Yuna stood on the mud that was helped by the rain to hamper the soldiers' footing, but it didn't matter as she knew no matter what happens she will die in this battlefield sooner or later
She gazed forward and she could see the Aralian soldiers forming long lines in front of their fortress, they too were ready for war, and just by seeing their huge army Yuna understood how outnumbered she and her men were
But she didn't care a single about, she'll take as many of them as she can and then she'll die, so be it
And as she turned around to face her men, all their faces had the same expression she had, they were out for blood, if the gods failed to give them the justice they deserved, they will do it themselves
It was so cold, yet the longing for vengeance warmed her heart, and boiled her blood
"Our ancestors are smiling down on us men!" Yuna screamed with her hands raised high
"For tonight we will dine alongside them in the halls of eternity!" She exclaimed loudly as her men cheered right after
"Drown the air in Aralian screams! Drown the earth with their blood!" She furrowed her eyebrows as she yelled, both she and her men were as bloodthirsty as hell's hounds
She unsheathed her sword, the steel was of a void black color, absorbing all the light it could as it seemingly fed on it, Yuna knew what power she could gain by feeding it Naginata blood, she was dead anyway, morality didn't matter anymore
And then all of a sudden, Yuna slit her wrist with the sword's edge letting out a groan while her eyes were shocked, the blood that came out of the wound wasn't liquid, it was in the form of energy that went on towards the blade of her sword, covering the black steel in a dark crimson color
Her breathing quickened while her senses sharpened, she could feel it, the inviting power of the sword called out for more of her blood, in exchange for the power that would help her do her bidding
Pointing the cursed sword to the sky, Yuna screamed with all her might
"CHARGE!" And so her men did, and she too ran towards the enemy
She could feel the sword becoming a part of her with each droplet of blood that came out of her wrist to feed the beast
As she approached the first line of the enemy she could see spears delivered to greet them first, but her sword guided her, the dark power told her of what she finally was capable of
The running Yuna looked at her blade, seeing electric static that caressed the surface of the dark crimson blade
She held it as tight as she could, her legs ran as fast as they could and when she neared enough, she sliced the air with all the strength she could muster
And seemingly out of thin air, an energy slash came out of her sword with the color of burning blood that soon smashed into the first line of defense the Aralians had, blowing the spearmen into pieces
"KILL THEM ALL!" The blades screamed, smashing against the Aralians with all their might through the hole that Yuna made in their defense
Yuna raised her sword against the first Aralian she met, and she cut him down just as quickly with her sword cutting the plate armor like it was butter
As she pierced their line, she pushed further and deeper in, clashing with another that wanted to strike her with a downwards slash that she dodged at the right moment before thrusting forward and stabbing him in the stomach, pushing him down and twisting the blade, and no matter how agonizing his scream was Yuna had no mercy left
Pulling her blade aside, she pushed in deeper, she was looking for something
"OUT OF MY WAY!" Her sheer strength and the curse of the blade made it impossible for any normal steel to defend against
Yet they still stood, blocking her way, no matter how much they took away from her they still wanted more
Those thoughts clouded her senses as she felt a bite behind her shoulder, making her scream in pain
And as she looked down she could see the tip of an arrow leaving her shoulder, gritting her teeth she grabbed the shaft and pulled it through the wound with a swift motion
Breathing heavily with the sound of clashing steel around her, Yuna looked forward and saw an endless number of Aralians that kept coming more and more
Why? She questioned inside of her
What did she do wrong? she kept asking
Why did the gods forsake her? Thoughts echoed inside her mind while her men surrounded her, pushing away the enemy yet for how long?
Questions the sword at hand couldn't answer, but what it could do, was help her take vengeance
Biting her lower lips as hard as she could, feeling her chin shiver and her heartbeat erratically
Yuna lifted the sword, tip pointed at the wound the arrow left
And then she stabbed her shoulder, as hard as she could, begging for more power as she twisted the blade before ripping it away from her muscle and flesh
The speed of both her breathing and heartbeat kept increasing on and on, her hands shivered at the weight of the sword that seemingly grew heavier
But what it really did, was grow brighter, the blade melted its crimson color and then shone it as bright as a lantern
And with it, Yuna cried war as she pushed past her men and charged into the enemy line again, tearing apart anyone that stood in front of her path
Blood kept gushing into the air with each slice that she did, guts and limbs dispersed in the mud deprived and torn from the body that they belonged to
And then, there it was, her widened eyes could see them
She rushed to the side of the path towards the pile of bodies, bodies of once soldiers of her homeland
Pushing one after the other, Yuna couldn't find him, where was he?! she screamed inside her very own mind until there he was
Her eyes widened and mouth opened, slowly moving her hand to gently caress the surface of his pale face that to her surprise, had a relieved expression
She bit her lip as hard as she could to try and control herself, clenching her hand into a fist until the glove she wore sounded as if it was tearing itself
"I'll get them" She mumbled, feeling a lump in her throat while her eyes burned
She lifted her sword and took a gaze at it, it wanted more blood
And in exchange, more power
Yuna gritted her teeth and grabbed the handle with both hands while the tip faced downwards, pointing at Yune's corpse
And then with a heavy heart and shaking hands, she plunged the blade into his chest
Yuna could see the little blood left inside his decomposing body rise into a much dark color than when it did with Yuna's, it embraced the blade of the cursed sword and engulfed it into a corrupted dark color
Tearing the sword away from her brother's body, Yuna faced back, seeing the few men left to defend her like their own sister
Tears running down her eyes, Yuna clenched the sword at hand and rushed towards them, pushing through as the dark color of the blade seemed to be channeling a huge amount of energy
Yuna then sliced downwards with a warcry that pierced the heavens, while her sword tore the fabric of magic itself as it created a slash of energy that ripped the remaining enemy army in half, shattering the ground under them with the earth itself cracking with the sheer weight of her power, or perhaps it was because of how heavy was her despair?
But she didn't put much thought into it, indeed even with her eyes drowning her face in tears she didn't think of dying as she sliced through muscle and sinew
Her hands grew weary and her legs trembled, but she had to fight more, to the end
Crashing her burning sword down at an Aralian knight that sought to block it with his shield yet the cursed sword promised Yuna power, and that it did as it tore through the metal and the knight's helm, lodging itself in its skull before Yuna ripped it from his head
Her eyes suddenly widened at the pain she felt through her back, immediately turning around and slicing horizontally yet to no avail as the soldier who stabbed her dodged backward, leaving a sword planted through Yuna's back
Gritting her teeth and showing her white fangs as would a predator do, or as would a dying animal
Adrenaline coursed through her veins being the only thing that helped soothe the pain, though no matter how much, it couldn't soothe her heart
She dashed forward towards the man and sliced him, yet he blocked it with his shield, and this time her blade couldn't go through, it was asking for more blood
Yuna's expression grew more twisted since she knew that her end was closing on her, so close that her senses dulled as much as her thirsty blade
An arrow hit her through her lungs, pushing her to gasp as her body recoiled from the impact
Gritting her teeth, she could see the archer in front of her, behind his brethren that protected him from her, and before she could put a single foot forward a spear was planted into her back, pushing her to her knees as her breathing turned into a dying gasp of air
Her men were in the few dozen, slowly getting killed one by one, and she couldn't do anything about it, she tried getting up to her feet but the soldier behind her kept her on her knees with the spear through her chest
Tears flowing from her dimly lit blue eyes, Yuna couldn't give up, she wouldn't kneel down to her enemies
She slowly got up, slowly but surely as the spear punctured her chest and came out of the other side, tearing her flesh and muscle but still, Yuna stood on her feet
And she lifted her sword to then stab herself in the stomach, begging for more power, offering everything she had left to whatever demon was inside the blade, she pleaded inside her soul just for the enemies around her to die, to suffer like she was
The curse answered, engulfing both the blade and Yuna in a crimson red color that grew in intensity with each millisecond
Before it blew everything that was a couple of meters around her in a visceral display of torn limbs and vaporized blood
Leaving only the wounded warrior standing, in her chests wounds that brought her back to her knees, her lungs were soon to collapse and her heart kept beating weaker and weaker
Putting her hands on the ground, Yuna crawled on the mud towards more corpses
The corpses of the few loyal few that stood by her at the end, the ones that didn't leave her or her brother no matter what offer tickled their greed
Yuna pushed herself from the ground with her hands to sit down on her knees, right in front of her was the body of her brother, feeling her tongue drowned in blood Yuna coughed and let the blood flow out of her mouth, coughing before taking a wheezing breath
"I'm sorry" She whispered with a broken voice, tears kept flowing from her eyes
"I had to avenge you" She knew it wasn't what he wanted
"I'm so sorry" He was too kind for that
She then put her bloodied hands on his chest and rested her head as well
"I ruined everything" Yuna knew without a ruler her homeland was doomed, her eyes slowly losing their ocean blue color with each word she spoke
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She lifted her crying head to look at the men that stood over her, they were Aralian soldiers but next to them were men that wore her armor, her country's armor
"You..." She whispered to them
"Why?" She asked, her eyes overflowing from tears
"Why would you betray us?" She asked them with shivering lips, yet no answer they had to give back to her as the only thing that was replied, was an archer bending his bow with an arrow ready, an arrow that was aimed right at her
And she stared death right in its face, she always dreamed of doing so, of how glorious it would be yet it seemed that no glory was to be found on the battlefield
"No" A knight pushed down the bow aimed at her
"We're soldiers, not monsters, let her say her goodbyes" He said, lifting his helmet and revealing short silver hair and red eyes that then diverted from his comrade to stare down at the crying Yuna
"Not monsters?" Yuna chuckled, narrowing her teary eyes
"You would make the devil blush" She told them
"Teaches me to give you mercy" yet none of them had any replies for her as they all looked at her, just the sight of a woman with a spear, arrow, and two swords planted through her was enough
With trembling lips, she looked back at her brother, she desperately wanted to revert time or to do something to fix things, but there was only so much a single person could achieve, no matter what power they yielded
And soon her breathing slowed to the point of dulling her senses and blurring her vision, she desperately clung onto her life, to a second chance yet her body was still human
Her vision faded alongside her heartbeat, her head slowly rested on Yune's chest and all the pain was gone
And yet she woke up again, with a gasp Yuna woke up to nothing but darkness
She looked around her and she could see nothing that betrayed that same void black, with a long inhale she got herself up to her feet and looked down at her body
And her eyes proved what she could feel, there were no more injuries on her, her body was perfectly fine while to her waist, an actual steel sword was attached, not the cursed one she carried into battle
But why was she here?
Why wasn't she dining with her ancestors and dead comrades, wasn't that what the gods promised?
Or perhaps were they angry at her? perhaps her using that cursed blade brought shame to her kin and the gods forsook her, yet again
And that thought alone brought shivers down her spine, could she really not have a single good thing? was there truly not a silver lining to all the pain she suffered?
"Poor warrior" A weeping voice called out to her
"So kind, yet so brave" Yuna looked around, no it wasn't just a voice
"And even then, you received the worst of fates" They were multiple voices, was it finally the gods receiving her into their embrace?
"Do you hate it?" They asked her but left her no time to answer
"Do you hate how your gods abandoned you?" Those words brought her to widen her eyes, why would the gods themselves talk like that
"You didn't deserve any of it, nor did your brother" Their voice sounded so soothing, it finally felt like somebody cared for what happened, Yuna could but purse her lips
"Don't you hate them for it?" They asked her again, bringing her to clench her fists
"Of course I do!" She screamed, the voices quieted down for a second
"And yet, even here they still want your soul, look" The voices said, and as Yuna slowly turned around she could see 3 men from far away, yet not farther enough to escape the darkness, and as she narrowed her eyes she could recognize them, Aralian soldiers
Just their sight only brought out that same hatred Yuna had before she died
"After all they took away from you, they still want more from you, Yuna" The voices didn't have to tell Yuna what to do, she slaughtered them all
And yet more appeared
No matter how many she killed more appeared just to fight her, they were scared of her, terrified even
But her mercy died with her brother, and so she reaped all their souls
Hours passed, days, weeks, and then months, and still, Yuna kept fighting, she didn't feel tired or hungry though she felt thirsty, and the only thing that could quench her thirst was their blood spilling into the darkness below her
She stopped counting how many people she had killed, all it mattered was that the Aralians paid for everything
And two of them just appeared out of nowhere, one held the other's arm and helped him walk but Yuna couldn't give them any pity, no mercy
She fought them and knocked the one that could walk down to his back, she lifted her sword to strike down just like she did with so many others that came before the two, yet she stopped
Because the blade that the Aralian used to defend himself was her own brother's
"Brother...?" Her eyes widened at the sight of the engraved broken curved sword that the Aralian held, and right after Yuna had the tiny bit of mercy birthed inside of her very soul, the darkness dispersed in a flash, and the Aralian that held the blade to defend himself, revealed himself to not be an Aralian
it was Fae
....
And that same Fae gently opened her eyes to a field of pure white flowers, she felt a hand going through her hair while her head was seemingly rested on the thighs of legs that looked as if made out of pure white energy, and she only knew one person that ticked off those traits
Gently lifting her aching head, Fae looked at the face of the person, and thankfully, it was who she expected
"I thought you were gone" Fae told Yuna, who had the most sincere smile on her face that she ever saw her have
"Gone? where would I be gone?" She asked her with that same smile unwavering from her face
"I don't know, your blue aura turned white" Fae replied as she gestured to her friend that used to be engulfed in a blue translucent aura that now turned pure, turned into a white unstained color that could finally not hide Yuna's ocean eyes
"I thought you were leaving" Yet her words only made Yuna's smile warmer as she put a hand on her chest
"The beyond can have me when you wish to be my friend no more" Yuna spoke with a soft and sincere tone
"Until then, the gods will have to be patient" She accompanied her heartwarming words with a slow nod that comforted Fae
"Then they'll have an eternity to wait" Fae said with a small smile as she laid down on her back her words alone prompted a chuckle out of Yuna
"I'm glad to hear that" She told Fae who as she looked up at the leaves above her, wondered how she ended up here
"That reminds me, you did lift your brother's bow right?" Fae told her, moving her head to look at Yuna who was sitting down with her back against the tree
Yuna smiled and slowly nodded, picking up the same bow that was next to her using her ghostly white hand
"For some reason, I can interact with the physical realm again" She told her before resting the bow beside her
"That's how I carried you here after you lost consciousness" Yuna added onto her words with a beaming smile Fae replied to her with a thankful nod, putting her hands behind her head and using them as a pillow
"I don't know what happened for me to turn like this, but" She gave a smile as she spoke
"I finally feel reborn again" Yuna continued
"And there's only you to thank for that" She told Fae, who could but only give her a slow and smiling nod
"Thank you for being my silver lining" Yuna told Fae with a sincere smile and a hand rested on her chest, Fae chuckled and looked aside
"Stop or else I might blush" Fae's words made Yuna laugh softly as the former looked away to gaze at the clear skies while Yuna kept her eyes on Fae, and after a couple of seconds she finally mustered up the courage to speak her mind
"Fae?" Yuna called out for Fae who raised an eyebrow and turned her head to look at her friend
"Yes? something on your mind?" She asked her ethereal friend
"Do you know what a blood oath is?" Fae, curious, raised an eyebrow
"I'm guessing it has to do with blood?" Her snark remark prompted a chuckle out of Yuna that made Fae warmly smile
"That it does" Yuna replied as she could see that Fae had the face of one that wanted to know more
"It's a blood ritual where two warriors press their cuts against each other to become blood-brothers, hence the name" She explained to the attentive Fae
"The idea was that each other's blood would flow in the other's veins, forming a strong bond between the two blood-brothers" She added on while Fae hummed
"Although in our case, it would be blood-sisters" Yuna said, taking Fae by surprise as the latter stared at her with slightly wide eyes before a smile overcame her shock
"I see what you're getting at" She got up to sit down on the field of flowers and locked eyes with Yuna
"Fine then, how do we start?" Her eagerness took Yuna by surprise as she raised both eyebrows
"Are you sure you're okay with that? you can only have one blood-sibling at a time" Yuna told Fae but with the smile she had on her face, it seemed that it was a choice she was not bound to regret
"Yuna, I personally think a strong bond between two people transcends the ties of blood" Fae said, resting a hand on her chest while her tone turned much more mellow
"A bond isn't physical nor should you make it to be, it's something that can only be felt through connected hearts and that's why it's so valuable" She continued on, bringing the smile that Yuna had down a notch
"However" Fae then said, widening the attentive eyes that Yuna had locked with Fae's
"I see how precious this blood-oath can be, that is why I'd be honored to be chosen as a blood-sister" Fae added on as she brought a heartwarming smile out of Yuna's face
"Especially by somebody like you" Yuna couldn't hold her smile from growing, and deep inside her she didn't want to
"Thank you" She told the smiling Fae
"Thank you so much" And gave her an appreciative nod of her head that made Fae chuckle and dismiss it with a gesture of her hand
"Don't sweat it, let's start it now" Yuna gave her a smile before she then sat down on her knees, Fae did the same in front of her friend
"Each of us needs to make a cut that will cross both hands" Yuna told her, bringing Fae to a nervous chuckle
"Well since you can touch things, I'd rather let you make the cut" Fae said as she reached for her dagger while Yuna gave her a comforting smile
"I'll make it as quick as possible" She replied to Fae as her hand took the knife from Fae's hand
"What about you though, I don't think you can exactly bleed" Fae said while putting her open hands next to each other, fortunately for Fae since she wouldn't have to worry about blood-borne diseases
"It's alright, for me it's the ritual itself that counts" Yuna smiled and looked at Fae who gave her a slow understanding nod
Unsheathing the knife out of its engraved scabbard, Yuna put her hand under Fae's and then looked at her with slightly furrowed eyebrows
"You ready?" She asked her, putting the tip of the blade at the leftmost side of Fae's hands as she angled the blade for a ready cut
Fae slowly nodded and closed her eyes, gritting her teeth tightly and before she braced for the pain it already settled it, leaving her with a pained grimace as she sucked air through her teeth
Opening her eyes she could see a horizontal cut that ran from one hand to the other, it was cleanly open with blood already leaving the canyon that was left by the dagger
Next, it was Yuna's turn as she put her hand on the edged blade of the knife before slicing it quickly and she felt something that she hadn't felt ever since she met Fae
Pain
Yet that wasn't what troubled them, it was the blood that was leaving the cut made on the palm of her hand as it shocked both women and prompted widened eyes out of the duo
"How?" Fae asked in a tone not louder than a whisper
While Yuna herself was speechless, it was her own blood that spilled from the wound that was made to her own very soul, if she wasn't so stunned she would've found it poetic
But maybe it was the gods giving her one of the things she always wanted to have
Somebody to call a blood-sibling, they wanted her to go through the ritual just like an alive person would, and just that thought comforted Yuna to a degree that brought out a smile that she couldn't repress
She switched hands and then opened a cut into her other hand and much to her surprise that same blood came out of the second cut
"What now?" Fae asked with the expression that Yuna found to be adorable, Fae tried her best to not show how much in pain she was but her face betrayed her very badly
Chuckling, Yuna held Fae's hands as both cuts were pressed tightly against each other
"Now we just close our eyes and meditate" And Yuna did just that, leaving only a smile on her face that made Fae sigh
"Do I have to?" She asked her, receiving a slow nod that also made her sigh but she closed her eyes anyways
And no words were said from any of the women after that, only the gentle wind that embraced them briefly until Yuna broke that silence, their blood mixed and squeezed out of the held hands as it dripped down to stain the white pure flower between them
"You know" Yuna suddenly said, attracting Fae's attention
"I really disliked you when we started traveling together" And those words made Fae chuckle out loud
"Thank you for adding onto the mood" And she continued laughing until Yuna replied
"Let me finish" None of the women had their eyes open but Fae could tell from Yuna's tone that she had a smile on her face, and that she did
"I thought you were some spoiled daughter of a noble that wanted to live a fairy tale" She said
"A woman that dreamed of rescuing people in need yet had no idea of how dangerous it would be" Yuna added, Fae had no words to say both because she was curious on where it was going, but also because Yuna's soft voice was soothing her mind away from the pain she felt on her hands
"Especially when you told me that being like I am, was, well 'better than dead'" Fae pursed her lips as now that she got reminded of it knew how bad of order those words were
"I really had to hold myself at that moment" Yuna chuckled but Fae thanked the gods that she didn't go violent on her since she knew what her spectral friend was capable of
"But since I was stuck with you whether I liked it or not, I decided to give you a chance to prove me wrong" The corners of her mouth raised to form an ever so warm smile
"And prove me wrong you did" And those soft words brought a similar smile out of Fae
"I slowly realized how much of a good woman you are" She told her
"By how kind your words were, how comforting you tried to be to Yulia, how nice you were to Ysabel" Yuna then went on
"How understanding you were to Ulfgan when he said words that shouldn't be said, how courageous you were by saving that one adventurer that betrayed you" Those last words made Fae chuckle
"But most importantly, how you turned from benevolent to righteous when you needed to be" Then Yuna nervously chuckled
"Truth be told when you went against Yulia's advise and defended Freesia, I encouraged you to do so because I wanted to see how far I could push you, I didn't think much of your wellbeing" Though Fae took no offense by it as just by Yuna's tone, she knew she was remorseful for it
"And yet it came to the point when even I told you to back off, but you still didn't" Yuna continued
"You defended a town that wasn't yours and you risked losing your own life for it" She said
"But even when facing the unknown, You traded an arm for a town and came out victorious, but thankfully you didn't have to trade anything with the help of your knight friend" A slight trace of sorrow accompanied her words by the thought of seeing Fae lose a limb
"And it was at that moment where I knew that your appearance didn't do your character justice, and I'm sure many of the people we've met so far think the same of you, Fae" Yuna told the speechless Fae
"After the battle when I vanished away from your side and rested in the abyss that was my new home, I thought of how our adventures together would be like" She then laughed softly
"But I never thought of how you would change both me and my life" Yuna said with a sincere tone
"You gave me the closure of a story that I thought abandoned a century ago" She added on
"And for that, I couldn't possibly thank you enough" Fae could feel her hands get gripped tighter by Yuna
"This is really embarrassing" She told her, but Yuna couldn't laugh, she could only give the closed-eye Fae the warmest of smiles
"If you want to, you can hear my embarrassing dream" Fae chuckled
"Sure, I'll bite, what is it?" She asked Yuna, who spoke with a seemingly unremovable smile on her face
"I've always dreamed of being a baker in my very own bakery" Fae giggled
"I could see you behind an apron" She told Yuna
"And besides, you can touch things now, your dream might not be that far off" Her words brought a laugh to Yuna, one that covered Fae's heart with a warm blanket
"Maybe one day" Yuna answered her
"But for now, we have a long journey to Flora's capital" She added on
"And I can't wait to see what mysteries await us, together" Fae smiled and after a couple of silent seconds she gently opened her eyes before Yuna told her to
Yet as she did just that, she could see that Yuna too had her eyes open
"You..." Fae slightly furrowed her eyebrows
"You never closed your eyes, did you?" Fae seemingly wasn't amused, but Yuna was very much so
"I did at the beginning" She said with a smile that bordered into a smirk
"Until?" Fae asked with a raised eyebrow
"Well, until you reassembled a certain red vegetable" Even though her words sounded snarky and smug, both her tone of voice and expressions were heartwarming
"Tomatoes are fruits, not vegetables" Fae's words made Yuna narrow her eyes in confusion
"Really?" She asked out loud, prompting a chuckle out of Fae that was impressed Yuna betrayed her character with such emotion over such a mundane question, but before she could elaborate Fae's eyes caught two silhouettes in the distance, slowly approaching them
"They're coming back" Yuna muttered under breath
"Let's not let them come all this way" She then told Fae as she replied to her with a slow nod, both gentle getting up from the ground as Fae caressed her cut hands, she then could see a singular flower that had blood staining her pure white petals, blood that was both hers, and Yuna's
Crouching down, Fae gently unrooted it from the earth and kept it as a momento as her face harbored a heartwarming smile