Whatever she meant by that sentence, she definitely didn’t feel like explaining. I noted the changes in her from the last time I saw her, when she saved me from my own dangerous spells in the past, and now here she was doing the same to me again, but this time it felt more intentional. In the past, she helped me realize myself after losing my stability a bit, but this time she was there at the scene of a major turning point, in which she says the entire history of the world would be altered. The more I put it together, the more it occurred to me – she knew I would do this. She likely knew I’d hurt Flip and his goons too. And that meant she most definitely knew some things I’d be doing down the road.
“This sounds crazy, but I think I know what you’re hinting at.” I spoke up. “I won’t ask more though. If it’s really dangerous to tell me what’s coming, then I don’t want to know. That said…” I felt my hand ghost up to my hair, the oily feeling of blood running through it felt disgusting, but at the same time, natural. I knew this was part of the creature or person inside my head telling me it felt natural. I had to consciously separate this thought or I worried it may take hold again.
“I do have one question. Since you know what I’m going to do, why didn’t you stop me when I-” she cut me off.
“I can’t have. You harming those thugs is important to what comes next. Think of it this way,” she turned to me, reaching for my arm with the seal on it. “This had to be put on your body somehow. If it wasn’t, you’d have lost it sooner. In fact, in a few scenarios you’ve lost it before the fight yesterday. It’s a hard, variable situation to get into so just trust me that I’m here to protect you, and the others.”
“Others?” I crossed my arms. “Wait…”
“Yes, there are others like you out there, but there are also some very young or very inexperienced people that I need to keep safe. If they aren’t, something terrible will happen and there will be nobody to stop it.”
“I see. So, you’re the manager for a party of world saving heroes then?” I laughed a little behind my unease. “Come on, that’s not the Alarice I know. You’re a stargazing dreamer with an eccentric personality and way too much free time, where’d she go?”
“Like I said, I’m still me, and you’re still you. Thankfully. Now, we really need to wait for her to wake up so we can make sure this worked.”
“If what worked, the medicine?”
“No, that’s not the issue. I need to make sure she really will defend you. If not, she has to be dealt with.”
The thought of this made me freeze. This girl was an innocent, and seemingly the only member of the operation back at the crime scene that had no idea what was happening. She couldn’t be disposed of just like that, no way – that’s what I wanted to say. Alarice seemed to be serious however, which scared me even more so the more I noticed Zephyra stirring.
She was still alive, which was good, but she was restless. Understandable, as she just lost a sensory item. I made sure that she would have a comfortable place to lay and sat down, resting her head in my lap. Alarice seemed to want to protest this, but she turned the other way instead.
“You know that I can’t let you hurt her, right?” I said, to which I saw my friend tense up.
“Please don’t get in the way. I can’t afford to hurt you.”
“I’d like to see you try.” I said with a more silly tone in my voice, trying to lighten the mood. It seemed I got a small laugh out of Alarice, which I’d call a victory. Now all we had to do was wait for Zephyra to wake up. Everything would be fine when she does. I’d cover the cost of whatever pay she may lose and help her get back on her feet. This was my fault, just like Saint Foxtail and just like many others. I had to atone for this just as I had to atone for those events, even if I myself wasn’t the culprit. It was my body that did it, and the being living inside me that likely had another vessel who did it to others. I chose to make this my responsibility to fix.
We stayed like that for a few hours. I felt myself dozing in and out, eventually feeling Zephyra move in my lap.She started slowly, and then all at once shot up in a horrified state, unable to process her vision I imagined. Alarice and I both gave her the time to freak out, and didn’t say a word until she asked.
“W-what– What is–” she couldn’t finish her sentence. The moment she got into a sitting positioning entirely she turned her gaze to me, then to Alarice, then back to me.
“Where are we-” she asked me. I sighed in relief that she seemed to be able to form sentences already – she really was hardy.
“We’re a little ways off from the crime scene. This woman here saved your life.” I said, gesturing to Alarice. “Do you remember what happened?”
“Sort of…” she gripped her head where her eye once was, grunting in pain. “This… This was taken. You took it!” she pointed at me. “Wait. No. It was someone else… Taller, crimson hair. Glowing purples in her eyes. It was you, but… It wasn’t you.”
This was all news to me, hearing the description. I immediately tore part of my collar off as it was thicker than the rest of my shirt, and then offered that to her. There was no blood, but the empty socket was still exposed to the elements.
“Can you go into more detail?” I asked. Alarice sat with us now, and nodded, seeming satisfied. Zephyra covered her socket with the collar gently, and continued.
“When you read the book, you… Changed.” she was shaken in her tone recalling the situation. It seemed adrenaline was playing with her stability. “You grew taller, and your hair grew long. It turned red, and your eyes glowed purple. But there was also your voice, it… Changed. It sounded masculine, but the sweeter feminine voice was mixed in as well. I didn’t realize what was happening until you-” she winced. “Until this happened.”
“So I was right after all…” I spoke quietly, but I knew they could both hear me. “I’m sorry that I hurt you. Even if it wasn’t me, it’s something using me. And this isn’t the first time.”
Alarice looked concerned that I was speaking so openly about this, but before she could protest, I held a hand up to her.
“No, I know it’s not something I should be talking about but she deserves to know. Zephyra, we may have met under less than ideal circumstances and I may have harmed you greatly, but I swear on my title as Third Princess that I will make sure you’re taken care of properly for what I’ve done, and I’ll face any punishment you deem fit.”
There was a silence in the air, lasting for several minutes as we all just exchanged uneasy glances. Eventually, Zephyra gave Alarice a look and addressed her.
“You saved my life, right? Thank you. I won’t waste it.” she said, more composed than she was earlier. “As for punishment, there’s only one that I can think of.”
Zephyra stood and drew her dagger from her belt, pointing it directly at me. I could see Alarice readying some type of weapon, but she stopped after Zepyra flipped the dagger and offered me the handle instead of the blade.
“I may be a soldier but I’m not a lemming. I know when there’s something above my pay grade happening. So take this, and let me work for you. You’ve been dealing with this just the two of you, right? I can tell you’re not a bad person, so I want to help you be rid of this curse, if that’s what it is. Your punishment is to go on working this out alongside one of your mistakes. If you let that thing out again with me around, I’ll take notes. You haven’t had someone observe this and live, I gather? Your surprise told me that.”
My surprise, as she said, would then double. I hesitated, reaching up and gently touching the pommel of the dagger at first, fearful of what may happen. Alarice gave me an all clear sign from the side, indicating this was normal, and I smiled. I grabbed the handle of the dagger and stood, dusting myself off and wiping away what I felt were tears.
“I promise, I won’t let you down. We can figure this out together. But still…” I sniffled, definitely now aware of my embarrassing crying. “Your eye. I can’t replace that.”
“Don’t need to.” Zephyra shrugged. “I’m a soldier. I knew this was a risk I’d take when I enlisted. Honestly, I’m not dead and I can still fight so this isn’t the worst it could have been.”
“Well, I’ll be.” Alarice spoke up. “I’d heard you were a tough girl, but that’s an impressive outlook. Still, let’s at least get you something to seal that open wound.”
“That would be nice, eah.” she said, her nerves seeming more stable than either of us. “Not to sound ungrateful. I’m really glad you saved me. But I don’t want an infection that throws all that away, you know?”
“Oh I understand.” Alarice reached behind her, I’m assuming into a bag or a pocket, and produced a crystal blue marble the size of an eye, shining and pristine. “Here.This will seal the wound. If it needs to be shaved down let me know. It’ll hurt to pop it in, but it won’t fall out.”
“Thanks, doctor.” Zephyra took the marble gladly, and gave it an examination between her fingers with her free hand. She seemed to admire the color and the craftsmanship for a time, before placing it against her empty socket above the cloth of my collar. Perhaps it was all the more jarring then when she removed the cloth and slammed her palm against it , forcing it into her skull and shrieking in pain as she did so. This pain lasted for a few more minutes, with both myself and Alarice on standby to offer help in the worst case scenario, but eventually Zephyra turned to face us, with the very clashing crystal blue where her eye once was as well as little bits of fracture from the area she likely broke to force the eye in. Her skull was taking a beating today, but she didn’t seem to care.
“How are you not some sort of super human?” I asked. Zephyra shrugged.
“I just don’t see the point of getting worked up about injury. It’s painful sure but after the pain is over if you’re not dead and you can still do the things you like doing, who cares?”
That was certainly a way to look at life that I didn’t consider, but I appreciated it strangely enough. We didn’t have much time to laugh off the situation before Alarice spoke to us again though.
“Good, looks like everything went well then.” she turned and began to head off, likely back to her squadron that she apparently had to call them off. “Be seeing you two then.”
“Hang on, Alarice.” I grabbed her by the shoulder. “Before you go, I’d like to know one thing.”
“Within reason, I hope.” she shot back, sounding a little more like her normal self in her tone.
“Probably. I’m just wondering, and you can feel free to whisper the answer to me. How many times have you seen these events happen? How often do you watch this bad outcome you’re hinting at?”
She tensed for a moment, as if debating with herself if she should answer me or not. She seemed to conclude her debate by brushing me off her, and speaking under her breath as she walked away, as if hoping to not be heard but being willing to take the risk anyway.
“Too many.”
Magna Varia 