She could feel the soft fabric around her. That feeling was exceptionally pleasant now because it took away from the splitting headache she had. It truly did feel like her head had been split in half, or mashed into a wall repeatedly.
She wiggled a bit in her discomfort, an instinctual reaction, and in doing so she discovered that the surface beneath her bent to accommodate her shape. She was in a bed, and comfortable at that. Well, that explains a lot. Plus, it has been a long time since she enjoined this level of luxury.
Yes, this was luxurious, probably. To Ana, after a week in a carriage, and months in jail, any bed would feel like an unaffordable luxury.
Traveling? She was traveling indeed, so how did she get here? Thinking of this only made her head hurt further still. 'It doesn't matter now, I should just get some sleep. Maybe the pain will lessen.' The merchant queen thought as she moved her head a bit, settling down in a position that brought her the least pain. She did feel a great urge to sleep. She must have been tired greatly from whatever happened before.
" Ana, are you awake?"
Is that Echidna's voice? Strange, she rarely wakes her up. She must want something. Well, whatever it is it can wait a bit.
" Just a few hours…" Groggily Anastasia answered her spirit's inquiry.
Yet, the fox spirit didn't seem to care that much for Ana's words. Nor was the great spirit in the mood for games. So Echidna, as gently as possible traveled through the bed and then proceeded to, less gently, bite Anastasia's leg.
" Ahhh…!" Screamed the young woman, pain and the adrenalin rush that ensued made sure to wipe away any sleepiness she had.
She instinctively looked at her leg only to see that there was no blood, nor bite marks for that matter. Echidna seems to have made sure to only cause Ana pain.
" What was that about?" Having calmed a little Anastasia asked her defacto mother.
" That is for your stupid plan." With a strict voice, Echidna answered. " Getting yourself attacked. What were you thinking!?"
With those words, Anastasia started to recollect the events that led here. The two of them came to Costuul so they could contact the remnants of the royal guard. She purposefully antagonized the mayor for him to send his man to attack her. After that, came her argument with Echidna, and that is it, she can't remember anything more.
" What happened?" Unsure Anastasia asked. She can't seem to remember ever being attacked.
" We were ambushed by the knight's the moment we entered a back ally." Her call expression progressively turned more emotional, " Thank Od I was able to reveal your indemnity to them in time. Had I stumbled just a bit, you would be dead."
Feeling bad for causing this much distress to her closest companion, Anastasia hugged Echidna. At first, the spirit seemed reluctant, wanting to "punish" Anastasia a bit for her foolish actions. But, soon enough she gave in.
Ana truly regretted her actions. In truth, she doesn't know why she did what she did. The idea was stupid, it made no sense. There were many better ways to get in contact with the knights. Why she chose this one, she doesn't know.
" Echidna, where are we?"
The spirit softly answered, " We are in one of the city's Inns. The owner is either the member of the monarchists or one himself."
That would explain the bed and the luxurious room. Naturally, the remnants of the royal guard would treat her with the utmost importance. They would spare no costs, and make sure she gets only the best.
Considering the fate of the rest of the dragon maidens, she is now effectively their Queen. Or at the very least somebody who will be queen.
Of course, Anastasia wasn't naive. There is no such thing as absolute loyalty. Despite what the monarchist might say, they are just like everybody else and are after their own goals. Perhaps, she can use this to her advantage.
" How many of them are here?"
" At first there were five. But, now there are around twenty. They are anywhere from the late twenties to mid-thirties of age" Echidna answered.
Ana thought for a bit, " They probably spread the news in their circles about me. Considering their age, all of them are probably knights."
" Is that a problem?" Echidna inquired.
" It shouldn't, at least as long as I don't hit too many nerves." Ana's vague answer left much to be desired.
" What is it that you're hoping to achieve Ana?" Echidna only now asked the question she should have long ago. Truth be told, the great spirit now regrets not taking an active role in Anastsia's decision-making.
" I wish to get them to come with me to the Capital." Ana simply answered.
" How…Why?"
" Using my status and their beliefs I plan to get them to join me." Hugging the spirit just a bit tighter she added. " As for why. We will be heading into the beast den. The capital will surely be more challenging than anything I did until now. I will need as many allies as I can get."
It made sense, individually every single knight was a force to be reckoned with. Even when the omnipresent nepotism was taken into consideration, the Lagunican Royal Guard lacked in nothing when compared to their contemporaries in other countries. She will need reliable fighters, and Halibel, in truth can't be relied on. Hopefully, these people could.
" Ana, there is something wrong here." The spirit confided in her defacto daughter," I can sense a strange presence, it is like magic is being used, but I can't find who it is."
At this Ana started getting worried too. Some hidden mage could have her plans completely ruined. Not to mention that anybody who hides their presence like that can't have good intentions.
" Leaving Halibel behind was a bad idea." Echidna, just like the man himself didn't like the idea of leaving him outside the city. But, she decided to remain quiet. So now she had no problem saying it. Perhaps she should have done that in the first place. Yet, she didn't, and now it is too late.
" Yeah... You are right." Solemnly Anastasia muttered. She ordered him to remain at the carriage and he obliged. Not only that, but he promised to do so. Yes, she made a huge mistake. But...Now that she thinks about it, there was something strange about Halibel then. He refused to say why he was temporarily handicapped, and his answer was strangely given.
"Echidna. Do you remember what Halibel said when he made the promise not to go?" Out of nowhere, Anastasia inquired.
"He said that he will remain there." Unsure of what Ana was getting at Echidna answered from her memory.
" It is not only that." She remained quiet for a few seconds, she seemed unsure at first, but with every passing moment the hesitation was replaced with confidence, " He purposefully accented I. " Seeing that this made Echidna only more confused Anastais elaborated. " Had it been anybody else this wouldn't matter. But, Halibel is quite unique."
" What are you trying to say."
Anastasia came closer to Echidna, and as silently, as she possibly could, whispered something in her ear. The fox spirit's eyes bulged a bit, as to betray her surprise, perhaps even shock. But, she quickly composed herself and simply said, " We should meet the knights."
" Yes, we should," Anastasia answered as she let Echidna go. Her head still hurt, but nowhere near as much as it did when she woke up. Hopefully, she will be able to accomplish what she came to do.
The two of them rose from the bed and headed outside the room. No doubt one or more of the monarchists is guarding the entrance. They can have those men inform the others of Anastasia's condition and her desire to address all the people present.
As they left the room and the doors were closed only silence remained. Quite a solemn place, but if one would secretly listen in, they could hear a sound that resembled a chuckle.
" Can you not see that this is clearly better?"
Blood splattered around. It was like some child was given paint to refresh the walls, and being a child they took to spray paint everywhere.
Anastasia, naturally, brought her head down. Both to shelter her face and to avoid looking at the gruesome sight in front of her.
Yet, what she couldn't see, she could hear perfectly. The screams, the sounds tearing flesh, and bones being broken. It must have been agonizing for the poor souls that had to suffer.
Ironically, the weakest fared the best. For they simply fell to the ground dead, without any possibility of defense. These people probably didn't even know what had happened. As opposed to them, those stronger that were able to raise their swords in defense and attack back, suffered the excruciating pain that curses could bring.
But, regardless of which group they belong to, the conclusion was always the same, a bloody corpse on the ground. Anastasia just listened and didn't even try to look up. Perhaps out of fear or shame? Whatever the reason was she continued to look at the ground until she heard a voice addressing her.
" You can look up now citizen Anastasia, they are all dead."
She did as Halibel told her and in doing so she observed the gruesome sight. Red splatters could be seen on the walls and some on the ground, and the often mangled corpse nearby. But, few showed no signs of damage, as if they simply fell dead.
The corpse of the city's mayor who just moments ago made an attempt on her life laid before her dead, with a kunai piercing his back. A weapon identical to the one that Halibel was holding. Why did he attack her? No, why is he even here?
" Well, overall this wasn't too bad." Halibel casually spoke, " Your primary plan failed, but the secondary one succeeded."
Anastasia shrewd as she is, added, " True, while their death was unintentional, now I can appear before the Convent a hero who slayed the monarchist remnant in Costuul."
This was by no means the desired outcome for her, she wanted to recruit these people. But, what she told Halibel was indeed one of the contingencies she had in mind if she failed. Sounded risky, but these people would have never tried to kill her, so no matter what she said she wouldn't be in danger. That is why leaving Halibel behind was permissible.
But, why then did he attack her? She tried to remember the reason, but the answer just wouldn't come to her.
Anastasia thought of the last thing she can remember... The young guard genuflecting before her as she declared her intention to hold a speech...No...No... She can remember herself before a crowd, of around thirty, speaking in front of her, on his knees was the mayor... He must have been brought here after she was attacked in the back alley. Was he apologizing to her?
But, that wasn't the last memory. No, the last thing that she can bring out from the jumbled mess that was her head was the feeling of anger as she spoke to the crowd. No, not anger, but irritation. It goes without saying that all of this only worsened her headache, and so while she was trying to remember the recent past, Echidna conversated with Halibel.
" If you had lied and broken your promise, you could have as well saved Ana in the back alley! If it weren't for me she would have died.!" Furious at the prospect of narrowly losing her dearest companion, while this powerful warrior sat around doing nothing, Echidna shouted.
But, Halibel was undisturbed by Echidna's demeanor, " I hadn't lied. The clone that had promised to stay back is still with the carriage." dismissing her accusations he added, " I was about to attack the knights, but you beat me to it."
" So you let them take us here?" Echidna asked.
" I also let you antagonize the Convents' failure," Halibel motioned to the corpse of the city's mayor, " and intimidate the guards, and so on."
Having calmed down a bit Echidna dropped the subject, " At least we are all fine now."
" We will be heading to the capital now?" Anastasia, who was temporarily outside of the conversation asked.
" Indeed, we already wasted too much time here." Halibel plainly answered. Despite his outward demeanor showing a kind of indifference, inside the tall demi-human seemed quite pleased with the situation.
" Your speech was quite a marvelous thing citizen Anastasia, pity these fools didn't appreciate it." Reviling a few of his hidden emotions Halibel complimented.
" What speech exactly." Ana still couldn't remember what had exactly transpired. She knows she spoke, but what exactly she had said remains unknown to her.
" Your speech of Republic, of Revolution. Quite a marvelous sight, you even tried to bridge such ideas to this vermin." the elation in his voice left him a bit as he sight, "Too bad these people were too stupid to understand. Or perhaps that authority of yours riled them up."
Authority. Was he referencing her power? The only other person who used the term in such a way was Subaru himself in her dreams. Wait does this means that Halibel knew of her power, but how? From the moment she felt that pain in her soul near that village, Anastasia had many questions. She didn't know what that was, why it happened to her. Only that the Rose Revolutionary somehow predicted this.
From that point onward it felt sometimes like she was losing control of her emotions. Like her desires were influencing her. This wasn't the normal, human influence, that pushed you forward to achieve your goals. No, this felt more like a whisper, a siren's song, a string pooling you forward. Was this perhaps a way for the Revolutionary to control her even after his death? Maybe, but she doubted it. If that was true, Halibel wouldn't have so carelessly revealed that he knows of her power. No, Natsuki would have no doubt ordered him to keep quiet, if he would have told him at all.
" You know about my power." Somewhat guarder Anastasia asked.
" Oh, yeah. Su-san had similar powers. He liked them a lot and called them the true revolutionaries. I think he might even have worshiped them. Scharchig his head Halibel awkwardly added, "Honestly, that was the one thing I didn't follow him on. Su-san could be eccentric a bit from time to time."
" But, how did you know I had this power." Unsatisfied with his answer she asked again.
" Just like with Su-san, your eyes tend to emit a reddish glint when you use your power." Cheekily, he added, " Looks nice, but it does reveal your hand."
Well, that is interesting. But, it does make sense a lot of powers have a physical influence on the people that use them. Although, this could be a problem if she isn't carefully using her power.
" Why did it fail now? Usually, people just do what I say." Ana inquired.
" So the power is supposed to manipulate people." Although speaking to himself, his words were loud enough for Echidna and Anastasia to hear him, " As you can guess now, I have no idea. Honestly, I hoped you knew. From what little I overheard Su-san mumbling those powers are supposed to embody the personality of their users."
Halibel seemed to have been of little help here. Perhaps, Subaru's home in the Capital held more answers. She doubt that the book he gave her head. Natsuki seems to have realized that she will have this power only after he had freed her.
" Powers? Are there more?"
" There are seven... or nine... more. Su-san would change his mind all the time. Perhaps you can find more information in his study once we get to the capital." Halibel added at the end hoping to be at least somewhat helpful.
Echidna merely listened in, never speaking herself. Truth be told she seemed much more serious than usual. But, she still remained quiet.
Trying to steer the speech in a more pleasant direction, despite the fact that they are surrounded by a bunch of corpses, Halibel spoke," You should repeat that speech before the Convent. We already have all the leverage over them, considering that the man they sent to govern this city was a counter-revolutionary. But, a good show of ideological purity is never to be wasted."
" I don't remember what I said." For the first time in a long while Anastasia was completely honest with Halibel.
Surprisingly enough Halibel wasn't taken aback by this, if anything he seemed to feel bad for Anastasia, " You were seconds away from death, in addition to many other heavy factors." He spoke calmly as he added." You might be experiencing something similar to shock, there is no shame in that, especially for somebody who isn't a warrior like you."
Anastasia was almost taken aback by this genuine show of kindness from the Archangel of Death, perhaps he suffered these things in the past. That being said Ana doesn't know if he is right. Perhaps this is one of the consequences of her power.
" Can you give me short notes of what happened?" Ana asked, trying to hide her confusion and powerlessness. For Anastasia knowledge was power, and she had just lost the knowledge of what had happened just seconds ago.
" Of, course. You arrived at the inn unconcius. After some time you woke up, spoke to your spirit, and realized that I was present here. You then had the knights arrange themselves here and discovered that the mayor is their leader. There was some exchange of words, and you started your speech. You talked of the Republic, of Revolution, offering them a part in it at your side. At some point, the mayor challenged your assertions, and there was a short debate. You said...
" Can you not see that this is clearly better?" Anastasia finished Halibels words, " Then I used my power and he attacked me."
" Yes." Halibel calmly confirmed.
" Thank you Halibel." truly for the first time she opened up a bit. At this moment he was not the Archangel of Death, the enforcer of Natsuk's terror. Nor was he the most powerful warrior in the country, the weapon she must weald carefully. No, now he was a person who genuinely cared for her, even if it was in his twisted way. Perhaps she is just misinterpreting, even so, it felt nice to do so. After living every day as a battle for years, she is ready to allow herself this indulgence. Considering where she is going, she won't have many opportunities there.
" We should get going." With a tired voice, Anastasia commanded. She felt Echidna back on her, she must have turned into a scarf again. There was no need for the charade now that Halble is openly with them. Plus, it felt nice physically feeling Echidna's presence again.
" Of course, follow me citizen Anastasia."
And she did, but while she walked she couldn't but think of Natsuki. Why did he have her use this power, did he give her, or was this just a coincidence? Most importantly, she wanted to know why he wanted her to use this power... Or did he?
Darkness sounder her just like it did those times before. She couldn't move her limbs, if she even had them here. The Rose Revolutionary just like before stood before her, and he was once again pleased by her actions.
" Magnificent, truly worth of your position."
" You are improving tremendously."
" In fact, perhaps you ought to..."
He spoke, but she didn't listen to him. Something prevented her from doing so. Unlike the times before when she would mindlessly listen to what he had to say. When she would without fail, corroborate his statement. Now she stood confused. The feeling of want, of unending desire that had her, consumed every time she had entered this realm, now, for just a split second waned a bit.
And from that, a semblance of clarity came. Just like many times before she opened her mouth to speak and...
" You are not him."
Her, until this moment unheard voice, echoed through this empty void. Instantly, the being before her stopped speaking. He, or perhaps, It observed her. The smile and the appearance of happiness disappeared completely, leaving only an emotionless expression.
The existence that resembled Natsuki Subaru stood before her completely unmoving. His lips remained firm, but yet a voice could be heard.
" Had we ever claimed otherwise?"
Made of men, yet gods.