Aldrich had been walking forward for what felt like forever trying to reach the edge of whatever he was trapped in, but the space seemed endless. If whatever this was was the effect of a virtue, there was probably no escape until the user dispelled it. Or was killed.
"Hello again Aldrich." A voice whispered in his ear, its coldness making him shiver.
He whirled around, sword first, but there was nothing there. Nothing he could see anyway, but he could feel there was definitely someone else here.
"I wasn't expecting you to be in here." The voice said again. The girl stepped out from the shadows but was still draped in them. "Sadly, there simply isn't enough time for us to continue our conversation. I'd give it fifteen to twenty minutes before the knights outside kill all the monsters I brought. Ten if that tedious Sir Kazuki of yours shows up again."
Aldrich took a few steps back, still pointing his sword at her. "I've seen you before... why couldn't I remember you till just now?!"
Nildi smiled thinly. "Once we're out of sight all recollection of us harbingers begins to fade. Just a little precaution he put in place. Thankfully it wears off when we're face to face again, it'd be a drag if I had to reintroduce myself every time."
At this point Aldrich had begun to step slowly towards her. This was probably his best opportunity to stop her. Maybe even just a small injury would cause her virtue's effects to falter and fall apart.
"Why are you doing this?" He asked, trying to keep her distracted.
Her eyes lit up, as if she had been waiting for that specific question. "Why does anyone do anything!? Need, obligations... or sometimes," she paused, her gaze drifting as a mischievous smile crept across her face, "because it feels right in the moment."
She leaned forward, her voice soft but charged with intensity. "We tell ourselves there's a reason, a purpose, but most of the time, it's just instinct. Desire. Something pulling us forward that we can't always explain."
Her eyes locked with Aldrich's, two empty pools of swirling dark mass. That was when he realized. "You don't actually have a reason, do you."
She raised her hands in mock surrender. "You caught me. To put it simply, I'm doing this because it's fun. Does there really have to be some big reason for everything?"
"Yes, there does!" Aldrich shouted back, outraged. "You've caused mass chaos and someone could end up hurt, because you think it's fun?!"
Nildi gave him a blank look, then she sighed. "I see... You're just like the rest of the world. Boring."
Aldrich lunged at her, bringing his sword down. But he was too slow, way too slow. By the time his sword got near her she had already dissolved into the shadow. The next moment she had her hands on his shoulders, her face right next to his ear.
"I joined the Harbingers of Naut because I hate the silly things everyday people never shut up about, like rules and morality. Like those elders from my clan, calling me a cursed child and saying I needed to be dealt with. So what if I like to watch the light drain from someone's eyes once in a while? Nothing matters in the end, so why not just live life however I want whenever I want? And no one gets to tell me otherwise, ever again."
Aldrich struck out with his elbow, but she was gone again. Completely, this time. He could only hear her voice now, from all around him. "You know, I've heard so many stories about the 'strongest kingdom in the lands'. That eyepatch wearing weirdo even warned me not to try anything. But honestly, I'm quite disappointed, it was so easy to throw into chaos..."
Aldrich swung his sword around wildly. He knew he wasn't going to hit her, but he had to try something.
"Did you know how much you can figure out about a person from just their shadow?" Nildi's voice mused. It was unnerving. She was nowhere to be seen but it was like she was whispering right into his ear. "Fears, mostly. But fears tell me all I need to know about a person. Fear of what happens in the dark. Fears I can bring to light."
Aldrich wiped his forehead with his palm. He was starting to break into a cold sweat.
"Strangely enough, your shadow is quite empty." she continued. "But I did find one thing."
Aldrich spotted a silhouette in the corner of his eye. He turned around quickly and stabbed at it, his blade definitely reaching its target this time.
But his eyes adjusted he found the person standing in front of him was not Nildi. His father stood tall, looking down at him with a cold glare. Aldrich was frozen, his sword still embedded in Sir Alastair's chest.
"F-father, I didn't mean to-..." Aldrich stuttered.
Alastair's hand clamped down over Aldrich's on his sword hilt. His eyes narrowed, filled with pure malice. "You continue to be nothing but a nuisance, Aldrich. You and your baseless insistence on becoming a knight. You cannot save anyone; you cannot even save yourself."
Aldrich would have let go of his sword from shock if his father's hand hadn't been holding him in place, driving the blade deeper into his chest.
"Fear of disappointing your father?" Nildi whispered in his ear. "A bit boring, but I can work with it."
Aldrich shut his eyes, shaking his head. "This... this isn't real. I know it's an illusion, my father wasn't even in the stadium. I- I left him back at home."
He opened his eyes again and watched as his father's face faded away back into a dark silhouette. Whatever was holding him right now was not his father.
With a loud grunt he turned his sword into a broadsword and cleaved through the shadow completely. It dissipated in the dark, slowly. He lowered his broadsword to the ground, panting heavily.
"Impressive." Nildi commended, although her voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Holy relics, I've always despised those."
"Whatever, I have a whole arena of people in here. I'll just play with everyone else instead." Her voice had begun to fade away, she was leaving. "Goodbye for now Aldrich."
"Wait! Come back!" Aldrich shouted into the dark. But it was too late, she was already gone.
He dropped his hands to his side. What was he going to do now.
x
Shans walked through the darkness with both hands in his pocket, whistling a tune. He had been wandering around for what had to be ten minutes now. Suddenly a tune that mimicked what he had been whistling played in the distance. It was muffled by the shadows, but he was able to follow the direction it came from.
It led him directly to the person from earlier. The one who had calmed down the half orc. They had played the tune back at him on their harp bow.
"Finally, a familiar face." Shans said with relief, taking his hands out of his pockets.
His new companion seemed wary at first, before letting down his guard. "You aren't attacking me..."
Shans raised an eyebrow. "Now why would I do that?"
"This place, there's something... off about it. You've felt it didn't you?" He asked. "I was with Björk until a few moments ago. He was fine at first, but then he began to talk to himself. Like he was having a nightmare. I tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn't listen. He started calling me a name I didn't recognize, and then he attacked me."
Shans listened in silence. He had felt something weird about this place.
"I can feel a discordance in the air. Whatever happened to him was caused by a Virtue. Making him see things that aren't there."
"If that's true," Shans began. "Then how come you're unaffected... what was your name again?"
"Vox. I've encountered Virtues that affect the mind before personally..." He answered, playing a string on the harp. "I use my music to keep my mind clear. But what about you, how are you immune?"
Shans shrugged, genuinely unsure.
Vox didn't bother pressing it. "Alright then. We should stick together for now, till we figure out how to get out of here."
"I know. We should find Aldrich!" Shans suggested. "Come on, follow me."
"Do you even know where you're going?" Vox called out, rushing to keep up with the gray-haired prince. "You can't honestly expect to find him by just picking a random direction and walking in it."
"That's the beauty of life, everything choice is a wager," Shans smiled at him over his shoulder. "And I never lose."