Corvetta Anfeald

I waded through an endless sea of corpses. Arms arose from the crimson depths, tugging at my skin, reopening old, closed wounds. No matter how far and wide I may search for refuge, the voices never cease. They plead to me, in anger, in grief, in sadness, why is it you? Why are you the one who's still here?

I ignored them and pressed on. Telling myself, I'll never join the rest of you. No matter what. But slowly, surely, the stained water rose higher and higher until it reached my neck, drowning out my words, pulling me down deeper until my wings wouldn't carry me.

Therefore, I descended, lower, lower, and lower.

Until a shock jolting throughout my body spared me from my terror. I coughed, clearing my dry throat as I curled up into a ball on the couch, grasping at the aching scars on my arms.

Compose yourself, I commanded. It was just a dream, only a dream.

I sat up and brushed away the hair over my face, greeted by the vibrant light of the cabin's fireplace at my side. The main room was neat and orderly like always, but now it was due to my niece, Althea, who kept their home clean ever since her mother's accident a couple months ago. Speaking of that ball of joy, I could already hear her footsteps against the wood floor getting closer to my position.

"Auntie! Auntie C," she dashed out of her bedroom with her younger brother, Galen, following close behind as always. "You gotta see this!"

Galen flashed a big smile, with wide grey eyes just like his sister's. Then he outstretched his finger and dragged it through the air, leaving white, crackling sparks in its path. That lightshow of his arrived and departed as quick as a vivid, fleeting comet.

"There, I did it!" Although he was enthusiastic, he looked completely exhausted after conjuring only a small jolt.

"Woah," was my response to his spectacle. Althea's eyes drooped, like she expected me to be more surprised and Galen copied his big sister's dispirited expression, but I truly was genuinely impressed. What he had shown off for the first time ever was light magic, like Althea's self-healing, a power which only humans- those with the Saint's 'blessed' blood- had the potential to possess. Light magic is generally more passive and less suited for combat in comparison to it's demonic counterpart. Awakening to it, much less displaying any control over it at such a young age was a rarity, but it's not out of left field considering the aptitude Althea had shown around that fledgling age as well. "How'd you figure that out?"

Galen explained that when they were playing tag together a couple days ago, they had an unfortunate mishap that left Althea's hair standing straight up on ends. Sounded like a better way to discover your own magic than how mine had gone, though.

"Great job, buddy," I allowed a smirk to flash across my face as I scooped up Galen into my lap. "Got no doubt you're going to be just as tough as your big sister some day."

Althea crossed her arms and frowned at the idea. "Well, maybe close. We'll see."

"No, we won't." A soft, but stern voice called out from a doorway on the other side of the room. It belonged to Althea and Galen's mother, my twin sister.

Our grandmother would always call her Lulu, but she hated that name. I'd always assumed the mother neither of us ever knew must've thought it'd make for a cute one, but nothing about her suggested cute. Luanne, as she preferred to be called, shared the same dark ombre hair and kind face Althea had, but the constantly alert eyes, gruff tone, and hands covered in nicks and burns due to alchemy work displayed the true colors of the adventurous, no-nonsense sister I had grown up with.

"Magic not some toy for you to play around with," Luanne went on, side-eyeing me as she held onto Althea's winter cloak, a makeshift cloth sewn on to replace it's singed half. "It's a weapon, the same as any bow or blade."

I kindly finished off that statement for her, "...And just like any weapon, it's a tool to be honed so you can use it to your advantage. If it wasn't for magic, none of you could live safely out here in the forest either, Lulu."

As we stared each other down, Althea took the cloak out of her mother's hands and scampered off with little brother in tow. The clank of porcelain rang out from the kitchen as they prepared to set out the dining ware.

"So, Lady Violet-Eyes," Luanne said. "When are you leavin' for good?"

Straight to business, of course. Thought she'd have calmed down by the time I was done napping, but guess I was mistaken. Glad to see she's feeling energetic today, at the very least.

"Wow, Lulu. Not even a, 'how've you been, sis'? You're still such a heartbreaker."

"Well how unfortunate," Luanne put her free hand on her hip, the other clutching onto her walking staff. "For you, that is. You were much better when you knew not to meddle."

Although my sister seemed to be in high spirits as of late, I couldn't stop the ache in my stomach that only grew when I thought of her condition. A couple months ago, I had received a letter from Luanne's wife about the incident out in the forest that left her in the state she's in now, so I dropped my missions and made my way to Nik'na, the eastern territory of Occidera, to help out the family. But, of course, my idea of help wasn't exactly well received in her eyes.

I understood her point and accepted partial responsibility for Althea's earlier encounter with the sin beast, but her daughter had done an admirable thing that day, even if she went against my specific instructions. You must adapt to get the most out of life, to survive. There's not anything wrong with what Althea did. And no matter what either of us thought, she proved herself to be much tougher than the both of us were at her age, that's for sure.

After more bickering- light compared to our usual rounds- we both took our seats across from each other at the main room's dinner table. Althea inched towards us, cooking mitts on as she carried a large pot- actually, large when she's the one holding it, at least. I used to have the same problem at her age though, so I was sure she'd grow out of it eventually... maybe.

The soup inside of the pot wafted off a mouth-watering vapor that smelled of seasoned mushrooms. Heaven compared to the rations they offered at the Ranger's outpost in town. Althea set it down at the center of the table, then clapped her hands together with a cheery look on her face.

"I'm sure y'all remember the burnt mushroom ordeal last week, but no worries, this time I've perfected my process using the extra heat burst potions we couldn't sell off this year. Hope everyone enjoys my specialty mushroom roast!"

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"Thank you for the food, Althea. You're gettin' better day by day." Luanne leaned over to pull her daughter in a warm embrace. Galen rose from his seat and joined in their hug too, of course.

As Luanne and her children finished their prayers to the Saint and we began to eat dinner, the silence at the table was interrupted when Althea asked an intriguing question.

***

Althea Anfeald

"Hey, Mama, do you believe the Saint was a human or a demon?"

When I asked that question, I was genuinely curious. You'd think they'd mention it in written texts if the Saint was human or otherwise, even if it might not have been the truth, but none of them specified one or the other. The vast majority of people in the world were demons, so I was thinking the world's famed martyr being a demon too could be a likely conclusion. I didn't mean to propose that my mother's belief in the Saint's Church was misplaced either, but asking questions that might've gotten me in trouble elsewhere was a recurring theme for me.

Mama's face was unreadable, until Corvetta let out a short chuckle. Galen laughed too, probably because he didn't get the implication of my question, but he stopped once he realized it was a serious matter.

"Do you have anything to add, Corvetta?" Mama said, leering across the table.

"Nah," she said, savoring a spoonful of her mushroom soup. "Just think that's quite a question."

"Wait a second," Galen let his dining ware clank against his plate as he raised his hand high above him. "Was the Saint really a real person? I thought they might be like the tooth goddess, as in not real, you know."

Mama narrowed her eyes. "Galen, who told you the tooth goddess isn't real?"

"Well, Auntie said..." he rambled on about how she'd said, logistically, some kind of master 'tooth fairy' wouldn't even have the resources or manpower necessary to move around all that money. Mama was scowling at Corvetta even more and I felt responsible for our nicest dinner this month taking a turn for the worse.

"Oh, I didn't mean to cause no trouble or nothin'..."

"No, you're fine. It's good to ask questions to make sure you have a clear understanding of things."

Then, Mama untied her gray, worn headscarf, decorated with a star sigil on it's back that she held up for us to see. Corvetta clutched her necklace- with a similar sigil- and turned her head away from the dinner table.

Mama continued, "People like us who worship the Pure Saint would claim they were human as well of course, but nobody knows for sure. There's concrete evidence they lived among this world long ago, such as the grand palaces, but other than that there isn't anything concrete. What side do you feel is true, Althea? Do you think the Saint was man or devil?"

"Well, there are newer books that suggest answers, but to me they read pretty biased on both sides, so I don't think there's any way I could answer in confidence. What I would say is, it's probably best if the truth's whichever people would like to believe in, like, as in whichever helps them get through the day in peace. As long as nobody's gettin' hurt, you know."

"That's a considerate answer." Mama smiled with her head held high as she finished off her bowl of mushroom roast.

It must've been all the reading and solitude during hunting recently that caused me to become so bold, because before I could even reflect on it, the words had left my mouth, "I do wonder what other people might think about the matter though."

And of course, Mama turned to her usual option whenever I mentioned leaving home, bringing her wife into the fray to mediate. "Once Estus gets back from her work expedition, you can ask her then. I'm sure she'd love to give her two solars on it."

Estus is terrific, but she wasn't on my mind. I couldn't even focus on eating cause my thoughts went straight to those demons I'd come across earlier. What might they think? Would they agree with me or would they get mad like before?

"Actually," I said. "Auntie said I should go into town tomorrow when she gives her report, cause I was the one who took down the sin beast. I was thinkin' that'll be terrific! Um, If that's fine with you, Mama."

"Oh. I see," Her face went back to that clear expression again. "Do you have to go?"

"It'd make my paperwork much easier if she did," Corvetta chimed in. "It's a good opportunity for her as well, to get a real look at someplace other than home for once."

Mama stayed silent for what felt like forever as I waited for her answer.

"That's fine."

Corvetta shook her head at what Mama had just said. "But, I think it'd really be beneficial if she— Wait, huh?" Yeah, huh is right! I'm confused too. That was surprisingly simple. Like, too simple.

"I... can really go?"

"If it's just to the town and back, it shouldn't be a problem, right?"

This is strange. Definitely, 100% strange. I wasn't going to question her decision though, just in case she'd changed her mind. I offered to get the dishes washed before bed but Mama said she'd do it for me, since she felt I needed a break after all the hard work I've been doing. It seemed luck was leaning my way that night.

Before she went over to the sink, another unusual thing happened. She'd pulled me in for a hug again, like when she thanked me for dinner before, but this time it was tighter and went on for a while until she let go and went about her business. At the time, I didn't really think much of it. I just thought she was showing her appreciation.

Galen pushed his empty bowl in front of him. "Ah, I wanna go too! Can I, Mama Luanne?"

"Didn't you say you would help me with brewin' the new potions for the winter?"

"Oh yes, I did," He nodded. "That's okay then. I'll stay here to help prepare the ingredients."

I guess Galen's calm acceptance that he'd be staying home was a front, because late into the night when I was this close to drifting to sleep, he just wouldn't stop pestering me.

"Hey Althy, what was it like coming face to face with that mushroom monster? How'd you beat it anyway, cause you're totally like the size of an ant next to that thing. Auntie said you ran across demons too? Were they scary, like Mama says? Althy, are you sure you can't convince Mom to let me go with you guys? If that's a yes, you gotta bring me something back from the town! Hey, Mama Estus told me they had baby dragons you can buy there too, like in these big ol' eggs and you can even raise one on your own! What I'd give for one of those. Also—'"

"Galen!" I'd shot up in my bunk above his, just enough so my head didn't smash into the ceiling. "I'm tryin' to sleep. I can answer all your questions later, alrighty?"

"Ah," he smiled and laughed. "Alright. Sorry for bothering you, Althy. Goodnight."

I peered over to see him practically deflating on his pillow, releasing his energy into the room's still air. Galen's dark hair- tinted like a sapphire blue gem near the back of his head- reminded me of how years ago we used to not get along. Holy Saint, it was for such a stupid reason, one that made me want to curl under my covers forever when it creeped back into my mind.

The bright blue in Galen's hair is reminiscent of Estus'. If you'd seen them side by side, which was often, you could immediately tell where he'd gotten it from. My hair was tinted a tacky, strawberry pink as it neared my shoulders, from who knows where. I'd never wanted to pry into Mama's business by asking, for her sake, but when Galen was super little, Estus would always prop him up on her shoulders and he'd look so ecstatic. That sight filled me with this weird, gross feeling. To have no idea where a part of me came from, it was like I didn't fit in somehow, even though I was around my family. So then, I'd act spiteful towards the both of them for it, unfairly taking out my frustration with being stuck at home on them.

My terrible attitude in the past is part of why I worked so hard all the time, to make it up to them for being such a selfish brat.

Galen never stopped looking up to me too, even when I was a jerk. I could see so much of myself in him, from his eagerness to experience the world, to how he did his best to put on a smile to make others not worry, and how he wanted to do whatever he could to help Mama out.

But did he feel distant too, like I once had?

"Galen..." As he peeked head above the covers to listen to me, I took a deep breath. "That giga-shroombeast wasn't that scary, cause I'm strong! I burned it up, kinda like when I messed up my cookin' before. Also, I'm not small! Demons aren't even scary either. They're no different than you and I... and sure, I'll get you a baby dragon egg, for your next birthday though. Now are you satisfied?"

His eyes, as wide as the moon shining through the window at our side, answered my question.

"Thank you, Althy. Even though I can't go too... I hope you have a fun day in town tomorrow."

That night, I drifted off to sleep with a smile on my face.