Chapter 12 : The Devil Behind The Curse

"I can't wait to be there..."

Suddenly, everything goes dark. I lose consciousness.

When I open my eyes again, I’m transported to a completely different world—a battlefield stretching endlessly. No grass grows here; the ground seems rotten, barren. Swords are planted in the soil, and corpses are scattered across the grim landscape. Yet this time, I can control my body perfectly.

"Aleystria, it’s been a long time."

A soft, familiar voice pulls me out of my thoughts. I turn around... and there she is. An adult version of Elvaria, elegant and majestic.

"You’ve probably forgotten me..." she says, slightly disappointed, her eyes filled with a barely hidden regret. I try to reply, but the words barely escape my lips.

"Where am I? Who are you?"

At my question, a faint smile forms on her lips, as if she expected my confusion.

"You’re in the last place you’ve been. As for me... I was your partner, Aleystria."

She smiles, sitting on a solitary rock in the middle of this devastated field.

"My partner...?" I repeat, puzzled.

"You’ve lived many lives, each one destined to preserve my memory. All of this must seem very confusing to you..."

I nod. Indeed, nothing makes sense.

"The body you inhabit now is your real body. The one you wore in your last life... was just a substitute."

She gracefully steps down from her rock, her steps bringing her closer to me. The air around her seems to pulse with immense power.

"What are you trying to say—"

She interrupts me sharply.

"Emissary of humanity, initiator of the gods' war, conspirator of the holy war, nightmare of the divine... Aleystria. That is who you are."

Her gaze hardens as she speaks, each word etching itself into my mind. After a pause, she adds in a firm tone:

"Quickly finish what you need to do on this insignificant little island. Return to Iveralmn; the capital needs you. Your presence here means that the Aleystria protocol has been reactivated."

Her tone left no room for argument.

"Wait… I don’t understand…"

And suddenly, I wake up. The boat has arrived at the port. Elvaria is leaning over me, looking worried.

"Finally, you’re awake, Aley! You scared me!" she exclaims, clearly relieved.

"Everything’s… fine. Don’t worry, Elvaria."

But there was no doubt. The woman I had just seen resembled her so much... too much, even.

I get up from the boat's deck and walk down the gangplank. My steps lead me toward the main entrance of the city I had glimpsed from afar. Finally, we are here. Aqualida.

Suddenly, two heavily armed guards approach us. It seemed they were waiting for us.

"You two, come with us, no trouble," one of them orders in a sharp voice.

"What are you saying?! We’ve done nothing wrong!" Elvaria protests, trying to defend us. Her bravery pushes me to join her.

"We’ve only just arrived at Orthosomo. What crime are we being accused of?"

I tried to sound reasonable, but my words seem to irritate the guards even more.

"Don’t play innocent. Turning the population into monsters… You’re disgusting."

What? Turning the population into monsters? It was a setup; we had never done anything like that. I didn’t even know it was possible.

"We’ve never done such a thing, we’ve just arrived!" Elvaria exclaims, desperately trying to prove our innocence. One of the guards, even more irritated, responds harshly:

"Nobody asked you, woman—"

Huh? Did he really just insult her? My blood begins to boil.

Elvaria, concerned, turns to me and whispers:

"Please, don’t attack them, they’re still guards after all—"

But I no longer hear her words. My body moves before I can think.

I draw my weapon in a split second, and before the guards can react, I have them pinned to the ground. My sword is at one’s throat, and my foot is crushing the head of the other.

"If we came here to harm you, believe me, we wouldn’t have any trouble being more direct. We have no reason to turn your population into monsters."

My voice is cold. I look down at them, dominating the scene. Since arriving here, I’ve grown more confident. Too confident, perhaps. But how can I be blamed? I am powerful. Really powerful.

Suddenly, a man dressed in a long black robe calmly approaches. He wears glasses that hide glowing golden eyes. His hair, a shining gray despite his youthful appearance, contrasts with his finely sculpted face. A benevolent smile lights up his features. I notice the pure gold insignia embroidered on his robe: a star. The star of Ria, symbol of the Western Church. This man is a priest.

"Now, now... No need for violence," he says softly, his piercing eyes meeting mine before turning to the guards.

"And you two, you attacked innocent people. The information you got from 'Macrinis' is nothing but lies. They are not responsible for what’s happening to our people," he continues, sighing lightly.

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The guards, suddenly docile, lower their heads. This man radiates a certain authority.

"A thousand apologies, Varilis. We were ignorant," they say in unison, clearly ashamed.

I lift my sword and take my foot off their heads. The guards rise, shame in their eyes, and kneel before us.

"Please forgive our mistake," they say, heads bowed. Elvaria steps forward, a bright smile on her face, and gives a thumbs up in a kind gesture.

"Alright, you’re forgiven," she says cheerfully.

The guards stand and leave, leaving us alone with this mysterious man, Varilis. He approaches, his benevolent smile still on his lips.

"Welcome to Aqualida, Aley, Elvaria. Your reputation precedes you," he says warmly, his gaze peaceful and kind, with no trace of hostility.

"My name is Varilis, but you can call me Var. I am the archpriest of the Western Church. I presume you’re here for our dungeon?" he adds, his voice gentle and composed.

"Indeed," I simply reply. At this response, a slight crease of concern crosses his face.

"I have a request for you. Of course, you will be rewarded," he says, his tone growing more serious.

"I’m listening," Elvaria interjects, arms crossed, clearly intrigued.

"As you must have heard, Orthosomo is facing a crisis. Our people are being transformed into monstrous creatures by a dark magic, robbing them of their reason and forcing us to eliminate them. I beg you, in the name of our nation, help us."

At these words, he kneels before us, his voice filled with visible distress.

I think for a moment before answering. I’m not willing to risk our lives without reason.

"And what would the rew—"

I don’t even have time to finish my sentence before Elvaria cuts me off, extending her hand to the kneeling priest.

"Of course we’ll help, Var! Novus Obris is here to lend a hand!" she exclaims, a wide smile on her face.

Ah, Elvaria... always ready to throw herself headlong into adventure. Why are you always so impulsive?

"Thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart," Varilis says, tears in his eyes, his voice overflowing with gratitude. His distress slowly fades, replaced by an air of relief.

Alright, I say to myself silently. Let’s go save this country.

—Closed for now

—Sorry, we will reopen later

—Closed due to the appearance of humanoid monsters

The sky, once a radiant blue, was now covered with gray clouds, threatening to release rain at any moment. It had been several hours since Elvaria and I had been wandering the streets of the city, searching for clues about the person who had framed us. We wanted to question the locals, but everything was closed. One of the guards had muttered the name "Macrinis," a name that sounded familiar to me. It was the same as the man Valentin worked for. I suspected he was behind this whole affair.

Despite the urgency of the situation, I had to admit that the city was breathtakingly beautiful, worthy of a seaside capital. However, every shop or tavern we approached was closed. If no tavern opened soon, we wouldn’t have anywhere to sleep tonight, and we wouldn’t be able to make any progress in our investigation.

"Aley… look over there…" Elvaria’s voice, slightly trembling, caught my attention.

She was pointing at something at the end of the alley we were walking through. There, crouched on the deserted ground, was a woman in her forties. While everyone else had locked themselves inside for fear of being transformed into monsters, she had simply stayed there, exposed to the elements, sobbing.

"Uug… Houmpf…" The woman was crying, torn by a pain I could almost feel. Elvaria approached her gently.

"What happened to you?" she asked in a tender voice.

"My son… my son…" the woman replied between sobs, unable to contain her distress.

"What happened to your son, ma’am?" I asked, trying to understand what had caused such devastation.

"My little boy… my child, my love. He was only 8 years old," she said, sobbing even harder.

"He went out at my request, just to buy some bread from the baker down the street. But… but after several minutes, he still hadn’t come back. I felt that something was wrong. So, I went out. I saw him… I saw him…" Her voice broke as she continued:

"My son had changed. He… he had become a monster… a humanoid creature that looked like a fish, but he was still wearing his clothes… His clothes, they were still there, as if to remind me… And then I heard him… I can still hear him… 'M-ma-mommy, h-help me, I’m in pain…' He was crying, despite his appearance. He was crying!"

She began to cry even more, and my heart ached at the tragedy before me.

"My motherly instinct… it couldn’t just turn off. No matter what he had become, I knew he was still my son. So I rushed to him, to hold him, to comfort him like a mother should. But… before I could even reach him, a guard… a guard thrust his spear into his little body."

Her voice broke again, and her gaze became empty, haunted by the memory.

"He pierced my baby. Right before my eyes. I… I begged them to stop… I tried to tell them that he was still in there, that he still had his consciousness, but… but the guard… he said that any minute, he could become dangerous. And then he kept going… He pierced him, again and again… He pierced, pierced, pierced…"

Her voice grew weaker with each repetition, until she continued to murmur the word like a mantra. This woman, consumed by grief and loss, had irreversibly lost her mind. The death of her son had shattered her.

I could see the anger and sadness in Elvaria’s eyes. She was deeply shaken by this tragedy, and I could feel that, just like me, she wanted to find the one responsible.

"Don’t worry, ma’am. We’ll take care of this, won’t we, Aley?" Elvaria said softly, though she knew the woman probably couldn’t hear us anymore, lost in her world of pain.

"Of course," I replied, clenching my fist. "Let’s go deal with that maniac."

With no inn available to spend the night, as everything was closed, Elvaria and I had eventually left the capital of the kingdom of Orthosomo. We were now walking along a hill offering a breathtaking view of the entire city. The scene was as grand as it was peaceful, despite the recent events.

"So, we’re finally going to sleep under the stars," I said, slightly excited by the idea.

"Exactly! It’s interesting, isn’t it?" Elvaria retorted with a mischievous smile dancing on her lips.

Indeed, we had decided to camp outside the city walls, at the top of this hill, to enjoy a spectacular view of the city illuminated by the last rays of the sun. In my bag, I carried everything we needed: a large cloth to lay on the ground as an improvised mattress and two straw sacks to serve as pillows. We had prepared for this possibility. After all, a traveler must always be ready to sleep under the stars.

A few minutes later, everything was set up. Our "sleeping bags" were ready, and the atmosphere was almost magical. The sun had set behind the horizon, giving way to a silver moon that bathed the hill in a soft glow. The capital below seemed to have fallen asleep as well, sinking into a peaceful night. The sky, dotted with twinkling stars, added a romantic touch to this moment suspended in time.

"Come on, to bed, Aley! Tomorrow, we have to continue our investigation into that criminal," exclaimed Elvaria, lying next to me, ready to drift into sleep.

"Yeah, yeah, I’m coming," I replied, lying down on the cloth and resting my head on the straw sack. Slowly, I felt my eyelids grow heavy. The gentle breeze and the whispers of nature made the atmosphere soothing. Tired from the journey and the day’s events, I gradually drifted into sleep, just like Elvaria, who was exhausted as well.

This night under the stars, at the top of the hill, would be a well-deserved moment of respite before we plunged back into our tumultuous quest.

When I woke up, Elvaria was no longer beside me. She had probably gone off to train with her sword somewhere, as was her habit. I had gotten used to her little routines over time. As I stretched, I saw her returning from the plain below, running toward me with a big smile.

"Aley! Sorry, I was training!" she exclaimed with a laugh, her radiant smile lighting up her tired but satisfied face.

We resumed our journey, heading back to the capital to continue our investigation. The dungeon of Aqualida, Everstil, that white tower, still dominated the horizon, rising majestically in the heart of the kingdom. As we advanced, the city’s silhouette became clearer. A few minutes of walking brought us back to the city gates, where Var was waiting for us. Even from a distance, his warm smile was recognizable.

"Sleep well, Aley, Elvaria?" he called out in a friendly tone, his eternal smile still on his lips.

Elvaria and I answered in unison, each in our own way: "Like a baby!" she exclaimed joyfully. "I’ve had better…" I murmured, a bit more reserved.

We finally reached the walls, and without wasting time, Varilis spoke in a more serious tone than usual: "The guild has a request for you." His voice was serious, but still carried that almost suspicious benevolence.

"Alright, we’ll head there right away," I replied calmly.

"A new quest for Novus Obris!" Elvaria exclaimed, grabbing my arm with enthusiasm, dragging me along with her. It had become a habit: she seemed to enjoy leading me like this, as if I were a companion she constantly had to pull into unexpected adventures.