NIGHT

“at least, i think that’s what happened. not that i could draw direct comparisons to what was happening in the fight at the time.” she waved a finger. “but, reasonably, that was the only major event at the time a flood of darkness was slowly unleashed upon all of aincrad. it was that, and the fact that you said the boss had abilities that allowed him to control darkness to begin with.” “really?” day nodded. “it was swallowing players up one by one if they hadn’t outrun the rising tide.” night was taken aback by the reveal, if only to consider the idea that shadow had been powerf

“were you aware of what was happening outside of the boss room?” day asked. night shook her head. “hadn’t even crossed my mind. or, at least…” her fingers twitched, as though tracing out ghost motions in a desire to pull up her messages interface. a thought of hers went back to a conversation she had with bistro, about the fight night had undertaken against a wushen with the other players gathered at the frontlines. demian had been involved somehow — a meeting of sorts? — and it was a debate about something she couldn’t wrap her head around, even until now. a mystery, she thought. no

what pleasantries she expected to exchange with them, however, were quickly set aside as night adjusted to day falling back to her side. “and we were talking about orgoth,” day started after releasing a held breath. then, she hummed, correcting herself. the smirk she wore simply morphed into a frown. “no. you couldn’t remember what had happened towards the end of the fight. right?” night nodded. day thought about it again, taking the hand offered by the player into her own, her fingers folding over night’s. “i don’t remember how shadow died,” night clarified further. “i just kn

so all she could do was gather the strength for a retort. “literally, fuck you.” day shrugged, head dipped low. “well, you can’t fault me for trying now.” and she gave night a coy smile paired with an open eye. night looked away, because she knew the game, and couldn’t find herself agreeing out of shame. “there’s always time to change your mind —” “ — not interested.” they followed the trail through the other exit of town, passing by the inn they once stayed in on the way out. day waved to it like a tourist. night tried to ignore her. the last time they passed through this

day left a bundle of snacks wrapped in leaves, crafted out of empty air, and that was that. their next stop — well, day had wanted to return to the city, first. “we should pay respects to the rooms we were using!” “you mean the singular room we were using,” night corrected day quick, and then prompt vetoed against that suggestion to return to their once temporary hostel. “we’re out on tour here; i wasn’t exactly planning to stay a whole night again.” “but it was great the last time we did,” day said, her hands put together, fingers resting in between the gaps. “wasn’t it?”

“ushiame,” she said, wagging a finger, sights tossed behind her shoulder. “it wasn’t a friend to me the last time either.” “so the enthusiasm…” night had the flat of her fingers pressed up against the side of her neck. now it was day’s turn to consider, too, as they drew close to the grove entrance. “maybe you should think about it like visiting a neighbour,” was the answer she settled upon, which paradoxically left night with more questions. she quelled them, upon quiet contemplation, reflecting upon the lights that they had received prior, and the hero who was the subject of

they kept their distance venturing into the city, the post reception an obvious landmark in plain sight. night decided the drop-off process would be relatively smooth, without interference, and yet the off-handed suggestion of the attendant to the player ahead of her to visit the grove piqued day’s interest, the entity mulling around and eavesdropping whilst waiting for night to be done. “we haven’t been back since the previous floor tour,” she reminded her player, tugging on night’s arm as they walked along, pretense having fallen completely in lieu of new information. “c’mon! let’s go see hi

“yeah, he was.” night gestured as she spoke. “orgoth was this giant minotaur, towering over a lot of us, acting as an ally in our fight against the shadow. he had twin axes, dual wielding, taking the brunt of most of shadow’s attacks for us while we were taking down shadow himself.” “who was just some guy in a business suit.” “who had control over darkness,” night butted in, wary in contrast to day’s relaxed and mirthful expression. “who spawned in a bunch of tiny little guys that exploded once in a while after we took them down. and at the end, when we were about to beat him…”

so night folded, trying to keep herself from pooling into pudding, eyes flicked towards the treetops above, the shadows of the leaves lit only by the luminescence of the plants that grew in the woods, a tapestry highlighted only by the everlasting darkness above them. “it was just a man in a suit, to be honest.” at least, that was as far as night could recall. “clad in darkness, sometimes, but mostly just some guy in a business suit.” “no way,” day muttered, finding herself distracted from their destination, slowly coming into view. “all that just from some random office worker?” “no

night tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, then. “what’s there to say?” and she wasn’t being coy, this time, watching her partner’s every movement. there was a time then, she remembered, where her only response had been to push day’s questioning away. between the sword, and the boss fight that seemed like a bad dream, and… well, now it simply seemed as though she owed day a proper answer more than anything. except she didn’t know where to start. day had hummed, bringing their pinkies into a lock again, and night let her, as though it had been a promise to be honest. “you coul

“but when you think about it,” night continued, “we’d always matched because of it.” “not that you used it much around me,” day commented. on her face was an expression of wryness, paired with a smile. night had feigned of cluelessness. they continued, blades held to their sides. it wasn’t as though night had intended to discover the weapon in the first place, for it being cardinal’s gift after the world was swallowed whole. for her to build on it, then, past the poem sung in its description upon examination — that had been her own personal choice. their conversation about

“but,” night began, “the fact that these heroes do exist, in some way shape or form, lends them importance. right?” she gestured, and waved her sword of light into existence. night held it out in front of them to consider. “i’d thought about orgoth’s disposition to the raid when we were on the twenty-fifth.” “before the darkness,” day mumbled, her own movements aimless. “before the darkness,” night agreed. and as her mind searched for her next opinion, she felt the shudder, a soft buzz akin to numbness on her forearm, against the outstretched blade. the gentle shift of white – anothe

“where did we stop?” “where did what now?” the view of yvlon’s landmark tree was in day’s blurred periphery as night had asked. but as it turned out, it wasn’t important. “our conversation.” day’s shifted her gaze over from the distance to the player. “which one?” “that’s a good question.” it hadn’t even occurred to night that they were having two separate conversations at one point. it was after a pause, the woman thinking, that they started back down the path they intended to take in the first place. “about the hero, maybe.” “oh, that again.” and day’s elbows p

they stepped through the threshold, into the forest. there was a sense of warmth that the outskirts hadn’t carried; the dense cluster of trees in the woods and the glow of the crystals combined made sure the ambient atmosphere would be different than that of the mountains. the winds present weren’t as strong, if they were felt at all by the travelers. while walking, day was the one to point out an impasse, a herd of hostile meandering elementals. night took the initiative to cull them, before settling back onto their delivery route. the edge of her blade cut through thin air and the dying

day shot night a sly look, before she looked ahead again. was it disbelief etched upon her face? it was hard for night to tell. “to be fair,” day followed up afterwards, “you and koga were busy tending to the herbs rather than the forest surrounding it.” night thought carefully upon her words. day was right. the fire had taken much of her attention, she but figured day had stepped out the way because of cardinal’s direct influence. any agreement upon them… well. night never had the best memory. it had also seemed like so long ago that night had entirely forgotten. “where did you go t

“but i guess it’s hard to beat what happened in the past, huh?” day slung her arms back, fingers knitted together as she rested her head against her hands. “past the mountains here…” night had muttered, eying the road ahead. she remained quiet for a time, in deep recollection on how to head towards their destination next. she hummed when she remembered something, however. “the last time we were in srona, wasn’t there was a fire at one of their medical outposts?” “it had been arson,” day returned, “as far we remember it.” and then she tilted her head as they strolled along, starting

they skipped out of town quickly afterwards. “to srona,” night said, clarifying their destination with day. the player then realized she remembered their route from here onwards. “why did we even use a horse back then?” day scoffed, amused, adjusting her ponytail as they left vesh behind. “because someone thought we’d take forever to get here,” she said, jabbing a finger towards night once her hands were free. night held her hands up, palms open, facing day. “okay — i’ll take the heat for that.” and she stuffed her hands into her pockets. “but it’s a lot more peaceful now than back

of course they went to the baths. there were multiple springs located amidst dagan’s mountains. she asked for a private one for personal comfort, but had no intent for any further activity in the wilds. even as night watched day sink into the water, relaxing comfortably in the cold, it was obvious, too, that she still had their discussion on her mind. that was fine. even if night had decided to forget her train of thought, it meant she had to be prepared to pick up her mental notes again if it was brought up later, as they would be traveling along. still, it was a cozy spot, and had

night waited for day’s contemplation to end first before they moved onto the next discussion. but, by then, they’d already reached the entrance of vesh. day gestured to the player towards the collection point nearby, and night followed through, handing over the package as was warranted of her. their exchange had been brief. and, if night remembered correctly, their next stop would be at… “hold on,” one of the hosts at vesh stopped her with a clarion voice. “won’t you join us in one of our celebration festivities? it’s the least we could do to extend you an invite for the trouble we’ve put

day joined in with night’s line of thinking afterwards, humming. “so you might be considering… that the festival is only celebrated in times of peace?” “it’s a little hard to say that,” night replied, bitter, even if she hadn’t intended to be. “because if this were a culture we’d both been privy to watch over for at least a few years, then i’d be certain. …but it’s not.” though night had unspooled her train of thought and allowed day to peer into what little crumb of madness had been pestering the player ever since their arrival onto the twenty-seventh, the quiet that followed

three points to bring up and run past day. the construct gave her clarification a nod, so they wouldn’t be misunderstood. night hummed, returning the gesture. they walked, taking their time under the soft radiance of the moon. she decided the first question could be answered relatively quickly. “so,” she began, facing day past a dip of her head. “the quest line we went on — the mysterious divide? even after all of those trials we’d gone through, we still haven’t found out anything about this hero mentioned, joyously celebrated over, even though it was the only line of progression from int

“it’s just…” and day’s hands tightened into a fist. the look she directed towards the ground was intense, the sheen on her blue eyes only highlighted by the darkness cast over the entire floor. though night would not catch sight of that storm brewing behind her mirror’s windows, she knew, between the silence and the dense air of the wilderness that sat around them, something had to be wrong. “i can’t… tell,” day started, “if you were curious about him — because of what he represented. …but, moreover, if it was of that, then to whom.” night heard her companion let loose a small e

“you’re acting like it’s no big deal,” she said, “that he asked you out in the first place.” “i mean,” day started, voice low. “it was a pretty big deal, if you were to ask me to be honest about it.” “--yeah?” night’s gaze had bounced from the view ahead, back towards her partner. it had slipped past her notice that her tone had suddenly shifted — there was a tinge of envy, or was it mistrust? in her voice that seemed accusatory. day had glanced towards her player, but kept her eyes on the road. “a big deal how?” “...” now it was night’s turn to keep her eyes off her

the answer felt like it had taken forever, and yet night allowed herself to wait. day gestured down one path. “we move towards dagan, then.” “dagan?” night watched her counterpart nod, and follow her down that path. she had no complaints about their choice of destination, but a curiosity nagged at her. “why dagan?” “honestly?” day replied, falling into step with night once they’d rounded a bend. the path was straight from there and forwards. “i’m just going by what route i recall us taking prior on that quest line with koga.” “the mysterious divide.” day hummed to affirm he

night turned to day as they shuffled towards the safe zone’s threshold. “so where’re we headed to first?” “first?” day blinked, quiet for a pause. they’d almost stopped. night had staggered her steps in the interim, allowing day to catch up when she continued. her response was carefully manufactured. “shouldn’t you’d be making the decision?” a gentle breeze swept them by. from on high, a small lamp had flickered out as they left ronbaru behind. night but looked past her shoulder towards the town they’d just left. “the last time i made decisions on this floor,” she started, hesitantly