War For Underworld

When They Last Saw Each Other

Jaymes

The girls and I appear outside the village, next to the stump of the formerly uncuttable Gigas Cedar (guess which showoff cut it) and face the northern direction. Rulid Village is just down the hill, and the place has expanded in the years since Kirito and Eugeo left here. The last time I was in the area was before my departure to the dark realm, when Kirito reanimated the Northern Dragon, but in Rulid specifically was when the ACTF investigated the presence of Clamps and missing children in the northern kingdom. There, Alice reunited with her sister Selka Zuberg.

Almost two years later, Medina and I return to another crisis, this time without Alice, Eydis, or my team from the ACTF days. Our only leads are that this is the epicenter of the epidemic and Selka knows how to cure it.

It has only been minutes since I had my conversation with Ilia, and her questions about my feelings for Medina still conflict me. I don't know which parts are true or false except for two statements: I still choose Eydis, and I will prioritize Medina and Ilia's safety if we come into a fight with Eydis.

Medina leads the walk to the village, so as we make our way, I think on the last time I saw the Knight of the Abyss, six months and a few days before I left for the Dark Territory...

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Six months ago...

Eydis sighs as her towel-wrapped body soaks in one of the hot baths of the 90th floor of the Central Cathedral. She hasn't had time to make her way up here in weeks, being swamped with assignments by Knight Commander Fanatio and the seven-month old Unification Council. However, she managed to sneak some time in for herself, letting the world's newest troubles be handled by those who want to manage it.

In other words, not her. Not right now.

With no one else around, she has the floor literally to herself. She's no stranger to that, nor is she a stranger to company. During the regime of Administrator, the baths were timed separately between males and females, so Eydis would meet other lady Integrity Knights here or be alone. Once, she mixed the days up, and found herself hiding from the first Knight Commander, Bercouli. She entertained the idea of mixed baths, but the sight of Eldrie Synthesis Thirty-One's presence alongside Alice Synthesis Thirty quickly killed that idea. Of course, with both males casualties of the war with the Dark Territory and Alice vanishing to another world, Eydis somewhat wishes for that former dream.

Nowadays, she has her wish, the baths are "come as you please", though generally the sexes still separate, either entirely or reside in different pools. Only if a mixed group comes together do they share a pool, and for Eydis, she takes full advantage of it--and knowing how many other lovebirds are present at the cathedral, she knows she's not the only one. There's not many private places in the cathedral, and the most private places are officially inaccessible as Asuna constructed a barricade leading to the uppermost five floors...unless you have the fantastic ability to warp yourself there from anywhere, anytime, and remain undetected. But no one goes beyond the 95th Floor these days, not even him who can.

So with no one else around, with no work to do, and no will to go looking for it, Eydis sighs and lets her worries and thoughts slip away...except one. "Being able to swim around in such a large bath all to myself is such a nice perk. Then again, I'm not a child, so I don't do that anymore, but..." Eydis looks around and waits for about a minute, just in case someone, especially him, decides to appear. But no one arrives, so she partially climbs the pool wall. "All right, Eydis... Hopefully no one comes by. Ha!"

As she swims across the pool, Eydis has mortifying thoughts about if she was discovered. If Alice was still in this world, this would be embarrassing. If Linel and Fizel sees this, it would be humiliating for those kids to see her acting like this. If any other knight (full-fledged or trainee) came by, Eydis would sink to the bottom of the pool. And if the Swordsman Delegate she loves just so happened to come her way...