So, here's part two... of three. Yeah, as I was writting this, I discovered that a three-part structure would actually be the most appropriate.
With part one establishing that Akinym and Sinon would go on a quest to tackle Sinon's PTSD, part two will show how that plays out.
Akinym and Sinon were walking down the market street in Celes. They were ignoring all of the shops, though. They only stopped at every turn, looking down the side streets. All the while, neither of them said a word – not until Akinym spotted what they'd been searching for.
Akinym: There. That should be the quest NPC.
Sinon followed Akinym's gaze to a man who was carrying sacks from a cargo cart into a building through a side entrance, which supposedly led to a storage room. This did indeed fit the description they'd got from Argo. Just to be sure, Sinon checked what kind of shop this was.
Sinon: A pharmacy… Yeah, that seems to be the right place.
Akinym: Alright, I'll go and take the quest.
Sinon: Wait! Let me do that!
Akinym [slightly confusedly]: Are you sure? Why are you so adamant about… [seriously] No, let's forget about that. The important thing is that Argo told me how to initiate the quest, so I should be the one to do that.
Sinon [slightly huffily]: All I have to do is to mention the special potions they're holding back, right? I should be able to handle that without problems!
She was right. In the end, this was merely a recently discovered quest to gain access to more potent potions at the local pharmacy, even though that ultimately wasn't what Akinym and Sinon were interested in.
Sinon [seriously]: And more importantly, this quest is my business, isn't it? Since we're here for my sake, I want to take the lead this time.
Akinym wasn't sure how to respond – not that Sinon gave him a chance to, anyway. She briskly walked towards the NPC, and Akinym, who could understand her reasoning, had little choice but to accept it and follow her at a moderate pace.
Meanwhile, the NPC didn't even react to Sinon approaching him – not until she called out to him.
Sinon: Excuse me, we're here because we've heard that your shop has special potions to offer.
NPC: Huh? Some adventurer lass? [grumpily] If it's potions you want, go through the front door like a good customer, and buy them at the counter! I have a clerk for that!
Sinon: Thanks, but if that was what I'm here for, I would've done so on my own. No, we're much more interested in your secret stock.
The NPC, who'd just shouldered the next bag and was about to carry it inside, slowly turned around and looked at Sinon dubiously.
NPC: You sure seem to know a lot for some random adventurer. Fine, I guess there'd be no harm. [grumpily] Seems like we're both out of luck, though. It's a shame… [slightly dejectedly] Now that the goblins and lizardmen don't run amok in the desert anymore, I can finally go out and collect the herbs needed for my special concoctions, [upset] but then, someone else came and ruined that business. Too bad!
Sinon: So you have trouble with a robber? Did I get that right?
NPC [suspiciously]: Oi, what do you know about that, lass? I didn't mention anything about that damn bandit, so you better explain yourself! Either to me or to the city guard – the choice is yours!
Sinon [slightly nervously]: That's…
Akinym [calmly]: There's no need to suspect us of anything. It was just an educated guess. We've got around a lot in the floating castle, and we had to catch more robbers than I could count. With time, you come to expect this sort of thing, that's all.
Both Sinon and the NPC turned towards Akinym, who finally caught up with Sinon and stood directly next to her.
NPC: You two are partners? [calmly] Well, whatever. If that's how it is, then fine!
Sinon felt a strange mix of relief and frustration. Obviously, she was glad that Akinym could resolve the problem she'd run into (although she had rather troubled feelings about the lie Akinym had told to do so as if it was only natural). On the other hand, Sinon had wanted to do this without him in the first place, so it was ultimately more of a let-down.
Well, it couldn't be helped. For now, she could only take things from here.
Sinon: It's as he says. If it's true that you've been robbed, then I'm sure we can track down the thief and get your goods back for you.
NPC: You'd do that? Hm… To be honest, I can't really get the city guard involved, or else my competitors might catch wind of my secret recipe… [slightly frustratedly] and I don't trust them too much, anyway. [seriously] Alright then, if you manage to catch that wretched scoundrel and get those potions back without drawing attention, I wouldn't mind putting you on my list of VIP customers. The timing is just right, too. When I came back earlier, I saw a hooded figure run away from this storage room, and I've noticed that a batch of potions is missing. They went down this street. Just make haste, and don't forget to keep this a secret!
With that, an exclamation mark appeared above the NPCs head, and the accepted quest popped up in Sinon's quest log.
Sinon: Good, we've got the quest, so let's get going!
Without a sliver of hesitation, Sinon marched away. Akinym, on the other hand, did hesitate. He looked after her as she walked towards the next relevant location unwaveringly. He followed her quietly, but only after suppressing a worried sigh.
Within the walls of Celes, there was a certain peculiar area. It was a square-shaped plaza which, at first glance, didn't really stand out: It was paved with rugged white stone plates that fit the clay hut aesthetic of the surrounding buildings, and there was nothing there except for a few patches where palm trees had been planted – a sight that was not at all unusual for an oasis town.
Regardless, there was an anomaly in this part of the city that most players hadn't been able to make any sense of. Despite it being situated deep within the boundaries of the town, this particular area was not a safe zone.
Obviously, there had to be a reason for that, but since monsters didn't spawn naturally in this area, the most common speculation was that this had been designed as a kind of PvP arena, although that theory had proven to be unconvincing.
In the end, said reason was actually fairly simple, and it tied into the agenda Akinym and Sinon had when they went there: This was a quest-related area where special monsters spawned if a party entered it after accepting one of a certain set of quests… which included the one the two of them had taken just before they came here.
At the moment, they stood on the side of the road that led to the plaza from the south. Right in front of them was the border of the safe zone – one more step, and they would trigger the next phase of their quest. Thus, they inspected the area and finalised their strategy.
Sinon: There are quite a few people here. Hm, only NPCs though, as far as I can see.
Akinym: This is covered by Argo-san's intel: Our target will appear once one of us leaves the safe zone here. We'll still have to find the right one, but it's easily recognisable by the cursor. I'll go and look for it, and you stand by here and shoot at it when the time comes.
Sinon [nods]: That'd be the best course of action. [slightly doubtfully] However…
Looking at the mass of people walking around the area, Sinon had her doubts regarding her field of fire. The plaza itself was a perfectly plane, so if they somehow cleared the area, she probably could operate without problems, but even under those circumstances, shooting from an elevated position would be preferable.
Sinon's eyes, trained on finding the ideal sniping spot by now, scanned the surrounding buildings immediately. The houses directly adjacent to the plaza also didn't count as a safe zone, so she could take position there.
Sinon: If I could somehow get onto the rooftop of one of these houses…
Going by experience, Akinym easily caught on to Sinon's thought process, and he considered her idea.
Akinym: They're not high, so I bet I could give you a leg-up and lift you up there… [slightly worriedly] but… No, that wouldn't be a good idea. I don't know exactly what this monster is capable of, so it might be able to climb or jump onto these structures. If that happens, I'll need an easy way to get up there myself. Normally, I could use Acrobatics, but I might need the skill while fighting our target.
Sinon acknowledged Akinym's concerns with a nod, and without another word, the two of them went through the network of small alleys between the simplistic buildings in search of a suitable place for Sinon to take position at. It didn't take them long to find one house with a staircase on its side, leading to the rooftop.
They confirmed with each other that this would do, and without a single other word, they got into action. As Sinon climbed said staircase, Akinym entered the plaza to begin his search for the bandit they were after.
Or rather, he was about to, but he briefly stopped in his tracks and turned towards Sinon again.
Akinym: Before I forget it, there's one more thing I wanna clarify: If there's a problem, and you find yourself unable to shoot at this monster after all…
Sinon [annoyed, determinedly]: There won't be any problem! We're here to break through that kind of problem, aren't we?! Even if I hesitate, I only have to gather my resolve to…
Akinym [very upset]: You will do no such thing! [sternly] Listen, I've said this before, and I guess I'll say it again: If you have to force yourself to go through with this, then it completely defeats the purpose! Therefore, if this turns out to be too much, we'll abort this quest instantly!
Sinon: But there's…
Akinym: This isn't the only thing we can try! There are other quests Argo-san has notified me of! So I want you to remember that there's neither a need nor a point to brute-force your way through this!
As if to allow no further objections, Akinym turned his back to Sinon and went on his way. Sinon, in turn, clenched her hand around her bow. She had her own opinion on this matter, but there was no point voicing it to someone who wasn't within earshot anymore. Instead, she'd let the result of this battle speak for itself – as this had been what truly mattered from the very beginning.
Meanwhile, Akinym entered the plaza, where he promptly began his "investigation".
There was little to go off on, given that they were after a supposed criminal who was trying to blend in with the crowd. Akinym knew from Argo's report that the first party to clear this quest hadn't even known where exactly to look for this thief in the first place, and they had stumbled upon him here purely coincidentally. On the bright side, this meant that knowing anything about "where to look for what" was already an immense step forward.
To be fair, it was an easy task, albeit a tedious one. Akinym only had to focus on each and ever single NPC around him one-by-one. As he did so, the usual cursor appeared above their heads. If it was a regular yellow NPC cursor, he'd continue with the next one. What he was actually looking for was…
Akinym: ...a red cursor. So that's the one, huh?
It had taken him about five minutes, and in the middle of the flood of people who all looked about the same, he might've checked the same NPC again and again more than once, but there was the red monster cursor he was after, hovering above a cloaked figure that otherwise didn't stand out in this crowd.
Before he did anything else, Akinym turned slightly to look over his shoulder at Sinon, who'd been watching him from her position in the distance. Akinym pointed his spear at the thief and gave her a sequence of two hand signs. Their meaning was simple: Our target – that's him. Sinon quickly went over the group of people Akinym pointed towards, and with him narrowing down where to look, it took her only a second to lock onto their target, too.
With that taken care of, there was only one more step left for the battle to commence. Akinym weaved through the crowd towards his target, and once he was within reach, he readied his spear. The cloaked figure walked between several others, and Akinym had to avoid hitting neutral NPCs (which could've had unpredictable consequences), so he opted to begin the battle with a Sword Skill.
Thus, he bent his body forward and lifted his spear so that the shaft was parallel to his body with the tip pointing slightly upward. The spear lit up in a brilliant blue, and as if this was setting off an alarm, the surrounding NPCs got into a frenzied panic. The first ones began to scream and back away in an instant, and the group around the thief Akinym and Sinon were after was no exception. Said thief, in particular, tried to run immediately, but since the person next to him had yet to react and make a run for it, he simply bumped into them and didn't get one inch away from Akinym.
And Akinym wouldn't give him another chance to flee. With the Sword Skill unleashed, he leapt towards the thief.
Akinym: We didn't come here for nothing, so forget about me letting you get away!
He rammed his spear into his target's cloak from above in a crescent arc. It appeared to be designed to be fairly sturdy, given how Akinym's strike hardly pierced the piece of cloth. It did, however, push the human-shaped monster away with great force, and the impact sent it tumbling to the floor.
That way, Akinym could recover from the post-motion delay without having to worry about a counterattack. That, however, wasn't the only thing he had to concern himself with at this point. Not all NPCs around them were fleeing. One of them grabbed Akinym by the arm.
NPC Passerby: What are you doing?! You travelling adventurers have no right to just attack citizens!
Thief: Yeah! What are you even attacking me for when I'm only passing through here like everyone else?!
Some other NPCs showed signs of hostility, but that wasn't worrying. Akinym had detailed information on this quest, after all, so this situation had been prepared for.
Akinym: Ask the apothecary in the business district! He wants his potions back! You know the ones I'm talking about, don't you?
Thief: What?! How are… I mean, I have nothing to do with any potions from such a shop!
NPC Passerby: This doesn't really prove… [slightly doubtfully] But come to think of it, this man smelled a bit like herbs. [sternly] No, we should take this case to the guards!
Akinym: How about checking if he carries some of these potions he allegedly doesn't have? It'd save us the trouble, and I'm pretty sure he won't let something so valuable and practical lie around.
NPC Passerby: If you're willing to be held accountable for that claim, then fine!
Thief: Stop screwing with me! Hey, you two, stay the hell away!
The thief glared at two more NPCs who were approaching him from behind. Undoubtedly, they wanted to conduct a body search right then and there.
So far, everything had followed the script Akinym had been told about, so he also knew what would come next. Therefore, he shook off the hand on his arm and took a step towards the thief – just as that cornered man pulled something out from his left sleeve.
Thief: Damn you! If you want what I have on my person, why don't you take this!?
The thief swung his right arm at the NPC that approached him from the left. Said NPC pulled back the hand that had reached for the thief's shoulder, but not in time: That man yelped in shock as his arm was cut by a dagger with a long, thin, undulated blade.
At first, the thief was about to turn to the man on his other side, who was already backing away. He did, however, not have the time to attack this other NPC too, since Akinym was thrusting his spear at him, so the thief had to deflect the piercing blade that was hastily aimed at his left arm.
Akinym: The rest of you should get out of here, you'd only get in my way!
The remaining NPCs took a hint, and the only ones who remained in the middle of the plaza were Akinym and the thief he was hunting. For a moment, they measured each other up, but they quickly switched to exchanging blows rather than glares.
This thief was designed as a highly agile monster, so a high-speed battle ensued… which wasn't particularly challenging for Akinym. Compared to his regular sparring partner, Asuna, this monster felt downright sluggish, and its combat patterns were so simple that Akinym could easily let his experience guide him through this battle – but the course of the duel speaks for itself.
Akinym took a step forward and pulled his spear, which he held on his right side, back slightly to prepare for a thrust. The thief reacted by leaping to the right just as Akinym was moving his weapon forward. That thrust would hit nothing but the air where the thief had stood, while he could land and then charge at Akinym from his unguarded left side.
Too bad for him, however, that this trick had been exactly what Akinym had been prepared for. The spear thrust had been nothing but a ruse to provoke his enemy to dodge and counterattack in such an obvious fashion. Instead of thrusting his spear at full force, Akinym only pushed it forward slightly, and he stopped as soon as the thief pushed himself off the ground. After that, Akinym paused a moment to let his foe go for the counterattack without raising suspicion. Then, he spun around, shifting his spear so that he was holding it vertically, and he brushed the thief's right arm, which he swung horizontally at Akinym, aside with ease. As it was now the monster that stumbled into the empty air, Akinym swung his spear down, and its blade grazed the thief's back – which marked the end of this manoeuvre.
The thief swung his dagger in a manner emulating the Sword Skill V-Scratch. That is, he swung it down, aiming slightly to the left, and then pulled it up again at the same angle, going even further to the left. Akinym knew that attack by that point, given how he had dodged the first strike of this combo to the side earlier, only to jump directly into the way of the second one, which he had to block. This time, he shifted his weight to the right as if he wanted to dodge like before, only to readjust his stance at the last moment and jump back instead.
The thief's attack obviously missed, but on top of that, he couldn't react to the unexpected movement – not before Akinym immediately followed up with a thrust of his spear. This counterattack inflicted a shallow cut on the thief's exposed right shoulder – yet another exchange of blows ending with a point scored by Akinym.
At another point, Akinym caught the thief's right shoulder between the two blades that the head of his spear consisted of. He yanked his weapon diagonally upward to push his opponent away, and he continued to swing it around until he held the shaft horizontally, intending to follow up with Horizontal Slash before his enemy could regain his balance. Unfortunately for him, the thief regained his footing immediately, and as quickly as he'd been forced to take a step back, he took a step forward and swung his uplifted right arm downward.
With barely any time to react, Akinym ducked down and rushed forward, and he slipped under the thief's arm just as he brought it down. His foe's dagger only left a mere scratch on the back of Akinym's shoulder. At the same time, Akinym spun his spear around until the tip pointed backwards, and he turned it in his hands until the blade that protruded laterally from the spearhead pointed (from his perspective) to the left. That way, this blade slashed the thief's side in passing as he kept running.
The flow of the duel was like this, with these or similar rounds taking place one after another. Akinym was in no real danger, but it wasn't easy either. Keeping aside that most of his attacks barely scraped the thief's arms or shoulders – frankly, Akinym cut up his enemy's cloak more than his body – there was also the fact that Akinym had to deal with a battle AI which adapted to all of his tricks immediately, so none of them worked twice in a row. If he made a feint, the next time he'd have to feint that feint, and then he'd feint feinting the feint – and so on. Granted, he could've confused the AI enough by switching between just two variants, but in the heat of the battle, Akinym didn't go for that option.
In any case, Akinym's struggles in this fight weren't even the major issue. It wasn't Akinym who was supposed to defeat this monster. During a moment when the thief retreated further away from him, Akinym threw a sidelong glance towards the building where the person whose job that was should be. He caught a glimpse of her standing at the edge of the rooftop, so Sinon was definitely ready, but she hadn't made any move yet. Considering the frantic back and forth so far, this wasn't too surprising. Thus, Akinym told himself that she was merely waiting for the right opportunity.
Well, maybe "tried to fool himself" would be a better way to put it…
Be that as it may, Akinym pointed his spear at the thief, deciding that he'd try to keep his opponent locked in one place to the best of his ability from now on. Ironically, he didn't have to do anything to that end at the moment. The thief had yet to make his next move – he was just staring at Akinym.
Thief: Damn you adventurers! Why do you have to be so persistent? You really aren't the only ones who need this medicine, you know? Ugh, but you are no pushovers, I'll give you that. Figures, given how you keep climbing the Celestial Towers…
With this complaint off his chest, the thief tensed his body and bent forward. Akinym got ready just as the thief dashed at him for his next attack. He hastily attempted to stop the approaching enemy with a spear thrust, but that counterattack was deflected with an unexpectedly forceful swing of the thief's dagger, which clashed with Akinym's spearhead in the very nick of time. This defensive movement was so vigorous that the thief couldn't pull his arm around for his own attack right away, though. This presented another opportunity to Akinym, who shifted the shaft of his spear in his hands, held it vertically in front of himself and prepared to block the thief's right arm when he'd inevitably swing it around again to attack Akinym.
Or so he thought. The next surprise came at that moment. Akinym barely noticed out of the corners of his eyes that the thief jumped up, bent his legs and let the lower half of his body swing forward while he was pulling the upper half back. Akinym only had enough time to reflexively activate Parry. The system assistant let him twirl his spear around so that it perfectly blocked the thief's kick.
Still, the thief came flying straight at Akinym, and his weight caused Akinym to slide backwards until his spear had fully absorbed the impact. At that point, the thief pushed himself off the shaft as if it was a springboard. He spun around mid-air and landed approximately where he'd started, only with his back to Akinym this time. Meanwhile, Akinym lost his balance and stumbled two steps backwards before coming to a halt.
He pointed his spear at his opponent as soon as he'd fully regained his balance, but it was clear that his foe had caught Akinym off-guard – and not just because of the earlier surprise. Now, Akinym was astonished to see his opponent sprinting away from him instead of turning around to face him. It was only after Akinym had taken a look where the thief was running that he realized what was going on, and he gritted his teeth while starting to run after his target.
Akinym dashed forward, using Acrobatics to bolster his speed. This allowed him to reach his top speed practically instantly, and with that, he barely managed to close the initial gap between the pursuer and the pursued. Just before he could reach the alley leading into the safety of the city where he was headed, the thief had to jump to the side to dodge an attack from Akinym. The latter kept running until he stood directly in front of the exit of the plaza, so he thoroughly blocked the thief's route of escape.
Another brief stand-off ensued. While the thief's AI had to come up with an idea how to shake off Akinym, he, in turn, took another glance at Sinon's sniper's nest. For some reason, she still didn't shoot at the their target, even though this was the perfect opportunity.
It was a worry Akinym kept in his mind as he turned towards the thief again. Things had become a bit more complicated now that this key piece was trying to flee. If the thief reached the safe zone, the quest would fail. Therefore, Akinym had to keep him away from all of the streets leading away from the plaza – on top of continuing their fight.
Fortunately, Akinym had an idea how he could kill these two birds with one stone… and hit the wing of a third one, while he was at it.
First of all, he briefly took his hand holding the back end of his spear off of it in order to give Sinon a hand signal. He moved his index finger forward in some kind of wriggling motion, and then, he wrapped his thumb and middle finger around it.
With that out of the way, he set his plan into motion. The first step was to attack the enemy. Akinym thrust his spear at the thief, aiming quite low. It was a particularly halfhearted attack, as its only real purpose was to leave Akinym as exposed to high-aimed counters as possible. Naturally, his opponent took Akinym's invitation. After easily evading the sloppy spear thrust, the thief closed in on him and swung his dagger sweepingly at him from above.
Right at the point of no return, Akinym let go of spear and swiftly grabbed the thief's right wrist and upper arm. At the same time, he put all of his strength into rolling sideways, intent on pulling the thief with him. Carried by that motion and his own forward momentum, the thief was slammed onto the ground.
Akinym fell on top of his opponent, but he got up as quickly as possible – while the thief kept lying on the ground for another moment since the AI controlling him had yet to catch up to the unexpected development. This pause gave Akinym the time to wrest the thief's dagger from his hand (although he dropped it in the process and ignored it thereafter), and he twisted the thief's right arm and put one foot onto his right shoulder, pressing it against his collarbone.
Now, the thief could neither fight back nor escape. With that done, Akinym looked at Sinon in the distance again. This time, he could take a clear look at her: She had definitely nocked an arrow, and from the looks of it, she could've fired at any second… but…
Akinym [mutters]: Dammit, what are you waiting for?!
If there was a truly perfect opportunity for Sinon to shoot at the thief, this was it: For the time being, her target was locked in place, and she had a free field of fire. Akinym and the thief were maybe about thirty metres away from her position. Akinym knew that she'd done more difficult shots before, and as long as she didn't aim at the thief's head or right arm/shoulder, there was no real risk of hitting Akinym instead of him.
That wouldn't last forever, of course. The thief began to struggle against Akinym's hold. For the moment, Akinym managed to restrain him, but he mentally urged Sinon to get this over with.
Let's go back a few minutes, back to the moment when Sinon had just reached her position on top of a building. Once she stood at the edge of the rooftop, Sinon surveyed the area. It was indeed a good spot for her. From here, she should be able to target just about anything within the plaza, at least as soon as the masses of NPCs were gone. She estimated that the far corner of the plaza was outside of her effective shooting range – at least for her Sword Skills – but Sinon also knew that Akinym wouldn't let their target get there for that exact reason.
Speaking of Akinym, Sinon began searching for him in the crowd. Thankfully, his attire made him stand out, so he was easy to find. Sinon followed him with her eyes as he was skimming through the crowd. Then, he suddenly halted, and after a moment, Akinym pointed his spear at a nearby loose group of passersby. He gave Sinon two hand signals: Our target – that's him. Following that, Sinon checked every NPC in the direction that Akinym had pointed at until she found one with a red monster cursor.
So the time had come… Sinon confirmed that she'd found the thief with a nod, and she tightened her grip around Ullr, her bow. Well, it'd still take some time before it was her turn. For now, Akinym confronted their target and made the crowd of NPCs disperse. Sinon watched the ensuing duel between Akinym and the thief, waiting for her partner to create an opening for her.
However, that whole time, Sinon felt an almost unbearable urge to jump into action. Well, or rather than that, she simply wanted to join the battle so that Akinym's words would stop echoing inside her head. "If there'll be any problem, abort the battle," he'd said. "There's neither a need nor a point to forcing yourself," he'd said.
Trying to force these words out of her head, Sinon activated Arrow Generation to prepare a batch of arrows, tucking all but one arrow under her belt before nocking the one she was still holding in her hand.
All seemed well until the moment she took aim at the thief. Due to the frantic back-and-forth fighting between her partner and her target, Sinon couldn't fire just yet, but it wouldn't have changed a thing if both of them stood still. As soon as Sinon aimed at the human figure, she was overcome by a bout of nausea, coupled with an impulse to flee. Furthermore, her entire arm cramped up as if to refuse to let go of her arrow.
Her head repeated Akinym's words, "If you find yourself unable to shoot, just run away!" Sinon shook her head in a desperate attempt to get these thoughts out, but it didn't help. The voice of her memory continued, "There's neither a need nor a point to doing this."
Sinon: Shut up! It'd be pointless to continue from this point on? No, what would be pointless is coming here in the first place if I ran away at the first sign of hesitation. In that case, it would've been clear from the beginning that I would turn tail and run.
Sinon tried her best to calm herself. She told herself that she was here to overcome what was holding her back. Then, the thief managed to slash Akinym's left shoulder – one of the very few hits he managed to score in this fight – and Sinon's mind latched on to that.
Sinon: Get a grip! That's right… Remember that you're here not just to fight your past – you're also Akinym's partner in this battle. Yes, you're here to protect him!
As she thought that, her arm loosened up, and her clouded mind became clear again – and just in time, it seemed: Akinym had just knocked back the thief with his spear, and their enemy was now tumbling away from Akinym. If Sinon aimed slightly behind the thief, she would certainly hit him. She instinctively gauged where the thief would be when her arrow would reach him when fired now. Sinon swiftly aimed at that spot, and she was about to release her arrow…
...when everything became much worse. With her determination to protect someone, Sinon had indeed kicked down a door, but from behind that opened pathway, a pesky voice emerged. "'Protect him,' you say? You mean like the last time?" it mocked her. Sinon's whole body instantly froze.
Sinon: No, don't get so worked up! This isn't like… No, don't even think of it! Don't think of that time. Don't think of it. Don't think of it. Don't. Don't! Just don't!
Her body didn't respond, but that voice inside her did, "Who am you kidding when you can't even call 'that time' by its name? You know you can't repeat what you did!" Sinon, in turn, told that voice to "zip it", and she turned her attention to the battle again.
By now, the previous chance had passed, of course, but another one had appeared. For once, the thief was standing still, so Sinon gathered her resolve and took aim again.
Sinon: So what if he's a robber? What if he's armed? What if he wants to harm someone I want to protect?
"So… 'What if it's so much like back then that it's ludicrous?' you mean?" the voice clarified, "Admit it: If that guy had a gun, or the man from that time had had a knife, there'd be no more difference, and you know the only reason why this one only has a dagger is that guns simply aren't a thing here. Heh, good for you, isn't it? If he had that gun, you'd already be crying on the floor!"
It had almost reached the point where Sinon couldn't take it anymore. She wished that her doubts would shut up just long enough for her to finish this… or that her target wouldn't sway back and forth so much. It took Sinon a moment to realise that the thief was actually still standing unmovingly. It only looked as if he was moving around because she judged his "movements" relative to the tip of her arrow.
What happened first? Was it her arrow disappearing, or that the thief resumed moving for real? Sinon's hazy mind couldn't determine the answer, nor did it matter to her. She was frustrated that she'd hesitated so much that her arrows had expired, but that was but a minor setback. The cooldown of Arrow Generation was also over, so she simply got the next batch of arrows and prepared for her shot like last time.
By the time she was ready, she saw that the thief was running away from Akinym. Sinon immediately raised her bow and followed her target with her arrow. Normally, she would've been estimating how far in front of it she'd have to aim in order to hit the moving target, but this time, her eyes were glued to the face of the robber, which appeared behind the fluttering hood of his black cloak. It was much paler than she'd expected, and… had he had this deranged look on his face the whole time?
No, more importantly… a black cloak? Wasn't it light brown? Granted, Sinon thought that she was catching a glimpse of an orange jersey underneath… No, that was even more absurd! Sinon pressed her eyes shut for a moment before taking another, much more focused look at the fleeing robb… no, thief. Indeed, his cloak had a rather bright colour, and there was also no more trace of the disturbing face she'd seen a moment ago.
While Sinon had kept herself busy with such thoughts, Akinym had caught up to the thief, and he prevented him from escaping. After that, the two of them continued to stare each other down motionlessly, and Sinon figured that this was a good opportunity to take aim again. This time, however, her arms felt stiff and heavy, and she hardly managed to move them closer to the pre… to the opponent she had to defeat.
During all of this, she barely noticed that Akinym gave her more hand signals. She'd pretty much missed all but the last one, but she did see him wrap the thumb and the middle finger of his hand around the index finger. Although the gears were turning slowly this time, she remembered the meaning of this gesture: Akinym was going to incapacitate their foe. Sinon was in such a daze that she almost missed him doing that, and she only registered the last part, namely how Akinym held the thief in place – with some kind of judo hold, Sinon presumed.
She raised her bow in a manner that looked calmer than it was, but even that didn't last. As soon as she'd aimed her arrow at the lying thief, her hands began to shake again. When the thief started to try shaking Akinym off, her own issues began to frustrate Sinon, who felt a golden opportunity slip through her fingers.
For that reason, she decided to take it one step further: She shifted her feet and her upper body into the starting stance for Milion Howling. Focusing on the Sword Skill took her mind off her gloomy thoughts, and even while charging said Sword Skill, Sinon took aim at the thief's chest professionally as usual.
Akinym had already whittled their opponent's HP down somewhat, and Milion Howling was a powerful attack, a critical hit from which should be enough to end this battle.
Sinon: You're finished…
She was about to release the arrow… when that voice assailed her again, "Yeah, and if Asuna asks what we've been doing today, you can tell her how you killed another complete stranger."
Sinon's whole body tensed up again in a heartbeat. It was actually worse than anything up until this point. With Milion Howling fully charged, Sinon only had to put her mind into unleashing the Sword Skill, and the system assistant would've done the rest, but now, Sinon couldn't do that. The only thing she could think of was what kind of face Asuna or the others would make if they could see her now. The horrified, all-too-familiar look in the eyes of a certain woman presented itself as a reference.
This state continued for a few seconds. It wouldn't have taken much longer for the Sword Skill to be cancelled due to a timeout. However, the situation took another turn when the thief managed to swing his legs around and kick Akinym in the chest. Akinym was pushed away and lost his grip on the thief, who, now that he'd finally broken free, immediately picked up his dagger from the ground.
Seeing this, Sinon sensed that Akinym was about to be attacked. With that, her battle instinct took over, and it told her that she had to protect Akinym. That previously missing determination triggered the system assistant to fire her arrow.
There was one thing she was wrong about, though: The thief didn't attack Akinym. On the contrary, he rolled sideways to get away from Akinym as soon as he'd retrieved his weapon. The consequence of this was that Sinon's arrow only hit the ground.
The great impact force of Milion Howling kicked up a dust cloud, which separated Akinym and the thief. On one side, Akinym took a defensive stance as a precaution against a surprise attack through the whirling sand. Sinon kept observing the thief on the other side… and she felt a bad premonition when he turned into her direction. The only thing her shot had achieved was to make the target aware of her presence. No, worse than that, it drew her enemy's attention…
...and said enemy took off and came rushing straight towards her. Sinon frantically reached for her next arrow, pulled it out from her belt and nocked it. By the time she was ready, the thief had almost reached her – he was dangerously close. Still in defense mode, Sinon ran to the middle of the rooftop and got ready to use her simplest Sword Skill, preparing to use it against the thief the moment he'd appear.
Meanwhile, the thief reached the walls of the building Sinon was standing on. He didn't walk around to use the stairs. Instead, without hesitation, he jumped onto the wall, grabbed the edge of the roof firmly with both hands, pushed himself off with his feet and swung his body around, landing on the rooftop.
Sinon was momentarily stunned when she saw her opponent catch up to her so acrobatically. That said, it took her instincts only a brief moment to regain control, and she was about to stop this threat with her Sword Skill before he could take another step towards her – no, before he'd even touched the ground again.
Then, the thief's face came into view. In reality, he'd fixed his gaze full of determination to fight for his life on Sinon. In Sinon's vision, that wasn't all. To her, the thief's expression looked crazed, his skin appeared awfully pale again, and saliva was dropping from the corners of his mouth. It was the face of a madman – a familiar madman.
Sinon's body froze – completely and instantly. The thief landed without hindrance, and he dashed at Sinon without a sliver of hesitation and with his dagger raised. At that point, Sinon's survival instinct took over, and she finally fired her arrow. It hit the thief directly in the face… only to bounce off without leaving even a scratch. He'd simply gotten too close – closer than Ullr's Minimum Range. In this situation, it'd done more damage to Sinon, whose mind reached its breaking point upon seeing her projectile touch the ghostly figure's forehead.
The gears resumed turning only after the thief attacked her. He slapped her bow out of her hands before digging his dagger into her chest. Well, the second part didn't really work since Sinon's breastplate was in the way, so the blade only left a shallow stab wound before slipping off. Sinon took this chance to run – without any destination in mind. She just randomly turned right and ran.
Her speed was nowhere near her pursuer's, though. The thief caught up to her in the blink of an eye, and he grabbed her left arm to keep her from escaping. To Sinon, it felt as if a vengeful spirit held her in his grasp, and when she turned around, only to see the thief swinging his dagger at her again, she immediately raised her free right arm to shield herself. Thanks to that, the weapon pierced her arm instead of her throat.
Sinon tried to struggle free, but her frantic efforts amounted to little. The thief kneed her in the stomach, and when she gasped and stumbled backwards, it was the thief who let her go willingly, only to slap her with his left arm, so that Sinon lost her already fragile balance and fell. She tried to crawl away, but needless to say, she didn't get far before the thief grabbed her head and lifted her up slightly.
Thief: I'm gonna get rid of at least one of you pesky adventurers!
At this point, the thief's whole appearance had, in Sinon's vision, transformed into the figure she'd seen earlier. Even his cloak now appeared to her as a black jacket of a completely different shape. With this spectre looming over her, she'd hear him say something completely different, namely, "I'm finally gonna take you with me!" And that right before ramming his dagger into her throat.
Sinon let out a terrified scream and started to kick and punch and shove the man holding her.
Sinon: No, NOOO! Get off me! I don't want you here! GO AWAY!
Alas, her panicked struggle showed no results… and her HP went down and down, through the yellow zone and into the red…
After Sinon's Milion Howling had hit the ground, Akinym backed away from the dust cloud that obstructed his vision. It was simply his instinct to keep his guard up until he could see his nimble adversary again. The dust should settle soon, and until then, he'd observe the area in front of him carefully so as not to get taken by surprise if the thief decided to suddenly rush through that dust cloud.
Then, a thought occurred to him: While he hadn't seen it clearly, he figured that it must've been a shot from Sinon that had kicked up all this dirt, and if that was the case, their enemy had certainly noticed her by now. This was bad because Sinon couldn't catch him unawares anymore, but there was something else. With a bad premonition, Akinym looked away from the dust cloud in front of him and towards Sinon.
Sure enough, he saw the thief sprinting straight towards her.
Akinym: Shit!
Without hesitation, he went after their enemy, but the thief had a considerable head start, and Akinym's Acrobatics was still on cooldown. There was no way he'd catch up in time, and Akinym knew that. It became even more obvious when the thief "climbed" onto the rooftop like some sort of trapezist. Therefore, Akinym ran towards the staircase leading up there as fast as he could.
On the pathway next to the staircase, Akinym noticed a particularly large gap in the cobblestone pavement. An idea popped into his head, and with his limited time, Akinym simply went for it: He rammed his spear into that gap as he reached it, and then, he used his weapon as if it was a mixture of a high jump pole and a (vertical) gymnastics bar. That is, he jumped and, carried by the speed he'd built up, let his body swing around the shaft.
One problem was that the hole Akinym used to fix his spear in place was actually too big, and his spear stuck in it only loosely, so it was dislodged again by his acrobatic act. Akinym had to let go of the shaft earlier than initially planned, and he crashed into the wall on the side of the stairs rather than landing on them as he had intended. It was a rough landing, and he had to pull himself up, but he'd managed to get halfway up the staircase very quickly this way.
Now, he hurried the rest of the way, half on his feet, half on his hands. When he reached the top, he immediately spotted the thief towering over Sinon on the other side of the rooftop, so Akinym rushed towards them.
The thief noticed the presence behind him. Turning his attention away from Sinon, he stood up and turned around. Since the building was rather small, Akinym could cross the distance from one side to the other in the blink of an eye, so the thief had barely enough time to swing his arm around in an attempt to slash or stab Akinym with the dagger in his hand… and it didn't even work. Akinym caught the thief's right arm by the wrist and tackled him with enough force to push the thief off the rooftop.
Akinym almost fell down after him, but he managed to keep his balance on the very edge of the roof. Now, he warily watched his fallen enemy as he got up and glared at Akinym and Sinon at their elevated position. There was a chance that he might've continued the fight, and Akinym only turned his eyes away from the thief when he ran down the alleyway and into the city.
The quest had failed… but that wasn't important. At the moment, Akinym's only concern was Sinon, so he knelt down and reached for her shoulder.
Akinym: Hey, are you…
His hand was briskly swatted away. At the same time, Sinon crawled away from Akinym. She even kicked at him.
Sinon: No, get away from me!
Akinym: Stop panicking, it's me! So, cal…
He fell silent upon taking a closer look at Sinon. She was ghostly pale, and the deep hit mark on her throat made Akinym take a look at her HP bar. There wasn't much left of it – certainly less than ten percent. It took Sinon another few seconds to recognise Akinym, and it was only after that point that Akinym could get through to her.
And in the meantime, Akinym was wondering what he should say. Well, what he wanted was to berate her for not calling it quits if she was going to end up like this – as he had told her to. However… Seeing the wreck Sinon had turned into, even Akinym didn't have it in him to bring that up, and with nothing helpful coming to his mind, he remained silent.
The only thing left was the thought just how horribly this plan of his had gone awry.
So, regarding the question from the beginning (how "Plan Exposure Therapy" would play out), the answer is that it turned into an utter catastrophe - and that's basically what part two is all about.
We're not done yet, though. I'll see you in part three for the conclusion of these events.