Chapter 37: Death
Before we could even reach the second floor, cries and grunts gave us a good idea of what we were going to face. The sound of arrows landing on wood, followed by thundering footsteps practically forced us to stealthily creep up the staircase, so as to not draw attention to ourselves and get caught in the crossfire.
Climbing up the last few steps, we were greeted with the shocking sight of a pillager who had probably been aiming for someone down the hall, getting shot to death, as an arrow struck through their abdomen.
I honestly couldn't believe things were this drastic. Vincent's remark about everyone being at each other's throats was something I acknowledged as nothing more than an exaggeration. Now, I knew better.
After taking a peek at the two diverging hallways before us, we cautiously trod over to where the arrow was shot from. Alex was watching our backs, while I was on the lookout for frontal attacks.
Right as I cut a corner, another arrow lodged itself into my shield. My gaze met that of a surprised pillager, who suddenly got rather nervous. They were on their own, from what it seemed.
"Where did you-"
"You!" I shouted, in order for my voice to resonate through the buzz. "Where is Matilda?"
"Ah…As if I'd ever tell you-"
"Maybe you'd tell me, then? Don't make this harder than it needs to be," Alex cut in.
"M-Matilda is in the map room."
"And what of the captain?" I asked.
"He's in the meeting room."
"Steve, I'll handle Matilda. Can you confront the captain?"
Considering how Alex had a better grasp of Matilda's behavior, I thought her suggestion made sense. Once she pointed me to where the meeting room was, we split up. She went upstairs, while I backtracked to the opposite end of the hall.
While on her way to the third floor, Alex was ambushed in the winding staircase. It was an infamous aspect of the mansion's architecture due to how cramped it was. It would often get crowded before and after dinner time especially.
Being wary of the spot's strategic potential, she proceeded with enough caution for the incoming arrow to whistle by her ear, narrowly missing. It instead landed on the illager banner that was hanging on the wall behind her.
"M-ma'am! You're back!?"
"Out of my way, and you won't get harmed."
The pillager obeyed their former leader with as much zeal as they would if they were still under her command. Alex found that odd, but didn't have time to dwell on it. A part of her did wonder if the rest of her former soldiers would be as compliant, though.
As she wound up on the top floor and passed by the library, she found her way to the map room obstructed by a standoff between two opposing sides. One side was trying to hold position, while the other was bent on pushing forward.
With a shout, Alex attracted everyone's attention to herself. The sounds of distant combat, and even an explosion of uncertain origin filled the short silence that ensued. Most combatants were surprised to see that she had been the one to interrupt the battle.
"Put down your weapons and let me through."
The response she got was unexpected to her. They all pointed their crossbows at her. With no warning, someone shot her in the back. Grunting in pain, she whipped her head, only to realize that she was surrounded.
Four pillagers in the front, and two from behind. The latter two must have been hiding in the library, if Alex had to guess. She would have been impressed by the tactic, if she weren't seething.
"With all due respect, ma'am," one of them began with a hint of condescension, "we are not obligated to listen to a word you say. You shouldn't have come back here."
"After everything I've done for you, this is how you repay me?" Alex spat through clenched teeth, which elicited chuckles of mockery and disdain from her foes.
"Give it up. No matter how strong you think you are, you can't win against all of us. Take aim!"
As the bowstrings stretched and got into place, Alex could only focus on one of the taunts that were thrown her way. 'You can't win…' She had no idea the arrogance of her troops had reached such heights. Oh well…That was nothing that couldn't be arranged.
'I can't win, huh?' she thought. Outloud however, she challenged with, "Wanna bet?"
She stretched up her hands, and pointed one to each opposing side. With a purple glow, two concentric circles of jaws burst out of the floor. Each fang enraptured one pillager, and crunched down on them.
A stray arrow managed to scrape Alex's forearm, but by that point, the damage had already been done. Once the jaws dispersed, most pillagers were left on the floor, cringing in pain. Some, who had gotten hurt beforehand, succumbed to their injuries and passed away. She knew she would feel remorse about that later, after the heat of battle would cool down.
"I recommend you stay down. For your sake," she added, before proceeding along towards the map room. She couldn't let it show, but those two hits she had sustained, in conjunction with the magic attack she casted, left her feeling drained and lightheaded. That was primarily due to the three levels she had to sacrifice in order to cast the spell.
Taking cover, she tended to her injuries and refilled her hunger and health bars. In the meantime, she could already hear the commotion that was coming from the map room. Once she felt ready, she went inside, bow in hand.
A two on three duel had unfolded in the map room. Being one of the larger rooms of the mansion gave the combatants the freedom to utilize all sorts of tactics to harm the opponents who used to be their friends and comrades just a few days ago.
As Matilda was too busy dodging the incoming arrows, the single remaining ally of hers couldn't help but internally wonder why things had to go down this way…
One of the three pillagers who were on the offensive began to tremble from irritation, as another arrow of theirs missed their target by a wide margin. It wasn't their poor accuracy that was at fault, though.
It was that Matilda had drunk a potion of swiftness, which granted her accelerated speed and sharpened reflexes. For someone who couldn't wield weapons, she was definitely proving to be a formidable, and rather obnoxious enemy.
"Sit still, you witch!"
"If you insist…"
Matilda humored the pillager by stopping her movement for a moment, during which she had a splash potion of harming at the ready. She flung it at her target, which caused them to miss once again. Had this been just a friendly spar, Matilda would have actually been enjoying herself.
All of a sudden, everyone stopped shooting.
"Matilda!"
Even with her augmented abilities, there was no way for the witch in question to dodge this arrow. It pierced through her hat, and lodged it onto the wall behind her. Alarmed, she stared at her former boss in shock.
"You disappoint me," Alex stated darkly.
"B-boss, wait! I can explain!"
Alex furrowed her brow, before kindly commanding every pillager who was within the map room to scram. Some left willingly, others needed to be kicked out, but in the end, the result was the same. Once that was done, the entrance was barricaded in order to ensure no one would interfere.
"Go on. Explain," she demanded, crossing her arms.
Matilda felt intimidated by Alex's harsh glare, but it dawned on her that she was given a genuine chance to clear things up. She couldn't afford to mess this up. Clearing her throat, she began her explanation.
"The…The first few days after you left, all of us banded together in order to get by. Everything was going smoothly at first. That is...until the captain and I got into a disagreement in regards to who should be in charge."
"..."
"I didn't really want to be in charge, to be honest. It all happened in the heat of the moment, and I wasn't thinking very clearly. He said some…hurtful things, and I couldn't control myself."
"What did he say?"
"He…told me that…even with all my services, I was still just a villager at the end of the day, and that I shouldn't be allowed to be in a position of power. I…I just got so angry. We each riled up our own troops, and…these are the results."
Alex was deep in thought. She knew that Matilda was closer to a villager than an illager, primarily due to the fact that she couldn't wield a weapon. That was the main reason she relied on potions for defense.
She had provided so much assistance to this tribe, though. Alex genuinely couldn't believe that problems concerning her origin had arised, especially considering how everyone had their roots in Cornelia, at least to some extent. She felt sympathy for the misunderstood witch…until she remembered something pivotal.
"I was informed that an allay was taken by you. Is it true?"
"Boss…please forgive me. I did something I'm not proud of, but…I had to ensure I'd survive."
"..."
Matilda hesitantly flipped her cloak, and revealed the allay that was clinging onto her. Once its glinting eyes met Alex's, it zoomed to her in a heartbeat. Out of all the allays she could have chosen to take as a hostage, of course it had to be Sunbeam…
Alex couldn't help but feel a sense of anger bubbling up within her, seeing her child's fright. She knew Matilda would never willingly endanger someone this dear to her, but still.
Another nearby explosion shook the room.
As much as she wanted to sort out her thoughts, she knew time wasn't a luxury she could afford.
"We will settle this later. For now, let's go find the captain."
Steve didn't even have to set foot in the conference room to know that things were about to get ugly. A blinding flash of light, followed by a loud crash erupted from inside, as two pillagers were sent flying straight into the opposite wall.
Baffled by the sight, he quickened his pace, and peeked his head from where he was standing by the doorway. He saw a trio of pillagers standing on top of the great table, surrounded by a thin cloud of smoke. The captain was among them, and he was holding what appeared to be an enchanted crossbow.
Each crossbow was pointed at an allay that was flying frantically around the room. The captain took aim and fired. Instead of shooting arrows like everyone else, however, his projectile of choice were firework rockets.
Steve would have found this ridiculous, if it weren't so brutally effective. The revelation that followed was even more ludicrous, though. The enchantment that had been applied to the captain's weapon, was called 'multi shot'.
As the name would imply, instead of firing a single firework rocket, this crossbow launched three of them, which logically led to the number of subsequent explosions to triple. Steve ducked out of the way, and covered his ears, yet the volume of the combined blasts was still excruciating.
As the smoke cleared, Steve saw one of the most shocking, upsetting, and downright heart wrenching scenes he had ever witnessed. In cold blood, the two pillagers, who had been standing next to the captain, shot the weakened allay, until it was no more.
He watched it die. He heard it, too. Those anguished cries weren't going to leave his mind, he could already tell; they sounded so…childlike. He hadn't even known allays could just die like this. What sense did it even make? They were a form of a soul, right? He just couldn't understand why things had to be this way…
What he did understand was that he had to put an end to this. Determined, he left his cover.
"Captain!" he shouted, and all three pairs of eyes were upon him.
"Stop this madness, or I'll force you to!"
To his surprise, the captain chuckled ominously after a noticeable pause, and shook his head.
"Be our guest," he plainly added, and his soldiers drew back their bowstrings. With a snap of his fingers, the two underlings fired away.
Steve instinctively stacked two cobblestone blocks in front of him, and heard the two arrows land one after the other on the opposite side of his barrier. He didn't get the chance to think of what his next step should be, because a barrage of explosions wrecked his defenses to smithereens. The shockwave knocked him to the floor.
Two more arrows followed, the first of which missed his head by a hair - seemingly intentionally, while the other stuck his side. Sucking air through clenched teeth, Steve forced his eyes to remain open, while the captain ordered the other two to hold their fire.
From where he stood on the table, he spoke in a nonchalant tone, which went hand in hand with the arrogance brought by imminent victory.
"I witnessed your exploits against Vincent, I'll have you know. Your ability to shape your environment to your will is exceptional, indeed. Too bad it can't help you here. Fire!"
Steve lifted his shield to protect himself, and was faced with an identical pattern of attacks to the last one. One arrow, followed by another, followed by a rocket. The shield did a commendable job at taking the brunt of the onslaught, but it was certainly not going to last very long if things were to continue at this rate.
The fact that each attack succeeded the last at such a fast pace, stripped away any window of opportunity on Steve's behalf to counter attack. There surely had to have been a way through… How does one deal with a foe that has access to explosives?
…
"What do you even hope to achieve with this?" he shouted from behind his cracked shield.
"What was that?"
Steve repeated his question now that the attacks ceased.
"I hope to earn the power to do what Eva did not, and what Matilda can not. Steer this tribe to a path of greatness!" he declared in a tone that indicated he had practiced that line more than a few times.
"And how does this help further your goal?"
'That's right, just keep talking…'
"With the allays gone, there will be no further diversions-"
In the time it took for the captain to finish that sentence, Steve had cleared the distance between himself and the illager grunt on his right, and incapacitated them. The captain fumbled with his crossbow, alarmed by the unexpectedly rapid movement of his opponent.
Right as he fired another rocket, in a flash, he realized the magnitude of the blunder he had done. The projectile crashed against Steve's shield and exploded. From such a short distance, he got swept up by the blast.
Now that his shield was no longer of any use, Steve ran past the collapsed captain, and ensured the remaining pillager wasn't going to interfere. Once that was over and done with, Steve returned his attention to the captain, who was still lying on the floor, shaking.
He pointed the tip of his sword at him.
"Stop resisting and surrender. It's the only way."
"P-please! Show mercy!"
They locked eyes with each other. Steve had never thought much of the captain before. The two had exchanged words for the first time just today, but from the snippets of his personality he had seen, Steve wouldn't have believed that the captain was capable of something like this.
Had power tainted his mind, or had he always been like this? Whatever the case may have been, Steve was willing to wait for Alex to catch up with them, for she had just as much of a say in this matter as he did.
Stampeding footsteps reached Steve's ears at a rapid tempo. Soon enough, Vincent stormed in, along with a couple of grunts.
"What the-? Did I seriously miss all the action!?"
Shortly afterwards, Matilda, Alex, and a few other pillagers trickled in, all sporting looks of confusion, probably due to the shape the meeting room was left in. As Steve was about to explain what had transpired, a fit of giggles cut him off.
There was no visible candidate that could have been behind those giggles, as there was a strange quality to the way they sounded. It was almost like they were reverberating, much like the sounds the allays would make. Their pitch was similarly high, too.
Mere seconds afterwards, the captain jerked, letting out a gasp, before dying on the spot. Everyone tensed up at the seemingly unprompted death. Steve even took a step back and raised his hands to drive home the point that he hadn't done anything.
Soon thereafter, the two pillagers who had fought alongside the late captain met the same fate, one by one, as the giggling intensified. It was at that point where the people present could have been divided into two categories.
The first category was primarily made up of rookie pillagers, Vincent, as well as Steve. They were looking around frantically, alert for any noise that could give away the invisible menace's location. They were the ones who didn't know who they were up against.
The second category was made up of seasoned soldiers, Matilda, Alex, and even Sunbeam. They knew very well what was behind these spontaneous deaths, and their eyes were wide open. Alex hung her head in shame, but otherwise, everyone stood still, as though frozen.
A translucent creature phased up through the floor. Its color palette was mostly comprised of bleak colors, like various shades of gray. Its raven eyebrows and glowing white eyes were the exception to that.
Once it reached around the middle of the room, Steve could get a good look at the vex, for the very first time. The explosions must have been what awakened it from its slumber.
It was more similar to the allays than he first realized. The long dress was in a similarly tattered state. The body proportions were practically identical. The shape of the wings was roughly the same, too.
There was also a pivotal difference between the two, color and abilities aside. Its gaze held a certain degree of cynicism. It could have been the thick, bushy eyebrows that resembled those of an illager's. Perhaps it was the scowl that was warping its face. Alternatively, it could have been the sword it had clutched in its hand, which was around as big as its body.
All those aforementioned factors told Steve that whatever innocence this creature had, was probably long gone. With one fell swoop, the vex lunged its sword at one of the few remaining pillagers who just so happened to be standing closer to it. Just like that, another victim perished in the rampage.
Steve remembered a fleeting comment Alex had told him the night after he regained his memories. Vexes have a lifespan of around a day, meaning they couldn't live for long. And yet, as he saw the ease with which the vex dispatched four pillagers in a row, he couldn't help but wonder, 'Can we survive long enough?'
Right as the onslaught was starting to reach its climax, the vex phased through the floor, taunting the watchers with a mischievous giggle. With such an unprecedented ability, no one could possibly predict where this creature would strike next, or the extent of the damage it could cause.
Vincent cursed under his breath, before ordering a select few pillagers to follow him downstairs, while the rest would stay on the current floor, just in case the vex would reappear.
Steve appeared conflicted. Once again, the ability to place blocks was rendered useless, so he wasn't certain what the best thing to do was. Matilda seemed to be in a similar predicament, contemplating between going on the offensive or staying behind to support her allies. Alex, on the other hand, was in a borderline catatonic state.
Perhaps, it was Sunbeam's time to shine, and take initiative. She had had enough sitting around and watching helplessly. She could tell her old friend was still somewhere in there. All he needed was a helping hand, and everything would be alright.
Having made up her mind, she left Alex's side and followed the pillagers that had gone downstairs. Steve took notice of that, and immediately chased after her.
Meanwhile, even with an entire group of archers, Vincent still couldn't contain the vex. The way it hid behind walls, or underneath floors, before getting in a few sneaky attacks, infuriated him.
He felt as though he was being toyed with, and every howl of pain a comrade of his would make was like an insult to his competence. Even then, he felt obliged to keep pushing forward.
In the hallway outside the room with the illager statue and the allays' room, he and his troops formed a tightly knit circle, so that no one could sneak up on them from behind. Too bad none of them looked down.
The vex, which had been stalking nearby, seized the opportunity and caused all of its supposed 'hunters' to split apart. Now that they were all discombobulated, they would be easy pickings.
It focused on Vincent, who managed to deflect its swings and thrusts just in time. He couldn't tell how much longer he could hold out for, but put up an impressive resistance regardless.
Occasionally, the vex would target the other pillagers, in order to ensure that they…wouldn't interfere again, cackling madly while doing so. If one of the aforementioned pillagers couldn't bear any more pain…oh well.
Much to Vincent's relief, the vex's advance did eventually halt, as its attacks ceased. Both sides turned their heads over to where Sunbeam was hovering. There was a fleeting moment of hesitation, before the allay approached the vex, her eyes shining with newfound determination.
She took the vex's free hand in hers, and examined its puzzled expression. Sunbeam tried to communicate with the vex, urging him to stop and come back to her. She got stonewalled by the vex's relentlessness.
Saddened, but not fully disheartened, Sunbeam tried once again, going as far as to remind him of who he once was. In their own little language (was it even a language, or was it an entirely different method of communication?) toasty memories of simpler times were shared.
Times where they would spend all day playing the games they liked with their friends, or watching the clouds drift by, or pulling pranks on those dumb illagers. Sometimes, they'd even play pretend, and act like they were nobles, warriors, or something of the sort.
The vex turned its head, hiding away its face in the process. Sunbeam felt encouraged, as her method appeared to be effective. That's why when the vex's glare met hers, and she saw the burning red rage that had marred its face, she felt a fear unlike any other.
There was barely enough time, for everything went by in a flash. Iron cold as ice cut through the air between them, as Sunbeam dashed away. She wasn't fast enough. Screaming in pain, her vision faded to black.
The pain was immense enough to mask the feeling of falling. Before she could impact the harsh floor, Steve, who had just arrived, just barely managed to catch her. Inspecting her, he saw that her left wing was sliced clean off.
He stared at the allay in his arms. Her tear-stained eyes, and trembling hands. She seemed almost delirious. The thought that such a sweet creature had to bear such hardships made his blood boil. Sunbeam had never harmed anyone! She didn't deserve this!
His eyes trailed upwards, over to the now fully berserk vex. One couldn't accurately judge who of the two was looking angrier. Right as Steve was about to whip out his sword, Alex stepped in front of him, facing their shared foe.
He was relieved to see that she had snapped out of her stupor, though she still didn't seem to be fully there.
She raised her hands, and they took a white glow, one that most of the people present - Steve included, had never seen before. It roughly matched the vex's color scheme, so it grabbed its attention.
It jerked for a moment, until recollection caused its eyes to widen. With amplified fury, it charged mindlessly to the one who had caused all this suffering, sword pointed forward. Unflinching, Alex grabbed its arm before the blade could skewer her torso.
Due to the size difference between the two, only the vex's wrist and shoulder weren't caught in Alex's grip, which left it practically defenseless, as it thrashed and struggled in place. Steve thought this was it. The end to one of the most destructive battles he had fought in, was here. And yet, the way it was delivered, wasn't something he saw coming.
Instead of beating, crushing, skewering, stabbing, strangling, or generally just attacking the vex, Alex instead lifted her free hand, and hugged it tightly. Softly, she confessed.
"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry."
Instantly, as though it froze, the vex's resistance stopped.
"It's not your fault. It's not your fault, my little sunshine. None of this is."
The vex's wrath was rekindled to some extent, but nowhere close to the intensity it had moments prior. Alex kept spilling every word and phrase of comfort that ran through her mind.
"All of this was my doing. My fault. I'm the one who should be blamed…"
She never had the time to say a single word that could provide solace to the first vex she had created, so in a way, she felt twice as pressed to make up for it this time.
"I love you. You may not believe me, but it's true. I love you more than you can imagine. I hope you understand you did nothing wrong, my sweetheart."
Whether that was true or not from an outsider's perspective, was not addressed. Once more, the vex shook and squirmed, although its anger had subsided at this point. Tears began streaming down its face, and its sword slipped from its grasp, clattering on the floor.
Alex was having a difficult time continuing, but she knew she had to finish this.
"You…You'll become…one with the universe soon. I hope at least then…you'll feel my love…when you wake up…from this dream…"
Alex felt tiny arms hugging her chest, but before she could say anything else, the vex turned to smoke, as its short life came to an end. The smoke floated upwards, before dissipating altogether.
Alex slumped down on her knees, looking completely and utterly defeated. Steve walked up to her, careful not to stir Sunbeam, whom he was still carrying in his right arm, awake. She didn't look at him when he stopped in front of her. Her gaze was too fixated on the carpet. Willing to say something, but not knowing exactly how to start, Steve kneeled in front of her, and placed a hand on her shoulder, which caused her to flinch.
"I…really admire you."
She looked at him incredulously.
"What are you talking about?"
"For what you did. When I saw what that thing did to Sunbeam, I wanted little else, other than to make it pay. But that way, I completely forgot that at some point in time, the vex was once a happy-go-lucky allay, trying to live its best life. You didn't; you gave it your all, in order to provide some love in its final moments. That's why I admire you."
Alex shook her head.
"There is nothing admirable about me. I caused this. All of it. It's my fault."
"You're wrong. You're just a victim of circumstance, Alex. And in spite of that, you still tried to make amends for your mistakes. You are not the monster you once told me you think you are. Please forgive yourself."
"..."
"You don't have to take my word for it. Your actions just now showed me who you really are."
"...Steve, I...I…"
"..."
Steve had never seen, or heard Alex cry before. Ever. Not in this life, or the previous one. At most, she'd tear up once in a blue moon. She had always been too strong to cry, and was usually the one who would comfort and encourage others to stand up for themselves back in the days of the Sky dimension.
So, once she started not just crying, but downright sobbing, he felt as though he had uncovered an uncharted part of her being. A part of her that was scared and in need of help. It was heart wrenching for him to see her in this state.
"I love you, Alex. I'll stand by you through thick and thin. You can count on me."
Hesitantly, she embraced him tightly, and sobbed quietly and shakily on the crook of his neck. He hugged her back with his free arm.
The two most important people in Steve's life were in his arms, but all three of them were going through dark times. And yet, despite the despair, he felt the fire flare up within him. They'd get through this.
He'd make sure of it.