The Arrival of Calamity

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It was unusual for Velvet Crowe to really feel surprise nowadays. Since the start of her journey of revenge with a daemon swordsman, a cursed pirate, a renegade exorcist, an insane witch and a malak child, she'd seen sights that would have left the innocent villager she had been three years ago baffled, yet left her current self unfazed. For a good long while, the burning desire to avenge her brother left her numb to most other emotions, allowing her to take most reveals that she'd have once found shocking in stride. All that mattered was to kill Artorius, the rest was mostly inconsequential.

It had never been a perfect armor. Even at her most single-minded, the world managed to find ways to reach her heart, sometimes in the most unlikely ways. After all the tragedies the therion went through, she had not expected to feel annoyance at Magilou's antics, curiosity at Eizen's ridiculous trivia, or even amusement at Eleanor's earnest confusion about the insane band of rogues she fell in with. She had tried to hide it all behind scowls and harsh words, but the mask slept in more than one occasion. And then there was Phi.

On an intellectual level, it wasn't hard to understand why she instantly felt protective of the young, earnest malak. He looked so much like Laphicet, to the point that he eventually inherited the name. By now, she knew that resemblance wasn't just a coincidence, but for the longest time, it simply seemed that the universe had decided to taunt her by dangling the splitting image of her brother under her nose, a constant reminder of all she had lost. And yet she fell for it. It was so easy to slip into the big sister role once again, to indulge in his constant curiosity, to protect him from the dangers of their travels, to watch him learn more about the world and about himself. At times, it was almost as if she had never lost her humanity. And that thought had scared her more than anything.

How could the world keep turning when her own had shattered? How could she still smile, laugh, be annoyed or feel guilt when her village was gone, her parents were gone, her sister was gone, her brother was gone? So she desperately tried to push it all back. All she needed was hatred, nothing else.

And then today happened, and it almost shattered her.

Facing down Innominat, facing down the truth of the past, pushed her past her breaking point. Having her own brother's reincarnation telling her with a smile that this had all been pointless, that there was no place in the world for someone like her... Even three years of accumulated rage couldn't push past that. It had been enough to make her give up, until Phi rescued her from her own despair. With harsh words, heartfelt tears and his small hands, he pulled her back from the brink, he made her acknowledge the pain she had desperately tried to push away with hatred, and Velvet couldn't help but feel she had been reborn as a new, possibly better person.

Well, better would be relative, she supposed. She was under no illusion of what kind of monster she had become. But now she felt for the first time that she could live with that. Also, she was still going to murder Artorius, no question asked. But for the first time since that accursed Scarlet Night, she felt like she might forgive Arthur. And for the first time, she allowed herself to think that maybe there was a world worth living in once her revenge was sated. After all that time spent teaching Phi what it meant to be alive, she only now realized she had forgotten her own lessons. She didn't have to feel guilt for smiling, laughing, or smacking Magilou across the head. And being able to feel surprise wasn't a weakness to be stamped out at all costs.

Which is why when the first thing she saw after opening her eyes was a shattered moon glowing in the sky, she didn't really bother to hide her stupefaction.

That... was definitely new. For a moment, she wondered if she still was in a pocket plane of some sort, but her immediate surroundings were nothing like the place she just left behind. She was currently lying in the middle of the plain with lush green grass. A few trees, of which she didn't recognize the type, did break the monotony of the landscape, while she could see the outline of a mountain range under the moonlight. A few paces from her position, there was a paved road, the path leading to a cluster of lights on the horizon, not enough for a full fledged town, she suspected. Perhaps a village. The geography didn't remind her of any place she had visited in the Midgand Empire. And with that moon... was she in another world? Was it even possible?

No, that was the wrong question to ask, she realized. Whether it was possible or not didn't matter, she could only accept what she saw as truth. She briefly considered the possibility of being trapped in yet another illusion, but she couldn't see any point in doing that. If Melchior had decided to play with her senses once again, why tip her off with an obviously out-of-place moon? No, she decided, this was reality. The clash of powers between Phi and Innominat probably disturbed the portal as they crossed it, and ended up sending them here... wherever that was. She didn't know the first thing about magic or travel through planes, but that seemed plausible, at least.

The real important question was: where were the others? There was no signs of any of her travelling companions anywhere. She wasn't overly worried for most of them, each of them could take care of themselves, but Phi... no. She had to trust him for now. He had proved to be made of sterner stuff than he appeared, she had to believe in that. For now, she needed to move, to learn more about this place, and hopefully find the others.

And if this was a world without Artorius... find her way back. She had unfinished business with him and his Abbey.

Standing up, she took her first step in this brand new world.

It took her the better part of the hour to reach the lights she had first seen. As she thought, they turned out to be a village, albeit a relatively important one, it seemed. The architecture was somewhat unfamiliar to her; the elegant curves of the tile-covered roofs certainly looked nothing like the straight angles of Loegres, or of most towns she visited. Even the stone walls that surrounded the place had a certain elegance to them, with a round entrance barred by a heavy wooden door. A couple of watchtowers stood tall above the place, and Velvet could see several lanterns illuminating the village's surrounding. All in all, the place gave her a distinct foreign feel to her, although the work put on building outer defenses reminded her a bit of home. Did this place have daemons too? She'd have to find out for herself.

She was met by two guards a few steps away from the entrance, a grey haired man with a small goatee, and a younger, clean-shaved man with dark hair. Both wore mostly green and brown tunics in a style reminiscent of Rokurou's. They each sported light pieces of armor, with strange weapons that reminded Velvet of Zaveid's Siegfried, albeit ones that seemed to require two hands to handle, and curved swords at their waist. Some sort of militia, she guessed, although one that seemed better equipped than what she was used to. They seemed on the lookout, but relaxed a bit at her sight.

"A traveller? At this hour?"

Apparently late arrivals was something of an irregularity here, which made sense if this place was isolated and with dangerous surroundings. At least they didn't seem suspicious of her, though one of them drew a surprised gasp as her silhouette came into the light.

"Your arm," he said, looking at her bandaged left limb. "Are you injured? And your clothes seem pretty torn up too... Were you attacked? Was it Grimm? Or bandits?"

"Bandits," Velvet lied with an even voice. She had no idea what a 'grimm' was, so she went ahead with the more familiar threat. "And I already treated my arm, no need to worry about that. Can I enter?"

Mistaking her flat tone for tiredness, the two sentries almost stumbled over themselves to open the gate. "Of course! You must have had one hell of a day, right?"

She nodded. That, at least, was an understatement. "I'll bring her to the Springtime Eternal, can you hold the fort till then?" the older guard asked the second, who nodded in return. A few minutes later, he was leading Velvet through the village's deserted streets. The place was definitely bigger than Aball, with most buildings using stone instead of wood, but right now the place looked just as deserted, the only sign of life being a few sentries standing guard on the watchtowers, and the lit-up lanterns illuminating the streets.

"So, what led you to Shion in the first place?"

"Is that the name of this place?" Velvet asked. "I got lost during the attack. I was... with a group of travelling entertainers when the bandits split us up." Empyreans, she hoped Magilou would never hear of that one. The witch would never let her live it down.

"Ah. I hope your friends got out of it okay," the grey-haired guard answered in a solemn tone. "Brigands have become a real problem around here, as if Grimm weren't enough! We think they just moved their camp recently, and since then things got pretty hard for travellers. We called in a few huntsmen, but there's a lot of ground to cover."

That word, 'Grimm' again. Also, huntsmen? From what he said, she doubted their quarry was simply wild game. Perhaps they were some sort of bounty hunters, if they were sent after bandits. Nonetheless, it seemed like this place had its fair share of problems already. Not that it really mattered to her anyway.

"Ah, here we are." The man opened up the door of what appeared to be an inn, before sending an hesitant glance toward Velvet. "I don't suppose you still have money on you?" She shook her head; somehow she doubted her gald would be worth much around here, and might lead to some uncomfortable questions. "It's all right, I'll speak to the owner. You don't have to worry about anything for tonight."

As the man promised, it took only a short exchange between him and the person manning the counter before she was offered a room, alongside a pitying glance. The people around here seemed nice, she thought as she lied down on her bed. Too bad their charity was wasted on someone like her. The best thing she could do for them was probably to not overstay her welcome, she supposed. But before that, she needed to learn more about this world, preferably without standing out too much, and find a way to meet up with the others. She'd have to procure herself a map, and from there... she wasn't sure. Maybe reach the biggest town, and hope the others would have the same idea? It was a long shot, but she hoped her companions were flashy enough to eventually stand out. Magilou certainly would be, if the witch didn't get herself killed by an irate crowd first. This wasn't much of a plan, but it was all she had.

For now, she'd count her blessings. She was alive and, despite this peculiar turn of fortune, hadn't felt better in a long time. It was hard to not think about the others – mostly Phi, really – but at the moment, there was nothing she could do about it, making any worry pointless. Magikazam, as one would say.

… she had spent far too much time near Magilou.

Closing her eyes, she let sleep take her, and for the first time in an eternity, the night came without nightmares.

When morning came, Velvet was feeling refreshed and ready to begin her search. As she moved back to the inn's common room, she was welcomed by the owner, and after assuring that yes, her arm didn't need medical attention, and that she'd look for new clothes in her own time, she managed to ask for a map, and couldn't quite suppress a frown at what it showed.

First, it there was any doubt remaining, this was definitely a new world, or at the very least a new landmass. She never had been overly concerned with maps, leaving navigation to Eizen, or Phi when he was feeling especially eager, but none of the continents on display looked remotely familiar to her. And annoyingly, it seemed this place was quite larger than the Holy Midgand Empire. According to the innkeeper, she was currently in the outskirts of Mistral Kingdom, with the capital city several weeks away on foot.

"You should wait a few days at least, give yourself time to rest. Plus, the surroundings aren't safe right now. Apparently the outer wall had to repel three Grimm attacks tonight. Nothing big, just a few stragglers, but I can't recall when we had so many in one night. If their numbers are increasing, you're safer here for the time being. We have an airship coming in two weeks to bring supplies, maybe you'll be able to hitch a ride then?"

Velvet had a hard time concealing her surprise. An airship? Was that even possible? She wasn't the kind to indulge into pointless curiosity, but now she was tempted to wait just for that. Still-

"Hey. You're the one that came in tonight, right?"

She frowned as her train of thought was interrupted by a gruff voice. Turning around, she saw two men entering the room, watching her with none too pleasant expressions, and knew instantly that it meant trouble.

The first man was a bespectacled man looking in his thirties with dark hair and sharp black eyes. He was wearing an all white tunic with a single glove, with his bare hand holding a strange mechanical bow, whose upper and lower limbs seemed to come with blades attached. The design didn't seem remotely practical, but Velvet supposed the man had a way to make it work. Right now his arrows rested safely in their quiver, but she couldn't help but notice his free hand was in perfect position to draw at a moment's notice.

His companion stood a head taller, clad in a black and grey armor, his hair hidden by an open face helmet. He was holding a tall, two bladed halberd, with a strange tube built in between them, once again reminding Velvet of a longer Siegfried. For now he seemed to use it as a simple walking stick with deceptive casualness, but his red eyes never left her face.

Velvet crossed her arms. "What if I am?"

The shorter man smiled an humourless smile, moving sideways in a move that put a table between him and her, while denying her a straight path toward the nearest window. "We heard of your arrival and what you told the guards, and we'd like more details."

His oversized friend remained where he was, effectively blocking the exit door. "See, that's the difference between peasants playing soldiers and real huntsmen. Those wannabe guards, you serve them a sob story about a bandit attack and being all alone without money and identification, and they lap it all up. We, though? We ain't buying it."

Velvet remained silent, but straightened her posture a little, ready to jump into action at any moment. Around her, she could see the few patrons present trying to put as much distance between them and the newcomers, clearly anticipating trouble.

"I mean, let's be real here," the giant of a man continued. "You come alone in the middle of the night, claiming to have escaped from bandits – yet they still took your money, and more importantly your identification. You say you were with a convoy, but no-one has heard of that one. Your supposed friends are all conveniently missing. And I see no blood on those bandages."

The therion scowled, both at herself for not thinking on a more plausible cover story, and at him for picking all the wrong conclusions from her lie. Well, she supposed the truth would have been too far-fetched to begin with. "Your point?"

"My point," the spear-wielder growled, "is that it really looks like a cheap bandit ploy to infiltrate someone here, perhaps to plan for a later raid. Let me guess, those Grimm attacks tonight were your doing? You made sure they'd follow you before showing up, hoping it'd keep us huntsmen distracted? Nice try."

The more she heard that word, the more convinced Velvet was those 'Grimm' were some sort of daemons, albeit whether or not they were exactly the same thing, she didn't know. For the sake of this world, she hoped not.

The archer, who had remained quiet during his companion's rant, spoke again. "But you're not just any bandit, right?"

By now, Velvet's finger was tapping her arm in an open display of impatience. At this point she doubted anything she could say would de-escalate the situation.

"A woman with long, flowing black hair," he continued in a self-satisfied tone. "Red and black garments... well, if you can call it that," he added while giving her a glance over. "The height seems right too. Do you know your description looks remarkably similar to the leader of those we came to apprehend?"

"The eyes are the wrong colour though," the other added with a doubtful expression. "And she seems a bit too young."

"People don't always look their own age," the man in white answered, visibly holding on to whatever theory he came up with. "As for the eyes, you know how official documentation usually is. There's always a mistake sneaking up, I guess that's it."

"Eh, I guess that's right. Worth checking, at least."

By now, the exchange had garnered her the attention of the inn's clients and personnel, who were looking at her with uncertainty, some of them with open hostility. Well, she supposed, there went the goodwill of these people toward her. She probably deserved their distrust, even if she would have liked not being singled out by mistake. "Get on with it. If you want to say something, say it straight."

"As you wish." The man readjusted his glasses with one hand, before grabbing an arrow from his quiver. "For multiple counts of theft and murder in Mistral, you are under arrest, Raven Branwen."