Her Mission To Save Them All || Sword Art Online Fanfic

Chapter 45

17th July 2019
I feel that I should put this message at the start, because 10K reads has suddenly crept up on me. I didn't think that I would ever reach this pinical, and maybe that makes me sad or whatever, but I was really happy when I saw that number next to the reads icon.

So thank you so much, as always, for reading, voting and commenting. Long may it continue!

POV: Tori 

There's a panic in my blood as soon as I hear the messengers confession. Not a mild kind either, but a full-on, guns blazing type of crisis that seizes my heart into overdrive. It's the kind that's hard to think past and force logic into. Panic is such a primal instinct.

Move. I have to move.

For seconds, my mind remains blank, taking the time to process events and decide what the hell I'm going to do. Only one thought makes it through the haze of frenzy, equally as ingrained within me as the panic washing over me. 

I can't let them leave. 

"Sister..." It's not a question; it's a cautious, masked demand for a command. I shift my gaze from where I cage the messenger within my grip to Kira, who's eyes stare at me.

Just...they stare as roughly as a choppy sea. People often compare blue eyes to ice, but we are never that stable. We are natural disasters clothed in the most destructive form, always moving and shifting. 

There is no one emotion contained within her expression, there are layers. Shock in her widened eyes, confusion in scrunch of her eyebrows, anxiety where her teeth clutch her lips.

She is not only cold like ice, but she is warm like the sea in the summer sun and, at the same time, the drift of cold when you dip your toes too deep. 

The address anchors me slightly. I have no time to play around with her or anyone else. "Kira," I say, finding my voice once again uncertain. I take my time to inhale, finally unclasping my grip from the messenger and my next words come out stronger. "Find Shi. I don't care what he says, this isn't optional. Meet me at the front gate."

Kira isn't stupid, I can give her at least partial credit for that. She's noted my panic and figured out that I'm not joking; I can tell from the way she sharply nods, walking off quickly, her hand wrapped tightly around her sword. 

As her figure turns back towards the way we came, I don't bother to turn back to the messenger and ask directly. "Who sent you, little brother?"

"Leader, Vice-commander. He's waiting for you by the front gate along with Commander and General." 

I struggle to exhale, swallowing back the urge to bolt. "I see. Thank you for the message, I'll be going now."

"Vice-commander,"

"Yes?"

"Good luck hunting."

************

My hand is shaking, and not even a deep breath will cause it to still. If I had known. If I had known. If I had known. All the possibilities swarm my thoughts, each vying for my attention and waiting for the time where I can slow down, examine everything to see where I have gone wrong. Learn from mistakes, never repeat them.

But, for now, I can't slow down. Even I feel as if I'm rushing; I'm running even when I shouldn't be that concerned. Outside the city, there is a desert and rocky terrain that without the right skills, is almost impossible to escape.