Cassidy's Point of View

Reed Farmstead

As I got home, my grandpa gestured to the stairs, and I sighed since I knew he was here. Making my way up the stairs, I moved to my room to retrieve something important. Once that was done, knocking on Arthur's door was the only thing left to do.

Silence greeted me, and I became nervous. "Arthur, it's Cass." I called out but got no reply. "Ah got somethin of yers here. Figured ya might want it." Still nothing. "Ah'm gonna come in ta check on ya."

Grabbing the doorknob, I slowly opened the door and let myself inside. It wasn't a big room, so Arthur was pretty much in plain view as soon as you could see inside. He stood in front of the dresser that had a mirror over it and was looking over his wounds. His entire body was pale, which made me frown. His armor was still in his room since we never removed it, but he didn't seem to have moved it at all.

My eyes widened when he plunged his right hand into his chest and started digging around. My jaw dropped as he took deep breaths as blood dripped down his chest, which he ignored like it wasn't even there. There were no words to describe the feeling of watching a man tear out his own heart and place it on the dresser in front of you.

He brought them back up to the wound with shaky hands and parted the skin to see his handiwork. Part of me wanted to puke as a nauseous and disgusted feeling started to fill my stomach. My eyes were wide as I could only watch silently. Taking deep breaths, he closed his eyes as I watched his wounds start to close slowly. In the mirror, I saw another heart grow and take its place in an overly-detailed manner before it started to beat just like regular.

"Arthur…" I whispered in shock and backed away from him.

My back hit the wall next to the door and I felt my legs slowly slide out from under me. They went numb and despite trying to stand, I found it impossible. Arthur had defeated me in combat before, but this… This made me more wary and afraid than I could even describe. I doubt even the Priestesses could do such a thing.

Placing both his hands on the dresser, Arthur hung his head. "My heart was damaged and wasn't healing correctly. I was hoping you'd just leave, but it worked out in the end. You answered the most important question of where my sword was." He stated in a tone that shouldn't have been possible for a man who just tore out his own heart.

Arthur's Point of View

Reed Farmstead

I knew it was close since I could feel it again but seeing it after all this time was odd. "Thank you for keeping an eye on it while I was gone."

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Cassidy, in response, just slowly held it out to me from the floor as she focused on my deformed heart on the dresser. Taking it from her, she backed away from me almost robotically, but struggled since she was against the wall. Having my sword back in my hands, it glowed for a second as a burst of energy flowed through me, but it was going to take some time for my wounds to heal.

"No problem. Ah figured ya'd like it with the rest of yer stuff." The redhead replied slowly as she slowly got to her feet warily.

Thana's spear and magic were a deadly combination. Her weapon was likely cursed since even while focusing on the wounds, they weren't healing. It's why I had to rip my heart out. The blood it was pumping out wasn't going to the rest of my body correctly and wasn't healing. Instead, it just flowed from my chest like the open wound it was. However, getting rid of it and replacing it seemed like the best decision since it was already starting to work.

Glad that worked out though. The Star Creature said I couldn't die until I meet her conditions, but there was no guarantee that she was telling the truth. However, given the condition of my heart and the fact that I was still alive, I figured it would be okay. Although, it did make me curious as to whether or not there are beings powerful enough to actually kill me. Thana, Tor, and Davost were all likely candidates that could do so.

As the blood finally stopped leaking in such a horrid manner, the blood on my body was quickly disappearing. "I appreciate that, and you are correct." Then I glanced at her. "How long was I gone?" The redhead took a few deep breaths before reply.

Her eyes finally looked up at me, and she seemed mystified by my eyes now that my wounds were done bleeding. "A few days." Cassidy answered shakily.

"I see." Setting Defiance next to my armor, I eyed the sword as I sat down. "Thank you, by the way."

"For what?"

"Letting me stay here." From a king to back to being a knight and farmhand. "I know it must be difficult at times." It was a surreal feeling.

She shrugged. "It's not all bad. Yer a pretty good guy." Stepping forward, she pointed towards my eyes. "Ah get why ya were covering your eye if that's what it looked like, and ya didn't want a ton of questions, but Ah gotta know why both of em look like that now." Cassidy inquired before shrugging. "Ya just get sick of hiding em or?" She trailed off.

Bringing my hands up to my eyes was also strange. "Well," Not hiding them, or my face, felt odd. "That eyepatch was getting a little annoying, and both Priestesses had already seen my eye." Not technically a lie. "No point in really hiding them at this point if your lovely teachers didn't freak out."

"Ah suppose that makes sense." She fidgeted.

"It also makes people nervous and puts them on edge." I stated after observing her behavior.

"No more so than tearing out your own heart."

My eyes glanced to the heart in question before I chuckled weakly. "Fair enough." Then I sat down on the lone chair and leaned back in it as I held my wounds. "I am going to be unable to help around here for a bit."

"Arthur, yer injured. No one here is gonna ask ya ta help with some chores." Cassidy said firmly as she put her hands on her hips.

"Can I ask you to bring me some food and water? I'm starving."

With a sigh, Cassidy eventually smiled. "Let me go see what Ah can whip up."

Giving her a shallow nod in return, I felt my body almost shutting down. "Thanks."

The redhead left and closed the door behind her, leaving me to my thoughts. Most of which revolved around how difficult it was going to be to readjust. Dealing with Arceana and Elincia's shit is going to be annoying, but I'm not too worried about them.

Finding out if Thana is still alive or not is going to be important so I can kill her and Rudnurth together. However, I had a sneaking suspicion that she survived. Whether or not she's still the Demon Queen matters little. If I accomplish nothing else before I get to die, it's going to be killing her. Tor mentioned her in passing, but whose to say there wasn't someone else in charge now. Given how much this world liked fucking with me so far, I wouldn't have been surprised if Mara was alive and took the place of Queen of Demons…

My eyes glanced at my sword for a moment, and it glowed. "And next time, it'll go differently." I may have been outclassed before, and maybe still am, but training with my sword would be different now. "But first, I need my wounds to heal."

Looking down at the holes in my body, I noticed the wound from Rudnurth was healing faster. It made me sigh as I thought back to the High Elf that woke me up from the sleep spells. Hiding another High Elf was odd, and I frowned when thinking about who she looked like.

"Why do I have to deal with all this shit…"