Julian quickly gathered what he needed before he ran out of the shop, but he didn't get very far before he heard Asra's voice calling after him. He stopped and turned to look at Asra as he ran over. "Asra, go back home. I don't want you in the middle of this. After all, this thing between Valdemar and I has been a long time coming." Julian growled out, then looked at Asra softly and placed his hand against Asra's cheek. "And besides… I promised Kasumi that I would take care you."
"No," Asra placed his hand over Julian's. "We promised Kasumi that we would take care of each other. I am not letting you leave without me. My parents will watch over Kasumi, and I'm going to help you."
"Asra…"
"No excuses, I'm coming along." Asra started walking before Julian could protest again, and Julian sighed before he simply followed.
…
Meanwhile, Kasumi woke up on the floor of a hard marble floor, wearing a simple white robe. As her eyes slowly opened and she became aware, she realized something odd. She couldn't feel the cold floor beneath her, and she immediately panicked. The only other time she'd felt this way was when Lucio had stolen her body and she was nothing but a spirit. She got off the floor and looked around, and she realized that she didn't recognize this place. It was a long corridor that seemed to go on forever, with large, wooden doors on both sides of the hallway at regular intervals.
"So, you're here." Kasumi heard a familiar voice say, and she turned to see the Magician standing there. He was transparent, though, and there, standing next to him at his feet, was an equally transparent Ember.
"What are you doing here?"
"I came here to help you after your familiar, Ember, called for me."
"You know her?"
The Magician smiled and picked up Ember in its arms and scratched her under the chin, which made her smile. "Who do you think led Ember to you in the first place? It wasn't a mere coincidence that she arrived at the palace gardens at the same time you were there with Asra. Normally, I would not intervene directly in events, but someone needed to take her in."
"Did you also know that she was my familiar, then?"
"Possibly."
'As vague as ever.' Kasumi thought with a sigh.
"I heard that." The Magician let out a brief chuckle.
"Huh?" Kasumi asked. "How did you…?"
"Where do you think we are?"
Kasumi looked around once again and suddenly saw the place in a whole new light, everything seeming a bit more familiar. "We're… inside my head?"
The Magician nodded. "Your physical body may be dead, but your brain is not."
"Dead? Wait! I'm dead?!"
"Not entirely, haven't you been listening? There is still a chance to bring you back from the brink, but it needs to be done soon."
"What can I do?"
"You? Nothing. But if others were to discover the source of the poison that killed you and cut it off at its roots, then perhaps you may yet awaken."
"Do you know the source?" She asked, and The Magician shook its head. "You don't know, or you won't tell me?"
"I am not a fountain of information. I do not give answers, remember?" Kasumi just sighed, seemingly defeated. The Magician placed Ember down and she ran over to Kasumi while it put its hand up to its chin in a thoughtful pose. "However… there is one thing you could do while waiting for others to save your body."
Kasumi picked up Ember and she climbed onto her shoulder as Kasumi looked back at The Magician. "What's that?"
"Well, you are inside your own mind, are you not? So, why not look around, see what this place has to show you? I feel I must warn you, though, not everything you come across here may be pleasant." With that vague warning, The Magician disappeared.
Kasumi looked down the long corridor of doors and seemed to hesitate before looking at Ember. "Will you be with me?" Ember nodded encouragingly with a smile, and Kasumi seemed to become filled with confidence, so she walked over to the first wooden door on the left and opened it. The two of them had to shield their eyes from the intense white light that seemed to engulf them for a moment before it faded.
When Kasumi opened her eyes again, she was standing in Vesuvia, but things looked a little different. She was in front of the shop she and Asra called home, but it had a different name, and the outside was different. "Are we in the past, or future?" She asked Ember, who merely seemed to shrug before she got her answer.
"Oh, wow! That's amazing!" They heard someone say from the other side of the shop, and they walked around it to see a group of people watching a younger looking Asra perform magic tricks with a small tin bucket next to him for money.
"Okay, this is definitely the past." Kasumi muttered.
She then noticed herself walking towards the crowd, carrying a straw-weaved basket filled with goods, like bread and eggs. Her younger self appeared to be around 15 or 16 years old, and she walked over to watch Asra's performance also. Her black hair was tied back in a high bun while she wore a simple long sleeved shirt with a blue skirt and sandels.
After a couple more tricks, Asra stopped and informed the crowd that it was all he was going to do for now, but that he had some masquerade masks for sale if anyone wanted to stay and look at them.
"Wait…" Kasumi whispered as she watched this all play out. "I…I remember now. This is when Asra and I first met, nine years ago!"
As the crowd began to disperse, Kasumi's younger self walked over and smiled at Asra as he set his wares out. "Hello."
Asra looked up, and his eyes seemed to widen in shock for a moment before he cleared his throat and timidly introduced himself. "Hi, I'm Asra."
"Kasumi." She introduced back as she shook his hand. "That was some amazing magic."
Asra blushed a bit. "Oh, uh… thank you."
"Maybe you could teach me some?"
"You can do magic, too?" He asked, and she nodded before demonstrating with a snap of her fingers, which produced a flicker of flame. "Wow, that was pretty neat. Maybe you should join me in my performances sometime."
Before Kasumi could respond, there was a sudden commotion and a group of people flocking to the streets, one of them running and bumping into Kasumi, causing her to fall forward, but Asra caught her. "Thanks." She said as she stood back up. "Why is everyone suddenly so excited?"
"I don't know. Let's go see." Asra and Kasumi walked into the crowd of people themselves, walking right through the real Kasumi and Ember. They poked their heads over the crowd and saw an open carriage riding down the streets with a woman sitting in the back with long purple hair and wearing a beautiful, elegant dress.
"That's Princess Nadia, I heard she came from Prakra." One of the people in the crowd mumbled, loud enough for Asra and Kasumi to hear.
"Is she on her way to see the Count?" Another asked.
"Must be." The first one replied.
"I did hear that a female suitor was supposed to be arriving for him today." Yet another person said.
Suddenly, the bright white light returned and engulfed Kasumi and Ember again before they found themselves standing back in the long corridor, right in front of the door they'd just walked through. Kasumi took hold of the handle again, and out of curiousity, tried to see if it would open once more, but it seemed to be locked now. "Yeah, that was definitely when Asra and I first met, and the first time I saw Nadia." She looked at all the other doors. "All of these must lead to memories that I have long since forgotten." She looked at Ember. "Should we continue?" Ember nodded, so Kasumi opened the door right across the hall and the light enveloped them once again…
…
Meanwhile, back in the real world with Julian and Asra, they had made their way back to the cave in the forest, and surprisingly, found Muriel there with Inanna. "Muriel?" Asra asked as he and Julian walked over. "What are you two doing here?"
"Inanna said she picked up your scent, and it led us here." He answered as Inanna walked over to Asra and nudged his hand. "What are the two of you doing here?"
"We're looking for Valdemar and Valerius. We last saw them here. You two haven't happened to see them, have you?" Julian asked, and Muriel simply shook his head. Julian sighed and put his hands in his pockets as he looked down at the ground, but he then felt something in his pocket and pulled it out. It was part of Valdemar's black glove, and he suddenly remembered that it had torn when he was struggling with Valdemar in the pool in the cave; he must've put it in his pocket without realizing it. "Wait, this is Valdemar's! Maybe we could use this to track them?"
"Worth a shot." Asra took the torn piece of glove from Julian and held it out to Inanna so she could pick up the scent. She sniffed it before curling back and exhaled sharply, as if trying to clear her nose of an awful smell.
"She said it smells like death and decay." Muriel said.
"That's Valdemar." Julian said.
Inanna then put her nose to the ground and began sniffing as she walked around. She suddenly stopped, sniffed once more, then took off running while letting out a howl, alerting them that she'd picked up the trail.
"Come on!" Asra said and they all ran after Inanna through the trees.
…
Back with Kasumi and Ember, they had been going from door to door and experiencing Kasumi's old memories together when Kasumi came across a door that seemed to give her a feeling of anger, sadness, and regret. She hesitated on that one, not sure whether she wanted to open it or not, but then remembered what The Magician had said about not everything they come across being pleasant. "That is life, after all. It's not all sunshine and rainbows." She said aloud. "Remembering the bad times has uses, too." She opened the door, the now well acquainted light engulfing them before she and Ember saw herself and Asra standing on the beach. They were the only two there and seemed to be arguing.
"I told you already, Asra, I am not leaving!" The past Kasumi yelled. "This damn plague has already taken my aunt's life, as well as several others, and you expect me to just turn my back?!"
"But Kasumi, there are so many other places we could go, places that are far away from the ravages of the plague. We could come back when the plague is over, we'll leave just until it has run its course."
"No! I am not going to abandon these people, Asra! How could you even suggest that?! Is that your solution for everything?! Just run away and hide?!"
"I'm trying to protect you, Kasumi!" Asra said, his voice raising itself. "If we stay here, one or both of us could contract the plague and die! If we leave, there would be no risk of that! I am sorry about your aunt, but dying is not going to bring her back! I don't…" He sighed as tears formed in his eyes. "I can't lose you."
"For the last time, I am not leaving! You can run if you want, but I am not coming with you!" With that, Kasumi stomped off angrily.
Then, Kasumi and Ember reappeared in the corridor, and Kasumi just stared at the now locked wooden door. "It was all my fault… if I had just left with Asra, I wouldn't have put him through all that pain…"
"But then you wouldn't have met Julian." Ember reminded her.
Kasumi smiled. "You're right, Ember. He is still the silver lining in that whole situation."
Kasumi walked across the hall and entered yet another door.
This time, Kasumi and Ember found themselves in the streets of Vesuvia and watched as the past Kasumi wandered through the crowds. They followed Kasumi's past self into the South End district of Vesuvia and into a tiny little clinic where they saw Julian patching up a patient as he laid on the bed.
"Excuse me." Past Kasumi spoke up, and Julian looked up at her. "Are you Doctor Devorak? The doctor I heard about, who is trying to find a cure for the plague?"
"That would be me, yes." Julian stood up from his stool as he wiped his hands clean with a white rag. "Do you need my help?"
"No. Actually…" Kasumi gripped the strap of her bag. "I came to ask if you needed any help? I want to find a cure for this plague as well."
"You want to help me?" He asked, and she nodded. "In that case…" Julian walked over to a makeshift desk and dabbed a quill in some ink before writing a note on a piece of parchment and handing it to her. "Would you be willing to go out and find the leech dealer? Give her this note and she'll know I sent you, and know what to give you."
Kasumi took the note and smiled with a nod. "Okay, Doctor!"
Julian chuckled. "Call me Julian."
"Okay, Julian!" She corrected herself before leaving, seemingly happy about now having a chance to help.
Kasumi and Ember then reappeared in the corridor once again and Kasumi chuckled. "So, that's how Ilya and I met. I wonder if I can remember more about our time together…" She made her way to another door further down.
After opening the door, Kasumi and Ember saw the past Kasumi entering Julian's clinic late at night and gave Brundle a pet on the head as she walked passed her and headed further inside. In the back room, she saw Julian lying on the bed wearing his usual white shirt and black pants. He seemed to hear her come in, as he turned his head and opened his eyes, smiling at her. "Hi Kasumi, welcome back."
"Hi." Kasumi greeted back with a smile of her own and wandered over, sitting on the bed beside him. "I put the materials on the desk."
"Ah, thank you." He placed his hand on top of hers. "I'm glad to have you around, Kasumi. You sure do make things easier."
Kasumi smiled wider and squeezed his hand in response before taking her shoes off and lying down on the bed next to him. "I'm just happy to be doing my part."
"And that you are." Julian chuckled. He then yawned and got comfortable, and she laid down next to him, placing her head on his chest, and he chuckled before wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "Good night, Kasumi."
"Good night, Julian." She then closed her eyes and they both fell asleep.
…
Back with Asra and Julian again, they and Muriel followed Inanna to the edge of the forest and back into town. On the way there, Asra and Julian had informed Muriel about what had happened to Kasumi, and surprisingly, he seemed sad about the news. Muriel continued going with them, even into the city, and following Inanna who seemed to be leading them towards the palace.
When the four of them got to the palace gates, they were locked, and surprisingly, there were no guards in sight. Julian rattled the gates as if he could somehow open them by doing so, but they barely budged.
"How sweet." A voice suddenly said from the other side of the gate and they saw Valdemar walking up, carrying the front gate key in their hand. "Looking for this?" They then threw the key as far as they could in the opposite direction of the gate and smirked at them before taking off for the front doors.
"Valdemar!" Julian yelled before he jumped on the gate and just started climbing, getting over the top of it quickly and landing on his feet on the other side. "Get back here, you murderer!" He started running after Valdemar.
"Ilya, wait! Get the key first!" Asra yelled to him.
Julian stopped and debated whether to get the key and throw it to Asra or simply continue following Valdemar. After a moment, he went over to the bushes where the key landed, grabbed it, and tossed it back over the fence, but didn't wait for them before taking off after Valdemar again.
The key flew over the fence and Inanna caught it by jumping into the air and grabbing it with her teeth. Asra chuckled as she dropped it into his hands. "Good catch!" He quickly opened the gate, and ran inside after Julian, closely followed by Muriel and Inanna.
Inside the palace, Valdemar had found where Mercedes and Melchior were and let them loose, smirking as they made their way down the hallway where they heard Julian coming. "That should slow him down." Valdemar then took off again.
When Julian came running around the corner, he came face-to-face with the two dogs, who were barring their teeth and growling ferociously at him, "Whoa!" He looked down the hallway and just saw the back of Valdemar as they ran around the corner at the other end of the hall. He looked back at the two dogs blocking his path. "All I want to do is pass, so can I just-" He was cut off when he tried to take a step forward, but Melchior snapped his jaws at him.
Suddenly, Asra, Muriel and Inanna came around the corner too, and Inanna immediately started snarling at Mercedes and Melchior. There seemed to be a tense standoff for a moment before the two dogs lunged forward and attacked Inanna. The three of them started fiercely fighting, which Muriel tried to stop, worried for Inanna, but Asra stopped him. At first, it seemed as if Mercedes and Melchior were winning as they'd pinned Inanna to the floor and were biting her, but she kicked Mercedes off before quickly getting back to her feet and grabbing Melchior by the neck before using her two front paws to shove him away, kicking him into the wall so hard that he got scared and ran off with his tail between his legs. Inanna then pinned Mercedes down and bit her on the snout until she fully submitted, then chased her off. Inanna snorted in defiance at their retreating forms before going back to Muriel's side, who quickly looked her over for wounds.
"Come on, Valdemar went this way!" Julian said, and Asra followed him down the hallway.
Further into the palace, Portia was walking around, looking down at the ring that Nadia had given her when she heard footsteps coming down the hall, and she squinted before the figure came out of the shadows. "Valerius! You…You're out of your cell!"
"Yes, great observation there, laundry maid." He replied sarcastically. "Where is Nadia?"
"Why should I tell you? Do you really think I'm going to let you- urgh!" She was cut off when he knocked her out with the pommel of his sword.
"You're not worth my time, then." He simply said to her unconscious self as she lay there, and then simply walked off. He met up with Valdemar a few hallways down and they asked him if he'd found Nadia yet. "No, not yet."
"Well, we have to hurry. Doctor Devorak and that magician, Asra, are here, looking for us." Suddenly, they heard Julian yell out their name, and they grabbed Valerius's arm and dragged him off.
When Julian ran down the hallway, he stopped dead when he saw Portia lying there. "Pasha!" He kneeled down and held her in his arms, lightly shaking her. "Pasha, come on, wake up."
Portia slowly regained consciousness and looked up to see her brother's concerned face looking back at her. "Ilya? What are you doing here?" She slowly sat up and held her head as it throbbed.
"We're looking for Valdemar and Valerius. Have you seen them?" Asra asked.
"Valerius!" She quickly got up with her brother's help. "Yes, I saw him! He knocked me out when I refused to tell him where Nadia was."
Asra looked horrified. "That must be the reason they came back here! They came to finish what they started, killing Nadia!"
"Then we have to stop them! Let's go!"
…
Back with Kasumi once again, she and Ember entered yet another memory. They saw Julian and past Kasumi in the labs that were connected to the library in the palace.
Kasumi was holding a stack of papers and books and placed them on the desk where Julian was seated as he looked down at his notes and seemed to be in deep thought. He snapped out of it when he felt Kasumi place her hand on his shoulder, and he looked up at her. "Don't overexert yourself, Julian. You're only going to give yourself a headache."
"I know, I know." He sighed. "I just don't get it. Nothing about this makes any sense. How can there be absolutely no mention of the plague in earlier history? And why has it suddenly come here, to Vesuvia, and seemingly only here? It's too potent to be a naturally accruing disease, but what could cause it? Where did it come from?" He let out a sigh. "So many questions, and not nearly enough answers…" Suddenly, he was frozen when Kasumi wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug.
"You need to stop worrying so much. We'll figure this out."
Julian smiled and wrapped his arms around Kasumi's waist, pulling her close and hugging her back.
"Ahem." The sound of someone clearing their throat startled them as they pulled apart. "Are you sleeping with your apprentice now, 069?" Valdemar said with their mask covering their face.
"What? No. She was just helping me relax."
Valdemar just rolled their unnerving red eyes and walked off.
Kasumi suddenly started coughing, and then recovered a moment later. She saw Julian looking at her worriedly, but she just smiled and squeezed his shoulder. "I'm fine." She watched as Julian went back to his notes, and she wandered over to her own desk and took a handkerchief just as another cough attack hit her, and afterwards, she noticed a few drops of blood on said handkerchief.
Right before Kasumi and Ember left the memory, they both saw Valdemar pull their mask down as they smirked evilly at Kasumi.
Kasumi and Ember emerged from the memory and a chill seemed to go down Kasumi's spine from it. "I was just starting to show symptoms of the plague…"
"And Valdemar did nothing." Ember pointed out.
"Of course they didn't. They took pleasure in all the death the plague caused, and I'm sure they were also interested to see how it would affect Ilya." Kasumi replied. She sighed, "I remember that I didn't want to worry him… so I said nothing." Kasumi started heading for the next door, but this one seemed to radiate a dark aura, so dark and malevolent that even Ember seemed hesitant to cross its threshold. However, Kasumi gathered her courage and opened the door before she could lose her nerve and change her mind.
Kasumi recognized that she was standing on the docks and watched as her past self boarded a gondola, along with several other sickly looking people. The person at the head of the gondola was wearing a plague mask, not unlike the one Julian used to possess, but she knew it wasn't him underneath it. After the gondola was full, it departed the docks and Kasumi followed it by walking on the water behind it. The only reason she was able to do so was because it was a memory, and she was a spirit. She followed the gondola all the way to the place she knew it was heading: The Lazaret.
When the gondola pulled up on the shore, all the plague victims were ushered out before the boat immediately left to go back to Vesuvia's docks and pick up even more plague victims. She followed her past self into the large building where she and several others were tossed unceremoniously with the bodies of the dead and dying. Her past self weakly watched the workers shovel out piles of ash and charred bones. The smell of death, decay and burnt flesh triggered her already weak stomach, but she was too weak to even throw up. So, she simply laid there on the pile of dead bodies, waiting for her turn in the large furnace.
The present Kasumi who was watching this desperately wanted to leave the memory now, feeling like she'd seen enough, but she couldn't will herself to leave it. It seemed like the memory was only going to end when it was truly over. When she opened her eyes, she was still in the Lazaret, watching her past self do nothing but wait for the inevitable end. She was then forced to watch as she got picked up by the back of her soiled and ripped shirt and tossed into the furnace, then piles of others followed behind her. She then saw from the outside, the workers shutting the furnace doors after lighting the corpses on fire.
That's when Kasumi and Ember came out of the memory, and Kasumi collapsed down to the floor on her hands and knees, panting for air as her eyes filled up with tears.
"Enough memory searching for now?" Ember asked, looking at her concerned.
"Yeah… I'm done…"
…
At the palace, Portia led Julian, Asra, Muriel and Inanna down the hallways of the palace and was heading directly towards Nadia's bedchamber. Valdemar and Valerius had already gotten in there themselves, though, and saw Nadia sleeping peacefully on her bed. "Well, this is going to be easy." Valerius said to himself as he drew his sword from its sheath and walked over to the bed. What he failed to realize, though, was Chandra, who was perched on the windowsill on the side of the room. When she noticed him there with his sword drawn, she took off and used her talons to scratch at him as she flew passed. "You damn bird!" He swung his sword at Chandra, but she ducked at the last second and his sword ended up lodged in the overhead frame.
All the commotion woke up Nadia, and she hurried off the bed and quickly got to her feet as Valerius tried to get his sword unstuck while also trying to fend off Chandra's sharp talons.
"Useless…" Valdemar grumbled and they took out a vial from their pocket that was filled with green liquid, and grabbed Nadia. With their thumb, they opened up the vial while their other hand was trying to hold Nadia's mouth open. She was fighting them with everything she had, but was barely making an impact.
Just then, the door burst open, breaking the barrier that Valerius and Valdemar had tried to put up to keep someone from interfering. Not surprisingly, Muriel had broken through it like it was nothing, and Julian was the first to rush in, immediately making a b-line for Valdemar and tackling them to the floor, freeing Nadia in the process. When they were knocked down, the vial flew out of their hand and smashed on the ground. It seemed to be some sort of acid, as it ate away at the floorboards. Julian started hitting Valdemar with all his bent up rage, but was kicked off and Valdemar got back to their feet.
Portia immediately ran over to Nadia and hugged her. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine, Portia. You don't need to worry." Nadia hugged her back.
Valerius got his sword out finally after he managed to knock Chandra away and he swung it towards Nadia, but Portia protected her by ducking them both down. She then gripped Valerius's wrist and tried to knock the sword out of his hand, but he was stronger than she was and knocked her to the ground. Asra then ran over and wrestled Valerius to the ground, knocking the sword out of his hand, which Portia promptly picked up, tossing it to her brother, "Ilya!" With Valerius now unarmed, Asra grabbed the decanter on the nightstand on the side of the bed and smashed it over Valerius's head, knocking him unconscious as he landed on the bed.
Julian picked up the sword that Portia had thrown to him and slashed it against Valdemar's side, wounding them, and they fell back against the wall, clutching their side. Julian stood of them and lifted the sword up over his head, a scowl on his face as his eyes glowered with hatred. "I should have done this a long time ago!"
"Julian, you wouldn't truly kill someone, would you?" Valdemar seemed to taunt him. "That's not who you are. You couldn't kill Lucio, and you can't kill me."
Julian's hands were gripping the handle of the sword so tightly that they shook a bit, and his jaw was clenched tightly, but he then sighed as he dropped the sword. "I can't… no matter how much someone's hurt me, I just can't. I'm not a murderer."
"Well, that works out perfectly because I can kill you." Valdemar quickly picked up the sword, and pointed it straight at Julian's throat, but before they could actually do anything, Portia charged at them and knocked them back.
"Pasha!" When she tackled him, the sword had slashed at her arm, and before Valdemar could do anything else to Julian picked up the sword once again. This time, he showed no hesitation whatsoever and slammed the sword down onto Valdemar's chest after Portia moved out of the way. Valdemar tried to pull it out, but Julian kept it in, refusing to give them any chance of surviving this. It seemed that them hurting Portia was the absolute last straw for Julian, and he even twisted the sword to cause more damage. Within only a minute or so, Valdemar lost consciousness and took their last breath. Julian finally let go of the sword and looked over to see Asra tending to Portia's wound.
"Here, stay still." Asra said to Portia and used his magic to heal her wound.
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it." Asra then turned his attention to Valerius. "So, what are we going to do about him?"
"Well, he got out of the dungeon before, so… I'm not sure." Nadia sighed.
"Actually…" Julian and Asra looked at one another before Julian finished, "The only reason they got out was because of some traitorous guards. Asra and I already dealt with them. Maybe you should take a look in the dungeon more often…" Julian chuckled somewhat sheepishly.
"You just… left the bodies there?" Portia asked, and they both looked rather sheepish.
"Don't worry about it." Nadia assured them. "We'll worry about that later. For now, I'm just glad that you two discovered and took care of that problem." She looked at Valdemar's corpse. "And they're not going to be a problem anymore."
Julian sighed. "I let my rage get the best of me."
"Ilya…" Asra placed his hand on Julian's shoulder. "You did the right thing."
"I agree." Portia nodded as she placed her hand on her brother's other shoulder. "They were evil, through and through! They deserved the fate you gave them!" Nadia nodded in agreement as well.
"By the way," Nadia spoke up. "Where's Kasumi?"
Asra's eyes immediately started filling up with tears, so Julian pulled him close to try and comfort him. "She's gone…" Julian sighed sadly.
"Gone?"
"What do you mean she's gone?" Portia asked, sadly.
Julian lightly kissed Asra's forehead and ran his fingers through his hair before he answered them. "She was poisoned… and we arrived back at the shop too late."
Portia and Nadia both looked ready to cry themselves and Nadia wiped a tear from her eye before she spoke up again. "If that's the case, then… the least we could do is give her a marvelous funeral."
Not long after they had tossed Valerius back in the dungeon to await trial for his most recent crimes, Asra, Julian, Portia, Nadia, and even Chandra and Pepi were in the throne room. They all seemed to just stand there in silence until a couple guards came in, one of them was Ludovico. "Countess, there are two visitors here, they claim to be the magician's parents." Nadia allowed them to let them in after Asra encouraged her, and Salim and Aisha walked over after entering the room.
"What are you two doing here?" Asra asked.
"Yeah, where's Kasumi? I thought you two were watching her."
Salim didn't answer with words, and instead, simply smiled and motioned for the guards to let someone else in as well. The guards walked over and opened the door, letting in a familiar figure who walked in with a happy fox walking right beside her, and an equally happy snake around her shoulders. She smiled brightly and ran over as she called out, "Asra! Ilya!"
"Kasumi!" Asra cried and ran over to her, meeting her halfway and tackling her in an embrace, and Julian followed suit. "We thought we'd lost you!"
"Yeah, I mean, how did you…?" Julian stopped himself and shook his head, smiling happily. "Never mind. Who am I to question a miracle?"
Soon, Nadia and Portia walked over and joined in the embrace as well. "Oh, Kasumi, you had us all so depressed." Nadia sighed. After they all pulled away from Kasumi, she asked, "I wonder myself, though… how did you come back from the dead?"
"First let me ask… what happened with Valerius and Valdemar?"
"Valerius is back in the dungeon for good, and Valdemar is dead." Julian answered.
"If others were to discover the source of the poison that killed you and cut it off at its roots…" Kasumi muttered, repeating what The Magician had said to her.
"Beg pardon?" Nadia asked, confused.
"After my body died, my spirit went inside my own mind, and I saw The Magician there. It told me that if someone were to discover the source of the poison and cut it off at its roots, then I would awaken."
"You don't think…" Asra started.
"That Valdemar was the source?!" Julian finished, just as surprised and shocked.
"It would almost make sense, though…" Asra thought out loud. "I mean, I do remember seeing their viens glow when they said Kasumi was out of time."
"So… they used their own blood to poison Kasumi?" Portia asked.
"That does sound like something they would do." Julian growled. "Horrific, terrible, and downright insane. I just wonder why they waited so long to kill her if they could have at any time." He shook his head to stop his chain of thought. "Never mind. I'm overanalyzing everything when it doesn't matter again."
Kasumi chuckled. "That's just part of what makes you… you, Ilya," She tapped on her temple. "Always using your brain, even when you don't have to." They all laughed before Kasumi stretched and changed the subject. "You know what I could use right about now?"
"What's that?" Nadia asked.
"A nice hot, relaxing bath."
Nadia chuckled. "That can be arranged. Come with me." Kasumi followed Nadia down the hallways and to Nadia's private bath and given a fresh bathing robe by one of the servants. "Take your time." Nadia smiled before leaving Kasumi to herself.
Kasumi smiled and untied her hair, shed off her clothes and put on the robe, then sunk into the bath and sighed contently as she did. She leaned her head back against the side of the bath and let her eyes slip closed. After a minute or so, Kasumi opened her eyes when she heard the door open and close, and she turned her head to see that it was none other than Asra and Julian, wearing their own bath robes. She was suddenly reminded of the very first dream she'd ever had and couldn't help but smirk. "Did you two come to keep me company?"
"Yes, actually." Julian chuckled and got into the bath beside her while Asra did the same on the other side. He kissed the side of her neck and hummed contently. "So, I hope you don't mind if Asra and I have a bit of fun with you?"
"Mind? I don't mind at all." Kasumi said with a mischievous glint in her eyes, and the three of them laughed before Asra and Julian began showering her with affection. Kasumi sighed with a smile on her face and simply let them do what they wished with her. 'I am a lucky woman!' She thought.
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Hey everyone! Well, there it is! I hope this story has been a good one for all of you to enjoy! I certainly enjoyed writing it! I wanted it to end kind of like how it started, so I decided the whole bath scene was the best way to do that! Besides, who else thinks that sex in the bath is hot? Anyone?
Also, I know that I am going to put up an epilogue, or even a whole new sequel story if you guys want! I'm not sure if it's going to be set a bit in the future, or take place right after this. Please let me know your suggestions!
