The wagon was slow as the pair of horse's pulled its weight, the cloth enshrouding the wooden carriage blocking out most of the sunlight while leaving only an open view of what stood before them, and what laid out behind them. A young man directed the horses, sitting at the top with hands at the reigns. He looked to be at the end of his adolescence, a cotton shirt with a leather vest, a wide-brimmed hat, black pants, and boots. His face was well-shaved with faint signs of stubble, a critical gaze scanning the horizon for threats. Lelouch and the Herald sat inside the wagon, the former leaning against where the driver sat. At his side was a giant blade, draped in a sheath, whereas the Herald sat by a young woman with blonde hair, wearing only a frilly white dress, and a hat of some sort resting on her head. She held a gentle smile and kind eyes, and her hands rested on her lap.
"We truly thank you both for coming with us," the wife of the driver said in gratitude. "We don't have much to offer you as payment, I'm afraid."
The Emerald Herald shook her head, keeping her ever benevolent face straight, though he could easily tell she was at ease here, if traces of a small smile were any indication. "We will not require payment," she told the woman in earnest. "However, I must ask... This city of blood miracles, Yharnam... is it indeed a place of healing?"
"Oh, yes, very much so." the woman nodded extravagantly in the utmost fervor. "A long time ago, back when I was still on a mother of one child, my husband came down with a terrible disease. The doctors couldn't find anything wrong, but every day, he kept getting worse and worse. It got so bad that he even began coughing up blood. I was terrified out of my wits before a travelling priest came by our town. Do you know what he came for? To spread the word of Yharnam, a city that could heal any disease, with only so much as a drop of their mystical blood. He said he could cure my husband's disease, and there was no price for it at all. I didn't want to believe it, in fact I couldn't. How could blood help my husband?" A sardonic expression crossed her face. "But, I was desperate, and accepted. A day later, I find my husband walking about in our house, looking as healthy as a horse!"
The Herald's eyes widened in amazement while he remained skeptical. Healing without a price? Bah, that was a sham, no more and no less. Still, though... to heal a man so quickly, this blood of theirs must hold some sort of property of some kind to be able to heal her husband. He looked over his shoulder, peering over the man's shoulder, and saw only green pastures and the strip of gravel that lead forward into the mountains. He thumbed the hilt of his sword, slightly anxious as if he hoped he'd see these beasts first hand. He'd come across many a strange creature in Drangleic, some of which were better left unsaid... what kind of beast will he meet here in a world outside?
"...you don't look like a warrior," the driver said, his voice gruff and low-pitched. "You sure your up for facing these things?"
Lelouch gave him a sideways glance, and did not answer him. The man saw his silence as his answer, and returned to looking back at the road that stretched out behind them. He closed his eyes, leaning back in his place as he awaited for his time to arrive, as well as the time pull out his blade. In the meantime... he would rest.
"...all of my life, I've lived a lie; the lie of living."
He stood admist a ring of corpses. He looked to be older now, dressed in black with golden trims. His hair was short, left cut neatly at the chin. Blood was splattered across his face, which was left in a stupefied expression.
"My name, too, was a lie."
The world around him was cold, metal, and gray, left to rotting with death left within. Part of him felt slightly horrified by what he saw, what he had done. Another part of him felt that it was what they deserved for what they did. A bit beyond their bodies were more corpses, only these were dressed in tatters or casual. The rest of him... just couldn't care. He could not.
"My personal history, a lie. Nothing but lies."
Gingerly, his hand moved up to his face. He could have sworn he smelled burning flesh, the faintest forms of flames dancing around him. His hand began to crawl up his face, covering it in it's entirety.
"I was sick to death of a world that couldn't be changed. But even in my lies, I refused to give up in despair."
The flames grew, devouring the world around him bit by bit. Behind him was his shadow, reflecting his present self. Though it showed no distinct figure, it revealed the outline: a figure encased in armor, a pair of blades in hand. One was twin edges, curled around it each other like vines, and the other stretched out, almost like a broadsword.
"But now..this incredible power... It's mine."
His hand fell from his face, falling to his sides. His hair fluttered as the inferno surrounded him, his hair fluttering about. His eyes burned a glowering orange, but in his left eye, the iris was overcome with a glittering red. A bird had appeared, wings curled around the black dot in the center. He felt it... a strange power coursing within him. His eye burned in irritation, like an annoying itch... but it felt so wonderful. Internally, he felt elated and ecstatic. Perhaps he had indeed lived a lie, but he would sooner allow himself to wallow in despair than to give up existing. All he wanted now... was an end. An end to it all. An end to this damned charade. The world was stagnant, but now he held the power. The power to change the world. He could do it... he could change this pitiful existence.
He could defy fate itself.
By that one thought alone... he smirked.
"Well, then..."
"What in the bloody hell is that?!"
Lelouch stirred from his sleep, eyes snapping open. From outside, he could hear a startled cry and fiendish growls and snarls. The wife's face was etched in panic, the driver slowly reclining into the caravan. He gave the Emerald Herald a quick glance. She nodded to him, as if meaning to ensure their safety. He smirked beneath the face mask, and stood up, taking the strap that held the sheath into his hands, and hopped out of the caravan.
He finally got a look at the beasts that haunted these lands. He couldn't help but blink. Once, twice, three times. "...well," he finally spoke in surprise. "That's new."
