Chapter 10: Prelude to the Curse

I quickly slid back to Estate. I knew the chance of finding Luci was slim given her scarcity lately but I had to give it a shot anyway. Entering Estate I walked over to the table in the living room where we left our notes to each other. I found that my note was replaced by a stationery paper Luci uses. It read:

I knew you were going to find out about it eventually but I didn't expect it to be so soon. Unfortunately I cannot be of much help to you since I know little about the situation myself. All I can suggest is for you to keep sliding till you find a way to find out more information .I'll do what I can to help you as well but I shall be investigating on my own. I wish you luck on your journey.

- Luci

P.S. - Do NOT use anything that requires you to use up your Power of Existence. I fear this may have unforeseen repercussions on the one whom you share a soul with.

Damn…just when I need her the most. But she's right. It'll be easier to gather information if we split up. I should start here in Estate. That forum might have a clue as to why I am the way I am. With that in mind I headed up to the library where the computer terminals were located.

In no time at all I was on as a member of the forum. Going by the screen name AoS_XIII (yes I used the abbreviation of my title as my screen name) I poured over the forum. From what I could tell it was a site for a fan initiated project. In addition to hosting the project there were a few pieces of fan fiction written by other members. However these were just distractions. With Ange's help I found a way to locate all of the threads Luci replied in. Following this trail I learned a few things about Luci's life before she came here to Estate.

She was a friend of this Cruxis at the school they went to. Having a reputation for being arrogant and temperamental many avoided her as much as possible. Cruxis was the first one to reach out to her. Though it was difficult Cruxis finally broke through her façade and befriended her. The two kept correspondences both on and offline. However due to some complications in Cruxis' life these correspondences became limited to posts on the forum. The last post she put up was regarding Cruxis' status offline: comatose due to an unknown reason.

What's more interesting is the date of the reply. It was when I first awakened. At least this was a clue I might be able to go on. This Cruxis might be the one who I share a soul with. However there were still too many unanswered questions. My only choice was to keep sliding after all. Anyway Luci probably already knows this so she's probably trying to find her friend. I guess I should follow suit, although I'm gonna have to do some sleuthing of my own to figure it out myself. With nothing else in Estate to give me more clues I slid over to a new world.

The landscape before me was of a little rural village nestled in the mountains. I was on a road leading to this quaint rural village. Since there would probably be people I could ask there I headed in its direction. On my way there was an elderly man carrying a large load of goods with him heading towards the village. Seeing he was struggling with his load I offered him my assistance. Thankful for the help the elderly man became my travelling companion. He said that the village was called Hinamizawa. He told me it was unusual to see a traveller pass through it. Plausible enough considering this seems to be a time period where convenient means of transportation don't exist yet.

Upon reaching the village I knew there was little, if any, chance I would be able to find any information. However there was an equal chance of finding another slider who might have information I need. No sooner had I thought this when a woman dressed in a kimono passed me by running full speed. This is Japan so why would it be weird? That would be because the woman was carrying a pistol that couldn't possibly exist in this time period. Knowing this woman might be a slider I followed her.

"Combat in progress. Three contacts detected" alerted Ange. Sure enough the sound of gunfire being exchanged echoed throughout the forest that I followed the woman through. The dense forest gave way to swampland. I activated my Barrier Jacket, armed my Hand Sonic and flew over the quagmire.

"Biohazard detected. Activating selective permeability option on Distortion" warned Ange. Biohazard? Don't these sliders know they're endangering the villagers with their reckless attacks? I should probably hurry up and stop this before it gets out of hand. Using the speed boost spell Ange created I sped towards the combat zone.

"Well, well, well. How do you expect to stabilize the dimensional quake AND fight me at the same time? After all you need two people to stabilize one that large" the dark blonde haired woman said over the intense firefight.

When I entered the field of combat the woman with the kimono and the dark blonde haired woman were locked in an intense firefight. A bit of a distance away a blue haired girl was struggling to stabilize this 'dimensional quake'. It was obvious which side I should assist. I dove down towards the dark blonde haired woman with my Hand Sonic. I was surprised to find her simple combat knife blocked my boosted Hand Sonic. I told the woman in the kimono to help her comrade and that I would deal with the dark blonde haired woman. Saying a quick, but heartfelt, thank you she left to help her.

"Friedrich you traitorous bastard. You think that dying your hair and wearing contacts would be enough of a disguise? Come now you insult my intelligence! You even replaced your badass scythe with that pathetic excuse for a kitchen knife" she yelled out to me.

"Did you just call me a kitchen knife? I'll have you know that I'm an advanced Intelligent Device system!" an insulted Ange replied.

"My, my…big words from such a small threat" nonchalantly replied the woman.

Friedrich? I'm sure this woman has me mistaken for someone else. Anyway I've never met her before. All I know is that she's pretty damn annoying. However I can't let that get to me. Her gun is useless because of Distortion but that knife is still a threat. After getting an infuriated Ange to analyze it all I learned was that it was a standard issue military combat knife. How could it possibly block Hand Sonic? It should've been sliced clean in half along with her arm.

"Well unfortunately I can't stay any longer to entertain mere plebeians. I could care less whether you stabilize that quake or not. I've already delivered the biohazard and it's in the village's drinking water. Enjoy!" she jeered before she slid away.

"Warning! Multiple large scale dimensional quakes! Suggest immediate evac of current world!" warned Ange with blaring volume.

"But what about the villagers? We can't just abandon them! You agree with me right, Saya?" pleaded the blue haired girl.

"We have no choice Kanata! We don't even know what kind of biohazard Serenity brought into this world; let alone how to counteract it. Let's hope that Hanyuu can find a way to solve it. She's already made it clear she wants to stay no matter what" replied Saya.

"Well we have to get out of here right now. I'm not sure what a 'dimensional quake' is but if it's got Ange this worried it can't possibly be good" I said.

"Approximately ten minutes till dimensional quakes jam sliding abilities. If Riku hurries he should be able to warn Hanyuu back in the village" suggested Ange.

I didn't even bother waiting for Saya or Kanata to reply. As soon as Ange finished I was already flying full speed back to the village. Unfortunately in my haste I forgot to ask the two them how Hanyuu looked like. Incompetence +1 point.

"If this Hanyuu is a Slider, like I expect her to be, she should stand out" suggested Ange. What the hell does she mean by 'stand out'?

As soon as I landed back in the village the villagers were scrambling away from me screaming "Demon!" While in other scenarios I would try to explain myself I was actually thankful they were causing such a ruckus. It would seem the chaos attracted Hanyuu's attention. The purple haired Hanyuu was walking towards me, sword drawn.

"Who are you?" she asked. I'm surprised. She didn't go in sword swinging right away.

"No time for that. Do you know about the dimensional quakes?" I asked in return.

"I already told those two I would be staying behind no matter what. Tell them to leave before they get stranded too" she replied.

"That's fine, they respect your wishes. I'm here to warn you. Serenity introduced some kind of biohazard into the village's water supply. All they ask of you is to help find a way to save the villagers" I asked of her.

She laughed and said "I know. I suggest you go with them. Kanata will need another Slider to take my place while I'm here. If you follow Serenity you'll find who you're looking for. I know your friend told you not to go off chasing her but Luci's just trying to keep one last secret from you. I can guarantee you if you do as I ask of you, you won't be disappointed."

"Who told you this?" I asked. How'd she know all this? We just met after all.

"Well…that's my secret," she replied, winking, "now go. You don't have much time left."

I decided to take her up on her offer. Why's everyone keeping secrets from me? Is what they're trying to prevent me from finding out worth going to all this trouble? At least I know that I have some secret benefactor. I guess I'll just have to figure out everything for myself. I left Hanyuu to go back to Saya and Kanata. Surprisingly the two waited for me.

"You have under a minute to evac before it becomes impossible to slide to another world" reminded Ange.

"Hanyuu said you might need a new Slider to take her place while she's here" I said relaying Hanyuu's wish.

"We can talk about that when we go to Celestia. For now we should go. Anyway I have faith in Hanyuu. She'll find a way to save the villagers" Saya quickly replied. With only a few moments to spare we slid out of Hinamizawa before it was too late.


"I've done what I can to try to prevent Riku from finding out about you. But I think the events that have transpired in Hinamizawa voided my attempts" Luci said.

"Why would you even do that in the first place? If he wants to find out let him. I mean it's not like anything is going to happen when we meet" Friedrich calmly replied.

"That's what I'm afraid of. We don't know what'll happen when you do meet. For all we know he could erase you from existence" she said worryingly.

Friedrich took Evangeline aside to speak with her privately. "I was the one who told the Slider there about Riku's situation. I'm not sure why Luci's so worried about him finding me…"

"She has a point though. We're not sure what will happen when you meet. Right now you should be more concerned about finding a way to counter the draining of your Power of Existence."

"As always you're right. I'm still curious as to how he came to possess half my soul. I can tell you it wasn't my doing. Oh well…all in due time."