The seemingly endless fall was being brought to a close as what appeared to be water emerged from below them.

Avalon let go of the scabbard leaving Leona to plunge into the depths below by herself as she was yanked backwards into the abyss.

“Avalon!”

Leona saw the woman become a small dot in the gnawing blackness until she disappeared completely. However more pressing matters were in her mind as she was free falling into water.

She closed her eyes preparing herself for the eventual impact but instead of a painful death, she was absorbed into the ground as if it was made of a gelatin.

“Nugh…!” However, just like being submerged in water, she couldn’t breathe while trapped inside which prompted her to swim up. “Haa…!”

She broke the elastic tension of the surface with the tip of her scabbard and used both her arms to lift herself up, though her left stump barely made any difference as she rolled out of the body of gelatinous liquid.

“Gah!” She gasped for air while sprawled on the floor that seemed to move ever so slightly under her. “What is this place…”

“This is my world, as it was.” Avalon’s voice came from somewhere behind the tactician. “Before I met you all those years ago.”

By turning around, Leona noticed the silver maiden was no longer wearing a tattered cloth but was now in a full suit of silver armor which closely resembled the Arcadian royal guard uniform.

“What do you mean…?”

“I was, by all accounts, a mere heirloom granted to your family by a very generous dragon.” She approached Leona and helped her stand up. “Her name was Sylphia. The youngest dragon of Valkahaz’ brood. I was made from her wings to be carried into battle against the demons.”

The horizon was akin to the void where fractured realities would float amidst the endless darkness. One with the image of an adult Leona began to glow until it took its shape, changing the environment around them to the courtyard of the Crossford mansion. However, as opposed to demi-humans maids, only human servants were walking around with baskets of clothing while the aged version of herself swung a frostburnt silver sword up and down. She also missed an arm just like her and it was replaced with a mechanical one.

“Your other ‘self’ relentlessly trained day and night to obtain power so you would never again lose someone dear to you. But that power came at a cost…”

With a flick of Avalon’s hand, the memory took another shape, showing the same Leona consumed by a dark red miasma that seemed to wither everything around herself.

“The void.” Leona muttered as she saw herself being swallowed by the disturbing red aura. “Lastraeous…”

“It didn’t take long until it drove you mad. ‘The Empress of Annihilation’.”

Leona looked upon Arcadia being overrun by endless hordes of death angels as the capital city burned. The sky was covered in a giant mass of blackness advancing from the horizon while engulfing everything in its path.

Her aged up self was sitting atop of the stairs leading to the entrance of the Arcadian castle while bodies of faithful knights were strewn across the way up—blood formed a carpet of crimson against the stone flooring as she watched the end of the world.

“Your pain, your suffering, your madness and despair, I felt everything Leona.” When their eyes met, Avalon made sure that she understood it. “This world’s future—your future, is important to me. I won’t let you be just another ‘Forgotten Princess’.”

Once she mentioned that moniker, the image of the platinum haired woman Leona fought in her inner world came to mind.

‘She did say this time would be different. Was she my future self then?’

“Leona, you have the power to shape the future.” Avalon squeezed her arm tightly. “Use it and no matter the cost, do not lose sight of your goal.”

“What are you saying? I haven’t accomplished anything. All I did up until this point was to extend everyone’s suffering.”

She clenched her hands into tight fists.

“What of Londria then? What of Lady Fye and her dream to take to the skies? Was all of that for nothing? No, you’re different this time. This is the future we've been fighting for eons.” She suddenly lost her footing and hit her left knee on the ground. “You… you will bring peace… I know of it…”

“Hey! What’s wrong?!”

She kneeled beside the armored woman and reached for her shoulder but the moment her fingers touched the cold armor—it started to turn into dust.

“Avalon?!”

“Heh… my time is nigh… it was good to see you again after so long…”

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“Don’t say things like that! I won’t let you suffer through all those painful memories again!”

“I know, I know…” She had a bittersweet expression on her face as she smiled. “I brought her forth to this time yet again so we could make amends, but I’m afraid I spent all my mana… forgive me, Leona…”

Leona tried to grab her arm but the silver maiden crumbled into dust, as it slipped from between her fingers.

“No! Avalon!”

The silver dust was slowly sinking through the surface of the ground when suddenly the surface tension gave out and Leona was dunked in the gelatinous liquid below.

‘Our world was at its end… but we may yet save yours yet Leona.’ Her mind felt like it had become one with her weapon as Avalon’s voice ringed in her mind. ‘Trust in yourself and your comrades. Do not give in despair. Hope will guide you and be your strength, as it always has been.’

“Avalon…”

Leona let out bubbles of air as she muttered. She was sinking deeper but despite that she felt warmth as if embraced by someone dear to her.

Her eyelids grew heavier, slowly closing as light was becoming dimmer. With her drifting consciousness, she could only recall the sorrow of her adult self as she fully closed her eyes.

Death was part of the cycle of life, that much she knew, but to be robbed of one’s future by simply opposing the will of someone else was unjustifiable. Boiling hatred and deep seated vengeance was what kept her other ‘self’ going. Unlike the she of the here and now, her alter ego was consumed by power—power that would be all too easy to obtain if she was to turn to Lastraeous.

But she didn’t. She didn’t do it out of any reason or code of conduct but for the simple fact that Krieg and Phoebe were there for her when she needed the most. They were the pillars that kept her going down a less bloody path.

‘There is blood on my hands, how long until it reaches my heart?’

Long her other self wanted to break free, but as sins piled, more and more difficulties came to the empire built out of might—and yet, time and time again she would resort to the void.

“Leona…” A faint voice echoed in her mind. “Leona, are you there…?”

‘Krieg…?’

Her body felt like it was floating endlessly through the void but each time she heard his voice it was like something was tugging her in the depths of her mind.

“Leona, you must wake up!”

‘Why is he so… distressed…?’

“Leona!”

His voice rang clear this time and just like reeling in a fish out of the water, Leona was pulled out of her inner world and the moment she opened her eyes, she saw the wooden ceiling of the ship once again.

“Ah.”

“Leona! Thank the goddess.” Krieg appeared in her field of view just over her. “You’ve been sleeping for two days.”

“Ngh… two days?” She did indeed feel sore all over the place from the lack of moving, but was able to sit up with his help. “Wait… are we close to Nara?”

“The city’s in view already.”

“I see… then the duel…”

“Another important matter, Kaeli was abducted while you were asleep.”

That line made her eyes go wide as she looked him straight in the eyes.

“What do you mean?”

He frowned his brows as he explained it.

“I hardly understood how it happened as well but a mage came on the ship and simply ‘vanished’ out of thin air with her.”

“Did you see who it was?”

He shook his head.

“All I caught was a glimpse of the color of his hair, nothing more.” He massaged in between his eyes with his thumb. “He had brown hair and was wearing a white cloak that fully covered the body.”

‘This must be the ‘champion’ Lastraeous spoke of…’

Leona held her chin between her thumb and index finger. Her frowning eyebrows were enough to tell Krieg that she was deep in thought.

“He did mention he would ‘see us soon’.”

She glanced at him for a split second before returning to her thoughts.

‘This is strange… if he was after me, it would’ve been all too easy to capture me directly instead of resorting to using Kaeli of all people as hostage. Unless…’

Leona took a deep breath and looked at Krieg.

“What about Phoebe?”

“Freed. I did so as soon as Kaeli was abducted.”

She nodded.

“Where is she?”

“Up on the deck.”

She stood up and lifted the frostburnt silver longsword. The blade had a dull sheen as opposed to the light blue aura it used to emanate.

‘Thank you, Avalon.’

Upon extending the sheath to Krieg, he took the weapon and tied its belt around her hip. Without wasting any time, she walked to the stairs that led to the deck.

As she climbed up the stairs, the sunlight that came from across the vast blue sky was enough to make her squint her eyes as she was cooped up for two days inside the ship and it took a while until she could bear the sudden change in brightness.

“Phoebe!”

Leona announced her return with a clear shout as she was looking through the deck to find the high elf.

“Oh, Princess Leona is back.”

“Thank the goddess.”

Luka and Cecile that were on the deck were smiling as they noticed her, but they soon went back to work.

“Up here Princess.” A voice came from above Leona, she noticed the high elf leaning over the railings of the helm. “What do you need?”

“I’ve come to talk. Can you come down?”

Without hesitating, she jumped down with both her prosthetic bending to her weight until she stood up. Krieg was right behind Leona with his left hand loosely on top of the pommel of his sword.

“What did you want to talk about?”

“Your master, what is his name?”

She raised an eyebrow.

“Why do you want to know about him?”

“It’s just a hunch I have. Humor me.”

She looked sideways and around her before turning to Leona.

“Come with me.” She whispered. “I don’t want the others to hear it.”

The trio walked to the front of the deck where nobody was within earshot of them. Phoebe took a deep breath and turned around before placing both of her elbows against the wooden railing behind her back.

“Miyamoto, that is my master’s name.”