When Our Blades Cross (A Sword Art Online Story)

Laughing Coffin

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Gosen's father asked, a sinister grin. Gosen winced, before realizing that he had his sword in its sheathe next to him. The thought was tempting, but then his dad spoke again. "Even if you have it, you're still not strong enough to do it now are you?"

Gosen's hand rested on the hilt, his mind begging him to unsheathe the weapon. Suddenly, his vision morphed, and he was back in a familiar setting. He recognized this place from his duel with Kirito. A sword was driven through his back, and as he turned around, he saw the black-haired boy. "Even in this world, you're one of the weakest."

The boy lurched out of bed, holding his head. "A dream, huh...? More like a nightmare..." It was still a bit early, 7:15am. "I'll just go get a drink or somethin'... He got out of bed, the dark blue sleeves of his shirt filling his vision as he stretched. The boy left his room, going to the hangout spot that was empty, which it figures. He walked up to the NPC at the counter and got a water, a slight amount of col leaving from his pocket.

Gosen rested in his chair for about ten minutes until Silica tiredly appeared with a yawn. "Good morning..."

"Morning," Gosen responds taking a drink. He glanced up to see the dazed Silica as she sits down in front of him.

"Why are you up so early...?" She asks, leaning against the wall for a little support.

Gosen gave a sigh, why did it matter in the first place? "I've got business to attend to on the fifty-sixth floor in about an hour. Originally I was just going to leave you a message saying that, but if you're already up, you can come with me or stay behind, I don't care. If you do decide to come with me, I don't expect you to fight up front, your current level is a bit too low to deal with the higher-level enemies on the floor."

Silica glances at him, "Really? What do you need from up there?"

"I have a meeting up there with an acquaintance of mine, he's supposed to be catching me up one the activities of the assault team," Gosen replies, "and while I'm up there, might as well get some EXP, at least enough to level up once." I'd go up to floor sixty-four, but I dont want to be greeted by anyone on the front lines after my actions against Kirito, but of course I'm not going to say that.

"I see..." Silica closed her eyes, clearly still tired. Gosen cleared his throat to get her attention.

"So are you coming with me or staying here?" He asks, resting his head on his hand with a bored expression. He was tired, too, but at the same time, this felt natural to him after being on the front lines for so long. Every day he would have to get up around eight to clear a new dungeon, some days even two new ones.

The girl opened her eyes slightly, "Of course I'm going," she responded, followed by a yawn, "we're in a party now, that means we should, right?"

"Suit yourself..." Gosen gets up and stretches again, noticing that he was still in his sleepwear. "I need to go get my equipment, I'll be right back." Walking to his room, the boy glances back to see her still leaning against the wall. Damnit... Guess she is coming, then.

Gosen opened his menu and went through the almost obnoxious process that was changing gear in the game. Returning to the central hangout, Silica seemed to be attempting to wake herself up, stretching some. "If you're still tired, you shouldn't come."

"No, I'm up. Just give me a few minutes to gather my wits, this is a way higher floor than I'm used to, I mean, after being on floor fifty-two, I'm not quite sure how to feel..."

"Again, you don't have to come if you don't want to. This is entirely optional." Besides, you handled yourself well there... I wonder how you'd react if I told you I only agreed to go up there with you to do research on Laughing Coffin...