Koharu watches as her former partner drops to his knees, exhausted from the tough boss battle they just faced. He's not the only one; Kirito and Asuna, like Koharu, are somehow still on their feet, and the other players are either too amped in celebration as blue crystals shower around the battlefield or too tired to raise a finger.

Garm, Vanar's Creed was the name of the Northazard Tundra's floor boss. It controlled numerous spirit swords that it used to protect itself by conjuring barriers and damage the raiders with powerful sword skills. However, when it attacked with sword skills, it exposed itself, so the strategy was to destroy the swords then attack the beast directly. What wasn't said was that the swords were Garm's tail, whiskers, and front leg appendages, making getting in close much more dangerous than Koharu anticipated.

In the end, they succeeded as usual, but it took the better part of an hour to do so. Forget the 'physical stress' the mental strain was enough to wear her out. This time, the 'Kirito Gang' formed three parties, one with the usual four, another with the twins, Leafa, and Philia, and the last with Silica, Sinon, Lisbeth, and Strea.

"Good work, Koharu," Jaymes says as he holds his hand up, still kneeling on the ground.

"Same to you. You see Tia? Oh, there she is, heading this way." Koharu waves to Tia as she approaches, noticing she has her eyes on her right palm. "Hey, Tia. Good job out there."

"...Good job to you, Koharu, Jaymes."

"Where did you run off to?"

"To get this." Tia holds her hand out, revealing another crest like the one she obtained from the Vulcanus Citadel. "Now that we have both of them we will finally be able to get to the light's core."

Jaymes nods as he stands on his feet. "It's time."

"What does she mean by 'light's core?'" Asuna asks as the others join in the conversation. Not even Koharu knows about this, but it seems Jaymes is going to take the opportunity to tell the others about what only he and Tia knows.

"That's where she's been trying to get to this whole time. I've got a lot to explain to you guys. Of course, I found out about it before this battle, so don't think I was willingly withholding information."

"Then let's get back to town, and you two can explain it all."

Some time later...

Jaymes' explanation was long and straight to the point, though Koharu could tell there were some things he had trouble explaining. Tia being plagued by the consciousness of her 'future self' confused her as well as many others, though it explains why Tia's appearance has changed.

"So this all happened right after Tia disappeared," Leafa says sadly. "We weren't able to access Aincrad until a few weeks ago, and even if we were able to six months ago, we moved on to other things. Ordinal Scale, Underworld...we couldn't have done anything back then."

"And her consciousness from the future's to blame," Lisbeth repeats. "'Weird' doesn't even begin to cover it."

"The only reason that kind of sci-fi plot doesn't sound totally ridiculous right now is because we're in VR. Although you're the AI expert, Jaymes. What's your take on this?"

Jaymes ponders on the question Sinon poses to him. "Well, Sinon, if this was Underworld, I could explain it as a...resonance of the soul. I mean, there was a sacred art spell to view the past, and there's the Main Visualizer, which houses the memories of the Underworld, so in a sense you could encounter a past version of oneself, but the future version...not that I know if it was possible, but given the stuff I saw there, I wouldn't say it isn't. However, this is not the Underworld, so I have no clue how to dissect this phenomenon."

"I want to know what the light she saw was," Asuna says, switching the topic.

"I believe that light was a data-generating singularity," Yui proposes. Seeing some confused faces, Yui continues her explanation. "A singularity. A point from which maps, NPCs, adn quests in this world are created. They are even created when you leave town, for instance. Though, ordinarily, they're invisible to players, so you wouldn't know it existed. Therefore, the singularity Tia witnessed must have been an anomaly."

"An anomaly… You don't think it could've been caused by Aincrad's creation, do you?"

"That is highly possible, Philia. One might not have been deleted once the destruction module failed."

"And that's the one Tia touched."

"But why would that trigger the thought of her future self to take over?"

"Singularities process an immense amount of data at high speeds," Strea answers. "When Tia touched it, it simulated her entire life, and generated a new version of her consciousness."

Koharu looks at her hands, somewhat understanding things better. "So it really is the future Tia, then?"

"Well, it's one future Tia, based on the data available to the singularity at the moment she touched it. You can even tell by the way she looks that the singularity's data influx has completely rebuilt her. But she got away before the process finished, leaving her unstable."

"That's why you didn't get a blue cursor when she briefly returned to normal, Auntie. However, this new version of Tia is continually attempting to overwrite the Tia we know."

Alice frowns. "That sounds familiar. In a sense, it doesn't sound too different from the Synthesis Ritual used to create us Integrity Knights."

"So how do we stop it," Jaymes questions.

"We help her see her mission through," Kirito responds with a tight, raised fist. "We destroy her destiny."

Jaymes smirks. "That sounds intense. I like it."

"But first we need to get to the singularity," Klein states the obvious.

"Right. That means fighting our way there, through the new map when it releases."

"Daddy, you should depart for the singularity as soon as possible when the next map releases."

Kirito nods to his daughter. "That's the plan, unless there's something else we should know."

"The fact that the singularity is still visible is indeed an anomaly, as I said earlier. The developers will attempt to fix this if it is in an area where it might affect other players. If they manage to close the singularity before you arrive, you won't be able todelete the data interfering with Tia. The constant attempts to overwrite Tia will then be flagged as an error by Cardinal."

"Which means Cardinal's automatic error correction could delete Tia and Premiere altogether."

"No!" Asuna suddenly blurts out.

Jaymes clicks his tongue. "I'm in agreement with Asuna. We can't let that happen."

"Well, we got our work cut out for us. Once the new map opens, let's fight our way through as fast as possible."

"Absolutely! We have to save Tia and Premiere!"

"We will save them," Koharu calls out, leading to murmurs of agreement before the inn doors swing open violently. Their attention gained, everyone sees the form of Premiere search around the lobby, spot her friends, and rush over in a hurry.

"Kirito, everyone… I cannot find Tia anywhere."

"What?"

"She's just gone?"

"I saw her leave earlier. But there is only one way in and our, so I would've seen her come back."

"I'll go look in her room, just in case." Asuna runs up to the upper levels of the inn while everyone continues to figure out where Tia has gone.

"Tia wouldn't go anywhere crowded, so that at least narrows down the search."

Premiere nods. "I looked in those kind of places, but she was not there... She had been acting odd lately."

"Like how?" Koharu asks, somehow disbelieving that she, who Tia has tailed since joining the group, missed out on catching Tia's oddness.

"Her face looked strained, as if she as deep in thought about something."

Asuna comes back down, shaking her head. "It's no good. She's not in her room."

"Knowing her, it's not like anyone coerced her into leaving with them, either."

"Yeah. She must have left on her own. Where would she want to go right now?"

"The singularity," Jaymes answers while looking up at the ceiling. "And we can't chase her yet."

Klein sighs. "She really likes playing hide-and-seek, doesn't she?"

Lisbeth stands up, hands flat on the table. "Let's go get her. She owes Premiere an apology for worrying her so much!"

Premiere looks to Kirito. "Let's go, Kirito."

He nods along. "Alright. When that floor opens, that is our sole priority. I;m sure we'll find her."

"Right," Koharu says more to herself than anyone. Out of everyone in the group, she's the closest to Tia, distant as that still is. If only she saw through Tia earlier, maybe she could have helped her or something. As the person who empathizes with Tia right now, she should have seen it. But that's in the past now. Tia's going to resist her unwanted future by herself, refusing to let others get close to her, but that's the sign that she needs some support. Koharu, Jaymes, Premiere, everyone is willing to give that support to her.

As soon as the next map opens, Koharu will be first to give chase, and together, they'll change Tia's destiny.

As Tia walks the snow covered path of the tundra, her eyes are glued to the starry night above her. Lost in thought, she pauses. "I don't know what destiny I want… What is my future?"

"I will always be alone… I cannot alter my destiny… No matter how much I resist."

Head ringing, Tia kneels, straining herself against the awful pain. "Shut up! Not another word!" Her demons silence themselves, receding back into the depths of her mind. As the pain subsides, Tia gets back on her feet, her eyes forward on the icy path beyond. "My future...is mine to decide!"

The third part of this DLC, "The One Who Resists God" will begin soon. Probably next week to ring in the new year. I suspect it might take me seven or eight chapters to complete, plus the epilogue,. Until then, have a happy holidays!