Solo (A Sword Art Online Fanfic) ✔

Chapter Twelve

We didn't know what to do at first. This was a safe zone, so we weren't sure why the person was screaming, or even if it was someone seriously in danger.

Finally, we snapped out of our trance and raced towards the sound of the scream. My side had started bleeding again by the time we got there, but neither of us cared when we saw the body. A boy was hanging, impaled by a spear, outside the church. Within seconds, he had died, his body exploding into brilliant shards.

I've seen a lot of death in my time in this game, but for some reason, I couldn't stand to look at the boy. I turned away, a hand over my mouth, my eyes squeezed shut. Rikimaru wrapped an arm around me, and pulled me into his chest, doing his best to shield me from the sight.

"There's Kirito and Asuna!" I heard him exclaim.

He eased away a bit, before leading me over to our friends. They were whispering violently. We had almost reached them when Kirito's head jolted up.

"Everyone, look for the player with a winner icon!" He shouted, whipping his head around in his own search.

Unfortunately, people were too shocked to listen to him, and the people who weren't had no luck in the search.

"There's no one here, the room's empty!" Asuna finally said, her face ice cold. She was troubled by this new event and was doing her best to hide it.

"So, any idea how this could've happened?" Kirito asked. I leaned against the wall as they continued to talk. Rikimaru joined me, starting to redress my wound in new dressings. My wolves roamed around, on the alert.

"Well, there's always the obvious." Asuna started, "There was a duel, and the other guy impaled the victim with that spear. Then, he put a noose around his neck and push him out the window. Wouldn't you say that's about right?"

I grimmaced at the graphics of her explanation, but I knew I had to toughen up. It would help nobody if I suddenly freaked out.

"Yeah, but I couldn't see the winner icon on anyone."

We paused at that incredulous idea. There was no way it couldn't have been a duel. In the safe zone, people don't randomly attack others.

"It had to be a duel." Asuna insisted, her eyes hardening. "It's a safe zone and a player died. A duel is the only thing it could've been. Or, maybe not...either way, we can't ignore this."

We all nodded our agreement. Rikimaru finished bandaging me and I gave him a smile to show my gratitude. He ducked his head in acknowledgement.

"As it is, a player takes huge risks going outside the safe zone.
But if someone's found a way to PK inside, no one's going to be safe in the towns either."

Nobody was quite ready to think of this possibility. There was already too many kids dead because of this game.

"I guess we won't be going back to the front lines anytime soon.
Listen! You all are going to work with me until we've solved this thing. Until we do, there won't be any time for napping, okay?"

Rikimaru and I were confused, but Kirito seemed to get what she meant.

"Okay. But you were the one who was napping." He replied, giving her a small smile, causing her to hit him.

"We need to find anyone who had known him, or had been with him." Rikimaru said, speaking up for the first time.

"He has...had a girlfriend."

Everyone turned to look at me, confused by my words. Kirito crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for me to explain.

"I saw them earlier this morning during my walk. He was walking with a girl with dark hair and freckles." I told them, standing up straight to move towards the window. "The same girl who is standing in the shadows over there, scared out of her mind."