Even if she refuses to have anything resembling a meaningful conversation with me, it seems some things just don't change. This morning I awake to something covering part of my face. When I try to move it, I realize it's attached to something. Turning to look, I realize Nora's lying asleep on the other half of the bed, splayed out with all four limbs each facing their own cardinal direction. Normally that's usual; if we can't find a room with two separate beds in town, we'll share whatever we can find. But for some reason, having her coming into my own room in the middle of the night to sleep next to me puts me off a little.
"Nora... It's morning," I mutter, rubbing my eyes as I slowly slide upright in bed. "Get up, we need to..."
"Mhmm...." she hums in her sleep, shifting so that she's curled up on her side.
'Too goddamn cute—!' my mind explodes as I try to contain myself. I shake my head. 'No, no, no, no... I'm a responsible guardian figure, after all—! Only... She technically is an adult... So then what the hell am I—?! And why didn't I think of this sooner—?!'
"Your thought bubbles are too loud," Nora mutters, turning over. "Let me sleep."
"Get up, already," I sigh, poking her in the cheek.
She lightly bats away my finger with a hand. I narrow my eyes.
"Technically, you're supposed to be fifty percent human and fifty percent cat," I say. "But it's time like these that those percentages lean way more towards a ca—"
She launches her foot deep into my stomach before I can completely finish, causing a full purge of all the air left in my lungs. Several cards appear in my line of vision, but I weakly wave them away with one hand while rubbing my stomach with the other.
"H-Hey," I mutter. "I don't think I deserved that..."
"Let me sleep," she asserts, turning over again with a final huff.
Letting out an ever popularizing sigh, I decide it's in my best interest to leave her alone for the moment. I pull one arm high over my head in stretch before sliding my legs out from under the plush comforter. Honestly, I was too exhausted last night to even take notice in the fact that this bed is the most comfortable bed I've ever felt in my whole life. It's like my body is rejecting the fact that I have to leave it. But I do eventually pry myself out and do another few stretches while standing up.
The room I was granted to stay in last night is this giant, empty void with shiny tile floors and grand marble walls that extends higher than probably two of me stacked up. The ceiling is made of intricate white stone carvings, and red fabric droops leisurely from one side of the room to the next. Besides those, the only things to permeate the empty space is a rug under the large bed, a fancy wooden wardrobe and mirror to the left of the room, and a grand pair of windows above the headboards. The window, in particular, is the most noticeable feature in the room, mostly due to the extravagant morning sky it lets through. Not only that, but the view overlooks the entire first and second rung with how high up it is. I can see for miles, going way past the city walls and out into the infinite flowing grassland, lazy intersecting river from near to past the horizon, and bulky snow-tipped mountains impossibly far in the distance. The orange sun kisses the land with an utmost clarity, an even paint spread along a canvas that lays wider than the eye can see. It really doesn't feel like the right day to be going out on a take-no-prisoners mission to rescue a kidnapped princess.
I turn back to Nora, who's fallen asleep once again and is breathing softly into folded hands. I recognize it's my job to protect her innocence, and to keep her from turning into... something else. I know we're going to have to fight other people, and I know we're going to have to kill some, too. I've already been on several missions that involved killing registered criminals, but Nora's never had to kill anyone before. And for her sake, I won't let her. Obviously it's had enough for me to do it, but I'd hate to find out what would become of her if she does.
After several more minutes of looking out at the sunrise, I decide it's about time to head out and see if either Lilith or Pierce are up and about yet. I straighten out my pants with one hand as I begin to walk towards the door, but as I do, I begin to hear quick footsteps fast approaching. Before I can open it, the door bursts open with Pierce holding the knob with a tight fist.
"Is Lilith here?!" he yells. The commotion wakes Nora to a start.
"Lilith? No, why? Have you not seen her yet today?" I ask.
"Well, have you?"
"No, I haven't," I reply.
"...I saw her last night," Nora says from across the room.
"Last night? That doesn't—" he begins.
"Late last night, well after you had retired," she says. "She told me she had to clear her head. I didn't think much of it at the time."
I pause, looking back and forth between the two. "Uh... I think I know what this's about, then," I mutter. "You don't think... maybe she overheard you last night, did she, Pierce...?"
His eyes widen, and he quickly sweeps around on his feet, basically bolting back down the hall.
"H-Hey, wait—!" I exclaim. "A-At least let me suit up first!!!"
Within the hour, Pierce has traced her whereabouts out through one of the gates of the First Rung. The few onlookers who saw her said she seemed devastated. I could tell this news crushed Pierce to the very core. But like I should've expected, he said nothing and continued on in the forward direction.
"She has to be close now. If we hurry, we will be able to reach her before she arrives," says Pierce.
"You've been saying that for the past two hours. Where the hell are we even going?" I ask.
"Caldevar Castle," he replies. "Before Seynith, there was Caldevar. Their ruins still stand a half a day's travel away and have served as shelter for innumerable evils over the years. This being only the most recent."
"And you're sure she even went this way? I mean, if that many trained soldiers didn't come back from this place, what's it say about her chances?"
"...Slim, at most." Pierce grits his teeth. "Keep going."
"Keep going? We've been running for seven hours straight," I say. "I mean, just look at you. You can't even catch your breath."
"If we don't catch up to her, she will be no more than another victim," Pierce snaps.
"All that won't mean shit if you end up facing an opponent while you're half dead from running two straight marathons," I reply. "Plus— I mean, Nora and I aren't exactly as fit as you are. We can't keep going like this."
"Then I'd be content with leaving you behind," he says. "I don't tire. No matter how much energy I expend, I have, and will never, let an opponent best me. Not with so much on the line."
"Don't be an idiot, Pierce. You can't—"
"I hear her," Nora interrupts, sticking a hand between Pierce and I. "She... is in combat."
"Combat? Where?" Pierce bursts.
Nora points. "In that direction."
Pierce takes off without another thought, leaving the two of us behind.
"C'mon, Nora," I say. "We've gotta go after him."
The two of us follow behind Pierce as he crosses the grassy plain. At some point we reach a hill, and it's then that I can finally hear the struggle take place. Cresting the grassy hill, I see Lilith tracing glyphs in the air with one hand while holding the other hand to her chest. She's saying something, but I can't hear what it is. On the other side of the field, about a dozen men in rugged armor are running for their lives while being pelted with small and medium-sized magical attacks, ranging from light beams that sizzle whatever they touch, to small explosions that form little craters in the ground and further divide the rugged dozen.
"Hey," I mutter with a sour expression. "I think I get what's supposed to be going on right now, but even so... I'm having a hard time telling exactly who jumped who in this situation..."
"She is dual-wielding magic," says Nora. "Using glyph magic with her hands while drafting a longer vocal incantation."
"Whatever she's doing, she looks pissed," I mutter. "Pierce, please go explain to her before she decides to use us as bonus target practice."
Pierce seems reluctant. I guess it's no wonder why. But he seems to shrug some of that hesitation off and begins down the rocky slope to where Lilith stands. It takes a few seconds for him to get to her, and he's just out of earshot for me when he starts talking to her.
"Nora, what's he saying?" I ask.
"He's trying to get her attention," she replies. "Should I take down her targets for her?"
"...Yeah. I'll take the big one over there, curve around that way to finish off the stronger looking ones over there. Can you take—"
"The big one is mine," she replies. "You take the scrawny one and take the outer enemies."
"...Okay then," I mutter. "Incapacitate, okay? I don't wanna see those knives leave your side pocket."
She scoffs and takes off down the hill, kicking free a large flat boulder and using it like a snowboard to skate her way to the bottom of the hill. When she gets down, she leaps off as the boulder catches on a larger one, doing a flip before landing again on solid ground. And all I can think of when I see this is that I sure didn't teach her that.
Once I make it to the bottom, I make my presence known to one of the scrawnier of them as I skirt around the spells that continue to barrage the field. When he sees me he runs towards me evidently without really any solid plan. He's a right-handed mace wielder, so his first attack is a leftward chop that I'm able to dodge and get behind. I grab his wrist and use his own weight to send him staggering into another runner. In the slim opening I've made I twist up and deliver a sweeping kick to both of their waists, simultaneously sending them tumbling as one of Lilith's spells land right on top of them. I turn to find my next target, and chase off as I spot them, a barbarian-type man of muscle with an axe on his back. Out of them all, he seems the most confused. He doesn't really bat an eye as I begin towards him, probably thinking I'm just another of the attacking (defending?) clan. I use this to my advantage, getting up close and using the weight of my body to slide one of his legs out from under him. But unfortunately he doesn't fall, and instead retains his footing pretty quickly. Now recognizing me as a threat, he removes the battle axe from his back and takes a heavy swing at me. I subconsciously suck in my stomach as I just narrowly avoid the blow and try to catch myself before I get too far to launch a counterattack. But before I can do anything, the brute retches and slowly reaches backwards as if something's stuck to his back. Before long, he collapses, and I then realize just what happened.
"To subdue a foe lashing out with murderous intent—" says Nora, who stands on the brute's back. "—is to match their intent with your own."
"Easy now," I mutter.
She twists her head and quickly leaps up into the air, landing on the shoulders of a running thug and landing a quick chop to the back of their neck. I sure as hell didn't teach her that, either.
"Hey, no one likes a showoff," I say, calling out to her.
"These idiots are weak," she says. "I'll take care of them all. Go see why these magic explosions are still going off."
"I dunno, I'm not liking that tone of yours," I whistle, turning halfway to the side with my arms up behind my head. "...Maybe if you said sorry and made it up to me, I might—"
The flaring stops abruptly, as do the stomping of the confused thuggish guys. Nora walks past me brushing her hands together.
"Well yeah, if you wanna do it that way, I guess..." I mutter quietly.
Pierce and Lilith are arguing by the time we make it to them. I say 'arguing,' but what I really mean is that Lilith, quite out-of-character, is doing all the yelling while Pierce remains completely silent.
"Everything! Was everything just a lie?!" Lilith hollers. "What does the concept of forever even mean to you? Is 'till death do us part' just 'temporary' as well?!"
Hearing Lilith yell like this is really disconcerting, especially what I'd known of her before. Hell, ever since coming up with her design those years ago, I never thought she'd have even the capacity to get as mad as she is now. And it's not just fury, either. I can sense sadness, confusion, frustration emanating from her shaky voice as she struggles to get her words out.
"...So why even bother..." Lilith murmurs, turning away. "...Why make go through all this? Why let me grow so close...? Why allow me to fall in love with you...? Why... Why say you love me back, only to..." She pauses. "But was that all just a lie? What do you gain from playing me so? Tell me!" She snaps back to Pierce with tears streaming down her face.
"He only—" Nora cups her hand over my mouth before I can fully come to his defense. I quickly realize that she's right. This really isn't my battle to fight. I let her take her hand from my face.
"Most things in this world is temporary," Pierce replies, taking a step closer to her. "But one thing that isn't— is the same thing that led us to these rings we wear on our fingers. Did I lie when I said I loved you? The proudest, most sincere moment of my life happened exactly when those words were uttered from my mouth."
"Then why—?"
"Because if I would have told you, I knew you would follow me regardless," he says. "If somehow you came with me and were subject to this same pain... This same looming feeling of death... that I am now, how could I ever forgive myself? Save my own skin just to see the only person I have ever loved die a slow, horrible death? Well if so then I might as well just stay here and die without ever having lifted a finger about it. That... was my reason. It was."
"—Was...?"
"While I was... running here worried for your life, I was able to think," he says. "As a child, I was torn from my world, like a page torn from a novel. Only I've ever always felt as though a part of me was still trapped in my old world. Returning to that world to reclaim that part of me should be my cure. The only problem was that I saw no feasible manner of returning once I had done so, and even if I had I may still end up losing that same part of me in the process. I thought this... until yesterday night, I spoke with Cyrus Avette... who is of the same world as I. He came here intact, through some method I feel I must have overlooked. Through the proper channels, I could certainly return home. Here. To where I truly belong."
I shift my weight and fold my arms. "...Alright, well you don't have to talk like I'm not literally two steps away from you."
"Is it true that you really are of the same world as Pierce, Cyr?" asks Lilith.
"Assuming parallel universes and alternate realities aren't a thing to worry about, then sure we are," I reply.
Lilith begins to tear up, lunging at Pierce's chest to embrace him. Pierce kneels down to Lilith's eye level, drawing near as their eyes light up in fiery—
"That settled? We good?" I say, clapping. "Because last I remember, we were sent out on a mission by arguably the most important person in this entire country. If not, then can it wait? Good? Good."
"Y-Yes, I had set out to do it on my own before I was attacked by these brigands," says Lilith, timidly backing away.
"Yeah, no shit," I mutter.
Pierce offers his hand to Lilith, and Lilith graciously accepts. It seems like their relationship is stable enough for now. At least for long enough to get this over with.
They have various defenses surrounding the old castle premises," says Lilith. "The brigands were the outermost layer. Paid and told to keep a loose guard on a certain area with no questions asked."
An hour has passed, and the promise of a nearing castle lurks much more prevalently than only minutes before. The wilds are slowly morphing to ruins loosely poking from the topsoil and prairie grass, marking a once vast kingdom lost to time. Something tells me Lasphalia would like it here.
"—But to buy out the loyalty of outlaws is costly and dangerous; It is certainly not worth the risk for just anyone," Lilith mentions. "They would have to have wealth beyond imagining. Wealth and power, and a damned good reason for doing so."
"And to hold a princess hostage isn't enough?" I say. "Granted, they'd need a reason to hold her hostage... so that's still up in the air... but..."
"We will find who is responsible, and learn from them its true purpose before we... clean up the rest of them," says Pierce, clenching his fist.
"...Dude... You're enjoying this too much..." I mutter with a sour look. "And where the hell's the rest of the enemies? I refuse to believe those thugs took out whole squadrons of armed soldiers."
"Don't— what was it called? Trigger a flag?" says Pierce. "It just means the real enemy is clustered closer towards the objective."
Nora passes up from behind. "No. They are already here."
I draw kenkui. "Where to?"
"That direction, over the ridge," she says, pointing. "Fifty, at least. But..."
"But...? But what?" I ask.
"They wear the armor of the Royal Guard. Which is to say..."
"Either they're the ones who killed 'em, or they are them," I chuckle nervously. "Which is worse?"
"I figured something was awry," mutters Pierce. "I will meet them head on. From this moment onward, we take no prisoners. So quit pulling your punches, Avette, and aim to wet your blade for your country."
"Hey, I'm here by my own merit. I'll do what I want," I say. "I'm going with you. Nora, stay back with Lilith and provide—"
"...And she's gone," Pierce mutters.
"N-Nora? What the he'll're you doing?!" I holler. Nora's already far off, running by herself towards the ridge. She has both knives out, one in each hand. Without a moment's hesitation, she's aimed to kill.
"I said I would meet them head on," Pierce grumbles. "What have you been teaching that girl, Avette?"
"I... I..." But I stumble to find the right words. Something isn't right. No, and it hasn't been for a long time. Now I'm sure it's not just me.
Damn... This's really too much to handle all at once.
"She... looks so full of hate..." Lilith mutters, putting her hands to her chest with a worried look.
"I'm going after her," I say, taking off. She's been deceiving me.
By the time I get up to the top of the ridge, I'm already horrified by what I see. She's broken their defenses, standing amid a pool of blood cumulated from the dozen she's already killed. Some still standing are in a protective stance while she cuts down those who were caught unprepared. What's more is that I still don't sense any hesitation from her, even though she's never taken a life until now. Hell, she has her opposition quivering at the legs. She's like a devil, a dancer with dual blades. Her cuts are precise. She doesn't miss a step. Anything that gets within her radius is cut down.
"They are soldiers turned traitor."
I jump at the realization that Pierce has suddenly appeared beside me.
"Though how steep a reward to turn the loyalty of the Emperor against him?" he continues.
"That's the least of my concern right now," I mutter, eyes still fixed on Nora down below.
"She is doing exactly as instructed. Better than you are, at least."
"Would you believe me if I said she's never killed anyone before?" I ask.
"Not in the slightest. Has she never?"
"No, but for all I know she's way older than she says she is."
"What?"
"Oh, c'mon. She was like, six when you first met her. Then she comes back later and she's suddenly sixteen. Mind taking a hint?"
"I don't recall her looking any different than she does now," he replies, eyeing me skeptically.
"...R-Really—? Argh, cut the shit and get my point already! This isn't right and you know it!"
He turns and narrows his eyes at the field beyond. "And you suspect there is something you can do about it?"
"Y— Well, no... not exactly," I murmur. "I think that there's something bigger at play here, and it'd have to be from as far back as when we fought Gorgon and Mephistopheles."
"There is a mage in the guild who specializes in restorative magic. Until you can have her examined, I suggest you grit your teeth and go along with it." Pierce turns to me. "If it is anything close to a curse, then drawing attention to her will only bring more problems. And at any rate... Now you have no reason to act as a role model. Don't hold back anymore, because they will not either."
"Yeah... I guess you're right. With my partner basically turned a psychopath, I can do a lot and still come off as the lesser evil."
"Shall we join in?"
"Sounds like you're asking me to dance. But yeah— let's fuck 'em up."
The descending wave of Pierce and I cause the last of the fallen soldiers to break formation. I don't have to rely on my stolen power to cut down my foes. Sickeningly, Pierce's little pep talk somehow is enough for my mind to justify killing so many people. Not that I have felt anything of the sort before. Just like my very first fight in this world, every slice is a rush of adrenaline, no feeling behind it but a desire to come out on top. It takes only a few jabs to down each enemy. One if I get kenkui in that little sweet spot between the helmet and the chest plate. A frenzied one approaches from my left. A parry with an upward spring then brought down on his shoulder and pierced through an armor chink. Another from the right. Lean back to avoid a horizontal attack, spin around, kick them in the side, stab through the throat. One from behind. Spin my blade around and drive it backwards to impale the target. My heart is racing, but my breathing is calm. I've bested them all in my area.
I lift a hand as Pierce is about to execute the last. He stops.
"For questioning," I say.
"The orders were to take no prisoners," Pierce replies.
The last remaining soldier falls to his knees in defeat, practically on the verge of tears.
"Hey you. You were once a Royal Guard," I say, ignoring Pierce. "Why the change? Answer, and I'll let you scurry on out of here with your life."
The fallen soldier starts to whimper something, but it's nothing I can make out as words.
"Speak up," I demand.
"—And may the Divines forgive my wretched soul!" he screams as his body begins to glow a blinding white. I'm caught in slow motion as I turn to leap away. There is an explosion behind me, and I wince in anticipation of the blast. But instead I land heavily on the ground without much else.
"Seriously, where would you be without me, Pierce?" Lilith huffs as she strides into the scene. "I neutralized the blast before anyone got hurt. Except for this poor soul here, reduced to a pile of ash."
"Th-Thanks," I mutter.
"I wish I could have gotten here sooner, but you all run too fast for me to keep up with," she says. She takes a moment to look around. "...These were all once invaluable members of the Royal Guard. May their actions be deemed manipulation, that they might be reinstated in the correct path on the road to the afterlife."
"And let us find he who led them astray," Pierce replies. "Find him, and—"
Nora approaches, cutting Pierce off. "Let's move on, already."
Nora is covered head to toe in blood. Her face is expressionless. But beyond that, looking deeper I see something else. Something that exists only for a moment, but it confirms my suspicions beyond a doubt. Something is wrong with her. Maybe the Bloodstained Hero's memory banks are leaking into mine or something, but I just know that what she has is bound to get worse. And before this mission is over, I can't help but have the growing suspicion that one way or another, I will end up having to fight against her.