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In the virtual world of Alfheim Online, a small group of friends flew by a Grassland Area near the Sylph's territory. A Spriggan and Undine that were known as Kirito and Asuna who were also SAO Survivors. A tiny little fairy girl sitting in the Spriggan's coat pocket, she happened to be an AI program from the game that trapped ten thousand players. She ended up becoming the Daughter of Kirito, she was known as a Mental Health Counselling Program 001, or just Yui. Right behind them was another AI, a Mental Health Counselling Program, Strea, and she was apart of the Genome race. She was a lot more... affectionate to Kirito than either Yui or anyone else has ever been in recent times. With the family was Kirito's little sister, or really his little cousin, who was known Leafa in Alfheim Online or Suguha in the real world. Leafa was a part of a race that was known as Sylphs. Right next to her was another Spriggan who is another SAO survivor who went by Philia, or Takemiya Kotone in the real world. Leafa was quite happy since they were heading out on a Quest. It seemed to involved a helping taking out these monsters that have been causing a stir in the area and she was supposed to get some rare item."Kirito..." Asuna said."Yes?""I'm... still a little worried about Rin. You said that she was with you when you first started, right?""Yeah, she said that she was going to help... but, we never met up. I tried to talk to her outside the game, but she never responded. I wonder what's wrong?""I'm worried about her too," Philia said as she slowed down enough to be next to Kirito and Asuna."We know. You liked her, didn't you?" Asuna said with a smile though it looked like she didn't like that fact but nobody noticed since she was able to hide it. Philia looked away to try and hide the small blush on her face."Strea? You said that you look for her when we're not playing, right?" Asuna said she flew a little closer to Strea who seemed a little annoyed for some reason."Yep! But it hasn't been so successful." Strea said, as she snapped out of her partial bad mood and answered Asuna."Don't worry! I'm sure we'll find her eventually." Yui said as she tried to reassure Asuna.The sound of metal clanging against each other rang throughout the forest and they couldn't exactly tell where it was coming from since it seemed to echo from everywhere. They all slowed down to listened in on the sounds, but Kirito was able to quickly realize what that sound was. He knew someone was battling something or somebody in the nearby area. Around the area they were in a player came flying out of the forest and it seemed like he was knocked into the air by something. Kirito noticed that he was another Sylph just like Leafa and he had multiple red marks on his body. Out of the trees, another player came flying at him with their sword ready to stab the player. The mysterious player stabbed the Sylph draining the remaining bit of his HP until he died and burst into green flames. Kirito noticed the player was a messy short purple haired Imp, a little shorter than Asuna's height and that she was a female player who has a slender build with a bunch of red slash marks on her body. She wore a fancy purple open jacket with small fur on the collar of the jacket and single purple armour rest on her right shoulder. Under the Player's jacket was a purple breastplate in the standard style of an Imp player. Underneath the breastplate was a dark purple shirt. Around her waist was a purple and gold cape, and she wore a skirt of the same colour. She wore purple heel boots that reached just past her knees with small purple metal plates covering the boots."Daddy! It's her!" Yui said."What? Who?" Kirito asked."It's Rin!" Strea said as she was just about to fly after her but stopped when more Sylph players flew out of the forest. They watched as Rin lifted up that one-handed sword she was carrying. The blade was thin and scarlet red, and the blade seemed to gleam like fire while in the light. The red and black hilt was laced with gold, and in the middle and on both sides of the cross-guard was two sapphires embedded in."Give us the sword, and maybe we'll forgive you for what you did!" The Sylph threatened.Rin didn't say anything and all she did was raise her sword in a stance ready to take on her assailants in case they tried to attack. Two of the Sylphs charged at her with their weapons drawn and ready to attack. One of them swung at her but Rin dodged and in one attack she killed the player mainly because said player was heavily damaged already and was cocky due to them outnumbering her. His teammates weren't as cocky as him since they were carefully observing her actions. Three of them went in to attack while the other three stayed behind either because they saw their group or they were planning something. Rin blocked each of their attacks but they were able to get a few hits in. Rin stabbed her sword into one of the Sylph's gut and she yanked it to the side which ended up cutting him in half. She blocked the attack of the two that went in coordinated while two others stayed behind. They both went in and Rin blocked the attack from the one that flew right by her. The other one tried to attack while she was distracted by the other player, but it didn't work since she got one good hit on him. Thinking they seen enough, Kirito and the others charged in to help her. The other two players noticed them and slowly backed away from them since they were outnumbered at the moment.Rin stared in confusion once she noticed her attackers backed off for some reason. A voice from behind her called out her name and turned around to see another group fly towards her. She prepared for another fight by raising her sword towards them which kind of shocked them."It's... It's us! Rin, don't you remember?" Asuna said."What? I don't know you.""What? It's me! Asuna!""Asuna?" Rin looked at her with confusion, and Asuna could tell from the look in her purple eyes that she didn't really know her."Don't you remember us?" Philia said this time. "We survived Sword Art Online together!""Sword Art... Online...?" Asuna and the others noticed the surprised look on her face before it changed into a pained expression. Rin brought held her hands to her head like she was in pain, but what confused and startled a few of them was that it looked like there were bits of glitched data appearing around her that had a rather similar look to what happened when Kirito fought against Heathcliff. Before they could do anything a magic spell from those other players hit Rin and they watched as she falls straight to the ground. They all readied their weapons and noticed that more of them had appeared."Looks like we'll have to deal with them before we can get some answers from Rin," Kirito said.Having just only arrived, a young Imp girl with long purple hair watched as Rin was hit in the back with a magic spell. She rushed over to where she had hit the ground and she quickly dropped next to her. Rin slowly opened her eyes and stared at the Imp girl with worry clear in her eyes."Yuuki?""Man, you were really outnumbered there. Let's get you out of here.""Right..." Rin agreed before she stood up and followed her away from the battling group. While she followed Yuuki through the forest, Rin noticed that her hand was trembling slightly in from the recent fight. She imagined about the people she killed not too long ago just to get out there caused anxiety to build up for reasons that she didn't really understand since they aren't truly dead. Rin didn't expect a hand to grab her's and she looked at the owner to see Yuuki smiling at her although for some reason that smiled filled her with an unknown warmth."Come on.""Yes..."
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After gaining as much distance as they could on foot without catching the attention of the other players, Rin sheathed her sword and dropped to the ground next to the tree to rest a little. Without even getting a second of rest Yuuki dropped right to her excitedly and that action made Rin really nervous since their faces weren't that far apart. Rin moved away a little bit to try and calm herself down of this unknown and strange feeling, she didn't even know what it could be. She could clearly see the excitement on Yuuki's face like she really wanted to ask something but seeing that excited smile seemed to only make Rin even more nervous than before."That sword! Where did you get it? I haven't seen you use it before!" Yuuki said."Th-This?" Rin said nervously as she placed her hand on the handle of her weapon."Yeah! Yeah! That one!""C-Can... you give me a little space?""Oh!" After saying that Yuuki seemed to realize how close she was to Rin and backed away a little. "Yeah, sorry about that.""It's fine." Rin felt a little relieved that has some space now, but also at the same time felt a little sad. "Uh, you wanted to know about the sword?""Yeah! Where did you get it?""Well, I found it shortly before you found me with those Players. I was flying by when I noticed these two NPCs trying to harass some dwarfs. I think they tried to trap them in the nearby cave.""What did you do?""I decided to rescue them and I was able to fight them off. Once I did the Dwarfs were really grateful for what I did for them. They told me to wait there and not long after they gave me this weapon. Luckily for me, I just had enough stats to wield it.""What's it called?""Hold on, let me see," Rin said as she opened her menu to scroll through her inventory and sitting in the main weapon slot was the sword. "The Cursed Sword Tyrfing...""Tyrfing? Can I hold it?""Sure." Rin pulled it out of its sheath and handed the sword to Yuuki who looked quite amazed by the sword. Rin closed her eyes secretly gather information about the sword while Yuuki was giving it a few test swings."Rin?" Yuuki called out which made Rin's eyes shot open."Yes?""This sword is so strong, why's that?""I, uh, remember reading about it. It's a mythical weapon in Norse Mythology. I suppose this weapon is classified as a legendary weapon in this game.""Ooh! You sure know a lot! And you're so lucky that you stumbled on it!""Y-Yeah, I guess I am.""Come on! Here!" Yuuki said excitedly as she handed Rin back her sword which confused her a little. "Let's have a duel! You have to be really strong now with this sword!""Okay, I guess we can duel.""Yes!" Yuuki cheered in excitement. "This is going to be so much fun!"Rin and Yuuki went to their appropriate spots which were just a couple meters from each other while Yuuki sent the duel request. Rin looked at the sword in her hand before she looked at the duel request and hit accept. The countdown to the duel started and Rin could see the excitement in Yuuki's eyes which made her kind of happy that all she needed to do was something as simple as a duel request to make her happy and excited. Once the countdown reached down to ten Rin took her battle stance while holding the sword in front of her with one hand. The moment the countdown reached zero, Yuuki and Rin charged each other blades clashing against each other. At first, it was just a simple duel of sword against sword, with each side being able to get a few good hits. Shortly after, sword skills were brought to the duel as Rin's sword started to glow purple. Rin was about to unleash a darkness sword skill on Yuuki but she quickly reacted and countered with her own sword skill. The force of two sword skills from very strong players caused a small shock wave which caused the dust to part and the trees to bend. Rin and Yuuki sled away each other as they smiled at each other and once again they ran into each other their swords clashing. Rin carefully blocked Yuuki's attacks and watched whenever she was able to get a hit on her since something seemed off but couldn't quite figure out what it is. Rin glanced at her health bar which she noticed that it was pretty low right in the orange area and that Yuuki's was too at the same level. Rin decided to counter Yuuki's attack which threw her off balance causing her to stumble back a bit and Rin took the opportunity and activated another sword skill. Yuuki stared wide-eyed at what just happened since she didn't expect at that moment and once the Rin's blade was inches away from making contact in an instance Yuuki countered with her own sword skill. Rin gasped once she noticed that Yuuki was using her eleven hit sword skill to finish the duel. Rin tried to back away from the young imp but she ended tripping on a tree root which luckily for that little accident, it made Yuuki miss and she suffered the skill paralysis which gave Rin enough time to get back up on her feet. Rin backed away from Yuuki to give herself a little time to recover and she noticed the excited smile Yuuki was giving her."Wow, you actually survived! Not to sound conceited or anything but the fight usually ends when I use my skill.""Let's get back to it," Rin said as she raised her sword staring at the young imp girl who also readied herself to continue the fight. They both charged at each other as blades clashed as one pushed against the other. Since her strength stat was slightly higher than Yuuki's, Rin was able to win their clash as she pushed Yuuki back. Since she knew how fast Yuuki can be and her reaction time being better than anyone else she knew, Rin decided to go for a few stabs to the chest since activating a sword skill will take too long. Yuuki lifted her sword up which started glowing a little blue from her activating an ice sword skill and she plunged the blade into Rin's chest causing an explosion of ice that erupted from Rin's back. Rin planted her foot down to prevent herself from falling to the ground and she activated her own sword skill where her sword started glowing bright red. Rin did the same to Yuuki to what she did to her and stabbed her in the chest with a fire sword skill causing a fiery explosion behind her. Rin noticed that the duel timer was getting low with only thirty seconds left which meant she had to finish the duel before the timer ended or before Yuuki ends it with a sword skill. Rin jumped back when Yuuki swung her sword at her, and she ducked under the next swing and blocked the next. She hopped over Yuuki when tried to continue her assault and Rin swung her blade which only nicked her shoulder. Rin came in with a horizontal swing only for Yuuki to duck under it and in a spinning motion, Yuuki slashed across Rin's chest. The next thing took Yuuki by surprise since Rin took off in a full sprint who decided to give chase which she didn't realize what apart of her plan until it was too late. To Yuuki's surprise, Rin came to a sudden stop with her boots grinding on the dirt as she spun around to face her and Rin raised her sword up close to her face with the blade pointing towards Yuuki. Rin's sword started to glow from the sword skill she activated and in one motion Rin charged at her with incredible speed closing the distance she made in an instant. The blade was about to make contact with the surprised imp girl but unfortunately, the timer for the duel ended declaring Yuuki the winner since had a little more health than her. Rin stumbled forward from the suddenly stopping herself and she fell on top of Yuuki which made her embarrassed since she was smiling. Rin quickly got off the young girl and helped her up where she quickly apologized.Yuuki let out a huge sigh of relief. "Man, you really drained my HP that fight.""Yeah... I guess it's true then." Rin said as she lay on the ground from taking that sword skill."What's true?" Yuuki asked as she helped Rin off the ground."The sword... I remember another part of it. The sword was cursed when it was made. Every time it was drawn, it has to kill a person. I know it's a legendary weapon, but I noticed that you were taking a little bit more damage than you were supposed too.""So, it has a special bonus against players?""Yeah, I believe so. It probably deals more damage to players. A new sword... I'm glad I found it.""Oh! That reminds me. Come on! Let's go to the World Tree!""Okay, but why?""Don't you remember? The new update for ALO! It's tomorrow!""Oh, that's right!""Come on!" Yuuki grabbed Rin's hand while she activated her wings and she slowly flew upwards forcing Rin to activate her own wings. Once Yuuki was able to get Rin off the ground, she looked back up before picking up speed. Rin took to the sky and followed Yuuki to the World Tree.Kirito let out a sigh since they couldn't find Rin and he really wanted to know what was happening with her since something was clearly wrong. Kirito noticed Philia came out of the bushes with an expression that told him that she didn't find her. "I'm guessing you didn't find her?"Philia shook her head while Asuna, Strea, and Leafa came from their search who also didn't turn up anything."Nothing." Asuna said."That's too bad. I've really wanted to know what was wrong.""How come she didn't recognize us? It was like this was the first time meeting us." Asuna said."Yes, that what it seemed like," Kirito said."You don't think she did anything... drastic?" Philia asked."Maybe she did," Kirito said."What?! You think she might have done something to her memories?" Philia said."Maybe...""Could she have like deleted her memories of SAO?" Leafa asked."I don't think so. Judging from that pained expression she had when you mentioned SAO. It like she remembered something and it obviously wasn't good. Which is understandable.""Yes," Yui said as she landed on Kirito's head. "Rin and I witnessed so much fear, despair, and death while in SAO.""We'll get some answers one of these days," Kirito said. "If she's still the same, we might see her in the new update."
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Svart Alfheim, the new exploration area that was added in Alfheim Online for players and Rin was currently being dragged across the new town by her imp friend Yuuki all day. Rin watched all the expressions Yuuki gave which were mostly excitement, happiness, and curiosity. Thanks to Yuuki's excitable nature, they were able to figure out everything they needed to know about the town. Such as a place to rest, a place where they could accept quests, and most importantly, the teleport gate so they can explore the new area. Yuuki quickly decided to the main quest involving Svart Alfheim and so she dragged Rin to the teleport gate to get started. Rin was even dragged throughout the new area in Svart Alfheim to do the main quest but Yuuki didn't expect one thing while they went through the main quest, that bosses they encountered were going to be that tough. Even though they worked together the bosses were still pretty tough to beat. So Yuuki ended up coming with a plan that she didn't really know what it was about, but it involved her finding someone tough by duelling with them. The plan ended up with Yuuki going online to challenge all the players of Alfheim Online and said players were happy to take her down to what they thought was just an overconfident and cocky player. Though, they didn't expect their duels to be so one-sided with Yuuki winning every single one. She had been duelling with the players of ALO for the past couple of days to try and find that one person she was looking for, the one who will help them with Svart Alfheim. All Rin did during the duels is sit outside the large crowd had gathered to watch, and she just stared at the floating islands while thinking about her encounter with those strange group of individuals."Sword Art Online...?" Rin said to herself while she looked over Yuuki who was currently battle against long-haired female Undine player. She couldn't quite tell who it was since all the players watching were blocking her view with their cheering. Whoever that was clearly wasn't on the same skill level as the other players since she was able to last longer than the others. Whatever was happening didn't really matter as she had too much on her mind. "Sword Art Online... yes, that's where I came from..."Before she could think about Sword Art Online any more a strong gust of wind blew against Rin and everyone watching the fight. Which only meant that Yuuki and the other player clashed against each other with their sword skills, but she did not know who won since a large cloud of dust covered the area. Rin waited for the dust to clear to see what exactly and once it did, Rin noticed Yuuki's blade was inches from piercing that female Undine's chest. Judging from Yuuki's expression, Rin could tell she found whoever she was looking for since she seemed excited and happy. Rin stood up when Yuuki waved at her signalling her to come over which she did and she got closer to the small group, she was able to recognize two of them. "It's you two..."Rin watched as the one who introduced herself as Asuna and Kirito stare in surprise, while Asuna took a couple of steps towards Rin before wrapping her arms around and hugging her somewhat tightly. "You're... Asuna, correct?""Y-Yes... I didn't think we would meet like this.""Rin? Do you know these people?" Yuuki asked. "Why didn't you say so! She's so awesome!""I... I don't know..." Rin said. "Maybe I do since they seem to know me." Yuuki was confused by what Rin said but she shrugged before Kirito spoke up."I think we should go back for now," Kirito said. "We can introduce you to our other friends." Yuuki nodded and followed everyone back to the town.Once they arrived at the town they went straight to the area where they all decided to meet up and once they arrived everyone was already here waiting for them to arrive. Rin and Yuuki stared at the large group of people which Yuuki didn't expect such a large group when she asked to join. Rin noticed Philia looked really happy for some reason, and Strea also looked just as happy. Kirito gestured towards Rin and Yuuki before speaking up. "Everyone! This is Yuuki. She'll be joining us for now.""Hello everyone! I hope we have a lot of fun together!""We also found Rin who just so happened to be travelling with Yuuki the entire time." Rin watched as Strea walked over to her although she didn't know what she doing, she got her answer once she got close enough since Strea held her arms out and wrapped them around Rin. Rin was pulled into a hug which resulted in her face being pressed against her large chest. Rin didn't really bother to resist since this girl's hug had a tremendous strength behind them and, for some reason, it felt strangely calming. Once Strea had finally released her, Rin noticed that Asuna and Philia looked slightly upset for some reason although Asuna was able to hide it more than Philia."It's so great to see you again!" Strea said."I agree," Philia said as she and Asuna stood next to them while Lisbeth and the others were busy with the item Yuuki gave them."Do you really not remember anything?" Asuna asked."I remember Sword Art Online where I come from. What am I?""I can answer that." Rin watched as a tiny little fairy flies in front of her."You are?""I'm Yui. Strea and I are just like you. A Mental Health Counselling Program meant to care for the players of Sword Art Online, but you instead were meant for something else. You were meant to inspire the players in case they lost faith in clearing the game." Yui said as Rin had a surprised look on her face."I'm just like you...?""Yes.""I'm an AI program...? Yes, you're right.""Remember! You're the younger sister!" Strea said."That's right! I'm the oldest sister!" Yui said."Okay, s-sis..." Rin said feeling a little bit embarrassed but Yui and Strea smiled after hearing that again, they both hugged her and Rin didn't know what to do so she just slowly returned the hug back. Both Asuna and Philia smiled at witnessing their little family reunion but a thought crossed Philia's mind."Are you starting to remember?" Philia asked."Yes... I still don't remember any of you." Rin said as Yui and Strea let go of her and continued the conversation."Really?" Asuna said."Yes. I may not remember any of you, but I can tell you this. When I locked all of my memories of Sword Art Online because I... couldn't handle what happened in SAO. I've locked them but if you can figure out keywords you can unlock more of my memories.""Do you remember why you locked your memories?" Yui asked."I... think was too afraid to erase them.""So, if we said... Asuna, would you remember?" Philia said."I don't think so. I don't think no matter how many times you mention how we met or something along those lines, I wouldn't have remembered unless you said Sword Art Online first." Rin explained to Yui."I see. So, Sword Art Online is the first keyword we needed to start unlocking your memory?""Yes...""Uh, how do you know this?" Asuna asked."Yeah, I want to know too. You also seemed to know about your memory being locked." Philia said."Sword Art Online is what made me remember that. Also, "Keyword" was always stuck in my mind I didn't know why until today.""Now the question that needs to be asked. Do you want to remember?" Asuna asked which seemed to make Rin flinch a little but she took a deep breath before she answered."Yes, I would like too.""Okay!" Strea said with a little cheer. "Now we'll need to think of something that'll help Rin remember!"Rin nodded once at Strea but she noticed that Philia and Asuna seemed a little happy for some reason. She watched as both of them took a step closer to her and she was suddenly hugged by both of them which seemed to upset Strea a little. "Hey! What about me?" Strea said as she too went in for a hug again but it wasn't the same level of strength she used before and Rin nearly lost her footing from the hugs she was receiving. She didn't know what to do so she just let them hug but she didn't really mind them hugging her since it felt pretty nice."You know, it's great that you're back," Philia said."I agree." Asuna said."Yeah..." Strea said.
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After reacquainting with the others Rin was left alone with a slightly worried Asuna and Sinon who wasn't exactly ready to log off yet, also the treasure hunter of the group who seemed rather excited, though she didn't understand why. But she ended up getting that answer shortly after when Philia started to mutter to herself. "I know I should log off but there's a cave that nobody went into yet. Exploring an unknown cave before anyone else is too exciting." Seeing her in what she thinks is her being in trouble Rin couldn't help but see what is wrong."Exploring?" Rin said which caught Philia's attention."Oh! Rin, it's you. I'm sorry I didn't notice you.""What were you talking about?""I just found this cave and I've never heard of a dungeon in that area. I wanted to explore before anyone else.""If you want I could help search it with you.""Really?! That would be great! I was a little reluctant to ask.""Still as helpful as ever, huh, Rin?" Asuna said."Was I always so helpful back in SAO?""Yes, there was actually a rumour about you back in SAO.""What was the rumour?" Rin asked."It was about a female player with midnight blue hair clad in white and gold who would show up out of nowhere to help other players level up, and suddenly disappear. I think they all started calling you the blue-haired Guardian Angel, at least from the players I talked to. Now that I think about it they might have started calling you that because of your unique skill.""She had a unique skill? I didn't know that." Sinon said."Yes, it's called the Divine Protector. Although, Rin never told me what it does.""I see. Yeah, you're right, I feel like I've helped something or someone but there was something missing," Rin said."How much do you know about Rin?" Philia asked."I've known her for quite some time, and I think out of everyone in the group I've known her for the longest.""I'd like to hear more about her later.""Sure." Asuna said with a small smile. "Oh, Sinon?""Yes?""I've been meaning to ask you something? How did you and Rin meet? I've been wondering that for some time now. You did just show up with her one day.""I honestly don't know. I've just woken up in an Inn with her watching over me. The only thing I know is that some sort of glitch must have happened." While Sinon explained what happened that day, Rin was lost in thought as that one word stuck with her."A glitch...?"
Flashback
Rin roamed the Town of Beginnings searching for those who need help but it didn't look like anyone needed any sort of help. She wore a regal white jacket with a gold stripe along the edge, and underneath the jacket was a small steel breastplate and underneath that was a white shirt. Rin wore a black skirt with a white and gold waist cape, the cape had a symbol of a golden sword with four white wings, two of them wrapped around the sword while the other two spread out. She black leggings with knee-high boots that are white with black laces. Around her neck was a gold necklace with the same symbol that is on her waist cape. The town was very quiet with the only noise coming from the shop NPCs and as far as she could tell there weren't any players. Just as she about move onwards to other towns on the other floors, Rin heard something strange and she looked around to see what it was. Rin gasped in shock when she looked up into the sky to see some sort of glitch was happening, but that wasn't what she was shocked about, it was about the girl who was falling out of the glitch. "No!"Rin ran full speed towards the girl to catch her before she hit the ground which lucky she was able to catch her in time. Rin stared at the unconscious girl in her arms in confusion since there shouldn't be any new players or they shouldn't have spawned in the sky as she did. Rin looked around the town to see if anyone was nearby but it was still empty so lifted her up and carried her bridal style towards the closest Inn. "How did she get here?"Rin laid down the girl on the bed once she paid the room and as she watched over her to make sure she was okay a thought crossed her mind. She wanted to know how she got into Sword Art Online, and what exactly happened, but she had to wait until the girl woke up. Suddenly, Rin heard the girl began to stir which quickly got up from her chair and the first thing she didn't surprise in the least since Rin watched her panic a little since she woke up in a strange place."Where am I? Who are you?""Calm down. I'm Rin, and you're safe in an Inn at the Town of Beginnings.""Rin, huh? Also, what's the Town of Beginnings?""It's the place where all new players start out.""Wait, I thought it was called... what game am I in?""You're in Sword Art Online.""Sword Art Online? I think I've heard of that... Wait! You mean the death game! That Sword Art Online?! How did I get in here?"'She didn't even know that she's in SAO? Also, she doesn't even know how she got here? She'd probably be safer in this town.' Rin thought. "What's your name? I've already introduced myself.""Oh, yeah. I'm... Sinon.""Okay, Sinon. It's probably safer if you just stay in this town-""No, I can't just sit here and wait for someone else to save me.""I see," Rin said as she crossed her arms and wondered how she's so brave. Most people would have chosen to stay somewhere safe, but this one was clearly different. "I'll help you. Let's get started."Outside of the Town of Beginnings, Rin travelled through the first floor with Sinon to get her better acquainted with how the game works. Though the toughest part was getting the right weapon for her and they tried every one. A one-handed sword, a mace, a spear, etc, and the closest thing that felt remotely right for her was a dagger. It didn't take long for her to slowly climb up the levels since she was given gear that levelled her up a bit. The higher the floor they were on the more Rin made sure she lived through it. Rin watched as Sinon finished off a lizard man which gave her enough EXP to level up. Sinon put away her dagger before turning her attention to Rin who held her weapon in her hand. The blade interested her quite a bit since she started her levelling up spree she didn't see anyone carry a weapon that even remotely similar. The entire sword was a golden colour with a long thin blade with engravings along the fuller and the guard. On both sides of the guard were a jewel one green and the other blue. The hilt was wrapped with fine leather and on the pommel was a white jewel."I'd like to thank you, for your help," Sinon said."You're welcome," Rin said as she sheathed her sword. "This is actually... fun. I haven't had this much fun since..." Sinon noticed Rin's expression changed from happy to something very familiar to her. "...Yeah, a long time."
Flashback End
Rin looked up to Asuna who was currently talking with Sinon about what happened in SAO. "I remember," Rin said which easily caught the attention of the others."Really?!" Philia said. "What do you remember?""I... remember everything Sinon and I went through in SAO.""That's good," Sinon said feeling a little relieved."This is great! We're one step closer to unlocking all of your memories." Asuna said."Yes, thank you, for helping me."
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Philia watched as Rin fought the monsters that appeared in the dungeon they were exploring but she noticed one sneaking from behind her. Philia readied her dagger to attack the monster before it could get to Rin. She destroyed the monster with a sword skill before it could get to Rin who quickly turned towards the commotion to see the monster shatter in time. Rin slew the last monster with Philia by her side and once they knew they were in the clear she turned towards Philia. "Thank you, for saving me from that monster.""It's no problem, we look out for each other, right?""Yeah, that's right."Seeing that there are no monsters in the vicinity, they sheathed their weapons and continued onward further into the dungeon. Unfortunately, for Philia who was rather excited to explore the dungeon, it was rather small, and it leads them to a dead end and another Spriggan player. The Spriggan noticed both them and he walked over to them. "You looking for treasure too?""Uh, yes, we are," Philia answered."Unfortunately, there's nothing here but a dead end.""Really? That's too bad." Philia said, feeling disappointed that their trip ended up being a waste of time. They both watched as the Spriggan decided to leave the dungeon and they both decided to look around a little before leaving. "I'm sorry. It looks like this ended up being a waste of time.""It's fine. Isn't it the journey and not the destination that matters?""Yeah, you're right.""Besides, it seems that Spriggan missed this," Rin said as she walked over to the wall of the cave."Missed what?" Philia asked."It's this switch.""Is there really a switch here?" Philia said as she stood right next to Rin and watched what she did."Yes, it's right here. If you really pay attention you could see that this area right here looks rather strange compared to the rest of the cave." Rin said as she rubbed her hand over the switch and she started to think for a second since she didn't really know if this was a trap or not."Should we push it?""Let's do it. Even if it's a trap, we have each other back.""Right." Rin pushed the switch when suddenly they felt the cave start to shake which they prepared themselves. But what happened next caught them off guard as the ground underneath them gave way and they plummeted downward. Rin activated her wings and flew over to Philia who is currently screaming, and once she got a hold of her Rin pulled her closer until she was able to wrap her arms around her. Rin tried to stop their descent but was only able to slow herself down and she took most of the impact. Both of them groaned while Rin didn't bother to move mostly because of Philia laying on top of her. Eventually, Philia sat up as she looked around without knowing who she was currently straddling, at least, until Rin made a noise. The noise caught her attention and she looked towards the source to Rin staring at her. Philia let out a gasp as she quickly got off of her and helped her up from the ground."I'm sorry,""It's fine," Rin said as she went into her inventory and pulled out some healing crystals, one for herself and other for Philia. Just as she about to hand over the healing crystal to Philia, Rin noticed how she started to act all embarrassed for reasons she didn't really understand. Once healed both of them looked around the cave but there wasn't anything special about the cave although one thing had caught their attention was a big fancy looking door at the other end of the cave. Philia was the first to go towards the door but Rin didn't move since something felt off and it was that her Detection Skill went off. She tried to stop Philia from going any further but something from the shadows came charging after her. Rin pulled out her sword quickly and sprinted full speed towards her, she was able to stop it in time before it could do any harm. Before Rin turned her attention to the mysterious assailant she noticed the fearful look on Philia's face. She didn't understand why until she looked over towards the enemy and it looked exactly like Philia, armour and everything. The triple health bar of the creature showed as its name showed to that which said Doppelganger. Rin gasped a little when another figure showed up from behind it, and it was another Doppelganger but it looked exactly like herself instead of Philia "Two Bosses?!" Philia slowly started to back away from it as it started to continue the attack and Rin did her best to protect Philia and herself from its attacks."I-I... N-No! It can't be!" Rin noticed that she continued to panic even more as time went on and when she was able to fend off the Doppelganger away she went over to Philia. She placed her hand on her shoulder to get her attention which seemed to work since Philia looked at her clearly afraid of something."You have to calm down! Whatever it is that you are afraid of, it isn't real! Listen! I'm right here with you, together we can overcome your fear." Philia snapped out of it a little when Rin pushed away from the Doppelganger. She shakily stood up ready to help Rin defeat the Doppelganger in whatever what she could and Rin stood right next to her where she replaced a reassuring hand on Philia's shoulder. "Remember, I'll always be by your side.""R-Right," Philia said as she remembered their time in the Hollow Area which wasn't pleasant at first but she was glad that met her and everyone else. The memory she'll always treasure when Rin did everything in her power to bring her back to Aincrad and freeing her from the Hollow Area.
Flashback
Everyone welcomed Philia back to Aincrad when she was finally able to get rid of her orange status. Upon their return, Philia noticed that one person from the group who introduced herself as Asuna gave Rin a huge hug, she figured that she missed her since she never left the Hollow Area once she arrived. They all decided to hold a little party for her return and it ended up being a success but it was sort of awkward for her since she was never really part of a group before. It was nearing night while everyone said their goodbyes Philia noticed Rin walking towards the Inn's rooms. She decided to follow her since there was something she still wanted to say to her hero.Rin entered her room to sleep for the day, well not really sleep, more like she would gather and process all the data she collected during the day. Though, she didn't really get much time since she heard a knock on her door and wondered who it could be. She sat up from her bed as she told the person to enter and it was Philia on the other side. "Do you mind if we talk?""Sure, I don't mind.""I know I said this before, but I just wanted to say thank you for helping me get back here.""I just can't leave people when they are in trouble.""Also, I'm very sorry for what I did to you back there.""It's fine. Laughing Coffin is a manipulative bunch." Rin's expression quickly changed to a scowl at the mention of Laughing Coffin."Do you really forgive me?""Yes, you were just another victim of Laughing Coffin's plans.""That's one of the things I like about you," Philia whispered without Rin picking up on it."You just came back. Do you have a place to stay yet?""Uh, no, not yet.""You can stay here if you want. I don't really require sleep so this place isn't really used as it should be.""You don't mind?""Of course not. You can stay as long as you want.""Thank you, I am a little tired," Philia said as she went over to Rin's bed and laid down next to Rin who also laid down too. Rin looked a little confused when Philia scooted a little closer to her where she rested her head on her arm. "You don't mind? It'll help me sleep.""If it'll help you sleep than I don't mind."
Flashback End
Rin charged towards the Boss with her sword skill active since both of the Boss' health is incredible low where they could finish it off with a coordinated attack. Rin hit them with the vorpal strike sword skill and killed her counterpart and the other Doppelganger nearly fell to its feet, but before it could recover Philia hit it a four-hit sword skill from her dagger. The Doppelganger stumbled back as its health dropped down to zero before it shattered into digital shards. Philia dropped down next to a rock shaking a little bit from fear. Rin sat down next to the treasure hunter and she could clearly tell that she's scared but fear started to settle in her as well since she didn't know how to help.'What do I do? I don't know how to comfort people. I wish I was like Yui and Strea. I'm just worthless in this kind of situation.' Rin thought.Seeing the worried expression on Rin's caused her to be a little worried since she didn't mean to worry her. Philia gasped a little when she noticed that very slight look of fear on her face. "I-I'm fine. I just... I just didn't expect to see that today. I'm sorry if I worried you.""It's fine, I'm just glad that you're okay.""You're probably wondering why I was like that?" Philia asked as she nodded for her answer. "You don't remember, but I had this incident back in SAO. It happened just before we met, I... I killed this NPC that looked exactly likely me and I didn't know if I was real or not. I guess I'm not over it just yet.""Oh..." Rin knew that Philia was still bothered by what just transpired but was trying to put on a brave face so she wouldn't have to be worried about her. Rin didn't exactly know how to comfort people when something like this hit them so she did the first that came to mind. She reached out and interlocked her fingers with Philia's which she softly gasped. "I don't know how to comfort people unlike my sisters, but if it'll help. I'll stay by your side for as long as I can.""Thank you," Philia said with a smile as she rested her head on Rin's shoulder where they stay like that for quite some time. They sat there for five minutes until Rin finally decided to figure out a way out of the dungeon."We need to look for a way to get out of here.""Can't you just fly us out of here?""No, I, unfortunately, used the only time I could use my wings during this dungeon. I won't be able to use them in a dungeon again until we leave.""Oh, I see.""There is a door over there. We might as well see what we fought for." Rin said as Philia nodded and they made their way over to the door cautiously in case of another trap. They both push the heavy door open only to find a glowing blue ring on one side of the room and a treasure box in another."It's a treasure chest! And that looks like a teleporter too!" Philia said."What's in the box?" Rin asked just as ran towards the treasure box and opened it only to find a single amulet resting inside. The amulet was gold with two crescent-shaped objects facing away from each other that was holding a red oval shaped jewel. Philia picked up the amulet which seemed to glow slightly in the dark of the cave. "An amulet? What does it do?""I don't know. I can't wear it." Philia said as the amulet went into her storage. "It looks like a key item since it says amulet piece. I wonder where the other part is? And what quest does it involve? Do you think it'll lead to a new dungeon?""Maybe, it could lead to some rare item." Rin noticed that Philia's mood seemed to brighten up a little bit which caused some relief on her part."I wanted to thank you. I don't know what would have happened if I was by myself in that situation.""I'm glad to be of help, and I'm also glad that you're okay.""Come on, let's go," Philia said as she made her way over to the teleporter with Rin right behind her.