Chapter 18: The Blood Queen

Pain.

It ravaged her body.

Every fiber of her being. Every nerve in her body. Every blood vessel that ran through her.

It was a pain far worse than anything she had felt before.

The pain washed over her like lava rolling down a mountain.

Her body wanted to contort with the pain, but something stopped it. No matter how hard she tried, her body refused to twist.

She heard something.

A voice?

It was a scream like something heard from an animal as it was dying.

The scream was constant.

“Oh, is that me?”

What was her name? Why was she screaming? What had she been doing?

The answers to those questions were washed away by the pain.

She was no one.

She had no name.

No friends.

No family.

No home.

She was a blank slate.

She was…

“Anala wo anala.”

A deep gruff voice cut through her thoughts. She had heard it before. Where had she heard it before?

The voice was kind and gentle. It caressed her with foreign words, yet she understood them.

“I am… me?”

Why could she understand the foreign words?

“Anala wo anala.”

Another voice spoke up. This time a female. Like the male voice before, it felt familiar. She knew the kind and gentle voices from somewhere.

She tried to conjure up the speaker's image, but it was hazy; it was like she hadn’t seen them in a long time.

“You are you, right *****?”

Yet again another male voice deep like the first, but this one felt even more gentle. There was a hint of love mixed in with it. Not the kind of love that a family would have. This was more intimate.

She turned her head to find a man standing before her. His dark skin was covered in lighter feathers. A gentle smile on his lips beamed at her. But she couldn’t make out the rest of his face.

She was more concerned with what he had said.

“What did you say I was called?”

The man didn’t answer her. Instead, a female voice came from next to him.

“Master is master, right?”

“She taught you well how to swing that sword of yours.”

Two girls appeared. One was shorter with blonde hair travelling down to her shoulders. It cupped her fair-skinned face but somehow blocked out her eyes. The other was taller, nearly as tall as the dark-skinned man. She had long black hair topped with two adorable raccoon ears. As with the previous two people, her eyes were blocked. This time it was thanks to her long bangs.

“Taught? Why would I teach anyone anything? I don’t understand!”

“Isn’t it because we’re all friends?”

A third girl appeared next to the other two. Her light brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, yet her eyes were still obscured. Like everyone else that had appeared, a smile was plastered on her lips. She was wearing a coat that felt oddly familiar.

“Friends? I… Did I have those?”

They were all saying such outlandish things.

How could she have friends?

And teaching someone? She didn’t know anything to teach.

“But… who was I?”

“Don’t you know, teach?” Yet another man appeared. Dark brown hair covered his eyes, yet he gently held out his hand towards her. “You’re Yuuki!”

“Yuuki!”

“Yuuki!”

“Master Yuuki!”

“Yuuki…”

“Daughter.”

“Daughter.”

They all called her by her name or by their relationship to her. Even the two disembodied voices that first spoke called her “daughter”.

The words rattled around in her.

The name didn’t feel real.

Memories flashed through her mind. The distant past when she lived in Kyoku’s capital city. Her journey to Sanum. Spending her days with Sarman and Aria. Going to school and meeting Sarah, Kiara, and eventually Nic.

She remembered the last few days.

Yuuki had instructed the Rad-Town’s guards on how to fight against an opponent with a blade.

She had made them deadlier to an unarmed opponent.

And now they had turned.

For all she knew, every single person could have been a traitor.

“No! I don’t want to be Yuuki! I don’t want to!” She screamed into the void.

She rejected the visions she saw.

She wanted them to disappear.

She wouldn’t me Yuuki any longer. She wouldn’t be Sarah’s master or Aria’s friend. She would forget the feelings that Yuuki had for Sarman.

If she didn’t, she would have to bear the weight of her failure.

How could she be a leader if this was the result?

“Yuuki.”

Nic’s voice called out to her. The vision’s hand was still extended toward her.

What would happen if she grabbed it?

Would she go back to being the same Yuuki she had always been?

“Take my hand. I can make them all disappear.”

“Huh?”

She was taken aback. She had expected that by taking his hand she would return to her old self. Would taking his hand really grant her wish?

“-uki!”

Something was nagging at the back of her mind. It sounded like Nic, yet the person in front of her wasn’t saying anything.

“All you have to do is take my hand and everything will go how you want it to. You don’t want to be Yuuki anymore? You can be anyone you want! Forget about everyone else and be the you that you’ve always wanted.”

“I can be… anyone?”

“Anyone.”

She lifted her arm. Her hand was close to his, a few cer at most. If she just grabbed his hand she could escape living with the pain of having failed as a leader.

“-uuki!”

The nagging in the back of her mind was still there. Even when she shook her head to get rid of it, the nagging stayed.

“AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!”

The nagging turned into a guttural scream.

“Tsk.” The Nic in front of Yuuki pulled back his hand. “Too slow. I guess you want to stay as Yuuki then.”

“Wait! I don’t know! Please, don’t go!” She shouted at the receding figure in her vision. It stopped and turned around, the image of it wavering in place. It shimmered until a new face had taken Nic’s place.

She had seen them before. In the memories. Every day for the past three weeks, he had shaken her hand after practice sessions.

“You!”

“To be honest, I wanted to get rid of you before that plan started, but he helped you too fast. Until we meet again, heiress. ‘Sanso wo subene no hiso nu onozureru’.”

In a flash of white everything disappeared.

Yuuki opened her eyes to find two people staring down at her. Their eyes were furrowed as they were pinching her face and poked her in multiple spots.

The male was a face she had just seen. Nic was the one closest to her and had opened her eyelid to see if she was still asleep. When her other eye opened he reflexively moved back, nearly smashing his head against the woman behind him. Her ruby-red eyes had a few tears already welling up in them.

“Where am I?”

The things she had just seen were already starting to fade away before she could store them in her memory. Only two things remained. The first was a feeling of unease being in her own body. The second thing that lingered was what that man had said at the very end.

Why had he spoken in the language of her homeland? And that saying was an old one. She couldn’t remember exactly what it meant. Despite that, she knew that it was a grave saying. Something was going to happen in Kyoku.

“We’re still in my tower. Though once the Irradiation was removed from your body, we carried you up here so you could lay on the bed.” Crystal’s voice was on the verge of cracking as she explained everything to Yuuki in a hurry.

The explainer jogged Yuuki’s memories enough to remember what had happened just before she had gone unconscious.

Her blood rushed to her head as she bolted upright, startling both Nic and Crystal.

“What happened to Tom!?”

She remembered that she had been ready to attack the man. But once she passed out, he could have run away without her knowing.

But based on the face that Crystal was making, Yuuki had the feeling that wasn’t the case at all.

“He’s dead. That’s all that matters.”

“I see. What about the rest of Crystalia?”

Both of their faces turned to worry as they glanced at the balcony door nearby. Yuuki took that as a cue to see the town for herself.

As she opened the door, she was blasted with the smell of smoke and the distant clattering of swords. She leaned over the edge and saw hell incarnate below her.

Flames ravaged the peaceful town. Some had been caused by explosions, no doubt, but a large portion of the flames were centered on Yuuki’s left. Atop some houses in the area, blue flames danced as two people were locked in combat.

Yuuki let out a soft sigh even while her heart fluttered just a tiny bit.

“Sarman’s fighting, huh? If I had to guess, Narissa?”

“That’s who he was fighting when he split from the rest of the group at least. He’s keeping her busy so that she doesn’t catch onto our plan of getting out of this tower.” Nic walked up beside her as he talked. Crystal stayed back a few feet herself.

“Plan?”

Nic looked back at Crystal, an eyebrow raised questioningly.

“Hey, it’s your plan. You get to explain it.” Crystal shrugged. It was only then that Aria realized that Crystal wasn’t wearing a dress anymore. She had switched into clothes far more comfortable to move around in and even had some leather armor on over it.

“So,” Nic's talking drew Yuuki’s gaze back toward the city. He pointed out a bit further left from where Sarman was fighting at a weird box structure in the middle of the road. “See that cube?”

“Mhm.” Yuuki nodded but then watched the cube begin to move. It moved down the street, closer to the tower. It didn’t stop until it was close to the castle entrance. Maybe 20 mer away from the castle’s entrance directly below the tower.

“Ah, they moved it so we would have an easier time.”

“Easier time with what?”

“Well… Do you trust me?” Yuuki nodded. “Do you trust Aria?” She nodded again. “So when I tell you to go, I need you to jump off of this tower towards that blocky structure.”

Yuuki stared at Nic. Her eyes traveled around his face, looking for any tell that what he had said was a joke. When she didn’t find anything she reached out and pulled on his cheek.

“You’re the real thing. Are you trying a new comedy routine or something?”

“No. I’m being completely sherious.” A green orb floated up between them. Seeing it, Nic gave Yuuki a small smile. “Looksh like itsh time to go.”

Yuuki let go of his cheek before looking back over the edge.

“So I just gotta jump?”

“Mhm. Aria will catch you and make sure you land safely.”

Yuuki sighed. She had said she trusted both of them, but this was stretching that trust very far. If Aria wasn’t able to catch her, this would be the end of her life.

Though she wouldn’t have to bear the burden of failure anymore if that-

“What am I thinking?!” Yuuki shook her head to get rid of a dangerous thought that had appeared. “Fine! I’ll jump.”

Nic gave her a supportive smile.

“Oh, one last thing. When you get down there, tell Aria that Crystal will be coming in right behind you. I’ll be the last one to jump.”

Yuuki nodded. She took a deep breath as she went over her next action and its intended route once again in her head.

Jump. Get caught by Aria. Tell Aria that Crystal is jumping. Wait for Crystal and Nic to arrive.

She looked over the edge- her ears flattened as the height seemed to get even larger. There was a large knot in her gut.

The sound of something crashing in the tower drew all three of their attention.

“Shit, they’re getting through! Yuuki, you need to jump now! I’ll hold them back for now.” Nic rushed into the room leaving no room for either Yuuki or Crystal to say anything back to him.

Yuuki looked back at the edge.

There was no other way out.

This was her only path forward.

…

Yuuki lifted herself up and flung her body over.

Gravity took hold immediately and sent her plunging down toward the solid ground.

Yuuki tried to straighten her body mid-air, but the drag of the air caused her immense difficulty.

The ground rushed towards her.

Closer. Closer. Closer.

25 Mer.

10 Mer.

She was right above the small circular opening when the wind below her condensed itself. It cushioned her fall and rapidly slowed her descent.

By the time Aria was grabbing her out of the air, Yuuki had slowed to the speed of one jumping.

With two small taps, Yuuki’s feet touched the floor.

Aria gasped slightly as Yuuki wrapped her arms around the woman who she had long considered her best friend.

Her body quivered as she embraced one of the few people she felt comfortable with.

“Yuuki!” Aria sounded a bit panicked. “I missed you too, but someone else is coming down, back up!”

Crystal had not waited that much longer past when Yuuki reached the entrance to the stone structure. By hugging Aria, Yuuki inadvertently reduced the amount of time that Aria had to stop Crystal’s fall.

Yuuki jumped away from Aria as the air where she had just been coalesced in on itself.

In her place, Crystal slowly glided down to the ground. Her feet touched the ground in a graceful landing that barely had any sound.

“Your Highness!” Yuuki had not been expecting Cyril to be in the room and was shocked when he happily called out to Crystal.

But what hurt more was the fact that she saw little Felix with him as well.

He had been pulled into a conflict he should never have been a part of.

And part of that blame was on Yuuki for training the soldiers.

While Crystal and Cyril shared a solemn nod to each other, Felix tried to get Yuuki’s attention.

Yuuki shied away.

“Well look who the wind dragged in!” Another male voice boomed out, cutting Felix’s attempts off. A red-haired, burly, and stout man walked up to Crystal with a giant smile.

“Rust. It’s good to see you again.” Crystal was melancholic as she responded to the man. Yuuki had heard the name from Nic as well. The two had a past connection, though that wasn’t something that Yuuki needed to focus on at that moment.

Two of the three people that had been in that tower were now at ground level.

All that was left was Nic.

Before they could see if he jumped, a flaming body blasted through the wall. Yuuki knew who it was.

She could recognize his flames anywhere.

“Sarman!” Worry permeated throughout her voice. It was so strong that it would be hard for anyone to mistake the connection the two had.

Sarman finally came to a stop on his back just a mer or two from where Yuuki was. The flames died down quickly as he groaned.

Yuuki was on the ground next to him, holding the back of his head as he tried sitting up, only to be front and center for seeing him grimace in pain from an aftershock.

“Oh? Are we all here?” Yuuki knew Narissa’s voice. She hadn’t been as antagonizing to Yuuki as Tom, but she still had been against Yuuki from the moment she arrived. “No, you’re still missing one. The Verilo kid, right? Is he still in the tower?”

Narissa was on the other side of the hole that Sarman had created when crashing into the room. Her wings had singes across them while her clothes had sections that were completely torn up or burned.

“Narissa.” A low growl escaped Yuuki’s lips. Her tail had gone straight as a stick and the hair across her body was on edge. A single hand on her arm was all that kept Yuuki from lunging at the Demi-Human.

“Oh, Yuuki. So you’re still alive? Guess that means our plan for you didn’t work. Jumping from the tower and using wind spirits to condense the air to stop your fall, though. That was a smart plan. However,” Narissa swung her arm and the small area became a lot hard to breathe in. “Did you forget? I’m contracted with Sylph. The oldest and strongest wind spirit still roaming this world. Without Aerial, there is no one higher in the wind spirit pecking order than me.”

The air molecules had stopped moving. The weight of it felt like a heavy blanket was dropped over everything. Yuuki’s lungs tried desperately to pull the oxygen into them. Each breath only got a bit.

Aria was the only one that could stop this. Yuuki looked at her friend, only to find her flustered as she frantically looked around.

This was the first time that Aria had faced anything like this.

CRACK!

Narissa looked up as the sound reverberated throughout the entire village. A sinister smile grew on her lips. With a small wave of her hand, the rest of the walls surrounding them toppled.

What lay behind them, more accurately above them, was a picture of the central tower of the castle. The source of the sound was a series of cracks visible even from this distance. What made them visible was the black smoke oozing out of them. Even a normal person could see Irradiation when it was this bunched up.

“It looks like your friend is in a bit of trouble.” Narissa raised one of her arms. Her palm faced the tower as the same black miasma appeared in her arm. “All I have to do,” The miasma moved towards the tower. “Is push it past the edge.”

A thin black line connected her hand and the tower. It stretched through the air, reaching higher and higher. The tower creaked as rocks began to fall.

They smashed into the entrance of the castle, the force creating small craters and sewing even more chaos throughout the streets. The blanket of heaviness stopped anyone from being able to move.

The tower leaned and swayed in the wind, its structural integrity being slowly eroded away.

Just before it fell, a green light leaped from the top. Not only had it leaped, but the Irradiation was following it. The black miasma was leaving the tower. As did the skeletons that were also at the top.

Bones rained down as the skeletons were torn apart after losing the Irradiation tying their joints together.

Nic had taken a leap of faith.

It was a leap of faith that Narissa despised.

“Thinking wind spirits will help you?” Narissa spoke a single line and the green light disappeared.

Narissa held dominance over the nearby wind spirits.

Yuuki glanced at Aria again. Narissa may have believed in her own dominance over the spirits, but Yuuki knew of another who held a higher control.

“Yea…” Yuuki let go of her breath as she forced out some words. “They will help him…”

“Oh? You’re letting go of the precious oxygen you have left?” Narissa’s venomous smile grew ever larger. One of her pray was about to die.

“You’ve made… the one enemy… you shouldn’t have…” Sarman and Yuuki thought the same. Even after being apart for nearly a month, the longest they had been apart for in ten years, they still had similar thought patterns.

“Huh?” Narissa’s face turned to confusion. She looked around as if something had gone missing and she only just realized it. “Why!?”

Yuuki felt wind trickle its way back into her lungs. She inhaled deeply, letting it fill her lungs. The weight on her body disappeared.

The deathly still wind whipped itself into a flurry. It swirled around a single point, a single person. Her eyes full of rage as she stared at Narissa.

“Help Nic.” A small whisper escaped Aria’s lips. Yuuki barely heard it herself.

A small portion of the rampaging wind rushed to help the falling Nic in the air. While it did, the rest of the wind began to coalesce around Aria. It wrapped around her body and got denser and denser until a translucent green set of armor sat on Aria. In her right hand was a sword with a green stone shining brightly in its hilt.

Yuuki had seen a similar suit on Sarman before. Armor of a spirit king. Or in this case, a spirit queen. As far as Yuuki was aware, this armor could only be found on those contracted with a spirit progenitor as the progenitors were the only spirits strong enough to create it.

“Sylph, was it?” A malic foreign to Aria was seeping through her voice. A single step from Aria was all it took for Narissa to turn her attention fully to the girl.

“You think you can dominate your brethren in my presence?!” A strange androgynous voice came from the armor. Crystal inhaled sharply when she heard it while Narissa staggered back. Just the sound of Aerial was enough to sow fear deep into her heart. The fear of the spirit she was contracted with was affecting her as well.

“A-a-a-aerial?!” Narissa stammered out the spirit’s name. Her superiority over the group of them based solely on her contract was quickly thrown away.

“Aria.” The androgynous voice spoke to its contractor next.

“Mhm. I know.” Two wings, translucent like the armor they sprouted out of, appeared behind Aria. As they unfurled, Narissa realized in that moment that she needed to get away from the spirit progenitor in front of her.

Narissa hastily took off into the air herself. She flew fast, heading for the edge of the village. Yet she never made it. The simple wooden wall that surrounded the village had been extended by an invisible force.

The air above the wall had contracted tight. It was now an invisible wall that nothing would pass through.

Yuuki watched as Narissa flew straight up instead. Just above the height of the still-leaning center tower, she hit another barrier.

Narissa was trapped in the city.

They were all trapped in the city, it seemed.

“Our entrance is still open.”

Aria looked below Yuuki at Sarman as she spoke the line. It was the last thing that Yuuki heard her say before Aria shot into the air herself. A single green point that flew straight at Narissa like an arrow.

With her gone, the air around them returned to normal. Yuuki, Rust, Crystal, and Cyril all got up unsteadily. Yuuki helped Sarman up at the same time while Cyril held Felix in his arms.

“So, Aerial really has chosen to break his time frame? Interesting.” Crystal muttered to herself. Yuuki wasn’t sure about what this time frame was, but she had seen that armor before. Although she had barely been conscious, she had still seen it in the fight they had against Jack.

“Sarman?” Yuuki decided to focus on things that she could do in the moment so she turned to the man next to her and quietly said his name. “What did Aria…”

Sarman interrupted Yuuki as he wrapped his arms around her. She felt the pressure being exerted as he squeezed tightly.

It was a hug full of longing.

Yuuki wasn’t blind to that truth.

She just couldn’t understand it.

“Why did you leave without saying anything!?”

Yuuki’s eyes went wide. She had left a note for him. How was that “leaving without saying anything”?

“What? I left you a note! I told you exactly where I was going and how long I was supposed to be here!” The hug loosened a bit.

The two looked at each other, surprise slowly creeping into their faces before quickly being replaced with confusion.

“Note?” Sarman didn’t know what she was talking about.

“You… didn’t get it?” He shook his head. No note had ever been passed through his hands. “I… see…”

“Yuuki?” Sarman softly said her name as she gripped his shirt in both of her hands. She leaned in and placed her forehead on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry… I thought you knew…”

She was shaking. Yet another thing that she had failed at. Another incompetency. Yuuki didn’t even know what she was good for anymore.

Sarman tried to speak up again, but Yuuki softly headbutted his shoulder each time to stop him. She didn’t want to hear him try to cheer her up. She was worthy of that treatment.

A soft touch tickled the hair behind Yuuki’s left ear. She immediately leaned into it and let out a soft sound she hadn’t made in a long time. She caught herself mid-purr and looked up at Sarman sulkily.

He had used a small spot that he knew of from their time as kids to get her to do something other than lean on him. It was a spot that only Sarman knew about as Yuuki had tried very hard to hide it from even those that knew she was a Beast-Person.

“Unfair.”

“I don’t care.” Yuuki puffed out her cheeks at his response. “We can deal with whatever you were just doing later. Right now we need to focus on getting out of this town alive. And, you know… we’re being stared at.”

Sarman pointing it out made Yuuki feel the gazes around them. She cleared her throat and took a small step away from Sarman.

“Ahem, Sarman… what did Aria mean by ‘our entrance is still open’?” Yuuki posed her original question as a decoy for the stares.

“Ah that. She probably wants us to save as many people as we can and get them out of the city before that goes off.” Sarman pointed behind Yuuki. Near the center of Crystallia was a thick black plume of smoke.

“Is that Nic?” Cyril had also seen the incident in Sanum. He knew what a large mass of Irradiation looked like.

“It is, but, even if Nic is our descendant, without my blessing the amount of Irradiation he can absorb at once is limited.” Crystal took up the mantle of answering the question, leaving in a small thing that Cyril clearly hadn’t known about.

“OUR?!” And so he latched onto that one word, completely dismissing anything else that she had said.

“Long story, I’ll tell you the truth later.” With a simple wave of her hand, the queen of the town pushed the topic to the side. “For now, we just need to get as many people to us as we can, right?”

Sarman nodded.

“That would be the best course. Once we have the civilians, we can lead them ourselves to the wall.”

“They’re still here!” A voice from outside the destroyed cube rang out.

The walls tumbled to the ground as Rust let them go. He was close to summoning more when Crystal stopped him with her hand.

The reason she did that was because the people had seen her with them.

Narissa had been shouting that Sarman, Rust, and Cyril were trying to kill the queen. Yet they all stood together in front of them.

Crystal planned to capitalize on the moment.

“Subjects of mine who live in Crystalia. I am your Queen!” Crystal spoke clearly, yet her voice was far louder than Yuuki had ever heard it. The sound of it reverberated throughout the road.

It was being magically enhanced by something. And that enhancement let it travel across the entire city.

“You have been lied to by Narissa, a former member of my inner circle. Narissa has betrayed this city. She has betrayed me. If you truly believe in this city, then you are to protect the citizens and bring them to the Eastern Road. Those of you that have betrayed us alongside Narissa, know this; your deaths will not be swift, nor will they be painless. The pain of your betrayal will be rendered unto you unless you surrender yourselves.”

Her speech resounded through Crystallia. The soldiers in front of them split nearly in half. One half quickly moved to guard Crystal while the other looked at each other. Their plan had been revealed.

“Kill the queen! For the dawn of the new world!”

Yuuki watched as the people she had taught how to use a blade fought against each other. Swords clashed in front of her eyes. She could see the sparks flying as edge met edge.

Every scream of pain echoed in her ears.

“Rust, build a shelter for the civilians.”

“Hmpf, you giving out the orders now?”

“Just like old times?”

Rust let out a sigh as large walls appeared behind Yuuki.

“Just like old times.”

The regular civilians nearby collectively rushed to the safety of the walls. Some scurried around the fighting while others simply slinked through the shadows. Slowly but surely they reached the safety of the walls. A place for them to hide until they could get out of the city.

Yuuki couldn’t look any of them in the eye. She could see some crying. Others were hugging. A couple were quietly calling the names of their children or loved ones.

Civilians had died.

They had died at the hands of the soldiers that she helped train.

How many times would Yuuki screw up? How large would the fallout from them become?

Yuuki’s sword hung on her waist. It’s weight dragged her down. Get behind cover? Yuuki couldn’t even take a step. The weight locked her in place.

“We have a problem.”

Rust walked over to Sarman as we spoke. The two of them murmured quietly so that no one overheard them. Once they were done, Sarman walked over to Yuuki and put his hands on her shoulders.

A small shake forced her to look up at his face. The seriousness of his expression jolted through her body. It was like a small boost of energy to get her moving.

“Sarman? What’s wrong?”

“Yuuki, stay here. There is a group of Sanum soldiers wearing the colors of the Alberie family.”

Yuuki’s stood there, her mouth trying to work but nothing was coming out.

The Alberie family was prominent in Sanum as the leading family of the group within Sanum’s government that opposed Ordwell’s continuous rule of the city. The current head of the family, Paul Alberie, was constantly opposing anything presented to the senate by Ordwell.

His son was always trying to one-up Sarman. He went so far as to harass Yuuki multiple times in order to get to Sarman.

“What- Why?”

“I don’t know. But I will take care of them- whether or not they are here to help us.”

Sarman took a step back.

Then another.

Flames wrapped around him. His armor, similar to Aria’s, formed itself around his muscles.

Sarman was the Fire Spirit King.

“No…” Yuuki reached out her hand lazily.

Why did he have to go himself?

Was he going to leave her alone as well?

Didn’t she deserve this?

“Don’t… go…” Her voice was barely a whisper. It never reached the back of the person it was aimed at. He had already begun to run.

Yuuki was stuck in place.

How could one as incompetent as her run after Sarman? It was a preposterous idea.

“Yuuki! Watch out!” Someone called out her name. She looked to the side to find one of the soldiers she had trained every day thrusting his sword at her side.

It was finally her time.

Time to pay for messing everything up.

Warm blood splattered across her face. It wasn’t her blood. The soldier next to her had been punctured by three thin, long, red fluid spikes.

One through his head. One in his neck. One through his heart.

The body slumped to the ground as the red spikes retracted.

“Yuuki! Pull yourself together!”

Crystal was yelling at her. She was nice to Yuuki. She cared about her. And yet Yuuki had betrayed her by training those that were attacking them.

“I…” Yuuki’s voice was caught in her throat.

What could she even say?

“What? Have you lost your senses? Why did you come here in the first place?!”

Come here? Yuuki had come to help protect the town. She thought she would be needed for that. And yet she had merely made that defense harder by training the enemy.

“I… I don’t know anymore!”

Yuuki let it out. A single scream.

And then she ran.

Her legs creaked. Her lungs were raggedly drawing breath.

The soldiers she rushed past swung at her. Some swipes she dodged. Others burned their way into her skin as cuts.

She rushed into a small alley between buildings. Crushed boxes threatened to trip her as she ran through. The dust in the air coated her mouth, smothering any wetness from her saliva.

Finally, she came upon a swirling black wall.

There was a person in the center of it. She knew that. She knew him as well. But she didn’t care.

She reached out her hand.

“Yuuki.”