Trio (A Sword Art Online Fanfic) ✔

Chapter Ten

"I don't really have a choice, do I?" I muttered darkly, glaring down at the ground.

"Not if you want him to live."

I clenched my fists, a lump growing in my throat. I felt choked, suffocated. I had no choice. I knew what I had to do, but I also knew I would be betraying all of my friends, everything I had fought to keep the past two and a half years.

And I would lose it all.

"What do you want me to do?" I asked, my voice emotionless.

"You need to go spy on Kirito and Sinon for me. Make sure they stay out of my way." He ordered. "They are about 500 meters west of here."

I frowned, gritting my teeth. I looked away from him, but nodded.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you."

"Okay."

"Good girl."

I clenched my fists about being treated like a dog, but I didn't say anything. When I looked back up, he was gone.

I let out a scream of frustration, before moving to gather up my weapons. I shoved the handgun back in its holster, and slung my main gun over my back.

I narrowed my eyes and started west, where Sinon and Kirito were supposed to be. I wasn't sure how long I walked, but eventually I could hear their voices echoing from a cave a few feet away.

I moved silently forward until I could hear their voices, then I hunkered down and listened.

"It's hard to believe that under that cloak, there's a real life person who just wants to kill." I heard Sinon say.

"Yeah, and if I find out his handle in SAO, I'll be able to figure out his real name and address in real world. That's the reason why I logged in to GGO."

"Maybe his reason for being here is because he likes PK. Maybe he missed rushes doing it in SAO. You think?"

"He killed XeXeeD and Tarako in front of the bunch of witnesses. It was the same as Pale Rider. He always picks time when he's got the biggest audiences. And, that sign of the cross he makes, I bet he does it to freak out as many people as possible. He wants you to believe he's got a power to kill you from in the game. But it's all show."

"If that true, how's he killing people?"

I leaned forward, eagerly. I was just as curious as she was. I tried to remind myself that I would have to report all of this to Death Gun later, but failed.

"It's not because of brain damage from the head gear. The authority said that XeXeeD and Tarako died of heart failure."

"Heart failure? My god."

"To be honest, I have no idea how he killed them either. At the thought of firing a gun in a virtual world it stopping the players heart? There's no way that's possible." -- Kirito paused -- "Hang on a second. Come to think of it."

"What?"

"It was weird..."

"What was?" There was a little bit of frustration in Sinon's voice.

"Back there in the ruins, he had his handgun over you, but he switched his rifle for me. But, he kills with handgun. He could kill me with it. So, why did he switch?"

"Yeah. Good question."

"Could it be that...he didn't shoot me with it, because he couldn't shoot me with it?" Kirito began muttering to himself, none of which made sense.