Abyss of the Shrine Maiden

Explorer of Illusionary Mists

“That is correct. Especially if I can obtain what I desire.”

“You mean like making your dream come true? What is it?”

“Asuna is his ‘wife,’ so I am hoping to be his ‘lover.’”

“...Huh?” All eyes move from Asuna and Premiere to Kirito, who laughs and looks off to the new pathway.

“Welp, this new area isn’t going to explore itself!”

“Huh? But what was that weird thing Premiere was talking about?” Oh, Asuna’s doing the fake smile expression. Kirito notices it too.

“I didn’t hear anything weird! Must be your imagination. Anyway, we need to focus on reuniting Premiere and Tia! Right, Jaymes!”

Jaymes finally engages in the conversation, having been poked by Kirito’s elbow. “Yeah, let’s get to it. Worry about the lover thing later.” He turns around and begins counting. “There’s fourteen of us, so two complete parties of seven. Kirito and I will be party leaders. How do you want to do this?”

Kirito shrugs. “Call the six you are inviting, I’ll take the rest.”

“Okay… Sinon, Philia, Strea, Agil, Silica, and Liz, you’re with me.” Six invites from Jaymes are sent out, and Koharu… Wait a moment. Wait a moment… Sinon, Philia, Agil, Strea, Silica, and Lisbeth? What… Why not her? Why didn’t he choose her?

Seems Koharu is not the only one shocked by her omission, but no one voices it besides Kirito in a vague, confused manner. “Oh, uh, are you sure?”

Jaymes nods as he looks to where the party members would be listed if his HUD was visible. “Yes. The rest are in your party.”

“...All right. Asuna, Premiere, Klein, Alice, Leafa, and Koharu, let’s go.” Koharu accepts Kirito’s invite glumly but doesn’t voice her dissent. All she can do is watch as everyone leaps down to the floating landmass and follows along to the new area, but she cannot shake out the weight on her mind.

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Her disappointment is pushed aside momentarily as the fourteen players properly come to the new area, Vulcanus Citadel. As rumored, the area has broken ruins of fortresses and a large volcano in the distance. But for a volcano area, there is more vegetation than fire present, but then again, they are quite a distance from the volcano.

That excitement comes to a steep drop when the gang encounters a lake near the first teleport terminal. Koharu can feel her head throbbing with frustration as she and everyone else tries to cross the lake by jumping from platform to platform. If one falls in the water, they have to start the entire process over. Koharu has lost count on how many times she’s restarted, but she knows they’ve been here for over thirty minutes with only two people passing the entire area, and it’s not who one would think.

The big man Agil and little Silica. Nope, new message, add Premiere and Kirito to the list.

Angry at herself, Koharu takes a seat and throws a rock into the lake. Now her earlier anger returns, unjustified as it is. Jaymes has no reason to pick her over anyone else if she’s to be honest. She’s not even angry or jealous of the choices he made. If anything, she’s angry at herself. She assumed too much, that everything would be like the old days given time. Lisbeth may have been right, that the “honeymoon” was over between Joshua and Koharu, and now reality has set in. She believed they would continue from where they ended, but instead, they have started a new story.