Sinon

"Asuna, about five kilometers south of here, you'll see what looks like abandoned ruins. I believe we can attack the enemy there without being surrounded."

"All right, Sinon… No matter how huge the American VRMMO population may be, I doubt they can get any more right away. If we can beat the players they have now, the enemy won't be able to do anything… I think."

Sinon nods. "All right, leave it to me. So, by the way, is Kirito in this unit?"

Asuna chuckles as she touches the wagon the three girls stand by. "There's no need for you to sound so formal. Kirito's in here."

"Is that so? Then I guess I'll go say hi." Sinon follows Koharu and Asuna up the steps of the wagon, the latter opening its doors to her. Kirito appears at the other end of the wagon, seated between the boys' two apprentices. Upon her appearance, the pair nervously stands up.

"L-Lady Solus?"

Sinon looks at her attire and laughs it off. "Hello! Nice to meet you. I may look like Solus, but not on the inside. My name is Sinon. That's right, like Asuna and Koharu, I'm from the real world. And I'm Kirito's...friend."

"...I see."

"Besides Jaymes, they're all female!"

Sinon smirks at that. If only they knew how untrue that statement is, despite how it seems. "And we're not the only ones." She takes two steps up to Kirito, looking at him with tears in her eyes. He slowly reacts to her presence as she kneels and hugs him. "Even if your soul's been deeply damaged, there are so many people who know your soul so well. See, can't you feel it? The you that's inside me? The sarcastic, mischievous, stubborn, and naive one...the strongest, kindest of all." After planting a kiss on his cheek, Sinon rises and turns to a crestfallen Asuna. The atmosphere is the same around her with the other girls. Sinon decides to cheer them up, somehow. "Don't worry. Kirito will be better in no time. At the moment when we really need him, right?"

Asuna nods. "Mhm."

"All right. I'm going to go on ahead and fly to the ruins to get the lay of the land. You guys look after Kirito, okay?"

Asuna takes hold of Sinon's shoulder as she passes. "H-Hey, Sinon, did you say 'fly'? Meaning...you can fly?"

"Mhm. Apparently, it's a unique power gifted to the Solus account. I was told that there's no time limit or anything, either."

Koharu steps forward, grabbing Sinon's hands. "Then we're not the ones who need to be rescued! You must go help Jaymes!"

Sinon suddenly remembers that the other boy in her life is not present here as well. "Jay-Jaymes? Oh, right, where is he?"

"It's Alice. She was abducted by the emperor and he's chasing after them!" Sinon gasps and looks to Asuna, who agrees with Koharu.

"He probably noticed your entry, so he knows someone else is here on our side. I think it may surprise him that his favorite sniper has his back. You two are quite the pair."

Any other day, Sinon would jump at the opportunity because Asuna is right, but today, of all days, the girl who everyone knows once had Jaymes' back is here and it is making such a move for Sinon weird and uncomfortable. "Asuna…"

"Please," Koharu begs, which makes Sinon even more uncomfortable. "I don't know much about the last two years, but if what Asuna says is true… Go to him."

"But you're the partner. Besides for one person, no one has been able to replace you to that degree."

Koharu shakes her head and looks at Asuna. "Right now, I'm needed here. There will come a time I stand beside him again, but for now, he needs you."

Sinon drops her head and tightens her fists. Koharu is right, there's no time for such trivialities, and she longs to see her friend. He has worried her as well. "All right… Also, do you have any idea what could have happened to Leafa?"

Leafa

"Ouch! Jeez!" The younger Kirigaya rubs her back and head after a rough landing in the Underworld. "This is why I can't stand brand-new equipment!.. Hm?" Leafa looks ahead and sees a creature looking over its shoulder at her. It is a human-sized pig, and it stands up and draws a sword.

"Don't look! Don't look at me!"

Leafa leaps up and dusts off her green and white dress. "Um, good afternoon. Or should I say good morning?"

The pig-man slightly lowers its guard in confusion. "Why aren't you running away? Why aren't you screaming? You're a human, so why not?"

'Why? Because you're a human, aren't you?"

"H-Human? Me? How ridiculous! Can't you tell by looking? I'm an orc! An orc, which you Iums revile as pig-people!"

"But you're still a human, right? After all, you and I are standing here talking. What else would you need?"

"What else?"

Seeing no reason to continue that philosophical conversation, Leafa looks to the sky. Seems she got separated from Asuna, Koharu, Jaymes, and Sinon. "More importantly, where are we now? Oh, um, what are your names?"

"I-I'm Lilpilin."

"Such a nice name. I'm Leafa. Hello, nice to meet you." Leafa holds her hand out to Lilpilin. However, the orc fails to accept the gesture, instead raising his sword at the women.

"You're a knight from the Human Empire Army, aren't you? I'm taking you as my prisoner! And I'm taking you to the emperor!"

"You are wrong, she's not of the Human Empire." Leafa faces a small force of soldiers, led by a woman with short red hair and blue eyes. For some reason, the face is oddly familiar, but the reason for it falls short on Leafa's mind. The woman holds her hand up, halting her party, and walks up alone to Leafa and the orc, ignoring the blade being held up towards her by the orc. "But she is with us."

"W-Who are you?"

"My name is Medina Orthinanos, ninth head of House Orthinanos, and you aren't taking her to any emperor."

"Excuse me," Leafa interrupts, "by emperor, you mean Vecta, the god of darkness, right?"

"Th-That's right."

Leafa holds her arms out, offering herself as a prisoner willing. "All right. Then take me to him."

"Huh?" Medina looks at Leafa and watches as Lilpilin ties her wrists. "Wait a minute, aren't you one of Jaymes' friends?"

"Jaymes? You know him?" Leafa looks Medina up and down, eyes momentarily lingering on Medina's bust, and bites her lips. She didn't need the question to be answered, how could he not know her? She shrugs that thought off and looks up at the woman. "Where is he?"

"I know he's south of here and they're looking to get to the emperor."

"Then this is the fastest way to get to them both. Don't worry, Miss Medina. If I see him, I'll tell Jaymes we met and you were concerned."

Medina still looks conflicted, but she has not drawn her sword or even touched it. In the end, she sighs and steps back. "You seem to be just as reckless as him. It's...an annoying relief." Leafa nods and faces her "captor" who tugs on the rope and proceeds to lead her away. only getting two steps in before a yell from the soldiers and a black smoke circles the trio.

"What's this? Is this your doing, Ium?"

Medina draws her sword. "If it was, why would I waste my time talking and letting you leave?" The smoke suddenly disappears, but a yelp from Leafa gains the Underworlders attention. She's suspended in the air by a purplish-black tendril. No, on a second look, it's a hand attached to an animated mass, and it raises Leafa out of Lilpilin's grip. Medina tries to slash it, but the mass breaks apart, leaving the sword to move through the air. As Leafa is held above them, a head pops out the mass, shocking the orc chief.

"Y-You're Dee Eye Ell!"

"The smell… Oh, the smell! So sweet, the fragrance of life! What splendid prey you've captured! Good job, pig. As a reward, I'm going to show you something amusing!" Dee Eye Ell reaches over and rips Leafa's breastplate. "Well? You've never seen a human woman's body before, have you? Perhaps this is too much for a pig to see?" While the skin underneath is still covered by a black cloth, Leafa doesn't feel any less embarrassed. Why does this always happen to her and her alone? Where is her brother or his best friend or any of the girls this time?

"Drop her, fiend."

"Oh, but you see, noble scum, this is where the fun begins." Dee Eye Ell's left fingers turn into long, dark tendrils that wrap and puncture Leafa's body, ingesting her blood. "System Call! Transfer Human Unit Durability. Left to Self!" The tendrils glow blue as Leafa's life essence is taken by the dark mage, and she laughs wildly as her body is reformed. "Incredible! So incredible! How thick and sweet it is!"

"What are you doing? That girl is my prisoner! I'm taking her to the emperor!"

"Shut up, you damned pig! Have you forgotten that the emperor has given me full command? My will is the emperor's will. My orders are the emperor's orders. And you look stump, noble girl." Dee Eye Ell glances at Medina, who, despite having her sword drawn, is helpless to do anything under the pretense she may hurt Jaymes' friend.

However, Medina's eyes drop and she steps back. "I may not need to do anything." Lilpilin and Dee Eye Ell glance down at the ground as a green light appears, sprouting flowers from the ground. Medina and Lilpilin gasp, though the former realizes who Leafa truly is. "Terraria…"

"I don't believe it! It's surging… It's overflowing again!" The witch leeches on with her other hand, and the pain and power of Leafa excites her. "it's mine! This is all mine!" Meanwhile, Leafa thinks to herself that she has to endure this torment, unsatisfactory as it is. Until she understands what's going on in this world, she won't kill anyone.

"Stop," Lilpilin says. "Stop!"

"Hm? What's that? Are you giving me an order? Didn't I tell you, pig? This prisoner is mine now! No matter how much life I suck out of her, or if I choke the life out of her right here, it has nothing to do with you, see? But hold on. It was you who found her, after all, so maybe a slight concession is in order? If you want a prisoner so badly, there's a wench right. Or...even better, let me see you strip naked right now."

Lilpilin gasps. "What are you talking about?"

"Ever since I first saw you in that preposterous armor and cloak, it's always made me gag. A lowly pig looking almost human. If you strip naked on the spot, crawl around on all fours, and squeal, then I might let you have this girl back. Or maybe I'll give you the girl, you mean-face bitch, but that'll require some concession as well. How about you drop the sword and ride on the piggy's back like a child?"

Lilpilin, against his wishes, is forced by his bulging right eye to proceed to striped down, but as he takes his cloak off, he hears Leafa words. "Don't. I'm...fine, so...don't do it!"

"Come on, what's wrong, pig? Just strip already? Or could it be that you're aroused by the sight of naked human flesh?"

"I'm… I'm…" He momentarily glances at the other girl, who, despite everything, has not lost her composure, has not dropped her stance, and has not taken her eyes off of the witch. She hasn't said much or done much since the greenery appeared, yet...her face, it tells a story. Does the other girl...does she have a plan? Her left eye briefly looks in Lilpilin's, and he watches as her hands tighten on her sword. She's going to fight...even if it is risky, she's going to fight.

3,000 of his clan, including his Len, had their lives taken just to generate enough resources for the attack that spawned those flying worms. The witch, despite being from the same side of the world, used his people as fodder. The girl beside him, his enemy...while she still recognized him as such, not once did she point her blade against him. Why, he doesn't know… And the girl in danger...she doesn't even know him, yet she called him a human. Two Ium girls from the enemies' side have given him more respect than someone from his world, and that's all he needs to know.

Blood pours from the right eye socket as Lilpilin reaches for his sword. "I'm...a human!" He springs forward as his eye bursts, most likely the reason he falls as he swings his sword. However, he does manage to cut Dee Eye Ell on her ankle before he completely drops to the ground.

"You stinking pig!" Enraged, Leafa is thrown away by Dee Eye Ell as her fingers shift to small, elongated blades and steps on Lilpilin. "How dare you put a scratch on me! I'm going to chop you up, mix you with hay, and then feed you to the boars!"

"Lycoris."

Dee Eye Ell gasps as some of the red petals floating in the air join together and cut through her arms. "A human, slashing another human to save a pig?" Fearfully, she looks up to Medina, the girl twirling and sheathing her sword before she gestures elsewhere behind Dee Eye Ell. She turns, faced with a sword-wielding, enraged Leafa.

"It's not that. I'm slashing evil to save a human!" Leafa swings her blade down, projectile a beam that strikes the distant dark mage and eviscerates her. Exhausted, Leafa sheathes her blade, just to see Medina walk up and fix her breastplate. "Thank you."

"As soon as I saw your power and the petals flying around, I used my sword's power to do the same, mixing them in unnoticed around the witch. But thanks to Lilpilin, I was able to hit her without hurting you. So thank the real hero, not me."

Leafa nods and faces the orc, bowing to him. "Thank you."

Lilpilin rubs his blond hair. "Uh, it was nothing. You're still my prisoner."

"Well, now you have two." Medina glances to her forces and directs them. "Friends, return to Lady Fanatio. Report to her all you've seen here, and tell her I'm escorting the Goddess Terraria across the Dark Territory."

"Be careful, Lady Medina."

"Same to you." The soldiers and their commander salute each other and the former group returns to the ravine. As she watches them leave, Leafa bears a smile. Maybe she misjudged Medina by seeing her physically from Jaymes' point of view, but he does know how to surround himself with girls who are pretty and who are excellent leaders. Medina is the latest on that list that includes Lisbeth, Kureha, and others.

This ought to be fun. "Well, we're all yours, Lilpilin. Medina, you ready?"

She sighs and looks at her orc and otherworld companions. "I've been surrounded by reckless boys for so long it's catching up to me… They'd laugh if they could see me now… Leafa, we should meet up with the forces to the south. We're in your hands, Lilpilin."

He looks at Leafa, seeing her bright smile. "R-Right."

Now that she has two allies with her, Leafa faces Medina. "Hey, so you know Jaymes… Do you also know someone named Kirito?"

Medina nods. "Oh right, you're from their world. Yeah, I know Kirito… I don't know if I'm proud of it or not. He's just as annoying as Jaymes, being impaired and all. Idiot."

Leafa laughs nervously. "Well...that's my big brother, haha…"

Medina widens her eyes, then drops her face in a depressed sigh. "...Well that explains everything."