It had been a day since Poe killed those mercenaries. She never rested but continued to carry me along. Honestly, she was in bad shape. There were those purple cracks all over her body like porcelain about to fall apart. Every now and then she would take a heavy breath even though she never needed air. I had expressed my concern to her asking " Sis, you alright?" but she shrugged me off saying "I'm okay V". I knew she wasn't okay and that right now nothing was fine. Poe always shouldered everything and never asked anything in return. Obviously, Poe wasn't aware that she only ever referred to me as "V" when trying to sound jovial. She only did this when something was wrong like that time our parents took me to get a medical exam. I was mad at her for days but I found out she is a terrible liar.

The good news was that we had plenty of supplies. One of my slot powers was a storage space in the dark dimension. Poe had insisted on this selection years ago and apparently my space was larger than normal. This is where Poe had summoned her sword from although I'm not sure how she does it. She tried to explain it once but it made my head hurt. The simplified version was that Poe was supposedly made from the same thing my space was and could therefore "Move" things within it. Thus she could pull things out and not need me to open my summon portal.

If I slept Poe would carry me. We were constantly moving even while I ate. The only time we stopped was when I had to pee. This was terrible as I had never been in such harsh conditions. Who would ever want to squat in the woods? Thank the gods I have a short dress on. 

As days passed things grew calmer. We were far away from what was once home. Angor was only half a days travel away. I was walking ahead now and Poe was taking the rear as any threats should come from behind at this point. An attack at this point was unlikely as enemy forces would risk declaring war on Angor. I could see the Kingdon in the distance. The was a beautiful castle in the distance at the bottom of the mountain in which we had just reached the top.  I couldn't contain my excitement and I started to run down the slope. At first, Poe smiled and everything was hopeful. The idea of a warm bath and a soft bed had made me forget my surroundings for a moment. Then I heard Poe scream.

I turned back to see Poe banging on a transparent wall. No... It was a dome of some kind and I was in it! Glancing back around me I realized I was not alone in here. I tried to summon my Needle but my magic didn't work. None of it did! If I had my powers I could summon my control weapon or my beasts. I couldn't even take items out of my storage. I now understood why Poe had continued to carry that greatsword she had this whole time even though it was hurting her.

 I pulled out the long Gold needles Poe had made me. They were always concealed in my dress because Poe insisted I do so. A bald fat man and three sellswords approached me.

"So the rumor was true? The great Raylin Brook had an illegitimate child", The fat man in extremely elegant clothing monologed.

"Huh?" I blurted confused.

"I'm sure you were led to believe that wasn't the case but you wouldn't have made it this far otherwise child", The Fat noble stated.

"Your powers could only be inherited by Raylin as magic is rare and only he possessed them where you lived."

That construct of yours is something else too and I doubt he would not have made such a thing for someone with no relation. It clearly was made using his magic and of that, there is no mistake!" The fat man gestured at Poe.

"That's impossible my mother would not cheat on my father", I said matter of factly. I also didn't believe that Poe was merely a doll made from mana. She was too clever and really felt emotions like anger, sadness, and cared about things too much.

"Regardless, we cannot allow you to live girl. Others cannot know the truth of what happened here and one such as you could grow to become a formidable enemy", the fat man yawned.

With a hand gesture, the sellswords attacked. They were much stronger than they looked and faster too. I was still a little quicker and was able to dodge a sword swipe that cleaved a rock in two. Even with my needles on hand, it did me little good as my enemy not only outnumbered me but was way stronger. That fat noble didn't participate though as it appeared the barrier was of his creation. He is some kind of mage type. His magic is probably restricted to only being able to make an anti-magic barrier as one can't have such a broken power without a huge drawback. A mage is usually useless without they're magic but those who use anti-magic cannot use other kinds of magic. Anti-magic as Poe once said has the greatest price as its spells consume some of the user's life force. Lifeforce is needed as its the only thing powerful enough to deconstruct magic itself. With such power no matter what class he was born this man would have been made a noble of his country because he was a great asset. He was being paid handsomely for his sacrifice of years of his life.

I looked over to see Poe no longer banging on the dome but positioning her weapon in a strang form. She was bending herself in an awkward manner. Twisting her body unnaturally, glowing purple lines formed throughout as her body continued to try and hold itself together.

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The brief second I had looked away cost me dearly as one of the sellswords nearly cut me in half. I blocked by putting my needles together overhead in an interlocking form.

"Kuh!!!" came out of me as I was thrown back.

Another swing from one sellsword nearly took my head off as the claymore got stuck in a tree behind me. The blade had been too long and just barely not sharp enough to cut as deep as would be necessary to reach my neck. It was almost though as it nicked me slightly. A warm trickle went down my neck.

The ground shook as the barrier shattered near Poe. A wave spread over the dome as the fat man and sellswords momentarily lost his composure. 

A moment was all it took for Poe to enter the dome. Now Poe held a Broken weapon in her hand. About 12 inches of the end from Tthe massive greatsword had broken off. She had used so much force it didn't survive the impact intact. 

This wasn't the worrying part however, Poe was covered in black smoke. Upon closer inspection pieces of her were chipping away at a rapid rate. Through our bond, I could sense she was in unfathomable pain. The anti-magic field was ripping her apart!

She didn't waste time though in an instant she was with me. Before I could say anything I was thrown through the opening in the dome right before it sealed itself. A lesson Poe once taught me was to use your enemies tools against them. They would not be able to exit the barrier until it was dispelled and that would require them to defeat Poe. Rushing to one sellsword Poe changed the trajectory of her weapon mid-swing in a strange way. what had looked like a sideswipe cut the man in half from below. The second opponent successfully blocked Poe weapon but was unaware of his surroundings. There was a rock behind him and with a kick to the stomach, he fell backward with a "thud". Poe then simply let her blade fall straight down into him.

The last sellsword was protecting the fat noble. He held his blade in defiance surprisingly not afraid of his impending doom. As he clashed with Poe it was obvious he was the strongest of the lot. I had never seen anyone last five moves against Poe. Even if she was hurting and injured it was still an impressive feat. Poe momentarily lost balance as a huge crack formed in a leg that was almost skeletal at this point. Her bones looked like they were made of obsidian. 

"POOOE!" I screamed summoning needle I tried to hack at the barrier but it didn't penetrate. Worried for the only person left I cared for I banged and pleaded.

 Ducking under her blade she angled against the ground she blocked the last sellswords attack. In a flurry like spin, Poe cut the mans leg off at the knee and before he could scream his head soon followed. The man's blood rained down and landed on the fat noble clothes. The fat man had fallen down out of pure fear and began to grovel towards Poe.

"I Give you anything. Our nation would happily give such a great thing as you a nice home. We'd take good care of you. If this is too your like I can dispell the barrier but the girl cannot be left alive." The fat noble offered.

Poe simply lifted her blade over the man like a guillotine.

"Wait! If you kill me all my lifeforce will power the barrier! You will instantly be ripped apart!" The man shouted.

"Let me tell you something worm. True strength comes from the heart and you don't have one. So you'll never know what it's like to be strong and you would never understand me." In a beautiful arc, Poe's blade ended the fat nobles life.

Falling to the ground Poe crawled towards where I am. I no longer banged on the barrier. Poe was crumbling apart like she was made of sand. When she reached me all that was left was a black obsidian skeleton. One of her legs had fallen off too. Poe placed her skeletal hand on the barrier and I placed mine on the other side. Tears streaming down my face I spoke as Poe mouthed something at me. I could sense we were trying to say the same thing to each other. we were saying "I'm sorry that I've let you down". I wanted to say it's not your fault it is mine. If Id tried harder and endured more. Had I not been so spoiled Maybe you'd still be here. 

I didn't get the chance because as soon as I said those words she was gone. The barrier disappeared and I frantically grabbed at the purple specks that were fading away. Anything.. any piece of her I could get because I didn't want to be alone. The truth soon dawned on me that she was gone as all of her memories flooded through my head.

"So, she was Raylen..." I thought aloud. 

"Understanding and events I didn't remember returned to me. The memory of meeting a shadow that had a mans voice and making a contract with it. At first, I called it big bro but when it turned into a girl like me I changed it to "Sis". This transformation had shocked the once shadow being as it believed it would remain formless. I had asked her what her name was and she had said: "I no longer have one". So I had named her "Poe".

I fell to my knees. My best friend whom I thought of as kin was dead. I had thought her immortal and indestructible but in fact, she had a weakness. My existence assured her destruction... No, his destruction. He had given everything to me and changed my fate. I was destined to die with my parents and his endless sacrifice changed that. His whole life was nothing but pain and sacrifice. The best person I knew was the one who suffered the worst. I held the only memento I had of His in my hand. A necklace with two gold rings on it. I knew that this was his and his wife's wedding ring.

I had almost all his memories now and I recalled her name as "Anea". They had married in secret. Even his parents and her colleagues didn't know. Raylin had fallen in love with an assassin and she with him. Anea had a special body where once she consumed poison it would evolve in her becoming more and more deadly. Raylin had nearly died once simply to steal a kiss. He had hoped that once he died and gave most of his powers to his brother that he would be free to be with her. instead, he got stuck with me.

Now that everything had been taken from me I desire nothing more than to grow stronger. Everything they stole shall be taken back. For everything that was lost, I shall take a pound of flesh in return! There is one person I know of who would be willing to help me. She would be able to make me stronger. Her name is "Anea".