Chapter 12: Motives
Piifalo
A moment later he grabs Ashas by the hair and holds her up, her body limp. Instantly I can feel energy rush through my veins as I struggle to my feet. The man steps back in surprise.
“Omoshiroi!” He exclaims. “Not long ago you could hardly turn your head! Don’t tell me you expect me to believe that you fight for this girl!”
I stop dead where I stand. Beneath me my legs shake uncontrollably and my breathing is wildly inconsistent. Finally I manage to pull the words out of my mouth. “I’ll… I’ll kill you,” I say faintly. Wait, what the hell? No that’s not what I meant to say. I struggle between breath, commanding my lips to move, but they refuse to obey. Just say it damn it! Tell him… I feel a hot tear forming in the corner of my eye. Just tell him that this is all… for Ashas. Say that I’ll fight to save her! I stare into his eyes with rage filling my heart, but my voice doesn’t work. I take a step forward and pull out my sword, while the man waits intently.
When my legs suddenly freeze, and forgo my movement the man looks down on me, disappointed. “I suppose that’s it,” He says. “Fugainai. You claim to care about her, but she’s really just another excuse for you to get up and fight more enemies. You know, for a moment there you actually seemed to care, but you can’t even bring yourself to say it.”
I grasp Devotion tightly by the handle and stumble forward. The man ignores me and raises his bo staff to Ashas’ head and sighs. “Disappointing,” He says. “Oh well,” The moment I see his hand move downward my eyes flash open, and time freezes. I lunge forward with my Devotion, stabbing the staff out of his hands before it can even make contact with her skull. After that my body gives up and I fall to the ground motionless.
“I won’t let you touch her.” I manage to whisper.
I hear the man give a low chuckle, but I can’t even turn my neck to see him. “So,” he says. “You finally did it. I guess your weapons are appropriately named, Piifalo.”
Who is this guy? I have my weapons and name set so they can’t be seen by players! Then that means he’s…
“I suppose I never properly introduced myself. My name is Daisuke, which means impressive, or great help. I’m an NPC sent by this game’s creator, Akihiko Kayaba specifically to help you, who not only has a hidden ability, but also unlocked a two-handed sword skill by yourself as well. I apologize for the rude introduction but I needed to see this “Passion” and Devotion” for myself.
I hate a lot of people right now, but I hate you most of all.
“Come now,” he says heartily. “I’ll take you to the end of this dungeon to see this great sword.” He picks me up and slings me over his shoulder and begins to walk. I tighten my fist as much as I can, but don’t have the strength to fight. “You know with the nerve gear I can see most of what you’re thinking. Do you still hate me?”
“You tried to kill Ashas! Of course I still hate you!”
“Yes, but I didn’t, did I?” He says brightly.
“The moment I get my strength back I’m going to kill you.” I say with a growl. He continues to smile and carry me out of the room. “Hey wait! What about Ashas?!” He simply ignores me and walks onward. If only I could get another burst of strength.
Along the way some enemies appear within the rooms, but he gets rid of them in a flash. If he had a level it would be at least 50. Finally we reach the last room. In the center is the sword. A massive single sided claymore. The blade glistens even in the faint light of the magma. The sword is red like the sun, burning in the rock it’s embedded in. The blade has black kanji words engraved in it’s side, but it’s too far for me to tell what they say.
Daisuke drops me to the ground, suddenly his expression turns dark, and I don’t dare to challenge him. “What do you see?” He asks with a powerful voice.
“A-a sword?” I say timidly.
“This sword is very powerful, shining with a burning passion. With a power like this, what would you do?”
I slide back in fear of Daisuke, whose aura is almost blinding. “I would use it to fig-”
“Fight?!” He exclaims. “Fight for who fight for what? Is that all this power is good for?”
I wince at his anger. “I would use it to fight for… Ashas,” I say lightly.
“And then what? What will you do when she is not in danger? Will this power go to waste? Have you forgotten where you are? The things you’ve seen?”
That’s when I realize that he’s right. I had been in here so long doing nothing but fighting for myself that I had forgotten about everyone else. “Are you saying that this sword is enough to protect everyone else in this world? You honestly think that I could save everyone here? You’re insane.” Suddenly I’m angry at him without even knowing why. He looks down at me with a gaze that shoots straight into my heart.
“Hell no,” he says harshly. “You’re no savior. And that’s exactly why you don’t deserve this sword and you don’t deserve her.” His words cut into me like a knife, and realize what he’s talking about.
“No,” I say weakly. “This isn’t the same. I would never do that again…”
“Don’t lie to me!” Daisuke shouts. “I can see into your mind, remember? I know what happened on the first floor.”
End of Chapter 12 and Part 1 of The Red Player. (I’ve decided to break this story up into parts just to make it easier for me to find things in this big story)
“Omoshiroi” means Interesting and “Fugainai” means Cowardly.
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The Red Player (A Sword Art Online story)
FanfictionSurvival in MMOs is a funny thing. It doesn't matter how badly you want it, or how hard you try, it can't be done alone. Especially when the MMO is Sword Art Online. The virtual reality video game in which if you die in game, you die in real life to...
