I was released from the hospital a few days later. In that time, Yoh had another encounter, this time with Tokagero. From what Anna had told me, it seemed in-line with the events I knew from the anime and the manga. Because Yoh had willingly given his body to Tokagero, the bandit had felt the warm compassion of Yoh and decided not to kill Amidamaru. A change of heart, despite having been eager for revenge before. I had listened intently to what had happened, before explaining that Yoh must've known that Tokagero wasn't all bad.
I got an… oddly light slap to the face. Anna's eyes were filled with tears, meaning it had really gotten to her. Yoh could've died from that, and she wouldn't have her fiancé. I could understand that. He was the person who saved her life, and she couldn't see life without him. I understood a bit too well on how Anna felt about Yoh. After all, we had… started becoming somewhat-friends since she started training me. Generally speaking, most people would assume that Anna would've felt threatened by me or the like. But no, the two of us got along because we could talk to each other . And the fact that she probably just needed someone to confide in helped that a bit.
Knowing what was coming lessened the impact, but. There were people out there who would suffer. Like Silva, who would be grieving silently over Chrom's death by Tao Ren's hand. Because, much like the Indigenous people in my home world, they didn't like to show emotion. Or maybe it was the Indigenous people from my world's past. Who knew?
After a bit of rest at home, I would head out into Funbari proper to look around. See if I couldn't find Chrom and warn him of his impending doom. Or Silva, so he could keep Chrom safe. What luck would it be to find them peddling their wares on the sidewalk. They both were attempting to fit in with casual clothes and the like, so I pretended to be interested in their wares like an odd passerby. It took a few minutes before I found something I liked, which mainly was another ring.
"Interested in that, huh?" Silva asked. I gave a nod, grabbing my wallet from my bag and opening it to pull out some money.
"It's more for a friend." I responded, not letting him know that "friend" was Lute. "Here, this should cover it."
What I handed over was the usual price for jewelry back home. A hundred and twenty dollars… which was 17,978 yen. I had a smile on my face the whole time. Both of them looked a little shocked at the amount I was giving them. It wasn't like I needed the money. Whoever this "mysterious benefactor" was that I had sure kept sending me a boatload of money for no reason, so I was sitting on a lot of it.
"You can't be serious." Chrom said. "That's more than what we're asking for!"
"Back home, this is around the price I'd pay for a ring at a jewelry shop. I'm just giving you fair payment. After all, artists shouldn't undersell themselves." I waited to see if they'd take it, which… Silva did, after much hesitation. He gave me the ring, which I stored in my bag. I'd switch out Lute's ring when I got home, but first I had to deal with the reason I was here in the first place.
Standing straight, I stared off into space for a moment before raising my arm and pointing at Chrom. I wanted to put on an act so they'd somewhat believe my words. "...You are going to die soon."
"What?!" Both of them jumped up almost immediately. My finger followed Chrom, pointing directly at him
"...Yes… They tell me that you are going to die from a fatal wound to the stomach. Stabbed through, with no hope of survival. ….They say to protect your stomach from any potential injuries, lest you meet your end sooner than later." I said, trying to make my voice sound mystical. It didn't work, but I had their attention.
"Who tells you?!" Silva demanded.
"...The visions of the future. They tell me of his immediate demise. Protect yourself." I lowered my arm, before 'coming to'. Blinking and then shaking my head, I looked at them. They still looked shocked at what I had said, and I suppressed a smile at how quickly this was working. "...Wait, what are you two so shocked about?"
"Chrom's going to die?" Silva asked, voice wavering some.
"I'm going to die?" Chrom asked at the same time, his voice unsure.
"...Man, I should've just told you two outright. Maybe you wouldn't look so shocked." I dropped the act immediately. "Yes, Chrom. Which is why I was being all weird at that moment, because coming outright with the information doesn't look good. You need to protect yourself against-"
"So you know? Does the Great Spirit tell you these things?!" Silva demanded, cutting me off and grabbing me by the shoulders. If this was the me from before Anna's training, I would've flinched. Instead, I stared straight at him and frowned.
"You care a lot about Chrom, right?" I said, avoiding the question. "Then both of you, make sure he doesn't get killed. I don't want people to die for stupid reasons."
Silva let me go after that, unsure of what to say. I could see they needed some time to process and see if what I said would be true. I shook my head a little before heading off home. I made sure to pick up some groceries so we wouldn't run out of what we needed. As I returned home, calling out that I was home as I changed from my shoes to house slippers, I hoped things would go over well with the two of them. Wooden Sword Ryu was cooking dinner while Yoh was doing pushups with Anna sitting on his back, reading a light novel.
Manta? Helping Ryu cook dinner.
"I got groceries so we don't need to run to the store tomorrow." I said, going to start putting the groceries away. Reaching up, I winced. My ribs may not have been broken, but there was still soreness and a bruise from the kick I'd gotten from Pyron. That meant reaching for things still hurt, but I was toughing through the pain. Which I did for putting away the groceries.
"You're still injured." Anna snapped her book closed. "What are you doing?"
"As long as I can do something , I don't feel as useless as I probably am right now," I responded to the question. "I got us groceries. I haven't been doing too bad on the light training, either. But it's just temporary pain, I can tough it out."
"Manta, put the rest of the groceries away. Azalie, you are hereby forbidden from straining yourself too much. Go take a bath, now ." Anna demanded. I couldn't argue with that, so I just nodded and headed out of the room almost immediately to go take a bath. While I soaked in the water, I had to wonder what was in store for me. Who would be my Officiant? I hoped that it would be someone I didn't know. Once I was done with my bath, I got dressed in my pyjamas before heading back to where we would be having dinner at. I took my seat, which was on Anna's left, and looked at nothing in particular. Dinner was curry and rice, which was absolutely delicious, but I couldn't get the looks of Silva and Chrom out of my mind.
After dinner, I excused myself and got Lute's new ring, trading it for the old one on my finger, and headed out again. This time, I took the replacement for Rosaria's staff I'd bought not long after I'd gotten out of the hospital. I knew I'd be in for another lecture by Anna, but I couldn't just sit around. I didn't know when the Officiants would start their trials, but I knew the general area of where Chrom's trial for Tao Ren would be. It was an enclosed space. A construction area, in fact. I asked some of the locals where the nearby construction area was and got weird looks but then one of them pointed me towards it.
"You passed." I heard as I finally made it. "I commend your technique, but your arrogance needs to be taken down a few levels. That will lead to your doom in the end."
No–! I couldn't let it happen! Integrating Rosaria into the staff, I hurled it as hard as I could towards Tao Ren and Chrom before the former attacked. Both of them dodged and I ran to grab it immediately before putting myself in-between the two of them.
"Take your Oracle Bell and go. You've proven yourself." I said, pointing my staff towards Tao Ren. Although I felt pain, it was so far from the forefront of my mind that I didn't pay it any heed.
"You dare interfere?!" Tao Ren pointed the Basontou towards me. I didn't feel intimidated in the slightest. As he lunged towards me, I had a few seconds to react. Following his trajectory, I moved a little out of the way and blocked his strike with my staff.
"Chrom, give him the Oracle Bell and go!" It wasn't like I'd interrupted for nothing. I was trying to save a life. I understood Silva's grief of seeing Chrom dead, so it meant that there'd be less heartache all around if I did this. "Throw it if you have to!"
"Enough! Vorpal Dance! " Tao Ren had moved back, only to thrust the Basontou rapidly towards me. I fended off each strike that I could, but my left arm, my cheek, my right side and my left leg got hit. It hurt, but I didn't give any indication of it hurting. Around that time, two Patch Officiants got in-between us and separated us. Tao Ren had gone to attack, only to be knocked aside by the Officiant keeping him from me.
"Interfering with the qualification round is strictly forbidden." The Officiant said. I stared up at him.
"Tao Ren was passed before she arrived." Chrom stated. "He was about to attack me again when she interfered."
"I had a feeling something would happen, so I was making sure it didn't." I said. "So, if that disqualifies me from the tournament, that's fine. I'd do it again."
At this point, Chrom had finally tossed the Oracle Bell to Tao Ren before leaving. Tao Ren looked as if he was going to chase Chrom, thought better of it and left as well. So I was left with the two Officiants. That is, until-
"The Great Spirit has said she is to participate." Goldva's voice came from behind me. "She has broken no rules, as the participant had been passed before her arrival. Therefore, her participation starts with her qualification match."
"Chief!" The two Officiants turned to face Goldva's projected image. I turned to face her as well.
"This will be your battlefield." Was all she said before the projection turned off. The two Officiants left as well, leaving me there alone. I held my staff, looking around until I saw him.
Silva.
"You're the Officiant testing me, then?" I asked, inclining my head to the left. "Chrom is safe?"
"Thanks to you." Silva said. I twirled my staff, hitting the ground beside me as I kept it horizontal. "Now, let us begin your test."
When I got home later, I was greeted by Anna verbally tearing Yoh a new one. The moment the door closed, though, she turned to face me. Eyes filled with angry tears, she started in on me instead.
"I told you that you were forbidden from straining yourself! Where the hell were you?!" Anna asked, voice thick with emotion. "First Yoh cheats on me with this 'Silva' and now you come home after straining yourself!"
"Anna, Yoh didn't cheat. Look." I held up my Oracle Bell. "I fought Silva as well. He's a very strong fighter. It's okay, Anna. I know you're worried and you care a lot, but lashing out hurts us, too."
Anna remained silent before turning to Yoh. "...Sorry, Yoh. Azalie's right, I shouldn't just lash out because I'm upset."
"I was trying to tell you Silva was a guy the whole time… But, you know I'd never cheat. We're engaged. It's not like I'm actually interested in other women, anyway." Yoh stated. "It kinda hurts that you have such little trust in me."
"She might just be scared of losing you." I offered. "I don't know the story between you and Anna, but maybe you two should talk more about this in private?"
"Yeah. C'mon, Anna." Yoh held out his hand to her. Anna took his hand gently, letting him lead her away. It just left Manta and I. Manta had been there the whole time, just quiet as the couple argued.
"How did you stop her so easily?!" He asked, surprised. "I thought no one could!"
"Because I understand her." I replied, looking at him with a sad smile. "Anna doesn't really know how to interact with people, so having a gentle, guiding hand in that regard helps her a lot."
"That would explain why she's so easy to anger. She doesn't know the right reaction!"
"No, she has a short fuse."
"WHAT?!"
I laughed a bit. As I did, I heard a sound. A beeping, coming from the Oracle Bell. Both mine and Yoh's were going off, and it held information for both of us.
"Attention. This is your first fight in the Preliminary Round. Time: Two weeks from now at 12am. Place: Outside Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre in Ikebukuro. Opponen– ….You're kidding me." I stared at the text, trying to think. Was this a hoax?
She had only been a game character, so how…?
"Who's your opponent? Yoh's is someone named Horohoro." Manta asked, curious.
"...Kalis Inugami." I replied, staring in disbelief. Though I remembered, in the game, she'd chosen Meril…
Why Kalis?
"I guess the Shaman Fight attracts all sorts of people." Manta frowned. "But why do I get a bad feeling about this…?"
"I don't know, but things are gonna get wild from here on. Are you ready to support Yoh?"
"Of course! And, don't forget, we're friends too so I'll be there to cheer you on in your fight!"
I smiled at that. "Then let's cheer on Yoh together."
The two of us high-fived. Maybe things were going to go okay.
….If only I had remembered to tell them about Faust…