The Rogue Reaper (Sword Art Online)

Part 4: Rain

The weather in the City of Beginnings was probably on the worst possible setting; the rain poured from the black sky with no sign of stopping, and thunder shook the entire floor in intervals of mere minutes. The volume of falling water made it impossible to see out the inn room's window; Noct closed the curtains and sat in one of the two chairs by the table in the middle of the room.

As he sank into the easy chair he closed his eyes and listened to the rain batter against the windows. Recently he'd come to appreciate the rain. Less people in the street.

"Akari... I hope you aren't too mad at me. Just wait, I'm gonna fix this mess, and make everything right again..." Noct mumbled. The rain filled the silence as he sat absorbed in his reminiscing.

The door swung open and a tall boy entered Noct's room. His dripping cloak began to form puddles on the floor while he closed the door behind him. He pushed his hood back, revealing neck-length brown hair and a friendly face.

"I'm not too late, am I? It's really pouring out there, isn't it? We haven't had a storm like this in forever," the boy went on as he unequipped his raingear. The wet cloak and boots vanished into his inventory, and he took the seat across from Noct, who was startled but awake.

"The Rogue Reaper himself! How are you, Noct?" the boy's tone was cool, but friendly.

"I'm not in jail," Noct replied dryly. "So it could be worse. Let's just get to it: I need information, Loki. I need your help."

Loki's face was blank, as it often was, for perhaps a second too long, but then he blinked and came down from the clouds. "Oh, right!" He smiled and readily agreed. "Right to the point, as always. Of course, as long as you pay my fee, I'll help you in any way I can."

"It's still the same rate as before?"

"Yes, 2000 col per person, and starting at 500 col per other piece of information." Loki sat upright in the chair, easy and relaxed as ever, elbows on the armrests and legs crossed.

Noct trusted him, mostly. Loki had helped him on several of his missions for MI, sometimes going out of his way to get extra information for him, but Loki had a thing for money that held Noct back from becoming anything more than business partners with him, especially now that Noct's bounty only got more substantial with each passing month. How much could you really trust an information broker who named themself after a trickster god?

"You don't care that I'm wanted by the whole server?" Noct asked.

"Well, that's why you called me here, right? I'd hate to see one of my best clients locked up. I miss your business, you know," Loki said, in a level voice. Noct wasn't sure if he was joking or not, and frowned. Loki was a strange combination of cheeriness and neutrality, and it made him a difficult person to get a read on at times. "Your guys back at MI still hire my services from time to time, despite your absence. What do you need, Noct?"

Noct crossed his arms and began his request. "I need to know where some people are: A knight-type who has a boss-drop sword with gems on it, a warrior-type named Hitoshi of Blood Marauders- the guy who framed me, and the two players who were with him..." He described their details to the best of his ability, from their equipment to the colour of their hair, taking care to paint an especially accurate picture of Hitoshi. Loki didn't move or even nod, but he listened attentively to the recounts.

"I got it. I'll contact you as soon as I hear anything," Loki promised, rising from his chair and making for the door.

"I appreciate it, Loki. This is important, probably more important than anything I've asked of you before." Noct said as he swiped his fingers through the air, passing over some col in a trade window. "Faster is better, if you can."

"Of course. Just trust me," Loki insisted with a smile as the payment was completed.

The young information broker waved Noct goodbye and left him. Noct could hear faint, tuneless whistling past the door as Loki went on his way.

Noct waited until the whistling had faded before exiting the room, throwing on his NPC store-bought cloak before going down to the inn's common area, where all the tables and benches were filled with people like a mall on a rainy day. Some players worked as servers, taking orders and bussing plates of food and drink back and forth.

Loki had found a seat near the middle of the room, chatting and laughing with who seemed to be some of his friends. A seat in the center was also useful for listening in on others' conversations, Noct noted, choosing a spot near the back of the room where his back would face the door.

His tablemates were gossiping over lunch. Noct tuned them out, musing thoughts of how to best track down the people he needed to find, of who else besides Taira he might ask for help, and of Akari. A waitress brought him an iced tea and he sipped it absentmindedly while he watched the rain pour and the grey sky slowly darken to black outside.

~

I can't believe you, Nokkun! You promised... you said...! Now you're one of them...

No, I'm not! You know I would never do anything like that! They're spreading lies, Akari. You have to believe me.

You're hereby expelled from the guild, Noct. Please remove your guild crest from your armour.

Commander! I can fix this! It's a misunderstanding, I assure you! I've been set up; you can't let me go yet! I need to take my team-

Your crest, Noct, or I will send a squad to take it from your corpse.

Listen to me, damn you! I've done nothing wrong!

...Reapers, descend.

No, stop! I said listen!

Captain, we trusted you, but now you've fallen to the dark side, huh? Sorry, capt'. Let's take him out.

We trusted you too, Noct. What the hell were you thinking? All of us, who you saved that time a long while ago.

You're not welcome on the frontline anymore, Noct. Stay away.

Noct, we're over. I loved you. Please don't come see me again.

I'm innocent, damn it!! Akari! AKARI!