Medina

As Jaymes vanishes behind her, Medina tightens her grip on her sword. She found it insulting that Jaymes didn't believe she'd be able to fight Eydis, but now looking at her, she was under the assumption the Eydis they'll face would be her friend.

Just by Eydis' eyes alone, any trace of her friend is gone. The girl who stands before her is not the Integrity Knight who doted over Alice or any cute girl in sight, but someone who would (and unmercifully did) cut down anyone her sword touches. Still, Medina has her pride. She fought Jaymes, who wasn't holding back in his fight with her (though he didn't use many Sacred Arts on her, so maybe he didn't fight her like he did Quinella or Vecta), she can fight Eydis. At most, she plans to repel the knight until Jaymes and Ilia can back her up.

But first, she'll try to talk. "Eydis, why are you against us?" Her answer comes as Eydis flies forward, swinging the Dark Slash Sword. Medina holds her sword up to deflect while using her agility to dodge in case the black sword phases through. As expected, it does, and Medina counters with five orange dots over her left hand, firing Thermal arts at the tenth knight's bare chest. Eydis cries out as she's launched back. She lands on her feet, seething as she holds her scalded chest and glares at Medina. This doesn't faze the ninth head of the Orthinanos family one bit.

"Don't make me hurt you, Eydis. I don't want to fight you. We can talk."

"...Why would I talk to the likes of you? System Call..." Dark orbs surround Eydis, about twelve in total, and they all form different-sized blades. Sensing danger, Medina leaps back and runs as the blades are launched her way, parrying about five before she's overwhelmed. She grits her teeth as her body is cut by the remaining blades, none going deeper than deep enough to rip through her armor and draw blood. Falling to the ground, Medina picks her upper body off the ground and glares at the approaching Knight of the Abyss.

"'The likes of me,' you say? What have I done to you?"

"You, just like everyone else in this world, have taken everything from me."

"What-" Medina rolls as an umbral beam nearly cleaves her in half. Rolling to her feet, Medina generates several Thermal arrows and fires them in a flurry. This does not faze Eydis one bit as she expertly deflects arrow after arrow while walking towards Medina. Annoyed by her obvious lack of skill against the much more experienced woman, Medina grabs her sword off the ground and lets it glow bright red. Forget repelling Eydis, she will have to stall her. "Enhance Armament!"

Eydis now pauses. She knows Medina's ability at the enhancing stage is similar to her beloved Alice's, except Medina's control of flowers isn't a metamorphosis of the Mirage Blade. Medina's lycoris petals are formed from Incarnation, and Medina plans to use a similar strategy she used during the war to save Lilpilin the Orc and Kirito's sister Leafa from a crazy dark mage. Her petals are there, hovering in the air, but they're so thin they're invisible to all except Medina. The only way Eydis can avoid them is by sensing them, but with Medina's fine control over the petals, one wrong move will be disadvantageous to her opponent.

And so far, no one has evaded the petals. However, besides Jaymes while he taught her Perfect Weapon Control (and even that's debatable), no one Medina has used them against she hasn't wanted to kill. Eydis might be the first, but Medina will not hesitate to hurt the knight. "Talk, Eydis. What do you mean I've taken everything from you? I've taken nothing!"

"You wish he fell for you. And here you are, at his side, like he's yours. But it doesn't matter, your soul will know despair and pain."

"...Even if you feel that way, even though I do, that's not true! Yet still, you've come for us here, and the girls back at the Forbidden Valley, so there's more to it. You've said the world has taken everything from you?"

"The otherworlders took my Alice away, Administrator took my memories time and time again, Bercouli stole me from my sister... Shall I go on? You should understand, Medina. After all, that so-called goddess experimented on your family, calling them 'defects' after her 'son' soiled your ancestor. And you dare belittle me for fighting you, you turned against us based on a lie."

Medina narrows her eyes. True as her words may be, Eydis still did not 'betray' the empire after Alice's departure, or when Jaymes left the empire in the fall. She hasn't been seen in weeks... "What happened to you?"

"They awakened my eyes. He helped me see that the Underworld has been led astray for two centuries. Medina, our rightful rulers have arrived."

"Rightful rulers?"

"They who were born by the gods. Who is better to rule the empires than they are? Not the Unification Council, not the emperor, but the children of Stacia themselves. They who first felt Solus' radiance, ate Terreria's blessings, slept in Lunaria's grace, and toiled under Vecta's watch."

Medina wants to call Eydis insane, but one fact makes her believe that the knight is giving her important truths: the unexplained rise of the Ancient Apostles. The theory was the fall of Quinella, but there's more to the story. If what Eydis says is true, that these "children of the gods" are around, they must be the source of the ancients' recent attacks.

She doesn't know how long it's been but considering Ilia's penchant for being prompt and Jaymes' to be a hero, they're uncharacteristically late. She fears something has happened, but what? Could... Could Eydis' unknown partner appear before them? Or is something preventing them from coming here? Either way, Medina's isolated with Eydis. With the hidden lycoris petals, she may be able to hold Eydis at bay for another minute, as long as she can hold her concentration on the petals.

"...These children, why join them? You keep speaking about losing everything to the world, but we're your friends, Eydis. They're using you for their own goals like Hersyrian and Administrator used me. You're better than this."

"...I grow tired of your voice. Enhance Armament." Eydis' dark blade glows purple, and to Medina's confusion, Eydis swings her sword aimlessly through the air. For a moment, she believes Eydis is toying with her, but takes in her new appearance and remembers this isn't the Eydis she knows; the following thought is one of complete shock. Red lights flicker in the air between the women, falling like feathers in the wind. Those were Medina's petals—and Eydis cut through all of them?

Before Medina can think twice about it, Eydis is already upon her, backhanding the noblewoman's face with enough force to break bone. Tumbling to the ground, Medina tries to counter with Sacred Arts, but Eydis stops her by stabbing her in the shoulder, then twists it to make Medina squirm. Although she tries to rein in her emotions, Medina's facade breaks as she looks into the blood-lusting orbs of Eydis. Her pride has shattered and gives way to fear. "That's it, Medina Orthinanos. Despair, knowing that no one will come for you. Not your page, not the Lord of Knights, no one."

"You...never called him that..."

"...I wonder what despair lies in the shadows of your heart. Let me invite you to the place where the light of Solus does not reach. To the abyss of your soul! Release Recoll—"

"No, not her. Don't waste that power on her yet." Eydis halts the summoning of her deadliest ability and removes her sword from Medina's shoulder. She steps away, and Medina fights through the searing pain across her body to get a look at the two beings Eydis marches towards. One of them is a blonde-haired male, his features more mature than Jaymes but not as far as Bercouli's or Deusolbert's. Somewhere in the middle. The same goes for the raven-haired woman beside him, her age between Medina's and Fanatio's. They wear similar armor that bears a striking resemblance to the Integrity Knights, but the Order's symbol is not found on the upper chest plate. The man is plated entirely in gold, the woman's purely silver.

"You've done well and proved your loyalty, young one," the woman says. "Our plans for the realms are moving as predicted, and my barrier ability works perfectly. The killer of the usurper will head to the dark realm tomorrow."

The man smiles and chuckles. "Then the next stage of our plan can unfold. All we need is the sword that eradicated both the usurper and the false god. You will handle that, young one."

"Yes, Lord Primus, Lady Eva... What about her?"

"Hmm." The woman raises her left hand, and Medina's eyes are overloaded with light. Blinded, she feels her body being launched into the air. Her head hits something hard, her body dropping on the grass like a disposed toy. Her forehead throbs as liquid heat flow down, and as she loses consciousness, she hears one final thing from the enemy.

"All is as the mothers and father will it."

When Medina awakens, she finds herself tucked in a makeshift bed for the outdoors. Groaning as the pain hits her head like a hammer, she raises to a sitting position and rubs her forehead while glancing at her surroundings. She's in a white tent and isn't bound by chains or rope or something a prisoner would find themselves. Well, this means she somehow survived her encounter with Eydis (if this is not heaven, that is) but just who found her.

Jaymes and Ilia would be the only people to come here, and though Kaul was in the area, he would most likely run for his own safety if he saw anything. It has to be her partner and page.

Confirming her thoughts, Ilia walks in, at first not noticing her awakened lady as she sets the food down on a table, but once she turns in Medina's direction, the younger girl just stares at Medina blankly and silently. Medina knows Ilia isn't the most expressive girl, but she'd expected a little more than-Oh, there it is. Ilia falls on Medina, her arms wrapped around Medina's waist, head on her shoulder...and yes, there are tears.

"Medina...When we got here, I was so scared..."

Medina sighs and comforts Ilia. "I'm...alive, I guess. I don't know if I'm fine, but I'm here." Medina lifts Ilia's head, smiling and brushing her page's dirty blond strands out her face. "It'll take a lot more than a rogue Integrity Knight to kill me." Maybe she shouldn't joke about dying, it was unpleasant the first time, but in her defense, it was the ruler of the empire who killed her, not her enforcers. Shaking that thought off, Medina lets go of Ilia and looks to the food. "You brought enough for two. We can eat and talk. Oh, where's Jaymes?"

Ilia drags the small table over to them. "He's by the river right now. Should I go fetch him?"

"No... How long has it been? It's probably afternoon now, isn't it?"

"It's been two days."

Medina nearly chokes on her cup of water. "Two days?"

"Yes."

"What about the bluethorn disease?"

"Don't worry, we found the Ancient Apostle, but...Jaymes didn't want to take it on until you woke up. He... He has been very quiet the last two days. I feel like every time I speak to him, it's treading rough waters with each conversation."

"It's not you, Medina. He's beating himself up, that's how he is. Too overprotective for his own good, but that's how I know he cares for me. For you, too, if he's risking the magnitude of the bluethorn instead of eradicating the source."

Ilia bows her head and looks at her plate. "Is that so? He's so different with me. Even with Mia, he's warm and kind, but ever since I've known him, he's been somewhat cold. I thought the other day was a breakthrough of sorts, but it seems it was just a fleeting moment."

"Hmm... I'll talk to him about it. But for now, you say it's been two days, right?"

"Yes."

Medina turns the wheels of her memory back to the fight with Eydis. The fight itself wasn't extraordinary, but the intel she learned... Eydis was very forthcoming. "Go get Jaymes. I have lots to tell the both of you."

Jaymes looks at the candle illuminating the tent intensely as Medina reports all she remembers before she blacked out. Why Eydis defected, who she joined, and their names. She couldn't gauge their strength besides the one ability the woman used against Medina. Medina keeps her eye on him, wondering just what he has to say, what their next step is, but he remains silent. So she questions him first. "Jaymes, what are you thinking? Tell us."

"...Eydis is not wrong at all. After we defeated Quinella and things settled down a bit, she asked Cardinal if she could see the memories she lost. Alice remembered that the ceiling of the hundredth floor possessed them, so Cardinal allowed Eydis to see her stolen memory before she became a knight. Now that she knows of her life prior to becoming a knight... Still, what you've said is true. Whatever grief she had, she fought for the empire during the war and the council during the rebellion. Until now, she did not stray from her duty as an Integrity Knight."

"You think she's being controlled? I didn't see it that way. But I find it's not a coincidence we found her near Alice's hometown."

"You think she's willingly against us?"

"I once was. But even during that, I was conflicted. Eydis, however, looked absolute in her choice. She was determined in killing me, and that might even go for you."

"..."

Medina sees his face contorted at the previous statement. She knows it's cruel to apply their conflict to the current one, but someone has to say it as well as what she's about to say. "I don't want to say it, but...if anyone has to do it, it should be you."

"There has to be another way first."

"Excuse me," Ilia interrupts, having listened silently during the entire exchange, "but is it more likely Lady Eydis is being controlled? This isn't the first time it has happened, remember? Sir Deusolbert, Sir Eldrie, and Lady Sheyta were controlled by Hersyrian, right?"

Medina and Jaymes look at Ilia like she just solved all the world's issues at once, then glance at each other. "There's no evidence of the Clamps being used, but...the Synthesis Ritual doesn't require them. Administrator needed only the right commands and the Piety Module. Could they have done the same?"

Medina agrees. But there's one thing wrong with assuming a version of the Synthesis Ritual they know of was performed. "The Piety Module erases the memories dear to a knight, such as Eydis' memories of her sister, and makes the knight loyal to Her Eminence. Hersyrian used that against us with the Clamps as they were the Incarnation of the Pontifex materialized. But not only does she remember her past as you showed her, she remembers you, me, Alice. Those memories seemed to drive her to fight us."

"Could it be that they have no clue about the Module then, but a different route altogether?" Ilia hypothesizes as she stands up. "After all, Eydis is just like you, Medina-unbound by the Seal of the Right Eye. Therefore...what if she's being controlled like how that man controlled the red army, using her memories and feelings as a...what's a word for it?"

"Catalyst. I see. She's not being forced by the Piety Module or the control PoH had over the red army, but by surfacing what she feels in her heart. Eydis has every right to feel what she feels, so they're using that to control her. This means that every knight that knows the truth about Quinella is exposed, but even worse, everyone unbound by the Seal of the Right Eye."

"You, Lady Asuna, and Swordsman Delegate Kirito. Lady Medina is the only other one besides Eydis who broke the seal that I know of. The supreme commander as well, right?" Jaymes nods, which makes Ilia frown.

"And assuming our guess is correct, even still the entire empire, nay, the world is endangered."

"As you know, Ilia, I can't sense the outside world. Until we leave the Windcutter's Ridge, I can't teleport us away. For now, we have our mission." Jaymes stands up and walks to exit the tent, pausing just at the flaps and setting his eyes on Medina. "You good to fight?"

"Yes."

He smirks. "Would you say 'yes' even if you were lying?"

She smiles back. "Course not."

"Well, I'm going to let you rest some more anyway. We move out tomorrow morning. We're about to fight an old enemy of mine..."

Obsidia Castle, Dark Territory, Mia, hours earlier

"Supreme Commander, we have a-oh!" Mia, Brunhild, and Arthurio pause in shock as they enter the chambers of Supreme Commander Iskahn and his wife Sheyta Synthesis Twelve. What halts them is not the current highest power in their land, but the unannounced presence of the dark-haired boy who sits at the top of the Unification Council, Swordsman Delegate Kirito, and his page, Ronie. "Oh, Swordsman Delegate, Ronie, hi."

Kirito nods in greeting. "Hello again. Mia, wasn't it?"

"Yes sir."

Arthurio clears his throat and looks to the supreme commander. "Supreme Commander, Swordsman Delegate, forgive the intrusion on this...private meeting, but this is of the utmost importance!"

Iskahn sighs. "Is it more important than a goblin mysteriously murdering a human in the empire, and the mages' guild being suspected as the culprits?"

"I would say it is-what?" Mia raises her eyebrows as she processes what the commander just told them. She turns to Brunhild, who has the same shocked face. "Wait, a murder in the empire?"

"Yes. Brunhild, I wouldn't expect you to know of it, you're in the emperor's circle. But even he has had a hard time dealing with the guild since he took over. I'll explain everything in a bit, but what's with the urgency, Brunhild?"

"Supreme Commander... I cannot sense the Emperor's presence anymore in the empire."

It's Kirito's turn to stand shocked. "What?"