V - I

Beneath the starless sky, V sat alone beside the campfire to warm herself against the cold and silent night, the sound of crackling wood keeping her company, but it wouldn’t be for much longer as she saw out of the corner of her eyes something lurked in the shadows beyond the fire.

Anna, wake up. Anna, can you hear me? Wake up, you stupid specter.

There was no response from the girl. V didn’t need her anyway.

“The road has been empty, perhaps you know why?” V broke the silence. When she did not receive a reply, she continued, “I know you‘re out there, so why don’t you show yourself. Perhaps we could share a fire.”

Silence reclaimed its dominance after she stopped speaking, and for a while, it remained that way, until a sudden gust put out the flame of the campfire.

V only saw a rough outline of the imposing figure that jumped out of the darkness in front of her. If this was a human, he would be the tallest human she had seen yet. V leaned her head aside and let the sharp claws pass by before she caught the attacker by the neck. The first thing she noticed was the furs rubbing against her hand as the thing struggled to break free, and failed. The growling voice that it made sounded anything but human.

Exchanging her Life-Force, V initiated the Invocation of her weapon. A brief second passed, and she could feel the weight of the firearm on her hand as it came into being. The woman gripped the gun and pointed it at the creature, but before her finger could pull the trigger, a cracking sound caught in her ears.

Pain snaked along the arm that held her enemy, and V could no longer feel her fingers.

“I was hoping you would fight back.” She said as blood rushed out from the red blob that was her hand.

Dead silence was the only response she got, and when V tried to look for the creature that attacked her from the surrounding area, she couldn’t find any sign of it. That made her sigh. And here I thought I finally had an exciting night for once. He probably consumed my blood though. It’s gonna be a hassle to deal with that. She let go of Adam. The firearm disappeared the moment it left the hand.

When she was back at the cold campfire, V dipped a finger into her wound and drew a runic symbol on the ground with the blood. She exchanged some of her Life-force to initiate the Invocation of another item. The space above the red symbol took on a spiraling shape, and at the center, a curved, single-edged blade with Four Therian engraves near the guard slid out and shot into her hand after a few seconds.

V bit her lips and cut off the deformed hand with the summoned dagger, coating the blade in her blood in the process. The First of the four Engraves brightened up, red on the field of ivory, and it read - Blood Control. She mended the broken bones and guided the blood that was bleeding out of her wrist into the shape of the hand she had cut. She tried to make a fist, and the blood prosthetic responded, though it was far from a smooth motion.

Now there’s nothing to do but wait, V dropped down on the ground, letting the cold air seep through her body. As she laid awake amidst the cold earth, V tried to recall the last time she had a good night’s sleep. The thought brought her back at least a few decades, or maybe even more, she couldn’t tell. She could barely recall things from a few months ago, let alone a few decades, and despite that, the memory of Oracle still haunted her.

No, just don't think about it.

It was too late. She could already hear the screaming voices of the city’s citizens as the army of the forsaken broke through the gate, slaughtering anyone they could get their hands on. The children, the women, and the innocents, none was spared from the carnage.

I failed so miserably, have I? There hadn’t been a day passed that she didn’t ask herself that. How disgusting… How irredeemably disgusting.

She shook her head and ripped her mind from the thought, “Dammit!” She had to let it out, “It doesn’t matter, V. The past is in the past. There is no point catching up to it.”

All that matters now is finding the soul… No matter how scattered, no matter how weak. I will put a gun to DeDe’s head if I have to.

She didn’t notice when the first light of dawn came, but it was there, shining down on the cold campfire and signaling the coming of a new day. The first thing V did was check the injured hand. The flesh had not grown back properly, leaving the hand in a state of half-blood, half-flesh, and it was shaking. Both of her hands were.

“Wow… what happened?” Suddenly, Anna appeared beside her, looking at the wound.

She smiled seeing the specter, “While a certain someone was busy sleeping, something attacked me.”

The girl looked away and put on her sorry smile.

“It’s fine. I am not faulting you or anything.” She grabbed a glove in her bag and put it over the half-healed hand, “Did you have a nice dream at least?”

The girl nodded, “I was eating cotton candy in my dream.” Anna’s eyes brighten up like a pair of blue flames, “You have to let me eat cotton candy the next time we get the chance.”

“Sure, there ought to be someone who sells candies to Outerworlders.”

“That’s not what I mean.” Anna said as she floated playfully over her head, “You know I mean.”

V sighed, “At least promise me you’ll be careful if you want to take over.”

“YES! I won’t do anything harmful I promise!”

“Yeah, so no going on a date with a rapist.” V raised her eyebrows.

“That doesn’t count. He tricked me!”

“Doesn’t change the fact that you almost get me molested. It’s still my body, you know.”

The girl looked down, “I’m sorry. I promise it won’t happen again… but that’s the only time right?”

V shook her head, “Of course not. Remember that time you bought the entire store’s worth of jewels? You know how much trouble I went through trying to return them?”

“Ah… sorry… they were nice… I couldn’t decide so…”

“How about that time you…”

“Ok, V, I get it, I get it. I will behave. You don’t have to shove it in my face like that.”

“You better do.” V took the Ivory Dagger still coated in her dried blood and slid it in one of the pockets under her coat. She then broke her fast on some cheese and stale bread, dropping the food a few times when her hands shook. After the meal, she pressed for the village of Kove. She was hoping they would know something about the thing that attacked her last night.

V stopped by a branch of the Nine Rivers to drink and refill on the way to town.

“Something is wrong.” Anna’s voice echoed inside her head.

“You reckon?” Said V as she splashed water over her face. Suddenly, something pushed the woman off the bank and into the depths, dragging her to the bottom. It was a struggle not to drown, but V managed to break free of whatever creature that was attacking her and swim to the surface.

“Help…” V heard a voice whispering to her as she was swimming. It wasn’t Annatasia. It was someone else or something else. There at the surface of the water, she saw a pale hand extending to her and grabbed it.

“You…” V said to the boy after she was done coughing out water, “If you are here… then…” She looked back at the river.

“What’s going on, Hollow?” She turned to the boy and asked.

Anna appeared and floated in circles around where Hollow was standing, poking and waving at the being she could not yet see.

Hollow raised a finger, pointing in the direction of Kove.

“A job for me then?”

The boy nodded.

“Tell our useless Administrator that she will owe me another favor if I get this done.”

“She always does. DeDe loves you.” The boy spoke finally.

“DeDe loves everyone, even the sinners and the cowards, and the unforgivable…”

“That she does. Here, you might need this.” He handed her a necklace made from the fang of some creature, with the name Laila carved into it, “Good luck, Lillie.”

V received the item, nodded a thank you, and pressed for the village.

If there was anything that made Kove known, it had to be its Spring Festival where other villages and towns within Kohan gathered here to feast and drink for three days straight, and though she hadn’t been here for a long time, she doubted such a tradition would be abandoned, Yet it seemed to be happening before her eyes, as Kove showed no sign of preparations for the festival. She would never know there would be a festival coming soon if she had not been here before.

No wonder the road was empty. Anna’s voice echoed in her head. This place looks like one of those abandoned villages haunted by ghosts in tales that grandmothers used to scare the children.

Anna wasn’t wrong. V spotted no youngsters at play on the muddy road. No housewife cleaning the house to welcome a new year, and no men checking if their roofs had been damaged after a rough winter.

The first row of the houses she passed by had their windows shut tight, to prevent something from breaking in no doubt. Others down the road only opened their windows enough to peek through, and shut them once they noticed V looking.

She tried to knock on a door, though there was no answer. The next few houses she tried also gave her silence.

Since there was no one to ask questions, V followed her memory and located the house near the other end of the village where the mayor lived during her last visit.

She was surprised to find the house still standing. It had grown a few stories in size, but the old stone of the original house stood out.

There was smoke coming from the chimneys, and when V knocked, a large keg of a man answered, his eyes doubtful and afraid.

“Greetings,” V took off her straw hat and bowed.

“Who are you?”

“A traveler.” V said, “Wondering why there’s no one around.”

“If you are here for the festival, you should leave. There hasn’t been one in two years.”

“I can see that, and I know why as well.” She leaned in a bit closer, “You seem worried, Mayor. Dealing with the unnatural is a very daunting task after all.”

“You… who are you?”

“Someone with a bit of knowledge.” She said, putting on her face a smile.

The Mayor considered for a few moments and opened the door all the way, “Come in.”

V met a young woman inside the house. She had the old man’s look - high nose, sharp eyes, and big forehead. Even their freckles were in similar places.

“This is?” The woman asked.

“She will help us deal with our problems.” The old man said with a cough.

“Oh…” The girl said in a tone that was more cautious than surprised, “I wish you luck.”

V nodded a thank you and followed her father into the guest room.

“There are a few things I want to ask you.” She said and sat down.

“What do you want to know?”

“One of the branches of the Nine Rivers runs near your village. Is there something that often drags people into the river whenever they are close?”

The Mayor took a deep breath when he heard that, “Ay, people who wandered near the river always told of something pulling them in.”

“So they all survived?”

“Those who can’t swim drowned, but most survived.”

“I see, though I doubt the river is the reason this place looks like a ghost town.”

The old man’s eyes lowered, “Ay, something far more dangerous is haunting this town.”

“Something with wolf-like features and about a head taller than a grown man?”

“So you encountered it. We call it the Beast of Kove. Been terrorizing us for the past couple of years.”

“Who does this… Beast attack?”

“Travellers, Villagers, whoever is unlucky enough to be alone at the wrong time.”

“Attacks happen often?”

The old man suddenly let out a long and painful cough.

“Did you forget to take your medicine again, Pa?” His daughter entered the room with a frown on her face, “Also did you overdrink again? The bottle was a lot lower than before.”

The old man frowned and raised his voice, “This is not the time, woman. Leave us, and make some tea for our guest, would you? Why do I have to tell you that every time? Your sister would have done it already.” The old man raised a hand and waved his daughter away.

“Yes, Pa. I will see to it.” The daughter obeyed, though her face was not pleasant.

“About your question… Sometimes every few months, sometimes every few days.”

“Interesting. It seems a ghost is haunting the river, and a beast is on the loose.”

The big man’s eyes widened, “So it is a ghost then…” The mayor’s eyes suggested that he knew something more.

“Most certainly, You have any clue as to who this ghost could be?”

The Mayor sighed, “It’s my daughter, Laila…” He frowned, “She was the one to be found dead in the river.”

“What is the circumstance surrounding her death?

“She disappeared in the night according to her husband.” The mayor said in a spiteful voice, “That bastard killed her, I am telling you.”

“Dad, you shouldn't spread baseless accusations.” The daughter said as she entered the room again with a pot of tea and a few cups, “Mikel is a nice man, and he loved sis. No way he would kill her.”

“Who else could? He claimed he was so drunk that night he didn’t remember anything. I bet in his drunken rage, he killed my daughter and pretended to not know.” The old man looked V in the eyes, “I beg you if it’s my dear Laila that has been haunting the river… Please save her… Please… I will pay. All I have if you wish.”

“I will see what I can do.” She took a sip from the tea and gave the daughter a grateful nod, “Jasmine, now that’s a treat. Thank you.”

She drained the entire teapot while asking the Mayor about his daughter's widower. The man’s name was Mikel, a former traveling trader turned adept hunter who hunted wild animals and kept them from attacking villagers. He lived north of town, which coincidentally - or perhaps not- was the general area where V could feel the presence of her blood, though it was weak, too weak for the amount that she lost last night, and that could never be good.

When V left the house, The daughter was there waiting for her. She was clothed in a cloak with a hood that was pulled over, covering half her face, “I can take you to his home.” The girl said.

“Sure that’s a good idea? Your dad doesn’t seem to like that man.”

The girl gestured for V to come closer.

“Pa didn’t allow me to see him, but he is old, and rests often.”

“Ooh, I like where this is going!” Anna said.

V frowned, “He is your sister’s widower.”

“So what? He has been very lonely ever since sis died. There are nights that he would come into the forest alone and would not return until morning. Can you believe that? Spending your nights in the forest. That can’t be good.”

The implication behind what the girl just told her was intriguing, to say the least.

“I suppose I do not have the right to tell you what to do. Lead the way, Miss.”

They set out to search for the hunter, walking down the deserted street of Kove with a specter floating above their heads.

“You are brave to be out.” Said V, “A beast is lurking around.”

“It’s noon. No beast will attack at this hour.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

“What did you mean then?” The girl turned over to her.

“How would you know Mikel spends his time in the forest?” She raised her eyebrows, “Out of curiosity, did you actually follow him through?”

“No… always too afraid to do so. The forest is dangerous at night. Mikel is a hunter, so he can take care of himself, I can’t…”

“Wise choice. You would have died otherwise… Anyway, we are close to his home, aren’t we?”

That surprised the girl, “How do you know?”

Because I feel my blood calling out to me, “I just do. There is more to this man Mikel than you know. You should be wary around him.”

The girl frowned from under her hood, “Don’t believe in what Pa told you.”

“You don’t have to tell me that. Others are not to be trusted.”

The girl seemed to be taken aback by that, “That’s not what I…”

“Regardless of what you meant, you should only rely on yourself for judgment. Why do you think I’m seeing Mikel?”

“To… see his side of the story?”

V nodded. They then walked on in silence for a short while until the girl broke it and spoke to her, “Oh… I have been wanting to ask you…”

“I’m listening.”

“Can you… just drop the investigation and tell Pa that there wasn’t any ghost? I will pay you, double the amount that Pa promised.”

That intrigued her, “What do you mean?”

“Just tell my Pa that nothing supernatural is going on. People were just careless.”

“Is that what you want to believe? Don’t you want to know what happened to your sister?”

The girl turned her look away from V, “There are no ghosts, just like there is no beast of Kove. People are just paranoid. When they hear someone being attacked by a wild animal, they think of it as the Beast without considering that perhaps it was just a large wild wolf.” She took a deep breath, “My sister is dead and has been for a few years. There is no need to dwell on it. Pa needs to move on. We all do.”

“Hm… Inter…” She did get to finish her words when Anna yanked the control from her, “Oi young lady, you clearly have no idea what you are talking about.” Anna raised her voice and moved closer to the girl, who took a few steps back with a mixture of fear and confusion in her eyes, “Open your ear and listen. Ghosts do exist, and they aren’t the malicious beings from the tales to scare children. They are pitiful and lonely existences stuck in their own limbo with no one to talk to and few ways to interact with the outside. Imagine existing like that for upward of centuries. Now imagine that’s your sister, crying from her prison for help. Would you be so heartless and leave her like that?”

The girl was too overwhelmed to give a proper answer, so Anna stepped away, “I’m done.”

Her head always felt faint whenever they switched control of the body. V covered her mouth and forced down whatever it was trying to make its way out.

Next time, at least warn me.

“Sorry, had to let it out. By the way, there is something odd about this chick, but that is perhaps just my slightly biased opinion.”

“Anyway, I have promised your father. I can’t go back on that.”

“But… I… I understand.” The girl hid her face behind the hood.

For the rest of the trip, they did not speak another word until the girl stopped in front of a large house.

“This is it?” V asked, getting only a nod as a reply.

“I… I will stay out of sight.” The girl said.

V did not bother to ask why as the weakening presence of her blood nearby interested her more.

“This isn’t a house. It’s a mansion. Hunters live in mansions these days? Back in my days, they had those little cottages in the wood.” Anna commented as they walked up to the door.

“How would a shut-in like you know that?”

“Alright correction, a few centuries after my time.”

V had expected no one to answer her knock and that she had to climb in through the window or something of that nature, but no, a man was at the door just a few seconds after the knock came.

“Mikel? The name is V by the way.” She offered him a handshake with the hand that was bitten off last night, still gloved.

He looked at the hand for a moment, but did not take it, “What do you want?” He gave her a cautious look.

“A talk, the length of which depends on your honesty.”

The hunter sighed, “Look lass, last night was a mistake. I am sorry for that. I truly am. Can we just forget about that?”

“Let’s talk inside.”

“Wait…” It was the daughter’s voice that stopped them.

“Liss?” Mikel seemed surprised.

“What… What did… you two do last night?” The girl’s voice was shaking.

Anna chose that moment to materialize with a mischievous smile on her face, “Someone has been a naughty woman.” The Specter said. The way she looked at V suggested that she expected a reaction, “You do realize your conversation with him sounds highly sexual right?” Anna said when she got none out of her partner.

“It is not what you think.” V could give that much to the daughter.

“Oh, so what is it then? You two just hanging out in the forest at night, chatting?”

“That is not my secret to spill.” She looked at Mikel.

The girl’s eyes widened, “All those times Mikel spent in the forest at night… Was it because of you?”

Anna scratched the phantom of her head, “This one got colorful imagination.”

“Liss… How do you… know that I spend time in the forest at night?” Something that came close to fear overwhelmed the hunter’s eyes, “Did you see?” He walked up to the girl and grabbed her arm.

It prompted V to be on her guard.

“That’s… I… I… What is she to you?” Her gaze turned toward V, “She isn’t even half as pretty as my sister.”

“Oi, she just called you ugly. Shouldn’t you react to that? I know I would. Like, Who do you think you are, young lady? I am the Most Beautiful Princess my kingdom had ever seen! though… that probably didn’t apply to you huh… how about…”

“Faces are just masks to me, Anna. Now be quiet for a bit.”

“She is just a strange lass I barely know.” Mikel said.

“Then tell me what you two did last night.”

Mikel paused again, “I am sorry Liss… I can’t.”

The girl’s face looked as if it was about to catch fire. Her gaze found V again, “You shouldn’t have come.”

“My bad I suppose.” She walked toward Mikel’s house and opened the door, “I will wait inside for you two to… sort this out.”

“You are not going anywhere!” The girl was about to stomp at her when Mikel held her back.

“Go home, Liss. This doesn’t concern you.”

The girl yanked herself free from Mikel, and slapped him, “My sister was blind.”

She left them with that.

“What a perfect combination for a mess.” Said V.

Mikel met her in the eyes, still touching the spot that his widow’s sister had hit him, “Maybe I should have just lied to her.”

“Maybe. Come, we talk inside.”

“But… What about Liss?”

“You can go after her after we talk.”

“I don’t have a choice, do I?”

“Do you think you do?” She stared at him.

Mikel walked toward the door to his mansion, “Not when there is a freak staring me down.”

The first thing she noticed inside the mansion was a plethora of hunting trophies, among which was a Saber Lion, hanging on the wall, and something in the back of her mind clicked.

“Do you attack travelers often?” V started the conversation.

“Yes, it causes a lot less trouble.”

“Must be troublesome now since you rarely find one around these parts nowadays… Out of curiosity, why hasn’t the battlemage been involved yet? You are on the border, but you are still in Oracle's Territory.”

“Oh, they did. The old man hired one, but I doubled the price and he let me off.”

That was rather disappointing for her to hear.

“Where did you get the money?”

“Why do you care?”

“Just want to know if you hunt exotic animals to make goods like this.” She showed him the necklace Hollow gave her.

“That…” He leaned in, intending to grab it, but V did not let him, “Where did you find that?”

“By the river, after having the pleasure of someone pulling me to the bed.”

The hunter narrowed his eyes, “The old man hired you, didn’t he… or has the mage I let off finally decided to spill the beans?”

“Hm, I thought he let you off?”

“Did I say that? My bad, he was weak, probably one of those not qualified to join the actual rank yet. I believe you lots call them Apprentice.”

“Yes, that’s what they are called.” Though they aren’t supposed to undertake active duty without their supervisor… “Did you two fight?”

“No.”

“Then how do you know he is weak?”

“Same reason why I call you a freak.”

“I do not believe you have told me the reason.”

“I asked him to do a simple trick for me.” Mikel took out a piece of paper and started drawing a bow on it, “Please accept this humble offer of my own life energy.” Mikel chanted, “Initiate invocation.”

The space above the drawing took on a spiraling shape, though it took a little more than ten seconds for the bow to materialize completely.

“That mage… Let’s just say it took him a minute for the warp to even appear.” His eyes then turned to her, “Now my memory from last night is a mess, but there is one thing I remember well… That firearm you nearly blew my head off with… It just came,” He flicked his fingers, “like that, no chanting, no tokens, and that is not to mention…” He lifted the invoked bow, “a firearm is not a simple piece of wood with a string attached… Just who are you really, lass?”

“I told you, did I? Name’s V. That’s all I have.”

“Keeping secrets, huh? Kinda ironic since you want me to be honest.”

“Alright, I admit, I was a battlemage. No big shot or anything, just a regular mage.”

There was doubt in the eyes that he gave her, “I have never seen you before… but the Order is a big organization after all.

So that’s how he is so well-versed…

“You there?” She called Anna.

“Yes, what is it?”

“Just granted you passage to The Archive, Look for Records of the Battlemage recruitment and look for the name, Mikel. Go.”

“As milady commands.” There was a certain excitement in the girl’s tone, and V knew exactly where it came from.

“The fiction area is off limit.” V added, “I will know if you go there.”

Suddenly all the excitement was gone from the girl, “What? That’s not fair!”

“I will allow you to stay in there later if you help me first.”

“Really? You promise?” There was that excitement again.

“Yes, I promise. Now go.”

V turned back to the conversation, “Well whatever I was with is in the past. Right now, I’m more interested in the spirit that haunted the river. That’s why I am here actually. I believe it’s your wife.” She lifted the necklace again, “Was this a gift from you to her?”

The hunter nodded.

“Lovely craftsmanship by the way. Tusk of a Saber Lion. They only live in the Waste Land, across the close sea. Not very easy to get one of these.”

“Half a year.” The hunter said, “Cost me a large sum too, but it was well worth it. An extraordinary gift for an extraordinary bride.”

“Tell me a bit about Laila.”

“She was the most beautiful lass I have ever met, and the best woman a man could ever ask for. There isn’t a woman kinder than she was.”

“How was the relationship between her and her sister?”

“They were very close. Laila was both a sister and a mother figure to Liss.”

“Are you implying something bad happened to their mother?”

“She died when they were really young.”

“I see. Must have been rough for the girls.” The mood was getting a bit too heavy, so V changed the topic, “Let’s talk about you. Why did you become a hunter? Surely a trader is way better off.”

“I didn’t do it for money. I already have enough.”

“Hm, you parents must have made a fortune then.”

“Ay, they were traveling merchants as well, the kind that took it very seriously.”

“You must have been lonely as a kid.”

Mikel stared at her for a long while.

“Often children of traveling merchants are.” She answered the question that was printed on his face, “Either their parents are rarely home, or they move with them from place to place, never really having a real home, and thus never allowed the chance to be children and to connect with people.”

Mikel chuckled, “Combine those two, and you have me.”

“Then why do you become a traveling merchant then? Surely you have a dislike for the calling.”

“My late caretaker always told me I should. There is no better way for a man to mature, she said, so there is that, and my late wife had always wished to see the world ever since she was a child.” Mikel sighed, “A shame I only took her on a few trips.” When Mikel finished, he stared at the necklace in her hand, “Can I have the necklace back?”

“So long as I can borrow it back if need be.” She said and gave him the piece.

They talked about his late wife’s disappearance afterward. According to Mikel, she vanished on the third night of the last spring festival. Mikel was drunk that night, too drunk, and he came home late, hours after his wife had gone home, and after that, he remembered nothing else until the next morning.

“Who was the last person with your wife?”

“It was Liss.”

“Interesting.”

“Leave her out, lass. She has nothing to do with the case.”

Anna manifested, floating above V’s legs as if she was sitting upon them, “I’m not sure I agree there. I mean that chick is clearly in love with him. Who said she wouldn’t do something like… offing her sister for that? Considering how Humans are, I would be more surprised if she did not do it than she did. After all, rejections rarely bring anything but disasters.”

“How do you know she is innocent?”

“They visited their father’s house to drop Liss off before Laila headed home alone. She doesn’t want her sister to be alone at night… Look what that kindness brought her. The old man vouched for this, and he also noted that Liss didn’t leave the house afterward.”

“I will keep that in mind.” She stood, “Anyway, We are done here. Thank you for your time.”

“You’re… not going to do anything to me?”

“Not right now.” But perhaps I should… Stalling isn’t going to make it any easier. “Before I go, I need you to mark something for me.”