39 — Karla's Panic

He's jolted awake as his soul is forcefully shoved back into his body. Panting heavily and clutching his chest as his heart beats wildly, he takes a look around the room. It's pretty empty and barren aside from the bed that he's in. He slowly calms down as he realizes he's back in one of the empty houses in the village. He tries getting up, but feels a sharp pain in his abdomen. Lifting his shirt and taking a look, the area surrounding his stomach is fully bandaged. But he can still... feel it. Like the changeling's claws are still lodged inside of his skin.

The soft afternoon light coats the room in pale yellows and oranges. How long did he even sleep for? The fight happened in the middle of the night, so a good number of hours. Hopefully it wasn't more than that. If he finds out he's been in a week-long coma or something he's going to be mad. Gritting his teeth and getting up, he tries getting a feel for his limbs. They're fine. Besides the pain. The wound does not impede his movement much. He thinks he can even fight while he's like this. Every single thing that he'd do would hurt like hell, but if push came to shove, he could do it.

He walks around, trying to shake away the numbness in his legs and feet. He does some stretches, and his body feels responsive enough. That's good. At least he wasn't knocked out for too long. The time means everyone is probably out doing something, or maybe they're at Karla's home. Either way, he's gotta look for them. He starts moving to the door, but it opens while he's on the way.

"Here, here. Don't worry, we're going to find her." Lorelai's voice comes from the open door, as she helps a distressed Karla walk inside. She looks at Joezand. "Oh, you're up. Good."

"What's going on?" Joezand asks, looking at Karla.

"Louise disappeared." Lorelai explains. "It's probably nothing too serious. You know how kids are. She probably just ran off to do something. But poor Karla can do nothing but worry, considering... y'know."

"W-What did I do to deserve this..." Karla murmurs. "W-Why is this happening to me..."

"I... see." Joezand says. "Did you guys find any lead? Like, at all?"

"Not yet. But it hasn't been that long." Lorelai replies. "You're good to walk, princey?"

"As good as I'm going to get for a while. Which is constant pain." Joezand sighs. "But I can help search for her."

"Alright, I'll help Karla calm down, then."

"Why take her here, though?" Joezand asks. "Wouldn't it be better to leave her at her own home?"

"I wanted to check on you at the same time. I'm nothing if not efficient." Lorelai helps Karla sit down on the bed. "Now scram, kiddo. You have a child to find."

"W-Why me..." Karla sobs quietly, looking dejected. It's quite the depressing sight to see, after their conversation on the graveyard. Joezand averts his gaze and leaves the house.

Some peasants are moving about with their day, while Iaomai, Agnes and Anneliese are next to the well, talking. Anneliese looks at him and her face breaks out into a big, dopey grin.

"Prince Joezand!" She runs up to him, giving him a tight hug. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Ouch, ouch... I'm hurting..." He whines with a blush on his face. "P-Please let me down."

"S-Sorry." Anneliese says, but she's still smiling at him.

"Aw, shucks. I thought you actually died." Agnes says, smirking. "We were even planning a party to commemorate your passing. Oh well, guess I can't win them all."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Joezand rolls his eyes, walking towards Iaomai. "Hey, man. Thanks for the help. You're a lifesaver. Literally."

"I've done nothing more than my duty, Prince Joezand." Iaomai smiles at him. "I'm glad you're okay."

"And I'm glad you came on the trip! You were even the one who beat the changeling. That's very impressive." Joezand says. "If only my useless sister was half of the asset that you are..."

"H-Hey!" Agnes exclaims. "I was the one who blessed his arrow! If it didn't explode, it wouldn't have killed that thing!"

"Oh, please. You're not even filling your niche anymore." Joezand says with a smirk. "When I change, I'm accused of being a changeling. But when it's Florian, you had no idea! Where did your smarts go?"

"I did suspect him! That's why I showed you the note!" Agnes grumbles. "God, you're so annoyin—"

"Please, if I may." Iaomai says. "We do have to find Louise as soon as possible. Maybe you two can argue later?"

"You have a point. See, Agnes? Focus!" Joezand replies, then turns the rest of the group. "Do we have any leads?"

"She was last seen next to the place where we fought the bandits." Anneliese says. "Some of the blood seeped into the dirt below and turned it into mud, which had some footprints we could follow until the middle of the forest, but they became more and more faded until disappearing. We didn't see any footprints that could belong to anyone else, so she really ran off on her own for some reason. I sure hope she's okay..."

"She's got to be." Joezand says. "Alright, let's go to the place where the footprints end. Then we can divide up into pairs and search for her. We can reconvene at nightfall, in the same spot where we separated. Is that fine?"

"Fine by me." Agnes says. "But I want to pair up with the maid."

"W-What?" Anneliese asks. "Why me?"

"Isn't it obvious? You two are just going to flirt and do god knows what in that secluded forest instead of investigating. We need to find her."

"We would absolutely not do that." Joezand says. "But fine. I'm sorry you'll have to go through that, Anneliese."

"It's okay." The maid sighs, exasperated. It's absolutely not okay. Poor girl.

"Then we're going to be together." Iaomai says, looking at the prince. "Let's go, then."

The four of them go towards the starting point, ready to follow the footprints.

— — —

Joezand and Iaomai walk through the forest, moving through the dense foliage. The prince uses his rapier to cut down a thorny bush, making the way forward easier for them to go through.

"Of course we get the place that's the hardest to walk in." Joezand whines. "Do you really think she went through here?"

"It possible. And, well... Agnes wouldn't be able to walk here." Iaomai argues. "I think it's fine that she got the easier path, personally."

"Yeah, yeah. I get it." Joezand sighs. "I'm still complaining about it, though."

"You're free to do so. We're doing a rather unpleasant task, after all." Iaomai says, growing silent for a moment. "Forgive me for asking, but... You and Anneliese. Are you two, uhm..."

"Oh my god." Joezand groans. "Is everyone going to ask me about that now?"

"You don't need to answer if you don't want to. I'm just curious, is all."

"I didn't expect you of all people to like gossip." Joezand says. "But fine. As I'm sure you were told, since Agnes can't keep her mouth shut, me and Anneliese shared a moment. It's... honestly been a long time coming." He cuts another bush to get ahead. "If you were in the palace, you probably could've told. Lorelai has been teasing me before anything even happened. It only didn't happen earlier because..."

"Because...?"

"Because I felt like I'd be taking advantage of her." Joezand admits. "I'm the crown prince and she's a maid. My direct subordinate. What if one day she doesn't want me anymore and feels like she has to keep going? I know how afraid she is to lose her position as a maid. If I were a bad person..." He trails off. Because that's precisely what the previous Joezand was like, according to his family. He was a bad person. So maybe... "I don't know. It just feels wrong."

"Well, but you wouldn't do that in the first place." Iaomai argues. "That doesn't seem like something Anneliese would easily accept, either."

"That doesn't make me feel any less scummy, though." Joezand sighs. "A-And I do like her, I really do. And she likes me as well. But she didn't... fall in love with me, specifically. I've been told by everyone that I was someone completely different before I lost my memories. That's who Anneliese really fell in love with. Every time someone brings up past Joezand, I feel like I'm just a random guy wearing his skin." He continues. "Maybe Agnes has a point. Sometimes I really do feel like a changeling. A skittering doppelganger, tricking everyone around me."

"I wasn't really familiar with the previous iteration of you," Iaomai starts. "But from what I've been told, you're extremely more likable. Agnes would never forgive me for saying this, but she told me that the hatred she felt for you dissipated entirely during this trip. She still enjoys teasing you, but in a way more playful way than demeaning. Lorelai, too, told me she enjoys your company way more now. You two barely spoke to each other before you ran away, but now she considers you something like her younger brother."

"I-I see. Well, that's good to know." Joezand smiles. "D-Did you, uhm... Ask this question to Anneliese, too?" He says, his face reddening up slightly.

"That I did. She said you just changed as a person, and she still loves the person you became. Because that's what happened." Iaomai puts a hand on Joezand's shoulder. "You're not an impostor, and you're not like a changeling. Something happened and you changed, Joezand. That's normal. You're still the real Joezand to everyone around you."

"T-Thanks, Iaomai." Joezand says. "You're really good at this, huh?"

"I like talking to people and hearing them out." Iaomai smiles. "I did it a lot at the Turken monastery in Acquatia."

"I see, I see." Joezand says. "Now that you asked me about my situation, I get to ask about yours. Why do you let Agnes force you to sleep on the floor?"

"O-Oh, that's, uhm..." Iaomai says. "Sometimes she has health crises at night, so I have to stay by her side to help her if something goes wrong. At the palace I have another bed inside of her room, but in those empty houses... I had to make do."

"You could've carried another mattress there, at least. Stop being a doormat and get off the floor. Literally." Joezand says. "Don't let her walk over you like that."

"I mean, I—" Iaomai stops himself as they arrive at a clearing, leading to plains. "Wait, what is that?"

"Well, this place certainly looks familiar." Joezand says, pointing at a rock formation forming a cave dead-center in the middle of the grassy fields. "See that? That's the demon I'm looking for."

"That's not what I'm talking about." Iaomai approaches a branch of a thorny bush, pulling out... A piece of cloth. "That's... from Louise's dress, isn't it?"

...

"We have to regroup and tell everyone to come here." Joezand breaks the silence. "Let's go."

"Right! Right away." Iaomai answers.

And they go to collect the others.