The White Darkness

By Helbaworshipper

The Roland Kingdom Arc: The True Battle Of Words

Frei saw what looked to be the battlefield in the tale. Various broken mirrors, bracelets, and clothing of nobility and even the lowest of workers. This was where Lotsuan was trapped all this time. In the middle of a power struggle that would never end as long as the two sides remained. In a way, he was the true final enemy. He could see various tattered flags from so many kingdoms some might have been even more ancient.

"It's just us, isn't it?" Kyo spoke without needing an answer. He looked different as well, considering how he looked far less conflicted. Frei simply nodded as they headed toward the center of the long field. Each step brought up various artifacts, weapons, and even body parts somehow kept in eternal stasis. A building history of deaths. For a moment, he caught a glimps of Eric's dead gaze on his.

A simple house that looked similar to the church they had seen earlier stood in front of them. Far less sturdy than it had been as well. The two remained staring at the entrance for some time as they seemed to take in what they had learned to get here.

"Even if she says no, I'll never give her to you." Frei spoke, looking towards Kyo. "I will never let you win."

"I will try to win her even if you do win." Kyo's voice sounded less like he thought it would. The two shared a confident grin as they approached the door and opened it.

Inside the church was less of the structure and more of what looked to be a large void of gray, black, and white. In the center, Alice was held in place by looked to be so many chains that could only be seen if one looked closely. Yet, despite her position, she was somehow ready to fight them.

"You did not let it take you." She spoke, her power spiking again. "Why? It's hopeless to stop what you want."

"That's not what we want." Frei's tone was not rushed. "I want to win your heart, even if I don't have the Lotis." He formed a Sakua sword in his hand. It felt better as he looked towards Kyo and simply nodded.

"And I'm taking you back to your sister and mother even if I have to drag you there!" Kyo formed a Pasa bow and arrow. The two moved towards the center of the void. The chains clanked as streams of the sheer emotions moved towards them. Frei cut into the ones that would strike vital points as Kyo targeted areas that were potential weak points.

Why were they fighting like this? Alice's mind tried to grasp their sudden motivations. Earlier, they had been shaky in regards to their motivation to fight. She didn't even really have to focus to try and avoid as her barrier formed to stop the arrows. A Daara managed to push Frei away temporarily. The chains clanked again and she felt a part of her trying to break them. No, if she broke them… This entire action was worth nothing!

"We need to strike those chains." Kyo spoke, looking more towards the void behind Alice. "There has to be a reason she's not breaking them when she could."

"Getting close is the problem," Frei wiped some sweat from his brow. "Even with the chains, Lotsuan is basically using that knowledge to protect herself. We need to break them without her knowing."

"I have an idea," Kyo's voice was softer, as if it might be too loud normally. "I'll draw her into something myself. Take that time to break as many of those chains as you can. Find the word that truly will heal her."

"You're risking the use of Maram for that?" Frei blinked, a bit surprised.

"It's not as if I can't use it myself. I'm the one that should at least draw what I do know." The two nodded as Frei began to use his sword again. However, Kyo used what power had been nurtured to cast a word he probably didn't know how strong it would be. "Vuina."

Alice blinked for a moment as she realized she was no longer in the church. Well, mentally somehow she had been separated from her own body. She felt exhausted again as she felt the figure again. This figure was familiar to her. She tried to move, but it felt as if she was trapped in the figure's arms again.

"So… this is what happened to you in the beginning." The person was not Guardian. She tried to move again, but it felt like she was tied to him. "Alice, is this what you really wanted to avoid facing?" She felt one of the arms move away, Kyo's gaze on hers. How had Kyo done this? This dream itself was something she only lightly remembered.

"I… It was just a dream, right?" Her voice cracked a little. "It was just a warning about-"

"None of our dreams were meant to be about the future." Kyo's arm returned around her. "Our dreams were meant to be about who we could be." He looked into her eyes. "After all this time, can't Alice Seno have a weakness she truly despised about herself?"

"Why can't I leave this position?" She asked first, though she could feel a lot of thoughts of her own flowing. Fighting to understand things.

"I'm not holding Lotsuan, I'm holding Alice Seno." He stated. "I rejected Lotsuan's ability to escape."

"That doesn't make sense! Why would you..." Her voice trembled as he kept her body still in place with what seemed no effort.

"Tell me, Alice, are you truly just Lotsuan and Darva? Not your own existence?"

Frei dodge another surge of emotions towards himself. Kyo had somehow created a space where nothing would go through. Yet… What remained in front of him was a person who seemed to be trying to maintain something. As he managed to get close enough, he understood something he didn't before.

"So what do you get out of this, Guardian?"

"I'm-"

"Got you." He moved towards one of the chains, causing a force that pushed him back some. "You've been egging Alice on because you don't want to die, right? Or should I say… Lotsuan himself?"

"What madness is this?" The woman that looked like Alice, but was just the Guardian at the moment spoke. "I'm protecting this world and there was no choice to be made by the force that created it!"

"Is that how you always thought?" Frei formed a protective bubble as he moved closer. "Serving him with such ideals that you'll be eternal? Or was it that you were tempted by his darkness?"

"It matters not as long as he lives and does not make a choice for himself." The Guardian's tone was normal again. "It matters not how many more wars as long as I can protect-"

"Of course I'm Lotsuan. That's all that matters to people!" She blinked, realizing what she had said without hesitation. A part of her felt fear in it. She stopped struggling to leave his arms for a moment. For so long she had simply assumed her own thoughts had not been darkened or changed. Yet, at the same time, she had mentally told herself that being Alice was just a name of formality. She had never been Alice. "I'm… Who am I? No one wants Alice Seno, they want Lotsuan. They want… Lotis..." Her voice kept mumbling out questions, surprised how long it had been since she had thought of herself as well… her?

"Why did you do this, Alice?" Her eyes lifted for a moment. "You could have just come out and stopped all this war yourself. You know that."

"I was told I didn't have to choose. I wasn't supposed to choose..." Her eyes were blank, looking towards him. It was painful for Kyo, certainly. In a way, he understood why his mother had been so insistent. If Alice kept going this way… What would she end up being? Had Lotsuan… Lotsuan been forced to think like this?

"You chose to kill Eric." A visible shudder from her. "You chose to keep a war going that you know would cause more death. Knowing that you've been through more as Lotsuan." He felt her trembling hands on his cloak. "Who are you, Alice? Who do you want to be?"

Another maram chain had broken. Frei's gaze had become less soft and more cold towards the Guardian. It was strange to see that for someone so trusted by Lotsuan. Yet, it made sense when one realized just how horrible it must have been to keep a cycle going.

"You're telling me that as long as you could protect him you didn't care how many people would be killed using his power?" He remained with a kara, the emotions a lot less potent with Alice being separated. The figure was struggling quite a bit now with the chains breaking a lot faster than anticipated. "Choosing to stick Lotsuan and Darva with all this pain and suffering so you could eternally protect a person..."

"I don't exist if peace is eternal!" The emotions went forward, another chain broke. "It must continue or I'll have no purpose!"

"Then what was your purpose in the first place?"

"What will you do if you disappear without trying?"

A blank stare. It had never occurred to the Guardian that it would need to disappear. That nothing it did would change the fate of what the Lotis and Maram did each time. In such a state, perhaps, the chains breaking didn't hurt as much as the next thought.

"Isn't he just lonely?"

"What do you mean? We have always been together."

"Then why aren't you doing this for him?"

Together meant there was a bond. That bond should never be broken. Why else would Lotsuan never leave the side of the Guardian?

"I..." Her trembling hands kept making his heart ache. He knew he should do more but he couldn't stop this right now. "I want to be..." She felt a presence in her mind. How easily Eric had eased her into being just Lotsuan. How easily the pain of her memories had been able to keep her resolve going. "I want to go home."

"And where is home?"

"Where… Mom… Mayura… Dad… Frei..." Her voice was barely there as she started to cry. Perhaps not hearing his name was a bit of a twinge, but this was progress. His arms lifted up carefully and began to walk with her towards what looked to be a simple door. As the door opened, she saw a garden. The Rose Garden was right there. In place of the usual tea party was a simple bed. As he placed her down, he smiled.

"Go to sleep right here, Alice." She blinked, surprised. "Right here is where you'll be safe. You'll wake up and figure everything out soon." He kissed her forehead as the manou symbol formed. It slowly allowed her to relax, as if she had been unable to truly sleep for so long. Once she was asleep, he turned to exit the Rose Garden and back into the true battle.

"Did I miss that much?" Kyo asked as he looked at the state of the battle. There were still a few stubborn chains left, but the Alice attached was much weaker.

"Is it alright?" Frei simply asked.

"You can see her when this is done." A nod between both of them.

"Turns out we were wrong about two things." Frei spoke, breaking one of the few remaining chains. "It wasn't Lotsuan who thought they had no choice but to keep this going… It was that blade."

"So basically unless a blade has use, it can't do much." Kyo's mind was brought back to Kayna's devotion to Eric after all this time. In Kayna's case, it felt more like she has nowhere to go. Yet, this person or object had no issue of that. Being simply in a vault would do nothing, yet… "Do you know how much pain it is to not have your own name?"

"I have no name to speak of."

"Lotsuan was just a name, Guardian. Alice has her own name. It has its own meaning." He looked at Frei as the two seemed to come to an understanding. There was only one word to stop this object. "You have fulfilled your duty for the last time. May your next life be stronger." The two of them spoke the word they needed to the most.

"Vimuku!" As the word was spoken, both of their powers shattered the figure in front of them. It felt like a flash of bright light had erased everything around them and forced them out of whatever place they had been.

They only really realized that they were back in the changed church when they could hear voices. The others had gotten out, but they couldn't approach where Alice was currently located. The area was blocked by a Lotis Master, after all. For now, at least it was inaccessible otherwise. Kyo turned to Frei, for the first time really not wanting to say it.

"She's waiting for you." He started, his hand tensing a little. "Talk to her and we'll see how this war ends. She didn't say my name, but I knew she'd say it next." He tried to relax his mind. "If you deny her or hurt her, I'm taking her even if you try and apologize."

"Keep them off my back while I do my best not to need to worry about that." Frei's gaze was softer than he expected. He turned to go towards the others while he waited to see what would happen.