POV: Lucia

Our search for the others leads us again to a new place in the dungeon, "What is this? Why is a graveyard here? I don't like it here..."

Chloe tries to rile me, "Shouldn't you feel at home here, being a walking corpse and all?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll inform you when I find a moldy slime cave for you to call home. Right, you fraud?"

Elly interrupts our play-fight, "That is enough you two. Seriously, can't you go two days without going at each other's throats?"

Maria adds, "Come on, Lucia. Stop bullying Chloe, please."

Why am I the one at fault here?!

"...", I cross my arms, sulk and walk away from them.

Maria asks me, "Hey, where are you going? We're not-"

I don't let her finish, "Just leave me alone..."

...

I don't want to stay near the others right now, so I check out the tombstones instead. Far away from them.

That reminds me, weren't graveyards frowned upon by our religion? Something about it trapping the soul in the dead body, they should rather be cremated so the soul can be freed and pass on to the afterlife. Some rubbish like that.

The writing on most of the graves has completely withered away. Others... not so much.

I inspect a tombstone. It says that a Ted rests there. A common name around here. Couldn't narrow down in the slightest who that was.

A moment later, the writing disappears, as if it had withered ages ago. Is that supposed to tell me anything?

...maybe I could ask Elly about that, she usually knows strange things like this but... I don't want to. I would have to admit that I was in the wrong - which I clearly am not!!

I inspect another grave, another Ted. Over there lies a Greg, Jack, Alice, Tevin, Gus, Mina, another Jack, I... What? 'Here lies Lucia Delacroix'?! I'm very much still alive, thank you very much!

(Are you... sure of that?), I hear a voice from... somewhere. Why did that sound just like me, just with an added echo?

"Who...?", I look around but find no one.

(Don't just stand there dumbfounded. I'm right here!), out of 'my' graves crawls a ghostly version of myself, dressed like I used to while I still served as Holy Maiden in the church.

I recall reading about this kind of rare monster, "I see where this is going. You're something like an Evil Twin trying to break my spirit and then taking over my body, right? Forget it, that won't work, I won't let an Evil Twin win against me!"

She chuckles, "Is that so? Then I have to disappoint you, I have a surefire way to make an Evil Twin win. I only need to... surrender to you."

Did that bitch just call me evil?!

I get angry, "What the hell are you talking about!?"

She scoffs, "You don't know yourself at all, do you, Lucy? Have you even for a moment considered how much you've changed since you became... that thing?"

"I don't know what you mean. What the hell are you?"

She gets closer to me, "Isn't it obvious? I'm the part of you that died when you became a vampire."

"Nonsense! I didn't change one bit since then! The [Living Undead] skill made sure of that!"

She scolds me, "Really, is the only thing your head is good for to look pretty? Think! You got that skill only afterwards when everything was already too late. Don't you remember what happened? First Jared bit you which triggered the trap skill [Undead Bait] you as the Holy Maiden had. Then you got turned into a vampire and your Holy Maiden class was replaced by Cursed Queen, only then did you obtain your skill, but by then the damage was already done!"

How does this imposter know all this?

"B-but...!"

She continues, "Don't you know that much? I clearly remember knowing this little bit of common knowledge about vampires. When a human gets transformed into one, a part of the original personality gets destroyed and replaced with vampiric instincts. I know this because...", her expression gets somber, " I am the part of you that you lost back then."

My voice trembles, "Lies, all lies! I didn't change, I'm still me! Complete and utterly me!"

She facepalms, "If you truly think so, then answer me this. How do you feel about healing people, about saving them from misery? Would you go out of your way to do so?"

"That doesn't count, I couldn't if I wanted to. Ever since I became a vampire I can't use that skill anymore."

She sternly questions me, "What makes you think you can't? You have that unpronounceable skill from being a Cursed Queen, don't you? All that stops you from using [Cure Magic] again is acquiring [Curse Magic], and really, classes with that skill are a dime a dozen."

Why does she know about [C̷̨̒u̶̢̕r̸̲̅(̶̞͝s̴̺͝)̴̩̀ĕ̵͓ Magic]? ...just seeing that name gives me a headache... Anyway, if what she said was true, she left me before I got that skill, so how does she know? [Forgery] should hide it from [Appraise]...

"No, that doesn't matter at all. I always hated doing that anyway."

She sounds frustrated, "Are you sure? Didn't you often go out of your way to help those people? Most recently being old Maude? You extra went out of our way to trick Jared into helping you with her sickness."

"Maude sick? What are you... wait, why did I forget about that... this was one of my precious memories of having fun with Jared..."

The other me flicks my head, "Does it finally come back to you? Yes, you hated being under the church's orders, and you wanted to decide about your own life ourselves but that doesn't mean healing the wounded was something you hated. Rather, it was something you liked, wasn't it?"

I feel tears welling up in my eyes, "But... but I... no it, it doesn't matter. I may have gotten to dislike my old hobby but so what? People... people change, don't they? It is alright, I'm still myself, just with a bit more life experience."

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

She sighs, "Other me, do you even listen to yourself? Alright, fine, I cede that one point, but what about everything else? Have you looked at yourself, how you treat everyone else like crap? The old me would never ask someone to kill themself, maybe play a trick on them that leaves them with a few bruises but no permanent harm. And now look at what you've done to the morph girl, you almost drove her to suicide!"

"Bah, you don't know what she is like. If you had to suffer her, you'd also wish her a cruel fate."

"No, I'm quite sure it is just you. Ever since you got turned you've completely given in to your vampiric nature, you didn't even consider fighting against it, you just gave up."

I yell at her, "Now you're just making shit up!"

This knock-off is still getting on my nerves! Just go away! Be exorcised and disappear from my sight!

ERROR: you don't have the required [Holy Magic] skill for that action.

You stupid system, why can't you be on my side for once...

Wait, why did I even think I could use that? ...was that a remnant from my Holy Maiden days? But how? I never had [Holy Magic]... Could the class maybe have gained it later?

Ghost me scoffs at me, "I knew that [Undead] comes with some resistances, and when I look at you I have to guess that the list also includes intelligence... Can you then at least explain to me how any of your actions help you with achieving your goal? Needlessly antagonizing everyone, especially the spirits, achieves nothing."

I sneer at her, "Hmpf, I don't need them. As long as they get in between Jared and me, I don't care about them."

The other me mocks me, "Jared this, Jared that... is there anything in your life left that doesn't revolve around him? You don't do what needs to be done to achieve freedom from the monsters, you just do what is needed to keep Jared to yourself, nothing more. Are you even your own person anymore? Of course not. You're not Lucia! You're not me! You're just a random vampire wearing my skin, nothing more."

"What nonsense are you spouting again? What, what are you talking about? Freedom..."

...why is she right about that? I really don't care anymore about getting rid of the monsters... I just want to keep Jared to myself, make him happy. Make us happy. Why... why did I feel like ruling all of humanity would be the best way to achieve that...? Why...

She grabs my head and looks into my eyes. I can barely feel her hands on my face but they are cold.

She asks me, "Are the cogs finally turning?"

"No. I admit that making Jared happy is the most important thing to me. But what's wrong with that? Is it wrong to love someone?"

She lets go, "I don't believe you. If you truly loved him you would've deleted the World Resident title and gotten rid of its many penalties. But that would require you to admit to him that you can delete Happily Married as well, right? But you didn't. You're afraid. Too afraid to find out whether your love for each other is genuine or not. So you kept it a secret from him and just silently endured the loss in stats and exp. All of it just to keep him around and stay in your little fake love."

I hang my head in shame and sheepishly agree, "...you got me there, but it isn't fully true. I only have the DP to delete one title. Since I'm no longer the Holy Maiden I've lost the trust and the faith of the people. You can't expect the peasants to put their trust in a Demon Lord, can you? So since then... I don't receive the DP from their prayers anymore. I used most of the DP I had to free Anna from her slave seal, I... don't want to disappoint Jared when he asks me to free the other child. I just can't..."

My other self sighs, "You should really check your status for a hidden [Intelligence Resistance] skill... Seriously, if you don't want to disappoint him you should really talk with him about it. The kids are young, they could've waited a few years, and you've already seen that Jared treats them decently, and demanded others do the same, slave mark or not. But if you did actually delete the detrimental title you'd have a much greater chance of getting something done; conquer a dungeon, reunite the continent, whatever. Once the people see that you've really their best interest at heart, they will put their faith in you again. The DP situation would solve itself in a couple of years. But no, you're afraid that he asks you to delete Happily Married as well and that you would then find out that it was all a lie. You just can't bear that thought, can you?"

Stop pushing me, you abomination! You shouldn't exist in the first place, what gives you the right to lecture me?

"So what if I can't? To me it is real, that's all that counts."

She sneers, "So that is all that your little philosophy amounts to? And here I thought that the core values of your religion meant something to you."

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"Balance and refinement, ringing any bells? Working on improving oneself little by little day after day, no? Nothing? Tell me that you hate those ideas now and that you truly mean it. Come on, I'm waiting."

I hesitate, "You mean... because just accepting this fake feeling would mean standing still? I don't... hate these ideals, on the contrary."

She cheers, "Finally! And here I thought you were a lost cause with me gone."

"You think too highly of yourself, you apparition of days gone by. I can improve myself even without you dissing me!"

My old self points toward the other members of my group in the distance, "Then show it! Go over there and apologize to Chloe right this instant!"

Do I have to get along with her? I'm not ready to forgive her for her slights, imagined or otherwise.

"Maybe another time. I'm not feeling it right now."

She sighs, "...I take back anything positive I said about you..."

"But... you still owe me an explanation. How are you here? If you are the part of me that died back then, then why are you alive, or, uh, existing or whatever?"

She thinks about my question, tapping her chin, "Hmm... I could tell you but I'm not sure a horrible person like you deserves to know."

"Tell me, or I tell the children that the Grinch is real!"

She slams her ghost hands on her tombstone, "You wouldn't dare, you monster!"

"I may. Now talk."

She facepalms, "Fine, fine, I give up. Do you recall the theory our dear husband has about monsters? That he suspects souls of deceased get turned into monsters?"

What do you mean 'our'? He is mine and mine alone, "How do you know about that? You weren't around anymore at that point."

"Quite simple actually", she suddenly throws a punch at me but it just phases through me without effect, "I'm a ghost, I'm not constrained by physical walls or anything. So I tried to leave earlier but... well, incorporeality goes both ways. I can just go through walls and everything but I can't interact with the exit portal, so I'm stuck here. And on the way, I overheard all of you talk. A lot. You're quite loud, you know? I'm still surprised you haven't attracted every single monster in the whole dungeon because of that."

"If you found us earlier, why didn't you call out to us then?"

She sounds extra frustrated now, "I tried but someone mistook me for the wind..."

"Couldn't have been me. But anyway, if souls get turned into monsters by the dungeon, why are you still - mostly - normal? That makes no sense to me."

She explains, "Listen, Lucy, listen. There's a goddamn queue, and it is full. It seems like several villages and fortresses were wiped out recently, they have too many souls they want to process. So I have some time left before it is my turn, but when it is the dungeon just... grabs you. I've seen several souls try to escape but the closest surface would just randomly sprout hundreds of ghastly arms and absorb the soul into it and moments later it would spit out a new monster. Sometimes a regular monster, sometimes an elite or even a boss, but there was never an escape..."

I can feel some pity for her welling up inside of me, "...do you have any idea if the demon artifact Jared mentioned plays into that whole mess?"

She just shakes her head, "No clue and I'd rather not stick around here long enough to find out", her voice starts to tremble, "So, other me, there's one thing I want to ask of you. Kill me. I don't want to become a monster. If I have to die for good, I want to die as myself. Please..."

You've changed a lot as well, haven't you? Not too long ago, you were willing to join hands with a vampire to save your own hide, but now...

"Are you really sure about this?"

She nods, "Yes, please free me before I'm no longer myself."

"As if I had a choice. I couldn't bear seeing a monster-me fighting my beloved."

"Thank you", she replies weakly, then kneels down and closes her eyes.

I start casting a fire spell, other me sits completely still, holding her hands in prayer. One last time.

But don't think I'll let you off the hook that easily, old me.

I have just enough DP for one last action, I know what to do. I don't care if Jared hates me for this 'waste', I have to allow myself this selfishness.

I focus on the final remains of the divine energy within me, one last use of it. If what the lich told my husband is true, as long as the demon artifact exists, this will most likely be the last time I use this unnatural power.

I hope it is worth it. It must.

Hoping for the best, I cancel my spell.

I step forward and touch the other Lucia with my hand, then she dissolves, leaving no trace of my past behind.