever made him just walk back to the city without a word must have been quite something.

But still, answers.

He finally spoke when we had reached the very fronts of our inn room doors. His tone was soft, discreet, as he leaned onto his door while facing mine.

"I'll explain everything tomorrow, but you have to keep what you have heard and seen to yourself. If the others in the party asks about tonight.....we never went to the wall borders. Except for Krieg, of course."

"About Krieg," I asked. "Does he know about Kira?"

"He knows," Zena turned the door knob. "He's a great secret keeper. I hope you're one too."

Fast forward to the next morning. Now, to be exact. Meghan and Alexis were out again, to investigate who they now called the 'Reaper'. They had actually started partying up with him, though Meghan's cursor was still as green as ever.

"She has to accept her orange cursor eventually," Alexis leaned over to me with a wink as Meghan went out the door first. "Still in her rebellious phase, but I'll make sure it wears out on her."

"Sure.....I'll be cheering....." I replied with a totally 'cheerful' tone, as I stared on at Alexis closing the door behind her, slipping a wave at me before it closed shut.

And opened again, with Alexis holding on to the door knob with a grin.

"The party leader's here for you."

Literally a second passed before I realized that she meant Zena, and another passed while I jumped, looking down at my clothes, which was simply a shirt and shorts that I usually equipped for sleep. Scrambling with my system menu, I hurried to change to my day gear.

"Y-you should have told me sooner!"

"He just left his room. What did you expect me to do? Anyway, take your time. And don't forget the hat!"

She closed the door again, but the awareness that Zena was outside had me with much urgency to not keep him waiting for long.

By the time I had my hat and swords on me, and reached for the door, it had already been about 3 minutes. Actually, I ignored the fact that I took that long to prepare myself.

Damn, it really wasn't easy to ignore that.

The door swung to reveal Zena, looking the usual with his gear and all, as he leaned on his room door, turning to me as I appeared at mine.

"About time. Do you always take that long to prep?"

"Well, with Meghan and Alexis, you can kinda lose track of time....." My excuse wasn't exactly the best around in my mind, but it was factual enough.