For Ilia Ordonia, the second daughter and youngest child of her sixth-rank noble class family, not much was expected of her in the old regime. Her brother would have been the next head of the family estate in mid-Norlangarth, her older sister would (and will) marry into a prestigious family. Her father, because of that, allowed Ilia to do as she pleased. The young girl decided her path would be to graduate from the northern swordsman academy and probably become an Integrity Knight. She had exceptional skill at the sacred arts, but her swordsmanship was average at best. Yet it was her goal, so from the age of seven until she entered the Northern Swordscraft Academy at fifteen, she did her best.

Almost two years ago, when she finished her examinations and was selected as one of the top twelve in her class at rank nine, it surprised her. She didn't think she'd rank so high amongst the nobility or her class, given most nobles who applied have trained since they could walk. Ilia was even more surprised by how early she was selected. She expected to be last, not fifth in line, and not by a certain redhead girl she's heard all about.

Every Norlangarthian noble family knows the 'defective' Orthinanos family. But she never paid much attention to the rumors, it didn't interest her. She was present for the first-years exams, and besides the impressive feats of two commoner boys, the stadium was stunned that an Orthinanos performed exceptionally. Then days later, she placed fifth on the overall rankings, just behind two nobles and the commoner boys. That girl selected her, and she didn't understand why.

In her first conversation with Medina Orthinanos, Ilia learned that everyone was wrong about her, and for the two months they were Disciple and Page, she grew an immense respect for the then-future ninth head of the Orthinanos family. She wanted to follow Medina to the ACTF, but felt her skills wouldn't be worth it to the task force. She heard the deeds of Medina during the Clamp Crisis, furthering her impression of her former disciple. Then came the war, which Ilia participated but had little chance to meet with Medina until the end of the fighting when she found her in the med tent. She seemed to be well, and on her lap slept the Lord of Knights himself, Jaymes.

Almost two years since they met at the academy, Medina remains her master as Ilia trains as an Integrity Knight. The arrangement was easily accepted by both women, but the idea that Ilia was to be trained by someone who denied knighthood shocked her. Yet, she believes in the stories of her idol. Medina may not bear the title, but she has the strength of a true knight. And just the other day, she got to see the power of Jaymes for herself for the first time since the Rebellion of the Four Empires and his apprentice, Mia Zancale. Once again, she sees how inferior she is to others, even if circumstances betrays her stance. She has no right to be Medina's page again.

"It's barely sunrise and you're sulking, ilia." Ilia jolts and looks up to Medina, dressed in her armor already despite the early hour. The older woman bearing her usual harsh-looking face. Ilia bets she's herself has her usual blankness, but the two have learned that their faces usually betray what they're feeling.

"It is early to see you, Lady Medina. Did you sleep well?"

"Well..." Medina slightly reddens at the question and looks towards the front yard of her acquired estate. "That's...none of your concern."

Ilia may be quiet and reserved, but she's still an eighteen-year-old girl. And after spending much time with the likes of Ronie Arabel and Tiese Schtrinen, Ilia has expanded her topics of conversation to that of a typical girl of that age, even if she has no interest in partaking in those subjects. "You are blushing, milady. I take it your time with the emperor has gone well."

Medina sighs and takes her seat beside her apprentice. "Since when did the matters of the heart interest you?"

"Since you made me befriend Ronie and Tiese. It's all they talk about."

"I don't remember making you do it."

"You strongly suggested it."

"A mistake, apparently. I prefer the days all you cared about was your skills. I take it you finished your morning routine?"

Ilia shakes her head. "No... I just wanted to see the sunrise. You?"

"Me neither. We're returning to Wesdarath tomorrow. You're free to do as you please, far as I'm concerned."

"...Then can I ask you a question, not as a Disciple and Page, but as two people?"

Medina nods. "Always."

"I... I always thought you were strong and beautiful and someone to admire, even when the rest of Norlangarth cursed your existence. And when you told me your goal was to bring honor to your family by becoming an Integrity Knight, I understood because we had the same endgame. But... Why did you deny it at the end?"

Medina purses her lips and clasps her hands together. Taking a seat beside her student, she looks out to the fields before them. "Well, I succeeded in my goal to restore my family's honor, so there was no need for it on that front. But I guess you've seen through it, huh? You're quite perceptive, Ilia."

"No, I--"

"What have I told you about doubting yourself?"

"S-Sorry."

"Anyway... There are other reasons, but I'll tell you one. It happened during the Clamp Crisis, during our excursion to the west, actually. You are one of the few who know the true story surrounding those events, after all." True, Ilia's one of the few outside the Knight Order and Jaymes' task force that knows what really happened in Wesdarath with the group called the True Axiom Church. Medina was its leader, her loyal wayfarers as her army, and in the end, it forced a deadly confrontation between Medina and Jaymes. Medina was then betrayed by the mastermind of the Clamp Crisis and proclaimed 'son' of the Pontifex, Hersyrian, who Medina also confided in Ilia about her true relations with that man. "I never told you what happened between me and Hersyrian. It still hurts to talk about it, to be honest... But there's a grave near the road to the western side of the End Mountains for the fallen wayfarers. Hersyrian mercilessly killed them in front of me to break my spirit, including the girl I called my first friend."

Having been around Medina's wayfarers, she's heard her call them friends, but this one seemed special. "Did she have a name?"

"Selina. That's the name I gave her."

"Oh."

"If I hadn't been blinded by my goal, if I had seen through Hersyrian's deception at the start, then maybe... In any case, because of that, I felt unworthy to be a knight. Maybe I have atoned for their deaths' by now, but the feeling is the same. I have a new goal now, one that allows me to be Medina Orthinanos, and I'll be happy seeing you take your place in the Order and accomplish your own goal. Then it'll be me calling you Lady Ilia, huh?"

Ilia shakes her head. "No, I could never let you call me that."

"Fine... Then how about you drop my title and just call me by my name, huh?"

"I... I don't know. I respect you too much to do that, like you're my older sister. More than my sister, in fact."

"Sister, huh... Well, as your 'elder sister,' don't slouch at this point in your life. Because of your deeds during the war and rebellion, plus a little word of mouth by your senior, you are a trainee knight. If anything, these Ancient Apostles are a fine trial to get you closer to that end. Someday soon, you'll no longer be Ilia Ordonia, but Ilia Ordonia Thirty-Four." Medina chuckles and stands on her feet, facing her home. "Well, Ilia, let's not waste anymore time. Hungry?"

Ilia nods and brushes off her grey and white tunic. "Yes."

"Then let's eat before the darkworlders wake up."

Later that afternoon

When Medina and Ilia got word that their guests had arrived at the estate, Ilia believed it would be just the pair Jaymes and Medina mentioned, Tiese and Sir Renly Synthesis Twenty-Seven. Indeed, Ilia's redheaded friend is present along with the knight that courts the young trainee, but also present are four other unexpected people.

Silent and expressionless, Ilia turns her eyes to her seated lady, that signature look of frustration on Medina's face as she looks to the opposite end of the table. She then looks to the other lady standing at Medina's left, Jaymes' apprentice, Mia, who looks amused. Of course she would be; not only is the Knight Commander herself present, but so are the two people she knows her master are friends with. She doesn't know if Mia knows her emperor's origins, not that it really matters if she does, but she seems quite eager to view the people who defeated hers.

As for Jaymes, he seems quite unhappy to be present, but even more noticeable is the lack of communication between the Lord of Knights and the Lycoris Knight. She remembers how Medina brushed off the subject of the male earlier in the day, but Ilia chalked it up to Medina's girlish embarrassment. Now it's apparent something happened between them, but not enough to drive a wedge between them, just a weird awkwardness.

But against the Knight Commander Fanatio, the Swordsman Delegate Kirito, the Swordswoman Sub-Delegate Asuna, the Blades of Orthinanos are united. Matter of fact, the only person who seems nervous in this atmosphere is Ronie, who stands behind Kirito.

"No point in drawing this out any longer," Medina says. "I recall only inviting Renly and Tiese here, so, with all due respect, why are you three here?" She didn't ask about Ronie, the answer there is obvious--either following Tiese or following Kirito.

It is the Lady Fanatio who answers. "Personally, I don't mean to intrude, but as Knight Commander, I do have an interest in the safety of the empire, including these...ancients."

"And you, Kirito? I recall both Jaymes and I have asked that you and Asuna stay out of our affairs unless asked."

"Believe me, for once I wanted to honor that, but..."

"Oh," Jaymes says as he eyes the fierce-faced Asuna. "So this is your doing?"

"It is. If I need to explain why, you know the consequences if one of us..."

"...Fine." Ilia doesn't show it, but she's quite shocked by how quickly Jaymes submits to Lady Asuna. There must be a reason behind it, yet even then, it displaces her beliefs. "There's no point in fighting against you when you're going to be stubborn, though it grinds my gears."

Asuna smiles pridefully. "Good thing you know when to fight and not fight. Took you too long."

"Yeah yeah. Kirito?"

Kirito shakes his head. "I'll leave this to you two for now. But I'll send Ronie in my stead if that's okay with you?" Four trainees, two of them veterans of the ACTF and the war. Jaymes accepts Ronie with a nod, and Ilia spots the flashing excitement in her face.

Jaymes turns to Medina with a smile. "Well, maybe I should go grab Liena. Reform the old gang."

"Wouldn't be the same without Alice's 'no you can't do this' and Eydis' 'oh, my cutie Alice,' wouldn't it?"

"Right... Before we begin, Fanatio, I've been meaning to ask you something. Are you sure you don't want it? I can go grab the blade and be back in no time."

Fanatio shakes her head. "I will collect it when Berche is old enough to wield it, but until then, I will entrust it to you. Just don't destroy it in the meantime."

"Fine. Then I'll explain our next move. Truth be told, as Medina might've said yesterday during council, we have nothing new, so our best guess is--"

"Actually, Jaymes," Tiese interrupts, then holds up a white envelope, "I have some intel of my own. I'm sorry for not revealing it sooner, but it arrived just this morning."

Medina looks to Jaymes, who shrugs. "Better than nothing."

"Indeed. All right, Tiese. What are the contents of the letter?"

Tiese stands up and examines the letter. "This morning, I received a letter from my uncle in Wesdarath. He serves as a lord over a small territory, and nearby is Taboo Knight's Tomb valley."

"Taboo Knight's Tomb?"

"Well, if that ain't the most 'arr, there be danger here!' name I've ever heard."

"Two hundred years ago, a knight of unknown origin attacked the villages in the area. In response, a woman with strange powers appeared. Legend says she leveled a mountain and built a tomb for him out of the stone."

Kirito drops his brows. "A woman with the power to seal a knight in a tomb... Jaymes, you say Administrator never encountered the Ancient Apostles?"

"Correct. That was my first thought too."

Asuna taps her chin. "But what if she gained access to the Cardinal System like Administrator did? That would... Hmm, nevermind. Continue, Tiese." Seems to Ilia that Kirito, Jaymes, and Asuna might know more than they're leading on. Whatever this 'Cardinal System' is, she's never heard of it before, but if she hasn't Medina did not move a muscle while the three otherworlders conversed. She'll have to inquire more information from her lady in private.

"Thanks to the legend, most people are too afraid to go anywhere near the valley, but recently, a drunk hunter mistakenly wandered into the Taboo Knight's Tomb. He says he saw a brilliant sword peeking out through the rubble."

"LIke the sword the knight wielded in the legend?"

"I don't know, Lady Asuna. He just described it as having an uneartly beauty. The hunter wanted to bring it home, but he couldn't get through the rubble alone. So he went back to the village and called on the men-at-arms to help him, but the valley was swarming with more beasts than they could dispatch."

"They must've been drawn to the sword's magical energy. Could be a Divine Object."

"My uncle agreed. He intended to inform the task force originally sent to Wesdarath, but you all were gone by the time the message was prepared and, considering his only eyewitness report was from a drunk, he also had arrangements to have it sent to me since I can inform the Order and I'm probably stronger than some run-of-the-mill village men-at-arms."

Medina nods. "Good thinking on his end. But if that is a Divine Object, no offense Tiese, you aren't ready to handle that alone. I wouldn't even allow Jaymes to take that on. These apostles are not anything like we faced during the Clamp Crisis. However, with that said, good thing we were planning to return to Wesdarath."

Jaymes nods. "As Asuna and Kirito can attest, the best place to find trouble is to start at its source."

"Usually the source is one of you."

"Yes, because we totally fell for an obviously fake exit out of SAO."

"Yeah, because I totally fell for an obviously fake callout from Death Gun."

Kirito chuckles and stands up. "Well, it seems your plan is put before you. Investigate this tomb, make sure the sword is not too much trouble, and get rid of the monsters. To be safe, retrieve the sword for safekeeping."

"Hey, who said you can give orders on my operation?"

"Uh... Sorry, Medina."

"Right... Fanatio, Renly, I can assume since no one spoke about it yesterday that the Council or the Order hasn't heard of this?"

Renly nods. "Right. No reports of unusual activity in Wesdarath besides the Reaper issue. This news was meant for Tiese for view it first. Which could mean we're ahead of the resurrection of the apostle, or things may have changed since this letter was written and as we speak."

"Hmm... Ilia, what do you make of this?"

Ilia knows she was called on by Medina for two reasons. One, the Knight Commander is here, why not make her look impressive by asking for her opinion which Medina herself highly values, and two, Ilia has an aptitude for seeing things others may miss. While she didn't take much interest in living the noble life as a kid like her siblings, she spent much of the time she was forced to in observation. Simple gestures, slight change of tone, a word slipped here and there... Ilia picked up on these traits and learned how to read them. It's how she understood things back at the forest with the Reaper. it might serve Medina and the others well now. People, monsters, if it has a soul, it's purpose can be read and deduced. "Presuming the legends are true, he would be long dead two hundred years later. Nevertheless, something does not quite add up. There's a chance it is nothing, but... I think it is a good idea that we bring Lady Asuna, Sir Renly, and my fellow trainees to bolster our forces."

"Hmm... Fanatio, I'm sure you are willing to supply us with supplies?"

Fanatio smirks at Jaymes' request. "Always, Your Imperial-ness. Shall I have them delivered to the west gate tomorrow?"

"Ah, see, I knew you had brains to complement your brawn and beauty. All right, I say we're good. Medina?"

"Yes. Lady Fanatio, Kirito, I'll send you on your way."

"Why so harsh about it, Medina?"

"Because every second I spend with you, Kirito, degrades a bit of my life. Ilia, I'm sure you don't mind entertaining Tiese and Ronie for the day."

This time, Ilia lets her true emotions show as she smiles lightly. "No, I'll love to catch up with them."

"Great."

"Dude she just called you a poison status effect! Haha!" Jaymes finishes laughing at Kirito and faces Mia. "You go have a good time with the girls too. Do girl things. Meanwhile... Fanatio." Fanatio and the exiting group pauses as she turns back to Jaymes. "One more thing... Do you know where Eydis is?"

Fanatio's face drops. "So you've heard... No, not since I've sent her on a assignment a month ago. She's not where I'd thought she'd go, to Rulid Village, that I personally know. And our world has grown vastly bigger in the last two years, so, if anything, I'm more surprised she didn't go to you."

"...Well, thanks. If she returns, send her my way."

"I will do so. You, and Lady Asuna, please be safe. We wouldn't want the Swordsman Delegate to slack off on more duties."

Ilia watches as Asuna's face contorts as Fanatio, Medina, Renly, and Kirito vanishes. "To be honest, I don't particularly like being around her."

Jaymes smirks and eyes his friends with laughing eyes. "Oh, now you're concerned about the women he hangs out with. Too late now, you should have shut that down long ago."

"Maybe, but most girls aren't brave enough to do it when I'm around, nor I didn't think she'd do it just to tease me. How do you handle it?"

"Me? Handle female attention? When I was with Koharu, when I was with Liz, or nowadays?"

Asuna sighs. "No point in asking you now, huh?"

"Nah... Ilia, girls, you have the day to yourselves. We leave bright and early tomorrow for the western kingdom again."

Ilia nods. "Very well, Sir Jaymes." Ilia turns to Ronie, Tiese, and Mia, and quickly decide on their next location. After all, they haven't seen Mia's skills and vice versa. "How about some light training, like a friendly spar?"

"Okay."

"Sounds like fun."

"Sounds good! I'd love to see Master's other apprentices' skills!" Ilia sighs at Mia's exhausting chipperness and leads the girls to the the training grounds.