"Hi, do you remember me, Lonely One? You really should, I did say I will come by." From behind Iris, a voice spoke to her its tone, pitch and sex constantly shifting. She turned around and saw a young human boy with messy hair leaning over her.

"Who are you?" The elf stared at the boy with confusion as she noticed the world around them was motionless with all the colour drained from it with the exception of the boy's dark purple eyes staring straight at the laying risen.

*Sniff*

The boy looked devastated by Iris's words, covering his eyes he started to sob. Seeing the elf's lack of reaction a purple flames stared at her with boredom and annoyance evenly mixed in from between his fingers. "It's a shame she didn't make you more expressive, oh well." The boy wiped his teary face which held back a deluge of tears behind his suddenly unnaturally large eyes. "Mother." The boy said, his body not matching with his words.

"...Vesa? What are you doing in here?" The elf said after a moment.

"Questions, questions, questions! Why is everyone asking me those?" A sudden rage escaped the young boy's mouth. "Oh, WhY dId ThE gObLinS atTacKeD oUr VilLaGe? WHy hAd YoU madE EveRyOne gO Mad? WhY dIdN'T yoU SaVe uS?" Vesa seemed to mock the people she was referring to but terribly realistic cries of plight reaching for their last remaining hope escaped the boy's mouth. "What is the fucking point of life if you are going to ask me to explain everything for you, don't you agree?" Before Iris could notice the boy disappeared and was replaced by Vesa emerging from a shadow behind her.

"-" Iris opened her mouth about to speak but the woman standing above her seemed to randomly change her mind. With a single casual wave of her finger the elf felt her words stop in her throat before seemingly crawling back into her lungs.

"Imagine this, I was working quietly on something I don't even remember on what and decided to look at you. Guess what? I suddenly see Fifth at level 28 trying to fight an ancient daemon basically by herself and fully expecting to win that," Vesa explained, her right hand was raised beside her head with her fingers counting down. As she folded her last finger, Kia appeared at the edge of the pit. "Aaaand that's why I am here Lonely One." She finished before turning to look at the necromancer. "You realised I could have killed your Anchor while you were studying my spell? You are truly made differently than others, stick to one school of magic."

"There is no logical reason for you to kill my Anchor." Kia replied, her mostly blue and eyes staying full of colour similar to Vesa's eyes.

"Do you know who I am even?" The woman's mouth formed into a skeptical grin, finding something about Kia's sentence hilarious. "The Effect is a bitch, isn't it? I liked you much more when you were hers, anyway I gotta go." Her voice changed once more alongside her hair as she finished speaking.

"Wait, what are we meant to do with the daemon!" Iris shouted seeing that the stranger started to fade.

"Ahhh, that little thing... I guess I could help a little bit for His and your sake." Vesa strolled toward the daemon's small body, grabbing its worm-like body by the tail. The daemon suddenly opened its eyes and stared at the three with utter confusion before disappearing in Vesa's hand. "I knew System will complain about this. *Sigh*" She approached Iris with her hand extended.

The elf felt a sting as Vesa's finger touched her forehead. "I guess you can have this."

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"What did you give me?" The elf grabbed the purple-eyed woman's shoulder as she was about to leave.

"You have six bells to think about what I did and I don't even remember what I did for or to you~" Vesa said, her voice bordering between flirting with the elf, threatening her and chuckling at her own words before disappearing as abruptly as she appeared.

"Master! Uh?" Umbria's scream suddenly echoed as the time moved again. The phantom that the daemon controlled vanished instantly, causing a bloody rain to shower the two undead in the pit.

"We are both here, Umbria!" Iris shouted, puzzled by what just happened.

The sun was slowly climbing the clear blue sky which held off Abyss from flooding Niuran. Kia and Iris were heading toward Firmusa alone, Umbria was ordered to clear the path ahead of them and to sort out the chaos in the city after a large portion of the elite class disappeared in one dark night. The rest of the vampires stayed in Akkad's lair in fear of the very same celestial body which shined warm light at the two adventurers.

Iris's fingers were interwoven with Kia's slender fingers. The necromancer didn't react to the risen's touch, she loosely held her hands in the elf's tight grip.

"Kia, what happened to you?" Iris finally said, moving the mage's black hair out of the way, giving her a clear view of the heavenly face staring blankly at the road in front of her.

"Nothing." Kia replied, leaving the elf in bitter silence.

The former slave felt each bell go by in all too familiar silence which now stabbed at her heart. She wasn't sure if the girl put on the alien mannerisms for the vampires or for some other reason which must be extremely important but she selfishly wanted the girl to break her mask for even a second and reassure her that she was fine.

"Iris?" A dazed voice reached the hoplite's ears as the walls of Firmusa came from under the horizon.

"Y-yes?" The elf looked down toward the melodic voice. Leaning on her shoulder Kia looked up at the elf. When their eyes met together the girl's mouth started to tremble and she hid her face away from the elf in the folds of the elven sleeve. Her body seemed to fear touching Iris's warm body. "Welcome back." Iris was compelled to say as she gently pushed Kia's head closer to her, vaguely feeling the girl's emotions through their connection.

The cold radiating off from the necromancer melting in Iris's embrace regained its old feeling. The elf felt the undead mage mustering all of her feeble strength to return her favour, forcing the taller undead as close to her as possible.

Iris happily endured the little bit of pain caused by Kia reinforcing her body with spells to force her as close as possible.

"I don't want this anymore. I hated it, I hated it, I hated it..." The pale angel cried angrily into the elf's chest. The ground around them started to frost over with a sea of sharp icicles judging out from the ice becoming larger as Kia's quiet cries became louder.

Iris never stopped stroking the girl's black hair in a familiar motion as she felt the ice begin to overcome her resistance causing her Hit Points to slowly decrease.

"...I hated every moment of it! I didn't know this would happen. I couldn't control i-it, my body wasn't mine." Kia's angry cries changed into fearful sobs.

"Shhh, it's all over now, it's all over. You are with me, nothing can hurt you." Iris calmly whispered into the girl's ear, causing her ragged breathing to slowly stop as her stiff body melted fully into the warm embrace.

Iris rested her head on Kia's still body, an earthy scent with a strong floral undertone filled her nose as she sniffed the girl's onyx hair. The smell was usually only present in mausoleums where the living would honour their dead but Iris could only think of the distraught girl in her hands as they stayed still.

"I promise." The elf said as she picked up the girl, who had exhausted her mana powering her body and had fallen asleep standing.

Iris covered Kia's peacefully sleeping body with her white cloak before she slowly walked toward the northern gate of Firmusa.

"We were sent by Lady Blackworm to escort these noblest of Ladies." A soldier wearing dark plate armour said, interrupting the city guard motioning Iris to stop.

Somehow Iris felt the undead nature of the two young soldiers in front of her. Without slowing down she followed the two vampires into the city.

Kia's body jerked violently as they walked through the residential part of the lower city the two soldiers walked almost shoulder to shoulder with Harbinger.

"Leave us, now." Iris's low hiss caused the young undead to move away from her.

"My Lady we can't leave you." One of the soldiers dared to say.

"Leave us." Iris stared down the closest of the two bloodsuckers, she didn't know if the vampire was lower level than her but his body shrank under her gaze.

Iris walked through the busy streets trying to ignore a pair of undead roughly a hundred meters behind her. If not for Kia in her hands the two would have been turned into ash be her. They were of some use to her when they quickly jogged in front of her using side alleys to open the manor.

Instantly heading to their room, Iris ignored the few of the busy servants who stopped and spoke to her.

When she entered the room they slept in before, she found an almost immaculate made bedroom. Without caring for the work put into making the bed Iris lowered herself onto it with Kia holding onto her with all her sleeping might.

Iris was about to begin the long process of unglueing Kia from herself to be able to undress the necromancer and herself before she felt her head feeling as if a heavy anvil was dropped on top of her head before the world went black.

[Exp gained.]

[Exp gained.]

[Exp gained.]

[Exp gained.]

[Exp gained.]

[Exp gained.]