Darren's perspective.
I froze for a moment as my eyes snapped open in the pre-dawn gloom of the stable. The dingy Daito was slightly chipped and the shoto to the pair of swords that Kirin was supposed to hand me was missing.
As I checked it from my lying position. The fight with the samurai from the recruitment booth clearly causes problems for it.
Then I remembered my absolute fuckup!
The weight of the dreamworld, of Anna's tears and Jessa's confession, pressed down on me, a suffocating blanket of guilt and regret. I jolted upwards, and a hoarse shout ripped from my throat, not caring that I was supposed to be unseen to stay in the stable. "I'M A GODDAMN MORON! I MADE THEM CRY! FUCK!"
The words hung in the air, swallowed by the musty silence of the stable. I sat there, fists clenched, my mind racing. A thousand days of death. For me. For me. I had repaid them with nonsense! How had I repaid their sacrifice? With the selfish blindness formed of my own pain that masked theirs.
They cried and I said nothing!
They poured their hearts out and all that came out of my mouth was a terrified version of 'I'm sorry.' that didn't actually mean anything at all!
I had to make it up to them.
I had to. But how? What could I possibly do to even begin to atone for the sheer magnitude of their suffering?
They saved me!
From a fate worse than death!
Then,an idea sparked in my mind. These people and these merchants and guards would reset. Their reality, while real in this moment, was temporary.
It didn't matter if I barreled through the market.
Not in the grand scheme of things at least.
I needed an apology gift.
Something tangible that was also something that spoke of my regret and my unwavering love for Anna and my promise to try to love them both.
I would rob an accessory merchant and I would gain fighting experience at the same time. It was a stupid plan born of guilt and a desperate need to do something, anything, to ease the ache in my chest but it was all I could think of.
I stormed towards the marketplace as the streets of the city moved past me.
My movements were driven by a furious will that demanded only the best.
The pre-dawn streets blurred around me and as I ran the katana jostled with a reassuring weight.
I arrived at the marketplace as the first rays of dawn painted the sky in hues of pink and gold.
The familiar cacophony of breakfast stalls and early merchants hawking their wares filled the air, but I ignored them all.
My focus narrowed to a single target: a stall overflowing with fancy hair ornaments.
My eyes scanned the glittering array as I stormed forward.
I searched for something that spoke to me of the feeling of Anna and Jessa.
Then, I saw them.
A fancy black hair bow, its silk shimmering like raven's wings turned into soft velvet. It had patterns of a rainstorm in the same thread but raised slightly so that only those up close could feel or see it.
It was perfect for Anna's vibrant violet hair. I would also grab a golden coronet hairpin. It looked delicate and regal, like a tiny pointed tiara that was definitely fit for Anna's beautiful hair as well.
I also took an amethyst hairpin and a platinum sheath for the wakizashi I saw Jessa carrying.
I reached for them and swiftly shoved them into my pocket and strapped the sheath to my side.
I saw the merchant attempt to close around their delicate forms as I yanked them back out of his hands.
I heard his voice rise in a cry of alarm, "What the fuck are you doing?! Pay for those! Guards!"
People started shouting in surprise and I didn't hesitate. I gripped the incomplete set of daito katana.
As the first set of guards approached, I saw the smug look of the merchant in the corner of my eye. That smug look was matched by the guard that gave me no feeling of threat at all.
He tried to grab my shoulder as the sword finally and left its sheath temporarily.
A silver flash in the morning light. A click was heard.
Two guards, mere cadet-level- probably not even samurai, barely registered my presence and then they split.
The market erupted into screams and I stood in the center of the market.
I felt sick.
Was this worth it?
They were temporary right?!
Am I a psychopath?
NO! This is necessary!
They'll be alive tomorrow!
Moments passed before a group of four samurai approached cautiously.
Would they, though?
They surrounded me and the first lunged without warning.
The surprise lunge was the only thing he did right, as his katana moved in a clumsy overhead swing.
I sidestepped as the blade whistled past my ear and then my shoulder as I fluidly dodged and with an even more fluid motion I slashed through his body shoulder to hip.
I brought the pommel of my own katana crashing against his temple so that he wouldn't struggle while he bled out.
I felt sick.
This was wrong.
He crumpled like a puppet with its strings cut. The second hesitated, his eyes widening in surprise at his comrade's swift demise.
Just make it stop!
He raised his blade in a defensive posture, but I was already moving. A swift, precise cut across his hamstring sent him to his knees, a scream of pain ripping from his throat. Before he could even hit the ground, my katana completed its arc, a crimson line blossoming across his exposed neck.
That was NOT fucking necessary!
Then the shouts escalated.
Real samurai, their movements sharp and precise, emerged from the edges of the street.
Converging on my position. Three of them.
Their kimonos, the deep blues and blacks of seasoned warriors, marked them as veterans. My heart pounded against my ribs, adrenaline surging through my veins. This wasn't going to be a simple exercise.
The first charged, his katana whistling through the air in a diagonal slash aimed at my chest.
I parried, our blades meeting in a shower of sparks, the force of the impact jarring my arm.
Why am I still fighting?
He followed up with a swift, low sweep, but I anticipated it, leaping back just as his blade sliced through the air where my legs had been moments before.
These people can end the loop and I can give them my apology- so why?!
Why do I feel like I just committed an unforgivable sin upon the mountain that I have already committed?!
At the behest of a mad mentor?!
I landed lightly, using the momentum to spin and deliver a lightning-fast kick to his exposed side.
He gasped, stumbling, and I capitalized on his momentary disorientation. My katana flashed out, a crimson arc that severed his arm at the shoulder.
He screamed, clutching at the spurting wound, his face contorted in agony.
FUCK! They might be temporary but this is horrible!
The second, a woman with eyes as cold as ice, moved in, her katana a blur of motion. She attacked with a series of rapid thrusts and slashes, forcing me onto the defensive. I parried desperately, my arms burning, my breath coming in ragged gasps. She was fast, her blade a relentless whirlwind of steel.
I barely managed to block a thrust aimed at my heart, the force of the impact nearly disarming me. I saw an opening, a brief hesitation in her attack, and seized-
I yanked my instinctual reaction back and let her strike reach me.
The world tilted, the sounds of the panicking marketplace fading into a distant roar, and then-.