#it’s the most cursed corner of the stones fandom online

[waugh-bao]

[tamayakii]

run away. Todoroki Family.

concept: you’re Todoroki’s younger sister, but he despises you since day one, so does the whole family, 14 years of this and you’re done with it rank: pure angst fandom: Boku No Hero Academia/My Hero Academia notes: would y‘all like a part 2?

Most would assume being the daughter of pro hero Endeavor is amazing but it was hell, your own personal hell, your father hated you because you barely light a motherfucking candle, Shoto despises you, mother had pushed you down the stairs because you were a monster just like your father and your two only hopeful siblings just didn’t interact with you anymore due to threats from your dad. 

To this day you call everyone in the Todoroki family by Todoroki and numbered them, hell sometimes you didn’t name them.

It all came crashing down one night when you thought of everything, you had no one, truly no one, being in online school had diminished your friends. Your heart began to race, your neck suddenly felt like it was being tickled but in the worst way. 

Fuyumi and Natsuo were out, enjoying the night with friends, Enji was on hero duty and Shoto was in the UA dorms. So that left you alone in the Todoroki family house, all alone.. in the quiet hell..

Almost as if you were on a string, you slowly got up from the bed and looked in the mirror right across from you, suddenly everything from the past 14 years hit you, like a truck.

The angered looked your father gave you every time he saw you, the fury behind Todoroki’s stoic eyes, the fearful look your mother gave you before she was sent away. The day when your mother pushed you down the stairs, calling you a monster when you developed your quirk.

Your feet stomped on the ground as you punched the mirror, you shrilled in pain. You brought down the tall dresser and jumped on it, managing to stick some pretty good holes in it.

You walked towards your night stand, picked it up, and chucked it across the room. Bringing everything that sat on top of it onto the ground, shattering the pink lamp that Toya oddly bought you before he disappeared into the night..

just like you..

In a pure fit of rage, you brought the mattress off of the frame and chucked it right where the taller dresser once stood. You stormed towards your dresser and picked it up by the leg and chucked it at the window, completely shattering both things. 

You grabbed what was left of the dresser and chucked it at the wall, your rampage was still in its finest form.

Letting it all out, you punched the door, half of it shot off while the rest was bent outwards. Grabbing your phone you chucked it at the hallway wall, it shattered into bits and pieces. 

Your mind went to Toya, on how he destroyed his room and left a note, you looked around and spotted the half broken night stand. Quickly digging through the remains and pulling out a dull pencil and ripped paper you wrote down in a scratchy hand writing, 

                               “Never will you see her again, 

                                not like she was ever needed”

I looked at the mattress, my hand slowly touched it. Setting it aflame, and letting the other items catch fire with the blue flames that cursed my life, I walked out of my room, and pinned the note onto the kitchen counter with a steak knife. 

I looked back at the stairs as i saw the flames slowly reach the downstairs, I smiled.

I bolted out the back door as i heard my sister scream, I sprinted around the back and down the sketchy street. In the distance I could see my blue flames reached the night sky and my sisters screams. 

I felt so free, I ran against the crowd. My legs never stopped moving, a smile crept onto my face as tears began to flow down my face. finally.. free.. 

A laugh escaped my mouth, “YES!!! FUCK YES!!” I spun around and jumped, pumping a fist into the air. I spun down an alley way, my breath turning into gray smoke from the cold. News helicopters flew above the city, flying towards the fire i created.

I sat against the stone wall and looked up into the air, letting out a happy sigh of relief. Tears fell down my cheeks, I felt the sudden urge to sleep. I closed my eyes and let the sleep take over.

“ssskk- Dear citizens of Tokyo”

I jumped up from the sudden voice, I looked around, noticing how the sun was on the horizon and a crowd at the end of the alley. I slowly approached the crowd with my hood up, 

“After recent events, Pro-Hero Endeavor and his family would like to share a message”

I pushed forward through the crowd until I saw a glass case with a huge tv in it, showing the news, there on the TV Enji stood tall with Shoto, Fuyumi and Natsuo. Fuyumi’s eyes were red and puffy along with Natsuo’s, Shoto’s stone cold face sent a wave of anger through my body

Fuyumi spoke first,

“Please! If you have any information on my baby sisters disappearance, pl-pl-please! Immediately call the police department!” Tear flowed down her cheeks, Natsuo comforted her, then it switched to the note, the note I left, along with my trashed room, burnt to a crisp and a picture of me, smiling like a damned idiot.

“The Police Department has confirmed this to be kidnapping and any leads have been burnt besides the note left by the kidnapper or kidnappers.” I rolled my eyes, 

“Pro-hero Endeavor spoke about his daughters kidnapping with us on site” It switched to my father, standing a ways away from the house, 

“My daughter is a strong young women and the person who kidnapped her would have targeted her-” I picked up a rather huge rock that was on the corner of the alley way and chucked it at the glass, breaking it and the TV. 

I walked away with a rather loud “He is lying ya’know!?” and disappeared down the alley, people yelled at me to stop but i shrugged it off. I walked down the streets of Tokyo, the early morning sun hitting me.

‘from this day forward, I’m no longer a Todoroki’

[roseylaces]

Hey! Can I get a drabble please? I would love to see 20 with my otp Asuna and Kazuto! I loved the last one you wrote!!! Thank you! Xx

thank you so much for your patience whilst i wrote this! it was originally going to be short, but i may have gotten a little too invested with my own plot hehe!~

20. “You need to wake up because I can’t do thiswithout you.”

title: Amongst the Starswords: 7.2kfandom: Sword Art Online

send me a number and a pairing and i’ll write up a drabble!prompt list can be found here~ can also be read on ao3 here!

Within many role-playing video games, oneof the most difficult obstacles to overcome are enemy debuffs. Ranging fromparalysis, to a temporary inability to access one’s inventory, to increasedrisks of tumbling with everything in between, one had to be careful not to getcaught up in unfavorable enemy attack.

During their time in Sword Art Online,Asuna and Kirito had both encountered a wide range of these debuffs, and knewthe risks involved. Especially during Boss fights, such status effects could bedetrimental, resulting in the ending of one’s life if not dealt with properly.

A common mistake was incurring too much ofthe enemy’s ‘Hate’ debuff without preparing a counter. More often than not,Kirito was the one dealt with such an effect, and it was to ensure that other,more incapable members of the raid group did not become unnecessarily hurt. Italmost became a personal obligation for Kirito; his duty to finish off Bossesand create an incentive for the conquest for freedom to be continued everforward.

This being said, such acts ofself-perceived altruism did not always have the desired effect.

Constantly taking the Last Attack bonusloot and EXP caused others to become annoyed and put-out, and as this soon developedinto a recurrent theme in Boss fights, Asuna started to feel uneasy. After all,one slip up in this world could cost someone their entire future, and she couldnot image what would happen if Kirito lost control of the battle.

As the frontline group persevered furtherand deeper into the death game of Sword Art Online and climbed more and morefloors, stranger and more unusual enemy debuffs became apparent.

Common status effects such as stuns anddelays were inevitable and occurred at almost every level, but floor-specificdebuffs that had to be taken into consideration rose in quantity as the floornumber escalated. Curses, paralysis, blindness, panics, poisons, and evenstomachaches were some of the most prevalent amongst the negative statuseffects the group had faced until now, with some proving to be bigger issuesthan others.

Although stomachaches did not sound liketoo much trouble, in reality, it was almost a combination debuff, mergingdizziness with poor weapon handling and reduced speed. Additionally, anuncomfortable tightening of the abdomen could not be ignored, and Asunaremembered almost wishing she had incurred a curse debuff rather than astomachache during that particular floor’s Boss fight.

So, it was with great skepticism andcaution that the front-lining Knights of the Blood, Fuurinkazan, and one soloplayer had stepped into the newest Boss Room, and prepared for the worst.

The entire floor until this point had beenfilled with enemies of a dreamy quality. Translucent, wispy mobs floated andglided along the floor’s pink, cloud-like structures, cloaked in the infinityof night, but illuminated with the soft glow of the stars. Some representedcommon sleep-related animals, like sheep, whereas others looked like they onlyexisted in this dream space. Even the floor’s foliage resembled traditional,five-point stars, and lights glittered around the open expanse, close enough totouch.

If a player accidentally stepped off the iridescentpaths embedded into the cloudy, cotton candy ground, they would descend throughand land exactly where they had dropped from the sky. This paradoxicalphenomenon initially brought relief to the players, knowing that it was impossibleto fall off the floor, but soon became a hindrance as the paths narrowedtowards the Boss’ labyrinth dungeon.

What was even more annoying than this,however, was the fact that the enemies of this floor possessed a debuff thatbecame a major deterrent to all players involved: sleep induction. Many mobsreleased a sparkly, pink mist that, on contact, created dizziness and increasedchances of tumbling, but if an enemy were to touch the player, they wouldinstantly lose consciousness – a fearsome consequence in the midst of a battle.

The main town of the floor, Andromeda, consistedof oddly shaped and colored buildings, something that would only exist within adream, and they continuously created illusions that drove many players crazy. Abuilding that appeared almost too small to even enter would turn out to be aninn, with many stories of lodging, and a massive mansion would, in reality, beonly one small, humble room containing a single NPC in the corner reading abook.

Without an extensive understanding of thefloor’s workings and tricks, many frontliners initially felt like giving up.Yet no one did, and after discovering that long-distance Sword Skills workedbetter than close-range attacks, it was not long until the risk of inducedsleep could be easily avoided, and the group was able to make their way to thetop of the labyrinth, which resembled a crescent moon in structure.

At this point in the endeavor for freedom,there was no beta knowledge to fall back on, so the frontliners had to beprepared to experience anything. It could be that as soon as the blue flames surroundingthe Boss battle dome were lit, the entire raid would become comatose, or at thevery least, incur a dizziness debuff. Luckily, Asuna and Kirito were previouslyable to complete a Boss-related sidequest that provided them with anti-sleeppotions, called ‘Hypersomniac’s Release’. From that point on, anyone could buythe concoction from Andromeda’s various stores.

Before entering the Floor Boss Room, theraid team were given the opportunity to swap and share a myriad of potions toensure each party had enough Hypersomniac’s Release and general healing tonicsto guarantee survival. Half of the group were instructed to drink one of theanti-sleep concoctions before the doors opened at the top of a long flight ofstairs as a precaution.

As the group waited in front of those doors,Asuna stepped forward and touched the entrance with a slender finger. A bluelight warped around her hand, and suddenly, the massive structure opened infront of them.

The first notable thing about the Floor Boss’room was the layout. When the doors had reached their widest state, what lay infront of them was not the usual unfeeling, stone walls of ominous foreboding,but rather, an ethereal, open space that reached high into the stars.

This was the first time a Boss fight hadoccurred outside.

An iridescent, psychedelic patternglistened on the circular ground of the arena, surrounded by the same pinkclouds that lined the entire floor. Kirito wondered absently whether fallingthrough these clouds would mean tumbling to the bottom of the floor itself, orback into the Boss Room. The fluffy substance climbed upwards at set intervals,and embedded into the thin columns of haze were the familiar, blue torches of aBoss Room. If Asuna had a chance to marvel the scene in front of her, she wouldhave admitted how pretty the Boss Room was, but unfortunately, at moments likethis, time was of the essence.

Kirito, who was also peering around theopen space, turned back to Asuna and nodded. As subleader of the Knights of theBlood, she had full responsibility over her troops, and as the majority of theraid team consisted of KoB members, the outcome of the battle laid primarily inher hands.

Since the beginning of Sword Art Online,since acquainting Kirito, Asuna had grown in maturity, in strength, and in gamingprowess to become one of Sword Art Online’s most prominent beacons of hope.This hope was etched into her blade, the Lambent Light, which hung purposefullyat her waist. From her position at the top of the stairs, she could see down toevery last member of the raid group. This created a surge of courage withinher, and she cleared her throat before swiping a hand dramatically through theair in a call for awareness.

“Attention!” she demanded, and at once,forty-seven pairs of eyes settled on her, awaiting her next orders. “The doorsto the Boss Room have opened. This is an open-space arena, so be prepared foroutside influence.” There was a light murmuring of doubt and shock as the newssunk in, but Asuna was quick to diminish any and all cynicism, “Yet do not letthis wane your confidence! We are more than well prepared. Be sure to use Hypersomniac’sRelease sparingly. The same clouds that surround the entire floor surround the BossRoom’s ground, so make sure to exert extreme caution around the edges duringbattle.”

Asuna quickly peered back at the Boss Room,surveilling its structure and layout. She had to think of a battle strategy; aplan that would utilize every member’s abilities to their maximum capacity.Nodding to herself as various ideas raced through her mind, she turned back tothe group.

“We will position tanks at the back of the arena,towards the door. Damage Dealers, surround the middle of the floor, as a pinkmass is forming above the center, and I am certain that it will become the Boss.Forwards, remain at the front of the room. Depending on the attacks of the Boss,we may get the members of the Fuurinkazan and Kirito to stay whilst KoBForwards move to the Boss’ back.” She took a breath and yelled, “Understood?Let’s go!”

There was a general cry from the raid groupas fists were pumped to the air. The members began to assemble, preparingthemselves for the next battle to determine the progress of the death game ofSword Art Online.

Living up to her nickname ‘The Flash’,Asuna sped into the Boss Room with incredible speed; the rest of the raid groupnot far behind. Upon her entrance, Asuna drew her blade, prepared for anyattack that may come unexpectedly towards her. Turning back to the doors, shewas glad to see the group of players had heeded her instructions, and had begunto take formation.

Asuna glanced once again at the wispycolumns of cloud, and noticed that it would not be long until the Boss wouldtake form in front of them. The pink mass above them had become considerablybigger, and was gaining a visible configuration.

Flowing, rose-colored hair. Shimmering,golden eyes. A circlet with a star diamanté in the middle. A fluttering dressthe color of space itself. A staff whose top resembled a crescent moon.

This was a humanoid Boss.

The gigantic figure raised her staff to theair, and bellowed,

“You who fought diligently throughcountless battles, I congratulate you. You have overcome my attempts to end yourlives through passive means; you have destroyed my battalions. Yet at thismoment, you will feel my wrath, for I am the Crown Head of Crescent Moon –leader of my people!”

After her introduction, the Boss’ name wasfinally revealed. The group looked with apprehension and caution as the bold,white sign stated, ‘Queen Celestia, Interstellar Ruler of Crescent Moon’, andfour and a half sets of Health Points climbed around her.

Instantly, Queen Celestia floated down toground level, and thrust her staff against the iridescent flooring, sending ashockwave throughout the arena. The majority of the group were able to jump intime, yet those who were too close to prepare suitably were knocked to theground, their weapons sprawling across the glistening surface. They tried tostand up, but faltered on their feet.

“What happened? You okay?” Kirito calledout from in front, noticing them struggle to stand.

“We incurred a tumbling debuff, which thenturned into dizziness.” One member of the KoB replied, and sighed irritably,“Tch.”

“It’s okay!” Asuna yelled as she racedforward, “Just be prepared next time.”

After the initial shock of the surpriselong-range attack waned, the group soon reassembled and were able to fightpowerfully against their foe.

About twenty minutes into the battle, the Boss’first HP bar had disintegrated, leaving three and a half left. Reaching animportant part in the battle, Queen Celestia screeched in rage,

“How dare you! How dare you mock me?! Thisatrocity will soon be over! You will not defeat me!”

She waved her staff across the sky, and apink, sparkling mist formed overhead. Asuna looked up in shock. If that mistwas anything like the usual attacks released by the mobs of this level, cominginto contact with it would surely result in sleep induction. She could notafford to let her raid members fall into such a trap. Scrolling franticallythrough her inventory, Asuna searched for her tonic. She screamed to the group,

“Everyone! Drink Hypersomniac’s Releaseright now!”

She found what she desired, and made thepotion appear in her hand and chugged the contents down. Suddenly, she wassurrounded by a temporary, golden glow, and particles of light seeminglyfloated from her skin. She looked to the top-right of her vision as a yellowstar appeared in her buffs list – anti-sleep.

Having sorted herself out, Asuna lookedaround for Kirito. The boy had heeded her warning, as the rest of the raidgroup had, and held an empty bottle in his right hand, also peering at theominous mist above them. He threw the glass away, and it clinked against theground before fragmenting into shards of blue. His gaze turned to QueenCelestia, add he noticed how the gargantuan ruler of the stars was temporarilystunned by her own attack. Unsheathing the Dark Repulser along with hisElucidator, he held the two weapons with an unbreakable grip, and rushedtowards the Boss.

Asuna was not far behind.

Kirito yelled out to a KoB tank that wasclose-by to kneel down. The man initially had a look on his confusion on hisface, but with limited time and the Black Swordsman rushing at him at fullspeed, he hastily did so, and Kirito leapt from him like a springboard,propelled towards the Boss’ dazed face. He held his dual swords in position fora Sword Skill, and released a flurry of attacks at the Queen’s circlet, havingfigured out her weak point. The sixteen-hit combo ‘Starburst Stream’ was dealtto the Boss, and the Queen yelled out in pain, holding her head in her hands.The pink mist subsided, and Kirito yelled out,

“Switch!” as he fell back to earth.

“Yes!” Asuna yelled out in reply, and soaredinto the air gracefully from her heels. With the Boss kneeled over in pain,Asuna was able to reach her more easily, and could deal an eight-hit combo,Star Splash, to her forehead. Queen Celestia let out a bellow, and was forcedto the ground.

“Nice, Asuna!” Kirito yelled out to her,showing her a thumb’s up as she descended in an arc.

“Good goin’! Awesome effort!” Klein yelledout, pumping a fist in the air.

As soon as Asuna landed safely, all membersof the raid group rushed forward, and dealt their own damage to the Boss.During this endeavor, Queen Celestia had lost a quarter of her second HP bar,and a surge of confidence elated the group.

The raid members continued to fight in a comparablefashion, and experienced similar results as HP bar after HP bar was diminished.

However, both Asuna and Kirito started tofeel tense.

Usually by the midway point of battle, theattack patterns of a Boss would alter and increase in difficulty. Yet this hadnot occurred in the battle with Queen Celestia. As the third HP bar becameclose to empty, Kirito had taken a couple of steps towards Asuna in preparationfor a change in attack, yet when the bar had diminished, nothing untoward occurred.Klein gave Kirito a sly look, to which the Black Swordsman had shook his headwith a sigh. Asuna gave him a quizzical look before the Kirito sped back todeal another sixteen-hit combo to Queen Celestia’s circlet.

After an hour and forty-five minutes, theexhausted group yelled out in joy as the fourth bar dissipated into the sky.

It was now onto the last spurt.

Kirito opened up his inventory and removeda tonic in preparation for the interval pink mist. He had only oneHypersomniac’s Release remaining in his inventory, and was glad that he hadenough left without asking others for help. Feeling the turquoise, chilled, andslightly bubbly liquid slide down his throat, he smirked as an extra tenminutes was added to his anti-sleep buff. In the vicinity, Asuna also searchedthrough her inventory for the same concoction, but her eyes widened as she cameto realization that she had none left. Scrolling back to the top of herinventory, she peered up at the sky.

There was no pink sleeping mist.

Something was wrong.

Looking back down at her inventory, shenoticed a potion that otherwise went undetected. Her brows drew in thought asshe studied the strange concoction. Pressing on it for more information, shegasped. It was named ‘Celestia’s Blessing’, and was liquid gold in a bottle.She was not sure what it was, what it did, or why she had it, but she closedthe information tab hurriedly and searched for Kirito.

She had to let him know what was happeningbefore he did something reckless.

Yet it was too late.

“I’m going forward!” Kirito yelled, pickingup speed as he headed directly towards the Boss. He expected a cheer ofencouragement from his fellow raid-members; however, a very different soundentered his ears,

“No, wait!” Asuna had screamed, runningtowards him, “There’s no pink mist! This is a different attack pattern!” Despitethis, Kirito had already jumped in the air, and was met with the ethereal,glistening eyes of Queen Celestia herself, no longer comatose from her owndebilitating debuff.  Kirito’s brows drewtogether in regret, his eyes wide. In his shock and confusion, he did notprepare a Sword Skill, and came crashing back to the ground as the Boss heldher staff to her chest and began to hum an unfamiliar tune.

Kirito winched as he came into contact withthe hard surface beneath him, and watched his already yellowed HP bar drop intothe beginnings of the red zone. It was a long and hard fall.

“Kirito-kun!” Asuna cried in a panic as shereached him, kneeling by his side, “Are you alright?”

“I-I’m fine…” he replied, letting her wrapher arms around his upper left arm to help lift him back on his feet, “What’shappening?”

“I’m not so sure…” Asuna admitted, staringup at Queen Celestia as the interstellar ruler continued humming, “But itdoesn’t seem good.”

“Tell the raid group to back away.” Kiritoinstructed, staring purposefully at Asuna, “If we don’t know what’s going tohappen, we need to save as many people as we can for when it does. Go!” Asunawas hesitant to leave Kirito’s side, but she nodded, and turned around to thedisorientated group.

“Everyone, retreat to the sidelines!” shecommanded, “Prepare for a new attack! Put all power into tanks! Increasedefense to its pinnacle!”

There was a general yell of affirmation asthe raid group withdrew from the Boss. Yet Queen Celestia did not move, andcontinued to hum a tune that only she knew. Asuna watched this ceremonycarefully, and noticed that the crescent moon at the end of her staff glowedbrighter and brighter. This was the charging of a truly powerful attack,stronger than anything they had seen before, and Asuna felt like kickingherself that she did not realize so sooner.

“Anything could happen! Take any and allpotions you need! Prepare for the worst!”

The Boss having half a HP bar remaining,and a seemingly high-level attack building right in front of Asuna, shecontemplated what to do. Her mind switched gears, and she suddenly rememberedthe tonic she possessed with the unknown powers; Celestia’s Blessing. Sheturned back to Kirito, who was now on his feet, watching her mind work at fullthrottle.

“Do you have any unusual potions in yourinventory?” she asked him, “Something called Celestia’s Blessing?”

He quickly searched through his concoctionsbefore replying,

“No. Nothing like that. Why? Do you havesomething strange in your inventory?’

“Yeah, I do. I’m not sure what it is,though.”

“Drink it.” He stared at her hard, “Youneed to drink it right now.”

“Huh? Why?” Asuna replied, panicked.

“This is something given to you, Asuna. There’sa reason you have this potion. You need to take advantage of it.”

“B-But surely someone else has it as well,right? And anyway, wouldn’t you make better use of it than me, Kirito-kun?”

Kirito held the sides of Asuna’s arms,jolting her attention to him.

“I know you struggle to believe itsometimes, Asuna, but you’re strong – stronger than me. This is a power youhave to harness. Of course, I’ll still help you; that’s my job.” He smiled ather, and she could only nod in reply. Kirito patted her arm once, then turnedaround to the group.

“Does anyone have a potion calledCelestia’s Blessing in their inventory?” he asked hurriedly as he watched the Bosswith caution. The Queen was no longer humming, but singing in some unknownlanguage, lifting her staff towards the sky.

Kirito was greeted with negative replies,and turned back to Asuna.

“You’re the only one with the potion, okay?You’re the one meant to destroy this Boss.”

“That’s so much responsibility! I-I can’tLA – I’ve never done it before!”

“You can. You can definitely defeat this Boss.I’ll be there beside you the entire time. Trust yourself, Asuna.” He paused ashe saw her cheeks flourish by his words, before adding, “C’mon, drink thepotion.”

“O-Okay…” Asuna replied skeptically,removing the tonic from her inventory. She admired the way it shimmered in thetranslucent bottle. It was a very soft gold – almost clear in nature, and sheimagined that if Queen Celestia could cry, this would be what her tears weremade of. Uncapping the solution, she drank deeply until the entire concoctionwas gone.

She peered at the top-right corner of hervision, and saw another buff appear next to her HP bar. Underneath the yellowstar, a sparkling, golden moon appeared, labelled ‘anti-comatose’. The buff seemedstronger than the usual anti-sleep status effect, and lasted longer, too. Asunafelt significantly more alert and aware than before.

Just as she admired this new buff, QueenCelestia finished her song with an ear-piercing note, and a beam of light shotfrom the end of her staff into the air. A fine, gold dust drifted from the sky,sprinkling towards the floor below. Both Asuna and Kirito watched the displaywith a mixture of awe and terror, dreading to find out what the delicatesubstance would do.

“What was the result of the potion, Asuna?”Kirito asked her, not drawing his eyes from the sky.

“It gave me a new buff.” Asuna explained,once again looking at the status effect on her HP bar.

“What does it say?”

“Anti-comatose.”

Kirito’s gaze shot to Asuna like a target,his eyes opening wide as he realized his mistake.

“Wait, what’s wrong?” she asked, seeing thefear written on his face. He opened his mouth to yell something to her, but thegolden particles began to settle around them like flower petals. As they landedon Kirito’s cheek, his eyes instantly began to close, and he fell to his knees.She felt the substance sprinkle her hair, and it glowed on her armor.

“Kirito-kun?!” Asuna yelled in despair,racing to his side and holding him in her arms, “Hey, what’s happening,Kirito-kun?! Answer me!” Yet the boy’s entire weight rested against her, and hewent limp, completely unconscious. “No. No, no, no.” Asuna muttered, shakingher head, “This can’t be happening. This absolutely can’t be happening!”

Refusing to let go of Kirito, Asuna scannedthe Boss Room, yet there was no movement to be seen. Every single member of theraid group had fallen to the floor, asleep. Even Klein and the other members ofthe Fuurinkazan were lying face-down on the ground, with golden particlesresting on them like snow. One tank of the KoB, who seemed to be able to resistthe divine power of Queen Celestia longer than the rest, finally collapsed infront of her eyes, and she watched in fear as the fighter dropped his battleaxe.

The weapon fell over the side of the arena,into the pink clouds. Asuna was certain that anything that fell over the edgewould fall onto the ground of the floor itself, unable to be retrieved untilQueen Celestia was defeated, but to her surprise, the tank’s axe cameplummeting from the sky, and wedged itself into the iridescent surface of theBoss Room arena with a clang that seemed to resonate throughout the entire space,creating cracks along the floor.

Everything went still. All of a sudden andall at once, Asuna was very, very alone.

Like a knock to the head, she became awareof the true power of her buff; became aware of what Kirito was trying to tellher; and became aware of her mortality. Completely despondent, she turned herattention back to the boy reposed against her chest, and gently rested him onhis back, understanding that Queen Celestia could release her next attack atany moment.

Yet the behemoth ruler seemed to bestanding back, watching Asuna scramble for hope futilely with an air ofcondescension, seemingly entertained by the spectacle.

Tenderly, Asuna pressed a cold andtrembling palm against Kirito’s relaxed cheek, her breath catching in her chestas she held back the threatening urge to cry.

He would not want to see her so weak. Notafter he had told her how strong she had become. She could not let him witnessher in that state. Instead, she steadied her quivering lips, her eyes hardeningas she leaned over him.

“Please, wake up.” She pleaded quietly yetforcibly, shaking his shoulder with her free hand. “Please.” Her voice hitchedin her throat. “You need to wake up because I can’t do this without you. I’mpowerless without you…” Her hand glided from his face, down his neck, to restagainst his chest, over his heart. She lowered herself, and her foreheadpressed against the rough fabric of his shirt, her voice barely a whisper.

“You promised you would be next to me. Youpromised you would help me. I know this is my obligation, but without you… I-Ican’t…” Her shoulders began to shake, and after that, she could not holdherself back any longer. The tears streamed down her cheeks, plopping againstthe black cloth, and she sobbed. “I don’t want to die! I can’t do this anymore!Please, Kirito-kun… Come back…”

There was a light laugh, before QueenCelestia peered down at Asuna’s hunched form and switched her staff to theother hand.

“I chose you. No one else can help younow.” The interstellar leader explained, and Asuna lifted her headapathetically, devoid of hope.

“But why?” she asked the divine queen,“What makes me so special?”

“You have proven your worth to me as acompetent fighter. We shall have a one-on-one battle to the death. It would notbring my people honor for me to be slaughtered by such a large assemblage.” Shegestured to the fallen members of the raid group. “A woman’s honor shall bepreserved by a woman’s desire, yes? Now, let us duel.”

A woman’s honor shall be preserved by awoman’s desire.

Asuna’s eyes narrowed in understanding. Shewas the only girl on the raid team.

Queen Celestia wanted to only fight awoman. This made Asuna wonder what would have happened if there were multiplewomen in the raid, or none at all, but these thoughts quickly left her mind asthe Boss lowered herself to the ground. Landing lightly, her galactic dress andpink hair floated in the wind. She looked the part; appropriate for a battle ofthe stars. The gargantuan ruler was at least seven times her height, and Asuna lookedupwards with anxiety.

Waving her staff in a circular formation,Queen Celestia summoned what appeared to be bright lights to her side. Uponcloser inspection, these turned out to be miniature stars.

Asuna had to move.

“I will not be defeated! My reign shallprosper!” the Boss boomed, and the stars plummeted towards Asuna at an amazingspeed. Yet the player was faster, and avoiding the first few projectiles in away that ensured they would hit the ground and not fellow raid members, she wasable to counter one with her Lambent Light, sending the orb spinning backtowards the Boss. The queen hit the star with her staff, and it ricocheted backin Asuna’s direction.

This game of back-and-forth lasted forabout three turns, until the star was finally cut in half with Asuna’s rapier,sending the shards back towards the queen. The fragments of star hit the Bossstraight in the star diamanté dangling from her circlet, and she screamed inpain. Asuna noted that the half-HP bar depleted by 20%.  If she repeated that attack pattern five moretimes, she would win.

Yet, those stars were deadly.

Asuna glanced at her own HP bar, which wason the very edge between green and yellow – about sixty-six percent. She couldnot tell how much damage one of those stars would do to her if it hit, andpondering on this, Asuna’s heart began to pound in her ears, and she felt lighton her feet. However, she could not let Kirito down.

This was her fight.

Regaining her composure, the Queen onceagain summoned her stars, and sent them hurtling towards the lone fighter.Asuna began to repeat the same process, bouncing the glowing orb back andforth, preparing to cut it in half, when the dreaded happened.

The star was split in half by QueenCelestia’s staff, and the shard came spinning towards Asuna at an unavoidablespeed. She tried to yell out in shock, yet before she had time to do anything,they hit her; one in the head, the other in the stomach. She was thrownbackwards by the momentum, leaving a trail of dust behind her. Asuna cried outin pain as she rolled further and further away from the center of the arena.

Finally, she skidded to a halt, and openingher eyes, she peered in front of her. No longer was the iridescent floor of thearena in her line of vision, but the pink, cloudlike structure of the ground’sedge. She scampered away in fright, terrified about what would happen if shewere to fall.

That was way too close for her liking.

Bringing a hand to her head, Asuna peeredat her status effects. The Hypersomniac’s Release had run out, but a new effectwas in its place – tumble. The world spun around her. The only thing thatremained stable in her line of vision was her HP bar. Her attention was drawnto it, and her face went white.

Those two hits alone, one to her head and oneher stomach, were enough to deplete half of her remaining health. The barinched closer and closer to the red zone, until the color flicked to crimson.Her eyes opened wide, but she refused to cry in fear again. This was herbattle; she had to remain strong, for both Kirito and for herself.

Carefully putting pressure on unsteadylegs, Asuna stood back up and faced Queen Celestia, her auburn irises flashingwith a deep fire. She could not afford another hit like that again.

She could not lose.

Asuna regained her composure and settledinto a battle stance, bringing the hilt of her Lambent Light rapier to her jawand pointing the blade toward her opponent. She did everything in her power toovercome the tumble debuff, focusing her whole attention on the Queen.

The Boss waved her staff in a circle onceagain, and five more stars appeared by her sides. Thrusting the glowing orbstowards Asuna, the Queen almost seemed to smirk. She could feel the tensionresiding in the player’s heart. The rallying commenced once again, this timewith increased intensity. Back and forth, back and forth, back and…

The star once again split, but this timeinto thirds. Its shards raced towards the opponent. They hit her weak spot one,two, three times, and the Queen once again yelled out in pain. Asuna breathed asigh of relief, her chest heaving with exertion. She had used her weakest SwordSkill, Linear, against the orb, yet its dutiful strike broke the projectilejust how she wanted it to.

She hoped that three hits meant a thirtypercent damage rate. Peering at Queen Celestia’s HP bar, Asuna almost smiled inreprieve. The last half-bar only had fifty percent remaining.

She could do this.

The Boss initiated another rally, butknowing the trick to success, Asuna did not send it back. Instead, she preparedthe Lambent Light for a Sword Skill, thrust her rapier deep into the glowingorb with a shout of determination and adrenaline as soon as it sped towardsher. This time, the projectile split into quarters, and they hurtled towardsthe Queen at a terrifying speed. All four shards pierced deep into her stardiamanté, and she screeched with rage and agony. The behemoth ruler was broughtto her knees, and Asuna focused as the Boss’ HP bar dropped into red territory,and stabilized at 10%.

Asuna could not wait any longer. Her heartraced hard and fast in her chest, like an old steam engine. Her hands trembleduncontrollably, threatening to drop her beloved blade. She felt ready tocollapse, her breathing shallow and jagged.

She had to finish this. She had to finishthis now.

Asuna remembered the KoB tank and hisbattle ax – how the weapon had not fallen out of reach to the ground of thefloor below, but rather came hurtling back to the arena from above. If Asunacould just reach Queen Celestia’s circlet herself…

She quickly glanced at Kirito, who wasstill comatose on the floor, and wondered what he would do in this situation.Would he wait for his opponent to deliver one last attack, even though thechances of the bout being the same once the Boss hit the final red zone wereslim? Or would he plunge headfirst into an uncertain final, determined to claimvictory?

Yes, she knew him well enough to understandexactly what he would do, and she was resolute to see this through to the end inthe most spectacular fashion possible.

Turning her back to Queen Celestia, Asunamade a beeline for the arena’s edge. With a shout of courage, she jumped offthe edge, into the expanse of pink clouds. Gravity pulled on her, and sherushed through the cotton candy substance at an incredible rapidity. However,suddenly her vision was cleared, and to her relief, she saw the flowing, pinkhair of Queen Celestia below her.

Her plan had worked.

Altering her fall, Asuna prepared to landon the Boss. Holding her rapier to her side with a yell, her beloved LambentLight glowed a remarkable amethyst – the beginning of a Sword Skill. Hearingthe player’s call, the Boss looked upwards as Asuna shot towards her. Shelanded with one boot on either side of the behemoth leader’s nose, and releasedher fury in the form of her most prized Sword Skill, Star Splash. She watchedas Queen Celestia’s HP lowered further and further, before resting on onepercent.

This would end everything.

She lifted her rapier into the air, and broughtthe blade down in a singular thrust – her strongest Linear yet – right throughthe star diamanté hanging from the Queen’s circlet. The accessory fractured andburst into shards of luminescent blue light. The sword dug deep into the Boss’forehead, and Queen Celestia’s eyes widened in shock. Her HP completely diminished,and she screamed despairingly before her face began to crack, too. Asunarefused to let go of her blade, and she stared deep into the Queen’s beautiful,extraterrestrial irises. Having been defeated, the Boss’ featured softened, andshe stared at Asuna.

“You did well… player…” Celestia whispered,“You are worthy… of my legion… Congratulations.”

Asuna did not let her gaze waver, her chestrising and falling steadily in exhaustion. Her hands continued to shake as theyheld tightly to her Lambent Light, scared that if she were to let go, the Bosswould not truly die.

Somewhere deep inside, Asuna felt a type ofcommemoration for the way the fight had turned out. This was the first time a ‘singularplayer versus boss’ battle had ensued, and Asuna felt stronger for it.

The Queen had been a very formidable foe.

Upon the defeat of Queen Celestia,Interstellar Ruler of Crescent Moon, the comatose debuff was lifted from therest of the raid group. Groggily, Kirito opened his eyes, and it was only whenhe met the obscure gaze of Klein laying upon the iridescent ground in hisvicinity that he remembered what had happened. A jolt of terror raced throughhis body.

Asuna.

“Asuna!” he cried her name. Scrambling tohis feet, Kirito frantically searched the arena for her, and for QueenCelestia. His gaze found the Boss first, but discovering that the gargantuanruler had turned eerily still, like stone, his heart skipped a light beat inhope.

It was only when he peered higher that hesaw her. He saw her on top of the Boss’ face, breathing heavily, with her stunningrapier thrusted deeply into the Queen’s forehead. He saw her, and she had neverlooked more beautiful.

Large cracks began to run down QueenCelestia’s body, until the entire Boss looked like it would break at anymoment. In a burst of blue light, the gigantic body dissipated in front of him –in front of them all – and the Floor Boss was truly defeated.

The rest of the raid group clapped andjumped and cheered, hugging each other and celebrating their win.

Yet Kirito did not join in.

Amongst the shards of blue, a tiny figurefell through the starry space. Kirito raced forward. Although Asuna was amember of the KoB, she was in a raid party with him. He could see her HP bar.

If Asuna fell from that height, she wouldcertainly die.

Kirito did not remember thanking hisincreased agility as much as he did that day. Bolting towards thedisintegrating queen, Kirito arrived underneath Asuna just in time to catchher. The two came crashing to the ground.

“Asuna!” Kirito yelled in relief as he heldher body closer to him, “You did it! You defeated the Boss!” Within hisembrace, the delicate figure began to shake, clutching onto his shirt andburying her face into his chest.

“I-I was so scared! I thought I was goingto die! I thought I was going to die alone! I thought I couldn’t do it!” Asunasobbed, “I was so, so scared…”

It was only when she broke down in his armsthat Kirito fully comprehended what had happened. Asuna was the only one withCelestia’s Blessing. Without it, Kirito had fallen unconscious. That meant,everyone else in the raid party had, too.

Asuna had faced the final battle with theFloor Boss all by herself. She had fought a battle of life and death and hadwon.

Guilt crept up his chest like a vine,clutching around his vocal cords. A deep sympathy ran through his veins, andhis smile waned. Bowing his head in regret, he patted the top of her crown inan attempt to comfort the usually strong-willed girl who had disheveled infront of him.

“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” Kiritoreplied sorrowfully, running his fingers through her hair, “I’m so sorry…” Hecould feel a tear run down his own cheek.

How stupid had he been? If he had justdrunk the concoction himself, she could have avoided this.

It should have been him.

Kirito felt like he could not hold Asunaclose enough. He felt like he could not ease her pain enough. She trembled inhis arms, absolutely traumatized, and absolutely exhausted. It slashed himdeeper than any blade could.

All he could do was apologize.

The other raid members were coming back totheir senses, and soon their attention was brought to the fact that QueenCelestia had disappeared, and Asuna was in Kirito’s arms. It was definitely notunknown that the two frontliners were very fond of each other, but there wassomething in the way that he held her that suggested this went beyond love.

Something irreplaceable had almost beenlost.

One of the KoB members stepped forward,concerned about their subleader, but Klein held out a barricading arm. Theleader of the Fuurinkazan had figured out what had happened. He knew the two neededtime.

The massive, bolded ‘Congratulations’ sign burstoverhead, but no one was celebrating anymore. Although there were no playercasualties, what had happened in that Floor Boss fight seemed like death andrebirth. Asuna had risked her life to save the ones of her fellow raid members.She put everything, her absolute all, on the line for victory.

Everyone stood silently in commemoration.

As everyone received their EXP and loot winnings,Asuna weakly peered in front at the screen that appeared before her. At thetop, the info box stated, ‘Last Attack Bonus’, before providing a list thatwould be very similar to everyone else’s. She smiled softly through her tears,before turning back to Kirito.

“I… I received my first LA bonus.” Shelaughed. Kirito looked down at her and smiled in return. He could not believeAsuna had depleted the last half a Boss’ HP bar on her own. Every day, sheseemed to surprise him more. She always seemed to have a new aspect to herdetermination hidden that left him awestruck when he discovered it. That waswhen he realized.

He truly did love her.

“You did well.” He replied. Her eyescrinkled happily in his arms.

“Thank you.” She replied softly before herreal body’s brain shut down with exhaustion, and she fainted in front of him.His grip tightened around her. It was now her turn to rest.

As they were in a raid party together, Kiritoand Asuna had been given the option to show each other their own inventories.As they had selected this setting before the Boss battle, Kirito opened hisinventory and switched to Asuna’s, to see what the Last Attack bonus loot was.Of course, he could not remove the item for himself, but he could click on itfor more data.

He tapped on the first item that appeared,for it was the newest. An information box came up which described,

‘Celestia’s Interstellar Circlet: Apowerful circlet which gives the wearer the power of the stars. Wearing thisheaddress increases defense by 10+, and prevents dizziness debuffs.Additionally, the wearer can summon temporary handheld stars, which can be shotat enemies in a projectile fashion. This power must be regenerated after use. Thiswas once the signifying garnet of Queen Celestia, Interstellar Ruler of CrescentMoon.’

It was a headdress befitting Asuna, for shewas so ethereal, sometimes Kirito could not truly fathom that she waswholeheartedly his.