Author's Note: Holy cheese I BROKE MY 4 CHAPTER CURSE. God I'm so excited. I skipped over some things because I'd gotten too far into my playthrough of Zestiria and I didn't want to take forever, but the basics are the same! Why do I call it a 4 chapter curse when this is technically the sixth chapter? Because I have a bad habit of leaving fanfics at the 4th chapter and never finishing them and I FINALLY MADE A FIFTH (SIXTH) CHAPTER. Woo.

Also true names are hard. Anywho, onto the chapter!

"Next!"

The line moved forward. Sorey, Rose and I were in the back. Izayoi was lingering behind me, a hand on my shoulder. We'd explored Tintagel Ruins, and found the Trials for the Shepherd. Oysh was reflecting on what had made him a hellion, and Dezel's intentions had been revealed. The Trials were what we were currently going to look for in Pendrago, or at least a mural for them. The first stop was Lastonbell, and there was a line because of the current tensions and the prospect of war on the horizon. Because Rolance had deemed the Shepherd a heretic, we had to be more careful.

"How far to Pendrago from here?" I asked.

"Shouldn't be too far. Maybe a day's travel at most on foot. By carriage, it takes about four hours." Rose said with a smile.

"I wonder if we'll see anything on the way there... Like some sort of ancient ruins!" Sorey pondered. Apparently the seraphim said something, because Rose's face went pale. She still wasn't used to the whole disembodied voice thing. I didn't blame her, it was why I'd requested Izayoi stay out unless absolutely necessary to hide. She had seemed very compliant, especially after my... minor breakdown hearing her voice in my head. That had been heavily unpleasant.

"Can you quit doing the disembodied voice thing? It gives me the creeps!" Rose said, frustrated and scared because of whatever was said inside of her head. Since I wasn't a part of the Sorey circle, I didn't know exactly what was said but I could surmise it might've followed along the lines of the usual chatter that went on during this part of the game. A few things had changed, but not everything had. Dezel's intentions remained the same, and everything seemed to be following the directed path that I was familiar with... But I couldn't be sure.

Rose's True Name, given to her by Sorey, should've been Wilkis Wilk. Not Wilk Sutya, or whatever it'd become. Perhaps my presence had changed that, or perhaps that hadn't been the intention in the beginning... I shook my head, hearing the guard calling for the next person. The merchant in front of us went into Lastonbell for the check, and soon it would be our turn. I wondered how we would get by the guards... Would they act as if they were husband and wife again, or...? Maybe I should step in on this one. Lies... weren't my forte, really, but I could definitely try. As we waited to be called, I formulated a plan of action. We were merchants, Sorey was our bodyguard and we were there to deliver goods. That sounded good!

"Next!"

And now it was our turn. The three of us headed into Lastonbell, immediately stopped by Sergei walking up to us. He introduced us, and Rose showed him her merchant's pass which allowed her access, and said we were here making a delivery. We were allowed to pass, but then Sergei noted Sorey's sword and how it looked ceremonial. As poor Sorey looked at his sword, I stepped forward.

"We don't know what kind of things we may come across as we travel, so we hired a bodyguard. His sword may look ceremonial, but it's just to get people's guards down about how strong he is!" I pat Sorey's back.

"I see." Sergei didn't believe me, I knew that already. He didn't believe it when Rose had made up a place to deliver goods to, so he wouldn't believe me saying Sorey was just a bodyguard. Izayoi made a motion to knock him out with a quizzical look and I shook my head. It seemed I confused Sergei, as his face became quizzical.

"Sorry, I was thinking." I said.

"Well, if there is nothing else." Sergei stood straight. "Welcome to Lastonbell."

With that, we were allowed to continue into the city. People were talking about a lot of things, and overhearing it was weird. There was some talk about Margaret... and that made my heart sink. A demon child saying there was no Seraphim in the church, as they called her. It seemed this information wasn't picked up by Sorey and Rose, so I knew what I had to do. Just this once, just this one split.

"Hey, guys. I'll stick around here in Lastonbell for a bit and meet you guys in Pendrago when I'm done. If I'm not done by the time you guys are through there, come get me." I said, before going off to investigate. This was going to be the day I make something sad not happen. What happened to Margaret and Wiggs had broken my heart. It was going to change, I had to make it change... I knew it was inevitable, but there was something pushing me to change something. I didn't know what was pushing me to do this, but I would have to do it.

Izayoi looked around as we investigated the tale of Margaret. It seemed she'd just been saying that there was no seraph in the church, not that there wasn't a seraph. This had made the Lastonbell seraph leave because of the way people had been treating the girl. Like a heretic, it seemed. That, plus the murderers at night, had made things simple for me. I'd have to wait until night to do what I had to do... but if things went right, I'd be able to save a life, go to the caverns and ask for the seraph to return. If not... well, I'd have to wait for Sorey to come back.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Rani?" Izayoi asked. "We... we shouldn't be too far from Lailah, you know..."

"Why not?" I asked, curious as I sat on the bed. We'd be staying here until night, so we could do some shopping and other things while we waited. I wasn't too bothered about being separated from Sorey. This way we could do some good, and not have to hang on the plot's coattails since we weren't really a part of the story.

"Because! It's safer with her. Wherever the Shepherd goes, it's safer..." Izayoi sat down on the floor, back against the wall. "I know I have the power of purification, but I don't want to stray too far from her. She's been a Prime Lord longer than I have, and it..."

"We'll be fine, Izayoi! Besides, we have Armatization, right?" I asked with a smile. "Even though we haven't tried it yet!"

Izayoi gave a laugh. "I suppose that's true, but..."

"But?"

"...I don't know. Perhaps it's my oath preventing me from speaking about it, but something just doesn't feel right."

Something doesn't feel right? That was a curious statement. Instead of pressing it, I ended up laying on the bed and staring at the ceiling. I should've been out for a long time after Izayoi and I had made our pact, to get me used to her power, but that had never happened. Perhaps it was because I wasn't the same... type of human like Glenwood usually had. For all intents and purposes, I was an alien. God, thinking of it that way was weird... but how could I understand any of them? I hadn't actually given it much thought since being here, though now I had enough time to ponder that. Perhaps it had something to do with that kid that I kept seeing, or perhaps I was just translating their words without realizing it. Turning onto my side, my back to the room itself as I stared at the wall, I wondered if I could really do any sort of change to this world that was substantial.

I wasn't sure about it, but I had to try regardless. Regardless of what I wanted to actually do, which was continue on with Sorey and the others. It was a bit of a risk to do what I was doing, which was take on a couple hellions by myself... but the pressure in my chest was pushing me forward. I coughed, closing my eyes for a moment and finding myself waking up while hearing a scream. Bolting out of bed, I saw Izayoi on her feet with her hammer. We looked to each other and then headed outside of the inn to see a woman about to get attacked by a hellion. Izayoi ran in and hit it with her hammer, and I ran to the woman's side before helping her up.

"Come on, get out of here before it attacks you!" I said, pushing her towards the inn. Once she was out of the way, I reached behind me and under my coat to grab the daggers I had. With Izayoi's power, perhaps we could purify Margaret before she ran off and... That's right. Her escape route had to be blocked off. "Izayoi, can you form a barrier of bubbles or something along the perimeter?!"

"I can- but why are you asking?"

"Just trust me and do it!"

Izayoi gave a small nod before starting to cast a spell. The hellionized Margaret tried to take the opportunity to attack Izayoi but I pulled her attention to me by attacking. I hated this. I was hurting a child, in a way. I hated it. I hated it so much. But to get her back to normal-

I had to do this.

"I'm sorry, Margaret." I said as I struck. I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. "I'm so sorry."

She'd been bullied so badly she'd hellionized in response and became a monster. Became what the people had called her, and that wasn't right. Izayoi finished her cast, and a barrier surrounded the area we were fighting in. It cut off Margaret's escape route, which was what I was hoping for. We could continue to fight, and hopefully purify the malevolence that encased the poor child. This was something I was truly hoping for. The weight in my chest increased slightly, and I coughed again as I went to strike so it knocked me off my balance and had me stumbling instead. I was lucky that Izayoi had her attention, or else it would've been difficult for me to avoid an attack.

As expected, Margaret tried to flee but found her route cut off. I ran as she looked for another way, and quickly called forth Izayoi's power of purification. Silvery bubbles engulfed my daggers, and the weight increased again. I suppressed the cough, knowing that there was a chance I could break my ribs if I did that, and stabbed my daggers into her back with an apology. The bubbles burst and turned into the silver flames of purification, which burned all over the wolf-like hellion. I hoped and prayed I hadn't actually stabbed her in the back, and watched as the wolf hellion disappeared and left a girl there. She was out cold, and I couldn't leave her there. I checked her pulse, making sure she was still alive... and she was. Margaret was still alive, and I looked to Izayoi.

"We're taking her with us. I'll fight the second one on my own so look after her." I said with a smile on my face. I was truly, truly happy even though I could feel the tears rolling down my cheeks. The increased weight in my chest didn't help, and I coughed. Covering my mouth as I did so, I slowly pulled my hand away once I was done coughing and saw blood on my glove. All the coughing I'd been doing lately must have torn my throat up, as it did feel dry... and now had the taste of blood in it. It wasn't metallic like people always described, as it had absolutely no taste whatsoever, but it was concerning. Disregarding it, I picked Margaret up and we headed to the opposite end of the city.

"I'm glad she's alright." Izayoi said. "I'll protect her as much as I'm able, but..."

"But?" I looked over to her.

"If you need me, say my true name for the Armatization. My true name is Yufuwasu Ezavi."

"Got it."

We left Lastonbell, just as a big Hellion started making its way towards here. The guards were skeptical, due to me carrying a child, but had let us pass when I said I was stepping out to see if there was an herb to help Margaret's current state of unconsciousness. Setting her gently on the ground, I gestured to Izayoi to take care of her before pulling my daggers out to meet the Hellion halfway. A fight started between us, with me on the defensive after a few attacks. It seemed Wiggs had been a hellion much longer, and this would take some effort.

But he was powerful. Too powerful.

Though I did my best to attack, there was little I could do without leaving an opening for him to get me with his claws. Izayoi didn't know this type of hellion, which was bad for me... If I didn't already know. A Breed Wolf, which was a beast turned into a hellion itself. But unlike the game, there were no openings for me to attack after he did. This was bad... This was really, really bad. And I knew that from the first moment I made this plan, but I had to hold out. I had to do this, if not for the sake of a child then for the sake of the mother who would never know her daughter's fate.

Purification was out of the question if I couldn't even get a hit in. I dodged as many attacks as I could, having shucked off the coat and threw it aside to increase my mobility without it and hopefully not get it ruined. I felt the tear of my skin as I dodged a swipe, and felt blood roll down my arm. It hurt, but I grit my teeth and bore it. There were things I had to do, there was a small child who needed her dog back... And I wasn't going to let this continue.

I jumped back, sheathing my daggers and pulling out the crossbow that Izayoi had given me. I couldn't do this on my own, I needed her help.

"With this divine artifact, I invoke the Armatization!" I said as the Breed Wolf started to charge me. "Come to me, Yufuwasu Ezavi!"

The crossbow glowed, and I felt Izayoi's power cloaking me. My outfit changed with the armatization, mirroring her own but with white, silver and blue. There was a cloak covering me with a hood, and I noticed Izayoi's ring designs holding the cloak together. The crossbow was hooked to my left arm with a silver bangle, and was a bit bigger than what it was before I'd armatized with Izayoi. There was a trigger that could be squeezed so I could fire arrows...

"Let's go, Rani. Margaret will be fine for a few minutes without me." Izayoi said.

"Right." And our fight began again. This time, Izayoi guided my arrows as I shot at the Breed Wolf. He was resistant to Water, but I wasn't going to give up. This was a mission of mine, away from Sorey and the others...

"Rani!"

Speak of the devil. "Sorey! We need your help, this is too much for us!" Izayoi and I said at the same time. Had he known all along, or had Dezel sensed my intention? They shouldn't have gotten back so soon... Maybe something had happened? Or was I asleep for longer than I should have been? Either way, their help would be appreciated at this point. "It's resistant to water, but Earth should be its weakness!"

"Alright! Hephsin Yulind!" Sorey armatized with Edna, and assisted us in the fight. Rose, not wanting to be left out, armatized with Lailah and started to attack. It took what seemed to be an eternity, but soon the Breed Wolf's malevolence was purified, and I separated Izayoi's power from me. I walked over to Wiggs, kneeling down to put a hand to his chest. He was unconscious as well, but alive. The weight increased again, perhaps because of the armatization, and I found myself coughing a bit harder than usual.

"Oh dear!" Lailah was by my side in an instant. "Are you alright?"

"Fine.. Just fine." I said, with a weak smile before pulling my hand away from my mouth. Hearing Lailah gasp, she took my hand to examine it.

"Blood! Don't tell me... you have consumption?!" There was a concerned look on her face.

"No, no. This isn't consumption. If it was, Sorey and Rose would have it too." I said. "Don't worry."

"But it could be fatal! Let me see-"

"Lailah-!"

"Wait- what?" I sat there confused. "You guys have been gone for four days?"

"Yeah." Sorey nodded in response. "We were just coming back when we saw you fighting that Breed Wolf."

"Not to mention how reckless that was." Mikleo commented.

"Typical." Edna turned away.

"You got hurt from it too!" Lailah said with a frown on her face. My arm had been bandaged and taken care of, but it would need a bit of time to fully heal. "You shouldn't be so reckless, Rani. Taking on a Breed Wolf without our help was endangering your life!"

"Sorry, but I... I wanted to help Margaret." I said, looking at my shoes. "Her mother would've been in denial of her daughter being dead, and no mother should ever have to bury their children. I know that too well."

"You're a mother?" That was exclaimed all across the room. I looked up immediately.

"No! My mother... My brother died before his time because of... circumstances, and she always told me that no mother should ever have to bury her child." The memory was painful, and I closed my eyes. Remembering the day I heard of his death, and when my mom had told me about it. She hadn't been in the best of ways, and a part of her still seemed to be missing to this day.

"Oh no..." Lailah looked down.

"That's so sad..." Sorey looked a bit sad too.

"That's why I did what I did. And I couldn't let them die, that would've..." I trailed off, looking back at my shoes.

It would be alright, I knew it would. They caught me up on what I'd missed while they were gone, and said that they'd be getting Lastonbell's seraph back and get the blessing back. I offered to stay until they came back from that, and was there when they left to say goodbye. Rose looked... oddly worried, however, and put a hand on my cheek.

"You look pale. Are you sure you should be up?" Rose asked, voice filled with concern.

"I'm fine, Rose. Hurry or they'll leave you behind!" I said, false enthusiasm in my voice. "I'll be here to go with you guys to Gododdin, so don't worry about it alright?"

"...Okay." Rose wasn't convinced but left anyway. I waved goodbye as they headed out of Lastonbell, and watched the doors close. Suddenly, I felt very sleepy. Like to the point I needed more sleep. That was weird, I was usually fine when I first woke up... The energy felt like it had just been depleted from my body, and I could barely keep my eyes open. One of the guards noticed this, and started to ask me questions but everything looked like it was fading away.

The last thing I remembered, before the world went black, was feeling a pair of arms grab me and a voice calling my name.

End Note: So I hinted at it in the past chapter with the weight, and Lailah incorrectly diagnosed it! As you can plainly tell, I suppose! Anyway, there's going to be a consequence of changing the fate of Margaret and Wiggs (because that scene really was heartbreaking and I actually cried), and I already know what it is as it's planned for a later chapter.

Next chapter is going to be a bit of a doozy. Stay tuned to this fic to find out what!