Warmia Greenbelt, Sothercrois, Jaymes

"So the rumors are true," I say to myself as Alice, Medina, Eydis, and I deal with a problem of Callings in Williria. There are two hunters, one relatively new to the village, and is hurting the profits of the other. But as we just learned, the second hunter has no memories, much like a Child of Vecta, so his reason to hunt is not due to a determined job. Now that I confirmed the rumor, I wonder where this person is from. "Do you remember where you came here from?"

"Yeah, you've got me. I don't remember a thing. I just woke up here one day."

"Do you remember anything about the Real World?"

The amnesiac shakes his head. "No idea what you're talking about… It's rude to badger people, okay? Look, I'm sorry, I don't remember anything." Hmm, no this doesn't make sense. There are seven STLs in the world, five on the Ocean Turtle, three where I am. One occupied by Kazuto, one by me, and eventually the last by Asuna. He could be one of the intruders on the main level, or from the Rath Roppongi Branch, yet the latter is just as unlikely with the lack of memories. The only other option is from elsewhere in the real world, yet I don't understand how that'll be. Without much to go on, I can't learn anything.

"Well, I'll be off, then."

"Wait," Medina commands. "Even if you have no memories, interfering with the villagers here is-"

"Oh, shut up! What's your problem with me? Just let it go!" He pushes Medina away, through it barely phases her one bit. Girl's tough, I've seen it myself as we fought some predators on our way here, but given her family name, disgraced or not, I expect this much of her."

That, and the Orthinanos stubbornness. "Now, listen here. You are both interfering with this man's Calling and stealing his very purpose. I cannot stand idly by while the meaning of someone's life is taken from them."

The amnesiac drops his head. "I…"

"What's that?"

"I'm sorry… I was wrong. Without any memories, I didn't know what I was supposed to do, and that scared me. But like you said, there's no excuse for taking somebody's purpose away from them. You reminded me of something important, so thank you. You're...my savior."

Medina sighs. "I've done nothing to merit that kind of title, but so long as you understand now. Go consult with the village hunter and find an appropriate place to hunt."

"All right. I'll do that." As the hunter leaves, I'm satisfied to know we managed to solve the situation peacefully, despite the lack of intel on this 'Child of Vecta' business. We're only here for some rest and to check on the village before we continue further south, so with this resolved, I say we can continue onwards.

"Medina, that was amazing," Eydis praises.

"Yes, it was," Alice agrees. "He seemed pretty obstinate at first, but you persuaded him so quickly."

"I have my own purpose, and the thought of someone taking it got me worked up."

"In any case, it looks like this problem's solved!"

"Yes, we should move on… Jaymes?"

I must have been deep in thought before Alice roused me. Too much on my mind in such little time. "Oh, uh, sorry. We should get going."

After taking care of a Clamp near the village again, we proceed on our mission, making the loop around the bordering lake to the path southwards. I trail behind the girls, wondering what that hunter's origin really is. I don't know how long I've been here, but I haven't seen Asuna yet, so it hasn't been more than thirty minutes, not accounting for preparations for her dive. But can Kikuoka communicate with the other branch? Is he a lost intruder?

"Is something about that 'Lost Child' from earlier bothering you?" I didn't notice Eydis slither back to my side, she's been attached to Alice's hip for the entire day.

"Very much."

"I don't understand it much, but if he's from your world, there has to be a way he got in, correct?"

"Mhm. And what you told me the other day, that there were multiple instances… I don't know how to answer it."

"You think they're all like you and Kirito, from your world?"

"I've considered that, yet when I think on that, there's only seven possible ways to get here. Kirito and I own two right now, and after some predictions...there's no way more than two others can appear. And the way I know to be possible isn't possible now. But with their memories blocked, we're not going to get answers."

Eydis sighs. "I guess not."

"One other thing bothers me. You saw Medina talk that guy down, right? It's good she talked him down, but...don't you think it was weird how fast he caved?"

"It was pretty cool, but now that you mention it..." Eydis looks ahead to Medina, far out of earshot of our conversation. "Hmm, that 'savior' business was kinda out of nowhere."

"Sounds like he immediately revered her." Our conversation is cut short by the arrival on a Lesser Integrity Knight on a dragon, who hands Alice orders from headquarters. As the knight departs, Alice scans the scroll before handing it to me.

"More beasts reports."

"Mhm. Vizeah Valley, is that the next region? Looks like we were going to run into these beasts anyway."

Vizeah Valley, Sothercrois

"Should be around here." I scan the area by a bridge cross, yet there are no beasts in sight.

"I don't see anything resembling the beast we were ordered to pursue." Alice looks towards the bridge, where a group of armored men stand cheering. "What are those people doing over there?"

"Let's go be nosy." I lead the group halfway across the bridge, meeting up with the soldiers there. "Excuse me."

"Whoa! Where did you all come from?"

"We were dispatched by the Axiom Church to hunt for a powerful beast in this area."

"Oh, really? Well, you're too late in that case. We just finished taking care of that thing ourselves!"

"Oh, so did you?"

I don't know if Alice is impressed or disappointed we couldn't hunt it ourselves, but I do hear the latter sentiment from Medina. I partially feel the same way. "We heard this was a very powerful beast. You must be formidable yourselves, then?"

"We ain't half bad! I think. To be quite honest, I can't remember what happened."

Huh? I know the empires' forces are not quite that powerful, but they're not paragons amongst their people? "Wait, you're not Lost Children of Vecta, are you?"

"Oh yeah, we ran into people who called us that. I didn't really know what to do, but I heard people needed this beast dealt with. I got together with some others in the same situation, and now we fight together."

"They're like natural warriors," Eydis comments.

"It's not like we can beat everything we find, though. There's this one beast just a little ways away from here. That guy's our real goal. But it was too strong. We had no choice but to retreat and find quarry elsewhere."

"That must be the beast we're looking for, then. But it looks like you guys have done good work with the other beasts, I don't mind that you did."

"I mind," Medina exclaims. "It's very important to me."

"Oh… I'm really sorry, then. If it'd make up for it, we could give you some info on that beast we couldn't beat. We've got one condition, though. You need to bring us when you fight it. You guys look strong yourselves. I bet if we all teamed up we could beat that thing. How about it?"

Medina scoffs. "Teamwork."

"By the sound of things," I say as I turn to the noblewoman, "we might have trouble dealing with it alone. I think it'd be a good idea to work with them."

"Fine, then. We can form a temporary alliance." I look to Alice and Eydis, both in agreeance. Temporary alliance it is.

"Great! We'll lead you to the beast, then!"

"There it is!"

"Haha, soon you'll be just another notch on my blade."

"Let's go!" Lead under the bridge, the seven of us charge towards a group of large spiders. I grab my blade and coat it with fire. I leap and thrust towards one arachnid, forcing it upon its dorsal side. Running from behind is Medina, the girl jumps above and impales the beast between the head and thorax. Scanning around, I see that the Children of Vecta and the Integrity Knights each took care of an arachnid apiece. With the battle quickly over, I nod to Medina and sheathe my sword.

Her eyes, however, are on the soldiers high-fiving each other. "Why on Terraria are they smacking each other's hands like that?"

"You never had done a high-five? People do that in celebration."

"I've...never really been around others to know of this."

Eydis steps over. "Oh, really? It's pretty simple! Watch." Eydis turns to me and we clap each other's hands, bump wrists, then fistbumps, and end on a forearm bump. I'm so glad I taught her this, Kureha could never get it down. "Yeah...oh wait, that's a handshake."

I shrug. "True, but she gets the gist of it."

The leader of this group of Children of Vecta walks over to Medina and raises his hand high. "You did well, missy!"

"O-Oh, um, you too…" Medina claps his hand successfully for her first time. "If fortune has it, perhaps we can battle together again. Keep up the good work."

"Roger that. The day can't come soon enough, my savior."

Medina steps backs. "Wh-What did you just call me?"

"Hah! My savior, because that's what you are! Awright, back to the hunt! It's our duty to take out every beast we can find!"

As the knights leave, I step over to Medina's side. It happened again, and this time I don't think it is a coincidence. "Medina."

"H-Huh? What do you need?"

I decide to not speak more of what just happened, rather focus on the mission. "Are we going to report the completion of the mission to HQ and continue on south to the desert? We do have the request from the villager back in Williria."

She nods. "Yeah. Let's go."

Deusoldort Desert, Sothercrois

"How does a forest suddenly become a desert? It was hot and humid before, now it's just hot."

Eydis nods, if you count barely raising her head up and dropping it down lifelessly a nod. "At least Sustira Village is a tad bit cooler. Much be a Sacred Art at work. Alice better hurry up and find the inn, I want to get out this armor."

"You know, desert nights are terribly cold."

"Ughhhh."

"Please excuse me," a villager calls to me, Eydis, and Medina and walks to us. "Did you travel here on the high from the capital?"

I nod. "Yes, we did."

"Did you happen to see a young girl on your way?"

"I don't think so, no. Would she have been heading away from the village?"

"Yes. I took her into my care not long ago. She has no memories, though."

"Another Lost Child of Vecta," Eydis says with familiarity.

The man nods. "Right. I have not seen her all day, and I'm afraid she may have wandered off…"

"Understood," I say. "We'll take a look around for you. What does she look like?"

The man looks to Medina. "She's roughly the same height and age as this young woman here."

"As me? Understood."

"Got it. Eydis, you stay here and wait to see if she enters the village again. Medina and I will go out and search the desert. Medina, I'll like to look towards the rocky region to the west first since we know she isn't to the north."

Eydis nods. "You two be safe. Watch each other's back. Alice and I will do all we can here." Parting, Medina and I head for the western canyon. With our mind on finding and, if need be, rescuing the girl, we carefully trek across the desert before reaching the cooler canyon. Luckily it is late afternoon to early evening, so we aren't at the apex of the heat, but I hope to finish this before the cold sets in. It's thanks to the Sacred Arts we're keeping cool enough now, but it's barely passable, no telling what the cold can do.

After about an hour or two of searching, we hear a shriek nearby. "Come on!" Swords out, we race in the direction of the scream, coming upon a young woman being threatened by a walking rock creature. Medina distracts it by shooting fire arrows at the creature while I use the power of wind to increase my speed and grab the girl. Setting her in a safer spot, I race back to the battle, in which Medina continues to bombard the creature with fire arts. I see what she's trying to do, topple it down and strike the shiny "eye" at the top of its head. I generate the water element and discharge it at the feet of the golem, then bring in the earth element to create mud. The golem, surprised by the change in the ground under its feet, drops down on its belly. Flashing her sword, Medina thrusts it in the eye and removes it from the creature.

"Ugh." She shakes the eye off and lets it roll in the sand as the monster is defeated. Sheathing her katana, she looks to the girl and runs over to her. "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine. Thank you so much. And who might you be?"

"We're swordsmen sent here from Centoria's Anti-Cedar Task Force. I'm Jaymes, this is Medina. A man from the village asked us to search for you."

"Oh did he?"

"Why did you leave without saying anything?"

"I was… I got scared. What am I doing here? What's my purpose? I don't know anything, and it terrifies me. The people of the village are very kind to me, but I don't feel like I belong there. But leaving didn't make me feel any better, and even caused more trouble."

"Don't worry about us," Medina says. "Just head back."

The girl looks even more worried. "But… I'm still scared."

"Of what?"

"Something tells me I've always been alone, even before this… I just took up space. And if I don't do something, I won't amount to anything here either."

"I understand how you feel quite well. Solitude can be soul-crushing, as can not knowing your purpose in life. But you have lots of people looking after you. Both in the village and among us. You are not taking up space. They want you there with them. So please, be at ease." The girl begins to cry, in which Medina steps up and takes her hand. "Are… Are you okay? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry. You can figure things out at your own pace. There's no need to rush."

"No one has ever shown me such kindness before." The girl looks up to Medina with a grateful expression. "Thank you for finding me. You're my savior, Medina."

"Wha-?"

"Third time that's happened today, all with the Children of Vecta."

"Right. I don't get it either. But why don't we get her back to the village first? Before the cold sets in." I agree and follow the girls while thinking about the matter at hand. I'll even go as far as to say she hasn't met the hunter or the soldiers, but they all called her the same thing. Being the Children of Vecta, talking to Medina...no, the hunter took offense to her words at first. The soldier, while he apologized, didn't have a total turn of speech to Medina afterward.

But after the hunter punched Medina's shoulder, he changed. After the handclap, the soldier changed as well. The girl changed upon Medina setting her hands on her… It must be her touch and based on her reactions. Medina may be unaware of this.

Medina

Holding her hands to her bosom, Medina stands alone outside the man's house, the group having been gifted quarters for their help. However, with today's troubling events on her mind, Medina finds herself unable to sleep. "It happened again. I touched her, and her attitude toward me immediately changed. Have I developed some kind of...special power? And if so, for what purpose?"

"Are you having trouble sleeping?"

Medina turns around, seeing the girl stand a few feet away. She must have noticed Medina walk outside. "What are you doing out here?"

"I woke up in the night and saw you out here, so I… Should I have left you alone?"

"Oh, no, I didn't mean that. I'm just not sure how to feel about how you're acting."

"Did I do something to upset you?"

"No, no. Just, there was someone else who acted the same way around me, and it bugs me because I'm not sure how that's possible."

"Is there anything else I can do to make you feel better? It can be anything, my savior. Tell me, what is it you wish?"

Medina thinks about it. "That's a tough one… How about this, be my friend. I've never had another girl friend my age before."

"You want...to be my friend?"

"Try not to spring a leak. I was just testing you. I wanted to see how impossible a request you would accept if I'm your 'savior.'"

The girl happily nods. "As you wish, my savior. I will be your friend."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Not at all! I'm your friend now!"

Medina scoffs at the absurdity of her friendship, yet the smile on her face doesn't feel forced or fake at all. "Hah, wow, look at that. Me… I've… I've actually got a friend. Thank you."