Survival (Sword Art Online)

Floor 74

  I walked up the cold hard metal steps to Heathcliff. It was strange how he would message me for anything at all. I came to the large door and noticed Kirito and Asuna standing in front of the door.

  "Asuna!" I said. "Hi!"

  She turned around stunned and as did Kirito. "Oh! Harmony! It's great to see you!"

  "Heathcliff messaged you guys in too?" I asked.

  They both both shook their heads. "What do you think he wants?" Asuna asked.

  "Only one way to find out." I placed my hand on the large, black metal door and pushed it open. Inside waited Heathcliff in his usual attire. His face with a normal almost too calm expression.

  "Thank you for answering my calls. Now let's get straight to business. I hate that since you all are newlyweds I had to break your vacations short."

  I confidently kept my gaze towards Heathcliff as Asuna and Kirito looked at me for a short moment as if to say, wait, you're married?

  Heathcliff continued to speak, "As I said in the message I sent, the front lines have found the 74th floor boss room. But they charged right in and moments later the door reopened and the entire squad had been eliminated."

  I held my breath for a moment. Trying to comprehend what was happening. The entire squad was wiped out? How strong was the boss?

  "There had been no signs of teleportation and so it seems that the room was a no crystal zone. It may continue that way until the 100th floor."

  My heart skipped a beat. A no teleport zone?

  "So, we have assembled our strongest team to go down to the boss room later today. As well as you three. That is all for now, please go get ready."

  I turned around and walked out the room. "A non-crstal zone? That's a joke right?" I sighed.

  "Well, he didn't look like he was joking." Kirito said obviously.

  "Honestly, I dunno if I can do this. I don't want to die."

  "You'll be fine. Don't you worry, Harmony." Asuna said sweetly. "Anyways, I'd like to say one thing. You're married?" A smile still on her face. It was actually really scary. The tone of her voice was much different from her expression.

  "Eheh....that's not important."

  "Oh yes it is. To who?"

  "I do not think it's any of your business."

  "As the guild's vice-president, it is my business so tell me now." She scolded.

  "We can talk about this later. I have to go." I walked down the stairs as they clinked under my boots. I stood in front of the building and teleported home. About a second later Klein came in.

  "So you've heard?" He asked. I shook my head.

  "I can't believe one boss took them out." I said worriedly. "I don't know if I want to do this."

  "Hey. You'll be fine. I'm right here with you."

  He put his arms around me and held me. Which made me feel safer. "Klein can I ask you something?"

  "Yeah?"

  "If anything goes wrong, I want to know your real name."

  "It's Ryou Tsuboi."

  I smiled to him. "Well my name is Hikari Kayaba. I think we should get with the group, its probably been an hour to say the least." I let go of him and opened my menu and put on my uniform.