The Crystal Swordsman: Alfheim's Awakening

The UnHoly Usurper

Beyond attentive eyes and ears...

"Why do we keep failing? What is causing us to falter every time? We possess the advantage in some cases and yet we still inevitably fall. What are we doing wrong?" The advisor had evidence displayed out in front of him using the in-game holoscreens.

Screenshots, player names, locations, weapons, all things needed to piece this puzzle together. The advisor shook his head, shaming himself for not knowing the answer. As he look around with a sense of self disappointment, he realized a pattern within the information. He scanned and jumped around to all of them, following along with his finger to be sure he wasn't deluding himself.

"Of course..." He saw it now.

He spanned the screens to be wider and further apart, effectively isolating each one to a spot.

"We're all wrong." A grin slowly grew along his face.

"...It's finally my turn."

Cat Sith, Sharp, Ice Queen: Sinon

I had known that today K was headed to his favorite arcade and wouldn't be back to play until the evening. He often brought me there on dates as it was his favorite place to go. He always talked about the fact that arcades are so sadly not as available as they once were. He vowed that one day he would open one of his own for the current and next generation of gamers as a hangout/bar for those old enough. I got a message from him not long before he got on that he'd be home soon. That's when he suddenly logged in, appearing in the dining hall of our royal home.

"Welcome home, my love." I approached and kissed him.

He always loved hearing me say that, especially when it came to logging into the game.

"Hello, love." He smiled weakly.

"How art thou?" I asked him in the way that he always loved to ask me.

It always threw me off when he used that ancient English, but I loved when he did it.

"I am quite well." He nodded, looking me in my eyes but not elaborating further

"That's wonderful, darling. Athena is out picking berries with Zeliska for a pie and everyone else is off doing quests. I figured we could have some... alone time?" I guided my hand up his chest as I looked into him with my eyes that he loves so very much.

He was hesitant at first but before he could respond, Kirito and the others came thru the doors.

"We're back!" He announced.

"Oh, hey again guys. How was the quest?" I asked, barely turning away from my K.

I suppose our fun would have to wait.

"It was alright. Not much to report besides the loot we got but it was a worthwhile endeavor." Kirito summed up.

"Oh yeah, K and I are about due for another big loot haul." I nudged him a bit.

"Yep! I'm down to two mill." He stated.

"Two mill? And you're not happy with that?" Liz was kind of surprised.

"I could always have more." He replied.

"Can't have too much, that's for sure." Kirito added and the group of us laughed.

It was then that Zeliska brought Athena thru the door with baskets full of reddish purply berries.

"Daddy!" Athena rushed over as fast as she could between everyone to get to K, latching onto his waist for a hug.