Violet and Yellow
(An Epic Conquest Fanfiction: Louisa and Zerav)
Disclaimer: I neither own the Epic Conquest game nor its story and characters. I only own this fan fictional story.
Chapter 6: Frozen
Zerav sat at the topmost part of the tower that used to be his home or rather hideout in Salju Ridge, an area known for its extreme cold. The tower serves as the border between Salju Ridge and the Hargash Volcano, an area teeming with heat because of the lava that surrounds it. Zerav easily defeated the demons living in the tower and since then, it has become his place alone. No one dares to take it away from him and if there ever was, only demise awaits the unfortunate soul. The cold did not bother him either. The place was just perfect. Humans tried to battle with him but they never last more than a minute. That is because aside from the fact that Zerav is powerful, one must defeat the Bogu Warchief before they can battle Zerav in the tower. The Bogu Warchief is one of the three Bogus that the Demon Lord Marbas created, Zerav's archenemy. Zerav was glad that the bastard is dead. Defeating the trio Bogu and the Elite Demons is not an easy feat. But they easily defeated them and was still able to battle and defeat Zerav. Blue lunged at him with a burning passion of anger because of his soul contract with Edna, Edna just stared helplessly at him with her mind only thinking of saving her little brother, while Yellow gracefully supported Blue from afar and aimed at his blind spots. Zerav had to double his efforts then and when he was defeated, he agreed to help them save Edna's little brother so that he could also settle his personal grudge against Marbas.
"Keh! Those were the days." It was the first time he met them. He smiled. It was the first time he met her. His smile vanished.
"Since he is the Soul Collector, let us call him Mr. Soul." He gritted his teeth and pushed the thought away.
Zerav does not want to think about her. He was just supposed to be a demon who collects souls while finding a pure soul. And he finally found it in Edna. But everything changed when he met them. When he met her. Yellow. He does not know what to do anymore. Especially after what he did to her. It was unacceptable by human standards but from demon standards, well, it was normal.
"I love you even if you are a demon but I cannot have you because I am a noble!" He slammed his fist and it made a crack on the floor he was sitting with.
"Damn it! Stop thinking about her!" He did know why he did what he had done. His instinct told him to separate her from the man. His body then moved on its own. He was angry and he did not know why. He was overwhelmed by his feelings. He shouted at her. He hurt her.
"Damn!" He buried his face on his knees while hugging them tightly as an effort to drown out the thoughts.
"Alaster, why are we here?" Edna asked Alaster while holding his hand. They entered a very familiar village.
"Just some safety precautions. Who knows what that soul freak would do to us once he sees us." Alaster said then shrugged.
"Alaster..." Edna frowned at him and punched his shoulder lightly. She does not want Alaster to call Zerav with that nickname.
"Ow!" Alaster muttered fake-hurt. "He started it! He calls me Blue and Louisa as Yellow! I mean, who in their right mind would call someone based on their hair color?"
"Zerav." Edna answered flatly. They both stopped and snickered.
"Yeah, you got that right. The almighty Soul Collector, Zerav!" Alaster said in a voice mimicking that of a royal announcer.
"You mean, Mr. Soul. " Edna laughed loudly this time while wiping a tear in her eye. "Louisa calls him Mr. Soul. Very practical of her."
"Yeah." They both stopped laughing. Alaster helped wipe away her tears. "You said you cannot feel Zerav's presence in the Capital at all, right?" Edna nodded. Alaster still cupping her face.
"Then just in case we encounter something or he lashes out at us, we are prepared. Besides, I need to upgrade my weapon too." Edna chuckled and nodded once again. She squeezed his hand that was on her cheek and nuzzled into it.
"Thank you, Alaster." She smiled tenderly and he gave her the same smile in return.
"Do not worry anymore, all right?" He kissed her forehead. "I am here. We will take the moping prince charming away from his castle, make him wake up the sleeping princess, and save their love story! We are awesome, right?" Edna just chuckled.
"Right." They held out each other's hand again.
"My, my. What a lovely couple, you two." Both blushed at the compliment.
"Hello, Miss Lea." Edna greeted.
"Please." Lea waved them off. "I told you to just call me Lea."
"Sorry, Lea." Edna corrected herself, embarrassed.
"Well, what can I do for the two of you?" Lea asked flashing her sweetest smile.
"We need supplies. And I need to see Leo." Alaster answered.
"Just go over his place, then. And take your time! Edna and I have a lot to talk about." She said then winked. The couple looked at each other and smiled. Alaster gave her hand one last squeeze before going to Leo's shop.
"Alaster, my hero knight! What a surprise, man!" They did a fist bump.
"Hey, kid. You are still a kid." Leo pouted while Alaster smirked. "But you've grown taller." Leo's face lit up with pride. "And stop calling me hero knight." He put his sword and shield on the table.
"Well, you and sister Edna first save this village from those bogu demons therefore you are our heroes." Leo said while inspecting the weapons.
"We just did what we had to do." Alaster sighed. "Besides, at that time, I do not know her."
"Right. You two first met here in our village." Leo started upgrading the weapons.
"Yeah. This brings back memories." Alaster smiled with a faraway look in his face. He started to reminisce their moments together. He was interrupted by a clearing of throat.
"That would be 100,000 gold." Leo had a smug look on his face. Alaster ignored it, blush on his cheeks.
"Here." Alaster gave the payment then put his weapons back to their place.
"What about your sockets? Do you not want to replace them?"
"Nah. They are still good." Alaster tapped on his gauntlet then went on his way.
"Enjoy your date, hero knight!" Leo shouted with a smile. Alaster just waved back.
After Edna bought all their needed consumables, the two bade goodbye to Lea and Leo and started their journey towards Salju Ridge. Edna had a hunch that Zerav was there especially since that was the place where they first met him. Louisa was with them at that time.
Louisa... When Edna first met Louisa, she was afraid of her. Not afraid as in with the demons but afraid as in with her personality. Like when she lectured Alaster and Edna found out that he was a total troublemaker plus when Louisa found out that she is a Witch.
But her first impression completely changed when she got to know Louisa more. Louisa even gave her advice on her feelings for Alaster and then she got to spend time with her after their adventure ended and especially when Louisa was hiding from the aftermath of her engagement. Among their team, Alaster is the reckless one, she is the happy-go-lucky one, Louisa is the rational one, and Zerav, well, he is Zerav. Without Louisa, their team would be long gone. From the tension between Alaster and Zerav to the awkwardness between her and Zerav, Louisa acts as a buffer for all of them. She is the brain of the team. But from her condition right now... She really hoped they can convince Zerav to go with them.
"I am afraid this is beyond our abilities, Your Grace." Raya said bowing. The other healers followed her example.
"Elaborate." Duke Louis looked at them sternly making them flinch. Raya took a deep breath.
"Miss Louisa is in a comatose state." A collective gasp was heard all over the room. Louisa's mother, Duchess Marissa, began to cry more. Louisa's head maid, Marie, comforted her rubbing soothing circles on her back.
"Her vital signs are all normal despite her body being cold. We believe that the reason why her body is cold and she is not waking up is because her soul is frozen. It is the result of too much exposure to the souls." Raya explained further. At her signal, another healer named Sena stepped forward.
"From what Miss Edna and Sir Alaster saw on her battle, the demon was taking Miss Louisa's soul from two directions. One is by trapping her downwards in a chasm and second is by trapping her above in an oblivion field. The opposite pull resulted in her soul being slowly ripped apart. Mana provides our body natural healing abilities and drinking potions could increase its effects. In Miss Louisa's case, her mana tried to heal her, but because the injured area is her soul, it could only stop the rip hence her soul being frozen which also resulted in her body being cold and being in a coma." Sena bowed then went back from her previous position. Silence filled the whole room.
"You cannot heal her." Duke Louis stated afterwards. All healers began trembling at his statement. The atmosphere became more heavy.
"Yes, we cannot, Your Grace. We apologize for our-" Raya bowed deeply and so did the others but before she can finish her sentence, a teacup went flying past their heads. All of them flinched.
"Darling!" Duchess Marissa stood up and held his arm in order to stop her husband. The Duke ignored her.
"Get out, useless healers!" Duke Louis roared in outrage. Another teacup went flying, and then an empty teapot, eventually, the whole tea set and everything that is in the Duke's way despite his wife chastising his actions.
"Y-Your Grace, the only one who can save Miss Louisa is the demon who did this to her." Raya said bravely, still bowing deeply to the Duke. This made the Duke stop for a moment but his anger doubled and was about to throw a vase directly at them this time but the Duchess shouted on the top of her lungs.
"Louis Roscent, stop this disgraceful behavior this instant! You are throwing a tantrum like a child for goodness' sake!" The Duchess started controlling her breathing, anger visible in her face, and tears streaming from her eyes. The Duke lowered down the vase, unable to look at his wife in her eyes. He clenched his fists.
"Do you think you are the only one who is hurting? Everybody here is worried for our daughter! Do you think you are the only one who wants her healed completely? I do, too! Yet you, or we, cannot and should not blame the healers for things that are beyond their control! Do you think our daughter would want you, or our family, doing this? Looking like this?" She paused and wiped her tears then turned towards the still bowing healers.
"Raise your heads, healers." The command in her voice made everyone snap in attention. The healers did as they were told.
"The Roscent family is grateful for your services." She said then curtsied at them. The healers looked at her agaped. "Please excuse my husband's behavior earlier." The Duke let out a grunt but still would not meet anyone in the eye.
"W-We are grateful to be of service too, Duchess Marissa. But please do not do that again. Do not curtsy or bow at us. We are only healers. Witches. We are unworthy." Raya said then bowed low. Edna can feel the sadness of her fellow Witch in her voice.
"You are worthy." Again, everybody's attention went to the Duchess. "No one is ever unworthy be it a servant, a knight, or a Witch. Remember that." Raya and the healers could only nod. A small smile showed on their faces and everybody else too, except, well, the scowling Duke.
"Marie, escort them outside and give their payment."
"Yes, Duchess Marissa." The healers went out with Marie. Edna gave Raya a pat in the back and squeezed her hand. Raya just smiled at her and excused herself.
"Edna. Alaster." Both snapped in attention towards her. "You are my daughter's friends. You know what to do."
"You can count on us, Duchess." Alaster straightened his back. Edna gave her a nod.
That was how they got themselves into a quest of finding Zerav. They decided to restock at Lea and Leo's village first. Edna did not sense Zerav anywhere in the Capital so they decided to go to the tower in Salju Ridge where they found and fought Zerav in their last adventure. She still cannot get over what happened back in Louisa's room. It is certain now where Louisa got her commanding attitude. Duchess Marissa may just be a noble lady but she is a formidable woman. Someone whom you should not mess with.
A/N: First of all, I would like to apologize for not updating. Life keeps throwing things at me left and right. Believe me, the whole month of June 2021 was one of my dark times. That is why, when I read my first review, I was so happy! It was like a light at the end of the tunnel. It really helped. And now, I just read the second review. Arigato gozaimasu futari-tomo! You do not know how grateful I am for the reviews. I hope this chapter made up for my absence. Second, I would just like to say that there will be no specific update time. I am writing this story during my free time, after all. But that does not mean I would not finish it. I do not leave my stories with no ending (Yes, I am writing other stories too. Just not posting them here in ff hehe.)! Thank you once again and keep safe minna-san!