Vit felt her heart sink to the ground as Avk's eyes reached out desperately for them. Both hands clutched around his throat in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding as his eyes began to tear up. 'Help... me...' He mouthed out, trying to speak out only for the blood-gurgling scream to steal his final voice.
There was no hesitation, no mercy. In a blink of an eye, one of her oldest friends died in an instant. Vit cannot believe that the monster in front of them is the same harmless target that they were promised. It was supposed to be a simple job. Identify the target, bag her up, and return home with money in hand.
Clean and easy, no one has to die. No one was supposed to be even harmed as they were told. She was supposed to be a runaway noble. Sheltered and privileged. Brash and spoiled beyond belief, ignorant to the cruelty of the world... how wrong had they been.
The same harmless noble they were supposed to bag was running in full force without hesitation in sight. Dagger in hand, she reversed her grip fluidly as if she was used to dealing with the blade in all her life.
"No! Damn you, bastard!" A voice suddenly boomed as Vit's eyes widened back to focus.
"Hark you idiot! Get back here now!" Another voice boomed just beside Vit as she shifted into a stance. "Kalva be damn! Move up! Support that damn oaf!" Vit grimaced as they clashed.
Hark arrived first as he swung his dagger overhead, eyes boiling with fury as he threw his entire weight for the blow. "Nera!" The breaker's bicep screams in power as the strike lands. Dust bellows all across the narrow path from the enhanced strike.
A small part of Vit regretted the loss of their income, though for the majority part of her, she could not help but grimaced in satisfaction. They lost a man, after all; it was only right to avenge his- "Gah!" Vit's momentary drunk of victory evaporated quickly as the dust settles.
All eyes focused on Hark to their horror as the cloaked noble pierces straight into his chest, directly where his heart would be. The giant man dropped his dagger in defeat as Vit screamed in dismay at the encroaching killing blow.
Mercifully, whether it be fate or luck, Hark manages to scramble away just in time as he tightly holds the wound. "S-sarding noble, she got me good." Hark gasped in between breaths as Vit hurriedly put both hands on the wound and begins to heal.
"Erak." Vit groaned as strength began to sap from her fingertips and into Hark's wound. "What happened? I thought you died for a second there!" Vit silently screamed as they flanked both on Hark's sides. The big man's vision twisted into a grimaced as he whispered lowly.
"G-got l-lucky. T-the blade broke my r-rib and itself instead." Vit nodded as her eyes hardened.
"N-no... d-don't." Hark suddenly grabbed Vit's shoulders tightly as she saw for the first-time uncertainty in his eyes. The man who always dived headfirst, without regard for safety, was hesitating. "T-that sarding noble... s-she is a champion." Vit felt her blood run cold as she turned her gaze directly to where Hark pointed.
Though they could not see her face fully thanks to the cloak, the pair of glowing suns was more than enough to cast terror in their ranks. "T-Thöm, Vhak, w-we should fall back." The two men nodded stiffly as they slowly took a step back.
The monster whipped out a flask before downing it in a single big gulp. Her eyes flared as Vhak grimaced. "Lacrum." He whispered softly for the three to hear him. Vit held down the urge to scream as the gravity of their predicament truly made manifest.
Vit quickly helped Hark to his feet as the two covered up the rear. They barely took a step when the monster had already recovered. Clutching the broken dagger in one hand while holding onto Hark's dagger in another. "Vhak!"
"Already on it!" The two men roared as they tapped into power.
Both eyes glimmered slightly in amber, though they paled vastly in comparison to the noble. "Nera!" They screamed as they swung as one. With power slightly coursing through their veins, they began to trade blows with the noble with all of their might.
Vhak was constantly directing the champion's lethal strikes thanks to his short but fast frame as Thöm relentlessly forces an opening to strike a lethal blow of his own. For a moment, Vit hoped that it was enough, that the duo blade weaver would hold.
All of Vit's hope shattered in less than a minute as the two were beginning to be pushed back. Despite the speed the blade weavers provided, it was nothing compared to a champion. What 10 blade weavers could achieve was easily surpassed by a single champion who could deliver the same speed with the force of 3 breakers.
If there was one saving grace, it was a young champion. If it were anything but a true and fully equipped champion, they would have died in mere seconds, not drag on for minutes. "Vit you have to run!" Vit's eyes widened as Thöm was grazed by the cheek.
The young champion was far better than they had hoped as Vhak grinds his teeth at the sheer strength threatening to tear his arms out. "B-but-"
"Take Hark with you and run! I-it's too late for us!" Thöm said with a bloody grin.
"N-no. P-please don't s-say that! W-we can-" Vit was cut short as the two men looked back for an instant, giving off a sad smile before returning fire.
"It's ok... it's ok. We simply ran out of luck!" Vhak laughed grimly as another blow manages to blow past his guard and grazes Thöm's stomach. Vit felt a lead blocking her throat as she desperately tries to bury the urge to scream.
Vit turns away and begins to trek along with Hark's heavy body. "Oh and Vit!" Thöm called out as she continued to move, tears clouding her world. "Tell your siblings we would be late!" Vit tightly bit her lips as her body trembled.
I will... I will... She thought miserably as she moved.
The clashing of blades was getting distant now. Vit looked up to see the nearing corner. They were almost there now. All she had to do was turn to the corner and walk just a little further where the outside world was free. There, she would be safe.
She would make sure Hark was safe. Ran back to their boss and skin that pig alive for missing such a crucial and direly important information. And hugged her brothers and sisters for a while. Yes, she would love that. They would help her to forget these nightmares away.
Forget how she lost 3 good men for a greedy, insufferable pig. Their warmth would surely keep the cold night away. Yes, she has to remember that. It was all that she could do now as she continues to drag Hark's stupid weight.
Seriously, if the man had survived that attack, the least he could do was help her. Doesn't he know how heavy he is? "Hey Hark, can you w-walk for a damn second?" There was no reply. Vit felt her stomach churn as she continued to move.
"Hark? Hey you big oaf, I know you are awake! S-stop b-being lazy and help me!" Again, there was no reply. "...Hark?" Panic began crawling through her chest as she gritted painfully. H-he must have passed out. Y-yeah he must have! Vit thought as they finally reached the corner.
H-his just tired! I'm sure he is! He survived that lethal blow, after all! H-he's just sleeping! H-he... h-he... he... Vit began to turn, hoping for escape and life on the other side. There was nothing. The light where they first departed was not there. It was not there!
Only darkness and... and the figure of the damnable monster. Vit opened her mouth to scream only for the champion to block her mouth, pushing her back into the darkness. Vit turned panickily towards Hark for help, only to see a dagger planted deeply behind his back.
Vit barely registered the big oaf was gone as a hand curled up to her neck... and squeezed. Panic surged through her eyes as she tried to kick free from the monster. She only manages to land one good blow, before even that hope was squandered by the weight of the monster's own legs.
Her hands tried desperately to pry off the ever-tightening noose, but it was simply too strong. She was simply too weak and tired after lending most of her strength to the now-dead Hark. Tears began flooding her eyes anew as she began to claw in desperation.
She clawed desperately from the monster's skin, drawing blood with each swipe, but the grip simply did not come loose as she mouthed out a plea. One last act of pure desperation. "P-please... n-no..." Vit begged, and miraculously, it worked.
The grip loosens slightly as vision returns to focus. Vit looked up to continue pleading for her life, only to see the monster eye to eye. Her once burning suns were now back to an ocean hue as it trembles violently. Tears were leaking out of her own eyes as it confuses Vit for a moment.
"Y-you could have taken my offer." Vit heard her voice yet again. It was soft, gentle, the one where you would have mistaken her for a child from the sheer regret and fear it contained. Gone was its confidence and luster, only uncertainty and fear remained.
"Y-you could have walked away. Why didn't you take it? Why- oh kalva be damn just why?!... I-I'm sorry." Vit felt something wet marring her face. It was her tears. The noble's tears were raining down on her cheek as she whispered coolly.
"I d-don't want to go back... I r-really don't want to go back... I can't go b-b-back to that h-hell. I just can't. I'm so sorry, I just can't. You... you... you left me with no choice." Vit's eyes widened as the child's hands grasped tightly on her head.
"Wait-" The words never left her lips that day as her neck snapped in a single fluid motion. It was clean, painless compared to before... but she really was dead now. Vit knew she had died as she silently cried. -we can talk about this... It was Vit's last thoughts before the light in her eyes died.
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Lucy trembled slightly as she stepped back from the haunting, fearful gaze of the young woman. She was barely the same age as her in her first life. She was so young. So much time ahead of her that was snuffed out in an instant.
A whimper escaped Lucy's lips as she wept silently for the 5. "It was the only way. I had no choice! I...I have- oh Gods, I am so sorry." Lucy gently closes the eyes of the young woman who would never come home to their families. Neither was she nor the other four.
Lucy simply saw no other alternatives. It was either her or them. Even though she had promised, even though she swore to stop, Lucy could simply not give up her new home even if... even if it meant breaking her promise.
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"Ah..." Lucy snapped back to her horror to find a young boy trembling. Barely 12 or 13, he wore the ever-haunting cobalt hue of the knight's uniform, though it was much lighter in its shade. And he wore no blade. A squire... Lucy thought absentmindedly when the boy suddenly turned.
"H-hel-!!!" The boy tried to scream only for Lucy to block another mouth yet again before dragging the poor lad into the darkness. Pinning him against the ground, Lucy covered his mouth with one hand and managed to find the dagger in the other.
She raised her blade to strike only for the young man to scream in futility. His voice could not reach the outside world, it was too loud, too muffled to make a difference, but he did manage to let out a cry that Lucy could hear. "M-mercy l-lady Emma! P-please ha-have m-m-mercy!" Lucy's eyes widen as her arm holding the dagger begins to tremble.
"Y-you know me?" Lucy whispered, silently begging for the young boy to deny her. If he did, she could have pretended it was all a ruse, a fluke!... he did not.
"Y-yes! Y-yes I d-do! I do! I am a s-servant of the house! I-I was a former page!" The boy said energetically, believing the danger had passed.
"T-the duke would be o-overjoyed! Y-your fiancé as well!" Lucy's vision flatlined for a moment, desperately denying what she was hearing. Knowing no better, the boy happily continued as he failed to notice Lucy's ever-growing panic.
"H-his liege and y-young master Elias w-were looking everywhere f-for you. H-his highness would be as well! T-they would be glad for you to finally come... back... home..." The boy slowly ground to a stop when he finally noticed, but by then, it was too late.
Lucy silently bit her lip as her breathing began to grow haggard. B-but why?! I did everything right! W-why am I- kalva be damn! This is unfair! This is so unfair! Lucy thought as her grip tightened around the handle so firmly that her knuckles were beginning to turn white.
“L-lady Emma?” The young lad whisper, unease rich in his voice.
A-am I... am I really going to kill a child? Her twin pupils dilated as her chest further tightened. T-there has got to be another way! There just has to be! W-what if-
If you let him go, your entire life would end.
Y-you! I thought I chained you?! I-
Focus for a moment, damn it. Now is not the time. Now is really not the time.
“L-lady E-Emma? I-is everything all right?” Lucy looked down to her horror. Fear was rich in his eyes with a tinge of hope remained to escape with his life. It was simply not fair.
That entire orphanage. The children, the sisters, everyone there would be stolen from you again if you do not kill him now.
W-why should I trust you?! Why would you help me now??
...It was either this or going back to that prison. Lucy flinched as Emma whispered softly. It was not like her. She was strong, resilient, and downright vicious. This... this was nothing like her. The child has to die. If he lives now… they will know.
B-but-
Think damn it! For once in your life, think! Are you going to throw away everything that you had built for this? For this unnamed child??
...No...
Then do it. End this quickly.
She gritted her teeth in determination. I have to do it... If I don't do it now... he will tell. He will tell them all and I... I'll be found... I have to do it! I have to! The young boy instinctively felt his upcoming demise as he began to whimper.
"W-wait! P-please my l-lady wait!" The boy cried out as he desperately tried to dissuade Lucy. "P-please lady Emma. I-I finally m-managed to g-get promoted. M-my parents did everything just t-to get enough m-money for the tuition.” The world was simply unfair. “I-it took them s-seven years t-to scrounge up t-the amount. L-lady Emma please have-"
"Shut up!" Lucy suddenly roared, her eyes glinted dangerously in cobalt.
"I-I'm sorry l-lady E-emma p-please-"
"I said shut up! Shut up! That name doesn't exist! She does not exist! I do not know her! She had died a lifetime ago! So shut the fuck up!" Lucy roared as her voice began to crack.
"A-after all I've gone t-through... a-after all I did... y-you think t-that I want to go back? Do you even know how much I have endured just to escape from that hellhole?!" Lucy roared as she flung her cloak open, revealing the true extent of her wounds. The eyes of the child widened in dismay and fear as Lucy laughed madly.
"Look at me! Just take a good look at what I had paid! What I have lost! I look like an insane freak!" Lucy broke down as her voice struggled between ragged and hard breaths.
"Do you even know what they call me? Do you?! They won't even look me in the damn eyes without recoiling! It is all because of you! Everything that had happened was because of you!” Between broken heart and shattered dreams.
“I lost everything! I lost a lifetime because of you people! I can't fucking sleep without seeing them in my dreams! Do you know how much they screamed even if I begged them to stop?! Of course you wouldn't! All of you wouldn't know! You had a home! A family! I have nothing!” Between painful guilt and terrible sorrow.
“Even in my dying breath, I was alone! I had no one! No one!... no one stood by me... not even my family... the ones who did try were taken away from me... and now? After I ran away? After I traded the only gift my mother gave to me?" Lucy sneered resentfully at the word.
"Did that hag even know what she had done to me? If she hadn't died, if she hadn't just died!... if she just hadn't birthed me, I wouldn't be trapped in this godforsaken nightmare. But no! She just had to die! She just had to abandon me all alone with those two unredeemable bastards!” Hatred and fear burned her heart.
“Come back?? You want me to come back?! That place is a prison! I am trapped by the people who blamed me for a woman I did not even know! I hate her! I hate her to all damnation! I hope she burned in hell! I hope they all do! What did I do to deserve it?? All I wanted was a home! A fucking family!" Lucy broke down completely as she gasped greedily for air.
The boy was left stunned. He had heard that nobles lived a life of comfort, of power, and of freedom. Riches and fine dining that only he could dream of. Mansions that would make his home look like a doghouse. Not... not this.
This was a fate worse than he could imagine. He would not wish this on anyone. Not even to big Tar. He thought families naturally loved and cared for one another just like his. The boy could not help but feel pity for the poor girl who had nothing in her entire life.
"Do you even know how I got here? Do you bastards even know what it's like to walk for days barefooted?? To trek for miles with nothing but water on your belly? How your broken foot screamed with each step you took? To be so hungry that even a rotten bread taste so delicious? Have you ever been called a monster by small innocent children??" Lucy whimpered as her arms tremble.
"It hurts so much. It hurt so so so much. I had done nothing wrong, but why am I being called a monster? I... I didn't even hurt anyone..." Lucy gasped before speaking rasply once more. "All I wanted... all I wanted was to be love. To have a place to call home... am I too selfish to ask for that?" Lucy brought her gaze up, pupils trembling as she searches for a reply.
"Tell me, squire, was it really too much to ask? Am I really that undeserving to ask... for that?" The boy gaze back in pity. Lucy looked so miserable. She looked so miserable. It was nothing like the nobles his parents always seemed to tell. There was nothing prestigious in this meeting, nothing inspirational that would set a light in his spirit.
Lucy looked like a lost... no, she is a lost girl, trembling in the dark in hopes of someone to save her. For her family to save her. They never did. If they did, she wouldn't look so awful right now. A soft laugh suddenly escaped from her lips. It did not bear any disdain or pain. Not even hatred, but pure joy instead.
"B-but... but I found them. I finally found them. It was so painful. It was such a long and lonely road, but I finally found them. Those who would accept me. Who would love me as if their own. A family. A home." Lucy chuckled. She never knew how liberating it was. Never knew how good it was to finally say those words. The lonely girl savored the meaning for a moment before her eyes darken so terribly.
"And now... and now you want to drag me back to that hell???" Anger, rage, terror, madness, insanity. Call it what you will, for the darkest embers of humanity burned within the traumatized lady as she sneered. "You want me to go back?!" Lucy hoisted the boy high before slamming him against the wall. Pain flared all over his body as fear crept back in.
"L-lady E-em-"
"Who do you think you are?!" Lucy/Emma screamed before they slammed the boy again as he coughed out blood.
"Is my life a sick joke to you?? Does my pain simply amuse you heartless demons?!" Lucy cried as she hovers the edge of the blade mere inches away from the boy's neck.
"P-please! P-please h-h-have m-mercy..." The boy continued to cry, whimpering from the pain and the fangs of death. "I-I do-don't want t-to d-die... p-please n-no... I... I don't want to die." The boy wept as Lucy glared menacingly at his neck.
Just one more push! Just one more kill! I will be done after this! I SWEAR I WILL BE DONE! I-"
"H-help me dad... ple-please help me..." The inferno was doused out as clarity seeped in.
"M-mom... I-I'm scared... m-mom... I d-don't want to d-die... I... don't want to... die... h-help me m-mom, d-dad... p-please... help me." The boy was no longer begging. He was so terrified that he began calling out to his parents for help. He was simply a scared child, calling out from the darkness... it reminded Lucy of a certain someone. Lucy's arms begins to tremble as the mounting guilt threatened to overwhelm her.
No! Don't you dare do this! You already killed 5 people! Five fucking people! It's just one more body! One more to add to the pile and it will be over! It's just... just... just a child... Lucy bit down her lips as hard as she can as blood begins to spill out.
Gods damn it... why does it have to be a child?? Lucy felt her will robbed from her soul in an instant. I can't do it... damn it all, I can't... I just can't... Lucy slowly withdraws the blade, much to the boy's relief.
"T-thank yo-
"Listen to me." Lucy coldly whispered as the boy went silent.
"...I will let you go. I will let you go back home with your family... but if you ever tell anyone and I mean anyone about me... I will find and kill everyone in your home. I will make it so slow and so painful that they will be wishing a monster to kill them instead.” The boy paled, but Lucy wasn’t done yet.
“I will make you watch it for every damn second of the way. Every scream, every cry, I will make you listen to them and you will wish- nay, pray to die here instead... am I understood?" Lucy glared at the boy's eyes without blinking as she tapped into power.
Cobalt hues twisted into golden suns as the boy vigorously nodded back in confirmation. After instilling all the danger she could muster, Lucy reluctantly let go of the boy as he hurriedly scramble to escape. Lucy visibly flinched when she saw the boy limp away from her.
So desperate was he that he tripped over from one of the corpses as he clumsily tried to stand back up. "...One more thing."
"Y-yes?" The boy whimpered so softly as he clutched his ribs in white agony.
"...Make sure these 5 would be buried properly." Lucy softly whispered as her gaze landed back towards the young woman.
Her heart wretched for a moment before she forcefully tore her gaze away and began to run in the opposite direction. Well, aren't you just the perfect hypocrite. Lucy flinched as the soldier was beginning to reemerge once more from her cage.
Silence.
That woman begged for her life as well you know?
I had no choice!
And yet you seemingly let that boy go. Emma bitterly chuckled as Lucy desperately snaps back.
She would have told everyone! She-
And you think the boy would not do the same?
...I had no choice. I simply-
You do! Don't you dare lie to yourself! You could have killed him!
He was a child!
And so were we once!
...
But what did that get us?? What did it get us Lucy?!
...
Y-you coward! You won't even say it?!
...
Fine then! I'll tell you! Close your eyes for all I care but it had done us nothing! Nothing! It had tormented us for nothing damn it! They tormented us for nothing!... they tormented us for nothing... for nothing... shouldn't we at least get them back? Even if it was just a little... we're not even killing him for the sake of fun! We kill him because we have to!
...Killing the child was not the answer.
...And did killing the five did? Lucy did not respond. She could not respond as everything till then was all of her own volition, she could not blame Emma. ...I shouldn't have helped you. Lucy winces at the heartbroken reply Emma gave.
For a moment, the soldier was just like her. Another vulnerable and scared child who went through the same hell just as her before she sneered. There is no hope now. They will really find us now. ... Ignore me all you want, deny me all you want, but know this Lucy, you brought this on yourself.
When they come knocking on your doors, don't you dare beg for me to help you!
...You've already said that once.
And I regret it for every second of my life! I thought you would at least understand! What that hell was like! What we have endured but no! I was wrong! I was so wrong to trust you for a second time! With that, Emma retreated back to her cage as Lucy continued to run. To run back home.