MEDEA’S POV
She’s survived the kinds of things that spoiled brat never will, but Duke Nathaira still terrifies the blonde. And this is despite those horrifying ‘visions’ Medea receives, threats of things to come if she fails to right this broken world that worships a bratty child even when she’s being openly rude to the most powerful individuals in the country.
Medea grits her teeth as she stares out the window, before the sound of the door opening distract her.
“Lady Cassandra, good afternoon.” Rising and curtsying perfectly, Medea wants to smile when she hears the born aristocrat’s words.
“Medea, didn’t we agree you’d address me casually? Aren’t we sisters?” Cassandra is always kind to her, more so now that Rayleigh isn’t being nice to the blonde.
“Of course, Cass.” Medea’s smile hasn’t lost its potency, and the brunette beams as she sits down.
“There’s been an explosion in the east,” Cassandra’s face is gleeful, “and that woman was caught in it.” Medea can’t help smiling broader. “But...the Grand Duke was caught in the blast too.” At the sorrow and worry on her new sister’s face, Medea has to bite her inner cheek to maintain her composure.
“When did this happen, Cass?” She pours tea gracefully for the other, as befitting someone who’s studied like crazy to imitate Loredan nobility.
“Two days ago, from what I heard.” The Duke’s real daughter clearly wants someone to talk to now that her beloved is potentially injured or dead, and Medea is happy to oblige.
Rayleigh is lost to me. But I can still be a sister to Cass.
“I’m sure he’s alright, Cass.” She sits next to the worried brunette and hugs her tight. “His highness is a Swordmaster, which means he can wield his aura as a defensive shield better than most.”
Poor Cass.
“He is, isn’t he?” Cassandra’s face brightens immensely at Medea’s words. “He’ll be alright, won’t he?”
You care so much for him.
Nodding, Medea smiles as she pats a slim back reassuringly. “Of course he will.”
What will happen if the Grand Duke dies now?
“Oh, I heard the capital’s destroyed too.”
NO. It CAN’T be.
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CALLAN LAMBERG’S POV
He shouldn’t be thinking about Asha now, but Callan’s thoughts keep returning to her anyway even as his body moves on reflex.
My baby.
“Callan!” Aaron is struggling with the weight of support beams, so the Grandmaster rushes over to assist, instinctively wrapping aura around his hands for protection as he heaves.
The family they rescue is safe, but many more continue to cry for help in the capital.
I was right, but I didn’t say anything about my suspicions and now...
He hates himself for it, since the reason he hadn’t said a word before this is because he’d wanted to protect Asha’s secret, but now he’s ruined everything and...
“Grandmaster!” Winterblades, Snowfalls, Imperial Knights, and citizens call for assistance all around him, and the Count really shouldn’t be thinking about his daughter when the Empire needs him but he does anyway.
My baby.
“Callan!” Willow is a mess, covered in soot with ripped clothes as her usually neat hair sticks out in a manner reminiscent of Asha’s when she’s messed it up unconsciously, and the Winter Count wants to cry. “Callan, I know, but there are more than forty families trapped over there and we need your help.”
The High Mage hasn’t once taken a break since the explosives went off all around the capital, and though bloodshot her brilliant green eyes are determined yet sorrowful.
My baby chose you for me.
Rushing to where Willow guides him as he carries her in his arms, a small attempt to allow her to rest weary feet, Callan stops before the remains of multiple buildings that somehow collapsed on each other before the ground beneath them gave way.
If Asha was here, she’d know what happened instantly.
His daughter isn’t around though, and Callan struggles to move through the sheer agony in his soul as he sets his fiancée down and dashes to the wreckage.
The capital...
Once the pride of Loredan and envy of the world, now it lies in ruins while smoke continues to rise alongside cries of the wounded, dying, and mourning.
Asha. Light of my life.
He’d received news of her death yesterday, minutes before the explosives in the capital detonated. A part of Callan had wondered distantly if perhaps the world was reacting to the torment that ripped through his very essence at the news.
My darling, my reason for being. Please manage one more return. Daddy will not fail you this time.
Other than begging the gods to take him instead, there’s nothing else he can do as a mere mortal - even as a chieftain of the northern guardians - so Callan just lifts beams and bricks as his crushed and lacerated heart struggles to beat in a hollow chest.
> Duty to family, duty to clan, duty to country, duty to world.
Those are Callan's last thoughts before the world is torn apart.
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RAYLEIGH’S POV
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Where am I?
“Hello, Rayleigh Loredan.”
An odd ball of light both whispers and shouts to him, and he tenses while calling forth aura and reaching for his sword.
“We mean you no harm.” The voice seems to chuckle warmly, and his eyes narrow.
“Where is Asha?”
If a ball of light could shrug, then that’s how he’d describe what it’s doing in front of him right now.
“Are you not more curious about where you are?”
Gritting his teeth as his attempts to summon forth aura continue to fail, Rayleigh glares at the gentle glow.
“WHERE. IS. ASHA.”
The light starts to swirl now, circling him almost mockingly.
“How odd that you now care when you used to hate her. What a difference a change in perspective causes.”
“You...!”
I know I wronged her. There’s no need to remind me.
His hands pass straight through the light, but he doesn’t stumble or fall in this odd darkness.
“Both of you are dead in this timeline, just like the earlier ones.” Dead...? “And Asha lacks the reserves to reset on her own once more.”
That means...
This time when the light speaks, it sounds almost vicious. “We gave you both a chance to do it Independently, and chances to do it with as much knowledge and boons that could be purchased or won. Yet you still failed.”
’A chance to do it Independently’...?
“We must make haste.” When the light suddenly zooms near and stops right in front of his face, Rayleigh tries to leap backwards but remains where he is. “If you wish for another reset - the final one - you will need to trade something precious to you. Asha depleted almost all her divine power the last time she reset. Such a foolish child, choosing to use so much of what remained of her divinity to obtain extraordinary luck, ability, power, and fortune every round when she should have instead wagered for Independence. And now she's in the Great Hall bargaining for your soul. Again.”
“‘Bargaining for my soul’? ‘Divinity’? That means...Asha is a goddess?” For a disembodied voice, it’s extremely expressive, reminding him of a beautiful fairy with mischief in her bright blue eyes.
“No, simply the granddaughter of Chronelia.”
The Goddess of Time?!
“Now then, Rayleigh Loredan, do you accept this deal and swear to do your part in ensuring the world does not fall to ruin once more?”
“What ‘deal’?” He won’t accept anything less than Asha being safe and happy.
The light wags a finger at him with a hand it creates.
“Were you not paying attention?” It sounds irritated. “The reset. Asha will return to the past as an Independent for this world’s last chance, and you will help to pay the fee.”
’This world’...?
“Who are you?”
The voice chuckles as it did before. “Finally you ask the right question.”
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ASHA’S POV
What happened...?
Pushing herself up, Asha winces and clenches her jaw as memories start to flood her mind, at once overwhelming yet oddly hollow.
Who...?
> ”This is your final chance, Asha Lamberg, granddaughter of Chronelia and player in the game of Gods & Demons. ———— have paid the fee for your return and Independence.”
Who paid the fee? Why can’t I remember?
“My lady!” Monique’s purple eyes are distraught as she rushes to Asha’s side with a fresh bottle of water. “You’re awake!”
Moni...? Wait, this scene...
With a mounting sense of horror, Asha recalls her first eight deaths.
But...there was someone else there every time. Someone I...?
“My lady!” Valora’s brown eyes are full of tears as the Winterblade kneels by Asha’s creaky bed with its worn sheets. “Thank you for coming back to us.”
This is when I was sixteen, wasn’t it? I was badly injured after following R....
“Agh!” Clutching her head, Asha screams as pain flares in every fiber of her being while the most agonizing noises in the world fill her head, like a million nails are scratching a thousand chalkboards at once while metal drags against marble and banshees shriek.
“My lady!”
“Lady Asha!”
It hurts, please stop, please let me see...
“My baby!” Callan Lamberg’s voice barely pierces through the haze of pain, and Asha squints at the figure of her father rushing towards her.
“D...dad...?”
“Darling, you’re awake!” She’s always loved his hugs and scent. “Light of my life, please don’t break daddy’s heart again.”
“I’m sorry, dad.” It takes him awhile to calm down, and Asha resolves to introduce him to Lady Willow as soon as possible, since the brunette is the cold hearted sort.
’Cold hearted sort’...?
“Sweetheart, I can’t believe you were hurt following Marquess Vihur to a skirmish! I’m so sorry, I should’ve been there for you. This is all daddy’s fault, angel.”
’Marquess Vihur’?! No, I was following R...
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” The noises assail her once more, this time accompanied by stabbing pain in every fiber of her being as Asha screams and claws at her father in agony.
Who was that?
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RAYLEIGH’S POV
“We did not think you would be willing to pay such a price, Rayleigh Loredan.” The light sounds almost regretful as it floats next to him while Rayleigh watches.
Smiling sadly as he sees Asha start to try and adapt her behavior to those around her, he shakes his head.
“It’s better if she doesn’t remember me.”
This time the light truly sounds sorry.
“We are unable to intervene without payment. This time Asha will recall much more than before and possess the ability to think and act on her own." He knows it's their best chance of winning, especially with him out of the picture. "But though her attempts to remember you will always be punished with severe pain, it seems she’s already tried twice. Had we not implemented the Independence ourselves, we would have thought the dice were making her behave foolishly.”
I’m so sorry, Asha.
Rayleigh reaches a trembling hand out and gently caresses the wavering image of Asha smiling weakly up at teacher. After hesitating briefly, the light speaks once more. “You should know, Rayleigh Loredan, that she gave up her immortality in exchange for a chance that you might return to her some day.”
“Asha did what?!” Furious, he turns on the light as it jerks back a little. “How DARE you allow it! I am the one who failed her each time, the one who couldn’t see past myself, the one who should have protected her but instead...!”
The light sighs before approaching him once more.
“Despite what we have told you, still you act as though the gods are the only ones playing this game?” When his eyes widen, the light seems to lean to the side thoughtfully before shining a little more gently. “You are not faultless. But how can an ant defeat a giant?”
An ‘ant’...?
“Thanks to Asha trading the last of her divinity, you are free from the Demon Queen Apatie’s shackles.” Now the light has conjured up a hand to pat his head hesitantly. “It was decided long ago by a roll of dice that you would belong to Apatie, but now you do not. And if Asha wins, Apatie will have no claim to you, Asha, anyone in this world, and this world itself.”
“So...so then, I...?” Rayleigh can’t believe what he’s hearing, yet it gives him hope. “'Demon Queen Apatie’s shackles' means I wouldn’t have treated Asha that way if not for...?”
Sighing, the light retracts its ‘hand’ and moves towards the vision of Asha.
“Everyone starts to fall under the control of either the gods or the Higher Demons when they turn twelve.” It reaches a shining hand towards Asha’s clearly uncomfortable face. “In your case, you resisted quite impressively due to your bloodline, but always gave in in the end. Even in this latest life did you not succumb to despair and hatred? Were you not planning on killing yourself once you’d eradicated any and all threats to Asha?"
But if gods or Higher Demons are involved, then that means…
“Do not be foolish, Rayleigh Loredan.” The light is stern now, seeming to thrum in warning. “Other than the second to eighth rounds where gods and Higher Demons could roll to occasionally make their targets think, act, or speak as they desired, in the first round many of you were Independent. That means that while Apatie could only whisper within you, it was you who chose to listen, you whose will was too weak, you who was so easily swayed and tempted. You are as responsible for the tragedies in each round as the Corruption that claimed your soul every time.”
I see.
His heart hurts, which is odd given the fact that his body isn’t actually corporeal but just a projection of his mind, and Rayleigh turns to look at Asha once more. Mage Monique and Dame Valora have started arguing again, which makes him chuckle wistfully but causes something to twinge in his chest area when he sees Asha’s pained, sorrowful eyes.
Asha.
A sigh brings him back to this floating world of shadows and a talking light. “If you wish to stay here and gaze upon her, then perhaps this round will go to Apatie as well. Unfortunate but not unexpected, since this final attempt has taken so much from so many.”
Gritting his teeth, Rayleigh glances one last time at his soulmate, who’s clutching her head and writhing in agony once again.
“I will not fail. Send me to the Den of Dice and let me try my hand at the Wagers of Worlds.”
Asha...stop trying to remember me. I'll be waiting for you in the Great Hall when you return after a long and happy life.
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MOONRISE BY LUNASEA: CHAPTER 33 END