To Purge the Scourge

If not for this, I'd be dead in a few days...
That's what I tell myself.
It was an unfortunate truth that, mere hours ago, I had uncovered.

The room being arranged for me. The place where the princess is kept. The food that would be provided for us. The guards assigned to the castle.
Each and every detail was part of the plot to erase us from existence.

Flionel's attempt on the princess's life may have failed, but a desperate man can create desperate plans.
They were basic but numerous. He knew how to succeed. That was something he'd always been good at.

But which schemer would expect that someone might see their memories?
Which mastermind would expect an inglorious end?

◇ ◇ ◇

"I'm sure, when I called for this second meeting, you believed it had something to do with my right to become Queen.

In a room with a boarded-up window, an arrangement of older individuals sit around a table. From my position against the wall, around half of their faces are visible.
One face that isn't visible to me is Feana's. She stands to address the acting government of Yve.

"I speak today to share two important discoveries I have made in the time since my parents' death."

This is my cue to approach. She raises an arm towards me without turning back.

"First, let me introduce Sir Hildna." I quietly say hello to the group. "He possesses a miraculous ability."
I take hold of the device in my pocket, keeping it hidden.
Feana places a hand on my back. "I will have you all bear witness to his ability."

With everyone looking at me, all will see.

"I wish they could see Patsha's attack on King Vio."

The princess, who made sure to avoid eye contact, is still able to move. Everyone else falls still, lost in the projection of a memory.
When the time is right, Feana's hand on my back retreats, and I shut the device off. Immediately, confused voices fill the room.

"What you have all just witnessed was an attack on the king of Lann."
"What manner of manipulation is this?"
"I understand that some of you may doubt the truth of this sight, so let us move on to the second topic."

The door opens, and Ms. Tsa enters with a black bag. She places it on the table in front of Feana, then takes her place as her most trusted guard.
"There's a quirk to this ability. Sir Hildna?" She once again places a hand on my back.
I try to pay the bag no mind, but knowing what's in there, it's a bit distracting. Still, I do my job.

"I wish they could see Flionel's last memory of this room."

The group, I'm sure, now view themselves as sitting in a seat that, in truth, remains empty. Their thoughts are, no doubt, overlapping with those of a man who schemed to assassinate the royal family of Yve. A man who succeeded at almost every step.
And when Feana's hand leaves my back, their vision returns to the present day, to the chairs they sit in.

Some faces in the room look more distraught than others. Or maybe I, with the knowledge of Flionel's scheming, simply see the guilty for what they truly are.
Ms. Tsa approaches the table once again, which gives me my opportunity to step away and avert my gaze.

The ruffle of a bag being opened.
The thud of something heavy against wood.
The screams of horror.
And finally, the voice of a girl whose parents no longer walked the world.

"I bring you the head of a traitor."

The voice of a girl who, before my very eyes, put the man known as Flionel to death.

"And before I ascend as Queen, I shall bring you several more."

A hand touches my back, the words leave my lips, and the people at the table, once again, freeze in place.
The minutes I spend in this room pass them by in seconds. With each second they feel pass, a traitor is uncovered. With each traitor found, a seat is emptied.

The man who once twirled his moustache now lay cold in his executor's arms.
The man who leaned his arms on the table now lay dead on the floor.
A third, then a fourth.

The sight of all this is awful. The smell of it is, too. Yet in all of this, the princess remains composed.
I want to distract myself. I'll just think of those I love and smile.
...Am I smiling? I don't... know how...
...
But, if not for this, I'd be dead in a few days.
Us... and Yve... and Lann... and Shum.
The God of Slow Death would have seen us wither and rot.

"To go as far as one can go to save one woman, one girl, one child."
I may've misunderstood that quote.
His tale, too, was of tragedy, of curses, of destruction.

With a database of death in hand, a million lives beyond this room are saved.
A million and a million more.
With a database of death in hand, the slayers of Yve are slain in revenge.

◇ ◇ ◇

In the cold air of Yve, I sit by the curb, paper bag before me.
A couple gossip outside a cafe.
A young woman peddles newspapers to passersby.
The noise of this world surrounds me.

I take sharp breaths whenever my stomach isn't trying to escape me.
The hand of a warrior, which knows the feeling of death well, rests atop my head, and like a child being babied by his mother, I cry.
I can still see their lifeless faces.

One man took pleasure in knowing the Queen of Yve—Feana's mother—trusted him without question.
Another browsed guard reports to find vulnerable people to manipulate.
There was a person who made a game out of freeing and chasing slaves.

All three of them were monsters, yet all three of them were people.
They deserved to die, but the people who loved them don't deserve to be sad.
That's how I attempt to rationalise it, but the truth is...
Seeing someone die... isn't nice.

Do all people in this world make use of death so easily? Is that the difference between Larilan and Human?
Or do some people, regardless of species, just get used to seeing people die?

Did the gentle Ms. Tsa once feel how I do now?
How many deaths did it take for her to grow numb to it?
...did she ever grow numb to it?

Feeling her hand on my head, I continue to quietly sob.
I'm afraid to ask.

In the cold air of Yve, the two of us sit by the curb.
A florist shares the beauty of a flower.
An old man has an emotional moment with his son.
And the noise of this world continues to surround me.