"Hehe."

Allow me to explain just how I am in the current situation before it goes on any further. After our meeting with Bercouli, Eydis and I went out to eat as we have done many times now. Enjoyable time, except...someone got a little too wasted. To preserve her dignity as an Integrity Knight by not walking her to her own tent, I made the decision to take her to mine, forgetting up until now my own dignity. So here I am, a semi-drunk Eydis in a gray and black bra and miniskirt that does absolutely nothing to save my eyes from wandering.

So while I'm trying to calm myself down, Eydis is staring at me. "Do you have to stare at me, Eydis?"

"Ah, are you flustered, Mr. Mage Knight? I thought you were tougher than that?"

And I'm still a slave to the biology of a nineteen-year-old boy. "Hmph. Be lucky I'm not that kind of person."

"Hehe. I'm half-joking...and half-serious, too. I wonder if Alice was to walk in right now, what would she think of you so close to her big sis in such a compromising position."

I frown. "I swear, you are going to make me stab you with my sw… Oh, I hate you. Is this how you're paying me back from earlier?"

Eydis shrugs. "Hmm, maybe. Or maybe it's because… I just don't want to be alone right now." Her smile fades as she drops her head in her arms. "I'm tormented by my past life. All I want to do is remember what Eydis the girl was like before she was Eydis Synthesis Ten."

I shuffle and lay on my back, staring at the top of the tent. "Alice told me Eugeo died with the memories of Alice Zuberg, which means the Pontifex has them on the hundredth floor, right?"

"Yes."

"So once we get up there and end all this, how about we retrieve your memories?"

"Is that possible? But if I get those back… I won't be who I am now."

I turn to her, looking at her eye to eye. "Eydis, do you love being an Integrity Knight?"

Eydis slowly but surely nods. "I know the original purpose is crap now, but the mission to protect the human realm is still important. I don't want to go back on that at all. I may even forget Little Cutie, and I don't want that to happen at all. But still…"

"Maybe there is a way you could see the memories without replacing your current ones. I promise you that if there is a way, I'll act on it."

Eydis is on the verge of tears. "Why? You haven't known me long, you don't owe me anything."

I shrug. "I don't know… You remind me of a witch I know. Pain in the ass, but overall a great friend."

"Oh, so has she ever done this?" Eydis slides closer and effectively cuddles against me. I barely put up a fight against it, too tired to care and...not actually minding it at all.

"No, she has not. But now I wonder if you're drnkingly teasing me or are fully aware of what you're doing."

"Exactly. And you are not trying to remove me either. Either you're too kind to poor old drunken me, or you believe I'm sober and are actually enjoying our close contact. Which is it, Mr. Mage Knight?"

I smile and close my eyes. "Not telling."


The next morning

"Jaymes! Eydis!" As Eydis and I stand outside my tent, Alice approaches in an unusual hurried manner. Thank the goddesses we just exited my abode, or else we might have another problem.

"Good morning, Cutie! Such a wonderful sight to see at sunrise!"

As Alice stops in front of us, she turns her head to both of us. "Wait, why are you two together so early in the morning?"

I immediately start deflecting. "What's the problem with you?"

"Oh! Medina is nowhere to be seen! Have you heard anything?"

I shake my head. "Haven't seen her since we got back and she wasn't feeling well. But why the concern?"

"All of her belongings are gone, as well as the wayfarers she brought to HQ."

Eydis gasps. "Huh? Really? What should we do?"

I shrug. "I mean, I'm not too concerned. But her behavior yesterday was off… Hmm… Let's let her be for a while, maybe she'll come back. If not, we'll start looking."

Alice frowns. "How long is 'a while' to you?"

I mumble something under my breath, in which I recieve Eydis' unarmored elbow to my ribs. "Errr… Fine. let's think on this together. Gather the rest of the group, let's meet at the fountain.


"The commander and Fanatio report no presence of Medina in the capital, but they are increasing patrols and the search radius." Eydis' report is what I expected, but nonetheless still surprising. A force that big would be noticeable no matter what. I look at Alice, believing her distant silence is her believing she might be responsible for Medina's departure.

"Alice, don't blame yourself. If I had caught on to it yesterday, maybe she wouldn't have done this. Yet what has happened has happened, so let's not reflect on the past."

Alice nods. "Okay. But the only way she could have left the capital is Wesdarath. It's the only region discretely accessible within the Everlasting Walls without a dragon."

"So Medina's in Wesdarath," Tiese concludes. "It makes sense, she went with you yesterday, Jaymes, and if there's one Clamp there, others are sure to be present."

"Which explains taking the wayfarers, but all of them?" Sortiliena sits beside me and looks at me. "I don't want to make an accusation without evidence, but we do know an influence on her recent mood."

"The 'Senate Representative' Hersyrian," Alice says. "He might be involved."

Eydis sighs. "I don't like that guy or what he says he is. I'm sure we would know a figure like him, but then again, after having our memories 'reset' a few times… Ugh, that's annoying."

"The fact none of us recall him is strange in of itself."

"Unless we cross him again, which I'm sure of, there's no point to being bothered by him. Although I do have a bad feeling he's somehow connected to this."

"So should we go after Medina," Ronie asks. "I mean...we know where she might be, and we might find Hersyrian at the same time. Two birds, one stone?"

"In the meantime, we can take out beasts and Clamps." Tiese looks at me with hope in her eyes. "I agree with Ronie. We can't sit her while she's out there, and that man may have influenced her into doing something rash. We have to go, Jaymes!"

I sigh and rub my forehead. "You two have spent too much time with that soulless idiot...and so have I. Liena."

Sortiliena nods. "Three birds, one stone. The beasts and Clamps can be taken care of, Medina can be found, and I'm curious about that man as well."

"Alice?"

Alice lowers her head. "If my opinion matters, I'm in agreement with the others. But the decision is ultimately yours."

I shake my head. "That's where you're wrong, Alice. This isn't a matter of who's in charge or not, but our next move as a team. I cannot ask this of Bercouli if even one of you is conflicted about this, plus we just got back from Norlangarth. If we agree, we're not setting out today without more information about the region. None of us are natives, nor do we know the situation in the west. We're pretty much doing this blind, a risk we can't afford. So, as a team, we have to decide on that risk."

Alice seems to understand. "In that case...three birds, one stone. Oh, the hooded man as well. Make it four."

Eydis looks at me and smiles. "You were going to go after her anyway, weren't you? No matter what we said, huh?"

I roll my eyes. "And?"

"You are dumb if you thought you were leaving me behind, nevermind all of us. Taking the burden for yourself is not a good thing, even for someone like you."

"Hey, Kirito," Asuna finally speaks up, "I understand that you want to protect us, really, I do, but you have to understand, we want to protect you just as much. So...stop trying to do everything on your own, okay? We're here."

"Yeah, man," Agil says. "And in case you've gone off and forgotten, no one here is a pushover. In SAO and ALO, we've saved your ass a far few times."

Strea grins. "That's right! I'd go toe-to-toe against a boss all by my lonesome for you if I had too."

"So stop trying to carry the whole damn world on your shoulders and start asking for help...and no, just asking Jaymes is not the answer. You two have done enough."

I guess I am becoming Kirito in some ways. Eydis is right, I made up my mind to find Medina the moment Alice explained the situation, and no matter what the others said, I was going to do it anyway. But that conversation back in Origin reminds me that I do have a team behind me. Not the team I'm used to leading, but one nevertheless. And like back home, I have a very observant right-hand woman. "I would have asked you to join."

"And we'll be in this moment anyway. Now we're all in agreement. Now are we going to get the commander's approval, or just up and leave when we're prepared?"

"In two days. Gives us time to prepare and rest up., no matter what Bercouli says. Besides, I'm not going to let a blue-haired swordsman tell me what to do… So Eydis, Alice, you ask him. Ronie, Tiese, and Liena, let's take a look around the Mildea Plains."

Alice frowns. "Sounds like you just don't want to talk to the commander."

Eydis agrees. "Mhm. And I thought you were tough, Mr. Mage Knight."


Medina, Mildea Plains

"...What's important to me is always my choice... Because someone important once told me to protect others, no matter how I've felt. So I've done that. Besides, that's why I'm here. Kirito is important to me. I owe him and the one he loves more than I could ever repay. And many times… I've put emotions behind my actions, and done things I may not have done if…"

"Her, the one important to you?"

"Yes. I've taken lives, almost did it to someone I consider a friend. I never want to delve into that side of me ever again, but if I must do so to protect what's important to me, I will. So the best way to do that is to keep everyone around me safe."

"How heroic of you," Medina sarcastically comments. "It's embarrassing to listen to, and… I can hardly stand it."

"I agree, but you're the one who asked... Coming from you, that sounds insulting. Does that answer your question, Medina?"

"Yes, it does."

"I've decided to protect what's important to me too, Jaymes."

"My savior, excuse me," Selina calls out. "How far do we have to walk?"

Medina raises her head from looking at the ground to the path before her. "Until we get to where we belong…"


Hidden in the shadows of Wesdarath, Hersyrian watches as Medina leads her army of wayfarers westward. How effective his words were, able to split her from the Integrity Knights and the invader. And if things come to it, he might pit House Orthinanos against its famous ally and friend. It excites him to no end.

"Welcome. Let us begin the opening act, shall we?"