***
Luck was not on my side.
I found both people I was looking for, but in doing so, I walked into a wreck of emotion.
The living room on the top floor of the tower was littered with smashed glass, plates, pieces of wood and paperwork. Furniture once enjoyed while eating a morning meal had been reduced to pieces lying around Enda, who sat on the cold stone ground wrapped in a fuzzy blanket.
In front of her, a single Lich stone, its number used to identify the copy it belonged to, nearly completely faded away.
"Now's not a great time Touji"
Enda addressed me with a raspy voice, as Arisu comforted her from behind. She was dressed in a puffy white hoodie and baggy gray pants. Alongside her casual getup, she also wore a pair of large, red tinted sunglasses that gave her an expanded field of vision and wrapped around the side of her head, hooking around her fluffy upright ears.
They had been designed with an extra panel on the side. I assumed this was so her new glowing vermillion eyes remained hidden. A practice Enda also performed by using her hair to hide her magic right eye.
"What happened...?"
"We tried to bring a copy back *Cough!-Cough!* This was an attempt *Cough!* to revive Two-Five-Five-Three-Eight; 'Wormy'. It was too much, and she lashed out"
"I couldn't create a blank slate, I- I couldn't bring her back"
With every cough, Arisu's hand was coated in another spray of blood, and her skin grew ever more sickly. She was pushing herself too hard.
It was then I noticed the Witches bare arms holding the cover tight were shaking. Her mental state was on the verge of collapse after failing to create with embedded memories, practically killing a version of herself with its own experiences and personality.
There wasn't anything I could do to help. I caused this to happen because I failed to hold back and be patient.
When Sister Naji felt angry and helpless, she barely ate, didn't smoke, and only did things she was familiar with to pass the time. For her, toiling away with unrelated projects helped her grieving process.
It's worth a shot
"What do we need for the Ovum thing?"
"A Toyol bone and an Anqa feather. Everything else we have"
Enda stared at the Lich stone as she talked, desperately trying to bottle her feelings away with apathy.
"How do we get them?"
"There's a black market auction occurring in a few days for the bone. V believes you and Adelard should help Sinclair steal it while Taurus crashes an Oni clan summit with Ota and Aoife. That was the plan..."
Who's Taurus?
Her voice grew shakier as she looked towards the future. Although I could not directly read the thoughts in her mind, her intention was the same when she talked to the leaders of Dragons Mort within this very tower some time ago.
"Sis, while we're getting them-"
"I'll be here, helping Enda *Cough!-Cough!-Cough!*"
"If you do that, by the time we get back you'll be dead"
"That's not-"
"Don't lie to me. Both of you have trust issues. You both try to do everything yourselves and barely let others step in"
"We both believe it's the only way to make sure everything works. I've tried to delegate in the past. That led to the Red Night Riots. Nobody can keep a secret, everybody is only ever out for themselves"
"Is that what you tell the Soldiers of Nala? To join the military for fame and fortune? Or do they do it to protect their homes, their families? The world is full of empathy, even if you don't see it"
"You'll understand once your older, when the people you care about the most lie to your face and betray your trust"
Once I'm older? Fuck off
"Trust? How many live here? How many revealed themselves?"
"That's doesn't"
"How many Enda?! What do they do, Enda?! You think they wait around with their thumbs in their asses, keeping secrets for the perfect time to betray you!?"
"Touji, the Elder Dragon that kidnapped- *Cough!-Cough!* Kidnapped Warren's kids was your brother. He-"
"I don't give a shit! Where is he, huh? Lurking around the corner? Or has he pissed off with Cyra doing fuck knows what?! Was he even a resident to begin with?... Well?! Was he or not?!"
"No... he wasn't"
"Then call them. Ask for their help. You're not as alone as you think, and you never will be. They trust you, have a little faith, return that trust. They call this city their home as well"
Reluctantly, Enda stood up, still clutching her cover.
"Please, wait outside for second"
"I'm not leaving until you agree"
"Touji you idiot *Cough!*"
With one hand over her mouth, Arisu pushed me out of the room. At first I protested, then I realized Enda simply wanted to put her clothes on.
Each time she cast the spell to create a copy of herself, it 'killed' her And so every time she had to rise from the ashes. Arisu must have quickly thrown on the blanket as I arrived.
"I need to talk to you in private before seven thirty"
"Is it related *Cough!-Cough!* To what I saw before?"
"Yeah. I figured you'd know a book or something about it, but I don't want to ask if you can't talk. By the way, can Kuzunoha help?"
"She's been *Cough!-Cough!-Cough!* Silent *Cough!*"
Arisu hacked up blood and fell to her knees, spilling blood on the floor leaking from her mouth, ears, nose and eyes.
"Enda!"
"I'm here!"
Rushing over half dressed wearing her regular hotpants with its belt undone and a half buttoned white shirt, the Witch carried a golden paper slip in her hands and pressed it against the Kitsunes back.
A bright white light engulfed the room as the talisman activated.
Seconds later, Arisu grasped for air and voiced her frustrations with a partially silenced phrase I was able to hear thanks to my blood.
"God dammit"
"...Enda, could you contact Sinclair and whoever Taurus is to see if we can get the stuff earlier"
"Sinclair's plan requires your presence. It can be started once you and Adelard meet her in Nala. Taurus is the one armed Nyx you met yesterday, he needs the girls to be with him just to gain entry to Castle Relidan, from that, he'll request a dual of the feather"
"Then let Sinclair know I'm on the way"
"Stop! Shtop you idiot! Not tonight- you're gonna go see Ota- you can't- deny a wish like that"
"What wish?"
Exasperated, the Kitsune managed to wheeze out her sentence with a trembling voice while Enda helped her stand up. Somehow knowing what my girlfriend wanted, she whispered into the Witches ear, who both understood and spoke in an obtuse fashion.
"Once upon a time, he stood me up on our first date. It was probably the saddest I ever felt before he died. I cried for a week, locked myself away, but then a visitor came. A little girl with a broken leg and arm found my home and told me what happened"
"The Forgotten Hero..."
"I've made plenty of bad wishes in the past. The second worst wish was wanting him dead because he didn't arrive on time. Him being him, was busy trying to save a family from a Devil, nearly dying in the process. That was also the day I met Alameda, who saved his life"
"What was the worst wish?"
"It was to be left alone... after he died"
"Touji- you're gonna fulfill Ota's wish- if it's the last- phucking thing you do"
This was the first time I heard Arisu swear. A shaky, sloppy curse word. Yet there was clear determination behind her tinted glasses, and bloodlust. She'd go as far as to strain herself to get me to go. I wanted to go. But not at the risk of her life.
My sister shared little of her previous life, yet I did know she had a dark history with relationships and manipulating many people. As thorny as a road it was that she once traveled, only a possibility truly disastrous would cause her to act so aggressively.
She wasn't wrong when she lashed out against me yesterday, and here I was again, about to commit another mistake.
"I'll get Judgement to take me- to a pond we recently- set up. I can con- contact Kuzunoha there. She can at least hold on to my body- for a few days"
"The world is full of powerful magic, including many things I have hidden away. Creating an Ovum stone is the only guaranteed method we know will work"
"Then, you've done this sort of thing before?"
"Miss nine-tails has- ahh- had a few kids you know. I need to sit down"
Propping up her adopted daughter, Enda slowly made her way back to the couch and lounge chairs next to the fireplace while finalizing our conversation with one last piece of advice.
"If nothing else, take this from me. No choice in life boils down to two paths. As asinine as that sounds, it's a fact. We'll respect what decision you make, as long as you understand the weight of the consequences"
"..."
At that point, Arisu's life might as well have been a sandglass counting down death, grain by grain. Enda and Kuzunoha may be able to tilt it sideways, yet the best result was smashing it to pieces.
Tomorrow, Adelard has his rank exam, leaving now would destroy his chances and I had no idea if they'd let him take it again any time soon.
Destroying whatever Ota's wish was didn't seem to be the biggest issue, leaving her before tonight did. How that was related was beyond me, however, I was starting to understand how important it was.
Tonight was finally her chance to finally take a step forward after all her years suffering loss after loss. Friends, family, something she wished to give the person she loved, all gone.
Every part of her life had been shredded to pieces, but now she had friends, family, and the scars of her past had healed. If I leave tonight… I don't for a second believe she is so weak that she'd take her own life. Yet, our bond would be permanently severed.
In time, she'd call me her friend, then a party member, and finally, a past acquaintance, nothing more. Moments we spent together would leave a sense of longing before being quickly snuffed out like a candle in the wind.
Saving Arisu now was nothing but a trade of trust for a future. I shouldn't have been so stupid to consider it in the first place.
"What will you do?"
"I'll leave tomorrow, after Lar's ranks up. No later than that"
"Oh my God he- grew a brain"
Arisu may have been trying to ease tension with a joke, but it came out sounding like an insult. Nevertheless, I brushed it off to ask a far more important question.
"Sinclair's plan, does it involve wearing any sort of outfit?"
***