"You..." I can't believe what I'm hearing, the woman I've travelled with, argued with all this time, she really... truly...
"You thought I hadn't figured that out?" I ask. "Just how dumb do you think I am?"
"What."Emerald deadpans.
"I mean, it's simple process of elimination, really." I tell her. "Vaxyll saw Aura and Claire's faces the first time we fought, and everyone else has been in Larit basically their whole lives. You're literally the only person it could be."
"B-But, I was-"
"Sloppy. That's what you were. I'll admit, maybe you could've gotten away with it, but you failed to account for one thing." I continue, jabbing my thumb at myself with a grin. "Just because I'm a dumbass doesn't mean I'm an idiot! 48 INT, baby!"
"Ah! Why do you have to ruin everything!?" Emerald erupts. "How long ago did you work it out? Why didn't you say anything!? Did you just want to embarrass me in front of the whole town!?"
"Well, in order." I shrug. "Because that's apparently what Uniques do, just after my first fight with Vaxyll, because I thought it was funny, and yes."
"Marie was right, you really are the absolute worst!" Emerald looks like she's about to cry.
"If it makes you feel any better, I'm not the only person who worked it out." I tell her. "Aura and Claire picked up on it not long after I did, and I'm pretty sure Vhe knows everything about everyone in town."
"I knew as well." Emily adds. "'Cause, y'know, great judge of character and all."
"It really was kind of obvious, Emerald, your highness. D-do I have to start calling you that now?" Claire added.
"So... everybody already worked it out?" Emerald asks, annoyed.
"Not necessarily. I don't think Sara knew."
"No, no, I knew." Sara says. "Aura let it slip. And then so did Claire, you guys are really bad at keeping secrets."
Emerald has now devolved into making sporadic noises that don't even form into words. They all sound angry, though. She turns to Vaxyll, who covers for her in the only way he seems to know how.
"You pathetic Daylighters dare to embarrass my Princess? To be crushed beneath my heel is more than you deserve, you whelps!" He bellows, setting some of the less brave members of the community (myself and Claire) on the back foot. "And you, Darius Crowley! You have spat upon princess Esmeralda's kindness not once, but twice! I have not felt pleasure in years, but I shall enjoy separating your head from your body!"
"Yeah, about that..." I say, suddenly hit by an idea. "Emerald, you said that your old man would be content with either my death or the town coming under his control, right?"
"Why do you ask?" Emerald looks me in the eye, and I know she doesn't need an answer.
"Vaxyll, I'll make a deal with you. Swear to leave Larit in peace, and I'll let you kill me."
"What!?" Emerald gasps, along with the entire crowd behind me.
"You are a fool, Darius Crowley." Vaxyll says, but nods his head in approval. "Yet the line between fool and hero is slim indeed. Truly, only a man such as yourself could earn my disdain and respect in equal measure."
"So, we have a deal?" I ask.
"Indeed, we do. Step forth, Darius Crowley, and look upon the people whom your death shall save."
I take a step towards Vaxyll, but don't turn around. "I'd rather face my death, thank you."
"You have truly changed from the coward whom Princess Esmeralda attempted to save." Vaxyll nods, unsheathing his giant sword.
"No!" Emerald throws a punch at Vaxyll's arm, one which only pings off his metal body. "Vaxyll, I am ordering you to stand down!"
Her demand gives the knight pause for just a moment, before he woefully tells her "An order from the King supersedes one from you, my lady," and winds back to take my head.
"Vaxyll, please, don't kill him!" Emerald begs, tears flowing down her cheeks as she falls to the floor, wrapping her arms around his legs.
"I am truly sorry, little dove. I hope one day you can come to forgive me."
"No!" She shifts her weight just enough for his swing to miss, taking nothing but a few hairs from the top of my head. "Darius, you have to go!" She instructs, before turning her attention back to Vaxyll. "Teleport!"
In a flash of white light, Emerald and Vaxyll vanish, leaving a scorch mark on the floor from the hurried cast. Aura and Sara rush over to me, checking that I'm okay.
"I..." I mutter, the adrenaline flushing my system making it hard to properly formulate a sentence "I'm so glad she didn't call my bluff."
"You were bluffing!?" Aura immediately lets go of me, and Claire and I fall to the floor. "What do you mean you were bluffing!?"
"How conceited are you if you really think I'm going to sacrifice myself for you guys? Of course I was counting on Emerald stopping Vaxyll somehow." I look at the scorched earth where they once stood. "I mean, I wasn't expecting her to be quite so dramatic, but that's on me, I guess."
"You are truly-"
"The worst, I know, I get that a lot nowadays." I stand up, brushing the dust off my new cloak. "Now, how about we talk about my plan to stop Vaxyll and Emerald?"
"You have a plan?" Aura asks, her face lightening up immediately. "Truly?"
"Hells yeah, and it's probably gonna be the best plan you've ever heard."
***
"This is, by an unbelievable margin, the single worst plan I've ever heard!" Aura shouts after being dragged into my room at the guild and having everything explained to her. "Just how long has that lump of rock you call a brain been formulating this?"
"Ever since I became a Copymancer." I tell her. "I just have to hope Emerald doesn't tell Vaxyll about my new class."
My plan is simple. Vaxyll will only expect me to be able to use magic, so if I bust out some Knight skills, and can fuse them with my spells, he won't know what's hit him. I asked Aura to use her strongest skills on me over and over until I learn them, and Claire to keep me alive throughout, but according to the crossdressing knight, all of her strongest skills would kill me in one hit, so we're having to make do with Shield Bash for now.
"As long as Claire keeps an eye on her MP, and I keep an eye on whether or not I feel like I'm about to die, we should be a-ok." I explain, though the other two still seem doubtful.
"I suppose we can at least give it a shot." Aura relents. "But I just want it put on the record, I absolutely do no approve of this wanton disregard for the safety of the only person who stands a chance at saving Larit."
"You think I'm the only person who-" Is all I managed to say before Aura bashed me over the head.
***
Elsewhere in the Laritian Plains, Esmeralda and Vaxyll had made a makeshift camp, one that did not fly the colours of the Night King's army, and would be virtually indistinguishable from any Adventurer's camp to the untrained eye. Neither one of them spoke, Esmeralda out of anger, and Vaxyll out of shame. He had ignored an order from the Princess, and tried to kill the man she... he couldn't bring himself to say it, but he knew that it was true. He'd done all that right in front of her. It was no wonder she was rightfully furious with the man who was once her most loyal knight.
"Princess, I-" Vaxyll began, he knew that no words could put this right, but he had to ask. "That man, Darius Crowley, what exactly does he mean to you?"
"He showed me the type of people Daylighters really are." Emerald sighed. "They are arrogant, ignorant fools, each and every one of them. They fill their short lives with arguments over the smallest thing, but ignore their larger problems. They can go from being on the verge of attacking one another to acting as if their friendships have never been tested faster than one can blink. And they all, every single one of them, are completely unique in a way that goes beyond a simple ability. They are nothing like us. They are weaker than us. They are shorter lived than us. They are... better than us."
"And you wish to integrate into their society completely?" Vaxyll asked with no judgement in his voice whatsoever. "You must know that that is impossible. You said it yourself, they are too different from us, and your father would never allow it."
"Is it wrong then? To hope for coexistence?"
"No. It is impossible, but perhaps hoping for the impossible is a good thing, Princess."
"Vaxyll... you were the only one in my father's army I ever truly liked." Emerald admitted. "The other knights who were sworn to me treated me like an icon, and as if a slight breeze could kill me. You were different. You treated me with respect, not reverence."
"Serving as your knight was treated as a punishment amongst my peers." Vaxyll admitted. "I wished to prove that it was an honourable duty, ensuring the safety of the Night Princess." He looked at the woman he loved as he would his own daughter. That town which may as well be another world may be the only place she could be truly happy. That man who Vaxyll was duty-bounded to despise by order of his king may be the only person she could be happy with, and he resolved that no man, king or otherwise, would force him to take that away from her. "To this day, that duty should have been the only one that matters to me. I had lost sight of that in the time that you no longer needed my protection."
"Vaxyll, what are you saying?" Emerald asked, hope in her eyes for the first time Vaxyll had seen in years.
Vaxyll stood up, placed his hand over where his heart would have once been, and declared; "I, Vaxyll Ironblood, do hereby swear that those who make my Princess happy are under the same protection I am honour-bound to provide her. The Unique named Darius Crowley, the Knight of Ghalytorm named Aura Fields, the Healer named Claire Pierce, and all the people of Larit are, from this moment on, my charges, and if any man, Daylighter or Nightwalker, should threaten them, I shall dispatch them, or lay down my life in their name!"
"Vaxyll... you..." Emerald was lost for words. "That declaration makes you an enemy of my father, you understand that, don't you?"
"I never truly served your father, little dove." Vaxyll told her, a smile plain in his voice, if not on his face. "From the day I was named as your protector, I have served you, and I will for all my days." He offered her his hand, which she gladly took, and hoisted her to her feet. "Now, let's hope the people of Larit give us a chance to explain this change of arrangements, shall we?"
***
"There, I feel... well, I feel different." I say, nursing my head.
"Yes, getting beaten half to death and then healed over and over for two hours will have that effect." Aura says, completely nonplussed.
"No, I mean... I think it worked?" I mutter, taking out my adventurers card and scanning the 'known skills' section.
--COPYMANCER SPELLS--
Heal (Copied from: Claire Pierce, Human Healer)
Shield Bash (Copied from: Aura Fields, Human Knight)
"Oh, hey, I got heal, too." I say. "Didn't even know I could learn spells this way."
"Just how much about Copymancing do you understand?" Aura asks, annoyed.
"Just what Marie told me. I learn skills by having them used against me, and my chance of learning them is based on my Luck."
"Your current Class' effectiveness is based on your worst stat, the one that you're always complaining about?" Aura grimaces. "Do you even need me to explain why that is the most foolish choice you have ever made?"
"No. But it worked, didn't it?" I take another look at my Adventurer's card, and notice another change. "Why is my intelligence two points lower?"
"A point for every hour I spent bashing your skull in with a piece of metal?" Aura suggests.
"Yeah, that makes sense." I put my card away, now to just make sure I can actually fuse these skill-spells." I take up a casting pose. "Claire, try to keep Aura alive."
"I suppose this is some bizarre form of retaliation?" Aura sighs. "Need I remind you that this plan was your idea?"
"Shut up and let me think of a cool chant." I say, before one finally appears in my head. "A dark guardian with shield of ruin in hand, defending and smiting in equal measure. Heart black as pitch soul drenched in malice, yet the desire to protect still burns strong! Shadow Shield!"
Dark energy coalesces into a solid mass in front of me, and with a loud screech, it lunges towards Aura, exploding on impact and sending her flying backwards.
"Aura!" Claire squeals, rushing towards the knight-shaped hole in the wall. I suppose I should apologise to whoever's going to have to fix that, probably Emily, since she does all the odd jobs around here. And I made sure not to use fire in the spell for that exact reason. I sure look like an idiot now, don't I.
Wait, Aura is okay right? I follow Claire over to the hole, and see Aura on the floor, alive, and pissed off. I wonder who at? Surely it can't be me, how was I to know this would happen.
"You used Darkness!" Aura shouts up at me. "Those spells always literally blow up in your face, and you used Darkness!"
Oh yeah, that does tend to happen, doesn't it. It's been so long since I fused a darkness spell, I guess I forgot the reason why. Oh well, no harm, no foul. Especially since I can do this now.
"Heal!" I call out, pre-empting Claire doing the same, and Aura rises to her feet, still glaring at me.
"This does not change anything." She shouts up at me. "I am still going to bisect you the instant I get up there!"
How can she still be mad at me? I hurt her, I healed her, it balances out! But even I'm not such an idiot as to say that to her face.
"Yo, I don't mean to interrupt, but..." Emily pokes her head through the door, looking from me, to Claire, and then finally, at the giant hole in the wall. "I'm not even gonna ask. The dudes on the watchtowers are saying Em and that Vaxyll dude are on their way, thought you might wanna know."
"Alright, perfect timing!" I say, leaning out of the hole. "Aura, you wanna use that pent up frustration against somebody who actually deserves it?"
"Vaxyll won't get the chance!" Aura snarls, booting the door open.
"Great!" I say.
"Because I'm going to kill you first!"
"Not great." I say, before running out into the guild hall.
***
As expected, the Daylighters were less than willing to believe Vaxyll's unconditional surrender.
"You want to change sides?" With Darius Crowley and his party absent, it fell to Sara Pierce, who was apparently a reporter of some sort, to negotiate with the General. Why her and not some manner of law enforcement or local government was beyond Vaxyll's understanding. Perhaps it was because she was Claire's sister?
"I understand that you may not believe me. Such a sudden change beggars belief, I know." Vaxyll began. "But Princess Esmeralda has informed me of the worth of you Daylighters, and I wish for nothing more than her happiness."
"She was gonna help you take over the town two hours ago." Sara scowls, her arms tightly folded. "I'll admit it's possible that she changed your mind, but what changed hers?"
"I thought that it'd be better if all of you lived under my father's rule than Darius die." Princess Esmeralda explained. "I thought they were the only two options, but if Vaxyll's gonna betray my father, that opens up a third possibility."
A murmur spread through the crowd. Slowly but surely, they were coming around. Perhaps this was actually going to work?
***
I raced through the streets of Larit, followed closely by Claire and, thankfully not closely, by Aura. Who knew what Vaxyll might do if he gets to the gates before I do? If Emerald's with him, he probably won't kill anyone, but she might help him take over if it means protecting me.
As I rounded the path towards the main gate, I noticed that a crowd had formed. A militia to protect the town in my stead, maybe? Whatever they were, they wouldn't stand a chance against Vaxyll. Hells, I won't stand a chance against Vaxyll if my surprise attack doesn't work. Speaking of, I'd better get to a vantage point. In a perfect world, that'll shake Aura off my trail until she cools off, too.
I make my way up to a rooftop, and spot Vaxyll, Emerald, and, rather disconcertingly, Sara, they all seem to be talking about something, and I have to hope Sara isn't offering my head on a platter in return for the town's safety. Sure, I'm a big hero now, but surely that means I'm expected to sacrifice myself for the greater good? No chance, sister!
"An aegis wreathed in flame, a burning symbol of protection," I begin chanting as I charge through the rooftops, the adrenaline pumping through my body allowing me to jump the gaps between houses without even noticing, "I call upon the shield of the flame goddess Amenith, slayer of 1000 demons and guardian of all mankind!" I finally get parallel with Vaxyll, and lunge towards him. "Burning Soul Shield!"
I feel a heat well up within me, and burst forth, aimed squarely at Vaxyll, the force pushes me back, but without any time to react, it hits Vaxyll square in the head, pushing him to the floor with immense force.
"No! Vaxyll!" Emerald cries, catching him before he hits the ground, but that only served to push her back as well.
"Em!" I call out before my back hits the wall, and I fall to the ground.
"You... you idiot!" Sara yells at me. "He was surrendering, you dumbass!"
"I-he... he was what!?" I shout, forcing myself to my feet. "Why? More importantly, why do you believe him?"
"Because of me." Emerald mutters. "I convinced Vaxyll to betray my father and protect this town, but you... you... you fucked everything up! Just like you always do! I made nice because you were the Unique. Because I thought that maybe you'd be the one to finally defeat my father and free me from him... free Vaxyll from him..." For the first time, I know the tears in Emerald's eyes aren't for me. "But you... you didn't even give him a chance to redeem himself." She glares at me with an intensity that made Aura look like a lost puppy. "I tried so hard to keep you safe, both of you. But you ruined everything I've worked so hard for! Killed somebody I care about! I don't care about my father anymore! I'll... I'll kill you!"