Everyone Makes a Sacrifice

”Life has a weird way of showing truth to people… And so do I.” ~Alphazzel, Faunel of History and Disasters.

”Princess Kristel…”

“Uncle.” Kristel sat upon a rock on the edge of a crater caused by a fallen A.I.R. ship. “How goes the count?”

“We only have about two-hundred knights remaining. A hundred of those are either incapacitated by the Nightmare Influence, or too injured to continue. The rest… The rest are gone, Princess.”

Kristel clenched her jaw. Her frustrated grip on the rock crushed it into powder. The entire army was gone before they could even approach the Incursion. Out of the ones that remained, she doubted anyone would wish to enter that black void.

Her thoughts turned to Velruzenshup’nertoroliz, but she quickly stopped herself before she mentally cursed the Sealed One. She knew next to nothing with regards to Destiny, and she wouldn’t risk its wrath by calling it something undesirable.

Kristel sighed. In the end, she could only rely on the other two and their yumas right now.

“Sorry…” she said, shaking the dust off her hand.

“I’ll organize a camp for the knights to recuperate,” Advisor Kento started, unfazed by her outburst. “We can proceed tomorrow, when they’re more able.”

“Good decision,” she replied. “We’ll be back before nightfall.”

“There’s only two hours left before nightfall, Princess.”

“That should be enough for us to scout what’s right in front of us.” Kristel hopped down the rock and looked around for Frill and Xiv. The look on her uncle’s face was between worry and desperation.

“You’re not going in there, Princess.”

“This is not a discussion, Advisor Kento,” she retorted, holding herself back from using Monarch’s Law. “None of you are in any shape to resist the Nightmare Influence now.”

“And you can?” he said, catching himself too late.

“Yes,” Kristel replied confidently. “Times have changed, Uncle. I’m not as helpless as I was three years ago.”

The Princess didn’t wait for her advisor to retaliate. She just left him there, forcing him to keep his words to himself. She would not be dissuaded from this decision.

There was a moment, when Kristel had considered going into the Incursion on her own, but she thought better of it. First of all, Frill and Xiv were her only reliable hands in this current situation. Second, she was a hundred percent sure that the Aria would jump straight into danger if she found out, which meant Xiv would come plunging in without hesitation.

It was best to just have them join her now.

Kristel saw Xiv first. The new retainer was going around distributing medical supplies. He passed them all to another knight when he saw her.

“Where’s Frill?” she asked.

“They went to survey the outer rim of the Incursion.”

“They what?” Kristel blinked, exercising all her patience to not jump straight into the Incursion. She couldn’t even appreciate the irony of the situation. “Who’s ‘they’?”

“Frill’s with Smyl and Ashtine, as far I know. She also said you’d complain if they asked permission first, so they just went.”

“That’s a complete disregarding of my authority,” Kristel said, clutching her head with one hand.

“That’s what I said.” Xiv scratched the back of his head. “They’ll be coming back soon, I think. They promised to only survey what’s right in front of us.”

As if on cue, the three in question landed not far from them. Kristel glared in their direction and the two Sky Knight accompanying her retainer immediately tensed up.

“We were just following orders,” Ashtine said as soon as Kristel joined them.

“We’ll deal with this when we get back,” Kristel said. She needed Frill right now, and dismissing her would be the most stupid decision she would’ve ever made. “What did you find?”

“Absolutely nothing,” Frill replied. “The sphere completely blocks everything from the outside, even if we get close. There’s something odd with it, however.”

Kristel just motioned for her to continue, still struggling to tame down her frustrations.

“The Nightmare Influence is also completely blocked off. Doesn’t matter how close we get, there’s not a shred of it seeping out from the sphere.”

“How close did you get?”

Frill gestured towards the distance between her and the Princess.

“Just me, though,” she said. “I know we can handle the Nightmare now, but I’m not sure with these two.”

Kristel nodded. “That’s awfully close. Ashtine, you’re not allowed inside the Incursion. We were keeping this a secret, but Frein saw something wrong with your Mind Palace. I’m afraid if you go in there, it might aggravate your situation.

“I’m not opposed to you, or even you, Smyl, joining this campaign, but I intended to stop both of you from entering the Incursion in the first place.”

“What did Frein see?” Ashtine asked, nervous because of the unknown and because she was still conscious that she ignored Kristel’s authority.

“That you’re weirdly under the influence of the Nightmare, but somehow you’re walking fine. He wasn’t able to explore your Mind Palace directly because of it, so I don’t want you anywhere inside that sphere.”

“That’s…” Ashtine shook her head, unable to comprehend what she just heard. “I find that hard to believe.”

Kristel couldn’t agree more. “I know, but he saved me from my own Nightmare Influence. He knows what he’s talking about, so I suggest you trust him rather than risk your life.”

The Princess made sure not to mention the Oblimoth residing in the Sky Knight’s Mind Palace, or that she and her brother were half-faunels. Just the Influence alone was already hard enough to believe. There would be time for those other revelations later.

“What about me?” Smyl asked. He caught himself sounding like a kid, so he tried again. “Why can’t I join?”

“I don’t have to explain that, do I?” Kristel said. “Despite what Uncle Kento said, you’re in no shape for a fight. Besides, do you think Ashtine will stay put if you go in there?”

“We won’t stay put if you go in there, Princess,” said a new voice. Maffelyne. She was accompanied by her group and a few others who had overheard their talk. Advisor Kento was with them. “Sorry, but we can’t really stay put if you’re going.

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“You will, or I’m knocking you all out,” Kristel said, her patience running thin. “Don’t make me use more meiyal than I have to. You will all stay here and recover. Frill, Xiv, and I will scout ahead. We’ll be back before full dark.”

She started storming off, leaving everyone aside from the people she mentioned. She heard Frill saying something to Ashtine and the others.

“Don’t worry, we’ll make sure she’s safe.”

No one else complained. Kristel expected as much. Despite their willingness to support her, they were all shaken by the truth of the Nightmare. Even if Velruzenshup’nertoroliz hadn’t interfered with their campaign, they would have felt this despair one way or another.

She paused.

Did it stop us on purpose? Did it want to make sure those who are too weak won’t needlessly sacrifice themselves?

Kristel thought that was too good to be true. It was more likely that the Sealed One had parked itself near what would be a Nightmare Incursion in order to feast off anyone strong enough to survive it. And clearly, it was disgustingly disappointed.

“You know,” Xiv began as they left the camp—or the beginnings of it, at least. He was riding with Frill on top of Stiry. “If I had only heard this sort of story from someone else, I’d imagine you to be taller than anyone out there, Princess.”

“Just because you’re her retainer, doesn’t mean you can mock her for her height, Xiv,” Frill retaliated.

“It’s fine,” Kristel said. “The strongest person I know is even smaller than I am.”

“Who’s that?” they both asked at the same time.

“Kristella,” she replied. “The one I don’t deserve to be named after.”

----------------------------------------

“It’s frustrating,” Ashtine admitted as she sat on the debris of a collapsed A.I.R. ship part. She leaned forwards, steadying her head as she perched it over an arm that she propped on one knee. Her fingers twirled around her blonde hair. It had grown a little since she had returned from the Siege of the Vanguard.

“What is?” her brother asked. Smyl sat beside her, combing his own hair that shared the same color. “That you can’t accompany the Princess?”

“That, and I can’t enter my Mind Palace.” She slapped a frustrated hand on her lap, forcing herself to stand. “And then here comes the Visitor just waltzing in and claiming I have a problem.”

“The Princess did say he wasn’t able to enter your Palace. He’s in your Dream Realm, sure, but that’s about it.”

“That’s the problem.” Ashtine stomped her way down the debris and turned around with a frowning face. “How am I supposed to verify it for myself, if I can’t enter my own Mind Palace?”

Smyl shrugged. “Maybe that’s why you can’t enter it? Because whatever’s preventing the Nightmare Influence from turning you into one, is also somehow preventing you from entering until after you’re cured?”

“Sometimes, I feel like you have too much of a better head than I do.” Ashtine pouted. “It’s better if you share some of it. We’re twins, you know?”

“And I’m the older one,” Smyl replied with a smug look on his face. “So I deserve all the smarts.”

“And you also have all the brawns!”

“Because I’m the older one.”

“Whatever.” Ashtine turned to leave to think about her issues on her own. Or at least, she tried.

Her muscles had frozen, and it was getting difficult to breathe. Her eyes were affixed on Smyl who had gradually realized that something wrong was going on.

“Hey! Hey, Ashtine!” He ran towards her and tried to move her arms, but he couldn’t. In fact, she couldn’t even feel his grip.

“Hey! Help! Somebody help!” he started shouting, but he froze. Ashtine could only look at his brother as he stumbled around in horror. “What’s going on?”

She couldn’t even utter the same question. She couldn’t even move her eyes to look around, her gaze completely affixed on the ruined A.I.R. ship as her brother backed away out of view.

“Really now, stop panicking, Smyl.”

Ashtine heard the voice somewhere to her left, towards where her brother had gone. Her natural instincts urged her to turn, but she was held in place, worse than a prisoner chained inside a cage. All she could do was listen.

“Who are you?”

“Don’t worry, Smyl, I’ll help you remember.”

The panicked screams of her brother gradually stopped.

“Took you long enough,” Smyl said, much to Ashtine’s confusion. “All this just to get around Katherine? I almost died back there.”

“We had to make it realistic, Smyl,” said the unknown voice. “If you underestimate a Seeker and a Visitor, you’ll dearly pay for it. I know because—”

“Yeah, yeah, you’ve handled every last one of them. Just because I was just born, doesn’t mean you get to boss me around. I agreed in the end, alright?”

Smyl entered Ashtine’s view once again. But rather than feeling relief, the confidence in her brother’s face made her instincts scream for her to run. It was too out of character. He was hysterical a second ago.

“She can hear us, right?” he asked, turning to the stranger she couldn’t see.

“That doesn’t matter, does it?”

“Answer the question.”

“She can, she can.”

Smyl’s eyes narrowed at that. “Cover her ears.”

“She’ll pop, if I cover everything,” the voice explained. “It won’t be pretty, you know? If there’s nowhere else for things to go, they go down. If they go down, it gets messy. You don’t want your sister to lose her dignity, don’t you?”

“You’re disgusting.”

“I’m just saying it how it is, Smyl. I’m being considerate.” A pause. “At least let her know she won’t be—”

“Shut up,” Smyl growled. “She’s still my sister.”

“Fine,” the voice said softly in return. Mockingly softly. “Take your time then. I’m going to kill everyone in the meantime.”

Ashtine heard the footsteps leave. Her heart pounded on her chest, realizing the stranger’s final sentence. Not to mention the problematic face her brother wore, and the simple fact that he didn’t stop the stranger.

“I’m sorry, Ashtine,” Smyl said. “Everything’s been going according to plan.”

He reached in front of him. Drawing. No…

Smyl Flourished a Weapon. Meiyal Armament. A dual-bladed sword with the hilt in the middle. He shrugged, admitting that he had been keeping this a secret all along.

“It’s just a plain Weapon,” he explained, as if it would clear any sort of confusion swimming in her head. “No Embellishments, or anything of the sort. Stole it during the Siege at the Vanguard. It needs a signature, but I can work around it without any problems.”

Ashtine had a ton of questions in mind, but she couldn’t give voice to them. Smyl shook his head.

“What am I saying?” He ran a hand over his hair, slowly turning it black. “Sorry, I just don’t know what to say.”

Her brother looked past her, his lips curled in and his breathing deep.

“The Visitor’s right,” he began. “You’re infested by a lot of Nightmares. We’re born half-faunel. Our mother, Fellazzel, she disguised herself as a mortal and used our father to give birth to us. It was all for this moment, Ashtine. All so that we could attract the Entity out of the Princess.”

He wasn’t making sense as far as Ashtine was concerned. Her memories of her mother were—

“Fake. My… acquaintance, Alphazzel. He has Time’s Eye. He can change your memories depending on how long you’ve been within his company.”

But I don’t know any Alphazzel…

“You don’t remember because he erases that too. Every time.”

Smyl paused again. The silence was long and excruciating. Ashtine almost forgot that she was hardly breathing.

“You’re still not done?” asked the stranger’s voice. Alphazzel. “I’ll do it, if you won’t.”

Smyl raised his Weapon. “I’ll end you the moment you try something.”

Alphazzel laughed. “You’re not scary, Smyl. I know scary. Got fucked up by the Visitor last night. Just do what you’re supposed to do, or get lost. I’ll do it for you if you’re such a baby about it. I gave you enough time.”

Smyl ignored the faunel and turned his eyes on Ashtine. For the first time since she was frozen, they met eye to eye. She wanted to beg to be spared, but there was nothing she could do.

Then he turned his Weapon to her. “I’m sorry. But I need your life, Ashtine.”

The blade pierced her skin. She felt the pain as the sword entered her chest. It was slow, deliberate. She questioned everything in her life as the face of her brother inched closer to her, his pained expression unjustified by this cruel act.

What’s making him do such a thing?

Ashtine concentrated on the question as she endured the pain. She could feel the metal pierce the fibers of her flesh, crushing bone as the blade ripped through it. The pain had long since turned cool, a final moment of mercy from her brother.

Smyl wasn’t torturing her, she realized. At least, she still clung to the small hope that her brother wasn’t such a cruel person. Whatever was keeping her frozen, was making it difficult for him to finish his task.

Even at death’s door, she still saw the good in her murderer. She was kidding herself.

Ashtine’s breathing wasn’t taking hold. The blade had pierced her heart. As if relieved, Smyl drew the sword out and threw it on the ground in frustration. He cried on the ground and screamed.

She could feel her lifeforce fading away. It was slow, but it had caused whatever was freezing her to give way, at least a little. Relief and lethargy caressed her, and the tears were finally allowed to flow.

“Why…” she said weakly. It was the only word she could afford.

When her brother didn’t respond, Alphazzel invaded her view instead. He looked exactly like Tryvinal Bree, only his eyes were more crazed, and his hair was longer.

“Let me help you out,” he said with a compassionate smile, his eyes unblinkingly staring at her own. “As a final gift for your sanity. Thank you for your great sacrifice, Ashtine.”

Her final moments were spent recalling everything that had happened throughout the years of her life. How Destiny was real, and the plans had been brewing since the previous Visitor had died.

They were after the completion of Frein’s meiyal core. No, they wanted him to absorb the Fragment so he could die. They wanted him gone, so no one else would be in the way of their plans.

But really, it’s for the good of the world. The good of Brymeia.

Ashtine was no longer frozen. She lay on the ground with tears of joy mixing with her pool of blood. She smiled in her final moments, knowing that her memories had finally returned…

Knowing that her sacrifice would be for the good of all…

A clarity for her final moments, so she could be at peace with her death…

Time’s Eye was such a cruel thing.