Reaching out, she waited for Steward to grab her hand. Having her body recover its motor functions, she tried to seek Steward.

The weight of what she has done hasn’t settled in yet.

Elias’ body collapsed. His knees had turned weak. The thud of feeling that should’ve impacted his legs didn’t appear. All semblance of pain was gone. Reality had been rewritten.

Valde didn’t waste this extremely valuable opportunity. Manifesting an extremely malicious power within his hands, he rushed in towards Sache. He would smite this creature down before it ruined the world any further.

Confused and afraid, she rapidly turned her head. She wanted to find Steward. A companion that would hold her hand and let her feel safe. “Steward?”

Her voice echoed throughout this foggy village. The houses had already been broken down. Mounds of dirt surrounded a giant hole in the ground. It was utter chaos.

Valde appeared directly behind Sache. The least he could do was limit her pain. A clean swipe.

I don’t want to be afraid.

Slash.

Elias had appeared out of nowhere and took the strike for Sache. He didn’t know what had happened either yet this was an outcome that he couldn’t bring any anger towards.

“I’m right here, Sache.” Elias was directly behind Sache, hugging her from behind.

“Elias? I’m cold.” Sache felt Elias’ hands and held onto them for dear life. “Don’t let go.”

“I never will. I promise.” Elias’ voice grew weak. His back was rotting away. Life was drifting away as his very body started to disappear. Fortunately, Sache had taken all feeling of pain away. He could feel satisfied that he saved Sache.

“Don’t promise me anything! Just… don’t.” Sache used all her strength to hold on for dear life. Elias’ current infliction wasn’t something she knew. It wasn’t something that Elias was going to tell her either.

“I’ve always wondered, why do you want Immortality?” Elias’ consciousness was drifting away. Sache had always said that she wanted to sing songs and tell Tales forever but Elias had a sneaking suspicion that she was lying.

“So I don’t lose anyone else.” Sache felt comforted. Now that someone was keeping her, she could finally speak her mind.

“That’s adorable…” Elias’ body was disintegrating to dust. His organs had already been rotting away into nothingness. It wasn’t the way he wanted to go out but at the very least, until his dying moments, he could comfort Sache. “If only we met earlier…”

“You’re here now. That’s all that matters.” She held on. Closing her eyes, she reveled in the sensation of safety. Her back started feeling lighter and lighter until she opened her eyes once again. A pair of detached arms welcomed her sight.

A scream of pained agony. It seems that the pain she removed was only physical. Her mind could still agonize her soul.

Valde’s body had been stuck in place the entire time. He couldn’t muster anything that could’ve brought any sensation of fear toward Sache. Now that her mood had swayed, he was finally set free.

There was no time to waste. One more try.

Bring Elias ba-

Sache coughed out even more dark blue blood. Her cleared lungs were once again filled with a suffocating feeling. Though now that she could no longer feel pain, she continued on.

-ck to li-

Her words were immediately stopped by Valde. She was sent flying through the air, escaping the very foggy village. Her vitality had increased tremendously from utilizing the Fragment of The Storyteller.

As such, her reality-warping power had stopped.

“It was a mistake thinking you wastes could do anything useful.” Valde had been completely angered. Anger filled him but it wasn’t enough to force his hand. He could’ve left behind a mist of decay that would’ve killed everyone here yet he didn’t.

Focusing on Sache was more important.

In mid-air, Valde had managed to appear right beside Sache. He reached out her hand to grab hold of her mind once again. This was the greatest way that he could win. Comparing whose mastery of the mind was better was no competition. It was realistically the highest possibility of him winning.

Don’t touch me.

Sache cannot command Valde.

Between these two commands, Sache didn’t feel any impact whilst Valde coughed out even more blood. He had just received a large boost in healing so he was faring much better. Now that Sache had completely removed the concept of pain, he used it to his advantage.

His lungs were clogging up, his limbs were losing their sensations but he still pulled through. This small opportunity was one of the few times he would have left before he dropped dead overusing this reality-bending power.

It was without a doubt that Sache had greater power yet Valde’s mastery over this power bridged this gap.

Taking Sache’s head, he inserted himself right back in.

~~~

“I… I fixed it?” Sache, underneath such a dry and cold winter night, was happy. An emotion that she had not felt in such a long time. She was about to strum her lyre when she remembered that her mother would get angry again.

It took her an extremely long time to fix this. An entire night had passed by. She left her old rotten house to reach the mountain once again.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Still dark and isolating, the winter air brushed against Sache’s frail skin. Her hole-riddled clothes did her no warmth. Solely relying on her passion, she moved forward to that same mountain. The journey was treacherous but by some miracle, she managed to get up without any problems at all.

There were no birds. They had all migrated for winter.

This didn’t dissuade this little girl. With nothing but a barely function lyre in hand, she welcomed dawn with a happy smile on her face. The rush of doing something good couldn’t be described.

“Let’s see how it sounds. Hmm~”

Plick. Pluck. Plack.

Three distinct notes. It was three terrible notes. Her hands didn’t even manage to create something that sounded decent. Sounding like how a toddler would randomly create music.

“I like it.” The joy on her small face ignored all her current inflictions. Her nose was beet red, her limbs were freezing, and even her body was struggling to stay awake. Even still, she had no regrets.

No one else might like these three terrible notes but for Sache, it represented hope. That no matter how terrible everything was, there was still something she could do.

Replaying the same three disgustingly bad notes. She kept laughing and giggling to herself. It was a complete joy.

Sache then looked down. Before her was a cliff. It was so close.

“Where are you looking at, young lady?” This voice came from a completely young man. He had no other features than the fact that he was young. Why so? It was simply because he had no face.

He wore a Bard’s clothes. It was cheap and looked like it would rip easily yet he looked extremely comfortable within it.

Valde’s eyes were completely wide open. He wanted to open his mouth to try and reach out to this person.

Me and Sache are having a private conversation for now. Just listen along.

The faceless man somehow showed the expression of a smile. Facing Sache once again, he continued on.

“It’s a long fall. You might not make it.”

“Who are you?” Sache kept her lyre close to her heart. It was as if this small easily breakable item was more valuable than her life.

“A storyteller. And I was curious about your current Tale. Would you mind sitting down with me?” The faceless man sat down where her father had sat before. He tapped the seat right behind him and waited for Sache to go.

This place is a little… too cold for my liking. Let there be a small warm cabin before us.

Sache’s eyes widened open. She just saw a warm cabin materialize before her. This was completely magical.

I don’t feel like walking. Let it be so that me and my friend, Sache, are inside enjoying the warmth.

They were both teleported inside. Sache was snuggly wrapped up in a warm blanket. Before her was a table filled with delicacies that she had never been able to eat before. The faceless man smugly waved his hand, letting Sache know to have fun.

Valde was still stuck outside, unable to move. He couldn’t hear what was going on inside.

He could see from the silhouette of the windows that Sache was enjoying running around and playing a few songs. Numerous questions popped up inside his head. This wasn’t what was supposed to happen.

The Storyteller should’ve been long gone. Only Fragments were left, even then, they shouldn’t possess even a single fraction of his original power.

Inside, The Storyteller was giving Sache two options.

“As a reward for telling me about you, what would you like? To follow your dreams or to be free?”

Sache turned quiet. Her energetic self hugged her small lyre. She began to think this through very carefully.

“What do you mean by free?” Sache felt a little odd about that option. She desired to know more.

“The freedom to choose. You’ll write your own story. Even making a grander story than anything I have ever known. Does it sound interesting?” The Storyteller had some weird fragment in his hand. He played around with it in front of Sache.

“Why can’t I have both?”

“Hahaha, if you want both then you’ll have to consult my friend.” The Storyteller reached his hand out and showed Sache a perfectly glowing Fragment. “If you want to know, then you’ll have to use this.”

Sache naively reached her hand out. Such a pretty stone completely allured her.

“Don’t be tempted so easily, Sache. Let me tell you a little story first. See, there was this little kid. Pale skin and black eyes, completely malnourished just like you were. He lived a wretched life like no other, just like you are right now. He was enslaved to work in the mines. He found something he enjoyed yet at the peak of his life, he decided that living any longer means nothing. Just like you.”

“He went on to have great fun! Meeting all the women in the world and manipulating countless people to his will. He ruled with an iron fist! But like with any good story, he faced the consequences of his actions. Turning over a new leaf, he realized the value of the world.”

“He now lives quite miserably. Gained immense power but was shackled by the knowledge of his position. So shackled that he forgot how to be human.”

Sache knew what it meant.

“I gave him that Fragment. Do you want to follow in his footsteps?” The Storyteller shook his head. “He’s a greedy one. But… so were you. You didn’t understand the weight behind that decision back then. So I’m giving you a choice, will you want to be loved or will you fight for more?”

“Listen carefully, I gave him the power to rule and he made people miserable. I gave you the power to influence and you made countless people happy. You’re a much better person than him. But at the same time, you also forgot how to be human.”

Without hesitation, Sache came and reached out for the stone once again.

She carefully unveiled her hand yet it had shown that it had moved just before she took it. Reaching her hand out once again, she failed to get it.

“You changed your memories into one where you were loved. You ran away from everything difficult. You wanted to be, if I recall correctly, a young maiden who wanted to traverse the world. Enjoying the sights of and delicacies of locals.”

“So what if I wanted to be happy?” Sache yelled out. Completely defensive of her actions. Reaching out once again, the Fragment she so desperately wanted was still just out of reach.

“We both clearly know you weren’t happy. You explored the world to numb your mind. Too afraid to speak to others of your story. You closed yourself off.”

“Being greedy, you set your eyes on Immortality, living in your fantasy forever. Yet you couldn’t do that, could you? Like a child playing with fire, you desperately wanted more. A treat that you couldn’t stop eating.”

Sache didn’t answer, desperately wanting even more power to achieve what she desired. She wanted those people she had just lost to return.

“You didn’t make any meaningful connections. Your mentality slowly crumbled in of itself. Even Fate had to make a move and direct you. Living the dream, aren’t you? Even reality shifted as you subconsciously realized the severity of your situation.”

“Really, Sache? A child like you traveling vast distances while the lands were filled with immense danger? If not for Valde, you would’ve lived in your fantasy forever.”

Shut up!

Sache, look at yourself. What do you see?

A mirror manifested before Sache. Looking at this girl with orange eyes and sunset-colored hair, there was one defining feature here. She was still a kid. A kid that never grew up. A kid that lived in the past yet rejected the past. Unable to come to terms with that people have to grow up and deal with their past trauma.

Suppressing her ideology, her personality, and even her form. She wanted everything to stay the same. The same way she imagined her past. When her fake parents deeply cared for her. A dream that would never end.

“I see myself.” Sache gritted her teeth. She clawed her way back to the Fragment. This was what she needed to manifest Immortality. “Now give it to me!”

“You want to see what happens to the world if you make Immortality real? What happens if the three Myths are manifested into reality? Be my guest.” The Storyteller threw this Fragment towards Sache.

She jumped out to reach for it, holding it tighter to her heart than anything else. To live in her dream forever, she needed this. To live a happy life. Yet it was ironic.

She never tried to be happy.