Day 2 - Bird Song

You start to breath more regularly now despite your heart beating a mile to the dozen. Fenix's soft singing calming your soul. Emilia, Felt and the old man have made their way to your bedside their concern melting away as you make a great big grin. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to frighten any of you."

"Who was scared?" Felt hits the old man in his arm jokingly trying to play the hard-man but you can see through the act, you know she was worried about you.

Emilia is next to speak "I'm glad you're ok"

A small head pokes itself out of the half elf's long silver hair, It's the magic cat from the loot house 'puck' you think was his name "So does that mean i can go back to sleep" his words drag on as he lets out a yawn. You've always been more of a dog person but you have to admit he does look cute yawning like that.

"Nightmares are perfectly natural after such a traumatic experience..." You feel her breath on your ear, the heat of her body as she holds you close. Your feathered friend is speaking just loud enough for the others to hear. "I think he'll be fine after some rest" The others take that as a hint and make their leave.

"If you need to talk... You know where to go" was what the old man said meant to be comforting or a polite 'fuck you'?

"Get well soon bro."

"I hope you feel better soon , if you someone to talk to... I'll be across the hall."

With the others gone that leaves you and Fenix alone in your room, the two of you sit together for some time. "Do you wan't to talk about it" yes! yes you do, but what could you say? 'I was murdered twice but somehow returned to life like i'm Bill Murray'. You don't say that, you can't let her or the others think you're insane.

"There's nothing to talk about... It was just a dream. I'm fine really." Really you're not, not fine at all but you have to put on a brave face and keep yourself together. "I think fresh air might be the best thing for me now -"

"Then how about a little run?"

This isn't like last time where she darted in front of you with no effort, no this time she is running beside you the whole way. The exercise does you some good but you're not just doing this to keep up on your cardio. You make a mental note of every inch of the manors perimeter, checking sight lines and potential points of weakness in the wall. You don't notice any faults or major issues after a few laps but come up with a few ideas of where to lay potential traps for anyone trying to break into the manor.

"You're pretty fast" You've seen how fast people in this world are compared to them you're like a truck with flat tires trying to outrun a sports car, is she trying to make you feel better?

"I'm a snail compared to you"

"Oh really? You're keeping up just fine"

"It's not like you're actually trying right now either"

She slows a little cocking her head to the side "I didn't know you'd seen me run at full pelt before..." She's right you hadn't, not in this life. Rom and Felt hadn't made their big break for it today and she hasn't ran full sprint the whole time yous had been jogging.

"You mean you weren't running full on when you came out of nowhere last night and jumped Reinhardt?"

"Huh? i guess i forgot about that." She bought it? "That was just a friendly hello." You're training partner laughs while you have a mental sight of relief. You can't believe she bought it. "But you know..." she's changed tone from before, her voice has gone from nurturing to mischievous "I wasn't going all out."

"Alright then... Lets race!" You point to a lone apple tree about a hundred meters down the field "First one to that tree wins"

Fenix lets out a coy smile "Count it down then"

"3 , 2 , 1 ... GO!" With that you move from a light jog to a full on sprint pulling into the lead, Fenix hasn't changed up her pace at all and lags behind. "Is that as fast as you can go"

The tree grows closer by the seonc Sixty meters, Fifty. You look behind you and she still hasn't picked up the pace, at the current rate there is no way you could lose. Forty, Thirty... you can almost touch the tree. You're almost disapointed she took it soo easy on you but you're still enjoying yourself. Before you reach the goal you hear a thunderous roar, had someone fired your gun? You stop in your tracks and turn around but Fenix is nowhere to be seen. "Fenix!" You can't hold in the worry, she had disapeared and someone must have started firing your weapon, it's then you feel a light tapping on your shoulder.

"Hello" It's Fenix standing behind you with a huge grin stretching from cheek to cheek. She's sweating and clearly out of breath but she's safe. She didn't run so fast 'yesterday' was this her true top speed? "Hey i'm right here." You had lost focus for a moment, the play full look on your friends face had been replaced by one of concern. She places her hands on your shoulders and stares into your eyes.

"Sorry it's just you were so fast i was kind of taken aback by it..." You laugh it off like you hadn't just had a mini freak out. Luckilly she laughs it off along with you "If i didn't trip up there near the end i totally would have had you beat."

"I don't doubt it." You're both pretty beat from such a good work out so decide to call it quits for the day. Yous have a slow walk to the front of the mansion to see Emilia's carriage pulling out of the front gate, you'd missed the chance to say goodbye. "I think i'm going to have an early night, we should do this again sometime. Who knows next time you might win." With that you return to your room. On the desk you notice a letter written in the local language, you can't make heads or tails of what it says but you have an idea of who it's from as a light sweet scent permeates the air, the same perfume that Emilia must use. You know Reinhardt will be around early in the morning so figure you can just show it to him then.

Day 3 - A Knightly Beating

Once again you wake with a great big stretch, your legs are a bit stiff from yesterdays work out but that's normal. Breakfast is on your desk waiting for you when you get up, you hurry it down before getting dressed for another long days work out. Making sure to grab the letter first you walk out into the hall to see Reinhardt coming towards you.

"Morning"

"Hey Reinhardt what's up"

"Me and Leanna were going to do some training outside and were wondering if you'd wanna join in? It could be fun"

"Sure i'd love to, but before we do could you tell me what this says? I can't read this language." you hand him the letter you found in your room the night before

"Of-course... it's from Emilia. I wanted to speak to you earlier but you were busy, you seemed to be enjoying yourself so much so i didn't want to spoil it. You were so brave last night, if you weren't there i don't know what would have happened. I don't have much to give you as thanks for what you did but if you are ever in need of a place to stay you will always have a home at the Mather's estate."

"Thank you." He hands you back the note which you quickly put back into your room before rejoining him. The two of you head outside to see Leanna already stretching just like last time.

"You decided to join in on the fun? Wonder-full." Like with any good training session you start by stretching, readying your body for the punishment you were about to put it through. You get a sense of Dejavu but then you really have done this before. Instead of waiting for waiting for Reinhardt to propose the training you get straight to business picking up a pair of practice swords passing one to Reinhardt "Why don't we start with a little sword play? Just to warm us up a bit."

"It's like You read my mind. Why don't we go first?"

"This should be fun."

You're still a complete novice when it comes to sword fighting but at least after yesterday you have a better idea of how to stand when holding one and how to swing one properly. Still there is no way this match will be even close to fair. You decide to use the one advantage you have over your partners, the power of foresight. Reinhardt strikes first but you're ready bringing your sword around as he comes close for a mutual hit. He's fighting slower with you than with Leanna and nowhere near his potential but you still can't help but feel a sense of satisfaction at landing even a single blow. "You're pretty good Dan i wasn't expecting that, but you know with a hit like that i won't be able to go easy on you anymore..." Despite that quip he's still moving slow enough for you to keep up with him but now you can't get a hit in. With two swift yet soft jabs he ends the match. "That was fun i think i'll need a rest, why don't you two go at it?"

Reinhardt steps away letting Leanna get into your little 'training circle'. Like last time you rush forward and as before Leanna steps to her right but you'd prepared for it swinging just a few inches closer to her landing the first hit. Her arms slides over your wooden sword preparing for her finisher move, you side step trying to avoid it but she still grabs your arm twisting it behind your back causing you to drop your sword. "You Lost your weapon i win" she lets out yet another cheerful celebration of victory.

"I actually got a hit in so i win if that was a real fight you'd be a goner."

"Why don't we call it a draw?"

"If it had been a real fight you'd be a puddle on the floor." She's clearly competitive

"A draw it is!"

Leanna pouts giving Reinhardt an expression as if to say 'really?' She pats you on the back "It was a Good match" she could have been a little softer, you sense she doesn't like losing. "It's easy to see you're not used to fighting with blades, but you make up with it by fighting smart. If you keep it up you might get near enough to us that you can be a good challenge." Was that a compliment? You didn't sense any hint of sarcasm or irony.

"You're not half bad yourself, not quite on Reinhardts level but i don't think i've met a woman as strong as you before"

The blonde knights face flushes red at your comment "Well no-ones as strong as Rein" Now he's blushing. You step out picking a spot to watch their match. Reinhardt wins yet again but you can't help but feel awed at the spectacle.

"You two really are incredible" the two bow to each other and then to you, now the warm ups were over you wanted to get to the meat of the training"You're weapons were glowing, you use reinforcement magic correct?" Reinhardt nods "Could you teach me to use it like you? I've had some basic training but... well let's say i can't really make practical use of it."

"You can use Light magic?" Leannas interest peaks at the notion "It's so rare, very few people have the capacity to even try..."

"Sure we'd be happy to teach you." Without a sense of hesitation Reinhardt is more than happy to help. "When you said you can't make practical use of it, what did you mean?"

"When i try using it the objects i'm 'reinforcing' tend to explode..."

"That's a simple problem, you're using to much Mana to reinforce the weapon it just can't take it."

"Think of it like filling a glass, once full anything else you pour into it will spill out. In this case once you've filled up the item the mana will find a way to escape, usually the mana will harmlessly radiate out but if too much is used then the object simply can't take it and will explode violently"

It's exactly like you were told, you used too much energy when reinforcing the weapon causing it to cook off like a grenade. "Can you help me to control the flow of mana?"

"Of course"

"Wouldn't be very good knights if we couldn't"

The pair take you through a set of excercises designed to help regulate and control the mana within your own body, you feel silly doing them but no-one's laughing. Once the mana exercises are finished you are handed a wooden sword, you hold it up high as Reinhardt and Leanna stand on either side of you holding tight to your back and arms.

"If there is a catastrophic energy build up we can disperse it safely."

"Think of us like your safety blanket."

More like a pair of training wheels. Unlike last time it only takes a few minutes for the sword to begin glowing, you maintain the soft glow without it exploding.

"Amazing, well done!"

"With some more training you might even pass for a Royal Knight"

"It's not much but the sword's definitly stronger now."

You begin to feel woozy, even at this low level reinforcing the weapon is taking alot out of you. You do your best to try and not show the butterflies in your stomach. "Can we try more?"

"If you feel up to it"

Concentrating as well as you can you try to limit the energy flowing into the training blade, it begins to glow even brighter and brighter until you feel the two Knights grip you tighter. You try to stop the mana flow but you can't, the air suddenly begins to grow warmer as the sword continues to glow brighter until finally it crumbles to dust in your hands. You stumble but are caught before you can fall.

"What happened"

"We absorbed the excess Mana"

"Are you two going to be alright?!"

"Don't worry about it our bodies are used to high doses of energy" She gives you a cheerful pat on the back, you're still a little worried about them but trust in their skills.

"You're going to be fine too but it's best to be safe than sorry, we have a guest coming over who can check you over"

A guest? It must be Felix, you'd thought he came over just for you but it seems not. The three of you return to the comforts of the mansion where Fenix has prepared dinner... Some kind of soup with a side of bread? It doesn't look particularly appetising, the grey-brownish lumpy meal You can't even tell what it is but both Reinhardt and Leanna chow it down without complaint so it must be good? You take a spoonful and bring it close to eat, the smell is overwhelming you think 'but maybe it tastes better than it smells?' It does not. You barley manage to hold down one whole spoonful yet Reinhardt and Leanna have almost finished their bowl.

"How do you like it?" You don't, you don't like it at all. This must be why Leanna had cooked yesterdays meals

You can't tell the truth, you'd break her heart. "I can honestly say i've never had anything like it" well it's not a lie.

"Everyone loves my cooking! I made plenty so eat as much as you want" Her voice is filled with so much pride, would it be kinder to just tell the truth here and now? You decide against it. You do your best to finish your bowl, now you know why Reinhardt and Leanna had rushed through theirs, if you can't taste it you can tolerate it better.

"Wow all done? Bet you want seconds" Fenix is standing by the dining table holding out another bowl for you but you politely refuse.

"Sorry but i'm so full, couldn't eat another bite" You rush to bed as quick as you can, anything to get away from that 'food'. You hear Reinhardt greeting Felix at the door but drift off before seeing him.

Day 4 -

It's about eleven when you wake, half asleep you walk into the corridor to find Felt carrying some kind of ornamental vase, her coat and shorts look stuffed with other trinkets. You raise your brow and tilt your head at the young girl "Bro this is mine! The red head said 'what's his is mine' so i'm just making good on that offer."

"Hey i wasn't judging."

"Well good". A necklace drops out of her shirt but she doesn't seem to notice, the girl carriers her loot into her room. You decide to pick up the necklace and go to give it back to her. Her room is as big as yours but it doesn't feel like it, the whole place is filled with things from around the house including three fancy cupboards and two sofas. "Didn't you know it's rude to walk into a girls room without asking?"

"You dropped this." You hand her the necklace

"Oh... Thank you".

"How have you been liking it here?"

"It's not too bad but i don't like being forced to stay. Worst still i don't even know why he wants me here."

"It might be best to stay, even if it's just for now. That killer vowed to get us and you wouldn't be much safer out there..." That might now be true, but at least here you can make a plan. "Wait did you say Reinhardt didn't tell you why he brought you?" the young girl shakes her head.

"I'm just glad Rom's here with me..." Rom? so that's the name of the Old giant. "I don't know why that pompus knight brought him along but i'm not complaining" That was partly thanks to you, but you don't feel like 'bragging' about it.

"You have family here at least that's something to be thankful for" You take a seat on her bed before lying back sinking into the soft mattress "It must be nice not having to go around stealing to survive anymore."

"Being stuck indoors all day isn't so nice though"

"This mansions huge i'm sure you've gotten to exploring it the past few days"

"Not that there's much to explore... Think i've been everywhere there is to be in here except that locked room in the back i can't even pick the lock."

"Let's say for a hypothetical if i wanted to sneak around without anyone outside seeing me how would i do that?"

"Those twenty foot walls pretty much stop that bro."

"Say for a second that someone found their ways inside of the walls, how would you avoid them?"

Felt thinks on it for a moment "Well ducking down helps... making sure they can't see you. Rom can cook up some nasty smoke bombs"

"Those things are works of art" the old man chips in, how long had he been listening to you? "If you want i can show you how to do them, we'll just need to pop by the kitchen first. Best to put them together in an actual workshop though."

The kitchen? "I'd like that yeah"

After a short trip to one of the kitchens to pick up a mish mash of ingredients you head to the work shop, the room is dug deem into the heart of the mansion and has what looks like some pretty thick walls. It could make for the perfect place to hold out in an attack. The old man goes through the process of making one of his home made smoke bombs, they're fairly big and weighty but incredibly simple to do. You should be able to make one now in any kitchen or workshop you come across. Felt had wondered off before he finished putting the bombs together and now that he's finished the old man is heading his own way.

You decide to spend the rest of the day preparing for the attack, closing blinds and curtains, pushing cupboards infront of windows and readying yourself mentally for what's to come. You're not even half way done with your wing of the mansion when you hear Reinhardt, Leanna and Felix leave. It's only about a matter of hours now till the attack and you haven't finished preparations.

"What are you doing?"

"Bro, What's with all the noise?"

It's Felt and Fenix, seem's you weren't as quiet as you thought rearranging the furniture. You can't tell them the truth they wouldn't believe you and you can't protect them if they think you're crazy.

"You're safe here, don't forget that"

"I've got something to show yous in the workshop!" a full redirect of the conversation. "Felt go get Rom he'll love it."

The four of you gather in the workshop where you bring in a few mattresses and some sheets. You then set up your phone stand and start flicking through the videos, The others looking on in amazement. You hit play on one of the many films on the phones hardrive "The Wizard of Oz" it's a bit old but you doubt they would care that much, they're practically speachless at the phone itself.

"This is what we call a 'movie' it's like a play only in a box"

"This is amazing!"

"I've never seen anything like it"

Felt reaches out to touch the screen pausing the video "What happened?"

"If you touch it it stops, so try not to ok?" You hope this will keep them in one place long enough for you to do something about the attacker. The three are practically glued to your phones screen giving you opportunity to leave, first things first you extinguish all of the lights you can and then ready your night vision, being careful to stay low to the ground as not to be seen. Once done you take position in Felts room waiting...

It takes about an hour before you see them, a group of attackers climbing over the walls carrying a mix of weapons. Seemingly lead by a well dressed woman wearing a long cape.

You count sixteen of them at most, there may be more climbing over from other parts of the wall but you can't tell. They seem to be readying to attack as the tall woman is directing the individual attackers, each one wearing a long dark robe which causes some issues with the Night Vision goggles. Regardless you now have some idea of what you're up against and some idea of how to proceed.

You quietly open the window careful not to draw attention to yourself, taking aim at the centre of the group a perfect target for your launcher. With a silent 'oomph' you launch a vessel of destruction towards the killers. The explosion blinds out your goggles, not wanting to waste any of your precious ammunition you wait for it to die down before firing again. As the flash subsides you ready aim again yet see nothing, no killers, no fence or wall not even the ground. Somehow the yard has been engulfed in some kind of dark black smoke which completely blocks your vision of the exterior, even the stary night sky has been darkened by this darkness.

"Do they have smoke bombs?" If they had you hadn't seen any, there's no way you could have missed one big enough to shroud the entire estate. From another room you hear the shattering of glass, the attackers are inside the house. In the hallway you see two cloaked attackers wielding rapiers, you don't hesitate rapidly dispatching them with two short bursts. Cautiously you move down the hall expecting the killers to jump up at any second but the moment never comes, you kneel down to check the pulse of one of the cloaked villains, they're dead "Looks like you'll be good for something after all" You feel good knowing that you won't be reduced to a flashy 'set piece' like in the fight with Elsa.

The mansion is now filling with the same black smoke which blocked your view of the outside, night vision essentially useless you flick on the torch on your helmet to help cut through the black. Making your way through the 'fog' you start to feel sickly as though the very air was eating away at your soul yet you continued on. As you carefully make your way down the corridor you see three men clenching, no clawing at their throats gasping for air on the floor. Turning the corner towards the workshop you see Fenix slumped against the door barely conscious with a half dozen attackers dead around her.

"You're safe." Shrouded by the darkness at first you don't notice just how badly injured she is but as you close you see her left arm had been completely torn off. "The girl... She's still in there. You have to get her out of here."

"What about the old man?" She just looks down to the floor, you don't need words to understand."You'll be fine just hang in there." You take out the first aid kit from your rucksack and try in vein to stop the bleeding, you simply don't have enough bandages to cover the wound. In desperation you rip up the cloak of one of the attackers to supplement your treatment. Even as you pour on the disinfectant she holds in the pain, you hold back from being sick, you had received basic first aid training but have never found the need to use it before. "You're being very brave now i'm almost finished ... and done." With the treatment finished as well as you can manage you carefully lift Fenix, carrying her into the workshop.

"We need to stay here until help arrives."

"If we don't leave we're all going to die in here just like them" she's practically screaming, them?

"I can't fight carrying Fenix and i won't -"

"She's dead Dan! They're both dead."

"No that can't be right she was fine" You look down at the woman you're carrying, checking for breathing, for a pulse for any sign of life where none exists. You feel tears trickling down your face, why? You had only known these people for a few days, why did you feel like this? You didn't acknowledge it but you were in shock.

"We have to go now!"

"You hide i'll kill these mother fuckers."

"I'm not going to hide away while you get yourself killed."

"Felt you're just a kid, you can't fight them. As soon as i'm out of that door you block it, understand?" The young girl looks to her dead friend then back at you tears flowing without end. "Do you understand?" she nods reluctantly. You place Fenix on the floor, her body still warm. You're hands are shaking, you take a moment to focus your resolve. At that moment one of the cloaked killers smashes down the door and charges at felt, without a second thought you unsheathe your blade and drive it through their jaw, they struggle for a moment before letting go. With the door gone you couldn't leave Felt in the room alone.

"Follow me but stay close to my back"

"Right"

You take the lead your rifle pointed frontward, the fog stilled ensnared the mansion and the only way to see through it was your flashlight marking you like a big bright beacon. As you and the young girl make your way to the entrance you started to wonder about the nature of your enemies, how many attackers were there? The one in the workshop would be your third kill, not counting any caught in the blast while felt had got at least nine of them. Was there more than you first thought or was that it? It doesn't take long to reach the front doors, you can't see anyone out in the yard but that doesn't mean no-one is there.

"If we run we might be able to make it out of here."

"It's not safe we need to plan this out." But there is no time to plan, you feel the air growing colder then see it, the hard floor of the foyer turning to ice. Not knowing what would happen if you had stayed you grab felt, throwing her into the yard. You make it out unscathed then fall to the ground, looking down you see chunks of your own frozen leg shattered behind you. The ice must have flash-froze your foot in the seconds between you noticing it and fleeing the manor. You're rifle is nowhere to be seen, you must have dropped it in the confusion.

Felt struggles to drag you further from the mansion, struggling to move you even inches, you doubt that even without your rucksack that she'd be able to pull you with any real success. The darkness warps your sense of time, you try to bring yourself up but are pushed to the ground by Felt, an arrow cutting through the poor girl. Using what strength you have left you crawl over to her, the wound is simply indescribable. You hold her in your arms, you had failed.

"Someone's alive"

Two men grab hold of you pinning you to the floor

"Hmm" out of the dark a figure approaches, the shadows rapidly clearing as she nears. How could it last so long yet so suddenly disappear? "I think we can make this work" She is clearly the leader of the attackers.

"We needed the girl."

"Oh sweety don't worry about the girl, she can serve us in death just as well as in life." the dark haired woman approached you taking away your side arm "The foreign soldier from a far away land" You were still processing the situation, as the fog cleared so too did your mind. You struggle but the two attackers have you pinned tight. Knealing down to your level the woman plants a kiss on your cheek "You're going to help us change the world" but you're having none of it, you throw your head forward smashing her in the face.

"Fuck you"

The woman holds her head up to step the blood flow from her now clearly broken nose. "I like you, we're going to have so much fun together." What started as a tingle where the woman had kissed you had now turned into a crippling burning sensation. "Let him go boys. If he wants to leave what right have we to stop him?" You struggled to your knees trying to crawl forward but truth is you couldn't, no didn't want to leave. You wanted to follow this crazy bitch, to do everything you could to please her.

"I'll kill you" you struggle in defiance against your own body, reaching for a grenade then pulling the pin.

"Oh what's that? You want to kill me?"

"No. I WILL kill you and then i'm going to stop you." The killers begin laughing, their crazed hysterical laughter is the last thing you hear before the brief light and then sudden darkness. You wake to the familiar sight of your room in the Astrea mansion and then.

'Knock Knock Knock Knock' ... 'Knock Knock Knock Knock' ... 'Knock Knock Knock Knock'

You had died yet again.