Progressive Factor II: Lacrimosa Of A Reaper

Deadly Interference

Mito

When Mito completed this questline in the beta, she was by herself, so the predicament she found herself in after finding the golden key was uncomfortable. However, compared to right now, she rather not have been in a party of five inside a crowded sack.

When Jaymes, Kirito, and Asuna returned to Koharu and Mito at the entrance hall, Mito had forgotten the next part of the quest, so it surprised her as much as the other girls when a cloud of green gas clouded their vision. Naturally, Koharu and Asuna freaked out, but their male counterparts calmed them down as the mist ascended to their noses and paralyzed them all.

Typically, one could avoid a poison attack like this, but Mito remembered that this was a forced event, a cutscene if that helps. There's nothing to be done about this. They can't move their right hand at all, unlike normal paralysis, where the movement of that limb is possible but severely limited. As a matter of fact, the only muscles not paralyzed is those responsible for eye moment and respiration.

Yet Jaymes and Kirito willed their partners through intact hand contact to not worry and remain calm. Mito doesn't have that benefit, but once her memory caught up to the events, she wasn't afraid anymore.

After the gas vanished, two men in hoods appeared - identifiable as men because Mito knew who they were - and approached the quintet. The smaller of the two came close to them, then picked up a nearby pot with a skull symbol on it. That was the source of the smoke. The man removed his hood and gas mask, revealing his identity to them all.

Cylon, the lord of Stachion.

"Well, well…I'm quite surprised, swordsman. I did not think you'd find Pithagrus's hideaway so soon. It took me many years to find it…because I never expected it would be in Suribus, rather than Stachion. I am curious about the hidden formula behind his puzzles that he kept so secret…but I'll start with this first."

He walks to Asuna, taking the golden key from her inventory as if it was directly in her pockets. Probably a mechanic just to make the scene work as it would in a movie. After a quick examination, he said, "Ahhh…I'd been hoping I would find the cube itself here…but I do have an idea of where I might find the door for this key. Surely, the item I seek will be there," He tucked the key in his cloak and smiles at the party while stroking his beard. "You did very good work for me, swordsman. Normally, this is where I would say farewell…but in fact, I have another job for you to do. Do you mind if I ask for your cooperation once more?"

Cylon snaps to the larger man, who whips out a large sack. First, he reached down for Kirito, heaved him up with ease with his enormous fist, and stuffed the beater of SAO inside. Here, Mito wondered if there'll be a sack for each of them, but her question was answered when the man chose Jaymes as his next target and dropped him in the sack with Kirito. Mito, Asuna, and Koharu followed in that order.

Their faces and voices might be paralyzed, but their emotions were not. Mito was sure no one was happy about the crowdedness of the bag, especially the boys who bore all the weight of three girls in armor on top of them. Oh, and there's Mito's scythe, which fits inside by some means.

Within the darkness of the bag, Mito could hear everything. They were carried out of Pithagrus' home, then through the streets of Suribus. While other players were enjoying the nightlife of Suribus, the five of them were loaded onto a carriage bed. Their trip will return them to Stachion, a one-mile, five-minute trip by horse. At least it is a free trip back to the puzzle town.