Hello. This is your pal, Jude Warble.
Important Note: I will not repeat the Deaths of characters on each Solo, Duo or Trio Ending because it will just consume the plotline and it would be a useless repeat. Just so you all know.
And with that out of the way, please enjoy this fanfic, and as always, stay breezy!
Unknown Location
"The Witch of Lust, you say? You don't look like one to me..."
"I-I'm sorry...Please don't h-hit me..."
"...You really don't need to apologize. Also, I won't hit you"
Shadow sweatdropped, his mind being in a jumbled mess of anger and confusion.
Obviously, Echidna seemed to enjoy toying with him as if he was a little kid, and that truly brought him to the peak.
However, one thing made him even angrier than the fact that Echidna was playing mind games with him.
"Why...?" He asked, his eyes being shadowed by his hair, to which it made Carmilla slightly shudder as the killing intent reached her.
"Why...What?" She mumbled, causing Shadow to direct his glare of absolute anger and hatred towards her, making Carmilla flinch and back away.
"Why the fuck did you delude me with Rem's face and voice?! What the shit where you trying to do?!" Shadow half-yelled at Carmilla.
Shadow knew very well that this was some sort of a twisted effect of an Authority. He could feel the energy of the lingering remnants of a Witch Factor and the repulsive, putrid scent of the Witch Miasma, but what actually made him angry was the fact that Carmilla was using Rem's shape and voice to soothe him.
This was nothing but humiliation to Rem, and Shadow would never accept that on her.
"I-I was, wasn't...Transforming...Though? I-If I look...Looked like, someone else then...That's b-beca...Because, you wanted to see...That...Yeah?" Carmilla stuttered, her eyes holding tears on her corners, which was an obvious reaction, considering the fact that Shadow was literally directing his killing intent to her, despite the fact that he was refraining from hitting her a few moments ago.
"...What the fuck...Are you saying?" Shadow asked from behind his gritted teeth.
"I, mean...I didn't even...W-Want to, meet you. E-Echidna-chan, told me to...Come, so...And she, lied...Too..." Carmilla mumbled, her words exacerbating Shadow's annoyance and riling him up even further.
The way she talks, the way she glances around, the way she lowers her eyes when she senses his gaze on her, absolutely all of it grinds his gears. And that sissyish way she speaks, and her sulky complaints.
Being that what she's trying to say isn't communicating clearly, she could not know how important a thing for Shadow she had just stomped all over.
Irritating. Aggravating. He'd like to start raving, make her know it.
"Do you understand...What the fuck you just did...?" Shadow muttered, feeling the grip on his nerves becoming loose with every word Carmilla spoke.
"Echidna-chan, said...I-I, just had to...Spoil him, but...And that, doing that...It'd all work...Out fine, but it was...Like that...A-And I, I even told her I...Didn't wanna" Carmilla kept on speaking while shivering, disregarding the fact that veins literally popped all over Shadow's entire face.
"Listen to me!" Shadow yelled at her.
"E-everyone's...Ganging up, to...Pick on me, is what...They're doing. Echidna-chan's d-doing it. She's, is, she's awful...Aw...Awful" Carmilla kept throwing a tantrum like a kid, even though Shadow just yelled at her.
It was then when Shadow had enough. His anger reaching its peak. He began to march towards Carmilla's cowering form, thinking about the first action that he would use against her. Slap her? Punch her? Beat her to a pulp? Strangle her? Burn her alive? Skin her?
It didn't matter, as long as he can shut her up to stop her whining and make her learn her mistakes.
"Anymore than that would be troublesome"
"?!"
The voice rang within Shadow's head, and immediately, Carmilla vanished into a torrent of mist just as Shadow's hand was about to reach her, being replaced with Echidna, who was flashing a calm smile at him.
Shadow's eyes twitched violently, and veins popped rapidly around his entire face. This was getting more annoying by the second and his patience was running thin.
"...Why did you do this?" He only muttered his question.
"Why? You were really angry, so I did what I had to quell you rage" Echidna answered, before snapping her fingers, causing two cups of tea, alongside a plate of biscuits to appear on the tea table in front of them. Echidna then proceeded to sit down on a chair, resting her chin on the back of her clasped hands, still smiling calmly as she looked at Shadow.
"But hey, it did work out in the end, for better or worse, at least you're a little calm now that you have released all of your pent-up emotions on Carmilla, right?" Echidna asked.
"...So you were the one that planned on using the Witch of Lust as a scapegoat. You're really a coward" Shadow muttered, the veins all around his face slowly retracting back, before he sat down on the chair opposite to Echidna.
"I would prefer the term...Cunning, mind you" Echidna said.
"What the fuck were you plotting anyways by angering the shit out of me?" Shadow asked, still annoyed on the fact that she mentioned lots of details regarding his past.
"I'm a Witch, Shadow Terios. Isn't it a given? The plot's something nefarious" Echidna answered, still smiling.
"..." Shadow remained silent, staring at Echidna for a couple of seconds with his deadpan cold expression, before looking at Echidna's steaming tea, watching as his reflection on it was swaying a little, not caring that there was steam that would normally harm a normal person's eye.
"Still, I'm rather surprised" Echidna said, causing Shadow to direct her look at her, but he didn't say anything, ushering Echidna to continue speaking.
"Even when you're that weakened, you still resisted some aspects of Carmilla's Authority of Lust" She said.
"You mean the Faceless Bride?" Shadow asked.
"Yes. Normally, people affected by Carmilla's Authority forget to breathe and even their hearts forget to beat. So I was really amazed by you being capable of speaking normally in front of her" Echidna said.
"I'm sure that I don't have to explain it, but you do realize that as an Apex, I don't need to practice necessary activities that Mortals require to support themselves in life. Breathing, eating and resting are completely irrelevant to me. Besides, I don't have a need for organs like normal Mortals. My body is made of a cluster of energy created from the nine sources of energy that shape All Creation, and I don't even have a need for a soul because my entire existence as an Apex is nothing but independent residual thoughts" Shadow answered, causing Echidna to nod with her smile widening by the second.
"Mhm...I do know that, but it's still so interesting, you know" Echidna said.
"Still, that doesn't explain why you riled me up back then" Shadow asked, glaring at Echidna, only for said Witch to tap her finger on the tea table, causing Shadow to raise an eyebrow in confusion.
"I think that you asked lots of questions, but you didn't do your duty as a guest to the Tea Party. At least do just that and I'll answer whatever else you want" Echidna said, to which Shadow, who was slightly irritated at the slow pace and stalling of the conversation, proceeded to grab the teacup and gulped it down in one go, completely unaffected by the fact that it was a cup of hot tea that he swallowed just now. He then placed the teacup on the table, before using his sleeve to wipe his mouth.
"There. Would that count as me being a proper guest to your Tea Party?" Shadow asked, before he then blinked upon seeing Echidna having a rosy blush and a shy smile on her porcelain white face as she averted her face to the side while placing a palm on her cheek.
"It's a little embarrassing that you're quite enthusiastic with my bodily fluids" She said, and right upon saying that, Shadow fell off his chair, stood on all fours and started to hurl at the grassy ground.
"HUUUUUURRRRRRP! I COMPLETELY FORGOT!" He yelled, which made Echidna pout cutely.
"How rude of you to say that, even though a shy maiden brewed that tea with her maidenly heart" She said.
"As far as my knowledge about Mortals go, I don't recall hearing about maidens offering their bodily fluids to anyone!" Shadow yelled at her with a comical angry expression. He then shook his head before sitting back on the chair, and stared at Echidna.
"Echidna" He called out to the Witch.
"Yes?" She called back, still smiling.
"...I shall forget about this stupidity if you promise me that you have no more tricks to play on me, or anything else to hide from me" Shadow said, to which it made Echidna's smile widen.
"Well, now that you mention it...Hehe..." She giggled, causing Shadow to narrow his eyes at her, clearly annoyed from what she was about to say. He then saw her smile becoming calm, instead of the usual playful smile.
Echidna was being serious.
"If there is one thing that I forgot to mention...Is that not only there are seven Witches of Sin...They're actually nine" Echidna said, causing Shadow to blink in surprise, not being able to say anything due to the shocking statement.
"Or to be more precise...Eight Witches and one Warlock" Echidna continued, and that truly gained Shadow's attention.
"What do you mean? Who are those two?" Shadow asked, causing Echidna to giggle.
"Don't you want to meet Daphne first? We still have all the time we want here, so no need to rush yourself" She said, which caused Shadow to sigh slowly, realizing that Echidna was right.
"...Very well. Let me meet Gluttony" He said, before he saw Echidna's form starting to fade like mist.
"Your resolve is firm, then? Very well. Just remember my warnings" She said, before fading entirely, and Shadow had to recoil slightly at what had appeared next in front of him.
"Hey...Isn't that a little too much?" He said.
And he was right, to be honest.
Standing in front of him was a large black coffin with purple and pink decorations, with a pair of green glowing dots at the top of the coffin, resembling a pair of eyes.
What happened next was the most unnerving sight.
The coffin opened with a hissing sound, releasing steam from it as it opened, revealing a 14-year-old-child with ashen blonde hair that was tied in two tails that was chained to the coffin. She was dressed in a pitch-black straitjacket which she wore over her white clothing and both of her eyes were completely covered by a blindfold, wrapped to cross over the center of her face and her teeth were fanged, as well as the fact that she was constantly drooling, inside and outside her own mouth. The coffin then sprouted eight crab-like legs that found themselves landing on the grassy ground, supporting the coffin to 'stand'.
[Skill Learned: Bloodline Predator]
Shadow's Rune Stone Skill reacting to the girl in front of him and copying her Authority was the proof that this was the Witch that he wanted to meet.
"You wanted...To ask Daphne...The Witch of Gluttony...Something...Shadoown?"
At the same time. Mount Cordor
"We did it! All three of us!"
"That was...The strangest adventure that I've ever been part of"
"So many deaths 'cause of tha'creatcha. Ma' amazin' self doesn't know whadda do now..."
Otto, Heinkel and Garfiel released sighs of relief upon entering into the grounds of Mount Cordor, glad that the nightmare was over. And as the three stared at the close-to-set sun, they contemplated on their current predicament.
"Don't give up! We know...This is a hidden spot!" Otto exclaimed with a confident smile.
"So I'm not the only one who has the feeling that this happened before?" Heinkel asked, causing Garfiel's eyes to widen in surprise.
"Ya have this feelin' too? Tis weird t'b'honest. Ma amazin' self feels like we've been fightin' th'same fights a few times now" He said, completely stunned.
"What will we do next? We're not the only victims, are we?" Otto asked, worry plastered on his face.
"What 'bout Nee-chan and the Clown's little maid? Ma' amazin' self also thinks that Ram might be the victim" Garfiel said, worry finding its way to his face as well.
"Of course, with the Astrea influence and that pink Oni's power, that bastard can take over the whole world" Heinkel said with a glare, secretly worrying about his son as he looked at his still comatose wife that was held gently in his arms.
"Okay. That sounds crazy, but we have to move. We must help the others. If we sit here for any longer, we will die" Otto said.
"And what if we die?" Heinkel asked, which in turn made Otto smile.
"Then we just try again!" The merchant exclaimed.
"...Ya must've gone nuts, Merchant Boy" Garfiel said while shaking his head at Otto.
"Let's go!" Otto exclaimed once again, before he and his other two companions proceeded to descend Mount Cordor, heading towards Cramlin.
A few hours later. Cramlin. Nighttime
"I can't believe that we left our hiding spot. That's stupid"
"So ya thought that we're gonna live on that mountain foreva', didnya? Heh"
"That's not funny at all. If we're still alive, then that means that Exeller is pretty weak...For now"
Upon reaching the gates of Cramlin town, the three males voiced out their respective opinions regarding their current status.
"Alright, alright, girls. Let's go!" Heinkel exclaimed, smirking mockingly as he glanced at Garfiel before going past the gates of the town, with Otto following him. However, before Garfiel marched after them, he gasped as he realized something within Heinkel's words.
"Girls?! Who th'heck ya callin' a girl?!" He shouted angrily.
"Tinsel-san" Otto called to Garfiel with a grumble, causing Garfiel to growl at this, before following both Otto and Heinkel inside the town of Cramlin.
At the same time. Atop the mountain near Costuul
"I must be getting closer to Irlam, but there's no sign of anyone that I know. I wonder if they're alright"
Frederica, having climbed atop the mountain, was shivering slightly as the weather got cold once she reached the top. Obviously since the more she tried reached the atmospheric layer, the lower the temperature becomes.
However, what she didn't expect was that a blizzard would assault the mountain range that moment she reached the top. It didn't happen progressively, but it occurred instantly the moment she set foot on the top of the mountain.
"He can...Manipulate even the weather...That's on the level of the Great Spirit Puck-sama..." Frederica muttered while gritting her teeth, before she tried calming herself by taking in a deep breath, even though her lungs started to hurt due to the fact that she took in an extremely frigid air. Nevertheless, Frederica endured the pain, before she leaned to look from the top of the mountain and down to her destination, only to see a massive screen of fog obscuring her sight, which was natural due to the fact that she was at the top of a mountain, where she was progressively getting closer to the atmospheric layers of the planet.
"I can't see anything. This fog bothers me" She said., before sighing and looking at the sky.
"I hope everyone is alright" She muttered while clasping her hands together. She then descended the mountain, heading towards the direction of Irlam Village.
At the same time. Hanumas. Nighttime
Gasping for breath after running nonstop for a couple of hours, Petra's lungs were burning and her heart was beating rapidly.
"Lucas...He...Sacrificed himself for me..." She muttered, tears falling down her eyes.
"I...I have to survive...Just like he said. My friends. I need to find them, but I went to the opposite direction of The Sanctuary" She said, before an idea hit her in the middle of her panicked state.
"I can take a detour from The Lifaus Highway, but...It will be long" Petra muttered to herself, imagining how tiring the journey can be, and what would happen if that abomination caught up with her. She then slapped both of her cheeks with both hands to snap herself out of her pessimism, despite the fact that she was in an already overly pessimistic situation.
"I don't have any other choice. I must keep moving forward" She said to herself, before she took a turn towards the Lifaus Highway.
Petra, who was leaving Hanumas city, had absolutely no idea that the population of the entire city was completely annihilated, as in her panic to find a way to survive her impending doom, she was unaware of the fact that Hanumas was hushed as Death.
Well...Emphasis on the 'as'.
At the same time. Cramlin
Otto, Garfiel and Heinkel entered the silent Cramlin town. They kept on walking quickly, trying to survey the town for a carriage to head to Lugunica so that they can call for help, but sadly, they have been searching for thirty minutes in vain, not mention that the smell of blood was thickening with each step they took inside the town.
Suddenly, a figure appeared out of thin air, and even though she looked mutilated with her eyes and mouth stitched closed, the three males knew her immediately.
"Ram?!" Garfiel shouted her name.
"Huh?!" Otto recoiled back due to the frightening shape of the Oni maid.
"Ah...What?" Heinkel called out in confusion and Fear.
Ram EXE, however, didn't say anything. All she did was summon some form of a purple spherical shield into her right arm, and with one swift motion of said arm, she threw the shield as it had three curved blades protruding from it, causing it to resemble a large shuriken. The shield spun in the air, whistling as it instantly decapitated all the three males, causing their head to spin violently in the air and for their headless bodies to fall immediately on the ground, with Heinkel dropping Louanna as blood pools were formed underneath their headless corpses.
And as Ram EXE caught her shield that returned back to her, the heads of Otto, Garfiel and Heinkel fell with a sickening cracking sound as their skulls were crushed as it landed on the ground violently.
A few hours later. Lifaus Highway
She kept on running and running, even though her legs felt like they were moments from falling apart. She already knew what she was running from, even though she couldn't sense anything that was following her at the moment. She just couldn't bet her time when Death could be anywhere to take her soul. Another thing was the fact that snow started to fall, riddling the road with snow and making it difficult for her to run, slightly slowing her down. Not to mention the fact that it was a completely abnormal phenomenon to happen in the Red-sun season.
Suddenly, something burst from the ground, knocking Petra off her feet when she was on the process of running. The familiar figure floated in the air, glaring at Petra with an expression filled of anger, spite, hatred, loathing and bloodlust, something that Petra never thought that she would see on the boy's face.
"I guess you forgot about me?" Lucas asked with his glare still fixated on Petra, who knew that he was extremely angry despite his calm tone. She could see that the grey rashes and the pulsating veins increased to the point that it travelled to cover the entirety of the left half of his body.
"Lucas!" She called for the boy, but his bloodlust that was growing by the second made her lose the ability to take any other word out from her mouth.
"It's time for you to die!" Lucas exclaimed, before pointing his palm towards her. Petra, who realized that she couldn't run any longer due to her legs being completely fatigued, alongside the fact that the Fear plaguing her heart increased, closed her eyes, awaiting her end.
It was at that time, however, that Frederica made her appearance, charging forward and jumping into the air, before punching Lucas straight into the face, sending him flying back a few feet away, before landing on the ground in front of Petra, who opened her eyes and witnessed Frederica standing protectively in front of her.
"Lucas! What are you doing?! Don't tell me that creature got to you!" Frederica exclaimed, holding her fighting stance firm in front of the now angry Lucas.
"You...Ah...That's why I didn't have enough power...Tch. I swear I'll get you next time" Lucas said, before flying away. It was then that Petra stood up with tears filling her eyes.
"Frederica-neesama...You saved me" She said, her voice shaking. It was then when Frederica turned to the little maid, placing a hand on her cheek and looking at her with a gentle smile.
"I'm so glad that you're alright, Petra. I thought that...These monsters got to you or something" The Beast-Human said, causing Petra to sob as her tears rolled down her cheek.
"Lucas saved me back there...And...I guess he went crazy because of me...I..." Petra kept on talking while crying, but soon it became difficult for her to form words due to her sobs.
"Shh...Petra. I know. You had a reason to do that. Anyway, we can't stay here. Follow me" Frederica said, which in turn caused Petra to stop crying, dry her tears and nod at Frederica, before both sprinted at full speed towards the direction of the Capital
A few hours later. Fleur
"W-What happened to the road?!"
Frederica and Petra were stunned.
How couldn't they be? They have just reached Fleur, having decided to take another turn towards the Capital city of Lugunica in order to ask for help, as their presence in the Sanctuary could prove fatal to not only them, but also to the residents of Irlam Village found in the Sanctuary.
However, the next obstacle was the fact that a huge body of water that stretched from the exit of Fleur and all the way to the entrance of the Capital city of Lugunica.
"The Capital city is on the other side of the lake, but how are we going to cross through?" Frederica asked as she looked at the body of water. It seems that the weather became extremely frigid, so Frederica was sure that a few minutes in the lake would cause a normal person to die from hypothermia.
"F-Frederica-neesama...It's s-so cold here...Can w-we find a warm place around h-here?" Petra asked, hugging her body with her arms, shivering from the cold weather.
"There's no way for us to cross the lake. Even if we swam, it will still take us hours, and we will die if we stayed in this cold body of water for even a few minutes" Frederica said, trying to juggle her brain for any solution.
"F-Frederica-neesama...I have th-this ability that allows me to sh-shapeshift to anything I like and even create multiple c-copies of myself and make them transform as well. I c-can also use the powers and abilities of w-whatever I t-transform into. I can transform into a b-bird Mabeast, but the w-weather is too c-cold" Petra said, causing Frederica to hum, trying to think of anything to solve their problem. She then looked straight at Petra.
"I don't think we can afford taking a risk at these times. Maybe there's another way. I might find something back in the city of Fleur" She said.
"O-Okay, Frederica-neesama...I'll be here if you change your mind, b-but please h-hurry..." Petra said to her, before she saw Frederica dashing back to Fleur city.
Once she entered, Frederica's nose wrinkled at the scent of blood that overflew around her. Nevertheless, she tried her best to ignore the putrid scent. She then arrived at an abandoned storehouse. She didn't know what she was searching for, but anything, even a thick coat would do the trick. She rummaged through the stuff there, but the only thing she found was a pale-yellow ring that resembled Shadow's wrist and leg rings in their size. The moment Frederica grabbed it, she felt extremely warm. This made her smile, as she at least found something, even if it was small, but it was still significant.
She then ran back to where Petra was waiting back at the exit of Fleur.
"Petra. I found this ring. It appears to be a Metia of sorts that can warm its holder. Take it" Frederica said, handing the ring to Petra, who sighed in relief upon having the ring placed in her hands.
"Thank you, Frederica-neesama...I feel warm now" Petra said, as her shivering immediately stopped, before she placed the ring in her pocket.
"I'm glad. Anyways, it seems that there's no other way than to have you flying us over this lake" Frederica said.
"Alright...I'm ready" Petra said, before she invoked the power of her Rune Stone Skill, and moments later, she turned into a Griffin Mabeast, and this caused Frederica's mouth to open in an 'O' shape with her eyes being wide.
"Well that's new" She said, before hopping on the transformed Petra's back, before both of them took off. Minutes later, and they were almost half an hour away from reaching the Capital.
"It's not that far, Petra. You can do this" Frederica said encouraging her junior to keep flying.
"Don't worry, Frederica-neesama. This ring Metia is warming me so it's alright" Petra said.
However, moments later, Frederica gasped and her eyes widened as she saw a fire ball being fired at them from one of the lookout towers of the gate of the Capital city.
"Petra! Look out!" Frederica yelled at Petra.
However, it was too late as the fire ball hit both Frederica and Petra causing both of them to sink into the extremely cold water.
A few minutes later. The front borders of Lugunica
Slowly rising from the cold water with the unconscious Petra in her arms, Frederica dropped to her knees, but she made sure to place Petra gently on the ground. Frederica's complex was extremely bad. Her face was deathly bluish-gray and her body was ice cold due to the heat being completely sapped away from her body. She was barely hanging by a thread.
Normally, if she integrated her Rune Stone for at least the second stage, she would have been immune to weather effects and all kinds of poison and paralysis, but she had just unlocked her Rune Stone Skill a couple of days ago, and she was just at the first stage of integration, meaning that while she was immortal and unable to age, she was still vulnerable to die by natural means.
Such case was happening right now.
"P-Petra...?" Frederica's voice was so weak as she called to the unconscious Petra, but Petra didn't wake up.
"P-Please...No..." She muttered, her voice growing weaker and her heartbeat becoming slower by the second as she struggled to prevent herself from falling unconscious and tears starting to fall from her eyes.
"...N-No..." She muttered once again, and this was the last thing that Frederica said before she fell face-first on the ground, not moving an inch as her body temperature gave up and her heart stopped beating.
Moments later, however, Petra slowly opened her eyes. She then sat up and blinked.
"What? Where am I?" She asked herself, before looking in front of her. She then smiled and stood up as she saw the gates of Lugunica in the view of her eyesight.
"Frederica-neesama! We did it! We really did it! I thought for a second that we've...We've died..." Petra said, and waited for Frederica behind her to respond, yet she didn't, which in turn caused her to turn around.
"Frederica-neesama?" She called out to Frederica, and yet no response. It was the moment where Fear found itself in Petra's heart as her smile instantly vanished and was replaced by a look of horror and wide eyes.
"Frederica-neesama?!" She called out once again, shaking Frederica's body to try to wake her up, but nothing happened. Horror rose even further in the poor girl's heart as she felt Frederica's body being ice cold, as if she was touching a thick sheet of ice.
"N-No! Please get up! Y-You just fell asleep, right?! You just...You just..." She trailed in her speech, the words getting stuck to her throat, before tears immediately flew like a waterfall from her eyes.
"How...? Why...? Why did you leave me? Don't leave me alone here...I can't do anything by my own..." Petra then started to wail as she hugged Frederica's cold corpse, her tears falling down the cheeks of the Beast-Human's cold, dead body.
Petra was completely broken, devastated, torn apart. It felt like the world came crashing down on her head. She didn't know what to do now to fight against that creature that was trying to kill them.
But if there was one thing that she knew that she had to do...
"B-But...I won't give up...You taught me that...I won't give up...For you, Frederica-neesama" Petra said before gently placing Frederica's body on the ground. She then stood up, looked one last time at her sister figure's dead form, before running in the direction of the gates of the Capital.
Once she reached there, the multiple towers surrounding the city from the inside all had soldiers and mages that aimed their crossbows and their magic staffs respectively at Petra, causing the tearful little maid to stop and look at them.
"Halt! Stay where you are!" The voice of Marcos Gildark, the commander of the Royal Knights of Lugunica, could be heard booming throughout the place.
"Please, Sir Knight! You have to listen to me! The city is in danger...No, we're all in danger!" Petra called out, her tears not stopping from flowing.
"The Divine Dragon and the Sword Saint will protect us once they arrive here! How should we know that you're not one of them?!" A Knight yelled at Petra.
"The Divine Dragon didn't come to Lugunica for more than four hundred years, and the Sword Saint is also not in the Capital!" Petra retaliated.
"Truly a fascinating story, but we had reports of the houses of Irlam Village being burned to the ground, and we also found their corpses there" Another Knight said in a mocking way, causing Petra's body to shake violently and for her eyes to widen in disbelief.
"H-How...Almost half of the villagers are in the Sanctuary...And the other half is here in the Capital city" Petra muttered in disbelief.
"The villagers of Irlam Village that stayed in the Capital city returned to the village yesterday, and earlier at the afternoon of today, we gained reports of the entire village being burned down to the ground, so that would prove that you're an imposter" Another soldier said those words to Petra as if he spat venom at her.
Petra, on the other hand, was deep in thought and shock.
Even if she took in consideration that the villagers that were in the Capital city had returned to Irlam Village, it would take about three days by carriage to get there. The only reason Subaru was able to evacuate the villagers instantly was because of the presence of Shadow and Beatrice, both of whom had knowledge about instant teleportation.
But if what the Knights said was true, then...
"Please! You have to evacuate the entire Capital city! It's dangerous there! All of you might die, or even suffer humiliation that is worse than Death!" Petra yelled in a panicking state, already desperate to do anything useful to at least make sure that some people get out of there alive.
"Yeah, right! As if we would believe an imposter like you!" Another Knight yelled at Petra.
"Look at me! If I was an imposter, I wouldn't come here alone!" Petra yelled.
"Speaking of which, we saw you with another one of Margrave Mathers' maids. Where is she hiding?" Marcos asked.
"Y-You...Your people shot at us! We were forced to swim, but Frederica-neesama died from hypothermia!" Petra exclaimed her answer, pointing at Marcos and the soldiers on the guard towers.
"Prepare to fire at the enemy!" Marcos called out, causing every mage and Knight to aim their weapons at Petra.
"What?! But I'm telling you the truth! I swear it's the truth!" Petra cried out, her tears flowing even more vigorously from her eyes.
"So what?! We don't care!" A Knight yelled.
"H-Huh?" Petra's eyes were wide in disbelief.
"We can't take the risk of you entering here! And there is neither time nor method to find out whether or not you're telling the truth!" Another Knight exclaimed.
It was then when Marcos spoke out the words that would haunt out Petra for all eternity.
"Even if you were telling the truth, you should realize that as a citizen of the Dragon Kingdom of Lugunica, you should be ready to sacrifice yourself for the sake of the kingdom. You are nothing but a child, so you should feel proud to have accomplished a feat such as this at a young age. Sacrificing yourself for the sake of so many lives. In addition, you are of no significance in this country. You're nothing but a child with no accomplishments, so you should be grateful that we're giving you the honor of being a true Hero"
...
...
...
"Huh...?"
...
"Huh?"
...
"Huh Huh Huh Huh Huh...?"
...
"HuhHuhHuhHuhHuhHuhHuhHuhHuhHuhHuhHuhHuhHuhHuhHuhHuhHuhHuh?"
...
"HUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUH?!"
Petra's eyes grew wide as she felt her world flipping upside down, warping and collapsing like a crumbling tower of cubes. Her ears turned deaf, her eyes lost sight, her nose was ineffective, she couldn't feel a thing, not even the frigid air that formerly made her shiver.
What Marcos just said was a really weird phrase that a normal kid in Petra's age would yet to understand, as kids would be unable to participate in things like wars or even assisting in the help of the injured people of war.
But all of what happened with Petra and the numerous shocking events that hit her in the past two days made Petra understand. In just nothing but a few hours, she lost lots of things. She lost her parents, her childhood friend, almost half of her neighbors in Irlam Village and her elder sister figure. There's no way that she won't understand.
Normal people...The poor people...The innocent people...Were nothing but sacrificial lambs for those who had influence.
Lugunica saw her and whoever who was like her as insignificant pests and judged their Fates because they wanted to. There was no proper reason for their actions. They did it because they wanted to do it and hid it with words like 'sacrifice the few to protect the many', choosing to not think with their brains to find the easiest solution, even if it meant to lay waste to countless innocent lives along the way. Simple as that.
"..."
The never-ending, simultaneous shocks of witnessing people dear to her dead...The accumulated stress of trying to figure out a way to stay alive even for a second longer...The ridiculous, hypocritic excuse from the so-called noble, Royal Knights of the Dragon Kingdom.
At that moment...
SNAP!
...Something inside the little girl snapped.
"Heh...Hehehehehehehe..."
She started giggling, gaining the confusion of the Knights and mages.
"Hehehehehehehehe...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Marcos had seen lots of faces in the battlefield.
He saw Madness, Grief, Despair, Bloodlust, Insanity, Heinousness, Inconsistence, Depravity, Arrogance. He saw all facets of war. In all of his forty years, he saw carnage breathing in front of him, consuming everything around it without any kind of differentiation.
But whatever he was witnessing right now, was nothing like anything he experienced, as the little maid, whose eyes were widen and tears freely falling from them, was laughing hysterically, something that should never be found in a little child.
Suddenly, the frontal gates blew away, where they crushed multiple Knights to their Deaths, turning into nothing but crimson spots of blood, decorated with their innards that littered the streets.
The screams of the citizens resonated as they fled from the horrifying scene. However, they weren't spared as suddenly, brown glass fragments started to form and rise from nothingness inside the city, and in a few seconds, countless hordes of Wolgrams found themselves inside the city.
And the next thing that happened were the echoing of the sounds of meat being minced, bones being crushed, and wails of absolute horror inside the Capital city of Lugunica.
The small form of Petra slowly walked inside the Capital city of Lugunica, still holding her mad grin with her wide eyes still releasing tears from them. It was then when she came into sight with a large battalion of Royal Knights, all brandishing their swords and entering their swordsman combat stances, with Marcos being right in front of them.
"Hehehe...Why aren't you saving your beloved citizen, O brave Knights? Are they also livestock for you to sacrifice for your own safety?" Petra asked, giggling at the glaring forms of the Knights, who were literally shaking in their boots from the immense amount of murderous intent that was emitting from the little girl. Even Marcos was having it difficult to maintain his cold scowl.
"Petra Leyte! You are under arrest from attacking the Capital city of the Dragon Kingdom and assaulting its citizens, as well as killing numerous innocent lives from said benevolent kingdom!" Marcos exclaimed, but that didn't seem to even scare Petra one bit.
"Hehehehehehe...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
If anything, it increased her mad laughter.
"What perfect acting! Do you really believe the words that you're just spouting?! Innocent lives, you say?! Benevolent kingdom, you say?! I believe that the villagers of Irlam were also innocent lives that you threw away for the sake of the so-called benevolent kingdom! And by your own logic, shouldn't it be an honor for the citizens of your kingdom to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the kingdom?! Shouldn't you, O brave Knights, be exhilarated to throw your lives away for the kingdom?!" Petra yelled with a maniac smile, her head tilting to the side so hard that Marcos himself winced as he could swear that he heard the sound of bones cracking.
"...Take her down" Marcos muttered to the Knights behind him, and not a second later, battle cries echoed around Petra, who just stood there with a maniacal smile on her face as her tears refused to stop falling from her wide eyes.
A shattered heart that will never let forgive those who shattered it.
[RWBY OST - One Thing]
The Knights charged at Petra, who in response dashed towards them, and normally any sane person would stop, as the idea of a child dashing through an army of armed people would be crazy to even think about and calling it suicidal wouldn't even give it justice.
But not for Petra.
She dodged a sword swing that was about to split her skull in half, before hopping off the ground and delivering a dropkick to the Knight that was about to split her skull, causing his head to be blown off his shoulders and to be sent flying away at speeds beyond the speed of lightning. Petra then continued by using the decapitated Knight's shoulders as a pedestal to jump up in the air to avoid another Knight stabbing his sword forward at her, only to miss as he stabbed it at another Knight by accident as said stabbed Knight also wanted to slash at Petra, but ended up taking a stab from his own fellow comrade.
In his shock, the Knight that stabbed his comrade was distracted for a few seconds as Petra landed on his shoulders, sitting on them. She then immediately wrapped her legs tightly around the Knight's neck. The Knight immediately understood what was about to happen, but it was too late as Petra twisted her entire body to the side, and a sickening bone snapping sound found itself echoing in the Knight's ears as another comrade of theirs was killed via having his neck being snapped 180 degrees, before Petra jumped off to the air once again and off his shoulders, causing the Knight to fall on the ground, a look of horror being plastered on his face as he fell dead to the ground.
Petra then channeled mana to her fingers, causing beams of yellow light to erupt from her fingertips.
"El Jiwald!"
"?!"
Immediately afterwards, Petra swung both her hands down, causing claws of light to descend upon the Knights, slicing them like a hot knife through butter and causing blood and innards to decorate the floors of the city. Soon, not only the wails of the citizen could be heard, but also the Knights. It was a complete carnage, but this was only the beginning.
"AL GOA!"
"?!"
Landing on the ground, Petra, her eyes still wide and releasing tears continuously from them, witnessed as hundreds of fireballs descended on her from the guard towers that surrounded the frontal gate. The sky was died reddish orange as the scorching fireballs came down like a rain of fire at Petra and the Capital city, and that was all courtesy of the mages that were stationed at the guard towers.
However, Petra didn't move from her place as the fireballs were closing on her.
BOOM!
The sound of a thunderous explosion echoed throughout the Capital city. Soon enough, houses were on fire, with citizens running for their lives. The battalion of Knights stationed on the floor of the city were burnt alive in the crossfire, not even having time to scream as they either turned to ashes or became nothing but mutilated, burnt corpses that resembled oversized pieces of charcoal.
A smokescreen covered the area alongside the fire, and a few seconds of silence passed as the mages and Knights that were positioned on the guard towers were waiting for the outcome. Even Marcos was slightly fidgeting as he also was waiting in anticipation, silently hoping for this Madness to end.
"YOU GUYS SURE DON'T KNOW HOW TO TREAT A SACRIFICE LIKE ME! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"?!"
...But sadly for them, it didn't.
Petra burst from the smokescreen, being surrounded by a vibrant, crimson shield of what appeared to be fire. Instantly upon landing her feet on the ground, the little maid lifted her stretched arm and opened her palm, and not a moment later, a massive fireball that resembled the sun in its shape found itself suddenly appearing. The massive miniature sun was around the size of a house, and it emitted a heat that rivaled that of the original sun, to the point that Marcos had to cover himself in his Rock Armor in order to protect himself, and even then, the rock was melting at a rapid pace, and even if he wanted to move to save his juniors from what is about to happen to them, the heat rendered him unable to move, even though he was a fair distance away.
Marcos could only watch in horror as the miniature sun fired off from Petra's hand at speeds transcending the concept of speed itself, which in turn made the mages and the Knights stationed on the guard towers have no time to run for their lives as the fireball connected with them.
BOOM!
It was a disaster by all means known and unknown.
Marcos couldn't believe it. In just a few minutes, the entire Capital was on fire. Citizens who were running for their lives were unable to do so as they simply got burned alive or got killed in the crossfire of the mages' Fire spell. Children cried on the charred, disfigured corpses of their parents, before being immediately consumed by the merciless flames. Parents holding their infant offspring tried to run for their lives, only to also burn alive alongside their babies, not even having the chance to scream from the pain of being burnt alive. Knights and mages of the Royal Capital were completely erased from existence, as if they never existed to begin with, as the gargantuan fireball, packed with the heat of the sun, incinerated their very souls and bodies, mercilessly taking away their lives, sparring none.
And that was the cause of one little maid, no older than thirteen, standing with broken eyes that held tears in them and a fractured heart that can never be mended, even with the passing of time, and Marcos was the only witness on this massacre.
Honestly, it was a massive miracle that he was alive at all.
"Hehehehehe...So, O Gallant Knight...Tell me...What do you see in the eyes of the girl that you all took everything from her...?"
"..."
Even with Petra's question to Marcos, the Commander of the Royal Knights had nothing to say to her.
Up until now, Marcos faced every single situation with a straight face and a calm heart, but now...Now he wasn't so sure.
He held hatred in his eyes, an emotion that he never thought that could exist inside of him. People around him were dying and he couldn't do anything. The entire Capital city, gone in nothing but a few hours, consumed by flames of purgatory that gave mercy to none, and the cause of all of that was a Devil wearing the skin of a little girl.
"You're the Commander of Knights. The Knights of this wretched, selfish Kingdom. You, and those Knights are the ones that are supposed to protect this city. So tell me, Marcos Gildark...Have you protected anything at all?" Petra asked mockingly, causing Marcos' glare to intensify. His blood boiled beyond its boiling point, and he could swear that he could smell his blood burning, with the smell mixing with the scent of the burnt corpses that wafted around the entire city.
Aside from the sound of the sizzling fire, the entire city was hushed as Death...Well, it was Death that was the only thing screaming as no soul was spared from the carnage.
"Don't you realize that all of this is your fault? I doubt that you do. Why aren't you happy, huh? If anything, you should cry tears of joy. Your subordinates, and the citizens of your beloved city...Had the honor of meeting their maker...Shouldn't you be proud? Isn't that what you said to me?" Petra said, which in turn caused Marcos to wince at this.
Words that weren't supposed to come out from a child's mouth found itself traveling to Marcos' ears, with the words echoing on his brain. A side of him felt guilty, as the girl was right. He did tell her that people should be proud to be sacrifices for the sake of the Kingdom.
"..."
Looking back on it now, Marcos' words were the thing that started all of this, so in retrospect, it was him that caused this massacre. He betrayed the Kingdom that he swore to protect with his life.
"Aside from protecting anything, you made it completely worse. If you just kept your mouth shut and listened to me, this wouldn't all have happened" Petra called out, her grinning face slowly falling, gradually being replaced by an expression of complete devastation and Sorrow.
"You...You were supposed to protect us *hic*...You all...You all swore to...*hic*...Protect us...So why...Why did you do this...Why did you all make me like this? I...I didn't...*hic*...I didn't want any of this...I wanted to live my childhood safely beside my friends and my loved ones. I wanted to grow up, get married with the man that I would fall in love with and have children just like any ordinary people...*hic*...I wanted to have a side job as a seamstress to help my husband...I wanted to grow up and...*hic*...And watch my children grow up, and watch the children of my friends and loved ones grow up...I wanted to watch them fall in love as well and get married...I wanted to grow up...To become a grandma that would see her grandchildren...*hic*...Why...Why did you all do this to me...? I'm just a child who had lots of dreams and future ahead...*hic*...And in just two days...I lost everything...I lost my parents...I lost my childhood friend...I lost my big sister figure...I lost all of my other friends...I lost...I just lost everything...*hic*...Why...Why did you do this to me...Why...?"
Soon enough, Marcos could watch as Petra fell to her knees and raised her crying face to the sky, wailing as hard as her lungs could sustain and endure as she cried her entire heart out and her tears overflew from her eyes, tracing down her cheeks and chin and falling on the ash-riddled ground of the burned-down city. Her Grief could fill the whole world right now. Everything piling up in the last two days was overflowing and Marcos never felt in his life a weight on his heart that was heavier than that.
His face softening from its usual hardened and cold expression, and his glare of anger and hatred gone, Marcos indeed realized that he was the one responsible for all of this. Having seen the devastated face of the crying girl, he realized. Even though he couldn't forgive her for the mass genocide that she made, he could also never forgive himself for doing this to her.
The Butterfly Effect was truly terrifying, and Marcos had just experienced it first-hand.
He advanced for her, slowly unsheathing his sword. He realized that by now, there's nothing else that he can do, nothing to fight for anymore. He will do the one thing that his consciousness was telling him to do: Give mercy to the broken heart of this girl, and then take his own life as swift as possible to erase the shame and Sin that he committed.
He reached Petra, who was still wailing, having lost all hope in Life. And with a grief-struck face, he raised his sword, preparing to end her misery, when suddenly...
[Music Ends]
"Hurk!"
"?!"
A splatter of blood found itself suddenly impacting with Petra's face, causing her to immediately stop wailing, but the tears were still flowing. She looked in front of her with wide eyes, starring at the gaping hole in Marcos' torso, who stood motionless for a few seconds, before falling face-first on the ground, a pool of blood soon forming underneath his motionless body.
She gasped and her eyes widened even more at whoever was behind her, whose hand was outstretched, drenched in Marcos' blood.
"Lucas!" She called out to the boy, her eyes widened at his appearance, as almost half of his body was gray in color and the gray areas were pulsating with veins completely apparent on his body, with his right eye being covered by a piece of grown flesh that also had veins pulsating on it.
"You managed to survive? Well done..." Lucas whispered, glaring with pure hatred at Petra, who was at a loss of words at what she was looking at right now.
"Are...Are you feeling okay now...?" She asked, having nothing to say to her, and this in turn caused Lucas to grit his teeth in anger, causing Petra to flinch as Lucas' killing intent intensified.
"Does it look like I'm fine to you? The curse has affected my whole body. The greater his strength, the stronger the curse becomes. Who of your friends have died?" Lucas asked, wincing in pain with each time his veins and flesh pulsated in the same manner as his heartbeat, even breathing was completely painful to him by this moment.
"Lucas...Please...Fight against that..." Petra said, desperately pleading with her childhood friend to calm down, even though her heart told her that this would be all in vain.
"Actually, if I kill you, I'll finally stop feeling the pain" Lucas said as he raised his hand, crimson energy forming in his palm.
"No hard feelings, Petra, but if you should blame anyone, then blame yourself for being too kind..." He muttered, before firing off a red light beam from his palm at Petra, instantly engulfing her with the beam of energy. However, his eye twitched in anger as the beam faded, revealing that Petra was surrounded by a crimson spherical shield of fire that completely protected her from the attack that would have instantly erased her from existence.
"That's...A Fire Ring...? That's how you survived out there?! That's not gonna help you!" Lucas yelled before slowly starting to ascend to the air. Crimson energy started to surround him, before in an instant, countless marble-sized crimson red orbs manifested around him in thin air, before each shot a crimson beam of light of its own. Petra, realizing that she would be in danger if she stayed unmoving, immediately jumped up to her feet, maneuvering around the beams of light that rained down at her as if Od Laguna decided to punish her for taking away so many lives, and that method came by having her childhood friend attempting to kill her.
Lucas then disappeared instantly, appearing right in front of Petra who was busy trying to dodge the beams of energy, which in turn startled her enough for Lucas to kick Petra so hard to send her flying, splitting open her head and causing blood to come out from her forehead. Immediately after falling to the ground, Petra hopped away from a crimson energy beam aiming at her, which in turn vaporized the area she was laying on a second ago.
She then saw as Lucas charged at her, his body clad with crimson energy as he dashed at Petra, hitting her square in the torso, knocking the air off her lungs and sending her flying away, crashing into a burnt house.
Petra gritted her teeth as she forced herself to stand up. She didn't feel her left shoulder, indicating that it was completely separated. She took a deep breath, remembering a technique that Shadow taught her a few months ago.
"This Ninja technique, simple as it is, is considered effective. Petra, you have the potential to become a Ninja of the Taijutsu class. I hold the Ninjutsu class, but there are similar techniques that each class share. But I'll teach you the simplest, yet effective technique of the Taijutsu class. It can be used offensively and supportively at the same time"
She exhaled her breath, bringing her right palm towards her separated shoulder.
"Taijutsu Art: Gentle Fist" She whispered, causing pale blue light to escape from it and gets directed to her separated shoulder. She then felt the torn muscles and separated bones mend themselves together, being repaired as if the damage was never done, and without the normally unbearable pain that accompanies said process.
Petra then hopped to her feet, the armlets of her maid dress being completely obliterated, and the hem of her skirt was singed to the point that her stockings and underwear were visible, but she didn't care. All that she cared about was her life. It was more important than anything.
She promised Frederica to continue on living and keep moving forward. She wasn't going to die here.
Suddenly, her instincts kicked in, causing her to jump as she saw pieces of rubble from ruined houses come flying at her. Petra had to avoid several times as several pieces of stone and concrete came flying down at her, threatening to crush her. She also noted that several green energy projectiles came raining down at her, and each projectile came exploding upon contact with the ground.
Petra was nearly blown away with each shockwave, and with each projectile connecting with the ground, it became too difficult to both pinpoint Lucas' location due to the dust that rose with each explosion, as well as the fact that it also became difficult to reach him.
"I won't get anywhere like this!" She thought, before gasping as she saw some sort of a shadow was looming at her. One look up and he knew.
"DIE, PETRA!"
"?!"
Lucas, descending from the sky above Petra, slammed into the ground. He missed once again as Petra managed to dodge, but right upon connecting to the ground, the entire ground got instantly covered in light red energy, which in turn connected with Petra's feet, immediately incinerating her shoes and burning the soles of her feet.
"AAH!" She yelped in pain as the energy field on the ground disappeared instantly, but Petra was unable to stand up properly as her feet got so burnt to the point that you could no longer differentiate between them and a piece of charcoal.
Petra gritted her teeth from the pain, before looking up to the sky, having seen as Lucas ascended above, before proceeding to once again descend towards her. She used her hands, enhanced with mana, to push herself off the ground as Lucas slammed onto the ground, causing the same energy field to instantly cover the ground. Petra was still in midair, so she was still safe from the energy field. However, the shockwave from the impact of Lucas slamming into the ground caused Petra to be sent flying away, before she crashed into a nearby lamppost, her back slamming horizontally into the length of the lamppost, causing her eyes to widen as she could swear that she heard her spine snapping in half, before she fell on the floor, her body twitching slightly. She was still alive and kicking, barely, but she was no longer able to move due to her broken spine.
Petra may have evolved her Rune Stone to the Second Stage, allowing her to be immune to any kind of diseases and poisons and any status effect inducement abilities, alongside the properties of the First Stage, which granted ageless immortality, but she was still yet to reach the Third Stage, which would have given her a healing factor that would allow her to come back from being erased, even if the very concept of her existence was destroyed.
But that wasn't the case for Petra. She was already at Death's door as Lucas descended onto her, slamming his full body weight as hard as he could at Petra, causing an explosion that was followed by a massive dust screen.
Slowly, the dust screen cleared, revealing Lucas standing on top of a seemingly motionless and dead Petra, with Lucas panting heavily with a glare at her.
"Sorry, Petra...But that was the only way..." Lucas said, releasing a sigh of relief as his expression softened. He was now waiting for the pain of the curse to subside, since he has already killed Petra, so the pain inflicted on him from the curse should be removed away.
...
...
...
"...Huh?"
He didn't understand. The pain was increasing by the second.
He thought that it was his delusion, having been subjected to the curse for a long time, so he thought that it was all phantom pain that resulted from his brain having gotten used to the sensation of pain constantly eating away at his body.
However, this shouldn't be the case. He killed Petra, so the pain should vanish. At least, that's what that creature have told him. So that leaves him with two conclusions.
The first one was the fact that that thing lied to him. He told him that when everyone out of his six victims were killed, the pain of the curse will go away, and when he arrived to the Capital city, he saw that Petra was still alive. Having concluded that everyone but Petra was dead, this left him with Petra being the sole survivor, so if he killed her, the pain will go away. So unless he was lied to, then that left him with the second conclusion.
CRACK...
"?!"
Lucas was suddenly alerted to the sound of glass snapping. He looked down to his feet as the sound came from right there, only to see Petra's body, starting to crack like glass, and soon enough, her entire form shattered into glass-like fragments underneath his feet.
This made Lucas gasp in shock. That Petra was a fake!
But before he could do anything else...
"Taijutsu Art: Gentle Fist!"
"?!"
Lucas' eyes widened in shock as the physical force that came out of Petra's palm came in contact with his back, arcing his small body and bending it in the form of an arc, before her was sent flying away with a sonic boom toppling on the ground riddled with flames. He then flipped in midair to halt his flight and landed on his feet. He stood up straight and glared at Petra, only to gasp before coughing up blood, as Petra's attack completely blocked his Gate and ruptured his inner organs, as well as increasing the pain he was feeling by a thousand-fold.
This distracted him enough to make Petra do one last attack on her childhood friend, dashing towards him and enhancing her fist with what mana that remained in her Gate, before swinging her fist at Lucas' abdomen, causing his eyes to widen from the impact and to cough out more blood, as the impact immediately forced him to fall to his knees, coughing violently. Soon enough, Petra fell to her knees, having completely exhausted herself both physically and mentally. She could barely lift a finger, and even the act of breathing was completely hard due to the physical fatigue accompanied with the smoke-filled air that resulted from the fire.
Both Lucas and Petra were on their knees, each barely capable of lifting their limbs up. Lucas glared at Petra, who simply looked at him while gasping for breath. He then lifted his arms up, leading his hands to reach for her throat, before he started to squeeze on said area, causing Petra to gasp for breath as Lucas was starting to choke her to Death.
"You persistent little...Just...Just die already..." Lucas gasped as he gritted his teeth, trying to apply force to Petra's throat to strangle her. Petra's body was shaking as she couldn't even gasp for breath, having her throat be completely blocked off, making her unable to draw air to her lungs.
Too weakened to fight back, Petra's vision was slowly becoming hazy. She felt Life leaving her at a rapid pace. She felt that this was it, with her greatest Fear being that she would be turned to a slave to that abomination that was taking over Subaru's body.
And just as her eyes were about to completely close...
SHIIK!
"?!"
Her eyes snapped open as she gasped for breath rapidly, filling her lungs with air with her eyes wide from the shock. Her heart pounding so fast that it felt like it will burst out from her chest at any moment.
Petra lifted her head up, and instantly, she knew why Lucas left her to live. She gasped at the scene in front of her in shock and horror.
Lucas' body was right in front of her, on its knees, headless.
"Finally, this kid was pretty annoying. I guess you didn't that that brat had a Chaos Emerald on him. Not that you would know what a Chaos Emerald is"
"?!"
Standing in front of her, the person who decapacitated Lucas, the person who killed her friends, the person who was wearing the skin of her crush.
"My curse worked good enough on him. I didn't know why I didn't use it on you, imbeciles" Subaru EXE said with his maniac grin still plastered on his face as ever. This promoted Petra to muster what little strength she had left to stand up and face the abomination in front of her.
"Y-You cursed him...H-How did you..." He speech was broken, as physical, mental and emotional fatigue were completely overriding all of her senses, even her ability to talk wasn't an exception.
"Ugh...Can you talk a little bit faster. Huh...A long time ago my ability was cursed for me as well..." Subaru EXE said while narrowing his eyes in boredom at Petra, before his bored look was once again replaced by his blood-curing grin as he pointed his finger at Petra.
"You know...I don't need to kill you anymore...Really, what can a little girl do to someone like me?" He asked, causing Petra's body to shake from Fear.
"N-No...I-I won't let you..." She muttered, trying her hardest to muster a glare on sweat and blood-riddled face at her enemy.
The world suddenly flashed white for a split second, before Subaru EXE instantly teleported right behind Petra, his back facing hers, with the little girl's face changing from a weak glare to an expression of shock, Despair and horror as Subaru EXE glanced at her from behind her back.
"Your parents and elder sister never loved you. Just think about it...A child born during the time of a plague striking the royal family will only be a problem. Especially your sister, who left you in Pristella five years ago. She never loved you because she was jealous of you being in her life. That's how elder siblings are with their younger siblings" Subaru EXE finished, before teleporting back to where he previously stood, a few meters away from Petra. He cackled mockingly at the little girl, who tears were falling silently at the burnt floor.
The silhouette of Frederica, her elder sister figure, appeared in front of her, smiling warmly.
The silhouette of Otto, her elder brother figure, appeared in front of her, smiling bashfully.
The silhouette of her father and mother appeared in front of her, smiling warmly at her.
The silhouette of Lucas, of Cain, of Dine, of Mild, of all of the children that she was friends with, of all the villagers of Irlam Village, smiling and grinning at her.
This ignited a flame inside of Petra. She felt the strength willing inside of her once again. Anger and rage bubbled inside of her, and the Fire Ring reacted to her emotions, soundlessly changing both of her hair color and eye color to crimson red, as a crimson spherical shield of fire surrounded her. Subaru EXE narrowed his eyes, before turning towards Petra's new form. He noticed that her injuries got completely healed, and that the ground around her was melting from the sheer amount of heat she was emitting.
Not a second later, and before Subaru EXE could even register what happened, Flare Petra zoomed at incalculable speeds that transcended the very concept of speed, slamming her head straight into Subaru EXE's torso, causing his eyes to threaten to pop out of their sockets and for his mouth to be opened up wide, before he was sent flying away to the air. Moments later, he teleported to where Petra was, still grinning like mad. He then snapped his fingers, causing dozens of light red spheres of energy to instantly appear in the air, before they were launched towards Flare Petra, who erected her Fire Shield up, which in turn blocked the spheres of energy that tried to collide with her as she flew upwards towards the abomination that wore the skin of her crush. A massive fireball packed with the heat of the sun manifested behind her with a flick of her wrist, causing Subaru EXE to gasp in surprise. He was then distracted enough for Flare Petra to clutch onto his face and stand on his shoulders, and with a cry, she yanked all of her weight backwards, flipping Subaru EXE towards the fireball. Subaru EXE disappeared completely within the fireball, being completely erased from existence as he was immediately consumed by the massive fireball, and right afterwards...
BOOM!
The light coming from the fireball intensified, before a massive explosion resonated in the air. No one was able to witness it aside from Flare Petra, as everything was burnt down to nothingness, not even ashes remained to witness the fireball lighting up the whole world as if it was a second sun.
Flare Petra slowly descended to the ground, before her hair and eyes returned back to their normal colors, which in turn caused Petra to immediately fall to her knees and gasp for breath with huge amounts of sweat being releasing from every single pore of her body.
"It's...Over...Frederica-neesama..." She whispered her words between huge gasps of air. Her heart was still pumping rapidly and it wasn't going to calm down until a good amount of time had passed, but she was able to finally defeat that abomination at last.
"Alright. Let's stop this madness already. I'm done playing games with you"
"?!"
The familiar voice caused Petra's eyes to widen in shock and disbelief, which in turn caused her to lift her head up, only to be met with Subaru EXE lifting her by the throat with one hand, and before Petra could do anything, Subaru EXE slammed her into the ground, digging a house-sized crater with her body and instantly knocking Petra unconscious. He then reached for one of her pockets and fished out the Fire Ring that she had on her person.
"A Fire Ring? I wonder who gave you this? Well, no matter. It's over now, but you know, it was funny to watch your attempts to survive. If I didn't regain a sizeable amount of my powers, I would have been a goner, even with my healing factor. I didn't expect you to jump up to the Third Stage of your Rune Stone in two days..." He said all of those words with a small grin, before said grin turned into a frown.
"...But you leave me no choice, kid. You have to know that sometimes, sacrifices are necessary for the world to go on. The world isn't rainbows and candy rain at all. Sorry, but I have to do this" Subaru EXE said, raising his arm above his head, ready to stab the unconscious Petra in the chest and pulverize her heart, ready to end all of this, but just as he was about to do so...
"Huh?! What?!"
His chest suddenly emitted a bright white light that grew in its intensity by the second, and Subaru EXE couldn't do anything but watch as the light engulfed both him and the whole world, with the last words he heard before this timeline was gone echoing in his ears.
"I want them to live..."
Memory Fragment File #10
"Subaru-sama. I'm sorry, but I still can't cast Lumina"
"It's alright, Petra. I didn't get it at the first time. Practice will help you to improve"
Subaru was leaning on a fence on a secluded area behind the village, watching as Petra was training on Magic.
"Subaru-sama. Please don't push Petra too much. She had just finished her work for today, and I don't want her to push herself too hard" Frederica said, entering the training field with snacks and tea on a small tray in her hands.
"No, no. I ain't giving her anything that she can't handle. I don't wanna see her unable to wake up in the morning because I can't imagine how would you scold her" Subaru said.
"F-Frederica-neesama never scolded me. She's strict with teaching me, but she never scolded me. I do lots of mistakes, but she never scolded me at all. She's so perfect and kind" Petra kept on showering praises at Frederica, causing her to blush, before she tried to hide it by coughing in her balled fist. She had a stern expression on her face, but the blush was still vibrant on her cheeks.
"W-Well, just make sure that Subaru-sama doesn't bully you with his training, Petra" She said.
"Why do you make it sound as if I'm the villain here?! Also, I won't do such a thing! I'm already afraid that Petra's mom would kill me!" Subaru exclaimed, remembering the smile Petra's mother had given to him the last time his daughter returned her home for a visit after she finished training, smiling with her clothes tattered and filled with dirt.
"Say, Petra. I remember struggling with that spell as it consumes lots of mana. I also taught Shaula how to use it, considering the fact that she had a high affinity for Yang Magic, but she had difficulty due to her poor mana control" Subaru said to Petra.
"So, how did you help her?" The little girl asked.
"Actually, she figured it out by herself. Shaula tends to use the large amounts of her mana to fire off her light needles in order for them to hold enough power to kill the enemy, but a spell like Lumina is mostly used for simple support, so she just had to limit her mana usage to the bare minimum in order to use it for as long as she wanted" Subaru answered, causing Petra to blink at this.
"What Subaru-sama tries to say, Petra, is that you can find your own way" Frederica said, causing Petra to hum in thought.
"Hmm...Maybe I should also limit my own usage of mana so that I don't burn away the mana in my Gate while using it" Petra said.
"Then try it" Subaru said.
"Umm...I'll try it later. I'm so tired. Is that okay, Subaru-sama?" Petra asked.
"Yeah, okay. Heh...Your mother will kill me if something bad happens to you" Subaru said while chuckling nervously, which in turn caused Petra to smile sweetly.
"Don't worry, Subaru-sama. I'll not tell her about today's training" She said, which in turn caused Subaru to hug her due to having completely fallen to her cute, sweet smile.
"Thanks, Petra. You're so cute" Subaru said, unaware that Petra was blushing furiously, as Frederica giggled at the sight in front of her.
Memory Fragment File #10: End
And Done!
Alright! Done with the first Duo Survival, featuring both Frederica and Petra!
Now, I know that I chose the same alternative way like that with Amy and Cream, where Cream has the Fire Ring and it protects her from the freezing water, where Amy succumbs to hypothermia, but I chose that ending with Frederica and Petra because it looked more dramatic and more heart-wrenching.
Also, on a side note, what did you guys think of Crazy Petra? In my opinion, she's the same as, if not worse than Yandere Emilia, but that's only my opinion.
Now, to Reaper 10398, yes. I do understand that Ram is a failure of a sister, and Subaru is weird for forgiving and loving Rem, but that's just what he is. He doesn't like machoism just like you said, as he fears Death just like any normal person. It's just that Subaru is a forgiving person, as he saw Rem's mistaking him as a Witch Cultist being accidental due to the Witch Miasma lurking around him, so he forgave her for doing so as she helped him. In this story, I won't lie to you. I like Rem and Ram, so I'll try to bring them into the best spotlight that I can offer to them, and I HATE Roswaal for his selfishness and stupidity, and I'll try to bash him occasionally. Just occasionally, considering the fact that he's still an important character to the story.
Another thing that I should answer you is the fact that I'm glad that we both share the same opinion regarding the story of Saki Yoshida, and don't worry. I'll make sure you see the guy that wronged her (Russel Fellow, the reincarnation of that bastard Hayato, one of the people that ruined Saki's life) to suffer even more and kick the bucket with poetic justice, but on a side note, try reading Ibitsu no Kankei to find out about Miyuki and Kotaro. If you didn't know, Miyuki is Kaylin, having got reincarnated to another person here in my story. I'll show Kotaro, and his reincarnation later in another Arc, but you have to read the manga of Ibitsu no Kankei to know what happened to the both of them. I'll also show you later in another Arc why did Saki got reincarnated with her own name, whereas Kaylin and Kotaro got reincarnated with new identities. Lots to cover, but you have to wait for it.
Last, but not least, I would appreciate if everyone supported me with their comments just like Reaper 10398. I really like that guy, as he's the one who motivated me to continue with this story, and if anyone has a question regarding the story, feel free to write it in the comments section.
Next Chapter: Round 2. Ending 8: A Cougar and An Oni, breaking through their differences to survive
Until Next Time And Next Chapter!
Jude Warble, Out.