Chapter 2: Unraveling of Events

A lady sat blindfolded in a dimly lit room. The flickering embers of the candle could do nothing to appease the darkness that was the room. The figures of two others could be made out from the shadows dancing against the walls.

One man was clad in glistening silver armor, and a woman garbed in crown jewelry. In contrast, the lady sitting down was much less interesting in apparel. Her old, frail fingers lay in front of her, hovering over a cloudy orb. "The conditions ...have been met." She stood up and began to prance around the room.

Seemingly lost in her own little word, she was enjoying a scenery that wasn't quite there. Her movements held strange fluidity to them, bowing and apologizing to non-existent beings and ducking under invisible structures. There's no mistaking it, the room she was at currently was entirely empty save for the knight and princess.

The city she saw was decaying from darkness. The aura of depression and fear loomed on the face of every citizen she walked by. Indeed, she was definitely bound to find something unusual in this place. She still wasn't sure where she was, due to not having seen a single flag flying around the country.

Several bodies of armed knights revealed themselves. Actually...as she continued to walk, she'd find that there was a tremendous amount of deceased knights alone within the city. No wounds lay on their body, it appeared they all died of strangulation. "Huh... I wonder what could have done that.

She squatted down and tilted one of the knights over to inspect their insignia. "Knights of Baerim. So this would mean I'm either in Baerim, Sei'O ...or Lakia."

The city she saw was the sheer image of grim and despair. The aura of depression and fear loomed on the face of every citizen she passed. Indeed, she was definitely bound to stumble upon something unusual within this place.

Unfortunately, she still was uncertain of where she was, due to not having seen a single flag flying around the city. Instead, several bodies of armed knights dotted the landscape.

It shocked her to see such a sight. It was like a battleground except so one-sided. Everyone that died was a knight of the same cloth. Whoever their enemies were, they suffered no casualties. Furthermore, the most peculiar part of all this was the lack of blood on any of the corpses.

They held not a single wound, and upon closer inspecting one of the bodies, she found that they had most-likely died of strangulation. "Huh...I truly wonder what in the world could have done something like this." She squatted down and tilted one of the knights over to inspect their insignia. "Knights of Baerim. This would mean I'm either in Baerim, Sei'O, or Lakia."

Baerim was a big nation that was often described as a bully. They threw their weight around with the might of their military regiment and bustling economy. Under the pretext of wanting to share their wealth, they've annexed two different countries. Sei'O and Lakia.

Just as she was running her fingers along the corpse's neck, a man quickly yelled at her and she immediately tensed up and stood. "HEY! Don't touch those- You don't want to get involved."

'Involved in what?' she wanted to ask, but that would make her seem clueless about such a big event, and thus out of place. She quickly scried her brain for a question that wouldn't penalize her. "Um...excuse me, sir. What exactly- I'm confused about how these people died."

"Their armor remained completely untouched, yet each and every one of them managed to be strangled to death."

"Get out of here. Quick. You don't want to get involved, Lady---"

"Is there a problem?" A voice shot out from behind him. Cold and stern.

The man's face immediately went pale and he bowed with so much force it seemed he would go through the ground. "N-no, my lord."

The voice came from behind the lady so she wasn't entirely sure of the who it was that said it.

"Get up, and hurry on disposing of the bodies. We don't want an epedemic~" The second voice was a woman's voice. It seemed completely gentle and soothing. All her answers lay right behind her. If she turned around, she would know exactly what crisis it is that she would need to avert. All of it. Just a turn away.

For whatever reason, she could not bring herself to turn her body. In fact, she couldn't even move at all. She stood, arms out in front of her as if she was speaking to someone, and simply remained like that.

"You're not from around here, lady." The cold voice spoke yet again.

"No...not from around here at all...Huh- kind of strange. I'm not even sure how you got in given the city's lockdown." The voice continued, the source trailing around her in a slow manner to get a glimpse of her face. Unfortunately, he remained right at her peripherals.

He could see the side of her face and all she could glimpse was the shadowy figure of a child...A CHILD?!

"Anniki, I'm sure there's no reason to kill her. Simply apprehend her. She might have some valuable information. Like--- How she got in, and what she wanted to do here. She might look like an average hag, but the clothes she's wearing is made of silk. It appears she's important at least."

'H-help me. Help me. Help me...help me. Help me.' Her heart raced faster and faster as if pressure was being applied to it and she felt herself drifting slowly from consciousness. Soon she would fall. "Help..me"

"Help you?" The kid finally walked into view as her vision and sight were fading. A young boy stood in front of her with dark red hair and skin abandoned by color. Those lifeless red eyes peered back into her fearful blue ones.

Right on the middle of his head, a gem displayed itself flawlessly. The gem's dark color seemed to absorb light itself, but on its reflection, she could see her frightened hopeless appearance.

"A--PLAGUE CHILD!" She screamed. Before falling to the ground. "Red..hair."

With that, her consciousness drifted to sleep.

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The knight immediately ran over to her trying to shake her awake. "Lady, Harre- Wake up!" He was a bit distraught by this. It was the first time her ability had ended in such an event. He shook her continuously, wanting her to wake up, but to no avail. He checked her pulse quickly to make sure she was still amongst the living. It is as he thought, she hadn't died.

"She's still in that world?" the princess asked. Her hands were placed over her mouth.

"I'm afraid so. It looks like she was restrained before she could move."

Harre Gills; An old lady with the relic---'Astra' passed down her lineage for generations. It was one completely unremarkable for battle but held utmost importance to the interest of the nation. Astra allowed those who have bonded with it, to glimpse into the future. Specifically, once huge events have occurred. However, there is a drawback. Other's can also see her.

It wasn't so much a viewing of the future, but more so that she can exist in the future. But this would have to be the first time it had backfired so. The ability was not at all danger-proof. If she were to be killed within the future she visits, then she would certainly die. The only condition to return back was that one must clasp their hands together as if in prayer and say "Release."

It would seem she was restrained before then. But from the looks of her body at the time she fell, it wasn't the same type of restraint as say a rope. All of the actions she did in the future world and what happened to her, displayed on her current body. If one wasn't given the context, they would believe her to be the best actor of her generation.

Harre's hands suddenly began moving and turned behind her back. With a loud cracking noise, it would appear her arms were broken. They were then bound together by a rope. The positions of her feet suggested the same as well. "Tch...what in the world actually happened."

"Princess Galifrae..how far forward did she say she was going?"

"A-a week. She scried just a week ahead."

"Hm...then we have 6 days. She said plague child. That could only mean the country Sei'O. Red hair." He put together the pieces in his mind carefully. "We have to kill the plague child with red hair to stop the future she saw from existing."

"Yes. I'll lend you as many knights as you need, Kars."

With that, he bowed and prepared himself for the expedition. If they kill the plague child, that bumped into her and took her hostage, then the future where that happens will cease to exist. She would return back to this world.