“What… What do you mean you don’t remember anything?” Guille asked, furrowing his brows, his voice laced with suspicion. As the woman stood on the coarse dirt road facing Guille, she sighed, trying to determine how to go about explaining her situation, when she herself didn’t even know.

“I-I woke up on the grass, near that small grove over there,” the woman stated, pointing towards the location, “and… I’ve been trying to remember something, anything, but I can’t remember where I’m from, I can’t remember my own name. I can’t even remember what kind of life I lived.”

Guille stared at the woman, putting his hand on the hilt of his sword, his gaze piercing through her, as if he were analyzing her. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he sighed, his muscles relaxing, “Well, you don’t seem to be lying. Which is both better and worse. Well, I suppose there’s no use standing around. Follow me.”

“I-” the woman began to speak, but cut herself off, thinking it may be best for her own mental health not to ask what makes her amnesia worse. The duo began to walk into the dense forest, and while the woman kept looking around, worried about the potential of danger, Guille seemed to be relaxed, keeping calm and composed.

As they walked, the woman noticed various wildlife. There were dimly illuminated flowers, hogs with three horns, and one that caught her eye in particular was a creature that looked like a ball of cotton flowing in the breeze.

“So,” Guille began, “You don’t have memories, but why do you know about Sybel’s Tree?”

“W-well, a dream I had last night, I heard a voice, telling me to look for it, a-and find a pendant… I think it said it was buried within the tree?”

Guille hummed with curiosity.

“From a dream, huh? Well, it could be a message from the Hero God himself.”

The woman looked at Guille, confused, yet intrigued to learn anything about this world.

“Hero… God?”

Guille smiled at her, “Well, the legend goes that Sybel was once a man, a hero of his time, who fought many monsters to protect the woman he loved, and upon seeing this, the Gods made him into a god when his loved one died one day due to his dedication and undying loyalty.”

A man who became a god through love and devotion. The woman smiled. Despite the tragic implications, it warmed her heart a little bit. However, the issue was it was a woman’s voice calling to her, not a man’s.

“It was… A woman’s voice. Though, the legend sounds beautiful, to devote your life to someone.”

Guille pondered in thought while continuing to take small steps so the woman could keep up with him, “A woman, hm? Well, whatever the case, it’d be wise to take it as a sign, given your… unique circumstances..” He paused, before speaking once more, “Lona.”

“Lona?” The woman asked, perplexed by the name thrown at her. Guille gave a charming smile before replying back, “Lona. Since you can’t remember your name, it’ll still be wise to have something to refer to you as, so, Lona.”

Lona… She thought of the name for a second. It had a nice ring to it, and it was true, she couldn’t go around stating she couldn’t remember her name all over the place.

“So um… Lona,” Guille began, “What do you plan to do after we reach Sybel’s Tree?”

“I–” Lona stopped in place. What did she want to do, after doing what the voice told her to do? Wait for another dream with the voice in it? Go to a town? And what of her memories, how would it be useful to explore this world, if she doesn’t remember anything, and what if she forgets everything all over again?

Guille rubbed the back of his neck, seeing Lona’s confusion and frustration, “Well, we can worry about that later. For now, let’s just focus on getting to the tree, alright?”

“We…?” Lona asked, looking at Guille

“Well, what kind of man would I be, to leave you alone afterwards if you can’t remember who you are?” He replies, giving Lona a warm smile.

Guille and Lona continued walking through the forest, mostly in silence, until eventually the sun began to set.

“Well, looks like we’ll have to call it a night. Walking at night can be extremely dangerous, you know.”

Lona gave a meek nod. Of course, she didn’t know anything about surviving out in the wilderness, and even if she were to, she couldn’t bring herself to trust her own memory. Guille led Lona into a small clearing, before gathering some twigs. Lona watched as Guille made quick work to start a small campfire.

“We’ll need more wood to last until morning, I’ll go gather some. Can you look for more twigs?”

“S-sure,” Lona nodded. Slowly, she made her way to gather some small branches lying on the ground. She wondered what would happen the next day, as kept gathering more.

“Here you go, miss, I hope this will suffice.”

Lona looked startled to see a woman in a crimson red robe with golden adornments lining the fabric in intricate designs, and a crest lining the center. The woman had long blond hair and bright blue eyes, but the most peculiar thing was a branch sticking out of her head.

The woman offered a twig to Lona, to which she hesitantly took it.

“Th-thanks.” Lona managed to stammer out. The woman smiled at Lona and spoke.

“My name’s Erris, of the Wings of the Holy Guard. It’s quite unusual seeing a lone civilian out here though.” Erris said with a critical eye on Lona, as if there was an unspoken question.

“A-ah. Lona, and, I-I’m not alone. I have someone with me”

Erris nodded, and followed Lona to the campfire, where Guille hadn’t returned yet.

“I hope you don’t mind me sharing your and your companion’s fire for the night. I was just about to set up camp myself.”

She settled down beside Lona, and they sat together in silence until Guille returned from the trees, logs piled in his arms. The moment he noticed Erris, his eyes widened in recognition.

“L-Lady Erris! What brings you here?”

Erris’s lips curved in faint amusement. “Simply put, I’m on my way to the Coito checkpoint, and by happenstance, I encountered this lovely young lady.” Her gaze returned to Lona with a faint spark of curiosity, or perhaps something more. “Seems you’ve a talent for crossing paths with… interesting company, most of whom are nothing more than fair maidens,” she added with a light, teasing lilt.

Erris spoke in a teasing and joking manner towards Guille. Lona could surmise the two have had a long relationship of sorts. Guille rubbed his neck in slight embarrassment, before responding.

“Well, this girl here has no memories from before a few days ago, so I couldn’t just leave her to fend for herself”

Erris immediately turned her head to Lona with a look of curiosity.

“Oh, really now. Then, do you mind if I take a close look at her?”

Without waiting for a response, Erris placed a hand on Lona’s head and leaned in, her gaze intense, as if searching for something familiar. Her gaze probed at Lona, her eyes shifting to her fingers, as if absorbing every detail. Lona’s cheeks flushed as Erris’s fingers traced along her shoulders, down her arms, and even across her back, each movement deliberate, intimate even, yet strangely detached and had a cold calculation behind it, until she rested one hand over Lona’s chest, as if feeling for something within.

“Interesting… No memories, yet no potential cause for the memory loss.”

She turned her head back to Guille, finally removing her hands from Lona.

“Then, I hope you’ll allow me to follow you both, wherever your destination is.”

Erris gives Lona one more cautious look, before continuing to speak, “For a second, I thought you were related to an… old friend of mine, but whether or not that’s the case, I am quite interested to learn more about you, Lona.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Lona gives Guille a nervous glance, to which he sighs, “Well, either way, we’re making our way to Sybel’s Tree. She had a vision, of someone calling her to it, and given her memory loss, being able to recall something she doesn’t know about–”

“Signifies there’s something important waiting for her there,” Erris finished Guille’s sentence.

From beneath her cloak, Erris pulled out rations of dried meat.

“For now, eat up and get some rest. We’ve still quite the journey ahead.”

Lona tentatively took a bit of the dried meat. Despite its nature, the meat was rather savory. Lona took a few more bites, before resting her head on the ground. The people she’s met so far were interesting, but Lona felt something about both Guille’s and Erris’ attitudes towards her was off. However, sleep soon took Lona, with the last sounds before the lulls of dreaming being the crackling of the wood.

※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※

Lona opened her eyes to a void of white, with Twelve silhouettes. One of whom, with horns reaching the sky spoke to her.

“Twelve living witches,” The one began, “Seven born from the Tyrant Witch, the Crusader Witch of the South, the Heretic Witch of the Ice, Mariya of Salt, and I”

Lona looked upon the silhouettes, her gaze stopping at one in particular. The silhouette was as tall as her, and her hair was only slightly longer than Lona’s. Hesitantly, Lona reached out to touch the entity, but jumped back in surprise when it smiled at her, an empty, almost eerie smile, and reached out to Lona.

“The one whom you gaze upon, a troubled child, the Queen of Ruin. You shall meet her soon enough, as with the others. Such as fate has ordained in this world”

As the witch spoke, Lona saw visions of destruction, pain, and ruin, and yet, the Queen of Ruin, had an expression of lament and hurt.

Lona soon felt the embrace of the witch that spoke to her.

“For now, carry on with your journey to Sybel’s tree, then seek out the memories which have been lost to you. All will become clear, child of Earth.”

Lona gently grasped the hands of the horned witch.

“But… Why do I need to? Why am I here, why can’t I remember anything, and why do you keep appearing to me?”

The horned witch gave a gentle smile, as the other silhouettes disappeared, before whispering in Lona’s ears, “Worry not, child of Earth. As I said, all in time, will be revealed. But first, you’ve a long journey ahead of you, but be wary, for this journey will bring challenges at every corner.”

※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※

Lona opened her eyes to see the sunlight streaming from between the trees. Guille had snuffed out the fire, and Erris sat patiently. Seeing Lona awake, Erris turned her head and smiled.

“Good morning, I hope your rest was well?”

“Y-yeah…” Lona said groggily.

“Well, as soon as we leave, it’ll take us a couple more hours until we get out of this forest,” Guille commented, “From there, we should be able to get to Sybel’s Tree within another hour.”

“Then, shall we be off?” Erris replied, standing up. Nodding, Lona got up, stretching, before finally brushing her long black hair behind her, and together, the three continued their journey.

Guille looked over at Lona, once, then twice, before finally handing her a small container, “Here. I figure you didn’t drink anything yesterday, so you must be thirsty.”

“Th-thanks,” Lona said in a slight surprise. She took off the small lid, before taking a sip. Instantly, she felt refreshed. Despite the warm weather, the water was cool, crisp, and had no odd taste to it. After her fourth sip, she handed the water back to Guille.

“I do still wonder,” Erris began, “where you came from, Lona. Perhaps you’ll regain your memories, and if you do, I’ll be quite intrigued to hear about it.”

“W-well…,” Lona trailed off. It was nice of Erris to be interested in her past life and to be supportive, but there was just the nagging feeling in the back of Lona’s mind that it didn’t feel… Genuine.

Deciding to change the conversation, Lona cleared her throat, “So uhm… You and Guille know each other?”

“Indeed. Guille here used to be a commander in the Holy Guard. Not quite Grand Commander, and not quite at my rank, but he was as valiant as he was kind as a knight,” Erris sang with great praise. Guille sighed and added, “But, the soldier’s life wasn’t for me. I quit five years in, started working with the guild as a mercenary.”

“And anywhere you go, whether it be as a soldier, or a mercenary, you always seem to pick up girls,” Erris said, teasing Guille with a suggestive tone and expression. In response, Guille said nothing, instead focusing on walking forward.

After a long period of silence the trio had finally made it out of the forest, and ahead was a giant tree, touching the heavens. Lona was in awe at the sight. Despite it being so far away, it was clearly visible.

“That,” Erris interrupted Lona’s thoughts, “is Sybel’s Tree. A landmark within this country.”

“It’ll still take us a while to get there.” Guille said. However, as the group started marching forward once more, the two men who antagonized Lona appeared from behind.

“Well, well. If it isn’t the failed soldier,” the taller man sneered. Lona froze, a shiver went down her back. Something about them showing up reeked of trouble. The taller man’s hand rested on his battleax, and soon his gaze flickered over to Lona and Vese, “Got a couple of ladies with you?”

Guille turned to face them, his brows furled in a look of distaste, “Well, one of these ladies I’m sure you recognize,” he gestures towards Erris. The shorter man, holding the hilt of his sword snickers, “You think she’ll protect you?”

Guille tightened the grip on his sword, “And what’re you implying?”

“Woah there,” the taller man snorted, “We just wanna have a little fun and all. A little sparring match.”

He looks at Lona with pervasive eyes, making Lona feel mentally violated, “Tell you what. You win, you get our guild cards. But if we win, we get that girl there,” the taller man looked over to Erris, “Does that sound good, Knight?”

Lona looked at Erris, in hopes she would decline, but she felt revulsed seeing a simple nod from her, “Alright. A duel between the two parties, and should Guille win, your guild cards will be revoked, whereas should you win, Lona will accompany you both. As the Right Wing of the Holy Guard, I hereby sanction this duel.”

Before Lona could protest, Erris put her arm on her shoulder and spoke close to a whisper, “Just watch. These two may beat Guille in numbers, but he’s equipped with knowledge that puts them at a disadvantage.”

“O… Okay,” Lona said quietly, still unsure of it all, despite wanting to put some faith in Erris’ judgment.

Guille kept his hand on the hilt of his sword, keeping a readied position. The air was thick, as the two men paced around him, as if looking for an opening. In an instant, the taller man swung his ax at Guille, meeting his blade in a clash of cold steel. As if to use the opportunity, the shorter man went in for a jab at Guille, to which he swung around, using the deflected ax to stop the attack. In a flash, Guille’s foot connected with the back of the taller man, sending him reeling into his comrade.

The smaller man charged once more, feinting left before swiping to the right, but his expression betrayed him, as Guille parried with his own sword, swiftly following up with a devastating punch to the man’s throat.

Finally getting off the ground, the taller man glared at Guille, “You bastard, don’t act so cocky!”

The taller man swung his battleax around wildly, causing Guille to even struggle to maintain his footing. Lona let out a gasp as Guille fell onto the ground, the man swinging his ax straight down, but was met with Guille’s foot stopping his impending doom.

Just as Guille swung his other leg into the man’s abdomen, the smaller man finally got up, leaving a stain on the ground from coughing up bile and blood. However, as the man approached Guille once more, a sharp whistle sounded through the air, before the smaller man fell to the ground, writhing in agony

“FUUUUCK!!!” The man screeched in pain, an arrow going straight through his left leg. Before anyone could react, a shout was heard, followed by the sound of armor clanging to surround them, “HALT!”

A tall woman appeared next from the forest, accompanied by several soldiers. The woman herself wore a well polished suit of armor with red velvet lining the breastplate, and a cape of the same red bellowing behind her. Her hair matched the crimson red of the velvet, and her eyes a sharp green.

As soldiers surrounded the two men, accosting them, the woman approached the trio. Erris smiled, “Sophia, I was about to think you wouldn’t show up.”

Sophia shook her head, “Try leading a pack of recruits through a dense forest one of these days then.”

Lona approached Sophia, and spoke with a sense of breathlessness, “Ah, thank you for comi-”

Without hesitation, Sophia’s sword rested upon Lona’s throat, the cold hard steel threatening to draw blood.

“Don’t think for a second you’re innocent,” Sophia spoke coldly, her harsh gaze piercing through Lona, “You the two punks over there, and Guille are all under arrest and to be brought in for questioning. And if you think for a second to fight back, you won’t keep your head for much longer.”

Lona felt paralyzed, her eyes wide with intense fear. Sophia held her glare a moment longer before pulling her sword away, causing Lona to fall to the ground. Her legs felt like lead, and she held back the sensation of vomiting by a thread.

Immediately, she turned to Guille, walking towards him before her fist connected with his face, a crunch could be heard as blood came out of his nose, “And you! Do you really think just because you’re no longer a knight, it means you aren’t still held to a higher standard? You got some explaining to do, and if I don’t hear a good excuse from you, then I’ll be sure you lose your guild card!”

Finally, Sophia turned back to Lona, gripping her arm roughly “Get up!”

Pulling Lona along, Sophia’s command to her men bellowed out, “We head towards Coito Checkpoint! Should any of the culprits struggle, do not hesitate to use force!”

Erris walked toward Sophia, touching her shoulder, “I’ll walk with the girl. I assure you she won’t try and resist. She’s rather fragile, so your grip could just end up leaving her broken”

“If you insist, Erris,” She said reluctantly, releasing the grip on Lona’s arm. Erris gave a smile to Lona, though it was her usual smile, it now felt hollow, “Come, I assure you things will be fine. Just answer truthfully, and you’ll be let go.”