Chapter 7 - A Place to Rest

Sidan slowly returned to consciousness in a warm, wonderfully fluffy embrace. He kept his eyes closed for a long time, simply appreciating the sensations, save for a mild headache. All the same, a part of him was hoping that waking up in a stranger’s bed after losing consciousness wouldn’t become a regular occurrence.

His right hand was numb. He could almost convince himself that he was enjoying a lazy morning back at home, and that the numbness was simply because he had slept on it. But he had to confront reality eventually.

He opened his eyes slowly, and found that he was in a bed, bigger than the previous one. The room was different as well, slightly more spacious, and with only one bookshelf, which he felt was a much more reasonable amount. A soft, white light filtered through the window blinds. Was this Liv’s guest room? Did she even get guests?

And his hand… He hesitantly raised it up to his eyes. Still made of that same pink crystalline material. It hadn’t been a dream.

He took the time to more properly examine it. The material was more opaque in hand form than in sword form, but still partially transparent. By looking at a certain angle, he could see the boundary between his crystal hand and flesh and blood wrist. He thought he was able to spot one of his bones, but couldn’t really tell in the gloom. He reached out to one of the blinds, and opened it a smidge. The light made his headache flare up. He closed it. Potion overuse, probably.

His wrist was wrapped up in a clean bandage. Had Liv changed it for him while he was still sleeping? He tried to activate his regeneration around his wrist, and didn’t feel the familiar sensation of his flesh knitting itself together. He eagerly unwrapped it, and was pleased to see undamaged, if tender, skin.

The doorknob turned, and Liv entered, carrying a water canteen. Upon noticing Sidan’s wakeful state, she stood in place, avoiding his gaze. He reciprocated.

“… Hello, Sidan,” she said, after an awkward few seconds.

“Hi,” he replied, throat hoarse. He coughed. “Water?”

Liv handed him the canteen, and he greedily drank, wonderful sensations spreading through his throat.

“I suppose I should apologize,” Liv said, when he had drunk his fill. “You were right. That monster was after the sword. If it had gotten a hold of it, then… In any case, I’m sorry.”

“It’s…” Sidan stumbled. ‘Fine’ had been the first word that came to mind, but that wasn’t quite true, was it? He understood Liv’s reasons, after his talk with Magnus, but she had gotten close to killing him, towards the end of their fight. He didn’t want to hound her over it and make things between them even more strained, but that wasn’t something he could forget just like that either.

“I understand,” he said, instead. “I had a conversation with your… creator, after touching the sword. He told me that the Slicers were not one of the threats his visions had shown him, but that the sword had somehow still activated. He wanted to tell me more, but I was on a time limit, so he ended the vision after telling me the basics.”

“That’s odd…” Liv said. “But it would explain a lot. In any case, you probably still have a lot of questions, yes? You and I are going to see each other a lot over the coming months and years, assuming that things don’t get even weirder. So, ask away.”

“Ok,” he said. “First of all, why did you feel the need to decapitate yourself in front of me?”

“Ah, that. As you probably realized by now, my immortality goes beyond just my age. Whenever I die, I get reborn back into this house after a time, all my wounds gone. Killing myself was just the quickest way to heal my arms. I was planning to track you down once this was done, but…”

“Couldn’t you have told me? Do you have any idea how traumatized I was, seeing you do that? And what were you even planning to do to me, if the Slicer mage hadn’t been here?”

At this, Liv looked genuinely mortified, and took some time to compose her response.

“I’m sorry about that. I really am. You have to understand, it’s been a long time since I showed off my powers to anyone. Back when I was with Luciel and the others, this was a trick I used often to get out of hairy situations, or just to heal myself after a bad injury. They got used to it, eventually, but you obviously haven’t.”

That was… a lot to take in. He could certainly see the applications of such an ability, but it wasn’t something he wanted to see often. Or ever, for that matter.

“As for what I would have done… Well, I wasn’t thinking too highly of you while my arms were broken. I’m sure you understand. I wanted to find you, and take the sword back by force, if necessary. But while I was being reborn, I had some time to cool down, and… I wasn’t so sure anymore. Then you and this monster showed up before I could set out, and I was spared from having to make that choice.”

The idea that Liv might have been the one trying to dismember him if Null hadn’t shown up when she had was disturbing, to say the least. Still, Sidan appreciated the honesty.

“You said you resurrect inside this house whenever you die. How exactly does that work?”

“That isn’t something I’m willing to tell you,” Liv said, lips tight. “Not yet, at least.”

Alright then. He wouldn’t press the issue, for now.

“How long was I out?”

“About three hours.”

Sidan frowned.

“Shouldn’t it still be nighttime, then? Where is that light coming from? And how exactly did we escape from Null in the first place?” Sidan asked.

“Null?”

“It’s what the Slicer mage called itself. Herself,” he corrected.

“Ah,” Liv frowned. “I think it’s better to show you than to tell you. Are you okay to stand?”

“I think so. But the light is giving me a headache.”

“Do you want to wait for a bit? We can-”

“It’s fine,” he cut her off. “I can handle it.”

He should probably stay in bed a little while longer, but he was really curious now.

On shaky legs, he followed Liv out the guest room, and out of the house.

The light blinded him, and he took a few minutes just waiting for his eyes to adjust and for his pounding headache to fade to a bearable level. And when it did…

“Wow,” was all he could say.

Liv’s house no longer stood in a forest clearing, but in a space similar to the one he had talked with Magnus in.

The ground was also covered in mist, but much thinner. He could see the floor this time, made of dry, featureless grey stone, with no layer of water. The sky was pure white, and seemed to be the primary source of light, whereas in the vision the illumination had been omni-directional.

And unlike Magnus’s realm, this one wasn’t just an infinite, empty plain. Scattered all around the house, he could spot dozens of person-sized, floating crystals. At first glance, they looked transparent, but if he unfocused his gaze a bit, he thought he could catch glimpses of buildings, people, and landscapes peeking through. More like slices in reality than solid, physical objects. In the distance was a hazy, near opaque red barrier that encircled the house and crystals. Red lightning occasionally crackled across its surface, as if it contained a raging storm that threatened to break free at any seconds.

“What exactly am I looking at?” Sidan asked, once he recovered the ability to form coherent thoughts.

“Welcome, Sidan, to the Wanderer’s Halls — no relation to the Wanderers United travel agency — another creation of King Magnus. As he might have told you, the sword will start out weak, little more than a very sharp blade, and it will take time before its full potential is unlocked. Though not strictly necessary, this space will make the process much smoother.”

Liv spread her arms dramatically, making the same sort of sweeping motions as when she’d been controlling her paper.

“You could say that my house is the doorway to the Halls, and myself the key. Whenever I’m inside it, I can bring it in here with a thought, and back to the outside world as well. As you saw, this can be used as a quick escape from danger. Furthermore…”

Liv pointed at the nearest crystal. She seemed more at ease now than she had before. More in her element.

“Each of these crystals correspond to a location in the outside world. Their positioning is roughly accurate to the real thing as well. The one I’m pointing to, for example, is in the capital of the Kingdom of Korelon, which isn’t all that far from Valronia. In any case, you can activate one of them, and the next time my house leaves the halls, it will appear there. Luciel and the others used this to quickly travel all over the hemisphere, long before teleporting diagrams were invented. Of course, there’s some subtleties to their operation, but I’ll tell you about those once you’ve completely recovered.”

“You said hemisphere, instead of world. Does that mean this thing is…” Sidan trailed off, pointing at the red wall in the distance.

“The Boundary,” Liv answered. “Or at least, its representation within this space. I’ve spotted some crystals beyond it, but no matter how hard I try, I can’t breach it.”

The Boundary. A perpetual, violent storm, of clearly magical origins. Since before recorded history, it had raged in a nearly perfect, unmoving circle that went all the way from the north pole to the south pole. Though it had strangely little effect on the weather and climate, it had a much bigger impact on exploration; namely, half of the planet was completely locked away.

No one knew what awaited on the other side. Other continents, full of fascinating wonders and unique cultures? Just empty ocean? Or perhaps the storm simply never ended, and half of the globe was just constantly ravaged by winds that could capsize ships, and lightning that could vaporize even the strongest of forcefields. There had been many attempts at expeditions, of course, but most of them wisely turned back once they realized they couldn’t weather Mother Nature at her most furious. The few that didn’t… well, no one wasted too much time holding out hope for their return. Nowadays, many nations outright prohibited expeditions into the Boundary until the next major breakthrough in defensive magic would come about.

Every scholar and religion had their own hypothesis for the boundary. Many believed that the other side was their own version of heaven, while others took the opposite road and claimed it was hell. Personally, Sidan had never cared too much. Academics had never been his thing, and he viewed the question much like he did for other great unsolved mysteries – while he wouldn’t mind an answer, he wasn’t itching for one either, and he’d leave the thinking to the people actually qualified for it.

But now? Sidan wouldn’t lie and say that his interest in this topic hadn’t been renewed. Was there really no way to get past this barrier? It certainly looked punier in the Wanderer’s Halls than it did in the outside world. The fact that there were crystals beyond it seemed to suggest that there was some solid ground on the other side of the globe. He would have to take a closer look later.

“I wouldn’t get too close to it if I were you,” Liv added. “At least not until you get stronger. That lightning isn’t just for show. And unlike me, you can only die once.”

Or not. He shook his head, changing the topic to something more productive. The motion didn’t do wonders for his headache.

“Is there a crystal that leads inside Estrellis? If so, we could use it to bypass the Slicers’ forcefield. We might even be able to rescue some people!”

His mother would be safe, inside of this space. If he could get to her…

Liv frowned, dashing his hopes to pieces.

“Ah, that,” she said. “I think it’s better if I show you.”

They circled around the house, coming to a stop close to a crystal that had been hidden from view. This one was grey, unmoving. Sidan didn’t catch any glimpses of the outside world through it. Just the mists’ refraction, and a faint reflection of his own face.

“I’ve never seen anything like it. I tried to activate it while you were out, but nothing I did worked. I assume this has to do with this forcefield you mentioned, but…”

Solel had said the barrier around Estrellis was unlike any she’d ever seen. And its grey color had matched that of the crystal’s. It wasn’t unreasonable to assume that it could block the Hall’s method of transportation. And yet, something about this felt strange, off. A second later, he realized what was bothering him.

“But”—Sidan frowned—“I escaped Estrellis through a teleporter. So did others. Are you telling me that this forcefield can’t block a well known contraption that’s been in use for over a hundred years, but can block… whatever it is that this place does?”

“I- I don’t know, Sidan. The two probably work through different principles. There’s no proof the forcefield is responsible anyway.”

“They probably work through different principles?”

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

“I said I don’t know!” Liv snapped. She took a deep breath, then continued, more composed.

“I know how to operate everything that Magnus built, but how they actually work, on a magical level? Completely beyond me. Also beyond modern magical theory, based on my own research. And he didn’t leave anything behind that would bring me closer to understanding it. I’m grateful to him for giving me life, but I never even met the man. Or if I did, I don’t remember it. But based on what Luciel told me of her talks with him, I’m not sure I’d want to anyway.”

Still hasn’t outgrown that phase, I see, Magnus had said when Sidan had called her Liv instead of Libra. If he had said something similar to Luciel, he completely understood why Liv had her reservations about the man.

“Not all hope is lost, Sidan,” Liv said, picking up on his worries. “The sword will give you access to many strange and unique abilities, once it has grown in power. One of them might be able to unlock it, or break that barrier.”

He turned away from the crystal, trying to clear his thoughts. No point dwelling on this, when he couldn’t do anything about it right now.

“So, this all sounds very useful, but how will it help unlock the sword’s true potential? Thinking about it, does it even have a name? When people just say ‘the sword’ without any additional context, this is usually what they mean, but I’d like a more descriptive term.”

“I don’t think it has one. Maybe Magnus just couldn’t think of a name for it? Luciel called it the ‘Spinel Shard’ at first, but she stopped pretty quickly. I just thought it sounded kind of stupid. As for how to power it up… Luciel’s Companions. They weren’t just people she picked up along the way. They’re essential to the process. The sword guided her to them.”

Liv stepped away from the crystal, walking back to the house. Sidan followed her.

“Over the coming months and years, all over the hemisphere, extraordinary individuals will draw the sword to them like moths to a flame. They will find themselves in seemingly hopeless situations, brought on by this current crisis. This is where you come in. With the help of the Halls, you will quickly be able to find them, and then assist them with whatever their problem is. This will unlock the sword’s next level of power, and in order to keep it there, you’ll need to convince them to join you on your adventures.”

Sidan stared skeptically at Liv.

“That’s it? I was expecting something… more,” he said.

“Oh, it’s not as easy as you think,” Liv replied with a small chuckle. “As it turns out, most people aren’t all that willing to join you on a dangerous quest to save the world, even if you solve their problems for them beforehand. It’ll be up to us to figure out what makes them tick, and make their time with us worthwhile.”

“Us?” he asked.

“Well, yes. I’m not just going to idly stand by while you do all the work. I was created to assist and guide the sword’s holder. And my embarrassing earlier performance aside, I can handle myself in a fight. With a bit of training, I’ll be back in top form in no time.”

“I can’t help but feel this is all… manipulative. Us going around the world, solving people’s problems so that they join us and make me stronger? Are we even sure that those Companions exist, this time around, what with the lack of a prophecy?”

“Well, when you put it like that…” Liv drawled. “But nothing is stopping you from using your newfound power to help people during your downtime. And yes, there might be an ulterior motive behind this, but the Companions will be made aware of this, and at the end of the day, the world will be made a better place for our actions. For your other question, I wouldn’t be too concerned. If Magnus didn’t say anything regarding that subject, then they probably do exist.”

“And what about that ‘chosen hero’ you mentioned earlier? The one who can supposedly wield the sword the most effectively. Should we maybe seek them out?”

“If they even exist, then they probably don’t matter. They could be literally anywhere, and we’d have no way of finding them. Luciel was guided to me because Magnus knew she was the one, and he made plans for her that went into effect after his death. I assume he did the same for the future holders of the sword that he also knows about. Without that, there’s no way to know.”

Alright then. So Sidan was probably stuck with this weapon for the long term. A small part of him had still hoped that he could weasel out of that responsibility, somehow, but it looked like that wouldn’t happen. At least he wouldn’t be doing this alone.

“So, do you have any idea how all this actually works? How does… helping a few select people lead to the sword getting stronger?” he asked, really hoping Liv wasn’t as clueless on this subject as the previous one.

“I do actually. Well, I don’t know how the sword was made, or how it works, but I know what powers it. Hope.”

“Hope?”

“Yes, you heard me correctly. Somehow, Magnus found a way to generate incredible amounts of magic through sheer, raw hope, with this sword as a focal point. It uses not only the newfound hope of your newest Companion, but also the general hope of the populace, as you, and they, make more and more progress. Luciel received her biggest power boosts when she recruited a new Companion, but she also got slightly stronger over time, as we got better and better at fighting the demons, and they slowly retreated back to the Underworld.”

Sidan stared at her, his headache pounding.

“What are you thinking about?” Liv asked. “Anything more you want to know?”

“I think,” Sidan answered, “that I’ll go back to sleep, for now, and leave any harder thinking for later.”

“Not a bad idea,” Liv answered with a small smile. “If you’re hungry, you can help yourself to any food in my kitchen.”

“By food, do you mean the honey, candies, and multiple packets of sugar?”

Liv blushed at the sarcastic comment.

“Err, that. I already told you that I don’t need to eat, but I still enjoy the taste of food. And since I don’t have to watch my weight, I thought, you know…”

“That you’d eat like a toddler whose parents weren’t looking.”

“Look, everyone has their vices, okay? I’ll get you some real food before you starve, don’t worry.”

Sidan chuckled to himself as he walked back towards the guest room. Maybe Liv and he would get along, after all.

He hit the bed, and within minutes, was out like a light.

* * *

And thus, I ask of you to remain calm.

Estrel frowned, rereading the line she had just written down. Was ‘thus’ too formal a word? Would it make her seem too disconnected from the common people, in a time where she needed to guide them more than ever? She crossed it out, and squeezed in a ‘so’, just in case.

And sothus, I ask of you to remain calm. This is a difficult time for all of us

Well. It certainly would be a lot easier for her than for the average Estrellian. She wouldn’t have to worry about food or money, for once. Some people might interpret that line negatively.

She pressed her face into her hands, defeated. Why was speech writing so hard? She normally had people on her staff to do it for her, but well… They weren’t here right now. Escaped, like everyone in the palace save for herself and the Royal Guard. The latter had announced her surrender to the people, but she’d still need to make a public appearance soon and address her citizens directly. She’d planned to leave the speech writing for tomorrow, and had focused on more pressing matters instead.

But soon after she had finished a debriefing with various high-ranking members of Estrellis’s armed and magical forces, Null had barged into her room, triumphant. She’d claimed that she had located the other side of the teleporter, gloated for a bit, and left. On its own, that hadn’t been a shock. Her plan had always been a long shot, and that it had worked for as long as it had was a small miracle. Still… it hurt. She’d been ready to go to bed, and get at least a few hours of sleep so that she could tackle tomorrow to the best of her abilities.

Now? She had to do something, anything to feel productive. And thus, here she was, slaving away at a terrible speech, tears of frustration almost spilling from her eyes as the light of dawn was starting to filter through her window.

“You will be pleased to learn that your little stunt worked.”

Estrel turned around, red, puffy eyes staring at the intruder. Null had sneaked into her room without her noticing, and just floated there, ribbons gently swaying.

She turned the words inside her head. Individually, they all made sense, but together, tired as she was…

Null saved her from having to think too hard.

“The guard. He got to the sword before I did. And, he escaped.”

Sidan had gotten the sword? Already? Did he go looking for it on his own, instead of forming a search party like she had told him? Well, she could hardly fault him, if he had succeeded. Technically, he hadn’t followed her plan to the letter, but Null didn’t need to know that. Estrel allowed herself a little smile.

“Don’t be so smug,” Null told her. “It won’t make a difference. The sword was weak. Nothing like it’s described in your legends. Sharp, yes, but it will take more than a sharp piece of crystal to defeat me. His escape came down to pure luck.”

Estrel tuned Null out. There was a possibility that she was lying, but Estrel didn’t see how that would benefit Null. To give Estrel false hopes, perhaps? That didn’t fit. It was clear by now that Null was trying to cultivate an image of inevitable power, the kind of conqueror who didn’t feel the need to lie, because whatever she said or did was so much worse for her adversaries than any fiction she could imagine. And yet…

There were cracks in that façade. Null wasn’t unstoppable. She had been set back twice in the last few hours. First by Estrel herself, and then by Sidan, apparently. At the end of the day, Null still came out as the undisputed winner, but it could have been far worse for them.

You love the sound of your own voice, but you didn’t say anything back then until I addressed you directly. Were you still unsure of what you wanted your persona to be?

You waited until the very last moment to reveal yourself, and that gave Sidan the opportunity to escape. Did you want to make a dramatic entrance? Or were you just nervous?

This is your first time doing this, isn’t it? You aren’t a flawless mastermind, or an unstoppable force of nature. You’re a regular person who is in way over her (metaphorical) head, but expects something in return. You just happen to look very strange, and to have a lot more power than most.

She really hoped her hypothesis was correct.

“What do you want, Null?” Estrel asked.

“I already told you,” Null scoffed. “My master will–”

“I do not care what your master wants, right now,” Estrel cut her off. “I care what you want.”

Null didn’t answer for several seconds.

“You could say I’m someone who just wants a promise to be fulfilled,” she finally said, subdued.

She floated towards the doorway, then stopped.

“Good night, little queen. I eagerly await to see how you’ll surprise me next.”

With one last chuckle, she was gone.

Estrel finally allowed herself to relax. She would finish that stupid speech this afternoon, she decided. Before that, sleep, if only for a few hours. She forcibly squashed down her guilt at not doing more. She’d take whatever victories she could get.

* * *

“Liv, you here?” Sidan shouted.

No response came. The house wasn’t very big, so she was probably outside.

Sidan was feeling surprisingly well rested. He had no idea how long he had slept, but he wasn’t sure if that mattered. Keeping a consistent sleep schedule in a place without a day/night cycle might prove to be pretty hard anyway.

His headache was gone, but he was ravenous, and he helped himself to Liv’s sweets pantry. It did the trick, for now, but he’d really need to put actual food in his stomach soon.

“Liv?” Sidan asked again once out of the house.

“Up here!” was the answer.

He craned his head upwards. Liv was sitting on the roof’s edge, taking sips from a canteen. He climbed the house with a quick burst of strength, and sat next to her.

“What are you doing?” Sidan asked.

“Just thinking. Drinking,” Liv replied.

“Drinking what?”

She wordlessly offered him the canteen.

“You’re not gonna try and poison me, are you?” he asked, half-joking.

She rolled her eyes, and insisted. He took the drink, and cautiously sniffed it. It smelled like booze, but beyond that he couldn’t say what. Well, might as well. He took a swig, and almost spit it out.

“Not poison me my ass!” he said between coughing fits. “What the hell is this?”

“Liquor made from local berries and mushrooms. Homemade. It takes a lot for me to get drunk, but I enjoy the taste.”

Once the burning sensation had receded, Sidan took another sip, more carefully this time. The liquor was strong, but also had an interesting aftertaste. He didn’t mind it. He passed the canteen back, and for a few minutes, they just sat there, admiring the sights and occasionally passing the drink to each other.

Maybe it was the alcohol talking, but Sidan found himself strangely relaxed in Liv’s presence.

“You mind if I ask you a few more questions?” he broke the silence.

“No, go ahead,” Liv said.

“This might be a bit awkward, but… are you always made of paper? Or is that just a thing when you’re, you know… dead?”

“… Yes, I’m always made of paper. Everything is paper except for my blood. My skin is paper, my organs are paper, my bones are some kind of hardened cardboard, and my hair is paper fiber.”

“Do your insides get mushy because of your blood? Or when you drink?”

“I can’t help but feel this line of questioning is a little personal,” Liv replied, deadpan.

“Sorry, sorry, I’m just curious,” Sidan said, holding his hands up. “But on a more serious note… what do you do all day, when you’re not out saving the world? Do you have a job?”

“I do actually. I may live away from civilization, but I’m not a complete hermit. As for what I do, I sell books, naturally. Matter decays more slowly in the Halls, and in my house by extension. Over the centuries I’ve gathered a lot of valuable tomes that interested collectors will pay good money for. And thanks to the Halls I can have clients all over the hemisphere. I’ve gotten friendly with a few of them and invite them over sometimes, hence the guest room. I don’t do sales often, so it doesn’t pay all that much, but I’m pretty self-sufficient. And what about you, Sidan? What’s your story?”

“I’m a pretty normal guy. Whatever I tell you won’t be half as exciting as what you tell me.”

“You’d be surprised. Living as long as I have, you learn to find interest in even the most mundane of things. Otherwise, you’ll quickly grow bored of everything.”

“Well then. I’ve lived in Estrellis most of my life, but I wasn’t born there. My parents lived for a while in Sheathria, in the southern continent. When I was two, I guess they got homesick, and they moved back to Estrellis. I grew up there, and I joined the City Guard two years back. Then, the Slicers attacked, and by chance I met the Grandmaster of Estrellis. A descendant of Luciel, actually. You heard of her?”

“Yes,” said Liv. She was frowning a bit.

“Well, she asked me to act as a spotter, to warn her of any sneak attacks by the Slicers, and we made our way to the palace. The Queen was there, and before she could finish powering up the throne room’s teleporter and have us escape, Null showed up and destroyed it. We ran for a hidden teleporter, but the Queen stopped her guards and gave me the mission to find the sword. I found your house by chance, and… here I am, I guess.”

He conveniently left out the part where the Queen had told him to form a search party instead of going alone, and had only done the latter after the Voice had told him to. Not to mention that Liv’s house had definitely not been found by chance.

“Why you specifically?” Liv asked. “No offence, but…”

“None taken. I’ve been wondering that myself. She said that Null had come prepared, and that since I was the only nobody there, I had the best chance to slip beneath her notice and actually escape. I understand her logic, but… she seemed very confident about an awful lot of things she had no evidence for. I have no idea why she was so sure that Null would catch up to us before the secret teleporter finished charging, for one. Or why she even knew that Null was a girl. But, in the end, it worked out, I guess?”

Liv grunted in affirmation, and didn’t say anything else.

“Luciel. Tell me about her,” Sidan said, after a few seconds.

“Huh? Why do you want to know?” Liv said, oddly defensive.

“Well, who wouldn’t? Besides, you told me she was a real person, not just a legend. She was practically a religious figure to me when I grew up. Hell, she’s an actual religious figure for some. But I’d like to know the actual woman behind the myths, if I’m going to be following in her footsteps. I want to know more about Luciel, not the Daughter of Light, or the Demonbane, or whatever other title you can think of. If that makes sense.”

Liv relaxed, adopting a thoughtful expression.

“I’m not sure how much I could tell you that you don’t already know. While my body is immortal, I’m afraid my mind isn’t. Much as it pains me to say, I’ve forgotten a lot about my time with her. I remember the broad strokes, but it was so long ago that many of the details have been lost to me.”

“Try,” he said.

“Well, she was… amazing. That might sound pretty generic, but it’s the first word that comes to mind. She could play the part of the perfect hero when she needed to. Inspire everyone around her, organize armies and lead us fearlessly into battles. But she could also be just, so fun, when the stakes were less high. You wouldn’t expect that from her at all, knowing her noble upbringing. When you needed a shoulder to cry on, she was there, and she accepted everything you threw her way without question. She-”

Liv’s voice cracked, and she quickly wiped her eyes.

“Sorry, got a bit emotional there,” she said.

“It’s fine,” Sidan replied tersely, his previous good mood evaporated.

Was he really supposed to compete against that? He had his own strengths, but… He was no leader. He certainly wouldn’t call himself ‘amazing’. Liv was clearly a little biased, but he could believe her roaring endorsement. Was there really no way to track down the sword’s optimal wielder?

Did Liv’s assessment of Luciel really match the Voice? His mysterious guide had told him that it wasn’t exactly Luciel, but it had surely inherited some of her personality. If it wasn’t lying, why did it tell him to keep their conversation a secret? It if was lying, how did him getting the sword benefit it? Could he trust the Voice? Could he trust Liv, and Magnus? Something big was at play here, something that he couldn’t grasp yet.

“How about we go into town and get you some food, or whatever else you need? I’ll show you how the crystals work.” Liv said.

She isn’t your friend, a small, traitorous part of his mind piped up. She tried to get rid of you, before. She’ll do it again the moment you’re no longer useful to her.

That’s not true, he shot back. We were both working on incomplete information. Now that we’ve cleared things up, she’s been nothing but kind to me.

There was no reply. But the doubt remained. He tried to ignore it. He couldn’t falter now, not when so much was at stake.

“Let’s,” he answered.

End of Part 1 – The Hermit and the Sword