"Wait... why am I just casually going along with you?!" Serafine pointed an accusing finger, her voice rising in indignation. "Who even are you?! Wait... are you the creep who's been stalking me?"
"You have quite the delayed reaction..." the cloaked figure muttered, sounding both exasperated and amused.
"Just answer me!"
"Yes, I am," he said without an ounce of shame.
Her brain scrambled to process this confession, but honestly? She wasn't even sure what to believe anymore. There was this system thing floating in front of her like an overbearing nanny, practically screaming at her to embrace her so-called villainy. But she refused. Oh no, not her. She'd make this a good thing somehow.
Maybe she'd be an anti-hero! Yes, that sounded much better.
She was too perfect for something as lowly as plain old evil. She had poise, elegance, everything! Villainy didn't suit her.
"You know what?" She clenched her fists, her eyes narrowing. "It's my turn to have my revenge!"
Without thinking, she lunged at him, her righteous indignation reaching its peak. She grabbed at the hood of his cloak with all the fury she could muster, determined to unveil her tormentor.
One good yank later, the hood fell back, revealing a shock of white hair and golden eyes.
Her heart stopped.
"Calix?!" she gasped, stumbling back as if struck by lightning.
Standing before her was none other than her clumsy, cherubic disciple, looking thoroughly unrepentant.
"Hello, Lady Serafine," he greeted with an awkward bow, as if they'd just run into each other at a garden tea party instead of during what she thought was her life spiraling into chaos.
"You've got to be kidding me," she muttered, her head falling into her hands.
Calix, her own disciple, was the one who'd been stalking her all along? And he hadn't even tried to deny it? If this wasn't rock bottom, she didn't want to know what was.
"So you're telling me the guy who came back to life after being beheaded was you?"
"Yes, Lady Saintess," Calix said with a solemn nod, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
"And you're also telling me that this whole time, you've been some kind of crazy stalker follower?"
"Crazy? Lady Saintess, I only serve you," he corrected, looking genuinely offended.
"Wait, so everything was you all along?"
"Yes, Lady Saintess," he confirmed, without a single hint of hesitation.
It hit her like a ton of bricks. She'd been wandering around, trying to figure out why everything felt so… weird. The man who was always around, the one who just happened to be at the right place at the right time… Of course, it all made sense now.
She had been too busy chasing after her own delusions to see it. She should've known because Calix was a healer, but this? Resurrection-level healing? That was a whole different level of power. The fact that he could bring her back from the dead made her feel like an utter fool.
"Then why didn't you tell me sooner?!"
"I did, Lady Saintess,"
Oh. Right. He had told her. She just refused to believe it because, well, who could've guessed her sweet, innocent disciple was secretly an undead resurrection master?
"I… I swear I'll never doubt you again," she muttered, facepalming.
Just as Serafine was about to walk away, Calix darted forward like some overzealous puppy, grabbing her from behind. "Lady Saintess, you can't just walk away like that."
She whipped around, eyebrows raised. "What do you mean?"
"Everybody knows your face, remember?" He blinked up at her, looking all too serious for the moment.
Oh right. She had been publicly executed... and then mysteriously resurrected. Quite the drama. She had forgotten just how quickly they'd tossed her head into the basket. She scowled, replaying that scene in her mind. They'd been all too eager to rid themselves of her, but wasn't she supposed to be the prophesied Sun Who Burns The World?
"I see... so my twin must've been the real saintess..." She cupped her chin, her mind spinning. Well, they'd killed her twin anyway. So this world was basically doomed. She smirked to herself, momentarily feeling smug.
But seriously, was the saintess really that perfect? I mean, they had executed her for kissing a girl. Serafine had kissed more than one girl and, let's be real, a lot of them had been whores. But hey, let's not talk about that part.
Her thoughts wandered before she snapped back to reality. "Maybe I should check my skills…" she muttered to herself. "What's the description of Mask of Light?"
Suddenly, a system pop-up flashed before her eyes.
[Mask of Light]
[Description: A physical item that allows the user to steal the appearance of others by burning their faces. This mask can only be forcefully worn, and when activated, the wearer's face becomes an identical copy of the one it steals. The previous face is consumed, leaving nothing behind. The face-stealing process is painful and irreversible.]
"...Wait, what?!" Serafine's eyes widened. "Burning their faces?!" She almost recoiled at the brutality of it. That was... excessive.
But the system wasn't done with her yet.
[Mask of Light - Level 1]
[Duration: 1 hour]
[Condition: Usable Only During Daylight Hours]
She stared at the pop-up, blinking. So not only was the mask a face-stealing murder device, but it also had a time limit and only worked when the sun was up? What kind of half-baked punishment was this? She chuckled dryly. Well, at least it wasn't permanent, but it still sounded ridiculous. She looked back at Calix, who was patiently waiting.
"Seems like I can't just slap on anyone's face for fun…" she muttered. "That's... brutal, though."
Calix tilted his head. "Lady Saintess, you don't need to wear other people's faces, do you?"
"Ha, very funny," she shot back, the sarcasm dripping from her voice. "I'm just exploring my options. Now move, I've got an identity crisis to solve." then she strutted confidently down the path, her head held high.
"Lady Saintess, the town is that way..." Calix called out, pointing in the opposite direction.
"Yeah, yeah! I know!" she huffed, rolling her eyes dramatically. "I'm just... taking the scenic route!"