Charlotte, Look At Yourself

Her frozen body grew even colder, and she felt as if her lungs weren't getting any oxygen. Charlotte had her gaze fixed on the floor. Everything around her turned dimmer.

“Did the cat get your tongue?”

She gulped and could only let out a choked gasp.

“Look at yourself, Charlotte.”

A tingling sensation ran through her body.

“Just a terrified little kid pretending to be a hero like us.”

Charlotte closed her eyes, wishing to be a bad dream.

A few tears welled up in her eyes and rolled down her face. A sharp pain shot through her left arm. Thorns began to sprout from it, and the voices returned once again.

“You should calm down. I've been through that before.” His voice was strangely calm, just like that of any normal person. “That arm, those voices…Everything comes from the tree.”

Charlotte opened her eyes again and looked at her arm. Filled with roots, bark, and dead wood, it seemed repulsive to her.

“They bring out the worst in you. Your deepest, most twisted desires.”

Charlotte could feel the hero moving behind her as if he were scrutinizing her. Even so, she still avoided looking at him.

“In your case… Oh… Nobody deserves to be treated like that.”

Charlotte felt his hands on her shoulders. She clenched her teeth and closed her eyes.

“The best way to learn is from the past.”


Charlotte opened her eyes again. Everything around her was pitch black. It was getting harder and harder for her to breathe, and the pain in her arm was getting worse.

“Please, relax.”

The voice of the former hero echoed everywhere.

In an instant, the darkness began to take on colors and shapes that Charlotte recognized. In an instant, there was a sky and a ground, old, dilapidated houses, and people walking around her.

Standing right in front of her was her younger self. She was smaller and wearing old, torn clothes. They looked each other straight in the eyes.

“Charlotte, come here.”

Her younger self turned around and ran off. Charlotte followed her. They arrived at her old house, which was just as small and old as all the others in town.

“Oh, there you are, my little one.”

“Hello, Papa!”

“Where had you been?”

“I was in town trying to make friends.”

“Oh, and did you succeed?”

Little Charlotte pouted.

“Don’t you worry, I’ll bet someday everyone will want to be your friend.”

“Really?”

“Yes, and you know why?”

“Why?”

“Because you have a huge heart, Charlotte, and that makes you an incredible person.”

A man who looked just like him caught her and carried her. He tossed her into the air while her younger self laughed.

“You look happy, so... why are you carrying so much?”

Charlotte, with tears in her eyes, tried to run toward the old man, but everything vanished again.

The scene changed. Now she was in a cemetery, crying in front of a grave. It was a sunny day, but there was no one by her side.

“So your dad died. That’s classic for character development.”

“Don't make fun of him.”

“Relax, everyone dies.”

She clenched her teeth tightly. Her arm was covered in thorns, and the voices were getting closer and closer.

“Your story doesn't seem that tragic... so why…”

Everything faded away again. This time, her younger version appeared, completely alone.

They stood face to face.

That little girl grew up. She was alone.

She grew up again. She was alone.

Again, alone again.

Again, again.

Finally, she found herself standing face to face with herself.

“I see… You've been all alone...There was nothing special about you, which is why no one ever looked your way.”

Charlotte started crying.

“Nothing… Simply forgotten.”

For the first time, she was crying her heart out.

“No one loved you. No one hated you. No one knew your name. No one chose you. No one comforted you. No one fought with you. You are a nobody.”

“T-that’s not true…”

“Yet you still kept that smile… Because you trusted your father's words.”

Her other self disappeared, and he was left in the darkness, completely alone.

“That explains your desire... Say it out loud…”

“N-no.”

“Say it.”

Finally, the voices filled her head. Those confusing, painful voices she recognized whenever she lost control. Now they were screaming and echoing loudly inside her head.

“We heroine. Of the highest kind. We better. We superlative. Force them to look us in the eyes. Force them to remember our name. We Greatest. We Superior. Force them love us. Kill anyone who gets in our way. Kill those who don't remember our face. Kill. Kill. Anything to notice us.”

Charlotte tried to cover her ears to avoid those thoughts.

“I do feel bad for you, kid.”

“Please make them stop.”

“Those are your voices, exacerbated by The Buried Tree corruption.”

The pain had become unbearable. Unconsciously, she wanted to rip those roots out of her arm, but it was no use. The voices were taking hold of her. Her vision grew blurry and hazy. An extreme fatigue overwhelmed her.

She was about to lose consciousness, but she was afraid of losing herself.

“I-I c-can't lose what I've built now.”

She grabbed the end of her arm and, with all her strength, began to pull it away. He groaned in pain, but she finally managed to pull it free. That mixture of roots and bark, with a shape of an arm, was left on the ground.

She was exhausted, but just then the arm began to attack her.

She dodged it again as best she could.

Her own arm was lunging at her.

Until she caught it with her other arm.

The roots began to spread out to trap her.

“Yes, you’re right, I want people to at least notice me…”

With great force, she slammed her own arm against the ground.

“But I also want to be a heroine so I can protect the people I love.”

Those thoughts gradually faded away, and through sheer willpower, she regained some of her strength.

“Yes, I'm selfish, and I still want to be admired. But above all, I'll protect my friends and this world with a smile.”

She recalled a Magica spell she had used before.

“Pure Magica. Nullify You.”

A flash lit up Charlotte’s eyes. Slowly, she opened them again. She was back at the tavern. Everything was just as it had been. With great determination, she turned around and saw the hero for the first time.

To her surprise, he didn't seem all that different from an ordinary hero, let alone a monster.

“You’re stronger than I thought.”

“Charlotte, are you alright?”

Zoe rushed toward her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her left arm. It was still made out of roots, but it was brighter and greener. The bark, the thorns, and the rotten wood were gone. There were a few flowers on it.

“What do you want?” Charlotte spoke directly to the hero.

“Nothing. We are going to leave now.”

Seeing Charlotte's courage, Alysia and Zoe drew their weapons.

“What?”

“We just wanted to see who would stand in our way. You're strong, but you're just a replacement.”

“How do you know that…?”

“We had to kill the other guy. He seemed like a nice guy… He is from the same place as us.”

“What are you planning to do? What do you mean, help the tree?”

“That's for you to find out, Charlotte Armelier, but once you see it, you might change your mind.”

Charlotte lunged at him, but he simply vanished before her eyes. He didn’t leave a trace.

As if nothing had happened and the other diners hadn't seen a thing, the tavern returned to normal.

“Huh? What happened to the hero?” the bartender asked.

Charlotte turned to look at him and hesitated for a moment.

“He had to go.”

“It’s a shame, but I guess the work of a hero never ends.”

“I feel the same way.”

“By the way, did he help you? You're all potential heroines, aren't you?”

“Yes, we are.”

Charlotte replied with a smile.