Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online, but I do own Myruki (Mah-roo-kee) and my OC's.

ソードアート・オンライン Sword Art Online

©2012 Reki Kawahara

Saccharine

Chapter Two

Floor 15 - Unnamed Village - Five weeks after November 6, 2022.

"I-I can offer you this for less than that." A young merchant choked out, laying down the item on the wooden counter before him. His shop specialized in clothes, hats, glasses, and jewelry of various kinds. For the special lantern event that day, trinkets were set aside the shop's counter as well.

"It's not enough!"

"W-what about this one?"

"Asuna, don't you think that's enough?" Myruki said gently, pushing Asuna back away from the stammering merchant. She had been accompanying the girl to what was supposed to be a quick visit to the nearby town's market. They had planned to spend the whole day around the town while the others were searching for the floor's boss. Kirito and a separate group of solo players decided to venture around the forest area, searching for any sign of a possible boss. Apparently, many players were still fearful about what happened to Sho Izanami for they continued to stay in pairs.

"He almost tried to scam us!" Asuna stated, flustered as she made her way through the large crowd of people.

"But he's trying to make a living. Besides, shouldn't we be looking for our house right now?" The two had bought a house together a day after arriving on the floor. It didn't cost much since the Knights of the Blood Oath had volunteered to pay for the expenses. It was a 'gift' from Heathcliff himself thought Myruki was a bit skeptical about the kind deed; it was fairly unusual for the well-known leader to do things like that.

"Didn't you have the map?"

"Let me check." Myruki dug around her pockets until she felt the rough texture of the old map in her hand. She pulled it out, careful not to rip the piece, and examined it in front of her.

...

...

...

"Well?"

"According to this, our house should be over here."

"Then let's go."

The scent of roasted pork soon filled the air as Myruki followed closely behind Asuna. It was delicious and almost intoxicating. Myruki had not eaten much during the past few weeks. It was almost a pattern for her—training, fighting, and occasionally fishing in lakes or rivers. The constant cycle left little time for eating or resting, causing Myruki to eat meals at cheap restaurants or diners instead and if she was fortunate enough, she would rest at an inn that served breakfast, but those were too uncommon.

"Myruki?" Asuna asked. She had stopped in her place to turn around.

"Hm?"

"Are you hungry?"

Myruki sat in her seat, leaning her head back against the chair. She and Asuna had finally made it back to their house where Klein and some of his guild members were already there somehow, eager to taste Asuna's excellent cooking. It was dark and the house was lit. Freshly made warm soups, sandwiches, and bread dishes were scattered across the living room table. The house was far away from the town, but the view was amazing from a distance. The forest, on the other hand, was dangerously close around the house's location as well. But what did she have to fear?

"Ruki, can you pass the bread basket?" Klein asked excitedly, stuffing a sandwich in his mouth.

She didn't do what he requested especially since his plate was completely flooded with food. While his other guild members chose to eat like civilized beings; one boy eating a sandwich slowly; another carefully dipping an assortment of berries in whipped cream and eating them with a bowl of nuts; Klein was the one who chose to fill his plate up fully as if he had been starving for months. Sandwich upon sandwich covered in salted potato chips, a pile of lettuce leaves drenched in ranch dressing and garlic buttered croutons, so many tiny bowls of soup that a grocery store wouldn't be able to satisfy his specific needs. It was terribly disgusting to watch Klein.

"Myruki, could you please pass me the bread basket?"

"There's no room on your plate, Klein." Asuna interjected. She sat down on the red couch just as someone barged startlingly into the room; the door slammed open, revealing Kirito with a strangely panicked expression on his face.

"Kirito!?"

"We found him!" He gasped out.

"Who?"

"Sho! Come on." Kirito led the way out of the house and into a close by cemetery, one of which wasn't even mentioned on any of the database's maps. It was a forgotten location and eventually, Myruki was able to see it for herself. The air was noticeably dense and through the fog, she could barely see a boy lying down seemingly unconscious on the floor; he was surrounded by members of the Knights of the Blood Oath guild and some other unknown players. Thankfully, one of them was searching a bag for any medical supplies.

"Here was found here ten minutes ago, unconscious." A KoB guild member said, kneeling down to hand Sho an HP potion. The boy had shaggy brown hair and his clothes were ripped in many different places; it was as if he had been attacked by someone or something. Myruki stayed a few inches away from Sho while Asuna leaned down to examine the player. Meanwhile, Kirito and Klein were gathered around with the rest of the others, discussing the many possibilities of how and why Sho had ended up on the floor. Hesitantly, Myruki decided to take a seat next to Asuna. She stared down at the boy, entirely aware that it could be forever before his awakening.

Asuna was the first one to break the silence.

"He should be waking soon. Did you take anything with you from the house?"

"Just this." Myruki carefully pulled out a wrapped up sandwich from her inventory. She handed it over to Asuna who placed it onto the hard ground. It was then that she noticed Sho beginning to emerge out of his unconscious form.

"Sho?"

There was no reply.

"Sho!"

The boy's eyes suddenly jerked open. He glanced over at everyone, starting at Kirito to Myruki to Asuna and to the others beside them. Something in Sho's eyes gave off the illusion of fear; it was something not worth ignoring.

"Someone attacked us. I don't know who it was!"

"You need to rest." Heathcliff stepped out of the shadows; his red and white guild uniform glowing from the fire that Klein had made earlier. It was strange to Myruki to finally be able to see him in person. She had never seen him before.

"How long was he here?" He asked.

"Around thirty minutes since we've arrived." Asuna replied, attention turned directly toward Heathcliff.

"Bring him back to base."

"Right!"

Using several teleport crystals, everyone arrived safely in a inn on Floor 15. The innkeeper seemed somewhat startled by the sudden arrival, but he eventually returned to helping a young female customer, who was impatiently ringing the bell at his desk.

"Your rooms are over here." One of the inn's employees said while carrying a small stack of fresh towels. The man led them to a relatively large room on the third floor of the building where Klein and his friends cautiously placed Sho on top of one of the beds. Kirito sat with Asuna on the couch next to the window. Heathcliff and another KoB member stood around Sho, asking him what had happened to him. Myruki, however, settled on sitting quietly on a single bed near the table-lamp. She later noticed Kirito coming over to her; he looked rather content as he sat down right next to her.

"Kirito, what is it?" She questioned.

"It would be easy to imagine someone like you being in a guild."

"I don't want to be one," Myruki frowned, falling backward to rest on the soft covers of the bed. "Most guilds spend less time in clearing the game and more time in doing real world things. This game seems real. It feels real, but it's not. That's what separates us from people back at home. It's like the players here have forgotten about what's happened over the past weeks."

"That's why players like us exist." Kirito responded. He arched his neck over to look down at her. "Even though those kind of players try to live their lives out normally, we're here to clear the game. And when we do, it'll give them hope that this game can be defeated, but right now this is how they stroll away from all of their problems—by trying to be normal, whatever normal to them is."

"What if they never escape?"

"Then it's their decision not to. Not everyone can make it out." The black-haired boy tensed immensely after saying finishing his line. His features darkened a bit, nearly clarifying the idea that he may have lost someone he cared about in the game.

"Kirito?"

He stared at her questioningly, waiting for her to finish her sentence.

"Do you want to stay partners?"

Her answer was only but a slight smile as a loud knock caught everyone's immediate attention.

"I'll get it." Laughed one of Klein's guild members. It was a boy with dark green hair and blue eyes. He made his way to the door, standing in front of it to look into the small peek-hole attached.

"It's just a small—" Before he could continue, there was a sharp sword pierced through his chest and through the door The joking look on his face quickly faded away and was replaced by a horrified look. The boy collapsed onto the carpeted floor with Klein and Asuna rushing toward him as fast as their legs could take. Right when he began disappearing in crystal-like shards, he held onto Klein's trembling hand. The guild leader had tears streaming down his face and he made no real effort to wipe them away. Then there was only an empty space where the boy once was.

"Why'd he have to die?!" Klein wailed, covering his face with his two hands. Asuna investigated the halls; she searched for any possible clue to who was responsible for the cruel and unexpected act.

"It's them."

"Who?" Myruki asked.

"Laughing Coffin, the player-killing guild."

"But that guild has been dormant for weeks!"

"It couldn't have been them." Kirito stated. "Their killing style is more sadistic. They would have made themselves known instead of fleeing the scene. The killer could have most likely been an enemy of that player."

"Then who killed Rin?" Klein sniffed loudly, hands running through his pink hair.

"I don't know."

"That's enough." Heathcliff interjected. "We've been through enough today. The Knights of the Blood Oath all have their own rooms throughout this inn. Sho will stay in this room with a special team. You all will move to different rooms. We will discuss Rin's death later on."

"Understood."

"Long day!" Asuna exclaimed, stretching and then stopping to sit on her bed. Myruki was on the opposite side of her. Kirito, Klein, and the rest were spread across the inn in another room together. The warm atmosphere of the room was enough to get rid of the chilling feeling after witnessing Rin fall to his death. It was still a mystery though on who killed him. The question was who would want to kill him anyway? Myruki could tell the boy had humor and meant absolutely no room to everyone, but in the game, it was hard to define who could be trusted and who couldn't.

"Look at those lights. It's the lantern festival today in this village."

Myruki looked out the window at the place Asuna was looking at. She could see it clearly; people exploring the village happily together. Most were clutching onto paper lanterns. Some were hanging lanterns around their stores. It was a spectacular sight to see. The town itself resembled a festive Asian theme, and it was a lovely town to say the least—a small number of deaths, people with overall friendly personalities, a thriving economy, and a terrific place for players to settle in.

"Why don't we go out too? The people here seem to be having fun."

"Okay." Asuna smiled cheerfully.

The two made their way out of the inn and into the lively streets. Kirito had declined the offer of tagging along with them, but Klein, on the other hand, agreed happily to accompany them. The pink-head had calmed down slightly after Rin's death, making the walk much easier.

"Take one! Take one!" An older woman handed them all red paper lanterns.

"Thank you!" Klein thanked the woman excessively until he was pulled away by some other annoyed players, who too wanted paper lanterns of their own to carry around.

"It's so crowd here." Myruki mused.

"They say that special monsters come out during this time. I heard the item drops were great!"

"Is it true?"

"Could be. If I heard it correctly from Tadashi, the lantern monsters should be somewhere around this town. They only stay for three days with their strength increasing immensely on the third day. Many players keep the drops that they receive from the monsters because the drops are worth ten times the amount in auctions months after the festival."

"Paper monsters? It sounds peculiar..." Asuna trailed off, pondering through her thoughts.

"Why don't we try finding them, for fun?" Klein bit hungrily into his kabob bought from one of the numerous standing food stands around the entire area.

As though his wish were granted, a large monster appeared out of the sky, landing right in front of them. The creature looked exactly like the lanterns hanging in town, except the version before them was much bigger and was alive. Players began taking out their weapons, including the trio themselves. They all joined together, attacking the creature from several angles until it's HP bar decreased rapidly eventually hitting zero, and dropping a massive load of drops onto the cold ground.

"What's this?" Myruki picked up a fallen item from the floor. She examined it curiously. Klein and Asuna did the same thing, each picking up their own drop.

Obtained «Benevolence»

Author's Note: I apologize for the long wait for this chapter, and I hope I didn't disappoint anyone here! I had originally started the second chapter of Saccharine a while back ago, but got carried away with my daily life. Thank you also to everyone who reviewed, alerted, and favorited this story.

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