Eifen in the Dark

“Headmistress Eifen,” Lavenza bowed. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Oh Lavenza. Why do you act as if we haven’t seen each other in years?” the old woman chuckled. “We’ve seen each other plenty recently, haven’t we?”

“I pray your trek across the mountains fared you well.”

“No, even more recently than that!” she grinned. “Don’t you remember? We’ve seen each other in our dreams.”

“…Of course, headmistress.”

Richard intervened between Lavenza and her headmistress. His fingers felt for the tactile grip of his sword hilt.

“It’s been a while, Headmistress Eifen,” he said. “Might I ask how you’re here?”

“Richard,” Eifen greeted. “I was not aware that the Abyss was the exclusive province of the Hero’s Party. Is there no space in all of the Abyss for a lone, Menuan woman?”

“Unfortunately, as you can see, headmistress,” Richard nodded towards Lavenza, “there are two Menuan women down here.”

“That’s what I like about you, Richard,” Eifen smirked. “You will never be good enough for my Lavenza, but you do know how to make an old lady laugh.”

“How about you laugh up an answer to my question then?”

“As you wish.”

Headmistress Eifen took one step forward and vanished. Lavenza’s skin crawled. Her hand flew to her face just in time to catch Eifen’s dainty, frail fingers which had threatened to brush against her cheeks. Lavenza dared not to blink, less Eifen vanish again.

“Very good,” the old lady commended her, “that was faster than the others. Now you see, Richard, I’ve just returned from the City of Stone. I hear your party has been searching for it to no avail.”

“Where?” Richard asked.

“A day’s walk from here,” Eifen slipped her fingers out of Lavenza’s grasp to point, “down this shaft, a left at the next fork, follow the road until you hit a stream, then follow the stream until you reaching a descending stairway born of obsidian. The city lies at the bottom of the steps.”

“And?” Richard pressed. “What were you doing there?”

Eifen’s body glimmered. Lavenza flicked her eyes away and brandished her staff. The gemstones buried in its wooden frame vibrated. With a flash of light, the headmistress’s old silhouette disintegrated like flakes of paper mache. Her real body materialized further in the corridor where she had first arrived.

“Lavenza?” Eifen raised an eyebrow. “You still haven’t told him?”

“Answer the question, headmistress,” Richard growled.

“Why, I was there for the same reason she wishes to see the city,” Eifen replied. “The city is beautiful at this time of year, don’t you know? A fitting destination before we are all petrified, no?”

“You just happened to beat Lavenza within an inch of her life to reach it.”

“She looks alive and well to me.”

“Is that why you’re here? To kill her?”

“My goodness, you have so many loaded questions,” Eifen yawned. “Let me ask you something for once, Richard. A hypothetical, if you will. If you had the choice to save only one person before the Endire petrifies us all, who would you choose among your party? Yourself? Faye? Maybe the goblin?”

“I wouldn’t choose,” Richard hesitated.

“You wouldn’t choose?” the headmistress asked. “You would condemn your loved ones to death?”

“That’s not—”

“I would choose Lavenza,” Eifen ignored him. “After all, she bathes in the light of Endire. She has never known anything but marble thrones and their magnanimous grace. In return, she shall know no rest in service to her destiny. Her destiny.”

“Headmistress,” Lavenza breathed. “If this is about—”

“You will be silent!” Eifen hissed. To Richard, her face donned a perfectly unapproachable smile. “Richard, you mistake me. I did not beat Lavenza within an inch of her life. I did not attempt to kill her. I would do no such thing to my best student. She wounded herself by getting in my way.”

“How convenient,” Richard muttered. “I’m not sure I believe you after seeing what you did to her.”

“Then who do you believe, hmm?” Eifen shrugged. “Lavenza? You believe in her, is that right? Why? She, along with every Menuan trained in the monastery, was an agent of the Crystal Throne, raised to do the bidding of an empress in the final years of Aparthia. You don’t think she has the capacity to deceive? You don’t think she has perhaps withheld valuable information from you? Surely you don’t think she journeys with the girl because she’s interested in The Withering Flower?”

“No, I trust Lavenza for deeper reasons,” Richard said. “I trust Lavenza, because I’ve known her since she first left the monastery, because…”

“Oh let’s not make this painful,” Eifen howled. “You trust her because against all reason, you love her. You’ve loved her in spite of her love for that gaudy empress, in spite that you know that you are not worthy of her. People are often so fond of what they will never have, wouldn’t you agree, Lavenza?”

Eifen drilled her eyes into Lavenza as she spoke.

“In that sense, you and her are exactly the same,” she said. “I lied earlier, Richard.”

“So you were trying to kill her?” Richard’s hands tightened on his sword pommel.

“Oh, loosen the grip, young man,” Eifen laughed. “I lied about our thought exercise from earlier. It was, in fact, not a hypothetical.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Headmistress—”

“Silence, Lavenza!” Eifen bristled. “You shared our secrets with an adulteress. You don’t think at least the hero of the Hero’s Party deserves to know that you’ve deceived them this whole time?”

Richard looked back at her. In his gaze, Lavenza noticed a flicker of doubt.

“Do you think it’s coincidence that Lavenza is following you through the Abyss?” Eifen asked. 

“No, Richard, a Menuan of her talents does not make coincidence, she conspires with it. She is here, just like you, to seek the City of Stone, because there is something there of value to her, of value to us Menuans, isn’t that right Lavenza?”

“Lavenza?” Richard said.

“It’s true, Richard,” Lavenza whispered. “It’s as she says.”

“That doesn’t change anything,” Richard shook his head. “We all have ulterior motives in these days, headmistress. Don’t expect my resolve to be so easily shaken.”

“Oh I agree!” Eifen nodded. “Then let me put things a different way. Lavenza is aware of a way to save the person she loves the most from the Endire, from petrification.”

Richard didn’t respond immediately. His face was turned away from Lavenza. She could not tell if he looked shocked or unperturbed.

“The ingredients are as follows,” Eifin rubbed her chin in pretend thought. “You would need powerful magics. Ancient magic. The ley lines of the empire might suffice. And then, you would need something more. A catalyst of some sort.”

“She can save one person, you said?” Richard scoffed. “Then what good is that to me? The Hero’s Party is looking for a way to prevent the petrification of all of Aparthia.”

“Are you not curious who she intends to save?” Eifen asked.

“It’s obvious,” Richard answered. “It’s Deme. Lavenza’s no child killer.”

“And you are not curious why she has not once mentioned this?”

“That’s a conversation between me and her,” Richard said. “If she did not speak of this to me, she must have had a reason to keep it private.”

“You may seem like a fool, Richard,” Eifen sighed, “but you’re quite deft when you need to be.”

“I don’t appreciate the patronizing. Get to the point.”

“My apologies,” she bowed. “Then let me spell it out for you. The way to save all of Aparthia and the way to save the child are one and the same.”

“Headmistress—”

“You will speak when spoken to!” Eifen snapped.

“If there's a way I can save all of Aparthia, then I can also save the child,” Richard said. “You’re not making any sense.”

“If you don’t believe me, the City of Stone is below,” she shrugged. “Aparthia’s salvation is very close, hero. Take a look for yourself.”

“And how do I know you haven’t meddled in our affairs?” he asked. “You said you’ve just come from there. What were you doing in the City of Stone?

“Only a casual stroll, I promise,” Eifen smiled. “The city is beautiful. I wished to see it in case these few waning days were our last. But now that you’re here, hero, I suspect I may not need to worry. I shall see you again, Lavenza.”

Eifen’s final words came to them as an echo. She had disappeared again. The great immutable presence lifted from Lavenza’s shoulders and throat. She felt drained.

Richard faced her. Through his confusion, Lavenza recognized an all too familiar look.

Betrayal.