“You have returned sooner than expected, O Child of Eventide.”

Viviane’s head throbbed. Her eyelids fluttered before they opened, revealing the colorless expanse of the Lake. Gingerly, she pushed herself up to a sitting position, her palm casting liquid-like ripples across the otherwise solid surface beneath her.

“Ugh... Miss Emrys?” Viviane held a hand to her head, glancing up at Emrys. The silver-haired faux-child had an eyebrow raised, staring down at Viviane with an almost imperious look of disappointment.

“It is I. It seems you have failed to heed my warning despite only a night having passed.”

“M-Maybe...” Viviane glanced away from Emrys, her cheeks reddening from embarrassment. “But it’s not my fault! Everything we spoke about was so hazy, and I could barely remember your words or the conversations we had here!”

“So now you are foisting the blame onto me?” Emrys scoffed. “I had thought better of you, Child of Eventide, but I digress. Let us return you to the waking world posthaste.”

Viviane frowned, realizing that there was something rather strange even as Emrys spoke her latest words. She had no idea why she hadn’t realized sooner, but now that she had brought up the complaint, she found she could remember her conversations with Emrys perfectly. It was glaringly bizarre, especially considering how those memories had been so faint and distant when she had been speaking with Medrauta.

“No, miss Emrys, but... It’s strange. Though my memories are clear now, they were undoubtedly foggy before I returned to the Lake. It’s a strange choice of words, but I remember they were distinctly muddled, as if there were some sort of film wrapped around my thoughts. They were there, but just inches away from my fingertips.”

Emrys refrained from responding, confirming Viviane’s suspicions. There was no doubt that the faux-child’s earlier admonishment had been an effort to deflect the subject as quickly as possible.

“...Did you mess with my memories, miss Emrys?” Viviane pressed.

Again, Emrys remained silent, refusing to answer. Like a sword being averted from its intended trajectory, she looked away from Viviane, her blue eyes glimmering in the intrinsic light that the Lake emanated.

“What did you do, miss Emrys? Why did you—”

“It was for your own good, Child of Eventide. You are more than aware of your knight’s... mental peculiarities, are you not? There are things she must not know yet until the time is right.”

“I did not give you permission to mess with my memories, Emrys.” Viviane’s eyes narrowed, thoroughly disturbed at the fact that her mind could be toyed with so easily. “I agreed to become your heir so you could teach me to better control the power of the Lake, not to manipulate whatever goes on in my head. In fact, I—”

Viviane stopped, her eyes widening as she stared at Emrys, a sudden epiphany striking her like a bolt from on high. As she came to a conclusion, Emrys’ childlike form warped and twisted, spiraling upwards like a pillar of silver fluid defying gravity before finally settling into the shape of a young woman.

Long locks of dark blue cascaded down her head to the small of her waist, framing her shoulders elegantly like the leather wrapping of a sword’s hilt. Her eyes were the razor sharp silver of steel, piercing into Viviane’s without hesitation. Emrys’ fair skin was beautiful, but shone in the effulgent light of the Lake as if a blade placed on display, never to be touched nor wielded. Even the black robe that cloaked her body seemed to cut the air with each curve and thread woven into it.

Viviane peered at Emrys’ new form, inspecting it with a measure of surprise. Although she did not recognize it, she found it somewhat familiar for whatever reason. Perhaps it was something she’d seen amongst the shield tower’s books, but she couldn’t place it at the moment. Despite that, she wasted no time in voicing her accusation.

“You’re the one who messed with Medrauta’s memories, aren’t you?”

“So you have finally reached the point where you can see my true form. I applaud you for growing so quickly, Child of Eventide.” Emrys said, keeping her voice even despite Viviane’s blatant question.

“Answer me.” Viviane advanced toward Emrys. Unbeknownst to her, a silver aura now lifted from her shoulders, the symbol of Crest glowing against the back of her hand. “I won’t ask again.”

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“...You would not understand, Child of Eventide. Medrauta was naught but a child back then, and no child should be forced to live with the trauma of what she endured.” Emrys protested, instinctively stepping back from Viviane. “What I did for her was a favor.”

“And her memories with the princess? Did you erase them too!?” Viviane took another toward Emrys, drawing closer. Her hand flew out, grabbing the blue-haired woman and holding her in place. Though she flinched upon touching Emrys’ cloak, she held fast in spite of the thin red line running down her palm. It seemed Emrys truly was a blade.

“...There were things she needed to do. Places she needed to go. I could not allow her to remain by the princess’ side and endanger herself. Again, you would not understand, Child of Eventide. What I do is merely—”

“Now I know.” Viviane interrupted her coldly. “Now I know why my mother wanted to keep me away from you. You don’t see us as people, do you? You just... We’re all just pieces on a board for you to move around aren’t we?”

For the third time that day, Emrys refused to speak. She tugged herself away from Viviane gently, moving carefully such that she would not cut the girl again.

“Was it all a lie then? That I could change my fate? That I—”

“No!” Emrys cried, a sudden desperate passion in her voice that had been missing thus far. “No... I would never lie to you, Child of Eventide. Even now, I only wish the best for you, but there is so much I cannot tell you. There is so much I must do so you can thrive. Both you and Medrauta.”

“So much that you must manipulate, you mean.” Viviane spat, her eyes narrowing. “Who are you Emrys? Who are you really, in this day and age? You messed with my memories. You messed with Medrauta’s. Do you know how much she suffered because of that!?”

“If only you knew, you would not say such words. What I did was necessary to protect her, nothing more and nothing less. Had she known her past, she would have experienced suffering of even greater proportions. Please trust me, Child of Eventide. There is a light at the end of the path I pave.”

Emrys reached a hand toward Viviane’s shoulder, but the noblewoman brushed it aside, disgusted. All the worry and pain she and Medrauta had suffered, the broken memories and the fragments of her past that Medrauta was missing... All of it was Emrys’ fault.

“But I don’t know, Emrys. I don’t know anything, and the more you speak, the less I know. If you’re asking me to trust you, then shouldn’t you start by telling me the truth behind all of this?”

There was a lengthy silence as the two women stood across from each other, Emrys’ guarded gaze pitted against Viviane’s piercing stare. For a moment, Viviane debated leaving the Lake immediately, refusing to see Emrys ever again. Now that she was fully lucid and her mastery over the Lake was greater than before, she could simply gather her focus and forcefully eject herself from the dimension like she had done the first time.

Instead, she continued to hold Emrys’ eyes, hoping that she would be able to wrest at least some of the answers from the mysterious woman. The fact that Emrys’ age was supposedly ancient meant she held a great deal of knowledge, and her previous words had sown seeds of worry in Viviane’s heart.

Places she needed to go? Things she needed to do? Was Emrys manipulating Medrauta her whole life...? Viviane shuddered at the thought. Was my meeting with Medrauta something she orchestrated as well?

With each second that passed, the tension grew increasingly taut until, surprisingly, Emrys broke first. The blue-haired woman slumped her shoulders resignedly, capitulating under Viviane’s unwavering glare.

“...Very well. I shall speak, Child of Eventide. But only on matters that concern you and Medrauta.” Emrys sighed.

Viviane crossed her arms, waiting expectantly.

“You are familiar with Paladins, are you not? Those who wielded powerful Oaths during the reign of the Witch Queen.”

Viviane nodded. “Yes. I read about them in the shield tower.”

“We did not get a chance to discuss them the last time we met. I apologize. That was deliberate, but I will no longer avoid the topic. Throughout the years, the number of Paladins slowly declined once the majority of them were wiped out during the attack against the Witch Queen. However, their names were scrubbed from history after the church began exerting its influence.”

“Why?” Viviane asked.

“Do not be hasty, Child of Eventide. I will answer such questions later. For now, it is Medrauta you wish to know about, is it not?”

“...Fine.”

“With the erasure of the Paladins from history, they soon became nothing more than a whisper upon the tongues of bards before fading away to nothing with the death of the final witch. Or the person we had assumed to be the final witch, that is. We did not anticipate they had left an heir.”

“...So what does this have to do with Medrauta?”

Emrys smiled. “Medrauta is the one who slew the final witch... and also the last Paladin who still draws breath.”