PP - F9 - The City of Flames (Fallen)

[Sousuke 0]

Sousuke stepped out of the teleporter at the edge of the volcanic mesa outside the main city. He had yet to figure out the name of this place, but he didnt care. This was where the from lines were and this was what he had been working towards for a long time. he was glad he had managed to get this far. Carrying with him the coat he inherited from his twin brother. He worked his way to the city centre to find something to do. He was killing time waiting for the first group of the boss raid to come back from battle to figure out what exactly was going on, and how man men they had lost. Still he sat down near the fountain, the blistering heat from the sun really bothered him but he let it slide just this once. He sat on the edge of the fountain looking around to see if there was anyone he recognized.

[Fallen 0]

Jun was very far from being a front liner, hell, he hadn't even gotten past the 5th floor, but he had heard that there was a boss fight going on currently so he wanted to go up to the front lines to welcome them all back and see how they went. Stepping off of the teleport stone he looked around, it was a very weird floor, covered in volcanoes and lava, it was really hot and as soon as he arrived he started to sweat. Walking around he had no idea where he was going and decided to try and find the city centre, maybe he'd find a map or a guide, or at least somewhere he could get a drink. Heading to the city centre Jun saw a fountain and was extremely confused as to why it hadn't evaporated, he didn't question the game and went and sat down on it, he could feel that the water was pretty hot so he didn't go sticking his hand in it. Jun noticed that there was another player sitting next to him so he gave a friendly wave and introduced himself, "Hi"

[Sousuke 0]

Sousuke looked up to see another player who he vaguely recognized greeting . He seemed to have once again gotten lost deep in his own world not really paying attention to his surroundings. He cursed himself mentally for being so careless and observed the boy sitting besides him. He didn't seem to very prepared for the front lines at first glance, he wasn't very armoured at least and he wore a little to much jewellery to be practical. Maybe he was an artisan or something? ''Hey whats a guy like you doing up here then eh?'' he asked the boy curiously.

[Fallen 0]

Jun was a little startled, he didn't expect such a response, "Well, I heard the front liners had engaged in the boss battle so I wanted to come here to see if they had made it or if they had made any progress." He sighed, he was pretty wet due to the sweat, "So why are you here? You seem stronger than me so I can only guess you wanted to join the front liners." He opened his inventory and got out an iced tea, cracking it open and sipping on it, it wasn't cold but it was still liquid, "Did you want to go somewhere a little cooler and grab a drink or something?" He put the drink away in his inventory and stood up.

[Sousuke 0]

Sousuke listened to the boy speak and when he invited him for a drink he nodded. ''Sure man there is an air conditioned place just down the road.'' he said getting up to lead the way. It wasn't a long walk but it gave him enough time to explain his reasons for being up here. ''Well see I wasn't here to join the front liners im already apart of them I just got here a little late see so ive been clearing some of the mini dungeons in the mountains with a small group of us to pass the time. I come back here every now and then to see if the boss has been defeated but so far nothing has happened so ive just been killing time.'' he explained as they arrived at the small café. ''Here we are.'' he said gesturing to small building in front of them.

[Fallen 0]

Jun nodded and followed, "Sweet, air-conditioning" He listed to him as the player explained what he was doing up here, â€‹"Bummer, oh well, there is always floor 10, maybe we'll see each other there." Jun smiled and continued to walk with the player towards the building, he gestured for Jun to go in and he did, sitting down at a table. A waiter came over and he ordered an iced tea, it was his favourite since he entered the game. Jun extended a hand, "I believe we've only met once maybe? I'm Jun anyways." 

[Sousuke 0]

Sousuke ordered a cup of Tea, the regular kind you get with tea bags and such and listened to Juns Introduction and he then remembered where he saw him. ''You were there the day my twin brother died and at the guild meeting for cerulean silence if I remember correctly.'' he said remembering the boy from a few previous places he had seen him. ''Names Sousuke im the newest member of the front lines pleasure to officially meet you jun.'' he said smiling as their drinks arrived.

[Fallen 0]

Jun nodded, â€‹"I didn't get to say it there, but I'm sorry for your loss, I didn't really know your brother but from what I could gather in the snow, he was a very nice guy." He had a solemn look on his face as he sipped away at his iced tea, he guess that kinda killed the mood a little, â€‹"Nice to meet you too Sousuke, if you are in my guild I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other then" He smiled and nodded again, continuing to sip his tea. "So what brought you to the front lines? You do realise that it's dangerous and you could die, I'd like to be at the front lines because of the adventure mainly, but I'd still be terrified of dying while fighting a boss."

[Sousuke 0]

Sousuke shook his head at Jun, not in a disapproving manor towards him but more towards himself. The one thing Sousuke could never let go of was his mistakes in the military with his failure that day when that entire plane of hostages got blown sky high because he wasn't fast enough to save everyone still haunted him and he was a soldier. "I'm a soldier Jun i belong here on the frontlines, i made to many mistakes in the past and if i succeed here then maybe i can accept my past. I want to help and save everyone i can to make up for what i did." He said sipping his tea.

[Fallen 0]

It was a surprisingly normal answer, it appeared that Sousuke was in the military, Jun didn't expect that, but then again, he didn't really know anything about him, "So you were in the military, cool." He paused and though about what he said, "I can't really say that can I, no, stupid me." He slapped himself, the military wasn't all fun and games, people died serving in the military. "I'm sure that your mistakes were out of your control, even if they weren't there isn't much point in dwelling on them, you can't change the past. Mistakes are meant to be made, it sounds insensitive but you should accept what happen and try and learn from it." He looked down at his drink and kept drinking.

[Sousuke 0]

Sousuke looked up when Jun said he should forget the mistake he made. He wasn't angry or anything, infact he understood exactly what he meant but he still couldn't just let all those peoples memories disappear. He was the only one besides their families who truly cared that they had died. Over 80 innocent lives were gone because he was selfish and disobeyed an order, just to save a girl he had fallen in love with and that had been all for nothing because he was now trapped here in this godforsaken game. ''I would love to just beable to forget Jun but its not something I can just let go, people lost their lives because of me and I cant let their sacrifice go to waste if you get what I mean.'' he told him.

[Fallen 0]

"I probably could never understand the way you feel, but then again, I probably couldn't understand how most of you feel. I haven't had the most active life." He chuckled and continued to sip his iced tea until it was finished. Jun put the cup down and leaned back in his chair, most of his days in SAO were spent doing mundane tasks, it seemed as though everyone around him was doing something, even Sousuke was going out and clearing mobs on this floor, he was doing nothing. "Do you ever get the feeling that we aren't going to escape from here?" The thought had crossed Jun's mind occasionally, maybe when they beat the game they were all destined to suffer the same fate of those who had died, or that the people in the game would stay here forever. Jun wouldn't mind the second option, he sort of liked it here.

[Sousuke 0]

Sousuke looked up at his question and sipped his tea, it was strange thought but most of them here were beginning to think that way, after all they had been here so long that they had begun to lose track of time. It was nearly Christmas too which indicated they were in this game nearly a year and that meant he would be turning 17 too as well. ''See Jun even if we are going to die here be trapped and never reach the 100th floor one thing is for sure, I want to try I know its a long shot and some of us might not want to go back but there is someone out there that I met here that has a terrible issue with their family and if I can do at least on good thing while im still alive its to find her.'' he said setting his cup down

[Fallen 0]

Jun smiled, "I hope that she find peace with her family then." He sighed and stared off into the distance, "Unlike you I have nothing that beckons me to the real world, I've really only spent a year with my family. No doubt when I wake up from here they would have moved on, they've had 15 years to do it anyways." Jun looked down at the table, "Unlike you, I haven't done anything nearly as interesting as being in the military. I spent 15 years of my life in a hospital bed, when we get out of here that is exactly where I'm going, it's an endless loop. I prefer the world here, I'm free from my shackles, I can do whatever I want." He laughed, "I've dragged on about myself, sorry"

[Sousuke 0]

Sousuke smiled at the boy. He could never understand what it felt like to be bed ridden and ill and could certainly understand why he preferred being in SAO. Here he wasn't stuch in a bed out there he couldn't do anything but lie there in theory. It wasn't much of a life though that. ''Not much of a life is it living the way you have ... I undertand what your saying about wanting to stay here though, besides once we escape maybe you will be able to come and go as you please.'' he said offering the boy a smile.