Chapter 13:
T.A./H.A. Paranoia Hero
“...Louger…I looked up to you…I tried all that I could to be a part of your world; it seemed so much brighter than the one I was in. Where is that light I saw whenever I gazed upon you? Did you hide it from me? Was I even meant to see it at all…? I want to apologize to you, but I know it would never bring Ulrich back; would you still like me to try…?”
The blade began to fall towards Dinorah’s face, but she was too lost in her own spiraling mind to acknowledge it. Everything felt distorted to her.
“Even now…all I can think of is impressing you…doing right by you…How foolish am I…? Those fantasies of glory…they misled me. I was drunk on a selfish dream …”
Thalassio drew in closer to Dinorah’s right eye, yet she didn’t flinch. Her body felt heavy all over; all she could muster was a lazy stare at Louger’s sadistic face.
“Glory…what does that word even truly mean? Why did I ever seek it in the first place? Obsessed with the idea of having my name chanted in the ballads of the people…enamored with the thought of my battles being recorded in Velicima’s greatest texts…That wouldn’t have made me happy, would it? I’d just continue to be a shell, a poor copy of the girl I…I used to admire. I could never even hope to walk in her shadow. I already failed one of the most important quests of my life. I couldn't keep the Elbrus’ core. I’m certain Agon took it with him. But then…why did he leave me here? Perhaps he was ashamed. He must’ve felt used, appalled to see the person who wrapped him into her mess reduced to the laughing stock of the town. And the first thing I did when I saw him…was ask about the core. How deplorable. I completely neglected him…He knew better than to save me. The Elbrus core is safer in his care. Ah...what is there left to ponder…? What do I desire in this life? If not glory, what does my heart truly seek…?”
A strange energy pulsed within her body. She felt familiar words echo in her soul. The tip of Louger’s blade was mere inches away from her right pupil.
“Your mind seeks glory…but your heart seeks something much more noble…”
“Ah…!” At the call of its name, the power of the beast she tried to save manifested into a bright glow that knocked Thalassio out of Louger’s hand, causing it to dissipate. The great warrior, along with the people of Ruchs, gasped and shielded their eyes.
“What is this…?!?” Louger retorted. The light faded, and revealed Dinorah, but in a new form. Her head was adorned with antlers that twisted around each other into a knot, and her right eye shimmered and made a light hum as it basked in the sun; it appeared as if it were made of pure glass. Her arms, legs, and back were covered in white fur with green patterns twisting around her frame like wild vines. The chains that once restricted her dropped to the ground as she stood tall before the stupefied Ruchians.
“What the heck?!? She transformed!”
“She turned into one of those things! Freakin’ mutant!”
“Green bean…what have you done…?” Enson muttered.
Dinorah settled into this new feeling and took a moment to notice her new appearance. She was in awe of the power she felt alone, but her coat of fur mesmerized her even more; she couldn’t turn away, not even for a second. Her right eye, though its form also changed, felt no different; it was what she saw with the eye that was drastically altered. Everything seemed much clearer in that eye. For a second, Dinorah could’ve sworn that she saw the very souls of the people dancing about in their bodies. Her self-examination was ruthlessly interrupted, however, by Louger’s boiling temper.
“You…you dare to take that form in front of me…?!? The accomplice in the murder of Ulrich…?!? ”
Dinorah did nothing but soften her gaze towards her, watching what was once the ideal image of a warrior fall apart.
“Rrrrrrgh…! THALASSIO!!!” Louger’s blade was summoned once again. The Ruchians were in an uproar, trying to decipher this oddity before them. Dinorah finally let her lips part and spoke to Louger in a compassionate way that vexed her even further.
“Louger.”
“SHUT. YOUR MOUTH.”
Dinorah walked closer.
“Just seconds ago…I was prepared to spend the rest of eternity apologizing to you for my insolence as a child. But now…my eye has shown me a deeper wound than the one I cut in your heart; a wound that you, and all of the other Ruchians, made together on this stolen soil many years ago.”
The Ruchians fell silent at this declaration, but Louger was undeterred.
“STOLEN SOIL?!? PAH! YOU KNOW NOTHING, WRETCH!”
She pinned Thalassio right against Dinorah’s glass eye, yet she did not move or react in any way; there was not a single scratch from the impact. Louger seemed almost offended that her majestic weapon had no apparent effect. Dinorah sighed as she felt the power within her brew. Her body instantly shattered into small fragments of glass. Louger was paralyzed, yet she couldn’t take Thalassio away from its stabbing position. Dinorah’s body completely rematerialized and slithered down Thalassio, hundreds and thousands of pieces of glass skittering from the blade to the hilt; the rushing water of the weapon splashing against her all the while. Louger froze as she felt the shards of the persecuted girl roll up her hand, then to her arm, then across her face. Every glass piece pushed past her and reconstructed into Dinorah’s full body. She looked back at Louger pitifully.
“...W-what…”
“My right eye is now a window into every soul. From looking at you, even just once, I’ve witnessed the horrible truth of this town, and the lies that served as its foundation. The Ruchians hunted the Elbrus race and drove them out. You were just a kid then, Louger. But even then, you harbored resentment for them.” She then turned to the crowd and raised her voice as she continued her speech. The Ruchians couldn’t help but remain silent as they watched this hybrid walk amongst them so casually. “Many years ago, the founders of Ruchs came across this very plot of land and decided to make it their own. Days turned to weeks as they gathered supplies, toiling away and developing their new home. That was until they found that they were not alone.”
A murmur rose from the crowd.
“The Elbrus thrived in a nearby grove not too far from the settled land; we know it today as the Ulrich Woods, but it was once their home. On a hunt for more supplies, one of the founders decided to search within the woods. All went well, his arms filled with plenty of materials, until he chanced across an Elbrus. In a scare, the man took out a pocket knife and stabbed the beast right between its eyes. The man then ran back to his people and called a hunt. One by one, the Elbrus fell, yet they never fought back. Some even attempted to flee. My eye showed an Elbrus trying to escape a man’s spear. In its frantic state, it rushed out of the woods and into Ruchian territory. It was frightened, and in its panic, crashed into one of the founder’s huts. A hut that housed a man…and a woman who had just given birth…to a baby girl. And just as she was put in the father's arms…”
Enson bit his lip until it bled.
“The mother was trampled to death.”
Louger finally managed to break out of her staggered stance. She attempted to knock Dinorah down with an open fist rather than her blade. Dinorah’s fur stood up and seemed to harden as she heard the fist cut through the air behind her. The knuckles made contact, and Louger shrieked as the fur pricked her skin.
“Her fur…it feels like a dozen metal thorns…!”
Dinorah continued her regaling of the Elbrus massacre without even acknowledging Louger’s antics.
“By just one year, all of the Elbrus were eliminated, or that’s what was believed to be true.” Dinorah then turned back to Louger, standing above her as she shook the sharp fur from her hand.
“As Ruchs grew from a barren land to a small village, a girl decided to celebrate her tenth birthday by going out to explore the woods.”
Louger looked up at Dinorah in total incredulity.
“The girl freely wandered through the woods until she heard a scream in the distance. Finding the voice familiar, she naturally chased after it, only to find her little brother’s corpse being dragged away by an Elbrus into the corners of the grove-”
Louger shot up and began blindly slashing away at Dinorah’s body. She dodged every swipe without ever taking her eyes away from Louger. Her subtle twists of the torso and tilts of her head were enough to evade every single cut from the Ruchian warrior. As Louger slashed and stabbed at her, she kept talking, not losing her breath for even a moment.
“DON’T YOU DARE SPEAK OF HIM! DON’T…! YOU…! NNNRRAAAGH!!!”
“She then made a vow, devoting her life to finding that Elbrus again, so that she could kill it. She honed her mind and body for years, sculpting herself into a formidable warrior. The Elbrus, however…” Dinorah finally stopped Louger’s barrage of attacks with her furred arm and continued her statement.
“The Elbrus she knew had long passed.”
“WRETCHED…LITTLE VERMIN…!”
“When the boy first saw the Elbrus, he tried to run away, but tripped and fractured his skull. His blood splattered across the grass.”
“No…NO…That’s NOT what happened!!!”
“The Elbrus, already expending most of its power in the early battles with the Ruchians, couldn’t heal the boy properly. So it carried the child to a quiet opening within the woods. To a small pond.”
“You’re making this up…! DO NOT LISTEN TO HER LIES!” Louger commanded the townspeople, but the Ruchians were too stunned to speak, let alone retaliate.
“The child was submerged in the pond, and the Elbrus began to weep into the water until it glowed. One fact that our people failed to record is that when an Elbrus weeps, its tears contain its very life essence. By weeping into the sacred pond with a soul that walks the tightrope of death, they perform an exchange of spirits. The Elbrus traded its life for death, so that the boy could live. The only caveat to this is that the soul can not return to the original body; it is offered as part of the exchange.”
Louger huffed through her teeth, her breathing rapid and sporadic.
“Ulrich was forced to live on in that Elbrus’s body.”
“SHUT UP!!! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UUUUUUUUUUUUP!!!”
Dinorah took her palm and touched Louger’s shoulder. The warrior jolted at the sensation and stared into her face, leaning in close as she watched a vision play in her glass eye. It was everything just as Dinorah explained. Louger soon found herself looking through the eyes of the Elbrus, seeing a scared Ulrich fracture his skull, taking him to the pond, and the exchanging of souls. Everything played out just as she said. She felt Ulrich’s presence in the Elbrus’ core with every scene that flashed by. She then saw herself, age thirteen, ragged edge in hand. She watched herself smile wickedly, lunge at the Elbrus’ neck, and…The vision ended. Louger fell to her knees as Dinorah brought her voice to a sorrowful whisper.
“Louger…You killed Ulrich.”
The might and pride of the Ruchian hero was demolished in a matter of seconds. A string of air slipped into her lips as she inhaled. Dinorah stood perfectly still, awaiting her response. Instead, she felt a rush of cold water as Louger thrusted her blade right through her stomach. The Ruchians gasped in unison, standing completely petrified.
“Screw the reputation.” Louger heaved, cackling in between her declaration. “You’ll die here, and I’ll bring a glorious flood to those repulsive woods. I’ll wash away my sins, every single speck; I'll be a clean slate."
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