The Priestess

I am the Hero. My destiny is to eventually defeat the Demon King and bring peace to the world. And on the more personal side, I'll make sure I don't screw up again. So, as the Hero, my first quest is a very important moment. It's the start of a great adventure, and of course, a great adventure must start qith a quest of equivalent proportions. That's why for my quest I chose..!

"Thanks for coming, we really needed the extra hand." The priest smiled kindly.

"No problem, sir. Happy to help!" I gave him a thumbs up. Yes, the first quest I chose is to help clean the local church-monastery compound. As much as I wanted to go fighting something right away, I'm not in the best of conditions either. The blessing has helped a lot, but I have to admit every inch of my body hurts and I have been holding it in for the past several hours.

I grabbed the mop and bucket, and went to clean the winding way along the central garden. This is a pretty easy job, and pays enough for a night for two at the inn. But there's another reason why I chose this job.

I shivered. Even as I'm calmly cleaning, I feel like somebody is watching me, and staring daggers into my back. But that doesn't make sense, I just got here. Everyone's opinion of me should be ranging from neutral to positive. Specially a particular person's. Regardless, I continued cleaning. Maybe it's just all in my head. Yeah, definitely.

As I proceeded with my cleaning, the priest approached me again. "You've been doing a great job. Thank you so much again." 

I gave him a smile. "Don't mention it. If I'm doing a job, I'll do it right." And now that I have buttered him up... "By the way," I started. "I'm curious. Where's the Priestess? I heard rumors she usually likes to wander around but I haven't spotted her yet. I wish for her divine blessing."

"The Priestess, right." The priest put his hand to his chin. "Now that you mention it, I haven't seen her either. Odd, that is." 

The Priestess, or Shihoru as I know her. That's who I'm here to meet. She's a very important figure not only as a member of the Hero's party in the future, but she's very important to anyone that follows the Church of the Goddess. She goes by the title "The Priestess of the Holy Guidance", as she's the only one alive, excluding the Hero, that is said to receive revelations from the Goddess, as well as being able to borrow knowledge relating to her (It's true, I asked the Goddess herself once). She was indispensable in the party for her top tier healing abilities, as well as her ability of being able to vanish the undead. I obviously want her in my party again because of her power, of course, but having her around as person was genuinely fun.

That said... I shivered again. I feel very clear muderous intent, but I don't see anyone. This is starting to get weird. But if there's someone who's already unto me, they must not have good intentions in mind. 

I walked to the courtyard behind the church. It's a very open area, so whoever is following me will either have to quit it or show themselves. Maybe then I can figure out what's even going on. Right as I was thinking that, and about to confront my stalker, I heard a phrase that instantly put me on high alert.

"Lux Purga!" The voice yelled. Below my feet, a bright circle of light began to form. I quickly backpedalled out of the way, as a fierce pillar of light rose from where I was standing, scorching even the air itself.

I turned towards the voice. Well, I guess my search for Shihoru is over.

"Damned scum." There she was, Shihoru, clearly the one that shot the attack. In her hand, was her usual weapon a... templar's sword? Wait, that's not right, i'm pretty sure she always carried knuckles when it was time for her to beat something up herself. A templar's sword is way out of left field. "Should've been faster. Would've dealt with the issue in a single shot."

"What was that for?!" I yelled at her. Her light magic is the best thing on her arsenal, so her using it like this would've really hurt.

"Don't play dumb, you demon. Divina Acus!" At her words, a barrage of small needles of light appeared all around me, attacking from all directions at once. I pulled out my sword, and imbued with a bit of holy magic and dashed forward, slicing the needles coming from the front while avoiding the rest.

"Priestess! Please stop! Why are you doing this?" I asked in a panicked voice.

"You scoundrel! I trusted you! So why?!" She rushed at me, templar sword in hand. She attacked, which I promptly parried. Once, twice, thrice. Oh yeah, she's pissed. At the fourth, our swords clashed, both of us trying to overpower the other.

"Shihoru! Just hold on-!"

"We were a team! We were a family ! And you... you..." Her voice began to break. I have seen her angry before, but never even close to this extent. I have never seen her cry, and yet tears threaten to fall from her eyes, but she holds them in. She sounds sad, as if her words were pouring straight from her very soul. As if she had suffered the ultimate betrayal. 

... Betrayal. "W-Wait... does this mean you..." I stuttered.

She gathered all her strenght and with one single push, managed to voerpower me, knocking me back. She pointed her templar sword at me. "Yes. I know everything. I know who you are and I know what you did." She frowned. "I don't care that you're the Hero. I'll figure out something and deal with the Demon Lord one way or another. But you need to dissapear. Now."

I should've figured. The Goddess remembers everything about what happened before the rewind. I should've know Shihoru, who is intimately connected to the Goddes, would know too. I sheathed my blade. "You know that's not how it works." I started. "You tried before, remember? Your light magic is powerless against that monstrosity. You know this worlds need me."

Shihoru shook her head. "I don't care. You're worse than he ever was." 

"That's..." Completely true. "Look, I'll do it right this time, I promise." I tried to reassure her, but it seemed to have the opposite effect.

"You and your worthless promises." She scoffed. "What am I supposed to do now? Shake your hand, give you a hug and forgive it all? Absurd."

"That's not..." what I'm trying to say at all. "I'm sorry... about everything."

"And now you apologize. For what? For killing Loa? For killing Mauros? For killing me? For killing everyone and levelling the whole damn continent?" She points her blade towards me once more. "I just need you dead. Do that and it'll all be forgiven."

"I... can't let you do that. I can't die." I shook my head, pleading.

"Of course you can't. You only care abiut yourse-"

"No! Just... Listen." I took a deep breath. "I'll.. do right this time. I'll fight my battles. I'll protect everyone I can. I'll kill the Demon Lord. And after that... you can have my head. Only after that. Please. But I need you. I need your help. Because I can't do this alone."

She was amused. Amused to see me begging. I can't blame her. "And how can't I know you won't won't go on another murder spree?"

"I..." I sighed. "I can't promise anything. But believe me when I say, right now there's no man that hates me more than myself. There's not a single second I don't regret taking all those lives, going mad with power, ruining what every single person in this world worked for. I don't have an excuse for what I did. I don't have a reason either. And I'll never forgive myself for as long as I live. But I swear. I want to do things right. No, I will do things right this time. But I need you supporting me, like in the past. And if even still you can't trust me and won't come along, then..."

I threw my sword to the side, crashing against the wall of the church. I got on my knees, put my hands behind my back and lowered my head. "Then just end me right now."

The Priestess towered over me. I'm unable to see her face right now, but I know she's looking at me with disdain. All I see is her shadow. She raised her blade up high, and with a swift move, stabbed me. After that, all I could feel was an intense, throbbing pain.