Sorry for the long wait, I got kinda distracted by work

Sinon sat alone in her rented room, it had been almost two weeks since the first-floor boss was defeated, it had been two weeks since she had been not so politely told to buzz from the front line clearing players. In that time she had been beside herself with frustration, she needed to act, she needed to do something. But thus far she had done very little, it was like nothing was worth it right now, she would probably get rejected again.

Right now, however, she was far more excited, for the first time she would be examining the one boon that came out of clearing the first floor, that was the unique drop Ill-fang had given her. She hasn't looked at it since she got it for some strange reason, she just felt like she couldn't or shouldn't but she couldn't reason out why she shouldn't. But now she is looking at it, pushing past the uncomfortable feeling in her gut she forced herself to open her inventory and pull up her unique piece of gear.

The Mask of Anonymity

Two Options appeared: examine and equip. Sinon selected examine and with only a slight glow a mask dropped into her hand. The back of it had a slight silver appearance and she could make out two eye holes, along with a slit open in the mouth area, she assumed for ease of breathing. Sinon gingerly turned it over in her hands, almost as if it was made of glass, the smooth cold metal, allowing it to glide almost as she moved it. When staring at the front she could see that it gave the impression of a human face in what appeared to be some kind of black steel. It lacked any sort of detail; it barely held the shape of a face, lips, nose, eyes, and cheekbones but was otherwise unadorned and plain, entirely smooth, and polished giving it a reflective appearance. Sinon tapped her menu again and opened the item's description.

Cast from our innermost fears this mask allows you to fool the world into believing that, that which stands before them is another

Sinon cocked her head, did that just say…

Then she noticed something she wasn't expecting, a small textbox, just below the description a textbox, with the title

Enter Alias

Almost unsure of what to do, Sinon numbly entered a name. Hecate.

Then almost without thinking she pressed the equip button. The mask disappeared in a low flash and with a small sound repeated on Sinon's face, along with some form of helmet surrounding her completely. Sinon ventured over to the mirror in her room to get a better look. She saw the brass features of the mask, her eyes hidden in shadow, and the helmet that now was on her head surrounded it with some kind of hard leather, that had small interlocking plates of metal attached. They came to a central cap that was made of a solid metal piece that rose into a dome-like shape, that came to a single sharp point and at that point, a small plume of crimson fabric was attached.

Sinon dequiped her new mask and sat back on her bed. Already a new thought was worming its way through her mind. A brief image of a bloody corpse flew through her mind, its head pierced from a single bullet wound. Shino held herself for a moment before another image flashed through her mind.

She could feel the gentle wind brush against her face and she remembered what she told Asuna.

"Just because something terrible has happened doesn't mean you can hide away inside yourself"

The words didn't sound like hers even when she said them. Shino felt herself scowl at the words. That's an easy platitude to say but it's almost impossible to achieve. The despairing girl sat there for another moment, letting her mind wander. In that wandering, she would see flashes of chestnut hair and determined eyes.

That girl, Asuna. She didn't even seem fully aware of all the parts of the game, but still, she pushed on and in Shino's view was probably one of the best to take on Ill-Fang. She pushed on where Shino with the experience of a beta-tester was here hiding away, again. She scowled again this time at herself. She grit her teeth, she opened her menu again, once more gazing at the mask. She would keep pushing through to the end, and this mask would help her. Sinon would prove that she was strong, she would clear Aincrad, even if she had to do it behind a mask.

Over the next few months, Sinon set to work gathering new items and training up different skills she had neglected before. Hecate would have to be completely different from her if she wanted to keep clearing floors, especially if people still blamed her for Diavels death.

She had traded out her glaive, for a single sword, she considered using a shield but she decided against it, some fey instinct told her it would be a bad idea, so she didn't.

Her manner changed too, Hecate was far more serious and stoic, straight to business.

The Armor she equipped was also substantially different. Sinon typically equipped more light armor relying on her glaive to keep damage away. As Hecate however, she traded up to medium armor to help her last longer in the thick of a fight. In appearance Hecate, wore a tight scale-mail shirt, with a black and crimson long coat over it. It slowed her down slightly, but she hoped that her previous decision to forgo the shield would help her keep up with faster opponents.

When she was ready she joined the new clearing teams as a solo player. Hecate would receive a lot of strange looks but they usually left her alone due to her strange manner(something Sinon was eternally grateful worked) most assumed she would die rather quickly on her own when she kept coming back alive, which is when the recruitment attempts started. Every time a new guild approached her, they received a single short answer, "No" to help bankroll her one-woman war on Aincrad, she also began to take on smaller jobs for individual players, to pay the bills she supposed. Sinon found herself spending more time with Hecate than she thought.

Sachi whimpered to herself as she wandered through the gauntlet that was the floor 17 dungeon. The whole dungeon had been made to appear like a massive hedge maze and monsters were ready to pop out of every corner. She knew that coming here was a bad idea. She turned the next corner before coming up another dead end. Just as she was about to turn away. She felt something grab her. From the ground, several thorny vines had shot up grabbing around her shield arm. She screamed, and cut them with her sword stumbling back away as a creature composed entirely of thorny branches forced its way out of the ground, it fired its thorns from its body like a thousand tiny missiles. She raised her shield, feeling them thump across it harder than she expected. Then Sachi heard something, at first she thought it was more thorns, but no it was louder and not as quick, it was more like someone running. She was about to attempt to give her counterattack to the monster, but as she prepared a sword skill she found the beast was cut in twain. Shocked, she turned and saw what she thought was another player. Her savior turned revealing a masked face, she couldn't even make out her eyes, she could tell whoever it was, was a woman for sure.

"Are you alright?" The woman asked her with an even, dispassionate voice, Sachi could read nothing from this person. She was locked taking her in for a moment that the black-haired girl nearly forgot to respond.

"Yes, I'm fine" she stuttered at first but was beginning to regain her composure.

"You seem lost" The voice still held no emotion

"Sort of" Sachi began wincing slightly. "I came here on my own to try and grind some experience, but I…"

"It was more challenging than you expected?" The question was obvious

"Yes, I was hoping to show my guild that I wasn't dead weight" Sachi looked down, embarrassed she needed to be saved by a stranger, Keita would be furious she had gone here alone.

"I can escort you out if you wish." the player spoke with a slower tone, the first slight hint of emotion this whole conversation. Sachi nodded

"I'm Sachi" She introduced herself nodding her head "thank you for saving me" The stranger ever so slightly cocked her head, before giving a slight bow

"I am Hecate" She spoke clearly and Sachi felt like there was steel in her voice.

The two wandered for some time, with few words passing between them, eventually, curiosity began to overtake Hecate.

"Why did you think that going here on your own would prove that your not useless to your guild?" Hecate asked, looking at Sachi in the corner of her eye "Do they call you useless?" Sachi looked shocked at the question and hurriedly shook her head

"No Never!" She exclaimed, before beginning to mumble "It's just that I'm always the one that needs saving, I'm afraid that me being the weak link could be what leads to us all dying" Hecate nodded, but behind her mask, Sinon felt a knot growing in her stomach.

"But your team has never said that you're the weakest link?" Hecate reiterated her question, partially from being unsure of what to say. She moved her gaze back to the dungeon keeping an eye out for monsters.

"No, but," Sachi Hesitated, adjusting her grip on her sword. "I don't want to drag them down" Hecate barely turned her head towards her companion.

"I understand" She spoke clearly, and without intonation, but for some reason, Sachi felt a sense of warmth from it somehow. Maybe the stress of SAO had finally gotten to her, but she felt like the stranger was actively making an effort to understand her and empathize. It made her feel good.

Soon enough they made their way out of the dungeon and back into freedom. The area around them was quiet and desolate. But ahead on the road, Hecate saw Three figures approaching. Players from the looks of things. A brief fear of them being some form of bandits or criminals, but next to her Sachi perked up, She knew them? One of them waved them down

"Hey, Sachi, where you been?" One of them shouted "we've been looking, forever" Sachi seemed to blush slightly, before shouting back

"Sorry" She began to make her way over to the players that Hecate presumed was her guild. Sachi began making her way over to them, and against Hecate's first instincts she followed the girl. When they reached the tall one came forward to greet them, a leader Hecate presumed.

"Wandering off, you scared us half to death" He was smiling now, but Hecate could hear real concern underlining his words. "And now you're with some mysterious stranger? Planning to leave us are you?" Keita had a large smile on his face, but it blew away quickly and was replaced by a more questioning look

"Why were you out here anyway?" he asked, Hecate could still hear the concern in his voice. Rightfully dungeons were dangerous places to be at the best of times, but especially to be alone.

"Why do you go alone then?" Someone whispered, and Hecate looked around suddenly, no one was looking at her yet, and no one was talking to her. where did that…

She was distracted by Sachi's answer

"I was here alone because…" Hecate could tell she didn't want to answer Keita's question, that or the girl was shyer than she thought

"She was helping me" Hecate answered nearly without thinking, she might as well spare Sachi the embarrassment of why she was really out here "I was trying to raise my alchemy, and Sachi was showing me where to find the best ingredients" Her explanation seemed to satisfy Keita who just shrugged

"Just let us know where you're going alright?" he said to Sachi with a lighter tone. He then turned to her "and if you don't mind me asking, who might you be?"

"Hecate" she kept her tone even but she was wary she could see a strange glint in his eye.

"Well then Hecate, how about you join us for a little dinner we were having tonight?" he asked her, for reasons that would escape her for some time.

"I'm not the eating out kind of person" She answered curtly. But Keita took a step forward

"Please?" he asked her pleading "I insist" Hecate was ready to say no, to reject him, but something made her reconsider, maybe it was the strange voice, maybe it was exhaustion making her not want to say no, or maybe she wanted to get to know these people better.

"Fine, I guess I will come" she finally answered hoping she wouldn't regret it.

Alright, this took longer than I planned sorry for the unplanned hiatus work took its toll on me. But Hope to be more consistent in the future.