Medina

"Medina... Good luck."

"Aye." Medina hears Ilia's feet whisk away towards the town of Danacchia. She waits a moment for the apprentices to gain some distance before she makes any movement, that being to lower her sword before the rage inside her takes control. She keeps her guard up, but she wants to try to talk things out one last time. "Eydis."

"You've finally come," says the white-haired knight, her voice colder than the desert. "You let your apprentices take care of the giants themselves, despite our expectations. I hoped to draw your out in that manner, but all it took was a direct attack on them."

"Why are you targeting me?"

"Simple: It'll make the plans for the First Children much easier, and makes me feel better. If you fall...imagine how he'll feel that Kirito and Asuna didn't protect you, or even more, how he couldn't protect you. That's all he's cared about, right, protecting his dearly beloved Medina Orthinanos. Then, and only then, he will know how much I've suffered since I lost Alice."

Medina frowns, then lets out a sigh. "That's low, even for you, Eydis. I don't believe that's how you feel one bit. I do believe you're hurt, though. Alice left this world without so much as a goodbye to either of us, not that there was much time for one. I understand why you'll be angry with him and Kirito about it, believe me. But even then...would Alice approve of this behavior of you? Threatening the lives of innocents, including her own family? Siding with the enemy who seeks to demolish all we worked towards since Administrator fell? And how does any of this factor with the First Children? What does killing me and making Jaymes suffer have to do with it?"

Eydis shrugs. "That's all I know and care to tell you."

"Then explain why they need Falchion."

"I don't know. Nor do I care. But if it truly has the power to shape the world as the wielder sees fit, then if Primus desires destruction, let it come that the rays of Solus never touch the Underworld again." Eydis raises her sword up, giving it a glance. "If all the world can share in how dark my soul feels, then so be it. Will you fight against me, Medina, knowing you cannot win? I can see it in your eyes. You're delaying your anger with words. In truth, you want to kill me for what I've done to Ilia, her friend, and to Jaymes. I've seen the same look in his eyes, a world full of rage and anger. If you think you can beat me, then go ahead, try. Kill me, Medina."

Medina bites her lip, then raises her sword back up. "...I'm sorry."

"To me?"

"I was speaking to Alice about what I must do. If it means striking you down...then to protect this world, I'll do it. But even then, I'll try to save you. I do not believe you've turned against us. Not willingly, that is."

"Your sentimentality... It disgusts me." Eydis holds her hand out at Medina, but the sacred art ignores and goes beyond her. Dark tendrils snake across the sands, heading straight for the retreating Ilia. Without looking back and with a tap of her sword, the dark tendrils are stopped just halfway to their target, the resulting reaction caused by a collision with the lycoris petals formerly hidden away in the air.

Eydis clicks her tongue. "A fine move for a defect like you."

"Last we fought, I learned that you've been holding back for years. Of course, your specialty is the dark arts, so allies around you were in danger just as the enemy. I never thought I could beat you before, never had a reason to try it out. You proved it the other day. while I held back. Then you defeat Jaymes dishonorably, and that's something I cannot forgive. So whether I kill you or save you, prepare yourself, Eydis! I'm not holding anything back anymore!"

"You're strong, Medina, but don't think you can beat me, a knight of the highest order of the realm."

"Kirito and Eugeo stormed the cathedral and defeated Deusolbert, Fanatio, Bercouli, Alice, you, Chuldekin, and Administrator. That was before he possessed the Incarnation he has today. Jaymes, with only the sword formed by my blood, survived a fight with Administrator. Sortiliena held her own against you once before. Mia and Ilia, despite your new outlook on fighting, made a stand and used all their strength. Our goddess fell. Your commander fell. Your new masters will fall, too. You're not invincible."

Eydis narrows her eyes. "I see... Then we're done talking." Eydis launches off her feet towards Medina, their blades sparking the air around them as their duel finally begins. To Medina, she can see every move Eydis makes and appropriately adjust to defend or poke a hole to attack, but if she was looking from the distant Ilia and Mia's perspective (both deciding to watch the fight while Mia's healed by Ilia's new sword) she would be unable to follow the combatants' movements aside from a cloud of sand.

"There is something I never understood, Medina." Eydis unleashes a quick barrage of strokes, then holds her sword across Medina's. "You were given the chance to be an Integrity Knight. Medina Synthesis Thirty-Two would have been your title, but you declined the highest honor in the land." Medina pushes Eydis back, and the Knight of the Abyss counters with a spinning kick of both legs. Medina blocks them with her sword, dodges a vertical slash of the Dark Slash Sword, and sinks her blade into Eydis' right wrist, her dominant hand. Eydis either doesn't feel the pain or ignores it while she continues her jabs at Medina. "Why is that so, Medina? It was your dream, your goal, your aspiration. Could it be, that in the end, you knew you weren't worthy to join the order as you are unworthy in other things you desired?"

Medina responds by dismembering Eydis' left arm that aimed to punch her. However, as quickly as it is detached, Eydis reattaches it with dark tendrils returning the limb back in place and light arts healing the wound. It surprises Medina a bit, but neither it nor Eydis' cold words get under her skin, try as the other woman might. "Or is it because you know you can't live forever. The art to stop aging is lost for now, but even then, you wouldn't take the honor because of something like that, huh? Pathetic!" Eydis leans and grabs Medina's right arm, twisting and disarming her. "Maybe you should just die, again, while you're still young. Spare yourself the long life of regrets."

"Harghhh!" Medina's blade burst into flames and she attacks with a horizontal slice. Eydis leaps back, hovering in the air and her swords gain a dark aura. She says nothing, just swings her blade in Medina's direction. Medina doesn't understand what happened at first, but then her senses kick in, and hold her sword defensively. The result is an invisible attack putting force against the Mirage Sword, almost causing Medina to stumble. She catches herself and prepares for more of those unseen attacks, parrying them with better footing.

When Eydis first mentioned she was looking for Medina to aid Mia and Ilia, Medina internally wondered why Eydis never attacked them beforehand. She had the opportunity, and maybe Medina would have come, but now she understands. If Eydis was sure Medina would take the bait and come to the girls' rescue, she wanted the best possible advantage. That advantage is nighttime when her special arts cannot be seen as clearly as during the day. Ilia and Mia would have never thought of that, which proved their downfall. Eydis, however, should've known Medina would figure that out.

Eydis returns to the ground a couple of feet away from Medina. Her face is unreadable to Medina, but she bets Eydis is cooking up the next step of attacks and insults. Trying to throw her off-guard with her reasons to deny becoming a knight... Medina empties that thought immediately, replacing it with ideas to counter Eydis' advantage. What can she do against the powerful knight to get to the goal she desires?

If she says the world must drown in darkness, then Medina will show her friend the light.

With great speed Medina is in front of Eydis, her fist glowing with light arts. As she attacks Eydis with her sword, she casts the arts on the ground, using them to create a field of light. Eydis smirks as the duel resumes with the new development. "Smart move! It will be hard to use dark arts against you if you can see them with this light...is that what you think, Medina? That this is a weakness for me?"

"I know your weakness, Eydis! It is a weakness all humans have! I just want to see your face when you realize it!"

"Then show me it, if you can survive! Enhance Armament!" The Dark Slash Sword glows dark blue and spills out the dark element covering the environment so densely that it makes the light Medina cast earlier null and void. Eydis usually controls the amount of dark element that escapes her sword, but now she's letting it all out in a situation Medina is unfamiliar with. Keeping her wits, Medina downs her fear of the unnatural darkness. She takes a deep breath, closes her eyes, and focuses fully on her instincts. This is Eydis' world, she has no choice but to survive.

She senses Incarnation to her left, and there the Dark Slash Sword comes down upon Medina. The blade phases through the Mirage Sword, but Medina falls back. The blade cuts superficially through her armor, She winces as sacred power is sapped from her blood, but proud of her reaction speed to avoid further damage. She tries to close to wound as quickly as possible before the malevolent darkness drains her beyond capable of fighting, while at the same time- "Gahhhhhh!" Pain shoots through Medina's back as she feels Eydis' slick blade cut through. She tries to stand up, then senses the incoming strike too late and is slashed across the chest. She collapses, feeling her body weaken as she sees the faint form of Eydis stand with her back to her, her crimson eyes sadistically enjoying Medina's torment and launching her into extreme levels of pain as the Lycoris Knight's body explodes in dark power upon the sword being sheathed.

As Medina writhes in indescribable levels of agony, Eydis slowly circles around her. "Give it up, Medina. Just give up and die. Join your defective, disgusting ancestors as you should have when Lady Pontifex killed your original body. You have no worth in this world. Unwanted by those you think that love you. Unneeded by those you think will be by you forever."

"N-No...Not yet." Medina reaches for her sword and fights through the pain. Her breathing is labored, and her body is weak from the loss of blood and sacred power. In all truth, she should either be dead or unconscious, but there's one thing that tells her to get off the ground, grab her sword, and continue fighting-willpower. She wills herself to use her sword as a crutch and faces Eydis. "Let me repeat myself: I will save you, Eydis."

"And from what do I need saving from?"

"Yourself!" Medina launches herself in the air, spinning as her blade again bursts on fire. Her body is telling her to stop, but her mind slightly sears Eydis' face with the flaming sword. The Lycoris Knight lands on her feet and sidesteps a thrust, then holds her sword behind her as she senses a form appear there. Maneuvering around Eydis' clone and slashing it apart. Slash, slash, slash, parry, duck, step, slash. Her will controls her movements alone like a child playing with a puppet, and Medina allows it. Even if it allows her to find no opening in Eydis' offense, Medina does not care as long as she can fight and save her friend.

Eydis still fights with apathy towards Medina. "You don't get it, do you? I don't need to be saved, and I don't need to be saved by the likes of you! I am free! I am alive! Why is someone as disgusting as you thinking I need to be saved?"

"Because you're not Eydis! She's not you!" Medina grits her teeth as Eydis' blade cuts her forehead, letting blood trickle down around her left eye. She counters with a kick and a spinning slice, then retreats as Eydis bounces back.

"What do you mean? I am me!"

"Ilia said it best. You wouldn't hurt the girls, even if they asked you to come at them seriously. You would call them disgusting-Geh!" Medina's lungs expel every ounce of air in her lungs after Eydis knees her, then sucks in the volume lost and brings her fist to Eydis' face. The knight stumbles back, quickly raising her blade as Medina reinforces her physical and verbal attack. "Whatever the First Children told you, whatever they did to you, it is not the you I've gained to know! You are someone I respect, someone I trust my life with, someone who I call my best friend and rival, someone I call my sister! But if you truly believe that the person in front of me is the real you, then prove it!" Medina's sword flashes red as she charges Eydis. "Enhance Armament!"

Eydis assumes a defensive stance as Medina thrusts the Mirage Blade in her direction, and her sword unleashes a swirling gale of burning lycoris petals. She raises a dark element barrier in front of her, protecting her against the art as the power of the attack is absorbed. Medina isn't deterred as she pushes her attack and steps forward. Eydis grits her teeth at the increasing intensity of Medina's art bringing her to her knees then emits a roar as the Dark Slash Sword glows blue again. "Enhance Armament!" Eydis replaces the barrier with her sword, holding it against the stream of petals as she marches towards Medina. With the wounds on her body still open, Medina feels her strength being sapped by the building darkness but ignores it as much as possible as she comes within reach of Eydis.

This shocks Eydis as Medina stumbles forward. "How are you standing? Why are you so adamant about not giving up!"

"Because...you...you never gave up...on me!" The flames of the Mirage and the darkness pooling from the Dark Slash combine, creating an energetic reaction that threatens to separate the girls. "You were there...for me always. You never saw me as a defect. You believed in me when I betrayed you. You believed in me when I needed someone to do so. You ask why I denied becoming a knight? It's not because I am not worthy, but because I am not worthy to be like you. I'm not selfless as you are. I'm not heroic like you are. And I...I am so jealous of you. You get to...have his heart. You believe he's always protecting me because he cares about me more than you, but in reality, he trusts you more. He cares for you more. You are his partner...and I am nothing more than a fleeting being in his life. Years from now, I'll be gone, you'll still be here. You'll be here when he leaves, and when he and Alice returns, you'll be here. I wish...I could have it all, but all I really want is to be with the both of you until I can't anymore. So, two hundred years from now and he doesn't remember anything, I don't want to be just a memory, I want to be someone you fondly remember and can tell Jaymes everything. That's why I am fighting!"

Medina takes a step and, using whatever power remains in her body, knocks her elbow against Eydis' chin. She drops on her knee yet tightens her grip as she holds her sword parallel to the ground and switches her attack. "Come back, Eydis! Release Recollection!" She bounces off the bent knee and slashes Eydis's torso. Eydis yelps as her body glow dark red. The Knight of the Abyss freezes in place, and the darkness around them reverts back to the evening sky. Her eyes looking over her shoulder, Medina watches as Eydis falls on her back, and her own body soon gives out. She falls back on the sandy ground, laying parallel to Eydis.

She hears voices call her name, but her eyes are on Eydis as her gloved hand, a faint, golden gauntlet, and a small, white hand all grasp the head of the Knight of the Abyss. For however long its takes, Medina will watch and wait until Eydis-her Eydis-comes back. "One final push...to bring her home..."