November 4

“Damn… KYO!! SLOW DOWN!” I yelled into the dark void of trees, shrubs, and many different assortments of greenery that were in front of me, hoping to provoke a response.

How is she moving so fast? I am normally the fastest between us but… she is running way faster than I normally could even at top speed. Besides the head start she took, she is making me feel almost as if I was barely sprinting. And my panicking is only making it worse.

I reached for my back but felt nothing. Then, I quickly remembered that I left my bow back at the shop.

She steadily and quickly disappeared from my view amongst the greenery like a phantom. Almost as if she didn’t want me to follow.

Okay…. Um… Plan B… Keep running and hope for the best. Maybe my honing ability will help me find which direction Kyoko is heading for.

“Imagine… Forest…. Set.

Imagine… Lake… Set.

Imagine… Kyo Koura Azuraine…

Position Set.

Set: North East.

Set: Location, Unknown.

Set: Speed, 0 Miles per Hour.

Set: Health Status, Unknown.”

Speed, 0 Miles per Hour?

Health status, Unknown?

Is it broken? How can it? Did I use it wrong?

Maybe I can track down Elsa and use this ability kind of like those satellite lasers. GPS, right?

Yeah, that’s it. Maybe I can sling shot this ability onto Kyo and get a more accurate data representation.

“Imagine… Elsa Sesarie.

Position, Set.

Set: North East.

Set: 25 Meters.

Set: Speed, 0 Miles per Hour.

Set: Health Status, 100.”

Okay, North East seems like it would be worth trying.

Well, it is the only option I truly have at this point.

I attempted to run towards what sound like an ongoing fight, which sounds like it is completely one sided or at least a one on none fight.

Please tell me that I will not have to join in.

“…never know. She can never know. But it’s over now. Hehehe, yes… It is all over now.” In between each statement, I heard a thud and a painful gasp.

I can tell I was getting closer because I am about ninety-eight percent sure that the voice was Elsa’s as I pushed my way forward through the seemingly never ending maze of trees, shrubbery, and vinery.

Why do I only hear hers though?

“Why did this happen? Why couldn’t I have been stronger? You always saw me as an equal even though we are a lower people. You always viewed me as family even though I was weak, am weak. Why? Just… why do you have to be so kind?” As I started to get closer, the sounds became clearer. I started to hear her crying, not hysterically but strongly. Also, her laughter was blending in less and less.

I heard the thud of a tree trunk being punched as it reverberated very strongly throughout the rest of the forest. Almost echoing into the depths of my soul; there was so much anger, so much pain. I am surprised that the tree could stay standing after that.

I finally made my way to the mini field, which was widely spread out. This place, by rough estimation, might have been a spot used for a small battle in a past war by how flat and spread out the land was.

On the side opposite of me, a waterfall flowed peculiar silver colored water that seemed clear enough otherwise to support life. The water gracefully flowed over the hill into a small weather formed crater.

I saw Kyoko lying on the ground unconscious with a red spot on her left cheek.

Before I could take two steps into the surrounding area, my foot brushed up against some form of branch. To me, it sounded almost silent but Elsa instantly noticed my presence.

Her eyes were red from tears and her outfit was basically the bare essentials of what would be called clothes and a bag barely visible bag hanging from her left shoulder. Her resulting body was splattered in what I would hope to be dried blood because if it isn’t, then I have another problem to worry about.

“If it isn’t Mister tall, white, and handsome? What are you doing here so… so…” I saw her soul crack even a little bit trying to act as if she was fine.

She dropped to the ground and put one of her hands on her stomach and brought it back up in front of her face. Her facial expression didn’t change even though her hand was drenched in blood.

“Am I… a monster now? I killed a good portion of the people in the main room but I can’t even react properly.” She started to cry but I understand now that it is from confusion not from regret.

I started to walk towards Kyoko slowly but again I had to stop because I was quickly met with an arrow to the right shoulder.

“Don’t you dare take one more step. I can’t let anyone take another loved one from me. Take one more step and this next one will go through your pretty face.” I have never heard a more cliché line be spoken until now and unfortunately it had the desired effect that it was intended to have.

“I just want to see if she…” I didn’t move an inch but I guess speaking counted as violence as another arrow sailed past my head.

“She is fine, I heard someone behind me while trying to escape and instinctively swung. But it ended up being the proper thing to do. I can’t have her see me like this. She has only seen me as the happy-go-lucky, hyper, and super cute Elsa.” As she said ‘super cute,’ she put on a superficial smile and it radiated that feeling.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“And I am sad that you had to see me like this but I can’t trust you. It has become clear now. Question time, Mister Savior.” She already had the next arrow pulled back and aiming for my other shoulder.

“How did you truly get to the Underworld? You don’t need to lie to gain Kyo’s favor.”

“Exactly as she had told you, I arrived when she killed me and put me under her ownership, protection, or whatever you call it. I then woke up confused, masked, chained, and not human anymore. I have been keeping her company, at first out of confusion but not because I want to, almost have to.”

An arrow grazed my left shoulder and cut though the cloak Kyo gave me.

“Ah… Damn… Even if you shoot me in the forehead with an arrow, I will stick with my story until that moment. All I know is that I am an Ushia now, almost immortal, and would protect Kyo with my life. Besides that, I will disregard my past life because most of it I want to forget anyways. So judge me from what I am and not from why. I don’t plan to hurt anyone unless they hurt who I care for the most.”

She kept her bow raised on me but her expression dropped a little. I can tell she doesn’t completely trust me yet but some of what I said had gotten to her.

“I have one question.”

“You can attempt to ask.” Her bow still trained on my shoulder, just in case I would say something wrong.

“Why were there so few guards in the palace today?” Something clicked in my mind but I need some form of conformation.

“I always have two guards outside the main room and four guards walking the grounds. That is a normal day. How many dead guards did you see in the main room?” She showed almost no emotion but emanated a saddened aura.

“There were easily ten. And all that… was done with you and the two guards? But…” Just by mentioning it, I saw the façade drop again and all her leg muscles just seemed to stop working.

“Have you ever killed before, Denny? Have you…? I had to kill six of those ten men and I still lost my last blood relative. You don’t know what taking a life feels like, do you? Controlling the life of another and stopping their heart? This sadly was not my first time but it… Even if it is to save someone that you love, it is not going to make it any easier. Life just isn’t that settled.”

After Elsa finished her sentence, she grabbed onto her bag and a knife of reasonable size was now in her left hand. She then proceeded to point the dagger towards herself while in tears.

Before I knew it, my legs were already at full speed running to stop her but I stopped almost instantly.

A steel dagger with a red clothed handle flew past me and managed to hit the top edge of the knife. The instability led the dagger to fall out of Elsa’s hand.

“You claim that you can’t fight. You claim that you can’t deal with all the lives that you have taken. Worse of all, you dare pull a knife on yourself without taking into account the people who would miss you the most.” I saw Kyo brush off the hit she took before like nothing as she slowly started to approach Elsa, step by step.

“Yes, I understand taking a life for the first time is traumatizing and you feel like the only way to atone for that is by ending yours but… I have lived through that too, Elsa. But what would that achieve? Also, why wouldn’t you let me help you through it? When I tried to come for you… you hit me.”

Kyo started to walk even faster with tears falling from her pained face. All that I could do was stand there and stare in amazement and resentment that I didn’t know what to say.

“I was there… when it happened to Julac. I saw the soldiers die that tried their best to protect us. I don’t know why this happened and I want to find out why as much as you do.” Kyo dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around Elsa.

“You are one of the only family members that I truly still care for. So… please… don’t do this to yourself. Please.”

You can see that every single word had gotten to Elsa because she wrapped her arms around Kyo as well. Her arms were wrapped around her so tight that you could hear the stress on the metal of Kyo’s armor.

A pain hit my chest like a shockwave, almost sending me backwards. Why… is this happening? Am I hallucinating? I don’t know but I wasn’t the only one who felt it as Elsa’s head shot up.

“Oh shit.” She grabbed Kyo’s arms off of her gently but sternly and took off in the direction that I had come from.

“What just happened? Why…?” I didn’t let Kyo finish as I grabbed her arm and dashed with her in the direction Elsa was heading.

….

We managed to catch up to her standing on the hill that overlooked the crystal clear river.

I normally would have recognized it as a beautiful view in the right light. But the only visage that was echoing before us was a bright light, not of the moon light dancing off the surface of the water but of the dancing orange and red flames that emanated from the village beyond the lake.