‘Breathe… I need…’

Lea Maitner’s mind was cluttered, she was too confused to realize what was going on, the only thing she knew was that she was unable to breathe, however she found herself completely paralyzed so she could only struggle in vain as her consciousness slowly faded once again.

When she awoke next she were surprised to find she hadn’t suffocated, air filled her lungs before it flowed out again, her breathing was steady, and with it came clarity of her mind, it was like the fog slowly lifted, and when it did, she dearly wished that it hadn’t

‘Please… Move, move!’

Her body was paralyzed as she sat on her knees, she was still facing the entrance to the house she had been carried to shelter in when the devil comet rose, however if she could move, if she could flee she would happily embrace the maddening light of the pale blue comet, however the demon she originally had through her savior had paralyzed her completely

‘Why… I thought the nightmare ended, why is it only getting worse…’

Lea’s life had spiraled out of control, first her father had been killed 9 months ago, she barely had any time to grieve when her Mystic powers suddenly manifested, from there she had been forced to watch her homeland be destroyed over and over, the brilliant flashes of radiant fire that consumed the great cites weren’t the worst part of her visions, it was what followed, she could feel the suffering of the unfortunate survivors that lived in the ruins blanketed by poisonous ash, once again her mind were transported into one of her visions

-

‘It burns… My skin is pealing off…’

She found herself as a young teen, her body was covered in burns, from this she figured she would suffer for a few days before oblivion found her if she were unlucky, however taking in her surroundings she realized this wouldn’t be the case, she was inside a makeshift refugee camp, one she had seen too many times in her visions, each time from a different person’s view

“Help… Someone, help me”

She called out for a few minutes before someone arrived at her bed, it was a middle-aged knight that had half his body covered in bandages, pain and grief were painted on his face as he looked at the young woman Lea saw the world from for a few moments before he hid it behind a caring smile

“Don’t worry ****** I got another dose of medicine for you…”

The middle-aged man helped the young teen up before he fed her the liquid medicine, a potent painkiller that would make the last few days of suffering a little more bearable, however Lea knew the fate of this refugee camp well, so she warned the middle-aged knight at once

“You need… To leave, head further west before it is… Too late”

The knight carefully laid the teen down again as he dismissed her words as pain fueled hallucinations, however Lea were prepared for this and kept speaking

“By the order of the last Marquis… of the West, Lea Maitner”

The knight paused in confusion, however after a moment he remembered something and focused on the young teen before he asked

“So it was true… Is it really you, Lady Maitner?”

Lea answered at once

“Yes… This child will pass within a few days… No matter what you do… All that can be saved must leave… at once… Head West…”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

This was the only thing that kept her heart alive, she was able to guide the survivors, give them hope and help them survive beyond her own grave

“I… I understand… I will send word at once, my Lady”

The knight took a few moments to memorize the face of the young teen Lea had posses before he stood and walked away to pass on her message, he stopped in the entrance to the tent and asked without turning back

“Will… Will this really make a difference?”

Lea spoke at once to strike down his doubt

“Everything… Makes a difference… The Willmir empire is only dead… When its people lay themselves down to die”

The knight kept still for a few minutes more before he spoke one last sentence

“...Glory to Willmir and glory to you, Lady Maitner”

Then he left. From there the only thing that Lea did was suffer, her body gradually fell apart over the next day, all that entered her ears were the despair of the other doomed souls that had been left behind, she knew the army of metal golems would come and exterminate them in due time however it seemed her weak body had reached its limit, and just like that, she silently slipped away

-

‘Breathe..! Just… Breathe!’

Lea awoke as her vision ended, having had hundreds of these visions before she kept her focus on controlling her breathing, however she quickly discovered she was unable to do that, her body was no longer under her control

‘What is happening…’

As Lea’s confusion continued to rise, a voice sounded out inside the same room

“How does it look, Aea?”

Lea felt like she had been dunked into ice-cold water as she heard his voice, even now she didn’t know his name, all she knew was that he wasn’t the savior of the empire as she had believed him to be, no, he was its end

‘Demon…’

By now her fear had turned into anger, all the suffering she had experienced after she had awakened her Mystic abilities had been caused by the man in front of her, he was the one had destroyed the empire and doomed its people

“That’s rude, I don’t have any horns to start with, lady”

Lea’s eyes widened as she stared at the demon, he sat on a comfortable chair and looked directly at her, and she had just responded to her thoughts

‘How can you…’

The demon showed a thin smile and spoke

“Come on now, even if I explained it to you, Lea Maitner, you would not understand… But surely you understand why we are communicating like this, no?”

‘I do not, free me at once!’

The demon’s smile disappeared, he leaned his head on his hand as he continued to look at her in silence for a few moments, then he asked a strange question

“If you had to talk with someone but knew they would possibly be able to kill you before you could react, would you remove their shackles if they asked you?”

‘What nonsense are you speaking about!? Of course I wouldn’t’

The demon showed his grin again and spoke mockingly

“See? So sorry about that Lea, I can’t exactly let you”

Lea calmed her anger for a few moments before she asked

‘What if I swore an oath on my life?’

The demon let out a chuckle and spoke in a mocking tone

“Oh, so you want to shake on it too..? Look, Lea, you are a Mystic with what seems like the powers of precognition, if I could have my way I would scoop out your brain and stick it in a jar hooked up to a digital interface, just to be on the safe side”

‘What? Are you scared, even having me completely paralyzed like this?’

The demon nodded

“Of course I am, from the readings Aea is getting you are the most powerful Mystic mentioned in over 300 years of records… I had originally planned to use you as a biological early warning system, but what Aea has shown me of your visions so far made me change my mind… Well first things first, those aren’t visions, they are very, very real”

‘I could have told you that, the pain, the suffering, the death and decay I have experienced through my powers, there is no way I would mistake them for anything else’

“It’s good we are on the same page, I won’t deny the weapons I control are able to wipe out the entire Willmir empire and I won’t pretend that I won’t use them, however if we can come to an agreement and I can come to an agreement with the Willmir empire to return what they have taken from me then I won’t have to use them”

‘...Why should I believe anything you say?’

The demon shrugged his shoulders and spoke plainly

“Because you have already seen what happens if you don’t?”

Lea remained silent for a few moments as she thought to herself, on one had the demon before her did wield the weapons that had destroyed the empire in her visions, but still her meditation had brought her to this city at this time to find him, her strong will to change the horrible future had brought her to the one that had caused the horrible future

‘...Alright, I will believe your words for now’

The demon showed a smile and spoke again

“Well since Wicka have blessed us with its cursed presence we have some time to kill, so I’ll need you to gather some more information through your visions”

Lea blinked a few times before she protested

‘I can’t control when my visions happen’

The demon’s smile widened slightly before he spoke

“I know, but Aea can, it was surprisingly easy to cause the last vision… Now then I need you to gather information about what happened right before the destruction of the great cities, If I was forced to use these weapons then there must be a reason for it”

Lea was about to protest when a cold female voice echoed out in her mind

[Starting neurological situation, please brace…]

A moment later, Lea’s mind went blank before she entered another one of her visions