Underground town - banquet hall - afternoon

“Nunnalé, get the last two!”

“Right!”

My opponent swings his sword, limpish in motion. Using one arm, I knock his sword out of his hand. No reaction to this upset on his behalf. I slide past his vision, he’s slow to react to me being behind him. Sluggish in turning his head, my fist twists his head the other way, knocking him out with a single punch. Sorry to do that, but don’t have much of a choice, plus, this is faster. Turning to Nunnalé, she already has the last two on the floor, taking them out without her weapon.

Countless bodies are lying on the floor, each of them knocked out by me and Nunnalé. Seems like we got everyone, and we didn’t kill anyone; I was kinda worried about that, but hey, nobody is dead, so that’s a good thing.

When Nunnalé brought them here, we hid in the darkness of the banquet hall until they were in a position for us to ambush them. Nunnalé was able to take out a good 18 of them before she was spotted. We took out the last 32 of them without breaking a sweat.

I raise my hand, putting the front of my hand forward. “Nunnalé, up-top!”

She lightly claps her hand against mine. “Up-top. Her expression doesn’t change, but the way she said…

I hug her, rubbing my cheek against her. “You’re so cute! So, so, so cute!”

“Marie, you are constricting me. Please remove yourself from me."

Oh, shit! Got caught up in her cuteness! Still, I wish I had a little sister like here! I would spoil her all day, and rub her cute cheeks, and I would show her how to use a spear!

A cold sense of dread sinks its teeth into my nerves. Looking behind me, someone is coming at me with a knife in their hand. All the muscles in my arms tighten as I ready my spear to defend myself.

Nunnalé, maneuvering around me, gets in between me and the newcomer. She steps forward, swinging her sword at the enemy. The enemy jumps over Nunnalé, going airborne before getting into her range, showing off an impressive acrobatic feat.

Touching down, they launch forward, continuing their charge.

I’m impressed she was able to dodge Nunnalé's attack, but it’s gonna take more than fancy tricks to get me! Right when the enemy closes into my range, ready to slash my stomach open, I spin my spear like a pinwheel. The enemy leaps to the side, avoiding the attack by the skin of their teeth.

This is it! I chuck my spear into the air. Grabbing the back-end of the shaft, I swing it, flexing all the muscle in my arm to drag it down. A loud, cracking noise gets a response out of my opponent as my spear pushes against their ribs.

They escaped from my swing before I could reach the climax of my swing by going limp in the legs. They hold the side of their chest, breathing heavily as they back away from me with their knife in hand. The instant I see them sway, I jump at the opportunity to strike. It takes me no more than 4 seconds to close this 9-meter gap. I guide my spear upward, going for the head. The enemy leans back, their mask tears open, revealing their face.

“Vzra!?”

She sucks her teeth as a response, ripping off her mask. “I told you all to leave, but you came back.”

Her tone is harsher than it was last time; she just spoke in a matter-of-fact way back then.

“I said we would, it’s your fault for thinking we wouldn’t," I bite back, trying to keep a strong front.

“I suppose so, but this is just foolish.”

“Then I guess I’m foolish, or maybe I’m pretty damn confident in the people I’m fighting with.”

"You'll only be killed. Mr. Walter and his associates are stronger than anyone here. Some of them have strange abilities."

"Is that right?"

Vzra holds up her knife, despite her injury cutting into her posture.

"Why do you want to fight? You're already wounded."

"I don't care!" This is the first time I heard her yell, it completely destroys the image of the cool, feminine presence she had. It's kinda scary… “Who cares, a broken rib means nothing, I’ll be fine! I can still fight, so let’s fight!”

The feeling she's giving off is terrifyingly crushing. One would think it's fear, but it’s less desperate and more on the lines of uncontrolled rage. It kind of reminds me of Proxy when he and I had that fight before he left the army.

Nunnalé puts up an offensive stance. “Marie, we should dispatch this enemy as quickly as possible.”

Something’s not right with this. She was quick enough to dodge Nunnalé’s attack and has the agility to jump over her. Yet, she’s standing in front of us, not withdrawing to attack us again when our guards are done, not to recover… I guess the past does repeat itself, huh? Fine, I’ll handle this the best way I know how.

“Marie, what are you doing?” Nunnalé, puzzled by my actions, asks.

“Stay out of this, her and I are gonna go at it.”

“Your course of action is baffling.”

“You don’t have to, just don’t get in the way.”

Not a peep comes from her, she just watches as I head to face off against Vzra.

“You’ll need a weapon,” she tells me.

“Come on, don’t go underestimating me now. After all…” Stopping my sentence, I ran up to her. She aims for my gut with her knife, but I catch her arm, bringing her attack to an abrupt end. She turns her eyes to mine, only to see my fist rock her head. Gasping, her grip on her blade loosens. I kick her chest as a follow-up, pushing her back as she went tumbling on the ground like a rock being thrown across a lake. I kick up her knife, grabbing it by the handle.

“Want this?” I ask her, sporting a smug expression “Here!” I throw it over to her, it clatters to the ground, right in front of her. She stares at it, seemingly confused. “Use it, if you want, but that won’t stop me from beating you!”

She picks up the knife as she darts towards me. She lunges at me, her knife in front of her. I pull her forward while moving out of the way. I hit her with the back of my hand as a counter. Unlike before, she continues her assault, flailing her knife every which way, desperate to get a hit off. Sorry, but predictable moves like that aren’t gonna work. Once again, I deflect her attack, hitting her once again. This pattern repeats itself; she goes for an obvious attack, I counterattack, it keeps repeating, causing me to feel a ping of guilt over this.

It’s like an adult bullying a child. But if I hold back, then she’ll probably catch on, and it’ll piss her off even more. Geez, this crap is so frustrating. No sense in bitching about it, I’m sticking to what I believe is right, and nothing's gonna stop me!

Another swing, I intercept by using my arms to stop her arm by the forearm. I twist her wrist, causing her to immediately lose hold of her knife again. With a heavy kick, I push her away. The knife is beneath my boot. I kick it away, it clattering as it travels along the stone floor.

Narrowing my eyes at her, she’s giving me death stares. Good, she’s pissed.

“No more weapons, you’ll have to use your fists,” She flinches at the idea. “Are you going to surrender or are we still gonna fight?”

“I don’t need a weapon! I can fight without one!”

“Then let’s see who can kick the other’s ass first!”

She makes the first move, running at top speed. Faster than the blink of an eye, she gets past my defense. The first strike hits my chest. I grit my teeth as it pushes against my gut. Before she could get away, I grab her head, kneeing her in the face. Blood pours from her nose. Swaying a little, she uses her uneasy movement to kick my head from a low position. The foot hits hard enough to crack my neck a little. But not wanting her to get a sneak attack in, I kick her face right when she’s about to get away.

Even though she’s grasping her nose, she stands back up, taking in larger breaths since blood is coming from her nose. Her fists are balled up, ready to go another round.

“Damn, you’re pretty good!”

“Same to you.”

“I’d ask if you wanna give up, but something tells me that’s a waste of time.”

The corners of her mouth curve up. “You bet it is. What, scared someone like me might beat your ass?”

“In your dreams, these are light wounds.”

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“Right, you look like a drunk after a bar fight.”

“Yeah right, you look like the bar after the fight.”

Something bubbles up inside me. It quickly surfaces through my lungs. I chortle before breaking out into a laughing fit, clenching my stomach as I try to stay on my legs. Vzra starts laughing too, bending to her knees. She’s more vibrant than she was before, as if she has nothing to hide, no need to act like a cool, sophisticated woman.

I thought of her as the definition of lady-like. Honestly, if the guys saw us fighting like this, they would definitely say we aren’t feminine. But you know what, who gives a shit? Feminine, not feminine, right now, that doesn’t matter.

"Alright, enough laughing, back to the action!" I tell her, calming myself to get ready for our next engagement.

"Good, you better not hold back on me!"

"Right back at you!"

We stomp against the ground, propelling to the other. Vzra's quick to reach me, throwing the first punch. While it lands, grinding against my teeth, I deliver an uppercut that recoils her head backward.

She stumbles around, moving like a drunk. She drops to the ground. Getting closer, I extend my hand to her.

"Why are you giving me a hand up?"

"Cause that's not how I want this to go down. Now come on, let's keep fighting."

She takes my hand, I pull her up to her feet. A few seconds passed before we got back into the fray. We kick, punch, throw, and knee the other. There's no grace, decency, or any hesitance, we’re just going at it. Bruises are caused, lips are cut open, noses leak blood, the taste of blood touches my tongue. The bones in my body cry out in pain as she punches and kicks me, but I return the favor, ten-fold each time. For someone who doesn't have as much muscle as I do, she sure as shit throws a mean punch. Time passes as we beat each other bloody, our fists are practically covered in the other's blood, the flesh on mine is starting to become messed up; tearing apart each time I hit her head.

My body is becoming sluggish, less responsive to her attacks. Though, the same can be said for her; her swift movements are coming to a crawl, becoming heavier, too predictable, but they still pack a punch.

At this rate, we're gonna beat the other to death before we give up. I gotta knock her out with this last punch. Shifting all my weight into my left arm, I edge closer to Vzra, the muscles in my arm are screaming in pain as I swing. The sound of flesh pounding against flesh echoes in the room, making an uncomfortable sound. That single punch is all I had left, I can barely feel a damn thing in my body besides the anguishing pain coming from my bones. My legs turn to jelly, causing me to hit the ground.

Breathing hurts, but it sort of alleviates the pain, if only by an insufficient amount. Shit, this hurts real freaking bad! Maybe I should’ve guarded more?

Nunnalé, looking at me without any change in her monotone expression, stands above me. "Marie, are you okay?"

"Yeah, but my body is killing me!"

I want to get up, but I'm sure the pain would only get worse if I tried. Well, shit, this is a fine mess I got myself into.

"Vzra...you okay there?"

"I...guess…"

Her voice is weaker, hoarse sounding.

Nunnalé summons her sword. Knowing her intention, I grab her leg.

"Stand down!"

"She's an enemy."

"She's too injured to do anything, so let it go."

Her eyes roll to Vzra, who is on the floor, too beaten to stand up for a while. Acknowledging the situation, she throws her sword, it disappears.

"Very well, I shall stand down, but you need medical attention. I shall go retrieve my master."

Nunnalé moves through the body on the floor, stepping around and over them without dropping in speed. At least we'll be getting some help, though, I don't know how long that'll be. And to top that off, that pain is seriously gutting me.

"Vzra, you still awake there?"

"Yeah…"

"Can we...talk? I need to get my mind off the pain for a bit."

"That would...be nice."

Taking a deep breath, I get ready to ask her a question.

"So, why do you need to fight us? No, wait, why did you guys drug my allies?"

She takes a moment to explain the purpose of the underground town and its purpose here.

"Well, shit, color me surprised… So wait, why stay here? Why don't you all just run?"

"Some have, but they were killed. Besides, some of us want to stay here."

"Why?"

"Some of us are guilty of a crime, have tremendous guilt, or are ashamed to be alive in general, not over minor issues, might I add. We all share one thing in common: we don't deserve to leave this place."

"Why can't you?"

She inhales sharply. "When the war was raging on, I used to live in Borghulda."

"You mean the main village for the outsiders during the war?"

"Yes. As you might know, it was known for producing a large quantity of weapons for the outside, but it was also known for breeding warriors, honorable warriors who fought with all their heart and soul."

"I heard about them, known to be fierce warriors, a single one could take on 20 men alone, from what I heard."

"Well, those who weren't good enough to join the frontlines were stuck, helping make weapons… You want to know what they said to me when I asked to join the frontlines? They told me, 'a weakling has no place out there'."

"Why did you want to fight?"

"Because my sister did, she was amazing with a lance. It was like she was dancing whenever she used one... However, she was killed during battle. I wanted to fight in her place, get back at the men who ended her life, but I was still rejected. So, stricken with grief and the desire for revenge, I set out to kill the ones responsible. I traveled all the way to the kingdom, searching for those who killed my sister.”

“Did you kill them?”

“Yes, I killed them when they were defenseless, never giving them the chance to fight back. When I returned, I told the chief that I killed them. In a turn of events, the chief yelled at me, telling me I was a disgrace to the village, and to my sister. I killed those men but it was without honor. In doing so, I was cast out, and my sister’s grave was never given the rite of honor for fallen warriors.”

I’ve heard of their noble pursuit of being warriors and making glorious weapons, but I never heard of them banishing someone, let alone letting that affect their family members. It’s somewhat similar to the knights; if any member of the knights were to act in an unruly behavior, it can reflect poorly on their reputation, and given enough times, it can affect their social standing, even removing them from the knights’ orders, or the kingdom itself.

“So full of hatred, I hated those that banished me, the one who didn’t give my sister the rite. However, there was only one person at fault, and it was me. I wanted to prove the ones who rejected me wrong, to show them that I can be strong… My sister was always strong, talented, beautiful, and everyone respected her greatly. While I loved her, deep down, I hated her for it. No matter what I did, I always lived in her shadow, I hated it. Being rejected while she was showered in praise, I hated it all, I hated her, I hated them…”

Toward the end, her voice quivers, she sniffs as she wipes her eyes.

“...But I never wanted that...I...I just wanted to show them I had worth, I wanted to show her I had worth… But I screwed up, and dragged her with me through the mud."

Unable to contain her tears, she balls her eyes out, looking away from me as she lets out quiet whimpers. It's kind of like staring at a mirror…

"Do you wanna die?" I ask her, being straightforward.

"...Yes."

"I see."

"Would you be willing to do it for me?"

I knew what I was getting myself into, but that doesn't make the topic any easier. Taking in a deep breath, I prepare myself mentally.

"Sorry, can't help you there."

"Then why did you ask me?"

"Because I wanted to know, that's all."

"Really, that's all?"

"Yeah, but I don't want you to die. I'm fighting so I can save my allies, but I wanted to help you as well. However, if you crave death, then that's something I can't save you from… Is what I would say if I was my old self."

"Old self?"

"Admittedly, I was a bit selfish in the past, I don't even know if I've fully kicked that attitude yet. I was used to looking out for me and my brother. But now, I have allies, and a particular one that went above and beyond to save me, even when I deserved death. And in a way, you remind me of myself. So, that's why I decided to help you."

Using all the strength in my upper body and gritting my teeth, I sit up, facing Vzra who has her head slightly turned to me.

"You want...to…help me?"

"You bet! I don't know if I can actually do that, but I can't sit around and see someone suffer like that." I shakily extend my arm to her, barely able to lift it at this point. "What do you say, want my help?"

She gawks at my hand, dumbfounded by my proposal. As I'm about to say something, the sound of footsteps alerts me. The new arrivals enter the hall; Richard and Nunnalé are the ones to enter.

"Marie, are you okay!? Don’t move!"

Richard runs ahead of Nunnalé, who walks briskly.

I chuckle to myself, relieved to see Richard here. "Looks like the medic arrived. So what do you say?"

"Umm," she nervously hums.

"Come on, you're making me look weird."

"O-oh! Sorry, I was just stunned is all." She forces herself to stand up, meeting me eye to eye. She takes a hold of my hand, putting all the strength she can muster into it. It's enough to cause the bone-shattering pain to flare up. I don't mind that though, this pain is just proof of my word... Though, I'd like Richard to heal us right away; this hurts like a bitch!

Underground town - Tower - top floor - afternoon

I find myself standing on the top floor of the tower. There’s no roof to cover it, the walls have a view of the whole town here, allowing me to look over it in peace.

The town has the usual quiet, calming, yet mysterious nature to it. However, it is to lose that quiet aura. These dirty people come barging in, making a mess of such a peaceful town. Even as of now, it feels as if there is grime filling the streets below, and no matter what I do to calm down, I can’t help but feel angry… Inexcusable, unacceptable, unforgivable! I must endure, I must persevere! If I do not, then who shall wipe out this scourge from existence?

“Excuse me, Walter, sir!”

Another appears, speaking with a constricted tone of voice, quiet too. Good, excellent, amazing, she is preserving the peace up here!

“Yes, is something the matter?” I speak with my diaphragm, after all, one must speak with absolute clarity if they wish for others to listen. Absolute, perfect clarity!

“Um, we have...urgent news.”

“I await your news!”

“We...have lost a, umm…”

“Speak, speak with ultimate clarity!”

“W-we lost a good portion of the men that we captured. There’s about a 20% remainder.”

“I see, that only makes this harder.”

Now I need to hunt them all down to rid this place of their filth.

“Furthermore, sir, the elder is furious with you. She wishes to see you at the earliest convenience.”

“Is that all?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good, then you may leave.”

“Thank you, sir.”

She makes a hasty exit, leaving me in this peaceful room… Alexander… Honestly, is the past going to repeat itself, or is it just a coincidence? If the former proves to be true, then I must meet with him again. Excitement builds in me, bubbling up inside. This is the first in a while that I find myself genuinely excited.

“Alexander, are you on the side of the righteous, or are you a villain? No, no, you can’t be a villain. After all, your father was righteous!”