Chapter 2

Pina's Heart

Well, time to get started on chapter 2. But first, on to the reviews.

ethan lukkar: Glad you liked it.

Fox'sHauntings: You and your friend are correct.

RizomataNyan: I'll see what I can do on that front.

SaintInferalNeos: Personally, I feel the game of S.A.O lost what balance it had when the one person only unique skills where added in. Plus this explains away a bit of a continuity hiccup in episode 4.

DanielJenson: Thanks, man. Glad you got the reference.

Zak saturday 1: Here you go.

Now then... Let's kick it up.

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(February 23, 2024 Floor 35: Lost Forest)

"Are you kidding me? Why should I give you half my crystals? A young girl wearing yellow clothes under silver armor with a cyan Dragon on her should shoulder and a Assault Dagger on the back of her belt asked.

"Why do you even need Healing Crystals, anyway?" A red headed woman with black leather long coat with red lining holding a spear asked. "Your pet lizard can heal you every thirty second, right?" She asked in a very condescending tone which the Dragon somehow picked up on and growled at her.

"Yeah. But you're never on the front lines. So It's not like you need them either." The yellow clad girl responding.

"Yes, but you're the popular one, Silica. I can't expect for the boys to heal me up if I get in to trouble." The woman replied in the same condescending tone, causing Silica to clench her fist, having had enough of getting lip from the woman.

"You know what, Rosalia? Fine! You can have the crystals! But don't expect me to party up with you again!" Silica shouted before going in to her menu and dissolving her Party before storming off to leave the woods.

'Ugh. I can't believe her!' Silica shouted in her mind after walking for about ten minutes. Suddenly, she noticed that her Dragon, Pina was beginning to agro, informing her that there wear enemies nearby.

However, even the advanced warning couldn't prevent her from being jumped by five lvl 50 Drunk Apes before one of them, quickly hit her from behind before another swatted her in to the path of another which then hit her strait in to a tree.

Silica was badly staggered from the hit. But, thankfully, Pina was able to heal her back in to the green of her health bar. Silica then quickly activated her menu and switched her weapon over to a one handed crossbow.

While Pina fired from above at the Apes, Silica was able to use a well placed charge shot to take out two of the Apes. They're good fortune was short lived, however as one of the Apes leapt up and slammed Pina on to the ground and the other two repeatedly hit her before slamming her over to Silica where upon her HP reached zero and she left behind only a feather.

"PINA!" Silica called as she knelt down in front of the feather.

Silica's eyes then began to tear up and she began to scream while bringing her crossbow up and using what MP she had left for a Rapid Shot. However, the problem there, is that her Rapid Shot skill didn't cause stagger in medium to large enemies and unfortunately for Silica, two of the Drunk Ape's began drinking from their Sake bottles, which would increase their stats drastically.

Silica barely managed to take out the third. But she was unable to stop the other two from healing and with their increased speed there was no way Silica could have escaped.

Silica was a hairs length away from resigning herself to defeat when out of nowhere, two purple orbs hit the Apes in the back of their heads, putting them in to paralysis before a young man wearing a black coat with riveted blue shoulders leapt over the Apes and slashed them with his Moonlit Sword, killing both of the Apes before he sheathed his sword and a small black Dragon landed on his shoulder.

It took Silica a moment to possess what had just happened before she began to break down crying while repeatedly calling out Pina's name before the young man came up next to her.

"What's the matter?" He asked as he looked at the crying girl.

"Pina." She whimpered as she brought the feather up to her heart.

Kirito looked at the crying girl as the site almost instantly clicked for him before he knelt down next to Silica. "That was your Familiar, wasn't it?" He asked, getting a nod from the crying girl. "I'm sorry." He said with his head lowered. "If we had gotten here sooner, we could have saved your friend." He said.

"No." Silica said while shaking her head. "It's not your fault. I shouldn't have tried to get out of the forest alone. It's all my fault." She said as she began to cry again.

Kirito, not being one to be able to ignore a crying girl, could only let a sigh before he stood up. "There might be a way to bring your Familiar back." He said, getting silica to stop crying and look up at him. On Floor 47, there's a field dungeon called the 'Hill of Memories'. There's supposed to be an item there that can revive dead Familiars. I can go get it for you if you want." He offered, only being able to go solo because of Arashikage.

"No. I want to be able to hold my own. So I'll just keep leveling myself up until I'm able to go myself." Silica said. Kirito couldn't help but be impressed at her pride. But there was one problem.

"See, the thing is, that the item needs to be used within three days." He said as Silica became even more disheartened. "But, if your insistent on going." He said as he brought up his screen. "What kind of melee weapon do you use when enemies get to close?" He asked.

"A dagger." Silica replied getting a nod from Kirito before he transferred over a Blue Flame Dagger, a Dark Crossbow, Silver Thread Armor, a Moon Blazer, Fairy Boots, a Florit Belt, and an EXP Necklace+.

"The gear should boost you about five or six levels. In addition, the necklace will boost your XP by thirty percent." He explained before sending a party request to Silica.

Silica smiled at the gesture before something occurred to her. "Why are you so willing to help me?" She asked.

Kirito had a couple of reasons for wanting to help Silica. The second reason only just coming to light for him. But he wasn't quite ready to reveal them. So, he had to come up with a convincing story. 'To bad Sugu's not here. She's way more creative than I am.' He thought before the light bulb turned on in his head. "Promise you won't laugh?" He asked before getting a nod from Silica. "You kind of look like my little sister.' He lied getting a light giggle from Silica which Kirito couldn't help but find cute. "Okay, first thing we should do is get some rest for the night. Then we'll have two and a half days to go to the Hill of Memories." He said before he equipped an EXP Distributer so Half of his EXP would go to Silica.

"Alright, let's go." Silica said as Kirito led her out of the forest and in to the village on that floor, Mishe.

"So how come you were you out in the forest alone?" Kirito asked as the two of them made their way to an Inn.

"I got to a fight with a Party member." Silica said before looking down. "It seems like people always think I'm just the cutesy mascot with a little Dragon. But I put my all in to this and one day I want to be able to be on the front lines." She said, gaining a smile from Kirito.

"Well, I'm sure you'll end up making it." Kirito said in a reassuring tone.

Silica was about to thank Kirito when suddenly, she heard a voice coming up from behind her.

"Well, well. If it isn't Silica." The voice said, causing Silica's right eye to twitch and some would be able to swear a red star with 'R2' under it was flashing in it as she and Kirito turned around.

"Hello, Rosalia." She said with barely hidden venom in her voice as her recently dissolved party.

"I have to say, after you left in the party I didn't expect to see you ever again." Rosalia said in a tone that made it really hard for Silica not to plunge the cyan blade of her dagger in to Rosalia's eye. "Oh, what's this?" Rosalia asked. "Looks like you've lost your pet lizard." She said causing Silica to actually reach for her dagger only for Kirito to grab her wrist to calm her down.

Silica took a moment to breath before she bean to speak. "Pina got killed in the forest. But I'm going to bring her back." Silica said, her anger quelled by Kirito.

"Hm. Well, good luck with that." Rosalia laughed before walking away.

A little while later, Kirito and Silica entered the local Inn, Kirito attempted to get them two adjoining rooms but due to an item that was spawning that week, a lot of players had gravitated to Floor 35, so they had to settle for one room.

"So, how are we going to the Hill of Memories." Silica asked before quick changing in to a set of pajamas while blushing at the fact she was going to have to share a bed with Kirito.

Kirito took out a Mirage Sphere and brought up a map of Floor 47. "There are two ways we can go from the town area." He said before two routes became highlighted. One of which was relatively clear while the other had quite a few monsters on it, which would make it great for grinding.

Suddenly, Kirito's ear perked up and he ran to the door before throwing it open before catching a glimpse of someone with red hair jumping over the railing of the stairs.

"What is it?" Silica asked.

"Someone was listening in on us." He said.

"I thought you couldn't listen through a door without knocking." Silica said in confusion.

"You can if your stealth and listening skills are high enough." Kirito explained before closing the door and walking Silica back to the bed, where the two of them pantomimed a floor plan for what to do. Silica decided on going on the grinding route, which, by Kirito's calculations, would have got her level in the mid fifties by the time they reached the flower.

With the plan set, Kirito took dequipped his armor, sword and coat, leaving only his pants and long sleeved black shirt before he and Silica went to bed with Silica trying her best to face away from Kirito.

'Calm down, Keiko. He's just helping you out and this was the only room available.' She thought to her self while being thankful that Kirito couldn't see that her face was currently more red the Moon Blazer he had given her.

The next morning, Silica and Kirito made their way to the teleporter and going to Floor 47.

"Wow! this place is beautiful." Silica exclaimed as she looked at the vast fields of flowers before noticing that the area was filled with couples, causing her to blush. Something which Kirito couldn't help but smile at.

"Alright, let's get going." Kirito said as the two of them began walking for the path to get to the Hill of Memories.

The two continued walking and taking down monsters as Silica's level steadily began to increase. By the time the time that reached the final stretch to get to the Hill of Memories, Silica's level had increased to forty nine.

"Hey, Kirito. What's your sister like?" Silica asked out of curiosity after Kirito said that she looked like her.

"Well, she's not really my sister. She's my cousin." Kirito said. "When I was two. My parents died in a car crash and I was sent to live with my aunt and grandfather." Kirito explained, getting a sympathetic look from Silica. "When, I was eight, my grandfather shined Sugu and I up for kendo classes at the local dojo. But, while Sugu absolutely loves kendo, I fell out of it after couple years. Grandpa beat the hell out of me for that." He said, placing his hand to the side of his head, where he still had a scar from that day.

'That's awful.' Silica thought.

"Sugu yelled at him to stop and promised to train twice as hard and by god, she did. She even made it to the nationals." Kirito said.

"Wow. That's awesome!" Silica exclaimed as Kirito got a sad smile on his face.

"Yeah. I've always been grateful to her for that. What she did allowed both of us to pursue our passions. Her with kendo and me with software design." Kirito said with a fond smile.

Silica also smiled at the story before looking ahead to see a pedestal. "Is that it?" She asked, getting nod from Kirito before running to the pedestal and witnessing the Pneuma Flower.

"Alright. One down." Kirito said, getting a confused look from Silica. "Now all we have to do is collect twelve more of these and give them to a shop keeper who gives us a crystal which opens another dungeon where we go through a boss rush to get the real flower before climbing a mountain and letting the light of the full moon hit it at midnight to bring back Pina." He explained.

'What? Did Richard Gariott design for this game or something?' Silica asked in her mind with a horrified look on her face.

"I'm just kidding. I just wanted to see how you reacted to that." He said with a chuckle, getting a smiling head shake from Silica before turning around. "Come on. Let's head back to town." He said before he began walking.

Silica was about to follow. But then stopped real quick to go through her menu and go to the Super Skill weal. Even though at her current level of 53, she only had a she only had a thirty eight percent chance of rolling one, she decided to use one of her tries anyway. Feeling confident after the days events.

'Oh cool.' She thought as she rolled a success. 'I can pull some Corvo action with that.' She thought before following Kirito.

After a few minute of walking, the two of them found themselves on bridge before Kirito stopped in his tracks.

"What's wrong?" Silica asked before Kirito put his arm in front of her.

"Stay behind me." He said before walking to the edge of the bridge. "Come out. I know your there." Kirito said as Rosalia walked out from behind a tree.

"What are you doing here?" Silica asked.

"She's the one who was spying on us last night." Kirito explained before elaborating. "She's a member of an Orange guild called 'Titan's Hand'." He said gaining a sadistic grin from Rosalia for figuring it out.

"Very impressive. Now..." Rosalia began before snapping her fingers and a bunch of Titan's Hand members with orange and red markers above them came out with weapons drawn. Some with swords, some with bows, and even one who dual wielded axes. "Hand over the Pneuma Flower and we wont hurt you." She said.

"Okay. Good offer. But and here's the counter offer." Kirito said before snapping his fingers as Arashikage flew off his shoulder and grew to full size again before landing behind Rosalia's crew and let out a loud roar as Kirito equipped a rare version of the Forest Sword that had black leaves rather than green and white wood rather than brown in to his off hand. "We keep the flower and use this crystal to send all of you to prison." He said as most of the Titan's Hand members backed off. However, Rosalia, the Axe wielder and a guy with a katana rushed at them.

Kirito blocked strikes from the two thugs while Rosalia went for Silica, the attack instantly made her curser go Orange before the stab was sent off target and spinning around Rosalia and utilizing her new Super Skill of Offhand Crossbow two shoot Rosalia in the legs.

The two guys attacking Kirito were caught off guard by the interaction, which allowed Kirito hit them over to where the other Titan's Hand members before commanding Arashikage to use stun breath on them. He then walked over to the downed Rosalia and threw her over to her gang before using a crystal to send them to prison.

Later on Floor 22:

"Why didn't you just tell me that you where hired to take out Titan's Hand? I would have been happy to help." Silica said as the two of them walked down the dirt path with Pina now revived on her shoulder.

"I didn't want you to think that I was only helping you so you'd help me." Kirito replied.

"No way could I ever think that about you!" Silica shouted before looking down with a blush.

"Well, I also had another reason for not telling you. I wanted to see how quickly you could adapt when thing went south." He said as the two of them reached a large house with a lake view which Silica began to look at in awe. "This house belonged to my old guild." He said while looking down remembering his friends. "There gone, now. I decided to move on and start a new guild in their memory." He explained before pulling up his menu and sending a guild request to Silica who looked at the message to see a logo with a black dragon on it. On the dragons back was a square made up of two grey lines and one cyan line. In the center of the square was a crescent moon and a black marking somewhat resembling a cat.

Silica looked at the offer for a few moments before looking back up to Kirito before smiling and accepting the offer, both wanting to finally be with a group who didn't think of her of a mascot and just strait up wanting to be near Kirito. The second reason causing he small smile to come to her face.

After Silica's acceptance, Kirito placed his hand on her shoulder and said "Silica, Welcome to the Riders of Aincrad.

At the same time in the secret room of a dungeon on Floor 27:

The girl in the coat stood triumphantly as five Dwarves and three Golems fell to the ground before shattering as she sheathed her Dark attributed sword and her Water attributed Sword on to her hips before turning to the wooden chest in the center of the room which transformed in to a red and gold chest upon the monsters being killed.

The girl walked over to the chest and looked to the contents inside. 'So that's what it was.' She though to herself before claiming the item before going in to her inventory and equipping the ' Gale Coat' causing a Jade colored coat with Viridian lining which looked like gusts of wind to appear over her Sapphire Armor before she walked out of the room and on to her next destination.

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So, there you go. Second chapter done. Now, before you ask, yes. Pina will be capable of growing to massive riding size. Now for a fun little game. Name all the not so well hidden references to video games I put in here and leave them in the reviews and until next time and as always... Keep on keeping on,