"Rain, now!" Rain runs forward with her twin blades and, with Philia and I holding the Excessive Gigas' giant blades at bay, she's free to attack it and finish the fight.

"You're finished! Eclipse!" We watch as Rain unleashes hell with the 27-hit combo known as The Eclipse, the strongest Dual Blade skill. It's overkill, but it is amazing to watch the monster get beaten into polygons.

"Showoff," I say as the girls and I regroup and call over Premiere. "But let's keep moving, shall we?" Letting Premiere take the lead, we follow her into a cave. Sensing no sign of danger, we relax and enjoy the walk.

"It's been a while since the three of us were together as a party, hasn't it," Philia brings up. "I don't think we've truly partied as a trio since Rain joined ALO. Or I guess we can count when we backed up Asuna and the Sleeping Knights."

Rain nods. "It has been a long time. If Strea came, it would truly be like old times. I'm sorry I can't be with you two more often, though."

Philia chuckles. "No problem. I don't get much time with Jaymes myself. If he's not part of the dream team, he's with Lisbeth or something."

"Sorry, Philia."

"No need. Helping Leafa train for kendo and finding the Emperor's Sword on your back was time-consuming. Besides, I'm used to it. Which is why any moment we get together, I really do go overboard, hehe. But I'm surprised you had us join you."

I smile as I pocket my hands. "Philia, even though Sinon is my partner when it comes to stuff like this, you're still number one in that regard, and I have lots to make up for to prove it. And yes, I did miss the three of us together. It's partially my fault, after all."

Rain grins. "Well, at least now you don't have to protect us like you did back then. We can be at your side as equals, as friends."

"Don't try to convince him of it," Philia says. "Things might've changed, but he's still the Crimson Warrior. No better than Kirito, except he's not as stubborn to ask for help."

I sigh. "I believe you can hold your own. I know Rain can now… Premiere?"

Premiere suddenly stops moving and points ahead. "Look. I have found a room hidden back there."

I take a look around. "Huh. Seems we're deep in the dungeon."

"Sure it's the right place?"

"Yeah, Philia, I'm sure."

"Hmm, something doesn't feel right, though." She touches her sheathed dagger as she looks around while moving forward. "Not a single mob encountered or trap sprung. Never a good sign."

Rain nods. "Even if this was the calm before the storm, it's still too weird. Wasn't it like this before?"

"Yeah. But you're right, there's usually some monster on the way. Maybe… Maybe we're not first here?"

Philia shrugs. "That's likely, but if I remember correctly, only we have gone this deep in these dungeons. Premiere's presence is a prerequisite for this. Unless…"

"Wait." Throwing my hand out, I walk up to the altar in the cave. My eyes enlarge as I come upon an empty inset where a stone should be. "The Sacred Stone...is gone?"

Premiere walks up, looks at the altar, then up to me. "Shall we search for it?"

Philia groans. "As I thought. We're not first. But now that begs the question of who was here first."

"Should we look around then," Rain asks.

"No point," I answer. "If it's not here, someone did take it. It's just a matter of who took it and how. Or, despite how it looks, maybe it was never here, but I doubt that as well."

"Where else shall we search," Premiere asks.

"Eh, don't worry about it," I say while patting her head. "But you've grown since we met you."

"Grown?"

"Mhm. You've grown to be a part of the team now. You make jokes, tell stories, share goals, and even come to us for help. You're becoming the girl you're supposed to be, I think. I guess we're influencing you, of course." Premiere's face suddenly turns red and she looks away.

"Idiot," Philia shouts as she leads Premiere away from me. "You can't say all that out of the blue to a girl!"

"Did I say something wrong?"

"Hello, Other Hero. Ladies." Facing the entrance to the room with the altar, I spot the jackass known as Genesis walk in. "Hehe. You look quite a mess. Been busy digging for treasure, have you? I was fortunate to find something rare of my own. This stone… Beautiful, don't you think?"

Of all people to have it in their hands, throwing the fact they found it first, it's this red-headed brat. But how could he have gotten here without Premiere? Without here, the secret chamber does open.

"Such a troubled visage. Ah, of course. You wish to know how I arrived here in your sanctuary? Your lot managed to find the hidden boss, yet you can't figure out something so simple? Plah! Some hero."

I frown. "I've figured it out the moment we saw it missing, but I'm just hoping I'm proven wrong."

"Then I'll use small words to explain so even the brats like your friends can understand." Genesis steps aside, and not to my surprise, there stands another Premiere. Rain and Philia, however, are quite shaken.

"Another Premiere?"

"HAHAHAHA! Don't tell me you haven't seen the truth this entire time! These two ladies are the twin Goddesses of legend. They are two parts of the very same quest." Genesis and the second Premiere join us on the altar, letting the twins stare blankly at one another. "You can say we've been working out the same quest. I think, perhaps, we've been working together, don't you? Seeing this to the bitter end."

"Hmm." I don't answer back immediately as a notification prompt enters my view. It's a message from Strea, and I see the girls got the same message. Kirito and company must have found the terminal. "Well, Genesis, I must say you've surprised me. Usually I see things coming together, but at any point did I suspect you would be involved in a quest that's not even supposed to be playable. Or that you cared to keep an NPC alive. But now you've helped me put together everything. Six Sacred Stones, two Goddesses, a few prayers to trees… Hmph. The Great Separation is the storyline for this quest, if not an adaption of it. So yes, to some degree, we were working together--"

"No!" Rain's shout and Philia's following shout gains my attention. Following their lead, I open my messages and quickly skim the message.

"We found the console and… Cardinal is responsible for everything. Premiere's quest was launched and modified to accurately fit the legend of the Great Separation. The slowdown on the AmuSpheres is due to it crowd-sourcing power to make some calculations. It's running a simulation, the same one that destroyed Aincrad. It's...remaking Aincrad."

The Cardinal System...is resuming its protocol for Aincrad? I didn't expect that. I did expect Cardinal to be responsible for Premiere's quest to be activated, but modified as well plus the slowdown on the AmuSpheres? Yet, it makes some sense. Origins is a direct copy of SAO, which explains why Alfheim was spared from this trouble before being ported to the Seed despite using the same system. Cardinal recognizes the world as SAO, and per its protocol, is going to go through with its programming, destroying Ainground to reform Aincrad, then destroy that creation as well.

It's almost laughable that we fell into Cardinal's trap, as if it targeted us from the beginning...and it probably did with the message to Kirito. Since it is the original Cardinal, did it recognize us as the heroes of SAO? We've followed the twisted system's desire without fail… Kirito, Asuna, Jaymes, Lisbeth, Silica, Agil, Klein, Philia, Argo, and now Rain, we're all involved in the plot to recreate the nightmare we lived in for two years.

Sighing, I glare at Genesis. "Genesis, we must stop the quest. We cannot continue."

"And why not? Because this pathetic world will burn to ashes?"

I guess he read the message from Strea. "The game will be destroyed if Aincrad is rebuilt. The three of us know this, we were there when the original fell. I helped to beat SAO. This storyline is Aincrad's birth, and it'll be the death of Origins if it continues."

He grins. "How brilliant is that? It's not everyday you get to put the torch to an entire civilization...an entire world!"

"So that's why you're doing this," Philia angrily inquires. "You brute!"

"Oh, your bitch is angry? Hahaha! Just try and stop me!" Philia nearly attacks Genesis, but I hold her back. Unamused, Genesis looks to his Premiere and gestures with his head. "Come on. We're leaving."

"Yes, Master."

As the two depart, I release Philia's wrist and face Rain. "Deliver the news to Strea, no, everyone. Call for a meeting."

"Jaymes," Premiere calls, "what does he mean? The whole world will burn? If… If that happens, will we not be together anymore?"

"No." I face Philia, seeing her determined anger. I see the same thing with Rain. In our own way, whether together or alone, we fought to survive Aincrad with our life on the line. Our lives may not be threatened, but with both GGO incidents still fresh in the VR world, this might be the cataclysm that brings VR down. Human lives aren't threatened, but… I'll be damned if I let NPCs and VR gaming fall like this.

After sending today's report, I sigh and fall back on my bed, clothed in more comfortable clothing. Unlike ALO and GGO, Origins logs out mentally inactive players, including those asleep, so I can't rest in this world but it is a comfortable alternative to logging out manually. Besides, I'm not alone.

"I know you're busy and stuff… So I'm sorry to bother you for something like this." I face Lisbeth, the girl clothed in a red nightgown that doesn't do well hiding her torso's assets. She wears a fluffy sweater over it, but since it's just us two, she leaves that open. As for her legs...they're free to be seen.

But appeal to my eyes aside, I play with Lisbeth's hair as I lay close to her. "I'm your boyfriend, you're supposed to bother me when I'm busy. But thanks for waiting."

She nods, then takes my hand in hers. "Can I… Can we talk for a bit? If you don't mind, that is."

"Sure. Is everything all right? Did Kirito or Klein say something I need to pound them for?"

She giggles. "No, it's nothing serious or anything like that. It's just...well after today's news… This world is really similar to Aincrad, huh? It feels like we know it better than a lot of people might."

I nod. "Yeah. We're barely two months into this game, yet no matter what, everything reminds me of Aincrad."

"Exactly, hehe! And even worse, all our levels were so low, I had to raise my smithing from zero again. It's...weird."

"I get it. We were, and it's odd to say, but we were good in SAO. Here, there's a difference between reality and expectation."

"Right! I guess that's to be expected, though… But all that unease, that hesitation, it disappears when I'm with you. Like looking at you melts it all away. But I'm sure you've heard that from other girls. Silica, Philia, Rain...perhaps everyday with Koharu, huh?"

"I did, every once in a while."

It's Lisbeth's turn to play with my body as she lightly tugs on the collar of my t-shirt. "You never looked stressed or worried. I've seen you sad, angry, happy and all that, but I don't recall hearing or seeing you worried about the game. You don't even look worried now, and we just got told Aincrad might come back with a vengeance."

I lay on my back, staring at the ceiling. "I just never showed it much, I guess. With Koharu, I didn't want her to be more afraid than she was. With Asuna and Kirito, well, I say all three of us were just putting on brave faces. With Kureha and Zeliska, I had to be a leader in the face of death. I guess now I know death is not a worry, but there are other things. Yet there was one time in SAO, well twice, I was worried beyond my composure. Koharu before she died, of course, but even then...that paled in comparison to the next one."

"Really?"

"Besides that one time, I never worried too much about Koharu's life that much. We were together or with another, I didn't have to. Not even my other friends in SAO I worried much about. The gang, Liten, Leuer, Mater, Sanya, they all survived to the end with me worrying much. But the person I worried most about at one time in those two years was you on that day."

Lisbeth blushes. "Oh."

"Koharu goes without saying. I care for Asuna like a brother does for a little sister, so when she took that blow from Heathcliff for Kirito or when Sugou touched her, it angered me. But you, it was more than love when I chased after Annihilator to get to you. You were my reason to keep going. I'd lost so many friends by that point. Sachi, Koharu, Diavel, but if I lost you… I worry about you at all times, just as I know you do for me. I may not show it, but it is on my mind."

Lisbeth nods and leans close, letting our noses barely touch. "I wish I was more like Sinon or Rain. If I was more of a fighter, you wouldn't have to rely on them. I wouldn't have to worry so much about you when I didn't see you."

"I do too. But you have our equipment to manage, and that's more than I can want from you. You also have Silica to watch over...which, by the way, you still have that outfit from when you help her with...marketing?"

Lisbeth smiles as she kisses me and lays on my shoulder. "Of course I do. I wouldn't let everyone else except you see it. But first… We save the world. Again."

"Again…"