Soft waves lap at my thighs as I wade through the current towards the sandy beach nearby. Sun’s golden light filters down through clouds overhead and paints the whole surrounding area an orange-reddish hue under its glow. But despite everything looking so peaceful and idyllic right now — despite being surrounded by nothing but beautiful scenery all around me — it feels entirely wrong to feel joy in any capacity after last night’s tragedy.
As soon as my feet touch dry sand below, I trudge towards where Lucienne waits for me nearby, still drying off from our bath earlier. She turns away sharply at my approach, refusing eye contact completely, and lets out a long sigh while gazing ahead at the horizon instead — as if she wants nothing further to do with me right now. Don’t worry about that; the feelings are mutual.
“How did the inspection go?” Lucienne asks without looking at me still — her voice carrying notes of irritation underneath a calm tone.
“Nothing unexpected, except—”
“Then let’s return to the others and get ready to move on already,” she cuts me short immediately afterwards, clearly not wanting to hear about whatever else came up during my status check earlier. “I’m sure Alder and Eumelia would appreciate some help as well — since they’re currently the only ones left to watch over the rest.”
“Wait! Before that—” I begin again, refusing to back down until we have this conversation, but my words are once more interrupted by a well-aimed ball of cloth — my shirt — hitting me squarely in the face.
“Lucienne!” I snap back angrily, snatching up the garment before it falls to ground, “why did you— What the hell was that for?!”
“Because I can’t bear listening to you prattle on about nonsense right now!” she snaps back, her gaze turning towards me at last — eyes narrowing into slits while ears lie flat against her head — before turning away just as abruptly again. “It’s pointless and a waste of time.”
“Pointless?! Waste of time?!” I repeat incredulously, staring at her backside as she gets up and starts walking away, “you don’t even know what I was going to say!”
“I know exactly what you were going to say.”
“Oh, yeah?! Then tell me, please — enlighten me with your omniscience and wisdom. Tell me what I’m thinking and what I want to talk about.”
The rabbit girl lets out a deep sigh and pauses momentarily mid-stride. Then, turning back towards me again, she looks me straight in the eyes. But instead of the expected anger or annoyance, all that stares back at me from crimson orbs reflecting sun’s golden light overhead is sadness — deep and unyielding — filling her gaze completely as if a great weight rests upon heart itself.
“She’s dead, Alice.” Lucienne whispers quietly after several moments have passed in silence between us.
“No, she’s not! There wasn’t a single message in the system mentioning her death!“ I argue back immediately, but the lapine just shakes her head slowly and turns away once more.
“That’s why this conversation is pointless,” she says without looking at me again, “because you already chose what you want to believe — and no amount of arguing can change that.”
As she continues walking towards camp with hurried steps, it takes everything within me to not chase after her and start screaming. To not grab hold of her and force her to look at me or listen to reason or whatever else it takes to make her understand—
Without stopping to put on clothes first or worry about sand clinging to bare feet as they pound against ground beneath them, I rush towards her — ignoring how every fiber of my being screams out in protest at this sudden burst of exertion following last night’s ordeal — and leap forward into the air before tackling the rabbit girl with full force. She lets out a startled cry as we fall together into the sand below, with me landing squarely on top of her prone form.
“Alice, what—” Her scream is cut off by another yelp as I grab her by the hair and push her face into the ground while straddling her back — preventing any further movement or escape attempts.
“Fuck you, that’s what!”
“What—” She tries again, but I don’t let her finish — pushing her head further into the sand until her next attempt becomes little more than muffled whimpering instead.
“Tell me what the fuck is going on right now or so help me, killing a God will be the least of your worries!”
I guess I’m not as convincing this time — without my sword pressed against her neck — because she doesn’t respond at all. Instead, her body remains limp underneath me as she refuses to struggle or fight back, seemingly content to just wait passively until I release her. But while I may not have a weapon right now to threaten her with, there are other options available for me still.
As if it was reading my intentions — which it probably was — the system joins the battle on her side again. Window after window flashes before my eyes, one after another, sending waves of pain crashing through my skull with each new message appearing before me, until stars dance across vision and vertigo sets in from all the information overload. All of them warning me to stop attacking my party member. Or else...
Not in the mood to heed its threats right now, I push through the headache and continue with my plan to force Lucienne to talk. But just as my teeth sink into her ear — ready to bite it clean off — something sharp presses against my thigh and causes me to freeze in place. Before I can react further, an icicle slips beneath skin and starts digging into muscle. Not enough to sever anything or cause lasting damage, but enough for blood to trickle outwards in thin rivulets, covering fur and sand below in crimson stain.
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“Let go of me first.” Her voice trembles with emotion, though whether it’s fear or rage isn’t clear at first. “Please, Alice... I promise I’ll explain everything afterward. Just—” She swallows hard and closes her eyes tight against tears building up within. “Just let go of me.”
After a brief hesitation, I release my grip on her hair and get off her, allowing her to roll off her stomach onto the side instead before sitting up. Her ears twitch nervously while she gazes towards the horizon, refusing to meet my eyes. But despite how tense everything feels at present and how much anger still simmers beneath the surface — ready to boil over again if given the chance — she doesn’t attempt further retaliation or escape attempts either.
With a heavy sigh, I turn towards her myself and sit down cross-legged as well, keeping some distance between us just in case things escalate further. “Luci—”
“What have my ears ever done to you to deserve this?” She interrupts me, holding one hand up to inspect the damage for a moment before wincing and shaking her head. “Can’t you go a day without gnawing at them, you cannibal?”
“I’m not a cannibal.” I say while swatting the system prompt away. No, I’m still not interested in your weird path. Go patch yourself up cause you’re leaking something again.
“You sure act like one.”
“Look, can we please focus on more important topics right now instead? Like—”
“You won’t believe me,” she cuts me off, sounding more resigned than hostile at least.
“Try me. I’ve already seen some pretty unbelievable things since my awakening.”
She shakes her head slowly — still not looking my way — and lets out another long sigh. Then, closing her eyes tightly for a moment, she takes a deep breath before starting her explanation.
“Do you remember how, back when we were still searching for your tribe, I told you about the fatescribing skill?” Lucienne asks without preamble.
Did she? Even though only a day has passed since then, it feels like a lifetime ago already. Still, there are flashes of memories here and there — scattered fragments floating amidst a sea of blood and anguish — not enough for me to make sense of anything or put them together into a coherent picture. But that’s not the point right now anyway, so I nod in response. “Yes, vaguely.”
“Well...” She pauses for a moment — taking a deep breath while trying to collect thoughts together — before continuing, “Divine Sacrifice isn’t really my unique skill. I lied to you.”
“What? But—”
She holds up a hand to silence me once more. “Just let me explain, please. It’ll be easier for both of us that way.”
With a frustrated sigh, I motion for her to continue and hold back any further protests until then.
“Divine Sacrifice — well, sacrifice really — is a standard ritual skill for a priestess to have. It’s just that the nature of the offering and the boon received is dependent on the deity one... worships.” She hesitates briefly on the last part as if unsure how else to describe it, though a brief flash of emotion flickers across her face when saying this — a mix of disgust and anger perhaps — before it disappears just as swiftly.
“So—”
“No, I haven’t lied about that part.” She answers my question for me before it can come out. “But please, the rest of the party should still believe I have Divine Sacrifice, though.”
I nod while trying to piece together everything she’s saying so far, but there’s still something missing that prevents me from connecting all the dots yet. “Why lie about that specifically, then?”
She glances towards me at last, eyes still filled with sorrow, before turning away again. “Because if they knew the truth... If you all found out what my true unique skill is...” Her voice trails off as tears trickle down cheeks once more.
As if sensing my impatience, she clears her throat and continues. “My true unique skill works together with fatescribing to allow me glimpses of fate.”
“You can see the future?” I ask with disbelief, earning another glare.
“No, not exactly… Not yet.” She lets out an exasperated sigh. “Do you think that if I could see the future, I would allow myself to be tackled to the ground and threatened by an elf cannibal?”
“I’m not a cann—”
“Or not prepare myself for when that thing attacked us tonight? I don’t really fancy being knocked out and left to the mercy of others.” She cuts me off again with a bitter chuckle. That sounds more like the Lucienne I know and... tolerate, rather than some mysterious prophet of doom or whatever she’s trying to portray herself as right now.
“And?” I prompt. “So you saw me asking about my mother and decided to dodge that conversation?”
“You know... If you didn’t interrupt me after every sentence, you would have heard me finish explaining already.” She shoots back, though there’s no heat behind her words anymore. Just exhaustion. “But no, that’s not why, either. It’s not as easy as just looking up the future in a book and reading whatever I want whenever I want. I have no control over what I see or when — the visions come to me.”
“Then—”
“Exactly.” She nods slowly, as if reading my thoughts before continuing. “So while I may not be able to predict what’s going to happen tomorrow or the day after that, there are some things I can feel coming...” Her voice trails off momentarily before she continues, “like our first meeting.“
“But doesn’t that mean that your power can be wrong?” I ask, as I recall our brief argument back in the forest. “You clearly thought I was a Red Queen.”
“Ah, that’s...“ Lucienne pauses again — ears twitching nervously — as if caught off guard by my comment. A moment later, she clears her throat and shakes her head before responding. “No. In that case, I saw a fragment of your awakening and just assumed it was the end. Vack to the topic now.” She adds hastily — not wanting to discuss this any further, it seems.
“So, anyway.” The rabbit girl continues without missing a beat. “The reason I lied to everyone about the Divine Sacrifice. Why I know your mother is...“ She takes a deep breath, almost as if bracing herself for whatever reaction might follow next, and stares straight ahead into the horizon once more before continuing. “It’s because I’ve seen the fate of your tribe.”
Her voice trembles ever so faintly at the end, and tears glisten in the corners of crimson eyes reflecting sun’s golden glow overhead as she says this, but there’s no hesitation whatsoever behind those words either.
But before I can ask for clarification or explain myself further, another voice rings out across the beach — interrupting our conversation once again and drawing both of us out of the moment. “Alice! Luci! Come quick! He woke up!“ Eumelia shouts frantically in the distance, waving her arms wildly above her head towards us while calling out our names.
“It looks like we’ll have to continue this talk later.” Lucienne sighs while rising to her feet. “Besides, you still owe me an apology for biting my ear.” She adds with a pointed glare towards me.
“He can wait a few seconds longer.“ I catch her by the wrist and pull her back down into the sand with me again. “What did you see?!” Even though it’s just a guess right now — a gut feeling — the way her expression shifts from surprise to discomfort and back to resignation tells me enough already. But just in case she tries to brush me off again, I grab hold of her head and force her to look me in the eyes, ignoring the system messages popping up all around us with every passing second. “Tell me!”
“You’re hurting—”
“I don’t care how cryptic or vague it sounds, just spit it out already!”
“Fine!” She shouts and pulls away from my grip before getting up and dusting herself off once more. “Of your entire tribe, only three will survive. Only three from among us here, and no one else.”