SAO FB: Scars

Devil's Curse

Kureha couldn't get her mind off of the person who fell on top of her the other day. They felt so familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time. Regardless, she only had one goal, to win the Battle Royale. Her attempts to cement her name in GGO proved fruitless. Cross Edge was her next chance to cement her legacy. She stood inside of the waiting area for the finals of the preliminaries. She already had her ticket into the battle royale, she still wanted to win her play-offs bracket. Many people were standing around and waiting for their chance.

"I hope he's okay," she thought while clipping the Uzi to her sling.

Kureha walked into the staging area and sat in a small booth. She watched the other preliminary matches and found a solo player using a pistol, sword, and a grappling device. She observed the player with fascination and remarked how familiar the fighting style seemed.

"Could it be?" she thought while opening the player brackets.

Before she could get a glimpse of the player's name, a menu appeared in front of her. She noticed that their username was labeled as "?????" and their team size was a single player.

"It should be an easy fix," she said while waiting for the arena to render.

The arena slowly turned into an open colosseum with no cover or concealment opportunities. She smirked as she saw the single player standing in the center. They wore charcoal gray pants and an olive drab poncho. In their hands was a single dagger shaped like a cleaver. Kureha smiled and raised her Uzi. She fired a salvo of 9mm bullets at her opponent. They didn't budge and stood there. Somehow, all of Kureha's bullets failed to meet their mark and flew harmlessly past her opponent. The player slowly started to walk towards her.

"Fuck...fuck..." she cursed under her breath as she loaded her next magazine.

As she seated the next magazine, the player knocked the gun out her hands. The gun clattered on the marble floor. Kureha drew her knife and jumped at the player. They parried all of her blows and scratched her cheek. The player kicked her away and she landed on a nearby wall. She dropped to the ground and held her cheek.

"So? This is the Ghost's favorite thing," the player taunted. "How pathetic."

The player approached her and sneered. Kureha got up from the ground.

"I'm more than a thing," she groaned.

She slashed towards the player who parried it away once more. They grabbed her by her chin and squeezed her mouth. Kureha was slowly lifted from the ground as she stared at the player. Her legs dangled in the air as she struggled to shake their grasp. She couldn't see into the hood of the poncho, but she sensed a devil-like presence. The person cackled and brought Kureha closer to their hood. She tried to pull away from them to no avail.

"Do you think that you can the devil?" they laughed. "Especially since you can't conquer your inner demons."

A harsh pain shot through Kureha's face as a red vignette appeared in her vision. The world around her slowly transformed into a familiar apartment. She saw friends standing around a coffee table. She recognized the clothing and the context of this situation. It's when Itsuki destroyed the squadron after taunting her. The reason why Kato had left her.

"No. He forgave me for that," she whimpered. "He said it wasn't my fault for destroying the squadron."

"Do you really think he forgave you for everything? You know it to be true that he cannot trust you fully," the player taunted.

"Stop...please."

The player threw Kureha to the side like a ragdoll. Her health decreased even further as she stared  back at the figure. The image of the player slowly turned into Itsuki. As it finally got closer, they had turned into Kato.

"No..." Kureha breathed. "It's not true..."

She frantically searched her surroundings and saw the discarded Uzi. She struggled to crawl over to the weapon as the player slowly approached her. The mental strain caused red vignettes to appear in her vision. The marble arena slowly turned into the one-on-one dueling arenas in GGO.

Her opponent cackled. "Are you strong? Or are you weak?"

Pain coursed through her body and the red vignette started to fill her vision. Slowly, the desert wasteland turned into the interior of Kato's apartment in Gun Gale Online. She could see everyone in the guild: Zeliska, Rei, Kato, and him.

"I'm not saying that you're weak. I'm just saying that Kato is more qualified than you," Itsuki's voice echoed in her mind.

Kureha closed her eyes and tried to drown out Itsuki's speech with her own thoughts. Her hand reached out for her weapon before the player stepped it with their boot. Kureha cried out in pain. She shifted her gaze and met the eyes of her opponent.

"Who are you?" she asked.

The player pushed more weight onto her hand, causing Kureha to cry out in pain. They answered, "The Prince of Hell."

Pain surged throughout her body as her opponent slashed into her back. Her vision transformed into the SBC Glocken duel arenas. Across from her was Kato in his GGO clothes. She looked at her hands and saw her Uzi in her hands and aimed at him. She lowered her gun and knew it was all wrong.

"I'm not saying that you're weak," Itsuki's voice echoed in her head again. "I'm just saying that Kato's more qualified than you."

"I can't trust you at all if you're like this," Kato's voice echoed. "You're not worthy to be in this squadron."

Kureha raised her Uzi and felt the same passion from that day fill inside of her. Her present self couldn't stop the motion. More pain surged inside of her when she resisted.

"I'm sorry," she apologized to the Kato in her vision.