Snapping out of his mood and finally ordering a drink, Sebastian sat and listened to the commotion going on beside him. Watching Runa quickly subdue the obnoxious Eric, he drifted off to thoughts of things that he longed for from home. During his time in the military, he never felt like he loved to be there, but now that he has been stuck in the death game for over a year, he wished he could go back. He missed the camaraderie that he had with the those that he shared troubles with. The ones that he fought with and risked his life for. Now it was different, no one here volunteered to risk their lives. While he was used to it, no one around him quite understood what it meant. That's why he chose to lead. With his experience and knowledge, he feast that he could save more lives, protect the weak. The same reasons he originally joined the armed forces. He knew that the pressure of protecting thousands of people was weighing him down mentally, but he would push through no matter what, for the sake of everyone, as well as the few friends at his side.

Runa was red in the face after hitting Eric several times over the head. There wasn't any damage caused in the no combat zone, but certainly he had felt the pounding she had dished out. "First you touch my butt, now this? I'll learn you some manners!" She said to Eric holding her fist in a threatening manner. She looked up at Sebastian to see that he wasn't really paying any attention. She sighed to herself, "He's too clueless anyways it seems." Taking a sip of her drink she remembered a friend that she had for awhile now. Thinking of it, she would bring a nice atmosphere to this "emo concert" of a meal. Scrolling through the menu to her friends list, she picked out the name she looking for and sent the message. "There, now this place won't be so depressing." She thought to herself.

Sadie was on the other side of town enjoying the long stretch of the city's market when she received Runa's message. She happily altered her course and headed toward the bar that her friend was at. They had been in the same "division" with Sebastian for a few weeks and had already become fast friends, so she could sense the hinted "please save me from these buffoons" vibe in her message.

Sadie was fifteen years old, but she had been playing games all her life. By the time she was twelve she was a known streamer and a voice in a podcast concerning competitive rpgmmo gameplay. She had a promising future in the industry until she logged into SAO. Now she was simply the Sergeant of an ad-killing team for Sebastian's raid parties. Her defense was unparalleled if one counted General Heathcliff out. What set her apart from most shield users was the type of shield she used. Most phalanx-type players used tower shields or kite shields like Heathcliff, but Sadie made use of another type. Her relatively small, round shield was a special, rare type who's defense rating was buffed not by strength or endurance like most shields, rather by dexterity. When held up, it covered her from hip to shoulder and and when hoisted, it protected her crit zone. It was a simple steel color with roses engraved on it, matching its item name: Rose Barrier. She paired it with a gladius she picked up from a past raid making her a fierce competitor.

She made it to the bar they were all at to see Sebastian himself and the random from the raid. He was definitely around her age and she honestly thought he was kind of cute. But the red spots on his head from repeated Runa-strikes told her he was probably the buffoon. When he finally made eye contact with her he took on this look that she swore had to have come straight out of a Disney movie. Not the cute intense love look, but the goofy "pretty girl" look that the male characters usually had at first sight of the princess. She blushed, covered her mouth and stifled a giggle at how silly he looked.

Eric was rubbing his head wear Runa had punched him, muttering "totally worth it" under his breath when a girl walked up. He guessed she was the one Runa had messaged to balance the gender in the group. As soon as he looked at her, though, he couldn't look away. She was drop-dead gorgeous. They had to be the same age, and she was surprisingly slightly shorter than him. Her judging by her red and white outfit, she had been in the boss fight too. How had he missed her? With that long, thick, almost poofy brown hair and big, green eyes, she was impossibly cute. There was no level of cuteness higher than this girl. That was it, Eric had found his perfect woman! At least he thought that until she smiled, making her eyes shimmer that much more as she emitted a giggle that was straight from the golden streets of heaven.

He couldn't move. He was frozen, not realizing he had absent-mindedly leaned slightly forward, but enough to slip off of his bar stool and knock a glass over as he flailed futilely to catch himself before he hit the cobble stone.

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Eric pulled himself out of memory. He hadn't realized he had started crying. It was something you couldn't control in-game. There was no holding tears back. He suspected the makers thought this made it more dramatic of an experience. He wiped his face as he retrieved his weapon from the armory outside the war room. No one entered that room with their gear, to prevent assassinations. With a habitual, spinning whirl, he rested the staff on his shoulder as always and headed out to rejoin Runa.

"Okay, " he said on approach, "what did the Vice Commander drag me up to the highest cleared floor for?" He asked her.

Sitting at his desk in the castle Sebastian stressed over the circumstances presented before him. The mission he had just given the two that just left the room was only to prevent anyone who may have been listening in from knowing the real objective. Over the last few weeks, several high level players have disappeared. Since they no longer existed on anyone's friend lists, the only explanation is that they have died. And that is what he planned on investigating. He already had suspicions on who the culprits were. This wouldn't be the first time they had crossed paths with Sleepy Hollow. Of coarse, the only other person he has discussed this with was Runa and one other.

Leading Eric out of town to a nearby lake, she plopped down next to the husk of a withered Oak tree. "Actually, we have some serious business to deal with and I'm sure you'll be interested in knowing what's going on." Sprawling out in the grass with the sun speckling her coat as it peered through the trees, Runa began to discuss the previously undisclosed events of the last few weeks. She didn't yet reveal to Eric that that Sebastian believed it to be the work of the remnants of Sleepy Hollow, but she wouldn't have to in time. All they had to do was wait for now.

Walking out of the large office that had been his home for a few days, Sebastian ran into Daniel, his head of finances for the guild. "Good timing, I have some business to attend to and I need you to come with me." Somewhat surprised by the sudden invitation, the scrawny, timid looking man didn't argue and followed in behind the imposing Vice Commander of KOB. Pointing at the young kid that vigilantly watched his door, Sebastian invited him along as well. "I very well couldn't leave without my trusty guard Samuel Fulton now can I, come on kid." Making his way toward the edge of the city with the two in tow behind him, Sebastian received a message on his hid. "So it begins, everything is going according to plan."

Runa was able to quickly send the message to Sebastian just in time to dodge the sword that breathed past her left ear. Although she was prepared for this event, it was still daunting to see five men surrounding her and Eric. Between the five of them, there were two red players and three yellow players. The colors referred to the icon above there head and denoted the level of crime a player had committed. Yellow referred to stealing and injuring other players, while red naturally referred to a murderer. This was no safe situation for the two, these five men were out to end their lives. The crest that represented Sleepy Hollow could be seen on the back of the hand that hand casually swung at her. The somewhat comical sleepy pumpkin only served to intensify the feelings whirling around in this life or death battle. Luckily, the tide quickly turned when Sebastian showed up. Known as some of the strongest players in SAO, there was no chance for group of five to win, yet they still stood there ground, waiting for some opportunity.

"So it's as I had suspected." Side stepping to avoid an attack from behind, the guild's head of finances sprawled out in front of Sebastian. "Daniel, Daniel, Daniel. Did you not think that I could see right through you the whole time? You were manageable until I could prove that you were the mole, but then you start getting top players killed. You'll regret this on your last breath, there's no place for murderers in this world or any other." Daniel flustered about trying to find a way out of his predicament. Crawling his way to the five silent shadows behind him, he began issuing orders in haste.

"You really were useless in the end weren't you?" Pulling his sword from its sheathe the largest of the five Sleepy Hollow members stabbed Daniel in neck. "Now die like the useless pig you are." Unable to gasp a word in the spam of time it took Daniel to disappear from Aincrad, he shattered into hundreds of pieces. Turning to Sebastian, he ordered the three yellow players to stall the group as he turned around and sprinted away with the other red player.

Runa quickly dispatched the first to with speed and precision, leaving only a glowing trail and shattered remains behind. Before the last one could make a move, Samuel leaped forward and halted the last assailant, shouting at the group to quickly pursue the other two. "Get going, I'll deal with him and catch up later!" Looking ahead, the two red players could be seen entering the forest. They needed to move quickly in order to not lose their trail.

It all happened quickly, and to be frank Eric was pretty annoyed by the fact that he hadn't been told about this in a private message or something. However he trusted that Sebastian had his reasons. It was pointless to dwell when there was a task at hand. He bolted in the red-players' direction with his staff in hand.

As he ran he had a sudden realization. Those players were obviously from Sleepy Hollow. He had recognized the symbol they wore, and that made him all the more ferocious in his pursuit.

"What do you mean you don't want me to go?" Eric questioned with passion. Sadie was quiet, withdrawn. Her volumous hair helped to hide her expression as she paused. "You can't tell me you're going on a recon mission in the middle of Sleepy Hollow territory and then ask me not to be there!" He added.

He could tell she was beginning to cry. And he was getting close too. He felt so passionately about this. More than anything he had ever felt before. The sun was setting, casting a golden-orange glow over the courtyard they were standing in. This was the KOB outpost of floor fifty-two. The white marble of the elegant castle around them only intensified the light around them.

"Why?" She began, tears running down her face, "Why do you care so much about what happens to me? We've been friends for a few months now but you don't have any obligation to me. You don't have to-"

"It's because I love you." He whispered, tears in his eyes as he hugged the girl tight. "I haven't known you long. Just a few months like you said. And I know you're way out of my league but I love you, and I can't let you go into a dangerous place without me. I have to be there so I can protect you."

Sadie looked up at him from his embrace, so he just went with his gut and leaned in.

"Gotchya." Eric snarled, snapping back to reality. He had heeded the red players into a rock formation that had them cornered. "You low-life pieces of scum!" I'll show you what the steel crow does to red players!"

With that he lunged forward his sword skill causing the blade on the end of his staff to glow as it charged.

"Sadie! Run!" Eric shrieked in panic. It was an ambush and although she was a dexterity based character, her reaction time wasn't enough. There was a blade in her back and a cackling fiend of a man cloaked in black with a skull-shaped helmet at the other end of that blade.

"They said you were 'Untouchable'... I have tested this and found you WANTING!" He shouted the last word as he twisted his cris-long sword and ripped it out of her, depleting the remainder of her health bar. They were about to start on him when Sebastian and his troops finally arrived.

Six people died right in front of Eric that day.

Eric's blade dug into one of the two red players, who shrieked and writhed as his health bar drained. Eric's face was nothing but pure, vengeful rage. It didn't take long for the red player to shatter into oblivion. Next Eric turned his attention to the other. He was cloaked, and wore a skull-shaped helmet.

"You.." Eric uttered like a growl.

Tearing off after Eric, Sebastian and Runa were racing behind him. "Hey! Slow down and think for a second!" Sebastian called into the air. Before Eric could even hear it, he was already well into the forest himself. "That idiot, is he looking to get himself killed? Not much time for thinking I guess, Runa, let's catch up to him, I have a bad feeling in my gut right now." The two picked up speed to catch up to the Steel Crow that had flown away from them, their forlorn faces having no lack of concern for their friend.

Arriving at the clearing shortly after Eric, the two witnessed him evaporate the first red in the blink of an eye. Watching Eric turn to face the other, he recognized the skull-shaped helmet on the man. His mind flashed back the moment, many floors ago, where they had lost Sadie. There was no way Eric would be able to control his emotions in the face of the killer, no normal person could. Sebastian didn't want a repeat of that day. He turned to look at Runa who acknowledged her understanding, both raced forward, hoping that they can save their friend, from both himself and the malicious entity standing in his way.

Eric held his staff in the air, ready to bring it down on the defenseless killer, but just before his stoke, he felt something. Like she was there with him. He felt Sadie. "Please... Don't do this..." He heard her voice say in his head. Maybe she was right, this wasn't Eric. This was the action of a murderer.

With his face drenched in tears and his body shaking, the Steel Crow lowered his weapon. "You're not worth it." He said. "I won't stoop to your level. Not today, not eve-" he was cut off by a blade. It was a Cris long-sword. Eric smirked through the pain as his health began to drain.

"I always finish what I start." The skull- helmeted player said. "I am the reaper of sleepy hollow, the head of the clan. You can't beat me." He insisted. In one sweeping, vertical motion Eric swung his staff. The sword was still in his chest, but the severed arm fell to the ground and shattered as the Reaper gripped his glowing red stump in pain and surprise.

Eric fell to the ground with only a small chunk of health remaining and a smirk still on his face. He saw nothing but blank whit all around him. "This is it, Sadie, I'm coming back to you." He said as he saw her sitting next to him. She put on hand on his face and smiled. "Not yet, there's still work to do." She replied as she always did when he tried to quit his jobs early.

He came back to the work to se his health down to a sliver. If Sebastian didn't hurry, he was going to die, and Sadie's sacrifice would mean nothing. He shouted out the commander's name as he started to pull the sword out of himself.