Be Blinded by the Truth

By generalquistis

Chapter Five: A City of Memories and Dead People

When Sara woke up around noontime, she realized that she was back in her room. Initially, she wondered what she was doing there while she could clearly remember that she was in Skurai's room and had fallen asleep while sitting on the floor and resting her head on his bed since it was her idea to guard him while he was unconscious and injured especially since he just suffered from another grueling mind-control episode with Talatsu.

As she stared up at the ceiling with a dazed look on her face, she finally recalled slowly the other events that happened the other night from where she fainted because of loss of blood and up to the time when she was lingering before losing consciousness. Slowly, she lifted her injured wrist close to her face, staring at the bandages wrapped securely around it. Her blood had stained the area where the wound was, and she cringed at the sight of it. She never really liked seeing her own blood.

Conditioning herself to get up to go and see where Skurai was (she just wanted to make sure he does not run away and look for Talatsu), she used her uninjured hand to lever herself up so she could sit down. She still felt weak but she knew she had to do her duties for Freya. And she still has a lot of researching to do about Titania. "Whoever she is." Sara thought with a disgusted look on her face as she forced herself to get out of bed, but she froze when she heard someone enter through the door. She turned her gaze to the door and she stiffened when she saw her father. She was not really used to seeing her father showing concern to her especially since she could recall that the last time she has ever seen him with a kind look on his face was when she was just a little girl… before he killed her mother. Shaking those thoughts off, she frowned at him, not wanting to discuss about what happened to her last night because she knew he was looking at her injured wrist. Besides, she knows that her father would hate it if something bad happened to her… especially since he never really looked like the type of person to trust Skurai.

"Skurai told me what happened last night." Lord Irine told her as he approached.

She just looked away.

"I told you not to train yourself at night when it's very dark. Now look what you've done. You injured yourself." He told her gently as he reached out for her injured hand and examined her wrist.

Sara was surprised at what he said.

They were interrupted when the door just burst open again and there was Skurai standing by the doorway, looking at them with a cold look on his face.

Lord Irine took a glance at him and then turned back to his daughter.

Skurai saw the scornful look on Sara's face and it made him smile mockingly at her. "I'm sorry if I disturbed your little father-and-daughter moment. But I sensed that Princess Sara is awake and I thought of resuming my job in guarding her while she's recuperating from her injury and make sure that she doesn't wander off somewhere and injure herself again." he said with a hint of sarcasm that Lord Irine had not noticed.

Lord Irine smiled bitterly at Sara and patted her head gently. "Just lie down and rest, my dear. You need it. I'll just ask the servants to bring in some food for you here so you can have your lunch. I'm sure you're hungry." He told her gently.

"I'm not hungry." Sara said while her jaws were clenched in annoyance. She put her feet back on the bed and just sat still, looking away.

"You have to eat to regain your strength and energy, Sara." Her father insisted before letting go of her and turned to Skurai. "Skurai, I trust you to make sure she eats well. If she doesn't, spoon-feed her." He instructed.

Sara turned back to her father with a mortified look on her face. "Dad!" she cried out in protest.

Skurai's smile widened. "Yessir!" he said, saluting before approaching Sara as Lord Irine left the room. As soon as the door closed, he sneered at Sara, "You hear that? I just saved your ass, bitch." He told her.

She stared glumly at him. "You're the biggest asshole I've ever met." She muttered before looking away.

"I deserve a thank-you for not telling the truth to your father." He told her as he plopped down on her bed.

"Get off my bed." She ordered sternly through clenched teeth.

"No. It's too comfortable." He responded, meaning to annoy her.

She tried pushing him off but he was too heavy for her and she still has not regained enough strength to do so. She gave up and just leaned back on her pillows exasperatingly. "If my father sees you lying down on my bed, he is going to get suspicious." She told him.

"So let him get suspicious. I don't mind punishment." Skurai said, shrugging while staring up at the ceiling.

She just looked at him and then sighed heavily. "Very well." She looked away and crossed her arms, feeling helpless in her current situation… and there are several issues bothering her at that moment.

Especially that of Titania… whoever she is.

Gathering enough guts to talk about it, she began, "Skurai,"

The way she mentioned his name made it seem to him like it rung a bell from somewhere in his memory. He was not able to respond quickly to her calling.

"Hey," she insisted on getting his attention.

He blinked, forcing himself back to reality. "…What is it, Princess?" he asked with a mocking tone.

She swallowed hard, making sure not to look at him. "Who is Titania?" she asked with a hard tone.

The name made his heart skip a beat and he felt stunned for a few moments before he snapped back to his senses when he heard her say, "I think you failed to hear me. Do you want me to repeat the question?" she asked.

He frowned but he could not look at her. "Why do you wish to know?" he asked.

She lowered her gaze to the floor. "You called me by that name several times already. And I dream of her too. And… I see her… in my mind." She explained rather hesitantly.

Skurai was quiet for a while, thinking about what she had just said. "You're making it up." He decided coldly.

"I am not making it up." She insisted with a hard tone.

"Well then somebody told you about her!" he snapped as he sat up and turned his gaze to her sharply. "Who told you, Sara? Huh?" he demanded with a whispery tone.

She swallowed hard, still not even bothering to look at him. "Nobody told me." She responded.

He crawled onto her and grabbed her jaw with his hand and turning her head so that she could face him properly. She was surprised at this sudden action of his. He looked threateningly at her, "You're lying." He decided.

She remained poker-faced as she stared into his eyes. "Fine. If you don't believe me, I won't force you to do so. Now could you please let me go?" she asked calmly.

His frown deepened as he stared into her blue eyes. She seemed to be serious, but then again, he could not really trust her, right? "She works for Freya. Why should I trust her?" he was thinking to himself before he let her go and just sat down on the bed beside her.

She felt uncomfortable having him beside her so she crossed her arms and just bowed down her head and turned her gaze away from him.

Skurai sat still for a while and then took a deep breath, "She's the princess I was serving before. I was… a Crusader and I trained the greenhorns. And I was assigned to become her bodyguard." He explained with a hesitant tone.

She felt her heart skip a beat but she did not react further. She kept still, pretending not to care. But she wanted to know more so she asked, "Where is she now?"

He was observing her through the corner of his eye and he looked away, turning his head to the side. "She's dead."

"She was killed." She pointed out.

"How did you know?" he demanded, turning to her again.

"I just know. I don't expect you to understand but I just know." She pointed out before she decided to get out of bed. "I need to get out of here." She muttered before rushing to her dressing room to get dressed in her everyday normal clothes… but to her annoyance, all she found were dresses and gowns fit for a Princess like her. "Where are my clothes?" her mind was screaming before picking up a light pink satin empire-cut gown with puffy sleeves. "Like, oh my gawd…" she muttered in disgust.

Skurai remained seated on the bed, waiting for her to come out from the dressing room so that he could follow her out of the room and do his "guarding" duties even though he did not want to.

Fifteen minutes later, she still hasn't come out. "Sara!" he called out impatiently as he got out of bed and walked over to the door of her dressing room. He knocked violently against the wooden door. "Sara!" he called out.

No answer.

He clenched his fists before attempting to open the door, and he was surprised that it was unlocked. He stepped inside, not caring if she could still be indecent or not. She was getting into his nerves.

But to his surprise, there was no one there… and the window was open. "Shit!" he uttered in shock as he ran towards the window and peered outside.

No one there.

"I thought she's still weak?" he reacted in annoyance before jumping out of the window in an attempt to go directly to the ground and start searching for her in case she escaped.

And when Sara figured that he was out of the window, she stepped out of one of her closets with a mean smile on her face. "I'll bet his intelligence level is only 1." She thought before rushing out of her dressing room wearing the satin gown with puffy sleeves. "Gross." She muttered as she passed by a full-length mirror, not used to herself wearing such gowns.

She got her Haeryongdo from under her bed and dragged it with her as she got out of her room. "Papa!" she cried out as she made her way through the hallways leading to the living room where she could hear people laughing as if there was a party in there. She figured that her father could be there entertaining the guests, and upon arrival in the living room, she was right.

She could recognize those people from somewhere in her childhood.

Relatives.

They all fell silent when they sensed that someone was at the door… and they wondered why Sara was holding a sword.

Lord Irine got up from a couch and approached his daughter, "Sara, my dear. Why are you holding that sword? I thought I told you to rest?" he asked gently.

She was stunned as she looked up at her father. She still could not get over the fact that he had already died… and now he was alive and standing before her, looking concerned about her safety and health.

He smiled lovingly at her and gestured for her to put her sword away. "Just put it there for a while and join us here. We missed you, Sara." He told her.

She gazed up at him in wonder before deciding to obey. She let her sword rest against the wall by the door and turned back to her father whose arms were open wide as if waiting for her to come to his embrace. She stood still for a while, staring hard at her father, and then scanning the looks on everybody's faces. They were all smiling, but there seemed to be a distant look in their eyes. "Why are you all smiling?" she asked softly in confusion. She felt like Freya was playing with her. "These people are supposed to have died along with the Fayon when it was destroyed…" she was thinking to herself.

"Give your father a hug, Sara." She heard her mother instruct her. She turned her gaze to her mother who was seated by the piano.

Sara was hesitant before finally walking up to her father and he embraced her. She rested her head on his chest as he patted her back gently. "My dearest daughter." He said softly.

She frowned as her eyes widened upon realizing that she could not hear a heartbeat. And his hands felt strangely cold. She swallowed hard and withdrew from him, looking up at him in shock. "…daddy?" she asked, feeling her heart sinking.

He was still smiling at her.

She reached for his hand, feeling it against hers… and then she tried to feel some pulse on his wrist.

Nothing.

She shivered as she let go of her father and took a few steps backward. She then turned her gaze to her mother and to her other relatives. They had the same smiles on their faces as her father.

"We love you, Sara. You're the only daughter we have." Lord Irine said.

Sara turned her gaze back to her father sharply. "Your only daughter?" she asked, raising her eyebrow.

Everyone was silent.

"What about Iris?" Sara asked, feeling the need to ask about it. The whole situation was driving her nuts. What could Freya possibly want from these people and she has turned them into zombies?

"Who's Iris?" Lord Irine asked.

Sara's eyes widened. "Iris? Like, my half sister?" she asked.

"What is she talking about, dear?" Sara's mother asked him as she got up from the piano.

"You have no half-sister, Sara. You're my only child!" Lord Irine answered.

"I think you're confused, Sara. You must've had a bad dream while you were asleep this morning." Her mother responded with a gentle smile on her face as she approached her daughter. "Why don't you relax for a while and play us a piece I taught you when you were still a little girl?" she asked sweetly as she led Sara towards the piano.

"…But mother… I…" Sara began, and then grabbed her mother's hand, feeling for any pulse on the wrist.

Sara felt her heart sink when she realized that her mother's hands were cold and that she had no pulse just like Lord Irine. She slowly let go of her mother's hand and she gazed into her eyes with a hurtful look on her face. "Who did this to you?" she asked softly.

Her mother just smiled at her. "This is Freya's will, Sara." She told her gently as she guided her to sit down on the piano stool.

Sara turned to her father as if seeking for answers in his eyes, but they looked so distant. He just smiled at her. "Let's hear you play the piano, Sara." He said gently.

Sara still felt stunned as she stared at the ebony and ivory keys of the piano. "What does Freya really want? Why is she doing this? I'm surrounded by zombies!" she was thinking to herself. And then she remembered Skurai as she began to play the piano mindlessly. "I'll have to talk to Freya…" she thought as she closed her eyes and tried to communicate mentally with her Mistress while playing mindlessly a piece that she had never really.

oOoOo

Skurai could hear the piano playing from inside the Palace and he instantly recognized the tune. He turned back towards the palace, as if drawn to it by the music.

"I've heard that before…" he thought to himself as he started to walk back inside, following the sound until it led him to the living room.

But he did not step inside. He just stood by the doorway, listening and staring at Sara with a look of awe on his face.

And as he observed her, several memories began to flood his head, making him confused. He clenched his fists as he narrowed his eyes on her. "She is… not… her…" he was reminding himself as he grabbed his new sword, the Masamune, and held on tightly to its handle as he stared at Sara.

Sara continued to play, unaware of Skurai's presence. Her audience had their eyes and ears on her, also unaware of his presence.

Sara continued to concentrate. "Mistress, why won't you answer me?" she was thinking as she kept her eyes closed.

Feeling annoyed, she did not bother to finish the piece anymore. She just banged her hands on the keys, creating a distorted noise… but to her surprise, her audience still applauded happily.

"Splendid, Sara!" she heard her father say.

"Encore!"

"Bravo!"

"Play another one!"

"Can you play three more?"

Sara was stunned. "Oh my God. They're… not themselves…" she was thinking as she began to play random notes that did not really make any sense and it became a distorted melody that she had just made up at that time to see if they could understand it. Then she stopped.

They still applauded and begged for an encore.

And they were not being sarcastic.

Sara narrowed her eyes at them and she retorted, "Who are you people?"

Everyone fell silent.

"Silly, we're your family, Sara." Lord Irine answered with a gentle smile on his face.

Sara just got up with a confused look on her face and she ran to get her sword and went to the door, surprised to see Skurai there, but she did not say a word to him. She just ran passed him.

Skurai ran after her, "Sara!" he called out.

"I have to get out of here!" her mind was screaming as she made her way out of the palace with Skurai following close behind her.

As she passed by some people, they all had the same distant looks on their faces. "Damn. They're all zombies just like my parents!" she thought to herself as they greeted her, "Good afternoon, Princess Sara!"

"Good afternoon my ass…" Sara was thinking as she continued to run until she saw the exit to the forests. However, when she tried to run through it, she felt an invisible barrier push her backward against Skurai and the force was so great that he was not able to maintain his balance. They fell onto the ground.

"Argh!" they both reacted in pain and surprise.

Skurai pushed her off of himself and he instantly got up, dusting himself, not caring if he had hurt her. "What the f…?" he approached the exit and touched it. He frowned when he realized that there was an invisible barrier there. "What is this?" he demanded in annoyance.

She rubbed her lower back in annoyance as she got up and dusted herself. "I think someone's trying to prevent us from leaving this place." She told him with a frown on her face, eyeing the exit. She looked up at the skies as if searching for an answer there. "What does Freya want? Why can't she tell me what her plans are?" she was thinking to herself.

Skurai flashed her a mean smile as he turned around to face her again. "Looks like your Mistress has turned against you, huh, Princess?" he asked mockingly.

She looked at him. "Everything happens for a reason." She told him simply, and then she felt as if her words had struck her too. And she frowned.

"No. It doesn't." he muttered before turning back towards the exit. "Let's see how dull the blade of this sword is." He said before raising it up and then attempted to slash the barrier.

Skurai waited for a few moments before trying to get his hands through the exit… but it could not go through the invisible barrier. "Curse your goddess!" he cried out in frustration before turning back to her with an angry look on his face.

She just stared blankly at him. "Let's try the other exits." She muttered before turning away from him and proceeded to the other end of the city.

He rolled his eyes before proceeding to follow her. "Why do you want to leave? I thought you're serving your Mistress here by keeping me under your nose?" she demanded with a mocking tone.

"That's what I know. Now I don't know what to think." She admitted frustratingly.

"Ahah. I told you she has turned against you. She is just using you. Why serve that good-for-nothing goddess if all you'll get is this?" he asked.

She just kept quiet.

"And don't tell me that everything happens for a reason because they don't!" He told her impatiently.

"I wasn't saying anything." She muttered, trying to keep her patience as she sped up. "Just keep quiet, Skurai. I don't want to hear anything more from you about Freya." She commanded.

"And what are you going to do about it? As if she would do something bad to me? She is not the one I am worshipping." He said.

"I don't care who your god is; leave mine alone." She responded.

"I have no god." he said with a cold look on his face as he caught up with her and grabbed her by the wrist. "There's no way we can get out of this hell so why bother trying the other exits? Let's just fly off." he told her sternly.

She looked at him with a blank look on her face before shrugging. "You fly first." She said before pulling her wrist away from him.

He smiled slyly at him. "Fine." He said before flying upward… and then upon reaching a certain altitude, he stopped and was pushed a little downward by another invisible force. "Son of bitch!" he cried out in annoyance before landing on the ground before Sara and charged at her, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her violently. "You and your goddess! What do you want from me? Why can't you just let me be? And where is Talatsu?" he demanded angrily.

She shuddered upon seeing the look in his eyes. Rage. She cringed and pushed him away, but when he grabbed her again, she slapped his face. "Bastard! Don't you ever touch me like that again!" she cried out to him.

Skurai was stunned at first but he wondered why nobody else was reacting to their showcase of violence. He looked around, observing how the passersby were behaving. They were acting as if a man and a woman with swords were not even bickering in the middle of the street.

"What's going on with your people?" he asked with a confused look on his face.

"They're not mine. I think they belong to Freya now." She said rather hesitantly as she slightly bowed down her head.

"You mean they're hypnotized?" he asked, turning to her.

"They're all dead. They're zombies now. Even my own parents are zombies." She told him.

"What?" he asked in shock.

She saw the way he was reacting and looking at her. "Well… at least he's not under Talatsu's control now…" she thought to herself before turning away. "Every single living person you're seeing in Fayon right now, except for you and I, are zombies." She told him with a slight smile on her face. "I guess this is part of Freya's plan." She decided.

Skurai was not sure but she sounded exasperated when she said that. "But where is Talatsu?" he asked.

"You don't need Talatsu anymore. You have a new weapon. Make use of it." He heard someone answer from behind him.

It was Muninn, and Huginn was standing behind her.

Sara frowned upon seeing them.

"Talatsu will lead me to her. Where is Talatsu?" Skurai insisted with an angry look on his face.

Muninn just smiled at him. "You don't need Talatsu anymore, Skurai." She repeated before turning her gaze to Sara. "Hello, Sara. My, my. That dress suits you well. Especially when your hair isn't in a ponytail… just like your current hairdo right now." She said.

Sara just turned away.

"Princesses shouldn't act that way, Sara. You should be thankful that someone's giving you good compliments." Muninn told her.

"Well, haven't you heard of spoiled Princesses?" Sara responded arrogantly, rolling her eyes.

Muninn chuckled lightly. "Silly Sara. You weren't spoiled before as a Princess." She said.

"I was never a Princess. Iris was the Princess and I was just… a nobody." Sara muttered. "And Papa favored her more than me…" she thought silently with a bitter look on her face. "Everybody in this town is better off dead. But they're alive. Is this really Freya's plan or maybe Odin's plan?" Sara asked, feeling suspicious about the presence of Muninn and Huginn.

"I'm afraid we cannot tell you." Muninn said with a singsong tone. "You need to learn how to face your fears, Sara. Only then will you know the truth." She added.

"Fears? What fears? I don't fear anything!" Sara protested, turning back to them with an angry look on her face. "You're just playing with my mind!" she told them.

"If that's what you want to think, Sara. It looks like you'll be staying in this city for years if you don't figure it out for yourself." Muninn said before she and Huginn finally disappeared.

Sara and Skurai just stood still for a moment, thinking of what else to do.

"Argh! Goddammit! I need Talatsu! Where did you hide him?" Skurai demanded, breaking the silence between the two of them.

"What do you need it for? I think you're better off without him because you're saner and you look more decent without that effing sword!" she snapped before she turned and walked away. "I'm going home. If you want to try getting out of here then do so. I won't stop you." She told him.

Skurai just watched her walk away from him. He rolled his eyes. "Don't mind if I do." He muttered before levitating upward again to try to cut the barrier.

Sara could sense him doing several attempts to cut the barrier around Fayon even as she arrived in her bedroom and sat down on her bed, contemplating on herself and on what Freya could possibly want from her.

…and then she began to think of Titania. She shook her head in annoyance. "No. I can't be her! That's impossible!" she told herself as she got up and looked at herself in the mirror. She frowned when she studied her image. Then she noticed her bandaged wrist and looked at it for quite some time. "If Skurai wasn't nice enough, he would just leave me bleeding to death. But he treated my wound." She looked up at her face again in the reflection on the mirror. "Or maybe he has an agenda of his own." She muttered. He turned away from the mirror and walked over to the window. Her view overlooked the whole town and she could see Skurai flying up, and then trying his best to slice open the barrier. And nobody cared.

"This really is a ghost town now." She thought miserably as she bowed down her head, remembering her parents from the living room.

"Sara," she heard a voice say from the door.

She instantly turned to the door and saw his father standing there with a solemn look on his face, but his eyes still gave off a kind of gaze that gave her the impression that he had no soul and that he was just a puppet now. She swallowed hard. "…Papa," she said softly.

Lord Irine examined the look on her face. "You look sad, my Sara. Why?" he asked.

She clenched her fists as she fully faced him. "Who are you?" she demanded.

He just smiled at her.

"Is Freya the one manipulating you?" she demanded as she walked over to him with a threatening look on her face.

Lord Irine bowed down his head and took Sara in his arms, surprising her.

He smiled bitterly, although his eyes were still lifeless. "Everything you have ever wanted is being granted by the goddess." He whispered in her ear.

Her eyes widened upon hearing that.

"Everything your heart has ever desired." He elaborated.

Sara gasped slightly upon remembering that as a child, she had hoped to live in the palace with her mother and father. And in her childhood, she knew she had no sister. "So that's why… he doesn't know who Iris is now…" she thought silently. She did not know whether she should get angry or happy or what. Why is Freya doing this to her?

"But… you're dead!" she told him with a trembling tone.

He just nodded sadly.

Sara withdrew from her father with a confused look on her face.

"I love you Sara. Papa just wants you to be happy." He told her gently.

Sara could not understand the sudden whirl of emotions taking over her. And she just began to cry and she embraced her father tightly. "Papa," she cried out.

Everything your heart has ever desired…

"I'm sorry for hurting your feelings before, Sara," he said softly as he embraced her back.

She just continued to cry. She felt that what he had just said really came from his heart and not just because it was programmed into his mind as a puppet controlled by Freya's will and power.

"I love you too, Papa. And I'm sorry…" Sara said softly.

They did not even notice Skurai watching them from the window… and he was eyeing Sara with disdain.