Chapter Text

6

The moment my senses assembled the scene in my mind, I knew I was dreaming. 

After all, I remembered the air was always freshest on the mornings Coronabeth came to visit. 

Training would always go well that day too.

I felt something wet slide down my cheeks. Was I crying? My instinct was to wipe the tears, but my body refused to obey - inertia from a dream that felt like a prison I was not yet allowed to leave. Or perhaps I didn’t want to.

My heart ached at the sound of laughter nearby. Countless faces flashed in my head and their names almost came to my lips. I wished I could hear that laughter again.

In the haze of the dream, it was summer, and I longed to feel the blades of grass in between my fingers. I remembered… memorizing the patches where the flowers had bloomed so I could show Coronabeth and watch her face light up. How it felt to be sweating and panting, feeling the clean air fill my lungs after a good spar with Dyas. I knew I would be nursing bruises she had left me in the evening.

And on the top of the hill, like a lighthouse, Mother and Father would be waiting for me to return home…

“—you came here for HER?!?” 

“We had no choice! Please, Ianthe, there will be more locations—”

“She’s already done for, like completely 100% soul-eaten-by-demon done! You’d be accomplishing absolutely nothing wasting this Artifact on her!”

“...there’s a chance- Ianthe, I need to try- please, just let me do this…”

“Wait a moment, my darling, you are not thinking what I think you are thinking are you? Oh no, you are not doing that. Especially not for—!”

I opened my eyes to surroundings that were most definitely not the capital. A vast, cold emptiness spread before me - it was dark, save for the rays of a setting sun shining down into this cavern from what seemed like an impossible stretch away. Something about this space felt… ancient. 

Coronabeth seemed to be holding something like a crown in her hands, which her sister was lunging for. But Coronabeth was faster. The crown, pure silver and of a strange craftsmanship I had never seen before, settled on her head and started to glow, emitting blue light. At the same time, Coronabeth gave a pained cry and stumbled to her knees.

A rumbling echoed around us and the sounds of several stone pillars rapidly shifting trembled the ground. Suddenly, the ground parted and a throne made of clear crystal emerged.

“You dare disturb this tomb… I can only presume you have come as a Challenger…” a deep, old voice intonated, filling the air of the cavern while seeming to come from no direction at all.

Coronabeth, whose eyes had turned black and purple, gritted her teeth and struggled to stand. “Yes. I am a Challenger.” To my surprise, Ianthe did not say anything. Rather, she looked just as invested as Coronabeth. Is this… what they were after? Some kind of… power from a tomb spirit?

 “...a demon? The crown… is killing you…”

Ianthe said, “It won’t when she wins.”

“...how interesting... very well... and your Champion?”

“Me,” Ianthe declared. 

“...accepted…” the voice said, “...now we shall judge if you are worthy.”

Suddenly, several strands of what can only be described as glowing blue fibers materialized, rapidly forming the shape of a knight. Then the glowing blue fibers dissipated and in its place stood a stone knight. The knight gripped its sword with both hands and pounded the tip of the scabbard on the ground three times in rapid succession. 

The ground shook, and several low moans, then the heavy thuds of feet came from the distance. Dust started to spread and Ianthe whirled around. A few seconds later, she cursed.

“You have got to be kidding me. An entire horde of undead,” Ianthe grumbled, “Corona, you had better be quick, I can only hold them off for so long.” Smoke spilled from Ianthe’s palms onto the ground, soon encircling us. Shadowy creatures rose from that smoke, meeting the undead soldiers. Soon, the sounds of battle rang in the air.

I tried to stand up, watching as Corona reached her hand out, attempting to gather the black smoke I had seen her command back at the village. However, the crown sparked and flashed with a white light, causing her to cry out in pain. 

At that moment, the knight unsheathed its sword and raised it high above its head, prepared to strike at Coronabeth. 

Ianthe, like she had eyes in the back of her head, screamed, “Take off the Crown! You can’t fight with it!”

But Coronabeth ignored her sister. She managed to dodge out of the way as the sword came crashing down. It splintered the ground, causing pieces of rubble to fly up into the air. The knight quickly recovered, moving with an agility that it should not have given its size, and brought up its sword again.

“Corona, don’t be stubborn about this,” Ianthe shrieked, “She won’t die for the seconds it takes you to finish the fight without the Crown!”

That was when I noticed a faint thread of energy from Coronabeth to me. Or rather, it was like it was drawing away the wisps of black smoke. My body was starting to feel different, and I felt myself regaining control of my body with each passing second. 

I tried to move my arms and found that they responded. Drawing my knife, I cut my palm and squeezed the blood onto my sword. I muttered the incantation under my breath, the blade of my sword heated up, glowing orange like a fireplace poker, then erupted into flames. 

Coronabeth was still dodging the knight’s attacks, securing its focus entirely on her- and leaving me with an opening. I charged forward, slashing my sword across the knight’s back. Burn marks seared into the stone knight, and the embers left by my sword glowed red. Thrusting my bloodied palm forward, I ignited the embers. The knight stumbled forward, its stone exterior cracking further as pink flames seeped inside and gradually enveloped the knight in flames.

Then the knight crumbled, disappearing into ash and rubble.

I thought it was over then.

I should have known better.

For once, I was glad Dyas was not here to see the mistake I should not have made and the apology I would be too embarrassed to make.

Coronabeth and I made eye contact. Her golden eyes sparkled with relief, joy, and something I had never figured out. Everything next seemed to happen in slow motion. I watched as she came to me, watched as a ghostly spirit materialized from the rubble of the stone knight, watched as the spirit summoned a spear in its right hand, and flung it at Coronabeth so it would pierce her straight through the chest. 

I don’t remember moving, but I must have, as I managed to push her out of the spear’s path. The rest was a jumble. Something seemed to drag me forcefully backwards, and all of a sudden, I was staring at the sky. The sun had set while we were fighting. All I could see now were the faint sparkles of stars in a darkening blue night sky.

Then I heard someone shouting. Coronabeth was next to me, begging with a desperation I had rarely seen on her. The knight was still behind her. It struck the ground with the tip of its sword, and golden barriers of light flew up, caging us into its arena of death.

Like a reflex, I could feel myself casting the protective charm I had practiced for years, but even with that, the knight sent Coronabeth flying into the crystal throne with a wide arc of its sword. The crown fell from her head, clattering on the ground.

The knight straightened, then stepped towards Coronabeth’s slumped over body. 

No. No, no, no… Ianthe, why isn’t she doing anything? I wanted to scream but I couldn’t move my body anymore. I felt my consciousness fading, the black smoke returning to my body, except this time with greater intensity. The voices in my head grew louder.

I fought to keep my eyes open as I watched the knight drive its sword into her heart. She was bathed in an explosion of white light.

Her image had already turned into fragments, oddly transparent, pieces of a memory turned into the wind. But I saw her look at me, and I still heard her final, fearful whisper.

She said, Jody, don’t forget me, will you? Bind me to you, in memory and soul, or who knows where I will go? I… Stay with me Jody, please. Won’t you stay by my side?

I tried to reach for the fingers that I could not hold, the vague warmth that seemed like a soft sigh, tried to reassure her-

Except I had no strength left.

Black darkened my vision until the remnants of her image were the only thing I could see in the darkness.

Blood filled my lungs and mouth, silencing me.

And in a final desperate gasp of breath that carried too much and conveyed too little…

Always, Milady. 

In this life, and in every other.

Coronabeth… I swear…

In the next life…

I’ll tell you those words.