Chapter Text
Asuna walked down the corridor of the KoB headquarters. A couple of guild members passed her by and greeted her formally. She didn't really pay too much attention who they were because she was thinking about what mission was so important that the commander wanted her to stop her daily training immediately and talk to her in person.
She knocked on the heavy door and opened it when she heard an answer. The long table in the room was unusually empty as only four of the five people she expected were present.
"Welcome, Asuna. I'm glad you're already here since it's an urgent matter we need to discuss." The man with silvery hair greeted her with his hands folded in front of his face hiding the lower half of it, but his eyes were clearly serious. "You see... the rumors you heard... were true..."
The young vice commander hung her head and gripped the hilt of her rapier tightly. She knew for quite some time by now something was amiss but due to her guild duties wasn't able to see to it. With a determined face, she looked back at the people in front of her.
"Commander, please let me investigate further!" she said with a firm voice.
Grinning knowingly, he nodded. "Good to hear that, Asuna. I would have asked you anyway." He cleared his throat. "Therefore I order you to halt our preparations for the next dungeon boss and concentrate on this problem until it's solved. We can't afford more players going missing."
One of the men also sitting there opened his menu, typed something and sent a message to Asuna.
"This is all the info we gathered so far from our info brokers. If you find more, please let me know as soon as possible." he explained.
"Any further questions?" the guild leader asked.
The swordswoman shook her head and then saluted. "Commander Heathcliff, I'll do my best to solve this, I promise."
"Please be careful. Good luck."
A little while later, Asuna was sitting on a bench in front of the guild's headquarters, nibbling on a simple sandwich she made and comparing the information she just got with the one she got from Argo a couple of days ago.
The first report of players who were missing some of their party members was from three weeks ago. And not long after several more followed. And including the three members of KoB, there are at least 20 players missing by now, probably even more who were unreported. Like solo players.
Asuna sighed and scrolled through the conversation she had with her info broker friend, remembering why she contacted her. A certain solo player went missing some time ago. Someone who promised Asuna that he would be there every time the frontline players would face a boss but didn't show up at the latest field boss. And after several days of unanswered messages her anger turned into worry. Maybe it's not his fault at all...
With quick bites, the young woman finished her sandwich, swiped away the opened windows from her menu and stood up. Sitting around worrying won't bring him - and the other missing people too, of course - back and so she walked with resolute steps to the teleport gate.
Her destination was floor 39, which some reports mentioned as the place where players went before their disappearance.
Asuna arrived right in the middle of the small village built with small farmer houses. She remembered that it's a quiet and peaceful floor as long as you stay away from the deep forests where scary beasts could be at every corner. At least there were no ghosts.
As she walked down the stone brick path, she passed by NPC stores which were almost exclusively selling vegetables, fruits, meat and other animal products. There was only a single obligatory shop for weapons and armor. Being passionate about cooking, Asuna often comes here to buy ingredients and almost moved here if she hadn't found a nice place on one of the recently opened higher floors.
The swordswoman left the safe zone and looked around. A plain of green meadows, some fields of different crops, and forests here and there stretched out into the horizon. A soft breeze blew through the deciduous trees and no monsters were in sight. So far nothing was out of the ordinary for this area.
"Get it!"
"It's running away!"
"It's too fast!"
"No, you're just too slow!"
Suddenly, Asuna heard a group of people who came running out of a nearby forest screaming around. But there was also something they were chasing after. The little white-pinkish creature with red beady eyes and ears just as long as its body rushed towards her and she recognized that it was a Ragout Rabbit, a rare monster that barely spawns and even if someone who's lucky enough to see one will have trouble killing it.
So she got her rapier ready to attack it but before she could strike, the rabbit hid behind her, trembling in fear. She couldn't hurt that poor little thing.
The group of two female and two male players approached her but immediately stopped.
"That's... the vice commander of KoB!" A young woman gasped.
"You mean... THAT Asuna who can pierce through you before you even notice?" Another girl exclaimed.
The other two players bowed their heads. "S-sorry... you can have it! We don't want to get into trouble!"
Asuna looked at them confused but actually wasn't too surprised. As soon as she became KoB's vice commander and walked around in this bright uniform most people started being overly respectful and some even kinda scared of her. She could count on one hand the number of people who don't treat her any differently than before.
The four players disappeared into the forest just as quickly as they ran out of it before Asuna couldn't even respond. She sighed and looked down at the rabbit still lying at her feet.
"They're gone now and you can go back home, little guy, I won't harm you." the young woman said in a soft voice.
The creature squeaked as if it wanted to thank her but it didn't leave. Instead it kept looking curiously at her.
"Wait... you probably didn't understand what I said... oh, whatever..." she mumbled and turned around and left for other places on this floor.
During her inspection, she passed by some players who were doing this area's quests and another group of people, who were mentioned in one of the reports, looking for their disappeared friend. They were relieved to hear that even the top guild is helping with this issue now. But otherwise found nothing out of the ordinary happening or any clues about missing players.
It took Asuna about an hour to realize that the Ragout Rabbit was following her around, only because she heard a loud rustling from the bushes when it stepped on dry leaves. It crawled slowly out of the shrubbery, similar to a grumpy child who was found first in a game of hide and seek.
Close to giving up her search for today, she shot the little monster a tired glance but it merely stared back at her while cutely perking its ears. She couldn't help but smile.
"You're an adorable little thing, hm?" The girl kneeled down and petted the creature's head.
Maybe it was quite far fetched but what if the rabbit was just as lonely as she was? Of course she knew that this being in front of her was merely bunch of zeros and ones but she couldn't deny the soothing effects it had on her.
"Would you like to accompany me back to the village?" Asuna asked and started walking towards it and as she expected the creature hopped along.
At the entrance, she walked through the gate but suddenly heard a bump sound from behind her, followed by a squeak. The rabbit was sitting behind the blue semi transparent barrier, rubbing its nose.
"Oh, of course... you can't go into the safe zone..." the young woman said in a somber voice. "Well, that's where we have to part ways then. It was fun with you, little guy."
She waved goodbye and headed to the teleport gate but got slower when several cries reached her ears. She stopped in her tracks and turned back, seeing the poor animal trembling, whimpering and hanging its long ears. Her heart almost ripped in half. She just couldn't leave it behind.
"You stay right here, okay? I have an idea." Asuna asked, rushed to a specific shop in the village and went to its entrance again.
She sat down on a tree stump and rummaged through her item menu while the little rabbit was waiting, curiously tilting its head left and right. Then after a press of a button, a small pile of fresh carrots appeared in front of it and its eyes beamed from excitement.
"Here, these are for you!" The girl declared with a smile and watched as the creature ate one after another.
When the meal was completely gone, the Ragout Rabbit jumped happily onto her lap and she gently petted it. She wanted to say something but was stopped when a message window popped up in her vision:
>>Monster "Ragout Rabbit" successfully tamed<<
>>Please enter a name:<<
Asuna's eyes shot open surprised. She couldn't believe that her wild guess worked out! She looked down on the creature and thought about a name.
"What do you think of... Riki? Do you like it?"
The little rabbit squeaked, what she understood as an approval, so she typed it in. Then she saw a new icon that appeared in her menu and when tapped on showed her new friend's name and a green health bar similar to hers.
And now the swordswoman had to test one more thing: With the tamed monster in her arms, she walked through the village's gate... and passed without any problems. Riki was happily perking its ears and was gently petted by its master.
"Okay, we should go now. I want to show you your new home."
The two teleported up to the 61st floor and were greeted by a gorgeous sunset which made the whole area shine in a soft orange hue. She was glad that she could finally share this view with someone else, even if it's just an animal friend... and not a certain human friend. Asuna suddenly frowned and blinked several times to prevent her eyes from tearing up.
Said animal moved its body a little and looked at her face. It must have felt her uneasiness and didn't want its tamer to be sad.
"I'm alright... let's go home..." she whispered and gently scratched its chin with her finger.
The girl opened the door to her house in the floor's main town Selmburg and sat her familiar down on the floor. It looked around curiously and walked a little bit hesitant from one room to another while she watched.
"Do you like it here?"
Riki didn't answer her, instead it sniffed the sofa in her living room, jumped on it, lied down on a black cushion and closed its eyes.
"Apparently, yes."
Asuna smiled at this adorable sight and went to one of her shelves to get a weaved basket out of it, picked up the sleepy rabbit together with the cushion and put it all down on the floor as a bed for her animal friend.
Then she changed from her KoB uniform into casual clothes and an apron to make herself something for dinner. While she was eating, the vice commander typed a couple of messages to her guild colleague to keep him updated on the situation. And later contacted the info broker of her trust Argo to ask if there's any new intel on her end. Sadly there were no clues whatsoever.
It got already dark outside when she finished her meal. So she quickly cleaned the table and got ready for a much-needed bath.
When Asuna returned to her living room, she noticed that Riki was still fast asleep in its bed. She went to the kitchen, filled a small bowl with water, materialized three carrots from her inventory and put everything down. Just in case her familiar wakes up and is hungry. Assuming that something like this can even happen with tamed beasts.
She gently stroke its head and whispered: "Good night, little guy."
Her white boots' steps echoed through the barely lit hall of the Blackiron Palace as Asuna walked towards the huge black slate in the middle of the room.
There was no one else around but it nonetheless felt like she was watched. Her body tensed up as her anxiety rose with every stride she got closer. Soon she will know if he's still alive. Or not.
There she saw it: his name, carved into the stone, unchanged from what it's like since the game has began. And the swordswoman let out a sigh of relief.
But from one moment to the next, everything around her got even eerier than before when the lights from outside turned crimson and she watched on as a line of blood crossed out his name.
"No... it... it can't be..."
Her breath got stuck in her throat and she slowly walked backwards on wobbly legs, unbelieving what she saw with her own eyes. But suddenly the floor cracked under her feet, making the poor girl fall into the dark abyss...
"AHH!"
With a scream and in cold sweat, she shot up in her bed. She held her head and tried to calm down with deep breaths. Then she heard a soft thump at her door.
"Riki? Is that you?"
She opened up and saw the rabbit sitting there, looking upwards to its master's face, seemingly worried.
"Oh, sorry I woke you. I just had a bad dream, that's all." Asuna simply explained, trying to hide how upset she actually was but her voice wasn't very convincing. So the creature rubbed its body against her legs until she picked it up and gave it a hug. "You want to comfort me, right? ... Thank you."
The young woman stood there for a while, then walked into her kitchen to get some tea and sat down at her dining table to have an early breakfast. She materialized a snack and the last carrot she had from her inventory and watched on as her animal friend was sitting on the table and ate, while she was barely able to eat herself.
The nightmare she had was still fresh on her mind. Asuna bit her lower lip. There was no other choice. As much as she dreaded to go to the Blackiron Palace, she had to check if he was still alive.
"Riki?"
The Ragout Rabbit squeaked and looked at her.
"Would you like to accompany me to the first floor? I... don't want to go there alone..."
It gently nudged her hand and the girl smiled. Then she opened her item menu and took out a long piece of black fabric, which was a leftover from the last time she had worked on her sewing skill.
"Raise your head a little now, please."
Her familiar did as she asked and she tied the fabric around its neck like a collar with a bow.
"Aww, you look cute!" she said with a bright face. "You almost look like a friend of mine. With all that black and adorableness..." Her cheeks turned a shade of red. "Wait, forget the last thing I said..."
Riki just tilted its head in confusion.
The sun was rising over the lake around Selmburg and Asuna walked along the path to the teleport gate.
To not stand out in the Town of Beginnings, she was wearing an outfit similar to the one she had during the exploration of the first floor: a white shirt, red vest and skirt and black tights. She coincidentally saw it in a clothing store and bought it mostly for nostalgic reasons but was happy now to actually got to wear it. Also, she changed her hairstyle into a bun and added a red hair band.
The young woman couldn't help but wonder if she really was in these basic clothes "disguised" enough to not be recognized as the KoB vice commander. Well, there's a certain someone who would recognize her everywhere. She hoped, at least. But that would only be possible if he was there...
A squeak was heard from within the bag hanging on her shoulder as her thoughts were drifting away.
"Sorry..." she mumbled with a smile and raised her head again.
After arriving at her destination, Asuna opened the big door to the Blackiron Palace and immediately felt pretty tense. She didn't see anyone else being there right now but couldn't help but remember the times she had to check for players and found crying people in front of the huge slate.
Slowly, the girl walked towards the intimidating monument in the middle of the room and closed her eyes before she could read any names. She just stood there, frozen in place.
Yet again there was a squeak from the bag. The rabbit peaked out of it and looked at its master. It made more noises as if it was talking to her.
"Riki... I'm scared..." Asuna mumbled, eyes still shut. "But I'm the vice commander of the strongest guild. I shouldn't be scared... but I am."
Her familiar climbed out - much to her surprise - and hopped forward.
"No, wait! What are you doing?"
She kneeled down to pick the Ragout Rabbit up and when she stood upright again, realized that she was exactly at the spot she could see what she was looking for.
His name. It was still there, unchanged from the beginning of this game.
Asuna stretched out her right hand while holding Riki with the other arm, tracing every letter.
"I will find you," she said with little tears in her eyes, "I promise."