June 27th, 2031
Sinon and Dane were back in a cave in Terrorfall Heights, the day after the guild swore loyalty to her. It was late at night, and the group had camped out in a new spot as always. They had just finished their first raid of a Red Hand base, and were alone, together. Sinon looked at her arm and tried to find a blank spot to add her latest tattoos, but couldn't find any. Dane watched her, and noticed her scanning her arm. "Why do you do it?" Dane asked.
"I don't want to forget," Sinon said. "How many I've killed. I feel like, if I forget it, then I'll forget who I am."
"It must be a burden," Dane said. "To always be facing the worst part about yourself like that."
"If I don't face it," Sinon told him. "Then I won't be me anymore."
"But there's no more room," Dane said. "You'll have to cover another part of your body… What happens when there's nothing left to paint on?"
"I had a dream like that," Sinon said to him, with a heavy sigh. "I thought that I should kill myself."
Dane looked sad at her, and shook his head. "But why?"
"So that I won't hurt anyone else," Sinon told him. "I don't want to do it. But I have to."
"But you don't have to tattoo yourself."
"If I don't, who will?"
Dane moved over to her, on his knees, and took the magical brush from her hand. "I will," he said. "Where should I put the next one?"
Sinon pulled at her silk shirt, and raised it high enough to expose her belly and her sides. Then she held her left arm up, and said, "On the side…" Dane went on for her, placing the images of six red hands on her side.
Once that was finished, Dane leaned into her, and placed a gentle kiss on her skin. She leaned back, relaxing as he took it farther, and shifted her hips around to allow him to remove her bottoms. Once off, he looked at her thigh, and saw more tattoos. There were three wolf paws, but one of them had four tally marks above it. It took him a moment to figure out what they were, and then bowed his head, and pressed against it. "I'm sorry," he said. Each of the markings here were a different player who had taken her without her consent… but only one player did that more than once.
July 1st, 2031
Sinon was sitting by a lake. There was a small forested area between Terrorfall Heights and the coastline where the Ring Forest extended westward for a short ways. As she sat, she ate a skewer of meat, and watched the water. As she sat there, Dane approached. "Sinon," he said.
She turned around, but did not recognize him. "Sinon?" she said back.
He could immediately tell something was wrong. Sinon was wearing something different, of mostly black and cloth, complete with a hood, and her bow was white, and bony. "Who are you?" Dane asked her.
The false Sinon drew and arrow to her bow, and aimed for Dane. "I'm Sinon," she said. "But I take it I'm not the Sinon you know. The question is: who… are you?"
Dane raised his hands up, and stopped. "My name is Dane," he said. Observing the other Sinon, he saw a gray two next to her name.
"Dane," Sinon said, slowly approaching. "The Great Dane. Ahh, yes, I remember you from my timeline. I was kidnapped by the Big Bad Wolves. Laughing Coffin killed Retnik and took everyone else in the guild under their wing. Tell me… in this universe, are you and I still…"
"Intimate?" Dane asked. He had no idea what was going on, but he was scared.
Sinon smiled and nodded. "Exactly," she said. "The Sinon in this timeline though, she's more like your chew toy, I'm willing to bet."
"She's fun." He nodded slowly. "Let's me do what I want to her most of the time, so I guess you could say that. She enjoys it, though, so trust me… it's a mutual thing."
Sinon laughed a little. "Trust me," she said. "You'd have a lot more fun if she fought back."
"So, you're from a different timeline," Dane said, trying to piece together as much as he could. "In which… Laughing Coffin intercepted the wolf pack too soon, and took you, me and the rest of us hostage. Instead of you joining our guild, and taking over the wolves… we both joined Laughing Coffin, and eventually… you took over the lead there?"
"Too soon?" Sinon asked. "You mean before I died after a week of you and your friends slicing and dicing and taking more than your fair share of my flesh? Yeah, I suppose so…"
"I mean," Dane said. "Before Retnik used you to capture Kirito and Asuna, to try and trade with Laughing Coffin."
Sinon shook her head. "I don't know much about Kirito, other than he's some big shot in this timeline, and apparently made a huge difference by not being around in my time. Do you trust me, Dane?"
"I'm not inclined to," he said. "But I know it'd be child's play for you to kill me right now. So trust isn't much of an issue."
"I only need one thing," she said. "I need Sinon. I aim to kill her. Bring her here to me, Dane."
"If we're together in your timeline, then you know why I can't do that."
"She's got your head all wrapped up in loyalty or… kinship of some sort, I suppose," Sinon told him. "I would know. I manipulated you into becoming my body guard pretty easily in my timeline. Your mind is weak Dane. She's going to abandon you one day, and have you killed. Just like I planned to do to the one in my time."
"She wouldn't," Dane said.
"She's me," Sinon told him.
"We're close… she trusts me."
"You raped her. Most of the rest were smart enough to look behind their backs for the rest of their lives, keeping an eye open for the hatchet. But you were too stupid… It's why I saved you for last. It would be easier that way… use you to kill all of my enemies."
Dane shook his head, and started stepping back. "Dane!" he heard someone shout from afar. The real Sinon was slowly approaching, and the false smiled at that. Dane tried to make a run for it, but the false Sinon shot him three times, twice in one leg, and once in the opposite foot. He fell to the ground, and the false Sinon was gone the next second, taking up a perch somewhere.
Sinon arrived, and saw Dane down, with arrows in him. He was not in a bleeding state, but immobilized, and in pain. Sinon was a sniper, but she was straight-forward: kill the bad-guys. She wasn't anticipating the baiting tactics that the other Sinon was familiar with, and so she went to rush for his side. "It's a trap!" Dane shouted as she got close.
Her canid ears twitched, and she activated her heartbeat shot ability to dodge three incoming arrows, draw her own, and fire off into the distance somewhere. Sinon rolled to the ground next to Dane, and stayed still, laying on the ground. "Ssh," she muttered, putting a finger to his lips.
"It's you," Dane whispered. "How is that possible?"
Sinon's eyes widened, and then she listened carefully for the next sound. Suddenly, she rolled out of the way of another shot, and made a run for the trees, hiding behind one of them. "Dane!" she shouted. "Don't panic. Just stay down, and stay still."
"Sinon!" the other shouted. "You get out from behind that tree or I'll put one in your boyfriend's pretty little head!"
"Shit," Sinon muttered. Then she shouted back to her other self. "What do you want?"
"You!" Sinon said. "I only want you… I kill you, and I get to wake up in the real world. It's either you or your pet, Sinon! Make up your mind quickly."
"I have an army!" Sinon shouted.
"I bet! In my timeline, I took the lead of Laughing Coffin instead of the mutts. Gotta tell you, much more rewarding."
"Why would I do that?" Sinon asked.
"It's not story time," she said. "It's dying time. Come on out, or I'm going to put the doggy down! Either I kill you, or my pet will!"
"What pet?" Sinon asked.
"You brought an army," the fake Sinon said, smiling. "I brought a dragon…"
"Sinon, forget it!" Dane shouted. "Just make a run for the guild!"
"Damn it, Dane," Sinon muttered before coming out from behind the tree, an arrow drawn and aimed at where she was pretty sure the other Sinon was. Without hesitation, she fired. Another arrow came for her, but Sinon anticipated it, and rolled out of the way. She was ready with another arrow, firing away at that spot, and for a few seconds, arrows went back and forth.
"What's with the ears and the tail?" the false Sinon shouted. The arrows stopped for a brief moment, but instead of answering, Sinon fired an arrow towards the voice. There was a thud, and then a rustling of bushes as the false Sinon fell from the tree she was in with an arrow caught in her side. "Fuck," she said after hitting the ground.
Sinon ran up and kicked her bow away while holding an arrow to her head. "All the better to hear you with, my dear," Sinon said, jokingly.
"Yeah," the fake said. "That make sense."
There was a loud screech from the sky, and a shadow swept quickly over the area. Sinon recognized it as a dragon, and while she was nervously looking to the sky, the false Sinon swept her feet out from under her, and tackled her. The two entered into a fist fight, and while that happened, Dane pulled the arrows from his legs, and downed a health potion. Then, he pulled out his sword and shield.
When Dane went to approach the girls fighting, the dragon landed in front of him, and he raised his shield in fear. "Dane, don't!" Sinon shouted. Her brief moment of distraction earned her a punch to the face, which knocked her off of her double. The false one then grabbed Sinon's own bow, and an arrow from the ground, aiming it at her. "Only Silver Steel can cut its hide, run!" Sinon shouted out. As she was getting up, she felt the false prod her neck with the arrow. But that was too close. Sinon whipped around and dodged the attack while grabbing her bow, and continuing the melee with her double.
Dane nodded and turned to run. The dragon reared its head and then blasted flames out into the woods. Trees caught fire, and the smoke started billowing. Dane barely dodged the hit, rolling off to the side, and then getting up to continue his flight from danger. He ran back towards the rest of the guild, and shouted at them. "Dragon!"
That beast was following him, and as it reached the camp, everyone scattered. "Silver Steel!" Dane shouted. "If anyone has it, you can fight. Everyone else, run for your lives!" Sasha smiled, and pulled out her naginata, the blade of which was Silver Steel. Now, the woman had one a full set of thick leather armor, and as she approached the beast, she twirled the weapon around, preparing for combat.
Meanwhile, back in the fight between Sinon and Sinon, the two brawled it out, throwing punches and kicks whenever they could. The two of them were so fast though, that most attacks were at least partially dodged. The false Sinon stood for a moment, and stopped fighting. "Why do you bother?" she asked. "Do you really have anything to go back to?"
Sinon nodded. "Of course I do," she said. "And my friends are counting on me to stay alive, and do everything I can to fight the player killers."
"You think you can just walk away?" the false asked. "After everything you've done? You're the head of a player-killer guild now, just like I was. There's no redemption for either of us."
"Then why do you even bother?" Sinon asked her. "If you've got no reason to kill me, then what are you doing here?"
"You're the only thing left for me to do," she said. "If I can kill you, then I'll prove that I'm the greatest sniper in Vearth. With a title like that, I can rise to power in this world."
"And then what?" Sinon asked her. "Everyone you knew… they don't exist here. Come on, Sinon. I know you. I am you. You don't really want to kill anyone."
"You're one to talk," the false told her. "You've run out of room on your arm, and you're drawing on your side, on your leg now. How many more people are you going to kill before it ends?"
"I don't want to kill anyone," Sinon said. "I wish I didn't have to."
"Well. Then you should understand why I have to kill you."
"No, you don't," Sinon said. "Come on, you've been given another chance. None of the people you've killed exist here. You haven't actually killed anyone yet. Take this second chance… do the right thing."
"If you came to my time," the false said. "Wouldn't you try to kill me? As the head of the Laughing Coffin?"
Sinon nodded. "I suppose I would."
The false nodded back to her, and made a run for her. When she did, Sinon waited, and ducked at the last second. The false Sinon's plan though was different. She instead jumped and tumbled to grab Sinon's bow again, and aimed to shoot. Unfortunately for her, she had no friends, and Sinon did. Dane had returned, and came in to slash at her with his sword. It broke through the bow, and dealt damage.
Then, Dane chopped down at her. The false rolled out of the way, and got up. Dane stood between her and his own Sinon. The false turned and ran for her own bow, but Dane rushed in after her. The false never got an arrow drawn, and Down bashed her head with his shield. While the false was dazed, Dane plunged his sword into her chest, and she fell back to the ground, bleeding.
Sinon approached, and watched. The false was on her side, and desperately trying to plug the wound, which was right in her gut and very painful. "You didn't have to do that, Dane," Sinon said.
"I did," he told her. "I won't let you draw another tattoo on your arm when you don't have to. It hurts you… and I don't like it when you're hurt."
"Fuck you!" the false Sinon spat at him. "All noble, like always. I can take care of myself. Sinon! Tell him!"
Sinon tilted her head, and shook her head at her. "No," she said. "I'm not like you, and I don't want to be like you. If this is what being able to take care of myself turns me into, then… I'm happy needing someone to take care of me sometimes."
Dane stabbed the false Sinon once more, right in the heart, and killed her instantly. "I'm sorry," he said. "I broke your bow."
Sinon looked over at the false Sinon's bow, and shook her head. "I think I'm long overdue for an upgrade," she said, picking the weapon up. "This is made of dragon bone." Then, Sinon went back to examine her clone's dead body on the ground. "You know I was afraid…"
"Yeah," he said. "Of dying. Of us. Of everything that you had taken. I get it."
Sinon shook her head. "No," she said. "What I was more afraid of than anything, was that this was who I would become. But now, seeing her like this… I don't think I have anything to be afraid of anymore."
"You're a stronger player than I," Dane said.
Sinon shook her head. "No," she said, smiling at him. "Forever, I've been trying to make myself stronger, but now, I think I'm realizing that I don't have to be strong. And I'm still afraid, but… you know what? That's okay. Fear… weakness… it only makes me human."
"Eat! Eat! Eat! Eat!" they heard in the distance.
Dane chuckled, and looked off, before turning back to Sinon. "It sounds like they slew a dragon." Sinon smiled, and nodded.
July 3rd, 2031
The wolves carefully moved through the stretch of forest, keeping a low profile. After a few days of travel, the group passed the forests, and came up on a populated coastline. The SSS flags flew across the large port town, and they could see ships… Only these were not triremes like most of the players used to travel the seas. The harbor has eight large ships, galleons, which were unusual for players to build because of the time and resource cost to construct anything large just for travel.
Down in the town, Sinon could see that they had players in chains, marching them off towards one of the buildings. Sasha was with her, and saw as well. "What the hell?" she asked. Some of the players being moved had red right hands, some did not. "I mean… it's nice to see the red-handed players chained up for once, but… they've got other players down there too."
"So much for the SSS are good-guys theory," Bull said. "What's the plan?"
Sinon shook her head. "I'm not sure what the plan is," she told them. "This base is huge, and there's a lot of these guys. It won't be as easy as sneaking in and slitting their throats in their sleep. Wait a minute…" Sinon squinted, and could make out one of the captive players. This one was in her own chains, bound up nice and tight. The players transporting her seemed extremely nervous, and had swords at her throat, ready to strike at a moment's notice. The girl appeared very young, and Sinon said, "I recognize that one."
"Who is it?" Dane asked.
"Zeeka," Sinon said. "She fought in the player tournament, and she kicked one of my friends' asses. I think she's a player-boss. She would be a powerful ally." Sinon turned from the cliff that overlooked the town, and went back to the guild. "I need a ninja or an assassin for a stealth mission," Sinon said. "I'll be going with you. Our objective is to rescue a high value target from the enemy, and bring her back here to make an ally of her. It's a little girl named Zeeka… and if I'm right, she's a player-boss."
"My stealth skills are high," Sasha said. "I'll be joining as well."
One of the players stepped up, and her name was Nytefly. She looked to be fifteen or sixteen, and was completely clothed in black cloth. "I'm a ninja, I can go," she said.
"Alright," Sinon said. "You two, come with me." Sinon led the two of them away from the guild, and they went down towards a path which went into the town. The sky was still covered in ashes, so it was perpetually dark. Despite that, there were patches of sky that were cleared to the north. Sinon couldn't make much sense of it. The patches were random.
Once they reached the town, they stayed quiet and out of sight, moving along behind buildings and heading slowly for the building Sinon saw them taking the prisoners to. Once there, Nytefly was the first in. She climbed up to a window, and dropped in, and soon after, she was waving the others in through a side door. When Sinon and Sasha moved in, they could see three dead players on the ground. Nytefly was good.
They went down into a basement, and there, they saw Zeeka was the sole prisoner in the building. She was dressed in plain linens, with all weapons removed. There was an iron mask over her mouth, her feet were shackled to the floor and her hands were covered in iron, and arms chained to the walls. Nytefly pulled out a lock-picking set, and started to work on the locks. Zeeka slowly woke up as she heard the three of them. Behind the mask, she smiled. She didn't know who any of these three were, but knew that being freed was a win.
After Zeeka was free of the arms and feet, she dropped to her knees, and waited patiently for Nytefly to undo her uncomfortable facemask. And when finally, it came off, she spat at the ground and took a long, deep breath. "Zeeka," Sinon said. "I saw you in the tournament. We've got a camp outside of town, and we're going to take you there to plan an attack on the town."
Zeeka nodded slowly. "Have you freed anyone else?" Zeeka asked them. Sinon shook her head. "Okay… I'll go with you. But we need to take the town without sinking any of the ships."
"Why?" Sasha asked.
"Half of them are mine," Zeeka said. "I've inherited the Black Flag after the disappearance of more than half of my guild during the shattering."
"They died?" Sinon asked.
Zeeka shook her head, and pulled up her guild list. Many players had a status next to them saying "Location Unknown." It made Sinon tilt her head and wonder, but they were going to run out of time.
"We should get moving," Sasha said. The others all nodded, and they got up and left, fleeing the town.
Once the four of them returned to the base camp that the wolves had set up, they were greeted with a bit of an unpleasant surprise. Sinon and the others walked in to see that every last one of the Big Bad Wolves and the players they rescued were put on their knees. They each had someone on them, a weapon raised to their heads.
Before they knew what was going on, a group of players came up behind them, and put them on their knees as well. "What the hell?" Sinon asked, looking around. "Who are you guys?" These players wore heavy furs, and most of them had plate armor on. It was unlike the SSS guild, who mostly wore cloth and leather.
"Sinon?" Klover asked, looking at her as he walked up. Stomper was with him as well. "And the famed Zeeka… What are you two doing here?"
Sinon looked up and recognized Klover and Stomper. "You're… the Arctic Army. One of the hero guilds. Took you long enough to get to me."
"Let those two up," Klover said. Sinon and Zeeka were freed, and they stood up. "I heard of your capture by the wolf pack. But then, when I finally found you… you had liberated Red Hand slaves in your party. I didn't know what to make of it, so… I'll hear it from you."
"Dane didn't explain?" Sinon asked.
"He didn't believe me," Dane said.
Klover looked over to Dane, who was on his knees next to Bull. Then, he looked back to Sinon. "So it's true," Klover said. "You've mixed in with the player-killer guild? Why?"
"I didn't just mix in," Sinon told him. "I took over. You're looking at the Alpha wolf. And these guys… they're rough and for a long time they were heavily misguided, but… they're fighting the good fight now. Let 'em go."
Klover looked around, in a little disbelief. It took him a moment to accept the truth, and nodded. "Alright, then," he said. "Since we don't have the time or resources to hold trials, I'll pardon every member of the guild right here and now… Let them go." The members of the Arctic Army all released their prisoners, and they started getting up.
"That was tense," Bull said. "Thanks, uhh… Klover."
"For those of you who don't know," Klover said. "My name is Klover, former High General of the Arctic Army… most of whom you see standing before you right now. Now, we have joined forces with the rest of the heroes. I am second-in-command, High General of the Champions of Vearth. Our guild leader is Kirito, and we have accomplished many things. As of this moment, the Red Hand has been pushed from the mainland. They flee like scared pups to their capital, the fortified Paradise Island."
"Not from this coast," Zeeka said, chiming in. "My name's Zeeka. I'm the standing Grand Admiral of the Black Flag. Recently, the remainder of my guild was captured by a killer guild called the Southern Sea Savages. They are a large, strong guild who have terrorized the ocean through most of the game. They also fight against the Red Hand but we will find no allies in them. They have player-killers, heroes and innocents alike in chains in the town down the hill. It is their headquarters, Savage Shores. They also… have battleships that we can take to Paradise Island."
Klover looked to her, and smiled. "Battleships?" he asked. "Now that sounds like fun… Sinon. I trust that the wolves and the liberated slaves traveling with them will join the battle to come?"
"Absolutely," Sinon said. "How many are you?"
"I have six hundred warriors at my back," Klover said. "They are spread across the south, but won't take long to arrive if I send for them. Three days tops. Last I checked, the SSS numbered eight-fifty. How many are in the town?"
"Most are out to sea, as always. There couldn't be more than four hundred here now," Zeeka said.
"I'll be taking the lead," Klover said to the two of them. "Sinon. I want you to gather the wolves, and tell them to prepare for an assault. If my memory serves, your guild is familiar with guerilla tactics. Put that to use. Start launching raids against the town. Your primary objective is to locate and secure prisoners. But do not set free anyone with a red hand."
"Sounds like a plan," Sinon said. "Won't you be helping?"
"In the meantime, I'll be gathering my division of the Champions of Vearth, and preparing for an all-out assault. We'll also be focusing on constructing fortified defenses which your guild can fall back to," Klover said as he looked out past the ledges to the ocean. "The Savages will likely be called back to aid their battle once they realize how big the army at their door is. But we'll take the town before any of them make it."
Zeeka smiled. "And when they do make it, we'll have galleons to use against them, along with a fortified town."
"We'll take the rest of the ships they send our way, and then set sail for Paradise," Klover said. "Sinon, I want you to start the raiding today." After that, Klover turned to address his group. Stomper was busy sending out messages to the rest of the soldiers in the west. "Listen up!" Klover shouted out, and he started giving out orders to construct towers and walls.
Sinon went to her group, and Zeeka followed her. "I'll be going with you," Zeeka said. "A lot of the prisoners are my guild."
"Fine by me," Sinon said. She whistled, and the wolves all gathered around. "Alright everyone! Here's the plan. In an hour, we'll be launching the first of many raids on the town below. We'll be swooping in, causing chaos, and looking for captured players. If you see anyone in shackles, check their right hands first! If they're red-handed, leave them. If not, break the chains and bring them back here. The Champions of Vearth are building a fortress to concentrate our attacks from, so if we get into trouble, we'll be retreating to the fortifications they're setting up."
As the raid went on, Sinon kept with Dane, and they went straight for one of the prison buildings. Once inside, Sinon started breaking the chains on every player not marked as a Red Hand guild member. After grabbing eight of them, and heading out, she waved for Dane, who was driving a sword through an attacking guard. "Dane!" she said. "Let's go!"
As they ran for the hill, along with the other wolves, the savages started chasing them down, mounting horses and riding after them. By the time the savages were catching up, the wolves were in reach of the first of the towers, and the Champions of Vearth were ready with a defense. The savages all stopped mid-charge as they ran into the enemy lines. Sinon turned back, and fired a single shot. As always, the arrow hit a head, and a player fell.
What was different this time though was a notification appearing on Sinon's vitals. It popped up automatically, an achievement.
[And That's One-Hundred]
Sinon's mind drifted off, and she found herself wandering in a dark place. There were trees, but lined up in formation, and each one of the trees was withered and dead. They all had a symbol carved into them, all of them symbols of a player-killer guild. Sinon found herself walking down through the lines of trees. She was completely nude, her tattoos a little brighter, a little more visible, covering now her entire left arm, and a good deal of her left side beneath it. It was very cold in this place, and she braced herself with her arms, shivering.
The place was dead silent for a long while, but then, Sinon stopped at a tree, and looked at it. From the tree, a figure appeared, like a ghost, and stood before her. It noticed her, but didn't seem to react much to what she did. This figure wore leather gear, and her hand was painted red, as the symbol on the tree had a hand carved into it. "I just wanted it to stop," Sinon heard the specter say to her. Its expression was sorrowful, and driven to tears with guilt. "They raped me every day, and cut at me all the time. I just wanted the pain to go away…"
Sinon gasped, and turned around only to be face-to-face with another. This one was the spirit of a man from the Laughing Coffin, and he had a wicked smile on his face. "I'm a killer," he said. "Don't you know? I've killed six people. That's enough to make the record books in the real world…" Then, the man's expression turned sour, and he breathed heavily. "Why did I kill those people? Sinon, tell me what happened to me? I turned myself into a killer!"
Sinon turned, and ran from the spirit, but was tripped by a branch, and her chin hit the dirt before a tree with a wolf's paw on it. This tree had a name: Retnik. Out of this tree though, a very young boy emerged. He looked up at Sinon, tears in his eyes, and bruises covering most of his body. "Daddy did this to me," he said. "He did this to me, and my sister. What should I do?"
Sinon tried to open her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She then turned around, and ran farther, stopping before another tree with a hand carved into it. The spirit that came out she recognized as the one she had to kill to get into the wolves. "Why did you kill me, Sinon?" he asked. "I was on your side! Hand of Salvation! I was supposed to help you… but you didn't care…"
Sinon took steps backwards, and bumped into a boy about fifteen. She turned around. The tree had a hand carved into it. "They made me kill my sister," he said. Sinon let out a mute scream, and then started running again. She bumped into a tree, and stumbled back.
This tree had a spoon on it, and a man walked out. "I didn't kill anyone," he said. Then he looked around, like he was trying to figure something out. "I didn't know their plans. I thought I was helping."
"First chance I get," another voice called out. "I'm running, and I'll get out of here. And then I can wake up and see mommy."
"How come I deserved to die?" another man asked. "I wanted to survive, and I sacrificed my freedom to do it!"
"I was like you, Sinon," a woman spoke next. "I fell to my knees and did whatever it took to get my friends out alive. Then I did what I had to in order to survive. But you stopped me."
As the voices kept ringing out, Sinon fell to the ground and curled up, holding her head. She tried to scream, for it to stop, but her voice was silenced by the voices of the hundred souls she had killed.
"What's wrong with her?" Klover asked, looking down at Sinon, who was in the fetal position and screaming out for it to stop.
Dane looked at her, and shook his head. "I don't know," he said. He dropped down to her side, and tried to shake her out of it. "Sinon, wake up!" he shouted. Then, turning back to Klover, he said. "The pop-up was a PvP achievement, for making a hundred kills. I think it might have broken her."
"A hundred... That's insane. I only have like twenty." Klover waved over some of his men. "We have to get her back somewhere safe, first. Then we'll figure out how to snap her out of it." Dane helped lift her, and a group of three carried her back to safety. Klover looked to Bull. "You," he said. "Are you second in command? You sure look the part…"
Bull shook his head. "We don't… really have a chain of command."
"Well you do now," Klover said. "Sinon's out of the game for now. The wolves need someone to lead the raids, so I'm putting you in charge."
"I mean," Bull said, shaking his head, unsure. "I'm honored but, that's not really how we work."
"Well then you better make something work," Klover said. "If we don't keep up the pressure on them, then they'll organize and mount a counter-offensive. So either you take command or you find someone who can, understand me?" Bull nodded, and went to gather up the wolves.
July 15th, 2031
"Sinon." Sinon heard her own voice talking to her now. She was in a different place, a cave like the one woke up in after almost being killed. "Why are you crying like such a little bitch?" Sinon looked at the image of herself. It was like the one she saw in the mirror, in her dreams, not an inch of her skin uncovered by the tattoos that marked every single kill.
"Who are you?" Sinon asked.
"You know who I am," the other said. "I'm called Destiny, and there's no escaping me. This is what you'll become."
Sinon shook her head, and took a deep breath. "Never."
"Embrace it, Sinon," Destiny said, sitting down next to her. "You're going to become the deadliest killer in history. It's the legacy that you'll leave behind you, so you might as well accept your fate and move on."
"I've already killed a hundred-and-one too many," Sinon said to her. "I don't want to kill anyone else."
"Mm, sorry, too bad. You will." Destiny got up, and walked around the cave. There was a fire in the middle, but not halls or exits, just the one room. "You're going to kill all kinds of people. Good, bad… innocent, guilty."
"But why?" Sinon asked, her voice shrinking.
"It's who you are," Destiny told her. "You're a killer, Sinon. And you know it. Your alternate-timeline double was a killer. You are a killer. No matter how it goes, no matter what happens, it's who you'll end up becoming. It was always meant to be."
"The game will end," Sinon said. "I know it has to soon. I won't have to kill anyone, not ever again."
Destiny laughed at her, and shook her head. "Oh, Sinon. That was never the problem. You never had to kill anyone. You could have stayed in Newberg. You could have stayed home that day… You don't kill because you have to, that's silly. You kill… because you want to."
"No," Sinon said, shaking her head. "I don't."
"And it feels good!" Destiny told her. "When you get out into the real world, you'll settle down. You'll meet up with Dane and have a short-lived but intense relationship. Then, you'll grow tired and bored. And you'll grow angry. So much wrong with the world… someone should just kill all of the people who are destroying society. And who better to pull the trigger?"
"Stop it…" Sinon said. "Just leave me alone."
"I can't," she said with a laugh. "I'm Destiny, Sinon. And when Destiny comes knocking, you answer, or you let her burn the whole house down. We've got a hot date tonight, and I hate being stood up."
Sinon suddenly shot up, and looked around. The room was moving, slowly up and down. "Sinon?" Dane asked as he came to her side.
Sinon took deep breaths, and shook her head. "Where are we?" she asked.
"We're on the boat, remember?" Dane asked. "We took Savage Shores, and all of their pretty little boats. We're heading for Paradise Island."
Sinon shook her head, and groaned. "No," she said. "I can't go. I don't want to go there. I don't want to fight."
Dane pulled her into a hug as she was starting to panic and tried to leave the bed. "Whoa, easy there," he said. "What's wrong with you?"
Sinon shook, and looked past Dane's shoulder. She saw Destiny standing there, leaning with her back to the wall. Sinon shook her head, and Destiny only nodded. "I just can't."
"Don't worry, Sinon," Destiny said. Dane, of course, could not hear or see the figment. Destiny approached Sinon, and put a hand to her cheek. "I'll take care… of everything."
In the next moment, Sinon found herself displaced from her body, in Destiny's position, while Destiny smiled at her from her own body. "No," Sinon started. "No, please… don't do this."
Then, Sinon pulled Dane down to the bed, so that she was on top. "I'll be fine," she told him. "I'm just a little nervous, that's all… Maybe you can help?" He looked up at her, a little surprised by her initiative. He nodded, and Sinon leaned down to kiss his lips, and began stripping the two of them down. The real Sinon watched from outside of her body at first, and then sank to the floor, and curled up.
