The library was huge, both to its strength and detriment.
Despite numerous titles, encyclopedias, novels, and documentaries, finding the right one to read became difficult, and searching for them was an entirely different matter. I didn't want to interrupt the librarian's nap time to show me around. I would probably need to explain why I barged in here without a permit or something too.
That was a hassle I refused to deal with, and I stubbornly wandered the library.
Eventually, one book with a beautiful crimson leather cover caught my eye and I carefully took it out of its shelf. It was slightly dusty, and its pages were worn, but the ink and paper smell assaulted my nose. It was a rusty feeling, bringing a sense of nostalgia after gazing at a computer screen for such a long time.
I opened the book, and the cover screeched in protest. Its pages were glued together from the humidity, and I peeled away a page from the lump. Once I read the first paragraph, I immediately clapped it shut before my cheeks began to flush.
Maybe… not this one.
I put it back in its place before leaving that particular bookshelf behind. Something told me I would find only similar pieces of work. My legs took me to the very edge of the library while my middle finger glided across the covers, until I came to a halt and tilted my head towards the latest book my finger was touching.
It had little flare. Its green cover was already worn and the evening sun revealed several fingerprints staining it. I could already tell this particular piece saw a lot more use than… whatever smut I had been about to read.
The idea of Lissa suddenly stumbling across something so vulgar would have made my day. I knew she was still an innocent teenager, but in many aspects, she had already grown into a full-blown adult.
Compared to me, at least.
When I glanced over the contents of the book, it couldn't hold my attention. It was a historical glossary, and I felt a slight pang hit my stomach when I realized all this knowledge would eventually become useless to me.
A mirthless chuckle escaped my lips. "Who would believe me once I get back home anyway?"
Again, I put the book back, but when I tried searching for anything else, my legs suddenly gave out. I plopped on the ground with a dull thud before leaning my head against the bookshelf, lifelessly staring at the records. Tears welled up in my eyes and slowly streamed down my cheeks.
Everything began catching up to me, both mentally and physically. I felt so weak and vulnerable. At least, it was comforting that I found such an empty hole in this castle where I could… weep without anyone seeing me. I didn't even utter a sound just to make sure.
No words of comfort would alleviate this emptiness. I had no other way of describing it. Even though I surrounded myself with people ready to help me back up, something told me I couldn't rely on them forever. There would come a point when no hand would reach out and pull me out of the mud, and I didn't know if I could stay afloat long enough to catch my breath.
It all felt pointless and tired me out, metaphorically and literally.
It would only take a small moment for me to fall asleep, but the ground wasn't comfortable enough for that to happen. Once my tears ran dry, I wiped the rest off my face before standing back up.
My head tilted towards a window on the other side of the library, and the sun was already down. I wasn't expecting to wander around for this long. People at the barracks were probably looking for me. Hopefully, finding a way out of this castle wouldn't be as much of a problem as it was before.
However, halfway through the library, I spotted someone else engrossed in a book: a tall man dressed in black robes embroidered with gold. He had short spiky black hair, a long goatee and dark skin. His presence alone made me tense up, and when he closed the book shut with a clap, I flinched.
"It is unruly to peek when one wishes to read in solitude." His voice was deep and gruff. He tilted his head slowly towards me, and his glare made me freeze on the spot. His irises were red and shined slightly in the night. "I thought I'd made sure no one could disturb me."
My body refused to move, my limbs refused to move, and even my eyes refused to break eye contact as if he commanded me to stay in place with his glare alone. One fact was abundantly clear. He was dangerous. Extremely dangerous.
Once he put the book in his hand back inside the bookshelf, he slowly closed the distance between us, and each step he made thundered in my ears. "Now, may I know the name of the one who dares tread the same grounds as I do?"
I gulped. "T-Theresa."
His eyes sized me up and down before a scoff escaped his lips. "You do not look like one from the Pegasus Order. Even a trainee would be more vigilant than you."
He raised his hand, and his long sharp fingernails scraped against my chin, forcing me to raise my head. "However, such an interesting child you are. It's truly a shame I don't have the time to study you. Not when I have more pressing matters to atte—"
He paused when his eyes landed on my right arm, and his eyebrows rose. Without notice, he grabbed my forearm with surprising strength and straight up lifted me from the ground.
"What are you—"
"Hush, child," he said firmly before studying my… tattoo? Wait, I completely forgot it was left out in the open!
"And here I thought such practice was already lost to time," he remarked. If his eyes weren't glowing before, they were now. "Such an intricate design; too difficult to achieve with simple tools. How did someone like you come across such a rarity?"
"...what?" I exclaimed with wide eyes before gritting my teeth. "I don't know what you're talking about! Let me go!"
He huffed while a frown adorned his features. "You're not lying. Interesting."
Suddenly, he slashed with his other hand, cutting into my tattooed arm. A pained scream escaped my mouth while blood trickled down his nails. He took a whiff before letting out a pleased hum. "Oh dear. Theresa, this won't be the last time we'll meet. I'll arrange a meeting. Realm travel is a subject I study in my free time, after all."
He let go of my hand, dropping me on the ground with a dull thud. I started hyperventilating from the searing pain spreading across my right arm, but was still able to raise my head with a snarl. "You know what happened to me, don't you!?"
His eyebrow shot up. "And why would I know that? The only one who can answer that question is yourself."
He spun around, his robes flaring as he walked away. "And as I said before, I have more urgent matters to attend to. Humoring you will come later."
"W-wait!" I shouted while I reached out with my bloodied arm. "Then at least tell me how to get back home!"
A low laugh escaped his lips, and he paused his stride before glancing back at me with one eye. "Do you truly wish to know?"
A resolute nod was my answer, and his lips parted in a wide grin. "Then you need to acquire a power equal to the Divine Dragon herself. Trust me when I say no amount of begging will earn you a favour from her."
I… didn't know who this Divine Dragon was, but his answer shattered me. I stared at him with a flabbergasted expression, before my stretched-out hand fell limp. It was difficult to speak with how much my mouth quivered.
"What… does that mean?" I managed to ask, and the man huffed.
"The matter is simple; you're stuck in this world, and I recommend discarding any delusions you had until now," he smirked. "Oh, and do find a place to hide. I wouldn't want such a fine specimen to end up as a smear on the wall before I finish my errand."
He gave me an exaggerated bow. "I bid you farewell, Theresa."
A dark cloud enveloped the man like a veil before it dissipated with him, leaving me behind with too many questions to count, and only a single answer. Goosebumps ran across my skin, and the air grew extremely cold.
There's no way for me… to go back?
Bile rose from my stomach, and I was ready to empty my innards, before a loud explosion rocked through the library, making me jump on my feet. I greeted my teeth and ran towards the window, only to see smoke outside the garden.
My head snapped towards the counter with the librarian still sleeping on it, and I frantically tried to wake him up. "Come on! Something's happening inside the castle!"
Again, he didn't stir. When I hit him over the head, he fell limp on the ground while blood started to pool out of a wound in his stomach. His eyes were lifeless, and color drained from my face.
I backpedaled, incidentally dropping on my rear from shock. Every part of my body quivered with fear. I was about to scream my lungs out, but someone outside beat me to it.
"Someone, anyone! Please help me!"
It was muffled, but it was coming from outside the garden just below me, and I knew whose voice it was.
That was Lissa.
The realization made something within me snap. My body completely forgot it was shaking and unable to move. My heart began pumping adrenaline like mad, eclipsing every urge I had to run away and the familiar fight-or-flight response came back with a vengeance.
I had to help her.
No…
I must help her!
I gritted my teeth and reached the closest window before grabbing my staff with both hands and whacking the glass, shattering it into pieces. A yelp from the garden reached my ears and, after looking down at the drop, I jumped. Air rushed into my eyes, but before it got unbearable, I landed on the ground, the leftover pieces of glass cracking under my feet.
But… fuck, it hurt. The shock from the impact ran across my entire body and made my legs all jittery. "Never doing that again."
"Theresa!" Lissa shouted, making me snap my head towards her. A gasp escaped my mouth when I saw several daggers stuck in Chrom's arm while he heavily breathed on Lissa's lap. Robin, on the other hand, was leaning against the wall, seemingly unconscious, and his robes were slightly charred.
I immediately reached Lissa's side before kneeling. "What happened here!?"
Her bloodshot eyes pleaded to leave the questions for later, and I nodded. "Alright, help me remove the daggers!"
"W-wait!" Chrom forced out, his eyes barely opened, before gazing at the tip of my staff. "Don't… you don't have a gem. I can still fight with my l-left arm."
"Like hell you can!" I shouted before forcefully pulling one of the daggers out, making Chrom scream in pain. "You'll only bleed out instead! Just bear through it, and I'll patch you up! Lissa! Hold him still!"
She flinched under my voice, but eventually grabbed Chrom tightly to immobilize him. I took a deep breath through my nose and yanked the rest of the daggers out, leaving Chrom's arm riddled with bleeding holes. The sight would have made anyone else vomit, but I had healed a ruptured stomach, this was nothing compared to that.
Once I gathered my thoughts, a similar feeling enveloped my hands—the same one that could drain my stamina in mere moments. My right hand emanated a familiar green glow, and when I leaned it against the wound, it started stitching itself back together.
I winced from the sudden headache splitting my skull, but it was much more bearable compared to the first time. Soon enough, the green light disappeared with the wound, and the headache immediately seized, leaving behind only a light throbbing.
Chrom gasped for air before letting out a drawn-out sigh. He lifted his right hand as if it hadn't sustained a major injury. "You're a miracle worker, There—"
I stopped him with a raised hand. "Let's," I heaved. "Let's save that conversation for later. Tell me what's going on while I work on waking Robin up."
Chrom's mouth hung open for a moment before clapping it shut. "Right."
The moment Chrom said the word 'assassins', things started to make sense. Their sudden injuries, the dead librarian, the explosion, everything. However, I couldn't fathom why someone would stage an assassination in the first place. I didn't know the context, and nor did Chrom or Lissa.
But we had no time to waste.
In the same way I patched up Chrom, I healed Robin as well. Thankfully he hadn't sustained any major injury, which made the process a lot less taxing. Once I was finished, Robin woke up with a jolt and immediately reached for his tome, only to ease ever-so-slightly.
"Oh thank the gods it's you, Theresa," Robin exclaimed with a relieved sigh. "For once, I'm happy you can use a staff without a gem."
"You can say that again." I reached out with my hand and helped him get on his feet before turning to Chrom and Lissa. I nodded, and they nodded back.
"We need to reach Emm as quickly as possible," Chrom stated. "If they were targeting me and Lissa, then they are definitely after her as well."
Lissa balled up her hands into fists. "I'm just hoping we're not too late."
"Then let's not waste time here," Robin urged. "Chrom, lead the way, I'll cover our flank. Nobody here separate from the group, no matter what."
Chrom unsheathed the Falchion before running into the castle corridors. "Let's go!"
Despite the maze-like structure of the castle's interior, Chrom navigated through the place without any hesitation, each turn made with purpose. However, just because he knew the way towards Emmeryn's quarters, didn't mean we wouldn't meet any opposition. At one turn, two assassins jumped out of the corner with their swords at the ready, but Chrom didn't dare stop.
"Get out of my sight!" he shouted, bashing against one of the assassins with his entire body, knocking the breath out of their lungs before a practiced slash beheaded the assassin in one fluid motion.
The other one, not shaken by his colleague's demise, pressed the advantage against Chrom's wide-open flank.
However, Robin wouldn't let him. In the nick of time, he launched a fireball, engulfing the other perpetrator in flames, leaving only ash behind. All of this happened in a few seconds, and it didn't halt our sprint in any way.
It was a display of brutal efficiency, but none of it mattered at the moment. Any emotional baggage this would have caused me was drowned by the adrenaline.
Eventually, we found ourselves in a long three-way-pronged hall and, down the path we were heading, I saw Phila fighting off an assassin as well.
"Phila!" Chrom exclaimed, rushing in to help. The assassin took their eyes off Phila for a split second, but that moment of distraction was all she needed, as she pierced the assassin with a swift thrust before kicking the body off of her spear.
She snapped her head in Chrom's direction. "Prince Chrom, your timing couldn't have been more impeccable! Where are your Shepherds!?"
Once we reached her, Chrom shook his head. "There was no time to call for them. We were inside the castle when this place became festered by assassins."
Phila clicked her tongue. "Damn it."
"But that doesn't matter right now!" Lissa butted in. "Where is our sister!?"
"I'm alright, Lissa," came Emmeryn's voice as she stepped through the door next to Phila. Her robes were much shorter than what she had during our teatime, and she held both a staff and a tome in her hands. "Quite the unruly night, isn't it?"
"Emm!" Lissa bolted towards her and hugged her tightly while tears stained her eyes. "I'm so glad you're alright!"
"There, there, no need to cry," she said, trying her best to comfort Lissa before she turned to Phila with a resolute frown. "Tell me what the situation is."
Her retainer struck a pose. "We know very little, but one thing is for sure. These assassins aim for you and your siblings, Your Grace."
"And the numbers—"
A massive explosion interrupted Emmeryn, rocking the castle in its entirety. Everyone snapped towards the source down the south hallway, but nothing in our vicinity was damaged. However, it wasn't long until even more assassins appeared from each side, ready to pin every escape route we could take.
Robin swiped across his tome's pages, burning multiple papers while the fire in his hand grew larger with each moment. "Keep a tight formation! Phila, Chrom, take the south entrance while me and Emmeryn cover the sides! We need both Theresa and Lissa to keep us topped off, so let none pass!"
A long stream of fire shot out of his hand and into the west hall. It charred everything in its path and cleared the first wave with ease. He snapped his head towards Emmeryn with gritted teeth. "Is that fine with you, Your Grace!?"
"Naturally," she said before offering Lissa her staff. One that thankfully already had a crystal clear gem. "Take this, Lissa."
"W-wait, you can't mean—"
"Now is not the time to ask questions. Use it well," Emmeryn said firmly, pressing the staff into Lissa's hands before tilting her head in the east hall's direction, already filling with more assassins. "And I do hope you haven't forgotten who your sister is."
The ends of her fingertips grew white holding her tome, and the papers within it sizzled out of existence even with the book closed. Green blades of wind circled her in a mesmerizing pattern before she carefully extended her hand towards the approaching assassins.
"I am the Exalt," she stated with a raised chin. "And these assailants seem to have forgotten that fact. I may be benevolent, but I won't turn a blind eye to violence. Especially when it concerns my family."
The winds roared, sending a whirlwind into the hallway, and the blades sliced at everything they touched. Cracks appeared on the walls, the carpet was ripped to shreds, and the assassins took the brute force of the attack. Deep cuts littered their bodies, their blood sprayed everywhere, and the magic left only destruction in its wake.
Nothing was spared.
Emmeryn let out a long sigh before hiding her mouth behind her palm, stifling a lurch. "May you all find peace."
That… was not the Emmeryn I met during our meeting.
Still, I couldn't sit back and gawk at the display, no matter how brutally bewitching it was. I needed to make sure everyone had the strength to keep up this makeshift formation as long as possible.
I turned to Lissa. "Let's make sure they keep their feet up."
Apparently, I wasn't the only one mesmerized, as she had to shake her head. "Right!"
She glanced at the clear gem before stabbing the butt of her staff in the ground with a clear click. "Let me handle that! This gem will keep everyone alive!"
Soft white light emanated from the gem before shooting out in every direction, like a constant stream of water. My right arm began to itch and the wound the man caused me in the library disappeared almost immediately. My eyes went wide, and I tilted my head in each of the hallways' direction.
Chrom and Phila, fighting the assassins up close nonstop, had their small cuts and bruises healed instantly. Robin's heavy breathing evened out and proceeded to resume burning his hallway to the ground, and Emmeryn no longer looked so pale.
Now, all my initiative straight up vanished.
What was I supposed to be doing? Everyone strived to survive this nightmarish night the best way they could, and then here I stood, having no real way to contribute to the fight. All I could do was be on the lookout for any stragglers, but even those were either burned to a crisp, sliced to pieces, or stabbed to death.
I had… no purpose.
While I wasted time brooding, the assassins' numbers slowly but surely whittled down to nothing, leaving only corpses behind. Phila and Chrom were leaning against their respective weapons for support, Robin, spread on the ground, breathed heavily, Emmeryn leaned against the wall while her face lost all colour, and Lissa could barely stand, the gem on her staff showing cracks.
They did all the hard work, while I only watched. At least, I could help them get back on their feet. However, the moment I took the first step, a chill ran down my spine, and I snapped my head down the south hallway. A set of piercing red eyes stared back at me while they slowly approached. Eventually, the light of a torch on the ground revealed the man's face.
The same face I had met in the library.
"And they said these are trained professionals," the man remarked, staring at one of the corpses with an unimpressed frown. "They couldn't have made a bigger mess, could they?"
"Who…" Chrom wheezed, barely able to stand but still grabbed Falchion with both hands while taking a wide stance. "No, it doesn't matter. Phila, can you still fight?"
"Will manage somehow," she forced out, opting to do the same as Chrom before glaring in the man's direction. "In the name of the Exalt, you will pay for staging this assassination!"
"My, what conviction," he said with his eyes rolling. The moment he opened his tome, black mist poured out of its pages. "But I have little reason to waste time with you. Neither of you are my targets, after all."
"That doesn't matter! We will not let you through!" Chrom shouted before both he and Phila charged straight at him.
I snapped out of my trance before extending my hand. "Wait! Don't—!"
"You're drained, prince. You only need to watch from now on."
The tome let out a dark shockwave and knocked Phila and Chrom to the ground. However, the attack didn't stop there. It spread like a plague through all corridors, and everyone was afflicted. Lissa, who was next to me, groaned in pain before her legs gave out, and she was not able to stand back.
Everyone else suffered a similar fate. All except for me.
My head snapped back at the man, who wore a perplexed expression. "Huh, so even your body structure is ever-so-slightly different from ours too." His face slowly formed a lop-sided grin. "A slight miscalculation, I will admit, but this only makes me even more eager to study you."
He casually started approaching me, and I was too stunned to move any muscle. "But as I mentioned twice, now isn't the time. I'll retrieve a precious item and leave you be."
A sudden cough escaped Chrom's lips. He fumbled on the ground until he stared directly at me. "T-Theresa, run!"
Run? Where? The moment I would try to do anything, I'd probably suffer a much worse fate than a small cut on my forearm.
However, after everything that had happened today, being told to run away as the first suggestion…
"No," I mumbled, and the man momentarily stopped.
"Hmm? You have something to say?" He glared. "Out with it. I don't have all day"
How kind of you, I thought bitterly. I had so many things to say, but it could be boiled down to one sentence.
I was done.
Everyone worked their asses off to survive, and I had yet to do anything meaningful to ensure that. If this was the moment to do so, then so be it. Robin once said that I could create anything if I used my body as fuel, and if things like lightning or fire could be conjured in this world, then why wouldn't I be able to do something similar!?
"I will make this work! Even if it could kill me!"
AN: Man, I had a blast writing this chapter. Honestly, I haven't felt this satisfied in a long time... even if the first draft was an utter mess. Be sure to thank Cavik, my proofreader, for making sure this chapter looks as good as I imagined it to be.
Now, a small update. While I'm struggling slightly with my real life right now-not to the point of me dying or anything, mind you-but keeping up any kind of schedule is nearly impossible for me right now. Of course, this story, as well as my sister story: Under A Wing, are extremely precious to me, and I'll try my best to see both journeys to a possible end. Thank you for bearing with me, and patiently waiting for each chapter I post.
God's speed.