Jaymes

The girls and I appear outside the village, next to the stump of the formerly uncuttable Gigas Cedar (guess which showoff cut it) and face the northern direction. Rulid Village is just down the hill, and the place has expanded in the years since Kirito and Eugeo left here. The last time I was in the area was before my departure to the dark realm, when Kirito reanimated the Northern Dragon, but in Rulid specifically was when the ACTF investigated the presence of Clamps and missing children in the northern kingdom. There, Alice reunited with her sister Selka Zuberg.

Almost two years later, Medina and I return to another crisis, this time without Alice, Eydis, or my team from the ACTF days. Our only leads are that this is the epicenter of the epidemic and Selka knows how to cure it.

It has only been minutes since I had my conversation with Ilia, and her questions about my feelings for Medina still conflict me. I don't know which parts are true or false except for two statements: I still choose Eydis, and I will prioritize Medina and Ilia's safety if we come into a fight with Eydis.

Medina leads the walk to the village, so as we make our way, I think on the last time I saw the Knight of the Abyss, six months and a few days before I left for the Dark Territory...

Six months ago...

Eydis sighs as her towel-wrapped body soaks in one of the hot baths of the 90th floor of the Central Cathedral. She hasn't had time to make her way up here in weeks, being swamped with assignments by Knight Commander Fanatio and the seven-month old Unification Council. However, she managed to sneak some time in for herself, letting the world's newest troubles be handled by those who want to manage it.

In other words, not her. Not right now.

With no one else around, she has the floor literally to herself. She's no stranger to that, nor is she a stranger to company. During the regime of Administrator, the baths were timed separately between males and females, so Eydis would meet other lady Integrity Knights here or be alone. Once, she mixed the days up, and found herself hiding from the first Knight Commander, Bercouli. She entertained the idea of mixed baths, but the sight of Eldrie Synthesis Thirty-One's presence alongside Alice Synthesis Thirty quickly killed that idea. Of course, with both males casualties of the war with the Dark Territory and Alice vanishing to another world, Eydis somewhat wishes for that former dream.

Nowadays, she has her wish, the baths are "come as you please", though generally the sexes still separate, either entirely or reside in different pools. Only if a mixed group comes together do they share a pool, and for Eydis, she takes full advantage of it--and knowing how many other lovebirds are present at the cathedral, she knows she's not the only one. There's not many private places in the cathedral, and the most private places are officially inaccessible as Asuna constructed a barricade leading to the uppermost five floors...unless you have the fantastic ability to warp yourself there from anywhere, anytime, and remain undetected. But no one goes beyond the 95th Floor these days, not even him who can.

So with no one else around, with no work to do, and no will to go looking for it, Eydis sighs and lets her worries and thoughts slip away...except one. "Being able to swim around in such a large bath all to myself is such a nice perk. Then again, I'm not a child, so I don't do that anymore, but…" Eydis looks around and waits for about a minute, just in case someone, especially him, decides to appear. But no one arrives, so she partially climbs the pool wall. "All right, Eydis… Hopefully no one comes by. Ha!"

As she swims across the pool, Eydis has mortifying thoughts about if she was discovered. If Alice was still in this world, this would be embarrassing. If Linel and Fizel sees this, it would be humiliating for those kids to see her acting like this. If any other knight (full-fledged or trainee) came by, Eydis would sink to the bottom of the pool. And if the Swordsman Delegate she loves just so happened to come her way…

"What are you doing?"

"Eeek!" Eydis temporarily loses control and struggles to find her footing. When she does, her cheeks are as red as her irises as she glances meekly at one of three otherworldly heroes, her personal favorite of them. "J-Jaymes! No, it's not what it looks like!"

Unconvinced, he looks at her with raised eyebrows. "You were swimming...in a hot bath?"

"I swear I wasn't! Children do that! I'm not like Linel and Fizel."

"Uh-huh."

"Ohh…" Eydis bows her head and clears her throat before taking another look at her friend. He's in his armor, a red tunic with a metal place over his chest, black pants and matching boots. He isn't wearing his cape, a change from what she's used to, instead keeping his sword and shield on his back. His face tries to hide it, but even with the steam she can tell he's struggling to not look at her in an indecent manner. In the year and three months since he literally fell from the sky and collided with her as she rode her dragon, this is one of three sides of Jaymes she likes to see, for teasing him has been endless entertainment for Eydis. The others come when he's serious, especially when the two of them duel, and his true rageful side actually scares her equally as much as entices her. But the tease-able side of him is her favorite. She exploits it by waddling up to the edge of the bath and prop herself up against the border, making sure he gets a good view of her chest. "So, did you come to ruin my fun or to join me? It has been a while since we've seen each other."

"A week, Eydis."

"For some people, that's eternity. Like Kirito and Asuna, as you said when you discussed the difference of time between worlds."

"That's...not the same. And as...convincing you're trying to be, we have a mission. Some monster trouble in the southern woods, Fanatio wants us to check it out."

"Can't she send the onion and his boyfriend?"

"Nergius and Enrinko have a different assignment down south."

Eydis frowns and turns away, grumbling "I hate that witch. Ever since Lord Bercouli died and she had their child, she's been quite the thorn in my side. Actually, when has she ever not been one?" Sighing, Eydis extends her neck back to look at her companion. "Right now?"

"Yep."

"Just us?"

"Yes. Medina is busy with Ilia, Kirito and Asuna are a pain to be around, and I could do it myself. But you wouldn't decline me, would you? I'm only here in the empire a while longer anyway, so this might be our last mission together for some time."

Eydis didn't want to think about that, yet he dropped that bombshell that still disturbs her mind after three weeks. At the same time, it was the last time she talked to Medina, back here at the baths. That alone is enough to make her go forth. "Yeah… Okay, I'll go get changed. We're fast-traveling, right?"

He shakes his head. "Let's take Kirimai, it's not that long of a flight." Excitement pushing aside her previous thoughts, Eydis climbs out the bath and turns towards the changing room. She stops halfway between there and Jaymes, looking back with a wink. "Don't barge in, be patient and wait here."

He scoffs and turns his back to her. "Yeah, like I'd be nearly caught in there with you again. Hurry up."

"Okay!"

Later that day

"Do you ever think about forgetting everything?" Eydis lets her fingers dance on Jaymes' shirt as she cuddles close to him while laying by the campfire. Their mission successful, they decided to stay the night out and return in the morning. Kirimai did not mind, the light-blue dragon has long descended into slumber after finding its own meal during the humans' quest.

"Forgetting everything?"

"The empire, the dark world, everything."

Jaymes takes three slow breaths in thought before he answers. "At one point, I did. Momentarily, when I knew I was trapped here and considered what to do. I could leave the fate in this world to the rest of you and spend the next two centuries as I pleased, but...I promised Bercouli that I'd make peace between the empire and the dark worlders. As of now...well, by their rules, after defeating Iskahn I'm their leader, but there's some dissenting parties to be managed. So until I fulfill my promise, I can't leave everything behind."

"Not… Not even if I begged you?"

"Could you leave the Order behind if I asked you? Or your promise to Alice, to Mary, Bercouli to protect the realm and its future?"

Eydis drops her head and sigh. She already knew the answer to that question, just as she knew what he'd say. Medina told her the same weeks ago, though Eydis suspected the Lycoris Knight might've lied a bit to spare Eydis' feelings. "I wish I could go with you as you asked me, but… You're right. I can't leave the Order of the realm behind. Not if I want to see Alice again… But it's okay, we have two centuries, right? It's not like we'll never see each other, or that we'll be in our positions forever, right? One day, we can put the two sides behind and be together."

"It might be possible. We should work towards that."

"Right. And when that day come, let's forget the world. We can...live in a cabin in the woods near a lake. Everyday we'll talk a walk through the area, or just lie in bed and hold and stare and whisper to each other. Occasionally, we'll take up our swords to keep our skills sharp in case the world goes to hell, then...then…"

"Then what?"

"You'll leave, right?" Eydis rises and looks down at Jaymes, holding his face. "Promise me one thing, even if it might be impossible as I know what it's like to have your memories taken. If you don't remember anything of our time together, at the very least remember that you're my Mr. Mage Knight."

Jaymes smiles and strokes Eydis' cheek. "I'm certain I'll remember everything until Kirito and I slew Vecta. Beyond that… No, let's not think about that now."

"Right."

Present day, many hours later

"How's Selka?"

Medina turns and nods to the center of the village, leaning with me against one of the buildings as we watch Ilia and Selka fold several white sheets. "Nothing out of the ordinary, besides being on the frontlines of a mysterious epidemic and...well, sister issues. Besides that, she's grown since I last saw her before the war. She's gonna be beautiful like her sister."

"Hopefully not as annoying."

"Hmm...so you say, but you like the annoying types. On topic, those sheets are for the sick. They're quarantined inside the church. Selka is also watching after the children, so Ilia offered to help here. I almost enlisted your assistance, but menial work is still beneath you, political or not."

I groan. "Between your jokes and Ilia's interrogation this morning, I don't know what to do. But you're correct. I don't want to stick around too long, looking after kids or folding laundry."

Medina looks at me as I start to walk down the northern path out the town's square. "You got something against looking after the orphans?"

"Not personally. It's not my forte. I do know someone who risked her stupid, witchy life for orphans."

"Another one of your otherworld friends?"

"And one of the annoying types. But she is good with the sword. A powerful, life-stealing weapon at that, and in the world we were in, she was practically invincible."

"Uh-huh. You seem to know a lot of women. Is Kirito your only friend that's a guy?"

"There's...Klein...and Agil...and Itsuki is a friend sometimes... Anyway, what do we know about the sickness?"

"I spoke with some villagers and Selka's father. So far, no casualties. Patient Zero was the village's resident sister, and it spiraled out from there. From what the chief knows, it came from the food they had. With the sisterhood ill, somehow Selka's been managing this all on her own. She even found the herbal cure in an old text. As we know, it does work."

"But as we also know, the bluethorn disease has spread. And from what I can tell based on what the nurse in Centoria said, the medicine is in short supply."

Medina nods. "Even worse, the herbs are seasonal and currently out of stock. The stores Rulid had were limited to begin with,"

"So it is a lost cause to cure everyone. Thought so. Even in my world, way more advanced in technology than this one, it is hard to develop cures and prevent the spread of an unknown sickness. I'm sure Selka has done all she could, but...a kid her age shouldn't be the one to save the world. She should be, I don't know, fighting off the attention of boys, not a disease." Part of me says that in remembrance of Silica and Mater when I first met them. Granted, Silica was twelve or thirteen at that time, Mater a little older (and too wise beyond her years compared to her lyrical brother), but the young girls should have been thinking about boys and stuff, not fighting for their lives in SAO.

"Yeah… The baker spoke of a mushroom gatherer who he got part of his ingredients from. Said he'll never use mushrooms he hasn't seen before, so it implies he's done business with the merchant or at least seen the mushrooms plenty of times from others. We have our lead." Medina suddenly stops at the southern gate and pivots on her heel, facing me. "Meanwhile, while Ilia and I spent the entire day helping around and gathering intel, have you done your part?"

I sigh. "No. Tried as I might, I couldn't detect Eydis' presence. Either she's hiding it or she's not here… Hey, Medina--"

"Not gonna happen, I know what you're going to say. Telling Ilia is one thing, she's naive to how you do things, but not me."

"At least let me finish. But yes, I was going to say that if we did encounter Eydis and have to fight, let me fight her alone. You have to protect Ilia. That is your duty as her mentor, right?"

"Yes, but--"

"But if we come against her and her cohort from the Western Ravine, I'm not stupid enough to fight against the odds."

Medina nods and resumes walking, pointing to the mountain range to the east. "In any case, the ridge is just over those mountains. Whether on foot or by flight we should be able to cross over. And to counter an earlier comment of yours, producing the medicine is not a lost cause. Selka says the herb is constantly growing at the Windcutter's Ridge, so she asks us to gather more herbs. I know what they look like."

"You do? Have you seen them before?"

"You remember my sword's Memory Release can access a person's memories. Whether it be people or items, if they can recall it, it can become visible. Greater the memory, stronger the image, and she's seen the herb many times recently. Much safer than having her come along."

I readily agree. "So our cure is in the same area as the suspected disease. No, if it came from a food source, it's probably better to call it a toxic sickness rather than a pathogenic kind… Sure you're up for a nighttime expedition? It's almost sundown."

Medina shrugs. "The quicker we finish this off, the better the outcome is. We can prioritize gathering the herb for now."

"Jaymes, Medina… So you have come. Just as it was predicted." Lowering her hands and dispelling the circular glasses made with the sacred arts, Eydis glances down on the distant figures as they exit the village together. Her eyes shift the to village proper, the same site she has seen now for almost a week. Now that the Lycoris Knight and the Lord of Knights are present, it seems things are progressing as planned.

Not just here in northern Norlangarth, but in the capital as well. She's sure the Unification Council is in a confused frenzy right now.

Things didn't have to come to this, but this whole world requires correction. Adminstrator, in her desire to rule to perfection, created a distorted empire. Eydis lost everything; her old life, her memories, trading them all for great power and eternal physical beauty. Then when Kirito, Eugeo, Cardinal and Alice slew her, Eydis was promised things would get better. It only got worse.

Administrator and Hersyrian caused the Clamp Crisis. Then came the Otherworlder War, which caused her beloved Alice to leave this world. The Rebellion of the Four Kingdoms, a fight that lasted a night but came because of distrust in the new Unification Council's power against the Axiom Church's. Then, finally, the one she loved left her for another kingdom, and now he returns, with her supposed friend at his side as always.

With her left hand gripping the sheathed blade at her side, she turns to her right and walks toward the resting grey-white dragon. "Kirimai, it's time. Let's head back to the ridge and wait for them." She climbs aboard her dragon's back and takes one more glance towards the village. A part of her heart pangs in pain that Alice's home and family has to suffer, but it all for the greater good of this world. Administrator spoiled it, the Unification Council and the invaders continued to keep it rotten. Only the true rulers of the Underworld, those chosen by Stacia and her brother and sisters, can correct everything. So even if her heart must hurt, if she must take down Jaymes and Medina, it must be done, as the mothers and father wills it.

Yet, deep in the darkness of her mind, deep as the western lake she found the material for her Dark Slash Sword, a single light continuously calls out to Eydis, saying only one word. "Sister…"